Hello,

This journal has been a long time coming and for that, we sincerely apologise. There are mitigating factors for this delay but, at the end of the day, they are excuses. So without wasting any more time, let's lay out our judging criteria for those who wished to know!

CRITERIA

Our judging is separated into two sections; Effort, and Storytelling. Effort is graded out of 5, while Storytelling is graded out of 10.

Here is the in-depth requirements for grades in Effort:

SCORE
5/5- The artist’s entry has demonstrated an absolute amount of effort based on their skill level.
4/5- The artist’s entry has demonstrated a great amount of effort based on their skill level.
3/5- The artist’s entry has demonstrated an adequate amount of effort based on their skill level.
2/5- the artist’s entry has somewhat demonstrated an amount of effort based on their skill level.
1/5- The artist’s entry has hardly demonstrated an amount of effort based on their skill level.
0/5- The artist’s entry has demonstrated no amount of effort based on their skill level.

What we look for in EFFORT:

• If there is no colour: Does the artwork still look “complete”? Are, based on the artist’s skill, the lines considered sloppy? Even with no colour, are there backgrounds, or some way of conveying the setting?
• If the entire entry is sketched: Does the sketching still allow recognizable characters? If the words are written, are they easily readable?
• If there is colour/or greyscale/pretty much a “complete” entry: Is there consistency in character designs? Do the colours add to the mood? Do they clash? Are backgrounds defined or do they tend to vanish?


As you can see, we don't give a separate grade for art skill levels. That would be unfair. So long as you have made your entry to best of YOUR ability, you will get the marks. We have had many people this round worry about disappointing their partners and bringing down their combined score average; please, don't! It doesn't matter if you are paired with someone who is above your skill level. So long as we can clearly see the effort put into your work, you will NOT bring down your combined score average.

Next up is Storytelling. This one is fairly self-explanatory! Here is the in-depth requirements for grades in it:

SCORE
10/10- The author’s entry was coherent, very intriguing, had very consistent characterization and was relevant to the objective.
9/10- The author’s entry was coherent, intriguing, had consistent characterization and was relevant to the objective.
8/10- The author’s entry was coherent, interesting, had consistent characterization and was relevant to the objective.
7/10- The author’s entry was coherent, somewhat interesting, had somewhat consistent characterization and was relevant to the objective.
6/10- The author’s entry was somewhat coherent, mildly interesting, had somewhat consistent characterization and was relevant to the objective.
5/10- The author’s entry was somewhat coherent, had somewhat consistent characterization and was relevant to the objective, with a few moments of unclarity in terms of the direction.
4/10- The author’s entry was somewhat coherent, had not very consistent characterization and was relevant to the objective, with a few moments of unclarity in terms of the direction.
3/10- The author’s entry was not very coherent, had not very consistent characterization and was relevant to the objective, with a few moments of unclarity in terms of the direction.
2/10- The author’s entry was not coherent, did not have consistent characterization and was  vaguely relevant to the objective.
1/10- The author’s entry was not coherent, did not have consistent characterization and was not relevant to the objective.
0/10- The author’s entry was incomplete, insufficient, or completely off the topic of the group.

What we look for in STORYTELLING:

• Did the story stay coherent and consistent in it’s entirety (based on the media used)?
• Did the story keep your interest as you read it? Where there parts which seemed to drag, or lose your interest entirely?
• Did the story reach its objective? Did it stray off topic a lot?
• Were the characters consistent and clear? This includes their trainer, their Pokemon, as well as the opponent.
• Was the use of Pokemon battling an interesting take?
• If there are words, are they properly spelled, and enhance the storyline?
• IF THERE ARE NO WORDS--Is a storyline still conveyed?
• IF IT IS SPLASH PAGES--can you still understand the story, just by looking at each of the images? Does the writing accompanying it enhance or take away from the images?

And that's our judging criteria! Much of it is common sense, but we hope this look into it will help future entries. Again, we sincerely apologise for the delay in releasing this.

If you have any questions concerning the criteria or R3, feel free to comment and we will get back to you ASAP.

I am taking this opportunity to remind everyone that you have just over two weeks to submit your R3! If you haven't already started, I would strongly advise doing so!