🗒️Applying for Gyms
So you wanna be a Gym Leader, eh?
Now that you've honed your skills against the Gym Leaders of your realm, perhaps you would like to become a Gym Leader yourself. In this guide, we will walk you through all steps of applying for a Gym Leader position.
Getting Ready
Before you apply, make sure that you have a few things prepared for your Gym Evaluation:
A fully EV trained and level 100 team that follows all Gym Rules and the Point System.
A fully built Gym, where you will conduct your battles.
A functional and creative challenge, which your challengers will participate in before battles.
If you lack any of these three components, your application will be instantly denied. Be sure to prepare everything before creating an application, and be as creative and grand as you can be. After all, what's the difference between a villain and a super one? PRESENTATION! (Please don't be a villain.)
Applying
To apply for a position as Gym Leader, please navigate to the gym-application channel on our Discord. After refreshing yourself on all rules, enter /apply gym in any channel that you have access to, and you will shortly recieve a DM. This is Appy, our trusty application bot! It's going to ask you just a few questions.
Question 1: Which server do you play on?
For this question, the answer should be self-explanitory. You can't be a Gym Leader on a server that you don't play on, now can you? Enter in either Mystic, Paradise, or Union, depending on which server you wish to become a Gym Leader on.
Question 2: What is your IGN?
Type in your IGN exactly as it appears. My in-game name is Ziograth. As such, I will type it exactly as Ziograth, not like ziograth, or like zio_grath, or any other way. This is so that Gym Managers can easily identify you in-game, or add you to the Gym Leader role.
Question 3: What will be your Typing?
On this question, you will see a drop down list. Simply select which type you wish to pursue as Gym Leader, and the questions will continue.
Question 4: Provide a PokePaste from Showdown, featuring your Team.
Pokemon Showdown is a well known website that hosts all things Competitive Pokémon. On Showdown, there is a "Teambuilder" button that you may use to create a team.
Once you navigate to the Teambuilder page, hit the "New Team" button, if you have not made a team already.
This will bring you to a blank screen, where you must add Pokemon and select your Format.
Selecting a Format isn't necessarily a requirement, but choosing National Dex Ubers is always a good bet if you need to test your teams out at some point. After you choose the Format, you can start adding your Pokemon exactly as they appear in-game. Be sure to copy them directly from Cobbleland to avoid any discrepancies.
Once you have all of your Pokemon copied, scroll a bit further down until you see the button that says "Upload to PokePaste," and click it. A new tab will open similar to this one pictured below.
Simply take the URL of this newly opened page, and paste it into your Gym Application. There is no other action required on your part. Pretty easy, right?
Question 5: Do you have a Gym built? If yes, provide co-ordinates.
As stated earlier, without a built Gym, your application will be denied. Hopefully you answer yes to this question, and provide co-ordinates at or near your Gym.
Question 6: How long have you been playing on the server?
An easy way to check this is to use your Discord profile, if you joined the Discord at roughly the same time.
My join date was January 14th, 2024, and the date that this page was created was June 5, 2024. So, my answer to this question would be around 5 months. You need not an exact answer, an approximation will do just fine.
Evaluation
Now that you've successfully submitted your application, it is time to be evaluated. When you are online, a Gym Manager may reach out to you and ask if you are ready to be evaluated. Our Gym Managers are busy folks, so please don't ask them for an evaluation, wait for them to ask you. Asking a Gym Manager for an evaluation might result in an inverse reaction, as patience is a virtue.
The Gym Manager will then ask to be teleported to your Gym, and be shown around. They will take into account the aesthetics, creativity, effort, and originality put into your Gym. Next, they will ask to see your challenge. Be sure to have all rules and supplies (if needed) ready before your evaluation. The Gym Manager will then test your challenge to make sure that it is fair and balanced, and not too simple or easy.
Finally, the Gym Manager will face off against you in a Best of 3. You will use your Gym Team against them, but be wary; they will bring powerful Pokémon against your team to see if you can effectively counter them. During your battles, they will pay attention to your battle knowledge, your critical thinking, and your team composition and synergy. Be sure to play to the best of your ability, Trainers!
If you lose against the Gym Manager, do not worry, as they look for more than a win or a loss. If they deem you to be a good fit for Gym Leader, you will pass your application. If there is an open spot for Gym Leaders, you will immediately be put into position, but if not, you will have to go through the Takeover process.
Note: Applications are only accepted once you actually become a Gym Leader. Since our application ties a Discord username to a Gym Leader role, accepting each Gym Leader application without having them assume the position first would result in a TON of Gym Leaders. We like you guys, but, not THAT much.
Takeovers
If each Gym Leader slot is taken, you will have to conduct a Takeover on another Gym Leader. What does this mean, exactly? It means that you will have to beat another Gym Leader in a BO3, both using your Gym Team. It acts exactly as a normal Gym Battle, except you do not have to pass their challenge beforehand, and each attempt is weekly. Additionally, a member of the Staff team will have to observe your challenge to make sure there is no foul play on either side.
You may challenge each Gym Leader for a takeover once a week, unless they have just became a Gym Leader. New Gym Leaders recieve a week of immunity to ensure a fair opportunity to all those who try out. To challenge a leader for takeover, be sure to get their attention in-game. DO NOT privately message Gym Leaders to set up a Takeover challenge. This is extremely frowned upon, and could result in your application being overruled. As a general rule of thumb, you must catch Gym Leaders when they are online, unless they have told you otherwise.
If your type is currently taken by another Gym Leader, you may only fight them for the position. It wouldn't make sense to have two Gym Leaders of the same type, now would it? Be sure your team is in peak performance, Trainer!
If you successfully win against the opposing Gym Leader, you will take over their spot, and be declared the New Gym Leader!
Now What?
So, you're a Gym Leader. Now what? Well, theres a few things to note about this momentous occasion:
Gym Crate
Each week, Gym Leaders will have access to a Gym Key through /kits. This key may be used on the Gym Crate at /warp crates for some sweet rewards!
Badges
Similarly to the mainline games, Gym Leaders will be given badges to hand out to their challengers. To obtain your badges, either put a message in the Gym Chat on Discord or send a DM to a Gym Manager to request a badge. Your local Gym Manager will request 3 things from you;
Name of your badge
Description of your badge
Custom texture for your badge (Any badge design from Gens 1-8)
Be patient as badges might take a little while to be distributed, but once you have them, you may hand them out to any Trainer lucky enough to beat you.
Battling
And of course, how could we forget Gym Battles? Gym Battles are the reason for Trainers to become Gym Leaders. Players may request a challenge, to which you must oblige (unless you have a valid reason to deny, such as having to leave, or an emergency). Any Gym Leaders caught not accepting challenges for whatever reason will be spoken to by a Gym Manager. Be sure to check in with your challenger to make sure that they follow all Gym Rules and are prepared for your challenge.
Once they arrive at your Gym, instruct them on what to do. This includes telling them about your Challenge, the rules of the challenge, any other procedures, and confirming if they wish to challenge. If they agree, then be sure to spectate them as they complete your challenge.
If the challenger successfully passes your challenge, they no longer have to complete it on any subsequent attempts (if they lose the battle.) However, if a challenger fails to pass the challenge before a time limit is reached, they must re-do the challenge next time. Once a challenger no longer needs to pass your challenge, it's time to fight!
Each Gym Battle will be a Best of 3, following all Gym Rules. Be sure to give them a tough fight, Leader!
Note: If a Gym Leader disconnects during a battle, the round is given to the challenger. If a challenger disconnects during a battle, it is up to them if they restart the battle, or the leader gets the victory.
Conduct
One final note about being a Gym Leader, is that you must always uphold our values on Cobbleland. This includes but is not limited to:
Being kind, helpful, and respectful.
Accepting all Gym Challenges unless you have adequate reason not to
Following all /rules
Gym Leaders are the pinnacle of our player base, and as such we expect all leaders to be paradigms of Cobbleland. Any Gym Leaders who show any negative behavior such as trash talking, rage quitting, being disrespectful to players, or any other cases of breaking the rules will be immediately removed from their position as Gym Leader. There is NO tolerance against this rule.
Be an inspiration, Leaders. After all, isn't that what leaders are supposed to do?
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