the_plateau | Swinub Scurry Info

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Swinub Scurry Info

What's happening?

The Swinub Scurry is a tradition in Blackthorn City! Every other Winter, trainers bring their hardiest Pokemon and compete in a sled race through the wilderness surrounding Blackthorn. The race length is such that trainers will need to spend one to two nights in the Winter wilderness, managing survival, navigation, and wild Pokemon much stronger than those found on the normal routes.

There's some extra prestige in winning, but most participants are celebrated for just finishing the course. The foremost rule of the Swinub Scurry is that the race stays "open" until everyone has either made it to the end or given up or needed a rescue. There are always people at the finish line ready to cheer racers arriving, day and night (taking shifts if they need to)!

This beloved tradition has been out of the spotlight in recent years, with local organizers getting snooty about trainers without influential family roots in Blackthorn participating. In the past, petty local politics and old money have done a poor job of advertising the event, even though it was ostensibly tourist friendly. Now, the old guard is on its way out, and this year the organizing committee is looking to change things up! Trainers will see fliers in towns across Johto and Kanto inviting them to this seasonal event!

What's the origin of this tradition, anyway?

It's lost to time! Every local family will tell the story differently, but most agree that it has something to do with Swinub herding when their population spikes every couple of seasons!

Can my character already know about this, if they've been here a while?

Absolutely! The "bad at advertising and snooty about entrants" part is there to explain why characters wouldn't have heard of it or participated before... but if you'd like to handwave that your character was aware, or even a long-time fan, please feel free!

How do characters enter? Are there restrictions on Pokemon that can be used?

Show up to Blackthorn City and sign up (for free)! Characters can even be provided with a loaned sled and harnesses... with the caveat that these are just whatever sleds the organizing committee could scrounge up. Most repeat competitors will have fancier sleds in much nicer condition, so characters may want to consider buying, renting, or borrowing a better sled from somewhere around town.

As for Pokemon restrictions - the Pokemon must pull the sled, with their trainer and all their supplies on it. No getting on your flying Pokemon and swooping to the end! Otherwise, Pokemon are not generally restricted by species from entering... but the number of Pokemon you may enter will depend on their size and strength. Someone entering an Onix will be limited to just the one, someone entering Stantler may have several, and someone who's decided their sled will be pulled by Skwovet(??) will be allowed an absolute legion of the lil guys. The event organizers have League permission to temporarily disable the six Pokemon limit within the event grounds.

You may also enter a variety of Pokemon, keeping in mind the above restrictions! That said... this is usually not recommended, simply because species of Pokemon have quite different gaits and behaviors and will start tripping over each other if they're pulling a sled together. There's a reason that nearly all the repeat racers have a single species team. That said: you can probably get away with, say, harnessing up a few similarly-sized canine Pokemon. And borrowing Pokemon from other trainers to fill out your team is fine too!

So... there are NPC competitors?

There sure are. In general, you're welcome to make up NPCs as you like for threads - but we'll start you off with some examples.

The two trainers currently most favored to win are the up and coming Saeki, racing with a team of Manectrics, and long-time veteran and repeat winner Kakube, with a team of Sawsbuck. Saeki is a woman of few words - the gossip is that she gets along with her Pokemon far better than people. But maybe she's just a very private person, or shy! She started racing four years ago and has been just short of a win both those races; she clearly takes it very seriously. Kakube, meanwhile, is one of the traditionalists, and is unhappy about outsiders being allowed to enter. He's not personally the type to sabotage people, but he is going to give other entrants nasty looks. He and his Pokemon are also very good at this... but they're starting to slow down a bit as they age.

The most controversial, perhaps even infamous entrant is old man Junzo, who - for decades - has been entering a team comprised entirely of Shuckle. More Shuckle than one could easily count at a glance. He's finished the race every time! But he's invariably been the last person across the finish line, and usually by then the crowd is getting kind of tired of standing out in the snow, freezing, for That Shuckle Guy to finally arrive so they can officially end the race. Some people respect his dedication; others think he gets some kind of sick satisfaction out of making people wait.

Can characters win anything? How will winning be decided?

Anyone who completes the course will be given a medal and - optionally - a special Swinub egg! Special how? You'll just have to find out...

Beyond that, though, people who finish the course faster get primarily bragging rights and prestige! Well, and if you place in the top 3, the inns and restaurants around Blackthorn will be clamouring to have you stay or eat for free for the next couple weeks, before the fuss dies down.

To sign up for the race, comment HERE with which Pokemon your character is using and any other details you think we should know. In addition, you must participate on the IC log with at least one top level or comment.

Based on your Pokemon and how convincing your details are, we'll be giving entrants 1, 2, or 3 "raffle" tickets. We'll mix those entries in with some NPCs and then do random draws until we've pulled out everyone's name. We'll be announcing results on Feb 28th, though ICly this will have happened on Feb 23rd!

(You can also tell us that you want your character to have failed to complete the race, and have needed a rescue! In that case, they may still get the Swinub egg as a consolation prize, as long as you have that top level or comment. No medal though, womp womp.)

What if my character doesn't want to race? Will there be other stuff to do?

Absolutely! For a spectator the most exciting parts of the race proper are the beginning, when everyone sets out, and then roughly a day later, when the speediest racers start to get back. In the time in between, Blackthorn City will be arranging entertainment: food stands, performances, its own winter market with stalls... anything to get you to shop local with your hard-earned money! And throughout the actual event, there will be updates from race officials on flying Pokemon, sending commentary and (this year, for the first time!) video back to the main stage.

After the race, the festivities will continue, so that racers also get their chance to enjoy!

More details on this will be forthcoming with the IC log, which will be going up within the next two days - a bit ahead of the IC events! (We want to give people extra time to rp and get that comment in!)

One minor bonus - characters who attend will be able to buy eggs from visiting Pokemon breeders! What does this mean? You may handwave your character obtaining Ice Pokemon eggs of your choice at this event, regardless of how rare they are or if they’re local. (But they must still be Pokemon available in the game somewhere - no Legendaries - and they won’t have any special Hidden Abilities, moves, or so on.)

Characters can also volunteer to help with the race - either generally behind the scenes, or specifically on-call as a rescuer in case any racers get into trouble. To do the latter, you will need a team of high-levelled Pokemon, including at least one speedy flyer. (You may assume that some NPCs will need to be rescued, even if no player characters do!)

Like racers, volunteers are eligible for a Swinub egg (but not a medal). Comment in the same place HERE, provide a link to at least one top level or comment on the IC log, and let us know that your character is volunteering, not racing.

Threaded | Top-Level Comments Only

The deadline for responses is February 27th, 11:59 PM EST!

If your character is racing in the Swinub Scurry, respond here with the following:

If your character is volunteering in the Swinub Scurry, respond here with the following:

For those with adopted type: null/silvally (aka the non-combat level zero ones), would those pokemon be valid options for a race team?

They would be! They will be at a disadvantage not being able to defend themselves against wild Pokemon, however - so it may be wise to take along some other Pokemon in balls.

(This is permitted by the race rules, as long as you aren't planning to cheat by harnessing them up as extra Pokemon midway through... if you are, you better be very careful not to get spotted by the race officials flying overhead!)

EXCELLENT

In that case- Emporio has a big boy of a Silvally that he will be hauling before the officials before signing up for the race; he wants to clarify if this big guy is allowed, because...Well, down below is the glitch that Valentino has;

“Despite having all its battle capabilities removed (and, in fact, despite the fact that Type: Null is unable to learn this move at all!) Valentino's presence will have the same effect on other pokemon as the move Attract has. Valentino seems unable (unwilling?) to control this. The Attract effect happens at random, and can last anywhere from a minute to half an hour. All pokemon in its presence (regardless of gender or even lack of gender) will be affected.”

Valentino would get the A-Okay from the officials! He may get the feeling that they aren't taking his warning entirely seriously, but... what can you do. Sometimes, the guy with the clipboard has to learn something the hard way.

Emporio leaning in later with his I Told You What Would Happen I Am Not Cheating card like- (Also lmfaooo thank you mods)

I just wanted to check if my Pokemon entry is okay because of the size/strength limitation. Jotaro is planning on entering with his Espurr, Litwick, Revavroom and Cetitan in a formation like this image here. Is this okay? Or will he have to take certain Pokemon out?

Is it possible for the participants to just use one large Pokémon as their race team because I wonder if Harry could just simply use his Hisuian Arcanine since I assume that both the Hisui and Kanto versions are very big doggos?

Although I am totally fine with him adding other Pokémon of varying sizes into the team if one big Arcanine isn’t enough.

Yes, this would be fine! In fact, since it seems like his Espurr and Litwick aren't pulling the sled, as such, they won't actually count against his team limit. But Revavroom and Cetitan are fine - with the caveat that as they have very different body types, you will have to put in some more work to justify them working well together!

(Also, we want to mention that we loved your picture!)

Yes, that's completely fine! Basically, as long as you can picture a Pokemon pulling a sled with a person and some supplies on it - it's acceptable. Characters don't have to enter multiple Pokemon.

A quick follow up now that the IC log is up, does Silvally count toward the six pokemon limit, or can Emporio have one battle mon if his pull team is '5 pokemon and also Valentino'

Racers may have up to 6 Pokemon on hand as usual, whether or not those Pokemon are pulling the sled or battle-capable (or eggs), unless they need more than 6 Pokemon to be able to pull the sled ~~like old man Junzo~~.

In that case the 6 Pokemon limit is waived for their sled team (but they will not be able to have any additional Pokemon on hand, only whoever is on their sled team).

Character: Emporio Alniño
Participating top-level/comment: Whoo!
Pokemon: Roster here- Beartic, Silvally, Absol, Luxray, Alolan Ninetales, and...for some reason a Shiinotic on the beartic. Slides are 26, 17, 8, 1, and 31.
Other: The first obvious note about Emporio and his team is that he's not here to push himself into a win; he certainly won't be slacking, but he's friendly, makes (awkward) small talk with anyone that lets him, and above all seems to have basic equipment. The sled, the tent, the emergency snowshoes- all of these are standard grade.

All of these are what his gym will be offering for sale or loan to new trainers for winter survival and journeys.

And he'll happily say as much too- as well as the fact that, realistically anyone who's out and about travelling won't have a full team of the same pokemon, nor even a team of Similarly Sized ones, so part of this is to add that much more under his belt to better teach staff and from there teach students. This, wildly enough, is Emporio's own dry run. Anyone who tells him off for 'not taking it seriously' will be met, bluntly, with him saying 'this is absolutely me taking it seriously' followed potentially by 'why are you so upset about this, your team isn't going to magically place lower because of this', depending on just how snobby those NPCs happen to get.

The second obvious note is that Emporio's pokemon freaking love the weirdo. He's dressed in his full snow gear- which makes him look like another Hisuian Zoroark, shame that one isn't pulling the sled- and his pokemon absolutely adore him. Even as mons who haven't really trained together, they seem quick to follow his command and adaptive to boot. On the flipside though, Emporio knows and trusts his team too- if they think something isn't right or need a break, they make it known...and he Listens. The Alolan Ninetales has never pulled a sled- and the others have more experience pulling something alone frankly- but to make sure that they can handle it without outpacing or yanking one another off course, he does do a couple of practice tests while making sure the sled is in order- and by the time they start, they'll...actually do Really Well with that, they're good at controlling their gait to match the ones up front. There's an initial worry about someone's numerous tails getting in the way of someone's face, but that gets resolved by sticking Cirrus in front of Valentino.

For the most part it's clear Emporio prioritized snow familiarity- Ice Fingers was picked up on Glaseado itself back in Paldea, and while Cirrus is really young for a Ninetales, Emporio's been using the last few days post-pokerus to really work with her in anticipation of being part of his gym's snow team. The pair up front however are unique; aside from being pokemon that he used quite often in his early days (And thus, fortunately, familiar with the Blackthorn area), Emporio chose these two for both strength, cooperation, and skill.

Sparks being a Luxray- who has been equipped with a bit of gear for extra warmth- has incredible eyesight, and is even capable of x-ray vision with enough electric power. It's an emergency measure for if they're caught in a freak snowstorm, but Luxray's vision is nothing to sneeze at on a normal day either.

As for Salem, Absol aren't something most superstitious sorts would consider- those bring bad luck don't they?? Well first of all Salem has Super Luck, thanks, but more importantly, Absol are capable of sensing subtle changes in the surroundings- the air, the ground, Absol can catch if a disaster is happening before it happens. In other words, Salem is here for the same reason Sparks is; not just as a sled puller, but as a measure of safety should the worst abruptly strike.

...Now what's up with the Shiinotic and non-combat Silvally.

Shiinotic after all is in particular part of the luggage. That pokemon isn't pulling anything, and it's not carrying anything either. In fact, it is sitting on the Beartic! (Or alternatively, the Silvally)

And it'll also be glowing whenever it gets dark. Here in Blackthorn, the sun goes down earlier, and during winter, that's earlier still; in order to make sure they can safely travel, Ghibli here has been trained to keep those sleep spores to herself, and focus on taking in as much sunlight during the day as possible so that she can illuminate their surroundings and path like woah. She's a really fancy spotlight in other words, and you know what, power to her because setting up camp in the dark sucks.

That leaves Valentino. Valentino is a bit of a wildcard- their glitch is that at random, despite having all battle capabilities removed, the effects of Attract trigger for anywhere from a minute to half an hour, affecting all gendered and non-gendered pokemon in the vicinity. The Officiants Allowed Them Anyway. With any luck, having the risk of Cirrus' many tails in their face will keep Attract under control. As it stands, other than the glitch, Valentino's actually rather well behaved! Good strong doggo, great at pulling, and sturdy enough to go through the snow.

And of course after all of that we have Emporio himself- skilled not just in wilderness camping here, but also in Paldea and Hisui- he knows his stuff by now, perhaps to the extreme. He won't be cheating, he's not even here to win after all, but he will help anyone he finds in trouble; be it by sending out a flare and helping them put a shelter up, or, if necessary, even hauling them along with his own team in order to get them somewhere safe first.

As an aside, in the event Emporio's team is over the size limit, he'll be taking Beartic off the team and instead requesting permission to bring a combat pokemon- this would be the level 100 Haema the Hisuian Zoroark, whose info is on slide 17. Strong, and uniquely shaped from the quadrupeds on the sled team, she'd be unable to abruptly join the team while being an obvious sign to the flying officiants that something is wrong- as she'd only be there for battle.

Character: Loop
Participating top-level/comment: here!
Pokemon: Just Meeple, Loop's adoption Type: Null!
Other:
Loop is coming in to this with several disadvantages: they only have one sled-sized Pokemon, they're going to struggle with the wild Pokemon more than most - their team is starting to get up there in levels, but it's not quite there yet - and they don't have any experience with Pokemon-drawn sleds. Also, they're simply... not all that motivated. They're here because their Pokemon wanted to be, not because they were especially excited to participate ~~though let's be real, that's just a summary of their entire VR existence~~.

You know who is motivated? Meeple. Meeple saw a flyer and became extremely into the idea of pulling a sled and racing. While her determination (probably) isn't enough to compete with full teams, she's basically the only reason they'll have a chance of placing anywhere besides rock bottom. She's also Steel type, which I'm interpreting as "good at dealing with the climate/weather" thanks to Ice resistance. Meeple is carrying this team.

Loop's other saving grace is Burnoît, who will be evolving into a Quilava midway through Loop's first battle with wild Pokemon out on the trail. Burnoît isn't pulling the sled, but he will provide a light source at night and generally keep Loop and Meeple warm!

Otherwise, while Loop doesn't look prepared for the frozen wilderness, they'll actually do surprisingly okay! They've been dealing with winter travel for the past few months, and while they won't be the coziest, they're used to rough travel and discomfort. They probably won't be anywhere near the first ones back, but at least they won't freeze and need a rescue.

Character: Calliope Macabre

Participating top-level/comment: https://victory-road.dreamwidth.org/753866.html?thread=72567754#cmt72567754

Other: Cali is still at one pokemon with Sweet Sixteen who is absolutely not wanting to stay in a pokeball at all (will hiss at it if presented with a pokeball). As a professional medic, Cali had decided to sign up for volunteering at the first aid stand rather than do a race, especially since Sweet Sixteen would’ve ended up determined to speak some crude words if made to race. Cali does love helping and making good connections with patients that arrive in her care. The most important part for Cali at this point is making some friends and likely booping others with scratch ‘n sniff stickers in the process. One other goal and though not important (and likely best for anyone involved) is pointing Cali out to where to get a Sweet Apple to evolve Sweet Sixteen into an Appletun.

Character: Harry Potter
Participating top-level/comment: Link here
Pokemon: Godric the Hisuian Arcanine, yes folks: just one big Hisuian Arcanine
Other: Despite being very new to sledge racing, Godric is quite capable of pulling heavy things in his free time for fun and enjoys running a lot. Because of the circumstances of his arrival (landing in the wilderness of Hisui) and the fact that he had been on the run for months in his world, Harry is pretty well versed in tackling wilderness camping.

And while there is Godric’s natural fear of water on the account of him being a Fire/Rock Pokémon, he does try not to let it bother him whenever he and Harry has to cross rivers. Also Fire/Rock proves to come in very handy in surviving the cold, melting hardened ice and snow, and making river crossing possible with rocks. No, they didn’t resort to Cutthroat Kitchen levels of cheating and tricks on anybody.

Edited (Added in Godric’s link) 2025-02-20 08:51 (UTC)

Character: Jotaro Kujo
Participating top-level/comment: Top-level's here
Pokemon: Officially, Jotaro just has two Pokemon, his Cetitan, Frail and his Revavroom, Crank. I showed how the diagram worked earlier :) Also he's bringing his Espurr and Litwick.
Other: Jotaro has a bizarre team composition, mostly because he's a weirdo himself. However, they work well together because they're all NOT doing the same job, even if they are all contributing to sled pulling. Essentially, Revavroom is acting more like a snowmobile, taking point and shoveling ice and snow away so it's nice and slick for Cetitan, who is doing the majority of the pulling. Cetitan is doing the brunt of the work and the team is largely at the whims of her speed, which is amplified by the Pokemon ability Slush Rush which activates in the snow. So not only is Cetitan just getting perfectly even snow to skate on, she's also getting the weather to help her.

As mentioned in the top level, Jotaro has experience with using Pokemon-pulled sleds. When he first arrived here, he used a sled to book it from New Bark Town across the region to get to Sevii Islands for the holidays and during the Snorunt Pandemic he used a different sled to pull supplies between Cherrygrove City and New Bark Town. While Cetitan and Revavroom weren't part of either of these long-distance snow runs, one of the Pokemon Jotaro is bringing was. The linchpin, Espurr. Jotaro's Espurr is the whole reason why Jotaro was able to reach the Love Gym by Christmas in the first place. She can use her psychic abilities to reduce the drag from the sled, lifting it up and letting the momentum from Cetitan move it forward. She can also use her abilities to course-correct the team, which she has done in the past. Jotaro's Espurr has a lot of experience in pulling sleds and while Jotaro ultimately calls the shots, his Espurr is second-in-command and will be leading from the front (as she is seatbelted to the Revavroom).

Also strapped to his Revavroom is Jotaro's Litwick. She's mostly there to provide light so Jotaro can travel in the darkness and camp safely. That, and to keep Espurr company in the front.

Jotaro himself is also equipped for the weather. Not only was he well-traveled before he came to the Pokemon world but he's used to camping across all regions of Johto and Kanto. He also spent some time in the Paldean wilderness too, particularly Glaseado Mountain where he picked up his then-Cetoddle. Jotaro's here to give it his all but he won't cheat during this contest. Honestly, if he sees someone cheating he's going to hunt them down and punch them in the face. Because of course he will.

Edited (Forgot links for Vivian and Candela) 2025-02-20 02:48 (UTC)

Will do! Cheers!

(Thank you! I'm glad!)

Character: Min-Gi Park
Participating top-level/comment: Just here!
Other:

As a long time resident Min has built up a pretty powerful team, so even if he's decided against racing he feels like he can contribute to keeping the racers themselves safe. He's stayed away from using anyone he's still training, sticking to level 100 Pokémon who will do well against the strongest Pokémon in the area and have the skills to get participants who do get stuck out of trouble. His Pangoro and Sandslash, for example, can probably dig out anyone who gets stuck. Pangoro will also be strong enough to lift obstacles that have caused them to become stuck. His Marowak is partially fire type and has the means to provide both light and warmth. Given the fragility of some of the ice he feels that his Azumarill might come in handy to help out anyone who's underestimated the thickness or has had other trouble navigating the rivers.

And, of course, his Corviknight is there to help him get to the other trainers. She is fairly fast thanks to her Hasty Nature even if she still probably isn't exactly what the volunteer coordinators had in mind when they asked for speedy flyers.

His Pangoro and Plusle also have a lot of assistance moves such as Coaching or Helping Hand that can be used creatively to support their teammates when they aren't involved directly.

Character: Heather Mason

Participating top-level/comment: LINK

Pokemon: A full team of SIX MIGHTYENA. Their names are Jay, Wilson, Cushing, Blair, Rutledge, and Iredell. If everybody is doing team names, Heather will sign them up as "THE SUPREME COURT".

Other:
SO MANY YEARS AGO... Heather inherited these big boof machines from Sheriff Harry S. Truman, who hailed from a small town in far-north Washington state, just below the Canadian border. He explicitly trained his noble hounds as a sled-dog team.
They then proceeded to not pull ANYTHING, sleds or otherwise, for like ten years under Heather's trainership... but the day has finally come for them to return to their roots. Which they will do with great enthusiasm, but they're all a little rusty and it'll take a few hours for them to really sort out a pecking order and hit their stride.

Plus, Heather is NOT an experienced musher (this is her first time ever trying) and despite enjoying a good competition, is doing this mostly for fun. She will be a good sport and slow down to help others out if she spots a struggling team, so she'll be rolling in at a respectable middle-of-the-road placing sometime, but definitely not winning.

In terms of general wilderness survival, the Supreme Court are not... really big battlers, but she's hoping that at least having a large number of decently-sized toothy canines who bark a lot will be enough to intimidate most wild Pokemon from attacking, and if all else fails, well, they all (appropriately) have Run Away as their ability. Additionally, they also all know Fire Fang so lighting campfires won't be a problem.

Outside of that, her supplies will all be of a pretty high quality because she's been stuck in the woods in winter before without good gear and NEVER AGAIN. She has a heavy-duty hooded winter coat with a green bandanna tied around one elbow (for luck-- she inherited it from a much more experienced musher), a knitted hat, thick black gloves and snowpants, and a "survival bracelet" made of knotted parachute cord.
Among the supplies on her sled are a big ol' TALONFLAME 48 hiking backpack stuffed with high-calorie, low-prep food (especially stuff that's easily toastable on a stick-- there are SEVERAL packages of hotdogs, which both Mightyenas AND Heathers enjoy!), an insulated sleeping bag (although she expects to also be Covered In Big Hairy Dogs at night, so the insulation is maybe more of a precaution), a travel pillow and quilt, a set of binoculars, a military-style compass, a grappling hook, a multi-purpose pocket knife, a flashlight, and a small but sturdy collapsible tent. Aside from all that, she's got the basics covered. Putting the SURVIVAL in "SURVIVAL-HORROR PROTAG".

Edited 2025-02-28 03:10 (UTC)

Character: Vinegar Doppio
Participating top-level/comment: Here! And also here, for good measure.
Pokemon: Strisce the Arcanine and Nugget the Zweilous. That's it! All his other Pokémon are on wild battle duty.

Other: Doppio has not been having a good month. The trouble he's been having with Team Rocket for the past several weeks (all thanks to the Snorunts? Could it be their fault?!) has been wearing away at his patience, not to mention his weekly finances and, just, you know, messing with his general hierarchy of needs pretty badly.

But he has a job to do, goddammit (and shit, and fuck, and other expletives), and someone in the Legendary Seekers said something about a sighting of an unknown Pokémon smack dab in the middle of the trail, so he's doing this! With a shitty free sled, one Pokémon that's pretty decent at pulling a sled (that's Strisce) and one that, uh...

Doppio realises too quickly that it might have been a bad idea to rely on Nugget. Don't they say two heads think better than one? The adage makes SO much sense, and yet, between Nugget's temperament and its tendency to occasionally disagree with itself, Strisce is doing most of the work a solid 78% of the time. In Doppio's defense, he just didn't think any of his other Pokémon would really work... No way Pesci would be able to keep at it for too long on dry land, Cristina is way too small, Delphi would cry--

It's going to be a struggle, but he's determined to make it to the end. Even if the Boss insists that he should quit before he gets seriously hurt (and/or insists even harder when Doppio DOES get hurt). They need to show those bastards back at Goldenrod, Boss! Don't worry, it's just him getting scratched up, not you!! IT'S FINE!!!

Character: Beetlejuice
Participating top-level/comment: Here
Pokemon: Blitzle
Other: Beetlejuice is not versed in mushing at all and neither is his little Blitzle. He's not bad at roughing it though. He is also cheating though by way of distracting other racer's pokemon and sneaking into camps at night to cut lead lines. He sucks. BUT CAN HE BE CAUGHT????

Character: JW
Participating top-level/comment: Here
Pokemon: JW is good at surviving in the wilderness. He's good at horseback riding, but pretty new to driving a Pokemon from behind. And it doesn't help that his chosen Pokemon is Queenie, the shiny Rapidash who thinks she's better than everyone. It's JW's fault she turned out this way. If she's not showered with praise and treats the whole way, JW could worry about finishing at all! This race isn't only a test of her hooves but JW's nerves.

Character: Scar
Participating top-level/comment: here
Pokemon: Manectric, Houndoom, Galaran Rapidash, Granbull, and a Skitty who is Definitely Helping
Other: Running with the self-assurance that he has survived the hostile outdoors more nights in his adult life than he has spent indoors, Scar thinks this should be a cake walk. However, he has failed to account for the snow. Lots and lots of backcountry snow, the likes of which he's never seen, never mind tried to camp in. The combination of his ragtag team of mismatched mons and Scar's lack of outdoors expertise proves quickly too much, and much to his stubborn chagrin, he needs to be rescued after a tumble of snow shakes loose from a tree and douses his fire and his tent in one fell fwump.

Thanks for volunteering! Your efforts definitely saved some unfortunate trainers and Pokemon from biting off more than they could chew! In particular, after the race, Cali receives thanks from: Trainer Josh, with a team consisting of a Whirlipede and an absolute swarm of Venipede. You helped prevent all their little feetsies from getting frostbite!

The race officials will offer your character one of the special Swinub eggs in appreciation for their efforts. (If you would like your character to not receive an egg, you are free to say they turn it down!)

So what’s so special about this egg? Well: these eggs have all been donated by a local (mostly) retired Breeder!

When the egg hatches, this Swinub will be fast. Extremely fast. In video game terms, it has absolutely maxed out Speed IVs and then some. The Forbidden 32 Speed. In addition, it will hatch with the following moves: Fissure, Freeze-Dry, Icicle Crash, High Horsepower, Icicle Spear, Stealth Rock, Substitute, Stomping Tantrum, Sandstorm, Haze, Reversal, Rest, Sleep Talk, Trailblaze, and Endeavor.

Finally, there’s a chance for these eggs to hatch shiny! The random roll for Cali says… congrats, your Swinub is shiny on top of everything else!

Thanks for volunteering! Your efforts definitely saved some unfortunate trainers and Pokemon from biting off more than they could chew! In particular, after the race, Min-Gi receives thanks from: Trainer Wataru, with a team consisting of Torkoal. Airlifting all those Torkoal out of there must have been a nightmare, but hopefully his gratitude makes it worth it!

The race officials will offer your character one of the special Swinub eggs in appreciation for their efforts. (If you would like your character to not receive an egg, you are free to say they turn it down!)

So what’s so special about this egg? Well: these eggs have all been donated by a local (mostly) retired Breeder!

When the egg hatches, this Swinub will be fast. Extremely fast. In video game terms, it has absolutely maxed out Speed IVs and then some. The Forbidden 32 Speed. In addition, it will hatch with the following moves: Fissure, Freeze-Dry, Icicle Crash, High Horsepower, Icicle Spear, Stealth Rock, Substitute, Stomping Tantrum, Sandstorm, Haze, Reversal, Rest, Sleep Talk, Trailblaze, and Endeavor.

Finally, there’s a chance for these eggs to hatch shiny! The random roll for Min says… unfortunately, you didn’t luck out! But still, what a little powerhouse of a Pokemon.

Congrats on your successful race! Please see HERE for your character’s placement. Regardless of their final rank, they will receive a shiny medal for managing to finish - as well as a special Swinub egg! (If you would like your character to not receive an egg, you are free to say they turn it down!)

So what’s so special about this egg? Well: these eggs have all been donated by a local (mostly) retired Breeder!

When the egg hatches, this Swinub will be fast. Extremely fast. In video game terms, it has absolutely maxed out Speed IVs and then some. The Forbidden 32 Speed. In addition, it will hatch with the following moves: Fissure, Freeze-Dry, Icicle Crash, High Horsepower, Icicle Spear, Stealth Rock, Substitute, Stomping Tantrum, Sandstorm, Haze, Reversal, Rest, Sleep Talk, Trailblaze, and Endeavor.

Finally, there’s a chance for these eggs to hatch shiny! The random roll for Doppio says… unfortunately, you didn’t luck out! But still, what a little powerhouse of a Pokemon.

...

Hold on, actually, there’s one more thing… Doppio gets the dubious honor of being the character randomly chosen to catch Gym Leader Clair cheating!

But wait, you say, she was watching the race, wasn’t she? How could she have also been participating?

Well… as it turns out, Clair has a little bit of a history with the Swinub Scurry. Two years ago she was banned from racing because of constantly initiating battles during the Scurry. Apparently that hasn’t stopped her - her plan this year was to fly in on her Aerodactyl and swap with another entrant partway through, only revealing herself once she’d won the race! Doppio would have happened to be in the exact right spot to witness this swap going on.

Never one to take defeat with grace, Clair notes that she’s been had with a deer-in-the-headlights stare in Doppio’s direction, bewilderment and frustration blending in her glare. Doppio will be able to swear she muttered "Nobody will believe you," but… it wouldn’t be unreasonable if he were skeptical of the threat.

It’s up to you whether she was caught because Doppio reported her, or whether Doppio kept quiet and some of the race officials also saw her. Either way, the race officials will have disqualified her and ejected her from the race without publicizing the details. Doppio can now decide if, how, and with whom he chooses to share this knowledge!

Clearly, crime pays off...

Congrats on your successful race! Please see HERE for your character’s placement. Regardless of their final rank, they will receive a shiny medal for managing to finish - as well as a special Swinub egg! (If you would like your character to not receive an egg, you are free to say they turn it down!)

So what’s so special about this egg? Well: these eggs have all been donated by a local (mostly) retired Breeder!

When the egg hatches, this Swinub will be fast. Extremely fast. In video game terms, it has absolutely maxed out Speed IVs and then some. The Forbidden 32 Speed. In addition, it will hatch with the following moves: Fissure, Freeze-Dry, Icicle Crash, High Horsepower, Icicle Spear, Stealth Rock, Substitute, Stomping Tantrum, Sandstorm, Haze, Reversal, Rest, Sleep Talk, Trailblaze, and Endeavor.

Finally, there’s a chance for these eggs to hatch shiny! The random roll for Beetlejuice says… unfortunately, you didn’t luck out! But still, what a little powerhouse of a Pokemon.

Condolences on your failed race… Scar is also eligible for a special Swinub egg for participating, though, even if he got rescued. (If you would like your character to not receive an egg, you are free to say they turn it down!)

So what’s so special about this egg? Well: these eggs have all been donated by a local (mostly) retired Breeder!

When the egg hatches, this Swinub will be fast. Extremely fast. In video game terms, it has absolutely maxed out Speed IVs and then some. The Forbidden 32 Speed. In addition, it will hatch with the following moves: Fissure, Freeze-Dry, Icicle Crash, High Horsepower, Icicle Spear, Stealth Rock, Substitute, Stomping Tantrum, Sandstorm, Haze, Reversal, Rest, Sleep Talk, Trailblaze, and Endeavor.

Finally, there’s a chance for these eggs to hatch shiny! The random roll for Scar says… unfortunately, you didn’t luck out! But still, what a little powerhouse of a Pokemon.

For characters that would have raced, but the players couldn't get the posts in to officially submit them, are we allowed to make an assumption of some mid-field finish or lower? Or that they maybe didn't finish for some reason?

If a player didn't get an entry/any comments in before the deadline, then their character will not have completed the race or earned any rewards (even consolation prizes; unfortunately the race officials have run out).

However, if a character would have participated/if a player still wants to thread, it's fine to handwave that they didn't finish for some reason! Maybe there was a terrible sled accident with an NPC racer at some point, maybe their Pokemon just decided sled racing was for losers and refused to keep going... you are welcome to make up your own reason!

Okay! Thanks!

Threaded | Top-Level Comments Only

Swinub Scurry Info

What's happening?

What's the origin of this tradition, anyway?

Can my character already know about this, if they've been here a while?

How do characters enter? Are there restrictions on Pokemon that can be used?

So... there are NPC competitors?

Can characters win anything? How will winning be decided?

What if my character doesn't want to race? Will there be other stuff to do?

ENTRIES

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