POKÉMON CENTER

[manic kindle]

funny enough very specifically Giratina might be the only notable ubers pokemon that loves Pressure as its ability

since none of the entry hazard moves have a lot of pp

[round perch]

Hm.

[red rampart]

Why on earth does kingler have so much attack

[snow cobalt]

claw

[manic kindle]

you should see krabby!

105 base attack is so funny on Krabby

[snow cobalt]

almost 1/3 attack.....

[manic kindle]

all claw all attack

[pliant violet]

beeg claw

the funniest ones for this are shuckle and rampardos

imo

[languid lichen]

i wouldn't classify the treasures of ruin as an intimidate, since the hallmark of that ability is being able to spam it with pivots (and dodge it with pivots) and they're just field effects

but also shoutouts to rampardos with...165? atk

[pliant violet]

oh I thought they worked on pivot

[languid lichen]

nah

they're auras

[pliant violet]

good to know

[languid lichen]

25% reduction while in field iirc?

might be slightly more

[pliant violet]

the best intimidate pokemon is incineroar

[manic kindle]

ledian...

[pliant violet]

has to be ledian

[languid lichen]

yeah

poor fucker

ledyba and ledian are so utterly beyond shafted

[pliant violet]

they feel like they should have a third stage

they're a regional bug, those normally have 3 stages

[languid lichen]

i forget, is ledyba or spinarak the early route gen 2 bug?

[snow cobalt]

both

[languid lichen]

i thought it was spinarak

[snow cobalt]

i think

[languid lichen]

huh

[mellow robin]

gen specific I think

er

game specific

gold vs. silver

[languid lichen]

ahh

ic

well, they both deserve stage 3s in any case

ariados got a blistering 10 spdef buff in sumo

it was tied at 390 with ledian beforehand

[pliant violet]

Simply unmatched

[languid lichen]

give them both evos...

[vague tide]

i'm still incredibly happy that lokix was actually Something

not the greatest, but like, Something

[red rampart]

Lokix was useful? 👀

[sudden spade]

Quickly Ledian, introduce Body Press but for Special Def and make it a punching move.

[vague tide]

tinted lens is one hell of a drug

like, I need to specify when I say Something that I mean "actually shockingly good in UU for a pokemon with 450 BST that's an early bug type"

[red rampart]

UU is not half bad for an early bug type

[vague tide]

considering the kinds of things currently in UU that got punted there from OU, it's rather impressive

[languid lichen]

also has first impression to boot, and knock off + sucker punch + u-turn for generically good stab that it can spam contextlessly with said tinted

v nice package

in spite of being bug/dark with like 2 and a half bst

oh it has 452 bst

50 higher than the gen 2 bugs lmao

[torpid pivot]

Poor bug types, rough place on the food chain for leveling experience, and type disadvantage

[manic kindle]

Lokix also looks sick as hell

[sudden spade]

I know there's a reason for 'early bugs' but it does annoy me that it means that bug is one of the less common late typings. I like bug.

But well,my favorite types are Bug and Ice. ;-;

[torpid pivot]

Yeaaah, I love the buggies

Volcarona was a gift at least

[sudden spade]

Being a fan of Bug and Ice gives me Opinions on Stealth Rock. XD

Though at least heavy duty boots exist to help now.

[vague tide]

Volcarona has been my favorite for ages now, and I'm rather fond of its paradoxes

[torpid pivot]

I'm alright with hazards but Stealth Rock is often cursed

[sudden spade]

I'm okay with Hazards but I think stealth rock sorta suffers from being the hazard.

It puts a very specific 'X types are disadvantaged by virtue of the Primary Hazard being a specific type'

If stealth rock was less common and there were a few 'Stealth rock but X element' instead it would be more interesting.

Like how many Stealth Rock Setters are actually rock pokemon? It's Fire/Steel Heatran or Ground/Flying Landorus-T for example.

Toxic Spikes at least tends to be mostly 'For Poison Pokemon'

[arctic dagger]

Also you can get rid of toxic spikes as easy as "switch in a poison pokemon"

If switching in a rock pokemon got rid of stealth rock

[sudden spade]

'Graveler smashed the rocks with its rocky hide'

[arctic dagger]

Or like, maybe they even get to heal a leftovers tick or something, "Graveler absorbed the rocks into its own body" or something

[sudden spade]

New Ghost Spikes giving life to flagging Normal type. XD

[near flower]

rider kick peak

[torpid pivot]

Any person-shaped Poke sure did have an Energy running at you in the overworld though

how do non-trainers exist it's so dangerous out here

[near flower]

i think its stated in one of the older games that wild pokemon only approach trainers, in order to test their strength

not sure how true that factoid is these days but it is something i remember reading

[pliant violet]

that's why everything is so isolated in cities

[azure crane]

But yeah, the thing about Lokix is that its stats are pretty much perfectly placed (high attack and speed), it gets STAB on both priority moves and two of the situationally best moves in the game (U-Turn and Knock Off), and its ability (Tinted Lens) fits perfectly with its playstyle.

It's found a niche in revenge killing speed-boosting and scarfed Pokemon and it fills that niche tightly.

[arctic dagger]

I really like the idea of a Ledian and Ariadnos evo

Adds to my regional dex

[manic kindle]

https://tenor.com/view/lokix-gif-17231414504252098462

he's just so cool

[trail bridge]

Lokix is really cool

[snow cobalt]

https://bsky.app/profile/o44cat.bsky.social/post/3lh6nn74wqk2s

おしし (@o44cat.bsky.social)

Reposts

416

Likes

1176

Bluesky · Feb 2, 2025, 8:52 AM

@glacial ore

[peak island]

https://art.ngfiles.com/images/6269000/6269854_1492386_mega-kot_untitled-6269854.44ad974dcdf0a1727257135c15ca49be.gif?f1733710697

[umbral hound]

Dangit I just remembered that time in the Pokémon Scarlet/Violet DLC where ||Penny calls the PC’s mom hot||.

[manic kindle]

Calls it like she sees it

[azure crane]

I think the Ultra Beasts and Paradoxes should get hidden abilities in the next gen.

[arctic dagger]

All of the paradoxes having the same ability is super boring, yeah

[peak island]

Wait what

[manic kindle]

The gang goes to your house and Penny calls your mom hot

[peak island]

ASDFGHJKL

[peak island]

I kinda appreciate the random calls you get from other trainers in HG/SS

[obtuse ravine]

yeah that's pretty cool! I like that they want to rematch you, really did a lot for my personal immersion

also your mom buying 100 random berries with the money you keep sending her

[azure crane]

https://bsky.app/profile/cherricott.bsky.social/post/3lhetl2m4oc2l

Cherricott (@cherricott.bsky.social)

Cute couple~

Bluesky · Feb 4, 2025, 7:54 PM

[snow cobalt]

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MEWTWO

[peak island]

https://tenor.com/view/mewtwo-pokemon-pokemon-mewtwo-space-bingus-bingus-gif-22374787

[azure crane]

https://bsky.app/profile/jambiird.bsky.social/post/3lhhxglcaac27

james (comms open!) (@jambiird.bsky.social)

this has been in my head for the past three days

Reposts

476

Likes

1084

Bluesky · Feb 6, 2025, 1:41 AM

[soft isle]

@obtuse ravine new Cyndaquil card revealed

[obtuse ravine]

a

just a lil guy

chilling

outside in the wide world

🥺

50 cm tall

🤏

[soft isle]

we are absolutely gonna build an Ethan deck, gotta rep the best region 😌

[obtuse ravine]

so fluffy.. 🥺

i should catch one in xy

the critter

[manic kindle]

the floofster

[azure crane]

[soft isle]

We're pretty sure that an Ethan's list is going to be viable, that's 280 damage on a single prizer which is nothing to sneeze at even if it is a stage 2

[pliant violet]

it's fine, rare candy

[soft isle]

It's got some good support and a secondary attacker

Rare candy is pretty much the best thing that could've happened for stage 2 decks

ReggiesWarOnEverything (He) ↩️

[Reply to:](#1160615504562638910 message) it's fine, rare candy

it's really nice that evolution actually comes up a lot in modern pokemon

They're also reprinting Energy Recycler, which would absolutely help the Magcargo attack

MillieCoyote ΘΔ (it/its) 🐺🌲 ↩️

[Reply to:](#1160615504562638910 message) It's got some good support and a secondary attacker 📎

Oh oh! A friend of ours managed to secure an Umbreon tin for us from the Prismatic Evolutions set. He's keeping the packs, but does not mind giving us the tin.

This is really nice since we have a 3D printed insert that is desgned to go in those tins and store some markers.

[manic kindle]

that ho-oh is really good

esp with the armarouge with fire off

[manic kindle]

round man...

[peak island]

I think this is the first time I've ever seen a happy Psyduck

[manic kindle]

i see them in my dreams all the time

[peak island]

Every other Psyduck I've seen just looks like they're suffering

[worldly plume]

I am here

[manic kindle]

watashi wa

[south laurel]

Pokemon takes place in a setting in which they were drilling a convenient tunnel to link two towns and then they realized it was bothering the local nature spirits and they just stopped

@glossy umbra I think you could make it work in a region like, I dunno, Orre

A place where the environment had genuinely suffered catastrophe at human hands

In like

The recent past

Or the present

[zinc flume]

Yeah, some regions take conservation very seriously

[south laurel]

But Galar is lush

[glossy umbra]

The reason I mentioned Shadows of Almia as an example of where you can make it work is because the plot of it is arguably in part one of oil.

[south laurel]

(I have not played Shadows of Almia)

But yeah like, this is a thing you could do with Pokemon, if you made the setting consistent with it

But "a fantastically beautiful landscape where everyone is very focused on conservation" doesn't quite work imo

(And Kalos and Galar are both kinda that)

[glossy umbra]

It's a good Pokémon game, though relevant for this is that they do tell a version of a story that's in part about energy which actually works.

[south laurel]

Makes sense

I think making your region and your story mesh well is important for these games, either way

Gens 1-4 all do this, arguably Gen 5 does this despite the bones I have to pick with it, Gen 7 does this

I've not played 9

[manic kindle]

Scarlet Violet have a vast region ripe for exploration, with a 3-fold plotline about exploring

[glossy umbra]

Spoiler for the game ||the antagonists are an oil company, with the ultimate goal of enslaving the Pokémon of the entire region to use them as an alternative fuel source as oil is no longer as profitable IIRC.||

[manic kindle]

||oil... 2!||

[glossy umbra]

||Macquarie island style beats||

[zinc flume]

Team Star is nice

[glossy umbra]

But yeah the reason I mentioned it is because it's an example of this style of story already having been done successfully. It's not revolutionary by any means, though the game definitely does slap, but it works.

[manic kindle]

You have to treck out on your own path(s) to get to the gyms in various locales, help your new friend Arven with his journey to deal with some special local pokemon legends/myths, and help with a school bullying/attendence issue

[zinc flume]

Don't forget revealing the cover up that happened on that last one.

[glossy umbra]

On the flipside I really liked the guardian signs ranger game, but get why there's prolly never going to be a sequel since the titles were niche and mechanically tied to the DS.

[manic kindle]

we just need another weird console

the switch 2 possibly having a mouse brings me hope for another Ranger

[glossy umbra]

We giving people carpal tunnel with this one

[soft isle]

I finally hit the only rank in TCG live that matters. 😌

[cold rain]

so basically what you're saying is X/Y should've been about the region from Pokemon Colosseum where there actually is some of that

[south laurel]

Yeah, I mentioned Orre

Kalos is beautiful

There's a small desert area but you spend most of your time walking along the river and journeying through crystal caves and that kind of stuff

Kalos is beautiful and Galar has vast stretches of untouched wilderness via the Wild Zone

[cold rain]

also actually preserved historical sites

[pliant violet]

what was the start of this convo?

[cold rain]

definitely a far cry from a place like Orre where much of the travel is through stripped-bare badlands, exhausted mines, and underground slums

[pliant violet]

I think gen 8 sorta does this, though if the wild area was more like the one in the ScVi second dlc it'd work even better

[south laurel]

Discussion of villains in Pokemon games

Which kind of led to "the plots have to make sense for the regions"

[cold rain]

which reminds me, to this day I have zero clue what Team Galactic was trying to achieve

and that's despite having actually played through Diamond

[south laurel]

So, Platinum is much clearer about this

[pliant violet]

you could make a villain obsessed with conservation in a pristine region if time travel

[south laurel]

(And a much better game in general)

[pliant violet]

Cyrus wanted to destroy everything

[south laurel]

Cyrus wants to destroy the universe

[cold rain]

ew time travel plot

[pliant violet]

worked for legends arceus

[manic kindle]

Cyrus believes that the reason we have problems in the world is human spirit/emotion, and wishes to use the space/time legendaries to Start Over

[south laurel]

He's in many ways the protagonist's foil

[cold rain]

he says, while being in the goddamn Sinnoh region

[south laurel]

Well, part of why it's fitting is because Sinnoh is sort of ... ancient and stately?

[pliant violet]

it has a rich and direct history

and he hates it

he thinks it has done no good

[south laurel]

This is the land of the gods

[pliant violet]

cyrus is one of those villains that believes he's a good guy

like... everyone but giovanni?

[cold rain]

Giovanni was in fact just trying to keep his racket going

[pliant violet]

and ghetsis

[south laurel]

Which is notably related to how Mesprit is the protagonist's personal patron

[pliant violet]

ghetsis is a sack of shit

[cold rain]

also team snagem whose plan is to run an even bigger racket of producing and selling shadow pokemon

i think Cyrus would also work better in Orre

[manic kindle]

Cyrus is my favorite for a lot of reasons

[pliant violet]

lusamine thinks she's the good guy, guzma is the good guy, rose also thinks he's the good guy, and I'd argue team star are the good guys

Clive is at fault there

[cold rain]

I thought Lusamine just wanted her husband back

[pliant violet]

no

[manic kindle]

team aqua/magma have good goals much like their possible irl counterparts

[pliant violet]

do not let the anime whitewash her image

lusamine is a monster

[cold rain]

I never said she wasn't

[manic kindle]

Lusamine becomes obsessive over the Ultra Beasts and ruins her family in her pursuit of them

[cold rain]

I'm actually a big fan of characters who turn monstrous over otherwise-innocuous things

[pliant violet]

She doesn't just want her husband back, in fact it never really appears she even tries to get him back

[cold rain]

oh so she's in it for the zoology

I can dig it

[pliant violet]

she's in it for aesthetics

it's about her perception of what is cute

[manic kindle]

you could even compare it to cthulu-lite style stuff, she generally becomes unnerving over her need for them

[pliant violet]

and if it is not, it's not worth existing

it's actually comparable to uhhh Lysandre imo

with his beauty focussed fascism

[cold rain]

honestly that just makes the fact that she's the only one who buys into her plan on principle even better

cause the Aether employees are in it for the paycheck and Guzma/Team Skull just got fuckin lied to

[manic kindle]

yeah she cleverly used the hooligans as stooges

[manic kindle]

now on this note, youre not wrong here in the sense that theres some post-game convo that the ultra beast research started because her husband vanished

but it very quickly took a backseat to Fucking Awesome Monsters

[zinc flume]

Which is fair

Also you find her husband

[cold rain]

kaiju are rad, correct

[manic kindle]

ultra beasts just seem to do something to peoples minds

[pliant violet]

not all minds

the ultra recon folks seem fine

[zinc flume]

As does resident head empty protagonist

Or had too full

*head

[pliant violet]

but you can see it with looker's coworker

whose name I forgot

annabel?

[zinc flume]

Ye

[pliant violet]

Anabel

good job me

[spare wing]

Cyrus was neat but I'm bias to Gen 4

I do wish we got rival teams like Gen 3 again

Like classically, they'd be box legendaries for the two teams, but they don't have to be

Imagine a region with control split between the two of them

[pliant violet]

legends arceus, sorta

[south laurel]

Which is deeply tied up with her incredibly toxic behavior towards her children

[spare wing]

Ah not played Arceus

[south laurel]

Nihilego is absolutely meant to be Replacement Lillie

[pliant violet]

Lillie was meant to be a replacement Nihilego for a bit

[spare wing]

Classic plot, two sides both with their own causes but the fighting between the two of them is causing damage to the people and ultimately their own end goals

[south laurel]

And the way she, Abusive Mom Numero Uno, takes advantage of Guzma, who is ultimately an abused kid, is absolutely gross

[spare wing]

As you go area to area you flip between zones controlled by each side

[pliant violet]

no no, guzma's dad never did anything violent with a golf club

[spare wing]

Until the area with the elite 4 / legendary is basically a war zone

[pliant violet]

no, he was just born bad /s

[south laurel]

Anime Lusamine is actually just an entirely different character

[pliant violet]

I love Guzma

[deft path]

lusamine is weird

[pliant violet]

weird is not how I'd describe her

[south laurel]

Because game Lusamine is maybe the most blatantly repugnant human in the franchise, somehow edging out Cyrus "I want to kill everyone" Galactic

[deft path]

also her nihilego form is amazing

[deft path]

nah, she's definitely weird

[zinc flume]

https://tenor.com/view/human-form-guzma-pokémon-destruction-gif-12177060

[pliant violet]

maybe but I'd call her other things

[deft path]

weird and other things are not exclusive

[pliant violet]

up until like a day ago he was my pfp

[deft path]

it's just whenever i think of her i think of the ultra dimension variants of her firsxt

[south laurel]

She's the parent who thinks the only reason for her children to exist is an extension of her own desires

But yes I actually really liked the Ultra Lusamine boss fight

[zinc flume]

Guzma gave me back respect for mono bug teams

[south laurel]

I have a friend who felt it was cheating but

I really enjoyed it

And it provided solid emotional catharsis

[deft path]

how was it cheating

[south laurel]

Cheating because it wasn't a Pokemon battle

[pliant violet]

villains should be allowed to cheat

like Sada/Turo

if what they do isn't cheating idk what is

[zinc flume]

How did you get that Hydreigon, Ghestis?!

[south laurel]

But what it was, was Nebby kicking the shit out of Lillie's abusive mom

Which to me was far more cathartic

[zinc flume]

And of course, best cheater ||Volo||

[south laurel]

(And also just served as a more direct refutation of Lusamine's worldview insofar as of course Lusamine doesn't have any pokemon, she's an awful woman who destroys everything she loves)

[zinc flume]

When the piano started, I immediately had my "Oh no"

[cold rain]

all I know is that the rival from Scarlet/Violet is a fantastic return to form for the competitive battle rival

[pliant violet]

nemona?

she's different

[cold rain]

yes her thanks

[pliant violet]

she's a competitive rival but she's not an asshole

and people want asshole rivals, which I don't get

[deft path]

Nemona Is hilarious for the simple reason that she is an objectively stronger trainer but chooses to start a new playthrough

She's a very obvious meta commentary on the player

[pliant violet]

she's doing a challenge run

[cold rain]

Nemona is great simply because she's there entirely to prove that she's the best there is

[pliant violet]

ScVi did a much better version of the XY group of trainers thing

[pliant violet]

also for the love of the game

[cold rain]

which is the real appeal of the classic competitive battler rivals

[cold rain]

god the X/Y trainer pack killed me

[zinc flume]

I love that La Primera intentionally throws her match in order to not have to deal with Nemona all the time

[deft path]

I think hop has a pretty cool arc but isn't a good rival in the sense that he will never pose a challenge

He's explicitly not meant to

[manic kindle]

Hop is miserable when he tries to be a Meta Trainer

its very cool to see

[deft path]

hop is not very good at Pokémon battling and his arc in the game is about him coming to terms with the fact that he loves catching and researching Pokémon but it turns out that battling, no matter how hard he wants it to be, just isn't his thing

[red rampart]

Who knew that all the XY group needed to be good was to be actual characters

[cold rain]

eh, I feel like the point of a rival in pokemon is to contest your claim at being the best

[deft path]

Well that's why I said he's a good character but not a great rival

[cold rain]

ah so Hop's there to rival you in the Living Pokedex Challenge

[pliant violet]

I don't like calling them rivals

because they're often not and not meant to be

[cold rain]

or am i wrong and they had him half-ass two things instead of whole-assing one thing?

[deft path]

They're only rivals when they choose to be

[manic kindle]

Hop is your pal

[pliant violet]

like I'm a Hop and Hau lover

[cold rain]

yeah that's why I call Nemona a rival but not anyone from the X/Y trainer pack

[manic kindle]

Bede and Marnie are your "battle" rivals

[zinc flume]

Hop declares you his rival, and it's never really close.

Bede is a classic rival.

[deft path]

hop is your friend and wants to be your rival

But he's just not

That's the whole point of his arc

[zinc flume]

A slightly different look, and Bede is just Blue.

[manic kindle]

Nemona helps you become her rival

[pliant violet]

Calem/Serena in XY are explicitly your rival, they have rival vibes

[cold rain]

I never felt it that much

not compared to Nemona or the OGs from RBY

[pliant violet]

that's because they tuned those games too low

[deft path]

the thing is that like I said, hop wants to be a rival, but isn't one

Tbh

[pliant violet]

no one in XY feels like competition

[deft path]

Red/blue are not actually a very hard fight outside of the HGSS fight

[manic kindle]

Nemona interests me because shes the classic athlete personality but has shit stamina and is bad at pokeball throwing; you can argue shes wearing a glove-brace for that purpose

[cold rain]

like it never feels like they're trying to contest your claim on the title of "The Best"

[deft path]

Which is very intentionally absurdly overturned and purely optional

[cold rain]

unlike Nemona who is very much there trying to prove that no, she's The Best

[pliant violet]

Calem/Serena definitely are, the other gender player character

who is out to prove something

[deft path]

I think all of the friends in scarvi are self contradicting

it's intentional

[manic kindle]

i hope to see more of it

[pliant violet]

Arven is a carer but he's the son of a scientist and has the manner of it

[cold rain]

but yeah it could also be a tuning thing because even with lead amaura in my casual attempts at a playthrough I could still mop the floor with em

[deft path]

penny is an antisocial team leader

[pliant violet]

XY is better if you play with the anime rule, major battles you only use the same number of pokemon the enemy does

[manic kindle]

oh we're talking explicit textual stuff enyo

not difficulty

[deft path]

Arven represents the present

he's obsessed with paldeas present pokemon

[manic kindle]

explicitly in text Calem/Serena are your rivals they declare it as such in the friend group

[pliant violet]

unlike his parents, who are not present

[zinc flume]

Ouch

[pliant violet]

Arven would've laughed at it

[cold rain]

maybe I just missed it then because they just never seemed to really show up to oppose you

[zinc flume]

I'm not sure.

That was a bad time for Arven.

[cold rain]

constant team-ups against Team Flare though

maybe that's why I never felt the rivalry

[zinc flume]

Also a common rival thing.

Blue and Silver were always down to beat the tar out of Team Rocket too.

[pliant violet]

I think in every gen you team up with the rival to fight the villain team?

[deft path]

I'm going to give a hot take that is also brainrot

old generation Vs. New generation rivals

Is the same as aura Vs. Writing

[manic kindle]

may, brainrot? never

[zinc flume]

I think not in Gen 3?

Also, your rival in BW isn't Charon or Bianca.

[pliant violet]

wally and brendan/may

[zinc flume]

It's N.

[deft path]

I'm not your rival reggie

[pliant violet]

you can have multiple rivals

[pliant violet]

I have no rivals, no opps, no haters

[manic kindle]

i will become may's rival

[deft path]

just play gen iii pokemon

You're not on my level....

[zinc flume]

Also, on the topic of Gen V

Good lord, Charon is a sore loser.

Man is this close to sounding like a Team Rocket member sometimes.

[pliant violet]

Throughout Heaven and Earth, I Alone Am The Honored One

[deft path]

If you want an asshole rival just play the gen ix dlc

[pliant violet]

I don't want that

[deft path]

Kieran is a total asshole and guess what? That doesn't make him a good friend or a good trainer

[pliant violet]

I hate asshole rivals

[deft path]

it's explicitly about that

[eager vine]

I LOVE KIERAN AND CARMINE

[manic kindle]

kieran aura farming

[foggy mango]

Carmine my beloved

[pliant violet]

Carmine isn't an asshole

[deft path]

Kieran is legitimately a total loser

[zinc flume]

Kieran is a poor little me-meow.

[deft path]

carmine is amazing

[foggy mango]

https://tenor.com/view/carmine-pokemon-pokemon-horizons-gif-2370108101457344890

[pliant violet]

part of a rival is I have to want to see them show up

[obtuse ravine]

i like silver a lot

[foggy mango]

Oh my word, I forgot she's in the anime now

[pliant violet]

so if they're an asshole, it detracts from that

[deft path]

nah I love seeing Kieran show up

[pliant violet]

may you just wanna beat his ass

[deft path]

the thing is that he's an asshole but he's also such a loser that you can't help but feel sorry for him

I mean, I do

[zinc flume]

Is Bede showing up a good or bad thing?

[pliant violet]

I don't like bede as a rival

[manic kindle]

something i've been drafting for my own pokemon stuff has been trying to find ways to make the rival athletic-competitive while not making them a jerk

[obtuse ravine]

i also do not like rivals that pick the type weak to your starter

[deft path]

but I also want to watch him realise that he's hust not a good person

[pliant violet]

but I like his story arc

[deft path]

Aura Vs. Writing

[zinc flume]

Because from moment one, my thought was "I'm gonna make you regret picking this fight you little prick"

[deft path]

It's factual

[zinc flume]

And in a very funny twist.

[obtuse ravine]

he made me heavily dislike him

[deft path]

Kieran is super cool in that he tries to catch the legendary

[zinc flume]

I was doing a bug monotype in my first Sword playthrough.

[obtuse ravine]

and i wanted to beat his ass

[pliant violet]

I think you gotta think about real life rivalries

[obtuse ravine]

good rival

[cold rain]

I think a rival needs to both show up and maybe even actually look like they're ahead

[pliant violet]

they're not with people you don't like

those aren't rivals, those are enemies

[deft path]

kieran actually is kind of weird

[obtuse ravine]

oh the misery

[deft path]

in that he's not your rival

He's (story wise) supposed to be a far worse trainer than you

[cold rain]

like how the OGs popped in at every gym going "sup m8, I just beat the gym leader and it was soooo easy, I'm gonna be champ by the time you walk outta here"

[manic kindle]

just gotta figure out how to write a rival who you dont want to beat up for being a jerk

[pliant violet]

this is why I actually consider you a good rival for hop

it's just not mutual there

[zinc flume]

I do love that because of my Mono-Bug run, Bede and Marnie were way easier fights for me than Hop.

[pliant violet]

you wanna make them sports competitive?

[deft path]

What makes Kieran a good character is that his arc is about realising that being an asshole makes you a poor trainer and a poor rival

[manic kindle]

Yeah, my rough draft for my "murdoc learns how to make a romhack" is taking ideas from sword/shields sports theming

[zinc flume]

I remember them challenging me, figuring out their types, and having a good chuckle.

[pliant violet]

isn't this silvers arc, slightly

[zinc flume]

Oh boy, is Silver's arc crazy.

[deft path]

it's nowhere near as well written as kierand

[pliant violet]

well sure they had decades more practise

[deft path]

And kierans has an insane amount of mechanical integration to it

[zinc flume]

And less text limitations.

[manic kindle]

dont be silly may, the internet told me pokemon games dont have story

[pliant violet]

make them more pathetic, someone who is coming back from an injury to basically start over

[deft path]

I think the best joke in scarvi is that when you fight Kieran at blueberry academy

[pliant violet]

makes them hard to hate, gives reason for them to be good, bit of an underdog story

[eager vine]

she's lowkey kinda autismcoded in ways that i identify with. she's not an asshole per se but.... there's something there

[deft path]

He LITERALLY uses incineroar with parting shot

[deft path]

Yeah I read blue lock too

[pliant violet]

chigiri is not a rival

[deft path]

murdoc if you wouldn't mind I would be happy to help write it if you ever want aid

I like.... Pokemon

[manic kindle]

i may take you up on that when i get back to it

[deft path]

controversial I know

[pliant violet]

I'm giving him all this gold

[deft path]

aura versus writing

[eager vine]

paurkemon

[deft path]

old gen Pokémon had far better writing and by old gen they mean gen v

[manic kindle]

i wanna do a sports gym run without an explicit evil team, but different major player sports "fan teams" impede progress, on top of sponsorship stuff

[deft path]

gen iii writing is like

"we gotta end the world_

"why?"

'youte off the team man'

[pliant violet]

the term is ultras

[manic kindle]

for fan teams?

[pliant violet]

the rabid ones that get in fights

yeah

[manic kindle]

yeye good to know

[pliant violet]

hooligans also applies

but I like ultras better

[deft path]

You have to make sure they have a rival team

almost all rabid sport fans have a specific other set of rabid sport fans they seek out for war

[manic kindle]

yeah, and i like the idea of sports fans trying to get in the way of your progress once they realize youre good at pokemons

[pliant violet]

so yeah, team yell

[manic kindle]

yeah basically my inspiration

[pliant violet]

god I did not like team yell

[manic kindle]

but i wanna make them the whole game and do them justice

[deft path]

Team yell but actually good

[pliant violet]

any part of the villain plot of SwSh was weak

[deft path]

Just base them off of eagles and hanshin tigers fans

[pliant violet]

the themeing though, so solid

[deft path]

or Mets fans

[pliant violet]

or actual futbol fans

but not like premier league

[manic kindle]

and i wanna get into things like competitors being paid off or the championship being rigged (against the champions wishes/knowledge)

[pliant violet]

two leagues down is the sweet spot

[deft path]

Include an NPC that just says "my equipment budget got cut so I only get one poke ball for the season"

[pliant violet]

you could also do like, the elite four all being from different regions, each there representing their region and also building acclaim for this "battling as a sport" idea

[deft path]

blue lock

[pliant violet]

what

[deft path]

it's the blue lock champion system

[pliant violet]

no I stole this from a video on a pokemon region based on america

[pliant violet]

from the neo-egoist league? ehh not really

[obtuse ravine]

mhmm

[manic kindle]

youre right may i should just rip off manga. red blue pokemon time

[obtuse ravine]

sold the idea that these battles are big deals

[deft path]

Actually you know what you can really do to sell the sports vibe

[pliant violet]

blue lock is edgy enough for pokemon fan games

[deft path]

have the champions league be a new stadium they just built this year

and they're bringing in the regional champions to legitimise the sport but also draw attention to the new stadium

They do this all the time irl

[pliant violet]

oh there's a fun one also: post champion but before credits, you battle your now equally bigshot rival back where you first fought

[pliant violet]

saudia arabia

[pliant violet]

you know a "full circle, love of the game" style moment

[manic kindle]

yeeeeeah back at the first arena

gunna keep this in my noggin

[deft path]

Hmmm

Thinking about what reg originallu said

It might be interesting to have the rival/friend be a former athlete from another sport? Like they're not just recovering from an injury in Pokémon battling

But they had an injury so severe they had to permanently give up their original sport

like a former track star who destroyed their ACL

[cold rain]

or got a bone spur from dropping luggage on their toe

[pliant violet]

yeah so they might be new to pokemon training but they're used to training in general and the mentality to compete at high levels

[deft path]

Yeah

[pliant violet]

nice spin may, I like it

[cold rain]

(this actually happened to my brother and it ended his cross country running career)

[deft path]

And i think you can have a very good story there about how having to change what sport you're doing doesn't mean you gave up

It just means you're adapting to new possibilities

[pliant violet]

also something about the will to succeed

[deft path]

Will to succeed but also desire to enjoy sports

[pliant violet]

to be down but not out

yeah that should be apparent in the story

[manic kindle]

this is gold

[deft path]

it's really easy to feel like life is over when you can't do the sport you want

[pliant violet]

the only ones who really win are the ones who can have fun

[manic kindle]

also gives a cool excuse to give the character a cool bit of design, like a custom bit of clothing or brace

or an eyepatch or something...

[pliant violet]

(this is helpful both for mentality in competition and also for motivation/sustainability of practise)

[manic kindle]

eye injuries are often career ending

[pliant violet]

I'd say ex cyclist, if only because we know there's a lot of those in pokemon

[deft path]

I had originally imagined track star so my original thought had been like brace or exoskeletal supports

Similar to like, glaucus from arknights

It's a story about learning to walk again

in the spiritual sense

JoJo

[pliant violet]

and I know a guy personally who is a pro cyclist who had to be put in an induced coma from a crash he had

[deft path]

I think another very interesting rival dynamic would be a young prodigy who's now burnt out of the sport as their team manager forces them to pick meta pokemon

[pliant violet]

I think that's the first gym leader

[deft path]

And their final fight having them send out the evolved form of like, one of the regional birds/bugs you catch on route 1

[pliant violet]

who you hear about throughout the game is actually doing better, and you meet at the elite four to be almost a changed person

and their changed behaviour resulted in them being scouted for the elite 4

saves having to create an extra character, and also I liked that switch-up with larry

[azure crane]

My interpretation of Lusamine is her downfall started when she first met Nihilego and became addicted to its venom.

[azure crane]

https://bsky.app/profile/cco00oo.bsky.social/post/3lhnd7cyoi227

olyester 🌼 (@cco00oo.bsky.social)

Comms!!💛 Happy Umbreon Day!

Reposts

585

Likes

2699

Bluesky · Feb 8, 2025, 4:55 AM

[peak island]

https://art.ngfiles.com/images/2215000/2215409_mega-kot_happy-bouncing.gif?f1638318370

[peak island]

https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/1036672275941961840/1132727797748617286/3297794_mega-kot_he-dance.gif?width=375&height=375

Gud Breons

[red rampart]

@glacial ore

[arctic dagger]

https://www.reddit.com/r/pokememes/s/JQkkTQACJ8

[soft isle]

^ These were reuploaded from Twitter. According to the OP, these were made by esasi8794, guohoho, atompalace, and WesMarley; however, as usual with reuploads, it is difficult to know if this is actually all of the artists.

[arctic dagger]

Yeah the subreddit bans twitter links so

It has to be reuploads now

[soft isle]

Yes, but as we understand it, you still have to source art that you post here.

[spare wing]

We ask that you source art you post yeah

[manic kindle]

Kinda really into this as i think on it more, taking part of reggies idea i like the idea of burnt out gym guy who quits his gym to follow you in the league challenge

[arctic dagger]

Pokemon Reborn does that.

It worked well.

He was the poison gym leader and decided he hated being a gym leader and wanted to restart.

[manic kindle]

Yeah, want to have a character who quits from league sponsorship burnout / pressure to use pokemon they dont like

[arctic dagger]

In his case I think it was the "family business" basically and he just didn't like it

[azure crane]

https://bsky.app/profile/eiroru.bsky.social/post/3lhfsxjjxxc2m

eiroru (@eiroru.bsky.social)

Likes

204

Bluesky · Feb 5, 2025, 5:16 AM

[lone marsh]

Playing Pokemon Platinum for the first time

I got overconfident and almost got wiped by a lvl 9 Budew 😭

I fucked around too much and then found out when it got two Sp.Atk boosts and proceeded to wall my team by spamming Absorb

[languid lichen]

the life taker

and this is before the drain moves got buffed lmao

[lone marsh]

oh god it gets worse?

[languid lichen]

oh wait no

they just buffed giga drain

the other two are still bad

absorb is 20 power, mega drain is 40, giga drain is 75

[lone marsh]

Ah, mild relief

[languid lichen]

in gen 4 giga drain was only 60

[lone marsh]

Next time I'm picking Infernape lmao

[languid lichen]

turtwig my beloved

[lone marsh]

Ye the Turt was my choice this time around

Weird that it starts with a normal and water move, but no Grass move

[languid lichen]

yeah, pre-gen...6? starters didn't usually start with STAB

get them at level 7 usually

[manic kindle]

Withdraw my goat

[azure crane]

Why are you withdrawing your goat?

Gogoat resists Absorb.

[manic kindle]

that got a very sensible chuckle out of me

[azure crane]

https://www.tumblr.com/shinonart/775201417028927488/bell-tower

[lone marsh]

Ice Fang Luxray is now my archnemesis

Apparently Floatzel using the move relearner is the only viable way to get it in Platinum

[lone marsh]

Fuck. The relearner needs heart scales, which I can only get from the newsletter in solaceon city, which needs me to get a Purugly, which DOESN'T EXIST IN PLATINUM

Very sadge

OK I found one on a beach on route 213

[manic kindle]

i was gunna say, theres at least a few hidden heart scales in the region!

[lone marsh]

So Ice Fang Floatzel acquired

Finally

Now I just need to breed it with my Luxray

[manic kindle]

time to bike around

[lone marsh]

Yup :(

[arctic dagger]

Why do you need to make this?

XD

[lone marsh]

And then once I get the egg I'll need to bike more, and then train the lil guy up to level 35

[lone marsh]

I wanted a Luxray with Icefang

[arctic dagger]

Ok yes but why

[azure crane]

I wish there was a physical electric move that didn't suck massive balls and wasn't exclusive.

[lone marsh]

A. Good Ice coverage
B. It's a bitey lil guy with Thunderfang and Crunch

[azure crane]

Wild Charge is only 90 BP and has recoil.

[lone marsh]

C. I am clinically insane

Ideally it would have had Fire Fang too but Arbok is impossible to get

Egg gotten

And Ice Fang Shinx acquired lesgo

[manic kindle]

it is sorta funny that we really only get Thunderpunch and Wild Charge as wildly available ones, still lacking stuff like Waterfall/Aqua Tail and Blaze Kick etc

[azure crane]

Wild Charge should become 120 BP, and Volt Tackle should become 150.

[manic kindle]

Largely I'm okay with keeping base powers closer to 100 / reducing other moves powers

I've always felt over 100 should be kept special / restricted moves or drawbacks

[azure crane]

Also while we're on the topic, maybe Rock could get attacking moves that aren't terrible or exclusive.

[manic kindle]

go my Stone Edge 🪨

[azure crane]

It missed.

[umbral hound]

Power Gem technically isn't terrible?

[cold rain]

but is it exclusive?

[umbral hound]

also technically no

actually it's apparently a TM in gen 9

[azure crane]

It has 10 less power than Thunderbolt/Ice Beam/Flamethrower/Surf and has no special effects.

[manic kindle]

Rock is a really good attacking type

[umbral hound]

you're right I misremembered numbers.

but if you want rock-type coverage on your Grumpig you can get it.

[cold rain]

bit like ice type, no?

[umbral hound]

a lot of psychic types learn power gem actually.

why does Meowscarada get Power Gem???

[cold rain]

solid attacking type, but awful defensive type

[manic kindle]

power gem is just a ray of light attack

so it makes sense the magician gets it

[cold rain]

so uhh... what rock types get power gem?

[manic kindle]

A hefty chunk

might be easier to find a rock type incompatible with it

[cold rain]

ah so it's not as bad as the "technically" in "technically not exclusive" led me to believe

[manic kindle]

yeah its pretty widely available

[azure crane]

But again, it's only 80 power when its competition is 90.

[umbral hound]

I thought it was really rare and then I saw the TM learnset, which was much larger.

That said, it's mostly pokemon with a gemstone on them somewhere. Or nacli.

Or klawf, improbably?

Geodude doesn't learn power gem. But bonsly does.

Very strange learnset in some ways.

[cold rain]

I'd think a bigger stumbling block for power gem is that it's a special move and a lot of rock type pokemon lean hard into physical

[umbral hound]

that too.

[azure crane]

Yeah, the only Pokémon it matters on is Glimmora.

[manic kindle]

are we discussing these moves for a competitive/smogon angle?

Or for in game use?

that'll change how im approaching this conversation

[cold rain]

I was figuring comp stuff

[azure crane]

Well, I'm still wondering why it's only 80 with no special effects.

[cold rain]

because my own casual playthrough experience with the official games is that the AI trainers simply don't demand as much from movesets as comp does

[manic kindle]

for comp use it largely benefits non-rock types as a coverage option, but notably rock users include Probopass in its tiers, Nihilego especially in sumo uu, and Coalossol

[cold rain]

(and I still couldn't make amaura work ;-;)

[azure crane]

It should have a chance of flinching like Rock Slide does, but 10% like the rest of the standard special moves. That'd be neat.

[manic kindle]

Perhaps one day you'll get your dream

[cold rain]

luv me ice brontosaurus, I wish only to see its existence not be so cursed

justice for sauropod enjoyers

[manic kindle]

They do significantly improve in life quality as gens go by

largely because movepool increases and general access to survivability tools and synergestic teammates increases as well

turns out Freeze-Dry fixes a lot of weird issues

[cold rain]

yeah freeze-dry is great it's just that game freak is cruel and gave my boy glass bones and lead feet

maybe snow helps but I last played in X/Y when it was still hail

[manic kindle]

Snow helps a lot with the boost, but largely it just helps that as a player you get much earlier access to ways to juice your stats

[lunar hinge]

I like the T-Rex more. Because I'm basic.

[azure crane]

Aurorus doesn't even get Power Gem. Its only special Rock STAB is Ancient Power and Meteor Beam.

[manic kindle]

🪨 go my ancient power 🪨

[azure crane]

You didn't get the boost.

[manic kindle]

thats okay i still got to watch my dinosaur throw cool rocks

[manic kindle]

bit of a romhack review now that im a solid chunk in: Pokemon Odyssey is really cool

having a set protagonist/cast has been neat, i like the Etrian Variants of a lot of the pokemon, the dungeon crawl style is neat, and the quest system is put to good use

you unlock plenty of good QoL stuff via quests and general progress

its almost finished too, supposedly the 4.0 patch is incoming anytime now to complete the story

i really like the talking sprites, too

[languid lichen]

oh that's cute

[manic kindle]

acceptable spoiler for some of the etrian forms:

dark/ice mightyena with fur coat might be one of my favorite new custom pokemon

[cold rain]

regional forms are great fun

[manic kindle]

and turning pokemon into Etrian Odyssey monsters is fun

[lone marsh]

Holy shit random shiny gulbat

Guess I'm adding a crobat to the team lmao

[lone marsh]

That'll be a decent replacement for Staraptor so I don't have an ultra basic team

FUCK YEAH I GOT IT

[karmic imp]

Caught up on shades silk
Meowth's transformation is horrifying

[azure crane]

Crobat is one of my favorite Pokemon.

[lone marsh]

So the team is currently looking to be

• Torterra
• Garchomp
• Luxray
• Bronzong
• Crobat
• Currently Biberal but will probably replace at some point

[languid lichen]

i see the top three correct choices

based

[lone marsh]

Gen4 pokemon are so badass

Shame I already used the U-Turn TM

Could have been great on Crobat

[lunar hinge]

I wanna say, X and Y where not even my first Pokemon games, that would be emerald, but they're probably my most nostalgic. There where the only ones I was really part of the hype cycle for. I remember all the hype of it being the first 3d mainline game, and all the rumors of Megas.

[lone marsh]

I remember very vividly watching the XY anime as a kid

Not as much the games though

[manic kindle]

i have very fond memories of my entire family tree helping buy me a gameboy color and blue for my birthday

[arctic dagger]

https://youtu.be/AWY9PT4AeLo

[lunar hinge]

I should say, until like, a year ago my only pokemon games where emerald and fire red. I only ever owned a gba as a kid. Luckly that has changed recently.

[azure crane]

Finally got this done.

https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/1198756687927066846/1340834020619190344/download.png?ex=67b3cc7e&is=67b27afe&hm=4cc09bb761d5b452b3f145f6a147ef5d7c99dd5d956a660e35f92bf4d9bd3f91&

[cold rain]

in my house we only got every other nintendo console until the gamecube-wii period, so the formative pokemon games for me were Crystal and Diamond/Pearl

[manic kindle]

i love that we live in a world where any modern phone can run gba stuff, possibly even DS stuff if youre willing to suffer a bit

[lunar hinge]

I use my pc.

[manic kindle]

also a good choice

[soft isle]

I like your taste in eeveelutions.

Zemyla recommends UNCLE 🔔 ↩️

[Reply to:](#1160615504562638910 message) https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/1198756687927066846/1340834020619190344/download.png?ex=67b3cc7e&is=67b27afe&hm=4cc09bb761d5b452b3f145f6a147ef5d7c99dd5d956a660e35f92bf4d9bd3f91& … 📎

[lunar hinge]

I'd love to play on actual hardware but I'm not shelling out 400+ dollars for a decade old handheld.

[manic kindle]

outside of exactly nostalgia or some level of authenticity, its generally fine to just rom it

it is very silly/dumb/etc that the "retro game market" is what it is

[lunar hinge]

Yeah. I could literally be a switch and play the new games for the same price. Which I might do once the switch 2 launches and people sell off their old systems.

[lone marsh]

Finally got that Luxray

Level 34, Charge, Crunch, Thunder Fang, and Ice Fang

[manic kindle]

the biterrrrr

[lunar hinge]

Still funny to me people thought a future mega luxray might be dark type despite its name literally being light ray. Because it has black fur.

[manic kindle]

it keeps happening too

[languid lichen]

it deserves to be dark type because it's cool

[manic kindle]

poor luxray being typecasted

[lunar hinge]

People forget dark type isn't darkness, its evil. It's literally evil type in japan. Dirty fighting and stuff.

[cold rain]

cheap shots, dirty tricks, and all the other parts of a wrestling heel's balanced breakfast

[languid lichen]

i have never forgotten, i just think that luxray can be one of the couple of dark types that play on that without being malicious

because its fighting style does involve dirty fighting

i.e. it fucking sees through walls and ambushes you

which rules

luxray my beloved

[cold rain]

there's a reason Beat Up, a move whose flavor is "the pokemon that uses it gets all your other pokemon to gank the opp" is Dark type

[arctic dagger]

I mean, so is Bite and Crunch tho'

[languid lichen]

luxray also does learn a bunch of the classic dark type ambush moves

[sudden spade]

And it's why Fighting resists Dark. The Face Beats The Heel.

[languid lichen]

night slash, thief, snarl, now throat chop

[lunar hinge]

Yeah it's the heel type.

[arctic dagger]

Yeah, it's not like Luxray doesn't get a pile of good Dark moves

[languid lichen]

luxray are ambush predators

[cold rain]

yeah but those aren't as emblematic of what Dark type is about the way a move like Beat Up is

[arctic dagger]

Sure, but like... A lot of Dark pokemone aren't what dark is about

[languid lichen]

that explicitly rely on surprise and a brutally unfair special ability

[cold rain]

even if Bite and Chomp are more classic comp staples than Beat Up

[languid lichen]

luxray can easily be ele/dark

[arctic dagger]

Like, Liepard is legit just a cat.

That's an ambush predator

That's the only reason it's dark type

So Luxray could easily be it too tbh

It's fine for it not to be

[languid lichen]

no, liepard absolutely fits the dark type lmao

[arctic dagger]

Right, but like... It's not like Luxray fits it less than Liepard does IMO

[languid lichen]

their dex entries are all "this bitch loves to steal" "liepard assassinates its opps from the back" "this cat is a vicious killer"

[cold rain]

luxray can have dark type as a regional form treat if it comes to it

wallhax vision is a valid entry to the Dark type club

[languid lichen]

i do agree that the shinx line fits as well, because their entire line is dirty tricks

[deft path]

look ngl i have no horse in the game but i think if Muk Alola can be darktype, why can't luxray

[languid lichen]

shinx flashbangs the shit out of people at a moment's notice, luxio uses electricity as a pseudo-poison

luxray is a walling cheater

they're cool and noble!

[arctic dagger]

Also the dex entries for Luxray are legit just "It has wallhacks" and nothing about its personality at all lmao

[languid lichen]

but they also fight like a bastard cat stapled to another bastard cat

[arctic dagger]

We know they're patriarchal and eepy.

That's basically it

[languid lichen]

we also know from luxio that they're pretty gracious within their packs

[deft path]

also stunky is dark type

i think people over exaggerate how important the cheating/malicious aspect of dark type pokemon is

[arctic dagger]

I think so too.

[cold rain]

far as I know dark types are at least shady like Murkrow

[languid lichen]

so anyway, L(uxray) + luxio ratio + i do in fact actually know what dark type means

[deft path]

sometimes theyre just goofy

[arctic dagger]

Yeah

[languid lichen]

this is my declaration of love for my glorious son

[deft path]

maschiff is pure dark and all it does it chicanery

[languid lichen]

shinx line my beloved

[cold rain]

that counts as being a little shady

[languid lichen]

darkrai also isn't evil or tomfoolery

it's just night

[deft path]

how is that shady

[languid lichen]

and accidentally gives nightmares

[sudden spade]

It's why Prankster doesn't work on dark type. You can't see them.

||Yes, I know Cena is a face, let me have my silly wrassling joke||

[deft path]

it's just a goofball

[arctic dagger]

Mabosstiff is Dark Type and legit has "Mabosstiff has a gentle temperament and loves playing with children. However, it will bare its teeth and take on an intimidating look when protecting its family. "

[cold rain]

"criminal mischief" is a legal charge

[arctic dagger]

Like, that's so cute

That's not even SLIGHTLY evil

[languid lichen]

mabosstiff is kinda goated

[cold rain]

dang I got nothing for this one

[deft path]

explain why hisuian samurott is dark type

[arctic dagger]

He's just an old grumpy fella who loves his family

[deft path]

aside from "it goes hard"

[cold rain]

black/red coloration

[arctic dagger]

Again that's not to say Luxray should be dark type?

[cold rain]

obviously

[arctic dagger]

It's perfectly fine for it not to be.

But it's perfectly justified.

[languid lichen]

exclusively the description of ceaseless edge

which isn't even like

justification

it's just "my sword is a shrapnel button"

[deft path]

did you know that shrapnel was named for henry shrapnel

just like how Pilates was named after Joe Pilates

[languid lichen]

i actually did because i run in friend groups that love stupid trivia like that

i do not know if you're fucking with me on pilates

[deft path]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Pilates

[languid lichen]

wow yeah what the fuck

damn

[cold rain]

it's often impossible to tell with these sorts of things

[deft path]

Hubertus is a crazy name

[lone marsh]

One of the names of all time, truly

[umbral hound]

wait until you hear about algebra

[cold rain]

notably described by al-Khwarizmi in his book: Al-Jabr

so the eponym there is from the book it's described in rather than the guy who described it

[deft path]

may lore: i can read arabic so i am aware of this one and its almost funnier

because it's literally just like

Calculations

[umbral hound]

I meant to talk about algorithms and misremembered the details.

[umbral hound]

on the what

[manic kindle]

Spongebob

MermaidMan's car

[umbral hound]

I had no idea

[manic kindle]

Now you know!

[trail bridge]

https://youtu.be/xE8Pky4cVq0?feature=shared

Context

[umbral hound]

Having never heard of that before, I was… very confused.

[lone marsh]

Figured out what I'm going to do with my last Mon. Dragon Dance/Flamethrower/Surf Gyarados

[azure crane]

I think they want Luxray to have the Dark type so it gets STAB on Crunch.

It'll also have a unique type combination.

Wait fuck, Morpeko.

[lone marsh]

Morp is gen8+ though and besides is a Pikachu clone (ontologically evil)

[lone marsh]

Hmm Extrasensory or Flash Cannon for Bronzong...

Both are 80 BP 100 acc STAB, Flash Cannon has a chance to lower SpDef, I don't have any other psychic or steel moves yet (but have plans for Garchomp), and other moves are Confuse Ray, Flash, and Hypnosis

[soft isle]

The decision comes down to type coverage - are there any types that you would benefit from using a Steel type move as opposed to Psychic type?

[lone marsh]

Sticking with Extrasensory for now, keeping my Flash Cannon TM

[manic kindle]

Im a flash cannon fan personally

[foggy mango]

I think extrasensory would be better since it has better neutral coverage, which I would argue is more important for something like Bronzong. And as you said, Garchomp could also learn Iron Tail or Iron Head if you really wanted Steel coverage

[azure crane]

I would actually replace Flash and take both attacks.

Wait. Its attack is greater than its SA?

Give it Gyro Ball.

It also gets Body Press. Holy crap.

[foggy mango]

Well as I understand it, this is for Gen IV so no Body Press unfortunately

[manic kindle]

flash is also likely because its a story run haha

[lone marsh]

Ya it's Gen 4

Curses upon whoever designed HM moves

[manic kindle]

i understand what they were going for in the design space

i am happy the modern games have moved beyond them

[lone marsh]

Oh yeah it's a decent way to lock-and-key parts of the game

[manic kindle]

and ensure the players are going for a variety of critters

[lone marsh]

But why is it taking up space on my goddamn pokemon

And how HM move deletion works combined with TMs being one time use and limited supply, just sucks for level up moves

[manic kindle]

funny enough in gens 1+2, level up moves were so dire and limited HMs were the good moves for a lot of mons

[cold rain]

ah, gen 1 movepools

kids these days don't know what it's like to be unsure if you'd even get a STAB option

[manic kindle]

back in my day!

[cold rain]

and Fighting as a type simply was not real

Machamp is not able to hurt you because his STAB option is Submission with 80 base power, 80% accuracy and recoil

[arctic dagger]

Also Psychic had no weaknesses

[cold rain]

and yet the top 3 pokemon were Tauros, Chansey, and Snorlax

[arctic dagger]

Well you know, when fighting type isn't real

And Psychic is only special attacks

IT turns out bulky special walls with no weaknesses are very good

😄

Also Body Slam was nuts

[cold rain]

true

[arctic dagger]

Since if you were Normal type you were immune to the Body Slam paralyze

[cold rain]

especially with normal STAB

even if you're getting hit for neutral, Tauros slamming into you hurts bad

[arctic dagger]

Oh, and physical Hyper Beam that if it killed you didn't have a cooldown turn

[manic kindle]

i miss old hyper beam

bring it back

[cold rain]

returning the hyper beam recovery skip will probably not break the meta now that, among other things, fighting is now a real type that exists and can hurt you

[arctic dagger]

Ehhhh. It probably would tbh.

[cold rain]

they got real stab options and mons that put those to good use

[manic kindle]

i just think its funny

i dont give a shit about comp balance i want funny single player times

[arctic dagger]

150 damage with no downside is still insane

And the meta doesn't need to be MORE offense focused

[lone marsh]

When did they get rid of those, anyways?

[cold rain]

I think Sun/Moon?

[manic kindle]

sun and moon, yes

[lone marsh]

I was planning on playing White next...

[manic kindle]

For sumo / usumo you get Ride Pokemon

[cold rain]

anyway I'm kinda conflicted on HMs being removed because while they are quite an annoyance it makes bidoof a power tool and bidoof being a strong pick is so funny to me

[lone marsh]

Can confirm, I have a Biberal in my back pocket for just that reason

But it's not on the main team anymore

[arctic dagger]

I like HMs but I don't think they should need to actually be on the pokemon

[lone marsh]

Which is shaping up nicely btw!

[manic kindle]

I like the fantasy of Hidden Machines a lot, especially in regards to them being little fun trainer gimmicks, but they need to live up to Surf in a lot of ways

I don't mind having Surf because its a fine use of a move slot

Rock Smash getting buffed makes it more tempting and alright, but yknow, HMs should be cool boss moves if anything

[arctic dagger]

Radical Red made all the HMs usable IIRC?

Cut became a physical steel attack with 80 power and a high crit chance IIRC

[cold rain]

like the TMs the gym leaders give you in the newer gens?

[manic kindle]

sure!

[cold rain]

also the real change I'm a fan of is making TMs be multiple-use

it always annoyed me that their item sprite was a CD but using them still ate the item

[manic kindle]

multi-use TMs is a nice change

[lone marsh]

Denali the Torterra
Stealth Rock
Leech Seed
Earthquake
Razor Leaf

K2 the Bronzong
Extrasensory
Hypnosis
Confuse Ray
Flash

Fuji the Gulbat
Fly
Shadow Ball
Toxic
Bite

Lhotse the Luxray
Charge
Thunder Fang
Ice Fang
Crunch

Matterhorn the Gabite
Shadow Claw
Dragon Rage
Sandstorm
Cut

Krakatoa the Gyarados
Surf
Flamethrower
Rock Crush
Strength

[cold rain]

krakatoa is a strange name for a gyrados

[lone marsh]

Named em all after mountains, taking slight GMS influence lol

[cold rain]

I'd have gone for something like mauna loa myself

[lone marsh]

It was just the first thing to come to mind

Flamethrower and all

[manic kindle]

the crew

the squad

[lone marsh]

I don't think I can rename any unfortunately

[cold rain]

haven't reached the Name Rater yet?

[lone marsh]

I might have and just not seen em

At Snowpoint rn

Shit the dude's in Eterna

Welp. I feel mildly silly

[foggy mango]

The thing with HMs is that while Gen VII does permanently get rid of HMs, you don't really need them in Gens V & VI (with the exception of ORAS since they're Gen III remakes). I think at most they still use Surf as a gatekeeper HM, but otherwise HMs in Gens V and VI only requires HMs if you want optional stuff. I could be wrong though, it's been a hot minute since I played those games

Also iirc Flash gets demoted to TM in Gen V

Which is, amusingly enough, when it also gets upgraded to 100% accuracy

[karmic imp]

How does each trainer pick pokemon to capture. As players we have a bunch of information and can catch and try out as myriad of pokemons
Does the average trainer in-universe go on trips seeking specific pokemon?

[manic kindle]

Some of them do

Depending on trainer class and game, you tend to get a variety of conversation bits about that

[snow cobalt]

imo that would be an above-average level of dedication

[manic kindle]

from my folks gave them to me, to being very locally available, to "i am specifically a collecting freak", to higher-tiers like ace trainers who are like the player

[snow cobalt]

I get the vibe that most trainers can't really manage very many Pokemon at once, so they go "tall" instead of "wide"

[manic kindle]

a lot of folk are just vibin'

[snow cobalt]

yeah

[manic kindle]

like picnicker class trainers arent your rivals

they're just hanging out on the route

[snow cobalt]

preschooler trainers

[azure crane]

I read a SuMo fanfic called "Eldritch" about this, where trainers form a Bond with their Pokemon and supply them with energy through this bond to make them stronger.

And the Bond is the reason why no one can have more than 6 Pokemon, and why most people only have one or two.

It explains other limitations, why a trainer can only perform one Z-Move per battle.

[manic kindle]

Interesting premise for a pokemon ttrpg...

[azure crane]

And the fanfic is about Moon, who it turns out doesn't have these limits, and what that means for her and everyone around her.

[languid lichen]

unfortunate

every time i see something neat like that it always has a "the protagonist is just Ontologically More Based" clause

[karmic imp]

Another fic had the restriction be because of a rampage by a guy known as 20 Gyarados bill
Yeah they lost like 2 cities at least

[cold rain]

except the obligatory fisherman with 6 magikarp

[snow cobalt]

that fisherman is one of the most skilled trainers in the region

[worldly plume]

Fear not the man who casts a hundred fishing rods once, but fear the man who casts one fishing rod a hundred times, or smth

[vague tide]

fear the man who casts a hundred fishing rods once each, our budget can't take this exorbitant spending on rods every month

[trail bridge]

https://www.tumblr.com/pintitledploose/737407956745879552/i-just-realized-i-can-post-this-video-i-made-in

[eager vine]

holy hell

[lunar hinge]

What a fantastic name for a Kingambit.

[lunar hinge]

My team before Santalune gym. The Pikachu was supposed to be named Ikue but I messed up.

[karmic imp]

I love ghost and poison types, but I'd have a diverse team.
All my family's enemies were rescues, except a dog tgat belonged to mu brother's gf of years ago.

[languid lichen]

i have to assume that's a typo, but "all my family's enemies were rescues" goes hard as fuck

[karmic imp]

Animals

Pets

[karmic imp]

Sounds like I made enemies while rescueing people?

[manic kindle]

yeah so we couldnt get you into the premier hero league, so youre gunna be stuck with hand-me-down hero callsigns and arch-nemesis, is that ok

[karmic imp]

Oh lmao

Bargain bin enemies

Oh wait I asked to have a fish as a kid. He died before growing up

Watching pokemon horizons. So Liko's path as a trainer is ||to understand pokemon||
I like it, fits her

[lunar hinge]

I have realized I should just download both versions instead of hemming and hawing over which to download.

[snow cobalt]

https://bsky.app/profile/tunditur-unda.itch.io/post/3liib52iruk2z

Trusty Dagger user (@tunditur-unda.itch.io)

computer, show me 500,000 pictures of charmander

Bluesky

[karmic imp]

Watching Pokemon horizons now
Engineer girl truly has the diverged neurons in her

[karmic imp]

Galarian moltres is just discount yveltal

[karmic imp]

Liko is a true pet owner. Smiling as all the pokemon's she's carrying strain her back

Coral is cute

Amethio is a good boss

Sprigatito hates grandma

Coral

[snow cobalt]

incredibly good design tbh

[karmic imp]

Yeah, they made sure to make good villain designs

[manic kindle]

she's also a complete dingus (good)

[karmic imp]

Her design involves a bandaid on hee head

Total dingus even before seeing her in action

What is wrong with her

This girl ||picked self-destruct on impulse||

[obtuse ravine]

hero smash bros coded

[lunar hinge]

I want Malamar, but I have Ralts and Frogadier on my team, so i'm going to be covering both it's types already 😔

[pliant violet]

optimal team building is for chumps

"Strong Pokémon. Weak Pokémon. That is only the selfish perception of people. Truly skilled Trainers should try to win with the Pokémon they love best. I like your style. You understand what's important. Go on—the Champion is waiting."

[sudden spade]

the sound of a thousand angry professional players making youtube videos about how that quote is wrong

[manic kindle]

people do like getting mad about kids games

[cold rain]

but I like Incineroar because his strength has made him the ultimate heel

[lunar hinge]

I already have 5/6 of my X team picked out, I want Greninja, Charizard, Xerneas, Lucario, and Tyrantrum. So I could get Malamar since Gardivour will be replaced by the box legendary...

[manic kindle]

fun group of boyos

[trail bridge]

🤔 this is why reg h was good I think. It allowed people to experiment with their favourite mons instead of being creamed by Urshifu in a single turn

[karmic imp]

Man I'm sad xy doesn't have yamask line

[azure crane]

https://www.tumblr.com/levian-digital-art/775944858858848256

[peak island]

Would a Forretress and Umbreon be good paired together in a team comp for 4th Gen?

[karmic imp]

Not that it doesn't have other cool ghost types

Also it has ampharos line, thankfully

[peak island]

Ampharos is gud

And cute

Anyways, thinking of making a team of my favorites in 4th gen which is going to include Umbreon, Forretress and Porygon-Z

Would 2 walls be redundant, or could they help for specific niches?

[karmic imp]

Yeah. Wish it was fluffier though

[peak island]

https://tenor.com/view/mega-ampharos-ampharos-gif-15725897099867578265

[manic kindle]

its nice to have a phys and special wall!

Forretress also functions well as a pivot

[karmic imp]

Mega ampharos indeed is great

[peak island]

Pivot?

[manic kindle]

Oh! A pokemon with a reliable way to switch itself out using a move/item, usually with either the bulk or speed to do so

[peak island]

Aight

[manic kindle]

although im realizing if its gen4 a lot of those resources dont exist so dont mind me haha

[peak island]

Was thinking of running a Forretress with a -Speed nature and Gyro Ball

[manic kindle]

Tossing down a Stealth Rock and spamming Gyro Ball is a fun time