Round 0
This prompt is for those who wish to participate in our Spectator Tournament that runs adjacent to the central OCT - the audition/round 0 prompt for the main tournament is here! Remember you can't compete in both at the same time (those knocked out of the central tournament can join in on spectator prompts, though).
Prompt - “Reed Roundup”
As her coworkers busied themselves welcoming the Hyperspace tournament’s competitors-to-be, Espurr felt a growing panic. While checking supplies for round one’s setup, she noticed a glaring hole in the tournament staff’s plans - a problem so big the six of them could not fix it without help.
After shaking her brother by the shoulders to rouse him from a nap, the two rushed to find Merriweather and explained the situation…
“Oh, crumbs,” said the Zorua, before proposing a solution.
Between Hoopa’s escapades recruiting competitors, it began offering places to help with the tournament’s upkeep as well. Spectators would be allowed to stay at base camp and be catered for by Gran without competing in the tournament.
Once enough Pokémon were gathered, Espurr’s brother (confusingly also named Espurr) stood on a little rock to explain the assistance the supply team needed.
“There’s some stuff we need for the first round we forgot to grab,” he said, rubbing his eyes sleepily. “Hoopa’s gonna open a portal to a bunch of rivers, lakes, and ponds - there’s this plant we need you guys to collect.” He gestured to a strange reed levitating in a cloud of psychic energy maintained by his sister. Its base was bulbous, but narrowed sharply into two bottlenecks. At their ends were gaping holes, the entire bagpipe-like structure hollow.
“Pick up as many as you can. And don’t worry - Hoopa will let you back here. Merri said she’d kick its butt otherwise, and I don’t think she was kidding. Gran’s making dinner, he and Dora will patch you up if you break any bones or something.” Espurr swivelled to look at his sister - she hid behind him, wringing her hands awkwardly. “That everything?”
She nodded, and he took this as an invitation to wander away into his tent, taking another well-earned sleep.
Spectators who are gathered while Hoopa finds contestants for the Hyperspace Tournament must pass through a portal it opens to enable them to find and collect Bulbous Reeds.
This description of events may be altered to suit your entry, so long as the prompt itself is consistent. Bulbous Reeds can vary in design.
Dimension
Weather condition: none, sunlight, or rain; might find hail or snow at high altitudes.
Terrain: none or misty; may turn electric in the case of a storm.
Pokémon: most common are normal, flying, water, grass, and bug types. Terrestrial species are usually small, but aquatic ones vary dramatically in size.
Geography: various bodies of unpolluted water, typically by grassy banks. Home to Bulbous Reeds.
Inspirations:
Images from the Rescue Team games.
Rules
Show your character(s) harvesting Bulbous Reeds for the Hyperspace tournament staff in advance of round one! You can show additional context, such as them arriving in Hoopa’s pocket dimension, but the base requirement is showing your characters collect Bulbous Reeds. Whether the reeds are empty, contain water, or have something else in them is up to you.
Submit entries (after submitting your characters to be screened, as described on our Character Creation and How to Enter pages - the process is very similar for competitors and sepectators) via email to HyperspaceOCT@gmail.com (it helps us if your subject line includes "Spectator Round 0 Entry").
Please keep in mind our regulations for the spectator tournament:
Spectator entries don’t need to be as extensive as entries in the main tournament to be accepted, but they can be if you’d like! They may be as brief as one illustration or a few paragraphs, just make sure we can see what your characters are doing.
Don’t show characters who are competing in the main tournament taking part in spectator prompts. Spectator prompts happen at the same time as the main tournament and prepare the staff for the next round. You may show competitors in Hoopa’s pocket dimension.
One additional ticket will be granted for depicting your character(s) doing each of:
meeting (at least) one Judge NPC,
swimming (or attempting to) - even if only because they fell in,
encountering a wild / native Pokémon in the prompt dimension (this doesn’t have to be in combat).
For details on earning base tickets with your entry, see the Spectator Tournament page. Good luck!
Deadline
25th March 2023, 23:59 GMT.
If you need to request more time, see the Individual Extensions page!