Pokémon Games Discussion Thread (Gotta Discuss 'Em All!)

[EngieDiesel]

That’s absolutely dank and whoever designed that is a huge and respected troll.

And if you really want to drive yourself mad, consider this... Sword/Shield introduced "square shinies", which are so rare that you only have a 1 in 65,536 chance of finding one. Combine that with the 1 in 10 chance of finding a non-counterfeit Sinistea and you've got probably the most difficult to find Pokemon ever to exist. A square shiny authentic Sinistea has a 1 in 655,360 chance of turning up!

 

[GTV0819]

One is very lucky if he is able to encounter such shiny Pokemon in Shield or Sword.

By the way, my brother told me that there is a new item for this generation that allows players to alter the natures of their Pokemon, also modifying their stats as well. Is this true?

Would have been good if they had already existed before, since it's often such a hassle to find the right nature for many Pokemon under normal circumstances.

 

[Aphelion]

And if you really want to drive yourself mad, consider this... Sword/Shield introduced "square shinies", which are so rare that you only have a 1 in 65,536 chance of finding one. Combine that with the 1 in 10 chance of finding a non-counterfeit Sinistea and you've got probably the most difficult to find Pokemon ever to exist. A square shiny authentic Sinistea has a 1 in 655,360 chance of turning up!

Apparently when you use shiny-hunting methods rather than just blind luck the odds of square agonies completely reverse, being 15 in 16 rather than 1 in 16.

 

[EngieDiesel]

Apparently when you use shiny-hunting methods rather than just blind luck the odds of square agonies completely reverse, being 15 in 16 rather than 1 in 16.

Yeah, I guess a bit flips in a way it wasn't intended to and greatly increases the likelihood a shiny will have the square effect. But at the same time Sinistea has a low encounter rate and only appears in one place, where all the Pokemon stay hidden in the long grass, so in that case chain catching is going to be a madman's endeavor. Plus, you'll most likely get a "fake" one.

I would like to know who's crazy enough to attempt it, but it sure ain't me.

 

[MIE1992]

I had more thoughts, lately:

-Hyper Cutter and Big Pecks seem like inferior versions of Clear Body. Why not have those two abilities also prevent self-inflicted drops to those respective stats? So if a species with either of those two abilities were to use Superpower, only one of the two stats would drop depending on the ability. Whereas Clear Body prevents all stat drops, but doesn’t prevent self-inflicted stat drops.

-How exactly does Mirror Armor work? I don’t think it’s just Magic Bounce but for stat-dropping moves; like if you used something like Icy Wind, Fire Lash or Trop Kick, the Corviknight would take damage, but the stat debuff would be inflicted on the user, right? Or if you used a move that has a chance to drop a stat, it’d translate into a move that has a chance of debuffing the user’s respective stat, right? Like with Crunch, Energy Ball, or Bug Buzz.

-I’ve already been getting ideas as to what species I wanna use the more rare balls on. I’m especially thinking of using them on Galar species. So for the Heavy Ball, I’m thinking of Copperajah or Stonjourner. And for the Fast Ball, I was thinking of Barraskewda, Boltund, or Drakloak. Not as sure about some of the others, but I think I’ll simply use any Moon Balls on the respective species, like Jigglypuff or Skitty - at least whatever’s in the Galar dex.

Sinnoh remake? Let me see.... Where's the bottom screen on my Switch? I can't seem to see it.

I’m sure they’ll figure something out. The Hoenn games didn’t have a bottom screen on the GBA, and yet they were able to add one when they were remade on the 3DS. I wouldn’t assume it’s improbable by any measure just because there aren’t two screens.

By the way, my brother told me that there is a new item for this generation that allows players to alter the natures of their Pokemon, also modifying their stats as well. Is this true?

Would have been good if they had already existed before, since it's often such a hassle to find the right nature for many Pokemon under normal circumstances.

Yes. You can do so through the new mint items. It doesn’t actually change the nature, (meaning you can’t use an Adamant Mint and expect the affected specimen to pass down an Adamant nature via breeding) but does change the stats to replicate that nature. In that regard, it’s much like Hyper Training, which affects IVs in a similar way. These new mints can be especially good for those who don’t wanna SR for certain natures on various gift specimens or legendaries - your starter included - or if you have a specific form of Toxtricity, which has its form determined by Toxel’s nature.

 

[TetsuKobura]

Caved and got a Switch with Sword.

 

[Zona]

Caved and got a Switch with Sword.

Same here, although I went with the Zacian and Zamazenta Edition Switch Lite with Sword. First Nintendo Console and Pokemon game since Gameboy Color days.

 

[EngieDiesel]

"Alcremie evolves from Milcery while holding a sweet item when the Trainer strikes a Victory Pose after spinning. The color of the resulting Alcremie varies depending on time of day, the length of the spin and whether the Trainer was spinning clockwise or counterclockwise. Alcremie has a total of 63 different forms and seven different Shiny versions."

The more I'm learning about this generation of Pokemon, the more it's starting to scare me.

 

[Tired Tyres]

@MIE1992 I only use Quick balls from the moment I get access to them. I like the colour combo a lot.

 

[MIE1992]

@MIE1992 I only use Quick balls from the moment I get access to them. I like the colour combo a lot.

Yeah, they do seem handy. But I suppose I was thinking of the Apricorn balls since you get a comparatively limited amount of them, much like in Gen VII, whereas you can buy as many of the other balls as you want. Including the Quick Balls. And I think when breeding two of the same species, you can breed down the ball, too.

 

[GTV0819]

Yes. You can do so through the new mint items. It doesn’t actually change the nature, (meaning you can’t use an Adamant Mint and expect the affected specimen to pass down an Adamant nature via breeding) but does change the stats to replicate that nature. In that regard, it’s much like Hyper Training, which affects IVs in a similar way. These new mints can be especially good for those who don’t wanna SR for certain natures on various gift specimens or legendaries - your starter included - or if you have a specific form of Toxtricity, which has its form determined by Toxel’s nature.

Intriguing. Would like to see a demonstration on how it actually works in the game.

 

[Tired Tyres]

I was hoping to find the fairy eevo today since the game has set the weather to provide each eevo in sequence so far. I was thinking fairy today and then looping back to fire, which was the first one I encountered, it Flare Blitzed itself to death while I was trying to catch it. I've saved before the fight since then. The weather was hail though so no fairy eevo yet. Picked up a 5 star raid clefable though.

 

[EngieDiesel]

A couple things I've noticed after kicking Leon to the curb: There's a few items that only seem to appear on routes in post-game, so it's worth exploring the early areas again. Also, if your Pokemon has earned a ribbon you can equip it from their stats screen and they'll have a special title when you use them in battle. It's really quite satisfying to actually have my championship team acknowledged as such!

I was hoping to find the fairy eevo today since the game has set the weather to provide each eevo in sequence so far. I was thinking fairy today and then looping back to fire, which was the first one I encountered, it Flare Blitzed itself to death while I was trying to catch it. I've saved before the fight since then. The weather was hail though so no fairy eevo yet. Picked up a 5 star raid clefable though.

If you want to make catching Pokemon really easy, your best bet is to have a Gallade that knows Sunny Day, Hypnosis and False Swipe. Then you can cancel out any damaging weather, put them to sleep and knock 'em down to exactly 1 hp for pretty much a guaranteed catch. Combine that with some of the specialty Pokeballs and you'll have pretty much nothing to worry about.

 

[Tired Tyres]

A couple things I've noticed after kicking Leon to the curb: There's a few items that only seem to appear on routes in post-game, so it's worth exploring the early areas again. Also, if your Pokemon has earned a ribbon you can equip it from their stats screen and they'll have a special title when you use them in battle. It's really quite satisfying to actually have my championship team acknowledged as such!



If you want to make catching Pokemon really easy, your best bet is to have a Gallade that knows Sunny Day, Hypnosis and False Swipe. Then you can cancel out any damaging weather, put them to sleep and knock 'em down to exactly 1 hp for pretty much a guaranteed catch. Combine that with some of the specialty Pokeballs and you'll have pretty much nothing to worry about.

No less than three of my team, charizard, the grass starter and that water/rock thing all know false swipe. I tend to only use Quick balls though, so they are backup. It was sunny day this morning so I picked up my flareon.

 

[EngieDiesel]

No less than three of my team, charizard, the grass starter and that water/rock thing all know false swipe. I tend to only use Quick balls though, so they are backup. It was sunny day this morning so I picked up my flareon.

Well, it is worth noting that if a Pokemon has a status effect on it then its catch chance goes up quite a bit, and a sleeping Pokemon can't suicide with a recoil move. So if something is being really stubborn (I'm looking at you, Duraludon) having that option is worth it.

 

[GTV0819]

I think this wasn't asked before so I'll proceed. Can you also customize the looks of your trainer like how it used to in the Gen 7 games?

 

[EngieDiesel]

I think this wasn't asked before so I'll proceed. Can you also customize the looks of your trainer like how it used to in the Gen 7 games?

Yep. You can change your character's hairstyle, hair and eye color and clothing at most larger towns. Though you are required to wear a default uniform during gym battles, to keep with the theme of it being a sanctioned competition.

 

[GTV0819]

Yep. You can change your character's hairstyle, hair and eye color and clothing at most larger towns. Though you are required to wear a default uniform during gym battles, to keep with the theme of it being a sanctioned competition.

Alright. 👍

 

[EngieDiesel]

I started ten surprise trades this morning. Eight of them I got back level 1 Eevees. It seems the destruction of the Galarian ecosystem by overpopulation has already started.

Also, I'm convinced no one actually picked Sobble as their starter, or if they did they're not trying to breed them for shinies. Got plenty of Grookeys though.

 

[MIE1992]

I’m quite interested in seeing how the VGC competitive environment will develop with Dynamaxing being a factor, and Gigantamaxing, too. I’m especially curious to see what G-Max moves will be the most popular. I don’t think G-Max Stonesurge nor Steelsurge will be too popular, as they setup entry hazards, which I don’t think are nearly as popular in doubles compared to singles. I do think G-Max Finale will be used, given that its main draw is healing Alcremie’s ally.

EDIT: Seems like G-Max Finale also heals the user, so I could see that being useful. But at any rate, I think it's rather interesting that the official VGC 2020 rules are saying the eligible Gigantamax species will start off with some being eligible, and then expanding. This could make the meta a bit variable as the season goes on. I'm interested in seeing how it'll evolve, and how it'll be in this initial segment, with the relatively short list of eligible Gigantamax species. Naturally, I don't see Gigantamax Meowth, Pikachu, or Eevee being used much, but I could see Gigantamax Snorlax being among the most popular Gigantamax forms among the currently-eligible, and maybe Gigantamax Corviknight if we see a lot of Light Screen/Reflect/Aurora Veil use. (Though I think using Max Airstream will be very popular, as it boosts speed.)

 

[GTV0819]

So it's only now that I've learned that this Gen doesn't actually have an Elite Four, which is the first time since the First Generation.

 

[EngieDiesel]

So it's only now that I've learned that this Gen doesn't actually have an Elite Four, which is the first time since the First Generation.

Yeah, but since it's keeping with the theme of Pokemon battles being like a sanctioned team sport, you couldn't really do the old format of "okay, now here's four guys who are above the gym leaders" and have it make sense. The way they have the league battles set up isn't really bad, especially if you're building a good all-around team to begin with.

Speaking of, it's worth noting that after you beat Leon, you can go back to the Wyndon stadium and do participate in an exhibition tournament with semi-random level 60-ish opponents. It's a nice alternative to getting meta-cheesed at the Battle Tower nonstop.

 

[GTV0819]

Yeah, but since it's keeping with the theme of Pokemon battles being like a sanctioned team sport, you couldn't really do the old format of "okay, now here's four guys who are above the gym leaders" and have it make sense. The way they have the league battles set up isn't really bad, especially if you're building a good all-around team to begin with.

Speaking of, it's worth noting that after you beat Leon, you can go back to the Wyndon stadium and do participate in an exhibition tournament with semi-random level 60-ish opponents. It's a nice alternative to getting meta-cheesed at the Battle Tower nonstop.

Yep, that's worth mentioning since it makes the game radical compared to its predecessors. Others will have to miss the traditional setup though.

 

[Tired Tyres]

Yep, that's worth mentioning since it makes the game radical compared to its predecessors. Others will have to miss the traditional setup though.

Did you play the last gen on 3DS? This is total fan service Canon in comparison.

 

[GTV0819]

Did you play the last gen on 3DS? This is total fan service Canon in comparison.

Well, I did but only for a while when I borrowed my sister's Sun before. However, the story was finished already so I just used her save file for some battles there but aside from that, not much. So, sorry if it sounds like I don't know what I'm talking about... err..

 

[FoRiZon]

Heya. Happy new decade!

Did you know that Pokémon Black & White released in Christmas 2010 in Japan and some months later in other regions?

Used to be receiving quite large critisism by fans back then for numerous reasons. But now the same fans begs to go back to that era and now the spinoffs like Pokémon GO and Masters is now essentially pandering as all hell to those people.

Spoiler

And don't get me started on which mons is present in Sword & Shield as Pokémon Bank exclusive .

 

[Tired Tyres]

Smug leaf! Has it really been TEN whole years?

 

[FoRiZon]

Smug leaf! Has it really been TEN whole years?

Yes. Feels old yet? 4 Generations of Pokémon in a decade.

Pokémon Black & White is like the GTSport or FM5 of Mons Games. How the game received back then to now is the perfect example of Vindicated by History.

 

[EngieDiesel]

And of course, like any long-lived series with multiple installments, Pokemon is often subject to the Star Trek Rule: The first one you watched/played is the only good one.

 

[GTV0819]

Pokémon Black & White is like the GTSport or FM5 of Mons Games.