Pokémon

[IslaKariese]

...What kind of a beast is Shedinja anyway? You should've seen my face when I noticed it only had one Hit Point - how does that even happen? Even the weakest, most untrained Pokemon have more than one Hit Point, don't they?

[Victin]

...What kind of a beast is Shedinja anyway? You should've seen my face when I noticed it only had one Hit Point - how does that even happen? Even the weakest, most untrained Pokemon have more than one Hit Point, don't they?

Shedinja's special ability makes invulnerable to all but super effective attacks. He's Ghost/Bug dual type, so...

[Rick Healey]

As mentioned , Shedinja is a Bug/Ghost type, and it has two quirks. One is that it has a programming override to always set its max HP to 1. Absolutely nothing can be done about it. The other is its ability, Wonder Guard, which prevents direct damage from any source that doesn't do super effective damage to it. With its type, that's five attack types - Rock, Flying, Fire, Ghost, and Dark.

Worth noting that many popular attack types (Ground, Water, Dragon, Ice, Electric) do nothing to it - one of the most popular builds EVER (Kyogre with Water Spout, Thunder, Ice Beam, Surf) can't touch it.

That said, notice how I said "direct damage" above? There are several types of damage that are classified as "indirect" - and those all work regardless of type. This includes damage from three status ailments (poison, burn, and confusion). It also includes the adverse weather Sandstorm and Blizzard (worth noting that I specialize in Sandstorm teams).;There's also entry hazards, which Shedinja can't avoid. Finally, there are several moves that affect abilities, which Shedinja cannot prevent. One Skill Swap, Gastro Acid, Worry Seed, Simple Beam, or Entrainment, and Shedinja loses its awesome ability.

Shedinja is considered a gimmick because it will rip apart anyone reliant on beatstick-style teams, but a solidly built theme team can tear it apart.

[Pixelmage]

This actually itches me, and makes me face my major issue with Pokemon.

The system and the metagame are fascinating. But what about the frustration aspect and next gen pressure? I mean, everything seems to be Mega Evolutions and X and Y now, from a non-player perspective. But wasn't it all Black 2 and White 2 just a little while ago?

I understand the potential advantage a long time player could have in amassing options, like carrying over that Blastoise from waaaaay back in the Blue days over to the present. Or that perfect IV <Something> they where the lucky ones to get in Emerald, for that matter. But at the same time, how can you all handle all of the starting from scratch every single time? It takes dozens of hours to beat a game, and several dozen more to actually acquire and raise a well rounded team, by which point the next game (and portable, apparently) is already on the next corner.

Personally, watching it from afar the mechanics and characters interest me, but the game feels much like running after my tail, so to speak.

[Krika]

Side note: You can't use a Pokémon from the first two gens in any newer games. Gen II games could import Gen I pokemon, but starting with Gen III, the ability to transfer up still exists, so you can still transfer Ruby and Sapphire Pokemon up to X and Y if you so wish, but not any earlier.

[Pixelmage]

That actually explains a lot. I wasn't aware it was possible, or rather, that it is a permanent option. From what I remember seeing, most things seemed event-only or temporary means only available from one gen to the one immediately following it, so I'd actually have to transfer from Ruby to Pearl, then to Black, then to X. Or something along these lines.

Having played Emerald and then stepped away, it would be impossible for me to recover my team should I decide to go back now in X, for example.

(Plus, wanna catch Mewtwo? Sure, come to Japan to a stand-alone event for a ticket to unlock his island in your game! Mega Blaziken, why of course you want to attend and will be able to do so!)

[Krika]

I know you can use the Pal Park I think it's called to go from Gen 3 to Gen 4, and then you can use this other thing in Gen 5 to get from Gen 4 to Gen 5, and then the new Pokébank thing can go from 5 to 6.

[Rick Healey]

This actually itches me, and makes me face my major issue with Pokemon.

The system and the metagame are fascinating. But what about the frustration aspect and next gen pressure? I mean, everything seems to be Mega Evolutions and X and Y now, from a non-player perspective. But wasn't it all Black 2 and White 2 just a little while ago?

The funny thing is that in most cases, Black 2/White 2 (and similarly, Black/White) didn't radically alter the metagame much. There was some shuffling in ubers, and sun and rain teams did come out of ubers (but then faced quick restrictions), but the funny thing is, almost nothing introduced in generation 5 made a dent in the higher tiers.

Honestly, I think the impact of Mega Evolutions in the metagame, once it stabilizes, is not going to be that drastic. For one thing, most of the improvements in stats only bring the 'mons in question up to the level of some of the bigger overused 'mons in the first place. For another, in many cases, it actually makes them more vulnerable (Mega Gyarados, Mega Ampharos, and Mega Charizard X all stand out there). For another, it uses up that 'mon's item slot, and in many cases, that lack of item hurts more (particularly Mega Gengar, Mega Heracross, and Mega Pinsir). Finally, you can have only one Mega Evolution per team, so it's limited in terms of how much it can shift the battle.

It will undeniably impact the metagame, but honestly, Mega Evolutions aren't the part of Gen VI that seems like it'll affect it the most. That's going to be the Fairy type, which much of the fandom is still tossing back and forth (one thing that doesn't help - almost all of the Fairy types have substandard stats; Gardevoir and Mr. Mime are seemingly the top of the type).

I understand the potential advantage a long time player could have in amassing options, like carrying over that Blastoise from waaaaay back in the Blue days over to the present. Or that perfect IV <Something> they where the lucky ones to get in Emerald, for that matter. But at the same time, how can you all handle all of the starting from scratch every single time? It takes dozens of hours to beat a game, and several dozen more to actually acquire and raise a well rounded team, by which point the next game (and portable, apparently) is already on the next corner.

You start from scratch every time you start a new game. If starting from scratch bothered me, I'd never play a new game again. In some ways, it's a relief. I know that, at some point, I'll be able to skip ahead in my progress and start importing some of the extras I caught last time.

I've studied much into the metagame; I've been perfecting how to breed and train my 'mons for years. And they make it easier every generation... the types of techniques I had to rely on back in Gold/Silver are now quaint, and keep in mind that I actually caught the PokeRus in that generation (worth noting, I've caught it *3* times since then on my own, not counting how many people trade infected 'mons on GTS as a community service). I haven't actually trained any teams yet; keep in mind that it took me a matter of days in gen 5 to train a team, and it's looking like it'll be even faster in X/Y.

Personally, watching it from afar the mechanics and characters interest me, but the game feels much like running after my tail, so to speak.

I think it's because you've dived into the deepest part of the metagame without observing just what it entirely consists of. It's not nearly as fearsome as it first looks.

As for the event 'mons issue... oh God, that drives me nuts, and I have been keeping up. Though the funny part is that Mewtwo is not an event 'mon for the first time in many generations - there's one in the wild in X/Y. Though the event-exclusive 'mons drive me particularly batty - the infamous Mew Clones (since they all pretty much have a base 100 in each stat, like Mew).

[SpiritfChaos]

I have obtained a copy of Y and I am trying to breed a shiny Honedge named Hexcalibur.

[Rick Healey]

You're actually trying to breed a Shiny? More the fool you - while every encountered Pokemon has a chance to be Shiny (and this includes hatched Pokemon; I hatched a shiny Aerodactyl in Gen IV, and it was the first non-event Shiny I ever got - I went all of Gen II and Gen III without finding one), the odds are pretty ridiculous overall.

That said, from everything I've read, the Masuda Method still works in X/Y. (The Masuda Method is easy - just make sure that the breeding parents come from different countries from each other - I admittedly frequently trade for things that appear to be junk just to get stuff from other countries to invoke this.) That said, it's unknown if the Shiny Charm is still obtainable in Gen VI; even if it is, though, I'd bet that it'd be unavailable until you could complete the National Pokedex, so you'd need to wait for Pokemon Bank to be released. And even then, combining the Masuda Method and the Shiny Charm results in a 1 in 1024 chance.

[SpiritfChaos]

You're actually trying to breed a Shiny? More the fool you - while every encountered Pokemon has a chance to be Shiny (and this includes hatched Pokemon; I hatched a shiny Aerodactyl in Gen IV, and it was the first non-event Shiny I ever got - I went all of Gen II and Gen III without finding one), the odds are pretty ridiculous overall.

That said, from everything I've read, the Masuda Method still works in X/Y. (The Masuda Method is easy - just make sure that the breeding parents come from different countries from each other - I admittedly frequently trade for things that appear to be junk just to get stuff from other countries to invoke this.) That said, it's unknown if the Shiny Charm is still obtainable in Gen VI; even if it is, though, I'd bet that it'd be unavailable until you could complete the National Pokedex, so you'd need to wait for Pokemon Bank to be released. And even then, combining the Masuda Method and the Shiny Charm results in a 1 in 1024 chance.

I have time.

[Krika]

Does anyone, by chance, happen to collect Pokémon trading cards?

[narrativedilettante]

When I was 9 or 10 I did, a little, but I never took it very seriously. I did have a binder for them, though.

In fact, I probably still do have that binder full of Pokemon cards somewhere...

(They're probably not worth much; I didn't bother to get particularly rare ones or really take care of them.)

[Victin]

I think this is a really cool video,*cough* and so far Disgressing and Sidequesting is also a cool series *runs*

[RotavatoR]

Guys.
GUYS GUYS GUYS
http://www.twitch.tv/twitchplayspokemon
<3

[Victin]

Shane linked to it in another thread, and I started following it. I find it awesome, though I don't usually go there because of my crappy internet. I do follow the news though.

[SpiritfChaos]

So I recently had my first battle with a friend and realized I suck at training. Thank Gurt I have Reset Bags.

[JackAlsworth]

Possibly relevant.

[Pixelmage]

*mandatory expression of displeasure with the fact that such an... Activity... Exists and that poor Pikachu got dragged down so low*

[Blurred_9L]

Well... with how things have been going for Nintendo, I guess they needed money (I'm assuming they do get paid for this, othewise the proper reaction would be a )

[Victin]

I was actually happy when they did that for the first time. I liked what they did.

[SpiritfChaos]

:|

*mandatory expression of displeasure with the fact that such an... Activity... Exists and that poor Pikachu got dragged down so low*

The sponsorship, or soccer? I like soccer though.

[Scarab]

:|

*mandatory expression of displeasure with the fact that such an... Activity... Exists and that poor Pikachu got dragged down so low*

The sponsorship, or soccer? I like soccer though.

I think he means the soccer, and once you read a little bit about Brazil's current political and economic climate and it's ubiquitous soccer involvement in spite of said climate, his annoyance will start to make sense.

Although, not to ignore the many Pokémon fans amongst us, but given that Pikachu himself is the product of a massive merchandising campaign specifically designed to fleece school kids of millions, I'm not sure he's so innocent in this analogy either.

[Victin]

I was browsing the internet when I found again that website that lets you put Pokémons' faces over other Pokémons' bodies, and clicking the random button I got Dratini/Flareon. I liked it, and then I find me colouring Flareon wondering "how hard could it be?". I had bet on hard, but it was easier than I thought, and since the place I took the sprites from also had already sprites with their limbs separated, I put Growlithe's legs on it. Then I put Arcanine's butt just for the heck of it. I think that's what happened, anyhow. Here, have... Whatever you want to call it.

[IslaKariese]

I shall call it... Arcalitheon! May or may not be shiny, I'unno.