Oh, I know. It's just not the sort of thing that would happen nowadays. Being a shark is not what makes them special. Remember we're talking signature abilities here.
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SPOILERS! Mysteries and Conspiracies of Pokemon
- Thread starter stage7_4
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I always thought it was odd that Tyranitar got sand stream when nothing about it's design really suggests that, when the obvious candidate was flygon imo. Every one of it's pokedex entries all mention it using it's wings to make sandstorms that it hides in, seems like a perfect fit for an ability. Every time I see flygon I think ground/flying with sand stream fits it's appearence/design/lore much more than what we got.
While looking through SWSH's dex entries for....reasons....I came across Drapion's Shield entry
Skorupi's does, several times:
In contrast, arid locations: "Wasteland" in the HGSS Safari Zone, Rugged Mountain in BW2, Route 6 (the arid mountain route) in SWSH
There's nothing wrong with a scorpion being associated with both (I mean, real ones are too, so....) but it's weird to heavily associate it, in its dex entries, with arid locations but keep putting it in the exact opposite of arid locations time & time again. Like Hoenn & Kalos HAVE deserts and mountainous areas you could put them in.
If it wasn't for the fairly indepth look at DP's various betas I'd wonder if they were intended to be ground type and located in a cut desert/arid location at some point. Even if you didn't want to put it in the post-game desert surely the route that connects with Hippopotas' cave would've worked or any of the million caves or something.
And "Sand Demon" caught my eye, since that's a fairly distinct location-indication that I otherwise dont make. And yeah, none of Drapion's other entries mention sand at all.
Skorupi's does, several times:
Which still seems weird because its way more associated with heavy water sources! In DPt it's in the Great Marsh, in Kalos its in 3 (!)routes and all of them are either swamps or associated with near by rivers giving it a fall forest vibe, Drapion is in another route that's entirely lush valleys, the riverbank & giant's mirror in the wild area & the soothing wetlands in Isle of Armor. It's a hidden Pokemon on ORAS Route 114 except...that's right next to a bunch of lush waterfalls. & its in the Route 13 hidden grottos some times, which is a beach next to a misty forest.
In contrast, arid locations: "Wasteland" in the HGSS Safari Zone, Rugged Mountain in BW2, Route 6 (the arid mountain route) in SWSH
There's nothing wrong with a scorpion being associated with both (I mean, real ones are too, so....) but it's weird to heavily associate it, in its dex entries, with arid locations but keep putting it in the exact opposite of arid locations time & time again. Like Hoenn & Kalos HAVE deserts and mountainous areas you could put them in.
If it wasn't for the fairly indepth look at DP's various betas I'd wonder if they were intended to be ground type and located in a cut desert/arid location at some point. Even if you didn't want to put it in the post-game desert surely the route that connects with Hippopotas' cave would've worked or any of the million caves or something.
While complaining about Signature Abilities that don't match the flavor text might as well post others I find questionable from all other gens:
Skitty family & Normalize: Just why? It's not only a not-so-great Ability but has no lore connection whatsoever. Skitty likes to chase things (mainly its tail, running around until it gets dizzy) and is a popular cute pet though fussy on who it likes. Delcatty make no permanent nests, they eat and sleep wherever they please (having no set schedule for when it does aside being mostly active at night) and would just move to another location if bothered; they also don't like dirty places and will groom themselves clean. Heck, that doesn't really sound normal to me, they sound erratic. Looking at the Gen III Abilities think Hustle would have been good for them, or maybe Run Away.
Sableye & Stall: It hides in the dark, digs for gems with sharp claws, eats said gems which form on the surface of their skin and transformed their eyes, and people fear their gaze. First, there's many Abilities that match that, but since Stall was for some reason given to it in Gen IV we'll stick to Abilities that existed then: Intimidate, Pickup, Adaptability, Tinted Lens; and none of these are Signature. Second, what does Stall have anything to do with this? How does giving it an Ability that makes it move last no matter sound like a good idea. This is an Ability like Truant and Defeatist where you give it to a Pokemon so that you can give it very high stats to compensate, but Sableye wasn't even strong to begin with! Not to mention a generation later you gave it Prankster as a Hidden Ability, what's the point of it all?!
Drifloon family & Flare Boost: Okay, I get at least Driftblim is based on a hot air balloon which is normally lifted up into the air via hot air from a flame... but that's got nothing to do with the Pokemon themselves. Drifloon are either floating around seemingly aimlessly or are trying to drag a kid to the afterlife (and generally failing). Drifblim are carried around by the wind, sometimes letting people and Pokemon ride as they float through, and then they completely vanish at evening/dusk. No mention of fire or burning. Heck, Flare Boost powers up their Special Attack when normally you give a hot air balloon more fire to speed it up/make it ascend.
Galarin Stunfisk & Mimicry: Castform's entire concept centers around its Forecast Ability (and Weather Ball move), so why didn't the Terrain version of this Ability get the same treatment? No, instead they tossed it onto Galarian Stunfisk which honestly really needed another Signature Ability adapted to what it needed (like a Steel-type Aerilate cause the only physical Steel-type move it learns is Metal Claw; BTW they made Galarian Stunfisk a Physical attacker but then made the Terrain version of Weather Ball a Special Attack... GF WHAT ARE YOU THINKING?!).
Durant & Truant: Okay, I know not really a Signature Move (though as of right now it is since the Slakoth family aren't available in Sword & Shield yet, this happened to some Abilities and so Bulbapedia is now counting them as new Signature Abilities), but still why? And no, it's not for a pun as Durant and Truant sound nothing similar in Japanese. Durant are ants and they're all about working together to build complicated mazes & protecting the nest against Heatmor (and now Sandacobra which likes to eat their eggs). Nothing "lazy" (which is its Japanese name) about that, they're all busy bodies. The only ant which would be considered "lazy" is the queen and there's no female-only evolution which becomes an ant queen.
Fletchling family & Gale Wings: Now I'm not arguing why they get it, they fly pretty fast, I'm asking why no other Flying-type get it? And I know, that's not the point of this and you can say that for a whole batch of other Signature Abilities, but Gale Wings REALLY stands out to me as a notable example.
Stonjourner & Power Spot: Stonjourner's dex entries only talk about it mysteriously gathering up, standing around, and doing powerful kicks. And instead of having a kicking version of Iron Fist or some other existing Rock-related Ability like Solid Rock it instead has an Ability which powers up allies. Okay?
Duraludon & Stalwart: Duraludon is only said to be made out of a metal that's light & strong but rusts easily so hides in caves cause it dislikes rain. Now, I'm sure it's also a hardworker and handy to lug around metal beams around construction sites, but that really enough for it to be the only Pokemon with this move? Now it's Japanese name, Staunch, has the same definition BUT it also has the second definition of meaning something is strongly built so I guess that fits a little bit better as Duraludon can Gigantamax into a skyscraper resistant to earthquakes (that's what the dex says, we know that's not true). Still a bit of a stretch and a weak reason for it to be a Signature Ability. At least Corviknight's dex entry mentions its black luster feathers so that justifies it have Mirror Armor (though that wouldn't also hurt being spread around).
Though, to be fair, it does only mention sand and where else do you find sand aside from the desert? Around water sources like beaches and rivers. Most recent dex entries of Skorupi notably no longer include it "living in arid places" part. Meanwhile Drapion has more recently also been put into mountainous locations, notably Galar Route 8 (where there's also Hippowdown).
Skitty family & Normalize: Just why? It's not only a not-so-great Ability but has no lore connection whatsoever. Skitty likes to chase things (mainly its tail, running around until it gets dizzy) and is a popular cute pet though fussy on who it likes. Delcatty make no permanent nests, they eat and sleep wherever they please (having no set schedule for when it does aside being mostly active at night) and would just move to another location if bothered; they also don't like dirty places and will groom themselves clean. Heck, that doesn't really sound normal to me, they sound erratic. Looking at the Gen III Abilities think Hustle would have been good for them, or maybe Run Away.
Sableye & Stall: It hides in the dark, digs for gems with sharp claws, eats said gems which form on the surface of their skin and transformed their eyes, and people fear their gaze. First, there's many Abilities that match that, but since Stall was for some reason given to it in Gen IV we'll stick to Abilities that existed then: Intimidate, Pickup, Adaptability, Tinted Lens; and none of these are Signature. Second, what does Stall have anything to do with this? How does giving it an Ability that makes it move last no matter sound like a good idea. This is an Ability like Truant and Defeatist where you give it to a Pokemon so that you can give it very high stats to compensate, but Sableye wasn't even strong to begin with! Not to mention a generation later you gave it Prankster as a Hidden Ability, what's the point of it all?!
Drifloon family & Flare Boost: Okay, I get at least Driftblim is based on a hot air balloon which is normally lifted up into the air via hot air from a flame... but that's got nothing to do with the Pokemon themselves. Drifloon are either floating around seemingly aimlessly or are trying to drag a kid to the afterlife (and generally failing). Drifblim are carried around by the wind, sometimes letting people and Pokemon ride as they float through, and then they completely vanish at evening/dusk. No mention of fire or burning. Heck, Flare Boost powers up their Special Attack when normally you give a hot air balloon more fire to speed it up/make it ascend.
Galarin Stunfisk & Mimicry: Castform's entire concept centers around its Forecast Ability (and Weather Ball move), so why didn't the Terrain version of this Ability get the same treatment? No, instead they tossed it onto Galarian Stunfisk which honestly really needed another Signature Ability adapted to what it needed (like a Steel-type Aerilate cause the only physical Steel-type move it learns is Metal Claw; BTW they made Galarian Stunfisk a Physical attacker but then made the Terrain version of Weather Ball a Special Attack... GF WHAT ARE YOU THINKING?!).
Durant & Truant: Okay, I know not really a Signature Move (though as of right now it is since the Slakoth family aren't available in Sword & Shield yet, this happened to some Abilities and so Bulbapedia is now counting them as new Signature Abilities), but still why? And no, it's not for a pun as Durant and Truant sound nothing similar in Japanese. Durant are ants and they're all about working together to build complicated mazes & protecting the nest against Heatmor (and now Sandacobra which likes to eat their eggs). Nothing "lazy" (which is its Japanese name) about that, they're all busy bodies. The only ant which would be considered "lazy" is the queen and there's no female-only evolution which becomes an ant queen.
Fletchling family & Gale Wings: Now I'm not arguing why they get it, they fly pretty fast, I'm asking why no other Flying-type get it? And I know, that's not the point of this and you can say that for a whole batch of other Signature Abilities, but Gale Wings REALLY stands out to me as a notable example.
Stonjourner & Power Spot: Stonjourner's dex entries only talk about it mysteriously gathering up, standing around, and doing powerful kicks. And instead of having a kicking version of Iron Fist or some other existing Rock-related Ability like Solid Rock it instead has an Ability which powers up allies. Okay?
Duraludon & Stalwart: Duraludon is only said to be made out of a metal that's light & strong but rusts easily so hides in caves cause it dislikes rain. Now, I'm sure it's also a hardworker and handy to lug around metal beams around construction sites, but that really enough for it to be the only Pokemon with this move? Now it's Japanese name, Staunch, has the same definition BUT it also has the second definition of meaning something is strongly built so I guess that fits a little bit better as Duraludon can Gigantamax into a skyscraper resistant to earthquakes (that's what the dex says, we know that's not true). Still a bit of a stretch and a weak reason for it to be a Signature Ability. At least Corviknight's dex entry mentions its black luster feathers so that justifies it have Mirror Armor (though that wouldn't also hurt being spread around).
Wait, there's no desert in Sinnoh? Yeah, there's no desert in Sinnoh. Then where do you find Hippopotas? *Searches* MANIAC CAVE?! Weird. With a clearly desert-based hippo and those dex descriptions I wouldn't be surprised if there was a desert area originally planned but maybe dropped early on cause they already had a big desert location in Hoenn and didn't want to repeat leaving both Pokemon intended for the location, Hippopotas and Skorupi, stranded. Hippopotas they shoved in a cave while Skorupi they put it in another location you find scorpions... completely forgetting about the dex entries.
Though, to be fair, it does only mention sand and where else do you find sand aside from the desert? Around water sources like beaches and rivers. Most recent dex entries of Skorupi notably no longer include it "living in arid places" part. Meanwhile Drapion has more recently also been put into mountainous locations, notably Galar Route 8 (where there's also Hippowdown).
i believe this is to do with stonjourner's design being inspired by stonehenge/general standing stones, which are often linked to druidic & similar rituals - but yea, there's no real link in its dex entries.
I didn't expect to post this here rather than elsewhere but before I get to the conspiracy I got lay the ground work:
The reason I was looking through dex entries was I noticed Wobbuffet had reused dex entries in SWSH. Which seemed weird, because all the dex entries I remembered seemed unique. Thus, I wound up looking up *deep breath* all of them. Including the "other" pokemon and Isle of Armor.
My findings:
Yeah! Lapras! Of every pokemon available in the Galar Dex it is the only POkemon like this. It's not a cleaned up entry like the pokemon in point 2, its not a legendary, its not Pikachu, has no other forms (G-Max, as I noted, does not result in an entry for the base form), just straight up has 2 brand new entries.
So, my conspiracy theory is this: Lapras at one point in development was set to have a Galarian form and the fact it had new entries is just a left over of that. We know from some earlier game betas that even while things are in flux, entries are still written out, so just using already-written entries (not every K-Form references its G-Form for the record) would make sense. Use 'em or lose 'em, as they say.
Misc information:
The reason I was looking through dex entries was I noticed Wobbuffet had reused dex entries in SWSH. Which seemed weird, because all the dex entries I remembered seemed unique. Thus, I wound up looking up *deep breath* all of them. Including the "other" pokemon and Isle of Armor.
My findings:
- If you were in gens 4-7, you got a new dex entry no questions asked.
- This includes any alternate forms, even if you didn't have an entry for it before. IE: Male/Female Unfezant, Jellicent got new gender entries while both wishiwashi forms once again get a full set.
- Got a Galarian Form, which also extends to your evolutionary relatives IE: Mime Jr & Persian got new entries, not just Mr Mime & Meowth
- Had an Alolan form but only the Alolan form IE: Alolan Vulpix got a new entry, Kantonian Vulpix did not
- Were a Legendary (even though those are unviewable...). So Mewtwo, mew, Celebi, Jirachi all got new entries but the Bulbasaur & Squirtle lines didnt (FUN FACT: Charmander does NOT get a new set of entries, i thought for sure it did)
- Pikachu got a new entry. I assume because it's the mascot.
- Metpod, Seedot, Ninetales & Blastoise Sword entries all reuse entries but they are ever so slightly different in sections. Metapod's Sword entry is clearly lifted from Crystal but the first sentence is phrased differently, for example. I kind of wonder if these are earlier drafts of the final entries for their respective games that they used on accident. (conspiracy 0.5)
- Lapras
Yeah! Lapras! Of every pokemon available in the Galar Dex it is the only POkemon like this. It's not a cleaned up entry like the pokemon in point 2, its not a legendary, its not Pikachu, has no other forms (G-Max, as I noted, does not result in an entry for the base form), just straight up has 2 brand new entries.
So, my conspiracy theory is this: Lapras at one point in development was set to have a Galarian form and the fact it had new entries is just a left over of that. We know from some earlier game betas that even while things are in flux, entries are still written out, so just using already-written entries (not every K-Form references its G-Form for the record) would make sense. Use 'em or lose 'em, as they say.
Misc information:
- Isle of Armor gave a new entry to every single returning Pokemon (the bulbasaur & squirtle lines excluded because they were technically in the base game already) regardless of generation.
- This apparently includes Magearna (I had asked about that back when the DLC dropped) but Bulbapedia & Serebii never updated their dex entries.
- Partner Cap Pikachu, the one added in USUM, went from sharing an entry with the other Cap Pikachu to getting its own entry. The other, newer, Journeys Cap Pikachu likewise has its own entry.
- Felt like they liked grabbing from gen 2 a lot. 36 entries from Gold (the most by far, of any game!), 25 from Crystal and 26 from Silver.
- Generally speaking they avoided grabbing stuff from the previous generation but there were 9 Moon entries, 2 Sun entries and....1 Ultra Moon entry (???). The UM entry was Manectric.
- The above is kind of hilarious because compared with the Sinnoh games its not much more. There is one Diamond entry, 4 entries shared across all 3 of DPPt (if a pokemon was in the Sinnoh Dex or was a gen 4 pokemon it got an entry for each game, otherwise it shared an entry), 11 Platinum entries.
- You probably already knew this, but the RSE entries have never been reused outside of ORAS. Presumably for character constraints in previous games but SWSH entries can be pretty long themselves, so I'm a little surprised. iirc (I sadly ddint make special note) this makes Emerald the only game to have NEVER been reused EVER, not even for remakes.
It has a desert, it's just on the post-game island (with the sand storm). I assume they wanted all the non-cross gen evolutions and non-legends to be in the Sinnoh Dex, though, so...
I subscribe to the theory that it's because hidden abilities were originally from the Dream World, and what else would a hard-working and hunted ant dream of but some time to relax?
However, then I noticed the part about "its beautiful song echoes around it". While other Lapras dex entries mention it beautiful singing, the wording of this immediately brought to mind a certain design trait of Gigantamax Lapras:
The ice crystals around it form musical notes! This leads me to think the new Lapras entry isn't for a cut Galarian Lapras, rather it was probably written for an early design of Gigantamax Lapras! If I were to hazard a guess, early Gigantamax Lapras wasn't a cruise ship (I could see it being designed to look like an iceberg) but still had the musical ice crystals around it. They wrote up the dex entries for it... but then at some point decided to change it into a cruise ship (maybe after making Duraludon into a skyscraper went back to see if they could make other Pokemon resemble big manmade objects). As R_N then said, since they already written up the dex entries and they matched normal Lapras just fine they gave it the new dex entries.
EDIT: Misread R_N's post, thought they said Pokemon that got a Galarian Form didn't get a dex entry for their normal form. My bad.
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To be clear, I do not think those entries were for a Galarian Lapras, I think they were just what they wrote for Lapras to begin with. But the reason they wrote them at all would be for the same reason say, Corsola, got entries: all galarian form pokemon had their normal version get a new entry, even if it didnt reference the other form.
I also doubt that these entries were either written for G-Max Lapras (perhaps the singing meant to remind people hey! Lapras sings! just FYI might be relevant!). All the g-max entries are kind of...how to put this...
Once it has opponents trapped in a tornado that could blow away a 10-ton truck, it finishes them off with its poisonous scales.
When it smashes its opponents with its bolt-shaped tail, it delivers a surge of electricity equivalent to a lightning strike.
The Gigantamax energy coursing through its arms makes its punches hit as hard as bomb blasts.
The bubbles it spews out are strongly alkaline. Any opponents hit by them will have their bodies quickly melted away.
Exceptionally ridiculous even for the usual way dex entries are written
I mean, hell even G-Max Lapras
Over 5,000 people can ride on its shell at once. And it's a very comfortable ride, without the slightest shaking or swaying.
It surrounds itself with a huge ring of gathered ice particles. It uses the ring to smash any icebergs that might impede its graceful swimming
5000 people at once!
Not even a single shake or sway!
Huge rings of ~gathered ice particles~ that SMASH ICEBERGS
Lapras' vanilla entries aren't anywhere near this.
I also doubt that these entries were either written for G-Max Lapras (perhaps the singing meant to remind people hey! Lapras sings! just FYI might be relevant!). All the g-max entries are kind of...how to put this...
Once it has opponents trapped in a tornado that could blow away a 10-ton truck, it finishes them off with its poisonous scales.
When it smashes its opponents with its bolt-shaped tail, it delivers a surge of electricity equivalent to a lightning strike.
The Gigantamax energy coursing through its arms makes its punches hit as hard as bomb blasts.
The bubbles it spews out are strongly alkaline. Any opponents hit by them will have their bodies quickly melted away.
Exceptionally ridiculous even for the usual way dex entries are written
I mean, hell even G-Max Lapras
Over 5,000 people can ride on its shell at once. And it's a very comfortable ride, without the slightest shaking or swaying.
It surrounds itself with a huge ring of gathered ice particles. It uses the ring to smash any icebergs that might impede its graceful swimming
5000 people at once!
Not even a single shake or sway!
Huge rings of ~gathered ice particles~ that SMASH ICEBERGS
Lapras' vanilla entries aren't anywhere near this.
The Beldum line's catch rate is probably one of the most questionable things out there.
Beldum, Metang, and Metagross notoriously have an extremely low catch rate of 3, which is the same as Legendary and Mythical Pokemon. And make no mistake, you often hear countless stories in the fandom across several games about how much difficulty people have with catching Beldum and Metang, especially the former with its recoil-inducing Take Down. Granted, in Ruby and Sapphire, the games this line debuted in, this was a non-issue because Beldum was non-catchable and was only given to you. Even in ORAS the other possible Beldum you could get was event exclusive.
It strikes me as odd especially since these Pokemon are the only non-legendary Pokemon to have such an obscenely low catch rate. It's not like subsequent games after RSE have treated them as a special Legendary Pokemon: they tend to be seen as a regular encounter in the wild, albeit a rare one in many instances, and it's likely that will be the case again when they return in Crown Tundra. They are one of the pseudo-legendary lines, granted, but even then they stick out as the odd one out amongst the pseudo-legendaries in this regard, because all of the other pseudo-legendary families have a catch rate of 45, which is frankly more reasonable for their status.
I really do wonder why the Beldum line has such an obscenely low catch rate, and why it was never changed in any generation after 3. Game Freak isn't a stranger to changing things, and if they wanted they could've easily made the Beldum line's catch rate a standard 45 starting from Gen 4 onwards, but they never did. It definitely would've made catching them *significantly* less frustrating. Maybe their catch rate is the relic of some early development regarding it when Ruby and Sapphire were being made? It's just really odd to me that even for a pseudo-legendary, the Beldum line has the legendary catch rate value especially since like the other pseudos it's more of a rare wild encounter and not a special one-time spawn like real Legendaries and Mythicals.
Beldum, Metang, and Metagross notoriously have an extremely low catch rate of 3, which is the same as Legendary and Mythical Pokemon. And make no mistake, you often hear countless stories in the fandom across several games about how much difficulty people have with catching Beldum and Metang, especially the former with its recoil-inducing Take Down. Granted, in Ruby and Sapphire, the games this line debuted in, this was a non-issue because Beldum was non-catchable and was only given to you. Even in ORAS the other possible Beldum you could get was event exclusive.
It strikes me as odd especially since these Pokemon are the only non-legendary Pokemon to have such an obscenely low catch rate. It's not like subsequent games after RSE have treated them as a special Legendary Pokemon: they tend to be seen as a regular encounter in the wild, albeit a rare one in many instances, and it's likely that will be the case again when they return in Crown Tundra. They are one of the pseudo-legendary lines, granted, but even then they stick out as the odd one out amongst the pseudo-legendaries in this regard, because all of the other pseudo-legendary families have a catch rate of 45, which is frankly more reasonable for their status.
I really do wonder why the Beldum line has such an obscenely low catch rate, and why it was never changed in any generation after 3. Game Freak isn't a stranger to changing things, and if they wanted they could've easily made the Beldum line's catch rate a standard 45 starting from Gen 4 onwards, but they never did. It definitely would've made catching them *significantly* less frustrating. Maybe their catch rate is the relic of some early development regarding it when Ruby and Sapphire were being made? It's just really odd to me that even for a pseudo-legendary, the Beldum line has the legendary catch rate value especially since like the other pseudos it's more of a rare wild encounter and not a special one-time spawn like real Legendaries and Mythicals.
Gnoggin apparently spent a week or two playing around with Gen II colors in order to figure out how Shiny Pokemon coloration were chosen. What he discovered is pretty convincing, even made a flowchart of his methodology:
There are some Pokemon palettes that could be references to other media.
Gardevoir has similar colors to Rei from Evangelion, with shiny Gardevoir having the light blue "hair", regular Gardevoir having red eyes, and both "wearing" white.
Druddigon and Drednaw already look partially like Bowser, but their shiny colors really brings it out.
Gourgeist was most likely designed before Camilla, but its too funny to me to not bring it up. Are there any other color references in Pokemon design?
Gardevoir has similar colors to Rei from Evangelion, with shiny Gardevoir having the light blue "hair", regular Gardevoir having red eyes, and both "wearing" white.
Druddigon and Drednaw already look partially like Bowser, but their shiny colors really brings it out.
Gourgeist was most likely designed before Camilla, but its too funny to me to not bring it up. Are there any other color references in Pokemon design?
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I've brought this up in the past somewhere on this forum, but here's a more comprehensive post.
Here are all the winged Pokemon who don't flap their wings and just sorta glide:
These Pokemon can be neatly sorted into exactly two camps.
The ones that have always just kinda floated:
and the ones that are commonly depicted as standing:
So here's the theory: early in the development of XY, these usually-standing Pokemon were indeed standing. And then much later in development, when sky battles were haphazardly thrown into the game, Game Freak realized "oh fuck, we should probably have a few more eligible Pokemon" so they took some of the standing mons and gave them half-assed gliding animations so they could be used in sky battles. And then promptly shipped the game because I refuse to believe something as lazy and inconsequential as sky battles wasn't added on a whim super late into development.
Here are all the winged Pokemon who don't flap their wings and just sorta glide:
These Pokemon can be neatly sorted into exactly two camps.
The ones that have always just kinda floated:
So here's the theory: early in the development of XY, these usually-standing Pokemon were indeed standing. And then much later in development, when sky battles were haphazardly thrown into the game, Game Freak realized "oh fuck, we should probably have a few more eligible Pokemon" so they took some of the standing mons and gave them half-assed gliding animations so they could be used in sky battles. And then promptly shipped the game because I refuse to believe something as lazy and inconsequential as sky battles wasn't added on a whim super late into development.
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Deleted User 465389
Banned deucer.
*checks pokemon that can sky battle*I've brought this up in the past somewhere on this forum, but here's a more comprehensive post.
Here are all the winged Pokemon who don't flap their wings and just sorta glide:
These Pokemon can be neatly sorted into exactly two camps.
The ones that have always just kinda floated:
and the ones that are commonly depicted as standing:
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So here's the theory: early in the development of XY, these usually-standing Pokemon were indeed standing. And then much later in development, when sky battles were haphazardly thrown into the game, Game Freak realized "oh fuck, we should probably have a few more eligible Pokemon" so they took some of the standing mons and gave them half-assed gliding animations so they could be used in sky battles. And then promptly shipped the game because I refuse to believe something as lazy and inconsequential as sky battles wasn't added on a whim super late into development.
Flying type Arceus literally just floats
I mean it’s good that they didn’t give it a unique animation but still
Charizard X seems to have a weird flap going and since base Charizard (& Y) is already flying I suspect that, regardless of any sense it makes, they kept it flying for consistency
....was mega salamence's entire design conceptualized around base salamence always gliding like that in 3D...?
....was mega salamence's entire design conceptualized around base salamence always gliding like that in 3D...?
p0ip0le
it's a billion lions
here's east gastrodon
here's lapras
here's cloyster
and here's tirtouga and carracosta.
one of gastrodon's dex entries: A relative of Shellder and Cloyster, this ocean dweller sometimes comes onto land in search of food.
another gastro entry: Long ago, its entire back was shielded with a sturdy shell. There are traces of it left in its cells.
and a tirtouga dex entry: Reputed to be the ancestor of most turtle Pokémon, it lived in warm seas approximately a hundred million years ago.
so what if tirtouga is the common ancestor, and those other 3 are related? Think About It. not sure how exactly in the hell you can connect gastro to cloyster but the dex is the word of god
here's lapras
here's cloyster
and here's tirtouga and carracosta.
one of gastrodon's dex entries: A relative of Shellder and Cloyster, this ocean dweller sometimes comes onto land in search of food.
another gastro entry: Long ago, its entire back was shielded with a sturdy shell. There are traces of it left in its cells.
and a tirtouga dex entry: Reputed to be the ancestor of most turtle Pokémon, it lived in warm seas approximately a hundred million years ago.
so what if tirtouga is the common ancestor, and those other 3 are related? Think About It. not sure how exactly in the hell you can connect gastro to cloyster but the dex is the word of god
Because gastropods(snails, slugs) and bivalves(clams, oysters) are both Mollusks. That's how they are related. It's based in IRL biology. You're looking too deeply into it.
Sandstorm is weird. We know this. I think I figured out why, though it's not a satisfying answer.
For anyone not in the know, sand in Pokemon is almost always associated with the Ground type. Soft Sand, Sand Attack, Sand Tomb, Scorching Sands, Sandshrew, Sandile, Sandygast, Sandaconda, they're all Ground-type.
Except... Sandstorm is a Rock-type move, and it gives a Sp. Def boost to Rock-type Pokemon. What gives?
Well, it's important to remember that this association didn't always exist. When Sandstorm was created back in Gen 2, it was only the third sand-related thing in Pokemon. Before it, there was just Sandshrew and Sand Attack. And while Sand Attack was Ground-type in Gen 2, it was Normal-type in Gen 1, so the link between sand and the Ground type wasn't fully established.
Not sure what's the deal with the Sp. Def boost though, as that wasn't added until Gen 4. They probably went "well, we've already made it Rock-type, might as well give it a reason to be Rock-type".
For anyone not in the know, sand in Pokemon is almost always associated with the Ground type. Soft Sand, Sand Attack, Sand Tomb, Scorching Sands, Sandshrew, Sandile, Sandygast, Sandaconda, they're all Ground-type.
Except... Sandstorm is a Rock-type move, and it gives a Sp. Def boost to Rock-type Pokemon. What gives?
Well, it's important to remember that this association didn't always exist. When Sandstorm was created back in Gen 2, it was only the third sand-related thing in Pokemon. Before it, there was just Sandshrew and Sand Attack. And while Sand Attack was Ground-type in Gen 2, it was Normal-type in Gen 1, so the link between sand and the Ground type wasn't fully established.
Not sure what's the deal with the Sp. Def boost though, as that wasn't added until Gen 4. They probably went "well, we've already made it Rock-type, might as well give it a reason to be Rock-type".
They probably realized that Sandstorm had NO benefits whatsoever, apart from Rock, Ground and Steel-type Pokémon not taking damage from it.
Meanwhile:
- Rain had a fully-accurate Thunder, a 50% damage boost to Water-type attacks, and a 50% damage drop to Fire-type attacks.
- Sun had an instant Solar Beam, a 50% damage boost to Fire-type attacks, and a 50% damage drop to Water-type attacks.
- Hail had a fully-accurate Blizzard, apart from all non-Ice-type Pokémon took damage from it.
I'm assuming by that you mean Rock-type moves as a coverage for other Types cause only Rocks making use of a Special Rock-type move is Omanyte family, Slugma family, Lunatone, Nosepass family, Amaura family, Diancie, & Nihilego; Maybe Lileep family, Carbink, & Minior.
And because of that, I'd imagine a sand-equivalent to thunder, solar beam or blizzard would be likely a Physical move.
Lord knows we need more accurate Rock moves.