Little things you like about Pokémon

[stage7_4]

I mentioned this on the mystery thread due to a tangent, but I really like the anime episode "Fly Me To The Moon."

It's about a Pidgey named Orville, who lived on Pudgy Pidgey Island where all the pidgey's are fat and flightless due to an overabundance of food and no predators (based on a real-life effect on birds like the Kakapo). Seeing a drawing of a pidgey flying inspires Orville to learn to fly too, but due to no other birds knowing how he has to be trained by a human partner named Wilbur and his hang-glider. The pidgey eventually sets it's dreams on an altitude record for the highest flight ever by a Pidgey, and gets the help of Wilbur, Ash, and even Team Rocket to make it into space.

I won't go into too much detail, but it was a really good episode about overcoming genetic predispositions and inspiring others, and there was a really touching scene between Meowth and Orville at the very end.

For a one-off "never mentioned again" distraction episode with no overall plot motion, I found it very clever and heartwarming, especially coming from an anime that I'd at best call mediocre (and the Johto seasons are rated pretty weak amongst the others). Just this weird gem that stuck out to me.

 

[HelenTheHero]

Speaking of the anime, I really like the episode with all the pink Pokemon.

PINK NIDOKING! :D

It's one of the few episodes I remember pretty clearly, and it was a fun one to watch. I have to admit it would be fun if you gave Pokemon too many of one color berry it would turn into that color very slightly.

Also Pink Nidoking looks pretty awesome.

 

[Lady Vader]

IT HAS A LITTLE PILOT'S HAT! THAT'S SO CUTE! THAT IS THE CUTEST THING I'VE EVER SEEN!!!!!!

...I'm sorry all of you had to see that. I'm extremely susceptible to cute. My heart is easy to melt, I'm sure its melting point is -40˚*.

*Fun fact: -40˚F and -40˚C are the exact same temperature.

 

[Pikachu315111]

In the rare case you get an in-game mon down to 0 Friendship, some of the raters have some rather amusing observations. In fact, only Johto lacks one:

RSE/ORAS, Verdanturf: "This is a little hard for me to say… Your Pokémon simply detests you. Doesn't that make you uncomfortable?"
FRLG: "…Um, it's not easy for me to say this, but… Is there some reason why your Pokémon would hate you so much?"
XD: "… This is awful. It detests you to a degree I hardly ever see. Are you sure you'll be okay?"
Platinum, Hearthome: "Oh, my… I think this one really hasn't taken too kindly to you."
BW/BW2, Icirrus: "By any chance, you… Are you a very strict person? I feel that it really doesn't like you…"
XY, Laverre: "What's this? Are you a disciplinarian? Or do you plan to use the move Frustration?"

Considering you need a lot of fainting and herbal medicine to get a mon to hate you so much, it's only fitting that the raters acknowledge your, erm, efforts in such a manner.

Actually Johto has two. One in Goldenrod City you can visit any day and another in the Goldenrod Department Store you can only see on Sunday. This is what they say in both Gen II and Gen IV:

City: "It doesn't seem to like you at all. It looks mean."
Store: "It looks evil. How about this TM (Frustration) for it?"

The City one is also the same thing the Rater says in DP, and what they say in Platinum is better. City is kind of bland, though the Store one I find amusing since it sounds like they're saying your horrible training has made it evil, good going.

Anyway it sounds like over the years the Friendship raters get more and more passive aggressive.

In BW2 you could also have Bianca evaluate it and though the "0" friendship one is bland the "1-69" I find amusing: "You aren't getting along, are you? It's glaring at you with a look that's kinda scary."

stage7_4:
Mentioned what I though on the Mystery/Conspiracy Thread, I'll just say I also liked the end where the fat Pidgey overcome an adversity of their own to save Orville.

HelenTheHero:
Yeah, it was a special pink berry which turns a Pokemon pink (Pikachu ate a berry and it turned its cheek pink, however it was only a temporary effect as you need to eat a diet of them to permanently turn pink).

Though that said it does remind me of the neat things the anime does with variant Pokemon designs the games can't. Butterfree with different wing patterns (a concept eventually brought into the games via Vivillon), Crystal Onix, Snow Snorlax, Purple Kecleon, and a Smeargle with different paint colors (most notable a blue one).

Would not mind having some of these

 

[DHR-107]

I mentioned this on the mystery thread due to a tangent, but I really like the anime episode "Fly Me To The Moon."

It's about a Pidgey named Orville, who lived on Pudgy Pidgey Island where all the pidgey's are fat and flightless due to an overabundance of food and no predators (based on a real-life effect on birds like the Kakapo). Seeing a drawing of a pidgey flying inspires Orville to learn to fly to, but due to no other birds knowing how he has to be trained by a human partner named Wilbur and his hang-glider. The pidgey eventually sets it's dreams on an altitude record for the highest flight ever by a Pidgey, and gets the help of Wilbur, Ash, and even Team Rocket to make it into space.

I won't go into too much detail, but it was a really good episode about overcoming genetic predispositions and inspiring others, and there was a really touching scene between Meowth and Orville at the very end.

For a one-off "never mentioned again" distraction episode with no overall plot motion, I found it very clever and heartwarming, especially coming from an anime that I'd at best call mediocre (and the Johto seasons are rated pretty weak amongst the others). Just this weird gem that stuck out to me.

The fact they are Wilbur and Orville learning to fly has just made me feel all warm and fuzzy. What a brilliant reference to the Wright Brothers and their own journey to the first Powered Flight. References like this are great in something as massive as Pokemon. I wonder what the characters were called in the Japanese episode. Tobio and Aldrin... I understand the latter ("Buzz" Aldrin, second man on the moon); Tobio is apparently based off of the Japanese "to fly".

Names/references like this in the anime are something I really enjoy. Some of them are a little on the nose, but others (like this example) are perfect for the episode at hand.

I also wonder if that the alternate coloured Pokemon were an early example of shininess before Shiny's were a thing. Kecleon is sort of a red herring here as it can change colour at will, and that Kecleon might have just preferred being purple to green? I would love to see more stuff like Albino Pokemon or stuff like Vivillon which has a lot of Official colours/designs to it.

 

[Codraroll]

I also wonder if that the alternate coloured Pokemon were an early example of shininess before Shiny's were a thing.

In the Anime, it certainly was. The earliest example is the pink Butterfree, but the Orange Islands saga had a lot of other Pokémon with alternate textures.

How cool wouldn't it be if we had Pokémon with varying textures between regions in games? If one region had Vileplume looking like this?

Looking up the above on Bulbapedia, I found another tidbit I really liked. Arbok's Pokédex entries in early generations state that its belly patterns vary between areas.
"It's a shame they never implemented that," I thought before I scrolled down to look at Arbok's sprites. Then I realized that the sprites have quite significant differences between games:

Red/Blue

Gold

Ruby/Sapphire

And this is where it gets cool:

The FR/LG sprite uses the same belly pattern as Red and Blue did.

What really is a shame, though, is that the pattern has stayed mostly unchanged since FRLG. Moreover, FRLG was the last time Arbok's Pokédex entries mentioned varying patterns. It's really nice that they acknowledged the patterns for a while, but too bad they don't seem to anymore.


With the current use of textured models instead of sprites, I have high hopes that it will be comparatively easier in the future to equip Pokémon models with different patterns. There would be no extra animation work, the game would just have to call up some other texture for the given model (This is probably already being done with Vivillion, among others). That would make it possible for a Pokémon to retain an unique texture when traded between games, and allow for alternate Pokémon patterns on a level seen in the Anime. That's pretty neat!

 

[The_Emperor]

I love the music of Dialga/Palkia in Diamond and Pearl. I also love the team galactic arc and the fact that all their leaders are named after planets and I really hope these games get remade so that they can add more members of team Galactic...

 

[Karxrida]

I don't know if the reference is deliberate, but it makes me happy regardless.

 

[Pikachu315111]

I don't know if the reference is deliberate, but it makes me happy regardless.

I don't know

They like hiding in pop culture easter eggs.

 

[Karxrida]

I know they like hiding references, but the context is just ambiguous enough that I'm not entirely sure it was intentional.

The overworld sprite for Roughnecks does look stupidly similar to Master Xehanort, though.

 

[The_Emperor]

I also like the old chateau in D/P/P where there are those random ghosts and rotom in the TV. Very creepy....

 

[HelenTheHero]

I like how the games and manga offer subtle nods to those who like to ship.
I'm not a major shipper who writes fanfics, but I do support ships and will quietly look for signs when reading.

 

[Pikachu315111]

I also like the old chateau in D/P/P where there are those random ghosts and rotom in the TV. Very creepy....

Not to mention the Gen V's Bridge Girl Ghost & Strange House incident.

I like how the games and manga offer subtle nods to those who like to ship.
I'm not a major shipper who writes fanfics, but I do support ships and will quietly look for signs when reading.

My favorite one is in HGSS with Falkner's and Janine's conversations. It's not really shipping but I personally see a subtle amount of sexual (for lack of a better word) tension hidden behind a dose of daddy issues:

Falkner PokeGear (called the player):
"Hey, this is Falkner. How are you doing? You've chatted with Janine in Fuchsia City, haven't you? All she ever talks about is her dad, you know? Endlessly. I mean, it's good to have a healthy respect for your dad, but it's better to have some self-confidence! Don't you have faith in your own abilities?"

Janine PokeGear (called the player):
"This is Janine. How are you doing? Falkner in Violet City... He’s talking about his dad all the time! Seriously, he’s such a daddy’s boy, he needs to become his own person sometime, you know? What do you mean, I should talk? Ha ha--mind your own business!"

(They have other conversations that can happen. One of Falkner talks about his dad though all of Janine's does mention her father)

Celadon Department Store:
Falkner: "Out of all the Trainers out there, the best Trainer would have to be my dad."
Janine: "Ha! You don't know a thing! The best Trainer in the world is Koga, one of the Elite Four! Namely--my dad!"
Falkner: "You are mistaken. My dad treats Poke..."
Janine: "Please stop this! Why don't you just admit that my dad is the true Trainer!"
Falkner: "You were listening, right? You agree my dad is greater, right?"

(Player says No):
Falkner: "You don't? I thought you were smarter than that. Oh, well. You'll change your mind eventually."
Falkner (talked to again): "So, you did change your mind. You now think my dad is greater?"

(Player says Yes):
Falkner: "You do? Just as I thought! You know something? I'm sure we'll enjoy talking about my dad! Here is my number! Give me a call Saturday morning if you want to hear about my dad!"
Janine: "Bah!"

Hide

Also just in general the the HGSS PokeGear conversations were fun, kind of wish they did it again (we have the Holo Caster).

 

[jordanthejq12]

Sorry, I'm agreeing with Janine on this one. Poison's far from the easiest type to specialize in, and oh yeah, Koga's a Gym Leader who becomes an E4. What's your dad done recently, Faulkner?

 

[Kurona]

I mean, it's kind of hard to say your Dad's the best trainer when he is literally defined as one of the four guys below the best trainer in the region.

 

[Millky95]

I mean, it's kind of hard to say your Dad's the best trainer when he is literally defined as one of the four guys below the best trainer in the region.

Could still beat your dad in a fight :p

I have done some stuff in Y again recently and I love all the small things in this game. Such as the environment in the battles looking like the room you were in or when you're in Frost Cavern and check the Pokedex, you can still see snow and things. Love it

 

[Pikachu315111]

jordanthejq12 & Kurona:
Now now, we've never seen Falkner's dad (which admittedly is a strike against him, but I digress) so for all we know he could be just as strong as the trainers in the Battle Frontier. Actually, what would have been a neat thing to do is replace one of the Gen IV Frontier Brains with a new one and reveal it to be Falkner's dad (I'd say replace Palmer, he only has significance in Sinnoh being Barry's father so thematically it would make sense; also out of all the facilities I would think a Flying-type trainer would oversee a tower). Frontier Brains are said to be just as strong as the Elite Four so that would put Falkner's dad on equal footing with Koga in term of position and power. Oh well, still he can be a strong trainer that just never went on to become a member of the Elite Four (I kind of question how Koga got on when my first choice would have been Sabrina).

Also another (semi-)point to Falkner's dad, we didn't defeat him (yet).

 

[Xen]

Well, Falkner's text after you beat him makes it seem that his Pidgey and Pidgeotto are actually his dad's Pokemon. Not exactly a promising sign of strength there. :p

Edit: Actually, that may shed some light on Falkner's dad; an NPC outside the gym talks about Falkner inheriting the gym from this father. Now where have I heard this story before....?

 

[Darth Manaphy]

Hey, just because its his dad's Pidgey and Pidgeotto doesn't mean his dad is weak. I have a box with a Drowzee and Abra in it, but if I give them to my child it doesn't mean I was a shit Psychic type trainer.

 

[jordanthejq12]

Say what you will about the anime. And what you will is likely negative. But there's one thing the English dub of the anime never fails at, and that is the episode titles.

 

[Lady Vader]

There is a character in Colosseum that is named Skrub.

 

[Pikachu315111]

There is a character in Colosseum that is named Skrub.

Don't forget Trudly (which I think comes from "trudge") and Folly.

 

[The_Emperor]

I like how there is a light house in olivine city and that an Ampharos is used for the light as it is the light pokemon in the pokedex.

 

[Lady Vader]

Speaking of Ampharos, I just learned why it gained a Dragon-typing when it Mega Evolves:
It's Japanese name is Denryu. Denryu, depending on the characters used, can mean "electric current" or "electric dragon".

 

[Antihaxxer]

That doesn't explain why he's not Electric Dragon in a basic form !