Little things you like about Pokémon

Most things in this thread are about the games, but I want to talk about something else for a change. Pokemon manga. To be specific, Pokemon Adventures. This might contain spoilers, so I decided to put most of this post in a spoiler for those who haven't read the manga but might do so in the future (plus, it also turned out rather long). Though I should mention that I have not yet read the entire thing myself, all I have read so far are RBG, Yellow, GSC, BW as well as everything that has been published from B2W2 and SM. I'm planning to read up on the remaining chapters eventually, but don't feel like there is any need to rush it.
Let me start by saying that I really like Pokemon Adventures on the whole. I'm glad I started to read this manga for various reasons which I'll explain more in detail below. On the whole, it is my third favorite out of all the mangas I have read... though that might not say a lot since I have only ever read five "big" manga series in my life. But still. My only regret is that I didn't start reading it earlier. But better late than never and it is never too late to have fun, so yay.

Reading Pokemon Adventures allowed me to see Pokemon in a completely new light compared to the games. It was essentially a new side of the Pokemon world, and a new side of Pokemon in general. I think that was just what I needed. Something that was different from the games while still being Pokemon. That's just what the manga is for me and I love it.

In addition to that, reading the manga allowed me to see the Pokemon themselves in a new light as well. When I read the BW chapter, I got to see the Unova Pokemon in a way I had never seen them before which made me appreciate them even more. The same goes for RBG for the Kanto Pokemon, GSC for the Johto Pokemon and SM for the Alola Pokemon (though only to a lesser extent at the moment because it is still ongoing). I'm also happy about this because when it comes to the Kanto Pokemon, they have been getting a bit boring for me so I think it was good to see them in a completely new way.

I like how the manga stays close to the games in terms of story and characters but improves upon the games when it isn't. Reading BW was like playing Black and White for the first time again, the manga captures the spirit and soul of the games in a fantastic way. Not only when it comes to story and characters but also regarding the region and the Pokemon. As for the earlier chapters, they improve on the story, characters and lore of the games in a fantastic way. The stories and characters of the Kanto and Johto games doesn't come close to the level of their their manga chapters.

Some things from the games are adapted to the manga in a great way. For example, Poke Balls and Pokemon breaking free. Like when Crystal tried to catch Suicune, it broke free by actually breaking the ball, which explains why the ball couldn't be used again. Another example would be how the manga handles trading. When Red and Blue (the guy) traded their Pokemon, Blue trained Red's Pokemon which made them stronger than usual, similar to how traded Pokemon gets more Exp. points in the games.

I like how the manga foreshadows the next chapter/generation at the end of the chapters. Yellow appears near the end of RBG without being named, some Johto Pokemon and Silver show up at the end of the Yellow chapter and several Hoenn Pokemon appear at the end of GSC. And BW shows some characters from B2W2 during the last scenes.

I like seeing the manga giving bigger roles to characters who only have minor roles in the games. Some good examples are Bill, the Pokemon Fan Club chairman, DJ Mary and even minor NPCs like the seven in the BW chapter.

I the fact that the main characters nickname their Pokemon, and some of the nicknames are surprisingly clever too. I think some of the best ones are White's nicknames. At first, I thought her nicknames were just regular (human) names but there was a bit more to them than meets the eye as they all have some sort of relation to the Pokemon they are given to. I think the very best one is Amanda (Serperior). According to Bulbapedia, she has the following possible name origin: From 蔓 man (vine), 蛇 da (snake), anaconda, and possibly あまのじゃく Ama no Jaku (Contrary). That's just genius.

I also like how they create new original characters that aren't in the games (or other media). Even main characters like Yellow and Emerald (though I haven't read that far yet, but I do know about his existence).

Last thing from Adventures for now is simple: Crystal's mom. Her first appearance was one of the funniest and most unexpected character appearances I have ever seen in a manga. And that's another great example of a completely original character not seen in other media.
I'll probably have more things from Pokemon Adventures in the future, but I think this is it for now.
 
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Suspicious Derivative said:
Most things in this thread are about the games, but I want to talk about something else for a change. Pokemon manga. To be specific, Pokemon Adventures. This might contain spoilers, so I decided to put most of this post in a spoiler for those who haven't read the manga but might do so in the future (plus, it also turned out rather long). Though I should mention that I have not yet read the entire thing myself, all I have read so far are RBG, Yellow, GSC, BW as well as everything that has been published from B2W2 and SM. I'm planning to read up on the remaining chapters eventually, but don't feel like there is any need to rush it.
Let me start by saying that I really like Pokemon Adventures on the whole. I'm glad I started to read this manga for various reasons which I'll explain more in detail below. On the whole, it is my third favorite out of all the mangas I have read... though that might not say a lot since I have only ever read five "big" manga series in my life. But still. My only regret is that I didn't start reading it earlier. But better late than never and it is never too late to have fun, so yay.

Reading Pokemon Adventures allowed me to see Pokemon in a completely new light compared to the games. It was essentially a new side of the Pokemon world, and a new side of Pokemon in general. I think that was just what I needed. Something that was different from the games while still being Pokemon. That's just what the manga is for me and I love it.

In addition to that, reading the manga allowed me to see the Pokemon themselves in a new light as well. When I read the BW chapter, I got to see the Unova Pokemon in a way I had never seen them before which made me appreciate them even more. The same goes for RBG for the Kanto Pokemon, GSC for the Johto Pokemon and SM for the Alola Pokemon (though only to lesser extent at the moment because it is still ongoing). I'm also happy about this because when it comes to the Kanto Pokemon, they have been getting a bit boring for me so I think it was good to see them in a completely new way.

I like how the manga stays close to the games in terms of story and characters but improves upon the games when it isn't. Reading BW was like playing Black and White for the first time again, the manga captures the spirit and soul of the games in a fantastic way. Both when it comes to story and characters but also regarding the region and the Pokemon. As for the earlier chapters, they improve on the story, characters and lore of the games in a fantastic way. The stories and characters of the Kanto and Johto games doesn't come close to the level of their their manga chapters.

Some things from the games are adapted to the manga in a great way. For example, Poke Balls and Pokemon breaking free. Like when Crystal tried to catch Suicune, it broke free by actually breaking the ball, which explains why the ball couldn't be used again. Another example would be how the manga handles trading. When Red and Blue (the guy) traded their Pokemon, Blue trained Red's Pokemon which made them stronger than usual, similar to how traded Pokemon gets more Exp. points in the games.

I like how the manga foreshadows the next chapter/generation at the end of the chapters. Yellow appears near the end of RBG without being named, some Johto Pokemon and Silver show up at the end of the Yellow chapter and several Hoenn Pokemon appear at the end of GSC. And BW shows some characters from B2W2 during the last scenes.

I like seeing the manga giving bigger roles to characters who only have minor roles in the games. Some good examples are Bill, the Pokemon Fan Club chairman, DJ Mary and even minor NPCs like the seven in the BW chapter.

I the fact that the main characters nickname their Pokemon, and some of the nicknames are surprisingly clever too. I think some of the best ones are White's nicknames. At first, I thought her nicknames were just regular (human) names but there was a bit more to them than meets the eye as they all have some sort of relation to the Pokemon they are given to. I think the very best one is Amanda (Serperior). According to Bulbapedia, she has the following possible name origin: From 蔓 man (vine), 蛇 da (snake), anaconda, and possibly あまのじゃく Ama no Jaku (Contrary). That's just genius.

I also like how they create new original characters that aren't in the games (or other media). Even main characters like Yellow and Emerald (though I haven't read that far yet, but I do know about his existence).

Last thing from Adventures for now is simple: Crystal's mom. Her first appearance was one of the funniest and most unexpected character appearances I have ever seen in a manga. And that's another great example of a completely original character not seen in other media.
I'll probably have more things from Pokemon Adventures in the future, but I think this is it for now.
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Adding on to and summarizing all of this, Adventures is so much deeper and complex than just being "darker".
 
This commercial is way too awesome to be for the TCG:
Note, this is on the Japanese Youtube with English text "ULTRA BEASTS ARE COMING" along with some Japanese text. Being we just got a ton of USUM news I thought this was also something for it. It wasn't until I saw the stone tablets positioned like the prize cards did I realize it was a commercial for the TCG. I like the presentation, but man was I disappointed when I discovered it was only for the TCG.
Anyway the Ultra Beasts look like they're going to be monsters on the TCG scene.
 
Another thing for the TCG, it's going to have to be watched to be believed:
(FUN FACT I LEARNED FROM RANDOM YOUTUBER: Guzma and Plumeria never are on screen at the same time throughout Sun & Moon (as well as Plumeria and Gladion, it seems like Plumeria likes to operate solo))

Also a new interesting set of stickers for the LINE app, this one features Professor Oak (plus Blue and Samson):
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1st Second Row: Go ahead, ride your bike inside, see what happens...
2nd Second Row: Professor, you've been watching JoJo again, haven't you?
1st Third Row: Seems random, until you realize this is directed towards your mom.
1st Fourth Row: LIES!
2nd Fourth Row: Are we sure we want Oak around children?
3rd Fifth Row: I know, right? Who would leave Charmander as the left behind Starter on Professor Oak's desk?
 
jordanthejq12 said:
Well, there was that one statistical analysis that claimed Squirtle was the starter best able to pull its own weight throughout the game, in which case Charmander would be the one left behind.
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Was a joke. :P And I think it's known by now that Charmander is sort of the "hard mode" choice due to the early and late game Gym match-ups.
 
I really like how so many people around the world come together to play Pokémon. This website is a great example of that, and is most shown off in our WCOP tour, where so many players from so many different regions of the world play on teams of compete. It's incredible really, knowing that the phenomena that is Pokémon has spread far past Japan and the United States.
 
I really love the rival in Gen 2. Silver(or ???) is in my opinion the best and truest rival in all games. Most rivals are you neighbour or childhood friend and the competition to become the champion is all in good fun. Not so with Silver. He is a complete stranger to you and after you found out he stole his starter pokemon there is in a real motivation to beat that guy. He isnt a empty bad guy figure ether though like Garry. He is very passionate about his goal to become the best no matter what it takes. He sees his pokmeon only as tools at the begining but after he fails to beat you a couple times, he gets angry and tries to search for the reason he is losing. Now YOU the player has become his rival too. Before he sometimes didnt even bother to battle you when you met like in Sprout Tower or Olivine City. But now that you beat him a few times he really wants to better his training to beat you. He even awaits you in Mt. Moon in Kanto which I found really great. His team is also really well made imo. It is really well balanced towards the end and has 2 pokemon of the new types in Sneasel and Magneton. The best mon is his Golbat though which turns into a Crowbat for the last fight, which shows even though he acts all though to the player he finally shows love for this pokemon to strenghten them. The remakes also did a really good job of making the Celebi cutscene where it is shown that he is the son of Giovanni, which fits so perfectly to his character.

tldr: Silver is best
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Silver was a really interesting character for a game so early in the franchise's life, but I'd take Barry as the best rival, as he captures the spirit the best of all rivals. He has literally nothing against the player character - it's just a competition to see how gets the furthest. He's a rival, not an enemy.

The other "rivals" are either actually enemies (Blue was quite hostile in RBY, and Silver needs no explanation) or they aren't rivals at all (Cheren in the second half of BW, Bianca, Hugh, Hau, Wally, Brendan/May), not counting the XY characters as I've yet to play that game.
 
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Alright but let me defend ya boy Hugh, the most fire rival in the game. One of the things Hugh got right was being your rival at the same time as being your friend. You felt like you were on an adventure with him, while at the same time wanting to grow stronger than him. That is a true rival in my opinion.

For those who don't know Hugh is your rival in Pokemon Black and White 2. His main mission for travel? To get back his little sister's Purrloin from Team Plasma. If that's not the sweetest thing you've ever heard, then I don't know what is. He's also very hard working, you see. He didn't just get his Pokemon from Professor Juniper, he, himself, bred his own starter Pokemon to go on a journey with. That just shows the dedication he put into getting this Purrloin back.

What about the battles? While it may be true that Hugh is often your tag partner, he's battling you even more than that, so there's plenty of action going on there. By the end battle, he has a full-fledged Unova team, using Unfezant, a Simi depending on your starter, Bouffalant, Flygon, Eelektross, and his starter. That's a pretty diverse and powerful team if I do say so myself.

Now for character development. As the story progresses in BW2, Hugh only becomes more determined to get his sister's precious Pokemon back, even taking out some of the ex-Team Plasma members, simply because they were part of the team that took the Purrloin. While this may seem negative, this determination pushed Hugh forward to get Purrloin back, which he finds out to have evolved into a Liepard during the time of it's absence. With this, Hugh is able to return Liepard back to his sister, but the journey does not stop there. He continues on his journey, so far as to the last battle takes place at victory road, like almost every other rival (*cough* May).

So, while Silver may have a slightly more tragic backstory, as well as being a more aggressive rival, Hugh manages to find a balance between friendship, and rivalry. Hugh chose the Pokemon he wanted to befriend, rather than Silver who caught any Pokemon that looked powerful. Silver may have had better character development, but, in the end, Hugh reached his goal. All in all, Hugh is a true rival, and a true Pokemon Trainer, and I'd argue more so than Silver is.

tldr: Hugh is better.
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Siggu said:
Silver was a really interesting character for a game so early in the franchise's life, but I'd take Barry as the best rival, as he captures the spirit the best of all rivals. He has literally nothing against the player character - it's just a competition to see how gets the furthest. He's a rival, not an enemy.

The other "rivals" are either actually enemies (Blue was quite hostile in RBY, and Silver needs no explanation) or they aren't rivals at all (Cheren in the second half of BW, Bianca, Hugh, Hau, Wally), not counting the XY characters as I've yet to play that game.
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I guess it depends what people seek in a rival. My problem with all those childhood friends rivals is that there isnt really anything at the stake when you battle them. Like if you win then cool i guess and if you lose then oh well i get them next time. Silver is not like that because he gives you seriously motivation to defeat. He stole a pokemon from the very same nice guy that made it possible to start your adventure just 5 minutes ago, fuck that guy is the first thought. He is the only rival to not get his starter legitimately, which puts him on the plain of a villain, not just an arrogant one like Garry. But he isnt a pure villain figure ether because he is clearly interested in beating you after a few encounters, unlike Team Rocket members for example. Mostly I just love his character development from HIS side to the player not the other way around which makes him kind of unique.

Yoshizilla315 said:
tldr: Hugh is better.
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Again it really depends on what people see as a rival rather then a battle friend/class mate type. To me at least the nature of a rivalry has to be the most important relationship between two protagonists. For Hugh that to me clearly isnt the case. His most important goal is never really to beat and outsmart you, not even later. His journey is all about his sisters pokemon and only later he finds the player as a little challenge. To me he is simular to May in that his main objective isnt you(for May it is the Pokedex). He has good character development too imo, just not that of a rival in my eyes.
 
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Karxrida said:
I might have mentioned this before, but it still needs stating: I kind of like how Colosseum restricts your Pokémon choices. I don't think I'd ever use Skiploom and Jumpluff unironically in any other game.
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In this, I like how many of the games give a chance for diversity as well. It goes both ways. Restricting a ton of things is great when the game tries to give you a challenge. I've yet to play Colosseum but I'm considering getting it, and I've heard that it gives a healthy challenge. That's great.
Alola, Old Unova and Kalos failed in this regard - not only do they restrict the choices you have, they don't give a challenge so each play through honestly feels the same.
 
And not only does Colosseum restrict the choices you have to Pokemon you would have not used before, it also encourages you to constantly switch out and use different Pokemon. Sure, you could stick with a core team and get through the game, but since the point of the game is to purify all the Shadow Pokemon that'll only make the post game a longer grind. This could also be another reason why all battles are Double Battles, not only can you purify two Shadow Pokemon at the same time but also if there's a Shadow Pokemon you're just using to purify you can have the other Pokemon be the one doing the actual fighting so you're not a sitting duck. That said, with Shadow moves always hitting for Super Effective damage and XD offering a variety of different Shadow moves the Pokemon also isn't that much of a load.
 
Pikachu315111 said:
And not only does Colosseum restrict the choices you have to Pokemon you would have not used before, it also encourages you to constantly switch out and use different Pokemon. Sure, you could stick with a core team and get through the game, but since the point of the game is to purify all the Shadow Pokemon that'll only make the post game a longer grind. This could also be another reason why all battles are Double Battles, not only can you purify two Shadow Pokemon at the same time but also if there's a Shadow Pokemon you're just using to purify you can have the other Pokemon be the one doing the actual fighting so you're not a sitting duck. That said, with Shadow moves always hitting for Super Effective damage and XD offering a variety of different Shadow moves the Pokemon also isn't that much of a load.
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Shadow moves aren't super effective against everything until XD. This means that switching out team members constantly isn't a good idea because it takes way more effort to purify stuff.

Plus a lot of the good Pokémon are obtained really early anyway.
 
Also, the Doubles format of Colosseum/XD means there's a way for defensive support Pokémon to be useful other than with Baton Pass. Even Ledian has some merit for its ability to set up Reflect and Light Screen. Others can be useful with Helping Hand, Toxic stalling, or just giving you time to use items on your attacker without spending turns. Unlike in Singles, defensive Pokémon don't have to do damage themselves in order to earn Exp., so they can actually be helpful while sitting in a corner taking hits.

Seriously, between Doubles being the official competitive Pokémon format, and the general way it lets otherwise poor Pokémon redeem themselves, I really can't understand why there aren't substantially more Double battles in the games. At least, in the games that can actually hande it without being reduced to a lagfest.
 
Now that Gold/Silver are released on the VC and Bank support is coming for it in the Winter, Gen VII is now the first gen since (ironically) Gen II to allow us to transfer old Pokémon up from all generations and (almost) every game to use in the modern day 3DS games.

As a long time player, the idea of being able to still use all my old teams makes me feel warm and fuzzy inside.
 
jordanthejq12 said:
This generation, man...

Nonetheless, if Platinum and ORAS have been any indication, it only takes GameFreak a little while to get the hang of their hardware. So I'm 95% confident USUM won't be nearly as laggy.
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I wouldn't be so sure of that if I were you. They're likely going to use the same game engine with little edits, so I doubt that it'll be much better.
That being said, I'm glad that USUM is finally adding new mons. SM were honestly very dry. I'm worried about the direction that GF is taking with Pokémon Bank and the pokemon available in-game but we'll see where that goes haha.
 
Xen said:
Now that Gold/Silver are released on the VC and Bank support is coming for it in the Winter, Gen VII is now the first gen since (ironically) Gen II to allow us to transfer old Pokémon up from all generations and (almost) every game to use in the modern day 3DS games.

As a long time player, the idea of being able to still use all my old teams makes me feel warm and fuzzy inside.
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Close but not yet, they still need to release Crystal. ;)
 
I know I already posted this as part of my journey so far in Silver in the Gen 2 VC thread but I just feel like this needs to be stated again.

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The Johto Region has the best caves imo. Almost every single dungeon has a unique theme and ALWAYS a secret pokemon or item waiting at the end. Ruins of Alph has the Unown puzzles to unlock all 26 forms, Union Cave has even 2 secrets with Lapras and the backdoor to Ruins of Alpha, Slowpoke Well has the Kings Rock for the very same Slowpoke you can catch in the well, Mt. Mortar is a huge maze with an awesome gift pokemon at the end (that you accually have to fight for),Ice Cave is just plain fun, Dark Cave is neat shortcut that introduces the really strange pokemon Wobbuffet (that mon scared the shit out of me when I was little) and Whirl Islands and Mt. Silver introduce really rare pokemon in Lugia and Larvitar. Most of them cant be completed early on, but it is clealy suggested through NPC dialog or obviously "here is something for you later" roadblocks like surf areas and Strength bolders.
My favourite has to be Union Cave with Lapras. The NPC dialog pointing at something deeper in the cave that cries at Fridays is fantastic and accros multiple NPCs too. The Basement itself is great too with strong trainers that all look for it and some good items. Lapras was so unexpected when I got there as a kid. Noone really spoils what Pokemon it could accually be
 
johto in general has the best geography imo, it really feels like it rewards exploration more than any other Pokémon game (except maybe Hoenn which has a whole town that is optional if you're just aiming to finish the game in addition to all the other fun places to explore), I appreciate that because that's how it should be imo lol
 
Altissimo said:
johto in general has the best geography imo, it really feels like it rewards exploration more than any other Pokémon game (except maybe Hoenn which has a whole town that is optional if you're just aiming to finish the game in addition to all the other fun places to explore), I appreciate that because that's how it should be imo lol
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I agree, Johto has the most enjoyable layout because it is so open. Once you get rid of the Sudowoodo and defeat morty to use surf, you can get almost anywhere in the game.

However, this openness is also the reason for the horrendous difficulty curve. After you beat morty, almost everything you will fight until Clair is around the same lowish level. The only real challanges are the gym leaders. Getting experience is a slugfest since almost every opponent has lower leveled pokemon compared to you. And then towards the end of the game there are these huge level spikes to make the game somewhat challenging.

I really like the freedom and opennes of Johto, it's my favorite region, but if GF decides to do a more open game again, I really hope they think of some sort of scaling mechanic so the game doesn't suddenly spike from too easy to too hard.
 
Magnus0 said:
I really like the freedom and opennes of Johto, it's my favorite region, but if GF decides to do a more open game again, I really hope they think of some sort of scaling mechanic so the game doesn't suddenly spike from too easy to too hard.
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Really, it's not that difficult for them to solve these issues.

Wild Pokemon only have the last 4 moves they learn by level-up. Scaling is easy (at best you can change rates to allow more evolutions).

Most trainers don't have Pokemon with moves they wouldn't have as Wild Pokemon, so level scaling is a non-issue either.

As per other trainers, such as Gym Leaders... Rivals already have multiple possible rosters depending on your starter (or in Yellow, depending on how well you do vs Blue in the first battles). Checking for which starter you got or which badges you have should not be any different in terms of difficulty - they are "flags", after all. Heck, the Striaton Gym has different rosters (and trainers) depending on a flag.

They already have the solutions. They already have what would make a non-linear Pokemon world have a decent level curve.
 
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