Unpopular opinions

Let's put it this way: if Shiny Pokemon aren't that significant, why would you need them to be super rare in the first place?
The rarity is what makes them significant. Not significant enough to actively hunt for (I dunno why anyone would want to do that, it sounds dreadful) but when you just randomly run into one, the fact that it was super unlikely to run into one is what makes it exciting.
 
This particularly stands out to me since Shinies are a consistent color (game limitations or not), which would suggest they're more like a rare/recessive gene than something rarer such as a mutation which probably wouldn't recur quite the same way in too many individuals unless it was specifically advantageous.
I just like the idea that the Shiny Sceptile I have is a one-in-four-thousand (not, I Masuda'd it haha) version of all the other Sceptile. He's my special Celestial the Sceptile, and I like that.
Let's put it this way: if Shiny Pokemon aren't that significant, why would you need them to be super rare in the first place?
I honestly feel like this wasn't exactly intended to happen. I personally think Shiny Pokemon were more of a weird experiment than a specific game mechanic. I can totally imagine some Game Freak employee messing with colors and turning Charizard purple, and everyone in the room is like "Holy frick that Charizard is so cool we should put him in the game." Then it evolved into what it is now somehow, but notice that it's significantly easier to find. It's a mechanic now, but back then it was more of an inside joke. At any rate, whoever started this wacky craze made Pokemon so much weirder and more popular. I love that guy, whoever he is. And I love purple Charizard too, but not as much as black, so there's my opinion :psysly:
 
My take is that Im tired of people fixing shinies by just making them black or white. It's lame and the more white and black shinies we get, the less special and stand out they feel imo.
I made Magcargo's shiny look like this in my joke hack, based partially on GSCs blurple shiny, but also unique with a gold shell
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Black is definitely overrated. Green shinies can be good...for none brown/tan mons
 

bdt2002

Pokémon Ranger: Guardian Signs superfan
is a Pre-Contributor
I finished up the "postgame" of Legends: Arceus within the past week, and while I had my doubts before, having played through the battle against Volo twice now (once when helping a much more inexperienced friend of mine beat him), I think I can safely say that... yeah, this guy's honestly pretty overrated. I'll save you my rambling on how he's already based off of another fan favorite character, that being Cynthia (who I also view as very overrated), but I just don't see the appeal this guy has for everyone else.

First off, his character writing. By the end of the game, he tries to come across as another one of those "twist villains" along the lines of Lusamine, Chairman Rose, or even Kamado in the same game. Compared to them, there's really no reason to be suspicious of him for quite some time. Sure, he's really interested in Hisui's mythology, but so was Cynthia, so what's the problem? A good twist villain is one who does have some hints but keeps them relatively subtle. He also goes out of his way to call the player "one of his best customers", among other things throughout the story, even if you rarely bought anything from him... I dunno, as someone who wants to be a writer when i grow up, I feel like Volo does some things right here and there, but if it wasn't for people's die-hard Cynthia bias, the characters based off of her would be just as, if not even more forgettable and bland. At least Cogita has some intelligent lines here and there.

Next, the battle with him. I'm sorry for speaking my opinion online, sue me, but... this fight is the epitome of horrible Pokémon game design. As much as I don't care for Cynthia compared to the average simp fan, at least I can say that her battles can feel rewarding to complete. Both times getting through this fight, both attempts being much easier than the general public made it sound, I didn't feel anything after eventually winning. If anything I actually felt cheated because the fight's essentially a 6 Vs. 8 with Giratina also getting one free move upon its transformation. For an "epic, climatic final battle", the music didn't do too much for me to set the tone, either. Even if I cared for Cynthia as a Champion back in modern Sinnoh, the first phase of the song is just way too... almost silent, very "un-Pokémon-like" in my opinion. The only enjoyable part of the battle for me was trying to play the new battle system most effectively, but this can hardly be considered a positive when said battle system's been the same for the entire game up to this point, even if it's different from vanilla Pokémon.
 
Yes he does (at least the same style).
Volo's hair is parted to the side and his bangs cover one of his eyes, while Grimsley's is mostly symmetrical with a lock of hair coming down the middle of his face. Volo's "horns" are more vertical, while Grimsley's are more horizontal and resemble wings. And most crucially, Grimsley doesn't have a giant insane ponytail thing coming out the back of his head.

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I predicted that Volo was evil when I started playing because he seemed too much like a "friendly rival".
the sad life of JRPG players.
If someone is too friendly and always on the "scene of crime", they're the bad guy :(
I dunno about that. The foreshadow to Volo’s true nature was that Volo taught you the “backstrike “ technique , as in attacking when you are not suspecting it.
 
Going back to shinies, it's interesting how the series has to simultaneously tell the player that shinies are special and noteworthy (and worth seeking out) while also insisting that they hold no additional value compared with non-shiny Pokemon. There's a Pokemaniac in G/S/C/HG/SS (iirc) whose post-battle dialogue is something like "Differently-colored Pokemon are more valuable than regular Pokemon. What, you mean that's not true?!" with the typically-mute player character implied to be actively disagreeing. There's also a whole episode of the anime about a shiny hunter depicted as being in the wrong.

It's hard to escape the conclusion that, from an in-universe perspective, having a prized shiny Pokemon that's special to you because of its shininess makes you kinda shallow. Of course, from the player's point of view there's no non-shallow reason to like a particular mon more than any other, since the only features we can really assess are appearance and battle prowess and they don't have actual personalities.

Weirdly, I tend to prefer shiny Pokemon when they're not my usual favourites. I guess I like having a reason to pay attention to a member of a species that I'm not normally all that keen on.
 

QuentinQuonce

formerly green_typhlosion
Going back to shinies, it's interesting how the series has to simultaneously tell the player that shinies are special and noteworthy (and worth seeking out)
Does the series tell the player this, though? I mean, the few times I can think of NPCs mentioning it, it's in a very trivial, "this happens" sort of way - generally along the lines of "Oh hello, [player]. Did you know sometimes a Pokemon can have a different colour than usual?" It's only the odd examples like the one you mentioned (and that is, literally, the only one I can think of) which draw attention to shinies as being more valuable. Obviously a lot of people will be motivated to seek them out purely because of that, but they're so rare that most players will go an entire game without ever seeing one, so it doesn't majorly effect them. Villains like Team Rocket and Team Galactic never talk about wanting shiny Pokemon; Mr Pokemon in GSC wants the Red Scale because the Red Gyarados is rare, but he's explicitly deemed a nut who goes wild for obscure rare stuff so he's hardly typical.

Even the methods which make shinies easier to get are usually extremely under-the-radar and only known via guides (nothing in any game as far as I can recall ever so much as hints at the existence of the Masuda Method)*. The only one I can think of which explicitly tells the player "now you can find shinies more easily" is the Shiny Charm - but you have to complete the Pokedex to get it, so that's more justified as why else would you keep on playing after that?

*Wasn't there a bunch of secret coding discovered in the original Diamond and Pearl a while ago relating to increased shiny odds on certain days? I'm sure I didn't dream that but I can't find it anywhere.
 
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This entire discussion about shiny rarity makes me :blobshrug:. I feel like that Blizzard employee from the Diablo Immortal announcement who asked to much fanfare "Do you guys not have phones?"

As a somewhat more active Wi-Fi Forum hoarder, shiny mons have been somewhat trivialized for me. I have access to a variety of methods to produce almost any shiny mon I want - heck, not only are most of my mons functionally free, I offer a free shiny-hatching service on my trade thread (definitely not an advertisement).

Yes, they're supposed to be rare. And yes, that rarity is what makes them substantially more desirable. But with all the tools available, in practice they aren't that difficult to obtain. An argument could be made that new shiny-hunting methods have made them excessively accessible. But, there has and almost certainly always will be omega-busted ways to go above and beyond in shiny production if you take the time to learn.

Of course, that's not to say your shinnies are any more or less valid - or your mons in general. It's the memories and effort that you nest within them that is important.
 
Weirdly, I tend to prefer shiny Pokemon when they're not my usual favourites. I guess I like having a reason to pay attention to a member of a species that I'm not normally all that keen on.
I agree. I got a Shiny Kricketot in PLA, and I hate Kricketot and Kricketune (there's my opinion of the day). But having a Shiny one made me gain a different appreciation for it.

Still hate it though. RIP Fricketune
 
I dunno about that. The foreshadow to Volo’s true nature was that Volo taught you the “backstrike “ technique , as in attacking when you are not suspecting it.
Understandable, but for me personally as soon as he shows up on every other "shit happened here" was just a major tell.

I also have played a bit too much Persona so... (who played the latest entries understands)
 
This entire discussion about shiny rarity makes me :blobshrug:. I feel like that Blizzard employee from the Diablo Immortal announcement who asked to much fanfare "Do you guys not have phones?"

As a somewhat more active Wi-Fi Forum hoarder, shiny mons have been somewhat trivialized for me. I have access to a variety of methods to produce almost any shiny mon I want - heck, not only are most of my mons functionally free, I offer a free shiny-hatching service on my trade thread (definitely not an advertisement).

Yes, they're supposed to be rare. And yes, that rarity is what makes them substantially more desirable. But with all the tools available, in practice they aren't that difficult to obtain. An argument could be made that new shiny-hunting methods have made them excessively accessible. But, there has and almost certainly always will be omega-busted ways to go above and beyond in shiny production if you take the time to learn.

Of course, that's not to say your shinnies are any more or less valid - or your mons in general. It's the memories and effort that you nest within them that is important.
I have tons of shines too, through PokeHome and PoGo, but specifics like which Pokeball is used (Pokemon Go only has Regular, Great, Ultra, and Premier), and whether the Hidden ability is used and unable to be reverted can leave personally shiny hunting the only option.
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I wanted a Shiny Berry Decoration Alcremie with a matching Heavy Ball, but unless I bartered with someone online, I either had to settle with a non-matching ball, or hunting for one myself. Shout out to any ROM hack that lets people swap out Pokeballs for already caught Pokemon.
 

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