Wait, what about plates? Same boost, but the item stays with you. (Gems are obviously the item of choice on Acro/Unburden builds, but elsewhere?)
-
Welcome to Smogon! Take a moment to read the Introduction to Smogon for a run-down on everything Smogon, and make sure you take some time to read the global rules.
-
Congrats to the winners of the 2023 Smog Awards!
(Little) Things that annoy you in Pokémon
- Thread starter BriarRose
- Start date
That is pretty much why: I never soft-reseted for my White version Kyurem, for example.
And yeah, a shame about the gems. Still, as long the NPCs can't use them, then I guess it is fair?
The plates are just a little weaker than gems (20% vs 30%), but this does bring up a good point: we have items that do a very similar thing to the gems, but are only just a tad weaker but aren't consumable. That further shows that the gems aren't so broken they shouldn't be available.
Then why did they program in Fairy Gem? Or keep Normal Gem kicking around? (hell, Diancie comes holding one for... boosted Return? yay?)
For the same reason why Gen IV event items are still in the data? Beats me.
I think it was more of a last minute thing, where they were originally going to include the gems, but then decided not to program them to be obtainable.
Or they programmed them in, in case they decided to change their mind.
Still, if we start seeing hackers taking advantage of this, that could backfire on Game Freak. Imagine the outcry resulting from having gems used against you, and being unable to use them yourself.
Probably, this has given Nintendo all the more reason to crack down on hackers, and block their ability to exploit, though the damage might already be done.
Gem Problem:
Well maybe they could make a rule that you can only have one Elemental Gem attached to a Pokemon if there's an item clause (sort of like how only one Pokemon can really have its Mega Stone)? Also I think you see so many OHKOs with the gems is due to you not being allowed to use a full party of six Pokemon. Gems are probably good to get in one or two KOs which is bad for a battle of 3 or 4 Pokemon, but I imagine in a full 6-vs-6 battle the question of choosing to have an early game lead or going in for the long haul might make gems seem a bit less powerful.
Gem Normal:
I'm guessing they kept the Normal Gem because there are no types who are weak to Normal-types so there's less chance of a OHKO.
Gem Event:
I would say one of the reasons they still have the Gems and made a Fairy Gem (though oddly not a normal item that boosts Fairy-type damage) is because they're still an intriguing item, they just unfortunately break the game. They'll maybe either release them in XY2 after giving the metagame some time to adapt strategies without their use or as items held by Event Pokemon or maybe Events in and of themselves.
Well maybe they could make a rule that you can only have one Elemental Gem attached to a Pokemon if there's an item clause (sort of like how only one Pokemon can really have its Mega Stone)? Also I think you see so many OHKOs with the gems is due to you not being allowed to use a full party of six Pokemon. Gems are probably good to get in one or two KOs which is bad for a battle of 3 or 4 Pokemon, but I imagine in a full 6-vs-6 battle the question of choosing to have an early game lead or going in for the long haul might make gems seem a bit less powerful.
Gem Normal:
I'm guessing they kept the Normal Gem because there are no types who are weak to Normal-types so there's less chance of a OHKO.
Gem Event:
I would say one of the reasons they still have the Gems and made a Fairy Gem (though oddly not a normal item that boosts Fairy-type damage) is because they're still an intriguing item, they just unfortunately break the game. They'll maybe either release them in XY2 after giving the metagame some time to adapt strategies without their use or as items held by Event Pokemon or maybe Events in and of themselves.
I feel like if the VGC was the main reason Gems were removed, they could've just thrown them under a banned item clause just like Soul Dew gets. They never seemed concerned to THAT degree about balancing things vs. creating a level playing field, and the presence of the Normal Gem and data for the Fairy Gem indicates the item wasn't a one-off Gen 5 thing.
As lame as it might sound, maybe they'll bring them back (within this gen at least) as sort of a generic hold item for minor event Pokemon, like giving out "Ash's Goodra" holding a Dragon Gem, or something else like that. Their scarcity means they have some value, but they don't have to distribute particularly specific items like Manaphy had May's Red Scarf in Gen 4.
Also, for something else that annoys me, the limitation to one of a Mega Stone per file. The Megas are already limited to one per battle anyway, and it gets annoying having to move my Scizorite or Altarianite between 3 Pokemon each when I need a different set.
As lame as it might sound, maybe they'll bring them back (within this gen at least) as sort of a generic hold item for minor event Pokemon, like giving out "Ash's Goodra" holding a Dragon Gem, or something else like that. Their scarcity means they have some value, but they don't have to distribute particularly specific items like Manaphy had May's Red Scarf in Gen 4.
Also, for something else that annoys me, the limitation to one of a Mega Stone per file. The Megas are already limited to one per battle anyway, and it gets annoying having to move my Scizorite or Altarianite between 3 Pokemon each when I need a different set.
Last edited:
I just got this pointed out to me: The Pokeball Boutique in Lumiose City has a Master Ball on display:
Behind the counter, along with an Ultra Ball, a Friend Ball (an Apricorn Pokeball which is impossible to get outside a Gen II game), and Dream Ball (a Pokeball which you only get when "battling" a Pokemon from the Dream World in the Entralink, so imposible to get outside of Gen V and even then you can't get it by normal means).
Now while it's neat to see these Pokeballs here it's still a bit of a tease, especially for the Apricorn Pokeballs. Okay, fine, I guess for a Pokeball shop having a Master Ball on display is probably like a trophy (and I guess you can also stretch that also for the Dream Ball as they technically don't exist). But the Apricorn Balls, how neat would it have been in the Pokeball Boutique actually sold Apricorn Balls? Being a Boutique which specializes in Pokeballs, it wouldn't be farfetched to say they'd import Apricorn Pokeballs from Johto. Like the only special thing about the Pokeball Boutique is that they sell Premier Balls without needing to buy 10 or more Pokeballs, big whoop. It's just like how the Stone Emporium only sells Fire, Water, and Leaf Stones. TAUROS MULCH! Stone Emporium has no reason not to sell all the Evolution Stones and the Pokeball Boutique has no reason not to sell Apricorn Pokeballs.
"Is it really that important?" Well gameplay wise no, but apparently having certain Pokemon in a certain Pokeball is a popular thing and providing more Pokeballs to do so with is no different from providing the player clothing options. Also I can see some of their effects being useful (they could even update some of the effects to make them better).
Behind the counter, along with an Ultra Ball, a Friend Ball (an Apricorn Pokeball which is impossible to get outside a Gen II game), and Dream Ball (a Pokeball which you only get when "battling" a Pokemon from the Dream World in the Entralink, so imposible to get outside of Gen V and even then you can't get it by normal means).
Now while it's neat to see these Pokeballs here it's still a bit of a tease, especially for the Apricorn Pokeballs. Okay, fine, I guess for a Pokeball shop having a Master Ball on display is probably like a trophy (and I guess you can also stretch that also for the Dream Ball as they technically don't exist). But the Apricorn Balls, how neat would it have been in the Pokeball Boutique actually sold Apricorn Balls? Being a Boutique which specializes in Pokeballs, it wouldn't be farfetched to say they'd import Apricorn Pokeballs from Johto. Like the only special thing about the Pokeball Boutique is that they sell Premier Balls without needing to buy 10 or more Pokeballs, big whoop. It's just like how the Stone Emporium only sells Fire, Water, and Leaf Stones. TAUROS MULCH! Stone Emporium has no reason not to sell all the Evolution Stones and the Pokeball Boutique has no reason not to sell Apricorn Pokeballs.
"Is it really that important?" Well gameplay wise no, but apparently having certain Pokemon in a certain Pokeball is a popular thing and providing more Pokeballs to do so with is no different from providing the player clothing options. Also I can see some of their effects being useful (they could even update some of the effects to make them better).
Oh my word yes. Having Apricorn balls available for mons not in HGSS would be sooo great. If they're going to introduce ball passing, at least make pokemon available in almost all balls, or, better yet, give an item that forces the male to pass down the balls, even if only to their own species (letting you pass down nice balls and HA at the same time). If they add this and an expanded Dexnav in X2Y2/Z, as well as the ability to transfer Apricorn balls over to the other gen VI games, we could get most mons in an Apricorn ball and most mons with their HA. It's a win for those who like aesthetics and a win for competitive people. Plus, it would give extra incentive to purchase those games. It's probably not gonna happen, but a guy can dream, right?
Well technically the only reason for the ball passing is to confuse opponents in battle so they don't know if the Pokemon they're facing has egg moves or not. I'd prefer that the non-Ditto parent always passes its ball without needing an extra item to do it, but that's as far as I'm going on that topic.
But yeah, for specialty emporiums... the fact that both the Ball and Stone emporiums' stock is really not that special is kind of silly in a slightly annoying way.
Agreed. I mean, we don't even get all four of the original stones! All of the stones (including Dawn, Dusk, and Sun) should be available that way.
One thing that I've recently noticed is that size is still off, unlike games the Gamecube and Wii titles. My Slowbro looks huge compared to Kyogre, for instance.
Last edited:
Mirage Spot Update:
I finally got the Mirage Spot with all the Unown on it (however I already have a complete Unown alphabet in my Y plus and extra A that's in my Alpha Sapphire). So there's only one Mirage Spot that I haven't gotten yet... and its the one with the last TM I need. *headdesk*
Actually it's kind of a shame that the Unown are restricted to a single Mirage Spot, how many people would actually get them if they don't check out Mirage Spots everyday? Heck, it took me THIS long to finally get to it (which is odd as Ive been to Crescent Island, the Mirage Spot which is suppose to be rare to get, THREE times).
I finally got the Mirage Spot with all the Unown on it (however I already have a complete Unown alphabet in my Y plus and extra A that's in my Alpha Sapphire). So there's only one Mirage Spot that I haven't gotten yet... and its the one with the last TM I need. *headdesk*
Actually it's kind of a shame that the Unown are restricted to a single Mirage Spot, how many people would actually get them if they don't check out Mirage Spots everyday? Heck, it took me THIS long to finally get to it (which is odd as Ive been to Crescent Island, the Mirage Spot which is suppose to be rare to get, THREE times).
Really? Crescent Island is supposed to be rare? I heard that so I didn't want to leave until I caught a decent Cresselia... And since I did that it's there probably 75%+ of the time as one of the Islands that spawns. It's ridiculous really.
TMs being on the Mirage spots is just really lame design on GF's part, people are STILL trying to get some of those TMs NOW, like ages after release... Seems silly people would have to keep resetting all that time just to get some of the good TMs.
I thought it was suppose to be. When we were told about it I took it as being a sort of incentive to Street Pass with people to either get it or share it if you got it. I thought I was "lucky" that I got it 3 times, but sounds like its possibly uncommon compared to get a certain specific Mirage Spot.
Yeah, I have no idea why they did that. They were already special by offering Pokemon you can't normally get and there's plenty of unique items you could have had in their place (being most of them would be explore post game might as well place a free item you normally purchase with BP there).
Would have been nicer to have the evolution hold items in their place. There's at least a couple spots where you can catch Porygon, so why not have a free Upgrade and Dubious Disc there? A spot to find Magby/Elekid? Magmerizer/Electrizer! I've done plenty of Wonder Trading in my Omega Ruby game, so I've gotten several StreetPass tags to check out lots of the spots that way, yet I'm still not sure if I've gotten all the TMs to be found through them.
Which brings me to a minor complaint about the Mirage Spots themselves: their names are all so generic. Specifically, why do we have several spots all named Mirage Island? Or Mirage Forest? Or Mirage Cave? I'm not expecting them to have as cool of names as Pathless Plain, or Nameless Cavern, but... at least they could have given them more distinct names so one can tell while soaring whether they've been there already. With so many to keep track of, you're bound to get them confused with one another.
1) I did the same with Unown, mostly since I didn't actually catch all of my original set in Platinum (I love used Pokémon games).
2) I concur with DHR. I didn't know Crescent Isle was a StreetPass island until just now. It has just always been there. Of course, it might have disappeared when I wasn't looking (if it wasn't for a disproportionally large number of Cresselia used on the PSS, I would forget it even existed as I had throughout Generation IV and V).
3) The TM thing is very annoying, but it doesn't bother me as much since a) I rarely use those TMs (even Sub is rare for me) and b) I have them in Y, so worst case scenario I have to trade stuff over.
I wonder if Game Freak ever foresaw how popular Blissey Bash bases were going to be, and decided to implement a little annoyance to keep them from being as effective...
Namely, that the Level Release has to be booted up anew every time you enter a base, if you want to battle using Open Level.
At times, it feels like Game Freak is regretting having made levels above 50.
Namely, that the Level Release has to be booted up anew every time you enter a base, if you want to battle using Open Level.
At times, it feels like Game Freak is regretting having made levels above 50.
Not to mention restricting battles to only 3 of your 6 Pokemon, and there's no way to remedy that.
Not to worry, they'll have it fixed for the next game/set of games.
How? By removing the feature entirely, never to be seen again, of course! Oh sure, you can still deal with Super Secret Bases and their Blissey beat 'em up contents, but then you either gotta have two 3DS to trade between, or Pokebank! And then we might not even have that option when we get to the gen 7 set of games, should Game Freak continue the 'no sending Pokemon back to a previous generation game' thing.
I just got this pointed out to me: The Pokeball Boutique in Lumiose City has a Master Ball on display:
Behind the counter, along with an Ultra Ball, a Friend Ball (an Apricorn Pokeball which is impossible to get outside a Gen II game), and Dream Ball (a Pokeball which you only get when "battling" a Pokemon from the Dream World in the Entralink, so imposible to get outside of Gen V and even then you can't get it by normal means).
Now while it's neat to see these Pokeballs here it's still a bit of a tease, especially for the Apricorn Pokeballs. Okay, fine, I guess for a Pokeball shop having a Master Ball on display is probably like a trophy (and I guess you can also stretch that also for the Dream Ball as they technically don't exist). But the Apricorn Balls, how neat would it have been in the Pokeball Boutique actually sold Apricorn Balls? Being a Boutique which specializes in Pokeballs, it wouldn't be farfetched to say they'd import Apricorn Pokeballs from Johto. Like the only special thing about the Pokeball Boutique is that they sell Premier Balls without needing to buy 10 or more Pokeballs, big whoop. It's just like how the Stone Emporium only sells Fire, Water, and Leaf Stones. TAUROS MULCH! Stone Emporium has no reason not to sell all the Evolution Stones and the Pokeball Boutique has no reason not to sell Apricorn Pokeballs.
"Is it really that important?" Well gameplay wise no, but apparently having certain Pokemon in a certain Pokeball is a popular thing and providing more Pokeballs to do so with is no different from providing the player clothing options. Also I can see some of their effects being useful (they could even update some of the effects to make them better).
On the subject of Apricorn Balls not being available in the Boutique, I actually like it that way. Having them only available in HGSS makes them special; if you have Pokemon in XY that are in Apricorn Balls, it shows that you put in the extra effort to get them, thus giving you bragging rights. Having them available at the Boutique would take away their uniqueness and make them the same as any other fancy ball (Especially since their effects are, for the most part, useless).
Also, it doesn't make a lot of sense in-universe. The Pokeball Boutique would have to import the Apricorn Balls from Johto, but where do they originally come from? Kurt, and nobody else. An old man, using "the old-fashioned methods", making just a few Pokeballs a day as a hobby. Since, judging by the other people in the shop, the player is not the only one to buy Pokeballs, it is likely that the Boutique would go through them much, much faster than Kurt can make them. This would be a huge supply/demand problem; it's just not feasible for the Pokeball Boutique to get them. This is why I think the Friend and Heavy balls on display are, like the Master, Cherish, and Dream balls, trophies.
Who says they'll be cheap? ;)
Whose idea was it to give the Happiny line such a wide movepool--one a ton of Pokemon would kill for--and no stat to really use it with? Just look at what Blissey can do--all of these are moves other mons are likely to be packing competitively.
- Special: Blizzard, Dazzling Gleam, Fire Blast, Flamethrower, Focus Blast, Grass Knot, Hyper Voice, Ice Beam, Icy Wind, Psychic, Shadow Ball, Thunder, Thunderbolt.
- Physical: Brick Break, Drain Punch (infamously), Earthquake, Egg Bomb, Facade, all three Elemental Punches, Iron Tail, Power-up-Punch (again, infamously), Return, Rock Slide, Wild Charge, Zen Headbutt.
- Not to mention both Aromatherapy and Heal Bell (because screw Imprison!), all four weathers, Light Screen, Calm Mind, Gravity, and Healing Wish.
- For you Doubles players: Heal Pulse, Helping Hand, Protect, Safeguard, Skill Swap, and the ability Healer.
- And to further augment attacks, the ability Serene Grace. If Thunder hits, you have better-than-even odds of scoring a para and maybe, just maybe, outspeeding something. Shadow Ball: 40% chance of a SpD drop.
It's a relic from Gen I when Chansey had an above-average Special stat (she was stronger than Starmie :/).
1) Cyrus, Mr. "Emotion is Useless" has a Golbat which later evolved into Crobat. I don't think I need to explain what's wrong here.
2) Flower Gift boosts Attack and Special Defense. This is when it's only user, Cherrim is a Special Attacker and desperately needed a boost in Speed and Special Attack.
3) Eevee can evolve into Espeon / Umbreon while in the Distortion World, the place where no time passes. Face palms.
2) Flower Gift boosts Attack and Special Defense. This is when it's only user, Cherrim is a Special Attacker and desperately needed a boost in Speed and Special Attack.
3) Eevee can evolve into Espeon / Umbreon while in the Distortion World, the place where no time passes. Face palms.