Little things you like about Pokémon

Fusion Flare

i have hired this cat to stare at you
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some real great full arts but gotta laugh at the VMAX Glaceon because the perspective and scaling doesn't sell "super giant pokemon" as much as "this is an unusually large glaceon"

Also gotta say, LOVE the boxart for Legends Arceus
Glaceon the Big Blue Pokemon
 
if Arceus is a god to end all gods and can create time wrapping dragons, does it choose to stay in your pokéball when you catch it. Does it go "well this kid kinda off the shits this might be fun."
"A mortal is visiting my domain? Might as well play along."
 
Remembering the Sinjoh ruins event being initiated by a scientist seeing Arceus following you and being obviously surprised but less in a "holy shit" and more a "whoa is that arceus? crazy" way

Considering the three or four people you see with that event it is very funny how all of them are pretty casual about it.
 

The Mind Electric

Calming if you look at it right.
Remembering the Sinjoh ruins event being initiated by a scientist seeing Arceus following you and being obviously surprised but less in a "holy shit" and more a "whoa is that arceus? crazy" way

Considering the three or four people you see with that event it is very funny how all of them are pretty casual about it.
the sinjoh ruins event isn't real IT'S NOT REAL
 

TMan87

We shall bow to neither master nor god
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I think of Pokémon catching as a way of proving to the Pokémon you're trying to catch that you are worthy of their companionship. You make this easier by weakening them because doing that demonstrates your ability as a Pokémon trainer, and legendary Pokémon are harder to catch because they really want to test your worthiness before they're willing to take orders from you. When Arceus gets in the ball, it's basically saying that you're so extraordinary as a trainer that even the supreme being has deemed you worthy.
I like that theory, and it has the benefit of explaining why you can't catch a fainted Pokémon: you, as a Trainer, should be able to strike that precise balance between weakening a Pokémon and outright knocking it out. The better you become, the more finesse you can apply, and the less compliant your targets can be.
As you get to learn about Pokémon, it becomes easier to convince them to join you, because it becomes easier to have them recognize you as worthy.
It may also tie it to a sort of "respect life" mentality, not unlike the Native American philosophy: you can't catch a fainted Pokémon because you went "too far" and failed to respect its life, thus you are denied the privilege of catching it.
 
I like that theory, and it has the benefit of explaining why you can't catch a fainted Pokémon: you, as a Trainer, should be able to strike that precise balance between weakening a Pokémon and outright knocking it out. The better you become, the more finesse you can apply, and the less compliant your targets can be.
As you get to learn about Pokémon, it becomes easier to convince them to join you, because it becomes easier to have them recognize you as worthy.
It may also tie it to a sort of "respect life" mentality, not unlike the Native American philosophy: you can't catch a fainted Pokémon because you went "too far" and failed to respect its life, thus you are denied the privilege of catching it.
While I like this idea, there is something quite sus in proving your affection by paralyzing and beating a living being to the brink of passing out, and then flinging mechanical balls at them until they give up their will to be free.

:psynervous:
 

ScraftyIsTheBest

On to new Horizons!
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Another thing is that in Sword and Shield in the Wild Areas, you aren't allowed to catch Pokemon higher than a certain level if you don't have enough badges. The dialogue mentions that the Pokemon "won't let its guard down" in a case like that.

Effectively, even if you do have what it takes to catch a Pokemon, at full health and no status it's harder to catch because its guard is still up and it's on the defense.

It's also worth noting that some legendaries since Gen 5 have been mandatory captures, such as Reshiram/Zekrom in BW1, which just before you battle them, N notes that they are saying "I want to battle with you. Try and make me your friend and ally." Essentially, the Pokemon is testing you, but wishes to join you as well in a case like that. Even in later cases like SM and SwSh, it's noted that the legendary wishes to join you, like in SM where Nebby wants to continue being in Alola and battle alongside you as its Trainer, or SwSh where the wolf of choice is implied to be testing you, and the other one Hop gets also asks to join Hop. Same with Calyrex, except this time it can literally speak and literally tells you that if you can catch it at its full power, it will be willing to join you on your journey.

In those cases, those are a case where the Pokemon is really testing your worth as a Trainer. It can be implied with other Legendaries in general, but the mandatory capture ones since BW1 really emphasize that idea.

While I like this idea, there is something quite sus in proving your affection by paralyzing and beating a living being to the brink of passing out, and then flinging mechanical balls at them until they give up their will to be free.

:psynervous:
It's not necessarily proving "affection", per se, but rather proving you are worthy enough of commanding the Pokemon, and strong enough to be a trustworthy friend and Trainer. By showing your skill in combat and weakening it, possibly paralyzing it or putting it to sleep, you prove enough worthiness to the point where the Pokemon will let its guard down and be willing to be caught and join you on your journey. It's a showcase of strength, and many Pokemon may not be willing to join a weak Trainer or in the case of fainting, one who is too ruthless.
 
While I like this idea, there is something quite sus in proving your affection by paralyzing and beating a living being to the brink of passing out, and then flinging mechanical balls at them until they give up their will to be free.

:psynervous:
I don't remember if it was in an interview or something like that, but I think it was once stated it was more like the Pokémon challenging you to see if you are strong enough, and apparently they are completely fine with you beating them up (just not too much that you faint them).
 
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The Mind Electric

Calming if you look at it right.
I don't remember if it was in an interview or something like that, but I think it was once stated it was more like the Pokémon challenging you to see if you are strong enough, and apparently they are completely fine with you beating them up (just not too much that you faint them).
Reminds me of the N quote that got me thinking about this in the first place:
I'll tell you what that Pokémon is saying to you. "I want to battle with you. Try to make me your friend and ally."
That battle is pretty obviously a test of worthiness, which got me thinking about how that might be true for every attempt at catching a Pokémon.
 
In lore, it makes sense for pokémon to want to be catched by strong trainers. Trainers provide shelter, food, exploration, health and growth. A pokemon's catchrate could represent the standarts they expect from their foe to be caught, for example.

Now, I don't think the whole "spam pokeballs on low catchrate until it works" is supposed to be canon, and just what happens when you add low odds to the game lol
 

TMan87

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In lore, it makes sense for pokémon to want to be catched by strong trainers. Trainers provide shelter, food, exploration, health and growth. A pokemon's catchrate could represent the standarts they expect from their foe to be caught, for example.

Now, I don't think the whole "spam pokeballs on low catchrate until it works" is supposed to be canon, and just what happens when you add low odds to the game lol
Expanding on this, is Ash ever seen attempting more than once to catch a Pokémon?
(I know game canon and anime canon aren't the same but I'd like to have some sort of reference)
 
I like nicknaming Pokémon. Coming up with creative nicknames is tons of fun, but I also like the fact that you are able to nickname your Pokémon in the first place, as opposed to being forced to go with the species name.

However, I don't like how nicknaming Pokémon is pretty restrictive. Especially in past generations. You could never nickname (or change the nickname for) a Pokémon if it had a different OT/ID compared to your current game, and apart from when you first caught/obtained a Pokémon, the only place to change the nickname was at a stupid "Name Rater". Speaking of which, why these characters were given that title is a bit strange, it would be more appropriate if they had been named "Name Changer" instead. I guess it is either some sort of Japanese cultural thing, a translation error, or both.

So, one thing I really like is how in Gen 8, the games are no longer as restrictive about nicknames as they were in past generations. There is now a Name Rater Changer in every Pokémon Center, and you can even change the nicknames for Pokémon with a different OT/ID! You can only change the nickname of such Pokémon once, but that's better than nothing. Unfortunately, it does not work for Event Pokémon with a Fateful Encounter, or for Pokémon that originated from a game with a different language. Ultimately, I think there's still room for further improvement when it comes to nicknaming Pokémon (and I have an idea of my own for how it should be made perfect, but I won't post it since it would be wishlisting). However, I am very happy that they finally improved upon it if ever so little, it only took them 8 generations.

I also just happened to see this on Bulbapedia:

"In Pokémon: Let's Go, Pikachu! and Let's Go, Eevee!, a Pokémon can be given a nickname or have its nickname changed at any time on its status screen."

This is amazing and exactly what I want to see in every main series game. Why is this no longer a thing in S/S? I guess this is one of the very few things LGP/E does better than any other games in the series. Hopefully in the future, they will realize how awesome this was and make it the gold standard for nicknaming in all future Pokémon games.
 
I also just happened to see this on Bulbapedia:

"In Pokémon: Let's Go, Pikachu! and Let's Go, Eevee!, a Pokémon can be given a nickname or have its nickname changed at any time on its status screen."

This is amazing and exactly what I want to see in every main series game. Why is this no longer a thing in S/S? I guess this is one of the very few things LGP/E does better than any other games in the series. Hopefully in the future, they will realize how awesome this was and make it the gold standard for nicknaming in all future Pokémon games.
That, I don't understand. If I remember correctly, in an interview or two they stated some features from Let's GO (such as overworld Wild Pokémon) were added in Sword and Shield because of their reception... but the simplest of them all, nicknaming Pokémon without needing a specific NPC, was not among them.
 

Pikachu315111

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For a lack of a better place to put this (I don't hate it, though it's more that it's strange & intriguing that makes me want to share it than liking it):
Who knew that Eternatus was so good as kabuki!
Thankfully the comments aren't disabled for this video and the very first post (thank you Heliotrope) explains:
For non-Japanese fans wondering what's up:

This is the opening act for Pokemon Ryuuousen 2020, an official tournament held during late May last year. Its namesake, Ryuuousen, is inspired by a Shogi title of the same name. A literal translation of it would mean "Battle of the King of Dragons", hence Eternatus. Edit: Turns out it was held at the 29th of May 2021, which was a few days ago. Apologies.
Indeed, if you look at other videos before it on Pokemon Japan's official Youtube channel you see more what you'd usually expect from a promotion.
 
Here's something I love but, sadly, went unused.

Turns out in all the cavalcade of unused gen 2 stuff was some original apricorn pokeballs. One of those is the Love Ball's original effect. It wasn't love, as in, attraction, it was love as in these are Kurt's favorite pokemon
tcrf said:
  • The Love Ball made it into the game, but there's commented-out code in USEITEM.DMG (directly under pop_ret$) that shows the Love Ball originally worked quite differently.

  • The ball had a 4x catch rate multiplier when used on any of the following Pokémon:

SandshrewSandslashParasParasectSlowpokeSlowbroGeodudeGrimerMukExeggutor
LickitungJynxMagikarpPorygonElekidGranbullUnownNorowaraBellossomMankey

  • Otherwise, the ball had a 0.25x catch rate multiplier.
The table of Pokemon is labeled "gantetsu_tbl", and a comment on the jump to the 0.25x subroutine is "ガンテツの好きなポケモンでない" or "Not Kurt's favorite Pokémon.", so it seems the original intention of the Love Ball was for it be more effective on Kurt's most beloved Pokémon.
Like that's just really endearing to me. All the apricorn balls are really weird even when their glitches are ironed out and this is just wonderful.
 

The Mind Electric

Calming if you look at it right.
Here's something I love but, sadly, went unused.

Turns out in all the cavalcade of unused gen 2 stuff was some original apricorn pokeballs. One of those is the Love Ball's original effect. It wasn't love, as in, attraction, it was love as in these are Kurt's favorite pokemon


Like that's just really endearing to me. All the apricorn balls are really weird even when their glitches are ironed out and this is just wonderful.
Kurt's list of favorite Pokémon includes Unown? No wonder all his Poké Balls are weird.
 
Kurt's list of favorite Pokémon includes Unown? No wonder all his Poké Balls are weird.
His taste in general seems purposefully eclectic:
-unown, as you said
-exeggutor, the walking palm tree
-jynx
-porygon
-pretty sure norowara was the voodoo doll
-lickitung
-honestly grimer & muk are a little weird too

Just a big mix of "uncommon", "weird" and "unexpected" pokemon, with a few more "normal" pokemon thrown in
 
His taste in general seems purposefully eclectic:
-unown, as you said
-exeggutor, the walking palm tree
-jynx
-porygon
-pretty sure norowara was the voodoo doll
-lickitung
-honestly grimer & muk are a little weird too

Just a big mix of "uncommon", "weird" and "unexpected" pokemon, with a few more "normal" pokemon thrown in
Dude made nuts into balls. Of course, his tastes were bohemian.
 

Ransei

Garde Mystik
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Vs. Recorder

This was a neat item that was introduced in Pokémon Platinum. It allows for you to save a replay of any match you've had against a battle facility NPC or another player. Those were usually who most epic Pokémon battles were played against. Being able to go back to your favorite matches against your friends or really powerful NPCs is great, especially if you enjoy battling.

Generation 6 took this a step further by introducing Mock Battles to their Vs. Recorder. When this key item is activated, not only can you go back and find replays of your favorite in-game battles, but you can re-enact them against the exact team your opponent used. This includes local battles, where restrictions are incredibly loose. You can simulate a match against an opponent with any type of team if you wanted to (although not without at least two 2DS/3DS game consoles).

From what I've heard, Generation 8 removed the Vs. Recorder altogether, which is saddening. Pokémon Sword and Shield have already removed so many appealing aspects to competitive Pokémon battling in their own games. They really did not need to add more :/.
 
In HGSS during the intro cutscene (the one that plays if you don't press start right away) Entei, Raikou, and Suicune appear, alongside Eusine (?) Then they get pushed off by Unown.

However, Suicune stays for longer (similar to how it stays longer in the Burned Tower). As well as that, the Unowns that pushed them off are actually their corresponding letters (E, R, and S)!!
 

The Mind Electric

Calming if you look at it right.
In HGSS during the intro cutscene (the one that plays if you don't press start right away) Entei, Raikou, and Suicune appear, alongside Eusine (?) Then they get pushed off by Unown.

However, Suicune stays for longer (similar to how it stays longer in the Burned Tower). As well as that, the Unowns that pushed them off are actually their corresponding letters (E, R, and S)!!
Damn, that's an impressive amount of thought for a cutscene that most people will probably only watch once ever. If only they put that much thought into fixing the level curve. :psysly:
 

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