Join Avenue

Join Avenue (Japanese: ジョインアベニュー Join Avenue) is a building introduced in Pokémon Black 2 and White 2. It is located between and Nimbasa City, replacing Nimbasa Gate which was previously there. The avenue features exclamations akin to those appearing in the streets of Castelia City.

Initially, the avenue is mostly empty, as the player is assigned by the owner to develop it. Due to this, much of the avenue's content can be customized to the player's liking, including its shops, which provide various services relevant to s.

Visitors
The visitors strolling down the avenue are key to its development. It is by engaging these that shops can be opened and visited.

A set amount of strolling NPCs, known as the player's fans (Japanese: ファン fan), will arrive at the avenue each day. This amount is determined by the avenue's rank and the player's game progression. After the player has entered the Hall of Fame, Gym Leaders will occasionally arrive among these, as a bonus. The avenue can hold no more than twelve visiting NPC fans at a time. Consequently, no NPC fans will arrive on a day on which this limit has already been reached, even if the player subsequently makes room. This also means that any amount of arriving NPC fans that would have otherwise exceeded the limit will be capped.

Additionally, other players of Black, White, Black 2, and White 2 will visit the avenue when they are registered by the game. This is done through any means of connecting two players' games, such as the C-Gear's Tag Log, battles, trades, and interaction between Pokémon Dream World accounts. A visiting player's overworld appearance will be the Trainer class that player selected on their. Their dialogue will be based on their customized avenue dialogue (if applicable; otherwise Passerby Analytics responses will be used, if possible) and on various information from the player's game file. To get a player to visit again, their game must be registered again after at least a day has passed.

Opening shops
In order to open a shop, the player must invite a visitor to do so, which will make him or her a resident running a of his or her preferred type and personal variation, if applicable. The avenue can contain a maximum of eight shops at a time. After this limit is reached, the player must choose an existing shop to be replaced if they wish to open a new shop.

With the exception of the first visitor, Janus, the NPC fans' shop type preferences and shop variations are the same for all games, presented in the table below. The shop type preferences and shop variations of multiplayer representations vary from player to player, but are static and will not vary with the game of the visited avenue. Gym Leaders cannot be invited to open shops.

Some shops have different varieties, referred to in this article as A, B, C, and D.

Recommending shops
Instead of inviting a visitor to open a shop, the player can also choose to recommend a visitor to visit one of the avenue's established shops, after which they will leave. Successful recommendations result in popularity point gains for the recommended shops and the avenue itself, which determine their respective ranks.

Unlike when inviting visitors to open shops, the shops a visitor wants to visit are not always limited to one type and vary from visit to visit. Before recommending, visitors will indicate what kind of shop they would like to visit by uttering one of the phrases listed below. By answering multiple-choice questions concerning personal information and preferences, the player can unlock additional visitor phrases, which are not present in the table.

Sometimes, visitors will be persuaded by shop owners to visit shops beyond the one initially recommended, starting a chain which increases the popularity of each visited shop, until the visitor is dissatisfied, declining with "Next time." A visitor's satisfaction with subsequently visited shops is unrelated to his or her uttered visitor phrase. During a chain, the popularity point value will increase by 25% of its original value for each shop. However, the avenue itself will not receive popularity points for each shop visited, receiving only the amount yielded to the final shop.

Souvenirs
When engaged, visitors frequently greet the player with one of the souvenir item listed below. As the avenue's rank increases, it is possible to get more valuable items.

Rank
Join Avenue and shops both garner popularity when the player successfully recommends shops to visitors. Increasing popularity will eventually increase the avenue and shops' ranks. The avenue and the shops in it each have their own ranks, which start at Rank 1. Although each relies on popularity from recommendations, the rank system for the avenue is distinct from the system for shops.

If Join Avenue or a shop gains enough popularity to advance in rank, any extra points beyond the amount required to advance do not "carry over" to contribute to gaining the next rank.

Avenue rank
For each rank higher than Rank 1, the prices of the avenue's shops' items and services are decreased by one percent, capping at a 40% discount.

As the avenue's rank increases, NPCs will start residing in the player's office and on the avenue. These will ask the player multiple-choice questions concerning preferences. The answers given will be used to determine various outcomes when players interact on each other's avenues. One of these NPCs, namely the man residing in the player's office wearing a black suit and shades, does not follow this pattern, and will instead provide some information about the current shop owners in the player's avenue - this applies only to the multiplayer representations owning a shop, as the man will have no information about regular NPC fans. He will not have as much information about players of Black and White as he will have about players of Black 2 and White 2.

Upon reaching Rank 20, the owner of the avenue will appear in the player's office, after which a sequence follows in which the player and his or her four assistants walk down the avenue, greeting all of the shop owners, displaying various information about the avenue's current status, as they are cheered on. This feature has its own background music, ジョインアベニューであいさつ! Join Avenue Salutation!

The table below describes the points of popularity required to reach each new rank and the features that are unlocked for reaching that rank.

The owner of the avenue will reward the player with an item for every rank increase after Rank 20. New reputations will also start spreading at certain ranks. These are described in the tables below.

Assistants
Avenue rank also determines the amount of assistants residing in the player's office and the services they provide. Once Join Avenue reaches Rank 8, the player can recruit visiting players to perform the assistants' roles instead.


 * Assistant No. 1
 * "Leave registration to me!"
 * Can check avenue status, change the player's avenue title, and change various avenue dialogue parts. After reaching Rank 10, this assistant can also change avenue name (under usual restrictions). After reaching Rank 20, the greeting feature can be reactivated at any time by talking to this assistant.
 * [[File:Ace Trainer f V OD.png]] Jacci (Japanese: イチミ Ichimi) holds this position by default, residing in the player's office from the start.


 * Assistant No. 2
 * "Ask me about shops!"
 * Can tell a perfect shop for the player, letting the player choose from a list of different types of shops. The length of this list increases with the avenue's rank, ultimately containing all eight shop types.
 * [[File:Ace Trainer m V OD.png]] Future (Japanese: ミライ Mirai) holds this position by default, residing in the player's office from the start.


 * Assistant No. 3
 * "Let me organize everything!"
 * Can move the player's Pokémon in the Pokémon Storage System, show various Record Rankings about the player and the players whose multiplayer representations reside in the avenue, change the roles of assistants, and change the physical order of shops in the avenue. After reaching Rank 6, this assistant can also change the appearance of the avenue's neon arch between four styles: Star Orange, Aurora Purple, Cloud Light Blue, and Stone Green.
 * [[File:Scientist m OD.png]] Gardner (Japanese: パソキチ Pasokichi) holds this position by default, arriving as a reward for reaching avenue Rank 2.


 * Assistant No. 4
 * "Leave Pokémon healing to me!"
 * Can heal the player's Pokémon.
 * [[File:Nurse OD.png]] Elethia (Japanese: チユ Chiyu) holds this position by default, arriving as a reward for reaching Rank 4.

Shop rank
The rank of a shop determines the services it provides. The maximum rank a shop can reach is Rank 10, after which it will stop receiving popularity points, although it can still be recommended to visitors, contributing with popularity points to the avenue rank. Any service provided by a shop can only be provided once per day, unless the shop's rank goes up, in which case it will refresh.

Whenever all eight shops on a player's avenue have reached Rank 10, the shop owners decide to run a special promotion, which lasts for seven days. During a promotion, all services are discounted beyond the usual avenue rank-based discount, making it possible to break the 40% discount cap during such a period. s, which are free and thus cannot be discounted, give the player two chances instead of one during promotions. The sale may be repeated by replacing at least one shop in the avenue and then upgrading the new shop(s) to Rank 10.

The amount of popularity points required to reach the various shop ranks are as follows.

All shops change appearance and name when reaching Rank 4, and again at Rank 8, as presented in the table below. The final shop designs do not include counters, meaning that the player can interact directly with the owners of shops that have reached Rank 8.

Shops
There are eight different types of avenue shops that offer different kinds of services: s, s, s, s, s, s, s, and. Some of these types also have up to four different variations on their precise offerings. These variations are referred to as A, B, C, and D in this article.

Raffle Shop
Visitor wanting to open a Raffle Shop:
 * "I would want to make everyone excited."

A Raffle Shop (Japanese: くじびきや Lottery Shop) provides a free, daily raffle as its only service, in which the player wins a random prize. The prize is altered when triggered, so when the game is saved directly before entering the raffle the player will get the same prize every time they enter. The chance of getting a greater prize increases with the rank of the shop.

The services provided by Raffle Shops do not vary with the shop owner.

Beauty Salon
Visitor wanting to open a Beauty Salon:
 * "I would want to make people's Pokémon more beautiful."

A Beauty Salon (Japanese: びようしつ Beauty Parlor) offers various services increasing a 's friendship, with most of these also lowering its effort values. If the chosen Pokémon is already at maximum friendship, the shop owner will decline to provide the requested service.

The services provided by Beauty Salons vary with the shop owner along two different variations, referred to as A and B in this article.

Dojo
Visitor wanting to open a Dojo:
 * "I would want to train people's Pokémon and make them strong."

A Dojo (Japanese: どうじょう Dojo) offers various services increasing a 's effort values or level. A Pokémon will not evolve or learn new moves when its level is increased in this manner.

The services provided by Dojos vary with the shop owner along four different variations, referred to as A, B, C, and D in this article.

Market
Visitor wanting to open a Market:
 * "I would want to collect a lot of things and surprise everyone."

A Market (Japanese: マーケット Market) sells various items, mainly in large batches, at a discount. Most of these items are not sold in regular Poké Marts.

The services provided by Markets vary with the shop owner along four different variations, referred to as A, B, C, and D in this article.

Those rows on a pink background only become available after the player has entered the Hall of Fame and Join Avenue has reached Rank 15.

Flower Shop
Visitor wanting to open a Flower Shop:
 * "I would want to help everyone relax with beautiful flowers."

A Flower Shop (Japanese: はなや Florist) sells and Mulch.

The services provided by Flower Shops vary with the shop owner along four different variations, referred to as A, B, C, and D in this article.

Antique Shop
Visitor wanting to open an Antique Shop:
 * "I would want to collect unique items and surprise everyone."

An Antique Shop (Japanese: ふるどうぐや Secondhand Store) sells various unidentified items which are appraised by the shop owner after purchasing, granting the player a Hard Stone or a surprise item. In the event that the player does not receive the identified item, due to already having 999 articles of it, the payment will not be refunded.

The services provided by Antique Shops do not vary with the shop owner. However, variation between Antique Shop owners is found in terms of what actual items the, otherwise identical, unidentified items can contain. These variations are referred to as A, B, C, and D in this article.

Those rows on a pink background only become available after the player has entered the Hall of Fame and Join Avenue has reached Rank 15.

Café
Visitor wanting to open a Café:
 * "I would want to make delicious meals for Pokémon and make them happy."

A Café (Japanese: カフェ Café) offers various services increasing a 's friendship, effort values, or level. A Pokémon will not evolve or learn new moves when its level is increased in this manner.

The services provided by Cafés vary with the shop owner along two different variations, referred to as A and B in this article.

Nursery
Visitor wanting to open a Nursery:
 * "I would want to spend my days helping Pokémon Eggs hatch."

A Nursery (Japanese: ほいくじょ Nursery) offers various services that make s hatch faster.

Nurseries are initially inaccessible. Once unlocked, by entering the Hall of Fame and reaching avenue Rank 15, certain compatible visitors (such as NPC fans Jaylen and Jess) will change shop type, meaning that they will ask to open a Nursery upon invitation, rather than their previous shop type. In the event that such a character is already residing in the avenue with their initial shop type, the player can change that shop into a Nursery. If such a change is made, the shop's rank is kept, but the amount of popularity points required to reach the next rank will be reset to its maximum.

The services provided by Nurseries do not vary with the shop owner.

Trivia

 * Like other in-game features depending on a Nintendo DS/3DS clock, Join Avenue will be interrupted for one full day plus the time it takes to reach midnight that night if any changes are made to the date or time settings of the Nintendo DS/3DS system in use (including those caused by changing to another Nintendo DS/3DS system).
 * In Generation V, Raffle Shops provide the only single-player opportunity to obtain Master Balls beyond the limited amount available through story progression.
 * All 49 NPC fans visiting Join Avenue have names beginning with letters J or A, in reference to the location's name. This is also the case in the Japanese versions, with the exception of Janus, who is named ハジメ Hajime (which, like, alludes to his status as the avenue's first visitor and recruit, as hajime means beginning).
 * The NPC fans' overworld sprite appearances are limited to those of the Trainer classes that can be selected on s.
 * In place of landmarks, the Town Map provides three live statistics for Join Avenue: current avenue rank, recommended or invited, and current visitors.
 * This is the only location in the games whose name can be changed. However, if an egg is hatched here, the hatch location will state Join Avenue even if the name was changed.

In other languages
Einklangspassage Galería Unión Galerie Concorde Galleria Solidarietà ジョインアベニュー 喬英大道