Give me literally anything Pokémon related and I'll try and say positive things about it

bdt2002

bdt2002

Self-proclaimed Guardian Signs super-fan
is a Pre-Contributor
With a multimedia franchise as large and influential as Pokémon has been, it's no surprise that people are going to agree or disagree on what they like best about Pokémon's various offerings. Part of why I believe Pokémon's been so successful over the past 27 years (as of February 27th, 2023) is because the massive collection of core series and spin-off titles isn't solely carried by one or two excellent games that are surrounded by any number of mediocre products. Unlike other major game franchises like Grand Theft Auto, Call of Duty, Guitar Hero/Rock Band, and Final Fantasy just to name a few different genres, it's generally agreed upon in the Pokémon fandom that even the least popular installments are going to have people who enjoy them.

Despite this, it's just as easy in a fandom this big to find people who love to complain about things- and rightfully so. No multimedia franchise will ever be truly perfect, and just like the less popular installments will have their fans, the opposite side of the coin is also true, where you'll find fans who think some of the most popular games are overrated.

I'm making this thread as a fun challenge for myself, but also to teach myself a lesson. I'll admit that I've complained about Pokémon's shortcomings on several occasions. These days, I'd even say I complain about newer installments more than I praise their positives. I figure that the more I can teach myself to acknowledge the positive aspects of Pokémon that I don't think as highly of, the more I can come to appreciate the franchise as a whole. I also want to show that with enough optimism, it is indeed possible to find at least some positive factors to almost anything.

So here's how this is going to go down. All you have to do is post about what specific aspects of Pokémon you like- and I mean as specific as possible. It can be anything- a specific Trading Card Game set, a specific arc of the TV show, an obscure spin-off game people may have never heard of- literally anything you can think of. The only rule I'm enforcing is that posts are limited to official Pokémon material, so no fan games, ROM hacks, or anything of the sort, please. While fan-made projects can be of very high quality, I feel as if giving praise to unofficial content takes away from why I'm making this thread for myself.

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I'll start with an example from 2021, which was a very rough year for me around the edges. Pokémon Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl's release on the Nintendo Switch was what many would call underwhelming despite selling as well as most other core series Pokémon titles. At the time, I wasn't exactly mentally troubled, but I was just sad enough to where the events of the 2021 calendar year started to leave an impact on how I was receiving Pokémon games at the time. All of this being said, I love the decision Game Freak made to hand this off to another company. One of my biggest gripes with Generation 8 as a whole was that getting one full Game Freak Pokémon game every year from 2016 to 2019 resulted in Sword & Shield feeling incomplete, but with ILCA's approach on remakes combined with 2020's Pokémon game being retconned into paid DLC, that same 2016 to 2019 pattern didn't really happen again. Instead, Game Freak was free to move onto Pokémon Legends: Arceus and Scarlet & Violet after that. The reason this works is because of the mixed reception the previous regions' remakes (those being ORAS Hoenn and Let's Go Kanto) had both received for feeling too different to the games they were based on, while other remakes in the past felt completely fine to older fans. With Sinnoh's remakes, both sides of the argument were offered a game they could enjoy. If you wanted a new kind of Pokémon game, you could just skip out on BDSP and buy only Legends, but if you wanted to do the opposite, that option was also there for consumers, which is an excellent call given that we likely won't get DS games for Nintendo Switch Online on current-generation hardware.
 
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Mechalico said:
Pok%C3%A9mon_Dash_Coverart.png
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Pokémon Dash is a 2000s DS game that I've heard mixed reviews of, but definitely wouldn't be opposed to playing in the future. After all, just because other people might not have liked it doesn't mean my opinion will be the same. Racers have generally been one of, if not my favorite game genre growing up thanks to a surprising amount of nostalgic titles (more than just Mario Kart, that's for sure), and Pokémon Dash remains the closest thing we have to a dedicated Pokémon racing title. Even outside of this game's genre niché, one thing I can really appreciate about Pokémon Dash is that while other DS spin-offs like the Ranger trilogy would incorporate the DS Touch Screen far more prominently into the premise of the game, Pokémon Dash actually beat the original Pokémon Ranger game to the punch by one year for the honor of "first Pokémon game to feature a touch screen as a major feature", something I can't say for Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Blue Rescue Team as that game was released alongside a GBA equivalent that plays completely fine without a touch screen.

With this in mind, Pokémon Dash's general gameplay loop may lend itself better to a potential remaster in the future, a la New Pokémon Snap. Adjusting the gameplay for a game like this would definitely be a lot easier than, say, making a Ranger game for the Nintendo Switch, for instance, with the improved soundfont and visuals of the console also playing a role in improving the overall experience should a remaster be announced.
 
Aurora said:
arceus-psychic in generations 6 and 7 ubers
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I’m not going to act like I’m the most educated person in the world on these metagames, because… well, I’m not. But at the end of the day, even the so-called “weakest” of Arceus forms can still find a niche compared to the others. The main thing that comes to mind with Arceus-Psychic for me is how it sacrifices some power compared to something like a Mewtwo, Deoxys-Attack, et cetera and has more bulk in return. In Generation 7 Ubers in particular, the advent of Necrozma-Dusk Mane means most teams that run one don’t necessarily need another bulky Psychic-Type. However, this can be taken advantage of: bulky supporters like Necrozma-Dusk Mane and Ho-Oh make for excellent Arceus teammates on hazard stacking balance teams. A core of Primal Groudon, Necrozma-Dusk Mane, and Arceus-Psychic opens up matchup flexibility not seen with other Psychic-Types, as the presence of Arceus-Psychic’s main sets can take some of the burden off of other team members. It’s all about role compression, and being the only pure Psychic-Type in the tier with access to both Recover and Defog might be of interest in a tier where Pursuit isn’t seen as much as it is in OU, especially with Xerneas running around.


ZettaiRyouiki said:
Tobias beating Ash.
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Tobias’s character is an interesting one, because it doesn’t feel like introducing a really overpowered character compared to what Ash has access to is inherently good plot writing. While this is debatably true, one has to consider that Tobias could easily have had all this time off-screen where he’s been doing his own training and what have you. More importantly, trainers like Tobias showing up can be a great way of reminding Ash that there’s always going to be someone who’s further ahead than you. The problem wasn’t that Tobias exists and beat Ash in the Sinnoh League, so much as the shift to the Unova saga killed any of Ash’s training momentum that he had in the previous region.
 
I could try to think of something negative... BUT instead I'll give you something even more challenging:

Lopunny. :psysly:
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MoonlightRose said:
Pokémon Conquest
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Now this is a game I wish I was able to play in its prime. Pokémon's always been a jRPG franchise at heart, but as far as the more tactical grid-based style of game is concerned, Pokémon Conquest is literally all we ever had in this genré niche, similar to what I said about Pokémon Dash. The crossover with Nobunaga's Ambition lends itself perfectly to what I believe to be the game's greatest strength- its incredible theming. Just about everything in the game gives off the vibe that you're actually there in a feudal Japanese setting, and the gameplay loop only adds to this. Many jRPGs also struggle with this next perk- no two interactions will be truly the exact same unless you're specifically trying to make that happen. Finally, there's the OST, which isn't one I've listened to much, but the very few songs I have heard are almost Mystery Dungeon levels of good music.

Lectrys said:
Hitoshi Ariga is to blame for the Nacl line's design, he even fessed that up:
Gimme something positive about the very real possibility that this Mega Man fan did make the Nacl line Minecraft monster expys after all.
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While I probably can't do exactly what you're asking, I can confirm that this is naturally what I would expect a three-stage evolution line of Pokémon based off of salt rocks to look like. While not related to Minecraft, I would also like to point out that Nacli bears an extremely strong resemblance to Super Mario Galaxy 2's Rock Mushroom, which I think is really neat. Blocky shape aside, I think comparing these guys and especially Garganacl to Minecraft mobs is like comparing apples to oranges. This could maybe be different if Minecraft ever added a Salt Golem alongside the Iron Golem, but for now, I like that this evolution line is able to incorporate the idea of grinding salt rocks into each of the Pokémon's slate-like design philosophy. While not what I would normally expect from Pokémon, a move like Salt Cure also helps to set these Pokémon apart from other Rock-Type Pokémon. Whether or not the artist wanted to apologize is their decision, but for my money's worth, I love these designs and their possible inspiration sources.

Altissimo said:
the fact that pokemon snap for the Nintendo 64 has 63 pokemon
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Pokémon Snap isn't exactly a small game, with a lot of work going into each of the Pokémon's animations, models, the whole nine yards. I get that pointing out the specific numbers (63 and 64) might just be a meme, but even so I think the Pokémon that were selected for the game were a generally solid selection out of the 151 available to work with at the time. I've heard some people make the argument that if Pokémon Stadium could support 151 Pokémon, Pokémon Snap should have been able to as well. While I understand this argument, the problem with video game memory storage is that it's not just what's displayed on screen at any given moment. Honestly, the fact that Pokémon Snap on the Nintendo 64 could even attempt to support over 60 different Pokémon in the wild should be seen as an achievement if you're the game developers.

Pikachu315111 said:
I could try to think of something negative... BUT instead I'll give you something even more challenging:

Lopunny. :psysly:
0428Lopunny.png
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Oh, I've got something for this, too. Buneary is a Pokémon who has notoriety in the Sinnoh games for being the only Pokémon with a base friendship value of 0 despite evolving when levelled up with high friendship. While a bit tedious to grind for, I think this is an excellent idea for a Pokémon, with Lopunny's "famous design" actually fitting this theme quite well. It gives off kind of that "Rivals to Lovers" vibe, assuming anyone here's sick enough in the head to actually want to violate a Lopunny's natural rights if you know what I mean. This still works in less explicit manners, though, instead swapping out the Lovers half of that trope to "Allies" or "Best Friends".

Lopunny is also enjoyable to use in multiplayer for many people because of its Mega Evolution it got in Omega Runy & Alpha Sapphire. If I am not mistaken, Mega Lopunny is currently the highest ranked Mega Pokémon on Smogon's ORAS OU viability rankings, owing to its incredible Speed tier and solid offensive gameplan, as well as Fake Out to Mega Evolve safely. Thanks to Scrappy, Mega Lopunny's Fake Out cannot be blocked by Ghost-Types, something Mega Kangaskhan usually needs to use before Mega Evolving.
 
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bdt2002 said:
While a bit tedious to grind for, I think this is an excellent idea for a Pokémon, with Lopunny's "famous design" actually fitting this theme quite well. It gives off kind of that "Rivals to Lovers" vibe, assuming anyone here's sick enough in the head to actually want to violate a Lopunny's natural rights if you know what I mean. This still works in less explicit manners, though, instead swapping out the Lovers half of that trope to "Allies" or "Best Friends".
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That's an... interesting way of putting that.
 
While we're at it with "bad Arceus forms", try and find something positive to say about Arceus Ice and Bug in Gen 6/7 Ubers.

Also try it with Mega Banette, Heatmor, Carnivine, and Crabominable as well.
 
bdt2002 said:
Pokémon Snap isn't exactly a small game, with a lot of work going into each of the Pokémon's animations, models, the whole nine yards. I get that pointing out the specific numbers (63 and 64) might just be a meme, but even so I think the Pokémon that were selected for the game were a generally solid selection out of the 151 available to work with at the time. I've heard some people make the argument that if Pokémon Stadium could support 151 Pokémon, Pokémon Snap should have been able to as well. While I understand this argument, the problem with video game memory storage is that it's not just what's displayed on screen at any given moment. Honestly, the fact that Pokémon Snap on the Nintendo 64 could even attempt to support over 60 different Pokémon in the wild should be seen as an achievement if you're the game developers.
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it was a joke about the number meme yeah, nice response tho!
 
War Incarnate said:
While we're at it with "bad Arceus forms", try and find something positive to say about Arceus Ice and Bug in Gen 6/7 Ubers.

Also try it with Mega Banette, Heatmor, Carnivine, and Crabominable as well.
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Gonna go through these six in rapid-fire fashion since I'd like to avoid double-posting, since if I didn't do rapid-fire responses getting through all six of these would take a surprisingly long time.

  • Arceus-Ice: Strong offensive potential with Judgment, Earth Power, Calm Mind, and Recover; Defog helps with Stealth Rock (this will also be true for Arceus-Bug) and while both Primal Groudon and Necrozma Dusk Mane can handle Earth Power, they can be worn down by quickly by switching into them with hazards up; finally, while Ice only resists itself, Ice is a pretty good resist to have in these tiers and can be switched in rather easily against Ice-Type moves targetting something such as Mega Salamence
  • Arceus-Bug: While not hitting many good types for super-effective damage, Bug does have some underrated interactions, including at least a neutral matchup against all Necrozma forms (Arceus-Bug actually beats Ultra Necrozma one-on-one most of the time). Physical Arceus-Bug sets with X-Scissor, Earthquake, and Swords Dance are unironically not that bad depending on how you team build and select your fourth moveslot (Shadow Claw baits the heck out of Marshadow thinking it could Spectral Thief your boosts)
  • Mega Banette: I don't just think Mega Banette is viable- I think it's actually pretty underrated. It's not going to be the next Mega Rayquaza or anything, obviously, but 165 base Attack coupled with Prankster and access to moves like Knock Off, Taunt, and Thunder Wave lend itself surprisingly well to a potential stallbreaker set. The Ghost-Type Mega most players of these Ubers tiers usually think of (that being mega Gengar) cannot at all switch into a combination of Knock Off into Shadow Sneak unless your opponent has an anti-priority strat on their team
  • Heatmor: Fire Lash is a better Fire Punch, and in tandem with access to ThunderPunch Heatmor could, in theory, try and make something work with a Choice Band set on Sticky Web teams (presumably Shuckle, but Ribombee also works in Gen 7 from what I've heard). This Heatmor obviously won't sweep, and there are better Pokémon that can use this set, but that's not the point; the point is to use Banded Heatmor as a lure against its inevitable switch-ins
  • Carnivine: Same deal with Heatmor, honestly, but this time you're using a Choice Band Grass-Type lure. Grass is admittedly rarely ever the best type in Ubers... like, at all, but the ability to utilize key resistances to Water, Electric, and Ground (and opposing Grass, I suppose) means that while there's obviously going to be better Pokémon for this job, you can at least try and utilize niche move options like Solar Beam against a -1 Speed Primal Groudon (via Sticky Web, most likely) because of its own sun; It won't do a lot of damage, but it should to just enough to help your figure out what Primal Groudon set your opponent's running
  • Crabominable: Pair this thing with one of the Ubers tier's surprisingly wide list of possible Trick Room setters (I'd recommend a Shuca Berry or Air Balloon Dialga as a teammate for this because of Fairy-Types), and with proper timing, you can turn this otherwise gimmicky ice crab into a legit wallbreaking threat that hits nine types for super-effective damage with STAB alone with Stone Edge to slice open Ho-Oh; if you don't want to use Trick Room you could try a gimmicky Focus Sash lead variant but that's going to be prediction-reliant and exploitable (plus Mamoswine runs that strategy better anyways)

Suspicious Derivative said:
Being unable to fly directly between Johto and Kanto in HG/SS.
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This might be a bit of a hot take, but I actually like this decision. The developers making the Indigo League a one-stop shop for Johto/Kanto flying incentives the use of the otherwise useless Magnet Train more, and from an in-game perspective I would imagine it would be hard for most Flying Pokémon (referring to the HM, not the type) to carry a 10-year-old child on its back from, say, Cianwood City all the way to Lavender Town in a single trip with no breaks (those are the furthest apart towns I can think of between the two regions, hence the examples).

Guy with annoying name said:
Unown in a battle
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It's obviously going to fall off later in the game as power creep sets in, but in the Gen 2 games in particular (the physical-special split messed this up a bit in the remakes), 72 base Attack and 72 base Special Attack on a Pokémon whose gimmick is that it can learn one move but that move can be any type... actually isn't that bad for quite some time, being quite a bit stronger than most Pokémon you'll find up until about Goldenrod City. A combination of online IV Calculators and in-game testing can help you figure out what Hidden Power types your Unown have- and that's plural, because multiple Unown = Multiple Hidden Powers.
 
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  • Not being able to run or bike in gatehouses
  • The HGSS Battle Frontier being a carbon copy of Sinnoh's
  • The fact that mobile app games give you access to more Pokemon species than Switch games that cost vastly more
  • Niantic raising the price of remote raid passes and limiting the amount of remote raids one can do in a day
 
If you can say anything remoting convincing about either of these you deserve like 3 more badges:

1) Former Pokemon anime director Masamitsu Hidaka statement that they like to switch up the girls because it gives the boys some new eye candy every once in a while. don't be lame and say "oh but it was a joke" it was in poor taste that's what it was

2) Pokemon Unite's 40 $ skins.
 
bdt2002 said:
This might be a bit of a hot take, but I actually like this decision. The developers making the Indigo League a one-stop shop for Johto/Kanto flying incentives the use of the otherwise useless Magnet Train more,
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Fair enough, but I disagree. I find it extremely inconvenient when I am forced to do a middle landing every single time I travel between the regions. Now I rarely play HG/SS anymore, but back when I played them, I had to travel between Kanto and Johto a lot, doing middle landings all the time just slowed down the momentum far too much. I can see your point about the Magnet Train, but it still feels pretty useless to me since it is slower than flying, despite the middle landings. It also forces you to go to Goldenrod or Saffron, which slows down the pace even further if your desired destination is somewhere else in the regions. That said, I used the Magnet Train a lot in G/S/C. I pretty much always used when I went from Kanto to Johto, but not from Johto to Kanto since doing a middle landing at New Bark Town or Mt. Silver was faster.
bdt2002 said:
and from an in-game perspective I would imagine it would be hard for most Flying Pokémon (referring to the HM, not the type) to carry a 10-year-old child on its back from, say, Cianwood City all the way to Lavender Town in a single trip with no breaks (those are the furthest apart towns I can think of between the two regions, hence the examples).
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This feels like a better explanation, but I don't think it works either. I have been thinking about this and I tried to find a way to make it work from an in-game perspective, but it doesn't really make sense when you look a bit deeper at it. It is very far between Cianwood and Lavender, sure. But even so, you can fly between New Bark and the Safari Zone, yet you can't Fly between New Bark and Pallet even if the distance between those towns is shorter. And I think the worst example is this: if you fly to Mt. Silver (Johto) and then go east until you are in Route 28 (Kanto), you can't fly back to Mt. Silver even if it is the closest area compared to where you are.

Personally, I can't find any way this makes sense (unless there's some technical aspects I'm unaware of, but I doubt it), it just feels like bad game design to me. But if you can find anything more positive to say about it, go ahead!

IDK if you want people to continue the discussion after you have replied, but I wanted to expand my thoughts a bit here.
 
While we're on the topic of responding to the original poster's responses...
bdt2002 said:
While I probably can't do exactly what you're asking, I can confirm that this is naturally what I would expect a three-stage evolution line of Pokémon based off of salt rocks to look like. While not related to Minecraft, I would also like to point out that Nacli bears an extremely strong resemblance to Super Mario Galaxy 2's Rock Mushroom, which I think is really neat. Blocky shape aside, I think comparing these guys and especially Garganacl to Minecraft mobs is like comparing apples to oranges. This could maybe be different if Minecraft ever added a Salt Golem alongside the Iron Golem, but for now, I like that this evolution line is able to incorporate the idea of grinding salt rocks into each of the Pokémon's slate-like design philosophy. While not what I would normally expect from Pokémon, a move like Salt Cure also helps to set these Pokémon apart from other Rock-Type Pokémon. Whether or not the artist wanted to apologize is their decision, but for my money's worth, I love these designs and their possible inspiration sources.
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I still think that at least Naclstack and Garganacl, especially Naclstack, are getting too close to Minecraft mob territory, and given Ariga's diverse set of interests, I have been unable to dismiss a strong and purposeful Minecraft influence from the entire Nacl line. Might be all those years my family and I played Mario games, but I actually don't see Nacli resembling the Rock Mushroom all that much compared to the Rock Mushroom resembling all the other Mario mushrooms such as the Super Mushroom: Nacli's chimney is just too prominent and distinctive.

It's actually mostly the rectangular eyes that make me think Naclstack and Garganacl are this close to copyright infringement. If only Game Freak made the eyes oval or close enough or at least not rectangular like on other pure Rock-type rock elemental mons such as Roggenrola, Rolycoly, and Nosepass, the Nacl line would dodge the comparison. (Yes, I'd also appreciate Gholdengo (especially surfing) getting re-illustrated away from the direction of the Cheestrings mascot on a skateboard, even though I've had to conclude that this resemblance is accidental and poorly thought-out. Baxcalibur being a Godzilla expy was at least non-obvious enough that Smogon failed to see it for days in my recollection, and Godzilla has the distinct "advantage" of being from the 1950s and still mega-popular. Think references to "This Land Is Your Land", especially considering that this song was released in the 1940s.) I've had to modify melodies in my publicly released original compositions away from any and all music by other composers that I've ever heard before. (I release all my music under another username.) I've also had to publicly announce the music I've arranged in all of my arrangements, including arrangements that quote more than one piece. I've even had to announce (less obvious) influences of my compositions. Game Freak should do the same for their art once they've researched they've gotten too close.
 
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