>>48170603Adding context to this, the affection boosts only apply if your pokémon is fond of you - it outperforms the mean in battle, out of a desire to do its utmost for you. Now if this happens purely from a person playing with their 'mon and spending time with them, imagine the power of a pokémon, wholly and absolutely in love with its trainer, and their trainer as committed to they in the heat of battle.
The upper echelons of the competitive scene depend on how exactly far you're willing to take your relationships with your pokémon.
