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DP12 title

FabuVinny

May the Aura be with you.
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コンテストバトル!ライバル対決!!
Contest Battle! Rival Confrontation!!

Seems it is a two-parter and Hikari's rival will be appearing after all. But will the writers go through all this to have Hikari then lose?
 
They went through a lot to have Drew drop May like a bad habit. It's up in the air, it'll depend on how good her rival is.
 
Why shouldn't she lose?

Since the writers always build the rivals up as huge threats at first, it's obvious Hikari won't be able to beat her or else it'll ruin the "big impact" of when the hero finally beats the rival at the end of the saga. (Such as Ash finally beating Gary in the Johto league and May finally beating Drew in the Kanto Grand Festival)

I swear, some of you act like Hikari SHOULD be a Mary sue. Her appeals are already a gazillion times better than May's were at the start of her journey, she shouldn't have everything made easy for her. She needs to work hard to be a good coordinator, not be gifted just because her Mom won a GF.

What I'm more interested in is knowing what the rival girl's name is. She's the first ongoing female rival in the series, this should be fun.
 
You complain about her either way so...

The appeals aren't the only aspect of the contest. If May took time on that, then it makes sense that the focus of Hikari improving her skills would be on something else.
 
You complain about her either way so...

I want her to have good characterisation, and I'm fearing the writers will use the, "Oh, she inherited the skills from her mother" nonsense to have her breeze through her Contests. I think it's a given she'll lose her first Contest anyway, but I hope they don't improve her too quickly.

The appeals aren't the only aspect of the contest. If May took time on that, then Hikari has to develop her skills differently.

Hikari is already a pretty decent battler though. Her Pochama can actually put up a fight, whereas Torchic could barely do anything in early Hoenn. It's a reason why May focused on Beautifly more than Torchic for her Contests. (Torchic was never even in a Contest, ever. Its first Contest was as a Combusken in Lilycove).

Hikari on the other hand has pretty much mastered Pochama's Bubble appeal in D/P #7, and she can battle too. Even Mimirol knows Ice beam before she even catches it and looks to give Pikachu a run for its money in the next episode. Both her Pokemon are already quite competent.

So far, she really has no flaws. That's a possible invitation to Mary Sue territory. Here's hoping rival girl smacks her into the ground so Hikari has to work harder rather than strolling on easy street.
 
So far, she really has no flaws. That's a possible invitation to Mary Sue territory. Here's hoping rival girl smacks her into the ground so Hikari has to work harder rather than strolling on easy street.

You mean, like another May? Looks like the predictions were right, then...
 
You mean, like another May?

If you're talking about Mary-Sue territory, then no. They had May spend about 5 episodes practicing Beautifly's appeal and she still did poorly in her first Contest. Not to mention Torchic was a complete joke battle-wise in early Hoenn.

Then Drew pretty much creamed her flawlessly in the battle segment. They handled her beginning much better than they're doing Hikari right now.

I guess this time the writers are just bored of "beginning trainer" syndrome and want to advance Hikari right away.
 
This being after we've only actually seen one one episode of her contest plot so far.
 
I'm actually hoping she'll win for a few reasons. Having an experienced coordinator in the family SHOULD give her a little more of an edge than the average beginning trainer. Having her be a more expierenced beginner will also keep her from going through May's development all over again, and finally I think the whole "newbie trainer HAS to lose their first gym battle/contest/league/grand festival" cliche is so boring now.

I agree though that they can't have Hikari winning a contest battle against her main rival right away, or there wouldn't be any reason for them to have rematches. But maybe they don't actually battle in this episode, maybe they simply meet eachother. Episode titles have been mis-leading before, "Rival Confrontation" doesn't necissarily mean they will battle in the contest. They could also battle OUTSIDE the contest, like May and Drew did in their first meeting.
 
How can you think Hikari is good at battling? I think that Hikari picked up the appeal thing from her mom. She seems overly obsessed with that aspect, and that may be her downfall. I don't believe she has actually proven she can battle successfully.
 
How can you think Hikari is good at battling? I think that Hikari picked up the appeal thing from her mom. She seems overly obsessed with that aspect, and that may be her downfall. I don't believe she has actually proven she can battle successfully.

Well, Hikari knows a lot about battling compared to May.
She knows about type-disadvantages, how attack works and seems to be familiar with basic strategies, she just has a problem with using her knowlegde right, like in the Subomi-episode.
More "complex" ( pokemon-wise) strategies will knock her of her feet and she doesn´t have Ash´s "quick thinking" at the moment, which save Ash´s ( and sometimes May´s) ass in a battle.

But I agree with you on the point that Hikari seems to be obsessed with appeals mainly which could ( and probably will) break her neck in the next contests.
 
Knowing and doing are two different things. She talks the talk, but can't walk the walk.
I think that this is a fascinating character flaw Hikari possesses. She lives in a dream world. Everything she thinks of is obviously brilliant.
Another problem is personality conflicts with Pochama. Both of them are proud, and fairly egotistical. It would be funny if Hikari lost one contest because her Pochama doen't feel like doing what she wants it to do. Pochama does its own thing, and damn the consequences.
Pochama>Torchic in every way.
 
^ Agreed. I really like that about Hikari. And Pochama is the best starter Pokemon ever.

I'm actually hoping she'll win for a few reasons. Having an experienced coordinator in the family SHOULD give her a little more of an edge than the average beginning trainer. Having her be a more expierenced beginner will also keep her from going through May's development all over again, and finally I think the whole "newbie trainer HAS to lose their first gym battle/contest/league/grand festival" cliche is so boring now.
I kind of agree. Hikari losing this contest might be the more realistic outcome, but I'd prefer to see something less predictable. I'd rather she go to one extreme or the other - either win the entire thing or fail to make it through the appeal round. If the writers played their cards right, she needn't come off as a Mary Sue. I've been thinking that it'd be interesting to see a reversal of the usual Ash/Gary or May/Drew relationship, where the protagonist is the underdog to the cocky, talented rival. Why not make Hikari the arrogant one who gets her head inflated before the contest and acts like a jerk to her rival? Over-confidence is already one of her main characteristics, so it wouldn't be at all OOC. Perhaps Hikari could go up against redhead-girl in the finals and narrowly win, earning the ribbon and becoming totally insufferable. Then, after the contest, her rival challenges her to an unofficial rematch and wins, knocking Hikari off her pedestal. It could work.
 
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It's good to finally get to see who is Hikari's rival is. I would bet that the show is a two-parter for a reason. To tell the truth, Hikari is just a beginner, so why does everyone seem irritated about how long will this take. It should have took May a long time as well. I don't know but it seems like they made it a slight easy for May. But that wasn't super contests, so what do I know.
 
I wonder if the rival may show up prior to this episode, I mean, I think she may even be in DP 11 (that Kolink's owner?)

I mean, their in the Contest Town that episode.
 
Ooh, having Kolink as her signature Pokémon would be great. :)

I'm not going to get my hopes up yet, though.
 
It should have took May a long time as well. I don't know but it seems like they made it a slight easy for May. But that wasn't super contests, so what do I know.

Bwuh? May didn't get her first ribbon until like 45 episodes into AG. How in the world was that not a long time? She did miserable in her first Contest, nearly screwing up in Beautifly's appeal, and then Drew creamed her easily. She didn't even get into the final round in her first Contest.

Do you even remember Hoenn?
 
Ooh, having Kolink as her signature Pokémon would be great.

I'm not going to get my hopes up yet, though.
I agree. That's why I'm putting my fictional speculation money on Korinku.
 
Please note: The thread is from 17 years ago.
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