(Little) Things that annoy you in Pokémon

[Cobalt Empoleon]

I can see the logic of consigning an Ability with zero utility in single battles (like Propellor Tail) to the Hidden Ability slot, but they haven't been super consistent about this.

Telepathy is mostly a Hidden Ability; Flower Veil is entirely a regular one; Plus and Minus are a mixture; Power of Alchemy is Alolan Grimer and Muk's Hidden Ability, but the functionally identical Receiver is Passimian's regular one (etc etc)

 

[DreamPrince]

Speaking of which...

I truly despise hidden signature abilities.

Granted, Gale Wings Fletchling is a bit too much for in-game, but Propeller Tail? Grass Pelt? Give me a break.

Speaking of Propeller Tail, Buizel and Floatzel have an empty ability slot and tails that are literally propellers. Why didn't they get Propeller Tail?

On the topic of HAs, I’m assuming the reason they didn’t get propeller tail is because they wanted to keep it exclusive to Barraskewda line. This does lean to another point I dislike about Pokémon designs these days: It seems that most Pokémon starting from Gen 6 onwards has to have some signature move or ability, at least at the time if it’s debut. Heck even Spidops has a signature move despite being clearly designed as an early bug. It makes the concept of Signature move feel special and just feels like a sore attempt to make each Pokémon unique.

And lastly, it’s the odd that the Galarian Kanto Birds don’t have HAs while their Kantonian ones do, not to mention their abilities aren’t even unique; yet the Tapus and the Loyal Three have HAs despite having signature abilities.

 

[QuentinQuonce]

So there's a number of Pokemon that only get one ability.
Usually it makes sense.
Levitate is dumb and already broken twice, but those are the exceptoins that prove the rule (please just break this rule entirely gamefreak c'mon man)
Legendary (& Mythic) Pokemon most frequently don't get them at all these days (shoutouts to the Tapu & Loyal 3)
Cocoon Pokemon, I guess for the aesthetic
And of course Gimmick pokemon. Makes sense why something like Mimikyu ONLY has Disguise, you know? Slaking & Archeops are always going to have their bad abilities as part of their game design. Forecast, Flower Gift, and so on.

And there's a lot of things to pick at within those for various reasons, the one Pokemon I keep coming back to......is Stunfisk-G
Why does it only have Mimicry? Mimicking its surroundings stuff is obviously part of its design, but it's not really a gimmick that it would have to have. It's not so integral to its design or gameplay that it should be limited to ONLY that ability. Contrast with something like Dancer (EVERYTHING about Oricorio is about the concept) or Comatose (by design and lore, it is always sleeping)
It feels like something they'd put in a Hidden Ability like Grass Pelt Propeller Tail, Stalwart, Cursed Body, etc.

It's not an outright gimmick but it is a signature ability, and so the decision seems to be "this is for this Pokemon, and nothing else"; it might change in a couple of generations but for now it's tied to Stunfisk. And while it's not an outright gimmick that Stunfisk-G is forced to use, it may have been something that was created with the expectation that players would want to use it and that it would basically become its thing.

There are cases where you can sort of see this happening in the past*, like Sableye getting Stall (I'm still unclear why Sableye was given that ability, and why specifically only Sableye has it - off the top of my head there are a couple of other Pokemon like Bastiodon or Forretress who it'd suit thematically and mechanically) or the Goodra line getting Gooey, though tbh I can't bring to mind a case like this where it's a line's only ability.

On a slight tangent I also find it interesting when they seemingly change their mind and decide that it's fine for something to get a HA after all when it formerly didn't.

Like in DP a load of Pokemon got their ability slots "filled in" as a bunch of species that only had one ability formerly got a second (Super Luck Absol, Solar Power Tropius, No Guard Machamp etc) so that by the time BW came around the majority of lines had three abilities to choose from, then in XY it felt a bit like they were "filling in the gaps" since a few species which still only had one regular ability up to then got a second one (Wigglytuff, Milotic, Gothitelle) and a few species which up to that point had never had a Hidden Ability now got one (Plusle, Minun, Starly, Ferrothorn, Dusknoir)**. Ferrothorn's a funny example to me because yes barbs are an obvious part of its design but it's one of those things where I look at it and go "but does it absolutely HAVE to have Iron Barbs?" Like yeah Tyrunt has massive fangs but it doesn't only have Strong Jaw, so it always struck me as odd that Ferrothorn didn't get a HA in Gen V.




*This is distinct btw from a Pokemon having an ability that's decent but simply not much use on that particular Pokemon, like Weavile having Pressure for instance - I've always felt that Weavile was purposely given not-great abilities since its HA is only situationally useful - or Weak Armour Cursola; for better or worse those abilities can have some limited effectiveness.

**Sun/Moon did a similar thing with giving four older lines that still only had one regular ability slot weather abilities, but I'm inclined to think that was more a balance decision than a flavour one since weather had been nerfed by Gen VII. Sw/Sh only gave one old Pokemon a new ability (Weezing) and Sc/Vi mostly just changed the abilities of Hisuian forms, which doesn't really count as a full change since they never got to use the ones L:A assigned them. IIRC only Gallade and Shiftry were given new abilities outright, while Empoleon had its HA altered.

 

[Esserise]

While we’re talking about G-Stunfisk, why is Snap Trap a move that Stunfisk only gets STAB on in one of the four Terrains? Weird enough that it’s not just a Steel-type move to begin with considering the concept (an iron bear trap), but then they don’t even make it change type to match Stunfisk’s Mimicry type à la Weather Ball?

 

[RocketSurgery]

The "only one ability" Pokemon that irks me is Gengar. After they robbed it of levitate there's no reason to have cursed body as its only ability. Sure Gastly and Haunter have levitate in all ability slots, but even if all wild gastly and haunter were always ability slot 1 (which I don't know if that's the case), we have ability capsules/patches now.

 

[pika pal]

The "only one ability" Pokemon that irks me is Gengar. After they robbed it of levitate there's no reason to have cursed body as its only ability. Sure Gastly and Haunter have levitate in all ability slots, but even if all wild gastly and haunter were always ability slot 1 (which I don't know if that's the case), we have ability capsules/patches now.

The Levitate change to Gengar feels incredibly stupid to me in hindsight for a large number of reasons

• Gengar despite his in-game Sprites/Models is clearly shown just flying around throughout the Anime, and it looks fine enough visually. It's not like this ability doesn't fit or make sense to the point of taking it away when he already had it.
• Cursed Body has little rhyme or reason on Gengar specifically out of its line by comparison, though admittedly I can't pin down any criteria beyond "being a Ghost Type"
• If this was about Sky Battles, Gengar was already barred from them regardless of meeting the "Flying/Levitate" requirement, as was Hawlucha, so it's not like they had Edge Cases to worry about like Gengar mega-evolving and losing Levitate (this reminds me of the Dark Void thing where they nerfed the move into uselessness because of Smeargle, but then also locked it to Darkrai who isn't legal in their ranked formats anyway to abuse it)
• I don't imagine base form Gengar has been a particularly oppressive force in any Competitive Format TPC supports: Any place I saw it with that kind of presence was using the Mega, which it would inevitably want to go to ASAP for Shadow Tag and the higher stats. At least with some changes I could follow the idea like widespread Toxic/Scald trimming or things like Blastoise being much more powerful if it got Shell Smash alongside its Mega rather than after losing it.

 

[Worldie]

The nerf to gengar was strictly a Mega Gengar nerf, to reduce the free entrance and flexibility (you do not have the option to mindgame on if you mega or not against a EQ)

I do agree that it kinda stopped making sense now that Megas are not coming back though and they could just revert back to Levitate now

 

[TerrickTerran]

Just give Gengar both abilities and call it a day. Make one Hidden and the other primary.

 

[Fracterra]

I can see the logic of consigning an Ability with zero utility in single battles (like Propellor Tail) to the Hidden Ability slot, but they haven't been super consistent about this.

Telepathy is mostly a Hidden Ability; Flower Veil is entirely a regular one; Plus and Minus are a mixture; Power of Alchemy is Alolan Grimer and Muk's Hidden Ability, but the functionally identical Receiver is Passimian's regular one (etc etc)

It does have use in single battles, but it is very niche
Recover/PoA, that is

 

[Castersvarog]

Speaking of Propeller Tail, Buizel and Floatzel have an empty ability slot and tails that are literally propellers. Why didn't they get Propeller Tail?

Especially because gamefreak has shown themselves willing and able to update older Mons abilities when new ones come out. The most recent being Competitive Empoleon and Wind Rider Shiftry.

 

[Fracterra]

If there's one Pokemon that I hope gets some touch-ups to its model if it ever comes back in S/V, it's Yanmega. I love it's design very much, but it's easily one of the worse transitions to 3D that doesn't get talked about too much.

Let's take a look at Yanma/Yanmega's BW sprites:

Incredible active and always mobile and zooming around, very fitting considering they are speedy little dragonflies. Yanmega even looks more mobile than Yanma, which is why the transition to 3D is gonna hurt it even more.

Yanma's 3D model is this:

Not quite as fast as Gen 5's, but still moves around, even does the head turn once which is a neat detail. Overall one of the better models especially for one introduced all the way back in Gen 6.

Yanmega, however...

Dude went limp. Yanmega definitely suffers from the flying model syndrome where they just float in place (like Xatu and Salamence) but it stings here a lot more because it's just NOT supposed to float in place. Its Dex entries constantly talk about it flying at high speeds which is reflected in it's B/W sprite very well, but here it just doesn't work. Even then, I can't say Yanmega's model looks bad, cause it's Yanmega. Yanmega just cannot look bad cause it's really cool, but it's definitely one of the bigger disappointments coming into 3D. With some models seeing revisits from GameFreak in Gen 9, there's a non-zero chance, however small it may be, that Yanmega can be improved. Of course, that's a big if it even comes back this gen. (Absent in Gen 8 too btw, this line does not get a break!)

Imo, he looks better, as that is how dragonflies actually look. Yeah, the “limp” model is fine with me, because its ecologically accurate. Though, if it moved up, down, left, or right during the animation, it would be a bit better.

 

[Volt-Ikazuchi]

Gen 9 they seemed to realzie it was overkill, I think Bombirdier is the only one who does that. Though I can't really understand why.

To explain why only Titan Bomb was chucking rocks at people.

 

[Arkm]

Snorlax still not learning Slack off

 

[QuentinQuonce]

Translation's a tricky task at the best of times (as my post about Silver ages ago made clear) but every so often I read the transliterated version of what the original Japanese name for something was and just feel so dispirited at the lame name they chose for the English version.

Case in point:

World's Edge Island > Faraway Island

Much cooler name. Also makes more sense: an island on the world's edge is always going to be on the world's edge, but it's not "far away" when you're near it.

(Giratina) Another Forme > Altered Forme

Altered makes sense, but "another" feels more unique and sounds more ancient/legendary. Altered implies deliberate and unnatural modification and Giratina's real-world form isn't unnatural, just "suited for a different environment" (particularly in light of Dialga and Palkia getting origin forms too).

Shattered world > Distortion world

On a similar note, "distortion world" sucks as a name. I've seen it transcribed as "torn world" or "ruined world" but "shattered" is the translation Bulbapedia uses so I'm going with that. In any case, "shattered" infers that it was actively broken; that at one point it was whole or complete, and now it isn't. Distortion world is just... meh. Sure it describes what happens in there, but it's not a punchy or interesting title. It's not even particularly grammatically sharp: "distorted world" would make more sense.

The name the anime used was much better. Reverse World makes total sense and sums up the relationship between the two dimensions completely.

(Cherrim) Positive form > Sunshine form & Negative form > Overcast form

Positive and negative feels like something more suited to an electric-type due to the assocation with positively- and negatively-charged energy, but I think it fits these two well: the overcast form has always had quite a sorrowful look to me and its cry is pretty mournful, while the sunshine form is happy and cheery. And it does fit: the former is downbeat and low-energy, while the latter is pumped up and full of life.

Overcast isn't the worst name (particularly since overcast is synonimous with dreariness or cheerlessness) but "sunshine form" is so dull and tells you nothing new. Obviously it's the sunshine form, it's triggered by sunny weather. It'd be like calling Keldeo's Resolute Form the "bigger horn form".

Return Favour > Return

This is a weird one, but the move Return being called that has never sat right with me. I grew up on the original anime dubs, and what does Ash say to his Pokemon every time he recalls them? "[Species], return!" I can't be the only person who initially thought that Return worked like U-Turn or Volt Switch and got confused.

Reciprocate would be the closest translation for "return favour". I can see why they might not have wanted to use that - it's a bit wordy for a game played mostly by children. Though that didn't stop them from using "Guillotine", "Seismic", "Metronome", "Kinesis", and "Conversion" as move names, none of which are words you hear most children using on a regular basis.

Well, unless they play Pokemon, I suppose...

(Mimikyu) Exposed form > Busted form

This is the most minor of all, but busted just sounds so juvenile. Plus "busted" doesn't really tend to mean broken in modern parlance; we used to say "busted!" to each other as kids if someone was caught out or told off for bad behaviour


In the interest of balance, however, here's a couple of English translations that do improve on the original.

(Kami trio) Incarnation forme > Incarnate form & Sacred beast forme > Therian

Both the originals are a mouthful, so the translated versions feel more elegant. Incarnate also makes more literal sense as it means "something embodied in human form"; incarnation simply means "a version of something" which isn't specific to the humanshaped forms. Therian literally means "wild beast" in Greek but it's an interesting word choice you don't hear a lot.

Zygarde Perfect > Complete

Amusingly "perfect" has crossover with Digimon, in which "perfect" refers to one of the stages. Maybe that was why it was changed? But probably it was just because "complete" makes much more sense when taken in conjunction with 10% and 50% forms, and the cell-collecting quest. I also like "complete" more when taken in the context of Zygarde having already been in X&Y: the implication is that we're finally seeing it fulfilled where it wasn't before.

 

[AztecCroc]

World's Edge Island

Too long for a location name in gen 3.

Giratina) Another Forme > Altered Forme

It might sound fancy to you but to me it sounds like relegating a form to just being another form sounds incredibly lame and dismissive of the original form. "Oh, it's another form of Giratina." That sounds like the opposite of unique to me.

Shattered world

Not the actual name.

(Cherrim) Positive form > Sunshine form & Negative form > Overcast form

They wanted a name that made it clear what the forms actually were, remember, Cherrim was literally the second Pokémon who could change form midbattle and unlike Castform, Cherrim didn't mention this fact in its ability.

Return Favour > Return

Too long for a move name prior to XY.

(Mimikyu) Exposed form > Busted form

Except it's not exposed, the black tentacle beast underneath is still very much covered, but it's disguise is broken. And they tend to prefer punchier names than something like "Broken Form".

 

[R_N]

Translation's a tricky task at the best of times (as my post about Silver ages ago made clear) but every so often I read the transliterated version of what the original Japanese name for something was and just feel so dispirited at the lame name they chose for the English version.

Case in point:

World's Edge Island > Faraway Island

Much cooler name. Also makes more sense: an island on the world's edge is always going to be on the world's edge, but it's not "far away" when you're near it.

(Giratina) Another Forme > Altered Forme

Altered makes sense, but "another" feels more unique and sounds more ancient/legendary. Altered implies deliberate and unnatural modification and Giratina's real-world form isn't unnatural, just "suited for a different environment" (particularly in light of Dialga and Palkia getting origin forms too).

Shattered world > Distortion world

On a similar note, "distortion world" sucks as a name. I've seen it transcribed as "torn world" or "ruined world" but "shattered" is the translation Bulbapedia uses so I'm going with that. In any case, "shattered" infers that it was actively broken; that at one point it was whole or complete, and now it isn't. Distortion world is just... meh. Sure it describes what happens in there, but it's not a punchy or interesting title. It's not even particularly grammatically sharp: "distorted world" would make more sense.

The name the anime used was much better. Reverse World makes total sense and sums up the relationship between the two dimensions completely.

(Cherrim) Positive form > Sunshine form & Negative form > Overcast form

Positive and negative feels like something more suited to an electric-type due to the assocation with positively- and negatively-charged energy, but I think it fits these two well: the overcast form has always had quite a sorrowful look to me and its cry is pretty mournful, while the sunshine form is happy and cheery. And it does fit: the former is downbeat and low-energy, while the latter is pumped up and full of life.

Overcast isn't the worst name (particularly since overcast is synonimous with dreariness or cheerlessness) but "sunshine form" is so dull and tells you nothing new. Obviously it's the sunshine form, it's triggered by sunny weather. It'd be like calling Keldeo's Resolute Form the "bigger horn form".

Return Favour > Return

This is a weird one, but the move Return being called that has never sat right with me. I grew up on the original anime dubs, and what does Ash say to his Pokemon every time he recalls them? "[Species], return!" I can't be the only person who initially thought that Return worked like U-Turn or Volt Switch and got confused.

Reciprocate would be the closest translation for "return favour". I can see why they might not have wanted to use that - it's a bit wordy for a game played mostly by children. Though that didn't stop them from using "Guillotine", "Seismic", "Metronome", "Kinesis", and "Conversion" as move names, none of which are words you hear most children using on a regular basis.

Well, unless they play Pokemon, I suppose...

(Mimikyu) Exposed form > Busted form

This is the most minor of all, but busted just sounds so juvenile. Plus "busted" doesn't really tend to mean broken in modern parlance; we used to say "busted!" to each other as kids if someone was caught out or told off for bad behaviour


In the interest of balance, however, here's a couple of English translations that do improve on the original.

(Kami trio) Incarnation forme > Incarnate form & Sacred beast forme > Therian

Both the originals are a mouthful, so the translated versions feel more elegant. Incarnate also makes more literal sense as it means "something embodied in human form"; incarnation simply means "a version of something" which isn't specific to the humanshaped forms. Therian literally means "wild beast" in Greek but it's an interesting word choice you don't hear a lot.

Zygarde Perfect > Complete

Amusingly "perfect" has crossover with Digimon, in which "perfect" refers to one of the stages. Maybe that was why it was changed? But probably it was just because "complete" makes much more sense when taken in conjunction with 10% and 50% forms, and the cell-collecting quest. I also like "complete" more when taken in the context of Zygarde having already been in X&Y: the implication is that we're finally seeing it fulfilled where it wasn't before.

I think "Another Forme" is kind of bad. It reads less like this is a distinct form change and more like how Unown are just like "One form".

Overcast/Sunshine is also way better than Negative & Positive, like infinitely better imo. At worst I might call it Sunny form, maybe?

I also think "busted" works way better for Mimikyu than "Exposed"; I get its meant to be "the disguise broke and it got exposed" but I'd picture more the whole thing coming off and not just the neck getting busted...and also plenty of people use the proper form of busted all the time when something breaks down. That never really went away even with the secondary use (which personally I've heard used way less)


Really I think a lot of this just proves how subjective this is because I generally don't think that any of the names you think are worse, boring or less punchy are any of those.




Except Return that one needed some more time in the oven. Everyone I know was always a little confused by it...I think there would always be a little confusion unless they called it "Happy Burst" or whatever, but it needed another attempt.

 

[QuentinQuonce]

Too long for a location name in gen 3.

Good point.

It might sound fancy to you but to me it sounds like relegating a form to just being another form sounds incredibly lame and dismissive of the original form. "Oh, it's another form of Giratina." That sounds like the opposite of unique to me.

Agree to disagree.

Not the actual name.

Which is why I mentioned the other names "torn world" and "ruined world".

They wanted a name that made it clear what the forms actually were, remember, Cherrim was literally the second Pokémon who could change form midbattle and unlike Castform, Cherrim didn't mention this fact in its ability.

Which is more an issue with Cherrim's ability description than the form itself.

Too long for a move name prior to XY.

Which is why I cited "reciprocate" as a potential alternative

Except it's not exposed, the black tentacle beast underneath is still very much covered, but it's disguise is broken. And they tend to prefer punchier names than something like "Broken Form".

It is exposed, in that it's vulnerable to attack. "Exposed" can mean uncovered or revealed, but it can also mean unprotected.

Really I think a lot of this just proves how subjective this is because I generally don't think that any of the names you think are worse, boring or less punchy are any of those.

Yeah, fair. That's always going to be the case, I've made the case for why I personally dislike these but they're not objectively worse.

Except for Distortion World, I'm prepared to die on that hill.

Except Return that one needed some more time in the oven. Everyone I know was always a little confused by it...I think there would always be a little confusion unless they called it "Happy Burst" or whatever, but it needed another attempt.

And this, I guess. The Japanese name of Frustration (Angry Outburst) isn't a straight parallel to Return but the English names could have been counterparts. And Happy Burst works as an opposite to Angry Outburst... well, they're both a bit clunky but something to that effect would work.

 

[Blue glass]

World's Edge Island is much better even with the implication that pokémon world is a plane and not spherical.

I'm sorry but Giratina Another Form is a ridiculous name, it's uninspired naming on par with Seel. Altered has basically the same meaning.

Overcast/Sunshine are better too and the Negative/Positive association is still there only more subtle.

Return is bad and gratitude/ joy/ happiness would be more fitting and less confusing.

Mimikyu got its disguise busted and it got busted too as attacking it reveal its trickery that the Pikachu head is fake.

I don't feel that strongly about Distortion world.

 

[AztecCroc]

Angry Outburst

Once again, too long. Move names prior to XY are 12 characters maximum.

 

[Esserise]

With “Busted Form,” I think of it in both the literal and the childish colloquial sense, but for me that works because Mimikyu is kind of an inherently funny / childish character concept. (On the other hand, I think Eiscue’s “Noice Face” form name tries a little too hard to be funny, despite being a very multifaceted translation. I’m just like, do people on the Pokémon world really go around calling it that with a straight face?)

 

[Cobalt Empoleon]

(Cherrim) Positive form > Sunshine form & Negative form > Overcast form

Positive and negative feels like something more suited to an electric-type due to the assocation with positively- and negatively-charged energy, but I think it fits these two well: the overcast form has always had quite a sorrowful look to me and its cry is pretty mournful, while the sunshine form is happy and cheery. And it does fit: the former is downbeat and low-energy, while the latter is pumped up and full of life.

Overcast isn't the worst name (particularly since overcast is synonimous with dreariness or cheerlessness) but "sunshine form" is so dull and tells you nothing new. Obviously it's the sunshine form, it's triggered by sunny weather. It'd be like calling Keldeo's Resolute Form the "bigger horn form".

My problem with Positive/Negative is that they imply that you're kinda failing as Cherrim's trainer if you don't take every opportunity to set up Sun for it, whereas Sunshine/Overcast feel more neutral (in the same way that sunny weather isn't strictly 'better' than cloudy weather, even if people generally enjoy it more).

Return Favour > Return

This is a weird one, but the move Return being called that has never sat right with me. I grew up on the original anime dubs, and what does Ash say to his Pokemon every time he recalls them? "[Species], return!" I can't be the only person who initially thought that Return worked like U-Turn or Volt Switch and got confused.

Reciprocate would be the closest translation for "return favour". I can see why they might not have wanted to use that - it's a bit wordy for a game played mostly by children. Though that didn't stop them from using "Guillotine", "Seismic", "Metronome", "Kinesis", and "Conversion" as move names, none of which are words you hear most children using on a regular basis.

Well, unless they play Pokemon, I suppose...

I agree that Return always felt a little off, particularly in the anime. However, I also don't like Return Favour because it feels too transactional. Also, most of the alternatives that make the positive feelings associated with the move more explicit feel a little weird and self-aggrandising for a trainer to issue as a command haha. I'd have gone with something like Endearment; it still feels abstract enough to not come across as a brag, but it conveys the vibe of the move well (and fits the 10-character limit of earlier games).

It's not even particularly grammatically sharp: "distorted world" would make more sense.

I don't have strong feelings about Distortion World as a name, but I disagree with the grammar point. It's a subtle distinction, but imo the name doesn't describe what it is but what it does.

 

[AztecCroc]

Also Return Favour sounds more like a name for a Counter or Revenge type move than one based on friendship.
"Oh, you hit me? Let me return the favor." Type of thing, makes me think Fighting or Dark type move.

and fits the 10-character limit of earlier games).

10 was for Pokémon names, move names were 12 characters.

 

[QuentinQuonce]

Once again, too long. Move names prior to XY are 12 characters maximum.

Once again, I didn't say Angry Outburst should be the English name. My exact words were

something to that effect

I don't have strong feelings about Distortion World as a name, but I disagree with the grammar point. It's a subtle distinction, but imo the name doesn't describe what it is but what it does.

Which is why I said "grammatically sharp" instead of "grammatically correct". It's not outright incorrect, it's just blandly descriptive. Yes it's a world of distortions, but it's the same issue to me as "sunshine form" - it doesn't tell you anything new. We know there are distortions there, but torn/shattered/ruined world implies that it's that way for a reason; that there's more to learn about it. Put simply, it has more character.

Also Return Favour sounds more like a name for a Counter or Revenge type move than one based on friendship.
"Oh, you hit me? Let me return the favor." Type of thing, makes me think Fighting or Dark type move.

That'd be Payback.

 

[Ironmage]

I'm not a huge fan of torn/shattered/distorted/etc. world exactly because it implies that the world's state was imposed upon it. I like the concept of the place just being naturally like that and that Giratina just happens to be more comfortable with the looser physics. This line of thought is also why I'm fine with Altered Forme: without the power of the Greiseous Orb/Core, Giratina needs to change itself to adapt to the material plane.

 

[AztecCroc]

We know there are distortions there, but torn/shattered/ruined world implies that it's that way for a reason; that there's more to learn about it. Put simply, it has more character.

It's called the Distortion World because it's a distortion of the real world.

Also, the Reverse World from the anime isn't the Distortion World, it's an entirely separate thing that's still called the Reverse World in Japanese.

I'm not a huge fan of torn/shattered/distorted/etc. world exactly because it implies that the world's state was imposed upon it.

That would be because it was, the Distortion World is a prison for Giratina not something Giratina created.