Little things you like about Pokémon

[Max. Optimizer]

I kept feeling that was punishment since a lot of Europe and Canada broke release date for X&Y.

Yeah, I heard and read that rumor a lot actually.
But then again, you still shouldn't punish your target audience like that.
A week doesn't sound like a long time in the real world, but in the world of Pokémon you can get an awful lot of things done in an entire week.

Well, it's time to pick a God and pray for a worldwide release.

Pokemon Frontier. It just need to be more competitive and less "unfair", like no Evasion increasement allowed, and should worth getting more BPs, at least for the first two wins in a row.

As a matter of fact, I couldn't agree more with you there.
The Frontier in Emerald has a wide variety of challenges.
But yes, the amount of hax and luck-based strategies used by the AI is preposterous!

I mean, the only real way to beat it in its own game is to use some time-consuming setup strategies and / or fight back with hax as well.

I could imagine younger players getting really frustrated since they don't have enough experience yet to build certain teams.

Pokémon should in my opinion stay a game franchise that basically anyone can pick up play.
They should in my opinion implement a mode "For Fun", which gives you a small amount of Battle Points, an "Expert Mode" for more challenging battles, and finally a "Veteran Mode" where the trainers will use the aforementioned luck-based strategies and reward you with a considerably bigger amount of Battle Points.

That way you don't enforce the difficulty on your players, but you rather let the player choose himself / herself with which difficulty level he / she wants to play.

Just my 2 cents though.

 

[brightobject]

Kyogre and Rayquaza have really cool names

 

[Josh C.]

After successfully DexNav'ing a Shiny Porygon today, I took a moment to take a couple snaps (I always like doing this with Shiny encounters). Here's the before and after of the Porygon being put to sleep by good ol' Breloom:

Check out its eye. Doesn't it look like an upside down house/hotel token from Monopoly?? That makes me happy. The little crescent shape is a nice touch too.

No doubt there's a bunch of other design intricacies I've yet to take note of. It's the small details like these that make me love playing Pokemon even more; I tip my hat off to you, designers at Game Freak!

 

[Antihaxxer]

Do people actually know Natural Objects ?

I discovered it three days ago !

http://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Natural_objects

I love discovering things like that :)

 

[Max. Optimizer]

Do people actually know Natural Objects ?

As for me personally, I originally didn't pay attention to the background when playing X&Y for the first time, I just assumed that it was part of the scenery.

I was fairly surprised though when I looked up how to find specific berries in the game, that you can for example use Twister to make berries fall from the tree in the background.

There was never an NPC or a sign in the game that mentioned something a long the lines of "Trainer Info: Did you know that you can find items by taking a closer look at the background in battles? You should try it out".

But to be honest, if it hadn't been for me looking it up, I would've probably never discovered it (except maybe by freak accident).

 

[nameless90]

I really like:
* The fact you can use in-game even pokemon "not that good" competively even without grinding too much with the levels, thus allowing us to play more relaxed about EVs/IVs/items and so on... with very different type of teams (even monotype teams in certain games!).
* HG and SS. I lost my heart on that lovely sprites which follows you all around.
* Hard battles (i.e. Whitney's Miltank when playing with Quilava). They are exciting and not that linear as the usual ones: they resembles competitive fights at a certain degree.
* Ash in the anime when wins overwriting what we all know about type advantage and so on.

 

[The_Emperor]

I really like the opening cutscene of pokemon Yellow, that's all I'm gonna say...

 

[Lady Vader]

In Japan, they are having a special Pikachu in remembrance of the earthquake and tsunami that occured in 2011. This Pikachu has Bestow, Hold Hands, Return, and Play Nice and is holding a Sweet Heart. And this is the official artwork:

 

[JES]

Do people actually know Natural Objects ?

I discovered it three days ago !

http://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Natural_objects

I love discovering things like that :)

Oh yeah! That was pretty cool! I really hope they bring that back for Sun and Moon!

 

[Suspicious Derivative]

Not sure if this has been posted before, but one (maybe not so little) thing I like about Pokemon are the actual Pokemon themselves. There are so many wonderfully unique and creative creatures in the Pokemon world. The people who come up with them sure has a lot of great imagination which they aren't afraid of utilizing. And we'll be getting even more before this year is over, which I'm looking forward to.

 

[The_Emperor]

I really like the opening cutscene of pokemon Yellow, that's all I'm gonna say...

For people who haven't seen it:

I wonder if there is anybody in this world who doesn't think the opening isn't cute. It makes Pikachu cuter and I always laugh when I see the opening.

 

[jordanthejq12]

I wonder if there is anybody in this world who doesn't think the opening isn't cute. It makes Pikachu cuter and I always laugh when I see the opening.

Oh, there are. Some people aren't terribly fond of Pikachu (overexposure playing a large part in that).

 

[The_Emperor]

Oh, there are. Some people aren't terribly fond of Pikachu (overexposure playing a large part in that).

In the anime, I can see why people wouldn't like pikachu and I agree, Pikachu gets too much air time...but then I think of pokemon Yellow...it really was a fun game...

 

[Xen]

Replaying through Red on the 3DS VC makes me realize how grateful I am that we're able to use HM moves in the field simply by interacting with the corresponding object (trees, water, etc) instead of having to go through the Pokemon menu every single time I want to use Cut, Surf, or any other HMs. I also realize how much I appreciate being able to register key items to the Select button.

 

[Pikachu315111]

One thing I always liked was how each Gym Leader and Frontier Brain had a "title". While the Frontier Brain's are more standardized, it's the facility they run plus a word that usually denotes their role as the boss (though points for the games using it as their Trainer Class), the Gym Leader's on the other hand provide a bit of insight on them. It's not much, but it helps form their personality a bit combined with what they say and their actions. Sometimes it infers something about them you wouldn't otherwise know from just text if they speak plainly (like I don't think you would have been able to tell Misty was rowdy if her title wasn't "The Tomboyish Mermaid").

Gym Leader/Frontier Brain Titles

NOTE: I included some of the Japanese version of the titles if they were different enough. Japanese title would be red, English in blue.

Indigo League

Brock: "The Rock-Solid Pokemon Trainer!"
Misty: "The Tomboyish Mermaid!"
Lt. Surge: "The Lightning American!"
Erika: "Nature-Loving Lady"/"The Nature-Loving Princess!"
Koga: "The Poisonous Ninja Master"
Sabrina: "Esper Lady"/"The Mistress of Psychic Pokemon!"
Blaine: "The Hotheaded Quiz Master!"
Giovanni: "The Self-Proclaimed Strongest Trainer"*

* Giovanni didn't have a title until Black 2 & White 2 gave him one for the Pokemon World Tournament. This was probably because in the original games he had the special Trainer Class of "Rocket's Boss".

I wonder if nowadays they would change Lt. Surge to something like "The Lightning Soldier".

Johto League

Falkner: "Magnificent Flying Pokemon Tamer"/"The Elegant Master of Flying Pokemon"
Bugsy: "The Walking Bug Pokemon Encyclopedia"
Whitney: "Dynamite Pretty Gal!"/"The Incredibly Pretty Girl"
Morty: "Clairvoyant Ascetic"/"The Mystic Seer of the Future"
Chuck: "Man Who Talks by Roaring Fits"/"His Roaring Fists Do the Talking"
Jasmine: "Iron Wall-Guarded Girl"/"The Steel-Clad Defense Girl"
Pryce: "The Teacher of Winter's Harshness"
Clair: "Blessed Dragon Pokemon Tamer"/"The Blessed User of Dragon Pokemon"
Janine: "The Poisonous Ninja Master"

Also included Janine. Speaking of whom, while I understand she inherited the title (and the Gym) from her father I feel the title doesn't fit her (the way she acts isn't very "master"-like). I think maybe something like "The Poisonous Ninja Disciple" would be more filling, since that's what she is more.

Also I'm split whether I like Morty's Japanese or English title more. English is more direct and easier to understand, but the Japanese just sounds more fancy.

Hoenn League

Roxanne: "The Rock-Loving Honors Student"
Brawly: "A Big Wave in Fighting"
Wattson: "The Cheerfully Electrifying Man!"
Flannery: "One with a Fiery Passion that Burns!"
Norman: "A Man in Pursuit of Power!"
Winona: "The Bird User Taking Flight into the World"
Tate & Liza: "The Mystic Combination!"
Wallace: "Artist and Lover of Water"
Juan: "The Gym Leader with the Beauty of Pure Water!"

Noland: Factory Head
Greta: Arena Captain/Tycoon
Tucker: Dome Superstar/Ace
Lucy: Tube/Pike Queen
Spenser: Palace Guardian/Maven
Brandon: Pyramid King
Anabel: Tower Tycoon/Salon Maiden

Kind of feel sorry for Tate & Liza as they share a title instead of having their own. Though they wouldn't use it much, I imagine their individual Gym Titles being something like "The Solar Yang" for Tate and "The Lunar Yin" for Liza.
Also it's strange that they changed Anabel's title in the English version (especially what they'll do one generation later). They could have named Greta's something else so that wasn't the problem. Only reason I could see them calling her the Salon Maiden was to show she was a new character (though the Battle Tower was in DP, the Battle Salon was a new addition to it in Platinum).

Sinnoh League

Roark: "The Man Called 'The Rock'"/"Call me Roark 'The Rock'!"
Gardenia: "Master of Vivid Plant Pokemon"
Maylene: "The Barefoot, Fighting Genius!"
Crasher Wake: "Water Stream Maskman"/"The Torrential Masked Master!"
Fantina: "The Alluring, Soulful Dancer"
Byron: "The Man with the Steel Body!"
Candice: "The Diamond Dust Girl!"
Volkner: "Star Dazzling Radiance"/"The Shining, Shocking Star"

Palmer: Tower Tycoon
Thorton: Factory Head
Dahlia: Roulette Goddess/Arcade Star
Darach: Castle Butler/Valet
Argenta: Stage Madonna/Hall Matron

I like the English title for Roark since it sounds a bit more personal. It's one thing for others to call him "The Rock", though I feel it reveals a bit more about his personality if he also refers to himself as such which the title suggests.
Also liked the English title for Crasher Wake, though on the flip side I do like his Japanese name of "MAXIMUM MASK" for just how funny and awesome it sounds.
I also like Argenta's Japanese name for a silly reason: them using Madonna's name like it was a title instead of a, you know, name. They know that "Madonna" is Madonna's real name, right? Lol.

Unova League

Cilan, Chili, & Cress: "Trial Triangle"/"Triple Trouble!"
Lenora: "Natural-Born Mama"/"An Archeologist with Backbone"
Burgh: "Most Insect Artist"/"Premier Insect Artist"
Elesa: "The Shining Beauty"
Clay: "The Underground Boss"
Skyla: "The Heaven's Flying-High Girl"/"The Highflying Girl"
Brycen: "Ice Mask"
Drayden: "The Spartan Mayor"
Iris: "The Girl Who Knows the Hearts of Dragons"
Cheren: "The Person Who Seeks Truth"/"The One Who Seeks the Right Path"
Roxie: "Poison Life, Poison Live!"/"Poison Days, Poison on the Stage!"
Marlon: "The Man Who is More Marine than the Sea!"/"A Bigger Splash than the Sea!"

Ingo: Subway Boss
Emmet: Subway Boss

Like Tate & Liza, maybe the Striaton Triplets should also have their own individual titles. How about "The Herbal Connoisseur" for Cilan, "The Cooking Connoisseur" for Chili, and "The Blending Connoisseur" for Cress.
WOW. Like when people were saying Lenora had stereotypical "mammy" traits I thought they were a bit over exaggerating because she's black and from misconceptions when we first saw her (people thinking her digging apron being one for cooking), but now seeing her Japanese title makes me wonder otherwise.
I think Roxie's Japanese title works better since its a bit more snappy. The English title also gets the idea across but not as well.
And I'm split about what they should do with the Subway Bosses. On one hand their Facility Brains so their titles work differently from Gym Leaders, but at the same time both of them being called Subway Boss kind of seems cheap so maybe they could also have a Gym Leader like title on top of that?

Kalos League

Viola: "The Camera Girl Who Never Misses a Smile"/"The Camerawoman Who Never Lets a Single Smile Escape her Focus"
Grant: "Wild, Mild Rock Climber"/"The Wild, yet Cool and Collected, Rock Climber"
Korrina: "The Evolution Fighter!"
Ramos: "The Old Tree that Still Blooms"/"The Old Growth is Still in Bloom!"
Clemont: "The Inventor Lighting Up the World"
Valerie: "The Maiden from a Country of History"/"The Maiden from a Land with History"
Olympia: "The Person Who Makes Paths with Starlight"
Wulfric: "The Hot and Thick Ice"/"Tough as an Iceberg, Hot as a Furnace"

Nita: Battle Chatelaine
Evelyn: Battle Chatelaine
Dana: Battle Chatelaine
Morgan: Battle Chatelaine

Viola's Japanese title is better only because its shorter and gets the same idea across. I still like my title "The Shutterbug Who Never Misses a Smile" if only because of the word "shutterbug".
I have a problem with both Grant's titles. I get what they're trying to say, I just don't think they're saying it correctly. I feel something like "The Wild but Calm Rock Climber".
I like Ramos's Japanese title since I would describe an old person as a fully grown tree instead of a growth.
However I do feel Wulfric's English title gets him across better. The Japanese title is a bit odd at first, I feel the English title's additional bit helps explain away the oddity.
And like with the Subway Bosses, while the Battle Chatelaines have that as their Trainer Class I feel an individual title wouldn't be a bad idea.

I wish they also gave the Elite Four titles of some kind, especially with how little is developed with them. And though the Champion doesn't need a title beyond "The Champion", I say give them their own personal titles as no two Champions are the same.

 

[jordanthejq12]

I love the math behind Pokemon. While I'm not a math guy, a franchise of fantasy monsters beating the hell out of each other being governed primarily by cold, hard numbers just sounds cool to me.

It's stuff like the catch rate formula that, while intimidating to somebody who isn't well-versed in math, makes you marvel at the creators (and players!) who are.

(Also, here is my favorite number: .19%. This is the odds of an Ice Fang "freeze-flinch"--a hit, followed by a zero-turn freeze, followed by the poor soul on the receiving end losing their turn anyway. It's probably happened once ever in the history of Pokemon, but the simple possibility of such a sequence is intriguing.)

 

[Lady Vader]

(Also, here is my favorite number: .19%. This is the odds of an Ice Fang "freeze-flinch"--a hit, followed by a zero-turn freeze, followed by the poor soul on the receiving end losing their turn anyway. It's probably happened once ever in the history of Pokemon, but the simple possibility of such a sequence is intriguing.)

I happened to my poor Mega Venusaur once.

 

[The_Emperor]

I happened to my poor Mega Venusaur once.

Thank God mega Venusaur has thick fat as it's ability...that's so good...

 

[jordanthejq12]

Thank God mega Venusaur has thick fat as it's ability...that's so good...

Damage is damage, and Thick Fat doesn't prevent freezing. It can scarcely be a comfort.

 

[The_Emperor]

Damage is damage, and Thick Fat doesn't prevent freezing. It can scarcely be a comfort.

Yes I know, I was just saying this because alot of people don't like mega Venusaur and I like mega Venusaur's new ability it gets. I also like Mega Blastoise's new ability

 

[pika pal]

On the subject of Venusaur, can I say how much I love its Mega, both on a design level and a Meta level? First off, Tanks are one of my favorite character types, and Venusaur is so good at that Job with its Mega, the ability covering its typing well and it having so many tools to do it well, whether utility like Leech Seed or just having decent retaliation power with its STABs and Giga Drain's recovery. I also just like its design because it's a progression on its appearance without being ridiculously overdone or looking too radically different, both traits that kind of turn me off towards ones like Zard-X.

And on a Meta/Company level, I love what they did with it. Venusaur was a mediocre mon until Gen 5 gave it a chance to work well in Sun Teams with the Weather wars. Even if it wasn't a definer, it was viable. Then comes Gen 6 with the weather nerf and Venusaur likely left to dry. But instead of being late to the party on what was trendy in competitive (*cough* Solar Power Mega Houndoom *COUGH*), they gave the Mega a totally different playstyle, and one that is both decently viable and more general so it doesn't depend on a generational trend to maintain itself.

 

[lighthouses]

character designs o,o

 

[nameless90]

I really like the buff GF gave to Venusaur (my favourite pokemon) with its Megastone: a huge improvement to a grass starter which is viable despite its average typing.

I really like the decision to have two Mega Evolutions for Charizard: if the Fire starter hadn't had a MegastoneX (which brings the Dragon typing), many people would have "ragequitted" from playing pokemon. A pokemon which in the Anime is training itself in the Dragon Valley must be closely related to Dragons. Fortunately, with the Megastone X they follows this flavour perfectly, whereas the Megastone Y seems much more like the classic Charizard as a Fire/Flying monster. ===> very good design in my opinion.

 

[PsychicAcademic]

As of now? Braixen/Tairenar. In Pokemon Amie. She's completely adorable, yet she's tsundere. Seriously.

But really, seeing her spin in happiness when feeding her at zero fullness is so.... awww.....

Actually, maybe that's Pokemon Amie in general...? Although no one has melted my heart more than her. Well, except Vaporeon's jump.


Oh, and funny how the AI is sometimes stupid. Such as friendly-fire Will-o-wisp to teammates in Triples regardless of ability or even type.

 

[lucariomaster2]

While trying to catch a Graveler to breed Magnitude onto a Nosepass, I discovered something else that I really like: ORAS's Victory Road.

Now, yes, the dungeon itself is still the same Victory Road from RSE. But I'm not talking about the dungeon itself; I'm talking about the entrance and exit. Even though it's underground, it has the design of an outdoor area: Grass, flowers, and flowing water. Whenever I walk through it, I feel I'm walking through a whole other world. (Also, I play a lot of Minecraft, and this is the kind of area I always make my base in.)

EDIT: I'm an idiot. You can't even catch Graveler in Victory Road in ORAS.