Phase 4: Cobblebase and Poke Power, gated behind progression

Adrian (2026-10-30): Cobblebase's skills stay in but gated behind
progression, power from an existing mod (Poke Power) also gated,
evolution stones as ores fine for now, balance fine and configurable.

Progression is the zones whose Alpha guardian a player helped beat
(Progress saved data; a guardian win records it and lists the unlocks).
The gate table is data (progression_gates/base.json): each of
Cobblebase's 44 skills needs a zone (or none), the Power Block needs the
Verdant Jungle. The companion mod wraps every Cobblebase skill executor
in a gate by reflection; a skill missing from the table stays off.
Operator command /cobblesurvival progress. Cobblebase's and Poke Power's
configs ship in the pack. Self-tests: gate coverage, a locked skill only
runs after its guardian, the Power Block waits for the Jungle guardian,
a guardian win counts as progress.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5.5 <noreply@anthropic.com>

docs/checklists/phase-4.md

@@ -19,7 +19,20 @@ The new template is the save folder "Cobblemon Survival Island (Phase 4)"; the w
 
 ## Ask Adrian: Phase 4 decisions
 
-1. **Evolution stones as vein tiers.** Their natural ores have been off since Phase 1, so stones had no source at all. Now each stone has veins in one zone (Leaf Stone in the jungle, Water Stone in the Mire, Ice and Dawn Stone on Frostpeak, ...). Keep, move stones, or get them some other way?
-2. **Cobblebase (pasture jobs).** 2.0.1+1.8.0 loads on Cobblemon 1.8 with the pack, and all self-tests still pass with it (tried 2026-10-30, then taken out again until you decide; Modrinth only, CurseForge has only the 1.7 build). Its config has a switch per skill group (healing, recruiting, passive XP, finders, buffs, ...). It's a whole Palworld-style job system with 47 skills, and several cut across the pack's rules: a Healer skill (healing friction), Excavator/Mining (ore outside the zone veins), Alchemist (evolution stones), Breeder/Egg Hatcher, Friend Recruiter (spawns new Pokémon at the base, outside the zones), passive XP (5 % a minute for pastured Pokémon). Modrinth lists Cobbreeding (breeding; license "MIT, no AI, no reupload") as required, though Cobblebase's jar doesn't need it. Options: (a) Cobblebase with only Producer and skills that don't bypass zones or healing, (b) Cobblebase as it comes, (c) skip it and do base production in the companion mod in Phase 6. And: breeding, yes or no?
-3. **Power** (roadmap): Cobblemon Poke Power (Electric types output Forge Energy; Modrinth only, needs Matthiesen Core, already in the pack) or our own generator in Phase 6?
-4. **Placeholders** in `docs/balance.md`: the ore tier table, vein regrowth times (real time), vein spacing and size, unbreakable regenerators, the Vein Locator recipe, and the drop picks (Carkol/Torkoal blaze rods, Drifloon/Dusclops ghast tears, Whimsicott breeze rods, Shuckle/Cloyster shulker shells, Charizard nether stars).
+**Answered 2026-10-30:** (1) evolution stones as ores are fine for now; (2) Cobblebase's skills stay in, gated behind progression; (3) power from an existing mod, also gated: Cobblemon Poke Power; (4) the balance is fine for now and stays configurable.
+
+## Base jobs and power (after the answers)
+
+- **Cobblebase**, with each of its skills unlocked by beating a zone's Alpha guardian (table in `docs/balance.md`, data in `datapacks/core/data/cobblesurvival/progression_gates/base.json`). Automated: `gates_cover_every_cobblebase_skill`, `cobblebase_skills_wait_for_guardians`, and the guardian test checks that a win counts.
+- **Poke Power**: the Power Block can only be placed after the Verdant Jungle guardian. Automated: `power_block_waits_for_guardian`.
+
+In game:
+
+- [ ] Put a Pokémon with a starting skill (e.g. Pikachu: Producer, Item Gatherer) in a pasture near a chest: it works from the start. A Pokémon whose skills are all gated later (check its skill list in Cobblebase's screen) just sits there.
+- [ ] `/cobblesurvival progress grant <you> westmarch`, then a Mining Pokémon in the pasture starts digging up ore; `/cobblesurvival progress revoke <you> westmarch` stops it again.
+- [ ] Beat a guardian: the chat lists what it unlocked at your base.
+- [ ] Try to place a Power Block in survival before the Jungle guardian: it's refused with a message; after `/cobblesurvival progress grant <you> jungle` it places, and an Electric-type Pokémon inside makes energy (the block's screen and Jade show it).
+
+## Ask Adrian: approve Phase 4 before Phase 5
+
+The roadmap's done-when holds (every ore tier in exactly one zone, veins regrow after restart and unload, every Pokémon-sourced recipe input has a source), and base jobs and power are in, gated. Remaining placeholders: the skill stages and the Power Block gate (`docs/balance.md`).