An Introduction to Contests

Illustration by Rin

Do you ever find yourself feeling drained by the repetitiveness of battles in the Pokémon games? Do you feel like there has to be something more to this game you payed good money for? Well, that something can be found easily in an underused element of the Fourth Generation of Pokémon: Contests.

Many people have never entered a contest before, and those who have participated without really knowing what they were doing. Pokémon contests, (or Super Contests, as they are referred to in Diamond, Pearl, and Platinum,) are competitions that involve less used elements of Pokémon.

Each contest consists of three rounds. The first is the Visual Competition, where trainers dress up their Pokémon with Accessories in order to score points by matching a given theme. (Maybe give an example of a theme and how to match it?) The next round is the Dance Competition. This is a simple rhythm game where players follow directional “dance steps” that the other competitors perform. The final round is the Acting Competition, in which Pokémon perform moves for three judges who score them based on type of move, which judges were chosen, and other specific situations.

The “scores” from each of these rounds are added up at the end, and the winner is announced. There are four different levels of competition to challenge, ranging from Normal to Master Ranks. Besides these, there are also different categories of contests, including Cool, Tough, Beauty, Smart, and Cute. The category of the contest determines what sheen, (a more in depth attribute of contests) you want and what types of moves are best to use in the Acting Competition.

All of these things may seem rather daunting to the Contest Novice, but it is very easy to get into contests. The first step is choosing a good Pokémon to enter contests with. The Pokémon you catch early on tend to learn move sets that are very helpful in contests. A good one to start out with is Starly and evolutions. Starly learns three Cool moves by level 13, and continues to learn Cool moves throughout training. Other good Pokémon to start out with include Geodude and Kricketune.

When you’re just starting out with contests, it’s important to be patient. If you aren’t winning in a certain category of contest, try competing in a different one. Contests are a good way to take a break from battling, but can be difficult when taken in-depth. The most important thing to remember when you are just starting out is to have fun. You may just find that you’ve found a new love by giving Contests a shot. If you find you really like it, make sure to read my next article, which will focus entirely on the first part of each Super Contest, the Visual Competition.