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

[gooddragon1]

I remember who's that pokemon. It was fun.

Spoiler: Who's that pokemon?

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Spoiler: It's...

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[Spore]

And I have wiped to Guzma #2. Pinsir was too much for me.

[Astrella]

Making teams is hard; I'm at Po Town now but I've been having big issues playing cause I can't seem to get a team I like. Right now I'm fairly sure I want Arcanine, Pallosand and Primarina, but I'd still like to fill it up. Anyone have any thoughts?

Team Skull are adorable goofs luckily.

[Spore]

I'm fairly sure I want Arcanine, Pallosand and Primarina, but I'd still like to fill it up. Anyone have any thoughts?

Whimsicott, Muk and Toucannon perhaps? Immunities to Psychic, Ghost, Dragon and Ground as well as a defensive wall? Not sure on Whimsicott though.

[Squark]

Blegh. The February International (Which you need to play in if you want the beedrillite and Lopunnite mega stones) doesn't allow pokemon born in the previous generation or qr rental teams. Are they purposely trying to get people to just play three games with a team of random 'mons they used during their playthrough and then forget the competition?

[Aotrs Commander]

Blegh. The February International (Which you need to play in if you want the beedrillite and Lopunnite mega stones) doesn't allow pokemon born in the previous generation or qr rental teams. Are they purposely trying to get people to just play three games with a team of random 'mons they used during their playthrough and then forget the competition?

What exactly do you have to do to get said stones (Lopunnite being the only one of interest)? I'd virtually forgotten this was a thing and I suppose I ought to at least learn exactly what I would ave to do if I decided I'm bothered enought to try for one.

Do I just show up with six random Pokémon and die horribly three times or what? (Does it set the level to anything?)

[Astrella]

Whimsicott, Muk and Toucannon perhaps? Immunities to Psychic, Ghost, Dragon and Ground as well as a defensive wall? Not sure on Whimsicott though.

I've definitely considered Muk; Whimsicott I'm a bit less sure about since my gen V team already had one; maybe I should switch in that levelled up Tsareena I have...

[Kantaki]

What exactly do you have to do to get said stones (Lopunnite being the only one of interest)? I'd virtually forgotten this was a thing and I suppose I ought to at least learn exactly what I would ave to do if I decided I'm bothered enought to try for one.

Do I just show up with six random Pokémon and die horribly three times or what? (Does it set the level to anything?)

Pretty much that. Although four Mons suffice since you can't take more into the actual (double) battle. Signing up with six just allows to adjust to the opponents' teams.
Level is set to 50 like in the Battle Tree.

Aunt Edith says: Well, you have to sign up before the Challenge starts of course.

[Alabenson]

What exactly do you have to do to get said stones (Lopunnite being the only one of interest)? I'd virtually forgotten this was a thing and I suppose I ought to at least learn exactly what I would ave to do if I decided I'm bothered enought to try for one.

Do I just show up with six random Pokémon and die horribly three times or what? (Does it set the level to anything?)

Actually, the mega stones that are being handed out are Beedrillite and Mawilite.
As for the competition itself, you just have to complete 3 battles to qualify for the stones. I went in with Team I Don't Even Care Anymore (i.e. the mons I used for my regular playthrough) after I found out the team I had picked out initially were all disqualified for various reasons.
On the plus side, prepping the team I initially wanted to go with yielded a perfect 6-IV Metagross, so that's a pretty good consolation prize in my book.

[Qwertystop]

...Blech. Missed my chance to register for it.

[Aotrs Commander]

...Blech. Missed my chance to register for it.

What, the sign-up's over? Bugger.

Wait, hang on:

The recent Online Competitions have given thousands of players a chance to have fun in exciting battles, and also an early opportunity to receive certain Mega Stones for participating. Players in these competitions will continue to be the first to have the opportunity to obtain Mega Stones as participation prizes in Online Competitions. While Mega Stones are time-limited exclusives for participants in Online Competitions, don’t worry if you missed an opportunity to get yours—we will make these Mega Stones available to all Pokémon Sun and Pokémon Moon players later. Please keep an eye on the Pokémon Global Link and Pokemon.com for more information on how you can get Mega Stones in your game.

Sanity somehow prevails...

[enderlord99]

Last night, I had a dream that Tabitha and Colress both had eyepatches.

EDIT: It might have been Saturn rather than Colress, actually.

Either way, they were both from evil teams, one was definitely Tabitha, and the other was some (other) sciencey guy.

I have no idea why I dreamed this.

[Mando Knight]

Want Mega Mewtwo in Sun/Moon? Now's your chance: the Mystery Gift code M2DESCENT will give you both Mega Stones.

[KillingAScarab]

Last night, I had a dream that Tabitha and Colress both had eyepatches.

EDIT: It might have been Saturn rather than Colress, actually.

Either way, they were both from evil teams, one was definitely Tabitha, and the other was some (other) sciencey guy.

I have no idea why I dreamed this.

You have headcanon in which Tabitha went so far over to Team Aqua's side as to become piratical? Come to think of it, why was Team Magma's Hideout only accessible through a submarine dock?

[Vaz]

why was Team Magma's Hideout only accessible through a submarine dock?

Now you know why they wanted to drop sea levels.

[Spore]

How else are you hiding a secret island base when there is supposed to be a coast guard in Sinnoh?

[DataNinja]

How else are you hiding a secret island base when there is supposed to be a coast guard in Sinnoh?

I think anywhere in Hoenn is a pretty good hiding spot from the coast guard in Sinnoh.

[enderlord99]

You have headcanon in which Tabitha went so far over to Team Aqua's side as to become piratical? Come to think of it, why was Team Magma's Hideout only accessible through a submarine dock?

It wasn't a pirate eyepatch, it was a medical eyepatch.

[KillingAScarab]

Now you know why they wanted to drop sea levels.

"Aw, that last rainstorm made the creek overflow, now my driveway is flooded. Time to join a cult which hates large bodies of water. I hear it meets over in that place which always has a flooded driveway... to inspire us to greatness."

It wasn't a pirate eyepatch, it was a medical eyepatch.

Do those need to be separate things? Surely, Maxie's eyeglasses could be both prescribed and to affect comedy when they're knocked askew in Omega Ruby.

[TheSummoner]

"Aw, that last rainstorm made the creek overflow, now my driveway is flooded. Time to join a cult which hates large bodies of water. I hear it meets over in that place which always has a flooded driveway... to inspire us to greatness."

In a world where a 10 year old can capture god (several gods even) and make them fight for fun and profit, it's not as crazy a plan as it might sound.

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So I finished Moon recently. First Pokemon game I had played since Yellow. The craze over Go got me back into the series and I found myself wanting more after that proved... lacking. Is Black or White worth picking up for the story? Or X/Y? I really can't see access to species of mons unavailable in Moon as reason enough since trade is an option, but if the story is on par with Sun/Moon, then I'd consider it worth it.

And speaking of story...

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Did anyone else find the ending really bittersweet? You spend so much time traveling together and in the end Lillie leaves for Kanto. She had a good reason for it, but it was still sad to see her go. Then again, I also thought she should've been the one to get Lunala/Solgaleo given that she raised it and especially considering she ended up becoming a trainer in the end anyways. Maybe a legendary is a bit much for a starter pokemon, but it would've felt right all the same.

[DataNinja]

Is Black or White worth picking up for the story? Or X/Y? I really can't see access to species of mons unavailable in Moon as reason enough since trade is an option, but if the story is on par with Sun/Moon, then I'd consider it worth it.

I can't really speak honestly for Black and White, given that I have rather biased memories of that game, due to my game corrupting, and wiping out several gens worth of work.

X and Y... the story isn't that strong, I'd say - definitely not compared to Sun and Moon - except for one (or, really, the only major) postgame thing. Whether or not that's enough is up to you to decide, but, yeah, overall, X and Y have one of the weaker stories, I'd say. Also, characterization isn't helped by having four 'rivals' vying for various amounts of screentime. It's telling when I consider the most fleshed out character to be from the postgame.

[Flickerdart]

Finally encountered my first wild Dragonite in PoGO yesterday - and it was nearly max level! Only "decent" appraisal, and Steel Wing/Hurricane for moves (C-rank offensive, B-rank defensive) but it was still higher CP than literally any of my Pokemon, including the Vaporeon I've been maxing out since September.

[Hiro Protagonest]

Is Black or White worth picking up for the story?

Maybe? It's not Sun/Moon, but it's better than the rest.

But for Pokemon with story, I absolutely recommend the Pokemon Adventures manga. However, there... has been some rockiness with official translations, making it hard to track down copies before even thinking about shelling out the money for them. So, fan translations, while having some problems of their own, do exist in places online...

[Alabenson]

I can't really speak honestly for Black and White, given that I have rather biased memories of that game, due to my game corrupting, and wiping out several gens worth of work.

X and Y... the story isn't that strong, I'd say - definitely not compared to Sun and Moon - except for one (or, really, the only major) postgame thing. Whether or not that's enough is up to you to decide, but, yeah, overall, X and Y have one of the weaker stories, I'd say. Also, characterization isn't helped by having four 'rivals' vying for various amounts of screentime. It's telling when I consider the most fleshed out character to be from the postgame.

Honestly, I'm starting to think I might be one of the only people who actually enjoyed the story for X/Y. Granted it wasn't anything spectacular, but I saw it as having a nice Roger Moore-era James Bond feel, especially with Lysandre as a villain. I will agree, however, that X/Y's 'rivals' were some of the least interesting in the series.

[Velaryon]

Want Mega Mewtwo in Sun/Moon? Now's your chance: the Mystery Gift code M2DESCENT will give you both Mega Stones.

Do I still have to have a Mewtwo from an older game? Because Moon is my first Pokemon game since the Game Boy Color days, so I haven't got one.

Spoiler

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Did anyone else find the ending really bittersweet? You spend so much time traveling together and in the end Lillie leaves for Kanto. She had a good reason for it, but it was still sad to see her go. Then again, I also thought she should've been the one to get Lunala/Solgaleo given that she raised it and especially considering she ended up becoming a trainer in the end anyways. Maybe a legendary is a bit much for a starter pokemon, but it would've felt right all the same.

Spoiler: Spoilered because replying to something spoilered

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I know just what you mean. When Nebby became Lunala and goes from Lillie to your trainer, it felt very contrived to me, like the only reason it was happening is because you're the player so you get the legendary Pokémon.

I kind of felt the same way when capturing all islands' guardian Pokémon. It seems very selfish when these Pokémon have been established as guardians of the Alola islands (and were in fact seen fighting off Ultra Beasts in cutscenes) for me to just run around and catch them all. How are they supposed to guard their islands from the inside of a Poké ball?

[DataNinja]

Honestly, I'm starting to think I might be one of the only people who actually enjoyed the story for X/Y. Granted it wasn't anything spectacular, but I saw it as having a nice Roger Moore-era James Bond feel, especially with Lysandre as a villain. I will agree, however, that X/Y's 'rivals' were some of the least interesting in the series.

It wasn't terrible, it just felt like it was rushed, and could have maybe been... I dunno, balanced a bit more, pacing-wise. Or polished.

Like, I'd have liked to have AZ expanded up a bit, it just felt like he was pretty much shoehorned in. And, yes, while his story was good, I'd have liked to have had a bit more about him, whether before or after. Lysandre's reveal just felt really sudden, and didn't have a huge impact - though, to be fair, it might have been a little better if it wasn't quite so transparent from the beginning. And, lastly, it just felt like they didn't know what to do with Mega Evolution. At the start of the game, it seems like it's "find out about this mysterious thing", that almost seems mythical in tone. But then, oh, look, "we know about it, we're using it, we just need people to test it".

So, it's not that I thought it was bad, on the scale of Pokémon stories, I just don't think it was very strong.

[Icewraith]

I hated the story in Sun/Moon. However, I appreciated the option to snark at the NPCs if I wanted to.

But really...

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Use-impaired rich girl spends an entire pokemon game trying to keep a legendary pokemon in a duffel bag before finally deciding to become a trainer, something the PC takes all of two minutes to achieve at the beginning of the game.

Emo rich kid becomes enforcer for gang of complete idiots.

Crazy rich lady has master plan, ultimate endgame involves being eaten by otherworldly jellyfish. Also is terrible parent.

Prominent descendant of elderly sumo-wrestler-turned-pokemon-trainer eats desserts and becomes punching bag for future league champion.

I know that's being harsh, but seriously- what's so great about the story in Sun/Moon?

[Qwertystop]

I liked that it went back to a lower-stakes, lower-scope thing, as opposed to gens III, IV, and VI.

Lillie: A major character who isn't a trainer! Closest to that we've had before was Rui in Colosseum, and she was mostly a plot device.

Lusamine: This time, the horrible leader of an evil team is actually just completely and unashamedly mad. That's new - we've had two different misguided groups, one with evil leadership and one with misguided leadership. We've had three fairly generic evil groups, one wanting to rule the world, the other two wanting to destroy it and rule the rubble/replacement. And we've had one gang of organized criminals. But a lot of the previous honestly felt pretty similar to each other in practice.

The others, nothing much to note. Still, it's a bit of a shift to the formula even if it's nothing exceptional, and that's nice.

[TheSummoner]

Spoiler

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Girl runs away from home to protect a Pokemon that's even less capable of defending itself than Magikarp from being tortured/killed by her insane mother.

Rival is actually your friend and for once doesn't do the **** move of picking a starter specifically because it's strong against the one you choose. His food obsession can be a bit annoying at time, but does at least lead to some (possibly intentionally) hilarious dialogue ("Player, here, take this very useful and valuable TM. Hau, you like food, right?")

You go on a tropical island adventure together. Very comfy. Three friends setting off on an adventure (tied to the traditions of the land they're in) and enjoying themselves.

Girl doesn't try to drag you into her messed up family issues, you end up getting involved because she's your friend.

Her brother is an edge-lord who tries too hard, but his motivations are also driven by the same sort of desire to stop his mother from screwing everything up.

Team Skull is absolutely hilarious. Rather than domination or destruction or some other overblown goal, their motivations are much more down to earth. They're a pack of failures and thugs in it only for themselves. They're also idiots, meant to be an obstacle, but overall not meant to be seen as much of a threat. Personal opinion of course, but I love that sort of villain. Guzma himself is more threatening and portrayed as... Well not smart, but smarter than his underlings and able to keep them in line through strength and boldness alone. Recall that in the flashback near the end when he tells you how he tried to catch one of the Ultra Beasts, he didn't use a pokeball - he tried to tackle it. The man has some stones, if nothing else.

Spoiler: Off topic aside about bumbling idiot villains

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Though the show was terrible, if the old Sonic the Hedgehog cartoon did one thing right, it was how they handled Robotnik. One of the character sheets had a perfect note on it to sum up this sort of antagonist:

"Remember: Robotnik is not a straight villain. He is an object of ridicule. When drawing him, keep that fat adult you hated when you were a child in mind. Or your least favorite politician."

Overall, Sun/Moon isn't an epic quest to save the world, it's a comfy island adventure where you end up getting dragged into something bigger. If you as a player don't like your traveling companions, then I can see why you wouldn't care about their family issues since that's such a large part of the greater plot, but I enjoyed it.

The fact that I didn't go in expecting much and was pleasantly surprised was also probably a big part of me enjoying the story as much as I did.

[Hiro Protagonest]

I know that's being harsh

I would certainly hope so. Because aside from the occasional somewhat valid point, you just said a lot of "these characters aren't perfect people, why aren't they perfect people"

*ahem*

Spoiler

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Lillie is a problem of gameplay-story segregation. When not being a trainer means you can't visit something a mile away, what's the point? Sure, she talks about "the freedom" but there can be plenty of areas too dangerous for a non-trainer that don't involve making it impossible to go to another town. How the hell is she supposed to know Nebby is a legendary pokemon. Nebby is small and weak.

Gladion is a moody middle-schooler. Of course he is. He also busted into Type:Null's prison and changed its fate. Again, I see gameplay-story segregation; he has to eat, he has to sleep, and he doesn't get lots of money from just wandering into the eyesight of NPC trainers and decimating them. But the Team Skull thing does seem kinda forced. Maybe the admin girl (Plumeria or whatever her name was) took a liking to him.

Lusamine is a strange case. The lore is there, but incomplete. I'm withholding judgement until they announce a 3rd version or something else. But may I just say I like that there's finally a villain whose grand plan isn't controlling a region, or worse, the world, but just the uncaring actions of a crazed fool? Yes, it's kind of anti-climactic. She does all these things, just to... port herself to another dimension, on purpose, and never come back. She causes collateral damage in the region, and the motivation to bring her back is also a personal motivation. The only problem is it's not your character's personal motivation.

Hau is, well mostly pointless as a narrative tool. In Hoenn, Brendan/May provided you with helpful things, but the character who does most of that in Sun/Moon is Kukui, so Hau's just kinda left as being... the friendly rival. But he did some stuff in the second half of the game, I was alright with him by the end. I think I remember him giving something helpful later on, like a Max Revive or something?

The main problem with the story is... the player-character. With the only dialogue of their own being some false choices, a connection to Lillie isn't apparent, and the narrative relies on the player wanting to go along with her in the second half of the game.

I mean, personally I want a Pokemon game that doesn't have a villainous organization, it's just the League, exploration, and some sidequests.