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smallersocksx · 4 years

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My Problems with the Pokémon Journeys Anime

Pokémon Journeys as an anime has divided the Pokémon community in so many ways but in particular last week’s episode has sparked a lot of debate and personally, I had mixed feelings about the end result. So, I thought I would write down my opinions on the Pokémon anime in its current state and comparing it to some of the previous anime.

I feel the need to say this: these are my opinions I am just as entitled to my opinions as you are to yours, so you don’t have to read this if you don’t want to. Secondly, this will probably be a long post but I’m going to split it into sections so it’s hopefully not too overwhelming.

But these feelings have been building up and up and I think I’ll feel better writing them all down and getting them off my chest to some extent.

Introduction:

So, I’ve essentially been a fan of Pokémon for as long as I can remember particularly watching the anime when I was very young. The anime didn’t really begin to stick with me though until around AG and DP in particular. The first Pokémon game, I played was DP which is why I have a particular fondness for that series and that cast of characters and Pokémon.

I didn’t watch the series as intently around the time of BW because I found Iris’ character rather annoying and I understand she developed and grew as the series went on but that initial characterization of her kind of ruined the series for me. But I did dip in and out of the series mostly for Ash’s Snivy.

My friend recommended that I watch the XY series and I fell in love with the cast and the storytelling that the series provided as it reminded me of DP. Sun and Moon was a good series as well providing fans with some of the most heart-breaking and tear-jerking episodes to date. (And Rowlet).

When they announced that Journeys was Ash travelling around the world instead of staying and travelling in a specific region, I’ll admit I was sceptical. To be honest, I kind of preferred the old formula particularly as I’m a creature of habit myself but I decided to give this new series a chance as the premise did sound interesting and there was the potential for Ash to reunite with some of his old travelling companions.

With the benefit of hindsight, I realise this was one of the problems: the series kind of relies heavily on the nostalgia provided by older fans.

The Premise:

The whole premise of Journeys was Ash and his new friend, Goh travelling the world and there lies one of the series biggest problems. For a series that is meant to be about travelling around the world, a bulk of the series has been set in Kanto in particular Vermillion City where Sakuragi/Cerise Lab is situated. Now that shouldn’t be a problem as Ash and Go need a place to stay and go home to. The problem is we are nearly 60 episodes into the series, they hardly seem to leave Vermillion City or Kanto for that matter.

I went through all the episode synopses released so far to see how many episodes Ash and Go travelled to an alternative region. In this case a visit to a different region only counts if Ash and Goh (and Chloe) visit the region therefore episode 32 wouldn’t count:

Johto – 2 episodes

Hoenn – 4 episodes

Sinnoh – 2 episodes

Unova – 2 episodes

Kalos – 2 episodes

Alola – 1 episode

Galar – 11 episodes

Arguably, as this is meant to a Gen 8 anime, its not particularly shocking that they have visited Galar the most especially as Ash hopes to battle Leon someday. Nevertheless, the initial premise and selling point of the Journeys series is travelling the world and yet only 2/5 of the series so far has been set outside of Vermillion City. They promised the world (no pun intended) and are kind of falling flat…

Goh and his goal:

Now Goh is certainly a character that has divided the community some love him and some definitely hate him. Personally, I’m in the middle, I like Goh’s personality I thought his rational and logical personality made him a great counterbalance for Ash. The problem I have with him is: his goal, his rapid character development, and his status as a protagonist.

1) His Goal:

Goh’s goal is to catch every Pokémon in existence and considering there over 800 Pokémon that is a lofty goal to begin with. Initially, I thought it was an interesting goal as we never had a character wanting to catch every Pokémon as there are some trainers in the anime universe who only specialise in a specific type, some who catch only cute Pokémon, some who only catch evolutionary lines etc. Therefore, I thought this was an interesting goal and wondered how they would execute its portrayal and there lies the problem…

Goh was named after the game Pokémon Go and is essentially being used as a walking advertisement for Pokémon Go and the Let’s Go series as his gimmick is throwing a Poke Ball at a random Pokémon which can get pretty old very fast. I honestly didn’t understand the need to create a character to promote these games as it has been 4 years since the release of Pokémon Go. Arguably, they could be trying to re-ignite the hype around Pokémon Go as after the initial excitement a lot of people stopped playing or uninstalled it as it was taking up a lot of space on their phone.

One of the things, I particularly love about the anime series is not only the human cast gaining character development but their Pokémon as well. Around the AG series, the writers really begun improving on giving each Pokémon their own unique personality traits as well as traits of their species. It gave the Pokémon more depth and made them memorable for example there’s Dawn’s prideful Piplup, Brock’s weird and wonderful Sudowoodoo who would salute every time he came out of his Poke Ball, Clemont’s gluttonous Chespin and Serena’s shy Eevee to later a confident Sylveon. The list could go on and on but I think you get the point. Therefore, this gives me my second issue with Goh’s goal.

Goh’s goal is to catch every single Pokémon currently in existence, with so many Pokémon, there is difficulty feeling any attachment to them. Cinderace and Sobble (and now Grookey) are the Pokémon Goh is most seen with, needless to say, Cinderace underwent a lot of development and was interested in battling which to be honest I found a little strange as Goh’s goal doesn’t particularly align with Cinderace’s interests. Nevertheless, it is clear that Cinderace is Goh’s ace and utilises him when he does need to battle. Sobble didn’t receive any development until 26 episodes after his capture. However, aside from Cinderace and Sobble we don’t feel any particular attachment to his other Pokémon, one strength is that anime does give each of his Pokémon some spotlight like Goh using his Goldeen to teach Jinny’s Feebas how to swim elegantly but aside from that.

My final issue with Goh’s goal is development, from a story-telling point of view his goal isn’t that engaging like with some of the other goals we’ve had in the series. Take Dawn for example her goal is to be Top Coordinator in order to do that she needs to win 5 Ribbons, participate in the Grand Festival and win the Ribbon Cup. On paper it sound simple but it’s not, we have Dawn’s arc where she lost twice in the Performance Stage fell into depression, lost confidence in her abilities and was uncertain as to whether or not she was a good coordinator. It wasn’t until she befriended May and competed against her that Dawn found a renewed sense of confidence in her abilities, even after that Dawn still lost a few contests before being able to compete in the Grand Festival where even then there were a few rough moments like her battle with Ursula.

My point is even though Dawn (and May’s) goal looks simple on paper they had a lot of struggle to get there. Whereas, with Goh’s goal and the current execution of it, I don’t get that same sense of story-telling especially when he’s already caught a Legendary Pokémon, there just isn’t that same level of struggle. The most I could see Goh struggling at this moment is not catching a Pokémon the first time round.

2) His rapid development

One of the biggest issues I have with Journeys is pacing and development, and this issue isn’t just exclusive to Goh. In the beginning, Goh is a rookie trainer after catching Scorbunny and as we saw in the Flute Cup his lack of battling experience caused him to be eliminated very quickly and yet 29 episodes later, he’s defeating a Flygon with a Fire-type and using a technique Ash had once used himself in his battle against Grant. I understand Ash and Goh are close friends and understandably their traits are going to rub off on one another for example Goh’s logic and caution has rubbed off on Ash to the extent Ash had his Dragonite use Dragon Dance in his battle with Korrina. Before this, we’d never seen Ash use these types of moves in his Pokémon battles. I have no issues with Goh developing as a character, everyone loves good character development, my issue is with how rapid it is.

I’ll use Dawn’s arc as an example again, I loved it because it was well-paced, in the first season of DP Dawn was overconfident in her abilities which led to some losses particularly towards the end of the first series and Dawn didn’t fully recover from this until nearly midway through the second series of DP. Arguably, Ash’s influence has caused Goh to develop an interest in battles but I feel like we haven’t seen him go through enough battles to justify the level he is at.

3) His status as a Protagonist

To be honest, I didn’t realise Goh has a protagonist status until someone pointed it out to me, I just saw him as another one of Ash’s travelling companions. This is one of the biggest issues Goh haters have with him and that’s feeling as though Goh is taking the spotlight away from Ash and there are a lot of episodes focusing on Goh. Arguably, Ash has taken on the role of mentor like Brock had done once for him. However, my issue with Goh’s protagonist status is that I don't feel like Goh's goal justifies him having it, even in episodes focusing on Ash and his participation in the World Coronation Series, Goh still manages to catch a Pokémon which as I mentioned before it got old pretty fast. I can understand some people would see this as a good thing they are both closer towards their goals but if an episode advertises its going to focus on one character, I want it to focus on that character.

In some of the previous series when May, Dawn and Serena were participating in Contests or Showcases, Ash would generally put his training the back burner and support his friends. Likewise, his travelling companions would support him during his gym battles. In some cases, Ash would even get ideas for his own battles from watching them compete like the Counter Shield from Ash watching Dawn and Ambipom.

Sometimes, I feel like Goh is there for the sake of being there like in Episode 56, I honestly felt like him and Scyther/Scizor didn’t need to be there. The episode did focus on Ash and Farfetch’d relationship improving but I felt like the only reason Goh was there was to have his Scyther evolve their presence at the training camp didn’t really contribute anything to the story.

Ash and his Pokémon:

Whenever Ash starts a new journey, he always starts with a clean slate leaving his most recent Pokemon with Professor Oak or Kukui. One of the things that excites fans the most is guessing which new Pokemon from the new generation Ash would catch. Arguably, since Sun and Moon, certain traditions have been turned on their head. Some of these traditions included:

Ash catching the regional bird e.g., Starly, Pidove, Fletchling etc.

Catching at least one of the region’s starters

Although, in Sun and Moon, Ash never caught the regional bird and it was one of the first series with Ash not having a water-type either. However, in this current series, Ash only has 2 Generation 8 Pokémon being Farfetch’d (which will evolve into Sirfetch’d) and Dracovish. This is kind of understandable as Ash isn’t based or travelling around Galar but to be honest it’s still disappointing.

As many of you know, in the most recent episode Goh caught Grookey completing the Galar starter trio (which I’ll cover later), however, a majority of the fandom wanted Ash to have Grookey as they felt personality-wise Ash would be compatible with the Chimp Pokémon and it would continue the long-held tradition of Ash catching one of the new region’s starter Pokémon which is why this latest capture has sparked a lot of controversy with some people calling Goh a thief.

Personally, I would have liked Ash to catch Grookey but in one of the earlier episodes like when they first visited Galar. The reason for this being the storyline development and I know many will argue Ash is a Champion he doesn’t need a starter at this point but Leon in the Sword and Shield games took on and trained the starter that was left over after the Protagonist and Hop had chosen theirs. However, as I mentioned earlier one of the things, I love about the anime is each Pokémon having their own personality and character but also their own traumas and trials to overcome alongside their trainer this can be particularly reflected in the case of Ash and Infernape.

I am not trying to suggest they re-create the Ash and Infernape storyline with Ash and a Grookey but one of the ways a Pokémon develops as a character is through evolution or in some cases like Pikachu and Bulbasaur choosing not to evolve and finding strength in staying the way that they are. Pokémon when they evolve can go through personality-changes whether that be good or bad but having a Pokemon at its first evolutionary stage allows us to go through that development and journey with them.

Which is one of the issues, I have with the series, Ash caught two fully evolved Pokémon being Dragonite and Gengar. Before anyone gives me any grief, I love Dragonite and Gengar’s personalities but as they are fully evolved, we don’t get that same sense of development as we’ve had with some of Ash’s other Pokémon. The only development I could see for these two is potentially learning a new move or overcoming a stronger Pokémon alongside Ash. But having two fully evolved Pokémon makes it difficult to go on a journey of development alongside them. There is also the fact, Dragonite and Gengar are meant to be incredibly strong Pokémon and yet Ash hardly uses them.

Another one of the biggest issues in Journeys as previously mentioned is Ash not fully utilising his team. Whenever, a battle occurs Ash either uses Pikachu or Lucario, the others are kind of pushed to the side and that annoys me so much particularly with Farfetch’d and Gengar. I’ll start with Gengar, Gengar was abandoned by its previous trainer and told to wait in an abandoned building that would later become Cerise Laboratory and in the earlier half of the series (before Riolu) Ash utilised Gengar a lot like in his battle with Visquez and Team Rocket but after Riolu came along Ash used Gengar less and less. In Episode 57, Gengar was taking its anger out on Renji, Chloe and Chrysa and Chloe pointed out that it may have been angry Ash left it behind. This is what I found frustrating; Ash is kind of repeating the behaviour of Gengar’s previous trainer.

Next is Farfetch’d, personality-wise Farfetch’d reminds me of Ash’s Buizel and Hawlucha, with how prideful and aloof it is. I feel like the writers thought they couldn’t flesh out Lucario any further so they decided to focus on Farfetch’d and after two Farfetch’d-focused episodes I can’t help but feel that Farfetch’d is going to evolve in the next episode and that’s what annoys me, that is lazy writing, they haven’t given time to develop Ash and Farfetch’d relationship although it has definitely improved since Episode 56, I feel like it’s too soon. Farfetch’d has so much potential to grow as a character before evolving as I previously mentioned evolution in the Pokémon universe can contribute towards development and I feel like for Farfetch’d they’ll use it in a positive light as Sirfetch’d are noted for their fighting spirit and noble personality. But, as I mentioned before, I would have liked to have seen more development before an evolution.

Then there is Dracovish, this was a completely unexpected capture, however, many fans were surprised by how strong Dracovish was in the games. However, Dracovish was captured in Episode 50 and nearly 10 episodes later, we haven’t seen it… On the other hand, many of Dracovish’s Pokédex entries state that it can’t breathe unless its underwater, therefore, applying that logic to the anime world, may make battling with it difficult...

Team Rocket:

One of the biggest complaints’ viewers have is the series use of Team Rocket. Particularly, using their use of the Gacha machine and using them to create easy conflict. I love Team Rocket; they are basically lovable idiots to me. They’re meant to be “bad guys” but we’ve seen on many occasions they’re kindness and compassion such as rescuing a bunch of wild Ekans and Koffing from a Pokémon hunter and releasing their Arbok and Weezing to protect them whilst they distract the hunter, Meowth sympathising and trying to cheer up Litten following Stoutland’s death are just two examples of their kindness.

Nevertheless, the Journeys series has been utilising them poorly using them as convenient plot device and in my opinion Team Rocket deserve so much better than this. Initially, a lot of viewers may have found the Gacha device interesting but much like Goh throwing a Poké ball at a random Pokémon it got old fast. Similar to one of my issues with Goh, we don’t feel any attachment to the Gacha Pokémon they use unlike other series where they had their own Pokémon which I’ll get on to in a minute.

I feel like the writers missed a huge opportunity, as one of the initial selling points of the series, particularly to the older fans was nostalgia. Team Rocket keep some of their old Pokémon in Team Rocket Headquarters and as the series seems to like staying in Vermillion City, Team Rocket could have collected their old Pokémon and use them similar to when they brought some of their Hoennian Pokémon to Sinnoh. I loved some of Team Rocket’s Pokémon like James’ Mime Jr. and Inkay and Jessie’s Gourgeist and her Yanmega was noted to be strong.

Moreover, in series such as AG, DP and XY they expanded on Team Rocket’s role outside of trying to steal. Jessie showed a promising career in Pokémon Coordinating (particularly in DP) and Pokémon Performing, I loved how she became a rival for Dawn and Serena and particularly in XY, Jessie showed maturity in her loss in the Semi-Finals much to Meowth and Gourgeist’s surprise compared to when she begrudgingly congratulated Dawn on her victory. I just loved the fact in these series they expanded on Team Rocket, showed their friendship and support for one another whether it was cheering each other on from the side-lines or willingly helping Jessie in her pursuits of fame and glory. I realize in Journeys, it’s a bit difficult to expand on Team Rocket’s role in this way but they way they are currently using Team Rocket is to be honest kind of insulting to them as characters who we’ve watched grow over the years.

Chloe, Yamper and Eevee

I’ll get this out the way, I honestly love Chloe, and I’ve loved her development so far, I think they’ve gotten the pacing right for her when they’ve given her focus. I think many people like Chloe because she is similar to Serena, in the sense, she doesn’t have a goal and is discovering what she wants to do in life which is something a lot of people find relatable. I think what would be interesting for Chloe’s character if she does decide to be a Pokémon Professor after initially feeling as though the idea was being forced on her by her peers. Anyways, one of the biggest issues with Journeys is pacing, it takes ages before they actually decide to give a character development and ever since Chloe got Eevee, I feel as though Yamper has been pushed to the side (which is kind of ironic as Chloe calls Ash out on this) and I know Yamper is Professor Cerise’s Pokémon but Yamper acknowledges Chloe more than his own trainer. I feel like a great way to use Yamper was for Professor Cerise to actually give Yamper to Chloe when she was old enough to have a Pokémon, as a lot of Chloe’s earlier development was a result of her bond with Yamper.

Next is Eevee, I love Eevee it is one of my favourite Pokemon, but I also feel similar to Goh, she’s a walking advertisement for the Let’s Go Eevee game as she is unable to evolve. However, the fact that Eevee is unable to evolve makes her a good match for Chloe who is uncertain of her own dreams. Nevertheless, what I don’t understand is why they are trying to promote one of their older games in a new generation (especially when Lana’s Eevee (which don’t get me started) should have filled that role). Also, with Chloe catching Eevee, arguably, she should be joining Ash and Goh frequently, this could allow for Chloe and Eevee to develop and find their own path but aside from joining them twice in Galar, they’ve hardly left Kanto. Which is frustrating because I love Chloe and Eevee and I don’t want it to be another 20 episodes before we get any development from either of them.

Structure

I’ve realized that above I’ve kind of been focusing on the characters and some of the issues surrounding them. Arguably, one of Journeys biggest issues is structure or lack of it for that matter and pacing. Everything is all over the place but I’ll cover each section.

Pacing:

One of my biggest gripes with the series is pacing, lately we have been having back-to-back filler episodes and I don’t mind having filler every now and then to give us a break as you don’t want a show to be too content-heavy. And I don’t mind when the filler is at least entertaining but that Gulpin episode from two weeks ago was absolutely pointless, I’m sorry. So much stuff has taken place off-screen and Ash went up by 500 ranks to Rank 415 they could have taken out some of the filler episodes and used it to show Ash training at least or put it towards actual development for characters like Chloe and Eevee or Farfetch’d.

Another issue, I have with the pacing and I think a lot of you will hopefully agree is the pace of Goh catching a legendary Pokemon (which I’m in the middle about). Normally, around the end of the series, all of the respective characters have found or are closer to their goal like Dawn and Serena coming Runner-Up in their respective competitions or having confidence to keep pursuing their goal. This is normally, in the last series of that generation’s anime adaptation but Goh’s already achieved such a huge milestone towards his goal in the second series. I can’t help but feel as though this has been completely rushed.

Continuity:

Continuity in Journeys is strange, I can see it as a strength and a weakness. I’ll start off with the positives, continuity-wise I like the fact that Journeys at least references to past episodes and characters for example episode 57 Chloe’s younger brother says he’s going to a sleepover at his friend, Jinny’s house, the girl with the Feebas from episode 31. Or episode 47, Goh uses his prize from winning the Pokémon Eating Contest to have a dessert tour around Unova’s Castelia City. These small examples of continuity are something I can appreciate. But I can’t help but feel some of the past characters returning are merely fan-service for the older fans, so far, some of the character returns haven’t really contributed to the series’ narrative aside from the Alola episode contributing to Goh’s development.

A good example of utilising a past character is the Wallace Cup arc, with May and Dawn helping each other out of a losing streak and allowing Dawn to renew her confidence. I think no matter the outcome, both Coordinators gained something from the tournament even if Dawn lost to May, I think she would have had a regained her confidence but winning the Aqua Ribbon allowed her to re-affirm her self-belief and skills.

Episodic vs Linear:

Now I’ve watched a few videos on this to have a better understanding, the reason why Journeys feels so unstructured is that for some reason the writers chose to go down an episodic route instead of linear. The best example I know of episodic storytelling is Phineas and Ferb where characters and elements are introduced and can come back. But utilising episodic storytelling in a series like Pokémon feels like an unnatural choice we’re meant to be following these characters and their journeys towards achieving their goals whereas in a linear narrative this would be a lot clearer.

The Setting:

A lot of people have an issue with the fact that a series, that promises travelling the world, it really fell flat. As I have previously mentioned, so far only 2/5 of the episodes have taken place in other regions, most of the time Ash and Goh end up staying in Vermillion City. With the way things are currently being executed, I honestly would have preferred a Sword and Shield anime, with Ash at least travelling around Galar, it would allow for the Galar story to be more fleshed out instead of shoe-horned into a four-episode arc and with the announcement of the Sinnoh re-makes, I feel as though they are going to promote that in some way in the anime later on. (Perhaps with a Dawn cameo).

As I’ve been writing this, I’ve kind of realised one gripe I have with the anime that has become rather blatant as of late. That is the commercialism in the anime, I understand the anime is utilised to promote the game and re-makes of games but with this latest series the commercialism is blatant and honestly annoying. An early example of using the anime to promote a game was the Johto arc in DP to promote HeartGold and SoulSilver. Whereas, currently we have Goh, the human advertisement for Pokémon Go and Chloe’s Eevee promoting Let’s Go Eevee (which I honestly don’t see the need to advertise older games).

The controversary with Grookey…

Needless to say, the latest episode of Pokemon Journeys has sparked a lot of debate and anger particularly from Goh haters who have declared him a thief and are dropping the anime. There are some people who don’t mind Goh catching Grookey, they may have disliked the storyline they used for Goh to catch Grookey. I’ve made my feelings clear, that I would have preferred for Grookey to have been introduced much earlier and for Ash to have caught it.

However, I do have an issue with the way Goh caught Grookey as I can kind of understand why people are calling Goh a thief, I wouldn’t go that far maybe immoral at the most. The initial concept of Grookey belonging to Team Rocket was interesting but the whole story falls flat when they don’t give us any backstory like how did Team Rocket catch Grookey? why was Grookey so desparate to stay with Goh? was Grookey being mistreated by Team Rocket?

Honestly, if Grookey was being mistreated by Team Rocket, I’d understand why it’d want to leave them but this is Jessie, James and Meowth, the trio that released Mimikyu and Mareanie since they didn’t want them to be left in Team Rock Headquarters because they’d thought Mimikyu and Mareanie would be unhappy. So, I honestly can’t see the mistreatment storyline.

Also, the fact that Grookey smashed its own Poké Ball to gain its freedom kind of undermines other storylines that have seen Pokémon being abused by their trainers as they could have arguably smashed their Poké Balls to gain their freedom. Although, you could argue there is an element of fear in these cases.

I feel like if they built up the story more, I may have been more accepting but I kind of find it hypocritical in the sense Goh wants this Pokémon that belongs to someone else and it smashes its own Poké Ball to be with him. Whereas, its bad when Team Rocket try to steal someone else’s Pokémon but its okay for Goh because he’s the protagonist. Considering this is a kids anime that kind of sends the wrong message. I honestly would have found it more interesting if Grookey decided to stay with Team Rocket that would have been an interesting twist with Team Rocket having a starter Pokémon on their side. Plus, we know, James loves his Grass-types.

Conclusion:

Basically, I needed to get this off my chest and honestly, I feel much better for it. No Pokémon anime series is perfect by any means but lately I feel as though the writing has taken a huge dip and it has taken the enjoyment out of the series. I’m still trying to give the series a chance and hopefully I can warm to Grookey under Goh’s ownership, I think if the episodic formula has taken away the storytelling element that I love about the Pokémon series.

I have honestly never seen a Pokémon anime divide the community so much but I’m hoping that things begin to improve particularly if Ash’s Farfetch’d evolves in the next episode.

#pokemon journeys #pokemon #pokeani

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voltimer · 3 years

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'The Magic of Johto's Level Curve'

(or, 'a leisurely analysis of the singleplayer balance of Pokemon GSC and HGSS')

The Johto games - especially HeartGold and SoulSilver - seem to have a very good reputation. Some often put the aforementioned HGSS into their top 3 or describe it as the core Pokemon experience. I personally agree with this sentiment and HGSS is either #2 or #1 depending on my mood (it usually competes with Black 2 and White 2).

Despite all its praise though, there seems to be an incredibly consistent point raised against it: the level curve. I see it described as unbalanced, janky, and generally bad.

There are two main problems people tend to cite. First is the level progression in Johto itself, with Gyms 5, 6, and 7 not exactly being a smooth progression upwards and then Team Rocket's Archer and the 8th Gym having a notable level spike compared to those last three. Wild Pokemon levels are also usually a lot lower than the major boss fights they are ahead of, making raising new 'mons harder and grinding for boss fights longer. The other problem is Kanto, whose problems can essentially be said to take Johto's levelling issues and ramp them up. The jump from fighting Blue to the Elite Four rematches and Red is also very significant.

What I'm not going to do here is refute that the above isn't true - these level scaling inconsistencies are certainly present. It's also very different to the vast majority of main series entries, whose level curves are more linear and gradual. Gens 5 and 7 even have a feature which multiplies exp gain based on how much lower or higher you are than the Pokemon you defeat which in a way acts like a rubber band around each game's level curve, ensuring you can catch up easily but not go too overlevelled either. Playing GSC and HGSS when the rest of those entries are like that is a bit jarring. Pokemon is so well-known for having quite a formulaic design across its main series and when compared to that formula with regards to level progression and the like, the Johto games do seem a bit off-colour.

What I am going to do though is try to explain why this so-called bad level curve is at the very least not actually that bad, or, if I can convince you well enough, that the Johto games actually have a unique and (what I call) magical singleplayer game design not properly replicated in any other entry. It goes to the core essence of Pokemon's theming, and it fits with the fact that Johto's narrative also happens to put the most focus on those themes than the rest of the series.

When I say the core essence of theming, I mean the very basics of every Pokemon adventure: you, the player, leave home to go on a journey around your region, meeting various people and overcoming various challenges along the way together with your partner Pokemon. Challenges you overcome are all thanks to the bonds you share with your partners and how you raise them with love and care. As you get older, this is the sort of thing in Pokemon that you probably end up taking for granted. It's typical "power of friendship" stuff, and most people will tend to come to conclude through learning about the game mechanics that this sort of thing is superficial and that stats are all that matter in the end. The more modern Pokemon games also have such a big focus on larger-than-life stories with big climaxes featuring the box Legendaries that it's easy to lose this basic level, down-to-earth narrative theming.

Johto is significant for not having any larger-than-life aspects overshadowing its core. Instead, the core takes centre stage. There is no real overarching story besides your adventure. Team Rocket's antics take a sub-plot role but in the end act as a foil to your story, being one of the more major obstacles you overcome. Catching Ho-oh or Lugia is no cataclysm either, but rather a reward for your achievements throughout the game and thanks to your good and pure heart - recognised by the Legendary in question. Moments throughout the game like how you deal with the situation at the Lake of Rage, or the Dragon's Den trial where you're asked questions to test your ideals as a trainer (which, of course, you pass with flying colours) all contribute to this core as well.

The way Professor Oak congratulates you after defeating Lance ties the knot perfectly on the main campaign:

"Ah, <player>! It's been a long while. You certainly look more impressive. Your conquest of the League is just fantastic! Your dedication, love, and trust for your Pokémon made this happen. Your Pokémon were outstanding, too. Because they believed in you as a Trainer, they persevered. Congratulations, <player>!"

These are just examples of the main story events, though,and Johto has a lot more than that. The region is filled with things to do beside the main campaign - Berries/Apricorns, Pokegear calls, the Ruins of Alph and other optional caves, the Bug Catching Contest, and (in HGSS) the Pokeathlon and Safari Zone, just to name a few of the more notable ones. Tama Hero's review of Pokemon GSC talks a lot about this and it's well-worth a watch even beyond the section describing the games' breadth of side content.

Tama Hero also touches upon the supposed level scaling issue, and her response to the complaints is that there is a "sprinkling" of opportunities for small bits of exp gain throughout the game which should help you stay on track in most cases, and where you can't match levels, you can outplay your opponent.

I certainly agree with the latter. It always feels entirely possible to beat bosses at a level deficit throughout Johto. The Johto League is one of the key cases where you'll probably end up at level disadvantage, but I've consistently been able to defeat it with a team of lv 40s on average (so nearly 10 levels behind Lance's peak), and I'm pretty certain that my not-even-10-year-old self did so as well, even though it took me many, many attempts. From various people I've talked to and bits of let's plays I've seen over the years, this seems to be the common experience too. I think only a minority of people have had to grind to match Lance's levels in order to beat him at all. Granted, it might take you a couple of tries at that level disadvantage (or a great couple of tries more, like little ol' me), but that's surely not an unreasonable expectation. The concept of getting stuck at a difficult stage in a game could be called a universal one, and I think most people agree that it's always pretty satisfying to finally surmount a challenge like that. This can even be said about other Pokemon games - Kanto, Hoenn and Sinnoh also all have large level spikes at the end. In fact, at least when it comes to the end of the maingame, I'd argue Hoenn and Sinnoh have a larger level spike than Johto, but they're not considered impossible or anything

Regardless, though: it's certainly possible to win difficult battles in Pokemon at a level disadvantage. Tama Hero argues that the strategy required to do so isn't something the game teaches you very well, but I think this is a tad pessimistic. In the end I think that most wins will just come down to understanding of more fundamental skills that you've probably learned through the course of the game naturally - using type matchups (gyms are all type themed), using moves with stat changes (the earlygame is full of moves like Growl and Tail Whip), using status moves (no doubt you're going to see the effects of Paralysis and Burns throughout the game at least), and apt use of items (bosses always use potions and often use held items). Players also have more control over the battle than the enemy, with the default Switch mode and a huge amount more items available. It's true that the games don't teach you the deeper, untold mechanics very well, but learning about those only unlock even more ways to succeed for the numbers-minded veterans.

On the topic of those deeper, untold mechanics I also want to talk about something which Tama Hero doesn't mention at all - Effort Values, or EVs. Most of you reading will probably know about these by now, but for those who don't, EVs are hidden values which can increase a Pokemon's raw stats by a certain amount based on the other Pokemon they defeat. They were present in a slightly different form in Gens 1 and 2 in the form of "stat exp" but the premise was the same: your Pokemon grow twofold when you defeat Pokemon, by gaining visible exp for levelling up and visibly gaining stats every time that exp bar fills, but also by gaining stats little by little every time they defeat any Pokemon. Your Pokemon's EVs weren't visible to you in-game until Gen 6 with the Super Training graphic, and numerically weren't until Gen 7 where you can press X on the Pokemon's stat screen to show what are called "base stats".

EV optimisation is crucial to competitive play because the stat boosts they give are quite significant. Competitive players will "min-max" spreads, putting as much as possible into 2 stats to maximise strengths and not wasting any on stats they aren't making use of. In maingame playthroughs, though, EVs will usually end up being a balanced spread because you'll invetivably be facing a variety of Pokemon with different EV yields throughout the game. EVs can also be increased with the Vitamin items (Protein, Calcium, etc.) which you find a handful of throughout the game (and can buy at a premium) and can be used to manually raise EVs, though only to a certain point.

In Gens 3 and onward, a Pokemon can have up to 252 EVs in 1 stat, and 510 in total. At Lv 100, 4 EVs in a stat grant 1 point extra to it. For the singleplayer campaign the conditions are a bit different, but if we assume as a standard that by the Elite Four your EV total is maxed out and you have an even spread, your stats will all be up to 10 points higher than they would be without EVs. In Gens 1 and 2, you can actually max out all of a Pokemon's stat exp values but you're unlikely to cap them all for a good while beyond the maingame so we can consider them about the same as in the later gens for this.

But why is this important?

Firstly, the difference EVs make in the above scenario account for what is usually about 5 levels' worth of stats. Depending on your exact distribution, it could be a couple more or less levels' worth in each stat but the bottom line is that they make your Pokemon's strength higher than it may seem based on level alone.

This means that the wild Pokemon grinding that is criticised for being too tedious in Johto as a result of low levels is also better than it seems because even when you don't level up, you're gaining EVs for every one of those you defeat. The stagnant levels in the midgame of Johto also contribute more to your Pokemon's growth than it may seem from the slow level gain. The Pokegear rematches which you gain access to after defeating Team Rocket before Gym 8 may also be a little infrequent, but they also very often give you Vitamins afterwards to add to all of this.

Secondly is what seems to be a fairly unknown fact: in-game trainers do not have any EV spreads. Thanks to the work of speedrunners, we have exact data of enemy trainers' Pokemon to show this. Trainers do have IV spreads based on their "AI level" (more 'advanced' AI levels will have up to 30 IVs across the board) but the difference near-perfect IVs will have on their Pokemon is not as great as the combination of random IV spreads and relatively balanced EV spreads yours.

That 10 level deficit vs Lance is suddenly more like 5 in practice. Some of his Pokemon also happen to have pretty high stats naturally in Gyarados and the Dragonites, and the level deficit will still be slightly present, but once we factor in strategy again, you can abuse their type weaknesses and make good use of items, status and whatever else have you to swing the odds in your favour.

The only way you can find out anything about EVs in Johto is from a NPC in Blackthorn City who gives your Pokemon the Effort Ribbon if they have reached their total of 510, and the only practical way for a player without the technical knowledge to have achieved this is to have spent time throughout the game doing lots of little bits of training - in other words, putting in the effort - to have incidentally capped their Pokemon's EV total. It's only fitting that you find this NPC towards the end of the Johto campaign because it's likely that by this point a couple of your team members will be eligible for the ribbon.

This finally ties back to the point of core theming. EVs are an invisible stat giving your Pokemon an extra edge over their in-game opponents, or, at worst, one closing a gap in strength between them, as a result of all of the time you've spent raising those Pokemon throughout the game. In other words, EVs are essentially the statistical representation of the "dedication, love, and trust" you have for your Pokemon which gets you through seemingly difficult challenges. Levels, then, are only a surface representation of your Pokemon's strength: they create the feeling of an uphill battle, but you can win against the odds by believing in yourself and your partners. It's probably exactly what you thought as the naive and uncynical child playing through a Pokemon game for the first time, and probably one of the ways you made such fond memories of it. In hindsight, this is definitely how it was for me. It is a sort of magic, really.

There is still a big Red elephant in the room, and I do think that the level gap between the end of the Kanto Gyms and Red is maybe too hard to go and beat immediately after even with the power of EVs and such, but Red is by all means a superboss and final challenge of the Johto games, and I don't think it's unreasonable to have to grind for a while to build up for and to finally be able to take his team of Lv 80s on. The same can be said about the Elite Four Rematches in this game and others, Steven in Emerald, or that one Barry fight in Platinum if you do decide to beat the E4 rematches 20 times to make his levels nearly match Red's. If you're setting out to fight a superboss like this, the grind is part of the prerequesites. It's definitely still possible to beat someone like Red with a 10 or even 20 level deficit if you play well, though. I admit, I haven't beaten Red in a long time, but I have beaten Emerald Steven with a ~15 level gap before. Tama Hero also said she has beaten Red with a team of level 50s in Crystal in the review.

I said before that the other games in the series haven't replicated this sort of thing as well. Gen 5 was the beginning of a marked shift away from this design, with its overarching story-driven style and a change to exp gain which would honestly be incompatible with the level curve in Johto. Gen 6, whilst returning to the exp system without level deficit multipliers, saw different means of statistical representations of the 'dedication, love and trust' trio in Pokemon Amie, which can break the game almost as much as the Exp Share when enough Affection is built up. Gen 7 brings back Gen 5's exp system whilst retaining the Exp Share and Affection systems, and actually ends up even diverging from the EV design which went before by having in-game trainers and Totem Pokemon with competitive, min-maxed EV spreads from as early as the Trainer's School. Whilst I am yet to play Let's Go and Sword and Shield, their Exp system with a 'permanent Exp Share' of sorts makes it a huge amount different and from what I've seen and heard, overlevelling is quite easy despite the game being designed around the feature. I really hope that Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl at least return to Gen 6's exp mechanics, or better, reunite us with the held-item version of the Exp Share which doesn't make me feel like I'm cheating whenever I use it.

Before I go too off-topic, though, I should probably return to the original thread of this post to make some concluding remarks. What can't be denied that the way GSC and HGSS are designed may not be for everyone. I know for sure that a lot of people prefer to be able to breeze through a Pokemon game at a brisk pace without many roadblocks, but as someone who in recent years has come to appreciate much slower-paced and immersive singleplayer Pokemon playthroughs, I can't help but love the way GSC and HGSS are designed in the way I've explained, or appreciate their unique identity amongst the rest of the series. Coming to think about this has also shed light on why I adored HeartGold as much as I did when I first played it way back 11 years ago. I poured hours and hours into the game, and as a result, its magical design put me under its spell.

_____________________________________________________________

Though I linked to the references I did use when they appeared, here they are again. Do check them out if they're of interest to you!

Tama Hero's GSC review: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FgtMVKP2T6Y

speedrun.com trainer data for HGSS: https://www.speedrun.com/pkmnhgss/guide/k2zij

speedrun.com trainer data for SuMo: https://www.speedrun.com/pkmnsunmoon/guide/d2683

Tama Hero (YT) is one of the few people I know who actually makes longer-form Pokemon analysis content besides Aleczandxr (also YT), who whilst not being a 'PokeTuber' has made some brilliant analyses of storytelling through setting in Sinnoh, Hoenn, Johto, and just recently, Unova. I did not refer to them here but I can highly recommend their content, at least.

Thank you very much for reading to the very bottom here. This is my first time writing something like this and I appreciate it.

#voltimer longpost #pokemon #gsc #gen 2 #gold and silver #crystal #gen 4 #heartgold and soulsilver #analysis #hgss

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candygurl-gumdropz · 2 years

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Photo of me hijacking the next Pokémon Staff Meeting:

(This isn’t just a way for me to get your attention with a popular meme, lol)

This is something that’s been bothering me and I’ve only seen a few other people say it, but I feel like it should be more widespread:

If you wanna do a story-focused Pokémon game, then you gotta have actual protagonists. Not just nameless blank canvases!

While the blank-slate player character worked for gens 1-4, where the main focus was the mechanics and other playable features, things started to get a bit more dull for gens 5-6, where weaker characters came in and got a lot more focus.

Gen 5 at least had Bianca, who had a really good arc for me and other memorable characters, such as Elesa and Lenora, who both played some part in the story. I’d consider this the transitioning point for the series. N was pretty good as well.

Gen 6 itself was fine, since it introduced mega evolution and kept the focus on the battles. However, most of the characters were as dull as dishwater. Not good for a game that had quite a bit of more and story.

Gen 7 has the biggest issue with this. The protagonist barely emotes and they’re basically dragged around by the other characters who also barely get any development. Hell, there’s no fossil pokemon and the story is extremely boring. You’re more like an audience member to other people’s boring stories than anything else.

I’m not gonna go into the Ultra Games, as while they do fix some of my gripes and add some neat feature, the same criticisms apply.

Exceptions go to Lillie, Hau, and Gladion, who had pretty compelling stories and character arcs. So, why not just put us through either Lillie’s or Hau’s story? They both live in the same starter village and a different story depending on whether they’re a boy or girl would give people reason to replay the game.

Kukui could reccomend that Lillie takes part in the island trials. She then goes through a story of defying her mother, finding herself, and learning to take care of Nebby. On the other hand, Hau realizes that he doesn’t have to be like his grandfather and he forged his own path. Both ending in defeating the evil and becoming the first Pokémon champion. You can still dress them up and change their “nickname”, but they’re still their own character that you play as. (And you still get to pick their team and battle, of course)

I don’t wanna do a whole rewrite of Sun and Moon (right now), but just shine a light on how these games had two protagonists ready to be player characters and that it was kinda wasted.

Basically, take a note out of Mystery Dungeon’s book, Gamefreak. The protags don’t have to be fully named and pre-designed characters like I used, but at least give them some dialogue and some personality. Why do they want to go on this journey? Are they being pressured into it?

I’m not gonna go into Sword and Shield, since it’s a can of worms on it’s own.

Thanks for reading!

#Pokémon #pokemon #pokémon #spoilers #rant #Pokémon spoilers #pokémon sun and moon

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currantlee · 3 years

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My Top 5 favorite Pokémon Boss Battle Themes

So, I fell into a pit of my Pokémon nostalgia. Don't look at me, I loved these games as a kid, and I don't enjoy what they have become. That being said, I really hope the Sinnoh remakes - both BDSP and Legends - are good, since Sinnoh was my first region and I'd hate to see it butchered. Plus, they look promising. But I'm not getting my hopes up yet, I'll wait for reviews.

Anyways, one of the things I enjoyed so much about these games is the music. I could probably hum you some of the Sinnoh tunes, or even sing the lyrics I imagined for them (it's obvious that Sinnoh is still my favorite region, isn't it?). Or I could list some of my favorite music tracks from all across the series. So... I did just that to get my hype energy somewhere 😂

So yeah, I hope you enjoy this little list 😊 I tried to explain the stories and memories associated with those musical themes as well as I can for those of you who aren't into Pokémon. That being said - spoilers for Pokémon OmegaRuby and AlphaSapphire, Pokémon HeartGold and SoulSilver and especially the Sinnoh games ahead.

Oh, and if you do know Pokémon - please leave a comment or reblog and tell me what your favorite boss battle theme is, I'd love to know!

Since Pokémon doesn't have an explicified boss definition, here is what I define as boss battles in Pokémon:

Rival Battles

Gym Battles

Elite Four Battles

Champion Battles

Commander Battles

Admin Battles

Legendary / Unique Pokémon Battles

Frontier Brain or similar Battles

With that being said, let's go!

#5: Pokémon UltraSun/UltraMoon: VS Ultra Necrozma

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I will admit, I haven't played the game. I heard this battle is actually pretty difficult, but I can't speak for myself on this. Pokémon games have stopped to be enjoyable to me with Sun and Moon, which had an amazing storyline and some great gameplay concepts, but just... Not enjoyable to me. And USUM seemed like cashgrab to me. I will say though, this musical theme has something and might as well be the best legendary battle theme of modern Pokémon for me.

#4: Pokémon OmegaRuby/AlphaSapphire: VS Brendan/May

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In Gen3, Game Freak tried out a new approach with the rival character. See, you always have a rival in Pokémon, and up until this point, all rivals were pretty much jerks. What this new approach was? Well... Let's just say they made the rival character the crush of the player character.

Depending on whether you play as Brendan (whom everyone thought to have white hair before ORAS, except Hidenori Kusaka and Satoshi Yamamoto, who make the Pokémon Adventures manga) or as May, the other will be the rival, and let me tell you, the game pushes this ship really hard in my opinion. It's no wonder why the manga chose to write Ruby and Sapphire, Brendan's and May's counterparts respectively, as a romantic couple, who even confess their love for each other - twice.

Their battle theme conveys this perfectly: this isn't two people who hate each other battling, these are two friends, who might like each other more than you like a casual friend, battling to spend time together. Despite that, both of them are determined to not lose.

One of my favorite moments in the entire game is the ending of it. After the credits (during which Brendan and May are riding their bikes home together) have rolled, you arrive at the pond where you and your rival first met, and they will challenge you to a battle once more. It's when you hear this theme, the one you've listened to every time you battled Brendan or May during the game, and it's just an amazing moment in my opinion, one that is accompanied by this soundtrack, following absolute silence.

And yes, I prefer the remake version of this track.

#3: Pokémon Diamond/Pearl/Platinum: VS Cyrus

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Since Kingdom Hearts is currently my main fandom and therefore most people following me probably know more about that series than about Pokémon, let me explain who Cyrus is: Cyrus is the Xehanort of Pokémon. And that up there is his battle theme. And safe for the one time they butchered it by turning it into a disco song for USUM, it's absolutely perfect.

I especially like the beginning. It conveys intensity and the dangerous situation you're in. I mean, Cyrus literally wants to destroy the universe to replace it with a new one he will rule as a god. He also regards all emotions as weakness and will openly admit that his grunts are useless and merely tools to him. Honestly, he is the most terrifying antagonist of the entire series to me, mainly because his plan is that of a madman, but he is actually serious about it (and unlike Xehanort doesn't let go of it even after his defeat).

At the same time, the musical theme sounds hopeful - like all will be good. And I mean, all is eventually good. You have your Pokémon with you, and Cynthis (who also has a badass battle theme by the way) helps you out too. Here is a great thing about the Sinnoh plot: Cynthia has been built up as a character you can trust, and her philosophy is the direct contrast to Cyrus'. So when she helps you battle Cyrus and Team Galactic - you know she won't let anything happen to you. Despite how terrifying Cyrus is as a villain, you know you're safe, because you have not only your Pokémon, but her on your side. Oh, and she is the final boss of the game. So in the end, you and your Pokémon overcome not only the villain, but also the person who held your hand the entire time.

Sorry this turned into me gushing about the plot of the Sinnoh games, but I can't help it 😅 On with the show!

#2: Pokémon HeartGold/SoulSilver: VS Champion/Red

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If Cyrus is the Xehanort of Pokémon, then Red is it's Yozora. And while his musical theme is technically not his alone, I definitely associate it with him more than I associate it with Lance.

One of the best things about Red in my opinion is how he is foreshadowed during the entire game. Like, in the first city you visit, an elderly man will tell you about a boy named Red who three years ago saved the neighbouring region Kanto from the evil Team Rocket. Then, you hear nothing about him for a very long time - until Blue Oak mentions him again on Cinnebar Island and you meet his worried mother at Pallet Town.

While Red is technically an optional secret boss, the game makes you want to beat him through the little details it reveals about him. That he is a legend, that he is the true Champion of the Indigo League... To me, his mother worrying about him was always what got me the most.

I have to say, I also got a soft spot for the 8-Bit-version of the theme, it's just not what I grew up with. I admittedly never played GSC. I also like the Gen7 take on the theme, which mixes the original melody with the Alolan vibes.

#1: Pokémon Diamond/Pearl/Platinum: VS Dialga / Palkia

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I don't know how, but they managed to make the piano in this theme as epic as a theme for those two Dr Who-deities deserve. It sounds mysterious and it makes you respect what is in front of you, without sounding bombastic like Arceus' theme (which is also freaking amazing, ngl). Not that that is a bad thing, but I feel like the mysterious vibe fits Dialga and Palkia, who are the embodiments of two very abstract concepts. Arceus is simply god, and that's that. But Dialga and Palkia are the embodiments of time and space, two concepts that are far more difficult to grasp than "god".

Dialga also has an amazing battle theme in Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Time/Darkness/Sky, which definitely deserves an honorable mention here (Palkia's theme in said game is okay, but they definitely got the short end of the stick IMO).

I really hope they're not going to butcher this theme (or Cynthia's. Or Cyrus'. Or any of the Gen4 themes really) in the remakes. But the one thing Pokémon didn't mess up completely for me so far is the soundtrack (except that one time they turned Cyrus' theme into a disco song, which really doesn't fit him at all). So I have faith in that at least.

What's your favorite boss battle theme in Pokémon? Leave me a comment if you like, I'd love to hear about it!

#Fandom #Pokémon #Soundtrack #Opinion #Top 5 #Currantlee talking

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thebladeblaster · 4 years

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Pokémon: the Vanguard Descends The Movie: Celebi Lost In Time (Part 5)

Kamui and his Pokémon tried to get their way through the Pokémon. It was definitely a struggle; they were very strong, however since they were ‘wild’ they only had their naturally learned moves which gave some sort of advantage. Similar to when he had fought Asuka with Aichi and Kourin his Pokémon fought together increasing their effectiveness. He also got a pleasant surprise when a familiar Hawlucha dove at one the Pokémon about to strike Kaiser.

“What a pain. Seriously these people should have learned by now they need to get strong enough to defend themselves.”, Kyou complained, he had his hands in his pockets as he walked in.

Behind him was the rest of his Pokémon which delivered harsh blows to the berserk Pokémon.

“Well, it’s kinda your job to protect them, you're a gym leader.”, Kamui replied, sweat dropping.

“The only good thing about this job is that I get to crush losers dreams and get paid for it.”, Kyou replied.

“Why the heck did Aichi suggest you?”, Kamui grumbled.

Their Pokémon fought together delivering a flurry of punches and kicks. From a distance Kaiser and Hatred Chaos fended off the Pokémon. A bunch of cloaked men walked up to where they fought. Remembering what he learned from fighting Team Asteroid he didn’t give them a chance to throw out their Pokémon.

“Knock em your with your tail, Kaiser!”, Kamui ordered.

They gasped in surprise as Kaiser whipped them with its thick tail knocking them all over like bowling pins.

“That’s one way to do it I guess…”, Kyou commented, sweat dropping.

In Sanctuary town…

Aichi slept soundly in his bed after exhausting himself trying to figure out absolute lock. His phone kept ringing though being the heavy sleeper he is he slept right through it. Ahmes ended up walking in noticing the phone’s ringing. Emi and Shuka were about to return to the house when they suddenly spotted another rare hunter coming near it. Shuka sent a storm of leaves at the rare hunters blowing him back. The rare hunter snickered in annoyance now on the ground with cuts everywhere and his hood shredded.

“Why you!”, the rare hunter growled as he threw out a Coalossal.

The Pokémon had the same ominous aura and red eyes like the others. Shuka whipped out her staff, the red orb in the middle glowed brightly.

“Blaster healing activation!”, Shuka said as she waived the wand dramatically.

Emi and the rare hunter sweat dropped at this. Though, they were stunned as a strange energy washed over the corrupted Pokémon returning it to normal. The ominous Poké ball that held it sparked before exploding.

“What the heck?!”, the rare hunter questioned.

“Woah! You're just like a magical girl! With that thing you could turn back any of those Pokémon that those guys took over!”, Emi said.

“Or I could just destroy the Poké balls like Gancelot did. They said there was more of these guys here. Do you think that’s really true? Where else could they enter?”, Shuka questioned.

“Well...Hmm...the only other coast here is Grandblue city’s I think. I guess they could come in there.”, Emi replied.

“If that’s true I guess I should go there.”, Shuka said.

“Umm...Shuka.”, Emi said.

“Is something wrong Emi?”, Shuka asked.

“It’s probably stupid but...could I come with you? I don’t have any Pokémon, but I feel weird just letting you go alone.”, Emi answered as she rubbed the back of her head looking down.

Shuka blinked before smiling and placing an Ultra ball in her hand. Emi looked up at the Poké ball quizzically.

“You do have a Pokémon, Emi.”, Shuka replied as Emi blinked thinking of what she meant.

“I do?”, Emi questioned quizzically.

“Yeah, this is my Poké ball. I was your Pokémon.”, Shuka replied as Emi gasped in shock.

“What?! I had a legendary?!”, Emi gasped.

“Mythical. Some people care about that distinction.”, Shuka replied, before breaking into laughter.

Emi laughed with Shuka, before they left Emi called the police to arrest the rare hunter.

In Grandblue city…

Gouki struggled up as his Pokémon laid on the ground defeated. He was tied up with the other at the water gym.

“Dang it!”, Gouki said as the rare hunter grinned sinisterly down at him.

They threw the mysterious balls at their Pokémon capturing them. When they were thrown back out they were corrupted. A Dragpult wearing the logo of the Esuka corporation looked over Grandblue city and quickly flew back to reveal its findings. The rare hunters had taken a hold of Grandblue city and were using it as a port to get into Kakusa since they failed to get into Sanctuary town earlier.

Emi tried to not look down as she was levitated into the air by Shuka using her psychic energy. They flew over to Grandblue city and it was clear things had gotten bad. Shuka’s staff’s orb glowed as she waved it over the corrupted Pokémon. From Oracle town Misaki flew in on Guardian and Shin stayed back at Oracle town. She didn’t see Emi and Shuka, she simply went around defeating the berserk Pokémon with herPokémon attacking together. Her ultimate destination was to find where the rare hunters are coming in.

Assista Eevee use dazzling gleam! Amaterasu use dazzling gleam! Tom use dazzling gleam! Guardian use body press! Sakuya use moonblast! Coco use play rough!”, Misaki ordered.

“Just as I thought it was Grandblue city they were coming in. I highly doubt that they could get through Sanctuary town with Aichi there.”, Misaki thought.

She looked down at her phone a bit concerned though. She had tried to call Aichi, but he hadn’t responded. Perhaps he was busy battling the rare hunters trying to come in through there? She mega evolved Guardian and rocketed through the berserking Pokémon. She saw some of the rare hunters.

“Guardian use shadow ball!”, Misaki ordered.

The spheres fired at the rare hunters knocking them out while they weren’t expecting it. She rushed into the water gym where she saw a bunch of them huddled up.

In Palesville…

Kamui started rushing to Grandblue city after receiving a call from Misaki.

In Sanctuary town…

More rare hunters who were hiding popped out of the bushes after seeing the girls leave.

“This is the perfect time to capture 003v. Forget Celebi I heard he’s supposed to be the strongest Pokémon in existence.”, the rare hunter said.

“Yeah and once we get him for the master we’ll be unstoppable!”, the other rare hunter said.

They threw out a Rhydon, Aggron, Nidoking, Kommo-o, and Raichu. They neared the Sendou residence as a watery bullet suddenly scraped one of their faces. They sweated nervously as they saw Elaine in the garden.

“It’s just one Pokémon besides we got the Proto-dark balls!”, the other rare hunter said.

They paled as the bag that they had put the dark balls in had suddenly gone missing. They looked over to see Gancelot holding the bag who quickly smashed it into the ground. They then backed up as Wingal and Llew neared them.

“Grr! Rhydon use hammer arm! Raichu use thunder!”, the other rare hunter ordered.

Gancelot ducked and swept the Rhydon. Wingal shot sharp rocks at the Raichu before it could send out its lightning. Llew shot water at the Rhydon while it was down causing it to faint. While the rare hunters were gawking in shock Gancelot punched the Kommo-o hard making it stagger back. Gancelot then delivered a barrage of punches at the Kommo-o.

“Lucario! Lucario! (Aura! Aura! Aura!)”, Gancelot yelled.

Llew swiped at the Nidoking with first impression then delivered a hard sucker punch to it. Llew moves out of the way when Wingal shot sharp rocks at the Nidoking causing it to faint.

“H-how could we be defeated by directionless Pokémon?!”, the rare hunter questioned, before Gancelot and Llew punched the two in the face knocking them out cold.

In the house Ahmes looked at Aichi’s phone seeing that Misaki had called him. Ahmes tried to shake Aichi awake to no avail. Aichi could sleep through a freaking battle happening right next to him.

“Gallade. Gallade. Gallade.Gallade. Gallade. Gallade. Gallade…(Looks like I’ll have to get Llew to shoot water in his face again…)”, Ahmes said as he sweat dropped.

In Grandblue city…

Shuka noticed Misaki’s Pokémon fighting against the corrupted Pokémon. She waved her staff at the Pokémon they were fighting and purified them.

“Those are Misaki’s Pokémon!”, Emi pointed out, as they finally got onto the ground.

Emi giggled when Assista Eevee jumped into her arms and licked her. She noticed Assista Eevee motioning them somewhere.

“I think it’s leading us to Misaki.”, Emi said.

“Misaki...Umm...alright.”, Shuka replied, sounding a bit stunned at the beginning for some reason.

They followed where Assista Eevee led them to the water gym. On the way they purified the corrupted Pokémon that came their way. They quickly reached the water gym where Misaki stood before the rare hunters. Even with one Pokémon against the powered up corrupted Pokémon she was still standing with Guardian, just barely though. She was relieved when her other Pokémon came in and shot psychic and fairy attacks at the rare hunters Pokémon. She was extremely surprised to see Emi.

“Emi? What are you doing here? Where’s Aichi? It’s too dangerous for you to be here!”, Misaki said.

“Oh, he’s sleeping.”, Emi replied and Misaki nearly fell over.

Her eye twitched incredulously in annoyance.

“He’s what!!!”, Misaki yelled angrily as Emi and Shuka sweat dropped and flinched.

“It’s fine. I’ve got this.”, Shuka assures before activating her staff.

“Blaster Healing Activation!”, Shuka called out as the Pokémon were hit by a wave of energy that purified them.

“What is that thing?!”, a rare hunter questioned.

“Whatever it is it’s trouble!”, another rare hunter grumbled.

“Emi who’s your friend?”,Misaki asked, stunned.

“Her name is Shuka.”, Emi answered.

“A human can’t have powers like this and she isn’t one of those created by project Psyqualia. Which means...she’s a Pokémon!”, a different rare hunter realized.

“Then let’s get her!”, a rare hunter said as he threw a Proto-dark ball at her.

Shuka cut the dark ball up with leaf storm.

“Like I’d let that happen.”, Shuka replied.

In Sanctuary town…

Aichi squirmed as Llew shot water in his face. He finally got up looking around groggily.

“What was that for?”, Aichi questioned as Ahmes pointed to his phone.

Near Grandblue city…

Using a riding pager Kamui was nearly there. It was likely more we’re coming as well though they were far away.

In Grandblue city…

Shuka continuously destroyed any Proto-dark balls thrown at her without much effort. While the rare hunters were distracted Misaki freed Gouki and the others captured.

“She’s a legendary isn’t she?”, Misaki asked.

“A mythical. Celebi.”, Emi answered.

“I see. That explains her strange powers.”, Misaki replied.

“Woah, a mythical Pokémon! How exciting!”, Gouki commented.

Suddenly a Proto-dark ball came from behind without them noticing. It seemed a rare hunter had circled around while they were distracted thinking they had basically won.

“Shuka look out!”, Emi called out, seeing the Proto-dark ball as it neared her.

“Guys use psychic!”, Misaki hastily ordered.

Her Pokémon shot psychic attacks at the ball as fast as they could, but it was too close. Shuka looked back before the ball hit her. She dropped her staff which clattered to the ground as it hit her.

“That’s not good.”, Gouki said.

“Oh no!”, Emi said, shaking.

The Proto-dark ball didn’t even wobble instantly catching her almost like a master ball. Emi felt extreme pain in her heart and she didn’t know why. The rare hunter ran up and threw her back out.

Kamui arrived only to see the top of the water gym burst open and he gawked in shock. Plant life from all around the town convened in the spot and formed a massive plant goliath that roared. Kamui nearly fell off his ride Pokémon in shock.

“W-what the fuck?!”, Kamui questioned.

In Sanctuary town…

Aichi tried calling Misaki back. The phone rang for a while, but there was no answer.

“I guess I’ll just go to Oracle town. I’ll go with Ahmes and Soul Saver like usual just in case.”, Aichi said.

“Haxorus! Haxorus! Haxorus! Haxorus! Haxorus! Haxorus! Haxorus! Haxorus!Haxorus! Haxorus!(Yay, I get to give momma a ride again! And then we gotta meet that Naoki guy later!)”, Soul Saver cheered.

In Grandblue city…

The water gym was completely demolished and the corrupted Shuka attacked everything. Her actual form was in the heart of the goliath.

“Shuka!”, Emi desperately yelled up at her.

“Crap!”, Misaki said as she got all her Pokémon ready to fight the goliath.

She looked down to Emi who was in tears. Emi hadn't known Shuka for that long yet she felt like she had known her whole life. She didn’t know why she surely wasn’t the Emi she knew considering how she described her world to her. She blinked a bit when she suddenly remembered something Shuka said.

Flashback

“Or I could just destroy the Poké balls like Gancelot did. They said there was more of these guys here. Do you think that’s really true? Where else could they enter?”, Shuka questioned.

Flashback end

“Wait! Misaki, try finding that guy and destroying the Poké ball. When the weird Poké balls are destroyed its effects go away!”, Emi told her.

“That’s like finding a needle in a haystack especially after he took off.”, Misaki replied.

“Holy crap! If I knew the threat was something that big I would have brought master Takuto.”, Kourin said as she appeared.

“Kourin!”, Misaki gasped, surprised to see her here.

Her Pokémon were already out suggesting that she had probably already been battling, including a new addition of an Excaviler. Kamui soon appeared too, still looking very dumbfounded. They didn’t have much time to think as plant life from all around started attacking them. Kamui struggled as the branch held him tightly. He tried to reach for his Poké balls.

“Guardian use ice punch! Amaterasu use sacred fire!”, Misaki ordered.

They attacked the branches, but to no avail. The branches wouldn’t budge.

“Come on! Shuka!”, Emi called out.

“Ashlei use shadow ball! Nemain use overheat! Bridgette use fire blast! Salome use close combat! Garmore use fire fang! Tristan use brutal swing!”, Kourin ordered.

Her Pokémon attacked the branches holding them and Misaki’s joined in. They were able to free themselves from the branches. Some of the freed Pokémon attacked the attacking wildlife as well.

“If only there was some way to distract her until we could find that guy if he’s even still close…”, Misaki said.

They then looked over as they heard footsteps. They jumped as they saw who it was. Though their shock soon turned into relief and joy.

It was Aichi riding on the back of Soul Saver.

“Oh, so that’s why you didn’t answer.”, Aichi said, definitely surprised and stunned at what he saw when he briefly looked up.

“It’s Shuka! She was captured in those weird Poké balls that mess with Pokémon!”, Emi told him.

The goliath let out something resembling a growl when it laid it’s eyes on Aichi.

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masterbeta29 · 5 years

Text

My review of Pokemon SwSh!!!! (or just Shield, cuz it was the version I play, LOL)

Finally, after finishing the game (including the Post game) and fully exploring the region, I think it’s time for me to say what I think of this 8 gen…

I know it’s obvious, but I mention it just in case: This is MY OPINION!!!, if someone disagrees with me its totally valid, I just ask for respect.

ALSO, English is not my first language so I might have certain lack/erros of spelling out there, or I repeat many words, hehe.

It is important to clarify that this review is based on SwSh base, everything that refers to DLC will NOT be included here, my opinion of the game is already done, the rest is extra content.

I wanted to give this review a more ‘’silly’’ tone, since giving negative opinions on the internet can be quite delicate and I wanted to relax the mood. Do not take this seriously, I still have my CONS with the game, but it is still genuinely enjoyable, which for me is the most important thing in a game. I will talk about everything in general, so I will try to summarize certain points.

LET’S GO!!!

NEW FEATURES

Poke Camp, Curry Dex, Boxes and more

It’s like a dream come true for me, visiting other camps, seeing my whole party next to each other in the screen playing, discussing, running, is something really magical helps, me connect with them and know their personalities better, although I admit that I miss petting them lol and the minigames like in Gen 6. I also really liked the concept of curry as an alternative way to cure your Pokémon maybe I just wish there was a simpler way to know how to create new recipes (ALSO TMs).

Access to boxes anywhere is wonderful especially when you are breeding, just like, changing the name of trade Pokémon and the move reminder.

Rotomphone

It is not used as much as a phone, more than in the post Game (I can be wrong tho) but it serves as Dex and that’s what’s important really, the new feature is that now it includes the bicycle, that can ride both on land and water and in my opinion it is a degradation of what the concept of “Poke Ride” was, but as I said before, it fulfill the function it should.

Trainer Cards

The concept of being able to share and customize them with other players is super entertaining, although it is a bit annoying that you always have to make a new code for each small modification. As for the cards of the main characters of the game, I will talk with a little more detail later.

Dynamax

At the beginning it was fun and exciting, but in the end it just became a gimmick that sometimes I had to use by obligation in raids. It is not as epic as the Megas and does not have the weight of the lore and cultural/regional connection like the Z-moves.

The Giga forms, although some are great, and I am happy that they gave Pokémon like Garbodor love, I also think that there were many missed opportunities, starting with the starters of the region or in giving forms to Pokémon that in previous generations already had like Gengar and Charizard.

Raids

They are incredibly fun, it is an activity that you can spend hours and hours enjoying, especially with friends but if we talk about NPCs… OOF, I understand that the purpose of Pokemon is that we all make friends and work as a team, but DAMN, if it is stressful when you lose a raid with 3 friends and an NPC, because the Pokémon only killed the NPC, it is almost impossible to defeat a 5 star raid with only NPCs, and as I said before I understand why they do them weaker, but there are some that are completely useless, I see you Martin Solrock lol.

Poke Jobs and Rotom Rally

I will be honest, I have not used these features enough to have a solid judgment on these lol.

CHARACTERS

Magnolia

OK, I need to get this off my chest: I am incredibly disappointed and sad with this character, especially since she is/was our first old female professor, to be simply pulled into forgettable land.

It started pretty well, but then it just disappeared until almost the end of the game to give the role of professor to Sonia … REALLY ?! I hate to say this, but she felt more like a device to give character development to Sonia, when she could have been used in scenes with Rose or repeatedly going into further detail about Dynamax for the MC (you know because she’s an expert about that topic…), before give the paper to Sonia. At least I am grateful that I had a little more screen time in the post game, although not even as a professor.

Sonia

Thank you Sonia, for allowing us to discover and know the story with you, honestly she was the one who saved mostly my interest in the story.

But speaking of the character, I like her, I like her dedication to get out of the shadow of Leon’s achievement and to show her grandmother that she is capable, which she finally manages to fulfill, she still has certain insecurities, but that makes her more human, she’s the real professor (I’m still salty for Magnolia tho)

Leon

Everyone knows from the posts on my PT on Twitter that I constantly bullying the character, but I really like him a lot, he is an excellent guide/brother through the game, charismatic, EXTRA, but very involved in his role as champion, in the sense that he is always aware of what is going on and helping in the process, in addition to being strong (one of the most difficult battles in the game). Definitely among my fav champions with Cynthia, Steven and Kukui (I count him as champion, SU!)

Gym Leaders

I love them, their designs, personalities, the animations, they are all incredibly memorable, my favorites are Opal, Kabu and Piers.

But even so, I wish I had more to go on besides the lore on the back of their cards and their battle animations, I would have liked to see them more integrated in the story, and I feel that it lack a little more interaction with some of them, especially Allister and Melony in my case, but at least the trainer cards were a good addition to know them a little more, outside of being a Gym Leader.

RIVALS

OK, I’m prepared for everyone to hate me, *sigh*:

I… I DONT LIKE BEDE AND MARNIE THAT MUCH?… I mean, I don’t hate them, and they are both far from being the worst rivals, but I did expect a little more from both…

Bede

I am one of the few of the fandom that does not like rivals flat jerks, because for me, that is not a character but rather a trait.

But I wanted to give it a try, and when I was just beginning to gain interest in him, they force his backstory in my face… And as I said, I like trainer cards…but more in characters, like G.leaders because these are characters that we don’t see much around the trip, but in the case of rivals, that appear several times and develop in the story, I personally like to get to know them little by little, discover their story and understand them in the course, here I felt it more as an excuse for me, to feel bad for him, especially at the moment he gives you his card.

His relationship with Rose is not explored enough imo.

And a complete turn-around that happens offscreen, like no joke, the MC literally didn’t see any of it, he just disappears after the Opal scene (but to give him credit, that scene is one of my favorites in the game).

But you know, I understood that he was just a lost boy, and I’m happy that he found a better place, and I admire his effort to want to change, so in the end I ended up liking him a little more.

Marnie

Marnie is interesting, because although I agree with many people that she would have benefited from having more screen time, I consider that a good character does not need all the screen time in the world, is about what but what they do with it, and the problem I have with her is that her time was not well spent.

I like her dream and I really like her relationship with her brother, however there was no moment when I really connected with her. I feel partly, that I don’t know her character, like her various personality facets.

Untapped opportunities: fight with her more times or with her…would have helped the character a lot imo.

Hop

Hop is the best rival of the three hands down, his trainer card contains the right and necessary information to make us have an interest in the character, but also the story lets us know him more: a competitive boy, but who has insecurities, fears of failure, that is reflected not only by the dialogue but also in his Pokemon team (no really, it broke my heart when I realized that he didn’t have his Wooloo in his team), that he is frustrated and suffers, but he gets up, discovers other tastes and with these finds a new path, ugh perfect, I adore him.

Forcing the player to defeat him is torture, it is like defeating Hau in USUM and Wally in ORAS breaks my heart.

Rose

In short: ok character, decent /meh antagonist, and a horrible villain.

Like the climax of the story, Rose is forced in the end to be the villain, when he worked best as an antagonist, his plan makes no sense, his battle is disappointing, although his battle theme is awesome, but it just does not fit the character, the plan, nor the situation at all.

But the character has a certain charisma, especially in his ‘’suit especially in his incognito suit.”

Oleana

Interesting character, with a potential backstory, with motives and characterization, who is underused in the story * sigh *… I LIKE HER THO

Overall, I would have liked to see much more of the relationship between Rose, Oleana and Bede, I think it would have benefited the 3 characters…

Team Yell

They are … ok, it is cool to have a team that is not villain, that bother the player from time to time even for good reasons, I admire his dedication and loyalty.

THE REGION

The region is aesthetically beautiful, the details, the structure, the contrast for example between Hammerlocke and Ballonlea, and despite not living in the UK or having had the opportunity to travel to the destination, according to my friends the region in which the games are based is very well related, which I think is excellent. However, despite the visual beauty, when it comes to routes and exploration it feels a bit limited, there are really some towns, where the most interesting thing to do is complete the Gym, there are almost no reasons to return to the previous town after having passed them…

But, what I missed the most was the lack of exploration, discovery, the charm of the NPCs…

Many have told me: what about the Wild Area? Because of the ability to explore in an open area, it is probably the best in the franchise! and yes, the Wild Area is a very attractive part of these games (I will talk a little bit about this, later), but as I said, everything that is considered part of the capacity of the new console, I will not take it into account, it is unfair, because a portable console can NOT stand a concept such as the Wild Area although the developers had the idea before, not at least at SwSh scale.

And as I said before and again, the T.Cards are an incredible idea, but for me NOTHING compares to getting to know the characters through the world, dialogue, interaction… I’m going to use pokemon Moon as an example to make me understand better: (because it was the last main pokemon game I played before SwSh and that’s why I have it more fresh lol) Where you can enter Olivia’s shop, buy jewelry and visit her room and discover that she is a desperate single woman, or enter Gladion’s room and talk to the receptionist and that she tells you part of his story, that kind of things…

Let’s see for example Melony, we know she has more children besides Gordie, but only for concept art, and yes, probably do unique models would take a while, but I honestly wouldn’t have be bothered if they use generic NPCS, they did it with Lana’s sisters, then the anime can dedicated to giving them unique designs.

Speaking of NPCs (mainly of those inside the houses), many lost the charm and authenticity they had… I mean, where is the lady who told us the story of her husband’s accident or the men of the coffee shop, who every time he prepares us a drink told us the story of where such a drink came from, ect… the NPCS on that side are boring…

EXCEPT BALL GUY, he / she is awesome!

I know this look like extra or unimportant things, but these little details really give life to the region, personality to characters that are secondary, it makes everything feel more united and also makes the main characters feel more inside the world, and honestly that is why on this hand, some cities felt empty for me…

But the other hand, I really liked what they did with the NPCs fans, see how the number increasing every time the MC wins a gym battle, makes the trip to become a champion feel more rewarding, It really helps you feel like a true champion when you got it.

Other examples like the girl NPC who is going to support you in the Gyms while their pokemon is evolving, or how the NPCS react and change their dialogue corresponding to what is happening… beautiful, for this part the worldbulding is 10/10.

The wild Area

Probably the closest we have for now of an open space area in a Pokemon game, I have to admit that I get lost at least 1 half an hour trying to find the next destination (I understand you Leon), it was hilarious lol, at the beginning of the game it turns out to be a fairly limited area, and you really can enjoy it in its entirety when you finish the main story, but I don’t see so much trouble with that, since it’s partly the point, for balance. In general, it is a fantastic idea although I feel that it is necessary to polish it in certain parts, and NO, I don’t mean THE TREE, but I don’t want to be so hard on GF at this moment, because is the first time they experiment with such concept…

Pokemon and Music

I put these two together because they both share a very curious characteristic: EXPERIMENTAL.

The pokedex is super solid, I love how these last generations, GF is doing its homework and is striving to make the pokemon belong to the region, as for animals, myths, culture…muah I LOVE IT, BRAVO.

For me a good OST movie or video game not only has to be for the piece n yes, but how it is composed to accompany the events that occur on the screen, how it adapts and fits a certain scene of the story or character, and although I admit that in general it is not my favorite compared to other gens, there are tracks that have become part of my favorites:

The crowd, the screams, the build up as you gradually approach the last pokemon, ugh. Dynamax is cool and everything, but THIS is the basis for me, of why these battles feel so energetic and exciting.

That mystical atmosphere that catches you, is beautiful but at the same time mysterious, and perhaps many disagree with me, but the addition of the howls of the legendaries… I love it.

STORY

I think the game started extremely well, the introduction to the characters, the exploration, the introduction to the starters, the mystery of the legendary, everything is on track to me to enjoy this adventure to the fullest, but later I felt like it began to fall.

I understand that this is Pokémon and sometimes Pokémon does not need a complex story to make it enjoyable, as long as it makes sense and is entertaining, the problem I have mainly with the story is how they constantly get you out of it. I understand the concept they wanted to do: to take a more realistic point of view, in which adults take responsibility or in this case the champion and that later when you become champion you now can do what the champion did, and I like this concept, but the phrase of “you focus on the gym, we take care of the problems ” they say and they repeat it several times in the game like, I understood the first time!!!

Indirectly I felt like they were trying to took me out, and in consequence I lost interest in the story of the game, if it hadn’t been because Sonia bothered to explain to me the lore and a little of what was happening.

It’s more like “tell us” and not “show us”

and that’s the risk of this concept: you play as a main character, because you want to be a main character or share the role.

The climax feels incredibly forced and confusing, I felt that there was no build out, almost no foreshadowing for what was happening at the moment, everything comes out of nowhere, and thats why, I started making Okami jokes with Eternatus, because I don’t felt that emotion of the ‘’Climax’’.

Definitely in the part where the game shine was in the gym Challenge, as I said before, the gyms, the leaders, the atmosphere within them, the scale, the music that changing every time, until reaching the final pokémon, the challenges that we have to do before, the fans, becoming the champion, all this really is the identity of the game.

Pokémon returned to its roots, where this story is the story of us again, and becoming the champion here is everything, it is one of the most exciting and most satisfying Gym challenge in all generations with gyms.

ADDITIONAL

Here I want to give opinions according to the experiences I had with certain things within the game, which I think are quite PERSONAL, because each person plays different Pokémon, by the team of Pokémon, because he decided to level up more or stay at a lower level or how you decided to follow the story of the game.

Difficulty

Decent, by the standards of Pokemon of course, I try not to leveling to much, and if I do, there are maximum 3 levels and only one pokemon… So, gyms were easy in general, perhaps a pair that were difficult (Allister and Melony), but I never did black screen as in other games, but definitely the most difficult battle in the game is Leon, which I think is appropriate.

Online

Its horrible lol, There were not only once but several times in which I lasted like 1 hour trying to connect with a person, it is ridiculous.The signal falling every so often. But in general the biggest problem I have is connecting with very specific people, not even with the infamous Festival Plaza had so many problems.

Gameplay / Pacing

It is normal the same as always which is fine, some drop of frames out there in certain scenes but nothing serious, some cuts and lack of scenarios / designs that if you should in when they took me a little at the time, but absolutely nothing compared as the haters make it look, the game is still incredibly enjoyable, and it can be played perfectly.

The pacing started pretty well/decently, but from the fourth gym onwards, everything became very very fast, and not to mention the climax and the Pokemon League, honestly all this last arc felt super stuck….

So my opinion in general is: I enjoy the game like any other Pokémon game, it has its entity, it has new and interesting things that I would like it to expand more in future generations and it has personality. Is it my favorite game or my favorite generation? No, I definitely enjoyed other generations more, there were many missed opportunities that they could take more advantage, and I feel bad for GF for making them release this game for this year and these dates, because unfortunately some cuts are very noticeable. But the generation just starting ,so we will have to wait and see what we have for the future. For now, Thanks Pokémon SwSh, for another adventure…

#pokemon #pokemon sword and shield #pokemon swsh #swsh spoilers #my op #my post #review #I probably forgot something and I also have a lot of types cuz im trash lol

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oops-prow-did-it-again · 4 years

Text

Pokémon Black: The Novel - Chapter 8 (Everyone’s a Hero)

Prologue and more info

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Pokémon Black: The Novel on FFN

Pokémon Black: The Novel on AO3

Pokémon Retold the series on AO3

----------------------------

WARNING - brief mention of mental illness/suicide.

After healing up at the Pokémon Center, Hil had retreated, as he had told Cheren he would, to the Dreamyard. He had let all of his pokémon out again and while most had run off to play, Noodle and Crest had stayed dutifully by his side. Noodle sat in his lap with its tiny, leafy arms crossed, and Crest circled his sitting form anxiously. Hil sighed and rubbed his forehead. “Sorry, guys, I really don’t know what got into me in there. I just… couldn’t focus.”

He felt inadequate. His pokémon wanted to take on this challenge, but if he couldn’t even perform at the first gym, what hope did he have of taking them further in the League? He leaned back against the tree behind him glumly. He cheered himself up with one thought during it all, at least: this may have been turning out to be far more difficult than he had anticipated, but it still beat waiting around at home for the days to pass. He reached a hand to pet Noodle and he felt the Snivy push his head further into Hil’s grasp, and trill. Well, if his pokémon were frustrated over the loss, Noodle certainly wasn’t showing it, he thought with a small smile.

“Hil?”

Hil flung Noodle from his lap as he jumped to his feet like a cat. He jerked his head to the left and saw Chili standing there. Noodle hissed and he felt pressure on his leg and back as he climbed his way to Hil’s shoulders. Hil brushed his pants off in a bid to compose himself smoothly. “H-hi, Gym Leader Chili,” Hil mumbled under his breath. He wasn’t upset to see him, but already he was anxious over what this interaction might bring.

Chili held up both his hands in a display of harmlessness. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you. My brothers and I were just talking, and… you seemed really nervous in there today because of the audience. We understand not everyone handles the spotlight well and we wanted to let you know that we do offer more private gym battles.” He smiled gently and moved his hands to behind his back. “Stage fright’s nothing to be ashamed of. Cilan’s still not over it even though we’ve been doing this for three or four years now,” Chili laughed.

Hil blinked and swallowed hard. Part of him wanted to feel offended—or at least, angry at himself for being so obviously frozen on the stage—but another part of him felt soothed. He was rather touched by the fact Chili had sought him out. Muscles relaxed in his form that he hadn’t realized were tense to begin with. Chili had actually thought about him following the match and come to see him… He nervously grinned up at the gym leader and nodded slowly. “I th-think a private match… I think that would be good,” he answered quietly. “Where did you, um… have in mind?”

“Well, right here, if that’s okay with you,” Chili shrugged. He looked around the Dreamyard, noting the lack of trainers, and the austere presence of the concrete ruins. The sky was turning more of a pale violet shade overhead as the sun began to set. “Sun’s starting to set and there’s not many people out. Your pokémon seem relaxed here, too.”

Hil glanced behind him to see Lucky and Roadie chasing each other in circles while Sleepy dozed lazily off to the side. Crest swung from tree to tree until he reached her and dropped next to her, startling her awake. And of course, Hil still had Noodle coiled about his shoulders. He nodded. “Yeah, guess they do,” he chuckled. He turned back to Chili with a much more determined and focused look to his eyes. “Chili of the Striaton City Gym! I, Hil Whitacre of Nuvema Town, challenge you to a battle for the Trio Badge!” The information came to his mind clearly. There was no haziness to his vision like there had been back at their gym. He felt excited, even, rather than the cold dread and annoyance he had been subjected to earlier.

Noodle trilled eagerly and scurried down Hil’s frame, bouncing a few times at his feet.

“I accept your challenge, Hil Whitacre!” Chili exclaimed. “This is shapin’ up to be a blazin’ battle! Go, Lillipup! Work Up!”

He sent a Poké Ball that landed in front of Noodle’s nose, and the cream-furred pup bounded from side to side in front of Noodle. Hil’s eyes narrowed and he pointed at Lillipup. “Noodle, Vine Whip!”

Attack. Attack, attack, attack. He could not afford to let Chili set up too many Work Ups. That move invigorated the pokémon to the point they seemed unstoppable, mowing through opponents in one or two particularly vicious attacks. Not only would it spell a quick defeat for him if that happened, but Noodle would get hurt, and he had no interest in letting that happen. As the battle began, the rest of his pokémon drew near his feet, watching curiously as the events unfolded.

Lillipup scuffed at the grass and howled. Noodle nodded back at Hil with what he swore was a smile and then lashed vines across the opponent, bowling Lillipup onto its back at Chili’s feet. It leapt back up right away and rushed at Noodle again, Chili’s order for a Bite attack causing it to open its jaws mid-run.

“Noodle, watch your right! Vine Whip again!” Hil called. Narrowly, Noodle swayed its body away from Lillipup’s fangs, and then returned with a slap of its tail and another lashing from the vines protruding from his shoulders. Lillipup rolled away and shakily got back to its feet a few seconds later. Noodle, on the other hand, landed energetically in front of Hil. He seemed to puff out his chest a little and wave his tail, taunting the Lillipup. Hil smirked. “There you go, Noodle, you got it!”

This was amazing. He felt so trusted right then and there, and he felt like was actually fulfilling that trust.

“Not bad,” Chili winked. “Lillipup, Bite once more!”

Hil knew that even if Lillipup got off the Bite, it wouldn’t survive his next Vine Whip. So, he simply told Noodle, “You know what to do.”

Noodle trilled and jumped into the air, sending a volley of vines once more at Lillipup. It managed to snap its teeth around one and send it recoiling back at Noodle, but the other slapped it away harshly, and this time, it did not get back up. Noodle landed, panting, next to Hil. He leaned down and stroked Noodle’s head gently. The Snivy closed its eyes and hummed at the ministrations. His tail swept across the ground happily.

“You did such a good job,” Hil beamed. Noodle opened his eyes slightly and looked Hil over tenderly. Hil felt like his heart might melt and he scooped Noodle up, placing him protectively back on his shoulders. He really felt like Noodle was enjoying the moment and was proud of himself for having pulled off the small victory. Hil felt proud, too. They had done that together. In that moment, he felt like he belonged nowhere else.

Noodle settled in, looping some of the hood of Hil’s jacket around himself, and turned his attention back to the battle at hand. Chili had withdrawn his Lillipup and sent out his Pansear. Hil glanced down at his feet at Crest, who had grabbed the baggy fabric of his pants and was shaking it excitedly, and gestured to the battlefield. “You want to go in, Crest?” Hil asked. Before he had even finished, the Panpour had already hopped in front of Chili’s Pansear.

Based on Cheren’s battle with Cress, Hil figured Chili’s Pansear likely knew Work Up as well. He decided on the same strategy as before. Attack and attack fast. “Okay, Crest, Water Gun!” he said encouragingly.

Crest hooted and waved his arms excitedly, and then took a stoutly stance. His mouth opened and water propelled forward suddenly, seeming to catch Chili’s Pansear a little off-guard. Crest cooed over his successful hit and the Pansear leapt back to its feet, banging its fists on the ground in apparent anger.

“Settle,” Chili warned, though his tense face told Hil he wasn’t that much calmer. His Pansear took a deep breath at the same time as Chili did. “Use Lick!” Chili called. Hil’s eyebrows pricked in surprise, but he supposed Chili had figured out he wouldn’t have time to set up with Work Up anyway.

“Water Gun again, Crest, we got this!” Hil shouted as he pumped a fist in the air. His pokémon all agreed with various grunts and calls, except for Noodle. He had curled up in a ball in Hil’s hood, asleep.

Pansear bolted for Crest, and the Panpour shrieked as he jumped out the way, though Pansear still managed to snag his arm with a long, slobbery tongue. Crest shivered and whipped his arm a few times to sling away the disgusting slime. He narrowed his eyes and again spewed water in Pansear’s direction. It found its mark as Pansear was distracted trying to catch himself properly on the ground, and with a holler, Pansear collapsed with its chest to the ground and rear in the air. It quivered with effort to try and get back up, but failed. Hil quelled the urge to jump up and down in place since he remembered Noodle was in his jacket. “We did it!” he howled instead, pumping his fist a few more times. Crest hooted victoriously and hauled himself up Hil’s pant leg like a tree. Hil yelped and grabbed at his pants as he felt them start to give way. “Okay, okay, good job Crest,” he laughed and gently shooed him away.

Chili huffed and recalled his Pansear after congratulating it. He put his hands on his hips and smirked at Hil. “If I didn’t know better, I’d say you lost on purpose to show me up like that in private,” he snickered. He shrugged and held up his hands. “Whoo, you burned me right out. Anyway, you and your team are on fire. Really workin’ together.” He reached into a pocket on his waiter’s suit, a thin one just above his waist, and pulled a handful of cash and a thin badge that appeared to be made up of three diamond-shaped bits of metal stuck together vertically. A blue, red, and green gem gleamed from the center of each diamond-shaped part of the badge, signifying the unified nature of Striaton City’s three gym leaders. He walked over to Hil and dropped it into his hands on top of the cash.

“And since this is your first gym,” Chili added as he reached into a different pocket on the back of his suit, “you’re gonna need a badge case, of course.” He pulled a thin, red and black tin case from behind him and handed it to Hil. Swiftly, Hil snatched it in excitement and opened it up, admiring the velvety, black interior and the depressions for each of the eight gym badges of Unova. He fit the Trio Badge into its spot at the very start and felt a surge of pride. He bent to his knees to show his pokémon that were clambering at his feet.

“Look,” he told them. Crest peered at the badge and sniffed it curiously. The others followed as well, Roadie cocking his head at the case.

“You did it!” a shrieking voice pulled him back to his full height. Hil blinked idly as Chili sidestepped with his arms crossed smugly. Bianca sped toward him, Cheren loping behind her at an easier pace, and once she reached him, she threw her arms around him in a tight, all-encompassing hug. Hil felt his cheeks burn a little and he looked down at her in confusion.

“Bianca?”

“Yes! We saw the whole thing! You were great!” she gushed. Hil tilted his head.

“What, you did? How…?”

“Sometimes it helps that you can’t see the forest through the trees,” Cheren mused as he approached. He then touched a finger to his chin and looked up thoughtfully. “Or… maybe I have that backwards… anyway, point is, we were in the tree line.” He shrugged and Hil noted the Oshawott and Tepig following at his side.

“Truth be told, I was just going to wait for you to come back to the gym and then offer you a private battle,” Chili explained, “but I ran into your two friends here, and they said you were out here, and… I figured, what better time than the present? Restaurant was closed at that point, anyhow.” He made a lunging motion all of a sudden, a fist balled up, and he pumped it into the air. Hil was reminded of his ridiculous pose in the pamphlet and he stifled a giggle. He thought those had been posed by someone else, but maybe that really was just how Chili moved. “Blaze the trails, my friends!” He regained his composure and brushed his waiter’s outfit off. “Whew, I really am burned out, though. And this outfit’s itchy. I’m gonna head home. Good luck on your journeys, Hil, Cheren, Bianca!”

He waved at them and then started to waltz away at an easygoing pace.

Bianca had still been holding onto Hil that whole time. She finally let go and held her arms out for Oshawott as he leapt into her hold. “Whew! Gym battles sure are exciting,” she puffed. “I’m exhausted and I didn’t even battle today!”

Hil could feel exhaustion pulling at him, too, but he was simply too happy to care. He looped an arm around Bianca’s shoulders and pulled her close, much to her surprise. She was usually the one to go initiating unprompted hugs. Hil grinned at her. “Just tired of watching us win?” Hil joked at her. She smirked and narrowed her eyes at him.

“More just happy someone other than Cheren is for once,” she retorted.

“Hey,” Cheren gave a fake pout and then raised a finger in front of his face, stiffening out his back. “That’s not very nice, missy. Not very ladylike,” he said, clearly mocking Bianca’s father. Bianca doubled over in laughter.

“Stop! He would kill you if he saw that!” she nearly screamed.

Hil bent down while they bantered to praise and recall his pokémon. They were tired and he figured keeping up with them on the way back to the Pokémon Center would be more trouble than it was worth. He recalled Noodle last, doing his best not to disturb him from his sleep as he did so. Once that was finished, he popped back up to face Cheren and Bianca. “To the Pokémon Center?” he grinned. “We could chill at the café for a while, on me.”

Cheren chuckled and crossed his arms. “Don’t worry about it, Hil. But sure, hanging out at the café for a while sounds fun.”

So, return to the café they did. Hil let his pokémon rest with the Nurse Joy for a few minutes and then they strode over to the café in the left side of the Pokémon Center. They joked and carried on about the day’s events. For once, his father and the awkwardness of earlier’s failure was entirely off his mind. He felt at ease and content just talking with his two friends. Hil wished he could have told Chili how much that interaction had meant to him.

After a couple of hours, they were warned the café would be closing soon, and Cheren yawned as he thanked the staff member that informed them. “Thanks, sorry. We probably have stayed up way later than we should have,” he admitted.

“We’re away from home,” Hil smirked, “what, did you think we weren’t gonna stay up late?”

“Yeah! I’m never going to bed at nine again!” Bianca declared before breaking into a monstrous yawn.

“It’s ten,” Cheren said quietly.

“Don’t listen to him, Bianca, you’re stickin’ it to the man,” Hil grinned mischievously. “And I should know, men deserve it.”

Cheren gave him an unamused glare and then sat up from the table, hopping free of the stool. “Our room is 114 whenever you’re both done stickin’ it to the man,” Cheren mocked. He pulled his bag over his shoulder and headed off toward the stairwell leading to the hostel above the lobby. “Get some sleep, please! We’re heading for Nacrene City tomorrow!” Cheren called as he disappeared from view.

He and Bianca soon followed suit. Back at the room, Bianca headed for the bathroom to get into her night clothes while Cheren and Hil took turns in the room to change. Cheren had seemed almost surprised Hil was actually using his pajamas for once. Or that he was performing an evening routine at all. Last time, he had just flopped onto his bed, clothes and all, and fallen asleep. But tonight, he let his pokémon free and settled them down with some food and gentle words, and even organized his supplies some before crawling into the simple hostel bed.

Cheren had done a similar routine with his own team. He liked to let them rest outside of their Poké Balls for a while at his side, even if he wished they wouldn’t dig so far into his back.

Bianca returned to the room, her Oshawott still clasped in her hands, and she released what few pokémon she had as well onto her bunk above Cheren’s bed. She fed them there as well, putting the bowls away into her bag she had hanging off the bedframe once she was done. Cheren liked having her so close. He deeply cared for both of his friends, but there was a selfish sense of pride in having Bianca so close to him and far away from her smothering home life. Her parents weren’t abusive by any means, but her father could shelter her to extreme measures at times, and Cheren admittedly looked forward to exploring more of the world at large with her at his side. She, who had known nothing of it and had seen none of it, and he, who had scoured books and books to learn of Unova, together for the long haul… All three of them had come this far together, after all.

He slept easy that night with her so close, and relieved that Hil had finally managed to find some peace in his victory that day. They all seemed to be falling into their own rhythm. Perhaps this journey wouldn’t be as difficult a she had initially worried it would be.

---------------------

Cheren led the pack down Route Three. It was a straightforward, well-groomed route without any patches that really required one to pass through wild pokémon territory. Hil was still in a good mood and he had fallen behind Cheren in place with Bianca, and they were actively discussing something. Honestly, it was nice to see that; Hil rarely was active in their discussions. He enjoyed joking at them rather than with them.

Cheren halted when he was pulled from his thoughts by a small girl with fiery orange hair bolting at him. She skidded to stop herself from slamming into him at the last second. She was trembling and her eyes clenched shut. Cheren paused Hil and Bianca, calling for their attention, and Bianca immediately descended on the girl.

“Oh, sweetie, what happened?” she cooed sympathetically.

“O-oh, um… you guys are trainers, right?” the little girl begged in a ragged voice. She swallowed hard as she flicked her blue eyes between them all.

“That’s right,” Cheren nodded.

“What’s up?” Hil asked in that lackadaisical tone of his. He had a soft smile and peered over Bianca’s shoulder comically.

“These guys! They—they stole my pokémon!” the girl blubbered. She threw her arms around Bianca’s waist and hugged her tight. Bianca stumbled a little but caught herself at the last second. She tossed a pleading look Cheren and Hil’s way.

“Cheren, Hil, we’ve gotta help her,” Bianca begged. “Sweetie,” she asked, turning her attention back to the little girl, “do you know where they went?”

“I… I saw them take off running toward the nursery, but they took a left,” she whimpered.

“There’s a cave over there,” Cheren said thoughtfully as she spoke. “That’s Wellspring Cave over there, unless they can swim, there’s nowhere else they’re going that way.”

“What was the pokémon you lost, hun?” Hil asked as he nodded at Cheren.

“Patrat,” the little girl said meekly. “I just caught it a couple days ago…”

Before Cheren had a chance to open his mouth, Hil said, “We’ll get it back for you, I promise.”

Cheren shot him a scathing glare, but Hil didn’t look back at him. Do not make promises you can’t keep, Cheren wanted to spit at him.

“I’ll stay here with her if you two wouldn’t mind going to look,” Bianca insisted. “Please?”

“Of course,” Hil again responded. He turned on his heel and sprinted away, his Snivy forced to cling to his shoulders even more tightly than usual. Cheren rolled his eyes and took off after him. He only caught up to him about when they reached the cave entrance, a dark, shadowy crevice glistening with moisture from inside.

Cheren grabbed Hil on the shoulder. “What was that about?” Cheren asked, frustrated. “We can’t promise that girl anything, Hil. We only got our pokémon a few days ago, too, remember?”

“Yes, and that’s why we have to,” Hil answered sharply. He jerked his shoulder out of Cheren’s hold. “If anyone took Noodle, I… I…” He grunted and shook his head. “Just help me, okay?”

Cheren sighed and followed Hil into the cavern. The inside of the cave was illuminated by the light from the entrance as well as a few large crystals within that reflected said light. Woobat screeched and fluttered overhead and immediately, Cheren noticed two figures huddled over a small stream of water that cut through the cavern. They were blackened by shadow, but their harsh whispers to one another echoed around the cavern.

“No one saw you, right? Just the little girl? And you weren’t wearing your uniform?”

“Just the little girl, bro, I promise. And of course not, man, I’m not stupid.”

“Stop using that slang,” the first voice hissed. The second guy mumbled a quiet apology.

Cheren and Hil exchanged a hard look between the both of them. It was Hil who cleared his throat noisily and sauntered up closer to them at first.

“Hey, fellas,” Hil started with a sneer to his voice. “Afraid we heard you came across a little girl’s Patrat, we were just wonderin’ if you wouldn’t mind handin’ it over. She’d really appreciate it. And I know two fine men like you don’t have any interest in a little old Patrat.” Hil sold the taunt with a waggle of his eyebrows and Noodle’s hiss.

The two men stepped into the light and Cheren shook his head. One was dressed in silver robes, the same Team Plasma uniform he recognized from a couple of days ago, and the other was in all black robes that lacked any iconography at all. His hair was wild and deep blue, and his blue eyes were wide as he looked Cheren and Hil over. He blinked and then wildly scrambled to throw a hood over his head. It hit his messy mop of blue hair and fell back down again.

“Well? I’m waiting,” Hil drawled again. He scratched Noodle on the chin.

“This pokémon was given to a toddler that can’t even care for herself, much less another living thing,” the uniformed grunt spat. His tawny hair clung to his forehead in a cold sweat. “Would you give a toddler an infant and have confidence in its ability to care for it?”

“Nope, but it’s a good thing a Patrat isn’t an infant,” Hil shrugged. “Gotta say, I feel like that’s why they say people learn from pokémon. You know, Patrat bites her on the nose to tell her it doesn’t like something, she gets the hint, they both learn, that sorta thing.”

“You’re being disingenuous,” the first grunt growled.

“Yeah, he’s good at that,” Cheren said as he stepped forward. “Except he’s right, which shows just how off your rocker you two are.”

The second grunt in black robes spoke this time. He held up a Poké Ball tightly in his right fist. “He is not. Pokémon do not deserve to be held captive and then given like birthday presents to toddlers that can’t even spell, man!”

Cheren cocked his head at the second man. His skin was dark with a tan, and he spoke differently than anyone Cheren had ever heard in the area of Nuvema Town. “You’re not from around here,” Cheren commented. “Why are you all the way down here and helping Team Plasma of all people?”

The two grunts didn’t answer him and instead they both sent out a pokémon. The tanned man sent forth a Tirtouga and the other a Patrat—likely the one they had stolen. Hil didn’t even have to say anything for his Snivy to leap into action, and Cheren let his Pidove free. Tepig was by far his strongest teammate still, but with a Tirtouga on the field, he knew sending it out was a bad idea. Sure, Pidove was at risk of Rock-type attacks from Tirtouga as well, but at least it would give him some time to whittle them down before switching to his ace.

“Tirtouga, Rollout on Pidove!” Darn it. He had expected that much but darn it.

“Patrat, Bide,” the first grunt ordered. His eyes seemed to light up as he scrutinized Cheren and Hil closer. “I recognize you two,” he said excitedly, “you both were at Striaton City Gym yesterday. Which means you,” he said as he pointed a finger at Hil’s direction, “are Hil Whitacre.”

Hil squared his shoulders and Cheren ground his teeth. He already knew where this was going. “Less talk, more battling,” Cheren said guardedly. “Pidove, Gust on Patrat!”

“Noodle, V—”

Pidove jumped into the air and started wildly fluttering its wings at Patrat, but Noodle stayed where he was, confused as Hil was cut off from finishing his order by the first grunt’s words. “You’re the son of that guy that offed himself with a gun,” the first grunt said almost giddily. “A gun! He must have been into some real deep shit, kid, to have a gun. Any idea what?”

Tirtouga retreated into its shell and ricocheted itself at Pidove, but Pidove easily dodged the attack by zipping through the air.

Hil’s lips pressed to a thin line and his eyes started to wander around the cavern. “No idea,” Hil answered quietly. “Noodle, just—”

“You sure?” the first grunt pried farther. The tanned one glanced at his colleague and Cheren swore he looked a little sad. Noodle glanced between Cheren and Hil, looking as nervous as his trainer now.

“Hey, maybe…” the second began only to be shushed by the first. He snapped his jaws shut with an audible click.

“Hil, focus,” Cheren growled. “Don’t worry about him. Pidove, Gust again, take out that Patrat!”

“Tirtouga, try Rollout again, you got this, bro! This time on the Snivy!” the tanned man cried.

“Aw, that’s what was wrong at the gym,” the first grunt licked his lips as he sang at Hil. “Little Hilbert misses Daddy.”

The tanned man cringed at his colleague’s words, visibly recoiling.

Hil took a step back and shook his head. “No, I don’t,” he snarled, “I don’t care what he did or how he did it, now shut up! And my name is Hil!”

Tirtouga easily bowled into Noodle again and again as Hil remained distracted. Ripped from his own focus, Cheren didn’t notice that Patrat was still standing when Pidove’s second Gust finished, and the little pokémon leapt at Pidove with such ferocity that it successfully brought him out of the sky. It wrestled with Pidove for a moment, unleashing all its pent-up energy, and when it let go, Pidove couldn’t rise again.

Hil recalled Noodle and Cheren was forced to send out his Tepig upon withdrawing Pidove. “Hil, send out your Munna!” Cheren barked at Hil. They didn’t have time to deal with Hil’s anxiety right then. Cheren was too busy worrying about what might happen if Hil’s distractedness cost them the battle… wouldn’t Team Plasma just steal their pokémon, too?

Ugh, this was exactly why he hadn’t wanted to promise to do this in the first place! It was sad what had happened to the little girl, but there was no sense in blindly putting themselves in danger, too! Why did Hil have to be such a hero? And then fail at playing the part, so fantastically?

Hil wordlessly listened to his friend, withdrawing Noodle and sending out his Munna. He failed to give it an order and Cheren frustratedly snapped, “Sleepy, Yawn at Tirtouga!”

The Munna glanced at him dubiously for a moment. Cheren shook his head. “I know I’m not Hil, but you need to do it, Munna, or else we’re all in trouble!” Cheren shouted. Sleepy cringed, but obeyed, turning its attention to the Tirtouga.

“Don’t yell at her,” Hil hissed.

“Then be her trainer!” Cheren shot back at him irritably. “Or I will!”

The battle was more chaos than anything. Cheren’s Tepig finally managed to bring down the Patrat, and he dove to scoop up its unconscious frame from the ground before the grunt could do so. The grunt bared his teeth at him in aggravation, but then cockily held up the Patrat’s Poké Ball. Cheren sadly knew they still had to beat both of them if they had any hope of getting the Patrat’s Poké Ball back. Tirtouga groggily collapsed to the ground a few minutes following Sleepy’s Yawn, and Cheren had to step in for Hil to order the finishing blows—some Psybeams—which took considerable effort since the pokémon was reluctant to listen to him.

It didn’t help that the grunts occasionally interjected with taunts about how forceful Cheren was being, and how he must be ‘so kind to his pokémon.’ Cheren didn’t let their words bother him, but Hil’s resolve was clearly only degrading by the second. Finally, the grunt’s Tirtouga went down, and neither appeared to have more pokémon after that. Cheren kept his Tepig out, but ordered Hil to recall his Munna. Hil slowly did so with a sour look on his face.

“Now, enough games!” Cheren huffed. “Give me the Patrat’s Poké Ball, or else I’ll have Tepig… I’ll have him burn you!”

“Yes, use him to burn me, like a flamethrower or a candle,” the first grunt growled. “Whatever.” He flicked the Poké Ball at Cheren’s head. It bounced with a light thump and rolled to Cheren’s feet. “Take it back to her. It’ll all come in due time, anyway. We were just hoping to save that poor thing from being a child’s toy.”

The grunt pushed through Cheren and Hil, bumping harshly into their shoulders. The tanned man followed a little more respectfully. He had finally managed to pull his black hood over his face, and he looked between Cheren and Hil apologetically before following his friend.

Hil and Cheren stood there in silence for a few seconds after the Team Plasma agents departed. Cheren cradled the Patrat and stiffly leaned down to grab its Poké Ball. Tepig nosed it into his hands and Cheren recalled the fainted pokémon silently. When that was over, he stashed the ball in his bag.

“Hil.”

Hil said nothing.

“Hil.”

“What?” Hil spat. His body was stiff as a board and he didn’t move to face Cheren.

“You can’t freeze up like that all the time,” Cheren said, heart pounding wildly in his chest. Part of him knew he was being unfair. Hil had every reason in the world to completely falter like he just had. But Cheren’s head was pounding with a feverish headache as he calmed down from the fear of having their pokémon stolen, their journey cut short within days, by the more aggressive side of Team Plasma. Not only could he have lost his own partners, but Hil was in danger as well, and he would have failed to protect him… he’d have failed to protect them all… Cheren gritted his teeth. He was the strong one! He had to protect them! If he couldn’t, then… “You have got to be able to defend yourself!” Cheren said hotly.

“I know, I’m just that bad, Cheren,” Hil muttered with a slight shrug. He turned away from his friend and started to walk out of the cavern. “You’re always having to play big brother and you’re tired of it, I got it.”

“That is not what I’m talking about!” Cheren almost wailed in exasperation. Why did he always take things so personally? He nearly begged, “Please, listen to me. I… I can’t… our pokémon could have been stolen, and you totally locked up! That’s scary, Hil.”

“Well, I’m sorry,” Hil’s voice cracked. His hands started to animatedly dance around his face as he spoke, his words rapidly picking up in speed as his nervousness increased. “I don’t know what else to say, I just can’t think, and the room starts spinning, and then I stop hearing you and—”

“Just, stop!” Cheren interrupted breathlessly with his hands raised up to his own face, as if trying to physically block Hil’s rant. “Just, stop. Take a deep breath. Think. Think. Your pokémon are strong and you are strong, I don’t understand why you can’t just… just…”

“I can’t just what?”

“I don’t know!”

Hil stormed out of the cave and Cheren was left with nothing but the ambience of screeching Woobat to his company and Tepig rubbing against his leg in hopes to calm him down. Cheren drew a shaky breath and smoothed his hair out, adjusting his red glasses. “Guess I’d better go take this Patrat back to the girl, then,” Cheren whimpered.

When he stepped out of the cave, Hil was nowhere in sight. When he reached where Bianca and the little girl were waiting, he gave the Patrat’s Poké Ball back to its rightful owner and told the young girl that it needed to be healed beforehand. She thanked him eagerly and cuddled the ball close to herself. Bianca, on the other hand, looked up at Cheren anxiously.

“Where’s Hil?” she fretted.

“No idea,” was all Cheren could say. “He stormed off. I don’t want to talk about it,” he cut her off before she even had the chance to ask. Bianca gave him a look that told him he most definitely would be talking about it.

“Well, I’m going to help this girl get back home safely,” Bianca explained. “And you,” she prodded his chest with a finger, “are going to make up with Hil.”

“Don’t think that’s a good idea right now, but sure, Bianca,” Cheren huffed. Truth be told, Cheren was worried sick. That display showed Hil was still fragile. He was strong in theory, but it was easy to get into his head and manipulate him. He hated the idea of his friend alone and he was already regretting how he had gone off at him in the cave. Cheren so rarely lost his cool, and he had no idea how to apologize for that incident, nor where Hil would have even gone. He certainly wouldn’t have gone back home, but… well, they may not have gone far from home, but there was still certainly a lot of ground he to cover if he were to search Striaton City, Accumula Town, and Nuvema Town from top to bottom. He felt at the Xtransceiver in his pocket and hoped Hil would answer.

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incorrectsmashbrosquotes · 5 years

Text

Wrong Pokémon (Part 5): Feud

Spear Pillar was always an ominous place, what with the dead tree, broken pillars, and that out-of-place crystal cave underneath it. But, in a way, it was also beautiful, with the stars in the night sky, the glowing crystals in the cave, and a feel of mystical energies surrounding it.

But none of that mattered to the Smashers that teleported in.

Because as soon as they did, they were almost immediately blasted by Ominous Wing.

The fighters took the hit, but stood their ground the best they could until it died down, after which Popo looked up at the sky. “Wh–?! Up there!”

They all looked up and…

Well. At least they found Cresselia.

But the Shiny Darkrai was there too.

Cresselia was nimbly dodging Darkrai’s various ranged attacks, from Dark Void to Shadow Ball to Dark Pulse, and countering with its own occasional Aurora Beam, which the Darkrai was dodging as well.

Clearly, however, the two had landed hits on each other, since Darkrai look scratched up and Cresselia looked incredibly tired and wounded.

“Cresselia’s weak to Dark and Ghost!” Leaf spoke up, taking out all three of her Pokéballs at once. “She won’t last long!”

R.O.B. nodded, the light that signaled his full-charge lasers flashing. “Then we have no time to waste.”

“Let’s-a go!” Mario jumped onto one of the pillars, intent on getting the Dark-type’s attention. “Hey, stinky!”

Both Pokémon turned to look, and it didn’t take a genius to see that Mario was gesturing towards Darkrai. Offended, the Mythical Pokémon launched a Shadow Ball, which Mario promptly caped back. It didn’t do much damage, but it was enough to get the monster angered.

“Go Charizard!” Leaf directed her three Pokémon, choosing Charizard to help bring the Pokémon down while it was distracted, Ivysaur waiting to pin it with its vines. Meanwhile, Squirtle shouted for Cresselia, who had taken the time to use Moonlight to heal, signaling her to retreat to it.

Mario jumped around, dodging Darkrai’s Shadow Claw and Dark Pulse, giving enough time for Charizard to grab it and throw it down, allowing Ivysaur to pin it with its vines.

“Good job g–” Leaf was abruptly cut-off when Darkrai ripped away the vines, grabbed one that Ivysaur still had, and flung them both at an unsuspecting Charizard, knocking the two away.

“Knew it wouldn’t be that easy…” Bowser muttered to himself, rushing forward to do his dash attack. He retreated to his shell and kept moving as his opponent attempted to blow him away via Ominous Wind.

This bought Popo enough time to tag-team with Mario as they launched ice and fire from behind, landing them dead center in the back of the Shiny. When the hits connected, Eight dashed in, sword in hand, jumping forward with deadly intent.

However, Darkrai Shadow Clawed both Bowser and Eight away, Bowser quickly jumping out of his shell before he slid too far while Eight stumbled back, quickly casting Heal. Then, it directed the ghostly wind back at Popo and Mario with more force, pushing the two back as it stung their bodies.

Leaf had reached Charizard and Ivysaur and was rapidly using potions, hoping they could still fight. By this time, Squirtle had returned, but alone.

“Squirtle! Where’s Cresselia?”

“Squirtle Squirt!”

The shelled Pokémon ran toward the ledge, seemingly pointing down. So she fled into the cave…?

“Leaf! Look out!”

Leaf turned around only to see the orbs of Dark Void flying at her. Gasping, she ducked down into her Pokémon, all of them nearly hitting her and her team.

When she, Charizard, and Ivysaur got back on their feet with Squirtle behind them, they found Popo knocking the orbs away with his hammer, Mario swinging his cape like mad, Eight frozen in Kaclang, and Bowser jumping over to attack from above.

But…

“Where’s R.O.B.?”

As if to answer her question, R.O.B. jumped out from under the cave and fired his lasers at the nightmare machine, electrocuting the Pokémon. Cresselia followed after him, fully recovered.

Popo turned to the robot, angered. “Where have you been?!”

No response was given. Not that Popo would’ve heard it as Darkrai rushed forward and Shadow Clawed the climber, knocking him away as Bowser and Mario gave chase.

Popo was pinned to the ground, Darkrai intent on maiming him, when R.O.B. shot a gyro at the creature, making it fall back. Bowser then grabbed it from behind and, with Mario’s help, started an educational beatdown. Popo stumbled away, and a now unfrozen Eight began his attempts to Heal the poor kid.

Then an idea.

“Everyone!” Leaf shouted amongst the chaos, “I’ll do a triple finish!”

Charizard, Ivysaur, and Squirtle got into position as Leaf moved to the side, Mario and Bowser throwing the Darkrai down close to them.

Now!

“Go! Triple Finish!”

And just like that, the Mythical Pokémon was consumed by the Final Smash.

Once the Final Smash faded, everyone expected for there to be a defeated Pokémon on the ground.

But all that was there was a Substitute Doll.

“Wh…wha–”

Leaf didn’t get to finish as she heard her team cry out from behind. Then pure agony consumed her as pain shot through her spine.

And she fell.

“Leaf!!” Popo shouted as the remaining folks looked on in horror.

It was Darkrai, somehow looking completely healed.

And it just clawed its way through the trainer and her partners.

This thing wasn’t intending on sleep anymore.

It was intending to kill.

A growl escaped Bowser as he stepped forward, Mario following behind with flames in his eyes. They were about to rush the thing…

Only for it to disappear.

“Where did it–”

Poison Jab.

Bowser fell forwards, a purple liquid beginning to leave his mouth. Mario stumbled back onto the ground, clutching his torso as it bled in the same color.

It was moving so fast…!

R.O.B. started to move forward to attack, but 3 quickly shot Focus Blasts were all that it took to knock the robot back. It then turned its focus to Cresselia, who seemed to be prepping for a move of her own.

Before anything was done, a sword to the back struck at the malicious Dark-type, forcing it to turn around.

And gazed at a Psyched-Up Eight.

Eight started slicing and dicing at his prey, filled with a rage not many back at the Mansion had seen him in. The still-injured Popo could only watch in awe and fear as Eight ripped away.

“This is for El, you little–”

It caught it.

It caught the sword in its hand.

Feint Attack.

X-Scissor.

Poison Jab.

Shadow Claw.

A bloodied, poisoned Eight was thrown to the side, and Popo couldn’t tell if Eight was conscious from his position. Or if he was even alive.

It turned to Popo.

And the lone climber could only close his eyes.

Nana…I’m sorry…

“STOP.”

Popo eyes shot open to find the Shiny Pocket Monster inches away, but its back was turned to look at a banged up R.O.B.

…When could R.O.B.’s eyes glow white?

“YOU ARE NO POKÉMON. YOU ARE A MONSTER. YOU ARE AN ARTIFICIAL CREATION. YOU ARE A CLONE.”

When did R.O.B.’s voice ever get that…booming?

“I REMEMBER YOU. I WILL DESTROY YOU AND UNDO MY FOOLISHNESS.”

The white light consumed everything.

Then…nothing.

——————————————–

“Thank you again, Cresselia, for your healing gifts.” R.O.B. started, looking at his thankfully fully recovered friends, most of them unconscious (or incredibly dizzy, in the case of Mario and Bowser).

Cresselia nodded, noticibly tired; Lunar Dance was a particularly taxing move, after all. She tilted her head at the robot, however, questioning something.

“…You are curious about the Shiny Darkrai. You knew it was no true Darkrai.”

A nod.

“…It is a story I would rather not speak of.” R.O.B. looked away in shame, closing his eyes. “But no matter; please, accompany us to the Mansion once we all recuperate. We require your assistance there.”

Cresselia nodded, falling asleep herself as she rested onto the ground of the cave.

R.O.B. took this time to hover back above, soon moving toward the small, still standing pile of mutating Shadow Bugs where “Darkrai” used to be.

…He promptly vaporized them into oblivion.

(Sorry this took a while! Also, what if the Shadow Bugs that were endlessly extracted from Mr. Game & Watched were experimented with? That’s what I did here, but the story characters don’t know that…)

#incorrect quotes #smash bros #submission #incorrect super smash bros #super smash bros #ROB #Pokemon Trainer #Leaf #Mario #Nana #Popo #Darkrai #Cresselia #Pokemon #Super Mario #Ice Climbers

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therealshaunathan3 · 5 years

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Pokespe Week Day 5: Favorite Villian: Giovanni

The reason why I like Giovanni most of all has most to do with his initial few appearances.

When Giovanni first showed up in the manga, he was pretending to be a kindly old man who needed help through a cave. He pulled this act off flawlessly until Red defeated a group of attacking Pokémon and left. Only after he was alone, we saw the mask slip off and he showed his true colors by cruelly finishing off the helpless Pokémon. This sets him up clearly as an evil antagonist, and the manga follows up that arc with his defeat near the end. But it also sets him up as a trickster. He had Red completely fooled. He can lie and get away with it.

This carries over into his next appearance in the Yellow arc, where he assists Yellow in the battle against Lance. This would seem to be a reform arc, but because of how he was set up in the first arc, it’s not that simple. He may be appearing to help the side of good, but no matter what he says, the reader always has in the back of his or her head that initial deception. Because of that, readers can never trust that he means what he says. We never know if he’s being honest either way. At any point, whether he’s doing good or evil, he could be pretending.

Unlike many antagonists in the manga, Giovanni works not through sheer power, but through manipulation and trickery. He misleads even the readers. This also makes him the perfect foil to the main character. When we see Red, we know what he’s thinking at every step of the way. Moreover, we know, for the most part, that what he says is the truth. But both characters use clever strategy, not power, in battle, meaning both have the potential to use their wits to deceive others. But Giovanni does, while Red doesn’t. That’s the clear dividing line between the protagonist and antagonist.

Giovanni was written as the perfect villain for the RGB arc, and has been set up to be the perfect villain in any future arc in which he appears. That’s why he’s my favorite villain in Pokespe.

#pokespe #adventures #pokemon #special #pokespeweek

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mannatea · 5 years

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Pokémon Shield: A Review

DISCLAIMER: THERE WILL BE SPOILERS HERE!

First, my credentials/gaming history, so you can see if my opinion is valuable to you or not. I would like to make it clear from the start that I do not consider myself a ‘gamer’ by any stretch of the imagination. I’m a filthy casual at best.

I’ve been playing video games since I was maybe eight or nine years old. I’ve always enjoyed dabbling in a variety of genres, and have a great appreciation for the work that goes into creating each and every game, no matter the intended audience. Some of my all-time favorite titles include Tales of Symphonia, Fire Emblem (7), Final Fantasy IX, Legend of Dragoon, Chrono Cross, Tetris, Bust-a-Move, Project Gotham Racing, Ecco the Dolphin (PC,DC), Roller Coaster Tycoon, Harvest Moon (N64/PS1), World of Warcraft, and of course our beloved Pokemon!

I started with Pokemon Red, and enjoyed it immensely, but Silver stole my heart and my imagination. My brother and I used to sit at the kitchen table with guide books open and notebooks at the ready to craft and create new, extremely cool teams. I sank an unbelievable amount of hours into that game, and into Pokemon Stadium (1 & 2), Hey You! Pikachu, Pokemon Puzzle League, and even Pokemon Pinball. Unfortunately after Silver, my interest waned. I was an adult by the time Emerald debuted, and while I was initially charmed by it, found my interest waning quickly. I bought and played Diamond, Pearl, Platinum, SoulSilver, and Black & White, but didn’t beat any of them. I felt like the magic had…disappeared somehow.

But when X and Y released in 2013, I binged on Pokemon X, beat it, and for the first time since childhood started breeding a competitive team just for the heck of it. I also found myself really enjoying Pokemon Sun a couple of years later (though the post-game of breeding didn’t really do it for me this time).

They lost me with Ultra Sun/Moon. I wanted to like them, really, but it was too much of a rehash, and too much handholding (like the originals were, and I could only stand going through that once).

Now here we are with Pokemon Sword and Shield. They released just a few days ago (15 November, 2019) and the controversy has been wild. It seems to me that everyone has some kind of very strong opinion, and a lot of people are very angry.

Pokemon has always been one of my favorite franchises, but my history with the games is far from spotless so I like to think I can manage a mostly unbiased review, though of course everything in this post is my personal opinion.

Here’s what I’ve done in the game:

40 hours played.

200 pokemon in the pokedex.

Main story and post-game story completed.

I played with no specific self-imposed rules and was not spoiled for hardly anything before I started playing.

The Game’s Introductory Sequence [8/10]

As is standard for the franchise these days, the game flings you into the world with little fanfare regarding customization. Rather than the intro being a dialogue of sorts between your character and a professor, you are now instructed to choose what you look like (from a sparse few options) after typing in your name.

The first ‘cinematic’ is pretty boring, but I think the attempt at immersion is genuine enough (the idea being that your character is watching Leon’s broadcasted fight on your new smart phone). My character has a better house in-game than I do in real life. I’d kill for all that storage in the kitchen!

My biggest gripe with the introduction is that it reminded me too much of Sun & Moon’s introduction—in the worst of ways. I wouldn’t say it’s slow-paced, but the constant interruption by other characters is about enough to make a person rage-quit. Luckily I’ve been blessed with a lot of patience; it makes tedious content easy to bear (so long as it’s not difficult), but even I was feeling antsy before the first hour of the game was up, just because Hop and Leon never shut up and I was chomping at the bit to Explore.

Considering this is the first thing a player experiences…I really feel it could have been improved, especially the dialogue, but there were a few really positive things about it, too. The outdoor BBQ was a nice touch (considering everyone knew we’d be going off on Adventures in the morning and all), the game does let you avoid having to learn how to catch a pokemon (your mom slips a few pokeballs into your bag at one point without telling you and if you use them to catch pokemon, Leon will not teach you how to do it later), and I feel like as far as introductions go, this one was fairly short when compared to Sun and Moon’s introductory period.

While I’m being positive, the game plops you down into an idyllic little English countryside and not only do you get to enjoy that aesthetic, but the Slumbering Weald is probably one of the prettiest/most charming places in the game, and you get a peek at it early on!

The Starter Pokemon [5/10]

I’ve experienced worse? I wasn’t spoiled for any of the starter pokemon’s evolutions starting out, and while I didn’t exactly hate any of them, I sure didn’t love ‘em, either. I named my Scorbunny “Chad” on the assumption that he was likely to turn into a chad, though I’m not sure that accurately describes the pokemon I ended up with. Clearly modeled after soccer players, my Chad is a cocky all-star jock. They went all out on his Pyroball animation but Double Kick can see itself out of my house. No love in this club.

I just really wish I found any of these starters or their evolved forms to be charming, but they’re not. Rillaboom is basically George of the Jungle but 3% less of a himbo, and Inteleon is Greninja’s younger brother in accounting.

Gyms, Gym Challenges, & Game Balance [6/10]

This is probably one of, if not the, most debated topic over at Reddit. Is the game balanced? Are the gyms too easy? Are they making this game for 5-year-olds suddenly?

Eh. I do think the game is, perhaps, Too Easy, but a game being easy isn’t a shortcoming in and of itself. Check out my section on the story and characters for more on this topic, but I’ll post the short of it here, because it’s relevant: if the gameplay is going to be easy, we either need an option to make it more difficult, or the characters, story, and world have to carry the game in such a way that the easy gameplay still feels fun.

Shield had, uh, none of that going for it, unfortunately. The plot is lackluster (more about this later), and the gameplay wasn’t able to pick up the slack. In other words, the gameplay didn’t make the game feel Substantial in any way.

Which is kind of bad, considering Dynamaxing is a new feature!

The biggest issue for most people was the Experience Share. It’s turned on by default and there seems to be no way to turn it off. You get insane amounts of XP for defeating and catching pokemon, and your whole team seems to level pretty evenly even if you only occasionally use some pokemon in the party.

I personally played the game with the default battle option (where it asks if you want to switch out to a new pokemon when the enemy is going to send out a new one) because I barely remember half the pokemon in the game’s typing. Knowing the name of what’s coming next doesn’t always help me. (How’s that for an embarrassing truth?)

I personally liked the experience share, though I feel having the ability to toggle it on/off (or even on for certain pokemon and off for others) would have been ideal. The idea with having it on all the time is that your team will level fairly evenly so you’ll be able to switch in any of your six pokemon to battle without having to struggle through leveling some of the weaker ‘mons up individually. Additionally, it enables you to easily replace a pokemon on your team mid-game if you so desire. And I did (I replaced my shiny Orbeetle with regular cotton candy Rapidash).

My team at end-game was as follows:

Cinderace (Chad)

Greedent (Moriah)

Thievul (Penelope)

Liepard (My)

Corviknight (Octavia)

Rapidash (Calliope)

As you can see, I have no grass pokemon, no water pokemon, and no electric pokemon. I have two dark types. My move coverage mostly sucked throughout the game, because Thievul had 3 dark moves, and My had 3 normal moves. I’m an official idiot, thanks for coming to my TED talk. Usually I can struggle through no matter how garbage-tier my team is, and this game was…no exception.

I steamrolled the first few gyms and their challenges even though I wasn’t vastly overleveled for any of the content. After the ghost gym (which was easy for me with my dark types) I’d say the difficulty level went up slightly, mostly because my brain has refused to hold type advantages/weaknesses that came after Gen1. I feel like most original type weaknesses made some kind of sense to me and I was never able to incorporate dark and steel into that mix, let alone fairy.

At any rate, once you fight a pokemon once, the game will tell you if your moves are super effective against them or not. I remember people complaining about this feature when it was added (in Sun/Moon I think), but I like it. It doesn’t actually help a lot if you don’t know what the moves do/aren’t looking at move power/effects, but it’s useful for my sieve of a brain in a pinch.

Hop as a rival was almost never challenging. He always starts with the same pokemon, and his team is fairly easy to sweep. That might be kind of the point, but I wish you could have encouraged him to take the starter that’s strong against yours for a bit more of a challenge. Yeah, it’s not much, but it would have been something. Marnie is a better rival than Hop in the sense that she’s actually a better battler, but I swept her team pretty easily too, every single time we fought.

The only real challenges in the game were fighting Raihan (I only had one very weak fairy move and no ice to counter his dragons) and Leon (he definitely outleveled me). On Leon I had to use revives and potions!

The gym challenges started off as pretty cute (herding Wooloo, pipe puzzle maze) but quickly grew into lazy boring doldrums (basically gauntlet fighting of one kind or another). I guess I’d say ‘nice try’ for these and say I don’t really care if I see them again or not unless they’re going to actually give it a real go.

Overall, the story part of the game felt balanced enough for me personally but if I’m being completely unbiased: it was too easy to get levels. I could have wandered around less/caught fewer pokemon as I journeyed and enjoyed more of a challenge, but I just…gotta catch ‘em all, y’know? Most people do! GameFreak should have known this and designed accordingly.

The big issue with game balance feels like it comes…after the game, and I don’t mean the post-game so much as the Max Raid Battles that require other people, but the NPC trainers you can battle with are legit trash at what they do, which kind of forces you to find other trainers, but…

Online Compatibility & Features [3/10]

So I think the rating speaks for itself, here. The interface is confusing, the stamps are annoying, and the ability to see other players but not interact with them in any meaningful way is rage-inducing (and not just because of the FPS drops).

X/Y had a better online system!

Sun and Moon was better!

I don’t know why we regressed. I’m glad they kept the “wonder trade” (renamed to random trade, I think), because I always did enjoy doing that, but the GTS was the best idea they ever had and they abandoned it for random trading? I don’t want to trade with randoms? If I wanted to do that, I’d just do a random trade in the first place!!! The inability to put what you’re looking for into the stamp that people see? Oversight. Or just bad design. Probably both!

I’ve never hated a pokemon online experience more than this. I’m just astounded by how bad it is. I tried to join max raid battles last night and kept being told the event was over, but the stamps just…didn’t refresh? For HOW LONG? I can’t even tell you because I don’t know, and I couldn’t find a way to manually force them to refresh. It’s like they update every 15 minutes instead of every 15-30 seconds (which they should if I’m browsing for trades to make or battles to join). There are ways around this (according to Reddit) but the interface should be intuitive and easy to use by default.

C’mon, guys, you can do better. This is legitimately embarrassing in the year 2019.

Music [5/10]

There are some really magical tracks in this game, and there are some really terrible tracks. It doesn’t feel at all cohesive or thematic. I absolutely hated the gym battle remix; it was worse than the regular gym battle music. I feel like the gym battle theme would have really caught on if they didn’t have any other synth sounding tracks in the game, but they kind of do, so it blends in instead of sticking out as a bop.

Notable nice tracks were Hulbury, Glimwood Tangle, Slumbering Weald, and the desert route (which I can’t remember offhand). Some of the better music reminded me of the soundtrack for Tales of Symphonia, which is high praise coming from me. Unfortunately for every good track there were probably 3 forgettable ones.

There wasn’t anything particularly engaging when it comes to the music here, but it’s at least passable.

Graphics, Design, and Animation [6/10]

I should clarify that this is 6/10 for a pokemon game, not in general. I don’t expect flashy realism in a pokemon game and neither should you. The graphics are adequate most of the time, but the animation leaves a lot to desire when you look away from the pokemon that feel like they were Chosen Ones (and received a lot more attention).

Rapidash, for example, is using the same base model and animations it’s been using since it’s been in 3D. I’m not going to claim since Stadium, but holy cow the animations are for sure the same as they’ve been since at least X/Y for all the older moves. I’m not impressed.

The characters all have dopey expressions on their faces always. The models just use one talking animation loop and it almost never changes. The main character still looks on like a smiley face emoji when turmoil occurs, and though this isn’t as bad as it was in Sun/Moon, it’s still…kind of jarring?

The Wild Area looks kind of bad sometimes, and some areas in the actual game were lackluster compared to what they should have been. Ballonlea is the town you step into after walking through the (honestly) magical Glimwood Tangle, and it’s this charming fairy wonderland…with two houses and a stadium the size of two billion football fields. Uh. Okay? You’re telling me they destroyed how much natural habitat to make this gym? It just doesn’t jive with the scenery/theme out there, especially considering Opal’s theatre is tiny. And it’s not just that I think the game is lacking thematically (though it clearly is), but there’s this…laziness to the design when it comes to places like Ballonlea. It could have been SUCH an enchanting town to explore, but it was two houses with nothing important in them and a sports arena that feels completely at odds with its surroundings. (In this town you do learn that an NPC you spoke to earlier was a ghost, but it’s not as if this is very important information/goes anywhere, really.)

Spikemuth, for all its flaws, was at least memorable. I can’t say the same for most of the towns in this game. I really enjoyed the music in Hulbury but you best bet I had to look it up to remember the name of the town! Time is partly to blame. We don’t spend a lot of time in each town, and we have no real reason to go back to them aside from visiting the nearest Pokemon Center to heal and rest up. But I would argue that, beyond that, the individual designs just…don’t feel memorable because they’re not memorable. The names are mostly meh (every time I see Ballonlea I think of Bologna for some reason), but without anything else to connect to the place as more than just a place…there’s no reason to remember any of it.

Like the music, these are all passable, graphics more than animation, animation more than design, but that’s all there is to it.

Camping and Cooking, Feathers and Fetch! [4/10]

I don’t actually have a lot to say about this. It’s a cute idea, and it’s fun maybe the first ten times that you do it, but then it’s just really boring. The game is terrible at explaining how to create different curry dishes, but it’s almost idiot-proof. I’ve yet to fail at it.

But I’m not sure I care about it, either?

You get like 1/100th of the amount of berries you need to cook while you journey along, so it feels disproportionate. I dunno. Just not a fan.

Playing with your pokemon is the only real joy that comes from camping, but its fun is limited. When you’ve tossed the ball a few times, or watched Liepard smack the feather toy a while, it has that, “Okay, I’ve seen it!” kind of feeling to it. That doing well at cooking can heal your party/cure status conditions is incentive to do it, but it’s faster to just fly to a pokemon center and run back on your bike most of the time than to pitch a tent with your ‘mons.

I feel like there should just be…more you can do when you’re camping together. I’m glad Pokemon Amie is dead (it was cringey), but it felt more personal than this.

I wish I had more to say about this feature, but it felt tacked on and lackluster after I camped a few times.

Dynamaxing, Gigantamaxing, and Max Raid Battles [4/10]

The urge to give this a zero was high, but I am making an effort to be balanced.

That said, I hate dynamaxing. Gigantamaxing is almost the same thing, it’s just Worse Somehow. Until yesterday I thought they were basically the same thing (and that some pokemon just got extra cool dynamax forms). As it turns out, they’re not the same thing at all! Or rather, they are, but they’re also not?

Dynamaxing makes your pokemon grow large and gives it these generic MAX moves that it can use in combat (Max Knuckle, Max Flare, Max Strike). It lasts for three turns and then your pokemon reverts back to its regular ‘ol self.

Gigantamaxing is when your pokemon grows a little larger than large, gets a special Look, and gets the same generic MAX moves (but with special effects added to them). Oh, and better stats.

At least, that’s how I understand it.

Both are great for Max Raid Battles, where you team up with NPCs or other players and take down huge dynamaxed pokemon that are out in the wild.

Neither is a fun feature as part of the actual gameplay. I guess as a gimmick it works all right, but just like Z-moves it has a long annoying animation sequence, and like Mega Evolutions only some pokemon get to gigantamax (everyone else is just a pleb, I guess). I dunno. I just didn’t find the concept very engaging…maybe because it seems evil and wasteful in-universe, and this is more or less stated in the game itself, but what-the-hell-ever, we’re just going to keep doing it ‘cause it looks cool!

It’s just too goofy a concept for me. Maybe if Dynamaxing doubled or tripled their size, I’d find it more understandable and more aesthetically pleasing? I hate seeing my pokemon, or the opposing pokemon, grow 50+ feet tall and scream at three billion decibels.

(For the record I never liked Mega Evolutions or Z-moves as a concept, so it’s not like I’m nostalgic for a different gimmick. That said, at least I’d accepted Megas as a thing, and Z-moves were overall not too groundbreaking or gamebreaking.)

The design of dyna/gigamaxing is to connect it with specific places so that you can’t just max your pokemon in every battle and sweep every team you fight against, but it still feels like it gets used too much. I’m currently at a point where I find having to dynamax feels like a chore.

Considering this is what the game tried to sell itself on in the initial trailer…? Yikes? I don’t know. I think some people are more ‘okay’ with the concept of dyna/gigantimaxing than others, and I think I’d be fine with it if we only had dynamaxing. Introducing both just feels like overcomplicating things for no real reason, and maybe also poking a little hard at the hornets’ nest that is the competitive community.

Because now you have to go out and grind gigantamax pokemon to catch one, so it forces you to do the thing you might not like to get a pokemon that can do the thing you don’t like, because it’s objectively better in combat? But really, who knows? Maybe these overpowered phenomena will end up banned, anyway.

Despite my disdain for this release’s gimmick, I do think Max Raid Battles are pretty fun, at least…when I’m not getting my ass completely kicked while some NPC trainer’s Eevee is using Helping Hand… It’s actually pretty enjoyable when you can somehow find other people using the y-comm and take on a gigantamaxed pokemon with the help of actual human players. But y’know…good luck using that…lol.

Overall I think the biggest downfall of Dynamaxing/Gigantamaxing is that it doesn’t really add anything of substance to the game. I don’t think it makes it more fun. It’s also not necessary for max raid battles (this could be a phenomena we don’t understand yet that randomly seems to affect wild pokemon, just like with the UBs—hell, Anabel and Looker could return and claim this is all related to that stuff and I’d probably find that believable enough). So what does it add? Flavor? Culture? Nah. It’s just kind of there.

Post-Game: Is That All? [3/10]

Post-game in Sun and Moon was the Alola version of the Battle Maison, breeding, and a somewhat lengthy (for a post-game) story where you assist Interpol agents Anabel and Looker in hunting down and capturing Ultra Beasts. The plot was somewhat woven into not only Sun and Moon’s storyline (Lusamine’s shenanigans), but also borrowed from the Sapphire/Ruby reboots and X/Y. If you didn’t already know Looker from Ruby/Sapphire/X/Y, or Anabel from Pokemon Emerald, you’ll still probably find them somewhat compelling/interesting as characters. Also, they did a really good job in Sun of making circumstances seem dire—of showing instead of telling you how dangerous the UBs were and how important it was to protect the people of the towns and villages you’d visited throughout your adventure.

Shield has… Max raid battles, a battle tower, and…breeding. Oh, and a storyline about the legendary dogs that barely makes any sense and is plagued by really irritating new characters.

The terrible truth is that the post-game of Sword/Shield is embarrassingly bad. You’d think they’d want to outdo themselves with every release. Sun and Moon hit it out of the park with their post-game content. Most people enjoyed the hunt for UBs, or at least the characters of Anabel and Looker. Sword and Shield have…. Sordward and Shielbert. DID I STUTTER?

They’re terribly designed characters, and so insulting as to not really be any fun at all. The Pokeball Guy mascot is Actually Fun; these dudes aren’t. They’re barely even villains? It was an excuse to try and pull what Sun and Moon pulled, but it didn’t work. I never felt like anyone was in danger at any point, probably because magically everyone was evacuated before I even arrived on the scene to stop Sordward and Shielbert’s vile schemes. :U Oh, and because I felt little or no connection to any of the towns I visited along the way, let alone the gym leaders. Maybe if these guys had showed up partway through the game and we sort of knew who they were already, this wouldn’t seem so out-of-nowhere, but it was, and that made it even worse than it had to be.

When it’s all over, you get your legendary dog (I named mine Goodest Boy), but it wasn’t a fun storyline at all. Who are these guys? Why should I care about them? I cared about Looker and Anabel because they came onto the scene and showed that they cared about each other as people (and showed it, multiple times). These guys? They wreaked havoc and didn’t even go to jail. At least Rose went to jail!

I don’t think the post-game is terrible so much as I think it’s underwhelming, especially considering what it came on the heels of. I don’t expect More More More from every game, but I do expect improvements to be made. A decent post-game storyline is all I was asking for, and I didn’t even get that.

But there’s the tower and you can breed pokemon and train EVs and all that stuff more easily now, so…

Characters, Story, and Worldbuilding [4/10]

Let me put this as delicately as I can: I’m not a fan.

I could easily rant about bad character writing, bad stories, and weak worldbuilding for hours, but I’ll limit myself because 1) this is a pokemon game, and 2) nobody really looks for exceptional characters here.

As I said earlier, I feel like Sun and Moon did it Better. Most of the main characters in Su/Mo were likable, interesting, had a fun design, or were amusing. Not so in Shield.

Hop has a terrible name (literally a million names to choose from and they picked this?), but the biggest crime he commits is that he doesn’t get a satisfying story arc at all. When he got down about himself I had hope there would be some cool development, but there wasn’t. He ended up getting his crap together and making a Team and Picked a Strategy (which still involves sending the sheep out first I guess). And then randomly in the post-game decided he was going to be a professor…lol.

I felt like 20 different people wrote that plot, because it was terribly cobbled together and didn’t flow at all. Natural progression would have been nice.

Marnie barely has a story and barely develops. Piers seems to kind of have more ‘meat’ to his character but not a lot is done with it.

The gym leaders are otherwise really meh. Okay, so Nessa and Sonia are pals. Gal pals. Pals that are gals. Gals that are pals. Great. I don’t think we ever see them talk so it doesn’t matter. Melony has a son…and it’s just a nod to the other game where her son is the gym leader instead? Boring.

Bede is an asshole with a sob story who doesn’t really get redeemed but gets the redemption option anyway. They could have REALLY done something amazing with this guy but chose not to. His backstory is actually pretty interesting! But they didn’t utilize it worth a damn. And also he was right about the mural soooo…

Sonia was maybe the best character in the game, and that’s just from a technical standpoint. She had development, she developed, she grew as a character. Emotionally, though, I felt detached from her. Maybe it was being called a child all the time that did that? I’m not sure. I get that the protag is a child but I’m living independently and doing well for myself so maybe have a little respect idk… Especially when the first 2/3 of the game you’re told the adults will handle things, and then randomly you’re interrupted every fifty seconds to take care of other people’s nonsense. :|

In fact, I felt emotionally disconnected from pretty much every character. I didn’t really like or feel for anyone. Hop came the closest (feeling guilty about losing a battle cause it might make his brother look bad), but the bad dialogue options and inability to actually cheer him up was frustrating more than anything.

There are zones that are breathtakingly lovely (Slumbering Weald! Ballonlea! Glimwood Tangle!) but all the rest are more or less forgettable. The characters are connected to the world…sorta, but there are times it feels like they force-connected them through dynamaxing and dialogue accents instead of trying to make characters who naturally fit into the world. Like I talked about before, Opal’s gym felt completely disconnected from the reality of her environment. She lives there for a reason. Doesn’t the stadium’s presence jar her? How many fairy pokemon lost their homes when that thing took away tens of acres of forest? What’s the story here? Or anywhere for that matter?

Spikemuth was a waste of space but at least it felt like an attempt to show us a poverty-stricken area… Unfortunately it all fell flat the second they used two models for Team Yell! Team Yell could have been really cool, especially if they’d had different models with their names (challenged by Team Yell Grunt Sierra/Troy/Nellie/whatever), and the same team yell outfit/clothes/paint on. Then we could see these are just regular guys and gals from this poor area who want to cheer on their hometown girl!!!

But that was a weakness throughout the game, because Team Yell were all gym trainers, and all shared models…just like all the other gyms. It felt lazy to me. The outfits can be the same, but way to go making all the models literal clones. That’s just laziness.

The villains are all meh. Rose? Of course he was a villain. The problem is that he’s not a villain for being a capitalist pig or anything. He’s a villain for wanting to fix a power issue that’s 1,000 years from happening. Meh motivation. If it was 50 years away then we have a compelling villain! But no, not 50. A thousand years from happening. And he can’t wait five fucking minutes.

Oleana was boring.

Leon was exactly the person he was the entire game…

The taxi service is a cute idea, and a nice gameplay addition, but it doesn’t really add anything to the world because they didn’t make the effort to integrate it.

Anyway, I’ve rambled enough.

The short of it is this: I walked away from this game not really caring about the world or any of the characters. I don’t even have a favorite character. I can’t remember the last time that happened to me. YIKES.

The Wild Area [8/10]

I don’t want to cover this for too long, because I feel it’s been done to death, but the Wild Area is what the whole game should have been. Or at least, more of the game. I don’t expect we’ll ever get a fully open-world pokemon game EVER, but this foray into the true 3D tells me that it could be a lot of fun, actually, even in somewhat constrained environments. (Oh, and with a good map.)

I enjoy the idea of the Wild Area, but I think its usefulness is limited without the appeal of having more pokemon patched into the game later. Until I get sick of it, though, it’s a pretty neat concept, and it makes hunting for new pokemon to catch a little more fun than it usually is. I like that they kept the overworld pokemon in this area as well as on the routes you have to travel; it feels like more of an adventure to dodge a huge Steelix and scoot closer to see what that yellow thing is in the grass you can’t quite make out. :)

Basically: fun concept that is enjoyable for now but has limited enjoyment. As far as negativity goes, I don’t have much to complain about here that I didn’t complain about in the Online Compatibility section above.

The Pokemon Themselves [6/10]

I was challenged by @hijauindah to list my top five favorite new pokemon from the game, so here we go!

Nickit (cute design!)

Boltund (smooth, well designed—not too cluttered)

Ponyta/Rapidash (MY LITTLE PONY… I think Rapidash could look better, but I’m just glad they cared enough to try something new with them…)

Frosmoth (Super pretty pokemon design.)

Dragapult (Nifty design.)

Most of the new designs are just…okay. There are a lot I don’t actually care for. But I’m biased; I just want more creature-based pokemon that look like they could exist and function in the world they live in. Some of these designs they come up with look like they’d have died out ten thousand years ago due to being Poorly Evolved lol.

Final Thoughts [6/10]

The worst part of the game for me personally was probably feeling like I was getting interrupted constantly by other characters. JUST LET ME PLAY. But the best part was definitely exploring the new areas, catching a shiny 2 hours into the game, and getting to the end more or less with the team I started with.

The individual scores don’t add up to a 6/10 (they actually add up to a 5.16/10) but I think it’s worth noting that I did have a fun time playing through the game, I intend to hop into the breeding stuff, and even though I don’t have to keep max raid battling and stuff, I probably will.

It’s far from the 9s that it was getting by certain people from certain places that won’t be named here, but it’s not as if it’s a dumpster fire game. I don’t regret the money I spent on it, and I hope to keep enjoying the game for a few more months (albeit more casually than I did over the weekend), but I hope GameFreak has learned from its follies and puts its best foot forward with the next game, because I will not manage to be this forgiving again.

#pokemon sword and shield #pokemon #pokemon spoilers #pokemon review #long post #really long post #pokemon swsh #i didn't really edit this so sorry if there are any typos

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