Unpopular opinions

[Worldie]

The obvious solution is what they ALMOST did with Dynamax, making it so that legendaries can't use the generational mechanic. If that was an actual universal rule, it'd help keep the busted regular mons on-par with the BST 680s. Yes, that screws Zapdos etc, but it's at least better than DMax Kyogre.

Eh, not like it changes anything on base concept.

A similar example is the pre-home Ubers, where they had that "dynamax clause lite" where you couldn't dynamax the restricteds.
It's not like it changed anything ultimately: it'd still be a select few that would abuse Dmax.

In general, it's a similar "problem" to when I contest people who say that metas without legendaries would arbitrarly be better: no, you just change who the top 10 are. Expecially as in the case of the gen 8 leges, while they couldn't Dynamax, all of them were inflated in stats & given tools to nuke Dynamax.
If you prevent a group from using <insert mechanic>, all you do is make the next best use it instead.
Mega Evolutions were a clear example too: despite a significant enough amount of pokemon having access to it, in a given tier you'd really only see 2 or 3 of them if even. Mega Blaziken was in ubers but noone used it, why use it when you can use Mega Salamence or Mega Gengar?
You could tecnically use Mega Beedrill in OU, but why bother when you could use Mega Mawile, Medicham or Charizard?

Ultimately, no matter how you slice it, any mechanic will always end up being used by "the top X" that can use it, with all the others capable being ignored.
At that point, "generic mechanic" at least still gives you the option to use it on the fringe cases in some situations. I think it's better conceptually than "target limited" ones.

 

[Rarycaris]

The obvious solution is what they ALMOST did with Dynamax, making it so that legendaries can't use the generational mechanic. If that was an actual universal rule, it'd help keep the busted regular mons on-par with the BST 680s. Yes, that screws Zapdos etc, but it's at least better than DMax Kyogre.

As Worldie says, post-Home, pre-Crown Tundra Ubers had a clause like this. It wasn't well liked for a few reasons:

1) It meant that the best Pokemon were ones which weren't *quite* strong enough to get caught by the clause, to the point that most Ubers were low in the viability rankings and the top ranks were filled with OU mons because they could Dynamax.

2) It meant that OU tiering decisions had a direct effect on Ubers viability.

3) It only worked in the early SS ubers meta because the mons that Game Freak made unable to Dynamax also had specific counters to their opponent Dynamaxing, and were also very strong by Ubers standards. Doing it with older box legendaries risks the problem recurring of those mons being just worse than lower BST mons due to lacking access to the mechanic; the fanservicey cover legendaries *should* feel overpowered, and IMO it's generally indicative of a design flaw when they don't.

That's not to say your solution is completely unworkable on Game Freak's end (I don't think it's a good idea for Smogon to mod the game this way again). Dynamax was by far the most broken of the generational mechanics, and a more toned down one might not so aggressively bridge the gap between OU and Ubers. As long as it was limited to the box legendaries and specific mythicals (Arceus, Hoopa), it might be workable in that setting.

 

[KalosianPorygon]

We’d need a break from those universal mechanics at this rate, since giving a nice spectacle can end up not being enough for the spectators if it means just the same old viable Pokémon we‘ve seen again and again. The last seasons of VGC tend to reach a nadir once restricted Pokémon comes into play since they can benefit from universal mechanics when they don’t really needed them.

About Dynamax, it's worth noting there are three Pokémon who can't ever Dynamax: Zacian, Zamazenta, and Eternatus. It's funny because Eternatus caused Dynsmax.
They do, however, get signature moves that deal extra damage to Dynamaxed Pokémon. Which I guess is meant to be balanced on paper?

Interestingly, Zacian and Eternatus also happened to be really good Pokémon outside of Dynamax. In Zacian's case, absurd even. So I guess there is power creep even outside of the generational gimmick.

Looking back to what Samtendo09 said, an entire generation with few restricted Pokémon available would be a gamechanger in a good way, but sadly, it looks like GF wants us, the players, to play with old cover legendary Pokémon in most games.

So as disappointing as it would be to see Kyogre and Groudon in Gen IX's later VGC teams, I won't be surprised. It's marketing. The public loves to see behemoths of the land and the sea, and TPC knows it. Thanks to great stats and iconic formerly signature Abilities, these two in particular have survived multiple generations and are to this day still VGC staples. I don't even dislike either Pokémon, they are dope. But imagine a world where the likes of Politoed and Ninetales were the Rain and Sun setters in later VGC metagames.
Oh yeah, I forgot who said it, but why does Tyranitar summon Sandstorm? Granted, I also couldn't find a reason why Ninetales can summon Sunny Day.

 

[pika pal]

Ultimately, no matter how you slice it, any mechanic will always end up being used by "the top X" that can use it, with all the others capable being ignored.
At that point, "generic mechanic" at least still gives you the option to use it on the fringe cases in some situations. I think it's better conceptually than "target limited" ones.

My issue with this particular mentality is at that point, if we're going to end up with the top-end simply abusing the mechanic over the less-top-end stuff anyway, I think the specifics are better because at least in that case the number of stupid options is less likely to be giant and wide-reaching to the point of being impossible to balance or Suspect specific troublemakers. It's almost a given that with any mechanic, we will have users who become incredibly unhealthy presences because of it.

With Megas, when Lucario and Kangaskhan got their megas banned, I still got to at least keep things like Steelix, Blastoise, Lopunny, Manectric, etc. in their "fittest form" for either specific teams or lower tiers. This is in part because the Megas bore in mind what Pokemon they were attached to and so could result in improvements beyond "make number bigger so thing die" like with Sableye's Magic Bounce or Mega Scizor specializing more in Bulky sets. With Z-Moves, we ended up with virtually the entire attacking side of the game using Z-Moves to break opposing Checks/Counters, and Dynamax similarly saw abuse by everything that benefitted from Z-Moves w/ Extra Effects + Doubled Health. Were these mechanics banned to cull the OP shit, the weaker mons who were simply "good" by using it would see their viability suffer all the harder for it because of other Pokemon who were already better than them. It's not exactly feasible to try banning all the unhealthy dozens of users instead of the mechanic, especially with no guarantee the former ends up with something playable.

When the mechanics are specific, the abusers are narrow enough to identify, so they get smacked. When the mechanic is generic, everyone can use it, so everyone suffers when the top 10% are busted, because 10% of the Pokedex or even just OU is too many for any balance team we've seen to actually juggle.

 

[Ransei]

N can't be a well-executed character if he is a great rival, or a rival at all.

He unknowingly became the very thing he tried to fight off against well before the climax of the game.

If you say he challenges you to reaffirm that he's right I'll need to inform that based on his own philosophy, he's sacrificing the well-being of his own Pokémon to do so, making it seem as if he cared more about his selfish ideologies than he did about his Pokémon.

 

[Samtendo09]

N can't be a well-executed character if he is a great rival, or a rival at all.

He unknowingly became the very thing he tried to fight off against well before the climax of the game.

If you say he challenges you to reaffirm that he's right I'll need to inform that based on his own philosophy, he's sacrificing the well-being of his own Pokémon to do so, making it seem as if he cared more about his selfish ideologies than he did about his Pokémon.

Can’t argue against it…

Except that it’s possible that he wanted to test out himself if the Pokémon battles are really as bad as he and some of his followers made it out to be, or if it turned out to be a simple, mostly friendly spar as long as both sides don’t go overboard or breaks the important rules. He doesn’t seems to want to have his Pokémon hurt, but is willing to test things out to see why Pokémon battling is a familiarity since human and Pokémon interacted, and trusted the player character enough to prove it.

 

[Sceptilian70]

Pretty sure this is unpopular: so here you go: I really love the Gen 9 starters and evos and honestly all of Gen 9's new Mons in general. Yeah Gen 9 has flaws, but I love it in spite of those flaws.

 

[Pikachu315111]

N can't be a well-executed character if he is a great rival, or a rival at all.

He unknowingly became the very thing he tried to fight off against well before the climax of the game.

If you say he challenges you to reaffirm that he's right I'll need to inform that based on his own philosophy, he's sacrificing the well-being of his own Pokémon to do so, making it seem as if he cared more about his selfish ideologies than he did about his Pokémon.

It's almost as if N was being manipulated the entirety of Black & White to follow a false ideology set by someone who's true intention was taking over the region (& maybe the world) via making a false messiah. The ideology in question that Pokemon were mistreated by people and thus people & Pokemon should be separated; however from the average point of view the reality is generally the opposite, that people and Pokemon peacefully coexistent and help one another, except a handful of humans which do harm Pokemon (some whom are part of those enforcing the ideology*). Said ideology includes Pokemon battles aren't good, and while they would likely justify their action saying they need to act within the rules of the society they wish to change to achieve their goal, also ignores the Pokemon feelings that they like to battle as that's a way they get stronger and form closer bonds with people.

Honestly, with that last point, this isn't just a N problem but a problem anyone part of Team Plasma would have if they joined because they genuinely love Pokemon and personally had experienced a moment which they would be led to believe there's a lot of Pokemon abuse underneath the skin of Pokemon society. B2W2 showed there were "two sides" of Team Plasma this entire time, broken down to followers of Ghetsis and followers of N, but if you really think about it there would have to be more tiers of grunt-types. Like I can't imagine all members would be cool with the idea of attacking the Pokemon League, heck some may disagree that N becoming Champion as it wouldn't mean much to the people who are hurting Pokemon for selfish gain.

But this is generally the problem with Gen V in a nutshell, in particular with Team Plasma. There's a LOT of things which would be going on with Team Plasma in the background due to how they present themselves. The sheer lengths Ghetsis would have to go in order to hide his true plans from not only the public eye but also most of Team Plasma (while convincing them to do what he wants) and N (and most of the Sages; the only members of Team Plasma who seems to know Ghetsis true plans are the Shadow Triad (who owe their lives to Ghetsis in some way so don't care if they're evil), and maybe Anthea & Concordia (who are in a similar situation as N but powerless to do anything)). But forcing it into the typical Pokemon adventure without diverting too far off course with what the player would see leads it undercooked.

* Typing this, I do wonder what would N have done with the grunts who were beating up the Munna had he found out about that incident? Actually, those two grunts do feel out-of-place now thinking about the grand picture, they're the only ones who were shown hurting a Pokemon. Not saying there aren't more grunts like them, B2W2 implies Neo Team Plasma is made up of said grunts who only joined for the power, but with no other grunts shown acting that counter to their cause makes it look like those two were an accident; only existing for a story point to show the player that Team Plasma are up to no good (even though that becomes very clear later on when they begin stealing people's Pokemon).

 

[Celever]

Koraidon (and presumably Miraidon) are easily the best execution of "box legendary" in Pokémon's full history (not spoilering because I don't think anything here is a spoiler really).

Box legendaries historically have filled the deus ex machina role. You don't see them for most of the game, then after the 7th badge usually, the villain tries to destroy / rebuild the world using the power of the legendary and you have to catch the legendary to protect the world or something. That's like, fine, and makes the box legendaries feel very powerful, but also it makes it difficult to care about them beyond that. Maybe you use them to steamroll the remaining few bosses in the game, though even that's a bit wonky sometimes and they're not always able to. You can't really use them to stomp every regular trainer, since legendaries' signature and generally most powerful moves have notoriously terrible PP.

Enter SV. The box legend is a constant feature of the adventure, but remains feeling powerful such as it being able to take itself out of its PokéBall at any time during cutscenes and the like. Each time it powers up it can swim, or glide, or run, steadily building up its sense of power over the course of the game. And it's also adorable. Koraidon loves sandwiches, and licks humans' faces like a dog. I want one.

I'm not that far into Scarlet myself, have done about 6 objectives, but Koraidon is already easily my favourite legendary Pokémon. Part of the reason behind that is the traditional way of handling legendaries has never really appealed to me, so it's a low bar to pass. But the other part of the reason is I want to give Koraidon my pizza crusts. It's definitely one of those animals who's convinced its a lap dog, no matter how crushing it is.

 

[Siggu]

and licks humans' faces like a dog

So it doesn't act all independent and self-centered like the reptile it is?

 

[Arkm]

Tauros didn't needed a regional form. Should have been a cross evolution like Ursaluna

 

[pika pal]

N can't be a well-executed character if he is a great rival, or a rival at all.

He unknowingly became the very thing he tried to fight off against well before the climax of the game.

If you say he challenges you to reaffirm that he's right I'll need to inform that based on his own philosophy, he's sacrificing the well-being of his own Pokémon to do so, making it seem as if he cared more about his selfish ideologies than he did about his Pokémon.

I feel that this is assuming N is the one who volunteers his Pokemon to do battle regardless of their input, which is getting into a lot of speculative territory, not to mention. observing his motivation only through the lens that Pokemon battling and risking harm to them are the extent of his principles and thus full cause for hypocrisy. He's presented as able to speak and understand their thoughts on an equal level compared to most people kind of inferring as we would from observing animal behavior and non-verbal communication signs from a distance.

A running implication throughout the game is that N's teams are composed of local wild Pokemon who join him for a battle and then are released, until the final battle where the team seems to be made up of Pokemon N bonded with in his sheltered upbringing as well as the opposite Dragon to yours. N's backstory puts forth that he was mainly exposed to abused or injured Pokemon to give him a very specific and biased perspective on how they interact with humans. Besides the player, it feels like this is his first time interacting with Pokemon who don't fit into the "Humans mistreated us, make them go away" mold, and compared to the more spontaneous battles with the MC, the Champion plan meant from the outset he would have to battle some figures openly. To get a bit more speculative, a lot of Pokemon species, much like animals, are described as competing in shows of strength if not direct rough-housing or combating each other in the wild, which would mean the problem is less Pokemon Battling than Pokemon being made to battle by humans rather than of their own choice, something N has the ability to discern from any Pokemon who battles for him.

N's battles feel more akin to things like disciplinary action or (to jump a bit up the scale) military response, in which no one necessarily wants to resort to violence or force but circumstances like the other party make it the option that results in the least trouble/suffering overall. N doesn't approve of Pokemon battling, but he and Team Plasma have to know they will be met with resistance by people who will battle, and if they do not battle in turn their plans simply stop and the status quo they protest goes on uncontested.

 

[Cobalt Empoleon]

N doesn't approve of Pokemon battling, but he and Team Plasma have to know they will be met with resistance by people who will battle, and if they do not battle in turn their plans simply stop and the status quo they protest goes on uncontested.

Yeah there's definitely something very uncomfortable about the "aha! you're being hypocrites therefore I win!" argument that the player character's allies regularly use in BW. No civil rights movement has ever succeeded by just modelling the correct behaviour and never interfering with the lives of the people upholding the status quo.

I also wanna dig into how N grew up exclusively around Pokemon that had been abused and hated humans as a result. This is framed as manipulative on Ghetsis' part, which it was for sure, but... those Pokemon were still abused, right? It's never said that their abuse was fabricated or inflicted by Team Plasma, so we're meant to understand that these Pokemon did suffer at the hands of their trainers or other humans. Sure, they're an unrepresentative sample of Pokemon as a whole, but similar stories are found throughout the Pokemon games. Even if it's not as bad as N was led to believe, it still seems like quite a serious and widespread problem, and yet there doesn't seem to be any kind of punishment or even identification of the abusers or any kind of system in place to prevent that harm from happening in the first place.

Obviously this is because these are kids' games with a setting that's framed as pretty utopian, but with a few problems for you to fix so you feel like you're doing good and helping people. It's heartwarming when you're able to rescue a suffering creature, but it's unsettling to explore the cruelty behind that suffering and acknowledge it as anything but an anomaly.

 

[QuentinQuonce]

Yeah there's definitely something very uncomfortable about the "aha! you're being hypocrites therefore I win!" argument that the player character's allies regularly use in BW. No civil rights movement has ever succeeded by just modelling the correct behaviour and never interfering with the lives of the people upholding the status quo.

I also wanna dig into how N grew up exclusively around Pokemon that had been abused and hated humans as a result. This is framed as manipulative on Ghetsis' part, which it was for sure, but... those Pokemon were still abused, right? It's never said that their abuse was fabricated or inflicted by Team Plasma, so we're meant to understand that these Pokemon did suffer at the hands of their trainers or other humans. Sure, they're an unrepresentative sample of Pokemon as a whole, but similar stories are found throughout the Pokemon games. Even if it's not as bad as N was led to believe, it still seems like quite a serious and widespread problem, and yet there doesn't seem to be any kind of punishment or even identification of the abusers or any kind of system in place to prevent that harm from happening in the first place.

Obviously this is because these are kids' games with a setting that's framed as pretty utopian, but with a few problems for you to fix so you feel like you're doing good and helping people. It's heartwarming when you're able to rescue a suffering creature, but it's unsettling to explore the cruelty behind that suffering and acknowledge it as anything but an anomaly.

I'm... not sure it is presented as a widespread problem though. At least that's not what I ever got from what the games implied. Whenever we do hear of people mistreating Pokemon, it's presented as something incredibly out of the norm and shocking because it's so unusual. Team Rocket's antics are admittedly very brutal, but a lot of that I think comes down to early installment weirdness - loads of NPCs in Gen I are depicted with whips, which was a design concept that was very quickly phased out, and no evil team in the handheld series has ever gone as far as they did.

Without leaning into real-world politics too much (ironic considering the other post I just made on a different thread) N's experience is convincing much like how radicalisation often happens IRL: people are presented with extreme cases which, while undoubtedly awful, are extreme because of their singularity. But they are persuaded into thinking that those instances are the standard and develop a warped worldview. N is a textbook example of this - Anthea and Concordia explain that Ghetsis only allowed N around Pokemon that had been abused; consequently, he is literally unable to conceive that any human could have a relationship with a Pokemon that isn't exploitative and unequal.

I actually always found it weird that N's Pokemon in B2W2 have maximum friendship when caught, likely to symbolise their attachment to him - uh, okay, fair enough, but I am not him, and you do not know me. I'm not even the protagonist from BW, who those Pokemon previously fought against. The idea that because they had high friendship with N they should have it with the player is like saying that I should be in love with a random stranger because I have a wife. Maybe their experience with N really did cause them to realise "humans are fine, actually" but it's still nonsensical for them to automatically bond to the first human that catches them when regular wild Pokemon don't do that.

We actually had a cat for several years who came to us at ~1 year old and it was very obvious that she had been shouted at and mistreated in her previous home. She was incredibly quiet and skittish and reacted poorly to noise and sudden movements, and never opened up fully try as we might. Even at her most relaxed moments - I used to rub her belly and brush her with tissues (she really liked the sensation of tissues, for whatever reason) and she would stretch out and look very luxuriated - she never seemed completely at ease. It was incredibly upsetting for me personally not to be able to get her full trust and love, but that's the effect abuse has on animals.

Part of this is, as you said, rampant gameplay and story segregation necessitated by the games' age rating. I wouldn't expect anything quite that dramatic, but it is curious though that the player isn't given the opportunity to catch the Pokemon he uses at the climax of BW - his Archeops, Carracosta, Klinklang, Vanilluxe, and Zoroark. Maybe these are the really damaged ones, who prefer to return to the wild rather than ever partner with a trainer again.

Idk, I may have forgotten details. God, it's been a while since I played the Unova games, I should revisit them...

 

[misterdarvus]

Pretty sure this is unpopular: so here you go: I really love the Gen 9 starters and evos and honestly all of Gen 9's new Mons in general. Yeah Gen 9 has flaws, but I love it in spite of those flaws.

Since SV is being gunned right now, I also want to add this unpopular opinion,

Gen 9 is the best pokemon game bar none... If only it didn't have performance issue.
Good Pokemon, good gameplay, good characters, great story.
Any critique like the pokemon design, or open world gameplay are non-issue, because its subjective.

I only understand a bit about developing a game. But I understand it need MUCH more polish. As long as this game is stable, this is the best pokemon game.

 

[Worldie]

Since SV is being gunned right now, I also want to add this unpopular opinion,

Gen 9 is the best pokemon game bar none... If only it didn't have performance issue.
Good Pokemon, good gameplay, good characters, great story.
Any critique like the pokemon design, or open world gameplay are non-issue, because its subjective.

I only understand a bit about developing a game. But I understand it need MUCH more polish. As long as this game is stable, this is the best pokemon game.

To be fair i think this is actually a pretty popular opinion.

 

[pika pal]

Part of this is, as you said, rampant gameplay and story segregation necessitated by the games' age rating. I wouldn't expect anything quite that dramatic, but it is curious though that the player isn't given the opportunity to catch the Pokemon he uses at the climax of BW - his Archeops, Carracosta, Klinklang, Vanilluxe, and Zoroark. Maybe these are the really damaged ones, who prefer to return to the wild rather than ever partner with a trainer again.

Idk, I may have forgotten details. God, it's been a while since I played the Unova games, I should revisit them...

If B2W2 are indeed part of the topic, I think N's Zoroark appears as sort of your guide to the ruins of the Castle for the event where you battle him to inherit his Dragon as a partner. A Vanilluxe is on one of his seasonal battle teams but none of the others appear in one so I think that's just coincidence. My impression was that several of those Pokemon were the ones N was specifically raised with and kept (like Ghetsis would introduce N to some abused Pokemon briefly and others would be kept as a constant presence and influence on his development), so they have a bond and don't want to leave him, but also don't want to engage with other humans in scenarios like battling or such, especially since N doesn't come across as comfortable with people even after the 2 years of soul searching following BW's ending. He understands his perception was wrong but he still clearly feels more at home with Pokemon than trying to hang with them, given you only see him in either the Climax isolated at Giant Chasm, or alone in his castle compared to where most other recurring battle trainers hang out.

 

[Arkm]

Hisuan Arcanine should have been a fire fairy type

 

[Ironmage]

I'm somewhat dissapointed Defog isn't absorbed by Wind Rider. With Goldengo being how it is, I want to see a mon that blocks Defog without having collateral for taunt/roar/major status/etc.. Brambleghast is so close. It's not like it wouldn't fit thematically, Defog's description has mentioned "a strong wind" since gen 5.

 

[Cobalt Empoleon]

I'm somewhat dissapointed Defog isn't absorbed by Wind Rider. With Goldengo being how it is, I want to see a mon that blocks Defog without having collateral for taunt/roar/major status/etc.. Brambleghast is so close. It's not like it wouldn't fit thematically, Defog's description has mentioned "a strong wind" since gen 5.

It's unfortunate that flavour reasoning only seems to take priority when it makes the Pokemon worse haha. Like I totally understand why Wind Rider doesn't prevent Defog from clearing hazards, given that the immunity is based on the move passing through the Pokemon unimpeded rather than being absorbed or redirected by the Pokemon, but it would be so sick if it did!

 

[Pikachu315111]

Tauros didn't needed a regional form.

Except it didn't get a Regional Variant.

That would be silly

It got three.

But you're right, they could have made them all a split evolution.

 

[Nitro Indigo]

I honestly thought Blaze Breed was an evolution when I first saw it.

 

[Pikachu315111]

Note this post is mainly in jest, and not sure whether this is the proper thread for it, but I just had to say this:

F*** Alfornada.
F*** it being early on (Paldea's west side) making you think it's early mid Gym Levels (Level-wise it's the 7TH).
F*** the convoluted path you needed to take to get their without the Double Jump/Climb power-up.
F*** the Wild Pokemon who all suddenly become mini-bosses and difficult to catch.
F*** the Trainers who made the previous Gym Leaders look like Youngers/Lasses.
F*** all the NPCs who they had jokingly said "boy was sure hard to get here, right?".
F*** the Gym Leader and her remarks of making us over (kinda weird that they still connect "magic" to the Psychic-type even though we have Fairy).

And yes, I defeated the Gym Leader, my Pokemon are now probably fully prepared for all future challenges.

"It's your fault. You saw the high-leveled Pokemon, that's what we call a "context clue" that you're not supposed to be there yet!"

Well, the thing is, my Starter was actually late 30s so, while I had a suspicion it might be for a bit later (especially since the obvious path needed the double jump/climb power-up), I didn't think it would be that later. Like, in my mind it was like how in the Gen I games you could do the middle Gym Leaders in different order than the "official" way. I didn't realize I was jumping form Lt. Surge to Blaine!

Oh, BTW, minor Scarlet & Violet spoilers, challenges don't level scale. They don't stop you from going anywhere but they certainly make sure you don't feel welcome in what they decided was late game locations (and aside from higher Level Pokemon and possibly path roadblocks, don't outright tell you).

 

[DrumstickGaming]

Note this post is mainly in jest, and not sure whether this is the proper thread for it, but I just had to say this:

F*** Alfornada.
F*** it being early on (Paldea's west side) making you think it's early mid Gym Levels (Level-wise it's the 7TH).
F*** the convoluted path you needed to take to get their without the Double Jump/Climb power-up.
F*** the Wild Pokemon who all suddenly become mini-bosses and difficult to catch.
F*** the Trainers who made the previous Gym Leaders look like Youngers/Lasses.
F*** all the NPCs who they had jokingly said "boy was sure hard to get here, right?".
F*** the Gym Leader and her remarks of making us over (kinda weird that they still connect "magic" to the Psychic-type even though we have Fairy).

And yes, I defeated the Gym Leader, my Pokemon are now probably fully prepared for all future challenges.

"It's your fault. You saw the high-leveled Pokemon, that's what we call a "context clue" that you're not supposed to be there yet!"

Well, the thing is, my Starter was actually late 30s so, while I had a suspicion it might be for a bit later (especially since the obvious path needed the double jump/climb power-up), I didn't think it would be that later. Like, in my mind it was like how in the Gen I games you could do the middle Gym Leaders in different order than the "official" way. I didn't realize I was jumping form Lt. Surge to Blaine!

Oh, BTW, minor Scarlet & Violet spoilers, challenges don't level scale. They don't stop you from going anywhere but they certainly make sure you don't feel welcome in what they decided was late game locations (and aside from higher Level Pokemon and possibly path roadblocks, don't outright tell you).

Yeah Alfornada is a load of nonsense. Felt impossible to get to, and when you finally find the path BAM level forty BAY BEE

I said in the impressions thread there is a certain thrill to this getting caught off guard, but I can also admit it's a little wonky at times. I think Mela is more egregious because she's the closest Team Star Boss near Mezagoza yet the Dark type guy is on the other side of the map and is ACTUALLY the first one you should battle.

As good as SV is, it definitely reeks of last-minute development changes in terms of where they placed the bosses.

 

[Hugin]

Yeah Alfornada is a load of nonsense. Felt impossible to get to, and when you finally find the path BAM level forty BAY BEE

I said in the impressions thread there is a certain thrill to this getting caught off guard, but I can also admit it's a little wonky at times. I think Mela is more egregious because she's the closest Team Star Boss near Mezagoza yet the Dark type guy is on the other side of the map and is ACTUALLY the first one you should battle.

As good as SV is, it definitely reeks of last-minute development changes in terms of where they placed the bosses.

I thought I'd try using the "Ask the Pokecenter where you should go next" option, since clearly that's intended. Nope, I think that just pushes you towards the closest objective, not the appropriately-leveled one.

It'd be better if there were some way in the overworld to judge levels. Instead you just have to save before entering fights and reset if they're way above you.