WIP
perhaps a
Name: Parry and Riposte
Description: This Pokemon is able to "parry" and/or "riposte" (counter-attack) an opponent's actions with a well-timed action from the user. This parry and riposte may be done passively from the Pokemon's inherent features like its ability, or more actively accomplished through the use of specific moves, or both.
Justification:
As observed with the continued additions of progressively offensive power-creeping threats entering the metagame, it is STILL important to consider in what ways can players mitigate said offensive threats old and new alike. In that regard, this is primarily an
Actualization concept that aims to explore the ways in which a Pokemon can improve the user's positioning in a battle through carefully timed and executed play.
Questions To Be Answered:
- How are Pokemon able to "parry" and "riposte" foes with the present gameplay mechanics (including but not limited moves abilities, and typings, for example)?
- Furthermore, what actions can a player make that would be considered to fall under the umbrella of "parrying" and "riposting"?
- Does parrying and counter-attacking have to be inherently offensive, or can there be defensive parries as well?
- To what extent does the idea / threat of a Pokemon's potential to parry and riposte impact each player's gameplay throughout a match?
- Under what circumstances would we expect this Pokemon to be able to attempt a "parry", i.e. when in a match is it most advantageous to try to and parry your opponent?
- When in a turn should a parry take effect? When should the riposte take effect?
- To what extent should misplaying a parry punish the user?
- What would a punishment for incorrectly attempting or executing a "parry" look like?
- Should a "parrying" Pokemon be able to parry and riposte itself?
- How does Terastalization provide opportunities for "parrying" in a match?
- To what extent should the user be left "open" to Pokemon it previously checked or countered specifically after "parrying" with Terastalization?
Explanation: First and foremost, some definitions:
parry
verb
par·ry ˈper-ē
ˈpa-rē
: to ward off a weapon or blow
riposte
noun
ri·poste ri-ˈpōst
: a fencer's quick return thrust following a parry
In fighting games, one of the most skillful actions a player can make is accurately reading the actions of their opponent and properly blocking said action and following with an immediate counter blow. In Super Smash Brothers Melee, for example, Marth's Down+B action is a parry that, when timed properly allows the Marth user to block the attack from the opponent and redirect the damage back onto the attacker. In order to properly use the move, the Marth user must be acutely aware of their opponent's plans of attack in order to make this move work effectively, otherwise they are left open to attack should they mistime their "Down+B". In Smash Ultimate, King K. Rool' "Gut Check" exaggerates this to an amusing degree: timing the narrow window in the proper direction leads to what is essentially a KO, but missing it or facing the wrong direction makes the K. Rool user vulnerable to attacks for almost a whole two seconds.
We can see some examples of this in Pokemon as well. The move "Sucker Punch" is a direct example of such an idea, where the Sucker Punch user has to be entirely correct with their read of their opponent's plan of attack to effectively use the move. Predict your opponent to be using an attacking move and you move first and likely get the KO, misread and you essentially lose an entire turn. We've seen examples where games will often come down to one player outplaying (or not outplaying) an opponent with a Kingambit (and Bisharp in generations before it) using Sucker Punch to win games or vice versa. Sucker Punch isn't the only example of this kind of gameplay as well; other more passive examples of "parrying" come from appropriate switch-ins and lures which can could catch opponents off-guard. We also have seen just how powerful a special version of this move is with Raging Bolt's Thunderclap. Raging Bolt makes its presence known on the field immediately through mind games between boosting with Calm Mind and forcing a first attack with Thunderclap, or dropping a Draco Meteor on foes who misplay. There's an incredibly high skill ceiling here that is demonstrated through these two moves and their characteristic owners in the SV CAP metagame.
Another returning example of a move that takes this concept into an actualization is the move
Beak Blast. New to THIS Concept pitch compared to previous pitches, Beak blast presents an interesting way of "parrying and riposting" an opponent almost perfectly. "If the user is hit by a contact move this turn before it can execute this move, the attacker is burned." This means that a carefully played CAP34 with Beak Blast could force a matchup in their favor by inflicting a burn should it be hit by a contact move on the same turn. This thus leads to an increased skill ceiling for matches as players on both sides must play around the mirage threat of a burn, which might otherwise be the difference between a win and a loss. Similarly, Gouging Fire's Burning Bulwark or Toxapex's Baneful Bunker, while not terribly useful in Singles, demonstrate a similar mindgame. By eschewing one's opportunity to attack or actively damage the opponent on a well-predicted turn, one is able to passively punish their opponent through the application of a status condition (whether this status condition is actually useful for the overall match is another story, but this is just another example).
Switching in a Pokemon with the ability Guts to potentially absorb a burn and obtain an immediate surge in power, or switching in a Pokemon with the ability "Defiant" on an expected switch-in of a Pokemon with "Intimidate" are examples of this kind of "parrying". Make the right read and you've got yourself a much stronger opportunity to win matches, make the wrong read and you've left yourself open to the whims of your opponent. The ability Magic Bounce (AND REBOUND) is an example of this concept (almost the exact opposite of Sucker Punch too): properly predicting a status move being used, the user can switch in a Pokemon with Magic Bounce and immediately punish the status move user. Obstagoon as a Pokemon is somewhat the codifier of this idea since it has Obstruct a move that immediately creates openings if a Pokemon should make contact with it by lowering the attacker's defense 2 stages (thanks
quziel). This can also be extended to more, admittedly gimmicky, concepts like Focus Sash / Endure + Reversal strategies, wherein you allow a Pokemon to be hit by an attack bringing them to HP, only to use an attack that does more damage the lower the user's HP is (rest in peace hen 5). A few of these strategies presented here are characteristic of Gen 8, yes, but I believe there are still plenty of ways we can parry and riposte here now in a mature Generation 9 metagame.
One major consideration I hope we really consider in great depth is what punishment looks like on both players' ends. If the user of CAP34 attempts to parry their opponent, only to be read and thwarted, what does the gameplay penalty look like? From the Sucker Punch example, it means that the opponent gets a free turn to use the status move of their choice which could have significant repercussions in following turns. With the Magic Bounce example, if you were to switch in a Pokemon with magic bounce on a predicted status move, only to be attacked with a damage-inducing attack, CAP34 has lost a perhaps non-negligible amount of health which might prevent it from switching in again later. But it should also follow that the player FACING CAP34 should be punished for creating obvious play. If it is clear that an opposing CAP34 has a clear parrying opportunity, and you let it happen, to what extent is your predictable play punishable, and what might that look like? Does it mean that if, for example you choose a move that you'd be choice locked into with a type that CAP34 is immune to, and you go for it anyways, to what extent is that your own fault for all the problems you might be immediately facing shortly thereafter, and what might those punishments look like? Knowing what the punishment for failing to parry is just as intrinsic to the concept as it is to understand what successfully parrying looks like.
I'm once again resubbing this concept for CAP 34 as I feel it was one still worth exploring, especially now in a more or less "completed" version of Pokemon Scarlet and Violet. We likely have all the moves we would expect to see in the remainder of this set of games, including some of the moves that were previously "removed" from the game, or redistributed in some capacity. I still believe the ultimate goal of this process would be to make a Pokemon that rewards skill play and timing in a game, a skill that has always been and is becoming been more indicative of high level play. Given just how fast the metagame has gotten as of late, whether it be from the rising supremacy of Rain, an increase in priority attackers, or just generally fast Pokemon, the ability for a player to outplay their opponent, and thus bypassing the concept of speed as a whole, through careful preparation is something absolutely intrinsic to Gen 9's metagames, and a concept well-worth exploring in my opinion. I want to make it clear that this concept does not necessarily need to skew towards offense or defense right out of the gate. Rather, this concept will hopefully explore what it means to "see an opening" in a match, how to capitalize on these moments, and how to prevent these moments through careful play.
And as always, I'd be remiss if I didn't comment on Terastalization here. As we've seen now with over a year of games with the mechanic, the dominant way to use Tera is to obtain some kind of defensive utility to swing a match in one's favor. If you want to have your Archaludon to maintain its offensive presence in a match while in front of a Raging Bolt, for example, simply Tera Fairy and live the hit you'd otherwise faint to. That isn't to say Tera can be used in offensive cases as well, (see Stellar + Contrary), but Terastalization presents a novel way to achieve this concept (albeit likely in just one of MANY ways in a perfect outcome in my opinion). If selected as our concept for CAP34, I'd encourage those involved with the concept assessment to consider Tera as an option for this Pokemon to be successful, but to be one of many other options in the interest of project completeness.
thanks for reading, I welcome your feedback
