Draco: Hello again, Pokétopia. If you're looking for Jeanne's bout in Volcano Colosseum as Rotation Battles, it has been relocated to Chapter 12 after some encouragement from my readers regarding my battle quality.
Let's talk about the 100-battle challenge. It showed up in Orre, and then it showed up in Pokétopia... and to be perfectly honest with you, they've both got their flaws.
Climbing Mt. Battle in Colosseum's Story Mode is both useful and an enjoyable experience, but it's less "a 100-battle challenge" and more "ten separate 10-battle challenges". In Battle Mode, an unconditional full-party restoration after every fight takes away most of the challenge inherent in fighting consecutive battles, especially with a Perfect Point system that lets you accumulate an unreasonable number of retries. Plus, picking four Pokémon from teams of six means that several opponents with REALLY heavy hitters... might not even send out their heavy hitters.
On the other hand, Courtyard Colosseum's Survival Battle has several problematic factors. For one thing, you're staring at that Bastiodon castle for all 100 battles; the battlefield never varies. As I've mentioned previously, even someone who enjoys proper battle-affecting fog from Sinnoh (with hellish accuracy penalties included) is annoyed that fog is the ONLY possible 'natural' weather condition in all of Pokétopia, let alone in the 100-battle challenge. Fighting Kruger as the Trainer on EVERY threshold gets old after a while. And as much as an unconditional full-party restoration takes away the challenge, putting your party restoration on a Fortune Wheel means that how easy the challenge is has NOTHING to do with your skill as a Trainer.
Once again, this arena game I've come up with defies all that, or at least tries to. This Colosseum hosts a 100-battle challenge with a variety of battlefields - and those battlefields come with a variety of possible weather effects. I think I've come up with a way to provide a bigger challenge than automatic full-party restoration, without the semi-random elements of a rotating dartboard. The battles use both Trainers' full parties as in Courtyard Colosseum, and all the major Trainers with potent strategies will USE those strategies.
And threshold Trainers? Well, I can't just come up with randos when the entire premise of Grand Stage is the highly recognizable Virtual Singers as announcers and major opponents... but the same game that introduced me to Virtual Singers speaking in a non-melodic fashion has a cast of no less than 20 highly recognizable original characters.
I -TOLD- you this was gratuitous.
Pokémon and all related properties © Nintendo. Virtual Singers of Piapro Studio © Crypton Future Media. Characters from Colorful Stage © Craft Egg.
A Beautiful New World
"Now that was interesting. You don't really think about how it goes from the spectator's seat."
Jeanne's bout at Megalopolis Colosseum had been quite the enjoyable experience. The Wonder Launcher added a layer of tactical planning that was absent in most regulated battle environments; most Trainers fighting in a Battle Frontier or a place like Pokétopia didn't have to think about item usage beyond what their Pokémon were holding when they stepped onto the battlefield. Being able to heal one's Pokémon from the brink of a knockout, purge any ailments inflicted on them, or even revive them from unconsciousness - all without the need for any dedicated healer Pokémon - gave a fight a new layer of complexity.
With an exhausted sigh, Jeanne tossed her Poké Ball belt onto the bed and stepped into the bathroom, giving herself the chance to wash off after the day's battles. As she emerged from the shower and donned a towel, she became abruptly aware of a note lying on her dinette, not too different from the one that had informed her of Megalopolis Colosseum's opening in the first place.
"Leave it to me to make myself so tired that I miss something like this," Jeanne muttered to herself, picking up the note.
New Colosseum opening in Pokétopia! Please welcome Leo/need, MORE MORE JUMP!, Vivid BAD SQUAD, Wonderlands×Showtime, and Nightcord at 25:00 to contribute to consecutive battle challenges at SEKAI Colosseum! Each unit will be serving as landmark Trainers for an individual 20-battle challenge, as well as collaborating in an ultimate 100-battle challenge. Any and all prospective challengers are invited to come to battle at the new Colosseum within Pokétopia's mountain!
"Within the mountain?" Jeanne exclaimed. "I suppose Chilly Colosseum is already underground, so that doesn't necessarily preclude it being big enough for a Dynamax. But what sort of arena did they come up with? Half the appeal of fighting at different Colosseums is the different scenery that comes with it..."
She set the note aside. "You know what, I think we're gonna check this out tomorrow. Win or lose doesn't matter; I just wanna see this."
+x+x+x+
Nothing could have prepared her for what was waiting within Pokétopia's mountain.
Challengers wanting to get to Peak Colosseum had to hike up the mountainside, though the paved pathway meant that distance had more of an effect on the Trainer than the terrain did. (Spectators got to take a lift.) SEKAI Colosseum's challenger access was an elevator, stationed at a rest point not far from Peak Colosseum's lobby; as Jeanne stepped in, she found herself wondering if it was a deliberate choice, or if they'd just had too many people climbing to Peak without qualifying for a Championship match, and decided to provide an alternative destination.
Her question was answered in short order; once the elevator had descended deep into the mountain, Jeanne was briefly blinded when the doors opened on a bright environment.
No, 'bright' didn't do it justice - it was like she was standing in a void of white. The walls of the elevator descended to allow her to exit, and she stepped out into the radiance; coloured triangles seemed to be drifting around her, though she soon realized they were the walls of the lobby. Several prismatic patterns were moving within themselves rather than across the void, and after a moment she realized that each was a door; the elevator she had come from, entrances to the battlefield for the challengers and assigned Trainers... and then five others across from the elevator, one each in blue, green, pink, orange, and purple.
As Jeanne regarded the environment, those five doors opened up.
Four people emerged from each of the doors, catching Jeanne off-guard. From the blue door emerged four girls in what looked almost like school uniforms, save for the short-sleeved and vibrantly-coloured jackets; a serious-looking silver-haired girl in green, a soft-smiled brunette in red, an excitable blonde in yellow, and a dark-haired girl who was wearing her blue coat tied around her waist like a second layer of her skirt. Out of the green door came four girls in showy ensembles with piano-patterned skirts and three-leaf clovers pinned to their belts; a beauty with pale blue hair sported teal accents, a coral-haired girl with a cocky grin sported pink accents, a girl with darker blue hair and a softer smile wore blue accents, and a brunette girl with a spring (and a bit of stumble) in her step wore orange accents.
From of the pink door came a more varied group in casual clothing. A boy with two-tone blue hair, wearing a white tee and an open purple hoodie under a grey jacket and ripped jeans; an orange-haired boy in a yellow-trimmed black jacket over a pale yellow hoodie and track pants; a girl with long black hair, wearing a black top and white shorts over a two-toned jacket that looked like it could consume her if she zipped it shut; and a blonde girl sporting twintails that barely passed her ears, wearing a baseball jacket in red-white-and-pink over a grey shirt sporting the word 'Smile'.
Out of the orange door emerged the showiest frickers that Jeanne had ever seen. A purple-haired boy with cyan streaks wore a navy shirt, under a black vest and white pants, under a floor-length purple coat with a bright yellow "splatter" pattern along the bottom and a pair of knee-length black boots. A girl with gray-green hair wore a grey vest-looking top over a very frilly yellow-green skirt, with a pair of fuzzy green legwarmers half-covering a pair of dress shoes. A bright pink-haired girl wore a poofy dress that encircled her with most of a rainbow and at least three shades of pink, with one plain white stocking, one with pink stripes, and frilled detached sleeves no longer than those of a tee. A blonde-haired boy was dressed the most reasonably of the two, wearing a high-collared coat with blue cuffs and a cravat, a pair of black pants, and knee-high white boots with blue accents.
The group behind the purple door would've been the least attention-drawing in any environment besides the white void of the lobby, where their all-black ensembles stood out. A figure with bright pink hair in a sidetail was holding a lollipop, dressed in what looked like a sailor uniform with a striped skirt, with black thigh-high stockings. A brunette girl was wearing a black dress with what looked like lace patterns not too far from the frilly white hem; her legs were mostly uncovered, her socks barely sticking out of her shoes. A girl with dark purple hair in a ponytail wore a dress with frilly, loose sleeves and a pleated skirt, and didn't seem to be wearing socks of any kind between her feet and her heeled shoes. The last girl had bright white hair that reached almost to the floor; she wore a baggy sweater in a grayscale gradient that started at nearly white around the shoulders and faded out to ashen grey, and it hung so loose on her that it was difficult to tell what else she wore besides her short black socks and shoes.
Jeanne recognized the first group as Leo/need, the second as MORE MORE JUMP!, the third as Vivid BAD SQUAD, and the fourth as Wonderlands×Showtime - which meant the last group must have been the unseen online presence known as Nightcord at 25:00.
"Is this real?" she murmured as the crowd emerged. "Is this really happening?"
"Hey, it's real!" An reprimanded. "We're all here, and we're not backing off!"
The pinkette with the lollipop glanced the lobby around with a giggle. "I mean, I don't think I can blame you, with the way Miku made this place look."
Akito set a hand on his hip. "You must be that famous challenger," he observed with an amicable smile. "They say you made the Hall of Fame."
Jeanne blushed. "I swear I got lucky," she defended.
"It doesn't matter," Shiho insisted. "Being able to clutch a win isn't good enough. If you want to get through SEKAI, you need to be able to last."
"Right!" Saki had a grin on her face. "We're not gonna be holding back!"
"Neither will I," Jeanne promised. "No hard feelings, no matter who wins!"
Emu grinned. "That's the spirit! Wonderhoy!"
Draco: Yes, SEKAI Colosseum. All five units from Colorful Stage, with the battlefield showing off all five SEKAI. In Colosseum Mode, which SEKAI you're fighting in would be decided by your opponents (discussed below); in Battle Mode, you would be able to choose when selecting a Colosseum (with a random option).
Credit to AdavalWasHere for helping me build everyone's team, because this was an effort and a half. Twenty major opponents, each with full teams of six. She helped me decide everyone's empowerments, picked suggestions for some of their party members, gave me encouragement for some of my own picks, and generally just made this a lot easier than it would've been on my own. Some of these Pokémon are inspired by focus songs, some of them are inspired by plot points, some of them are chosen as thematically appropriate, some of them are honestly kind of a stretch, and five of them were chosen for tactical coverage just because I was out of ideas, but if it weren't for Adaval I would probably only be on like 21/120 at best.
So, as mentioned, there are six different endurance challenges at SEKAI Colosseum. Each unit has a dedicated 20-battle challenge that takes place exclusively in their own SEKAI, with a fixed order of combatants; unit members serve as threshold Trainers for every fifth battle, starting on Round 5. There is also a 100-battle challenge that takes all five Trainer lists, splits them into sets of five, and shuffles them at random, with unit members serving as threshold Trainers for every fifth battle starting on Round 1. (That way you don't get to anticipate the next threshold.)
As was the case with Courtyard Colosseum, I would provide the option to "cash out" in the middle of an endurance challenge, and receive a payout based on how many opponents you fought. This is in contrast to most Colosseums, where if you lose one of the six battles and you don't retry with a Perfect Point, you get booted back to Between Mode with no prize. The randomized 100-battle challenge would have a higher payout formula than the fixed-order 20-battle challenges, to compensate for the greater unpredictability; regardless, threshold Trainers will contribute more to the payout than the fillers.
For the purposes of Grand Stage as a story, Jeanne will only be fighting the 100-battle challenge, with the units grouped together in the traditional order of L/n, MMJ, VBS, W×S, N25, just for ease of writing.
In regards to the recovery clause: assume that a Poké Mart sells Ethers, Elixirs, Max Ethers, and Max Elixirs. (Prices can be deduced by multiplying the Galarian sell price by two, or the Paldean sell price by four.) Your recovery option is a Poké Mart counter. Between each round, you have the choice to spend your Poké Coupons in order to heal your Pokémon, with prices depending on how you want to heal your Pokémon, as measured in core series items. This way, how much of a struggle it is to heal your Pokémon is decided entirely by how much you're willing to spend (and money-grind), allowing for the entire spectrum of "difficulty by attrition" based on the player's own preference.
Perfect Points do still accumulate; they are earned by getting through a battle with no knockouts, not necessarily by ending the battle with a full party of six still conscious. If you spend a Perfect Point to retry a given battle, it automatically gives your party a full machine heal, rather than restoring them to the same condition as they were on your first go round. Yes, that means you could give up immediately and spend a Perfect Point for the heal instead of your Poké Coupons, if you decided it was worth not having that point in reserve later.
Arena details: School SEKAI may randomly have hail (because the way it's animated in Battle Revolution kind of makes it look like a starshower), Stage SEKAI may randomly have Electric Terrain (because crowds of glowsticks for the idols), Street SEKAI may randomly have rain (because the backdrop city for Ready Steady looks noir), Wonderland SEKAI may randomly have harsh sunlight (because sunny weather for a joyful theme park), and Empty SEKAI may randomly have misty terrain (because fog as a weather condition isn't a thing anymore, grumble grumble).
Regardless of setting, using Camouflage in SEKAI Colosseum will make your Pokémon a Dragon-type, Nature Power will turn into Draco Meteor, and Secret Power may cause flinching. Battle format is not enforced for the endurance challenges; I will be writing Jeanne as fighting Single Battles. Each Trainer's Pokémon would have different movesets for Single/Rotation Battles than they have in Double/Triple Battles, but would use the same movesets between the 20-battle challenges and the 100-battle challenges.
I'm putting up this chapter as the intro and gameplay ramble. The next five or ten chapters (I haven't decided how many fights will be per chapter) will be Jeanne's actual efforts at the endurance challenge. If I cease updating this story at any point, you can safely assume that Jeanne lost a battle since the last-depicted threshold Trainer until a new chapter contradicts that news.