One time, when I played Sapphire...

[xxkaonashixx]

One time, when I played Sapphire, I was in a Pokemon contest (I don't remember what city it was in...). Someone had a Magikarp, and it was just derping around and using Splash, and instead of the game's text saying "Nothing happened!" (Or whatever that generic line was that indicated that Magikarp just dun goof'd and did nothing), water shot up by Magikarp's sprite, and the audience went wild, and the judge gave it a crapload of points.

So, my question is... Is it only possible for Splash to do something in Pokemon R/S/E? I think I remember that happening once in a battle in Gold, too... I KNOW I'm remembering right, and that it wasn't Struggle. I don't think you can use Struggle in a contest (There's no PP), and, Struggle doesn't make water shoot up into the air.

[YamiDenryuu]

According to Bulbapedia, Splash actually does something in Contests - it "works great if performed last". Kinda odd they'd make it work in Contests when it does nothing in battles, but what you saw was still normal.