RULES BOOK | Pokémon Watty Awards

RULES

Hello, and welcome to the sixth annual Pokémon Watties! This community-driven, fan-run account is meant to promote the best fan-fiction this community has to offer. 

The following chapter showcases our rules. These are meant to foster a competition that is both fun and fair.

RULE ONE

Participant Etiquette

Please refrain from making inappropriate or unsportsmanlike statements towards contestants, judges, staff, and the admins. This includes any racial, sexual, or homophobic slurs, hating on or bullying others, advertising your book on our books or message board, or spam. Spamming also includes attempting to vote multiple times on your own book. One offense will result in you being banned from this year's competition. Repeated offenses, lying, or denial of the offenses you committed will result in a permanent ban from the Pokémon Watty Awards.

RULE TWO

Book Criteria

The story must be a Pokémon fan-fiction to qualify. Fics on Pokémon spin-off games, crossover fics with a strong Pokémon presence, and Pokémon-centered poetry are allowed. We do not accept role play.

RULE THREE

Plagiarism Policy

Any plagiarism or use of someone else's work will result in an automatic one-year ban from the competition, and possible barring from entering in the future. We've had instances of plagiarism in the past, but no plagiarized work has ever made it to judging before being caught. We now screen each story for plagiarism, so you won't be able to slip through the cracks.

RULE FOUR

Collaborations and Consent

Collaborations are allowed, so this rule does not mean that the entry must be the work of one person. However, both people must agree to enter the story. Books based on other fanfiction in the community are allowed if the original author gives consent.

RULE FIVE

Participant Criteria

All authors, even previous winners, can enter their story. There is no minimum age requirement. The only people who cannot enter are banned authors and staff.

RULE SIX

Past Entries

  Books entered in previous years should not be entered again. However, if the story has undergone significant changes since the last entry, it may be evaluated to see if it can enter again. The changes must be significant; however, a story that lost in a previous year will not win in its same state years later.

If your story was pulled before the judging period or was not completed by the due date of a previous competition, you may enter again without having to make changes. 

RULE SEVEN

Mature Books

Mature books that do not comply with Wattpad's Mature Policy are not eligible for entry are also vulnerable to termination by Wattpad moderators. Please treat serious subjects with seriousness and gravitas. We accept mature fics, so long as they don't represent a serious, more controversial topic in an inaccurate light.