Thread: The Desou Region - Southern Fried Pokémon

Region map here. Tried several times to upload the actual image onto the page, yet I kept getting 'Invalid File'.

While I plan to be using the Desou region for a fanfic, I could also create a roleplay around it too.

The Desou Region is, maybe too obviously, based on America's Deep South, specifically the 'core' states of Louisiana, Mississipi, Alabama, Georgia and South Carolina. Not sure if this is the most suitable region to adapt to the Pokéverse, but Stephen Fry seems quite fond of the place so it can't be that bad.
Like Kanto with colours, Johto with trees and plants, Unova with clouds and so on, all the towns in Desou are named after various railway terminology.
Please take note that the current route numbers are only placeholders to count how many routes there are, I still haven't decided where the starting location and Elite Four should be (so I'm open to suggestions on that).

The following towns are based on the real-life locations:
Cabless - Macon
Gondola - Brunswick/Savannah
Blastpipe - Charleston
Conductor - Columbia
Steeplecab - Greenville
Garratt - Athens
Terminus - Atlanta
Doubleiron - Birmingham
Highrail - Huntsville
Centerbeam - Montgomery
Junction - Meridian
Schnabel - Mobile
Bufferstop - Gulfport
Fusible - Jackson
Notcheight - New Orleans
Overbridge - Baton Rouge

Apologies to towns such as Hattiesburg, Augusta and, well, most of Louisiana, but I felt sixteen towns was already pushing it.

As both region and fic take inspiration from the 'Southern Gothic' genre, Desou features an unusually large number of Ghost-types compared to other regions (though Steel, Grass and Flying types feature prominently too), and many of the dungeons consist of things like cemeteries, spooky swamps, haunted hotels, abandoned forts, fallen forests and either a broken-down factory or killer airport (still haven't decided) for Atlanta/Terminus.
Other dungeons take on a more fantastical theme, like the clearly exaggerated versions of Birmingham's Tower of Vulcan, Athens' Tree that Owns Itself and the volcano beneath Jackson.

The Gym Leaders though, who they are and where they're located, are still up in the air though (with the exeption of Athens, I have someone special planned for there...). For roleplays however I don't feel this is such a bad thing, as it leaves those spots open for the players.

Fanfic Summary

The fanfic revolves around a farmgirl who deep down longs to set forth into the greater world beyond. Her opportunity comes when her family falls upon hard times and decide to send one of their own out on a Pokémon Journey to bring fame and fortune to their farm, only to see them dashed when her big brother is given the task instead. Angered, she challenges her brother to a battle for the right to go instead, yet is only able to win thanks to the intervention of a mysterious Pokémon she met earlier that day.

Her parents grudgingly let her go on the Journey, assuming the strange and powerful Pokémon must be hers (though being mighty suspicious of it), but once our heroine leaves the farmstead she can't find it anywhere in sight, meaning she'll have to continue her journey without the very 'mon that enabled her to go on it in the first place, and without her family figuring this out.

Matters are only made worse when she gains a haughty southern belle rival who's been raised from birth to be the best there is at Pokémon, and gets on the wrong side of a group of nine shadowy figures calling themselves 'Sidewinder Masque'.

As you can see I'm still sorting a few things out, such as my main character's name, her starter (maybe something farm-y like Growlithe or Whimsicott, or my own fakemon based on Jeanne d'Arc), but I was also wondering about including any characters from canon, though strictly gameverse:
My main thought was Shauntal, as the Desou region's relatively close to Unova and the high number of Ghost-types could make the region appealing to her. Phoebe too for similar reasons, though I could also see her attending or even participating in the Notcheight Mardi Gras counterpart. Maybe I could also have Lt. Surge showing up at our Fort Jackson counterpart.

Oh yeah, I should point out that I personally haven't been to the Deep South myself (or America at all to be honest), so if anyone appears to be familiar with the region I would greatly appreaciate any help.

To recap, the main things I'm looking for advice on:
* Starting town/Elite Four locations.
* Gym Leaders.
* Character starters.
* Canon characters (gameverse).