A Place for VGC

As I've said in a post where I envision a local VGC expansion, I'm not quite adept in the arts of VGC Pokémon battles. However, since Pokémon has been integral to my life, I'm compelled to participate anyhow and to respond to matters regarding it. So when a friend questioned about the local future of VGC, I felt that I have to address this. To me, the concern about whether there is a local place for VGC is a valid concern as an all-around Pokémon fan.

One of the key questions raised regarding the concern is on the importance of VGC. To me, the answer is "yes, it's important", because VGC has become the "gold standard" of Pokémon battling. Ultimately, anyone that wants to prove their worth in the main series games should participate in VGC battling. It's something to be fostered so that players have a way to compete at the highest level possible. As long as the main series persists, and local players take it up, VGC will surely follow along. To put it in another way: VGC is to Pokémon as Bocuse d'Or is to the culinary arts, a competition for the best of the best. As for myself, I'm not quite the best, but at least I can improve - however slow it may be - and perhaps take what I know and apply it elsewhere. VGC remains important in any case for main series players in general.

Another key question raised is on the problem of not having local VGC events anymore. This is a genuine concern, and the answer is also seemingly to be "yes, it would be a problem". Without local events, there's no way for great players who have "learned the ropes" to compete, and there's also no way to drum up interest in this style of battling. Granted, sometimes it's hard to drum up interest however way things go, but it would be even harder without the events. I would personally also miss them if that were the case. But once players get better and are interested, things will surely move along. Thus there needs to be a way to cater to as many interested players as possible and to keep that interest going, and these events are great for that. They should be maintained in some form to do so.

The answer to the overall concern of a place for VGC, in particular locally, is that there is indeed a place for it. It's important for those who play really well and for garnering and maintaining interest, for any player of the main series Pokémon games, even those that don't do well like me. VGC is important to Pokémon as much as Pokémon is important to me, and there's something good about maintaining them both.

One year ago: Blue and Yellow Philosophy