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It seems that there is little discussion about Serena's possible sidequest other than people saying that they'd like (or wouldn't like) to see Contests again. It strikes me as odd that people are talking about an old feature that is almost definitely not available in XY (judging from the lack of promotion), when there is a new feature that could be used as the basis of a new sidequest. That feature is Super Training.
The in-game Contests weren't exactly the most natural choice for the anime, as they involved Pokémon using their moves for appeals without battling. But the writers chose to incorporate the appeals as the first round of each Contest, with the second round consisting of a series of battles in which the Pokémon were also judged for beauty and style. Basically, the writers just merged the in-game Contests with battles; that simple idea could be applied to almost any feature that has something to do with Pokémon skills. I'm going to explain how this could work with Super Training, which has a natural connection to battling.
In the games, Super Training isn't comparable to Contests since it is about training rather than competing against others. As can be seen in this video, the Super-Training Regimens are six mini-games corresponding to the six different stats. In each mini-game, the Pokémon is faced against a Pokémon robot and has to deflect ballon-based balls from going into its goal, while sending various balls into the opponent's goal. If the game is won, the Pokémon earns EVs for the corresponding stat.
So here's my outline for how this could be incorporated into the anime:
1. Stat trainers must participate in six Super Training competitions (one for each stat). In each competition, a single Pokémon is chosen for the purpose of perfecting its respective stat.
2. The first round is based on the in-game regiments. This is an elimination round, meaning that only the Pokémon that win against the robot opponents are allowed to proceed to the next round.
3. The second round is a series of battles where the Pokémon must use moves that pertain to the stat that is being raised. For the Attack and Defense competitions, physical moves must be used. Likewise, special moves are used for the Special Attack and Special Defense competitions. In the offensive competitions Pokémon are judged for how strong their moves are, while in the defensive competitions they are judged for how well they endure moves. For the Speed competition, Pokémon are judged for agility and evasiveness. Lastly, for the HP competition Pokémon are expected to keep their health as high as possible using recovery and protection moves, while bringing the opponent's HP down as well.
4. The Pokémon that wins all the battles receives an Effort Ribbon that indicates that its respective stat has been perfected.
5. Super Trainers who have collected all six Effort Ribbons are eligible to participate in a final competition where all six stats are tested. The first round involves using all six Pokémon for a soccer-like game that requires team work. After the elimination is done, 16 Super Trainers are left to enter a tournament comprising four rounds. The first three battle rounds involve double battles; there is a round for each pair of dual stats: Attack/Defense, Special Attack/Special Defense and Speed/HP. Lastly, the final round involves a full double battle where all six stats must be considered.
The basic difference between normal trainers and stat trainers would be the latter focusing on training Pokémon to bring out specific stats, whereas normal trainers have more general strategies that are not necessarily correlated with specific stats, or any stats at all. Also, Pokémon would rarely faint in Super Training battles. Obviously, the anime has largely ignored stats so far, but there is no time like the present to change that considering that the games are finally making EV training more approachable.
The in-game Contests weren't exactly the most natural choice for the anime, as they involved Pokémon using their moves for appeals without battling. But the writers chose to incorporate the appeals as the first round of each Contest, with the second round consisting of a series of battles in which the Pokémon were also judged for beauty and style. Basically, the writers just merged the in-game Contests with battles; that simple idea could be applied to almost any feature that has something to do with Pokémon skills. I'm going to explain how this could work with Super Training, which has a natural connection to battling.
In the games, Super Training isn't comparable to Contests since it is about training rather than competing against others. As can be seen in this video, the Super-Training Regimens are six mini-games corresponding to the six different stats. In each mini-game, the Pokémon is faced against a Pokémon robot and has to deflect ballon-based balls from going into its goal, while sending various balls into the opponent's goal. If the game is won, the Pokémon earns EVs for the corresponding stat.
So here's my outline for how this could be incorporated into the anime:
1. Stat trainers must participate in six Super Training competitions (one for each stat). In each competition, a single Pokémon is chosen for the purpose of perfecting its respective stat.
2. The first round is based on the in-game regiments. This is an elimination round, meaning that only the Pokémon that win against the robot opponents are allowed to proceed to the next round.
3. The second round is a series of battles where the Pokémon must use moves that pertain to the stat that is being raised. For the Attack and Defense competitions, physical moves must be used. Likewise, special moves are used for the Special Attack and Special Defense competitions. In the offensive competitions Pokémon are judged for how strong their moves are, while in the defensive competitions they are judged for how well they endure moves. For the Speed competition, Pokémon are judged for agility and evasiveness. Lastly, for the HP competition Pokémon are expected to keep their health as high as possible using recovery and protection moves, while bringing the opponent's HP down as well.
4. The Pokémon that wins all the battles receives an Effort Ribbon that indicates that its respective stat has been perfected.
5. Super Trainers who have collected all six Effort Ribbons are eligible to participate in a final competition where all six stats are tested. The first round involves using all six Pokémon for a soccer-like game that requires team work. After the elimination is done, 16 Super Trainers are left to enter a tournament comprising four rounds. The first three battle rounds involve double battles; there is a round for each pair of dual stats: Attack/Defense, Special Attack/Special Defense and Speed/HP. Lastly, the final round involves a full double battle where all six stats must be considered.
The basic difference between normal trainers and stat trainers would be the latter focusing on training Pokémon to bring out specific stats, whereas normal trainers have more general strategies that are not necessarily correlated with specific stats, or any stats at all. Also, Pokémon would rarely faint in Super Training battles. Obviously, the anime has largely ignored stats so far, but there is no time like the present to change that considering that the games are finally making EV training more approachable.
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