I know that the game is only being worked on on spare time and that Nintendo can be.... strict towards projects like these, but because you guys are making a story of its own completely different from anything gamefreak released, wouldn't Patreon be a way to go for support? I seen so many artists using characters from different animes/games and they use them on their projects and are on Patreon for a few years already (characters from the League of Legends, Heartstone, Wakfu and many others) and these people are actually doing pretty well. Fair enough, they do have more time for projects like these. But if you guys could work it out a planning system and get on Patreon, it supports content creators and what you guys have done with PAL is still content. As long as you guys don't take like a full game straight out of Nintendo (with the same storyline, places, whole plot and system) and release it, you should be on the clear.
I know there's a fine line when it comes to making content derived from a franchise but as long as you don't use Pokemon Essentials and straight out sell the same game (let's say like putting on Patreon Pokemon Emerald, it's a big no no) , you should be ok to use Patreon to get support for the content. Or as far as I know it's that when it comes to getting economic support.
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