The Pokémon anime once introduced a rather interesting type of competition– PokéRinger. The sport has Trainers send out Pokémon that can fly, get a ring from a balloon, and place that ring on a goalpost before any of the other Pokémon. It was a cool and unique way to show Pokémon in aerial combat, maybe even better than the Sky Battles.
However, despite the potential appeal of PokéRinger, it didn’t show up much in the anime. It only appeared in two episodes, once in Advanced Generation and once more in Diamond and Pearl. After that, it disappeared from the anime almost entirely. There’s a reason for this, but it still might have been cool to see more of this competition in the anime.
What Was the Point of PokéRinger?
Technically, the only purpose of the PokéRinger-related episodes was to give Ash a means to evolve his Flying Pokémon. More specifically, it was to take whatever early-route Flying Pokémon he was using at the time and evolve it into its final stage. In Advanced Generation Episode 80, “That’s Just Swellow,” his Taillow evolved into a Swellow. In Diamond and Pearl episode 118, “Pursuing a Lofty Goal!,” his Staravia evolved into a Staraptor. Beyond this, PokéRinger served no further narrative purpose.
This superfluous use of PokéRinger episodes is made apparent through all their similarities. Besides the competition itself and Ash’s Flying Pokémon evolving; there are all sorts of things both episodes have in common; both have James participating with one of Jessie’s Bug Pokémon; they also both have an overconfident reigning champion taken down in the first round; they even both take place 10 episodes after Ash won a badge. The anime may have drifted away from these competitions to avoid such obvious repetition in storylines.
As for Ash’s other Flying Pokémom following Staraptor, they had their own worthwhile means of evolving into their final stages. His Tranquill evolved into an Unfezant while battling Skyla’s Unfezant, which resulted in an intense dogfight of its own. His Fletchinder evolved into Talonflame while battling a Moltres, and, of course, another dogfight ensued. If Ash’s Flying Pokémon were to evolve anywhere outside a PokéRinger competition, battling a Gym Leader or a Legendary Pokémon would be a good substitute.
That said, it’s still a shame that there weren’t more PokéRinger competitions. What makes them so great is their focus on aerial combat. It’s a rather uncommon form of battle in the anime, so it’s a welcome spectacle when it does happen. Some of the best battles in the anime were dogfights; some examples include Ash’s Unfezant vs Skyla’s Unfezant, Ash’s Talonflame vs Alain’s Unfezant, and Naganadel vs Tapu Koko. Having more PokéRinger competitions would have emphasized this spectacle and provided more opportunities to see it.
Regardless, PokéRinger has served its purpose for the anime and will likely never appear again. The only proof that Ash was even in these competitions is his evolved Pokémon and the commemorative plaque he got from the Squallville competition. With its purpose fulfilled, PokéRinger may have to remain a distant memory in the annals of Pokémon history.
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