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Unpopular opinions
- Thread starter antemortem
- Start date
Yeah, been hearing about that too. For a Champion battle this was pretty anticlimatic.
It's Haxorus now. Frankly, it's pretty nice since Axew always dreamed to evolve.
I kind of saw it coming given its conspicous absence in the preview. But I'm glad it's indeed the case.
The Mind Electric
Calming if you look at it right.
God, it would have been so funny for Iris to become Champion with an Axew as her ace though.
PLEASE tell me you actually run this set before! Haha too bad Thundurus can't learn Toxic anymore tho! With Toxic over Taunt, could be a decent Hail-Mary lol
Axew fully evolved to Haxorus... though for some reason her Gible is still a Gible. Like, at least make it a Gabite.
I do legitimately use this set. I play 1v1 mainly, so I made some themed teams of the legendary trios, one being the Fujin trio (Thundurus-Incarnate, Tornadus-Incarnate, Landorus-Incarnate) and I also make... odd sets to say the least. I came up with this, and this is probably my most used on the team.
Now, on the topic of unpopular opinions. Every pokemon has a purpose to exist. One thing I thought of was Dodrio. Not the most loved, and I can see many people saying it was unneeded. But when it was first introduced it was pretty good with its speed and attack, 2 stabs that worked well with said stats and was an upgrade to all of the flying types you would have at that point, with it evolving earlier than Pidgeotto and still having better stats and moveset. And I do mean every pokemon. While I cannot list all of them, I guarantee I can find a use for every pokemon when they were introduced.
I have a rough time believing this, unless "a use" includes memes, folklorical reference, or straight experimentation.
Unown.
Well they didn't say it was a "good" use.
And I'm only being semi-sarcastic. Like, sure, as long as the Pokemon can learn multiple moves you can come up with a strategy it can use... but whether it'll do anything to make it viable is a separate question. Like, let's take Scatterbug. Now it's much like the other basic stage gen bug where it learns practically nothing and lucky if it gets any TMs, Tutors, or Egg Moves. Heck, Scatterbug was dexited so I'm looking at it's Gen VII movepool. Still, if asked to try and make it "useful", here what I would do:
Ability:
(If Double Battle & available: Friend Guard)
(If Single Battle or can only use standard Abilities: Compound Eyes)
Held Item:
(If has Friend Guard: Zoom Lens/Wide Lens)
(If has Compound Eyes: King's Rock/Quick Claw)
Moves:
(If Double Battle: Rage Powder, Stun Spore, String Shot, Bug Bite)
(If Single Battle: Poison Powder/Stun Spore, String Shot, Bug Bite, Tackle)
Strategy: Be as annoying as possible.
In a Double Battle use Rage Powder every turn to make the opponent waste at least a single turn taking out Scatterbug. If opponent's Pokemon are immune to Rage Powder (meaning they're likely a Grass-type or have Safety Goggles thus immune to Stun Spore too) try slowing them down with a String Shot. If you somehow are able to get their active Pokemon all to -6 Speed (or to a low enough Speed you feel comfortable at), I guess go on the offense with Bug Bite (though if you suspect their Pokemon is holding a Berry you can try a Bug Bite early to get rid of it). Having access to Friend Guard is nice as it reduces damage to likely your main attacker, though Compound Eyes would make Stun Spore more likely to hit.
In a Single Battle try to hit it either with Poison Powder (just accepting it's likely fate of fainting before doing any significant damage so try and leave a lasting impression) or Stun Spore (if you want to to actually try and hopefully this will buy Scatterbug some turns if it's not OHKOed). Eitherway, next decision is another multi-choice: String Shot (wanting to try and set up advantage for the next Pokemon out after Scatterbug) or Bug Bite/Tackle (actually try fighting back, though once again if you suspect your opponent has a Berry you can use Bug Bite to get rid of it). If you went the String Shot option and got the opponent's Pokemon down to a Speed you're comfortable with and still not fainted (you may want to check your opponent didn't fall asleep... or laughed themselves to death; remember if they did either that's a forfeit which means you won with Scatterbug!), than go nuts with Bug Bite/Tackle.
Now, is the above a good solid strategy? DISTORTION WORLD NO. Even in Little Cup Scatterbug ain't surviving for long enough to start actually attacking; lucky to even get a String Shot off. However, as basic and probably not very effective as this is, for Scatterbug, this is a "use" for it.
Of course, Scatterbug is """lucky""" to have access to some useful Abilities and Rage Powder for use in Doubles. Other gen bugs not so much (though a few get Electroweb which Scatterbug doesn't for some reason, but at most that just replaces String Shot as the Speed decreasing move). And then we have Pokemon like Unown where the ONLY choice you have (aside not using it, a choice you should always make) is what item it holds (well, I guess also Hidden Power's Type though that's a one-time decision thing) and I don't know what non-joke item I could even give it (maybe just a Sitrus Berry? King's Rock/Quick Claw if you're feeling really generous?).
It's worth noting that sometimes a Pokemon's potential "purpose" for existing even in the context of its own generation may not necessarily even be for battles. Skitty and Delcatty for example are pretty terrible in battle, but in the games they debuted in they had Contests, which Delcatty's aesthetic and movepool are nigh perfect for. This isn't just Skitty for that matter either: several Gen 3 Pokemon, while poorly suited for the field of battle, can shine excellently in certain categories of contests thanks to their movepools and their designs making them ideal contest candidates. Luvdisc for one can also shine pretty greatly in the contest sphere (also Wallace and Juan use a Luvdisc, and both are Coordinators in at least some canons). Mawile can excel in Tough Contests, and Sableye shines in the Smart Contests, even though both are mediocre battle wise (without their Megas).
Overall, Gen 3 is the most notable example, but in some instances a Pokemon's reason for existing may actually be outside of the battlefield and aligns more to showcase or be used as a part of a feature that defines that game they debuted in.
Overall, Gen 3 is the most notable example, but in some instances a Pokemon's reason for existing may actually be outside of the battlefield and aligns more to showcase or be used as a part of a feature that defines that game they debuted in.
Deleted User 465389
Banned deucer.
probably something to do with showing off fancy skills at coding 26 different letter variants, until spinda came one generation later
...wow it got outclassed at the thing it was showing off by spinda
Perhaps, but that does not means they are 100% futureproof. Contests only returned in Generation 4 (plus their remake) and ORAS, and we never seen the contests ever again since, meaning that outside those games, we really cannot see the Skitty’s line cuteness, Luvdisc’s “beauty”, Mawile’s toughness without its Mega Evolution, or Sableye’s intellegence in full action anymore, and lost some of their appeals since.
If anything, even the single-staged Gen 1 Pokémon - including those that were one before getting an evolution and / or pre-evolution in later generations - aged better than, say, Roselia before it got an entire line, and especially Volbeat, Illumise, and Luvdisc.
It does not help that a too few of “gimmicky” or contextually unique / helpful get compensation the moment their appeal is lost.
I think Unown's defining trait is just to be this bizarre, alien creature. This is most obviously demonstrated by the various methods and places you encounter it, but I think it works in combat too. While only applicable to its debut generation, Hidden Power was a previously unknown move, so you have this weird Pokemon who seems to constantly shift its form and type with no rhyme or reason. But also, I think it being completely bereft of viability works towards this. Pokemon like Luvdisc and Delibird are horrendous, sure, but you can at least tell what they're supposed to do, even if they're bad at it. Unown has no discernible purpose whatsoever among the rest of the fully-evolved Pokemon, so it doesn't feel created, and I mean that both in-universe and by the developers. Regardless of how much of that is intentional, it contributes to how every aspect of Unown feels like it doesn't belong in this world.
As ScraftyIsTheBest said, its use doesn't need to be battle-related. It's use is the early-game bug for the region with generally bad stats. As with other early-game bugs, it evolves into the cocoon, which isn't amazing either. Finally, it evolves into the adult bug, in this case being Vivillion. It evolves into this early, and is made to be used early-game... powerhouse? of sorts. It also gives a fun way to customise the patern of the Vivillion with the changing of the region.
I mean even now, Luvdisc is still a reliable source of heart scales, which are useful for move reminders or just selling. Sableye now has its gimmick with prankster, and Mawile... well, it got an interesting mega... Delcatty has a fun ability, being normalize.
But then you have the Gen VII games that let you order meals at restaurants to get Heart Scales, so you don't even need to look for wild Luvdisc.
Even then, it costs $400 for 2 pokeballs, while a meal for 1 heart scale (eventually 2) costs $500. So while Luvdisc only have a 50% chance to have a heart scale, if you are willing to gamble you can end up getting more. Though this is only in gen 7, and in every other generation past gen 3 they are an easily renewable source of heart scales.
The Mind Electric
Calming if you look at it right.
Scarf Luvdisc can one-shot Mega Rayquaza with Ice Beam. Therefore, Luvdisc is better than Mega Rayquaza.
When will Luvdisc finally be placed in AG where it belongs?
When will Luvdisc finally be placed in AG where it belongs?
Soon, my friend. Soon.
252+ SpA Luvdisc Ice Beam vs. 0 HP / 0- SpD Rayquaza-Mega: 276-328 (86.2 - 102.5%) -- 18.8% chance to OHKO
Sure, if the Luvdisc is fighting a minimum IV, negative nature Mega Ray (increasing the HP IV to 9 or the SpD IV to 7 will make the OHKO impossible) after a teammate neutralizes Mega Rayquaza's ability then it's possible. Or if you give the Luvdisc a level advantage.
Also imagine catching Luvdiscs when farming heart scales rather than using a Thief Compoundeyes Pokemon.
The Mind Electric
Calming if you look at it right.
Exactly! Glad someone agrees.
I have a tendency to run Frisk over Compoundeyes when item farming since it means I don't need to go back for PP heals as much.
This happens to me all the time.
And yeah true thief farming is a thing that can be done.
So I was scrolling through and saw this, realized no one commented on it due to the discussion at the time, and thought it was a good point. This kinda goes back to the argument of "no pokemon has a bad design", which I definitely agree with. Obviously, some are a lot less inspired than others, an example being the pikaclones. But even then, they have taken each pikaclone and made them interesting in some way, design-wise, battle-wise, and game-wise This also relates to the "every pokemon has a use" argument currently, and I definitely agree with this person here. While I do still dislike certain gens more than others, it's more due to preference towards pokemon in the gen, not hating the ones in the gen I don't like as much.
Good thing it was specifically mentioned in the post that the Pokemon had a specific purpose when it was created, not for the future.
Also Unown is heavily featured ingame with the Ruins of Alph and Solaceon Ruins, as well as being a part of the Arceus event cutscene, and even getting its own movie. Definitely has heavy story reasons to exist, and as has been previously stated, a Pokemon’s purpose doesn’t necessarily have to be battle/competitive related. (since this is a competitive website, its easy to forget how small and insignificant a group of total Pokemon players this is)