[b]The January 2007 Contest

Appeal Stage 1



The contest hall down ASB was filling up as the first contest of 2007 was to take place! More of the lesser-known, coordinators-in-the-making were here today to show off what they could do. Ribbon holders, moderators and the homeless alike all sat in the contest hall keenly as the first coordinator stepped up.


Charles Legend
Leeks – [M] Farfetch’d
False Swipe ~ Swords Dance ~ Fury Attack

Charles took center stage. He released his Pokemon – a Farfetch’d that many knew as his nefarious sidekick in ASB. Leeks stood behind Charles, who was smiling at the ever-increasing crowd. Suddenly Leeks darted forward; a slash with his leek caused a blade of energy to hit Charles, who staggered forward despite knowing what was coming. Next Leeks span around wildly, ghostly swords engulfing both Charles and himself. One boy cried “Hark! It’s Link’s Spin Attack!” – people were more concerned with the assault that the small duck was executing on the willing trainer. To finish the appeal, Leeks leapt up to Charles and, leek held down, span down and slammed into the trainer. The leek, being a soft vegetable, was mashed into Charles’ hair and the duck landed awkwardly on the floor.

Score: 2.9
Probably the strangest thing I have ever seen. Ever. And I’ve seen grown men play on roundabouts. Originality is great – it is – but when it borders on psychotic behavior you get the opposite effect. Attacking you is not a good idea. Leeks was obscured for much of the appeal too.



Green Lanturn
Cliché – [?] Chinchou (shiny)
Mist-Bubble-Hydro Pump

Having been absent for some time, Green Lanturn’s arrival onto the scene caused cheers from the crowd, who seemed to have missed the super-heroic battler. He unleashed a green-tinged Chinchou, who stood in the center of the stage, ready. Suddenly a thin mist began to curl around the glowing fish; it was a delicate, wispy mist that soon spread and grew around little Cliché, whose yellow bulbs were visible through the obscurity. Next, from the top of the misty amalgamation came a series of frothy bubbles, spilling over the top and cascading all around. As the audience marveled at the display, a jet of chilled water burst forth, dispersing the foam and bubbles slightly, before specks of rain fell upon the sight below.

Score: 8.6
A great appeal. Obscuring moves like Mist, Haze and Smokescreen are often frowned upon by me because they just don’t achieve what they should. But you used mist in a creative and fluid way, and the appeal was something very unique and clever. Well done!



Dragonis
Hailee – [F] Sneasel
Ice Beam ~ Fury Swipes ~ Sunny Day

Not new at this, Dragonis was confident and sent out Hailee the Sneasel. She powered up a beam of ice in her hands and projected it at the ground, building it up and making a lump of ice. Had there been water and more moisture in the air, it may have been easier to do, and easier to create a defined shape. Nevertheless the lumpy block of ice was there. Many watched with drained anticipation – this appeal was commonplace. As Hailee swiped left and right, darting around and carving what she could from the ice. Having such long, thick claws was a help. Soon, an ornate dragon was seen sculpted from the ice. It was impressive, but it took some time to achieve and many people were recalling fond memories of the previous appeal. Finally, Hailee tried mustering up some inner power to bring about the sun. Being indoors, her efforts achieved nothing.

Score: 4.9
I know what you wanted to achieve but carving out of ice has been done before, quite a lot, and by the first action people knew what was coming. I did give you the benefit of the doubt and the dragon was carved, but it was quite boring to watch. The sunny day did nothing – we’re indoors. But overall a nice idea, just maybe focus on straying away from the ice block idea. Thanks!



Silencer
Ino – [F] Bulbasaur
Poison Powder – Flash – Razor Wind

The cute Bulbasaur emerged from the Pokeball before Silencer. A soft hiss was heard from the little bulb, and a fine, sticky purple powder spiraled up, before laying gently around Ino. Unfortunately it was not contained in an orb-like shape, but nevertheless Ino was sufficiently shrouded. Suddenly Ino began to glow, her outline a bright white like light shining through a crack in a door. Finally, numerous sweeping sheets of energy burst from the Pokemon, catching the purple powder and sending it all sweeping to the rafters in a multitude of energy.

Score: 6.9
It was a cool appeal and pretty original. The orb concept would have worked with a psychic attack, so maybe consider re-applying the idea for a different Pokemon’s appeal? Razor Wind was good – I like that attack and it helped take the poison away from shielding Ino. Well done.



MeLoveGhosts
Ammit – [M] Pineco
Spikes ~ Rapid Spin + Pin Missile

The multi-layered Pineco brought fond memories back for our judge today, recalling his very own when he began ASB. That same Pineco managed to help destroy Razor Leaf’s Zubat, although the judge reminded himself Pineco was getting admirably slaughtered in battle before that.

Pineco leapt up and an array of tack-like spikes burst from the layers of bark that were his body. They spread quite far around him in a messy circle. He then rotated, slowly at first, before spinning wildly like a possessed top. The spikes were caught, curling and flying around everywhere. As he span, Ammit fired off long, thin pins that flew through the air and struck the spikes. Some struck the tacks, others clashing against the tacks in a bright flash and chink noise similar to two coins striking each other. The pins and tacks clattered back to the ground at the end of a fantastic appeal.

Score: 7.7
Great appeal, MLG! One thing I liked was you used pin missile and rapid spin. Your idea wasn’t for the spikes to be struck by the pins but moreso to throw everything together and it worked well. Very easy to visualize, quite cool seeing a Pineco too, and simple yet quite a lot of thought into it. Well done!



Dark Sage
Oak – [M] Shiftry
Sunny Day – Extrasensory – Explosion

Looking wooden, evil and large, Shiftry had an instant stage presence as he was released from the Pokeball. Dark Sage watched intently as he ordered the appeal. First and foremost, Oak concentrated hard but, like those before him, was unable to bring the sunlight into the atmosphere. Next an odd aura surrounded him; Oak was throbbing with a mysterious pink glow that warped and squiggled. This was kept up until Shiftry gave an odd grunt. There was a huge explosion, smoke curling up from the blast as one woman screamed in panic. As the smoke died down, Shiftry was nowhere to be seen…

Score: 6.5
Cool idea – the explosion was a bit like when a magician disappears at the end of an act in a wisp of smoke. Unfortunately the sunny day didn’t work and that action could have perhaps been used on creating more atmosphere for the appeal and working with the other two attacks. Nevertheless a pretty cool appeal.



Phoenixsong
Hypnotik – [M] Drowzee
Light Screen ~ Brick Break ~ Psychic

Phoenixsong unleashed a Pokeball that exploded before the audience, revealing a Drowzee. The doughy-looking tapir stood there contently, before beginning the appeal. He acted with mime; as if wiping an invisible window with a rag, he managed to create a shimmering yellow screen that sparkled. As the audience watched, the Drowzee took a few steps back and leapt at it, shattering it with a well-aimed thwack. Shards flew in all directions as the yellow shield smashed. They sparkled and twinkled as a psychic force held them in place, levitating them in mid-air, before re-arranging them and putting them together to create a shape, the silhouette of a psychic Pokemon – Drowzee!

Score: 7.8
I liked this appeal – the mosaic idea was cool. Not much to say really, but overall it was good, although it did feel a bit empty for some reason. Nevertheless it did display the qualities of a psychic Pokemon really well.


Houndoom Lover
Mephistopheles, [M] Houndoom
Fire Spin – Smog – Flamethrower

The last competitor for the January Contest, Houndoom Lover, took to the stage and sent out a rather demonic looking Houndoom, with an apt name (and one that’s difficult to pronounce, too.) The Houndoom took to the center of the stage, aimed down and blasted a swirling vortex of flame, propelling himself up and back slightly as the large mass of fire and embers swirled into life. He fired a smog attack next; the coil of smoke furled around the still-alive fire, causing a small bang; there was an explosion that sent smokened clouds billowing around; from the mass of thick smoke came a turret of flame, directly up.

Score: 6.7
It was very hard to decipher and I had to end up researching ‘smog’ to find out if it has the toxins in it to cause an explosion. (Answer: it can – also worth noting is that smog is a portmanteau of ‘smoke’ and ‘fog’ – nice). Anyway your appeal was not well planned and was quite sketchy. Nevertheless it did yield some [dangerous] results and looked pretty cool so I gave you the benefit of the doubt.




Through to Round 2
Green Lanturn: 8.6
Phoenixsong: 7.8
MeLoveGhosts: 7.7
Silencer: 6.9
Houndoom Lover: 6.7

Eliminated
Dark Sage: 6.5
Dragonis: 4.9
Charles Legend: 2.9


Well! thank you everyone for competing. Round 2 applicants post your next Pokemon and appeal in this thread in any order. Again after this we will lose 3 people so make sure it counts! As you saw the line of elimination was very fine so you need to get those points!

Thanks everyone.