Sending this again because I’m not sure if you got my other pkmn ask? So, I’m thinking if the shinobis in the pkmn AU would be more like Pokemon rangers!! (Which is awesome, bc I love the rangers series<3) Everyone can even keep their six pkmn instead of having just one partner Pkmn, and each team member is trained for more specialized(-ish) tasks. Doing regular C-Ranks? Take an Arcanine. On a stealth mission? Maybe take a Purrloin. Defending territory? Take your Onix and pulverize them. xxx

Oh, perhaps not, anon… I respond to all the asks I get, even with a short answer, so if it’s not in the pokemon tag then probably tumblr ate it?

But yes! Shinobi are like Rangers (the trainer class) in that they’re a more wildlife capable version of police officers. I guess the equivalent would be the Royal Candian Mounted Police vs the more urban police department for specific cities. (I say this with the barest of knowledge that the Vancouver Police Department is different from Mounties).

Uh, I guess a more useful comparison is that the currently extinct Konoha Military Police is what Officer Jenny is, while the general shinobi forces are what Rangers are? KMP focuses on the towns and human-only crimes. The shinobi-rangers are the ones that deal with non-urban areas and anything involving Pokemon. Which is nearly everything in this fusion world…

Shinobi are also the only one who are allowed a full team of six Pokemon (normal citizens only get two–which is why even kids before they graduate from the Academy have Pokemon from their family, etc).

I do like the idea that each team member is specialized for different scenarios, but I also think that uh… Teams (as in with three genin and a jounin) are also specialized as per canon. Obviously Team Eight are trackers/hunters, and Team Gai are bodyguards. I think Team Ten is meant to be like… infiltration/siege/fortress-breakers? And then there’s Team Seven which are, historically, the heavy-hitter frontline fighters.

I mean, obviously, different Teams can do different missions–as in canon–but I think the types of Pokemon that the Teams have do reflect a specialization of their own.