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Bulbagarden Holiday Contests 2025

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Archaic

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The holiday season is once again upon us, and it's past time that we here at Bulbagarden got the ball rolling with our annual Holiday Contests!

We're changing up our format a little this year. In addition to our three full sized contests where there are again over $2,000 USD worth of prizes up for grabs, we'll also be running a few additional activities where you can win profile badges and customizations on the Bulbagarden Forums and Discord.

Our three main contests this year are:
  • A Long Winter's Path - Holiday Scavenger Hunt: After a long 4 year absence, this fan favourite contest makes its long awaited return. Canari will be your guide as a trail of riddles will lead you on a merry chase all around Bulbapedia as you look for some Colorful Screws! Find all the screws, figure out the passwords, and unscramble the clues to solve this challenge!
  • Naughty and Nice - Bulbapedia Rankings Challenge: How well do you know your fellow Pokémon fans? If you've been watching us on social media, you might have seen how we've been posting the rankings for the top and bottom Pokémon on Bulbapedia each month. What we'd like you to do now is to give your best guess at what you think will be the top and bottom Pokémon on Bulbapedia for all of 2025!
  • Delibird's Mailbag - FAQ Raffle: The FAQs on Bulbapedia and around the rest of Bulbagarden are getting a bit long in the tooth, and we'd like to ask for your help in bringing them up to speed! Simply submit your questions about how things work around here, and you'll go into the draw!
All prize winners from these contests will each receive a Pokémon Center Gift Card to the value of $70 USD / $99 CAD / £60 GBP (for winners in the United States, Canada, or United Kingdom), or an equivalent value in readily available Pokémon merchandise (for winners in other countries).

Other activities we'll also be running include:
  • Rapidash Trivia: A battle of wits and speed as you test your knowledge of the Pokémon franchise in a real time contest where only the fastest will win! Collect points with every round to claim event exclusive badges on the Bulbagarden Forums, and the Bulbagarden Discord server.
  • Writers' Workshop Winter Roundtable: Write up your short stories in our Writers' Workshop here on the Bulbagarden Forums, and get them reviewed by your peers. Everyone who complete both a write and review, or who reviews at least 3 stories for others, will receive an event exclusive badge on the Bulbagarden Forums, and the Bulbagarden Discord server
Please note that as the Rapidash Trivia and Writers' Workshop Winter Roundtable are not awarding cash-value prizes, there are no entry restrictions on these activities this year, and they will be open to all registered users (including Bulbagarden's own Volunteer Staff) without limitation.

If you have any questions regarding any of these contests, please direct these either to the appropriate forums thread for that contest (linked above), or to the #bulbamas2025 channel on our Discord. An FAQ for more general questions can be found in the post below.

Best of luck to everyone, and may the biggest Pokéfans win. Happy holidays, everyone!
 
Holiday Contests FAQ
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* I have a question...
We’ll be happy to help! If you have a question about a specific contest, the best place to ask that is in the forums thread for that contest, or in the #bulbamas2025 channel on our Discord. If you have a more general question, read on!
* Who can enter the contest?
That depends which contest you're entering.

A Long Winter's Path, Naughty and Nice, Delibird's Mailbag
These three contests are open to anyone aged 18 or over.

If you are aged under 18 but over 13, then you may also enter, provided that you have the permission of your parent or guardian. If you do not have the permission of your parent or guardian, then you will forefit your prize should you be selected as a winner.

If you are aged under 13, then you should ask your parent or guardian to enter on your behalf.
Only 1 entry is accepted per contest, per household.

Rapidash Trivia, Writers' Workshop Winter Roundtable
As these two activities are not awarding cash-value prizes, there are no entry restrictions on these this year, and they will be open to all registered users (including Bulbagarden's own Volunteer Staff) without limitation.
* I have a Brother / Sister / Parent / Cousin / Spouse / Other Relative / Roommate / Dark Helmet who wants to enter as well, can they?
Due to the need to prevent fraudulent entries, we’re afraid that we can accept only 1 entry per contest, per household.
* Can I enter more than one Bulbagarden Contest?
Yes, though you may only make 1 entry per contest.
* Can I win a monetary value prize in more than one Bulbagarden Contest?
You may only receive a monetary value prize from one contest. If you win in multiple contests, any additional prize wins will be reassigned. Prizes take precedence in the following order:

A Long Winter's Path => Naughty and Nice => Delibird's Mailbag
e.g. If you win in A Long Winter's Path and in Naughty and Nice, your Naughty and Nice prize would be reassigned.
* If I win in more than one Bulbagarden Contest, can I still get the Forum and/or Discord badges for both contest wins (even if I can’t claim both monetary value prizes)?
Yes.
* I was a prize winner in a previous Bulbagarden Holiday Contest. Can I still win a prize this year?
There are no restrictions on past winners for any of this year's contests.

In the future, we have plans for a special contest specifically for some of our “Hall of Famers” who have won prizes in Rapidash Trivia across multiple years. If you would be interested in participating in this contest, please contact me for details.
* I can't remember if I entered a contest. Can you give me some confirmation to let me know you got my entry?
Assuming we've got everything configured correctly this year, you should now be able to double-check that for yourself! The online entry forms we’re using for A Long Winter's Path, Naughty and Nice, and Delibird's Mailbag should email you to confirm your entry has been submitted. If you don’t receive an email, please let us know here in this thread or in the #bulbamas2025 channel on our Discord so we can investigate this for you.
* My entry form timed out. Did my entry go through?
This problem can occasionally crop up during periods of especially high traffic on our server, such as when we're experiencing heavy traffic from AI bots. From past experience, your entry has almost certainly gone through, but feel free to reach out so we can check for you. Our policy is simply to discard repeat entries from the same person, so in the event you've submitted multiple times here because you were afraid that it hadn't gone through, we'll just trim those down to 1 entry when we process all the entries at the end.
* Why are you giving Pokémon Center Gift Cards to all winners in the United States, Canada, and United Kingdom?
We've made the choice to give out these gift cards as they significantly reduce our logistical burden for these competitions, while ensuring winners from these countries can select from a wider range of Pokémon merchandise.
* I live outside the United States, Canada, and United Kingdom. If I win, what sort of Pokémon merchandise can I request? Can you send me an eShop card instead? What about pre-orders?
This will typically rely on what's currently available to purchase from whichever Amazon stores service your region. While we can occasionally do special requests via other retailers, such as with a winner in a country that's historically had significant logistical issues with Amazon, this can pose additional burdens on us. If not too many winners are in this situation, then it should be possible for us to make some sort of arrangement with you so long as we can find a retailer who'll actually accept our credit cards.

For eShop cards in particular, while historically we’ve done our best to make this an option, year-on-year we’ve been frustrated in doing so by difficulty in sourcing digital eShop cards after Christmas, and by purchase limits set on both physical and digital eShop cards by Amazon (e.g. not allowing purchase of $USD eShop cards by people outside the US). If not too many winners are asking for eShop cards, then it may be possible for us to make some sort of arrangement. If lots of winners are wanting us to substitute eShop cards however, this could significantly lengthen the time it takes for us to fulfill all prizes, and we would likely not be able to honour all such requests (or not be able to honour them in a timely fashion) due to the purchase limits imposed by Amazon.

In the past, a common request from winners that we tried to satisfy were pre-orders for upcoming Pokémon games. As of this year however, we will no longer be offering this as a request. Historically, pre-orders have involved significant logistical complications, in particular with retailer limitations on the number of copies we can order, as well as delays in our ability to complete orders. By sticking to things available immediately, we hope to ensure that all winners receive their prizes much sooner this year.
* I live outside the United States, Canada, or United Kingdom. Can you send me a Pokémon Center Gift Card?
Currently, Pokémon Center gift cards are only available for purchase and use at the US, Canadian, and UK Pokémon Center Online Stores. However, if you have means to allow you to order from those stores and get it delivered to you via a proxy shipping service or similar, then we're happy to send you a gift card if that's your preference.
* I live in (insert country here). Can I enter?
Our Holiday Contests are, generally speaking, open to entries globally. The only reason for us to reject a winner because of their country of residence would be if there were legal factors involved, such as ongoing sanctions which would prohibit sending prizes into that country.
* I live in (insert country here). If I win, are you able to send me a game for my region?
Almost certainly yes. As a rule of thumb, we will order your prize from a retailer who ships to your region. If for some reason we aren't able to arrange for the game to be shipped to you, we can make alternative arrangements with you.
* I live in (insert country here). If I win, are you able to send me a game from a different region (e.g. a Japanese game for someone outside Japan)?
At this stage, we cannot guarantee this. Historically, we have made every effort to do this, though we are limited by being able to find an online retailer who’ll accept our payment, and who are able to ship it to you. Depending on what exactly you're looking for, it may not be possible to find an appropriate retailer able to ship the product. All we can promise at this point is that we'll do the best we can.
* When will winners be informed? How will you contact us?
While we endeavour to inform winners as soon as possible, this process has often involved some delays due to a variety of factors, including time taken to mark answers or get judges feedback.

We will be beginning to contact winners of these contests during the first week of January. For preference, we will try to contact people via their Bulbagarden Forums or Discord accounts rather than email, as historically these have been the most reliable ways for us to get in touch with people.

Based on experience from past years, it’s likely that we will continue to be reaching out to winners into at least February, as a result of needing to reassign prizes from people who fail to respond, who decline to receive it, or who were otherwise ineligible.
* How long will winners have to claim the prize?
We'll give you at least two weeks to respond from when we formally announce the winners. We're aware things can happen, and we don't want to disadvantage anyone. Any prizes not claimed after multiple attempts to contact the winners will be re-allocated to the next highest placed entrant in the same contest.
* How will winners be publicly announced?
Winners will be announced publicly in the individual contest threads and in the #bulbamas2025 channel on the Bulbagarden Discord. Any lists of winners posted may be subject to change, depending on situations where prizes need to be reassigned, etc.

In past years, we've frequently had parents of winners under the age of 18 ask us to not disclose the details of winners. Our standard practice therefore is to only refer to winners by whatever pseudonym they are known by on the Bulbagarden Forums or Discord.

If everything is resolved fairly quickly, we may post up the final list of winners as a Bulbanews article. If things drag into February or later due to prizes needing to be reassigned, etc, then it’s likely this will be skipped.
* How soon will my prize get to me if I win?
We hope to start ordering prizes for the winners from January 7th. Ideally we’d send things out in one batch, but past experience has shown us that generally won’t be possible.

While it won't be possible for us to give any guarantees of specific timeframes for shipping, we will let you know the retailer's estimated shipping date after we've ordered your prize.

Winners in the United States, Canada, and UK should receive their prizes immediately as soon as they are ordered as digital gift cards. We've had some problems with this previously due to their online systems freaking at the number of orders we were making and rejecting my card, but this should hopefully be less of a problem this year.

If you're in Western or Central Europe, Australia, New Zealand, or Japan, there probably won't be any issues with us ordering from a retailer local to you, and you should hopefully get your prize reasonably quickly after we've received your address details and made your order (depending how backed up your local postal and courier services are after the holidays).

If you're in another country, particularly where there may be issues with customs or the local postal system (Brazil and Indonesia in particular have been especially problematic for us on several occasions), we might need to make alternative arrangements with you to avoid things taking an excessively long time.
* What happened to the 12 Days of Trivia?
12 Days of Trivia will be taking a break this year. It'll return at some point in the future, but we want to try some different things for a while.

But if you want a tough trivia question... without looking, can you remember when the last time 12 Days of Trivia took a break, and how long that lasted?
* Why is Rapidash Trivia not getting any cash prizes this year?
A combination of several factors, including but not limited to limited availability of team members to update the trivia questions, and the feeling that it'd be too soon to ask Legends Z-A related trivia when many people would only just be getting the game for Christmas.
* Why are there less total prizes on offer this year?
TLDR; Inflation

Long answer: A lot of things are more expensive now than they were in previous years, and we wanted to make sure winners could still receive the same sort of prizes we've offered previously. If we kept things at the same value as last year, people wouldn't have been able to get Pokémon video games from the contest, and that didn't seem right.
* Why aren't you offering a Switch 2 as a grand prize?
We considered it, but in the end we just couldn't justify it given that we'd already had to reduce prize numbers from inflation. Having this as a grand prize would've meant we'd have to offer even less regular prizes for the other contests.
 
Terms and Conditions
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NO PURCHASE IS NECESSARY TO ENTER OR WIN.
  1. Sponsor: The Sponsor of the Bulbagarden Holiday Contests 2025 is Bulbagarden.
  2. Eligibility: The Bulbagarden Holiday Contests 2025 are only open to those who enter via the methods specified for each contest. Contestants aged under 18 but over 13 may enter only with the permission of their parent or guardian, and will be required to indicate this permission has been given before receiving any prize. Entries will not be accepted from contestants aged under 13, who are instead urged to ask their parent or guardian to enter on their behalf. Except where otherwise stated (e.g. contests held over multiple rounds, giveaways giving multiple entries, etc), only 1 entry will be accepted per contest, per household. The use of any automated or similar means to enter is prohibited and will void all entries by the culprit and their associates. All entries must be “manual”. Individuals who are currently banned or suspended from one or more Bulbagarden platforms for any reason (including but not limited to the Bulbagarden Forums, Bulbapedia, and the Bulbagarden Discord) are not eligible to participate in these contests. The contests are open worldwide, and void where prohibited by law. Current and former employees, independent contractors, interns, officers, directors, and agents of Bulbagarden (the "Sponsor"), their respective affiliates, subsidiaries, advertising and promotion agencies, suppliers, and their immediate family members and/or those living in the same household of each are not eligible to participate in these contests. Individual contests within the broader Bulbagarden Holiday Contests 2025 may have more restrictive eligibility constraints. Please consult the posted information about those contests for more information. The Bulbagarden Holiday Contests 2025 are subject to all applicable federal, state and local laws and regulations. Void where prohibited.
  3. Agreement to Rules: By entering the Bulbagarden Holiday Contests 2025, the contestant ("You") agree to comply with and abide by these Rules and the decisions of the Sponsor, and you represent and warrant that you meet the eligibility requirements. In addition, you agree to accept the Sponsor's decisions as final and binding as it relates to the content of this campaign. Entrants should look solely to the Sponsor with any questions, comments or issues related to the Bulbagarden Holiday Contests 2025.
  4. Entry Period: The Bulbagarden Holiday Contests 2025 as a whole begins on 8 December, 2025, and ends on 31 December, 2025 at 11:59PM PST (the "Entry Period"). Entries submitted before or after the Entry Period will not be eligible. Individual contests within the broader Bulbagarden Holiday Contests 2025 may have more restrictive entry periods. Please consult the posted information about those contests for more information.
  5. Prizes: The winners of the Bulbagarden Holiday Contests 2025 will receive the following prizes
    • A Long Winter's Path
      • 10 winners will receive a Pokémon Center Gift Card to the value of $70 USD (for winners in the United States), $99 CAD (for winners in Canada), or £60 GBP (for winners the United Kingdom), or an equivalent value of Pokémon merchandise (for winners outside countries).
    • Naughty & Nice
      • 10 winners will receive a Pokémon Center Gift Card to the value of $70 USD (for winners in the United States), $99 CAD (for winners in Canada), or £60 GBP (for winners the United Kingdom), or an equivalent value of Pokémon merchandise (for winners outside countries).
    • Delibird's Mailbag
      • 10 winners will receive a Pokémon Center Gift Card to the value of $70 USD (for winners in the United States), $99 CAD (for winners in Canada), or £60 GBP (for winners the United Kingdom), or an equivalent value of Pokémon merchandise (for winners outside countries).
    Actual/appraised value of prizes may differ at time of prize award. The specifics of the prize shall be solely determined by the Sponsor. The Sponsor reserves the right to substitute the prize with another prize of equal or greater value if the original prize is no longer available, or cannot be provided to the winner due to logistical and/or legal complications. No cash or other prize substitution shall be permitted except for at the Sponsor's discretion. The prize is non transferable. Substitution of the prize or transfer/assignment of the prize to others or request for the cash equivalent of the prize by the Winner is not permitted. Any and all prize related expenses, including without limitation any and all federal, state, and/or local taxes shall be the sole responsibility of the Winner.
  6. Odds of Winning: The odds of winning depend on the number of eligible entries received.
  7. Winner Selection and Notification: Winners for each contest as part of the Bulbagarden Holiday Contests 2025 will be selected by methods specified by each contest. Winners will be notified starting January, 2026. The Sponsor shall have no liability for a Winner's failure to receive notices due to spam, junk e-mail or other security settings or for a Winner’s provision of incorrect or otherwise non-functioning contact information. If the Winner cannot be contacted, is ineligible, fails to claim the prize within 14 days from the time award notification was sent, or fails to timely return requested information needed to send them their prize, the prize may be forfeited and an alternate Winner selected. Receipt of the prize offered in this Campaign by the Winner is conditioned upon compliance with any and all federal, state, and local laws and regulations. Any violation of these official rules by the Winner at the Sponsor's sole discretion will result in the Winner's disqualification as winner, and all privileges as winner will be immediately terminated.
  8. Rights Granted by the Entrant: The Bulbagarden Holiday Contests 2025 includes one contest, Corsola's Creative Holiday Challenge, which involves the creation and entry of original content by the entrant. By entering this contest, you represent and warrant that your entry is an original work of authorship, and does not violate any third party’s proprietary or intellectual property rights. If your entry infringes upon the intellectual property right of another, you will be disqualified at the sole discretion of the Sponsor. If the content of your entry is claimed to constitute infringement of any proprietary or intellectual proprietary rights of any third party, you shall, at your sole expense, defend or settle against such claims. You shall indemnify, defend, and hold harmless Bulbagarden from and against any suit, proceeding, claims, liability, loss, damage, costs or expense, which Bulbagarden may incur, suffer, or be required to pay arising out of such infringement or suspected infringement of any third party’s right.
  9. Terms and Conditions: The Sponsor reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to cancel, terminate, modify or suspend the Bulbagarden Holiday Contests 2025 should virus, bug, non-authorised human intervention, fraud, or other cause beyond the Sponsor’s control corrupt or affect the administration, security, fairness, or proper conduct of the Bulbagarden Holiday Contests 2025. In such cases, the Sponsor may select a winner(s) from eligible entries received before and/or after the action taken by the Sponsor if appropriate. The Sponsor reserves the right at its sole discretion to disqualify any individual who tampers or attempts to tamper with the entry process or the operation of the Bulbagarden Holiday Contests 2025 or website or violates these Terms & Conditions. The Sponsor has the right, in its sole discretion, to maintain the integrity of the Bulbagarden Holiday Contests 2025, to void entries for any reason, including, but not limited to: multiple entries from the same user from different IP addresses; multiple entries from the same computer in excess of that allowed by Bulbagarden Holiday Contests 2025 rules; or the use of bots, macros, scripts, or other technical means for entering. Any attempt by an entrant to deliberately damage any website or undermine the legitimate operation of the Bulbagarden Holiday Contests 2025 may be a violation of criminal and civil laws. Should such an attempt be made, the Sponsor reserves the right to seek damages to the fullest extent permitted by law.
  10. Limitation of Liability: By entering the Bulbagarden Holiday Contests 2025 you agree to release and hold harmless Bulbagarden and its subsidiaries, affiliates, advertising and promotion agencies, partners, representatives, agents, successors, assigns, employees, officers and directors from any liability, illness, injury, death, loss, litigation, claim or damage that may occur, directly or indirectly, whether caused by negligence or not, from (i) such entrant’s participation in the Bulbagarden Holiday Contests 2025 and/or his/her acceptance, possession, use, or misuse of any prize or any portion thereof; (ii) unauthorised human intervention in any part of the Bulbagarden Holiday Contests 2025; (iii) electronic or human error in the administration of the Bulbagarden Holiday Contests 2025 or the processing of entries; (iv) technical errors of any kind, including but not limited to the malfunction of any computer, cable, network, hardware, or software, or other mechanical equipment; (v) the unavailability or inaccessibility of any transmissions, telephone, or Internet service; (vi) printing errors; (vii) lost, late, postage due, misdirected, or undeliverable mail.
  11. Disputes: The Bulbagarden Holiday Contests 2025 are governed by the laws of Australia, without respect to conflict of law doctrines. By participating in this Campaign, you agree that any and all disputes that cannot be resolved between the parties, and causes of action arising out of or connected with this Campaign, shall be resolved individually, without resort to any form of class action, exclusively before a court located in Australia having jurisdiction. Further, in any such dispute, under no circumstances shall You be permitted to obtain awards for, and hereby waive all rights to, punitive, incidental, or consequential damages, including reasonable attorney’s fees, other than actual out-of-pocket expenses (i.e. costs associated with entering the Bulbagarden Holiday Contests 2025). You further waive all rights to have damages multiplied or increased.
  12. Privacy Policy: Information submitted with an entry is subject to the Privacy Policy stated on the Bulbagarden Website. To read the Privacy Policy, click here. By entering Bulbagarden contests, users consent to the use of their name (or pseudonym) in the announcement of the winners on the Bulbagarden website, and use of their name (or pseudonym) and likeness for advertising and/or promotional and/or marketing purposes. Users' contact information may also be used by the Sponsor to notify the user they have won and to confirm their mailing address.
  13. Winners List: To request a copy of the winners list please contact the Sponsor. Requests must be sent within four (4) weeks of the end of the Entry Period.
  14. The Bulbagarden Holiday Contests 2025 is in no way sponsored, endorsed, administered by, or associated with Bluesky, Discord, Facebook, Instagram, Mastodon, Tumblr, Twitch, X (formerly known as Twitter), YouTube, or any other websites, apps, or social networks that are used to share the Bulbagarden Holiday Contests 2025. You understand that you are providing your information to the owner of the Bulbagarden Holiday Contests 2025 and not to Bluesky, Discord, Facebook, Instagram, Mastodon, Tumblr, Twitch, X (formerly known as Twitter), YouTube, or any other websites, apps, or social networks.
  15. Acceptance of Rules: By participating in the Bulbagarden Holiday Contests 2025, You have affirmatively reviewed, accepted, and agreed to all of the Official Rules, Terms and Conditions.
 
Is there a way to check on my entries? Submitted entries for both A Long Winter's Path and Naughty and Nice but only got a confirmation for Naughty and Nice so worried the other one didn't go through.

Edit: I submitted a second entry to be safe, but I remember seeing the confirmation screen, so I'm hoping the first one went through and I just didn't get the confirmation email :/
 
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