In Hoenn, a Pokémon can shine in ways other than battle: on stage, in front of judges and an audience. Pokémon Contests, the big new feature of Ruby and Sapphire, are prepared in the kitchen, with Berries and Pokéblocks. Here is everything you need to know to win those ribbons.
- Categories
- Cool, Beauty, Cute, Smart, Tough
- Ranks
- Normal, Super, Hyper, Master
- Where
- four Contest Halls (Ruby, Sapphire) or Lilycove City (Emerald)
- Rewards
- ribbons, a portrait at Lilycove Museum
🎀Where can you compete?
In Ruby and Sapphire, each rank has its own Contest Hall. The Contest Pass (shown as CONTEST PASS in the game), required to enter, is given to you at the Verdanturf Town Hall. The Pokéblock Case is given to you by a little girl at the Slateport City Hall.
• Normal Rank: Verdanturf Town
• Super Rank: Fallarbor Town
• Hyper Rank: Slateport City
• Master Rank: Lilycove City
In Emerald, every rank is held at the big Lilycove City Contest Hall, with no Contest Pass. The Pokéblock Case is handed to you there by a receptionist. The other halls have been replaced by Battle Tents (step 18).
To compete in a rank, your Pokémon must first have won the ribbon of the rank below in the same category. The five categories are independent: the same Pokémon can aim for Master Rank in Beauty without ever having entered a Tough contest.
🎭How a Contest works
Four Pokémon compete, in two stages:
- The Visual Competition: the audience judges each Pokémon’s appearance, that is, its condition in the contest’s category. The higher the rank, the more you need maximum condition to get ahead.
- The Talent Round: over five turns, each Pokémon performs a move in front of the judge. Each move earns hearts, can make competitors who already went lose some, can unnerve an opponent, or can protect you.
- The result: the points from both stages are added together. The winner takes home the ribbon for that category and rank.
🍓Growing Berries
Berries grow in the patches of soft soil you will come across on the routes. Plant one, water it with the Wailmer Pail (given to you by the flower shop lady on Route 104) and come back a few hours later: the plant will have grown and will yield several Berries. The more you water it at each growth stage, the bigger the harvest.
Cheri Berry
Chesto Berry
Pecha Berry
Rawst Berry
Aspear Berry
Leppa Berry
Oran Berry
Persim Berry
Each Berry has five flavors of varying strength, which you can read on its tag.
🍬Making Pokéblocks
In the Contest Halls, the Berry Blender turns Berries into Pokéblocks. Each player drops in a Berry, then presses A at the right moment to speed up the blender. You can blend with in-game characters or with friends over the Link Cable: the more participants and different Berries, the better the Pokéblocks.
A Pokéblock’s dominant flavor determines the condition it improves:
| Flavor | Color | Condition improved |
|---|---|---|
| Spicy | Red | Cool |
| Dry | Blue | Beauty |
| Sweet | Pink | Cute |
| Bitter | Green | Smart |
| Sour | Yellow | Tough |
FeebasWaterRoute 119, fished up on six hidden tiles.
MiloticWaterEvolution of Feebas when its Beauty is maxed out.
🖼️The crowning glory: Lilycove Museum
Win a Master Rank contest in Lilycove City and a painter will ask permission to paint your Pokémon’s portrait. The painting joins Lilycove Museum, a stone’s throw from the Contest Hall. Winning Master Rank in all five categories even earns you a star on your Trainer Card.
