History VideoGame / PokemonUnbound

* ArtificialStupidity: When Marlon [[spoiler:takes control of your Pokémon during the Primal Groundon battle, he can sometimes make some ''very'' poor choices with their moves, such as abusing a status move over and over again]].

** An NPC in Dehara City will comment on the Player's current Costume, based on whether it's suited for wearing in a desert oasis city - for example, he asks if the Player's default outfit isn't way too hot, but says that the Red/Leaf cosplay outfit seems to be a better choice.

* ADateWithRosiePalms: Weirdly, one of the Missions in Antisis City is given by a guy who was most likely in the middle of this. It's never outright STATED, but to be honest, the more...cultured person can probably hazard a guess as to why his socks ended up in the sewers, via the toilet of all places.

*** Moleman has a vicious sandstorm applied in the battle, which is a permanent Sandstorm that deals more damage to Pokémon, and it can't be dispelled or replaced with another weather. His fight is also a Double Battle.

* CharacterSelectForcing: Happens a few times.

* BrutalBonusLevel: The Battle Frontier is accessed via Seaport City in the postgame, and is full of facilities that test your mastery of Pokémon team building. They all have their own rules and mechanics, each have a [[{{Superboss}} Frontier Brain]] to fight, and each of them also have [[HouseRules specific rulesets]] that you can play under to diversify your team building.

* ImprobablePowerDiscrepancy: As a result of the HouseRules described above, this results in small-time hobbyists like Bug Catchers or even small children wielding Mythical and Legendary Pokémon like it's no big deal. And yes, that even includes Pokémon such as Hoopa!

* LevelScaling: On Difficult and above, all Trainers will scale their Pokémon's level relative to the highest levelled Pokémon in the Player's party. To what extent depends on the difficulty setting: on Difficult, the opponents can still be under-levelled compared to you, whereas on Insane, their levels can be equal to yours.

** Prior to Version 2.0, some characters just resembled existing trainer classes but just with a different colour,For example, Successor Maxima was just a Lady trainer with red hair.

** Champions Red and Cynthia from Kanto and Sinnoh respectively appear in Magnolia Town on certain days. You can trade with Red to receive two Pikachu and his outfit, while Cynthia can be challenged to a battle. Red also shows up as a possible Raid Den partner and a possible boss fight aboard the SS Marine.

** A possible {{NPC}} on the SS Marine is also [[SuspiciouslySpecificDenial definitely not a Ditto in disguise on the run from the Science Society]]. Not at all, [[VerbalTic Ditto!]]

** An {{NPC}} onboard the SS Marine will lament the crime rate across Borrius, before saying she's thinking about moving to someplace called [[VideoGame/PokemonColosseum Orre]], since [[{{Irony}} nothing bad ever happens there, right?]]

* ShipLevel: The SS Marine, an optional cruise ship that can be sailed on after the main game is completed. Like any ship in a Pokémon game it includes trainers to battle.

** Red can be fought randomly on the SS Marine during the postgame.

* FinalBoss: Similarly to the ''Alola'' games,here after you beat the Elite Four, you are ONE step away from the hall of fame and being the champion, when you are interrupted by the FinalBoss; who is a trainer who Fights you for the title. [[spoiler:Your final opponent is Jax]].

* RaceLift: Prior to version 2.0, Galavan resembled a middle aged man in a typical lab coat. From 2.0 onward, his redesign made him appear younger, with a more futuristic looking lab coat, and his skin went from white to brown. This happens with Successor Maxima's redesign as well, going from looking exactly like a Lady trainer class with red hair, to looking more like a proper princess with MegaTwintails, and she has tan skin instead.

*** The Trainer House in Dresco Town has trainers that can be defeated to earn lots of [=EVs=] in Attack, Special Attack, Speed, and HP. The HP Trainer is also good for EXP grinding, as he has both [[PinataEnemy the Happiny line and Audino]] on his team. Additionally, the trainers are subject to LevelScaling, making it a great place to LevelGrind.

** Before your third battle with Ace, he mentions that he's now registered 100 Pokémon in his Pokédex - [[VideoGame/PokemonRedAndBlue the same number Blue claimed when he fought Red on the SS Anne]].

* NoFairCheating: The game is programmed to disallow Rare Candies and Master Balls from being withdrawn from the PC's Item Box, as a means to prevent cheats that clone the most staple items from being useful.

** On the Insane difficulty, to compensate for a lack of field effect or gimmick, the FinalBoss has Pokémon with illegal EV spreads, well over the 510 limit. [[spoiler:Jax's Arcanine has four stats with 252 [=EVs=], while his Mega Rayquaza, Zygarde, Suicune, and Kartana have 252 [=EVs=] in ''all'' of their stats]]. This carries over into the Title Defense matches, where every challenger also has maxed out [=EVs=].

** On Insane difficulty, [[spoiler:when Jax battles you for the title of Champion, almost all of his party have Effort Values OVER the 510 you would normally be allowed per Pokémon (most likely to compensate for the fact that his battle carries no special field effect or gimmick). To be exact, Arcanine has FOUR stats with 252 Effort Values each, while his Zygarde, Suicune, Kartana and Mega Rayquaza have 252 [=EVs=] in ALL of their stats]].
** This also extends to [[spoiler:all the Legendary Pokémon the Player must fight throughout the story on Insane: they also have Effort Values of 252, in '''ALL''' their stats]].

* HarderThanHard: The Insane difficulty is incredibly difficult, as bosses have far more dangerous and competent teams, and as early as Crater Town's Gym, they can have Mega Evolution. Boss Pokémon also get higher stat boosts and better moves, and some Gym Leaders even add a few more restrictions like Delta Stream in the Blizzard City Gym or banning moves that are effective against Fighting types in Antisis's Gym boss fight.

** Similarly, Fallshore City has a Bottle Cap collector from Kalos who will boost the [=IVs=] of your Pokémon in exchange for Bottle Caps. It's implied to involve some painful genetic engineering that also reduces your Pokémon;s friendship, and is also played for laughs, especially considering the collector's comically thick accent.

The game is set in the Borrius region, the region that waged war against [[VideoGame/PokemonXAndY Kalos]] 3,000 years ago. When Borrius was losing the war, the king summoned a dark force to assist the Borrius army: [[JackassGenie Hoopa]]. Initially used to teleport the Kalos army back to its home region with its portals, the king had Hoopa bring the Borrius army to Kalos to continue fighting in a bid for power. Many more Pokémon died, including the king of Kalos's beloved Floette. The king built a machine that restored Floette's life; however, overcome by vengeance, he turned it into the [[WeaponOfMassDestruction Ultimate Weapon]], using it to end the war.

Back in the Borrius region, the people were mad at the king for artificially continuing the war without compensating his people. They convinced Hoopa to attack the region in an attempted insurrection. However, using the power of the three Legendary Birds, the king created the Prison Bottle and sealed away Hoopa's dark power. The now-confined Hoopa would be watched over by the king's progeny for years to come, until it is sealed in a Poké Ball by Aros, a legendary figure in the Borrius region, and thrown into a river.

In the present day, a mysterious group known as the Shadows has managed to acquire Hoopa and seeks to capture the Legendary Birds in order to unleash its true power. After being transported by Hoopa to the Shadow Base, you and your rival Ace (or [[HelloInsertNameHere whatever you feel like naming him]]) are taken into captivity by the Shadows, managing to break out with the help of one of three captured Pokémon; Larvitar, Gible, or Beldum. Now, you must stop the Shadows before they use Hoopa's dark power for ill, all while going on the usual quest ToBeAMaster.

''Pokémon Unbound'' is notable for using a powerful custom engine known as the Custom [=FireRed=] Upgrade (CFRU) Engine, also created by Skeli. This engine adds features, Pokémon, and moves from later generations, specifically up to the [[VideoGame/PokemonSunAndMoon Generation VII games]]. These include Mega Evolutions, Z-Moves, the Fairy type, the physical-special split, and [[TheLastOfTheseIsNotLikeTheOthers sitting on benches]]. While ''Unbound'' doesn't feature Pokémon from the [[VideoGame/PokemonSwordAndShield eighth generation]], it does contain moves and features from it, including Dynamax and Raid Battles. It also features four difficulty options, starting at Vanilla (which is closer to a traditional ''Pokémon'' game) and going all the way up to Insane, which cranks the game's difficulty up to [[NintendoHard unfair levels]]. A full-fledged [[{{Sidequest}} Mission]] system is also in the game.

On December 19th 2021, a new update for the game was released. This new version, Unbound 2.0, offers a completely new storyline, involving a mysterious organisation known as the Science Society working with the Shadows, more AntiFrustrationFeatures, more Post-Game Missions and activities, and a lot more besides. August 28th 2022 saw the release of Unbound 2.1, which introduced game mechanics and attacks from [[VideoGame/PokemonLegendsArceus Legends: Arceus]], including the exclusive Pokémon and Regional formes. It also allows players to capture Pokémon from Generation 8 and Hisui, provided that the player has traded a Pokémon from Gen 8 (up to Eternatus in the National Pokédex) to ''Unbound''.

It should be noted that the 1.1 version of the game has two story options; regular and dark, and the latter was done away with starting from the 2.0 version and onward.

On December 19th 2021, a new update for the game was released. This new version, Unbound 2.0, offers a completely new storyline, involving a mysterious organisation known as the Science Society working with the Shadows, more AntiFrustrationFeatures, more Post-Game Missions and activities, and a lot more besides. August 28th 2022 saw the release of Unbound 2.1, which introduced game mechanics and attacks from [[VideoGame/PokemonLegendsArceus Legends: Arceus]], including the exclusive Pokémon and Regional formes. [[spoiler:It also allows players to capture Pokémon from Generation 8 and Hisui, provided that the player has traded a Pokémon from Gen 8 (up to Eternatus in the National Pokédex) to ''Unbound'']].

* AdaptatonalDyeJob: Some Shiny Pokemon have different color palettes than they have in the main series, for example, in ''Unbound'', a Shiny Electivire now has white fur instead of it having a more saturated yellow.

On December 19th 2021, a new update for the game was released. This new version, Unbound 2.0, offers a completely new storyline, involving a mysterious organisation known as the Science Society working with the Shadows, more AntiFrustrationFeatures, more Post-Game Missions and activities, and a lot more besides. August 28th 2022 saw the release of Unbound 2.1, which introduced game mechanics and attacks from [[VideoGame/PokemonLegendsArceus Legends: Arceus]], including the exclusive Pokémon and Regional formes. It also allows players to capture Pokémon from Generation 8 and Hisui, provided that the player has traded a Pokémon from Gen 8 (up to Eternatus in the National Pokédex) to ''Unbound''.

On December 19th 2021, a new update for the game was released. This new version, Unbound 2.0, offers a completely new storyline, involving a mysterious organisation known as the Science Society working with the Shadows, more AntiFrustrationFeatures, more Post-Game Missions and activities, and a lot more besides. August 28th 2022 saw the release of Unbound 2.1, which introduced game mechanics and attacks from [[VideoGame/PokemonLegendsArceus Legends: Arceus]], including the exclusive Pokémon and Regional formes.