Little things you like about Pokémon

[Pikachu315111]

Just noticed something-the towns in the kanto region are all named after colours. That explains why it is er...more colourful...I like that.

Johto too. In addition to that on the Gameboy Color the cities color palette would change to a color close to matching that cities color namesake. Finally it wasn't just the cities names after colors but also the Kanto Badges in Japan. And yes, all the badges colors matched the cities color.

Two more fun naming facts:
1. Unova is the only other region which cities have a naming theme, but for Unova they'll all named after types of clouds.
2. Not really a fun fact but something I like, Kalos has a name for each of its routes. While everyone still calls them by their number, I still like the little touch, it gives the route a touch of personality. Maybe later I'll go through them and pick any which stand out to me. Eitherway I hope they do that for future games (though sadly they didn't go back and do the same for ORAS routes).

 

[Smokee]

Johto too. In addition to that on the Gameboy Color the cities color palette would change to a color close to matching that cities color namesake. Finally it wasn't just the cities names after colors but also the Kanto Badges in Japan. And yes, all the badges colors matched the cities color.

Two more fun naming facts:
1. Unova is the only other region which cities have a naming theme, but for Unova they'll all named after types of clouds.
2. Not really a fun fact but something I like, Kalos has a name for each of its routes. While everyone still calls them by their number, I still like the little touch, it gives the route a touch of personality. Maybe later I'll go through them and pick any which stand out to me. Eitherway I hope they do that for future games (though sadly they didn't go back and do the same for ORAS routes).

Hoenn had a naming theme too! They were all compound words.

Verdant-turf
Little-root
Old-ale
Ever-grande
Etc..

Some people also say Kalos towns were named after plants, ex. Vaniville= vanille (in French), which is vanilla. I'm not sure if this works for all of them though, lumiose=rose seems like they're reaching for something.

 

[HelenTheHero]

I really like the way Lumiose was done. It's confusing, but at least we have teleporting cars! Prisim tower is also really nice, and I like how it doubles as one of my favorite gyms and gymleaders.

 

[Millky95]

Just noticed something-the towns in the kanto region are all named after colours. That explains why it is er...more colourful...I like that.

And the starting town is called Pallet which is just awesome

 

[HelenTheHero]

And the starting town is called Pallet which is just awesome

Don't forget Ash! He's in on this too.

Ash Ketchum

Ketchum.

Catch-em.

 

[Pikachu315111]

Hoenn had a naming theme too! They were all compound words.

Verdant-turf
Little-root
Old-ale
Ever-grande
Etc..

Eh, Sinnoh's cities/towns were also mostly all compound names except for Eterna City which is a shortening of word.

 

[Mova]

I like how every single Pokémon appears to feel like a natural whole when looking at them, rather than seeing the creatures as stitched-together parts. Take Arcanine as an example. It could resemble a dog, wolf, lion, or tiger depending on how you look at it. However, it doesn't feel like any of those things, but rather a Pokémon. That's why we never had creatures in the official franchise based on traditional Greco-Roman creatures that were put together in a haphazard manner. They just won't work, and I'm glad they don't.

This idea I had came from The Cave of Dragonflies, particularly somewhere in the guide for making Fakemons. I should probably stop at this point.

 

[Lady Vader]

There were two small changes made in Black 2 and White 2 that made me very happy:
1) When your Repel runs out and you have another of the same type in your bag, it asks if you want to put up another.
2) Similar to a previous change where you could use the touch screen to shift your team around, it finally let us shift items between team members (and also lets us see what items are on those Pokémon without going into the individual screens).

 

[Pikachu315111]

Just found this out. Way back in Gen I there was an unused theme found in the data of Yellow:

Sounds like a pretty epic theme, yet it went unused and soon was forgotten about as the years and gens moved on. Only a very few would remember this enigmatic theme, and if some played through XY up to Victory Road they may come to a startling surprise:

Sound familiar? Yup, seems like what many would have written off as a long forgotten theme was remembered by someone at GF and remade into the XY Victory Road's theme! Just as we learned with my previous post about old Pokemon themes, we may overlook and forget about them, but GF doesn't. ;)

 

[HelenTheHero]

Try playing them both at once, sounds pretty cool.


*If you like killing your ears and constantly changing the volume to have it make sense.

 

[Cresselia~~]

I actually enjoy these 8 bit music a lot.
Oddly, I enjoy them more than the music for RSE/ FRLG/ DP.

 

[Pikachu315111]

Pokemon ain't just partying with itself for its 20th Anniversary! Mario Maker just got a Bulbasaur, Charmander, and Squirtle costume you get from completing a short vine climbing, water swimming, & fire dodging level. And unlike the Smash Amiibo Pokemon costume who for some reason were missing sound effects from Pokemon, these 3 have their original cries, jump sound is a sound effect you often here in the Gen I games, and plays the Gen I victory theme when you complete the level (hopefully they went back and also did the same for Pikachu, Jigglypuff, Lucario, Charizard, Greninja, & Mewtwo).

(Now we just need Charmeleon and we'll have the entire Charmander line in the game)

Also Splatoon is having a Gen I Splatfest! Japanese players can pick either Green or Red team while international players are picking either Blue or Red. And as usual, upon picking a team you get a tee representing what version you picked (though only for the duration of this Splatfest).

(Of course the two pop singers would quickly break out into Team Rocket's motto... also Marie is right, Blue is better and you can still pick Charmander in it (that's how it happened with me, oddly my brother got Red and he picked Squirtle), so taking a flying leap Callie. Also looks like people will finally be getting to use Red Ink. BLOOD JOKES EVERYWHERE!)

So what other series would be getting into the Pokemon mood? Maybe Animal Crossing will finally get some Pokemon themed items (I get Pokemon isn't a first party title but really? It's still only published by Nintendo and is one of their biggest franchises...).

 

[Max. Optimizer]

I personally always genuinely enjoyed the simple fact that, despite every single one of us having been thrown individually into the wide and versatile World of Pokémon, we all had to get in contact with fellow trainers, either in the form of real life acquaintances or members of a community like this one, in order for us to complete our PokéDex, evolve Pokémon like Haunter or Kadabra or complete our collection of Hidden Ability, Dream Ball and and Apricorn Ball Pokémon.
In order to get the most out of this game, you absolutely need to co-operate with others and form a network of communication. I simply love how Pokémon manages to bring people together from all over the world.

Furthermore, I've also always genuinely loved the fact that, since this franchise had a significant impact on our childhood and youth, it's in my eyes safe to assume that the way in which we "evolved" while becoming adults, shares strong similarities with the way in which young Trouser Pouch Monstrosities "evolve" as well. We also gain new abilities, new knowledge, new strengths, but also new weaknesses over time. I always liked that sort of comparison.

 

[Codraroll]

Here's something I considered putting in the "little things that annoy you" thread, or maybe even Unpopular Opinions. Then I realized Game Freak actually managed to do it right in the latest games, so I'll rather commend them for taking action on the issue. Anyway, here goes:

The common implementation of the Pokédex in the games is seriously lacking.

As-is, the Pokédex is a Pokémon encyclopedia, buried too deeply in the Start menu to reflect the stated purpose of the device. Yes, it's at the top of the menu, but you still have to take a break from whatever you're doing to dive into its features. Exit the overworld, scroll through its features, look up its content. In battle, it's not even available, although I don't think it strictly needs to be.

However, in other media (Anime and manga, most notably), the Pokédex is shown to be the trainer's main way of acquiring information on the fly. Dex in one hand, Poké Balls in the other, that's how trainers often battle. It presents information through pictures and spoken text, there's no mention of having to sit down and scroll through menus to be able to use its features.

However, ORAS did it very, very right. Not perfect, but miles ahead of the preceeding games. The DexNav was presented as a PokéNav feature, but in reality it does the job the Pokédex was supposed to ever since we got two screens to play on.

First of all, the information is continuously available. With the DexNav open, you can see what kind of Pokémon reside in the area without having to open any menus. You see what Pokémon you have encountered, what Pokémon you have caught, and whether you've caught all the Pokémon available in the area. A button press takes you straight to the relevant Pokémon's Pokédex entry, if you have it registered. That's exactly the kind of stuff the Pokédex should do. The information you need, when you need it, making Pokémon catching a whole lot easier.

Also, it allows you to search for specific Pokémon nearby, and makes it advantageous to fight wild Pokémon several times. Have my standing ovations for that feature. Yes, it's not a guaranteed encounter, and the implementation could need some tweaking, but it's a really, really neat feature.

Plus it even warns you if there are any rare Pokémon nearby, and gives you information on them before the encounter even begins. The DexNav truly represents a paradigm shift in regards to what the Pokédex should do. Not continuing these features would be a huge step back, and I really hope the DexNav represents the new standard of Pokédex utilization.

 

[Oriolous]

Here's something I considered putting in the "little things that annoy you" thread, or maybe even Unpopular Opinions. Then I realized Game Freak actually managed to do it right in the latest games, so I'll rather commend them for taking action on the issue. Anyway, here goes:

The common implementation of the Pokédex in the games is seriously lacking.

As-is, the Pokédex is a Pokémon encyclopedia, buried too deeply in the Start menu to reflect the stated purpose of the device. Yes, it's at the top of the menu, but you still have to take a break from whatever you're doing to dive into its features. Exit the overworld, scroll through its features, look up its content. In battle, it's not even available, although I don't think it strictly needs to be.

However, in other media (Anime and manga, most notably), the Pokédex is shown to be the trainer's main way of acquiring information on the fly. Dex in one hand, Poké Balls in the other, that's how trainers often battle. It presents information through pictures and spoken text, there's no mention of having to sit down and scroll through menus to be able to use its features.

However, ORAS did it very, very right. Not perfect, but miles ahead of the preceeding games. The DexNav was presented as a PokéNav feature, but in reality it does the job the Pokédex was supposed to ever since we got two screens to play on.

First of all, the information is continuously available. With the DexNav open, you can see what kind of Pokémon reside in the area without having to open any menus. You see what Pokémon you have encountered, what Pokémon you have caught, and whether you've caught all the Pokémon available in the area. A button press takes you straight to the relevant Pokémon's Pokédex entry, if you have it registered. That's exactly the kind of stuff the Pokédex should do. The information you need, when you need it, making Pokémon catching a whole lot easier.

Also, it allows you to search for specific Pokémon nearby, and makes it advantageous to fight wild Pokémon several times. Have my standing ovations for that feature. Yes, it's not a guaranteed encounter, and the implementation could need some tweaking, but it's a really, really neat feature.

Plus it even warns you if there are any rare Pokémon nearby, and gives you information on them before the encounter even begins. The DexNav truly represents a paradigm shift in regards to what the Pokédex should do. Not continuing these features would be a huge step back, and I really hope the DexNav represents the new standard of Pokédex utilization.

AMEN, COD!

I still actively use the DexNav to hunt for breeding projects due to the ease of access. I mean, if the feature was implemented into the PokeDex (it IS called the DEXNav), then we have a wonderful new tool that is here to stay.

I do sort of wish we could use the Pokedex in battles, and have it function kinda like it does in the Manga, to show what moves a Pokemon could have. Obviously only a singleplayer feature though, it would bog down multiplayer too much

 

[Pikachu315111]

AMEN, COD!

I still actively use the DexNav to hunt for breeding projects due to the ease of access. I mean, if the feature was implemented into the PokeDex (it IS called the DEXNav), then we have a wonderful new tool that is here to stay.

I do sort of wish we could use the Pokedex in battles, and have it function kinda like it does in the Manga, to show what moves a Pokemon could have. Obviously only a singleplayer feature though, it would bog down multiplayer too much

While I would like being able to use the Pokedex in battle to check the Pokemon's Types (bonus if it lists the type matchups) and possible Abilities, I would say limit it to that for Trainer Battles. I don't want to know everything about my opponent's Pokemon, but I would like to know the very basics so I can prepare myself a bit. Also I wouldn't bother including moves since, unless you tell us the Pokemon's specific moves, you'll have to list its entire level-up, TM/HMs, and Tutors (and even then what if it has special moves?).

However in Wild Battles I want the full DexNav functions.

 

[mcFlareon]

Johto too. In addition to that on the Gameboy Color the cities color palette would change to a color close to matching that cities color namesake. Finally it wasn't just the cities names after colors but also the Kanto Badges in Japan. And yes, all the badges colors matched the cities color.

Two more fun naming facts:
1. Unova is the only other region which cities have a naming theme, but for Unova they'll all named after types of clouds.
2. Not really a fun fact but something I like, Kalos has a name for each of its routes. While everyone still calls them by their number, I still like the little touch, it gives the route a touch of personality. Maybe later I'll go through them and pick any which stand out to me. Eitherway I hope they do that for future games (though sadly they didn't go back and do the same for ORAS routes).

Yeah Johto's named after flower/plants, which leads me to my next point.

I like how Pokemon is not afraid to use more obscure words in their naming as it allows you to learn new words back when you're a kid (well sometimes even now!)

In fact, games in general help me widen my vocabulary.

Some examples include the town names like Vermillion, move names like Embargo or Facade, Badges like Fen badge, meanings of names in terms of puns like how Phoebe can be linked to Ghost types and of course, puns in Pokemon names like Ferrothorn woth Ferro relating to iron

 

[Codraroll]

In fact, games in general help me widen my vocabulary.

Not saying that playing Pokémon was what taught me English, but it sure helped a lot. Words like "psychic" or "item" are far from the first ones you learn with English as a second language, but they're everywhere in Pokémon.

 

[Lady Vader]

Yeah Johto's named after flower/plants, which leads me to my next point.

I like how Pokemon is not afraid to use more obscure words in their naming as it allows you to learn new words back when you're a kid (well sometimes even now!)

In fact, games in general help me widen my vocabulary.

Some examples include the town names like Vermillion, move names like Embargo or Facade, Badges like Fen badge, meanings of names in terms of puns like how Phoebe can be linked to Ghost types and of course, puns in Pokemon names like Ferrothorn woth Ferro relating to iron

Agreed. When X and Y came out, I was taking my first semester of French in college (I took American Sign Language in high school). Seeing a variety of names really helped me by giving me extra practice at pronouncing names, including realizing that I had been mispronouncing Gardevoir's name wrong all this time.

 

[Pikachu315111]

In the Unpopular Opinion threads there's a movie discussion going on and during it I was reminded that some of them had great pieces of music:

Hide

Search For The Girl - Pokemon Heroes

Lugia's Song - The Power of One

Oracion - Rise of Darkrai

 

[The_Emperor]

Yeah Johto's named after flower/plants, which leads me to my next point.

I like how Pokemon is not afraid to use more obscure words in their naming as it allows you to learn new words back when you're a kid (well sometimes even now!)

In fact, games in general help me widen my vocabulary.

Some examples include the town names like Vermillion, move names like Embargo or Facade, Badges like Fen badge, meanings of names in terms of puns like how Phoebe can be linked to Ghost types and of course, puns in Pokemon names like Ferrothorn woth Ferro relating to iron

Lol whenever someone is like 'name a colour,' I just list all the Kanto cities because they're named after colours and they are more complicated shades of colour if you know what I mean....

 

[jordanthejq12]

On the subject of music, as Pikachu315111 mentioned the movies, there's a couple from the games that I really love. Well, several, but two I want to talk about.

So Sinnoh has the best first-route tune in the game, hands down, come at me bro:

And another thing Sinnoh introduced was day/night variations of the same theme. So if you're departing Twinleaf at an hour no ten-year-old has any business being outside their house during, you get this:

The difference is really subtle--mainly that the drumbeat of the day tune is mostly missing from the night--but it's still the same addicting song I could listen to for hours on end, while still being not the exact same.

 

[Pikachu315111]

jordanthejq12:
If you don't mind me bring this right back to the anime with you example, I always liked when the anime remixed a song from the games giving it an orchestral version. For example:

Some of my other favorites (just gonna provide a link to them):

Kanto Trainer Battle (called "Burning Battlefield")
Hoenn Elite Four (and unlike the ORAS remix they have the clapping!)

And while we're on music from the anime, anyone remember Pikachu's Jukebox (just gonna link you to playlists):

Pokemon Season 1 Opening Theme (I Want To Be The Very Best (Like No One Ever Was))
(On The Road To) Viridian City
2.B.A Master
What Kind of Pokemon Are You?
Together Forever
Double Trouble (Team Rocket's Rockin')

Song of Jigglypuff
Two Perfect Girls

 

[Codraroll]

We have a separate music thread, so post stuff like that there. Thank you.

 

[Pikachu315111]

We have a separate music thread, so post stuff like that there. Thank you.

We do? Where?