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Little things you like about Pokémon

Playing Heartgold & Brilliant Diamond on/off together has left me with some mixed feelings (about both games), but I've a newfound appreciation for both the old and the new features which I am here to share.

New Exp. Share mechanics are a godsend as you get less time to spend grinding to keep a team of more than like 3-4 pokemon reasonably leveled. This is probably exacerbated by HGSS's flat level curve, and honestly I just gave up & used PkHex to save me from grinding for hours to keep my team reasonably leveled (with random allocation of EVs). I'd rather more Exp (+ running from wild battles/avoiding trainers) at the risk of being overlevelled than rote grinding.

Also in the spirit of "new," I really appreciate not needing to teach pokemon HMs in order to use them. Right now some of my Pokemon are 3 moves + HM because I need someone to have Strength, and I'm only carrying around Togetic because it learns Fly. In BD, I've been able to explore parts of the map I otherwise would not have seen because I can get past the Rock Smash rocks now! More widely available/varied TMs is also fun, as is reliable access to Heart Scales for farming. More liberty with movesets is what this comes down to really.

Last good thing about the new games that I want to say is: I like the move to not just let you steamroll the supposed "stronger" trainers with 1 Pokemon. Specs Espeon Shadow Balll OHKO-ed pretty much every one of Will's Pokemon, and that's not a good look for the Elite 4. Probably could've beat Bruno too. Heck, once Gyarados dropped I swept Lance with Rollout from Golem. BDSP spices things up with different held items, like resist berries, which makes for a more "fulfilling" fight (or at the very least ones you can't just auto-pilot your way through).

As for old things that I like, I miss the pre-Gen5-era sprites. Its mostly the little things they had to do to give expression to those stubby little sprites (like running/spinning really quickly, the exclamation mark bubbles, etc). At the end of Heartgold's credits, eventually you make it back home & your little sprite jumps at the sight of your mom and runs across the screen to her (or something like that), which just made my heart melt. Super wholesome and you've gotta appreciate the lengths to let you know exactly what the emotion they're trying to convey is. In contrast the new models feel kinda lifeless, which a weird curse that more realism brings.
 
I like how they handled Boomburst, as in it existing at all.

A 140 power/100 Accuracy Normal move that ignores Substitute and has no downsides seems like a bit much, but then you look at the special attack stats of the normal types that can learn it
Chatot : 92
Exploud : 91
Swellow : 75
Toucannon : 75

While the non-STAB users have the following special attack stats
Toxtricity : 114(Plus an additional boost if they have Punk Rock)
Kommo-o : 100
Noivern : 97
Flygon : 80
Rilliaboom : 60

Additionally, for Swellow, Toucannon, Kommo-o, Flygon, and Rillaboom the attack also uses their lower offensive stat.

Honestly, this was probably the best way to handle such a move overall.
 
So having replayed Gen V recently, one thing I love the hell out of is Unova's Pokemon League.

Looking back, it's like they only decided a few generations in that the Pokemon League should be this hallowed, grand place. Hoenn's League is just... there. The outside area doesn't have its own unique theme and the building is just a fairly ordinary-looking red brick structure. It doesn't feel especially sacred or revered. Gen IV seems to be where they decided the League should be more aesthetically impressive, since it's a big castle on top of a waterfall. But while Gen IV's League is charming, it's not really awe-inspiring or intimidating.

Gen V's, though, goes all out. They build it up so much: you have to climb to the summit of the mountain instead of just passing through a cave, where you find this big, ancient-looking temple; the theme that plays throughout is slow and ominous and (honestly) quite scary-sounding. And then to reach the Champion you have to climb an even taller set of stairs, to finally reach the temple at the back. In the sequels it's even more majestic, with huge dragon statues and fancy moving gears and proper theatre. Everything is shadowy and imposing; the Elite Four themselves are referred to as "four great warriors" who are explicitly described as being masters of their chosen elements, and they stand out to me much more than Hoenn's, Sinnoh's, or Kalos' do.

Indigo Plateau sort of gets a pass for being the first one, but still treats the League with reverence: the RBY and GSC themes are heavy and dramatic and really convey that this is the ultimate, hardest challenge, and HGSS turns that up to eleven with the stunning visuals in each of the Elite Four's rooms (especially Lance's, with all the gold and smooth-running gears - just gorgeous). This is actually something Kalos gets right too; the League theme from XY is one of my favourites in the entire series and the whole thing is designed to awe you: the huge, intricate castle, the starry night sky flecked with shooting stars that displays behind it, the arresting visuals of Gen VI's Victory Road. Gen VII and VIII have continued this. I really like it, and it makes the final challenge of the main story feel important and earned. I only wish ORAS could have done Ever Grande City justice, because it absolutely did not.
 
green_typhlosion said:
So having replayed Gen V recently, one thing I love the hell out of is Unova's Pokemon League.

Looking back, it's like they only decided a few generations in that the Pokemon League should be this hallowed, grand place. Hoenn's League is just... there. The outside area doesn't have its own unique theme and the building is just a fairly ordinary-looking red brick structure. It doesn't feel especially sacred or revered. Gen IV seems to be where they decided the League should be more aesthetically impressive, since it's a big castle on top of a waterfall. But while Gen IV's League is charming, it's not really awe-inspiring or intimidating.

Gen V's, though, goes all out. They build it up so much: you have to climb to the summit of the mountain instead of just passing through a cave, where you find this big, ancient-looking temple; the theme that plays throughout is slow and ominous and (honestly) quite scary-sounding. And then to reach the Champion you have to climb an even taller set of stairs, to finally reach the temple at the back. In the sequels it's even more majestic, with huge dragon statues and fancy moving gears and proper theatre. Everything is shadowy and imposing; the Elite Four themselves are referred to as "four great warriors" who are explicitly described as being masters of their chosen elements, and they stand out to me much more than Hoenn's, Sinnoh's, or Kalos' do.

Indigo Plateau sort of gets a pass for being the first one, but still treats the League with reverence: the RBY and GSC themes are heavy and dramatic and really convey that this is the ultimate, hardest challenge, and HGSS turns that up to eleven with the stunning visuals in each of the Elite Four's rooms (especially Lance's, with all the gold and smooth-running gears - just gorgeous). This is actually something Kalos gets right too; the League theme from XY is one of my favourites in the entire series and the whole thing is designed to awe you: the huge, intricate castle, the starry night sky flecked with shooting stars that displays behind it, the arresting visuals of Gen VI's Victory Road. Gen VII and VIII have continued this. I really like it, and it makes the final challenge of the main story feel important and earned. I only wish ORAS could have done Ever Grande City justice, because it absolutely did not.
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Weird cuz Hoenn's tileset for EverGrande City is unique for the craggy wall and overheads along the building.
Do you mean Oras? Cuz I know Oras is significantly reduced the cliff shape despite the temple being a nice change
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vs
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Agree for Gen 5's league being the best though. Especially the E4 themes
 
green_typhlosion said:
the theme that plays throughout is slow and ominous and (honestly) quite scary-sounding
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A nice little thing about the Unova Pokémon League's theme is that the instrumentation when separated can be interpreted to represent each individual member of the E4, whether this was intentional or not. There are harps which seem to represent Caitlin and her somewhat restrained yet classy atmosphere and her Psychic-types (especially the mystical vibe her chamber gives off), eerie violins for Shauntal and her Ghost-types, loud cymbals and the main brass for Marshal and his in-your-face fighting style with his Fighting-types, and the bass drums in the background for Grimsley and his Dark-types, hiding in the shadows. It's very nicely thought out and the different instrumentations individually embody the individual Elite Four members yet together it forms a cohesive theme that's befitting of a Pokemon League, especially one like Unova's, and one that makes it clear you're in for a challenge against the strongest Trainers in all of Unova.
 
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Most of the differences between Sawsbuck's forms are pretty obvious. Their horns are radically different, and Winter has a big fluffy winter coat. However, a detail I hadn't noticed until fairly recently is that Summer also has a thinner coat compared to Spring and Fall. It's missing the chest fluff and its ankles are completely free of the lighter-colored fur (I assume the light ankles of Spring and Fall are Winter's big white ankles growing and shedding).

EDIT: And just now I noticed that Summer's tail and the back of its head are fluffier too.
 
DrPumpkinz said:
Most of the differences between Sawsbuck's forms are pretty obvious. Their horns are radically different, and Winter has a big fluffy winter coat. However, a detail I hadn't noticed until fairly recently is that Summer also has a thinner coat compared to Spring and Fall. It's missing the chest fluff and its ankles are completely free of the lighter-colored fur (I assume the light ankles of Spring and Fall are Winter's big white ankles growing and shedding).

EDIT: And just now I noticed that Summer's tail and the back of its head are fluffier too.
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It's a shame that Deerling doesn't show the same amount of detail, all of them are just color swaps.
 
In the recent week or two I've gained a surprising appreciation for this Pokémon seemingly out of nowhere as a result of some neat little research I've started looking into.

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A few of you may know me well enough by this point to know that there's few very specific topics I'm very passionate about. There was a really neat article I stumbled upon that referenced its PokéDex entries from Sword & Shield, which read as follows.

Sword: "Via the protrusion on its head, it senses other creatures' emotions. If you don't have a calm disposition, it will never warm up to you."
Shield: "If this Pokémon senses a strong emotion, it will run away as fast as it can. It prefers areas without people."

I had done some more digging into this particular subject, and found a few interesting correlations between this and the United Kingdom, where the Galar region Hatenna is from is based on. The area appears to be one of the much more aware and accepting of this, with Hatenna in particular providing me with another reason to like both it as a Pokémon and the games it comes from. The fastest way to my heart is through my disability, and while I'm still looking into whether or not this was intentional, I can say with absolute certainty that I have been waiting for years for some form of (albeit not forced) representation for us, and positive representation at that.

As much as I've bashed on Sword & Shield in the past, if this was an intentional reference... just, wow. It's the things like this that leave an impact on me. And to think that I once looked at this Pokémon as nothing more than a Ralts clone... I am truly ashamed of myself. I'm sorry, Hatenna.
 
rickdrw424 said:
Once in a while, npcs say silly/memerable things

- probably mentioned before but there's the famous LGFR quote by a team rocket grunt ("I dropped the LIFT key") OR in SM, the npc in graveyard who uses a pkmn from the "grave" by it ends up being the wreath-type pokemon in battle.

any moments from the spin-offs?
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In Pokémon XD: Gale of Darkness, as the player raids through the Cipher-infested ONBS building, a random Cipher Peon managed to somehow appear behind the player when the player use the elevator to the second floor. He claimed that he used all of his strength to hang on the elevator’s ceiling before rudely greeting the player.

That’s all as far as I remembered, but it definitely caught me off guard in a good way the first time I witnessed that event.
 
rickdrw424 said:
Once in a while, npcs say silly/memerable things

- probably mentioned before but there's the famous LGFR quote by a team rocket grunt ("I dropped the LIFT key") OR in SM, the npc in graveyard who uses a pkmn from the "grave" by it ends up being the wreath-type pokemon in battle.

any moments from the spin-offs?
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There's an NPC in the Survival Area (iirc) who says "You can change the whole world in an instant if you really want! How? Stand on your head."

That quote always tickled me.
 
Today I learned that individual Pokemon of the same species can exhibit different behaviors and personalities in Pokemon Camp, and those behaviors and personalities persist across evolution. This also affects how well two Pokemon will get along, with heavily contrasting personalities leading to conflict.

I didn't know Camp was so in-depth. It's sick.
 
DrPumpkinz said:
Today I learned that individual Pokemon of the same species can exhibit different behaviors and personalities in Pokemon Camp, and those behaviors and personalities persist across evolution. This also affects how well two Pokemon will get along, with heavily contrasting personalities leading to conflict.

I didn't know Camp was so in-depth. It's sick.
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Yo what?

Is there a full breakdown I can see somewhere, whether in video or website form?
 
Yung Dramps said:
Yo what?

Is there a full breakdown I can see somewhere, whether in video or website form?
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Not that I know of. I'm just going off the observations of a guy in a discord who spent a TON of time in Camp. He had a playful Tyrogue who evolved into a playful Hitmonlee, and then a second asshole Tyrogue. He also had a Gardevoir and Cutiefly with very contrasting personalities, and the Gardevoir would repeatedly beat the shit out of the Cutiefly.
 
R_N said:
If I had to guess, it's probably based on the literal personality trait. Like those ones that are supposed to indicate various IV specialties.

Probably a lot of animations have a personality flag and the personality determines which ones get played at which frequency. It's a smart way of making the "mingling" aspect more varied
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You mean Characteristics, and yeah those could have been made the basis if they separated them into similar categories.
 

The fact this track exists at all. To take an obscure event-only optional dungeon from the original game and give it a new track that's a medley of songs from the subseries' widely-regarded black sheep entry represents an unparalleled level of love and dedication for the franchise and its playerbase. They even went through the effort of sprinkling in GBA beeps and boops to make it feel more like something that could've been in the original!
 
In Gen 2, the Karate King's Hitmonchan has a moveset of Mach Punch + the elemental punches. A good priority move, and then three worthless special attacks.

In Gen 4, the Hitmonchan retains the elemental punches, which are now very strong due to being physical and boosted by Iron Fist. However, it has a new priority move in Vacuum Wave, which is identical to Mach Punch except that it's special and thus worthless.

I find it funny how this one Hitmonchan's moveset is completely flipped on its head from original to remake, despite the actual moves it uses barely changing.
 
DrPumpkinz said:
In Gen 2, the Karate King's Hitmonchan has a moveset of Mach Punch + the elemental punches. A good priority move, and then three worthless special attacks.

In Gen 4, the Hitmonchan retains the elemental punches, which are now very strong due to being physical and boosted by Iron Fist. However, it has a new priority move in Vacuum Wave, which is identical to Mach Punch except that it's special and thus worthless.

I find it funny how this one Hitmonchan's moveset is completely flipped on its head from original to remake, despite the actual moves it uses barely changing.
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Incidentally this is because Karate King just uses level up movesets and for Hitmonchan that means Vacuum Wave & the punches.
If they had given him a level bump of just 2 levels, he'd have the punches & Sky Uppercut instead! poor guy.
 
In Fantina's gym in BD/SP (I'm assuming this is true of D/P too), there are two trainers who call you out for getting the math questions wrong on purpose just to fight them, some other trainers talk about all the stuff they're learning/studying as if to subtly call the player a dumbass, and one of the last trainers gets really pissed at you for "wasting" his time. I love how snarky the game is about the player fucking up basic math.
 
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