Rank (Contest)
In the core series games, Pokémon Contests, Super Contests, and Contest Spectaculars are separated into four different ranks (Japanese: ランク rank). The player begins in the Normal Rank and must win their way to the Master Rank. In higher ranks, the NPC Coordinators will have more advanced artificial intelligence.
In the games
In Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire, Pokémon Contests of each rank are spread around the Hoenn region, with the Normal Rank taking place in Verdanturf Town, the Super Rank in Fallarbor Town, the Hyper Rank in Slateport City, and the Master Rank in Lilycove City. However, with the addition of the Battle Tents in Pokémon Emerald, all the ranks moved to the Contest Hall in Lilycove City. In these games, player's Trainer Card will increase in level if the Master Rank Ribbons of all of the five categories are won.
In Pokémon Diamond, Pearl, and Platinum, all Pokémon Super Contests take place in Hearthome City. If a single Master Rank Ribbon of any of the five categories is won, a Trainer star will be granted. In Pokémon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire, Pokémon Contest Spectaculars of any rank can take place at any Contest Hall.
In Generations III and IV, a Pokémon has to win a contest in each previous rank in the same category to participate in a higher rank. Additionally, a different Ribbon is awarded for each rank. In Generation VI, however, once a Pokémon in the player's party unlocks all the ranks, Pokémon are allowed to skip lower ranks and go straight to the Master Rank, which is the only rank in which a Ribbon is awarded to the winning Pokémon.
| Rank | Achievement | |
|---|---|---|
| English | Japanese | |
| Hoenn | ||
| Normal | ノーマル Normal |
Unlocked at the start |
| Super | スーパー Super |
Beat Normal Rank |
| Hyper | ハイパー Hyper |
Beat Super Rank |
| Master | マスター Master |
Beat Hyper Rank |
| Sinnoh | ||
| Normal | ノーマル Normal |
Unlocked at the start |
| Great | グレート Great |
Beat Normal Rank |
| Ultra | ウルトラ Ultra |
Beat Great Rank |
| Master | マスター Master |
Beat Ultra Rank |
In animation
In the Pokémon anime, there is no ranking system in place for regular Pokémon Contests. Instead, they are represented as being at the same level as one another. Additionally, much like how eight Gym Badges are required to enter the Pokémon League Conference, a total of five Ribbons must be collected to qualify for the Grand Festival.
A class of Pokémon Contests was revealed to exist in A Fan with a Plan, where May discovered that the Rubello Contest was a Class R1 event, meaning that only Pokémon Coordinators who had earned at least one Ribbon were allowed to participate. The competition was also unique in the fact that it was the only Pokémon Contest in the Hoenn region where contestants had to use one Pokémon for the Appeals Round and another for the Contest Battles.
May, Drew, and Savannah all entered the Rubello Contest in Cruisin' for a Losin'. Jessie also tried to enter, but was denied access for not having a Ribbon. During the event, May and her Bulbasaur lost to Savannah and her Lairon. Later, Drew managed to defeat Savannah, winning his fourth Contest Ribbon. Since then, no other R1 Contest has been held.
In Reuniting for the First Time!, Contest Spectaculars were revealed to have a similar ranking system as in the games, although all ranks seem to compete at once. Chloe participated in a Normal Rank Contest Spectacular, while Serena and Lisia competed in the Master Rank.
In the manga
Pokémon Adventures
In the Pokémon Adventures manga, Pokémon Contests follow the formula established in the games closely, having the same four ranks.
Ruby & Sapphire arc
Ruby went on a journey to conquer all the Hoenn Contest Ribbons. He raised one Pokémon for each of the five categories and was able to win in all four ranks, beating the Normal Rank in Mind-Boggling with Medicham, the Super Rank in I More Than Like You, Luvdisc I, the Hyper Rank in Always Keep Whiscash on You for Emergencies, and the Master Rank in It All Ends Now VIII.
Diamond & Pearl arc
Platinum entered a Pokémon Super Contest in Perturbed by Pachirisu. She competed in the Normal Rank Coolness Contest with her Prinplup and, with the help of her friends Diamond and Pearl, managed to win the competition, earning herself a Ribbon.
Naming
The Japanese Pokémon Contest ranks are named after four of the Generation I Poké Balls. In Japanese, the Great Ball is called the スーパーボール Super Ball and the Ultra Ball is called the ハイパーボール Hyper Ball. The English versions chose to directly translate the Japanese Pokémon Contest ranks, so there was no obvious correlation between the contest ranks and the Poké Ball names for English-speaking players.
However, the Japanese Super Contest ranks are named after the English-version names of these Poké Balls. The second level is called グレートランク Great Rank which corresponds to the Great Ball and the third level is called ウルトラランク Ultra Rank which corresponds to the Ultra Ball. Once again, the English version directly translated the Japanese rank names, but since the Japanese versions had already used the English names of the Poké Balls, the relationship between rank and Poké Ball type was more clear for English-speaking players.
In other languages
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Normal Rank
|
Super Rank / Great Rank
|
Hyper Rank / Ultra Rank
|
Master Rank
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Related articles
|
Pokémon Contests | 
| |
|---|---|---|---|
| Necessary Spoils Pokéblocks • Poffins Contest Categories Cool • Beautiful • Cute • Clever • Tough Rounds Appeal • Battle • Dance • Visual |
Participation Contest • Super Contest • Contest Show Coordinator • Contest Hall • Contest Pass The Grand Festival Kanto • Hoenn • Sinnoh Top Coordinator • Ribbon Cup | ||
| Others Combinations • Opponents (III • IV • VI • VIII) • Double Performance • Jamming Ribbons (list) • Stickers • Ball Capsules • Ranks • Judges • Announcers • Wallace Cup | |||
|
This game-related article is part of Project Games, a Bulbapedia project that aims to write comprehensive articles on the Pokémon games. |
