nguyen_

Machida with hadouken in round 1.

We're aware of this. However countless fan games have been released in the same method we're doing so without a C&D.

There are also plenty that were completely smacked down. IMO it's really naive to expect to base a game (even if free) on somebody else's IP and expect to not get a C&D because "other people did it". Do you really want to put a couple thousand man hours into a project only to have to abandon it because of legal technicality?

There's a well known game laywer who is an active Redditor. I'd send him a message or a tweet before putting any more work into this thing.

Great AMA mate.

As far as I'm aware, there hasn't ever been a fan game made with RPG Maker XP

Completely irrelevant. TPC doesn't care what engine is being used. Why would they? They care about their IP being used. If it gets enough exposure, you can be almost certain you will hear from them.

The games that get shut down are the ones that try to sell their product or port to mobile

You've been in the fan game community for a while so I know you know that isn't true. What about Pokenet? That was free and open source and PC only. Shut down.

If we end up receiving a C&D and become the first fan game made with RPG Maker out of hundreds to get shut down; it'd be a real shame. However the experience and skills we've gained from this experience are paramount.

Nah, you care about making a Pokemon game more than anything. Otherwise you wouldn't take the risk of losing all your colleagues' work and just call it something else and not use TPC IP. You seem to understand that are you infringing on copyright (hence you not wishing to contact Nintendo "just in case"), but hope survive by skating by unnoticed. I'm not well versed on trademark/copyright law, but I'm certain Nintendo/TPC has a strong case to be able to shut you down. Shit you even used their registered trademark, almost completely unmodified, in your logo.

Best of luck to you, I guess.

No. You don't ask Nintendo to leave you alone. That will result in them telling you to shut down your project. You contact a lawyer who is experienced with game development and find out if what you are doing constitutes fair use. If you are infringing on any sort of trademark laws you could continue doing it and hope to fly under the radar, but if this project becomes successful, Nintendo will absolutely find out about it and they are aggressive in their approach to protecting their IP, just look at the YouTube debacle.