The March Contest! FINALS UP

[Chris 2.1]

The March Contest

Hosted by Chris 2.0

He’s really cool.Honest.



It was March. The darkened skies were clearing and today, in a sunny mid-morning, a contest was held. The audience sat in gently rising semi-circular seating in the pleasant sun before a grassy space for the Pokemon to perform. Alf, ASB’s resident Janitor, had done a fine job cutting the grass, although a decision had been made that, despite his efforts he did not deserve a pay rise. Alf subsequently shaved a rude word in an area of the Safari Zone in protest.

The first contestant walked onto the grass to a cheer; Weasel Overlord was loved by all, liked by some and hated by none. The proud bearer of the June Ribbon, Weasel came today to win.

*

Weasel Overlord
Aelethil the Arcanine [M]

Fire Blast – Extremespeed – Flame Wheel

Arcanine gave a roar. Paws firmly pressed against the soft grass the lithe canine opened his jaws wide, and between his curved, pointed fangs a swirling vortex of fire burst forth. A katana symbol of enraptured fire swept across the arena, charring some of the grass. In no time, the Arcanine sped through the arena, a silvery trail blazing behind him. He was racing up to the destructive fire force and, leaping, tore into it as fire swirled all around his body. The fiery shell burst the flaming symbol and as Arcanine landed, swathed in ruby-red flame, embers fell among him before losing their life and colour.

Score: 8.2
A great appeal to open things up with. It did have the potential to be much better. Why? I felt flame wheel wasn’t necessary since there was a bit too much fire. If Arcanine had done something different while bursting through the fire attack it might have been cooler. Nevertheless this was a good one; you demonstrated Arcanine’s speed traits and its firepower very nicely.

*

River
Objects in Space the Chimecho [M]

Icy Wind – Heal Bell + Psywave

The little Chimecho hovered in mid-air. The audience watched its simple shape as it summoned a gentle, biting wind. The swirling wind curved past Chimecho and he gave a soft flicker, as if tempted to move but choosing not to. Following that, his tail fluttered and a soft, bell-like chime rang through the arena. As this happened, pulsating waves of a soft, lavender energy gently swam through the air.

Score: 8.0
A tough one to score. It was really good, very inventive use of attacks and sequencing. It also mimicked Chimecho’s natural characteristics, which I love. There isn’t much to say, but during the appeal I was tempted to mark it much higher and much lower as I mused. Maybe because of the uniqueness I faced a difficult decision. But my result stays; 8 is a fine score for an appeal. Well done.

*

Charles Legend
Brock the Pineco [M]

Spikes – Rapid Spin – Pin Missile

Pineco gave a thick cry as he leapt up, spitting a number of thick, ugly spikes up and spraying them around the arena. They landed all over. Pineco began to spin fast, spinning like a demented top as the nearby spikes were whipped up and hurtled into the air. As they twirled, Pineco aimed carefully and blasted a series of flashing silver pins to clatter and duel against the spikes in the sky.

Score: 6.6
There’s nothing wrong with the appeal. I think it works well. But it’s been done quite a lot and almost exactly like that in a very recent month. Try adding something more dangerous to the appeal instead of staying in a safety zone.

*

Mega Horny
Sondermüll the Muk [M]

Earthquake – Acid Armour – Explosion

Muk was big and gloopy and yet had a very solid, firm body. It was mysterious. Such an unusual creature caught the attention of the crowd straight away. Muk’s large, throbbing fingers on his rounded hands slammed hard into the ground, but this caused pain and confusion. Turning to his trainer, Muk looked confused, trying again to split the earth. It did not work. The creature, undeterred, pressed himself deeper to the earth, melding and disappearing from sight. The audience looked on. A rumble occurred and there was a tumultuous explosion; a white light erupted from nowhere as a cloud of dust rose. The dust settled, and an exhausted Muk stood there, panting.

Score: 5.0
My Pokedex states that Muk cannot learn earthquake. If it had......wow. That would have been one of the best appeals I'd seen in a long time. Unfortunately it wasn't. The acid armour/explosion was actually good in itself; but the fact that it was not your entire appeal, and that your plan did not work meant you could only achieve so much.

*

Silencer
Kyodaigumo the Ariados [F]

Spider Web – Psychic – Poison Sting

The Ariados gave a threatening click. It hissed softly and held both its rear and its fanged mouth up. Spining fantastically it created a round cobweb-shaped webbing from the sticky solution that looks the same despite what end it emerges from. The web was created and held aloof with a psychic glow. The web was looking like some sort of spooky pizza as it was gently spun. It sparkled as Ariados blasted a series of shiny barbs up into the air. Some tore into the web; some were caught; either way, a veil of tarnished silk and shimmering stingers fell upon the creepy Pokemon.

Score: 7.1
It was inventive in its approach; you looked carefully at the moves Ariados can learn, but I don’t think it worked well. It seemed awkward in places. I think spider web is an excellent move for appeals, but not in this context. Similarly, I think that the psychic and poison sting could work in a cool appeal, but not with spider web.

*

OzAndrew
OzWheez

Sludge Bomb – Will-O-Wisp – Fire Blast

OzWeez hovered above the grassy arena, opening wide and firing thick sloppy pellets of sludge. They splattered in place as the round ball of gas arranged a star shape. The people sitting higher up could see the shape clearer than those sitting lower down, but it was evident that star was created. An odd smell filled the air. Weezing gave a grunt as little blue flames popped up around him. They melded into a huge fireball and were catapulted towards the sludgy star. The star went up in beautiful periwinkle flames, glowing brightly against the sunny sky. Weezing matched the sight by unleashing a fire blast; the fiery symbol of power slammed into the star with a flash; the reds, golds, purples and blues melded together to perform a fantastic star shape that danced beneath the eerie Weezing.

Score: 9.6
Not only one of your best appeals to date, one of the best I've seen on the contest circut since we started. You used colour, a bit of science (toxins + fire = good) and a good use of Weezing’s moveset. I scored it that high because I honestly feel that given the Pokemon’s moveset you can’t do much better than that. Well done..

*

Negrek
Lorefel the Gastly [M+]

Haze – Psywave – Perish Song

Gastly eyeballed the audience. His general appearance was not as good in the daytime. The sunbeams shone through his entity. However he did his best to create a thick, furling haze. Soon he was obstructed by a shadowy veil. From there, bright rings pulsated and flashed from his body as they wound from the darkness. Gastly was using a similar move that Chimecho did, but the effects could not be more different. This was scary. As the rings illuminated the blackened haze, a horrible, screeching song filled the air, chilling all whose hearing aids were turned to the T position. The haze lifted, and the round, ghostly Gastly gave a smile.

Score: 6.8
Hmm I think in a dark room this would be awesome; it reminds me of drum ‘n’ bass with trippy lights and smoke and horrible music. But in a sunny field? Hmm we didn’t quite get the effect. Apart from that you did a fantastic job.

*

Hypotenuse Man
Force Cross Radius the Torkoal [M]

Smokescreen – Fire Spin – Eruption

The Torkoal leapt out and gave a heaving cough. Smoke billowed out from the Pokemon’s shell, wandering aimlessly around the arena. In a swift movement, Torkoal spat a swirling vortex of flame that gathered up the smoke and ash. The flaming snake wound up and around Torkoal before settling at the tip of its shell; subsequently the tortoise shuddered and gave a cry as a painful blast of molten lava erupted from his shell; the force blasted the fire from fire spin and the smoke to the ground in a powerful force as the eruption tore high into the sky.

Score: 8.8
Very nice. It was good to use a ‘signature move’ (hardly any Pokemon learn eruption) and also the way in which you used all the attacks together. Good work.

*

Dragonis
Silent Bob the Mr Mime [M+]

Magical Leaf – Psychic – Psybeam

The green mime leapt out; straight away Andrew screamed in protest with his two Mr Mimes. They were angry. Nobody cared, not even Alf, the Janitor. This leprechaun-esque Mime swung his hands and summoned a myriad of large, flashing leaves. They flickered in mid-air as he enraptured them with a bright glow, forming a large, green shamrock. The leaves sparkled in unison. Next, focusing hard, Mr Mime blasted a rainbow-coloured beam up; it arched through the Shamrock and back to the ground, ending the appeal.

Score: 8.2
Ok that might seem like a high score for a standard levitation appeal. Well guess what, you deserve it! Ok the concept is so so so overdone but you worked wonders with it, the irish theme (shamrock, rainbow/psybeam etc) just really impressed me. Thanks!

*

Elec Man EXE
Celeste the Hypno [F]

Future Sight -- Fire Punch -- Thunder Wave

Celeste has recently evolved, standing there proudly in the bright sunlight. In fact…the sun was so bright that Celeste’s fist seemed to catch on fire. The flames grew and grew as Celeste crouched and swung her fist around; the fire ignited some of the grass and a circle was drawn around the Hypno. The area grew in size; now the flames had risen to the Pokemon’s stomach, in a neat circle around her body. She held her palm down and a crackle of electricity was unleashed; the sparks jutted out like little bolts, pushing through the violent flames as they rose higher.

At that point, a manic glint appeared in Celeste’s eye and sudden bolts of blue light burst down from the skies. They peppered the ground, causing a fantastic series of fireworks as they melded with the flames and the crackling thunder.

Score: 9.0
The first action confused me a little, with the fire punch. But the effect at the end was great with the future sight hitting. All the different colours melding together was really good. That was a great appeal! Stick with spontenuity!




Wow. Guys seriously, that was a fantastic batch of appeals. You’re all getting pretty good at this! Hehe. I was very impressed with you all.


Scores

OzAndrew – 9.6
Elec Man EXE – 9.0
Hypotenuse Man – 8.8
Weasel Overlord – 8.2
Dragonis – 8.2
River – 8.0

----------------

Silencer – 7.1
Negrek – 6.8
Charles Legend – 6.6
Mega Horny – 5.0



Therefore River Mega Horny, Silencer, Negrek and Charles are eliminated! Sorry guys! The competition has been fierce this month.


And now, for you 6 second-rounders, the details of Round 2

For Round 2 you are being paired into three teams of two. With your partner you have ten days to work on a double appeal, which must be posted in this topic on Sunday the 18th of March or you will be disqualified. You can use any of your Pokemon that you choose.

Remember:
-Try to pick Pokemon that suit each other. Natu and Wailord = no. Similar species (cats, dogs, etc) or similar colours, maybe? Parts of a set (ie: eeveelutions, Hitmons, starters, fossils etc etc) or same types.
-Try not to hurt the opponent. That comes in Round 3.
-Look at other Double-Appeal contests for help and tips on what worked well and what didn’t.


The pair that get the highest appeal score will go head to head in a 5-round match!


Pairings:

OzAndrew & Weasel Overlord

Elec Man EXE & Hypotenuse Man

Dragonis & River




Remember, only 10 days!