5. - One of my all-time favorites. It's sleek, it's got freaky looking claws, it's just great.
4. - Also one of my all-time favorites. It's the proof that you can be whatever you want to be; puny Magikarp evolves into a badass flying serpent of doom.
3. - One of the coolest original Dark types, it's a fire-breathing hellhound with some impresssive Sp Sweeping opportunities.
2. - I like the steel/flying type, and I like it more than the rest that are left.
1. - And the fire-dog gets my last vote, because it does look pretty awesome overall, like a never-ending explosion.

Just to make sure I'm clear on that, I'm voting 5 points for Kabutops and 1 for Entei, with the rest in order.

5. One of the three Pokémon I remember using when I first played FR.
4. I used two of these in my Emerald Nuzlocke. Both died.
3. 'Cause it's Gyarados.
2. Looks cool.
1. Is cool.

5. - my favourite of the wildcards
4. - using one in my SS nuzlocke
3. - the only rock/ground type that's not afraid of water
2. - looks cool
1. - best of the rest

5. - This guy has been really useful to me, not to mention he looks awesome.
4. - One of my favourite legendries and one of my favourite fire tpes.
3. - One of my favourite fire types.
2. - Best of the rest.
1. - Best of the rest.

WILCARDS

23 - Kabutops QUALIFIED
18 - Gyarados QUALIFIED
13 - Rhydon QUALIFIED
12 - Skarmory QUALIFIED
11 - Houndoom QUALIFIED
9 - Azumarill
6 - Sudowoodo
6 - Entei
4 - Piloswine
2 - Larvitar
1 - Furret

Kabutops through great support takes out the wildcard groups, and puts himself back in as one of the favourites. Could this be the first time we see a wildcard make it past the first round? Gyarados was a close second, and Rhydon get to join his brother Rhyhorn in the maindraw. Skarmory and Houndoom rounded out the top 5, whilst Azumarill was just unlucky -yet again- and makes his exit for the final time from the competition. I would have thought Entei would be more favoured this round to, however he too makes his exit ffrom the arean.

QUALIFYING:

Congratulations to the 60 Pokemon that have now qualified! To bring it up to 64, Haunted Water and I have picked another 4 Pokemon who we feel may have been a tad unlucky in the group stages. These 4 are Host Discretion's places, and it was quite tough to narrow it down to four but here are our choices:



List of Pokemon that have qualified:
Aerodactyl, Typhlosion, Rhyhorn, Raikou, Quilava, Scyther, Kingdra, Suicune, Mantine, Cyndaquil, Shuckle, Starmie, Eevee, Bayleef, Xatu, Mew, Lanturn, Zapdos, Forretress, Vaporeon, Porygon, Heracross, Articuno, Flaafy, Hitmontop, Lapras, Meganium, Sneasel, Ampharos, Donphan, Ledian, Steelix, Tauros, Chinchou, Kangaskhan, Tyranitar, Flareon, Mewtwo, Crobat, Electabuzz, Scizor, Ariados, Politoed, Espeon, Snorlax, Umbreon, Ditto, Magikarp, Moltres, Porygon2, Snubbull, Dragonite, Blissey, Pineco, Unown, Kabutops, Gyarados, Rhydon, Skarmory, Houndoom, Lugia, Pinsir, Jolteon, Feraligatr.


What happens next?
In a few hours I will release the seedings list, and then we can start sponsoring! Information and rules on sponsoring will be provided in the next post. If you want, you can refer to the first Battle Royale thread where I'll be running things in a similar fashion. I anticipate that sponsoring will open for about a week. Ideally I'm aiming for 16 sponsors but we'll see.

What should I do now?
Think about who you want to sponsor, and if you want speculate on who you think might win the title! Also you may ask any questions you might have.

I do believe I cannot sponsor anyway, correct?

No but you can still vote if you want, I need you to be semi-impartial

Anyway welcome to the start of the fun part: presenting this year's Battle Royale!


*Credit goes to LightningCharm for the base image.

WHAT IS THE BATTLE ROYALE?
A contest that takes more than just looks and strength into account, its all about winning over the crowd! Do you have have it takes to train up a champion?

Essentially it is a knockout competition where Pokemon compete against each other. Forum members are encouraged to sponsor a Pokemon so they can make the most of their draw! Prior to each "battle," there will be a showcase, pointing out each Pokemon's strengths and weaknesses, pointing out where the smart money should be placed on. Hopefully we'll even have some "celebrities" join us on the show, giving us their expert opinion! Interviews will be conducted with the contestants after the 2nd round, to gauge their feelings and personalities about being in the game, to hopefully sway your opinion and hopefully gain some sponsors!

This will be more than a simple popularity contest.. "battles" will be held out on various arenas, which could be an assistance or a hindrance to certain Pokemon. A Pokemon's moves, stats, abilities, will all play a part in their survival in the BATTLE ARENA.

SPONSPORSHIP: WHAT IS IT?
After the preliminary stages are done, there will be 64 Pokemon remaining, ready to duke it out with one another. In the 7 days before the draws are released, you guys will be able to sponsor up to THREE Pokemon (restrictions apply). This means that any votes you cast on your chosen Pokemon will be TRIPLE a standard vote. For example, if you sponsor Bulbasaur, and he's competing against Charmander, if you vote for Bulbasaur that round, your vote will be counted as three as opposed to one.

What's the incentive of sponsoring? If your chosen Pokemon wins the Battle Royale... YOU WIN! Last year's winner ShinyLucario was crowned a Pokemon Master together with his trusty companion Arcanine, and won 2,000 Psybucks for coming first! Will it be you be entering the BR Hall of Fame for this iteration?

SPONSORSHIP RULES
> Three Pokemon can be sponsored, however only 1 may be a seeded Pokemon. This is to ensure everyone gets at least 1 good Pokemon.
> You can sponsor Pokemon through this thread. The thread will be continually updated and checked and I/Haunted Water will mediate.
> If someone has already claimed a Pokemon you want to sponsor, you can outbid them if you want. Similarly, you can also place a value on a Pokemon you want to sponsor to discourage others from placing a bid. This is done via the Psybucks system. BUT we do have 64 Pokemon, so there are still great choices to go around!
> Bids are uncapped.
> Extra rules may occur if we encounter any further problems... I will try to be fair to everyone involved.
> I expect the sponsorship period to last for about 7 days in total (depending on how many people sponsor).

WHAT IS A SEEDED POKEMON?
I will be seeding the Top 16 players based on a variety of factors: namely how well they've fared in the prelim rounds, their placings on Psypoke Idol, and how likely I'll think they'll win. A seed just means that they're more likely to win, hence the draw could be a bit more favourable towards them. However sponsoring a seed doesn't guarantee victory - last year's runner up was DragoBoy who sponsored Haunter who prior to the competition I thought didn't have a chance.

SEEDS 9-16
We got some great picks in here, just like legendary Pokemon Zapdos and Articuno who could very well take out the title being blessed with a Ground immunity. Aerodactyl started the preliminaries with a bang, being the first Pokemon to qualify, so I expect to hear some noise from him within the arena. The lovable Snorlax is seeded 12th, I could see a cult following amassing for the big guy. My favourites in the group, Kingdra and Scyther I expect to do well.



SEEDS 1-8
Typhlosion won the latest Psypoke Idol, so to nobody's surprise he is seeded first... however as Gengar knows in the last BR it might not even be enough to get him past the first round. Powerplayers Mewtwo, Scizor and Dragonite round off the top 4, and I think these guys are potent threats for the title. I fully expect one of these 4 to win, however we all know the arena is filled to the brim with upsets. Cute little Mew is always popular with the fans, and expect Tyranitar to storm through a few rounds. The biggest dark horses for me are Ledian and Heracross - these two have huge potential to go far so it will be great to see these undervalued Pokemon given a platform to shine.



THE SEEDS
[1] Typhlosion
[2] Mewtwo
[3] Scizor
[4] Dragonite
[5] Mew
[6] Tyranitar
[7] Ledian
[8] Heracross
[9] Zapdos
[10] Aerodactyl
[11] Kingdra
[12] Snorlax
[13] Starmie
[14] Scyther
[15] Articuno
[16] Umbreon

EVERYONE ELSE
Rhyhorn, Raikou, Quilava, Suicune, Mantine, Cyndaquil, Shuckle, Eevee, Bayleef, Xatu, Lanturn, Forretress, Vaporeon, Porygon, Flaafy, Hitmontop, Lapras, Meganium, Sneasel, Ampharos, Donphan, Steelix, Tauros, Chinchou, Kangaskhan, Flareon, Crobat, Electabuzz, Ariados, Politoed, Espeon, Ditto, Magikarp, Moltres, Porygon2, Snubbull, Blissey, Pineco, Unown, Kabutops, Gyarados, Rhydon, Skarmory, Houndoom, Lugia, Pinsir, Jolteon, Feraligatr.

WHAT SHOULD I DO NOW?
Choose 3 Pokemon to sponsor!!! I would pick 1 seed, 1 outside chance and 1 cute Pokemon, but it's up to you. If this text was tl;dr then just choose 3 Pokemon and I'll let you know if you should adjust your choices or not.

Happy sponsoring!

Articuno or Kingdra... I guess I'll take Articuno!

1- Articuno
2- Meganium
3- Blissey

Sounds fun!

1. Scizor
2. Gyarados
3. Celebi
I've got too much Psybucks, so don't think you can outbid me. There's only one or two people who can do so.

1.
2.
3.

1.
2.
3.

Y sponsors are going to be controversial...

1. Tyranitar

2. Eevee

3. Crobat

So, um... Ill be right back to edit my post with how many Psybucks I have to sponsor each of my pokes that Eeveelution Master and Drago have as well...

EDIT:

After looking through the bank, I've decided that...

Eevee will not be sponsored by me since I do not have 50 thousand Psybucks to beat out Eeveelution Master.

So, new order:

1. Tyranitar

2. Crobat

3. Quilava

1 -
2 -
3 -

CURRENTLY SPONSORED (Accurate through to Dare234's post)
[3] Scizor (ChillBill)
[6] Tyranitar (DragoBoy) (Value: 0 PB)
[7] Ledian (Dare234)
[14] Articuno (GhostPony750)
[16] Umbreon (Eeveelution-Master)
Meganium (GhostPony750)
Blissey (GhostPony750)
Gyarados (ChillBill)
Espeon (Eeveelution-Master)
Eevee (Eeveelution-Master)
Kabutops (DragoBoy)
Shuckle (DragoBoy)
Crobat (James86134)
Quilava (James86134)
Donphan (Dare234)
Ampharos (Dare234)

CURRENTLY FREE
[1] Typhlosion, [2] Mewtwo, [4] Dragonite, [5] Mew, [8] Heracross, [9] Zapdos, [10] Aerodactyl, [11] Kingdra, [12] Snorlax, [13] Starmie, [14] Scyther, Rhyhorn, Raikou, Suicune, Mantine, Cyndaquil, Bayleef, Xatu, Lanturn, Forretress, Vaporeon, Porygon, Flaaffy, Hitmontop, Lapras, Meganium, Sneasel, Steelix, Tauros, Chinchou, Kangaskhan, Flareon, Electabuzz, Ariados, Politoed, Ditto, Magikarp, Moltres, Porygon2, Snubbull, Pineco, Unown, Rhydon, Skarmory, Houndoom, Lugia, Pinsir, Jolteon, Feraligatr.

SLOTS FREE
ChillBill has 1 slot remaining.
James86134 has 1 slot remaining.



Sorry but Celebi didn't make the main draw He got shafted at the group stages so you now have a spot free to choose someone else.



In order to be in the running for Tyranitar you'll have to outbid DragoBoy first, since DragoBoy did get in first... So do to this just say "I want to put XXX Psybucks for Tyranitar," up to you how much but you might need your Psybucks in the later stages of the game.

Ok, how do I outbid someone? I wasn't around for most of the last Battle Royale, so I'm unsure of how that works. I'm willing to fight tooth and nail to gain sponsorship of Kabutops.

As for the other two, I'll sponsor:

1 -
2 -

It's kind of like ebay, just attribute whatever value you want to Kabutops.

As an example:
Haunted Water has already claimed sponsorship of Samurott. He didn't say anything, so the Value of Samurott is 0 PB.
I want to sponsor Samurott because I think I'd do a better job at making his key decisions, or that I feel he has a better chance to win.
So.. I might say: I'll sponsor Samurott and put 20 Psybucks on him. (It doesn't have to be 20PB, it can be whatever value, it just has to beat the current value which is 0PB).
So now I'm in the lead for sponsorship of Samurott.
If Haunted Water wants him back, he can reply saying "I'll put 50 Psybucks on Samurott."
OR he can just choose another Pokemon.
And so on and so on.
The sponsorship process I aim to last for a week, so you don't have to pay me until the period is officially closed.
When I close off the sponsorship stage, those values are final and no more outbidding can be done.

If anyone fancies some "light reading" viewtopic.php?p=483962#p483962 will detail exactly how it works, the only difference is that bids are now uncapped.

Hope this helped!

CURRENTLY SPONSORED (Accurate through to twistedturtwig's post)
(Unless stated all Pokemon values are 0 Psybucks)
[3] Scizor (ChillBill)
[6] Tyranitar (DragoBoy)
[7] Ledian (Dare234)
[10] Aerodactyl (twistedturtwig)
[14] Articuno (GhostPony750)
[16] Umbreon (Eeveelution-Master)
Meganium (GhostPony750)
Blissey (GhostPony750)
Gyarados (ChillBill)
Espeon (Eeveelution-Master)
Eevee (Eeveelution-Master)
Kabutops (DragoBoy)
Shuckle (DragoBoy)
Crobat (James86134)
Quilava (James86134)
Donphan (Dare234)
Ampharos (Dare234)
Xatu (twistedturtwig)

CURRENTLY FREE
[1] Typhlosion, [2] Mewtwo, [4] Dragonite, [5] Mew, [8] Heracross, [9] Zapdos, [11] Kingdra, [12] Snorlax, [13] Starmie, [14] Scyther, Rhyhorn, Raikou, Suicune, Mantine, Cyndaquil, Bayleef, Lanturn, Forretress, Vaporeon, Porygon, Flaaffy, Hitmontop, Lapras, Meganium, Sneasel, Steelix, Tauros, Chinchou, Kangaskhan, Flareon, Electabuzz, Ariados, Politoed, Ditto, Magikarp, Moltres, Porygon2, Snubbull, Pineco, Unown, Rhydon, Skarmory, Houndoom, Lugia, Pinsir, Jolteon, Feraligatr.

SLOTS FREE
ChillBill has 1 spot remaining.
James86134 has 1 spot remaining.
twistedturtwig has 1 spot remaining.

1.Mantine
2. Lanturn
3. Heracross

Alright then. I'll put a bid of 50 Psybucks on Kabutops.

3 - : Value: 50

So 2 people want my Pokémon. Let's see them outbid me.


You don't have enough to outbid me either.

And I'm willing to fight tooth and nail to keep Kabutops.

EDIT: I just won the lotto. Good luck outbidding me now! (as if you even stood a chance)
: Value: 100

So, you want to play that kind of game, eh?

: Value - 500

I will spare no expense to gain possession of Kabutops. It's one of my favorite Pokemon of all time.

: Value - 600

Annndddd... You failed.

CURRENT BIDS:
Kabutops: 600 (DragoBoy)

CLAIMS:
[3] Scizor (ChillBill)
[6] Tyranitar (DragoBoy)
[7] Ledian (Dare234)
[8] Heracross (Cherrygrove)
[10] Aerodactyl (twistedturtwig)
[14] Articuno (GhostPony750)
[16] Umbreon (Eeveelution-Master)
Meganium (GhostPony750)
Blissey (GhostPony750)
Gyarados (ChillBill)
Espeon (Eeveelution-Master)
Eevee (Eeveelution-Master)
Shuckle (DragoBoy)
Crobat (James86134)
Quilava (James86134)
Donphan (Dare234)
Ampharos (Dare234)
Xatu (twistedturtwig)
Vaporeon (ChillBill)
Mantine (Cherrygrove)
Lanturn (Cherrygrove)

You can change that bid now Haunted Water.

: Value - 700

I would like to sponsor the following

[12] Snorlax
Ditto
Porygon2

Thanks