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SPOILERS! Mysteries and Conspiracies of Pokemon
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Emerald was also the point where they started making more "friendly" changes to breeding so I wonder if that's why they started showing up there
I think my old Ruby and Sapphire guide also lists them, but can't be assed to go find it to confirm.
I have a Crystal guidebook that lists Egg groups of each Pokemon, using the names used in Stadium 2. Even explains Chain Breeding(by name) and the more specific "Chain Smeargling" as they call it to since some Egg moves can only be obtained via Sketch Smeargle, with the specific example given in the guide being Heal Bell Chansey(Teach wild Male Smeargle Heal Bell via using it with a Miltank in front of it, breed with female Snubull/Granbull until you get a Male Heal Bell Snubull, then breed that with Chansey).
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Why the method, they just thought it would be a cool idea. So far the only thing you could transfer between gens was just Pokemon, but what if they made some special items which could also? And then they took it a step further: What if this item was something that did nothing in the game it was given out to, you had to transfer it to the next gen game where you can use it! An Event Item instead of an Event Pokemon!
But, being this was something never done, they probably wanted a Move which would certainly be useful, but no one would be missing out if they didn't get it. They probably chose Snarl also due to Zoroark being an Event Pokemon, in a way it being a pseudo Signature Move: An Event Move to go along with the premier Event Pokemon.
The big question is more why they never did the Event, even if they didn't like it and thus wrote it off as a one time thing. Heck, I don't think this idea of "Transfer Items" is even a bad idea either, yet they killed it before even trying.
I can kind of see the gimmicky appeal of having a transfer item, but GF had already made it clear by that point that obtaining old items wasn't hard. Just seemed pointless, which they must have quickly realized since the TM is easy to get in BW2.
Additionally, Snarl isn't really associated with Zororak. It doesn't learn the move by level-up (nothing does in Gen 5), and it was already given a signature move in Night Daze.
The whole situation is just so weird.
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Is there much of a reason why Magneton is 10 times heavier than Magnemite? My theory is that its strong magnetism pulls it to the ground harder, increasing its gravity? But apparently magnetism and gravity are completely seperate
Well obviously a Ton is heavier than a Mite.
Okay, being serious, first we need to make some assumptions & observations:
- We'll assume that the weight measurement was not affected by their electromagnetism.
- Magneton's Height is about 3 times Magnemite's, plus a bit more. Assuming Height means the distance between their "leg" bolts to their top bolt (and we'll assume it's the maximum amount they can have it unscrewed) and not one tip of the magnet to the other (aka their front facing length), I guess that's about right if for Magneton they counted length being the bottom magnets' tips to the top bolt. If true, that also means the individual unit's bodies haven't changed shape, they're just stuck together by strong magnetic forces (which seems to be supported by the games when we see them together).
- Though, note, as a Magnemite, when grouped with other Magnemite or even with other Magneton/zone, they aren't forced together; Magnemite remain their own units, Magneton are only ever in pairs of three of the same units, and Magnezone is 3 units in one body.
- The increase done to Magnemite's stats are thus: +25/+25/+25/+25/+15/+25//+140 (looks like when they made Magneton's Special Defense staff they forgot all of its other stats increased by 25). Taking that into account, the "power" increase done when combined was evenly spread throughout Magneton; BST wise it increased by more than a third.
I'm probably just overthinking this, but...
Steven's Aggron has a very odd moveset in Ruby, Sapphire, and Emerald. It has no Steel- or Rock-type attacks, instead running the moves Earthquake, Thunder, Solarbeam, and Dragon Claw. On one hand, I understand why it doesn't have STAB moves; its only Rock attack in Ruby and Sapphire was the weak Rock Tomb, and its only good option for a Steel move would be Iron Tail. What I don't understand entirely is why Game Freak decided to almost entirely eschew physical moves for it, instead giving it three Special attacks to run off of its extremely mediocre base 60 Special Attack. Its Physical movepool in RSE was a bit limited compared to its Special options, but a set of Double-Edge (with Rock Head), Earthquake, Iron Tail, and mayyybe Rock Tomb seems like it would be serviceable enough.
While thinking about this the other day, it occurred to me that Thunder and Solarbeam are moves bolstered by weather, the very weather conditions that Kyogre and Groudon are known to summon. Conveniently, they are also weak to those attacks. Looking at Dragon Claw, Aggron is one of a relatively small number of non-Dragon Pokémon to learn the move, and as a Dragon move, it's super effective against Rayquaza, the third weather-manipulating legendary in Hoenn (Aggron also gets Ice Beam/Blizzard which would be better against Rayquaza but I'm ignoring that for the sake of this argument). If it was actually the intention for Aggron to know these moves to counter the titans, it ignores the unfortunate fact that Aggron is weak to Water and Ground, and is slower than the legendaries, meaning it's (probably) not going to get a chance to attack against them before dying.
Of course, it's also just possible that it knows Thunder and Solarbeam to help cover it's general weaknesses to Water and Ground, but I found the fact that Game Freak chose those weather attacks interesting.
Steven's Aggron has a very odd moveset in Ruby, Sapphire, and Emerald. It has no Steel- or Rock-type attacks, instead running the moves Earthquake, Thunder, Solarbeam, and Dragon Claw. On one hand, I understand why it doesn't have STAB moves; its only Rock attack in Ruby and Sapphire was the weak Rock Tomb, and its only good option for a Steel move would be Iron Tail. What I don't understand entirely is why Game Freak decided to almost entirely eschew physical moves for it, instead giving it three Special attacks to run off of its extremely mediocre base 60 Special Attack. Its Physical movepool in RSE was a bit limited compared to its Special options, but a set of Double-Edge (with Rock Head), Earthquake, Iron Tail, and mayyybe Rock Tomb seems like it would be serviceable enough.
While thinking about this the other day, it occurred to me that Thunder and Solarbeam are moves bolstered by weather, the very weather conditions that Kyogre and Groudon are known to summon. Conveniently, they are also weak to those attacks. Looking at Dragon Claw, Aggron is one of a relatively small number of non-Dragon Pokémon to learn the move, and as a Dragon move, it's super effective against Rayquaza, the third weather-manipulating legendary in Hoenn (Aggron also gets Ice Beam/Blizzard which would be better against Rayquaza but I'm ignoring that for the sake of this argument). If it was actually the intention for Aggron to know these moves to counter the titans, it ignores the unfortunate fact that Aggron is weak to Water and Ground, and is slower than the legendaries, meaning it's (probably) not going to get a chance to attack against them before dying.
Of course, it's also just possible that it knows Thunder and Solarbeam to help cover it's general weaknesses to Water and Ground, but I found the fact that Game Freak chose those weather attacks interesting.
This is more of a programming thing but I felt like this was still the right place to bring it up.
I was reading Bulbapedia's page on Baton Pass, and it has this sentence.
This is so bizarrely specific that there has to be some kind of story behind it.
In case you're wondering, the page for Telekinesis contains this passage.
The list does make sense lore-wise, but the fact that Telekinesis still works on them in specific circumstances (Transform or Baton Pass) is just odd.
I was reading Bulbapedia's page on Baton Pass, and it has this sentence.
This is so bizarrely specific that there has to be some kind of story behind it.
In case you're wondering, the page for Telekinesis contains this passage.
The list does make sense lore-wise, but the fact that Telekinesis still works on them in specific circumstances (Transform or Baton Pass) is just odd.
You (can) catch Groudon and Kyogre before facing Steven in all the games, and Rayquaza in Emerald. With them also covering a batch of its weaknesses (and Dragon just in general is a strong Type that hits most Pokemon for neutral, also super effective on Salamence), they may have been banking on surprise factor and possibly even the player setting themselves up. And sure, Aggron isn't really going to stand against them, though if you did send Kygore or Groudon out that means you've permanently set up Rain or Sunshine, if the AI was smart and able to it would try to send Aggron in when those two aren't out so that it can have boosted accurate Thunder & instant Solar Beam on whatever poor Pokemon it'll be facing. And if it has to face Grounon or Kyogre, well, if it gets lucky and survives a hit it has something to hurt them with.
Very good observation.
Hm, it could just be oversight that they forgot the Diglett family and Sandyghast family, I imagine Mega Gengar would have some more additional priority to make sure mechanics are working properly for it.
If you're stretching for a lore-reason, well could be that since Gengar is a more ethereal ghost it can just phase out of the effect of Telekinesis. Diglett family are alive thus have a physical body, and the Sandyghast family are being lifted up via the sand which makes up its body than the spirit itself thus can't slip out like Gengar can.
It kind of is, in that Zoroark is the one who gives you TM95 in B2W2, and that there was that event Zoroark distributed with it.
I guess they just figured "well, may as well lump the event-locked species and the event-locked move together".
The bigger question is why Snarl was considered so valuable it had to be kept concealed from Team Rocket (which is the justification given in-game). Like, if it was a Hyper Beam variant or something, sure.
Honestly this might be overthinking it (though I am the last person on Smogon to discourage overthinking). A few NPC Pokemon in earlier gens have quite janky movesets that seem more designed with style in mind rather than efficiency; Palmer's Rhyperior in DP has a similarly lacklustre moveset (Rock Wrecker, Ice Beam, Flamethrower, Thunderbolt).
In this case, my hunch is that his Aggron goes the special route because most of Steven's team have fairly restricted movepools: Armaldo mixes things up a bit with Aerial Ace and Water Pulse and Skarmory has Toxic, but otherwise it's largely Steel, Rock, and Normal moves with Earthquake thrown in for good measure. But Aggron learns a wide variety of moves so it seems like they took the chance to give it Dragon, Grass, and Electric moves for nominal coverage since nothing else on his team has them, even though doing so makes it pretty underwhelming to fight.
Interestingly, the Prima Games guide I have for Ruby and Sapphire contains a hint in the Meteor Falls section which is along the lines of: "Iron Tail and Dragon Claw are both rare moves - one Steel, one Dragon. Save them for a good Pokemon!" Aggron comes to mind as one that learns both, though without checking I believe it learns Iron Tail naturally in Gen III. But it's not as if there are a lot of Pokemon who can efficiently make use of both of those moves.
For a more mechanical mystery: NPC trainer gender ratios. In general, Trainers will have mons that match their gender, with some exceptions for certain trainer classes or mons with extreme M/F ratios. Except occasionally GF will just override that for no apparent reason. Scarlet/Violet is a major example, with a lot of the significant NPCs having set genders for their mons.
Which, fine, they need something to determine whether Bug Catcher #3's Weedle is M or F and they don't want to make it random, makes sense. And they do want to put effort into making sure the genders of the major trainers' teams are consistent across multiple appearances and don't auto-lose to Cute Charm. Sure.
And for what kicked me off on this: So why does Penny have 3M and 3F pokes from a 7/1 ratio species? Why does the raw trainer data only set the gender for 5 of her pokes? Why can't GF ever just be simple?
(Also, Eri has an all-male team, which feels kind of insulting? A bit?)
Which, fine, they need something to determine whether Bug Catcher #3's Weedle is M or F and they don't want to make it random, makes sense. And they do want to put effort into making sure the genders of the major trainers' teams are consistent across multiple appearances and don't auto-lose to Cute Charm. Sure.
And for what kicked me off on this: So why does Penny have 3M and 3F pokes from a 7/1 ratio species? Why does the raw trainer data only set the gender for 5 of her pokes? Why can't GF ever just be simple?
(Also, Eri has an all-male team, which feels kind of insulting? A bit?)
I assume Penny has a 3/3 split because of her hair. Blue/Red and all.
Eri's actually got a girl on her rematch team: her primeape!
Looking at some other teams kind of interesting how most trainers tend towards a 2/3 or 2/4 split.
Ryme actually has all male pokemon and Saguaro has all female.
The Scyther to Scizor evolution is a bit odd, because Scizor has the same base stat total as Scyther. Why do you think they did this? Why wouldn't they make Scizor's base stat total a little higher? Scizor at least has a better stat distribution and typing overall though. I get Scyther already had a high BST, but instead of giving Scizor the same 500 BST, why not bump it up a bit to around 520 or 530? It's the only evolution to have the same BST as its prevolution. The alternate Scyther evolution Kleavor also continues this trend. I can understand that some though because it was established with Scizor.
I wonder how the developers were thinking during GS development. Was it for game balancing? Was it because Scizor is already better overall than Scyther as is, so there was no need to increase its BST?
Scizor almost seems like an alternate form to Scyther in a way, and this was before forms existed. It's better overall, but Scyther has a lot more speed. And Scizor has a more defense and attack. So Scizor unfortunately loses a lot of speed
I wonder how the developers were thinking during GS development. Was it for game balancing? Was it because Scizor is already better overall than Scyther as is, so there was no need to increase its BST?
Scizor almost seems like an alternate form to Scyther in a way, and this was before forms existed. It's better overall, but Scyther has a lot more speed. And Scizor has a more defense and attack. So Scizor unfortunately loses a lot of speed
My theory is that Scizor was originally designed as a separate counterpart species to Scyther and was made an evolution later without altering its stats. In gen 1, Scyther paired with Pinsir, both being 500 BST bug-types that were version exclusives of one another. Gen 2 introduced Heracross which made for a better counterpart to Pinsir since the pairing of the stag and hercules beetles shows up a decent amount in Japanese media. However, this would leave Scyther partnerless, so Scizor was designed to fill that void. At some later point, they decided they needed a second mon that evolves by Metal Coat and that Scizor could work as an evolution.
Scizor was always going to be a Scyther evolution
it even looked more like Scyther. At this point it wasn't steel type & evolved by level. It also existed alongside a Pinsir evolution.
unfortunately we have no idea what the stat situation was planned as, at this time they only had placeholder stats (as did most of the new Pokemon).
I think "balance" might be why, though. After they ironed out Special Defense for the old Pokemon, Scyther would be the only 500 BST Pokemon to receive an evolution. While there would be evolutions that would go past 500 in Gen 2, they all evolved from weaker Pokemon and aside from the "split" evolutions all of them had higher stat bumps. Now with stat rearranging I think yeah it could have taken a stat bump as well, but I think they wanted to play it safe this go around. They'd be significantly more likely to both make Pokemon with high stats into normal evolutions and more willing to give a slight stat bump while rearranging other stats. Porygon-Z & most evolutions in gen 8, hello. Porygon-Z in particular is a really good example since it completely shifted how Porygon2 worked and had a very minimal BST increase; if gen 2 had gotten P2 AND PZ (or if 2 had happened in gen 1 I guess), Z likely would have worked like Scizor did.
They also may have wanted parity with Pinsir & Heracross so they were all still a trio.
basically scizor might've just been a really goofy situation of their own making and effectively making it a form change before form changes were a thing was their solution.
Scizor was always going to be a Scyther evolution
it even looked more like Scyther. At this point it wasn't steel type & evolved by level. It also existed alongside a Pinsir evolution.
unfortunately we have no idea what the stat situation was planned as, at this time they only had placeholder stats (as did most of the new Pokemon).
There was plenty of leaked developments documents leaked a while back(Which can be found on the Cutting Room Floor website) that showed that Scizor at one point was going to have a BST of 540. Pinsir's evolution actually lasted a bit before being permanently cut, going through an almost identical process (Started as having the same typing as its pre-evolution, ended up Bug/Steel, started at 540 BST, ended up with Pinsir's 500 BST re-distributed with less speed but more Attack and Defense) though unlike Scizor it was dropped and replaced by Forretress around 1998-1999
Oh cool, I tried looking through the 99 builds on tcrf for Scizor's later incarnation stats but I didn't see stat listings. So many subpages.
https://i.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/original/001/515/831/c8d.png
The more that I read the purported X/Y conceptual leak, the more I believe that it was made more so out of wish fulfilment that X and Y were actually interesting instead of being boring than anything else. Like, beings from another world showing up in ORAS and the Alolan games, differing Pokemon sizes being experimented on first with Pumpkaboo, and an imposter Professor that has its origins with imposter Oak and later being fulfilled with the A.I Professors in Scarlet and Violet lend it credence, but everything else reads like the leaker swearing every single major complaint of X/Y has an answer.
"I swear guys, X and Y were meant to be good! Diantha and AZ had actual character presence, Goodra was a Dragon/Water, but they had too many Water types. Delphox was Fire/Fairy and Chestnaught was Grass/Steel. Pyroar had actual differences like Meowstic. Olympia wasn't meant to be made of cardboard. Alexa had something to do. Carbink/Diancie were supposed to be a family and not an expy of Phione/Manaphy..."
I also love the exchange about Sylveon at the bottom. "Bro, people thought Sylveon was a Flying type even without its wings".
The more that I read the purported X/Y conceptual leak, the more I believe that it was made more so out of wish fulfilment that X and Y were actually interesting instead of being boring than anything else. Like, beings from another world showing up in ORAS and the Alolan games, differing Pokemon sizes being experimented on first with Pumpkaboo, and an imposter Professor that has its origins with imposter Oak and later being fulfilled with the A.I Professors in Scarlet and Violet lend it credence, but everything else reads like the leaker swearing every single major complaint of X/Y has an answer.
"I swear guys, X and Y were meant to be good! Diantha and AZ had actual character presence, Goodra was a Dragon/Water, but they had too many Water types. Delphox was Fire/Fairy and Chestnaught was Grass/Steel. Pyroar had actual differences like Meowstic. Olympia wasn't meant to be made of cardboard. Alexa had something to do. Carbink/Diancie were supposed to be a family and not an expy of Phione/Manaphy..."
I also love the exchange about Sylveon at the bottom. "Bro, people thought Sylveon was a Flying type even without its wings".
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Sometimes when you invent something you think it's more valuable than it actually is. The person who locked the TM away was probably the one who invented it. At some point Team Rocket might have raided the place where it was developed and the inventor, not wanting to see his own creation used by criminals, locked it away. Though, if Team Rocket got a hold of it and it was considered worth showing to an admin or Giovanni, they'd probably just go "oh, this sounds like a neat move, probably could give it to some grunt as a reward for a good job" and throw it into a pile of other TMs they've stolen.
I guess there's also the meta idea that, since its a TM from Unova, it has infinite use (therefore ALL of Team Rocket could have their Pokemon which can learn it know it), but that's more a meta thing and probably not what they were thinking.
Actually I want to know why Penny doesn't have an Espeon or Glaceon. Even if they didn't want to randomize her 5 other Eeveelutions, they could have made her team change what Eeveelutions she uses depending on the Starter you picked at least:
- Sprigatito/Meowscarada: Sylveon, Umbreon, Flareon, Glaceon, Espeon, Leafeon
- Fuecoco/Skeledirge: Sylveon, Umbreon, Vaporeon, Jolteon, Espeon, Flareon
- Quaxly/Quaquaval: Sylveon, Umbreon, Leafeon, Jolteon, Glaceon, Vaporeon
Anyway, as for genders (btw, Glaceon would be male, Espeon would be female), as said for Penny's team it's just so there would be an even split. Actually, something else they could have done: If they planned ahead they could have made the other Star Leader's Types match with 5 of the Eeveelutions and then have Penny use those five Eeveelutions plus her ace which would represent her. But that would actually require GF to plan ahead...
Eri having all male initially and then adding a female Primeape I feel is a slight indication of her thinking. As the muscle of the group, she feels like she needs to appear tough and specializes in the Fighting-type. Her adding a female Primeape to her team in rematches could symbolize she no longer feels like she needs to put on an act (though I do wish they gave her Primeape an Eviolite so that it doesn't feel like an inferior Annihilape; actually I would have given her a Hawlucha, it would totally fit her!).
Ryme having all male I don't really have an explanation for, like if she had a mix leaning toward male I could maybe say that's cause there's more male rappers, but there's also plenty of female rappers so can't be referencing that.
Saguaro having all female (and also them being feminine Pokemon) I think says more about GF's viewpoint. Let's not beat around the bush, Saguaro is designated gay. I say "designated" because it's not outright said (and he could also just be a straight guy who is more in-touch of his femininity but come on). However he has plenty of stereotypes which one would relate to a gay man. He wears pink, teaches home economics, prefers sweet things over spicy, and his Pokemon team are feminine and all female. Now I like Saguaro enough, while he has plenty of the stereotypes attributed to him he is a rounded character and they don't make him act flamboyant. Yeah, what stereotypes they do give him they really leaned on it, but overall I would say he's a good representation of a gay character who's not afraid to show they're gay... just don't expect the game to say it.
And 40 just so happen to be the same amount of points Scizor's Speed goes down from Scyther (Scizor's HP and Special stats also weren't touched).
Also, another factor to keep in mind: Let's remember that Scyther's BST in Gen I was 420. That pesky Special stat, for Scyther it was originally 55 and when they did the Special split the 55 went toward Special Attack and it gained a whopping 80 Special Defense! Which is honestly odd, Scyther doesn't look like a Pokemon who would have a decent Special Defense (I would think it would have been the same as its Special attack, 55, which would have made its BST 475).
I'm wondering if maybe all this together is the reason for the situation Scyther and its evolutions are in. Maybe they started with a Pokemon with a BST of 420, made it part Steel (which was a pretty good Type with all its resistances) & increased its Attack & Defense, but then they did the Special Split. For whatever reason they made Scyther's Special Defense 80, possibly to push it to 500 BST to keep it in-line with other Pokemon is was considered equal with, but now that resulted with what they believed at the time was an OP Pokemon. The only stat of Scizor that made sense to decrease was Speed, thus Scizor went from being a better Scyther to a slower but more bulky Scyther (which overall also made it slightly better, only real downside to Scizor was double weakness to Fire).
Paging Hematite.
We had this discussion a while back.
*Reads some more past posts and comes across discussion about the personalities of Ingo & Emmet*
*Looks at Legends: Arceus* ... No, no, I would say Ingo is definitely "Tragedy"...
Been thinking about Gen 1 again in a way, and something came to mind.
I'm highlighting these two in particular, but there are probably a few other examples related to them that stick out.
But the topic I am highlighting is not really Farfetch'd and Lapras in terms of their battle capabilities, but rather certain Pokemon with respect to the concept of HMs as field moves.
HMs, as we all know, existed in the first six generations of Pokemon. They serve as field moves, cannot be erased from a Pokemon's moveset naturally, and are often gated in terms of being used as field moves by Gym Badges, the only region of the first six that didn't do so was Unova.
Gen 1 had five HM moves: Cut, Fly, Surf, Strength, and Flash. Back then, there was no Move Deleter, so when you taught an HM move to a Pokemon in the Gen 1 games, that move was effectively permanently etched into their moveset and could not be removed whatsoever.
Now why am I highlighting Lapras and Farfetch'd in particular? Because with the way they are implemented into Red and Green, one being an in-game trade and the other being a gift, they feel like they were explicitly designed to be the respective users of Cut and Surf, respectively, from a viewpoint of their uses as field moves.
Farfetch'd is obtainable right around the point of the game that you would get the HM for Cut, and from there battle wise it's a good pre-promote option, but more importantly, its design and lore aesthetic describe it using its leek like a sword to cut things, and Cut as a field move is used for cutting trees. It definitely feels like Cut was absolutely intended to be taught to Farfetch'd and that players were expected to get a Farfetch'd at this point and use it as a Cut user on the field. This is further lampshaded in future games where GSC has the Cut masters use a Farfetch'd, and even in XY where in a Kanto shout-out they have an in-game trade for Farfetch'd around the time you would get Cut.
Lapras feels similar: it definitely feels tailor-made to be the definitive user of Surf as an HM. Lore wise and design wise it's a giant Loch Ness monster but it also ferries humans on its back to transport them across the water, which is what Surf does as a field move: enable travel across the water. And you ideally, assuming you follow RBY's intended game progression, should get Lapras shortly before you go into the fifth Gym in Fuschia City where you both get the Surf HM and unlock the ability to use it as a field move. Further lampshaded by GSC where Lapras is the overworld sprite for Surf, and XY also uses Lapras as a Kanto shout-out in that you get a Lapras as a gift around the point in the game where you get Surf, and also has Lapras with a special overworld sprite for Surf should you use one for surfing on the field.
In general, these two come off as explicitly designed to represent Cut and Surf as field moves, respectively. Given the way HMs were implemented in RGBY, it feels like the developers wanted players to use Farfetch'd and Lapras specifically for the Cut and Surf HMs.
And looking at the five HMs, HMs in Gen 1 do feel like they were designed around very specific Pokemon.
Cut: Farfetch'd, as I highlighted.
Fly: You don't get any special gift flying mon for this, but given Pidgey is the original "regional bird" that is caught early and is designed to be kept for the whole game, there was definitely an expectation that players would have a Pidgeotto by the time they get Fly, as an evolved form of the Pidgey they almost certainly caught in the first few routes: Pidgey is one of those mons that developers likely wanted every player to catch in some form or another. So in this case this move is probably associated with Pidgeot, who is more or less the textbook avian bird in the Gen 1 roster. Alternatively Doduo is in the nearby routes likely as a substitute for players who didn't get Pidgey.
Surf: Lapras, as I also highlighted.
Strength: This is the one HM move that as a field move I struggle to think of a Pokemon who was designed around it. The only Pokemon who feels tailor made for Strength lore wise is Machamp, given Machamp serves as the boulder pusher in SM as a Ride mon and Strength was its signature move back then, however, Machamp is a trade evolution that evolves from Machoke, although one could argue Machoke could work too. The Machop line is not available as a gift and is a wild encounter looong before you get Strength. Arguably the Hitmons as gifts just after the fifth badge and before the sixth could fit, though that's pushing it.
Flash: Mr. Mime feels like it was at least partially intended as an in-game Flash user. You get it around the time you get Flash as an HM in an in-game trade, this checks out.
Anyway, this is just a bit of mystery and conspiracy I look at, but HMs in particular do feel like they were designed around and intended for specific Pokemon to use them despite being available for use by a wide variety of Pokemon. It's kind of interesting looking at how these moves were originally implemented in Gen 1 and the more I look at Gen 1's game design and roster this particular tendency sticks out to me.
I'm highlighting these two in particular, but there are probably a few other examples related to them that stick out.
But the topic I am highlighting is not really Farfetch'd and Lapras in terms of their battle capabilities, but rather certain Pokemon with respect to the concept of HMs as field moves.
HMs, as we all know, existed in the first six generations of Pokemon. They serve as field moves, cannot be erased from a Pokemon's moveset naturally, and are often gated in terms of being used as field moves by Gym Badges, the only region of the first six that didn't do so was Unova.
Gen 1 had five HM moves: Cut, Fly, Surf, Strength, and Flash. Back then, there was no Move Deleter, so when you taught an HM move to a Pokemon in the Gen 1 games, that move was effectively permanently etched into their moveset and could not be removed whatsoever.
Now why am I highlighting Lapras and Farfetch'd in particular? Because with the way they are implemented into Red and Green, one being an in-game trade and the other being a gift, they feel like they were explicitly designed to be the respective users of Cut and Surf, respectively, from a viewpoint of their uses as field moves.
Farfetch'd is obtainable right around the point of the game that you would get the HM for Cut, and from there battle wise it's a good pre-promote option, but more importantly, its design and lore aesthetic describe it using its leek like a sword to cut things, and Cut as a field move is used for cutting trees. It definitely feels like Cut was absolutely intended to be taught to Farfetch'd and that players were expected to get a Farfetch'd at this point and use it as a Cut user on the field. This is further lampshaded in future games where GSC has the Cut masters use a Farfetch'd, and even in XY where in a Kanto shout-out they have an in-game trade for Farfetch'd around the time you would get Cut.
Lapras feels similar: it definitely feels tailor-made to be the definitive user of Surf as an HM. Lore wise and design wise it's a giant Loch Ness monster but it also ferries humans on its back to transport them across the water, which is what Surf does as a field move: enable travel across the water. And you ideally, assuming you follow RBY's intended game progression, should get Lapras shortly before you go into the fifth Gym in Fuschia City where you both get the Surf HM and unlock the ability to use it as a field move. Further lampshaded by GSC where Lapras is the overworld sprite for Surf, and XY also uses Lapras as a Kanto shout-out in that you get a Lapras as a gift around the point in the game where you get Surf, and also has Lapras with a special overworld sprite for Surf should you use one for surfing on the field.
In general, these two come off as explicitly designed to represent Cut and Surf as field moves, respectively. Given the way HMs were implemented in RGBY, it feels like the developers wanted players to use Farfetch'd and Lapras specifically for the Cut and Surf HMs.
And looking at the five HMs, HMs in Gen 1 do feel like they were designed around very specific Pokemon.
Cut: Farfetch'd, as I highlighted.
Fly: You don't get any special gift flying mon for this, but given Pidgey is the original "regional bird" that is caught early and is designed to be kept for the whole game, there was definitely an expectation that players would have a Pidgeotto by the time they get Fly, as an evolved form of the Pidgey they almost certainly caught in the first few routes: Pidgey is one of those mons that developers likely wanted every player to catch in some form or another. So in this case this move is probably associated with Pidgeot, who is more or less the textbook avian bird in the Gen 1 roster. Alternatively Doduo is in the nearby routes likely as a substitute for players who didn't get Pidgey.
Surf: Lapras, as I also highlighted.
Strength: This is the one HM move that as a field move I struggle to think of a Pokemon who was designed around it. The only Pokemon who feels tailor made for Strength lore wise is Machamp, given Machamp serves as the boulder pusher in SM as a Ride mon and Strength was its signature move back then, however, Machamp is a trade evolution that evolves from Machoke, although one could argue Machoke could work too. The Machop line is not available as a gift and is a wild encounter looong before you get Strength. Arguably the Hitmons as gifts just after the fifth badge and before the sixth could fit, though that's pushing it.
Flash: Mr. Mime feels like it was at least partially intended as an in-game Flash user. You get it around the time you get Flash as an HM in an in-game trade, this checks out.
Anyway, this is just a bit of mystery and conspiracy I look at, but HMs in particular do feel like they were designed around and intended for specific Pokemon to use them despite being available for use by a wide variety of Pokemon. It's kind of interesting looking at how these moves were originally implemented in Gen 1 and the more I look at Gen 1's game design and roster this particular tendency sticks out to me.
So I parsed this down mostly to the two that I find the most immediately iffy for the theme and pattern. I have more to say for the Lapras scenario, though I agree with all the subsequent-gen evidence (and multimedia appearances) making Lapras the defacto Surf Ride Pokemon.
On the progression point, Sabrina and Koga are relatively similar in terms of their level curves, difficulty mostly stemming from the Pokemon types (Sabrina specializing in the overpowered-in-RBY Psychic vs Koga's Poison being relatively neutral for match-ups most players will have by then). I wouldn't say Koga is the intended 5th Gym Leader, as he and Sabrina can be done in either order, but odds are you're doing Sabrina right after Silph Co. since clearing it opens her Gym whenever you get to that. I know a lot of people who tried going to Saffron first since it opens up right after you get to Celadon, and thus is available at the same time you clear the Lavender Tower for Fuchsia (due to moving the Silph guard and getting the Pokeflute for Snorlax respectively).
I feel like there's a minor disconnect, if anything, with Koga giving your Surf but the Sabrina lead-in giving you the designated surfer. The Safari Zone is where you get the Surf HM, which seems like where they provide you a source of Surfers since Fuchsia City also hosts the Good Rod (to catch Waters besides Magikarp) and exhibits a "go catch Pokemon" area with the Safari Zone, including the Zoo out front with Dratini and Lapras (which convinced Kid me for a while I could find one in the Safari Zone water since it was a nature preserve for the endangered species like Lapras).
I think the more likely reason for Lapras's placement is if you do Koga first and then go to Saffron for your 6th badge, rather than vice versa. If you do Koga last your immediate instinct is to try out surfing, and there's a shore right next to the Gym and Pokemon Center leading to the Ocean as a path to lead you on. If you go back to landlocked Saffron, the Lapras gift is to ensure you have a Water type and indicate "you'll need this soon," and direct you back towards the surf routes from much farther away on the path you followed.
As for Mr. Mime, I'm not sure it's designed as a Flash user along this same line as the above two for other HMs, because as a Trade it calls for Abra, a Pokemon that is rather hard to catch without prep and can learn the HM as well, not to mention Drowzee on Route 11 right next to the Diglett's Cave they have to pass through to reach this. I think the more likely purpose is that Mr. Mime gives the player a quicker route to a Psychic Special attacker if they don't want to put in the effort to raise an Abra to Level 16 so it can battle for itself after one evolution, not needing babying to contribute but coming out weaker than Kadabra/Alakazam overall (albeit helped by outside EXP). The Viridian Forest Detour also puts the player back on Pewter City side of Mt. Moon, meaning they can head back to Cerulean and Rock Tunnel while passing a few encounters for Jigglypuff and Clefairy, other users of Flash if they don't have the above options
Mr. Mime's design also doesn't scream "Flash user" to me like Farfetch'd Cutting or Lapras surfing, since Mimes are based more on motions and illusions/invisible objects in the Pokemon's case. Truth be told the most fitting user seems like Pikachu (it's what Red used in Adventures for example), but it's rare and probably just coincidence since it's a heavily marketed Pokemon/mascot in general. Yellow even added Flash to a few Mons like Butterfree and Venonat (now on Route 24-25 near Cerulean), I presume so you didn't have to saddle your mascot starter with a non-damaging Field Utility move, to skip on a tricky Abra capture or hunting a rare encounter to use Flash instead.
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