Pokémon Snap FAQ!

[indigo_league]

Shutterbugs and Pokémon enthusiasts rejoice! It’s time for the Pokémon Snap contest! Held during the late weeks in September in the tranquil Safari Zone, this contest doesn’t test your battle abilities or your Pokémon’s showstopping talent--rather, this is a chance for trainers and hobbyists alike to show off their photography skills and enjoy Pokémon in their natural habitats.

Why not swing by and have some fun? Surely, at such an innocent event, nothing could possibly go wrong.

Contest rules

• The contest will start at 10 AM and will end at 4 PM.
  
• Only pictures taken inside the Safari Zone can be entered.
  
• Only pictures of wild pokemon can be entered.
  
• Characters are free to submit more than one photo over the course of the afternoon, but only the last photo received by the judges will be entered into the contest. So be sure to really think over whether a new photo you took is better than the last one you submitted.
  
• Judgement will happen directly after the contest; trainers and pokemon will be offered a free meal while they wait.
  
• No pokemon can be taken into the Safari zone during the contest!
  
• No wild pokemon can be captured during the contest!
  
• Participants are free to bring their own camera equipment, or else they can use one of the cameras provided by the Safari Zone.

My character is a cheat/troublemaker/rocket. What is possible in terms of cheating?
Despite the rules, there are definitely several ways less than scrupulous characters could try and cheat. In general, we are all for characters cheating if that is in their nature, but let's lay out some ground rules, so all the fun stays IC!

First of all, if your character really wants, they can try and smuggle their Pokémon inside of the Safari Zone with them. But they will need to really hide those pokeballs really well. It definitely won’t be possible to smuggle actual Pokémon past the Safari Zone staff, so the only way you are going to manage it is if they are in their Pokéballs and their Pokéballs are in a really hidden spot.

Secondly, if your character wants to win by interfering with other people’s picture taking, we are generally fine with that, just as long as you come to an agreement with the other player.

Third, one of the more obvious ways to cheat would be to submit some non-Safari Zone pictures. However, this is something the judges will monitor very closely by checking the exif and location data on the submitted photos. And if they catch anyone submitting a non-Safari Zone picture, they will be removed from the contest, even if they later submit some actual Safari Zone pictures. It’s a ‘one strike and you are out’ policy. There won’t be any huge consequences beyond getting kicked from the contest though. Unless you count disapproving employee faces.

How do we submit pictures?
We have a thread here where you can submit the picture your character would’ve taken in the form of one or two lines of text. Please, we encourage you not to put more effort into this than that. A really basic description is all we need.

What will happen at 3:47pm?
Who knows. Better check back later. But let’s just say we’d advise people to perhaps hold off on setting up any threads for directly after the contest ends. Things might end a little different than you expect!

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Holy crap! My character wants to help!

Great! As you can imagine the Safari Zone employees really need some help right now.

If your character has at least three badges or at least one pokemon over level 60, Safari Zone Employees will allow them to enter the Zone to help find the people who are still inside/start helping on calming down and finding wounded pokemon. Employees will be handing out first aid supplies, potion packs and Safari balls to anyone entering the zone. Characters will be requested to treat any small and minor pokemon injuries in the field with the potions, and to catch the more heavily injured pokemon so they can be treated back at the centre.

If your character doesn’t have any/not enough badges/no powerful pokemon, the Zone Employees are not going to let them inside. Sorry, but this is a very risky endeavour and they don’t want inexperienced people possibly getting themselves in danger. Of course, that doesn’t mean there is nothing else to do! Employees are going to need help handing out potion packs to any trainers going inside the zone and they need people to stand ready for when the injured pokemon (and possibly people) start coming in.


My character is going inside. What can they expect?

Expect a lot of very angry pokemon.

Basically, the Zone is in complete chaos right about now. The employees will do their best to divide people up equally between the different areas in the Safari Zone. First priority is to find anyone still left inside (the broadcast system will be used to let searchers know how many people still remain) and after that to try and calm down the enraged pokemon and treat/capture any injured ones.

Characters are free to try and calm down the enraged pokemon in any way they want. For once, everybody will be allowed to bring their teams inside of the Safari Zone (and there is a PC in the center, should you have come here without your best pokemon on hand). Try and use the best tricks in your arsenal to calm those poor pokemon down. Maybe putting them to sleep will help. Maybe your pokemon can produce some calming scents. Maybe you want to try and use the sound of your own voice and words to do the trick. Or maybe, if you really feel there is no other way, you can battle the pokemon into submission. Nobody has ever dealt with someone like this before, so nobody really knows what the best way to deal with this is.

One thing to note about the enraged pokemon is that they seem to be stronger than they would regularly be. An enraged level 20 Fearow might fight as if it is a good 10 to 15 levels higher than that.

Another thing to note, for those engaging them in battle, is that the pokemon really seem to be battling in blind rage. Even pokemon normally known for clever tricks seem to be favouring brute strength and anger over everything else.

One last thing to note is that as time passes, the enraged pokemon slowly start settling down. It seems to be a very unpleasant, disorientating process for the poor pokemon, but over time, their enraged state completely dissipates leaving them tired and somewhat sick looking.


Does the rage seem to affect character’s pokemon?

That depends!

If your character enters the Safari Zone as part of the rescue effort, their pokemon will not be affected by whatever enraged the Safari Zone pokemon. Whatever the trigger for this strange state might have been, it seems it is gone now.

If your character had previously smuggled their pokemon into the Safari Zone during the contest? And they were still inside at 3:47 PM? Their pokemon would’ve fallen into a rage just like all the other pokemon. If they were in their pokeballs at the time, they would break free before going on a rampage.


My character was inside the zone at 3:47. Is there anything they may have noticed?

If your character was particularly eagle-eyed and observant, they may have noticed a strange, very thin fog that seemed to drift through the area just moments before the trouble started. But in the chaos, will they be able to remember that?


So,uh, what about that contest?

Contest? What contest-- oh right.

Yeah, as you might expect, that ends up completely cancelled without a winner. Sorry folks, but the Safari Zone employees have more important things on their mind right now.


Really, nothing at all?

No, sorry. They are just far too busy right now dealing with all the injured pokemon. In fact, the Safari Zone will also be closed until further notice, while the pokemon are taken care of and the Pokemon League starts investigating what happened exactly. It might have been easy to dismiss when it was just silly rumours and tales, but the Safari Zone Incident proves something is happening.

About a week after the contest though, characters that entered will have prints of their submitted picture mailed to them by the Safari Zone with a note apologising for the cancellation of the contest. Perhaps that is something?