Shifters

## Basic Info

Shapeshifters, or shifters for short, are beings with the ability to switch between being a human and a Pokémon and the main characters in Choice. Their original form will always be altered from who they used to be - facial structure, voice, body type; all of those and more can be different to their original appearance. In any case, the change will always be drastic enough to not be recognized by others they might have known in their original life. While they don’t have their memories, shifters retain the knowledge of their previous life; they just don’t know where they learned it. Shifters also have defining characteristics in each form that distinguishes them from normal humans/Pokémon:

### **Human form**

When they first woke up after talking to the shadow, this was the form they were in. Can understand Pokémon even while human. While shifters can use their moves in their human form, they moves are so limited they're not even useful in actual battle. Someone with Water Gun would be able to fill a glass with water. Someone with Hydro Pump could pretend they have a garden hose with low pressure under their sleeve. Ember would make a flame akin to a lighter. Psychic would be able to lift and bend spoons and other small objects. Dynamic Punch would add power to actual punches like a trained boxer. Ice Beam would freeze small bodies of water.

No move used by a shifter in human form will have secondary effects, and they're mostly useless when used against Pokemon, since Pokemon are accustomed to the full power of moves.

### **Pokémon form**

Shifters can use up to seven moves instead of the usual four. Staying in this form tires them out slowly, as if they were walking non-stop, so they cannot maintain it for more than a few hours. Pokéballs treat them as if they were already caught (like this). Getting knocked out while in this form reverts them back to their human form.

### **Both forms**

Shifters wake up in a set of ‘original clothes’ that resemble their Pokémon form. Their clothes disappear when shifting into a Pokémon, and appear again unharmed when shifting into a human. If they shift into a Pokémon without clothes or with heavily tattered/torn/damaged ones, the clothes do not disappear upon transforming, and when turning back into a human, shifters are back in their original clothes. The original clothes disappear when the shifter changes to their Pokémon form without them on.

Shifters always have trouble controlling their transformations and powers at first, though most of them master them in 2-4 days. Moreover, the decision to clear the game is theirs alone - while their past selves had their motives to enter the game, their current ones cannot remember what they were. Maybe they’re curious or dedicated enough to try to win, maybe they decide being a shifter is a pretty sweet deal and to continue on life as one forever. What they do is up to them.

All items a shifter is carrying while in human form disappear when they switch to the Pokémon form, and appear again unharmed when the human form is active again. Items that the shifter isn't holding aren't affected, and as such can be picked up as a Pokémon to activate their effects. Items shifters are carrying while in Pokémon form remain untouched when they switch to human form.

Shifters can evolve: however, they cannot evolve into a species there's already another shifter of. So if there's an Arbok shifter, an Ekans shifter won't be able to evolve. Upon evolution, the only thing that changes are the clothes; moves, body, hair and the rest remain the same, so their human form looks like they just had a change of clothes. RPers need GM permission to have their shifters evolve.

## List of Current Shifters

* Deino
* Doublade
* Glalie
* Hydreigon
* Infernape
* Mawile
* Meganium
* Metagross
* Milotic
* Noivern
* Porygon-Z
* Purrloin
* Pyroar
* Sigilyph
* Tyrantrum
* Zebstrika

### Inactive

* Absol
* Arcanine
* Archeops
* Azumarill
* Dragonair
* Fletchinder
* Garchomp
* Glaceon
* Lucario
* Rapidash
* Scyther
* Shedinja
* Umbreon
* Vulpix
* Zoroark

## Trivia

* Only counting active shifters and counting secondary types, there are 3 Dark, 4 Dragon, 1 Electric, 1 Fairy, 1 Fighting, 2 Fire, 2 Flying, 1 Ghost, 1 Grass, 1 Ice, 2 Normal, 2 Psychic, 1 Rock, 3 Steel, and 1 Water shifters. There are no Bug, Ground, or Poison shifters.
* Only counting active shifters, the number of them weak to the following types is as follows: 4 to Bug, 3 to Dark, 4 to Dragon, 2 to Electric, 5 to Fairy, 7 to Fighting, 5 to Fire, 2 to Flying, 3 to Ghost, 1 to Grass, 7 to Ground, 6 to Ice, 1 to Poison, 1 to Psychic, 4 to Rock, 2 to Steel, and 2 to Water. No shifters are weak to Normal.