Event [RESULTS ANNOUNCED] Delving for Dreams: Spring 2026 Oneshot Competition

[kintsugi]

Hello and thank you all for tuning in to our 2026 Spring Oneshot Competition!

We were really excited to delve into this year's round of fics, which took us on exciting adventures all around (and even outside of) the Pokemon fandom. There were so many incredible fics for the judges to sink our teeth into, and this year we're excited to do a special interview feature, starring all of this year's authors, in the very next post! If you haven't had a chance to read all of them, hopefully that'll get you pointed in the right direction! Story blurbs, banners, and feature art will also be in that post.

Let's also give a huge thanks to this year's judges: @AetherX, @Beth Pavell, and @terashards!

Without further ado!

BEST OVERALL FIC
First place for this year's Best Overall fic goes to @Pick_6's The Hiding Place, and our runner-up is @staticmoth's Be Kind, Please Rewind!

READER'S CHOICE AWARD
First place for this year's Reader's Choice Award goes to @Viridian Beedrill's Dream Home, and our runners-up are @Herbizarre's Rendezvous Souvenir and @digitaldreams's "nothing i wouldn't do"!

BEST ROMANCE AWARD
First place for this year's Best Romance fic goes to @Pick_6's The Hiding Place, and our runner-up is @staticmoth's Be Kind, Please Rewind!

BEST LGBTQ+ ROMANCE AWARD
First place for this year's Best Romance fic goes to @Pick_6's The Hiding Place, and our runners-up are @staticmoth's Be Kind, Please Rewind and @digitaldreams's "nothing i wouldn't do"!

BEST USE OF THEME AWARD
First place for this year's Best Use of Theme goes to @staticmoth's Be Kind, Please Rewind, and our runner-up is @WholesomeCryptid's The Investigation!

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All participants, judges, runners-up, and participants will receive a special forum badge that they can display on their user profile to commemorate their performance in this event.

If you haven't received your badge in about 24 hours, please reach out and let me know!

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Thank you to all of our incredible participants, judges, and readers! We're excited to see you again next year <3

 

[kintsugi]

Be Kind, Please Rewind by @staticmoth
Evil old man does something excruciatingly nice for his partner of 45 years.

Spoiler: full interview

What was your favorite part of your story to write?
The car wash scene fjdhgkfhjk. That just happened so naturally I don't know why or how. I wanted to write two messy queens fighting over their favorite movie star.

How did you approach the contest themes in writing your story?
It's really funny because "Road to Redemption" and "You're Worth Hell" resonate the show's overall themes. But I guess I got the bug for "Reminiscing with You." It really fun to write an old man working through his feelings over decades he's chosen to avoid out of fear. Vox is such a fake IDGAFer. He's afraid to care. But he does!! And therein lies the moe gap I enjoy about the pairing so much.

Is there anything else you'd like readers to know about your story?
Blockbuster kind of fit the old wedding adage of Something old, new, borrowed and blue too well and I didn't realize it until after I wrote 10k words lmao. Hope you all enjoy the fic!

Breaking the Ice by @RichestAirPirate
The normally focused Candice tries to look back on the time she spent with the cool and distant Grusha as a last ditch effort to melt his heart at last.

Spoiler: full interview

What was your favorite part of your story to write?
My favorite part about it was bringing up moments from older fics I wrote. I depicted MistFlowShipping as something of a slow burn, where you can see Candice is trying to get to Grusha's hidden sensitive spots, but in her attempts to do so, she exposes herself a bit too much, leaving her open to a little zinger from Grusha, who isn't easily left vulnerable by Candice's advances and occasionally calls her out on them. I still wanted to show that the two do enjoy each other's company, but remain a little vague about the exact status of their relationship. It was a game of "Who breaks and confesses first, Candice or Grusha?" and this fic was essentially putting an end to the game that I spent about a year building up on in a handful of past works.

How did you approach the contest themes in writing your story?
I approached it by taking a look back at my MistFlow related fics and mentioning parts of them. A bit of a retrospective, if you will. Two characters looking back on moments they had together and wondering what they all mean for the two of them. There's been fun moments, awkward moments, and everything in between, and I wanted to use those past moments as a topic for Candice and Grusha to think about and wonder what they mean for each other.

Is there anything else you'd like readers to know about your story?
I'd suppose that prior readings of some of my works is kinda required to understand this fic, otherwise you'd be missing a lot of context behind it.

Dream Home by @Viridian Beedrill
Team Plasma has been defeated, so Nate and Hugh finally have time for some fun and relaxation. Nate thinks he has the perfect activity idea, though "relaxation" might not be quite the right word for it...

Spoiler: full interview

What was your favorite part of your story to write?
My favorite part to write wasn't so much a particular scene as it was figuring out Nate's voice as the point-of-view character. Beedrillverse-Nate views the world as something to constantly analyze. This would not be the first time I've written a character who overthinks everything (cough Dexio cough), so I was concerned I wouldn't be able to give him his own voice. I was very happy when I settled on something that felt distinct.

Not a part of the story per se, but I was also very proud when I came up with the title. Calling the story "Dream Home" like it's cute newlywed shipping fluff and then having it be not at all that made me cackle like an evil mastermind.

How did you approach the contest themes in writing your story?
When the themes were announced, I knew I wanted to do either "Road to Redemption" or "Reminiscing with You". I brainstormed some ideas for Road to Redemption, but realized they were going to be too headcanon/lore-extrapolation-dependent to work for a short story. That left Reminiscing with You, but I couldn't think of a scenario to prompt reminiscing between two characters that wouldn't end up being just an extended conversation--which isn't a bad thing for a one-shot to be, by any means, but it wasn't what I wanted to write.

Then I thought, "You know, most ghost stories are about memory and the past at their core" (the fact that I'm weird and was listening to Halloween music in the spring had something to do with this realization I'm sure, haha). That quickly led to a specific weird spooky location from the games (one of my favorite things) and a pair of characters who could be both literally and metaphorically haunted. Add in inspiration from one of the best and most interesting descriptions of a haunting that I've ever read*, and I finally had a plot.

*For anyone interested: "The Searcher of the End House" from Carnacki, The Ghost Finder by William Hope Hodgson, available for free on Project Gutenberg due to it being out of copyright.

Is there anything else you'd like readers to know about your story?
The ship is platonic in the story, so if you tend to like adventure more than romance, you might enjoy this.

From Outside Her Castle Unseen by @Audrelite
"I just want to help you," he whispered to the empty air, but the doors to her castle had already slammed shut. She would not hear him.

Spoiler: full interview

What was your favorite part of your story to write?
Probably the whole castle symbolism throughout and especially in the beginning. I consider Rayla to be almost a self-insert of sorts: both of us have always wished to live in a castle, both of us can sing, and both of us have had (and still have to some level) rather negative perceptions on ourselves. (Also Darkrai is my favorite Pokémon so there's that.)

How did you approach the contest themes in writing your story?
I admittedly had ZERO idea how I wanted to incorporate any of the themes into this; I was running on no sleep and half a brain cell so... But in any case, I ended up taking a "if you squint" approach to the theme of "You're Worth Hell"; the ending probably touches on it the most, with Creanno wanting so desperately to help Rayla, such that he would consider her moods and attitudes a sort of hell he must walk through to get to the vulnerable parts of her she hides so well.

Is there anything else you'd like readers to know about your story?
As its author, I've grown to like this little story the more I looked at it with more open eyes. In the beginning I would have said that I'm not very proud of my work here but maybe in time I will be; I think that time passing definitely helped me out in this regard.

Mistake by @NumberOneSpinelApologist
[[OOC: A plot summary would be big Horizons spoilers for episodes 130-134 for unsuspecting onlookers...I understand that this limits my audience, but I could not stop myself from writing this.]]

Spoiler: full interview

What was your favorite part of your story to write?
Spinel being toxic. As expected of me (username must check out).
More seriously, I like writing dialogue in general, this fic was not an exception from this rule.

How did you approach the contest themes in writing your story?
I like finding a motif, key phrase/word that reappears in various contexts within one story.
Since the first step on the road to redemption is realizing that mistakes were made, I chose that word to tie the whole structure together.

Is there anything else you'd like readers to know about your story?
This story was mostly inspired by my dissatisfaction with how little time Chalce was given in the source material. Chalce deserves better! And fellow Horizons fanfic writers: Write More Chalce! She is cool! Thank you for coming to my TED talk.

"nothing i wouldn't do" by @digitaldreams
A canon divergence fic set at the end of arc four of Horizons. Liko ends up as Spinel's captive, and Dot is willing to do anything to bring Liko back home again even if it seems impossible.

Spoiler: full interview

What was your favorite part of your story to write?
The finale was my favorite part by far! Everything about it was so satisfying, and I loved showing how all of the pieces came together. I love a good fight scene too, so finishing off with a battle just felt perfect to me.

How did you approach the contest themes in writing your story?
When reading over the themes, I found myself immediately drawn to the "you're worth hell" theme and started thinking about what would fit in that general idea. I already knew I wanted to write Likodot too, so in the end, I drew inspiration from a longer Likodot fic of mine called "Free Fall." This fic is different in a lot of ways, but that connection was enough to get the ball rolling with my creativity. Soon enough, I wound up here, and I really love how it all turned out.

Is there anything else you'd like readers to know about your story?
I hope everyone enjoys the story! I had a blast writing it, and I'm excited that I've been given the chance to share it with the Bulbagarden community!

Rendezvous Souvenir by @Herbizarre
After winning a bet against Harmony during a Z-A Royale battle, Urbain proposes to spend the following evening watching a famous Kalosian movie with her.

Spoiler: full spoiler

What was your favorite part of your story to write?
I would say, narrating what happens in the movie the pair are watching. Said film is a reference to a famous 1966 french movie called "La Grande Vadrouille", and due to that movie's era setting, I had to change it alongside some parts of the plot, while remaining faithful to the original. A surprisingly difficult task, but if you're writing something about a movie you love, it's well worth it.
How did you approach the contest themes in writing your story?
At first, I wanted to use the "You're Worth Hell" prompt, with Urbain and Harmony watching a horror movie instead (he lost the bet in that version, and is terrified of said film genres). I ran into the problem of having to actually write a plot for said movie, which felt more like a chore since I was basically writing two stories instead of one. But after rewatching clips of "La Grande Vadrouille" and seeing the first part of the movie again (which is set in Paris, aka Lumiose City)... I realized that movie would make a much better fit for the plot, and I switched the prompt for "Reminiscing with You" instead.
Is there anything else you'd like readers to know about your story?
I wanted to feature a ship that I've come to like a lot after playing Legends Z-A. I wrote this one-shot as something I would enjoy reading, and I hope many people will !

Starfall Duo by @NucleoWolf
After losing her position as the Schedar Squad's boss, Mela spends time with Giacomo for support. He treats her to a music and dance party.

Spoiler: full interview

What was your favorite part of your story to write?
I most enjoyed writing scenes that depict the friendship between Mela and Giacomo. One of the reasons I adore Team Star is due to the close bonds between all of the bosses, so I love to further explore their relationships in my fan-fictions.

How did you approach the contest themes in writing your story?
The main theme I wanted to address was "The Road to Redemption," because Giacomo was a stuck-up student council president before joining Team Star and Mela despised his stuffy academy rules. Since my story is set during Operation Starfall, I utilized flashbacks from the perspectives of both characters to show how their relationship changed from animosity to friendship. I also created present scenes that emphasize the trust between Mela and Giacomo, in order to further establish their close bond during the events of Scarlet/Violet.

Is there anything else you'd like readers to know about your story?
My story was inspired by one of the Scarlet/Violet manga's back cover illustrations, which features Giacomo playing his music and Mela enjoying it.

The Hiding Place by @Pick_6
As Crasher Wake prepares for his partner’s long-awaited return to the ring, he wrestles with the sinister challenges he’s faced on his own road to recovery.

Spoiler: full interview

What was your favorite part of your story to write?
It’s always fun to set the backdrop for conflict in the pokemon world; there are countless interesting locations to host and contextualize these stories. I had fun exploring the shack in Pastoria marsh where this story takes place, and filling it with little details that help weave the tapestry of Chuck and Wake’s relationship.

Apparently this ship has a name (SeaFighters shipping) but not a lot of material that I could find, so it was also rewarding to add a small story to this pair’s library.

How did you approach the contest themes in writing your story?
The themes seemed quite similar in scope this year, almost a Venn Diagram of overlapping motifs—in trying to stick to one theme, I found myself inevitably pulling from the other two no matter how I tried to frame the story. This presented its own unique challenges for staying on topic and not letting a story wander, something I already struggle with. My attempted solution was to embrace the similarities between the themes (any road to recovery is going to feature some amount of Hell to trudge through) and try to limit the word count.

The end result is a contest year with rich and layered themes across all the fics that I read. I never felt like I had to shoehorn anything in theme-wise to check boxes. Having an excuse to dip into multiple provided themes due to their synergy was a treat as both reader and writer.

Is there anything else you'd like readers to know about your story?
Anyone who has faced addiction or dependency in yourself or a loved one, I think can relate to this piece on some level. It’s not necessarily a light read, but it’s ultimately got an optimism to it that I think people in the throes of recovery often hope to find. And if this is your first SeaFighters fic, welcome! I think it’s a fun pairing with a lot of potential.

Thanks for reaching out, I had fun participating this year!

The Investigation by @WholesomeCryptid
Lars Fèng is a grizzled detective for the international police who's been stationed in Kalos after the death of his fiancee. The man finding himself investigating Lysandere Labs with his unlikely new assistant the upbeat Aston Crowe, the two growing closer as they do.

Spoiler: full interview

What was your favorite part of your story to write?
Definitely the dialogue between Lars and Aston! I've always loved the dynamic between the two ocs and i had a lot of fun fleshing it out through fic!

How did you approach the contest themes in writing your story?
I treated the different themes basically as writing prompts, finding the theme that inspired me the most and writing a fic around the idea that came to me.

Is there anything else you'd like readers to know about your story?
The characters of this fic are my original pokemon characters! I love talking about them so don't be afraid to ask me about them!

The Light Within the Darkness by @haiyaaaaah
Overwhelmed by the present, Cheren turns back to the familiar warmth that once saw reason and purpose in every day ahead. But Hilda's sudden return, under mysterious circumstances, throws him into a strife with his past for acceptance of his journey's undertakings and at last cherishing the impact certain people had in his life...

Spoiler: full interview

What was your favorite part of your story to write?
Honestly, I'm caught between the entire section of Hilda vibing in Juniper's lab and her reunion with Cheren at the final tip of the story. Anything that gives me an excuse to pretty much just focus on dialogue is welcome!

How did you approach the contest themes in writing your story?
A huge part in me deciding to pick this ship in the first place was the symbolism and dualism inherent in the Unova games. I felt like it'd be a great idea to mold the contest theme into a Past vs. Future kinda deal and try to portray it in the form of Cheren viewing himself as emotionally dependant on his past experiences and him initially viewing Hilda as happy-go-lucky for what is there to come in the future.

Is there anything else you'd like readers to know about your story?
I think I've covered all I wanted to share for now. That being said, what I'd like is to know what y'all thought about my story! I'll be looking forward to the reviews! See ya!

True Feelings by @Ness
Ness tells Jeff and Poo about his secret crush on Paula

Spoiler: full interview

What was your favorite part of your story to write?
The timeskip at the end

How did you approach the contest themes in writing your story?
Tough one to answer but i thought choosing Reminiscing with You made the most sense. Would have chose the worth hell one but i didnt know what it was about

Is there anything else you'd like readers to know about your story?
This was a fic idea i had for a while now.

Wishful Thinking by @Kathylikestoread
An AU that takes place on Pasio featuring Cynthia and Diantha. It's based off their Sygna Suits. Cynthia is a villain and a member of Team Galactic, and Diantha is a knight who fights for justice. They cross paths one fateful day, and everything changes.

Spoiler: full interview

What was your favorite part of your story to write?
The beginning, where Diantha meets Cynthia. I loved writing the description of how she thinks of Cynthia's appearance.

How did you approach the contest themes in writing your story?
The theme I chose was, ''You're Worth Hell''. I approached it by writing an AU where one of the characters is a villain. Diantha asks Cynthia if she'd be willing to sacrifice her position at Team Galactic (and probably her life as well).

Is there anything else you'd like readers to know about your story?

That I enjoyed writing it a lot, and I want readers to enjoy it as well.

 

[staticmoth]

oh my goodness the gen 5 sprites of my favorite evil old men... i cry.

thank you kint and the rest of the judges for all your hard work!! its always so much fun writing for these things.

 

[WholesomeCryptid]

Wow! I was definitely not expecting to get runner up! Big thank you to Kint and the rest of the judges for running this fabulous event and to everyone who read my fic! I certainly had a blast participating and i hope everyone else did too!

 

[haiyaaaaah]

Yoooooo! Congratulations to all who won awards this contest! Hope y'all enjoyed it just as much as I did!

 

[Herbizarre]

I love these custom sprites and icons so much. That must have taken a lot of time to do, and it paid off

Congrats to the winners of each category ! Personally, I'm content with actually being a runner-up for at least one category, as it is my highest place yet in these kinds of contest. Thank you all for the support

And a big thank you to the judges for hosting this contest, and thank you to the artist(s) behind those custom sprites ! Superb work all around, and I can't wait to see the actual reviews

 

[NumberOneSpinelApologist]

Congrats to everyone, thanks you to the organizers and double congrats to the winners!
The sprites are amazing!!!!

 

[Audrelite]

A big congratulations from me to all the participants, and doubly so to all the winners and runners-up!

 

[NucleoWolf]

Congratulations to all of the contestants, especially the winners and runner-ups! And a huge thank you to all of the hosts, judges, and contestants who made this awesome contest possible in the first place!

I can't emphasize enough how much I enjoy these contests; they give me a chance to share my love for my favorite pairings and to participate in an event with other fans in our community. It took me a while to choose a pairing this time (I was back-and-forth between two options), but once I decided on Mela/Giacomo, I really had a blast writing my story about them.

The little pictures of the pairings are so cute! Can I save the one for my pairing and display it in my signature?

Despite not coming up victorious, I am proud of myself for how much I was able to write in a short amount of time, and for being able to complete my story without as much of a last minute rush as last year. Not winning or running-up in any category this year just gives me an excuse to participate again next year. I am looking forward to the 2027 contest; waiting for it is going to be so hard.

I can't wait to see the actual reviews

Same!

 

[Viridian Beedrill]

I'll be honest, I was not sure how many people would want to read a platonic entry in a ship fic contest, but I wrote it anyway because I wanted to. I'm so incredibly happy people not only read it, but enjoyed it! Congratulations to all the winners, runners-up, and everyone who entered (finishing a fic is an accomplishment in itself)! And thank you to the hosts and judges for making this all happen!

 

[kintsugi]

I love these custom sprites and icons so much. That must have taken a lot of time to do, and it paid off

The little pictures of the pairings are so cute! Can I save the one for my pairing and display it in my signature?

Of course, I'm flattered people enjoyed them so much!! <3 The sprites are custom (by me) for this + the banner background images are either from the games or the anime, so I'm pretty sure that leaves folks good to go as far as fair use.

 

[Pick_6]

Thanks to the judges and participants for a great year! It’s an honor connecting with such a talented and creative community; I had a blast reading everyone’s entries. Hope to see you all again next year!

 

[AetherX]

Congratulations to all the participants! Turning an idea into a story is always a cool thing and you all should be proud of what you've done. Thanks to kint and the other judges as well.

I'm not currently planning on reviewing everyone I judged like I did last year, but feel free to reach out if you do want a review and I'll be happy to give you my thoughts as soon as I can.

 

[NucleoWolf]

I'm not currently planning on reviewing everyone I judged like I did last year, but feel free to reach out if you do want a review and I'll be happy to give you my thoughts as soon as I can.

I don't know who judged my story, but regardless I'd love a review if possible - but no pressure, of course. I should note, though, that I already made revisions to my story since the contest is officially over (I hope that is OK).

 

[AetherX]

I don't know who judged my story, but regardless I'd love a review if possible - but no pressure, of course. I should note, though, that I already made revisions to my story since the contest is officially over (I hope that is OK).

Sorry, I should have been more clear: everyone read everything this year, including me. I'll add you to my list to review, revisions and all!