#Assuming Zygarde is in the game which it probably is

[xyztrio721]

You know, I was expecting to see remakes of either Black and White or Crystal.

BUT POKEMON LEGENDS ZA?! WHAT?!

[pincurchinpostulator]

BASELESS LEGENDS Z-A SPECULATION TIME!

On the assumption we're supposed to be pronouncing it "Z to A", would that mean we are returning to a beginning of some sort? The origins of modern Lumiose City? The popular use of Mega Evolution? The (re)discovery of Infinity Energy? Or maybe its plot revolves around fully evolved Pokemon returning to their beginnings?

The Fletchling in the final shot follows the arc that the Talonflame took in the shot before it. It was probably just visual flair, but I want to entertain the possibility that this is the first hint to the plot of the game. Infinity Energy's connection to evolution was a big theme of Gen 6, and now would be the perfect time to revisit it. Maybe part of the plot involves Pokemon evolution getting messed with somehow?

I'm imagining the problem starts with Pokemon's evolutionary states in flux. Some getting devolved like their energy is being taken away. Others getting engorged with energy, powering them up or causing them to evolve. This sudden change causes a spiked aggression, making Alphas more common. The equivalent to the Noble Pokemon end up mega evolving and becoming enraged due to not having a trainer with a keystone to balance them out.

If Z-A is set in the past once again, this could be when knowledge that mega evolution can be controlled with the help of a trainer is spread. Much like in Legends Arceus, people would be fearful and afraid of these rampant mega evolved Pokemon. The hopes of a city made for Pokemon and people coming to a halt until the protagonist comes in and calms the raging mons with the help of Korrina's ancestors. It would help reconcile the Alola dex entries and Mystery Dungeon with what was established in Gen 6 (which the Gen 6 anime kinda implied was already the case).

We know Zygarde is going to be involved in this, and the chaos following Pokemon's evolutionary states going in flux seems like the sort of ecological disaster it would be concerned about.

(This is assuming that they don't go a completely different direction instead of retreading similar ground obviously. Also, Zygarde getting drained and having to gather its cores would be a good way to have it with you from the beginning, but the Raidons already did that and this is getting waaay too long already.)

[doubleddenden]

I keep seeing the argument as to whether or not Pokemon Legends Z-A is going to take place 200 years ago like Legends Arceus and like many fans believe to be the Paris Renovation period. Other suggestions I see are, of course, the "future" because of the hologram grid look of the teaser trailer- some say cyberpunk, some say dystopia, etc. The third one of course the present, and some people think it'll be a sequel to XY taking place a few years after. And of course, the fourth option: time travel between all three.

Personally, I'm not really sure what I think will happen anymore because I've heard convincing arguments from most angles on this. I will say that I fully expect the phrase "Legends Z-A takes entirely within Lumiose City" to be played with a bunch.

There's even arguments between 3 mixed gen starters vs just Kalos Starters but with mega evolutions, even the argument for both in a style similar to XY. Arguments I've seen against regional variant starters is that Kalos Starters really didn't get a highlight point like the Sinnoh starters did with BDSP and that Kalos doesn't have a remake, and that the reason Hisui had a random assortment was because it wasn't colonized yet whereas Lumiose probably would be. Arguments otherwise just kind of assume regional variant starters because it'd be a more interesting and new angle for marketing- which I kind of agree with.

I can see pros and cons to all the angles, but strangely enough, I'm thinking about how this affects Legends games going forward. Strange to think about when we know nothing about Z-A, but it does matter. Why?

Precedence and pattern.

1 game is not enough to determine a pattern. 2 games is more or less enough- look at Gen 1 and 2, setting the precedent and pattern of grass, fire, and water type starters that evolve twice and around the teen to early/mid 30s level range. Gen 2 and 3 even set a pattern of legendary Pokemon as box mascots for non Gen 1 focused games and a 3rd, enhanced version to follow (which BW2 breaks).

So what does this get at? Let's look at it like this:

If the game takes place 200ish years ago, we can sort of assume future Legends titles will follow a similar pattern. If we get a Legends Unova, that'll be during the American Civil War, or roughly 1800s America and possibly a touch of European thrown in (castles and such). If we get Legends Paldea, that'll be set in the established exploration of Area Zero. So on and so forth.

However, if it is set in a modern or future setting, then all precedence gets thrown out the window. There's no hard setting for when a Legends game can take place. Could be at any point in history, maybe even a case like helping a young Prof Oak fill the pokedex in a Kanto-Johto Legends, or perhaps a nature reclaimed Unova after a soft post apocalyptic event in the future.

Hell, depending on how they handle Lumiose, that could also mean anywhere associated with that region can be used rather than anywhen- instead of Legends Alola, imagine Legends ULTRA SPACE.

The starters are a similar boat. If we get a mixed gen regional variant evolution again, we can assume that'll be the established formula going forward, breathing new life into random starters.

HOWEVER, if they did go with Kalos + Megas as our main starters, that means the starters are mostly going to be a convenience of plot or what's currently available or unavailable.

There's also a non-zero chance we get a non traditional starter, which further complicates but adds possibilities to things. Think like convergent species starters, Pokemon that aren't starters BECOMING starters, maybe a Colosseum or XD situation where we get an assigned singular starter to work with. There's even a scenario where Zygarde IS our starter and we build it up as we go.

Basically it boils down to a pattern that can be deciphered, or complete anarchy at the whims of whoever is working on the game at the time.

There is also the scenario where we just don't get more Legends titles, but that's stupid and honestly not worth exploring further.

As for my wants, I'm not sure. I'm up for whatever as long as it's fun, runs well, and has effort put into it. Although, I think it'd be great to break some expectations so future titles can be pretty much ANYTHING. At the same time, I think it'd be wonderful to at least establish a series that takes place entirely in the past so we can get away from the modern milquetoast cultures they've been making these last few gens.

As for starters, I'm in the same boat, just make em fun and don't fuck em up. That's my bare minimum. Either improve the bad starter designs like Inteleon, make cool designs like Empoleon even cooler, or provide a fun alternative, such as a fire type Venusaur convergent or possibly something as random as a Seismitoad as a starter. Again, just make it fun and don't make me regret picking a starter. But I think it'd be better just to give the same treatment the Hisui starters got to another random trio.

We'll find out something before the end of the month, I'm sure.

[1358456]

Review Response, June 21-27, 2020

Well, I guess the DE update doesn’t exist. So I’ll see that story again in Valentine’s Day.

But a miracle has happened in this week, so... yay!

Destiny #017

1)  Hi! I know, long time no see. I’m incredibly sorry for not reviewing sooner, but I guess better late than never, huh? In any case I’m here to stay! Reading this chapter reminded me of how interesting this story really is and I can’t wait to read more. But seeing as it’s been some time I’m going to reread it in order to freshen my memory (I decided to review anyways since I can still review the quality of your fic, which is as I remember, very good). I admit when Peter first mentioned that Ruby was easy to control because of his lack of control over his emotions (and whatnot) unlike Sapphire, I was a bit confused. Wouldn’t it be the other way? I thought to myself, but then I remembered that Sapphire had done some growing up herself. She might’ve not had as much control previously but she certainly does now. As this was kinda proven later on when she was contemplating on what emotion she should be feeling at the moment. And this can be seen as indecision, but I rather thought that this was proving your previous statement correct and that this was her way of finding a little control of the situation. Speaking of what happened a bit later, I was pleasantly surprised of Blue sparing Sapphire’s sanity. I always had hope in Blue despite her obvious turning... but this really proves that Blue can (and most likely will) realize that despite Peter’s kindness she’ll have to betray him because what he’s doing simply isn’t right. I realize now that she probably also followed him because of him brainwashing her, but I can’t remember this particular detail... damn maybe I should’ve reread this before reviewing. Ah well, I’m this far into it anyways. In any case, although this chapter was short I fully enjoyed it. Especially Y’s inner monologue at the end. I do have a soft spot for light angst :’) (I’m sure you can call it that, right...?) so, thank you!

WELCOME BACK!! Yes, it’s always better late than never. After all, as I said before...

I’LL WAIT A THOUSAND SUMMERS!

For Ruby and Sapphire’s “control” issue, I was actually thinking about their little Hidden Power interaction. Sapphire has strong intuition and instincts, and is in full control of her senses. Or at least that was a part of it, anyways. This chapter was written years ago, so I don’t remember all the details. Hehe.

As for Blue... There’s a little character arc for her across all of my stories. If you read my stories in order of creation, you can kind of see it. First is when she’s neglected and is just rolling with it while feigning cheeriness (SE/SA/SR), but then it just piles up and she goes into depression (SA/SL/Destiny), then she kind of snaps and goes rampant (SL/Destiny), then she finds the one piece of true happiness in her life and starts to turn it around (Destiny), and eventually successfully attains happiness and stays that way (Destiny/Legacy). So you’re at the moment in Destiny where Blue has gone rampant but is trying to turn it around.

... I think I need to reread this story too. Hehe. I don’t really remember what happens in each chapter... except for a certain few, that is.

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Destiny #018

1)  That’s... awful... Poor Y, who was already suffering so much, both physically and mentally. She didn’t even get to hear X say what he wanted to say to her. And if they don’t meet again she’d live the rest of her life not truly knowing where she stood with X. Always filled with guilt. Such is the sadness of the situation, but I can still hope! Hope that Y will meet X again and he’ll be able to tell her his thoughts. Though come to think of it, poor X too. He’ll have to speak with his seniors and he’s obviously really uncomfortable with that and doesn’t even have Y around to help him. Welp, to go to another depressing topic there’s also Sapphire’s situation to discuss. It is at the point not that disobeying Peter *would* be interfering with his plans, since it’s crucial that Sapphire be broken. Will Blue be able to disobey? Impossible to know, you can only hope that she does. On another topic, after rereading the fic (oh god I’d forgotten how long this was, it’s truly amazing the dedication you’ve had for this fic) I kept thinking back to Peter’s “blank eyes” you mentioned in the earlier chapters. This is a vague and rather shoddy theory, but the only thing I could think that would be the cause of the blankness is him being brainwashed as well. This is rather obvious, but this leads to who might be brainwashing him. Clearly this would be someone (or something..?) that would benefit from the restoration of the legendary’s and this would bring us to suspect #1: Zygarde. Now, I haven’t actually read the XY arc nor played the game (ik ik but I can still have a fellow feeling for X and Y) so I don’t know what this dude is capable of, but I can assume that this is within the realm of possibilities. And it would make sense with the whole blinking lights thing that Blue noticed that was going on a couple chapters ago. ‘Cause I mean, why else would this random guy help the legendaries, it’s all just a bit too sketchy. I am no detective, so I think these are fairly obvious, but they’re all I have going for me right now. This was a lovely chapter (writing of course, I can hardly apply that to the atmosphere), and I can’t wait to read the next one.

Poor Y indeed. Really. Poor Y... hehehe...

Destiny’s not THAT long, is it? ... 220 000 words... well, it’s not longer than SA which has 225 000, but... that difference is practically negligible. ... I wonder how long Legacy would end up... Anyways.

I don’t know if it’s obvious or not. I have a hard time with that. Sometimes I put in obvious hints in my stories and no one catches on. Sometimes I put vague hints in my stories and no one catches on. So I can’t tell if it’s subtle or blatant. I think for the Mega Hunter, there were a lot of subtle and blatant ones.

Now for Zygarde... well, the Neural Para... er... mind control is not really in its arsenal. Destiny’s plans were written shortly after XY games were released. Zygarde was kind of worthless there, but given what happened with Kyurem, I suspected that it would get a cooler new form. But then in SM, it turned out that its cooler new form was just a massive health buff. And it still gets annihilated by Xerneas, so... pfft. But I think I used its signature moves pretty well. Especially, say... Core Enforcer. Hahaha.

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Destiny #019

1)  Ok, first of all, WHAT KINDA QUESTION IS THAT? How can I choose? Both options of your review survey thing are so sad... but after a moment’s thought, I think the second option is better. If Y were to continuously push herself then she’d just die. End of story. But with the second option, although incredibly risky and kinda pointless for X to go save her, the chances of them both staying alive are possibly higher, and Y would know Ax’s true feelings. This I think, would be what you referred to as the “happy ending”. Unless you actually said it outright that it’s the opposite and I just completely missed it. But anyways I’ve spent enough on Y’s situation lmao. I think I might switch over to Blue now, because something has been nagging me for a while. I feel like slapping this woman. I know she’s partially under the control of Peter (or assuming that my previous theory is correct, Zygarde’s), but, murder? Thankfully she admitted this chapter that she was, in fact, NOT wanting to murder anyone. But when she let anger blind her she was quite willing to do away with Green. And she has reason! Was Green did to her was beyond shitty, but killing him is just a little overtop. And she tried to justify it by saying, “Peter is the only one that has been kind to me” so it’s ok that I betray even my closest friends whom I’ve known for years even if I haven’t kept much in contact (besides Silver smh). She clearly knows what Peter is doing is wrong and while I don’t think that anyone is a saint and everyone makes mistakes, I’m still thinking “come on”. Plus, it’s not difficult to see how Peter’s kindness is really just a way to benefit him. Though I can let that one slide since it’s easy to fool yourself. Despite all that, later on in the chapter after feeling annoyance at Blur for seriously trying to blame Y for wanting to give X back *his* Mega Ring (plus why do they call it ring) just because it’d been a gift to her (and reminding myself that she also had reason to feel that way but whatever) it was very nice to see her being selfless. Which might be an awful thing to ask of her now, but it was the right thing to do. And that’s gratifying on its own, right? I feel as if these reviews have started to just be me ranting at this point. Can you still enjoy these..? But honestly there isn’t much to review at this point. I’ve touched a lot on your actual writing in past reviews, and since it’s the same fic the style hasn’t exactly change. Though I can still admire how seamlessly you seem to write, even while changing point of views. Quickly changing scenes from something a little peaceful, to a battle, which you are able to describe in detail and yet still be engaging. Ah, I got kind of sidetracked, didn’t I? In any case all I have yet to do is speculate what’s going to happen next, but alas, I have no idea. I assume there’s a somewhat happy ending, with a final battle with Peter and the legendaries, not to mention the plot twist. Guess I’ll just have to wait and see.

Huh? ... Oh right. The review survey. Hahaha. Second option, huh? I think I remember most people choosing that option. But... if you look at the choices, it seems pretty clear, right? And I just love to break expectations. Hehe...

Now, as for what’s happening with Blue, it’s explored a lot more in the upcoming chapters, with everything being explained in... 25? 26? And I do believe that all the issues you have will be resolved.

Hehe. Asking a girl, who after being neglected for years is finally trying to find some happiness for herself, to be selfless? How awful! Hahaha.

Of course I still enjoy these! Despite being called “reviews”, they’re more like “comments”, really. Just tell me what you liked about each chapter, what you didn’t like, what you hope to see in the future, what you don’t want to see, and/or just your thoughts/feelings while reading. So precisely what you’ve been doing already. It’s fine~! :)

I greatly look forward to seeing more!

[recentanimenews]

The 6 Pokémon Trainers the Anime Forgot

Since 1997, over 1,000 episodes of Pokémon the Series have followed Ash Ketchum's journey across multiple regions, where he's met and battled many of the unique personalities that populate the beloved video game series. Not every character is created equal though, and while some have become pop culture icons like Brock and Misty, others have to feel grateful for even a single episode, and others have yet to appear at all!

  However, it doesn't look like the anime is gonna be stopping any time soon, and in all likelihood will probably continue as long as new games are being made. So, with speculation swirling about the new season's return trips to Kanto and beyond, here's who we're hoping will finally get the spotlight they deserve.

    Janine

Of the 59 Gym Leaders introduced before Sword and Shield (and if we count Gary as an adaptation of Blue,) each one has made an appearance of some degree in the anime… except Janine.

  With Koga promoted to the Elite Four in the Game Boy sequels Gold and Silver, Fuschia City found a new Gym Leader in his daughter, Janine. The young girl only appeared briefly in the Kanto post-game and inexperience made her weaker than her colleagues, so it’s understandable that such a small role was forgotten. Even the English localisation team did, being mistakenly renamed in FireRed and LeafGreen as “Charine”!

  The Nintendo DS’ HeartGold and SoulSilver made up for the lack of attention by exploring the adoration she has for her father: she won’t shut up about him, delivers his lunches to the other side of Kanto, and even argues with Falkner over who has the best dad! Basically, she’s absolutely precious.

  When Ash returned to Kanto in Battle Frontier, I thought Janine was finally going to appear - there was even an episode about a young woman running a ninja school! But no, instead it was lead by the anime-original Angela, because reasons, I guess? With her recently being featured in the Pokémon Trading Card Game and the newly released Pokémon Masters though, perhaps a return to Kanto could finally give Janine the appearance she deserves?

Grimsley

  While Gym Leaders are almost always guaranteed a spot in the anime, the same can't be said about a region's most powerful trainers: the Elite Four. Only 3 regions have had their full line-ups appear, and others like Unova have only had 1 - which is a shame, given that Black and White have one of the coolest and most complex line-ups.

  Given the series' complicated history with gambling (like The Gamer Corner), it's surprising how important it is to Grimsley's design and backstory. The son of a disgraced noble family, he fell victim to a gambling addiction, before emerging as the dapperly dressed Dark-type master of Unova's Elite Four!

  The world clearly hasn't been kind to young Grimsley, however. When we saw him again in Sun and Moon, he had bags in his eyes as he listfully lingered on the shore. In the Ultra variants, he reflects on the despair he felt after putting everything on the line and losing, referring to himself as a former Elite Four member. The circumstances about his fall from grace and who replaced him remain mysteries, but even though they're separate continuities, perhaps an anime appearance could clear them up? His brief cameo in the animated trailer for the Pokémon Masters mobile game gave us a taste of what he may look like in the anime, so hopefully we'll see Grimsley again in one way or another - if not the series, maybe Black 3/White 3? (Come on, Game Freak!).

  Darach

    One of my favorite stories in the Pokémon World is that of Caitlin, the quick-tempered overseer of Sinnoh's Battle Castle, who after mastering her runaway psychic powers, earned a place in Unova's Elite Four. While she briefly appeared in the anime however, her backstory and an important part of it didn't.

  With Caitlin being unable to battle without her uncontrollable powers running rampant, her personal valet Darach assumed the mantle of Frontier Brain and fended off challengers himself. A refined gentleman and fierce battler alike, Darach is a class act all-round. And after Caitlin left to train in Unova, little has been said about her dashing butler, other than that he makes occasional trips to clean her villa. Should Caitlin return to the anime, hopefully she'll have Darach in tow, because they seem to make an awesome team. 

  Silver

  If you were to ask old-school Pokémon fans who their favorite rival is, a good chunk would point to Silver. While Blue was cocky, Silver's a straight up jerk - I mean, we first meet him after he stole a starter Pokémon from Professor Elm! He has good reason to be a grump though: his dad's only the missing leader of Team Rocket, Giovanni! Rather than join the family business however, Silver would prefer to tear it down.

  With Team Rocket's boss having a constant looming presence in the anime, you'd think his son would be a shoe-in, right? Wrong. While he appeared in the Pokémon Generations web short and had a cameo in side-story The Legend of Thunder, Pokémon's second most famous rival has yet to appear in the main anime continuity. It's a real shame too, as his presence could be a catalyst for a Team Rocket-focused story arc that brings Giovanni back to the forefront, and his more serious personality would be a great contrast to Jessie, James and Meowth's more jovial dynamic.

  It's possible that Silver was the inspiration behind the Diamond & Pearl series' rival Paul, as he has a similar obsession with strength, an abrasive personality, and even similar hair! Their character arcs also had similar endings, with the two starting to show signs of actually respecting their Pokémon partners. While Paul is easily the anime's best rival to date though, seeing the real deal would be great.

Wally

  If there's anyone who could have benefitted from the gradual character development that a series allows, it would've been Wally. A timid and frail kid, Ruby and Sapphire's other rival is determined to not let his shortcomings get in the way of becoming a great Pokémon trainer. Seeing his confidence grow in tandem with his abilities was the most rewarding part of his games' story, and the final battle in Victory Road was a perfect climax to that tale.

  What made Wally's absence from the anime even more disappointing was that while May had the recurring presence of Drew on the contest circuit, Ash didn't even have a rival for most of his Hoenn adventure. The anime-only characters Morrison and Tyson were hastily introduced right before the Ever Grande Conference, leaving Hoenn's event with none of the build-up a Pokémon League should have.

  The most important reason for a Wally appearance now though, is easily so a remix of his amazing Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire battle theme can be in the soundtrack. Name me a better battle theme, I'll wait. Although a good contender may be...

Zinnia

    Sworn by a generations old duty to awaken the legendary Rayquaza and destroy a meteor, the fate of the world is on Zinnia's shoulders. After briefly appearing throughout Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire, she became the focal point of their post-game "Delta Episode" - perhaps the best addition to the series' lore yet!

  Zinnia is a complex and fascinating character. Despite her goal of saving the world, she was prepared to put it in danger by awakening Groudon or Kyogre to lure out the emerald dragon. She can be quite playful (and dare I say flirty) at times, but she also has a pained presence. Her burden hangs heavy over her, as does the pain of losing her dear friend, and Whismur's namesake, Aster.

  She could have made a great focal point for a Delta Episode-inspired storyline, and Iris' Village of Dragons could have easily been retconned to be the Draconid Tribe. With the X&Y anime already focusing on Zygarde, we weren't lacking in cool ways to feature her. 

  The events of Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire's endgame established the existence of a multiverse, with the GameBoy Advance originals existing in a reality where the lack of Mega Evolution makes it vulnerable to the meteorite. With the recent movies I Choose You and The Power of Us existing in their own continuity, perhaps a Hoenn-focused follow-up could see Zinnia having to save both of Ash Ketchum's realities?

  What Pokémon characters would you like to see in the new anime, and what do you hope to see from the new anime? Let us know in the comments!

  Josh A. Stevens is a freelance PR with anime industry experience, and a writer at Anime UK News. You can follow him on Twitter @Joshawott.

  Do you love writing? Do you love anime? If you have an idea for a features story, pitch it to Crunchyroll Features!

    By: news+feed@crunchyroll.com

[radramblog]

VGC Series 10 Restricted Pokemon

So the new series of Pokemon Sword and Shield competitive is about to launch (as in, it starts on Sunday). The rules are pretty interesting, and as a result a lot of the metagame is being thrown on its head.

-Dynamax is off. They just up and got rid of the games’ gimmick. I’m sure Smogon DOU players will be right at home.

-Each team is permitted one Restricted Pokemon, as in Series 8.

There are 24 Pokemon listed as “Restricted”, just about all of them the intentionally overpowered “cover legendaries” the series has stuck with since Gold and Silver. Each of them is extremely powerful, and would be a worthwhile addition to any team.

But, which one should you run? Find out in this entirely serious guide.

(I was going to attach funny meme images to this like but I ran out of time sorry just imagine doge memes next to Zacian and stuff you get the idea i might edit this later)

Mewtwo

There are two types of people running Mewtwo. People with nostalgia, whether it be just because it’s one of their favourite mons or because the infamy of it being the “ultimate Pokemon” stuck in their heads too long, or because they know how good it actually is but they want to try it anyway.

I mean, it’s not bad? Obviously that Sp.A don’t quit, and Terrain-boosted Expanding Force is kinda nutty. Plenty of coverage, too. But without the Megas, Mewtwo just isn’t good enough anymore, I think. And unfortunately, there’s another thing on this list that kinda just does the same thing, but better.

 Lugia

While Mewtwo is unquestionably a fast offensive threat, Lugia represents the opposite end of the spectrum. It’s faster than I had assumed, actually, but most of why you run it is for that sweet sweet chonk.

I understand wanting to use Lugia. The second movie is my favourite too. But 90/90 offenses don’t cut it these days, you don’t want your Uber/Restricted to be a supportive mon, and setup strategies are both risky and done better by other things. Sorry? Aeroblast is a lot cooler when you can turn it into Max Flying, I’m afraid.

 Ho-Oh

I actually don’t have anything bad to say about Ho-oh. It’s actually kind of great, and possibly underrated- it is able to check some of the biggest threats in the meta, and is dummy thick enough to take hits and clear out the remainder.

It is in the 90 Speed group, which a surprising number of these Restricteds are, so you might suffer from speed creeping issues. Or just run bulk, because Regenerator and Recover make it nigh-unkillable if you invest hard enough.

Look I’m biased I just built a Ho-oh team what do you want from me?

 Kyogre

One of the two Weather restricted things. Just about everyone running Rain is going to want one of these, and it’s one of the most popular mons in the format as a result. It’s not quite meta-defining, but it’s the first of what I reckon are going to be the Big Four of the format.

Water Spout and Origin Pulse hit like an absolute tank off this thing. It doesn’t need much else. This is why you run Wide Guard, people.

Kyogre is very good, which is what makes it very boring. We will be returning to this concept.

 Groudon

The Other Weather Setter, and inexplicably a way less popular one. It might be that Eruption isn’t STAB and doesn’t come off it’s superior Physical Attack- Fire Punch doesn’t quite hit as hard.

That, and there actually is another solid Sun setter in Torkoal. But why not both, though?

I ran Groudon in Series 8 and I was pretty impressed by its performance. I mean, it’s Kyogre but awkward and Physical. You could do a lot worse.

 Rayquaza

I love Rayquaza a lot, as a result of both Emerald and the anime, so it’s with a heavy heart that I must say that Rayquaza is, like, not good in this format.

The key issue Rayq faces is that it’s statline is really awkwardly distributed. It has 150 in both offenses, but that leaves it’s other stats somewhat lacking compared to the other restricteds on the list. That and it’s ability, Air Lock, implies it’d be good at beating Groudon/Kyogre, but it kind of just loses to them 1v1. They’re bulky enough to live a hit, and don’t have to go out of their way to clonk it for SE damage. And what the fuck, it only has 95 speed? It feels like it should have much more.

 Dialga

I haven’t seen much buzz about Dialga, which is actually kind of surprising. Like, Steel/Dragon is a great typing, it’s a Dragon that isn’t weak to Fairy or Ice or Dragon, and it’s statline is pretty solid- 150 Sp.A and 100/120/100 defenses. What’s not to love?

Oh it probably just dies to Zacian doesn’t it. Or Landorus, of whom both forms are super popular right now. Sigh. One day.

 Palkia

Looking at the Pikalytics data, apparently a bunch of people are running Trick Room Palkia? Which makes zero sense to me, seeing as it’s actually a bit faster than a bunch of these mons.

It’s relatively less bulky, but BEEG DRACOVISH here is probably pretty decent. I’ve heard, however, that calling something decent basically just means it’s bad. And I wouldn’t be surprised if that turns out to be the case. Two of the Big Four just lay this fucker flat out, so.

 Giratina

Despite being bulkier than Palkia, it’s weaker to an additional member of the Big Four, which probably just makes it unusable. Whoops.

And as cool as noodle Giratina is, it dies to even more things, isn’t any faster, and means you don’t get to run a funky item to make it runnable. Prooobably just stick to Dragapult?

 Reshiram

Reshiram presents an interesting question, because it’s typing and moveset are kinda great for the format. It’s another Fairy-neutral Dragon, which is nice and good, and Blue Flare hits like an absolute truck.

I’m convinced Reshiram has a place in the meta. I just don’t quite know what it is yet.

 Zekrom

Zekrom strikes me as like, Reshiram but it’s worse against Zacian and better against Kyogre. It’s interesting, because Fire is a type you kinda want right now, but Electric is pretty good as well? Like, Regieleki cannot fucking touch this thing.

Zekrom also has a kind of insane moveset to work with, and if you want to try a Dragon Dance set, it’s a great spot for it. So, basically, maybe?

 Kyurem

I guess you could technically run Base Kyurem as your Restricted. I don’t know why you would, it’s kind of awful. Typing sucks, moves suck, stats don’t make up for it.

 Kyurem-Black

Kyurem-Black was given it’s greatest gift since its release- actually getting Physical Ice STAB off it’s ludicrous 170 Attack. Unfortunately, this alone does not a playable mon make, and it’s still weak to frankly too many types. Ice is just so completely awful defensively! Please fix this, Game Freak.

35% of people trying this format out early are running Power Herb Freeze Shock, and I salute you crazy, crazy bastards. But also that sounds awful tbh.

 Kyurem-White

Reshiram, but you trade a great defensive type for a bad one, and gain monstrous stats in return. If you can find a way to stop Zacian from hitting it, it probably one-shots it back. Also, it gets Freeze-Dry for Kyogre, though even with 170 Sp.A I don’t know if you one-shot that thing.

 Xerneas

 We’re finally getting to member two of the Big Four. Xerneas is an old standby of restricted VGC formats, and kind of a one trick pony. Er, deer. But that one trick is very solid, so fair enough.

If I’m honest, I think that One Trick is going to make Xerneas take a hit in usability, because the moment it gets good, people instantly know how to counter it and add that into their teams. The thing barely ever runs non-Fairy attacking moves, for fuck’s sake! Put a Steel in front of it and it just cries.

 Yveltal

 Yveltal is awkward, because it’s fighting for a spot with the Very Good Moltres-Galar, which doesn’t take up the restricted slot. But Yveltal does have a space to work within, I think.

It’s got an absolutely phenomenal support moveset, which again isn’t really want you want on your Restricted, but it’s natural offenses are good enough that you can probably just get away with it. STAB Oblivion Wing and STAB/Dark Aura Snarl are incredible for bulkier builds, and it even has incredible damage with a priority Sucker Punch. Basically, it’s got some things going on.

 Zygarde

Zygarde is the most awkward ‘mon on this list, methinks. It’s entire bit is trying to get to low HP in order to trigger Power Construct and get into it’s super mode, but the statgain…isn’t incredible? It’s HP doubles and it trades 10 Speed for Special Attack. Which you might not even be using? And this is all predicated on it getting to particular HP values, which is a lot harder now that you can’t Dynamax it.

This thing is scary as hell in the Max Lair, but not so much here. Signature moves are fucking wild though.

 Cosmog/Cosmoem

I know they’re preevolutions of two restricted species, but why are these restricted? Was Z-Teleport really that good?

You have to be a serious memelord to play one of these, and a very good player to actually win with them. In other words, if I see one of these on ladder or in a tournament, I’m going to start sweating.

 Solgaleo

Solgaleo has the same problem as Yveltal, but moreso. Because just about anything it can do, Metagross can do just about as well and without taking up a restricted spot. Sure, Meteor Mash is a bit worse than Sunsteel Strike, and technically Full Metal Body and Clear Body aren’t identical (FMB is immune to ability-nullifying effects, apparently), but come onnnn. Are you really running Sun Dog when you can run funy robot man and also your choice of restricted beastie? Come on now.

 Lunala

 As much as I love Lunala’s design, it’s not particularly good. It has the same typing as Caly-Ghost, and significantly worse stats, ability, and movepool. And conveniently, due to that shared typing, Caly-Ghost just lays this fucker to waste. A shame, for such a cool design.

 Necrozma

Similar to Kyurem, you could run this, if you wanted a worse Mewtwo. I guess it is better than the Ice Dragon, but like, don’t bother.

 Necrozma-Dusk-Mane

The other reason not to run Solgaleo is because this exists. Just, the same, but way better. It’s a lot slower, but that just makes it playable in Trick Room, so.

NDM over here is competing with Zacian for the throne of Nuts Steel/X Physical Dog. Unfortunately, because Zacian is, frankly, completely fuckbusted insane, and doesn’t require setup like NDM does, it’s not going to win that fight.

 Necrozma-Dawn-Wings

Again, Lunala but slower and bulkier and hits harder. If you can get a Troom up, it’s probably kinda nuts, since then it actually can just cap Calyrex in its dressage-looking ass. Plus, you’re probably already running Indeedee, so Psychic Terrain goes off.

I wanna see someone kill things with Meteor Beam/Power Herb on this. It’s probably pretty decent. But it’s still a lot of work, and I’m not convinced the payoff is worth it.

 Zacian

 I’m not even going to bother writing about uncrowned Zacian, even if it probably will see more play than some of the other things on this list.

Let’s run it down. Patently absurd stats- 92/115/115 are average defenses for a Restricted (maybe a bit above average?) but it has 170 Attack, and unlike the Kyurems it actually has the speed to back it up at 148. To be clear, that’s the second fastest Restricted, and only 3 other Pokemon in the game (Regieleki, Ninjask, Pheromosa- Deoxys, Electrode, and some Megas are faster but aren’t in Gen 8) outspeed it. It’s got fucking bonkers typing, arguably the best two in the game, along with an ability that effectively pumps that Attack to 255. Oh, also very good STAB and coverage moves.

Zacian is almost certainly the most important Pokemon in the entire format. It’s that good. You don’t have to be smart to use it, especially as you don’t actually get the choice of item. It’s an idiot beatstick, and that’s kind of all there is to it. Every team needs to have an answer to it, and since it gets Imprison, you can even just run it as an answer to itself. What a fucking joke of a mon.

 Zamazenta

And then there’s The Other One. Zamazenta is significantly more balanced than Zacian, being surprisingly bulky even without that +1 Defense, and having solid Attack and Speed to boot. Also, Wide Guard.

I’m going to be honest, I think Zamazenta basically only takes on a supportive role. The moveset is fine, Wide Guard and Coaching and Snarl, no Body Press though for some fucking reason. It’s probably a Pretty Okay mon. But I don’t know why you’d run it over another support mon like Hitmontop, which gets similar moves and a better ability.

 Eternatus

Like Zacian and Zamazenta, Eternatus technically got worse with the Dynamax ban, seeing as their signature moves effectively ignore the HP-doubling effect. The thing is, Zacian is still insane anyway, and Zamazenta doesn’t really care, so Eternatus is really the main thing getting hit by this “nerf”.

It’s still solid, though. Good HP, Special Attack, and Speed, functional other stats, and it’s a Dragon that can kill the shit out of Xerneas. I think Eternatus is just on the cusp of being good- maybe if they gave it an actual ability instead of Pressure.

Or just release Eternamax, because fuck it, why not.

 Calyrex

It’s Kyurem and Necrozma again but somehow worse, next.

 Calyrex-Shadow

The final member of the Big Four. It actually kinda looks a lot like Zacian- slightly faster, a fair chunk weaker, but the ability lets it snowball hard and it gets incredible spread moves in Astral Barrage and Expanding Force. Because the only thing worse than them beating the shit out of your Pokemon is them doing it to both at once.

The key difference between Caly-Shadow and Zacian is it’s less immediate threat. For one, it doesn’t have that immediate +1 that Zacian does, and it has two x4 weaknesses to exploit. And since it usually is running spread moves, it can have a harder time dropping a specific counter, let alone its weakness to Wide Guard.

But it’s still fucking nuts. So.

 Calyrex-Ice

 We took the Shadow one, put all it’s speed into bulk, and made it Physical. Oh, and it hits a bit harder typically, since Ice is better offensively than Ghost. Sure?

In all seriousness, Caly-Ice is a brutal threat…under Trick Room and only there. If you can set it up, it’s a nigh-unkillable threat that steadily bulldozes through the opposition, and doesn’t have to rely on Spreads like Shadow does. Ironically, the worse defensive typing is better here, because it’s less likely to get OHKO’d without a x4 weakness. And if you get TR up, they aren’t getting a second attack.

 And that’s the lot of them. So, which one should you choose? One of the Big Four? A spicy meme pick? An underrated champion?

None of them. Play none of them, coward, you won’t.

Okay but seriously just about all of them are playable on the right team so dw about it

[countmohawk]

Ultra Sun Recollections 14

The path towards Po Town!

There’s another Aether lean-to on the northern shores past Tapu Village, which i where the Zygarde combining machine is. I’d forgotten about it entirely, actually. However, since we’re collecting Totem stickers instead of Zygarde cells, the machine is useless to us for now. At least it looks pretty cool~!

Faba is skulking around in the Ula’ula Meadow. Although he’s still an ass, at least he’s attempting to be productive with his time by thinking over the Necrozma problem. I’d lay even money he’s up to no good though.

Also in the meadow is the entrance to the Lake of the Moone. I stopped here very briefly, not only for the Psyshock TM and the easy access as a Fly point, but also because I enjoy the feeling of mystery and reverence the lake evokes.

Po Town is just a little further north after passing the Lake. There’s a lot of Team Skull Grunts wandering around the premises of the town’s giant steel walls. Maybe the original owners of the town should have built a roof over their heads too, since it’s always raining there?

The grunts directly outside of the one door to the place won’t let me in even though I beat them down, which makes a lot of sense, even if most other Teams in previous games don’t try anything of the sort.

I actually really like Kahuna Nanu. He acts like he doesn’t care about anything anymore, which is a front he puts up to hide what I can only assume is crippling depression. Vanilla Sun’s postgame goes into his background in more detail, and I do intend to cover that after Ultra Sun’s main story is done, as (as far as I am aware) there are a number of plot points in vanilla Sun’s postgame that didn’t make the jump into Ultra Sun.

That being said, although we don’t learn much about Nanu here, we do learn that he commands the respect of Team Skull. I’m not sure why that would be; maybe Guzma secretly looks up to the man and can’t bring himself to shut him out entirely?

These two clowns running the Pokemon Center cross so far over the stupid line that they loop back around into hilarious. I was fully prepared to rage at them for daring to charge for the healing services a Center normally provides for free, but when I found out that they only want 10 P, I laughed instead. Note how much money I have already (granted, most of that is from selling shit my B team found in the Poke Pelago, but still). Like seriously, 10 P is probably the equivalent of maybe 3 cents USD, if we assume the Pokedollar is based more on the Yen than the dollar. When was the last time you could buy anything for 3 cents?!

The affection some of these Grunts display for their boss Guzma is downright paternal. It’s really sad when you think about it: Team Skull is basically a giant family of misfits, led by a guy who doesn’t have his act together himself but has to play the ‘tough guy’ to garner as much respect for his underlings as possible. No wonder Guzma lets Nanu come and go as he pleases; hell, the man probably helps out with their grocery shopping! (well, probably not, actually, but it’s a nice thought nonetheless)

As for Guzma himself, he’s slightly harder to beat in the second fight than he was in Malie Garden, as he’s improved his team to three members, up from two. This did not save him from getting toasted by Lycanroc again, however.

Outside the Shady House, a quick chat with Nanu and Acerola ensues. Nanu’s final line about Pokemon being confined in their Poke Balls says a lot about him, but given various Pokemon’s propensity to pop out of their Balls on their own, it’s probably not as big a concern as he makes it out to be.

Next episode, I fly back to the Aether House next door to Tapu Village. Look out, readers, here comes the plot again!

[bigboobshaunt]

Pokémon Z

I don’t think it’s a secret to anyone that I have my fair share of problems with Pokémon XY and I’ve had them since those games were released. A lot of things bother me about them, but mostly the plot and character aspects of it, as well as something or other about the gameplay.

So! As promised on my gaming sideblog, I took a lot of notes about Pokémon XY while I was replaying them as part of my Pokéthon, in which I’m currently revisiting every region in the main series, in order for me to compile a list of alternatives to its story and characters that might have better served the Kalos region if it had been done differently.

Now, these changes are going to follow the template for Gamefreak’s “third version” so yes, it’s going to bring Zygarde into the spotlight, and I recognize that every paired Pokémon games that eventually got a third version are a little disjointed, before getting improved by their re-release, but, spoiler alert: XY were even more so than usual, so that’s not an excuse by itself. 

This does indeed mean this is pretty much “What I would have liked to have seen in a Z version” as was implied by the title. Yes, I am aware of the fact that it’s 2018.  Making this made me acutely aware of how many damn plates they were juggling with this region all at once, which probably explains why they all fell to the floor and broke.

This is 10k words long and I’m dying.

When I said I took notes, I mean it in the most literal sense possible, so you’re going to see my commentary unfiltered sometimes, and then my commentary about my own commentary - I like talking even though I probably shouldn’t. Point being: this is not a complete rewrite, because I sure as hell am not being paid to do this, so it’s going to be more or less my suggestions about how I would have gone about developing this world and its characters to fix their issues, had I been at the helm.

That being said, I think I’ve managed to round out a lot of reasons the “primary” versions fell flat and ironed out some solutions to those shortcomings, and though I’ll be the first to admit that my solutions are far from perfect, I do believe they’d have made for a better game than the ones we got.

At the end of the day, though, XY are still Pokémon games, and I’ve replayed them many, many times, because I just can’t outright hate main series Pokémon games, and my criticisms and suggestions here are born out of my own desire to have seen these games be better. I hope I’m not dismissed as a #hater because of it, but if these games are something you hold dear and refuse to admit its flaws, then you should probably not read on.

If it matters, I think Gamefreak’s gotten better about the flaws that made XY what it was, since then. I thought ORAS was a pretty solid remake and game as a whole, I liked the Delta Episode (specially Zinnia) and I absolutely LOVED SM, and even if I did think USUM was considerably more on the squirrely side compared to its predecessor/AU, I still enjoyed it a lot because I love that cast of characters. Meaning this rework of mine is not really topical, or being written because I’m “concerned” for the future of their storytelling abilities, for that matter.

It’s just something I needed to get out of my system, apparently. Now to move on to the actual thing.

This is going to be split in three sections for organization’s sake: Characters, Plot and Gameplay. And though I’ve been careful not to extrapolate too far from something that would happen in Pokémon canon (even though I’d argue it’s a wild ride enough as it is) and did base this mostly on actual Kalos canon (hah) there is going to be some inevitable divergence, reworking and tweaking here and there. Hope you enjoy. 

Characters

1) Friend Group

*For the purposes of this post, I’m gonna assume Serena is the protagonist, as I did just play through Y with her in order to do this, which makes Calem the rival. If you flip it around, though, the complaints remain the same.

*I’ll also refer to the collective of Calem, Shauna, Trevor and Tierno as the “Friend Group” from now on, because I don’t feel like typing their names every time, and their flaws come both from how weak they are as a group AND individually.

*The first scene with the Friend Group is actually fairly competent at establishing who these characters are, however, this slips pretty fast into inconsistency as the game goes on and never really recovers. 

*I’ve noticed that Trevor doesn’t really come off to me as shy beyond this scene and Tierno seems to dial down in boisterousness from now on.  These might have been good changes, had they not happened pretty much IMMEDIATELY after the start of the game and been developed properly. 

*Tierno and Trevor are sometimes a package deal, and I believe if they’d interacted more, you’d have been able to tell that they’re growing as people through learning from each other. Trevor could have learned to better manage his shyness through Tierno and Tierno could have gotten some level headed-ness from his friend, in turn. Oh well, down the toilet!

*This package deal is more than a little unkind to Shauna, though. She seems almost disconnected from the entirety of this group besides you. A change that similarly happens right after their first scene. I do consider her the most likable of the four, but that’s a) a low bar to set and b) obviously what the writer intended, and that’s really transparent.

*What’s also transparent is that Shauna gets flirtier dialogue with male players than she does with female ones in the fireworks scene, which should be fixed immediately.

*Truth be told, I liked the part in which all five of you explore Santalune Forest together a lot, because it showed what each of you was up to in that segment and made them feel more alive... Which sucks, because it’s the only time it happens in the game and they go right back to feeling like grating roadblocks after this. I’ve added more segments of that nature down the road.

*I’m not at all bothered by the fact that Tierno, Trevor and Shauna aren’t doing the League Challenge, I do like the concept that they have different goals for themselves. What I don’t like is how none of them ever get development in those areas.

*We see hints of some change when you battle the three of them at the bridge that leads to Snowbelle (Trevor is frustrated by losing and wonders if he should dedicate himself to training a little more, while Tierno says he felt incompetent by comparison after reflecting on what the player character did to stop Team Flare) but that’s not nearly enough to matter in a character growth sort of sense. 

*Even worse with Shauna, because it feels like her resolution was, literally, “Whatever!” They tried giving her a thing about how she wants to form memories with you, but a lot of these memories are either bland or rather insignificant. I don’t wanna think too much about “That time my friends and I were roped off by some dude with a half-baked horror story” or “That time my friend and I watched some tower turn on the lights” because they’re boring and don’t Mean anything to me. 

*Maybe expand upon Why Shauna wants memories she can treasure? Perhaps she didn’t have many friends she could interact with before your group and she feels her life’s been confusing and uneventful so far, so she wants to recklessly throw herself into an adventure to change that? That would actually have fit as a resolution if she decided she wanted to live in the moment, with her friends and her Pokémon beside her.

*I realize comparing BW to XY in terms of writing is like comparing filet mignon to dollar store cupcackes, but compared to Bianca, a character who also didn’t really know what she wanted in life before going on her journey, and STILL finds herself doubting it two years later, Shauna really pales in comparison, because that inner conflict Bianca was given made her a multi-faceted character, and shock of all shocks, it’s also not all that there was to her at the end of the day!

*This is overlapping a bit with the Gym Leaders’ section, but they gave her this Thing with Clemont that implies they keep in touch, and Clemont gives her that convenient little puzzle machine that comes into play One (1) time because Shauna says she loves puzzles in a single line of dialogue that might even be missed? I get the feeling they wanted Clemont to be a bigger character in this world, if the anime is of any indication, and I think that friendship could be expanded upon. 

*You could have been prompted by Shauna to visit Clemont and Bonnie upon arriving in Lumiose (maybe even where we get the Holocaster since it’s not even useful before this point in the story. Oh and believe me, we’ll get to the fucking Holocaster and Lysandre Labs later...).

*Mixing those ideas, she might not have been Clemont’s friend beforehand, but visits him because she’s heard of his gadgets and since she likes that kinda stuff, this could have been where they met? It’s good for characters to interact in meaningful ways, I think. It’s nice. 

*When it comes to Tierno, I CANNOT go without mentioning that for a character that’s supposedly obsessed with dancing... he never dances. Unless you count that weird flourish he does in the first battle against you, but if that’s the best he can do while dancing is his only character trait... yikes. 

*There could be a theater area to Lumiose (Just a thought - having entertainment in your version of fucking Paris??) and you get to see him perform there when you double back from Coumarine? (This also has the added effect of giving some meaningful Point to restoring the energy that comes from the Power Plant, you’re helping your pal out). We’ll come back to this theater area for another character later, so put a pin on that! 

*This also works as his motivation. Joining a famous dancing group or something where he feels his talents are appreciated more and he’d be able to make a career out of something he enjoys. I’ve also considered adding the Dancer class to the game and have them often mention having met up with Tierno and taught him about their personal style so he could learn more about dancing in general, explaining why he went on a journey at all.

*That time he questions himself on whether his goals are even worth it could have decent pay off if he was actually given anything to do of relevance in the story, and that’s something that goes for Trevor and Shauna too, but I have something in mind for them too...

*Trevor... oh Trevor, what even are you doing here, lil’ guy? I’m serious, I realize his focus is on the Pokédex, but I must ask this - to what end? It’s even more embarrassing because he keeps losing to you in what’s supposed to be his primary objective (You had ONE job).

*It’s also been pointed out, I specifically remember it was by tumblr user @kibibarel, that there’s this one particularly disturbing point of continuity concerning Trevor, given that, in BW2, N posits that humans could eventually grow past the need of Pokéballs for interacting with Pokémon, which is honestly a pretty great idea... smash cut to Trevor, one generation later, in which he literally says you must save the Pokéball factory because there would be no way to bond with Pokémon without them, and this is not a notion that anybody else ever questions, which honestly feels like a kick in the teeth the more you think about it... (I’ll actually need to get back to the Pokéball Factory later on in this post REGARDLESS because it’s super blatant padding anyways, so that gives me a chance to retool the whole thing anyhow).

*Trevor lives in Lumiose, and he’s pretty scholarly in general, so I thought it fitting if he’d already decided he wanted to become Sycamore’s assistant, and feels like he needs to get to know all of Kalos to expand his knowledge of it and its Pokémon before he can actually apply for the position. 

*His parents are dicks who left him and his sister to travel the world, apparently, so I’d like to think Sycamore has maybe been sort of a parental figure to Trevs? (Err... my version of Sycamore’s not as Sycamore as Sycamore is, but I’ll get to that. Just felt like I’d clarify that because if you’ve recently interacted with Sycamore, you’re probably really concerned by me making that decision).

*As a whole, the Friend Group needs both more interactions between each other and also with the player. And I think adding a few more battles to the ones that exist would be a good way of gauging their progress throughout the game (Have you noticed how battles with Shauna, Trevor and Tierno fucking EVAPORATE after you get two badges, upon which you only battle Calem, and then once Calem takes a time out you battle them again before your eighth? It’s like the writer needed to have an on/off switch to balance them out and couldn’t have both at once, it’s weird as hell).

*Fuck the scary house segment and all it stands for I’ll never get those minutes of my life back ever again oh my god Yah so instead of that huge waste of time in which everyone involved is kind of a grating asswipe, how about we all explore Route 14 together like we did in Santalune Forest? There’s a lot of potential interactions there, and we could even have a Pokémon Graveyard area that was strangely absent in Kalos (unless you count Route 10 which is just a poor substitute) and simultaneously flesh out the Friend Group as they relate to the fact that their Pokémon’s lives are finite and they should enjoy the time they have now?

*Another potential area for this sort of joint exploration is the Terminus Cave, which is a multi-layered dungeon that has three floors, allowing the game to divvy up attention between a couple of characters in each floor (Tierno in the first floor, Trevor in the second and Shauna in the last) as you explore it deeper. It’s really milquetoast and boring in XY, if you visit it before the credits roll, but I think Reversal Mountain would have been the same, had Bianca not partnered up with you to explore it in BW2. This area is required to explore in this hypothetical version for reasons you’ll read more about in the Plot section.

*So, Calem, huh? I’ll admit, the first time I played this, I thought the fact that they were getting progressively more crushed and disappointed with themselves in their dialogue for being beaten by you repeatedly, even though they’re more experienced than you are as a trainer, was...going somewhere, but it really doesn’t. I thought for sure this would lead to them growing resentful towards you, and truth be told, I got that impression too in my replay, which makes the fact that it doesn’t happen all the more jarring.

*I think Calem should have lashed out, at you and at himself at least once for this. Sure, have him apologize on the spot and then leave to clear their head. Do what Pokémon games usually do and say that this character needed some time to think and reflect as they split up. You can even have his training under Gurrkin happen during this part, in which Calem realizes he wasn’t even thinking about his Pokémon, but got so wrapped up in trying to beat you that it became obsessive and unmanageable, and that he was no longer journeying just to improve himself and his Pokémon.

*Have them admit to this later, and think about that fuck-up. This would also have been a fantastic comeback to Lysandre, as even in XY, Calem is shown trying to argue with him once - have this personal failing be where he learned it.

*There is adversity in friendships, sometimes, and we all do wrong things, grow and develop as people, before mending relationships that might’ve become shaky. But as a whole, this friendship the player is supposed to have with the Friend Group feels fabricated because none of your relationships ever grow or change in any way, be it because you’ve learned more about your friends and were able to relate to them on a deeper level, or because you’ve overcome a hurdle in that relationship together.

*There is precisely one scene in XY in which Shauna confesses to the fact that she feels useless, left behind by the player and Calem, but it’s then supposed to be solved by the plot convenient puzzle machine she uses, so it doesn’t feel earned, because it comes out of nowhere and is gone just as fast. It’s portrayed as if getting over that kind of internal worry is something that is even remotely easy, which does her a great disservice. 

*TLDR -  Instead of reminding you that she matters as a person, it instead imparts the far stupider lesson that yes, she really was useless up to this point in the adventure and then isn’t anymore because of a really contrived happenstance. 

*Another thing that bugs me a lot about their portrayal related to Team Flare is that at least in two occasions (Pokéball Factory and then in the Geosenge Lab) instead of using the Friend Group in a way that could portray them as brave and helpful by actively helping you take out the grunts, the game instead opts to make them bail out on you as Flare gives chase off-screen to thin out their numbers... which makes them look weak and kinda hard to love. I think it was meant to be endearingly clever and funny, but it’s............................. really not.

*Wrapping back to Calem for a moment, I realized that, retroactively speaking, the match that decided who’d be worthy of Mega Evolution in the Tower of Mastery was really kind of pointless in the end because Calem later gets a Mega Ring too, so it really ended up just being a battle for who’d get a trinket earlier, basically? It could have added a lot to his character if being judged unworthy Meant something to him (kinda explaining why later he comes back to Gurrkin for additional training). 

*Also did y’all notice that this was the first battle with your rival? In the third gym’s city? It should have been a minor culmination of your rivalry up to that point, I feel, which is even stranger to me because the gap between gyms 1 and 2 is So Damn Big in XY anyways, so it could have at least been utilized for character development (also another thing I want to try my hand at alleviating, but that’s under Gameplay).

*I pointed this out in my liveblog, but instead of using a Flecthling that later disappears completely from their team, the rival could have instead used the Swablu that would have later become their Altaria. This would also have been a good shorthand to showcase their experience, since Swablu can’t be caught until almost the end of the game... but conveniently next to the place Calem’s father lives! I just think it’s nice when attention is given to your rivals’ teams, like what happened with Cheren and Bianca.

*Not helping matters is that Calem was written with absolutely no character voice, which does not help give you any kind of idea about what sort of character they are and what’s going on in their head, something that even the other three, bumblers supreme, have. It’s sadly a lot like interacting with an automaton, at times, rather than a human being who has anything that sets them apart.

2) Sycamore, Lysandre and Diantha

*I get the feeling that with Sycamore, Gamefreak tried to make this really cool, relatable dorky character, who could also be shown as a competent person and reliable adult, but I also feel like they failed spectacularly in doing so, because what they did add makes me think he kinda sucks big time. I also get the feeling I’ll get at least one death threat for this.

*I’m referring mostly to two things, his relationship to the game’s main antagonist, Lysandre, and how he kickstarts the player’s journey. 

*The fact that you actually interact with Sycamore himself very little in the game doesn’t really help. I’m not kidding you guys, one of my notes actually said “Sina and Dexio are completely useless” verbatim, and my proposed idea was to scrap their interactions with you and replace them with Sycamore, in which he wants to help you directly and isn’t just content with pointless Holocaster interludes, and you know what? I was trying to come up with ways to present that a little better for the Z version, but it’s... already pretty solid.

*Dexio and Sina are themselves another thing I don’t get about XY. They’re given so much importance and yet contribute absolutely nothing of note at the end of the day. It’d be functionally the same thing as if one of Oak’s aides kept showing up at random during your battles with Team Rocket to prattle on about how you must defend the region, before maybe handing you an item and then leaving without Doing anything. You already have a bloated cast, and yet you squander so much potential by giving these goons so much screen time?

*Dexio and Sina would have been fine as assistants that show up to update your dex, leave, and then hang around in the lab. Maybe even have them occasionally give you items for completing a percentage of each of Kalos’ pokédexes? That could give further reasoning for splitting it in three, too. But that’s about all that they need to do, because it really does feel like they’re sort of robbing Sycamore himself of time he could have spent actually showing he cares about you or about the world around him...

*...Specially when his best friend is the very same person who’s threatening that world. And make no mistake, I realize that it’s a game for children, so Lysandre was pretty much always going to be signaled as the Obvious Bad Guy, so I’m not even that miffed that it’s as transparent as it is... what I Am chuffed about, however, is how oblivious Sycamore is to his best friend’s outright genocidal tendencies. It actually makes Sycamore incredibly unlikable when you have Lysandre monologue about how the world’s past saving and then cut back to Sycamore being all “Oh that Lysandre... what a lad.”

*Contrast this with Lusamine, one gen later. She’s also pretty clearly set up as the villain, but you can actually buy that some people would not notice that she is, because you actually get to see that she’s attempting to do good by Pokémon with the whole Aether conservation area, and her true goals don’t come to the forefront until much later.

*We’re repeatedly told Lysandre is trying to help people, but it’s all tell and absolutely no show. Which is even worse when the guy who’s supposedly super close to him and to you, doesn’t notice anything off about him. Contrast to Lillie, another character closely related to the villain, who’s shown going out of her way to avoid interacting with Lusamine, immediately tipping the player off that something’s up, if they’re paying attention.

*You could even, theoretically, keep Sycamore’s obliviousness about his friend - it is, after all, a part of Sycamore’s characterization - however, maybe tone down Lysandre’s obviousness just a bit? Show his work at the Lysandre Labs and how they’re trying to make this a better world? It’s really unclear. Make us see what Sycamore sees in Lysandre. 

*The other shoe needs to drop at some point, though. Sycamore NEEDS to realize what Lysandre has become, and through helping you take down Flare in a way that’s more active than what he does in XY, this could serve as his way of atoning for not noticing sooner. Allow his laid back nature to have real consequences, let him fuck up and attempt to help patch things up.

*One of the absolute worst moments of XY was when Sycamore meets you at Couriway and says the following sentence: “By defeating Team Flare, you’ve saved Lysandre,” which is about one of the most insulting endings you could have given Lysandre, because he is SUPER dead by this point, and that also paints Sycamore as someone who apparently didn’t give enough of a fuck about his friend to grieve what has become of him?

*The way he sets up the player and the Friend Group’s adventure is also just blatant, empty padding. There is a lot of promise, mystery and hype about Mega Evolutions, which is understandable considering how innovative and eye-catching of a feature they are... but when it’s all said and done, there was no real solution to any mystery, and this never really goes anywhere, having any and all leads Sycamore gives you about them turn out to be duds... so I can’t help but feel robbed of actual meaningful experiences by this.

*Heck, the way this is set up makes Sycamore feel even dumber of a character, because both of his friends, Diantha and Lysandre, are some of the only opponents in the game who use Mega Evolution against you. It’s specially puzzling in Diantha’s case because she discusses Mega Evolution with Sycamore in Coumarine and seems oblivious about how it works, despite the fact that she can use it herself...

*Instead, if they were not going to answer any of the mysteries behind it, why not just make them a part of the world? Make it so they’re not this closely-guarded secret no one knows about, but just have your objective be to Find the Mega Stones throughout Kalos, since they are indeed still illusive and you can’t perform Mega Evolution without them. You’re given a few Mega Stones anyways, so it’s not any more game-breaking than it already was, in theory, and this would at least have made the really dumb, time-constrictive search for them in the postgame feel less bad.

*It’s implied Lysandre learned how to harness their power through spying on you on the Holocaster, but this is revealed in a throwaway line as he’s about to battle you for the last time (in which, admittedly, the player has other priorities in mind and has most likely even missed this explanation) But it would have been better done if he had just asked Sycamore if he could study the Gyaradosite, and Sycamore had allowed it before realizing Lysandre is Flare’s boss.

*Lysandre himself could have been an interesting villain, but only if his own life and the Kalos region had been developed more than they actually were. We see no actual evidence to prove his point of view that greed is going to be the downfall of the region, when in fact the region seems unfailingly kind and nice. The game should have established instead that such niceties are only skin deep, and hide Kalos’ problems away apathetically while displaying that façade.

*(Ironically this is actually touched upon, but only after the main storyline is over and it has nothing to do with Lysandre, but everything to do with XY’s best character, Emma).

*My proposed development to this would be to expand upon both Lysandre’s relationship to his friends, Sycamore and Diantha, and how he became the person he is today, with his warped, misguided view of the world.

*At Couriway, I think it would have been interesting if both Sycamore and Diantha showed up to talk to you, after Lysandre’s been taken down (Diantha is sorely lacking in interactions with the player before the laughable “Oh I almost didn’t recognize you!” speech at the Elite Four... so this also helps with that).

*I don’t think it’s ever stated where these three grow up, but the fact that Couriway is such an important place for Sycamore gave me an idea to establish that the three of them grew up together in that town as childhood friends. In this version, I would have liked Sycamore (and Diantha) to have shown a lot more sadness over what happened to Lysandre, and about how they were both too caught up with their busy personal lives to really notice his change until it was too late. 

*You would be able to find notes from past Diantha and past Lysandre in addition to the one you find from past Sycamore, too. This would have served to shed some light into Lysandre’s past, adding to the tragedy of the kind of person he became, and it would also have fleshed out Diantha as a character the player is supposed to care about and have a bond with.

*I feel XY would feel a lot more personal to the player if it were essentially the story about how three close friends drifted apart by how their lives changed them, only coming together again through the loss of one of them.

*What I had in mind for Lysandre’s backstory and internal turmoil is this - Lysandre, as established in XY, is of royal blood. He’s related to AZ’s younger brother, and I feel like that’s not something XY used well, if at all. In my mind, I assumed people would have pretty much always expected great things from Lysandre, just because of his ancestry, and the fact that he is so successful (through his labs, technological developments and his café) would have been chalked up to that, instead of people actually acknowledging the hard work that he must have done in order to get where he is now.

*Now, what if this is what spurred that change in Lysandre? He could have been someone who always wanted to help, to unendingly give and give to others through his own work... only to be taken completely for granted and basically have his personhood ignored, creating his misanthropic sentiments.

*This way, it could be played like he could never fully escape the shadow of his greedy, yet larger-than-life ancestor, and ironically, this is what made him so much more like this person. It would have added some dimension to Lysandre himself and his decisions, not to mention his worldview. 

*In the game as it is, Lysandre seems overwhelmingly concerned with loss and greed, but as the player is never shown what Lysandre even knows of those things, personally, the entire crux of his character seems kind of random, and this is not helped even a little bit by the fact that his and Flare’s actions are all over the place, and end up incongruous with what he believes in.

*If he believes greed is what’s going to tear apart the region again, why does he charge people to join Flare? Why do they seem so concerned with personal style? Those aspects don’t seem to connect in any meaningful way. Why does Flare seem like the exact type of person Lysandre would loathe, yet he’s the one who hires and presumably directs them? Why do THEY get a place at his side, when they’re the very kind of people who’s tearing the region apart according to him?

*I hate to keep going back to BW (that’s a lie, I love BW) but Plasma had similar conflicts between its stated goals and methods... except that this was the entire point, because Plasma’s leader, who did believe in their stated goal, was being manipulated all along by someone who did not believe, and the same went for the Grunts and other members, who eventually even have split factions based on the differing motives that come from both of their leaders. 

*It’s never something that  gets answered or explained with Flare, which makes their already quite weak motives and cartoonish actions seem even more pointless than they already were. Once again, not helping Lysandre’s case, because his team never really congeals under any singular goal that seems to matter to them, nor is it reflected clearly in their actions.

*There are two quotes that come up about Lysandre in Snowbelle that attempt to shed some light into him. This is a place which, I must remind you, you can only access after Lysandre has been defeated.

"Lysandre... he's my old friend. He was trying to help people in need. Becoming convinced of people's stupidity and facing his own limitations led him to conclude that the world could not be saved, which lead to his suffering... it's ironic."

 "Lysandre was his name, right? I wonder why he didn't dream bigger. If he had said he wanted to save everyone in Kalos, surely people would have supported him."

*While interesting, these fall right back into what I said before. We’re told Lysandre wants to help, but we’re never shown how, exactly, he’s supposed to be doing this. His only named invention is the Holocaster, which the player never gets to use for themselves in the game, only being called by others through it. Doesn’t seem like much of an invention that was made to help the needy, either. 

*Presumably the reason why he didn’t think to ask for help is because of his own disillusionment with other people, which I need to state again, is wrong and rather myopic unless we know about his personal conflict.

*In short, they’re also too little, too late. Hilariously, Calem even attempts to “both sides” the conflict with Team Flare when you meet him in the Victory Road, and I can’t even begin to explain to you how fucked up this is when there was no real, poignant motivation to Lysandre’s genocidal tendencies and how the Kalos region is never taken to task about the alleged greed of its people,  thus failing to let the player and the characters learn any one lesson from the whole thing.

*I like Diantha’s conversation with Lysandre in Lumiose a lot, truth be told. It’s one of the very few scenes in which the legendaries’ main themes (life and death) are brought to the forefront in a way that affects the characters, and it’s even a little subtle about how it goes about it! (Except for Lysandre, there’s nothing subtle about him). It’s just a shame that this is the only part in the game in which they interact. 

*Heck, I’m not even sure anymore about how close they are, and if they’re not just friends-of-friends through Sycamore? I had guessed they were also friends, specially given their little brunch in Generations, but I like the concept that I already explained above and I think it could have been expanded upon to further both of them.

*I’ve also involved Diantha directly in taking down Lysandre, but this is something that’s only really going to make sense once you’ve read how I’m going about changing the basic plot-line.

*Speaking of that, though, remember back when I was talking about Tierno and I brought up the new theater area in Lumiose? That could have been used to learn more about Diantha’s job, since it’s absolutely criminal that we have a region based on France, its Champion is an actress and yet we have no real clue about the kinds of movies she stars in? This really could have been both a cool hang-out spot with your friends, as well as providing bonding opportunities with Diantha herself. 

*I think that, since movies were already a feature in the game that immediately preceded this one, this wouldn’t really have been a mini-game per se, but rather a place to learn about Kalosian culture and flesh out the world itself. Maybe even let the player “watch” her movies, unlocking more as the story progresses (since you do have to visit Lumiose a lot).

3) AZ

*”You know what would be cool? If we had this really interesting character with a textured lore to him... and then gave him four scenes total, two of which aren’t explained and don’t matter.” - Direct Quote from Junichi Masuda, circa 2013.

*Jokes aside, I can’t believe how under-utilized AZ is, when he was an idea with such potential. He’s still supposed to be the emotional core of these games, and I feel that he is, to some extent, even if I question literally everything about how he was executed. There was obviously a lot of care put into his backstory, and while that presentation goes a long way in making us care about his situation, it kinda gets irreparably damaged if you give his character and his place in this setting and in this story even the slightest bit of thought?

*We’re supposed to think he has changed since he unleashed the weapon upon the region, all those years ago, and while he distinctively doesn’t seem homicidal, of course, in the end he’s... not really done anything to redeem himself for that? All his sorrow is directed to his Floette, and how being parted with it made him grieve and wander the world, but where does that leave the lives he took? How is that supposed to be an answer to his actions when it’s still centered all on himself?

*So many questions, so few answers. Like for instance - why is he so tall? Was he always that tall or was this something the weapon just did? What authority do his soldiers have to send his Pokémon off to war? Heck, it’s never actually confirmed in the game that being exposed to the weapon made him immortal, but I believe it’s what we’re lead to assume, and was later confirmed... but uh. I would... think being exposed to that lethal weapon would make you, er, dead? Like the Pokémon who were killed back then and would presumably be killed by its activation now? 

*I get why it made the Floette immortal, that’s where the power of the Pokémon’s lives was used up for (this is basically the Philosopher’s Stone from FMA, let’s be real here) but I would think that being exposed to it would probably have killed AZ instead of giving him eternal life, but that just raises more questions about how the weapon works that are never explained - why did getting exposed to it while in kill mode not kill him if he was that close to it, but then DID affect him when it was in life mode?

*Touching as his reunion with Floette is, I think seeing AZ more and interacting with him in a more meaningful, less one-sided way should be the way to go. He could be met earlier on in the journey, perhaps even in Route 10 itself, maybe he’s taking care of Pokémon injured by Flare or even their own trainers, then he notes about how well the player is raising their Pokémon with care, and then gives the player some healing items? This would at least get the player to make a more personal bond with him and showcase how he’s trying to help Kalos in his own way to atone.

*The only time he makes explicit that he’s the man from the legend is during the parade, by the way, which caught me by surprise. I mean, there’s no doubt that he is, when he’s exposition dumping telling the story to you, but that he refers to himself as “that man” then... it comes off as a little dismissive of his actions, like he’s trying to distance himself from it, which while understandable, given the interim 3000 years, it doesn’t reflect too well on him in retrospect given that, again, we don’t know what he’s done to atone for those actions.

*I’ve also detailed another point concerning both AZ and your Friend Group in the Plot section later, because I want to answer a rather jarring plot hole in XY while also giving your friends something to Do.

4) Others

*In general, the Gym Leaders need to show up outside their Gyms more. They get very little characterization in this game already, which isn’t helped by their only repeated appearance being in the incredibly odd Battle Chateau, that restricts their team so much and is such a hassle to even encounter them in, and doesn’t even add anything to their characters when you do.

*Same goes for the Elite Four in feeling almost disparate from anything going on in the region and the plot itself.

*Neither of those notes above are exclusive to XY, but it’d still be good to have, so I think adding at least one interaction with every leader outside of their gym would be better. I’ve also wanted to involve them in taking down Flare for good, but that’s for later.

*I can’t very well discuss the Elite Four (who should also all show up outside the castle) without addressing the accomplice to attempted genocide in the room: Malva. Now, I realize Pokémon has involved some very hokey decisions for its villains’ daily lives. Giovanni being a Gym Leader being a prime moment of fuck. That was something that happened in a 1996 game, though, and I would think a 2013 game shouldn’t have tried to upstage it by making the villainous team member one of the Elite Four?

*What really doesn’t help Malva’s case is the whole execution of her membership in Team Flare, as it lands with an incomparable *thud* because it’s one big pile of “uh what?” after another, because we don’t actually even know what she was doing in Flare or how she was balancing this triple act of Holocaster host, criminal team member and Elite Four member by night? 

*Who even IS Malva, come to think of it? There is no connection to ever be had with her, in the context of her being a Team Flare member, because she only shows up once in the main story - a mandatory, two sentence Holocaster segment that reports back to you the Pokéball Factory incident (a life-changing piece of Kalosian news, as you recall) which you just did. 

*It’s the only time in the game it happens, and I can only assume it was meant to be a regular thing, except they changed their minds but decided to keep that scene in for some reason, despite how completely extraneous it is. 

*If it were up to me, the Lysandre Labs would be its own area in Lumiose, not attached to the Lysandre Café through a silly secret entrance, because it’s actually kind of pivotal to his character and visiting it would have allowed us to both take a gander into the tech Lysandre supposedly helps people by developing, and have introduced us to Malva in a way that could matter in any way, shape or form. 

*Expand Malva’s role in Flare’s machinations and also let the player meet her while it still matters so they’re surprised by her affiliation with a criminal syndicate.

*It would be interesting, I think, if she was so devoted to Lysandre because she came from a place of poverty and was given opportunities by him to make her life better, so she thinks Flare will also make everyone’s lives better, and she’d be a microcosm of Lysandre himself, in their prior disillusionment with the world, and hey, an actual concrete example of Lysandre helping someone, at that - win win.

*Malva’s postgame stuff with Looker is also... a whole ‘nother can of worms about how the International Police works, but it’s postgame so I’m not gonna get into that. Also not having the battle with her only include one damn Pokémon would have been nice... The Essentia subplot was the best part about XY so I feel like it could just be transplanted whole cloth into Z without too many changes, really. 

*Alexa. Just as a concept... I don’t understand what happened with her. She was used to promote Kalos in Pokéani, making me assume she’d be an important character, but then she did absolutely nothing of importance in the games? Seriously, there is absolutely nothing to her except being related to Viola and giving you the EXP share. I actively forgot about her the first time I played the game and then the Lumiose Press came up on the postgame, which made me feel like I suddenly got sucker-punched by another character with wasted potential.

 *As a journalist, I feel like she would have been the obvious choice to get into Team Flare’s actions across Kalos and also discover Lysandre’s connections to it, and she would have been a pretty great foil to Malva, at that. I can only assume she was meant to interact with the player a lot more, but then had her role cut out for some reason or another, because as it stands, there is no reason she should even have an unique model in this game. 

*In Z, she would be the one who gets the Gym Leaders together to fight back against Flare, through her connections with Viola.

*I deliberately said four there, because Xerosic, unexpectedly, actually has dimensions added to his character in the postgame, but while I do believe his button sequence would be scrapped in Z version, the rest can stay because it’s not all bad. Trust me, I wouldn’t have expected this guy to be my favorite member of Team Flare at the end of the day, but the world is a very strange place.

*Speaking of things that were wasted, it absolutely flabbergasted me that they chose to go with four named Scientists in Team Flare while they barely have one personality between them. Granted, there are only so many ways they could have been allowed to express themselves when their individual actions were so nonsensical, disjointed and unnecessary in the long run, but even then, their existence is kind of an accomplishment for all the wrong reasons.

PLOT

*As was established earlier, this version would bring in Zygarde as its mascot, because it’s the obvious third member in the trio that consists of Xerneas and Yveltal. 

*My ideas for the plot changes have taken some elements from the XYZ anime, because I think it’s actually a fair window into what a Z game could actually have been about, specially as it pertains to Lysandre trying to use Zygarde to accomplish his goals, and Zygarde admittedly would fit that role a lot better than Xerneas and Yveltal ever did, in the end.

*Everything about Xerneas and Yveltal’s utilization in the games is kind of a big question mark. They’re woefully underdeveloped for the ones who’re supposed to be the title legendaries, and even Team Flare’s utilization of them feels odd and rushed. I aim to give them their own place in the lore, building with what little blocks we have and to try to have both of them exist at once.

*There’s not even an explanation for why they’re what’s needed to power the ultimate weapon, since they didn’t seem to have anything to do with its creation, despite the parallels of its power to theirs (I was under the impression that they were going to BE the ultimate weapon the first time I played the game, because, well, it just made sense to me, but it turns out they were just glorified batteries?)

*The general idea is that Lysandre is trying to fuse Zygarde back to full power in order to raze Kalos to the ground and restore it to a natural, pure state. I’m not having him use the ultimate weapon again, just siphon its power into Zygarde to force that transformation into its 100% forme and make it even stronger.

*I think it’d be appropriate if the final tussle with Flare happened at Lumiose, because it’s the literal center of everything Kalos stands for. Which even the Anime understood.

*I’m... not actually sure why the weapon CAN be used again in XY without killing many before being activated again? Did AZ leave it on standby for 3000 years or...

*I’m of two minds involving Lysandre’s... whatever the fuck he wears for the final confrontation (what ARE those metal ass BUGS??) On the one hand I could give them a reason to exist, being what Lysandre is using to siphon the weapon’s energy into Zygarde... but on the other hand, I hate them and want them gone from the world (or Gamefreak could at least provide an EXPLANATION for what they were supposed to be?? Or to “bee,” rather).

*I think the Prism Tower would be a great final battle location, given its height and stated importance to the city (being the obvious Eiffel analogue and all) but it’s currently just Clemont’s gym, so I feel like I’d expand it to have like a few topmost floors that also let you see a scenic view of Kalos the first time you arrive in Lumiose? This would also sort of bookend your adventure as you climb it up again to confront Lysandre at the top.

*Prism Tower would also be where the Gym Leaders show up, beckoned by Alexa, to block the exit of the Team Flare scientists as you all arrive to storm the place (kind of like what happened in N’s Castle).

*And while I’m certainly not going to contrive a reason for Lysandre to get killed to shit again, I am going to have Diantha show up to block his escape and talk him down out of his genocidal ramblings, by reminding him of their talk back near the beginning of the game, and about how he’s been selling humanity, and life in general, short, before he’s apprehended.

*You explore Terminus cave (as mentioned above) with your friends upon catching wind that Flare wants to nab Zygarde, though you’re too late to stop them there.

*Like I said before, the Lysandre Labs would be expanded into their own area, so you don’t really fight the Scientists there and that’s no longer where AZ gets imprisoned. I’ve sort of mushed Lysandre Labs and the secret Geosenge Lab together into one place because if you think about it, these really did not need to be separate locations.

*If it’s been a while since you’ve visited the Geosenge Lab (aka the “why are you crying?” “Pokémon” place) I’m gonna have to remind you that the whole location amounts to one room and then an endless hallway of nothingness except filler Flare grunts to fight, and then when you reached the place where Yveltal and Xerneas are being held, more Flare Admins appeared to block your path.

*Why Flare even bothers with Admins when they ALSO have the previously discussed Scientists, who basically stand in for the evil team Admins in the past, I don’t know... but I’ve always felt like it would have been way more memorable if you had to fight the four Scientists instead of that random group of nameless Admins before battling the Legendaries.

*You infiltrate this place in Z because you don’t want Flare having their hands on the energy from the ultimate weapon, and indeed, once there, AZ pleads you not to let them use something so morally repugnant and terrifyingly powerful in their schemes, and he fears for Zygarde’s safety if exposed to that energy (hint hint). This, of course, happens before the final showdown at Lumiose, but still happens after your seventh gym badge.

*I’ve alluded to this before, but in XY... it’s never actually explained how AZ got out of his imprisonment, let alone how he got from Lumiose to Geosenge in time, so I think I would like to use this opportunity to have AZ be rescued by the Friend Group, since this also allows them to do something meaningful. Maybe even have them also listen to AZ’s story and comment on it.

*Calem would still be training with Gurrkin at this stage, and wouldn’t come back until the Lumiose sequence, adding more dramatic fuel to the fire as well as letting Shauna, Tierno and Trevor shine a little, as he would have undergone his character development by then, in order to both attempt to reach out to Lysandre, as well as call him out for his methods.

*Due to the fact that the Anistar Sundial is loosely connected the ultimate weapon, and how Olympia warns Ash and Co. in the anime about the impending trouble caused by Team Flare, based on one of her visions, I’ve decided to integrate this into Z by switching the order of Snowbelle and Anistar’s gyms around. 

*I would accomplish this just by tweaking where the routes connect, which routes are blocked off from the player Because Reasons and even adding new routes, which is essentially something that always happens in third versions anyhow.

*So the new order is: beating Wulfric, being informed of Flare’s intentions over the Holocaster, flying to Lumiose to ask Lysandre what the fuck, finding him at the Lysandre Labs arguing with Sycamore. The player battles him for the first time, then heads to Geosenge for the lab sequence, which the player ultimately arrives too late to save Zygarde, who has already been exposed to the energy. Lysandre battles the player a second time in order to buy time for the Scientists to relocate Zygarde, and then leaves. 

*Player and friends then talk things through with Sycamore, who asks them to go to Anistar to learn about the legendaries from Olympia (instead of that random-ass nameless npc), and she proposed the idea to have them awaken Xerneas and Yveltal to counter Zygarde (pretty much doing what Zygarde was supposed to do for them in XY, but didn’t because it’d get his nerd snake ass kicked) but also warning them to be quick about it because the showdown at Lumiose is imminent.

*You then have to find Xerneas and Yveltal’s slumbering places and do battle with them, before they decide you’re worthy of them and disappear, only to appear during the final battle to try and stop Zygarde. The hint hint above is that Zygarde is eventually defeated, turns into his 100 components, and due to exposure from the weapon’s energy, gets scattered throughout Kalos until the postgame to lick its wounds and rest, while Xerneas and Yveltal return to their spots where you can now catch them.

*I’d like Xerneas to be found at the Pokémon Village, because I think it’s a beautiful area that just fits it, and its tree form would look pretty great in the middle of all the flowers, moreover, the Winding Woods are kind of the perfect security mechanism for this Fairy deer?

*Yveltal is a little harder to place, but I’ve read at least one theory which posits that it was actually what made Route 13 the wasteland it is, and in fairness, we’ve been teased about a hidden legendary in that area before, so actually having Yveltal there could be pretty interesting in a meta way.

*Speaking of that area, though, it also just so happens that it is the only area that Flare attacks during XY that I can see any sort of payoff to. So this would carry over to Z, but then we’d also have all the Scientists show up in that area... which wouldn’t actually be that bad of an idea, all things considered. This would make them more of a package deal, which I think helps, given that individually they’re not that interesting or that tough, as XY proved.

*The Pokéball Factory segment, in all honesty, needs to be scrapped. No payoff at all to Flare attacking there, besides the fact that they used the Pokéballs they stole to uh, try to catch an Abomasnow they didn’t even succeed at catching? Both it and the Frost Cavern were just there to pad the game out... which brings us to...

Gameplay 

*There’s no real excuse for the Holocaster not to be useful in any way, specially after the Xtransceiver and the Pokétch. Have it have a call functionality. Maybe have Shauna as the Feelings Checker, Tierno as someone to tell you about moves a Pokémon learns or coverage options, and Trevor as someone who tells you how to evolve your Pokémon or about Pokémon you can catch in a certain area?

*In addition to adding more rival/friend group battles like I said before and switching the 7th and 8th gyms in order, I’ve also attempted to diminish the super weird, long gap between gyms 1 and 2 in XY.

*Since there is a lot more to establish in Lumiose right when you arrive there in Z, I thought it would be fitting if Clemont was challenged as the second gym leader instead of as the fifth. This also goes into why Shauna wants to go with you to meet him and Bonnie now.

*This is there to make it seem like the player is progressing faster, comparing the distance between Santalune and Lumiose in Z to Santalune and Cyllage in XY, but it also requires that the garden area between Santalune and Lumiose be lengthened a little for level balancing.

*It’s also my idea to add a farm area before the garden proper, because France is very rich in farmland, which made me very confused because XY only has one very, very small ranch near Couriway. Having this area here would also make the riding Pokémon feature a little more cohesive and less sparse. 

*In either this new farm area or in the garden, Team Flare would make its first appearance, since, at least in my opinion, having it first show up almost at the second gym (specially with such a distant second gym, as we’ve established) is waiting too long.

*In this area, Flare Grunts are harassing a Riolu, because they heard its evolution can harness a special energy they think might come in handy for them (aura, obviously) the player character saves that Riolu, which turns out to belong to none other than Korrina. This is all really here to establish an actual connection between the Lucario that’s eventually given to you and the player, instead of having it instantly love you for no reason like in XY.

*Team Flare should have an expanded roster of Pokémon, including lines like Inkay, Helioptile, Corphish and Pancham’s, as well as each Scientist having a Furfrou with a trim that matches their color scheme.  

*Shabboneau Castle is now mandatory because of the Mawilite you’re to collect, as well as by establishing the whole Parfum Palace drama.

*Glittering Cave is visited because of the scientist who holds the Aerodactylite that’s been recently excavated, and Team Flare is encountered for the second time there, having caught wind of the search for the Mega Stones by then.

*AZ is encountered for the first time in Route 10, and then again in Couriway, which has a water route that leads to a mountain route that connects its two halves (AZ being met contemplating life while staring at the water, hinting at something deplorable he’s done in the past). Both halves of Couriway now have a Pokémon Center and can be flown to independently.

*After player beats Ramos, they’re messaged about Tierno’s performance, and this is why they double back to Lumiose, hearing about the Power Plant trouble and helping out there along the way.

*The Pokéball Factory is no longer attacked by Team Flare, though it’s visited together with the Friend Group. It’s a place where you’re given specialized balls daily.  They also meet scientists who try to research methods for bonding with Pokémon without involving Pokéballs so they can evolve from there. Player still gets Master Ball there.

*Trouble at Frost Cavern no longer happens, but it’s explored for the Abomasite and functions as the last Friend Group exploration, with a lot of reflection about what’s changed for them since the journey started and also about Calem having just left to do some soul-searching.

*I decided Snowbelle should be the 7th gym after noticing how odd it is that an Ice-heavy area is followed by the Psychic gym, and then it goes back to the Ice gym afterwards, so this is more thematically cohesive, as well as allowing for Olympia’s new plot role.

*Postgame should contain new areas besides Kiloude, but that are connected to it. Calem is found at the top of a mountain peak there, having found the Absolite by themselves after being directed there by Gurrkin.

*EXP share can still be toggleable and for the whole party, but instead maybe gives 25% experience instead of 50%.

*Prism Tower’s top floor becomes the area for Gym Leader rematches with updated teams after beating the Elite Four for the first time. Leaders are invited there after talking to them at their gyms, and each of them uses a Mega Evolution in these matches. These refresh every day.

*Defeating Calem at the new area, every Gym Leader in a rematch and completing Emma’s story makes the Elite Four get stronger and adds a Mega Evolution to their teams.

*Optional postgame battles with everyone in the Friend Group, Sycamore, Alexa and Gurrkin.

[puclpodcast]

PDL Playoff Recap, All Stars, and Interview with the Champ

PDL Playoff Recap, All Stars, and Interview with the Champ

We have one more article for this season of PDL and boy do we have a lot to talk about so without further ado lets jump right into it with the playoffs.

Round 1

In the first round of the Playoffs we had

8. Salt Lake Combees Vs. 9. Baltimore Oricorios

Both teams started out strong but after sever blows by both teams ultimately Coach R.Sigma and the Baltimore Oricorios out performed the Combees and they move on to the Quartefinals.

5. Miami Delphox Vs. 12. Miami Lanturns

This was the battle for Miami. Last year in the 5-12 match we had the battle for Hartford and this year it’s Miami! Momentum was the key to this battle and FackLuigi grabbed it early leaving little to no room for Seth Vilo to regain it. However midway through the match the game DC’d. with the Delphox up 5-3. After discussion there wasn’t much the Lanturns could do and the win was given to Fack and the Delphox.

7. Norwalk Nosepass Vs. 10. Pittsburgh Piplups

Norwalk started strong taking hits and making plays to put Pittsburgh at a disadvantage. This propelled throughout the game until Norwalk eventually outlasted Pittsburgh. If coach Zcron had finished the game and acquired his Mega Bracelet who knows how this game could have turned out.

6. Italian Azurills Vs. 11. South Hampshire Scythers

H3nz is becoming more known for his creative prep that he brings into matches and it was shown here as he was able to stop the Azurill’s 4 game winning streak coming into the playoffs.

Quarter-Finals

After the first round it is time for the top seed of each division to get into the action. We start with:

1. Columbus Gallade Vs. 9. Baltimore Oricorios

Baltimore was the only team to take a game off Columbus during the regular season so it was time for revenge. Coming off the Bye week didn’t seem to phase Columbus as they continued their impressive performance vs Baltimore and took down the team that beat them.

4. Minnesota Nidokings Vs. 5. Miami Delphox

Minnesota got the better of the first time these teams faced off this season and was looking for a repeat performance. The battle started strong for both teams but the Delphox were on a mission in the post season and that meant they had to take down the teams that beat them earlier and that is just what happened.

2. Hartford Wailmers Vs. 7. Norwalk Nosepass

Hartford won the battle they had during the regular season and needed to beat them again to move on. After exchanging a few blows Hartford broke through the strong defenses of Norwalk and moved on the Semis

3. Blackfoot Scrafty Vs. 11. South Hampshire Scythers

The first time these teams played was week 1 and Blackfoot won 6-0 with a well played Snorlax(MVP) so this was looking to be a great rematch. This was a very long and tiring battle as it ended 6-5 as the time ran out in the battle. Both coaches brought very defensive teams that countered the other very well, however Blackfoot was able to score a single KO which was enough to win them the game.

Semi-Finals

1. Columbus Gallade Vs. 5. Miami Delphox

This was a battle between good friends Geo and FackLuigi. They even got together in real life to duke it out. This was a very close game as FackLuigi was able to have all the answers to take out Geo and move on to the Finals.

2. Hartford Wailmers Vs. 3. Blackfoot Scrafty

Another rematch between teams that played early on in the season, however due to some unfortunate hax turn 1 this turned into one of the most lopsided matches of the playoffs. The Wailmers took full advantage of a lucky Draco Miss and muscled their way through Blackfoot as they moved on to the Finals.

PDL SEASON 2 FINALS

5. Miami Delphox Vs. 2. Hartford Wailmers

This match was hyped up to be one of the best matches of the season as two of the best coaches in FackLuigi and Clod9 faced off for the second time this season. Both coaches have had incredible seasons and knew how the other was going to play but however there can only be one winner. FackLuigi seemed to have the answers to all of Clod9’s tricks and after several incredible plays the game became 3-3 and anyone’s game. It wasn’t until a series of predictions and smart plays that ended with Hartford’s Mamoswine vs. Miami’s Florges. Mamoswine goes for Iron Head and Crits the Florges to win the game for the Hartford Wailmers.

Congrats to the PDL Season 2 Champs The Hartford Wailmers!

PDL Playoff Bracket Challenge

9 people participated in the Challenge to predict how the playoffs would go. 4 People predicted Clod9 would win it all. 3 people said Geo would take the crown and the remaining 2 had Fackluigi and Whimsicott winning it all. Funny enough no one predicted the exact finals but the final match decided who won it all. Congrats to Prof. Snag for picking the best bracket for this Season!

All Stars

This year we decided to have a bit of fun and each team got to send one of their Pokemon to the All Star game from their team. Then the coaches voted on the 3 people they wanted to represent their conference.

Ultra Sun Conference

Coaches:  Geo, RottedMushroom, Lynian

Pokemon: Tapu Koko, Zygarde 50%, Miltank, Crobat, Snorlax, Scizor, Darmanitan, Jolteon, Necrozma, Tapu Fini, Rotom-W, Melotta

Ultra Moon Conference

Coaches: Whimsicott, Bigby, Clod9

Pokemon: Vileplume, Tentacruel, Cinccino, Volcarona, Ursaring, Raikou, Sawk, Jirachi, Togedemaru, Silvally, Celesteela, Victini

from here the coaches each picked 6 mons that they were going to use in the All-Star Game:

Ultra Sun:

Tapu Koko, Jolteon, Snorlax, Zygarde 50%, Crobat, Darmanitan

Ultra Moon:

Celesteela, Jirachi, Volcarona, Raikou, Tentacruel, Vileplume

The teams faced off on showdown. It was a battle of fun techs and Critical Hits. Check it out below:

https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7ou-787558961

Interview with Clod9

Clod9: Today I’m joined by one of the best looking coaches in the PDL and the Season 2 winner Clod9!

C9: Stop you are making me blush, but honestly I’m excited to be here!

Clod9: We are glad to have you and may I say you are looking fantastic! Have you lost weight?

C9: YES! Thank you so much for noticing! All this preparation for PDL and forgetting to eat has really helped my figure.

Clod9: Enough with the pleasantries, let’s start at the beginning, how did your draft go?

C9: Honestly my draft went almost exactly as I planned. I went into the season wanting a specific core and I was able to pick it up with relative ease. Granted I felt pressured round 2 to pick Mimikyu and I did, but luckily Lynian wanted Mimikyu and we were able to work out a round 2 trade so I could get my boi Mamoswine. I saw another coach in a league have Mamoswine, Primarina, and Rotom-Heat and I thought that was an insanely good core which really fit with my personal playstyle of bulky offense combined with set up sweepers. Honestly I had notes of what I wanted my draft to look like and besides some of the later picks where I filled in what I was missing I got what I wanted, especially the Round 5 Tier 5 Linoone! One of the favorite pokemon that forces opponents to prep for it whether or not it shows up to battle. Overall I was very pleased. I knew we had a good draft, so I was happy.

Clod9: Who were you most/least looking forward to battling this season?

C9: I love battling so I’m always happy to battle anyone but I will say I was terrified to play against Hydra both times we battled this season. There is something about his playstyle and team that just scares me. On the other side, I was really excited to battle Aggie this season. I helped him a lot last season and I loved watching him grow over the two seasons. Fackluigi is another great opponent because I feel we bring out the best of each other and we always have great games. Other than that I really wanted to face Lynian and Geo and unfortunately that didn’t happen this season, maybe next season!

Clod9: Why did you choose the name Hartford Wailmers?

C9: I am originally from Connecticut and it is a tribute to the former NHL team the Hartford Wailers.

Clod9:  Let’s talk about your season, did you expect to do this well?

C9: At the beginning of the season I don’t think I would have confidently said that I was going to win it all. I really liked my team but there were several other teams that had scary rosters that I thought would have a good match up against me. It wasn’t until probably week 8 or 9 where I really felt comfortable with my team and I thought to myself, “If I can’t win it all with this team, then I probably won’t ever win it all.” I grew to really love my team and I think this season made me a much better Pokemon Battler. I’ve been playing at the top of my game this season and I’ve very happy with the result.

Clod9: Who was your favorite mon to use this year?

C9: That is a tough question that I’ve been thinking about since I started writing these articles back in week 1. I love using Linoone but I rarely got to use it to its full potential. Vileplume is favorite of mine but every week I found myself wanting to bring Primarina cause it almost always had a good match up. Prima was the real MVP of my team this year putting in a crazy amount of work and running a variety of sets.

Clod9: What was your favorite Set that you brought this year and were there any techs that you didn’t get to showcase?

C9: My favorite set that I brought was an Offensive Vileplume that I used in Sun to beat DizzyD. Twinkle Tackle Vileplume is just fun to watch. I really wanted to run a Sub Endeavor Scolipede but I never found the right time to do that. Most of the fun sets that I wanted to use I got a chance to use at some point which made me happy.

Clod9: I assume you will be back for Season 3?

C9: Yes! I would love to come back for Season 3. I have a few Surprises up my sleeve for next season.

Clod9: Can we have a sneak peak into what you have planned?

C9: I’ve told a few people already but if I can get it I will be using M-Audino next season! Be scared!

Clod9: I know I’m terrified. Now let’s learn about you as a pokemon fan. What Pokemon generation did you start with?

C9: I started with Pokemon Red. I clearly remember not knowing how to play the game and had a Venusaur by the time I battled Brock.

Clod9: What is your favorite region?

C9: I’m a sucker for Sinnoh. I have so much nostolgia for that region. That is where I first got into competitive pokemon however Johto is a really close second. I spent many hours playing through that game. All the Gen 4 games!

Clod9: Who is your favorite Pokemon?

C9: ODDISH! That is part of the reason I drafted Vileplume this season is because of my love of the little plant. I will say Furret holds my number 2 spot.

Clod9: If you had to pick: Attack or Special Attack?

C9: 100% Attack.

Clod9: What is your battle style:  Stall/Hyper Offense/Bulky Offense/Balance?

C9: My I really like to set up and sweep which is more offensive but I think overall my best playstyle is Bulky Offensive. Live a hit and Hit harder!

Clod9: Do you prefer Speed or Trick Room?

C9: Speed all the way. If I’m going first I have a better chance to crit or flinch.

Clod9: What is your favorite Weather; Hail/Sand/Rain or Sun?

C9: I do not normally play weather on any of my teams as I despise both Sand and Rain but if I had to pick I would choose Hail.

Clod9: Electric/Misty/Grassy or Psychic Terrain?

C9: I really like Grassy Terrain. It weakens EQ which helps my Poison types.

Clod9: Favorite status to inflict: Sleep/Freeze/Paralysis/Burn or Poison?

C9: Paralysis by far. I love the speed control… and the chance for a wasted turn =D

Clod9: Have you watched the Pokemon anime? If yes, what is your favorite Theme song?

C9: Much like you Clod9 I’m a huge fan of Pokemon Johto, but 2b a Master has become my favorite.

Clod9: Once again thank you again for joining us here this week for the final PDL article this season. Congrats on winning the league. Are there any parting words you would like to give to your fans or anyone wanted to get better at draft league?

C9: “Any team and beat any other team on a given day. It is all about who wants it more and who’s willing to put in the work to get it it!” Thank you again for an incredible season! I’ll be back for Season 3. Wailmer Nation! Fins up!

  from PDL Playoff Recap, All Stars, and Interview with the Champ