A Pokémon Scarlet and Violet tournament was canceled after four finalists protested with the hilarious move Metronome. While these tactics are amusing, the story behind them is pretty grim.
One of the finalists, Nash, posted the story of how they got disqualified from the tournament finals. In response, four contestants decided to compete with Pokémon that only knew the move Metronome. Most can see why the show was canceled since it would have been a long (but entertaining) show.
Sadly, the reason these Pokémon contestants decided to protest this way is pretty sad, as they were treated poorly. Nash says that there was poor communication with the hosts, barely any downtime between matches, and a frustrating best-of-one qualifying tournament. Due to all the disrespect, the participants protested by locking in their Metronome-only team.
Honestly, witnessing a tournament where they can only use the Metronome move sounds pretty fun. Granted, this would have led to a really slow tournament that would have gotten old easily but it sounds amusing. It really is a shame that this was done due to poor treatment and not just for fun.
Unfrtunately, this isn’t the only time players were mistreated in a Pokémon-related tournament. One team of Pokémon TCG players were constantly harassed by a judge due to their trans players. Some Japanese players also commented on Nash’s post, claiming that their game tournaments also have similar issues.
It’s clear that these gaming tournaments need better communication and time management, though it’s easy to that in hindsight. Whatever the case, the amount of disrespect shown to the players can’t be ignored and organizers need to do a better job. Hopefully, another story like this doesn’t happen as it’s just cruel at this point.
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Fans can pick up Pokémon Scarlet and Violet right now on Switch, with the HOME update finally letting players transfer their critters.