Unpopular opinions

QuentinQuonce

formerly green_typhlosion
YES! YES!

HGSS is atrocious!!!

It just doesn't fix any of the major issues Johto had. It doesn't matter how great the presentation is. You can't put a layer of cream on a stale cake and expect it to taste good.
Yeah go on let's do this then

Despite my enduring love for Johto, and my overwhelming joy when HGSS were finally announced after years of conspiracy and theorising about potential GS remakes, as the years have elapsed I must admit HGSS really don't look great.



There's a lot they do well, and I love some of the additions that they made - particularly with the Kimono Girls

but they could have been so much better



1. No Celebi expansion

Did you, like me, want to learn more about the GS Ball? Well, fuck you. Nothing on one of Johto's most enduring mysteries. They didn't have to recreate the original Ilex Forest GS Ball event from Crystal, but to not get even a reference to the GS Ball was a massive letdown. Celebi features in the Giovanni event, but it might as well be a Key Item called "Time Machine" for all that you learn about it. It's simply a prop that gets you from A to B. The Giovanni event was interesting, but for it to be the only Celebi-related content in the game was a massive letdown.

2. Minimal changes or additions to areas

This is more of a personal peeve, but FRLG and ORAS weren't afraid to make alterations to routes or to add new areas for the sake of gameplay. Yet there is minimal alteration done to existing areas in HGSS, and this strikes me as a huge waste of potential. I remember well the excitement among fellow Johto nerds who thought that the golden forest on Johto's map would actually be a cool new area related to the Tin Tower. But in the end all it turned out to be was the same area with a different colouring. A massive letdown.

Similarly, Lake of Rage's new mechanics were interesting, but I wish so badly that the area could have been enlarged (perhaps even bringing back the town that was originally planned to be there? Maybe that's a wish too far...)

Route 47 and 48 are welcome additions to Johto's map but they're so tiny you've barely stepped foot onto them before it's time to leave. Route 48 doesn't even have any trainers. Not just that, but Johto is already stuffed full of caves - Dark Cave, Mt Mortar, Union Cave, Slowpoke Well, Ice Path, Tohjo Falls, Victory Road - and so the new Cliff Cave is incredibly dull. I'd have opted to make the area north of Cianwood City a winding forest; Ilex Forest is a dark, gloomy place, so by way of contrast this would have been a huge, sunlit forest full of different species like Skiploom and Nidorina, which eventually turns south and deposits the player onto the cliffs of Route 47. The road to the Safari Zone thus could have been made longer and more winding, perhaps even full of trainers who use Pokemon not seen elsewhere in the game like Azumarill and Octillery.

I posted ages ago about how I'd have redone the whole Cianwood-Olivine sequence so again, will spoiler tag because it's large and a slight tangent.

It's frustrating because it would have been so easy to fix the level curve and lengthen the plot had they been willing to diverge from the original GSC plot just a little, but they weren't. They even comment on this in the Game Freak building in Celadon, with Masuda talking about how they don't want to mess with fans' memories. But this didn't stop them introducing the Sevii Islands midway through FRLG's plot. I actually came up with a scenario ages ago that would have easily fixed the level curve while preserving the overall plot structure and it's frustrating that apparently no-one on the dev team thought of anything similar.

  • The gatehouse east of Ecruteak is blocked by sightseers trying to get to the Lake of Rage, so the player is forced to take the westward route to Olivine
  • When the player arrives in Cianwood, the gatehouse leading to the Safari Zone is still under construction and blocked off
  • The pharmacy owner is missing from the shop when the player visits; the only person there is his assistant, who is too inexperienced to know which medicine the player needs for Amphy
  • The player therefore has nothing to do except challenge the gym. Once the Stormbadge is acquired, the gatehouse leading to the Safari Zone is completed and the player can pass through it (I'd personally move it to the north of the city to tie into the Suicune/Eusine event but that's another topic)
  • The pharmacy owner is at the Safari Zone gates, having come earlier to check it out. The player talks to him and he agrees to return to the pharmacy
  • He gives the player the SecretPotion and the player is able to fight Jasmine
  • Once the Mineralbadge is acquired, the gatehouse east of Ecruteak clears and the player is able to go to Mahogany Town. All the trainers in this area and the Rocket Hideout get a nice level boost, with Pryce's Pokemon fittingly being elevated to the high 30s/early 40s

This would have allowed Chuck, Jasmine, and Pryce's levels to reflect their positions as fifth, sixth, and seventh gym leaders respectively and stretch the level curve of Johto out a bit to allow for a proper progression. That way Johto's level curve could have been made similar to Hoenn's (Steven and Wallace's aces are at level 58 in RSE). The Kanto portion of the game would need a significant amount of retooling too but that's a whole other discussion.

Let's not even talk about the loss of the Sevii Islands. While including them would likely have been too much for the games to contain (ironic given how the addition of Kanto during GS's development almost caused the same issue) to not even get a reference to them stung.

3. Boss rosters not being improved

It's generally agreed that GSC's boss design wasn't the best. This was something most people hoped for remakes to fix, and what we got was... nothing. No change at all, not even to their levels. Except for Clair, the one boss who arguably needed it least.

I can't resist jotting down my ideas for altered (better) teams, but I don't want this to devolve into "my wishlist", so spoiler-tagging them.

  • Falkner (TM51 Roost): Lv.11 Hoothoot, Lv.13 Pidgeotto

    Pluck is already an early-game TM in DPP, so I'm agnostic as to whether that or Roost would have been the best choice for Falkner. However, having Roost come much earlier than it did in Sinnoh was a refreshing change of pace (and made him pleasingly more difficult to defeat) so I was satisfied with that. His levels in HGSS were fine, but I would have preferred Hoothoot over Pidgey so as to have it evolve in an eventual rematch. An early leak appeared to suggest that Falkner would have Farfetch'd as his signature Pokemon (no feeble pun intended), which would have been interesting, but this could perhaps be saved for one of his gym trainers instead since Farfetch'd's base stat total is almost the same as Pidgeotto's (352 vs 349).

    Lv.51 Staraptor, Lv.52 Pelipper, Lv.52 Pidgeot, Lv.53 Skarmory, Lv.53 Dodrio, Lv.54 Noctowl

  • Bugsy (TM89 U-Turn): Lv.17 Scyther, Lv.15 Paras, Lv.15 Kakuna

    Bugsy's unconventional Scyther-first strategy in HGSS was cool and should be maintained. There's scope for all manner of other bugs here, but Paras is tricky with status moves and Kakuna should know Poison Sting as well as Tackle and Harden to make it tougher to defeat. I'd even be open to swapping Paras for, say, Yanma, but Paras gives some type variety and Yanmega can be added in rematches. Some people likely would want Scyther to already be evolved at this stage, but Scizor would be way too powerful for this stage of the game and would borderline force the player to use a Fire-type Pokemon.

    Lv.52 Shedinja, Lv.53 Heracross, Lv.53 Parasect, Lv.54 Yanmega, Lv.54 Beedrill, Lv.55 Scizor

  • Whitney (TM45 Attract): Lv.18 Clefairy, Lv.19 Aipom, Lv.20 Miltank

    Make Miltank level 20 again! Aipom is added as it's another Pokemon that can eventually evolve, and can work as a useful disruptor to make Miltank even more difficult to defeat.

    Lv.53 Bibarel, Lv.53 Blissey, Lv.54 Ambipom, Lv.54 Clefable, Lv.54 Kangaskhan, Lv.55 Miltank

  • Morty (TM30 Shadow Ball): Lv.23 Gastly, Lv.24 Haunter, Lv.25 Misdreavus, Lv.26 Gengar

    Doing the obvious thing and swapping one of Morty's twin Haunter out for Misdreavus. But Gengar is still much stronger, so that stays as the signature mon until the rematches.

    Lv.53 Drifblim, Lv. 54 Spiritomb, Lv.55 Banette, Lv.55 Sableye, Lv.56 Mismagius, Lv.56 Gengar

  • Chuck (TM01 Focus Punch): Lv.29 Primeape, Lv.31 Poliwrath

    It might be controversial to keep Chuck's team as it is. But let me explain why. Bruno has long been associated with the Hitmons, so Hitmontop should be reserved for him, and Heracross should be saved for Bugsy. No other Fighting specialist uses Poliwrath (until Bruno in LGPE) so it works well as Chuck's signature. As in HGSS, Primeape should make use of Double Team and Poliwrath Hypnosis to make proper use of Focus Punch.

    Lv.55 Breloom, Lv.55 Hariyama, Lv.56 Blaziken, Lv.56 Medicham, Lv.57 Primeape, Lv.57 Poliwrath

  • Jasmine (TM23 Iron Tail): Lv.33 Magnemite, Lv.35 Magneton, Lv.37 Steelix

    Skarmory should be kept back for Falkner, while Forretress is used by Koga; Magneton can obviously be evolved in rematches.

    Lv.55 Magnezone, Lv.56 Bronzong, Lv.56 Empoleon, Lv.57 Bastiodon, Lv.57 Metagross, Lv.58 Steelix

  • Pryce (TM07 Hail): Lv. 38 Dewgong, Lv.40 Ursaring, Lv.42 Piloswine

    There's a spread of Ice TMs Pryce could give out - Avalanche, Hail, Ice Beam, even Blizzard. But Avalanche would make him similar to Candice so Hail is fine. Seel should be removed as it's too weak for a seventh gym leader - but Sneasel is Silver's special Pokemon (and is stated to be rare in Johto), while Jynx and Cloyster are both Kanto species, and would make Pryce's team very similar to Lorelai (though Cloyster is fine to add in a rematch), while Will also uses Jynx. But I saw someone once suggest Ursaring as an option for Pryce, and think that this has a lot of merit; it learns Ice Punch and Avalanche, and even looks quite like a snow Pokemon. I am all for being loose with type specialties when there's justification and I think this counts, as will some subsequent entries.

    Lv.56 Abomasnow, Lv.57 Dewgong, Lv.57 Glalie, Lv.58 Glaceon, Lv.58 Cloyster, Lv.59 Mamoswine

  • Clair (TM57 Dragon Pulse): Lv.43 Dragonair, Lv.43 Dragonair, Lv.43 Dragonair, Lv.46 Kingdra

    Rightly, HGSS differentiated Clair and Lance by having Clair focus on Special moves like Twister and Dragon Pulse while Lance goes physical. There is potential to include some other Pokemon such as Feraligatr - which looks Dragonish and learns appropriate moves - but I am personally satisfied by Clair's original team of 3x Dragonair and one Kingdra, which is bulky and has some good thematic consistency (each of the Dragonair being one third of fire-ice-lightning).

    Lv.56 Dragonair, Lv.57 Flygon, Lv.57 Shelgon, Lv.58 Altaria, Lv.59 Dragonite, Lv.60 Kingdra

  • Will: Lv.46 Girafarig, Lv.47 Jynx, Lv.47 Exeggutor, Lv.48 Xatu, Lv.49 Slowking

    Will should have a Slowking, not a Slowbro (which Sabrina should use instead). His team is otherwise fine except that I would boot his first Xatu for Girafarig, which is a slightly kooky-looking mon that suits Will exceptionally well.

    Lv.68 Gardevoir, Lv.69 Jynx, Lv.69 Exeggutor, Lv.70 Girafarig, Lv.70 Xatu, Lv.71 Slowking

  • Koga: Lv.47 Ariados, Lv.47 Venomoth, Lv.48 Muk, Lv.49 Forretress, Lv.50 Crobat

    Koga's team is fine and needs no alteration.

    Lv.69 Muk, Lv.70 Toxicroak, Lv.70 Swalot, Lv.71 Venomoth, Lv.71 Drapion, Lv.72 Crobat

  • Bruno: Lv. 49 Hitmontop, Lv.49 Onix, Lv.50 Hitmonchan, Lv.50 Hitmonlee, Lv.52 Machamp

    I'd honestly rather opt to evolve Bruno's Onix to carry on from FRLG, but on balance it's fine as is. There is precedent in multiple games for Elite Four members to use Gym Leader's signature Pokemon (Bruno's Onix in RGBYFRLG, Karen's Gengar in GSCHGSS, Drake's Kingdra in Emerald, Cynthia's Lucario and Roserade in DPP) but I'll make a notable exception for another member of the Elite Four. Plus no other boss in Johto uses Onix.

    Lv.70 Hitmontop, Lv.72 Gallade, Lv.72 Lucario, Lv.72 Hitmonchan, Lv.72 Hitmonlee, Lv.73 Machamp

  • Karen: Lv. 50 Umbreon, Lv.51 Murkrow, Lv.53 Vileplume, Lv.54 Houndoom, Lv.55 Tyranitar

    People often suggest Tyranitar for Lance, but it's a far better choice for Karen as the final and most powerful member of the Elite Four, for which I'll boot Gengar. Some might wonder why I've kept Vileplume instead, but this maintains some additional type diversity and is a more interesting choice given Ecruteak Gym's overuse of the Gastly line already.

    Lv.72 Umbreon, Lv.72 Shiftry, Lv.73 Honchkrow, Lv.73 Sharpedo, Lv.74 Houndoom, Lv.74 Tyranitar

  • Lance: Lv.51 Gyarados, Lv.52 Kingdra, Lv.53 Ampharos, Lv. 53 Aerodactyl, Lv.54 Charizard, Lv.56 Dragonite

    It might seem odd to give Lance Clair's signature Pokemon, but I explained my reasoning for doing so in Bruno's section. However, on second thought I would consider dropping Kingdra for Meganium, which - much like Feraligatr - looks vaguely dragonish and learns thematically appropriate moves in Safeguard and Outrage, and complements Charizard as a fellow starter. As ever, Lance's reliance on moves like Giga Impact and Outrage should be maintained.

    Lv.72 Gyarados, Lv.73 Aerodactyl, Lv.73 Charizard, Lv.74 Salamence, Lv.74 Garchomp, Lv.75 Dragonite

Outside of the lack of roster improvement, there's a sense of laziness that irritates me. Specifically when it comes to the "VS!" banners that flash up when you challenge a gym leader. There's no effort made to give the Kanto gym leaders different ones to the Johto leaders, so you end up with a weird scenario where each Kanto gym leader has the "VS!" banner reused from the Johto leader who shares their internal number, leading to some misappropriations based on their type specialities.

So Falkner and Brock share a dark blue colour,
Bugsy and Misty have a mossy green colour,
Whitney and Surge are both pink,
Morty and Erika are both purple,
Chuck and Janine are both a silvery grey,
Jasmine and Sabrina share a reddish brown colour,
Pryce and Blaine share a cool, icy blue,
And Clair and Blue both have a clear blue.

4. Pokemon distribution remaining appalling

While Crystal slightly improved GS's original Pokemon distribution (moving Phanpy and Teddiursa to earlier locations, moving Sneasel to Ice Path rather than Mt Silver, making Marill much more common, making Wobbuffet a prize in the Game Corner, and using the Odd Egg to give players an evolutionary line they might not otherwise find) HGSS took its lead from Gold and Silver, not Crystal. In fairness, this is not entirely something you can lay at the door of HGSS alone, since every remake has followed the originals' location data rather than third versions.

But this, to me, is still the biggest sin. The Johto Pokemon go underrepresented in their own region once again. Admittedly, the Pokewalker does stymie this issue somewhat. But using a peripheral device with significant time investment required takes away from the immediacy of the base game, and has aged badly now that my old Pokewalker has given up the ghost and I'd either need to buy a new specific battery or buy a replacement for an inflated price on eBay. HGSS also gave you the option to get Slugma early! ...from an egg that you needed a password that you could only realistically get from inputting your details into a website. Nice and intuitive, that.

Most of the missing species got put into the Safari Zone, so that's something. As well as maintaining this, I'd have put Murkrow and Misdreavus as rare encounters in Ilex Forest, and Houndour and Slugma in the Burned Tower too (Slugma perhaps only from using Rock Smash). Larvitar could even have been put into Dark Cave as a 1% encounter on the Blackthorn side. But HGSS needed to give the Johto species a significant shakeup, and it completely ducked the opportunity.


5. A dreadful script

Again, another pet peeve as someone tangentially in the business, but the dialogue in HGSS's English versions is of an incredibly poor standard, which at that point was a first for the series. Silver's dialogue in particular reads incredibly awkwardly. Obviously the addition of breeding earlier in the timeline meant that the Mystery Egg plot point from GSC couldn't stand, but the way in which the scriptwriters attempt to keep the beats of the story the same regardless, despite it making no sense whatsoever, stands out very visibly. The same goes for Jasmine, whose pre-battle dialogue is inelegantly changed from

"I use the steel-type. ...Do you know about the steel-type? It's a type that was only recently discovered. ...Um... May I begin?"

to "I use the...clang! Steel type! ...Do you know about the Steel type? They are very hard, cold, sharp, and really strong! Um... I'm not lying"

and Karen, whose pre-battle dialogue goes from "I love dark-type Pokémon. I find their wild, tough image to be so appealing. And they're so strong"

to "I love Dark-type Pokémon. I'm known for my overpowering tactics" for no clear reason.


I'm sure there are several other things people hate about HGSS, but those stand out to me.

By way of contrast FRLG succeeds as a remake because the base game had fewer issues to fix, but the QoL changes Gen III brought, as well as the expanded plot, make them extremely satisfying to play. The Sevii Islands even work as a mythology gag - as a kid I remember dozens of rumours about mystery islands accessed beyond the SS Anne, or ways to access the Orange Islands in-game; so being able to travel to the "Mystery Islands", as pre-release media called them, was unfathomably cool at the time, and they legitimately are full of new, interesting Pokemon since so many players would have been unfamiliar with the Johto mons at the time. The fact that you're given a choice whether to go with Bill to the islands initially is a really key factor - IMO it wisely recognised that "purists" might not want to disrupt the old RBY plot sequence (personally, I always opt to do the first islands quest right after Blaine) and proceed as normal. Restricting the Pokedex as it did was a little far, though, which is likely why no remake (or any game in general) has ever restricted non-native trades since.

But in a way that is part of FRLG's charm, even if it makes using a Golbat or a Chansey as part of your team utterly maddening.
 
I actually think that FRLG are the best Pokemon remakes because they're the only ones that actually improve well on what lacked in the original games

Lots of new content, many QoL features, nice details everywhere (like Koga's daughter chilling around)... HGSS didn't improve on any main issues, ORAS also didn't and has less content than Emerald and BDSP is BDSP

Now I get why you would prefer RBY over FRLG, the bugs are very fun and it's very charming, but I still think that FRLG are the only Pokemon remakes that are actually good remakes
 
The most glaring issue HGSS has in my opinion is the level curve and how atrociously slow it is. We can thank Kanto's presence in these games for that, instead of extending the level curve into the 60s, 70s, and 80s to accommodate Kanto, they stretched a similar level curve to every other game across two entire regions.

I'm also not a big fan of how dead Kanto still is. I know G/S/C were so much worse (Kanto feels like Kanto from the Langoliers universe in those games, whereas it just feels like Kanto after the nuclear apocalypse and accompanying stock market crash in HGSS), but Kanto still feels largely depopulated and soulless compared to the games that actually feature it.

The Johto aesthetic has a ton of potential, and I genuinely think that Johto would benefit hugely from having a game that focuses purely on it and eschews Kanto entirely. Fix the level curve, write a better plot, put some of the post-game Kanto-only species like Houndour and Murkrow back into Johto, and maybe expand the map a little in the northwest part of the map (where HGSS plopped the Battle Frontier; we all know GameFreak is never making one of those again) to accommodate some new features.
 
I'm also not a big fan of how dead Kanto still is. I know G/S/C were so much worse (Kanto feels like Kanto from the Langoliers universe in those games, whereas it just feels like Kanto after the nuclear apocalypse and accompanying stock market crash in HGSS), but Kanto still feels largely depopulated and soulless compared to the games that actually feature it.
Man I remember this one town in Kanto (forgot which one) where a guy with his Machoke works on a field to build something. And they didn't have anything built in GSC/HGSS. Such a missed opportunity and a great anectode for Kanto in gen 2
 

QuentinQuonce

formerly green_typhlosion
Man I remember this one town in Kanto (forgot which one) where a guy with his Machoke works on a field to build something. And they didn't have anything built in GSC/HGSS. Such a missed opportunity and a great anectode for Kanto in gen 2
God, I remember that being another thing people were wild with theories about in the leadup to HGSS. People were speculating about a battle facility, a GTS, a new Safari Zone... then Serebii confirmed "the Machop is still building" and it all just died.

It's a development gag (quite literally). At least HGSS made it a place where you can farm valuable items.
 
I actually think that FRLG are the best Pokemon remakes because they're the only ones that actually improve well on what lacked in the original games

Lots of new content, many QoL features, nice details everywhere (like Koga's daughter chilling around)... HGSS didn't improve on any main issues, ORAS also didn't and has less content than Emerald and BDSP is BDSP

Now I get why you would prefer RBY over FRLG, the bugs are very fun and it's very charming, but I still think that FRLG are the only Pokemon remakes that are actually good remakes
Ironic, isn't it?

I agree. FRLG did a good job at actually doing what is expected of a remake. And yet I'd rather play the original. Kinda sad.
 

Ransei

Garde Mystik
is a Forum Moderatoris a Community Contributoris a Battle Simulator Moderatoris a Battle Simulator Admin Alumnusis a Community Leader Alumnus

A lot of people tend to think that AZ and his Floette are incomplete because AZ's Floette never fell into our hands. It has never made an official release to the player in any mainline Pokemon game. This was despite data for Floette-Eternal existing throughout all of the 3DS titles, Eternal Floette receiving a dex entry for USUM, and it having a unique signature move with visible updates in USUM. I'm here to claim that Gamefreak's failure to release AZ's Eternal Floette was a great thing that shows Gamefreak caring about the Pokemon lore at least somewhat.

Let me explain:
AZ was gifted a Floette from his mother when he was young. He loved this Floette very much and wanted to cherish it for the rest of his life. As far as we know, there was never any disconnection between AZ and his Floette during this time period. Unfortunately Kalos was in a war and Floette was forcibly taken by AZ's own soldiers to fight off in it. In the matter of years, AZ's Floette had died in that war. AZ was immensely overwhelmed with grief. He held upmost passion and love for the Pokemon while it was alive. He was willing to do anything he could just to be with it again... From there, he had an idea. AZ built a machine and used special stones around him to steal the life energy of countless Pokemon surrounding it. That load of life energy was then used to power-up the machine and restore Floette back to life. The exposure to excess life energy in the process made AZ and his undead Floette immortal. AZ was relieved of the revival, but the grief he felt for his most beloved Pokemon did not end. He wanted vengeance on all the people and Pokemon responsible for Floette's death. AZ transformed the machine into a weapon and used the remaining life energy to fire off a large beam into the world, effectively ending the war.

AZ's Floette must have figured out that the lives of many Pokemon had to be taken in order for its own life to be restored. It felt disgusted by how AZ would mistreat so many Pokemon like this, even if it were for the sake of itself. As a result, Floette made the decision to leave AZ and never return until the very day AZ learned to care for Pokemon as a whole again.

AZ immediately felt longing regret for firing his weapon and had it buried with the hopes that nobody would ever try to use it again. He then went on a 3000-year journey in search for the lost Floette. Based on AZ's character, Bulbapedia believes he was based off the Wandering Jew legend. If we take from this, we can presume that AZ primarily spent the next 3000 years wandering around the world, searching anywhere for his Floette. In XY, that Floette was mostly all he could ever think about, and he was still going after all of these years. He was immensely dedicated to searching for the beloved Floette he revived, but he was also a mere shell of a man by this point. AZ looks and acts as if like he gave up on everything in life a while back and is just wallowing about in pure misery. All he wanted in life was that Floette back. No other Floette could he accept. Nothing more off life he could accept. Just that one single Floette. Maybe some day... AZ could find it again.

The events of XY were pretty strange for AZ's life. Apparently this time there exists a person who acknowledges the weapon and has the scientific tools he needs to gather resources for its reawakening. This person is the long descendent of AZ's brother, who helped AZ build the weapon 3000 back. They were given the name Lysandre. Lysandre was about to force AZ to witness events he wished would never reoccur, and he was left wandering helplessly until the player and their group of friends stopped them. It wasn't just that they stopped Lysandre, but that they used special bonds they've made with their own Pokemon through battle in order to do so. AZ watched to realize how five random kids used their committed ties to various Pokemon in order to accomplish saving the world. AZ soon learned that these kids would call themselves Pokemon Trainers and the source of their strong bonds were battles their Pokemon would participate with them in. He also learned that these Pokemon would be placed in Poke Balls whenever they were not being used and that those Poke Balls were their home. I speculate that sometime after the event of XY's climax, AZ went out to find three distinct Pokemon and catch them. He would then befriend those Pokemon all the way and possibly even train them for battle. By the time he was done, the player already became Champion of Kalos.

A ceremony was held for you and your friends for saving the entire world. In that ceremony, AZ himself arrived, and he challenged you to a battle. This was the first Pokemon battle he has ever had against a trainer. He wants to know what a Pokemon Trainer is and how they work. He has three Pokemon on his team, all knowing the move Return, to indicate high-friendship and AZ's complete change in character. Through battle, the player shows him how being a Pokemon trainer works, and AZ finally starts caring for Pokemon as a whole again. He feels completely relieved from his grief, and the part of him that fired the ultimate weapon in the first place. From there, his Floette made a very sudden return, for reasons unexplained through dialogue but visually pointed out in blatant levels. All Floette wanted was for AZ to care for Pokemon, not just itself. They were both very happily reunited and the plot of XY ends here.

Why did I write all of this?
I need to greatly emphasize that the level of dedication this man had for his Floette is unparalleled and unmatched by ANY other we have seen in the entire series. AZ's product even accidentally created Mega Evolution, a mechanic that emphasizes even further on having significant ties to Pokemon. Eternal Floette to fall into our hands after this entire event ruins the entire point of AZ's redemption and the value of AZ's bond with his Floette. It would have massively disrespected the entire Kalos lore and given a middle finger to all of its most important aspects. AZ was essentially a folklore that gave others an example of what to and not to do with Pokemon, and we can see him as a good role model for this.

The only reason we want this Pokemon is because it's a unique forme of a good design that was left in the game's data. There's not even a reason for us to have it. Xerneas overshadows Eternal Floette in many ways, Magearna-Original was created as a piece directly inspired by Kalos lore, and Florges is a viable evolution of regular Floette with BST scaled specifically to be higher than Eternal Floette's. Eternal Floette's signature move is also incredibly risky and would lead it to being meh in competitive compared to Florges.

I get we're greedy and want everything we possibly could for ourselves when it comes to Pokemon, even when there's no real reason or merit to having something, but us obtaining this Floette devalues the entire lore behind Kalos and redemptions AZ made in order to reunite with his beloved. It's like ripping Cynthia from her Garchomp for no reason, but millions of times worse. We haven't truly done anything to warrant breaking the connection between him and his Floette, nor have we made any specific bonds with said Floette. Floette still deeply cared for AZ based on the timing of its return, it just wanted to see him change back into his old, caring self.
 
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Samtendo09

Ability: Light Power
is a Pre-Contributor

A lot of people tend to think that AZ and his Floette are incomplete because AZ's Floette never fell into our hands. It has never made an official release to the player in any mainline Pokemon game. This was despite data for Floette-Eternal existing throughout all of the 3DS titles, Eternal Floette receiving a dex entry for USUM, and it having a unique signature move with visible updates in USUM. I'm here to claim that Gamefreak's failure to release AZ's Eternal Floette was a great thing that shows Gamefreak caring about the Pokemon lore at least somewhat.

Let me explain:
AZ was gifted a Floette from his mother when he was young. He loved this Floette very much and wanted to cherish it for the rest of his life. As far as we know, there was never any disconnection between AZ and his Floette during this time period. Unfortunately Kalos was in a war and Floette was forcibly taken by AZ's own soldiers to fight off in it. In the matter of years, AZ's Floette had died in that war. AZ was immensely overwhelmed with grief. He held upmost passion and love for the Pokemon while it was alive. He was willing to do anything he could just to be with it again... From there, he had an idea. AZ built a machine and used special stones around him to steal the life energy of countless Pokemon surrounding it. That load of life energy was then used to power-up the machine and restore Floette back to life. The exposure to excess life energy in the process made AZ and his undead Floette immortal. AZ was relieved of the revival, but the grief he felt for his most beloved Pokemon did not end. He wanted vengeance on all the people and Pokemon responsible for Floette's death. AZ transformed the machine into a weapon and used the remaining life energy to fire off a large beam into the world, effectively ending the war.

AZ's Floette must have figured out that the lives of many Pokemon had to be taken in order for its own life to be restored. It felt disgusted by how AZ would mistreat so many Pokemon like this, even if it were for the sake of itself. As a result, Floette made the decision to leave AZ and never return until the very day AZ learned to care for Pokemon as a whole again.

AZ immediately felt longing regret for firing his weapon and had it buried with the hopes that nobody would ever try to use it again. He then went on a 3000-year journey in search for the lost Floette. Based on AZ's character, Bulbapedia believes he was based off the Wandering Jew legend. If we take from this, we can presume that AZ primarily spent the next 3000 years wandering around the world, searching anywhere for his Floette. In XY, that Floette was mostly all he could ever think about, and he was still going after all of these years. He was immensely dedicated to searching for the beloved Floette he revived, but he was also a mere shell of a man by this point. AZ looks and acts as if like he gave up on everything in life a while back and is just wallowing about in pure misery. All he wanted in life was that Floette back. No other Floette could he accept. Nothing more off life he could accept. Just that one single Floette. Maybe some day... AZ could find it again.

The events of XY were pretty strange for AZ's life. Apparently this time there exists a person who acknowledges the weapon and has the scientific tools he needs to gather resources for its reawakening. This person is the long descendent of AZ's brother, who helped AZ build the weapon 3000 back. They were given the name Lysandre. Lysandre was about to force AZ to witness events he wished would never reoccur, and he was left wandering helplessly until the player and their group of friends stopped them. It wasn't just that they stopped Lysandre, but that they used special bonds they've made with their own Pokemon through battle in order to do so. AZ watched to realize how five random kids used their committed ties to various Pokemon in order to accomplish saving the world. AZ soon learned that these kids would call themselves Pokemon Trainers and the source of their strong bonds were battles their Pokemon would participate with them in. He also learned that these Pokemon would be placed in Poke Balls whenever they were not being used and that those Poke Balls were their home. I speculate that sometime after the event of XY's climax, AZ went out to find three distinct Pokemon and catch them. He would then befriend those Pokemon all the way and possibly even train them for battle. By the time he was done, the player already became Champion of Kalos.

A ceremony was held for you and your friends for saving the entire world. In that ceremony, AZ himself arrived, and he challenged you to a battle. This was the first Pokemon battle he has ever had against a trainer. He wants to know what a Pokemon Trainer is and how they work. He has three Pokemon on his team, all knowing the move Return, to indicate high-friendship and AZ's complete change in character. Through battle, the player shows him how being a Pokemon trainer works, and AZ finally starts caring for Pokemon as a whole again. He feels completely relieved from his grief, and the part of him that fired the ultimate weapon in the first place. From there, his Floette made a very sudden return, for reasons unexplained through dialogue but visually pointed out in blatant levels. All Floette wanted was for AZ to care for Pokemon, not just itself. They were both very happily reunited and the plot of XY ends here.

Why did I write all of this?
I need to greatly emphasize that the level of dedication this man had for his Floette is unparalleled and unmatched by ANY other we have seen in the entire series. AZ's product even accidentally created Mega Evolution, a mechanic that emphasizes even further on having significant ties to Pokemon. Eternal Floette to fall into our hands after this entire event ruins the entire point of AZ's redemption and the value of AZ's bond with his Floette. It would have massively disrespected the entire Kalos lore and given a middle finger to all of its most important aspects. AZ was essentially a folklore that gave others an example of what to and not to do with Pokemon, and we can see him as a good role model for this.

The only reason we want this Pokemon is because it's a unique forme of a good design that was left in the game's data. There's not even a reason for us to have it. Xerneas overshadows Eternal Floette in many ways, Magearna-Original was created as a piece directly inspired by Kalos lore, and Florges is a viable evolution of regular Floette with BST scaled specifically to be higher than Eternal Floette's. Eternal Floette's signature move is also incredibly risky and would lead it to being meh in competitive compared to Florges.

I get we're greedy and want everything we possibly could for ourselves when it comes to Pokemon, even when there's no real reason or merit to having something, but us obtaining this Floette devalues the entire lore behind Kalos and redemptions AZ made in order to reunite with his beloved. It's like ripping Cynthia from her Garchomp for no reason, but millions of times worse. We haven't truly done anything to warrant breaking the connection between him and his Floette, nor have we made any specific bonds with said Floette. Floette still deeply cared for AZ based on the timing of its return, it just wanted to see him change back into his old, caring self.
Probably for the best to just not code Floette Eternal then, since I find that a waste of data space of something we can’t even obtain at all, including Light of Ruin.

Now that you said it though, the only way we could plausibly obtain Eternal Floette is from another dimension where AZ ended up being killed - or permanently missing, out of that world - and it is unable to find their master since then. Even then, it might cause unfortunate implications if not done carefully, but at least the original Kalos’ own lore remained intact.
 

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Probably for the best to just not code Floette Eternal then, since I find that a waste of data space of something we can’t even obtain at all, including Light of Ruin.

Now that you said it though, the only way we could plausibly obtain Eternal Floette is from another dimension where AZ ended up being killed - or permanently missing, out of that world - and it is unable to find their master since then. Even then, it might cause unfortunate implications if not done carefully, but at least the original Kalos’ own lore remained intact.
It's not Pokemon Home's code despite the all remaining Floette forms being in, so it might not be in the code for future games.
 
There's not even a reason for us to have it. Xerneas overshadows Eternal Floette in many ways, Magearna-Original was created as a piece directly inspired by Kalos lore, and Florges is a viable evolution of regular Floette with BST scaled specifically to be higher than Eternal Floette's. Eternal Floette's signature move is also incredibly risky and would lead it to being meh in competitive compared to Florges.
You raise some really excellent lore reasons for why Eternal Floette should remain unreleased, but mechanically, it wouldn't be as redundant as you think. Its stat spread is pretty different from Florges, with higher Special Attack and much higher Speed, which combined with Light of Ruin's incredible power would have led it to play significantly differently from the more defensive Florges. Also, saying a Pokemon is overshadowed by Magearna and Xerneas is basically a non-statement.
 
The most glaring issue HGSS has in my opinion is the level curve and how atrociously slow it is. We can thank Kanto's presence in these games for that, instead of extending the level curve into the 60s, 70s, and 80s to accommodate Kanto, they stretched a similar level curve to every other game across two entire regions.
The other option(frankly an insane one) would be to make Johto's level curve 5-60 as normal, then do the same for Kanto's level curve. Start with lvl 10 trainers in Vermillion and go up from there. The player CAN choose to steamroll the entire region with their E4 team, or can breed up a new team and play through normally(with TMs and lategame Johto mons). Yes, development realities mean it won't be as balanced as normal(ha), and fewer random trainers mean likely more grinding, but it would be a cathartic "you're awesome" moment for the kiddies while also being a challenge mode for veterans.

Again, it's a wacky idea, and I know why they didn't do that, but it'd be something new they could try.
 
Eternal Flower Floette has a full 3D model in the coding of the Smartphone versions of Home that is viewable with hacking

Also people are forgetting that we have gotten iconic trainer's Pokemon as events before, both from the games and from the anime. Like Lance's Barrier Dragonite. OT is Lance and everything. They could easily do the same with the Eternal Flower Floette. Just make it a download event in a game where the Flabebe line is catchable and call it a day.

Alternatively, it could be available via a Kalos Legends-type game, since IIRC the flower it holds is long extinct so logically there would be more in the distant past.
 
Probably for the best to just not code Floette Eternal then, since I find that a waste of data space of something we can’t even obtain at all, including Light of Ruin.

Now that you said it though, the only way we could plausibly obtain Eternal Floette is from another dimension where AZ ended up being killed - or permanently missing, out of that world - and it is unable to find their master since then. Even then, it might cause unfortunate implications if not done carefully, but at least the original Kalos’ own lore remained intact.
Maybe make Eternal Flower Floette something like Kenya the Spearow: a Pokémon you are supposed to give to another person.
That's a good compromise between story and gameplay if you ask me.
 
I said it before and I will say it again: plot must bend to gameplay, always. This is a game. If you want plot to be the focus read a book or watch a movie.
I think it's important to find a middle ground. It's like design vs function. Part of any art is to find balance between the elements of your piece

My favorite game, Undertale, is a masterpiece of combining gameplay and plot. If the plot just bent to the gameplay or if the gameplay just bent to the plot, it wouldn't be half as good. But by having a perfect middle ground, it's most defining features are created
 
I think it's important to find a middle ground. It's like design vs function. Part of any art is to find balance between the elements of your piece

My favorite game, Undertale, is a masterpiece of combining gameplay and plot. If the plot just bent to the gameplay or if the gameplay just bent to the plot, it wouldn't be half as good. But by having a perfect middle ground, it's most defining features are created
I mean, initially, video games didn't had a plot. What mattered was the gameplay. It's only when games like RPGs started to arrive that developers started to develop scenarios in their games.
I personally give little importance to the plot because, since a game can exist without (just look at arcade games or racing games), I consider it as a "little extra" that should be highlighted if it's good but shouldn't matter that much, or at least, less than the gameplay. Of course, people are more regarding toward the plot with RPGs due to their narrative nature but, I have to agree with ZettaiRyouiki, it must bend the gameplay.
 
I mean, initially, video games didn't had a plot. What mattered was the gameplay. It's only when games like RPGs started to arrive that developers started to develop scenarios in their games.
I personally give little importance to the plot because, since a game can exist without (just look at arcade games or racing games), I consider it as a "little extra" that should be highlighted if it's good but shouldn't matter that much, or at least, less than the gameplay. Of course, people are more regarding toward the plot with RPGs due to their narrative nature but, I have to agree with ZettaiRyouiki, it must bend the gameplay.
I think it depends entirely on the game

Even in games with minimal plot, it has to match the gameplay and vice versa

Punch-Out's plot is that you play a young, short guy who wants to be the boxing champion. That's it. As simple as it gets. The gameplay is based on defeating much stronger opponents than you, their power is a crucial element of the game's design. And also that of the plot, as after all, you play the underdog

If Punch-Out was Doom but in a boxing ring, where you beat the shit out of much weaker opponents, but it still has the underdog narrative, that leads to a dissonance that might be tiny when the game's still fun, but still exists and is notable
 
I think it's important to find a middle ground. It's like design vs function. Part of any art is to find balance between the elements of your piece

My favorite game, Undertale, is a masterpiece of combining gameplay and plot. If the plot just bent to the gameplay or if the gameplay just bent to the plot, it wouldn't be half as good. But by having a perfect middle ground, it's most defining features are created
Are we thinking of the same game? Because my thoughts on Undertale is that the story gets in the way of having good gameplay to such a degree that I've been turned off by anything else the developer produces (as if I needed more reason to be hesitant about current mainline pokemon games). I only recently posted in the general videogame thread about a game with barely any plot doing a much more reasonable job of having endings tied to playstyles than more serious games, and Undertale was at the forefront of my mind while writing that.

Balance requires knowing where the fulcrum is. You cannot assume it is in the center.
 
Are we thinking of the same game? Because my thoughts on Undertale is that the story gets in the way of having good gameplay to such a degree that I've been turned off by anything else the developer produces (as if I needed more reason to be hesitant about current mainline pokemon games). I only recently posted in the general videogame thread about a game with barely any plot doing a much more reasonable job of having endings tied to playstyles than more serious games, and Undertale was at the forefront of my mind while writing that.
That's a pretty rare opinion tbh. The idea of having storytelling during fights and throughout the gameplay is a huge plus for Undertale for most people. Like the whole puzzles in Snowdin showing Papyrus's character, Flowey breaking the rules of the game, attack strength and patterns often depending on your own actions... I can't think of a single game that managed to incorporate it's message and mechanics as good into both gameplay and story whilst having these influence one another as Undertale did

Balance requires knowing where the fulcrum is. You cannot assume it is in the center.
I agree on that, which is actually also one of the reasons why I love undsrtale
 

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