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Pokemon Contest Retcons

R

Rocketshipper

SOOOOONANSU!!
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I just recently began rewatching all the major contest and gym battle episodes in AG, and I noticed some interesting things about AG 13, the very first contest episode, that I'd totally forgotten about. That one contest featured some elements that seem to have been totally forgotten or re-written by the writers for the rest of the series. I thought I'd post a topic to see if anyone else remembered this stuff too. Here is a list of the differences I saw in AG 13 vs almost every other contest.

1. No Vivian: The host of the very first contest in the series was not Vivian, but some random guy in a dark maroon suit with brown hair and glasses. So what happened to him for the rest of the saga? Was Vivian sick that day ^^? Did the writers originally plan for him to be the MC of all contests, and then change their minds? Was the plan to have different MCs and judges at each contest?

2. Casual Sukizo: In every other contest, as far as I remember, Sukizo appeared wearing a suit. In the very first contest though, he appeared wearing a T-shirt with a pokeball on it. Maybe no one informed him about the dress code for contests during his first time judging ^^.

3. Becoming a top co-ordinator: According to the MC from AG 13, anyone who wins 5 Ribbons from the contests automaticly becomes a "top cordinator". So I guess May's already achieved her goal ^^.

4. GF entry: Maybe this is just how it sounded to me, but in AG 13 the MC also mentioed that someone with 5 Ribbons gains "free automatic access to the GF"; the use of the phrase "free automatic access" implies to me that one could enter the GF without having won 5 Ribbons, maybe by paying an entry fee or something like that. If entry into the GF required 5 Ribbons, then I would have expected him to use the phrase "qualifies for entry" or something similar, rather than what he did say.

5. Contest Passes: According to AG 13, you not only need a contest pass to enter a contest, but also to WATCH a contest. So all 4 of the main characters (even Max) had contest passes for all of AG, they just didn't use them for entering contests.

6. Lost Enthusiasm: Back in AG 13 it wasn't just May who wanted to enter the contest, but Ash and Brock too! Apparently, they completly forgot their desire to enter contests by the time the second one rolled around.

7. Assistants: Of course this was probably just a needed plot device so that May and Max could be involved in the contest in AG 13, but I noticed that this episode was the only time we ever see a co-ordinator with assistants helping out during the appeal.

8. life bar colors: This one lasted longer than the others, but I noticed it when watching AG 13. At some point in AG (don't remember exactly when, does anyone else?) the animators changed the colors of the life point meters. Originally they started out red and then turned yellow as points were depleted. In the later contests they start out yellow and turn black as they deplete. Wonder why they decided to change them.

And that's all the stuff from AG 13 that I noticed.
 
That episode caused so much confusion due to my not initially being able to see episodes from Dewford Island. Great list. ^_^
Rocketshipper said:
4. GF entry: Maybe this is just how it sounded to me, but in AG 13 the MC also mentioed that someone with 5 Ribbons gains "free automatic access to the GF"; the use of the phrase "free automatic access" implies to me that one could enter the GF without having won 5 Ribbons, maybe by paying an entry fee or something like that. If entry into the GF required 5 Ribbons, then I would have expected him to use the phrase "qualifies for entry" or something similar, rather than what he did say.
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In Pokémon Special, you can enter the Pokémon League without collecting Gym Badges. However, in the GSC saga, a new rule is introduced granting free access through the preliminaries if you have obtained all eight badges from a particular region. I assume it would have been something like that.
6. Lost Enthusiasm: Back in AG 13 it wasn't just May who wanted to enter the contest, but Ash and Brock too! Apparently, they completly forgot their desire to enter contests by the time the second one rolled around.
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I haven't seen the dub of Once more with Reeling yet but wasn't Ash enthusiastic in that? He just didn't want to get in May's way...?
 
In the episode he just said he'd enter since it wasn't a real contest. I guess it could be implied that he didn't enter others before because he didn't want to get in May's way, but they never specificly say that, Plus, it didn't stop him from entering that contest in DP, even though it would have gotten in Hikari's way. Seems to me that the writers just "conveniently" forgot that Ash was ever interested in contests, at least till the end of AG.
 
Ash had to be encouraged by Hikari to enter the contest in DP. But yeah, they probably didn't have everything fully worked out until May's first contest. A bit like how some stuff in early Kanto contradicts what has become canon since.
 
Yeah, it was pretty obvious the writers weren't exactly sure what they were doing during the first Contest in AG with Janet. They were in the process of ironing out all the rules and structuring how these Contests were going to be, so looking back, yeah, there are some odd things about that Contest that we never saw again.

I'm so glad they replaced that male announcer with Vivian/Lillian though, they're much more exciting than he is. :p

There are also odd things about other Contests. In some of them during the battle round, there are 8 coordinators left standing. However in other Contests, such as the Pacigigilog Town one, only 4 coordinators make it to the battle round. Howcome sometimes the tournament brackets have 8 and other times only 4?

In any case, its interesting to see how the Contest arc got ironed out as we got further into AG.
 
I'd guess that the indecisiveness over having a top 4 or a top 8 for the second round would just have to do with whether the writers felt like having more battles. When we got into the later contests, with May, the character of the day, and Jessie all having to make it to the 2nd round, it's easier to get them all in if it's best 8, especially if the writers want Jessie to win at least one battle.
 
The thing about being able to enter the GF/League without having all the badges/ribbons, possibly by paying a fee, makes sense. It'd explain all the League trainers we've seen with just one or two Pokemon.
 
Geodude said:
The thing about being able to enter the GF/League without having all the badges/ribbons, possibly by paying a fee, makes sense. It'd explain all the League trainers we've seen with just one or two Pokemon.
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There'd be no point for them to bother, though. Without entering prior Contests, they probably wouldn't make it past the appeal rounds or get knocked out in the first battle portion.

Also, Jessie desperately wanted to get into the Hoenn GF and stole Anthony's Ribbons to do so, and even though TR usually have no money, they never brought up the fact that she could enter without ribbons.
 
There'd be no point for them to bother, though. Without entering prior Contests, they probably wouldn't make it past the appeal rounds or get knocked out in the first battle portion.
Click to expand...

It would seem there are alternative ways of entering the League Tournaments and Grand Festivals. For instance, in Pokemon Special there's extra preliminary rounds for those without badges. In the anime, you can get in by graduating from Pokemon Tech or passing a course. This is problably done for older people who need to maintain jobs and don't have the money, time, or physical capability to backpack across the state to get the Badges or Ribbons needed. I mean, a kid in a wheelchair should be allowed to enter the Pokemon League/Grand Festival, but he's never going to get in if you make him roll himself through several forests to fight 8 Gym Leaders.

I would imagine the spots go to people who have 5 Ribbons / 8 Badges first, and then other people who enter in other ways - fees, preliminary rounds, or showing proof of graduation in some training program are allowed in if they are remaining entry spots.
 
Except Gary's is like one of the few cars we've seen in the entire Pokemon franchise, manga and videogames INCLUDED. I don't even think there are many roads from town to town cars could use.
 
Zeta said:
Except Gary's is like one of the few cars we've seen in the entire Pokemon franchise, manga and videogames INCLUDED. I don't even think there are many roads from town to town cars could use.
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There were roads in Kanto, they were everywhere, and they totally just kind of got cut from Hoenn. The only streets we really ever see are when they're in a big city, they're going to a big city, or when a car is being used as a plot device.
 
2. Casual Sukizo: In every other contest, as far as I remember, Sukizo appeared wearing a suit. In the very first contest though, he appeared wearing a T-shirt with a pokeball on it. Maybe no one informed him about the dress code for contests during his first time judging ^^.
Click to expand...

Or maybe his suit was in the cleaners that day.:-D
 
Also, remember how 4Kids replaced the word "Contest" with "Competition" during that first episode? Thank God they decided to discontinue that pointless edit after that first episode.
 
Then there was three dots in TO BE CONTINUED... screen erased. I STILL doesn't know what they were thinking about.
 
He's a Spammer

He's been spamming the threads so that he can get a DS. I think he should get a life first.
 
Speaking of Contest retcons, anyone else still feel that May should have beaten Drew's Roselia?

I find it odd that the writers never had May take out Drew's star Pokemon. Even in "Rivals Forever" where Roselia could have finally been taken down in their last battle of AG, the writers had it survive.

Ever since the start of Hoenn I always suspected there would be some epic final battle between Torchic and Roselia, (at the time I didn't believe Torchic would ever evolve, blame it on coming off the Johto syndrome where they barely evolved anything), and every time she went up against it, she lost.

Of course now that she has a Blaziken, maybe she can finally scorch the thing. :p
 
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