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 and White and 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 found in northern Nimbasa City in the Unova region, and held in a large, brightly colored hall called the Musical Theater (Japanese: ミュージカルホール Musical Hall).
Shows
- See also: List of promotional Musical 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.
| Show | Category | Audience |
|---|---|---|
| Stardom | Cool | Men |
| Forest Stroll | Cute | Girls |
| A Sweet Soirée | Elegant | Women |
| Exciting Nimbasa | Quirky | Boys |
| 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. Each Prop has a trait, as does each Musical number, and the Prop costume must appease the target audience as well as garner attention.
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 propes to the default order.
Not all Pokémon have all of the body points, so some Pokémon cannot be dressed up in certain Props.
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 held Prop may be used to get the audience's attention, indicated by a spotlight. 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.
Two times during the performance, the audience will applaud: to the Pokémon who does not have the spotlight stolen from them and right before the curtain falls. The 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.
If the audience likes the player's Pokémon, they will be in the lobby afterward, waiting to give new Props to the player as gifts. Additional Musical shows can be downloaded from the Global Link.
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 the audience members gathered outside the reception area to receive Props. The better the performance, the more Props the player will tend to receive. Note that certain Props are given out only by certain Musical categories.
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
In the Pokémon Adventures manga
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. White then proposed every idea of 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.
On the day of its release, it featured the participation of Elesa explaining the rules of the Musical, quickly earning the approval of the public. However, due to complications with the Driftveil Drawbridge, the 200 Prop Cases 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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This game-related article is part of Project Games, a Bulbapedia project that aims to write comprehensive articles on the Pokémon games. |
