Little things you like about Pokémon

[QuentinQuonce]

All this talk of Colosseum/XD shinies in another thread reminded me that I saved a page a while back containing a bunch of Gamecube shinies mocked up as GBA sprites. Didn't title the bookmark, though, did I? So I just had to wade through every imgur page I've ever bookmarked... which is a lot. Lesson learned.

Anyway. The Gamecube games notoriously went off-model with the shiny colourations for several species. It's interesting that Genius Sonority were allowed to do that; there was a discussion on r/SilphRoad a while back about how much licence Niantic have to alter official Pokemon designs, since they're Nintendo's IP; the consensus was "not very". If anyone has any more information on this I'd be interested in learning more.

Genius Sonority really did a great job making some Pokemon look way better than they do in the main series, so I figured I'd do some side-by-side comparisons. Let's dive in! These are only a few of my favourites; credit to Polarbair on Imgur for the larger list, go check it out.

Quilava

Oh yeah. Starting off with an absolute corker. The green flames add a weirdly haunting beautiful edge to this, contrasting well with the slightly more vibrant red back colour. It's reminiscent of several other Fire-types whose flames turn more unusual colours when they're shiny; kind of puts me in mind of high school science classes where the teacher would throw all kinds of weird crap onto a Bunsen burner. Sadly Typhlosion does not retain this delightful palette once evolved.

Mr Mime

Fully committing to the green! I like this a lot, looks much more visually pleasing than the official shiny - the highlights are a more pleasant colour, and I hate the way the face on the latter clashes so strongly with the rest.

Suicune

The KING of altered shinies. I love that black mane so much, it's gorgeous! Suicune's official shiny is fine - good, even - but the GC version just pops. Bolder, more dramatic, suits the bleak and gritty world of Orre so much more.

Glalie

Eh, I'm not really super into either of Glalie's shiny sprites tbh but the pink gives it a bit more character. The original is... just kinda there, tbh.

Porygon2

Definitely prefer the GC model here. Not that the GBA version isn't good already, but the blue-on-blue makes it look so much more artificial and ethereal. Big upgrade (no pun intended).

Pelipper

Pelipper has grown on me a lot over the years. The difference between the GC shiny and the official shiny is less obvious here, but on the Gamecube proper you really notice it - the green tinge really makes the crest and wing tips stand out, and the darker beak just makes the whole thing pop in a way it didn't before.

Magcargo

A fairly small change, but I loooove this. It hearkens back to the original GSC shiny, which is much superior to the one from later generations. The deeper blue gives it a much more imposing presence (okay so it's a Magcargo, but you get me).

Masquerain

Agh, now this hurts me. Masquerain is quite possibly my favourite bug, and yet I detest the shiny we got for it. The yellow clashes so horribly with the green, and it just ends up looking incredibly unsightly. The GC model is much more restrained; it's a slightly off-colour version of the non-shiny form, which normally I'm not crazy about but it just about works here.

Slowbro

It's already a good shiny, but I love the additional green for the psychedelic tinge. Very fitting for a Psychic-type, after all. A lot of the shiny models in Colo/XD have that slightly radioactive look to them, like they'd glow in the dark. Slowbro is perhaps the standout example of this tendency and I am here for it.

Miltank

Miltank's official shiny is really good... after Gen 5 when they saturated it a bit. In Gen 3 it just looks washed-out. The GC version is cleaner-looking and a less sickly colour; more blue-grey than the icy blue we got, which works better with the black and white parts of its body. The red tinges on the official version make it look odd; much better the other way.

There are a few I'm less fond of, though (as is to be expected):

Corsola

Corsola's shiny is genuinely one of the most gorgeous in the entire series, I heartily dislike the GC model. Generally I prefer ones which go brighter/cleaner and this just feels like a washout; the purplish colour is less striking.

Camerupt

Definitely prefer the official shiny Camerupt, the black is just far cooler.

Sharpedo

I like Sharpedo's official shiny, but something about the GC version is just more appealing even though it's closer to the non-shiny standard. That ever-so-slightly different blue is just gorgeous on it, and gives it such a sharp, clean look against the white. By comparison, the purple makes the white and yellow sections look dull - still prefer it overall, though.

 

[Coronis]

Suicune

View attachment 568915View attachment 568918

The KING of altered shinies. I love that black mane so much, it's gorgeous! Suicune's official shiny is fine - good, even - but the GC version just pops. Bolder, more dramatic, suits the bleak and gritty world of Orre so much more.

Trying not to lose myself in the hype.






Must…have…

 

[ZB7]

The Sprigatito line is really, really fun to use. In my first Violet play through, I chose it because I liked the entire line’s design, even though I understand that some people’s love for it ends at Meowscarada. Initially, it’s pretty generic, having access to Leafage as its main attack. It then gets Bite and Hone Claws by Level 10. At level 16, it evolves into Floragato, but you can keep it as is until Level 17, which gives access to Seed Bomb, compared to Floragato who has to wait until Level 20. Floragato then gets U-Turn at level 24 - a really fun move for me to use in any play through - but it slows down for a while until the real fun begins.

Floragato evolves into Meowscarada at Level 36, becoming Grass and Dark type, and oh god, this thing is so dope! It should evolve around the time you fight Nemona after the 5th gym (and if it doesn’t, you better hope you have something to deal with her Quaquaval, if ya don’t, it will NOT end well… this may or may not have happened to me). Its stat spread is so completely great, with a blitzing 123 speed and good 110 attack, with the trade off of below average bulk. The only common mons who can outspeed are Talonflame, Barraskewda, Kilowattrel and Weavile, and it ties with Noivern. Obviously, the star of the show is Flower Trick, which always crits, leaving an effective 105 base power STAB move with 100% accuracy, and as a bonus, it doesn’t make contact. This move is God, but it doesn’t end there. At Level 38 it learns Night Slash, its primary Dark move. With a little luck, this move can be as potent as its signature move, and the normally middling base 70 power is remedied a little by STAB.

Even if it didn’t learn a single move past this point, and with no TMs, Meowscarada is pretty much decked out to handle anything it should. The speed and strong STAB options means it can KO many things off of those alone, coupled with U-Turn allows it to 'Nope!' out of any bad matchups that are slower, while scoring chip damage, and baiting moves that other Pokémon on your team resists. But it doesn’t even end there. Nope, because it gets access to Play Rough at Level 47. If there’s any pesky Dark, Fighting and Dragon types you can’t quite do well against, this is your move. Accuracy aside, this move allows you to hit Dark types that resist your Night Slash, Fighting types that threaten you, and Dragons that resist your powerful Flower Trick. This move rounds out what I think most Meowscaradas will use with no TMs in play. As a little bonus, at Level 52 it learns Knock Off, but because in game trainers often don’t have items, it’s more of a utility option in case you find the rare trainer that does.

In the end, my Meowscarada (named Zinnya, by the way, I think it’s a great name) ended its time on the stage with Flower Trick, Night Slash, U-Turn and Play Rough. There was zero TM usage at any point and it put in amazing amounts of work for me at all times, I’d even say it was the MVP for me. As a side note, despite me not using TMs or breeding, Meowscarada has pretty OK usage of them - Low Kick, Brick Break, Thunder Punch as well as Acrobatics if you want it - as well as Sucker Punch and Leech Seed via breeding, which is possible thanks to Mirror Herb (I have got to make an appreciation post for that thing at some point).

TL;DR: The Sprigatito line is one of my favourite starter lines for its amazing performance in game thanks to its stat spread, Flower Trick and other moves - not just out of prior Grass type starters, but even Fire and Water starters - and its in my Top 3 starters because of that.

And as usual, sorry for the long post!

 

[R_N]

In Gen 4, Jasmine & Johanna (the mother) could show up in Super Rank Contests. Like the other characters, they didn't show up in any fancy outfits or anything they were just cute cameos (Jasmine used a Steelix you can get through trade in HGSS, Johanna used a Kangaskhan because she's a Mom (TM))

But BDSP they maintained this cameo but they actually not only got full models (BDSP has all the contestants use their in-game battle model) they got new outfits!

It's not the same outfit, but I think it might be partially based on the twinleaf festival outfit she wore in the anime. At least, probably where the green came from

Jasmine's feels like a fancier merger of both her HGSS (the green, the bow, the shawl) and Gen 2 (the emphasis on the white, and it being a more flared skirt compared to her HGSS outfit)

 

[MoonlightRose]

That Arven's plan with Mabosstiff just worked. Can't remember the last game I played with a plan like that that didn't have some sort of twist ending.

 

[pika pal]

That Arven's plan with Mabosstiff just worked. Can't remember the last game I played with a plan like that that didn't have some sort of twist ending.

The fact that he more or less says it outright is what makes it amazing that it works. The rule of fiction is that if they tell you the plan, it's to set up something going wrong for new tension instead of the reveal of the Plan's climax.

 

[Suspicious Derivative]

I think Koraidon/Miraidon is the best way the games have handled field moves so far. What they finally got right is the fact that you have all moves on one single Pokémon, which means you don't have to switch between different ones (like in the Alola games and L:A). It is very convenient and I like it a lot.

The Teal Mask has been out for two months now, so I think it should be safe to post major spoilers from it.

First of all, I am a big fan of Carmine and Kieran. They were great characters and had a very interesting sibling relation, with Carmine being a bossy older sister and Kieran a timid younger brother. Their role in the story was great, and I like how they both went through a change in personality over the course of the story. Carmine started out as a bit hostile towards strangers, but she grew nicer towards the player as the story progressed. In comparison, Kieran started out as a kind boy, but he grew more and more unfriendly towards the player as the story continued (which is understandable due to the way we were forced to treat him). I honestly felt sad for him at the end, but I hope he will get a happy ending in the Indigo Disk!

Like many other special characters, these two have their own battle themes. Let's talk about them a little.

Carmine's battle theme is definitely one of my favorite tracks from ScaVio. It is somewhat aggressive, which goes very well with Carmine's assertive personality. I really hope that we'll get to battle Carmine again in the Indigo Disk so I can hear this awesome music again!

Kieran's battle theme opens in the same way as Carmine's, and the overall structure of the music is similar, but this one is a bit more "quiet", which goes along well with Kieran's timid personality.

And then, during the final battle against Kieran, the music changes. It becomes dark and aggressive, but it also has a bittersweet undertone, which is extremely suitable considering what the poor boy had to go through up to this point.

Overall, I really like their music. Not sure what else to say, I'm really bad at explaining my feelings about all sorts of music on a higher level than simply saying "I like it."

Some other small things from the Teal Mask. One very minor detail I like is this: When using fly in Paldea, the taxi is carried by Squawkabilly. In Kitakami, it is carried by Noctowl. And when you fly with the plane between the two areas, a Dragonite can be seen flying alongside it!

Another small detail I noticed was that when Morpeko changes form in ScaVio, there's a small animation which shows it getting hangry or eating. This was not in S/S, so it was a cool addition.

Finally, the best thing about the Teal Mask? Ogerpon!

Quite possibly the cutest Pokémon ever. I loved its story in the game (both its backstory and the present day story), and I like how it has a unique method of Terastal. Before playing the Teal Mask, I knew something was hiding behind that mask, but I was not expecting this! One of the best surprises Pokémon has given me.

 

[Worldie]

Another small detail I noticed was that when Morpeko changes form in ScaVio, there's a small animation which shows it getting hangry or eating. This was not in S/S, so it was a cool addition.

That was one of the first things i noticed (since i wanted to use morpeko in the dlc so i caught one right away) and it's indeed adorable.

I'll add to your post, both the final main story battle and the battle against Ogerpon managed to hit me in the feels way too hard. And to some degree, even just the battle against Arven at the end of his questline, where the rejuvenated Mabostiff is like "master let me battle" is very touching (and didn't help that i was underleveled and got brutally murdered xd)
This game has no business hitting as hard as it does. I refuse.

 

[Coronis]

Anyone else kinda hoping Keiran goes full baddie and doesn’t get a redemption lol

 

[Cobalt Empoleon]

Anyone else kinda hoping Keiran goes full baddie and doesn’t get a redemption lol

I mean it's not gonna happen, but it'd be a very fun twist. At the very least I hope they lean hard into his legitimate grievances, like how unfair it is that the player character gets to bond with and catch every legendary, even when there's a character with a far deeper and more obvious connection to the lore and personality of the legendary.

 

[Suspicious Derivative]

I have mixed feelings about Kieran becoming a bad guy. I can totally understand if it were to happen because of what happened to him in the Teal Mask... but I just don't want to see it happen. I think Kieran really deserves to be treated better in the Indigo Disk, but making him a villain feels wrong. Friendship is the way to go, not revenge. I hope the player will be given the chance to bring back the kind boy he was when we first met him. Either way, there's less than one month to go, so we'll soon find out! I'm really looking forward to seeing the next chapter of his story unfold, and the Indigo Disk on the whole.

One thing I like about the Expansion Passes in both S/S and ScaVio is that they have "level scaling" in the way that if you do the Isle of Armor or the Teal Mask after beating the main game, the opponents will be at much higher levels than if you do them alongside the main game. I like it better better that way as I think it would be extremely underwhelming if your first opponent was at level 10 or 12 when you have already beaten the Champion with an ace at above level 60.

I have gone back to playing Sword recently since there were some things I never did in the game in the past, and I decided to do these things now. Better late than never! This made me come up with some more things I like about the game.

With the Expansion Pass, you can have daily rematches against six different trainers in the game: Morimoto, Marnie, Klara (or Avery in Shield), Mustard, Honey and Peony. Battling all of them gives some pretty good training, which is nice. Another thing I like about this is that most of them have their own unique battle theme, with only Morimoto and Honey using the standard battle theme. That's really cool since it means you'll get to hear a lot of different music when battling all of these trainers.

A minor detail I like is that when you battle Honey, she throws her Poké Ball very hard, making it fly super fast.

Last week, I finally caught all legendaries and Ultra Beasts in Dynamax Adventures. Catching legendaries is always fun, even if I'm not really a huge fan of doing it this way. I have many issues with Dynamax Adventures, and I thought about making a post with them in the annoyances thread, but I'll skip it. Instead, I'll say that I like the concept of making legendary captures harder and more challenging, but I'm not a fan of the execution here. I would have enjoyed it way more if it had been based on skill instead of luck and the whims of fate in the form of RNG. Playing with AI partners was also a mixed bag. That said, it was quite fun after all, I think it was an okay challenge (though Zygarde was really hard, took me like 6-7 tries before I got it), and I'm glad I finally got it done. And with Necrozma caught, I finally completed the last of the Crown Tundra quests!

 

[Coronis]

A minor detail I like is that when you battle Honey, she throws her Poké Ball very hard, making it fly super fast.

Apparently we get to choose our throwing style again once Indigo Disk is released? Hype for that.

 

[R_N]

I mean it's not gonna happen, but it'd be a very fun twist. At the very least I hope they lean hard into his legitimate grievances, like how unfair it is that the player character gets to bond with and catch every legendary, even when there's a character with a far deeper and more obvious connection to the lore and personality of the legendary.

Kieren's grievances were being left out of the loop and not given the chance to be treated as someone with agency, or treated seriously by Carmine.
Those probably will come back up in Indigo Disc since it's as much tied to Carmine's character arc as it is his.

But for Ogerpon even despite how that first meeting didnt happen because of Carmine, he had the opportunity to bond. It is not Ogerpon's fault that Kieren decided to not follow around to get the masks and get opportunity to be there with her; Carmine even points this out how he should have been there. Even if I imagine the mysterious influence likely putting the connection off; he came off entitled to it by the end but likely would have had a better shot (in a setting that is not a video game) at it normally.




Anyway

This new song came out and in addition to being catchy, the video is really fun. the player character and Nemona bonding and battling through the Victory Road campaign. It also ties into the little light/web novel they put out (its linked in the description) but uh, well, that's a Japan-only thing so have fun reading that on your own.

 

[Hugin]

Anyway

This new song came out and in addition to being catchy, the video is really fun. the player character and Nemona bonding and battling through the Victory Road campaign. It also ties into the little light/web novel they put out (its linked in the description) but uh, well, that's a Japan-only thing so have fun reading that on your own.

Oh, they're not even being SUBTLE about Nemona anymore.

 

[QuentinQuonce]

In B2W2 if you stand at the highest point of Lacunosa Town you can spot a river some distance north of the city, going east-west. This is presumably the same river from Route 23, which we can assume ends up depositing somewhere just north of Village Bridge.

I love this little detail. It's a nice bit of continuity that really ties the world together.

 

[R_N]

While we (rightfully) clown on Gen 9 shinies, Gen 9 also does still have its fair share of good shinies and with that in mind

stupendous

 

[QuentinQuonce]

Another neat little Unova detail I never noticed until just now until I saw both images side-by-side: Opelucid City's different appearances aren't just a simple reskin as might be assumed, there are (inaccessible) houses in Black's version that aren't there in White. This fits with it literally being more built-up in the former version: there are more buildings there, while the historic version has more parkland and trees.

 

[DrPumpkinz]

While I'm a very harsh critic of Gen 5's animated Pokemon sprites, I think its animated trainer sprites came out really well. Gen 4 made the choice of animating trainers entirely through key poses, as opposed to the Pokemon which used a combination of two key poses and an effect, which turned out to be a much stronger foundation to build off of in the transition to Gen 5. It also helps that the trainers only do their animation once and it doesn't have to loop like Pokemon animations in past games, unlike the Pokemon themselves which were cursed into uncanny robotic cycles.

 

[pika pal]

Small one I noticed rewatching the Scarlet finale: Koraidon's "crown" and feathers on its head do a really good job framing the Terastal Hat, which makes it transition very smoothly into the Pokemon's actual design. Probably a coincidence but for one of the only mandatory Terastal moments in the game it's nice that it comes across looking clean instead of just plopped on the head like most cases.

 

[Esserise]

Small one I noticed rewatching the Scarlet finale: Koraidon's "crown" and feathers on its head do a really good job framing the Terastal Hat, which makes it transition very smoothly into the Pokemon's actual design. Probably a coincidence but for one of the only mandatory Terastal moments in the game it's nice that it comes across looking clean instead of just plopped on the head like most cases.

On a sort of similar note, I like how Sandy Shocks’s Tera Jewel spins because of the screw on its head

 

[R_N]

Clive got not only a full art but a character rare and folks, he's still got it

 

[Coronis]

Clive got not only a full art but a character rare and folks, he's still got it

Um, that second pic is ridiculously cute.

Team Star 4 lyf

 

[Suspicious Derivative]

There’s one thing I randomly thought about recently. It might actually be more suitable for the unpopular opinions thread, but since it is positive, I’m posting it here.

I really like that Pikachu out of all Pokémon is the mascot for the series. I think it a great mascot because it is both cool, cute and funny at the same time. The cuteness is especially notable since it one of the very few Pokémon from Gen 1 that is actually cute (in my opinion). It has a very simple design, but it doesn’t need to be complicated since I think a simple design is more suitable for a mascot. I think it has one of the better designs from Gen 1. Pikachu definitely gets too much attention at times, but I think it should stay the series mascot. And since it has been the mascot ever since the start, it is easily recognizable even for people who aren’t Pokémon fans. I have heard that Clefairy was originally planned to be the series mascot, though I’m not sure if that is true (couldn’t find a reliable source). Either way, I’m happy that it didn’t turn out that way because I’m not a huge fan of Clefairy’s design. I think Pikachu is way better, both as a Pokémon and a mascot for the series.

I also like how Eevee has become the secondary mascot for the series. It is yet another of the few Kanto Pokémon that I think is cute, and it complements Pikachu very well, way better than what Clefairy would have done.

Some more things I have thought of after playing Sword recently. I really like the Galarian Star Tournament, it is a fun alternative to the regular tournament. I like pairing up with different characters to battle other trainers in pairs, including some really unexpected ones. I think this does a good job at showcasing the great character cast of S/S, while offering some fun battles at the same time. I also like how it rotates between who can Dynamax, which means that your partner might Dynamax their ace if you don’t take the opportunity yourself!

When battling at certain arenas in S/S, such as at the online area (available in-game when battling Morimoto) or in the Stadiums, Ball Guy can be seen on the screen, doing various actions that mirror what happens in the battle. If one side Dynamaxes, Ball Guy will grow big, and if a Dynamaxed Pokémon faints, Ball Guy will faint. If one side has just one Pokémon left, Ball Guy will be very nervous. Those are some fun details which I like a lot.

I also like Ball Guy in general. This character manages to be both funny and creepy at the same time. And who is under that mask? Is it a man, a woman, or is it actually a Pokémon? It is a complete mystery and I hope we’ll never find out because it is more fun that way.

I have also noticed another Pokémon reference in a different game. I recently played through Persona 5 Royal (which was awesome), and during Futaba’s confidant, she makes at least two Pokémon references. First, she says “A wild <player> appeared” at one point. Later on, after you spend some time together with her and Mishima, Futaba says: “Mishima was nothing. He’s like the first gym leader.” Sadly, I only got to rank 5 with Futaba because there wasn’t enough time to max out her rank, and I ended up putting higher priority on other characters, so I don’t know if she makes any more references to Pokémon later on. But it is cool either way.

 

[doipy hooves]

While thinking about the new Illuminate, I realized that Illuminate's former purpose as an ability to increase encounter rates has been easy to take for granted as useless, but it was more unique in the context of the original Ruby and Sapphire where it and Stench had the niches of being the only abilities to have an overworld field effect on encounters and not just tied to a purpose in battles, aside from Pickup. Stench being the first ability in index order really puts it into perspective on how this may have been a defining start for abilities, yet the concept of overworld effects would be left mostly unexplored until Emerald. Most of the classic examples for abilities with field effects that improve quality of life like Synchronize, Compound Eyes, and Flame Body were only introduced in Emerald, and these effects would be the only ones used for a long time, until SWSH added more type-boosting encounter effects to existing abilities and SV eventually got rid of all these mechanics. I respect Illuminate more now for starting the legacy and dying with it.

 

[Coronis]

There’s one thing I randomly thought about recently. It might actually be more suitable for the unpopular opinions thread, but since it is positive, I’m posting it here.

I really like that Pikachu out of all Pokémon is the mascot for the series. I think it a great mascot because it is both cool, cute and funny at the same time. The cuteness is especially notable since it one of the very few Pokémon from Gen 1 that is actually cute (in my opinion). It has a very simple design, but it doesn’t need to be complicated since I think a simple design is more suitable for a mascot. I think it has one of the better designs from Gen 1. Pikachu definitely gets too much attention at times, but I think it should stay the series mascot. And since it has been the mascot ever since the start, it is easily recognizable even for people who aren’t Pokémon fans. I have heard that Clefairy was originally planned to be the series mascot, though I’m not sure if that is true (couldn’t find a reliable source). Either way, I’m happy that it didn’t turn out that way because I’m not a huge fan of Clefairy’s design. I think Pikachu is way better, both as a Pokémon and a mascot for the series.

I also like how Eevee has become the secondary mascot for the series. It is yet another of the few Kanto Pokémon that I think is cute, and it complements Pikachu very well, way better than what Clefairy would have done.

Some more things I have thought of after playing Sword recently. I really like the Galarian Star Tournament, it is a fun alternative to the regular tournament. I like pairing up with different characters to battle other trainers in pairs, including some really unexpected ones. I think this does a good job at showcasing the great character cast of S/S, while offering some fun battles at the same time. I also like how it rotates between who can Dynamax, which means that your partner might Dynamax their ace if you don’t take the opportunity yourself!

When battling at certain arenas in S/S, such as at the online area (available in-game when battling Morimoto) or in the Stadiums, Ball Guy can be seen on the screen, doing various actions that mirror what happens in the battle. If one side Dynamaxes, Ball Guy will grow big, and if a Dynamaxed Pokémon faints, Ball Guy will faint. If one side has just one Pokémon left, Ball Guy will be very nervous. Those are some fun details which I like a lot.

I also like Ball Guy in general. This character manages to be both funny and creepy at the same time. And who is under that mask? Is it a man, a woman, or is it actually a Pokémon? It is a complete mystery and I hope we’ll never find out because it is more fun that way.

I have also noticed another Pokémon reference in a different game. I recently played through Persona 5 Royal (which was awesome), and during Futaba’s confidant, she makes at least two Pokémon references. First, she says “A wild <player> appeared” at one point. Later on, after you spend some time together with her and Mishima, Futaba says: “Mishima was nothing. He’s like the first gym leader.” Sadly, I only got to rank 5 with Futaba because there wasn’t enough time to max out her rank, and I ended up putting higher priority on other characters, so I don’t know if she makes any more references to Pokémon later on. But it is cool either way.

Ball Guy and Larry, two best characters from the last two games. I’m glad they brought a ball guy case for SV, but I was hoping he’d be brought back in some more substantial cameo lol