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. more…