Welcome to the NeoGAF Pokemon Showdown Gym League! In this league, you don't need to invest any time in breeding your team. You don't even need a 3DS or any physical Pokemon game. All you need is an account on Pokemon Showdown, a battle simulator. Showdown is a strongly competitive environment and more aimed at experienced players, but we encourage new players to join in and learn from the others.
tl;dr version: This is a forum RPG where you can earn badges from forum members who are Gym Leaders and fight your way to the top to become Champion. Gyms are like guilds - you can join them, gain EXP to become Gym Leader, compete with other Gyms in tournaments and rise on the leaderboards. You can do both paths at once, but you will need separate Showdown accounts. We use our own custom Showdown server to track badges and EXP automatically!
I realize it's a lot of text but you only need to read KEY POINTS to understand the premise! The DETAILS section specifies the available roles you can play as, Gym conduct, tournament structures etc.
USEFUL LINKS
CURRENT NEWS
TOURNAMENT NEWS
THESE NOTES APPLY TO BOTH ELITE AND CTF TOURNAMENTS
ONLY GYM MEMBERS CAN SIGN UP
USE YOUR GYM ACCOUNT
THE TOURNAMENTS START THIS SATURDAY
IT'S GOING TO CONTINUE UNTIL WE'RE DONE EVEN IF IT TAKES WEEKS SO DON'T WORRY IF YOUR SCHEDULE IS BUSY
WHEN YOU SIGN UP, SEND ME A PRIVATE MESSAGE WITH YOUR TEAM
THE FORMAT OF OUR FIRST TOURNAMENTS IS GEN 7 POKEBANK OU SINGLES
SIGNUP SHEET FOR ELITE TOURNAMENT #1
SIGNUP SHEET FOR CTF TOURNAMENT #1
RULES / STRUCTURE
KEY POINTS
Sign up as a Challenger to collect badges and become Champion!
DETAILS
GYM HIERARCHY
GYM TOURNAMENTS
CAPTURE THE FLAG (CTF) TOURNAMENTS - Compete with your Gym as a unit against other Gyms!
ELITE TOURNAMENTS - Battle against other Gym members to prove you're one of the best!
ELITES
ELITE TRIALS - Battle against other Elites to prove you're fit to lead them!
IMPORTANT NOTES ON EXP
OTHER STAFF
League Management
Moderators
tl;dr version: This is a forum RPG where you can earn badges from forum members who are Gym Leaders and fight your way to the top to become Champion. Gyms are like guilds - you can join them, gain EXP to become Gym Leader, compete with other Gyms in tournaments and rise on the leaderboards. You can do both paths at once, but you will need separate Showdown accounts. We use our own custom Showdown server to track badges and EXP automatically!
I realize it's a lot of text but you only need to read KEY POINTS to understand the premise! The DETAILS section specifies the available roles you can play as, Gym conduct, tournament structures etc.
USEFUL LINKS
- Our Discord server - Feel free to ask any questions in there!
- Our custom Showdown server - battle on here so that your badges and EXP gains are tracked!
- Our signup sheet - You can sign up as a Challenger or Gym member. Both at once are also possible, but please use different Showdown accounts!
- Elite Tournament signup sheet and brackets of the current tournament - Sign up with your Gym account to join our Elite tournament and prove you are an Elite among Gym members!
- CTF signup sheet and the brackets of the current tournament - Sign up with your Gym account to join our CTF Tournament and compete with other Gyms!
CURRENT NEWS
- Our custom Showdown server needs to be beta tested! We need you guys to report discrepancies during gameplay to The Shadow Knight
[*]We're desperately looking for artists for small things like badges, gym crests and flags, as well as art for this OP! - Feel free to sign up for unopened type Gyms and automatically become a Leader or join open ones as Trainers.
TOURNAMENT NEWS
THESE NOTES APPLY TO BOTH ELITE AND CTF TOURNAMENTS
ONLY GYM MEMBERS CAN SIGN UP
USE YOUR GYM ACCOUNT
THE TOURNAMENTS START THIS SATURDAY
IT'S GOING TO CONTINUE UNTIL WE'RE DONE EVEN IF IT TAKES WEEKS SO DON'T WORRY IF YOUR SCHEDULE IS BUSY
WHEN YOU SIGN UP, SEND ME A PRIVATE MESSAGE WITH YOUR TEAM
THE FORMAT OF OUR FIRST TOURNAMENTS IS GEN 7 POKEBANK OU SINGLES
SIGNUP SHEET FOR ELITE TOURNAMENT #1
- Thaitea-g22
- AaronGrassGym
- tshadowknight
- randooop
- Scraftyko
- MCKer
- LuluChibiLeader
- Kaindoge
- GLTJ
- Demoli
- OcarinaOfDoom
- Gym Trainer Taskr
- iRebel
- Daemul Test
- MercurialTurnip
SIGNUP SHEET FOR CTF TOURNAMENT #1
- AaronGrassGym
- Demoli
- thaitea-g22
- MCKer
- Gym Member Taskr
- randooop
- tshadowknight
- Daemul Test
- LuluChibiLeader
- 5gen_G
- Water Zadocfish
RULES / STRUCTURE
KEY POINTS
- All battles are conducted on Pokemon Showdown
- Gyms are "Guilds" based on types - their own small communities
- Gyms contain Gym Leaders, Councils and Trainers
- No limit on number of Leaders, Council members or Trainers in any Gym
- Gym members can battle each other freely, but EXP is only earned from battling Challengers or from tournaments
- Gyms battle each other in Capture the Flag (CTF) Tournaments to snatch other Gyms' flags!
- Gym members compete with each other in Elite Tournaments. The best 4 players become Elites!
Sign up as a Challenger to collect badges and become Champion!
- Beat any Gym Leader once for their Gym's badge
- If the Gym has Council members or Trainers, to challenge a Leader first win 2 total battles against Trainers or 1 battle against a Council member
- You can be a Challenger even if you are member of any tier at a Gym! It's your personal quest!
- Your team restrictions depend on the formats the Gym members offer
- You can switch teams between battles against Gym members
- Earn at least 8 different badges to be able to challenge Elites
- Win 4 consecutive battles against any Elites to become Champion or challenge the current Champion to take their place!
- Champions receive entry into the Champion Hall of Fame
DETAILS
GYM HIERARCHY
- Gyms are small communities, where members help each other and new players (think Hogwarts Houses)
- Every Gym has a guild crest and a flag
- Gyms are free to be nicknamed
- All Gym members provide formats for Challengers to pick from. Formats can be from Smogon, VGC, or custom
- For EXP yields, see IMPORTANT NOTES ON EXP below
- There are three membership tiers:
[*]Trainers. This is what you enter as. Gym entry has no requirements. Sign up to enter and notify me so I can give you your role in the Discord and Showdown servers.
[*]As a Trainer, your team entirely consists of Pokemon belonging to the Gym's type.
[*]Trainers who earn 100 EXP can contact Management to be promoted to Council.
[*]Trainers who are defeated by Challengers notify their Gym Leaders with a replay.
[*]The Council are the "Moderators" of each Gym. They help new players and promote their Gym
[*]Council members can be challenged just like Trainers, but they are tougher, only at least 5 of their Pokemon need to be of the Gym's type.
[*]Council members who are defeated by Challengers notify their Gym Leaders with a replay.
[*]Trainers or Council members with 300 EXP can contact Management to be promoted to Gym Leader
[*]Gym Leaders. The figureheads. Their duty is to hand out badges to whoever defeats them. Defeating any Leader once is enough for a badge.
[*]Gyms can have any number of Gym Leaders
[*]Only at least 4 of a Gym Leader's Pokemon need to be of the Gym's type.
GYM TOURNAMENTS
CAPTURE THE FLAG (CTF) TOURNAMENTS - Compete with your Gym as a unit against other Gyms!
- Gyms are encouraged to compete with each other. Snatch other Gyms' flags in Capture the Flag (CTF) tournaments!
- Trainers battle Trainers, Council members battle Council members and Gym Leaders battle Gym Leaders
- The Gym that collectively earns the most EXP during the tournament, wins! The prize is double the flags that Gym put up as a bet.
- After the winning Gym, the runner-up selects their prize flags, then the 3rd place winner, the 4th and so on.
- Gyms that entered for free and placed high enough get 1 flag.
[*]Every Flag beyond the first that a Gym owns boosts EXP gain by 50% for every member of that Gym!
[*]Gyms with 0 Flags will have their EXP Gain reduced by 50% for every member of that Gym!
[*]For example, defeating a Challenger while having 2 Flags nets 30 EXP and with 0 Flags only 10 EXP! - Announced by Management
- Format is voted on by Gym members via Strawpoll
- Contact your scheduled opponent as per your convenience.
- Gyms offer any number of flags they currently own for the betting pool.
- Gyms that have no flags can enter for free.
- Free switching of teams between battles during the tournament
- Participants are allowed to watch all matches
- Participants should always upload their replays, it is only to their benefit.
- All matches are Best of 3 and Double Elimination
- Grand Finals are Best of 5
ELITE TOURNAMENTS - Battle against other Gym members to prove you're one of the best!
- Announced by Management
- Contact your scheduled opponent as per your convenience.
- All tiers of Gym members can enter
- Format is chosen by Gym with the most flags
- All participants are treated like Gym Leaders during the duration, so even Trainers can put 2 Pokemon on their teams that aren't of their Gym's type.
- Free switching of teams between battles during the tournament
- Participants are allowed to watch all matches
- All matches are Best of 3 and Double Elimination
- Grand Finals are Best of 5
- Participants should always upload their replays, it is only to their benefit.
- Top 2 players from Winners bracket and top 2 from Losers bracket become Elites
- Winner receives entry into Elite Hall of Fame
ELITES
- Elites are separate from Gyms. They are their own community.
- When you become Elite, contact Management with the type you want to represent
- Your team has to contain at least 3 Pokemon of that type
- Elites provide formats for challengers to pick from, just like Gym Leaders
- Challengers need to win 4 battles in a row against any combination of Elites in order to challenge the current Champion. The Elite Captain has to be the last of the 4.
- Challengers (and Elites) can switch teams in between
- Defeated Elites report to the current Champion and Management with a replay
- Elites compete with each other in Elite Trials
- These are tournaments between Elites
- Winners of Elite Trials become Elite Captains
- Elite Captains only have to have at least 2 Pokemon of their type focus, unless they participate in Elite Trials (where it's 3 for everyone)
- There can only be one Elite Captain at a time
- Challengers have to defeat the Elite Captain as the last of their 4 battles
- If the Elite Captain is not available, the runner-up of the last Elite Trial applies
- Elite Captains receive 60 EXP for beating Challengers, and 30 EXP for losing to Challengers.
ELITE TRIALS - Battle against other Elites to prove you're fit to lead them!
- Announced by Management
- Contact Management to sign up and register your team
- Contact your scheduled opponent as per your convenience.
- Only Elites can enter
- Format is chosen by Elites
- Free switching of teams between battles during the tournament
- Participants are allowed to watch all matches
- Every win nets 40 EXP, every loss 20 EXP
- All matches are Best of 3 and Double Elimination
- Grand Finals are Best of 5
- Participants should always upload their replays, it is only to their benefit.
IMPORTANT NOTES ON EXP
- EXP (experience points) signify your experience as a Gym member
- EXP are earned when battling Challengers, or in Capture the Flag (CTF) or Elite tournaments
- Challenger accounts earn no EXP. Their rewards are badges and becoming Champion.
- Defeating a Trainer earns 10 EXP, losing to a Trainer earns 5 EXP
- Defeating a Council Member earns 20 EXP, losing to a Council member earns 10 EXP
- Defeating a Gym Leader earns 30 EXP, losing to a Gym Leader earns 15 EXP
- Defeating a Challenger earns 20 EXP, losing to a Challenger earns 10 EXP.
- EXP also serve as Leaderboards
- Elites earn 40 EXP for defeating a Challenger, and gain 20 EXP for losing to a Challenger. This only matters for the Leaderboards.
- If you decide to leave your Gym and join another one, your EXP is reset. This is also true for Elites who want to change their type focus.
OTHER STAFF
League Management
- The poor souls that manage the entire league.
- They sign up new players and promote Gym members
- They organize Tournaments, appoint new Elites, crown new Champions, manage the Halls of Fame
- They can participate as either Challengers or on the Gym side
Moderators
- They keep a close watch on Tournaments and report discrepancies to Management.
- They should be contacted in case of misbehavior like losers not reporting results etc.
- They can participate as either Challengers or on the Gym side
this should be fun