I grew up with and enjoyed Gen II a whole lot, mostly because of the two areas and Psychics not being 100% the best. Even after playing later games, I still thought that Gen II was my favorite. However, now I’ve begrudgingly put it in second after playing Sun and Moon. Gen VII did away with a lot of the outdated or just plain annoying mechanics that had just kept being brought forward. I also really enjoyed what they did with some of the fights with the Totem Pokemon, especially the Grass trial. Plus the writing and translation were amazing and hilarious, especially with Team Skull.
As for my favorite pokemon, it would have to be Smeargle.
I’m not 100% sure why. I guess I just like Blue Mages, and getting access to every single move in the game is pretty amazing (except for Chatter, which is a damn shame). The only thing that makes me sad is that its stats are garbage for doing anything other than support type moves. I also like its design, and it totally looks like it would be a hipster, even though that has nothing to do with why I like it.
From my Moon run, I do also really enjoy Incineroar, and I even named mine “RKO”. I also managed to pick up and use a shiny Slowpoke, which gave me more of an appreciation for it in general.
I feel guilty because I caught a female Drillbur in Black (I named her Digger after the character from Ursula Vernon’s webcomic of the same name) and I thought she was hella cool and used her a lot.
…but it turns out Excadrills are really OP, to the point where I think Smogon banned them? But they are so cute and cool, it’s not my fault Game Freak made them unfairly awesome. I would have used her the whole game if she sucked.
See that’s where I lose the thread, when people say they feel bad for using something because it turns out to be good. True love for a cool or cute Pokemon is unconditional, guiltless, etc.
(btw Excadrill was only OP in conjunction with neverending Sandstorm from the ability Sand Stream, which allowed it to have double speed all the time, so don’t feel bad about using it)
Z-Splash Mimikyu isn’t as good as it first seems on paper. You’re better off giving a Normalium-Z to Porygon-Z. Porygon-Z had access to Z-Conversion, which boosts all stats by 1 stage and also changes it’s typing the type of the first move in its moveset. This let’s Porygon-Z function well as Ghost-type with Shadow Ball or an Electric-type with Thunderbolt. Porygon-Z is particularly good at using the strategy over other candidates thanks to it’s amazing ability which increases its STAB modifier from x1.5 to x2.
Anyway, my long time favourite pokemon is Breloom. I’ve never used one in an actual playthrough before. I was hoping to change that with Moon version, but sadly Breloom was absent from Alola. I instead used Shiinotic as a substitute, which turned out to be a really neat pokemon in its own right.
My favorite pokemon? Hard to narrow it down. I have a favorite TYPE, for sure, and that’s Bug pokemons! Followed by Poison, then Dark. My dream is to be a pokemon Villain Team leader.
I do have a bit of a problem, though, in that I can’t seem to get into Sun and Moon? I’m not sure why. It’s great, and I love pokemon, I just keep putting it down. Any thoughts on what to do to keep invested in it?
Completionism for completionism’s sake is what always drags me down when I play a game. I find that giving up whatever non-necessary tasks I have in a game that’s starting to drag, such as getting all the blue mage spells in FFV, can help me.
Other than that, I often listen to podcasts or watch something on Netflix when I play JRPGs. It’s gotten to the point that I find it weird to play a JRPG without the dulcet tones of a man from New Zealand in my ear.
Anyone else do Nuzlockes or challenge runs? I actually get pretty bored of completion games now, I tend to start with a nuzlocke outright, or limit myself to a theme, or do an Egglocke (friend trades me 6 eggs of their choice, and that’s my team for the game).
I did a bunch of Monotype runs in XY until I realized I was extremely sick of gen 6. I might have something nuzlockey planned later, if I decide that I actually hate myself and commit to never actually wanting to have fun again.
e: Monotype is really fun though. Monocolor too. Monotype might need a little research ahead of time though, especially if you try to do something like Ice, which is almost exclusively relegated to mid-late game in all games.
I’d do more gimmick runs if this series would just IMPLEMENT A SECOND SAVE SLOT ALREADY JFC IT IS THE YEAR 2017
My favorite type is Flying, and after that I tend to favor Psychics. My favorite individual mon is Xatu, with Wingull, Rotom, Sableye and Zoroark all fighting for second. I’ve also got a soft spot in my heart for my boy Golem, who earthquaked 99% of the fights in original Red to death for me back in ~the day~.
If all youse weren’t paying attention to Rotomdex, you missed out, he’s got good lines. “Get those human clodhoppers moving!”, and when he’s thinking about Hau’s horse… I love Rotomdex.
I’ve done loads of gimmick runs since 3rd gen or so. Started with monotype and color teams, then did Nuzlockes and Wonderlockes with varying rules. I also played with Pokemon randomizers a bunch. There’s even an online one for Pokemon Red that can add in Pokemon from Gen 2-6.
The worst Nuzlocke I ever completed was my first one. Pokemon Platinum with the usual rules, and no healing items. Lots of running back and forth to the Pokemon Center. I had to grind my team to 60 for the Elite Four, and only 3 of my 6 survived that gauntlet. I haven’t used that rule since.
I basically dropped my Platinum Nuzlocke when that Skuntank (YOU KNOW THE ONE) wiped my team barring my Monferno and Kadabra (because sure as shit I wasn’t gonna put a Kadabra in against it). I was demoralized and fucked off from it forever.
Oof. That sucks. Looking back on it, I think I used Mister the Golbat to handle that Skuntank by using Pluck. Though now I wonder if it went against the “no healing items” rule, because I got a lot of Sitrus Berry heals that way.
So, there is an online tournament starting this Friday (you can still sign up now if you want to). Sorry about not mentioning it earlier, I got distracted! The rules are pretty basic: double battles, no mega stones, you can only use Pokemon caught or bred in Sun and Moon that are in the Alolan Dex. No Kanto forms of alternate form Pokemon. If you complete three matches, regardless of win or lose, you will get a Beedrillite and a Mawilite. (people who didn’t compete will still get the mega stones, just later, apparently).
I’m breeding a pretty rudimentary team right now and will report back on how I did (probably poorly)
This would be an online competition as hosted by the Pokemon company. You have to set up a Pokemon Global Link account (which is easy) and can find the info at pokemon-gl.com
The Pokemon Company host a number of these around the year and they occasionally have some sort of reward for participating. I have a special Pikachu lying around somewhere for doing one of them.
Looking back on it, I think I used Mister the Golbat to handle that Skuntank by using Pluck. Though now I wonder if it went against the “no healing items” rule, because I got a lot of Sitrus Berry heals that way.