History YMMV / PokemonXandY

* VindicatedByHistory: As per usual for ''Pokémon'' games. Initially, after the games' "honeymoon period" ended, fans were extremely critical of ''Pokémon X'' and ''Pokémon Y'' for elements such as its lack of postgame or challenge, poor balance, technical issues and weak story. However, after Generations VII and even moreso VIII proved to be even more controversial, fans began warming up to ''X'' and ''Y'' once again, appreciating elements that were removed or degraded in later games such as (some amount of) exploration, the older protagonists, the beautiful region, Mega Evolutions, the massive regional Pokédex, Pokémon-Amie, and ''especially'' the Player Search System. Furthermore, many fans also began to appreciate the many quality-of-life improvements in the jump from 2D to 3D, and how much of a leap forward ''X'' and ''Y'' were at the time of release despite its numerous steps backwards. While the games still get some flak (especially by fans of the "early modern" era of Generations III through V), they gained more defenders over time for their various strengths who are able to appreciate them as a competent first step into 3D for Game Freak, mostly brought down by the fact that [[FranchiseOriginalSin their flaws, rather than their strengths,]] were built upon in subsequent games.
* TheWoobie: To some, Calem/Serena. While s/he is fueled by the desire to get stronger than you, you always end up one step ahead of him/her and s/he simply can't figure out why. S/he's not like the wacky or arrogant rivals in previous games; s/he's a serious trainer raising his/her team, but s/he still CantCatchUp. So why can't s/he can't beat you? It's because you're the [[TheHero player character]], and s/he's not. Made HarsherInHindsight by the fact that s/he ''would've'' been the successful player character if you'd picked the opposite gender. [[FailureIsTheOnlyOption You always have to step all over his/her hopes and dreams to move forward]], and it starts to get a bit sad to see him/her come up short every time.[[spoiler:The postgame does reveal that [[ThrowTheDogABone they've managed to get a Mega Ring of their own in the end, though how they got it is never clearly explained.]]]] Hammering this home is his/her animation for when they lose. Where most trainers with full 3D models get something cartoonish, silly, or resigned, Calem and Serena look downright frustrated by their loss. It's summed up well by [[http://agentemerald.tumblr.com/post/64428128195/so-im-not-finished-with-the-game-yet-but-am-i-the this person]]: [[WhamLine You are the Rival's Gary Oak.]]

*** Tyrunt and Tyrantrum, the [[OurDragonsAreDifferent Dragon]]-type ''TyrannosaurusRex'' Pokémon. Fans had been clamoring for a Pokémon directly based on ''T. rex'' for ages and tend to take kindly to [[InstantAwesomeJustAddDragons Dragon-types]], so it's no surprise that Tyrantrum was voted [[http://www.dorkly.com/article/57168/toplist-results-the-15-greatest-generation-vi-pokemon/page:5 the second most popular Gen VI Pokémon]] by Dorkly users, only behind BreakoutCharacter Greninja.

** The music. Some think ''Pokémon X'' and ''Y''[='=]s soundtrack a solid entry in the series, while others find it painfully bland compared to that of other games. The end credits song "KISEKI", in particular, is seen as either heartwarming and beautiful or pretentious and unfitting, particularly as its lyrics aren't actually sung; many fans agree that the concept of a Nintendo song with lyrics was built upon better with "[[VideoGame/SuperMarioOdyssey Jump Up, Super Star!]]" and "[[VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosUltimate Lifelight]]", both of which have sung lyrics but also have a different tone from "KISEKI" (the former being very cheery, the latter being somber but triumphant).

** Kalos' French basis is less unanimously popular in the United States than in Japan and European countries, due to the fact that the US doesn't have a prominent ForeignCultureFetish for France like Japan does. Additionally, ''X'' and ''Y''[='s=] main intra-FandomRivalry is with the Unova games and Alola games, which take place in American-based regions. Some American Unova fans (especially on Website/FourChan) [[PatrioticFervor treat their region as a]] SacredCow for this reason (among many others) while mocking Kalos' French roots and using it as an additional point of criticism, with French Kalos fans doing the same in return (especially since anti-American sentiments are pretty common in Europe in general).

** The Fairy type in general, due to its super-effectiveness against fan-favorite types along with its versatility in general. Most fans agree that it helped to balance the type chart, but argue about whether the possible best type in the game is one that falls under GirlShowGhetto is a good or bad thing, particularly as the type mostly consists of {{Ridiculously Cute Critter}}s and/or extremely feminine Pokémon with exaggerated TertiarySexualCharacteristics; Sylveon and Primarina (from [[VideoGame/PokemonSunAndMoon the following generation]]) are infamous for having such designs despite their gender ratios, with overly-feminine design elements[[note]]that are unnecessarily [[UncannyValley anthropomorphized]] in the latter's case[[/note]] that put [[Franchise/SuperMarioBros Princess Peach]] to shame. Some people love the Fairy type, while others (particularly men and tomboyish women who are drawn to more "badass" Pokémon) are more divided on it.
*** Fairy Type has drawn some consternation for being {{Retcon}}ned onto pre-existing Pokémon families-- the Clefairy, Snubbull families and Togepi were all made pure-fairy type, while Jigglypuff, Mr. Mime, Marill, Ralts, Mawaile, Cottonee, and several others were made secondary type, which can cause cases of DamnYouMuscleMemory when you try to, say, attack a once normal-type Clefairy with a fighting-type move, or a once pure psychic-type Ralts with a dark type move. Meanwhile, the last time new types were introduced-- the Dark and Steel types in ''VideoGame/PokemonGoldAndSilver''-- Steel was only retroactively added to the Magnemite family, and no pre-existing family was given the Dark Type ([[UndergroundMonkey Alolan forms]] [[VideoGame/PokemonSunAndMoon notwithstanding]]), which makes some wonder why Game Freak couldn't have just made new fairy-type Pokémon instead of retconning no less than twenty Pokemon to be an entirely different type.

** The music. Some think ''Pokémon X'' and ''Y''[='=]s soundtrack a solid entry in the series, while others find it painfully bland compared to that of other games. The end credits song in particular is seen as either heartwarming and beautiful or pretentious and unfitting.

* VindicatedByHistory: As per usual for ''Pokémon'' games. Initially, after the games' "honeymoon period" ended, fans were extremely critical of ''Pokémon X'' and ''Pokémon Y'' for elements such as its lack of postgame or challenge, poor balance, technical issues and weak story. However, after Generations VII and even moreso VIII proved to be even more controversial, fans began warming up to ''X'' and ''Y'' once again, appreciating elements that were removed or degraded in later games such as (some amount of) exploration, the older protagonists, the beautiful region, Mega Evolutions, the massive regional Pokédex, and ''especially'' the Player Search System. Furthermore, many fans also began to appreciate the many quality-of-life improvements in the jump from 2D to 3D, and how much of a leap forward ''X'' and ''Y'' were at the time of release despite its numerous steps backwards. While the games still get some flak (especially by fans of the "early modern" era of Generations III through V), they gained more defenders over time for their various strengths.

*** Since Mega Kangaskhan is an [[EnsembleDarkhorse fan favorite]], many trainers jumped at the chance to train her. The news that she was banned from ''Website/{{Smogon}}'' due to the inflicting {{Total Party Kill}}s with very few counters left a sour taste in ''many'' fans which play under Smogon rules. Most people already had a well-loved and well-trained one on their team, so when the news got out, it wasn't uncommon to take it as a personal attack against their friend and partner. Although this don't affect people which play rating or free battles in the game, since the '''Official rules''' allows the use Mega Kangaskhan.

** In one of the Lumiose City office buildings, a Hex Maniac appears from the elevator, moves around you without any animations, and then says "No, you're not the one." before returning to the elevator. No explanation for the event and it never occurs again. ''Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire'' reference the event by including a Hex Maniac with the same quote (it's implied that this Hex Maniac is the ghost, as the games precede ''X and Y'' chronologically), but it still doesn't answer things.

* AlternativeCharacterInterpretation:
** He seems goofy and harmless enough, but Sycamore may possess a sharp mind of [[TheChessmaster Chessmaster]] proportions. Unable to act against [[spoiler:Lysandre and Team Flare]] because of politics, he makes use of a BatmanGambit to make things right that he couldn't personally fix. Having left the Tower of Mastery fairly quickly after joining, fans also joke about him being incompetent at his job, or just getting you away from the house so he could bang your mom.
** Lysandre's brief attempt at WeCanRuleTogether with Diantha and general belief that she should remain beautiful eternally can be taken as [[VillainousCrush something else entirely...]]

* FranchiseOriginalSin: To [[BrokenBase the subset of players]] critical of Gen VI and VII. Taken on their own, many argue that ''Pokémon X'' and ''Pokémon Y'' are reasonably solid for the first new games of a console (let alone a generation), as Game Freak has a track record of introducing new generations with unpolished pairs of games and then gradually ironing out the flaws with third versions, sequels and remakes. Two of the biggest criticisms of ''X'' and ''Y'' were its lack of postgame features and its intrusive, plodding story, and while nothing new for the ''Pokémon'' franchise, they became more criticized over time as later games repeated those flaws.
** The postgame of ''X'' and ''Y'' is small, but was not initially widely criticized for its lack of content; it played host to the well-liked Looker storyline, there were a few other things for players to do besides catch Legendaries and participate in the Battle Maison, and above all, with ''X'' and ''Y'' designed to streamline competitive battling, Kiloude City was seen as a [[JustHereForGodzilla highlight]] of the games that many players were eager to access. However, the following set of games, ''Omega Ruby'' and ''Alpha Sapphire'', was criticized for having only a slightly bigger but still lacking postgame, and even directly copying and pasting the Battle Maison from ''X'' and ''Y''. Expectations were very high due to the previous remakes, ''[=HeartGold=]'' and ''[=SoulSilver=]'', setting precedents;[[note]]both by having a full Battle Frontier and by using content from ''Pokémon Crystal''[[/note]] and the backlash against the unexpectedly sparse postgame of ''ORAS'' caused the postgame of ''XY'' to be looked upon less favorably in hindsight. Worse yet, ''XY'' never got the expected follow-up game so that ''SM'' would make it in time for the 20th anniversary of the franchise, leaving ''XY''s own unresolved and incomplete plot threads hanging.
** The storyline of ''X'' and ''Y'' was always divisive for its intrusiveness and strange pacing, yet attempting to [[FollowTheLeader emulate]] the well-liked story of ''Black'' and ''White'' by introducing tragic elements and characters, and many players were nonetheless happy to explore the beautiful Kalos region and seek out [[LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters the huge selection of Pokémon]] in-between cutscenes. In comparison, ''VideoGame/PokemonSunAndMoon'' story was even ''more'' intrusive than that of ''X'' and ''Y'', by interrupting the player even more frequently, by restricting the player to a very linear progression path, and overall being an overbearing presence throughout the game. Story quality aside, whether or not ''Sun'' and ''Moon'' improved on ''X'' and ''Y'' in that respect is a matter of debate, but repeating many of the same flaws, like with the postgame, only amplified those of ''X'' and ''Y'' in hindsight.

--->"...What?"

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[[folder: D-F]]

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[[folder: R-W]]

** Pokémon of the Fairy-type are getting this reputation... at least against Dragon-type Pokémon, often getting the title (Pokémon)- The Dragon Slayer!

*** Mega Charizard Y is also this, often resulting in FandomRivalry with Mega Charizard X. Some fans prefer it over X for its more recognizable color scheme and playing like a supercharged version of base Charizard, with extremely high Sp. Atk and Fire attacks further boosted by Drought. Others believe that X's Fire/Dragon typing makes Y redundant and that it had no real reason to exist other than to [[TrollingCreator dupe the fandom]] for a few weeks, as Charizard's Fire/Flying typing was vocally maligned by many fans who wanted it to somehow gain access to the Dragon type, and Y's reveal caused an InternetBackdraft due to its lack of Dragon typing.

* InternetBackdraft: The ending of Pokémon Global Link services for the game in November 1, 2016 was criticized for lasting only three years. ''Creator/GameFreak'' was called out for doing this again (''VideoGame/PokemonBlack2AndWhite2'' being another notorious case) to force competitive players to move to the next generation, considering the free battles don't have rankings and rules.

** The conflict about ''Website/{{Smogon}}'' rules (competitive rules made by fandom) started way before XY. The introduction of Mega Pokémons puts more fire on it since Smogon started to ban some of them saying they are too broken.

*** Also Malva from the Elite Four mainly since she's also a member of [[spoiler:Team Flare]], something that reminded a lot of fans of [[spoiler:the Elite Four being [[AdaptationalVillainy the main villains]]]] in ''Manga/PokemonSpecial'' as well as proving [[spoiler:EvilIsSexy]] quite well.

* UnintentionallyUnsympathetic: Your rival will either be viewed as this or TheWoobie. On the one hand, yes, they have severe issues with losing to you over and over and feel terrible about it. On the other hand, they ''purposefully'' taunt you up until the battle for the Mega Ring about how they are better than you in Pokémon battles ''without ever trying to prove it.'' It comes off as them being cowardly and not wanting to risk actually losing to you early on due to them wanting to appear as the best trainer to their friends. Further evidence for this comes up following the battle for the Mega Bracelet. After they lose, suddenly, they constantly keep challenging you to fight after fight, more than any rival before them. [[JerkAss Almost like you wounded their pride and now they feel forced to get it back by beating you.]] It's really hard to sympathize with them given their early actions and how they practically wine about how they CantCatchUp to you.

** Lysandre and Sycamore's friendship is barely expanded on beyond Sycamore's absolute willing blindness (or complete ignorance) to Lysandre's evil intentions. For that matter, Sycamore's general character is more "handsome professor heartthrob" while Lysandre comes off as "bleeding-heart Cyrus". When fan interpretations make your characters way more interesting than you wrote them, you're doing something wrong.

** The [[ItsEasySoItSucks low difficulty]] of the single-player game. Some people think it makes the story battles too boring, others think it is great because it allows players to use whatever Pokémon they like rather than sticking to the best ones.

*** Mega Lucario being banned from unleashed a similar outcry, as there was a [[CrowningMomentOfHeartwarming touching]] sequence where he joined your party ''as part of the storyline''. There were many who didn't want to let go of their beloved punching puppies.

* NeverLiveItDown: The Lumiose City save glitch. Despite the patch that fixed the glitch was released less than a month after the glitch was discovered, peoples still brought that up as if the glitch was never fixed.

** Mega Mewtwo Y was initially criticized for its [[BadassAdorable chibi-esque look]] and bizarre design when it was first revealed, and many saw it as an inappropriate SuperMode for the more muscular and humanoid Mewtwo. That it was used by the ''very'' unpopular second Mewtwo in ''Anime/PokemonGenesectAndTheLegendAwakened'' only further soiled its reputation. Once ''X and Y'' came out, however, people appreciated the Mega Evolution for reclaiming Mewtwo's old title of "Most Powerful Pokémon", its high Special Attack (the highest of any Pokémon), and even its appearance is liked by some for its closer resemblance to Mew. Of course, the fact that Mewtwo got another Mega Evolution more reminiscent of what people were expecting may have helped.

* CounterpartComparison:
** Siebold's blond hair, attitude and cooking motifs have many fans comparing him to Gordon Ramsay.
** The main villain is an incredibly wealthy, bearded corporate mogul who is well-regarded by the public due to his contributions to the scientific field, but is deeply misanthropic and plans to wipe out all life on Earth with his superweapon so he can make sure that only people that he deems worthy can inherit it. Now, are we talking about [[spoiler:Lysandre]], or [[Film/{{Moonraker}} Hugo Drax?]]
** Mega Charizard X closely resembles the [[Franchise/YuGiOh Red-Eyes Black Dragon]]. While [[VideoGame/PokemonBlackAndWhite Reshiram and Zekrom]] are often compared to Blue-Eyes White Dragon and REBD, some argue that Mega Charizard X's weaker stats, fire breath and more demonic design than Zekrom more accurately replicate the dynamic between BEWD and REBD if it's paired with Reshiram.

* AwesomeMusic: See [[{{AwesomeMusic/Pokemon}} here.]]

[[folder:A-C]]
* AccidentalInnuendo

** [[spoiler:Lysandre]] is literally at the climax of the main story, but he's a pushover, especially in ''X''. The reason is that before the fight you receive the box legendary, in ''Y'' it's Yveltal, ''X'' has Xerneas. Two of his Pokémon are Dark and one is Fighting, making them fodder for Xerneas's ridiculously powerful Moonblast. The only survivor will be his Pyroar. Xerneas will need [[StatusBuff Geomancy]] to beat it, but even without Geomancy, it's a Fire/Normal type and you have five other Pokémon to face it with; it won't do much. Yveltal's signature [[LifeDrain Oblivion Wing]] can also deal heavy damage to most of his Pokémon while keeping itself alive. While it can't sweep [[spoiler:Lysandre's]] team as easily as Xerneas can, it's still possible to win entirely on it's own as long as you play smart.

*** While its final form Delphox has become quite the BaseBreakingCharacter, Braixen has been met with lovely reception by the fanbase. The fact that it wasn't the [[FranchiseOriginalSin 4th Fire/Fighting type starter]] in a row already gave it better reception than its detested 5th gen predecessor [[TheScrappy Pignite]]. But what really garners it so much appeal is its unique design which likens it to a {{Tsundere}} girl. It's so prominent that you'll often see much fanart online with behaving like a Tsundere, even calling people baka, and many people will breed or soft reset their game so that they get the female Fennekin and will choose not to evolve it to its final stage. It's popularity only grew when the anime Serena's Fennekin evolved into a Braixen. Further cemented when Braixen was revealed (to great fanfare and excitement) as a playable character in ''VideoGame/PokkenTournament''.

* {{Woolseyism}}: The names of Xerneas and Yveltal's signature moves were changed from "Geo Control" and "Death Wing" to the more poetic and powerful-sounding "Geomancy" and "[[NeverSayDie Oblivion]] Wing".

* GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff: As far as human characters go, apart from [[MsFanservice Serena, Shauna]] and [[MrFanservice Sycamore]], [[BigBad Lysandre]] seems to be getting the most attention from the Western fanbase for being a badass villain who manages to be both [[WellIntentionedExtremist sympathetic]] and ''[[MisanthropeSupreme completely out of his mind]]'', while in Japan he ranked fairly mediocre on their character popularity poll. His Mega Gyarados helps too.

* TheScrappy: Viscountess Danielle at the Battle Chateau received a lot of [[http://www.gaiaonline.com/forum/pok-mon/viscountess-danielle-in-the-battle-chateau/t.88552045/ hate]] for being a snobbish {{Jerkass}} who mocks your outfit, no matter how expensive it was.