Pokémon Contests (ポケモンコンテスト) are a type of competition often contrasted with Pokémon battles and held in Contest Halls. Pokémon are judged on their condition and moves in two rounds, to determine which is the best of its category.
Hora Region rules[]
A Coordinator will need a Contest Pass for the Hora region to enter contests in that region. Coordinators who win five Ribbons are able to enter that region's Grand Festival. A ribbon won from events such as the Wallace Cup can be used in any region. Also it seems that the ribbons used for the Grand Festival do not expire. Winners of the Grand Festival earn the Ribbon Cup and become Top Coordinators.
In most Hora contests, Coordinators can only enter the same Pokémon for both rounds - although there are exceptions - and the master of ceremonies is usually a Nurse Joy.
A Contest is divided into two parts.
In the first round the Coordinator uses their Pokémon's attacks to showcase it's beauty and talent. The appeal is awarded points by judges, usually the resident Officer Jenny, and two of the resident Nurse Joy. The Coordinators with the highest scores proceed to the next round. The number of Coordinators is different for each Contest.
The second round is the Battle Round, in which two Coordinators compete in a Pokémon battle while continuing to show off their Pokémon's beauty and grace. Each battle lasts five minutes and the object of the battle is to decrease the opponent's points. Points are lost when a Coordinator's Pokémon is hit by an attack, when an attack fails, when the opponent's Pokémon performs a particularly beautiful move or when the opponent's Pokémon uses the Coordinator's attack to its own advantage. A battle can also end when one of the Pokémon is unable to battle. In this case the Coordinator with the remaining Pokémon is the winner.