Should they bring contests back to the anime?

[PorcelainVulpix]

I’m asking because two of the companions who had some of the best development both had the same goal involving Pokémon contests.

We haven’t really had great development + an interesting goal handled well in a companion since Dawn. Do you think the gen 8 female companion should just compete in contests again? Or have an anime only goal? Would you rather them be another type master? Is it possible to bring back contests if they’re not in the games?

 

[Sham]

Honestly if it saves the girls from having malnourished Contests goals, gag/stupid goals or no goals at all; I’m for it. I honestly don’t mind the type master goal that much. I don’t really consider Misty in that category since it was not treated that seriously (not at least until more into OS later on) so I will be judging Iris as a main example. Her goal was lackluster only because I wanted more episodes with her training Axew and truly explaining why it’s important to her. If they can find a way to keep type specialist goals interesting, do that.

 

[Doppelgänger]

Let's be honest, if contests were brought back, Ash would sweep every performance stage just by executing the Z-Move poses.

 

[Zoruagible]

I'd like them back, it was a nice way to get in some battling for the Pokegirl and it's the only goal they've done right thus far. You know what they say if something's not broken!

Plus all the rivals got a fair amount of focus, and could even all appear at the same time without it feeling a waste(Unlike Showcases lol)

 

[AznKei]

I want a showcase/contest hybrid where all the trainers actions are done in real time, not like turn-based like the mainstream games, you are also ranked/rewarded depending how much damage/hits you were taken, not only beating the gym leaders and taking their badges like the mainstream games, use less OHKO moves so each side can fight back or make a comeback, while you have to defeat the opponents in specific time limits, and of course creative fancy moves/patterns.

 

[ash&charizardfan]

I just want the next pokegirl to have goal which have some sort of battling, i dont want next pokegirl to get criticized for not battling enough, this happens with serena.

 

[AznKei]

I just want the next pokegirl to have goal which have some sort of battling, i dont want next pokegirl to get criticized for not battling enough, this happens with serena.

Even if battling is not her speciality, there instances where she's willing to battle. It's just sad that the writers made fun of her with her notorious unfinished battles.

 

[mysticalglacia]

Yes please. I love Contests; they’ve been the only Pokégirl goal the writers have to been able to write and execute well. The duality of both the showy Appeals and creative battling strategies made them fun to watch, and (mostly) all of the rivals got proper screen time. 5 ribbons being the requirement for the GF was also perfect. If there’s one thing they could tweak, it could be to include the trainers as a part of the Appeals performance; one thing I liked about Showcases. In Contests, “the Pokémon are the star”, but I feel like more involvement with the trainer could prove that point even more.

I don’t think it’s impossible. We got Contests Lite after ORAS, but I hope with DP remakes on the horizon, we get the actual thing if need be.

 

[ash&charizardfan]

Even if battling is not her speciality, there instances where she's willing to battle. It's just sad that the writers made fun of her with her notorious unfinished battles.

Agreed, serena had some instances where she was willing to battle but her matches were never over, and her character development was probably some of the best in this series but still gets flak for less battling.

Yes please. I love Contests; they’ve been the only Pokégirl goal the writers have to been able to write and execute well. The duality of both the showy Appeals and creative battling strategies made them fun to watch, and (mostly) all of the rivals got proper screen time. 5 ribbons being the requirement for the GF was also perfect. If there’s one thing they could tweak, it could be to include the trainers as a part of the Appeals performance; one thing I liked about Showcases. In Contests, “the Pokémon are the star”, but I felt like more involvement with the trainer could prove that point even more.

I don’t think it’s impossible. We got Contests Lite after ORAS, but I hope with DP remake on the horizon, we get the actual thing if need be.

Well there are sky abttles or pokesport which could be executed properly.

 

[mysticalglacia]

Well there are sky abttles or pokesport which could be executed properly.

They could, but they haven’t so far. Sky Battles were a one-off filler episode, and the Pokéathlon episode in DP was again just a one-time filler.

 

[pancakemonster]

I know it would be treading on familiar ground, but frankly I would love contests back. Maybe it's just nostalgia but contest episodes used to be some of my favorites back in Hoenn and Sinnoh, and I remember being delighted seeing the first episode of DP and learning that Dawn was planning to be a coordinator from the very beginning. They're different from Ash's gym challenge while still pushing team development and creative use of moves. I get it would be awkward to include in a series where contests aren't in the game equivalent...which is why I'm hoping contests, or something like them, are in SwSh, unlikely as that may be.

 

[DatsRight]

Agreed, serena had some instances where she was willing to battle but her matches were never over, and her character development was probably some of the best in this series but still gets flak for less battling.

The problem was Serena didn't have much agency through battling so she was stuck sidling around a formula she couldn't do well, either by being given crap opponents or never finishing her battles. I will give credit that while SM did this odd times as well with the girls, they didn't overuse it for story focus and during the league they were perfectly willing to demonstrate how little experience they had (beating up jobbers like TR did NOT make Mallow a fluent battler, while we were meant to believe that with Serena by the end of XY).

I think this is the key thing to consider; agency. Many concede that May got good internal development from the contests, but due to their primordial setup, her agency and talent in them had to be stretched a good deal, getting by in a lot of them through spamming or plot armour. Dawn had the best of both worlds because she had good internal development that was pivoted by real obstacles and competition, she had to get better and develop her talents or she'd start losing.

Also please avoid making Jessie the 'straw loser' of the competition, it's a cheap way of making the protagonist look competent without actually improving their abilities.

Let's be honest, if contests were brought back, Ash would sweep every performance stage just by executing the Z-Move poses.

Again I think this could be resolved if they made the rules more intricate and shown just spamming big power boosts did not earn the same as well thought out choreography and attack combinations.

 

[Captain Jigglypuff]

I think Contests pretty much have run their course in terms of the anime. I’d be more interested if there were fashion shows that were Contests about designing clothes for Pokémon to better mirror the UK’s inspiration for Galar. This could have worked for Kalos and France but since we mostly likely won’t be getting any XY follow ups, Galar is the next best thing.

 

[Leonhart]

I liked Contests, but I don't see them as necessary anymore. Even if the Shinou games get remakes in the coming years, I doubt that the anime will have Contests return on-screen since the writers didn't promote the OR/AS Contests directly.

 

[Kuzehiko]

YES.
Contests were entertaining and fun. I think they were taken out of the picture all of sudden. Seeing a male companion try contests wouldn't be a bad idea either.

 

[SatoSereFan224888]

NOPE! They were done to death in DP. Also if say Gloria wants to try them out in Galar, Ash shouldn't attend them. He doesn't have any real interest in contests. Plus it gets in the way of his training.

 

[DatsRight]

Truthfully I don't think it's beyond the writers to adapt and develop another minor gimmick in the games. The contests were pretty basic in the games, I'm sure something else could come up they could flesh out.

 

[Doppelgänger]

Most of those gimmicks don't have the steam to last more than a handful of episodes. We've had four different Pokemon-themed sports in Sun & Moon (baseball, golf, ping pong, racing) and they burnt all their parody and joke material during those feature episodes.

Contests themselves were half Pokemon battle, suggesting that even the writers then weren't dumb enough to alienate the viewers from the main draw of the series. Perhaps there's been a philosophy change after SM.

 

[mysticalglacia]

The fact is that audiences just don’t care about non-battling goals. Nobody liked sexist beauty pageants except diehard Serena fans forcing themselves to, and nobody likes Mallow and Lana’s goals except...well, no one. People watch Pokémon to see cool flashy battles, not bubble blowing montages or baking competitions. Those things can be cute in filler episodes, but as a whole character’s objective? That’s when the disinterest kicks in. Contests were a good goal because they had a unique premise mixed with what people care about: battles. The new girl’s goal doesn’t have to be Contests (I’d love to see sports somehow), but if they’re going to give her a throwaway goal, might as well.

 

[DatsRight]

The thing is I don't think the writers have the steam to do loads and loads of good battles anymore. BW tried to be battle heavy all around but pretty much collapsed under its own weight. XY only really did top notch gym/rival battles, with the companions barely getting any full battles at all besides TR curb stomps. SM's battling was pretty lethargic outside a few odd good exceptions, its main draw being more character driven. One could even argue early seasons shown problems just the series were spread out further to distract from it (eg. AGs' lack of rivals for Ash and May's underwhelming contest battles). Even battling is a bit too much of a one track pony to choreograph in a fresh way endlessly.

Also it doesn't really look like they like having the girls battle anymore, not intensely anyway. They tend to sidle around them taking damage as much as possible, only ever being in curb stomps in their favour most of the time, there seems to also be some unwritten rule they can only officially get knocked out ONE TIME since XY, just SM utilised that one allowed moment of fallibility more tactically. There's no way a character can be a developed battler when the story insists they can only be on the giving end without becoming an invincible Sue.

The fact the writers are kind of drawing blanks with non-battler goals but still persisting with it, even having a whole series more primarily focused on it, only leaves me further convinced they want to dial down the number of battles, not fazing out completely but definitely moderating it so the show doesn't rely on it as much for storytelling. The main problem being they're clearly struggling to click something else with as good substance and mileage so far.