• A new LGBTQ+ forum is now being trialed and there have been changes made to the Support and Advice forum. To read more about these updates, click here.
  • Hey Trainers! Be sure to check out Corsola Beach, our newest section on the forums, in partnership with our friends at Corsola Cove! At the Beach, you can discuss the competitive side of the games, post your favorite Pokemon memes, and connect with other Pokemon creators!
  • Due to the recent changes with Twitter's API, it is no longer possible for Bulbagarden forum users to login via their Twitter account. If you signed up to Bulbagarden via Twitter and do not have another way to login, please contact us here with your Twitter username so that we can get you sorted.

Is being a Pokemon Coordinator (or Performer) more stressful than a Pokemon Trainer on a badge quest?

It makes sense if you think about it. Gym trainers need only to challenge Gym Leaders to get badges, and they can do it at any time they want (except when the leader is unavailable), and if the match is lost they are entirely free to ask for another one.

Contests\TriPokalon are competitions where you have to win the entire thing to get a single item qualification (ribbon\Princess Key), and you're supposed to do it multiple times so you qualify for the big tournament (which is another big competition).

So basically, by the anime's rules, Gym trainers participate in only one tournament (the League itself) while Contest\TriPokalon ones in various.
 
But in Contests, I need 5 ribbons. You may think that's actually a bit better since I only need to win 5 Contests instead of 8 Gym Battles. But if I enter in a Grand Festival, they expire. I cannot use those same ribbons again for another try. I'm obligated to perfom and battle 5 times minimun again if I lose. Imagine working you butt off to enter the Grand Festival and you don't even make it past the Appeal Round. It's pretty tough if you ask me.
Is there any confirmation on this? I'm post-Grand Festival in DP and in the episode when Kengo/Kenny and Hikari/Dawn meet again, the former tells the latter that there won't be a Grand Festival for a while and should therefore travel together, almost implying that there was nothing left for them in Sinnoh until the next Grand Festival.
 
Is there any confirmation on this? I'm post-Grand Festival in DP and in the episode when Kengo/Kenny and Hikari/Dawn meet again, the former tells the latter that there won't be a Grand Festival for a while and should therefore travel together, almost implying that there was nothing left for them in Sinnoh until the next Grand Festival.
Well, Bulbapedia does comfirms it.
 
Well, Bulbapedia does comfirms it.
Couldn't find it, can you link it? (ideally with the section it's in, please).

P.S. I wish Bulbapedia had references on it like other wikis.
 
If you lose a contest you don't know until you reach the next one who you're competing against, so unlike gym battles you can't come up with specific strategies to defeat a specific Pokemon or technique. That's got to be a much bigger pressure point as it requires coming up with strategies that will damage the opponent while looking good at the same time, all while on the fly. Even if it's developed between matches there's no time to practice, a trial by fire for new ideas.

Travel itself is a time crunch element, especially when in Hoenn and Kanto it was word of mouth that May learned about contest venues and Ash's gym and Frontier challenges would be put on hold so May could get there. Sinnoh alleviated this somewhat by having upcoming contests announced on TV, a public access point. Particularly where ferries are concerned the weather can be a variable that could prevent a coordinator from reaching the contest venue in time.

The point about higher level coordinators is a good one, as it does indeed disadvantage new coordinators if they end up against a veteran like Drew, May, Harley, Solidad, Dawn, Zoe etc who has plot armor. As shown in Sinnoh, having a full set of five ribbons doesn't disqualify you as Princess Salvia was able to participate under Dawn's identity, so technically Dawn won six ribbons. In May's first contest she took part in the winner was the eventual winner of the next Hoenn Grand Festival. Luck is a huge factor, as there's no indication some contests won't let you enter if you have at least a certain number of ribbons already. They've got to get lots of people in for the Grand Festival, and once you enter the five ribbons you used are only worth anything as souvenirs of the journey they were won on.

Finally, while there is only a set number of contests each year, there's probably still enough to go around for aspiring Pokemon Coordinators. We have seen in the anime that the number of participants in a Grand Festival range anywhere from 108 to 270. Given that each participant must have 5 ribbons, that means there is probably at least more than 500 contests (if we're using 100 as the base number) or more than 1000 contests (if we're using 270 as the base number) in a region each year at minimum. While some could definitely not be from the current year as mentioned in the previous paragraph, we also have to account for the fact that some coordinators might not accumulate enough ribbons to participate in that year's Grand Festival.
At May's final Kanto contest she says she has to win because she's one ribbon away and gets glares from everyone around her, indicating she's not alone in this. The last contests before a Grand Festival must be extra nerve wracking because there's a ticking clock and try again next time isn't as much a viable option.

Two of the judges and the MC are at every contest, so factor in travel time for them. That can't be more than one contest a day, and the Wallace Cup and Grand Festivals take place over successive days. So that's maximum 360 contests assuming the Grand Festival takes place over just under a week and not even taking account breaks. In the words of Mr Sukizo, remarkable! At the end of Battle Frontier May is going to the Johto Contest Circuit, which must be relatively new, at least two circuit lengths (May's Hoenn and Kanto campaigns), as Ash and Brock didn't see anything related to contests when they travelled the region. Mind you, they bring up knowing about the Pokeathlon during the Lyra and Khoury arc (aka the HGSS promotion arc) when that was nowhere on screen in the OG, so maybe they saw a contest off screen and it didn't leave an impact. The amount of filler the region is infamous for it wouldn't surprise me.
 
Damn, Nando is a boss for doing both.

And after half a season of Dawn and Ash doing their Sinnoh campaigns, without anyone else knowing. We saw Zoe, Kenny, Ursula and Jessalina in various contests, in the case of Jessalina some contests Dawn never heard of or went to (made a nice change for the Team Rocket subplot), and got updates on Paul and Barry’s badge collections. Nando flew under the radar and his focus on normal and bug types goes makes his feats more impressive.
 
An audience full of loud spectators affects some people more than others, and this can also apply to the coordinator. The more serious you are about something, and the more driven you are to win, then you’re likely to stress a bit to ensure the best outcome.
 
An audience full of loud spectators affects some people more than others, and this can also apply to the coordinator. The more serious you are about something, and the more driven you are to win, then you’re likely to stress a bit to ensure the best outcome.
In some cases, yes, but if you can be driven to win and not be confident you'll win, so you push yourself and sacrifice your well being so you know you'll win. Again, I don't think everyone gets stressed by Contests, but you can love something and still get stressed about it.
 
Contests definitely require more preparation beforehand, for the appeal round and for the battles, unexpected situations can happen in both types of battles but in contest not knowing how to answer to that situation will cost you points, and therefore your opportunity to win. That kind of pressure isn't present in conventional battles, in those battles you can turn the tables in the end but in contest battles doing this is much more difficult since every mistake you make counts. But the truth is, I think that both has their difficulties in this regard, and it also has to do with the type of person you are; for example, it's quite possible that an artistic person with a liking for elegance will find contests easier and more enjoyable than conventional battles.

The quest for badges gives you the freedom to do it whenever you want, as long as the gym is open; and you can make strategies based on the Gym's type. With contests you have to wait a specific time and day, which can be stressful. But I actually think that this makes sense, ribbons (and princess keys I think) don't have an expiration date so it's fair that winning them takes more work. Badges must be earned before the deadline, that's why they're obtained through a faster method.

Public pressure is also an important factor, especially in Contests and Showcases, if you have stage fright it will be a big problem, I think being a coordinator is similar to being TV artist, which makes sense since all contests are televised, you're well known even by those who aren't fans of your work. On the other hand, being a trainer is more like being an athlete, just the really famous ones are recognized by the whole world.

But without a doubt being a performer is the one with the greatest pressure from the public and for looking good since looking good is literally the goal, even if they're the simplest strategically speaking. In Sinnoh the coordinators dress elegantly, which makes more sense than wearing your normal clothes like in Hoenn, but at the end of the day that is a non-factor, the Pokémon are the stars, not you. You are, as your name says, the coordinator, you're like a choreographer, you create the dance, but all the spotlights are for the dancer, your Pokémon. But in Showcases the trainer is the center of attention, and your victory depends entirely on the votes you receive from the public, I always thought that this was kind of unfair and that there should be judges too, the popular opinion isn't always the best and your family and friends will always vote for you no matter what, Showcases should also have professional opinions. But I'm getting off topic, continuing with it, losing Showcases could do a lot of damage to girls' self-esteem, making them feel unloved or ugly, these might sound like shallow problems but think how many young girls fall into eating disorders or commit suicide for being rejected at school, now imagine feeling rejected by hundreds of people.
 
Last edited:
I feel like younger Coordinators and Performers can be, to an extent, compared to child stars. Yes, many of them can go on to have successful careers in adulthood, but being exposed to fame before the age where you can truly understand its repercussions can also be so damaging. It's sort of also the case for Trainers, but only if the Trainer achieves success (few do, but some, like Red, do achieve stardom at a young age due to their skills, but Red went on to isolate himself on Mt. Silver). With Contests/Performances, you're immediately in the spotlight, so even if you don't go on to achieve fame, you can fail in front of hundreds or even thousands of people, potentially destroying your reputation when you're still a kid.
 
Finally, while there is only a set number of contests each year, there's probably still enough to go around for aspiring Pokemon Coordinators. We have seen in the anime that the number of participants in a Grand Festival range anywhere from 108 to 270. Given that each participant must have 5 ribbons, that means there is probably at least more than 500 contests (if we're using 100 as the base number) or more than 1000 contests (if we're using 270 as the base number) in a region each year at minimum. While some could definitely not be from the current year as mentioned in the previous paragraph, we also have to account for the fact that some coordinators might not accumulate enough ribbons to participate in that year's Grand Festival.
Two of the judges and the MC are at every contest, so factor in travel time for them. That can't be more than one contest a day, and the Wallace Cup and Grand Festivals take place over successive days. So that's maximum 360 contests assuming the Grand Festival takes place over just under a week and not even taking account breaks. In the words of Mr Sukizo, remarkable!

Realistically, this must mean that either
a) ribbons are valid for more than a single year as JinksChow suggested.
b) there are far more contests happening, and it's just a "coincidence" (i.e. production constraints of the anime) that we happen to see the same judges and MC time and again.

I'd be more inclined to think it's the latter rather than the former. Ribbons counting for more than one just honestly just seems a bit strange in context, since it'd potentially allow entry from people who didn't win any ribbons in the current year and who are thus completly "out of fashion".
 
You can tell that the writers didn't think much about this. The Hoenn Grand Festival had 247 participants, so that means there were at least 1235 contests held that year just in Hoenn. May should have had many options to get ribbons, but she certainly didn't seem to know about them.

I don't know about the girls, but Ash never cared about the audience during his league battles. So no, I don't think that the Galar gyms would have been much different except for a cheap gimmick (which they can still use in later PWC battles).
 
If we're talking about problematic parts of gyms and contest:
Hypothetically, it's possible in gym challenge that not enough people can beat eight gyms till the league. Which would ruin the whole challenge plans.
On the other hand, on contests someone is sure to win a ribbon. So, you can regulate people who's suppose to enter the finale.
 
Been trying to think about what might allow for there to be so many contests, while staying consistent with what we've seen on screen. The best I can come up with is that perhaps:
  1. There are many contests, but
  2. Contests are only operated in a small number of locations, and
  3. Each coordinator may only enter once per location per year
I think this sort of arrangement would allow us to have our cake and eat it too. Plenty of contests held, while severely limiting each individual trainer's ability to get them.
 
Ash never cared about the audience during his league battles.
Because they didn’t matter in those series. How you’re received by an audience does matter in Galar, so maybe if you put aside the bias you’ve got going you could see that... Relegating the entire gym culture of Galar to "same but for a cheap gimmick" is ironically pretty cheap imo.
 
Gym battle are way more publicized in Galar compared to other regions. Heck, Gym Leaders even have sponsorships. I wouldn't say that Galar makes a bigger deal of Gym Leaders than other regions, but it's definitely more than just battling a Leader in a building with maybe a few spectators.
 
Please note: The thread is from 3 years ago.
Please take the age of this thread into consideration in writing your reply. Depending on what exactly you wanted to say, you may want to consider if it would be better to post a new thread instead.
Back
Top Bottom