Breeding and Contests
From Dexnet
Not everyone who trains Pokémon does so in the hopes of pushing their partners' powers to the limit and winning battles. In the regions of Hoenn and Sinnoh, Pokémon breeding is a time-honoured pastime, and the top breeders in the areas are often placed on the same par as the winners of the Pokémon League tournaments. Many people sink their time, effort, and money into cultivating the best Pokémon that they can!
Contents |
Overview
Raising Pokémon to compete in the contests held throughout the two regions is a full-time job, and many trainers who compete in these circuits have little time to pursue other opportunities, such as making the rounds of the gyms; there is even a seperate category on Pokémon licenses for breeders. Competition is extremely fierce in this profession, especially in the highest levels.
Of course, the base of the profession requires raising a Pokémon (or many). While this can be done with any Pokémon (and many breeders say that every specimen has the ability to become a contest-winner), some breeders tend to only focus on raising those with prize-winning or otherwise impeccable bloodlines. Some even dabble in the actual act of breeding Pokémon together to see what variations can occur, but the reproduction of Pokémon (particularly of different families together) is something that is still very much shrouded in mystery; they tend not to mate when human eyes are prying. Very complicated affairs!
A special focus is given to the diet, exercise, and grooming of the Pokémon. The training of attacks is not ignored, either - all official contests require displays of battle prowess, if not actual battling rounds.
Types of Competitions
Each Pokémon is generally raised to appeal to one of the five categories that are judged upon in the contests. The critters generally have an inherent nature that makes them more suitable to a certain contest, and the feeding of special Poffins or other enhancing foods may help with these characteristics as well. 'Cool' Pokémon have impressive abilities that often demonstrate agility, power, and general bad-assedness. 'Tough' Pokémon showcase muscular and defensive attributes, and general toughness. 'Beauty' Pokémon, of course, show off all that is gorgeous and graceful. 'Smart' Pokémon rely on their natural brainpower to help them wow the crowd. Finally, 'Cute' Pokémon - well, it's not that hard, just all that is dainty and 'omgsquee'.
Contests
Contests are the equivalent of gym battles and tournaments in the world of Pokémon breeding. Contests are held in a different fashion in both Hoenn and Sinnoh, but they both share quite a few similarities as well.
Each region has four 'ranks' that Pokémon can be entered into - Normal, Great, Hyper, and Master. All beginning Pokémon are required to start in the normal ranks, and move their way up through the hierarchy. Contests are held at different times and dates for each rank, and are open only to those who meet certain qualifications. Both official and unofficial contests are held for all ranks; official ones are held in designated Contest Halls and are the only way to advance in rank, but unofficial contests are a great way to practice and showcase one's abilities (and may have great prizes to win, besides!).
Furthermore, each contest also is split up into further categories, besides rank - the categories of Cool, Tough, Beauty, Smart, and Cute, where each Pokémon will be specifically judged on that particular trait. While showing traits of other categories is not disallowed, points may be lost depending on what the particular trait is - Cute and Smart attributes, for example, will often result in lost points during a Cool contest.
Contests generally showcase four breeders at a time, although there may be more than that entered at the same time - in cases where there are more entrants, there are merely repeats of the same rounds so that each Pokémon and breeder can receive a score. This allows the judges to properly place their attention on each Pokémon.
Winners of official contests are bestowed with ribbons to display their achievements. Other prizes may be awarded, as well, including monetary prizes, special items, and trophies. In order to participate in a region's Grand Festival, the yearly grand breeding tournament, a breeder must have won at least five ribbons of the region, all in the rank that they wish to participate in. Breeder beware, though - you only get one shot at an individual ribbon, unlike in gym contests! If you lose, sorry; you'll have to look for other ribbons to attempt to win, and as there are only so many contests, losing too many of them will render one completely ineligible for the Grand Festival for the year.
Winners of the Grand Festival are crowned with the region's Ribbon Cup, and are marked down in the Breeding Hall of Fame.
Hoenn Region
The official contest halls of Hoenn are spread out over the region, each hosting a seperate rank. The Normal rank hall can be found in Verdanturf Town, Great in Fallarbor Town, Hyper in Slateport City, and Master in Lilycove City. Unofficial contests, of course, happen wherever they may.
The contests themselves are split into two rounds. Three judges preside over each. Unofficial contests may contain an extra, third round.
The first round is that of a 'beauty' contest, of sorts - each Pokémon is judged on the particular trait of the contest. Audience reaction often has some sway over the judges' marks, as well.
The second round is a showing of the Pokémon's battle prowess, the appeals round. Each Pokémon shows off its attacks and power in a determined order, based on either their performance in the preliminary round, or in the round of appeals before. They repeat this process five times, which allows for certain combos to be performed - for example, using Sunny Day in one round, and Solar Beam in the next. Some moves may even frighten other Pokémon in the lineup from performing during their turn.
The third optional round is that of a battle round. Battles are timed for five minutes, whereupon the matched-up Pokémon fight while attempting to remain in the spirit of the contest type. The battle ends either when time is up, a Pokémon is unable to further battle, or the breeder has lost all of his or her points.
Scoring is based on the number of points earned during the rounds, minus penalties.
Sinnoh Region
Official Sinnoh contests (known as 'Super Contests') are all held in one city in the country - Hearthome City. The Hearthome Hall is a huge complex and is a continually bustling place - the only time it ever seems to slow down is during the holidays!
In the Super Contests, not only does the Pokémon have to look its best - its breeder does, too! There is a semi-formal dress code in effect for all competing trainers, and this may be increased to formal/black-tie during Master Contests or other high-ranking events.
There are three rounds to any official contest, although unofficial contests may choose not to hold one of the rounds, or substitute in a appeals round instead of one of the other rounds.
The first round is that of the visual competition, very similar to the first round of Hoenn contests. However, accessories may be used to further dress up the Pokémon in an attempt to wow the judges and audience - this occasionally leads to some very gaudy and embarrassed-looking Pokémon, depending on the trainer. Themes are usually given to the trainers to attempt to follow, and more points are awarded if they manage to stick to them.
The second round is a dance competition, held in four rounds. During each round, one of the Pokémon competing is assigned the position of lead dancer, while the others act as backup dancers. The lead is assigned points for the moves they bust out in time to the rhythm of the song, while the backups try to follow the moves of the leader as best they can, and losing points if they perform poorly.
The third round is a battle round, held in a knockout-style competition. Like the Hoenn battle rounds, competitors must do their best to showcase their style as they battle in a five-minute match, and breeders may gain or lose points depending on how they order their Pokémon to react to an attack.
Points are added up after the three rounds conclude, and any penalties that may have been encurred are subtracted.
