League Championship 2015 - Kalos Open

hey maybe I can do one too, sure

Am I too late to join in?

Lord of the Fireflies said:

Am I too late to join in?

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You may grab a spot on the second late bracket as soon as it's open for entries.

If you're still looking, I can take on one battle next round.

I can ref a battle too.

Kalos is known worldwide as a hotbed for fashion. It is, in fact, one of the region's greatest exports and, of course, claims to fame in the present day. So central it is to the local culture, so close to its heart, that it'd be foolish to set it aside when making a comprehensive journey. And there's no shortage of locations willing to lend their signature thread and needles to Asber, be it the practical and athletic apparel from Cyllage City, the plucky and unique threads designed in Laverre City, the charming and flowing pieces found in Anistar City, the business articles sold in Snowbelle that leave no room for doubt, or even the haute fashion of Lumiose City -- affordable as a mansion in the Resort Area, easy to have as a Metagross, accessible as a mirage in the desert, realistic as a dream. So many places in which to dive headlong into the one true Kalosian art of modernity!

And yet, options become fewer when one is on the run after visiting burning disaster upon one of the biggest cities in the entire world.

In the aftermath of the catastrophe that beautifully closed a long day of things going wrong, the entirety of the tournament entourage was left to run as fast as it could, through whichever path they could weave across without enough difficulty to be caught by the angry policemen. In the end, staff and participants eluded the persecution in Route 4, known as the Parterre Way for its beautiful patterned gardens, which now either served as cover or lay trampled underneath hustling feet. In the end, the cover of the night blessed the runaways with perfect escape, but they'd have to lie low in the nearest city.

Technically, Santalune City does also house a well-known boutique. And so what if its differential mark is the fact that it deals in absolutely nothing but headgear? Is that not fashion just as much as everything else is? Probably not, but it's the next best thing. So, put on your thinking cap, and create the most picture-perfect moments of battle for Gym Leader Viola to snap up with her lens -- at least, until someone tells her the news of what happened to her sister.

When each battle begins, a type of hat will be assigned to each trainer. The Pokémon sent out by the trainer will soon be wearing that hat. Most hats grant the Pokémon wearing them access to a few extra moves as well as an added ability, although some of them are slightly different. A list of the hats available, as well as the moves and abilities that come with wearing them, is as follows:

• Bamboo Sprig Hat: A round cap that closely resembles Pangoro, bringing about an aloof sense of menace for the hat seeker that's not to be messed with. Grants the moves Sky Uppercut, Crunch, and Parting Shot, along with the Scrappy ability.
• Boater: A nifty straw hat that keeps the head cool in sunshine and protected in the storm, perfect for weathering a long voyage. Grants the moves Rain Dance, Hurricane, and Tailwind, along with the Swift Swim ability.
• Camo Cap: A beanie that blends right into the wilderness with its military-grade motif, complete with grenades and reinforcements, enabling its wearer to move in and out of cover -- or maybe their opponent just doesn't want to be seen with someone who actually wears camo. Grants the moves Egg Bomb, Night Slash, and Attack Order, along with the Sniper ability.
• Exotic Cap: A repurposed casquette with bold patterns, for those who aim to make an unusual fashion statement and also don't mind looking like they have a toadstool for a head. Grants the moves Hex, Venom Drench, and Infestation, along with the ability Effect Spore.
• Fedora: A distinctive kind of hat that has been through many associations in pop culture, and we're pretending for our own sake that the most recent one is Indiana Jones. Grants the moves Rock Slide, Bulldoze, and Power Whip, along with the ability Sand Rush.
• Felt Hat: A porkpie hat famously worn by a trainer that Professor Sycamore placed all of his faith in. Grants the moves Spiky Shield, Mystical Fire, and Water Shuriken.
• Knit Cap: A woolly, tight-fitting beanie with which one can not only keep warm, but thrive in the cold. Grants the moves Blaze Kick, Frost Breath, and Hail, along with the ability Ice Body.
• Logo Cap: A snapback with a readily recognizable sigil that's associated with the Kalos Pokémon League. Grants the moves Gyro Ball, Dragon Tail, Flame Charge, and Clamp.
• Sports Cap: A polyester cap for athletic types who want to sprint and make sparks fly when the sun is out. Grants the moves Quick Attack, Acrobatics, and Electro Ball, along with the ability Unburden.

The fun part is, however, you won't know what comes out of the hat -- or, rather, what is the hat -- until everything's set to begin. Other than that, however, you should begin on your preparations, as according to your designated opponent:

Winning prize: $20, one Rare Candy
Losing prize: $10
Referee prize: $18

Meanwhile at the drop of a hat, a second entourage arrived through the sea, letting down their anchors in the docks at Coumarine City. A set of new challengers appeared...


"Would you like to have a Sky Battle with a Sky Trainer?"

It only takes so much traveling in Kalos before someone approaches you with that precise line, astonishing you as you look at them to realize that they are dressed almost as if to evoke a human hang glider. And then, of course, you are tempted to snap and say something like "No, thanks, I was actually hoping to have a Sky Battle with an Underground Trainer instead", but you play it cool, saying you don't have any flying Pokémon on you at the moment -- whether it's actually true or not -- and yet you silently mark the location of the encounter down in your head, so you'll know exactly where to go if you have a fluttering friend who can't catch up to the rest of the team.

As the tournament aims to immerse itself in the local customs of Kalos -- and some might imply that it may also be aiming to cut costs -- it would be crass to skip over this unique battling style, even if it ultimately serves the lateral late entry series better than the tournament proper. And so, those hoping to break into the main bracket will be challenged to kick on their airplane-man suit, swallow their fears of heights, and do battle with no arena bounds but the vast blue ocean below and the vast blue sky above.

For the matchups in the late bracket, players will engage each other in Sky Battles. This means, primarily, that the eligibility of Pokémon for this match is restricted -- only flying or hovering Pokémon (as detailed in the ASB Rules thread) may participate. Note that, as the Pokémon will be in the air all the time, consensually flying/hovering Pokémon will need to consume energy constantly in order to remain in battle, although inherently flying/hovering Pokémon will have no such problems. Make sure the eligible Pokémon you'd like to use are all in your active squad by the time the battle begins; the bottom of this post will helpfully list off all of the Pokémon each player has that can participate in a Sky Battle (although I may or may not have missed one or two -- some of you have such huge squads after all -- so let me know if I've missed something).

Additionally, there are quite a few moves which cannot function regularly in the unusual conditions of the Sky Battle. These moves include Body Slam, Bulldoze, Dig, Dive, Earth Power, Earthquake, Electric Terrain, Fissure, Fire Pledge, Flying Press, Frenzy Plant, Geomancy, Grass Knot, Grass Pledge, Grassy Terrain, Gravity, Heat Crash, Heavy Slam, Ingrain, Land's Wrath, Magnitude, Mat Block, Misty Terrain, Mud Sport, Muddy Water, Rototiller, Seismic Toss, Slam, Smack Down, Spikes, Stomp, Substitute, Surf, Toxic Spikes, Water Pledge and Water Sport. These moves are all either banned or will simply flatly fail if attempted, and they won't even be called upon by moves such as Metronome or Sleep Talk. Note also that the lack of (legal) roosting grounds will cause any Chilling to restore only half the amount of energy it would ordinarily be capable of, and that any use of Nature Power in these matches will call upon Air Slash.

And so, thus are the ones to take wing:

Winning prize: $15
Losing prize: $8
Referee prize: $12

Flying/hovering Pokémon listings (ETA: Now updated as of the day before the beginning of the round!):
-TrueToCheese: Noibat(Rathian), Inkay(Cuttler), Honedge(Nosada), Zubat(Bram Stoker), Magnemite(Faraday), Drifloon(Jupiter)
-Noctowl: Gastyl(Spectre), Hoothoot(Dr Hoot), Swoobat(Muffin), Whimsicott(Aries), Rufflet(Zeus)
-Mawile: Porygon-Z(Windows 99), Duosion(GelatinTM), Archen(Bees, But Not Necessarily), Misdreavus(Envy), Rotom(Skye), Emolga(Sugar Machine), Duskull(Asterisk), Drifloon(Tuesdays), Shuppet(Shadow;Alex), Cottonee(Fluf), Gastly, Froslass(Elizabeth)
-Zero Moment: Cleffa(Eurastar), Lampent(Umbra), Vanillite(Zephyr), Rufflet (Rufflet;For LS99 (xmas)), Tynamo(Tesla), Golett(Iron Giant), Munna(Draumr)
-Byrus: Eelektrik(The Strand), Misdreavus(Misery), Spiritomb(Tak), Starly(Zoltan), Gyarados(Christine), Zubat(Vein), Golett(Clockwork), Taillow(Arundel), Koffing(Mollser), Vullaby(Geier), Vanillite(Billy Kincaid), Murkrow(Fiach), Gastly(Sluagh), Hoppip(Kitten Gin), Solosis(Dandelo), Aerodactyl(Seamlas), Beedrill(Tremex), Escavalier(Deschain), Natu(Eluria), Rotom(Videodrome), Woobat(Blood donor), Cottonee(Dolus), Bronzor(Spencer), Noibat(Zilant), Pumpkaboo(Samhain), Munna(Synodic)
-Crazy Linoone: Xatu(Kwak'wala), Porygon2(Death Canon;Death Cannon), Porygon(Delicious Cannelloni;Thesis;D Canon;Death Canton (CL-xmas)), Drifloon(Baloney;Carbon Monoxide), Porygon-Z(Death Canyon), Aerodactyl(Blazhy), Rotom(Kitchen Appliances), Murkrow(Faraday), Archen(Marchen), Gyarados(Porygon)

Be it because of the amazing hats or because of the high-altitude clashes, heads will turn up in the second round of the Kalos Open -- and looking ahead, they will see the vast ways that Asber will yet go as the tournament progresses.

The battles will begin in a week. Until then, ready your active squads! Also, those of you who have voluntereed to referee, keep me posted if anything changes -- and if any new volunteers would like to step up, there's still time.

Ooh, this looks very interesting.

I could stand to ref a battle or two.

Will this round be 1v1 like the last?

I reffed one last round, so idk if I need to say it but I'd like to ref one of these!

Meursault said:

Will this round be 1v1 like the last?

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Yes. Players' own squads and no round limit, though.

Aaaand hat descriptions are up. You still won't know which you've been assigned to until your battle begins, although you'll know before you have to send out.

My computer fixed itself, so now I might possibly be able to ref a battle if absolutely necessary. I'm still a bit busy irl, so it's probably a good idea to try to fill in with other refs first. These look super fun though and I'm looking forward to seeing what everyone does with the hats :>

Attention, players who lost in the first round: if you're interested in possibly taking Coloursfall's place in the tournament should he be DQ'd, post here before the DQ actually happens. I'll pick someone (randomly) when the time comes.

Metallica Fanboy said:

Attention, players who lost in the first round: if you're interested in possibly taking Coloursfall's place in the tournament should he be DQ'd, post here before the DQ actually happens. I'll pick someone (randomly) when the time comes.

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I'd be interested in this!

Metallica Fanboy said:

Attention, players who lost in the first round: if you're interested in possibly taking Coloursfall's place in the tournament should he be DQ'd, post here before the DQ actually happens. I'll pick someone (randomly) when the time comes.

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I'm interested.

Heck yes

I'd also be up for it ;n;

The RNG has spoken. pathos will be up in a bit.

YAY I FINALLY HAVE SOME LUCK ;_;

The second round is drawing closer and closer to its end, so I figure it's as good a time as any to open the second late bracket up. This one will run along with the third round, and it will be taking four additional entrants.

Also, I call dibs, so that'll be three.