(Little) Things that annoy you in Pokémon

Watched a "Hoenn starters&legendaries vs Sinnoh starters&legendaries" video earlier and honestly... the Sinnoh trio are really underpowered compared to most other legendary trios aren't they? In terms of abilities, specifically.
  • the weather trio get to bring weather with them, making them far more powerful (kind of in Rayquaza's case - Mega Rayquaza corrected this for a time with strong winds)
  • the tao trio get their own versions of Mold Breaker
  • Xerneas and Yveltal get an ability which powers up their signature moves
  • Solgaleo and Lunala get their own versions of Clear Body and Multiscale; this one's kind of skewed as Shadow Shield is far more generally useful but they're both undeniably good abilities to have
  • Zacian and Zamazenta get an automatic stat boost whenever they're switched in (this was nerfed in Gen XI, but is still excellent)
  • Koraidon and Miraidon get an automatic weather/terrain setup whenever they're switched in

While the creation trio just get... Pressure. Quite underwhelming really, and doesn't do anything to make them more powerful or make their signature moves more effective.

Relatedly, Telepathy makes sense as an ability for Origin Palkia (even if it is useless in singles) but it doesn't really suit Origin Dialga; I've seen all kinds of theorycrafting posts for more suitable time-themed abilities. Even Levitate would have been more beneficial.

I wonder if they wanted to focus more on signature moves rather than abilities. Kyogre, Groudon, and Rayquaza didn’t get their own signature moves until ORAS, but they did always have signature abilities. Meanwhile, the only Gen 4 Legendary that got a signature ability was Regigigas (and that’s obviously not intended to be to its benefit), whereas the mascot dragon trio, Heatran, Regigigas, and Cresselia all got signature moves. Feels to me like that was the new toy they were playing around with at the time. Then they started experimenting with combinations of the two in later generations.
 
I wonder if they wanted to focus more on signature moves rather than abilities. Kyogre, Groudon, and Rayquaza didn’t get their own signature moves until ORAS, but they did always have signature abilities. Meanwhile, the only Gen 4 Legendary that got a signature ability was Regigigas (and that’s obviously not intended to be to its benefit), whereas the mascot dragon trio, Heatran, Regigigas, and Cresselia all got signature moves. Feels to me like that was the new toy they were playing around with at the time. Then they started experimenting with combinations of the two in later generations.
Not only that, but all the Hoenn legends and mythics except the weather trio got signature moves. The Regis shared Superpower, Latias had Mist Ball, Latios had Luster Purge, Jirachi had Doom Desire, and Deoxys had Psycho Boost.
 
As a complete tangent, but since I mentioned abilities...it's really weird to me that Zorua/Zoroark don't disguise themselves in the overworld at all in L:A. Illusions are still their entire shtick! SV did do this, and I doubt it was added in response to L:A not doing it. Just a shame.
There is even a Daybreak quest where is kind of implied you are tricked by a Zirua/Zoroark, and a pretty funny scene at the start of that chain of quest where Mai (I think thats her English name) mistakes a transformed Zorua for her Munchlax after claiming she could perfectly tell them apart. So weirdly enough the ability is considered but ignored in the gameplay, with Zorua just being a hidden spawn (and you can catch the alpha Zoroark from the lske trials if I'm not mistaken). It was very fun to see both Ditto and Zorua transform in SV so it's kind of a shame you don't get that in LA.
I wonder if they wanted to focus more on signature moves rather than abilities. Kyogre, Groudon, and Rayquaza didn’t get their own signature moves until ORAS, but they did always have signature abilities. Meanwhile, the only Gen 4 Legendary that got a signature ability was Regigigas (and that’s obviously not intended to be to its benefit), whereas the mascot dragon trio, Heatran, Regigigas, and Cresselia all got signature moves. Feels to me like that was the new toy they were playing around with at the time. Then they started experimenting with combinations of the two in later generations.
This is also kind of what they reinforced with the Origin forms in LA, stats change aside the main change is the power and accuracy of their signature moves. Granted, they couldn't experiment with abilities and it seems they really wanted to make them sidegrades of sorts similar to Giratina (which means that to this day, the Primals are still massively more powerful than them BST wise which is weird if you think about it).
 
The generous read on why the creation trio got a dud ability is that their rare and powerful typings (especially by Gen 4's standards) already made them very threatening. Since Gen 6, power creep has started to leave them behind, but they were very strong on release and in BW.

I definitely agree it's a shame that they haven't been brought in line with their peers in recent gens, though.
 
Watched a "Hoenn starters&legendaries vs Sinnoh starters&legendaries" video earlier and honestly... the Sinnoh trio are really underpowered compared to most other legendary trios aren't they? In terms of abilities, specifically.
  • the weather trio get to bring weather with them, making them far more powerful (kind of in Rayquaza's case - Mega Rayquaza corrected this for a time with strong winds)
  • the tao trio get their own versions of Mold Breaker
  • Xerneas and Yveltal get an ability which powers up their signature moves
  • Solgaleo and Lunala get their own versions of Clear Body and Multiscale; this one's kind of skewed as Shadow Shield is far more generally useful but they're both undeniably good abilities to have
  • Zacian and Zamazenta get an automatic stat boost whenever they're switched in (this was nerfed in Gen XI, but is still excellent)
  • Koraidon and Miraidon get an automatic weather/terrain setup whenever they're switched in

While the creation trio just get... Pressure. Quite underwhelming really, and doesn't do anything to make them more powerful or make their signature moves more effective.

Relatedly, Telepathy makes sense as an ability for Origin Palkia (even if it is useless in singles) but it doesn't really suit Origin Dialga; I've seen all kinds of theorycrafting posts for more suitable time-themed abilities. Even Levitate would have been more beneficial.
I think one thing to keep into account is the time the Mythical Pokemon; Dialga/Palkia/Giratina, were made. Gen 4-5 was the peak of the Dragon type's power. Dragon+Steel/Water/Ghost was some of the best type combos possible at the time. Draco Meteor/Outrage were some of the strongest STAB moves around. Etc, etc.

I assume that they simply didn't see the NEED for this trio to have extra abilities at the time, they were strong enough on raw typing/stats/movepool alone.
 
The generous read on why the creation trio got a dud ability is that their rare and powerful typings (especially by Gen 4's standards) already made them very threatening. Since Gen 6, power creep has started to leave them behind, but they were very strong on release and in BW.

I definitely agree it's a shame that they haven't been brought in line with their peers in recent gens, though.
I feel like that was the intent of the Origin forms since their stats are objectively min-maxed compared to the bases, but then they didn't consider the value of being locked on the item slot to access them (Giratina is mostly carried by Levitate more than making up for item inflexibility in its role) outside of PLA where it was a toggle instead.
 
Anyways, I got reminded of how much I hate Rhyperior's design so here's an unnecesary long rant about it. (Putting it into spoilers just in case someone doesn't care about what a wannabe artist thinks)

I am not aware of what was the fandom's reaction when it was recent as I didn't even have Internet back then. But I have seen ocasionally people talking about how oit of place it looks rather than it being a bad design which is my point.

While I'm not against Rhydon getting an evolution, as you said Rhyperior wasn't what I would have gone with. It didn't feel like they had one solid idea so they went with a whole batch of them (MAYBE they were going for a "one man wrecking crew" idea?).

Then again that is sort of a theme with the Gen IV cross evos. They didn't just want to make a "bigger" version, they wanted something original to add onto the design even if that meant averting from what you would expect. And when you do that, you get a mixed bag of results.

Not sure what I would have done for a Rhydon evo. I don't think adding more drills around the body would look that good. Maybe go for something like making its drill horn bigger and resembling a Tunnel Boring Machine, maybe even go back to being a quadruped (or a half-and-half like Swampert).

While the creation trio just get... Pressure. Quite underwhelming really, and doesn't do anything to make them more powerful or make their signature moves more effective.

I wonder if maybe the reason for this is due to how centralizing the Super Ancient Trio might have been. Groudon and Kyogre were the only Pokemon with Drought and Drizzle so any serious competitive Sun or Rain team would want their respective Super Ancient Pokemon. Meanwhile Rayquaza not only neutralized weather, which thanks to Groudon and Kyogre would become a strong meta choice, but it was super powerful all on its own partially due to the Dragon-type.

Go to Gen IV, the next Mascot Legendaries are ALL Dragon-types, and their Type combinations really made them difficult to take down (and combine with Pressure meant they could potentially mill the opponent's strongest Moves). And, though they didn't get Signature Abilities, they did get Signature Moves, and being this was the gen that had the Physical-Special Split them having their Signature Moves tailor made to be useful (STAB and going off highest offense stat) gave them a big leg up as other Pokemon adjusted. So, overall I don't think they needed Signature Abilities as, at least for Gen IV, they were already in pretty good shape. Infact I can only imagine giving them a Signature Move would require some stat and movepool restructuring. Like maybe Dialga would have an Ability version or Trick Room while Palkia would have an Ability version of Gravity.

As a complete tangent, but since I mentioned abilities...it's really weird to me that Zorua/Zoroark don't disguise themselves in the overworld at all in L:A. Illusions are still their entire shtick! SV did do this, and I doubt it was added in response to L:A not doing it. Just a shame.

Well according to the dex H-Zorua and H-Zoroark don't use their illusion power the same way as their normal (living) counterparts. They use their illusion power to conjure horrifying images to hurt the living. Now, it does say they can disguise themselves as another being, but that more seems to be a secondary function they use to trick into getting food (and likely added to justify keeping the Ability Illusion).
 
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Most of my argument for Brave Bird comes from Aerodactyl's Dex entries making it sound like an aggressive flying predator, and I'd probably advocate that even without Rock Head compared to Head Smash. I think a Signature at that point would feel a little redundant if it has the downside specifically to circumvent with the otherwise unused ability. Not without merit if it was 100 Accuracy vs Stone Edge but feels like a 3-rights-for-a-left approach to the move flavor.

Honestly I'm still stuck on the Tough Claws over Strong Jaw thing.

Revisiting this a few months later, I'd argue the consensus should be it gets headlong rush or brave bird, once the Kalos remakes come through, head smash is probs too op and is too much for a natdex because of Tera and sends it to RUBL or UUBL??

I'm saying this for Base Aero cause Mega Aero does kinda benefit less from Head Smash since it consumes half of its HP cause of the modifed recoil,

Headlong rushes TLDR is basically close combat for rock types so it makes to slap it on other rock types like they did with Liquidation and Flip Turn for waters and rock doesn't have a 100+ BP move, along with U-Turn that can really shake up the metagame but I wouldn't be surprised if MegaAero gets banned for the same reason they yeeted Mega Gross

Nevertheless I don't mind the idea of other X and Y evolution alternatives, it'd be cool to get a Mega Variant thats Steel/Fly or Water/Fly, or even Dark/Fly

After all we got Mewtwo and Charizard X and Y, although Mewtwo really didn't need a Mega
 
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While I'm not against Rhydon getting an evolution, as you said Rhyperior wasn't what I would have gone with. It didn't feel like they had one solid idea so they went with a whole batch of them (MAYBE they were going for a "one man wrecking crew" idea?).

Then again that is sort of a theme with the Gen IV cross evos. They didn't just want to make a "bigger" version, they wanted something original to add onto the design even if that meant averting from what you would expect. And when you do that, you get a mixed bag of results.

Not sure what I would have done for a Rhydon evo. I don't think adding more drills around the body would look that good. Maybe go for something like making its drill horn bigger and resembling a Tunnel Boring Machine, maybe even go back to being a quadruped (or a half-and-half like Swampert).



I wonder if maybe the reason for this is due to how centralizing the Super Ancient Trio might have been. Groudon and Kyogre were the only Pokemon with Drought and Drizzle so any serious competitive Sun or Rain team would want their respective Super Ancient Pokemon. Meanwhile Rayquaza not only neutralized weather, which thanks to Groudon and Kyogre would become a strong meta choice, but it was super powerful all on its own partially due to the Dragon-type.

Go to Gen IV, the next Mascot Legendaries are ALL Dragon-types, and their Type combinations really made them difficult to take down (and combine with Pressure meant they could potentially mill the opponent's strongest Moves). And, though they didn't get Signature Abilities, they did get Signature Moves, and being this was the gen that had the Physical-Special Split them having their Signature Moves tailor made to be useful (STAB and going off highest offense stat) gave them a big leg up as other Pokemon adjusted. So, overall I don't think they needed Signature Abilities as, at least for Gen IV, they were already in pretty good shape. Infact I can only imagine giving them a Signature Move would require some stat and movepool restructuring. Like maybe Dialga would have an Ability version or Trick Room while Palkia would have an Ability version of Gravity.



Well according to the dex H-Zorua and H-Zoroark don't use their illusion power the same way as their normal (living) counterparts. They use their illusion power to conjure horrifying images to hurt the living. Now, it does say they can disguise themselves as another being, but that more seems to be a secondary function they use to trick into getting food (and likely added to justify keeping the Ability Illusion).

Its weird to me how Rhydon is literally and figuratively the first ever Pokemon and yet it didn't get a Mega, but then I remember Rhyperior exists so that's probably why along with Electrivire, it makes it a confusing situation cause people want both to get megas but they're confusing mons to evolve, and that was my assumption why, most mons that have Megas are run of the mills starters or standard evos to no evos
 
Its weird to me how Rhydon is literally and figuratively the first ever Pokemon and yet it didn't get a Mega, but then I remember Rhyperior exists so that's probably why along with Electrivire, it makes it a confusing situation cause people want both to get megas but they're confusing mons to evolve, and that was my assumption why, most mons that have Megas are run of the mills starters or standard evos to no evos
I doubt evolution method played a big role in what did/didn't get megas. We have 2 that evolve by regular trade, one that evolves by stone given to a specific gender and relevant to the pair you mentioned, 2 that evolve by trade with an item

I think they just de-prioritized Gen 4 Megas, for whatever reason. Maybe they thought they were recent enough to not give a lot to them compared to gens 1-3.
 
I doubt evolution method played a big role in what did/didn't get megas. We have 2 that evolve by regular trade, one that evolves by stone given to a specific gender and relevant to the pair you mentioned, 2 that evolve by trade with an item

I think they just de-prioritized Gen 4 Megas, for whatever reason. Maybe they thought they were recent enough to not give a lot to them compared to gens 1-3.

Ok fair point, I was probably just overthinking it,
we should definitely get Gen 4 Megas this time around if anything though, I can't really see how they could sidestep that but then again this is gamefreak
 
Revisiting this a few months later, I'd argue the consensus should be it gets headlong rush or brave bird, once the Kalos remakes come through, head smash is probs too op and is too much for a natdex because of Tera and sends it to RUBL or UUBL??

I'm saying this for Base Aero cause Mega Aero does kinda benefit less from Head Smash since it consumes half of its HP cause of the modifed recoil,

Headlong rushes TLDR is basically close combat for rock types so it makes to slap it on other rock types like they did with Liquidation and Flip Turn for waters and rock doesn't have a 100+ BP move, along with U-Turn that can really shake up the metagame but I wouldn't be surprised if MegaAero gets banned for the same reason they yeeted Mega Gross

Nevertheless I don't mind the idea of other X and Y evolution alternatives, it'd be cool to get a Mega Variant thats Steel/Fly or Water/Fly, or even Dark/Fly

After all we got Mewtwo and Charizard X and Y, although Mewtwo really didn't need a Mega
Minor thing, Headlong Rush is a Ground Type move, so while Aero would definitely appreciate it (stronger than EQ at base, much less if Mega comes back with Tough Claws), it would be replacing coverage rather than STAB for it.

That said I don't see Headlong for it, because the mons it's currently accessible to all share a general theme of huge, bulky, and slow/cumbersome builds to match the move's origin as a Sumo Wrestling term, something Aerodactyl doesn't conform to very much.
 
Ok fair point, I was probably just overthinking it,
we should definitely get Gen 4 Megas this time around if anything though, I can't really see how they could sidestep that but then again this is gamefreak
We probably will but I am guessing there likely wont be very many just because the pool of available gens to make megas out of has expanded considerably. Even if they mark Gen 8 & 9 as a no-go, and maybe give Gen 3 a rest since it had major ORAS focus, it's still 6 generations of Pokemon to draw on.
 
Minor thing, Headlong Rush is a Ground Type move, so while Aero would definitely appreciate it (stronger than EQ at base, much less if Mega comes back with Tough Claws), it would be replacing coverage rather than STAB for it.

That said I don't see Headlong for it, because the mons it's currently accessible to all share a general theme of huge, bulky, and slow/cumbersome builds to match the move's origin as a Sumo Wrestling term, something Aerodactyl doesn't conform to very much.

AHHHHH im so dumb, I didn't even look,

forget I said that, lmao
 
:sm/pikachu-rock-star::sm/pikachu-pop-star::sm/pikachu-belle::sm/pikachu-libre::sm/pikachu-phd:

They designed unique costumes for each of the contest categories and the cowards at Game Freak gender-locked the player into only one of them.

Let May and Branden be luchadors, Game Freak.
I had completely forgotten about the Cosplay Pikachus before this post and now I'm wondering if they are gonna return in Legends Z-A. Spiky Eared Pichu wasn't in Arceus so probably not...?
 
Funny thing is, IIRC Masuda actually mentioned in an interview that they came up with the idea of a costumed Pikachu during development on XY, but couldn’t really figure out a good place for the idea in those games. Then ORAS turned out to be a naturally good fit because of Contests.

Though that’s not to say that I think Cosplay Pikachu show up in Z-A. I’m assuming she’ll spend forever locked to ORAS.
 
My logic is that Legends Arceus made a point of including every Pokemon design introduced in DP, including those incongruous with the setting like the fossils and Porygon-Z. It's a bit muddier for Z-A because of the ORAS megas, however there was a corocoro scan which seemingly confirmed they'll all be back in a blurb with Mega Salamence's stock art on it. Therefore, if Game Freak considers the Cosplay Pikachus a major Gen 6 design, they'll presumably find some sort of way to bring them back. It wouldn't even be that hard to disassociate them from contests since like Ashley said Kalos is supposed to be the region of beauty and style anyway, could easily give them an interaction with Style Points or some such.
 
It's a bit muddier for Z-A because of the ORAS megas, however there was a corocoro scan which seemingly confirmed they'll all be back in a blurb with Mega Salamence's stock art on it.
I think that was just a rumour that got out of hand. The blurb on the page just says it's the mega evolutions Nitouryu Kohma (the guy next to the box who is a CoroCoro editor) personally likes. (コーマが好きなメガシンカポケモンはコレ!)


GLL60P3XcAA106D
 
My logic is that Legends Arceus made a point of including every Pokemon design introduced in DP, including those incongruous with the setting like the fossils and Porygon-Z. It's a bit muddier for Z-A because of the ORAS megas, however there was a corocoro scan which seemingly confirmed they'll all be back in a blurb with Mega Salamence's stock art on it. Therefore, if Game Freak considers the Cosplay Pikachus a major Gen 6 design, they'll presumably find some sort of way to bring them back. It wouldn't even be that hard to disassociate them from contests since like Ashley said Kalos is supposed to be the region of beauty and style anyway, could easily give them an interaction with Style Points or some such.
I would not even remotely put Cosplay Pikachu into the same bin as "the gen 4 throw back game is probably going to include all the gen 4 pokemon".

Cosplay Pikachu was a gimmicky form you can't even bring forward, from a Hoenn game, attached very specifically to a side mode. At least with the ORAS Megas -while also being from a Hoenn game- they are still Mega Evolution: one of the key Kalos features.
 
:sm/pikachu-rock-star::sm/pikachu-pop-star::sm/pikachu-belle::sm/pikachu-libre::sm/pikachu-phd:

They designed unique costumes for each of the contest categories and the cowards at Game Freak gender-locked the player into only one of them.

Let May and Branden be luchadors, Game Freak.
I've complained before and will again, GF is OBSESSED with letting the player only customize their char in ways GF approves of. They hate anything that is even slightly odd with gender and have artificially limited options for basically no reason on many occasions(how many gens did it take for women to be able to NOT carry a purse?).

Like, I'm not asking for a Saint's Row bulge slider or prosthetic limbs(though they should do that), but a character who wears larger than a size 2, actual color options for clothes, and removal of gender restrictions seem like basic options.
 
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