Yeah, pretty much all FRLG actually added were the Sevii Islands, which were mostly just a way to get the remaining Johto Pokemon that weren't available at the time (also a bunch of event shit I'm not sure if we even got, and gimmicks for a failed peripheral).
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Unpopular opinions
- Thread starter antemortem
- Start date
I hear people talk about the Rocket hideout theme within Zinnia's theme, but I don't hear it ?_?
With the DexNav and Soaring, I think ORAS had the potential to be one of the best of the games yet. All they needed to do was take the time to add the Battle Hill (this time functioning more like the Battle Chateau for grinding goodness), keep and expand upon the double battles introduced in Emerald, put in Gym Leader rematches, and of course, redo the Battle Frontier.
When are these idiots gonna learn: we don't care how long it takes them to make a game, we'd rather wait another year if it gives us an even better gaming experience, and while we're busy with the post-game features, they'll have more time to add new features and new forms, and need I remind them that, for example, that the new Rotom forms, Giratina Origin, and Shaymin Sky were enough alone for me to justify getting the Platinum Version?
We fans are pretty much so loyal, we'll buy a new version just because it has the tiniest of improvements, and a handful of new forms, and we'll recommend our friends to do the same, if they run out of all of the good ideas to make the previous games the best they could be.
Geez, if they ever run out of ideas after the third and fourth out of the five games, they could always revive the Pokéstar Studios. Black2/White2 is the last time that I'm ever going to skip out on a main series game.
I hope for Game Freak's sake that they are going to include the Battle Frontier in the upcoming game that I have no doubt they are busy working on.
True, and it isn't like we've abandoned our team members that we no longer use. We just box them to, presumably, keep them with the Prof. and staff.
I don't think that there is a single Pokémon that I raised on my AS play-through that remains in my Battle Box, though that doesn't mean that I don't take them back out, from time to time, or to even bond with them in Amie, if they don't already have all 5 hearts.
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Zinnia's Theme at 0:35 to 0:49 sounds very similar to the beginning part of Rocket Hideout at 0:02 to 0:16. They also play for about the same length of time.
On the subject of competitive, some meta-related stuff.
I hate Outrage with a burning passion, for similar reasons to my dislike for Choice items. You're locked in, and unlike with a Choice item you can't pivot out. Along those lines, physical Dragon types get shafted a bit. The next viable move down is Dragon Claw, at 80 BP. That power drop is very noticeable. In between these lies Dragon Rush, at 100 BP and a nifty 20% flinch...but at 75% accuracy, which I think is as low as a physical move gets, no thank you. And that's a shame, because Altaria, Charizard, Dragonite, and Garchomp all get it, and they'd probably like a Dragon STAB with awesome power that doesn't leave you open to every Fairy ever. To sum up, I think Game Freak needs to buff its accuracy (to, say, 90%), because it would be a great move to have. (Also, Cynthia makes it look awesome in the anime.)
Boy, some starters really got shafted with the HAs, didn't they? You have Blaziken with Speed Boost and Greninja with Protean, resulting in such awesome power we had to ban them. (Think about this for a second. We banned a starter. Two of them, actually. I know starter status means zilch in the eyes of Smogon policy, but there's just something jarring about thinking about what little Torchic or Froakie is going to be when it grows up.) Venusaur gets Chlorophyll, Empoleon can have some fun with Defiant, Infernape can use Iron Fist pretty well, Feraligatr has Sheer Force, and of course there's the much-hyped Contrary Serperior. And Swampert, my favorite starter ever and one of the best mons for soloing a game (I think, anyway), gets...Damp. Meganium has Leaf Guard, a doubles ability it needs sun for. Sceptile has Unburden, but the Grass Gem is unreleased and it has a Mega anyway. (Berry shenanigans?) Once again, the question: what was Game Freak thinking?
Also, are we getting Sinnoh starter Megas? Mega Empoleon needs to happen.
I hate Outrage with a burning passion, for similar reasons to my dislike for Choice items. You're locked in, and unlike with a Choice item you can't pivot out. Along those lines, physical Dragon types get shafted a bit. The next viable move down is Dragon Claw, at 80 BP. That power drop is very noticeable. In between these lies Dragon Rush, at 100 BP and a nifty 20% flinch...but at 75% accuracy, which I think is as low as a physical move gets, no thank you. And that's a shame, because Altaria, Charizard, Dragonite, and Garchomp all get it, and they'd probably like a Dragon STAB with awesome power that doesn't leave you open to every Fairy ever. To sum up, I think Game Freak needs to buff its accuracy (to, say, 90%), because it would be a great move to have. (Also, Cynthia makes it look awesome in the anime.)
Boy, some starters really got shafted with the HAs, didn't they? You have Blaziken with Speed Boost and Greninja with Protean, resulting in such awesome power we had to ban them. (Think about this for a second. We banned a starter. Two of them, actually. I know starter status means zilch in the eyes of Smogon policy, but there's just something jarring about thinking about what little Torchic or Froakie is going to be when it grows up.) Venusaur gets Chlorophyll, Empoleon can have some fun with Defiant, Infernape can use Iron Fist pretty well, Feraligatr has Sheer Force, and of course there's the much-hyped Contrary Serperior. And Swampert, my favorite starter ever and one of the best mons for soloing a game (I think, anyway), gets...Damp. Meganium has Leaf Guard, a doubles ability it needs sun for. Sceptile has Unburden, but the Grass Gem is unreleased and it has a Mega anyway. (Berry shenanigans?) Once again, the question: what was Game Freak thinking?
Also, are we getting Sinnoh starter Megas? Mega Empoleon needs to happen.
I don't mind Outrage because if you're going to use it it'll be with a strong physical (preferably Dragon-type) Pokemon against an opponent you're going to knock out with one hit or at least significantly weaken. However now that Fairy-types exist, Outrage is a risky move since it can now be completely walled leaving that Pokemon open to an attack or be setup on. I can see Outrage turning from an all-use move to maybe a Double Battle move where you can have a partner to help alleviate the problems with it. Then again in that respect it's no different from a Pokemon using a Choice Item who you expect to be in trouble against the next opponent and accepted that as long as you knocked out or severely weakened the opponent's Pokemon. I'll leave it to the metagame players to decide the fate of Outrage.
I do agree that maybe there could be another reliable move between Outrage and Dragon Claw. Your suggestion for Dragon Rush would probably also come with a decrease in its chance of Flinching (probably down to 10%) and/or a slight decrease in Power (probably to 95). Because of that I'd maybe suggest increasing Dragon Rush's Power to 110 and then introduce a new physical Dragon-type move that maybe does 95 Power at a reliable/100% accuracy (obviously it'll all depend if it has a secondary effect and how good said secondary effect is).
I believe Abilities are given out on what the Pokemon is instead of what's competitively good for the Pokemon, thus explaining the odd distributions:
Venusaur/Chlorophyll - It's a biped with a giant flower it has a symbiotic relationship with on its back, obviously the flower will share its energy with Venusaur.
Charizard/Solar Power - It's a Fire/Flying dragon so it probably has found a way to absorb the suns rays.
Blastoise/Rain Dish - Its rigid shell captures water and probably absorbs it, maybe to power its cannons but it has learned to heal itself with the pure rain water.
Meganium/Leaf Guard - It has giant petals around its neck and its a more defensive Pokemon as well.
Typhlosion/Flash Fire - It can instantly ignite the flames on the back of its neck so it can use its opponent's Fire-type moves to fuel itself.
Feraligatr/Sheer Force - It's a giant muscular alligator who's physical focus. It doesn't really care about secondary effects it means it can hit harder.
Sceptile/Unburden - It's a speedy gecko with giant leafs on its body, I imagine it could move even faster if it sheds off those leafs.
Blaziken/Speed Boost - It has well developed legs for kicking and running so its not a stretch to think its running is improved as well.
Swampert/Damp - It's a giant mudskipper so it's probably covered with a sticky film to keep its skin from drying and can maybe project this film to stop the opponent from using moves that has it exert all its energy.
Torterra/Shell Armor - It's a giant turtle that's shell is made of layers of earth, hitting it critically isn't going to hurt it anymore then hitting it normally.
Infernape/Iron Fist - It's a kung fu monkey.
Empoleon/Defiant - They're a prideful species who's not going to let any "rabble" intimidate it.
Serperior/Contrary - I think its Japanese name applies more here, "Devil's advocate". Snakes are often associated with the Devil, most likely from the story of Adam and Eve as the Devil disguised itself as a snake who convinced Eve to eat the forbidden fruit.
Emboar/Reckless - It's a wrestling big with a quite of bit of HP, it doesn't quite care if it loses some of that extra HP if it can do more damage.
Samurott/Shell Armor - Its shells are made from a durable material that it uses to fight with, I think they can take a critical hit and shrug it off like a normal attack.
Chesnaught/Bulletproof - Its shell is used as body armor so needs to be able to take concentrated projectile attacks.
Delphox/Magician - It's a fox (who are sometimes given thieving attributes) that's also a mage, so it uses magic to steal the opponent's item.
Greninja/Protean - It's a frog (who have weird biology, like some are able to change genders) that's also a ninja (who sometimes use trickery tactics to stay ahead of their target), so it changes type to always have a type advantage (or at least so it can use STAB).
Charizard/Solar Power - It's a Fire/Flying dragon so it probably has found a way to absorb the suns rays.
Blastoise/Rain Dish - Its rigid shell captures water and probably absorbs it, maybe to power its cannons but it has learned to heal itself with the pure rain water.
Meganium/Leaf Guard - It has giant petals around its neck and its a more defensive Pokemon as well.
Typhlosion/Flash Fire - It can instantly ignite the flames on the back of its neck so it can use its opponent's Fire-type moves to fuel itself.
Feraligatr/Sheer Force - It's a giant muscular alligator who's physical focus. It doesn't really care about secondary effects it means it can hit harder.
Sceptile/Unburden - It's a speedy gecko with giant leafs on its body, I imagine it could move even faster if it sheds off those leafs.
Blaziken/Speed Boost - It has well developed legs for kicking and running so its not a stretch to think its running is improved as well.
Swampert/Damp - It's a giant mudskipper so it's probably covered with a sticky film to keep its skin from drying and can maybe project this film to stop the opponent from using moves that has it exert all its energy.
Torterra/Shell Armor - It's a giant turtle that's shell is made of layers of earth, hitting it critically isn't going to hurt it anymore then hitting it normally.
Infernape/Iron Fist - It's a kung fu monkey.
Empoleon/Defiant - They're a prideful species who's not going to let any "rabble" intimidate it.
Serperior/Contrary - I think its Japanese name applies more here, "Devil's advocate". Snakes are often associated with the Devil, most likely from the story of Adam and Eve as the Devil disguised itself as a snake who convinced Eve to eat the forbidden fruit.
Emboar/Reckless - It's a wrestling big with a quite of bit of HP, it doesn't quite care if it loses some of that extra HP if it can do more damage.
Samurott/Shell Armor - Its shells are made from a durable material that it uses to fight with, I think they can take a critical hit and shrug it off like a normal attack.
Chesnaught/Bulletproof - Its shell is used as body armor so needs to be able to take concentrated projectile attacks.
Delphox/Magician - It's a fox (who are sometimes given thieving attributes) that's also a mage, so it uses magic to steal the opponent's item.
Greninja/Protean - It's a frog (who have weird biology, like some are able to change genders) that's also a ninja (who sometimes use trickery tactics to stay ahead of their target), so it changes type to always have a type advantage (or at least so it can use STAB).
Honestly they really should update some Abilities to make them more better. Like for Damp, maybe in addition to preventing self-destructing moves it can also prevent powder/dust/spore moves, maybe also Will-O-Wisp (pretty much anything you'll think wouldn't be able to last long in a damp area).
dwarfstar
mindless philosopher
^This analysis of the flavor reasoning behind the starters' hidden abilities makes sense for the most part, although I think I should add that Sceptile's makes a little more sense if you look at the Japanese name, which translates to "acrobatics" - perfectly suited to something that leaps from tree to tree while hunting and all that. If it's not bogged down by having to hold onto an item, it's that much easier to maneuver and attack at top speed.
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Damp should prevent Fire attacks and burns imo
Damp wouldn't have been a bad ability if Swampert had it in Generations III or IV since Explosion was a popular move. The only problem is that Swampert got it the same gen that nerfed Explosion and everyone stopped using it.
I feel like this may have been posted here before, and I guarantee somebody shares this opinion with me, but personally I think the Fairy-type is a really unhealthy typing and should have never been created or could use a bit of a nerf. There's nothing wrong with a typing that nerfs an arguably previously broken typing in Dragon, but making it resist Fighting, one of the most common typings in the game when Fighting already has a decent amount of weaknesses/checks as well as the Dark-type which is yet another very strong offensive typing is quite absurd. However, this wouldn't be much of an issue if it were weak to common offensive typings, but that's far from the case. Steel-typing was only ever used offensively on Steel-types themsevles, because otherwise Steel literally hit nothing. Same goes for Poison; hell, even Poison-types such as Toxicroak last gen could easily afford not to run a Poison-type because it did absolutely nothing for them. I kind of get that GF wanted to give these typings more of an offensive purpose, but Fairy is already such an incredibly strong offensive AND defensive typing that it forces Pokemon to run Steel- and Poison-type coverage moves to solely beat Fairy-types, and usually nothing else. Kyurem-B and Hydreigon would never run Steel-type moves normally, nor would Conk ever run Poison Jab. My point is, all of these Pokemon's other coverage moves are for more useful and hit many more things, but if they don't run something to hit Fairy-types, then they're practically useless against them. The biggest issue with this is, if the opponent isn't carrying a Fairy-type, these moves are completely useless, and you'll be wishing you had something else.
An easy way they could have fixed this is make the Fairy-type weak to some other typing but a more commonly used offensive one, such as the Fire-type. So while the Fairy-type is still very annoying for Dragon-types, some of them can at least run something like Fire Blast to help deal with them better, while also giving them coverage against Steel- and bulky Grass-types. Fire in general is also a far better offensive typing then Poison or Steel, so it's a lot easier to fit onto a Pokemon because it probably hits other things. Fairy is by no means a broken type, and I really like the concept of it, but in my opinion, the combination of VERY good Fairy-type Pokemon, lack of common weaknesses, strong STAB moves, good neutral coverage, and insane offensive and defensive capabilities puts its typing far above the rest, and instead of nerfing the previously dominate Dragon-typing and balancing the type chart, they just instead replaced it with yet another very dominating typing that clearly stands above the rest.
An easy way they could have fixed this is make the Fairy-type weak to some other typing but a more commonly used offensive one, such as the Fire-type. So while the Fairy-type is still very annoying for Dragon-types, some of them can at least run something like Fire Blast to help deal with them better, while also giving them coverage against Steel- and bulky Grass-types. Fire in general is also a far better offensive typing then Poison or Steel, so it's a lot easier to fit onto a Pokemon because it probably hits other things. Fairy is by no means a broken type, and I really like the concept of it, but in my opinion, the combination of VERY good Fairy-type Pokemon, lack of common weaknesses, strong STAB moves, good neutral coverage, and insane offensive and defensive capabilities puts its typing far above the rest, and instead of nerfing the previously dominate Dragon-typing and balancing the type chart, they just instead replaced it with yet another very dominating typing that clearly stands above the rest.
I highly doubt that's done on purpose. The Team Rocket tune doesn't continue long enough withing the Zinnia Theme to be considered similar. Just coincidence, I think.
While I don't think it should have been super effective against Dark- or Fighting-types (I would have made them Super Effective against Normal- and Psychic-types), I think everything else is okay. But the point of adding a new type IS to shake up the metagame, of course it's going to do things to radically change how you'll battle. They wanted to nerf Dragon, so not only is it super effective and immune against them but also isn't weak to types a Dragon-type would also normally have (such as Fire-type attacks). As for them forcing you to carry around a Poison- or Steel-type move, yeah, kind of the point. Prepare for that type or potentially have a hard time against it. That said they could have also made Poison more useful (I never understood why Water isn't weak to Poison. Also I would imagine a Poison-type would have a way to turn Poison into Badly Poison).
Actually if I was the one to do it, I'd flip it. Make them weak to Normal and Psychic. Psychic types have been extremely nerfed since Gen II and even moreso this generation now since Knock-Off became extremely common. Psychic, especially physical Psychic, is one type that rarely anyone uses for coverage. At best you get people use Psyshock so they could hit Chansey harder. Making Psychic an option over Steel and Poison would open a lot of potential Pokemon's movesets. As for making them weak to Normal? It probably actually shouldn't happen because that would SEVERELY nerf them, but I figured it would be interesting if Normal was strong against something.
Ah, but you're thinking only in metegame. Why would a fairy be weak against something that's normal or psychic? Remember many type choices are picked, while partially for metegame, but also due to what that type is representing. The reason for what I said:
Dark Resistance: Known as the "Evil-type" in class, they fight dirty and use tricks. The olde version of fairy were also sinister tricksters. They won't be tricked by Dark-types antics, but at the same time Dark-types will not fall of theirs (thus why they aren't weak to Fairy).
Fighting Resistance: Fairy are ethereal creatures, many are said to be shapeshifters. They aren't easy to hit, however a fighter should be able to hold their own, unlike a normal person.
Normal Super Effective: Fairy of olde LOVE to play pranks on the normal folk, and those were the tame stories. As I said, they're ethereal creatures so if a plain person go up against them they're not going to last long. However there is a chance for a normal person to pull out a trick thus why Fairy doesn't resist them.
Psychic Super Effective: As I said, the tamest a thing a Fairy of olde would do to you is pull a prank. At worst, well, let's just say they can drive you insane (heck, even some of their pranks can be insane inducing). You do need to be smart to deal with a fairy, but a fairy knows how to mess with your mind just as easily.
Fighting Resistance: Fairy are ethereal creatures, many are said to be shapeshifters. They aren't easy to hit, however a fighter should be able to hold their own, unlike a normal person.
Normal Super Effective: Fairy of olde LOVE to play pranks on the normal folk, and those were the tame stories. As I said, they're ethereal creatures so if a plain person go up against them they're not going to last long. However there is a chance for a normal person to pull out a trick thus why Fairy doesn't resist them.
Psychic Super Effective: As I said, the tamest a thing a Fairy of olde would do to you is pull a prank. At worst, well, let's just say they can drive you insane (heck, even some of their pranks can be insane inducing). You do need to be smart to deal with a fairy, but a fairy knows how to mess with your mind just as easily.
Honestly, I don't think whatever they did they'd get everyone to agree with them. What we have is what we have and I doubt that'll be changing any time soon. If Fairy-type is indeed a bit overpowered then maybe next gen it would be a good idea to buff the Poison- and Steel-type in ways that make having one of their moves prove to be useful even if not going up against a Fairy. Also as more Fairy-types are introduced I'm sure some will be popular but at the same time have weaknesses that can be exploited. I'm sure GameFreak is keeping a close eye on Fairy-types to see how they perform and noting things they may need to do to nerf or buff it if need be.
Minigames have been discussed in this thread earlier. On that subject, I do personally like the Pokemon Musicals. They are one of my favorite minigames. I found them to be very fun to play, they were easy to get into, you got the hang of them quickly and they were not extremely difficult to master. They also don't take that long to complete which I like since I don't think the "contest"-type minigames in the games are fun if they take too long to complete. I definitely prefer the Musicals over the 4th gen Contests which I found to be way too unnecessarily overcomplicated, they took too long to complete and I think they changed the appeal part for the worse, which was the most fun from the 3rd gen Contests (not liking the 4th gen contests is probably not an unpopular opionion though). I don't see a lot of love for the musicals at least, so I believe liking them is unpopular.
I often see people complain about certain games in the series being linear (mostly Unova, but also Kalos and to some extent Hoenn and Sinnoh), and they say that the linearity is a bad thing. I disagree. To me, all games in the series are linear during the main storyline, and that's not a bad thing at all. The main premise in the main story is that you go from one point to another, do a thing, then move on, repeat this until the end, with certain areas being blocked off until later points or until you have beaten the E4. This is nothing unique for any games in the series since it is the same for all of them. The linearity has never bothered me since you can explore everything once you have beaten the E4 (though sometimes doing a post-game story of some kind is also required), which is where the real fun starts for me. Linearity for the win.
I don't believe that the Pokemon games are getting easier, or that the newer games in the series are easier than the older ones. The games in the series have always been easy, all the way from 1st gen up to the current. If someone finds the newer games to be too easy, I believe it is not because of the games themselves but rather because they as players have gotten more experienced while playing for many years and knows how to play efficiently compared to when they started and lacked experience.
And lastly, one that I'm really unsure about whether it is an unpopular opinion anymore. Generation 5 is my favorite. B/W and B/W2 are my favorite games in the series. I love nearly everything about the games and the generation on the whole. Not going to go into any lengthy explanation so I'll put it shortly: they are my favorites simply because I found them to be the most fun to play in the whole series. Not sure if this is unpopular though, the games and the generation as a whole has gotten a lot of hate in the recent past but I have recently seen more people saying they like it.
I often see people complain about certain games in the series being linear (mostly Unova, but also Kalos and to some extent Hoenn and Sinnoh), and they say that the linearity is a bad thing. I disagree. To me, all games in the series are linear during the main storyline, and that's not a bad thing at all. The main premise in the main story is that you go from one point to another, do a thing, then move on, repeat this until the end, with certain areas being blocked off until later points or until you have beaten the E4. This is nothing unique for any games in the series since it is the same for all of them. The linearity has never bothered me since you can explore everything once you have beaten the E4 (though sometimes doing a post-game story of some kind is also required), which is where the real fun starts for me. Linearity for the win.
I don't believe that the Pokemon games are getting easier, or that the newer games in the series are easier than the older ones. The games in the series have always been easy, all the way from 1st gen up to the current. If someone finds the newer games to be too easy, I believe it is not because of the games themselves but rather because they as players have gotten more experienced while playing for many years and knows how to play efficiently compared to when they started and lacked experience.
And lastly, one that I'm really unsure about whether it is an unpopular opinion anymore. Generation 5 is my favorite. B/W and B/W2 are my favorite games in the series. I love nearly everything about the games and the generation on the whole. Not going to go into any lengthy explanation so I'll put it shortly: they are my favorites simply because I found them to be the most fun to play in the whole series. Not sure if this is unpopular though, the games and the generation as a whole has gotten a lot of hate in the recent past but I have recently seen more people saying they like it.
Tbh the real reason why running Steel and Poison types moves for Fairy types seems "forced" isn't that they have bad coverage(they are actually pretty decent at neutral coverage), but that there aren't enough powerful moves of these types, hell, no powerful steel moves at all(with the exception of the signature Gear Grind and the really inaccurate Iron Tail which i'd rather not consider). There already is a very powerful Poison type move, which is Gunk Shot, and running it doesn't seem forced at all, at least to me. Fairy weak Pokémon such as Pangoro, Druddigon and the infamous Greninja put it to great use. Sludge Bomb is also decent, and can find its way on the movesets of Pokémon like Darkrai and Landorus(Sludge Wave, although admittely this is more for Celebi than for Fairies). These two moves however have pretty bad distribution, mostly aviable to Pokémon that don't have issues with Fairies, and thus would not run this coverage(mind you this isn't because they are bad coverage; would you run Ice coverage on a Pokémon that has no problems with Dragons and Grass?), while most fairy weak Pokémon must rely on weakish moves such as Flash Cannon and Poison Jab.
If in the future they will introduce and spread wider powerful steel and poison moves maybe Fairy will not appear as overpowered as it is now.
If in the future they will introduce and spread wider powerful steel and poison moves maybe Fairy will not appear as overpowered as it is now.
Steel Wing ought to be buffed, then, to be 75-85 BP. Considering how many pokes they gave it to, it ought to have some use. Fairies would be solidly checked, Steel might actually be a pretty valid attacking type, and Talonflame would be able to get past Diancie! (No, it wouldn't. But we can dream.)
I am serious in that suggestion, though.
Also, whose idea was it to give Bulbasaur Poison and Sleep Powders at the same level?
I am serious in that suggestion, though.
Also, whose idea was it to give Bulbasaur Poison and Sleep Powders at the same level?
I am not sure how unpopular it is, but I liked Voltorb Flip in hg/ss instead of the slot machines and the rest from the earlier games. I sucked at the slot machines and roulette and liked the change from "Press 'A' at the right time and hope for the best" to a (mostly) logical mini-game. Once you got the hang of it, you could rake in a huge number of coins at higher levels, making it rewarding to keep going on.
I was literally about to say this before my computer crashed and I got distracted for nearly an hour. The people that must have hated it probably didn't get the hang of playing it.
Another thing: Black Sludge. It is literally the exact same thing as Leftovers, except only a Poison type can hold it. That thing needs a buff--make it heal more, let it poison if Flung, something. The only real use it has is if you're playing with Item Clause on--and then that means using a Poison type when you may not want to.
Why would you use a pokemon solely to use a specific item? I think it makes sence, having a nasty sludge only poision types can use like other pokemon use tasty lefties. Black Sludge also damages all non-poision types when they hold it, making it a bad item to trick away.
It's also useful to punish non-poisons that try to Trick you.
On the other hand, how about Sticky Barb? It's like Black Sludge but also damages non-poison types
Linearity isn't inherently bad, as it controls what the player has access to and when, allowing for better pacing, controlled challenge, and story progression. Frustrations usually appear when freedom and choice elements clash with an overall linear game ("the taste of freedom"), linearity is implemented in an authoritarian or obtrusive way, or the benefits of linearity aren't utilized.
Pokemon can and has benefited from this, Gen5's linearity did allow for HM's to be optional distractions instead of dedicating teammates to HM-slavery, and limiting pokemon and trainer challenge access is about the only way Pokemon can impose difficulty on the game. Whitney's difficulty mostly stems from having a pokemon with stats and moves above the challenge curve for the area, and a lack of pokemon reliably capable of dealing with it before the Soodowoodo cut-off (Lenora would also be an example if it weren't for Sawk and Throh being caught right there). Heck, Gen2 is considered hard not for the length but mainly for the shorter routes lacking trainers to give exp to be adequately prepared for the Elite Four and having no easy grind spots. Pokemon Colloseum is hard for a very limited pokemon set as well (and coincidentally was mostly Gen2 pokemon). Nuzlocke runs are ALL about limiting set-lists to create challenge.
When you can (usually) trade in a nuke to wipe difficulty clear away, controlling access to these "nukes" is about the only way to create difficulty in-game. Sure the exp-share killed a lot of difficulty in recent games, but I'd also blame giving too many great pokemon too soon while not upping the trainer challenge level another factor. Metagame and Post-game difficulty is a different can of beans so I'm not discussing that.
But other than that, the benefits of aren't that clear, so players get rightfully upset. Story-wise almost all the games are weak (well, in my opinion just flat out all of them are but that's subjective), and the power creep of recent games counteracts limited setlist so most wonder what's the point? Sometimes linearity is so artificially implemented that it's laughable (aka the men dancing for no reason in Black City/White Forest), and even with linearity sometimes HM use is out of control (Gen4, gen4, OMG GEN4). Top it with initial freedoms being taken away bit by bit (remember how in Kanto and a lesser extent Johto you could mess with the gym order quite a bit? Like fighting Lt. Surge last? Good times) and you get a broken fanbase.
TLDR version: linearity isn't bad, but is frustrating when done without clear benefit.
Sticky Barb can also be transferred by an opponent's physical contact, meaning you can punish Physical attackers. Yeah, pretty useless item though.
Of course that's assuming that they aren't already holding an item...which they usually are.