Little things you like about Pokémon

[R_N]

For newer games I don't give such a pass. Especially Gen 4 which add more babies and more stuff to make them difficult to obtain with breeding items.

Gen 4 definitely has an issue, we've all gone over the Diamond & Pearl Dex nonsense, but the cross-gen new babies I would not put in that bin. 6 of them were readily available in the wild at decent-to-common encounter rates(Budew is super early & common, Bonsly/Mime Jr are uncommon around hearthome, Chingling hangs out at decent rates near mt coronet iirc, Mantyke is all over the ocean routes, you're given a Happiny egg) and spread throughout the game. Their breeding items were definitely spread around a bit more, but obtaining them wasn't too terrible an ordeal (certainly better than the trade evolution items or stones....).
Munchlax was definitely the worst, what with not jsut being super rare on honey trees (itself, an ordeal to use!) but only on certain honey trees. Unless you were super lucky or patient it was literally better to just trade or port over a snorlax then use the incense method.

And then moving forward they just shove all the incenses into a single shop for you to buy.

 

[DrPumpkinz]

Some foreign names for Pokémon are great. For example, Eelektross in France is Ohmassacre. No wonder Ghetsis has one.

The French localization team in particular is amazing. Flip Turn is named Eau Revoir there.

 

[Hugin]

Route 25 in Gens I/III. Specifically, this scene right here. You don't have Cut yet, and there's a TM behind that tree. Now, you can just come back later, or you can fight the trainer in such a way that he walks 2 squares forward and you can squeeze behind him. Little puzzles like that, which require you interact with the world in an unexpected way, are a lot of fun for me.

 

[The Mind Electric]

Route 25 in Gens I/III. Specifically, this scene right here. You don't have Cut yet, and there's a TM behind that tree. Now, you can just come back later, or you can fight the trainer in such a way that he walks 2 squares forward and you can squeeze behind him. Little puzzles like that, which require you interact with the world in an unexpected way, are a lot of fun for me.
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This is also a good use of HMs IMO. You don't necessarily need Cut to get the item here, but you will if you screw up the little puzzle and miss your chance at getting it the other way. This setup gives the HM a use while also giving you the chance to not have to use it if you don't want to give it to one of your Pokémon.

 

[Sceptilian70]

Route 25 in Gens I/III. Specifically, this scene right here. You don't have Cut yet, and there's a TM behind that tree. Now, you can just come back later, or you can fight the trainer in such a way that he walks 2 squares forward and you can squeeze behind him. Little puzzles like that, which require you interact with the world in an unexpected way, are a lot of fun for me.
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I love things that are not Nintended

 

[R_N]

That puzzle (such as it was) was definitely intended, for whatever reason. they specificaly put the trainer there in place of a bush and specifically had him walk forward when they could have easily set it up so the was closer to you, in front of a bush or eeven a trainer that can only see you right in front the face.

The intent was probably always to be "if you go through the route normally, and pay attention,you'll notice that there's a gap there and can get the item early!"

I put it in the same realm of gameplay things as "there's a point of no return from mt moon to cerulean" or the "SS Anne is the only location in the series you can never return to": quirky overworld elements likely inspired by whatever RPGs they were thinking of at the time, but only did once in the game.

 

[TMan87]

You say it's intended, but isn't it a spot that can softlock you if you save and restart in that space without a Pokémon knowing Cut?

 

[R_N]

You say it's intended, but isn't it a spot that can softlock you if you save and restart in that space without a Pokémon knowing Cut?

It's been a while but I believe that the "state" of the trainers doesnt reset until you leave the route.
I know the cut bushes reset, however, which is why if yo usave on one without fly you can't go anywhere.


If I'm wrong I think both "this is an intended method of getting the item" and "this is also a softlock they didn't catch during development" can both coexist.

 

[Siggu]

Especially since...

they didn't catch during development

This is basically Gen I's motto.

 

[Pikachu315111]

So, I was looking through the Pokemon GO availability list cause I was curious how many Pokemon they were skipping over to get Gen 8 in the game before its no longer relevant when I remembered that they made a whole batch of Pokemon exclusive to certain places in the world where it made sense. Didn't think much of it at a time, but now looking through them I find some of the references neat, ones which I had to research to figure out, and others which are still a mystery:

• Kangaskhan (Australia): Think this was the go-to example, obviously Australia is where kangaroos originated from.
  
  
• Mr. Mime family (Europe): While there is the history side of things, for most of us this probably brings the idea of cartoons when they featured a European county (usually in France, usually nearby the Eiffel Tower) where you see a mime doing their performance (either annoying the main character or something in the background). Makes me curious if this is also why Mr. Mime got a Galarian Variant.
  
  
• Tauros (North America): When you think large cattle of cows/bulls, you probably think of the US midwest. Had it been released nowadays I'd imagine they'd limit it to the US midwest, but since this was the initial release they let it be for all of North America.
  
  
• Heracross (South America & Florida): Now this is where they start getting a bit specific in location. So, why Heracross in these locations? It's likely a reference to the Megasoma genus which are the largest rhinoceros beetle species. Specifically, the Actaeon Beetle (the largest rhinoceros beetle) found in South America and the Elephant Beetle, the largest rhinoceros beetle in the US which is found in Florida and other southern states.
  
  
• Corsola (Latitudes between 26 & 31 degrees): Between these two latitudes there's quite a few notable coral reefs around the world: Florida's Miami Terrace Reef, the Hawaiian Island reefs, Sha'b Abu Nuhas in the Nothern Red Sea, and Qixingyan in Taiwan (among many others). Surprised they didn't extend it down all the way to include the Great Barrier Reef's latitude (or had the two latitudes where it is be another location where they spawned).
  
  
• Volbeat (Europe, Asia & Oceania) & Illumise (Americas & Africa): I'm going to guess the reason they're separated is because each is referencing a different species of firefly, though still a bit strange to split them up being they're meant to be breeding pairs.
  
  
• Zanoose (Europe, Asia & Ocean) & Seviper (Americas & Africa): Again, another odd pair to split up but this time because they're rival species constantly fighting one another for territory (which they can't do if each has their own territory). But at least this one does have another there explanation: Reference to their core series version exclusivity. When Gen III was released, Zangoose was only available in Ruby & Seviper only in Sapphire. This matches with the next split pair.
  
  
• Lunatone (Americas & Africa) & Solrock (Europe, Asia & Ocean): Solrock was exclusive in Ruby, Lunatone in Sapphire. Though oddly Gen III seems to be the only generation they've done this with in GO. Also some other obvious Gen III pairs you would think they'd split up like Plusle and Minun aren't (would make more sense than Volbeat & Illumise).
  
  
• Tropius (Africa & surrounding areas): The word "banana" is believed to be of West African origin, possibly from the Wolof language word of the fruit "banaana" (yeah, I'd say that's a pretty good guess). Africa has an important place in the history of the world spread of bananas; basically Portuguese colonists set up banana plantations in several places including western Africa which made them more available to the rest of the world (and became staple food sources for the people there).
  
  
• Relicanth (New Zealand & nearby islands): Hey, would you look at that, New Zealand also wondered why it got Relicanth... and they have no clue too. New Zealand has no coelacanth fossils and coelacanths were "rediscovered" in South Africa. Infact, my research on banana pointed their origin coming from New Guinea which is part of the Australasian region that New Zealand is also a part of. Niantic, did you swap the locations for Tropius and Relicanth? Was it because of the banana word origin trivia? Or did you think people would find it more believable for the fish to be placed where there's a lot of water?
  
  
• Pachirisu (Northern Canada, Russia & Alaska): So, even though Pachirisu is based on what we consider "normal" squirrels with the big fluffy tails, I think Pachirisu's distribution is based on where you mostly find marmots. Marmots, for those who don't know, are the heaviest species of a group of squirrels known as ground squirrels (who are more adapted to colder environments though they still hibernate for Winter). I have no idea why Niantic decided on that, but that's the best explanation I can find to explain why the squirrel Pokemon isn't also found in the mainland US and Europe.
  
  
• Chatot (Southern Hemisphere): That's the part of the hemisphere where you find most parrot species.
  
  
• Carnivine (South-Eastern United States): You'd think Venus flytraps were some kind of tropical plant, but nope! They're a native species to the wetlands of the South-Eastern United States.
  
  
• Uxie (Asia-Pacific Regions), Mesprit (Europe & Africa), & Azelf (Americas): Now this is an interesting split as no other Legendary Trio has done this (which, aside from the Legendary Birds for in-lore reasons, you'd think they would have done for the other trios). So, as a reminder, the Lake Guardians embody the three parts of a spirit: Uxie is knowledge, Mesprit is emotions, and Azelf is willpower. I suppose there could be connections to their spiritual traits you can associate the parts of the world they were assigned to, though if you don't feel comfortable stereotyping like that we can also agree they just rolled a die/picked a name & region from a hat and move on.
  
  
• Pansage family (Asia-Pacific Regions), Pansear family (Europe & Africa), & Panpour family (Americas): OH HERE WE GO AGAIN! Though, I think this time it may be just random? Well, maybe not for Pansage, or rather Simisage who has a bosozoku/yankee hairstyle. But if that's the case, what relates Simisear to Europe/Africa and Simipour to the Americas? Like, I heard some say Simipour's hairstyle bring to mind the flappers of 1920's USA. But Simisear brings a certain other subculture in mind which may or may not be intentional but if it is I'm not sure if Europe & Africa was the best place to put it. Eh, let's just say random and move on... And no I highly doubt it has anything to do with the Three Wise Monkeys.
  
  
• Bouffalant (New York & surrounding area): Oh good, an easy one! The American Bison/Buffalo was native to New York. We also have a city named "Buffalo" as some of you may know from the popular "8x buffalo is a proper sentence" meme.
  
  
• Klefki (France): And our final one, for now. So, aside from Kalos being based on France seems rather super specific. Like, had it just been Europe as a whole would make more sense as just a general reference to the fey. The only thing I could find relating France to "fairy" and "keys" is the fairytale of Bluebeard which I don't think would be something they'd reference. Bluebeard if a fairytale of French origin about a young woman who marries a rich & powerful noble named Bluebeard who is known to marry woman who than mysteriously vanish. Bluebeard tells his new wife to never go into the basement before giving her the keys to it. As you'd expect, she goes into the basement (the story usually has her sister/cousins suggest she do so & go along with her) and discovers the bloody corpses of Bluebeard's former wives. She drops the key which gets soaked in blood and is unable to clean it, Bluebeard discovering it. He prepares to kill her but her sister's/cousin's husband(s) than come in and kill Bluebeard. And since Bluebeard is dead his fortune now goes to his young wife who uses it to help the rest of her family and eventually is able to move on and remarry herself; they lived happily ever after. Yeah, not so sure if that's the reason but it's kind of the only one I can find.

 

[RocketSurgery]

• Lunatone (Americas & Africa) & Solrock (Europe, Asia & Ocean): Solrock was exclusive in Ruby, Lunatone in Sapphire. Though oddly Gen III seems to be the only generation they've done this with in GO. Also some other obvious Gen III pairs you would think they'd split up like Plusle and Minun aren't (would make more sense than Volbeat & Illumise).
• 
  
• Klefki (France): And our final one, for now. So, aside from Kalos being based on France seems rather super specific. Like, had it just been Europe as a whole would make more sense as just a general reference to the fey. The only thing I could find relating France to "fairy" and "keys" is the fairytale of Bluebeard which I don't think would be something they'd reference. Bluebeard if a fairytale of French origin about a young woman who marries a rich & powerful noble named Bluebeard who is known to marry woman who than mysteriously vanish. Bluebeard tells his new wife to never go into the basement before giving her the keys to it. As you'd expect, she goes into the basement (the story usually has her sister/cousins suggest she do so & go along with her) and discovers the bloody corpses of Bluebeard's former wives. She drops the key which gets soaked in blood and is unable to clean it, Bluebeard discovering it. He prepares to kill her but her sister's/cousin's husband(s) than come in and kill Bluebeard. And since Bluebeard is dead his fortune now goes to his young wife who uses it to help the rest of her family and eventually is able to move on and remarry herself; they lived happily ever after. Yeah, not so sure if that's the reason but it's kind of the only one I can find.

Plusle and Minun actually were originally region exclusive, and then there was an event in which... they just stopped being region exclusive.

Others have switched region. Solrock and Lunatone switch east solstice, and seviper/zangoose swapped at one point (and I think never swapped back), and heatmor/durant swapped, I think may have also never swapped back.

Shellos forms are also region exclusive, except for the first few hours of their release when they accidentally weren't. (And the next two spotlight hours will make them not region exclusive).

As for Klefki, I think the leading theory is the love lock bridge in Paris.

 

[Imperial Magala]

Hitmontop's Gen 6 and onward animation is based on Ginga, a Capoeira technique that allows practitioners to be both evasive and always in a position to strike.

Capoeira itself uses many different techniques that involve spinning and flips.

Basically, its Gen 6 and onward animation implies Hitmontop has a mastery over a specific martial art instead of just spinning around and being a top.

 

[Wukong]

Hitmontop's Gen 6 and onward animations is based on Ginga, a Capoeira technique that allows practitioners to be both evasive and always in a position to strike.

Capoeira itself uses many different techniques that involve spinning and flips.

Basically, its Gen 6 and onward animation implies Hitmontop has a mastery over a specific martial art instead of just spinning around and being a top.

I just did a complete 180 on Hitmontop's 3D design. I went from hating it for not having him spinning like usual, to loving it by showing him as a true capoeirista. Great post.

 

[Bakugames]

Hitmontop's Gen 6 and onward animations is based on Ginga, a Capoeira technique that allows practitioners to be both evasive and always in a position to strike.

Capoeira itself uses many different techniques that involve spinning and flips.

Basically, its Gen 6 and onward animation implies Hitmontop has a mastery over a specific martial art instead of just spinning around and being a top.

I never understood why people disliked tops 3d animation because I already knew about capoeira. Honestly, I don't understand why they went with a spinning upside down concept if they wanted to represent capoeira all along. Unless my knowledge of it faltered, there's no moves that come even close to hitmontops spin thing, other than some high arc jumps.

Sure, capoeira is about constant movement and rhythm as it is as much of a dance as a martial art, but spinning seems more like all dance, in specific breakdancing.

 

[Imperial Magala]

I consider it more of a retcon since all of Hitmontop's sprites and animations beforehand were it constantly spinning or upside-down.

Hitmontop in Gen 5 was just upside down with a relatively generic stance, so I feel it was added entirely for flavor and to connect an actual fighting style, like boxing or kickboxing.

 

[Wukong]

I never understood why people disliked tops 3d animation because I already knew about capoeira. Honestly, I don't understand why they went with a spinning upside down concept if they wanted to represent capoeira all along. Unless my knowledge of it faltered, there's no moves that come even close to hitmontops spin thing, other than some high arc jumps.

Sure, capoeira is about constant movement and rhythm as it is as much of a dance as a martial art, but spinning seems more like all dance, in specific breakdancing.

To be fair Hitmontop as a concept is an amalgam of a spinning top AND capoeira. I don't blame them for going with the upside down look in Gens 2-5 because it adds a TON of character to the Pokémon. Just look at how cool this looks:

But post Gen 5 having Hitmontop perform that technique does a great job of tying it to a specific martial art form. I am vaguely familiar with capoeira but never knew about this Ginga technique which is why it was pretty eye opening.

 

[Bakugames]

To be fair Hitmontop as a concept is an amalgam of a spinning top AND capoeira. I don't blame them for going with the upside down look in Gens 2-5 because it adds a TON of character to the Pokémon. Just look at how cool this looks:

But post Gen 5 having Hitmontop perform that technique does a great job of tying it to a specific martial art form. I am vaguely familiar with capoeira but never knew about this Ginga technique which is why it was pretty eye opening.

I think its because i see mashing tops and capoeira as somewhat contradictory. While they both focus on constant movement, tops are all about spinning in place and not changing form (unless youre a beyblade), while capoeira relies on a person being able to be nimble and ready to change position, constantly changing places and reacting to your foe, which is why Ginga is such an important move to end as the building block of Capoeira.

Does that make sense? I have a hard time explaining capoeira in english

 

[Wukong]

I think its because i see mashing tops and capoeira as somewhat contradictory. While they both focus on constant movement, tops are all about spinning in place and not changing form (unless youre a beyblade), while capoeira relies on a person being able to be nimble and ready to change position, constantly changing places and reacting to your foe, which is why Ginga is such an important move to end as the building block of Capoeira.

Does that make sense? I have a hard time explaining capoeira in english

That makes sense. Though I don't think Hitmontop has to strictly abide by the rules of capoeira in terms of its design. To me, it only draws some inspiration from capoeira rather than being purely derived from it.

There a lot of great Pokémon designs that combine elements from disaggregate sources and meld them together. For example, Scyther is a combination of a mantis and a velociraptor. On paper, the two have nothing to do with one another. Yet GF pulls off a great design by melding these two together in a seamless way.

I think Hitmontop has a very good design as well. It doesn't have to be literal in its interpretation of capoeira because that's only one part of its design.

 

[Ironmage]

I would actually speculate that the spinning top aspect came first, and that capoeira was filled in later since the line are all noticably inspired by a particular martial art. A top represents (literal) balance, which is a requirement for obtaining Hitmontop in the first place (equal attack and defense stats). Since I'm pretty sure there isn't a notable martial art that involves a headstand stance, the high movement of capoeira was used instead.

 

[R_N]

I would actually speculate that the spinning top aspect came first, and that capoeira was filled in later since the line are all noticably inspired by a particular martial art. A top represents (literal) balance, which is a requirement for obtaining Hitmontop in the first place (equal attack and defense stats). Since I'm pretty sure there isn't a notable martial art that involves a headstand stance, the high movement of capoeira was used instead.

The very first instance of Hitmontop was basically best described as "weird top monster"

Though, strangely, the Japanese name was the same as its final, a corruption of capoeria: Kapoeraa

So I guess by the time of spaceworld they had already decided on capoeria theming and I wonder if that's the real reason for the drastic redesign. So it could actually like, look like it would do things. Even the GS dex entries mentions its dance like kicks, so the more flexible humanoid design was what they went with. iirc its anime episode was also about those kind of kicks, though it's been a while.
but they probably kept it doing more "top things" to represent the balance thing and finally decided to change that in gen 6 probably since full 3D models made it better to mimic the style.

 

[Wukong]

I would actually speculate that the spinning top aspect came first, and that capoeira was filled in later since the line are all noticably inspired by a particular martial art. A top represents (literal) balance, which is a requirement for obtaining Hitmontop in the first place (equal attack and defense stats). Since I'm pretty sure there isn't a notable martial art that involves a headstand stance, the high movement of capoeira was used instead.

Shit, I didn't even realize the Attack = Defense = Balance = Top point. That's an extremely well thought out concept.

I've used Hitmontop in a decent number of HGSS runs. This whole time I just thought he was a gutsy little fuck who liked to spin on his head and throw kicks. Turns out he's a surprisingly layered Pokémon.

 

[Noiptile]

Initially I thought that Kukui's Pokemon were just random "strong" Pokemon. But I ended up realizing that it's a pretty cool choice. 3 of his Pokemon are Pokemon from people who (apparently) are friends with him (Magnezone=Molayne, Lycanroc=Olivia, Crabominable=Hala), Braviary follows a similar logic (Kahili has one), Snorlax is a must see in Kanto games (recall that Kukui explored Kanto in the past), and Alolan Ninetales represents the alola forms.

I have a LOT to talk about Alola, but I prefer to emphasize how rich the universe there is. I don't think I need to say how much Pokemon really seem to be part of the universe from there. So I'm going to highlight something smaller, but I think it's magnificent. I love the huge existence of events that don't matter in these games, but that make the universe so much richer. Molayne taking his Machamp to work out at Kukui's house, Nanu delivering Alola Meowth of different personalities as initials, among others. I also love how there are lots and lots of new things to do in areas you've already explored. Even minor details are really cool, like a former Team Skull member going to work at the restaurant Mallow is staying at.

My English is not very good so maybe I made a mistake about something

 

[Imperial Magala]

Alolan Ninetales represents the alola forms.

Alternatively...

Which reminds me, did Kukui have his Ninetales when he fought Lance, because while I get that Ninetales in any form isn't a great sweeper, this means he lost to a Dragon user, possibly using his Elite Four Team without Charizard or Aerodactyl, while using an Ice/Fairy Type.

 

[Siggu]

Initially I thought that Kukui's Pokemon were just random "strong" Pokemon. But I ended up realizing that it's a pretty cool choice. 3 of his Pokemon are Pokemon from people who (apparently) are friends with him (Magnezone=Molayne, Lycanroc=Olivia, Crabominable=Hala), Braviary follows a similar logic (Kahili has one), Snorlax is a must see in Kanto games (recall that Kukui explored Kanto in the past), and Alolan Ninetales represents the alola forms.

Another point to consider: save for Alolan Ninetales, all of them can be obtained VERY early into the game.

 

[QuentinQuonce]

Alternatively...
View attachment 363170View attachment 363171
Which reminds me, did Kukui have his Ninetales when he fought Lance, because while I get that Ninetales in any form isn't a great sweeper, this means he lost to a Dragon user, possibly using his Elite Four Team without Charizard or Aerodactyl, while using an Ice/Fairy Type.

Perhaps he caught a regular Vulpix in Kanto, then as soon as he got back to Alola he got swamped by people asking to trade for his cool and exotic fire-type Pokemon.