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Sword & Shield **Official news only** DLC Crown Tundra 22nd October
- Thread starter DHR-107
- Start date
This is key. Be possitive. Don't ever lose hope. Repeat to yourself: "it's not leaving Galar, it's not leaving Galar".
I dunno about Megas and Z-Moves being totally gone. At least for Megas, you've got to remember the reason that every Pokemon is included in every game afterwards is because 1. They want to keep that dream of your Pokemon becoming your child's Pokemon alive. 2. No matter how garbage a Pokemon might be, it has to stay, because they don't want to remove someone's "favorite. " Megas also fall under this category. I'm expecting Mega and Z-Moves to be hidden behind postgame. Just please don't put more than half behind mystery gift...DYNAMAX:
Dynamaxing: So I think we can safely say no one was expecting this to be the next gimmick (unless you read a certain leak I think is worth discussing later...). While many of us thought the next gimmick would be super Abilities after having super forms and super Moves, GF decided they weren't quiet down with the previous two so combined them together by having our Pokemon grow humongous. I have mixed feelings about this new gimmick.
Initially I don't really like it. I think it's kind of silly. It's like GF liked the idea of the Totem Pokemon being bigger & getting a power boost and took it to 11. Also it pretty much guarantees Mega Evolutions are going to be kept on the sidelines for now. Oh, and Z-Moves, because as predicted they're now yestergen news; make room for them on the bleachers Mega Evolution. Speaking of which, they don't only grow in size but we have yet another set of super moves unique to Dynamaxing. Was that really necessary? At least we can use Z-Moves whenever we want, but from what I understand we can only use Dynamaxing in certain locations. I'd rather they focused on making new normal Moves. Also we have yet ANOTHER band in order to use Dynamax. Now when they replaced the Mega Band/Ring with the Z-Ring in Gen VII that was alright because it wasn't needed to Mega Evolve Pokemon, we just needed the Key Stone. But to use Z-Moves we need a Z-Ring so how are we going to use Z-Moves in Sword & Shield (unless they're removing Z-Moves which I doubt)? And did Dynamaxing need a band anyway? Since it makes the Poke Ball grow wouldn't it make more sense for it being a glove if it had to be a piece of clothing? It would fit better with the sports theme too.
But upon further thought I realized something: Dynamaxing may be a one gen gimmick. Think about it, Galar was designed around the knowledge that they can make Pokemon grow huge. And since this is only a Galar thing, next gen they can leave it behind with the excuse the next region isn't built for huge Pokemon and doesn't have the phenomenon there (unlike Mega Evolutiosn and Z-Moves which there's really nothing preventing them being taken elsewhere). So while Dynamaxing is taking the place of Mega Evolutions and Z-Moves, at the same time it should be seen as a region feature much like Pokemon Contests, the Pokeathlon, Pokemon Musicals, and PokeStar Studios (and how much do you want to bet that Battle Royals joined this list?). So in that regard, I like it! It's a unique feature of the game I don't have to worry the implications of on the franchise as it's not leaving Galar. It's not going to be another mechanic to bloat an already overstuffed battling system in desperate need of a re-design. Mega Evolutions and Z-Moves may be shoved aside but they don't have to worry about Dynamaxing being a mechanic they need to compete with for potential future attention. And at the very least we'll probably get a few funny memes from this (mainly giant small Pokemon (Joltik, Flabebe, Cutiefly, etc.) or giant giant Pokemon (Wailord, Alolan Exeggutor, Celesteela, etc.)).
(Pikachu: Oh, so Raichu thinks it could be the one to first showcase the new gimmick does it?)
Gym Battles: So this explains that logo we've been seeing, the three swirls around the Poke Ball represent the three red clouds that appears over a Dynamaxed Pokemon's head (and since Dynamax ends in 3 turns, I'm going to assume the red clouds vanish one by one to signify this). Oh yeah, something I didn't mention above, it only lasts 3 turns, but that's a point I've been saving to discuss here.
So the Gym Master "leak" looked to have been a mistake, they're still called Gym Leaders (unless there's something we don't know). And the reason the Gyms are Stadiums is so we can have Dynamax battles in them. Alright, makes sense, it's the new battling gimmick that can only happen in certain locations so why not have one being Gym Battles. However, since Dynamax only last three turns, this kind of feels like a gimmick that's going to be all spectacle but little substance. Both you and the Gym Leader are going to Dynamax your Pokemon at the same time, they're going to hit each other back & forth, then Dynamax wears off and it's a normal battle again. And since you can only Dynamax one Pokemon per battle it's not like you're going to do this for each Pokemon unless they have a round system we don't know about so each of the Gym Leader's Pokemon can Dynamax (though I doubt that's the case). Despite the giant size and super moves it still sounds like it's going to be an average battle where the winner is probably going to be the one with Type advantage (aka the player).
Also, are their going to be any requirements to challenge the Gyms? Like are their going to be some battles beforehand we need to do? Will be challenging the Gym be part of story progression thus we'll have to wait till the story says it's time to challenge the Gym?
Thought despite all this negativity I am glad to see Gyms back and in a big way. No, I don't mean the Dynamax gimmick, I mean they're in a stadium with large crowd of people watching and it's apparently a televised event (streamed by Rotom possessed camera drones!). This sort of started in Let's Go with all the Gyms having stands on the side with people sitting and watching, but that was just a proof of concept. This is the full implementation and it's glorious!
(Say my name, SAY MY NAME!)
Max Raid Battles: Important thing to note: You do not need other players to participate in Max Raid Battles! If you don't have other people to play with you'll be provided three "support Trainers". Being this was my only complaint about the Max Raid Battles, I guess I don't have anything to complain about it anymore!
In addition there's someplace that says once you beat a Max Raid Pokemon that species of Pokemon will start appearing in the Wilds, which I guess also partially explains my question about The Wilds having stronger Pokemon walking around. From the start there's just basic Pokemon but as you progress you get access to stronger Max Raid Battles and by beating them stronger Pokemon appear in The Wilds to catch normally. That's a pretty neat way of keeping things scaled and to get the player involved and wanting to do Max Raid Battles so they have more Pokemon walking around. Kudos GF!
My question on how does the wild Dynamaxed Pokemon get split into four when you catch it work, but I guess there's just some questions that were never meant to be answered...
(Attack On Dynamexed Pokemon)
Hillside Mural: Finally let's go back to another old mystery, the hillside mural. So I'm guessing this is depicting an instance of Dynamaxing, maybe. Let's take another look:
Knowing what we do now, something that catches my eye is that the giant doesn't have three clouds over its head. In fact, it's spewing out a cloud which is firing three thunderbolts. I wonder if the Dynamax phenomenon isn't caused by a Legendary Pokemon which this mural is depicting. The Pokemon has the ability to grow big via the smoke it breathes. With the lightning and antenna-shaped tail I'm also going to guess the smoke turns into thunderclouds. The thunderclouds then disperse back into nature, the Dynamax energy also becoming part of nature and occasionally enough builds up in certain areas to cause Max Raid Battles and people were also able to start collecting it. And thus why the number of turns your Dynamax Pokemon has is represented by red clouds. At least that's my theory right now. A GAAAAAM- *brick'd*
CHARACTERS:
Main Characters: Finally they released the stock art of the player character! So weird they waited until now to do so. Just wanted to say that, nothing else to really say (though I'm just now noticing the female playable character is wearing green plaid socks, maybe her being Scottish isn't too far off).
(*Something in unintelligiblegibberishScottish*)
Hop: Let's start with whom argueably could be considered the second most important character or a second protagonist: the rival. And I know we're all thinking it so let me just say this: THERE IS NOTHING WRONG WITH A FRIENDLY RIVAL. My personaly issue with friendly rivals, aside their overuse, also stems of them being buddy-buddy with you even though you're the new kid. This was the issue with Gen 6 and 7... and sadly is looking to be the same with Hop for Gen 8. While I don't recall them ever saying the player is new to Galar, what the site has to say about Hop does seem to indicate that both of you just met even though you're neighbors. Of course friendliness isn't the only thing a rival has going for them (well, except in XY), if they have their own story that can help build up their character. And Hop certainly does being he's the younger brother of the Champion and wants to be the Champion one day. Sure, not the most original or unique story, but could mean he'll be at least more competitive then previous rivals and possibly give us more of a challenge. And just because he's friendly doesn't mean he can't have another negative personality trait, being he's the Champion's brother and the family looks wealthy he could be a bit prideful or think he's superior to you and others when it comes to Pokemon battling. But without any more info this is all I have to say about him. Though let us remember they keep on saying he's just one of our rivals so even if he's just like the XY friends or Hau we may have another filling a role more closer to a jerk rival (or quirky like Green was in Let's Go).
(You want to be Champion, huh? Just ask Barry, Cheren, and Hau how well that turned out for them)
Professor Magnolia: The region Professor is a woman this time around, the second one if you don't count Burnet. She studies the Dynamax phenomenon which is a pretty fair subject to study considering it makes Pokemon grow to be 60 feet tall (wait, this is the UK, I mean 20 meters tall). Because of this she'll probably be the one giving us the ability to use Dynamaxing, maybe even on request of the Champion to help us and his younger brother Hop get started on your journey. Only other thing I have to say is her Corviknight cane looks pretty snazzy.
("Sycamore may research Megas and Kukui research Z-Moves,
but my research can literally crush both of theirs in one step")
Sonia: There was predictions this gen would have two Professors and while not right it's not far off. Sonia is the granddaughter and assistant of Professor Magnolia, making her more like the rival in Gen 4/Bianca in B2W2/Lillie in Gen 7. However there seems to be some mysteries about her. First Magnolia has given her an assignment to do that we don't know about. In addition we learn she's childhood friends with the Champion, could this mean they were rivals at some point? Another thing that catches my eye is something only in her official stock art: she's wearing something around her wrist but it doesn't look like the Dynamax Band or any other band we've seen in the past. Is there yet another mechanic we don't know about relating to what Magnolia has her studying or is it a Dynamax Band that just looks different (Hop has a blue Rotom Phone so it's perfectly possible). But if that's true, does that mean we'll be able to battle Sonia? She may be a character to keep an eye on.
(Though maybe not as close as I'm sure certain artists probably have already...
*gives a sigh and checks* scratch the "probably", man they work quick...)
Milo: Let's get this out of the way, his head doesn't match his body, but I think that's just because he lacks a nose. In fact I would even say his face doesn't match the typical Pokemon art style, it's like his face is from the Sun & Moon anime but body is still X & Y anime. I'm not even sure what Milo is supposed to be, his hat makes me think he's like a farmboy but he has a body of a muscular athlete (I guess he could be both). He's a kind guy and enjoys battling, so typical of an early Gym Leader.
However we are told a bit more about his Gym and battling style. We are told the Gym do have other trainers so could be we do have some battles to do before taking on the Gym Leader. Also he specializes in "endurance matches" with Grass-type Pokemon. I don't think it's a new kind of battling style but, parroting GameXplain, could mean he relies on defensive strategies instead of offense. What this could mean is that all the Gym Leaders may focus on certain stats in addition to a certain type to add a little additional layer many have been asking for. Eldegoss does seem like a defensive Pokemon too, and with its new Ability and most likely access to Cotton Guard & Leech Seed you could be worn down fast if not prepared. That said, Grass and endurance sadly don't mix so well, but that could be intentional to get players use to the Dynamax battles early on.
(See kids, this is why you should always eat your greens)
Leon: And finally the Champion himself. And sorry Hop, but I don't trust Leon one bit. Not saying he's like a member or leader of a villain team, but he sort of has a feeling they're setting him up to some kind of dark reveal. They say he never has been defeated, he has sponsors covering the back of his cape, lives in a mansion, wears a cape similar to that of a king's, and the bottom of his cap's rim looks like a crown. He just screams "I'm secretly a fraud and been rigging battles". Another reason to make me think that is Hop looking up to him, finding out his brother is a fraud would be a major twist that'll affect Hop's personality and viewpoints. Of course, if they did this it would make the story feel this is Hop's story and not the players, but then again B2W2 was Hugh's story and Gen 7 was Lillie's story so its par for the course.[/hide]
(And even if he isn't a fraud I still want to crush him under my heel.
Seriously, not just a king's cape but having it covered in sponsors...)
THERE! Finally caught up with the Direct news... now I have nearly 10 pages to respond to plus some additional things I'd like to discuss. I better get right on that.
I've been thinking something along the same lines too. It seems as if Game Freak is continuously trying to come up with mechanics that lift some lesser used Pokémon up to the level of the mainstays, while also providing a boost that is simple, intuitive and fair for all. And it always seems to come back to the same problem: Whatever boost a weak Pokémon can use to become stronger, a strong Pokémon can use to much greater effect. Sure, Maractus can put a dent in things with a Z-move, but Garchomp will make a crater. Dynamaxed Dewgong might use a really strong Water move, but Dynamaxed Starmie will do it better. At least with Mega Evolution, they had the potential to lift weak Pokémon without making strong Pokémon overpowered, but then they gave Megas to stuff like Gengar, Metagross or Salamence and then nobody had any reason to go for Mega Glalie, Banette or Audino.
We don't know that much concrete about Dynamaxing yet, but it seems like it won't be used to boost lesser used Pokémon so much as making already-strong Pokémon ungodly powerful. Why take Dynamaxed Pyroar to VGC if you can Dynamax Landorus-T instead?
That being said, in-game it might be a good way to make lesser Pokémon excel, and that might be what they're going for. Just as long as the boost can lift any Pokémon to a level the opponent can't match, it doesn't matter whether, say, you fire off a Z-move from Graveler or Tyranitar. The opponent goes down all the same, and the "once per battle" limit is less important when most foes only have one or two Pokémon anyway. No need for a second shot if the first one ends the battle. Dynamaxing might be used somewhere along the same veins.
So, let's commence the commenting:
Now the other alternative also is that, if the Pokemon has Dynamaxed, they then can't use a Z-Move or Mega Evolution after it shrinks back to normal (and if a Pokemon already used a Z-Move they can't Dynamax). So there's ways to keep the special gimmicks to one per Pokemon without having the Pokemon hold an item.
Dynamax Double: They could make it so that Dynamax Battles can only happen in single battles.
Max Guard: It being a Protect would go against the spectacle that Dynamaxing is supposed to bring and it having a 3 turn limit. I would at least say Max Guard would block some damage (but not all or even a majority of the damage), however I feel it may have an additional effect that'll make it a risk-reward move. Like it also builds up power so that your next attack would hit harder, maybe even having a sort of Counter/Mirror Coat/Metal Burst effect so defensive Pokemon can also have a chance to hit hard while Dynamaxed.
I actually think the only difference, if any, would be different footage/images and possibly music (notably this, I remember during the SM's direct that revealed Team Skull the Japanese direct used the Team Skull encounter theme while the English direct used the Grunt battle theme though both used the same footage).
Can't wait to see what teams made with a Mega Pokemon, Primal Pokemon, Z-Move Pokemon, and Dynamax Pokemon. Eventually we'll get to a point where it'll be pointless to have the normal Held items even existing.
Or how about Dynamaxed Groudon, Mudsdale, Guzzlord, or Stakataka? If they don't break all the way through the floor upon landing I'm calling shenanigans.
Yeah, I think it's the white empty space around them. While there's some design going on it's not nearly enough. Also I feel the Legendaries are too blown up, you can't see Zacian's "wings" and the can only see Zamazenta's shield mane. Maybe also make the titles a bit bigger (but no the logos).
Not different biomes it seems but rather the main four weather effects will temporarily massively effect the environment: sunny is how the Wilds normally are, rain is a rainstorm if not thunderstorm (maybe it could also raise the water level or the lakes), sandstorm is also self-explanatory and may also "dry" the area up making it look more desolate and like a desert, and hailing will bring a blizzard and possibly freezing the lakes (probably the most interesting as it possibly means early Ice-types!).
No, they know how to expand into something new, it's expanding into something OLD that GF has a problem with. While Mega Evolutions and Z-Moves are the prime examples, there's plenty of other mechanics this is also true for like certain kinds of Moves (Entry Hazards & ways to clear them, Weather/Terrains/Rooms, Type-changing/adding, dual-type Moves, etc.), finding ways to give Pokemon more than just two normal Abilities and a Hidden Ability, and just updating some Moves, Items, Ability, of mechanics to make them more useful.
If anything I think it would make them longer because the point if to make them more flashy.
Don't worry, I'm sure over half of the people who see it will know what you're talking about because they also didn't pay attention to the spelling. Pokemon has a bad habit of either being straight with the spelling of their punny names or trying to hide it by altering spelling.
It was catchable in the wild for B2W2 too as a rare rippling water spot (that's how I caught mine). I question whether doing that was either easier then cacthing a Feebas and doing what was needed to evolve it.
Not that's a big question. On one hand they just can't do a massive stat boost because if you choose not to Dynamax you should still have a chance to fight back. But on the other hand the fact the Pokemon grows huge along makes it feel like the Pokemon's power should also grow exponentially that the only other way for an opponent to fight back is if they also Dynamax their Pokemon. It's why I laugh at the suggestion that the player carefully choosing their time to Dynamax is part of the strategy because as soon as one player Dynamax the other one will very likely also. This means there's little planning involved as you don't know when your opponent may Dynamax so you might as well just do it the first turn your Pokemon are out. Now in the Gym Battles they may wait to Dynamax their ace Pokemon which they send out last, but are you going to Dynamax asap in order to try and sweep (thus leaving your vulnerable to the Gym Leader's Dynamax Pokemon as your Pokemon will revert back before theirs)? I feel like most players won't, especially since the game itself seems to be implying you should only Dynamax when your opponent does.
But remember all their Moves are also changed to "Max Moves", which probably prevent them being turned into Z-Moves if its possible to hold another item. Also wouldn't be surprised in this case they prevent Mega Pokemon from being Dynamaxed.
Not to mention I think he's the first non-Japanese staff member to be given a leading role in a main game (he was Art Director for Trozei and Battle Revolution)! Though I'm curious if they decided to choose him to be Art Director because he's an Englishman.
Well how it worked with Zygarde Perfect was that they subtracted the amount of HP lost to Zygarde Perfect's higher HP (so in a way it sort of healed but its by just getting more HP and not actually healing damage done to it). Assuming they do the same for Dynamaxed Pokemon, this could be one form or risk using Dynamaxing as if the Pokemon lost more HP than it has in its base form but not while Dynamaxed, after the three turns are up and the Pokemon shrinks back down it could automatically faint as it could no longer handle the extra damage done to it.
While I agree they won't let a Dynamaxed Pokemon use Z-Moves or let a Mega Pokemon go Dynamax, I'm actually not sure if they won't let a Pokemon use Dynamax and Z-Move/Mega Evolution separately. If your Pokemon needs to hold an item to Dynamax wouldn't they at least allude to that? And with Mega Evolutions and Z-Moves it made sense the Pokemon needed a held item because not all Pokemon could Mega Evolve (and some had two Megas) and a Pokemon can theoretically use at least every of the Type Z-Moves as long as it had a move it can use that Z-Crystal. However, since Dynamaxing looks like it's doing the same thing to every Pokemon its used on, there's no need for the Pokemon to hold an item. Also since Dynamaxing can only happen in certain areas it would be worthless to have it holding an item for Dynamaxing every other time.
Now the other alternative also is that, if the Pokemon has Dynamaxed, they then can't use a Z-Move or Mega Evolution after it shrinks back to normal (and if a Pokemon already used a Z-Move they can't Dynamax). So there's ways to keep the special gimmicks to one per Pokemon without having the Pokemon hold an item.
I don't know, the Type Z-Crystals would be a neat additional item for Gym Leaders to give out along with the TM. Mega Stone I get, though at the same time would like the ones for Pokemon in the regional dex to be available at some point in the main game (same for the Pokemon specific Z-Crystals). Just because they're not the main gimmick doesn't mean you shouldn't at least let the players use them.
Only left the ones in I feel like commenting on and didn't comment on already to someone else's post:
Dynamax Double: They could make it so that Dynamax Battles can only happen in single battles.
Max Guard: It being a Protect would go against the spectacle that Dynamaxing is supposed to bring and it having a 3 turn limit. I would at least say Max Guard would block some damage (but not all or even a majority of the damage), however I feel it may have an additional effect that'll make it a risk-reward move. Like it also builds up power so that your next attack would hit harder, maybe even having a sort of Counter/Mirror Coat/Metal Burst effect so defensive Pokemon can also have a chance to hit hard while Dynamaxed.
If you mean the number of Milo's shirt, I'm not so sure that's the case. There is certainly something up with the numbers of the shirts (Leon the Champion has a 1 and the player's shirt number actually changed from the first trailer to this one, and 831 is a rather big number to be a jersey number). Leon having 1 is probably just referencing him being the Champion and having never lost a battle, so maybe it's a ranking system? As the player beats each Gym their jersey number goes up. But it's purely a cosmetic thing as Gym Leaders of course are going to have lower numbers as it's sort of their job to be defeated. However the Elite Four will probably have low numbers. Or it could also be just referencing something else like the national dex number of their ace Pokemon (so in this case Eldegoss is #831 in the National Dex), though not sure what this would mean for the player's shirt number (unless we have a case of the Gym Leaders & Elite Four having "custom/retired" numbers only they use and do). A final suggestion is that it could be some kind of Japanese wordplay (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_wordplay). In Japan there's multiple ways of pronouncing numbers and depending on certain combinations you can make another word. This was used in Pokemon in SM, during the Ultra Beat hunt in the Japanese version Looker's agent number was "836" which you could make to sound like "Hansamu" which sounds similar to "Handsome", Looker's actual codename in Japanese (in the English version of SM they tried to keep this wordplay by making his agent ID "100kr", it obviously works better in Japanese than English). Not sure what 831 could possibly be wordplayed into but if someone would like to try would like to hear what you figure out.
Well there is a scene of the player and Hop riding on a train.
Though I think those drones are in the same vain as the Rotom Dex/Phone. A new form but we won't ever be battling with them.
You deserve all the likes.
I didn't notice that first time, that's a neat idea and a promise there may be other ways to interact and draw/repel Pokemon on the field. While it's nice to just see the Pokemon walking around, adding little details like this actually make the world feel it's living.
This is a sentiment I keep seeing and it's baffling to me
is the idea that someone who does farmwork all day will inevitably end up quite buff from, you know, doing farmwork; so alien to people?
That's what there going for: A mechanic that aims to make all Pokemon "great" See here. The problem is that GF thinks that people will use favorites over the obviously better ones, which is fair, in casual play, I often use "subpar" Pokemon for fun because I can't use them in most other formats. So these " super mechanics make sense. But then when you translate things to the competitive scene, and suddenly optimization is a requirement, so those super mechanics don't work.
Cresselia~~
Junichi Masuda likes this!!
Unless there's a certain move a mediocre Pokemon has that's crucial to your strategy, I guess?
For example, ensuring Smeargle or Meowstic last for at least 3 turns could be good news for Smeargle users.
Speaking of minimize spam, I wonder if Dynamax has drawbacks on evasion?
What happens if we use minimize on dynamaxed Pokemon?
Just because past games have used contrasting mascots (and even then not all of them, Kyurem's forms for B2W2 looked pretty similar) doesn't mean all games have to. The Legendaries always fit into the themes of that generation, and this gen the theme has the mascot Legendaries resembling one another but one is more agile and wields a sword while the other is more bulky and has a shield mane. Sure, maybe their color schemes could have been made more different (to be fair Zacian is lighter in color then Zamazenta, though at the same time it's a bit odd that though Zamazenta's name is derived from magenta it doesn't really have any magenta coloring (and the blue on Zacian can be barely counted as cyan)), but the point is they're supposed to look similar and would probably tie into the game's story.
Actually the idea of Pokemon came from seeing the link cable and imagining insects crawling between them, and that came off his love of bug collecting and fighting. But still the point remains the core concepts of Pokemon is collecting, battling, and trading.
Z-Moves (and Mega Evolutions for that matter) aren't going anywhere. They're now a permanent part of the franchise for better or worse (and if GF feels its for worse maybe they should go and try adjusting them and expanding upon the concept, the only reason it feels half finished is because GF abandoned them one gen later...).
Well let's first see how much GF pushes Dynamaxing in competitive. If VGC and even the post game Battle Facility is nothing but Dynamaxing for this entire gen I will agree this gimmick might have stunted competitive battling this gen. But I have a feeling, while there will be competitive that uses Dynamaxing, there will be just as many which doesn't because they wouldn't want to make Dynamaxing a central part of competitive. But we'll see.
That could be a way for normal Pokemon to go toe-to-toe with Dynamax Pokemon.
I, much like many others, like Corviknight... but it ain't the pseudo-Legendary. They wouldn't reveal it this early.
Also we see Corviknight just flying around in The Wilds.
Honestly, I would say Corviknight is more likely the generation bird. These past few gens they've been going away just making another Pidgey clone and trying to do something unique with the gen birds. Fletchling evolved into the pretty decent Fire/Flying-type Talonflame that for a while saw competitive use (then came the nerf to Gale Wings...) and Pikipek evolved into Toucannon that had a few tricks up its sleeve (sure it never really got popular but you can't say its bland... on paper at least). And now we're getting Corviknight which already comes out swinging with it being Steel/Flying.
I think they're definitely related at least (do you think maybe we have a sort of Romulus and Remus theme here? EDIT: Shedinja'd by DrPumpkinz), though whether they have a prevo I kind of feel that GF did what they wanted to do with that with Cosmog. They seem to possibly have a rivalry, but if their trailer is anything to go by there might be a greater threat that both are needed to fight against.
Many are predicting there may be a Zazallow (at least that's what I'm calling it going by the pattern of the other's two names).
Music sounds great! I'm kind of hoping that Pokeli makes remixes for them so I can get a better listen.
Yeah. I meant to look that up. TO BULBAPEDIA!
(*One visit to Bulbapedia later*)
Okay, so Hop's Japanese name... is also Hop. He's named after the most common name of the humulus plant. What is the humulus plant? Well it's used in the brewing of beer to give it a bitterness, flavor, and aroma. However it has pharmacological use where it's called h. lupulus. And from there I discover that h. lupulus was voted to be the county flower of the Kent county. And Kent county is nicknamed "The Garden of England" because of its abundance of fruit plants and gardens, which is one of the themes of Sword and Shield. No one can say GF never does their homework.
This sort of reminds me how Toucannon was also secretly revealed via a trainer's clothing design depicting a toucan.Some fans are speculating that this is a new Pokemon:
Also, is that Pachirisu on the T-shirt or another new Pokemon?
As for this being a new Pokemon, well it certainly is... and, spoilers, that leak actually has information about it (if what the rest of that leak says is true that wasn't shown in the Direct).
While I don't think the Meltan family would have that much of a pivotal role (it's a Mythical afterall), since there is a metal theme going on in SwSh they could maybe fit a story in how Meltan were originally from Galar but was seemingly driven to extinction (maybe with help from the Legendary mascots) due to their metal absorbing ability. Though there is a hole in that theory with Professor Oak saying Meltan are another Mythical from the Kanto region.
And if there's a villain team, which I'm sure there is, you'll probably also face their leader in a Dynamax battle.
Not to mention the Pokemon League will probably have 5 Dynamax battles in a row, one for each Elite Four and then Leon.
And I'm sure you'll probably have Dynamax battles with your rivals at certain points, probably out of nowhere in true rival tradition.
And I finally have caught up to the current page:
I never said they would be removed.
While farmwork would certainly strengthen the muscles, I don't think it would make you bulk out like that. To have a body like that you had to purposely condition your body to form the muscles that'll give off the effect you want. Also, I think if you don't keep up that specific training the body eventually re-absorbs that muscle bulge.
I actually have to disagree with this take a bit.
I'd argue the only recent mechanic that seems to be there explicity to boost weaker Pokemon are Mega Evolutions. I know a common thing to mention is that a lot of Pokemon got mega evos that they didn't need, and while this is certainly true in the case of say, Tyranitar, Blaziken, or Gengar (well at least for gen 6, gen 7 is a different story for Gengar LOL), I'd argue that in general, most Pokemon that got Mega Evolutions REALLY needed them to stay competitive in Gamefreak's formats. You mention Salamence and Metagross, both of which tanked pretty hard in XY Battle Spot Singles, and weren't doing super hot in Battle Spot Doubles XY either (though I think they were viable there at least, and they were certainly around in the Pokemon-constrained VGC 14 format). Sure, there were quite a few mega duds like Banette, Audino, or Absol, but I think the vast majoriry of Mega Pokemon are mons I'd almost never use in their base forms, so I think they did an alright job with that at least!
As for Z-moves, I never got the impression that it was made to buff weaker Pokemon with a few exceptions (mainly, Pokemon that got crazy ass Z-moves like Eevee or Kommo-O, and maybe mons with certain Z-status moves like Porygon-Z). Sure, Pikachu got special Z-moves, but that felt more like paying lip service to the mascot than a particular attempt to buff Pikachu in a big way.
If anything, Z-crytsals remind me more of say, how gen 4 introduced items with metagame defining effects like Choice Scarf, Life Orb, Choice Specs, etc. While stuff like Choice Scarf did have the unintended effect of making some Pokemon much better, I don't think that was the intention, it was just a new option for all Pokemon to use. Z-moves may be flashy and versatile, but I think they're in a similar boat as stuff like Choice Scarf, even if Gamefreak didn't do stuff like say, weave an elaborate lore and plot over Choice Scarf (I wish they did though, can you imagine that rofl)
Dynamax seems similar to Z-Moves in this respect: a new tool to use for all Pokemon, not a way to buff stuff that's having issues.
I will admit though, the site mentioning that Max Strike (the Max Normal move) lowering Speed does make me interested in what secondary effects we can expect for other moves. I wonder if some Pokemon with more unusual coverage moves may benefit!
You're half right, you don't have to purposely condition your body to get that result. It's just easier to do so over doing field work and farming. And no, the body doesn't re-absorb muscle mass/bulge, it's called getting fat.
I'm sure most of you folks know that there will be a Sword and Shield demo at E3, but just a reminder: Masuda WILL be at E3!
Hard to say what the E3 demo will bring us beyond maybe some more stat estimating treats, but if anyone remembers what Sun and Moon was like at E3, we got a reveal of Yungoos and Grubbin if I remember correctly. Also, ORAS's E3 got us Mega Sableye and Mega Audino.
So, it's likely we'll get a few cool extra details in 2 days!
Hard to say what the E3 demo will bring us beyond maybe some more stat estimating treats, but if anyone remembers what Sun and Moon was like at E3, we got a reveal of Yungoos and Grubbin if I remember correctly. Also, ORAS's E3 got us Mega Sableye and Mega Audino.
So, it's likely we'll get a few cool extra details in 2 days!
Is there any reason why dynamax HP couldn't be proportional, like Pikachu has 2/3 HP, dynamaxes to 2/3 HP, is brought down to 1/2 HP, then when it shrinks back its HP is still 1/2?
It depends on how the coding of the ability is done really. No "particular" reason, just purely depends on how it's coded.
Thought you guys might like this, take it with a grain of salt but here are patterns of pokemon reveals over the last 2 gens. Credits go to Joker on bulbapedia
Despite revealing a bunch of pokemon pre e3, they managed to reveal a few more during e3 and during coro-coro, so keep an eye on both for some new pokemonJoker901 said:
I'm not sure if this is the proper place to speculate about things like legendary typings, i supose it is. What types do u think they'd be? I'll go with the obvious Steel/Water and Steel/Fire. Reasons being Zacian could very well be Steel/Ice, but I do think ice types are more obvious in their designs, while there're some water types that u look at and say "ok, it MAY be water type but I'm not 100% sure". Secondly, because Steel/Water is a far better type combination, specially in the defensive side. The only other water/steel type is Empoleon, so it doesn't feel repetitive either. Nor does Steel/Ice, shared only with Alolan-Sandslash, but as I have previously stated, Steel/Water makes more sense. Another option is Steel/Flying and I can see this happening. Zacian has some "windy" motives in its design. Ultimately, at the end of the trailer he gold ribbons from its back fuse with the sword, making it 3 times bigger, and a moon figure appears on it. Thanks to my dude elkilian for the nice pic
Here we can see the moon
And here the golden ribbons that just dissapeared from its back to make the sword 3 times as long
Also the moon is asociated with the water element. If you look carefuly at the last pic of Zacian, the sword even resembles a fish. In fact, the part that looks as a moon, could also be interpreted as the fish tail.
In regards to Zamazenta, welp, it's pretty obvious it's fire. And they both are made of steel (even sound like steel, lol). We all want competent legendary mons and Steel/Fire is great both in defense and in offense. x4 weak to ground but resists a fkn lot of types, ask Heatran, and it looks like a physical attaker so being inmune to burn isn't half bad either.
I refuse to believe they are Steel/Psychic. I've had enough of Psychic legendaries. Psychic became a type you can put on everything when in doubt. "Oh, I don't know what this Pokémon looks like, but it feels mystical". Mystical/Magic = Psychic this days. No more. Please.
Here we can see the moon
And here the golden ribbons that just dissapeared from its back to make the sword 3 times as long
Also the moon is asociated with the water element. If you look carefuly at the last pic of Zacian, the sword even resembles a fish. In fact, the part that looks as a moon, could also be interpreted as the fish tail.
In regards to Zamazenta, welp, it's pretty obvious it's fire. And they both are made of steel (even sound like steel, lol). We all want competent legendary mons and Steel/Fire is great both in defense and in offense. x4 weak to ground but resists a fkn lot of types, ask Heatran, and it looks like a physical attaker so being inmune to burn isn't half bad either.
I refuse to believe they are Steel/Psychic. I've had enough of Psychic legendaries. Psychic became a type you can put on everything when in doubt. "Oh, I don't know what this Pokémon looks like, but it feels mystical". Mystical/Magic = Psychic this days. No more. Please.
So DragonWhale alerted us to something the Japanese community is buzzing about on twitter!
So apparently, someone asked Morimoto about Moody, and he said "they're doing something about it." Japanese community seems to think this is a sign that it's finally getting nerfed! Would be great news, Smeargle is a menace in VGC, and Glalie is also loathed a lot by the Battle Spot Singles community. This would be rad, and probably a good sign of the competitive changes Gamefreak will make next gen!
So apparently, someone asked Morimoto about Moody, and he said "they're doing something about it." Japanese community seems to think this is a sign that it's finally getting nerfed! Would be great news, Smeargle is a menace in VGC, and Glalie is also loathed a lot by the Battle Spot Singles community. This would be rad, and probably a good sign of the competitive changes Gamefreak will make next gen!
Steel/Fighting is the most likely typing for the both of them, no idea where you're getting ice/water or fire from. They only glow red and blue because that's the color of their respective games lol.
I imagine it's getting nerfed, but they really need to expand their scope of metagame beyond VGC. Of course, this has been said tons of times, but honestly, when do you think that's going to change too? I hope they don't go too overboard with nerfs like what they did to Talonflame.
No, lol. Every Pokémon game has a representative color and not its legendaries glow in intense colours. I just told you from where I'm getting Water and Fire from. From it's colours, its designs and its symbolic value. Then you come and say "Steel/Fighting" because one has a sword, i suposse? And the other glows red and this has something to do with it? Sure bra. I know Virizion, Cobalion and Terrakion did some damage but it's time to get over it.
The shield dog is also primarily blue and white, how does that make a fire type so obvious? Kyogre also glows red, does that make it a fire type too!?Sirya said:
"hurr If You LOoK FrOM tHiS AnGLe tHe HiLt KiNd of lOoKs LiKE a MoOn GUyS!"Sirya said:
No, the safest guess is Steel/Fighting because the first thing we see them doing is engage in some sort of medieval knight duel and you can literally hear the metallic sound coming from their movements. It's fine if you think your theory makes any kind of sense, just get ready to post your surprised_pikachu.jpg meme when the actual typings are revealed lol.Sirya said:
The "balance changes" gen 8 will bring are something I'm really interested in.
They've always only really cared for their official format sadly (being, VGC doubles), and not a case last gen they hit extremely prominent threats (mega Salamence, mega Gengar, mega Kangaskhan, dark void, Talonflame) and possibly went overboard with some of those.
Unfortunately for the fellow smogoners, Lando-T doesn't quite have enough VGC usage for me to see it getting any hit.
Intimidate, on the other hand...
I'll be curious, sadly, that's something we're likely not going to know until WAAAAY later... When was that we knew of the nerfs to smogonbirb and similar things, was it before or after the leak of the game itself?
I'd be surprised if Gamefreak did anything beyond their current MO of looking at VGC / Battle Spot Doubles and Battle Spot Singles, since those are pretty much the only relevant formats in Japan. Weird as it is to say, stuff like OU and Ubers are basically just popular fan formats in the end.
Closest you can get is that gamefreak could hypothetically, have a competitive 6v6 metagame. I can't imagine it being like OU however, as Gamefreak doesn't roll with changing banlists, they set them at the begining. So either, you'd have OU with a lot of stuff people want banned (stuff that is normally fine in Battle Spot Singles like Mega Salamence, Aegislash, and Pheromosa), or you're going to have a weird rule in an attempt to balance Pokemon that were not designed with 6v6 play in mind, such as the 6v6 Battle Spot Special we got last gen that banned items.