oh i 100% agree move bloat isn't a thing and that move dexit is stupid as hell. but signature moves have just been so boring and/or of a "you better pray this meta-busting mess stays signature" quality lately! signature or not, i want actually interesting moves (or plain but necessary things like, idk, physical flying stab for mons without wings.....)
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(Little) Things that annoy you in Pokémon
- Thread starter BriarRose
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What stands out as "interesting" to you, then? I suppose the easy answer is "it's very subjective" but even just looking at gen 9 real quick there's I spy a number of unique effects or variations on rarely used effects.
how i rate gen 9 signatures by the three Bs - boring, busted or boss (as in, neither boring nor busted). i'd go over each individually but they are sooo many lol
BOSS
flower trick, aqua step, silk trap, bitter blade, spicy extract, gigaton hammer, triple dive (because of the animation.), spin out, mortal spin, order up, hyper drill (because boring was The Point), ruination (almost boring...?), hydro steam, ivy cudgel, burning bulwark, thunderclap
BUSTED
torch song, population bomb, tidy up, salt cure, lumina crash, rage fist, last respects, glaive rush, collision course, electro drift, electro shot, tera starstorm, malignant chain
BORING
double shock, armor cannon, doodle, jet punch, fillet away, twin beam, kowtow cleave, make it rain, psyblade, syrup bomb, mighty cleave
IDK ALL THREE?
marcha gotcha, tachyon cutter, fickle beam
so yeah, the busted ones are more of a problem than the boring ones because some of them are just.. preposterously good and better stay signatures forever??? even some of the ones i ultimately put in boss would be busted in some other hands
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I dunno.... think some of the ones in Boring are pretty interesting.how i rate gen 9 signatures by the three Bs - boring, busted or boss (as in, neither boring nor busted). i'd go over each individually but they are sooo many lol
BOSS
flower trick, aqua step, silk trap, bitter blade, spicy extract, gigaton hammer, triple dive (because of the animation.), spin out, mortal spin, order up, hyper drill (because boring was The Point), ruination, hydro steam, ivy cudgel, burning bulwark, thunderclap
BUSTED
torch song, population bomb, tidy up, salt cure, lumina crash, rage fist, last respects, glaive rush, collision course, electro drift, electro shot, tera starstorm, malignant chain
BORING
double shock, armor cannon, doodle, jet punch, fillet away, twin beam, kowtow cleave, make it rain, psyblade, syrup bomb, mighty cleave
IDK ALL THREE?
marcha gotcha, tachyon cutter, fickle beam
so yeah, the busted ones are more of a problem than the boring ones because some of them are just.. preposterously good and better stay signatures forever??? even some of the ones i ultimately put in boss would be busted in some other hands
Double Shock's effect is very rare, only used on Burn Up and that move is just sort of bizarrely absent from the game (despite...still being in the game, just not learnable by anyone....)
Armor Cannon is special (psychic) close combat, first of its kind there. I wonder if they'd ever consider giving this to other "cannon" Pokemon in the future, despite the lack of "Armor".
Cloning abilities to both you & your ally is pretty cool, the only other way to steal someone's ability is otherwise Skill Swap or Roleplay, so I really like Doodle conceptually.
Fillet Away is...well honestly if I had to assign a "B" to it, it would be "Bad" but I do think it's interesting that it's the only other "lower HP, gain stats" move outside of belly drum to my recollection. Just kinda...not as great (Belly Drum's not just +6, it's a hard set max out to offset the heavy cost; Veluza's not getting much use out of the special attack even if you spec into it)
Syrup Bomb's super interesting! Lowering speed passively for 3 turns is a very unique effect, usually these kind of things are one-and-dones.
Well, like I said it's all subjective, I suppose (I don't quite agree on a few of the busted ones either).
addressing some of these:
syrup bomb is a very new effect and even animation, it's true, but... it's weak AND innacurate so i guess i did need the B of Bad for it and fillet away lol
doodle feels boring exactly because role play exists? yes not very visited, but a status move with limited applications is kind of a one and done deal imo
armor cannon actually would be boss if it was psychic instead of fire. but as a fire move, it just ends up as "fire blast but better because the drawback doesn't really matter". true, if it was given to mons who don't have fire blast but are associated with shooting, it'd be super cool, but as a signature it feels flat
syrup bomb is a very new effect and even animation, it's true, but... it's weak AND innacurate so i guess i did need the B of Bad for it and fillet away lol
doodle feels boring exactly because role play exists? yes not very visited, but a status move with limited applications is kind of a one and done deal imo
armor cannon actually would be boss if it was psychic instead of fire. but as a fire move, it just ends up as "fire blast but better because the drawback doesn't really matter". true, if it was given to mons who don't have fire blast but are associated with shooting, it'd be super cool, but as a signature it feels flat
Doodle also applies to your ally, so it stands out al ittle to me.
Completely overlooked that Armor cannon was Fire and not Psychic. That's on me (I still think it's fine, though), but I guess I was figuring it'd mirror Bitter Bl--wait that is ALSO fire type? Man I even used that one for a raid or two, yeesh.
yeah both are fire, since after all gamefreak is allergic to straightforward physical ghost moves (poltergeist's condition is a given competitively but nonetheless a condition). even with that it could be fire and armor cannon not. they clearly didn't care for symmetry with the sword paradoxes anyway. . .
I feel like there's a few types of signature moves:
So when talking about moves that get made non-signature, what type of Signature move it was originally matters. If they're filling a gap in the movepool, it comes down to whether GF likes that that gap exists or not(phys Electrics must suffer). Unique flavor moves that are basically a reskin of an existing move can get handed out as soon as something else that matches the flavor comes along. Moves debuting new mechanics might be Signature until GF decides whether the mechanic works, then get handed out liberally. Straight upgrades, meanwhile, will probably stay locked to that mon forever.
- Filling a gap in the movepool. If a type doesn't have a good option for phys/spec moves with high power that matches the mon's flavor, invent one.
- Different for the sake of being different. A move that is only changed from existing moves in minor ways, on a mon that gets the original move anyway. Pretty much pure flavor, but sometimes has a niche utility.
- Trying something new. Flying Press or King's Shield sorts of moves that do something we haven't seen in these games before.
- Straight upgrade. "Let's give the Box Legendary a Base 120 move with no drawbacks!" sort of moves.
So when talking about moves that get made non-signature, what type of Signature move it was originally matters. If they're filling a gap in the movepool, it comes down to whether GF likes that that gap exists or not(phys Electrics must suffer). Unique flavor moves that are basically a reskin of an existing move can get handed out as soon as something else that matches the flavor comes along. Moves debuting new mechanics might be Signature until GF decides whether the mechanic works, then get handed out liberally. Straight upgrades, meanwhile, will probably stay locked to that mon forever.
Greninja had 2 signature moves in XY, Water Shuriken and Mat Block.
Y'know, speaking of signature moves and how some of them really don't need to exist, I wonder if Kingambit was originally intended to learn False Surrender before someone on the movepool team remembered that False Surrender is technically performed specifically with the user's hair in the flavor text, so they instead decided to give it a signature move with the exact same typing and flavor as False Surrender minus the whole hair thing, and tacked on 5 extra points of base power as a treat.
Meanwhile, in the flavor text team's corner of the Game Freak office:
"The movepool team has been ignoring the fact that Sacred Sword is a horn-based attack since XY. I think we should rewrite the flavor text to make it less specific."
Meanwhile, in the flavor text team's corner of the Game Freak office:
"The movepool team has been ignoring the fact that Sacred Sword is a horn-based attack since XY. I think we should rewrite the flavor text to make it less specific."
I mean what would a grass type move do for iron leaves? always crit? there is already flower trick. 80 bp grass stab? already Seed bomb, out performed by Leaf blade, best it coulda done was lowering the defense at every hit, but it clearly wasn't the point to interfere with stat boosts for the sword paradoxes. so they went for a psychic type move that's fully accurate and synergies well with it on eterrain.
also syrup bomb is trash, flavor wise, comp-wise, accuracy wise, power-wise, etc.
It would be boosted by Electric Terrain. That's what a Grass move would do for Iron Leaves. They would give it a signature Grass move whose flavor justification for being boosted by Electric Terrain would be just as non-existent as Psyblade, and that would be just as redundant flavor-wise with Leaf Blade as Psyblade is with Psycho Cut.
On the Signature move debate, my hang up is when the approach is done as a band-aid fix to the game's gaps, or even done with no clear thought behind how it functions when put into practice (whether good or bad).
Most immediate example on the latter front: Mountain Gale's flinch chance seems like a logical benefit while giving it reduced accuracy for strong Physical Ice, but then it's put on a Pokemon GF deliberately designed to be too slow to ever go first (and not simply "happening" to be slow like H-Decidueye, Avalugg's design is clearly a lumbering hulk).
The former example meanwhile goes to generic feeling moves that honestly only feel like Signatures because GF doesn't want to cause a uniqueness decay for them (Volt Tackle despite Pikachu getting several gimmicks, half-a-dozen Mascot moves for LGPE and, you know, being the mascot). It's egregious to me when the move doesn't have any unique interactions, it's simply a basic/generic idea that's stuck to this guy (Mystical Fire fell into this category for me in XY initially). These are the kind of moves where there's nothing so unique to the Pokemon that it has a reason to be a signature by name (Gigaton Hammer good, Silk Trap bad given Spiders/Silk spinners are a common bug motif).
Which I think is another point to make: Some people can be very "their lane only" when it comes to evaluating a Mon's popularity or impact on the franchise, whether that's the game's medium or its territory. For a series as big as Pokemon, all the different perspectives can give new ways to explore a mon's value/character if audiences could cross-pollinate or look around: another famous example (albeit this one was humorous and aware) was WolfeGlick's discovery that Urshifu (famously busted in his area of expertise VGC) was bottom tier in Pokemon Unite.
Most immediate example on the latter front: Mountain Gale's flinch chance seems like a logical benefit while giving it reduced accuracy for strong Physical Ice, but then it's put on a Pokemon GF deliberately designed to be too slow to ever go first (and not simply "happening" to be slow like H-Decidueye, Avalugg's design is clearly a lumbering hulk).
The former example meanwhile goes to generic feeling moves that honestly only feel like Signatures because GF doesn't want to cause a uniqueness decay for them (Volt Tackle despite Pikachu getting several gimmicks, half-a-dozen Mascot moves for LGPE and, you know, being the mascot). It's egregious to me when the move doesn't have any unique interactions, it's simply a basic/generic idea that's stuck to this guy (Mystical Fire fell into this category for me in XY initially). These are the kind of moves where there's nothing so unique to the Pokemon that it has a reason to be a signature by name (Gigaton Hammer good, Silk Trap bad given Spiders/Silk spinners are a common bug motif).
Tell that to Pokemon Go players, I'm so sick of fighting that Gatr.
Which I think is another point to make: Some people can be very "their lane only" when it comes to evaluating a Mon's popularity or impact on the franchise, whether that's the game's medium or its territory. For a series as big as Pokemon, all the different perspectives can give new ways to explore a mon's value/character if audiences could cross-pollinate or look around: another famous example (albeit this one was humorous and aware) was WolfeGlick's discovery that Urshifu (famously busted in his area of expertise VGC) was bottom tier in Pokemon Unite.
I think the concept is flawed because people keep trying to act like any starter or legendary is unpopular. They may be overhated, but unpopular is the wrong term. These things are the nepo babies of pokemon, who'll always have attention and fans and some sort of love. Even more polarizing ones like chikorita or tepig
Mountain Gale gaining the flinch chance at all is kind of weird because its debut game it made you slower in the action order, not the opponent.
A few of the L:A moves feel like they should have gotten a second pass when converted to a "regular" game. Mountain Gale's up there (do they just really want it to be a trick room move?) but I also think about Mystic Power which went from dynamically giving you either a defense or offense boost to just always giving +1 Special Attack, Bitter Malice doesn't have the Hex effect or potential to inflict a status (granted it applied Frostbite before and letting it inflict Freeze would be a bit awkward, but still), Shelter getting the evasion effect would have been dumb but also right now it is just Iron Defense but with less PP...
The others are generally fine, either bringing over approximately the same effect or giving it a proper adjustment.
The Bitter Malice one is especially bizarre to me because Frostbite being a Special-Burn I figured would at least translate to affecting the same stat, but instead it lowers Physical Attack instead. Would a Hex-type have been too powerful with or without the stat drop (130 vs 150 BP for a status effect is strong, but Zoroark is a Glass Cannon with just-okay stats)?
Mystic Power I at least sort of get since by affecting the user, it might be hard to work with having to dynamically check 4 stats rather than 2 as in the LA system (by which I mean GF didn't want to bother with it), even if I don't mind the offense-pick since snowballing that side is usually more impactful than defenses unless you do both at once (though +1 ATK/SpA vs +1 DEF/SpD on an un-Tauntable move might have been a bit ridiculous for Stored Power usage).
Shelter should have had a heal. Like 25% Recovery + a Defense boost. A way to restore HP without sinking momentum on a small amount like Life Dew is Goodra's main shortcoming to the way Gamefreak has it designed (A tank with SOME attacking ability in return)
This is purely a personal peeve, but I dislike when Pokedex entries are written in a more informal or "present-tense" style as opposed to a more neutral, encyclopaedic tone, especially when they reference characters and events from the games directly. Yes I know the facts contained therein are often implausible, but if you're rolling with that and suspending disbelief it works better when the facts are presented as... well, facts.
You often get some entries containing lines like "beware its sharp claws" or "caution should be taken when approaching this feral Pokemon", as well as some which speak directly to the reader like Gengar's Sun dex entry or the mini story arc created by Haunter/Gengar's Ultra Moon dex entries. But they're still for the most part relatively generalised and impersonal and describe what the species is like as a whole, so those don't bug me.
Examples of entries I particularly dislike:
Porygon-Z (HGSS/Y dex entry)
Its programming was modified to enable it to travel through alien dimensions. Seems there might have been an error...
This one annoys me because it's like it's speaking directly to the player rather than to a general audience. Maybe they just ran out of ways to rephrase it (because pretty much all of Porygon-Z's dex entries say basically this in different ways) it's poorly written and the ellipsis just comes off as so unprofessional. Maybe it's the essay-writing part of me reacting convulsively...
Lickilicky (Ultra Sun dex entry)
A contest is under way to determine which one can stick its tongue out the farthest. The current record is…more than 82 feet.
Ellipsis again! But also this is just annoyingly current. Are Pokedex entries updated every year? Because otherwise this is the sort of thing that would go out of date very quickly.
Beheeyem (Ultra Sun dex entry)
With its psychic powers, it rewrites its opponents’ memories. You, too, may have already had your memories rewritten.
This one isn't outright bad, it's just trying a little too hard. Many of SM's dex entries were noted for their darker overtones and this one feels like it's just trying to coast off of that by playing up how creepy it would be to have your memories altered. Except it's stupid because there's no reason to think that you'd have ever met a Beheeyem before, and it's stated to only do that to enemies.
Lots of Pokemon have insidious or destructive powers, but there's usually an element of personal accountability involved which is far more engaging to imagine - Drampa will burn down the homes of schoolyard bullies, Ninetales will curse you if you anger it, Bewear will give you a chance to run away. But Beheeyem just... rewrites memories with no apparent cause. Cool. It's about as meaningful as me saying "a meteor could hit your house and kill you tomorrow". Sure it could happen, but it's so abstract and out of your control that it's the sort of thing most people don't waste time worrying about. It's not spooky or threatening, it's just incredibly tame.
Eternatus-Eternamax (Sword dex entry)
As a result of Rose's meddling, Eternatus absorbed all the energy in the Galar region. It's now in a state of power overload.
I don't like this one because it explicitly refers to Rose by name, making it far too specific to SwSh (not that it's likely Eternamax will get a dex entry again in the near future, but still). Yes, the Eternamax form is newly-discovered in the story, but so are lots of the legendary forms encountered during the various games. We don't know whether the Eternamax form existed at any other point before this, but it's overly limiting to say that it only becomes this form when it absorbs all of Galar's energy and makes the dex entry only about that one Eternatus. Even Eternal Flower Floette's dex entry in USUM - though it's technically unused - refers to it in a way that avoids making it sound like an individual.
(also meddling is such a silly word for what actually took place, but then in a way it's oddly fitting as it fits perfectly into the ideal of English understatement, so I can't really fault it)
A more neutral dex entry here would be something like:
When it absorbs a vast amount of energy, Eternatus takes on this form. Holding this level of power causes it to go into overload, distorting the fabric of reality around it.
*Legends:Arceus aside, as those are literally supposed to be field notes written in the first person
You often get some entries containing lines like "beware its sharp claws" or "caution should be taken when approaching this feral Pokemon", as well as some which speak directly to the reader like Gengar's Sun dex entry or the mini story arc created by Haunter/Gengar's Ultra Moon dex entries. But they're still for the most part relatively generalised and impersonal and describe what the species is like as a whole, so those don't bug me.
Examples of entries I particularly dislike:
Porygon-Z (HGSS/Y dex entry)
Its programming was modified to enable it to travel through alien dimensions. Seems there might have been an error...
This one annoys me because it's like it's speaking directly to the player rather than to a general audience. Maybe they just ran out of ways to rephrase it (because pretty much all of Porygon-Z's dex entries say basically this in different ways) it's poorly written and the ellipsis just comes off as so unprofessional. Maybe it's the essay-writing part of me reacting convulsively...
Lickilicky (Ultra Sun dex entry)
A contest is under way to determine which one can stick its tongue out the farthest. The current record is…more than 82 feet.
Ellipsis again! But also this is just annoyingly current. Are Pokedex entries updated every year? Because otherwise this is the sort of thing that would go out of date very quickly.
Beheeyem (Ultra Sun dex entry)
With its psychic powers, it rewrites its opponents’ memories. You, too, may have already had your memories rewritten.
This one isn't outright bad, it's just trying a little too hard. Many of SM's dex entries were noted for their darker overtones and this one feels like it's just trying to coast off of that by playing up how creepy it would be to have your memories altered. Except it's stupid because there's no reason to think that you'd have ever met a Beheeyem before, and it's stated to only do that to enemies.
Lots of Pokemon have insidious or destructive powers, but there's usually an element of personal accountability involved which is far more engaging to imagine - Drampa will burn down the homes of schoolyard bullies, Ninetales will curse you if you anger it, Bewear will give you a chance to run away. But Beheeyem just... rewrites memories with no apparent cause. Cool. It's about as meaningful as me saying "a meteor could hit your house and kill you tomorrow". Sure it could happen, but it's so abstract and out of your control that it's the sort of thing most people don't waste time worrying about. It's not spooky or threatening, it's just incredibly tame.
Eternatus-Eternamax (Sword dex entry)
As a result of Rose's meddling, Eternatus absorbed all the energy in the Galar region. It's now in a state of power overload.
I don't like this one because it explicitly refers to Rose by name, making it far too specific to SwSh (not that it's likely Eternamax will get a dex entry again in the near future, but still). Yes, the Eternamax form is newly-discovered in the story, but so are lots of the legendary forms encountered during the various games. We don't know whether the Eternamax form existed at any other point before this, but it's overly limiting to say that it only becomes this form when it absorbs all of Galar's energy and makes the dex entry only about that one Eternatus. Even Eternal Flower Floette's dex entry in USUM - though it's technically unused - refers to it in a way that avoids making it sound like an individual.
(also meddling is such a silly word for what actually took place, but then in a way it's oddly fitting as it fits perfectly into the ideal of English understatement, so I can't really fault it)
A more neutral dex entry here would be something like:
When it absorbs a vast amount of energy, Eternatus takes on this form. Holding this level of power causes it to go into overload, distorting the fabric of reality around it.
*Legends:Arceus aside, as those are literally supposed to be field notes written in the first person
Not a signature anymore, the Sentret and Minccino lines also get it.
Never was a signature move.
Mountain Gale actually had that flinch chance internally in PLA too. It didn't do anything there (since that game didn't have flinching), but it was already there.
Or just kept the ability to raise both defenses.
sure but both were signatures at some point among the available mons and as IF i would not seize the opportunity to say last respects is busted when it's the Most busted of them all
this but for aipom. what do you MEAN the tiny pure normal monkey with less bst than most middle stages couldn't evolve for two entire generations
at least with tangela they did try to get an evo for it, but it took time to cook. idk why aipom was single stage for so long. i'm not a single stage hater, but i think theres a different design philosophy you need to follow for them, while you could put aipom next to teddiursa mareep meowth and itd be the same thing
100% agree that one-stage mons have something to their design that says "i am my own thing". to keep it same gen, volbeat and illumise are one stages that feel fully realised in their concept, while chimecho feels like it should become something more - and i feel like chingling only made it look More middle stage than it already did? it's not even about stats because chimecho has 455 BST which is solidly fully evolved territory (same as jynx and the hitmons!)
also i know due to the aipom mention the subject will likely evolve to Sinnoh Evolutions: Bad or Boss?, so i am preemptively positioning myself as an ambipom truther
also i know due to the aipom mention the subject will likely evolve to Sinnoh Evolutions: Bad or Boss?, so i am preemptively positioning myself as an ambipom truther
I think most of the time, cross-gen evolutions are more so intended as buffs compared to fully realising a design concept. Purely from a design POV a lot of mons who received them are fine as final stages and were considered as such at the time. Onix, Seadra, Scyther, Misdreavus, Tangela, Murkrow, Rhydon, Stantler, Basculin, Ursaring, Girafarig, Bisharp, and Primeape all made total sense as single or final stage Pokémon for years. They were sometimes on the weaker side of things for sure, but most of these were Pokémon who were just a fine execution of a concept. Praying mantis, or cool antlered deer, or tough looking bear, or anger monkey. These weren’t designs that were crying out for some kind of completion of their designs.
Some feel that way after, like Honchkrow is such a good evolution that it makes Murkrow feel like a pre-evolution, but if Murkrow had just been stronger to start with I don’t really think people would’ve been saying “this needs an evolution”.
It’s why I tend to like baby Pokémon because usually these are more so based around filling out the existing Pokémon’s concept. I disagree with the above post in thinking Chimecho feels like a mid-stage mon, I think it comes across as a pretty complete design especially factoring in Chingling. Bell -> wind chime what more do you want (I know it’s also a yokai but yk).
Something I find more interesting is thinking about the Pokémon that probably could be single-stage Pokémon, either by not being associated with their evolved form but coexisting with it, or just not having that form in the game. Gen 3 in particular has a couple designs that I think “this didn’t need to be an evolutionary family, and actually the base form’s design stands on its own”. Surskit is an obvious option because it had the unique type and doesn’t have much to do with Masquerain biologically. Snorunt is another where Glalie is a very random evolution for it, and they make more sense as two unassociated single-stage Pokémon to me. Obviously the stats of Snorunt and Surskit suck, but stats don’t make inherent sense (why does Snorunt have to have 50 in everything, from a design standpoint) so just change the stats so they’re viable. Snorunt probably with great SpDef and SpAtk and that would give Glalie the chance to be a physical attacker with physical defence which I think its design begs for more. The rounded stats of that evolutionary line are probably because the two designs don’t have a sensible through line to me.
Nowadays a single-stage Pokémon is often like that because of some kind of gimmick, and where evolutionary lines do exist they usually do look very similar to their other stages so this is kind of an older problem in Pokémon IMO, but still interesting to think about.
Some feel that way after, like Honchkrow is such a good evolution that it makes Murkrow feel like a pre-evolution, but if Murkrow had just been stronger to start with I don’t really think people would’ve been saying “this needs an evolution”.
It’s why I tend to like baby Pokémon because usually these are more so based around filling out the existing Pokémon’s concept. I disagree with the above post in thinking Chimecho feels like a mid-stage mon, I think it comes across as a pretty complete design especially factoring in Chingling. Bell -> wind chime what more do you want (I know it’s also a yokai but yk).
Something I find more interesting is thinking about the Pokémon that probably could be single-stage Pokémon, either by not being associated with their evolved form but coexisting with it, or just not having that form in the game. Gen 3 in particular has a couple designs that I think “this didn’t need to be an evolutionary family, and actually the base form’s design stands on its own”. Surskit is an obvious option because it had the unique type and doesn’t have much to do with Masquerain biologically. Snorunt is another where Glalie is a very random evolution for it, and they make more sense as two unassociated single-stage Pokémon to me. Obviously the stats of Snorunt and Surskit suck, but stats don’t make inherent sense (why does Snorunt have to have 50 in everything, from a design standpoint) so just change the stats so they’re viable. Snorunt probably with great SpDef and SpAtk and that would give Glalie the chance to be a physical attacker with physical defence which I think its design begs for more. The rounded stats of that evolutionary line are probably because the two designs don’t have a sensible through line to me.
Nowadays a single-stage Pokémon is often like that because of some kind of gimmick, and where evolutionary lines do exist they usually do look very similar to their other stages so this is kind of an older problem in Pokémon IMO, but still interesting to think about.
I’m surprised you didn’t mentioned Duraludon, given that on it’s own, it does feel like a finalized design complemented by it’s G-Max form, so Archaludon is a crystal clear example of a cross-gen evolution done to buff it.
You’d think that a Pokémon with a solid defensive type and 535 BST could stand on it’s own? But between…
- Abilities that aren’t useful (with Stalwart more specific for Doubles)…
- A middling Speed - too slow to sweep, but also too fast for Trick Room…
- And 50 Special Defense which is abysmal by standards of Pokémon with 535 BST that isn’t Rhyperior, the latter who can take advantage of Trick Room…
It’s not just to buff Duraludon like that; there’s gotta be a new non-special (non-Legendary/Mythical) 600 BST Pokémon for Drayten to use, the Dragon-type Elite Four of Blueberry Academy, and given that GF didn’t want to reuse Hydreigon or any other pseudo-legend for his ace, they did an unprecedented compromise. As said before, it also helped bridging a gap between Duraludon and Tyranitar in power, given that external medias like websites consider them rivals.
Design-wise, Archaludon did have a somewhat divisive reception, but that didn’t stopped it to make it’s name once Regulation H rolled around, and it got put into Ubers soon it entered the Smogon singles and a legitimately viable Pokémon in Smogon Doubles.
Playable Duraludon did remained single-staged in Unite (alongside Pikachu) so there’s that.
Not really. Especially Tangela, even among just the Gen 1 Grass types, it just radiates mid-stage energy.
Murkrow's proportions also read as not fully evolved, it's over 50% head, fully-evolved Pokémon don't do that unless they're entirely head. It's also far to small.
Misdreavus's design is far more in line with Gastly, and later Shuppet and Duskull, than it is with the fully evolved Ghosts.
Seadra's an interesting case here, as while the actual design makes something of a case for that, the Gen 1 sprites read as scraggly Wartortle-esc midstage.
Onix, while large, is a very simple design. If it wasn't huge it probably wouldn't feel like that.
Technically didn't. White Stripe isn't a regional form, it's basically just an entirely separate Pokémon that just shares a national dex number.
Snorunt to Glalie makes plenty of sense. The rock orb sheds its fur parka for ice armor and loses its limbs.