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Obstagoon as-is is admittedly growing on me, but I definitely feel like a design like the one presented there feels a lot more natural and works a lot more. The larger body even lends itself a lot more to the 'obstacle' themeing.
I don't mind human-shaped Pokémon but there has definitely been a biased trend towards those designs as of late, and Obstagoon is I believe a good example of the approach being taken where it doesn't terribly fit.
Because Sun & Moon had every Pokémon in its code. They probably figured they might as well take advantage of that to illustrate differences when they know they couldn't act like they didn't exist.
Here, though, they have the luxury of acting like they don't exist because if they're some of the ones they decide to not put in the game, they effectively don't. And it makes sense, anyway -- why put two Linoone in the game when you could have Galar Linoone and Kecleon or Carbink?
Tourists having other-region forms was made from a perspective of every Pokémon existing within the game's code and taking advantage of that. Likewise, SwSh is made from the perspective of not having every Pokémon existing within the game's code; so they'll likely take advantage of that in its own way too. Unless you're going for a very direct contrast angle, it just wouldn't make sense to have two of that same species within the game when you're already limited.
Could be, but Sun/Moon were the games that introduced regional variations, so they showcased the difference. Nowadays it's more like a given so they don't have to include tourists with regular forms.
(There's also the fact that Tourists made sense given Alola was based on a tropical resort region)
Because Sun & Moon had every Pokémon in its code. They probably figured they might as well take advantage of that to illustrate differences when they know they couldn't act like they didn't exist.
Here, though, they have the luxury of acting like they don't exist because if they're some of the ones they decide to not put in the game, they effectively don't. And it makes sense, anyway -- why put two Linoone in the game when you could have Galar Linoone and Kecleon or Carbink?
Tourists having other-region forms was made from a perspective of every Pokémon existing within the game's code and taking advantage of that. Likewise, SwSh is made from the perspective of not having every Pokémon existing within the game's code; so they'll likely take advantage of that in its own way too. Unless you're going for a very direct contrast angle, it just wouldn't make sense to have two of that same species within the game when you're already limited.
We were told every pokemon in the galar dex would be available in SwSh. Forms are not seperate pokemon. A Linoone is a Linoone no matter where it came from
We were told every pokemon in the galar dex would be available in SwSh. Forms are not seperate pokemon. A Linoone is a Linoone no matter where it came from
They are still treated as separate species as far as the game's coding is concerned, though -- this isn't a case of a Honedge from XY being as valid as a Honedge from SM; it's a very different case. The code treats them as different Pokémon with different stats and abilities in a similar way to how the Nidorans are treated as separate Pokémon. And more to the point, they obviously have different models. I certainly wouldn't rely on the vagueness of being "told every Pokémon in the galar dex would be available in SwSh", especially as something said before we were even made aware Galar Forms existed. The website even seems to count the Galar forms as new, different Pokémon; putting them in the same list as the completely new Pokémon.
I'm not saying it's for definite, I'm just saying it's a very likely possibility and that if the game designers are going into this knowing that they have a limited number of models they can bring back, they're going to take advantage of that and one of the ways they might do that is by introducing new Pokémon that effectively replace old ones, no matter if the name or dex number says they're the same Pokémon. Galarian Weezing is, as far as the programming is concerned, as different to Kantonian Weezing as Tauros is to Miltank.
Unfriendly Rivals:
Oh yeah, I forgot to mention something about the new rivals yesterday that is really notable: they're not friendly rivals!
HOORAY!
While not a lot about Bede is known (I've seen in the Japanese version of his trailer he has text, would like to know what he says as it may help show what his character is), just look at him. That stare alone screams "jerk" rival like Blue and Silver of yore. And why shouldn't be be full of himself? He's being sponsored by Rose, chairman of the Galar Pokemon League! They might as well just give him the Champion title as far as he is concerned. And that's not going into his ulterior motives which either relates to what scheme Rose is planning or with a strong supporter behind him to make him Champion he can put more focus on a personal plan (or plan of a group he may actually be a part of). Even if later on they add some depth to his character I do hope early on they make him as detestable as Blue and Silver.
However Marnie is an example of what I've been saying that rivals don't have to be polar opposites of each other (friendly or jerk) or even that involved with the player. We got a taste of this in Let's Go when you interacted with Green who, after you battled her because you caught Mewtwo before he, she says she wants to catch you because you're strong and starts chucking Poke Balls at you. Sadly you only meet Green once but I said it would have been a fun and different experience in having a quirky rival. And I guess GF also liked the idea of a quirky rival, though with Green being a cooky one they went a different direction. And thus we got Marnie, a more stoic rival who doesn't look like she would have any relation with the player, friendly nor jerky. You're just another trainer trying to become Champion so she needs to prove she's better then you, that's all you are. Of course her quirkiness (as of right now) comes not from her but her fans, Team Yell, and how outlandish they'll go to ensure she has the best chance to become Champion.
POKE JOBS:
With the creation of the Poke Pelago finally giving something for your boxed Pokemon to do there's no way future titles could not give something similar. But the Poke Pelago only made sense in the tropical paradise Alola, how would a more industrial Galar involve our boxed Pokemon? Well, how about getting those lazy bums to get jobs! And thus we have Poke Jobs (an idea which I suggested so I'm marking this done as "calling it"). I'm not going to go any more indepth then that, that's what the main website is for, but here's my quick opinions on it.
On the surface, I like it! Not only because it's giving your boxed Pokemon something to do but also how much detail I'm already seeing from it. Now yes, only thing the player is doing is selecting a job, selecting the Pokemon, and then sending them for a certain amount of time. However it's the selecting a job part which has me intrigued as it's going to give us a glimpse into the backworkings of the Pokemon world the player normally does see.
In this above screenshot we see that the ones asking for help isn't a specific person but rather businesses (and the site also says universities). And let's look at what some of these groups are asking help with: construction (an obvious use of Pokemon), protecting investments (that's a bit out of left field), cooking (certain Pokemon certainly can help with that), farming (obvious much like with construction work), and net making (which more sounds like a small job so could be it's not just big businesses asking for help but also smaller groups). And these are just some of the jobs and some of the groups, there's probably dozens more which will give us a sneak peak into how the Pokemon world works which we don't normally see. Also some of these groups may play a bigger role in the game, for example this Macro Cosmos company. We've actually seen their logo before in the trailer, or at least one of their logos. As we see above Macro Cosmos has two departments requesting help with each having their own logo: MC Construction (which is probably the big construction group in Galar) is a gray "C" with a wrench and one that is a green "C" with the Pokemon dollar sign asking for help protecting their investments (so possibly either "MC Financial" or "MC Banking"). And this could also possibly hint of locations we can go to, maybe even either see our Pokemon at work or as we do more jobs we could possibly see it have an affect on the world around us. Not only would it be giving our Pokemon something to do, but it'll also give the player a way to finally influence and help the region they're in (outside of saving the region and world from a villain's evil plans; I'm more talking about how, even though you become Champion and the strongest trainer in the region, you really don't do much to affect the world and rarely is their any acknowledgement of you being the strongest trainer in the region).
But that all said, I do have some nitpick with the Poke Jobs, particularly in the rewards. Looks like the main reward is Experience and EVs. Which is great if you're training up multiple competitive teams or you're playing a Nuzlocke and want to have back-ups prepared. But outside of that, that's not really that great of a reward, especially during main game. You can't have any of your active party members doing Poke Jobs while playing the game who are the ones you want to be getting experience and EVs at the moment. Now it does mention you can get items, but it sounds like an uncommon reward. Going back to Poke Pelago, while they had an island to increase your Pokemon's EVs they also have an island where your Pokemon grew berries and went on item finding adventures. And while it took a day or two to do, at the end you usually get a ton of Berries and a handful of items. But that doesn't sound like it would be the case with Poke Jobs thus making the return for effort low and possibly not worth it until post game when you'll either want to start training competitive Pokemon or get Pokemon to evolving levels to fill out the Pokedex. Also, you're literally sending your Pokemon out to do laborious work... for the experience, aka "exposure". Like, GF, even if that's not an intended "joke", it's still a rather an unfortunate implication to overlook. Like, why not reward the player some money? You're doing these businesses (some of them major companies) a favor by sending them over trained Pokemon to do the dirty work, the least they can do is reward the trainer with some money for going out of our way. Hey, maybe even base how much money we get on the Level of our Pokemon, that way it makes sense for them to also get experience and level up from doing jobs as that only makes them better workers to earn more money.
(Good job, Grookey, you only get experience because working is its own reward!)
But with that all said, maybe they also should have showed us Pokemon Refresh (or whatever is replacing it) is also in the game and maybe have a specific mode of it letting you feed and play with the Pokemon you've sent out on Poke Jobs. You know, to maybe show the trainer isn't being a slave driver. Just a thought.
Guess I also should mention the Rotomi, a Rotom that runs the PC in every Pokemon Center that also access Poke Jobs and the Loto-ID game. Also, while they don't put focus on it, the Pokemon Center Cafe also returns! Looks like they're only serving us Berry juice this time around, which I guess is for the best, the Alolan barista was kind of creepy with his indepth detail on the drink (especially with the Moomoo Milk...).
(Also we already had the Rotom Phone as our helper, did we really need another Rotom helper?)
VIDEO CLOSE LOOK:
... BUT I'm going to use the Japanese Trailer instead of the English one as it has more stuff in it!
Music: 0:04: Note that in the English trailer this music plays throughout the new Pokemon and for both Bede and Marnie. However the Japanese trailer keeps it only to Bede, thus this is Bede's battle theme. This is another reason why I'm looking at the Japanese trailer. Anyway, it sounds energetic and pumping, tells you this is a battle you should be paying attention to. 0:29: Team Yell battle theme next and its loud and intense with it being heavy on the drum beats and screeching guitar. For a team whose focus is distracting other trainers this certainly does fit them. 1:01: And now a theme that was excluded from the English trailer, Marnie's. Being the idol of Team Yell, her theme sounds like it would be a remix of their's at first but completely changes its tune to something that's more flowing and added complexity, showing how much different she is from her followers. 1:35: Poke Job theme is cute and jaunty, wouldn't say it gets you in a working mood but something you can certainly march to. Translation Request: And yet another reason picking the Japanese trailer, can anyone please translate what is being said? Thank you in advance! 0:14-0:18: Bede talking to player. 0:25-0:28: Bede talking at the end of a battle. 0:31-0:32: Team Yell talking to player & Hop. 0:36: Team Yell talking to the player. 0:38: Team Yell bothering a Drednaw? 0:59: Team Yell talking to the player. 1:01: Marnie speaking. 1:03: Team Yell responding to Marnie. 1:10-1:16: Marnie talking. 1:40-1:43: Poke Jobs stuff. EDIT: Nevermind, explanation at the bottom Other Trailer Details: 0:20: Interesting instead of having Bede showcase a new Pokemon they just have him throwing out a Duosion. 0:22: Bede makes commands by snapping his fingers, what a douche. 0:27: Him looking at his watch looks to be a quirk of his, guessing he's going to be all "can we make me winning this battle quick" and "well that battle was a waste of time". 1:01: Guessing this is Marnie's introduction as her name is in question marks. 1:03: Why does Team Yell have giant safety pins on their back? *Does some research* ... This, this can't be the reason? Apparently it's a real world thing: after Brexit, which was fueled by by anti-immigrant rhetoric, there was an increase of hate crimes. In a show of defiance by both immigrants and British, people started wearing safety pins to show their solidarity and support of immigrants. This movement had made its way to the US though being this was something from 2016 it looks like it didn't take off... Okay, so did GF take a popular symbol of modern UK politics and added it to the villain team's outfit without understanding the context behind the symbol? Or maybe I'm overthinking this, but I have no idea otherwise why they have giant safety pins on their bike. Is it to poke themselves to make them scream louder? 1:17: Alright there Marnie, you're throwing a Poke Ball, not making a baseball pitch. 1:34: Guessing putting her finger to her head is her personality quirk. Got it memorized?
Well, it's nearly time for me to hit the hay. So tomorrow will be quick thoughts on Pokemon, responding to comments, and also I want to take a quick look back at a certain leak again which looks to be all true...
EDIT: And I just learned GameXplain released a new analysis trailer which pretty much went over all the information I just did and even had the dialogue translations I wanted to know... *sigh* I'll also take a look through that analysis tomorrow.
Just gonna paste this previous comment on my thoughts on Weezing: https://www.smogon.com/forums/threa...on-rd-15-11-2019.3647645/page-74#post-8206513. One thing I didn't mention is that if he gets popular enough, Lucario and to a lesser extent Gallade could find new niches as some of the few Fighting types that don't get hard-stopped by it.
On the subject of competitive play, Reuniclus was confirmed as a returning Pokemon! He's probably the most significant newcomer that isn't a brand new mon or form introduced through this trailer with the ability to keep up his CM + Acid Armor shenanigans while abusing common picks such as Kommo-o, Roserade, Mew, Ferrothorn and probably most importantly of all Clefable and Toxapex. The prominence of Weavile hurts it significantly though, as well as being caught in the crossfire of the abundance of phasing to combat Dynamax sweepers. It definitely looks promising, so keep an eye out on it! Toxicroak and Liepard were also confirmed, and while I could see Toxicroak giving Rain a boost in viability, I doubt Liepard will find much of a place with other generally superior Darks such as Weavile, Tyranitar and even Pangoro running around.
Im excited about Reuniclus as well! Im almost certainly seeing OU viability as we expect overall power creep to be curbed a bit along with Weezing potentially being a viable t spikes setter to help Double Dance Reuniclus wall out grounded dark types.
Regarding regional variants , honestly it's hard to say if they are in game or not.
Obviously as far as game data, they are different pokemon with different models and animation even if they share dex number.
There'd be both reasons to include them in the game (if they want to have trainers like the tourists of Alola creating the contrast) and to not include them.
I personally think there's a significant chance that both Kanto (and Hoenn, i guess lol) and Alola forms of the pokemon present in the pokedex will be available via transfer (expecially as one of the Alolan forms present in the dex is as far as I know loved by fans, looking at you Ninetales), since this was the approach also used by Let's Go (which if you think of it, had a "dexit" of its own by retconning crossgen evos but not megas/regionals), but i can totally see the opposite happening.
That said, there is one specific thing missing so far that is boggling me.
Meltan. I am 100% sure Meltan and Melmetal will be available in SwSh, and I ak quite curious of where they are and what classification they will get (actual legendary, mythical, or even normal pokemon?). Would be quite surprised if they are not available in any way.
I don't really think we need to consider the factor of "but what if Galar Linoone being so much better invalidates Hoenn Linoone", when the latter is likely to not be in the game to begin with.
Maybe not in Sword and Shield, but what about the next generation? If Game Freak follow through with their exclusion policy, and have to choose which Zigzagoon family to include in the next games, would they pick the one that has an interesting typing and a third evolution, or the dime-a-dozen Normal-type two-stage?
Maybe not in Sword and Shield, but what about the next generation? If Game Freak follow through with their exclusion policy, and have to choose which Zigzagoon family to include in the next games, would they pick the one that has an interesting typing and a third evolution, or the dime-a-dozen Normal-type two-stage?
To be fair, the very nature of regional variants means that as far as wild pokemon go, you can only find the regional variant in that specific reason.
You wouldn't be able to find an Alolan Vulpix in Kalos, because there's no conditions that would have forced a wild Vulpix family to adapt to the cold of the mountain. You'd not be able to find wild Obstagoon, because the resident Linoones wouldn't have had to deal with a huge competition, and if they did, they might have actually adapted in different ways, like, breathing fire for example.
Now, the choice to include the "other variant" as well in the Pokedex as purely importable via Home/trade, that's something totally on GF's decision. But as far as wild pokemon go, the very nature of regional variants is that they only exist wild in that specific region (else they'd not be regional variants, they'd just be forms like Vivillion's or Florges')
Eh. The animalistic designs never excite me, even if it tries to hit me in my gen 3 nostalgia. As someone who cares more about the existence of cool tricks than their viability, G-linoone is redundant in the face of its predecessor. As for the evolution, it's not like the idea of a tanky normal-type is new either.
This is your posion/fairy? Firstly, it has been well established that the type is not a requirement for cleaning up (see Muk-A). Secondly, between Impidimp and the setting of the region, I was really hoping that we'd see more of the folklore-inspired evil fairies (especially since the weakness to cold iron is shared with demons). Heck, there's even a folk creature that brings plagues and has its origins in the Scottish Isles: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuckelavee.
Also, can I just say that it personally bothers me that '-G' has the potential to be an ambiguous suffix? Like, they could have renamed something...
Don't care much for story. Another rival that can use the SE starter is good, though. I will say that part of the reason the villain teams are often well-equipped is because they need an in-universe reason to have large numbers of good-leveled, evolved mons (especially if they use something that is only found at low levels). I don't see Yell's training facility, so I'm still suspicious of outside influence.
It does not look to be improved from our previous downtime system, and is thus hard to be excited by. I agree with an earlier comment that their should be material rewards (I'd take rare/useful items over cash in an rpg, personally) from contract work instead of being paid in experience. On a side note, is there anything stopping that rotom on top of the PC from just watching the player character input their password? Seems pretty open to abuse.
The weakness to Steel of Fairy Types is unfortunately because they're meant to be skeptical/scared of civilization and technology, and not due to them being afraid of being cut in half.
Would have to work differently to justify a demonic-ish pokemon to be fairy type.
(Remember, we know absolutely nothing of Impidimp other than its typing. No pokedex entry, no stats, no knowledge of habitat or evolutions. For what we know, he could still be a forest spirit or something like that)
The weakness to Steel of Fairy Types is unfortunately because they're meant to be skeptical/scared of civilization and technology, and not due to them being afraid of being cut in half.
Nor are the fairies, fairies are weak to the touch of cold iron (for it is like poison to them), you could theoretically kill them with a spoon
you don't need to cut them
Where does this idea that faeries are weak to technology come from anyway? Even as late as the spiritualist movement it isn't mentioned in any folklore I could find
...
please just tell me is not from some cheap novel from the 1960's at least
Where does this idea that faeries are weak to technology come from anyway? Even as late as the spiritualist movement it isn't mentioned in any folklore I could find
Nobody said "weak", they're scared of it / distrust it, since fairy types in Pokemon tend to be natural beings / spirits.
Remember, lot of type chart situations are based on folklore / lore, not on actual interactions (es, ghosts and normal reciprocally immune due to japanese belief that dead entities cannot interact with living beings, psychic types weak to bug because the buzzing of bugs interrupts concentration, etc).
This is such case: Fairy types are weak to poison because being natural entities they're obviously weakened by pollution (plants themselves aren't necessarly weak to poison, not a case there's plenty of grass/poison types) and steel because of what I said earlier, as conceptually they're scared or distrust civilization (tapus for example are shown to be wary of humans and not generally trust them)
Thus back to the case of the two new "fairy" types...
Impidimp we really know too little to know what its role / habits are, he could very well just be a nocturnal / mischievous spirit that likes to prank people.
Galar Weezing act as purifier of pollution, which does somewhat give that natural entity vibe, and being a poison/fairy type, it's also not weak to poison itself, which is perfectly "in charachter" (as a poison depurator for obvious reasons wouldn't be weakened by poison). Would be pretty funny if its unrevealed ability ended up giving it a poison immunity/absorb
Nobody said "weak", they're scared of it / distrust it, since fairy types in Pokemon tend to be natural beings / spirits.
Remember, lot of type chart situations are based on folklore / lore, not on actual interactions (es, ghosts and normal reciprocally immune due to japanese belief that dead entities cannot interact with living beings, psychic types weak to bug because the buzzing of bugs interrupts concentration, etc).
This is such case: Fairy types are weak to poison because being natural entities they're obviously weakened by pollution (plants themselves aren't necessarly weak to poison, not a case there's plenty of grass/poison types) and steel because of what I said earlier, as conceptually they're scared or distrust civilization (tapus for example are shown to be wary of humans and not generally trust them)
Thus back to the case of the two new "fairy" types...
Impidimp we really know too little to know what its role / habits are, he could very well just be a nocturnal / mischievous spirit that likes to prank people.
Galar Weezing act as purifier of pollution, which does somewhat give that natural entity vibe, and being a poison/fairy type, it's also not weak to poison itself, which is perfectly "in charachter" (as a poison depurator for obvious reasons wouldn't be weakened by poison). Would be pretty funny if its unrevealed ability ended up giving it a poison immunity/absorb
It's a patch type and not really a good one imo. A contrast to Dark (not necessarily light) would be less prone to being slapped on weird mons like Weezing-Hat.
Remember, lot of type chart situations are based on folklore / lore, not on actual interactions (es, ghosts and normal reciprocally immune due to japanese belief that dead entities cannot interact with living beings, psychic types weak to bug because the buzzing of bugs interrupts concentration, etc).
This is such case: Fairy types are weak to poison because being natural entities they're obviously weakened by pollution (plants themselves aren't necessarly weak to poison, not a case there's plenty of grass/poison types) and steel because of what I said earlier, as conceptually they're scared or distrust civilization (tapus for example are shown to be wary of humans and not generally trust them)
When it comes to GameFreak's decisions and overall logic in Pokemon, I stopped asking myself this question ages ago
(that said, I believe that's a western myth, while Pokemon is mostly still based on Japanese culture, I don't quite think I've ever seen a horseshoe in japan :P )
It's a patch type and not really a good one imo. A contrast to Dark (not necessarily light) would be less prone to being slapped on weird mons like Weezing-Hat.
To be fair I have absolutely no idea why they picked Dark as secondary type for Alolan Muk other than just... to make it strong. I would guess there is some reason...
Though, it can't have a fairy secondary type, because in contrast to Weezing, it's definitely *not* natural (it's still a walking pile of melted toxic garbage who happened to become alive), just it actually digests said toxins rather spilling them anywhere like Kanto Muk does.
On a side note, is there anything stopping that rotom on top of the PC from just watching the player character input their password? Seems pretty open to abuse.
Based on my limited knowledge of the UK, which is admittedly mostly from stereotypes that are mostly from the 1800s, I do say Galarian Weezing is the most British Pokemon ever, old chap!
Instead of going time stamp by time stamp, I'm just going right into the rival details:
Bede: He looks it, he moves like it, but we have final confirmation that Bede is in fact a jerk rival... and possibly evil too! First, inside that gem mine that's presumably before the first Wild Area and "Steam City", he taunts and mocks the player by saying our Pokemon look beaten up after an "easy" battle (the battle assumed to be with a member of Team Yell we also see are in the mines). Later at the exit Bede then drops some region lore: the Champion isn't as respected as the Chairman. This is rather a big revelation for Pokemon as in all other regions the Champion is the de facto admired authority figure. Yet Chairman Rose has risen himself about the Champion's presence. Back to Bede, this is where the evil kicks in. After saying the Chairman is more respected, Bede then says he's BETTER than the Chairman. So, yeah, Bede's mysterious goals does seem to be all his own and its possible Chairman Rose doesn't know the trainer he's sponsoring it planning something behind his back. Finally, in a much later battle (as it takes place in the desert area that's beyond the "Steam City" and he's using a Duosion which must at least be Level 32), after the battle he says he now knows the player's true ability. Now GameXplain thinks that means Bede is like Blue who underestimates the player and thinks they got our number... but I'm not so sure about that. If he was a simple jerk rival probably, but with Bede having a hidden agenda maybe there's a twist we aren't expecting.
Marnie: So after her presumed introduction and likely breaking up the conflict with Team Yell in the hotel, Marnie talks with the player and Hop and we finally learn what she thinks about her fans: she finds their behavior sappy. So this confirms that Marnie doesn't really like Team Yell, or at least doesn't like how they're so obsessed with her they're willing to cause trouble. Later on (and having moved locations in the same hotel), Marnie then says she prefers doing things on her own but for the Gym challenge she needs to work with the player and do her best. The Gym challenge part is interesting as it sounds like for one or maybe even a batch of the challenges you need to team up with other competitors to be allowed to challenge the Gym Leader (you probably won't get control of them rather they'll probably just follow you like past companion characters, but this does hint to possible double battles with your rivals as your partner). Finally the scene where Marnie is in a featureless background has her saying she'd be displeased if she loses so she has to win this battle. This seems like a more serious proclamation then an over-exaggerating remark; for some reason, possibly just ignore being displeased, she HAS to win. Once again, a possible hint Marnie has a darker side much like her partner Morpeko, but instead of being hungry changing her attitude it's losing.
So, OH BOY, a lot more was actually dropped on us than initially thought (thanks English trailer...). So much so it got me to thinking about the Championship and what directions it could go. Because, as I mentioned, unlike past games where becoming Champion was the be-all-end-all... that doesn't hold true for Galar. Going by what Bede said, the Champion title is just that, a title. It's the Chairman who is holding all the cards and power. Now, as we've seen the Champion is still a major figure and everyone is still aiming to be the Champion or at least wanting a specific person to be the Champion. But, if the traditional Pokemon game goes as it normally does, the player is going to become Champion at the end of the Galar League. The player, who is a no name that only got into the League because they're a new friend of the current Champion's brother; that's certainly is going to rub people who had plans for a certain person to be Champion the wrong way. So, this got me thinking in what ways could they possibly mix things up. Now the most obvious thing to do would be having something occur which forces the player to be unable to participate in the Champion match, but I feel that would be too obvious not to mention a let down.
Instead, I got to thinking: what if we have the Champion match as always and win it. That's right, for the first time ever Leon has been defeated and Galar has a new Champion, an unknown trainer! But suddenly, as the audience is celebrating and Leon and Chairman Rose are congratulating you, the big display screen flashes a warning sign and alarms go off. Just then Oleana comes out onto the field and telling everyone to halt the ceremony. Rose asks what's going on and Oleana reveals a startling discovery: the player had cheated! Footage is then shown on the big screen of the player using something on their Pokemon, and Oleana then presents the item she found in the trainer's bag they left in the lockers: a banned medicine which increases their Pokemon's power during a battle. The player had used a performance enhancement medicine in order to defeat the Champion and who know how many of the other trainers! The audience breaks out in boos and angry shouting as the player is escorted off the field, Chairman Rose announcing this being a dark day in Galar League history and that after an investigation they'll reschedule a make-up Champion League with Leon facing a trainer truly deserving the battle to become Champion.
We cut to a few hours later after an interrogation, the player now standing outside the stadium with an angry Rose, Leon, and Oleana. The player obviously upholds their innocence but the evidence is against them. Until investigations are done the player is told they're free to go but it would probably be better they return home. After that you could maybe even have some or all of the rivals come up to the player to tell them how disgusted they are with them. And it's not just them, since the Galar League was being televised EVERY person in the Galar region now thinks the player is a dirty cheater. And so begins a second part of the game where the player must now clear their name and discover who framed them. There's plenty of suspects to go around all with their own motives: Chairman Rose (who would want to control who was the Champion of the League he owns), Leon (who would want to remain as Champion or very least choose who would replace him), Hop (who sees the Champion title as a personal matter between him and his brother, also the promise of fame & fortune can sometimes make an otherwise kindhearted person do horrible things with enough motivation), Bede (his plans need him to become Champion so, upon seeing how strong the player is, was dangerously genre savvy and planned the player to take a fall), & Marnie (for whatever reason she needs to become Champion, and with a whole team of loyal fans at her disposal/a darker attitude from losing she had the means of setting up whoever got in her way). You'll follow leads and clues for each suspect, but of course being the number one hated trainer in Galar you're going to meet heavy resistance from unhelpful NPCs, angry trainers, Team Yell, and maybe even official members of the League who were tasked to track your movements and stop you if you start causing trouble (bonus points if they make these League officials the unused Gym Leaders in that version of the game).
Yeah, yeah, I know, this is probably too AWESOME complex to be what actually happens. What's likely to happen would be smaller & actually related to the Legendary mascots and plot of the game (and also satisfying, hopefully). I'm just saying that they can go some REALLY intriguing directions if they wanted to.
Team Yell: A lot of Team Yell's dialogue is typical villain team grunt stuff as you can imagine. Like the scene in the hotel lobby has the Yell grunt (can we even call them grunts?) talking to the player saying how they'll beat the player and Hop and enjoy their crying. When Marnie comes in to break up the fight, they try to blame the player or Hop for causing it (so possibly showing they do know Marnie does not like their behavior if they're trying to hide their misdeeds from her). Back in the mines, the grunts there (which the player probably battles which then has Bede mocking the player) don't know who the player is so either this takes place before the Galar League announcement or Team Yell is so focused on Marnie they don't even pay attention to her competition is (my thought is more the former; if their goal is to help Marnie become Champion they would definitely know who the other competitors are so they can get in their way). Then the final dialogue scene with them has them in that frozen part of the region harassing a doctor trying to heal a Drednaw, saying how healing it doesn't matter know. Like, okay, why are they bothering doing this? Did Marnie defeat the Drednaw so the Yell grunts want to make sure others see how strong Marnie is by preventing the Drednaw from being healed? But this does show that Team Yell are actual nuisances to the highest degree and thus have to be chased away no matter where they show up (like the Skull grunts in Gen VII).
Other Details:
9:13: Something not really pointed out but I just noticed, Marnie's haircut and style makes it look like something is eating her head; was that the intention or is it just the angle making me see something. 11:40: The knight statue slipped by me the first time, however looking at it know does make it something which stands out and maybe paid attention to. As explained, the knight has a shield and is likely raising a sword thus maybe relating it to the Legendary mascots of the game. However the knight has other notable features about him it. First off, the knight is not your typically dressed medieval knight, they look a bit more like a gladiator with bare arms and legs (though that is also a typical JRPG knight for you, looking at you Dragon Quest). However what armor the knight is wearing has big spikes attached to it, primarily the side of the shorts, shoulder guard, and it even looks like the shield has a spike attached to it. The final notable feature, aside having a cape, is the knight is wearing winged boots. Immediately the winged boots bring to mind the winged sandals of the Greco-Roman god Hermes/Mercury, the messenger of the gods who winged sandals (named Talaria) gave him super speed and flight. I think this might be the more important detail here as this takes this from just being a statue of a knight to being a statue of a legendary knight as they are seemingly wearing a magical artifact. As a final note, looking at the chest I can't discern whether the knight is a male or female; nothing major but still an interesting tidbit I noticed.
NEW POKEMON:
So, surprise, a new JAPE is in the process of being made but, while I'll give my deeper thoughts on the new Pokemon there, I'll give some quick thoughts on the new Pokemon:
Galarian Weezing: WOOT! Regional Variants make a return and already they don't disappoint! Now a while back I actually gave an idea for a Galarian Swablu/Altaria which would have black clouds instead of white because England during the Industrial Revolution had a major pollution problem. Though even I thought maybe that would maybe hit too close to home considering our current climate crisis... and then they showed Galarian Weezing. Like, wow, they actually went there! And much more creatively as well by giving Weezing a stove top hat like a proper British gentleman would wear with Victorian style (poisonous green smog) beard to match. But then it gets weird with it being a Fairy-type and the smoke it's creating it actually purified air made from poison it absorbs. Huh, well I guess that's one way to both reference the pollution problem while also tip-toeing around current political hot topics (they could it being a Fairy-type be a subtle jab that us thinking we can clean up our act is a fairy tale?... Nah, probably just their way of explaining how Galarian Weezing can turn poison into clean air: MAGIC).
Galarian Zigzagoon & Linoone: Like, what? Like, I'm glad to see they're moving away from Gen I pandering with the regional variants, but I wasn't expecting the Zigzagoon family. Then again I suppose the same could be said about the Ratatta family so there. Also they were probably chosen so they could be recolored as badgers... and then a GF employee went: BUT WAIT! What if we also made them into KISS (BTW, Gene Simmons was shown the KISS-inspired Galarian Zigzagoon family and said its a flattering gesture)! Well, alright, they probably were designed to match Team Yell's fanatic theme, but aside all that I do the like redesign with the base colors and patterns. That said, I do have a problem with lore: GF is once again trying to tell us "guys these are totally the original version of these Pokemon!". They did it with Mega Aerodactyl, they did it with Alolan Exeggutor, and now they're doing it here. And out of all the ones I mentioned this feel the least needed to be "the originator" of the species. Heck, do we even need one? Why can't normal Zigzagoon and Galarian Zigzagoon have evolved at the same time with the only difference being the location they're in?
Obstagoon: But they didn't just bring back regional variants, they raised the stakes with it! Not only do we have Galarian Zigzagoon and Linoone but they were given an exclusive evolution (and with Linoone's BST being 420, there was room for improvement). Now don't get confused, I wouldn't actually consider this a cross generation evolution. In all intents and purposes, Galarian Zigzagoon family is a new species of Pokemon. Normaly Zigzagoon family ain't getting a Obstagoon evolution nor probably any evolution (aside from a MegAHAHAHA!). And while at first this may sound like it's a flat deal for the originals, what it also means is that those who like the Zigzagoon family as they are don't have to worry about a new evolution "ruining" their zigzagging and straight running raccoon dogs. Instead its a new breed which gets the evolution and thus they can completely ignore it which I can understand as Obstagoon is a major departure from the family as it becomes a bipedal werewolf badger. Though of course does that mean to compensate the original are going to be buffed in any certain way or are they designing the new breed in a way they are equal (hoping for the former than the latter).
Morpeko: Not to be confused with Dedenne which is a gerbil, not a hamster. They're different rodents (if you want to know what the main difference is aside genetics, a gerbil can gnaw through toys and structures made for hamsters). However, what is important is that they're rodents thus we have this gens Pika-clone! And an odd Pika-clone it is with having different forms and the basis around it. Like do hamsters get very ferocious when hungry? I know they like to stuff food into their cheek pouches and hide them for later, I had a hamster when I was a kid and whenever we cleaned out his cage we'd find deposits of sunflower seeds hidden in a corner (note to self, catch a Morpeko and name it Bobby). With Morpeko being the ace of Marnie, even if you don't use it you'll still see plenty of it and what it can do.
RUMORS WERE TRUE:
So more and more that rumor list is coming true! Knowing what we do now and remembering something on the list, I want to go back to it for a quick moment.
In the Gigantamaxing leak it mentioned how Pikachu is getting one which makes it look like the original fat Pikachu. However, now that we've seen Morpeko, I wonder if maybe the leaker was confusing it for a Morpeko Gigantamaxed. Take away the stripes on normal Morpeko and it looks very similar to Pikachu and would make sense with Morpeko's hunger theme that when it Gigantamaxed it would probably become rotund as for Morpeko that would be its ultimate form: finally full. "But wouldn't that mean the leaker made a mistake thus invalidate anything he said that hasn't come true yet"? Well by now I think enough came true that I'm willing to take what the leaker says with a grain of salt (never know when they may have made up something for a laugh), but they have made a mistake: when talking about the Legendaries said that one was an evil one named Eternatus while the other one would be a wolf which would either have a shield mane or holding a sword in its mouth. While the evil Legendary is still up in the air, they made a mistake thinking Zacian and Zamazenta was different forms of one Pokemon (and before you say we don't know enough about them to say that's true, they could very well have the backstory of either having once been the same Pokemon (Kyurem expy) or have a pre-evolution that can evolve into either one of them (Cosmog expy), but that doesn't change they're considered different species).
It also mentions one of the three early Gym Leaders along with Milo & Nessa, Kabu (likely Fire-type with the other two being Grass- and Water-type), requires the player to catch Pokemon and get 5 points but must do so in a party battle with other trainers also trying to catch the Pokmeon. Sound familiar? Like something you read above? Could the Gym challenge that Marnie mentioned teaming up with the player with be Kabu's challenge (and thus Kabu would be the Gym Leader of the "Steam City", which would be a place a Fire-type Gym Leader would probably be)?
Other things to possibly look forward to: Gigantamaxed Lapras, Gigantamaxed Meowth (or the new Meowth regional evolution), Farfetch'd regional evolution, Meowth (or maybe Persian?) regional evolution, Skwovet & Greedunt and their Berry collecting mini-game, Fairy-type Gym Leader & actress Opal, transit system, camping Pokemon Refresh expy where you feed them curry, Scorbunny evolving into a humanoid fighter, Sobble evolving into a chameleon spy, Grookey evolving into a drumming gorilla, and a seagull that attacks by diving into the water and spitting out a barracuda or Pikachu.
PHEW! And that's all the non-response stuff I wanted to touch on.
Just a heads-up: This post will dive into and reference some of the side-effects of Dexit. Don't worry though, it's not gonna be the typical complaints about the decision itself, GF's release schedule, or any of the usual talking points. Instead, I want to bring light to an effect of this that has been touched on a little bit but I believe merits more discussion and analysis. More specifically, I'm referring to how certain groups of Pokemon could be managed and how their usage over the long-run could impact competitive play. Let's talk about these special cases.
Regional Variants: The less significant of these two special groups, but still worth bringing up. Regional forms are inseparably tied to their region of origin in a way that no other Pokemon is. Muk is the way it is in Alola specifically because of the conditions of that region, Linoone gained new traits just for Galar's environment, so on and so forth. With that said, how are they gonna re-introduce these Pokemon in future games and generations? Will they be locked in some kind of "transfer hell" for prolonged periods of time, or will they try to shoehorn them into future regions? These questions would apply even if Dexit never happened, but considering it is in fact a thing it's even more important for GF to determine how they're gonna handle older regional variants so they don't disappear for several generations on end. I posed this question on a Discord server and it was brought to my attention that in the Let's Go games, you can trade with tourist NPCs for the Alolan forms of the Pokemon you give them. I guess that's the easy way out of this little problem, but it could get tedious and boring if done for multiple generations in a row.
Legendaries: Now this is where things get interesting. In Generations 6 and 7, the second games of each generation had a sort of legendary scavenger hunt wherein via some interdimensional travel mechanic or wormholes or whatever they let you catch a bunch of old generation legendaries without having to rely on transferring from previous games, probably so new players wouldn't have to go without them or scour GTS. However, with games from Sword and Shield onward no longer having the complete roster, Game Freak doesn't really have to bend over backwards to make sure newbies have all the legends because, well, they don't have to be there anymore, especially if they haven't been plot relevant for a while. Now, it's completely possible that they'll continue doing these scavenger hunts anyway just to add some meat to otherwise bare-bones postgames, and that every 2nd iteration we'll have to deal with a bunch of meta-altering legends being dumped on the pre-existing competitive scene. But there's just as much of a chance that they won't do that. So what if they take a new approach? They say they're trying their best to make sure the chosen pool of Pokemon for Galar will be at least somewhat thematically fitting; what if they do the same for legendaries, and they pop just a few of them in various fitting areas of the map for the player to discover and catch? How long will it be before we see old giants come back to make their mark on the meta again? And what if they can't even do that? What if by the time Pokemon like Landorus-Therian, Kyurem-Black or Celesteela return, Dexit has created a meta with such a power-drought that they can no longer be supported in its weakened state and have to be banned? And all of this is not even getting into mythicals: How are those gonna be handled? Are they gonna put em all in the code anyway for distribution purposes? If not, what does GF do to make sure those old Jirachis and Zeraoras don't rot in their home games for all eternity ? If some of the wording there made it seem like I'm worried about these possibilities and implications, I'm not: A meta with only a handful of legendaries sounds very interesting to me. But I wanna hear what you all think.
