Joining

How to Join

On this page you will find all you will need to know on how to join Pokemon Nation. Please follow the instructions listed here and on the Joining Journal on the site in order to successfully become a member!

Preparing for Opening Day

The first thing you should do is review all of the journals. In doing so, you can familiarize yourself with the group's rules, regulations, and processes.

• Once you believe that you have read over everything thoroughly at least once, the only thing you can do now is wait for Opening Day. PKMNation has monthly openings, usually on the first Saturday of each month. So take the time to look everything over precisely!
• You can take a look at current references, images, journals, etc. that are in the group to get familiar with how things operate more. It can be easier to understand everything by doing this.

Opening Day

Once Opening Day comes around, Join Requests will officially be open. One of the Champions will post a new journal with the questions that you need to answer in order to join. Here's a general "to do" on opening day.

1. Look over the new questions for this month's opening.
   • These questions are always different every month. They can range from easy to difficult depending on how much of the journals you read.
   • Please do not request or accept help from people who are already members. The moderators will likely deny your request if we see or hear about this. It would not be fair to those who did not gain assistance.
2. Work on your answers.
   • Join requests are typically open from 12:00 AM that day to 11:59 PM that night. You have almost a full 24 hours to send in a request. Take your time, look closely and don't skim.
     • Remember that the group runs on EST and so it will start (typically) at 12:00 AM EST. It is possible that openings will not begin until 1:00 AM.
   • If you find yourself getting frustrated because you can't find an answer, we encourage you to take a break and do something else for a bit. Once you've cleared your mind, it may be easier finding that answer that you couldn't before.
   • If you absolutely cannot find an answer, put down your best guess. The worst you can do is not answer a question.
3. Send in your Join Request with the answers on them
   • While including the question in a Join Request is not required, it is encouraged. However, an answer is always needed.
   • Please remember that we are a primarily English speaking group. While we do have members whose native language is not English, we still need to be able to understand what it is you're writing or it becomes difficult for all parties involved. Please be patient with us if we have to ask you to clarify on things.
   • Please be patient when waiting on a reply. Most of the moderators on the team are in school and it's possibly we aren't available at the time. As long as you get your join request in within the allotted time, you have nothing to worry about. We will get to it.

Getting Denied

Should you be denied there are a few possibilities for what you should do next.

1. Look at the answer(s) that you got wrong.
   • It's possible that you may have misread some of the information or you put down the wrong thing(s). After reviewing the journal(s) again, replace the wrong answer(s) with what you think might be right.
2. Send in a new Join Request
   • Once you've gotten your new answer(s) down, you can send in a new request so long as it's still Opening Day. One of the moderators will review the new one and let you know the result.
   • As stated before, please be patient with us. A large number of requests are sent in on opening day and we need to go through all of them. Don't worry, we'll get to you.

Getting Accepted

Now that you got the okay from a moderator, they will accept your join request. Upon joining the group, your deviantart username will be put into our database on the PKMNation Website, where you will be able to access your inventory and Pokémon. You will receive three Starter Eggs upon joining, which you can hatch to receive your first three Pokémon in the group.

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What to Do Now

1. Hatching Your Starter Eggs
   • Upon logging into the PKMNation website (find out how to here), you can go to your inventory and there you will find three eggs: 2 New Trainer Random Eggs and 1 New Trainer Type Egg. To hatch them, all you need to do is click on the image of the egg. Upon doing so, each egg will have five randomly picked Pokémon for you to choose one from, giving you a total of three new Pokémon of the gender of your choice.
2. Adding your PKMNation Ranch Name and Types
   • When you are logged onto the PKMNation website, you should be able to edit your Ranch name and main types. In the top right corner of your inventory, you will find a house icon. When you click on it a menu will appear, allowing you to type in your Ranch's name and picking your three main types from the drop down menus.
   • You are not required to only obtain Pokémon in your ranch types. This is to help others know what type you are mostly interested in. Or, you can use it as a challenge to only obtain Pokémon in those typings. It's all up to you.
3. Creating a Reference Sheet
   • You must have an image of your Pokémon on its reference sheet, there are no "ifs", "ands" or "buts" to this. The layout for the visual part of the reference sheet is mostly up to you. It can be simple with just an image of the Pokémon on it, or complex with information surrounding it.
     • You can find the library for reference sheets in this folder.
   • In the artist description of the deviation is the most important part of the reference sheet: the information. You are required to list the following on every reference sheet:

   Pokemon: What Pokémon are involved?

   Name: What is their name that you chose?

   Gender: Are they Male or Female?

   Type: What typings do they have? Normal, Fire, Water, etc.? Please list these.

   Special: A list of all the traits a Pokémon has. You can find details on this [here].

   Hatch Date: For Pokémon you bought from a clutch, this is the day the clutch was uploaded to deviantart. For hatched eggs, rarities from events, and Pokémon caught on the trail, this is the day you upload their reference to deviantart.

   ID Number: You can find this in your Inventory on the PKMNation website

   
   

   Level: Their current level. You can find a breakdown on how to count levels [here].

   Starting Base Attack: Their starting BA. For Pokémon bought from clutches, the information will be on the clutch. For event Rarities, the Starting BA will be listed. For Pokémon hatched from eggs, Rarities hatched from eggs, and Pokémon caught on the trail, their Starting BA will always be 5.

   Current Base Attack: Their current BA. You can find out how to calculate this [here].

   Moves: The starting moves of any species shown in the Pokémon. You can find a Pokémon's starting moves on [bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki Bulbapedia]. For specifics on this, refer to [here].

   
   

   Level Up Log: A list of where all of their levels come from. Please have a link to the deviation and a level count beside each deviation. For further information, please refer to the leveling page.

   • Once all of the correct information is on the reference sheet with
4. Submitting your References
   • After you have gotten all of your information onto your reference sheet you can now submit it to the group. Please submit Males to the Male Folder and Females to the Female Folder. Once it has been submitted the moderators will review it to make sure all of the information is correct.
   • Please do not get impatient when you have submitted your reference(s). There can be anywhere from 50-300 submissions in the queue at any point in time and it takes time to review these. We want to make sure that everything is correct. It may take a few days for us to get to your submission.

F.A.Q.

• Q.) How many times am I allowed to apply?
  • A.) You are allowed to apply as many times as you need to within the 24 hours until either you are accepted or the day ends.
• Q.) How do I know when the group is open to Join Requests?
  • A.) There is a countdown on the front page of the group. Usually it is on the first Saturday of the month unless stated otherwise. There is always a journal update for when the group opens to new members.
• Q.) What if I want to make a side account for PKMNation? What do I do?
  • A.) When switching accounts we require you to send two notes: one from your current account and another from your side account. The format for the note should be as follows:

    First Note Title (from old account):Switching Accounts: 'oldaccountname' to 'newaccountname'

    Note Contents: Hi! I would like to let you know I am moving from the account 'old account' to 'new account'!

    
    

    Second Note Title (from new account):Switching Accounts: 'oldaccountname' to 'newaccountname'

    Note Contents: Hi! I would like to let you know I am moving from the account 'old account' to 'new account'!

  • This is required as a safety precaution for members. Once both notes are received, an invitation will be sent to your new account to join the group and your old account will be kicked from the group. Your inventory on the PKMNation website will be updated to your new account name.