Vespiquen 3*An infamous shot from the first few weeks of the game where people literally didn't even know how to trigger it, resulting in people mostly getting it by accident, and the earliest records being taken entirely from the back. It took nearly a month for people to figure out that you needed Vespiquen to be doing the pose while also having the specific trigger Combee in the frame (we now know that there are several shots where a secondary Pokemon being in frame changes the star level). It was another few weeks before we got the setup for the high score, which was a complicated strategy to lure Combee across the path while you summon Vespiquen, so Combee moves back in front of you as she enters, then you stunlock him with scans so he stays in place while she does the pose. Very satisfying looking after knowing where we started with this shot. A good one looks like this:
The shot where you see hoothoot's feetI believe that you were probably talking about a different thing but I will choose to interpret this as a post for Hoothoot 4.
incidentally, does the WR community have any sort of documentation available for known good ways to set up certain shots?Excellent question. The best resource for learning high score strategies is this spreadsheet which was created for that purpose: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1V85d5yFuvoWW00fGQtAhLA7DhX8cc20TYXftK-vnR_Y/edit#gid=580735098
Bidoof 1 starThis is one of those shots that could have its own 5-10 minute mini-documentary on Youtube. There's a very blatantly developer-intended shot that they carefully designed on purpose for people to discover. By the second week, it was maxed out at 5200, and quickly became the first tied record in the game. It looks like this:
hmm, let's start with Sawsbuck 3*!This one has changed locations a few times. First it was a semi-scripted pose above the waterfall in summer. Then it was that same pose as a random idle in the sunny area. Now it's drinking with Deerling in autumn:
Pyukumuku 4https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/8/0/7/AASP7CAAC8bf.jpg
I'm just kinda picking something at random. Torterra 4*https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/8/1/4/AASP7CAAC8bm.jpg
Lapras *2Traditionally this was always done facing the sunset outwards because it's right in front of you as you enter the area. Several people have in the range of 5.0-5.1k doing this (example shown for the sake of timestamp).
Noibat 2https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/1/8/8/AASP7CAAC8hc.jpg
Primarina 1https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/1/9/0/AASP7CAAC8he.jpg
Minior 3*Another notorious one from the old days. The first known one was the one that falls after you light the 3 blooms in the beginning. It stays in one place and you can't get closer, so it's really hard to get more than 39xx, and only a few people actually got 4k from this. Then there was a new one where you lure a certain Minior to a Sandshrew and it does the 3* briefly before transitioning to the usual 2*. The problem was that it was really hard to set up, and also hard to get a good shot, so while it had a higher potential ceiling, you might not even beat your old record with it. Finally in late May a new interaction was discovered by orbing the bloom near Tyranitar multiple times and a Minior falls down. This one flies parallel to your path and you can play melody to make it spin. It's close enough to get 2000 size and you have several seconds to spam shots and choose the best combo of pose/direction on the submission screen.
Vivillon 3https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/4/0/7/AASP7CAAC80f.jpg
Oh wow I didn't realise 3* Minior was a notorious one, I was just picking a shot that I've had trouble with lol.Well, there's a reason why you had trouble with it!
Umbreon 4*https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/4/4/9/AASP7CAAC9Ex.jpg
Vaporeon 4https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/4/6/1/AASP7CAAC9E9.jpg
Typhlosion 4*So I want to take a minute to explain a key gameplay mechanic because it will help give context to some of this. We call it "synergy" (it doesn't have an official name) and it's probably the biggest mechanic that the game doesn't explain at all. This game has many scripted events where 2 or more Pokemon interact with each other or the environment. The game wants to incentivize you to get both of the Pokemon together in the frame to create an interesting scene. When these Pokemon are "linked", you get huge bonuses to your Other Pokemon score, something like 10x what you'd get for a random Pokemon that you lured into the pic with apples or whatever. Absol in Umbreon 4 is synergy for example, or Dodrio in Torterra 4, etc.
Nom Volcarona 4*, it's my highest scoring shot and I want to see how high the Illumina scores can get!https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/6/5/3/AASP7CAAC921.jpg
There's a lesser known interaction during this where you can bonk Charizard while it's circling, and it will get angry and fly away instead of landing. The Typhlosions go back to doing their regular stuff. Except now, 4* Typhlosion will get synergy from the second Typhlosion being in frame. This is so strange that people have questioned whether it's actually a bug in the game. There are no other known instances of "situational" synergy like this, and it doesn't even affect any other Typhlosion poses other than this 4*. You could take this same shot without doing the Charizard thing and it wouldn't be worth 5k.This is so weird. Definitely sounds like a bug.
Oh, you know what? I think it's... Scorbunny 3?https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/6/7/2/AASP7CAAC93I.jpg
Heracross 4*https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/6/8/0/AASP7CAAC93Q.jpg
Salandit 1*https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/6/8/5/AASP7CAAC93V.jpg
Magikarp 1*, pleasehttps://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/7/0/1/AASP7CAAC93l.jpg
I wanna choose Pidgeot but not sure which between 3 or 4 star. The one where it feasts on a magikarpUnfortunately this interaction isn't used for any of Pidgeot's record shots. However it is Magikarp's 4* record, which I'll show here. If you still want a Pidgeot after this then just let me know.