Little things you like about Pokémon

Nitro Indigo said:
Speaking of Hitmonchan, I just remembered something I learned about it from Did You Know Gaming's video about the Japanese PokéDex book. It mentions that it's possessed by the spirit of a boxer, which also comes up in its Hoenn PokéDex entries, because it's named after Hiroyuki Ebihara in Japanese, who died while Red and Green were in development.
Click to expand...

Hitmonlee's did not have such a line pertaining to its Japanese namesake because theirs was very much still alive when Red and Green came out(ironically the reverse is true for their English namesakes)
 
DrPumpkinz said:
:ss/mr-mime:

Mr. Mime learns only four sound moves: Confide, Round, Snore, and Uproar. The former three are universal TMs, while Uproar is a universal tutor for baby Pokemon (which Mr. Mime evolves from).

It would have been so easy to give Mr. Mime moves like Hyper Voice, Disarming Voice, or Sing, but they didn't, because it's a mime. Mimes famously don't make sound when performing.
Click to expand...
Oh my god that's why it has Soundproof
 
DrumstickGaming said:
View attachment 426038View attachment 426039
WHAT AM I LOOKING AT
Click to expand...

Well, the left card is from Aquapolis and is done by Tomokazu Komiya. Even if you don't know his name, his cards are well known in the TCG community for their deformed style, which comes from him being a practitioner of Primitivism. Primitivism is an art movement that takes inspiration from themes or stylistic elements of prehistory, tribal cultures, or children's art (And yes, I did copy & paste most of that from Bulbapeda). From what I can tell he still works as a TCG illustrator as he's done some Gen VIII Pokemon. And though many of his early cards use the deform style, his later cards are more on model.

The right card is from Neo Destiny and is done by Shin-ichi Yoshida. Not much on them though their cards also varied in styles. However it doesn't look like they've drawn anything since Gen III so they may no longer work for the TCG.

Yung Dramps said:
https://twitter.com/x/status/1527515966636232711
Click to expand...

Here's a video of it from Kotaku: https://kotaku.com/pokemon-go-tcg-expansion-ditto-bidoof-collectors-contro-1848956325
 
Last edited:
Nitro Indigo said:
I just learned that the Dark type is called Sinister in European Spanish, and honestly that's a lot less ambiguous and makes it clearer what it's actually about. I feel like the only reason the Dark type is called that is because 5/6 of the first Dark-types were darkly-coloured and nocturnal.
Click to expand...

While it could be a bit more clearer, I do understand why they went with "Dark". In addition to classical elements, Pokemon does have its share of unique "Types" which more describe a characteristic than power. Bug, Dragon, Ghost, Fairy, and probably the most notable Fighting. The Japanese name for the Dark-type is "Evil-Type" which would be now really heading into Types being based on personality it sounds like. Not only that, but not all Dark-types are "evil", they just have some kind of negative connotation connected to them (Umbreon hunts when its dark out and sweats poison, Absol can predict disasters which people then blame it for, Zorua family as tricksters, Sableye is just a creepy gem eater, Tyranitar is territorial, Nuzlead & Shiftry will do whatever it takes to protect their forest home, etc.). So they wanted a word which can both meant "bad" and "negative" while also sounding like an element, hence they settled on Dark.
 
Nitro Indigo said:
I just noticed that the Omega Ruby logo is spiky, while Alpha Sapphire's is curvy. Nice touch! This applies to all languages, but I first noticed it when looking at the Japanese logos.
Click to expand...

They sort of always done this in the Japanese version for the Version names, it's more notable with recent titles.
GEN I:
Red, Green & Blue (JP) / Red & Blue (EN):
  • English: Getting the English versions out of the way first, all DULL. No symbols, no special fonts. Just the normal Pokemon logo, the "Gotta catch em' all!" slogan in plain white text, and at the bottom the version name in plain white text (though though the slogan and version name uses different fonts at the very least). To be somewhat fair, while on the original Japanese art the Kanto Starters were in their stock art pose & made small enough to fit in a circle in the center of the box with large font all around them (which I suppose fits with the game's name being Pocket Monster), the English box art was very much about showing off the cool elemental monsters so Charizard and Blastoise are taking up most of the box art in a cooler drawn pose.

  • Japanese: Nothing too special about the Pokemon logo itself, though notably the version names were inside a symbol representing the element of the Kanto Starter associated with the version: Red was in a flame for Charizard, Green was in a leaf for Venusaur, and Blue was in a water droplet for Blastoise. Though a special note here is that the box art's version symbol does not appear on the game's title screen, the only games to do so, instead they just had the version name written out in English underneath the Pocket Monster logo.
Pikachu Edition / Yellow: (Bulbapedia Page)
  • Japanese: Something to note here, Yellow Version isn't called Yellow Version in Japan. It's called "Pocket Monster Pikachu", the word "Yellow" does not appear anywhere on the box art or title screen (this is likely why the full name of the game in English is "Pokemon Yellow Version: Special Pikachu Edition"). So with that, instead of having just Pikachu's name in a lightning bolt, Pikachu has a word bubble of it saying its name in stylized letters, one being in the shape of Pikachu's thunderbolt tail. This is also seen in the game's title screen.

  • English: Pretty much the same as Red & Blues, except they replaced the "Gotta catch em' all" slogan with the "Special Pikachu Edition" subtitle (though in the same font they had the slogan in). Once again, the box art was all about the Pokemon, showing a more battle-ready Pikachu. HOWEVER they then threw in a twist: the game title screen is a nearly 1:1 layout of the Japanese, complete with an English version of Pikachu saying its name with one of the letters in the shape of Pikachu's thunderbolt tail (though Pikachu is only saying "Pika!" instead of its full name cause of space limitation in the word bubble, but still cool to see they put in the extra effort)!

GEN II:
Gold & Silver: (Bulbapedia Page)
  • Japanese: Sadly a bit bland this time around, likely because by this time they too opted to have the mascot Pokemon take up most of the box art. Pocket Monster logo is the same style as it was with the Gen I games but Gold version is colored orange and Silver version is colored blue. The version names both having the Kanji for "Gold" and "Silver" in a stylized curvy font with a metallic texture over them and in the color of their version name. Also from here on the game's title screen will show how the Pocket Monster logo & version name is shown on the box art.

  • English: Second verse, pretty much same as the first. There is a little addition of a stylized "GS" symbol they made for this generation right above the version name, but that's it for any symbols (though I do like the swirl design behind the mascots which colors are reversed to the other version; btw with swirl is also on the Japanese version but thought to add it onto the English part to make it a bit longer).
Crystal: (Bulbapedia Page)
  • Japanese: Instead of the version name being aside the Pocket Monster logo (btw it's colored dark blue for Crystal) in/as a stylized symbol, this time its written underneath the main logo in katakana in the stylized curvy font with a slight sheen to it. However the eye drawing aspect is they put the version's symbol, a cut purple crystal in the same of Suicune's head crest, behind the logos.

  • English: So it's the same except with Suicune, says "Crystal Version", and the "GS" logo is underneath the version name which has a caption underneath it saying "Part of the Gold/Silver series" (oh and the background swirl is in Suicune colors: light blue, purple, and white). BUT, just like with Yellow version, the game title screen is similar to the Japanese, mainly that it shows the Suicune crest crystal. I guess Pokemon USA just REALLY wanted people to know on the box art it was part of Gen II.

  • FUN FACT: An early Japanese logo for Crystal was shown at Nintendo Space World 2000. There's no Suicune crest, rather the katakana for "Crystal" is surrounded by a border of crystal spikes (with the Kanji for "tentative title" underneath it in small text). In addition, Nintendo Denmark made a minisite using a same logo but putting the English word in the crystal border and a giant 3-spike crystal in the background (though instead of Suicune it showed Gold, Kris, and a Pichu; this was likely a mock-up made by Nintendo Denmark themselves).

GEN III: (Bulbapedia Page)
Ruby, Sapphire, & Emerald; FireRed, & LeafGreen:
  • Japanese: An interesting case. Now when it comes to them looking distinctively different, that's where they fall short as all of them look the same but using different colors. However they updated the Pocket Monster logo to be more stylized, it's now more bold, has spiky ends to its letters, the first letter replaced a dot with a Poke Ball, and it has a border around it with "Pokemon" written in English written underneath; this version of the logo would be used more often going forward and I'll make note if when then do another redesign. Still on the main logo, there's a quick note about the textures they use: all the Hoenn games use the same "gem shimmer" texture, FireRed uses a "flame" texture, and LeafGreen uses a "windy" texture. For the version names they use the stylized curvy font and a solid texture with a slight gradient for all of them. FRLG has a bit more going on with it, the border around the main logo now also goes around the version name and above it the old logos for the original Red & Green version.

  • English: ZzZzZz... Pokemon logo, version name in plain white text... ZzZzZz... Oh, and note moving forward the game title screen uses the same logos as the box art... ZzZzZz...

GEN IV: (Bulbapedia Page)
Diamond, Pearl, & Platinum:
  • Japanese: Ooh, now we're fancy! Both the Pocket Monster logo and version name has a colored outline around the letters (navy for Diamond, purplish-pink for Pearl, and yellowish-brown for Platinum), the textures match the mineral the game is named after (Diamond is a gem, Pearl is a iridescent sheen, and Platinum is metallic). Another special note about the version names, they have different fonts & tidbits: Diamond is sharper with several slants & diamonds replacing dots in the katakana, Pearl is curvier with a peal replacing the dot in the katakana, and Platinum is more aligned with the main logo's font (it's also included in the border surrounding the main logo, said border also now having a glowing red crack in it).

  • English: Pokemon logo, version name in plain white text, so boring...
HeartGold & SoulSilver:
  • Japanese: Similar to design of the DPPT titles. The border around the Pocket Monster logo, the outline around the letters, and the version names are in the colors of the game version they are for. The inner colors for the logo are red for HeartGold and blue for SoulSilver, both also sharing what I can best describe as a "mineral" texture. The version names are both written in the stylized curvy font in solid colors with a white gradient. Finally each version was given a badge-like symbol representing their mascot Legendary in the general shape of the version's first word (HeartGold is a Ho-Oh's wings in a shape of a heart, SoulSilver is a coiled, wingless silhouette of Lugia with a tethered tail making it look like a wispy soul). Also each symbol had the original Gold & Silver symbols at the bottom of it.

  • English: OH SWEET ARCEUS THEY ACTUALLY GOT CREATIVE! Well, sorta. The Pokemon logo is of course the same, don't expect them to ever change that even though it would be cool *SIGH*. Anyway, the version name follows suit with the Japanese Pocket Monster logo, sorta. They're outline in the color of their version namesake with the inside colored a orange-yellow gradient for HeartGold and a blue-cyan gradient for SoulSilver. Also the text for the actual title name is different from the text used for "Version", the font looking a bit more fancy than the straighter font used for "Version". Finally, and most notably, the Heart Ho-Oh and Soul Lugia badge symbols there minus the Gold & Silver kanji (but I actually don't mind that as it gives us a nice clear look at the symbols).

GEN V:
Black & White: (Bulbapedia Page)
  • Japanese: The differences between the versions are the colors; for Black the letters are written in black while the border is white, and for White it's reversed. The border itself is changed in a few ways. If you look closely you'll see it has a checkered board pattern. The space below that used to say "Pokemon" in English has been removed. This is because the Poke Ball that replaced the first letter's dot has been extended into a bigger Poke Ball (the dot not being the Poke Ball's button) and the word "Pokemon" now spread in the top red part of the Poke Ball. Near where the version names are the border has been extended down in a triangle shape just barely including the version name. The font for the Pocket Monster logo is more stylized to be exaggeratedly sharp, many letters losing the 3 end spikes. The version name is written more straight though with slants to give it some style. All the letters also have this two-tone metallic texture.

  • English: They sorta followed suit with the version name. The boarder around the letters has the checkered board pattern. White not the same exact font, I would describe the font they use for the version name more closely matches with the one they used for the Japanese's version name. It also uses the same two-tone metallic texture.

Black 2 & White 2: (Bulbapedia Page)
  • Japanese: The border is the same shape, but there's quite a few different things done with it. First both border and letters are the same color as the version they are for, with only the outline of the letters (which is in the other version's color) separates the two. The Poke Ball at the top has been made to look like it's tilting to the left and red top has been separated into 3 sections (in addition the sections get lighter or dark in different directions depending on what version is it. Going up from the button, Black starts a light red, middle is normal red, and top part where it says "Pokemon" is dark red; White is the opposite way). The right side of the border has begun being overtaken by ice of a certain color, blue is Black version and red in White version. Finally the number "2" is placed next to the version name, though they have different colors and texture patterns: Black is blue with a rectangle grid pattern, White is red & orange with a melting magma pattern.

  • English: So, this is interesting. Now they did the same thing with the border and letter colors as above. However, things take a twist when you look at what they did with the right side. When they essentially did was they took the right side of the Japanese logo, and combined it with the left side of the English logo. This has the odd result that the border shape that's around the 3-spike end of the last katakana of the Pocket Monsters logo is present in the English version for no particular reason, lol. Oh, and the same "2" as in the Japanese logo is also there but that's not really a surprise.

GEN VI:
X & Y: (Bulbapedia Page)
  • Japanese: They went back to the previous Pocket Monster logo design except now its modelled in 3D (with the word "Pokemon" written in English below it). X has the letters colored blue and outline in cyan and Y has the letters colored red and outline in a tannish-orange ("Pokemon" has the letters colored white and outline in black). The Pocket Monster logo part also has this marble texture to it. The upper half of the fifth katakana letter have been replaced with the Mega Evolution symbol, a gimmick which will follow future logo designs. Finally there's no version name this time, instead its replaced by the symbol which is the letter the version is named after, the letter symbol also having elements of its mascot Legendary added to it (X is a blue X with the top split to look like Xerneas antlers, Y is a red Y with the tips made to look like Yveltal's claws wings and tail; both letters are also black gradient from top to bottom).

  • English: Ugh. All they did was just use the letter symbols, which is definitely better than a plain white text "X" and "Y", but seeing all the things the Japanese version did with the Pocket Monster logo, notably with the inclusion of the Mega Evolution symbol, it's frustrating how they don't ever touch the English Pokemon logo. NEWS FLASH POKEMON USA! We will still know it's Pokemon if you change around the colors and shape of the Pokemon logo. Why? BECAUSE WE CAN F@#$ING READ! "Gee, I wonder if the game titled "Pokemon" is Pokemon". "No, man, look at the logo, it's not the 90s-tastic Pokemon logo". "Oh man, you're right, this must be a completely different game titled "Pokemon", Nintendo should consider suing". Oh, and BTW, starting now the word "Version" no longer appears on the logo.
Omega Ruby & Alpha Sapphire: (Bulbapedia Page)
  • Japanese: So it's the same 3D lettering as with XY above (though some letters are slightly different to reflect how those letters exactly looked for the Gen III titles). However there's quite a number of differences after that: the letters are now a sparkling gem texture (in red for OR and in blue for AS), though the outline around the letters is off-white the sides of the letter is magma textured OR and water textured in AS. Both have the letters rising up from a border which now connects the Pocket Monsters logo to the "Pokemon" word below it, "Pokemon" just simply printed into the off-white border. The Mega Evolution symbols has been swapped with the new designs of the Red Orb in OR (with the capital Greek letter omega) and Blue Orb in AS (with the lowercase Greek letter alpha). Finally the version name is below also in 3D letters similar to the main logo: The letters are solid with a second color gradient (red-orange for OR, blue-cyan for AS) both outline in white, the sides of the letters is the magma & water texture, and a final difference is that the font of OR is thick & sharp-looking while AS is thin & curvy.

  • English: Skipping the same ol' Pokomon logo, for the version titles they did what was done with the Japanese version titles but in English. But come on, you couldn't even put the Orbs someplace? Like how about right between the two words that form the version name so that we know they're two words.

GEN VII:
Sun & Moon: (Bulbapedia Page)
Ultra Sun & Ultra Moon: (Bulbapedia Page)
  • Japanese: Starting with the normal versions, both have a redesign of the Pocket Monsters logo that's more "slick" looking is the best way I can describe it; has both straight lines but also curves where needed and sharp points. The letters are colored yellow in Sun and cyan in Moon. The Poke Ball dot of the first letter has an orange comet tail attached to it. The 5th letter top part is now a solid colored Z-Crystal, this time cyan in Sun & yellow in Moon. It's surrounded by a colored border (tones of red in Sun, blues & purples in Moon) that has a starry space texture with the shadow of a planet curve darkening the bottom half of it. "Pokemon" in English is written above the border in black letters. The orange Sun and blue Moon symbols are on the side of their respective game with the version name in katakana below it. The version name letters are white with orange outlines in Sun and black with blue outlines in Moon, though both are casting a shadow.

  • * ULTRA: Take the same logo and do the follow changes: Turn the color of the border texture black and white (making it actually look like space). Replace the Z-Crystal with the rainbow core of Necrozma. Add black shapes on top of the Sun and Moon symbols (notably a black star in the middle). For the version names the letters are a gradient of two colors (orange-magenta in Sun, cyan-navy in Moon) with a white outline and black shadows.

  • English: Now while we still have the normal Pokemon logo, they did add the colored space border around it and connected it with the version name. The version names than do what the Pocket Monsters logo did in the Japanese logo: the colors and shadow of the planet. Though the font of the version names are more curvy than either the Pocket Monster logo or the Japanese version names (which were straight edge), so that's a small interesting difference. Then we have the Sun and Moon symbols. Overall pretty good... though what still annoys me is excluding the additional symbol, this time the Z-Crystal, even though the border STILL has the radiance spot where the Z-Crystal went in the Japanese version (as if they were going to add it, but last second grew skittish because it was too much of a good idea).

  • * ULTRA: Pretty much the same changes. Slapping "Ultra" in front of "Sun" and "Moon" meant it needed to match their font and color design (though lacked the planet shadow), and since the version name is longer it covers more of the Sun and Moon symbols which has the additional black Necrozma pieces. And yes, it too includes the radiance spot where the rainbow core of Necrozma could have been placed, GAH!
Let's Go Pikachu & Let's Go Eevee: (Bulbapedia Page)
  • Yes, even though they're not part of the core series, they're still part of the main stories so we're covering them.

  • Japanese: The Pocket Monster logo is back to how it was previously (the 3-spike end design), but this time it's written in a straighter font (I'm guessing to reference how the font would look in Gen I) and textured with a green foliage pattern. Under it is the English words "Let's Go!" with the "o" replaced with a Poke Ball. Then we have the version names written in what looks to be colored highlighter pens (Pikachu is in yellow, Eevee is in brown) with the tail of their mascot attached to the last letter. Note the word "Pokemon" doesn't appear which I think is the first time since Gen II.

  • English: Skipping Pokemon logo, though at least here it fits since this is a Gen I-based game. They keep the "Let's Go" part of the version name though exclude the exclamation marks. This is because, in addition to writing the mascots name in the same highlighter pen style except in English, they also include the exclamation mark which is where they add the mascot's tail. Technically speaking, the Japanese versions are called "Let's Go! Pikachu & Let's Go! Eevee" while the English versions are called "Let's Go, Pikachu! and Let's Go, Eevee!".

Gen VIII:
Sword & Shield: (Bulbapedia Page)
  • Japanese: So, this is a bit weird. The Pocket Monster logo is designed with the aesthetics of the English Pokemon logo. Yellow letters, thick blue outline, and it replaced the first letter's Poke Ball with the monster eye the English Pokemon logo replaces with the "o"s. I'm not sure why they did it, maybe it has something to do with James Turner being SwSh's Art Director? Now don't get me wrong, it's neat to see, it's just that after complaining for so long about the Pokemon logo not changing while the Pocket Monster logo always did, to see the Pocket Monsters copy the Pokemon logo is a bit befuddling (oh, BTW, since the Korean and now Chinese versions usually follows what the Japanese version does, you can now also see the Pokemon logo aesthetic written out in Korean, Traditional Chinese, and Simplified Chinese). Anyway, the 5th letter top part isn't also a monster eye but rather the symbol for the Galar Pokemon League. Version names' fonts are very stylized this time: Sword is blue, slender & sharp letters with a yellow slash mark across it (also the top letters are a brighter blue then the letters below the slash); Shield is red, thick & bold letters with what I can only describe as "impact spikes" on its side (also the letters have a diagonal checkerboard look with two tones of red). Behind them, something which hasn't been done since Crystal, is the symbols: a down-pointing blue sword with a left-facing wolf head replacing the hilt & a red shield with a right-facing wolf head on top.
  • English: Funny enough, with the Pocket Monster's logo copying the Pokemon logo, they pretty much recreate the style of Japanese logo into English... all except for including the Galar Pokemon League symbol. No way they could have replaced the accent mark above the "e" with it...
Brillaint Diamond & Shining Pearl: (Bulbapedia Page)
  • Japanese: Do I even want to bother with the joke of copy & pasting what I said for the original Gen IV games cause they're the exact same logo except having "Brilliant" and "Shining" below the English "Pokemon" word (using the same font & texture as their version name)? If you haven't guess with me typing that out, the answer is no.

  • English: Geez, the English version looks to be putting in more effort than the Japanese version! Though I guess when the previous version name was just plain white text the only way is up. Though, in a way, it is still white text, except in a more stylized round font with a colored outline (navy for BD, magenta for SP). Final difference is that there's a border around the version name and the border is textured like diamond or pearl depending on the version (curious, I checked to see if it was the exact same texture as the ones used in the Japanese version... nope, they're different, even though they just reused the textures so don't know why they didn't at least give the assets to Pokemon USA).
Legends: Arceus: (Bulbapedia Page)
  • Even though this is another side main series game and there's only one version, BELIEVE ME, you want me to include it. Why? Because, oh my Arceus, THEY ACTUALLY CHANGED THE POKEMON LOGO! Yes, "Pokemon Logo" as in the English one, not Pocket Monster. The katakana for Pocket Monster doesn't appear anywhere on the Japanese logo for Legends: Arceus strangely enough, instead just using the English Pokemon logo. BUT they just didn't use the logo, THEY ACTUALLY CHANGED IT! Sure it's a simple color swap of the letters being blue instead of yellow and the outline white instead of blue, but it's MORE than what Pokemon USA has done with it! Anyway, under the beautifully changed Pokemon logo is the English word "Legends" written in green letters (though with some weird wavy effects on some letters?) with a white outline. Finally, if you haven't noticed there's only one paragraph here, here's the only difference between the Japanese and English versions: the versions spelling Arceus in their language (which sort of makes Japan the odd one as it suddenly switches to writing in katakana). Though both are still written in the ink brush font (though the Japanese one's brush strokes look more refined compared to the English which is rather blocky and a bit sloppy?).

Gen IX:
Scarlet & Violet: (Bulbapedia Page)
  • Japanese: The Pocket Monster logo returns but it's all golden with the letters in yellow and the border around it in a tan (also the first letter's dot has returned to being just that, it's no longer a Poke Ball). However the 5th letter's top part has been changed once again, this time its a crystal star. Going to the version name where the differences lie, while both are outlined in a thick yellow that's the only thing they share. Scarlet's font is fancier & sharp, the letters' texture a triangle pattern in shades of red and orange. Violet's font is comparatively more simple & curvy, the letters' texture looking like a very short wavelength/high frequency band in shades of purple and white circles dotted about.

  • English: NOOOOO! Did they learn NOTHING from Legends: Arceus?! They were literally shown you can change the Pokemon Logo and it would be fine. But NOPE! Right back to using the ol' yellow and blue Pokemon Logo! *SIGH* Yeah, the version names pretty much follow what the Japanese ones did though Violet's font here is even more simplified to be straight lines pretty much.

PHEW! That took longer than I thought (granted I had to do something for a few hours, though post still took longer than I though it would).
 
Last edited:
I just realised that a lot of Psychic-types are "book smart" — Alakazam's unrealistically high IQ, Slowking being as intelligent as award-winning scientists and having battles of wits with Oranguru*, etc — while a lot of Dark-types are "street smart". A lot of them hunt in packs that are highly co-ordinated, such as Houndour/doom, Murkrow/Honchkrow, Weavile, Mightyena, and Pawniard/Bisharp, and Weavile also have a written language. The first Dark-type moves were all weak but had added effects to compensate, which makes me wonder if the idea behind Dark-types is that they're intelligent enough to know that they're weak, so they use underhanded tactics and find strength in numbers.

*Which is related to another thing I like: starting in Gen 7, a lot of PokéDex entries mention Pokémon's relationships with other species (eg: Sandile eating Trapinch, but Flygon helping Krookodile hunt) outside of the usual pairs (eg: Zangoose and Seviper).
 
Nitro Indigo said:
I just realised that a lot of Psychic-types are "book smart" — Alakazam's unrealistically high IQ, Slowking being as intelligent as award-winning scientists and having battles of wits with Oranguru*, etc — while a lot of Dark-types are "street smart". A lot of them hunt in packs that are highly co-ordinated, such as Houndour/doom, Murkrow/Honchkrow, Weavile, Mightyena, and Pawniard/Bisharp, and Weavile also have a written language. The first Dark-type moves were all weak but had added effects to compensate, which makes me wonder if the idea behind Dark-types is that they're intelligent enough to know that they're weak, so they use underhanded tactics and find strength in numbers.

*Which is related to another thing I like: starting in Gen 7, a lot of PokéDex entries mention Pokémon's relationships with other species (eg: Sandile eating Trapinch, but Flygon helping Krookodile hunt) outside of the usual pairs (eg: Zangoose and Seviper).
Click to expand...
This adds a neat layer to the Psychic vs Dark Weakness to me. Psychic types are smarter in terms of knowledge, but it's all books or facts on paper, while Dark Types know more about being in an actual fight and how to cheat or get under their opponent's strengths to their advantage. Psychic being smart only gets them far when the opponent fights fair, which Dark Types and their moves specifically do not.

Might even extend to Ghost. You can study and theorize/try to understand the paranormal (hence the neutrality of Psychic -> Ghost), but the second they start acting towards you, conventional knowledge and rules of the physical world go out the window. This as a more elaborate take on the "Psychics are mentally focused, Ghosts mess with your head" idea
 
I like how Gen 8 introduced new members for legendary groups from previous generations. The Crown Tundra introduced Regieleki and Regidrago to the Regis, and L:A introduced Enamorus to the Forces of Nature. I also like how these are similar to the older members of their groups. The two new Regis are single-typed with a pattern on their body (head?) similar to the three first regis, and their stat spreads are a bit similar too with one stat being very high and the others being low to average. Enamorus is a dual-type Pokémon with Flying as its secondary type, it also has two forms like the first three Forces of Nature. The Incarnate form looks very similar to the Incarnate forms of the others, while the Therian form is very different from both the Incarnate forms and from all other Therian forms. It also has some stat changes between its two forms, although these are a bit bigger than for any of the others in my eyes. Its Ability changes too, it seems.

Another thing I like which is somewhat related to the above is when the master of a legendary group is introduced in a generation after the original group members. I think the most notable examples are Lugia and Regigigas.
Gen 1 introduced the legendary birds, and Gen 2 introduced Lugia as their master.
Gen 3 introduced the original Regis, and Gen 4 introduced Regigigas as their master.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top