Goal/Competition You Like

[deliaketchum]

Which goal/competition you liked the most and why?
If there is something else like tag team battle, relay races, pokemon costume contests, breeding etc. Mention them below.

You can also mention the one you hate most?

 

[JustAStatistic]

I think the concept of "catch 'em all" and completing the Pokédex only works in the games, and doesn't really work that well in the anime world. Maybe I'd feel better about it if Goh's interactions with all his Pokémon at the lab was given proper focus onscreen.

Pretty standard past that, battle focused goals tend to be pretty good, and the anime made contests way better than they are in the games.

 

[Dragonsoldier77]

I don’t think you can ever do wrong with a straight forward battle goal, so league and battle frontier are great.

I like showcases, though wished it was handled better.

Pokeringer was a fun concept, and i like these kinds of different pokemon races.

PWC is logical culmination of battle goals, but one which potential has been sadly wasted.

Club battle and grand trials, just feel like budget leagues or frontier. So meh.

I have always disliked contest on a conceptual level, so eh.

Random catching felt like it was against how catches was in the anime so i’m not really a fan. Project mew we still haven’t seen fully, but I already have some big problems with it.

Sumo is fine, but i also don’t really care much for it either way.

 

[deliaketchum]

I have always disliked contest on a conceptual level, so eh.

I find them much more versatile and interesting due to freedom they have with moves. I guess your taste is different.

But Sinnoh contests >>>AG Contests

 

[Dragonsoldier77]

I find them much more versatile and interesting due to freedom they have with moves. I guess your taste is different.

But Sinnoh contests >>>AG Contests

I basically dislike them because i don’t like the way they had to ruin it by adding battles to it in the anime.

I adored the game contests because it was one of the few things that expanded the game world and made the pokemons and trainers felt less like battlebots who solely exist to battle. It was nice that there was a goal for others who doesn’t want to fight to pursue.

Then the anime made the pokemons battlebots again. Even worse since the knockout rule means brute forcing a win is always an option. So it felt even more pointless.

That’s what I meant by saying i disliked it on conceptual level. It was againts what I actually liked about the concept of contests in the game. Which in contrast is why i like showcases instead.

 

[Leonhart]

Contests are one of the few competitions that I appreciated. I wasn't that fond of the judging panel, but it still beats the fan voting system used in TryPokaron.

 

[RafaSceptile]

Pokémon Leagues, Battle Frontier, Contests and the Grand Trials, followed by Showcases.
PWC is still ongoing so I will wait to the end of the competition.

 

[SerenaRulez]

Pokeringer was a fun event that I wish came back in Kalos because Sky battles could have incorporated some ideas from Pokeringer.

Contests and Showcases were fun to watch too.

 

[Ignition]

I chose Pokémon Leagues, Grand Trials, and the Battle Frontier.

Pokémon Leagues are straightforward but they give the best sense of progression.

Grand Trials are mainly because of how well they’re integrated into the region’s culture.

Battle Frontier has a lot of shake up to the norms and made Ash use different strategies than normal.

PWC would be here based on concept alone but it’s been so underwhelming that I honestly would’ve preferred the Galar League instead

 

[Pokegirl Fan~]

Battle Frontier, Contests, club tournaments are the best imo.
PWC, Leagues, Showcases, and Goh's goal of catching Pokemon/Mew are the worst out of those options.

 

[SerGoldenhandtheJust]

Besides Sumo and Showcases I chose all
Pokémon leagues, battle frontier, club tournaments and grand trials are all great Pokémon battling goals with different variations, people above have explained already
For pokeringer I've always had a soft spot and bias since DP one against Paul. It's such a perfect episode imo and a perfect debut for Staraptor my fav early route bird Pokémon. AG one was fine too. I like how James participates in it as well. Would love to always see more of it I really love it
Sumo is something which is a nice contest ig but gets kinda boring compared to everything else. I've already made my stance on showcases clear previously
Concept wise PWC and goh goal of catching them all work, execution wise they don't. Project Mew is very promising tho

 

[Kuzehiko]

League and Contests.

 

[Ragnarok4]

1) I love PWC, although it has been a bit disappointing in the anime, the idea of competing against more than 10,000 participants to move up the class, stay in your ranking and not let them lower you, sounds pretty exciting, so it's my favorite.

2) Pokemon Leagues and BF. Collecting badges, training your Pokémon along the way, and traversing an entire region is the perfect formula for an anime that is about your adventure with your Pokémon

3) Showcases, It's a personal taste

 

[Ragnarok4]

Then the anime made the pokemons battlebots again. Even worse since the knockout rule means brute forcing a win is always an option. So it felt even more pointless.

This is the dumbest mistake of the contests

 

[DatsRight]

Yeah I admit it was a shame they didn't think of something more divergent for the competitive second round. Showcases TRIED to be this but just put the Appeal round at the end and had random oddjobs for the first.

I feel like the non-battle goals always struggle to think up something of real substance to be a long term focus. I like their potential at times but they don't make use of it.

I do kind of like some of the racing events for example, but often they're so underdeveloped that I don't see them working outside a one-off challenge (eg. the Kanto race which felt uncoordinated and too easy to cheat in) or are too niche to do a lot of anyway (eg. the Alola races, which tended to involved only one species).

The league/battle tournaments as such probably remain the most compelling and well rounded challenge/goal system despite their infamously formulaic use for the earlier series. Ones like the Alola league and BW tournaments did show their potential in terms of developing characters and giving them a moment in the spotlight.

 

[Ragnarok4]

I feel like the non-battle goals always struggle to think up something of real substance to be a long term focus. I like their potential at times but they don't make use of it.

You're right, it's a shame. There are many things that can be done with Pokémon without involving battles, and execute it well

 

[Blastmaster]

I really think battles in Contests are fine. I agree not every competition in the show needs to include them, but they're the easiest way to keep them interesting, at least consistently. They just naturally lend themselves to more creativity, plus they're the easiest way to show off multiple members of a team (unlike, say, a race, which would only be possible for fast mons). And I still think the show was actually really good with addressing the vocal minority's complaints with them, at least by DP.

Plus I think some people are missing that Pokemon do need to be strong for any serious physical activity. I mean they're superpowered monsters, it kind of comes with the territory? One moment that sticks out to me was Kenny's performance in the Grand Festival: he underestimated how strong Empoleon's Flash Cannon was, which ruined his combo and got him eliminated. Strength is almost always a thing, even in competitions that act like it isn't.

Anyway, besides that and all the typical battle goals, I also voted for the Club tournaments. They're definitely not "goal" territory but they were a fun way to get the whole cast interacting, really wish they hadn't ended at BW. Things like races and Poke Ringers are fun one-offs, and I liked the episodes with them, but they'd probably get old if they appeared too often.

Showcases are the ones I dislike conceptually though. I guess I can respect a non-battling competition in theory, but the execution was so botched I really can't give them much credit for that.

 

[Sham]

Low calorie Contests should of never existed.

The tournaments were awesome although I do admit the Junior Cup was kinda bad. Sad the last tournament went down bad. I did like however that it gave the main and supporting cast time to develop and have some pretty fun moments.

Type specialist goals are eh to me. I’m too young to remember what Misty did in OS and because I’ve never got around to really watching that series besides maybe a few fillers and the first couple of main episodes I’ll ignore it but according to others she didn’t do much. Iris goal was great in my opinion. I’m a minority when I say that I don’t care she didn’t catch any Unova Dragon Pokémon let alone a bunch of Dragon types. She had good focus and her episodes were pleasant. Idk what the Trial Captain classmates were doing so not even gonna go there.

Contests were great. I’m hearing this new wave of complaints that you can just “blast away your opponents with pure strength” and therefor it invalidates Contests. This lacks nuance because of two reasons

A. They still have to get through the appeal round and thus have to show off their Pokémon’s beauty which is the highlight of contests

B. Even if that’s true (and that’s a big IF) this assumes that one of the coordinators is significantly stronger than the other competitor and therefor would be able to easily take them out. What if both are equally strong but only one puts on a performance? Who’s going to win? There is a flaw in every type of competition but that doesn’t invalidate them. May was mostly a battler but how many times did Drew beat her?

 

[AuraChannelerChris]

Boy, all those choices aren't flattering for a number of reasons (namely the MCs losing too much in the end).

The Club Battle Tourneys are the Don battles, right? If so, I liked those a lot because EVERY rival was there, even if some of them weren't doing league runs. There were many interesting interactions to be had. (Shame Ash pretty much got screwed in all of them...and the last one wasn't even about his traveling group. DAYUM.)

I don’t think you can ever do wrong with a straight forward battle goal, so league and battle frontier are great.

Unless your name is Ash and blow it at every league that requires some sort of requirement that does require effort to enter.

 

[deliaketchum]

Boy, all those choices aren't flattering for a number of reasons (namely the MCs losing too much in the end).

Pokeringer and Pokemon Sumo had main character winning. Same goes for contests with rivals competing.
Club battles had most rivals and were best part of Unova.