Draft:Pkmn:Introduction to Basic Gameplay

Introduction

Pokémon Mystery Dungeon (ポケモン不思議のダンジョン) is a crossover of Nintendo's Pokémon franchise and Spike Chunsoft's Mystery Dungeon video games.

Belly

A Pokémon's Belly has an original range of 0 to 100. When a Pokémon first enters a dungeon, they have a Belly value of 100. As turns pass, a Pokémon's Belly value decreases. At zero Belly, the Pokémon will not regenerate HP naturally and will lose HP every turn when the leader. HP lost from hunger is 1 per turn in games up to Gates to Infinity and 3 per turn in Super Mystery Dungeon onwards.

A Pokémon's Belly value can be found in the menu. In order to fill up the Belly, a Pokémon eats a food item such as an Apple, Gummi, Berry, or Seed. A Pokémon's Belly value will also decrease if the player holds the A and B buttons simultaneously (waiting mechanic) as it also causes turns to go by. Also, a Pokémon's Belly value will decrease faster if they are holding certain items such as a Munch Belt and decreases very quickly when in a wall.

The Pokémon's maximum Belly size can be increased during the adventure, usually by eating an Apple while its Belly is full.

Although the Belly feature is found in every Pokémon Mystery Dungeon game, it is only a feature in the last three dungeons in Gates to Infinity.

In Super Mystery Dungeon and Rescue Team DX, each Pokémon has a separate Belly value, allowing the player to change leaders when one gets hungry. Note that hungry Pokémon cannot regenerate HP naturally as turns go by.

Body Size

A Pokémon will either have a body size of 1, 2, or 4. The larger the body size value, the more spaces the Pokémon will take up in the dungeon. When assembling a party for a dungeon, the maximum body size amount is 6 with a maximum amount of Pokémon of 3 is Red/Blue Rescue team and 4 in the Explorers titles.

Partner Pokémon

The player's partner Pokémon is selected at the start of the game.

During the main story, there is a partner Pokémon that will guide the leader in dungeons. During the main story, the partner Pokémon must be in an adventure in every dungeon. In games up to Gates to Infinity, if the partner Pokémon faints and is not revived, the adventure ends in a defeat.

Once the main story ends, as the original partner Pokémon no longer has to tag along in adventures, partner Pokémon mechanics also end.

Move Stats

Move Growth

Introduced in Gates to Infinity, attack moves power up as they are used. When a move ranks up, it can increase in PP, power, or accuracy. Move growth is shared by all Pokémon. Status moves do not have move growth, so the only means to upgrade a status move is to use a PP-Up Drink or an Accuracy Drink on the move.

PP

Determines how many times a move can be used. Moves with 0 PP cannot be used. PP can be restored using a Max Elixir.

Power

Determines the base damage the move will inflict.

Accuracy

Determines how well the move hits other Pokémon. Known as Hit Ratio in Explorers of Time, Darkness, and Sky.

Pokémon Stats

HP

Stat which determines how much damage it can take before fainting. When it reaches 0, the Pokémon faints. It regenerates naturally under normal conditions.

Attack

Stat which determines damage done by physical moves.

Defense

Stat which determines damage received from physical moves.

Special Attack / Sp. Atk

Stat which determines damage done by special moves.

Special Defense / Sp. Def

Stat which determines damage received from special moves.

Speed

Introduced in Pokémon Super Mystery Dungeon. Not to be confused with Travel Speed. It determines the accuracy modifier of the moves used by the Pokémon. Speed also determines how well it evades other Pokémon's moves.

Storing Items and Money

Items and money can be stored so that they are not lost when an adventure is failed. Where items and money are stored varies with the game.

In Super Mystery Dungeon onward, there is an option to use the storage for items and money before starting an adventure.

Where Items and Money are Stored

• In Red Rescue Team and Blue Rescue Team and Rescue Team DX, the storage for items is the RB Kangaskhan Storage, and the storage for money is the RB Felicity Bank.
• In Explorers of Time, Darkness, and Sky, the storage for items is the Kangaskhan Storage, and the storage for money is the Duskull Bank.
• In Gates to Infinity and Super Mystery Dungeon, items and money are stored inside the G Deposit Box / S Deposit Box.

Reviving

When a Pokémon faints, a Reviver Seed is used to revive it. In Super Mystery Dungeon onwards, when a teammate faints, the player can choose to revive it or not using a Reviver Seed in the inventory. There are some situations where Pokémon will be unable to revive even with a Reviver Seed in the inventory.

Reviver Seeds not just fully restore HP. They also fully restore PP and Belly. In Super Mystery Dungeon onwards, there is a weaker variant known as a Tiny Reviver Seed. When a Tiny Reviver Seed is used, it just fully restores the HP of a fainted Pokémon. Once a Reviver Seed or Tiny Reviver Seed is used, it becomes a Plain Seed.

In Super Mystery Dungeon onwards, when the client Pokémon faints, it warps to somewhere else on the floor. To revive it, the team must use a Reviver Seed from the inventory. If the team moves to the next floor, but the client Pokémon is not revived, the job request cannot be completed until the next adventure.

Status Conditions

Pokémon Mystery Dungeon has various status conditions, which can either be beneficial or detrimental to the Pokémon. The Pokémon's bad status conditions can be removed with a Heal Seed.

Type Effectiveness

Just like in the core series, type affects damage inflicted by moves. For example, a Grass-type move is super effective on Water-type Pokémon, while a Fighting-type move is resisted by Psychic-type Pokémon. However, damage modifiers due to type differ from the core series. They vary from game to game as well.

• In Red and Blue Rescue Team
  • "Super effective" does 1.4× damage
  • "Not very effective" does 0.7× damage
  • "Little effect" does 0.5× damage
  • For moves used on dual-type Pokémon, the modifiers stack multiplicatively.
• In Explorers of Time, Darkness, and Sky
  • "Super effective" does 1.7× damage
  • "Not very effective" does 0.5× damage
  • "Little effect" does 0.25× damage
  • "Little effect" and "super effective" stacked become "not very effective". No further benefits from double weaknesses or double resistances.
• In Gates to Infinity onward
  • "Super effective" does 19% more damage
  • "Not very effective" does 12.5% less damage
  • Attacks of "little effect" do absolutely nothing at all to the Pokémon. In Rescue Team DX, the message log prints "It doesn't affect the Pokémon."

Turn Limits

"	Something's stirring...	„
	~ The first time a wind blows on a floor on Rescue Team and Explorers titles

"	A wind has started blowing...	„
	~ When a wind blows on a floor on Gates to Infinity onward

If the team stays on one floor of a dungeon for many turns, a wind will start blowing. The team should head for the stairs to go to the next floor, as the wind will eventually blow the team out of the dungeon, in which the adventure ends as a defeat. Reviver Seeds cannot save the team from being blown out, and there is no usual option of getting rescued either.

"	<Pokémon> was blown out by an unseen force.	„
	~ When the adventure in a dungeon fails because the team was blown out on Rescue Team and Explorers titles

There are three warnings before the team is blown out of the dungeon. In Red and Blue Rescue Team, the warnings come at 250, 150, and 50 turns before being blown out.

Failing an Adventure

There are many ways to fail adventures in dungeons, and the most common is to have the team faint. In the case of adventure failure, the player is sent home.

Other ways to fail an adventure:

• Choosing to give up
• Client Pokémon faints (up to Gates to Infinity; when associated with an active job)
  • In later games, the client Pokémon can be revived (see above)
• Partner Pokémon faints (up to Gates to Infinity; when required to tag along)
• Winds blow the team out of the dungeon (see above)

Consequences of Adventure Failure

• The team loses items and money that they had in their inventory.
  • All money is lost (for Rescue Team titles, Explorers of Time and Darkness, and Super Mystery Dungeon onward)
  • Half of the money is lost (for Explorers of Sky and WiiWare titles)
  • In Gates to Infinity, no money is lost (with some exceptions for certain dungeons)
  • Some items are lost (up to Gates to Infinity)
  • All items are lost (Super Mystery Dungeon onward)
  • Items and money that are in the storage are not lost at all.
• The player does not receive rewards as usual for completing job requests, including earn points. However, completed jobs are erased.

Other Mystery Dungeon Titles

• Torneko
• Chocobo
• Shiren the Wanderer
• Etrian
• Nightmare of Druaga
• Young Yangus
• Mystery Chronicle