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Ruby, Sapphire & Emerald Contest

Pokémon Contests were first introduced in Ruby and Sapphire, the Hoenn Region Pokémon games and continued in Pokémon Emerald. Pokémon Contests are different from Pokémon battles as Pokémon Contests test your Pokémon's talent rather than power.

The contests are divided into five categories: Beauty, Cool, Cute, Smart and Tough. Then, these categories are divided into four ranks: Normal Rank, Super Rank, Hyper Rank and Master Rank. You must always start with the lowest rank the Normal Rank and work your way up. Bear in mind that the higher the rank, the more difficult the contest is to win. For example, you can only participate in the Beauty Super Rank Contest only after you won in the Beauty Normal Rank Contest and received a ribbon.

In Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire, you can participate the contests in four towns namely Verdanturf Town, Fallarbor Town, Slateport City and Lilycove City. To participate in a Normal Rank contest, you should visit Verdanturf Town; to take part in a Super Rank contest, find Fallarbor Town; to compete in a Hyper Rank contest, Slateport City is the most suitable place to go to and finally, to participate in the Master Rank contest, you will have to enter the Contest Hall in Lilycove City. However in Pokémon Emerald, the Contest Halls in Verdanturf Town, Fallarbor Town and Slateport City are replaced by Battle Tents, which means that all the contests are being held in Lilycove City's Contest Hall.

Have you ever wondered how a Contest Hall looked like? Contest Halls are red distinctive buildings with flat gray roofs with little indentations on them. The door is blue in colour and has a white Pokéball as well as a red ribbon printed on it.

A picture of Emerald's Contest Hall in Lilycove City

To enter a Pokémon Contest in Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire, you will have to go to Slateport City to get a Pokéblock Case from the little girl in the foyer of the Contest Hall and collect a Contest Pass from the Verdanturf Town Contest Hall. However in Pokémon Emerald, all you need is a Pokéblock Case from the Lilycove City Contest Hall.

The contests in Pokémon Ruby, Sapphire and Emerald are divided into two rounds. The first round is the audience voting round, where the audience will vote for their favourite Pokémon among the four participating Pokémon. To score in this round, you will have to boost your Pokémon's condition by feeding your Pokémon Pokéblocks that raise that specific condition. For example, you are entering your Pokémon in a Beauty Contest and your Pokémon must have a high Beauty condition. To do this, you must feed your Pokémon with blue Pokéblocks.

The second round is the appealing round, where your Pokémon dazzle the judges with amazing moves and win the hearts of the audience. To score in this round, you will have to use moves that match either the primary or secondary type of the contest you are choosing. For example, you will have to order your Pokémon to use Beauty type moves in a Beauty Contest to impress the judges and crowd. Sometimes, Cool type moves and Cute type moves can also help you to score in Beauty Contests. To check a move's condition, go to the summary of your Pokémon and press right until you get to the fourth page. The main thing of this round is to score as many appeal points, represented by pink hearts. However, you may also summon your Pokémon to use moves that can minus another Pokémon's appeal points. Those moves which can subtract another Pokémon's appeal points are moves with jam points, represented by black hearts. There are also moves which make the other Pokémon feel nervous and unable to appeal and moves to prevent yourself from being startled.

Choosing The Right Pokémon For A Contest

Firstly, determine which contest you would like to win first and focus on it. Let's say that I am planning to participate in the Beauty Normal Rank Contest and I need to find a suitable Pokémon to win the contest. Here is a tip: Do not use your battling Pokémon as your contest Pokémon, use different Pokémon for different purposes. It really helps you to plan properly as battling moves and contest moves are not the same.

Next, go through the conditions of your Pokémon's attacks and check what kind of attacks it can learn. Now, choose the Pokémon which can learn a lot of Beauty type moves and plan your Pokémon's attacks properly. Let's say that I am using a Vulpix to compete in a Beauty Contest.
Before I train it until it learns certain moves or teach it moves, take a look at the Vulpix's nature. I am using Vulpix to participate in a Beauty Contest so I will need to boost Vulpix's Beauty condition by feeding it with Pokéblocks. Make sure that Vulpix's nature is either Mild, Modest, Quiet or Rash because Pokémon with those natures love blue Pokéblocks and thus, easy to raise the Beauty stat. You will have more advantage on the first round of the contest if you give Vulpix a blue scarf.

Then, I am going to train it until it learns Flamethrower (at level 29), Safeguard (at level 33) and Fire Spin (at level 45). Then, I will teach it Sunny Day (TM11) so that Vulpix can use the Sunny Day + Flamethrower and Sunny Day + Fire Spin combos. The move Safeguard can also help to prevent Vulpix from receiving jam points for a current round.

Now, you will end up with a Vulpix with four useful Beauty type moves that will help you in your contest.

Written by: Sweet Drifloon <3