Game Freak hit with another hack, info leaking

[Sonikku A]

Destiny Deoxys I remember being a good movie. Also the fucking meme of Rayquaza nuking one is funny

But I agree game rep outside the Bermuda triangle event is seriously disappointing

Back to leaks, According to Feb 2002 Graphics logs, it's Satoshi Ohta who did concept art for the PokéNav. Apparently he submitted 5 sketches, but I only recall 2 being in the leak...

This is one of them

Already close to the final design, makes me curious if Sugimori didn't intend for this thing to be it like in final art (prerelease art of Brendan)

Especially since the Dec 2001 New Years art had nothing on his hip

Or maybe the GB concept is one of the 3 missing sketches, who knows

 

[Pikachu315111]

It wouldn't have been the only one, the final game has that cave by the department store.

Right, Challenger's Cave. That more feels akin to gaining access to Cerulean Cave... except there's no Legendary Pokemon (though does have a surprisingly strong trainer, but that's beside the point). Challenger's Cave feels like yet another location which GF were thinking of using for an Event (specifically for Keldeo as one of the trainers there mention a Legendary Pokemon lives there that had trained a student Pokemon. Since you need to encounter Cobalion in Mistralton Cave to trigger the other two Swords to appear in their lairs, I could see this being a hint you would have also needed to do that to encounter Keldeo once you downloaded the event trigger... speculation of course as they never did that, they just gave you Keldeo).

I did not say that it was the original plan.

I know. I was saying I think it could have still been a possibility just due to how the wings look.

I mean reading this I would assume they didn't have the game to base on during the planning stages (which probably would have been mid 2022 at the latest?) and GameFreak was keeping it close to their chest.

Ah, that would make sense. I blame the leaker here, they should have said "since the games weren't out GF had to tell them things about SV without revealing too much" instead of making it sound like the writers for some reason refused to play the games.

"Shouldn't you have double-checked the dates?". It's journalistic integrity, if you can't trust a leaker you can you trust? "You didn't answer the question..."

Can the anime really have original mons or not?

I know R_N already corrected you, but I do want to address this question. Because that is a major question, and from what we've seen the answer has essentially been "no" or "only as a timed exclusive and it'll be used to advertise the next game that has the
Pokemon added in".

But could they? Obviously they'd have to get the "OK" from both GameFreak and the Pokemon Company (TPC may have different concerns than GF so they are two different entities in this case), but if they hypothetically could can the anime have its own will-never-be-in-the-games Pokemon? Well the first problem we come to is this Pokemon will likely be made a prominent member of the anime cast so would be made to be cool and/or cute. Little boy/girl sees this awesome Pokemon and so buys the core series game hoping to use it on their team... which they can't. Yes, there will probably be plush toys and other merch featuring this anime Pokemon, but the name Pokemon is synonymous with the games, and the anime is partly seen as a advertisement for the games, thus having a prominent cool/cute Pokemon you can't use in the games is a big negative. I suppose they could make a spin-off game that doesn't play like the games with the cool/cute Pokemon as the main character, but fans would really want to use it on their Pokemon team in the core series for at least one playthrough.

Let's say GF and TPC are alright with this negative and let the anime Pokemon remain exclusive. The anime goes on for a few years but eventually we do reach an end, the cool/cute Pokemon itself completing its character arc and accomplishing its goals. Now what? No doubt there will be another Pokemon anime, not to mention side animation projects, but what about the anime Pokemon? Will it be shoehorned into the new anime or side projects? Because if not, that's it for it then. Say what you want about unpopular com mons in the core series, at the very least they will pop back-up as at least dex fodder in a future game, maybe even have something cool done with them one day. But for the anime Pokemon, once its anime is done that's likely it for it. Maybe brought back for some special animation shorts but this marketable Pokemon is now fated to fade away. And maybe that's okay for the show writers who just wanted a unique Pokemon to use, they're likely used to creating characters for a show and then moving onto another project once its over. But Pokemon is unique that each Pokemon have its fans and there's an expectation that any Pokemon made will have some carrying over permeance.

Tl;dr, no, and I think that's how it should be. There's just too many negatives with fans wanting to use Pokemon they see and have it appear in future stuff that making a Pokemon anime exclusive bars it from. The timed exclusive is the best a writer can hope for, and also if I created a Pokemon I'd want it to be in the games. I'm sure we all know the story about Lugia and Takeshi Shudo, but not only was that the early days of Pokemon but Shudo himself was a very unique guy who held different perspective than most people.

I know nowadays Pokemon doesn't have the games as the main focus

... What? Like, the games aren't the sole focus certainly, but I do feel the games would be the main focus as they're the base everything else is spun off from.

Spoiler

• I would actually love the Friede twist, but I admit I have no idea of where it would come from. There has never been a clash of ideals or conflict between them, Friede has always been happy to follow Liko's goal. It would be even weirder if he went against all the rest of the crew. I really like Friede but so far he really doesn't have the deep as a character or the proper buildup to pull this off so I really hope it gets scrapped...
  
  
• I wonder how Fuecoco's singing would have worked. I loved that he sings to begin with in Horizons since it ties him so nicely with his eventual evolution to Skeledirge.
  
  
• Roy moving out of the spotlight is, sadly, not surprising. He already kind of did the moment his main objective of hunting down Rayquaza overlapped with Liko's because of it being also Lucius' main Pokemon. I guess they are still giving him good development, and same goes for Dot, but still.
  
  
• I have no idea who that "surprise Pokemon" is supposed to be. Fuecoco/Crocalor is the only goofier one with comedic timing around it, but I suppose they will tone it down with Skeledirge sadly. None of the other in the entire ship really seem to fit this criteria if you ask me. It's hard to compete with Meowth with a non-talking Pokemon anyways, but really the only one that really stands out to me as memorable is Captain Pikachu himself because how different it is from Ash's Pikachu in a good way.

Spoiler

• Like I can see them making Friede into an antagonist. Not an enemy, but rather an obstacle (maybe along with the rest of the Brave Olivine adult crew) which Liko, Roy, and Dot would have to overcome. The situation with finding Laqua and fighting the Explorers starts getting more and more serious, to the point Friede and the other adults of the Brave Olivine decide it's far too dangerous to have kids around (Friede may even also have the other adult crew disband while he faces the challenge alone). So they're all initially dropped off at the Paldea Pokemon School so that they could become stronger trainers in case they're not able to succeed. Except Liko, Roy, and Dot don't want to be left behind, so they decide to venture to where they believe Laqua is on their own. So not only would they have the Explorers to deal with, but now the crew of the Brave Olivine is going to try and stop them so they have to both fight back to keep going and prove they're ready for the challenges ahead.
  The only other things I can think of are really tropey: "Mind control/brainwashed" and "evil twin brother".
  
  
• Probably would have had a song Lucius was connected to be a song passed down on Roy's island and Fuecoco would learn how to sing it. And turns out Lucius had used the song as an audible key to unlock/activate things.
  
  
• TBF, this is no different from May, Dawn & Serena eventually getting sidelined as support for Ash once their stories get wrapped up before the Pokemon League. I'm sure as they get closer to catching all of Lucius Pokemon and moving toward finding Laqua, an alternative goal for Roy (and Dot) will likely appear and so their personal story arcs would start moving toward those goals and staying to be support for Liko until then.
  
  
• I wondered that myself. My first thought was "well it would have to be a Gen 9 Pokemon, right"? Then again, would be a surprise if it was an older gen, or maybe a Hisuian Pokemon. If it's a Gen 9 Pokemon, well I would have gone with Tinkatink but Dot caught one. Hm, what wouldn't be obvious... a Paradox Pokemon? Something like Scream Tail or Iron Bundle? Hisui has a few good candidates I feel. H-Sneasel feels unexplored, and I can see it being used as a "big attitude" Pokemon.
  
  
  
  That face just says "Imma menace and I've decided to make myself YOUR problem".

I was indeed referring to the face mainly, the position of the teeth would be extremely weird if its face was as thin as only the grey part. Not that it really makes sense anyways as the wings shown in the final cutscene are too big/wide to actually fit below the ice ones (and I don't get why one would be less covered than the other) but at the very least the face needs something else to "support" the teeth and yellow crystal.

I feel the fused forms kind of reveal that, Black Kyurem reveals a rather normal mouth and White Kyurem just has the yellow crystal wedged into its head like a horn ot crest. Though I wouldn't be against a twist like it has an insectoid face, the jaw actually being a mandible and the horn/crest being an antenna (though that's cause I like my personal twist theory Kyurem is actually an ice insectroid alien that crashed in Gaint Chasm and then tried to take the Original Dragon's power but failed which left it mishapened in a vague form of a dragon).

E: If I was going to do a conspiracy on this it'd be that the Normal form was made with the anime in mind. It's fairly extraneous to the game proper. The journal & region depict Stellar/Tera Terapagos, the "disk" is Tera Form, the Normal Form can't even be used in battle...it's on the crown but that's fairly extraneous to the point its not even stylized in Heath's drawing.

I was thinking the same thing while reading the discussion. From what I can tell there's no way to prevent Normal Form from becoming its Terastal Form, even in Auto Battles. Only in a Picnic does it not transform and you can properly interact with Normal Form.

I have to 100% disagree that there is nothing needed to make Deoxys more impressive. IMO it absolutely needed something more. Some extra sauce.

Ultimate Deoxys: 50/180/160/180/160/180//910. Ability: Slow Start .

Already close to the final design, makes me curious if Sugimori didn't intend for this thing to be it like in final art (prerelease art of Brendan)

I'd say that early one also resembles a GPS Device/pedometer which was likely its inspiration. But it would also have been a downgrade from the PokeGear so I imagine they kept redesigning it to be more fancy. Not quite sure what device I'd relate the old PokeNav to as it's a bit of an odd one with how it has a pop-out screen that slides into the device when not in use.

 

[R_N]

Re: Original Pokemon in the anime.

After Lugia I figure that when the anime wants to make an original Pokemon, they know the expectation is it becomes canon. They've been around the block, so to speak. So I figure one of these two things happens on a case by case basis:
1. approach GameFreak with the conceit they have in mind and ask for input/the OK. There's an expectation that yeah this is going to be put into the game. While a form change, we know Ash-Greninja was this; they wanted a super form for Ash and asked GameFreak and they came back with Ash-Greninja and then that made its way into the games (& then sent to the shadow realm, but I digress). It's pretty obvious there's cross-office input. This seems like what happened with Liko's planned Pokemon. They wanted to create an original Pokemon (2 of them, even!), went to GF for approval and input and this time it got shifted into Terapagos with form changes rather than a separate, original 2-stage line being created. Since it doesnt' sound like it even had a name or concept tied to it, it probably didn't get far (if at all) into the design aspect.
2. GameFreak specifically approaches them to please create a Pokemon. I suspect this was an unstated aspect of Zeraora & Zarude. GameFreak knew they were going to start adding new Pokemon outside of the base game, knew there'd be more movies and those have mythicals to tie into things, so they asked the anime to please go forward with creating original Pokemon for this purpose. & who knows, maybe Magearna or even certain forms like Resolute Keldeo were in the same boat (Spiky Eared Pichu certainly was)


Related to this, but it's a shame there doesn't seem to be any documentation about Meltan/Melmetal. I've always been curious if they approached Niantic or Niantic approached them about an original Pokemon that would further tie Go together with their upcoming Project.

 

[Coronis]

Can the anime really have original mons or not?

Feel there would be a lot of backlash to this.

 

[Esserise]

Feel there would be a lot of backlash to this.

I think there’s a distinction that needs to be made here between “anime original” and “anime exclusive.”

There are, from what we can tell, actually a several anime-original Pokémon - Lugia, Zaurde, and Zeraora, at least. There is no backlash to these Pokémon existing, because quite frankly, were it not for interviews and leaks, we wouldn’t even know that they were designed primarily to suit the needs of the anime. To anyone outside of the creative process, there is no meaningful distinction between a Pokémon designed for the games, and a Pokémon designed for the anime that is then put into the games.

What I think would incite a backlash would be an anime-exclusive Pokémon, as in, a Pokémon designed expressly for the anime that is then never adapted into the games. But the thing is… I highly doubt that this is something anyone involved in the franchise has ever proposed anyway. There’s no tangible benefit to a Pokémon existing only in the anime, whereas there is a tangible benefit to that Pokémon also being able to appear in the games.

 

[Yung Dramps]

https://www.reddit.com/r/PokeLeaks/comments/1gp115m/scrapped_sun_moon_modes_mechanics_and_features

These are obviously just a huge set of vague conceptual pitches and there is no universe where they were all making it into one game (at least, a game that wasn't a bloated monstrosity) but it's still really fun to see a peek into this phase of the dev process and just how many ideas they can sweep through before settling on the final slate of features. Pokemon Dance seems like a fun thing to theme a new region around

 

[ant4456]

https://www.reddit.com/r/PokeLeaks/comments/1gp115m/scrapped_sun_moon_modes_mechanics_and_features

These are obviously just a huge set of vague conceptual pitches and there is no universe where they were all making it into one game (at least, a game that wasn't a bloated monstrosity) but it's still really fun to see a peek into this phase of the dev process and just how many ideas they can sweep through before settling on the final slate of features. Pokemon Dance seems like a fun thing to theme a new region around

90% of this is fluff that I am glad they did not waste time on tbh

A lot of it is also not very Alola vibe tbh. Poke Stage especially feels very Kalos to me but not very Alola.

Like I can't imagine most of these modes in Alola, but I could imagine them in a denser regional vibe like Unova or Kalos.

 

[R_N]

https://www.reddit.com/r/PokeLeaks/comments/1gp115m/scrapped_sun_moon_modes_mechanics_and_features

These are obviously just a huge set of vague conceptual pitches and there is no universe where they were all making it into one game (at least, a game that wasn't a bloated monstrosity) but it's still really fun to see a peek into this phase of the dev process and just how many ideas they can sweep through before settling on the final slate of features. Pokemon Dance seems like a fun thing to theme a new region around

Yeah a lot of these feel like "these are the things that got through the first round of brainstorming in the office, let's whtitle and redevelop from here"
Some cute ideas. Wouldn't surprise me if some of the idea made its way into the Photo studio in USUM.

For whatever reason the one about comic panels reminds me of the screenshots you get after every badge in SV. I still wish you could view all of those after taking them....

Some of the scrapped Battle Tree modes seem fun though. It'd be cute if they had implemented some of those. Or brought them back in the future. uh, you know, when they decide to bring back Battle Towers in general, I guess.

 

[Blanca Weiss]

https://www.reddit.com/r/PokeLeaks/comments/1gp115m/scrapped_sun_moon_modes_mechanics_and_features

These are obviously just a huge set of vague conceptual pitches and there is no universe where they were all making it into one game (at least, a game that wasn't a bloated monstrosity) but it's still really fun to see a peek into this phase of the dev process and just how many ideas they can sweep through before settling on the final slate of features. Pokemon Dance seems like a fun thing to theme a new region around

Poke dance sound similar to the BDSP contests sans the tournament. Poke stage means we almost have showcases playable in-game. The description for pokepiece is very vague but i assume its probably based on an existing card/board game. Hero time would've been intresting but unless they make the finishing move correspond to a skill/type combo I can see why it got cut.

 

[Pikachu315111]

GEEZ a lot of stuff just popped up! For right now I'll quickly go through the one everyone is talking about, the cut Sun & Moon concepts:

BTW, the post above was deleted as it was a duplicate post, here's the link to the original.

https://www.reddit.com/r/PokeLeaks/comments/1gou7h5/a_list_of_ideas_concepts_features_and_modes_for

Pokemon Dance & Poke Stage: Sounds a bit like the next level of Pokemon Musicals. Not only can you customize and control your Pokemon, but you do the same with the MC. Though not sure if Sun & Moon was the correct region for it, sounds like something that would be for a more urban region, especially if it's going to have a dedicated facility.

Pokemon Comics: I'm not quite sure how this would have worked. Are they premade comics? Do you unlock characters & settings you can place on a comic strip (and also add in your own drawings)? Honestly this sounds more like a neat idea for an evolution of the Journal/Guidebook, in addition to a list of actions we did to remind us what we did from out last session, major moments would have an illustration to go with it (also wouldn't mind if they brought back the Location Preview images).

Pokemon Dollhouse: I can see this being a potentially popular feature, though once again need the right setting. Like the most obvious that comes to mind would be another region based in Japan, mainland US, or western Europe.

Team Battles: This sounds like a gimmick looking for a theme. It sounds interesting (though depending how much your expected to help train them may lean into busy work), but I can't help but think "why?". Well, Pokemon Masters (EX) provides a reason why, and thus I think this idea is pretty much dead as it's being done elsewhere. Not that I don't like the idea of recruiting notable trainers, but I'd rather set up a normal knock-out tournament (or face them in a Battle Facility) choosing who'd I'd like to battle against (OR maybe as; maybe even set up a NPC only tournament to see which does the best).

PokePiece: And now this is a suggestion looking for a minigame. Come on, at least have an idea of what kind of minigame you want before giving it a name! Or instead of making a new minigame from scratch bring back an old one, like I think it would be neat to make a collection of the e-Reader games.

Pokemon Hero Time!!: This sounds like a REALLY dedicated side quest, like it would be the only side quest the game has (also would be for a region in the US or Japan which has a huge superhero genre). Even if they do this I can see it being scaled down considerably to just being a series of side quests, normal battles, and an Opening and Ending still illustration. Like, if anything, the pitch here would be more for a new side game than a side feature in the core series.

Survival Island: Already discussed, transformed into the Raids.

Legend Gate: Hm, sounds like it was really scaled down and split into different "Legendary Hunts": USUM's Ultra Space Ride & SwSh's Max Raid Adventures. Would be neat if for a future "Legend Hunt" they had us go into pocket dimension based on the Legendary or teleported to a location in the Pokemon World that has a strong connection to that Legendary; USUM only did it for the Ultra Beasts while normal Legendaries were a set of generic & featureless locations.

Trainer Zones: I don't quite understand this. What is the zone and how are the trainers competing for it? Is this happening during a normal battle? Why?

Trainer Skills: Wait... like Warrior Skills from Pokemon Conquest? Is that what these two are (Zones and Skills); concepts from Conquest you wondered you could have in the core games? Well, eitherway, don't think either will work. Like Trainer Skills just sound like what Pass Powers, O-Powers, Rotom Powers, (I don't think SwSh had one of these), & Meal Powers are.

Battle Features:

• Assists: Someone's been playing too much cabinet fighters. With all the basic Items we have combined with just being able to switch out, this isn't needed.
• Auto Guard: Like, maybe something that can be added for Double Battles, instead of choosing an attack you can have your wall guard its partner if they were targeted by a SE Move that instead it resists. But otherwise sounds like something that would just muck up battles.
• Begging: Ugh, no. As if they don't give out too much Experience already, and you know it would be random which Pokemon and when it happens. Work on balancing the Experience mechanic, & bring back the Exp. Share (and let turn if OFF, or at least choose which Pokemon it affects).
• Sky Battles: So they want to bring it back but as an instant instead of its own battle format? Sky Battles just barely worked as its own format (which was never really supported having no dedicated facility), now you want to make it even more temporary? Pointless.
• Mix Ball: Eh, I admire the thought, though I think letting us just customize a Poke Ball would be enough. That and also new Poke Balls. Also make Apricorn Poke Balls more common, stop treating them as special, they're not.
• Cancelling Egg Hatching: NO! STOP BEING BORN! STAY IN THERE AND DEVELOP YOUR IVS and EVS A BIT MORE (and maybe become a Shiny, just a suggestion)! Obviously Hyper Training made this silly idea moot.
• Meta Trainers: Neat idea on paper, good luck making it work in practice. Like, aside choosing a Pokemon to be a "counter" to one of your picks, something that would only matter for the first Pokemon sent out, what else could the Meta Trainer do to give themselves an advantage? You want Meta Trainers, here's my suggestion: put in teams of people who competed in the World Championships. Those are Meta Trainers who'll give players a wake-up call.
• Mirror Trainers: Now there is an idea here, but it needs more. Like, okay, during the main game maybe between each Gym and/or major event there's a Mirror Trainer. But what about after that, like Post Game? Can't really make it into a Battle Facility. Actually, if anything, this more sounds like a tool the player would have. At any time they can battle themselves, or battle another team they created.
• Ball Change: YES, at least for Trainer Battles! Obviously encounters have changed since Gen VII, but for Trainer Battles you should get to choose which Pokemon you send out first. Now for Wild Battles you can keep the Pokemon in the first slot being sent out upon initiating battle, like that's the Pokemon you reach for out of a self-defense reaction.

Battle Facilities:

• Illusionary Battle: LOL, funny but I also feel would get old fast. Like, instead of changing every Pokemon's Ability to Illusion, why not just have a Battle Facility where the gimmick is for a Pokemon's first turn in battle you don't know what it is (and also the opponent doesn't know what your Pokemon is until its second turn). Call it "Concealed Battles".
• Trick Room Battle: Hey, there's an idea! Though I'd argue why stop at just Trick Room? We have other Rooms, Weathers, Terrain, Field Hazards, and few other Moves which affect the field. Instead of just a "Trick Room Battle" I suggest a "Simulation Battle" where you can choose which of these effects (and maybe more) are active throughout the whole battle.
• Level 10 Battle: So does that mean the Pokemon has to be Level 10 or they're lowered to Level 10? If lowered I don't see the point. If they have to be Level 10, instead of this just have what everyone actually wants: A Little Cup. You can call it "Rookie Battles".
• Switch Battle: Hm, could be interesting though hard to make a strategy for. Honestly if you're thinking about this you should bring back and combine it with Rotation Battles; call it "Rotating Battles".
• 6v6 Battle: ... So normal battles?
• Infinite Battle: A fun idea (thought of my own versions of it), though this sounds more like something for an extra mode than a Battle Facility.
• No Ability: I mean, I guess you can have this as a specific kind of Battle Facility, though I'd personally combine it with my "Simulation Battle". It just sounds kind of basic. May as well have a Facility where a Move's Category is based on its Type (Fairy would be Special).
• Inverse Battle: WHERE IS INVERSE BATTLE?! I'm not sure how popular it was in practice, but I think a lot of people liked the idea, it just never got any support. Give it a chance, give it a REAL Battle Facility and let players use it as a format against each other!

Pokemon Breeder: Really, we were this close to having a Pokemon-Amie app? Don't know about others, but this has been something I considered a missed opportunity. It's like SEGA not wanting to do a Chao Garden.

Mini Pokemon: Okay, odd but interesting... "Motifs for Mini-Pokemon: 10 or 20 types inspired by Pokemon from Red/Green". OH COME ON! MORE KANTO PANDERING?! Like, already this idea sounds odd (like isn't a mini Pikachu a, you know, Pichu), but just adding the Kanto Pandering on top just sours it.

PokeJobs: Alright, interesting. Its essentially a collection of side features & side quests/missions but the player dresses up for it. But I guess that's sort of the issue here, why bundle all of them together when you can just have them as unique features part of cities/towns and routes.

Trainer Level: Like, what kind of skills? Are we talking about the about "Trainer Skills"? If there's any Skill the player needs for the game I'd rather it be given as an Item (or HM or similar). If it's a bonus skill, I think the above "Power" mechanics works just fine (though prefer it be simple like O-Powers & Rotom Powers than needing a guide like Meal Powers). Also, think maybe there should be things connected to Pokedex completion (maybe even have the mechanic from Legends: Arceus where learning more about an individual Pokemon gives us bonuses).

Guardians: So a sort of combination of Tera Types and Dynamax Max Moves; obviously a work-in-progress (the Electric-type one sounds sort of the best here). While could be a fun mechanic in a RPG sense, I could see it being massively disliked in a competitive. It just adds too many variables and not that straight forward; You want your Super Mechanic to be simple, easily understood, and can be planned around.

 

[Pikachu315111]

Catching-up with the newest round of leaks (from Reddit):

Censorship Changes:

Lets get non-controversial

• Tsareena's Badonkadonk: But, her face is still the same color as her thighs. Shouldn't the fix be making the face and thighs different colors? Is it really just it being a human skin tone that it becomes a "obscene deformity"? And they had no problem with it being a dominatrix?
  
  
• Buzzwole "Energy Drain": Huh, is this a cut Signature Move for Buzzwole? Well, the ESRB objected its animation, which would have been pretty metal from the sound of it. But now I wonder if Leech Life's Power being increased to 80 is because they decided to cut "Energy Drain", they both sound similar in concept.
  
  
• Black Selene's Watermelon Bag: I guess? Nevermind she's still wearing red and green, and the final version didn't really change that much about the bag (though USUM gave her a complerely different bag design). Any African American members reading this, would the original default bag for Black Selene been considered racist?
  
  
• Team Skull Zigzags Nazi Allegation: I can understand this one even though I don't think I would have caught it myself. Had it been just the zigzags I wouldn't be so sure, but being this is Team Skull and units of the SS used a skull motif I can understand the change.
  
  
• Shelly's Slit: So, this is odd because, unless this was a regional change, Shelly's official design still has her showing thigh skin. That or they decided that, since she's in a elaborate wetsuit, it can pass under the radar?
  
  
• Original Girl Tuber: What face was the girl Tuber originally making that was considered "tempting"? Either it was very overt or the censor here needs to have a chat with HR.
  
  
• Team Magma Not Posing As Nazis: I'm kind of confused here. The Magma Grunts don't have their outstretched arms raised, it's pointed downwards because combined together they make a "M" for Magma. Were they originally doing a Nazi salute and this is the changed art? If so, why GF? The Registeel debacle should have made you aware not to do that pose.

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Throwing Styles Originally Planned For XY:
Nothing too surprising here. Not sure how I feel about there being Event Exclusive Throwing Styles, brings back bad memories of Event Exclusive C-Gear skins and Dream World stuff. I'm not against them adding in stuff as DLC, but think something like this should be available at least until the end of the generation (ideally as long as the server is up). If they really want they could include them as high-level unlocks, but for a short window of time you can unlock them right away.

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SM Scrapped Feature: Poke-Planet:
If you thought Pokemon Dance was the only advanced BW feature, think again! We also had Poke-Planet, which is essentially just the Dream World but also has Pokemon-Amie and Streetpass.

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Details On Scrapped SM Fossil Pokemon:
Finally confirmation on what the Gen VII scrapped fossils were, and they're a bit odd. We already discussed how Hawaii's fossils aren't what we usually think of when we think of fossils, which could give GF a chance to do some prehistoric animals they may not have had a chance to do yet. I was thinking large marine animals like Megalodon and Mesasaur, but GF decided to look more inward. The Gen VII Fossil Pokemon were going to be extinct relatives of the Bagon family and Wailmer family, with the idea they went with a different evolution niche and got unlucky; sort of another take on the Regional Variant idea.

• Alolan Bagon would evolve into a Shelgon but, instead of shedding its shell to achieve a dream of flying, it would keep its shell becoming heavier and more defensive (which is why it went extinct; guessing unable to escape a major volcanic eruption or home enviroment sank). If it were me I'd make Alolan Salamence Rock/Dragon, 100/95/135/80/110/80//600, and give it Solid Rock.
  
  
• I'm assuming it's well known that cetaceans evolved from land-dwelling animals who chose to go back to the ocean and their closest land relative are hippos. Well Alolan Wailmer stayed on land and still evolved into a very big Wailord, so big and hard to move that it was unable to protect itself from predators. I'd make Alolan Wailord a Rock/Ground, 100/120/100/60/80/40//500, and No Guard.

Considering the next group of Fossil Pokemon we got were the Galarian mix-and-match, I'm wondering if the age of Fossil Pokemon just being a prehistoric animal ended in Gen VI (though I guess from that perspective it would be hard to top finally doing a T-Rex Pokemon). And I think there's some merit to what they considered doing, like on my "What Isn't A Pokemon Yet" Repository List at the bottom of "Fossil" I have a list of connected concepts which include "Evoluton Of". That said the category also has generations worth of interesting prehistoric animals so there's still more they can do there (though they could move beyond having them be Rock-type).

----------

SM Battle Frontier: The Battle Cruise:

Oomph, this one hurts

Alola's version of the Battle Frontier, the Battle Cruise. Unlike Festival Plaza this one makes a bit more sense being on a boat, at least by Pokemon World logic (cause in real life having Pokemon Battles on a boat would be a very terrible idea. Dugtrio use Dig! Dugtrio is dead, and the ship is sinking; brilliant move Einstein).

One exciting feature would be the Battle Cruise has an option of stopping at 23 ports around the Pokemon World, two mentioned being Castelia City and Vermillion City.

Of course I gotta speculate on the other 21

Because that's such an odd number it feels like they already had a list made. So going by Region:

• Kanto (3): Vermillion City, Cinnabar Island, Five/Seven Island
• Johto (3): Goldenrod City, Olivine City, Cianwood City
• Hoenn (5): Slateport City, Lilycove City, Dewford Town, Mossdeep City, Pacifidlog Town
• Sinnoh (5): Canalave City, Pastoria City, Snowpoint City, Sunyshore City, Fight Area/Battle Zone
• Unova (4): Castelia City, Driftveil City/Pokemon World Tournament, Humilau City, Virbank City
• Kalos (3): Cyllage City, Shalour City, Coumarine City

I feel these make the most sense. I had to make a few cuts, but those cuts were ones I felt iffy about in the first place: Mauville City (it's close enough to the sea, but then again maybe not that close), Ever Grande City (it may have the Pokemon League but cruise ships can't go up waterfalls), Undella Town (I feel if you're going to that part of Unova you're more likley going to Humilau City), and Anistar City (while the city has water on the map it's completely landlocked).

I had to include one of the Sevii Islands, and after reading about each it's either Five Island (which was noted to be growing in population, a resort (which they could say have expanded since the events of ORAS), and some landmarks) or Seven Island (which has the Trainer Tower). I'm kind of leaning toward Seven Island as it makes sense the Battle Cruise would try to visit the ports which have a major Battle Facility nearby (hence the inclusion of Fight Area/Battle Zone and mention of the Pokemon World Tournament part of Driftveil City).

At the ports, depending on how popular you get via battling, you may encounter some special trainers (aka Gym Leaders, Elite Four, Champions, maybe even Rivals and members of the villain team); some may even come aboard and become a "Cruise Trainer" to interact & bond with (for rare Trades and partnering up in the Battle Facilities (are they still "facilities" even though we're on a boat?)).
Facilities are:

• Deck Battle: Battle Tower expy, boss is the "Battle Captain".
• Team Battle: Ah, so this is where Team Battles come into play. Okay, makes a little more sense here with the Cruise Trainers you bond with. Doesn't mention a boss, be lame if it was the Captain again, so I'm making one up: The "Battle Coordinator".
• Fast Battle: Normal battles again, but even more simple that beginners can enjoy... okay. Is this the "No Ability" one? I'll dub the boss here the "Battle Officer" (aka the Chief/First Mate).
• Training Center: Shogi huh? I'm guessing that's the Japanese cruise ship "conventional activity" equivalent to shuffleboard? Eitherway, here thar be Rental Battles, and being this is a Training Center I'm calling the boss the "Battle Coach".
• Event Hall: I think we're starting to get away from Battle Facilities. This sounds like a place just to build bonds faster via special interactions all in one place.
• Grow-Up!: Odd name. Usual Pokemon raising utilities, though I'm most interested in the "Egg Road"; What does that entail? Is it running on a treadmill as players joked about doing for years? Also having to donate BP to upgrade the center feels off, like I think a more logical explaination would be using BP to upgrade your "Membership" (you got the basic Membership for free as a reward for becoming Champion, but they're going to make you work for upgrades).

----------

The Rainbow Rocket Episode was originally planned for SM:
The Rainbow Rocket Episode was planned for vanilla SM and it differs a lot from what we eventually got in USUM.

And it sounded like a grander tale

• Instead of taking place entirely in the Festival Plaza and Aether Paradise, the Villain Leaders & Rocket Grunts cause trouble all over Alola with a final confrontation in an "Ultra Hole" next to Alola.
  
  
• It sounds like the Villain Leaders, while "working with" Rainbow Rocket, are moreso doing their own thing at least until the very end. Lysandre is also not mentioned.
  
  
• It was going to be mixed with the opening of the Battle Tree (thus having Red & Blue involved, them joining the player and Hau for the final encounter with Giovanni of course) and the "Alola Gym Project". Kukui makes the player the first Gym Leader of Melemele despite being the Champion (either this is a mistranslation or we're meant to pass the title to someone else). We set up Gyms all over Alola only for Rainbow Rocket to start messing with them.
  
  
• Also this is before Lillie takes Lusamine to Kanto to see Bill, and it sounds like the only time Aether Paradise is involved is at the start where Rainbow Rocket steal equipment.
  
  
• As things progress Guzma & Team Skull (guess this is also before Team Skull fully disbands) start fighting with Rainbow Rocket, escalating into a major conflict.
  
  
• There will be a double battle where the player will partner with either Maxie or Archie against the other & Hau. It'll depend on which version who you partner with (guessing Sun would be with Maxie and Moon would be with Archie). This feels like a little shenanigan moment, like Maxie & Archie are meant to team up but they got into a "land vs sea" arguement so switched partners.
  
  
• Colress appears a few times and gives the player an item from BW but which one and what purpose it has is not explained. If I had to guess, maybe the Colress MCHN and would be used on Nebbie to empower it to travel into the Ultra Hole.
  
  
• Meanwhile Sina & Dexio confront Faba which leads into a later planned Zygarde event (guessing that would have led more naturally into the Zygarde Cell hunt, but once this story was scrapped they just had them hand over the Zygarde Cube in the main game for no particular reason).
  
  
• Starting the building action to the climax, Giovanni appears and defeats the player in a scripted battle (guessing something to do with empowering Mewtwo with Ultra Space energy to give it plot armor & 1HKO player's Pokemon) claiming the title of "Alola Champion" (I guess he, Rainbow Rocket, and the Villain Leaders than teleport into the Ultra Hole). Player's mother than motivates everyone to protect Alola, Kukui giving the player a special TM that is tied to Z-Move lore (guessing this Move would have been like what Tera Blast is for Terastal; no matter what Z-Crystal you have attached, "Z Blast" would activate it (and for story purposes de-power Giovanni's Mewtwo)).
  
  
• Player, Hau, Red & Blue enter Ultra Hole, though it comes down to Giovanni facing both the player & Hau (Hau likely just being there so Giovanni can keep targeting his Pokemon with Mewtwo until the player uses "Z Blast" on it).
  
  
• Upon defeating him the rift goes crazy, sucks Rainbow Rocket and Villain Leaders back to their worlds. Then PLOT TWIST: The REAL Giovanni shows up and closes the rift.
  
  
• Real Giovanni explains RR Giovanni was a normal Rocket grunt that admired him. The grunt fell into an Ultra Wormhole and gained the power to disguise himself as Giovanni so started acting like him (honestly feels like a twist for sake of a twist, is there a reason they didn't want him to be a Giovanni from another world like everyone else?). When Red & Blue asks what he's been doing, says he's been trying to become a trainer his son could be proud of (d'aww).
  
  
• Story Wrap-up: Lillie takes Lusamine to Kanto, Gladion becomes boss of Aether Foundation, and in Samson Oak's house (called Alolan Oak here, lol) we focus on two pictures: the first is Red & Blue on their first journey, second is them and player & Hau in a commemorative photo after saving the day.

 

[ant4456]

The Rainbow Rocket Episode was originally planned for SM:
The Rainbow Rocket Episode was planned for vanilla SM and it differs a lot from what we eventually got in USUM.

Personally as an SM enjoyer I'm happy this got cut because I think it ties in the original SM plot elements too hard into what is, effectively, pretty much shonen Fanservice Schlock.

It is a bit weird how Lillie just goes from the end of her arc to bringing Lusamine to Kanto in the actual game, but I think stopping that for this whacky 20th anniversary post-game questline is such a weird, and out of line mix of emotions.

How USUM handles the main plot I already think ruins it, so Rainbow Rocket can't really degrade its quality much in my mind lol, USUM already feels like an alt universe "What if everything was fine and none of the characters were actually punished and everyone got along" version of what was, in my opinion, the most mature Pokemon game story, so having it end on that didn't really worsen muh to me.

 

[Yung Dramps]

The Battle Cruise blackpilled me, alright. It proved to me that the amount of people who actually engage with the side content in this series is far lower than I ever could've imagined

Like. Guys. Deck Battle and Team Battle are literally just the Battle Tree, word for word. Battle Tower clone where you fight important trainers from old regions and can recruit them to fight with you... It's in the game. You can play this now because, again, this is the Battle Tree. All they did was change the theming.

"Grow-up!" is also... uhh... that's just the same set of competitive QoL features we've had in this series for over a decade now. In fact, the final product one-ups this by letting you access the Judge from any PC and Poke Pelago existing.

What we actually "lost" (read: never got out of conceptual phase spitballing) was:
-Fast Battle, which sounds boring and stupid
-Training Center, a set of tutorials like in Stadium which genuinely would've been helpful for newbies but is clearly not what people are complaining about and is very distinctly not a battle facility
-Event Hall, also not a battle facility
-The 23 ports, which is so hysterically unrealistic that I can't believe anyone would take this seriously (Do you really think that one more year of dev time was what was needed to implement the effective equivalent of 23 Anville Towns????)

So, what are the takeaways from all this?
-As I said initially, it's clear to me that almost nobody actually engages with side content in this series. My current estimate is something well below 5% of all players. Whether this is Pokemon fanbase-specific or a broader gaming community problem, I do not know.
-If it weren't for the tutorialization hardcore fans loathe oh so much, this figure would be even lower (See PR Videos from XY being completely and utterly forgotten despite their depth and charm)
-The supermajority of requests for a new Battle Frontier are from people who have not played so much as a single round of the Factory. Legitimate dedicated facility grinders are a tiny niche

 

[ant4456]

, what are the takeaways from all this?
-As I said initially, it's clear to me that almost nobody actually engages with side content in this series.

they don't but also think everyone does

the cut pokejobs concept in the gen 7 leaks is literally used in SWSH and its a bad feature, it was right to be cut but people acted like it should've been in

 

[DrrT]

so what features do you want for SM, GF? -Yes

Not surprised at all about Rainbow Rocket tbh. It was always odd to me such a clear tie into the anniversary wasn't in the aniversary base game. Hopefully in gen 10 whatever they have planned for that is not cut now that they can't just rerelease the game with third versions (trough I suppose something like that is also good DLC selling point? Eh, it would have to be a bigger deal than the villains again. And we already got an all-star tournament all the way back to BW2). I would rather take a story like that as the center stage upfront rather than Kalos' approach of "this is completely unique but also look at all those Kanto callbacks!" specially if it does indeed callback to all generations.

At first I was very sad to read about the scrapped fossils because they are awesome at a concept level. But then I realized...those are just convergents in a way. They could reuse the idea fully, just not having them extinct. So not a big deal at the end of the day.

 

[Pikachu315111]

Like. Guys. (...) Team Battle are literally just the Battle Tree, word for word.

I don't recall teaming up with 5 Trainers to fight other teams of 5 Trainers.

the cut pokejobs concept in the gen 7 leaks is literally used in SWSH and its a bad feature, it was right to be cut but people acted like it should've been in

No, they're not even close to being the same thing.

 

[MoonlightRose]

• Team Magma Not Posing As Nazis: I'm kind of confused here. The Magma Grunts don't have their outstretched arms raised, it's pointed downwards because combined together they make a "M" for Magma. Were they originally doing a Nazi salute and this is the changed art? If so, why GF? The Registeel debacle should have made you aware not to do that pose.

I don't think it's the hand down making the M that's the problem, it's the hand straight in front of the chest that looks like they're about to do the Nazi salute, hence the change being that they have that hand in a fist.

EDIT

• Original Girl Tuber: What face was the girl Tuber originally making that was considered "tempting"? Either it was very overt or the censor here needs to have a chat with HR.

I know the heading says expression but the note next to it seems to imply it's the pose that was the problem and I think that makes more sense to make the censor tell them no without needing a chat with HR.

 

[R_N]

I don't think it's the hand down making the M that's the problem, it's the hand straight in front of the chest that looks like they're about to do the Nazi salute, hence the change being that they have that hand in a fist.

EDIT


I know the heading says expression but the note next to it seems to imply it's the pose that was the problem and I think that makes more sense to make the censor tell them no without needing a chat with HR.

Likewise pushing them so they were facing at an angle rather than straight ahead might've helped a little since it emphasizes the "M" thanks to depth.
Ratings boards can be very -sometimes extremely arbitrarily- picky so even minute changes like what was going on with Shelly or Tsareena, go a long way.

 

[BIG ASHLEY]

When Red & Blue asks what he's been doing, says he's been trying to become a trainer his son could be proud of (d'aww).

holy fanfic batman!

 

[Lontra Assassina]

-The 23 ports, which is so hysterically unrealistic that I can't believe anyone would take this seriously (Do you really think that one more year of dev time was what was needed to implement the effective equivalent of 23 Anville Towns????)

I think a more realistic option would be having an NPC announce that the cruise is picking up passengers and name-dropping cities, but you don't actually leave the ship.

But then again, people would likely react to this the same way they did with the Battle Frontier reference in ORAS lol

 

[Kurona]

-The supermajority of requests for a new Battle Frontier are from people who have not played so much as a single round of the Factory. Legitimate dedicated facility grinders are a tiny niche

I've quite genuinely never understood people being baffled it was taken out and thinking it should be in every game. Well, I understood it for ORAS because that is a big major feature from the original game that's not in this one, and in particular in Emerald it's composed of not just a lot of unique characters but also a whole mini-island that's interesting to explore with even a small sense of progression. There's that one Sudowoodo in a cute GSC reference to beat/capture which then leads to a little secret area with a Smeargle cave. Even small cute stuff like that is a shame to not see in a full remake even if it's replaced with something similar, I get it!

But any time someone's said it's crazy they don't bring it back in a game after that, and acted like it's a popular feature... no? No. It's just some minor - admittedly sometimes interesting! - variants on the Battle Tower that's in every game, which already provides that post-game competitive challenge, and which is already a fairly underused feature full of RNG and absolutely not what most players really care about. I've basically never heard anyone outside of Smogon care about this place or relate any experience to playing it; and it's clear the time and effort that would go into making these goes into features a lot more people DO care about like interacting with your Pokémon. The competitive side of Pokémon is already so unpopular as is, why would multiplying an offline version of it by five be something most of the playerbase would care about?

 

[R_N]

I've quite genuinely never understood people being baffled it was taken out and thinking it should be in every game. Well, I understood it for ORAS because that is a big major feature from the original game that's not in this one, and in particular in Emerald it's composed of not just a lot of unique characters but also a whole mini-island that's interesting to explore with even a small sense of progression. There's that one Sudowoodo in a cute GSC reference to beat/capture which then leads to a little secret area with a Smeargle cave. Even small cute stuff like that is a shame to not see in a full remake even if it's replaced with something similar, I get it!

But any time someone's said it's crazy they don't bring it back in a game after that, and acted like it's a popular feature... no? No. It's just some minor - admittedly sometimes interesting! - variants on the Battle Tower that's in every game, which already provides that post-game competitive challenge, and which is already a fairly underused feature full of RNG and absolutely not what most players really care about. I've basically never heard anyone outside of Smogon care about this place or relate any experience to playing it; and it's clear the time and effort that would go into making these goes into features a lot more people DO care about like interacting with your Pokémon. The competitive side of Pokémon is already so unpopular as is, why would multiplying an offline version of it by five be something most of the playerbase would care about?

It's one of those things I think people care more about in concept than they do actually playing it and it started being around the time people were getting very frustrated with this & that that then bubbled over entirely by SWSH. I put it in the same bin as people who want every single battle mechanic to be playable not because they like it or think it will be interesting but because it was Thing we had and thus Thing must stay, forever.

I've never been surprised it was one of the first things to fold. I don't think it was coincidental that Gen 4's BF was paired down both in literal size and also in facilities and Gen 5 opted for variants on fan service and asset reuse and after that they just opted for slight variants and side modes (Battle Chataeu, the goofiness going on in the Plaza, SWSH DLC's Isle of Armor facility, etc) before, uh. Not having it at all.
Some of that's probably on just dev time issues, but it wouldn't surprise me if even from the jump on these games they just opted to focus on other things instead and even an extra year wouldn't have resulted in Battle Frontier But People Care About It Now.

Wouldn't surprise me if they revisit the concept eventually, at least, just because it's been a while. But I bet it's not as big!

 

[DrPumpkinz]

It's one of those things I think people care more about in concept than they do actually playing it and it started being around the time people were getting very frustrated with this & that that then bubbled over entirely by SWSH. I put it in the same bin as people who want every single battle mechanic to be playable not because they like it or think it will be interesting but because it was Thing we had and thus Thing must stay, forever.

I've never been surprised it was one of the first things to fold. I don't think it was coincidental that Gen 4's BF was paired down both in literal size and also in facilities and Gen 5 opted for variants on fan service and asset reuse and after that they just opted for slight variants and side modes (Battle Chataeu, the goofiness going on in the Plaza, SWSH DLC's Isle of Armor facility, etc) before, uh. Not having it at all.
Some of that's probably on just dev time issues, but it wouldn't surprise me if even from the jump on these games they just opted to focus on other things instead and even an extra year wouldn't have resulted in Battle Frontier But People Care About It Now.

Wouldn't surprise me if they revisit the concept eventually, at least, just because it's been a while. But I bet it's not as big!

They could literally port over the entirety of every battle facility on top of making an entirely new suite of unique facilities, and if they don't literally call it a "Battle Frontier" people will still complain about how they want it back. At this point I really think it's just the name most people care about.

 

[Ironmage]

Bluntly, I can only care about the lowest common denominator so much. At the end of the day, the current games aren't interesting enough to me personally, and improved battle facilities would alleviate that by a large margin. It's probably less resource-intensive than my other primary complaint.

 

[DrrT]

I genuinely believe people's obsession with the Frontier comes from HGSS having it (despite people apparently forgetting it's literally Platinum). I understand the complains about it not being in ORAS and BDSP, but other than that...BW2 didn't have it and it still has a stellar postgame. It really does seems like people care more about the name than anything else- trough SV not having any kind of battle facility at all is just weird admitedly, specially with Blueberry Academy being a thing.

But what do I know? I find that of all games LA has the best battle facility, and replaying all the others for the Ribbon Master has only solidified that opinion for me. And I doubt most of the fandom knows it exists to begin with.