Appeal Round Two
Full Metal Cookies and Rosemary
Once again it is Full Metal Cookies who opens the appeal round, trotting onstage with pokéball in hand. As she releases the pokémon inside, she reveals that it is named Rosemary, and the creature that appears by her feet is a cheerful chikorita.
Rosemary hardly needs any urging to toddle out through the grass, whistling a bright, jaunty tune as she goes. Inexplicably, several members of the audience feel their eyes growing heavy, slumping forward in their seats as weariness grips them, but things don't stay innocent for long. Rosemary's grasswhistle is cut off with a squeal as the grass around her comes alive, wrapping itself firmly around her leg and trying to pull it out from under her. As the chikorita struggles to pull herself free of the grass knot, the leaf growing from her head glows a brilliant green. The air hums with power for a moment, before the plantlife all around her surges upward, growing at an explosive rate. With a few shrieks, Rosemary disappears behind a barrier of thorny stems and abnormally tall, stiff grass. The explosive burst of growth slows, trembling leaves at last falling still and uneasy silence reigning onstage. Full Metal Cookies smiles to herself as she clicks the button on the front of Rosemary's pokéball, discreetly recalling the little grass-type. There is a scattering of unsure applause as she exits, but most of the audience seems to stunned to respond.
Negrek: 6.0
A creative use of chikorita's abilities, but not very "appealing." I maintain that, unless otherwise stated, people aren't very entertained by being made to think that a pokémon has been eaten/seriously injured/otherwise harmed. Scaring the audience can work, but you need the element of "prestige," if you've ever seen that movie; people only like disappearing acts if the magician can make the vanished item reappear at the end--otherwise they're just disturbed.
moon-panther: 8.0
This was a very interesting performance, Almost perfect if there was a way to cover up that glow of the leaf.
The fact that you were able to stun some of the audience from the performance was a plus.
Chiropter: 7.8
Definitely not bad, in terms of execution. I was more unnerved by this performance than anything, though it was at least an original idea.
MurrMurr and Don
When the curtain rises again, all traces of the monster plants Rosemary created are gone and the stage is clear for MurrMurr to make her entrance. She takes a moment to consider the terrain, then calls forth her own borrowed pokémon, Don the squirtle. The peppy water-type bursts free of his pokéball and goes straight into a run, charging towards the pond in the far corner of the stage. As he approaches, the water ripples and shivers, small waves gracing its surface as it is stirred by an unseen hand.
Don makes a flying leap and the water rises up to meet him, a small wave, though still quite large in comparison to the pond that produced it, rushing up beneath him, bearing him along on its crest on a collision course with the wall. Unperturbed, Don spits an ice beam at the water below, the freezing beam of blue energy solidifying the wave's crest and partially trapping his body within. He can't reach around behind himself to freeze down his tail or hind legs, nor can he freeze the part of him that's above water, but he manages to get a fair chunk of the wave anyway. It roars on, carrying him with it, and slams spectacularly into the forward wall of the stage, the ice shattering and much of the wave sloshing out over the edge of the stage. Still partially trapped in ice, Don gathers as much water as he can muster, then spews it down at the ice around his stomach and limbs. It splits easily beneath the concentrated jet of water, and Don is propelled into the air, flipping over as he goes and finally landing on his feet on the shore of the now much-reduced pond, grinning broadly.
MurrMurr smiles and recalls the squirtle, waving to the crowd before making her exit.
Negrek: 7.0
You can't really ice beam yourself into a block of ice--there's no way a pokémon without any discernable neck like squirtle would be able to reach around to hit all of its body with ice beam. Also, when a pokémon uses surf, they don't end up *inside* the wave, but rather on top, which meant that this appeal didn't go to plan. It looked okay, though.
moon-panther: 6.5
I like the idea that you had here, but I think that you could have done more to make it better then how it turned out for you and Don.
Keep it up ^_^
Chiropter: 7.5
Fairly standard appeal. Nothing especially stood out, though Don did pull it off very well.
o_O and Daisy
As it turns out, o_O, too, has decided to bring a squirtle to the stage. He walks up to the edge of the pond and tosses his pokéball high into the air, calling on Daisy. The squirtle breaks free of her pokéball in a spin, popping out of her shell to spit an ice beam down at the water below. A thin coating of ice follows in the beam's wake as it sweeps back and forth across the water's surface, until the pond is almost frozen over. Daisy lands with an audible crack--the ice isn't terribly thick--and skids, moving herself into position to begin her next attack.
Popping herself into her shell, the squirtle works up a powerful spin, moving faster and faster as she rockets back and forth around the pond, tilted on her side with the rim of her shell digging into the ice, throwing up a wave of glittering shards. The squirtle traces a geometric snowflake pattern across the pond before popping out of her shell again, leaping into the air and landing with a swift triple-strike that shatters the ice, throwing chunks up into the air around her as she splashes down into the open water in the middle. Grinning broadly, she gives the crowd some jazz hands before o_O recalls her and takes a bow.
Negrek: 9.0
Very cool concept, and it worked out more or less fine. Only minor issue was the fact that, with the water area as small as it is, there's not a lot of room for a big, impressive carving or anything like that, and it might be a bit hard to see.
moon-panther: 7.0
Beautifully Done, my dear~ I loved how you pulled it off, and it was done worderfully.
Chiropter: 8.0
The whole “make something solid, then destroy it” routine is starting to get a little worn. That being said, this definitely wasn’t a bad example of said routine. I especially liked the Rapid Spin over the ice.
I loved the dive into the center of the snowflake, that sounds pretty.
Kusarigamaitachi and Mortar
The quiet innocence of the sunny outdoor scene is next intruded upon by Kusarigamaitachi, which carries the pokéball of its borrowed pokémon with a rather bored expression on its face. Upon reaching the margin of the small pond, it tosses the pokéball into the air, calling on Tankard the squirtle.
The water-type appears out in the middle of the pool and promptly leans back into a relaxed floating position, drifting aimlessly around the pond with a mild smile on his face. It isn't long, though, before the water around him begins to ripple and stir, small waves appearing all around Tankard and turning his careless floating into a bit more of an ordeal. He raises his head, frowning, but doesn't seem overly worried as the previously quiescent water rocks and rattles him.
Tankard floats on, describing rough circles on the pond's surface as the water grows still more agitated. Then a great whirlpool opens up beneath him, its hiss and roar nearly drowning out Tankard's thin squeal as he is sucked down into the depths. A collective gasp goes up from the audience, who for several seconds are treated to no more than the sight of the pool turned into a raging whirlpool of death, before the water becomes even more frenzied, waves clashing and froth flying everywhere as the whirlpool's spinning is caught by powerful currents flowing in the opposite direction. The opposing currents rage for several seconds before, at last, their energies cancel one another out, leaving the water to slip back to calm. No more than a few bubbles remain at the surface to remind the crowd of the squirtle lost somewhere beneath. Kusarigamaitachi clicks the button on its pokéball with evident satisfaction, not waiting for its audience to recover before leaving again.
Negrek: 6.0
Same thing I said to Full Metal Cookies. Reminds me of your raticate appeal.
moon-panther: 9.0
*stands up and claps* This was an epic image in my head. Total love from this judge.
Chiropter: 7.8
Hmm… everything worked well, but had sort of a similar vibe to Full Metal Cookies’ performance. I’m not sure whether or not I like this kind of appeal.
Icalasari and Blaze
The audience is left rattled from Kusarigamaitachi's appeal, and the applause for Icalasari is therefore a little wary rather than enthusiastic. He doesn't appear to notice the reservation of the response, though, grinning as he releases his starter of choice into the field before him. This proves to be a charmander, temporarily christened Blaze, who dashes enthusiastically to the grassy center of the stage, looking boldly out at the crowd and raring to go.
He wastes no time in moving into a swords dance, spinning and leaping back and forth across the grass. As he does so, the leaping flame on his tail sputters and spits out several gouts of fire, which circulate in the air around Blaze as he dances. Soon the fire has worked its way up into a great whirling column, and the charmander himself into an impressive frenzy. A backflip and one final flourish of his flaming tail takes him to the center of the blaze, wherein he spreads his arms to either side. The whirling fire spin swirls all the faster, flames turning from red and orange to blue and green as dragon power grabs hold of the twister, ripping it apart and spreading it outward with a roar. The fire spin is forced apart in disarray, fireballs flying in all directions before the roaring curtain of fire caused by dragon rage itself dissipates, leaving the grassy field blackened and smoking and Blaze standing at the center of it all, looking pleased.
Turning back to Icalasari, he allows himself to be recalled, this time to more robust applause.
Negrek: 8.5
Impressive appeal, executed without a hitch. Swords dance/fire spin and dragon rage appeals have really been done to death, though.
moon-panther: 8.0
Chiropter: 9.5
Very exciting pyrotechnics display. Excellent work!
This is very well done, it created a beautiful picture in my mind of how this looks.
Keep it up, my dear.
Involuntary Twitch and Musa
The grassy field has, of course, been regrown by the time Involuntary Twitch comes wandering onstage, carrying with her the ball containing her "starter pokémon." Stopping in the middle of the clearing at the front of the stage, she smiles broadly at the crowd and tosses her the pokéball into the air to release Musa the turtwig.
The tortoise pokémon gives the crowd a blank look, then settles down to business. Her cheeks bulge as she prepares a mouthful of deadly leech seeds. These she spits into the grass around her in a rough circle. With her props sown, the turtwig gathers natural power, sending energy rippling out around her as she glows a brilliant green. The grass and wildflowers around her stretch up, hiding her behind a curtain of living plants, but the leech seeds, already primed for explosive growth, get larger still, scraggly tendrils snaking in all directions and slender stems rising crookedly above the margin of the grass.
Musa's final attack is hard for the crowd to see, at least in the beginning. The turtwig is completely obscured by a curtain of her own creation. After a couple of seconds, though, the tall grass and leech seed plants begin to sway and stir, teased by a small breeze. The wind grows more and more violent, until the plants thrash and twist back and forth in violent motion and an intense green light shines through the gaps between them. A great tornado of glowing leaves roars up around Ganteiana, tearing up grass and leech seed plants and tossing them in all directions. The leaf storm attack is fairly brief, but as it fades away, it leaves considerable destruction in its wake. Ganteiana stands in the middle of a circle of devastation, the plants around her ripped up or bent to the side, leaving her in the middle of a small clearing with the remains of her shredded leech seeds dotting the meadow around her. The turtwig looks as bland as ever in the face of the audience's applause, but Involuntary Twitch's grin is even larger than before as she recalls the grass-type and makes her exit.
Negrek: 8.7
Interesting idea, and a fairly impressive execution. The leech seeding part, and the fact that Musa ended up getting blocked from sight from the growth weren't that exciting, but other than that, it went over well with me.
moon-panther: 7.0
Very interesting choice of attacks. I like how they all blend together of both the beauty and the destructiveness of nature.
Chiropter: 8.0
Using Growth on the Leech Seeds was clever. The Leaf Storm was impressive, but I think the appeal would have been better served by finding something more original to finish with, instead of just destroying the plants.
Walker and Puncture
Walker takes to the stage, ready to follow up his highly successful first-round appeal with a second of equal impact. He saunters out into the middle of the field and flicks the button on the pokéball he carries with him, the flash of white light it releases arcing up and disappearing into the pond at the corner of the stage.
For a while nothing seems to happen, as Walker crosses his arms and waits with the rest of the audience. Then a few bubbles drift up to the surface of the water, followed shortly by something larger--though it is not, as one might expect, Walker's pokémon. Instead it is a glowing creature composed of pure energy and compressed into the shape of a totodile that floats to the surface and proceeds to paddle around in a carefree sort of way.
The substitute barely has the opportunity to frolic before a blue shape comes rocketing up out of the water, biting into the substitute's tail and proceeding to attack it with slashes of its stubby claws and lashes of its tail. The substitute, operating under the imperative to not do its maker harm, does little in the way of fighting back, allowing Puncture to rip great chunks out of its ethereal body with his frenzied pounding. Tearing one of the substitute's arms off, the totodile dives again, leaving the broken substitute to float alone at the surface of the water again, occasionally twitching one of its mangled limbs.
The unfortunate construct fades out of existence as Walker presses the button on his pokéball again to recall puncture; his subsequent bow, though, receives more uneasy silence than applause.
Negrek: 5.0
Basically the same thing I said to Kusarigamaitachi and Full Metal Cookies--this is an appeal stage, not National Geographic. This appeal also bears too great a resemblance to both Kratos' and Kusari's earlier appeals.
moon-panther: 7.0
This...was very disturbing in the least, but a good show none the less. All I could think about when I read this was the theme song of "JAWS"
Chiropter: 8.0
…Okay, first of all, I have a huge weakness for crocodiles. Plus, you got definite points for evoking Animal Planet. On the other hand, the appeal followed pretty much to the letter the same basic formula as most other Substitute-using appeals do.
Kratos Aurion and Strychinine
Kratos Aurion is scheduled to make the final appeal, but after the curtain has risen, the trainer fails to make an appearance. Just as the members of the audience start to grow confused, the grass at center stage stirs, coming to life with violent force as it stabs upward, wildflowers bloating to grotesque proportions and thick, thorny shoots rocketing up from the ground into a mad tangle.
As the mass of vegetation stops growing, a chikorita trots out from the screen of trees, eyeing the tangled thicket with disdain. Whipping the leaf on his head around in rapid circles, he releases a storm of cutting leaves that rip chunks out of the twisted plant, slicing through vines and lopping the heads off great flowers. Ultimately, though, the plant is too robust for Styrichine's attack to have a great deal of effect on it. Unfazed, the chikorita trots forward and spits a noxious mixture of biotoxins onto the base of the unruly clump. The caustic liquid swiftly eats through whatever vegetation it touches, causing one of the larger thorny stalks to topple over as its stem is melted through, and many of the marginal plants to wither away.
Styrichine turns up his nose at the last of the frenzy plant and continues on his stroll, eventually trotting off stage right. Kratos Aurion briefly appears to wave to the audience and accept their applause, and then the curtain falls for the final time on the second appeal round.
Negrek: 8.0
Decent idea, but somewhat hampered by the fact that a pokémon doesn't really have much control over a frenzy plant once it's been grown, and neither razor leaf nor toxic from a chikorita are enough to cause critical damage to a monster plant.
moon-panther: 7.0
That chikorita seems like quite the gardener. This was interesting to read.
I wish you luck in the next round.
Chiropter: 8.0
Well, this is certainly different. You’re probably right about it working better with bulbasaur; still, Styrichine pulled it off fairly well. Again, though, this appeal goes with the create-and-destroy routine that we’ve already seen so many times this round, though this one at least puts a different spin on it.
As ever, the audience is restless as the appeals are being graded. No matter what, it always feels as though the process takes weeks... still, any wandering thoughts are brought back to earth as the announcer finally steps out onto the stage, large screens up in the stands lighting up, prpared to display the scores that he reads off. The audience cranes their neck and strains their ears, eager to hear the final pronouncement on the second appeal round.
Icalasari: 26
o_0: 24
Involuntary Twitch: 23.7
Kratos Aurion: 23
--
Kusarigamaitachi: 22.8
FMC: 21.8
MurrMurr: 21
Walker: 20
o_0: 24
Involuntary Twitch: 23.7
Kratos Aurion: 23
--
Kusarigamaitachi: 22.8
FMC: 21.8
MurrMurr: 21
Walker: 20
And now, for the third and final appeal round, you will be using the same pokémon that you used in the first appeal, but in an evolved form. If your pokémon has more than one stage of evolution, you may choose to use either the middle or final stage. There is no terrain--just a plain stage. Good luck!
Ganteiana [F]