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Origins: A Kanto One-Shot Contest

Dragonfree

Just me
Origins: A Kanto One-Shot Contest

Welcome to this year's one-shot contest! With Pokémon Let's Go Pikachu and Let's Go Eevee on the horizon, it seemed only appropriate to return to the series' roots with a contest focusing on the region where it all began, Kanto!

For this contest, we're looking for stories set in the Kanto region, focusing on some of the original 151 Pokémon and/or characters from the region. Expand upon the region's canonically sparse lore and mythology, explore some of its settings and locations, or just write any kind of story you like about some of the Pokémon species and characters originating there - the sky's the limit.


The Rules

- As always, all Fan Fiction rules apply.

- Your story must be set in Kanto, and the Pokémon/characters featured should originate in the Kanto region.

- It must be a new story written for this contest - you cannot submit material you've previously posted that simply happens to fit the theme, or a rewrite of an earlier story that fit the theme.

- You may not post your entry publicly until the contest results have been posted; however, you may send your story privately to beta-readers for feedback before submitting it.

- Entries should not exceed 10,000 words. We do account for the varying results given by different word counters and won't disqualify you for exceeding that count slightly, but if you go significantly over we will have to ask you to edit down your entry.

If you have any questions about eligibility, please don't hesitate to ask the judges, either in this thread or by PM.

Once your entry is ready, please PM it to Dragonfree or e-mail it to antialiasis@gmail.com no later than 23:59 UTC on October 14th, 2018. If you make edits to your entry after submitting it, you may resubmit it up until the deadline. I will handle getting your entry to the other judges.


The Judging

The judges for this contest are Dragonfree, Psychic, Negrek, and Rediamond!

The judges will work independently to read all of the entries, write a thoughtful and substantial constructive review of each, and rank the entries according to their individual judgement. When everyone has finished judging, the reviews will be compiled and posted, and their rankings will be combined according to a points system to determine the final ranking.

Unexpected delays are always possible, but the judges will attempt to finish their reviews and rankings before or on December 1st, 2018. When the results are ready, every story will be posted here, from lowest- to highest-scoring, along with its rankings and reviews from each judge. If you would like your story to not be posted with the rankings, please let us know! If an entry is too long to fit within the character limit alongside the judges' reviews, an excerpt will be posted instead.


Tips

- The judges will consider spelling, grammar and punctuation in your score, so be sure to thoroughly proofread your story before submitting it. Again, you are permitted and even encouraged to send your entry privately to one or more beta-readers before submitting, so take advantage of that if spelling and grammar aren't your strong suit!

- Keep your stories focused and self-contained. Entries should be able to stand on their own as short stories - while it's fine to write a story connected to another story you've written, keep in mind the judges have not necessarily read your work, and bogging your story down with detail or headcanons that aren't directly relevant to the story of your entry itself will probably have a negative impact on your score. Your story should be as long as it needs to be but no longer.

- Above all, just write a good story and have fun!
 
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AmericanPi

Write on
I am extremely hyped and was going to use a ton of capslock but managed to restrain myself! XD Either way, HYPE!

After judging and enjoying the last two contests, I was hoping to participate in the 2018 contest, but I was worried that it wouldn't happen. Thankfully, it's happening! Since I judged the previous two contests, I really want to enter this one as a participant/entrant so I can see how my writing has changed since the last time I participated in a contest, which was 2015 (!).

I have a few questions about this contest, if you don't mind:

1. Would you accept an entry in the Pokémon anime and/or manga verses?
2. What's the deadline for judge application?
3. If no other judges step forward, will this contest proceed with two judges?
4. What happens if less than four entries are submitted? Will the deadline be extended, or will the contest proceed with just the submitted entries? If the latter is the case, what if there is only one entry (not likely, but possible)?
5. May we create Fakemon and/or fan regions for this contest, as long as the overall entry remains Kanto-centric?

Thanks! I'm really hyped, as you can tell. ^^
 

Dragonfree

Just me
1. Would you accept an entry in the Pokémon anime and/or manga verses?
Sure! As long as it takes place in Kanto, it doesn't matter if you base it on game, anime or any other canon, or some kind of cocktail.

2. What's the deadline for judge application?
We don't have a set deadline for judge applications right now; I'll be discussing it with Psychic depending on how the application process goes.

3. If no other judges step forward, will this contest proceed with two judges?
We've already got two qualified applicants, so this is almost definitely not a scenario we need to worry about!

4. What happens if less than four entries are submitted? Will the deadline be extended, or will the contest proceed with just the submitted entries? If the latter is the case, what if there is only one entry (not likely, but possible)?
We'd definitely try extending the deadline first, unless there were good reason to think no more entries would make it in. If we still end up with a very low number of entries, I think we'd have to discuss together with the other judges whether the contest is still viable and what we'd want to do about it. I'm inclined to say we'll cross that bridge when we come to it, though.

5. May we create Fakemon and/or fan regions for this contest, as long as the overall entry remains Kanto-centric?
I may check with Psychic if she disagrees, but I'm inclined to say the Pokémon appearing in your story should all be Kanto Pokémon. However, you could reference other regions or Pokémon, canonical or not.
 

Starlight Aurate

Just a fallen star
Oooh, I'm excited for this! I haven't entered a contest in I-don't-know-how-long ( but it was before 10,000 word limit was implemented ._.). There was a one-shot I started a while ago but never got around to finishing; I think I'll start anew with it (as I never posted it anywhere) as it was an idea I would really like to implement someday.

Question: Are we allowed to reference human characters from outside the Kanto region?

It's pretty minor for my story... but it does mean that I would have to change some things. Thanks!
 

Dragonfree

Just me
Yeah, sure. Like with the Pokémon, I'd say referencing non-Kanto characters is fine, but any canon characters actually appearing should be from Kanto. (Of course, you can also have original human characters.)
 

Ambyssin

Winter can't come soon enough
Well, the prompt is broad enough, but I'll be bowing out this year. I'd rather not divert my writing attention away from my fic and, well, my heart would not be in a Kanto oneshot. I was never the biggest fan of that region and while I'm sure I could think of something, I'm pretty sure the quality would suffer from a lack of drive/passion. Good luck to those who take part, though! I'll be interested in seeing what you come up with. ^^
 

Psychic

Really and truly
I'm really excited to be judging this contest! Yellow Version was my first game, and Kanto has a special place in my heart. I am ready for the nostalgia train. :D

Also, the official deadline for judging applications is 23:59 UTC on August 20! If you're interested in judging, please contact myself and Dragonfree by that date!

~Psychic
 

Umbramatic

The Ghost Lord
Woo! Contest time! One of my favorite times of year!

I'll admit, my writing energy has been
rather stunted for a while, part of why I haven't been as active here as I would like. This will hopefully pick things back up, so I'm definitely gonna try to brainstorm an entry.
 

Psychic

Really and truly
We are thrilled to announce that joining Dragonfree and myself on the judging panel are Negrek and Rediamond! The four of us are looking forward to reading your entries!

~Psychic
 

shoz999

Back when Tigers used to smoke.
Question.
  • What if it's a rewrite of a particular scene from an anime or manga to great similar detail?
  • Can we submit more than one story?
  • You said stories connected to other stories may result in point deductions if the judges aren't aware of the other fan-made lore. Will points be deducted if the judges have a certain lack of knowledge of official Pokemon lore/story?
 
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Dragonfree

Just me
Question.
  • What if it's a rewrite of a particular scene from an anime or manga to great similar detail?
  • Can we submit more than one story?
  • You said stories connected to other stories may result in point deductions if the judges aren't aware of the other fan-made lore. Will points be deducted if the judges have a certain lack of knowledge of official Pokemon lore/story?
It's fine to write a story that's an interpretation of a canonical scene, but bear in mind that if your interpretation isn't adding anything - if it's literally just the dialogue and events depicted in canon, except written up in prose - then your entry probably isn't going to place very highly. Something like an interesting, novel interpretation of what the characters are thinking in that moment, or a story that depicts a canonical event and then follows up on it or otherwise adds to it, could be a fine entry.

Generally it's been one entry per person, although I'm not particularly attached to that personally and it could help boost the number of entries if not that many people are submitting, so I'd theoretically be open to discussing it with the judges if there's interest.

It's not precisely that points will be deducted if the judges don't know some lore; rather, the point is you should make sure your story stands sensibly on its own, and if your entry is hard to understand or appreciate without some outside context, the judges will probably like it less unless they happen to already know that context, which we can't guarantee. If your entry is about some little-known bit of canon, and previously knowing something about that canon is necessary to understand or appreciate your entry, you may want to include a note providing whatever the necessary context is (or else modify your entry so that it explains itself without such a note, which may be a better idea). But just being based on a bit of canon the judges may be unfamiliar with won't in itself put you at a disadvantage if the story is still engaging and makes sense.
 

shoz999

Back when Tigers used to smoke.
Understandable. If you do come to a decision for multiple postings, I hope you announce it sometime as early as possible and not near the deadline.
 

Dragonfree

Just me
Apologies for the late response, but as we didn't get a consensus from the judges on allowing multiple entries per person, I'm afraid we will not be adjusting the current rules for this contest. Please submit only one entry; if you have multiple ideas, enter the one you think is the best one.
 

shoz999

Back when Tigers used to smoke.
Apologies for the late response, but as we didn't get a consensus from the judges on allowing multiple entries per person, I'm afraid we will not be adjusting the current rules for this contest. Please submit only one entry; if you have multiple ideas, enter the one you think is the best one.
Okey dokey. Question? Will fan lyrical songs be allowed for submittions? The kind that tell stories?
 

Dragonfree

Just me
We discussed it and sure, you can do that. Bear in mind that it's difficult to tell a story at the same level of complexity and immersion as a prose story in that format, so you may be putting yourself at a disadvantage - but by all means give it a try if it's the idea that most excites you.
 

Namohysip

Dragon Enthusiast
More last-minute that I would have liked, but hey! I have it nice and pretty. While a spontaneous decision, I'm pretty happy with the results.

Submitted~
 

Dragonfree

Just me
We've got five entries now! Is there anyone else still working on theirs, or can we expect this to be the final lineup?
 
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