Little things you like about Pokémon

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Choy's a funny little guy, I love his adorable sidequest line and just his general vibe and him also being kind of a cutie. But that's not even the funniest part about him for me.

I know across a few threads I've made various permutations of this point now, but it really bares repeating in this instance: Just the absolute fact that PLA had a full questline involving 3 ancestors of Charon and then BDSP omitted him cuz muh faithful remake. It really is a succinct metaphor for these 2 games and how much they add to the source material.

I know that sounded kinda harsh and cynical but nah it's all to praise this awesome dude. Underrated lad, I love Choy.
 
I used to have a problem with the Johto rival possessing Chikorita since it just aesthetically and thematically didn't fit in my head. But I've grown to not only like it, but actually prefer it. It kind of makes sense for that rival's arc to revolve around learning to love his Pokémon despite it being weaker. Particularly his quotes in Azalea Town highlight how lowly he thinks of his Pokémon. It's kind of poignant to me that he goes from that to learning to love his Pokémon in spite of its flaws. I feel like that character arc only really makes sense when revolving around Chikorita, rather than the other two. Like, he must have really learned to love his Pokémon, warts and all, if it involved training a Chikorita especially in the Johto region.
 
Wukong said:
I used to have a problem with the Johto rival possessing Chikorita since it just aesthetically and thematically didn't fit in my head. But I've grown to not only like it, but actually prefer it. It kind of makes sense for that rival's arc to revolve around learning to love his Pokémon despite it being weaker. Particularly his quotes in Azalea Town highlight how lowly he thinks of his Pokémon. It's kind of poignant to me that he goes from that to learning to love his Pokémon in spite of its flaws. I feel like that character arc only really makes sense when revolving around Chikorita, rather than the other two. Like, he must have really learned to love his Pokémon, warts and all, if it involved training a Chikorita especially in the Johto region.
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The best example of the gen 2 rival learning to love is his Golbat evolving to Crobat after you beat him at Victory Road
 
Yung Dramps said:
It fills my heart with boundless joy that you can do the funny pose with Ingo in PLA's photo mode
now if only there were any pictures of this online to accentuate the point of my post
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I think you need to explain which pose you mean, because I have no idea what you are referring to. If you can't find any pictures of it, why not take one yourself?
Yung Dramps said:
Choy
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When I played through L:A, it never once occured to me that Choy was the ancestor of Charon. I always thought he was meant to be the ancestor of Maylene. I thought the two looked a bit similar. For instance, there are some similarities in their hairstyles. I also thought it was that way because Choy has glasses, just like Maylene... but now that I look back at her, she doesn't wear glasses! Guess I got that mixed up somehow. Maybe it is because Maylene is wearing a plaster over her nose, which gave me the illusion that she has glasses.

On that note, I like how L:A featured several characters which are ancestors of various characters in the modern games. That was really cool. While most of them were for future Sinnoh characters (which I think is a good thing since L:A is the precursor to the modern Sinnoh region and games), there were some for other regions too, which was really neat.
Wukong said:
I used to have a problem with the Johto rival possessing Chikorita since it just aesthetically and thematically didn't fit in my head. But I've grown to not only like it, but actually prefer it.
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I never thought of this before. But it sort of makes sense, somehow. Personally, I think the best thing about the rival having Chikorita means that I won't have to use it myself, and he is stuck with the worst Johto starter (and worst starter ever if you ask me).

Let's say more nice things about Legends. I am planning to make a big post with everything I like about the game, but I haven't had the time to start working on it yet. So here's two more small things. First of all, one thing I really love. Directly after beating part 1 of the game, Professor Laventon gives you the two starters you didn’t choose in the beginning. This was really great since it means you are guaranteed to obtain all starters for free as opposed to being forced to hunt down the remaining two in Spacetime distortions. I hope this is something future games will do as well.

Another thing I like is the requests. I enjoy doing sidequests in games, and this game does them well. One thing I really appreciate about them is how there is a list of requests (and missions too, for that matter), and there’s even a number for all of them. This makes it easy to see which ones you have completed, which you have obtained but not completed, and which you have yet to obtain. This was something I really missed in previous games with many sidequests, notably US/UM.

Onto something else. I have continued playing Emerald, my current focus being the Battle Dome which is one of my favorite facilities as I have posted about earlier. One more thing I really like about it is how there is a sort of "exploit" you can use to beat Gold Tucker.

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None of this Pokémon has any moves that can touch Shedinja, which allows you to auto-win against him if you use a Shedinja. I tried this for the first time when I got my Gold Symbol at the Dome back in 2006. It was fun back then, and it is still really fun nowadays. Shedinja breaks Gold Tucker harder than TruAnt breaks the Subway. Using Shedinja at the Dome basically gives you a free win every 20 battles and I love it. My streak at the Dome has also been going much better than expected, I never thought I'd be able to get this far... It has made me appreciate the Dome even more than before.
 
Wukong said:
I used to have a problem with the Johto rival possessing Chikorita since it just aesthetically and thematically didn't fit in my head. But I've grown to not only like it, but actually prefer it. It kind of makes sense for that rival's arc to revolve around learning to love his Pokémon despite it being weaker. Particularly his quotes in Azalea Town highlight how lowly he thinks of his Pokémon. It's kind of poignant to me that he goes from that to learning to love his Pokémon in spite of its flaws. I feel like that character arc only really makes sense when revolving around Chikorita, rather than the other two. Like, he must have really learned to love his Pokémon, warts and all, if it involved training a Chikorita especially in the Johto region.
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His maingame team generally raises some odd questions about his motivations. Gen 2 Zubat and Gastly definitely aren't the most obvious choices for a trainer that claims to only care about immediate power, so I guess we might as well read it as an early sign of his potential for growth as a character.

I do like that his whole arc kinda torpedoes the classic fan interpretation of Karen's post-battle speech, which I've criticised before. If we acknowledge that you can learn to love the Pokemon you initially chose for their strength, then it doesn't really make sense to distinguish between 'favourites' and non-favourites in the first place.
 
Cobalt Empoleon said:
His maingame team generally raises some odd questions about his motivations. Gen 2 Zubat and Gastly definitely aren't the most obvious choices for a trainer that claims to only care about immediate power, so I guess we might as well read it as an early sign of his potential for growth as a character.

I do like that his whole arc kinda torpedoes the classic fan interpretation of Karen's post-battle speech, which I've criticised before. If we acknowledge that you can learn to love the Pokemon you initially chose for their strength, then it doesn't really make sense to distinguish between 'favourites' and non-favourites in the first place.
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I think Gastly can work well as an early pick. Regardless of base stats, a Normal immunity can be a pretty big deal in the early game. Zubat I think the devs wrote themselves into a corner. It makes sense for them to want Silver to have a Friendship-based evolution that is only complete once he learns his lesson, but there was only one of those with a base form that was any good and it's Kanto-restricted.

I think that in order to really do a theming around immediate strength, Silver should have had something like Beedrill in his second fight and replace it with a strong single-stage (possibly his actual sneasel, possibly something even stronger like tauros or heracross) in later ones.
 
Ironmage said:
I think Gastly can work well as an early pick. Regardless of base stats, a Normal immunity can be a pretty big deal in the early game.
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I'm aware of the utility of an early-game Ghost mon lol, but Gastly's Normal immunity is undermined early on by the fact that it can't damage Normal-type Pokemon until it learns Curse at Level 16 in GSC (and it can barely damage anything else with only Lick). From a more metagame-y player standpoint it's great, shutting some notable opponents like Bugsy in conjunction with a teammate that can actually deal damage, but my point was more that actually raising it requires a lot of immediate dedication and babying, which seems to fly in the face of Silver's stated philosophy.
 
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The fact that of all things, FOG was brought back for Legends Arceus. This sounds like a complaint and on paper it should be nah y'know what? I'm just so impressed at the sheer audacity that I can't help but love it. Even in a high-scope prequel/reimagining thing GF managed to continue their time honored tradition of maintaining the weirdest forms of faithfulness to the original game
 
Cobalt Empoleon said:
His maingame team generally raises some odd questions about his motivations. Gen 2 Zubat and Gastly definitely aren't the most obvious choices for a trainer that claims to only care about immediate power, so I guess we might as well read it as an early sign of his potential for growth as a character.
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Just head canon wise it seems easy for me to rationalize a reckless opportunist like Silver choosing Gastly and Zubat, and coincidentally showcasing those mons for the first time in your battle against him in Azalea, home of Bugsy. He probably doesn't know their learn set (you could only knows this with some outside the world guide, Internet or otherwise) but on paper from a type perspective, you literally can't do better from a defensive standpoint than either of those two mons against Bugsy (on paper). Which makes even more sense with his dialogue after the battle in Azalea, lashing out, maybe his way of expressing regret for ending up with such weak mons that performed worse than he expected them to on paper. And he just doesn't see it as worth the effort to scrap them from his team and onboard new members. Doesn't seem like the biggest stretch to me.

What is a stretch to me though is how he managed to get a Sneasel in time for your battle against him in the Goldenrod Tunnel. There is no scenario (not even in Crystal where you can get a Sneasel in Ice Path) where I can rationalize that one. Probably belongs in the little things that annoy me thread.
 
Wukong said:
What is a stretch to me though is how he managed to get a Sneasel in time for your battle against him in the Goldenrod Tunnel. There is no scenario (not even in Crystal where you can get a Sneasel in Ice Path) where I can rationalize that one. Probably belongs in the little things that annoy me thread.
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It is implied that Silver stole Sneasel from the NPC that gives you Shuckle in Cianwood.
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EDIT: Speaking of his character arc, HGSS also added a postgame line to Elm's assistant about how Silver tried to return the starter but Elm let him keep it because it was happy with him and he looked happy afterwards. The Shuckle NPC also always lets you keep Shuckle if it has high happiness with you, so it's a nice way to tie his redemption together and could also imply that he let Silver keep Sneasel for the same reason.

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That's the last thing I expected! Guess what Professor Elm said to him. "It seems that your Pokémon already likes you so much. For a Pokémon, the best happiness is to be with someone it loves. I think it should stay with you." ... Isn't it moving? It made me cry! The one who took it... I mean the red-haired boy came up with the Pokémon. But I saw his face as he passed me here. He looked so happy!
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For Silver's starting with Gastly, my headcanon would be that he fell into the sort of trap a lot of us kids did: We saw the really awesome final evolution of a Pokemon (Alakazam, Gengar, most Pseudo-Legendaries, Gyarados, etc.) and immediately committed to getting one on our teams at the first chance we could, not realizing how much work it is to raise it from that early stage.

Silver didn't catch a Gastly because he thought Gastly was strong, he caught it because Gengar is (a reasonable conclusion since the main users by that point were Agatha of the old Elite 4 and Morty who is one of the harder casual Gym Leaders) and just assumed "I just have to put up with this thing until it gets strong." This explains why Silver would catch and stick with a less-immediately powerful Pokemon (as compared to something like Geodude which is really solid early and tapers off to "fine" as a Golem in the grand scheme of things) despite his earlier character, and sticking with a weak mon long enough to progress like that would be a source of bonding to facilitate his development (think about jokes or plots where the guy who doesn't like animals/kids has to babysit and eventually starts fawning over their charge or freaking out at any minute dangerous scenario).
 
It happens less now that regional dexes are so big, but I like when NPCs have one or two "wildcard" types that supplement their teams. I'm not talking about the ridiculous extent that Flint's team in DP is taken to - that's just silly - or even about bosses who have extra Pokemon which fit their overall theme, like Karen using a Vileplume and Gengar because they have a nighttime/darkness theme. What I mean is the examples where the "wildcard" Pokemon doesn't match the trainer's specialty at all, and occasionally is in direct opposition to the type they train.

Examples:
  • In one of the more obscure mangas, Brawly has a Sableye which was explicitly noted to be an odd choice
  • Sabrina seemingly adopts Ash's Haunter in the anime, and is also suggested to own a Hitmonlee; several of the Saffron gym trainers in the games also use the Gastly line
  • For what appears to be no reason at all, Marshall caught a Tirtouga in the Adventures manga despite being a Fighting-type specialist
  • Blaine uses a Rhydon in the anime
  • Volkner uses Ambipom and Octillery in DP, and later Pelipper in BDSP to set up rain for his team
  • Both of the Stadium games are absolutely full of this - there are too many examples to list, like Lt Surge using species as diverse as Tangela, Quagsire, Victreebel, Poliwrath, and Dodrio in addition to his usual Electric-types
  • It's not always bosses this applies to - there's that one Kindler in RSE who talks about the importance of using water to put out fires and fittingly has a Pelipper
I like this a lot as an immersion thing. Realistically, why wouldn't a type expert catch some Pokemon that relate to their type to more deeply understand them? Brawly having a Sableye is the best example of this - sure it learns some Fighting moves, but I'd think the most useful thing he could do with a Sableye is use it to teach his Fighting-types how to counter Ghosts more effectively.

Often, it works for their flavour - Volkner lives in a port town, so catching Water-types is hardly a stretch, and Brawly regularly trains in the Granite Cave. But I like the idea that a Fire-type trainer might catch some Water, Ground, and Rock Pokemon to deepen their understanding of their chosen type.
 
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I also like non-specialty flavor Mons because they add a little character to generic NPC's when they show up. The Kindler example above is a good one because it feels more like they came up with the idea for someone you might see out camping or around these locales and gave that motif fitting Pokemon, rather than thinking "we need Fire-type trainers, what is a type of person who would need fire?" and working backwards that way.

Canalave Gym in DP is a bit weird in that most of the trainers are using Onix rather than Steel types like Bronzor or even a Scizor as Platinum revamps some to, but thematically it made me think about how the individual trainers use less refined/trained versions of the Mon compared to the leader, like how Iron (as comes from Iron Island where they have a training ground) has to be refined into Steel (the Gym being set up with a Construction/Steelworks motif). Also there one trainer in there whose only mon is an Azumarill which (lack of Huge Power or competent moveset notwithstanding) is a nice little bait-and-switch since Fire and Ground would be your natural inclinations to fight Steel types since one of the most common (Bronzor) isn't weak to Fighting Types.
 
A bit soon after my previous post, but since a reply means it would not be a Double Post and it is a distinct topic from what I last post I think I'll share it.

There was some talk over in the "Little Things that annoy" thread about how the Hitmons have stats that don't reflect well on their evolution balance (main subject was Hitmontop), which initially led me to peruse Hitmontop's page to verify as well as see if any other explanations were present. In the process I found a lot of ways in which, despite those odd flavor disconnects, it actually reflects its basis very nicely as well. Below will be copy-pasted the paragraph I started typing before realizing it had enough "good" stuff to suit this thread instead.

Despite [the stat disconnects mentioned] I actually do like a lot of the other details of Hitmontop's kit along this line: Technician to boost low power (and in its case often multi-hit) moves fits at least the perception of a Dance fighter weaving around the opponent and wearing down as they can, and Steadfast fits that motif as well since Flinching can cost time in a fight and thus a swift/evasive fighter needs to respond even faster than they usually do to stay ahead of the enemy. Even its Gen 6 Idle animation play into the idea further, being based on default/neutral "Ginga" footwork of Capoeria that is meant to keep the fighter in motion so they can easily shift into any number of attacks or evasive moves, while even as just a maintained movement making them difficult to read or approach (which also retroactively makes better sense of Intimidate deterring/weakening Physical attacks against it). At least as far as the stuff the game actively presents to you on the Cart rather than in a guide or anything, Hitmontop actually translates its Martial Arts basis surprisingly well into the Pokemon kit, and in a lot of ways that generally make it better rather than trading viability for aesthetic cohesion
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Nitro Indigo said:
That reminds me, I'm pretty sure every NPC-owned Bronzor and Bronzong in Diamond & Pearl has Levitate.
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It's likely a design choice too. It's both more "intuitive" (you see them levitating, it makes sense they have levitate), and also easier to tell for the player.
You'd not really realize that the enemy has Heatproof (you'd likely just wonder if they just have massive def/spdef based on what you hit with), while the whole "Levitate" popup to show a immunity is more evident.

I think in general GF has always priorized "easy to recognize" abilities when it comes to opponent trainers when possible. That's also why almost every single Static and Sturdy applicable pokemon ends up having it when enemy trainers have it.

Gameplay clarity is important after all, expecially for potential newcomers, and more elaborate behind-the-scene abilities can be left for postgame/competitive scene with no issue.
 
pika pal said:
Canalave Gym in DP is a bit weird in that most of the trainers are using Onix rather than Steel types like Bronzor or even a Scizor as Platinum revamps some to, but thematically it made me think about how the individual trainers use less refined/trained versions of the Mon compared to the leader, like how Iron (as comes from Iron Island where they have a training ground) has to be refined into Steel (the Gym being set up with a Construction/Steelworks motif).
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This is the case in most gyms and it's something else I often quite like. It makes the leader feel truly advanced and powerful (like how in the Blackthorn Gym everyone uses Seadra but only Clair is skillful/experienced enough to have evolved hers into Kingdra); it also kind of suggests that the gym trainers are trying to emulate their dear leader but aren't quite skillful enough to pull it all the way off.

It's not a thing in every gym (and shouldn't be) but it's neat. One of the better-designed gyms, imo, is the Fuchsia Gym for the large variance in its trainers. In RBY, most of the trainers use Psychic Pokemon while Koga has Poison-types, perhaps reflecting the confusion between Sabrina and Koga's badges but also serving to fox you with a bit of unexpected variety. In GSC, all the trainers use different Poison-types to Janine's set, which sort of reflects her being new and not having quite found her own style yet; it makes sense that the trainers would all have their own way of doing things.
 
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