The Pokemon world is one of challenge, one of battle, and one of conflict. It’s about
high stakes standoffs testing the bonds between trainers and their Pokemon. If… you’re
into that sort of thing. And while it’s certainly a mainstay of the franchise, there
is so much more to Pokemon than battling. I think that often times, people really narrow
their perspective on the Pokemon world. We get so caught up in the training and the journeying
and the battling that we forget the simple joys in life. Those being, dressing up in
a tutu and dancing on stage with a Garbodor. Truly, that is the peak of a Trainer’s existence.
Today, I want to examine the often neglected middle child of the Pokemon experience; Pokemon
played a game with Contests in them or just ignored it, I don’t blame you since I did
too, Pokemon Contests are minigames in which instead of beating the snot out of each other,
Pokemon are judged based on conforming to preconceived notions of what societal stereotype
they fall under. You do this by using moves, not for fighting, but for dramatic effect
to impress a panel of judges. But if we’re pulling the same logic that Pokemon uses to
justify battling, then it’s not really about the looks or comparing yourself to others,
it’s about strengthening your bond and perfecting your performance for your own self-improvement
and happiness. Ha! Nah, this is a cut-throat world, full of questionable rules and psychological
warfare. You think becoming the Champion is hard? You haven’t even stepped into the
terrifying minefield of Performances. There are five categories based on 5 general
attributes; Coolness, Beauty, Cuteness, Cleverness, and Toughness. These are supposed to be diverse
enough that each Pokemon can become a master in one or two, but one Pokemon can’t easily
take all 5. This isn’t a part-time endeavour; this is your life now. You can’t go back.
You’re gonna need an elite team of only the raddest, most tubular, most neato burrito
Pokemon. Or you can pump them full of steroid-I mean PokeBlocks. These little guys have their
own separate minigame in some versions. The math behind these things is pretty complex,
but basically if you blend up some berries, spin them real fast, and force feed them to
your team, they’re gonna start contests with a bigger lead. I would say that this
is probably illegal performance boosting activity, but the machine is literally in the lobby
and a little girl gives you the materials. Should you trust her? Probably not. But the
path to victory is laced, so you better start taking your meds. In all seriousness don’t
do that stuff- anyway! In Gen 4 blocks got replaced with poffins, and in Gen 6 there
was a significant overhaul, but in all totality the foundational principles have stayed the
same; expressing one feeling through all aspects of the Pokemon and the performance. You can
also give your Pokemon a scarf that boosts their base appeal to the audience.
After all the prep work is where things get serious though. It… is time. The first round
is purely visual based; just how much your Pokemon exuberates their chosen category.
How cool is your Lucario? How tough is your Swampert? How cute is your Mr. Mime? This
determines the base number you’ll be competing at for the rest of the contest. It’s really
important, but it’s also pretty boring to be honest. Like, c’mon, everyone already
knows that Basculin is the most beautiful Pokemon in existence, do we really need to
be doing this? Yeah yeah, I’m sure you think your Gardnevoir is great, and I’m sure you
think your Milotic is majestic, but you just can’t compare to the natural grace and allure
of the red-striped bass boi. I’ve basically already won by entering.
But that’s not the only component of Contests, or else my Basculin would have already won
Masters in every category. But no, there is in fact a second round. After all, this is
a performance. An art. This is not based upon looks alone, there is craft and mastery. Well,
as much craft and mastery that there can be in four buttons. Which, in all honesty, is
a surprising amount. Moves work better if they match the category you’re participating
in, which just makes sense, but there’s also secondary effects that can make opponents
nervous and even lower their score. I can exhibit Basculin’s true inner beauty and
severely startle all it’s competition in one fell swoop by using Hail. I imagine it’s
not necessarily because of the fact that it somehow started hailing inside, but because
of the sheer class of the bass. That’s not all though. Move combinations can also play
a major role. I can follow up Hail with Icy Wind to really cinch the victory by getting
bonus hearts. And that’s how I can objectively prove that Basculin is the most beautiful
Pokemon to ever exist. There is no flaw in this logic. It is perfectly sound.
Now that we’ve gone through this process, all that’s left is to repeat it four more
times with different movesets, natures, scarves, and PokeBlocks. Do you see how this is a lot
harder than it seemed at the beginning? This is just as complex as battling, and I would
argue infinitely more hilarious. But if we take a step back from the jokiness at it all
for a second, we can see that Contests have actually had a major impact on the cultural
development of the Pokemon world as a whole. In fact, they spawned a creative renaissance
of dance in theatre. What do I mean by this? Well, let’s take a step back and re-examine
all that we’ve gone over in the context of liberal art students’ favourite alternative
assignment: interpretive dance. Yes, I am completely serious.
But first, I need to go over the tenets of interpretive dance, because while I could
be wrong, I suspect not every avid Pokemon fan is up to date on the historical context
of dance in the 1940s, although they should be. One of the first people credited to bringing
interpretive dance to the mainstream is Isadora Duncan, who has an insane life story that’s
worth a read on Wikipedia. But, to keep it concise and relevant, she started adding more
natural movement into her performance instead of the very rigid movement of traditional
ballet. She then passed on her knowledge to future generations, and now over 100 years
later, her impact is still felt in Broadway shows’ choreography. But what do hundred-year
old ballet dancers have to do with Pokemon Contests?!
I’m getting to that. Basically, Pokemon Contests did the same thing and inspired the
Pokemon Musical. But this isn’t some loose correlation; I have evidence. I have built
a case. I don’t get out much anymore. Basically, there are 3 qualifying factors that lend credence
to my claim. Both are used to convey emotion, both have flowing costuming, and both encourage
a freeform style of expression. I’ll start with the most obvious connection;
the conveying of emotion. Interpretive dance is famous for it’s often exaggerated movements,
to the point of dancers collapsing onto the floor. This is all in an effort to express
specific emotions through body language. And Pokemon Contests are no different. They’re
even separated by performance type! While the argument could be made that “beauty”
and “toughness” are adjectives and not emotions, I think the point lays more in conveying
emotions of awe or fear to the audience. After all, it’s their reaction that determines
the result of the first round. If I’m not conveying the awe, brilliance, and allure
of Basculin to everyone, I’ve failed not only as a Coordinator, but as a human being.
Specific actions can be paired as well; normally intensely and menacingly staring someone down
with murderous intent before literally exploding would be a horrific, traumatic experience,
but on the stage, it becomes a beautiful expression of the chaotic nature of the world and the
fragility of life. Imagine a pile of sludge doing that on a stage in front of a live audience
and tell me you wouldn’t weep. You can’t. That’s real emotion. That’s interpretive
dance baby! That’s not all though. Let’s examine the
one specific item that increases a Pokemon’s appeal to the audience; the scarf. This seems
like a fairly reasonable and inconsequential choice, but if we look deeper we can find
that it actually wraps right back into interpretive dance. But first; costuming. Costuming is
very important. While ballet often has the typical tutus and ballet shoes, which granted
are a little present, overall to me the costume screams interpretive dance, albeit with the
typical nonsensical Pokemon fashion thrown in. Costumes in interpretive dance often feature
ribbon or loose cloth of some kind, which if I’m understanding correctly is because
it accentuates the freeform gestural and expressive movement associated with it. Which, if we
look at the Contest Spectacular Costumes, what do we find? Lots and lots of loose hanging
ribbon and and loose cloth. Could this be attributed to Pokemon’s design team just
always being extra? Yes, but there’s one piece of evidence I’ve left on the table.
The item that gives Pokemon a distinct advantage in Contests is none other than… a scarf!
Is this not the most revelatory thing you’ve heard all day?! Is this not the mindblow of
the century?! Is your bean not freaked??!? Ok, maybe not, but it is a neat detail that
the one item that increases performance falls in line with what interpretive dance’s typical
costuming is. There’s one more connection to be made though;
freeform movement. Now I know that nothing says freeform movement like turn-based button
pushing, but for the sake of argument I will make my case. Contests have a certain flow
to them; your opponents can place unforeseen restrictions on you, and you can adapt your
strategy as the Contest continues. It’s this kind of adaptability, customization in
the moveset and dynamic flow that really sells the idea of freeform movement to me. Do you
want to bring a Pokemon that is typically stereotyped as tough to a Toughness Contest,
and then have it use exclusively Cute moves to create an in-game meta commentary on the
unreasonable standards placed upon Pokemon from an early age to fall under specific stereotypes?
You can do that! You’re not gonna win, but that is the cost of true art.
What really interests me though is what happened after the removal of contests during the move
from Gen 4 to Gen 5. Because, just as interpretive dance informed Broadway in real life, I think
that Pokemon Contests informed Pokemon Musicals. The costuming, the emotion through movement,
it’s all there! Granted, in a very cost effective form, but it’s there and it is
glorious. Finally, my Basky boi can fulfill their lifelong dream; playing star role in
A Sweet Soiree on Pokemon Way. Truly, destiny fulfilled.