How to Win Super Contests in Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl

It’s easy to forget sometimes that Pokémon don’t exist for the express purpose of battling. For many people, they’re business partners and lifelong companions. Rather than risking them getting hurt in Gym battles, some folks prefer to show off their Pokémons’ cuter sides, which is the primary appeal of the Super Contests. Here’s how to win Super Contests in Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl.

What are Super Contests in Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl

Originally introduced in Generation IV, Super Contests are a set of minigames where you put your Pokémon on stage and show off all their best points. It’s like a pet show, but slightly less demeaning. Rather than just being strong and using moves that exploit type advantages, winning in a Super Contest is more about grooming, style, and rhythm. 

Every Pokémon is rated on five kinds of qualities, which you can check on their status screen. Those qualities are:

• Beauty
• Cleverness
• Coolness
• Cuteness
• Toughness

There are separate contests for each of these qualities, so if you want to enter a Pokémon into one, make sure it’s one with a high rating in that particular quality. You can boost their qualities by feeding them particular kinds of Poffins, made from different berries gathered around Sinnoh. The following Poffins boost the following qualities:

• Dry Poffins: Beauty
• Bitter Poffins: Cleverness
• Spicy Poffins: Coolness
• Sweet Poffins: Cuteness
• Sour Poffins: Toughness

How to Win Super Contests in Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl

To win Super Contests in Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl, consider the following:

• Bring in a Pokémon whose qualities match the theme
• Decorate its Ball Capsule with appropriate stickers
• Win the rhythm game

The first phase of the Contest will judge how well-suited your Pokémon is to the contest theme, so as long as they’re properly fed, it’s a cinch.

The next phase is about presentation. To win this one, you’ll need to decorate your Pokémon’s PokéBall with a Ball Capsule and stickers in order to make a striking entrance. Luckily, all you have to do is decorate the Capsule with stickers that correspond to the contest theme. There are specific stickers for the different qualities, though you can also place things like flowers or fireballs for cuteness and coolness, respectively.

The final phase is the big guns: the dance contest. This is a very simple rhythm minigame, which is good because it’s also the most important part of the show. All you have to do is watch the scroll bar at the bottom of the screen and either tap or hold the A button in time with the markers. Hitting the notes on time will fill up the Heart Gauge, which in turn builds up hype and improves your score. Prior to the beginning of the Contest, you’ll need to select a Contest Move for your Pokémon. Just like the Pokémon themselves, each move represents a particular quality, so choose one that follows the theme. During the dance segment, all of the Pokémon on stage will use their Contest Moves in sequence, so wait your turn and bust it out when the moment is right. If you nail the timing, you’ll score big.