RSE Contest Guide [GP 2/2]

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Written by: zee
QC by: shiny finder , Lego , Max. Optimizer, Sephirona , Light Sanctity
GP by: Band, Adeleine
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Introduction
In Pokemon Ruby, Sapphire, and Emerald, Pokemon Contests were introduced as an alternative to directly battling opponents. All moves within the games are given a contest type, one of Beauty, Cool, Cute, Smart, or Tough, which corresponds to contest categories. Additionally, there are four ranks of Pokemon Contests: Normal, Super, Hyper, and Master. In Ruby and Sapphire, these contest halls can be found in Verdanturf Town, Fallarbor Town, Slateport City, and Lilycove City, respectively. In Pokemon Emerald, all four contest ranks are located in the contest hall in Lilycove City. You must start with a Normal rank contest.

Pokemon Contests consist of two phases, those being primary judging and secondary judging. Your Pokemon will be matched up against three NPCs' Pokemon and will compete for the first place ribbon. While doing well in the first phase will give you a lot more leeway during the second phase, the second phase becomes more important as your rise through the contest ranks. How well your Pokemon performs in each phase can make or break your chances of winning, so it's important to do as best as you can in the two phases. Ribbons exist for all 5 contest types and all 4 ranks, for a grand total of 20 possible ribbons earned.

A few notes before we get started: this guide will assume you have access to the entire map of the Hoenn region, though beating the Champion is not necessary. Additionally, this guide will assume that you are only playing a single cartridge of the games, so Pokemon exclusively from Fire Red, Leaf Green, Colosseum, and XD will not be mentioned, nor will any Pokemon that are only obtainable by trading, such as Alakazam and Kingdra.

Primary Judging
Condition and Sheen
Primary Judging consists of your Pokemon being judged by the audience on two factors: primarily its condition, but also its sheen. You can improve your Pokemon's condition by feeding it PokeBlocks of the corresponding type/color. Each condition type maxes out at 255; however, while it is theoretically possible to max each condition in preparation for the contests, Pokemon cannot be fed any more Pokeblocks once it reaches max sheen.

PokeBlocks can be created with NPCs in the foyer of any contest hall or with an additional player via a Link Cable. The types of Berries you should use to make your PokeBlocks depend on which contest you're preparing for, which can be seen in the following table. You can check the color and flavor of a given Berry by viewing its tag in the Bag.

Contest TypeBerry ColorBerry Flavor
BeautyBlueDry
CoolRedSpicy
CutePinkSweet
SmartGreenBitter
ToughYellowSour

Additionally, natures have an effect on the growth rate of a Pokemon's contest condition, analogous to their effects on stats. A list of the positive and negative growth rates can be seen in the following table. Neutral natures do not speed up or slow down the growth rate of any contest condition, so they won't be mentioned.

NaturePositive ConditionNegative Condition
LonelyCoolTough
BraveCoolCute
AdamantCoolBeauty
NaughtyCoolSmart
BoldToughCool
ImpishToughBeauty
RelaxedToughCute
LaxToughSmart
TimidCuteCool
HastyCuteTough
JollyCuteBeauty
NaiveCuteSmart
ModestBeautyCool
MildBeautyTough
RashBeautySmart
QuietBeautyCute
CalmSmartCool
GentleSmartTough
CarefulSmartBeauty
SassySmartSmart

While the Pokemon's primary condition is the main factor when scoring Primary Judging, secondary conditions and sheen also influence the score. A list of secondary conditions can be found in the following table. Sheen is a value that ranges from 0 to 255, and it is entirely dependent on the PokeBlocks that Pokemon has eaten, equivalent to the cumulative sum of the PokeBlocks' feel. A Pokemon cannot be fed more PokeBlocks once it has a 255 sheen stat, meaning it's best to feed a Pokemon PokeBlocks with a high level and low feel if you plan on entering it in multiple contest categories to get as many ribbons as possible. Sheen is also permanent, so be mindful when it comes to finding your Pokemon the appropriate PokeBlocks!

Contest TypePrimary ConditionSecondary Condition
BeautyBeautyCool, Cute
CoolCoolBeauty, Tough
CuteCuteBeauty, Smart
SmartSmartCute, Tough
ToughToughCool, Smart

A Pokemon's condition and sheen can be checked in the PokeNav. Condition is shown in the radar chart with the 5 contest types (with the level corresponding to how far that branch extends), whereas sheen can be measured by the amount of stars that appear on your Pokemon's sprite, with 1 being the lowest and 10 being the highest possible sheen.

The player can also give their Pokemon colored scarves to boost their scores in the primary judging phase. To get these, show the Pokemon Fan Club President a Pokemon with at least a 200 value in the condition corresponding to the scarf (refer to the first table's Berry colors to see what color goes with what type of condition). They are obtainable in all of Ruby, Sapphire, and Emerald.

The Berry Master and His Wife

On Route 123, the player can talk to the Berry Master daily to get two random Berries for free. The player can also talk to the Berry Master's Wife using special phrases to unlock rare Berries, which are especially useful for making PokeBlocks. If you have access to the Emerald cloning glitch, it is very helpful, allowing you to get multiple copies of these Berries with ease. Some of the keywords in these phrases can only be unlocked after certain in-game events have occurred.

BerryBerry ColorPhraseHow to Unlock
Spelon BerryPurple (+3 Red / Cool, +1 Blue / Beauty)GREAT BATTLENo prerequisite
Pamtre BerryIndigo (+3 Blue / Beauty, +1 Pink / Cute)CHALLENGE CONTESTEnter the Hall of Fame
Watmel BerryGold (+3 Pink/ Cute, +1 Green / Smart)OVERWHELMING LATIASEncounter Latias
Durin BerryLiteBlue (+3 Green / Smart, +1 Yellow / Tough)COOL LATIOSEncounter Latios
Belue BerryOlive (+3 Yellow / Tough, +1 Red / Cool)SUPER HUSTLEEnter the Hall of Fame

Blend Master

Only in Pokemon Emerald, after beating the Champion, the Blend Master will occasionally appear at the Lilycove Contest Hall. He uses very high quality Berries and blends at a high RPM (displayed during the blending process), which results in efficient, high-quality PokeBlocks, a great help for increasing a Pokemon's condition. His presence will be announced on TV, making it easier to know when he's arrived.

Secondary Judging
Basic Strategy

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In Secondary Judging, your Pokemon and its three competitors make an appeals to the audience and judge by using particular moves for five turns, making up the bulk of the competition. Pokemon earn hearts to fill their heart meter in this stage, with said meter ranging from 0 to 16 hearts. These hearts are used for scoring. The audience also has their own meter, which goes up to 5 points and increases by 1 when a Pokemon's move shares its contest type with the given Contest; when a Pokemon maxes out the audience's meter, it will gain an additional 5 hearts instead of just 1.

In addition to their specific contest typing, moves in Pokemon Contests also have two stat categories: appeal and jam. The appeal stat is how many hearts the Pokemon earns directly from judging, while the jam stat is how many hearts a move can remove from the Pokemon that appealed before it. For example, Bubble, which has an appeal of 2 and a jam of 2, would cause the user to earn 2 hearts, as well as removing 2 hearts from any Pokemon that went before it in that round. An important note: moves should not be repeated unless their description says they can repeat without tiring the audience, as doing so otherwise will cause your Pokemon to lose 2 hearts.

With all that being said, there is a very simple goal for secondary judging: getting as many hearts as possible while minimizing the hearts your foes earn. This is much easier said than done, however, as it requires well-thought-out planning and a little bit of luck. The easiest way to plan in advance is to include specific move combinations in your Pokemon's moveset, as they maximize the possibility of scoring a lot of hearts from the judge. We'll be going down the list of all 5 categories and covering some easy-to-use combinations to teach your Pokemon.

Move Combinations and Moveset Strategy
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Certain moves form combinations when used in Pokemon Contests. Effectively, a combination move used on turn 1 will double the hearts earned by its pair move the next turn. The exception to this is if the Pokemon is startled by Flash in between these turns, which resets the combination. Some good examples of useful and accessible combinations will be listed, by category, in the tables below. Do note that moves marked with an asterisk (*) are not the same type as the designated contest type; therefore, they won't raise the audience meter. Also, both moves need to be explicitly used by your Pokemon. For example, a foe's Torkoal using Sunny Day does not mean your Blaziken will get a combination bonus for using Blaze Kick in the same round of appeals. Your Blaziken would have to use both moves itself in succession to get the combination bonus.

Beauty
Base MoveUseful Follow-Up Moves
Sunny DayBlaze Kick, Ember, Fire Blast, Fire Punch, Flame Wheel, Flamethrower, Heat Wave, Sacred Fire, Overheat
HailBlizzard, Haze, Ice Ball, Powder Snow
Ice PunchFire Punch

As shown by the table, Sunny Day lends itself to a whole host of "highly appealing" move combinations. Since all these follow-up moves have at least 4 appeal, they can score at least a whopping eight hearts plus raise the audience reaction meter. Sunny Day itself isn't even a bad base move, as it can score big points in the later rounds if the timing allows it to greet an excited audience. Overheat is the standout option, as it can score six hearts by itself, giving it the highest possible point yield when paired with Sunny Day, though the user must be careful to avoid getting startled by its fellow competitors.

The great thing about Sunny Day combination is that a variety of Pokemon that can make use of them thanks to the wide distribution of Sunny Day, Fire Blast, Fire Punch, and Flamethrower. This list includes Fire-types like Blaziken, Torkoal, and Camerupt, as well as non-Fire-types such as Salamence and Flygon.

Hail combinations have a similar setup to Sunny Day ones, albeit with a slightly narrower distribution. Blizzard and Powder Snow are the highly appealing moves that offer general consistency, while Haze worsens the condition of all Pokemon that went before the user–negating a boost from moves such as Dragon Dance –and Ice Ball can momentarily stop the audience's meter from rising.

A nice benefit to the Hail setup is that, unlike Sunny Day, there are Pokemon available in Hoenn that learn Hail and at least one pair move by level, including Castform, Glalie, and Walrein. The gift Castform from the Weather Institute comes knowing both Hail and Powder Snow, for instance, making it available for contest use as soon as you acquire it.

The Ice Punch and Fire Punch combination is one that Pokemon can take advantage of in Emerald due to its move tutors (though Medicham is available in Ruby and Sapphire and can legally learn both attacks). The two moves are both highly appealing, making them very safe to use with little risk involved. Of course, the overlap of Pokemon that learn Ice Punch and Fire Punch by tutor in Emerald is humongous, but some notable examples include Hariyama, Aggron, and Gardevoir.

Cool
Base MoveUseful Follow-Up Moves
LeerHorn Attack, Tackle*, Scratch*
PeckDrill Peck
RageLeer, Thrash*

The most common setup you're going to find in Cool contests is Leer + Tackle or Scratch, the former by Manectric, Gyarados, Heracross, and Mightyena, while the latter is learned by Absol, Zangoose, and Sableye. Leer + Horn Attack has the benefit of both moves having the Cool type, but this is only learned by Heracross in Ruby and Sapphire (and Smeargle in Emerald).

Peck and Drill Peck is a great combination of two highly appealing moves for a select few Flying-types, those being Doduo, Dodrio, Natu, Xatu, and Skarmory. Unfortunately, that is the extent of the combination's distribution.

The Rage combination moves are also an option, with both Rage finishers being learned by Salamence, Sharpedo, their pre-evolutions, and Gyarados. Leer stops the crowd from getting excited, while Thrash has tremendous appeal but prevents the user from moving for a turn, making it most effective on the 5th (last) round of judging.

Cute
Base MoveUseful Follow-Up Moves
Mud SportMud-Slap, Water Sport, Water Gun
RestSleep Talk, Snore

Mud Sport + Mud-Slap are a widely accessible and useful combination of moves, with Mud Sport having high appeal and Mud-Slap startling the Pokemon in the lead to reduce the number of hearts they earned. However, if you're after more consistency alongside Mud Sport, Water Gun and Water Sport are also highly appealing. Mud Sport combinations are good for Pokemon like Golem, Armaldo, Sceptile, Milotic, Swampert, and Whiscash.

However, if you're after even more accessibility, then the combination of Rest and Sleep Talk is for you. Note that Sleep Talk is only available as an Emerald move tutor for everything but the Exploud line, but if that's an option for you, then you should have no trouble cruising through Cute contests. Rest makes the user immune to being startled, Sleep Talk can be used repeatedly without boring the judge, and the less common Snore is simply a highly appealing move.

Smart
Base MoveUseful Follow-Up Moves
Calm MindConfusion, Dream Eater, Future Sight, Psychic

Smart moves are often more about jamming your rivals than scoring big hearts, which is why effective pairings are so few. However, most Psychic-types can take advantage of this combination in some form, likely Calm Mind + Psychic if nothing else, though Psychic is geared more towards removing your opponent's hearts rather than winning big yourself. Calm Mind is a very useful move to temporarily avoid being startled.

Tough
Base MoveUseful Follow-Up Moves
HardenDouble-Edge, Rollout, Tackle, Take Down
Rain DanceClamp, Crabhammer, Thunder, Waterfall, Weather Ball

Harden + Tackle is a very safe and common strategy, first protecting the user from being startled and then earning your share of hearts with a highly appealing move. Rollout can stop the audience's reaction meter from rising, which is good for manipulating it. Take Down and Double-Edge both can score lots of hearts but make the user very susceptible to being startled, making them best to use at the very end. Harden combinations are good for Pokemon like Aggron, Claydol, and Relicanth.

The Rain Dance + Waterfall or Thunder combination works very well for most Water- or Electric-types, with Thunder being great for startling those that made appeals prior. Clamp, Crabhammer, and Weather Ball are great but limited to the Clamperl line, the Corphish line, and Castform lines, respectively.

Jam Moves
While the objective during secondary judging is to earn as many hearts as possible, sometimes it can be useful to remove some of the hearts the opposing Pokemon have earned, which is especially useful if you're going last–potentially letting your punish all competitors in one swoop–or if you predict a specific opponent will have a very successful appeal round. This is where the jam stat of contest moves comes into play, as moves with 1 ore more jam will startle their targets and cause them to lose heart(s). A list of jam moves, as well as their contest type and effects, is provided in the table below.

Move(s)Contest TypeJamEffect
Petal Dance, Blast Burn, Hydro CannonBeauty4Jams the others, and misses one turn of appeals.
Hail, Icy Wind, Bubblebeam, Lovely Kiss, SporeBeauty3Badly startles those that have made appeals.
Aurora Beam, Ice Beam, Icicle SpearBeauty1Startles Pokemon that made a same contest type appeal.
Sheer Cold, Perish SongBeauty1Badly startles all Pokemon that made good appeals.
Will-O-WispBeauty4Badly startles the Pokemon in front.
Tri AttackBeauty2Startles all Pokemon that have done their appeals.
Cotton SporeBeauty1Startles the Pokemon that has the Judge's attention.
Air Cutter, Dragon Claw, Sky UppercutCool1Startles Pokemon that made a same-type appeal.
Brick Break, Crush Claw, Dizzy Punch, Extrasensory, Hyper Fang, Iron Tail, SparkCool4Badly startles the Pokemon in front.
Bullet Seed, Cut, Guillotine, Horn Drill, Stun Spore, Thunder WaveCool1Badly startles all Pokemon that made good appeals.
DragonBreath, False Swipe, Rolling KickCool3Badly startles those that have made appeals.
DynamicPunch, Fury Attack, Spike Cannon, Pin MissileCool1Startles the Pokemon that has the Judge's attention.
Focus EnergyCool3Badly startles those that have made appeals earlier in the same turn.
Frenzy Plant, Hyper Beam, OutrageCool4Jams the others, and misses one turn of appeals.
ThunderCool2Startles all Pokemon that have done their appeals.
TwineedleCool3Startles the Pokemon that appealed before the user.
BubbleCute2Startles all Pokemon that have done their appeals.
Charm, Fake OutCute1Startles Pokemon that made a same-type appeal.
Mud Shot, Sweet ScentCute3Badly startles those that have made appeals.
Sand-AttackCute1Startles the Pokemon that has the Judge's attention.
Teeter DanceCute4Jams the others, and misses one turn of appeals.
Absorb, Astonish, Confusion, Leech Life, Luster Purge, Poison Sting, SmellingSalt, String ShotSmart3Startles the Pokemon that appealed before the user.
Acid, Knock Off, Mega Drain, Mist Ball, Needle Arm, Pain SplitSmart4Badly startles the Pokemon in front.
Beat Up, Psywave, Pursuit, SnatchSmart1Badly startles all Pokemon that made good appeals.
Dream Eater, Leech SeedSmart2Startles all Pokemon that have done their appeals.
Giga DrainSmart1Startles the Pokemon that has the Judge's attention.
GrassWhistle, Hypnosis, Metal Sound, Nightmare, Psychic, Screech, Sleep PowderSmart3Badly startles those that have made appeals.
Night Shade, RecoverSmart1Startles Pokemon that made a same contest type appeal.
Arm Thrust, Bone Club, DoubleSlap, Fury Swipes, Scary Face, Muddy Water, Octazooka, Sludge BombTough1Startles the Pokemon that has the Judge's attention.
Bite, SmogTough3Badly startles those that have made appeals.
Body Slam, Crunch, Lick, Low Kick, Skull Bash, Sludge, StompTough4Badly startles the Pokemon in front.
Constrict, HeadbuttTough3Startles the Pokemon that appealed before the user.
Earthquake, Glare, Rock SlideTough3Badly startles those that have made appeals.
Fissure, Super FangTough1Badly startles all Pokemon that made good appeals.
Seismic Toss, Slam, StrengthTough1Startles Pokemon that made a same-type appeal.
ThrashTough4Jams the others, and misses one turn of appeals.

There are moves that make your Pokemon immune to being startled. Teleport, Light Screen, Reflect, and Protect will keep your Pokemon safe from being startled for the duration of the entire round, while Double Team, Dive, Rest, Defense Curl, Calm Mind, Counter, Detect, Mirror Coat, Endure, Harden, and Stockpile offer one-time protection. Conversely, Double-Edge, Take Down, Overheat, Psycho Boost, Superpower, and Volt Tackle will make your Pokemon more susceptible to being startled, meaning they'll lose even more hearts.

Other Moves
Of course, the list of moves we've discussed thus far is not a catch-all. One potential strategy when it comes to designing for your Pokemon's moveset is including a move that isn't the same type as the designated contest, such as a Beauty move in a Cool competition. The usefulness in this lies in your ability to manipulate the audience meter to an extent, not always being forced to raise the counter by one, which may potentially leave an untimely foe maxing out the meter. However, not all moves can be ran efficiently in all contests. The table below covers which moves will work well in which contests.

Contest TypePrimary Type (+1 Heart)Secondary Type (+-0 Hearts)Negative Type (-1 Heart)
BeautyBeautyCool, CuteSmart, Tough
CoolCoolBeauty, ToughCute, Smart
CuteCuteBeauty, SmartCool, Tough
SmartSmartCute, ToughBeauty, Cool
ToughToughCool, SmartBeauty, Cute

Additionally, Dragon Dance, Growth, Swords Dance, Belly Drum, Refresh, Meditate, and Swallow will all increase your Pokemon's condition, meaning they'll earn an additional heart in each subsequent appeal round, and help prevent nervousness–an effect from moves like Sing that can prevent Pokemon from appealing successfully. Explosion, Self-Destruct, Memento, and Destiny Bond are interesting moves in that they have a huge payout at a whopping base eight hearts, but the user cannot make any appeals after using them, meaning they're best saved for the last round of appeals.

While there are countless possibilities when it comes to the Pokemon you enter in a Pokemon Contest, here are a few examples of some setups that you can use to get your feet wet. Spaces marked with a "-" mean that the moveslot is flexible.

PokemonSpriteContest TypeMove 1Move 2Move 3Move 4Notes
Smeargle:rs/smeargle:AnyAnyAnyAnyAnyAs Smeargle can learn any move via Sketch, it's naturally the optimal pick for Pokemon Contests.
Torkoal:rs/torkoal:BeautySunny DayFlamethrowerOverheat-Use Sunny Day + Flamethrower for appeals 1-4 almost always, and use Overheat to score big hearts on appeal 5.
Dodrio:rs/Dodrio:CoolPeckDrill PeckRage-Peck + Drill Peck is for a simple combination of highly appealing moves. Rage can be used repeatedly without boring the judge.
Barboach:rs/barboach:CuteMud SportWater GunWater SportMud-SlapBarboach can get by on Mud Sport + Water Sport or Water Gun. Primarily use Mud-Slap if startling foes is needed, but it does pair with Mud Sport as well.
Gardevoir:rs/gardevoir:SmartCalm MindFuture SightConfusion-The Smart category has no highly appealing moves, but Calm Mind is nice to avoid startling. Future Sight brings in the most hearts and is useful for controlling the audience.
Aggron:rs/aggron:ToughHardenTackleDouble-Edge-Harden + Tackle is a simple combination that can be used throughout appeals 1-4. Use Double-Edge to grab 6 base hearts on appeal 5.

Conclusion
Pokemon Contests can definitely be hard to pick up, as getting a successful Pokemon together takes a lot of planning and preparation in advance. However, once you get the hang of it and explore different Pokemon, movesets, and difficulties, they can be quite infectious. Whether you're entering a Pokemon Contest for a specific ribbon or just playing for the fun of it, I hope you found this guide useful.
 
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I believe this is ready for some initial QC input! A few notes:

-As of this post I'm still typing up explanations for the contest combos and jam moves, but you can see examples for each in the beauty category to get a feel for how they'll be written.
-I wrote a more conservative guide on primary judging because I wrote secondary judging first due to how in depth that was. I'm fine writing more upon request if going in depth on berry mechanics or berry locations is necessary, but I don't want this to turn into a berry hunting/farming guide of course
-Not every combination is listed. I pretty much tried to strike a balance between useful, low risk, and easily obtainable ones. If there's a combination you don't seen in the tables, feel free to mention it!
-Pictures will be provided by me, wanted to get this into QC before going through the process of producing my own pictures for the guide

Tagging shiny finder and Max. Optimizer for input, but feel free to tag bring anyone else along if y'all know the right people c:

Edit: here's my to-do list so this doesn't get buried under main article

did:
-clarify SF's question re: sunny day/flamethrower
-provided some sample sets
-mentioned lego's suggestions for secondary judging
-finished implementing jam moves

still to do based on QC input as of 7/29
-finish combination descriptions
-colored scarves
-berry master
-blend master (emerald)

-list the visual representation of the ribbons
-pictures!
 
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shiny finder

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Nice work zee, ty. Ik nothing when it comes to contests so I'll let other chime in. Upon first read, only thing I could maybe think of adding is an example mon for a contest? Might not be practical, but maybe it would exemplify the balance of appealing vs jamming. Also, is it possible to make use of your opponent's setup moves in the move combinations, or does it only care about what your mon does (assuming you aren't startled)? I.e. Opp uses Sunny Day, do I get the boost if I use Flamethrower that same turn?

I wrote a more conservative guide on primary judging because I wrote secondary judging first due to how in depth that was. I'm fine writing more upon request if going in depth on berry mechanics or berry locations is necessary, but I don't want this to turn into a berry hunting/farming guide of course
Yeah no need for berry locations imo. If you have tips/ideas on how to control the sheen (or wanna include a mention of what influences it), that might be a good add.

Anyway, looking good. Tatertot Christian Lego Sephirona wishes I think y'all have done some RMs, so if you have thoughts or know someone who might feel free to chime in! (Same goes for anyone reading, even if not pinged..pung?)
 

Lego

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Primary Judging:

I think I remember reading in an old Prima guide that if your Pokemon is nicknamed, it scores higher here? I'm not sure if that's confirmed though maybe I just made it up hehe

You should at least mention the colored scarf held items too as they make a huge difference, especially with imperfect pokeblocks.

Pokeblocks:

It's probably worth mentioning that for the best blocks on only one system, you wanna try and blend with the Blend Master, who appears randomly in Emerald (announced by the News program on TV), as he always uses good berries and scores Perfects, so you can get speeds of up to 160RPM with him - leading to better blocks than you can make with other NPCs (beware the high Feel stat, though). I don't think he's in RS though, only in E.

In a similar note, ik you don't wanna mention Berry locations but personally I'd mention the Berry Master's wife and her specific phrases, as this is the only way to get these pretty good berries. Leichi is great but only available on Mirage Island which is meh so i wouldn't bother with that ig. There are also the E-Reader Berries which are the best berries available in RS for block-making (especially the Nutpea) but ereader stuff is probably outside the scope of this too. Up to you!

Secondary Judging:
this section looks good! I'd probably mention moves like Refresh that can increase the user's Condition, which helps prevent nervousness and makes that one Poochyena in Emerald really damn hard to beat increases your score on subsequent turns by 1 point. Mentioning moves like Explosion, Self-Destruct, and Destiny Bond and how they're huge scorers but should only be used on the last turn would be groovy too, as that point injection can really turn the tides of a contest if you have room for it.

With access to Emerald (or Colo), hands-down the best Pokemon for contests is Smeargle, as it has access to every move in the game. In RS, where that's not possible, Medicham is one of the best contenders as you already said. With good enough blocks, though, you can do literally anything - I did all 20 contests in RS with a Beldum only knowing Take Down (and hence copping the same move penalty. every. single. move.), but it had max condition in every stat, and I've seen people do Unown and Ditto too. On that note, maybe mention that using the same move twice in a row should typically be avoided?

Great article though, it's really good to see this being made. I'll probably revisit it after you've implemented these changes as I'm pretty tired rn but that's everything from me for now. Fantastic work zee!
 

Max. Optimizer

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Thank you for the tag, but I'm afraid that I'm unfortunately not too knowledgeable about the RSE contests.

When I did my Ribbon Master™ projects earlier this year, I used Lego's knowledge for the sheen (berries + blending) and Sephirona's knowledge about the battling part, in the form the Rest + Snore combo that helped me breeze through the contests easily. They should be able to contribute more knowledge to this guide than me.

The only thing I could think of is mentioning the colored scarves that the Pokémon can hold.
 

Sephirona

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Looking excellent! I don't have much to add apart from a some suggestions:

- It might be good to mention that, at least in Gen 3, the sheen is permanent as there are no items to reset it, and it won't be possible to fix any mistakes or fill in the rest of the condition stats (until Gen 6 if the mon is transferred up). So the player should be careful about their preparations if they want to maximize their mon's Gen 3 contest potential. Also, I know you said this guide only assumes the player has one cartridge of RSE. But just in case, I'll also mention that the sheen a Pokemon obtains in Gen 3 is passed up into Gen 4 for use with their contest system as well. Therefore, a mon that has maxed their sheen in Gen 3 won't be able to eat Poffins in Gen 4 either. Gen 4's contests are somewhat less forgiving if you have a poorer condition so it might be useful for people to know

- As Max. Optimizer mentioned, it's possible to cheese the secondary judging with the Rest+Snore combo provided you have a high enough condition! It's not flawless and you might still lose once in a while in master rank, but more often than not the max condition is enough and Rest+Snore will often leave you with the highest score. I think most mons can learn the attacks too.

- Something I only learned in recent years is the fact that a mon can actually have nearly max condition for every category through Pokeblocks. This is especially useful for people who want to make Ribbon Masters. Lego is very experienced with this and he's done some super Pokeblock blending! But since it's out of the purview of this guide to include too much Pokeblock info (there's probably enough for a whole separate guide lol) I don't know if this is important to mention. Just thought I'd put it here just in case

- Finally, something I think might be helpful is to include a picture of all of the obtainable ribbons in Gen 3 when talking about the total of 20 ribbons in the introductory paragraphs. There are so many contest ribbons throughout the gens that I think a visual representation would help people distinguish between them. That way, if someone were researching how to do a Ribbon Master, they could come back to this guide to know the exact ribbons being mentioned as from Gen 3. A composite of all of them on one png so it's not necessary to upload each individual ribbon image, something like this, might help:



It's up to you to decide whether any of these suggestions are within the scope of your guide though! If you have any concerns feel free to ask. Looking forward to seeing the finished piece :')
 
been a while since I worked on this but I've touched it up now for another round of QC!

What I did since last time:

- finished combination descriptions
- added details about the berry master, his wife, the blend master, and colored scarves
- mentioned the cloning glitch for rare berries at light's suggestion

pictures still to be added, but I figure those aren't too important for now?

tags: shiny finder Max. Optimizer Sephirona Lego Light Sanctity, sorry if any of you don't have anything else to add x:
 

Band

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Written by: zee
QC by: shiny finder, Lego, Max. Optimizer, Sephirona, Light Sanctity
GP by: Band
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Introduction
In Pokemon Ruby, Sapphire, and Emerald, Pokemon Contests were introduced as an alternative to directly battling opponents. All moves within the games are given a contest type, one of Beauty, Cool, Cute, Smart, or Tough, which matches the corresponding contest categories. Additionally, there are four ranks of Pokemon Contests: Normal, Super, Hyper, and Master. In Ruby and Sapphire, these contest halls can be found in Verdanturf Town, Fallarbor Town, Slateport City, and Lilycove City, respectively. In Pokemon Emerald, all four contest ranks are located in the contest hall in Lilycove City. To enter a Pokemon Contest, you must first receive a contest pass, which you can receive obtain just to avoid repetition upon your first time entering a Normal rank contest.

Pokemon Contests consist of two phases, those being primary judging and secondary judging. Your Pokemon will be matched up against three NPCs' Pokemon and will compete for the first place ribbon. Ribbons exist for all 5 contest types and all 4 ranks, for a grand total of 20 possible ribbons earned.

A few notes before we get started: this article guide will assume you have access to the entire map of the Hoenn region, though beating the Champion is not necessary. Additionally, this guide will assume that you are only playing a single cartridge of the games, so Pokemon exclusively from Fire Red, Leaf Green, Colosseum, and XD will not be mentioned, nor will any Pokemon that are only obtainable by trading such as Alakazam and Kingdra.

Primary Judging
Condition and Sheen
Primary Judging consists of your Pokemon being judged by the audience on two factors: primarily its condition, but also its sheen. You can improve your Pokemon's condition by feeding it PokeBlocks. PokeBlocks can be created in the foyer of any contest hall with NPCs or with an additional player via a Link Cable. The types of berries you should use to make your PokeBlocks depend on which contest you're preparing for, which can be seen in the following table. You can check the color and flavor of a given Berry by viewing its tag in the Bag.

Contest TypeBerry ColorBerry Flavor
BeautyBlueDry
CoolRedSpicy
CutePinkSweet
SmartGreenBitter
ToughYellowSour

Additionally, Natures have an effect on the growth rate of a Pokemon's contest condition. A list of the positive and negative growth rates can be seen in the following table. Neutral natures do not speed up or slow down the growth rate of any contest condition, (RC) and as such, (AC) won't be mentioned as such.
NaturePositive ConditionNegative Condition
LonelyCoolTough
BraveCoolCute
AdamantCoolBeauty
NaughtyCoolSmart
BoldToughCool
ImpishToughBeauty
RelaxedToughCute
LaxToughSmart
TimidCuteCool
HastyCuteTough
JollyCuteBeauty
NaiveCuteSmart
ModestBeautyCool
MildBeautyTough
RashBeautySmart
QuietBeautyCute
CalmSmartCool
GentleSmartTough
CarefulSmartBeauty
SassySmartSmart

While the Pokemon's primary condition is the main factor when scoring Primary Judging, secondary condition and sheen also influence the score. A list of secondary conditions can be found in the following table. Sheen is a value that ranges from 0 to 255, and is entirely dependent on the PokeBlocks that it Pokemon has eaten, equivalent to the value of the PokeBlock's smoothness or hardness. A Pokemon cannot be fed more PokeBlocks once it has a 255 Sheen stat, meaning it's best to feed a Pokemon smooth PokeBlocks if you plan on entering it in multiple contest categories to get as many ribbons as possible. Sheen is also permanent, so be mindful when it comes to finding your Pokemon the appropriate PokeBlocks!
Contest TypePrimary ConditionSecondary Condition
BeautyBeautyCool, Cute
CoolCoolBeauty, Tough
CuteCuteBeauty, Smart
SmartSmartCute, Tough
ToughToughCool, Smart

A Pokemon's condition and sheen can be checked in the PokeNav. For condition, how far toward each of the 5 contest types it goes represents how close it is to a maxed out condition, where as whereas sheen can be measured by the amount of stars the that appear of on your Pokemon's sprite, with one 1 being the lowest and 10 being the highest possible sheen.

The player can also give their Pokemon colored scarves to boost their scores in the primary judging phase. To get these, show the Pokemon Fan Club President a Pokemon with at least a 200 value in the corresponding condition of the scarf (refer to the first table to see what color goes with what type of condition). They are obtainable in all of Ruby, Sapphire, and Emerald.

The Berry Master and His Wife

On Route 123, the player can talk to the Berry Master daily to get two free berries, at random random berries for free. The player can also talk to the Berry Master's Wife using special phrases to unlock rare berries, which are especially useful for making PokeBlocks. If you have access to the Emerald cloning glitch, it is very helpful to get multiple copies of these berries with ease. Some of the key words in these phrases can only be unlocked after certain in-game events have occurred.

BerryBerry ColorPhraseHow to Unlock
Spelon BerryPurple (+3 Red, +1 Blue)GREAT BATTLENo requesite
Pamtre BerryIndigo (+3 Blue, +1 Pink)CHALLENGE CONTESTEnter the Hall of Fame
Watmel BerryGold (+3 Pink, +1 Green)OVERWHELMING LATIASEncounter Latias
Durin BerryLiteBlue (+3 Green, +1 Yellow)COOL LATIOSEncounter Latios
Belue BerryOlive (+3 Yellow, +1 Red)SUPER HUSTLEEnter the Hall of Fame

Blend Master

Only in Pokemon Emerald after beating the Hall of Fame, the Blend Master will occasionally appear at the Lilycove Contest Hall. He uses very high quality berries and blends at a high RPM, resulting in efficient, high quality PokeBlocks, a great help for increasing a Pokemon's condition. His presence will be announced on TV, making it easier to know when he's arrived.


Secondary Judging
Basic Strategy

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Secondary Judging consists of your Pokemon,(RC) and its three fellow competitors,(RC) making an appeal to the audience and the judge based on a particular move selection for five turns, making up the bulk of the competition. Pokemon earn hearts to fill their meter in this stage, with the said meter ranging from zero 0 to 16 hearts. The audience also has a meter that goes up to five 5 points and increases by one 1 for each time a Pokemon uses a move with the same contest type as the designated competition variety; additionally, when a Pokemon maxes out the contest meter, it will gain an additional 5 hearts instead of just 1.

In addition to their specific contest typing, moves in Pokemon Contests have two additional stat categories: appeal and jam. The appeal category is how many hearts the Pokemon earns directly from judging, while the jam category is how many hearts a move can remove from the Pokemon that appeal before it. For example, Bubble, which has an appeal of 2 and a jam of 2, would cause the user to earn 2 hearts, while also removing 2 hearts from any Pokemon that went before it on that round of appeals in which it was used i think this part can be removed without impacting understanding of the sentence, but i'd like some opinions from the next gper. An important note: moves should not be repeated unless their description says they can repeat without tiring the audience, as doing so otherwise will cause your Pokemon to lose 2 hearts.

With all that being said, this leaves a very simple goal for secondary judging: getting as many hearts as possible while minimizing the hearts your foes earn. This is much easier said than done, however, as doing so effectively requires well thought out planning,(RC) and a little bit of luck. The easiest way to plan in advance is to include combos in your Pokemon's moveset, as they maximize the possibility of getting the chance to score a lot of hearts from the judges. We'll be going down the list of all 5 categories and covering some easy-to-use combos to teach your Pokemon.

Move Combinations and Moveset Strategy
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Certain moves form combinations when used in Pokemon Contests. Effectively, a move used on turn 1 will double the hearts earned on turn 2, extra hearts notwithstanding, if the moves are recognized as a combination. The exception to this is if the Pokemon is startled by the move Flash in between turns 1 and 2, which resets the combination. Some good examples of useful and accessible combinations will be listed, by category, in the tables below. Do note that moves marked with an asterisk (*) denote a move that is not the same type as the designated contest type. A reminder that both moves need to be explicitly used by your Pokemon. For example, a foe's Torkoal using Sunny Day does not mean your Blaziken will get a combination bonus for using Blaze Kick in the same round of appeals. Your Blaziken would have to use both moves itself in succession to get the combination bonus.

Beauty
Base MoveUseful Follow Up Moves
Sunny DayBlaze Kick, Ember, Fire Blast, Fire Punch, Flame Wheel, Flamethrower, Heat Wave, Sacred Fire, Overheat
HailBlizzard, Haze, Ice Ball, Powder Snow
Ice PunchFire Punch

As shown by the table, Sunny Day lends itself to a whole host of "highly appealing" moves, meaning that they'll score a whopping eight hearts plus audience reaction when followed up with effectively. Sunny Day itself isn't even a bad base move, as it can score big points in the later rounds if the timing allows it to greet an excited audience. Overheat is the standout option, as it can score six hearts by itself, making it the highest possible point yield when paired with Sunny Day, though the user must be careful to avoid getting startled by its fellow competitors.

The great thing about this combination is that there are a variety of Pokemon that can make use of it thanks to the wide distribution of Sunny Day,(AC) and the likes of Fire Blast, Fire Punch, and Flamethrower. This list includes both Fire-types like Blaziken, Torkoal, and Camerupt, as well as non Fire-types such as Salamence and Flygon.

Hail has a similar setup to Sunny Day combinations, albeit with a slightly smaller distribution. Blizzard and Powder Snow are the highly appealing moves that offer general consistency, while Haze worsens the condition of the Pokemon that went before the user, and Ice Ball can momentarily stop the audience's meter from rising.

A nice benefit to the Hail setup is that,(RC) unlike Sunny Day, there are Pokemon available within the Hoenn Region region that learn Hail as well as at least one combo move by level up, including Castform, Glalie, and Walrein. The gift Castform from the Weather Institute comes knowing both Hail and Powder Snow, for instance, making it available for contest use as soon as you acquire it.

The Ice Punch and Fire Punch combination is mainly a technique that Pokemon can take advantage of in Emerald version due to move tutors (though Medicham is available in Ruby and Sapphire and can legally learn both attacks). The two moves are both highly appealing, making them very safe to use with little risk involved. Of course, the overlap of Pokemon that learn Ice Punch and Fire Punch by tutor in Emerald is humongous, but some notable examples include Hariyama, Aggron, and Gardevoir.

Cool
Base MoveUseful Follow Up Moves
LeerHorn Attack, Tackle*, Scratch*
PeckDrill Peck
RageLeer, Thrash*

The most common setup you're going to find with Cool combo moves is Leer + Tackle or Scratch, the former by Manectric, Gyarados, Heracross, and Mightyena, while the latter is learned by Absol, Zangoose, and Sableye. Leer + Horn Attack has the benefit of both moves being Cool type, but this is only learned by Heracross in Ruby and Sapphire (and Smeargle in Emerald).

Peck and Drill Peck is a great combination of two highly appealing moves for a select few Flying-types, those being Doduo, Dodrio, Natu, Xatu, and Skarmory. Unfortunately, that is the extent of the combination's distribution.

The Rage combo moves are also an option, being learned by Salamence, Sharpedo, their pre-evolutions, and Gyarados in both cases of Leer and Thrash. Leer stops the crowd from getting excited, while Thrash prevents the user from moving for a turn, making it most effective on the 5th round of judging.

Cute
Base MoveUseful Follow Up Moves
Mud SportMud-Slap, Water Sport, Water Gun
RestSleep Talk, Snore

Mud Sport and Mud-Slap are a widely accessible and useful combination of moves, with Mud Sport acting as a highly appealing move and Mud-Slap startling the Pokemon in the lead to reduce the amount of hearts they earned. However, if you're after more consistency, Water Gun and Water Sport are both highly appealing moves also highly appealing. This is good for Pokemon like Golem, Armaldo, Sceptile, Milotic, Swampert, and Whiscash.

However, if you're after even more accessibility, then the combination of Rest and Sleep Talk is for you. Note that Sleep Talk is only available as an Emerald move tutor for everything but the Exploud Line, but if that's an option for you, then you should have no trouble cruising through cute contests. Rest itself makes the user immune to being startled, Sleep Talk can be used repeatedly without boring the judges, and the less common Snore is simply a highly appealing move, useful for scoring more hearts on the appeals.

Smart
Base MoveUseful Follow Up Moves
Calm MindConfusion, Dream Eater, Future Sight, Psychic

Smart moves are often more about jamming your rivals than scoring big hearts, which is why effective combos are so few. However, most Psychic-types can take advantage of this combo in some form, likely Calm Mind + Psychic if nothing else, though Psychic is a move geared more towards taking away your opponent's hearts rather than winning big yourself. Calm Mind is a very useful move to temporarily avoid being startled.

Tough
Base MoveUseful Follow Up Moves
HardenDouble-Edge, Rollout, Tackle, Take Down
Rain DanceClamp, Crabhammer, Thunder, Waterfall, Weather Ball

Harden and + Tackle is a very safe and common strategy, starting off by protecting the user from being startled and then earning your share of hearts with a highly appealing move. Rollout can stop the crowd from being excited, which is good for manipulating the audience's reaction meter. Take Down and Double-Edge both can score lots of hearts but make the user very susceptible to being startled, making it best to use at the very end. This is good for Pokemon like Aggron, Claydol, and Relicanth.

The Rain Dance + Waterfall or Thunder combo works very well for most Water- or Electric-types, with Thunder being great for startling those that made appeals prior. Clamp, Crabhammer, and Weather Ball are single-use cases for the Clamperl, Corphish, and Castform lines, respectively.

Jam Moves
While the objective during secondary judging is to earn as many hearts as possible during your appeal, sometimes it can be useful to reduce some of the hearts the opposing Pokemon have earned, which is especially useful if you're going last or you predict a specific opponent to have a successful appeal round. This is where the jam stat of contest moves comes into play, as these moves will startle their targets and cause them to lose hearts. A list of jam moves, as well as their contest type and effects, are listed in the table below.

Move(s)Contest TypeJamEffect
Petal Dance, Blast Burn, Hydro CannonBeauty4Jams the others, and misses one turn of appeals.
Hail, Icy Wind, Bubblebeam, Lovely Kiss, SporeBeauty3Badly startles those that have made appeals.
Aurora Beam, Ice Beam, Icicle SpearBeauty1Startles Pokemon that made a same-type appeal.
Sheer Cold, Perish SongBeauty1Badly startles all Pokemon that made good appeals.
Will-O-WispBeauty4Badly startles the Pokemon in front.
Tri-Attack Tri AttackBeauty2Startles all Pokemon that have done their appeals.
Cotton SporeBeauty1Startles the Pokemon that has the Judge's attention.
Air Cutter, Dragon Claw, Sky UppercutCool1Startles Pokemon that made a same-type appeal.
Brick Break, Crush Claw, Dizzy Punch, Extrasensory, Hyper Fang, Iron Tail, SparkCool4Badly startles the Pokemon in front.
Bullet Seed, Cut, Guillotine, Horn Drill, Stun Spore, Thunder WaveCool1Badly startles all Pokemon that made good appeals.
DragonBreath, False Swipe, Rolling KickCool3Badly startles those that have made appeals.
DynamicPunch, Fury Attack, Spike Cannon, Pin MissileCool1Startles the Pokemon that has the Judge's attention.
Focus EnergyCool3Badly startles those that have made appeals earlier in the same turn.
Frenzy Plant, Hyper Beam, OutrageCool4Jams the others, and misses one turn of appeals.
ThunderCool2Startles all Pokemon that have done their appeals.
TwineedleCool3Startles the Pokemon that appealed before the user.
BubbleCute2Startles all Pokemon that have done their appeals.
Charm, Fake OutCute1Startles Pokemon that made a same-type appeal.
Mud Shot, Sweet ScentCute3Badly startles those that have made appeals.
Sand-AttackCute1Startles the Pokemon that has the Judge's attention.
Teeter DanceCute4Jams the others, and misses one turn of appeals.
Absorb, Astonish, Confusion, Leech Life, Luster Purge, Poison Sting, SmellingSalt, String ShotSmart3Startles the Pokemon that appealed before the user.
Acid, Knock Off, Mega Drain, Mist Ball, Needle Arm, Pain SplitSmart4Badly startles the Pokemon in front.
Beat Up, Psywave, Pursuit, Snatch,Smart1Badly startles all Pokemon that made good appeals.
Dream Eater, Leech SeedSmart2Startles all Pokemon that have done their appeals.
Giga DrainSmart1Startles the Pokemon that has the Judge's attention.
GrassWhistle, Hypnosis, Metal Sound, Nightmare, Psychic, Screech, Sleep PowderSmart3Badly startles those that have made appeals.
Night Shade, RecoverSmart1Startles Pokemon that made a same-type appeal.
Arm Thrust, Bone Club, DoubleSlap, Fury Swipes, Scary Face, Muddy Water, Octazooka, Sludge BombTough1Startles the Pokemon that has the Judge's attention.
Bite, SmogTough3Badly startles those that have made appeals.
Body Slam, Crunch, Lick, Low Kick, Skull Bash, Sludge, StompTough4Badly startles the Pokemon in front.
Constrict, HeadbuttTough3Startles the Pokemon that appealed before the user.
Earthquake, Glare, Rock SlideTough3Badly startles those that have made appeals.
Fissure, Super FangTough1Badly startles all Pokemon that made good appeals.
Seismic Toss, Slam, StrengthTough1Startles Pokemon that made a same-type appeal.
ThrashTough4Jams the others, and misses one turn of appeals.

There are moves that make your Pokemon immune to being startled. Teleport, Light Screen, Reflect, and Protect will keep your Pokemon safe from being startled for the duration of secondary judging, while Double Team, Dive, Rest, Defense Curl, Calm Mind, Counter, Detect, Mirror Coat, Endure, Harden, and Stockpile offer one-time protection. Conversely, Double-Edge, Take Down, Overheat, Psycho Boost, Superpower, and Volt Tackle will make your Pokemon more susceptible to being startled, meaning they'll lose even more hearts.

Other Moves
Of course, the list of moves we've discussed thus far is not a catch-all. One potential strategy when it comes to designing your Pokemon's moveset is including a move that isn't the same type as the designated contest, such as a Beauty move in a Cool competition. The usefulness in this lies in the fact that you have the ability to manipulate the audience meter to an extent, instead of always being forced to raise the counter by one, which may potentially leave an untimely foe maxing out the meter. However, not all moves can be ran efficiently in all contests. The table below covers which moves will work well in which contests.

Contest TypePrimary Type (+1 Heart)Secondary Type (+-0 Hearts)Negative Type (-1 Heart)
BeautyBeautyCool, CuteSmart, Tough
CoolCoolBeauty, ToughCute, Smart
CuteCuteBeauty, SmartCool, Tough
SmartSmartCute, ToughBeauty, Cool
ToughToughCool, SmartBeauty, Cute

Additionally, Dragon Dance, Growth, Swords Dance, Belly Drum, Refresh, Meditate, and Swallow will all increase your Pokemon's condition, meaning they'll earn an additional heart for each appeal round, and helps prevent nervousness, which means they'll be more likely to appeal successfully. Explosion, Self-Destruct, Memento, and Destiny Bond are interesting moves in that they have a huge payout at a whopping base eight hearts, but the user cannot make any appeals after using them, meaning they're best saved for the last round of appeals.

While there are countless possibilities when it comes to the Pokemon you enter in a Pokemon Contest, here are a few examples of some setups that you can use to get your feet wet. Spaces marked with a "-" mean that the moveslot is flexible


PokemonSpriteContest TypeMove 1Move 2Move 3Move 4Notes
Smeargle:rs/smeargle:AnyAnyAnyAnyAnyAs Smeargle can learn any move via sketch, it's naturally the optimal pick for Pokemon Contests.
Torkoal:rs/torkoal:BeautySunny DayFlamethrowerOverheat-Use Sunny Day + Flamethrower for appeals 1-4 almost always, Overheat to score big hearts on appeal 5.
Dodrio:rs/Dodrio:CoolPeckDrill PeckRage-Peck + Drill Peck for a simple combo of highly appealing moves. Rage can be used repeatedly without boring the judge.
Barboach:rs/barboach:CuteMud SportWater GunWater SportMud-SlapCan get by on Mud Sport + Water Sport or Water Gun, Mud-Slap if startling foes is needed but it does combo with Mud Sport as well.
Gardevoir:rs/gardevoir:SmartCalm MindFuture SightConfusion-Smart category has no highly appealing moves, but Calm Mind is nice to avoid startling. Future Sight brings in the most hearts and is useful for controlling the audience.
Aggron:rs/aggron:ToughHardenTackleDouble-Edge-Harden + Tackle is a simple combo that can be used throughout appeals 1-4. Use Double-Edge to grab 6 base hearts on appeal 5.

Conclusion
Pokemon Contests can definitely be hard to pick up, as getting a successful Pokemon together takes a lot of planning and preparation in advance. However, once you get the hang of it and explore different Pokemon, movesets, and difficulties, they can be quite infectious. Whether you're entering a Pokemon Contest for a specific ribbon or just playing for the fun of it, I hope you found this guide useful.

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Introduction
In Pokemon Ruby, Sapphire, and Emerald, Pokemon Contests were introduced as an alternative to directly battling opponents. All moves within the games are given a contest type, one of Beauty, Cool, Cute, Smart, or Tough, which matches the corresponding corresponds to the contest categories. Additionally, there are four ranks of Pokemon Contests: Normal, Super, Hyper, and Master. In Ruby and Sapphire, these contest halls can be found in Verdanturf Town, Fallarbor Town, Slateport City, and Lilycove City, respectively. In Pokemon Emerald, all four contest ranks are located in the contest hall in Lilycove City. To enter a Pokemon Contest, you must first receive a contest pass, which you can obtain upon your first time entering a Normal rank contest. You must start with a Normal rank contest. (this feels like it encapsulates the practical significance of this requirement, but correct me if i'm wrong)

Pokemon Contests consist of two phases, those being primary judging and secondary judging. Your Pokemon will be matched up against three NPCs' Pokemon and will compete for the first place ribbon. (how many of the total points are determined by primary judging, and how many by secondary judging? to ask another way, which phase is more important for winning, if one is, and by how much?) Ribbons exist for all 5 contest types and all 4 ranks, for a grand total of 20 possible ribbons earned.

A few notes before we get started: this guide will assume you have access to the entire map of the Hoenn region, though beating the Champion is not necessary. Additionally, this guide will assume that you are only playing a single cartridge of the games, so Pokemon exclusively from Fire Red, Leaf Green, Colosseum, and XD will not be mentioned, nor will any Pokemon that are only obtainable by trading, (AC) such as Alakazam and Kingdra.

Primary Judging
Condition and Sheen
Primary Judging consists of your Pokemon being judged by the audience on two factors: primarily its condition, but also its sheen. You can improve your Pokemon's condition by feeding it PokeBlocks. PokeBlocks can be created with NPCs in the foyer of any contest hall with NPCs or with an additional player via a Link Cable. The types of berries Berries you should use to make your PokeBlocks depend on which contest you're preparing for, which can be seen in the following table. You can check the color and flavor of a given Berry by viewing its tag in the Bag.

Contest TypeBerry ColorBerry Flavor
BeautyBlueDry
CoolRedSpicy
CutePinkSweet
SmartGreenBitter
ToughYellowSour

Additionally, Natures natures have an effect on the growth rate of a Pokemon's contest condition. (I think a bit more clarity on how contest conditions work could help. can you max them all, or are they limited like EVs? is there an "over time" element like EVs and stats, or can you just do everything right before the contest and be fine? i hope what i generally mean makes sense - there's lots of room for varying additions) A list of the positive and negative growth rates can be seen in the following table. Neutral natures do not speed up or slow down the growth rate of any contest condition and as such, condition, so they won't be mentioned. (added line break under)

NaturePositive ConditionNegative Condition
LonelyCoolTough
BraveCoolCute
AdamantCoolBeauty
NaughtyCoolSmart
BoldToughCool
ImpishToughBeauty
RelaxedToughCute
LaxToughSmart
TimidCuteCool
HastyCuteTough
JollyCuteBeauty
NaiveCuteSmart
ModestBeautyCool
MildBeautyTough
RashBeautySmart
QuietBeautyCute
CalmSmartCool
GentleSmartTough
CarefulSmartBeauty
SassySmartSmart

While the Pokemon's primary condition is the main factor when scoring Primary Judging, secondary condition conditions and sheen also influence the score. A list of secondary conditions can be found in the following table. Sheen is a value that ranges from 0 to 255, and it is entirely dependent on the PokeBlocks that Pokemon has eaten, equivalent to the combined (I imagine?) value of the PokeBlock's PokeBlocks' (I imagine?) smoothness or hardness. (I imagine this is ok?) A Pokemon cannot be fed more PokeBlocks once it has a 255 Sheen stat, meaning it's best to feed a Pokemon smooth PokeBlocks if you plan on entering it in multiple contest categories to get as many ribbons as possible. (I don't understand why smooth pokeblocks are better for multiple contest categories. in fact, since more smoothness gets you closer to the 255 Sheen cap (I assume), my first guess is that using smoother pokeblocks would be a disadvantage. some clarification would be appreciated) Sheen is also permanent, so be mindful when it comes to finding your Pokemon the appropriate PokeBlocks!
Contest TypePrimary ConditionSecondary Condition
BeautyBeautyCool, Cute
CoolCoolBeauty, Tough
CuteCuteBeauty, Smart
SmartSmartCute, Tough
ToughToughCool, Smart

A Pokemon's condition and sheen can be checked in the PokeNav. For condition, how far toward each of the 5 contest types it goes represents how close it is to a maxed out condition, Condition is shown in the radar chart with the 5 contest types, whereas sheen can be measured by the amount of stars that appear on your Pokemon's sprite, with 1 being the lowest and 10 being the highest possible sheen.

The player can also give their Pokemon colored scarves to boost their scores in the primary judging phase. To get these, show the Pokemon Fan Club President a Pokemon with at least a 200 value in the corresponding condition of condition corresponding to the scarf (refer to the first table's Berry colors to see what color goes with what type of condition). They are obtainable in all of Ruby, Sapphire, and Emerald.

The Berry Master and His Wife

On Route 123, the player can talk to the Berry Master daily to get two random berries Berries for free. The player can also talk to the Berry Master's Wife using special phrases to unlock rare berries, Berries, which are especially useful for making PokeBlocks. If you have access to the Emerald cloning glitch, it is very helpful helpful, allowing you to get multiple copies of these berries Berries with ease. Some of the key words keywords in these phrases can only be unlocked after certain in-game events have occurred.

BerryBerry ColorPhraseHow to Unlock
Spelon BerryPurple (+3 Red / Cool, +1 Blue / Beauty)GREAT BATTLENo requesite pre-requisite
Pamtre BerryIndigo (+3 Blue / Beauty, +1 Pink / Cute)CHALLENGE CONTESTEnter the Hall of Fame
Watmel BerryGold (+3 Pink / Cute, +1 Green / Smart)OVERWHELMING LATIASEncounter Latias
Durin BerryLiteBlue (+3 Green / Smart, +1 Yellow / Tough)COOL LATIOSEncounter Latios
Belue BerryOlive (+3 Yellow / Tough, +1 Red / Cool)SUPER HUSTLEEnter the Hall of Fame

Blend Master

Only in Pokemon Emerald, (AC) after beating the Hall of Fame, Champion, the Blend Master will occasionally appear at the Lilycove Contest Hall. He uses very high quality berries Berries and blends at a high RPM, is perfect at the blending minigame, (think this makes more sense to anunfamiliar audience) resulting in efficient, smooth, (I imagine?) high-quality (added hyphen) PokeBlocks, a great help for increasing a Pokemon's condition. His presence will be announced on TV, making it easier to know when he's arrived. (removed extra line break under)

Secondary Judging
Basic Strategy

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Secondary Judging consists of In Secondary Judging, your Pokemon and its three fellow competitors making an appeal make appeals to the audience and the judge based on a particular move selection by using particular moves for five turns, making up the bulk of the competition. Pokemon earn hearts to fill their heart meter in this stage, with said meter ranging from 0 to 16 hearts. These hearts are used for scoring. (bulba says you can go beyond 16, but they won't display. if this is true, it feels worth mentioning.) The audience also has a meter that their own meter, which goes up to 5 points and increases by 1 for each time a Pokemon uses a move with the same contest type as the designated competition variety; additionally, when a Pokemon's move shares its contest type with the given Contest; when a Pokemon maxes out the contest audience meter, when it uses a move with the right contest type, it will gain an additional 5 hearts instead of just 1. (I imagine?)

In addition to their specific contest typing, moves in Pokemon Contests have two additional also have two stat categories: appeal and jam. The appeal category stat is how many hearts the Pokemon earns directly from judging, while the jam category stat is how many hearts a move can remove from by startling the Pokemon that appeal appealed before it. For example, Bubble, which has an appeal of 2 and a jam of 2, would cause the user to earn 2 hearts, while also as well as removing 2 hearts from any Pokemon that went before it in that round. An important note: moves should not be repeated unless their description says they can repeat without tiring the audience, as doing so otherwise will cause your Pokemon to lose 2 hearts.

With all that being said, this leaves there is a very simple goal for secondary judging: getting as many hearts as possible while minimizing the hearts your foes earn. This is much easier said than done, however, as doing so effectively requires well thought out it requires well-thought-out planning and a little bit of luck. The easiest way to plan in advance is to include combos specific Move Combinations in your Pokemon's moveset, as they maximize the possibility of getting the chance to score scoring a lot of hearts from the judge. We'll be going down the list of all 5 categories and covering some easy-to-use combos combinations to teach your Pokemon.

Move Combinations and Moveset Strategy
***************************************************
Certain moves form combinations when used in Pokemon Contests. Effectively, a combination move used on turn 1 one turn will double the hearts earned on turn 2, extra hearts notwithstanding, if the moves are recognized as a combination. by its pair move the next turn. The exception to this is if the Pokemon is startled by the move Flash in between turns 1 and 2, these turns, which resets the combination. Some good examples of useful and accessible combinations will be listed, by category, in the tables below. Do note that moves marked with an asterisk (*) denote a move that is are not the same type as the designated contest type–therefore, they don't gain the extra heart, which is also doubled upon activating a combination, or raise the audience meter. (changeable, especially if something is wrong) A reminder that Also, both moves need to be explicitly used by your Pokemon. For example, a foe's Torkoal using Sunny Day does not mean your Blaziken will get a combination bonus for using Blaze Kick in the same round of appeals. Your Blaziken would have to use both moves itself in succession to get the combination bonus.

Beauty
Base MoveUseful Follow-Up (added hyphen) Moves
Sunny DayBlaze Kick, Ember, Fire Blast, Fire Punch, Flame Wheel, Flamethrower, Heat Wave, Sacred Fire, Overheat
HailBlizzard, Haze, Ice Ball, Powder Snow
Ice PunchFire Punch

As shown by the table, Sunny Day lends itself to a whole host of "highly appealing" moves, meaning that moves. Since all these moves have at least 4 appeal, they'll score a whopping eight hearts plus an audience reaction when followed up with effectively. meter raise, at least, once Sunny Day sets the stage. (changeable) Sunny Day itself isn't even a bad base move, as it can score big points in the later rounds if the timing allows it to greet an excited audience. Overheat is the standout option, as it can score six hearts by itself, making giving it the highest possible point yield when paired with supported by Sunny Day, though the user must be careful to avoid getting startled by its fellow competitors.

The great thing about this combination is that there are Sunny Day combinations is that a variety of Pokemon that can make use of it can use them thanks to the wide distribution of Sunny Day, Fire Blast, Fire Punch, and Flamethrower. This list includes Fire-types like Blaziken, Torkoal, and Camerupt, as well as non-Fire-types (added first hyphen) such as Salamence and Flygon.

Hail combinations have a similar setup to Sunny Day combinations, ones, albeit with a slightly smaller narrower distribution. Blizzard and Powder Snow are the highly appealing moves that offer general consistency, while Haze worsens the condition of the all Pokemon that went before the user–negating a boost from moves such as Dragon Dance–and (if "any boosts" is more accurate than what I put, that should be used instead) Ice Ball can momentarily stop the audience's meter from rising.

A nice benefit to the Hail setup is that, (AC) unlike Sunny Day, there are Pokemon available within the Hoenn region in Hoenn that learn Hail as well as at least one combo move by level up, and at least one pair move by level, including Castform, Glalie, and Walrein. The gift Castform from the Weather Institute comes knowing both Hail and Powder Snow, for instance, making it available for contest use as soon as you acquire it.

The Ice Punch and Fire Punch combination is mainly a technique one that Pokemon can take advantage of in Emerald version due to its move tutors (though Medicham is available in Ruby and Sapphire and can legally learn both attacks). The two moves are both highly appealing, making them very safe to use with little risk involved. Of course, the overlap of Pokemon that learn Ice Punch and Fire Punch by tutor in Emerald is humongous, but some notable examples include Hariyama, Aggron, and Gardevoir.

Cool
Base MoveUseful Follow-Up (added hyphen) Moves
LeerHorn Attack, Tackle*, Scratch*
PeckDrill Peck
RageLeer, Thrash*

The most common setup you're going to find with Cool combo moves in Cool Contests is Leer + Tackle or Scratch, the former by Manectric, Gyarados, Heracross, and Mightyena, while the latter is learned by Absol, Zangoose, and Sableye. Leer + Horn Attack has the benefit of both moves being having the Cool type, but this is only learned by Heracross in Ruby and Sapphire (and Smeargle in Emerald).

Peck and Drill Peck is a great combination of two highly appealing moves for a select few Flying-types, those being Doduo, Dodrio, Natu, Xatu, and Skarmory. Unfortunately, that is the extent of the combination's distribution.

The Rage combo combination moves are also an option, with Rage both finishers being learned by Salamence, Sharpedo, their pre-evolutions, and Gyarados in both cases of Leer and Thrash. Leer stops the crowd from getting excited, while Thrash has tremendous appeal but prevents the user from moving for a turn, making it most effective on the 5th (last) round of judging.

Cute
Base MoveUseful Follow-Up (added hyphen) Moves
Mud SportMud-Slap, Water Sport, Water Gun
RestSleep Talk, Snore

Mud Sport and Mud-Slap are + Mud-Slap is a widely accessible and useful combination of moves, with Mud Sport acting as a highly appealing move having high appeal and Mud-Slap startling the Pokemon in the lead to reduce the amount number of hearts they earned. However, if you're after more consistency alongside Mud Sport, Water Gun and Water Sport are also highly appealing. This is Mud Sport combinations are good for Pokemon like Golem, Armaldo, Sceptile, Milotic, Swampert, and Whiscash.

However, if you're after even more accessibility, then the combination of Rest and Sleep Talk is for you. Note that Sleep Talk is only available as an Emerald move tutor for everything but the Exploud Line, line, but if that's an option for you, then you should have no trouble cruising through cute Cute contests. Rest makes the user immune to being startled, Sleep Talk can be used repeatedly without boring the judge, and the less common Snore is simply a highly appealing move, useful for scoring more hearts on the appeals.

Smart
Base MoveUseful Follow-Up (added hyphen) Moves
Calm MindConfusion, Dream Eater, Future Sight, Psychic

Smart moves are often more about jamming startling your rivals than scoring big hearts, which is why effective combos pairings are so few. However, most Psychic-types can take advantage of this combo combination in some form, likely Calm Mind + Psychic if nothing else, though Psychic is a move geared more towards taking away removing your opponent's hearts rather than winning big yourself. Calm Mind is a very useful move to temporarily avoid being startled.

Tough
Base MoveUseful Follow-Up (added hyphen) Moves
HardenDouble-Edge, Rollout, Tackle, Take Down
Rain DanceClamp, Crabhammer, Thunder, Waterfall, Weather Ball

Harden + Tackle is a very safe and common strategy, starting off by first protecting the user from being startled and then earning your share of hearts with a highly appealing move. Rollout can stop the crowd from being excited, audience's reaction meter from rising, which is good for manipulating the audience's reaction meter. it. Take Down and Double-Edge both can score lots of hearts but make the user very susceptible to being startled, making it them best to use at the very end. This is Harden combinations are good for Pokemon like Aggron, Claydol, and Relicanth.

The Rain Dance + Waterfall or Thunder combo combination works very well for most Water- or Electric-types, with Thunder being great for startling those that made appeals prior. Clamp, Crabhammer, and Weather Ball are single-use cases for great but limited to (unless you mean you should only use the moves once per contest) the Clamperl line, the Corphish line, and Castform lines, respectively.

Jam Moves
While the objective during secondary judging is to earn as many hearts as possible during your appeal, sometimes it can be useful to reduce remove some of the hearts the opposing Pokemon have earned, which is especially useful if you're going last–potentially letting you punish all foes in one swoop–or if (I imagine the between-dashes part makes sense?) you predict a specific opponent to have a very (I imagine?) successful appeal round. This is where the jam stat of contest moves comes into play, as these moves moves with 1 or more jam will startle their targets and cause them to lose heart(s). A list of jam moves, as well as their contest type and effects, are listed is provided in the table below. (is it worth listing every one of these? maybe some particularly notable ones being listed would be more effective?)

Move(s)Contest TypeJamEffect
Petal Dance, Blast Burn, Hydro CannonBeauty4Jams the others, and misses one turn of appeals.
Hail, Icy Wind, Bubblebeam, Lovely Kiss, SporeBeauty3Badly startles those that have made appeals.
Aurora Beam, Ice Beam, Icicle SpearBeauty1Startles Pokemon that made a same-type appeal. (Type refers to contest type, not move type, in this context.) (I assume?) (such clarifications could also be done below the table if you wanted)
Sheer Cold, Perish SongBeauty1Badly startles all Pokemon that made good appeals.
Will-O-WispBeauty4Badly startles the Pokemon in front.
Tri AttackBeauty2Startles all Pokemon that have done their appeals.
Cotton SporeBeauty1Startles the Pokemon that has the Judge's attention.
Air Cutter, Dragon Claw, Sky UppercutCool1Startles Pokemon that made a same-type appeal.
Brick Break, Crush Claw, Dizzy Punch, Extrasensory, Hyper Fang, Iron Tail, SparkCool4Badly startles the Pokemon in front.
Bullet Seed, Cut, Guillotine, Horn Drill, Stun Spore, Thunder WaveCool1Badly startles all Pokemon that made good appeals. (if possible, could "good appeals" be clarified somewhere, for this and for fissure/sfang and sheer cold/perish song)
DragonBreath, False Swipe, Rolling KickCool3Badly startles those that have made appeals.
DynamicPunch, Fury Attack, Spike Cannon, Pin MissileCool1Startles the Pokemon that has the Judge's attention. (likewise could this be clarified somewhere)
Focus EnergyCool3Badly startles those that have made appeals earlier in the same turn.
Frenzy Plant, Hyper Beam, OutrageCool4Jams the others, and misses one turn of appeals.
ThunderCool2Startles all Pokemon that have done their appeals.
TwineedleCool3Startles the Pokemon that appealed before the user.
BubbleCute2Startles all Pokemon that have done their appeals.
Charm, Fake OutCute1Startles Pokemon that made a same-type appeal.
Mud Shot, Sweet ScentCute3Badly startles those that have made appeals.
Sand-AttackCute1Startles the Pokemon that has the Judge's attention.
Teeter DanceCute4Jams the others, and misses one turn of appeals.
Absorb, Astonish, Confusion, Leech Life, Luster Purge, Poison Sting, SmellingSalt, String ShotSmart3Startles the Pokemon that appealed before the user.
Acid, Knock Off, Mega Drain, Mist Ball, Needle Arm, Pain SplitSmart4Badly startles the Pokemon in front.
Beat Up, Psywave, Pursuit, Snatch (RC)Smart1Badly startles all Pokemon that made good appeals.
Dream Eater, Leech SeedSmart2Startles all Pokemon that have done their appeals.
Giga DrainSmart1Startles the Pokemon that has the Judge's attention.
GrassWhistle, Hypnosis, Metal Sound, Nightmare, Psychic, Screech, Sleep PowderSmart3Badly startles those that have made appeals.
Night Shade, RecoverSmart1Startles Pokemon that made a same-type appeal.
Arm Thrust, Bone Club, DoubleSlap, Fury Swipes, Scary Face, Muddy Water, Octazooka, Sludge BombTough1Startles the Pokemon that has the Judge's attention.
Bite, SmogTough3Badly startles those that have made appeals.
Body Slam, Crunch, Lick, Low Kick, Skull Bash, Sludge, StompTough4Badly startles the Pokemon in front.
Constrict, HeadbuttTough3Startles the Pokemon that appealed before the user.
Earthquake, Glare, Rock SlideTough3Badly startles those that have made appeals.
Fissure, Super FangTough1Badly startles all Pokemon that made good appeals.
Seismic Toss, Slam, StrengthTough1Startles Pokemon that made a same-type appeal.
ThrashTough4Jams the others, and misses one turn of appeals.

There are moves that make your Pokemon immune to being startled. Teleport, Light Screen, Reflect, and Protect will keep your Pokemon safe from being startled for the duration of secondary judging, entire round, (I imagine?) while Double Team, Dive, Rest, Defense Curl, Calm Mind, Counter, Detect, Mirror Coat, Endure, Harden, and Stockpile offer one-time protection. Conversely, Double-Edge, Take Down, Overheat, Psycho Boost, Superpower, and Volt Tackle will make your Pokemon more susceptible to being startled, meaning they'll lose even more hearts. (an exact multiplier or number here would be epic if possible)

Other Moves
Of course, the list of moves we've discussed thus far is not a catch-all. One potential strategy when it comes to designing for your Pokemon's moveset is including a move that isn't the same type as the designated contest, such as a Beauty move in a Cool competition. The usefulness in this lies in the fact that you have the your newfound ability to manipulate the audience meter to an extent, instead of not always being forced to raise the counter by one, which may potentially leave an untimely foe maxing out the meter. However, not all moves can be ran efficiently in all contests. The table below covers which moves will work well in which contests.

Contest TypePrimary Type (+1 Heart)Secondary Type (+-0 Hearts)Negative Type (-1 Heart)
BeautyBeautyCool, CuteSmart, Tough
CoolCoolBeauty, ToughCute, Smart
CuteCuteBeauty, SmartCool, Tough
SmartSmartCute, ToughBeauty, Cool
ToughToughCool, SmartBeauty, Cute

Additionally, Dragon Dance, Growth, Swords Dance, Belly Drum, Refresh, Meditate, and Swallow will all increase your Pokemon's condition, meaning they'll earn an additional heart for each subsequent (I imagine?) appeal round, and helps help prevent nervousness, which means they'll be more likely to appeal successfully. nervousness–an effect from moves like Sing that can prevent Pokemon from appealing successfully. Explosion, Self-Destruct, Memento, and Destiny Bond are interesting moves in that they have a huge payout at a whopping base eight hearts, but the user cannot make any appeals after using them, meaning they're best saved for the last round of appeals.

While there are countless possibilities when it comes to the Pokemon you enter in a Pokemon Contest, here are a few examples of some setups that you can use to get your feet wet. Spaces marked with a "-" mean that the moveslot is flexible. (added period and removed extra line break under)

PokemonSpriteContest TypeMove 1Move 2Move 3Move 4Notes
Smeargle:rs/smeargle:AnyAnyAnyAnyAnyAs Smeargle can learn any move via sketch, Sketch, it's naturally the optimal pick for Pokemon Contests. However, it can only be caught in Emerald. (I imagine?)
Torkoal:rs/torkoal:BeautySunny DayFlamethrowerOverheat-Use Sunny Day + Flamethrower for appeals 1-4 almost always, and use Overheat to score big hearts on appeal 5.
Dodrio:rs/Dodrio:CoolPeckDrill PeckRage-Peck + Drill Peck for is a simple combo combination of highly appealing moves. Rage can be used repeatedly without boring the judge.
Barboach:rs/barboach:CuteMud SportWater GunWater SportMud-SlapBarboach can get by on Mud Sport + Water Sport or Water Gun, Gun. Primarily use Mud-Slap if startling foes is needed, (AC) but it does combo form a combination with Mud Sport as well.
Gardevoir:rs/gardevoir:SmartCalm MindFuture SightConfusion-The Smart category has no highly appealing moves, but Calm Mind is nice to avoid startling. Future Sight brings in the most hearts and is useful for controlling the audience.
Aggron:rs/aggron:ToughHardenTackleDouble-Edge-Harden + Tackle is a simple combo combination that can be used throughout appeals 1-4. Use Double-Edge to grab 6 base hearts on appeal 5.

Conclusion
Pokemon Contests can definitely be hard to pick up, as getting a successful Pokemon together takes a lot of planning and preparation in advance. However, once you get the hang of it and explore different Pokemon, movesets, and difficulties, they can be quite infectious. Whether you're entering a Pokemon Contest for a specific ribbon or just playing for the fun of it, I hope you found this guide useful.
 
Last edited:

Adeleine

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this check is ready to implement. i'll wait just a bit to stamp because there were a lot of content comments and id want to briefly check implementation of them
 

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this check is ready to implement. i'll wait just a bit to stamp because there were a lot of content comments and id want to briefly check implementation of them
Implemented, ty! Will reply to some of your larger comments here (tho all have been acknowledged), having spoken with the QCers again.

(how many of the total points are determined by primary judging, and how many by secondary judging? to ask another way, which phase is more important for winning, if one is, and by how much?)
General consensus is that the first round gives you more wiggle room for the second, which has been reflected. The exact number of points is getting into the weeds, and is not easily verifiable since these aren't numbers the players can see (nor simple math). The relative weight of the two rounds also changes with each contest level, so it's too much to capture concisely.

I think a bit more clarity on how contest conditions work could help. can you max them all, or are they limited like EVs? is there an "over time" element like EVs and stats, or can you just do everything right before the contest and be fine? i hope what i generally mean makes sense - there's lots of room for varying additions)
Addressed in the first paragraph in the section by saying that you can theoretically max each condition ahead of time. Also pointed out the nature effects are analogous to their stat counterparts.

(is it worth listing every one of these? maybe some particularly notable ones being listed would be more effective?)
There's value in having all, and the work is already done so will keep it as is. The effect column corresponds to the in game text (same-type, good appeal) / mechanics (judges attention; which becomes self evident as you do contests), which is admittedly vague in parts. Given all of the others reflect their in-game text, would like to keep it as is for the effects, tho they have been clarified where possible.
 

Adeleine

after committing a dangerous crime
is a Top Social Media Contributoris a Community Contributoris a Smogon Discord Contributoris a Top Contributoris a Smogon Media Contributoris a Battle Simulator Moderator Alumnus
Implemented, ty! Will reply to some of your larger comments here (tho all have been acknowledged), having spoken with the QCers again.


General consensus is that the first round gives you more wiggle room for the second, which has been reflected. The exact number of points is getting into the weeds, and is not easily verifiable since these aren't numbers the players can see (nor simple math). The relative weight of the two rounds also changes with each contest level, so it's too much to capture concisely.
gotcha. maybe a brief comment wherever to the effect of the latter two sentences could help, since other outsiders to contests could otherwise end up with the same misunderstanding i did, but yeah i totally get if that's not possible to capture concisely


Addressed in the first paragraph in the section by saying that you can theoretically max each condition ahead of time. Also pointed out the nature effects are analogous to their stat counterparts.
You can improve your Pokemon's condition by feeding it PokeBlocks of the corresponding type/color. Each condition type maxes out at 255; however, while it is theoretically possible to maximize each condition in preparation for the contests, Pokemon cannot be fed any more Pokeblocks once it reaches max they reach maximum sheen.
your adds help a ton, thanks!! (and no changes for the other add)

There's value in having all, and the work is already done so will keep it as is. The effect column corresponds to the in game text (same-type, good appeal) / mechanics (judges attention; which becomes self evident as you do contests), which is admittedly vague in parts. Given all of the others reflect their in-game text, would like to keep it as is for the effects, tho they have been clarified where possible.
:blobthumbsup:

Adeleine-1.gif
GP Team done
 

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preview (I think)
code
Code:
[title]
RSE Contest Guide

[head]
<meta name="description" content="A guide to winning contests in Gen 3, thanks to zee" />

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[page]
<div class="author">By <a href="/forums/members/zee.501951/">zee</a>.</div>
<!--HTML generated using shiny finder's script: https://shinyfinder.github.io/BBtoHTML/-->

<ul class="toc">
<li><a href="#introduction">Introduction</a></li>
<li><a href="#primary-judging">Primary Judging</a>
    <ul>
        <li><a href="#condition-and-sheen">Condition and Sheen</a></li>
        <li><a href="#the-berry-master-and-his-wife">The Berry Master and His Wife</a></li>
        <li><a href="#blend-master">Blend Master</a></li>
    </ul>
</li>
<li><a href="#secondary-judging">Secondary Judging</a>
    <ul>
        <li><a href="#basic-strategy">Basic Strategy</a></li>
        <li><a href="#move-combinations-and-moveset-strategy">Move Combinations and Moveset Strategy</a>
            <ul>
                <li><a href="#beauty">Beauty</a></li>
                <li><a href="#cool">Cool</a></li>
                <li><a href="#cute">Cute</a></li>
                <li><a href="#smart">Smart</a></li>
                <li><a href="#tough">Tough</a></li>
                <li><a href="#jam-moves">Jam Moves</a></li>
                <li><a href="#other-moves">Other Moves</a></li>
            </ul>
        </li>
    </ul>
</li>
<li><a href="#conclusion">Conclusion</a></li>
</ul>

<h2 id="introduction">Introduction</h2>

<p>In Pok&eacute;mon Ruby, Sapphire, and Emerald, Pok&eacute;mon Contests were introduced as an alternative to directly battling opponents. All moves within the games are given a contest type, one of Beauty, Cool, Cute, Smart, or Tough, which corresponds to contest categories. Additionally, there are four ranks of Pok&eacute;mon Contests: Normal, Super, Hyper, and Master. In Ruby and Sapphire, these contest halls can be found in Verdanturf Town, Fallarbor Town, Slateport City, and Lilycove City, respectively. In Pok&eacute;mon Emerald, all four contest ranks are located in the contest hall in Lilycove City. You must start with a Normal rank contest.</p>

<p>Pok&eacute;mon Contests consist of two phases, those being primary judging and secondary judging. Your Pok&eacute;mon will be matched up against three NPCs' Pok&eacute;mon and will compete for the first place ribbon. While doing well in the first phase will give you a lot more leeway during the second phase, the second phase becomes more important as your rise through the contest ranks. How well your Pok&eacute;mon performs in each phase can make or break your chances of winning, so it's important to do as best as you can in the two phases. Ribbons exist for all 5 contest types and all 4 ranks, for a grand total of 20 possible ribbons earned.</p>

<p>A few notes before we get started: this guide will assume you have access to the entire map of the Hoenn region, though beating the Champion is not necessary. Additionally, this guide will assume that you are only playing a single cartridge of the games, so Pok&eacute;mon exclusively from Fire Red, Leaf Green, Colosseum, and XD will not be mentioned, nor will any Pok&eacute;mon that are only obtainable by trading, such as Alakazam and Kingdra.</p>

<h2 id="primary-judging">Primary Judging</h2>

<h3 id="condition-and-sheen">Condition and Sheen</h3>

<p>Primary Judging consists of your Pok&eacute;mon being judged by the audience on two factors: primarily its condition, but also its sheen. You can improve your Pok&eacute;mon's condition by feeding it Pok&eacute;Blocks of the corresponding type/color. Each condition type maxes out at 255; however, while it is theoretically possible to max each condition in preparation for the contests, Pok&eacute;mon cannot be fed any more Pok&eacute;blocks once it reaches max sheen.</p>

<p>Pok&eacute;Blocks can be created with NPCs in the foyer of any contest hall or with an additional player via a Link Cable. The types of Berries you should use to make your Pok&eacute;Blocks depend on which contest you're preparing for, which can be seen in the following table. You can check the color and flavor of a given Berry by viewing its tag in the Bag.</p>

<table class="contestTable">

<tr>

<th>Contest Type</th>

<th>Berry Color</th>

<th>Berry Flavor</th>

</tr>

<tr>

<td>Beauty</td>

<td>Blue</td>

<td>Dry</td>

</tr>

<tr>

<td>Cool</td>

<td>Red</td>

<td>Spicy</td>

</tr>

<tr>

<td>Cute</td>

<td>Pink</td>

<td>Sweet</td>

</tr>

<tr>

<td>Smart</td>

<td>Green</td>

<td>Bitter</td>

</tr>

<tr>

<td>Tough</td>

<td>Yellow</td>

<td>Sour</td>

</tr>

</table>

<p>Additionally, natures have an effect on the growth rate of a Pok&eacute;mon's contest condition, analogous to their effects on stats. A list of the positive and negative growth rates can be seen in the following table. Neutral natures do not speed up or slow down the growth rate of any contest condition, so they won't be mentioned.</p>

<table class="contestTable">

<tr>

<th>Nature</th>

<th>Positive Condition</th>

<th>Negative Condition</th>

</tr>

<tr>

<td>Lonely</td>

<td>Cool</td>

<td>Tough</td>

</tr>

<tr>

<td>Brave</td>

<td>Cool</td>

<td>Cute</td>

</tr>

<tr>

<td>Adamant</td>

<td>Cool</td>

<td>Beauty</td>

</tr>

<tr>

<td>Naughty</td>

<td>Cool</td>

<td>Smart</td>

</tr>

<tr>

<td>Bold</td>

<td>Tough</td>

<td>Cool</td>

</tr>

<tr>

<td>Impish</td>

<td>Tough</td>

<td>Beauty</td>

</tr>

<tr>

<td>Relaxed</td>

<td>Tough</td>

<td>Cute</td>

</tr>

<tr>

<td>Lax</td>

<td>Tough</td>

<td>Smart</td>

</tr>

<tr>

<td>Timid</td>

<td>Cute</td>

<td>Cool</td>

</tr>

<tr>

<td>Hasty</td>

<td>Cute</td>

<td>Tough</td>

</tr>

<tr>

<td>Jolly</td>

<td>Cute</td>

<td>Beauty</td>

</tr>

<tr>

<td>Naive</td>

<td>Cute</td>

<td>Smart</td>

</tr>

<tr>

<td>Modest</td>

<td>Beauty</td>

<td>Cool</td>

</tr>

<tr>

<td>Mild</td>

<td>Beauty</td>

<td>Tough</td>

</tr>

<tr>

<td>Rash</td>

<td>Beauty</td>

<td>Smart</td>

</tr>

<tr>

<td>Quiet</td>

<td>Beauty</td>

<td>Cute</td>

</tr>

<tr>

<td>Calm</td>

<td>Smart</td>

<td>Cool</td>

</tr>

<tr>

<td>Gentle</td>

<td>Smart</td>

<td>Tough</td>

</tr>

<tr>

<td>Careful</td>

<td>Smart</td>

<td>Beauty</td>

</tr>

<tr>

<td>Sassy</td>

<td>Smart</td>

<td>Smart</td>

</tr>

</table>

<p>While the Pok&eacute;mon's primary condition is the main factor when scoring Primary Judging, secondary conditions and sheen also influence the score. A list of secondary conditions can be found in the following table. Sheen is a value that ranges from 0 to 255, and it is entirely dependent on the Pok&eacute;Blocks that Pok&eacute;mon has eaten, equivalent to the cumulative sum of the Pok&eacute;Blocks' feel. A Pok&eacute;mon cannot be fed more Pok&eacute;Blocks once it has a 255 sheen stat, meaning it's best to feed a Pok&eacute;mon Pok&eacute;Blocks with a high level and low feel if you plan on entering it in multiple contest categories to get as many ribbons as possible. Sheen is also permanent, so be mindful when it comes to finding your Pok&eacute;mon the appropriate Pok&eacute;Blocks!</p>

<table class="contestTable">

<tr>

<th>Contest Type</th>

<th>Primary Condition</th>

<th>Secondary Condition</th>

</tr>

<tr>

<td>Beauty</td>

<td>Beauty</td>

<td>Cool, Cute</td>

</tr>

<tr>

<td>Cool</td>

<td>Cool</td>

<td>Beauty, Tough</td>

</tr>

<tr>

<td>Cute</td>

<td>Cute</td>

<td>Beauty, Smart</td>

</tr>

<tr>

<td>Smart</td>

<td>Smart</td>

<td>Cute, Tough</td>

</tr>

<tr>

<td>Tough</td>

<td>Tough</td>

<td>Cool, Smart</td>

</tr>

</table>

<p>A Pok&eacute;mon's condition and sheen can be checked in the Pok&eacute;Nav. Condition is shown in the radar chart with the 5 contest types (with the level corresponding to how far that branch extends), whereas sheen can be measured by the amount of stars that appear on your Pok&eacute;mon's sprite, with 1 being the lowest and 10 being the highest possible sheen.</p>

<p>The player can also give their Pok&eacute;mon colored scarves to boost their scores in the primary judging phase. To get these, show the Pok&eacute;mon Fan Club President a Pok&eacute;mon with at least a 200 value in the condition corresponding to the scarf (refer to the first table's Berry colors to see what color goes with what type of condition). They are obtainable in all of Ruby, Sapphire, and Emerald.</p>

<h3 id="the-berry-master-and-his-wife">The Berry Master and His Wife</h3>

<p>On Route 123, the player can talk to the Berry Master daily to get two random Berries for free. The player can also talk to the Berry Master's Wife using special phrases to unlock rare Berries, which are especially useful for making Pok&eacute;Blocks. If you have access to the Emerald cloning glitch, it is very helpful, allowing you to get multiple copies of these Berries with ease. Some of the keywords in these phrases can only be unlocked after certain in-game events have occurred.</p>

<table class="contestTable">

<tr>

<th>Berry</th>

<th>Berry Color</th>

<th>Phrase</th>

<th>How to Unlock</th>

</tr>

<tr>

<td>Spelon Berry</td>

<td>Purple (+3 Red / Cool, +1 Blue / Beauty)</td>

<td>GREAT BATTLE</td>

<td>No prerequisite</td>

</tr>

<tr>

<td>Pamtre Berry</td>

<td>Indigo (+3 Blue / Beauty, +1 Pink / Cute)</td>

<td>CHALLENGE CONTEST</td>

<td>Enter the Hall of Fame</td>

</tr>

<tr>

<td>Watmel Berry</td>

<td>Gold (+3 Pink/ Cute, +1 Green / Smart)</td>

<td>OVERWHELMING LATIAS</td>

<td>Encounter Latias</td>

</tr>

<tr>

<td>Durin Berry</td>

<td>LiteBlue (+3 Green / Smart, +1 Yellow / Tough)</td>

<td>COOL LATIOS</td>

<td>Encounter Latios</td>

</tr>

<tr>

<td>Belue Berry</td>

<td>Olive (+3 Yellow / Tough, +1 Red / Cool)</td>

<td>SUPER HUSTLE</td>

<td>Enter the Hall of Fame</td>

</tr>

</table>

<h3 id="blend-master">Blend Master</h3>

<p>Only in Pok&eacute;mon Emerald, after beating the Champion, the Blend Master will occasionally appear at the Lilycove Contest Hall. He uses very high quality Berries and blends at a high RPM (displayed during the blending process), which results in efficient, high-quality Pok&eacute;Blocks, a great help for increasing a Pok&eacute;mon's condition. His presence will be announced on TV, making it easier to know when he's arrived.</p>

<h2 id="secondary-judging">Secondary Judging</h2>

<h3 id="basic-strategy">Basic Strategy</h3>

<p>In Secondary Judging, your Pok&eacute;mon and its three competitors make an appeals to the audience and judge by using particular moves for five turns, making up the bulk of the competition. Pok&eacute;mon earn hearts to fill their heart meter in this stage, with said meter ranging from 0 to 16 hearts. These hearts are used for scoring. The audience also has their own meter, which goes up to 5 points and increases by 1 when a Pok&eacute;mon's move shares its contest type with the given Contest; when a Pok&eacute;mon maxes out the audience's meter, it will gain an additional 5 hearts instead of just 1.</p>

In addition to their specific contest typing, moves in Pok&eacute;mon Contests also have two stat categories<img src="/dex/media/sprites/xyicons/ appeal and jam. The appeal stat is how many hearts the Pok&eacute;mon earns directly from judging, while the jam stat is how many hearts a move can remove from the Pok&eacute;mon that appealed before it. For example, Bubble, which has an appeal of 2 and a jam of 2, would cause the user to earn 2 hearts, as well as removing 2 hearts from any Pok&eacute;mon that went before it in that round. An important note.png" alt=" appeal and jam. The appeal stat is how many hearts the Pok&eacute;mon earns directly from judging, while the jam stat is how many hearts a move can remove from the Pok&eacute;mon that appealed before it. For example, Bubble, which has an appeal of 2 and a jam of 2, would cause the user to earn 2 hearts, as well as removing 2 hearts from any Pok&eacute;mon that went before it in that round. An important note sprite" /> <p>moves should not be repeated unless their description says they can repeat without tiring the audience, as doing so otherwise will cause your Pok&eacute;mon to lose 2 hearts.</p>

<p>With all that being said, there is a very simple goal for secondary judging: getting as many hearts as possible while minimizing the hearts your foes earn. This is much easier said than done, however, as it requires well-thought-out planning and a little bit of luck. The easiest way to plan in advance is to include specific move combinations in your Pok&eacute;mon's moveset, as they maximize the possibility of scoring a lot of hearts from the judge. We'll be going down the list of all 5 categories and covering some easy-to-use combinations to teach your Pok&eacute;mon.</p>

<h3 id="move-combinations-and-moveset-strategy">Move Combinations and Moveset Strategy</h3>

<p>Certain moves form combinations when used in Pok&eacute;mon Contests. Effectively, a combination move used on turn 1 will double the hearts earned by its pair move the next turn. The exception to this is if the Pok&eacute;mon is startled by Flash in between these turns, which resets the combination. Some good examples of useful and accessible combinations will be listed, by category, in the tables below. Do note that moves marked with an asterisk (*) are not the same type as the designated contest type; therefore, they won't raise the audience meter. Also, both moves need to be explicitly used by <em>your </em>Pok&eacute;mon. For example, a foe's Torkoal using Sunny Day does not mean your Blaziken will get a combination bonus for using Blaze Kick in the same round of appeals. Your Blaziken would have to use both moves itself in succession to get the combination bonus.</p>

<h4 id="beauty">Beauty</h4>

<table class="contestTable">

<tr>

<th>Base Move</th>

<th>Useful Follow-Up Moves</th>

</tr>

<tr>

<td>Sunny Day</td>

<td>Blaze Kick, Ember, Fire Blast, Fire Punch, Flame Wheel, Flamethrower, Heat Wave, Sacred Fire, Overheat</td>

</tr>

<tr>

<td>Hail</td>

<td>Blizzard, Haze, Ice Ball, Powder Snow</td>

</tr>

<tr>

<td>Ice Punch</td>

<td>Fire Punch</td>

</tr>

</table>

<p>As shown by the table, Sunny Day lends itself to a whole host of "highly appealing" move combinations. Since all these follow-up moves have at least 4 appeal, they can score at least a whopping eight hearts plus raise the audience reaction meter. Sunny Day itself isn't even a bad base move, as it can score big points in the later rounds if the timing allows it to greet an excited audience. Overheat is the standout option, as it can score six hearts by itself, giving it the highest possible point yield when paired with Sunny Day, though the user must be careful to avoid getting startled by its fellow competitors.</p>

<p>The great thing about Sunny Day combination is that a variety of Pok&eacute;mon that can make use of them thanks to the wide distribution of Sunny Day, Fire Blast, Fire Punch, and Flamethrower. This list includes Fire-types like Blaziken, Torkoal, and Camerupt, as well as non-Fire-types such as Salamence and Flygon.</p>

<p>Hail combinations have a similar setup to Sunny Day ones, albeit with a slightly narrower distribution. Blizzard and Powder Snow are the highly appealing moves that offer general consistency, while Haze worsens the condition of all Pok&eacute;mon that went before the user–negating a boost from moves such as Dragon Dance –and Ice Ball can momentarily stop the audience's meter from rising.</p>

<p>A nice benefit to the Hail setup is that, unlike Sunny Day, there are Pok&eacute;mon available in Hoenn that learn Hail and at least one pair move by level, including Castform, Glalie, and Walrein. The gift Castform from the Weather Institute comes knowing both Hail and Powder Snow, for instance, making it available for contest use as soon as you acquire it.</p>

<p>The Ice Punch and Fire Punch combination is one that Pok&eacute;mon can take advantage of in Emerald due to its move tutors (though Medicham is available in Ruby and Sapphire and can legally learn both attacks). The two moves are both highly appealing, making them very safe to use with little risk involved. Of course, the overlap of Pok&eacute;mon that learn Ice Punch and Fire Punch by tutor in Emerald is humongous, but some notable examples include Hariyama, Aggron, and Gardevoir.</p>

<h4 id="cool">Cool</h4>

<table class="contestTable">

<tr>

<th>Base Move</th>

<th>Useful Follow-Up Moves</th>

</tr>

<tr>

<td>Leer</td>

<td>Horn Attack, Tackle*, Scratch*</td>

</tr>

<tr>

<td>Peck</td>

<td>Drill Peck</td>

</tr>

<tr>

<td>Rage</td>

<td>Leer, Thrash*</td>

</tr>

</table>

<p>The most common setup you're going to find in Cool contests is Leer + Tackle or Scratch, the former by Manectric, Gyarados, Heracross, and Mightyena, while the latter is learned by Absol, Zangoose, and Sableye. Leer + Horn Attack has the benefit of both moves having the Cool type, but this is only learned by Heracross in Ruby and Sapphire (and Smeargle in Emerald).</p>

<p>Peck and Drill Peck is a great combination of two highly appealing moves for a select few Flying-types, those being Doduo, Dodrio, Natu, Xatu, and Skarmory. Unfortunately, that is the extent of the combination's distribution.</p>

<p>The Rage combination moves are also an option, with both Rage finishers being learned by Salamence, Sharpedo, their pre-evolutions, and Gyarados. Leer stops the crowd from getting excited, while Thrash has tremendous appeal but prevents the user from moving for a turn, making it most effective on the 5th (last) round of judging.</p>

<h4 id="cute">Cute</h4>

<table class="contestTable">

<tr>

<th>Base Move</th>

<th>Useful Follow-Up Moves</th>

</tr>

<tr>

<td>Mud Sport</td>

<td>Mud-Slap, Water Sport, Water Gun</td>

</tr>

<tr>

<td>Rest</td>

<td>Sleep Talk, Snore</td>

</tr>

</table>

<p>Mud Sport + Mud-Slap are a widely accessible and useful combination of moves, with Mud Sport having high appeal and Mud-Slap startling the Pok&eacute;mon in the lead to reduce the number of hearts they earned. However, if you're after more consistency alongside Mud Sport, Water Gun and Water Sport are also highly appealing. Mud Sport combinations are good for Pok&eacute;mon like Golem, Armaldo, Sceptile, Milotic, Swampert, and Whiscash.</p>

<p>However, if you're after even more accessibility, then the combination of Rest and Sleep Talk is for you. Note that Sleep Talk is only available as an Emerald move tutor for everything but the Exploud line, but if that's an option for you, then you should have no trouble cruising through Cute contests. Rest makes the user immune to being startled, Sleep Talk can be used repeatedly without boring the judge, and the less common Snore is simply a highly appealing move.</p>

<h4 id="smart">Smart</h4>

<table class="contestTable">

<tr>

<th>Base Move</th>

<th>Useful Follow-Up Moves</th>

</tr>

<tr>

<td>Calm Mind</td>

<td>Confusion, Dream Eater, Future Sight, Psychic</td>

</tr>

</table>

<p>Smart moves are often more about jamming your rivals than scoring big hearts, which is why effective pairings are so few. However, most Psychic-types can take advantage of this combination in some form, likely Calm Mind + Psychic if nothing else, though Psychic is geared more towards removing your opponent's hearts rather than winning big yourself. Calm Mind is a very useful move to temporarily avoid being startled.</p>

<h4 id="tough">Tough</h4>

<table class="contestTable">

<tr>

<th>Base Move</th>

<th>Useful Follow-Up Moves</th>

</tr>

<tr>

<td>Harden</td>

<td>Double-Edge, Rollout, Tackle, Take Down</td>

</tr>

<tr>

<td>Rain Dance</td>

<td>Clamp, Crabhammer, Thunder, Waterfall, Weather Ball</td>

</tr>

</table>

<p>Harden + Tackle is a very safe and common strategy, first protecting the user from being startled and then earning your share of hearts with a highly appealing move. Rollout can stop the audience's reaction meter from rising, which is good for manipulating it. Take Down and Double-Edge both can score lots of hearts but make the user very susceptible to being startled, making them best to use at the very end. Harden combinations are good for Pok&eacute;mon like Aggron, Claydol, and Relicanth.</p>

<p>The Rain Dance + Waterfall or Thunder combination works very well for most Water- or Electric-types, with Thunder being great for startling those that made appeals prior. Clamp, Crabhammer, and Weather Ball are great but limited to the Clamperl line, the Corphish line, and Castform lines, respectively.</p>

<h4 id="jam-moves">Jam Moves</h4>

<p>While the objective during secondary judging is to earn as many hearts as possible, sometimes it can be useful to remove some of the hearts the opposing Pok&eacute;mon have earned, which is especially useful if you're going last–potentially letting your punish all competitors in one swoop–or if you predict a specific opponent will have a very successful appeal round. This is where the jam stat of contest moves comes into play, as moves with 1 ore more jam will startle their targets and cause them to lose heart(s). A list of jam moves, as well as their contest type and effects, is provided in the table below.</p>

<table class="contestTable">

<tr>

<th>Move(s)</th>

<th>Contest Type</th>

<th>Jam</th>

<th>Effect</th>

</tr>

<tr>

<td>Petal Dance, Blast Burn, Hydro Cannon</td>

<td>Beauty</td>

<td>4</td>

<td>Jams the others, and misses one turn of appeals.</td>

</tr>

<tr>

<td>Hail, Icy Wind, Bubblebeam, Lovely Kiss, Spore</td>

<td>Beauty</td>

<td>3</td>

<td>Badly startles those that have made appeals.</td>

</tr>

<tr>

<td>Aurora Beam, Ice Beam, Icicle Spear</td>

<td>Beauty</td>

<td>1</td>

<td>Startles Pok&eacute;mon that made a same contest type appeal.</td>

</tr>

<tr>

<td>Sheer Cold, Perish Song</td>

<td>Beauty</td>

<td>1</td>

<td>Badly startles all Pok&eacute;mon that made good appeals.</td>

</tr>

<tr>

<td>Will-O-Wisp</td>

<td>Beauty</td>

<td>4</td>

<td>Badly startles the Pok&eacute;mon in front.</td>

</tr>

<tr>

<td>Tri Attack</td>

<td>Beauty</td>

<td>2</td>

<td>Startles all Pok&eacute;mon that have done their appeals.</td>

</tr>

<tr>

<td>Cotton Spore</td>

<td>Beauty</td>

<td>1</td>

<td>Startles the Pok&eacute;mon that has the Judge's attention.</td>

</tr>

<tr>

<td>Air Cutter, Dragon Claw, Sky Uppercut</td>

<td>Cool</td>

<td>1</td>

<td>Startles Pok&eacute;mon that made a same-type appeal.</td>

</tr>

<tr>

<td>Brick Break, Crush Claw, Dizzy Punch, Extrasensory, Hyper Fang, Iron Tail, Spark</td>

<td>Cool</td>

<td>4</td>

<td>Badly startles the Pok&eacute;mon in front.</td>

</tr>

<tr>

<td>Bullet Seed, Cut, Guillotine, Horn Drill, Stun Spore, Thunder Wave</td>

<td>Cool</td>

<td>1</td>

<td>Badly startles all Pok&eacute;mon that made good appeals.</td>

</tr>

<tr>

<td>DragonBreath, False Swipe, Rolling Kick</td>

<td>Cool</td>

<td>3</td>

<td>Badly startles those that have made appeals.</td>

</tr>

<tr>

<td>DynamicPunch, Fury Attack, Spike Cannon, Pin Missile</td>

<td>Cool</td>

<td>1</td>

<td>Startles the Pok&eacute;mon that has the Judge's attention.</td>

</tr>

<tr>

<td>Focus Energy</td>

<td>Cool</td>

<td>3</td>

<td>Badly startles those that have made appeals earlier in the same turn.</td>

</tr>

<tr>

<td>Frenzy Plant, Hyper Beam, Outrage</td>

<td>Cool</td>

<td>4</td>

<td>Jams the others, and misses one turn of appeals.</td>

</tr>

<tr>

<td>Thunder</td>

<td>Cool</td>

<td>2</td>

<td>Startles all Pok&eacute;mon that have done their appeals.</td>

</tr>

<tr>

<td>Twineedle</td>

<td>Cool</td>

<td>3</td>

<td>Startles the Pok&eacute;mon that appealed before the user.</td>

</tr>

<tr>

<td>Bubble</td>

<td>Cute</td>

<td>2</td>

<td>Startles all Pok&eacute;mon that have done their appeals.</td>

</tr>

<tr>

<td>Charm, Fake Out</td>

<td>Cute</td>

<td>1</td>

<td>Startles Pok&eacute;mon that made a same-type appeal.</td>

</tr>

<tr>

<td>Mud Shot, Sweet Scent</td>

<td>Cute</td>

<td>3</td>

<td>Badly startles those that have made appeals.</td>

</tr>

<tr>

<td>Sand-Attack</td>

<td>Cute</td>

<td>1</td>

<td>Startles the Pok&eacute;mon that has the Judge's attention.</td>

</tr>

<tr>

<td>Teeter Dance</td>

<td>Cute</td>

<td>4</td>

<td>Jams the others, and misses one turn of appeals.</td>

</tr>

<tr>

<td>Absorb, Astonish, Confusion, Leech Life, Luster Purge, Poison Sting, SmellingSalt, String Shot</td>

<td>Smart</td>

<td>3</td>

<td>Startles the Pok&eacute;mon that appealed before the user.</td>

</tr>

<tr>

<td>Acid, Knock Off, Mega Drain, Mist Ball, Needle Arm, Pain Split</td>

<td>Smart</td>

<td>4</td>

<td>Badly startles the Pok&eacute;mon in front.</td>

</tr>

<tr>

<td>Beat Up, Psywave, Pursuit, Snatch</td>

<td>Smart</td>

<td>1</td>

<td>Badly startles all Pok&eacute;mon that made good appeals.</td>

</tr>

<tr>

<td>Dream Eater, Leech Seed</td>

<td>Smart</td>

<td>2</td>

<td>Startles all Pok&eacute;mon that have done their appeals.</td>

</tr>

<tr>

<td>Giga Drain</td>

<td>Smart</td>

<td>1</td>

<td>Startles the Pok&eacute;mon that has the Judge's attention.</td>

</tr>

<tr>

<td>GrassWhistle, Hypnosis, Metal Sound, Nightmare, Psychic, Screech, Sleep Powder</td>

<td>Smart</td>

<td>3</td>

<td>Badly startles those that have made appeals.</td>

</tr>

<tr>

<td>Night Shade, Recover</td>

<td>Smart</td>

<td>1</td>

<td>Startles Pok&eacute;mon that made a same contest type appeal.</td>

</tr>

<tr>

<td>Arm Thrust, Bone Club, DoubleSlap, Fury Swipes, Scary Face, Muddy Water, Octazooka, Sludge Bomb</td>

<td>Tough</td>

<td>1</td>

<td>Startles the Pok&eacute;mon that has the Judge's attention.</td>

</tr>

<tr>

<td>Bite, Smog</td>

<td>Tough</td>

<td>3</td>

<td>Badly startles those that have made appeals.</td>

</tr>

<tr>

<td>Body Slam, Crunch, Lick, Low Kick, Skull Bash, Sludge, Stomp</td>

<td>Tough</td>

<td>4</td>

<td>Badly startles the Pok&eacute;mon in front.</td>

</tr>

<tr>

<td>Constrict, Headbutt</td>

<td>Tough</td>

<td>3</td>

<td>Startles the Pok&eacute;mon that appealed before the user.</td>

</tr>

<tr>

<td>Earthquake, Glare, Rock Slide</td>

<td>Tough</td>

<td>3</td>

<td>Badly startles those that have made appeals.</td>

</tr>

<tr>

<td>Fissure, Super Fang</td>

<td>Tough</td>

<td>1</td>

<td>Badly startles all Pok&eacute;mon that made good appeals.</td>

</tr>

<tr>

<td>Seismic Toss, Slam, Strength</td>

<td>Tough</td>

<td>1</td>

<td>Startles Pok&eacute;mon that made a same-type appeal.</td>

</tr>

<tr>

<td>Thrash</td>

<td>Tough</td>

<td>4</td>

<td>Jams the others, and misses one turn of appeals.</td>

</tr>

</table>

<p>There are moves that make your Pok&eacute;mon immune to being startled. Teleport, Light Screen, Reflect, and Protect will keep your Pok&eacute;mon safe from being startled for the duration of the entire round, while Double Team, Dive, Rest, Defense Curl, Calm Mind, Counter, Detect, Mirror Coat, Endure, Harden, and Stockpile offer one-time protection. Conversely, Double-Edge, Take Down, Overheat, Psycho Boost, Superpower, and Volt Tackle will make your Pok&eacute;mon more susceptible to being startled, meaning they'll lose even more hearts.</p>

<h4 id="other-moves">Other Moves</h4>

<p>Of course, the list of moves we've discussed thus far is not a catch-all. One potential strategy when it comes to designing for your Pok&eacute;mon's moveset is including a move that isn't the same type as the designated contest, such as a Beauty move in a Cool competition. The usefulness in this lies in your ability to manipulate the audience meter to an extent, not always being forced to raise the counter by one, which may potentially leave an untimely foe maxing out the meter. However, not all moves can be ran efficiently in all contests. The table below covers which moves will work well in which contests.</p>

<table class="contestTable">

<tr>

<th>Contest Type</th>

<th>Primary Type (+1 Heart)</th>

<th>Secondary Type (+-0 Hearts)</th>

<th>Negative Type (-1 Heart)</th>

</tr>

<tr>

<td>Beauty</td>

<td>Beauty</td>

<td>Cool, Cute</td>

<td>Smart, Tough</td>

</tr>

<tr>

<td>Cool</td>

<td>Cool</td>

<td>Beauty, Tough</td>

<td>Cute, Smart</td>

</tr>

<tr>

<td>Cute</td>

<td>Cute</td>

<td>Beauty, Smart</td>

<td>Cool, Tough</td>

</tr>

<tr>

<td>Smart</td>

<td>Smart</td>

<td>Cute, Tough</td>

<td>Beauty, Cool</td>

</tr>

<tr>

<td>Tough</td>

<td>Tough</td>

<td>Cool, Smart</td>

<td>Beauty, Cute</td>

</tr>

</table>

<p>Additionally, Dragon Dance, Growth, Swords Dance, Belly Drum, Refresh, Meditate, and Swallow will all increase your Pok&eacute;mon's condition, meaning they'll earn an additional heart in each subsequent appeal round, and help prevent nervousness–an effect from moves like Sing that can prevent Pok&eacute;mon from appealing successfully. Explosion, Self-Destruct, Memento, and Destiny Bond are interesting moves in that they have a huge payout at a whopping base eight hearts, but the user cannot make any appeals after using them, meaning they're best saved for the last round of appeals.</p>

<p>While there are countless possibilities when it comes to the Pok&eacute;mon you enter in a Pok&eacute;mon Contest, here are a few examples of some setups that you can use to get your feet wet. Spaces marked with a "-" mean that the moveslot is flexible.</p>

<table class="contestTable">

<tr>

<th>Pok&eacute;mon</th>

<th>Sprite</th>

<th>Contest Type</th>

<th>Move 1</th>

<th>Move 2</th>

<th>Move 3</th>

<th>Move 4</th>

<th>Notes</th>

</tr>

<tr>

<td>Smeargle</td>

<td><img src="/dex/media/sprites/rs/smeargle.png" alt="rs/smeargle sprite" /></td>

<td>Any</td>

<td>Any</td>

<td>Any</td>

<td>Any</td>

<td>Any</td>

<td>As Smeargle can learn any move via Sketch, it's naturally the optimal pick for Pok&eacute;mon Contests.</td>

</tr>

<tr>

<td>Torkoal</td>

<td><img src="/dex/media/sprites/rs/torkoal.png" alt="rs/torkoal sprite" /></td>

<td>Beauty</td>

<td>Sunny Day</td>

<td>Flamethrower</td>

<td>Overheat</td>

<td>-</td>

<td>Use Sunny Day + Flamethrower for appeals 1-4 almost always, and use Overheat to score big hearts on appeal 5.</td>

</tr>

<tr>

<td>Dodrio</td>

<td><img src="/dex/media/sprites/rs/dodrio.png" alt="rs/dodrio sprite" /></td>

<td>Cool</td>

<td>Peck</td>

<td>Drill Peck</td>

<td>Rage</td>

<td>-</td>

<td>Peck + Drill Peck is for a simple combination of highly appealing moves. Rage can be used repeatedly without boring the judge.</td>

</tr>

<tr>

<td>Barboach</td>

<td><img src="/dex/media/sprites/rs/barboach.png" alt="rs/barboach sprite" /></td>

<td>Cute</td>

<td>Mud Sport</td>

<td>Water Gun</td>

<td>Water Sport</td>

<td>Mud-Slap</td>

<td>Barboach can get by on Mud Sport + Water Sport or Water Gun. Primarily use Mud-Slap if startling foes is needed, but it does pair with Mud Sport as well.</td>

</tr>

<tr>

<td>Gardevoir</td>

<td><img src="/dex/media/sprites/rs/gardevoir.png" alt="rs/gardevoir sprite" /></td>

<td>Smart</td>

<td>Calm Mind</td>

<td>Future Sight</td>

<td>Confusion</td>

<td>-</td>

<td>The Smart category has no highly appealing moves, but Calm Mind is nice to avoid startling. Future Sight brings in the most hearts and is useful for controlling the audience.</td>

</tr>

<tr>

<td>Aggron</td>

<td><img src="/dex/media/sprites/rs/aggron.png" alt="rs/aggron sprite" /></td>

<td>Tough</td>

<td>Harden</td>

<td>Tackle</td>

<td>Double-Edge</td>

<td>-</td>

<td>Harden + Tackle is a simple combination that can be used throughout appeals 1-4. Use Double-Edge to grab 6 base hearts on appeal 5.</td>

</tr>

</table>

<h2 id="conclusion">Conclusion</h2>

<p>Pok&eacute;mon Contests can definitely be hard to pick up, as getting a successful Pok&eacute;mon together takes a lot of planning and preparation in advance. However, once you get the hang of it and explore different Pok&eacute;mon, movesets, and difficulties, they can be quite infectious. Whether you're entering a Pok&eacute;mon Contest for a specific ribbon or just playing for the fun of it, I hope you found this guide useful.</p>
 
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