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Reminder in case it wasn't mentioned previously when Mirror Herb was announced but it's now even more relevant info to keep in mind since Grafaiai has this ability: Unburden is not a stat boost (in the sense of Agility, Swords Dance, etc) so Mirror Herb won't copy it when it triggers.
It does kind of look like if those 3 guys were mashed into one lemur that's trying to look like a punk. The leaker that leaked that there was a Poison/Normal Aie-Aie Pokemon said it has a Stitch vibe, as in Lilo and Stitch. It looks like a lot of stuff, but I mostly think it looks cool.
Yeah I can't believe they already put Chansey, Toxapex, Slowbro/king and other stuff already featured in S&S, I thought we were supposed to get some sort of rotation -____-
Yeah as it turns out every given explanation to dexit was easily disproved bullshit. Pokémon were cut because of Gamefreak's inexperience and they continue to be cut because it's an easy way to add content to low effort DLC that apparently sells well regardless of quality.
On a more positive note the new Pokémon revealed so far look pretty neat. Lemur is kind of cute. SwSh had literally one redeeming feature and that was that most of the Pokémon added either had a vaguely usable gimmick or were decent in their own right. Even early game shitmons like Greedent had really good stats. Did you guys know Greedent is more physically bulky than Skarmory and specifically bulky than Clefable? What a fat little shit. I hope gen 9 continues the trend of Pokémon being usable instead of Pokedex fodder like Watchog or Pyroar.
Both abilities are interesting, depends on what the mon ends up being in terms of stats, abilities, etcetera. At first glance Urburden seems like the superior option just because speed is the most important stat in the game and Unburden by itself is capable of making almost anything into a fearswome sweeper -if the stats are good enough...-.
Yeah as it turns out every given explanation to dexit was easily disproved bullshit. Pokémon were cut because of Gamefreak's inexperience and they continue to be cut because it's an easy way to add content to low effort DLC that apparently sells well regardless of quality.
Even if we don't truly care about it anymore and have just accepted it, as adults I don't think there's anyone that at this point still have doubts about this. Game Freak has never seriously been involved in game balance. Just compare it to any formal competitive game and you'll see how they just dont care unless the problem is extremly obvious.
In Sword and Shield they had some kind of problem when porting the models or whatever, any other company would've delayed the game release but they can't since we know how TPC works, and they were forced to do it. It's their fault for doing things wrong and then others fault for not giving them the chance to truly fix what they broke.
Obviously after seeing that they could just profit of DLCs that introduce new mons without needing to resort to a complete third edition, that even when reusing a lot still has more work to do than the DLCs, they will keep this trend. That's all about it. I don't think they are demons at GF, not at all, things happened this way and it is what it is. It is obvious they put effort into the games nonetheless.
This is why I think the movie has a terrible title.
I came here to say that people get really uppity about the idea that every Pokémon has to fit the place their generation's region is based on. Sure, there are no aye-ayes in Spain, but there are no giraffes in Kansai either. The only generations where it seems like the Pokémon designs have an overarching theme are 5 (multicultural) and 7 (tropical).
Anyway, Grafaiai gives me Viva Piñata vibes, partly because there's a piñata called Galagoogoo based on a similar-looking lemur called the bushbaby, and partly because it paints in bright, clashing colours.
Yeah I can't believe they already put Chansey, Toxapex, Slowbro/king and other stuff already featured in S&S, I thought we were supposed to get some sort of rotation -____-
Well those are all popular and good competitive Pokemon. I hope the good ones and popular ones comes back. Garchomp, Gliscor, Dragonite and the like. Of course some will be missing which is a disappointment but that is a given if they don't bring back all Pokemon.
Well those are all popular and good competitive Pokemon. I hope the good ones and popular ones comes back. Garchomp, Gliscor, Dragonite and the like. Of course some will be missing which is a disappointment but that is a given if they don't bring back all Pokemon.
I wouldnt count either the "popular" and "good competitive" pokemon as reasoning for a inclusion of a Pokemon in the game.
Notably for example, lord and savior Greninja was missing from SwSh, and several competitive behemots were missing well over until the 2nd DLC came in.
Honestly I think they just go with whatever they think fits the area.
I wouldnt count either the "popular" and "good competitive" pokemon as reasoning for a inclusion of a Pokemon in the game.
Notably for example, lord and savior Greninja was missing from SwSh, and several competitive behemots were missing well over until the 2nd DLC came in.
Honestly I think they just go with whatever they think fits the area.
To say they weren't looking at it at all just because Greninja, the most baffling exclusion, didn't get brought back is kind...reductive?
I'm not so cynical to say they purposely held a bunch of them back in SWSH to sell them as dlc but I am going to say that competitiveness and popularity did absolutely factor into the Pokemon they did bring back. Greninja is an outlier in the grand scheme, in a sea full of primarily conspicuously early game & weirdo Pokemon; and it wouldn't surprise me if there was at one point a plan to tie them together with remakes too but that clearly didn't work out.
But now they have more ideas under their belt and now we're getting a bunch of them just from the get go.
I think we're forgetting just how little the Third Versions actually added to the games considering they were still 85 - 90% the same as the first two versions at 100% the same price. If the pricing structure from SwSh is an indicator then they're doing about the same amount of work that they did for stuff like USUM, Plat, Etc. To add in about the same amount of new content for half the price of what you would have paid if they were to put out Ultra Scarlet and Ultraviolet and made you buy that.
I think we're forgetting just how little the Third Versions actually added to the games considering they were still 85 - 90% the same as the first two versions at 100% the same price. If the pricing structure from SwSh is an indicator then they're doing about the same amount of work that they did for stuff like USUM, Plat, Etc. To add in about the same amount of new content for half the price of what you would have paid if they were to put out Ultra Scarlet and Ultraviolet and made you buy that.
It would suck if they did. A fully fleshed out game with DLC that feels like it adds on top of a complete experience is much better than "You want updates to your game? Buy it again".
Granted they just have to deliver on the "fully fleshed out game" and "complete experience" bits first.
SWSH’s third versions were the DLCs essentially. SWSH+DLC is essentially the Third Version.
XY I’m pretty sure lacks a third version because of time constraints. Like you have Ash Greninja and Zygarde forms in Alola, and a bunch of blocked areas in Kalos too.
That's... that's not a reason to suspect we'll get a pair of 3rd versions. The fact that you had to start at BW instead of RBY because that's when pairs of enhanced versions started already shows there's no pattern here. When the SwSh DLC was released they explicitly contrasted it with the enhanced versions, so while the DLC wasn't literally a rehash of base SwSh is was pretty clearly signaled that it was a new direction they were taking instead of releasing enhanced versions. I don't think there's any good reason to suspect we'll get any enhanced SV instead of DLC.
Okay, to be fair this is closer to “Every gen has a third version”, a pattern that was true for 14 years, than “Every second gen has a mushroom Pokemon”
I hate to be such a downer but... honestly Grafaiai is like the first Pokemon in a long while I think I actively hate lol. The thing chewing up berries, sticking its fingers in its mouth, and painting with it is absolutely disgusting and I can't get over it. It doesn't help the first video I saw of it on a tiny phone screen made me think it was picking its nose to paint, but this isn't much better. This is actually the first time in like a good long while I remember being viscerally disappointed with a Pokemon's design. I think it's been since the elemental monkeys had their evolutions unveiled in Gen 5 maybe?
That said, don't let me ruin your fun if you like him. I feel like a Pokemon lots of people love and some people hate is a lot more fun to have around than a Pokemon everyone feels kind of okay with and forgets. Just uhhhh just stay over there with him when he's painting. I'll be over here with a bunch of hand sanitizer and spittle free surroundings.
Pyroar's problems come from the fact that the person who designed it's stats clearly didn't talk to the person assigning it's abilities or move pool. It would be a perfectly serviceable phyiscal Fire type if you switched it's Attack and Special Attack round.
I wouldnt count either the "popular" and "good competitive" pokemon as reasoning for a inclusion of a Pokemon in the game.
Notably for example, lord and savior Greninja was missing from SwSh, and several competitive behemots were missing well over until the 2nd DLC came in.
Honestly I think they just go with whatever they think fits the area.
There really is no telling for what will and won't be included. What they included in SwSh was kind of random. The DLC of course brought over a lot of good competitive Pokemon which was great. For the main game I think it will be similar to SwSh. A mix of popular and just random Pokemon. A popular Pokemon is not necessarily a competitive one.
One thing is for sure, they will of course include Pikachu because that is essentially the mascot of the franchise. And I assume they will include the Gen 1 starting Pokemon as well, too iconic for the franchise. I do hope they bring over all starting Pokemon but I doubt they will. Probably will reverse the ones from SwSh. Gen 1, Gen 2, Gen 4, Gen 5, Gen 6 and Gen 9. But if they're bringing over Hisui Decidueye maybe all Gen 7 starters will return again.
Thanks. I suppose it will be like SWSH then, most but not all Pokemon after a year or so of expansion packs. I take it there will be 500-600 at launch, with expansions added in a bunch as time goes on.
Galar started with 400, added 110 in Isle of Armor, and 74 in Crown Tundra for a total of 584.
USUM's Alola has 403.
SM's Alola has 302.
Kalos has 457.
B2W2 Unova had 300.
So, as R_N said, 400 is probably the baseline, MAYBE 450 considering how many more Pokemon we've had since Kalos, the size of Paldea, and Paldea's wide range of environments we're expected to explore all over (with friends). Curious how they'll split up the dex this time around. There's that compass theme so I guess they could do "North", "South", "East", and "West" sections, though with the game's exploration theme I'm wondering if maybe splitting it up by the environments wouldn't be a batter idea. Actually, looking at the map, you can split the map into roughly 8 sections based on the environments which would also fit into the compass theme (maybe bring back the DexNav or the Habitat List).
When it comes to DLC there's two ideal island chains they can do: the Balearic Islands to the east of the Iberian Peninsula and the Canary Islands southwest of Portugal (and west of the disputed border between Morocco and Western Sahara). Yeah, both of them are island chains, but there's really no other locations unless they want to do Southern Kalos in the north or base a place on Morocco in the south.
I wonder if the eaten-berry-changes-the-paint's-color-thing will be translated in gameplay? Type change depending on held berry? return of natural gift?
Also, this thing 100% get Belch.
Well hopefully at the very least the paint on its fingers will change colors. Then again they don't mention/show form changes, and for something like that they usually do. It brings to mind how they mention Smeargle can have different colors, but the ones in the game are always green (red for Shiny).
But even if it did change forms I doubt it'll change Types; it would have been just cosmetic like with the Flabebe family, Furfrou, and Vivillon. Though Natural Gift would very much make sense for it to have, maybe retcon as a Signature Move (which would give them an excuse to buff it).
At first glance Urburden seems like the superior option just because speed is the most important stat in the game and Unburden by itself is capable of making almost anything into a fearswome sweeper -if the stats are good enough...-.
At what Speed and offense stat # (either Attack or Special Attack) would be the most ideal for an Unburden user? To list some of them for reference (from slowest to fastest):
Slurpuff: 72 Spd / 80 Atk / 85 SpA / 480 BST
Drifblim: 80 Spd / 80 Atk / 90 SpA / 498 BST
Hitmonlee: 87 Spd / 120 Atk / 455 BST
Thievul: 90 Spd / 87 SpA / 455 BST
Liepard: 106 Spd / 88 Atk & SpA / 446 BST
Hawlucha: 118 Spd / 92 Atk / 500 BST
Sceptile: 120 Spd / 105 Atk / 530 BST
Accelgor: 145 Spd / 100 SpA / 495 BST
Yes, I know, other factors like Types and Moveset also needs to be taken into consideration, I'm just asking as a general rule.
So, guess it's my turn to share my thoughts on Grafaiai.
I like the little guy! While not exactly what I thought of an Aye-aye Pokemon would be, it still checks the boxes I was hoping it would: a bit gnarly looking (with a tinge of "ugly cute") with long disturbing fingers. Granted, the reason why the fingers are disturbing are a bit different from a normal Aye-aye, but it still gets the point across.
Infact, I want to take a moment and thank GF for not going the "easy" route with an Aye-aye Pokemon. It would have been so easy to make it a Dark-type and be this nasty creature which curses people with bad luck and death. The real life Aye-aye unfortunately has this evil stigma among indigenous people of Madagascar which has led to people killing them whenever they're seen. "Well, they didn't totally ignore it, they made it part Poison-type". Actually, I think that's one purpose. In the Pokemon world Poison-types too are generally seen as mean & evil and used by evil teams. But when you take a closer look at the Poison-types, you'll see plenty of normal looking Pokemon which just so happens to be poisonous, there are plenty which are even cute (Bulbasaur, the Nidorans, Oddish, Poipole, the new Paldean Wooper). So I think Poison-type is a deliberate choice to represent it having that stigma, as much as its deliberate to also make it park Normal-type to represent it's just a normal Pokemon (just as the Aye-aye is just a normal animal).
Okay, you probably had enough of me on my soap box, back to talking about Grafaiai. Let's go through its profile.
"Moody Pokémon with a fastidious disposition", people already mentioned about it getting the Moody Ability. Being a "fastidious" painter, I'm wondering if they'll give it Sketch. "Of course not! It would ruin any lore they want to build behind it and there would be no reason to give it a secondary Type or Level Moveset". Well, you can say I'm clinging onto false hope, but what if Sketch was made a special Move? Like it can only get Sketch when it reaches Level 100, or has to learn it from a specific Painter NPC. Through most of the game it'll be like a normal Pokemon, and then in the post game gets a little bonus treat.
"Preferring to roam alone. Caught up in territorial struggles", from what I read this is pretty much the same thing as real Aye-aye. Though fun fact, apparently Aye-aye can use echolocation and are the only primates to do so! So sounds like it could be getting the Sound Moves: Hyper Voice, Snarl, Disarming Voice, etc..
"Category: Toxic Monkey Pokemon", would have gone with something like "Tagging Monkey" myself but I guess it is a monkey that's poisonous so...
"Ability: Unburden & Poison Touch". Poison Touch, obvious, but Unburden? Feels like a strange Ability, like I guess a spray can does become lighter when you use up all the paint but that's not the most immediate thing that comes to mind. Being its an artist how about Adaptability? If it eats Berries to make more paint maybe Cheek Pouch. Since it sneaks around at night to paint over other Grafaiai's markings how about Infiltrator? It's eyes are like a pair of goggles so there's Tinted Lens. Well, I guess all choices for Hidden Ability now.
"Sets Up Poison Traps. The poisonous saliva it uses to paint paralyzes Bug Pokémon, which are drawn to the saliva's sweet, fragrant scent". Signature Move (though wouldn't it have said if it did have one)? A Poison-type Freeze-Dry that's SE against Bugs with also a chance to Paralyze? Also sounds like it could get Lick, Poison Spikes, and Sweet Scent.
"This Pokemon attack foes by spitting at them or by slashing at them after coating its claws with the saliva". And that's pretty much quite a few Poison-type Moves covered. This behavior also sounds similar how it and other lemur species have "stink fights", but instead of paint its pheromones.
So, will I use Grafaiai? Well, like with most Pokemon, I'll see. It all depends when I get it. I'll be honest, Poison/Normal doesn't sound that ideal of a Type combination, it's essentially a Poison-type that is neutral to Fighting and immune to Ghost which is . Maybe it'll be able to make a niche for itself in the meta with Unburden. Just glad to finally have an Aye-aye Pokemon.
. Maybe it'll be able to make a niche for itself in the meta with Unburden. Just glad to finally have an Aye-aye Pokemon. 
