Thread: How would you deal with a loss in a REAL Pokemon battle?

I was watching Ash vs. Gary at the Silver Conference and I thought about this situation. In the anime, we see some deal with losses by accepting them and growing (like Ritchie), complaining and being pissed about it (Ash after he lost to Ritchie) or dealing with it in some other way.

Me personally, it would have to do with the battle itself. If it were a match where I and my opponent were going move for move and I lost. It wouldn’t feel so bad because I gave everything I had but I learned a lot from it. If I made a mistake that cost me the match I’d probably be hard on myself.

Though if it were a major tournament and I was so close to winning, but I lost don’t talk to me for a few days haha.

So, how would you deal with a loss?

It all depends on the battle. I would never blame my pokemon though. If my pokemon felt like it caused the loss then I'd try to cheer it up and say we would train harder. I guess it would depend on how my pokemon feel about the loss more than anything. But fi I was in a tournament and I lost then I'd be upset for a while but I'd probably get over it and try again next time.

Originally Posted by JeSashi

It all depends on the battle. I would never blame my pokemon though. If my pokemon felt like it caused the loss then I'd try to cheer it up and say we would train harder. I guess it would depend on how my pokemon feel about the loss more than anything. But fi I was in a tournament and I lost then I'd be upset for a while but I'd probably get over it and try again next time.

Yeah, I agree losing a tournament like a Pokemon League or Grand Festival would be awful especially if you lost in the first round of competition like in Hoenn if it is 1 on 1. In GF terms, I think its a lot harder to even get past one round.

You work hard for 5 ribbons or 8 badges and lose it all if you don't win one battle I know it must be tough...

I'm not a mod but isn't this the wrong section. Oh what do I care.

I would act hella stoic and shit if it were against a peer. If I lost to someone with more experence I wouldn't give a rattata's arse.
If I lost in a tournament before getting into the top battles I would punch myself in the forehead unless it was against an expert or someone with more experience. In that case I would call lady luck a harlot and be pissed off.

complaining and being pissed about it (Ash after he lost to Ritchie)

To be far, Ash was pretty screwed over in that match. Team Rocket had kidnapped him and he spent a good few hours trying to escape them, and his Pokemon used up a great deal of energy helping him do that. When he finally got to the tournament, he was out his fallgu- erm, Pidgeotto and was forced to work with a weaker team, and ended up having to rely on his Charizard (who we never really find out just WHY he was so disobedient, didn't Ash, like, save his life or something?). It was like trying to play a soccer match with a broken leg, or trying to make a good movie with Roland Emmerich directing.

Honestly I felt Ash was very justified to be down about it, especially considering the hell he had to go through to get some of those badges that I doubt anyone else in that tournament had to deal with. Halfway through the episode, I was thinking "Gee, Ash and Richie never had that good match they wanted, maybe they'll end this season with them having a causal and fair three on thre-" oh nope, instead we get a heavy-handed "Ash is a sore loser and has to suck it up" Aesop, never mind the fact he was cheated out of a fair fight.

Anyway, I strayed off topic. If I lost in a league, I'd be pretty angry at myself for messing up, but I wouldn't give up or whine about it, I'd just walk it off and move on. I wouldn't congratulate the opponent though, he's praised enough by the crowd, no need to swell his ego any further and make him think he's better then me. I would be pissed however, if people I knew ragged on me for my loss and made me feel worse about it. I just wasted a year of my life collecting fancy looking bottle caps that don't mean squat anymore, I don't need to be reminded about it people! And I sure wouldn't accept one of those stupid "participation awards" like the one Ash got at the end of Kanto. That'd just be a constant reminder that I was handed the fail boat.

You work hard for 5 ribbons or 8 badges and lose it all if you don't win one battle I know it must be tough...

Yeah, that was pretty messed up wasn't it? That's like raising your party in an RPG up to level 99, then the game data gets corrupt as you're saving because of a power outage. I wonder if the writers were aware of how many non-existent trainer's dreams were crushed because they wanted to hurry through the league.

Writers: Yeah, sorry we couldn't give you guys a good exciting 3 on 3 battle to go out on, but we were too busy doing episodes about a kid trying to catch a Dunsparce or a Natu doing a fortune telling trick.

It would be tough.

Look at Kenny. He got 5 ribbons to get into the Grand Festival, but then fails the appeal round...so its like all his time was wasted. LOL.

Imagine that happening to you?

Yeah, I understand where're you coming from. If something happens and I make a mistake (I'm talking real life here) and others try to comfort me about it, but they have a habit of bringing it up all the time unintended like its ok if you didn't win it wasn't fair anyway or that test was hard anyway, etc.

To me that makes me feel even worse about failing at something, when people try to act nice about it...

That's what Misty was doing to Ash the next day after the match, even though she meant well. She did have a point about Charizard though and Pro. Oak agreed. But if I were Ash in that situation I would have asked the ref. at the league for some kind of pardon or something because I was kidnapped. Or at least have a chance to switch up Pokemon, which would have been difficult considering Oak was at the league with Ash's mom. However, I'm thinking he had a person he trusted to watch the ranch while he was away because there were too many Pokemon to just leave there un-watched.

But yeah, like Gary did he split the scene after losing and didn't think twice about that lame trainer badge they handed out after the league lol

Honestly there is another question here about if you lose a tournament of GF; Would you just leave after you lost or stick around to watch other matches and possibly learn new strategies?

This is an interesting question. To be honest, I would probably complain about how it wasn't fair or I would say that my Pokemon weren't ready and I would have a lot of those 'you just got lucky' moments. But I would get over it after a few minutes and train my pokemon like crazy while loving them at the same time.

Honest opinion: Walk away like a good sport, and then get really upset at myself when no one's around.

...for about fifteen minutes. Then prepare myself and my team for the next match.

This is a hard question.
I absolutely hate losing... so... chances are... I would rarely engage in battle if I have a chance of losing it (yeah, real mature, I know xD)
In the moment I would hold my head up high and give my congratulations to the other trainer. But when I get back home, I would sulk for the rest of the day/week D:

Originally Posted by Aori

This is a hard question.
I absolutely hate losing... so... chances are... I would rarely engage in battle if I have a chance of losing it (yeah, real mature, I know xD)
In the moment I would hold my head up high and give my congratulations to the other trainer. But when I get back home, I would sulk for the rest of the day/week D:

Haha, for some reason I just LOVE this answer xD

I despise losing with a passion. The real thing about real battles are this; we are all so used to playing the game and only need to win by strategy because there are a lot of conditions in the anime in terms of battling that we don't have to face in the game (like heavy Pokemon or fire types being able to battle on water if we are Surfing or something or using Dive). And the only time we really lose in the games is if we are facing a trainer on the road and our team is really weak or infected with a status condition and/or we are in low supplies of Potions or Revives. Or if we are facing the E4 and Champion with under-leveled Pokemon lol

Now the only thing about real battles, each trainer is determined to win no matter what happens somebody is going to walk away hurt. I think losing in general sucks but I can handle a loss to a trainer that I meet on the road better than a loss in a league or something.

Originally Posted by Paulisthebest

Haha, for some reason I just LOVE this answer xD

I despise losing with a passion. The real thing about real battles are this; we are all so used to playing the game and only need to win by strategy because there are a lot of conditions in the anime in terms of battling that we don't have to face in the game (like heavy Pokemon or fire types being able to battle on water if we are Surfing or something or using Dive). And the only time we really lose in the games is if we are facing a trainer on the road and our team is really weak or infected with a status condition and/or we are in low supplies of Potions or Revives. Or if we are facing the E4 and Champion with under-leveled Pokemon lol

Now the only thing about real battles, each trainer is determined to win no matter what happens somebody is going to walk away hurt. I think losing in general sucks but I can handle a loss to a trainer that I meet on the road better than a loss in a league or something.

HAHAHA I'm glad you liked it! :) you made me smile!

Off topic aside, I can relate to your answer. Winning in the games is very easy - you have a lot of control over what you are doing. You can even overlevel your Pokémon fighting weak Pokémon in the grass and that way, secure yourself a 100% chance of victory against all the trainers in a particular road. But I think real-life battle would be so different, because other variables would come into play - such as your connection with your Pokémon, and your rival's connection with his/hers. So, like you said, it would be so much more than just being a few levels above and having the type advantage.

Originally Posted by Aori

HAHAHA I'm glad you liked it! :) you made me smile!

Off topic aside, I can relate to your answer. Winning in the games is very easy - you have a lot of control over what you are doing. You can even overlevel your Pokémon fighting weak Pokémon in the grass and that way, secure yourself a 100% chance of victory against all the trainers in a particular road. But I think real-life battle would be so different, because other variables would come into play - such as your connection with your Pokémon, and your rival's connection with his/hers. So, like you said, it would be so much more than just being a few levels above and having the type advantage.

Yes indeed, because in the games you can't really tell your Pokemon to dodge, combine moves, etc. I'd love for them to make some kind of Wii or Kinect Pokemon game where you can command your Pokemon like in the anime...

But yeah, levels would play a small role in a sense because in the anime (levels are hardly mentioned) moves are learned at random not because of level, not only that if you can outsmart your opponent a weaker Pokemon can win look at Ash's Pikachu losing to weak Pokemon but winning against legends...

Guys, please get back on topic of how you would deal with a loss. This isn't about how Anime battles and those in the games differ. Relating your points to the games is fine, but posts just about them is offtopic.

I voted for the second option, complain about it because it's not fair. I'm in the minority here LOL, but that is honestly how I would deal with it. Well, perhaps not every single battle I lost, but online and offline I have that mindset that everything is unfair... no point lying and saying I'd be mature about it. xD