Little things you like about Pokémon

Helps that Team Skull grunts are in fact supposed to be pathetic and shows it well, with only Plumeria and Guzma being any actual threat.

The poor boys and girls out there really had a rough life underneath their rough skin.
Another reason why I like Team Skull so much. They're absolutely pathetic but the game doesn't try to hype them up as a big threat, just more of a nuisance.

That's why I was surprised when Guzma massacred 90% of my team
 
I recently learned that the legendary beasts start roaming Johto in the early-mid game. I think that's a really good way to handle roaming Pokemon compared to the "single legendary that starts roaming after beating the Elite 4" approach used in several future games, for two reasons. First, having three Pokemon roaming around at once increases your chances of running into something threefold. Second, because they start roaming fairly early in the game, you can hunt for them and play the actual game at the same time. As you travel the region making story progress, you'll naturally run into the beasts, as opposed to being dumped into the postgame like "lol this Pokemon can be anywhere in the entire map fuck you hope you like route boarders".
 

The Mind Electric

Calming if you look at it right.
I recently learned that the legendary beasts start roaming Johto in the early-mid game. I think that's a really good way to handle roaming Pokemon compared to the "single legendary that starts roaming after beating the Elite 4" approach used in several future games, for two reasons. First, having three Pokemon roaming around at once increases your chances of running into something threefold. Second, because they start roaming fairly early in the game, you can hunt for them and play the actual game at the same time. As you travel the region making story progress, you'll naturally run into the beasts, as opposed to being dumped into the postgame like "lol this Pokemon can be anywhere in the entire map fuck you hope you like route boarders".
This wasn't really my experience. I basically never ran into any of them during my playthrough of HG, and had to go back and hunt them later in the game which took ages. I think the genies in B/W are the best-handled roamers, even though I still think all roamers are dumb, for a few reasons:

1. Their location at any given time is predictable because it's based on the time of day.
2. If you don't know where they are, the news bulletins in those buildings between routes can tell you by talking about a storm on a certain route.
3. If you're on the same route as them, it starts storming really hard so you know.

These features are really nice for when you're me and end up using your Master Ball on something else and need to hunt the roamer the old-fashioned way.
 
These features are really nice for when you're me and end up using your Master Ball on something else and need to hunt the roamer the old-fashioned way.
Yeah, I never use my master ball on legendaries/roamers. It's annoying to hunt them manually, but running into a shiny Graveler/Electrode/Wimpod without being ready to catch them is worse.

The best setup for roamers is really based on what GF is trying to do. Johto, the Beasts are like hitting 777. They're all seriously OP and available from the midgame, but encountering one is completely random, and the combo of Roar+running away means that your best option is probably just spamming Ultra Balls from full. Getting one means that you have a massive advantage over everything from there until Mt Silver, but you can never plan to get one. RSE/BW, the roamers are a late-game award, and you're expected to be actively hunting them, so things that make that not incredibly frustrating are a good idea.
 

QuentinQuonce

formerly green_typhlosion
Stones absolutely should be easy to acquire because their entire gameplay purpose is "evolve now for immediate power boost but a truncated moveset, or evolve later but you're using a worse pokemon for longer to get better moves"

how well that actually works varies pokemon to pokemon, but it's the general conceit. Contrast with Trade evolution, which is nothing but upshots to offset needing another game to trade with*
You make a valid point but my post was specifically about lore over gameplay mechanics. The stones are presented as mysterious and magical items, so it's a little off to have them infinitely available from a shop. So, as much as I do appreciate the convenience of buying them, it breaks the immersion for me. As I said, I think Sinnoh's method of acquiring stones (frustrating though some might have found it) strikes the best balance between adhering to the lore and maintaining decent gameplay.

It certainly beats some games where you might not find a Fire Stone until way into the story after the 6th gym or something. The Underground is available all the time, so you can pause the story and spend as long as you like digging. Yes, some people will find it frustrating to find the stone they want due to the whims of RNG, but the same can be said for pretty much every other aspect of the series. I spent a lot of time in the Underground back in the day and I've personally never had to look for hours to get the item I wanted, but that's by the by.

I recently learned that the legendary beasts start roaming Johto in the early-mid game. I think that's a really good way to handle roaming Pokemon compared to the "single legendary that starts roaming after beating the Elite 4" approach used in several future games, for two reasons. First, having three Pokemon roaming around at once increases your chances of running into something threefold. Second, because they start roaming fairly early in the game, you can hunt for them and play the actual game at the same time. As you travel the region making story progress, you'll naturally run into the beasts, as opposed to being dumped into the postgame like "lol this Pokemon can be anywhere in the entire map fuck you hope you like route boarders".
What's neat is that they all start in Ecruteak and spread outwards to the three adjacent routes rather than just starting in a random spot as one might assume. It means that you're more likely to run into them straight away upon leaving Ecruteak. In fact quite a lot of online guides I've seen have said something to the effect of "after releasing the beasts, go to Route 38 and Entei will be there", presumably not realising why this is.

By contrast the strategy guide for RS I had as a child didn't even bother trying to come up with a strategy for helping you catch your respective Lati. Its advice was literally "don't worry about catching it and just play the game normally, and you'll come across it eventually". Underwhelming.
 

ScraftyIsTheBest

On to new Horizons!
is a Top Contributor Alumnusis a Smogon Media Contributor Alumnus
This might be a bit of something minor since I'm kind of a gadget nerd, but one thing I like about the player character's room in almost all of the mainline games so far is that the player almost always owns the corresponding counterpart Nintendo home console to the handheld console that the game in question is on.

The only exceptions are the original GSC, where there is no console in sight in the player's room, but going down the list:

  • Gen 1 (Red, Blue, and Yellow) are on the Game Boy. The player in these games owns the SNES, which was the main Nintendo console at the time of the Game Boy's prime.
  • Gen 3 (Ruby, Sapphire, and Emerald) are on the Game Boy Advance. The player in these games owns a GameCube, Nintendo's main console coexisting with GBA in the early 2000s.
  • Gens 4 and 5 (DPP, HGSS, BW, and BW2) are on the DS. The players in these games own a Wii, obviously the mid-late 2000s/early 2010s main Nintendo platform alongside the DS
  • Gens 6 and 7 (XY, ORAS, SM) are on the 3DS. The players in these games own a Wii U, the main Nintendo home console at the time of the early-mid 2010s complementing the 3DS.
  • USUM is late Gen 7 but in this case the player owns a Switch, as that had just come out that same year.
  • And now we head into Let's Go and Gen 8 (SwSh and BDSP), which are on the Switch. Now, at this point, Nintendo no longer has a separate home console and portable console co-existing at the same time, as the Switch has homogenized itself as a hybrid console that is both home and portable, so the Switch in and of itself performs both niches. So of course, the player character in these games owns a Switch. But what's even neater is that the Switch's Joy Con colors in-game in SwSh (and presumably BDSP too) correspond to the colors of the Switch Joy Cons you are using in real life on your actual Switch. So if you have a red+blue Joy con combo, the Switch shown in-game will have red and blue Joy Cons. If you're using gray Joy-Cons, the Switch in-game in SwSh and BDSP will have gray Joy-cons as well.
The exception to the rule is FRLG, which for whatever reason decided the player in their house should have an NES, a console that was already far past its prime at the time (and even when Pokemon started), so that breaks the trend. And of course the original Johto games have no console in sight for whatever reason.

It's a fun little touch for the player characters' homes where they own a home console that is corresponding to the one that co-exists with the handheld each game is on in question (SNES and Game Boy, GameCube and GBA, Wii and DS, Wii U and 3DS). As someone who's a bit of a gadget geek seeing this in every game puts a little smile on my face every time.
 
You make a valid point but my post was specifically about lore over gameplay mechanics. The stones are presented as mysterious and magical items, so it's a little off to have them infinitely available from a shop. So, as much as I do appreciate the convenience of buying them, it breaks the immersion for me. As I said, I think Sinnoh's method of acquiring stones (frustrating though some might have found it) strikes the best balance between adhering to the lore and maintaining decent gameplay.

It certainly beats some games where you might not find a Fire Stone until way into the story after the 6th gym or something. The Underground is available all the time, so you can pause the story and spend as long as you like digging. Yes, some people will find it frustrating to find the stone they want due to the whims of RNG, but the same can be said for pretty much every other aspect of the series. I spent a lot of time in the Underground back in the day and I've personally never had to look for hours to get the item I wanted, but that's by the by.
I mean if we're being real here lore-wise they're kind of ignored and at most treated like jewelry...

Anyway the lore sucks if that's what they want.
 

Pikachu315111

Ranting & Raving!
is a Community Contributoris a Top Smogon Media Contributor
You make a valid point but my post was specifically about lore over gameplay mechanics. The stones are presented as mysterious and magical items, so it's a little off to have them infinitely available from a shop. So, as much as I do appreciate the convenience of buying them, it breaks the immersion for me. As I said, I think Sinnoh's method of acquiring stones (frustrating though some might have found it) strikes the best balance between adhering to the lore and maintaining decent gameplay.
If immersion gets in the way of gameplay, then it must be dropped. As simple as that. It's not important in a game.
And I'll be the one to take the middle route.

Immersion and gameplay are both important yet a hard thing to balance. I would lean more with gameplay, but I wouldn't completely toss out trying to set immersion.

Here's an idea concerning the Stone Shop. It exists, but with Evolution Stones being so rare they just don't sell a stone to anyone. No, the Stone Shop will only sell you a Stone if you have a Pokemon in your party that can evolve via Evolution Stone. If you want to go a step further, maybe the Stone Shop doesn't sell stones but rather is someplace that you can evolve a Pokemon via Stone Evolutions; you select the Pokemon, buy the Stone, and the Pokemon evolves. Meanwhile, if you don't want to spend money, you can find Stones another way (in exchange for time looking/grinding for it) so that you can evolve your Pokemon whenever/wherever you want or can sell to the Stone Shop for a higher price than at the normal Mart.

You still get the idea that Evolution Stones are rare or at least not easy to come by, but at the same time not totally lock out players who just want an easy place to evolve their Pokemon (and, as a bonus, have a preferred place to sell your extra Stones making them feel a bit more special value wise).

This might be a bit of something minor since I'm kind of a gadget nerd, but one thing I like about the player character's room in almost all of the mainline games so far is that the player almost always owns the corresponding counterpart Nintendo home console to the handheld console that the game in question is on.
Don't forget until Gen VI that the Pokedex was based on the Nintendo Handheld it was being played on. After that they've been based on typical mobile devices. In addition the accompanying "Tool" device too had basis on some device of the time:

* Gen I & II: General shape of the Dexes were based on the Game Boy & Game Boy Color (at least when closed; though the inside setup of the screen on top & and button layout is meant to reflect the GB & GBC).

In addition the top flap of the Johto Dex is a reference to the GB Camera.

Also, the PokeGear at this time resembled the mobile phones of the time (in addition the antenna on the Johto Dex could be a reference to mobile phones of the time as well).

* RSE: Though the image doesn't get it across, the flap is supposed to turn all the way around. This makes it look more like a Game Boy Advance.

I'm not so clear what the PokeNav is based on, guessing a dedicated GPS Tracking device.

* FRLG: Kanto's Gen III Dex is meant to look like a GBA SP.

Note sure what the Vs. Seeker is based on, maybe a pager/beeper?

* Sinnoh: Resembles a Nintendo DS.

Poketch is a smart watch.


* HGSS: Johto's Gen IV Dex is also a DS, possibly a DSi with how much sleeker it looks compared to the Sinnoh Dex. Also the panels on the side look like the touchscreen pens.


PokeGear I at first thought looked like a flip phone to reference its old mobile phone design, but when opened it looks like a DS.


* Unova: Resembles a combination of a 3DS and a slide phone.


C-Gear is another smart watch but now with video phone; in a way it's also a bit of a 3DS as the 3DS had video chat.

* Kalos: Resembled a tablet.

Holo Caster is a hologram device which doesn't exist yet (at least not on the scale as the Holo Caster).

* ORAS: Hoenn's Gen VI goes old school and looks exactly like a GBA.

Likewise, the PokeNav Plus was designed after the GBA SP.

* Alola: Rotom Dex seems to be its own thing, at the very least its another tablet. MAYBE there's a bit of the Wii U.


* LGPE: Didn't realize this but they redesigned the Kanto Pokedex in Let's Go. Instead of a Game Boy it's now a tablet computer.

* Galar: Gives up all pretense and just makes it a smartphone.

* Hisui: Just a book.
 

Samtendo09

Ability: Light Power
is a Pre-Contributor
I love how Mimikyu succeeded in becoming a breakout fan favorite, handily beating Pikachu in the 2020 Pokemon of the Year poll. That's such an awesome IRL conclusion to its arc
It’s not difficult to see why.
  1. Sincerety vs artificial: Mimikyu really wanted to be popular like Pikachu, and clearly tried its best with silly yet charming scribbles on the face of the disguise. This is contrasting with the Pika-Clones, which have no explanations why they looked like Pikachu (having a common ancestor will be enough explanation at this point) or a lampshade on the resemblance, to the point they feels insincere and made just for marketing purposes. At least Pachirisu and Togedemaru saw success in VGC, but only to a point.
  2. Useful throughout the game: Ghost / Fairy is a great typing in general, and Disguise is pretty powerful for an Ability, which both together helps Mimikyu from being otherwise mediocre as none of its stats are outstanding. Finding one wouldn’t be an easy task though, but it does make capturing a Mimikyu all the more rewarding.
  3. Lore that the design intergrated and why it worked: As I said in Case 1, Mimikyu disguises as a Pikachu to become popular and beloved. It worked not (just) because it mimics Pikachu‘s design, but the disguise is adorable and is reminiscent of a child who did a crude but charming drawing of their favorite character.
It helps that each Mimikyu have an individual reason to disguise as a Pikachu. The prominent one in the anime that sided with Team Rocket, for example, have a morbidly intense hatred toward the Pikachu species due to jealousy (or something else, didn’t watched much of SM anime) and is already indicated that this is not a Mimikyu like the others.
 
It’s not difficult to see why.
  1. Sincerety vs artificial: Mimikyu really wanted to be popular like Pikachu, and clearly tried its best with silly yet charming scribbles on the face of the disguise. This is contrasting with the Pika-Clones, which have no explanations why they looked like Pikachu (having a common ancestor will be enough explanation at this point)
I am now imagining that one day we our generational pikaclone is a Fossil pokemon
 
This might be a bit of something minor since I'm kind of a gadget nerd, but one thing I like about the player character's room in almost all of the mainline games so far is that the player almost always owns the corresponding counterpart Nintendo home console to the handheld console that the game in question is on.

The only exceptions are the original GSC, where there is no console in sight in the player's room, but going down the list:

  • Gen 1 (Red, Blue, and Yellow) are on the Game Boy. The player in these games owns the SNES, which was the main Nintendo console at the time of the Game Boy's prime.
  • Gen 3 (Ruby, Sapphire, and Emerald) are on the Game Boy Advance. The player in these games owns a GameCube, Nintendo's main console coexisting with GBA in the early 2000s.
  • Gens 4 and 5 (DPP, HGSS, BW, and BW2) are on the DS. The players in these games own a Wii, obviously the mid-late 2000s/early 2010s main Nintendo platform alongside the DS
  • Gens 6 and 7 (XY, ORAS, SM) are on the 3DS. The players in these games own a Wii U, the main Nintendo home console at the time of the early-mid 2010s complementing the 3DS.
  • USUM is late Gen 7 but in this case the player owns a Switch, as that had just come out that same year.
  • And now we head into Let's Go and Gen 8 (SwSh and BDSP), which are on the Switch. Now, at this point, Nintendo no longer has a separate home console and portable console co-existing at the same time, as the Switch has homogenized itself as a hybrid console that is both home and portable, so the Switch in and of itself performs both niches. So of course, the player character in these games owns a Switch. But what's even neater is that the Switch's Joy Con colors in-game in SwSh (and presumably BDSP too) correspond to the colors of the Switch Joy Cons you are using in real life on your actual Switch. So if you have a red+blue Joy con combo, the Switch shown in-game will have red and blue Joy Cons. If you're using gray Joy-Cons, the Switch in-game in SwSh and BDSP will have gray Joy-cons as well.
The exception to the rule is FRLG, which for whatever reason decided the player in their house should have an NES, a console that was already far past its prime at the time (and even when Pokemon started), so that breaks the trend. And of course the original Johto games have no console in sight for whatever reason.

It's a fun little touch for the player characters' homes where they own a home console that is corresponding to the one that co-exists with the handheld each game is on in question (SNES and Game Boy, GameCube and GBA, Wii and DS, Wii U and 3DS). As someone who's a bit of a gadget geek seeing this in every game puts a little smile on my face every time.
In addition, the decorations for Gen IV secret bases include a "Game System" that's clearly a Wii,.
 
I love how Mimikyu succeeded in becoming a breakout fan favorite, handily beating Pikachu in the 2020 Pokemon of the Year poll. That's such an awesome IRL conclusion to its arc
I agree. It is quite a big difference between Pikachu and Mimikyu in the poll, Mimikyu got #3 while Pikachu is as far down as #19! Mimikyu also beat Charizard. It is really awesome to see Mimikyu get the love it always wanted and deserved. From the fandom, if nothing else.

Speaking of Mimikyu, this is a good opportunity to give it some extra praise. It can never get too much love! I really like Mimikyu, and so do many others if we go by the poll results (and from what I have seen in the fandom on the whole).

:sm/Mimikyu:
Mimikyu is just a great Pokémon in every way. It is definitely one of my top 5 favorite Pokémon from Gen 7. Design-wise, it feels like the first really creepy Fairy-type, which is a great contrast to the more cutesy Fairy-types from Gen 6. It tries to be cute, but upon a closer inspection, it is obvious that something is very wrong with it. Mimikyu wants to be loved, so it tries to look like Pikachu. Unfortunately, it only ends up looking creepy instead. Fortunately, it ended up getting a lot of love from the fandom for what it is, not for what it tries to be (or maybe for that too, I’m not really sure).

Battle-wise, it has fairly good stats and a really great signature Ability in Disguise. It also has a signature Z-move, which is cool. It has a unique type combination which I am personally very fond of as Fairy and Ghost are my two favorite types. I also think it is a great Pokémon when it comes to drawing or painting. Even if you are bad at drawing, or maybe especially if you are bad at drawing(?), you can't really do it wrong. When drawing Mimikyu, it doesn’t really matter if it ends up being bad or wrong since Mimikyu is supposed to be a bit flawed. In fact, I think that just adds to the charm of it. I drew/painted a Mimikyu a few years ago and I think it turned out pretty good even if I am terrible at drawing. On the whole, I love this Pokémon. Mimikyu is love. Mimikyu is life.

Next, I thought a bit about receiving starter Pokémon. At first, I considered receiving them at the Professor’s Lab as the “standard” location where you get them… but then I realized that it isn’t really the standard location at all! Because the situations where you receive your starter at the Professor’s Lab are actually quite uncommon. Let’s take a look at where you receive the starter Pokémon in all the regions.

Kanto: Professor Oak’s Lab in Pallet Town.
Johto: Professor Elm’s Lab in New Bark Town.
Hoenn: Route 101, you have to pick one to rescue Professor Birch.
Sinnoh: You have to pick one at Lake Verity to fight the wild Starly (D/P) or you get it from Professor Rowan on Route 201 (Platinum).
Unova: In your room in Nuvema Town as a gift (B/W) or from Bianca at the lookout in Aspertia City (B2/W2).
Kalos: From your friends in Aquacorde Town.
Alola: From Hala in Iki Town (S/M) or from Kukui on Route 1 (US/UM).
Galar: From Leon in Postwick.

The Kanto and Johto games are the only ones where you get your starter at the Professor’s Lab. Which means that getting your starter at the Professor’s Lab is not the standard in the series, and that’s honestly really cool. Also, now that I look back at all of the ways and locations where you obtain your starter, it has even been different within a generation when it comes to the generations with more than one game set in the same region, starting from Gen 4. That’s interesting and cool.

In my previous post here, I wrote about my favorite Alolan forms, and about Alolan forms in general. After that, I thought about specific groups of Pokémon for a bit and decided to post about another specific group of Pokémon which I am a big fan of: Mega Evolutions. So here are some short words about my favorite Megas from both X/Y and OR/AS. I have given praise to some of them in the past, but I guess I’ll do it again for those and give a bit of praise to my other favorites as well.

Let’s start with the ones from X/Y. First, here are my top 5 favorites.

:sm/Kangaskhan-mega:
Kangaskhan is cool, but I think it used to be underappreciated in the past. It was a rare Pokémon in most generations, and while it wasn’t completely useless in battle, it was never really that outstanding or amazing either. I always thought it was pretty cool though, the mother and child concept is great. Thankfully, things changed in Gen 6 where it got an amazing Mega! The new concept is great, the child can finally fight alongside the mother. I think it is interesting how the mother mostly stays the same, while the child is the one that grows bigger and Mega Evolves. The mother isn’t different in terms of design at all, but that’s okay since the child is, and the whole concept is just so amazing.

Kangaskhan gets some great stat boosts upon Mega Evolving, and I love Parental Bond. It might be a bit OP, but I honestly like things that are just a bit too powerful for their own best. I honestly wish they hadn’t nerfed it in Gen 7. In Gen 6, it is so powerful that it is almost ridiculous, but not in a bad way. Thankfully, it is still quite great in Gen 7 as well. I have had great success with Mega Kangaskhan at many different occasions and on many different teams, notably at the Battle Maison and Battle Tree. I started to like Mega Kangaskhan even more after reading the X/Y Chapter of Pokémon Adventures, where Kanga and Li'l Kanga are part of X’s team. They have been with him since his childhood, I think their bond is really great and I like how it plays a part in the manga.

:sm/Mewtwo-mega-Y:
Mewtwo is my second favorite legendary from Gen 1. Giving it not one, but two Megas, was an interesting idea (though the reason behind it is very obvious, but I don’t mind). Out of them, I like Mega Mewtwo Y the best. I think it looks cooler than regular Mewtwo, it is smaller and the tail sticks out of its head, which is really weird but cool. I also like how it levitates, it is suitable since it is a Psychic-type. I love its sky-high Sp.att and high Speed. It is good, but not perfect. But I think it is flawed in a good way. Its flaws just make sense, in a way. For a more in-depth analysis of both Mega Mewtwo forms and their flaws, see this great post by cityscapes. Personally, I have used Mega Mewtwo Y on my mid-game team in Ultra Moon and it was amazing there.

:sm/Mawile-mega:
I used to be a big fan of Mawile during the early Gen 3 days, then I just sort of forgot about it for a long while. But in Gen 6, my love for it was reignited. Making it a Fairy-type was a great decision, and giving it an awesome Mega was even better. Two heads are clearly better than one. Or two fangs, in this case. Or whatever they are supposed to be. Two fangs hits twice as hard, at the very least. It looks so cool. Huge Power is really awesome as it gives it an insane Attack stat. I used Mega Mawile on my post-game team in Y and on my in-game team in OR, and it rocked.

:sm/Medicham-mega:
Regular Medicham is a Pokemon I had a hard time caring for prior to Gen 6. It had a quirk back in the ancient days of Gen 3 where it had a higher Attack stat than Slaking, but I didn't really care for it apart from that. I used it a little in Emerald, but not much. It just never really caught my attention in any notable way and I had more success in battle with other strong Physical attackers like Slaking and Salamence. Things didn't really change during Generations 4-5 either despite Medicham becoming better by getting access to more powerful High Jump Kicks and a better movepool.

Early on in Gen 6, I didn’t care much for Mega Medicham either. But then I decided to use it on my post-game team in X and I started to love it. I later used it on my in-game team in OR as well. The Attack and Speed boosts it gains upon Mega Evolving are great. It also keeps Pure Power, and it had a pretty solid movepool to start with. I wish I had realized Medicham’s awesomeness before, but its Mega really sold me on it. I also think its Mega design is fantastic, it adds a bit more mystery to this cool fighter.

:sm/Manectric-mega:
I have always liked Manectric, but I was unsure about Mega Manectric at first. Intimidate is cool, but not at the cost of losing Lightningrod. Though I found out that it was okay in the end after all. After using it, I learned that it wasn't that much of a problem since it can simply absorb Electric moves with Lightningrod first, then Mega Evolve for even higher power boosts and to lower the Attack of the opponents with Intimidate. It also has a cool design, and it helped me get my longest streak ever at the Battle Maison as it was a key member of the team I used for that streak. I used it on both my in-game and post-game teams in OR as well and I loved it. In the end, Mega Manectric did not make me love Manectric any less, only more.

Those are my top 5 favorites from the ones introduced in X/Y and why they are my favorites.

Here’s how I rank all the Megas that were introduced in X/Y:

Favorites: :Kangaskhan-mega: :Mewtwo-mega-y: :Mawile-mega: :Medicham-mega: :Manectric-mega:
Very good: :Charizard-mega-x: :Pinsir-mega: :Gyarados-mega: :ampharos-mega: :blaziken-mega: :Absol-mega: :Lucario-mega:
Good: :alakazam-mega: :Gengar-mega: :mewtwo-mega-x: :scizor-mega: :heracross-mega: :Tyranitar-mega:
Okay: :Venusaur-mega: :Charizard-mega-y: :Blastoise-mega:
Decent: :Houndoom-mega: :Aggron-mega: :abomasnow-mega:
Acceptable: :Aerodactyl-mega: :banette-mega: :Garchomp-mega:
Least favorite: :Gardevoir-mega:

Next up, we have the ones from OR/AS. Once again, my 5 favorites are first out.

:sm/slowbro-mega:
I have always liked regular Slowbro. It looks so carefree, like not a thing in the world could bother it! I thought Mega Slowbro had a really weird design at first, but I guess it makes sense for Shellder to basically consume Slowbro. Or something. Slowbro doesn’t really care, after all. I like how its Defense gets a big boost and how it has the same base Defense as Cloyster, nice reference there. It is almost as the Shellder is the one that Mega Evolved, into… Cloyster? Mega Shellder? It doesn’t matter. Shell Armor also makes Mega Slowbro harder to take down, which is neat. I used Mega Slowbro on a team in the Battle Maison and it worked quite well there.

:sm/Altaria-mega:
I have always liked Altaria. It has a great design, but it feels a bit underwhelming in battle. Thankfully, it got a Mega which solved that. The cute and fluffy bird got even cuter and fluffier. It is so adorable! It also has a unique type combination which is cool. It gained a Fairy-type which I approve of as it is my favorite type. I wanted to see a Dragon/Fairy-Pokemon since the Fairy-type got introduced in X/Y. This is the first and only one so far, and it did not disappoint. It is really great in battle too. I have used it on a few different teams and it usually worked very well. It has solid stats as well as Pixilate-boosted moves which are nothing to laugh at.

:sm/Salamence-mega:
I am a big fan of Salamence, and Mega Salamence takes it even further. It goes from taking flight to being flight. What a fantastic concept. It is very well done, both in terms of design and battle capabilities. Regular Salamence was strong but giving it a Mega with a new Ability and increased stats makes it even stronger and better. I have used it to great success on many different teams, notably at the Battle Maison and Tree. For a more in-depth analysis of Mega Salamence (and the entire Bagon line), check out this great post by Kyuzeth.

:sm/Gallade-mega:
While Gardevoir is my least favorite Pokémon, I have always liked Gallade. It is really cool. Mega Gallade intensifies that coolness by getting extra swords for its arms (on them?) and a cape for further awesomeness. A boost to its Attack and Speed is great, and while it has the same typing as Mega Medicham, it has a completely different movepool and different stats which allows both of them to stand out in different ways. I have had great success with Mega Gallade on the teams where I have used it, which are my in-game team in AS (though I didn’t get the Mega Stone until after beating the game) and my post-game team in OR.

:sm/Audino-mega:
Before playing OR/AS, I only had four favorite Megas from those that were introduced in these games. But after actually playing the games, I got a fifth. I have always liked regular Audino, it is cute and a great way to get lots of Exp. quickly! Audino was the number one Unova Pokémon I wanted to get a regular evolution, so when it got a Mega instead, I wasn’t sure what to think. At first, I didn’t think very highly of it. It gained a Fairy-type at least, which is great. But apart from that, it didn’t stand out much to me.

Later on, after seeing its animations in the Pokédex in OR/AS, I was sold. The animations are just so great. It looks sad when it attacks, which is a fantastic detail as Audino is a caring Pokémon that wants to help others. It does not enjoy damaging others. I think those animations are a really adorable detail which is one of the cutest things I have seen in these games. It might not be the best in battle, but it is still fairly good and better than regular Audino. I used it on my mid-game team in Ultra Sun and it was fun.

And those are my 5 favorites from the ones introduced in OR/AS! As well as why they are my favorites.

Here’s how I rank all the Megas that were introduced in OR/AS:

Favorites: :Slowbro-mega: :Altaria-mega: :salamence-mega: :gallade-mega: :audino-mega:
Very good: :sharpedo-mega: :Camerupt-mega: :Metagross-mega: :Rayquaza-mega: :Lopunny-mega: :diancie-mega:
Good: :Steelix-mega: :Sceptile-mega: :Swampert-mega: :sableye-mega:
Okay: :glalie-mega:
Decent: :beedrill-mega:
Acceptable: :Pidgeot-mega: :Latias-mega: :latios-mega:

In the end, I really like Mega Evolution. I think the majority of the Megas that exist are ranging between amazing and okay, and there are very few which I downright dislike or find only acceptable. Looking back at my rankings now, the majority of the Megas I like the best are for Pokémon whose base forms I was already a fan of. But there are exceptions, the two most notable being Medicham and Charizard X. Though there are several other Megas I like much better than their base forms. I am not happy about how Megas were removed in Gen 8, but I hope they can make a grand return at some point in the future.
 
When Magearna was originally made its normal coloring didnt really have a shiny. It was just the shame shade of off-pink (the Original variant's shiny was black & yellow).
Then, when it was brought back in SWSH it got a new one (albeit still unobtainable) and at the time I didn't appreciate that...


It's meant to be an unpainted Magearna. That's a fun touch and direction to take a shiny.

Which also means that the Magearna in Lillie's posession is also retroactively Shiny; or more likely the decision was to make the shiny match Lillie's, I suppose.



now if only they'd release it...
 

Samtendo09

Ability: Light Power
is a Pre-Contributor
Fun fact: Splash can't be used when Gravity is in effect. No, really.

View attachment 376532

Someone probably programmed this with the biggest grin on their face.
This is because Splash’s original name in Japanese is simply “Hop”, which describe a simple hop that do nothing. Splash is a result of translation liberty with heavy association with Magikarp, the sole user back in RGBY.

I’m moreso surprised that Grav Apple is the only move so far to have base power boosted during intense gravity. A few other moves like Knock Down, Heavy Slam, Heat Crash and Body Slam could have deal from 1.2x to doubled Base Power on individual moves, making Gravity more interesting.
 

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