Reminds me of Monster Sanctuary, where you can't brute-force your way through the game and need to come up with different strategies for each boss.
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Unpopular opinions
- Thread starter antemortem
- Start date
It is true that not all Pokémon should be equally powerful and should encourage different strategies in different situations. But as long as they keep it up with tons of type specialists, especially regarding important NPCs like the Gym Leaders, I can’t foresee the vast majority of players to do anything but brute-forcing as the way the NPC teams are formed - major type overlap, for example - just invite brute-forcing even more.
But nobody here said that everything that isn’t a Pikaclone is well crafted. Execution matters more than just the concept, after all. There are a multiplicity of Pokémon that aren’t so well crafted and became severely unpopular (if not hated) by a very large section of the fanbase for a variety of reasons.
- Jynx ends up being unpopular due to its design that isn’t well thought through, especially back when it have a dark-black face that got accusations of a blackface.
- Eiscue and Stonjourner are those single-staged Pokémon that have a variety of faults, but both share some common criticisms of being bland, coming off as forcedly gimmicky without making it work well (though Eiscue see niche use in VGC), and overall poor execution all-around.
- Luvdisc have one use that nonetheless is considered as very indignified, and it is about being an inconsistent source of Heart Scales. It also aged poorly as Heart Scales aren’t going to be needed for Move Relearner starting with SWSH, either.
- Don’t get me started with why Volbeat and Illumise are either ignored or hated. I already ranted about these two before.
- The amount of cross-gen evolutuons introduced in Diamond and Pearl is a case of quantity over quality. While several once-one-stage Pokémon definitely needs one, the likes of Rhyperior, Magmortar, Probopass and Lickilicky didn’t hit the marks for many.
- We might reach the point where Zacian and Zamazenta become the least popular boxart Legendary group due to the truly horroundous balancing between the two, and the fact that Zacian proved overbearing in both VGC and Smogon.
While I don't care for any particular Pikaclone very much, they make enough sense to me as addition if you look at them as game elements AND marketing tools simultaneously rather than scrutinizing those lenses separately.
They're usually there to highlight something like a new gimmick or gameplay mechanic of a generation (Pichu for Breeding, Plusle/Minun for Doubles, Dedenne for Fairy Typing, etc.) in the form of a single Pokemon, where if you want to use the Mon (effectively or simply at all), you will probably need at least some understanding of said gimmick. I'd even say this could apply in an inverted manner with Mimikyu, where the Totem fight and its Disguise ability shows players what happens if they just recklessly throw out their Z-moves and don't have any backup plan if the Opponent survives it.
Some immediate questions could be "wouldn't they learn these by simply playing the game?" and "can't they use other Pokemon for that?", which they probably could, but not quite as effectively. Pikachu is the series mascot, so you can assume that players who are new to the games or haven't been with the series for a while are somewhat familiar with how it plays and what it does compared to a new Pokemon. At the same time, using Pikachu itself for the new mechanics is dicey territory because you don't want to overburden any Pokemon with all the gimmicks at once (lest you get stuff like Charizard exhaustion between the repeated prominent Anime roles, 2 Megas, and Gigantamax in just a few Gens' time), so the Pikaclones let them evoke familiarity with Pikachu's playstyle and image without reusing Pikachu itself and risking/accelerating that kind of market burnout.
At the same time, the Pikachu context might highlight some practicality to the mechanic compared to what an objective explanation or tutorial might.
Two Examples:
- Pichu: "Oh, so Baby Pokemon can have better stats or moves that I won't get in the wild, since I've never seen a Pikachu with Dizzy Punch or this Encore move" (I'm assuming this is for new-enough players now or just contemporary players who wouldn't know Egg Movesets, just "Eggs = Moves you can't get normally)
- Dedenne: "Having another type on my Electric Pokemon is nice for letting them resist more stuff in battle like all these Grunts' Dark types. Oh, Fairy is super-effective on this Pokemon that resisted my Electric moves AND seems to hit everything else fine, I should use this more"
These are some immediate examples of how using understanding of Pikachu can convey use cases for the clone's mechanic/gimmick, while the similarity to the mascot makes it easy to throw merchandise and a minor anime role for it onto the shelves to see if it strikes marketing gold. If not, well then they can use it for a few more cutesy scenes with or in-place of Ash's Pikachu for episodes that call for it to be more of a serious Battling mon.
They're usually there to highlight something like a new gimmick or gameplay mechanic of a generation (Pichu for Breeding, Plusle/Minun for Doubles, Dedenne for Fairy Typing, etc.) in the form of a single Pokemon, where if you want to use the Mon (effectively or simply at all), you will probably need at least some understanding of said gimmick. I'd even say this could apply in an inverted manner with Mimikyu, where the Totem fight and its Disguise ability shows players what happens if they just recklessly throw out their Z-moves and don't have any backup plan if the Opponent survives it.
Some immediate questions could be "wouldn't they learn these by simply playing the game?" and "can't they use other Pokemon for that?", which they probably could, but not quite as effectively. Pikachu is the series mascot, so you can assume that players who are new to the games or haven't been with the series for a while are somewhat familiar with how it plays and what it does compared to a new Pokemon. At the same time, using Pikachu itself for the new mechanics is dicey territory because you don't want to overburden any Pokemon with all the gimmicks at once (lest you get stuff like Charizard exhaustion between the repeated prominent Anime roles, 2 Megas, and Gigantamax in just a few Gens' time), so the Pikaclones let them evoke familiarity with Pikachu's playstyle and image without reusing Pikachu itself and risking/accelerating that kind of market burnout.
At the same time, the Pikachu context might highlight some practicality to the mechanic compared to what an objective explanation or tutorial might.
Two Examples:
- Pichu: "Oh, so Baby Pokemon can have better stats or moves that I won't get in the wild, since I've never seen a Pikachu with Dizzy Punch or this Encore move" (I'm assuming this is for new-enough players now or just contemporary players who wouldn't know Egg Movesets, just "Eggs = Moves you can't get normally)
- Dedenne: "Having another type on my Electric Pokemon is nice for letting them resist more stuff in battle like all these Grunts' Dark types. Oh, Fairy is super-effective on this Pokemon that resisted my Electric moves AND seems to hit everything else fine, I should use this more"
These are some immediate examples of how using understanding of Pikachu can convey use cases for the clone's mechanic/gimmick, while the similarity to the mascot makes it easy to throw merchandise and a minor anime role for it onto the shelves to see if it strikes marketing gold. If not, well then they can use it for a few more cutesy scenes with or in-place of Ash's Pikachu for episodes that call for it to be more of a serious Battling mon.
So I'm not sure how unpopular of an opinion this is, but Mega Rayquaza felt way more centralizing and overwhelming of a force in Ubers compared to Zacian. Back in ORAS, I recall a lot of players running Pokemon like Ditto and Rhyperior very commonly just to counter it (and rhyperior wasn't even a real counter since it would get blasted by Surf + didn't do that much damage because of Delta Stream). It actually didn't seem too different to how centralizing of a force Mega Salamence was in OU, where people were running Choice Scarf Weavile just to revenge kill it after a Dragon Dance. The level at which Zacian warped the Ubers meta never felt like it was on the same level as how Mega Rayquaza warped it, though tbf I am less familiar with the specifics of gen 8 Ubers pre-Zacian ban.
From the little I know of the competitive metagames (both Ubers and VGC), the main "deal" with Mega Ray is the fact it can hold a item, while Zacian can't.
So for Zacian per se, even though it could have a handful of option, you still know its speed tier and expected damage output when it comes in.
For Mega Ray... heh, it could be sash, it could have AV, it could be banded, you have to factor in the unpredictability of the multiple sets it can run on top of being a BST monster with strong stabs/coverage (even scaried on smogon due to V-create being legal) and effectively being a dragon monotype as far as weaknesses go.
Also for what matters, Ditto still sees plenty of play in BSS, because notably it's one of the best Zacian answer due to the interaction with Intrepid Sword granting it a extra +1 over the enemy one. I myself have been counter-swept by enemy ditto coming in on my zacian sword dance and then stomping everything with scarfed +4 behemot bash.
XY are a trilogy.
Pokémon X and Y's plot in a nutshell is you and your four friends touring around Kalos to discover the secrets of Mega Evolution. Along the way, you all fight off Lysandre to stop his plans of mass genocide, then by the end of the game, you inspire AZ to finalize his path of redemption. During XY, Lysandre worked with a group of five scientists to locate the legendary Pokémon (Xerneas/Yveltal) who could be utilized as a greater source of "infinity" energy for the Ultimate Weapon than what AZ used 3000 years prior. Xerneas and Yveltal have a third legendary who accompany them, called Zygarde, but it only arrives when Xerneas and Yveltal are in real danger or if the natural order is being disrupted in some other way. It doesn't seem as if XY did put them through enough danger because despite Lysandre draining 99% of their energy all they did was miraculously wake up, take back most of their energy, and break through the weapon as you arrived. These legendaries either create and give off life energy (Xerneas) or take and destroy life energy (Yveltal). They could not really be threatened by this and they've proven this to Lysandre even within Team Rainbow Rocket. Lysandre would not have had Xerneas/Yveltal on his team in USUM if his plans were 100% fulfilled. Even in the Kalos manga Xerneas and Yveltal prevented Zygarde from arriving to Lysandre. This left Zygarde hanging without a suitable role in all of XY's plot.
ORAS is a sequel/prequel to XY. This may sound weird and people often think ORAS took place during the same time as FRLG because RSE did for sure, but I think in the Mega Evolution universes, ORAS took place much later than RSE and around the same time as XY. To start off, Zinnia finalizes the lore on Mega Evolution and explained the cause of it was AZ's Ultimate Weapon. She also mentioned how AZ was in Sootopolis, witnessing the very first Mega Evolution happen live during a fight between Primal Kyogre and Primal Groudon. She then summons Rayquaza to have it mega evolve and have you save the world from a giant meteor. Kalos had the technology to be aware of a meteor threatening the entire world and should have known about this in XY had it taken place before then. By this logic, they should've also known of a Mega Rayquaza. Additionally XY and ORAS events happen similarly near each other in the anime, the manga utilizes the old and new team magma/aqua people as two completely different people, and nothing in Gen 6 indicates any significant time travel between XY and ORAS. We also know that LGPE does not take place during the same time as RBY/FRLG thanks to Red and Blue being established while Team Rocket events were ongoing and Mina being about only 5 years younger when SM/USUM takes place a minimum of 10 years after RBY/FRLG. Lastly, Wally in SM/USUM looks as if he aged significantly less than Red and Blue have. It is very possible for ORAS to take place during XY in mega universes while RSE happened during FRLG in non-mega universes.
A smaller thing relates to how Alpha is the first letter of the greek alphabet and Omega is the last letter of the greek alphabet. It's sorta like "Pokémon AZ" if you know what I mean. They also had Archie and Maxie create something known as "Project AZOTH" in ORAS, which would be a plan to bring an end to all life from Earth and reset everything to a new beginning. A grunt even confirms that "A" stands for beginning and "Z" stands for end in Project Azoth. We even have Zinnia in the game with her partner being a Whismur named Aster. A and Z respectively. Gamefreak clearly knew what they were doing here.
Another major point about ORAS is the confirmation of multiverses. Zinnia confirms that Pokémon was not just one universe, but an entire multiverse filled with (at least 2) separate universes. Archie and Maxie also vaguely hinted out that Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire are another two separate universes and when you reach the Battle Resort, you find Looker. He was washed up on shore and a woman brought him to her cottage, saying he fell from the sky and has amnesia for some reason... little did we know this would be the biggest foreshadowing of the next generation for its time.
SM and USUM expanded on the information ORAS gave to us to the utmost extreme by making its lore and plot mostly about Ultra Wormholes. Ultra Wormholes are portals that grant access to Ultra Space. Ultra Space is an indefinitely-expanding dimension with countless amounts of portals all leading to separate universes each. They also inhabit a large group of special Pokémon known as the Ultra Beasts. The Ultra Beasts are invasive species of Pokémon to the natural Pokémon world and their existence in Alola defies the world's natural order. This is the big thing Zygarde WOULD be largely present in a Pokémon game for. Zygarde was checking out Alola to scale how threatening the Ultra Beasts were, since they were species of Pokémon who didn't belong to the order of nature. However, there were never that many to begin with and we dealt with most of them by ourselves in the Gen 7 games. Zygarde was there but never had to go to the extreme of becoming complete. Additionally, there were people who fell from the sky out of Ultra Wormholes. The Ultra Wormholes would take them from their old universe to SM/USUM's current universe and give them amnesia. This sounds exactly like what happened to Looker in ORAS Hoenn; although the Looker in SM/USUM seems to be a different Looker altogether (yes this means there are at least two Looker roaming around in one universe). With Gen 7 giving a significant role to XY's Zygarde and heavily expanding on the event ORAS foreshadowed, I can confidently say that Gen 7 is the third installment to the XY trilogy. SM and USUM are two separate universes of their own with different plots during the same time, so USUM isn't a sequel but rather a game where events in SM took a different path.
For a couple other things, Magearna was the first Generation 7 Pokémon introduced to the series. Its lore states that it was created by a scientist 500 years ago to accompany a princess. We later learn from the release of its own movie that it was created in what was known as the Azoth Kingdom in Kalos; the same name as Archie/Maxie's plan in ORAS. We can also say that Magearna's creation was inspired by AZ's Ultimate Weapon. Magearna is a machine fueled by the life energy of other Pokémon. When it uses its signature attack, its hand opens up in a flower-like shape and unleashes a powerful beam. AZ's Ultimate Weapon is also a machine fueled by the life energy of other Pokémon and it also opens (something) up in a flower-like shape to unleash a powerful beam. This next part might be a big coincidence but Magearna was also the biggest overall check to the combination of Xerneas and Yveltal in Gen 7 Ubers/AG metagames and would be the biggest counter to both against Yveltal lacking Heat Wave. It resists all of Xerneas and Yveltal's STABs and fires back with Super Effective attacks against both. It even had Heart Swap to steal all the Geomancy boosts from Xerneas back then. Coincidence?
Additionally Ash Greninja was featured in SM. It took a significant role in the XY and XYZ anime before leaving Ash at the end of his Kalos adventure.
Lastly, Generation 7 just seems like an expanded iteration of Generation 6. Mega Evolution and Primal Reversion were kept in main series, Pokémon Amie was changed into something considerably close, items like the Vs. Recorder functioned mostly the same, the same 60 minute battle timer was carried across from the previous Gen 6, a plethora of older gen characters made a return, both Gens 6 and 7 were the primary games for the Pokémon Bank app, the 3D models were the exact same(?), not even re-polished or rendered differently?, Gen 7 did not add anything super big to the series unlike Gen 6, but not remove many notable things either. There is probably a lot more but, Gens 6 and 7 feel connected to each other than any other two gens do to each other, even Gens 1 and 2 despite Gen 2 being a confirmed Gen 1 sequel. Gen 7 finishes off Kalos, expands on ORAS discoveries, and does not fundamentally change itself into a series reboot in any real way unlike most generations prior. Because of all of this, I consider all the 3DS core series games to be part of a trilogy between one another.
Pokémon X and Y's plot in a nutshell is you and your four friends touring around Kalos to discover the secrets of Mega Evolution. Along the way, you all fight off Lysandre to stop his plans of mass genocide, then by the end of the game, you inspire AZ to finalize his path of redemption. During XY, Lysandre worked with a group of five scientists to locate the legendary Pokémon (Xerneas/Yveltal) who could be utilized as a greater source of "infinity" energy for the Ultimate Weapon than what AZ used 3000 years prior. Xerneas and Yveltal have a third legendary who accompany them, called Zygarde, but it only arrives when Xerneas and Yveltal are in real danger or if the natural order is being disrupted in some other way. It doesn't seem as if XY did put them through enough danger because despite Lysandre draining 99% of their energy all they did was miraculously wake up, take back most of their energy, and break through the weapon as you arrived. These legendaries either create and give off life energy (Xerneas) or take and destroy life energy (Yveltal). They could not really be threatened by this and they've proven this to Lysandre even within Team Rainbow Rocket. Lysandre would not have had Xerneas/Yveltal on his team in USUM if his plans were 100% fulfilled. Even in the Kalos manga Xerneas and Yveltal prevented Zygarde from arriving to Lysandre. This left Zygarde hanging without a suitable role in all of XY's plot.
ORAS is a sequel/prequel to XY. This may sound weird and people often think ORAS took place during the same time as FRLG because RSE did for sure, but I think in the Mega Evolution universes, ORAS took place much later than RSE and around the same time as XY. To start off, Zinnia finalizes the lore on Mega Evolution and explained the cause of it was AZ's Ultimate Weapon. She also mentioned how AZ was in Sootopolis, witnessing the very first Mega Evolution happen live during a fight between Primal Kyogre and Primal Groudon. She then summons Rayquaza to have it mega evolve and have you save the world from a giant meteor. Kalos had the technology to be aware of a meteor threatening the entire world and should have known about this in XY had it taken place before then. By this logic, they should've also known of a Mega Rayquaza. Additionally XY and ORAS events happen similarly near each other in the anime, the manga utilizes the old and new team magma/aqua people as two completely different people, and nothing in Gen 6 indicates any significant time travel between XY and ORAS. We also know that LGPE does not take place during the same time as RBY/FRLG thanks to Red and Blue being established while Team Rocket events were ongoing and Mina being about only 5 years younger when SM/USUM takes place a minimum of 10 years after RBY/FRLG. Lastly, Wally in SM/USUM looks as if he aged significantly less than Red and Blue have. It is very possible for ORAS to take place during XY in mega universes while RSE happened during FRLG in non-mega universes.
A smaller thing relates to how Alpha is the first letter of the greek alphabet and Omega is the last letter of the greek alphabet. It's sorta like "Pokémon AZ" if you know what I mean. They also had Archie and Maxie create something known as "Project AZOTH" in ORAS, which would be a plan to bring an end to all life from Earth and reset everything to a new beginning. A grunt even confirms that "A" stands for beginning and "Z" stands for end in Project Azoth. We even have Zinnia in the game with her partner being a Whismur named Aster. A and Z respectively. Gamefreak clearly knew what they were doing here.
Another major point about ORAS is the confirmation of multiverses. Zinnia confirms that Pokémon was not just one universe, but an entire multiverse filled with (at least 2) separate universes. Archie and Maxie also vaguely hinted out that Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire are another two separate universes and when you reach the Battle Resort, you find Looker. He was washed up on shore and a woman brought him to her cottage, saying he fell from the sky and has amnesia for some reason... little did we know this would be the biggest foreshadowing of the next generation for its time.
SM and USUM expanded on the information ORAS gave to us to the utmost extreme by making its lore and plot mostly about Ultra Wormholes. Ultra Wormholes are portals that grant access to Ultra Space. Ultra Space is an indefinitely-expanding dimension with countless amounts of portals all leading to separate universes each. They also inhabit a large group of special Pokémon known as the Ultra Beasts. The Ultra Beasts are invasive species of Pokémon to the natural Pokémon world and their existence in Alola defies the world's natural order. This is the big thing Zygarde WOULD be largely present in a Pokémon game for. Zygarde was checking out Alola to scale how threatening the Ultra Beasts were, since they were species of Pokémon who didn't belong to the order of nature. However, there were never that many to begin with and we dealt with most of them by ourselves in the Gen 7 games. Zygarde was there but never had to go to the extreme of becoming complete. Additionally, there were people who fell from the sky out of Ultra Wormholes. The Ultra Wormholes would take them from their old universe to SM/USUM's current universe and give them amnesia. This sounds exactly like what happened to Looker in ORAS Hoenn; although the Looker in SM/USUM seems to be a different Looker altogether (yes this means there are at least two Looker roaming around in one universe). With Gen 7 giving a significant role to XY's Zygarde and heavily expanding on the event ORAS foreshadowed, I can confidently say that Gen 7 is the third installment to the XY trilogy. SM and USUM are two separate universes of their own with different plots during the same time, so USUM isn't a sequel but rather a game where events in SM took a different path.
For a couple other things, Magearna was the first Generation 7 Pokémon introduced to the series. Its lore states that it was created by a scientist 500 years ago to accompany a princess. We later learn from the release of its own movie that it was created in what was known as the Azoth Kingdom in Kalos; the same name as Archie/Maxie's plan in ORAS. We can also say that Magearna's creation was inspired by AZ's Ultimate Weapon. Magearna is a machine fueled by the life energy of other Pokémon. When it uses its signature attack, its hand opens up in a flower-like shape and unleashes a powerful beam. AZ's Ultimate Weapon is also a machine fueled by the life energy of other Pokémon and it also opens (something) up in a flower-like shape to unleash a powerful beam. This next part might be a big coincidence but Magearna was also the biggest overall check to the combination of Xerneas and Yveltal in Gen 7 Ubers/AG metagames and would be the biggest counter to both against Yveltal lacking Heat Wave. It resists all of Xerneas and Yveltal's STABs and fires back with Super Effective attacks against both. It even had Heart Swap to steal all the Geomancy boosts from Xerneas back then. Coincidence?
Additionally Ash Greninja was featured in SM. It took a significant role in the XY and XYZ anime before leaving Ash at the end of his Kalos adventure.
Lastly, Generation 7 just seems like an expanded iteration of Generation 6. Mega Evolution and Primal Reversion were kept in main series, Pokémon Amie was changed into something considerably close, items like the Vs. Recorder functioned mostly the same, the same 60 minute battle timer was carried across from the previous Gen 6, a plethora of older gen characters made a return, both Gens 6 and 7 were the primary games for the Pokémon Bank app, the 3D models were the exact same(?), not even re-polished or rendered differently?, Gen 7 did not add anything super big to the series unlike Gen 6, but not remove many notable things either. There is probably a lot more but, Gens 6 and 7 feel connected to each other than any other two gens do to each other, even Gens 1 and 2 despite Gen 2 being a confirmed Gen 1 sequel. Gen 7 finishes off Kalos, expands on ORAS discoveries, and does not fundamentally change itself into a series reboot in any real way unlike most generations prior. Because of all of this, I consider all the 3DS core series games to be part of a trilogy between one another.
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This framing completely changed my perspective on Zygarde. The idea that it only steps in as an absolute last resort in a world where the strongest legendaries can easily put an end to and/or are themselves apocalyptic threats means that whatever event could possibly lead it to act would have to be so impossibly cataclysmic that there's no way Game Freak could ever do it justice. It'd be like when it's revealed what the monster in a horror movie looks like. It's always less scary than whatever the viewer imagined in their head.
Yeah it kinda does this in the anime when Lysandre made significant progress towards reaching the Anistar Sundial without anyone else being able to do anything to stop him despite Ash and friends, Alain, two champions, and the entire league of Kalos Gym Leaders working their all to stop him simultaneously. In the manga Zygarde is in Alola like in the games and scattered around in cells. It decides to transform into its complete forme when Necrozma wreaks major havoc. Idt it transforms into complete anywhere prior iirc.
Excellent post, many good points which I have never thought about before.
They updated Glameow's model a bit. In Gen 7, the ears are different.
(left is Gen 6, right is Gen 7)
It looks more "natural" in Gen 7 IMO, the new ears make it look more similar to its official artwork and sprites in the Gen 4/5 games.
Bulbapedia claims that Glameow is the only old Pokémon to get an updated model in Gen 7, but I wonder if they did some minor updates to Raikou as well. When I look at images of the model for Raikou in Gen 6 and compare those to its model in Gen 7, the face looks a bit different. But that might just be because the images I look at have captured it differently. I guess I should take a closer look at its model in the actual games to see if I can spot any differences there as well.
Z-moves were a pretty big addition if you ask me. I'd also say Poké Pelago, Hyper Training, regional variants and the Poké Ride were big new features as well. Especially the latter three since they have either been kept in every game past S/M or there have been some sort of spritual successor to them.
As for removals, Gen 7 got rid of the National Dex, which is a very big thing. And unlike Gen 6, it does not have epic training spots either, they are only decent (S/M) or okay (US/UM). Though I guess that shouldn't really be considered a "removal" since the quality of training spots in the games have been going up and down throughout the generations.
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I would also mention that in gen 7 you werent as hardpressed to actually max a pokemon level due to the way move relearner works (you could learn moves that you'd gain at higher level). The only real reason to level to 100 would be to hypertrain, which is still something relative and mainly only really important for legendaries and (occasionally) shinys, as well as for the (now removed) Hidden Power types that required lower-than-31 IVs.
Oh I like it too, and I know a large number of people who do. Its just the fact that there’s no off switch which kinda sucks, forcing people into using larger numbers of Pokemon or being ridiculously overleveled. Some runs I’d just rather stick with the traditional 6, ya know?
In that case it's Box Link what you like, not exactly the Exp. Share (though it's reasonable to like both).
Yeah fair point! No switch is a bummer for those who want more of a challenge or to stick with 6 mons in a run.
I defo like both of them. I don't really like to grind random encounters to level up that many pokemon and would probably stick with 6 if there was no exp share.
What about Togedemaru? Wouldn't that be the true Pikaclone (Mimikyu being an imposter)?
Given Gen 7 was supposed to be the shake-up Gen, my totally-not-haphazard excuse is that Mimikyu was the Pikaclone subversion, with Togedemaru mostly existing as the traditional one to misdirect, since Mimikyu got all the direct market push like appearing on Team Rocket's team (more frequent roles than Sophocles's Toge), being a Totem Boss, and having a signature Z-Move.
Don't forget that Togedemaru was also a totem, albeit only in USUM and not SM.
I think the team just had two interesting ideas for Pikaclones, and so decided to make them both. It seems pretty clear that they have made concerted efforts to make Pikaclones more and more exciting, and they probably just liked both Mimikyu and Togedemaru as concepts. Which makes sense, because they're probably the best 2 Pikaclones by a long shot. Alternatively, Mimikyu was Plan A but they weren't sure if people would really take to it because it's SO different, so they made Togedemaru as Plan B, and then accidentally made the best 2 Pikaclones in history. OR they figured Japanese audiences w ould take to Mimikyu, but were unsure if it would have appeal in the west outside of Halloween season (which is really the only time Ghost-Type Pokémon are marketed here) and so they had Togedemaru be the one to push more in the West, before realising everyone loved Mimikyu too.
There are a lot of reasons why gen 7 might have had 2 Pikaclones, and ultimately I think they make sense. Note that even Morpeko has the hangry form and the cuddly form, I think that also had the intention of appealing to different markets. After all, you can't really make a plushy switch between the modes.
Objection! There used to be these cheap Pokémon plushies that you could unzip and turn inside-out so they'd turn into Poké Balls.
Not to mention, the one of Pikachu(the chubby Gen I version) is almost the same shape as Morpeko, and having both sides being near-identical in shape would not be impossible, but it would be a lot more work to make compared to one side just being a sphere.
Actually agree...provided we mean the Gen VI/VII version. I loved the fact it reduces reliance on grinding against NPC trainers. Whenever you don't like it and want a challenge, you are free to turn it off. Gen VII practically requires you to use it due to how experience is accumulated and how difficult enemies are. Gen VIII, however, makes it a joke (and not a good one). I never really rotated Pokemon all that much, but I am glad you were able to do so!
Stealth Rock is so prominent is cuz it's just a good example of how unbalanced the elemental chart of Pokemon is. Rock hits alot of things for at least neutral and nothing is immune to it. It's why Rock coverage and Edgequake have always been so potent. It also doesn't help that Spikes requires numerous turns and doesn't calc based on weakness, meanwhile you just need to use Stealth Rock once and your opponent now has to account for chip.
I don't actually think the strength of Stealth Rock is that it observes weaknesses, rather, it is that SR does not observe immunities. Sure, it can hit ice types hard, but hitting ice types hard has never been that rare. What it uniquely provides is the ability to make bringing in e.g. Rotom-Wash not without consequence. Blissey runs (ugh) Heavy-Duty Boots just as much, if not more, than most rock-weak mons because it is a mon that wants to switch in constantly.
Whether types should even have equivalent matchups is a separate issue, but Flying and Levitate giving immunity to otherwise untyped damage is not a problem with Rock's offensive abilities.
I don't like Pokémon Legends Arceus that much. The open areas feel empty and the lack of trainer battles made me bored. I also don't like the battle system either. More often than not you either get totaled in one attack or the opponent spams moves while you struggle to catch up. The inclusion of a more in depth Pokedex completion system is nice. The problem is it can make actually completing an entry feel like it takes forever. Of course a part of these feelings comes from the general burn out I feel toward open world games. I'm genuinely concerned I won't enjoy Scarlet and Violet because of the genre alone.
Hyper beam's mechanics in Gen 1 should've stuck around. The risk versus reward that comes from using the attack makes matches more exciting. You can use it and take a Pokémon out without recharge or lose a turn altogether. It would've certainly made the move competitively viable in later games.
Gen 5 has the best music in the series. The wide variety of instruments and genres represented makes listening to it a blast. As much as I love Gen 3 and Gen 4's soundtracks, the overreliance on one instrument made some tracks feel repetitive. I honestly think the remakes of those gens have better soundtracks solely for the added variety (although BDSP's remix of Cynthia's battle theme was a massive downgrade).
While I haven't watched the anime in over a decade, I think the Alola art style actually looks decent. Giving those seasons a different look allowed it to stand out from the rest.
Ice type should be resistant to water moves and fairy types should be weak to bug attacks. Also, removing two of steel type's numerous resistances is one of the best decisions GameFreak ever made.
More Pokémon music (and video game music in general) need to be longer than 90 seconds. Even great tracks can become dull when they loop so frequently.
Hyper beam's mechanics in Gen 1 should've stuck around. The risk versus reward that comes from using the attack makes matches more exciting. You can use it and take a Pokémon out without recharge or lose a turn altogether. It would've certainly made the move competitively viable in later games.
Gen 5 has the best music in the series. The wide variety of instruments and genres represented makes listening to it a blast. As much as I love Gen 3 and Gen 4's soundtracks, the overreliance on one instrument made some tracks feel repetitive. I honestly think the remakes of those gens have better soundtracks solely for the added variety (although BDSP's remix of Cynthia's battle theme was a massive downgrade).
While I haven't watched the anime in over a decade, I think the Alola art style actually looks decent. Giving those seasons a different look allowed it to stand out from the rest.
Ice type should be resistant to water moves and fairy types should be weak to bug attacks. Also, removing two of steel type's numerous resistances is one of the best decisions GameFreak ever made.
More Pokémon music (and video game music in general) need to be longer than 90 seconds. Even great tracks can become dull when they loop so frequently.
Modern EXP Share is a fantastic tool for level and EV training. It's so good that it's pretty baffling how early they give this item, while it should be an endgame prize imo. Also, it sucks that the old EXP share is no more, that was a more balanced item for training weaker mons during your adventure.
Legends Arceus handles this exp mechanic better, considering the nature of the game you can't overpower as easily as the other games.
Legends Arceus handles this exp mechanic better, considering the nature of the game you can't overpower as easily as the other games.