Pokémon Presents - Pokémon Day 2025 - Pokemon ZA Info & Pokemon Champions Announced

Spearow and Doduo were likely not given Megas at the time due to being released alongside Pidgey. Nidoqueen and Nidoking would probably hit less hard as Megas than they would with Life Orb + Sheer Force. Paras got all the spotlight it could ever dream of in Hisui, lol. Venonat… I’m not sure for this one, honestly. Psyduck is an interesting one, because it’s specifically Psyduck that’s the favorite, and if anything it would make more sense for it to get something than for us to get a Mega Golduck. Shellder and Goldeen are more I don’t know what they would do with. Drowzee surprises me given Hypno’s reputation and because pretty much every balance change in Gold & Silver ruined this thing. You already mentioned Staryu, as well as Ditto who will probably never get a Mega at all because of the Powder items and the Choice Scarf it likes to run. Finally, the two fossils probably weren’t given anything because Game Freak may have wanted Aerodactyl to be the only fossil Pokémon to get a new form.

How’d I do?

At 130 base SpA., Mega-Nidoking would hit harder despite not having Life Orb held. This is assuming it retains Sheer Force, which isn't unheard of. Since it is a raw increment of 45 base points upon Nidoking's Special Attack attribute, it can still invest in bulk and Speed.
 
I’m assuming everyone talking about Mega abilities refers to what they’d get in Champions…unless they pull a Legends Arceus Cherrim or Regigigas where they have Ability-like passives in ZA.
I mean I figured as much. I just find it weird from the perspective of PLZA being Mega Victreelbel's debut.
 
If I evolved into that I also would tie a rope around my neck.

Though from a boring competitive standpoint we're getting a Pokemon that probably has a lot of bulk, Corrosion, Strength Sap, Knock Off, and Synthesis while being a Poison so it still gets Toxic. If they just do a lazy +20 everything this guy is gonna be absolute ass. But if it gets like, -20 speed +40 def / sp def and +40 attack maybe we're looking at a passable Mega. Victreebel's stats aren't great so I hope they min-max.

This thing is one of my favorite Pokemon so I hope they do it right stat-wise, even if the design is goofy.
I don't know if it would need +40 attack, it already has 105. Plus 20 or 25 would be fine it doesn't need to be hitting harder than Ursaluna and Iron Hands to be good. Honestly with the moveset you're talking about it'd probably be better off if most of the boost went into its bulk.
 
I can see Mega Victreebel having an offensive version of Corrosion in that instead of being able to Poison any Pokemon regardless of its typing it can hit all Pokemon with its Poison-type damage-dealing moves, meaning Steel-type Pokemon aren't immune to Sludge Bomb/Sludge Wave, and it bypasses Wonder Guard. Given Gen 9's design philosophy of giving many fully evolved Pokemon powerful signature Moves and/or Abilities, I can see this being continued when it's revealed what Mega Victreebel's Ability is in Champions. That way, it'll literally be able to stand out from all other Pokemon.

If it's extremely min-maxed and has most of its Base Attack reinvested in its Base Special Attack similarly to Mega Beedrill, I could see this being its stats:

HP 80, Attack 15, Defense 135, Special Attack 170 Special Defense 140, Speed 50

For reference, 0+ SpA Base 170 Special Attack Victreebel-Mega Sludge Wave vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Tera Dark Gholdengo: 195-229 (51.5 - 60.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO -- 91.8% chance to 2HKO after Leftovers recovery

Yeah, Gholdengo wouldn't want to switch into this.
 
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A German youtuber went into the professor's lab at gamescom. An NPC mentioned Sycamore being fully retired and also there's this photo of him with his XY anime Garchomp
 
I think Megas not getting HP buffs was probably less a "this defines megas" situation and more just a design quirk of changable forms. There's a lot of different swappable form changes up through gen 6 but iirc none of them changed HP, even the ones that aren't mid-battle changes. Kyurem maintained his HP, the Rotoms maintain their HP, Giratina maintained HP, etc.
But then in Gen 7 with Zygarde they started experimenting with it a little. Then we get Dynamax which is an entire mechanic based around changing HP. And now Terapagos.

Definitely not a lot of them, but with it being on the table I could see at least one new mega experimenting with it more, and a defensive one makes as much fit as any.
 
Considering that the HP buff is one of Dynamax's main things I'm not sure we'll ever see the same applied to a Mega. Especially since Dynamax will probably return in Champions, potentially in at least one format where it and Megas will both be legal. Gotta keep them distinct.
 
Considering that the HP buff is one of Dynamax's main things I'm not sure we'll ever see the same applied to a Mega. Especially since Dynamax will probably return in Champions.
I think the context of the buff is pretty different. HP-based calculations had to be altered for dynamax to accommodate the huge swing, but this would be a much more specific buff and one that would likely be significantly smaller.

And of course Dynamax has a lot of other things going on but we're getting Z Moves, so.
 
This would be neat to see at least one Mega get this, but to my knowledge a Mega has never gotten an HP buff. The closest things we’ve gotten to that is 100% Zygarde (ironically) and Stellar Form Terapagos.

imagine mega dragonite gets an hp buff for the sole purpose of reactivating multiscale
More like the base form gets the hp buff separate from mega. Like how between gens 6 and 7 they went back and buffed old mons by like 10 points for a stat. I could see them buffing base stats as well as granting a Mega form.
 
Who is mega Victreebel?

For the math, he is the problem.
For the medic, he is the disease.
For the peak, he is the bottom.
If mega Victreebel thinks, I disagree.
If mega Victreebel speaks, I'm not listening.
If mega Victreebel has a million haters, I am all of them.
If mega Victreebel has ten haters, I am all of them.
If mega Victreebel has only one hater, that is me.
If mega Victreebel has no haters, I no longer exist.
If the whole world is with mega Victreebel, I am against the whole world. I will hate mega Victreebel until my very last breath.
 
The problem here is that I have no idea where this thing would fit in the game. What’s-his-name, the Poison guy, doesn’t seem like he would use this, and while I could maybe see this being a story boss in a Wild Zone (...)

Well, who says NPCs can only have one Mega Pokemon? Maybe Corbeau would use a Mega Victreebel as a mid-boss fight and then his final boss will use his preferred (and more serious looking) Mega Pokemon (though, let's remember his organization is called the Rust Syndicate). It would be a nice change-up if important NPCs started doing this now that we're going to have a fair amount of Mega Pokemon that something like this would be possible while keeping the Mega Pokemon presented all different.

But outside of that it can either be a Mega of a random early boss for the Z-A Royale (maybe for the U Rank (for Utsubot); or could also be used by a Rust Syndicate Admin) or just a Mega Raid.

anyway shameless talk about vore because im not a coward aside...


Love this - always felt Victreebel line was shafted in favour of the oddish line - it’s great that Pokémon has done something with Victreebel at last.

And then they release Mega Vileplume AND Mega Bellossom.

Everyone, foolish, seeing steel melting acid: corrosion or maybe even super corrosion!

me, enlightened: supersweet syrup to lower evasion, increasing gunk shot's accuracy
Aren't abilities absent in PLZA? If so, that throws a tiny bit of a wrench in the idea that Mega Victreebel would be able to hit Steel-types with Poison attacks with its ability. That's kind of a defining trait of a Pokémon that would be super weird to leave out in its debut game.

They could reference the steel melting part with a new Poison-type Freeze-Dry expy (could also make it Super Effective against Rock & Ground too). I wouldn't even make it a Signature cause a few Poison-types mention a having a poison/acid/acid poison strong enough to melt steel (like Dragalge comes to mind).

i was wondering what the pattern situation would be. Will it stick with Meadow worldwide since its france or just showing it for footage's sake, you know?

I wouldn't be surprised for ol' time sake they have it based on your Switch's Country/Region setting, though maybe implement a way to temporarily change it via the GO postcards like in SV.

We saw Vivillon in Scarlet & Violet and I believe the implication there was that the Fancy Pattern is/was originally from Paldea, seeing as real world France is bordering the real-world Iberian Peninsula.

If we go off the real world map, Paldea would have had the Marine Pattern.


Oh Hex Maniac, never change, never change.

How’d I do?

Or, you know, GF just haven't gotten around to them. A lot of the "Pokemon Expansions" feel like GF have to be inspired by something, whether it's maybe something concerning the region, game themes, characters, or something behind-the-scenes we won't know about unless they tell us. Mega Victreebel could be because of the Rust Syndicate, or could be a GF employee brought in a packed string bag and looked funny (and somehow reminded them of Victreebel).

I mean it's possible that only Megas have abilities in ZA.
There’s almost certainly going to be some Pokémon like Cherrim and Regigigas here. Is the fandom forgetting that this is the region Aegislash came from? Now, what I will say is that Aegislash is probably just going to be another one of those passive Ability cases. This doesn’t mean all non-Megas will have Abilities by any means. So long as Mega Kangaskhan gets Parental Bond in some capacity, that’s the main thing I care about, that and Aegislash.

With Held Items confirmed back what would have normally been Abilities could be made into just an additional effect attached to the Mega Stone once the Pokemon has Mega Evolved. Heck, if they do go that route, they could maybe hint at new Abilities before having them officially revealed in Champions.


Next life-size plush confirmed.

my first impression in this moment.
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Kind of reminds me of the Green Man motif, especially when you look up images on Google.

An NPC mentioned Sycamore being fully retired

RETIRED?! Well, that's news. Wonder if they'll explain why, it's certainly can't be because of his age. Maybe he feels guilty for not having done an intervention for Lysandre, thus doesn't feel like he should be in a position of making major decisions?

Finally, my thoughts on Mega Victreebel:
:blobshrug:

So, when I first saw it, I felt pretty disappointed. "Another GOOFY design, after M-Dragonite?" I thought. And it is a goofy design, though thinking back maybe M-Dragonite wasn't as goofy as I thought. Or rather, maybe GF doesn't consider M-Dragonite goofy, I could see them thinking they were going for majestic & graceful, once again harkening back to usual portrayals of Dragonair. So, in their eyes, we were supposed to take M-Dragonite seriously and M-Victreebel here was supposed to be the goofy design to show the dynamic difference between Mega design philosophy. Obviously didn't play out as GF intended, but I digress.

Having gotten a bit more used to it, I've settled on "meh". Like, honestly, what else were they going to do with Mega Victreebel without just making it a leafier Victreebel? The design makes sense on paper, though once again like with M-Dragonite they just don't do enough with it. I can't help but go back to my theory of GF being so afraid of copying fan designs that they forbid the designer from doing anything more with it aside the bare basics as a sort of "subversion". Like, since people knew of M-Victreebel from leaks there are fan interpretation of what was described and they got this simple design to look interesting:
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BTW is it supposed to look like it's smiling now? Or is it supposed to still be in its perpetual frown but they didn't space the eyes & mouth correctly?

Hopefully, my feeling is just because GF probably presented the two wrong Mega Pokemon as our welcome back to the concept and there's plenty of Mega Pokemon with neater designs.

Already sorta talked above (or at least left a like) about potential Abilities; also mentioned my idea of a new Poison-type move. So just going to end with stat increase speculation. While I would like to make it lean on one offense stat, it sounds like it may still remain a mixed attacker. So, I'm going to follow a similar route as Avira and gut one of its stats like Beedrill, but instead of Attack it'll be Speed:

80/105/65/100/70/70//490 > 80/140/110/140/110/10//590
 
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Count me as hating Mega-DNite and liking Mega-Victreebel. Yes, it's silly, but it matches the previous design, has lore that fits, and comes across as appropriately...this cannot be a permanent form of the mon. I like it.
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This might just be lore-blurb, but it'd be neat if Mega Victreebel's ability in Champions gives its Poison-type attacks actual effectiveness vs Steel-types, like an offensive Corrosion.
If this was a different series, I'd be expecting destructible environments, but that is not physically possible for a Nintendo game.
Bulbasaur, Bellsprout, and Oddish always felt like some kind of neat trio to me. The latter two were actually the last Pokemon evolution families designed and added for Kanto that aren’t named Mew, and conventional wisdom seems to suggest they were added both to hit a better-looking 150 (plus Mew) and so Charmander and Squirtle players had another option for Misty’s Gym. Vileplume not having a Mega when these other two do now is… strange, to say the least. I suppose you could argue that Vileplume did get the split evolution with Bellossom, but Slowbro had a split evolution also and it still got a Mega in ORAS. So for similar reasoning, why no Mega Slowking either?
Don't get me started on the Slowpoke lines(normal and Galarian). They are a mess and if I had my way they'd be heavily modified to clean them up.
 
I believe by Nintendo game he meant Nintendo Switch 1 game.

It's called a joke. :blobnom: Hugin also said "if it was a different series" so already we're specifically talking about Pokemon. Still, them saying a Nintendo game couldn't handle destructible environment while DK:B having been recently released and becoming the poster child for destructible environments was too good to pass up.

Also, Pokemon had destructible environments in the past (good luck finding and destroying them without purposely trying though...).
 
I think Mega-Victreebel will have Corrosion, but also an unique Poison-type move that allows it to hit Steel for super effective damage. This wouldn't be broken since, first, it's still a Victreebel, so I don't think it has the raw potential to overwhelm teams despite this addition, but would make for an interesting case since Poison hitting Steel super effective is hard to switch into. Most of the types that resist poison, like ground, don't like being poisoned by secondary effects, so you are better switching into your steel instead (or your own Poison, which can be poisoned by Toxic if the thing has Corrosion).

If said move not only hits Steels SE but also has like a 30% chance to inflict poison, making it a better and unique version of Sludge Bomb, it can be spammable af.
 
More seriously I'm unsure how much we should really pay attention to the description of "melting steel". It is a particular phrasing, but these kind of descriptions tend to exaggerate especially for megas and sometimes it's more general purpose rather than mechanical. Especially since it pairs that with melting concrete. Like how Dragalge's poison can melt tankers & boat hulls. The point might just be to underline "wow the poison is like REALLY strong now!!"




Remember when people thought Blood Moon Ursaluna would be steel type
 
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