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Little things you like about Pokémon

This fucking guy.

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Every time the camera cuts to this stoic proud dad lookin' motherfucker standing there with his arms crossed in a sea of cheering spectators, I laugh. Why did they make him look like that, and why do they keep focusing the camera on him?
 
DrPumpkinz said:
This fucking guy.

View attachment 384533

Every time the camera cuts to this stoic proud dad lookin' motherfucker standing there with his arms crossed in a sea of cheering spectators, I laugh. Why did they make him look like that, and why do they keep focusing the camera on him?
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D-daddy?
It's been 10 years since you left mom! Where have you been?
And where's the milk? You said you just needed milk
 
I'm a big fan of the trend for giving the second gym leader a legitimately strong ace outside the context of being early in the game. The trend started off strong with Starmie, one of the best Pokemon in the game and one that would continue to be one of the best Pokemon in the game for many generations. Bugsy's Scyther is a former mid-game fully evolved Pokemon, and through BST weirdness is kind of on par with its new evolved form. Brawly takes a back seat to this trend, as Makuhita wouldn't be particularly threatening to a late-game player, but his Meditite in Emerald somewhat makes up for it by having Focus Punch. Gardenia picks the trend right back up with Roserade, and then it kinda falls off. Nessa somewhat picks it back up with Drednaw, but Starmie and Roserade are still the stand-out examples.
 
It's not in every game (RSE being an exception) but I like how in most games, when you go into the Hall of Fame room before you register, there is complete and utter silence aside from the text noises. It really makes you think about your accomplishment on its own before the grandiose Hall of Fame music comes out to cement your accomplishment on beating the game.

I mean sure most of the games aren't hard but I think it's neat touch of subtle finality that wouldn't be the same without the moment of silence before the credits roll.
 
One thing that I find fun about regional forms that evolve from non-regional form Pokemon being based on the game you evolve them in, rather than the game they orginally came from, is that you can get a lot of fun moves on them that are normally exclusive to older generations where they didn't exist. While this is hardly different from what you could do with other cross-gen evolutions already, It's still nice. Alolan Raichu, Alolan Exeggutor, Alolan Marowak, and Galarian Weezing have access to moves their pre-evolutions got in all prior gens, or even events(like Extremespeed Pikachu and Wish Exeggcute). While Galarian Mr. Mime/Mr. Rime can only draw moves from Gen IV and later(due to Mime Jr. debuting then), there still is some interesting stuff as well.
 
A long while back, I had the Prima Games Strategy Guide guide for FR/LG and I found it again the last time I was at my parents' house and had a flick through.

It's a work of art. I'm going to have to do a longer/more indepth post on it at some point because it's just so hilariously amateurish, in the manner of a lot of tie-in books and strategy guides.

There's a lot that's good about it - the book includes a full Pokedex for the first 251 Pokemon, telling you what moves they learn, where to find them, and how to evolve them (for a lot of the Johto species, it's just "trade from Colosseum", or "trade [species] from Colosseum, then breed") - but the walkthrough just stops dead after Three Island and doesn't cover anything after beating the Elite Four, and contains a lot of incorrect information, like Kingdra evolving from Seadra with a Water Stone or the player being able to use Surf after beating Misty.

One of the things that's most funny to me, though, is that whoever wrote it had evident difficulty working out what Pokemon the rival uses. Whenever you fight the rival, they'd do a short section on how to beat him and display his team in the following format:

EVERYONE FIGHTS:
  • [pokemon]
  • [pokemon]
  • [pokemon]
AND IF YOU PICKED:
  • Bulbasaur (add [pokemon], [pokemon], and [pokemon])
  • Charmander (add [pokemon], [pokemon], and [pokemon])
  • Squirtle (add [pokemon], [pokemon], and [pokemon])
The thing is, they just couldn't seem to make it work. Not only would they often have the wrong Pokemon, like Arcanine or Gyarados, in "everyone fights", in the "and if you picked" section they'd often include more than one starter, double up on types, and sometimes only include two Pokemon. So you had funny stuff like "if you picked Squirtle, add Blastoise, Exeggutor, and Venusaur", or "if you picked Charmander, add Blastoise and Arcanine".

Overall, it's not a bad guide, and gets the majority of stuff pretty right. But it's the little clueless touches that make it memorable for me.
 
green_typhlosion said:
A long while back, I had the Prima Games Strategy Guide guide for FR/LG and I found it again the last time I was at my parents' house and had a flick through.

It's a work of art. I'm going to have to do a longer/more indepth post on it at some point because it's just so hilariously amateurish, in the manner of a lot of tie-in books and strategy guides.

There's a lot that's good about it - the book includes a full Pokedex for the first 251 Pokemon, telling you what moves they learn, where to find them, and how to evolve them (for a lot of the Johto species, it's just "trade from Colosseum", or "trade [species] from Colosseum, then breed") - but the walkthrough just stops dead after Three Island and doesn't cover anything after beating the Elite Four, and contains a lot of incorrect information, like Kingdra evolving from Seadra with a Water Stone or the player being able to use Surf after beating Misty.

One of the things that's most funny to me, though, is that whoever wrote it had evident difficulty working out what Pokemon the rival uses. Whenever you fight the rival, they'd do a short section on how to beat him and display his team in the following format:

EVERYONE FIGHTS:
  • [pokemon]
  • [pokemon]
  • [pokemon]
AND IF YOU PICKED:
  • Bulbasaur (add [pokemon], [pokemon], and [pokemon])
  • Charmander (add [pokemon], [pokemon], and [pokemon])
  • Squirtle (add [pokemon], [pokemon], and [pokemon])
The thing is, they just couldn't seem to make it work. Not only would they often have the wrong Pokemon, like Arcanine or Gyarados, in "everyone fights", in the "and if you picked" section they'd often include more than one starter, double up on types, and sometimes only include two Pokemon. So you had funny stuff like "if you picked Squirtle, add Blastoise, Exeggutor, and Venusaur", or "if you picked Charmander, add Blastoise and Arcanine".

Overall, it's not a bad guide, and gets the majority of stuff pretty right. But it's the little clueless touches that make it memorable for me.
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hammerawayhammerawayhammerawayhammerawayhammerawayhammeraway

I too still have that guide around; I used to have guides for all my Pokémon games (and some I didn’t even own lol) up until Gen 4 (HGSS was the last), and I still like to thumb through them every now and again. Prima’s Crystal guide is the biggest nostalgia trip of the lot (fun fact: it needed repairing cuz it’d become so well-loved), but Gen 3’s guides aren’t so far behind. Though, I didn’t realize the inaccuracies of the FRLG guide until I watched Beating FireRed as Nintended.
 
The sound team went off the charts with the number of bangers in Alola
You got the kahuna theme you got the hau theme you got the totem battle theme you got the e4 theme you got the skull theme the guzma theme the aether theme the lusamine theme the tapu theme the light trio theme--
The "weakest" one is probably the normal battle & trainer battle themes and even then they're still good!

VAST PONI CANYON HELLO??????
 
R_N said:
The sound team went off the charts with the number of bangers in Alola
You got the kahuna theme you got the hau theme you got the totem battle theme you got the e4 theme you got the skull theme the guzma theme the aether theme the lusamine theme the tapu theme the light trio theme--
The "weakest" one is probably the normal battle & trainer battle themes and even then they're still good!

VAST PONI CANYON HELLO??????
Click to expand...
...Are we thinking of the same Hau theme? It took me all of five seconds into his champion fight to realize I couldn't stand the music and muted the sound for the rest of the fight.

Anyway for things I liked about gen 7, the various UBs have great designs and the prime numbers thing in the stats is pretty cool. Wish we saw more different abilities for them in gen 8, they are held back somewhat by always being in a boss role.
 
Ironmage said:
...Are we thinking of the same Hau theme? It took me all of five seconds into his champion fight to realize I couldn't stand the music and muted the sound for the rest of the fight.

Anyway for things I liked about gen 7, the various UBs have great designs and the prime numbers thing in the stats is pretty cool. Wish we saw more different abilities for them in gen 8, they are held back somewhat by always being in a boss role.
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Hau has two themes, this normal theme and his champion theme in USUM.
I like both of them.
 
Scorpio said:
hammerawayhammerawayhammerawayhammerawayhammerawayhammeraway

I too still have that guide around; I used to have guides for all my Pokémon games (and some I didn’t even own lol) up until Gen 4 (HGSS was the last), and I still like to thumb through them every now and again. Prima’s Crystal guide is the biggest nostalgia trip of the lot (fun fact: it needed repairing cuz it’d become so well-loved), but Gen 3’s guides aren’t so far behind. Though, I didn’t realize the inaccuracies of the FRLG guide until I watched Beating FireRed as Nintended.
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You missed the fifty additional "hammer away"s

I have the Ruby/Sapphire guide too, which is much more accurate (though no useful Pokedex section, and isn't quite as in-depth). Definitely going to need to do a proper analysis...
 
Yung Dramps said:
https://twitter.com/x/status/1460991472229101582

5 years of one of the most awesome gens :D what's some stuff you liked about Alola?
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Right, didn't have time to do this earlier, so heeeeeeeeere goes. What I like about Alola:

  1. It's an actual island region! Back when the regions were all still based off of areas of Japan, I always hoped we'd get an island chain region perhaps with Taiwan thrown in as the major city or even the Pokemon League. So I was proper chuffed when Alola was revealed. I love the way the four islands are differentiated and as I've said recently the Pokedex roster is a really good one (but much more so in USUM). The artwork and model design is a huge step up from the ugly chibi models in Gen VI and the protagonist designs (for both sexes) actually surprised me by looking really good. There are an absolute ton of sidequests and extra content, and loads of little ministories with minor NPCs which is extremely cool and really makes the Alola region feel alive and lived in. Though to be honest Iki Town being the first location in the Pokemon world to have a building containing a toilet more or less already accomplishes that singlehandedly.

    Plus as others have said the music is absolutely on fire. I always forget tracks when I'm writing these sorts of posts but honestly the opening song when Professor Kukui greets you is one of my favourites. Incredibly wild-sounding and really gets my skin tingling ready to dive in to this new region. Loads of other tracks stand out - the home theme, Iki Town, Hau'oli City, the Pokemon Centre theme, Lusamine's Ultra Space battle theme*, the Tapu battle theme, the theme that plays when a Totem appears and the subsequent battle theme, Ten Carat Hill's theme, the Mantine Surf theme, Heahea City, the Ultra Beast Battle theme, Melemele Meadow, the Tapu's ruins, Aether Paradise, Ultra Jungle, even the little jingle that plays when Kiawe's Marowak do their little dance... ugh, it's all so good. It's all here, go and enjoy yourselves.

  2. This was the generation that gave us regional variants, possibly the greatest idea the series has had in several years. I'm not keen on the idea of there being more than 1000 Pokemon, and regional variants are a great have-cake-and-eat-it method of both adding new Pokemon and not adding new Pokemon, while also giving some older Pokemon a new lease of life. Personally, I prefer the ones which can be split evolutions, like Weezing, Cubone, and Raichu, but some of the full-line variants like Vulpix and Zorua are just incredible concepts.

  3. It also just had a really good set of Pokemon. When I first saw the roster of Alola mons, there were some I didn't really take to, but they've grown on me a lot since then and now I can sincerely say there's not one Gen VII mon I actively dislike. Some of the Alola mons are quite out there in terms of design and slightly strain good taste, but it works in the context of this very unique island region which - as often occurs in the real world - has developed a separate and deeply distinct ecosystem. The only problem is that it makes shoehorning lots of the Alola species into later games a touch inconceivable, but so far most of the really distinctive ones have been Dexited and haven't yet returned.

  4. The Alola games had a phenomenal plot with actual depth. While it's by no means perfect it's a significant improvement on XY and is imo perhaps the most morally complex story we've had, with an interesting villain whose plan, for once, isn't just "take over the world with big legendary". The supporting cast work well and for once manage to feel like their own people. I'm in the crowd that thinks USUM largely wrecked the largely decent story SM established (it should have been more of its own thing) but the additional touches, like the tragedy of Necrozma's existence and Lusamine's quiet acceptance that Mohn is utterly lost to her, were good and subtle little touches that enriched the plot and fleshed out the arc, so it wasn't all bad. Having said that I do wish that there could be a version of Alola's story that knits together the USUM elements with the SM elements more skilfully (I haven't read the SM chapter of the Adventures manga yet so I've got high hopes for it - XY and USUM kindle release when, Viz?).

    The continuation of the stories of several older characters was a nice touch, too. Grimsley was a character I never particularly had much emotion for in BW, but Alola actually made him somewhat notable. Similarly, it's cool seeing Anabel in such a different context from before (it's nice to have the Frontier Brains show up elsewhere since we're never seeing the Emerald Frontier again) and seeing Red and Blue show up as the leaders of the Battle Tree is very cool indeed. Rainbow Rocket is fun, though a little too fanservice-y for my taste. But I can't complain since you get a pile of Nuggets out of it...

  5. Z-Moves. Of the three major battle gimmicks, my personal favourite. It's a shame that Game Freak seems to think we need a new gimmick every generation because I think Z-Moves kind of proved that we don't. Like, sure, they're in the game. But they're very take-or-leave. I've played through the games a couple of times and never needed to rely on them. Alola did not need them and would stand proudly on its own without them. So as they are I consider them kind of a fun bonus.

    To me, Z-Moves are the sweet spot between Dynamax and Mega Evos. They're not horribly overpowered in the main (for the most part they're really just a souped-up version of using a gem). The species-specific Z-Moves are... fine, I guess (the only one I ever got much use out of was Clangorous Soulblaze in the Battle Tree) but what I like about Z-Moves is that every Pokemon can do it. Dynamax doesn't really suit all Pokemon and obviously only a small handful of species ever got a Mega. But Z-Moves are an equitable system that pretty much any Pokemon can get something out of in the right circumstances.

    Also, the fact that the trainer has to do a pose is cute and makes me actually feel somewhat involved (even though we're not really doing anything).
*I'm still unsure if there's a way to unlock this track in USUM - anyone know?
 
In gens 1 and 2, no Pokemon can naturally learn any of the gym TM moves of the respective generation, with the sole exception of Pikachu learning Thunderbolt in Yellow. Giovanni and Bugsy state that they invented Fissure and Fury Cutter, and Koga says that Toxic has been a secret family technique for generations. While I don't think that any of the other gym leaders comment on the origin of their moves, the fact that nothing in the wild can learn it suggests that every gym TM move was artificially created, at least in the first two generations. Later gens strayed away from this idea, with moves usually being mearly rare to learn naturally.
 
DrPumpkinz said:
In gens 1 and 2, no Pokemon can naturally learn any of the gym TM moves of the respective generation, with the sole exception of Pikachu learning Thunderbolt in Yellow. Giovanni and Bugsy state that they invented Fissure and Fury Cutter, and Koga says that Toxic has been a secret family technique for generations. While I don't think that any of the other gym leaders comment on the origin of their moves, the fact that nothing in the wild can learn it suggests that every gym TM move was artificially created, at least in the first two generations. Later gens strayed away from this idea, with moves usually being mearly rare to learn naturally.
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Hm, that sounds like a fun thing to look into:

GEN I:
  • Brock (TM34 Bide): Even though it's a Normal-type move, I can see it making sense (concept-wise, especially with how Bide worked in Gen I where the damage wasn't effected by Type modifiers). Rock-types are (conceptually) seen as slow, defensive Pokemon which means they can and will take a lot of hits. So, Brock took advantage of that and made essentially a counterattack move. If you don't knock out Brock quickly, he'll be sure to knock YOU out.
  • Misty (TM11 BubbleBeam): BubbleBeam is essentially an upgraded Bubble which some Pokemon can learn naturally. I can see Misty thinking "I like the effect of slowing down the opponent, but its weak; I'll create a stronger version"!
  • Lt. Surge (TM24 Thunderbolt): Similar to Misty, though we gotta answer the question why didn't he then just use Thunder. Well, Thunder is inaccurate while Thundershock isn't, so Lt. Surge probably wanted something inbetween that was more powerful than 'Shock but more accurate than Thunder.
  • Erika (TM21 Mega Drain): Giga Drain didn't exist yet, so its just a case of Erika wanting a stronger Absorb as Grass-type "gimmick" is sorta healing/passive healing.
  • Koga (TM06 Toxic): Koga says its a secret family technique and we can see why. A little inaccurate, but it's still the best option to not just inflict poison but Badly Poison, the only move to do so. So not only does the Poison expert (who is a ninja which were best known to be assassins) have a better way of Poisoning, but also has it be a stronger kind of poison; making them suffer worse but ending it fast.
  • Sabrina (TM46 Psywave): This is a very strange case. Psywave does direct damage between 1 to up to 1.5 times the user level. So, using Sabrina's Alakazam (Lv43) for instance, at max it could do 64 direct damage (rounded down). While certainly a lot of damage, it still doesn't overlook the fact Sabrina could just have Psychic on her Pokemon at that point. Like, the only reason I think for her to use Psywave is either because the player is using a Psychic-type (thus resists), using a Special tank, or maybe to play some "mind games" which would fit with Sabrina's character; though if that was the idea they couldn't properly do it cause I don't think the AI was able to be made to behave like that). Honestly I think most of the time Sabrina was better at just using the strongest Psychic move her Pokemon knew (her Kadabra knew Psychic, Mr. Mime had Confusion, and Venomoth & Alakazam knew Psybeam). Now, maybe for the player it could potentially be more useful as their Pokemon was getting to higher and higher levels... except Psybeam's min ALWAYS being 1 makes it undesirable. I think Sabrina having access to better Psychic-type moves she had no reason not to use just made her shrug her shoulders at making her own; like she did it to see how it worked out, wanting to make a direct damage move cause was something different, but at the end of the day she knew she's just going to use Psychic and Psybeam. Maybe they should have made Psychic her TM and just have the 10 Pokemon that naturally learn Psychic just deal with Psybeam.
  • Blaine (TM38 Fire Blast): Being a man of chance, I can see Blaine making a powerful yet inaccurate Fire move (with a high chance of burning). Will it hit or will it miss? Will it burn? Only one way to find out!
    898199c455f5bfe966307750d474358d.500x450x1.gif
  • Giovanni (TM27 Fissure): Giovanni is a busy man, is the strongest Gym Leader so probably faced a lot of weak trainers, commands a lot of weak grunts, and is a Ground-type specialist. So making a OHKO move I can totally see being in character. "Another weakling, ugh, just open the ground underneath them so I can move on with my day".
GEN II:
  • Falkner (TM31 Mud-Slap): Now I know what you're thinking, Mud-Slap is very strange move for a Flying-type expert to give. But there's a reason for it I'm sure. You see Gen II only introduced one new Flying-type move which was Lugia's Aeroblast. There was not Flying-type TM in Gen II. A known behavior of non-water birds is that they take what is called "dust baths", it's how they clean themselves as getting wet will hamper their flying. So, Falkner just too this peculiar behavior and made it into an attack where his Pokemon threw dust at the opponent to decrease their accuracy... but probably wasn't doing the job so made it mud instead. "Where does the mud come from?" Oh, well, obviously after doing a quick dust bath of the top layer dirt, that reveals the wet mud underneath it, so Falkner's Pokemon is both getting cleaned and flinging mud. "But when you battle him you're inside a buildin-"... NEXT GYM LEADER!
  • Bugsy (TM49 Fury Cutter): Bugsy clearly made this move just for his Scyther (considering his other Bug Pokemon are cocoons when you battle him...).
  • Whitney (TM45 Attract): I guess it fits Whitney's character as she's called "The Incredibly Pretty Girl", transferred her natural talents over to her Pokemon.
  • Morty (TM30 Shadow Ball): Considering the other Ghost-type moves we've had in Gen I, yeah, kind of understand Morty wanting to make a Ghost-type move that was decent. Of course, that still doesn't help with the issue of Ghost being Physical yet the Gastly family were Special... and that all his Pokemon were part of the Gastly family. Look, Morty is just working with what he has and its due to his foresight that later on Shadow Ball would become the go-to Ghost-type move (and in the meantime any Physical attacker that could learn it has a powerful move to play with).
  • Chuck (TM01 DynamicPunch): Chuck is a simple man: when he fights, he punches, you get dizzy & fall. So he made that philosophy into a move. "But Chuck, it only has 50% accuracy". "That just means it's inevitable"!
  • Jasmine (TM23 Iron Tail): Yeah, pretty much just made for her Steelix. "Okay, Steelix, you know how when you were an Onix you just swung your tail when you used Rock Throw? Well do the same thing except we'll call it Iron Tail now".
  • Pryce (TM16 Icy Wind): Actually probably putting some thought into his move, Pryce decided if he could use the cold to lower his opponent's Speed then he doesn't need to freeze them solid. So he worked out a way to, instead of using pure cold energy like Ice Beam, to infuse cold into an indirect method (wind) which just slowed down the target giving his slow Ice-types a better chance.
  • Clair (TM24 DragonBreath): Now, Clair says it has nothing to do with her breath but word on the street is that Clair gets some bad case of halitosi- *Barely dodges a Dragon Breath*. Okay, joking aside, Clair likely decided that just Flamethrower wasn't enough for Dragon-types so made a Dragon-type move which was flamethrower but used draconic energy instead. Came out weaker unfortunately, draconic energy ain't that abundant as fire energy, but does have a better chance of Paralyzing than most Fire-type moves have at Burning so there's reasonable trade offs. But in the end Clair finally has dragon which breaths fire that it gets STAB with... and is just a bit worser than her breath-GOTTARUN! *Runs away from a trio of Dragonair sending out tidal waves, lightning bolts, and ice beams*
 
Joking aside it did feel a lot like there was less thought put into gym TMs in later gens.

This is evident with Misty and Wallace giving out the same TM in Gen III even though she's the 2nd leader and he's the 8th: Water Pulse is fine in FRLG but hard outclassed by Surf by the time you get it in RSE. Similarily, some of the HGSS TMs are weird and feel arbitrary - Shock Wave for Surge and Skill Swap for Sabrina, while Janine now gives out Poison Jab. And Misty still gives out Water Pulse. I guess it was a consequence of them not being able to change the TM list but it's just so underwhelming. People didn't like Wallace giving HM07 in place of a TM in ORAS but I can totally see why they made the change and it was a good one imo. Unova at least made an effort to have each leader actually use their TM (which were decent for the most part, Scald is pretty cool as the final TM from Marlon) but then Kalos just straight-up didn't bother with new moves and just reused old ones.
 
Pikachu315111 said:
  • Clair (TM24 DragonBreath): Now, Clair says it has nothing to do with her breath but word on the street is that Clair gets some bad case of halitosi- *Barely dodges a Dragon Breath*.
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Clair's Japanese name, Ibuki, can mean breath, which led her saying the TM had nothing to do with her in the JP versions. Pretty serendipitous that dragon's breath was already an expression in English. Since she gives out Dragon Pulse in HGSS instead, she starts to explain the move before getting embarrassed halfway through.
 
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green_typhlosion said:
Joking aside it did feel a lot like there was less thought put into gym TMs in later gens.
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Well, let's take a look. Not gonna post all of them, just ones I find notable either cause it's really good at that point in the game, is bad at that point in the game, or just an interesting note.

Kanto:
  • LGPE Brock (TM01 Headbutt): Huh, that didn't take long. Headbutt? Like, yeah, looking at Geodude and Onix headbutts likely would be one of their main ways of attacking. But FRLG had Brock giving out Rock Tomb, why didn't they just make that a TM again? Or Rock Throw or Smack Down? LGPE only had two Rock TMs: Rock Slide and Stealth Rocks. Now Rock Slide would probably be a bit too strong at that point, but I could maybe see him giving out Stealth Rock. Why not? Roark does it!
  • LGPE Misty (TM29 Scald): Oh geez I forgot about that! YIKES. "Here, have your Water-type cripple the entire game, cheers!".
  • LGPE Erika (TM53 Mega Drain): So, funny story. After Gen I where she gave Mega Drain, in FRLG & HGSS she gave out Giga Drain which had replaced Mega Drain's place as a TM. Alright, makes sense. But, for some reason, for LGPE they removed replaced Giga Drain with Mega Drain so now she's back to giving out Mega Drain.
  • GSC Janine (TM06 Toxic): That's cute, she gives out the Toxic TM since Koga doesn't being an Elite Four member (and I think she's the only Kanto Gym Leader in GSC to give a TM). If you're wondering, HGSS she instead gives Poison Jab (Toxic is bought from the Battle Frontier... which knowing now originally it was supposed to be a secret technique of Koga's ninja clan feels disappointing you don't get it from Janine or Koga).

Johto:
  • HGSS Falkner (TM51 Roost) & Bugsy (TM89 U-turn): A much better improvement on their original TMs, even if we lose the lore of Bugsy inventing Fury Cutter (though does a neat thing by showing off U-turn). Both are pretty good TMs and part of any Pokemon's permanent moveset the TM is given to (so make it count as this ain't Gen V yet).
  • HGSS Morty (TM30 Shadow Ball): That foresight really paid off and now gives one of the best TMs in the game, though that said Morty's team hadn't really changed even though now all of his Pokemon could take advantage having Shadow Ball. Come on Morty, be proud! Eh, I guess his Gengar has it and that's what counts toward the end of the day.

Hoenn:
  • ORAS Wattson (TM72 Volt Switch): Oh yeah, forgot he pulled an Elesa, lol.
  • RSE Wallace/Juan (TM03 Water Pulse): Yeah, 60 Power move for the last Gym Leader ain't that great. Unfortunately it and Rain Dance are the only Water TMs in Gen III, though I think players would opt for having Rain Dance over Water Pulse (Rain Dance is on the Abandoned Ship so gotta go out of your way to get it anyway).
  • ORAS Wallace (HM05 Waterfall): Now, I don't remember hearing any problems of ORAS Wallace giving out an HM. In Gen VI the Water TMs were Rain Dance and Scald, and while Scald would have been a fine TM choice, I feel there's a nice bit of symbolism behind the final Gym Leader giving you what is essentially a Key Item to reaching the Pokemon League aside from the final Badge. A Waterfall is the only thing preventing you from even visiting Ever Grand City, and not only is Waterfall needed to reach it (thus you need to get it so why not have it be given by a Gym Leader as a prize instead of just randomly given it/having to find it) but Waterfall is generally the best Physical Water-type move so it doesn't feel like you were given a waste of a TM either. Once again, the other choices were Rain Dance (meh) and Scald (not bad, but at this point you also have Surf so there's a bit of a conflict which should you focus on). But with Waterfall no such conflict, if you got a Physical Water-type like Gyarados of Floatzel it would very much enjoy having Waterfall (it's even the best Water-type move for Bibarel!).

Sinnoh:
  • Maylene (TM60 Drain Punch) & Crasher Wake (TM55 Brine): No matter if its DP or Platinum, these are pretty nice moves to get even in the middle of the game. Any Fighting-type would enjoy the heal from a STAB Drain Punch and Special Water-types I can see having Brine along with Surf as, if either the first Brine or Surf can only get the opponent's HP below 50%, a follow-up Brine is sure to finish the job (unless the target heals, of course)!
  • Platinum Fantina (TM65 Shadow Claw): Now in DP getting Shadow Claw from the 5th Gym I guess is alright though nothing spectacular. However with Fantina switched to 3rd in Platinum means you get Shadow Claw pretty early and it's a pretty nice Ghost-type Slash that'll carry whoever its given to for a while (and probably remain on their movepool cause it's probably the best Physical Ghost-type move in Gen IV).
  • Candice (TM72 Avalanche) & Volkner (TM57 Charge Beam): And from good we come to bad. Avalanche isn't bad on paper but in practice is lacking since there's a notable lack of Physical Ice-types who may still not prefer Ice Beam or Blizzard if they still have a decent Special Attack. And Charge Beam is just sad, like just give us Thunderbolt or Thunder at that point. Oh, wait, Volkner probably gives Charge Beam cause it's one of the few Electric-type moves his half non-Electric-type team can learn. And that could explain Candice too, her Medicham would need to have an Ice-type move... ICE PUNCH?! So Medicham is allowed to have Ice Punch, meanwhile all of Candice other Pokemon are given Avalanche, thus she gives out Avalanche *sigh*.

Unova:
  • Burgh (TM76 Struggle Bug): Like, okay, Burgh is an early Gym Leader, but still, a 30 Power Move? Sure it decreases Special Attack but what's even better is knocking the opponent out before getting to use their Special Attack (and works against Physical attackers too). Burgh, bro, you're one of my favorite Gym Leaders but you could do better than this, you're an artist for Arceus sake! Like, U-turn is available as a Bug TM in Gen V, sure Elesa is doing the whole Volt Switch thing but I'd accept the shenanigans twice for a better TM. Heck, Burgh is known to have a crush on Elesa so him employing a similar strategy could be used as an inside joke; and they say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.
  • Roxie (TM09 Venoshock): While sadly Toxic is all the way at the end of the game, even without able to guarantee the activation of the secondary effect Venoshock is still a pretty decent move to be given by the 2nd Gym Leader.

Kalos: Congrats Kalos for having all your Gym Leaders give out TMs which make for a nice sense of progression throughout the game.

Alola: Alola is an interesting case. It's not the Trial Captains or Kahuna that gives you a TM, infact they give you (or help you earn in the Captain's case) the Z-Crystal of their Type specialty. And already that's a bit OP as in-game Z-Crystals most of the time were just a "I win" nuke. However, there were TMs in all the Trial sites (or nearby them), you just had to find them. In addition, the TMs most of the time were actually meant to help the player against the Totem Pokemon more than being a representation of the Trial/Captain's Type preference. A quick rundown:
  • Verdant Cavern: TM31 Brick Break (Super Effective on both Totem A-Raticate and Totem Gumshoos; it's also a very good TM to get early on as it's fairly strong early game). There's also TM46 Thief you need to go back with Tauros Charge to get, which feels like an appropriate award for A-Raticate but not quite Gumshoos. *shrugs*
  • Brooklet Hill: TM55 Scald in SM (appropriate for the Type preference but not that helpful against Totem Wishiwashi; but like with Misty this is a powerful TM to get outside that circumstance) or TM57 Charge Beam in USUM (this on the otherhand is more helpful even for the arguably weaker Totem Araquanid; also not that game breaking).
  • Wela Volcano Park: TM39 Rock Tomb (Super Effective against both Totem Salazzle & Totem A-Marowak).
  • Lush Jungle: TM86 Grass Knot (appropriate for the Type preference but not that helpful against Totem Lurantis; But note the order you face the Akala Trials has the previous one give you an advantage for the next one with the Z-Crystal given and maybe TMs). Infact, Kukui awards you with TM67 Smart Strike after the trial, and both Smart Strike and Grass Knot could be helpful against Kahuna Olivia's Rock-types.
  • Hokulani Observatory: None in the observatory, but on Mount Hokulani you can get TM72 Volt Switch and TM95 Snarl (which aren't helpful aside from their secondary effects giving you some tools to use if you choose to utilize them; at this point you're probably relying on the Z-Crystals you got).
  • Thrifty Megamart (Abandoned Site): None in the megamart, but on Route 14 you can get TM30 Shadow Ball (both appropriate and can be helpful for the trial, though is a double-edge sword if you're using a Ghost-type (and those using a Dark-type may also get a nasty surprise from Totem Mimikyu)).
  • Vast Poni Canyon: There's actually quite a few TMs to get: TM35 Flamethrower, TM99 Dazzling Gleam, TM02 Dragon Claw & only un USUM TM93 Wild Charge (Dazzling Gleam is definietly there to help with the Dragon Trial, Dragon Claw to a lesser but still helpful degree. The other TMs are just a nice bonus).
  • Seafolk Village: While only having a Trial in USUM, in all Alolan games you can get TM91 Flash Cannon for free and buy 10 others which are powerful in their own right (04 Clam Mind, 14 Blizzard, 15 Hyper Beam, 22 Solar Beam, 25 Thunder, 34 Sludge Wave, 38 Fire Blast, 52 Focus Blast, 68 Giga Impact & 71 Stone Edge). Flash Cannon, Sludge Wave, Fire Blast & Stone Edge would be most helpful against the Totem Ribombee.

Galar:
  • Nessa (TM36 Whirlpool): Ugh, that's a sad one. Worst its sandwiched between two decent ones: Milo gives Magical Leaf and Kabu gives Will-O-Wisp. Grass-types and Fire-types would appreciate those, but don't think any Water-type would want Whirlpool. Looking at SwSh's Water TMs I think Brine would have been fine, or could just give her Rain Dance if you were trying to mix up the type TMs that first three Gym Leaders give.
  • Opal (TM87 Draining Kiss) & Gordie (TM48 Rock Tomb): But it doesn't stop there as honestly all the final Gym Leaders you could say have lacking TMs. Not saying they're bad, but main game you're mostly focused on single battles and for those you want the most powerful moves. But I'm getting ahead of myself, first the most noteworthy ones are given by Opal and Gordie. Both have a nice affect but they're just took weak at this point in the game and only target one Pokemon. Now Melony, Piers, and Raihan aren't any better in the Power department, but their Moves at least his both opponents so are spreading the damage & their effects: Icy Wind, Snarl, and Breaking Swipe, respectively.

So, yeah, we certainly have some bad ones, but I would say its the minority and likely the result of the team which makes the TM list not really thinking about the TM prize the Gym Leader would give. Some more synergy could be used there, or maybe update the concept of the Gym Leader giving a TM by instead making the Gym Leader a Move Tutor for certain Moves of their Type (and as you progress in the game they offer to teach stronger or more versatile moves).

Yung Dramps said:
https://twitter.com/x/status/1462143562540277765
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You know if BDSP weren't 1:1 remakes they could have maybe done something clever to reference this glitch, like maybe after unlocking the Distortion World you'll find additional entrances to it all around Sinnoh which leads to other parts you could get certain items or encounter certain Pokemon, like have it be the way you encounter other Legendaries instead of the randomness that is Ramanas Park.
 
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Pikachu315111 said:
  • RSE Wallace/Juan (TM03 Water Pulse): Yeah, 60 Power move for the last Gym Leader ain't that great. Unfortunately it and Rain Dance are the only Water TMs in Gen III, though I think players would opt for having Rain Dance over Water Pulse (Rain Dance is on the Abandoned Ship so gotta go out of your way to get it anyway).
  • Candice (TM72 Avalanche) & Volkner (TM57 Charge Beam): And from good we come to bad. Avalanche isn't bad on paper but in practice is lacking since there's a notable lack of Physical Ice-types who may still not prefer Ice Beam or Blizzard if they still have a decent Special Attack. And Charge Beam is just sad, like just give us Thunderbolt or Thunder at that point. Oh, wait, Volkner probably gives Charge Beam cause it's one of the few Electric-type moves his half non-Electric-type team can learn. And that could explain Candice too, her Medicham would need to have an Ice-type move... ICE PUNCH?! So Medicham is allowed to have Ice Punch, meanwhile all of Candice other Pokemon are given Avalanche, thus she gives out Avalanche *sigh*.
  • Burgh (TM76 Struggle Bug): Like, okay, Burgh is an early Gym Leader, but still, a 30 Power Move? Sure it decreases Special Attack but what's even better is knocking the opponent out before getting to use their Special Attack (and works against Physical attackers too). Burgh, bro, you're one of my favorite Gym Leaders but you could do better than this, you're an artist for Arceus sake! Like, U-turn is available as a Bug TM in Gen V, sure Elesa is doing the whole Volt Switch thing but I'd accept the shenanigans twice for a better TM. Heck, Burgh is known to have a crush on Elesa so him employing a similar strategy could be used as an inside joke; and they say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.
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The thing is that in gens 1 through 5 (discounting remakes), every gym leader TM was a move introduced in that generation (a cool detail that I'm kinda sad was dropped). That doesn't absolve Water Pulse, Avalanche, Charge Beam, and Struggle Bug from being underpowered moves, but it does explain why they couldn't simply use Rain Dance, Ice Punch, Thunderbolt, or U-turn.
 
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