• Hi all. We have had reports of member's signatures being edited to include malicious content. You can rest assured this wasn't done by staff and we can find no indication that the forums themselves have been compromised.

    However, remember to keep your passwords secure. If you use similar logins on multiple sites, people and even bots may be able to access your account.

    We always recommend using unique passwords and enable two-factor authentication if possible. Make sure you are secure.
  • Be sure to join the discussion on our discord at: Discord.gg/serebii
  • If you're still waiting for the e-mail, be sure to check your junk/spam e-mail folders

Alpha and Omega: A Hoenn One-Shot Contest

Negrek

Lost but Seeking
Alpha and Omega: A Hoenn One-Shot Contest

By now you've probably heard that the Pokémon franchise will be returning to Hoenn with the release of OmegaRuby and AlphaSapphire this November, and what better way to celebrate the occasion than with a Hoenn-themed writing contest?

We're looking for entries that focus on any of the things that make Hoenn great: its places, its people, its legends, or anything else uniquely associated with Hoenn. Regardless of your chosen topic, though, your story should be set in Hoenn and feature pokémon from the Hoenn regional pokédex or their evolutions/alternate formes (for example, mega absol and gallade are fine). If you'd like to feature canon characters, make sure they're people associated with Hoenn in some way.

In addition to staying on theme, please adhere to the following guidelines:

- All the usual fanfic forum rules apply. There are no other restrictions on rating, genre, etc.

- Please do not post your work anywhere public until after the judging is complete. You may ask other people to read your work and give feedback in private if you'd like.

- Please limit your entry to 10,000 words or fewer.

When you're ready to submit, you may either PM your entry to Negrek or send it as an e-mail attachment. I'll send you PM or e-mail confirmation when I receive it and take care of distributing it to the other judges. Make sure to get your entry in before the contest deadline, which is 11:59 PM July 15th, 2014 (EST).

Once all the entries are in, they'll be ranked by our lovely panel of judges:

bobandbill
Dragonfree
Negrek
Phoenixsong

Note that, in the tradition of previous contests, we'll be posting the entries (or an exerpt from them, if they're long) along with the judges' feedback at the end of the contest. If you don't want your entry posted for any reason, just let me know when you submit.

Some tips to help you place as high as possible in the final ranking:

- Make sure to leave time to proofread your work after writing it. Problems with grammar, spelling, and so on will count against you in the judging, so make sure your piece is as polished as possible before sending it in.

- While you're not allowed to post your one-shot anywhere public before the results are announced, you can still send it to anyone in private to get their feedback--take advantage!

- The theme for this contest is "Hoenn," and adherence to theme will be a consideration in the judging. Stories that make the region central to their plot will do better than those that feel like they just happen to be taking place there. If you could transplant your characters and story to any other region and have everything still make sense, you're in trouble!

- When in doubt, try more trumpet.

If you have any questions, feel free to ask. Otherwise, have fun, and I look forward to reading your entries!
 
Last edited:

Psychic

Really and truly
This sounds excellent! If I can think up something adequate I will certainly be entering this. I'm definitely looking forward to this one!

~Psychic
 
Oh man, this looks fun! I've already got tons of ideas in my head about cool stuff to write about! I can't wait.

Also:

- When in doubt, try more trumpet.

You may not know this, but I'm actually a trumpet player. Seeing that sentence made my day. TRUMPET, FTW!!!
 

Subzero Dragon

Resident Muse
Woot! As a Hoenn fan, I must participate!! Already got a bunch of plans, muhaha. Now to decide on one... *Cracks knuckles and types away...*

EDIT: Eh...a few quick questions here. Does the story need to take place in RSE's timeline? Can it, for instance, take place in the past? Also, do Pokémon keep their types as-of-Hoenn or are they updated to XY? (Ex: Marill's change from Water to Water/Fairy)
 
Last edited:

Umbramatic

The Ghost Lord
Hoo boy. I am torn.

One one hand, I have a plot bunny that fits this contest perfectly.

On the other, I'm still working on the rewrite/retool of my entry to the last contest, and I don't wanna drop that.

So not sure what to do.
 

Venia Silente

[](int x){return x;}
So TRUMPETS are considered an integral part of what made Hoenn great? Yes? GREAT! :p

I'll have to think about joining this contest. While a Hoenn contest is a great thing, it might be too soon for me, I'm still not even started with the stuff I have pending. Still, I'll be keeping an eye on this just in case the Wurmple stings.
 

GingerDixie

Hopes and Dreams

Poetry

Dancing Mad
I'm really torn. I love participating in contests and getting feedback for my writing, but the deadline is right in the middle of a really busy period for me and I don't want to have to submit a half-finished draft like I did in last year's contest just for the sake of entering. I know one of my downfalls last year was that I spent way too much time worrying about what I was actually going to write about, so I might try and refrain from doing that this time round and just dive in and have faith in whatever I choose to write. I'll keep an eye out, nonetheless.
 

Zoruagible

Lover of underrated characters
I might try this. I love Hoenn and I'll have time to write it during a long car trip.
 

Negrek

Lost but Seeking
Glad to see people are excited about entering! I hope you all find the time you need to get something together and look forward to reading your entries.

Subzero Dragon

EDIT: Eh...a few quick questions here. Does the story need to take place in RSE's timeline? Can it, for instance, take place in the past?
Your story can take place as far in the past or future as you like, as long as the place it's occuring in is still recognizably Hoenn. A good example would be starliteevee's entry in the Interpretation contest: iirc the region it takes place in is never explicitly stated to be Hoenn, it's thousands of years in the past, and it concerns a couple of civiliations that don't exist in the modern-day pokémon world. However, the story revolves around Groudon and Kyogre, features loads of Hoenn pokémon, and ends up referencing Mt. Pyre, so it's still got plenty of Hoenn flavor. Aside from the word count, it would work just fine for this contest.

Also, do Pokémon keep their types as-of-Hoenn or are they updated to XY? (Ex: Marill's change from Water to Water/Fairy)
That's up to you. These days it might strike some readers as weird if your marill isn't immune to dragon attacks, but it doesn't make it any more or less Hoenn-y. Go with whichever you prefer.

GingerDixie

It's a good start, but I think we're going to need even more trumpet...
 
Last edited:
Really excited for this! A certain story idea suddenly came to me a few hours ago and now I'm really pumped about writing it. Always thought that one of the Hoenn games' weakest bits is their plots, so stories about them have plenty of room to expand on and make seemingly minor aspects of the games interesting reads.

Also, I don't think any discussion about Hoenn trumpets will be complete without this.
 

Air Dragon

Ha, ha... not.
Consider my interest piqued! I will need a short plot, but I do need to flex my imagination some more! :D

L@er!
 

Starlight Aurate

Just a fallen star
I'm really torn. I love participating in contests and getting feedback for my writing, but the deadline is right in the middle of a really busy period for me and I don't want to have to submit a half-finished draft like I did in last year's contest just for the sake of entering. I know one of my downfalls last year was that I spent way too much time worrying about what I was actually going to write about, so I might try and refrain from doing that this time round and just dive in and have faith in whatever I choose to write. I'll keep an eye out, nonetheless.

Do it do it do it do it do it do it do it. I ended up finding out about the Interpretation contest 2 weeks before it was due, and managed to make the deadline (though granted, my story could've used quite a bit of editing). Just don't worry, jot your ideas down, and I"m sure that whatever you make will turn out great =)

Negrek said:
A good example would be starliteevee's entry in the Interpretation contest: iirc the region it takes place in is never explicitly stated to be Hoenn, it's thousands of years in the past, and it concerns a couple of civiliations that don't exist in the modern-day pokémon world. However, the story revolves around Groudon and Kyogre, features loads of Hoenn pokémon, and ends up referencing Mt. Pyre, so it's still got plenty of Hoenn flavor. Aside from the word count, it would work just fine for this contest.
Nooooo why didn't I wait until now to use that idea and have the word count limit established this time >_<


Dangit, I'm really interested in this and want to write something, but at the moment I'm writing a Hoenn-centric fic and I'm having a difficult time to bring myself to write in that XD Hopefully I can get something down for this.... something a lot lot lot lot lot shorter than my entry for the Interpretation contest.
 

Kutie Pie

"It is my destiny."
You know what, I need to get involved here more. I'll see what I can do, especially since I know for a fact I'm not going to go over the word-limit at all, but if nothing comes out of it, it's because I was too busy fretting over trumpets. And school.

Also a self-challenge to not be shippy for once. But knowing me, I'll be shipping something.
 

Umbramatic

The Ghost Lord
Oh, I'm definitely interested. I'm legally required to by definition of being a Hoenn fanatic.

Why hallo thar, Esksy. o3o

And I decided I'm likely entering. Just gotta see if I can do this and the Interpretation rewrite at the same time. :p
 

Mrs. Lovett

Rolling writer
After mulling this over for a while, I decided to be daring and brainstorm ideas. So I turned on Emerald and went for a virtual walk, which strangely always inspires me more than a real walk. And I got an idea. I already have three back-to-back notebook pages written for it, and I'm already excited to complete it.

In short, I'll definitely be entering!
 

TeamUniverse12

Team Universe Boss
This seems interesting, though it is my first contest so no promises. I'll do my best to think something up, and try to make it shine! Of course, compared to the work of more experienced writers, it'll probably stink, but meh.
 

Starlight Aurate

Just a fallen star
This seems interesting, though it is my first contest so no promises. I'll do my best to think something up, and try to make it shine! Of course, compared to the work of more experienced writers, it'll probably stink, but meh.

No you won't :) Everyone begins somewhere, and as long as you're putting forth visible effort, that's all you need to make a good start.

Also, I have a question: Does the location have to be explicitly Hoenn? I'm asking because I started writing about somewhere filled with ice and snow... but I realized that there's nowhere in Hoenn that's like that. Would this be okay?
 
Top