Appeal Stage 1
The contest halls are adorned thickly with tinsel and all manner of Christmasy decorations. The Christmas tree set up by everyone's favorite janitor is a testament to the Christmas Spirit itself, cloaked in ornaments, shiny round balls of red, blue, and green, with a sparkling star on top to finish it. The audience is quickly crowding in to their sheets, exciting and speaking in loud voices as they wait for the competitors to make themselves known, having a few minutes to go over their current strategy -- or for some, last minute changes -- in attempts to earn themselves the coveted December Ribbon and six points. The crowd goes silent as the first trainer steps up to the stage, and the remaining talk drains away into barely audible whispers.
~Negrek and Datum~
The first competitor and her Pokémon draw a few odd gazes from the crowd. A Porygon hovers just above the ground, as its trainer gives the mechanical wonder its commands. Humming in affirmation, Datum flows over to the center of the stage, tilting his head upward before a barrage of icy wind and snow blast from his beak towards the lofty ceiling. Barely does the snow begin to fall downwards before it -oddly- starts to fall... up. The crowd gasps in wonderment as the snow slowly shapes itself by some unseen force into a perfectly round ball. Datum barely moves, shaking his head a bit while the glob upwards does something of the same, making it appear as though the snow's falling about the sphere of snow above. A few seconds pass and suddenly the ball begins to drop, losing its shape and form quickly. Datum fires a medium-sized orb of ghostly energy upwards, blowing apart the already scattering snow to the leaving some of its ghostly energy behind as the Shadow Ball hits the roof and breaks apart, showing the stage with streams of dark type energy along with the shining pieces of snow and ice.
~ Andrew and OzStar~
The next co-ordinator takes his place on the now snow-free stage a few minutes later, already well-known to the contest crowd. Andrew has chosen a Starmie for the first round of competition, and it hovers forward, lifting itself up with a very prominent Psychic aura. The crowd watches the dazzling star Pokémon with obvious curiosity. OzStar continues to hover... and the audience begins to wonder what's going on as OzStar stops, looking as far as it could a bit panicked. It takes a few seconds more for it to react, sending an Ice Beam shooting downwards, forming something of a cone shape. Obviously relieved, OzStar floats down to the cone of ice, resting on top of it, before glowing with a brilliant Flash to end the round. Everyone seems delighted, and cheers as the Starmie continues to flash atop the icy tree.
~TheBlueAvenger and the Ace of Spades ~
Next is another male trainer and his Chimecho. Ace takes the initiative, wrapping himself in a Icy Wind, not quite obscuring his form, but managing to surround himself in a sparkling sort of light from the bits of ice an snow in the wind. Grimacing a bit, Ace begins to sway, emitting a gentle, tolling sound reminiscent of a veil. Slowly, the Chimecho lowers himself to the ground eyes closed, whilst glowing blue from the Psychic power. The audience is rather perplexed, but applauds courteously as they exit.
~Blademaster and Valentina~
The next co-ordinator also seems to be well-known, judging from the cheers and catcalls coming from the crowd. The ever optimistic Blademaster motions his Kirlia forward, and she obliges with a graceful twirl, sending forth a chilling Icy Wind across the stage floor. Valentina frowns as the Icy Wind stops, noticing the lack of any ice of which to skate on, though the surface does seem a bit more sparkly with the bits of snow and ice that came from the blast of wind. Valentina pauses in her confusion for only a moment, leaping and twirling into action, "skating" across the ice-less stage to the best of her abilities. Soon, the Kirlia splits into three identical beings, one real, two illusions. The illusions skate around as if there were ice, while Valentina herself has to make due with a different sort of dance. The three Kirlia head toward each other after a bit of skating, throwing themselves into unique poses before sending dark purple Will-O-Wisps into the air to end their appeal.
~Dragonis and Silvermane~
Relatively new to the Contest Stage, Dragonis and his loyal Growlithe, Silvermane, eagerly bound onto the stage. With a bout of happy yips, the fire hound bounds onto the stage barking and jumping joyfully to Charm the crowd, and it seems to be working rather well, judging by the amused smiles and the giggles of watching chidlren. Losing little of his former charm and enthusiasm, Silvermane sends forth a thread of spiraling flames which curl into a cone-shaped Tornado. Not quite finished yet, the red-colored flames are soon joined by a sparkling green as a Dragon Breath slithers into the fiery, mostly cone-shaped whirlwind, making it a very fire-type semblance of a Christmas tree. The crowd, still rather charmed by the eager puppy, clap and whistle as he and Dragonis exit the stage.
~Silencer and Asuma ~
The next contestant seems to be yet another male trainer and a cocky looking Sneasel. The people in the ground watch as the Sneasel lithely makes his way onto the stage, breathing in deeply, before sending a tendril of Ice energy onto the floor, forming a small block of ice after a small time. Barely giving himself time to regain his breath, Asuma dashes forward, claws gleaming as he slashes rapidly at the ice, removing it in as small chunks as he can make it, but even his claws can't make mince-meat out of it, and Asuma quickly loses ground as more sparkling bits of ice are sent flying until the cube is decimated. Asuma, panting, then runs around, trying to launch the ice into the air with his speed alone, but to no effect, and the audience is left wondering why the Sneasel was running about in the first place.
~Asayake and John Lafite~
To try and replace the disappointment from the last appeal, a long contest-favorite, Asayake and John Lafite (now evolved) finally find their way onto the winter stage. The Masquerin flaps his way forward on his new found wings, before surrounding the immediate arena in a thick mist. Though the audience can't see much of anything thanks to the Mist, but they do notice sparkling bits of snow and ice blowing through the mist, tearing its shroud somewhat. Bits of the mist - unknown mostly to the audiance - do seem to freeze, though obviously not to the large amount of the Masquerin had intended. John, still somewhat hidden by the mist, flaps his wings hurriedly as he summons up a silver wind to gather the bits of ice, snow, and mist into as close of a whirlwind shape as he can get, making the silvery gust aswirl with as much of the Mist and Blizzard as the bug can garner.
~Weasel Overlord and Dei'ls~
Mist now faded away, WO and her Xatu soon appear in the spotlight. The female Xatu darts off on her stiff, mosaic wings, diving down in a corkscrew maneuver with Drill Peck, before disappearing in a flash of black smoke, before appearing in a blast of green/white feathers and black smoke seconds later, to everyone's surprise and astonishment.
~Elec Man EXE and Lillie~
Having competed in many contests before, Elec Man and his Bulbasaur approach the stage with an obvious air of confidence. Lillie starts off with firing a barrage of rainbow-colored leaves up into the air above her, before a snap of thick green vines launch upward, and grasp hold of one of the beams holding the roof up. Lillie slowly lifts herself upwards through the multitude of falling leaves, firing off petals of pastel pink as she reaches the top. The pretty flower petals linger among the rainbow and Lillie slowly lowers herself down to the ground, covered in both petal and leaf. Quite a pretty sight indeed.
~Chris 2.0 and Hao~
Chris enters the hall with the most intimidating competitor we have seen today: a burly Charizard of dragon origin. The lumbering beast roars and spins around in an ancient Dragons Dance, surrounding himself in a pale green nimbus as he thrashes and roars with the spirit of his ancestors. Fire begins to form at his gaping maw, and Hao aims his Fire Spin at the ground, curling it around himself until he's surrounded by the fiery tornado, though feeling no fear of it as his dance ends. Though the audience can't see what's going on inside of the fiery curtain, Hao allows his two claws to crackle with green Dragon-fire, and launches himself upwards with a flap of his wings, bursting out of the top of the Fire Spin, before slashing the Tornado with his claws as he flies downward, shredding much of the Fire Spin into tiny embers of flame until the tornado dies out.
Scores:
Negrek and Datum: 8.4
The Snow Glob part of the appeal was a nice touch and I liked the image it leant me - a giant snow globe hovering in the middle of the air. The Shadowball part was pretty good too, as it added a bit of color into the falling snow and ice, making for a rather pretty scene indeed.
Andrew and OzStar: 8.5
You got some points docked off for OzStar's hesitation and confusion, due to the fact you never stated what move it should use to make that cone of ice. It could've gone a lot worse, but luckily for you, it turned out well; it was also a very clever appeal, and I really liked the idea of it. If it weren't for the hesitation, you probably would've a slightly higher score.
TheBlueAvenger and Ace : 6.0
Truthfully, I don't see the Icy Wind as very thick, just a bit of cold wind, which is barely visible due to the amount of ice and snow in it, and its naturally bluish tinge. The bell-ringing was a nice sound, though watching a Chimecho make a bell sound as it lowers itself to the ground didn't strike me as that impressive.
Blademaster and Valentina: 7.4
I really don't think an Icy Wind could make even a thin coating of ice unless there was water to freeze - like someone had spilled water on the stage. However, while Valentina couldn't skate, her clones could, and Kirlia seem like naturally gifted dancers in any case, and Valentina made the best of it. The ending Will-O-Wisp was also a nice touch. We also have seen Icy Wind used just an appeal before.
Dragonis and Silvermane: 7.8
I actually thought this appeal was rather cute. And though Charm doesn't work as easily on a crowd, I see naturally cute animals like puppies something that can bring that Charm to work a little bit better. The Fire Spin wasn't quite a cone, but it got the point across, and the Dragonbreath threaded into it made it a fun thing to imagine.
Silencer and Asuma: 4.0
I'm sorry, but the appeal did not go well at all. The block of ice being torn apart was all right, but he didn't manage to make small particles out of it, nor would running around fast pick up much of anything. Nice try though.
Asayake and John 7.0
It was a good appeal, though I doubt Blizzard could really freeze much of the water particles in Mist entirely, and people could barely see the Blizzard. The Silver Wind helped bring things back to order, though it could not fully contain the Mist, but did blow it away somewhat and make that tornado.
Weasel Overlord and Dei'ls: 7.5
Normally, Faint Attacking moves down go quite as well as some, but this was one of the few I felt truly worked well. It was a nice disappear/reappear act. Nice job.
Elec Man EXE and Lillie: 7.7
It was a nice move, and the rainbow colored leaves and petals were a fun touch. A bit standard, though nice and effective nonetheless.
Chris 2.0 and Hao : 8.0
Not incredibly special, but it was a cool appeal, and Charizard has always been a rather impressive Pokémon to see, and the Dragon Dance/Fire Spin combination I felt was the coolest part of the whole thing, while the shredding of the Fire Spin was a pretty good add on.
Totals:
Andrew and OzStar: 8.5
Negrek and Datum: 8.4
Chris 2.0 and Hao: 8.0
Dragonis and SIlvermane: 7.8
Elec Man EXE and Lillie: 7.7
Weasel Overlord and Dei'ls: 7.5
----
Blademaster and Valentina: 7.4
Asayake and John: 7.0
TheBlueAvenger and Ace: 6.0
Silencer and Asuma: 4.0
The dividing line represents the six competitors who go on to round two, and the last four were the ones eliminated. Those who go forward, please chose a different Pokémon than the one used in Round 1 to do your Hyper Appeal. PM your appeal to me.
A reminder: a Hyper Appeal is an appeal consisting of 5 attacks. Good luck!
The December Contest (Battle Round 5 UP!)
Reply With Quote
Originally Posted by Heald
