#this was all me spitballing at the time btw not everything is set in stone i didnt mean for the RTA to be boring corpos

[arvoze]

[1/3] HHNFLARTAS - the master trials

hell hath no fury like a rescue team association scorned not a fic or anything, i just ramble a lot about my pmd ocs in a digestible format that's more or less that kind of content. random yearly event for rescue teams. covers no more than like, one week of VV content

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the master trials

an annual event where the rescue team association (RTA) judge teams of a certain rank and higher. this judgement is made after teams are put through a series of challenges to make sure that the rescue teams are up to par and can perform their duties.

whilst many pass, it is also entirely possible for a team to fail the trials, subsequently getting demoted. in this case, teams may earn enough points to reach the entry rank again, though in order to be recognised as that rank, they must pass that year's trial. this is not a requirement unless you are re-entering the rank.

..

many high-ranking teams will be famous within good reason. one way to earn notoriety is to place well in the master trials -- but if a team comes in the top spot, chances are they'll already be known anyways, and be some of the highest possible ranks. there are outliers, though, but they're few and far between.

hundreds, if not thousands of teams will take part regionally. each continent has its own top 100 chart. it's fine to place below the top 100; this doesn't mean you're getting demoted, it's just a way to deter giving everybody a placement. many of those who make it into the bottom bracket of the ranks aren't cared for much, either, even if it's still an achievement.

the rescue team association

the RTA is like a board of directors within the rescue team profession. it is worth noting that this covers all forms of rescue team; if it operates under guild rules, it counts. rescues, exploration, discovery, all-rounders -- it's all under the "rescue team" umbrella. many on the RTA board are former high-rankers, but some less-than-savoury upperclassmons have had their says in their matters too.

regardless, many of the pokemon here are strongly revered in their fields. they oversee many of the trials in action, after a certain point within the master trials begin (they can't track the progress of every team).

in the final few stages of the master trials, they observe teams using rotom devices linked to familiar technology -- nothing entirely new. just rotom drones projected to a large connection orb, probably. developed technology still isn't that great.

..

the RTA are responsible for sending messages out across all guilds, whenever needed.

verdant village

verdant village is situated within the water continent, meaning that it's part of the master trials (water division). guildmaster rime doesn't actually have that many great teams registered under the guild itself; it's mostly just a place for other teams to hang out and get missions from, sometimes. and a lot of the actual teams are pretty low-ranking, because not a lot of heavy missions show up. that's really just because verdant village is a "new" location in comparison to most other guild origins, having only been founded within the past 50 years. it's still finding its roots, but they're growing.

there's a good few number of teams that can apply for the master trials, however. but the only ones that are really important right now are keith's team (keith/cacturne, mike/breloom, luwel/nuzleaf) and team pb&j (roadblock/garganacl, minecart/palossand). they're rival teams, but in a one-sided sense. PB&J is more of an inconvenience to keith's team.

..

keith's team, having been doing this job for at least 20 years under verdant's guild, have taken part in the master trials several times. team PB&J are fresher on the scene, but have participated in at least one previous trial. keith's team has barely cut into the top 100 within the water division a few times, though always in the lower bracket. they're the highest scorers in verdant village, though, which isn't really a surprise to anybody.

keith's team

keith's team - real team name, nonexistent, they've never had one - have been registered under verdant village since [the team's] creation. the team has existed since the trio were children, and continues to exist as each member is in their thirties (varying ages). despite their general additiude and demeanour, keith's team take their job as a rescue team very seriously -- which is precisely why keith is set to become the future guildmaster. in rime's words, despite what he shows, nobody cares about others quite like him.

the master trials go about as average as you'd expect. keith's team never fail the master's, but they're nothing to entirely write home about either. they're somewhere above average, but they're also not the most famous team in the continent. far from it. (they're recognised within the village, though, as each member is social in their own way). their teamwork and planning-ahead tends to be standout, but still nothing to make other guilds remember the name.

luwel usually prepares far in advance for the master trials, because he's fucked up and likes to make sure everything is right. this always works tremendously in the team's favour, because his tendency to overthink and over-worry allows for the team to solve problems they'd otherwise have no way of figuring out.

hell hath no fury like a rescue team association scorned (#1)

the master trials have begun. they're pretty far in, in fact. the top placements are already well under consideration -- they're going to really be put to the test. the whole point is to make sure that these teams are earning the right to be trusted, right?

higher-ranking teams (and lower-ranking ones of interest) will face further challenges. many teams have already passed the trials and can rest easy; they've nothing else to prove. they're just keeping their status, not needing to prove themselves or aim higher.

keith's team press on for the fun of it, and because they do truly believe that they have something to show. and they're not entirely wrong -- their teamwork and synergy is great, and they get along with eachother & understand eachother far greater than even some of the best.

but they're three grass types. and to some of the stuck-up oldies of the past at the RTA, that's a concern. they've got an incredibly glaring weakness that can make them a liability under certain circumstances. monotype teams can exist, yes, and there's no inherent problem with this, but you also can't just… allow a team like this to think that they can take on anything without acknowledging their faults.

..

they're going to a volcanic dungeon. it's a rescue, of course -- get deep enough into the caverns to find and save a pokemon, but prove yourself further by "completing" the dungeon. it's a deliberate set-up, of course; no team this far into the master's is going to be given the easy way out. the point is to prove yourself.

and it's… a journey. keith's team have survived volcanic endeavours before, but not often -- other teams are better suited for that. the master trials have thrown this at them before. it's always been enough for them to maintain their ranks. luwel's prepared enough, he thinks. keith's belief of if we don't save them, who will echoes in their minds. mike's just here, really. he's always been cautious about these dungeons. he's always worried about what could happen.

..

[pt 2.]