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yeah, very happy with how much VP you get at the start and by just playing, and also VERY happy that EVs do carry in, so if you do all your prep in another game, the cost is only 5 VP for 1 EV stat and then you're ready to go. much better than I'd been expecting!

been having fun using a fairly competitive team, just hit Great Ball. game is a lot of fun, think I'll play this a ton going forward.

The previews showed us getting 200 VP per match, which could obviously be adjusted before launch, but that's not ~too~ bad I think. A full Pokémon adjustment is like 3k or so I think? And most people will have natures/moves pre-prepped, which cuts costs down a ton. We should be fine I think.

I think the rentals seem like trash unfortunate, because the EVs are dumped into random stats, so you end up having to adjust them yourself anyway. The previews had a full Def/Sp.Att Scizor, for example. Maybe they'll have it less random for release? But in the state it is right now, you'd be griefing yourself and your VP stash to take any of them I think lol

I mean, it's possible for them to release single player content later on I suppose? There's apparently a "Gym" option on the menu screen that we haven't heard about yet (and it's not Training, since that's a different button), so that will either be the (possible future) single player content or like, a guild system? It could also just be the tutorial I suppose?

VP for trainer customisation is Fine™ I think. Unless you're trying to spin up a new team every day, I don't think it'll bottleneck too hard past the original requirement, so once you get your first team finished you can farm for customisation, and then once you've got that, you probably won't need to change it again for a little while, so you can focus on a second team or adjustments or whatever.

I kinda just want it to come out now so I can start thinking about teams and stuff, it's too hard to plan anything when you only know like 10% of the roster.

looking forward to it, it'll be fun to use my own Pokémon for once instead of just stuff on Showdown, and the graphics look pretty good. a little worried about the "monitization" (although you can't pay real money explicitly for VP) and how much that'll restrict team building early on, but it's pretty promising so far I think.

phone release is going to be Later This Year™, but yeah, the Switch/2 release is the 8th, and then mobile later.
we don't know the exact roster yet, but a relatively safe guess imo would be the S/V+DLC roster, and the Z-A roster, minus all the non-fully evolved species (and the NFE part has been confirmed except for MAYBE Pikachu?).

Being battle-worthy actually barely matters, because you can just do it all in Champions, after all. there are no IVs (everything is just set as if they were max), all moves are available, and natures and EVs can just be set. the only issue you might have is the VP cost, but it sounds like we're gonna have enough to make at least one team.

I think it got confirmed there's no single player content outside of the opening tutorials though, which basically amount to "this is what a super effective move is! this is what terrain is! this is how mega evolution works!" etc.

I think they all look fine, I don't have particularly strong feelings about any of them, but I'm mostly a Grass picker, so it'll probably be Browt. I don't really know why people seem to dislike them so much, I don't think they're showstoppers, but they're all Fine at least. I hope they have good final evos, at least.

don't think I've ever used a Burmy or either of the evos, but I think it's a cool gimmick, and I really like how Wormadam has a perma form. Unfortunately it shares types with other Pokémon I prefer to use in Sinnoh (Torterra/Grass, Gastrodon/Ground, Bronzong/Steel), and I don't think it has very good stats? So it never gets into the squad. But like I said, big fan of the gimmick at least!

as a Tactics games enjoyer who also enjoys a few mech or mech-adjacent media franchises, I feel like I would probably enjoy SRW, but a lot of the franchises I would want to see just don't seem to turn up that often? You mention Gurren Lagann, which would be a big one for me, but I'm kind of surprised there never seems to be any Sentai, considering how many giant robots that franchise has pumped out. I've never gotten into Gundam or any of the other old school mech shows that seem to make up the meat of the series, so I've just never gotten around to trying them out.

Maybe one day there'll be a game with a roster that Appeals To Me Specifically, but until then I'll probably just continue looking at it from afar. At the very least, big crossover games in a genre I enjoy is a great idea.

i've, of course, got a discord just like everybody else... but big servers freak me out, and i have a bad habit of joining servers and then never speaking in them

if it makes you feel less scared there's only like, 15 of us that post with any regularity, so don't be too shy! it's fine to just join and not post too

as someone who first ever discovered that this website existed like two days ago, i'm so glad to see that it's still here, and that i'm even able to make a post in the first place. i even remember 40-something folks being online when i found it (and 40ish online right now, though i'm the only one with an account!)... and with the amount of folks on tumblr who are still passing around blinkies and stamps, and with the resurgence of sites like neocities, i think there's clearly a desire for an "old internet" to still stick around

yeah unfortunately 39 of them are Google Spiders documenting the webpage for Our Overlords, if I remember the explanation correctly from like 15 years ago lol, pretty unfortunate but people just don't really wanna engage with forums much anymore, or if they do, they're "Happy Enough" with Reddit

_{also, is it just me, or are the captchas here actually really hard}

i don't know which captcha we have these days, but if it's the sign-up one, that's because we get a lot of spam bots lol

[But uh, did you mean Seismitoad?]

Overall, pretty cool taste you've got! But uh, did you mean Seismitoad? That's what you have on the grid, at any rate. Always wanted to try raising one at least once, myself...

I sure did, you would not be shocked at how many times doing that write up I wrote the wrong evo and had to correct myself, but I guess I missed that one!

[Normal:]

i'll do you one better and make one of them grids

brief disclaimer; i didn't want to double up on any rows (Magnezone could easily go in both favourite electric and steel, for example), so for some of them, the option shown will actually be my second/third/fourth favourite for that type (Luxray is great but it's no Magnezone or Rotom), and the way I decided what slot it would take basically boiled down to "okay, Magnezone is Electric/Steel, do I like any other electrics? do I like any other steels? do they also have dual types? do I like their dual type options?" etc as a flow chart, so something like Rotom got the ghost slot because there aren't many ghosts I like in Gen 4, etc etc. I also didn't pick any regional forms except in the gimmick column because they are gimmicks (which I like!) but they don't deserve to take a hardworking spot from a new Pokémon.

this methodology mostly worked for me except when it came to the final row, where perhaps some more deserving Pokémon lose their spot to stuff that got shifted later on (shout out most of the steel types losing out to Magnezone which could/would have also just swept the Electric column (probably)), and also in Gen 8 Toxtricity is listed for both Electric and Poison, which is mostly because there's only one other poison type in the gen (Eternatus) and we ain't picking legendaries where we can help it, and the other electrics are also mad boring.



I'll briefly talk about each row and column too:

regions (spoilered for length):
[spoiler]Kanto: classic region, lots of my favourites here. Venusaur hard done by because Bulbasaur is just my favourite of all time, I did originally have it slotted in at poison but eh, kinda cheap. Electric was also originally also Magneton, but I did use an Electrode recently so I put that in there. otherwise nothing egregious here I think.

Johto: lots of cool mons in this gen honestly, no outrageous exclusions I think, Skarmory a victim of the fact I ran a Xatu recently

Hoenn: Camerupt and Milotic hard done by here I think, first (only?) gen to feature all 3 starters, almost had a double up on Gardevoir

Sinnoh: Empoleon, Mismagius, Skuntank and Staraptor all robbed here (Staraptor especially), but it's a crowded gen, lots of good mons. could've easily been 3 or 4 Rotom in this row tbh

Unova: banger gen, Serperior will feel hard done by having been the only started I've ever used in this gen, only other notable exclusions are maybe Conkledurr and Leavanny but Scrafty and Ferrothorn (and Serperior) clear I fear

Kalos: tiny annoying gen with very few options in most categories which made picking a nightmare (Diggursby double up nooooo) but it has a lot of mon I really like (Talonflame, Klefki, Aegislash,,, my beloved,,,)

Alola: only played this for the first time a year or two ago, some good mon, but the first time where a lot of my options were gimmick picks so I had to start picking legends, alas. lots of strong contenders even if none make my best of list

Galar: banger after banger after banger after Dubwool region tbh. Drednaw, Rillaboom, Toxtricity, Corviknight, Coalossal, Orbeetle, Grimmsnarl, one of my favourite teams I've used in game (I rotated Orbeetle/Grimmsnarl), nuffink but da hitz in this one

Paldea: again a lot of bangers here, Meowscarada, Pawmot, Ceruledge, Lokix, Revavroom, Veluza, another wonderful team, lottsa good stuff[/spoiler]

and now types (unspoilered because it's the point):

Normal: Snorlax - it's just the classic ain't it, big ol' boy, he does it all, he tank, he attank, he big hp, you small hp, he just goes crazy with it. don't think a normal type has done it like him since

Fire: Darmanitan - actually a really tough type, Ceruledge or Talonflame could've taken this, but something about Darmanitan's simple playstyle really appeals to me: click big button, run and swing and hopefully hit for big damage but maybe we miss for laffs. ask me again in 2 years and maybe Ceruledge has taken this spot though, swords are cool

Water: Gastrodon - another really tough type, I actually think nearly anything in this column could've taken the top spot, especially Starmie, Jellicent or Drednaw, but Gastrodon is a Pokémon I just really like, ESPECIALLY West Sea Pinkstrodon. water/ground is a beast type combo and I think I've used it on every Sinnoh playthrough ever

Grass: Bulbasaur - he's just the goat, nothing else to say really. Grass is my favourite type, even if I only really interact with it through the medium of starters, but there's tons of bangers outside the starters too. nothing beats #001 though

Electric: Toxtricity - some stiff competition from Pawmot and Magnezone (pictured hanging out with his steel mates), but Toxtricity is a Pokémon I just really like. fun type combo, cool design, great usability in game, just a beast.

Ice: Lapras - kind of a winner by default, i don't care much for ice types I think, Weavile is cool but I've never really used one, but I have used Lapras, so my first (I think only?) winner where it wins by just being something I've actually used. it's also an OG so fair play I guess

Fighting: Scrafty - honestly he just be doing it all, big damage, swaggy fitz, fun typing, and he's just cool. always use one in my Gen 5 runs, one of my favourites for sure.

Poison: Crobat - we can't give it Toxtricity twice and I didn't pick Venusaur so it goes to my third favourite poison type Crobat. fast, friendly, weaker than a sheet of paper, but at least they fixed Golbat's mouth! big fan

Ground: Palpitoad - a lot of my other favourite ground types got scattered around, but honestly Palpitoad is just cool I think. water/ground, kinda bulky, the first form is cute, I used it a lot until I started running Jellicent instead so I didn't double run ground (shout out Excadrill). could've been Flygon on a different day.

Flying: Corviknight - this category is honestly just "lots of Pokémon with flying secondary because their first type was taken (Gyarados) and nothing else in the gen is as cool, and the actually cool flying types are in a different category (Aerodactyl, Togekiss, Talonflame)!", but Corviknight actually got used in my Sword run and I really like it so it gets the spot. it probably beats out Aero too, but Togekiss and Talonflame would make this a much tougher column. Drifblim honourable mention even though it kinda sucks to use.

Psychic: Espeon - tough category, lots of cool stuff, but Espeon is my favourite eeveelution and I quit the only nuzlocke I've ever done when it died because I just really like that little glass cannon. could've picked any from the first 5 though and I've be fairly happy with it still.

Bug: Lokix - kamen rider bug i love tokusatsu (although admittedly super sentai more than rider) easy pick heracross/scyther/scizor/orbeetle only contest onto the next

Rock: Coalossal - coulda been in the fire pick conversation, but instead it's in the crazy stacked rock category. i used it in my Sword playthrough and I'm just really attached to that team, but I could pick anything in this column and be happy I think. really good type, and Coalossal gets a bonus point for being part fire which is also just cool and fun and that one ability that absorbs water is beast

Ghost: Rotom - yeah this is just the Rotom zone, lots of cool ghosts but the ghost who gets to be 5 other types just wins out because that's beast design. Heat Rotom is my Rotom of choice personally because Sinnoh has no fire types lol !!!!!!!!! so it fills a gap in the team there

Dragon: Garchomp - lots of cool designs but Chomp and Kommo-o are the only ones I've used in-game in the last 15 years I think and I had to google how to spell Jangmo-o's name and then that wasn't even the right evo stage so Chomp wins on memorability alone (also it is iconic ain't it)

Dark: Grimmsnarl - lot of the cool darks are in other types (Scrafty my beloved) and I used Grimmsnarl in Sword, and like I said in Rock I just really like my Sword team so it wins for free congrats, also Dark/Fairy just a fun combo and long hair attack fun.

Steel: Magnezone - lots and lots of good Pokémon here but Magnezone my favourite steel, dunno why tbh just tanky electric is cool I guess. could've been Excadrill or Klefki or Revavroom on another day maybe but i think it's hard to pick anything except Zone

Fairy: Togekiss - banger pokémon, could've been Azumarill or Mimikyu too, all just beasts, but Togekiss got used in both Sinnoh and Hisui so it wins by virtue of being used the most (although my Azumarill usage in Violet Raids might win out eventually)

wow that took a long time I think I've been making this post for like an hour all included (grid, typing, clicking post), but it's always fun to do this kinda thing so why not.

shout out your Stoutland, Krookodile and Skarmory picks all beast for sure

Never played the Let's Go games. Dare I ask how bad that mechanic is?

so the way we used to think it worked was a simple "catch chain = higher chance of spawns"; reach 31+ catches in a row and your odds of shiny go up a bunch, which is cool!!!! except when some people did some digging into the code last year (or maybe end of 2023? I forget), it turns out that it only raises the odds for the next of that species that spawns, so if you catch your 32nd Caterpie, it's ONLY the next Caterpie that spawns that has the boosted shiny rate, and the rest of the Caterpies won't have that boosted rate, unless you continue your chain and catch a 33rd, and then only the NEXT Caterpie has boosted odds, etc.

it's not like, criminally bad I guess? the odds are still really good either way, but boosted rate only applying for one spawn is so miserable of an implementation it sucks the wind right out the dang sail

a year or two ago I decided to try out shiny hunting in Violet, it's kinda crazy how easy it is in those games. think I got like 6 or 7 shinies in like 2 or 3 hours? I think it was like, 2 or 3 Pawmis, and some other stuff I've already forgotten. I'm not really a big shiny guy in general though, since a lot of my favourite Pokémon (read: grass starters) have kinda ugly shinies.

I've considered going back into Let's Go to do some shiny hunts fairly recently before too, but then I learned how the shiny chaining mechanic in that game ACTUALLY works and I just can't be bothered anymore lol

keep everything except the battle system, and use the standard battle system we already have, and we're good I reckon. the battle system in Arceus was Fine™ but not really something that felt the best by time I was in the end game I think.

would also be great if the areas weren't actual sections in the game, but considering the performance issues we had in S/V it might be best if they were, since an entire open world just doesn't seem to work.

excited for megas to come back, not really sure who I'd want to get them though. i'm just gonna open my list of old teams and rattle off some names from there; Darmanitan, Scrafty, Jellicent, Sigilyph, Vikavolt, Jumpluff, Lanturn, Xatu, Staraptor, Bronzong, Gastrodon, Toxicroak, Talonflame, Trevenant, Tyrantrum, Klefki, Meowstic, Corviknight, Drednaw, Coalossal, Grimmsnarl, Toxtricity, Pawmot, Lokix, Ceruledge, Revavroom, Veluza.

the Gen 8s could just have their G-Max forms turned into Megas I guess, and would be surprised to see Gen 9s get Megas in their first gen. reckon Mega Darmanitan might be a bit too giga though, and it has a regional so would that also get a Mega?

i'm looking forward to Z-A anyway, should be a fun experience, and it's interesting that we're going back to Kalos before Unova. hope we get some more info soon

awful performance aside, I thought S/V were pretty fun games. I have a few issues with it, mainly performance, but also the fairly rigid, fake open-world feeling (boss levels never scale based on you, so if you do stuff out of intended order, it's a breeze), and the grind required for fully unlocking the Terrarium in the DLC being truly insane unless you co-op it, but even then it takes a while.

I don't really know what people's beef with the designs are, a lot of them are really cool and I think it's a pretty nice dex overall. my full Paldea team might be one of my favourites I've used in ages, in fact? I didn't love the school setting, not because I particularly care about the school setting, but because they used it as an excuse to remove all the customisation and force you into ugly uniforms, which isn't great. Otherwise it was a fine setting, I suppose. It's not like you really engage with the setting beyond the first like, 20 minutes and then the ending anyway. Don't have any particular issues with any of the characters, and thought the story was pretty fun throughout base and DLC.

Think it was a massive shame that they introduced the Link Cable in Arceus, removed it here, and then doubled down on annoying mandatory-co-op-evo methods (Palafin), but at this point it is what it is I suppose. I also think some of the raids are just kind of Too Hard? I spent a lot of the 7 star raids trying to carry a friend through them and unless I basically give them a Pokémon and a set of instructions on what to press when, we were basically never duoing them, but I suppose this is what they wanted us to grind as a post-game now that they've removed basically everything else.

Fun games overall though, I enjoyed them. Fix performance, make boss levels scale, add real post-game content (Battle Tower/Frontier/whatever), make 7* raids a bit easier, and re-add real trainer customisation, and Gen 10 should be great I think.

mad respect, you've been hater-posting about Misty for over a decade now, keep up the good fight

(it's very obviously because she was the first female co-lead, and after Brock left and came back, people hoped she would too, since there was precedent for it, and also children like the things they like, and they liked Misty. it's not that deep)