Contest PokéBeach Original Character Contest II (Congrats Merovingian!)

Turtwig

Retired retired Mod. Jovimohnaeliackvid.
Member
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PokéBeach Create-a-Character
Hello, beachgoers, and welcome to the second Original Character Contest. Inspired by your creativity in both PokéPoetry! and the Convicted series in Forum Games, we’ve decided to introduce a new contest centering around creating your own original character. What does that mean? The process is fairly straightforward, but I’ll link some examples at the very end of the thread. Also, keep reading to find out the prize for winning this contest!

I. Signups: Similar to past poetry contests, you’ll make a reservation post that gives us the bare essentials. This is to show that you’ve put some thought into your entry and have read the rules.

Signups will be open throughout the entire process. While you must have your final product ready by the deadline for voting, you are not limited to a seven-day window and are free to join even the day before voting begins (so long as you complete the requirements).

II. Content: In this contest, you’ll be creating some sort of Pokémon trainer. Whether you explore canon occupations like gym leaders or create brand new roles in a made up government/organization, you are free to create so long as you describe it. Your trainer is allowed to have one to two Pokémon in possession, each with a backstory as well. In your initial post, you’re only required to write a one-sentence logline of your plans. If you write your entry too early, your post may be drowned in others’ signups.
  • Trainers: For trainers, you’ll be expected to provide the gender (any expression welcome), age, occupation/passion, and physical description--the latter including whatever you feel necessary to add: race, eye / hair color, clothing, accessories, etc. Other physical details are encouraged (such as how someone wears a hat or makes a certain gesture often) as well. After the initial post, a more detailed (300 word+) backstory is required by the end so we all know what your character has gone through and where they may be going.

    For example, if you’re writing about the first gym leader in Alola, we need to know how that person got to the position and what is going on in the region. What struggles are they going through, what choices do they have to make? Why do they specialize in whatever type?
  • Pokémon: Just like with trainers, we want to know about the Pokémon. Please include any unique physical characteristics (a scar, a pattern, shiny) as well! We also want to know that Pokémon’s ability, nature, moveset, how it was caught/added, etc. If your Pokémon can evolve, will it? What’s stopping it?
Not all of this is required in the reservation post, but we do want you to think about it! The formatting is explained below.

III. Restrictions: Please remember Creative Works’ rules against plagiarism of content (including last year's round). Any plagiarized entries will be disqualified and consequences may arise. Also, don’t rewrite an already-existing character in the Pokémon universe. Your character cannot be Sinnoh Champion Cynthia, but you can talk about her daughter’s struggles to live up to her mother’s standards.

There is no required word count for the reservation post since your post should be very short. For the final version, we ask for ~300 words for the trainer (which is a couple paragraphs), and 100-150 words for each Pokémon. Remember, longer descriptions give more vivid detail but can also be too long for others to read!

IV. Formatting:

For reservation post:
Trainer Name, Gender, Age:
Passion/Occupation:
Physical Description:
Possible Backstory:
#Only one or two sentences for now

Pokémon acquired: #List up to three Pokémon here

Remember you only need a few words’ description for most of the fields, and just a sentence or two in the backstory. You’ll develop all that for the final product, which will be due in two weeks.

For final post:
Trainer Name, Gender, Age:
Physical Description:
Hometown/region:
Occupation:
Backstory:
#300 words minimum

Pokémon 1:
Caught:
#time and place
Ability:
Nature:
Learnset:
#4 moves max
Backstory: #100 words minimum

Optional:
Pokéball:
Unique characteristics:


Pokémon 2:
Caught:
#time and place
Nature:
Learnset:
#4 moves max
Backstory: #100 words minimum

Optional:
Pokéball:
Unique characteristics:

You can also see an example from OCC's first winner @Vom at the bottom of this post.

V. Prize: That’s right, this Creative Works contest comes with a prize for the highest-voted character: reprising his role from last year is our very own @scattered mind, who has offered his creative talent to draw the chosen trainer and Pokémon! He will begin his work after the voting phase ends and a winner is announced.

But wait, there's more! On top of the art prize, the beloved @Vom and I are planning to make a Choose Your Own Adventure (CYOA) story in Creative Works that will feature the winning characters as its protagonists! Other entries may make passive appearances as well to add more PB flavor.

VI. Voting: Unlike the PokéPoetry! Contest, you can like every submission if you want! We want you to feel comfortable sharing thoughts/feedback on submissions since this is a writing exercise. It's also a contest, of course, but at the end of the day we all want to create something special. Feel free to encourage and discuss everything at any point in the competition because we will be using an outside voting platform (YouPoll) to do official voting. This keeps the process more private. Please DM me on here or discord (turtwig#1542) if you don’t feel comfortable.


VII. Dates:

5/30: Signups begin, entries allowed at any time. Character discussion is encouraged throughout process.

6/16: Entries are due. I will make a post that compiles all of the submissions and provide a link for the voting process, which will remain anonymous.

6/20: Voting is over, winner is announced, @scattered mind will begin drawing the winner! We will also start brainstorming the CYOA :)


Vom's past submission for reference:
Trainer Name, Gender, Age: Anna Razzo, Female, Age 17
Physical Description: Medium height, light skin, dark eyes. Long, wavy dark red hair down to mid-back.
Possible Backstory: Silver's twin sister, runs away from foster home after her past catches up to her. Initially only having Zorua by her side, she has met a couple Pokémon along her journey, though avoiding Psychic types for...reasons.

Pokémon acquired: Zoroark, Dartrix

And here’s an example for the final product:

Trainer Name, Gender, Age: Anna Razzo, Female, Age 17
Physical Description: Medium height, light skin, dark eyes. Long, wavy dark red hair down to mid-back.
Hometown/region: Born in Kanto, been to pretty much every region but is currently in Johto.
Occupation: Street Performer
Backstory: When Helena found out she was pregnant, she didn't know what she'd do with the baby. She'd always wanted children, but...not like this. She knew it would be a mistake to get with her new boss, but she did it anyway. That man...there was something intriguing about him. She could clearly tell he was different, but not whether that was good or bad. Either way, even his name had a certain charm around it: Giovanni.

As soon as her pregnancy became the slightest bit noticeable, she took an assignment that would keep her children away from Giovanni's shady operation: a desk job at Silph Co. This was perfect for her - it was both a relatively safe undercover operation to one day take over the company, and a way to keep the head of Team Rocket in the dark.

The months passed, and eventually she gave birth to two red-haired twins: Anna and Silver Razzo. However, wanting a better future for her children than Team Rocket's operations (and afraid of what might happen if Giovanni found out she hid the children from him), she gave them up for adoption. A nice couple from Unova happened to be staying in Saffron City at the time, and they fell in love with the children. Having given the foster parents explicit instructions to disappear if something were to happen to her, she parted ways with her children, though she did visit every few weeks if she deemed it safe.

However, this would not last, as the line of duty called her to a remote island for a top secret project. She said her goodbyes to her children, who were only a couple of years old at the time, and left to work under Dr. Fuji, a man who had devoted his life to researching cloning after his daughter Amber died.

Despite the secrecy that surrounded her new assignment, with a bit of digging, Helena was able to find Team Rocket's true motivation for funding Dr. Fuji's research - if left unchecked, it could spell doom for the entire planet. Aware of the potential consequences, she repeatedly tried to sabotage the whole thing from the inside. Nevertheless, the team of scientists pressed on, and her efforts proved futile: four clones were manufactured and put in capsules for development.

Determined to stop Team Rocket at all costs, she sneaked into the lab one night and messed with the clones' life support system. The day after, as she arrived with her friends for the night shift, the lab exploded, putting an end to the experiment and all of the personnel present.

The news of the explosion was broadcast worldwide: reporters on TV, columnists online, even conspiracy theorists were all over the incident. It spread like wildfire, quickly reaching inner Kanto and Saffron City. Though regrettable, it did not set off any alarms in Anna's foster parents at first - it wasn't until a few days after the death toll was calculated and the dead revealed that they remembered their promise to Anna's mother. True to their word, they quickly packed all their things and sorted their affairs with the now Rocket-controlled city to go back to Unova, hoping it wasn't too late.

During a stop at Johto's Goldenrod city, the train was stopped and boarded by a few Rocket grunts - they were looking for two adults with red-haired twins. Realizing that Giovanni had found the children, the brave parents did their best to hide them, but when the Rockets got to their wagon, they quickly spotted Silver's shaking legs under some covers. When the parents refused to tell them where the other child was, the grunts executed them right where they were - as per orders. Unable to find Anna, they simply took Silver and let the train continue its course. Unbeknownst to Anna, her twin would escape capture a few years later and live on the streets as a criminal, eventually making his way to New Bark Town.

In Unova, alone in a foreign land, Anna Razzo would have been doomed if it wasn't for a charitable teacher at the Trainer's School that took her under his wing and took care of her until she graduated. On the day of her graduation, the teacher walked in on Anna talking to her Zorua while the latter had taken the appearance of Anna's birth mother, Helena. Recognizing the woman's face immediately and realizing the implications, he chose not to say anything until the next day.

The next morning, he called Anna for breakfast and told her everything. About the explosion, her original foster parents, and Zorua's appearance. She could barely remember these events, but somehow it all made sense. At school, she had always been ostracized and called names, but she could never understand why. Now she knew the truth. Overflowing with emotions, she just exploded at her adoptive father - though she knew it was not his fault, she had not learned to deal with her feelings and reacted the only way she knew. She would come to regret this, however, as the heated argument proved to be too much for the old teacher's heart.

Horrified and ashamed, she took Zorua and set off on a journey of her own - to detroy Team Rocket as much as Team Rocket had destroyed her life.

Pokémon 1: Zoroark
Caught: Trainer School in Aspertia City, Unova
Ability: Illusion
Nature: Rash
Learnset: Night Daze, Extrasensory, Double Team, Psych Up
Backstory: Anna and Zorua met in the Trainer School. At first, the little Zorua was intrigued by the newcomer, and in a matter of days the little fox started playing little pranks on Anna to get her attention. An apple on the ground one day, her teacher the other, even her own adoptive father at one point. Little Anna was amused by Zorua's expression when she pulled its tail while under an illusion, and that simple, pure fun led to the start of a friendship. It eventually turned into Anna's mother at her request, allowing her to talk to her mother in her own way.

After they left Aspertia City, Zorua became the backbone of both Anna's team and Anna's means of earning money. While they had room for improvement, Zorua's illusions were often enough to trick people into giving them money, and as far as battling was concerned, Zorua may have been Rash, but it was precisely because of this that after using an illusion to stun little Pokémon that they had no time to compose themselves before being caught off guard.

Since Anna didn't bother with gym challenges as much as she did tracking down Team Rocket, Zorua's evolution inevitably took place at a Rocket dungeon. Having tricked the guards into thinking they were both Team Rocket members and thinking themselves safe, Zorua turned off the illusion once they were inside. A couple of grunts saw this, and since Zorua was largely negligible to their combined forces, they started attacking the girl instead.

Seeing its partner like that, now it was Zorua's turn to defend her. It selflessly charged into battle, and in the midst of the chaos it evolved into the mighty Zoroark it is today. Its current moveset is very useful during street performances as well as battling in conjunction with its more advanced illusions.

Pokémon 2: Dartrix
Caught: Upon arriving to Kalos
Nature: Calm
Learnset: Razor Leaf, Seed Bomb, Phantom Force
Backstory: Anna found Dartrix abandoned in the train station when she arrived to Kalos. Remembering her own origins, she did her best to nurse it back to health with Zoroark's help. Once it recovered, ir proved to be an extremely valuable member of Anna's team, unleashing powerful ranged attacks from the shadows and overall working very well in tandem with Zoroark's illusions.

Outside of combat, most of the time Zoroark disguises it as the common Pikachu as to not draw attention, as well as tactical purposes for the surprise attack from Anna's shoulder. As for performing, Dartrix's Seed Bombs create surreal effects combined with Razor Leaf. Phantom Force is no pushover either; disappearing and reappearing at will can become very hard to follow if combined with Zoroark.

Its Calm nature is also a great asset: it allows Dartrix to strike at the exact moment it needs to; and when performing, it's able to wait and calculate until the perfect moment to make the most of its arsenal.

Zoroark and Dartrix have particularly amusing interactions as far as Anna is concerned, the former being more of a hothead and the latter always willing to listen to reason and think things through. In their own way, they both help Anna make the right decisions and stay away from bad ones when needed: their duality helps stabilize Anna when she needs it.

And here's our round from last year! Thank you for reading this massive OP, I'm excited to see your posts!!
 
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I saw this happen last year, and while from memory I didn't have the time to participate then, I was pretty interested in how it all went down. I'll definitely be giving this a shot, and I may even create some concept art just to wrap my head around it although I haven't done anything art-related for years outside of one CaC, so please don't expect much... it probably won't even make it to the Beach XD

I'm trying to get more involved in Forum Games and all, so I'll be sure to join if there are any spots left come next weekend when I should finally have some time up my sleeve once again
and no I will not be neglecting CaC judging, don't worry guys.

I'm looking forward to it! and please don't question the overuse of smalltext; I'm in the mood to use a lot of strikethrough and this is the closest effect I can get, although there's a slightly different nuance... or whatever, aha
 
I just came to let you know your OP is missing the classic green bits you always use. :p
 
S-someone noticed? I'm touched-

I'll add those in soon^TM.

And for clarity, there is no limit on participants and you are able to sign up for almost the entire time!
 
I'm in for sure, but I'm still brainstorming a character. Will definitely give something – excited for the CYOA a lot!!!!
 
There's a solid chance I'm in as well, I'm just trying to get some stuff straightened out around the end of the school year and also the CaC. :p
 
Excited to see some interest, let me know if I should extend the date another week or so for entries!
 
Reservation post incoming --

Trainer Name, Gender, Age: Julius Cooper, Male, Age 57
Physical Description: Tall, light skin, blue eyes. Medium-length grey hair, and a moustache-beard combo that somehow looks like the hair on his Mamoswine.
Possible Backstory: A past member of Sinnoh’s Elite 4, he has only ever been defeated by one wild Pokémon – an event he has never spoken of to this day. After nearly 20 years of quiet retirement from competitive battling he is called in to deal with the Team Galactic crisis, but somehow their actions are bringing back old memories that he would rather forget...

Pokémon acquired: Mamoswine, Bronzong, Garchomp

I'm looking forward to this!
 
/in

Trainer Name, Gender, Age: Mare West, female (she/her), age 32
Physical Description: Short and slight, light brown skin, dark eyes. Close-cropped dark hair.
Possible Backstory: An astronaut with the Mossdeep Space Center, she has over a dozen successful spaceflights to her name, and regards any moment she's not in the air as a moment wasted. She was just a little kid when a powerful Trainer rode Rayquaza into space to protect the world from an alien invasion, but she remembers seeing the news like it was only yesterday. She vowed then that someday, she would be the first person ever to find Pokémon on other worlds.

Pokémon acquired: Clefairy, Starmie
 
in like flint!

Trainer Name, Gender, Age: "Mad" Jack, Male, age 32
Physical Description: short, super skinny, pale skin, crazy eyes, long nose, both arms are bionic prosthetics from elbow down
Possible Backstory: Much of what is known about "Mad" Jack is rumor and speculation--even his last name is not known. Rumors say that he used to be a grunt in Team Plasma, but left for unknown reasons and stole anywhere between 12-80 Pokemon from them, depending who you ask. They say he later become aligned with the Aether Paradise in Alola, where he became one of their top rehabilitators for the Ultra Beasts, and stayed with them for years. He was last seen competing in the Galar region with Ultra Beasts. Rumors say he is trying to get winnings to rebuild his gym that burned down. Others are saying he's radicalizing locals for a new Team.

Pokémon acquired: Kartana, Stakataka, Blacephalon
 
I'm really excited by both the other submissions already, and the possibility of even more from the community — can't wait to see where this contest goes!

Typed my final submission up today; my computer's been acting kinda funny lately and I was worried it might not cooperate long enough to get this finished, but it did, so here we are. :D

Trainer Name, Gender, Age: Mare West, female (she/her), age 32
Physical Description: Short and slight, light brown skin, dark eyes. Close-cropped dark hair.
Hometown/region: Mossdeep City, Hoenn
Occupation: Astronaut
Backstory: Mare was born in Mossdeep City, five years before the events described in Omega Ruby/Alpha Sapphire, to parents who moved there in the first place to be near their family — the parents of Tate and Liza, who are Mare's cousins. She spent her early years walking along the beach, exploring the caves, wading out to sea as far as she could go — till the water reached her chin and then just a few steps further. Her parents warned her about that, especially since there were evildoers around. Team Magma and Team Aqua, they said; two gangs at constant war, who used caves near Mossdeep City as their hideouts. Well, whatever the case, Mare had never seen them, and she waded out still.

A lot of Trainers passed through Mossdeep City, seeking to challenge the Gym where Mare's cousins took on any and all comers. They were young to be Gym Leaders, but wise beyond their years, and they devoted themselves wholly to the job. They never had much time for Mare, but that was okay. She liked to watch them battle — they seemed to possess an understanding of Pokémon far beyond average people, and their Solrock and Lunatone were so different from any other Pokémon she had ever seen. Someday she would understand Pokémon like that, she thought.

When she was five years old, something incredible happened. An alien virus had been discovered in a meteor by scientists at the Mossdeep Space Center, and they thought it was a new species of Pokémon — one which had never been seen on Earth before! They all called it a danger, and everyone on the news was talking about ways to defeat it, but Mare couldn't see why it wasn't worth at least trying to talk to it. But then, a powerful Trainer — one she remembered, even, from the Mossdeep Gym a mere month or two before — rode the Legendary Pokémon Rayquaza up into space to meet the virus at the meteor. With Rayquaza, the Trainer shattered the meteor, dispersing its fragments, and captured the virus. Then, within days, the furor died down as though it had never been.

But Mare didn't forget. She vowed that she would devote her life to the study of worlds beyond this one, and any Pokémon that might live there. When she grew up, she took that even further — to space itself, as an astronaut. Now, she still lives in Mossdeep City, but she spends as much of her time as possible on spaceflights. When she had only been working as an astronaut a few years, the Hoenn Space Station reached its final stages of development, was launched, and became humanity's first permanent foothold in space. What's more, Mare herself was chosen to be one of the first astronauts to test it out! Now, years later, it's almost like a second home to her.

She still longs for what's out there beyond the Space Station, though. Perhaps someday, she'll make it to the Moon, or even further! Who can say? All she knows is, with her Pokémon by her side and her dreams of the stars in her head, she left the sky behind as a limit long ago. Now there's no boundary to her sights, and she plans to see it all.

Pokémon 1: Clefairy
Caught: Gift, Mossdeep City, when Mare was very young
Ability: Magic Guard
Nature: Impish
Learnset: Cosmic Power, Stored Power, Fake Tears, Wish
Backstory: Clefairy, as a Cleffa, was a gift from Tate's and Liza's parents to Mare around her fifth birthday, and has been by her side ever since. She was young to be receiving a starter Pokémon, but the parents of the youngest Gym Leaders in Hoenn's history hardly thought much of that rule. Cleffa followed Mare around everywhere — even wading out to sea, perched on her shoulder — and evolved into Clefairy after only a few months together. They watched the news together when that Trainer rode Rayquaza into space, and Mare can still remember Clefairy's face when she told her that she wanted to go to space herself. Clefairy was somehow pleased — though what Clefairy knew of space, Mare couldn't guess.

Clefairy also has a devilish streak, and uses Fake Tears and Wish to her advantage to get what she wants. Mare is generally immune to her complaints, but passersby and even her colleagues at the Space Center, much less so.

She accompanies Mare on all her missions. By Space Center regulations, Clefairy has her own miniature seat on each shuttle, but she does not like to sit in it. Almost immediately after the g-forces let up, without exception, she detaches the harness to float around the cabin. She is always much happier in space — on the Space Station and even in the shuttle — than on the ground, and Mare still isn't completely certain why.

Pokémon 1: Starmie
Caught: Mossdeep City
Ability: Illuminate
Nature: Quiet
Learnset: Cosmic Power, Signal Beam, Surf, Psychic
Backstory: One night in her late teens, Mare was sitting alone on the beach with Clefairy, gazing up at the star-studded sky, when she perceived a faint flashing from out at sea. Different from simple moonlight on waves, this light had a reddish glow to it, and flickered almost feebly. She remembered her parents' admonitions against seeking out Team Magma or Team Aqua, but what if it was a distress call?

She waded out and dived under to find the source of the flickering, and found an unfamiliar star-shaped mass, illuminated only by the occasional flicker from the red gem at its core. She heaved it up and carried it back to shore, and sat with it for a long time, wondering what it could be. As she sat and pondered, though, the intervals between flickers grew longer and longer, as though the star was getting weaker. When she noticed, she panicked, and did the only thing she could think of — she picked up the star and took it to the home of Steven Stone, the old geologist. It had a gemstone in the middle, after all — if anyone knew what it was, Steven would; and how to help it.

He was able to tell her (despite the late hour) that it was no ordinary object, but a Pokémon; a Starmie. They were very rare in Hoenn, and he had never heard of any coming out as far as Mossdeep City. Unfortunately, except that it had evolved through a Water Stone, there wasn't much else he could tell her — but, he said, it was a Psychic-type, and that meant Tate and Liza, her cousins, might know more. He gave it a Full Restore, and the next day, Mare took it to Tate and Liza.

They didn't know much more, either, though. It was like their Solrock and Lunatone — very rare, and almost otherworldly, and they said it could take years to understand a Pokémon like that. Mare thanked them for their help.

She continued to nurse it back to health, and when she tried to release it back into the ocean, it chose to stay with her instead. Now Starmie has been with her for more than twelve years, but she's still little closer to understanding it than she was that night she brought it to Steven's house. What was it doing in the waters outside Mossdeep City? How did it get sick? And why does it still flicker, sometimes, when stargazing with Mare and Clefairy on a warm summer night? To Mare, it's just another mystery of Pokémon to unravel.
 
We'll push back the due date for entries to Tuesday, June 16th for now! If you haven't signed up but are tempted, remember that you're free to join even on the 16th if you get your entry in! You won't be penalized in any way other than maybe shorter exposure.

Any questions, needed feedback, etc. -- post here or ask me in PM/Discord!
 
Submissions are supposed to be due tonight, how is everyone with their characters? I'm open to another day or two if needed!
 
I'm almost done fleshing out my idea, but I'm getting stuck on the fine details, haha. Will submit really soon!
 
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