Using the Battle Spot is perfectly good and fine to test your teams, and improve your skills, but perhaps you want to go and participate in a tournament. Good for you! With modern technology, it's very possible to participate in Pokémon tournaments with players all around the world...even if you don't live near a place where tournaments are common. I'll also be talking about offline tournaments, and how they compare to the online experience.
Section 1: Online Tournaments
Through the technological magic of the Internet, players can now participate in fully-online tournaments. I'll quickly go over the pros and cons of participation in online tourneys:
PROS
- It's free!
- You have more time to participate in your battles (~4-5 days), and can take breaks if/when necessary.
- You can participate in an online tournament from anywhere, so long as you have an Internet connection.
- Everything in the Uber tier is automatically banned. (If you don't know what that means, don't worry; tier explanation is coming soon.)
- You are placed into either the Junior, Senior, or Masters division based upon age. Theoretically, this helps level the playing field somewhat.
CONS
- Your battles are affected dramatically by your Internet connection. If you disconnect (either through a loss of Internet connection, loss of battery power, or rage-quitting), it counts as a loss.
- There is a major skill discrepancy. I've already voiced my concerns about how players are divided by age, and not by skill; you could have a Masters player just be starting out, and hypothetically get trampled by more experienced players, or a Juniors player who has been playing for years, and might have an advantage over other Juniors players.
- Sportspersonship (which is the term I'll be using in place of "sportsmanship," if you haven't noticed) is decreased; if you beat someone, they could very well disconnect. It still counts as a loss for them, but you don't get any credit for beating them.
- Everything in the Uber tier is banned, but other creatures-- like Mega Kangaskhan-- that could be classed as Uber in certain situations, are not always banned. Blaziken? Banned by default because it can be considered Uber. Mega Blaziken? It doesn't matter; Blaziken is automatically banned. Kangaskhan? Sure, let it in...it's weak, right? It goes Mega...run, children. Run awa-a-a-ay! (In Mega Kangaskhan's defense, I find it adorable and great for the species; I just feel horrible using it since it's just a bit too strong.)
- As of X & Y, Pokémon from previous generations are banned. I understand that this is to prevent hacked Pokémon from getting into tournaments and messing things up, but when you have a Pokémon that's very precious to you (like Vincere, my [Shiny] Garchomp I received as an Egg from Benga after beating him on the Battle Tower), it's just sad to not be able to use him/her in a tournament.
Section 2: Physical/Offline Tournaments
Like the online tournaments, I'll be breaking this down into pros and cons.
PROS
- You get to interact with other Pokémon fans who are just as excited about the tournament as you are!
- Sportspersonship tends to be great, especially if it's a more informal tournament; few to none of the participants are dead-set on winning, rather just hoping for a good time.
- There can be very specific and unusual rewards for winning, or even just for participating! (In my first physical tournament, the organizers distributed a shiny, albeit cloned, Dragonite to all participants just for entering.)
- There might be special rules, disallowing the use of certain other Pokémon, such as Mega Kangaskhan or Mega Gengar, which can help your odds of surviving longer and/or winning.
- In more informal tournaments (and perhaps some larger ones; I'm not sure), there is no age division. (I also listed this as a con.)
CONS
- These tournaments usually only last for 1-2 days, and are only in a specific location.
- Tournament entry may not be free (but is usually very cheap).
- Pokémon eugenics is arguably more common in physical tournaments.
- There is no age division in some smaller, less formal tournaments, meaning that new players could hypothetically get paired against the near-mythical "Masters Player Who's Been Playing Since '94" trope.
- There may be specific rules as to what is and is not banned. This could mean majorly restructuring your team at the last minute.
I've participated in both online and offline tournaments...online is easier, yes, but more potentially volatile. My 3DS typically does not leave the house (though it does come with me when I go to Sac-Anime) due to personal reasons, making online tournaments and battles much more accessible for me. The satisfaction a player gets when their opponent looks at your team for the first time and says, "Wow, your team looks really great," is just amazing, though.
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