Little things you like about Pokémon

There's something I remembered today that I really like while I was reading a reply to one comment of mine on YouTube.

A specific dungeon in the Mystery Dungeon Explorer games: The Nightmare. The music and the Pokemon you fight there (And their movesets in one specific case) are surprisingly clever, considering whose nightmare it is.
 
While it may sound a little oddly specific, I like how the Pokemon world is so explainable. To elaborate, sometimes I'm playing the game or watching the anime and something happens that makes me think "What? That makes no sense! What is this?" But I think about it for just a moment, and suddenly an explanation hits me and I realize that the whole thing is quite reasonable and I don't feel annoyed. Rarely are such explanations ever presented in canon, but I like how the Pokemon world doesn't just fall flat if you give it some thought; whether it's by coincidence or design, I've found that the Pokemon world typically makes more sense when you think about it (so long as you accept the conceit of elemental monsters and crazy high-tech).

I bring up some examples after this, so if you're not too interested you can just skip to the next post.

First: it's tempting to question why this world revolves around Pokemon battling... except it doesn't. All the time we see Pokemon doing things besides battling. Battling appears to be for those who want it, while many either work with Pokemon or just keep them as companions or even compete in events aside from battling, like contests.

Second: Black and White bring up the possibility that Pokeballs effectively enslave Pokemon, which would be a pretty terrible thing and make the whole thing less fun. But then you realize that when you go out to the wild, it's the wild Pokemon who attack you. You're not hunting down and enslaving creatures - you're taking in Mons who challenged you because they thought you'd make a good trainer! As for trainer-Mon duos that don't work too well, we've seen Pokemon exit Pokeballs on their own frequently enough for it to be clear that there's really no imprisonment going on.

There's more beyond that, but now's not really the time to yammer about things I've though are strange on the surface but actually make sense.
 
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I really like how starting in Gen 5, the stats that natures affect became highlighted. That saved the annoyance of having to tap left one time to view the nature (First World problems, amirite?) This also prevents the need to memorize every single nature, as you can see which stat is boosted and which stat is lowered simply by viewing the stats.

Speaking of 5th gen, I like how starting in B2W2, there is a prompt to reapply a repel as soon as your current one runs out. I got sick and tired of pressing Y, opening the Bag, and reapplying the repel. Wasted precious seconds.
 
I really like how starting in Gen 5, the stats that natures affect became highlighted. That saved the annoyance of having to tap left one time to view the nature (First World problems, amirite?) This also prevents the need to memorize every single nature, as you can see which stat is boosted and which stat is lowered simply by viewing the stats.

Speaking of 5th gen, I like how starting in B2W2, there is a prompt to reapply a repel as soon as your current one runs out. I got sick and tired of pressing Y, opening the Bag, and reapplying the repel. Wasted precious seconds.
Actually, the highlighted stats appeared first in HGSS. But anyways, that's where Game Freak started making good interfaces, even though certain features were not kept for BW or XY.
 
I really like Pokemon-amie. At first I thought it was just some feature that, while cute, was ultimately meaningless. But then I realized that this feature actually allows you to establish bonds with your pokemon, both in game and out. Sure, you'll most likely grow fond of your pokemon naturally as you play the game, and there's the friendship feature, but for the most part, the bond between you and your pokemon has always been something of an informed attribute. A pokemon's friendship can raise just by walking, and you're most likely not losing every battle, meaning that you really don't have to try at all to get them to like you. However, when Pokemon-amie came about, you actually had to work for your pokemon's love, and although it could be a bit of a tiring task sometimes, it is so satisfying when you finally reach max affection and your pokemon start doing things like landing more critical hits, surviving attacks that would otherwise knock them out, and shaking off status effects, all out of love for you. It even says "You and *insert pokemon* will be friends forever!" once you meet max affection, and it really feels true. I also love sending my pokemon out, seeing them look back at me, and then there's some sort of message, like "You and *insert pokemon* are breathing in sync!" It really feels like you and your pokemon are fighting as one.

...That was longer and sappier than I expected it to be.
 
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I really like Pokemon-amie. At first I thought it was just some feature that, while cute, was ultimately meaningless. But then I realized that this feature actually allows you to establish bonds with your pokemon, both in game and out. Sure, you'll most likely grow fond of your pokemon naturally as you play the game, and there's the friendship feature, but for the most part, the bond between you and your pokemon has always been something of an informed attribute. A pokemon's friendship can raise just by walking, and you're most likely not losing every battle, meaning that you really don't have to try at all to get them to like you. However, when Pokemon-amie came about, you actually had to work for your pokemon's love, and although it could be a bit of a tiring task sometimes, it is so satisfying when you finally reach max affection and your pokemon start doing things like landing more critical hits, surviving attacks that would otherwise knock them out, and shaking off status effects, all out of love for you. It even says "You and *insert pokemon* will be friends forever!" once you meet max affection, and it really feels true. I also love sending my pokemon out, seeing them look back at me, and then there's some sort of message, like "You and *insert pokemon* are breathing in sync!" It really feels like you and your pokemon are fighting as one.

...That was longer and sappier than I expected it to be.
I think the nice part of Pokemon Amie is not the whole "Be friends!" part but the details they actually bothered to include, such as certain Pokemon (Slugma, Ferroseed, etc.) not being able to be pet in certain section (Or their whole bodies), snake Pokemon eating food whole...
 
Hopefully I don't end up making a book, but if you want the short version and don't end up reading the rest, Pokemon really did provide a lot of memories.

For those who want to read the full story
I remember when I was young and I got Platinum during the summer, as school happened and I got a bad case of a sickness which hit me for 2 months and I could barely move out of a small room, if there was one thing I loved it was my journey with Infernape as I crushed through my Platinum run as I laid there. I remember shortly after I got to see my childhood friend and we immediately clicked again over Pokemon. Whenever we meet now (which isn't often) we usually play Pokemon and use our favorite Pokemon. I hope I can play with him more but we keep in touch once in a while!

I also like the competitive aspect a lot, team building is one of my favorite aspects of Pokemon, on my signature is an RMT I used for XY and building competitively viable teams that get high on the ladder and do well in tournament play using my favorite Pokemon (such as Infernape) is a great feeling. Batting gave me a lot of memories too, I still remember battles from a long time ago like in BW, and a lot of Pokemon that are some of my favorites (such as Gliscor, Scizor [who made me buy Platinum in the first place], and Jirachi) are because of batting experiences I've had with them.

Even the in-game memories are there, trying to catch Azelf and Heatran in particular shine as some of my most memorable experiences as a kid.

I didn't watch much of the anime, but I loved the anime featuring Latios and Latias, that movie was surprisingly helpful for me as a kid and in a weird way gave me comfort.

I'm living on my own and my connection to my family is gone, but it's nice to play Pokemon whenever I have the chance and get some really good memories rushing back. :3
 
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Pikachu315111

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A little thing I like?

Very specific but I like how moves in game have a colour corresponding to their type (eg Fire is red, Water is blue). Very small touch but I like it.
Actually these are the colors:

Normal: Gray
Fighting: Reddish Brown
Flying: Bluish Gray
Poison: Purple
Ground: Tan
Rock: Light Brown
Bug: Olive/Greenish Yellow
Ghost: Dark Purple
Steel: Light Gray
Fire: Orange
Water: Blue
Grass: Green
Electric: Yellow
Psychic: Magenta
Ice: Cyan
Dragon: Navy Blue
Dark: Blackish Gray
Fairy: Pink

Thinking about it there's no type represented by just the color red (though I always simplified Fighting to be red). I can also understand them not wanting to use straight White and Black for types for text purposes (otherwise I'd say Normal would be white and Dark would be black, Steel then becoming gray). Though it's odd Fire isn't red I can sort of understand it, many of the Fire Starters are orange. Also red holds other significance such as being the low HP alert color (and later the low PP color) so it's meant to stand out more.
 
Actually these are the colors:

Normal: Gray
Fighting: Reddish Brown
Flying: Bluish Gray
Poison: Purple
Ground: Tan
Rock: Light Brown
Bug: Olive/Greenish Yellow
Ghost: Dark Purple
Steel: Light Gray
Fire: Orange
Water: Blue
Grass: Green
Electric: Yellow
Psychic: Magenta
Ice: Cyan
Dragon: Navy Blue
Dark: Blackish Gray
Fairy: Pink

Thinking about it there's no type represented by just the color red (though I always simplified Fighting to be red). I can also understand them not wanting to use straight White and Black for types for text purposes (otherwise I'd say Normal would be white and Dark would be black, Steel then becoming gray). Though it's odd Fire isn't red I can sort of understand it, many of the Fire Starters are orange. Also red holds other significance such as being the low HP alert color (and later the low PP color) so it's meant to stand out more.
Wait woah Fire isn't red? At least most of the other colours make sense.
 

Pikachu315111

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I like the interactions between Georgia (Iris's rival) and Burgundy (Cilan's rival) during the Unova tournament arcs in the anime. For some reason I found them to be incredibly funny, and I'd watch a show just about those two doing stuff.
Their interactions were funny, especially with them thinking the other is nuts for how much they don't like their rival when they're just as extreme about it.

Though I think the Gen V rivals could have been written better (mainly Ash's), I do find Georgia and Burgundy to be the more interesting rivals for that saga. For one thing they were rivals for the side protagonists. "So? May and Dawn had rivals" you say. Yeah, but they were secondary main characters. Let's me honest here, Brock, Tracey, Max, Iris, Cilan, and currently Clemont and Bonnie are "side protagonists". They're part of the main crew but they don't really have a story arc which is given much focus. They don't really get rivals since their stories don't require them. So it's interesting they gave Iris and Cilan rivals, and in order to do so they had to give the rivals more unique motivations.

Hmm, Iris wants to be a Dragon Master and Cilan a S-Class Connoisseur, who would be their rivals? Another Dragon Master and someone wanting to be a S-Class Connoisseur? That would be boring and wouldn't make much sense as why would their goals conflict with theirs? What if Iris rival was a trainer who hated Dragon-types and made it their mission to defeat dragons, a "Dragon Buster"? As for Cilan, what if his rival more personal, like a not-so-good trainer that challenged him to a Gym Battle and Cilan told them that the bond with their Pokemon was weak and they then became a Connoisseur to try and prove them wrong.

I could go more in-depth but I'll just say overall I liked them as foils for the protagonists they were rivals with... I just wish they got a better conclusion. They made their last appearance at a tournament arc, the Pokemon World Tournament Junior Cup (BW090-93) so they only got a few words with their rival before moving on into oblivion. Georgia was okay, she told Iris she was going to train harder to defeat her Dragonite but you felt the two had grown respect for one another. However Burgundy acted obnoxious to Cilan as she did from the start, she experienced no character growth. There really needed to be an episode for each of them to tie together any loose ends. Like for Burgundy, I feel we needed an episode where Cilan helped her become a better Connoisseur. Like in her theoretical last episode she's having trouble studying for her B-Class exams, Cilan helps her, she passes and becomes a B-Class Connoisseur, and they end on a more respectable note.

As for Georgia, had Iris made a visiting reappearance in Kalos (which doesn't look to be the case especially with them wrapping up Gen VI) I think Georgia should have also reappeared. The introduction of Fairy-types would have made for an interesting new part to their rivalry, Georgia finally being able to get on even ground with Iris (would also be interesting to see Iris's reaction to Fairy-types, I would feel she would act unreasonably hostile to them much like she's unreasonably afraid of Ice-types).

But Georgia's and Burgundy's last appearance being disappointing is far from the many problems with BW saga.
 
I just watched XYZ episode 19 ("An Electrifying Rage"), and the gang sees Zapdos. Naturally, everyone's all "wow," BUT Ash instead says "Isn't it cool?"

Like this isn't a new thing for him. Because he's seen a Zapdos before.

Maybe the anime's writers usually shove continuity under the rug, but that makes the moments where they do hint at it all the sweeter.

Also, I just re-watched the Hearthome tag battle tournament arc from Sinnoh, and I was reminded of how engaging the dynamic between Ash and Paul is. Man, they almost nailed that rival. How they resolved things at the end was a little lackluster, but still pretty good, so on the whole that rivalry felt great!
 

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I just watched XYZ episode 19 ("An Electrifying Rage"), and the gang sees Zapdos. Naturally, everyone's all "wow," BUT Ash instead says "Isn't it cool?"

Like this isn't a new thing for him. Because he's seen a Zapdos before.

Maybe the anime's writers usually shove continuity under the rug, but that makes the moments where they do hint at it all the sweeter.

Also, I just re-watched the Hearthome tag battle tournament arc from Sinnoh, and I was reminded of how engaging the dynamic between Ash and Paul is. Man, they almost nailed that rival. How they resolved things at the end was a little lackluster, but still pretty good, so on the whole that rivalry felt great!
What bugs me is a lot of the rest of the time he doesn't seem to recognise some of the legendaries. The Hoopa film was pretty cool in that he was firing off the names left, right and center without a second thought. I'm pretty sure he'd encountered all of those legends before (except for maybe Kyogre?) and he understood their power. I know one of the Mewtwo's wiped his mind the first time, but allowed him to keep his memories the second, but in the Genesect film he didn't seem to recognise Mewtwo (Same species, different Pokemon) at all... At least as far as I remember. Did Arceus also wipe his memories at the end of that film?

I really wish they would stop wiping his mind almost entirely blank everytime a legendary appears. He knew what Darkrai was because of the events in the first DP film, but that wasn't referenced when he fought/saw Tobias' Darkrai in the Sinnoh League. He's met/seen the vast majority of legendaries including supposedly 1 offs like Palkia/Giratina/Dialga and Arceus.
 

Pikachu315111

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What bugs me is a lot of the rest of the time he doesn't seem to recognise some of the legendaries. The Hoopa film was pretty cool in that he was firing off the names left, right and center without a second thought. I'm pretty sure he'd encountered all of those legends before (except for maybe Kyogre?) and he understood their power. I know one of the Mewtwo's wiped his mind the first time, but allowed him to keep his memories the second, but in the Genesect film he didn't seem to recognise Mewtwo (Same species, different Pokemon) at all... At least as far as I remember. Did Arceus also wipe his memories at the end of that film?

I really wish they would stop wiping his mind almost entirely blank everytime a legendary appears. He knew what Darkrai was because of the events in the first DP film, but that wasn't referenced when he fought/saw Tobias' Darkrai in the Sinnoh League. He's met/seen the vast majority of legendaries including supposedly 1 offs like Palkia/Giratina/Dialga and Arceus.
Yeah, Ash saw a Kyogre in both the Manaphy movie and also during the climax of the Aqua/Magma arc (where Archie and Pikachu got possessed by the orbs). Ash has at least saw all Legendaries in some way.

But yeah, it's annoying that we've had two movies where they brought back old Legendaries yet Ash generally acts he hasn't seen them before. Okay, I can sort of understand them wanting Ash to be unaware of the situation though there's ways to do this that doesn't make him look like an amnesiac. Like with the Genesect movie, as far as Ash knew there was only one Mewtwo so they could have had him mistake the new Mewtwo for the old one and have the new Mewtwo tell him they have never met with Ash realizing this Mewtwo isn't even the same gender. As for the Hoopa movie, since Hoopa can take Pokemon from any place AND TIME they could just have the one-of-a-kind Legendaries that Ash had met been taken from a time before they met (also I would have left Arceus out of the movie completely, it's Hoopa's movie).

I can forgive Ash not really reacting to seeing a Darkrai the two other times after its movie as those were different Darkrai (it's only the mascot/680 Legendaries and a few Mythical that he met should he be treating as Pokemon he met before). So what he met a few Darkrai before, ain't going to help him defeat Tobais's.
 

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While not the Pikachu song I'm was waiting for, I can get on down with this Pikachu song:
Here's also a Pikachu dance performance glimpse and Pikachu rehearsal.

But it's not only Pikachu getting the love:

Credit to Kantopia.

NOTE: These lyrics are "literally" translated, as in they're written correctly in English but that means they aren't in rhythm.

Helpless and pathetic
Famous for being incredibly weak


Was it extremely powerful in ancient times? There are legends that say so, but
Today it’s extremely weak. So weak that it makes you cry!


The weak Pokémon Magikarp, the weakest of them all
The weak Pokémon Magikarp, so shockingly weak


Splashing about, always splashing
It can splash and splash up and through entire mountains


Why does it splash? Splashing for no reason, splashing even in battle with no purpose
Splashing in rhythm, on and on, and sometimes getting caught by a Pidgeotto!


The splashing Pokémon Magikarp, splashing the most of them all
The splashing Pokémon Magikarp, always jumping with a “flop flop!”


You can first encounter it anywhere
Using an old rod will make you fish out way too many


The sea, river, or even a dirty puddle –It will be found swimming in any body of water
It paddles along regardless of if the river is calm or flowing


If you manage to catch one: “Catch and release?” will probably cross your mind soon
If you manage to catch one: “Catch and eat?” What nonsense!


Even when it is shiny, with a golden color
It is still exactly the same on the inside


When it evolves into Gyarados, it becomes super strong. But waiting until then is really tough!
That old guy sold it for 500P! And with no refunds!


The unfortunate Pokémon Magikarp, it gets booed even when trying to help people
The unfortunate Pokémon Magikarp, nowhere near the top ranks


My Pokémon Magikarp, the one I’ll still continue to raise!
My Pokémon Magikarp, I’ll raise a party of six and fight with them!


The Magikarp we love, the one we love most in the world
The Magikarp I love, I dedicate this love song to you!
 
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I went into the Lumiose art museum just out of curiosity, and I even paid for the audio guide, but I didn't expect it to be so interesting, even moving. While the paintings are small on the 3DS screen, you can still make out some of the details, and the audio guide gives some fascinating background. Most notable is the painting with a Gracidea bouquet/Shaymin. The way the audio guide mentions that the painting was crafted as a tribute to the artist's deceased mother actually got me to tear up the tiniest bit.
 
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Pretty sure this has already been mentioned, but I feel the Dexnav in ORAS is one of the best additions the remakes brought to the series. Searching for specific Pokemon is much easier than it ever has been before and I feel it gives the player a much larger incentive to catch them all, mainly due to there being a visual indication that you caught everything in the form of a gold crown.
 

Pikachu315111

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BTW here's the translation for the Magikarp song (if you don't want to go to the link the lyrics to the original post). I wonder if they'll translate it into English like they did for the Slowpoke song (though sadly Machoke Movers was never translated (or the other Machoke stuff); maybe their waiting for a Mega Machamp). Anyway its a sweet song, kid singing points out all the problems with it but doesn't care, they'll still train a team of 6 (surprised it didn't mention anything about Mega Gyarados when it briefly mentioned Gyarados).

I went into the Lumiose art museum just out of curiosity, and I even paid for the audio guide, but I didn't expect it to be so interesting, even moving. While the paintings are small on the 3DS screen, you can still make out some of the details, and the audio guide gives some fascinating background. Most notable is the painting with a Gracidea bouquet/Shaymin. The way the audio guide mentions that the painting was crafted as a tribute to the artist's deceased actually got me to tear up the tiniest bit.
Lumiose Museum was pretty much reference central, it was a neat bonus. :) Some of the art, especially for the previous gen references, are official artwork or from the TCG which was also nice to see. BTW the Shaymin painting was said to be a tribute to the painter's departed mother.

Another easter egg concerning paintings? After becoming Champion, if you go back to check the painting in Parfum Palace of the king it'll be noted that king is AZ.

I wished the paintings that are original art in Lumiose Museum and Parfum Palace (as well as the posters in Sycamore's Lab) were ripped from the game somewhere. Even if they're blurry I'd still like to get a better look at them.
 

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