Secret Delibird Challenge (In-Progress)

[Explorer of Time]

Secret Delibird
Winter Wonderland Event - 2024​

General Rules

🎄 Sign-ups opened on December 9th, 2024, and closed on December 11th, 2024, at 8:00 PM Pacific Time.
🎄 The Event Challenge itself started on December 12th, 2024, and will end on January 18th, 2025, 8:00 PM Pacific Time, or when the last player finishes their game if completed earlier.
🎄 This Challenge can be played on any Pokémon game or fangame, as long as it's completed by defeating at least 8 gyms and the following League. Pokemon Colosseum, Pokemon XD: Gale of Darkness, and all Alola games are also permitted, even though they do not have gyms. (EDIT: Removed redundant rules related to these games, since nobody played one.)
🎄 In all challenged games, the Challenge is considered completed once you get the credits to roll! For Violet, DragonEye must defeat Professor Turo at Area Zero, since the credits do not roll after beating the League.
🎄 If you have any questions, feel free to message us Challenge Mods, Explorer of Time, Eleanor, and Janp.

Challenge Rules

Like last year's Valentine's Day event, we're playing a special Scramble Challenge! Typically, a Scramble challenge player will ask other people to name a team of six Pokémon for them to use, and will not be allowed to battle with any other Pokémon during their run. Here, you will have both of these roles: Player and Scrambler. Players and Scramblers will have to work together and trust each other to make it out!

Setting up:

🎄 Once sign-ups are closed, people will be randomly paired up twice: this way everyone will be both a Player, and a Scrambler for someone else. For players, the identity of the assigned Scrambler will be secret, but more on that below.
🎄 For Players: of course you may only use Pokémon that your paired Scrambler has listed, or that are below them in their evolutionary family. If they aren't immediately available, you can either hack them in (as long as it's something you agreed to do) or play normally until you're able to catch an eligible Pokémon.
🎄 You can use Pokemon not in your team for things like HMs or breeding, but don't use them in battle! If you are forced into sending one out via a move like Roar, you need to switch out as soon as possible, or let it faint if blocked from doing so.

For Scramblers: please be considerate with your choice of Pokémon! Unless your player is fine with hacking in multiple Pokémon, please make sure you have at least one Pokemon available before the first gym, and try to have three Pokemon available before the third gym.
Here's the list of Regional Dexes if you need to check.

Detailed Rules:

🎄 Scramblers will give a complete list of six Pokémon from the very beginning of the challenge. With the six Pokémon families revealed, a Player may start their run. Unless the Player cannot evolve their Pokemon before the end of the game, such as not having trade evolution access, all Pokemon picked by the Scrambler should be fully-evolved.
🎄 The team selected by a Scrambler may not contain Legendaries with a base stat total of 600 or higher, unless you are playing a romhack or fangame where opponent trainers also use Legendaries.
🎄 When a player beats a gym, we recommend writing an update about it. Your scrambler can send anonymous challenge advice to me if you're confused or having trouble with your team, and I'll forward it to you after anonymizing it.

Winning the challenge:

🎄 In their last update, Players will need to give a score to each of the Pokémon that they have brought to the Hall of Fame, from 0 to 10 points. The score should depend on how good your Pokémon fared in game and how much fun you had using it! Please be considerate and truthful with the scores, and write at least one line explaining why a certain score was given for each Pokemon.
🎄 Players will also guess their Scrambler. A Player who guesses correctly, and their Scrambler, will both get an additional 12 Points, which does not stack if someone both gets their own Scrambler right and is correctly guessed by their player. Try and make the teams you send distinctive, so your player will have an easier time guessing who made their team!

• As I'm the one randomly assigning scramblers, and already know everyone's pairs, I cannot make a guess. The only way for me to score the 12 point bonus is if I am guessed by my own Player.

🎄 The challenge is won by the Scrambler whose team gets the highest total rating!
🎄 A Player who has made it to the Hall of Fame will receive a Delibird VPP. Just post in the Obtain a Pokémon thread and link back to your final update. If you completed your own run as Player and also have the highest-rated team as a Scrambler, your Delibird will be shiny!

Sign Ups and Secret Pairs

How to keep pairs secret?
🎄 When sign ups are closed, I will randomize Player and Scrambler pairs and reach out to you via Forum Private Message to let you know who you're giving Pokémon to. Do not say who your Scrambler or Player is until the end of the challenge.
🎄 Once I have PMed you your player and their game and rules, you as a Scrambler have up to 48 Hours to PM me with a team for your Player.
🎄 Please do not say who your team member is, even if you and your partner have already completed your runs. Part of this challenge is guessing scramblers, and telling other people before everyones' guesses are in makes it easier for everyone else to guess.

Now, the sign-up form:

🎁 Your name
🎁 Game: Your game of choice. You may also allow your Scrambler to choose your game, from a list of games available to you.
🎁 Trading or Hacking: Your trading and hacking preference. This can be:

• No trading/hacking in Pokémon,
• Trading/hacking in just your starter (through the universal Pokémon randomizer, for example)
• Trading/hacking in any Pokémon in your team

🎁 Trade Evos: Whether or not you have access to trade evolutions.This also covers Palafin and any Pokemon that can't be evolved in your game, such as Leafeon, Glaceon, and Magnezone in HGSS.
🎁 Playstyle: A description of how you like to play Pokemon, such as the types of teams you like to build, whether you like a more offensive or defensive playstyle, etc. You may not, however, request any specific Pokemon for your team, or make requests that only fit one fully-evolved Pokemon available to you. (e.g. don't ask for a Ghost or Dragon-type in a Gen 1 game). Please keep playstyle descriptions to a few sentences; don't write a whole essay about how you like to play.
🎁 Other Notes:Anything about you that your partner may want to know!

Challengers

DragonEye - Violet [0/8 Badges] ()
Celèste1 - Platinum [4/8 Badges] ()

Completed

Cyddeon - Emerald Seaglass ()
Scrambler: ??? (53 Points)
Guess: Reginald Cosmic

MachoPony - Platinum ()
Scrambler: ??? (44 Points)
Guess: Janp

Devalue - FireRed ()
Scrambler: ??? (45.5 Points)
Guess: Celèste1

Kyatra - Emerald ()
Scrambler: ??? (48 Points)
Guess: Explorer of Time

Eleanor - Platinum ()
Scrambler: ??? (45 Points)
Guess: Celèste1

Arcaneum - Black 2 ()
Scrambler: ??? (45 Points)
Guess: Eleanor

Reginald Cosmic - Emerald ()
Scrambler: ??? (46 Points)
Guess: Arcaneum

Janp - Sapphire ()
Scrambler: ??? (43 Points)
Guess: DragonEye

saniachan - Y ()
Scrambler: ??? (51 Points)
Guess: Cyddeon

Explorer of Time - Black 1 ()
Scrambler: ??? (47 Points)
Guess: Would've guessed Eleanor if I wasn't the Event Organizer

 

[Janp]

🎁 Your name: Janp

🎁 Game: I think my Scrambler can choose my game: Fire Red, Heart Gold, Sapphire, Platinum, Black, White 2, Y, Sun, Ultra Moon, Scarlet

🎁 Trading or Hacking: Depends on a chosen game, but let's say No hacking/trading to make it more interesting.

🎁 Trade Evos: Again, it depends, but let's say No.

🎁 Playstyle: I don't mind any combination of Pokémon. Make it as (un)balanced as you want. I really like unconventional moves like Counter or Mirror Coat, but I also have a bad habit of bruteforcing my way through some encounters using X items. Gimmick Pokémon are fun to use, but sometimes the regular Pokémon are the GOATs.

🎁 Other Notes: I would say I'm seasoned veteran when it comes to Pokémon challenges, so let your creativity loose.

 

[Explorer of Time]

🎁 Your name: Explorer of Time

🎁 Game: I'm willing to play Red, Blue, Crystal, Ruby, Sapphire, Emerald, Colosseum, XD: Gale of Darkness, FireRed, LeafGreen, Platinum, HeartGold, Black, White, Black 2, White 2, X, Y, Omega Ruby, or Alpha Sapphire. I can also play romhacks of any of these games* or fangames, provided they are not set on Alola**. However, I do not have time for a romhack or fangame significantly longer than a mainline game, like Reborn or Fire Ash.

*plus Yellow, Diamond/Pearl, Gold/Silver, or SoulSilver, which I do not have a good QoL hack for.
**My next planned monotype is in Moon, and I don't want to play another Alola game right before it.

🎁 Trading or Hacking: If you're picking an official game, I can certainly do so. I may or may not be able to do this in a romhack, but should be able to do so if it's on the vanilla side and doesn't change the dex, but don't know how to do so in an Essentials fangame. If some of the Pokemon you pick for me are obtainable in-game, however, I'm going to wait to actually catch those (apart from my starter, if necessary), and only hack in the ones that can't be caught in-game before the league.

🎁 Trade Evos: I have access to trade evolutions in every game I can play, unless a romhack or fangame requires trading for some reason.

🎁 Playstyle: I run the Monotype Challenge thread. Type overlap is Not An Issue. Even when not monotyping, I usually pick three Pokemon of a single type, since I like my characters to have a type specialty. Apart from this, I typically prefer faster team members over slower, bulkier ones, and enjoy setting up statboosts with moves like Swords Dance.

🎁 Other Notes: If you pick a Gen 1-5 game, I'm going to play a QoL romhack of my choice, which, apart from reusable TMs in Gen 1-4, should have very little impact on in-battle difficulty*. If you give me Crystal, Ruby, Sapphire, Platinum, HeartGold, BW1, B2W2, XY, ORAS, or a fangame/romhack that requires HMs, I'd like at least one special attacker that can learn Surf.

*AFAIK, the Crystal hack I use updates to HGSS's level curve for everything but Red, which doesn't affect much in Johto except make Falkner harder. The Red/Blue hack also makes opponent movesets better, but doesn't change teams or levels.

 

[Devalue]

🎁Your name: Devalue

🎁 Game: Your choice of Red, Yellow, Gold, Silver, Crystal, Ruby, Sapphire, Fire Red, or Sword.

🎁 Trading or Hacking: Fine with trading or hacking stuff in. Will probably catch anything early (pre-Gym 4?) and hack/trade in the rest. Should have access to every Pokemon available in Sword on another file. Ought to be able to track one down in Home, if not.

🎁 Trade Evos: Fine with it in a Generation 1-3 game. No for Sword.

🎁 Playstyle: Typically favors set-up strategies. Defangs the opponent's Pokemon first with moves like Charm, Feather Dance, Eerie Impulse, and Thunder Wave. Brings in a second Pokemon to sweep, thanks to moves like Swords Dance, Nasty Plot, and so on. May not always be smart, however, against Pokemon with moves like Sand Attack, Hypnosis, and Toxic OR strong mixed attackers like Leon's Aegislash. Helps to have some Pokemon capable of performing outside of long set-ups.

🎁 Other Notes: Usually plays on Set mode with level caps. Limits the number of in-battle items. Forbids X items and Revives. Will also keep TRs in Sword to one per Pokemon with no repeats. Encourages build diversity.

Edit: Rough scoring guide:

• 9-10: Won fights it should not have and fought generally well.
• 7-8: Met expectations. Pulled its weight on the trainers it should beat.
• 5-6: Struggled to do its job.
• 1-4: More or less dead weight.

Competes with its imagined capabilities, in a sense. Expects a Squirtle to solo Brock. Would be impressed by a Raticate taking down Bruno's Machamp on its own.

 

[DragonEye]

🎁 Your name: DragonEye
🎁 Game: Scarlet
🎁 Trading or Hacking: No trading/hacking pls, I don't know how to hack in pokemon and I can't be assed to learn.
🎁 Trade Evos: No trade evos, again can't be bothered, but I'm open to playing with pokemon with trade evos as long as I don't actually have to evolve them
🎁 Playstyle: I like using status effects and healing moves, so I especially love grass types. When such moves aren't available or have already been used I focus on offense.
🎁 Other Notes: I generally don't use X items. I'm also a veteran pokemon player, so go nuts with the team.

 

[Eleanor]

I'll give this a try despite currently adapting to the new job (and other stuff)

🎁 Name: Eleanor
🎁 Game: anything from Gen 4 or 5's main series!
🎁 Trading or Hacking: yes to everything, why not (I shall use PKHex if needed)
🎁 Trade Evos: yes again (through PKHex of course)
🎁 Playstyle: Uhh... typically I like a challenge, I like trying out different Pokémon and finding new strategies, but unfortunately I'm not the most patient person out there and in vanilla games I tend to be quite straightforward with my plans.

 

[Kyatra]

🎁 Kyatra
🎁 Game: Open to gen 3-5 games!
🎁 Trading or Hacking: Can hack in pokemon if needed, but preferably only the starter if possible
🎁 Trade Evos: Through hacking :]
🎁 Playstyle: Casual player, I'm open to any pokemon since I like to experiment! Usually would put coverage moves so each mon is capable of fighting multiple types
🎁 Other Notes: Never using X items and putting battles on set mode

 

[Reginald Cosmic]

🎁 Reginald Cosmic
🎁 Game: The scrambler may pick from: Pokémon Ruby & Sapphire and Pokémon Fire Red & Leaf Green and Pokémon Emerald (The Gen 3 experience)
🎁 Trading or Hacking: I am willing to hack the starter via AdvanceStarter
🎁 Trade Evos: For the Hoenn titles, I should have access to any trade evolutions, but I may have to use PKHex to hack in the item for the evolution (eg, items like Dragon Scale and Metal Coat can only be found via a wild Pokémon's held item in RSE). For the Kanto titles, I have no issue with evolving Graveler, Kadabra, Haunter, or Machoke, but anything outside the 151, including evolutions like Crobat and Espeon, might break the game.
🎁 Playstyle: I typically play Pokémon with a balanced team using an all-out offensive strategy with items and "Shift" mode. I rarely use moves like Growl, Toxic, or Dragon Dance, or temporary stat-boosting items like X Attack or Dire Hit. I also read a lot of Bulbapedia articles before and during a playthrough.
🎁 Other Notes: Please be reasonable with my team's Base Stat Totals and be considerate of the early game. I'm fine with a challenge, but I'd rather not have to spam sand attack on Brock's team and hope for the best.

 

[Arcaneum]

🎁 Name: Arcaneum
🎁 Game: RSE, DPPt, BW/B2W2 or HGSS.
🎁 Trading or Hacking: Yes to everything if I can hack it in the game I'm playing.
🎁 Trade Evos: Yes through hacking/using universal randomiser.
🎁 Playstyle: I've done monotype runs, lower BST runs, solo Pokémon runs, several perfect nuzlockes, etc etc so I'm very flexible when it comes to these things. I guess I prefer nowadays just having fun, 'challenges' that are hard just for the sake of being annoying I don't really want to deal with. Perhaps for something a bit more serious! Just here to have a good time really!

 

[MachoPony]

Hope I'm not too late for this
🎁 Your name: MachoPony
🎁 Game: Anything from Gen 2-4
🎁 Trading or Hacking: Sure, either is fine.
🎁 Trade Evos: sure, can just use the universal randomizer
🎁 Playstyle: I'm an offensive player. I like hitting hard, whether that's fast or bulky is irrelevant. I don't mind boosting myself or using status moves to hinder the enemy but the ultimate goal is overhwhelming power.
🎁 Other Notes: I've done Monotype runs, a couple of nuzlockes and completed some of the hardest romhacks and fangames the community has made. I'm no pushover.

 

[Explorer of Time]

Hope I'm not too late for this

You made it in time! However, new signups close in 26 hours. If anyone else wants to join, please do so soon or we'll have to start without you.

 

[Cyddeon]

🎁 Your name: Cyddeon
🎁 Game: Any GBA Hack ROM available to play on MyBoy emulator
🎁 Trading or Hacking: No hacking, Trade EVOS accepted
🎁 Playstyle: Usually play purely offensively, but am not against different play styles
🎁 Other Notes: I never use x items, or hm slaves

 

[saniachan]

It's been awhile since my last challenge run here on PC. Might as well throw my hat in the ring unless I'm late to the party~

🎁 Name: saniachan
🎁 Game:

• Highly preferred: Y or Alpha Sapphire
• I don't mind playing: Platinum, Heart Gold, Soul Silver, Black, Black 2

🎁 Trading or Hacking: While I don't mind hacking Pokemon in, I prefer using whatever's available in-game.
🎁 Trade Evos: I can only do trade evos on 3DS titles because my 3DS emulator allows it. For DS ones, not sure how to do trade tbh.
🎁 Playstyle: More offensive gameplay-wise, though I'm not above using status moves when needed. I also prefer a team of diverse types (e.g. if I already have a Lapras, I can't have any other water-types and ice-types in my team) and am quite liberal when it comes to using items.
🎁 Other Notes: Don't worry about HM slaves, I'd rather separate those from my main team.

 

[Celèste1]

🎁 Name: Celèste1
🎁 Game: Pretty much any early game from Gen 3 to Gen 5 (so probably roms) or Moon/Ultra Moon, maybe also Pokemon X. Your choice :)
🎁 Trading or Hacking: I'm fine with hacking in my starter from the Gen 3 to 5 games, since I have access to the Universal Pokemon Randomizer. However I can't hack in anything on the 3DS Games or at least I don't know how!
🎁 Trade Evos: Once again if a game from Gen 3 to 5, possible yes. Not really with the 3DS Games though!
🎁 Playstyle: I'm mostly a casual player, I pretty much just catch anything that looks interesting and use them to play the game. I would say most of my teams are balanced in the defensive and offensive (maybe they are a bit more offensive) side of things, unless I somehow powercreep with mostly 1 or 2 Pokemon. Though I do sometimes try to spice up things by playing challenge runs or just adding little twists to my game! :)
🎁 Other Notes: Most of the time (so always x'D) I have my Starter and a regional bird in my team, but I'm completely okay with changing things up, so feel free to get creative with the teams!
Also I am used to overleveling sometimes if that's an information that helps!

 

[Explorer of Time]

Only six hours left to apply! This is the last call for new challengers, as I'll be assigning scramblers and sending private messages this evening!

EDIT: Added a link to a countdown timer. As of this edit, we have three hours and fifty-two minutes left.

 

[Explorer of Time]

@Arcaneum @Celèste1 @Cyddeon @Devalue @DragonEye @Eleanor @Janp @Kyatra @MachoPony @Reginald Cosmic @saniachan

Submissions are now closed, Player and Scrambler pairs are locked in, and I'll be PMing you all with the teammates you're gifting to within the hour. Once you've picked out a team (and game, for everyone but DragonEye), please PM me, @Explorer of Time, rather than the person you're picking a team for. That would spoil the surprise, so don't do it. (Of course, if you're picking my team, I already know who all the pairs are, so just PM me a team like everyone else does.)

The deadline for picking a team and game is 48 hours from now, but if everyone sends their team in early, we can start earlier and give everyone more time. I've already picked out a team for my Player, so once I recieve the other eleven teams via PM, I will post them all publicly, simultaneously, and we will start the challenge.

List of Challengers:

Arcaneum
Celèste1
Cyddeon
Devalue
DragonEye
Eleanor
Explorer of Time
Janp
Kyatra
MachoPony
Reginald Cosmic
Saniachan

 

[saniachan]

Submissions are now closed, Player and Scrambler pairs are locked in, and I'll be PMing you all with the teammates you're gifting to within the hour. Once you've picked out a team (and game, for everyone but DragonEye), please PM me, @Explorer of Time, rather than the person you're picking a team for. That would spoil the surprise, so don't do it. (Of course, if you're picking my team, I already know who all the pairs are, so just PM me a team like everyone else does.)

Will the PMs be here in the forums or over Discord or what?

 

[Explorer of Time]

Will the PMs be here in the forums or over Discord or what?

On the forums. They'll take a bit of time since I'm doing them one at a time; I've only done one person's PM so far. I do expect to have them all done in an hour or so, however.

 

[Arcaneum]

Excited!!!!!

 

[Cyddeon]

Excited 2!!!!!!