there were also Punks in gen 7
Which are just Team Skull grunts without hte skull stuff
Which is fun since Plumeria & Guzma also get "skull less" designs in the post game.
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SPOILERS! Mysteries and Conspiracies of Pokemon
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Which are just Team Skull grunts without hte skull stuff
Which is fun since Plumeria & Guzma also get "skull less" designs in the post game.
Is this the closest artwork we have of Cynthia with more than one eye visible? I'm pretty sure she has both eyes in her 3D model, it's just not visible in gameplay.
When it comes to characters who's body parts are in question the big question mark goes to Ghetsis. The most obvious one is his right arm, we barely see it and when we do it's always covered up (it's most obvious in BW's intro, Ghetsis left arm is bare but for some reason his black arm is shaded in black; in a few scene in the 15th episode of Generations it shows he can move his right arm just fine though both arms are covered up).
Is this the closest artwork we have of Cynthia with more than one eye visible? I'm pretty sure she has both eyes in her 3D model, it's just not visible in gameplay.
However, Bulbapedia then makes two additional notes. First is that his monocle is also always on the right side, covering his right eye (and a concept art shows his right eye has scarring around it). Second is that in his VS sprites and in his USUM model whenever he has his mouth open or is talking he doesn't lift the right side of his mouth all the way.
(Note no other versions of Ghetsis aside from the core series games shows this)
While nothing has been stated, there is obviously something going on with the right side of Ghetsis's body. There is a neurological condition called Hemiparesis where half of the body becomes partially or fully paralyzed. If Ghetsis has Hemiparesis on his right side would explain his lack of use of the right side of his body (people with Hemiparesis tend to start shifting their body weight over to their good side). Of course that doesn't explain how he got his Hemiparesis which there are several ways: stroke, spinal cord/brain damage, neural disease, birth defect, etc.. Considering his scarred eye (if that's still canon), it could be likely from injury to the right side of his body (but from what?).
It would be an interesting condition to give Ghetsis, in a way it sort of matches the duality theme of the generation (one side of Ghetsis is strong while the other is weakened) and add an ironic twist to his beliefs where everything he does is perfect (meanwhile he has a disability which, in his view, would make about 50% of himself "imperfect").
Something not many people pick-up on Ghetsis is his red eye motif. His BW outfit and monocle make it much more apparent, but it's also pronounced in his team.
All four Pokemon have red eyes and are the only ones to return on his B2W2 fight. His USUM fight kicks out Eelektross, but in Ultra Sun, he gets another red eyed Pokemon.
As for half of his body being disabled, a common fan theory is that his Hydreigon attacked him in retaliation for mistreatment (gotta have max powered frustration). It also makes him look incomplete like a certain legendary he uses too.
Honestly I can write up lots of motifs and symbols in N and Ghetsis in another post.
All four Pokemon have red eyes and are the only ones to return on his B2W2 fight. His USUM fight kicks out Eelektross, but in Ultra Sun, he gets another red eyed Pokemon.
As for half of his body being disabled, a common fan theory is that his Hydreigon attacked him in retaliation for mistreatment (gotta have max powered frustration). It also makes him look incomplete like a certain legendary he uses too.
Honestly I can write up lots of motifs and symbols in N and Ghetsis in another post.
Well you know that on doesn't count as in Ultra Moon her gets Reshiram. :Pin Ultra Sun, he gets another red eyed Pokemon.
I remember a popular theory that an attempt to wrangle Kyurem might've resulted in his injuries. Probably the black arm bringing to mind frostbite (though if it was that bad he'd likely have 0 usability in the arm).
I kind of suspect the reason the mouth tic doesnt carry over is just due to animation constraints. Pokemon's a weekly anime, it can have bursts of good animation depending on the animator and art syle, but someone with an awkward mouth to be aware of is probably more trouble than it was worth. It'd also probably draw the eye to it when it doesnt need to (contrast with anyone who ever speaks with a :3 mouth where the weirdass mouth is meant to draw the eye because its weird and cutsey) or require a different vocal performance.
Generations giving him both use of the arms might also be just an oversight.
Ghetsis in general is such an interesting character, though. There's a lot about him that's got a lot of big unknowns around him; that's not TOO dissimilar to other villains but it feels like you barely learn much about his past or what he did like you do the others. And the glimpses of his mysteries does a good job of making wonder "hmmm..."
I kind of suspect the reason the mouth tic doesnt carry over is just due to animation constraints. Pokemon's a weekly anime, it can have bursts of good animation depending on the animator and art syle, but someone with an awkward mouth to be aware of is probably more trouble than it was worth. It'd also probably draw the eye to it when it doesnt need to (contrast with anyone who ever speaks with a :3 mouth where the weirdass mouth is meant to draw the eye because its weird and cutsey) or require a different vocal performance.
Generations giving him both use of the arms might also be just an oversight.
Ghetsis in general is such an interesting character, though. There's a lot about him that's got a lot of big unknowns around him; that's not TOO dissimilar to other villains but it feels like you barely learn much about his past or what he did like you do the others. And the glimpses of his mysteries does a good job of making wonder "hmmm..."
Something I just remember. In USUM, Ghetsis recognizes Colress, even though its BW Ghetsis. This means Ghetsis already had Colress work for him, which explains why he trusts Colress enough to lead Plasma in B2W2. Colress teleporting around also means that the Shadow Triad were using his Technology from the start.
Colress said as much in BW2 that he knew Ghetsis in the past and Ghetsis basically called him up as a favor
Colress himself doesnt' even really agree with Plasma's ideology (he says things akin to that a lot) but he's a Man Of Science so anything goes for ol' colorless achromatic if it means furthering his research.
Yung Dramps
awesome gaming
I mean to be fair even if this wasn't the case Ghetsis is a pretty visually distinct person in the world of Pokemon :p
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Oh, wow, didn't even think about that but that would make sense!
Wait I missed this part
They're Ninjas. Appearing out of nowhere is meant to be their whole shtick.
Colress meanwhile only starts teleporting in USUM, and sending folks back to their own dimension, with his little arm computer.
Colress was a previous acquaintance of Ghetsis. He did not actively work for Ghetsis until BW2, where he called him up and had him lead New PLasma. At which point, his research and devices was purely on bringing the potential out in Pokemon. His invisibility & teleportation devices are new (he even calls the warping a prototype).
If Plasma had access to teleportation tech there is a 0% chance that Ghetsis himself wouldn't be using them, he's someone who'd want every advantage possible instead of needing to rely on the shadow triad.
If we want to make this a conspiracy I'm more willing to believe Colress saw the Shadow Triad and went "marvelous, i want that".
Janine & Koga do the same "appear from shadows" teleportation as the Triad does, incidentally.
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Side note, the PC liberation thing, kind of feels like a plot thread that they completely forgot about. It's not mentioned at all in BW2, or other adaptations iirc. And really I wonder if it might've been a more looming threat at some earlier point in BW1's development; much like the "goddesses" I could easily see that being a remnant that got shoved into a side room on a single NPC......
There's a lot of weirdness to be had with evolutions that add multiple beings together, but this one takes the cake.
Where did the second sword go?
Where did the second sword go?
As R_N said, despite it creating a second sword, Honedge as far as we know it still one spirit/mind. It created a sword out of nothing so probably able to then fuse them back together and make a shield out of the scabbard.There's a lot of weirdness to be had with evolutions that add multiple beings together, but this one takes the cake.
Where did the second sword go?
The big question is what happen to Pokemon who had multiple heads but when they evolve they lose a few?
There are 6 Exeggcute but only 3 heads on Exeggutor. Where did the other 3 heads go? Even Alolan Exeggutor adding a head onto its tail means it's missing 2 heads.
While initially looks like a case of just growing another head, dex entries says only the main head has a brain. Yet Zwelious two heads clearly independent creatures. So what happens to one of the heads? Or are both of those heads the ones which become the brainless "arm hands" and the newly grown third head has a new brain with maybe the memories of the two?
Where does a female Combee's top two heads go when it evolves into Vespiquen (I'm assuming it's the bottom head that's the one which involves)?
If we take a gander at Zweilous's Pokedex entry in B2W2, we find this:
While initially looks like a case of just growing another head, dex entries says only the main head has a brain. Yet Zwelious two heads clearly independent creatures. So what happens to one of the heads? Or are both of those heads the ones which become the brainless "arm hands" and the newly grown third head has a new brain with maybe the memories of the two?
"The two heads do not get along. Whichever head eats more than the other gets to be the leader."
So I'm pretty sure the leader becomes the main head and the other one just f***ing dies.
Combee is a group of three Pokémon that stick together, not a three-headed Pokémon. They're kinda just hanging out as a group - the Pokédex talks about how they've known each other since birth - but they're still discrete individuals (actually, at night, thousands of Combee cluster together in the same way to form a bigger hive).
Where does a female Combee's top two heads go when it evolves into Vespiquen (I'm assuming it's the bottom head that's the one which involves)?
Note also that only the one on the bottom has a gender difference - that one is the female that goes on to evolve, at which point the two males separate from it.
Vespiquen's "dress" is known to be a hive that contains a ton of Combee grubs (and possibly the rest of the colony), so it's probable that the other two either join that hive as well or are the fathers of those grubs.
Very late to the party here, but I think it actually went a bit further than that.
XY were the games that introduced character customization. Players could pick a skin tone, a hair style, and clothes for their character. On a technical level, this was made possible by keeping just one trainer model, but changing its textures and "pinning" accessories to it so they move with the model. The trainer model seen in game is a conglomeration of different models and textures moving in synch.
Now, there's no reason why this wouldn't also be possible for the Pokémon models as well as the trainer models. Spinda already demonstrated that dynamic textures are possible, and while I can't think of any examples of dynamic Pokémon models (form changes merely swap one model for another), I can't see a reason why it shouldn't be possible. In theory, customizable Pokémon would be technically feasible, and it would use the same sort of system as the trainer customization feature.
So I think that was the original idea behind Ash-Greninja. A mechanic where the Pokémon has such a bond with its trainer it starts take on the trainer's appearance. I suspect it would be limited to the Kalos starters, as they are all humanoid, and since it would be a big hassle to expand the system beyond a handful of Pokémon. Each hat or hairstyle would correspond to a type of head crest for the Pokémon, each piece of clothing would be linked to an alternate texture pattern. There would be as many Player-Greninjas as there were clothes combinations. Ash-Greninja would be a showcase of this mechanic, but it would be a Greninja unique to Ash while players made their own unique Chesnaught, Delphox, and Greninja. Not sure if the transformation would be a form change or a straight-up Mega Evolution, but it seems reasonable that it would be the latter.
All that being said, I can see why it would be a lot more of a hassle to implement than it seemed at first, and its marketability would be questionable too. As You-Greninja would be unique to you, there wouldn't be any merchandise opportunities. It also wouldn't be possible to trade around the customized Pokémon, and you might not even be able to obtain all three at the same time.
I also don't think it would have been a good idea to lock something designed as a clear expression of a trainer's bond with their mon to a small subset. Maybe it's just because I haven't considered my starter my signature mon for a playthrough since HeartGold, but I would probobly be disappointed if the mechanic was hyped-up in game only to find that it can't be used with my Aegislash or Aggron (the two mons that really cemented my descision to get XY).
Hey I found that interview summary I was talking about the last time this came up
https://forums.serebii.net/threads/...n-the-series-xy-z.654751/page-5#post-18312722
https://forums.serebii.net/threads/...n-the-series-xy-z.654751/page-5#post-18312722
Again not to fully discount the possibility this was a scrapped "Z" concept, but...not the vibe I'm getting from Greninja.
So it's common knowledge that Pokemon Z was likely planned, but was canceled so that Sun and Moon could be released on the 25th anniversary. But... why? Why not have Pokemon Z be the anniversary title, and then release Sun and Moon next year?
It seems almost too perfect. Pokemon Z was set up to be something BIG. ORAS set the spectacle bar pretty high with the Delta Episode, both XY and ORAS were building to something with infinity energy or whatever, and the show had a bombastic Zygarde finale. I could not imagine a more perfect way to both cap off 25 years and reign in a new age of spectacle.
It seems almost too perfect. Pokemon Z was set up to be something BIG. ORAS set the spectacle bar pretty high with the Delta Episode, both XY and ORAS were building to something with infinity energy or whatever, and the show had a bombastic Zygarde finale. I could not imagine a more perfect way to both cap off 25 years and reign in a new age of spectacle.
Yung Dramps
awesome gaming
Honestly, I don't think Z was ever meant to be an anniversary game, but rather the release for 2015, one of the only years in recent memory with no new mainline Pokemon release at launch. From there it's possible SM was having difficulties/was understaffed and they decided to sacrifice Z so that that game could be completed: After all, history has shown that new titles will always trump enhanced versions.
If you ask me, a brand new release is a more compelling anniversary thing than an expanded remake of another recent title. Especially one with lots of homages and fanservice for past Pokemon and games like SM was with its character cameos, Alolan forms and more.
While I don't necessarily think it absolutely necessary for these mons to have second types, I do find it odd that some Pokemon seem to have "honorary" typings without actually being that type.
There are quite a few Pokemon who have attributes of a certain type but are often single-typed or whatnot. Not necessarily the like of the oft-discussed Charizard and Gyarados, but there are other cases that I'm thinking of. Like Gohtitelle, Goodra, Klinklang, etc. Gothitelle for example learns several Dark-type moves, some by level-up especially, and its design and Pokedex appearance come off as a Pokemon that could conceivably be part Dark-type. Klinklang learns several Electric-type moves but is pure Steel. Goodra is notoriously pure Dragon-type amongst the pseudo-legendaries, but it evolves from Sliggoo only when it's raining, learns numerous Water-type moves in its level-up pool (including Rain Dance), and has Hydration as one of its abilities. It's also notably native to wetland climates. Grapploct is another example: it's pure Fighting-type, but like Goodra it also has several Water-type attributes, learns Water-type moves, and is native to the ocean. Florges is also an honorary Grass-type in the sense that it has several Grass-type moves and has numerous attributes associated with Grass-types. All of the mentioned examples are single-typed, but could conceivably be dual typed (aka Psychic / Dark Gothitelle, Dragon / Water Goodra, Fighting / Water Grapploct, Fairy / Grass Florges, Steel / Electric Klinklang, and vice versa).
I dunno, I find it really sticks out that several single-typed Pokemon in particular have that honorary second type in the form of their movepools and attributes, but don't actually *have* that type. I wonder what exactly went into the design process for that kind of Pokemon, and whether there's a design standpoint explanation for those instances or if there's an in-universe reason they would only be single-typed and not have a second type. There are probably other examples out there, but these stick out the most to me. Of course, there are also Pokemon out there who could conceivably have three types (Fire-type Salamence, Poison/Dark/Bug Drapion, Grass/Ghost/Flying Decidueye), but that's a bit of a lesser example.
There are quite a few Pokemon who have attributes of a certain type but are often single-typed or whatnot. Not necessarily the like of the oft-discussed Charizard and Gyarados, but there are other cases that I'm thinking of. Like Gohtitelle, Goodra, Klinklang, etc. Gothitelle for example learns several Dark-type moves, some by level-up especially, and its design and Pokedex appearance come off as a Pokemon that could conceivably be part Dark-type. Klinklang learns several Electric-type moves but is pure Steel. Goodra is notoriously pure Dragon-type amongst the pseudo-legendaries, but it evolves from Sliggoo only when it's raining, learns numerous Water-type moves in its level-up pool (including Rain Dance), and has Hydration as one of its abilities. It's also notably native to wetland climates. Grapploct is another example: it's pure Fighting-type, but like Goodra it also has several Water-type attributes, learns Water-type moves, and is native to the ocean. Florges is also an honorary Grass-type in the sense that it has several Grass-type moves and has numerous attributes associated with Grass-types. All of the mentioned examples are single-typed, but could conceivably be dual typed (aka Psychic / Dark Gothitelle, Dragon / Water Goodra, Fighting / Water Grapploct, Fairy / Grass Florges, Steel / Electric Klinklang, and vice versa).
I dunno, I find it really sticks out that several single-typed Pokemon in particular have that honorary second type in the form of their movepools and attributes, but don't actually *have* that type. I wonder what exactly went into the design process for that kind of Pokemon, and whether there's a design standpoint explanation for those instances or if there's an in-universe reason they would only be single-typed and not have a second type. There are probably other examples out there, but these stick out the most to me. Of course, there are also Pokemon out there who could conceivably have three types (Fire-type Salamence, Poison/Dark/Bug Drapion, Grass/Ghost/Flying Decidueye), but that's a bit of a lesser example.
Zeraora being the only non-Fighting type without any athletic origins to learn Coaching really push it into being a honorary Fighting type.