personally I think we shouldn't take the topic so Seriously.
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Pokémon Presents - Pokémon Day 2025 - Pokemon ZA Info & Pokemon Champions Announced
- Thread starter DHR-107
- Start date
The natures are all neutral bc they debuff / buff the same stat (e.g. Serious both buffs and debuffs Speed). Idk about “needing” it, but it’s a holdover from gen 3 and ig they wanted to have parity that way.
Serious Mint is the only “neutral” nature Mint that’s existed anyways, so it makes sense to trim the rest.
Clap this man.
What multiple neutral natures did was make far more likely to get a neutral nature than any specific nature; 20% chance of landing a neutral nature versus 4% of getting any specific one. And yeah, we got multiple of those due to them buffing and nerfing the same stat.
Anyway, "deconfirms battle palace" you say? GOOD. Seriously, people really have an issue with pretending EVERYTHING in the battle frontiers was enjoyable because they played it in 2005.
Gens III and IV had some weird annoying and unfun aspects that didn't really add much. The Frontier came up with gimmicks to justify the battle facilities, but the one that ammounted to anything other than the tower was the factory. AKA, Challenge Cup from Stadium 2.
Stadium 2 nailed the approach to multiple battle rulesets with Little/Poke/Prime/Challenge cups. Level 100 anything goes, level 50 without restricted 'mons, level 5 with unevolved 'mon, and randoms? That's a damn solid core, add singles/doubles/triples/rotation and you already have a ton of content.
But "let your Pokemon battle without your imput" is just playing RNG. Let it stay in 2005.
Anyway, "deconfirms battle palace" you say? GOOD. Seriously, people really have an issue with pretending EVERYTHING in the battle frontiers was enjoyable because they played it in 2005.
Gens III and IV had some weird annoying and unfun aspects that didn't really add much. The Frontier came up with gimmicks to justify the battle facilities, but the one that ammounted to anything other than the tower was the factory. AKA, Challenge Cup from Stadium 2.
Stadium 2 nailed the approach to multiple battle rulesets with Little/Poke/Prime/Challenge cups. Level 100 anything goes, level 50 without restricted 'mons, level 5 with unevolved 'mon, and randoms? That's a damn solid core, add singles/doubles/triples/rotation and you already have a ton of content.
But "let your Pokemon battle without your imput" is just playing RNG. Let it stay in 2005.
I'm not reading all this shit so sorry if it's been mentioned but champions seems to have raised the total ev limit to 516 so those annoying two leftover points have a use and raised the iv limit to 32 because 31 is an ugly number? to people who don't know binary.
IV lowering is good
Prepare to update your speed tiers, nerds.
IV lowering is good
Prepare to update your speed tiers, nerds.
One thing I'd like to point out is how Numel and Mega Lopunny were in the trailer. This is notable because neither of these lines were in the original Kalos dex. Therefore, this seems to imply every "regular" ORAS Mega Evolution will be present (most likely including the Hoenn starters too given how Blaziken was a gift in XY).
Was that ever in doubt? we saw mega altaria from the first gameplay trailers iirc, as well as mons like weedle. It'd be very bizarre in a game celebrating Mega's return for there to be absentees.
But does it actually buff-debuff the stat? Negative stat always rounds up and positive always rounds down, if they buff-debuffed this would affect the final stat instead of leaving it untouched.
Nature calculations don't work the same as other stat adjustments (otherwise Eternamax wouldn't overflow with a *1.1 nature boost while not doing do with a 4* stage boost). If I remember right, natures don't interact with decimals at all. The stat is multiplied by the percentage then integer divided by 100 (which would always truncate/round down). For neutral natures, that percentage could just be running as (100+10-10).
It's interesting that you think both Mega Ampharos is minimal. In a way, I guess you're right, but the the hair is so much visualy thatt I don't see it that way. Mega Dragonite feels minimal to me because the changes to the main body are so minor. The belly scales are a different pattern, there's a few feathers on the shoulders and knees, and the origional wings are smaller. It just feels like they just gave it bigger wings and a bigger tail with a Dragonair orb to me.
If you didn't mention Mega Salamence, I'd think you were thinking about competitive viability. Speaking of, not learning Hyper Voice means Mega Dragonite won't be just a better Mega Salamence in VGC. In Singles, depends on the stats. In doubles? Nope.
About competitive viability, Multiscale being better for being defensive and Aerilate (in the likely case that's Mega Dragonite's Ability) being better for offense makes me think this might be a Mega where both Mega Dragonite and Non-Mega Dragonite are both viable, like Latias.
Are there any other examples?
*checks ORAS viability rankings*
Mega Tyranitar higher in the ORAS viability rankings than Tyranitar?!
Anyway, Aerilate Extreme Speed being too good to pass up on means I'm probably wrong about that and, in the likely case that I'm wrong about that, Dragon Dance + Roost could make you want to wait a while before Mega Evolving because of the Ability changing, kind of like Mega Sharpedo.
My first Shiny Pokemon was Bashful, so I'm going to be Serious. Keep that in mind while I yell this. :P
HOW DARE THEY CUT BASHFUL! THAT'S THE BEST NEUTRAL NATURE!
"nature changes mean that Palace is deconfirmed" is very funny, both because it's the last battle facility anyone should want back and (more importantly) because they could still bring it back and just alter the specific mechanics to suit the smaller array of natures or completely rethink the concept
I used ChatGPT to explain what Mega Dragonite's stats could be based on its description on the website. This was its response:
| HP | 91 | 91 | HP doesn't change |
| Attack | 134 | 164 (+30) | Primary offense boosted—expected |
| Defense | 95 | 105 (+10) | Slight increase for physical bulk |
| Special Attack | 100 | 110 (+10) | Still viable for mixed sets |
| Special Defense | 100 | 110 (+10) | Reflects "kindheartedness" as resilience |
| Speed | 80 | 120 (+40) | Major increase to match the “faster and farther” theme |
| **BST: 700** (+100 total) |
91/164/105/110/110/120
"Fly faster and farther" → notable Speed boost
"Launches powerful attacks" → Attack boost (and possibly some Special Attack)
"Kindhearted nature amplified" → may suggest better bulk or resilience, potentially Special Defense
Overall suggests a Mega with high offensive pressure and better speed, but still tanky.
"Launches powerful attacks" → Attack boost (and possibly some Special Attack)
"Kindhearted nature amplified" → may suggest better bulk or resilience, potentially Special Defense
Overall suggests a Mega with high offensive pressure and better speed, but still tanky.
| HP | 91 | 91 | HP doesn't change |
| Attack | 134 | 164 (+30) | Primary offense boosted—expected |
| Defense | 95 | 105 (+10) | Slight increase for physical bulk |
| Special Attack | 100 | 110 (+10) | Still viable for mixed sets |
| Special Defense | 100 | 110 (+10) | Reflects "kindheartedness" as resilience |
| Speed | 80 | 120 (+40) | Major increase to match the “faster and farther” theme |
| **BST: 700** (+100 total) |
91/164/105/110/110/120
+40 Speed makes Dragonite much more viable in modern formats where 80 is sluggish. 120 lets it outspeed most unboosted threats.
+30 Attack pushes its physical might to match or exceed even Mega Salamence (145), aligning with the flavor text's destructive yet kind nature.
+10 Sp. Atk ensures mixed sets remain viable and doesn't waste its base 100.
+10 to each Defense rounds it out thematically as a guardian who withstands battle, possibly while using moves like Roost or Multiscale (if retained).
+30 Attack pushes its physical might to match or exceed even Mega Salamence (145), aligning with the flavor text's destructive yet kind nature.
+10 Sp. Atk ensures mixed sets remain viable and doesn't waste its base 100.
+10 to each Defense rounds it out thematically as a guardian who withstands battle, possibly while using moves like Roost or Multiscale (if retained).
Probably not. This is just a way to have one at the beginning of the gameDoes the early-purchase bonus mean that Gardevoirite is going to be an event-exclusive item?
Cringe.
To be clear I brought this up in the context of Pokemon Emerald's Battle Palace, where the neutral natures actually work differently from each other because they have different chances of using attack / defense / support moves, and they even target different Pokemon in doubles! So at the very least, I bet Battle Palace as it is in Pokemon Emerald is not making it to this game... which is not very shocking, don't think that was a particularly popular facility (I say as I've been playing it quite a bit lately lol).
Anyways, as I'm a nerd who plays too much Pokemon, I wanted to add to the whole discussion about stats in Pokemon Champions! I looked at I THINK all the HP stats that were shown in the direct, as well as did damage calcs when I could!
First off since the HP stats are boring: Dragapult seems to have an uninvested 31 HP IV, and Lucario might have a 31 HP IV with 2 stat points invested (makes sense considering the EV replacement, could be a 2 HP / 32 Atk / 32 Spe spread!). As has been previously talked about, that Gardevoir that was bought seems to have 31s in all of its stats too.
Damage Calcs
I want to be clear here, it's not like damage calcs will EXACTLY tell you what a Pokemon's stats are, but I was curious anyways and did some calcs with some spreads you'd think you'd see on these mons!
252 Atk Garchomp Rock Slide vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Ursaluna: 15-18 (6.3 - 7.5%)
252 Atk Garchomp Rock Slide vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Oranguru: 27-32 (13.7 - 16.2%) -- possible 6HKO
Depending on how the game rounds percentages, these damage calcs look prettty close to the percentages of Garchomp's Rock Slide against these two in doubles assuming all everything has an IV of 31 in each stat!
252+ SpA Kommo-o Clanging Scales vs. 12 HP / 0 SpD Leafeon: 93-109 (65.4 - 76.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252 SpA Kommo-o Clanging Scales vs. 252 HP / 12 SpD Empoleon: 29-34 (15.1 - 17.8%) -- possible 6HKO
Again, all pretty possible damage calcs for every stat having an IV of 31!
252 SpA Dragapult Shadow Ball vs. 252 HP / 12 SpD Sylveon: 46-55 (22.7 - 27.2%) -- 50.17% chance to 4HKO
Same as the other 2, we might be dealing with max IVs here!
Now there's a lot of ways to do this without max IVs on everything, but I find it fascinating that these damage calcs seem in line with EXACTLY the sort of Pokemon you'd expect to have bulk investment and Pokemon you'd expect to be offensive!
To be clear this might not mean anything. For all we know, maybe Pokemon you grab in Champions have 31 IVs across the board, while your Pokemon at Home use whatever IVs they normally do. However, there's some other aspects they showcased today that make me wonder otherwise...
- Notice how much they emphasized that training Pokemon is "easy" and brings battles to "everyone". They even got rid of EVs for a simpler stat point system that always guarantees 66 stat points rather than the weirdness of "you get 65 if you invest in only 3 stats" like you usually get at level 50 with EVs!
- Back on the natures, I find it fascinating that Serious is the only neutral nature (like the mint), and there's no weird lore stuff like "well you're not changing your Pokemon's nature, just ther nature boost!" Champions doesn't bother with that kind of premise at all, its just "pick your nature" and that's all there is to it. They pretty much drained as much flavor from Pokemon natures as they could to just focus on their functions.
- Something I noticed is that there doesn't seem to be any PP Up option in the training menu. For all we know it could be an unlock or "the game is not finished" sort of stuff, but I think it could be pointing to again, Champions really trying to boil off as much friction as possible. Also, it could be related to stall somehow surviving its nerfs in Battle Stadium Singles YET AGAIN, so maybe this is another Gamefreak attempt to kill stall in 3v3 singles lol.
- Levels are gone, and the stats seem to be for level 50 you'd see in other games. Makes sense, this game is purely about pvp battling it seems, why would you need levels when every Pokemon is gonna be at the same level anyways?
All of these things considered with the direction Champions seems to be going, I think there's a serious shot IVs might FINALLY be dead! Almost all these potential changes seem focused on the fact that this game purely about PVP gameplay, so its cutting off a lot of the fat that tends to clog teambuilding in the normal Pokemon games.
It's certainly not a guaranteed so I'm not gonna be celebrating yet, but the fact they made a change as massive as turning EVs into a reasonable, normal stat distribution system makes me seriously think its happening this time!
One of the funniest outcomes I can imagine for Mega Dragonite is that it keeps Inner Focus so whenever it becomes VGC Legal it has Fake Out and Intinidate immunity, something that it would no doubt covet in the face of Incineroars and other disruptors. But as far as singles goes...lol, lmao.
It's also worth noting that Tera type option is missing, and that should also be something that we can customize. So either Tera type (and maybe other options like PP Ups) are handled elsewhere, or maybe Tera will be patched in later?
Going to assume it'll be something along the lines of "Dragonitite" following a similar pattern to Manectite, Banettite and Glalitite.
I'll say, I hate the mega dragonite design with passion
I'll go into more of my thoughts later when I have the time, but I'll say while I don't hate it, it does feel very plain.
I like the ears turned into wings (though wished they more resembled Dragonair's) and the horn. Also if they were going to shrink the back wings I'd say, if we're having it sort of regress to have body traits from its previous evolutions, than have those resemble Dratini's ears (maybe also give it a white nose like Dratini too if we're going for cutesy).
I think my main issue is the tail, it could have had the stomach scaling continue down it for a bit.
Also maybe a small pearl implanted in its chest.
You know GF with Gen I, they probably wanted the first new Mega shown to be a "safe bet".
Of course, they didn't do what people wanted and make it a Dragon/Fairy, it's still a Dragon/Flying (and with apparently no Abilities in Z-A all it's going to be is just a more powerful Dragonite... whoopee... Though to be fair it's Ability was probably just going to be Multiscale).
I have a feeling this is just for the Pokemon you get in the game that you can't transport out.
We can't rule out the possibility that Mega Stones may be the only item a Pokemon can hold. Why? Maybe just incase if you use multiple of the same Pokemon they want to make sure the one you Mega Evolve is the one you want (there may also be a story reason that required the Mega Evolution method to be tied to your Pokemon holding a Mega Stone, maybe something to do with the Alpha Pokemon?).
Hm, that gives me an idea, maybe the holdable Mega Stones are a way to give Mega Pokemon their Abilities?
Possible more evidence via her Japanese name, Duro. Tierno is Spanish for "tender". Duro is Spanish for "hard".
Oddly Lida's name in other languages are a bit all over. Her English name comes from "calida" which is Spanish for "warm"; which, if they are related, goes the opposite direction of the Japanese name being an opposite instead being paired together: "warm and tendor". European Spanish is Barbara which may come from "barbarus", Latin for "savage". French & Korea is Rudi from "rudis", Latin for "rough". Similarly, Italian is Cerril, "cerril" is Spanish for "rough". Note most languages have Tierno's name remain the same except Spanish which named him Beni from "beningo" which means "kind".
So what I'm getting is that while Tierno's dancing is more fun & jolly that Lida's dancing is maybe more intense and/or "sharp".
* Only reason I can see them adding in Kleavor is if they give it a Mega, but we're still waiting on Slowking to get one so I wouldn't count in it.
* Kingambit is especially odd inclusion, like I recall Bisharp being a popular suggestion for Mega Pokemon but obviously if they line got one it would be Kingambit that gets it now. If anything I'd say female Bisharp needs an alt evolution to a "Queenambit" (they can even keep the samurai & beetle theme as female samurai were called "Onna-musha"/"Onna-bugeisha").
* Well as if Zygarde wasn't an indication something suspicious was going on with Infinity Energy, Mable being involved raises red flags (or rather flares).
Oh, don’t mind me, just lounging around with my genocidal terrorist-branded office furniture!
They better explain in the game at some point why she's not on the run from the law. Like, she was part of a group that was trying to do global genocide, even if interpol caught her and she made some kind of plea bargain no way would she be allowed to operate freely as it seems like she's doing here (maybe Jett got her on parole needing her expertise?).
Also, obvious question: if she's now in charge of Lumiose's lab, where is Sycamore?
Certainly if its that type of chair, my brother had bought like a similar kind of gaming chair Mable is sitting in (minus the Team Flare logo) and it didn't last that long. He ended up buying an office chair which was much better.
... Why?
I don't think you implement this entire system just for rental Pokemon. Especially if there's now an extra stat point you can use.
As an aside I wonder if the connection to Home and "bringing in" Pokemon might be more akin to PBR, where it just makes a copy of the Pokemon to place into the game. At that point it doesn't matter what's going on with IVs or EVs anymore, it just gets simplified(/expanded, i guess) and doesn't have to worry about backporting.
I also wonder if maybe Gen 10 will have this extra stat point as well. It'd be kind of weird to include it exclusively in this game that'll presumably launch close to it.
I love this guy so much
I realised that, technically speaking, that's only one new mega, but I thought it was such a big one worth loving that it was worth mentioning twice
Colress and Zinzolin are allowed to walk around free despite having pummeled Opelucid with ice missiles. In general, Pokémon doesn’t really lock up its villains, and instead lets them find their own path to rehabilitation. Either that, or they just walk offscreen never to be seen again. We’ve seen Interpol take people in for questioning, but it doesn’t seem like they are subject to long punitive sentences (three of the six sages from BW were out in the world again by B2W2).
Everyone’s (quite rightly) gushing about Mega Dragonite and the return of Alpha Pokemon. Meanwhile I’ quietly dreading the thought of a VGC meta where Xerneas can Tera. Tera Fire blows most the Steels that used to wall it to bits, Tera Steel flips both its weaknesses, while Tera Fairy lets it just blow up everything (it actually 2HKOes max HP / SpDef Amoonguss with a +2 Tera Fairy Moonblast: +2 20+ SpA Fairy Aura Tera Fairy Xerneas Moonblast vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Amoonguss: 111-131 (50.2 - 59.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO).
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For Colress specifically, I always figured that the government really wanted to use his level of scientific talent themselves and Colress easily accepted the plea deal because Team Plasma was just a research grant to him.