Oct20

Super Contests come to real life with the Pokémon Presents Super Pet Contest

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The Pokémon Company International today dropped a surprise announcement about the launch of the Pokémon Presents Super Pet Contest. From now until November 9, 2021, at 12:01am PST, Pokémon fans from across North America, Western Europe, Australia and New Zealand will be able to enter photos of their real world pets to give their furry (or not so furry) partners a chance to shine in the spotlight.

As you've probably already guessed from the name, the Super Pet Contest is inspired by the Super Contests from Pokémon Diamond and Pearl, which are returning in the remakes releasing this November 19, Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl. Just like how Trainers can show off the condition of their Pokémon in Super Contests, Pokémon fans will be able to show off their real world pets through this contest. Even if you're not going to enter any pets yourself, you can still participate in this contest, as likes from members of the public will be taken into account as part of the judging process.

Unlike the in-game contests, this real world contest is limited to only three categories, Clever, Cool, and Cute. We'd presume that for the purposes of this competition, the Beauty condition has been folded into Cute, while Tough has likely been combined with Cool.

Entries can be submitted right now via the official contest website. All entries must comply by a strict set of photo guidelines and judging criteria for framing, composition, resolution, and safety. We'd recommend that anyone considering placing an entry carefully read these guidelines, as well as the full contest terms and conditions, before taking any photos. Of particular note is that the judging criteria specifically asks that entries avoid Pokémon cosplay, and that fans instead try for photos which highlight how their pet is in everyday life. All entries are going through a manual approval process, and entries which fail to follow the criteria will be disqualified.

Only one photo can be submitted to the contest per pet, up to a maximum of ten entries per person. Each entry can only be submitted to one category. While the contest is aiming to inform entries selected to progress within 72 hours of being submitted, it would not be unlikely for there to be delays here depending on the volume of entries received by the contest.

Prizes:
Unfortunately, only entries from the UK, France, Germany, and the United States will be eligible to win prizes in the Pokémon Presents Super Pet Contest.
Entries from Austria, Australia, Belgium, Canada, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Portugal, Spain, and Switzerland will also be accepted, however these entries are limited to receiving a special shout-out during the Winner's Ceremony.

Prizes will be awarded to the four top placed entries across each of the Clever, Cool, and Cute categories.

Category PositionPrize
1st place
  • An "ultimate Pokémon gift basket"
  • A copy of the Pokémon Brilliant Diamond & Pokémon Shining Pearl Dual Pack
  • A Nintendo Switch Lite Dialga & Palkia Edition
  • A Pokémon plush
2nd place
  • A copy of the Pokémon Brilliant Diamond & Pokémon Shining Pearl Dual Pack
  • A Nintendo Switch Lite Dialga & Palkia Edition
  • A Pokémon plush
3rd place
  • A copy of the Pokémon Brilliant Diamond & Pokémon Shining Pearl Dual Pack
  • A Pokémon plush
4th place
  • A copy of Pokémon Brilliant Diamond or Pokémon Shining Pearl
  • A Pokémon plush

Winners will be announced in a Winner's Ceremony that will be broadcast on the official Pokémon YouTube channel. Pokemon.com currently states this will happen on November 15, while the Press Release put out about the event says November 16, so we'd suggest checking back closer to the date on the exact timing.

Judging:
No Super Contest would be complete without a Super Judge. The Pokémon Presents Super Pet Contest will be overseen by Michelle Visage, who may be best known by many as a permanent judge on the American reality competition series RuPaul's Drag Race, and on its spin-off sister programs around the world..

Michelle Visage said:
Our house is full of Pokémon fans and animal lovers—including our two dogs, Romeo and Daisy—so this event is such a fun way to celebrate the joy that animal companions bring to families all over the world. I can’t wait to see all of the amazing animals that people are lucky enough to call their friends, so it’s going to be really hard to choose the winners!

Entries will be judged in a two-step process, with an expert judging panel whittling down entries to a shortlist of entries which will be seen by Michelle Visage, based on the following set of criteria.
  • Animal diversity
  • Regional representation
  • Composition
  • Content
  • Originality
  • Technical quality
  • Visual impact
  • Number of photo likes by other users
Michelle Visage spoke to Pokemon.com about what she's looking for in winning pet photos.
Pokemon.com interview with Michelle Visage said:
What are you hoping to see from fans' photo submissions of their pets?
I'd like originality, you know? When they go original, I get very excited. So, originality!

Do you have any advice for people who will be submitting photos of their adorable animal companions to help them earn votes?
The [more] over-the-top, the better! Meaning if you're gonna go cute, go so cute! If you're gonna go clever, go so clever! You know, put thought into it.

Given that you've been tasked with looking at adorable pictures of animals, how excited are you?
Oh, it's so difficult! This is the best job I've ever had! Sorry, RuPaul!

Do you have a favorite Pokémon? And if so, how would you photograph it to maximize the Pokémon's cuteness?
Well, they're all cute. Even the not-so-traditionally pretty ones are still cute. So, we all know that Michelle loves Lopunny. So how I would maximize her cuteness? Does she need to do anything more than just be? No, I don't think so—she's perfect!

Of the three competition categories—Clever, Cool, and Cute—which are you most excited for?
I love them all. And Cute just tickles me, but I'm really excited for Cool. I want to see cool pets!
Archaic Written by Archaic

Comments

Silktree
Silktree Oct 20, 2021
Not in a million years, and I have three dogs and a cat.

What happened to Beauty? I tend to agree that Tough isn't different enough from Cool, but a beautiful fish is going to have a hard time winning the other categories.