I like the maps of Hoenn and Kanto regions the most,especially the Kanto one.Seafoam Islands and Sevii Islands have been setup wonderfully.Also,the PokeNav in Emerald is a wonderful utility.You don't necessarily need to train or level up your pokemons in the wild.You can just check in the PokeNav for trainers who are ready to battle(Gym Leaders too after the E4)with whom,the battles yield tremendously large amounts of Exp.(and money too,sometimes less and sometimes more).
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Little things you like about Pokémon
- Thread starter Kurona
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I love how Mega Camerupt has the Team Magma logo on its head. I only wish that Mega Sharpedo did the same with Team Aqua.
Been A-, time to B+!
I like how each regional game has a distinct feel that sets it apart from the others. Kanto was suburban, Johto was traditional, Hoenn tropical, Sinnoh mountainous, Unova was Earthbound, Kalos European (oh, and Orre was western/Mad-Max land).
It made each iteration feel more unique even when given repeated locales or gameplay.
I like how each regional game has a distinct feel that sets it apart from the others. Kanto was suburban, Johto was traditional, Hoenn tropical, Sinnoh mountainous, Unova was Earthbound, Kalos European (oh, and Orre was western/Mad-Max land).
It made each iteration feel more unique even when given repeated locales or gameplay.
May I mention things about the Pokémon themselves?
First, the fact that Mega Absol turned out to be a guardian angel and possibly influenced by the Egyptian sphinx, rather than some new, generically pretty Legendary Pokémon with a familiar face, which was that of Absol. Next, the fact that the male Pyroar's mane resembles a daimonji if you look at the yellow fur. There is a dub-induced plothole with this, however. Daimonji in the Japanese version is a move that was localized to Fire Blast, the one Fire-type special attack that we know and love alongside the more reliable Flamethrower. They are nowhere near my top favorites, though.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gozan_no_Okuribi
This type of bonfire in Japan is more commonly known as a daimonji, as not only stated above, but as seen in the Wikipedia Link and Zelda as well.
First, the fact that Mega Absol turned out to be a guardian angel and possibly influenced by the Egyptian sphinx, rather than some new, generically pretty Legendary Pokémon with a familiar face, which was that of Absol. Next, the fact that the male Pyroar's mane resembles a daimonji if you look at the yellow fur. There is a dub-induced plothole with this, however. Daimonji in the Japanese version is a move that was localized to Fire Blast, the one Fire-type special attack that we know and love alongside the more reliable Flamethrower. They are nowhere near my top favorites, though.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gozan_no_Okuribi
This type of bonfire in Japan is more commonly known as a daimonji, as not only stated above, but as seen in the Wikipedia Link and Zelda as well.
Well the move is symbolic with fire to the common player who doesn't understand the
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I really loved Mega Absol too; I found the design change a perfect symbolism thing to do with Mega Evolution - folklore suggests it's a sort of signal of danger and doom, but then it's true potential super form sort of thing turns it into an unmistakably heroic, almost angelic figure. Correct me if I'm wrong but at least from what I've experienced wings are generally used in art and fiction to convey safety and guarding. It getting Magic Bounce is just the icing on the cake.
... shame it didn't get Dark/Fairy
And it's design is the most attractive (interpret this how you will) of the non-HumanLike Pokemon. Too bad that Mega Absol is rather... eeeeh... crap. At least, compared to other Megas.
I still need to build a team around it I won't dismantle on cart.
In B2W2, I actually kind of liked how transparent they were with Ghetsis's morals and role as the villain. Rather than getting existential or "maybe he's right" in nature like they did with Cyrus or Lysandre, Ghetsis was an outright criminal, so they could go all out with his plans, making them pretty swift and to the point, like freezing over and taking Icirrus City to get the DNA Splicers from Drayden compared to most games probably making that a mini-dungeon with a "darn, they got away" conclusion to them right after hearing them boast or say something meant to sound deep as they walk away.
I also feel like using Ghetsis as a cutthroat villain made him better as a foil/counter-part to N, who was good but didn't know what to do with himself. It let them play N's moral ambiguity a bit more in hindsight and his brief time in B2W2.
I also feel like using Ghetsis as a cutthroat villain made him better as a foil/counter-part to N, who was good but didn't know what to do with himself. It let them play N's moral ambiguity a bit more in hindsight and his brief time in B2W2.
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I don't see N as morally ambiguous, though. He's a really kindhearted person, but incredibly naive. Ghetsis raised him to be pure of heart, to think that liberating Pokemon was right. And as far as he knew, Pokemon enslavement was the truth and his ideal was to free them. This was also done intentionally by Ghetsis so N would gain the partnership of one of Unova's legendary dragons for his own ends.
Still, I'll agree it was refreshing to see Team Plasma go freezing Opelucid City to force the DNA Splicers to be handed over to them. The story does fall a little flat with Ghetsis' staff apparently jamming the player's Poke Balls as the excuse why you can't catch Black/White Kyurem, though... (why doesn't it jam the ones that are occupied? Surely he could make sure his own are safe so he could still send out his Hydreigon?)
Here I'm assuming you're referring to jamming the player's party Pokeballs, apologies if that wasn't your intent. I think that Ghetsis or Colress or whoever made the staff never figured out how to supersede the Pokemon-trainer bond and prevent your team from coming to your aid. Alternatively, it could be Ghetsis' warped arrogance--he has 2/3s of the superpowerful Dragon of Unova's past, surely that will deal with this meddlesome ant!
That does pose an interesting question, though...why haven't any of the evil teams tried to stop the player from messing with their plans by targeting their party through indirect means (hacking the boxes, etc). In-game Team rocket had almost a whole city in their grasp without trying that...
I took Ghetsis's staff to be meant to stop the Pokeballs from taking something new in. Your Pokeballs which already have a Pokemon linked to them can be used fine since they're already linked, but you can't get a new one to work to capture the still Wild Kyurem.
Which sounds incredibly dumb, but this is Pokemon we're talking about here. These evil teams never do take any precaution to ensure no snot-nosed brat who might be particularly good with Pokemon interferes with their grand plans... And really, I would have been just peachy with the explanation that N's dragon pal is still in there, thus another trainer's Pokemon/two Pokemon so you can't catch it...
Though to be fair, and keep this on topic, I did like that you couldn't catch Kyurem the first time - kind of a reversion of Black and White where you had to catch the mascot dragon. It keeps with the gen 5 theme of breaking tradition, if only just this one time. (as far as we know, anyway)
One thing I love is how things can accidentally come full circle. Here's what I mean:
There is an extinct creature called an ammonite. It was the inspiration for Omanyte. The ammonite was named after the god Ammon, who was often depicted with ram horns, which the shell of the ammonite resembles. So, Lord Helix was inspired by a creature that was named after a god.
There is an extinct creature called an ammonite. It was the inspiration for Omanyte. The ammonite was named after the god Ammon, who was often depicted with ram horns, which the shell of the ammonite resembles. So, Lord Helix was inspired by a creature that was named after a god.
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One other little thing I like is how with DexNav you can see a visible part of the Pokemon you're searching for sticking out of the grass like Pikachu's tail, Ralts' horns, etc. Though it does get weird when you're swimming towards the Sharpedo fin instead of away...Jaws taught me nothing.
Sadly, most of them don't actually do this and instead have a generic sprite. At least the generic sprites have some variety...
Considering the min-maxing they did with Mega Beedrill I'm hoping they do go back and improve the stats of previous Mega Evolutions. Even if they don't want to add any more points to Attack and Speed I'd rather they put the points they put in its Special Attack into its defensive stats.
And not to sound too negative, let be balance it out by showering more praise on Mega Beedrill. You may think I'm exaggerating but in terms of stats I do think Beedrill is a prime example of a proper Mega Evolution. With Mega Pokemon only getting +100 to their BST there would be some where that isn't enough. They need to do something more with it or else it'll just be an insignificant Mega. Now other Mega Pokemon have had decreased stats (some to a bit of their detriment *coughGarchompcough*) but Mega Beedrill had the biggest stat decrease which with the +100 they dumped in the two stats Beedrill should be focusing on, Attack and Speed. Beedrill changed from a mediocre Pokemon to a suicidal sweeper (which just so happens make sense for a bee who die after stinging someone (it's name is BEEdrill, not WASPdrill)). That's not to ignore other they compensate in different ways like giving Mawile Huge Power, making Pidgeot special oriented and giving it No Guard making it the best Hurricane user, and giving Glalie Refrigerate for Ice-type Explosions! However I do consider Mega Beedrill one of the first things they should consider doing for Pokemon who focus on one certain stats while neglecting another (unless they decide to creating a new niche).
Yeah, I do think Ghetsis jamming only empty Pokeballs is due to his arrogance. He just wants to prevent the player from stuffing Kyurem in a Pokeball so it can use its power to crush our Pokemon and thus our hope. I imagine the discussion to do the decision went like this:
Colress: Ghetsis, The Pokeball jamming device is almost ready.
Ghetsis: Good, make sure it only jams empty Pokeballs.
Colress: Only empty? Why not all the trainer's Pokeballs?
Ghetsis: Because I need to prove I'm SUPERIOR! I need to CRUSH my enemies not by disarming them but by showing that NOTHING they can send against Kyurem will save them! I want to watch their hope DIE as they send out their Pokemon one by one to be SHATTERED by Kyurem. The only thing they can do is TRAP Kyurem in a Pokeball, I take that away then NO ONE can stand in my way!
Colress: Aren't you maybe overestimating Kyurem's power?
Ghetsis: BITE YOUR TONGUE! N with his dragon alone defeated the entire Unova League and only stopped by that INSUFFERABLE trainer somehow gaining the approval of the other dragon. But with the DNA Splicers Kyurem will reclaim N's dragon and so increase its strength by TWO-OLD! Not even the other dragon could stand against that power.
Colress: Hmm, two-fold you say? What data you get that from? I have my doubts, but if you wish for only empty Pokeballs to be jammed then I will comply.
Ghetsis: You have NO choice. I put you in charge of Team Plasma, I can REMOVE you too. PERMANENTLY if needed.
Colress: No need for that, allow me to continue my experiments and I will assure you the battle you want, but I cannot promise what the end results will be...
That's something I like about BW2 and even GSC/HGSS, because they're direct sequels we see the results of what was done in the previous games; especially to the villains. In RBY/FRLG Team Rocket was a well organized crime syndicate who had Kanto in a grip of terror, but in GSC/HGSS they're in shambles desperately trying to fine a way to get Giovanni back. In BW Team Plasma had the region of Unova questioning their beliefs and were on the brink of releasing all the region's Pokemon unknowing of Ghetsis secret plan, but in BW2 the group has split into two groups at civil war with one another with one trying to repent for what they done and another following Ghetsis who has gone mad and insane for his tightly knitted plan falling apart and is now just going full force and open with his takeover plan. It's why I'm hoping XY2/Z is a sequel because I'm curious to see what they'd do with a lot of loose ends they left open concerning Team Flare.
New Like: The Pikachu Army is back...
Apparently one of those Pikachus was actually a Ditto Pikachu
I'm assuming you're talking about this:
I don't think it was in the dancing group (they probably want you focusing on all the dancing Pikachu instead of one specific one). Last few times they had the Pikachu group they had some female ones scattered throughout when they were just marching (in addition to the dented tails they also has flower laurels), so if there was any Ditto Pikachu that's probably be where you see them.
Normal Pikachu, Female Pikachu, Ditto Pikachu, wonder what other Pikachu they could have. Shiny Pikachu, Cosplay Pikachu, Ritchie's Pikachu, Spiky-Eared Pikachu, Raichu-colored Pikachu, Electric Blue Pikachu...
I love how they keep using the Ditto face on other Pokémon, so many years after that anime episode (I loved that one as a kid). I especially love the Pikachu and Kanto Starter Ditto ards that are the correct type and every thing.I'm assuming you're talking about this:
I don't think it was in the dancing group (they probably want you focusing on all the dancing Pikachu instead of one specific one). Last few times they had the Pikachu group they had some female ones scattered throughout when they were just marching (in addition to the dented tails they also has flower laurels), so if there was any Ditto Pikachu that's probably be where you see them.
Normal Pikachu, Female Pikachu, Ditto Pikachu, wonder what other Pikachu they could have. Shiny Pikachu, Cosplay Pikachu, Ritchie's Pikachu, Spiky-Eared Pikachu, Raichu-colored Pikachu, Electric Blue Pikachu...
Ooh, card art, there's something you can talk about!
Now for the most part most TCGs (or at least the most popular ones) have wonderful art. Makes sense, you want the cards to look good so they'll attract players. Pokemon is no exception, however Pokemon does do something different with its card art that not many other TCGs do. For the most part TCGs try to have a consistent look that, while it may improve over the years, you can tell its from that franchise. But Pokemon doesn't, if you buy a few pack of Pokemon cards from different expansion you'll probably see a handful of different art styles. Now they have their professional looking art but they've also used childlike drawings, CG, toy figurines, watercolors, etc.. Now this does make sense, Pokemon has a limited amount of creatures to work with and they're going to use them over and over again. And while professional looking art is nice there's only so many ways to draw a Pokemon until they would start looking the same. However by allowing for many different art styles they give themselves almost limitless opportunities to show the Pokemon in a new way.
With so many examples to show, instead I'll show some of my favorite cards. During BW there was an expansion called Legendary Treasures that had cards which told a story when looked at together:
Sadly it doesn't look like they've done this story telling idea since, at least none I can find online (I actually discovered the Trubbish, Charmeleon & Swablu, and Plusle & Minun story just now; I knew about the Tepig family and the Natu & Bouffalant story and was just going to tell them but threw in the other stories too since they're fun).
There's probably more of the TCG I can talk about, but I think I said enough for right now.
Now for the most part most TCGs (or at least the most popular ones) have wonderful art. Makes sense, you want the cards to look good so they'll attract players. Pokemon is no exception, however Pokemon does do something different with its card art that not many other TCGs do. For the most part TCGs try to have a consistent look that, while it may improve over the years, you can tell its from that franchise. But Pokemon doesn't, if you buy a few pack of Pokemon cards from different expansion you'll probably see a handful of different art styles. Now they have their professional looking art but they've also used childlike drawings, CG, toy figurines, watercolors, etc.. Now this does make sense, Pokemon has a limited amount of creatures to work with and they're going to use them over and over again. And while professional looking art is nice there's only so many ways to draw a Pokemon until they would start looking the same. However by allowing for many different art styles they give themselves almost limitless opportunities to show the Pokemon in a new way.
With so many examples to show, instead I'll show some of my favorite cards. During BW there was an expansion called Legendary Treasures that had cards which told a story when looked at together:
Starting with Tepig, we have a nice family scene with a young boy holding his Tepig with his mom and dad. Okay, nothing unusual and its a sweet enough scene.
Moving onto Pignite, it looks to be a few years later we get another portrait that not only shows how much older the boy got but in the between years the parents had a daughter who's hugging Pignite. So from these two cards we can assume Emboar would also be another family portrait, so what does it depict?
We've moved to several years ahead showing the little boy in the Tepig card has fully grown up, got married, and had a kid of his own! On the right you can see the now grandparents (both showing a bit of grey in their hair) and the now teenage kid sister. And in the middle is Emboar keeping a watchful eye on the baby who's reaching out to it (or to the fire around its neck, eitherway it's keeping a watchful eye).
Considering how old the Pokemon franchise is, I wouldn't be surprised if some Pokemon fans could relate to the series of card that though their family has changed over the years there was always Pokemon (not physically of course) to help them through the good and bad times.
Moving onto Pignite, it looks to be a few years later we get another portrait that not only shows how much older the boy got but in the between years the parents had a daughter who's hugging Pignite. So from these two cards we can assume Emboar would also be another family portrait, so what does it depict?
We've moved to several years ahead showing the little boy in the Tepig card has fully grown up, got married, and had a kid of his own! On the right you can see the now grandparents (both showing a bit of grey in their hair) and the now teenage kid sister. And in the middle is Emboar keeping a watchful eye on the baby who's reaching out to it (or to the fire around its neck, eitherway it's keeping a watchful eye).
Considering how old the Pokemon franchise is, I wouldn't be surprised if some Pokemon fans could relate to the series of card that though their family has changed over the years there was always Pokemon (not physically of course) to help them through the good and bad times.
The first card in this story is Natu, or rather two Natu who somehow got caught in a snow storm and are huddling together trying to keep each other warm. In the background you can see a blurry brown thing which looks vaguely like a Bouffalant. Let's take a look at the Bouffalant card in the same expansion.
The brown thing in the back not only was a Bouffalant, but it depicts the same Bouffalant who has shown to have rescued the two freezing Natu who happily sit snug in Bouffalant's afro. In addition the snow storm has stopped as rays of sunshine can be seen.
The brown thing in the back not only was a Bouffalant, but it depicts the same Bouffalant who has shown to have rescued the two freezing Natu who happily sit snug in Bouffalant's afro. In addition the snow storm has stopped as rays of sunshine can be seen.
We start with a Trubbish who looks to have been left behind in a landfill by a garbage truck. Things look pretty sad about it.
And then suddenly Phione! It pops out of the nearby water surprising Trubbish.
The Trubbish presumably tells the Phione what has happened and Phione seems to have had an Empoleon friend who gives Trubbish a ride over the seas to probably someplace a bit less glum.
And then suddenly Phione! It pops out of the nearby water surprising Trubbish.
The Trubbish presumably tells the Phione what has happened and Phione seems to have had an Empoleon friend who gives Trubbish a ride over the seas to probably someplace a bit less glum.
Had enough of sappy stories? Well about a humorous one where a Charmeleon bends down to eat some berries only to accidentally burn a nearby Swablu who flies off in a huff. Life ain't easy for Fire-types, but it's even less easy for the ones who get burned from it (personally I would have had Swablu furiously pecking at Charmeleon who's running away covering its head but hey it's still a fun little story).
In the past they've had cards whose images are actually from a larger image. However the Plusle and Minun cards from not only Legendary Treasures but also the Dark Explorer's expansion play with this idea:
Dark Explorers shows a scene Plusle joyfully hopping away on the ground from a plane while Minun is posing with its arm crossed on the wing of the plane. You can see the other electric rodent in the background and they're in the same exact pose in their card making the card depicting the same image except at different angles.
In Legendary Treasures there's no direct relation but from the context of the image you can tell they probably go together. On the right side with have happy Minun jumping up in joy, the people around who are dressed in blue also doing so as confetti falls.
Meanwhile Plusle looks shocked as the people around it, one dressed in red in particular, are looking rather disappointed and upset, yet you can still still confetti in the image.
Put them together and you get the picture that Minun and Plusle were on opposing teams, one blue and the other red, and it looks like Minun's team won while Plusle's team lost. It's a subtle connection but still a nice piece of narrative.
Dark Explorers shows a scene Plusle joyfully hopping away on the ground from a plane while Minun is posing with its arm crossed on the wing of the plane. You can see the other electric rodent in the background and they're in the same exact pose in their card making the card depicting the same image except at different angles.
In Legendary Treasures there's no direct relation but from the context of the image you can tell they probably go together. On the right side with have happy Minun jumping up in joy, the people around who are dressed in blue also doing so as confetti falls.
Meanwhile Plusle looks shocked as the people around it, one dressed in red in particular, are looking rather disappointed and upset, yet you can still still confetti in the image.
Put them together and you get the picture that Minun and Plusle were on opposing teams, one blue and the other red, and it looks like Minun's team won while Plusle's team lost. It's a subtle connection but still a nice piece of narrative.
Sadly it doesn't look like they've done this story telling idea since, at least none I can find online (I actually discovered the Trubbish, Charmeleon & Swablu, and Plusle & Minun story just now; I knew about the Tepig family and the Natu & Bouffalant story and was just going to tell them but threw in the other stories too since they're fun).
There's probably more of the TCG I can talk about, but I think I said enough for right now.
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Those Tepig family cards are freaking adorable. I absolutely love that.
More card art discussion:
One of my favorite things is with certain cards from the HeartGold/SoulSilver expansion. If a Pokémon evolves through a stone, such as Arcanine, said stone is in their artwork:
More card art discussion:
One of my favorite things is with certain cards from the HeartGold/SoulSilver expansion. If a Pokémon evolves through a stone, such as Arcanine, said stone is in their artwork:
Another thing I really like is how Pokémon change from generation to generation (and sometimes within generations too). New Pokémon are introduced in every generation, but most of the old ones get some new tools that sometimes change their usefulness drastically for the better. Certain Pokémon have been an utter waste of space for several generations, and then suddenly GameFreak throw them a bone that allow them to soar up on the rankings, and become one of the most talked-about 'mons out there. We've seen it happen to Scizor, Politoed, Mawile, Kangaskhan, Altaria and a bunch of others. Jokémon for several generations, then suddenly they soar to the top of OU (and sometimes even beyond) and become among the most sought-after Pokémon to catch and train in the games. Giving useless Pokémon an evolution works in a similar way, although it hasn't been utilized for almost a decade now.
This gives the impression that no Pokémon is truly hopeless. Anything can get a surprising upgrade that allows it to fight among the best - if only for a short period. That gives lots of consolidation to fans of currently-weaker Pokémon, while us old veterans can get a pleasant surprise from time to time as old conventions are tumbled completely. Two generations ago, everybody would have laughed at people predicting Mawile and Kangaskhan would one day be broken in OU. And they would have given up on Smogon completely if they heard Charizard would top the usage statistics among veteran players.
Conversely, though, Pokémon very seldom get nerfed in a similar manner. Over time, they might be overshadowed by something even better, but the tools they acquire will remain pretty solid for generations to come, bar any unfortunate mechanics changes. This has some implications for competitive battling, sending previous superstars plunging through the tiers, but it is a boon to in-game use of Pokémon. Jokémon in competitive are usually useless in-game. Pokémon like Delcatty and Illumise are a burden to their teams and trainers more often than not. But buffed Jokémon remain good and fun to use in-game, even after their time in the competitive limelight is over. No matter how outclassed Mawile might become in later generations of competitive battling, bringing a Mawile to a Gym battle will remain a solid choice. A Drizzle Politoed might not pull you as far up the ladder as it used to, but it will run through the story mode like a wrecking ball. Thus, this gradual buffing of poor Pokémon really benefit all sides.
However, I don't think every bad Pokémon should get buffed at once. That would just set a new standard for what constitutes a bad Pokémon. The barrel has to have a bottom, and all that. It's easier to appreciate the power and versatility of 'mons like Garchomp and Gengar when there exists stuff like Unown and Plusle.
This gives the impression that no Pokémon is truly hopeless. Anything can get a surprising upgrade that allows it to fight among the best - if only for a short period. That gives lots of consolidation to fans of currently-weaker Pokémon, while us old veterans can get a pleasant surprise from time to time as old conventions are tumbled completely. Two generations ago, everybody would have laughed at people predicting Mawile and Kangaskhan would one day be broken in OU. And they would have given up on Smogon completely if they heard Charizard would top the usage statistics among veteran players.
Conversely, though, Pokémon very seldom get nerfed in a similar manner. Over time, they might be overshadowed by something even better, but the tools they acquire will remain pretty solid for generations to come, bar any unfortunate mechanics changes. This has some implications for competitive battling, sending previous superstars plunging through the tiers, but it is a boon to in-game use of Pokémon. Jokémon in competitive are usually useless in-game. Pokémon like Delcatty and Illumise are a burden to their teams and trainers more often than not. But buffed Jokémon remain good and fun to use in-game, even after their time in the competitive limelight is over. No matter how outclassed Mawile might become in later generations of competitive battling, bringing a Mawile to a Gym battle will remain a solid choice. A Drizzle Politoed might not pull you as far up the ladder as it used to, but it will run through the story mode like a wrecking ball. Thus, this gradual buffing of poor Pokémon really benefit all sides.
However, I don't think every bad Pokémon should get buffed at once. That would just set a new standard for what constitutes a bad Pokémon. The barrel has to have a bottom, and all that. It's easier to appreciate the power and versatility of 'mons like Garchomp and Gengar when there exists stuff like Unown and Plusle.