So, let's just ignore my last question and talk about Hitmontop.
Why does Hitmontop have Intimidate since the beginning? Sure, it is very useful in Doubles, but why does he have that ability, and is it his first ability? Hitmontop doesn't have any scary features compare to the rest of the users (Gyarados is The Dreaded, Qwifish can puff which is a thing, and Landorus-Therian is based on a feline).
edited 31st Mar '17 8:12:19 AM by flamemario12
Baby dango
It kicks by spinning, so it probably intimidates by spinning quickly to frighten other Pokemon from going near it.
A better question is why does Growlithe get Intimidate?
what do you mean I didn't win, I ate more wet t-shirts than anyone else
☆♥☆
Because it's a guard dog. Scaring unwanted people away is kind of their thing.
I always assumed Hitmontop has intimidate because Capoeristas in fiction are famous for showing off a lot before a fight starts, and all the crazy flips and kicks would be a little intimidating.
i shit my pants every time even a chihuahua sprints at me barking, i'm sure anything would be freaked out if a 2 foot fire breathing doggo sprinted at them doing the same
And then there was silence
Interesting Person #928
Even a bunch of dragons? ![[lol]](https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/lol2v12_4863.png "[lol]"){kind=small}
shock factor, yo
And then there was silence
Giratina emerges from the void
a smol pupper is growling at it
Giratina: o shit wat is that holy fuck D:
what do you mean I didn't win, I ate more wet t-shirts than anyone else
𐀀𐀩𐀯𐀂𐀰𐀅𐀡𐀄
Masquerain's so cute!
Secret Signature
It does look like a giant pair of angry eyes, tho.
what do you mean I didn't win, I ate more wet t-shirts than anyone else
Always bugged me more that a Pokemon can be high in the air or underground and still end up affected by intimidate. Like the mon can just sense that cute little fire puppy was sent out and quietly panics.
Intimidate is one of those annoying abilities you don't want your team to have, primarily because it wastes time and the end result usually isn't worth the time spent (oh joy, I lower the enemy's attack stat, just as useful as Growl). Not to mention that it probably doesn't affect special attackers much.
Incineroar really got the shaft with that hidden "Ability", didn't it?
edited 31st Mar '17 5:51:15 PM by RainingMetal
The Unknown
Intimidate is great. Inflicting an Attack debuff for free whenever you switch in is pretty cash.
If a tree falls in the forest and nobody remembers it, who else will you have ice cream with?
Intimidate is very useful if you know how to play with it. For that reason I'd say Incineroar actually got the best Hidden Ability out of its follow gen 7 starters.
Intimidate essentially provides a 25% defense boost for free until the opponent dies or switches out.
And (like many other things) it gets even better in the single-player game, since the AI rarely switches out willingly and the battle style is "switch" by default.
Still, with things like Moxie, Shed Skin, or Hyper Cutter being other options for Intimidate users, the only reason Incineroar has any benefit of using Intimidate is because the only other option is Blaze.
If the ability boosted defense rather than reduce the enemy's offense, it would be more useful, since the status effects would remain even when the enemy faints (which in my case, it's sweep or die). There's a reason why Swords Dance is better than Tail Whip.
edited 31st Mar '17 6:17:33 PM by RainingMetal
That and Incineroar is pretty bulky already. Intimidate really shines on something that can already take a hit, since it just emphasizes their strengths.
I can't ever imagine choosing Shed Skin or Hyper Cutter over Intimidate.
Me neither. Shed Skin works far better on a Pokemon with high defenses, and Hyper Cutter is trash.
The fact that intimidate is an ability instead of a move means you are essentially getting that tail whip (or growl in this instance) for free without wasting a turn and infinitely reusable. There's a good reason people didn't care about the terrains much until gen 7 made them ability activated. Seems way more useful.
I wouldn't say Hyper Cutter is trash. Back in Generation 3, it was pretty good on Pokemon such as Gligar. Nowadays, only Pinsir has that ability when it's holding a Pinsirite to prevent its Attack being lowered by Intimidate.
The Unknown
Hyper Cutter is good in the sense that it's not worthless if it's all you have, but you'd still rather have something else. Or you're a Pinsir about to Mega Evolve and can't really abuse Moxie anyway.
If a tree falls in the forest and nobody remembers it, who else will you have ice cream with?
I'm sorry Tien, but I must go all out.
New item idea: Energy Herb
Like Power Herb, except instead of letting the Pokemon skip a charge-up turn, it lets the Pokemon skip a recharge turn.
Maybe something like Belly Drum or Trick Room in general considering the number of ways to stop it from being set up and making the most of each of your limited turns.