Tournament Arcs

[Beth Pavell]

Ok, so this idea is aimed as much at the readers as well as the authors. So I have an upcoming tourney to plan for, and I'm wondering, as a reader, what do you guys expect to see from the arc? I mean, it's pretty well established that most readers don't want to see literally every battle, but what about other aspects of the arc? A supporting cast for duration of the arc, for example? The pacing?

Yes, lots of questions, very little insight from me. I hand it over to you guys

 

[LightningTopaz]

Have the tourney have other events besides fighting/dueling

Check in on what those not participating are doing while the hero is busy fighting (added bonus: character development!)

 

[AetherX]

Yeah, stuff besides just battling is cool. The atmosphere surrounding a tournament or similar event provides a lot of opportunity for new situations that could help with character development, as well as worldbuilding through portraying local culture. A supporting cast for the duration of the tournament would be fun to write and read, depending on how it was implemented (either avoid common tropes or play with them in a fun way).

I think you in particular have a lot to run with given the particular circumstances of the tournament. Personally I would play around a lot with the fact that Josh and Eve are kind of cheating. There's a lot of chance for drama there.

As for pacing, I'd stick to one battle maximum per chapter, maybe splitting up a particularly big and important battle into two if necessary. Scenes that deal with the repercussions of wins and losses always help and are fun to read.

 

[chaos_Leader]

I can't speak for other fanfics, but from what I've observed in the anime, a supporting cast for the tournament arc usually is, at least in part, introduced prior to the tournament itself. In fact, the tournament events generally feature a number of reoccurring characters. Sometimes new reoccurring characters are introduced, and sometimes an arc-specific character or two are featured.

What I've found more important than the competition itself is character development: what they've done to prepare, what obstacles they've overcome, and what new obstacles the tournament itself presents and how the protagonists address the situation.

 

[VeniaSilente]

Coming from an RP where despite it having worked out okay (if not excellently) we decided No More Tournament Arcs™, I can say a couple of things probably, but they might be redundant with what @AetherX has said.

Basically if you are going to have a tournament arc, make sure there's something else to do besides the battles. The losers will need something to do after they... well, lose - they'll either fade into the obscurity of offscreen or will remain around interacting in various ways. Perhaps one of the characters decides to help in training another who has advanced to the higher rounds, as a means of getting revenge on a third trainer he was not able to face.

Tournaments involve involve promotion, advertising, organization and the usual intrigues as well (will your characters's Pokémon undergo drug tests before every battle? Who helps keep your participating character's fangirl club at bay?) so there's a lot of room for characters to do various kinds of stuff.

One thing I'd say extra is that, while it is true you won't want to showcase every battle, let alone every part of every battle, in the least you should show why the fighters who win do, in particular if they are going to end up facing more plot relevant characters (or the protags) later on. Whether this mean featuring a small scene where a Pokémon comboes another into a KO or a small scene with a spartan way training session, it's up to the author of course.

 

[Lord Kyuubi]

I wrote something about this before, and I'm feeling lazy, so I'll just quote it in here. It probably doesn't say anything hugely insightful, neither is it going to be suited to your story, since I've not read the latest chapter yet, but at least it's sort of relevant.

Well, it depends partly on how you want to pace out the battles, what length chapters you like writing and how much other stuff is going on at the same time. But what I did when writing a tournament was mostly alternate between chapters focusing fighting scenes and tournament progression and chapters containing other plot developments and events, including preparations for other fights, important things in character relations, general plot progression, et cetera. You'll probably want to focus on some characters other than the main team through the tournament (perhaps include a rival, or something) to make the battles more varied as you can also show some the rival's fights, and make the tournament more tense. Also, unless it's something like the Elite Four, where every member is significant, you won't want to describe every fight in detail. Just the first one or two, and then any more of specific plot significance.

I wouldn't claim to be any authority on this, and someone else is probably right now typing a much better answer, but this should hopefully give you some food for thought.

 

[Juliko]

Feel free to do whatever you want with them. I'm personally not fond of tournament arcs, nor am I good at writing them, so I'm leaving them out of my stories entirely. Just make sure battles don't get dragged out for over 20 episodes or so.

 

[CrystaI]

I am rather a sucker in long detailed explanation, and I don't think just the explanation of theories is anything helpful. So I'll rather give a direct example to demonstrate my understanding of "perfect tournament arc". Just try to 'feel' it by yourself what made this work so good.

This is not a fanfic, but fan-made manga, but it is one of the highest quality in the internet. Though, you need to understand Japanese to read it. (I think there are also translated version of this fan-manga by other fans)

 

[Lufenium]

First of all, I want to say great job on The Long Walk. I've really enjoyed it.

For a tourney supporting cast outside of the actual contestants, maybe consider introducing characters such as hosts, sponsors, announcers, masters of ceremonies, etc. All key people in an actual events like this. An example to look at is the announcers of the contests/Pokemon Showcases in the anime. It's the same announcers & judges for each respective season.

As for the tourney itself, that's down to you & how you want it to play out, and how it will affect the characters involved. It's a battle tourney from the sounds of things, so maybe keep the highlight/background of it and the characters in it focused on that. What I mean by this is the history of the tourney, and the contestants backstories, and motivations, etc.

 

[Beth Pavell]

First of all, I want to say great job on The Long Walk. I've really enjoyed it.

Wow, another reader I didn't know I had xD Thank you for the compliment

 

[Lugion]

I freaking love tournament arcs and tournament stories. They really represent tons of opportunities for character growth, since they'll be forced to interact with tons of people they otherwise wouldn't. I think Dragon Ball is a pretty good example of tournament arcs, since each one presents new opportunities and new obstacles for the characters to face, and I think both of those are key elements of a good tournament story.

Obviously, depending on the size of the tournament (Dragon Ball tournaments feature 8 fighters, selected after preliminary rounds that are mostly glossed over, so each of the 8 fighters get the spotlight), you'll want to nail down the key fights and make sure you integrate them into the larger tournament, since a large tournament wouldn't have one fight going on at a time (see the Indigo League arc). Don't be afraid to show things going on behind the scenes, either. Gambling on matches, attempts to fix fights, competitors confronting each other outside the ring, etc. all make for good drama.

 

[Osprey]

I don't watch or read enough stories with tournament arcs to have a strong opinion on them, but I'm pretty confident that whatever you come up with will be excellent, just like the rest of the fic.