(Little) Things that annoy you in Pokémon

Shadow Ball's effect in Gens 2 and 3 is to lower Special Defense. Back when Ghost was still physical. Between this and the statlines for Gengar and Misdreavus it really feels like some wires were crossed during development.

Reminder that Crunch lowered Special Defense too but was swapped over to lowering Defense when the Physical/Special split happened.
 
Karxrida said:
Reminder that Crunch lowered Special Defense too but was swapped over to lowering Defense when the Physical/Special split happened.
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it is still so crazy to me that literally every Dark move from gens 1-3 became physical in gen 4. like were they just so against changing the attack category of a type in gens 2 and 3? Gen 4 also only introduced a singular dark special move and 6 more physical moves.

confuse, lick, and night shade were the only ghost moves in gen 1 and ghost didn't even work correctly against psychic, they really could've just changed it in gen 2 and nobody would've been mad. the only real change they'd have to do is make Morty weaker in gen 2, I've played hacks that just changed dark and ghost and Morty went from like a little challenging to nightmare fuel.
 
Now that HOME has updated for Z-A, I can scratch my head about this. I suppose I can’t necessarily expect TPC to be as pedantic about sequencing alternate forms as I am, but prior to this update, the way that Megas, G-Maxes, and regional forms were sequenced seemed like it had some logic to it:

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Gigantamax forms come before Megas
In my head, this makes sense — Gigantamax is arguably less substantial of a transformation than Mega Evolution, as it doesn’t alter the stats or type or Ability, just the appearance, in addition to replacing Max Moves with G-Max Moves. So even though Mega Evolution was introduced first, I sort of understood why G-Maxes were listed first. Related to that…

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Gigantamax forms come before regional forms and other forms that can’t Gigantamax
Again, I feel like this makes sense. Only Kantonian Meowth can Gigantamax, and only cap-less Pikachu can Gigantamax, so even though Alolan Meowth and Pikachu’s cap forms were introduced first, it makes sense to have their Gigantamax forms closest to the forms that they actually branch off from. And then, as with Megas, you could say that regional forms are more of a substantial change than Gigantamax, being almost akin to new evolution lines altogether in many cases. Cap Pikachu is similar, as it is meant to be one very specific specimen of Pikachu, separate from what typical Pikachu are able to achieve. (Although funny enough, Ash’s Pikachu in the anime can Gigantamax.) Next up…

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Mega Evolutions come before regional forms
Based on what we have already established, this also makes sense. Any regular Kantonian Slowbro can Mega Evolve, but Galarian Slowbro cannot. Furthermore, Mega Evolution is only a temporary transformation, whereas regional forms are fixed and unchangeable. So once again, the more substantially distinct a form is from its “base,” the further back it’s listed. However…

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With the Z-A Megas, they seem to have shifted to a pure “order of addition” approach
Here we see Mega Raichu X and Y come after Alolan Raichu, which cannot Mega Evolve and which distances the Megas from the form of Raichu that actually can. And Greninja is a similar case to some of the previous ones: any old Greninja can Mega Evolve, but only Greninja’s second, obscured form with the Battle Bond Ability can transform into Ash-Greninja (and I guess we don’t yet know if “Greninja-1,” as the Battle Bond-having form is designated in the code, can Mega Evolve, although obviously the distinct Ash-Greninja form itself has been revised Sovietly.)

One could certainly argue that this “order of addition” approach is a lot simpler, more straightforward, and more objective… and I would even agree with that! But without going back to adjust the earlier examples, it just feels inconsistent.
 
Esserise said:
Now that HOME has updated for Z-A, I can scratch my head about this. I suppose I can’t necessarily expect TPC to be as pedantic about sequencing alternate forms as I am, but prior to this update, the way that Megas, G-Maxes, and regional forms were sequenced seemed like it had some logic to it:

View attachment 820594

Gigantamax forms come before Megas
In my head, this makes sense — Gigantamax is arguably less substantial of a transformation than Mega Evolution, as it doesn’t alter the stats or type or Ability, just the appearance, in addition to replacing Max Moves with G-Max Moves. So even though Mega Evolution was introduced first, I sort of understood why G-Maxes were listed first. Related to that…

View attachment 820595

View attachment 820596

Gigantamax forms come before regional forms and other forms that can’t Gigantamax
Again, I feel like this makes sense. Only Kantonian Meowth can Gigantamax, and only cap-less Pikachu can Gigantamax, so even though Alolan Meowth and Pikachu’s cap forms were introduced first, it makes sense to have their Gigantamax forms closest to the forms that they actually branch off from. And then, as with Megas, you could say that regional forms are more of a substantial change than Gigantamax, being almost akin to new evolution lines altogether in many cases. Cap Pikachu is similar, as it is meant to be one very specific specimen of Pikachu, separate from what typical Pikachu are able to achieve. (Although funny enough, Ash’s Pikachu in the anime can Gigantamax.) Next up…

View attachment 820597

Mega Evolutions come before regional forms
Based on what we have already established, this also makes sense. Any regular Kantonian Slowbro can Mega Evolve, but Galarian Slowbro cannot. Furthermore, Mega Evolution is only a temporary transformation, whereas regional forms are fixed and unchangeable. So once again, the more substantially distinct a form is from its “base,” the further back it’s listed. However…

View attachment 820598

View attachment 820599

With the Z-A Megas, they seem to have shifted to a pure “order of addition” approach
Here we see Mega Raichu X and Y come after Alolan Raichu, which cannot Mega Evolve and which distances the Megas from the form of Raichu that actually can. And Greninja is a similar case to some of the previous ones: any old Greninja can Mega Evolve, but only Greninja’s second, obscured form with the Battle Bond Ability can transform into Ash-Greninja (and I guess we don’t yet know if “Greninja-1,” as the Battle Bond-having form is designated in the code, can Mega Evolve, although obviously the distinct Ash-Greninja form itself has been revised Sovietly.)

One could certainly argue that this “order of addition” approach is a lot simpler, more straightforward, and more objective… and I would even agree with that! But without going back to adjust the earlier examples, it just feels inconsistent.
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Fun Fact: It's always just been order of addition, aside from GMaxes which aren't actually real forms in SwSh's code anyway. They're technically just part of the base form, like how gender differences work when there's no mechanical component to them.

Example: Internally in SwSh regular Meowth is Meowth-0, Alolan Meowth is Meowth-1 (same as it is in gen 7), and Galarian Meowth is Meowth-2. GMax Meowth is not anything, there is no Meowth-3.

The GMaxes show up after the base form because they're part of the base form and just being separated out.

(You can go look at the old datamine thread for SwSh if you don't believe me.)
 
Karxrida said:
It really bugs me that Nature Power is a Normal-type move.

Is it consistent with a bunch of other mechanically similar moves? Yes. But the theming is so specific that it feels wrong for Nature Power to not be classified as Grass or even Ground or Psychic.
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Nature Power is normal type because it basically doesn't exist and just becomes another move, and that other move is usually Tri Attack.
 
that they insist on overgrowth blaze torrent

it feels so bizarre to me that the only pokemon you are forced to have and kind of a tutorial for the game, has an ability that doesnt even make sense of half of them esp. when most use potions, and even if it does work at least iirc you arent even told it activated

just poor design to introduce abilities and doesnt make sense for how most people play the games
 
I think it's mainly just consistency among the starters and something mildly usable that doesn't force the starter to act as a tutorial for a somewhat abstract gameplay mechanic/concept compared to more notable abilities on regular wild Pokémon.

The starters are meant to be fairly simple and easy to use, as the one Pokémon a player would likely keep and carry to the finish line, and from a tutorial concept, the main thing they serve to teach the player is the concept of how types can interact, since Grass/Fire/Water has a rock/paper/scissors relationship that is very intuitive to understand with the basic concepts associated with the types.

Most kids will spam the STAB moves on their starters and Overgrow/Blaze/Torrent the way I see it isn't meant to be flashy or explicit but a low-key, understated way to add a slight theatrical flair that feels good for reasons your average kid won't fully understand why, where either with a bulkier, slower starter, the starter takes a hit, survives with a little HP left, then fires a powerful STAB move that is even more powerful than usual and likely finishes off the opponent, cinching the win, or with a fast starter, they survive a hit with minimal HP at the end of a turn, then the next turn the player has them use a STAB move which is once again super boosted and this time strikes first and finishes off the opponent, both of which feel cathartic to the unknowing player. The starter is meant to be the main partner and star of the show, and the one who pledges unwavering loyalty to their Trainer and will go to any lengths alongside them to help them win their battles, and Overgrow/Blaze/Torrent is a lowkey and understated way to give them that sort of flavor from a gameplay standpoint and where in situations where your average Pokemon player finds themselves in a pinch with just their starter, their starter fires themselves up thinking they can't afford to lose, and fires extra powerful STAB moves and wins, which is amazing in your average player's imagination.

Starters aren't really meant to teach players how to use Abilities per se, so they keep it consistent and simple. More abstract abilities that explicitly have value are highlighted with Pokémon one may encounter later in the game.
 
ScraftyIsTheBest said:
I think it's mainly just consistency among the starters and something mildly usable that doesn't force the starter to act as a tutorial for a somewhat abstract gameplay mechanic/concept compared to more notable abilities on regular wild Pokémon.

The starters are meant to be fairly simple and easy to use, as the one Pokémon a player would likely keep and carry to the finish line, and from a tutorial concept, the main thing they serve to teach the player is the concept of how types can interact, since Grass/Fire/Water has a rock/paper/scissors relationship that is very intuitive to understand with the basic concepts associated with the types.

Most kids will spam the STAB moves on their starters and Overgrow/Blaze/Torrent the way I see it isn't meant to be flashy or explicit but a low-key, understated way to add a slight theatrical flair that feels good for reasons your average kid won't fully understand why, where either with a bulkier, slower starter, the starter takes a hit, survives with a little HP left, then fires a powerful STAB move that is even more powerful than usual and likely finishes off the opponent, cinching the win, or with a fast starter, they survive a hit with minimal HP at the end of a turn, then the next turn the player has them use a STAB move which is once again super boosted and this time strikes first and finishes off the opponent, both of which feel cathartic to the unknowing player. The starter is meant to be the main partner and star of the show, and the one who pledges unwavering loyalty to their Trainer and will go to any lengths alongside them to help them win their battles, and Overgrow/Blaze/Torrent is a lowkey and understated way to give them that sort of flavor from a gameplay standpoint and where in situations where your average Pokemon player finds themselves in a pinch with just their starter, their starter fires themselves up thinking they can't afford to lose, and fires extra powerful STAB moves and wins, which is amazing in your average player's imagination.

Starters aren't really meant to teach players how to use Abilities per se, so they keep it consistent and simple. More abstract abilities that explicitly have value are highlighted with Pokémon one may encounter later in the game.
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Ehhh, Ash's Infernape going full super saiyan when Blaze was triggered was a nice flourish. The trigger being shown could be some nice flavor.
 
My biggest bugbear with Blaze and co. is the threshold for triggering them being at 33% or lower HP. 1/3 is an awkward fraction to try to mental math on the fly unless your total HP is a simple number (e.g. 150 or 300). It's also really low, so it's hard to take advantage of consistently. This isn't even getting into how Berserk has more or less powercrept the pinch abilities.

I could live with the lack of an ability notification if the activation condition was 50% or lower HP. Yellow/Red bar = ability online is just way easier to read.
 
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Egg Group assignment is mostly well thought-out but occasionally some things slip through the cracks, like the Tirtouga and Archen lines being assigned to the Water 3 Egg Group. With one other exception added in gen 9, every other Pokémon in the Egg Group is an invertebrate, and most are aquatic. It feels like Tirtouga and Archen were just absentmindedly placed in it because they were fossil Pokémon (all other fossils up to that point are in the group with the exception of Aerodactyl).

The only other vertebrate added to the group is the Wiglett line, which probably shouldn't be there, either.
 
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