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Which is your favourite non-battle-related feature in Pokémon?

Which is your favourite non-battle-related feature?

  • Bug Catching Contest (GSC/HGSS)

    Votes: 2 4.2%
  • Contests (RSE/ORAS)

    Votes: 1 2.1%
  • Hoenn Secret Bases (RSE/ORAS)

    Votes: 5 10.4%
  • Sinnoh Super Contests (DPPt)

    Votes: 3 6.3%
  • Sinnoh Underground (DPPt)

    Votes: 6 12.5%
  • Pokeathlon (HGSS)

    Votes: 9 18.8%
  • Musicals (BW/BW2)

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • PokeStar Studios (BW2)

    Votes: 4 8.3%
  • Funfest Missions (BW2)

    Votes: 1 2.1%
  • Pokémon Amie (XY/ORAS)

    Votes: 4 8.3%
  • Super Training (XY/ORAS)

    Votes: 1 2.1%
  • PR Videos (XY)

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Pokémon Refresh (SM/USUM)

    Votes: 5 10.4%
  • Alola Photo Club (USUM)

    Votes: 2 4.2%
  • Mantiene Surfing (USUM)

    Votes: 1 2.1%
  • DexNav (ORAS)

    Votes: 2 4.2%
  • Game Corners

    Votes: 1 2.1%
  • Voltorb Flip

    Votes: 1 2.1%
  • PokeFinder (SM/USUM)

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Total voters
    48

Boss1708

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Aside of awesome battle related features like the Battle Frontier, PWT, White Treehollow, etc, there have been some really great non-battle-related features throughout the games like Contests, Super Contests, Secret Bases, Sinnoh Underground, Pokeathlon, etc.

So, which one is your favourite?


---------

Anyway, personally, I voted for Hoenn (Super) Secret Bases. Both the Secret Bases in RSE and Super Secret Bases in ORAS, is definitely my favourite non-battle-related feature. The amount of creativity involved in it is incredibly satisfying for me. It just feels very rewarding to design your personal base, and to be able to even turn it into your own Gym.
 
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I've basically always loved anything that lets me use my pokemon in ways beyond battling. The anime always showed all kinds of things trainers did with their pokemon outside of battling and I wish I got more of it in the games! Pokeathlon and Contests were amazing and I wish they'd return in some form. I really want more secret base stuff too. Having a little hide-out my trainer can go to and decorate is great for role playing and really helps me figure out who my character is... or just for me to display all the pokedolls I've amassed.

Honestly I can't say there's a whole lot on this list I dislike. The only thing that comes to mind are Funfest missions (I personally hate content that becomes worthless once internet activity stops being supported for a system) and the PR videos (since it seemed like an empty activity... I loved the stuff I could put on my character though). Made me wish I could put the makeup on my character any time and keep it that way.

Also, I unironically love Voltorb Flip. Give us a carnival/arcade with minigames to replace the game corner, Game Freak! Just because gambling is bad doesn't mean you have to get rid of a feature! Just give a reward regardless of if you 'win' the game or not. Give more tickets to trade for prizes based off how well trainers do. Have some creativity!!
 
Contest. Either the original gen III ones or the ORAS ones. Secret bases were nice. The Pokeathlon was okay, but nothing I would play for a couple of hours straight. I also started to like Amie recently, but again, nothing I would hook for a longer time.

Never cared for the musicals though.
 
I find Alola Photo Club pretty much more entertaining. There's a surplus: You can even upload the photos to social media or art sites.
 
for me was kind of between Amie and Refresh
basically the same - with petting and playing with Pokemon, and the fun effects after battles
just interacting in cute ways with Pokemon still my most favorite part since 6th gen forward, hope it stays in all future versions

loved it more in Refresh with grooming, cleaning, drying, and even potion to cure Pokemon after battles
sure made buying potions no longer necessary


but yep, playing with the Pokemon made it so much fun in cute ways
 
I am not a big fan of any of these. I'll vote for the Bug Catching Contest because that's the one I've tried the most; I think that the concept should be applied to non-Bug types, too. I should try the Pokeathlon more than I have in the last 9 years.

I have to say that Amie/Refresh, Secret Bases and DexNav are pretty different from all the rest on the list. They don't have any competitive nature to them, and the DexNav directly involves battles (as do Secret Bases unless you only care about decorations). In contrast, the two mini-games in FRLG and Emerald would be more fitting.
 
DexNav directly involves battles
Whenever I talk about Pokémon battles, I mean trainer vs trainer battles. I don't count wild encounters as "battles", though I probably should...
as do Secret Bases unless you only care about decorations
The battling aspect of Secret Bases is not an "in-game" feature, it's a multiplayer one. I don't count those. I probably should have specified that.
In contrast, the two mini-games in FRLG and Emerald would be more fitting.
Same as above.
 
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Pokemon Amie and Refresh.

Couldn't care less about the others.
 
funfest missions were god tier and some of the most fun ive ever had in pokemon, and i feel a little sad every time they dont come back. similar to o-powers, they would have been elevated so much by gen 6's wifi capabilities. really a shame that these were dropped (and NO, the alola games' "global missions" do not even remotely compare)

as for the rest:

  • bug catching: cute but gets dull around attempt #3
  • contests: i only played around with them when i was younger and while it was kind of engaging i didn't understand the complexities at all

  • hoenn secret bases: nice but i can never really seem to get into them very much for some reason. i liked decorating my bedroom in gsc more
  • super contests: never bothered
  • sinnoh secret bases: lame
  • sinnoh underground: pretty good, did this one lots of times
  • pokeathlon: the only time i ever tried, i sucked
  • musicals: very fun for me but i wish there were more songs that didnt require the global link. i actually like them because they're devoid of the contest/pokeathlon sort of stat-based complexity, meaning i can enjoy them casually and stress-free, though i would admit that the mechanics could have been developed a bit further
  • pokestar studios: always looked like my kind of thing but sadly i never found time to really dive into them
  • pokemon amie: i dislike the hax boosts that come along with it, but it is very cute and i really admire the effort that went into it
  • super training: useful but not exactly my idea of a good time
  • pr videos: did one, didnt look back
  • refresh: i mean basically just amie
  • photo club: cute but i mostly come here for the music
  • mantine surf: fun but after getting the surfchu three times now i feel like i dont have much reason to do it anymore. an alternative and actually fun way of earning BP is fabulous but personally im already sitting on a mountain of it in pokemon bank
  • dexnav: seemed good at the time but now i just altogether prefer LGPE's catch combos
  • game corners: never did anything but frustrate me. and why leave it up to chance when you can just buy the coins? i think i just dont really have a gambler's mindset, irl gambling and casinos have never had any appeal to me either
  • voltorb flip: poke-minesweeper, and it's as boring as actual minesweeper
  • poke finder: like bug catching, this gets dull pretty quick
 
Sinnoh Contests, when I first played Pokemon Diamond, I sunk in many hours of playtime on it for just pure enjoyment, I also liked that you can put any Pokemon you wanted into the contest, so obviously, Dialga was the Pokemon I put in most of the time. I for one, can't resist putting legendaries in contests that don't involve battling, it's my way of saying "Take a break from your role and enjoy yourself for once!", same when I put the Tao trio through the Musicals. And yeah, that hasn't ended when I put Groudon in its Primal form in a Hoenn contest in ORAS as well as Latios holding its Mega Stone. I doubt that habit will ever end, so I will just get even more enjoyment out of this.
 
Ok, so I want to talk about my favourites a little more in depth here:

1. Secret Bases: Both the RSE version and the ORAS version, are my absolute favourite non-battle-related feature in Pokémon, as I already said. It's very satisfying for me to come up with my own (pseudo) gym/base.

2. Hoenn Contests: Contests (both RSE and ORAS) are fantastic in that they still use Pokémon moves which makes them automatically more entertaining for me than similar features that don't involve moves.

3. Pokeathlon: it is incredibly fun and completes my top 3. The football (soccer) game and pushing opponents from the ring are my two favourites there. Especially the former.

4. Funfest Missions: it's a really varied feature. It does include some battling but it has so much more. Personally, collecting berries is my favourite activity there.

5. PR Videos: I found PR Videos really entertaining. I would've liked if the feature served some in-game purpose like for example if Leaders and Elite 4 members did their own PR Videos or something. But just making your own videos is super fun. It involves a level of creativity similar to Secret Bases, and I love that.

6. Voltorb minesweeper mini-game: I was (surprisingly) addicted to this thing. I usually manage to reach level 5.
 
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Pokeathlon, I especially like the Jump Course. I also quite like Hoenn-style Contests, Hoenn Secret Bases and Pokestar Studios (although I do wish the latter had exclusively used actual Pokemon and not random stuff).
 
Pokémon Amie and Pokémon Refresh. I don’t know why it took so long for the games to allow us to play with our Pokémon but once XY introduced this, it quickly became my favorite feature. I love being able to pet and feed and take care of and play with my Pokemon. I really hope this is a feature that will stick around until the series ends. I voted for Pokemon Amie because of the mini games but I hope we get a version that combines the clean up system of refresh and the mini games of Amie someday.
 
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Pokeathlon. They were fun little mini games to try to win all of. It was a nice change of pace from battling, and it let me use and appreciate some Pokemon I didn't nor wouldn't normally use in battle since they had good/max stats for this.

Beyond that the Bug Catching Contest was fun for a little bit. I did try to make sure I did that three times every week but only because I really wanted a Scyther.
 
Keep voting y'all :)

Also, maybe I should've added LGPE's playing with Pikachu/Eevee game, but I thought that it was kinda redundant when we have Amie and Refresh.
 
Contests
I still enjoy these... because now I actually know what's going on. Was an amusing element! I actually prefer the old PokeBlock making, I forced many people to do that (at least I provide rare berries that I've spent way too much time tending to)... also did that with Poffins.
Hoenn Secret Bases
I enjoy them in both Gen 3 and Gen 6. Because I've got quite a number of Ruby, Sapphire and Emerald games, I've mixed the records and set up bases for all my... selves. It makes for a great feature, getting to battle Pokemon of such high levels and getting experience from it. Was a great novelty back in the day!
Sinnoh Underground
I use it a lot. It's just very satisfying to dig up Plates in particular. And I can never have too many evolutionary stones. Or Icy Rocks for that matter.
Funfest Missions
So many evolutionary stones, berries and the like to be collected. And I like Entralink in general. Although I was never able to use Dream World. :( I want to also mention Join Avenue. That's just SO great.
Pokémon Amie
Love it. The cuteness is overwhelming. In fact, I became a lot more fond of certain Pokemon because of it. Also, I got hell bent on getting the Winter PokePuff which meant.... getting 5 stars in the unlimited Tile Puzzle minigame. Was no mean feat, I'll say that much.
Super Training
I used it a lot in X. Was the first EV training I really did. Also you can get evolutionary stones. I'm all about that item collecting.
Pokémon Refresh
I was sad about the minigames being gone, but I did enjoy getting to heal burns, etc. Even if I wanted to use the hair dryer to thaw out frozen Pokemon rather than dab them with a cotton bud.
Alola Photo Club
So very many photos taken. It was probably my favourite Gen 7 thing. It's a shame it wasn't in Sun/Moon.
 
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