A Peek Inside a Competitor's World

The competitive side of Pokémon often seems distant to most people. This may be due to many factors. There are lots of facts to learn, many a thing to memorize. There's also an extremely different mindset and stance to be taken, which people may aggressively defend or dispute. The competitive community may not always feel welcoming to newcomers, either, as less experienced players may be the butt of many jokes, ranging from playful jabs to malicious remarks. Thus, from this great unknown, there are many misunderstandings, many misconceptions as to what the competitive mindset actually is.

As such, this article aims to place an additional viewpoint on the competitive scene and what it is about. To explain as accurately as possible, what exactly happens in the world and mind of a competitive Pokémon player.

I don't claim to know everything about competitive Pokémon, or competitive gaming in general. People may have differing opinions on what being a competitive gamer actually means, and that's fine! This, however, is my take on the terminology, as someone who's been both a casual and competitive player at certain points in my life.

Ready? Alright, let's begin.

When talking about how people play, one may categorize Pokémon into two sections: casual and competitive. The difference? Almost everything.

Casual players take enjoyment in playing the game. They take in the story. They take in the lore. Casual players indulge themselves in the game; for the time they are playing, they are the character. They are May, and they are Brendan. They are inside the screen, interacting with the world. The player is there when they picked their first starter. The player is there when they strugged and triumphed through every single Gym. The player is there when they hustled against evil organizations hell bent on world domination, but somehow can't afford guns. The player is there when they defeat the Champion, and is crowned the best of the best.

But for a competitive player, this isn't enough.

The character inside the screen is no more than a projection. The handle and guard in the vast arsenal a player accumulates. Their Pokémon, the teams, the items, they are the blade. They are the best of the best, yes. The best inside their own cartridge. In that world, no-one can beat you. But what happens when you go out of that world? Other people are also crowned the "best of the best". Surely not everyone can be the best at the same time.

To a casual player, being the quote on quote "best" may not be the topmost of priority. Coming on top on battles would be a nice addition, but fun is taken from how a player plays the game. How the player reacts to the story is crucial. Codes of honor are established and kept. Interaction with the game's world, people, and creatures are imperative. Just because something is legal, it doesn't mean you're allowed to use it.

To a competitive player, being the quote on quote "best" is the end goal. Winning battles is a priority, and fun is taken from knowing that you did the best you can to win, and of course, winning itself. The story is just a means to get the tools to win battles. Codes of honor are nothing but a hindrance, and instead, tournament guidelines are followed. Time spent interacting with the world is time that could have been used training or breeding. Is something legal? By all means, use it.

It is imperative to understand that a competitive player seeks to maximize their chance to win, and with any method possible, as long as said methods adhere to the guidelines that a specific line of tournaments follow. This is a competitive player's mindset. Examples of these are Smogon's OU, and The Pokémon Company International's VGC. Tournament guidelines mean, of course, that players will play in, or attempt to simulate, tournament settings. There are, however, mindsets that self-proclaimed competitive players have that don't fall into this description.

I want to use my favorite Pokémon!

"This team is built around my favorite Pokémon."

There's nothing wrong with that line. Absolutely nothing. To an extent, using your favorite Pokémon should not and should never be wrong. However, insisting to use an outclassed Pokémon in lieu of an objectively better one for reasons such as "favorite" or "that's overused" treads into the mindset of casual play. Mind, this is not applicable for unusual Pokémon chosen for niche reasons that it happens to fill the best, a la Se Jun Park's Worlds 2014 Pachirisu. Using, for example, the inferior Choice Band Slaking instead of a Mega Kangaskhan, when the role they play have no distinct differences, does not maximize your chances of winning.

Cheap vs. Skill

The idea of "cheap" and "skill" is a controversial topic among many, to say the least. But in a competitive vacuum, the concept of "cheap" only exists when scouring food stands in between tournament matches. No strategy can truly be labelled as cheap, as "cheap" is simply a way to maximizing victory. The reason standard Pokémon, moves, and strategies are standard are because they're good enough to see constant use. In a way, this ties in to the previous point, where using favorites instead of "cheaper" alternatives without any competitive justification is seen as straying away from the competitive mindset.

Look at it this way. You don't get awards for using "skillful" teams, like Intimidate Arbok instead of Intimidate Landorus-T. You get awards for winning, and Landorus-T helps you in ways Arbok may not. This is a somewhat poor example, but I'm sure you understand my point.

Of course, there are other ways the term "cheap" is used. One can argue that strategies that rely on RNG rolls, such as Paraswag (Paralysis + Swagger) and Minimize, are cheap. Me, I see Paraswag and Minimize as a play on numbers. As a competitive player's mindset is in-line with playing to win, I personally see no issue with using RNG-reliant moves if it would net you the win. Of course, relying on the RNG comes with the cost of being less consistent, but then again, the same can be said for a lot of moves that are still commonly used in the meta, for example Will-O-Wisp and Scald.

Then again, many of the best players seem to have a consensus that Minimize is actually really bad, so I'd stay away from that strat for now if I were you.

Ethics and Morals

One pretty frequent argument I've heard is how competitive players neglect and abuse less-than-flawless Pokémon.

My personal answer to this: Pokémon aren't sentient.

To the casual player, Pokémon are friends. Things to interact with. They're alive, and they're to be kept well. However, to the competitive player, Pokémon are bits and lines of code. And technically, that's not wrong. Pokémon are simply lines of code. No matter how much we wish, they simply aren't sentient, and as such, won't be affected by how people treat them.

Time spent giving attention that doesn't change any stats or damage output, or on Pokémon that are less than flawless, is time lost that could have been used to prepare a perfect Pokémon for battle. In other words, there is simply no use other than for recreational purposes. At least, this is what the purely competitive mindset would view these activities as.

Everyone is entitled to each their own, especially on how they play a video game. In fact, I still feel a rush of both! In tournaments, I strive to be the very best. I do all I can to give myself a competitive edge, no matter how small or detailed it is. As a result, I feel like I accomplished a tough goal if I do well, and have no regrets if I don't. In a nuzlocke I played just recently, I felt the need to take care of all my Pokémon, and felt sentimental feelings towards them. I didn't swap them out for more desirable Pokémon when I get them, because hey, these Pokémon accompanied me through nearly literal life and death from the start of my journey!

But my point is, no one side is better than the other. Both sides have positives, as do both sides have negatives. It is, however, my belief that neither side are mutually exclusive to one another. We are, after all, playing the same game at the end of the day.

Casual players find it fun to play. Competitive players find it fun to win. As long as this can be understood, there should be no confusion as to what a competitive player seeks.

Though casual and competitive play may conflict with one another when it comes to ideology, I still find it childish that people still attack one another for how they play a kid's video game. Because really, as deep and complex as the mechanics are, Pokémon is still marketed as child's play. In my opinion, I find that most complaints come from people who try to shoehorn their way into places that simply contradict their mindset, such as a competitive player trying to join a casual Pokémon community without understanding that it is indeed not competitive, or a casual player trying to ladder Battle Spot rankings with their in-game team.

I do hope that you find this article a good read, and an adequate insight as to what being a competitor means to me. If you have any further questions, please do not hesitate to ask!

Of course, my words and experience alone simply won't suffice. Should you want to read more about this topic from people more experienced in this field than myself, I recommend the following:

Playing to Win (Sirlin) - Playing to Win is an online book written by Sirlin, an American game designer and a player of competitive fighting games. His words were my first contact to competitive gaming, and are ultimately what most of my competitive mindset is founded upon.

The Sardonic Hipster's Guide to VGC 2015 (Zog) - An article on Nugget Bridge that discusses the "playing to win" mentality. Zog's style really asserts his points while nearly attacking people who disagree, which is a refreshing touch to me. It also adopts a "you win, you win" mentality, one that I still live by to this day.

The image above uses a backdrop rip from Eli-Eli76.

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