I'm prettty sure that the Champion's Chamber actually is on the summit of Lanakila; never thought of it from your perspective before though.
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Look a bit closer. ;)
(According to Bulbapedia it's actually transparent crystal so it is Alola we're seeing, minus the freezing cold weather)
Honestly this might be one of the best champion chambers they've done to date. It's only fitting that the top trainer in Alola battles at the highest point in the region, closest to the sun and moon.Look a bit closer. ;)
(According to Bulbapedia it's actually transparent crystal so it is Alola we're seeing, minus the freezing cold weather)
Plus, like, just look at that view. That is one heck of a view.
Gah! In my head, Mt. Lanakila is like a dormant volcano or something and they built the platform at the top and covered it with a glass dome or something...now I don't know what to think anymore. It is pretty though, especially at sunset :)
Happy Pokemon Day!
I'd like to welcome the opportunity to place emphasis on the Poké Pelago feature that has been around since the vanilla Sun and Moon games. The reason behind this is that nostalgia has recently gotten the better of me and that I decided to revisited the good old short movie "Pikachu's Vacation".
While this feature has undeniably proven itself to be very useful when it comes to leveling up your Pokémon, raising their levels of friendship, harvesting berries and hunting treasures, I'd also like to point out another aspect that I like about it by drawing parallels between this place and the aforementioned movie.
Like Elder Li in Violet City's Bellsprout Tower already adequately formulates: "Remember, Pokémon are not tools" (especially not tools of war) and they do indeed deserve to take a break every now and then after the hard work is done, much like we humans. I think that this greatly underlines how the relationship between a trainer and his Pokémon is equal and bilateral. The two parties both have commitments and responsibilities on one hand, but also liberties and the need for leisure time activities on the other hand.
The Poké Pelago's design is great in that sense because, much like the playgrounds in "Pikachu's Vacation", it has many different versatile isles that appeal to individual Pokémon that have, much like humans, individual needs and leisure time activities. In my mind I like to imagine it being a place where my Pokémon get to know each other better. Some of them may have known each other for a long time, but I personally always like to imagine that this is this the optimal place for newer members of the collection to acclimatize.
I prefer this image to Pokémon just being stuffed into the PC BOXes like you'd stuff working animals and farm animals into a shack or a stable after they've served their purpose.
In my head canon the berry fields are for example quite literally a fertile ground for a "sense of community" and "teamwork" (and berries of course). I like to imagine Grass-type Pokémon developing a penchant for gardening and for harvesting berries, like for example an Exeggutor that happily waters the berry fields with a watering can in each mouth, knowing that it positively contributes to the adventure of its trainer and ergo the rest of the team. I'm saying this because some Pokémon show personal initiative and add fertilizer at regular intervals and some of them also come up to you every now and then whenever you visit the place, in order proudly present you the "fruits of their work".
The same also applies to the treasure hunts. I like to imagine Pokémon like Dugtrio and other Ground-types (most definitely also Rock-types) that enjoy digging in the caves and that donate the treasures that they stumbled across in the process for the good of the community. I like to imagine some of them to look for specific stones in order to help a fellow team member evolve.
As for the training playground, I like to imagine it being a place for competitive Pokémon that like to stay fit and that enjoy practicing with each other (kinda like the Hitmonchan and the Hitmonlee that were exchanging punches and kicks in the hedge maze). Maybe they also give each other high fives compliment each other for pulling off impressive wins together at the Battle Tree for example.
I like to think of my Pokémon as self-aware creatures (yes, even Hidden Ability Clefable and Quagsire) that "pull together" (like in the "Pikachu's Vacation" gif. above) for the sake of the entire team, an image that stands in great contrast to how Pokémon games used to be perceived as a form of promoting mindless cockfights by uninformed and biased "critics" and "experts" back in the day.
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Pokepelago is gen VII greatest feature
I just wish it kept Mohn's random musings consistent; like instead of just saying "I saw pokemon A and pokemon B playing together, it seems they're very close" of literally any two random pokemon in my pc just remember which ones where mentioned and have that be the massage I get when I tap either of them
The whole "message picked from a pool at random" is far less satisfactory than the ones you got from the memory girl in ORAS even tough those where limited too (my Cacturne Prickly always ends up in a foul mood no matter what I do with him or where do I take him, is endearing even tough is just a quirk of the generator)
I just wish it kept Mohn's random musings consistent; like instead of just saying "I saw pokemon A and pokemon B playing together, it seems they're very close" of literally any two random pokemon in my pc just remember which ones where mentioned and have that be the massage I get when I tap either of them
The whole "message picked from a pool at random" is far less satisfactory than the ones you got from the memory girl in ORAS even tough those where limited too (my Cacturne Prickly always ends up in a foul mood no matter what I do with him or where do I take him, is endearing even tough is just a quirk of the generator)
Disregarding the discussed-to-death flaws Poke Pelago has (in particular, the speed of its activities), it's undeniably a fantastic feature because it addresses one of the periphery demographic issues - the very likely lack of free time to train Pokemon the old-school way.
The same can be said about Hyper Training (again, disregarding the flaws it has) and reducing the need to pray for RNG when breeding/soft-resetting.
The same can be said about Hyper Training (again, disregarding the flaws it has) and reducing the need to pray for RNG when breeding/soft-resetting.
Not sure how many people would agree with me but I found the Dream World to be fun and intriguing. It wasn't perfect but they could have implemented an improved version in Gen6. In retrospect, it makes sense that they didn't because most young adults at the time were glued to their phone and wouldn't want to deal with the "hassle" of using a computer. I think it would be dope to bring it back in Gen 8 with an accompanying app to play mobile games. I'd probably squeal with happiness if they did That! We have the technology.
Same. It's also p interesting how they incorporated things like the Entralink and Dream World in the BW trailer, but didn't do much with them after the gen concluded.
It's almost like it's a Pokemon game or something.
Back on topic, Ultra Necrozma actually presenting a challenge...to some folks. Others brought Aegislash/Mimikyu and Ghost-Z'd it back to whence it came. But to see a single battle in modern Pokemon, in this age where pretty much anyone outside the primary demographic (and some in it) knows the type chart by heart or at least how to find information online, actually giving people serious trouble is quite refreshing.
I guess you're right lol. I'm just expressing my disappointment for it tbh
I really liked the switch to the Trials in S/M. There’s room for improvement, of course, but they feel much more like gyms are supposed to be, with a powerful trainer evaluating your skill rather than just a gauntlet of fights. I know they won’t stick around, being too tied to Alola, but I hope GF keeps the style somehow.
Well even if they bring Gyms back it shouldn't be difficult. Just make the Gym Puzzle more skill involved than you figuring out a puzzle and battling trainers (that can still be a part of it, but there needs to be a reason why you're doing it instead of it just being an obstacle course set up by the Gym Leader for no reason as solving these puzzles don't prove anything). And instead of Totem battles it'll be the Gym Leader, but have the Gym Leaders do something which gives them an advantage in the battle (increasing a Pokemon's stat is all good, but there's other options like setting up a Weather Effect/Room/Terrain or using a different battle style like Double/Tag/Inverse). SOS Battles will probably be out next gen but that was more of a crutch for the Totem Pokemon because they had no other Pokemon backing them up like a Gym Leader does.
I like how the basic lines in the Battle Subway in B/W (and I presume B2W2 as well) can be challenged immediately on your first visit to Nimbasa City at a fairly comfortable skill level for the first few rounds (since your team is auto-leveled to 50 and the early trainers use basic Pokemon). That's something I wish the other battle facilities would do more often in future games, since the other facilities are either post-game only, or have a difficult entry level (aka Crystal's Battle Tower). It's a neat way to get your feet wet with the facilities, and being able to play a round or two with an unevolved team on equal footing has a unique charm to it.
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For all the flak the Rotom Dex (deservedly) gets, there's one thing it does really good, and that's... its Dex function.
It's nice to have the completion percentage displayed whenever you catch a Pokémon, having Mythical and Legendary Pokémon have another background color, but the best feature to me is that you have access to the dex description of a Pokémon you just evolved, instead of having to look for it manually.
It's nice to have the completion percentage displayed whenever you catch a Pokémon, having Mythical and Legendary Pokémon have another background color, but the best feature to me is that you have access to the dex description of a Pokémon you just evolved, instead of having to look for it manually.
If you've played other Japanese RPGs, you'll be grateful Pokemon's turn order is strictly deterministic. 1 Speed more than the opponent means you go first.
In Bravely Default, 1 Speed means you have slightly more of a chance to go first. It also applies to enemy teams in that game. For one example, a Chapter 8 sidequest can go badly if the RNG decides Qada goes first and makes you weak to Fire right before his allies Ominas and Yulyana hit everyone with 9999 damage Firagas.
Pokemon figured out how to do turn order over 20 years ago.
In Bravely Default, 1 Speed means you have slightly more of a chance to go first. It also applies to enemy teams in that game. For one example, a Chapter 8 sidequest can go badly if the RNG decides Qada goes first and makes you weak to Fire right before his allies Ominas and Yulyana hit everyone with 9999 damage Firagas.
Pokemon figured out how to do turn order over 20 years ago.
AH SO THAT'S WHY.
And here I was wondering why the heck my characters were acting based on a different order some turns.
Yeah Pokémon has it right, because planning a turn with the above system is nothing but a nightmare.
So a while ago I brought up the fact that there's a subtle theme with the Elemental Monkeys via their tails being suit of cards. Well, I'm here with another one! This time with:
The Swords of Justice!
Now, we all know they're based on members of the Three Musketeer. Cobalion is Arthos the leader, Terrakion is Porthos the biggest and strongest, Virizion is Aramis who acted more feminine, and Keldeo is d'Artagnan the youngest.
But where did their animal motifs come from? They're all based in hooved animals, ungulates, and there's speculation which ungulate some of them are with good guesses. Except there's no need to guess, because they're all based on ungulates that are popular seen as heraldry symbols!
Cobalion is the hind/stag (possibly also the legendary Yale), Terrakion is the bull/ox, Virizion is the camelopard (giraffe), and Keldeo is the unicorn.
The Swords of Justice!
Now, we all know they're based on members of the Three Musketeer. Cobalion is Arthos the leader, Terrakion is Porthos the biggest and strongest, Virizion is Aramis who acted more feminine, and Keldeo is d'Artagnan the youngest.
But where did their animal motifs come from? They're all based in hooved animals, ungulates, and there's speculation which ungulate some of them are with good guesses. Except there's no need to guess, because they're all based on ungulates that are popular seen as heraldry symbols!
Cobalion is the hind/stag (possibly also the legendary Yale), Terrakion is the bull/ox, Virizion is the camelopard (giraffe), and Keldeo is the unicorn.
I have a confession to make. Gen 2 is actually my favorite generation. G/S/C and HG/SS are my favorite games as well as the best and greatest games to have ever been made. No other games come close to reaching their level of greatness.
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April Fools! Sorry, I just couldn't resist posting that. But I do have one more thing to say when it comes to saying nice things about my least favorite games. I really like the sound effect for when a Super Effective move hits in Gen 2. It just sounds so awesome and cool in a weird way. I prefer it over the sound effects used for the same purpose in Gen 1 and in Gens 3-7.
A random and minor thing I thought about recently that I really like. The Running Shoes. Being able to actually run in the games is great, as opposed to only being able to walk or use the bike/Ride Pokemon (or Roller Skates in X/Y). We take them for granted these days but the truth is that they haven't always existed. They were a great invention when the first appeared in Gen 3 and I'm glad they are still with us.
I like how, starting with Gen 5, there has been a Wi-Fi Event starting at the same time as when new main series games have been released. B/W had a Liberty Ticket which gave access to Victini, B2/W2 had a Genesect, X/Y had a HA Torchic with the Blazikenite, OR/AS had a shiny Beldum with a Metagrossite, S/M had a Munchlax with the Snorlium Z and US/UM had the Own Tempo Rockruff. I think that is a good way to promote the new games and since this is a tradition that seems to continue, I wonder what event we will get for the next main series games.
I like starter Pokemon, but I don't like how they are usually very exclusive to find and obtain in the games. So I really like the situations in the games when you can get more than one starter from the same generation, or when you can catch starters in the wild. Which games do this? Not many, but a few.
Yellow: You can obtain all three Kanto starters during the main story.
X/Y: You can get the Kalos starter that your starter is strong against by trading with Shauna after beating the game. All Kanto and Kalos starters can also be found in the Friend Safari.
S/M and US/UM: You can catch the Johto/Unova or Kanto/Hoenn/Sinnoh/Kalos starters in the wild through Island Scan.
I would love to see more of this in future games but seeing how exclusive the starters usually are made to be, I'm not expecting this to appear in many future games, if any at all. That said, it has become more common in recent games (X/Y and Gen 7), so there's a bit of hope that this will continue in future games as well.
The Rotom Dex gets a lot of hate (which it deserves) but there are a few things it actually does very well. One of them is this: In US/UM, when you meet a wild Pokemon you haven't seen before, it makes a comment about that. I like that a lot, it feels like something a proper Pokedex should do.
I previously posted that Guzma's Glasses seem to be shaped like the Sun and Moon, but it seems like it goes a little deeper than that. It seems that the symbols on the Team Skull Grunt's caps are shaped like that as well. That's quite cool.
I recently read the D/P and Platinum chapters of Pokemon Adventures and I noticed one thing. The starters that the main characters got were the same as the ones I picked in my respective Sinnoh games. I picked Chimchar in Pearl, Turtwig in Diamond and Piplup in Platinum. In the manga, Pearl got Chimchar, Diamond got Turtwig andLady Platinum got Piplup, the same as the ones I picked in my games. An interesting coincidence.
...
April Fools! Sorry, I just couldn't resist posting that. But I do have one more thing to say when it comes to saying nice things about my least favorite games. I really like the sound effect for when a Super Effective move hits in Gen 2. It just sounds so awesome and cool in a weird way. I prefer it over the sound effects used for the same purpose in Gen 1 and in Gens 3-7.
A random and minor thing I thought about recently that I really like. The Running Shoes. Being able to actually run in the games is great, as opposed to only being able to walk or use the bike/Ride Pokemon (or Roller Skates in X/Y). We take them for granted these days but the truth is that they haven't always existed. They were a great invention when the first appeared in Gen 3 and I'm glad they are still with us.
I like how, starting with Gen 5, there has been a Wi-Fi Event starting at the same time as when new main series games have been released. B/W had a Liberty Ticket which gave access to Victini, B2/W2 had a Genesect, X/Y had a HA Torchic with the Blazikenite, OR/AS had a shiny Beldum with a Metagrossite, S/M had a Munchlax with the Snorlium Z and US/UM had the Own Tempo Rockruff. I think that is a good way to promote the new games and since this is a tradition that seems to continue, I wonder what event we will get for the next main series games.
I like starter Pokemon, but I don't like how they are usually very exclusive to find and obtain in the games. So I really like the situations in the games when you can get more than one starter from the same generation, or when you can catch starters in the wild. Which games do this? Not many, but a few.
Yellow: You can obtain all three Kanto starters during the main story.
X/Y: You can get the Kalos starter that your starter is strong against by trading with Shauna after beating the game. All Kanto and Kalos starters can also be found in the Friend Safari.
S/M and US/UM: You can catch the Johto/Unova or Kanto/Hoenn/Sinnoh/Kalos starters in the wild through Island Scan.
I would love to see more of this in future games but seeing how exclusive the starters usually are made to be, I'm not expecting this to appear in many future games, if any at all. That said, it has become more common in recent games (X/Y and Gen 7), so there's a bit of hope that this will continue in future games as well.
The Rotom Dex gets a lot of hate (which it deserves) but there are a few things it actually does very well. One of them is this: In US/UM, when you meet a wild Pokemon you haven't seen before, it makes a comment about that. I like that a lot, it feels like something a proper Pokedex should do.
I previously posted that Guzma's Glasses seem to be shaped like the Sun and Moon, but it seems like it goes a little deeper than that. It seems that the symbols on the Team Skull Grunt's caps are shaped like that as well. That's quite cool.
I recently read the D/P and Platinum chapters of Pokemon Adventures and I noticed one thing. The starters that the main characters got were the same as the ones I picked in my respective Sinnoh games. I picked Chimchar in Pearl, Turtwig in Diamond and Piplup in Platinum. In the manga, Pearl got Chimchar, Diamond got Turtwig and
Man, it's been years since I watched the anime... Jessie and Meowth sound just like I remember, but James sounds a bit off somehow...
Also, all this just to capture Ash's Pikachu? Not convince everyone to hand over all their legendary Pokemon for Team Rocket? Talk about not thinking of the big picture! xD
Just quickly responding to Suspicious Derivative post that was before mine:
Running Shoes: Running Shoes were definitely a defining addition to the games. It's just a shame the "always on" button for the Running Shoes they had in HGSS didn't stick around. I also miss the skates from XY, they felt like a fresh take on the Running Shoes, and you could perform tricks with them!
Release Event: I like the Release Events which gives you a Pokemon you feel alright using in-game, pretty much the ones from XY on (though I didn't train up the Shiny Beldum cause in the back of my head I want to raise a Shiny "right" though honestly I should have just trained it); them having Hold Back and/or Happy Hour also doesn't hurt having them around. Not that I don't like the Victini or Genesect events, but it just kind of feels cheap to be using a Legendary early in the game.
Wild Starter: Would be neat if they added secret locations where you could find where they raise the Starters and maybe be able to battle wild ones (or they let you battle and catch ones which have evovled since obviously they're not going to be given to the Professor to give out; and they could give those their HAs like in XY).
Pokedex Encounter: I do like it pointing out when you encountered a new Pokemon as it serves a functional purpose being a Pokedex. There are plenty of things Rotom Dex does good... the problem is the main thing it doesn't is a bigger problem: not knowing when to shut up.
Detective Barricade:
When was the last time you watched the anime? Around mid-Hoenn they had an entire cast change when PUSA took over dubbing from 4Kids.
Team Rocket Takeover:
And wow, I didn't think to even check Pokemon's Twitter! For the entire day they had Team Rocket writing posts, asking what should they do next in their plan to capture Pikachu, had questions and polls, etc.. Got to hand it to PUSA, they really went full in on the idea.
Not everyone on Twitter was receptive but they hardly responded to that many anyway.
They also added some articles to Pokemon featuring Team Rocket, some of them even throwing shade onto Ash! Trainer Spotlight of the Rocket Trio, Hideout Evaluation, TR's Pokemon Episodes, & Team Rocket through the TCG.
Overall, a nice little April Fools Day event from Pokemon. :)
Running Shoes: Running Shoes were definitely a defining addition to the games. It's just a shame the "always on" button for the Running Shoes they had in HGSS didn't stick around. I also miss the skates from XY, they felt like a fresh take on the Running Shoes, and you could perform tricks with them!
Release Event: I like the Release Events which gives you a Pokemon you feel alright using in-game, pretty much the ones from XY on (though I didn't train up the Shiny Beldum cause in the back of my head I want to raise a Shiny "right" though honestly I should have just trained it); them having Hold Back and/or Happy Hour also doesn't hurt having them around. Not that I don't like the Victini or Genesect events, but it just kind of feels cheap to be using a Legendary early in the game.
Wild Starter: Would be neat if they added secret locations where you could find where they raise the Starters and maybe be able to battle wild ones (or they let you battle and catch ones which have evovled since obviously they're not going to be given to the Professor to give out; and they could give those their HAs like in XY).
Pokedex Encounter: I do like it pointing out when you encountered a new Pokemon as it serves a functional purpose being a Pokedex. There are plenty of things Rotom Dex does good... the problem is the main thing it doesn't is a bigger problem: not knowing when to shut up.
Detective Barricade:
When was the last time you watched the anime? Around mid-Hoenn they had an entire cast change when PUSA took over dubbing from 4Kids.
Team Rocket Takeover:
And wow, I didn't think to even check Pokemon's Twitter! For the entire day they had Team Rocket writing posts, asking what should they do next in their plan to capture Pikachu, had questions and polls, etc.. Got to hand it to PUSA, they really went full in on the idea.
Not everyone on Twitter was receptive but they hardly responded to that many anyway.
They also added some articles to Pokemon featuring Team Rocket, some of them even throwing shade onto Ash! Trainer Spotlight of the Rocket Trio, Hideout Evaluation, TR's Pokemon Episodes, & Team Rocket through the TCG.
Overall, a nice little April Fools Day event from Pokemon. :)