Contest March 2024 CaC: Kalos Pokédex (Stay Tuned for Results!)

I'm going to enter for text-based, as I have an idea for me to do some storytelling with a plotline I conceptualized. The story focuses a lot on Magearna, but since it's a Generation 7 Pokemon, I'm going to assume that it's not allowed here, so I'll pick something else for my card.

With that said, X was one of my first games in the series and I still think Kalos holds up for the most part (diffuculty of the games not included) so I look forward to seeing every entry.

Also, one more thing: The Kalos dex is actually STACKED. Three sections, 457 Pokemon between them, including some of the series' greatest up until those games. Flygon, Zoroark, Absol, Scolipede and Lucario, along with the Gen 1 starters and the Legendary Bird trio are all in there, not to mention all the new ones such as Greninja and Aegislash. If you're having trouble choosing a creature, I don't blame you. There were only 721 of them by the end of Gen 6, after all.

Have fun, everyone!
 
I finished the card already. It's not everyday you see an entry to a contest with its own lore, is it?
Once, there was a mage who deeply loved a knight. They were together for much of their time and they planned to marry each other, eventually. That day never did arrive, as when the knight and his Pokémon went to fight in a war, only his companion remained alive to tell the tale.
The mage was deeply saddened, and for much of her time after, all she did was work with a friend, a local yet talented mechanic, to bring her dear knight back. Though she made countless attempts, none of them were successful. The artificial soul and heart never worked, and as such her knight never worked. What ended up being her last try was by far the most violene one, as it didn't know who she was, nor their shared past.

The state-of-the-art weapon system she made for him was often pointed at her, and only the mage's Delphox was able to prevent further harm to the mage, knight, and mechanic. Eventually, though, she found her and her friend's shared workshop targeted by a tyrant and his army who invaded the land seeking the death of the king and conquering of the kingdom. Though the mechanical knight wasn't that mage's beloved, it still wanted to protect the kingdom they inhabited, and so it turned its mighty cannon to the army, and fired until the army was gone, but it broke the knight's mechanical soul and heart.

In its last moments the knight seemed to return to normal and told the mage who spent much of her life to bring back the man she once loved to move on, to use the talents she and her friend had on something new. Although she was saddened greatly by her beloved dying again, she knew that he was right.

Nearly every part of the mechanical body was reused in some way, and the soul and heart of the Pokémon who had died fighting the now-defeated warlord created a creature, a Pokémon made entirely by human hands. "Magearna" didn't know why it was created or how it lived, but it knew that the royal family it was gifted to cared for it, like how the knight that once inhabited its body cared for the mage that helped create it.

Anways, the card is here.
Delphox / HP 160 / [R]

Stage Two – Evolves from Braixen

No. 0655 Fox Pokémon / H: 4’11’’ / W: 86.0 lbs

Ability: Soul-Searing Recreation

Once during your turn (before your attack), you may flip one coin for every Prize Card your opponent has taken. For every heads, you may choose between dealing 20 damage to the Defending Pokémon or healing 20 damage each of your Benched Pokémon.

[R][R][C] Heart-Razing Flame: 60+

This attack deals 60 damage plus 10 damage for every Prize Card your opponent has taken. If your opponent has taken at least one Prize Card, your opponent’s Active Pokémon is now Burned.

Weakness: [D] x2 / Resistance: [G] -20 / RC: [C][C]

It’s said that this very Delphox was an accomplice to one distraught mage’s attempts to bring back her dearest from death.

I put a lot into the story behind the card and I tried to incorporate that story into the card.
The card's Ability and attack both work better the less Prize Cards you have, which I feel fits the story and the mage who the Delphox belonged to. I still don't play the TCG so I used an external source to look up the actual terms used in the cards to see how I should write the card to make it accurate to the game. I was debating calling the card something like "The Mage's Delphox" or "(Mage's Name)'s Delphox" but to me I don't think it would really work, especially since the mage doesn't have a name and really doesn't need one.
 
@Jabberwock I guess non-Kalosian formes like Zygarde Perfect and Mega Audino are legal for this month's CaC, would this go as far as Pikachu Gmax and such?
 
@Jabberwock I guess non-Kalosian formes like Zygarde Perfect and Mega Audino are legal for this month's CaC, would this go as far as Pikachu Gmax and such?
I think this is a case where you would have to use your best judgment. The spirit of the theme is to "revisit Kalos through the lens of any Kalosian Pokémon you like" — if you believe in your ability to do that with a Gigantamax Pikachu, then by all means go for it. :)
 
Xerneas isn't the only one with a cool alternate form. Pshhhh, you can turn into a tree? Rookie move. Yveltal can straight up kill everything around it to come back to life in cocoon form. That's pretty metal.

CAC15 Cocoon Forme Yveltal.png


So, I'm pretty sure this counts as a kalosian Pokémon, since it's an alternate form of one of the box legendaries. I chose this form because I saw Xous's amazing art while scrolling DA and I had to make a card out of it. As for the design, I took inspiration from the flavor text that I used on the card.

"When its life comes to an end, it absorbs the life energy of every living thing and turns into a cocoon once more."

That inspired me to create the ability Life Absorption, allowing you to absorb the energy from your dying Yveltal and move it to the cocoon form. From there, I wanted the cocoon form to be able to emerge back into normal Yveltal, but not until after a period of hibernation. To accomplish this, I gave it a risky attack, with a 25% chance to ascend to Yveltal, but also a 25% chance to discard all those Energy you had stored up. I settled on 100 damage as a good, balanced number, because it's still a solid punch, but won't win you games on its own.

Really, there's not much else to this card, it's a fun way to play on Yveltal's lore, and I think it came out great. I would love to build a deck around this, and I think that's a good way to test card design. I can't speak to how other's feel, but hopefully I did a good enough job that it's worth considering.

For wording on my omnium fakes, I use modern conventions, with slight exceptions like using "Defending Pokémon". However, I don't think any of those exceptions are present on this one, so it should be good to go. With that said, here are my references.

"When 1 of your ... is Knocked Out by damage from an attack from your opponent’s Pokémon, you may move ... Energy ... from that Pokémon to this Pokémon.": Raichu 151
"... 1 of your [Pokémon Name] ...": Pikachu SIT
"... as many ... Energy ... as you like": Grafaiai PAL

Pretty sure I got the wording right on this one, but there's always something.

Hope you enjoyed my card, this was a blast to make and really got me back into faking after a bit of a hiatus. Cheers!
 
@Jabberwock I guess non-Kalosian formes like Zygarde Perfect and Mega Audino are legal for this month's CaC, would this go as far as Pikachu Gmax and such?
I think this is a case where you would have to use your best judgment. The spirit of the theme is to "revisit Kalos through the lens of any Kalosian Pokémon you like" — if you believe in your ability to do that with a Gigantamax Pikachu, then by all means go for it. :)
Wasn't the concept of Gmax introduced in Galar (gen 8), and not Kalos??
Pikachu is obtainable in gen 6 games and thus included in Kalos Pokedex, but it cannot Gmax in those games.
 
Wasn't the concept of Gmax introduced in Galar (gen 8), and not Kalos??
Pikachu is obtainable in gen 6 games and thus included in Kalos Pokedex, but it cannot Gmax in those games.
That's what Nemes is asking. The answer is that forms introduced in other generations can be fair game at each entrant's discretion, but it's up to you to justify how. If you plan on making a super cool card that showcases Kalos using a Pokémon form introduced two generations later, then more power to you! But I want to understand the connection — if it's not obvious through the card itself, then tell me in the accompanying notes.
 
Hmm, it occurs to me that I forgot to put my wording references for the attack. Sorry about that, I don't know if it will affect judging but if it helps, I'll list them here.

"Flip 2 coins. If both of them are heads, ...": Magikarp PAL
"Flip 2 coinds. ... If both of them are tails, ...": Dragonair UNM
"Search your deck for [Pokémon Name] ...": Meltan SMP
"Search your dcek for ... and switch it with ... Pokémon.": Ninja Boy
"... and switch it with this Pokémon. Any attached cards, damage counters, Special Conditions, turns in play, and any other effects remain on the new Pokémon.": Ditto V SHF
"... discard all Energy from this Pokémon.": Beartic OBF
 
Wasn't the concept of Gmax introduced in Galar (gen 8), and not Kalos??
Pikachu is obtainable in gen 6 games and thus included in Kalos Pokedex, but it cannot Gmax in those games.
That's what Nemes is asking. The answer is that forms introduced in other generations can be fair game at each entrant's discretion, but it's up to you to justify how. If you plan on making a super cool card that showcases Kalos using a Pokémon form introduced two generations later, then more power to you! But I want to understand the connection — if it's not obvious through the card itself, then tell me in the accompanying notes.
There are lot of formes that TCG-wise might be associated with Kalos (like Zygarde or certain Mega Evolutions) but which in fact are unobtainable in X&Y, which is why I asked - hyperbolically - if all formes from Kalos Pokédex Pokémon that came out in games after X&Y would be admitted.

I think @Jabberwock 's response makes perfect sense, and I asked because I have a concept in mind, but I'm still not sure if I'll go for it.
 
Xerneas, Yveltal, & Zygarde GX
Stage: Basic (TAG TEAM)
Type: Normal
HP: 300

Ability: Law & Order
As long as this Pokémon is in the active spot, whenever your opponent plays a Supporter card from their hand, prevent all effects of that card done to all of your Benched Pokémon that aren't a Pokemon GX or Pokemon EX.

Attack 1: Life From Death
Attack Cost: [P] [D] [F]
Damage: 160-
You may choose to heal all damage from 1 of your Benched Pokémon. If you do, this attack does 120 less damage.

GX Attack: Circle Of Life GX
Attack Cost: [P] [D] [F] +
Damage 250
If this Pokémon has at least 3 extra energy attached to it, (in addition to this attacks cost) Put all Pokémon in each player's Discard Pile into the Lost Zone. (You can't use more than 1 GX attack in a game)

Weakness: [F]
Resistance: N/A
Retreat: [C] [C] [C]

TAG TEAM RULE
When your TAG TEAM is Knocked Out, your opponent takes three Prize cards.


References

Leafy Camo Poncho- SIT
Scoop Up Net- RCL
Arceus Palkia & Dialga GX- CEC (The Idea for the card)
Lysandre Trump Card- PHF

Notes:
This is a card I wanted SO BADLY when TAG TEAMS existed. Sadly we never got it. I wanted to have some "punny" attack names like "Law & Order" (Which is my fav TV show) and Circle Of Life (Referencing the Lion King). The Typing was the hardest part because none of the 3 share a type. So to neutralize it, I just put normal, and like the Kanto Bird Trio GX, I just made the attacks use all 3 energy. You may wonder why I typed Xerneas as Psychic and not fairy even though Fairy types still existed at the time this card would've been made. My reason is, Xerneas is magical, and brings Life to everything. That feels less Fairy-like, and more Psychic. Also the ability is purely because I love any form of Bosses Orders counters, and with the name "Law & Order" in the name mix, I couldn't resist. Also each attack/ability references each Pokemon individually. The ability is referencing Zygarde's Order, The regular attack references Xerneas's Life-Giving healing, and the GX attack references Yveltal's Destruction by sending Pokemon to the Lost Zone. Overall, this card is one of my favorites because It is literally everything that I have wanted in 1 card. I hope it does well with the judging. (PS I worked on the wording a lot. I almost used the "RULE box" wording for the ability before I realized the Rule Box categorization didn't exist in Sun and Moon.)
 
Xerneas ex 220hp Fairy type

Ability: as often as you like during your turn, you may discard card from your hand, and then discard one of your benched Pokémon. (you can’t use this ability if you have no cards in your hand.)

CCC: Beam of Illumination: 350-
This attacked is 30 less damage for each of your benched Pokémon

Weakness: Darkness




Thoughts: I know I’m new to this community but I tried really hard this time much better than my last entry. I think this car can be very fun in the meta-and I know I did not make my wording stuff. Perfect but I just wanted to make a fun entry for everyone to enjoy, yeah.
 
Btw I would love any honest feedback, it helps me improve verrrry much!
 
It pains me to say this but I might have to drop out. I Ended up being busier than anticipated. :/
 
Xerneas ex 220hp Fairy type

Ability: as often as you like during your turn, you may discard card from your hand, and then discard one of your benched Pokémon. (you can’t use this ability if you have no cards in your hand.)

CCC: Beam of Illumination: 350-
This attacked is 30 less damage for each of your benched Pokémon

Weakness: Darkness




Thoughts: I know I’m new to this community but I tried really hard this time much better than my last entry. I think this car can be very fun in the meta-and I know I did not make my wording stuff. Perfect but I just wanted to make a fun entry for everyone to enjoy, yeah.
next time, I would try to include more references for certain texts, look at other cards from that era to see how things should be worded, and also you just flat out forgot about resistance, retreat, and flavor text. Look at my submission for a better Idea.
 
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