Little things you like about Pokémon

Pokemon Japan just released a new music video, this time for Ditto (and it has English closed captioning too):
Everything turns out to be Ditto.
You see people? Originality is dead and pokemon agrees. We're all ditto now.
I'll have this song on the back of my mind for the next couple of days now. Thanks!
 
GameFreak finally showing Raichu some love with the Alolan form, as well as producing two Pikaclones that are something more than cute. Togedemaru has that Electric/Steel typing (most resistances of any combo) and a useful signature move, while Mimikyu drops the Electric typing entirely for something unique and much better, has an awesome movepool and ability, and has actual backstory, rather than the usual "SO CUTE!!!!!!oneeleven" shtick the other Pikaclones go for.
 
I only just realised that the soundtrack for PMD Sky is over 6 hours long.

I like the amount of effort that was put into the music of Sky, and PMD in general, but the soundtrack being over double, even triple the length of some main series Pokemon games just highlights how much they cared about it (all dungeons have a unique theme as well) - and them all being of a high quality too certainly helps.
 

Clouds

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I only just realised that the soundtrack for PMD Sky is over 6 hours long.

I like the amount of effort that was put into the music of Sky, and PMD in general, but the soundtrack being over double, even triple the length of some main series Pokemon games just highlights how much they cared about it (all dungeons have a unique theme as well) - and them all being of a high quality too certainly helps.
Absolutely, and some themes like Amp Plains and Don't Ever Forget are, in my opinion, some of the best themes in any Pokemon game to date.
 
GameFreak finally showing Raichu some love with the Alolan form, as well as producing two Pikaclones that are something more than cute. Togedemaru has that Electric/Steel typing (most resistances of any combo) and a useful signature move, while Mimikyu drops the Electric typing entirely for something unique and much better, has an awesome movepool and ability, and has actual backstory, rather than the usual "SO CUTE!!!!!!oneeleven" shtick the other Pikaclones go for.
I'd even go so far as to propose that Mimikyu is a deconstruction of the Pikaclone trope. Think about it, it makes sense.
 
It's been too long since my last post here. Time to get back on track. Some more small things for the time being.

A while ago, some people talked about their favorite rivals. I want to say some short things about my favorite rivals too, so here we go:

Bianca: An adorable girl who eventually finds her goal in life and realizes that she isn't a strong trainer, but that's still okay. My overall favorite rival in the series.
Cheren: A guy who wants to be strong but is unsure about why and later finds his way in life as well.
Hugh: A trainer who cares deeply about his sister and wants revenge on Team Plasma, being stronger than the player but still needing their help.
Barry: A trainer who is energetic, competitive and competent without being a total jerk.
Wally: A shy boy with health problems who eventually becomes a very strong and competitive trainer.
Gladion: A cool and edgy guy with an interesting backstory and great goal. Not a complete jerk either, he is a good guy but knows what's important for him in life.
Hau: A friendly guy who wants to get strong but also wants to have lots of fun along the way.

There's also N if you count him as a rival. I'm not really sure what to count him as. Either way, I love him too because he is one of the deepest and most complex characters in the series.

Next up, let's say some nice things about my least favorite games! Or at least one thing. Do you know what I like? The thing that appears in G/S/C before you battle a trainer. It also appears before you battle Red in HG/SS. If you don't know what I'm talking about, here's a picture:



When I was a kid and played G/S/C, I never really knew what it was. I used to think that it was supposed to be an arena, with the outer half-circles being where the trainers were supposed to stand and the inner circle being the place where the Pokemon would stand and fight. It was only recently that I looked more closely at its shape and realized that it is shaped like a Poke Ball, which I guess is what it is supposed to be. It only took me like... 15-16 years to figure that out? But now I know (unless it is supposed to be something else lol).

One thing I like while breeding in S/M is that every Pokemon gets an animation immediately after hatching, before they start doing their regular still-standing animation. While this is just one of the regular attacking animations, it sometimes gets incredibly well done coupled with their regular animations. One of my favorites is Darumaka which I found out about recently as I was breeding some Darumaka earlier this month. It looks like it just goes "Hello world! Have a big hug!" before it starts dancing around. So adorable!

I like how it is sunshine in Haina Desert during the day instead of just sandstorm all the time. Feels like a more proper representation of real-life deserts since they often tend to be very hot and sunny when the sun is shining in them.

Next, some more things from Pokemon Adventures. I like how the Safari Zone sign is a parody of the Jurassic Park logo. Really cool.

I like how the manga manages to make Pokemon of the same species feel individual and different compared to each other. Both in terms of how they look and how they act. Some good examples are Koga's Golbat and Arbok compared to Agatha's, Pika and Chuchu, Bianca's Oshawott and Cedric Juniper's, Gigi and Tep as well as Cheren's Snivy and Amanda. That is something the manga does very well, in my opinion.

One more thing from Adventures for now. The relation between Ruby and Feefee. Not going to go into any details about it (because of spoilers for those who haven't read it and I'm too lazy). But I think that is one of the best relations between a Pokemon and trainer I have seen in the manga so far. Hilarious at times, tragic at others, so many emotions!

That's it for now. I'll try to make one more post here before US/UM are released, but no promises.
 
I like how the remakes music has the same vibe as the current games. It gives a unified feel to each generation. You can hear the Hoenn in Fire Red/Leaf Green, and the Sinnoh in HGSS. I don't remember if ORAS is like this too. Please correct me if I'm wrong and this is all in my head. Maybe I'm just a crazy old man.
 

Pikachu315111

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New music video, this time a dedication to Tentacool (and Tentacruel):
(And apparently Tentacools can come back to life after being dried on the beach by just splashing water on them)
 
One last post before US/UM.

I like how there are Pokemon fans from all ages, both kids, teens and adults. Both from the main series and side games (Pokemon Go was one thing that made me think about this). And this is not just for the games, but other parts of the franchise as well such as anime, manga, TCG, merchandise and toys. Pokemon fans aren't just those like me who grew up with the series and then never stopped being fans, nor are there only kids and new fans. There are all kinds of fans from all ages and I like that a lot.

On to the next episode of let's say nice things about my least favorite games! Do you know what I actually really like about HG/SS? The Dowsing Machine! I find it amazingly good and useful for finding hidden items. I used it all the time while playing through the games in order to find every single hidden item. Being able to have it on at practically any time on the bottom screen was really great. I also love the sounds it makes. I think it is the second best Dowsing Machine in the series.

And since it is the second best, then which one is my favorite? The one in Gen 5! It was perfect, practically everything I ever wanted the Dowsing Machine to be. What makes it better than the HG/SS one is the fact that you don't have to touch the screen in order to use it, it just works automatically when you have it on. Like in HG/SS, I used it throughout all the games to find every single hidden item that existed. I hope that they can go back to these type of Dowsing Machines at some point in the future but it feels unlikely at this point.

I like the graphics and sprites of Gen 5. Everything looks so sharp and colorful. It feels like they were really going all out and pushing the DS to its limits with these graphics. The animated cutscenes were also very impressive for the DS. I usually don't care that much for graphics in video games but I think they really nailed it here.

When battling Dexio and Sina at the Battle Tree, they have the regular battle music. But it is the music from X/Y and not S/M! I find that to be a very neat detail, taking us back in time a little bit, and making a nod to the games where these characters first appeared.

I have also noticed that the clothes Dexio and Sina wear in S/M seem to be ones you can obtain on your own through the clothing stores. Perhaps it is possible to dress up the player character to look exactly as them? I don't know but that would be cool.

I also like their appearance in S/M in general. They don't really do a whole lot in the story or the games at all, but somehow that doesn't really matter, I still like them a lot.

I really like character customization in general. It is a very good way to make every player character look different from each other within the games. There are so many options so you can make them look however you want, no trainer is the other alike. It always makes me happy whenever I go to Festival Plaza in my games and see all the trainers there, all looking different from my character and everyone else that's there too.

Last thing for now. The way you get treated as Champion in Sun and Moon. For the first time, it feels like you are actually being acknowledged as the Champion and the celebration they have is intense. I never really got this feeling from any previous game in the series, S/M is definitely a first there.
 
Ooooh, guys I just realized something I don't think many people have noticed. In SM there's a cliff in MeleMele that is just above Kala'e Bay
( that one hidden area you access through the Secret Meadow/Seaward Cave ). Now, there are patches of tall grass where the cliff is & down below in Kala'e Bay—Bagon is found in both of those. If you don't understand the funny implication of that, I'll lay it out for you:

Pokedex said:
Bagon has a dream of one day soaring in the sky. In doomed efforts to fly, this Pokémon hurls itself off cliffs

Gotta love small things like this
 
Ooooh, guys I just realized something I don't think many people have noticed. In SM there's a cliff in MeleMele that is just above Kala'e Bay
( that one hidden area you access through the Secret Meadow/Seaward Cave ). Now, there are patches of tall grass where the cliff is & down below in Kala'e Bay—Bagon is found in both of those. If you don't understand the funny implication of that, I'll lay it out for you:




Gotta love small things like this
That goes a little further than that. In Route 3, you can find Bagon and Salamence. In Kala'e Bay, you can find Bagon and Shelgon.
 

Pikachu315111

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And even further than that -- Bagon is a 1% encounter on Route 3, but a 10% at Kala'e Bay. This implies that there was once a fairly significant gathering of Bagon on Route 3, but a large majority of them were big dumb idiots that jumped off of cliffs.
Or it implies they're constantly going back and forth between both locations. They mostly live at Kala'e Bay but whenever one feels like jumping off it goes to Route 3, may stay up there for a bit to rest/hype itself up, and then make the jump joining back up with the Bagon colony to heal up after their jump.

Shelgon are only found in Kala'e Bay because after Bagon evolves it wants to wait to develop its wings and not risk jumping off the cliff and damaging their shell protection. Then upon evolving to a Salamence it flies up and hangs around Route 3 to watch/guide/guard young Bagon who have taken the journey up to do their jump.
 
And even further than that -- Bagon is a 1% encounter on Route 3, but a 10% at Kala'e Bay. This implies that there was once a fairly significant gathering of Bagon on Route 3, but a large majority of them were big dumb idiots that jumped off of cliffs.
Big dumb idiots that have no idea how to return to Route 3 until they evolve into Salamence. And seeing that you have a 1 in 10000 chance to encounter a Salamence there...
 

Merritt

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Big dumb idiots that have no idea how to return to Route 3 until they evolve into Salamence. And seeing that you have a 1 in 10000 chance to encounter a Salamence there...
Considering the relative levels of the Salamence and the Bagon/Shelgon at Kala'e Bay, it almost seems like 1 in 10000 Bagon that jump off that cliff spontaneously evolve into Salamence which I think is absolutely hilarious.

Or that game balance didn't want you suddenly fighting a level 18 Salamence while trying to catch that cool Bagon but that's less funny.
 

ScraftyIsTheBest

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On another note.

I really like how the Aether Foundation employees in SM have a diverse selection of Pokemon in their teams, taking from a multitude of different types of Pokemon. Normally most villainous teams, including Team Skull, tend to call upon a very select pool of Pokemon (like the Zubat line and some certain lines of Pokemon), but with the Aether employees, they pull upon a diverse pool of Pokemon in their battles, which is great because when you face other villain teams, you know what to expect, but with Aether Foundation employees, you never know what's coming with each "grunt" of the group. I like how they did that with the Aether group. It's kinda a shame they were only in one major arc of the story itself but they way the executed their Pokemon usage was pretty nice for antagonist teams, compared to the ones that came before them.

I also really like the approach they took with Goodra as a pseudo-legendary. Most pseudos like Tyranitar, Salamence, and Hydreigon come off as "badass, fierce, and cool" and have really high offenses and what not (and a Dragon-type to boot, except Metagross and Tyranitar), but Goodra design-wise is pretty neat because it's more "cutesy" and comes off in a way that it says it doesn't need to look fierce or show off that it's powerful. It takes on a more warm and friendly type of Pokemon that is very strong, but is in fact very amiable (especially by its dex entries). Stat wise it's also pretty unique for a Dragon, since it's basically more defensively oriented stat wise than other Dragons: Dragon is known to be a pretty strong type on the offense, but Goodra is built in a way that intends to capitalize on Dragon's innate defensive qualities. It has four very good resistances to Fire, Water, Grass, and Electric, which are all usually specially oriented, and Goodra's stat build intends for it to be used in a way where it basically sponges all kinds of strong special moves like a champion and retaliate with fairly good firepower and excellent coverage. Basically checking/countering the majority of special attackers in the game. It's too bad it doesn't really work out that well in the competitive scene because its execution isn't the best (Goodra needs a reliable recovery move or something, and possibly a good way to boost its offensive power: it would be so much better if it had Recover), but I think the concepts they were going for with Goodra, both as a Dragon and a pseudo-legendary, were a really neat twist from the norm when it comes to Dragons and pseudos. Also, Goomy is really cute and lovable: not to mention its appearance in the anime made it very expressive.

Just a few for now: hope I can think of more later but that's a few things that came to mind for me here.
 

Max. Optimizer

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I welcome the opportunity to add another thing I like about Pokémon Sun and Moon (and also Ultra Sun and Moon): the fact that they implemented Shigeki Morimoto from Game Freak in the Game Freak building and that he shares interesting parts of Game Freak's history with you when you have a Pokémon from the Virtual Console games in the party.

For the sake of argument, I'd like to place great emphasis on a very specific reference that really caught my attention: a small tribute to former Nintendo CEO Satoru Iwata who unfortunately passed away way too soon because of bile duct cancer back in 2015.
This dialogue can only be unlocked if the Virtual Console Pokémon in your party originates from Pokémon Silver.





Even though they don't mention his name, long-time fans of the Pokémon franchise around the globe will immediately get the reference and, in my honest opinion, I think it's a great way of commemorating the man that in a sense has saved the Pokémon games/franchise and that was quite literally "ahead of the game".
For those among you who are curious about the other dialogues that you can get, depending on the Virtual Console game that your Pokémon originated from, I've provided the link to the table for your convenience.
 
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