Pokémon Thread XXVIII: Get. In. The. BAG.

[Kitten Champion]

Would it make you feel better if the foreman had gotten a stronger 'mon to beat them to a pulp and paralyze them before shoving them into a tiny ball and pressing them into service that way, instead of the Machamps voluntarily deciding to do it because they like the exercise?

You ask difficult moral questions. I think "voluntary" is the crux of the issue, and there's no good way to resolve this that doesn't involve going to Game Freak and asking them directly what's really going on behind those red Machamp eyes.

Fortunately they're on Akala island. Charizard away!

[Spore]

Pokemon is weird like that. It largely ignores the debate about the Pokemon's willigness to battle or be captured. In other media, the debate is bigger. The anime even had Paul who would regularly abuse his Pokemon. It is a weird subject matter. Honestly, even Ash is sometimes abusive towards his team. I recognize him - making the same rookie mistakes for 20 years - sending in Pokemon into obvious type disadvantages. While the anime works differently - with dodging, and things like aerial superiority or reflexes vs. tankyness - and Ash pulling off incredible things despite his disadvantage, those disadvantages still result in him loosing the battles or hurting his Pokemon more than necessary.

That's why I love the second half of the Kanto arc so much. Ash finally starts to make smart decisions. He fights Blaine with Charizard, recognizing his unevolved Squirtle is too low level (I will generously ignore his "Aim for the [Rhydon's] Horn, Pikachu" part of the battle, he just cheats here), having his first real and fun gym battle. Later on, in the Pokemon League he has interesting fights with various trainers, and the best thing is: He doesn't even win, because he is a 10 year old rookie. (With H/G/C on the horizon, I thought he just makes another journey through the neighboring Johto and then wins the League).

[Lord Fullbladder, Master of Goblins]

She didn't say date or good-looking. The writers made it deliberately misdirecting to throw off being a pokemon. That was your interpretation.

Yeah, I know. _{I like my interpretation}

[Hunter Noventa]

On another entirely separate note, I've noticed they've more or less gotten rid of the more fantastical archetypes for NPC trainers. In Kalos you'd run into psychics and mystics on most roads, in Alola they're mostly outdoor enthusiasts, tourists, assorted locals in casual clothing, and the odd ace trainer.

I miss the Hex Maniacs. They were my favorite trainer type.

[Mando Knight]

Pokémon Bank update is live. For a short time, you can also claim Mewnium Z (limit one per Pokémon Bank account).

[Aotrs Commander]

From the looks of it, they went the extremely simple route of just (presumably) setting some sort of flag so that if you import a Pokémon to SuMo, it flags it so you can't send it to XYORAS, rather than anything elaborate or giving you different boxes or whatever. Eh, it works, I guess.

[Hunter Noventa]

Also of note, pokemon from teh VC games have their hidden abiliites. This means you can't get your No Guard Fissure Machamp. A glitch Mew also cannot be transferred.

[noparlpf]

Huh, interesting. That might make an easier way to get some hidden abilities. Does that include Articuno/Zapdos/Moltres and Mewtwo?

[NeoPhoenix0]

yes, you can get unnerve mewtwo.

[cobaltstarfire]

Has anyone tried out Pokemon Duel? It recently got an English update.

[Flickerdart]

Has anyone tried out Pokemon Duel? It recently got an English update.

I downloaded it and got an error.

[cobaltstarfire]

I downloaded it and got an error.

Yeah...last night it was having some serious problems with connectivity, but it seems to be working better today (after an extended maintenance)

I haven't decided if I like it or not since I'm not that into board games, but it looks like it'd be pretty fun for folks that like them.

[Squark]

Does anyone have a contrary Snivy and/or Extreme Speed Dragonite/Dratini they can breed for me? I'd like to do them as my next breeding projects, but since the hidden ability/egg move was originally event exclusive, so I can't get either in game.

[Aotrs Commander]

Does anyone have a contrary Snivy and/or Extreme Speed Dragonite/Dratini they can breed for me? I'd like to do them as my next breeding projects, but since the hidden ability/egg move was originally event exclusive, so I can't get either in game.

My friend, I am simply [urinating] out Snivys at the moment, in an feeble attempt to breed an all-but-attack Timid Contrary female. Heck, I actually Wonder Trade (thanks to the box update) a box an a half of 4-IV and less, because with over one box of 5-IVs, that seemed excessive.

So, yes, there is a whole raft of 5-IVs Snivys floating around (and in no particular hurry to go anywhere) that I could trade to you at a conveniant point.

[Squark]

I'd be glad to take one off your hands, then. I've added you to my 3ds Friends list, let me know what would be a good time to trade (and which generation I should use). As far as what I have to trade, I have a couple of random legendaries/mythics left in Gen VI as well as some leftovers from my last breeding projects (Weavile, Gastrodon, and Bisharp), as well as a 5 IV Skarmory and Ralts. I can of course transfer any of those to gen VII, and I also have all my finished breeding projects there, which means I could easily breed a perfect egg from.

[Aotrs Commander]

I'd be glad to take one off your hands, then. I've added you to my 3ds Friends list, let me know what would be a good time to trade (and which generation I should use). As far as what I have to trade, I have a couple of random legendaries/mythics left in Gen VI as well as some leftovers from my last breeding projects (Weavile, Gastrodon, and Bisharp), as well as a 5 IV Skarmory and Ralts. I can of course transfer any of those to gen VII, and I also have all my finished breeding projects there, which means I could easily breed a perfect egg from.

Sometime tomorrow would be okay, I'm around most of the day (likely wrestling with TurboCAD over the blasted rivets on the A7V *sigh*), from (approximately) say 11:30am. (I'm on GMT.) So if you give me a prod sometime after that via PM, I shoiuld be about fairly quickly. (Failing that, there's Sunday afternoon (bar a stretch of early evening for panto practice).)

What Gen do you want to trade in (Gen VI or VII, doesn't matter either way, my primary breeding is still in X and the spares are in the bank and not transferred through to VII, so either can be done).

Males, I think I probably have at least one of any Contary 5-sans-[stat]; I've got less females (and without checking, not sure what they are, except for I know there's definitely not all-but-attack Contrary!)

You want one or two?

For returns, absolute favourite would be a passable IV HA female squirtle for my other current breeding project (or a good female salandit); but failing you have something like that on-hand, from the above mentioned, a Gastrodon (Storm Drain woud be favourite) would be fine. (If we're doing two, I'll have a Weavile spare as well, for the sake of arguement.)

[Quietus]

Also of note, pokemon from teh VC games have their hidden abiliites. This means you can't get your No Guard Fissure Machamp. A glitch Mew also cannot be transferred.

Wasn't there a way to change your ability in X/Y? Can pokemon from the VC games be put into X or Y?

Has anyone tried out Pokemon Duel? It recently got an English update.

I've tried it, but it's super slow. I'm a little torn, I enjoy it because it taps into my collector nature, but it feels like it's lacking something, to me.

[Ryuho Tsugu]

Wasn't there a way to change your ability in X/Y?

Ability Capsules, which can also be bought in Sun and Moon, except they can't be used on Pokemon with Hidden Abilities anyway; they're only for switching between the regular Abilities.

[Spore]

Ability Capsules, which can also be bought in Sun and Moon, except they can't be used on Pokemon with Hidden Abilities anyway; they're only for switching between the regular Abilities.

This is so sad to be honest. Hidden Abilities would be such a fun thing for the story, and Pokemon with decent non-hidden abilities tend to rule the playing field for ingame teams. A Moxie Krookodile is a much better sweeper than a Guts/Swarm Heracross.

[Alabenson]

Does anyone have a contrary Snivy and/or Extreme Speed Dragonite/Dratini they can breed for me? I'd like to do them as my next breeding projects, but since the hidden ability/egg move was originally event exclusive, so I can't get either in game.

I double checked my copy of X and I still have a spare female Adamant HA Dratini with Extreme Speed.

Would you happen to have a HA Carvana?

[cobaltstarfire]

I've tried it, but it's super slow. I'm a little torn, I enjoy it because it taps into my collector nature, but it feels like it's lacking something, to me.

It seems like its been snappier in the mornings for me, it can often be unplayable in the evening. They've been having almost daily maintenance so I guess their back end isn't up to the task right now.

Or do you mean that the game play itself just isn't quite there?

[Squark]

For returns, absolute favourite would be a passable IV HA female squirtle for my other current breeding project

While I don't have one, I do know where one can find one- Transfers from the VGC copies of Yellow, Blue or Red are garunteed 3 perfect IVs as well as their Hidden ability, so if you have a Squirtle there, you should be able to transfer it. You're still at the mercy of a 12.5% female rate, but 3 perfect IVs and HA would give you a start for breeding.

[NeoPhoenix0]

Also you can garunteed the nature on VGC transfers. It is based on the last two digits of Thier XP.

[Astrella]

So I'm playing through Pokemon Sun right now and trying to set up a definitely team, have done all the challenges on the third island and heading to Po Town. Struggling a bit with setting up a team though; not interested in anything super competitive and I try to avoid doubling up on types; right now I'm pretty much set on Starmie, Lurantis and Mimikyu, but not sure what else to add.

[OracleofWuffing]

Seems like people get satisfactory in-game performance out of Pikipek/Trumbeak/Toucannon and Mudbray/Mudsdale, and it's pretty easy to tell when you've got one that has the ability you want for both of them. Provided you get a female, Salandit/Salazzle is a pretty good sweeper. Stufful/Bewear or Passimian stand out to me but deciding between the two is a matter of tastes, and it's hard to go wrong with Abra/Kadabra/Alakazam.

[ellindsey]

I tried to use a Lurantis after finding a shiny one, but it just didn't have the stats to be a strong part of my team. Went back to using my Tsareena instead.

I have also had very good use out of my Mudsdale, it's an impressively strong defender with some good moves. Toucannon has some good attacks, but is starting to suffer from not being durable enough as I head into the fourth island.

[Mercenary Pen]

I tried to use a Lurantis after finding a shiny one, but it just didn't have the stats to be a strong part of my team. Went back to using my Tsareena instead.

I have also had very good use out of my Mudsdale, it's an impressively strong defender with some good moves. Toucannon has some good attacks, but is starting to suffer from not being durable enough as I head into the fourth island.

I know that feeling- especially when Beak Blast is seeing use, because the whole business of charge at the start of the turn to attack at the end of the turn leaves you open to whatever the computer chooses to dish out- the only reason I'm running one at all is to serve as a user of Z-Mirror Move (with Supersonic Skystrike as a fallback option)

[Icewraith]

Mostly been avoiding this thread for spoilers, finally playing through Moon...

Is it just me, or does this game move REALLY slow? There's a lot of talking. And the game's REALLY not subtle about what you should be doing next. Pokemon's never really been subtle- blocking off roads until you've performed a certain task has always been a thing. And there have also been random NPCs that say things that encourage you to visit the next destination. But it seems like this entire friggin' island wants me to use the bus stop!

The Rotom dex is stupid- if I have a Rotom, I want to be able to use it in battle.

[Hiro Protagonest]

Is it just me, or does this game move REALLY slow?

*thinks about playing Sun*

*thinks about playing Platinum*

*thinks about playing Pearl*

...It's just you.

[DataNinja]

Mostly been avoiding this thread for spoilers, finally playing through Moon...

Is it just me, or does this game move REALLY slow? There's a lot of talking. And the game's REALLY not subtle about what you should be doing next. Pokemon's never really been subtle- blocking off roads until you've performed a certain task has always been a thing. And there have also been random NPCs that say things that encourage you to visit the next destination. But it seems like this entire friggin' island wants me to use the bus stop!

The Rotom dex is stupid- if I have a Rotom, I want to be able to use it in battle.

I don't think it's slower, overall, but the places where it is are much more noticeable... especially because they seem to come up every ten steps.

Yeah, that's one of the things I liked least. It seemed as if you were on a railroad for most of the game. There were a few places off the beaten path, but there didn't seem to be that many just random places on a route to explore, compared to games past. The path-blocking Pokémon were particularly grating.

I also would've like a 'mute' option. I just wanted to chuck that thing into the ocean, and go without. It was one of two things that genuinely annoyed me about the game.

Spoiler: Tangent

Show

The thing that annoyed me most was the introduction of the Battle Royals. You've been doing your battling, then face a nice, level-appropriate (to where you should be), introduction to this new battling style. Great! Even if it's just as laggy as other things with 4 Pokémon, it's cool. I want to try more. So, head up to the counter... and, with no warning, the battles are post-game challenges. My first Battle Royal, there were two opponents with Mega Stones. I wasn't even able to get a single attack in, and there was no way to forfeit. That's bad game design, showing this cool new thing, giving a tiny taste of it, and then gating it until late-game. It would have been so easy to just have the opponents set to the level of your highest participant, but, no. That just infuriated me, because there was no indication talking to any attendants that it was all level 50 post-game stuff.