Grand Festival: Round One!

[Chris 2.1]

Information Center


Round 1 details:

This is a simple, standard 3-attack appeal simple to those you perform in normal contests. Post in this topic which Pokemon you will be using and the appeal. Remember if you use a combo, that counts as the number of moves that you use in the combo, ie: quick attack and thunder fang, even when used together, are classed as two attacks. There are no banned attacks.

The arena is a giant outdoor stadium in the open. There is short, finely-cut grass.


Ok guys, show me what you've got!

[Ultimate Charizard]

Ill start things off with one of my newbies...

Riolu lets show em how small, can still have big power while still keeping it simple.

Start with a High Jump Kick straight vertical. At the peak turn it into a Blaze Kick and come shooting back down to the ground. On impact let out an Earthquake.

High Jump Kick - Blaze Kick - Earthquake

Its a Meteor Kick

[Blademaster]

I'll enter my legendary Blaziken(M), Rawk Hawk.

Rawk, start by enveloping yourself with fire via Flare Blitz. Try to look as morose and calm as possible as you do so, as though you're trying to immolate yourself. As the flames spread and conceal you, combine the force of Flare Blitz with your Dig, so when the flames go out, it'll look as though all that's left of you is a pile of dirty 'ashes.' Then, when the crowd least suspects it, rocket out of the earth fists ablaze with Brave Bird, just like the legendary phoenix rising from the ashes.

Moves: Sacriphoenix (Flare Blitz to cloak self with fire and provide force needed for *fast* burrowing underground + Dig, for said '*fast* burrowing underground'), Brave Bird (to 'rise from the ashes')

[MeLoVeGhOsTs]

I choose Jade, my female Igglybuff. Come on out.

Ok, first I'd like you to load up a Shadowball between your hands, hold it and charge electricity through it with a Thunderwave, then toss it up high and when it falls down again, jump up and Megakick it into oblivion, hopefully, it'll explode.

Shadowball ~ Thunderwave ~ Megakick

[Dragonis]

For this round I'll send out Jay, my shiny Gallade.

Alright Jay, start off by surrounding yourself with a flury of Magical Leafs. Then I want you to combine Swords Dance and Cut to quickly and skillfuly slice through every leaf before they have a chance to fall to the ground.

~Magical Leaf~Swords Dance + Cut~

[Pichu Luver]

Alrighty then! Boogie down! We be back again! Go Kablooie Louie my Electrode!

Right, first off Louie, use a Magnet Rise to get yourself up in the air. Then as a floating ball of bombastic quality I want you to use Rollout and once you're rolling around the arena, use Charge Beam. So the effect is it looks like there is a giant rolling wheel of electricity going around the arena.

Magnet Rise/Rollout and Charge Beam

[Weasel Overlord]

Hrm, before I post my appeal, could you tell me what the weather's like?

[Chris 2.1]

Its a normal plain day. A few clouds in thr sky but the sun is out.

[Weasel Overlord]

Curse you, sun! Making my faux-sun idea look pants! Time for plan B - Thorn, you're up! (shiny female Rosurade - which I have consistently spelled wrong since she evolved ><)

Okay Thorn, I want you to start with a Grasswhistle. Make it nice and tuneful, and then use Leaf Storm mingled with a Petal Dance, as if you summoned the leaves and petals with your whistle and dancing! ^_^ Finish in a nice pose as the prettiness fades away, to show off your graceful dancing prowess.

~Grasswhistle ~Leaf Storm + Petal Dance

[Greyfox]

I'll be using Perseus, my super cool ninjallade.

Perseus, use your ninjutsu to create one clone via Double Team. Then, use your *Body Flicker technique! Teleport behind your clone and immediately eliminate him with a devastating Leaf Blade!

Double Team / Teleport + Leaf Blade

-Grey

[The Blue Avenger]

Before I post my appeal, if it's outside, are there rocks?

[Chris 2.1]

No I'm afraid not. It is a large grassy arena. However I ref/judge some rock moves (Ancientpower and Stealth Rock, for example) as moves that do NOT require rocks around the area.

[The Blue Avenger]

Another question, then. If a Pokemon uses Ancientpower, do you ref that the rocks stick around afterwards?

[Chris 2.1]

Yea they do.

[The Blue Avenger]

Okay, I'll use my Lombre, Jimmy T., in a completely different appeal from what I originally intended.

Jimmy, we're going to make an appeal that symbolizes the seasons, since a solstice is almost upon us. Start by firing a Razor Leaf into the air (summer), then use an Icy Wind to chill them and keep them aloft (fall to winter). Finally, shoot them down and hopefully shatter them (if they're frozen enough) with a well-aimed Bullet Seed, symbolizing the seeds blooming in spring.

Razor Leaf ~ Icy Wind ~ Bullet Seed

[Andrew]

I'm going to use my darling OzCorsola!

OzCorsola! Start off by shooting up Icicle Spears into the air! Follow up by using Psychic to Position the Icicle Spears into creating a geometric shape! Then, As they are nice and high, fire a Confuse Ray into the shape, to make a large and glowy one, and that'll do as a nice finish as it smashes down around you, all ice and glows!

Icicle Spears - Psychic - Confuse Ray.

[Chris 2.1]

The Grand Festival 2007
Round One



Here we are, at the first chapter of this years Grand Festival. The nine hopefulls have all proven their worth over the last two years, winning ribbons crudely made by a moderator from blighty.


The set-up this year was different; instead of kicking out those who made the odd slip-up, this festival allowed the nine competetors to participate in 5 rounds of appeals. After those five rounds, the four highest scores would go on to the semi finals.


Fireworks burst into life in the beautiful sky as the large stadium was filled to the brim with spectators. First up was Ultimate Charizard; a recent contest winner who released his Pokemon and began.

Appeal #1
Ultimate Charizard

High Jump Kick -- Blaze Kick -- Earthquake


The small dog like warrior emerged on the field and gave a bark. He crouched down before springing up, swinging his foot up as he did a sort of flip in mid-air. As he got high, Riolu's feet burst into flame as he swung a leg down and soared down to the ground in a blazing streak of fire and light. Like a meteor he shot to the ground where, upon landing, he sent a fantastic tremor rippling out around him. Amazing!


Score: 17/20
Comments: I really liked this cool, viusual appeal. All the attacks worked with each other; HJK allowed for a more powerful blaze kick, blaze kick coupled with earthquake gave a cool effect, and the height of HJK greatened the power of the quake. You took into consideration Riolu's capabilities and pulled off a great appeal. Well done.

Pleased with his efforts, Ultimate took his Riolu and walked off the arena. The audience applauded as a replay of the appeal was shown on the jumbo-vision. While they marvelled the next coordinator got ready; MeLoveGhosts.

Appeal #2
MeLoVeGhOsTs

Shadow Ball -- Thunderwave -- Mega Kick


The cute Igglybuff emerged from its Pokeball. She held her hands out and began charging up energy, an energy fizzling with dark, deep shadow. Curls of penetrating umbra swirled and coiled within the ball, casting an ominous shadow over Igglybuff's once endearing face. As the darkness grew, small tendrils of shooting sparks jetted out around Igglybuff; the thunderwave was being released into the shadow ball but it was not fusing as she had hoped. Instead, an electric glow began circulating around it and casting a yellow glow around. The visual show was hurled up into the air by Igglybuff, smiling serenely, and as the fizzing ball of darkness and light came back down, Igglybuff swung a foot and caused the whole thing to explode. A shower of bright sparks and deep shadows rifled through the air.


Score: 16/20
Comments: Another great appeal! It was executed well, but I didn't envision thunderwave being released inside the shadow ball, as I took your order to be. Despite that the electric attack supercharged the ball so it still worked really well. It was a great combination of colour.

MLG was satisfied, and left the stage with Igglybuff. As a fleet of bird Pokemon siphoned away the remnants of the last appeal, Blademaster walked on to the stage, surprisingly NOT wearing an eyepatch. Walking alongside him was the hulking fighter Blaziken, looking badass and powerful as he strode along, wrists burning furiously.

Appeal #3
Blademaster

Flare Blitz -- Dig -- Brave Bird


The Blaziken gave an immediate roar and tore across the arena. His legs, wrists and mane burst into flame as he picked up speed, before the large fighter was entirely cloaked in fire. The flames grew higher and higher, streaking across the field...until suddenly they started to subside. The flames died down completely revealling a smouldering crater and no Pokemon. Unbeknownst to the audience Blaziken had used dig while running, hiding from view. In a sudden burst of light Blaziken leapt up and out, beak pointed skyward as a beautiful light engulfed him. He soared high like a phoenix, rising from the ashes.


Score: 18/20
Comments: Another brilliant appeal. I'm really impressed by it. It was just really fitting, clever, a great combination of Blaziken's fire and bird characteristics and something I would love to see performed.

Blademaster left the stage, high-fiving his Blaziken and thus needing to see the Burns nurse straight away. The aggressive nurse dealt with Blademaster as Dragonis walked onto the field, apparently having a spat with Grey for 'who has the best Gallade'. Nobody else seemed to care, but Grey's was...well, Gray.

Appeal #4
Dragonis

Magical Leaf -- Swords Dance + Cut


The beautiful yet masculine (?) Gallade emerged, blade-like apendages ready. Focusing, Jay closed his eyes, and a flurry of colourful leaves exploded before his eyes. They hung in the air as he summoned up an army of ghostly swords, cloaked in rust and time. The swords swirled around Jay and, as they did, the sharp blades shredded up the falling leaves, sending glittering, multicoloured confetti spiralling around the gallant Pokemon.


Score: 15/20
Comments: A nice appeal. I really liked swords dance + cut, very clever. My only gripe was that not much really happened. Although having said that you did demonstrate Gallade's properties very well. I look forward to your next appeal!

Walking off the stage, Dragonis was heckled by Grey, despite everyone else commenting on how much they liked the appeal. The atmosphere was tense but exciting, filling the next contestants with a form of fear. The next contestant, River, strode out onto the arena. River was already an establishd coordinator, having come in the top 4 in last years Grand Festival. Like Dragonis she had two ribbons and deserved them both.

Appeal #5
River

Magnet Rise -- Rollout -- Charge Beam


The large Pokeball of fun emerged from the ... Pokeball and gave a deafening boom. No it wasn't Basil Brush, it was Electrode, one of River's finest. He screwed his face up in concentration and focused as tiny, silvery jolts of lightening were released against the ground, slowly causing him to levitate up off the earth as the magnetic jolts pushed him off from the ground. The audience watched, mesmerised, as the Electrode was levitating like some creepy helium balloon. Electrode gave a grimace and bolted off, rolling around the stands, over the audiences heads as he did laps around the arena. The silvery magnetic pulses trailed beneath him and, as he rolled, he blasted a furious beam of charged energy that span with him; a fantastic trail of golden light followed Electrode as he span around the arena and, having wowed everyone, slowly fell back to the ground.


Score: 17/20
Comments: The appeal in itself was quite standard. But I really really loved the magnet rise part. It just took the visual factor to another level in this appeal and it was very clever. Well done!

River recieved a high applause as the left the stage. Next up was Weasel Overlord, another well known player in the coordinating circuit. She walked out, shouting comments at the sky for being 'crap' and 'not what I wanted' as she gripped an oddly coloured Pokeball in her hand. Everyone watched keenly to see what she was going to do...

Appeal #6
Weasel Overlord

Grasswhistle -- Leaf Storm -- Petal Dance


Emerging from the Pokeball was the superpowered rose Pokemon, Roserade! In a bright flash she stood there, her bouquet-like apendages concealing nasty thorns. She fluttered her eyelashes and pressed a bouquet to her lips, blowing and creating an illustrious tune. A pleasant sound filled the air...melodic, happy, summery...and as this happened, a flurry of leaves swept up from nowhere! Leaves bursting into existance, swirling in mid-air as if posessed; in contrast to these dark green leaves came a flurry of soft, pink petals, swirling and zipping among the storm. The audience watched as the Roserade stood calmly amid the storm, admiring her work. The appeal ended when the leaves began to slowly stir and fall at Roserades feet. Fin.


Score: 17/20
Comments: A great appeal showing the mix of beautiful petals and vicious sharp leaves. I liked the set-up, with the attacks being 'summoned' by Grasswhistle. It didn't really have an end, but I liked the way the leaves/petals would slowly fall until only Roserade was standing. Great work.

Six down, three to go! Weasel walked off as Alf, the Janitor, began sweeping up the debris from the previous appeal. The last three people were Grey, The Blue Avenger and OzAndrew; one was calmly reading a book, the other reciting a pirate song and the third unprofessionally throwing up with nerves. Once the last petal was plucked from the ground, Grey was summoned to the stage, where he gripped a Pokeball and cast a look back at Dragonis with something like glee.

Appeal #7
Grey

Double Team -- Teleport + Leaf Blade

Gallade emerged, a mixture of grey and black - fittingly ironic for Grey, the trainer, but also rather ominous and grim. The Gallade, named Perseus, focused as he created a copy of himself. The new Gallae, named 0.1, stood next to Perseus, breathing as he breathed, staring as he stared...but not thinking as he did. In a flash of green and pink Perseus dissapeared and a long slice of green energy slashed 0.1 apart. In a wisp of energy the clone was gone and Perseus was crouched, blades out, deadly.

Score: 18/20
Comments: I normally quite like double team appeals IF you do them for a reason. This was a good example. Would have been nice to see something psychicy....like psycho cut or something. But nevertheless I enjoyed the appeal.

The Blue Avenger was next and he knew it. Waking up his sleepy Lombre, he tried to collect his thoughts. The judge of the competiton admired his December 2005 ribbon, wondering if he would ever compete again. Meanwhile a boy by the name of 'UuberFred' had to be escorted from the stadium over his anguish at the loss of the Gallade clone. Security took him away.

Appeal #8
The Blue Avenger

Razor Leaf -- Icy Wind -- Bullet Seed


Lombre emerged and gave a bawdy cry. His trainer cursed the arena, noticing the lack of good rocks, and made a mental note to create his own Grand Festival this year. Lombre opened his arms and swung his head, sending a flurry of sharp leaves shooting up in the skies. A second later he blasted a frosty chill up into the air, freezing them and causing a crisp coating to cover the leaves. Finally, as the heavy leaves fell fast, a myriad of seeds were blasted with bullet-like precision, shattering the icy leaves and causing a crackling of ice and leaves to rain down.

Score: 19/20
Comments: just got a 19 here. I really enjoyed it, the appeal was set-up nicely, the seasons idea was great too although I don't know how effectively it was conveyed in the appeal. Nevertheless the use of attacks was really good, it was a great appeal.

Now, with TBA done, the only person left was OzAndrew. He was walking onto the arena as footage of his legendary contest win was displayed. Legendary not for the amazing appeals, but for the fact that it was the first time in 18 months the Oztralian actually got a break. Effort, effort, effort. Loss, loss, loss. Luckily though he now had a ribbon he did NOT display in his sig (urgh) and was competing today, after his vitriolic tyraid last year against every appeal he saw. Karma, people. Karma.

Appeal #9
OzAndrew

Icicle Spear -- Psychic -- Confuse Ray


Corsola emerged and gave a cute cry. She pointed her coral horns forward and blasted a series of icicles high through the air; they sparkled and shimmered in the sky as a psychic glow grasped them; the icicles, like sticks were whizzed around and formed a star that floated above Corsola. The audience watched, many unaware of Corsola's psychic prowess. As this happened Corsola fired up a purple jet of light that refracted the icy star-shape and sent rays of purple light blasting down at all angles.


Score: 16/20
Comments: It was a good appeal, the icicle spears making a shape was good. I imagine confuse ray refracting really well since its like not a solid shape. But it felt like a LOT of Pokemon could have pulled this appeal off. Corsola's not really very ghost-like or psychicy is she? Some water and ice moves would have been good here.

With 1 round down, the band of coordinators both old and new waited for news on the second round to commence. The audience gave a last cheer and all went to Krispy Kreme as the judge hung his hat up for the day. What will await the tricky troubadors in the second round? Can friends become enemies? Will enemies become friends? And no, it's not double appeals next round.