Yeah that always confused me. I mean her team was dragon based so what the heck was with whismur. Honestly it is just their for theories like you said.
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Unpopular opinions
- Thread starter antemortem
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Yeah that always confused me. I mean her team was dragon based so what the heck was with whismur. Honestly it is just their for theories like you said.
I swear you're just making up Sue categories. I've never heard of a Baton Pass Sue nor Snowflake Sue (and I'm pretty sure the latter is redundant anyway).
Sue categories exist and are common among fanfiction circles, snowflake exist and it's often categorized as a character that receives several unique traits that overly differentiate it from the rest of the cast.
Batton pass Sue was my comedic version of the Mentor archetype often referred as pass the torch character wich role in the story is often highlighted as a recurrent character often source of inspiration or focus that is bound to fall in battle to the main character to highlight it's growth, the Sue aspect lies in the fact that the transition is forced.
Hope this helps, Batton pass sue was indeed my take over the term.
Does it matter what kind of sue she is? Heck I count her as a villain sue because she gladly risk the fate of the world just on the belief that sending the meteor through the portal would kill all life on another planet even though she has no proof of such claims as said in the game.
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It's hardly the only case of that, though, or even the worst. Even dismissing the obvious things like Magikarp or Feebas, this is a universe where a remora becomes an octopus and a group of eggs become a coconut tree.
Aster was Zinnia's daughter that presumably died some sort of tragic, sudden death. Parents experience a lot of psychotic trauma over a sudden loss of a child, so she had a mental breakdown and used a Whismur as a "replacement daughter" of sorts, because she can't mentally accept her real daughter is gone (there's a term for this, but I'm tired and don't remember it off the top of my head).
As far as Hoenn Pokemon are concerned, Whismur represents a small child more than the other regional Pokemon, considering it's a small, crybaby that gets scared easily.
She refers to the Whismur as her daughter in the Delta Episode
Gotta be careful with comparing age to looks in Pokemon, considering this is the same game that has a school teacher for a gym leader, who looks no older than 12 or so. Zinnia's age is never confirmed, so she could be older than we expect her to be. And obviously, judging from this debate, Aster's backstory is very vague, so she could've been gone for a while, or perhaps passed recently. And considering Whismur looks and acts kind of like an infant child, it makes me believe that Aster was probably very young, like 2 or so.
But if Sycamore knew about the Tower of Mastery why didn't he advise the player and our rivals, the kids he sent to learn about Mega Evolution, to go look there? I suppose he figured we'd get there naturally asking around, but what if we didn't? Slim chance admittedly, but still it feels like he kept a piece of information to himself that could help me with investigate for no reason. He could have been like:
"If you're investigating Mega Evolution I suggest going to the Tower of Mastery in Shalour City. It's where many secrets of Mega Evolution are known and taught. However the gate that would take you to Shalour City the fastest is currently blocked due to a blackout. Luckily there's another way! If you go out of the gate to Route 5 and follow the path it'll take you to Shalour City in no time! And on your way you can maybe talk with other people about what they know about Mega Evolution. Being you're going out Route 5's gate, why don't you check out Camphrier Town? (...)"
There, I added it to his already existing dialogue and even explained why they needed to take the Route 5 gate. But still even if he didn't feel he had what it took to Mega Evolve, being he's still researching the topic why didn't he just ask Gurkinn for help. Did the two have a falling out so he needs a strong trainer who can accomplish using Mega Evolution to do it for him? If so that kind of puts a sinister twist on Sycamore's intentions as it sounds like he's using kids to get around a personal loophole.
As for Lysandre, I looked up what Sycamore said about him and you're right. I knew he said something about know what Lysandre was doing but didn't stop him for a reason, though I just remembered wrong:
Still, even if Sycamore talked with Lysandre I doubt it would have done anything besides maybe him cutting connections with the Professor. I mean how many times had Lysandre given us a chance to "stop him", us doing it, and then only for him to decide to keep going anyway. I remember at least 3 times (disabling the weapon, defeating him in battle the first time, freeing the Legendary). Lysandre obviously isn't the soundest of mind. Of course being Sycamore and Lysandre is friends its naturally Sycamore feels like he could have done something.
I always thought Aster was Zinnia's mother/older sister who sacrificed herself to stop a disaster. Draconids seem to think that sacrifice is an acceptable way to stop a great disaster, heck Zinnia was ready to sacrifice herself as she wouldn't have survived in space/the lower atmosphere. I'd also imagine maybe Whismur Aster belonged to the original Aster and Zinnia adopted it after Aster's passing (and named it Aster later). Thus why Whismur Aster is Zinnia's "daughter". Like many people are named after a passed relative, that doesn't change their relationship with people its just that they're named in honor of the passed person.
I think we all want to know who Aster is, like you'd think at least Zinnia's grandmother would clear it up for us when she tells us Zinnia had gone on a journey and thanks us for saving the world and helping her granddaughter (we're also the new Lorekeeper).
We can discuss all this until we're as purple as a Whismur but we're never going to come to a conclusion on this unless GF decides to clarify which would probably be in another game.
New Unpopular Opinion: I think the best way to get off talking about a badly done character is to talk about something about a goodly (wait, is that even a word?) done character. Emma. "What about Emma" you're probably wondering? I think if the next games are sequels to XY that Emma should become Champion. I don't think a lot of people liked Diantha, mainly because she didn't do anything, so maybe changing Kalos's Champion would be a good idea. In addition Emma could seek the Championship so that she could better protect Lumiose City without needing to deal with the law (unless Looker revealed all that happened to the Kalos officials, Emma is essentially a vigilante. But if she becomes Champion she'd be technically working for the Pokemon League).
And if not that I at least want to see Lumiose City embrace Essentia as a sort of Batman figure. Like I want there to be at least one scene where we see a "E"-like Batman signal in the sky. :P
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I think GameFreak kept Zinnia's age deliberately vague, but do remember that Japan is a lot more relaxed about the sexualisation of underage girls than Western cultures (for example, the stripperific Sailor Moon is fourteen years old). To have a teenage mother fits in a lot of ways and the stress an unplanned pregnancy and subsequent miscarriage would have placed on someone so young goes a long way to explaining how unhinged she is, as well as her desire to be seen as adult by meddling in things beyond her understanding. In many ways she's the dark side to the puppy love between Brendan and May - they represent the innocence of youth while Zinnia embodies the struggles of growing up.
I like the monotone beeping sound when a Pokémon is at low HP. It's subtle enough to not annoy me yet alert me to the fact that oh my fucking god, I need to use a potion
In contrast, the low HP theme in Gen 5 was absolutely horrendous, in-your-face and ruined any music you were enjoying - especially when, for obvious reasons, it came in mostly during boss music. It took the amazing atmosphere created by the gym-leader-last-pokemon theme, N theme and Ghetsis theme and tore it in fucking two. Good riddance
In contrast, the low HP theme in Gen 5 was absolutely horrendous, in-your-face and ruined any music you were enjoying - especially when, for obvious reasons, it came in mostly during boss music. It took the amazing atmosphere created by the gym-leader-last-pokemon theme, N theme and Ghetsis theme and tore it in fucking two. Good riddance
At the same time, I hated the change in music when the gym leader/boss was on his/her last Pokemon. It brought on the mood of being almost done, but it ruined so many good themes and sometimes that one song didn't fit for every fight which ruined it too.
But would Pokemon really cover such a heavy topic? Also it sounded like whoever Aster was they were alive:
Reading through Zinnia dialogue about original Aster again, two thoughts do come to mind:
1. It does sound like she maybe is referring to someone younger due to adding "sweet" and "dear" before her name. I still don't think Aster is Zinnia's kid, but that doesn't mean she didn't take care of someone younger than her. Maybe it was a little sister, cousin, or maybe it was just a kid she knew. But going off the little sister idea, we don't see Zinnia's mother so maybe their parents had died and she needed to raise her little sister like a surrogate mother.
2. Who says Aster was human? Maybe Aster was another Pokemon that Zinnia grew up with. Be human or Pokemon, if you grew up with someone for most of your life and loving them their passing would effect you. Especially if they relied on that being to give them strength and to support them through tough times.
Also why would Zinnia have to embody the struggle of growing up? Isn't the struggle of an assumingly young person fulfilling a momentous task (in this case a prophecy to prevent the destruction of the world) not already symbolic enough? Also what does the player represent then coming in last minute to save the day? A lucky break? If Zinnia is suppose to represent the struggles of growing up then they botched it up by having the player save the day anyway by just so happening to have what they needed for that exact moment. However if Zinnia just represented a person trying to do a momentous task on their own only to find out they did help would not only speak to a much bigger audience but wouldn't have the player coming in to save the day as a bigger cop out (though it still is).
Hmm, this actually brings up a new question, but that's for another thread.
While I like those two pieces of music I do have to agree that they did sometimes break the atmosphere. I like how they turned what used to be an annoying beeping sound into a nice music track but when you're battling the leader of the evil organization or the Champion having it interrupt the epic music against them does bring you out of the moment. Gen VI's decision to have the beeping as a chime was the best way to do things, I don't need to constantly be reminded my Pokemon is at low health (heck if I'm looking at the screen I'd know that anyway), but a small few seconds reminder never hurt. However I still like it and wish they could find some other way to implement it, like maybe have it a theme as some sort of challenge (like maybe a Battle Facility where your Pokemon are reduced to 1 HP the whole way through).
As for the Gym Leader's "last Pokemon" theme, at first it sounds awesome but thinking about it it does seem a bit over dramatic. For one it's not so triumphet when you still have most if not all of your Pokemon. Also when the Gym Leader only has 2 or 3 Pokemon it doesn't feel that earned. While I think it's a cool idea to change the music when facing against a boss, maybe instead of a completely different track they can just play an amped up version of the boss's theme (or maybe add in an additional instrument layer or something).
If Emma became a champion, I would bet on her being a Psychic type user mainly, for her only Pokemon she actually owns is her Espurr whose name I forgot if it has one.
She actually owns all of Xerosic's Pokemon too now. So her Pokemon are at least Espurr, Crobat, and Malamar. She also used a Jellicent, Volcarona, Whimsicott, Granbull, Mawile, and Persian but those could have been stolen Pokemon as Xerosic never used those Pokemon himself.
3. It sounds like Zinnia got a restraining order against Aster. Which, given her personality, I don't find that hard to imagine.
I'm not sure how unpopular this opinion is, but I really hate Rotom's appliance forms. However, at the same time I love normal Rotom and wish it had more Speed and SAtk so that it would be (more) viable as a frail sweeper
X/Y was released too soon. Game Freak should have put more time into the post-game (and raising the difficulty in general). Really? Three post-game legends available (Mewtwo, Zygarde, and the bird)?
I feel like they should have excluded the battles with Shauna, Tierno, and Trevor at the end of XY (if not the latter two characters entirely). Unlike Serena/Calem, you're not even really competing with them for any real reason, Shauna's first battle more just being a way to demonstrate types early to new player. The latter two just felt tacked on in general, much less in the actual battles. Just give them all Pokemon but only have the player battle Serena/Calem. Would also make it easier to make them seem like a rival if they were the one the player focused on battling.
(This is probably the less popular part)
In Gen 5, I feel like Bianca and Cheren lost a bit of the "rival air" because there were two of them. Even in Gen 4, Barry still felt like you were competing with him along the way, because he was the main thing you measured your power against as a trainer, a bit akin to Blue being the "wake up call" if your team was too weak in Gen 1. Cheren and Bianca just felt like fights they threw in to remind you they were also trainers, but they felt more like they were "checking in" then ever trying to outdo you (which is probably the case with Bianca, admittedly). I felt less like I accomplished something than that I just got past a mandatory battle with the two. In truth, I feel like N worked a bit more as a rival, because even if he wasn't hostile, there was still an air of competition, him trying to prove himself or his ideology by defeating you. It was an interesting idea I feel to tie the rival character to the villain team, even if it's something I'm not sure they could replicate as well as they did N.
Gen 6 is what made me realize this in hindsight, because the other "rivals" were a non-presence in both the story and in battle (as in when they battled and how tough they were). Cheren and Bianca worked alright for what they needed, but I do think the decision to have a singular rival with Hugh was better for B2W2. The gang in Gen 6 just felt like they wanted to do Cheren and Bianca again but more, but they didn't realize what did and didn't work with the two and ultimately got most of the wrong parts.
(This is probably the less popular part)
In Gen 5, I feel like Bianca and Cheren lost a bit of the "rival air" because there were two of them. Even in Gen 4, Barry still felt like you were competing with him along the way, because he was the main thing you measured your power against as a trainer, a bit akin to Blue being the "wake up call" if your team was too weak in Gen 1. Cheren and Bianca just felt like fights they threw in to remind you they were also trainers, but they felt more like they were "checking in" then ever trying to outdo you (which is probably the case with Bianca, admittedly). I felt less like I accomplished something than that I just got past a mandatory battle with the two. In truth, I feel like N worked a bit more as a rival, because even if he wasn't hostile, there was still an air of competition, him trying to prove himself or his ideology by defeating you. It was an interesting idea I feel to tie the rival character to the villain team, even if it's something I'm not sure they could replicate as well as they did N.
Gen 6 is what made me realize this in hindsight, because the other "rivals" were a non-presence in both the story and in battle (as in when they battled and how tough they were). Cheren and Bianca worked alright for what they needed, but I do think the decision to have a singular rival with Hugh was better for B2W2. The gang in Gen 6 just felt like they wanted to do Cheren and Bianca again but more, but they didn't realize what did and didn't work with the two and ultimately got most of the wrong parts.
Here's something I don't think I've ever heard said before: I like Rotom-Wash as a design and concept. While most of us here on Smogon like Rotom-Wash as a competitive Pokémon (and for good reason), but everyone rolls their eyes at the fact that there is a washing machine Pokémon. Personally, I think it is funny and cute. I'm not completely sure why, but I just do. It has always been my favorite Rotom form, ever since I first saw it back in Generation IV, and it just fun to send out a washing machine to end my opponents.
I don't like how walking your Pokemon in DP works. I wanted to head out there, and guess what? According to the lady who works there, only a small list of Pokemon are cute. Pikachu, Clefairy, Psyduck, Pachirishu, Happiny, Buneary, and Drifloon. It's like a slap in the face, because she is basically saying that your Pokemon isn't cute. I think my Hoothoot is cute! Now I need to run off, catch a Buneary or something, just to run in circles for accessories for contests. They should of fleshed the list out more, or made it so any Pokemon could count. Yes, it would take a long time, but not even the starters are allowed?
I'm glad they changed that part for Pokemon Platinum. Of course then they expanded it completely for every Pokemon in HGSS.
