-
Welcome to Smogon! Take a moment to read the Introduction to Smogon for a run-down on everything Smogon, and make sure you take some time to read the global rules.
-
Congrats to the winners of the 2023 Smog Awards!
(Little) Things that annoy you in Pokémon
- Thread starter BriarRose
- Start date
Oh yeah, forgot that Hax's BST doesn't match, good catch.
Yeah, that's an interesting pattern tbh.
Honestly if you have to keep going "this kind of counts" & the suspects varies a lot in just...everything in general (evolution level, how many times they evolve, if they evolve at all, where specifically they show up....) there probably isn't an archetype at all
I really wouldn't count Noivern anymore than Avalugg. Both are 20% encounters late in the game that have fairly weak first stages (though lord knows bergmite is better off than noibat is...), and Avalugg even gets to see use on a leader's team.
But I still wouldn't put either or both of them in an "archetype"
Sometimes there's just rare, valuable (to varying degrees) Pokemon and often games will have multiple of them. You could make a case for Stonjournery/Eiscue even if their designs are more on the....quirky....side than the "cool" side. Or Dhelmise. Or Gardevoir. Or Slaking. Or Volcarona. Alakazam. Mimikyu. Any given weird post game pokemon in Johto. Spiritomb. Heracross. If we're counting Kingdra then a number of gen 4's evolutions could count. Munchlax from hell. You can make the case for a lot because the proposed archetype is so flexible it's kinda meaningless. Contrast with pseudos, which have some variance in their own right, but enough stability that you can look at one's stuff and go "yeah thats the pseudo, got it in one"
Interesting fact is that according to the recently leaked Sword and Shield Beta, Avalugg's codename is Iceberg3(For evolutionary lines they all have the same codename with a number at the end), these codenames do not change between gens, which means at some point in the development of X and Y it was a three-stage line, looking at Bergmite's design I would say that the missing stage was likely a middle stage between the two we eventually got in the end.
QuentinQuonce
formerly green_typhlosion
Idk, I think the Pokemon themselves vary greatly but the general idea holds true. Much like how Slaking, Regigigas, and Archeops are all very different Pokemon in terms of how they're obtained and their evolutionary lines, but they all fit the "powerful, but crippled" concept.
It's just a thought that occurred so it might not be a conscious or deliberate thing on Game Freak's part but it does seem to me like it's something that recurs throughout the series. There's a lot of rare Pokemon in every game, true, but as I highlighted there is often one specific non-pseudo that's singularly incredibly rare/difficult to obtain. How deliberate this choice is is up for debate.
Some gens probably skip it; like you said, gen 6 is a stretch. The "powerful, but crippled" archetype doesn't show up in gen 6 either so not all these rules are ironclad.
As someone who isnt intentionally following pokemon archetypes for my fakemon region, you kinda either stumble on them due to how vague they can be (regional bird, regional bug etc), or you end with other tropes, that you as a person prefer. (Mine would probably be having too many bugs).
The only trope thats totally avoidable is the pikaclone one.
The only trope thats totally avoidable is the pikaclone one.
Bug-types, right? :P
Some "archetypes" are unavoidable. For instance, unless you want a mess of distribution like Gen I, II or IV, you'd want at least one non-starter evolutionary line of every type.
I must admit I'm not that convinced. "Powerful Pokémon that are kinda hard to get and used by strong trainers" is a very broad concept. The Pokémon you list don't seem to have any consistency with regards to type, number of evolutionary members, method of obtaining, base stat totals, placement in the Pokédex or common design features. They're just powerful Pokémon that are kinda hard to get and used by strong trainers.
Of the archetypes I'm listing, I think "cutesy Normal" and possibly "stand-alone Normal-type" are the weakest ones. The former is a two-stage Normal-type (usually mono-typed, but there are exceptions) with a cutesy look that appears somewhat later in the game than the regional rodent. The cuteness is generally (though not always) retained upon evolution. Examples are present in every generation: Jigglypuff, Togepi, Skitty, Buneary, Minccino, Litleo (weak example as it's part Fire), Stufful (weak example as it's part Fighting), and Wooloo.
The latter is a Normal-type that does not evolve and is found somewhat late in the game. Gen I has tons of examples, Miltank probably fits the label the best in Gen II, Gen III has either Zangoose or Kecleon, Gen IV lacks obvious candidates, then there's Bouffalant, Furfrou, Komala, and Indeedee for the final four generations.
Then again, it might just be that Normal-types tend to be cute but otherwise unassuming Pokémon in general and that this affects what kinds of Pokémon are made to be Normal-types in the first place. As Normal-types tend to have some "mandatory" roles, such as being the regional rodent and the first stages of the regional bird, it is guaranteed some representation. Since Pokédexes nowadays are so small, there's not much room left for other Normal-types to be represented, making one two-stage family and one stand-alone representative seem like the most feasible option. If the two-stage family consists of cute-ish Pokémon (as Normal-types tend to be), they will fall into an apparent pattern almost by default, without that being the intention. It may be that there's no "single-stage Normal" or "cute two-stage Normal" boxes on Game Freak's checklist (like I fully believe regional birds, rodents, pseudos, and Pikaclones are), but they appear in every generation anyway because of happenstance. Anyway, recent generations have not had much representation for Normal-types outside those four apparent archetypes. Especially not pure Normal-types.
Stand-alone Flying-types are also a rather broad concept, but it appears with surprising regularity. Again, the first two generations have too many examples to pin down any one Pokémon for the role (Gen II went absolutely bananas with its Flying-types), but starting in Gen III onward there's Tropius, Chatot, Sigilyph, Hawlucha, Oricorio (or Minior), and Cramorant. I believe this is tied to the HM Fly, which made it almost mandatory to always have a Flying-type on your team. The stand-alone Flyer may have been intended to give players a viable transport option without forcing them to use the regional bird or waste a moveslot for Fly on flying legendary Pokémon. After HMs were discontinued, few new Flying-types have been introduced except the regional birds (literally just Oricorio, Minior, Celesteela, and Cramorant). That being said, continuing to let the "optional Flying-types" be single-stage Pokémon might have been another coincidence and primarily done to conserve dex slots rather than keeping the tradition going.
Anyway, I believe we're due for Gen IX soon, and that's when we can put all the talk about archetypes to actual use through validation. If the list of archetypes is correct, it can basically serve as a "checklist" for the new generation and fill it in as new Pokémon are revealed. As shown in my graphic, after the archetypes are accounted for and all types have been represented by two other Pokémon, there's barely half a dozen slots left in a regional Pokédex. This means we should be able to predict nearly every Pokémon in the new generation before it's even revealed.
Why is the graph so big?
As for the checklist, I think I gave my thoughts on the "tropes" before, but I'll give my thoughts again:
Starters: One of the hardest ones to adjust. We're always going to have a Grass, Fire, & Water Starter, let's get that out of the way. You need a Pokemon to start out with, those are 3 basic elements anyone can understand (and how they relate to one another), and most importantly they become mascots of that gen thus VERY marketable. Let's assume their marketable comes via two forms: a cute basic stage & a tough/cool final stage. If they were going to make any changes to the Starters, very low probability but you never know, I would say it's likely them chopping the middle stage. They could do this in two ways: Just make the Starter a 2-stage evolution would be the most simple. OR they could make the Starter a solo Pokemon that has a form change gimmick (Pokemon with multiple forms don't seem to take more than one slot so if you're really tight for room this could be the way to go). Or they could combine the two, a 2-stage evolution with the final stage having a form change, a pseudo way to keep the "3 stages" but without needing to take up a third slot for each (and the third form could also come from the "super mechanic" of that gen like Mega Evo or Gigantamax).
Another even less likely possibility is having a singular Starter but it evolves into different forms. That itself brings in a few number of possibilities, so I'll just cut it here. But you get the picture, they need the Starters and there's a reason for them to be these Types, but they can play around with how many slots they take via going about their progression differently.
Bug & Bird: This one I feel is kind of unfair. Like, I will not deny there is that trope, BUT I'll also say there isn't anything wrong with having it either. There are many kinds of bird and a TON of bugs out there, there is likely going to be bird and bug Pokemon even if they aren't going to be early route. At most maybe they don't need to take up that many slots, and we've had a few instances where they were 2-stage gen birds & bugs, but we're going to have them anyway. And recent gens have done a better job at not only expanding upon their designs but also making them usable whether it's good stats, Typing, or a niche.
For Bugs the "problem" more comes from the actual life cycle of bugs: many have a larva, pupa, and adult stage (not counting Egg for obvious reasons). That's your 3-stage right there. Maybe you can cut out the pupa stage but bugs go through such massive metamorphosis throughout their life it's hard to not base an entire Pokemon off one kind of bug. Because of that we often see the Bug's combined with another concept to give them some visual interest. Blipbug family are ladybugs that are also science fiction tropes, Grubbin family are batteries & railgun, Scatterbug family has the whole different wing patterns depending on real world location gimmick, Sewaddle family has a clothing theme, and the Kricketot family are musical conductors. Now the issue does come with their viability, but that's not technically their fault but rather the box GF put them in. Early fodder Pokemon which evolve fast, that's the gimmick many Bug-types have to deal with and the exceptions aren't early route Pokemon.
Bird have had an interesting time recently, some of them have even become viable options for main game team members & even competitive! While the bugs are combined with another theme, recently GF has been messing with having the bird families starting out as one kind of bird and evolving into a different species of bird. Rookidee family starts out as a chickadee/tit but evolves into a raven/crow (all whom are part of the Passeriformes order), Pikipek family starts as a woodpecker and evolves into a toucan (all members of the Piciformes order), Fletchling family is a red robin that becomes the red-colored peregrine hawk (yeah, no order relation there, I think the relating theme is more of the secondary design of being "flaming arrows"), Pidove family is a pigeon/dove that evolves into a pheasant (once again, no order relation, but rather the link between them is Japanese word puns I kid you not). Heck even Pidgey & Starly go from song birds into birds of prey though more subtlety. Maybe they also can cut it down to 2-stage, though the middle stage now especially serves the purpose of connecting the basic and final stage together since they're different species of birds making the middle a sort of hybrid of both.
But, as I said, they're always going to have a bug and a bird since there's so many design potentials, so it's not bad this group is here especially if they keep up with trying to make them interesting and even competitively good/have a niche.
"Rodent": Unless they have a good design I say the early rodents aren't really needed as much anymore. Like in the early days of Pokemon the early rodents were meant to ease you into the world of Pokemon by being a normal-looking animal with cartoon-y/fantastic features before hitting you with the elemental stuff. But I feel those days of Pokemon are behind us and we've have more interesting and varied Normal-type designs or elemental Pokemon you can easily encounter early-on.
Pikaclone: You know what GF, just stop. While they are a cute group, you pretty much do NOTHING with them. You caught lightning in the bottle once with Pikachu and the closest you've come to that wasn't even with a pikaclone, it was with a Pokemon that WANTED to be a pikaclone (and the pikaclone it was imitating was Pikachu itself). The nail in the coffin for me was the Pikachu Valley in USUM. Like, why just Pikachu? Why not all the pikaclones (and Pichu & Raichu for that matter)? You could still keep the name Pikachu Valley, but just Pikachu felt really gratuitous about Pikachu's mascot title. But if that's your mindset, fine, whatever, but then stop making the pikaclones. You try to shove them in our face but when they no doubt fail you throw them in the forgotten pile. I'll least say the recent pikaclones have been more interesting with their Typing.
"Cutesy" Normal: Like, we're always going to have cutesy Pokemon. They don't have to be Normal-type of course, but on the otherhand that's also saying Normal-types aren't allowed to have cutesy member. I still say this is more of a coincidental group rather then something GF has on a checklist.
Stand-Alone Flying & Normal: Again, I don't think it's something they're consciously doing but it just keeps working out that way, especially for those two Types.
If the Pokemon flies or has wings at least (or is a bird) it'll probably get the Flying-type, that's just how it is. And what better way to make a standalone Pokemon look better than giving it the power of flight. Once again, many species of birds and the gen birds can't have all of them, though at the same time GF probably doesn't want to give them an evolution family if it's just going to go from visually similar small bird to big bird (or has a secondary design theme which wouldn't mesh well with a prevo).
Normal-type is odd because it's considered so many things, even contradictory ones. It's its own kind of Type, it's the "default" Types, it's the gimmick Type, etc.. That last one is most notable as that's usually where the standalone Normal-type comes from, there's a gimmick to it that doesn't match another Type (or its a Type-changing gimmick) so place it in Normal so it can hone in on that gimmick. Also Normal is a hard Type to make a duel-type for as you need a reason for the additional Normal-typing... and even the ones we have there are some you wonder why it has the Normal-typing.
Pseudo-Legendary: Another marketable group, my only problem with this group is they keep making them dragons. Well, I guess that's not the only thing, they have a problem with level progression, when you get them in the game, and keep making the basic stage too weak (we get it, we get it, they're late bloomers, but that doesn't mean the basic stage has to suck). I think the most ideal one they've made was Gible, you can find it half-way through the game (if you know where to look...) and its evolution levels are reasonable. So I think it's a good group to have, teaches the lesson of being patient and helping a weak Pokemon grow will reward you with a Pokemon as strong as a Legendary, but it needs work on diversifying their basis & making getting and training it feel rewarding and not you're hindering your team for a while.
Fossil: I think Fossil Pokemon are alright, maybe needing a shake-up in being more than just 2-stage evolutions (and not what the Galar fossils did...). I think the major problem with them isn't the Pokemon themselves but that every fossil Pokemon needs a fossil item. Maybe it's time we cut back and make two "fossil" items: "Whole Fossil" and "Fossil Half". Whole Fossil you can ressurect a random Fossil Pokemon with one, Fossil Half you need two of them to ressurect a random Fossil Pokemon. To make things interesting, you can only get Aerodactyl with a Whole Fossil while you can only get a Galarian Fossil Pokemon with the Fossil Halves (and, yes, if the Galarian Fossils weren't a thing I would only have "Whole Fossils"). Heck, maybe if they did that they may make a few more Fossil Pokemon you can only get via a Whole Fossil.
Trio Legendary: Should we count the Galarain Birds as Galar's Trio even though they're Regional Variants and got introduced in DLC thus not being part of this "limited Pokemon slot" issue technically? Because if we don't then we haven't had a Legendario Trio for 3 gens now. Gen V sort of overdid it with 2, and the closest we've had were the Island Guardians in SM (but there was heavy emphasis on them which makes them feel like they had a meaningful purpose in the story; most times people have problems with Legendaries because they don't have a role in the story). Honestly I don't think its a group we need to worry about anymore as feels like GF decided to pull back on Legendaries just in general and only including them where they feel they need to have more than just the box legends.
Box Legend & Sequel Legend: Marketable group, at least for the initial Box Legends. Like, I can understand people's boredom with the newest Pokemon games front cover being just the Box Legend you can catch in that game instead of having something more visually interesting like with the Mystery Dungeon and Ranger games. But at the same time, since GF knows the games are going to sell, they know they don't need to make a fancy box cover so instead advertise the Pokemon which are the face of that generation even moreso than the Starters. It's a marketing choice which has worked out for them (if not a bit arrogant feeling). I can also understand people getting tired of the box legends always being involved in the story, and while I do think they can do a story without the box legend, I can still understand GF wanting to adding them so that players have this super powerful Pokemon to look forward too as well can be used to world build. They have draw factor to them, either in getting someone to buy the game or keep on playing through it until finding it.
Mythicals: The last marketable group, pretty much the "forbidden apples" that keeps people playing/keeping their games even after the main story is done, all side objectives are complete, but they have no interest in the competitive scene. Mythicals keep the games in even the most casual video game player's collection as they know down the line there's this strong Pokemon which will have a limited release and who knows when else they'll be able to get another one. Of course, as you may be guess, my problem with Mythicals isn't there existence or use but that there's very little story & lore around them. In addition to getting it I wouldn't mind if they also added in a small story campaign which unlocks or gets downloaded with it that's about either catching it or something you need to do with it once you get it. Because as of late there's been a few Mythicals I don't really get that "Mythical" vibe off of and kind of need to see why these Pokemon have such a high-and-mighty title.
Another even less likely possibility is having a singular Starter but it evolves into different forms. That itself brings in a few number of possibilities, so I'll just cut it here. But you get the picture, they need the Starters and there's a reason for them to be these Types, but they can play around with how many slots they take via going about their progression differently.
Bug & Bird: This one I feel is kind of unfair. Like, I will not deny there is that trope, BUT I'll also say there isn't anything wrong with having it either. There are many kinds of bird and a TON of bugs out there, there is likely going to be bird and bug Pokemon even if they aren't going to be early route. At most maybe they don't need to take up that many slots, and we've had a few instances where they were 2-stage gen birds & bugs, but we're going to have them anyway. And recent gens have done a better job at not only expanding upon their designs but also making them usable whether it's good stats, Typing, or a niche.
For Bugs the "problem" more comes from the actual life cycle of bugs: many have a larva, pupa, and adult stage (not counting Egg for obvious reasons). That's your 3-stage right there. Maybe you can cut out the pupa stage but bugs go through such massive metamorphosis throughout their life it's hard to not base an entire Pokemon off one kind of bug. Because of that we often see the Bug's combined with another concept to give them some visual interest. Blipbug family are ladybugs that are also science fiction tropes, Grubbin family are batteries & railgun, Scatterbug family has the whole different wing patterns depending on real world location gimmick, Sewaddle family has a clothing theme, and the Kricketot family are musical conductors. Now the issue does come with their viability, but that's not technically their fault but rather the box GF put them in. Early fodder Pokemon which evolve fast, that's the gimmick many Bug-types have to deal with and the exceptions aren't early route Pokemon.
Bird have had an interesting time recently, some of them have even become viable options for main game team members & even competitive! While the bugs are combined with another theme, recently GF has been messing with having the bird families starting out as one kind of bird and evolving into a different species of bird. Rookidee family starts out as a chickadee/tit but evolves into a raven/crow (all whom are part of the Passeriformes order), Pikipek family starts as a woodpecker and evolves into a toucan (all members of the Piciformes order), Fletchling family is a red robin that becomes the red-colored peregrine hawk (yeah, no order relation there, I think the relating theme is more of the secondary design of being "flaming arrows"), Pidove family is a pigeon/dove that evolves into a pheasant (once again, no order relation, but rather the link between them is Japanese word puns I kid you not). Heck even Pidgey & Starly go from song birds into birds of prey though more subtlety. Maybe they also can cut it down to 2-stage, though the middle stage now especially serves the purpose of connecting the basic and final stage together since they're different species of birds making the middle a sort of hybrid of both.
But, as I said, they're always going to have a bug and a bird since there's so many design potentials, so it's not bad this group is here especially if they keep up with trying to make them interesting and even competitively good/have a niche.
"Rodent": Unless they have a good design I say the early rodents aren't really needed as much anymore. Like in the early days of Pokemon the early rodents were meant to ease you into the world of Pokemon by being a normal-looking animal with cartoon-y/fantastic features before hitting you with the elemental stuff. But I feel those days of Pokemon are behind us and we've have more interesting and varied Normal-type designs or elemental Pokemon you can easily encounter early-on.
Pikaclone: You know what GF, just stop. While they are a cute group, you pretty much do NOTHING with them. You caught lightning in the bottle once with Pikachu and the closest you've come to that wasn't even with a pikaclone, it was with a Pokemon that WANTED to be a pikaclone (and the pikaclone it was imitating was Pikachu itself). The nail in the coffin for me was the Pikachu Valley in USUM. Like, why just Pikachu? Why not all the pikaclones (and Pichu & Raichu for that matter)? You could still keep the name Pikachu Valley, but just Pikachu felt really gratuitous about Pikachu's mascot title. But if that's your mindset, fine, whatever, but then stop making the pikaclones. You try to shove them in our face but when they no doubt fail you throw them in the forgotten pile. I'll least say the recent pikaclones have been more interesting with their Typing.
"Cutesy" Normal: Like, we're always going to have cutesy Pokemon. They don't have to be Normal-type of course, but on the otherhand that's also saying Normal-types aren't allowed to have cutesy member. I still say this is more of a coincidental group rather then something GF has on a checklist.
Stand-Alone Flying & Normal: Again, I don't think it's something they're consciously doing but it just keeps working out that way, especially for those two Types.
If the Pokemon flies or has wings at least (or is a bird) it'll probably get the Flying-type, that's just how it is. And what better way to make a standalone Pokemon look better than giving it the power of flight. Once again, many species of birds and the gen birds can't have all of them, though at the same time GF probably doesn't want to give them an evolution family if it's just going to go from visually similar small bird to big bird (or has a secondary design theme which wouldn't mesh well with a prevo).
Normal-type is odd because it's considered so many things, even contradictory ones. It's its own kind of Type, it's the "default" Types, it's the gimmick Type, etc.. That last one is most notable as that's usually where the standalone Normal-type comes from, there's a gimmick to it that doesn't match another Type (or its a Type-changing gimmick) so place it in Normal so it can hone in on that gimmick. Also Normal is a hard Type to make a duel-type for as you need a reason for the additional Normal-typing... and even the ones we have there are some you wonder why it has the Normal-typing.
Pseudo-Legendary: Another marketable group, my only problem with this group is they keep making them dragons. Well, I guess that's not the only thing, they have a problem with level progression, when you get them in the game, and keep making the basic stage too weak (we get it, we get it, they're late bloomers, but that doesn't mean the basic stage has to suck). I think the most ideal one they've made was Gible, you can find it half-way through the game (if you know where to look...) and its evolution levels are reasonable. So I think it's a good group to have, teaches the lesson of being patient and helping a weak Pokemon grow will reward you with a Pokemon as strong as a Legendary, but it needs work on diversifying their basis & making getting and training it feel rewarding and not you're hindering your team for a while.
Fossil: I think Fossil Pokemon are alright, maybe needing a shake-up in being more than just 2-stage evolutions (and not what the Galar fossils did...). I think the major problem with them isn't the Pokemon themselves but that every fossil Pokemon needs a fossil item. Maybe it's time we cut back and make two "fossil" items: "Whole Fossil" and "Fossil Half". Whole Fossil you can ressurect a random Fossil Pokemon with one, Fossil Half you need two of them to ressurect a random Fossil Pokemon. To make things interesting, you can only get Aerodactyl with a Whole Fossil while you can only get a Galarian Fossil Pokemon with the Fossil Halves (and, yes, if the Galarian Fossils weren't a thing I would only have "Whole Fossils"). Heck, maybe if they did that they may make a few more Fossil Pokemon you can only get via a Whole Fossil.
Trio Legendary: Should we count the Galarain Birds as Galar's Trio even though they're Regional Variants and got introduced in DLC thus not being part of this "limited Pokemon slot" issue technically? Because if we don't then we haven't had a Legendario Trio for 3 gens now. Gen V sort of overdid it with 2, and the closest we've had were the Island Guardians in SM (but there was heavy emphasis on them which makes them feel like they had a meaningful purpose in the story; most times people have problems with Legendaries because they don't have a role in the story). Honestly I don't think its a group we need to worry about anymore as feels like GF decided to pull back on Legendaries just in general and only including them where they feel they need to have more than just the box legends.
Box Legend & Sequel Legend: Marketable group, at least for the initial Box Legends. Like, I can understand people's boredom with the newest Pokemon games front cover being just the Box Legend you can catch in that game instead of having something more visually interesting like with the Mystery Dungeon and Ranger games. But at the same time, since GF knows the games are going to sell, they know they don't need to make a fancy box cover so instead advertise the Pokemon which are the face of that generation even moreso than the Starters. It's a marketing choice which has worked out for them (if not a bit arrogant feeling). I can also understand people getting tired of the box legends always being involved in the story, and while I do think they can do a story without the box legend, I can still understand GF wanting to adding them so that players have this super powerful Pokemon to look forward too as well can be used to world build. They have draw factor to them, either in getting someone to buy the game or keep on playing through it until finding it.
Mythicals: The last marketable group, pretty much the "forbidden apples" that keeps people playing/keeping their games even after the main story is done, all side objectives are complete, but they have no interest in the competitive scene. Mythicals keep the games in even the most casual video game player's collection as they know down the line there's this strong Pokemon which will have a limited release and who knows when else they'll be able to get another one. Of course, as you may be guess, my problem with Mythicals isn't there existence or use but that there's very little story & lore around them. In addition to getting it I wouldn't mind if they also added in a small story campaign which unlocks or gets downloaded with it that's about either catching it or something you need to do with it once you get it. Because as of late there's been a few Mythicals I don't really get that "Mythical" vibe off of and kind of need to see why these Pokemon have such a high-and-mighty title.
TL; DR: I do not think there's a problem with the Bug, Bird, Fossil, Pseudo-Legendary, & Mythicals. We're always going to have bug and bird Pokemon and the early gen ones, as long as thought and consideration goes into their design, is a good way to get them in. Fossil I have no problem with but do think they could use some shake-up and be less item filling by having just a generic "fossil" item or two that lets you get random ones (for more details on my thoughts read what I said about fossil Pokemon). Pseudo-Legendary I get people's frustration with them making boring box art and having the story heavily focus on them, and while I agree I also understand they're there to entice casual players to get the game and be something to look forward to. Finally Mythicals are a nice way to have people keep their games and coming back to play it but I do feel they need more story that unlocks when you get them or comes when you download them.
That said, I agree they could shake-up the Starters; not with Types, but with terms of evolution stages and maybe giving them form changes.
Rodents and Pikaclones they can get rid of. And Cutesy Pokemon, certain Standalones, and Trio Legendaries are nothing to worry about as they're either coincidentally done or, with the Trio Legedanries, are no longer being done without a purpose.
Pokemon is first-off a power fantast story so we'll probably never have one that isn't about becoming the Champion. That said, there's also nothing to say we can't have these side stories either in the main game or maybe as some additional side game that opens up when you complete the game (they could even add in more side stories as DLC).
That said, I could also see those maybe being side games sort of like Pokemon Cafe Mix:
- "Pokemon Daycare" makes you a Breeder in charge of running and growing a Daycare business. Build playrooms, training rooms, relaxing rooms, nurseries (with accompanying "bonding" rooms), etc. as you take in people's Pokemon and take care of them. You'll be given instructions to make customers happy, manage resources like food and bills, and have to deal with unexpected situation and accidents. Grow from a small cabin into a multi-story Poke-Hotel!
- "Pokemon League Manager" makes you a boss of a newly started Pokemon League. Create or scout out Gym Leaders, Elite Four, and Champions to host the League and provide trainers with challenges. Work with the region and the communities within it to keep the peace and the economy profitable so you can keep your League funded. Use the funds to make the Gyms and League building bigger and fancier, hire Gym trainers and features/services the Gyms can offer, help make the Gym puzzles for trainers to solve before facing the Gym Leader, design Badges (using presets because any game designer knows better than giving players absolute free control), and help create the teams the Gym Leaders/Elite Four/Champions use.
To be fair it wasnt until emerlad where the idea of getting "the other" fossil normally was even a thing and not until DP where they standardized being able to find multiples of fossils through some other avenue.
That said that would've been a good idea for ORAS, instead of only getting the fossils through rock smash on mirage islands. The gen 3 fossils being rare drops before beating the game and then becomming mroe common after beating the game with the gen 1 fossils now showing up.
The thing I find bothersome about the rodents is how they're, well, always pretty much the same. Not that it's always a rodent (Yungoos isn't), but it's always a two-stage usually-pure-Normal (Diggersby and arguably Alolan Rattata are exceptions), that has comparatively terrible stats and doesn't do anything exciting otherwise. I mean, yay for using a Normal-type to ease players into the region, but in the past they had Lillipup doing exactly that while also being a para-Starter with two evolutions. It did the job of the regional rodent just fine, but somehow, they felt the need to add Patrat as well, as if the game wouldn't be as good if it weren't there.
Something similar goes for the bugs and birds. Yes, they serve a purpose gameplay-wise, and Game Freak has done some variations on the theme over the years, but once you see a bug or bird on an early route you know what to expect. Couldn't this purpose be served by other types of animals, while birds and bugs get to do something different for a change?
Because that's the other aspect there is to it. Since Bug-types and Flying-types serve those very specific roles of "early route fodder", and the recent Pokédexes are so small, there's not much room to let bugs and birds do much else. Literally every single three-stage Bug-type family ever made outside Gen V has been following the "regional bug" archetype. In Gen V, Sewaddle and Venipede followed the base concept, but didn't appear until a few routes into the game and evolved much later than regional bugs tend to do - a nice variation on the theme that somehow was never repeated. Unova did fine without a larva on the first route, as did Johto back in the day. Sinnoh made do with a two-stage bug family as well (three of them, actually). And if games need to have larvae on the first route, we now have five generations of them to choose between. To a new player, Caterpie would be as new and exciting a Pokémon as Blipbug anyway.
Likewise for Flying. The only three-stage evolution families where all members have the Flying-type, outside the early route fodder, are the Zubat and Hoppip families*. It's as if there's only room for one three-stage Flying family per generation, and it is assigned one very specific role and that role only. And that role is the very same role as six other three-stage Flying families (and two two-stage ones) have done before it. No deviations since the GBA era. At this rate, we can almost be certain that the next generation will have a three-stage bird found on the first Route, and no three-stage birds anywhere else. Such is The Way, apparently.
That is part of the point of my graphic: The pools of new Pokémon each generation are barely big enough to give a minimum of representation to every type, meaning most types will have to be represented by one two-stage family and that's pretty much it. But the archetypes still get a free pass to do exactly the same as has been done several times before, every time, and there are as many of them now as there were when each generation introduced twice as many Pokémon. They're hogging slots that could have been used for different concepts. Or at least their roles could have had some variation to them. Or once in a while they could have skipped one of the archetypes, freeing up room for more creatures elsewhere in the 'dex. As it is, whenever a new generation is made, way too many slots are taken up by repeating the same old concepts, and this gets egregious when they insist on having so few slots overall. One or the other needs to yield, or they'll practically spend one third to half of each generation re-doing old concepts.
*(come to think of it, is Hoppip the regional bird of Johto in Pokémon Crystal? It's found on the first Route, evolves by level at level 18 and again at 27, and all members of the family have Flying as a secondary type. It's not a bird, but it is a flyer and has all the hallmarks of the archetype - except it can't learn Fly, but honestly nobody would have complained if it did. A Pokémon like Hoppip could easily have taken on the role of "regional bird" in a future game if it's still so dang important to have a new three-stage Something/Flying-type available at the start of every game).
People traditionally tend to consider Hoothoot to be Johto's "regional bird" even if it's a two stage line. Hoenn also has two lines of early route birds that are 2-staged yet still considered the regional birds (Taillow and Wingull).
I was thinking earlier today that a Mothman Pokémon would be pretty neat, which got me thinking...
Unova and Kalos were made at a time where GF was moving away from Japanese regions, but they didn't go all-in on the native inspirations for the regions yet. The regions themselves are fine, but the Pokémon themselves didn't fully embrace their cultures like some of the 'mons in Alola and Galar (the latter two also benefit from regional forms, which usually take inspiration from their region's origin). The only Gen V Pokémon that strike me as particularly "American" are:
-Pidove (because pigeons live in cities and NYC is a big city)
-Lilligant (Southern Belle)
-Basculin (because bass live in New York, according to Sugimori)
-Maractus (maybe? Cacti are excusive to the Americas, but Hoenn had cacti too)
-Sigilyph (Nazca Lines)
-Elgyem and Beheeyem (traditional aliens)
-and obviously Braviary, the American eagle
This is more notable because in my view because the starters and legendaries have very distinct inspirations that are far removed from Unova's basis. We have French aristocrats, Zhu Bajie, samurai, yin-yang dragons, the Three Musketeers, and Japanese gods, which are all very cool but not very American (unless you consider being a cultural kitchen sink to be American).
Meanwhile, the only particularly French Kalos Pokémon I can think of is Furfrou, because poodles are associated with France, though I'm not too familiar with French culture so there might be some others. Goodra might also count if it's based on the Lou Carcolh. The Kalos starters are based on RPG classes, but RPGs are often based in European fantasy settings so it's not too odd in this case. Xerneas and Yveltal have a life and death theme that is more general than any of Unova's legendaries, so that's not too odd either.
Now this isn't to say that every Unova/Kalos Pokémon needed some American/French inspiration. Mostly this is an elaborate way of saying that it would be cool if we got more American monsters like Bigfoot, a Chupacabra, Mothman, and the Jersey Devil, or Native American legends like the thunderbird or wendigo. We don't need another American region to get those, since we got Dragapult the American aircraft in Galar and we have one American monster in the form of Sableye (based on the Hopkinsville Goblin which is popular in Japan). But Galar has corgis, tea, Stonehenge, Charlie Chaplin, and inaccurate prehistoric animals among other things, so it's not like it's Britishness is in dispute.
Speaking of inspirations, it's a bit strange that we don't have any legendaries based on the Four Symbols yet. They're basically everywhere in anime and games so you'd think Pokémon would tap into them after eight generations.
Unova and Kalos were made at a time where GF was moving away from Japanese regions, but they didn't go all-in on the native inspirations for the regions yet. The regions themselves are fine, but the Pokémon themselves didn't fully embrace their cultures like some of the 'mons in Alola and Galar (the latter two also benefit from regional forms, which usually take inspiration from their region's origin). The only Gen V Pokémon that strike me as particularly "American" are:
-Pidove (because pigeons live in cities and NYC is a big city)
-Lilligant (Southern Belle)
-Basculin (because bass live in New York, according to Sugimori)
-Maractus (maybe? Cacti are excusive to the Americas, but Hoenn had cacti too)
-Sigilyph (Nazca Lines)
-Elgyem and Beheeyem (traditional aliens)
-and obviously Braviary, the American eagle
This is more notable because in my view because the starters and legendaries have very distinct inspirations that are far removed from Unova's basis. We have French aristocrats, Zhu Bajie, samurai, yin-yang dragons, the Three Musketeers, and Japanese gods, which are all very cool but not very American (unless you consider being a cultural kitchen sink to be American).
Meanwhile, the only particularly French Kalos Pokémon I can think of is Furfrou, because poodles are associated with France, though I'm not too familiar with French culture so there might be some others. Goodra might also count if it's based on the Lou Carcolh. The Kalos starters are based on RPG classes, but RPGs are often based in European fantasy settings so it's not too odd in this case. Xerneas and Yveltal have a life and death theme that is more general than any of Unova's legendaries, so that's not too odd either.
Now this isn't to say that every Unova/Kalos Pokémon needed some American/French inspiration. Mostly this is an elaborate way of saying that it would be cool if we got more American monsters like Bigfoot, a Chupacabra, Mothman, and the Jersey Devil, or Native American legends like the thunderbird or wendigo. We don't need another American region to get those, since we got Dragapult the American aircraft in Galar and we have one American monster in the form of Sableye (based on the Hopkinsville Goblin which is popular in Japan). But Galar has corgis, tea, Stonehenge, Charlie Chaplin, and inaccurate prehistoric animals among other things, so it's not like it's Britishness is in dispute.
Speaking of inspirations, it's a bit strange that we don't have any legendaries based on the Four Symbols yet. They're basically everywhere in anime and games so you'd think Pokémon would tap into them after eight generations.
Hop uses Snorlax when he already has Dubwool, which he's more associated with. Snorlax could've been replaced with something else -- like one of the rarer Fossils depending on your version -- so he's not throwing out two bulky Normal-types and getting beef for being a "boring, friendly rival".
Or one of the other Pokemon he toyed with in his mid-life crisis:
Cramorant
Toxtricity
Sandaconda
Trevenant
Heatmor
Boltund
Of all the Pokemon to keep, Snorlax was not the one. Also lol at Pincurchin being his third Electric-type.
I would actually prefer GF avoid basing anything on American Indian legends unless they hire a very good American Indian consultant. The W*ndigo is an example of this, it's been so mangled by people using it in media without understanding it that an accurate depiction would likely be unrecognizable to the majority of the players. GF isn't actually bad about this stuff, by the standards of video game companies, but this is an area that is primed for missteps, and as a mostly-Japanese company with a preference for small teams, I doubt they would even realize just how big a minefield they were walking into.
Has anyone been sued for using Native American legends like the wendigo? If not, I think them hiring a Native American consultant is going a bit overboard. Pokemon has plenty of Pokemon based on mythical creatures from around the world, never had they needed a consultant then. And this is mainly because Pokemon would change it into a less frightening creature, just as they've changed their own local Yokai into more friendly creatures. Heck, Pokemon already has a few Native American based Pokemon: Zapdos is clearly based on the Thunder Bird and Natu family are based on totem poles (the Rufflet family also are wearing Native American chief headdresses).
The only reason GF would need to talk with a consultant was if they were making a group of human characters & a location based on the Native Americans and their culture. But just to make family friendly monsters out of their legends? Like, I doubt GF talked with any Hawaiian advisors and they turned their four major deities into Legendary Pokemon (and treated them with respect), so I think they'll be fine.
Generally no, no one's been sued. That's not because no one's done anything offensive, basically every depiction of a w*ndigo in western media has been offensively wrong, it's because generally American Indian beliefs aren't considered worth protecting by the US government. I'd prefer it if Pokemon didn't contribute to that.
What exactly has been wrongly depicted about the wendigo that you're upset about? And note the Pokemon depiction/adaptation of the creature is of course not going to accurately depict it (like I've said Pokemon has done for many other mythical creatures).
Also, doesn't matter if the US government consider it worth it's time, if Native American tribes considered it offensive they themselves can submit a case of unjust cultural depiction.
The nearest to being sued that I know of is that when Poundmaker of the Cree tribe was introduced in Sid Meier's Civilization VI as DLC, the contemporary leader of the Cree tribe essentially denounced the game because, even though Poundmaker was being represented in a positive and accurate light, no member of the tribe had been consulted during development.
Which I think is a little too much. It's not like they had a British advisor when adding Queen Victoria I to the game, or a Kongolese one when adding Mvemba a Nzinga. As you said, video games often draw influence from loads of cultures globally. Hiring a specialist advisor for each one is not only unnecessary, but pretty untenable.
Edit for above: In fairness I don't see how a Wendigo Pokémon would ever happen. Cannibalism is far too heavy for Pokémon, even with the surprisingly dark PokéDex entries some Pokémon have. And it doesn't even have a definite form to draw influence from beyond human-like.
Anyway, speaking of mythical monsters, it's strange how Sword and Shield skipped out on including a Loch Ness monster. Gen VIII isn't over yet so they could technically still add one as a Mythic, but Zarude seems pretty random so they could just add whatever.
Personally I consider Zapdos to be a generic "lightning bird" rather than specifically being based on the Native American thunderbird; likewise I consider Articuno to be an "ice bird" and Moltres is a "fire bird" rather than a phoenix. Ho-Oh, meanwhile, is primarily based on Fenghuang with some inspiration from the traditional phoenix.