>>36129549That's an interesting approach, but I think it risks being too simple, since even a basic understanding the the 'rules', even with a junky Pokemon, would allow someone competent to blow up the ranks in no time. Rather, I think instead of segregating by thefts and limiting what the player can carry, it would be better to make ranks something of a mirror for gym badges. Each rank increases your the highest level of Pokemon you can control, the highest level trainers you can engage, and the highest level Pokemon you can steal and approximates to around 2-ish badges with battle rank being slightly higher than theft rank.
Additionally, instead of being limited to just theft, it should be possible to also capture those Pokemon while also setting specific goal Pokemon that can only be acquired by theft because they aren't available in the region or in that particular area and the more you acquire and level up, the more you not only open up, but complete requirements to rank up and receive quests that relate to criminal behavior.
For example:
>Rank #1- Choose 'starter' (Common Level 5 Pokemon)
- Battle Rank: 1 Badges, Up to Level 20
- Steal Rank: 1 Badges, Up to Level 10
>Rank #2- Acquire 30 different species of Pokemon
- Level: 20
- Steal: X Species of Pokemon
- Steal: Y Species of Pokemon
- Quest: Complete Z Quest Activity
- Battle Rank: 2 Badges, Up to Level 30
- Steal Rank: 2 Badges, Up to Level 20
... etc. ...
And what's more, you could add sort of 'event thefts', where a trainer or event happens on a particular day/time of week that you can get special rewards or special rank bonuses out of. Like each rank might have a second or third tier that gives you bonuses of some kind that in turn alter mechanical aspects of the game, like many of the things you pointed out. Since the basis of this series is steeped in basic RPG mechanics, leaning into those root mechanics can help make the experience more robust.
