Pokémon Thread XXX: Hot Skitty on Wailord Action!

[TaiLiu]

new limited set of TCG just dropped. Mostly reprints but shiny mons. This is the first time I've seen a shiny Tandemous and don't know how to deal

Spoiler

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edit - *opens two packs from a trainer box* oh look a $90 iono

The Tandemous's hands make me uncomfortable. Congrats on the $90 card.

pokemon presents this week on pokemon day. They're making a bigger deal of this than usual (or it could be because the competitive circuit is pulling numbers and it makes sense to make a bigger deal out of it) and it's getting buzz.

Predictions?
Mine - Legends Unova. Another popular one is a new mystery dungeon

Oo, I'm excited. Hoping for something cool in Unova, too. It's my favorite region after Hoenn.

I have my doubts about a future Mystery Dungeon game. People keep hoping for a new one and they never come out with a new one. It's like Pokémon Ranger.

[Jurai]

The Tandemous's hands make me uncomfortable. Congrats on the $90 card.


Oo, I'm excited. Hoping for something cool in Unova, too. It's my favorite region after Hoenn.

I have my doubts about a future Mystery Dungeon game. People keep hoping for a new one and they never come out with a new one. It's like Pokémon Ranger.

Pokémon Legends Mystery Dungeon.

[MCerberus]

Pokémon Legends Mystery Dungeon.

Pokémon Legends Mystery Dungeon: Unova Ranger

[Lvl 2 Expert]

Pokémon Legends Mystery Dungeon: Unova Ranger

Pokémon Legends Mystery Dungeon Snap: Unova Ranger Go Sleep?

[MCerberus]

Kalos confirmed.

[Lvl 2 Expert]

Kalos confirmed.

Yeah. Pokémon Legends Z-A, playing out in Lumiose city and apparently featuring mega evolution.

They're "skipping" gen 5.

Interesting...

[TaiLiu]

Pokémon Legends Mystery Dungeon.

Pokémon Legends Mystery Dungeon: Unova Ranger

Pokémon Legends Mystery Dungeon Snap: Unova Ranger Go Sleep?

Good jokes, everyone.

Kalos confirmed.

Yeah. Pokémon Legends Z-A, playing out in Lumiose city and apparently featuring mega evolution.

They're "skipping" gen 5.

Interesting...

What? But I love Unova! Nooooooo.

[Lord Raziere]

What? But I love Unova! Nooooooo.

....I think thats exactly why they're not touching it yet.

Between Sword/Shield and Scarlet/Violet catching criticism for not being as good as they could be and the glitch stuff, the Diamond/Pearl remakes for being rushed, it might make sense to be cautious by not touching a remake of something as beloved and popular as Unova yet if they can't deliver on it being the best it can be.

Kalos on the other hand....is not as well-loved videogame wise. its a region that as far as I can tell, isn't as popular but at the same time, there never was a Pokemon Z. so they experiment with another legends game using a region that is relatively expendable, while giving the fans something that is Pokemon Z-like. its an unexpected move that if they do something exciting and good with it, can respark interest, revitalize a region that everyone remembers mostly for having the worst enemy team and mega-evolution and give it something more for people to love and if it fails.....well, its not a failure that falls on Unova, mistakes can be learned from it and either they use it to make the Unova remakes better.

they're hedging their bets. even they know that if they don't get the games with N in them right that it will be bad, so if they're attempting to do the smart thing and not crunch that, thats a good sign.

[Celestia]

Yeah. Pokémon Legends Z-A, playing out in Lumiose city and apparently featuring mega evolution.

They're "skipping" gen 5.

Interesting...

They're not "skipping" anything. Anyone who sincerely expected Gen 5 remakes from this Presents needs to go back to elementary school and learn basic pattern recognition. Those aren't "due" until Gen 10.

[Lvl 2 Expert]

They're not "skipping" anything. Anyone who sincerely expected Gen 5 remakes from this Presents needs to go back to elementary school and learn basic pattern recognition. Those aren't "due" until Gen 10.

Gamefreak has never been good at following established patterns, in fact they often try to break them up ones it becomes too predictable. And the gen 1 remakes where even in gen 3 to begin with, also gen 7. Still, people had been talking about the possibility of a Unova based Legends game, which seemed like a reasonable guess. Follow up a gen 4 game with a gen 5 one now that gen 5 has been in the nostalgia zone for some years with a lot of people appreciating it. There was also always the possibility in the air of a Pokémon Grey, a single remake with a story close to Black and White but the Pokémon availability of Black 2 and White 2. Although admittedly that's a much less likely scenario.

Gen 6 does make sense the way they're doing it. There are a lot of people who want mega evolution back, or at least wish there was a game where enemies actually use a bunch of megas. Paris anywhere between Louis the 14th and the Second World War is also a good inspiration for settings, it conjurs up mental images. I just wasn't expecting it. Also because I wasn't counting on a legends game in such an urban, dare I say modern setting, with the Eiffel Tower already in place. I probably was expecting something gen 5 first. Hence the "skipping".

[MCerberus]

Gen 6 does make sense the way they're doing it. There are a lot of people who want mega evolution back, or at least wish there was a game where enemies actually use a bunch of megas. Paris anywhere between Louis the 14th and the Second World War is also a good inspiration for settings, it conjurs up mental images. I just wasn't expecting it. Also because I wasn't counting on a legends game in such an urban, dare I say modern setting, with the Eiffel Tower already in place. I probably was expecting something gen 5 first. Hence the "skipping".

My current theory is that since the reconstruction of Paris overlaps with the Meiji era that the Legends series is set within the same general timeframe of the last quarter of the 19th century. Specifically showing the tower means that the pokemon equivalent of ~1885 is a good bet.

Of course mapping the pokemon timeline to real events is madness and I love it because of events like France nuking Normandy during either the hundred years' war or when doggerland was a thing and "god pony abducts a child"

[Spore]

They're not "skipping" anything. Anyone who sincerely expected Gen 5 remakes from this Presents needs to go back to elementary school and learn basic pattern recognition. Those aren't "due" until Gen 10.

You may be right, but you could still say it with a little bit less negativity.

[TaiLiu]

....I think thats exactly why they're not touching it yet.

Between Sword/Shield and Scarlet/Violet catching criticism for not being as good as they could be and the glitch stuff, the Diamond/Pearl remakes for being rushed, it might make sense to be cautious by not touching a remake of something as beloved and popular as Unova yet if they can't deliver on it being the best it can be.

Kalos on the other hand....is not as well-loved videogame wise. its a region that as far as I can tell, isn't as popular but at the same time, there never was a Pokemon Z. so they experiment with another legends game using a region that is relatively expendable, while giving the fans something that is Pokemon Z-like. its an unexpected move that if they do something exciting and good with it, can respark interest, revitalize a region that everyone remembers mostly for having the worst enemy team and mega-evolution and give it something more for people to love and if it fails.....well, its not a failure that falls on Unova, mistakes can be learned from it and either they use it to make the Unova remakes better.

they're hedging their bets. even they know that if they don't get the games with N in them right that it will be bad, so if they're attempting to do the smart thing and not crunch that, thats a good sign.

That makes sense. They're testing stuff out ahead of the Unova remakes.

Conversely: Don't they make games like years in advance? By the time Z-A comes out, wouldn't the Unova game already be in production?

My current theory is that since the reconstruction of Paris overlaps with the Meiji era that the Legends series is set within the same general timeframe of the last quarter of the 19th century. Specifically showing the tower means that the pokemon equivalent of ~1885 is a good bet.

Of course mapping the pokemon timeline to real events is madness and I love it because of events like France nuking Normandy during either the hundred years' war or when doggerland was a thing and "god pony abducts a child"

That's a smart thought. I was actually thinking the opposite—that Z-A would take place during the future, not the past. The trailer had all these clean scifi lines.

I think Arceus looks more like a ram.

[TaiLiu]

I like how disturbed Goh and Iris look while learning about Cradily.

Spoiler: What the Hell?

Show

[Spore]

I like how disturbed Goh and Iris look while learning about Cradily.

Spoiler: What the Hell?

Show

They are just genre savvy enough to not say it.

[TaiLiu]

They are just genre savvy enough to not say it.

To say what? :O

[Bartmanhomer]

Did everyone know that Magikarp is my favorite Pokemon of all time? Then my second favorite Pokemon is Gyarados.

[LibraryOgre]

Magikarp may be insanely useless in combat, but I wonder if there are other uses for them in the Pokeworld.

[Bartmanhomer]

Magikarp may be insanely useless in combat, but I wonder if there are other uses for them in the Pokeworld.

I know Magikarp is very weak. I love underpowered Pokemon.

[Rater202]

Magikarp may be insanely useless in combat, but I wonder if there are other uses for them in the Pokeworld.

I have repeatedly made the observation that Magikarp is probably the most evolutionarily successful Pokemon, in terms of actual "fitness for their environment" evolution.

Think about it: They can be commonly be found wild in every region except for the one, Orre, that doesn't have any native wild Pokemon. They can be found in fresh water and salt water. Being mostly scale and bone, it's unlikely that they're prey species for most organisms and, in fact, the only time IIRC the idea of eating them comes up it's scavengers going after one that got stranded on land and died. IIRC there's one game where you can drop your fishing line into a one square-wide puddle and catch Magikarp.

Pokedex entries which, admittedly, need to be taken with a grain of salt, indicate that Magikarp can thrive in waters that are too polluted for other Pokemon to survive in, can bounce on their bellies for extended periods of time, can survive outside of the water much longer than you'd expect of a fish, and reading between the lines implicitly required very little food.

The kicker of course is that some games have wild magikar that are high enough level to have evolved into a Gyarados but haven't, which combined with the relative rarity of wild Gyarados compared to wild Magikarp, suggests that for all its power, Gyarados is actually a disadvantageous form compared to the lower level... Which kind of makes sense? It's many, many times larger and thus probably needs considerably more food even if its proportionate dietary needs remained the same, which is unlikely considering that gyarados is much more active. Also, pokedex entries compare them to natural disasters and note that they have quick and violent tempers which suggest significant energy output and damage to the environment which aren't conducive to long-term survival.

[Maat Mons]

Magikarp might not be more plentiful than other Pokémon for reasons having anything to go with fitness for the environment. It's quite possible that rare Pokémon are very well suited to their niches, but have been driven to near extinction in the wild due to over--capture. Viewed through this lens, you hardly ever encounter a wild Gyarados, because they usually get captured by other 10-year-olds shortly after evolving. On the other hand, there are lots of wild Magikarp around because no one wants to waste a Pokéball on them.

[Celestia]

Think about it: They can be commonly be found wild in every region except for the one, Orre, ...

They also cannot be found in Unova.

Magikarp might not be more plentiful than other Pokémon for reasons having anything to go with fitness for the environment. It's quite possible that rare Pokémon are very well suited to their niches, but have been driven to near extinction in the wild due to over--capture. Viewed through this lens, you hardly ever encounter a wild Gyarados, because they usually get captured by other 10-year-olds shortly after evolving. On the other hand, there are lots of wild Magikarp around because no one wants to waste a Pokéball on them.

Trainers with Gyarados are also very rare, though.

It's more likely that evolved mons are rare because the environment just can't support them. They require more food and space, so while a few can survive, too many evolved mons will strain the ecosystem to a breaking point. They are forced to compete with each other, and most perish. The smaller, unevovled mons are, thus, more fit to survive in the wild, just like how large animals are dwindling in our world.

[Maat Mons]

The smaller, unevovled mons are, thus, more fit to survive in the wild, just like how large animals are dwindling in our world.

Large animals are dwindling in our world because of human activity. It's not that they aren't "fit to survive in the wild."

[Celestia]

Large animals are dwindling in our world because of human activity. It's not that they aren't "fit to survive in the wild."

Surprisingly, there's a fair number of humans in the Pokémon world.

[Maat Mons]

Surprisingly, there's a fair number of humans in the Pokémon world.

Which, I think, supports my theory that human activity is responsible for the relative lack of certain Pokémon in the Pokéverse.

[enderlord99]

Which, I think, supports my theory that human activity is responsible for the relative lack of certain Pokémon in the Pokéverse.

I think what Celestia is getting at is that human-induced evolutionary pressures are, in fact, evolutionary pressures, and therefore something to which the concept of "fitness" applies just fine.

The intersectional diagram* of "they can't survive because of humans" and "they can't survive because of something in their environment" isn't two separate circles, nor two partly-overlapping circles; it's a little circle inside of a big circle.

*"Venn diagram" is formally defined to not work for this description and Euler has enough things named after him

[MCerberus]

We need a word for species slowly changing due to evolutionary pressures in the pokemon world. We should call it "metamorphosis" to fully mess with biology majors.

Also, new TCG set. rotation. all that jazz. none of that matters, I have multiple Snom

[Bartmanhomer]

I just wish that Gamefreak would be more receptive and inclusive of Pokemon that was created by fans.

[Celestia]

Which, I think, supports my theory that human activity is responsible for the relative lack of certain Pokémon in the Pokéverse.

You specifically said that evolved Pokémon are rare because they get caught. I'm saying they're rare because of a lack of resources, a problem exacerbated by human activity.

I just wish that Gamefreak would be more receptive and inclusive of Pokemon that was created by fans.

They legally can't. That would cause copyright issues.

[Bartmanhomer]

[QUOTE=Celestia;25993751


They legally can't. That would cause copyright issues.[/QUOTE]

You're right. They can't unless fans work for Gamefreak though