The Metronome Contest

All secondary judging is done. Stuff will be up as soon as I'm my computer, which hopefully will be later today.

It's pretty safe to say that, at this point, whoever were the two folks who didn't send their appeals in yet are officially DQ'd.

Also, next round, Gen V moves will be in. And my rolls in advance indicate somebody is probably getting Inferno.

Once again, the paying viewers of the Metronome Contest rallied around the stage, eager to watch some further random action. Once the room plunged into darkness, the audience sighed with relief, knowing that there would be no intemperisms being flung onto them, but, most importantly, that the lighting was going to stay consistent.

That would be because, this time, the appeals had already taken place and had already been judged. They were going to be played back, along with their rating, with the trainer and the Pokemon used sitting at the stage to watch it all again as well.

Big Red Cherry Bomb's Alphonse and Katniss

The first filiming showed images of a massive chasm's mouth, whistling as the sandy winds blew through some of the tighter slots with impressive force.

A small bird was revealed to be flitting about, careful to avoid being carried away by the powerful air currents. She looked around, not as though she were searching for something, but rather, wary of something.

All of a sudden, a massive updraft of rock bursted out. A gigantic, metallic snake slithered out of the hole produced. He let out loud roars and at one point seemed to have tried a lunge, but missed whatever it had been aiming at completely, unless it was the debris swirling above the ground, which was starting to bunch up on his armor.

Flapping her wings in preparation for the incoming strife, Katniss took a moment to gauge the direction the vicious winds were swooshing towards, then positioned herself properly and unleashed a thick dash of fluffy down in a spinning motion. The feathers struck Alphonse right on the face, giving him several moments of distraction before his apparent enemy could tackle him with the velocity of the winds on her side.

With a grumble, the Steelix started to make a mad rush for the Taillow, trying desperately to clamp his rectangular fangs around her puny torso, but the swallow nimbly avoided each lunge.

Eventually, the steel serpent seemed to have become too worn down to keep it up. It could only stare hopelessly as his minute nemesis took on a dim glow, then fired off a bright, searing beam. With one last roar, he finally succumbed and collapsed, his massive weight rumbling the ground and making the final image of the video blurry.

Metallica Fanboy: 6.9
Having the two Pokemon fight each other is pretty much the first thing that comes to mind when you think double appeals in Metronome Contest. Nonetheless, I suppose the matching of a tiny, defenseless-looking bird against a metallic humonguous beast provided the appeal with an idea that was at least nice. However, it took a little bit of stretching the suspension of disbelief to think of the small one winning without any particularly big moves, and even one move that's usually not very effective against Steel-types. I suppose people like seeing the underdog come out on top, though.

Meowth: 6.8
I'm disappointed you didn't work Softboiled in there somehow. :C
That was an okay appeal; I liked the idea of having a tiny bird fend off a Steelix. Alphonse wasn't really given that appropriate a moveset for such a set-up, but you managed to pull it off pretty well. Not really much else to say about it.

Kratos Aurion: 9.0
I liked the tension and conflict here, and both pokémon used their moves effectively. The only thing that bugged me a little was the sandstorm—obviously you had to use the stage you were dealt, but I don't know that it really had much to do with what was going on aside from that wind-boosted tackle. I guess I don't really know what else you could've done differently there, though, so... nice work!

ultraviolet's Cro and Xiaoyu

The scene was now within the old, visibly musty walls of a long-abandoned castle. Noticeably, despite the aging of the hall as a whole, the water filling the lake in the middle remained clear and pristine, even as moss gathered along the surfaces underwater.

The crowd's appreciation of the historical location, though, was cut short by a high-pitched caw. A small, black-feathered bird darted from offscreen, stopping above the lake to hover roughly above the middle.

With a shriek, Cro spat a thick, purple goop, desecrating the pure waters, much to the shock and disdain of the most history concerned among the viewers. The color continuously spread along the pool, and there even seemed to be a same-colored cloud of gas forming just above it.

For some reason, the Murkrow started to weave in and out of the smog, making loud noises frequently and overall seeming worked up.

Suddenly, two lights flared up from somewhere hard to see, beneath the gas and the water. The latter began to grow agitated, swirling wildly and even bubbling a bit. At one point, a tall wave rose up. The vulture Pokemon flew around the muddy, toxic column and perched himself at the top, busily spitting out what seemed to be electrical pulses while producing more annoying noise.

At that point, the liquid updraft crashed violently back to its proper place, as many chunks of the worn bricks and rock ripped themselves out of their own proper places to circle around Cro. Some of these chunks were vital for the walls' keeping straight, and thus, many parts of it collapsed, and even some bits of the roof gave way. At that point, all history lovers watching were nearly disgusted enough to puke, and many were resorting to firing disrespectful language at ultraviolet.

Also disgusted seemed to be the several spirits that sprang to "life" at that moment, no longer able to rest peacefully. "DOOOO NOOOOOOOT DESECRAAAAATE THEEEEEE CASTLEEEEE" and similar dragged-out screams filled the air of the now more than ever ruined hall, leaving the Murkrow to flee very fast toward the fourth wall. The very last glimpse of the appeal was that of the bird's legs about to pull above the camera, as the rest of the body had done, while the background was filled by a mob of angry ghosts.

Metallica Fanboy: 6.7
For an appeal aimed at siccing the angry dead, it sure it took long to start tearing the hall apart. Besides, most of the initial actions didn't seem to have that much rhyme and reason to them. The epic finish can salvage the appeal, but still, I think it could have been done better.

Meowth: 7.9
The moves didn't really flow, but given that the theme you were going for was pretty much "CHAOS" I'd say that worked out quite well for you. The appeal did a good job of generating a creepy atmosphere, though maybe it would have been better to summon the ghosts earlier and try to weave the appeal around them. That said, this way you get a nice buildup. Both approaches would have done pretty well in my books, so I'm just going to stop nitpicking and give you 7.9.

Kratos Aurion: 7.8
Haha, this was cool. Very flashy and showy and messy, and I do enjoy flashy and showy and messy. That said, though, the nature of the showy mess didn't seem to have anything to do with your intended result (disturbing the ghosts). Perhaps it would've been a bit more connected if you'd intended it to look like the ghosts were being summoned or something, and the poison gas, glowing lights, etc. would've helped on that front; otherwise just straight-up destruction would've gotten that across more directly, granted that you weren't dealt much in the way of moves conducive to that. I'm also a little torn by not being able to see Xiaoyu: on the one hand I'm not really sure what seeing a chinchou in such a scene would've accomplished, but on the other hand she was supposed to be on display and instead ended up almost being a non-entity throughout the whole performance.

Blastoise's Mort and Wiggles

Next up, the background was highly sophisticated, with fine art dotting the walls and tastefully decorated tables dotting the floor, each one surrounded mostly by suit-clad fatties and middle-aged women in elaborate dresses. The crowd was quick to notice that even Blastoise had gone to the stage in a tuxedo, and so had his Magikarp; as for his Gastly, a single bowtie seemed to be all the dapper wear he needed.

Said Gastly was soon spotted on the montage, giving the camera a smile that positively bordered between a trickster's and slasher's. Soon enough, he was once more impossible to spot.

The focus was shifted to a small fountain placed on one of the walls. Within it, Wiggles flopped about as uselessly as you would expect of a Magikarp. Except it was suddenly flopping uselessly as it hovered around the air.

A catchy beat could be heard. Many of the viewers seemed to recognize it. The melody steadily rose, and then, as a louder noise was produced, the carp Pokemon spat out a steady stream of well-aimed seeds, tipping over and breaking numerous wineglasses, spiling several drinks on the fine gentlemen's suits and the fine ladies' dresses.

The Magikarp's hovering soon began more mobile. At first, he approached one fine replica of Pokemona Lisa, and it was torn apart by some invisible force. Then, the orange fish moved towards the distinguished folks' tables, spilling positively toxic goo upon the meals that for non-rich eyes seemed inedible to begin with and irritating many a kind fellow with flops to the face, often knocking hats and wigs away to unveil reflective heads, devoid of any semblance of a hair.

Many fine works of art were desecrated along the way. Poor The Uproar. Poor generic basket of Berries. Even the pieces beyond painting were receiving heavy damage, as The Calm Minder's neck would soon know.

The audience's sides were already hurting, and the mob of profoundly aggrieved gentlemen had become thick. Mort could tell that was the time to hit the stride. Wiggles was hovered all the way up to a large chandelier's range. So many little lights anywhere, such a convoluted design. Too bad its fragile, golden suspension cord had to be powerfully slugged and thus destroyed. The duo separated; the fish went crashing down with the chandelier, and the phantom went to topple anybody who was still seated by that point, plowing the legs off their chairs.

For the finishing moment, Mort revealed himself, cackling aloud as his partner in crime flopped uselessly over a pile of debris.

Metallica Fanboy: 9.3
This is hilarious. I particularly like how you found a way to anger the costumers at as many ways as possible, and how you made it all amazingly ridiculous while secretly ingenious by employing a "floating" Magikarp.

Meowth: 7.5
Again, I'll let you get away with the lack of any sort of flow due to the chaotic angle you were shooting for. Props to you for coming up with a comedic slapstick appeal, that was pretty original (even though I suppose there's little else you could do with such a setting but shush). 7.5, much as I want to mark you down for utterly ruining everybody's evening.

Kratos Aurion: 9.0
Awesome. Undeniably very awesome. My only minor gripe is that I'm left a little confused as to whether Mort was supposed to be "possessing" Wiggles and forcing him to destroy the restaurant against his will, or whether Wiggles was actually complicit; it seems like the former, but if that's the case then, I dunno, a little something to help reinforce that probably would've made it even more amusing.

blazheirio889's Yukianesa and Khao

For the next appeal, entry shenanigans seemed to be out of the play, as the viewers' attention was drawn first to two Pokemon locked in a standoff that made them look very much about to lunge for each other's neck. It took the audience a moment to note the environment they were placed in: positively volcanic, complete with a bit of lava eager to pour out.

The dark-blue badger made the first move, spouting out a vicious flame on his back and making numerous snarls and growls. In spite of this, his enemy still seemed very much composed, if a little smug on the side.

The deep white creature proceeded to erect boulders from beneath the volcanoes. Magma ran along their surfaces as they hovered above the deadly, smoking mouthes. All the geological movement seemed to have agitated the lava enough to intensify the spouting a little.

Yukianesa then pointed forward with her arm, encouraging the red-hot stones to batter away at her target. He managed to get out of the way for the first few, but ultimately failed to avoid the attack.

It seemed that Khao was heavily affected by the blow, and laid sprawled at the ground, but still flaring out and letting out threatening snarls. Uneager to deal with the barking dog that was not about to bite, the ice ghost puncutred her own torso with her fingers, summoning mystical fires both unto herself and her oppositor.

The enigmatic flames were soon to leave their master alone, but pestered their true target for an extended period. He was clearly losing plentiful stamina; the flames he produced lessened, and his growls were being reduced to what seemed more like whimpers. Oddly, he even seemed about to cry. The sight puzzled the audience, but nonetheless inspired a tidbit of sympathy among most.

The ground beneath him suddenly rumbled slightly, seeming about to be updrated, but it stayed roughly in place. With a swinging motion of her arm, the Typhlosion's scourge jacked up the intensity of the strange blaze on his body, causing him to let loose and start crying visibly.

After a few more whimpers, the large mammalian succumbed to the bizarre flames as the Froslass elegantly but still clearly evily laughed.

Metallica Fanboy: 6.8
The beggining was particularly good in marking Khao and Yukianesa as enemies of sorts, but I'd have liked to see the former fail less at fighting. He should have at least made an easily dodgeable lunge at the beggining; you had moves like Skull Bash and Crabhammer for that.

Meowth: 6.6
Not a bad setup, but the fact that you re-used two of the moves makes it seem a tad repetitive. It would have been more exciting if maybe Khao attacked first, Yukianesa dodged it with Extremespeed, and then she Cursed him and finished it with Ancientpower. Even so it was pretty okay.

Kratos Aurion: 9.5
I really enjoyed this one—an interesting reversal of the whole type advantage thing, well-suited to the stage and nice and dramatic. Well done.

Squornshellous Beta's Ornithischia and Tibbles

To counterpoise the comparatively gloomy environment so far, the next appeal had been shot in a bright, sunny enviornment with clear skies. The camera was angled high, encompassing several islands, but limiting the visibility of the Pokemon performing. Still, the viewers could make out a cream-furred feline on one side and a gray-and-blue, prehistoric creature on another.

Tibbles braced himself, letting a peculiar liquid spread along his skin and quickly solidify, giving him a suit of armour. He seemed not be very accostumed to moving inside it. Meanwhile, Ornithischia plucked some drafts of rock from beneath the ground and tossed them skyward.

Then, the Meowth produced a string sharp-edged leaves and battered at the ground, using the force thus produced to catapult himself upwards. Still, his heavy protection seemed to betray him, as he didn't manage to stay aloft for long, being brought down by it. Still, he did manage to get enough airtime to put a few slices about.

With a sudden, rocketing leap, the Cranidos approached the falling stones and plew through them with an impressive punch, easily smashing them all to small pieces.

Somehow, from the ground, the cat Pokemon managed to rearrange the boulders into a star shape, fully surrounding a large island that the camera managed to fully capture. The pachycephalosaurus landed on the middle of said island, and immediately after, the rocks all banged the ground and the shallow seas, splashing up some minor waves. A few droplets reached the ancient one, but a higher water content would have been needed to ensure his proper wetting.

Metallica Fanboy: 6.2
Pokemon physics do work weirdly, but not enough to make it so something clad in iron would fall at the same rate as a Cranidos, or even go up that far with hardly that much impulse.

Meowth: 5.4
This would have been okay had it worked quite as you intended. Sadly, it, well, didn't, and the end result was somewhat underwhelming. Props to you for trying, anyway, and what you ended up with was still a passable appeal.

Kratos Aurion: 7.5
This was an interesting idea, and while the "smash stuff and make it look pretty" thing is pretty well done to death, the end result was just different and impressive enough. The biggest problem I have here is the iron defense: not only did it hinder Tibbles's ability to perform the leaf blade, it had absolutely nothing to do with the setting or the rest of the appeal. You would have been better served by attempting to use pluck in... some way (maybe flinging a few extra rocks around? can't come up with anything really interesting off the top of my head) or, better yet, just going with a non-move action and finding a way to have Tibbles lead into the rest of the appeal more appropriately

sreservoir's Nenya and Vilya

Once more, stark contrast was portrayed; this time, the sunny and cheerful environment from before had been followed by a barred, icy landscape with a snowstorm actively blocking visibility.

Thankfully, a sudden change in the winds managed to redraft the snow, clearing up just a certain radius. A tiny, childlike Pokemon quietly watched a swirling surface on a mostly frozen lake. Tiny bits of crushed ice floated aboard the spinning water. The air's movements somehow gave Vilya wiser an appearance.

At one point, two glowing spots were visible beneath the transparent ice covering most of the lake. At that point, the psychic creature made a commanding motion, moving the winds toward the lake. It seemed to do little to swirling waters, as moving waters are difficult to freeze, but the surrounding vicinty was positively solidified.

With sudden motions, the Ralts started punching and kicking away at the frost, breaking off the thinner bits and leaving large cracks at the others.

All of a sudden, the temperature changed. The cold landscape bursted into a hellish spawn of magma, spreading and engulfing the environment almost completely.

Metallica Fanboy: 7.4
A good appeal overall. Built up sagely, except maybe for the part where you tried to freeze moving water, which is pretty hard. What really made it good, though, was the finish -- a massive draft of lava engulfing an icy landscape is the sort of reason why we all love the RNG. (or maybe it's because he/she/it could screw us over)

Meowth: 7.5
Good job getting eruption, it contrasted quite nicely with the scenery. Not sure what Vilya cracking up the whirlpool was all about- a volcanic eruption should be more than enough to destroy a frozen whirlpool- but you had to use the move up somehow, I guess. All round quite a good effort.

Kratos Aurion: 8.5
Always with the fire and the water with you. It would have been nice if Nenya could've been more visibly involved than just the tail glow, but aside from her apparent absence this was cool. Shame the tailwind didn't freeze the whirlpool the way you wanted to, but it seems to have gone off okay. The brick break/ice smashing felt a little unnecessary, though.

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Blastoise: 25.8
sreservoir: 23.4
blazheirio889: 22.9
Big Red Cherry Bomb: 22.7
-------------------------------------------------
Ultraviolet: 22.4
Squornshellous Beta: 19.1
Skylark: --
Walker: --

-----

Congratulations, Blastoise, sreservoir, blazheirio889 and Big Red Cherry Bomb! Ether by pure skill, pure luck or pure "two people didn't send their appeals in time", you have advanced again, and toward the critical point.

As for Ultraviolet and Squornshellous Beta, I guess it kind of sucks, losing when there were more spots for winners than for losers, but still, somebody had to lose, right? Seeing as the double appeals have given the contest a whole new layer of awesome to work with. So, literally, better luck next time.

Third round rules recap and the next batch of Metronomized moves coming soon.

hahaha what. Was I just easily amused yesterday or were you two in a bad mood?

So, let's recap.

First of all, in case you haven't noticed, we're getting Gen V moves. And some of the new legendary signatures found their way into this game, too. In fact, curiously, everybody got themselves one legendary signature.

Now, each of you gets three sets of moves. If you like, you can make a triple appeal. But that's optional; you can make it just single or just double if you'd like. In all cases, you get to pick which Pokemon gets each set, although you still don't get to swap moves across sets.

Also, once more, you'll be filmed in a determined background. However, this time around, you don't have a background enforced upon you. In fact, you can choose any of last round's eight arenas, or one of the four stages that didn't get rolled then. Choose wisely. I'd avise against picking a spot you've already appealed in, or go with the same one somebody else will be using; otherwise, just choose what you think bests suits the appeal. In a way, they're going to be like your choice in moves.

And I'd like to give non-move commands some emphasis here. Some of your sets don't provide good possibilities for all three moves, but have great potential if you just go with one or two and do something else of your choosing with the remaining spots. Of course, you're still obliged to use at least one move, but, choose the rest of the movements wisely.

Lastly, I'm expecting some great appeals there. Getting to the semifinals can't have been a produce of sheer luck, and now, the possibilities are tenfold. Some of you already amazed us last round. I'm hoping we're in for stuff so awesome, it'll be painful to pick two that won't get to the final. And let the reminder be up: there are prizes for third place as well, and this round will determine who the third place will be.

Without further ado:

Blastoise:
A: Flame Wheel / Drill Run / Sweet Scent / Grudge
B: Helping Hand / Soak / Icicle Crash / Aura Sphere
C: Icicle Spear / Inferno / Water Spout / Fusion Bolt

sreservoir:
A: Defog / Vacuum Wave / Heat Wave / Powder Snow
B: Acid Spray / PoisonPowder / Reflect / Smokescreen
C: Coil / Worry Seed / Growl / Mist Ball

blazheirio889:
A: Brave Bird / Sacred Sword / Spikes / Needle Arm
B: Thief / Fake Tears / Iron Defense / Water Spout
C: Defense Curl / Attract / DynamicPunch / SmellingSalt

Big Red Cherry Bomb:
A: Attract / Relic Song / Dragon Dance / Cut
B: Screech / Agility / Chatter / Scald
C: U-Turn / Rock Polish / Attract/ Heal Block

And the arenas that were available last round:

Sandstorm Valley
A large chasm with several cliffsides along the steep sides. One of them is wide enough to be stepped on safely. Strong winds blow in the area, carrying sand with them (Sandstorm is considered in effect unless another weather move is used). A river will be added to the bottom if there is need for a water-dwelling Pokémon to make an appearance.

Gloomy Metropole
Skyscrapers cast shadow on the traffic jammed roads while rain pours down (Rain Dance is considered in effect unless another weather move is used). There are plenty of pedestrians in suits running around, often using innovative methods to avoid getting wet. One building stands out, being distinctively tall, with a massive globe-shaped cupola at the top, made of glass with continent-shaped, bronze details. Destructive potential is high. Small dirty puddles are everywhere, allowing for Muddy Water to be used. A larger puddle will be added if an exclusively water-dwelling Pokémon is to be sent out.

Imperial Ruins
The remains of a large castle watch over the lands below from the top of a mountain, surrounded by a steep moat. The entrant can choose whether they want to begin from the area above the front wall, wherein archers would punish invaders before they could approach, or from inside the castle, in the extremely ample wall with several spires leading to the other rooms. Damaging the castle considerably will awaken the ghosts of the knights and kings, who will haunt the place. There's a natural lake outside the castle and an artificial one inside; both allow for Muddy Water's usage.

Fancy Restaurant
The smell of money reeks from everything in this restaurant -- from the groomed floor, to the soft chairs, to the gourmet menu, to the artsy decor, to the sort of people that frequents the place. There is a fountain on one of the walls, sized enough for small water-dwelling Pokémon and to supply water-based attacks. Destructive potential is high.

Volcanic Mountains
A thin, unsafe, badly kept road weaves around several active, black volcanoes, close to their mouthes. The lava is visible; the smoke obscures the sky (rendering Sunny Day ineffective if used), but people traveling on the road are distanced from it enough to breathe properly. There is a hot spring in the vicinty for water-dwelling Pokémon and water-based attacks.

Sunny Archipelago
Several small, sandy islands are bathed by the strong sunlight (Sunny Day is considered in effect unless another weather move is used). It's possible to travel from one island to the other by foot, as only shallow seas stand between them.

Barren Glacier
A desolate, icy landscape extends to all sides, with a strong snowstorm blowing in the area (Hail is considered in effect unless another weather move is used), making it difficult to see. The only thing in the vicinty other than the white grounds and maybe an Ice-type Pokémon or other is an abandoned, rusty laboratory gathering snow. A mostly frozen lake will be added if a Pokémon sent out needs to be in water.

Deep Trench
Miles beneath the water's surface, this is one of the lowest places in Asber. The laws of physics and other normalities are scoffed at, allowing visitors to breathe, flames to avoid being put out and so on forth, as well as averting the effects of the extreme pressure. Even sound and electricty still travel as if surrounded by normal air if so the contest entrant wishes. Deep sea dwelling Pokémon often swim by.

And the arenas that didn't get to be used last round, but are now open for business:

Plain Clearing
A circular clearing in a thick forest, with clear skies above the lush, tall grass. There is a pond along the north side of the area; water-dwelling Pokémon can be placed in it, and water-based attacks may be used with it. Any other additions needed by the dealt moves will be added in.

Rural Gulch
An unsophisticated town along grassy hills, dotted with wide farms, pens and simple, wooden homes. Often, there will be a hillbilly in a straw hat passing along. A river passes along the village, allowing water-dwelling Pokémon and water-based attacks to be used. Destructive potential is high. Any other additions needed by the dealt moves will be added in.

Drowned Civilization
It looks like a common, if rather ancient town... except it's deep underwater. The laws of physics and other normalities are scoffed at, allowing visitors to breathe, flames to avoid being put out and so on forth. Any other additions needed by the dealt moves will be added in.

Temple at the Sky
A large temple of Greek architeture floats just above a sea of clouds. Rayquaza is flying around the area (Air Lock is considered in effect) and will punish anybody who dares disturb it or the temple with randomly chosen moves. Any other additions needed by the dealt moves will be added in.

And thus, begins the semifinal. Give it your best shot. Choose wisely. Impress us.

Rural Gulch

Click to expand...

An unsophisticated town along grassy hills, dotted with wide farms, pens and simple, wooden homes. Often, there will be a hillbilly in a straw hat passing along. A river passes along the village, allowing water-dwelling Pokémon and water-based attacks to be used. Destructive potential is high. Any other additions needed by the dealt moves will be added in.

Click to expand...

Antimony Flame Wheel / Drill Run / Sweet Scent / Grudge
GeminiHelping Hand / Soak / Icicle Crash / Aura Sphere
RayquazaIcicle Spear / Inferno / Water Spout / Fusion Bolt


Flying cameras, yes? We'll start off focused on Rayquaza, as she floats through the sky above an idyllic pasture of berries. She'll be whistling merrily and using Water Spout to water the crops. Cut to Gemini, riding on Antimony's back. As soon as the camera focuses on them, Antimony will use Grudge, bring a purpley, otherwordly aura to life around the two. Gemini will use small Aura Spheres, or just one if he can't split them up, firing at the field in an oddly geometric pattern while making spaceship noises.

Rayquaza will immediately stop whistling, looking determined as the camera zooms in for a closeup. With a battle cry, she'll zoom towards them. Increasing the tempo of his ufo noise while Antimony adds a cheeping noise, Gemini will fling an Icicle Crash, coated with psychic psychedelic pink energy, at Rayquaza; Rayquaza will attempt an Inferno, but the other attack still gets through and she'll then begin to fall with a squeak. The camera will follow her down until she crashes into crops below. Then the plants will rustle and she'll fly straight up, looking more determined than ever. Cut to Antimony still chirping and flying in a tight circle.

Rayquaza suddenly shoots up past the other two, whistling triumphantly and stopping ten or so feet above the other two. Then she'll use a visually-impressive-but-powered-down-for-the-contests version of Fusion Bolt, ramming into the pair. Gemini's noises will get slower and longer as the two fall, and Antimony will launch into a Flame Wheel combined with Drill Run, aimed straight at the ground. Gemini will attempt to use Soak in order put the fire out, but he'll be unsuccessful as the two crash into the cornfield below, leaving a crater as I surreptitiously recall them from my place in the corn. The camera will pan to a surprised hillbilly, hopefully.

Grudge~Nothing~Flame Wheel+Drill Run
Aura Sphere~Soak~Icicle Crash
Water Spout~Inferno~Fusion Bolt

'Kay, I'll be using Eledancia and Garnet for this appeal, and I'll go for the Sunny Archipelago arena.


[Eledancia] Gardevoir (F)


[Garnet] Starmie (X)

Sunny Archipelago

Several small, sandy islands are bathed by the strong sunlight (Sunny Day is considered in effect unless another weather move is used). It's possible to travel from one island to the other by foot, as only shallow seas stand between them.

A (Eledancia): Brave Bird / Sacred Sword / Spikes / Needle Arm
B (Garnet): Thief / Fake Tears / Iron Defense / Water Spout

So we'll begin in the center of an island, with Garnet directly in front of Eledancia. Eledancia will pick up Garnet and start spinning it around in her hands - make it as showy as you want, passing it from one hand to another, spinning it around your back, whatever. Garnet should sprinkle the slightest amount of water around with Fake Tears (man, that move loves me). Since, well, Starmie can't show any emotion, it should just look like a sprinkling of water rather than BAWWW to the audience. After a few seconds of that, Eledancia should throw Garnet like a Frisbee. Using its consensually hovering abilities, Garnet should continue to spin while travelling in a wide circle, gradually tucking into a tight spiral, all the while turning up the amount of water Fake Tears produces.

At the end of Garnet's spiralling routine, it should settle on one spot, still floating and spinning. While this is happening, Eledancia, I want you to use Brave Bird to ascend to an altitude of about eight meters. Garnet, use Water Spout, and time it so that it levels off at approximately the moment Eledancia reaches her maximum altitude - weaken the Water Spout if need be so that Eledancia can hover above it.

While ascending, Eledancia, create yourself a Sacred Sword, but don't go stabbing it wherever - instead, hold your spiffy, glowy new sword in your hands. Just as you level off with Brave Bird, I want you to dive straight down into the Water Spout with your sword aimed directly down. The force of the Brave Bird and the breaking apart of the Water Spout by the Sacred Sword together should be able to fight through the strength of the Water Spout, especially if/since Garnet is purposely weakening it. And the glowy sword and all the water flying everywhere, the droplets catching the sunlight, should make stuff pretty-like.

Finally, Garnet, let go of the Water Spout and Iron Defense as fast as you can, before Eledancia hits you with Brave Bird + Sacred Sword. I'll trust your timing with this - I want it so that the Water Spout goes on for as long as possible, but so that you still have Iron Defense to cushion the blow. Allow yourself to be stamped into the sand with Eledancia's attack. Hopefully the Iron Defense will cushion the blow enough so that you're not completely buried, but your gem is still at the surface, winking in the sunlight. Eledancia, I know the Brave Bird recoil's going to hurt, but I want you to land as gracefully as you can after hitting Garnet, preferably landing directly in front of or behind it. Perhaps try to bounce off of Garnet, or do a front/back roll into a standing position? End by striking a pose for the audience - no-one can resist that Gardevoirian charm! If you still have your Sacred Sword to aid in posing, all the better, but that's not completely necessary.

Eledancia: Spin and throw Garnet ~ Brave Bird (up) ~ Brave Bird (down) + Sacred Sword
Garnet: Fake Tears ~ Water Spout ~ Iron Defense

Man the timing for this is awkward :U Basically, action one kinda overlaps with the beginning of action two, and the Brave Bird going up and the Water Spout kinda happens around the end of action two. If that makes sense? aaa

Finally got around to finishing up the primary judging here.

And I guess it's a pretty safe time to go about DQing sreservoir. I guess losing this round will really suck now, because we'll be having twice as many winners. Well, anyhow, I personally had a lot of trouble figuring out which appeal I liked less, so, I guess whoever ends up third place here still really deserves those prizes (and it might be a good idea to recall here that there were third-place prizes, so, everybody who sent appeals this round gets to go out as a winner, I guess)

Right, now that this might garner a tidbit of attention, I'm posting it.

See, as some of you know, Meowth totes vanished. And he never sent his bit of secondary judging before that happened. As such, we'll need, er, e-secondary judging?

Any approved referees interested in this quick job can post here about it. I'm not sure how this is going to work, by the way. It might be that I'll pick one at random, or it might even be that I'll let everyone who applies get in the deal, which would make this semifinal judging rather convoluted but quite exciting and disputed. And I also have no idea what I'm prizing out in either case, by the way.

So, who's up?

I'll try, if you don't mind!

Alright, since it's been a few days with only one offer, I'll go with just one e-secondary judge.

People gathered around the contest hall's screen for one more round. This time, with the amount of contestants reduced, all four sat on-stage at the same time, to watch the whole roll. Judging from last round, the savvy assumed Blastoise Fortooate's appeal would be first to play; also, in stark contrast with last round's classy tuxedo, he was donning a large straw hat and ragged jeans.

The lights went dark and the display began.

Blastoise Fortooate's Antimony, Gemini and Rayquaza

Lush fields sprawled along smooth, hilly terrain. Speaking of hilly, hillbillies could be seen everywhere. Going into their houses, going out of their houses, working the fields.

The camera focused upon one idyllic pasture of berries, with a pair of rednecks talking about a muslim who is a threat to this fine country's econony. Powerful showers irrigated the crops; this was soon revealed to be the work of a jolly olympic beast Swablu who merrily flew by the area, whistling as she watered the fields with massive updrafts of water.

The camera proceeds to pan upon a grayish-blue creature with a large head, standing atop a metallic vulture. The duo was surrounded by a ghostly glow of dark purple color as the latter of them started seeming to be making a lot of effort. The former of them started to fire an array of little energy balls while producing an outworldly noise.

Rayquaza seemed dismayed as the crop circles are formed upon the fine farm she had just been watering. With a determined look and a battle chirp, she aimed for the twosome and blasted off.

The bizarre sound's tempo rose. Gemini quickly produced a spear-shaped chunk of ice, large enough to require double-handed wield, and hurled it straight at the incoming bird. She tried to stop it in its tracks by spitting an intense flame, but her timing was off; the ice didn't stay exposed to the fire enough to melt down, and hit the target dead-on.

With a squeak, the Swablu was sent spinning downards at a high speed. The camera followed the fall; the landing upon a dense concentration of crops produced a distinctive noise. Within a few seconds, however, the fallen rose up, irradiating confidence.

The camera cut to Antimony, flying in a tight circle and producing odd chirps that augmented the strangeness of his rider's noise. Suddenly, a bright blue, thick blur quickly circled the air. After a few twists and twirls, it rammed straight into the flier, pushing her far away. The blur then vanished, revealing one bluebird with plenty of fight remaining.

The alien Pokemon's noise slowed down steadily as his mount fell down from the skies, spinning straight downards and quickly attaining a swathe of flame. The Elgyem tried desperately to put out the blaze, letting out jolts of water, but it was no use. The powerful landing left a minor crater on the ground, and every plant that fell within it got caught up on the fire.

The three Pokemon are swiftly recalled; the final scene of the roll displays the pair of hillbilies from the beggining, their friendly chat replaced by stunned silence and dropped jaws.

Metallica Fanboy: 8.0
A pretty dynamic appeal. Overall, it made good use of all the choices presented -- the moves, the setting -- to create a mix of comedy and action that makes for pretty valid semifinal material.

Kratos Aurion: 10.0
Haha, now this was clever, very clever. Definitely an appeal after my own heart. A skarmory makes for a bit of an awkward UFO, but the moves you had him use made up for it. It was unique, it went off without a hitch as far as I can see, and it was very entertaining overall. Great work. Also, pfft, hillbillies.

Mai: 8.0

blazheirio889's Eledancia and Garnet

The scenery is now a familiar one -- it's the tropical paradise from the previous round. Not all of the audience seems to recognize it, though, for some reason.

When the initial picture is that of two Pokemon facing each other, the crowd is made to remember blazheirio889's last appeal and suppose they are about to lunge for each other's neck, although one of them has no neck to speak of. This brief initial impression is subverted by the tall, thin, vaguely ghostlike figure's peaceful seizing the ten-beam-star-shaped, attractively coloured sea animal and tricking around with it as though it's some sort of prop. Whiplashed expectations notwithstanding, though, it was still a nice sight.

At one point, a few sparkles could be seen upon the Starmie's body. Those were really sprinkles of water, but it was nigh-impossible to spot that. It just seemed to become sparkly. It didn't even go noticed by many viewers.

Shortly following that, the Gardevoir firmly held her partner in the appeal in one hand, then made a discus throwing pose, and then hurled said partner into a spinning, airborne motion -- just like somebody tossing a frisbee with remarkable flair and skill.

If the acting didn't sell the skillful toss, though, the toss itself did -- Garnet proceeded to not act like a normal frisbee, and instead, orbited about in the air. Even those who could deduce the levitation act therein involved couldn't be bothered to; it just looked like a really impressive throw. The perceived physical awesomeness was not the only factor in that scene, though, as it was also made more impressive by a few thin streams of water gushing out of the floating starfish, marking the trajectory.

And suddenly, Eledancia leaped vertically with surprising speed, while one of her arms took upon an intense glow, which stretched into a blade's form. That second bit was hardly noticeable because of how fast the jump was; it was only when she started to slow down that the magical transformation could be seen.

As the humanoid's sudden acrobatic act started to wane, the echinoderm's steady pumping out water in small streams was replaced by an abruptly unleashing a large spout. The initial blast missed the Gardevoir's feet by a thin margin; the brunt of it was splattered into what basically resembled a watery explosion when said Gardevoir smashed into it with her new pure-energy appendage.

This motion, possibly intentionally, sent Eledancia into collision course with Garnet. Briefly, the latter's glow seemed to dim a litte; there was only a small window of time before the former smashed into it with another powerful swing of her quasi-literal sword arm. With a loud thumping noise, the two Pokemon were sent flying into opposite directions -- one straight downards, another a little bit upwards and mostly away.

The final shot displayed the Starmie landing first, all but its core buried into the tropical sand, and the Gardevoir landing shortly afterwards, with her arm-turned-sword raised and with the rest of her body positioned so as to cushion the impact of the powerful fall, but still giving off a strong vibe still being able to fight.

Metallica Fanboy: 7.3
Well, this appeal was mostly aimed at looking impressive, and this it accomplished pretty well. In the earlier rounds, it would have easily guaranteed a passing mark. But, as semifinal material, I can't help but feel it wasn't enough.

Kratos Aurion: 9.8
I am impressed, man. You got a nice set of moves and managed to really pull them all together. The only reason I didn't give a few more points is because I personally prefer story + flash to pure flash, but this was still well-orchestrated and entertaining. Not sure I can really think of much to say aside from excellent work!

Mai: 7.0

Coloursfall's Bad Romance and Alejandro

Once more, a scenery was reused; this time, however, it was best recognized as the historical gem somebody had the nerve to bulldoze. Seeing it in one piece again caused numerous raised eyebrows and scratched heads.

Thankfully, there wasn't much to be missed in a few moments of doubt and thinking-instead-of-watching. There was no intense action taking place, no brief and fast scenes that, upon being missed, would send the understanding of the whole appeal downhill. Just a wistful Ralts staring at the lake and whispering something.

The mutters steadily grew in vollume, and soon were understandable. It was not merely speech, it was song. The lyrics were completely incomprehensible to all but a particularly well-informed minority, but, the rhythm carried the message just fine. A slow-moving message, a sad message. Depressing, even. The easiest to make emotional among the audience already began to shed tears. When the singing was loud enough for so, the walls also provided it with an intensifying echo.

At one point, the physically childlike Pokemon suddenly stopped singing. But just then, a phantom suddenly phased into view with and audible, playful "boo". Bad Romance was clearly surprised, but not as though she had just seen a ghost -- rather, it passed off as a more pleasant sort of surprise.

Once more, she sings; however, this time, the incomprehensible lyrics but mostly the enchanting ryhthm let out a happier, serene tone. At that point, any legend geeks in the room were already filled with praise -- it's just like how Meloetta change forms whenever they sing!

And while most if not all of the viewers couldn't comprehend Pokemon speech either, it was clear that the words Alejandro went about softly purring were probably something adorable. They did, noticeably, make the Ralts blush.

Again, said Ralts abruptly finished her song. Just then, the two Pokemon briefly shared a passionate look before practically lunging towards each other for long make-out. Many among the crowd went about bawling at that point. Even the spirits of the brave and dead could not resist the scene -- completely moved, the knights and kings who once gave away their lives to save the castle popped out, cried and shouted praise. One of the regals did not seem particularly pleased, but all the other ghosts knew about his unfaithful queen, so, it hardly made a difference.

The last scene before the last scores of the round were announced was that of Metallica Fanboy abruptly leaving for a bathroom break -- most likely to wash his hands. The thought that he might not have completely messed up when describing that appeal suddenly made him feel inappropriate.

Metallica Fanboy: 9.5
Okay, my hands are clean. So, anyway. This was a simple appeal, but beautiful in its simplicity. I also noticed how it combined moves and non-move commands perfectly.

Kratos Aurion: 8.5
Aww... that went really well, and was probably the most touching appeal I've seen in a while—the two pokémon worked well together, though I find myself a little curious as to whether Alejandro was supposed to have been "dead" or just missing. That said, though, it was perhaps a bit too simple when compared to blazhy's and Blastoise Fortooate's appeals; I realize that simple and sweet was what you were going for, but it's always going to be tough to compete with alien dogfights, I guess. Perhaps there might've been a way to work dragon dance into the appeal, for example, maybe have Bad Romance and Alejandro take a happy twirl around the lake before going in for the kiss. Still, high marks for the fact that what you did go with worked well.

Mai: 9.0

-----

Coloursfall: 27.0
Blastoise Fortooate: 26.0
-------------------------------------------------
blazheirio889: 24.1
sreservoir: --

-----

Congratulations, Coloursfall and Blastoise Fortooate! But don't celebrate just yet: there's still one more round to be won. To be fought, as a matter of fact. You've come a long way, and now, the challenge of prevailing over a single foe may be greater than that of clawing your ways up the progressively more limited rankings.

Further congratulations go to blazheirio889, who may be out of the great final match, but not out without winning something. Would you rather claim your prize now, or wait for the rest?

And last, and this time unfortunately least, is sreservoir, who has performed admirably in the previous rounds, but apparently didn't get a chance to enter the competition for a slot in the final round. As I've said exaustively in this contest: better luck next time, literally.

It was a tough contest, and I'm honestly surprised I got so far, what with the random moves we were dealt - it was a challenge stringing them together! Congrats to the two semi-finalists (I loved Blastoise's appeal in particular - gogogo alien dogfight), and good luck to both of you in the final round!

Man, we gotta have another contest like this. Maybe I'll host one when I'm not so busy.

And I think I'll claim the prize now, before I forget. :P

blazheirio889 said:

It was a tough contest, and I'm honestly surprised I got so far, what with the random moves we were dealt - it was a challenge stringing them together! Congrats to the two semi-finalists (I loved Blastoise's appeal in particular - gogogo alien dogfight), and good luck to both of you in the final round!

Man, we gotta have another contest like this. Maybe I'll host one when I'm not so busy.

And I think I'll claim the prize now, before I forget. :P

Click to expand...

Well, I certainly am expecting to have a sequel to this contest. Be it with me still at the helm, be it as a secondary judge, be it as a participant. One thing I know, though: a future edition will probably have more participants.

Anyways, there's your third-place prize: fifteen bucks, and that Cleffa from Kratos.

I'll soon be making the initial post for the final round battle. This is going to be awesome.

Metallica Fanboy said:

Well, I certainly am expecting to have a sequel to this contest. Be it with me still at the helm, be it as a secondary judge, be it as a participant. One thing I know, though: a future edition will probably have more participants.

Anyways, there's your third-place prize: fifteen bucks, and that Cleffa from Kratos.

I'll soon be making the initial post for the final round battle. This is going to be awesome.

Click to expand...

It'd be nice to try as a participant, wouldn't it though? As for myself, I kinda wanna try my hand at judging. Though if you want to host another contest, count me in as a secondary judge.

Thank you~ And do I wait for Negrek to see this post to claim the Cleffa, or...?

Looking forward to it. I'll be watching this contest 'til the end.

I'd also be a secondary judge if you wanted. And I could totally give away some berries as prizes if you plastered my logo on everything.

Coloursfall, with all due respect and with many compliments to your skill, you are going down.

blazheirio889 said:

Thank you~ And do I wait for Negrek to see this post to claim the Cleffa, or...?

Click to expand...

Dunno; I thought this up way before the hack.

Anyways, without further ado, the final recap.

Contest battling is new to most of us here, even though it has existed for long. It certainly is new to me. But anyways, one can find the pertinent rules already written down, so, all I have to specify is how we're doing it in this contest.

For one, as specified, and as always was, the battlers will not willingly choose the attacks from their movepool, but instead, will have moves rolled and available for use. We'll be rolling five moves for each Pokémon every round. Of these, only three can be used, obviously. Note that Chills will never be rolled, but instead, can be called at will instead of using an attack (only twice, however!). And in vogue with many a Metronome Battle, energy will be restored to 100% at the end of each round, so, go wild.

Note also that, as a Contest Battle, the Pokémon will only fight for five rounds. However, as a dignified final match, we will have two draws -- that is, once five rounds are up, the Pokémon are both recalled, and a new set is sent out. If a trainer wins both draws, they win, of course; if each draw has a different winner, the highest-scoring win takes the cake. And if that last one is a tie as well, we'll have two last rounds, which will be double-battled by the previous battlers of the two draws, and the winner of this one wins them all.

Should anything else come to concern, feel free to ask, regardless of whether you're fighting, a judge, a defeated participant or not even part of the contest up until now.

And so, again without further ado...

=====

2vs2, Singles
Style: Set
DQ: 10 days
Damage Cap: 40%
Banned Moves: All but the dealt and Chills; the latter is restricted to 2 per Pokémon.
Arena: Metronome Contest Hall

After all sorts of zany locations, it all goes back to the egg -- to the place where the first batch of appeals took place. It's pretty standard; the seats are reminiscent of a cinema, but instead of a big screen, there's an ample, woodboarded stage. Elements needed for moves that rely on environment, such as Surf, will just plain materialize as needed. As with any Metronome Battle, grand destruction is freely permitted and encourage; screw the audience's safety, they've already paid for the last ticket anyway.

Coloursfall's Active Squad
- Kin (Female Shroomish - Poison Heal - @Toxic Orb)
- Jacob (Male Squirtle - Torrent)
- GLaDOS (Genderless Porygon2 - Download - @Dubious Disk - Sig Move: Weighted Companion Cube - Sig Attribute: Personality Cores)
- L'Arc-En-Ciel (Male Togekiss - Serene Grace - Sig Move: Arc of Joyous Colours)
- Yzma (Female Kecleon - Color Change)
- Katniss (Female Taillow - Guts - Sig Attribute: I Am The Mockingjay)
- Sundae Swirl (Female Vanillite - Ice Body)
- Roshan (Male Emolga - Static)
- Nepeta (Female Purrloin - Limber - Sig Move: Pouncegr33t!)
- Eleanor (Female Gligar - Hyper Cutter)

Blastoise Fortooate's Active Squad
- Blaise (Male Wartortle - Torrent - @Expert Belt)
- Husk (Genderless Shedinja - Wonder Guard - Sig Attribute: Adopted Ninjask Team)
- Mort (Male Gastly - Levitate - @Nevermeltice - Sig Move: Spine Chiller - Sig Attribute: Snowy Spirit)
- Nikola Tesla (Male Pichu - Static - @Wise Glasses - Sig Move: Tesla Cannon - Sig Attribute: Metal Mouse)
- The Great Kyle (Male Abra - Synchronize - @Starf Berry)
- Enojada (Female Phanpy - Pickup - @Lansat Berry - Sig Attribute: Musth Forme)
- Bépya (Male Bulbasaur - Overgrow - @Miracle Seed)
- Tandy (Female Yanma - Speed Boost)
- Curare Wurari (Female Croagunk - Anticipation - Sig Attribute: Poison Dart Gourd)
- Celeste (Female Chimchar - Blaze - Sig Attribute: Celestial Goddess)

The following moves were rolled for this round:

Coloursfall
Slash / Synchronoise / Glaciate / Sheer Cold / Nasty Plot

Blastoise Fortooate
Night Shade / Psychic / Spark / Dream Eater / Pay Day

For such a momentuous occasion for luck, I rolled a real, physical coin instead of using random.org. It was a 50 cent coin, too, because, you know, 50% chance. Anyways, the result was:
- Blastoise Fortooate sends out first
- Coloursfall sends out and issues commands
- Blastoise Fortooate issues commands
- I judge

I post here, right?

I guess it's time for Husk.

LET'S DO THIS

>:0 SHEDINJA

Well we may as well have some fun if we're not gunna hit this...face. guy. thing.

Yzma, time to get pumped for later.

Nasty Plot x 3

ETA: ...wait do sigstuff happen in this battle because if so i want to change my orders to compensate for Husk's if it works

Yes, I'm using a shedinja. He's got to earn his keep just like everyone else, the old geezer. PLUS Y'KNOW IT'S A LUCK BASED BATTLE AND YOU'LL HAVE TO BE LUCKY TO HIT HIM! HYUCKHYUCKHYUCK

BUT:

Negrek said:

Most ASB contests are open to any pokémon in a player's active squad, but that pokémon's items and modifications will have no effect at any point during the contest.

Click to expand...

SO THAT'S A NO ON THAT I THINK

Use Psychic to throw Yzma out into the audience, Night Shading her as she flies through the air, and follow it up with a Pay Day, tossing money at her/into the crowd. Spin around in a circle during that last action, I guess, unless you can think of something less boring.

Psychic + Night Shade (quick succession) ~ Pay Day ~ nada



(As an aside, what qualifies one as having 'won' a five-round section of this battle? I'm assuming scores, but..?)