Unpopular opinions

[Kittttten]

Don't hate me for this. Seriously.

Personally, I dislike all the games before gen 4. No physical/special split is horrible.

If FR/LG were to be remade using the Gen 5 style, heck even Gen 4 style, I'd love it.

I like all the pokemon with a sleek look, and not pokemon who look like they've been thunderbolted. Like Abomasnow. His body is anything other than sleek.

I also agree that Misty is really overrated. I thought May and Dawn were a lot better, and Iris was ok, and so was Serena.

My favorite movie was the Deoxys one. I just like Deoxys.

I disliked the Zoroark one, it was just boring af.

Same thing with the Arceus movie. I know it's Arceus and all, but they totally wasted a great Pokemon on a terrible movie.

My friend from about 2/3 years ago thought that Pokemon Platinum was a stupid game because it was "old".

I tried to convince him that it was good(I mean come on, just look at all the legends!), but I couldn't.

Back to Pokemon Movies. The Giratina one was pretty good.

Team Rocket should win more. Seriously.

The Reshiram/Zekrom one was pretty bad.

The Keldeo one was decently OK.

And my most strong opinion about Pokemon is......

SPOILER ALERT!

Mega Audino. I hate it. The little pink blob shouldn't have gotten fairy typing and shouldn't have gotten a Mega. If anything, make a freakin' Mega Chandelure. It should go to LC where it belongs.

The End.

 

[Kurona]

I really hate how Mewtwo looks in Melee

Hide

It looks so horribly twisted and unnatural; even for something for whom that's supposed to be the backstory. The proportions are out of whack, it's far too short... it's sort of like the Red and Green sprite came to life

Hide

Maybe that was the intention? I dunno but either way it just looks awful to me. Thank you based sakurai for smash 4 mewtwo design ;;

 

[Mova]

Is it me, or does Ken Sugimori's artistic anatomy look wonky compared to the sprites and 3D models? Either way, the only thing I like about the official artwork is Sugimori's choice of colors. I don't know why most Fakemon artists try to emulate it other than to look "official"...

 

[Celever]

Is it me, or does Ken Sugimori's artistic anatomy look wonky compared to the sprites and 3D models? Either way, the only thing I like about the official artwork is Sugimori's choice of colors. I don't know why most Fakemon artists try to emulate it other than to look "official"...

The Sugimori artwork is the official appearance of the Pokémon. The sprites/models are off, not his art.

 

[Codraroll]

Is it me, or does Ken Sugimori's artistic anatomy look wonky...

Well, in my opinion, sometimes you could cut the sentence short at that.

Legs are a problem in creature design, and I'm afraid it's one of Sugimori's weaker areas too. Look at Nidoking, Tyranitar and Venusaur, for instance. There are no practical ways those hind legs would be able to produce a walk that isn't troubled by extreme wagging. In Tyranitar's case, the direction of the hip bone doesn't match the direction of the knee, meaning it would have to twist its hip to walk. Nidoking doesn't even have a hip, its feet are literally placed beside its body. Venusaur's hind legs have their knees pointing outward at 45 degree angles. Looks insanely impractical. Tyranitar also suffers from the common T-Rex problem, in that its arms are too short to reach anything. It can hardly touch anything next to it without trampling or headbutting it first, as the minimum reach of its legs and mouth often exceed the maximum reach of its arms. It can not pick fruits from trees unless it's hanging at a branch in a radius of half a meter from its shoulder joint. Even if it could, it would be no good since the arms are also too short to reach Tyranitar's mouth. It can not touch its knee, or scratch its tummy, or even clap its hands. And that's even ignoring that its armour would render incapable of moving its head relative to the rest of its body.

All things considered, Tyranitar's design is rather... well, dumb.

 

[Mova]

Codraroll Isn't he also weak with drawing wings, even if not as much as legs?

Also, am I the only one who doesn't truly hate any Pokemon at all?

 

[Kurona]

Also, am I the only one who doesn't truly hate any Pokemon at all?

yes

 

[jordanthejq12]

I can't think of any. If anything, I like the idea of using ice-cream cones as Pokemon. It's been pretty well-established that Pokemon don't have to be animals, and once you've removed that restriction, the sky's the limit.

 

[Lady Vader]

Codraroll Isn't he also weak with drawing wings, even if not as much as legs?

Also, am I the only one who doesn't truly hate any Pokemon at all?

I don't really hate any Pokémon either. There are some that aren't my favorites, such as the Latis or Blaziken, and some that I plain forget about, but I don't actively hate any Pokémon.

 

[Kurona]

Due to the numerous problems the series has, inconsistencies between games especially considering remakes, Game Freak's annoying tendency to never let anything go, the abundance of filler and useless aspects as well as the fact that the gameplay is incredibly repetitive, I think Pokémon would benefit incredibly well from having a complete reboot.

 

[Norne]

Due to the numerous problems the series has, inconsistencies between games especially considering remakes, Game Freak's annoying tendency to never let anything go, the abundance of filler and useless aspects as well as the fact that the gameplay is incredibly repetitive, I think Pokémon would benefit incredibly well from having a complete reboot.

BW tried it, and honesty it did well as an experiment. We need more of that to be honest.

 

[Mova]

I think the franchise should focus on Pokemon that already existed from the first five generations for two more generations' worth, and then work on a complete reboot. As such, I hope they continue on the path of small amounts of Pokemon per generation (about 60 to 80 each) until said reboot.

Also, Kanto and its Pokemon are quite overrated. Johto is where the Pokemon's design mythos start to get interesting. Unova has a lot of my favorite Pokemon because of the mythos. Even Garbodor.

 

[Daemul]

Also, am I the only one who doesn't truly hate any Pokemon at all?

Nah, I've never hated any Pokemon, I'm cool with all of them. Saying people freak out over various Pokemon always gives me a chuckle.

Due to the numerous problems the series has, inconsistencies between games especially considering remakes, Game Freak's annoying tendency to never let anything go, the abundance of filler and useless aspects as well as the fact that the gameplay is incredibly repetitive, I think Pokémon would benefit incredibly well from having a complete reboot.

This will eventually happen, it pretty much has too. We nearly have 1000 Pokemon, most of whom are completely irrelevant and easily forgotten by fans and by GameFreak themselves, and Gamefreak can't keep adding on more and more Pokemon ad infinitum, but they also can't stop adding new Pokemon completely either, otherwise you'll have people complaining about the series getting stagnate. I mean, you already have people complaining about how Kalos added in a low amount of new Pokemon, so they will eventually have to start back at zero.

Like Integer Mova said, I can see a 3-4 more generations with about around 70 or so new Pokemon each, not including any Mega Evolutions, and then a full reboot will occur. Gen X sounds like the perfect time for a complete reboot. I'll miss my boys Arcanine and Scrafty, but it's for the greater good.

 

[Kittttten]

Chandelure is my fav gen 5 pokemon

WHOS WITH ME

i like trubbish too.

E:

Yeah, about Chandelure...

What the hell, Chandy deserves better than number 10. Zekrom comes nowhere close, same with Reshiram and Kyurem. Legendaries shouldn't count in my opinion.

IM TOTALLY BEING SERIOUS.

 

[Karxrida]

Chandelure is my fav gen 5 pokemon

WHOS WITH ME

i like trubbish too.

Yeah, about Chandelure...

 

[Pikachu315111]

Kittttten:
Pre-IV Hate: Is the only reason you hate the games before IV because of the non-Physical/Special split? While I do agree the split was a huge improvement, it doesn't really make the games before it bad. You just need to play them differently (and now we have the Gen II and III remakes with the split (an Gen II includes Kanto so technically all regions have had a game with the Physical/Special split)).
Old Platinum: Why did your friend think it was old? Yeah it wasn't the newest game but it was released in 2009.
Team Rocket Win: Hm, while I wouldn't say they should win more, I would rather see them make the complex and grander plans they were doing during BW.
Movie Time: Only thing I'm going to state on the movies, despite my personal opinion on them, I do think they don't really focus that much on the featured Pokemon/Legendary. Oh sure, they give it plenty of screen time, but sometimes it feels like the movie wasn't really made around them but rather they came up with a plot and added in the Legendary/featured Pokemon because they had to. This is more common in recent movies but its also there in older movies. I want the movie to explore and give me answers about the featured Pokemon, not really have that Pokemon star in a plot that really doesn't involve it.

Kurona:
Meleetwo: I think that's probably more it being Gamecube graphics. While I know everyone loves Melee, to me there just looks something off about the characters (aside from someone dropping a big ol' vat of Vaseline on them).
Ken Sugimori's Artwork:
Nowadays I find Ken Sugimori is more focused on putting the Pokemon in dynamic poses. This could explain some of the proportion problems as the Pokemon isn't just standing straight up and still, its in a middle of an action so its body is twisted/bent/squashed/pulled/etc.. Also there's only so much you can do with a 2D image, now that Pokemon has moved onto 3D and are able to look around the Pokemon like it was an actual object you can better tell what the proper proportions are from that. Finally, while each 3D model has to be approved by GameFreak to be accurate to what the Pokemon looks like, I wouldn't be surprised if Ken Sugimori is given some artistic license to smudge the proportions a bit if it'll make the 2D image look better.
It's kind of odd, actually. In the older days the artwork was used to properly know the Pokemon's proportions while any 3D game was able to get away with giving the Pokemon some dynamic poses and action (probably to get us interested in it). But now it's the opposite, the 3D images are being made to be appropriately accurate while the 2D artwork has to be made to look dynamic (probably to get the people interested in it before the games are released).

All Pokemon Like:
Though I've complained about some Pokemon designs in the past, I really haven't saw a Pokemon design and went "that's not a Pokemon". I have some problems with several Pokemon designs, but that's moreso me feeling they failed on convey what the Pokemon was trying to be. Vanillite family is meant to be an icicle that looks like an ice cream cone but it looks TOO MUCH like an ice cream cone for it so say that. Throh and Sawk are very human proportioned (granted Throh is a hunchback but I don't judge) but at the same time I wouldn't call them humans (at least not without noting they wearing a morph suit). But are they Pokemon? Yes, they are, they have that look about them. Don't know what it is about the look, maybe how its obviously cartoony yet its taking itself serious trying to be an "actual" creature, but to me they have the look.

Pokemon Reboot:
Isn't this like the 3rd time we talked about this? I'll point out the same things I pointed out back then:

1. It's hard to choose which Pokemon to get rid of as every Pokemon has it fans. Be it because it looks cool, cute, or weird, if you look on the internet you'll find someone who supports that Pokemon.
2. To me the problem with Pokemon isn't with the number (though they should start slowing down as they started in Gen VI, ignoring the Mega Evolutions) but rather with the Pokedex. The Regional Dex honestly should be the ONLY dex that needs filling. Why should you have to fill out the National Dex too, shouldn't that already be filled out with the Pokemon not in the Regional Dex since it should be other researchers jobs to fill it out with Pokemon native to their region? I think in terms of filling the Pokedex they should do what they did in XY by having it contain like 400 regional Pokemon but you only need to fill the Regional Dex as the National Dex would just be a listing of Pokemon that is not affected by what Pokemon you have (except if that Pokemon is in the Regional Dex, but at most it'll just be blacked out, there will be no "capture" mark in the National Dex).
3. I also think they should go back and rebalance stats (and maybe improve certain Abilities). There is power creep and they should take a look to see if there's some Pokemon who could use either change here and there to its stats like adding, removing, or just shifting around its BST to make it do what they want it to do.
4. Do new things, and I just don't mean a new type combination. For example they can have 2-stage starters instead of 3, have a single Legendary who has different forms we can only access through items given by Events making it the Event Pokemon, work with the idea of forms like they've done with Meowstic, etc..
5. Adding onto that, we don't really need com mon birds, bugs, and rodents anymore. Just put one of the com mons from a previous gen to fill that role. This will let you make newer birds, bugs, and rodents more interesting as they aren't restricted to being early game fodder.
6. Though I would say you can't remove a Pokemon, I would say you can remove a Mega Evolution. If a certain Mega Evolution doesn't work I don't see why it can't be removed and replaced with another one. Mega Evolution is just a form and to me its chaotic nature could explain sudden changes to it.

Obviously there's a lot of things to say but I think I've gotten my point across. Unless they COMPLETELY start a new series (think Marvel's Ultimate Universe), I don't think a reboot like what DC did will be happening. Speaking of comic reboots, a point I want to make is that even though Marvel's and DC's intention was to start a clean slate, already they got their plate refilled. That's the problem with the reboot idea for Pokemon, should it be rebooted every time people consider there being too many Pokemon? We actually DID have a reboot of sorts with ORAS revealing we've shifted over to a new timeline and that caused a bit of a stir, so what do you think would happen if we did a full one?

 

[Kittttten]

Kittttten:
Pre-IV Hate: Is the only reason you hate the games before IV because of the non-Physical/Special split? While I do agree the split was a huge improvement, it doesn't really make the games before it bad. You just need to play them differently (and now we have the Gen II and III remakes with the split (an Gen II includes Kanto so technically all regions have had a game with the Physical/Special split)).
Old Platinum: Why did your friend think it was old? Yeah it wasn't the newest game but it was released in 2009.
Team Rocket Win: Hm, while I wouldn't say they should win more, I would rather see them make the complex and grander plans they were doing during BW.
Movie Time: Only thing I'm going to state on the movies, despite my personal opinion on them, I do think they don't really focus that much on the featured Pokemon/Legendary. Oh sure, they give it plenty of screen time, but sometimes it feels like the movie wasn't really made around them but rather they came up with a plot and added in the Legendary/featured Pokemon because they had to. This is more common in recent movies but its also there in older movies. I want the movie to explore and give me answers about the featured Pokemon, not really have that Pokemon star in a plot that really doesn't involve it.

Well tbh they're just so much harder to play. I wouldn't necessarily say that I hate them, I just like them a bit less than the others.

At that time all he liked to play was B2/W2. Ever heard of nostalgia?!!

Team Rocket definitely should have more intricate plans, like in BW when they captured Meloetta. That was pretty clever imo.

In pretty much all the movies, either someone wants the legendary for themselves, or the legendary hates mankind and tries to destroy the city. There are some variations, however.

 

[Lady Vader]

Pokemon Reboot:
Isn't this like the 3rd time we talked about this? I'll point out the same things I pointed out back then:

1. It's hard to choose which Pokemon to get rid of as every Pokemon has it fans. Be it because it looks cool, cute, or weird, if you look on the internet you'll find someone who supports that Pokemon.
2. To me the problem with Pokemon isn't with the number (though they should start slowing down as they started in Gen VI, ignoring the Mega Evolutions) but rather with the Pokedex. The Regional Dex honestly should be the ONLY dex that needs filling. Why should you have to fill out the National Dex too, shouldn't that already be filled out with the Pokemon not in the Regional Dex since it should be other researchers jobs to fill it out with Pokemon native to their region? I think in terms of filling the Pokedex they should do what they did in XY by having it contain like 400 regional Pokemon but you only need to fill the Regional Dex as the National Dex would just be a listing of Pokemon that is not affected by what Pokemon you have (except if that Pokemon is in the Regional Dex, but at most it'll just be blacked out, there will be no "capture" mark in the National Dex).
3. I also think they should go back and rebalance stats (and maybe improve certain Abilities). There is power creep and they should take a look to see if there's some Pokemon who could use either change here and there to its stats like adding, removing, or just shifting around its BST to make it do what they want it to do.
4. Do new things, and I just don't mean a new type combination. For example they can have 2-stage starters instead of 3, have a single Legendary who has different forms we can only access through items given by Events making it the Event Pokemon, work with the idea of forms like they've done with Meowstic, etc..
5. Adding onto that, we don't really need com mon birds, bugs, and rodents anymore. Just put one of the com mons from a previous gen to fill that role. This will let you make newer birds, bugs, and rodents more interesting as they aren't restricted to being early game fodder.
6. Though I would say you can't remove a Pokemon, I would say you can remove a Mega Evolution. If a certain Mega Evolution doesn't work I don't see why it can't be removed and replaced with another one. Mega Evolution is just a form and to me its chaotic nature could explain sudden changes to it.

Obviously there's a lot of things to say but I think I've gotten my point across. Unless they COMPLETELY start a new series (think Marvel's Ultimate Universe), I don't think a reboot like what DC did will be happening. Speaking of comic reboots, a point I want to make is that even though Marvel's and DC's intention was to start a clean slate, already they got their plate refilled. That's the problem with the reboot idea for Pokemon, should it be rebooted every time people consider there being too many Pokemon? We actually DID have a reboot of sorts with ORAS revealing we've shifted over to a new timeline and that caused a bit of a stir, so what do you think would happen if we did a full one?

Thank you for saying all of what I was going to say and more. Especially about regional birds, bugs, and rodents. Though there is still room for bugs as long as they don't do another butterfly/moth. I mean, look at Scolipede and Leavanny. They are cool looking Pokémon and don't feel a thing like Butterfree, Beedrill, etc.
I do have one thing to add: more Pokémon isn't a bad thing. I've been playing trading card games for over a decade now. When I started Yu-Gi-Oh, there were only 5 sets of 125 cards each plus a handful of promotional sets along with some rarer cards. That was about 700 cards by a very rough estimation. According to Yu-Gi-Oh Wikia, there are 7203 cards as of this post (though that includes some unreleased, but announced cards like "The Fang of Critias"). Magic the Gathering is even larger since it has been going strong since 1993. Yet, these are still popular.
In short, we can handle a large number of Pokémon. Especially if Game Freak slows down a bit like they did for this Generation and they stop with certain trends (regional birds, rodents, butterfly/moths, Pikachu, etc.). Cause seriously, they are beating a dead Horsea.

 

[antemortem]

As far as inconsistency is concerned, Pokemon has been plagued by Fire Emblem Fever. Each main line game is essentially the same at its foundation but introduces new features that vary from past games, very few things actually holding transitivity from one game to the next. But this is done simply to sell new games. Stuff that's been on people's wishlists for years are introduced bit by bit, only to not get carried over, but when those things aren't carried over, other things are revealed to satiate appetites and get the games off the shelves. It's kind of an unfortunate reality, but it's how Game Freak works. Don't get comfortable with Soaring or the DexNav, for instance - they're not coming back.

 

[Darth Manaphy]

5. Adding onto that, we don't really need com mon birds, bugs, and rodents anymore. Just put one of the com mons from a previous gen to fill that role. This will let you make newer birds, bugs, and rodents more interesting as they aren't restricted to being early game fodder.

I like Gen VI's way of doing it. The Fletchling family, Bunnelby family, and Scatterbug family all had unique traits that made them interesting. Once you evolve Fletchling and Bunnelby you get unique typings for the initial bird and rodent and their hidden abilities brought them to OU VERY well (I doubt anyone will say Talonflame isn't influential). Vivillon, while not as viable, definitely had the right tools. It took what made Butterfree the best out of the early bug Pokemon in Gen IV and made it better by giving it a truly good offensive move and passable stats. Plus it had the novelty of having a different form for every location.

 

[pika pal]

I just feel like Gamefreak should try fitting unique Pokemon into the "Com Mon" role if they must keep it, rather than adding additional-but-bad mons. Staraptor was a step in that direction, going outside the "balanced stats and meh movepool" by giving it an ability and unorthodox moves that made it not just viable all game, but actually a half decent mon competitively. Gen 6 seems to be the point where they got it most right, with Talonflame (also solving an issue of early game Fire Type scarcity), Diggersby (at least competitively), and Vivillon (combined the "Com Bug" trope with the "Pattern collectable" thing they did with stuff like Spinda or Burmy).

Gamefreak is also just kind of guilty of sticking a bit too close to either "original sin" ideas, or not keeping consistency between the game design and art design teams: For example, every Gen there's been at least a couple of Normal Types that get giant movepools, but because of typing, stats, ability, or some combination of the 3, can't actually put any of it to use: Clefable was a prime example of this only fixed when it got a non-Crap typing. Or the Nido line getting all these Special moves, despite (even before the Gen 4 split) their stats being more physically oriented. I'd say the latest and most egregious offender for me is Gourgeist, who gets this pretty decent Special movepool and even a flavor excuse for otherwise weird ones (Jack-o-Lantern = Fire Blast)... and Special Attack being its worst stat (second only to the "lowered" stat based on its size like Speed on Super), while having virtually nothing to work with Physically by comparison. Just swapping its Physical and Special Attack would probably shoot its usefulness up immensely as a bulky pivot or attacker.

They also seem to think on a bit too general of a level when designing some things. Ghost started as the "Anti-Psychic" type, but when they finally implemented stuff for it in Gen 2, they made it physical. On the surface, this seems sensible since Psychic types were all Specially oriented, but they forgot that every Ghost type (ergo the Gengar line) was very Specially Biased. What perplexes me even more is that they did have Dark as Special as if wanting a Psychic weakness on each spectrum, but then most Dark types were Physically Biased in Gen 2 (Poor Sneasel) and Gen 3 for the most part, bar maybe Houndoom. I almost feel like they intended the Types to be reversed, and didn't reverse it in Gen 3 for consistency (which is weird since Gen 2 and 3 originals were incompatible).

 

[Codraroll]

The problem with "Com Mons" is that they ideally shouldn't be too powerful, from a game design perspective. There are several reasons for this: Let's start with the types:

In the beginning of the game, you typically encounter Pokémon of the less complex types, with basic, easy-to-understand interactions of the type chart. Birds eat bugs, bugs eat plants, fire burns plants (and bugs), water extinguishes fire, and so forth. Normal types interact neutrally with "everyhing" both offensively and defensively (as the exceptions are only encountered way later). Throwing in the "less intuitive" types such as Dark, Dragon or Steel from the get-go would be rather confusing. Remember, we're talking very early game here, before the first Gym. This means that the Pokémon you meet at the start of the game are practically restricted to a few types. In effect, at least the first stage of the Com Mons "have" to be Normal, Bug or Grass types. Those types also coincide rather nicely with creatures or plants you'd find the likes of in your own back yard: caterpillars, birds small rodents, weird-looking bushes. Nothing too exotic like chandeliers or walking furnaces.

The second reason, in my opinion, is that players should be incited to rotate their team, to try out new monsters they encounter later in the game. That involves ditching some of the first Pokémon you capture, replacing them with other Pokémon you catch along the way. However, it's not much of an incentive if the first 'mons you capture are strong enough to carry their weight from the get-go and all the way to the Pokémon League. Players should have a reason to replace their Pokémon, such as the replacements being stronger or more exciting to use. The classic example is the early-game caterpillar 'mon which requires some babying at the start, then evolves to its final form and beats everything, until it's in the mid-20s, and its stats are weaker than the rest of your team and it feels more like a burden than an asset. Young Trainers will then start seeking replacements for their Vivillon or Butterfree or Leavanny or Beautifly or... well, you get the idea. The bugs, and other Com Mons, are designed to be obsolete, so that you'll catch more Pokémon and try more options as your adventure progresses. This is more fun than just catching six 'mons right of the bat and using them for the entire game. You wouldn't get to explore much of the immense variety that way.


So, why do GameFreak have to keep designing new Com Mons for every generation? Was there really a need to create Patrat when we've got Sentret already? Why make Pidove when Starly and Pidgey exist? Why even bother with Scatterbug when a suitable design was made in Caterpie almost 20 years ago? The answer to that is simple: Novelty. This is the start of a new adventure, and players need to be brought into the feeling that they're playing an entirely new chapter of Pokémon. New places, new graphics, and of course: New creatures. Those first few minutes of gameplay are crucial to sucking players in, when things are new and exciting and there's an entire Pokédex full of new monsters to catch and collect. For a game to feel fresh and new, you have to introduce the new content from the get go.


As such, the designers at Game Freak are stuck with both requirements and limitations: They "have" to create new Pokémon every generation to use in the early game, they should be "backyard creatures", they have to pick among a very limited pool of types (but also give all those types some representation), and they should be weak enough to fall out of use mid-game or thereabout. There you go, the recipe for Com Mons. You might notice how repetitive this becomes in the long run, but the kids in the target market won't (as they haven't seen the formula before, at least not more than once or twice).



We may ask, then: Is there a way to avoid the misery of forgettable creatures resulting from this recipe? Yes, and I believe GameFreak have already found a few and put them to use in Gen. VI:

Most notably for Smogonites: Hidden Abilities. Look at Talonflame and Diggersby again. What makes them stand out? Their Hidden Abilities, which are only available later in the game, after the role of "Com Mon" has served its purpose. The Fletchling and Bunnelby you carelessly pick up along the early routes evolve into pretty useless filler 'mons, but the later-game alternatives sort of "save" the species from obscurity. It's possible and feasible to have early game designs evolve into top-tier Strongmons, but that Strongmon role should not be an option available from the start (that is, I think making them available through something like DexNav could be excusable - if you manage to go looking for it, you understand the principles of the game well enough to not need any Com Mons to guide your play).

Another way, albeit less effective and possibly more risky, is to give the Pokémon a very bad mid-game, only for it to pick up again near the end. A recent example is Vivillon, which learns Quiver Dance and Hurricane at level 45 - long after it stops being useful in a normal playthrough, so players get all the usual incentives to swap them during the mid-game. However, the tools are sufficient to give a properly trained Vivillon a chance to shine. An alternative to late-level moves is to have the Pokémon be compatible with - and a good utilizer of - certain late-game TMs.

Interesting visuals can also save a design. Vivillon would have been memorable enough without Quiver Dance and Hurricane, thanks to its myriad of available wing patterns. A lesser example is Pyroar, with a unique typing and the most notable gender differences since Hippowdon. That being said, gender differences didn't suffice to make Unfezant popular or even memorable, so it's not guaranteed to work.

Gen. VI has other examples too. Furfrou, an otherwise boring Pokémon, got a unique haircutting mechanic which made it memorable (if not good in battle - but keep in mind that's not the only measure of a succesful design). You could ride on the backs of Skiddo and Gogoat, scoring them some points of notability.


It will be exciting to see what Gen. VII does with the trend. Hopefully it continues. Meanwhile, we have a whole bunch of Com Mons from past generations resulting from careless use of the Com Mon recipe, but I wouldn't worry too much about those. Every generation, GameFreak hands out new tools to old Pokémon, and in due time even the bland designs of yesteryear might get a tool or two to give them time in the spotlight. Mega Beedrill and Mega Pidgeot are evidence that GameFreak won't let the "Com Mon" stamp be a hindrance.

 

[pika pal]

The second reason, in my opinion, is that players should be incited to rotate their team, to try out new monsters they encounter later in the game. That involves ditching some of the first Pokémon you capture, replacing them with other Pokémon you catch along the way. However, it's not much of an incentive if the first 'mons you capture are strong enough to carry their weight from the get-go and all the way to the Pokémon League. Players should have a reason to replace their Pokémon, such as the replacements being stronger or more exciting to use. The classic example is the early-game caterpillar 'mon which requires some babying at the start, then evolves to its final form and beats everything, until it's in the mid-20s, and its stats are weaker than the rest of your team and it feels more like a burden than an asset. Young Trainers will then start seeking replacements for their Vivillon or Butterfree or Leavanny or Beautifly or... well, you get the idea. The bugs, and other Com Mons, are designed to be obsolete, so that you'll catch more Pokémon and try more options as your adventure progresses. This is more fun than just catching six 'mons right of the bat and using them for the entire game. You wouldn't get to explore much of the immense variety that way.

I see your argument, but this is one point I do take a bit of issue with. One of the aesthetic themes of Pokemon is supposed to be about the bond formed with them over the course of your journey, which is less easily served if the Com Mons are intentionally designed to be swapped out. Encouraging variety should be by making the Pokemon equally interesting to encourage experimentation, not by intentionally making the early game options inferior to later game options and forcing trade-ups to compete. Because Com Mons are so commonly unusable for main game, I find myself simply ignoring them in terms of usage until I just find what I want to use: I pretty much had only my starter Froakie until I got far enough to catch Ralts in my run of X, because I'd pretty much gone in knowing everything in Routes 1-3 and Santalune Forest would be obsolete quickly. It also just feels like effort I put into Com Mon training is wasted if I end up having to swap it out anyway. Making them less effective than mid-late game mons is one thing, but they should never be outright useless. There's better Pokemon in Gen 4 than Staraptor, but Staraptor is still something I can get through the game with and not feel like I'm imposing a challenge on myself.

Talonflame's main potential obviously lies in getting its HA lategame, but the Fire Typing still means it has something to offer considering the scarcity of the type in general, and Staraptor is still plenty useful based on traits any Staraptor could have access to in the main game.

The design philosophy of "planned obsolescence" for the early Pokemon is a miniature of what encourages Power creep in general in other mediums and games, and while it might lead to some experimentation, it can limit it just as much, forcing the player to swap out their team as they go ultimately can get as stale as being able to go through the entire game with your first 6. The starter can remain viable all game, so why can't the early catches?

 

[Pikachu315111]

Kittttten:
What's New Is Old: "Nostalgia" is a bit of a loose concept, what one sees as nostalgia another may not. Has he ever played Platinum (or a Gen IV game)? If not then of course he'll have no nostagia for it. I would say Platinum is worth checking out, if anything but for historical significance and to hear the Sinnoh story. Gen VI isn't really that set apart from Gen V graphics wise (Gen V used more 3D, though it was mostly for display. Though I would say Platinum has a pretty impressive 3D location with the Distortion World), they were on the handheld. At the same time I'd also suggest them playing HGSS since they were the inbetween game and have much to offer themselves (they're also probably the most recent Johto/Kanto game we're going to get in a long time unless they plan on making a whole new line of remakes just because we're in a new timeline).
Rocket Plan: Capturing Meloetta was more Giovanni than the Rocket Trio (though he did it in an awesome way by threatening to crush Ash and Pikachu to death if it didn't submit). For the Rocket Trio I more remember the Nimbasa Plan. First Meowth infiltrates Ash & co., Jessie & James hack the subway system, and it all comes together with TR stealing all the Pokemon at the Pokemon Center (+ Ash & co.'s) using the subway (an a few tricks to keep them ahead).

Vader_the_White:
More Than Com Mon: Not saying the shouldn't make any more bugs, birds, and rodents. What I'm more saying is that if they want an early fodder to fill that trope they sort of have the run of the litter from previous gens. Using those would let them be able to do unique things with other bugs, birds, and rodents.
Also as long as they keep doing interesting things with the Pikaclones I have no problem with it. I like Pachirisu and Emolga, and I like what they tried to do with Plusle & Minun. Dedenne, though it has an interesting type combination and based on a gerbil, does look like a mini-Raichu which is a bit distracting. Though to be honest maybe instead of a Pikachu expy for this gen they should have given Raichu a Mega Evolution.
Time To Duel: Comparing the number of Pokemon to the number of Yu-Gi-Oh! cards is a bit iffy as I'm guessing those include all the non-Monster cards. In addition, aside from a few re-prints they don't usually go back to many of the cards they stopped printing. Yu-Gi-Oh introduces many new themes and mechanics too which radically alter the game sometimes like Pendulum. Pretty much in Yu-Gi-Oh if you don't keep up you're going to be left behind.
Pokemon for the most part has tried ignoring that. For one being Pokemon is a digital franchise compared to Yu-Gi-Oh being a more physical one; GameFreak doesn't have to leave any monsters behind. They also try to keep older Pokemon relevant, and one example of this is with the Mega Evolutions. Plus all the time they're changing movepools (and rarely Abilities), altering Moves and Abilities effects, and they given a bunch of older gen Pokemon a small BST boost. Sure Pokemon adds in new mechanics and such, but it doesn't radically change the core battling mechanic.

antemortem:
Dropped Features: I can sort of understand them dropping feature, especially if they replace them with something else like the with the Pokemon Tools (like we may lose the DexNav since its part of the PokeNav Plus, but it might get replaced by something with a similar function in the next Pokemon Tool. Honestly I think it should be a normal function of the Pokedex or at least an upgraded function). Soaring is probably gone though unless a game has the Eon Duo in it, but even then Soaring seems to be an excuse to have the Mirage Spots to give access to the previous gen Legendaries.
But PLEASE GameFreak, at least keep clothing customization. If you don't want to put it in remakes for "nostalgia" sake then fine, I can disagree but I can at least understand.

Com Mon Discussion:
Looks like I started something, might as well comment on it.
Now I'll admit I did forget to mention that they have done interesting things recently with this gens com mons. Fletchling, Diggersby, and Scatterbug I don't mind seeing as they do something new as noted, two becoming OU because of it the other SATAN had a unique gimmick which made collecting its various forms HELL popular.
Now I can understand why they would want to make new com mons for the points that Codraroll said. I do like the idea of making the com mon seem less useful as you play through the story, but in postgame they have Hidden Abilities or learn certain moves that help raise them out of obscurity.
Still, I would keep them a bit limited. Yes, them being new Pokemon is attractive to older players, but to newer players they wouldn't know if the Pokemon was old or new. And even if the bird, bug, or rodent isn't a new Pokemon, that doesn't mean there won't be new Pokemon on the route. They just need to find a balance between new and old Pokemon (I'd also make sure each area has a different group of old Pokemon, it would help the new Pokemon who are on multiple routes stand out).

 

[Lady Vader]

Vader_the_White:
More Than Com Mon: Not saying the shouldn't make any more bugs, birds, and rodents. What I'm more saying is that if they want an early fodder to fill that trope they sort of have the run of the litter from previous gens. Using those would let them be able to do unique things with other bugs, birds, and rodents.
Also as long as they keep doing interesting things with the Pikaclones I have no problem with it. I like Pachirisu and Emolga, and I like what they tried to do with Plusle & Minun. Dedenne, though it has an interesting type combination and based on a gerbil, does look like a mini-Raichu which is a bit distracting. Though to be honest maybe instead of a Pikachu expy for this gen they should have given Raichu a Mega Evolution.

That's actually what I meant too. While I do like some of the Pikachu clones (Emolga is the cutest thing ever), it just feels like they are trying to recapture the success of that one Pokémon. They need to move on. Do something like Pikablu Marill: similar feel, completely different.