Unpopular opinions

[Samtendo09]

Here's something that I really felt is an unpopular opinion.

There is the fact that Pokémon that are purely single-staged (no pre-evos and no evos), aside of Legendary Pokémon or those in similar categories, undermine the "Evolving" point of the Pokémon.

Now, at first, this is not so bad by itself. It is obvious that not everything needs an evolution (or already reached a third stage of an evolution line)... until you realizes that a pre-evo can benefit as much when executed well. And there is also the fact that there are Pokémon that are weak single-stage and yet still cannot evolve, regardless of their excuse (so no, having a gimmick does not excuse Castform to be weak or unable to evolve).

The Pika-Clones misses one point that Pikachu have; an actual Evolution. While Raichu isn't the best for competitive (at least in Smogon), it does at least perform its job much better than Pikachu, who had to rely on Light Orb to be even viable. Having an actual evolution will give the Pika-Clones at least more viable in casual. Togedemaru, Morpeko and to an extent Pachirisu could work fine, but on there are still stronger Electric-type to consider. Had they had an actual, workable evolution (and avoid the same pitfalls of Raichu's), then maybe they could be a little more memorable.

While Farfetch'd, Smeargle and Dunsparce (with Mawile and Sableye, though its largely thanks to the Mega Evolution they have) got great fan reception despite their severe weaknesses, other weak single-staged Pokémon ended up being forgettable at best. While those have their own fans, they also get accused to be PokéDex fillers. Zangoose and Seviper are borderlines, as while not exactly useless, there are better options that are more consistent such as Snorlax and Drapion, respectively. There's a part of reason why Sirfetch'd and Cursola are well received, in that it was to make sure the Galarian Farfetch'd and Galarian Corsola aren't completely deadweight (though Cursola benefited Galarian Corsola in a way how Blissey's remaining existence benefited Chansey thanks to Eviolite).

(Although Smeargle's evo had to be done carefully, or at least have an handicap Ability to counterbalance so many moves it can learn via Sketch.)

Likewise, single-staged strong Pokémon do fare better, but could benefit a more common pre-evolution to be easier to obtain. Granted, it can result an extra step for Breeding via having to evolve it, but not everyone are into Breeding to begin with. And not for Pokémon which the fully evolved form is already weak or otherwise unviable (though that don't apply for Clefable, which still works fine and certainly don't need an Evolution even if Cleffa didn't exist). This is one of the reason why Pichu and Igglybuff are lambasted; they are pre-evolution to already weak Pokémon and stripe away any chance of a further evolution.

Now, stuff like Bonsly and Mime Jr. are okay since their respective evolution can still evolve does to being now stage-two, if Mr. Rime via Galarian Mr. Mime is anything to go by)... in which Mime Jr. can evolve into in Galar region. The fact some artists are making baby Pokémon to a two-staged Pokémon that is already weak (i.e. Parasect and Persian) is quite a pet peeve, all it ends up is striping away their potential chance of an evolution (in fangames anyways). Whether that happens, a Mega Evolution become a good excuse for them.

As much as Regional Evolutions are exclusive to the regional variants, those are still league better idea than just giving Regional Forms to weak Pokémon that don't normally evolve. A cross-gen evolution (regional evo or not) is generally the best solution for weak single staged Pokémon, as actual evolutions don't need mix-maxing or borked Abilities to actually work, provided that you are also careful with stat distribution as a whole.

Thanks to the existence of Regional Evolutions, I am quite happy to see what weak single-staged Pokémon could obtain a new Regional Evolution next. I don't know if genuine cross-gen evolutions will return, but time will tell.

Still... if you are weak single-staged Pokémon, expect to be quickly forgotten or even completely lambasted. And it never for strong single-staged Pokémon to get new pre-evos to expend on Little Cup.

 

[Pikachu315111]

Still... if you are weak single-staged Pokémon, expect to be quickly forgotten or even completely lambasted. And it never for strong single-staged Pokémon to get new pre-evos to expend on Little Cup.

Just like we have the Eviolite for not fully evolved Pokemon, we need a similar item for Pokemon without an evolution family (call it Moniolite, if the Pokemon isn't part of an evolution family nor a Legendary/Mythical its three highest stats increase by 20%; won't fix everything but I think might help a good chunk of them).

 

[Kurona]

Just like we have the Eviolite for not fully evolved Pokemon, we need a similar item for Pokemon without an evolution family (call it Moniolite, if the Pokemon isn't part of an evolution family nor a Legendary/Mythical its three highest stats increase by 20%; won't fix everything but I think might help a good chunk of them).

I'm thinking of Zangoose, Lapras and Absol right now and getting very scared very quickly.


Fact of the matter is pretty much all the criticisms being raised here are just as applicable to a ton of two-stage or three-stage Pokémon. Seviper and Drampa might not stand out to you as particularly powerful; but is it any more the case than with Walrein or Aromatisse? You might not figure Relicanth or Carnivine to be that memorable, but when was the last time you found yourself thinking about Poliwrath or Helioptile?

 

[Pikachu315111]

I'm thinking of Zangoose, Lapras and Absol right now and getting very scared very quickly.

Fact of the matter is pretty much all the criticisms being raised here are just as applicable to a ton of two-stage or three-stage Pokémon. Seviper and Drampa might not stand out to you as particularly powerful; but is it any more the case than with Walrein or Aromatisse? You might not figure Relicanth or Carnivine to be that memorable, but when was the last time you found yourself thinking about Poliwrath or Helioptile?

Well with Lapras forgot to mention it wouldn't increase the HP stat, but yeah, I can see how it may make some mono-stage Pokemon a bit OP (I made it 20% thinking that wouldn't overstep Life Orb, but guess other stats also getting an increase may negate that negative effect). Oh well, there goes that idea.

Well, at least for the Pokemon to mentioned, maybe just some stat adjustments (and maybe helpful Abilities) could help. Zangoose could use some more defense and HP (and Tough Claws), Lapras some more Special Attack (and Swift Swim), Absol some more Speed, increase both of Walrein's offense stats and lower its Speed, and Aromatisse just needs a tad more in the defense stats and Special Attack. These Pokemon mentioned don't need a major re-haul honestly, just a bit of a shove in the right places.

Of course, even with that all done probably wouldn't help them outperform the Pokemon that are super specialized or has so much extra BST. What these Pokemon really needs is an evolution or a Mega Evolution, though with how GF is nowadays the best they may get is now a Regional Evolution.

 

[Yung Dramps]

Purrloin's standing pose from XY onward is cute as fuck and I don't understand the hate for it.

 

[Mova]

The hate for that pose probably comes from the BW anime using that pose at least once and the fact that it became canon to the games.

 

[Kurona]

The hate for that pose probably comes from the BW anime using that pose at least once and the fact that it became canon to the games.

I didn't even know that! I just hate it because it strikes fear deep into my heart

 

[CPU]

 

[Bygone Days]

Unpopular opinion:
I actually would play the new games if they would have the old sprites from adv/dpp/bw instead of the animated models. Somehow for me the sprites looked more lively than the xy-onward models.

 

[Sonikku A]

Something I noticed....the anime did a lot of negative things for Pokemon designs, and modern GF uses that as a basis after Gen 3 instead of the original designs, bar Pikachu
Like Charmander losing his back spikes, having a ballooned head, and shorter face. Or many Gen 1 mons going from 4 to 3 fingers/toes (poor Poliwhirl lost every but his thumb)

Pikachu on the other hand seems to weirdly be in a state of game devs wanting to make him skinny, or Ken making him stupidly plush head based, despite Pichu already being that. Heck it's so inconsistent, even the same game or year multiple art can differ for him

These are all from 2004-2005. 2 from Mystery Dungeon Blue Rescue Team, 1 the Pokemon Channel/Dash design, and the scrapped Poke Park art based on the anime

 

[Detective Barricade]

Something I noticed....the anime did a lot of negative things for Pokemon designs, and modern GF uses that as a basis after Gen 3 instead of the original designs, bar Pikachu
Like Charmander losing his back spikes, having a ballooned head, and shorter face. Or many Gen 1 mons going from 4 to 3 fingers/toes (poor Poliwhirl lost every but his thumb)

Pikachu on the other hand seems to weirdly be in a state of game devs wanting to make him skinny, or Ken making him stupidly plush head based, despite Pichu already being that. Heck it's so inconsistent, even the same game or year multiple art can differ for him

These are all from 2004-2005. 2 from Mystery Dungeon Blue Rescue Team, 1 the Pokemon Channel/Dash design, and the scrapped Poke Park art based on the anime

They've been trying to anthropomorphize Pikachu more. (i.e. a more distinct separation between its head and body, slightly longer limbs) It being the franchise's mascot, it helps for merchandise if Pikachu's body is designed to be more expressive, not unlike the final evolution of the starters these days. thus going on a diet and who gives a crap about Pichu or even Raichu for that matter

 

[Rarycaris]

I enjoyed LGPE a lot more than Sword/Shield. While this might have been me going in with lower expectations, they felt more complete to me and more like they had a cohesive identity.

I liked SwSh during the first playthrough, but I've really soured on them since. I think I was just glad to see the back of gen 7, which only lasted three years but still vastly overstayed its welcome.

 

[Samtendo09]

Personally, I think Fairy-type had been too open of what it is supposed to be. While intended to be Fairy and similar magical faes, it went as far as the list I got in here.

• Based on actual fairies or actual fae creatures, as well as fairy tales. Stuff like Mawile, Hatenna line, Impidimp the Tapus and Cottonee line fit right in.
• And then we have cuddly cute Pokémon like the Azuril line, Snubbull line, Dedenne, and Sylveon. There's also Charm and Baby Doll Eyes (Round Eyes in Japan), though it fit into deceptive cuteness.
• And then we have those who don't really fit all that much, such as Morelull line (does play the fairy tale bit, but it's less obvious than others), Flabébé line + Comfey, Zacian, and the most glaring example of them, Galarian Weezing. There's also the food-based Swirlix line and Alcremie.
• Let's not forget about Light of Ruin, Play Rough, Decorate, Sweet Kiss, and the Z-Moves Twinkle Tackle and Let's Snuggle Forever doesn't really feels like genuinely fae-like, or at not those who are cute but in a not-overbearing way.
• There's also the misconception that Fairy is the canon Light-type. As much as Light itself would face serious redundancy and works better as a "base" like Sound (does to Psychic having too many light-based properties and Steel involves flashes for Special Moves), that misconception is ridiculous at worst. Fairy is more similar but different to Dark-type; messed up, but for different reasons, and is a direct counterpart to Dragon.

tl;dr Fairy is inconsistent does to shifting between actual faes and fairy tales, and then cuteness and other not-so-related stuff too many times.

 

[Sonikku A]

Fairy being super effective on fighting is dumb. And yeah, it's not light
Also stupidly making 90% pink mons fairy was very lazy

 

[Kurona]

In all fairness, that's not too dissimilar from other types that aren't an explicit element. Dark-types can go directly off of the Japanese name of 'evil' to being just a bit emo or punk to being something like Scraggy or Inkay. Ghost-types can be poltergeists or gas or golems; Dragons range from mythical beasts of old to being applied to T-rexes and seahorses... Pokémon types just kind of are broad, and I actually do like that inconsistency as it allows it to draw on a lot of different myths and not feel tied down to one or two particular definitions.

 

[Samtendo09]

In all fairness, that's not too dissimilar from other types that aren't an explicit element. Dark-types can go directly off of the Japanese name of 'evil' to being just a bit emo or punk to being something like Scraggy or Inkay. Ghost-types can be poltergeists or gas or golems; Dragons range from mythical beasts of old to being applied to T-rexes and seahorses... Pokémon types just kind of are broad, and I actually do like that inconsistency as it allows it to draw on a lot of different myths and not feel tied down to one or two particular definitions.

While it's a good point, I don't think any other Type went as broad as I felt Fairy was. Then again, it is just me.

Fairy being super effective on fighting is dumb. And yeah, it's not light
Also stupidly making 90% pink mons fairy was very lazy

I think that's the same to be said with Electric-type, Fire-type, Grass-type, Water-type, and some other elemental-based Types. Unless you refer "old Pink Pokémon getting the Fairy-type".

 

[Pikachu315111]

Personally, I think Fairy-type had been too open of what it is supposed to be. While intended to be Fairy and similar magical faes, it went as far as the list I got in here.

• Based on actual fairies or actual fae creatures, as well as fairy tales. Stuff like Mawile, Hatenna line, Impidimp the Tapus and Cottonee line fit right in.
• And then we have cuddly cute Pokémon like the Azuril line, Snubbull line, Dedenne, and Sylveon. There's also Charm and Baby Doll Eyes (Round Eyes in Japan), though it fit into deceptive cuteness.
• And then we have those who don't really fit all that much, such as Morelull line (does play the fairy tale bit, but it's less obvious than others), Flabébé line + Comfey, Zacian, and the most glaring example of them, Galarian Weezing. There's also the food-based Swirlix line and Alcremie.
• Let's not forget about Light of Ruin, Play Rough, Decorate, Sweet Kiss, and the Z-Moves Twinkle Tackle and Let's Snuggle Forever doesn't really feels like genuinely fae-like, or at not those who are cute but in a not-overbearing way.
• There's also the misconception that Fairy is the canon Light-type. As much as Light itself would face serious redundancy and works better as a "base" like Sound (does to Psychic having too many light-based properties and Steel involves flashes for Special Moves), that misconception is ridiculous at worst. Fairy is more similar but different to Dark-type; messed up, but for different reasons, and is a direct counterpart to Dragon.

tl;dr Fairy is inconsistent does to shifting between actual faes and fairy tales, and then cuteness and other not-so-related stuff too many times.

I can try clearing some of those:

• The Marill family is an odd case. For one thing before the Fairy-type was introduced it was part of the Fairy Egg Group, so GF already had a Fairy connection in mind for it. As for what, well the most likely could be because Azumarill is based on a rabbit. In Japan there's the legend of the moon rabbit, and the moon has been associated with the Fairy-type (a connection formed likely due to the concept of the "witching hour").
• Snubbull is based on the Cu-sith, "Fairy Dogs" of Celtic Mythology.
• Dedenne is a stretch but could have its Fairy-typing due to the French version of the Tooth Fairy being a mouse. It's mischievous behavior of stealing electricity could also link it to a gremlin; making it a gremlin gerbil.
• Sylveon is a combination of fairy things (including another Moon Rabbit reference). It's name also refer to Fairy creatures in many languages.
• Morelull family is based on the phenomenon known as a "fairy ring", for some reason sometimes a group of mushrooms will grow in ring shape and folklore says fairy use these rings as a portal between our and the fey worlds.
• Flabebe family & Comfey play on many fairies being nature spirits and take care of plantlife (especially flowers) and can make them grow. Fairies are also shown being knowledgeable how to use plants to make medicine.
• Galarian Weezing you're right as it has no actual fey connections but rather an in-game reason why adapting the abilities of a Fairy-type would be beneficial for it. With Galar having been so polluted at some point in its past whatever prey the Weezing hunted became scarce; however said all pollution is what makes Galar a prime place to live for them. Not wanting to move or starve, the Weezing started to eat the pollution itself... with complications. It worked, they could digest the toxins just fine, but they became really bloated from all that extra air and water vapor they also had to consume. To survive the Weezings needed a way to filter the toxins out of air and then spew out the clean air, and the Type which had the power to do this filtering was the Fairy-type (plus growing smoke stacks on the top of its head). It makes an odd sense which makes Galarian Weezing a pretty unique fairy creature concept.
• Swirlix family is a pun on the food they're based on: cotton candy is also called "fairy floss".
• Milcery family... you got me. It's a Pokemon made of cream and later whipped cream, I never imagined a Pokemon being based on that would exist in the first place let alone think what Type it would be. Both their names have to do with something mystical, Milcery having "sorcery" and Alcremie having "alchemy", so GF see something magical with with it we don't. This also goes for Decorate which is their Signature Move.
• Charm, Baby-Doll Eyes, & Sweet Kiss can be seen as deceitful & manipulative moves, the Pokemon using its cute appearance to trick the target into letting their guard down. Same with Play Rough, Twinkle Tackle, & Let's Snuggle Forever but once their guard is down the user then attacks.
• Light of Ruin draws in life energy similar to that Xerneas makes (thus the Fairy connection) and turns it into a beam of raw power.
• The light misconception could come from the moon relation, the moon being a reflector of light. But you are right that Fairy isn't the "light" type, it just has move which are "light" based but so do other moves; I also think "light" does make for a better move trait such as "sound".

Fairy being super effective on fighting is dumb. And yeah, it's not light

This could be to sort of balance out/explain why Dark-types are weak to Fighting. Both Dark and Fairy are tricksters and employ tricking tactics into their fighting styles, theoretically. Being Fighting-types are close-up combatants they'll the most effected by these fighting styles but due to the disciplines they follow are affected in different ways. Dark-types trickery is more distraction-based and sleight-of-hand, something a Fighting-type can look past as a fighting discipline is "focus". Fairy-types trickery however is more with playing with their opponent, using their mystical abilities to more easily dodge or soften blows and frustrating their opponents making them lose concentration.

 

[Ironmage]

My big issue with the usage of the Fairy type is the lack of overt malice. To use D&D terms, the default Fairy alginment would be Chaotic Neutral, which is represented. We also have a decent amount of Chaotic Good and True Neutral, but to me a conspicuous absence of Chaotic Evil. This is highlighted by various folklores having evil fey, as well as a large number of creatures in the "supernatural and weak to metals" category. (related: I think Grimmsnarl should have dropped prankster for e.g. intimidate)

 

[DreamPrince]

Personally, I think Fairy-type had been too open of what it is supposed to be. While intended to be Fairy and similar magical faes, it went as far as the list I got in here.

• Based on actual fairies or actual fae creatures, as well as fairy tales. Stuff like Mawile, Hatenna line, Impidimp the Tapus and Cottonee line fit right in.
• And then we have cuddly cute Pokémon like the Azuril line, Snubbull line, Dedenne, and Sylveon. There's also Charm and Baby Doll Eyes (Round Eyes in Japan), though it fit into deceptive cuteness.
• And then we have those who don't really fit all that much, such as Morelull line (does play the fairy tale bit, but it's less obvious than others), Flabébé line + Comfey, Zacian, and the most glaring example of them, Galarian Weezing. There's also the food-based Swirlix line and Alcremie.
• Let's not forget about Light of Ruin, Play Rough, Decorate, Sweet Kiss, and the Z-Moves Twinkle Tackle and Let's Snuggle Forever doesn't really feels like genuinely fae-like, or at not those who are cute but in a not-overbearing way.
• There's also the misconception that Fairy is the canon Light-type. As much as Light itself would face serious redundancy and works better as a "base" like Sound (does to Psychic having too many light-based properties and Steel involves flashes for Special Moves), that misconception is ridiculous at worst. Fairy is more similar but different to Dark-type; messed up, but for different reasons, and is a direct counterpart to Dragon.

tl;dr Fairy is inconsistent does to shifting between actual faes and fairy tales, and then cuteness and other not-so-related stuff too many times.

Fairy being super effective on fighting is dumb. And yeah, it's not light
Also stupidly making 90% pink mons fairy was very lazy

For type matchups, keep in mind that Fairy was created because GF wanted to balance Dragon. All the types that Fairy is strong against were all types that had two weaknesses prior to Gen 6. Those types were very dominant in VGC; for example, Dragon Gem boosted Draco Meteor from Latios would
2HKO Metagross.

One thing that bothers me about Fairy though is how excessively girly most Fairy type Pokémon look. I understand it’s probably because Fairies are depicted as females in popular culture, but that doesn’t mean they should keep it like that. The Snubbull, Jigglypuff, Cleffa, and Flabebe lines are mostly female or all female entirely. Gen 8 is a pretty good offender to that too, since it introduced 2 new female only lines; heck, even Zacian is stated to be Zamazenta’s sister and even it has hair braids. They did introduce Grimmsnarl line which is a Male only, but this line and Galarian Weezing are the only ones that give masculine vibes. And Despite Togekiss, Primarina, and Sylveon being significantly more likely to be Male, those gender ratios are used since GF wants to make breeding harder, not to compliment the design.

 

[Celever]

Personally, I think Fairy-type had been too open of what it is supposed to be. While intended to be Fairy and similar magical faes, it went as far as the list I got in here.

• Based on actual fairies or actual fae creatures, as well as fairy tales. Stuff like Mawile, Hatenna line, Impidimp the Tapus and Cottonee line fit right in.
• And then we have cuddly cute Pokémon like the Azuril line, Snubbull line, Dedenne, and Sylveon. There's also Charm and Baby Doll Eyes (Round Eyes in Japan), though it fit into deceptive cuteness.
• And then we have those who don't really fit all that much, such as Morelull line (does play the fairy tale bit, but it's less obvious than others), Flabébé line + Comfey, Zacian, and the most glaring example of them, Galarian Weezing. There's also the food-based Swirlix line and Alcremie.
• Let's not forget about Light of Ruin, Play Rough, Decorate, Sweet Kiss, and the Z-Moves Twinkle Tackle and Let's Snuggle Forever doesn't really feels like genuinely fae-like, or at not those who are cute but in a not-overbearing way.
• There's also the misconception that Fairy is the canon Light-type. As much as Light itself would face serious redundancy and works better as a "base" like Sound (does to Psychic having too many light-based properties and Steel involves flashes for Special Moves), that misconception is ridiculous at worst. Fairy is more similar but different to Dark-type; messed up, but for different reasons, and is a direct counterpart to Dragon.

tl;dr Fairy is inconsistent does to shifting between actual faes and fairy tales, and then cuteness and other not-so-related stuff too many times.

I think, honestly, that the Fairy-Type is totally consistent in its distribution and design concepts. It is the best counterpart to Dragon-Type that the series could have made, and to understand why I think it's important to look into what exactly the Dragon-Type is too.

In Pokémon, as well as most mythology, dragons are powerful users of natural energy and bodies. This is represented in Pokémon very well, but is often a forgotten fact by the fan-base because when we think of the Dragon-Type, we tend to think of moves like Outrage, Dragon Claw and Dragon Dance. However, if we look at other moves we see nature being represented extensively. For instance, before the physical/special split, Dragon-Type was considered special, and this was consistent with the early moves that the Dragon-Type had. Moves like Twister and Dragon Breath are both wind-based -- Dragon Breath is described as a "mighty gust" and Twister a "vicious tornado" -- which is a natural energy. However, in both instances, there is unnatural energy involved, as Dragon Breath can cause paralysis and Twister can cause flinching. Roar of Time and Spacial Rend are both Dragon-Type, and both time and space are natural phenomenae that the most powerful dragons can harness (they did, after all, create them). The most powerful non-legendary dragons can use Draco Meteor, which is literally dropping comets from space, one of just about the biggest ways anything could hope to use nature against an enemy. Even Dragon Dance is described as "the user vigorously perform[ing] a mystic, powerful dance" which shows that the user's attack and speed are increased through a dance that accumulates energy, not just through them hyping themselves up like Work Up or concentrating harder like Meditate. There is natural energy being used.

All of this being said, perhaps a good way to describe the Dragon-Type is arcane. As humans, we don't fully understand how this draconic energy works. We see that nature is involved, but only ever in destructive ways both to nature and to the target. Tornadoes are natural disasters, after all. Dragon Rage is nothing but attacking with pure rage -- think of a dragon flying over a forest, burning down all of the trees in hope that its target will also be hit. Almost every animation for Dragon-Type moves involves this dark-blue/purple energy which is all that we know about what this energy is. However, purple has often been used to depict dominion over nature because it's insanely rare to actually find in nature, so even the colour choice around the Dragon-Type serves to help this theory.

With that said, before the Fairy-Type I'm not sure this theory would be quite as sound as it is now. But as we were told that Fairy- is to Dragon-Type as Dark- is to Psychic-Type, we know that a dichotomy is occurring. The number one thing that all fae things have in common is that they are protectorates of nature. Oftentimes this is because they get their own power from nature, but the crucial difference is that fae creatures almost always harness this energy symbiotically with nature, the complete opposite to dragons, who simply use it. This works to be a clear counterpart to the Dragon-Type's natural energy, because working with nature to first enhance the natural power and then using it is more powerful than draining nature of its power in order to use attacks. For instance, instead of Twister we have Fairy Wind, which is a more powerful move but also a more pure version of using wind, as there is no added effect (or tampering with nature's original effect). Instead of dropping comets out of the sky, Moonblast is described as "borrowing the power of the moon". Nature's Madness "hits the target with the force of nature", which I see as a counterpart to Dragon Rage due to both causing fixed damage -- but Nature' Madness is usually much more powerful than Dragon Rage, as nature is not also attacked while performing the attack. The Fairy-Type is, above all else, the "nature" type.

The qualms you had with it come from folklore and mythology, and basically explains the modus operandi of fae creatures. As beings themselves, fairies are almost always depicted as extremely weak. For example, on average Fairy-Type Pokémon have low HP and Defense but very high SpDef -- in fact, the highest average SpDef of any type (Dragon-Type has the highest average SpAtk, maintaining the rivalry). Fairy-type Pokémon also on average have much higher SpAtk than Attack, though physically oriented Fairy-Type Pokémon do exist. This means that in order for fairies to properly utilise their powers, they have to trick the target into not attacking them first. Being cute is one way that this is accomplished, as it makes the opponent let their guard down, making the fae attack do more damage. Everything cutesy involving the Fairy-Type is 2-pronged: Sweet Kiss is adorable but causes confusion, Draining Kiss steals damage like more sinister moves like Leech Life, Disarming Voice literally deals "emotional damage", and Charm lowers the opponent's Attack by "making it less wary" (which to me reads like it should lower Defense or Speed but oh well). Applying this modus operandi, seen used by fae creatures in folklore and mythology worldwide, more widely is Pokémon's way of creating new fae creatures, rather than simply basing all of its Fairy-Type designs off of existing ones.

I can try clearing some of those:

• The Marill family is an odd case. For one thing before the Fairy-type was introduced it was part of the Fairy Egg Group, so GF already had a Fairy connection in mind for it. As for what, well the most likely could be because Azumarill is based on a rabbit. In Japan there's the legend of the moon rabbit, and the moon has been associated with the Fairy-type (a connection formed likely due to the concept of the "witching hour").
• Swirlix family is a pun on the food they're based on: cotton candy is also called "fairy floss".
• Milcery family... you got me. It's a Pokemon made of cream and later whipped cream, I never imagined a Pokemon being based on that would exist in the first place let alone think what Type it would be. Both their names have to do with something mystical, Milcery having "sorcery" and Alcremie having "alchemy", so GF see something magical with with it we don't. This also goes for Decorate which is their Signature Move.
• Light of Ruin draws in life energy similar to that Xerneas makes (thus the Fairy connection) and turns it into a beam of raw power

• The Azurill family is also based on lapis lazuli, a stone with a rich history in mythology and folklore. The connection to the stone is lost in other languages, but ruri is the Japanese name for lapis lazuli, and features in the name of Azumarill, Marill and Azurill (whose Japanese name is literally Ruriri). Due to it resembling a night sky with its deep blue hue with littered gold specs, the stone has long been seen as a symbolism of nature itself, just as the night sky was used as a sign that nature is far more powerful than we are. For instance, the first recorded creator God in history, the Sumerian deity of Inanna, used her lapis lazuli staff to measure the length of a person's life, as life at that time was seen as a natural energy that living beings were able to harness. The Egyptian Book of the Dead tells us that lapis lazuli was used to protect the dead and priests from evil spirits who would wish to tamper with the natural progression from life into death. It's perhaps not the most traditional thing that could be used as fae inspiration, but there is definite connection between beliefs surrounding lapis lazuli and things that other cultures attributed to fae creatures. So I see it as being a way of broadening the scope of of Fairy-Type away from just mediaeval or later folklore, created after fairies had too, to having a Pokémon whose fae energy comes from myths of ancient times.
• It's said that in Britain when belief in the fae was near-universal, even children were warned that if they ever ended up in the fairy realm they must never touch the food or drink, for if they did they would be trapped in the realm forever, or banished to the human realm where the food we have here pales in comparison to the extent that we would rather starve than eat it. Due to this, I've never questioned the Fairy-Type's connection to food in Pokémon. I'd go so far as to say that this is likely even why fairy floss was named as such to begin with, plus it seems somewhat other-worldly anyway. However, to throw another theory out there as to why Milcery and Alcremie in particular are Fairy-Type, we need to look at Alcremie-Gigantamax's dex entry. "It launches swarms of missiles, each made of cream and loaded with 100,000 kilocalories. Get hit by one of these, and your head will swim". In a way, a calorie is the scientific measure of natural energy -- that is, energy that exists naturally, and that sustains the life energy of other beings. Perhaps the fae spirits in Milcery and Alcremie harnessed the nature power of calories, and utilises that in battle. Sounds kind of weird, but I think the theory checks out.
• I think Light of Ruin is particularly interesting because it deals recoil damage. This is the only Fairy-Type attack that has a destructive effect on nature, and the recoil damage demonstrates this. I think it's a cool bit of worldbuilding, and it's a shame it was never released.

My big issue with the usage of the Fairy type is the lack of overt malice. To use D&D terms, the default Fairy alginment would be Chaotic Neutral, which is represented. We also have a decent amount of Chaotic Good and True Neutral, but to me a conspicuous absence of Chaotic Evil. This is highlighted by various folklores having evil fey, as well as a large number of creatures in the "supernatural and weak to metals" category. (related: I think Grimmsnarl should have dropped prankster for e.g. intimidate)

I think this is valid until you realise it's Pokémon. There are very few Pokémon that have genuine malice and the majority of them are legendaries, with the entire list I can think of being Mewtwo and Giratina. Even the Dark-Type, which should be Pokémon's "malice" type, are almost always depicted as being misunderstood. Absol doesn't cause disasters but is wrongly labelled as doing so. Persian-Alola tortures its prey, but in exactly the same was as actual cats do, and we don't see that as malicious. The Scraggy line and Zigzagoon-Galar lines are hooligans because of hard knocks, not because they're truly malicious. Even Malamar, who has "mal" in its name, according to the PokéDex is utilised by people for nefarious deeds, rather than performing nefarious deeds themselves. It just doesn't make that much sense to have genuinely evil or malicious Pokémon, because the vast majority of kids aren't genuinely evil or malicious. As a species we generally prefer to beat evil than harness it, and the philosophy of Pokémon designs has been descibed by designers as creatures that we would like to see as being our friends.

tl;dr The Fairy-Type is consistent in its design. It can be described first and foremost as a type that works symbiotically with nature, and its properties are that of mischief and deceit, which is why many Fairy-Type Pokémon appear cute. This serves to form a dichotomy with the Dragon-Type, which works parasitically with nature and involves things like rage rather than mischief.

 

[Samtendo09]

I think, honestly, that the Fairy-Type is totally consistent in its distribution and design concepts. It is the best counterpart to Dragon-Type that the series could have made, and to understand why I think it's important to look into what exactly the Dragon-Type is too.

In Pokémon, as well as most mythology, dragons are powerful users of natural energy and bodies. This is represented in Pokémon very well, but is often a forgotten fact by the fan-base because when we think of the Dragon-Type, we tend to think of moves like Outrage, Dragon Claw and Dragon Dance. However, if we look at other moves we see nature being represented extensively. For instance, before the physical/special split, Dragon-Type was considered special, and this was consistent with the early moves that the Dragon-Type had. Moves like Twister and Dragon Breath are both wind-based -- Dragon Breath is described as a "mighty gust" and Twister a "vicious tornado" -- which is a natural energy. However, in both instances, there is unnatural energy involved, as Dragon Breath can cause paralysis and Twister can cause flinching. Roar of Time and Spacial Rend are both Dragon-Type, and both time and space are natural phenomenae that the most powerful dragons can harness (they did, after all, create them). The most powerful non-legendary dragons can use Draco Meteor, which is literally dropping comets from space, one of just about the biggest ways anything could hope to use nature against an enemy. Even Dragon Dance is described as "the user vigorously perform[ing] a mystic, powerful dance" which shows that the user's attack and speed are increased through a dance that accumulates energy, not just through them hyping themselves up like Work Up or concentrating harder like Meditate. There is natural energy being used.

All of this being said, perhaps a good way to describe the Dragon-Type is arcane. As humans, we don't fully understand how this draconic energy works. We see that nature is involved, but only ever in destructive ways both to nature and to the target. Tornadoes are natural disasters, after all. Dragon Rage is nothing but attacking with pure rage -- think of a dragon flying over a forest, burning down all of the trees in hope that its target will also be hit. Almost every animation for Dragon-Type moves involves this dark-blue/purple energy which is all that we know about what this energy is. However, purple has often been used to depict dominion over nature because it's insanely rare to actually find in nature, so even the colour choice around the Dragon-Type serves to help this theory.

With that said, before the Fairy-Type I'm not sure this theory would be quite as sound as it is now. But as we were told that Fairy- is to Dragon-Type as Dark- is to Psychic-Type, we know that a dichotomy is occurring. The number one thing that all fae things have in common is that they are protectorates of nature. Oftentimes this is because they get their own power from nature, but the crucial difference is that fae creatures almost always harness this energy symbiotically with nature, the complete opposite to dragons, who simply use it. This works to be a clear counterpart to the Dragon-Type's natural energy, because working with nature to first enhance the natural power and then using it is more powerful than draining nature of its power in order to use attacks. For instance, instead of Twister we have Fairy Wind, which is a more powerful move but also a more pure version of using wind, as there is no added effect (or tampering with nature's original effect). Instead of dropping comets out of the sky, Moonblast is described as "borrowing the power of the moon". Nature's Madness "hits the target with the force of nature", which I see as a counterpart to Dragon Rage due to both causing fixed damage -- but Nature' Madness is usually much more powerful than Dragon Rage, as nature is not also attacked while performing the attack. The Fairy-Type is, above all else, the "nature" type.

The qualms you had with it come from folklore and mythology, and basically explains the modus operandi of fae creatures. As beings themselves, fairies are almost always depicted as extremely weak. For example, on average Fairy-Type Pokémon have low HP and Defense but very high SpDef -- in fact, the highest average SpDef of any type (Dragon-Type has the highest average SpAtk, maintaining the rivalry). Fairy-type Pokémon also on average have much higher SpAtk than Attack, though physically oriented Fairy-Type Pokémon do exist. This means that in order for fairies to properly utilise their powers, they have to trick the target into not attacking them first. Being cute is one way that this is accomplished, as it makes the opponent let their guard down, making the fae attack do more damage. Everything cutesy involving the Fairy-Type is 2-pronged: Sweet Kiss is adorable but causes confusion, Draining Kiss steals damage like more sinister moves like Leech Life, Disarming Voice literally deals "emotional damage", and Charm lowers the opponent's Attack by "making it less wary" (which to me reads like it should lower Defense or Speed but oh well). Applying this modus operandi, seen used by fae creatures in folklore and mythology worldwide, more widely is Pokémon's way of creating new fae creatures, rather than simply basing all of its Fairy-Type designs off of existing ones.

• The Azurill family is also based on lapis lazuli, a stone with a rich history in mythology and folklore. The connection to the stone is lost in other languages, but ruri is the Japanese name for lapis lazuli, and features in the name of Azumarill, Marill and Azurill (whose Japanese name is literally Ruriri). Due to it resembling a night sky with its deep blue hue with littered gold specs, the stone has long been seen as a symbolism of nature itself, just as the night sky was used as a sign that nature is far more powerful than we are. For instance, the first recorded creator God in history, the Sumerian deity of Inanna, used her lapis lazuli staff to measure the length of a person's life, as life at that time was seen as a natural energy that living beings were able to harness. The Egyptian Book of the Dead tells us that lapis lazuli was used to protect the dead and priests from evil spirits who would wish to tamper with the natural progression from life into death. It's perhaps not the most traditional thing that could be used as fae inspiration, but there is definite connection between beliefs surrounding lapis lazuli and things that other cultures attributed to fae creatures. So I see it as being a way of broadening the scope of of Fairy-Type away from just mediaeval or later folklore, created after fairies had too, to having a Pokémon whose fae energy comes from myths of ancient times.
• It's said that in Britain when belief in the fae was near-universal, even children were warned that if they ever ended up in the fairy realm they must never touch the food or drink, for if they did they would be trapped in the realm forever, or banished to the human realm where the food we have here pales in comparison to the extent that we would rather starve than eat it. Due to this, I've never questioned the Fairy-Type's connection to food in Pokémon. I'd go so far as to say that this is likely even why fairy floss was named as such to begin with, plus it seems somewhat other-worldly anyway. However, to throw another theory out there as to why Milcery and Alcremie in particular are Fairy-Type, we need to look at Alcremie-Gigantamax's dex entry. "It launches swarms of missiles, each made of cream and loaded with 100,000 kilocalories. Get hit by one of these, and your head will swim". In a way, a calorie is the scientific measure of natural energy -- that is, energy that exists naturally, and that sustains the life energy of other beings. Perhaps the fae spirits in Milcery and Alcremie harnessed the nature power of calories, and utilises that in battle. Sounds kind of weird, but I think the theory checks out.
• I think Light of Ruin is particularly interesting because it deals recoil damage. This is the only Fairy-Type attack that has a destructive effect on nature, and the recoil damage demonstrates this. I think it's a cool bit of worldbuilding, and it's a shame it was never released.

I think this is valid until you realise it's Pokémon. There are very few Pokémon that have genuine malice and the majority of them are legendaries, with the entire list I can think of being Mewtwo and Giratina. Even the Dark-Type, which should be Pokémon's "malice" type, are almost always depicted as being misunderstood. Absol doesn't cause disasters but is wrongly labelled as doing so. Persian-Alola tortures its prey, but in exactly the same was as actual cats do, and we don't see that as malicious. The Scraggy line and Zigzagoon-Galar lines are hooligans because of hard knocks, not because they're truly malicious. Even Malamar, who has "mal" in its name, according to the PokéDex is utilised by people for nefarious deeds, rather than performing nefarious deeds themselves. It just doesn't make that much sense to have genuinely evil or malicious Pokémon, because the vast majority of kids aren't genuinely evil or malicious. As a species we generally prefer to beat evil than harness it, and the philosophy of Pokémon designs has been descibed by designers as creatures that we would like to see as being our friends.

tl;dr The Fairy-Type is consistent in its design. It can be described first and foremost as a type that works symbiotically with nature, and its properties are that of mischief and deceit, which is why many Fairy-Type Pokémon appear cute. This serves to form a dichotomy with the Dragon-Type, which works parasitically with nature and involves things like rage rather than mischief.

I really should know better and do some research about the Pokémon in question if their Typing doesn't seems too much sense for me at first. I'll also be more open about what Type fits into what whenever I make my fakemons.

Now here's something regarding Legendary Pokémon; I know they are supposed to be very powerful (especially the 670+ BST ones) but that won't excuse the fact that some of them are overpowered to obscene levels. While Mewtwo was the culprit back in Gen 1, it was back when Gen 1's balance was definitely super questionable to begin with, and it wasn't until Gen 5 where the power creep among Legendaries become truly noticable. Xerneas, Mega Mewtwo X + Y, Primal Groudon, Primal Kyogre (not to exact extent to other Mega/Primal Legends), Mega Rayquaza, Crowned Zacian, and when it comes to ~600 BST Legends, Landorus, Tornadus, the Tapus and Magearna.

Now this is not a massive problem by itself, since in single player, while definitely more difficult, they are more manageable since it's still 6 v 1 situation. In online battles and competitive formats, however, is when the problem is really rearing it's ugly head. That's one of the reasons why VGC started to get somewhat stale in Gen 5, and get worse and worse in following Generations (until Gen 8 until Fall 2020, we'll see Dynamax GeoXern going rampant, trust me). The other being Mega Evolutions created a further level of power creep (which the aforementioned Mega Legends are part of) and underestimating the Terrains' potential (which explains their nerf in Gen 8).

The fact that TPC never bothered to implement long-term restriction and not bothering to ban any obscenely overpowered Pokémon during later seasons really play a part of the staleness as well. While early Gen 8 does disallow Zacian, Zamazenta and Mew, it's most likely because there's not enough options to enable the Special Pokémon Clause (up to 2 per player).

When Gen 8 Fall 2020 comes, Dynamax GeoXern will run rampant (unless people are well prepared enough to use Crowned Zacian against it, which just create another level of staleness) and chances that TPC wouldn't probably cares. Mega Evolution may be removed and Dynamax is a lot less problematic on Doubles, but if Ubers are allowed in Doubles, you could imagine the horror as players will Dynamax one of their non-wolf Legendary as soon as possible. It's how the VGC became (and possibly would become and remain so) now.

 

[Celever]

I really should know better and do some research about the Pokémon in question if their Typing doesn't seems too much sense for me at first. I'll also be more open about what Type fits into what whenever I make my fakemons.

Now here's something regarding Legendary Pokémon; I know they are supposed to be very powerful (especially the 670+ BST ones) but that won't excuse the fact that some of them are overpowered to obscene levels. While Mewtwo was the culprit back in Gen 1, it was back when Gen 1's balance was definitely super questionable to begin with, and it wasn't until Gen 5 where the power creep among Legendaries become truly noticable. Xerneas, Mega Mewtwo X + Y, Primal Groudon, Primal Kyogre (not to exact extent to other Mega/Primal Legends), Mega Rayquaza, Crowned Zacian, and when it comes to ~600 BST Legends, Landorus, Tornadus, the Tapus and Magearna.

Now this is not a massive problem by itself, since in single player, while definitely more difficult, they are more manageable since it's still 6 v 1 situation. In online battles and competitive formats, however, is when the problem is really rearing it's ugly head. That's one of the reasons why VGC started to get somewhat stale in Gen 5, and get worse and worse in following Generations (until Gen 8 until Fall 2020, we'll see Dynamax GeoXern going rampant, trust me). The other being Mega Evolutions created a further level of power creep (which the aforementioned Mega Legends are part of) and underestimating the Terrains' potential (which explains their nerf in Gen 8).

The fact that TPC never bothered to implement long-term restriction and not bothering to ban any obscenely overpowered Pokémon during later seasons really play a part of the staleness as well. While early Gen 8 does disallow Zacian, Zamazenta and Mew, it's most likely because there's not enough options to enable the Special Pokémon Clause (up to 2 per player).

When Gen 8 Fall 2020 comes, Dynamax GeoXern will run rampant (unless people are well prepared enough to use Crowned Zacian against it, which just create another level of staleness) and chances that TPC wouldn't probably cares. Mega Evolution may be removed and Dynamax is a lot less problematic on Doubles, but if Ubers are allowed in Doubles, you could imagine the horror as players will Dynamax one of their non-wolf Legendary as soon as possible. It's how the VGC became (and possibly would become and remain so) now.

I feel bad telling you you're wrong for 2 posts you've made in a row, but VGC doesn't work like this. The roster of Pokémon that are allowed rotates each year, and each generation tends to go regional dex without legendaries -> national dex without legendaries -> national dex with legendaries. This is done specifically because of the issues you identified, where players who don't like the higher power level of Pokémon like Zacian or Xerneas can just sit out the one year they're permitted, or at least they've had 2 more years with a more normal power balance. Changing the meta each year also prevents it from getting stale.

I don't think legendary Pokémon being overpowered is a bad thing. It'd be a little ridiculous seeing Celebi getting easily knocked out by a Vileplume when the former is supposed to protect inferior creatures like the latter. Mewtwo was genetically engineered to be a super-weapon, so it'd be strange if it were weaker than Alakazam. Yveltal is supposed to be the harbinger of death, so it'd be odd seeing it get walled by a Porygon2. It's part of the worldbuilding that they're too strong, and serves gameplay by allowing the lategame to be difficult because if a kid gets really frustrated by the game's difficulty they can just use the region's legendary and autowin.

I think balance in this game is poor because of the complete other side of the coin. There are Pokémon out there lacking even a theoretical niche. Having a Wigglytuff or Stantler on your team will always put you at a disadvantage against a standard team because their stats are simply too low, so they should be boosted a bit.

 

[Samtendo09]

I feel bad telling you you're wrong for 2 posts you've made in a row, but VGC doesn't work like this. The roster of Pokémon that are allowed rotates each year, and each generation tends to go regional dex without legendaries -> national dex without legendaries -> national dex with legendaries. This is done specifically because of the issues you identified, where players who don't like the higher power level of Pokémon like Zacian or Xerneas can just sit out the one year they're permitted, or at least they've had 2 more years with a more normal power balance. Changing the meta each year also prevents it from getting stale.

I don't think legendary Pokémon being overpowered is a bad thing. It'd be a little ridiculous seeing Celebi getting easily knocked out by a Vileplume when the former is supposed to protect inferior creatures like the latter. Mewtwo was genetically engineered to be a super-weapon, so it'd be strange if it were weaker than Alakazam. Yveltal is supposed to be the harbinger of death, so it'd be odd seeing it get walled by a Porygon2. It's part of the worldbuilding that they're too strong, and serves gameplay by allowing the lategame to be difficult because if a kid gets really frustrated by the game's difficulty they can just use the region's legendary and autowin.

I think balance in this game is poor because of the complete other side of the coin. There are Pokémon out there lacking even a theoretical niche. Having a Wigglytuff or Stantler on your team will always put you at a disadvantage against a standard team because their stats are simply too low, so they should be boosted a bit.

I dunno, it's just that I got a feeling that some Legendaries are pushing it further. Then again, it is just me. I wish I know VGC better.

Mega Evolutions is another story, though. I do like the concept but it's the execution that leave much to be desired. Most of them are not supposed to be as powerful as the likes of boxart Legendaries (+600 BST for most, maybe, but then you can't hold an item), and yet focusing on popular Pokémon getting it proved to harm the concept more than it gives good for the franchise in the long run. At least less popular Pokémon are getting it in ORAS, but by then the damage is done.

While there are definitely some who does benefit it, with Kangaskhan, Lucario, Mawile, Sableye, Medicham and Lopunny (and to a honest to Arceus extent Charizard) benefiting their own Mega the most, there are those who don't really needs it (even for just design upgrade), such as Gengar, Alakazam, all of the Pseudo-Legends (though it don't have too big of an impact on Tyranitar and Garchomp), Blaziken (though this is balanced by the other Hoenn starters getting one as they do needs one to an extent), Gyarados, Scizor, the Lati@s, and Charizard having two (though it do comes with a bonus of unpredictability). I'm not mentioning the boxart Legends since, as Celever said, they are supposed to be powerful.

One will say an excuse that the popular ones do need a "design update". Unfortunately, I personally think that even as separate forms, the Regional Variants did the design update better than Mega Evolution does, as I feel a good amount of the Mega Evolutions feels really unnatural and not in the right way. Some others are unnatural but at the time, still fitting to the species. Plus not everything really needs a design update; Gengar is simple but effective, and I'm glad that it's Mega (as obscenely overpowered or at least obnoxious to deal with) did managed to update its design in cohesive way. Others kinda overdid it in design, even Mega Swampert (it was funny at first sight, but it does feels a bit awkward in retrospect).

And what's worse is that I also found Regional Variants way easier and fun to make than Mega Evolutions (not that I don't have any fun of making my own Megas of course, but I never participated in Megas for All unfortunately). And not all that difficult to balance unless you are dealing with something with low BST (which is solved by Regional Evolution unless you have something already at third stage, and even then, you can at least give them an unique niche). The only true blunder in term of becoming overpowered is Galarian Darmanitan, and that's mostly because of Gorilla Tactics proving more useful in practice than on paper.

tl;dr Mega Evolution is good concept, questionable execution at best, with given to mostly popular or already great Pokémon not helping the situation. I prefer Regional Variants in the long run because it updates old Pokémon in more natural ways and less stressful to make it balanced.

 

[VagueKatti]

I dunno, it's just that I got a feeling that some Legendaries are pushing it further. Then again, it is just me. I wish I know VGC better.

Mega Evolutions is another story, though. I do like the concept but it's the execution that leave much to be desired. Most of them are not supposed to be as powerful as the likes of boxart Legendaries (+600 BST for most, maybe, but then you can't hold an item), and yet focusing on popular Pokémon getting it proved to harm the concept more than it gives good for the franchise in the long run. At least less popular Pokémon are getting it in ORAS, but by then the damage is done.

While there are definitely some who does benefit it, with Kangaskhan, Lucario, Mawile, Sableye, Medicham and Lopunny (and to a honest to Arceus extent Charizard) benefiting their own Mega the most, there are those who don't really needs it (even for just design upgrade), such as Gengar, Alakazam, all of the Pseudo-Legends (though it don't have too big of an impact on Tyranitar and Garchomp), Blaziken (though this is balanced by the other Hoenn starters getting one as they do needs one to an extent), Gyarados, Scizor, the Lati@s, and Charizard having two (though it do comes with a bonus of unpredictability). I'm not mentioning the boxart Legends since, as Celever said, they are supposed to be powerful.

One will say an excuse that the popular ones do need a "design update". Unfortunately, I personally think that even as separate forms, the Regional Variants did the design update better than Mega Evolution does, as I feel a good amount of the Mega Evolutions feels really unnatural and not in the right way. Some others are unnatural but at the time, still fitting to the species. Plus not everything really needs a design update; Gengar is simple but effective, and I'm glad that it's Mega (as obscenely overpowered or at least obnoxious to deal with) did managed to update its design in cohesive way. Others kinda overdid it in design, even Mega Swampert (it was funny at first sight, but it does feels a bit awkward in retrospect).

And what's worse is that I also found Regional Variants way easier and fun to make than Mega Evolutions (not that I don't have any fun of making my own Megas of course, but I never participated in Megas for All unfortunately). And not all that difficult to balance unless you are dealing with something with low BST (which is solved by Regional Evolution unless you have something already at third stage, and even then, you can at least give them an unique niche). The only true blunder in term of becoming overpowered is Galarian Darmanitan, and that's mostly because of Gorilla Tactics proving more useful in practice than on paper.

tl;dr Mega Evolution is good concept, questionable execution at best, with given to mostly popular or already great Pokémon not helping the situation. I prefer Regional Variants in the long run because it updates old Pokémon in more natural ways and less stressful to make it balanced.

I'd overall say that while I like Megas, I generally agree with the points you make here. However, in regards to being unnatural, I find that it's perfectly fine seeing as Mega Evolution is itself an unnatural process caused by the Ultimate Weapon and its lingering energy, thus making drastic changes in design from the original making sense. I also feel that unnaturality can also lend itself to some fairly creative Mega designs, such as Pinsir and Glalie.

On the subject of Megas, I genuinely loathe that Gen 7's Pokedex entries describe Mega Evolution as a painful process to undergo. Is it logically sound given the surge of power and the suddenness of the change? Sure. But it also feels immensely guilty to use them now, and it feels like a massive departure from the original concept of Megas as described in Gen 6 - a rare process only achievable due to a great bond between Pokemon and trainer.

Now, in absolute fairness you could make the argument that the Pokemon remaining loyal and devoted to you even throughout such a trying ordeal could in itself be a testament to that bond, but it's still incredibly off-putting to think that I'm breaking Glalie's jaw, stunting the growth of Kangaskhan's child, or melting Garchomp's arms and wings every single time I Mega Evolve them. Given that this idea only came a generation after its introduction, it feels like tacked-on edginess for the sake of it rather than organically introducing the concept. It's inauthentic to what Mega Evolution was designed to be in Gen 6 and I'd go so far as to say it even feels inauthentic to the series' identity as a whole.

 

[Siggu]

Now, in absolute fairness you could make the argument that the Pokemon remaining loyal and devoted to you even throughout such a trying ordeal could in itself be a testament to that bond

That's exactly what it implies. In Super Mystery Dungeon, Mega Evolving makes the Pokémon go berserk, steamrolling over everything in their path, be it allied, foe, or terrain.