Not exactly a "little" thing but...
Sinnoh.
Sinnoh.
-
Check out the relaunch of our general collection, with classic designs and new ones by our very own Pissog!
-
Welcome to Smogon! Take a moment to read the Introduction to Smogon for a run-down on everything Smogon, and make sure you take some time to read the global rules.
Little things you like about Pokémon
- Thread starter Kurona
- Start date
You know, I love Pokémon so much, here’s what I like most about itNot exactly a "little" thing but...
Sinnoh.
I actually think the logo is ugly.
It's a common lament that people can't enjoy modern Pokemon games because they're too easy. All the battles are a joke, they say. I never have to think, they say. The implication is that the older games were enjoyable because they were hard.
I'm in a weird position where I can't share in those laments, not because I necessarily disagree with them, but because I've never played a modern Pokemon game because I've only ever played the one Emerald cartridge I've had since I was a little kid.
A pretty common rebuttal to those common laments is that those older games only seemed hard at the time, and that the modern games only seem easy because you're playing them with an adult brain.
Recently I've been reflecting on my years playing Emerald, and I've come to two conclusions.
So what did I actually like about Emerald? Why did it enrapture me to the point that I'm here on a Pokemon forum almost 20 years later? I'm pretty sure it was catching Pokemon. I liked finding a Pokemon I didn't have, catching it, and giving it a funny name. Hell, even if I already had one, sometimes I wanted another one, just because I thought it was cool. Punchy the Makuhita, Metel (sic) Dude the Aron, Blocks the Rhyhorn, an entire box of Swablu named Cloudy and Cloudy Jr. I never actually used these Pokemon in battle, but I enjoyed their company, and I still enjoy their company in the box. And in the years that followed beating Wallace, the thing that kept me coming back wasn't the Battle Frontier, but the Pokedex. Tracking down elusive Pokemon that I missed like Jigglypuff and Bagon, giving something the EXP share and running through the Elite 4 with Swampert or Rayquaza until it evolved, taking a break to hunt down Latias that slippery litTLE BITCH COME BACK HERE. I never cared about being the very best; I only wanted to catch 'em all. And if I ever play another Pokemon game, I'm probably going to take the same approach. Relax, not care about the battles being easy, and just find as many friends as I can.
I'm in a weird position where I can't share in those laments, not because I necessarily disagree with them, but because I've never played a modern Pokemon game because I've only ever played the one Emerald cartridge I've had since I was a little kid.
A pretty common rebuttal to those common laments is that those older games only seemed hard at the time, and that the modern games only seem easy because you're playing them with an adult brain.
Recently I've been reflecting on my years playing Emerald, and I've come to two conclusions.
- One, the old games weren't hard, even with a dumb kid brain. The only times I remember being challenged in Emerald were Winona and Drake, whose Dragon/Flying Pokemon hard-walled my Swampert with only STAB moves (also Roxanne, who hard-walled the Torchic I originally had that died when I forgot to save).
- Two, the challenge wasn't even what I enjoyed about the game. I found those three fights frustrating, not fun. I don't remember how I got past Winona, but I got past Drake and Roxane by giving up and just getting Rayquaza and Mudkip instead. Everything else, I just steamrolled with my overleveled starter, and I didn't see anything wrong with that. Oh yeah, there actually was another part that I found challenging: the Battle Frontier. I haven't even come close to beating that, and I have little interest in doing so. Factory, Pike, and Pyramid are pretty fun to run through now and then, but that's it.
So what did I actually like about Emerald? Why did it enrapture me to the point that I'm here on a Pokemon forum almost 20 years later? I'm pretty sure it was catching Pokemon. I liked finding a Pokemon I didn't have, catching it, and giving it a funny name. Hell, even if I already had one, sometimes I wanted another one, just because I thought it was cool. Punchy the Makuhita, Metel (sic) Dude the Aron, Blocks the Rhyhorn, an entire box of Swablu named Cloudy and Cloudy Jr. I never actually used these Pokemon in battle, but I enjoyed their company, and I still enjoy their company in the box. And in the years that followed beating Wallace, the thing that kept me coming back wasn't the Battle Frontier, but the Pokedex. Tracking down elusive Pokemon that I missed like Jigglypuff and Bagon, giving something the EXP share and running through the Elite 4 with Swampert or Rayquaza until it evolved, taking a break to hunt down Latias that slippery litTLE BITCH COME BACK HERE. I never cared about being the very best; I only wanted to catch 'em all. And if I ever play another Pokemon game, I'm probably going to take the same approach. Relax, not care about the battles being easy, and just find as many friends as I can.
This makes the complaint of dexit somewhat ironic
If all you want are your old mons/region, then you missed the point of discovering and getting NEW things
It makes me a little more mad at Gen 3 "being the death of Pokemania", while Gen 2 got its hyper love despite REALLY not being able to stand out on its own. Gen 3 still promoted new mons, without hyper spoiling all. And importantly, wasn't handicapped in representing them compared to earlier gens
Nowadays with the internet, it's getting harder and harder to discover on ones own. And the way Pokemon are advertised don't help
Along with the fact that the dex is getting smaller, so less Pokemon are hidden now
TLDR, the fear of change has hurt the franchise
One thing I think may help decipher the differences is the stats they increase & decrease:
- Modest/Adamant: Someone who's "Modest" doesn't try to draw attention to themselves despite the achievements they've done (-Atk, +SpA; They aren't forceful or aggressive in showing their successes, rather they let the successes speak for themselves). An "Adamant" person is very dedicated to their beliefs and is more than happy to share it or argue in defense of it no matter how it makes them look (+Atk, -SpA; They are forceful and aggressive for their belief, and they don't care if it makes them look irrational when defending it).
- Gentle/Lax: So I think the idea they're trying to get across is that by "Gentle" they mean someone who is aware of their strength so doesn't assert more of it than needed (-Def, +SpD; Since they're holding back their strength it leaves them vulnerable, but in turn they have fuller understanding of their body's limits). Meanwhile the "Lax" person doesn't really care how much of their strength they use, they just want to get whatever they're doing done (+Def, -SpD; They're using their strength to keep up their stamina, but in turn are being reckless and wasting energy).
- Naive/Sassy: I feel these can be taken as opposite. A "Naive" person is usually quick to believe something without putting much thought into it (+Spe, -SpD; They're quick to join in, even if they don't have the details to make a thoughtout decision). Meanwhile a "Sassy" person is more likely to question and even criticize something they aren't sure of (-Spe, +SpD; they're not going to jump right into something, they first want to know what's it about and even find logic gaps).
Or if could be, you know, a quick glimpse into the player avatar's thoughts which the player is getting to see to know what's going on at that moment if it is unclear what's happening.
I actually think the logo is ugly.
But it has that 90s edge to it!
Honestly....not really
It seems WAY too prepared for the CMYK color profile, and the angularity is extremely minimal and rigid, not striking or fantastic
The fact it was never updated is also weird. most franchises change things up, but US TCPi stuck to the same logo
Just wanted to point something out: Neutral natures do actually have an association with a stat in the game data, but what they actually are programmed to do is to increase and decrease the same stat, but of course the effects ultimately cancel out.
To run down the five neutral natures' in-data effects, they are actually this:
Hardy: +Atk, -Atk
Docile: +Def, -Def
Bashful: +SpA, -SpA
Quirky: +SpD, -SpD
Serious: +Spe, -Spe
So in a sense, Hardy=Atk, Docile=Def, Bashful=SpA, Quirky=SpD, Serious=Spe. The neutral natures are already in-data associated with one specific stat in that they are programmed to buff and nerf that same stat, of course this amounts to nothing since the effects ultimately cancel each other out.
Dude what the actual fuck.
I never said anything about only wanting my old mons and regions, and I never mentioned dexit anywhere. Even if I could transfer up all my Emerald mons, I wouldn't want to. Also dexes are absolutely not getting smaller. Modern Pokemon games have upwards of 400 Pokemon in their regional dexes, double that of Hoenn. It took me years to finally complete the Emerald Pokedex (or as much as I could without trading). If I ever decide to play another Pokemon game, I'll probably be playing that game for a very long time. And it's not like the addition of the internet and spoilery marketing will really change all that much for me. I had the Prima guide and a little National Pokedex book growing up. I knew what Pokemon were out there.
I wasn't talking about you, I meant the general mentality of the fanbase
And I'd argue the new mon dex has been consistently shrinking. The Regional dex is just padded enough with oldies to not notice
But regardless, the argument was HOW people no longer want to play new games, despite the fact that most entered the franchise cuz it was new/captivating, and the shift in marketing further supporting having everything known now kinda...really kills the sense of wonder
Damn, the player character hallucinates the voice of their professor whenever they try to use a bike indoors? That's pretty dark.
This makes sense until you remember the checklist.
Tbh, there are a lot of reasons to hate dexit, but this dead horse has been beaten to a pulp already.
"Edge".
They could at least do like the Japanese logo and switch up the colors and textures to reflect each game.
Speaking of logos...
Man, Legends got a cool one.
That's why I changed it up as I did. How is being Serious both an increase & decrease to Speed? How is Bashful both an increase and decrease to Special Attack? I rearranged them in such a way that you could sorta justify it being both an increase & decrease hence neutral:
Serious For Attack:
- Increase: With great power.
- Decrease: Comes great responsibility.
- In Other Words: They take the battle seriously both in using their strength to its full potential but also knows to hold back as not to inflict severe harm. A martial artist can crush their opponent's windpipe with a chop, but during tournaments knows that would be excessive so instead puts them in a sleeper hold.
- Increase: Can take a lickin'.
- Decrease: And keep on kickin'.
- In Other Words: A hardy person is usually strong enough they can tumble around and come out no worse than wear. However because they have better stamina they forget their limits so keep on taking blows head-on, being counterproducing to their ability to take hits better.
- Increase: Their odd behavior/ability has made them stronger in a unique way.
- Decrease: But the same oddness has also given them eccentricities that holds them back.
- To Be Honest: This is probably the weakest of the excuses, but I feel the other four fit better so Special Attack is left with Quirky and it sort of matches if you twist it enough.
- Increase: Having achieved an inner peace with oneself, doesn't wish to be forceful against others.
- Decrease: This initial insistence to fight back is seen as a weakness by opponents and is mocked for it. While its achieved peacefulness keeps it from getting affected by the mockery, it also does not do anything to decrease or prevent it.
- What I'm Imagining: I'm thinking of someone like a meditator who starts getting harassed and maybe (non-harmful) things thrown at them. They're at peace with themselves both that it does not bother them, but they don't do anything to discourage their harasser which may have them continue to try and cause the meditator to "crack". An animal version: A docile animal may in a defense mechanism freeze-up and huddle down if a perceived threat approaches and starts poking and prodding; it'll endure until hopefully the threat gives up and leaves.
- Increase: Shy or skittish people are quicker to leave a situation they aren't comfortable in.
- Decrease: However, sometimes they may force themselves to wait for an "opportune" time to do so; likely when they would be least noticed.
- What I'm Imagining: A shy person is with friends at a social event and things are fine until things start getting too rowdy. They decide to leave but with everyone riled up don't want to be seen less called out on, so purposely waits/takes longer ways to get to the door when they don't feel they have eyes on them. An animal version: A prey animal, who are usually built to be faster than predators, has hidden themselves from a prowling predator. While they're fast, it's only in a burst, so needs to bide its time for the best moment to run.
I don't remember the exact message, but when you tried to ride a bike doesn't it at first say "You remember the word of Professor Oak" or something like that (or maybe it was another Professor). I always assumed that message was just the player remembering something he was told, the only reason they have not to ride bikes indoors (not sure how the Professors knew we got a bike; kind of makes me think they should have had a running gag in the games where, as the Professor sends you off on your journey, he says "Good luck on your adventure, don't forget to have fun, and don't ride bikes indoors", the last part being completely random for new players until they get get their bike and see that's the reason they can't ride their bikes indoors).
Oh, if you mean by that then, yeah, I totally agree. I'm fine with the English Pokemon logo to represent the brand on the whole, BUT I do think they should do what the Japanese version does and make a new logo specifically for each game or at least each generation (or have a logo for each game and then a third logo that's a combination of the two; and when the third version/second pair comes out update the gen logo to include elements from those to be the full representative logo of that generation).
snorlax’s platinum sprite dabs and this is clearly why platinum is the GOAT
Last edited:
Eh, depends
the font doesn't change too much after SMW outside exceptions, but the logo stylization...
I'd say it's varied
Pokemon the "POKEMON" part in Eng is disgustingly always the same
There is a shop located on the west side of Aquacorde Town, Kalos region. That shop only ever sells regular Poké Balls. It does not matter how early or late into the game you're in. Each time you walk in that store, they will only sell regular Poké Balls. These are the original and the best Poké Balls to use in live action Pokémon battles. The regular Poké Ball is a true symbol to the Pokémon series! I went in there and bought up to 999 Poké Balls. This shop's owner really knows what they're doing.
However, I can't say the same for the shop on the east side of Aquacorde Town. They need to step up and sell better potions. Regular potions are a waste of an item slot! They should know their competition on the west side is beating them.
However, I can't say the same for the shop on the east side of Aquacorde Town. They need to step up and sell better potions. Regular potions are a waste of an item slot! They should know their competition on the west side is beating them.
New headcanon: That Potion building supplies the healing building near it. When you bring your Pokémon in there for health, they painstakingly heal it 20 HP at a time. They seriously consider telling you to fuck off if you bring a Blissey at 1 HP in.
I think the idea is that the shop in Aquacorde is like a Mom and Pop convenience store. It probably sells more supplies than Poke Ball and Potions... but those are the only two items a Trainer would be interested in getting. The only other items I think should be in it would be Antidotes & Paralyze Heals. I say this because between Aquacorde and Santalune we have Route 2, Santalune Forest, and Route 3 and on them there are:
- Weedles with Poison Sting (Route 2 (X only) and Santalune Forest).
- Pikachu with Thunder Shock (Santalune Forest & Route 3).
Though I guess it's also possible that, since they're a small town with only a mom & pop store and what I'm assuming is a bed & breakfast (since they have no Pokemon Centers), they may keep any medicine they have for emergency situations.
But otherwise they're fine with just Potions (and Poke Balls) as the highest Level Pokemon in the grass is Level 5 and that's on Route 3 (Santalune's forest cap is 4 and Route 2 is 3). If you need a stronger healing item to keep your team active or a better Poke Ball to catch these Pokemon then I don't think a career as a Pokemon Trainer is for you.
Playing through Sun for the first time right now, and Olivia's shop sells Evolution Stones. I've never been so elated to see something I probably won't use.
Sorry if this has already been mentioned I haven't read all 136 pages of this thread.
Sorry if this has already been mentioned I haven't read all 136 pages of this thread.
Having played Gen II first, wherein evolution stones are incredibly elusive, it was a revelation to play Gen I and have them be just commonplace things one could buy. Like... it's great, and I fully prefer it this way, but they don't feel like things you should be able to easily acquire?
This stands out to me because a lot of the specific evolution items like the Metal Coat or the Magmarizer typically are only available once or twice per playthrough and those feel as though they should be more common, being generally more mundane in nature than the rare phenomena evolution stones are meant to be. Hoenn makes acquiring the stones less random but they're still limited, whereas Sinnoh and Unova make them infinite but random. It's not until Gen VI that the idea that these things should be buyable seemed to stick, and the player can generally purchase evolution items from that region's battle facility and the stones from shops.
Ultimately I think on balance Sinnoh and Unova's method of acquiring evolution stones (by digging them up in the Underground or as random dust cloud items in caves) feels the most natural and in line with the lore, and strikes a good balance between "trivially easy" and "potentially maddening", but there's a lot to be said for the convenience of being able to buy them. My recent PYSSBTCCCCC challenge - because who doesn't like to self-promote - would have been a large amount more irritating if I'd had to run around finding lots of stones to evolve all the Pokemon I caught. Gen I has so many more Pokemon that evolve by stone than I'd remembered (sixteen, I believe). Wonder if that's why Gen II didn't introduce any Pokemon which needed any of the original five stones to evolve.
This stands out to me because a lot of the specific evolution items like the Metal Coat or the Magmarizer typically are only available once or twice per playthrough and those feel as though they should be more common, being generally more mundane in nature than the rare phenomena evolution stones are meant to be. Hoenn makes acquiring the stones less random but they're still limited, whereas Sinnoh and Unova make them infinite but random. It's not until Gen VI that the idea that these things should be buyable seemed to stick, and the player can generally purchase evolution items from that region's battle facility and the stones from shops.
Ultimately I think on balance Sinnoh and Unova's method of acquiring evolution stones (by digging them up in the Underground or as random dust cloud items in caves) feels the most natural and in line with the lore, and strikes a good balance between "trivially easy" and "potentially maddening", but there's a lot to be said for the convenience of being able to buy them. My recent PYSSBTCCCCC challenge - because who doesn't like to self-promote - would have been a large amount more irritating if I'd had to run around finding lots of stones to evolve all the Pokemon I caught. Gen I has so many more Pokemon that evolve by stone than I'd remembered (sixteen, I believe). Wonder if that's why Gen II didn't introduce any Pokemon which needed any of the original five stones to evolve.
Stones absolutely should be easy to acquire because their entire gameplay purpose is "evolve now for immediate power boost but a truncated moveset, or evolve later but you're using a worse pokemon for longer to get better moves"
how well that actually works varies pokemon to pokemon, but it's the general conceit. Contrast with Trade evolution, which is nothing but upshots to offset needing another game to trade with*
It sucks ass having to rely on the whims of fate to give you stone or the whims of gamefreak to place a stone at a reasonable time frame (I have looked this up before as part of a big long post I was working on, it varies wildly game to game and not in a good way), except when they do that there's now added needless extra "opportunity cost" because if you mess up that Pokemon and want to use it later you have to grab it again through the entirely too random methods. Or if you want to fill out the dex you could spend forever trying to get the item. Or if you just want multiple of one stone's Pokemon, you kind of can't depending on the game.
Do you know how long I spent in the underground searching for stones? And almost never finding them? And when I did, they weren't the ones I wanted?
Do you know how often I would grind dust clouds and just get nothing but trash?
It's terrible. Especially when they keep adding stones and those stones are treated as arbitrarily more "valuable" and thus rarer, even though that's not really the case.
*This is also why trade item evolutions are the worst thing in the world.
---
But to be nice, this is also why gen 1 owned on this front. It is not a coincidence that Celdaon's department store is where it is: by this point you either have access to every Pokemon that evolves by stone, or are bout to get immediate access to them. Your Oddish/Bellsproute have likely just evolved, Eevee's available, you just got access to Growlithe/Arcanine and you're not far off from the Good/Super rods for Poliwhirl, Shellder, Staryu and so on and so forth.
Even the Moon Stones functions decently. You get access to every Moon Stone pokemon right as you get access to 2 of them, and just about all of them are primed & ready t ogo. Then you can get another 3 through your journey. It's still not perfect, idealy you'd have as many as you want (missingno glitch aside), but you can evolve all 4 and still have 1 left over if you want to go that route.
how well that actually works varies pokemon to pokemon, but it's the general conceit. Contrast with Trade evolution, which is nothing but upshots to offset needing another game to trade with*
It sucks ass having to rely on the whims of fate to give you stone or the whims of gamefreak to place a stone at a reasonable time frame (I have looked this up before as part of a big long post I was working on, it varies wildly game to game and not in a good way), except when they do that there's now added needless extra "opportunity cost" because if you mess up that Pokemon and want to use it later you have to grab it again through the entirely too random methods. Or if you want to fill out the dex you could spend forever trying to get the item. Or if you just want multiple of one stone's Pokemon, you kind of can't depending on the game.
Do you know how long I spent in the underground searching for stones? And almost never finding them? And when I did, they weren't the ones I wanted?
Do you know how often I would grind dust clouds and just get nothing but trash?
It's terrible. Especially when they keep adding stones and those stones are treated as arbitrarily more "valuable" and thus rarer, even though that's not really the case.
*This is also why trade item evolutions are the worst thing in the world.
---
But to be nice, this is also why gen 1 owned on this front. It is not a coincidence that Celdaon's department store is where it is: by this point you either have access to every Pokemon that evolves by stone, or are bout to get immediate access to them. Your Oddish/Bellsproute have likely just evolved, Eevee's available, you just got access to Growlithe/Arcanine and you're not far off from the Good/Super rods for Poliwhirl, Shellder, Staryu and so on and so forth.
Even the Moon Stones functions decently. You get access to every Moon Stone pokemon right as you get access to 2 of them, and just about all of them are primed & ready t ogo. Then you can get another 3 through your journey. It's still not perfect, idealy you'd have as many as you want (missingno glitch aside), but you can evolve all 4 and still have 1 left over if you want to go that route.
I've said this before, but I do think that they have the tools for some very good difficulty curve/reward systems/etc with the various "basic" evolution methods, they just don't use them. Level, Friendship, Stones, Trade, Location, it's very easy to see how each of those can be used to balance mons against each other in interesting ways. But balance is so screwy anyway that it doesn't happen, and GF keeps introducing gimmick evo methods rather than clarifying and balancing the ones they have.
mood
seriously this is one of the best lines in all the games