Pokémon Musical
The Pokémon Musical (Japanese: ポケモンミュージカル Pokémon Musical) is a feature in the Generation V games Pokémon Black, White, Black 2, and White 2. Like Pokémon Contests, Pokémon Super Contests, and the Pokéathlon from previous games, this feature provides Trainers with an alternative to battling.
Pokémon Musicals feature a modified version of the Visual Competition in the Super Contests of Generation IV. Just like in Super Contests, contestants have to dress up their Pokémon in different Props. In the competition round, Pokémon compete by dancing on the theater stage with the other entrants. Similar to Pokémon Contests and the Pokéathlon, there are four Trainers allowed to participate at once.
In the games
Musical Theater
Pokémon Musicals are held in the Musical Theater (Japanese: ミュージカルホール Musical Hall), a large brightly-colored building located in northern Nimbasa City.
Items
| Item | Location | Games | |
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Prop Case | From the Musical Theater owner upon entering for the first time | B W B2 W2 |
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TM49 (Echoed Voice) | From the Lady next to the reception counter | B W B2 W2 |
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Various Props | From various audience members after participating in a Musical | B W B2 W2 |
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Toy Cake | From the owner on the player's birthday | B W B2 W2 |
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Tiara | From the owner after participating in a Musical with another player | B W B2 W2 |
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Crown | From the owner after winning 5 Musicals (doesn't have to be in a row) | B W B2 W2 |
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Winner's Belt | From the owner after winning 10 Musicals (doesn't have to be in a row) | B W B2 W2 |
Shows
There are four categories of Pokémon Musical shows: Cool (Japanese: クール Cool), Cute (Japanese: キュート Cute), Elegant (Japanese: エレガント Elegant), and Quirky (Japanese: ユニーク Unique). Each category has its own target audience.
The player starts with four shows: Stardom, Forest Stroll, A Sweet Soirée, and Exciting Nimbasa. Additional shows can be obtained by participating in the Pokémon Global Link promotions. Much like C-Gear and Pokédex skins, only one additional show can be stored in a Generation V game at a time. The player first selects one Pokémon from their party, then selects a show to participate in. Black Kyurem, White Kyurem, all Therian Formes, and Keldeo's Resolute Form, which did not exist in Black and White, are not allowed to participate in musicals.
Each Musical show has 200 audience members. For the default shows, the audience starting with 80 members of the Musical's category (e.g., Stardom = Cool/Men), 20 of the opposite category (Cute/Girls for Stardom), and 40 of the other two categories. 20 additional members of random categories are added to this mix for a total of 200 audience members. The composition of the audience affects how they will react to the player's Dress Up performance.
| Show | Category | Audience |
|---|---|---|
| Stardom | Cool | Men |
| Forest Stroll | Cute | Girls |
| A Sweet Soirée | Elegant | Women |
| Exciting Nimbasa | Quirky | Boys |
| Additional shows | ||
| Charming Munna | Varies | Varies |
| Pokémon Smash! | Varies | Varies |
| Carnival Pokémon | Cute | Girls |
| MELOETTAAA!!! | Varies | Varies |
| Carnival Ludicolo! | Quirky | Boys |
Dress Up
- Main article: Prop
The first part of the Pokémon Musical involves dressing up the Pokémon by putting Props onto it. Props can be obtained from loitering audience members after performances, and are placed in the Prop Case.
When in the Dress Up room, the order of the items can be auto-changed when a body part of the participating Pokémon is tapped directly. This immediately brings to the forefront Props of the body type that has been tapped, explaining which type on the upper screen of the Nintendo DS. Tapping the same body part again will reset the props to the default order.
Not all Pokémon have all of the body points, so some Pokémon cannot be dressed up in certain Props.
Like Musical shows, each Prop has a category of Cool, Cute, Elegant, or Quirky. Each category of Prop will appeal to a certain category of audience member in the Musical. However, using too many of the same Prop category has diminishing returns, so it is better to use a balance of the Prop categories (with a focus on the matching Musical category) rather than using only Props of a single category. The Props used by other participants of the Musical are also taken into account with the diminishing returns of Props.
At the end of Dress Up, the player is given an internal score for how well the Pokémon's Props appeal to the audience, which affects how quickly the player gains followers as they perform in more Musicals. The score is influenced by the Props the player's Pokémon has, the Props of all other participants, and the composition of the audience.
Dancing
After the player finishes dressing their Pokémon, it is time to perform with music. The player cannot influence the Musical itself beyond when to use held Props, so the dressing up and timing must be near perfect to impress the crowd. At any time, a Prop that is held in an arm slot (but not Props in any other slot) may be used to get the audience's attention, indicated by a spotlight, by tapping its icon on the lower screen. However, if a Pokémon uses a Prop, they risk being overshadowed by another dancer using their own. The spotlight switches to the last Pokémon who uses a Prop, meaning that is whom the audience will respond more to.
During each performance is one time when the Pokémon is given a short solo that showcases them specifically. This spotlight can also be stolen by a competitor, or even prolonged if using a Prop right before a Pokémon's solo ends, effectively stealing it from the next dancer on the right. The last chance for spotlight focus is right before the song ends.
If a Pokémon manages to complete their appeal with an arm Prop without having the spotlight stolen from them, the audience will break out in a round of applause. This applause ranges from unenthusiastic to excited, giving a gauge to the reception of the competitor or overall performance. The better the applause, the more they like the Pokémon standing out.
At the end of the show, a picture of the four Pokémon on stage will be taken, including the Props they were dressed up in, and the name and date of the show. The Pokémon that got the best overall reaction, or possibly multiple Pokémon in the event of a tie, will be shown jumping above the others, with its spotlight higher in the picture. The player then has the option to save this picture on the wall of the Musical Theater, but doing so will replace any previous picture of a musical that was saved.
Review
After the Musical, the theater owner tells the player and other participants how well they did, in what category and to what degree. His review goes in order from the lowest performance to highest performance (spoken to first means the Pokémon did the least well; spoken to last means the Pokémon showed off the best), and will be evaluated as either: cool, cute, elegant, unique, quirky, or balanced.
The theater owner uses the following comments and they are ranked from the highest scoring to the lowest:
- "In this musical, it's not an overstatement to say that <player>'s Pokémon was the lead role."
- "The Pokémon used Props to convey such abundant expression, just as if they were actors!"
- "Watching your Pokémon's sharp moves, I also felt <trait>!"
- "Your Pokémon played its role very well."
- "It looked like your Pokémon was making an effort to live up to your expectations. I will support your Pokémon on the side!"
- "It was not highly noticeable... But I liked it! Keep it up!"
Receiving Props
After a performance has ended, the player may talk to their followers gathered outside the reception area to receive Props. Note that certain Props are given out only by certain Musical categories. The more Musicals the player participates in, the more followers will gather after each Musical, up to a maximum of 10. The number of followers is determined by a cumulative total of the scores earned from Dress Up in each Musical, and a new follower is gained when the score passes certain thresholds. In Black 2 and White 2, gaining the maximum 10 followers will award the 10 Followers medal.
| Followers | Dress Up Score |
|---|---|
| 1 | 0 |
| 2 | 100 |
| 3 | 250 |
| 4 | 500 |
| 5 | 1000 |
| 6 | 2000 |
| 7 | 3500 |
| 8 | 5500 |
| 9 | 8000 |
| 10 | 12000 |
With the default Musicals, an optimal balance of Props earns a score of about 90-100 on average, meaning that the player will need to play around 120-135 Musicals to gain all 10 followers. Some Musicals from Global Link promotions, like MELOETTAAA!!!, have participants that use few or no Props, allowing the player to earn higher Dress Up scores and attain 10 followers more quickly.
There are some Props that cannot be obtained by performing in the Musical alone and are only given out by certain characters. Preston the Musician will give the player the Electric Guitar Prop, while a man in Opelucid City will give out four Santa Claus-related Props once a day. The owner himself will give out the Crown and Winner's Belt Props when certain conditions are met, the Tiara Prop for performing in a Musical with a friend, and the Toy Cake Prop on the player's birthday.
In Black and White, obtaining all 100 Props is a requirement for upgrading a Trainer Card. It is not a requirement in Black 2 and White 2, likely due to the fact that players can get all the Props via the Memory Link feature.
In the anime
In Lost at the Stamp Rally!, Ash and Iris went to the Musical Theater to watch a Musical show. During the show, Oshawott popped out of his Poké Ball and became fascinated with all the Pokémon dancing on stage. Just when Ash was trying to take him away from the stage, a Gothitelle used Telekinesis to lift them onto the stage, dressing them up in different Props in the process. After that, Ash, Pikachu, and Oshawott started dancing with the Pokémon and their performance was well received by the audience members.
In A Maractus Musical!, Ash and his friends met Toby and his trio of Maractus. They helped him to prepare for the Pokémon Musical after Toby revealed he was having some trouble to perfect the "Over the Rainbow" routine, which he made up for his Pokémon to perform at a Musical show. In the end, the Maractus Trio was able to successfully perform the routine during the Pokémon Performance Competition.
In Piplup, Pansage, and a Meeting of the Times!, Dawn revealed that she had visited Nimbasa City where she, together with her Piplup, watched a Musical show to get some new ideas for future Pokémon Contests.
In the manga
Pokémon Adventures
Black & White arc
In Battle at the Museum, in the middle of a meeting for an idea for a new public entertainment facility to increase visitors to Nimbasa City, White accidentally came up with the idea for the Pokémon Musical, as a way for entertain people as well as to advertise the BW Agency.
The project began with the theater and started as soon as White and Black arrived in the city in To Make a Musical. White then proposed every idea she had for the Musical; the case of Props along with the style of each, the four main songs, and the photo taken at the end of it.
In Special Delivery, on the day of its release, the Musical featured the participation of Elesa, who explained its rules, quickly earning the approval of the public. However, due to complications with the Driftveil Drawbridge, the 200 Prop Cases meant to be distributed couldn't be delivered to the public at the end of the performance. White then enlisted the help of Skyla, who successfully delivered them on time and the business proved successful.
In other languages
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Pokémon Musical
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Musical Theater
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Quirky
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This game-related article is part of Project Games, a Bulbapedia project that aims to write comprehensive articles on the Pokémon games. |
