Botched predictions for Pokemon games

[Yung Dramps]

Stuff you thought would happen prior to the release of certain titles but didn't. This can include anything from personal theories that didn't come to pass to even fake leaks you vehemently believed were true!

I remember during the phase of screenshot leaks for SWSH I had a prediction for the plot that involved Team Yell becoming progressively more fanatical and criminal over the course of the game, culminating in them somehow unleashing Eternatus (possibly with help by Rose) to derail the competition and leave Marnie as the only survivor and winner by default. Didn't happen and I almost kinda prefer what we actually got if only for allowing Piers to exist, but that idea certainly would've been interesting...

 

[DrPumpkinz]

G-max moves would all have unique effects.

Don't say a damn thing, Pikachu315111.

 

[Scorpio]

The Swimming Goggles. *mic drop*

For those who weren’t paying attention to Gen 5’s pre-release, Pokejungle released a list of items that would supposedly be in the game. Several of them turned out to be real, albeit either with their Japanese names or just plain incorrect names.

However, a few of the items on the list were fake; the one that ended up getting the most attention was the supposed “Swimming Goggles”, which would raise the speed and accuracy of Water-types when held, but put everything else to sleep... which, taking into consideration the dominance of rain in the meta, would have been Not Good(C). I distinctly remember people posting on Smogon in the first few days after BW’s release trying to find this item, before realizing “lol nope”.

This post has more info:https://www.smogon.com/forums/threa...ster-part-2-dlc-boogaloo.3661011/post-8387399

 

[DrPumpkinz]

The Swimming Goggles. *mic drop*

For those who weren’t paying attention to Gen 5’s pre-release, Pokejungle released a list of items that would supposedly be in the game. Several of them turned out to be real, albeit either with their Japanese names or just plain incorrect names.

However, a few of the items on the list were fake; the one that ended up getting the most attention was the supposed “Swimming Goggles”, which would raise the speed and accuracy of Water-types when held, but put everything else to sleep... which, taking into consideration the dominance of rain in the meta, would have been Not Good(C). I distinctly remember people posting on Smogon in the first few days after BW’s release trying to find this item, before realizing “lol nope”.

This post has more info:https://www.smogon.com/forums/threa...ster-part-2-dlc-boogaloo.3661011/post-8387399

Aww, now I kinda want Swimming Goggles to be an actual item. Not as a held item, but as a key item. Just like how the Go-Goggles allow you to traverse a sandstorm, the Swimming Goggles would allow you to go underwater.

 

[Celever]

The first thing that comes to mind in respect to this discussion is definitely Sylveon.

If you weren't around back in the pre-release phase for XY, GF made the decision to reveal Sylveon before they revealed the new Fairy-Type. It was a great way to hint toward there being a new type without outright saying it, and loads of hype built up around it through discussions on what type this new Pokémon could be. Sylveon was also a great way of doing this as opposed to say, Aromatisse or Flabébé because there were so many different typings that Sylveon could be seen as, but ultimately the conclusion of all the discussions around it were that it didn't really fit into any of them that well. Let's remind ourselves of Sylveon in all its glory for a moment:

First of all, we knew it was an eeveelution so we could strike off all the existing types of eeveelutions. We could also eliminate Steel-, Ground-, Dragon-, and Rock-Type, because nothing in this design points towards any of them. That left us with a great discussion around the remaining types still, however:
Flying-Type: This type is designated with the same light-blue colour as the tips of its ribbons and its eyes. The ribbons in the official artwork definitely look to be being blustered by wind, and simply having a part of a Pokémon's design be subject to wind can be just cause for a Flying-Type connection, such as Keldeo and Suicune being able to learn Air Slash. Not only that, but sylphs are specifically spirits of the air, so etymology was on their side! However, a true Flying-Type eeveelution would have to have wings, right?
Fighting-Type: There was a camp of people who were adamant that those belts were related to martial arts in some way, and its paws being a warmer, stronger colour than its body led some to believe that it would be physically-oriented and that that colouration was intended to signify strength. This was also revealed in the generation after Mienshao, who shared similar colouring and ribbon-like appendages. That said, it doesn't actually appear to be that great at hand-to-hand combat, nor had we had any quadrupedal Fighting-Type Pokémon besides the Musketeers, whose Fighting-Type was pretty much just symbolic (since then we've got Stufful, though).
Poison-Type: But what if I told you those ribbons were meant to signify ninjas? Ninjas, of course, are connected to the Poison-Type in Pokémon. The eyes being such a pure colour in light-blue while its other non-white colourings were a dark pink and darker blue led some to think it was overall heading toward purple, which signifies toxicity, but in eeveelution fashion it may purify its targets that it poisons so as not to harm them too much. Plus, Pokémon like Venomoth and Dustox were closer to this shade of pink than they ever were to purple. That said, it doesn't really have any way to inject the poison into the target besides its fangs, which many non-Poison-Type Pokémon also have, while most Poison-Type Pokémon have a sting of some description unless they symbolise a particular type of pollution.
Bug-Type: And on the note of Venomoth and Dustox, don't you think those blue eyes could be bug eyes? They look similar to Butterfree, Venonat, Genesect, and Joltik's after all. Sylveon also has fangs, like most other eeveelutions, that I believe were shown off in its reveal trailer. This led some to believe that it was an insectoid mammal, making use of moves like Bug Bite and Leech Life to justify the typing. Perhaps the ribbons were harder than they looked and were a sort of exo-skeleton that could use Bug Buzz, too? But that exo-skeleton point is a real reach, and without it the case becomes a little hard to justify since no one could figure out a real-life bug that would be its inspiration.
Ghost-Type: Or what if those blue eyes are to demonstrate how it sees into another realm? Froslass and Shuppet have the same colour eyes, after all, and spirit mediums do wear ribboned robes. Plus, the bulk of its colouration is a somewhat colourless white, drained of vibrancy, perhaps? However, up until that point all Ghost-Type Pokémon were actually creatures of the dead, or shadowy figures that were impressionably ghostly (we've since had Oricorio-Sensu as a spirit medium, though).
Normal-Type: But none of the above cases are altogether convincing enough, so maybe Game Freak finally took the easy road and just made a Normal-Type eeveelution? That way, Eevee maintains the same STAB moves as it had in its base form. This would also be exciting as it could use a variety of elemental moves that could reference Eevee's other evolutions, as an Eevee "chimera" of sorts. But if Sylveon were really just Normal-Type, why not reveal it in its reveal trailer?
Light-Type: Because it's the brand new Light-Type, of course! It's got such light colours to contrast against Umbreon's dark ones, and the ribbons are just unfurled rings, providing a truly antithetical design to Umbreon. They did the antithetical designs with Leafeon and Glaceon in Gen IV and Espeon and Umbreon in Gen II, after all, but now that they're introducing this new type I guess Sylveon must be the new counterpart to Umbreon. Furthermore, most fan artwork surrounding the Light-Type has white as its signature colour (Normal-Type is grey, so it doesn't clash). Those piercing blue eyes also certainly seem very light, and could probably use moves like Flash if they're reflective enough! This is, however, inherently flimsy because even if the Light-Type were being introduced, we would have no idea what it would look like or what its properties would be.

Of course none of these were the case, and we got the Fairy-Type instead. Though the Fairy-Type definitely makes sense for its design, Sylveon was a good choice to reveal before the Fairy-Type was announced because it's not an actual fairy -- it's just fae. It made for a really lively discussion at the time and everyone ended up in one camp or another, only to be proven wrong when the Fairy-Type was eventually revealed -- using Sylveon in its reveal trailer, at that.

This perhaps doesn't fulfil the brief of the thread perfectly because we did know what type Sylveon would be before the games dropped. However, I still wanted to discuss it because for me at least, this was the cause of the most botched predictions in any run-up to any game in the series. Particularly the Light-Type camp started going wild with their speculation, convinced that it was finally happening, and that was really fun to watch. Personally, I was in the Poison-Type camp originally. I still get a venomous impression from it, probably due to this period where I spent a lot of time defending my position so I created a Mandela Effect of sorts. Later on, I defected to the Flying-Type camp due to the etymology pointing toward sylphs, believing it must just be an airbender of sorts. But every single type was defended to the bone during this period, and overall the best conclusion to this debate was definitely for all of us to be wrong.

 

[DrPumpkinz]

Flying-Type: This type is designated with the same light-blue colour as the tips of its ribbons and its eyes. The ribbons in the official artwork definitely look to be being blustered by wind, and simply having a part of a Pokémon's design be subject to wind can be just cause for a Flying-Type connection, such as Keldeo and Suicune being able to learn Air Slash. Not only that, but sylphs are specifically spirits of the air, so etymology was on their side! However, a true Flying-Type eeveelution would have to have wings, right?

I remember thinking it would be Flying, particularly because of this image:

The Eeveelutions seemed to be arranged such that opposing mons had a type interaction. Fire beats Ice, Dark beats Psychic, and Grass beats Water. This would mean Sylveon was either Ground or Flying, and it sure as hell doesn't look like a Ground type.

 

[Pikachu315111]

So guys, Lillie is TOTALLY a Nihilego.

 

[R_N]

Does anyone else remember the long standing theory that Alchemy would be really really important to Sun & Moon. The starters, lillie/nihilego, Magearna, etc so many things were people trying desperately to tie it into Alchemy and this would lead to.........something...........??

So guys, Lillie is TOTALLY a Nihilego.

My favorite thing was people trying very hard to tie all the other UBs into other characters up to and including the leaked dex from the demo.
Like Pheromosa/Lusamine sure okay & Xurkitree is kind of sorto f similar to Guzma but no one could link Buzzwole to anything, or Guzzlord, or Celesteela, Kartana....

 

[sb879]

My favorite thing was people trying very hard to tie all the other UBs into other characters up to and including the leaked dex from the demo.
Like Pheromosa/Lusamine sure okay & Xurkitree is kind of sorto f similar to Guzma but no one could link Buzzwole to anything, or Guzzlord, or Celesteela, Kartana....

My favorite part of that was people trying to link Guzzlord to Hala solely because he was fat. Buzzwole actually did have a slightly less stupid fan theory of being linked to Gladion due to the color scheme.

 

[R_N]

My favorite part of that was people trying to link Guzzlord to Hala solely because he was fat. Buzzwole actually did have a slightly less stupid fan theory of being linked to Gladion due to the color scheme.

In the sense of "he has blacks and reds" sure but Buzzwole is definitely primarily a red Pokemon while Gladion primarily wears black.

The straw grasping I saw was Necrozma = Gladion because it was an edgey spiky weirdo that was all black like Gladion, the edgey weirdo, primarily wore.

 

[DrPumpkinz]

Does anyone else remember the long standing theory that Alchemy would be really really important to Sun & Moon. The starters, lillie/nihilego, Magearna, etc so many things were people trying desperately to tie it into Alchemy and this would lead to.........something...........??

Ah yes, Gnoggin's Reset Theory. It all comes together.™

 

[Jerry the great]

I remember thinking the Ultra Recon Squad would be a new evil team, although without the grunts. I mean, it made sense if you think about it. They look strangely suspicious, they were shown using a rather evil looking Pokemon (poiple) and once I found out via another trailer that it was an ultra beast, I got even more suspicious of them, thinking they were aliens and that their goal was to control all the Ultra Beasts and use them to take over Alola, and possibly the Pokemon world. ... Or maybe destroy it. And I thought there'd be a big bad boss among the bunch, and he/she would be battled in an epic climax with a full team of ultra beasts. Heck, even once I actually got the game, I thought they were evil in the very early portion of it! They were working with the Ather Foundation to try to stop Lillie, and I thought they might've been tricking them into getting Lillie so that they could ultimately nab their hands on Cosmog so they could use it's power to summon ultra beasts, or they were working with Lusamine to fulfil their desires, because after all, she was obsessed with an ultra beast back in the original version. However, after the festival, I slowly realized... They weren't evil at all.

Still was cool to think about though!

 

[Bull Of Heaven]

While we’re on Gen 7:

• Ultra Beasts aren’t Pokemon at all. The reveal made them sound like something entirely different. Guess that means we won’t be catching them either.
• Team Skull are actually good guys. The bad guys are the Aether Foundation, including Wicke.
• They wouldn’t reveal practically every new Pokemon before release. Surely they’re holding some things back. I hope.

 

[R_N]

Ah yes, Gnoggin's Reset Theory. It all comes together.™

The best (worst) part of that is later on he was all "my theory was right, technically"

 

[Pikachu315111]

I remember during the phase of screenshot leaks for SWSH I had a prediction for the plot that involved Team Yell becoming progressively more fanatical and criminal over the course of the game, culminating in them somehow unleashing Eternatus (possibly with help by Rose) to derail the competition and leave Marnie as the only survivor and winner by default. Didn't happen and I almost kinda prefer what we actually got if only for allowing Piers to exist, but that idea certainly would've been interesting...

And then there was my pretty overzealous prediction that the Champion Tournament was a setup and, after you win, you'll get called out as a cheater and disqualified and the remainder of the game will you be figuring out who set you up with the possible suspects being Leon, Rose, Bede, Marnie, and Hop. This prediction was before the leaks so didn't know about Eternatus at the time.

Judging Character:
Going off that, a few other botched predictions on SwSh characters:

1. Leon was evil.
2. Marnie had a split personality (cause he signature Pokemon Morpeko's gimmick obviously would reflect on its trainer) and her other personality is the actual leader of Team Yell.

Map Mania:
Also all that time we spent looking through the map to see if we can figure out the route the game was going to take, let's take a hot minute to look through to see what botched predictions were there:

1. There are no split paths, it's linear with one case of backtracking.
2. Thinking Rose Stadium was one of the Gyms, turns out the 8th Gym had no actual stadium.
3. Wyndon was going to be post game area.
4. Hammerlocke was where the Pokemon League was.

Gym For Every Type:
Speaking of Gyms, remember when we thought there was going to be a Gym for each Type, or at the very least a Type Specialist for every Type? If I remember my own calculations, if we had 4 shared Gyms, 4 version exclusive Gyms (8 total), 2 shared Elite Four members, and 2 exclusive Elite Four members (4 total) that's all 18 Types covered! It's so simple!

Never Culling Back:
Guys, look, we have 800+ Pokemon now. A culling was inevitable but don't worry as it's the next games they'll bring back of the culled Pokemon while culling some Pokemon that were in SwSh. And they said they're not adding Pokemon back via DLC, they seemed pretty adamant that they want to focus on this new model.

G-max moves would all have unique effects.

Don't say a damn thing, Pikachu315111.

Honestly it was a fair guess from what we saw. And technically its still true as they're all not same. Sure, some share having a chance to do a certain effect but it's sometimes paired with something else. Like Butterfree, Pikachu, and Toxtricity all have a chance to Paralyze but Butterfree also has a chance to Poison & put to sleep (as it's G-Max is like its using all the powder moves at the same time) and Toxtricty have a 50/50 shot of either Poisoning. Also Pikachu's and Toxtricity's are Electric-type moves while Butterfree is a Bug-type. They're all different from one another and this goes for a few others with shared effects.

Also remember the crux of that argument which was pretty obviously going to be a botched prediction on my part but I just wanted to have hope dammit: they'll be recycling Mega Pokemon designs for Gigantamax. I mean, come on, GameFreak wouldn't toss away good (your mileage may vary) super form designs just to replace them with other super form designs, right? Right? RIGHT?!

Kicking Mechanics While They're Done:
How's that for a sad botched prediction: all the times during Gen VII we thought they may do more Mega Pokemon. Oh man, Regional Variants and Ultra Beasts are cool, can't wait to see what new Megas they make; wonder how it'll mix with the new Z-Move mechanic. Oh... Oh, hey, Ultra Sun & Ultra Moon will no doubt have some new Megas... Oh, and now both Megas and Z-Moves are gone for Gen VIII, but Regional Variants are still around so maybe Ultra Beasts are also still a thing!...

The Swimming Goggles. *mic drop*

I can go back even further: the skateboard for Gen II.

WHICH is actually in the Spaceworld demo in an incomplete form, so GF was planning it and had it somewhat integrated until they scrapped it.

Nostalgia Goofs:
But while we're back here in Gen II, how about some fun playground rumors we believed for Gen I & II and an extra one from III:

1.1. Guys, if you hold your Gameboy upside down Dragonite will evolve into Yoshi.
1.2. Guys, Mew is under the truck.
1.3. Guys, Mew may not be under the truck but if you do all these elaborate steps you'll unlock a room that contains a Togepi and Pikablu. It's just like the legit Mew trick!
1.4. Something about Mewthree and the other PokeGods.

2.1. The skateboard as previously mentioned.
2.2. Eeveelutions come in three so that must mean they make the Grass-type Eevee using the Leaf Stone (little did we know they did but it was scrapped, however we didn't know that so it was still a botched playground rumor).

Actually does anyone remember any more Gen II playground rumors? I don't seem to remember that many. But here's your Gen III bonus:

3.b. So beat the Elite Four 100 times and go to the Mossdeep Space Station where you'll be able to take a space shuttle into space to battle an alien Pokemon (why yes, GF based the climax of the Delta Episode on an old & ridiculous playground rumor).

Aww, now I kinda want Swimming Goggles to be an actual item. Not as a held item, but as a key item. Just like how the Go-Goggles allow you to traverse a sandstorm, the Swimming Goggles would allow you to go underwater.

Well don't worry, being an island region Alola just gotta have a diving mechanic!
Just like how Gen V's limited diving mechanic was a test for XY's diving mechanic (though to be fair to that one ORAS did bring back Diving)!

The first thing that comes to mind in respect to this discussion is definitely Sylveon.

I was definitely in the Flying-type camp just from the name alone plus the ribbons floating in the wind. Looking back should have been obvious that an Eeveelution was an obvious Pokemon to use to introduce a new Type.

However, a true Flying-Type eeveelution would have to have wings, right?

Eh, we got Flying-types without wings before, sometimes to be Flying-type you can be a good jumper (Doduo family) or have another way of flying (Drifloon family, Minior). Though I guess maybe if they base the Eeveelution on the Greek version of the mythical Sphinx it could have wings; also give it something else to go on aside just being an air elemental.

But looking through the Flying-type it reminded me of some botched predictions:

Gen IV New Forms:
Remember when the Shaymin movie was coming out or Platinum revealed Rotom was getting a whole batch of forms? We were shown a silhouette of Sky Forme Shaymin and the Rotom Appliances and artist went nuts creating tons of fakes. There was also then a rumor that Regigigas was getting an alternate form because it was also in the Shaymin movie. Still, nothing fanmade was quite as stupid as Fan Rotom still keeping the Levitate Ability.

Particularly the Light-Type camp started going wild with their speculation, convinced that it was finally happening, and that was really fun to watch.

*Silent screaming* Light and Noise will never be Types. Thankfully the introduction of Fairy-types I think finally killed those rumors as people considered it a parallel Light-type (hahaha) and it was finally realized that "noise" was just going to remain as a special move trait. Though honestly "light" could also be made into a move trait as it just has as many moves as noise, just need Abilities to work with it and maybe give light moves a special gimmick.

Does anyone else remember the long standing theory that Alchemy would be really really important to Sun & Moon. The starters, lillie/nihilego, Magearna, etc so many things were people trying desperately to tie it into Alchemy and this would lead to.........something...........??

Well you can't say there isn't things inspired by alchemy in Pokemon... of course that's where it starts and end. GF just learned a whole batch about alchemy and decided to just base things and ideas off it, wasn't leading anywhere cause, no Lockstin, they're not planning a reboot. Like your videos, dude does some deep diving research on Pokemon origins, but he does sometimes gets really carried away with his theories.

Speaking of Starters:
Botches theories and idea for Starters is always fun, imaging the world for the Pokemon that's likely to be your strongest teammate. Going to start with the most recent batch and try to think back from there:

1. Galar Starters are going to have secondary Types (except I predicted they wouldn't! I should have made a bet). And of course this led to many predicting Scorbunny was going to be Fire/Fighting (GF really scarred people with that type combination)...
2. Sobble family is going to be based on Shakespearean actors as the theme for the Galar Starters is going to be British Entertainers.
3. The initial denial and slow realizing that the leaked concept art for the Alola Starters was real. Don't remember where I was exactly on the whole thing, I think I was neutral, but I started to believe they were legit when Mallow was revealed and she was already on the Incineroar concept art that people actually used to "disprove" them because they also drew Ash on there. Oh and also because Incineroar looked like it could be Fire/Fighting stop GF you have a problem just admit it and get help.
4. Gonna skip Gen VI because can't remember anything for them, but Gen V so many were sure Emboar was Fire/Dark and Samurott was Water/Fighting.

The straw grasping I saw was Necrozma = Gladion because it was an edgey spiky weirdo that was all black like Gladion, the edgey weirdo, primarily wore.

The straw grasping for me was Guzma was Guzzlord because both their names started with "Guz" (note: their names are nothing alike in Japanese).

Villain Denial: *Upon the Aether Foundation being revealed* ... It's too obvious. There's no way they're going to make the Aether Foundation evil. Everyone is going to see it coming. I bet you they're going to present Team Skull at first like dimwits & Aether Foundation as pure good guys, then midway in the game Team Skull drops off and we see the "darker" side of Aether Foundation, but then we learn that the Aether Foundation are still the good guys just have to do shady things sometimes meanwhile Team Skull would mess up big and end up causing a major disaster in Alola. You're not going to trick me, GF!

What's In Lillie's Bag: It's a Zygarde Core of course. Cause they didn't have Pokemon Z.

Pokemon Z: XY sure left a lot of plot threads open, they're SO building up to a Pokemon Z. But how are they going to step it up from Black 2 & White 2? I bet they're going to actually do a XZ and YZ, cause Z looks like the number 2. It'll take place right after the events of XY and the consequences of firing the Ultimate Weapon. We never found Lysandre's body and the female scientists vanished so they'll probably be back, they probably took his now immortal but broken body and fused him with his Doc Oct powersuit making him a cyborg. Will also reveal that Sheena is now immortal because she was right there when the Ultimate Weapon fired but didn't have a Mega Bracelet to absorb the radiation like Calem and Serena did. Also we'll finally learn about that ghost girl in the hotel and mysterious message behind the train sign.

I'll Eat My Ash Hat: Okay, so Pokemon Z wasn't a thing. Obviously they had the Zygarde formes planned but NO way is Ash-Greninja is going to be in the games. It was just an anime exclusive form so Ash didn't need to be given a Mega Pokemon (despite them bringing back Charizard at the end of Best Wishes and they revealed Charizard was getting two Megas and they setup Alain to be the major rival Ash will have to face in the Kalos League who uses a Mega Charizard X so if they gave Ash the Y version we could have had a good Mega Charizard match instead of the pathetic one we got between Alain and Trevor...). I mean the aesthetic of the form is that Greninja looks like Ash so it wouldn't make sense in the context of the game. Unless it's to show off that the Kalos Starters are getting this unique super form that'll be based off the player's customization!

I remember thinking the Ultra Recon Squad would be a new evil team, although without the grunts.

Oh of all the predictions made about USUM, but probably the biggest botch was thinking it would have a better story than the originals. But why stop there:

1. Thinking they were going to be sequel games.
2. Upon realizing they were "retellings" thinking they would radically change things up like having Lillie be part of Team Skull and Gladion part of the Aether Foundation.
3. The Ultra Recon Squad are so cool, they come from Ultra Space and it's going to be so cool to explore their homeworld and the home worlds of all the Ultra Beasts it'll probably be some pretty expansive locations!
4. Character development was pretty light on all characters as we focused on Lillie so hopefully this time around they'll spend time fleshing out the Captains and Kahuna a bit more, Kahili we could learn more about, Guzma and Plumeria could use more expansion and closure.
5. Speaking of Kahili they could finally add in the golf course. Maybe also let us explore the castle surrounding the Lake of the Sunne/Moone. They could add all sort of neat locations like caves we could only enter by surfing and think about the diving opportunities!

 

[DrPumpkinz]

Though honestly "light" could also be made into a move trait as it just has as many moves as noise, just need Abilities to work with it and maybe give light moves a special gimmick.

Indeed.

If only we had such an ability.

If only.

 

[Pikachu315111]

If only.

View attachment 232077

Honestly I'm surprised Illuminate was never made into a Accuracy version of Intimidate.

Though now I'm feeling we're getting a bit off topic, this is probably something more suited for the Little Annoyances thread.

 

[POKEBOSSS]

Lol, The First thing I thought about seeing this is Pokemon Z. If you don't know, in the anime you had pokemon XYZ and gen 5 was based on this. Once it was released that the games were gonna be called Pokemon X and Y, well... You can figure the rest out I suppose, The most annoying thing about this is that they were gonna make Pokemon Z, just like typeless plate/memory for arceus/silvally...

 

[Pikachu315111]

The most annoying thing about this is that they were gonna make Pokemon Z, just like typeless plate/memory for arceus/silvally...

I never heard about a Typeless Plate/Memory for Arceus/Silvally? Are you referring to the ???-Type Arceus? That was believed to be in the code to prevent the game from crashing if someone hacked the ???-Type onto Arceus as Arceus is program to change its sprite according to what Type it is (and I guess they found making entirely new sprites was easier then making an exception in Multitype's code). However as far as I know Silvally doesn't have one and no longer does Arceus as ???-Type was removed from the game's code in Gen V (it was only used for the move Curse which they changed to Ghost-type in Gen V).

 

[POKEBOSSS]

I never heard about a Typeless Plate/Memory for Arceus/Silvally? Are you referring to the ???-Type Arceus? That was believed to be in the code to prevent the game from crashing if someone hacked the ???-Type onto Arceus as Arceus is program to change its sprite according to what Type it is (and I guess they found making entirely new sprites was easier then making an exception in Multitype's code). However as far as I know Silvally doesn't have one and no longer does Arceus as ???-Type was removed from the game's code in Gen V (it was only used for the move Curse which they changed to Ghost-type in Gen V).

Yea, the ??? Type can also be named typeless, as the Japanese name suggests

 

[Codraroll]

"Okay, the previous pair of games had no postgame to speak of, some highly questionable design decisions were made, and the games felt lacklustre and rushed compared to their predecessors, but these games will be better than ever, right?"

 

[Pikachu315111]

"Okay, the previous pair of games had no postgame to speak of, some highly questionable design decisions were made, and the games felt lacklustre and rushed compared to their predecessors, but these games will be better than ever, right?"

I laugh because otherwise I'd cry.

To at least add something: Remember all the times we said something was a hint for the Ruby & Sapphire remakes? Particularly the BW2 PWT having the Hoenn Gym Leaders, surely since they made new sprites for them the Gen III remakes are assured to be next!

 

[Suspicious Derivative]

Fun thread! Here's everything I can remember that I have gotten wrong throughout the years, listed in order by generation.

Nothing for Gen 1 since I started playing after it had been released, but I guess there are a few things for Gen 2. Before I played Silver, I thought the attack animations in Gen 2 would be a lot less graphically impressive and more similar to the ones in Gen 1. I also thought that it wasn't possible to encounter Lugia or Ho-Oh in the Gen 2 games since one of my friends who was more experienced with Pokémon had told me that he had never found them. He also said that there was "nothing special" in the Tin Tower. Well, I proved him wrong when I first found and caught Lugia, and then made it to the top of Tin Tower and caught Ho-Oh!

For Gen 3, I remember that I had another friend who was convinced that the third version for R/S would be named "Diamond". He was very wrong there, although a real game named Diamond eventually became reality. Personally, I correctly predicted that the third version to R/S would be named Emerald. Apart from that, I also thought that they would add Kanto and Johto to Hoenn in some future game to keep the "tradition" from Gen 2 with having all regions in one game. Although I guess that was more a dream than a prediction. And in retrospect, I am happy that I got that wrong since I later realized what a terrible idea that is.

Regarding Gen 4, I once made a prediction/wishlist of which typings the Gyms in D/P would have. It was the following:

1-Ice
2-Bug
3-Steel
4-Electric
5-Ground
6-Psychic
7-Poison
8-Dark

Not a single one of them was correct. D/P did have Ice, Steel and Electric-type Gyms, but the order I placed them in was incorrect. Interestingly, I got both the order and type correct for the Electric and Ground Gyms in Gen 5. I also wrote Bug, Ground and Psychic here, three types that were not used in Sinnoh Gyms but were used by the Sinnoh Elite Four.

Before Platinum was announced, there was also a lot of speculation regarding what the Mascot legend would be. Apart from Giratina, some other legendary Sinnoh Pokémon were considered, the two most common being Cresselia and Mesprit. I kind of thought it could be either of them, some people had very compelling arguments for them. But in retrospect, it was quite naive to think the mascot would be anything else than Giratina. I also remember that I believed that in Platinum, Regigigas would get a new form that would actually make it useful, thanks Pikachu315111 for reminding me!

My last wrong prediction for Gen 4... well I guess I thought HG/SS would actually be good games and that they could restore my interest in Pokémon after I had gotten burnt out prior to the release of Platinum. Couldn't have been more wrong regarding that.

For Gen 5, I never predicted anything for B/W since I was burnt out on Pokémon at that time, but I made some predictions about a possible third version for B/W. Some of them became very wrong, I have listed all of those below:

- B/W will get a third version named either Gray or Grey
- Kyurem will get a new form which is different from the original (partly correct, but Kyurem got two new forms while I thought it would only get one)
- The new Kyurem form will be more defensive compared to regular Kyurem which is more offensive (Kyurem-B/W have slightly higher Def/Sp.def than regular Kyurem, but I was probably thinking of a complete stat swap like with Giratina, so I consider that wrong)
- In this third version, they would expand on the story and Kyurem will replace Reshiram/Zekrom (again, partly correct for what happened in B2/W2)
- This game will have a new Battle Frontier
- It will also have Gym Leader rematches (which B2/W2 did get as part of the PWT, but I was more thinking about regular rematches like in Emerald/Platinum, so partly wrong here too)
- In this game, Freeze Shock/Ice Burn would be useful moves in battle without using a Power Herb
- The "God Stone" (an unobtainable item that is coded into B/W), will be used in the third version, and it will have something to do with Kyurem
- Victini will learn V-Create through level-up

For Gen 6, I don't think I predicted anything for X/Y. Maybe that they should have at least 100 new Pokémon like every previous generation? That's one thing I got wrong at least.

I did make some more predictions for OR/AS though. First of all, for Hoenn remakes, I thought that they would never happen because of how hated R/S/E had been in the past. I also came up with some names for possible Hoenn remakes even though I thought they wouldn't happen, those were "Crimson Ruby & Cobalt Sapphire" as well as "Scarlet Ruby & Indigo Sapphire". One other thing I thought about for OR/AS was that the Delta Episode was event-only or that an event was required to catch Deoxys since they revealed that Deoxys could be caught in it, but Deoxys had always been an event-only Pokémon prior to that.

Also, for Gen 6. Thinking that Pokémon "Z" or at least some form of follow-up game to X/Y would happen.

Regarding Gen 7, I did a lot of predictions. First some for S/M. This was more of a wishlist than a prediction, but I'll post it anyway. I got the following wrong:

- A good post-game. While first pairs often doesn't have as much as third versions and sequels, I think X/Y were pretty lackluster in this department. B/W and D/P were both fine for a first pair, so I'm hoping S/M will be more like them. With quite a bit of things to do and a large area to explore. Area-wise, the post-game should be like what B/W, B2/W2, D/P/P and FR/LG had.
- Many new Pokemon, and a heavy focus on the new Pokemon. I want to see something similar to what R/S and B/W did with having a heavy focus on the new Pokemon during the main game.
- In addition to that, I wouldn't mind if they tried a complete Fresh Start feeling just like in B/W.
- New Mega Evolutions. More new ones from Johto, Sinnoh, Unova and maybe Kalos as well as the new region, less new ones from Kanto and Hoenn.
- Keep most/all features from X/Y & OR/AS, and bring back several good features from Gen 5.
- Bring back Dream World! Or something similar.
- Difficulty settings like in B2/W2, but make all of them available at start.
- Good training spots, easy ways to train, and a good level curve. Not that worrysome though since all modern games bar HG/SS have had this. [How I wish I had been right about the training spots...]
- Less fan pandering overall. It kind of brought Gen 6 down a bit and I hope they focus on the actual target audience this time, not the ones like me who started playing several years ago. Yes, I realize this is ironic considering everything I wrote above, but I prefer it when the games appeal to new players and not to older ones like myself.

After watching some trailers, I also thought that Aether wouldn't be evil since that almost felt too obvious, but I gave it a 50% chance when playing through the game and it happened. And one really big thing is this: I thought that S/M would become my new favorite games in the series, essentially becoming the "new B/W". I was very wrong about that.

Regarding US/UM, I made some more incorrect wishes/predictions. To start with, I predicted that S/M would get sequels named Love/Friendship, but that was incorrect. After US/UM had been announced, I made a list similar to what I did for S/M and I got the following wrong this time around:

- Better training spots. My biggest issue with S/M and it really needs to be addressed. Pokemon just isn't as fun if there aren't any good training spots. The training spots in S/M doesn't even get close to the epicness of Gen 5/6 when they could and should. This alone would make US/UM more fun than their predecessors. [While US/UM do have better training spots than S/M, they were far from as great as I had hoped.]
- Bring back the National Dex in the actual games. This is my second biggest issue with S/M, I have always liked completing the National Dex in the games (except in HG/SS, but that's for another discussion) and I really miss it in S/M. It exists as a part of Bank but that's really not the same thing. I want it back in the games as well, there's no reason it can't exist both in the games and on Bank.
- New Alola Forms. Another great concept, but it feels like they were just beta testing them in S/M to see how the fandom would react. More of them is welcome since I felt like there weren't enough of them in S/M. I also hope they won't be limited to just Kanto Pokemon this time around. Though I'm actually okay with if they would give more Alola Forms to Kanto Pokemon as long as they aren't limited to only Kanto Pokemon once more.
- Changed wild Pokemon distribution. All previous third versions and sequels have done this, so yeah. [Again, it kind of happened, but not to the extent I was hoping for.]
- A bigger post-game in terms of areas to explore. Something like what we had in FRLG/DPP/BW/B2W2 would be great. I doubt it will happen though, considering how Alola is constructed and designed. There doesn't seem to be a lot of areas they can expand on or add to the region, and adding new islands doesn't make a whole lot of sense in terms of lore and world-building.
- New Mega Evolutions. While I don't think this will happen, I certainly want it to. But yeah, very unlikely. I'll keep dreaming until it happens, hopefully before the X/Y remakes.
- Something that's not completely related to the games. I expect there to be an animated trailer for the games. There was one for B2/W2 and then one for OR/AS. Both of them were the second (and last) game pairs of their generation. US/UM are the second game pair of their generation, so I think they will get one too.
- A very minor and unnecessary thing, but I want them to rename the Hau'oli Marina to the Pri-Marina. It is an excellent opportunity for a Pokepun and they shouldn't let it pass by.
- DexNav making a return.
- I don't want to see more fan pandering to fans of Kanto and Gen 1. They have already given too much of the spotlight to Kanto in both X/Y and S/M, they should let it lay low for a while now. I feel like I have had enough Kanto pandering and references for many years forward at this moment. Besides, the 20th anniversary is over so they have no reason to continue with it. I'd rather see them give the spotlight to Alola. Or if they now need to pander to any older region, anything but Kanto is fine with me. Giving all the old regions an equal amount of attention would be okay too.

I also kind of wished some of these early theories about US/UM being radically different from S/M would be true, but I wasn't really expecting them to be. So that too, in a way.

Guess I should also mention LGP/E shortly. While I never asked for a Kanto re-remake, I thought that if it happened, it would at least be somewhat proper and feature all things from FR/LG as well as all currently existing Pokémon. But that was wrong.

Lastly, there's S/S and Gen 8. What did I get wrong here? First of all, the game names. Some I thought of were "Spirit & Code" as well as "Vanilla & Chocolate", but both were wrong.

I also thought S/S would not only have access to all existing Pokémon, but also bring back the National Dex. As well as keep Mega Evolutions and Z-moves. Couldn't have been more wrong about that. I partly expected the DexNav to return after seeing the player character sneaking in one of the earliest trailers, but that was also wrong. Also thinking the Galar region would be better than it is. I expected them to reveal like 90% of the games before the release like they did for S/M and US/UM, but it seems like that didn't happen. I went into hiatus during most of the pre-release period just because I expected this to happen, but I get the impression that it didn't. I also thought that DLC would never happen for the games, but I'm happy that I was wrong about that since I'm looking forward to the DLC now.

That's all I can think of right now, but I'll post here again if I can remember anything more that I got wrong.

 

[R_N]

Here's a kind of old one that drove me insane back in the day: The Striaton Trio were not at the final battle in BW1 not because they were further away and Bianca was still getting to them, but because actually they were the shadow triad!

Needless to say i was popping bottles when BW2 went "no, that's stupid" like 3 different ways.

 

[CTNC]

Remember in Gen 6 when Cobraroll said Primal Kyogre and Groudon's moves couldn't be new moves because they never introduce new moves mid generation?

If you weren't around then, I'll just say that I didn't make a typo in his name and he learned not to bet his profile pic on predictions.