Pokémon competitive play

Competitive play in Pokémon generally refers to player versus player battles that take place using the Pokémon video games. Players construct a team of Pokémon as defined by a specific set of rules and battle as they would in the game until all Pokémon on a player's team have fainted or when a player resigns. These battles are usually done through the consoles in which the games are played in (e.g. the Nintendo 3DS or Nintendo Switch), or online through fan-made simulators such as Pokémon Showdown!.[1]

The official tournament circuit for competitive play is known as the Video Game Championships (VGC), which was established in 2009 by The Pokémon Company International under their Play! Pokémon program. Players from all over the world compete in local tournaments and qualifiers to earn cash prizes, scholarships, as well as an invitation to the annual Pokémon World Championships, an invite-only esports tournament that aside from the Pokémon video games also features the Pokémon Trading Card Game and Pokkén Tournament.[2] All VGC tournament matches are played with the 'double battle' format, where two Pokémon from a player's team will battle two other Pokémon from the opponent at any one time. In addition, the rules typically change every year to account for new game releases, with the 2020 Pokémon World Championships being played on Pokémon Sword and Shield.[3]

In contrast, the largest fan-base in the English-speaking community dedicated to competitive play is Smogon University,[4][5] which curates its own set of competitive formats and hosts unofficial tournaments for its own players. The competitive formats are mostly fan-driven and established by the community through popular consensus and voting,[6] and are tiered according to the perceived competitive potential of each individual Pokémon[7][8] in order to balance a tier and ban Pokémon which are seen to be too powerful for a particular tier. Unlike official tournament play, players have the option of choosing any format they wish to play in, and any Pokémon at or below the tier chosen can be used.

Mechanics

Before Generation IV, the damage category of a move (physical attack or special attack) was determined by the type of the move itself (for example, all Rock-type moves were physical, and all Dragon-type moves were special). The physical/special split in Generation IV changed moves to be physical or special determined on how the move attacks instead of the move's type. This was a huge change to competitive battling, with Pokémon such as Gengar[9] or Gyarados[9] benefiting, and Alakazam suffering.[10] As competitive battling features human players, the style of battling is much different,[11] with players choosing their set of four moves and one item based not only on the Pokémon's stats, but based on sets other players might run in order to counter them.

Every Pokémon has a Nature which has the potential to increase one stat by 10% and decrease another stat by 10% above a base amount. In addition, hidden attributes called EVs and IVs are used to alter stats in competitive Pokémon, usually maximizing them. EVs are earned by battling and defeating other Pokémon (with each Pokémon having a specific set of EVs they give), and IVs are assigned by the game when you obtain a Pokémon (the higher the number, the better the stats become above a set minimum amount).

Moves that have high base power but huge drawbacks, such as Giga Impact's recharge turn and Thunder's risky accuracy, are not always viable in competitive play. Instead, moves that have reliable accuracy, minimal downsides, and have decent base power, such as Body Slam and Thunderbolt, respectively, are used instead. The introduction of Mega Evolution gave previously non-viable or less viable Pokémon a purpose in the upper-tier metagame, such as Charizard and Mawile, although this mechanic (which was introduced in Generation VI), along with Z-moves (ultra-powerful moves of a particular type which could be performed by any Pokémon when holding a specific item and was introduced in Generation VII) were removed in Generation VIII. Dynamaxing was a new mechanic introduced in Generation VIII; once per battle, each player could increase one Pokémon's HP (by up to 100%) and upgrade its moves to Max Moves (powerful moves with extra effects based on the move's type). Some players, especially followers of Smogon University, criticised this mechanic and prohibit the use of it in certain formats. Certain types in early editions of the games (Generation I), such as Psychic and Dragon, were exceptionally powerful and a clear cut above the rest due to a lack of weaknesses; the various types are more balanced in present metagames, although certain types are better in certain circumstances (such as Ice for offense and Steel for defense). In addition, because the now-split Special Attack and Special Defense stats were combined into one Special stat in Generation I, Pokémon with a high Special stat could both deal and resist Special damage extremely well (or if low, be extremely weak in both Special offense and defense).

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References
  1. Sledge, Ben. "A Fan-Made Browser Game Is Pro Pokémon Players' Secret Weapon". Kotaku. Retrieved 2020-02-08.
  2. "Pokémon World Championships | Pokemon.com". www.pokemon.com. Retrieved 2020-02-08.
  3. Reichert, Corinne. "Pokemon World Championships move to London for 2020". CNET. Retrieved 2020-02-08.
  4. "Competitive Pokémon: Smogon and varying formats". Softonic. Retrieved 2020-02-08.
  5. Frank, Allegra (2017-01-05). "The problem with competitive Pokémon in one tweet". Polygon. Retrieved 2020-02-08.
  6. "Fans Hate Dynamaxing In Pokémon". Kotaku Australia. 2019-12-17. Retrieved 2020-02-08.
  7. "Introduction to Smogon Metagames - Smogon University". www.smogon.com. Retrieved 8 January 2020.
  8. "The Most Popular Pokémon Used By Top Players, In One Image". Kotaku. Retrieved 2019-12-18.
  9. "10 Bad Gen 1 Pokémon That Are Better Left Forgotten (And 10 That Still Own In Battle)". TheGamer. 1 August 2018. Retrieved 5 March 2019.
  10. "Gotta Challenge 'em All: Pokemon Generation I". 4 March 2019. Retrieved 5 March 2019.
  11. "Making the Jump to Video Game Competitive Play - Pokemon.com". www.pokemon.com. Retrieved 5 March 2019.
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