About the League

Origins
PWOPL was created by Pichu's World Oekaki user dragons roar in September of 2010. Dragon had the idea to create an interactive Pokémon game in which the members of PWO could create their own adventures and memories together. PWOPL started out small, with its activities taking place on PWO's Scribble board, but soon several pages of new content were being posted each day, which prompted Pinkie, the owner of PWO, to add another board to the site specifically for League activities.

Platform
Because of its existance on an Oekaki board as opposed to a forum, journal, or blogging platform, PWOPL is largely image-based. The majority of members draw their own pictures and comics in order to participate in events, small stories with other members, and bigger board-wide plots. Since the staff understands that not everyone is confident in their drawing abilities, PWOPL also allows members to write out their stories as well. Several members also create mixed media posts by writing a segment of their story and drawing an illustration to match, uploading both together in one post.

Types of Characters
Each member is allowed to create up to three original Pokémon trainer characters to use as they wish throughout their journeys. Characters must be approved by Professor Oak before they are allowed to become part of the League, and different application procedures apply depending on whether the character in question is to be the member's main trainer or a side trainer.

In order to keep the League running as efficiently as possible, there are also several non-player character (NPC) accounts that control various functions and systems within the game. The people behind each and every NPC account are also regular League members, and they are volunteering their time and energy to do these jobs for no compensation other than a sense of pride in knowing that they are helping their community.

Events and Plots
Events are generally posted bi-weekly as the League progresses through the regions of the main-series games. So far, the game has progressed through Kanto and Johto, and is currently in Hoenn. Sometimes, however, special "mini-regions" are also included; the summer of 2012 took participants to the anime-originated Orange Archipelago, and there are plans to include small trips through other regions such as Orre, Fiore, and other spin-off games.

Members are encouraged to interact with each other in their own small plots whenever they wish. Additionally, Professor Oak and the various plot NPCs will occasionally announce official League-wide plots in which all members are invited to participate. Such plots can range from a story featuring various characters to a series of tasks that must be complete to advance through a specific area within a region.

Systems
PWOPL features many systems that control various mechanics found in the actual Pokémon games. A few examples are the battle, egg maturity, Pokémon happiness, breeding, and shop systems. Each system has been created in order to control various aspects of the game and discourage cheating in order to keep things fair for everyone.

Leadership
The League is led by one or more members who have been chosen to take on the NPC role of Professor Oak, as well as members of the PWO admin team who are also part of the League. Those behind the Professor Oak account are in charge of creating events and plots, resolving game-related issues, approving new characters, and managing the activities of members who run other NPC accounts. The PWO admins involved in the League are mei, Pikanyaa, and Pai-tan. They take care of disputes between members, editing posts and comments when necessary, making changes to the announcement box and calendar, and other Oekaki admin-level duties.