Pokémon General Thread

@MEK: I'm not saying every matchup has to have a logical argument. Many don't. I was just wondering if anyone was interested in making a logical argument for a hypothetical matchup change for the Psychic or Steel type, specifically. It looks like that's a no.

Edited by wanderlustwarrior on Oct 24th 2021 at 8:03:43 AM

Metal conducts electricity. Why aren't Steel-types weak against Electric in addition to Electric resisting them? So, Psychics can bend spoons. Thus, they should bend steel-types. Checkmate, Melmetal. You Pokémon Go-exclusive jerk, with your overpowered two-hit move.

Psychic is a tad underpowered, Steel losing resists improves the type that is no longer resisted. There ya go.

That Electric reasoning was the kind of compelling argument I was looking for. Thank you.

That's more of a goal than a reason. Steel could definitely stand to lose a resistance, and I've made that point for quite a while, but I'm no longer of the mind that Psychic should be super effective against it. I could definitely see a move similar to Freeze-Dry that is super effective though. Or make Kinesis guaranteed to land, and also do set damage to, Steel types.

Separately, I'm slowly starting to talk myself into making Psychic and Fairy resist each other, as an extension of Magic Versus Science.

Edited by wanderlustwarrior on Oct 24th 2021 at 10:52:29 AM

My point was more that the Logical Weakness part of type match-ups aren't always as sound as possible; a little bit of tweaking for game balance should be allowable as long as it's not too far off.

And yes, I know that Bug and Fighting vs Dark is a Kamen Rider reference, but referencing something isn't a LOGICAL weakness.

I don't know if Fighting is solely a Kamen Rider reference. If Dark types are dirty tricks, then Fighting is the honorable combatant. Heroism triumphing over villainy, basically.

Also, like, martial artist vs thug in an alley, martial artist wins that one unless the thug is armed and lucky.

As for Bug beating Dark, maybe bad guys being afraid of insects? But yeah, that one probably is just Kamen Rider.

but Scrafty, who is actually modeled after a violent criminal, is Dark/Fighting. 🤔

...Where do you get "violent criminal" from Scrafty?

per Bulbapedia:

back when BW came out, it was pretty universally accepted that Scrafty was meant to be an urban gangster.

Where does any of that quote suggest "violent criminal"? Hip hop and punk aren't de facto violent or criminal.

The worst vibe I get from Scrafty is they might be a chav or a poser, with petty vandalism or graffiti something. Meanwhile Honchkrow and Pangoro are based on actual violent gangs - the mafia and yakuza respectively.

Edited by wanderlustwarrior on Oct 24th 2021 at 12:54:01 PM

Huh? The dex straight up says they beat people up in their territory.

Groups of them beat up anything that enter their territory. Each can spit acidic liquid from its mouth.

Edited by Vertigo_High on Oct 24th 2021 at 10:55:59 AM

Scrafty is pretty clearly supposed to be an urbanite ruffian of some sort. They're noted to gang up and get in fights.

Also Pangoro is not a yakuza, he's a bancho.

All Pokemon fight. It's a central part of the series. It's not calling the Pokemon that gave me pause, but the association with going "baggy pants + hoodies" or "hip hop and punk" = "violent" that just feels kind of gross to me.

...Is anyone else getting a sense of deja vu?

Ah, gotcha.

Edited by wanderlustwarrior on Oct 24th 2021 at 1:24:58 PM

Shield's Pokedex entry: "While mostly known for having the temperament of an aggressive ruffian, this Pokémon takes very good care of its family, friends, and territory."

He's a street thug so street "aesthetic" is going to play a part in his design. Considering hip hop and punk's influence on that kind of aesthetic(or at least how most people would perceive it), those elements are naturally going to show up in its design. Also I don't feel Scrafty is supposed to be commentary on hip hop lol. I don't think it's as malicious as you're making it out to be.

Edited by Vertigo_High on Oct 24th 2021 at 11:30:00 AM

Scrafty are homies who take care of the people they love, nothing more, nothing less. (Frankly, I think most Dark-types are kind-hearted jerks at worse. They just like fighting dirty because it's straightforward and gets results.)

Edited by RacattackForce on Oct 24th 2021 at 2:33:47 PM

Scrafty are ruffians. Fact. Scrafty are homies. Fact. Theyre one of my favorite Gen V mons. Fact. Gen V had too many cool Dark types that oversaturated my team with one type. Fact.

Edited by Zeromaeus on Oct 24th 2021 at 2:48:19 PM

@wanderlustwarrior: i am certainly not saying the stereotypes Scrafty is patterned after are true or accurate. i am making an observation about what i think Scrafty was intended to evoke, not making a value judgment on the subcultures its imagery was taken from. Japan tends to have a very specific view of American people and a lot of the time they're not aware that that view can fall into Unfortunate Implications from our standards.

Ehhh Japan has its share of scrafties IRL too. The kind of image scrafty is based off isn't a purely American thing, at least not anymore.

Edited by Vertigo_High on Oct 25th 2021 at 3:15:13 AM

Yeah, there's some Japanese Delinquent in the design too.

Not as much as the Pancham line, but it's definitely a palpable influence on top of Japan's perception of American street gangs.

Edited by Anomalocaris20 on Oct 25th 2021 at 3:44:13 PM

BDSP video showing off Team Galactic.

Noseless, chibi Cyrus is somewhat amusing.

Hisuian Zorua and Zoroark in action

Their pages have been added to the English site. They're dead, but came back to life with The Power of Hate towards the humans and Pokemon who wronged them. Their illusions work a bit differently, seemingly similar to Ditto's transformation.

The trailer mentioned:

Rare footage of Cyrus disturbing the natural order smiling. Confirmation of how to get Manaphy. Use of Bibarel as an HM Mule.

Edited by wanderlustwarrior on Oct 26th 2021 at 8:59:04 AM