(Little) Things that annoy you in Pokémon

[R_N]

Mine's Naive and was even holding Charcoal. No idea about what EVs it has tbh and can't check right now. I don't how Colosseum handles handing out stats, but it was Kloak's Level 39 Spinarak in the Under if that helps. Might have been Typholsion was at 37, but still.

Naive level 37 Typhlosion using Charcoal Flame Wheel with 0 IV and 0 EV against a Level 39 Spinarak with 31 IVs 0 EVs and neutral nature is a guaranteed OHKO
if I also make the Spinarak a +sp def nature, it goes down to a 93% OHKO...but the moment you get 16 EVs (or 3 IVs or any combination that gets you the extra stat points) it becomes a OHKO again.

So I dunno what's going on there. I'm not sure if Colosseum even gives custom natures to grunts. Maybe your Typhlosion is cursed, in real life.

my take on levels is that id rather main campaigns just go further in the level bracket than lowering evo levels (9f course thatd be a much larger change so ofc for current models their levels should be adjusted). in fact id push most level ups a bit higher, and have the campaign end up around lv 70s with post game covering 80s up to 90 and then the lv 100 being the final personal push with whatever grinding facilities there are around. I think a wider level expression in the main game would be really fun and also just solve many late level up problems lol

I think the only thing fixed here is that you get "more time" to use the evolved Pokemon, but if the levels are altered but the amount of game isn't you're still only barely getting use out of them and also, most importantly, means you're still going to carry something like a Rufflet around for 20+ levels where everyone else even in a raised level situation is probabyl already evolved.

And just as a game feel thing, if everyone had their levels raised to evolve it just means EVERYONE is weaker for longer and man. Johto's problems would not have been resolved if Clair was in the 50s but also Pidgeotto evolved at level 46

 

[Bakugames]

And just as a game feel thing, if everyone had their levels raised to evolve it just means EVERYONE is weaker for longer and man. Johto's problems would not have been resolved if Clair was in the 50s but also Pidgeotto evolved at level 46

I wouldn't push it that far + itd have to be contexualized on how strong a pokemon is, of course. But the main thing really is that id want the main game to stretch longer, hence why its a much bigger change than just fixing levels for current game feel. Maybe im biased in jrpgs but I kinda like just having a shit ton of things to do inbetween main goals lol

 

[Esserise]

Eviolite is also only one-of and being a little sturdier can only carry so far

I dunno, I think BW aren’t really putting the screws to the player so hard that you need much more than a moderate defense buff to get by for most of it. For instance, there’s also the addition of free healers in every dungeon. Gym Leader teams never go past 3 Pokémon and the Elite Four only go one further, with most regular opponents only having 1-3 Pokémon themselves.

Plus, it’s not like every Gen 5 Pokémon is like that. You can get a Darumaka right before Badge 3 and at Lv35 it’ll become the Game Breaker Ape. Drilbur’s available super early on as well. Stoutland, Gigalith, Lilligant… all perfectly solid choices for the main game and all of them with very reasonable evolution requirements. Unova has a wide array of options, and not all of them have an extended middle stage period. I suppose if you’re running a team consisting of Vanillite, Duosion, Klang, Scraggy, Frillish, and Fraxure with only one Eviolite to go around you’ll probably go a little insane, but I would guess that most people aren’t ending up in that situation.

 

[Eriorguez]

Moves that weren't TMs until SwSh, and thus were usually seen as Egg Moves, which lost their TM status in SV but had been removed from the Egg Move pool, and thus became unteachable in those.

I'm looking straight at you, Psycho Cut Pawniard and Tail Slap Aipom.

 

[SwampySwampert]

In Gen 7, Game Freak just gave up on even trying to figure out what to do with Frustration. The TM can't be obtained until the end of the third island, and you get it at the exact same time as Return, so unless you've been actively abusing your Pokemon the whole run you would never actually use this TM.

Adding further insult to injury, USUM added Buneary to the game, the only Pokemon that would ever want to run this move. However, likely to prevent a repeat of Platinum or Black 2 where a wild Buneary could one-shot your Pokemon with a 153 BP move while you're trying to catch the damn thing, Buneary caught in Alola cannot know or learn Frustration - it's been made a Level 1 move that's overwritten by four other Level 1 moves, and we all know what they did to the Move Relearner in Gen 7. This is despite the fact that you can’t encounter Buneary at Level 13 in USUM anyway.

Losing Return sucks, but no wonder Frustration got Dexited.

 

[Coronis]

Naive level 37 Typhlosion using Charcoal Flame Wheel with 0 IV and 0 EV against a Level 39 Spinarak with 31 IVs 0 EVs and neutral nature is a guaranteed OHKO
if I also make the Spinarak a +sp def nature, it goes down to a 93% OHKO...but the moment you get 16 EVs (or 3 IVs or any combination that gets you the extra stat points) it becomes a OHKO again.

So I dunno what's going on there. I'm not sure if Colosseum even gives custom natures to grunts. Maybe your Typhlosion is cursed, in real life.


I think the only thing fixed here is that you get "more time" to use the evolved Pokemon, but if the levels are altered but the amount of game isn't you're still only barely getting use out of them and also, most importantly, means you're still going to carry something like a Rufflet around for 20+ levels where everyone else even in a raised level situation is probabyl already evolved.

And just as a game feel thing, if everyone had their levels raised to evolve it just means EVERYONE is weaker for longer and man. Johto's problems would not have been resolved if Clair was in the 50s but also Pidgeotto evolved at level 46

All Johtonian Typhlosion have been retroactively cursed since LA

 

[Eriorguez]

I honestly don't really have much issue with Return being gone if Body Slam and Double Edge are here to stay as widely distributed moves.

 

[Pale Rose Star]

Friendly reminder that IVs suck ass.

My Typhlosion in Colosseum failed to OHKO a like level Spinarak with STAB Flame Wheel due to what I can only assume were bad IVs.

yeah I truly despise IVs. Like, they are so antithetical to the idea of Pokemon for me that they're something that I just. actively hate.

But then this made me think of the changes SV has made. You can basically turn any Pokemon you find into a competitively viable, level 100 mon in a few hours, not just with IVs but with EVs, moves, items, and leveling insanely fast. This bugs me. I really do not like this. Gen 9 to me felt way too focused on battling and not enough on the traditional RPG aspects that were being mentioned earlier. The traditional system of just leveling like a typical JRPG? For all intents and purposes its basically gone. And what for?

Esports.

idk if this is just me but it really feels like VGC became more and more popular with Gen 9, and more and more of a focus of the game. I mean maybe I'm biased having known several regional finalists and worlds invitees irl, but the design of Gen 9 very much feels like its accommodating the esports aspect - and the money and hype that comes with it - over the actual games. It's to where a few of my friends joked that Gen 9 isn't an RPG as much as it is a battle simulator. I don't agree 100%, i mean saga scarlet grace is right there as a true example of that, but it's really not far off imo. Gen 9 feels like it sacrificed huge, important aspects of the actual game for VGC.

 

[Eriorguez]

You literally have to go out of your way into endgame grind for that to be a thing before you have finished the game.

 

[Pale Rose Star]

You literally have to go out of your way into endgame grind for that to be a thing before you have finished the game.

IDK, I kind of stumbled upon it while playing. I don't do VGC.

 

[Omastar68]

I sorta miss pursuit. Now I was likely one of the MOST critical of the move ever, it's only crunch IF the effect happens, and otherwise stick with thief or snarl lol. But somehow I feel like it would've been good, boy do people love their switches. You have stuff like caly s, sash, and the type neutral but def weak flutter.

I've just been playing pokopia...and go I guess lol...for mons recently so I have less for this. But the, apparently, known bug trying to demolish a furnace(world one not my own,) was a bit annoying. I want the S.S. Anne to be broken but it hard to kill that off lol.

 

[Eriorguez]

Honestly I wouldn't really have Pursuit be Crunch if you switch out. Punishing the smart play is not that good of a game design IMO, and, well, you don't see Quick Attack double in power if you move faster than a faster opponent with it.

Pursuit would be fun if it was always 40 BP, like widely distributed priority moves are.

 

[Omastar68]

Honestly I wouldn't really have Pursuit be Crunch if you switch out. Punishing the smart play is not that good of a game design IMO, and, well, you don't see Quick Attack double in power if you move faster than a faster opponent with it.

Pursuit would be fun if it was always 40 BP, like widely distributed priority moves are.

Punishing smart play...you can get into weird overpredictions w/ sucker punch too. Penny for your thoughts?

 

[R_N]

Honestly I wouldn't really have Pursuit be Crunch if you switch out. Punishing the smart play is not that good of a game design IMO, and, well, you don't see Quick Attack double in power if you move faster than a faster opponent with it.

Pursuit would be fun if it was always 40 BP, like widely distributed priority moves are.

I mean sounds to me like if your smart play was predictable and punishable then it was either not the smart play or you got outsmarted. Seems like a fine interaction

 

[Eriorguez]

If the right play in every circumstance (switch away if faced with something that beats you) is punished by a move (either stay against your counter and be compromised, or switch out and be taken out by a strong STAB you are weak to), then I'm afraid there is no good move.

Just like Stealth Rock playing with type matchups rather than with the grounded condition was meh, but boots worked around the issue.

 

[Ironmage]

If the right play in every circumstance (switch away if faced with something that beats you) is punished by a move (either stay against your counter and be compromised, or switch out and be taken out by a strong STAB you are weak to), then I'm afraid there is no good move.

Just like Stealth Rock playing with type matchups rather than with the grounded condition was meh, but boots worked around the issue.

I'd definitely agree that the introduction of Boots has me feeling similar to the removal of Pursuit.

On a completely unrelated note, Smogon really should have adopted Item Clause around gen 8. Mega Stones and Z-crystals no longer being in the pool made it a lot more clear how stale stacking the 2-3 best items is.

 

[QuentinQuonce]

In Gen 7, Game Freak just gave up on even trying to figure out what to do with Frustration. The TM can't be obtained until the end of the third island, and you get it at the exact same time as Return, so unless you've been actively abusing your Pokemon the whole run you would never actually use this TM.

Adding further insult to injury, USUM added Buneary to the game, the only Pokemon that would ever want to run this move. However, likely to prevent a repeat of Platinum or Black 2 where a wild Buneary could one-shot your Pokemon with a 153 BP move while you're trying to catch the damn thing, Buneary caught in Alola cannot know or learn Frustration - it's been made a Level 1 move that's overwritten by four other Level 1 moves, and we all know what they did to the Move Relearner in Gen 7. This is despite the fact that you can’t encounter Buneary at Level 13 in USUM anyway.

Losing Return sucks, but no wonder Frustration got Dexited.

Tbf, it's rarely been a particularly easy move to obtain and/or use. I've always viewed it as more of a fun bonus mechanic rather than an item I expect to pick up and/or use; there are multiple titles in which you can play through the whole campaign and likely never get the TM.

• in GSC I don't think I've actually ever obtained it because it's only possible to get on Sundays and you have to specifically bring a Pokemon with low friendship with you
• in RSE it's not available until Pacifidlog Town which is ridiculously late; most players will probably have seven or even eight badges by then. And you also do need to bring a Pokemon with low friendship, which is highly unlikely if you've been playing with the same team of six for most of the game
• FRLG puts it in the Rocket Hideout, so most players will likely collect it there
• it's not in Colosseum or XD at all
• in DPP it's a Game Corner prize, but also available in the Galactic Hideout, so seven badges into the game
• in BW it's buyable in Nimbasa if you really want to pay $10000 for a borderline useless move; in B2W2, it's given to you very early on
• in XY it's hidden away in Connecting Cave

So yeah it's really not that accessible in general even before Gen VII. And the sheer fact that it's much, much harder to maintain unhappiness means that it's not one you're likely to want to use during a game campaign. It really only had relevance in competitive battles or for novelty value.

 

[MoonlightRose]

• in DPP it's a Game Corner prize, but also available in the Galactic Hideout, so seven badges into the game

So yeah it's really not that accessible in general even before Gen VII. And the sheer fact that it's much, much harder to maintain unhappiness means that it's not one you're likely to want to use during a game campaign. It really only had relevance in competitive battles or for novelty value.

While the TM isn't all that available you can get Frustration as early as Eterna Forest, and on one of the best pokémon to use it too. Buneary starts with 0 friendship and learns it a max of 3 levels after being caught,

 

[QuentinQuonce]

While the TM isn't all that available you can get Frustration as early as Eterna Forest, and on one of the best pokémon to use it too. Buneary starts with 0 friendship and learns it a max of 3 levels after being caught,

Yes that's true, but that's still a highly specific example - not everyone is going to use Buneary, just as not everyone is going to use Softboiled because they're not using a Chansey.