Little things you like about Pokémon

Sword and Shield's routes have gotten a fair amount of criticism for being short and linear, but one thing I love about them is how they integrate wild Pokemon as obstacles. The one I remember most fondly is encountering the over-leveled Carkol in Galar Mine, but other encounters like the Grapploct that swims after you, the Falinks that march from one end of the map to the other, and the Galarian Stunfisk that act like actual bear traps were also really memorable. I'm hoping this concept is iterated on in future titles since it has multiple applicable uses, like challenging the player outside of battling, and making these locations feel more unique to Pokemon.
Getting chased by Grapploct was a real highlight (it's so intense how it goes from resting to GONNA GET YOU) but honestly i have no idea how someone is supposed to get hit by the carkol unless you are actively backtracking. I didn't even know there was a carkol there until later, i just throught it was timed scenery of an actual coal kart that rockets off as you approach.

Another good one, though it's not as "active" an obstacle as the others are: the beartic on the final route. It always spawns right next to the final hill and, you know, being chased by a giant polar bear? Low key terrifying, at the very least.
 

Codraroll

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I'm hoping this concept is iterated on in future titles since it has multiple applicable uses
How often have I not thought this exact thing about some feature or other, and seen my hope dashed when the next games are out... Ever since RSE cut the day/night cycle (though thankfully, it was brought back again later), I think there have been multiple instances of this for every single generation.
 
How often have I not thought this exact thing about some feature or other, and seen my hope dashed when the next games are out... Ever since RSE cut the day/night cycle (though thankfully, it was brought back again later), I think there have been multiple instances of this for every single generation.
Honestly I was shocked they brought back overworld pokemon after let's go so i am hopeful (HOPEFUL) that that continues to tbe the case in games to come which should ideally come with more behaviors like described above
 
How often have I not thought this exact thing about some feature or other, and seen my hope dashed when the next games are out... Ever since RSE cut the day/night cycle (though thankfully, it was brought back again later), I think there have been multiple instances of this for every single generation.
Honestly I was shocked they brought back overworld pokemon after let's go so i am hopeful (HOPEFUL) that that continues to tbe the case in games to come which should ideally come with more behaviors like described above
According to this interview, Gamefreak added overworld Pokemon after seeing its positive reception in Let's Go, so it may continue being a mainstay feature. Wouldn't be surprised if it ends up getting scrapped in the next game however.
 
According to this interview, Gamefreak added overworld Pokemon after seeing its positive reception in Let's Go, so it may continue being a mainstay feature. Wouldn't be surprised if it ends up getting scrapped in the next game however.
One thing we didn't originally intend to implement in Pokémon Sword and Pokémon Shield was having Pokémon roaming around in the field. After Pokémon: Let's Go, Pikachu! and Pokémon: Let's Go, Eevee! were released and we saw how popular the feature was, we worked hard to bring it over to Pokémon Sword and Pokémon Shield for a lot of the Pokémon and adjusted the balance of the games to make it work.
Wait that's...kind of insane. Relatively speaking, that's fairly late in development to make a sweeping change like this, especially if it was like a few months after Let's Go released

I am going to make the assumption that this concept was already in place in the Wild Area because for all the issues I have with the Wild Area I cannot imagine it without the roaming pokemon.
 
Wait that's...kind of insane. Relatively speaking, that's fairly late in development to make a sweeping change like this, especially if it was like a few months after Let's Go released

I am going to make the assumption that this concept was already in place in the Wild Area because for all the issues I have with the Wild Area I cannot imagine it without the roaming pokemon.
I think they did completely change things over to this format this late in the development cycle. It would completely explain and sort of back up Gamefreak's explanation of things of why things in Sword and Shield are the way they are. It would explain why a lot in this game feel like a bit of a downgrade from earlier generations.
 

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How often have I not thought this exact thing about some feature or other, and seen my hope dashed when the next games are out... Ever since RSE cut the day/night cycle (though thankfully, it was brought back again later), I think there have been multiple instances of this for every single generation.
Technically it was FRLG that cut the day/night cycle, RSE just didn't have an overworld indicator or altered encounter tables depending on time of day.

Thrillingly this meant that the games Eevee was native to didn't allow for two of its evolutions and required that it be traded and leveled up in a different game locked behind a postgame sidequest. Dubious design decisions aren't exactly new to this series, at least.
 
I think they did completely change things over to this format this late in the development cycle. It would completely explain and sort of back up Gamefreak's explanation of things of why things in Sword and Shield are the way they are. It would explain why a lot in this game feel like a bit of a downgrade from earlier generations.
I don't think this really explains game wide "downgrade" feelings at all. Like let's take region design, that was likely locked in by the time this decision came down. Can't blame that on deciding wild encounters should be OW/rng mix. I feel like you can even see that when it comes to certain areas. Consider how cramped some areas, like the Galar Mine, are.

Anything you want to tie, as a development trouble, to this change would probably have go to focus on aspects like availability. I suspect the team that handled this implementation probably took some people from Wild Area & the usual encounter balancing. Still a sizable effort, one that probably did not need to happen for a game that had its fair share of issues, but not one I can lay at the feet of other issues in game design despite my incredulousness.

Unless you mean the mere idea of doing this as a microcasum of SWSH's issues in which case actually yes i agree
 
Unless you mean the mere idea of doing this as a microcasum of SWSH's issues in which case actually yes i agree
What I saw as being really noticeable downgrades are probably stuff that would be done late in development, like the Battle Facility or updating National Dex 'mons movesets and all of the VGC balancing (Yeah I know the first year of the gen doesn't include all of the mons but still), hence Dexit.

And are we sure that this change didn't further necessitate changes elsewhere? Because you assumed that this was already in place for the Wild Area, but what if this change is what convinced the Devs to add the Wild Area? Like they had the concept for a while but didn't know how to develop it and this gave them, in their eyes, the excuse to do it and essentially had to redo a lot of the game.

And since this is the like thread, I should add I really like how they handled the league in Sword and Shield. It feels so connected to the region that other leagues, sans Alola (but those games have some issues with how it handled the Island Challenge), lacked, with some of them so disconnected that I personally felt like it even started to affect the story. (BW Unova is the biggest offender here, as all of the gyms have other purposes and are mostly random buildings, and N becoming Champion, even though it only happens for a short while, doesn't seem like it should have that big an affect on the people of Unova.)
 
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What I saw as being really noticeable downgrades are probably stuff that would be done late in development, like the Battle Facility or updating National Dex 'mons movesets and all of the VGC balancing (Yeah I know the first year of the gen doesn't include all of the mons but still), hence Dexit.

And are we sure that this change didn't further necessitate changes elsewhere? Because you assumed that this was already in place for the Wild Area, but what if this change is what convinced the Devs to add the Wild Area? Like they had the concept for a while but didn't know how to develop it and this gave them, in their eyes, the excuse to do it and essentially had to redo a lot of the game.
I absolutely do not think that Let's Go's reception lead to the Wild Area. The Wild Area is their centerpiece of Galar (almost literally, even). The pokemon appearence tweaking is one thing. It's time consuming but it is, ultiamtely, a tweak. Wild Area is a significant chunk of game design:
-pokemon camp was clearly envisioned as camping out in the wilderness to begin with
-the raid system makes no sense as just something you happen to do elsewhere
-the wild area is also the online hub where you can see other players going around and talk to them and go to their camps and swap items and so forth
-the wild area is huge and, dull & lifeless as it is, that require a lot more design work from conception to implementation in terms of map design and balancing

Additionally the wild area seemed to be their big marketing push. Everything about their post game support is through the wild area. The wild area was the big reveal for the game's first proper showing in June so it had to be in a presentable state by at least May. So far as I know, nothing about what they've said about Wild Area implies it was a last minute, 5 month push chop chop chop, thing and I truly think if that was the case there would be a lot less of it.

Meanwhile, they conspiciously never actually like..showed pokemon on the routes until e3 and that was through a tweet iirc. A lot of people just straight up didnt know pokemo nshowed on the OW outside of the Wild Area until we saw more footage later on.

If gamefreak ever comes out and says they added Wild Area after let's go happened I'll be so flabbergasted and start begging them to please for the love of god figure out a way to delay games without the whole system breaking down because that's just bad practices all around.
And since this is the like thread, I should add I really like how they handled the league in Sword and Shield. It feels so connected to the region that other leagues, sans Alola (but those games have some issues with how it handled the Island Challenge), lacked, with some of them so disconnected that I personally felt like it even started to affect the story. (BW Unova is the biggest offender here, as all of the gyms have other purposes and are mostly random buildings, and N becoming Champion, even though it only happens for a short while, doesn't seem like it should have that big an affect on the people of Unova.)
I agree, it is nice to have a league that is so connected to the region. It's a huge yearly event, there's trading cards, everyone is always talking about them, everyone has lore to them from prior years, everyone's got sponsors, the stadiums are packed, the screams bleed into the soundtrack. It's very well done and a nice change of pace!
 

Pikachu315111

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Also, Indeedees in Pokémon Centers react to whistling.
And some Wild Pokemon react to you doing Leon's Charizard Pose. It's the little things (too bad GF aren't good with the big things...). :)

Let's Go hurts double once you find out there are rematches for all the leaders and e4/champion and so many of them have to cap out on weird Pokemon like Seadra on Lance. The E4 do, at least, pick up Alolan Forms which is...something, I guess. Lance even gets a mega.
I actually sort of liked that. For rematches I think Type Specialists should have one or two Pokemon not of their specialty Type (but still try to match their theme) just to provide maybe a little more challenge.

Like in Let's Go, sure Bruno could have added a Primeape to his team, but instead he opted for an Alolan Golem which, along with his Onix, isn't weak to Flying-types but rather super effective with both of its STABs. Granted, probably would have been a better idea to give him something for Psychic, like maybe a Pinsir (who learns plenty of Fighting-type moves) which he could also Mega Evolve.

Infact I also like how Lance's team is now varied which could be a sort of allusion to his later Champion team being made more diversified (plus having a Seadra an allusion to his cousin's Clair ace, Kingdra). And oddly his Rematch team is more Dragon-based as he not only got Alolan Exeggutor but also Mega Evolves his Charizard to MCX.

*laughs in wild Rotoms*
You should see an entire camp of Rotoms.

I think it would be great if the modern games had something similar for their ways of obtaining Hidden Abilities. The one that did it the best was the DexNav in OR/AS as it allowed you to see a Pokémon's Ability before battling it, but the other games from Gen 6-8 have no such function or feature as far as I know.
Thinking about it they could have made all the Pokemon from Raid Battles have their Hidden Abilities, give us another reason to catch them if we already have a member of their species.

i think the stab (same type attack bonus) mechanic is one of the most under-appreciated aspects of mons.

but when designing the game from the ground up, this might not have been the most obvious decision. i'm glad gamefreak saw how much they could improve the game with this mechanic, and i'm glad they've kept it around while everything else changes.
I also like those little additional traits they give to Types which isn't connected to the Type Chart but just something that Type can naturally do:

Ghost can't be trapped.
Fire can't be burned.
Grass is immune to spore and powder moves.
Electric can't be paralyzed.
Ice can't be frozen.
Poison have 100% Accuracy when using Toxic.
Dark ignores the effect of Prankster.

Well, maybe those last two are more effected added to the Move/Ability that is affected but you get my point. I just wish they would really dive in with this idea and give more Types such traits (and maybe some more to Types already with one if they need it, like Grass-types which I think should heal a little bit of HP if its raining or sunny weather).

but honestly i have no idea how someone is supposed to get hit by the carkol unless you are actively backtracking. I didn't even know there was a carkol there until later, i just throught it was timed scenery of an actual coal kart that rockets off as you approach.
Yeah, that always confused me too. Like, shouldn't they program it to either spawn after you're like, behind you after you walked a few feet on the track or it's coming towards you? Have it spawn at a point where you have enough time to see & react and dodge out of the way or else you enter a battle with a probably over-leveled Pokemon. That would have made it a more memorable feature of the first mine, you'll have players asking each other whether they managed to dodge or get hit by the Carkoal the first time they went through the Galar Mine.

I am going to make the assumption that this concept was already in place in the Wild Area because for all the issues I have with the Wild Area I cannot imagine it without the roaming pokemon.
No way the Wild Area was made without roaming Pokemon. I think that quote from GF could maybe be in how they added roaming Pokemon onto the routes because, if I recall from early sceenshots and videos, they don't ever show roaming Pokemon on the routes because it was the major feature of the Wild Area. It would also explain why they were able to do it quickly, just pluck the roaming Pokemon data from the Wild Area and implant it onto routes, obviously tweaking which Pokemon appears on it.

Thrillingly this meant that the games Eevee was native to didn't allow for two of its evolutions and required that it be traded and leveled up in a different game locked behind a postgame sidequest. Dubious design decisions aren't exactly new to this series, at least.
And that's why your Starters in Colosseum was an Espeon and Umbreon plus in XD they made special evo stones for your Eevee to evolve into one. ;)

What I saw as being really noticeable downgrades are probably stuff that would be done late in development, like the Battle Facility or updating National Dex 'mons movesets and all of the VGC balancing (Yeah I know the first year of the gen doesn't include all of the mons but still), hence Dexit.
I don't think Dexit has anything to do with them implementing roaming Pokemon because they have so many Pokemon that don't roam.

It feels so connected to the region that other leagues, sans Alola (but those games have some issues with how it handled the Island Challenge), lacked, with some of them so disconnected that I personally felt like it even started to affect the story. (BW Unova is the biggest offender here, as all of the gyms have other purposes and are mostly random buildings, and N becoming Champion, even though it only happens for a short while, doesn't seem like it should have that big an affect on the people of Unova.)
I get what you mean though I also think Galar being one region where the Pokemon League is such a huge thing is a bit of a unique trait I don't think all the other games needed. If we were to compare the Pokemon League to Soccer/Associated Football, well S/AF is HUGE in countries like the UK where games sell out stadium. However in other countries, say like the US and Japan, S/AF isn't as huge so less focus is put upon it except for those who are dedicated to it. In Galar, the Pokemon League is THE sporting event (possibly in part from Gigantamax making it more of a spectacle) to where to even compete in the Champion Cup a trainer needs to get a sponsorship (which is only a background detail since we never actually see this. The player and Hop gets a free one from the Champion, Bede from Rose, and Marnie from Piers; all from personal connections). But in regions like Kanto, Unova, and Kalos where battles are relatively normal only those who are interested in battling would pay attention to the Pokemon League. It could also be why in Galar it feels like the Gym Leader's job is to be a Gym Leader while other regions it's more the Gym Leader is a side job (the Gym also being used to serve a secondary purpose, which is something I like seeing so I guess I have a bit of a bias). Heck in Alola the Island Challenge, while an important ceremony tradition and treated as such, isn't in the large scheme of things that important to those not involved and we're even told as such as the volunteers helping with the Island Challenge said they aren't getting paid (plus some other hints that the Island Challenge isn't that well funded); it's a wonder where Kakui got finding to even make a Pokemon League unless this is Alola's attempt to try and attract more attention (and thus more revenue).

Kind of makes me want next gen to actually have the Pokemon League be an underground thing, TBH. Like maybe have something else be the "major" thing of that region where a lot of people's focus are while the Pokemon League is a small organization who can't really afford to rent out building just dedicated to Pokemon battling but is a workplace first (maybe even have battles take place outside in an open field because there's no place to battle inside or don't want to cause property damage). Have the player character really start from the ground floor yet not only rise up through this underground activity but even show the region this is an activity they should be paying more attention to.

So, not so this is just a response post, with a new gen comes a new Honest Trailer!
... Well, now watching it really not that positive. Maybe something to discuss in the Unpopular Opinion/Things That Annoys Me thread. But don't worry, there's actually quite a few other things to really like, but I'll have to wait till next post for that. ;)
 
I also like those little additional traits they give to Types which isn't connected to the Type Chart but just something that Type can naturally do:

Ghost can't be trapped.
Fire can't be burned.
Grass is immune to spore and powder moves.
Electric can't be paralyzed.
Ice can't be frozen.
Poison have 100% Accuracy when using Toxic.
Dark ignores the effect of Prankster.

Well, maybe those last two are more effected added to the Move/Ability that is affected but you get my point. I just wish they would really dive in with this idea and give more Types such traits (and maybe some more to Types already with one if they need it, like Grass-types which I think should heal a little bit of HP if its raining or sunny weather).
Another one is that Flying-type Pokémon are considered non-grounded.
 
Now this is admittedly a question mark right now but if Urshifu and Calyrex are Gen 8's Mythicals then the two Expansion Passes are by a titanic margin the most effort that has put into Mythical lore/story role not just in recent memory, but probably ever, which would be greatly appreciated after how barebones recent ones have been.
Then again you're being asked to pay $30 for them, so...

But this does seem to suggest that Game Freak have no plans to put out another Pokemon game/set of games in November. At the very least we're probably not going to see another Ultra Sun/Ultra Moon.
 
Now this is admittedly a question mark right now but if Urshifu and Calyrex are Gen 8's Mythicals then the two Expansion Passes are by a titanic margin the most effort that has put into Mythical lore/story role not just in recent memory, but probably ever, which would be greatly appreciated after how barebones recent ones have been.
They are referred to as Legendary not Mythical which while arbitrary is their official marketing distinction. Currently gen 8 just has no known mythic
 

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They are referred to as Legendary not Mythical which while arbitrary is their official marketing distinction. Currently gen 8 just has no known mythic
That's a plus in itself: Assuming none are announced this means no mythicals this gen, which is good because they are fucking stupid and I hate how they're handled
 
They are referred to as Legendary not Mythical which while arbitrary is their official marketing distinction. Currently gen 8 just has no known mythic
It would tecnically be up to debate if Meltan/Melmetal are gen 7 or gen 8 Mythicals though.

...If they even end up counting as Mythicals instead of Legendaries.
 
It would tecnically be up to debate if Meltan/Melmetal are gen 7 or gen 8 Mythicals though.

...If they even end up counting as Mythicals instead of Legendaries.
I think they are firmly gen 7. SWSH is the defining start of gen 8 and Meltan was introduced for thw sunsetting gen 7. Let's Go is absolutely Gen 7, Meltan was introduced alongside its marketing cycle and obataining more in Go to send to Lets Go is a circuitous affair. People puttinf it in gen 8 seem more hung up on lets go being a switch title imo
 

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Less then 10 pages back (or nearly 8 months ago if you prefer) I had posted interesting articles from a site called Lava Cut Content.

My first post linked to an article about the famous magazine cover that depicted beta Tyranitar before GS's release, two articles about designing the Gen V Pokemon, and an article about the leaked Gen I prototype back sprites.
My second post linked to the third article about designing the Gen V Pokemon.
Finally my third post directly below it linked to an article describing the creation of the human characters for Gen V (plus an articel from Kotaku about the Type of Gym some GF staff members would have, but that's beside the point).

Well, Dr. Lava had been certainly busy as since then he had posted 6 more articles, including the final article about designing the Gen V Pokemon and a third major sprite leak:

Sugimori: Hundreds of Pokemon Created for Gen 2
Just a fun & interesting read. What I liked most about it was hearing what was the most difficult part about developing Gold & Silver and seeing the varying responses. Nothing really mind blowing or revealing otherwise.


Gorochu: Developer Translations and the 2019 Leak
Another article that's a fun & interesting read. However there is something that stood out to me about it: the Masuda quote (because what else?). Notably the part about how a Pokemon who's design was scrapped has never been brought back. But as Dr. Lava helpfully brought up, there have been but with different designs and names. Not only that but there have been other Pokemon which had similarities to scrapped Pokemon. So there's two options here, maybe three:
  1. Masuda is telling the truth. The Pokemon who were seemingly brought back or similar designs is just coincidence. Sure, for GS they had an idea for a Grass-type Eeveelution and evos for Tangela & Lickitung, but when they made those Pokemon for Gen IV they were from scratch taking no basis from the scrapped designs.
  2. Masuda is lying. You read his quote and you can tell he's trying to build-up GameFreak as these genius monster and world creators and they don't need to recycle ideas... except they have. Shellos was designed for Gen III, decided to hold off including it, but then added it in Gen IV. So, what's that about? This leads me to the possible third option:
  3. Masuda is telling the turth... as far as he knows. How can Masuda guarantee a designer didn't look at an old design, liked it, and made it into something new? With what we know about Masuda's directing I can easily imagine things slipping past him.
Besides, as Dr. Lava also wrote, saying they aren't going to re-use scrapped Pokemon designs because it doesn't fit any of the environments they've made is complete BS. Plenty of Pokemon feel they're just placed in a location without much or simple reasons. Masuda just sounds like a snob in this regard, and/or GF gives themselves too much credit if the other higher GF staff agrees with him.

As if we'll ever see Gorochu again... probably not if only because Pichu now makes the Pikachu family a 3-stage. And despite having both Mega Evolutions and Gigantamax they never gave Raichu either one so, even if it does get one in the future, they showed they have no interest in making it look like Gorochu.


Masuda and Sugimori Explain Gen 5's Development
Just want to note that Sugimori spoke just 4 times in this entire interview, compared to Masuda's 14 times.

Sugimori said one reason for BW having all new Pokemon was so that they could make it different from Gen IV. He also seemingly confirmed that a lot of Gen V Pokemon are expies as doing this allowed them to go back to animals they've already done and put a new twist on them.

It's mentioned Masuda for BW really wanted to draw in the adult fans, many who he considered as "lapse" players as they may not have played all previous generations since the one they started on. He purposely mentioned writing a deeper story, using online features to make communicating easier, and focus on the designs being "cool". Reading this makes me wonder if we could use this to maybe find points in future generations where they shifted their opinion. Because looking at SwSh it's a complete opposite of what they did in BW to make it interesting for adults: simple story, online futures have been made harder to communicate with other players, and the designs feel they lean on the softer side.

Each generation has hundreds of designs submitted by the designers (and maybe other staff members who think they got a great idea for a Pokemon) who Sugimori meet individually and discuss revisions. If the revisions work out, and the Pokemon fits the needs of the game like being a certain Type, Sugimori than draws official art for it. For BW specifically they had three times the submitted Pokemon which means there was around 400-500 submitted Pokemon designs! And with that said it convinces me even more Masuda was lying in the above article about not recycling scrapped Pokemon. It sounds like you have THOUSANDS of unused designs and not once did they ever go back to re-use one (not to mention the examples of ones which were apparently re-used)?

Nintendo Power: And you don't ever think, "let's make our lives easier by cutting the least popular Pokemon out of the franchise"?
Masuda:
"(Laughs) I think one of the joys of Pokemon is being able to use your favorite Pokemon from the Blue and Red Versions all the way through to the newest iterations. So no, I don't think we can do that."
Just gonna leave this here without commenting on it (and no, the Expansions bringing back a batch of Pokemon I don't feel changes anything). Just as a beautiful reminder to never trust what Masuda said. I'm beginning to think he's a pathological liar.

What would a side-scrolling Pokemon game even be about? Maybe they should make a Drill Dozer 2 instead, or Pulseman 2.


Gen 5 Historia: Pokemon Origin Stories (Part 4)
Axew Family:
  • Haxorus was possibly was the earliest Unova Pokemon created, made during Platinum's development.
  • Haxorus was made by new hire at the time, Mana Ibe, who was told to design a cool, dinosaur-like Pokemon. Sugimori wasn't sure if it was Pokemon-like since it was designed by a newbie, but then decided that could be what makes it a cool Pokemon so approved it.
  • Axew and Fraxure were reverse-engineered from Haxorus, purposely making the difference between Fraxure and Haxorus drastic.
Tympole Family:
  • Started out with Seismitoad and worked backwards to design Tympole and Palpitoad.
  • Based on a Japanese common toad, wanted it to follow a more traditional frog-like evolution to make it different from the Poliwag family.
Klink Family:
  • Klink was made for a specific request for an inorganic Pokemon.
  • Sugimori came up with idea for Klink and says it falls under his favorite (design?) category: Pokemon with good faces. As the gear turns the face changes. (My Comment: So if what Sugimori says its true, then the Klink family doesn't really have a face as what are eyes and what is the mouth changes as it turns)
Rufflet Family:
  • Was created early in development to incorporate the game's New York (and America) setting. The designers also been wanting to make a bird of prey Pokemon for a long time, so it finally came together in a bald eagle Pokemon.
  • At the time they weren't thinking about it being a gender counterpart.
  • While the Native American feather decorations was obvious, another Native American aspect to the design was emphasizing the eagle's strong legs as shown in Native American art.
Vullaby Family:
  • Was created in the later half of development when an order for a Dark-type came.
  • There was already a lot of bird Pokemon but were approved despite that, possibly because they decided to make it a counterpart to the Rufflet family.
  • As some have previously observed, Vullaby's diaper in a skull cranium and Mandibuzz's dress is a jaw bone with teeth. When Mandibuzz sits on Vullaby's Egg (which in inside the cranium), it looks like an upside-down skull.
Pawniard Family:
  • Was made for a specific request for a urban city dwelling Steel/Dark-type.
  • Sugimori thought of something artificial and told the designers "is covered with sharp objects, and hunts anybody who gets close". They came up with a samurai-like Pokemon.
  • They added the sharp blades on their stomach based on some concept art showing Bisharp ordering Pawniard to jump onto and stabbing an enemy.
  • Their design is also slightly insect-like.
Yamask Family:
  • Due to being based on stuff that's "scary" they wanted to design them with a certain charm. Remember, a main Pokemon design philosophy is looking at any Pokemon and thinking you can become friends with it.
  • They thought Yamask's blank facial expression was its charming feature, but apparently it didn't completely work as it still scared some younger players.


Pokemon Beta Leaker Explains Nintendo Hack
So there was a major leak of Gen IV beta sprites recently which I'll go into below, but I thought this article (that was posted afterwards) would be better looked at next. You remember the leaks of the Spaceworld GS Demo and of the Gen I prototype back sprites? Apparently those two and this newest leak were part of one big leak when someone hacked into Nintendo's internal network. You can read the article yourself for all the details, including an interview Dr. Lava had with the leaker. However I think one last important thing to note is that there's no more prototype sprites, it's one reason why the leaker is coming forward as they have no more to show*.

* Well, apparently they do have beta sprites for some Shiny Pokemon but they first need to "fix" their colors (their sprites were stored differently so the ripping tool they used didn't extract them right). Another interesting fact is that the reason we don't have the front sprites for the Gen I prototypes is because Game Freak developed a newer, more efficient method to store front sprites that the hacking tool couldn't get around.


Gen 4 Leak: Hundreds of Gendered Beta Sprites
So, first leak was probably the biggest, the Spaceworld GS Demo. Second leak was the back sprites of the Gen I prototype Pokemon, maybe not as revealing but still exciting. And now we have the final leak which doesn't reveal any "lost" Pokemon; at least not in the same way the previous two leaks had.

The story actually begins in CoroCoro's July 2006 issue where, during a pre-release Diamond & Pearl interview, GF had said most male and female Pokemon will now be visibly distinguishable. It was further explained female Pokemon would have smaller, reduced, or lacking physical features to their male counterparts. Jump to the release of DP, while a significant amount of Pokemon got gender differences it was a short shot from "most" Pokemon the interview proclaimed.

Now it could be assumed the idea only went so far before it was cut short, but turns out this wasn't the case. The third major leak has revealed GF had indeed made gender differences for almost all Pokemon, and some of them are pretty wild. Heck, even some Pokemon that kept their gender differences may have had a more accentuated gender difference in these beta sprites. Here are some of the notable ones:
  • Female Pikachu's heart-tip tail was more obvious & its ears was slanted downwards instead of sticking up.
  • Female Raichu's tails oddly weren't touched, instead their ears are a more simple "water drop" shape compared to the normal "crescent" shape.
  • Female Charizards had ONLY ONE HORN instead of two.
  • Female Psyduck's hair was made into a heart shape.
  • Female Eeveelutions all had shorter ears.

  • Female Wobbuffet not only had lipstick but their head "flab" was longer making it look like the female had long hair.
  • Male Chimecho's ribbon tail was colored yellow instead of red.
There was also other interesting details like Pokemon in different poses (the Lugia sprite is particularly notable for that) and a Shiny Weavile that was black instead of pink.

Now, you're probably wondering where can you see all these sprites (aside from the ones that Dr. Lava posted in these articles and on his Twitter)? Well, sadly, the original page that hosted all the images have since been removed. However many people saw that coming so saved all the sprites and uploaded the files in various places. They shouldn't be hard to find, but to save you some trouble here's a link from Pokemon's Reddit. Don't worry, the file is clean... I kind of accidentally downloaded it thinking the link was taking me to a web page (yes, I know, I should know better).


And that's pretty much it for right not. But if you have a free day I would also suggest checking out Dr. Lava's Twitter where he has posted more interesting Pokemon cut content trivia. Also check out his Youtube channel where he put his articles into video form.
 
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Even though I started playing Pokemon since Blue version, I actually play Crystal a lot. I just had the feeling that with so many hand-holding in the recent games, I miss the times where you just randomly explore and got a nice surprise. For example, in Crystal, I explored Union Cave and was pleasantly surprised to find a Lapras at the end of one branch and 2 Unown Puzzles. This is without the game stopping you every few seconds to tell you stuff so it feels more rewarding (I think only one or two trainers in the cave tells you to explore the cave on Fridays).

Similarly, I just explored Whirl Islands and Mt Mortar on a whim and found Lugia and the Fighting Master there. The sense of adventure back then cannot be experienced now because either the game handholds you everywhere or the Internet already told you everything about the games. Imagine you are a kid playing Gen 2 and found Red inside Mt. Silver. That memory holds a special place in my heart. If it exists now, the feeling would have been ruined thanks to spoilers.
 

Yung Dramps

awesome gaming
As shaky as its competitive legacy is, I fully stand by the opinion that Dynamax/Gigantamax was handled much better in SWSH's main story than Mega Evolution ever was in any of the games that featured it. From that perspective they pretty much fixed every issue Mega Evolving caused in-game:

-Due to how the mechanic works and how any Pokemon can use it, major trainers start Dynamaxing right at the first gym and Gigantamaxing at gym 3 and beyond. Compare this to all the games with Mega Evolution, where only a handful of trainers use the mechanic, and usually only in the late stages of the adventure due to its stat boosts and being intended for fully evolved Pokemon.

-Since it's only accessible in specific locations, the issue Mega Evolutions like Lucario in XY and the Latis in ORAS had where they could just lay waste to pretty much every minor trainer is gone. No cheesing of that sort can be done with Dynamaxing since the only guys you can use it against can also Dynamax themselves. A general lack of OP gift Pokemon this time around also helps quite a bit.

-Just better incorporation into the plot in general. Even in XY Mega Evolution only really had a tangential relationship to the Xerneas/Yveltal stuff. Meanwhile in SWSH, Dynamaxing is totally baked in to stuff like Legendary role and the spectacle-based sports culture of the Galar region.

-Since a fair amount of Gigantamaxes are given to Galar originals, they can still be used as important trainer aces while showing off the mechanic, something which wasn't possible in XY due to all the Mega Evolutions except for Diancie being for old Pokemon.
 
As shaky as its competitive legacy is, I fully stand by the opinion that Dynamax/Gigantamax was handled much better in SWSH's main story than Mega Evolution ever was in any of the games that featured it. From that perspective they pretty much fixed every issue Mega Evolving caused in-game:

-Due to how the mechanic works and how any Pokemon can use it, major trainers start Dynamaxing right at the first gym and Gigantamaxing at gym 3 and beyond. Compare this to all the games with Mega Evolution, where only a handful of trainers use the mechanic, and usually only in the late stages of the adventure due to its stat boosts and being intended for fully evolved Pokemon.

-Since it's only accessible in specific locations, the issue Mega Evolutions like Lucario in XY and the Latis in ORAS had where they could just lay waste to pretty much every minor trainer is gone. No cheesing of that sort can be done with Dynamaxing since the only guys you can use it against can also Dynamax themselves. A general lack of OP gift Pokemon this time around also helps quite a bit.

-Just better incorporation into the plot in general. Even in XY Mega Evolution only really had a tangential relationship to the Xerneas/Yveltal stuff. Meanwhile in SWSH, Dynamaxing is totally baked in to stuff like Legendary role and the spectacle-based sports culture of the Galar region.

-Since a fair amount of Gigantamaxes are given to Galar originals, they can still be used as important trainer aces while showing off the mechanic, something which wasn't possible in XY due to all the Mega Evolutions except for Diancie being for old Pokemon.
Those are all good points, but there's a factor of Dynamaxing that's portrayed in-game that I dislike: How reserved it is. A major reason why Dynamax got banned is because there is no opportunity cost, so any Pokemon can use it at any time. It creates uncomfortable 50s because you can just Dynamax situation demands it, and the increased bulk, makes it hard to revenge kill you.

But the game NEVER has any of that. Its always reserved for the signature Pokemon, which is usually the last, making it so predictable. Nessa's Drednaw is the last Pokemon and hasn't Dynamaxed? Send in your Grass Type anyway, it can hit it with a Quad weakness attack. It really belies why Dynamaxing is so cancerous, so I find it annoying that a casual player would have a hard time understanding why Dynamax is busted.
 

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