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Pokemon: The muscles that will make the future bright!
Sterica
YesRegistered User, Moderator mod
YesRegistered User, Moderator mod
DO NOT SAVE IN THE BLUE AREAS IN LUMIOSE CITY. THERE IS A POTENTIALLY SAVE-BREAKING BUG.
IT'S FIGHTING-TYPE MANIA 2013 IN THE POKEMON THREAD...BROTHER.
Let's get right into the meat of this: the new generation. While Gen Five played things a bit more conservatively, Six is really mixing things up. Here's the blow-by-blow, and if you've missed a few generations since you last pokemon game, then just scroll past this and catch up on older changes first.
- Full 3D Graphics: Yowza! The first pokemon to abandoned its cherish sprite tradition and go for fancy polygons and whatnot. No doubt the game will look pretty awesome with the 3D cranked up.
- New Region: Kalos, a region based on France.
- Enhanced Online: The bottom screen now serves as a hub for multiplayer. You can easily trade/battle with friends or strangers, and even help someone out in single-player battles via O-Powers. If you're feeling bold, you can try Wonder Trade, letting you send away a pokemon and get something totally random from someone else in the world.
- New Type, Fairy: Designed to rein in dragons a bit, Fairy is so far super effective against Dragon, Dark, and Fighting types. It is not very effective against Fire, Poison, and Steel. Fairy is weak to Poison and Steel while resisting Fighting, Bug, and Dark. They are immune to Dragon moves.
- Other balance changes: Steel loses resistance to both Ghost and Dark, Ghosts are immune to switch-prevention effects like Shadow Tag, Electrics are completely immune to paralysis, and so forth.
- Mega Evolutions: Certain pokemon can evolve even further. In reality this is more like different forms than legitimate evolutions, as they revert to their original species after the battle ends. Mega evolution requires a specific held item, and you have an option to active the mega evolution while in a battle. What happens depends on the pokemon. Some get new abilities, other get different stats, and some like Mega Ampharos even get a new type. Mega Pokemon are designed to be on par with legendaries (though it's worth noting that some legendaries wind up in Tiers well below Ubers) and you can have only one Mega Pokemon on your team.
- Horde Encounters: Sometimes you fight a whole swarm of wild pokemon at once, typically pokemon you'd expect to operate in a herd mentality (a herd of Tauros and Miltank is the obvious example). Obviously this is be a bit more challenging since you pokemon has to endure several attacks at once.
- You can ride pokemon, which I guess replaces the bike? No idea if this is limited to specific pokemon yet.
- There will be an app called Pokemon Bank, which allows you to store pokemon on Nintendo's servers. It is the largest pokemon storage yet, allowing for 3,000 pokemon to be stored. The catch is that it's a paid service with an annual fee of five bucks, but there will be a month-long free demo when it launches.
- HATS AND CLOTHES. You can buy different outfits for your player character. This is also the first Pokemon game to feature different skin color option for your character.
- Sky Battles: These are optional battles that, at least so far, are like normal battles except only certain pokemon can participate. In a nutshell, if the pokemon's battle model is floating/flying in the air, it can Sky Battle. Yes, this means a Farfetch'd cannot do a Sky Battle. Yes, this is incredibly silly.
- Pokemon-Aime: Feed and play with your pokemon, which interacts with happiness. It looks like a combination of Pokemon and Nintendogs.
- Super Training: Finally, at long last, proper EV training, complete with ways to track your progress for a particular pokemon. Play minigames to boost those values.
- MORE POKEMANS: around 70 new critters, not counting the 20 or so known mega evolutions.
Are you an old veteran of Red and Blue? Maybe you took a break after Platinum? Or perhaps the nostalgia bug has bitten you? It doesn't matter, because here is a very short history on each generation including the changes each brought to core gameplay and how "good" it is or isn't to revisit.
Note: Generation I and II are currently the only generations that cannot trade with other generations. So long as you have the equipment, it is entirely possible to trade pokemon from Generation III all the way to Generation VI.
Generation I
Hardware: Game Boy
Main Games: Red & Blue
Special Edition: Yellow
Comments: Sometimes you can't go home again. While there's no doubt that Generation 1 will hold a fond place in our hearts for introducing us to this crazy franchise, it has a boatload of issues that will probably hamper any replays. The game also lacks a ton of the Quality of Life additions that modern games have, which will further hurt the experience. Sometimes these things are better left in the past.
Generation II
Hardware: Game Boy
Main Games: Gold & Silver
Special Edition: Crystal
New Features: Two new types (dark and steel), pokemon can hold items, Special stat split into special attack and special defense, genders added along with breeding, day of the week and time added
Comments: There are some people that claim Gen I was the peak of pokemon. Then there's basically everyone else who will argue Generation II is the, er, Golden Age of pokemon. It's a stronger argument, with significantly more balanced gameplay, fewer bugs and general issues, and a ton of content. It's so far the only generation where you can visit the previous generation's region and fight old gym leaders. You can even fight the protagonist from the previous generation. Crazy. This is probably the earliest you can go back and still find pokemon more or less playable.
Generation III
Main Series: Ruby & Sapphire
Hardware: Game Boy Advance
Main Games: Ruby & Sapphire
Special Edition: Emerald
Remakes: Fire Red & Leaf Green
New Features: Pokemon have passive traits called "abilities" such as immunity to sleep or one-hit kill moves, double battles allow for 2v2 matchups, pokemon have natures that exchange 10% of one stat for 10% of another, the player character actually has a dad
Comments: I'm overly harsh on Gen III sometimes. I don't like most of the designs of many of the pokemon, and at the time Nintendo had no way of obtaining most of the old school pokemon on Ruby/Sapphire, forcing you to buy the remakes or the Gamecube RPGS to get the ones you want. It isn't TERRIBLE, however, and I actually recommend the remakes if you really are in the mood to relive Gen I.
Generation IV
Hardware: Nintendo DS
Main Game: Diamond & Pearl
Special Edition: Platinum
Remakes: Heart Gold & Soul Silver
New Features: Attack Type no longer determines if a move if physical or special (ie Thunderbolt is special whereas Thunderpunch is physical), internet trading and battling added to the series
Comments: I think Gen IV revitalized the series for a lot of people. Dual screen is really nice for pokemon, and internet finally brought communities together in a tangible way. As usual, the remakes are really awesome although apparently getting increasingly hard to find these days. Not a lot of complaints here. I especially like some of the evolutions for older pokemon like Yanma.
Generation V
Generation Five
Hardware: Nintendo DS
Main Game: Black & White
Special Edition: Black 2 & White 2
New Features: TMs have infinite uses. You're Welcome.
Comments: Gen V is a pretty interesting game. The main series has this weird "alternate history" feel because you don't see any of the older pokemon until you beat the Elite Four, so you see a lot of reimagined pokemon like a new take on Machop, Geodude, Zubat, and other mainstays. The storyline was more at the forefront this time around with the villain actually questioning the ethics of pokemon training and being like a Pokemon Animal Liberation Front. Interesting though it doesn't really explore the issue like it could. This was a pretty brief generation, so there's not even a Ruby/Sapphire remake this time around.
This is less of a direct FAQ and more of a general information dump that should answer any questions.
Pokemon X and Y are out the fuck right now, go buy it. No 3DS? Your options are:
- Bundle Option: Includes a red or blue 3DS XL, and a copy of Pokemon X or Y.
- Fancy Option: The Special Edition 3DS XL and a separate purchase of X or Y.
- Cheap Option: The 3DS and a separate purchase of X or Y. The 3DS is a solid machine, but the screen is smaller and is lacking a few nice things the XL has (battery life, etc)
- Cheapest Option: The 2DS and a separate of X or Y. The 2DS is not bad, but you're giving up a lot of features for the savings.
You can transfer Pokemon from Black/White 1 & 2 to X/Y. There will be an app that allows you to store pokemon from your Gen 5 games and then swap out your Gen 5 game for X or Y and use the app to finish the transfer. You HAVE to own Pokemon to transfer pokemon, so yes technically the Gen V to VI transfer costs money. HOWEVER, the app will be free for about a month when it releases.
Websites
Note: Due to the difficulty in hacking X/Y AND a worldwide release, non-Japanese players have never gone into a generation so blindly. Information is spotty and still in-progress, but it's getting there.
Global Link Site: A fancy Nintendo thing that will have FEATURES.
Bulpedia: Basically the biggest load of ANY kind of pokemon information on the internet.
Serebii.net: I don't really like the Serebii guy, but it's a good source of information and is another alternate pokedex should others be down.
Smogon: The site for competitive multiplayer. Has tier listings as well as decent articles and information on how to begin assembling a team. Also has individual critques of each pokemon's competitive capabilities, complete with some suggested movelists.
Pokemon Showdown: A very popular battle simulator complete with features like replays. It actually has a really nice, clean pokedex if you need one. Not updated for Gen VI yet.
IVs and EVs
IVs are Individual Values and EVs are Effort Values.
An IV is a basically random numbers assigned to a specific pokemon that determines how high or low their stats will be. One Raichu may have high HP whereas another Raichu has lower HP due to the difference in HP IVs. Note that this variation in stats is still within a certain range for that species (aka Base Stats). All golems have shitty special defense, but a golem with a 30 IV in that stat will be better off than a golem with a 10 IV. For the most part IVs are random, although breeding can influence them if you're hardcore enough. It's best not to worry about IVs since in the long run, as they don't matter a terrible amount with a few key exceptions (mostly 100 HP substitutes or outspeeding). Getting PERFECT IVS is practically impossible without cheating, and the safest bet is to go for high IVs in stats that matter (Attack/Special Attack and Speed for an offensive pokemon).
Effort Values is kind of like "stat experience" to further customize a pokemon's stats. For example, knocking out an Electrode will give a pokemon X Speed EVs, and every X speed EVs will cause that pokemon's speed to go up by one. There's a cap on the total amount of EVs you can have (regardless of what stat they're for) and there's also a cap on how many EVs of a particular stat a pokemon can possess. EVs ARE considered important, and a bulk of forming your team is tweaking their stats via a process calling "EV Training." In X/Y you can do Super Training, which is fun, easy, and quick. EV grinding Six Magikarp Man for speed EVs is pretty much dead.
Dream World Abilities
Gen V had a website where you uploaded your pokemon to and did various activities. You could catch pokemon there and send it back to your game, and they would have abilities that they normally didn't have. Now, X/Y have something called Global Link, of which all the details aren't solid yet. There's also supposedly methods that let you access Dream World (aka Hidden) abilities.
Hey, I hear people like this stuff.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xMnwB6neGlY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XMY2zbVuloM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gmywDbnC5oc
This is for stuff going on in the pokemon world and little things people on this forum put together.
Torchic : Until January, you can go online and get a free Torchic that is holding the Mega Stone necessary for Blaziken's mega evolution. Just head into the game and hit up Mystery Gift.
Shiny Giratina: GEN V EVENT. Head to a Gamestop before October 20th and it's yours.
If you wish to be added, please PM or @ me in the thread.
Aeyther: 2406-5131-9006
Anialos: 0103-9568-0853
Artreus: 1590-4692-3954
Asharaxx: 5413-0219-8736
Beasteh: 0087-3748-0294
Bendery Like Beckham: 0275-8140-6235
Big Red Tie: 3926-4292-8829
Blackbeard7: 3480-2868-5899
Bluedude152: 2595-0531-2979
casby: 0061-0863-4958
Ceno: 4871-3718-5715
The Cow King: 1907-9225-2803
Crimson King: 4742-6001-2106
drp527: 0216-0910-3881
DJ Antwan: 1392-5219-3149
Emerlmaster999: 0344-9387-2002
Goose!: 4940-5859-6219
Gofflesby: 0216-0851-9288
Halos Nach Tariff: 1161-0285-3351
Heatwave: 4227-1965-3206
Huntera: 2981-5737-5781
I need a name to post: 2793-1554-7378
Isoldae: 3282-3093-3348
jgeis: 2320-6460-9072
Jimothy: 3668-8012-6724
King Riptor: 3024-6018-5401
Klendy: 3110-4958-3089
Kor: 3050-7671-2707
Kwoaru: 3496-9713-7513
Lasbrook: 0920-0540-0190
Marathon: 4184-2563-8329
Melding: 5386-8415-3207
Neutered: 4682-9858-8261
Nirya: 2981-5304-3227
PaperLuigi44: 4553-9983-6412
Psykoma: 1461-6396-6955
RMED: 1607-2700-0798
Rorus Raz: 3995-6854-1079
Satanic Jesus: 0533-5338-5186
SCREECH OF THE FARG: 2707-3022-4350
Shen: 2234-8122-8398
Shill: 5172-0553-2537
Shorty: 0490-5638-2130
Silver: 0619-4325-9419
SingleCell: 1091-8702-0118
Speed Racer: 3668-8081-7919
Spoit: 0344-9296-6644
Stilts: 3282-1752-8749
-Tal: 4613-6287-6328
Treagy: 3050-7564-8415
Turambar: 3411-1109-4537
turtleant: 1005-9780-7144
Vann Diras: 3282-2877-8438
Wyborn: 2406-5129-4317
Yukira: 4854-6566-1045
Sterica on
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Posts
Not really.
but not as dumb as
well she was more creepy than dumb looking I guess
even the obvious level 1 breeding rejects/trade fodder!
I don't want to use a chespin named robotnik I just want a damn chespin
Aka EL GENERICO
even caught him in that beautiful all white premier ball
Also, BugGirl is the highest level member of my team.
Speaking of @Rorus Raz would you please put mine in the OP list
1161 0285 3351
Were they right or was I just talking to an unaware employee?
Just restored power to Paris. So excited that I will lose all of my money on fancy clothes soon.
I'll remember you
You were rad
Just not as rad as lucha hawk
Oh, I don't particularly care anout the special 3DS, I just want a red XL whenever I have the money for it.
I've just heard such a bundle of the game and system mentioned in the thread a few times. I asked about it a little while ago and the guy working the store told me there was no such deal.
Putting in your FC gives me a 'Friend Code is incorrect' error. Is the one in your signature correct or is there a problem at my end?
Lemme dubs check, thanks Halo
actually I am 3110-4958-3089
on a totally related note, how do you @ someone with a space in their name?
Yeah afaik it's not a bundle, just a pokemon themed 3ds-xl on its own, and the game on its own.
What happened was between then and now he blew up in popularity so hes fairly easy to find almost immediately . Scraggy army for life
@Rorus Raz add me to the list also please, 3480-2709-7090
0216-0910-3881
Black2: 1593 2528 7190 3DS:0216-0910-3881 LoL:drp527
4613-6287-6328
put their name in quotation marks
[at-sign]"Rorus Raz" for example
how're all y'alls doin?
Twitch (I stream most days of the week)
Twitter (mean leftist discourse)
My friend code is in my sig!
I throw a single quick ball and then the battle ends
that sure was anticlimactic
Black2: 1593 2528 7190 3DS:0216-0910-3881 LoL:drp527
It's a shame too, because it's so big and you can go down all these alleyways and into cafes and such that it feels like a proper sized city, but it's just so annoying trying to get anywhere, much less orient yourself.
Also I added a bunch of people from this page if anyone wants to be my pokefriend.