Pokemon Go

Cresselia!

Huh... I was expecting Palkia (on the theory that they would save Dialga for December, when people were more likely going to see it get a weather buff for snow). I can work with that regardless.

Welp, time for even more bulky legendary raids. Sigh... guess making Mewtwo generally available was supposed to last us for a while regarding powerhouse offensive legendaries.

Meh at the stats, but I do quite like the look. I may have some biases toward seemingly random, though, since the first time I touched any Pokemon game since Red/Blue (well, I guess Snap, if you can count 30 mins on it at Blockbuster...) was Explorers of Sky.

I feel bad for Uxie in particular, since Cresselia is superior to it in pretty much every way that matters (okay, going by the games, Uxie is marginally tougher on the physical side and marginally faster, but the way stats are calculated, Cresselia is head and shoulders above Uxie for PoGo purposes). I really thought they'd give the members of the Lake Trio a chance to shine before busting out something that would completely eclipse one member in every fashion (taking a quick peek, even on a "learned moves" level).

Cresselia is a fantastic Pokemon in the main series, especially in double battles where, among other things, it's the C in the infamous CHALK^note Cresselia, Heatran, Amoongus, Landorus(Therian), Kangaskhan(Mega) setup. Go really doesn't do it justice, but I want to get as many as possible now so that I can hopefully send them into the main series one day if that becomes possible.

That's just another in a long list of bad imports, right? Specifically, thinking of what's been mentioned to me about Medicham and Shedinja.

To be fair, PoGo doesn't do most defensive-oriented Pokemon justice (I weep at what Shuckle is reduced to). Blissey is the only one who really holds up in conversion, and that's only due to the fact that it greatly reduces Blissey's notable weak spot in the original games (physical hits, particularly with Fighting-type moves).

They'd really have to add an entire new dimension to the game (abilities and defensive/status moves) for defensive choices, particularly defensive legendaries like Cresselia, Uxie, or the golems from Gen 3. That said, we can always hope for the chance to migrate them down the line.

EDIT: Well, yes, though Cresselia is more hampered by the fact that legendaries can't be defenders than the lack of abilities that makes Shedinja and Medicham non-viable in the mobile game. In theory, if they just allowed legendaries to inhabit gyms as defenders, Cresselia would be redefining the gym meta (not to a ridiculous degree, but we'd definitely feel it), whereas introducing abilities would really make upheaval and not just for Shedinja and Medicham (the former would probably not affect too much given the popularity of double Rock sets, but the latter would be the new favorite Glass Cannon).

Edited by 32_Footsteps on Nov 21st 2018 at 12:37:46 PM

Yeah, people on Reddit have already started calling it "Regipsych".

Last CD of the year, and boy howdy it's a doozy:

All previous Community Day Pokémon will return for the first weekend of December! That's the entire weekend, not just three hours each day! Their special moves will be available again too!

That said, the special bonuses (double XP and Stardust for catches and double egg distance) will only be available on the 1st, during the usual three hours. Also there's no mention of shinies.

Edited by Anura on Nov 21st 2018 at 10:03:32 AM

My 100% Charmander is so happy she could cry.

This'll be a good chance for me to get the shiny Pikachu and Bulbasaur I missed, and maybe evolve my shiny Dragonair and Charmeleon so they learn the event moves.

Think sunglasses Squirtle will be available too?

Just noticed something: with regards to the 3-hour bonuses the APAC region is actually going last this time, on the 2nd instead of the 1st like the rest of the world. Guess that means us in Europe are doing the QA for y'all this time.

Edited by Anura on Nov 21st 2018 at 11:01:58 AM

No hours posted huh? Interesting.

Also looking at the quests for LETS GO MELTAN, I don't get what guide makers saying they're hard. Not at all - the only annoying thing is that they're "locked" so the stuff you did earlier wouldn't count.

I think its because the ingredients for those mons are not so common in the wild outside the current event. Grimer I guess can be found in 7k eggs.

It's definitely a quest line that encourages paying to win. The 10-raid requirement is a major gate for casual players. If they only do one per day, they're basically going to run past the end of the event. It's basically a big neon sign saying, "Hey, just buy Let's Go Pikachu/Eevee for your Meltans instead". Granted, even someone more into it like me is facing issues because, while I'm willing to drop Premium Passes on Cresselia, it's winter raiding season, which means organization is total ass and brings raider count down to an all-time low. Also, since I'm in a backwater garbage town where eggs stop spawning around 6:30PM, just finding a viable raid to do in post-work hours can be a task.

At least you don't have to finish the raid. Just drop a pass into anything you pass by, leave immediately and continue on.

Edited by Anura on Nov 22nd 2018 at 6:11:44 PM

I legit can't do raids, because I can't drive and don't live within walking distance of any gyms. As I constantly take the bus to places it's not like I can stick around for an hour when we happen to stop.

Well, usually if I'm able to do that, then I'm able to do the raid. I guess unless I just want to dump pass on T4s and T5s I have no chance of winning solo. Basically, I have to go out of my way to get to gyms most of the time, so if I'm doing that, I might as well complete the raid.

You don't need to stop for an hour, though timing may still be tight with the bus. You just need to be in the actual battle (basically just waiting out the 2-min lobby) before the bus gets more than.. I think it's 50m away? Once you're in the battle, unless you error out, you can still fight and catch. If you're really desperate, you could try the startegy Anura suggested above (the free passes are going to get wasted if you can't normally raid, anyway).

Ahh true, I guess it becomes really shitty if you don't do it during the event when the required mons are up in the wild.

Yeah, outside of the mons you HAVE to catch for the Meltan quest line, I'm keeping up a stock of candies and mons needed to evolve for the entire quest line to include the Hatch 2 Eggs research quest for an Aerodactyl. I earned it, but I'm stacking it for when I get to that last quest so I don't have to wait forever to snag an Aerodactyl. Forethought!

Doesn't help that the damn Meltan requires 400 candies to evolve and they only give you like 11 candies (if you Pinap berries the Meltan catch) total from the quest line. Good luck freaking evolving that thing anytime soon unless you trade often with Let's Go Eevee/Pikachu.

At this point, Melmetal is like a bragging rights award.

Edited by Darkflamewolf on Nov 23rd 2018 at 9:22:37 AM

I've been helping my community out with that, letting them use my copy of Let's Go Pikachu to grab extra Meltan.

Wasting a pass without battling counts for the task, no need to wait, just enter the lobby.

Honestly I have hundreds of spare passes because I cant discard them and sale boxes like stuffing them in there. Not too many raid spots within easy walking distance either.

Edited by CountofBleck on Nov 23rd 2018 at 11:05:25 AM

Been trying to do the same with my copy. Rushed to Fuchsia ASAP, which was a bit of a task when I can only progress in the game when I stream it. Turns out I probably didn't need to get too crazy about it, because while people want Meltan/Melmetal, everyone seems to want Cresselia more, so the times I've indicated I'm free to give Meltan boxes away (generally after work) have been when people have been driving 30 mins away to chase that T5 raid. Oh, well, at least I got a couple people theirs last night.

EDIT: Oh, and with regards to evolving Meltan anytime soon, I know there's a couple crazy collectors around who had enough Rare Candy saved to do it right away. So, if you really must have it...

Edited by KuroiTsubasaTenshi on Nov 23rd 2018 at 10:52:00 AM

For the final Community Day this year, I'm hoping this means I can finally get a shiny Mareep. Watch, though, my only shinies being Pikachu.

For the Meltan quest line, I was most annoyed at seeing the "Catch a Ditto" quest make a comeback. Yes, I know it's somewhat mitigated by the fact that there's a research task (the "make an Excellent throw" one) that gives you a Ditto, but it still requires finding that task (or finding a Ditto in the wild... and maybe it's just locally, but the possible Ditto spawns have not been happening much of late here).

I'm dreading the 10-raid task myself, as winter is hitting locally both early and hard this year. The high yesterday was 19 degrees (for the more metric-minded, that's -7), with a rather harsh wind. I know a few local gyms where nearby businesses will let you loiter and play, so my best bet is hoping those ones spawn some raids when I can afford to go.