Author's Note: Well hello there, we're trying an SYOC, I mainly write crap for RWBY so I'm branching out. This story idea is not new by any stretch of the imagination, I actually took this base idea from a good old friend of mine. If you know the original story that I'm talking about, you've been here for at least for...almost a decade. Jeez the time came and went. This will be a bit of an info dump, prepare for that.

-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-

Prologue

A king is supposed to be a figurehead for their people, the shining beacon, to be the face when things go wrong or right, to be strong when others are weak, to be perseverant when others give up. A king is to be smart, to know what is best for his people even when they might disagree, to not be afraid of their revolt or when they question his authority. A king is to be ruthless in battle, to never back down from the enemy, to meet them head on with the support of his followers. The king is supposed to be intelligent, cunning, strategic, brutally honest about the odds, their orders are absolute. The power of the king should always be feared, respected, awed at from his lower subjects.

A queen, a king's other half, is usually seen as a serene and calm woman, but that can be anything but. Sometimes with more fury and rage than beauty than grace, the queen can call upon the king to remove an enemy, change his ways, and even can run a kingdom. Almost like in chess the queen is the most powerful able to move great distances that many other pieces cannot. The strength of a queen is unparalleled to any other, perhaps even the king in some regard. While mentioned earlier, the beauty of the queen is sometimes the most shining thing about them, it's what gives them their edge and hides that possible fury none would be suspecting.

The infiltrator is a side of the coin that is as much a danger to yourself as it is others. Quick, precise, proficient, the infiltrator can get in, get out without a moment's notice. At least that is the old school way of infiltration from more barbaric years. In today's world the infiltrator has evolved the most among its counterparts. There is the archaic method of getting into the enemy compound. Or you could befriend the enemy and make your way into the hearts of your enemy, and then break them when you have what you wanted. In this day and age though infiltration can be done across long distances, from behind the safe haven of a screen. However the means, whether fast or slow, in person or not, infiltration is important to the king and queen's strategy, to learn new, damaging information.

The defender, the other side of the coin, a strong shield to defend not only the king but also the queen. The defender stands a symbol for the people of the kingdom, that they will not be harmed by other kingdoms. Like the knights and guards on the walls, the people can see a smiling face for them to get behind. Unlike the king or the queen, the people will see the defender every day, see their efforts, and become closer with them than any other figure. Their strength comes from endurance, from many different attacks, but what defense is a mystery. Is it taking hit after hit, destroying your enemies before they destroy you, or keeping your friends out of harm's way? The many facets of the defender are left to the defender themselves, they are often left to themselves unlike the infiltrator who gets direct orders from the royalty.

The pawn, another chess metaphor, often seen as the weakest of the chess pieces, a throw away piece. However, a skilled player will know that pawns are instrumental for the long term health and strategy of your board and pieces. When used to its fullest potential the ability of the pawn increases tenfold. These powers are a mystery to most, and the smart king and the smart pawn knows never to reveal them.

The joker, a playing card, a reference to the jesters in the days of actual kings and actual knights. These were the only ones allowed to ridicule the king, to make jokes of the king's way, policy, and swordsmanship. An utter wild card in nature. In today's card games, the joker is sometimes thrown out, or it is kept in, but they're always included in a fresh deck. They can represent other cards sometimes, can spell doom in some, or mean certain victory in others. However the joker is seldom ever thought about to the general public, it's almost as if they do not exist. How hilarious when the enemy finds out that the joker is in play, the inclusion of them in the deck can ruin the probability, can ruin the chances, can flip the game on its pretty little head.

-X-

The infamous Argent Academy, on an island in the middle of nowhere, the closest town or region is almost three days by boat. The weather causes flying to be an absolute pain Thus it has become a small city of its own, the families of the faculty are housed there, high schoolers are required to live in one of the six dorms on campus. The housing for the students exist on the far reaches of the campus, all at equal distances but in a variety of environments. The location of the island has led to a mixture of environments from frozen caves in the south end of the island, a blistering savanna in the north, in the west is a forest that as you went north became progressively muggier; but if you went south became more of a winter forest with snow and ice marring the trees, and in the east were rocky hills and valley that ad you went north became a sandy lifeless desert; and if you went south became snow capped mountains. The various dorms of this school are placed in these varying environments, they lay deep within and hidden from outsiders.

The dorms are separated by the individual Pokémon each student brings, this is a Pokémon school after all. The dorm of Fire, Grass, and Normal types; LifeCylce, is located in the heart of the savanna to the north where the heat is year round where maybe the lowest they get is a measly sixty five on the old Fahrenheit scale. All the various types at this dorm get to grow in the heat and play in their preferred climate The dorm in the exact opposite direction in the very far southern ice caps is WinterNights, comprising of Ice, Dark, and Fairy Pokémon. The snow never stops, and the ice becomes merely a mild inconvenience to coming and going. At night it becomes pitch black and the only hope of finding the dorm is that you have a partner who can see in the dark. To the northwest, where the savanna and the valley meet becomes a desert, but as you go farther up towards the coast this mixture becomes a pleasant, white sandy beach where the dorm of Flying, Water, and Psychic type Pokémon live; WaterNebula. The climate is good for the Water types, the constant winds is excellent for the Flying types, and calmness is perfect for the Psychic types. In the far off rocky caverns filled with treacherous valley and horrific crevasses lies the dorm of ExoStone, home of the Steel, Bug, and Ground types. The dorm stands in front of the massive mouth of a cave that goes below several hundred feet where the darkness swallows all. However that area is supposed to be off limits to nearly every student except upperclassman of the ExoStone dorm, not even the freshman and sophomore students are allowed in there. Farther off into the southern mix between the mountains and frozen hillsides lies the dorm of DracoCrater of the Dragon, Fighting, and Rock type Pokémon. The dorm is situated on one of the highest peaks, Mt. Granite, where a cable car is required to get to every day, it should be noted that the students of this dorm are giving an extra buffer of time before being counted as late or tardy. The final dorm, off in the farthest hospitable zone of the jungle in the east, much of it has not been traversed due to the thickness and treacherous bogs that lie within, ThunderPlague of the Electric, Poison, and Ghost type users. Rumor has it that the souls of the unlucky workers of the dorm who went missing in the jungle fuel the spirits of the ghosts the trainers use. Superstitious nonsense, little more than folklore tales told to the freshman never to go near that dorm.

Argent Academy is home to game of sorts, known as the King's Cup. A school wide competition spanning the time of the entire year. In it, the students of each dorm put forth a team of six players to gather points for the dorms, each of these players has a different role and nearly all of them are voted upon the students for a multitude of criteria not limited to battling expertise.

The first is the Pawn, versatile in nature, this piece is picked from the incoming freshman and is seen as the strongest among them. During the admission process there is a battling piece where students can see how they rank. The choice is made by a multitude of incoming students, faculty, and current students who watch the battling process. It is a very common misconception that the Pawn is the weakest, a belief that can sometimes lead enemies in a false sense of security. More on that when the rules of the game are more clearly defined.

The next role is the Defender, can be of any grade minus freshman, this piece is from a selection of who have a minimum of a 3.75 grade point average and is then voted by the students. The list is presented by the teachers and the students vote on them, so the degree to which the student has a say is up for debate. However it should be known that there is usually very little to question about the teacher's choices. This role often acts as a liaison between the other five roles and the majority of the dorm's regular student body.

The Infiltrator is role usually put aside for the delinquents of the dorm, like their Defender counterparts they must of sophomore standing or above, and is usually associated with some form of athleticism or has a hand in one of the many clubs or special interest groups around the school. However, years ago, as a way to get the worst trouble maker out of their hair the student body would elect a student who was notorious for getting into trouble. Rather than they themselves deal with it, students say it as a way to not have to deal with the troubling students of the school. The tradition reached its way around campus, although we sometimes are greeted with a surprise of the original sense

The first of the royalty positions is the Queen, an all female role generally chosen for the student who is the most beautiful. This student must be a third year, and can only be a third year, no other role requires a certain gender and certain year. This female must be able to defend herself and be able attack when necessary, but never to be taken down. While the Defender is the soul of the people, the Queen is the heart and sometimes a more prominent face than any other role.

The second of the royalty roles is the King, by far the most important. The King is exclusively chosen among, and by the fourth year students of the dorm. A leader is chosen among them, generally a returning player in the King's Cup but not always the case. The King, while depicted as a male, can also be female. The amount of male Kings and female Kings has always been pretty even, however female Kings have had the majority of wins in a ratio of 55:45. Aside from the administrative rules, the King is the best battler of the dorm, qualities of a real leader, the skills of a strategic. Unlike any other of the pieces, King's cannot be challenged directly from the start of the game, all other roles must be defeated before doing so. While that sounds easy, it is anything but. The best students fill the various roles, because if the King is defeated in battle, then the dorm is eliminated from the competition.

However there is a last piece that is not officially a part of the game. Long ago, when the game was first introduced there was originally a Tactician role, but that fell into obscurity due to the requirements of the King role it felt redundant. So the role was officially retired, and no one really misses it. However, decided by the faculty, the teams were given a reserve member should something drastic happen to the other roles. This role has been dubbed by the student body as the Joker, being able to take the place of any aforementioned role regardless of school year or, in the case of the Queen, gender. This is the only position not chosen by the student body but by the King, appointed before the start of the year.

-X-

Throughout the storied tales of Argent Academy's King's Cup, none have been so recent as ThunderPlague's recent string of victories. There have been tales as some dorms winning at most three years in a row, however ThunderPlague has won a staggering nine years straight going on for the unprecedented decade. As to how they've done it there are a myriad of theories, ranging from sound logic to the downright insane. Most suggest it is how they plan their strategies; their Kings have been some of the best along with their support players. Another theory is that because of the difficulty of reaching the ThunderPlague dorm, it has made it difficult for Infiltrators to gather information on them. Still to this day no one knows the way to ThuunderPlague except its students, some other have argued that the path to the dorm shifts with the bog's shifting pathways as the water rises and lowers. More radical students believe they made a deal with the supposed spirits of the forest for their win, so long as the outgoing spirits trade in their souls. Again, superstitious nonsense. If you wish to defeat ThunderPlague you are going to need to know a few things. Before we leave you to strategize.

Their incoming Pawn is a girl by the name of Saki Suzuki. As being the Pawn of ThunderPlague she is a freshman. Voted as the strongest one among the incoming dorm's freshman body, she has shown to be a competent battler and thinker. However outside she has shown a bit of nervousness and unease at her new title, although this might just be due to the sudden spotlight. Her partner, a stalwart Dusclops, practically contrasting her demeanor, that helped lead her to victory. Not much else is really known about her due to her being a first year student.

The returning Infiltrator is man that goes by Dustin Nelson, a junior, his legacy came from when he got caught in his freshman year for mixing laxatives into the three of the punch bowls at the prom. What got him in more trouble was that he then took those punch bowls over to where some of the other dorms were hanging out while keeping the safe ones for ThunderPlague's. Not only did it paint a target on his back for next year by nearly the entire student body, it also gained him notoriety among his own dorm. Together with his partner Nidorino, he has quickly made his way through the ranks of strong trainers that reside in the ThunderPlague without the need of the final evolution. Since that fateful night he has maintained his reputation as a saboteur and has no issue hitting below the belt in battle, Pokemon or otherwise.

Their Defender is a new candidate, a second year known as Cortez, although his full name is Julio Cortez. His records boast an impressive cumulative grade point average at a 3.95 of some of the most difficult classes taught here at Argent Academy. No records of misdoing, has no unexcused absences, has even lead classes on occasion. Virtually outside of that he has remained an enigma to everyone outside of ThunderPlague including the administration. When we asked why the students voted for him, it was revealed that him and his partner Lanturn assist in touring the boggy maze of a swamp with fellow students. He also assists in helping students both younger and older than him in their homework. Loved among the staff and students both, he is a true Defender and will be one of your tougher opponents

The Queen of ThunderPlague is a lady of tremendous beauty, she was a Pawn for ThunderPlague two years ago but was not a member of the winning team her second year of school. Even throughout the rest of the school she is known for her beauty, a trait that all Queen's share. Ashlyn is her name, Ashlyn Blackburn. It's almost eerily funny how her maiden name fits her so well. Her most striking feature is her long, flowing, ebony hair that could blend in with the night sky, the stars above jealous of her eyes and the beauty they behold. Her skill in battle is something to be frightened of as well, she is not just a pretty face but a masterful combatant. Her tactics speak for themselves as she has gotten into this particular position. Her name of Blackburn is also amusing when you take into consideration her partner Pokemon, Salazzle. A fitting partner for an all female title, almost cliche. A word of warning though, every rose has its thorns, and some are much more venomous and well hidden than others.

The King of ThunderPlague, Marie Royal, is a veteran of the King's Cup. Originally a pawn and then a Defender for two years straight she has been an instrumental piece in the dorm's winning teams for the previous three years. There is no questioning her leadership, her promotion was a forgone conclusion, to the dismay of the other dorms. There is no doubt among the enemies of ThunderPlague that Marie is the most feared woman on the campus, the only people even capable of standing up to her are perhaps the other Kings. Even though she wasn't a Queen, her beauty could rival Ashlyn's albeit Marie is more known for her lavish blonde hair. A masterful tactician, a masterful battler, her Electivire has not lost a match since the end of her second year. Even if you get through the other varied and strong members of ThunderPlague, you then have to beat perhaps someone as strong as them combined. Pray to whatever gods you believe in that if you are going to lose, it will be quick and painless.

-X-

With the players lined up, it probably be beneficial to describe some of the basic rules of the King's Cup. As mentioned before the competition is point based and takes over the course of the entire year. Defeating certain roles gets you a certain amount of points; Pawns are 1 point, Defenders and Infiltrators are 3 points, Queens are 7 points, and Kings are worth 15 points. Keep in mind that once a King is defeated the entire dorm is removed from the competition. However to prevent a sudden challenge of the King there are multiple obstacles and deterrents from doing so. The first is that in order to challenge the King you first must beat all other team members of the dorm before doing so. There is no particular order to which they need to be beaten, that would be utter madness if it was a specified order. Once a player is beaten they are forced to sit out of the game for a certain period of time. Pawns are three days, Defenders are five days, Infiltrators are a week, Queens are three weeks. During several points throughout the year there will be events held that go around these rules such as tournaments, battle royales, the Infiltrators hold a special event, and more. These events can be done whether or not a player is eligible and after these events the board is reset so to speak and all players will be eligible after that. When the second semester comes around any progress made on a dorms in terms of conquering the king is reset so you must start back at the Pawns. This is to discourage a long drawn out battle and force some excitement. In order to challenge, there must be consent between the two parties, a faculty member present, and a witness for both sides. This is done to discourage any shady methods that might come about.

Each of the different players have some sort of power they can exercise. For example the Infiltrator is allowed to go around the normal rule of needing to get permission to challenge another player. They can do this once per month, but otherwise need permission from the King. Defenders are allowed to intercept a challenge so long as they have the consent of the originally challenged player, this rule does not explicitly limit to your own dorm. To mimic their abundance in the game of chess, a Pawn can battle after losing within the three days but if they lose again the points gained from winning against that Pawn is tripled. With Queens the player can call for two players to battle, one must be from their own dorm naturally. This can only be done once every two months and she must have consent from the opposing player's King and her own King but not necessarily the players in question. The King is allowed to challenge any piece and they cannot refuse, minus the King unless the previously mentioned requirement is met. However there are massive drawbacks, should the King lose their match not only will the opposing team gain the 15 points for beating the king, but their own dorm will lose 15 points and will be unable to challenge any dorm for a period of one month. Should the king lose the dorm is not eliminated, they are rather reduced to a sitting duck. This power while strong is very dangerous and is only usable once per semester. It is to be used as a tactician's trump card and only as such.

Now go, use this knowledge to plan, to strategize. If ThunderPlague is to be defeated to prevent a decade of dominance, it will not be done lying down, they wouldn't want you too anyways. Where's the fun in that? Although it feels as though something is missing…

-X-

Edmund rushed out of his bed, nearly falling over hearing the rough, rushed pounding of his door in the dead of night. It was a few days before school started, who the heck in their right mind was up this early. The knocks were getting more frantic, more rapid, and possibly more violent. That left few in Edmund's mind who would bother him at this hour. And unless the ThunderPlague dorm is burning down, it really only left one.

"I'm coming, I'm coming," he told the person on the opposite side, nearly tripping over his PokeBall in the process, he really should have cleaned up the room. He opened the door trying to ignore the bright searing pain of the incandescent bulb littering the hallways. When his eyes came too, he noticed a familiar bun of golden hair. "Marie, what do you want? It's like three in the morning."

"Why aren't you on the top floor?" His ears worked perfectly, at this time he was cursing it, as Marie grabbed him by the arm and started to pull him out of his room. He noticed her Electivire was outside next to her on the wall. Energetic as always it seems.

"Umm," he replied, pulling his arm back, "because I'm not a part of the King's Cup, top floor is for the official player's only. I'd say I'd be your Joker but with it not being an official player I can't-" Edmund stopped as an envelope was shoved in his face.

"I knew you didn't see the announcement this morning," she said as she scolded him pushing the envelope into his arms.

"So you had to tell me at this hour?" Edmund's eyes rolled as he reluctantly opened the envelope with the official seal of Argent Academy pressed into wax.

"To the various individuals chosen to be the unofficial 'Joker' players, we have made a change this year. We, the school faculty, have decided to formally recognize-"

"No!" Edmund yelled as he threw the letter back at her, beginning to swing the door closed,"I refuse!"

"It ain't up to you, not anymore," Marie shook her head, "Electivire pick him up, we'll get his stuff later."

The large yellow Pokemon moved toward Edmund who backed off, "Don't make me." Whatever threat Edmund posed, Electivire gave little care as it picked him up by Edmund's waist as he reached for his PokeBall down below. "Dhelmise get out here!" But alas, he couldn't reach it as it was picked up by Marie.

"We'll talk more about this when you get some sleep on the top floor," she smiled as Electivire began to walk out with Edmund frantically trying to maneuver around Electivire's grip. Eventually he got shocked for his trouble and was rendered unconscious on the third stairwell. "Edmund Perish," Marie said to herself, "official Joker of ThunderPlague." She couldn't help but giggle at the title.

"Let the games begin."

-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-

Well there is the prologue, an info dump but it was needed. The Form will be posted below and on my personal profile, along with that will be a list of the available position. Will tell you right now, PM only, no characters will be looked at from the review section.

A Game of Kings SYOC Form (Erase any notes or parentheses from this if you copy paste this form)

Name:

Gender:

Age:(14-18)

Dorm:

Role/Position (King, Queen, Infiltrator, Defender, Pawn, Joker):

Year (14/15-1st Year, 15/16-2nd year, 16/17-3rd Year, 17/18-4th Year):

Returning to the King's Cup or a Newcomer? (Pawns are 1st Year, Defenders and Infiltrators are 2nd or above, Queens can only be 3rd years, Kings can be only be 4th years. Jokers can be of any):

Appearance (Includes physical, build, hair color, eyes. Includes accessories for their uniform and perhaps any alterations to uniforms. I'm not going to limit certain possibilities of hair color or eye color, we're treating this anime-esque. There will be limits, so no rainbow hair, but colors like red, purple, blue, etc are fine):

Background: (Doesn't need to be a life story, if your character is a returning/not a 1st year tell me what they were doing in the previous years. Also give me an idea of why your character was chosen)

Personality: (I would like a nice diverse cast, now I say this with 30 character slots, beggars can't be choosers. Just keep the edginess turned down a little, we all can't be edgelords.)

Romance (Optional) (What traits, what sexuality, etc.):

Likes: (Not limited to personality; can be material objects, hobbies, foods, etc.)

Dislikes: (Same as Likes, try to have a nice 1:1 ratio between the two)

Anything Else/Extra Information: (optional)

-Pokemon-

Rules:

YOU CAN ONLY HAVE 1 POKEMON

1. For Pokemon your character will be immediately thrown out if your character has any of the following: any legendaries/mythic/whatever the hell they call them now, Lucario/Riolu, Zoroark/Zorua, specifically Gardevoir, and the Pikachu line. I understand if these are among your favorite Pokemon, and I do apologize, but there are over 800 to choose from, surely there is another Pokemon you love.

2. Forms such as Alolan and Galarian forms are okay, the reason you see no Galarian Pokemon in the characters I've created is because this was written several months before posting Sword and Shield were released.

3. There are going to be no duplicates, now I know that this issue may arise, if it does I will contact the author that got to me second and ask them to switch. At that point I will have already accepted both of your characters, so I will reserve your spot until you get back to me. There is a time limit on these, you will know if this should ever arise.

4. As you may have noticed, you do not have to use a fully evolved Pokemon, however keep in mind you're position and Pokemon's power levels should be indicative of one another. I don't want to see a King or Queen with a Larvitar or some crap. For other positions it's not a hard rule, but keep it mind please

5. Your Pokemon does not need to match your role, if you're an Infiltrator you don't need a quick, speedy Pokemon, a Defender doesn't need a super tanky one either.

Species:

Nickname: (Optional)

Gender:

Ability:

Basic Personality Traits:

Typical Moves used in battle (Moves by TMs are not banned but limit them please):

Battle Strategy:

Final Remarks

1. Appearance, Personality, and Background will be the big three components I judge your character on. Put your focus into those three things and craft a character with that in mind and I may be willing to overlook some things that if you're character didn't have those three done well would get them denied. I want a good amount of information, if it takes you some time to do it, that's fine. Give me a character that is well than rush something out.

2. While mentioned before that I don't want twenty thousand edgelords, I do want a full range of characters. Can we have one or two… maybe, just follow Note #1 and you'll be good. Make a character who is loving and nurturing, make a character who is vile and venomous.

3. Once a character is submitted to me, that's all after that. You will have no say or influence on my decision. Now, that does not mean I am not willing to work with you. If I think we can iron out a few details, change some things around a little, then I will try to make it a priority before accepting other characters so I can fairly compare them.

4. PM only, no characters will be taken from the review section.

5. I'm gonna say one character per author, but that may change overtime, they're are a limited number of spots available (only 30) so I would like as many participants as possible.

6. When submitting please title your PM as King's Cup SYOC- *Character Name*. For example, if I were to do it would go like this: King's Cup SYOC-Edmund Perish. Anything not typed up will not be looked at.

Above all, have fun with this. Don't stress about it.