Maybe he got in under the wire and earned his Badge from the other Saffron Gym before it got delegitimized in the duel against Sabrina’s Gym.
Gen 1’s worldbuilding really was something else.
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(Little) Things that annoy you in Pokémon
- Thread starter BriarRose
- Start date
Gen 1’s worldbuilding really was something else.
Could also just be the power difference between Sabrina and Agatha in-universe. Psychics hurt Fighting but they crumble if you look at them funny. Agatha's Poison/Ghost Pokemon resist to the same or greater degree and the non-Ghosts are less Papery, while said Ghosts are immune to Normal moves that most Fighting types would have besides actual Fighting moves.
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Good point! Honestly, it doesn't make much sense however you slice it. If all the trainers in Victory Road needed the Earth Badge and Giovanni left the Gym "closed for a long time", just how long have they been stuck in there, unable to solve the puzzle and get through to the Pokemon League?
My thinking was that maybe there are only ever 8 badges 'active' at a time, with the guards changing their requirements to match. It's definitely easier to change the guard script than to completely reconfigure your complicated unlocking mechanism like in the Gen V games. While Bulbapedia says that the Dojo and Sabrina's Gym were only ever in contention to be Saffron's one official Gym, trainer dialogue from RBY suggests that they were both Gyms simultaneously until Sabrina crushed the Karate Master.
Actually, speaking of the badge check guards, presumably they have Pokemon at or above the appropriate strength level to stop pushy trainers trying to get through without the requisite badges?
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I assumed that the victory road isn't just a puzzle roadblock, but an area where trainers can stay to train with wild pokemon and themselves. I mean, in a casual gameplay thats often what you as the player would do if your got beaten by the e4 or wanted to grind beforehand, wouldn't it?
inbetween the lines, we are told being a champion is very hard, and takes a long time. Obviously gameplay has priority so your player and rival are a bit of prodigies, but for everyone else i think challenging the e4, losing and then going back to training would be fairly normal
inbetween the lines, we are told being a champion is very hard, and takes a long time. Obviously gameplay has priority so your player and rival are a bit of prodigies, but for everyone else i think challenging the e4, losing and then going back to training would be fairly normal
In X & Y, at least, this is true — you have to fight the Ace Trainer who checks your Badges before you can proceed.
Then they never touched that idea again, lol
It is funny how they immediately stopped doing the traditional victory road/badge check
Mt Lanakila in SM didn't have ANY trainers in it, period. USUM had trainers, but it was just people heading to the peak; I don't think there's even a proper badge check in either game? Maybe a cursory check at the actual gate?
SWSH had Route 10 and that final string of trainers at the final ramp which was cute but not really the same thing; and then the cup proper was a sports league registration deal.
Legends obviously didn't have this at all
SV had the hilarious interview where they presumably just escort you out with security when you fail the quiz.
So maybe I'm not looking hard enough but the fact that virtually no plushies have been released for SV is insane. I would pay the bank for a Gholdengo, Iron Valiant, or Tinkaton plushie but JP Pokemon Center has nothing. I think Gamefreak just doesn't want money. Its so weird since all the Legends Arceus plushies seemed like they got released within a reasonable timeframe.
They could still be in development. Weren’t there also plushies of starters and box legendaries exist?
Yeah, the starters and box legendarily definitely have some.
Really?
Every Gardevoir or Iron Valiant plushie bought is a Vaporeon plushie that is not bought for evil plans, so I can only support the lava snail's decision.
Well Legends Arceus had 7 new Pokemon and about what 17 new forms while SV has 105(and counting) pokemon
so I think you have some mismastched expectations about how quickly they should be putting out plush
But putting that aside, plush often aren't pumped out for everyone (for example, just jumping back to gen 8, there's no plush for Gimmsnarl, Orbeetle, Indeedee...) and are often tied to other merchandise lines. There's likely various lead times in play too.
Most of gens 1-5 either did not have a plush or had very limited plush, until their respective Sitting Cuties line released and covid definitely backed up the production of it (there was a long time between 3 & 4 iirc, but not as long between 4 & 5)
The Paradoxes probably won't get merch for a while; the TCG is the first big push they're going to get in terms of merchandise and they probably would want the Paradoxes to have their own dedicated lines in the future ala the UBs. And there's significantly more Paradoxes so it might just hit the highlights.
Tinkaton probably winds up getting its own dedicated line too, now that they're aware of its popularity, but it will still likely take more time to get out.
Gholdengo is the surprising one to me, since it was one they do want to pus hand is quite well known. But Gimmighoul has quite a bit of non-plush merch and Raging Surf is due soon so that'll probably change.
I've just found out about SV's Uniform DLC. Scarlet's uniforms are hot garbage, so I'm glad they probably got a decent one...
WHY!?
WHY!?
I can't believe you get to join Team Flare in the DLC! Truly a shocking turn of events!I've just found out about SV's Uniform DLC. Scarlet's uniforms are hot garbage, so I'm glad they probably got a decent one...
WHY!?
- Double Shock has a special interaction with Tera
- Pawmot is Nemona's de facto ace
- The devs allow Nemona to Tera her Pawmot instead of insisting "nuh uh, the starter is the true ace so only it gets to Tera"
- The only time this happens is the Tera tutorial where it only uses Thunder Shock
Speaking of which...
Terastallization is incredibly underused in SV. Most Gym Leaders use it like "Now, I'll Tera this shitmon to my signature type even though I really shouldn't! Where's that trailer chant at!"
Like, seriously?
Brassius and Iono got good ones, but I'm not exactly sold on how Tera is used in that game. It doesn't help that at first glance, those teams are wack.
Unfortunately tactical Tera usage doesn't really mesh well with the concept of a type specialist, or even the idea of having an ace Pokemon you always Terastallize. Most people seem to think it would have been better for the Leaders to have an on-type ace, which they then Tera to a strategically valuable off type, but that has its downsides too.
Do you give the player hints about what type they'll Tera to? Telling them outright would be kinda boring, but if you leave it as a complete surprise then some players will end up feeling screwed over by something they couldn't have predicted. In competitive play, the limited ways you can strategise around Tera generally require you to have the kind of in-depth knowledge that casual players do not have and likely cannot have in a first playthrough. Admittedly, this isn't that different from just not knowing exactly what type the opposing boss Pokemon is, though.
Also, does it compromise the identity of a Gym if the strongest Pokemon you face there is functionally a different type from the one that the Gym specialises in? It doesn't really bother me, conceptually, but I can see someone disliking that the final obstacle isn't 'representative' of the Gym as a whole.
Do you give the player hints about what type they'll Tera to? Telling them outright would be kinda boring, but if you leave it as a complete surprise then some players will end up feeling screwed over by something they couldn't have predicted. In competitive play, the limited ways you can strategise around Tera generally require you to have the kind of in-depth knowledge that casual players do not have and likely cannot have in a first playthrough. Admittedly, this isn't that different from just not knowing exactly what type the opposing boss Pokemon is, though.
Also, does it compromise the identity of a Gym if the strongest Pokemon you face there is functionally a different type from the one that the Gym specialises in? It doesn't really bother me, conceptually, but I can see someone disliking that the final obstacle isn't 'representative' of the Gym as a whole.
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Also throughout those games you had people that was keeping track of your progress so a "Badge Check" was unnecessary as you HAD to complete the previous Trial/Gym in order for officials to even let you progress.
Though Gen VII was a bit weird in that regard. Obviously there was no League, Professor Kukui just called all the previous Island Challenge Champions to compete in the Alola League he just formed (which only consisted of the Elite Four and presumably himself as the initial Champion whom you defeat in SM but Hau defeats before you in USUM (which you soon after beat him, poor Hau had an even shorter run than Blue it seems)). Infact, who knows how true it was "only" and "all" Island Challenge Champions that were called for, Kukui personally invited everyone he wanted to compete when he debut it.
THEN things get stranger with the Title Defense matches. Hau, Kukui, Hapu, Molayne (SM), & Sophocles are prior Island Challenge Champions so makes sense they're allowed to challenge you. Gladion is iffy, I can see him easily clearing the Island Challenge, but did he before the event of the games (if not, would be hard for him to find the time in SM; though USUM is a bit more believable)? Now we get into the weird ones. Staring off, Faba in SM and Lusamine in USUM. Okay, what? No way they did the Island Challenge. Than there's Plumeria and Guzma (USUM) who its unclear if they ever finished (or did) their Island Challenge; Team Skull's whole thing was they're trainers who couldn't finish the Island Challenge. Ryuki is presented as a foreigner with it unclear if he move to Alola or it just visiting. Finally Tristan I think it too young to have taken the Island Challenge. So, there seems to be no requirement to challenge the Alola League: if you think you're strong enough just climb the mountain and try it out.
The logical thing, especially since it would display the versatility of Tera, would be to have leaders do different things with it.
Brassius can keep his funny Truleewoodo, and Iono can keep playing Fantina, but why not have some leaders do same-type and defensive Tera?
Sure beats another late-game Ice leader looking at me dead in the eye and using a Tera Ice Altaria as his ace.
To be fair it is post game and time basically stops mattering at that point. It's both the day after and also some unknown time after. So a lot of htem could have just gone through the island challenge once everything calmed down.
Lusamine in USUM in particular is going through some soul searching so the Island Challenge feels like something she'd do to really reach you again.
Tristan is definitely just a funny joke though....though Nanu does give a trainer a starter for their challenge in a post game event. So maybe he's just a short 11 year old
The omission of the Mareep line in Crystal is just amazing to me. You could probably count on one hand how many usable Johto mons there were in the original GS (HGSS isn't much better honestly) and these assholes thought it was a good idea to remove arguably the best one, other than the starters.
Crystal's sprite work is some of the best in the series in my opinion, and they did make some positive changes to the encounter tables like an earlier Teddiursa. But damn. The exclusion of the Mareep line from Crystal honestly makes me prefer GS over it.
In fact, I don't think until Emerald did a third version prove to be superior to its pair versions, for me at least. Yellow always felt like a bit of an anime shoehorn to me, but that's a topic for another time.
Crystal's sprite work is some of the best in the series in my opinion, and they did make some positive changes to the encounter tables like an earlier Teddiursa. But damn. The exclusion of the Mareep line from Crystal honestly makes me prefer GS over it.
In fact, I don't think until Emerald did a third version prove to be superior to its pair versions, for me at least. Yellow always felt like a bit of an anime shoehorn to me, but that's a topic for another time.
Yeah, Third Version's Version Exclusives always felt off to me. Like, while I get wanting people to feel like they didn't waste their money getting the initial paired versions, at the same time the Third Version is pushed as the definitive version. So, because of this, you get strange instances with the Version Exclusive Pokemon.
Generally, it falls into three categories:
- Third Version has both of a pair.
- Third Version has one side of a pair but not another (this is usually done with two pairs from the initial games to create a pseudo third pair).
- Third Version is missing a Pokemon both initial games had.
The second is the one that always annoyed me. Like, I'm a person who only ever bought one version, so even if I got the Third Version that would mean there would be at least one or two Pokemon I still wouldn't be able to complete the dex with on my own. It's the worst case of "one game for the price of two".
The third is where we get the above complaint. Because at first you think it's no big deal, you can just get the Pokemon in the initial paired game you have. But the thing is, the Pokemon afflicted with the third case isn't just a "dex filler", no, this is a case where they listen to fans just to know which popular Pokemon to remove. HA! Now if you were holding out until the third version you HAVE to get one of the initial pair of games!
I'm shocked that B2W2 don't have a Pokemon you can only get in the original BW games (minus the White Forest Pokemon). It's like they realized this was an annoying gimmick with third versions (though B2W2 sorta were new games as they had a new story that was a sequel to BW so maybe they felt it would have been unfair in this case).
I'm generally in favor of ditching the Version Exclusive concept as it is now. I have no problem with a version having different forms or one Pokemon that's easier/rarer to get than in the other. However I would just like to have the game give me the chance to complete the Dex without needing to trade with someone else. That "charm" was lost once the GTS was introduced and now you can go online to a Pokemon forum and just ask someone to version exclusive trade. If they want to do "Version Exclusives" they need to separate it from the Pokedex, like now that we have the concept of foreign Pokemon how about setting it up so that, at the creation of a save file, a few Pokemon from a pool of included foreign Pokemon are selected so you can find in your save file. They're out of the Pokedex so you don't have to worry about them interfering with dex completion, and you have some unique Pokemon to trade with other people who's save file generated different foreign Pokemon. Casual players get to complete the dex, competitive players get more Pokemon to forms strategies with. Win-win.
So, XY's Friend Safari?
Yes, though the fact that I forgot that was a thing shows how long that lasted (also XY still had Version Exclusives).