Okay so I have a few ideas to run past you guys.

First off, There WILL be water in my area. Make no mistake. And I did always plan on having an oasis, just not a huge one. So regular surf I don't think would work too well...and with only one river running through the center of the desert...surf would still be a relatively limited skill and not nearly as useful as other games.

So here is my idea. Its a bit far-fetched, but I like it.

The sandy dune part of the arid area will not be walkable. The sand will have some sort of natural magnetic phenomenon that makes it constantly shift, similarly to water though obviously not QUITE as fluid. Its not quicksand, just constantly flowing sand. A sand sea.

I thought this up...and I rather like the idea.

I will keep surf as HM03. However, as of my region it works slightly different.
Ground type pokemon can now use HM03 just like water pokemon, however ground type pokemon will learn Sand Surf rather than regular surf. Dual water/ground types can choose which move to learn, and cannot learn both. Sand Surf would allow for a pokemon to traverse this sand sea. Depending on the particular pokemon it would be achieved differently...some ground types (such as my grass starter whose final stage is grass/ground) would be large enough to simply walk/wade through the sand sea. Some pokemon would do something similar to a digging motion across the surface. And some would outright swim through the sand, such as some of my specialized sand sea pokemon I've come up with. Such as a sand whale concept I have in my head.

Within the sand sea are several large mesas with towns situated atop them, thus making the sand surf essential for reaching them. As well as outright getting across the sand sea to the other side, as its walled in to the north by a long cliff face, and otherwise crosses the entire length of the map from the cliff down. With HM03 teaching both sand surf and regular surf, it would help with the sand sea early in the region and later on when actual water appears it can be used there too, assuming you have a water type.


As for basic pokemon early in the game, land mammals, bugs, and flying are all still relatively easy to come up with for a desert setting. As far as grass types...I think I'll make one cactus line thats found early on, and other than that grass types will be scarce til later in the game. To replace them as a common early type, I think I'll make fire a common type early on for once. And as for replacing water pokemon as early typings, I guess ground will take that niche, especially in the sand sea area where there will actually be some fish based ground pokemon.


Oh, and as far as the canyon hopping...I like the idea sooortof...but it would be more like cut/strength. You'd use it in one spot and continue normal walking. I want this to be a move that allows actual movement in unwalkable areas. So that cuts the cliff jumping out. Besides, Although I will probably have some canyons...there wont be a ton. So it wouldn't be all that useful. :/

And as for the ride move...as neat as it sounds, it kindof presents a strange issue. If the sand is too hot to walk on, the sun is probably scorching. Meaning if you're riding on top of something, you're still getting cooked alive. Unless you're riding INSIDE a pokemon, you're not really avoiding the heat. :/

So, thoughts?