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RTTP: The Pokemon. All 721 of them, and counting.
- Thread starter Watch Da Birdie
- Start date
Watch Da Birdie
I buy cakes for myself on my birthday it's not weird lots of people do it I bet
I don't think the games have ever shown it in this way, but in the show Golurk pulls in its legs to fly like a rocket...
Aaronrules380
Member
I don't think the games have ever shown it in this way, but in the show Golurk pulls in its legs to fly like a rocket...
That's pretty much exactly what I would've imagined
Watch Da Birdie
I buy cakes for myself on my birthday it's not weird lots of people do it I bet
#113 - Chansey
Normal
I always considered Chansey to be a relative to Jigglypuff and Clefairy, so I was shocked when it wasn't made Fairy-type in Gen VI---perhaps they didn't want to remove its Fighting-weakness for balance reasons? We've encountered two non-evolving Pokemon so far among the original 151, Farfetch'd and Lickitung, but Chansey is the first one that's decidedly good. Scratch that, decidedly great. With incredibly high HP and Special, Chansey wasn't just the top of the metagame back in the day, the metagame was basically built around countering its amazing ability to wall a huge number of Pokemon. However, on the other hand, a lot of kids probably didn't pick up on this when they first played through Red and Blue, because kids like me just wanted Pokemon who could hit fast, and could hit hard, and none of us ever considered using a defensive-based Pokemon, much less one that was pink. Getting a Chansey wasn't exactly easy, either, as the rarest Pokemon in the Safari Zone it could be a pain to catch, and you had to wait till post-E4 for a shot at capturing one normally in Cerulean Cave. After getting an evolution in Gen II, Chansey was kind of pushed aside until Gen V came and brought us the Eviolite, which made Chansey even more powerful than ever before in terms of its defensive capabilities, possibly even eclipsing its evolution. I wonder if Chansey would be nearly as popular if it wasn't so good?
Chansey is a pretty simple, amorphous Pokemon that's possibly one of the cutest among the original 151, or so most would say. I actually never thought it was that cute (I'd choose Pokemon like Venonat over it honestly), as I can't help but see it looking like a fat, balding man---it's one Pokemon I think whose design has gotten less appealing as time has gone on for some reason, but I can't really place why I think this. It feels like the older depictions of it had the hairs on its head look more feathery and cute, but nowadays they seem to be stiffer and look like, well, hair. I also feel the older incarnations had more of an expression that actually seemed joyful, while now when I look at it, such as in the new Sugimori Art, it almost looks like it's faking its smile and is secretly plotting something. Well, then again, that probably is quite befitting of it considering the type of playstyle it uses based around bringing the opponent to tears by blocking everything they throw at it, but once more I feel other Pokemon have a lot more endearing and lovable expressions than Chansey does. Chansey doesn't seem to be any animal exactly, but I feel like it was intended to be a really loose take on the idea of a mother hen. The egg within the pouch also brings to mind the "gachapon" capsule toys that are so popular in Japan, and in Super Smash Bros. Melee Chansey's eggs would sometimes act like the capsule item-containers found in that game as well. Chansey being a very rare, "lucky" Pokemon seems to fit alongside that motif, as many capsule machines tend to contain that one rare toy you try your hardest to get---which Chansey basically is as far as Pokemon go.
Within the pouch on Chansey's body is an egg, although the egg doesn't seem to be a fertilized Pokemon egg, rather it's merely an egg for eating and is said to be highly nutritious and extremely tasty. Like a lot of "lucky items", such as Shiny Pokemon, and Perfect IVs, the availability of the eggs is the inverse of how much you want them---purposefully chasing after Chansey for its eggs won't bring you much success, but when you're down and out, and really need them, Chansey is friendly enough to drop by and give you one, especially if you're injured. Chansey actually lays several eggs a day, but usually is seen carrying around just one---I'm not sure if that one egg is special, or if Chansey just picks one each day to carry around just in case it finds someone injured. In Generation II, the egg became its own item---the all important Lucky Egg that massively boosts EXP. Finding a Chansey was one thing, but finding one with a Lucky Egg was another matter entirely as they were extremely rare. If you transported a Chansey from Generation I, you ended up with a different item---Lucky Punch, which raises Chansey's critical hit ratio. This is basically pointless, and the item seems to be a joke on purpose---it looks silly, and sells for 5$, and there's no point in ever using one. Diamond and Pearl introduced another joke item, the Oval Stone which looked just like the Lucky Egg, but that actually has another purpose as we'll soon learn---anyway, like a lot of things, Game Freak finally gave in to player convenience and made the Lucky Egg quite easy to obtain in future games, removing the need to continuously farm Chansey.
In the anime, Chansey was popularized as the mascot Pokemon of the Pokemon Center, serving alongside Nurse Joy faithfully in every known Region excluding Unova, where a new Pokemon took its place, and Kalos, where Wigglytuff took up the mantle. Considering Chansey's nature, making it a nurse's assistant was a great choice, and I think its role in the show earned it a lot of fans although it's odd that a Pokemon said to be super-rare is actually extremely common to the point that every Pokemon Center across four regions has one. It seems like this was one element of the show the game would borrow, since it just made so much sense, but outside of Pokemon Yellow, directly influenced by the show, I don't believe we've ever seen any implication that the nurses in the games employ Chansey. I'd love if you saw Chansey sitting behind the counter in the games, it wouldn't add much, but it'd be a nice touch and pretty nostalgic. At the end of Diamond and Pearl, Brock got a Chansey of his own, which was perhaps a good closure to his final appearance as a main character---Brock had always had a pretty vague goal, but was shown to be skilled at helping Pokemon, so ending up with a Chansey and deciding to become a Pokemon doctor was probably a better ending than having him become a "Pokemon Breeder", which the show never really bothered to explain what that exactly entails.
#242 - Blissey
Normal
Hey, how about we boost Chansey's HP by 5 just for kicks, and then up its Special Attack and Special Defense so it can be just that more annoying? And thus, Blissey was born, the Gen II Evolution of Chansey when its happiness is maxed out. Since its introduction, Blissey basically dominated the metagame as a major defensive element, and a cornerstone of basically every competitive team, until Generation V, where Eviolite was born and Chansey posed as competition. Nowadays, it seems which one you use is ultimately up to your style---Chansey has better defensive stats, but sacrifices its ability to hold an Item, whereas Blissey can use that to its advantage and make good use of Leftovers to keep itself steadily healthy. With the shift to a more offensive-oriented metagame, both Pokemon are under a lot of stress lately, but I can imagine Game Freak reversing this and introducing us to Mega Blissey soon enough---I'm ready for it, are you? Like many of the Cross-Generation Evolutions, Blissey has never been obtainable on its own, and thus to get one you'll need to score a Chansey first.
Blissey seems like it was designed with the happiness mechanic in mind, much more so than Crobat, given that it's known as the "Happiness Pokemon", and its Japanese name is "Happinas". As far as evolutions ago, especially Cross-Generation ones, it's pretty modest and feels like it could've been introduced alongside Chansey from the beginning---I actually think I like it a bit more than Chansey, personally. Blissey has a really angelic appearance, befitting its personality and abilities, and also, perhaps unintentionally, seems to borrow elements popularized by Nurse Joy from the show as it looks to have curly hair, and the white feathers around its waist brings to mind Joy's trademark apron. If you're heavily against the anime influencing the game, you might disagree, but I certainly think Game Freak did design Blissey with the relationship between Nurse Joy and Chansey in mind somewhat. Blissey basically shares the same motif as Chansey does, bestowing its eggs upon those who need them, but dials it up to 11---it will rush over to anyone it senses is upset, no matter how far the distance, just to share an egg with them. Eating Blissey's eggs are said to fill a person with, well, bliss. What a sweet, and caring individual---yet responsible for so, so, so much prolonged suffering if you happen to go up against one.
Blissey is a Pokemon of extremes, as not only does it have the highest HP in the game, it has the highest single stat as well at 255, followed by Chansey at 250. For the record, the highest Attack is 190, the highest Special Attack is 194, the highest Defense and Special Defense is 230, and the highest Speed is 180, so Blissey's ahead of everyone else by 25 points! Blissey also gives out a massive amount of EXP, although in most cases it's hard to take advantage of this as very few in-game Trainers actually use them---but of course, in ORAS, this changed due to being able to share Secret Base teams online complete with custom teams within, and as you can imagine all-Blissey teams have become quite popular. Blissey's too extreme for me though, I've never really had an interest in using one myself because it just seems like I'd be following the crowd, and there are hundreds of Pokemon, weaker than it, sure, who I'd rather train before it. It's not really my style either, to be honest. I don't think anyone should be hesistant to use a Pokemon they actually like though in fear of being labeled as a "poser", if your favorite Pokemon is Blissey, who cares if you might be accused of being a "no fun allowed Smogonite", use it! Some people will quote the old "use Pokemon you like" Karen mantra as an attack against people who use popular over-used Pokemon, ignoring the fact that these Pokemon do have fans because of their looks and general appearance, which is just as bad as those who criticize people who use their favorites. So, yeah, use who you want! Except Genies.
While Chansey has had numerous appearances in the show, Blissey oddly hasn't, failing to catch on in the show like its predecessor. There was one focus episode in Johto, a really cute episode that was based around Jessie and revealed she once trained as a nurse, but apparently there's only been one other time during the entire show that Blissey appeared under a Nurse Joy, rather randomly in a Diamond and Pearl episode in a minor support role. Why does the show hate Blissey so much?
#440 - Happiny
Normal
The Chansey line is pretty weird, being a single-stage Pokemon in Generation I, a two-stage Pokemon in Generation II, and then getting a Baby in Generation IV. It really seems like Happiny probably should've come before Blissey, not after, but what's done is done. By this point in time, Baby Pokemon had been around for awhile, and Game Freak had introduced a new element in Gen III to explain future Baby Pokemon suddenly popping up---Incense. Excluding the Baby Pokemon introduced in Generation II, if you wanted to breed one of the new Baby Pokemon, the primary parent had to hold an Incense in order to hatch the new Baby, otherwise you'd be stuck with the regular first form i.e. Chansey. I think this was a good idea in theory, as some folks when breeding probably do want to hatch a Chansey instead of a Happiny and go through the trouble of evolving it, but the issue is instead of just making a single Incense item, every Pokemon have their own individual Incense, which can get annoying, but luckily they're not one-use. All the Incenses also have additional effects, the Luck Incense, Happiny's, acting like an Amulet Coin and doubling your prize money, so that also helps them not feel totally pointless. Baby Pokemon I feel got better after Generation II, where they often had unique moves their evolution did not and thus had more of a purpose---although none of Happiny's exclusive moves are that useful to Chansey. They also started to pop up in the Wild now, feeling better integrated into the Pokemon World, and now in Generation VI wild Baby Pokemon always have 3 IVs, perhaps finally justifying their existence. I actually like Happiny quite a bit, and feel it was a pretty good Baby---the fact that a motherly Pokemon like Chansey known for carrying around eggs hatched from one felt a bit off, and its stats and size made it easy for me to accept it had evolved from a smaller Pokemon.
Happiny is cute as fuck, I'll admit it. Most of the other Baby Pokemon, especially Pichu, Cleffa, and Igglybuff don't do much for me, but Happiny has got it going on---I think one reason is that I never really liked how Chansey looked, and Happiny honestly looks cuter, whereas those Baby Pokemon tried to hard to just copy the cuteness of their evolved forms who I did find cute. Does that make sense? The one issue I have with Happiny is its "pants", because they really do look like it's actually wearing pants that it could just remove if it wanted to whereas the clothing element of Blissey was well-integrated into its body. On the other hand, I appreciate what Game Freak was going with, the pants representing Chansey's pouch, and Happiny itself representing the egg inside of it, who is also holding its own "egg", like a nesting doll in a way. Although it kind of looks like Happiny is meant to have hatched from the egg Chansey is carrying around, I don't believe that is the case, as the eggs that Chansey lays don't seem to be for reproduction purposes. Furthermore, there's actually some ambiguity if Pokemon lay eggs...have you ever seen a Pokemon lay an egg? And no, I'm not just naive and taking the Daycare Man at face-value when I say that, there's an NPC in XY who offers up an interesting piece of lore, claiming Pokemon Eggs aren't actually eggs, but a type of cradle instead. What does this mean? I kind of have a feeling one day we'll get a Legendary, perhaps based around the stork, that might show us that Pokemon breeding really isn't as natural as we all think, but that's just my speculation.
By the way, that isn't actually an egg its carrying around, it's the Oval Stone. Happiny is the "Playhouse" Pokemon, but perhaps that should be the "play house" Pokemon, as in like a child it plays house and pretends to be an adult, mimicking Chansey by carrying a fake egg around. Kind of cute, but perhaps not that suitable in an era where archaic gender roles such as that are being torn down perhaps? That's actually how Happiny evolves, simply level it up while carrying the Oval Stone and, voila, you've got yourself a Chansey. Most wild Happiny actually carry around an Oval Stone (and is always part of their design too), so it's not particularly hard to find, and you can pretty much evolve Happiny right away after catching one. Sometimes Happiny will actually come with Lucky Eggs instead---it seems like carrying those around would also prepare them for adulthood and help them evolve, but sadly it doesn't work with a Lucky Egg. I feel they probably should've let Happiny evolve with either item since they both make sense. There's two little cute bits about Happiny I love, first that the PokeDex says it's basically like a small child, causing people to trip like a young child trying to help but just getting in the way, and being self-conscious about its curly hair. Ara ara~
Brock got a Happiny in Diamond and Pearl, which later evolved into his Chansey. As a Brock Pokemon, Happiny was pretty one-note, but it did have an amusing gimmick---it was crazily strong, being able to lift a 213.8 lb Pokemon with ease. But perhaps that's not that impressive, though, as a lot of characters in the Pokemon anime, such as Ash himself, are shown to be capable of superhuman feats of strength.
Aaronrules380
Member
I can't wait for Mega Blissey whose entire 100 point mega stat boost is given to defense. Also it's part fairy type now, and it's ability is now regenerate, because why the fuck not
I'm feeling a brand new ability that combines regenerator and natural cure.
Edit: I think a stork legendary would be interesting.
Aaronrules380
Member
Honestly, with a 110 defense stat and fairy type (plus regenerate), I'm not sure status effects would even be a big deal for it (aside from the occasional spore user I guess). Paralysis is generally a minor annoyance given it isn't trying to outspeed anything, and the chip damage from burn would probably not make a big enough difference and could be healed easily enough (plus nobody should ever use physical attacks with Blissey). Toxic might still be an annoyance, but I feel like it's far less common in the current metagame since crippling the huge amount of powerful physical sweepers with burn or paralysis tends to be more prevalent
PataHikari
Banned
I think Gamefreak didn't make Chansey a Fairy because while it would be hilarious, I'm pretty sure that rendering every Dragon without a physical anti-fairy move useless would be bad.
Benzychenz
Member
FUCK RHYPERIOR
Destroyed one of the best lines in the series. I will never forgive him.
Destroyed one of the best lines in the series. I will never forgive him.
Aaronrules380
Member
Also, the new Mega Blissey will now be able to learn cosmic power too
unknownstranger
Member
Make its bottom fluffier and give it Cotton Guard.
Aaronrules380
Member
Cotton guard and calm mind set, dazzling gleam as an attack move, Softboiled for recovery
That's why I like Probopass, it takes an unappealing design and goes completely OTT ridiculous with it. Unlike Magmortar/Rhyperior/Lickilicky that took designs I thought were okay to great and made them look too silly.I just think it's very...ugly.
I thought Nosepass was terribly unappealing too.
If they keep them I hope that they at least make separate ground and flying models for some of those Pokemon
SenorArdilla
Member
Also give it Fur Coat.
I'll give you my Landorus-T when you pry it from my cold, dead hands!
Boss Doggie
all my loli wolf companions are so moe
Wait, even here?
The gliding animations beside Swellow make sense.
Xatu works because it's a totem pole.
Skarmory because it's a stealth fighter.
Salamence because Devilman references.
Their wings don't flap at all.
The gliding animations beside Swellow make sense.
Xatu works because it's a totem pole.
Skarmory because it's a stealth fighter.
Salamence because Devilman references.
Their wings don't flap at all.
Watch Da Birdie
I buy cakes for myself on my birthday it's not weird lots of people do it I bet
#114 - Tangela
Grass
I feel like Lickitung and Tangela are brothers-in-arms, both of them being rather obscure Pokemon in Generation I with not a lot of redeeming features, designs that are considered weak among the majority of the fanbase, and seem like they were probably late additions near the end of development to round things out. But like Lickitung, it's for this reason that I'm a fan of Tangela. Tangela's claim to fame is that it was the only pure-Grass type Pokemon introduced in Generation I, a fact I feel a lot of folks forget since it's easy to think Pokemon like Bulbsaur and Oddish were pure-Grass as well. Being pure-Grass, uh, really didn't do him any favors, as the Type on its own has plenty of weaknesses to deal with, and he's also unable to get STAB on anything but Grass-type attacks, never mind his moveset is one of the dullest among the Generation 1 Pokemon. It seems Game Freak wanted you to ignore him, as he only appears as a rare encounter in a single spot of grass on a route I don't think you ever actually have to travel to, and may as well skip---saavy players, though, will of course investigate such a suspicious spot however. Or you can trade one for a Venonat on Cinnabar Island, but at that point in the game a pure-Grass Pokemon with middling stats isn't gonna be added to most teams. Game Freak ended up forgetting about him again in Diamond and Pearl, the game that introduced his evolution, as he's one of two non-Starter, non-Legendary Pokemon who cannot be found whatsoever in Diamond and Pearl, and must be traded from a Generation III game. This was the generation that was meant to finally put him back in the spotlight, and they forgot him! Tangela's stats actually aren't too bad, all things considered, he just doesn't have any real way to utilize them properly, and being a Grass-type Pokemon meant he had a tough-road ahead from the beginning.
I don't think there's any sophistication or cleverness behind Tangela's design, some, including Nintendo of America based on the prototype dub-name "Meduza", think he may have been inspired by the mythical gorgon, but apart from seeing its vines as equivalent to a head full of snakes, I think it's a coincidence as nothing about the Pokemon otherwise has any relation to the legendary creature. We've had other Pokemon who were directly compared to their mythological basis, such as Golduck and the kappa, so it seems Game Freak wouldn't have hesitated to make that connection clear if that was the case. Tangela basically is the sight gag of the "eyes peering out of the bushes" so common in plenty of cartoons turned into a Pokemon, and that's it. Although, I always had a weirder view of Tangela, as he always made me think of the creepy dude standing outside of Erika's Gym in the games peering inside---so, yeah, I basically see Tangela as a crazy stalker hiding within bushes ready to pounce. A lot of Pokemon with obscure elements have a lot of theories around them, such as Cubone, but Tangela's silly little red shoes don't resemble any known Pokemon I can think of, and honestly this is one mystery I don't think anyone is that anxious to solve. Sadly, I think a lot of folks just want to forget that Tangela even exists...
Tangela's body is covered in a mass of vines that are continuously growing, so good luck in trying to get through them all to see what Tangela actually looks like. The exact nature of Tangela's body has always been left ambiguous, is it actually a creature made of vines, or is it simply a creature hiding within a jumble of vines for protection? No matter how much I look at Tangela, I can't figure out where the vines actually start, and where they end, so it's hard to tell if they're growing from the body, or it's wearing them instead. Furthermore, Tangela is said to feel no pain when its vines are cut, and are treated as expendable body-parts, also suggesting that they're not part of Tangela's body, but merely a disguise. Its evolution seems to point towards the other interpretation, that Tangela IS actually a creature made up of vines, but even then I think it can be argued that it's still quite ambiguous, and that's probably the point. Unlike other Grass-type Pokemon in Generation I, Tangela lacks a flower, and thus has no means of utilizing poison (although it does learn Poison Powder), instead relying on ensnaring the opponent, but the PokeDex suggest that Tangela actually isn't an effective battler, as it seems to mainly just tickle the foe, or annoy them by wriggling around its vines. Game Freak really seems like they knew how most folks would react to this Pokemon, didn't they?
Erika's Tangela had a brief battle with Ash in the show. What? That's basically the most I can say about it when it comes to its appearances in the show.
#465 - Tangrowth
Grass
Tangrowth is the evolution of Tangela through learning the move Ancient Power. Like Lickitung, Tangela was a seriously troubled Pokemon who most fans, and Game Freak, really didn't care about whatsoever, so I'm glad he got an evolution. As I said before, Tangela was completely unavailable in Diamond and Pearl, but thankfully Platinum fixed that, and made him present within the main scenario---I know Diamond and Pearl doing this in the first place was stupid, and I shouldn't praise Game Freak for going back on it since it was their fault, but I loved Platinum doing this, and in general, well, I love Platinum. It's my favorite Gen IV game, and I'm tempted to say none of the newer games have dethroned it. Tangrowth loses a bit of speed, but overall is far superior to Tangela, boosting rather impressive bulk, and can hold his own with some of the heavy hitters. He's not the greatest Pokemon out there, but it's nice to see a classic Pokemon like Tangela get another shot, and I don't think anyone was even expecting him to get an evolution, or really wanted him to, but it was a pleasant surprise for his small, yet dedicated fanbase.
Like Lickitung, Tangela evolves through the new "Move-based Evolution" introduced in Generation IV, but his is different in two ways: first, Tangela could never learn Ancient Power beforehand, so it doesn't "break canon",and second, while only Lickitung evolved through Roll Out, multiple Pokemon evolve through Ancient Power, and it's a pretty cool evolution method from a lore standpoint. You see, evolving thanks to Ancient Power probably shouldn't even be seen as an evolution, and it actually appears to be the opposite---the Pokemon seems to revert to a form from the ancient past, before they evolved (in the real-world sense) into the forms we're familiar with in the present day. The other two Pokemon however who evolve with Ancient Power pull this off much better, being based around recognizable prehistoric creatures, whereas Tangrowth's basis is a bit uncertain. Typical depictions of the ancient world usually involve a lot of megaflora and megafauna, I believe because of a higher oxygen level in the atmosphere (although I think this is debated and may not be entirely true), so perhaps Tangrowth is meant to be an ancient, gigantic plant that would've existed in those days. Another popular theory is that he's meant to be a shaggy caveman, possibly implying Tangela is humanoid, and from the beginning of time has been hiding itself under the cover of plants for protection, although in modern times it's shrunk as its camouflage has greatly decreased in size. Or they just wanted to make a larger Tangela, and had a cool evolution method two other Pokemon used and went ahead and used it as his evolution method as well so they didn't have to invent another one-use evolution item. We may never know.
Tangrowth actually sort of fixes an element of Tangela's design I think bugged a lot of people, because it retcons Tangela's go-go boots by implying they're actually part of Tangela's actual body, as opposed to being shoes---but really, they still look like shoes. Tangrowth is another Cross-Generation Evolution I actually think is fairly grounded, and probably could've existed in Generation I without looking too out of place, the main complain I hear about it is that it didn't change Tangela enough. The biggest change is that it now seems Tangrowth's body really is the vines, as its body is plainly visible beneath them, and now has hands that are made of the vines. But I'm still not convinced, because the Sugimori art make it looks like the arms aren't really arms due to how oddly they hang off of its body, and the PokeDex mentions that it doesn't feel pain if the arms are eaten by predators, so they're probably not its real arms. Really, I think it's obvious Game Freak loves giving Pokemon these silly, unexplainable elements and have no intention of ever answering them, and that's probably a good thing. Whenever an author tries to explain previously mysterious elements of a franchise, it often ends pretty badly. Think Star Wars, LOST, the list goes on. The only real issue I have with Tangrowth is the red markings on its "arms", looking like it just had its nails painted, which it could probably do without. But as far as needless markings on Pokemon go, it's nothing.
Tangrowth at the very least got a focus episode to itself in Diamond and Pearl (Tangela was absent though), although I literally remember nothing about it except it involved Tangrowth. The first teaser poster for the Zoroark Movie featured Tangrowth alongside Pikachu, and two other popular mascot Pokemon from the Diamond and Pearl series that belonged to the other main characters, but in the actual movie Tangrowth plays a really small supporting role. No clue why they shoved it on a poster like that.
I don't think they're bothered by the gliding. I think they'd rather have a neutral not-flying stance with the Pokémon standing on the ground doing cool stuff. I liked the gliding animations but I can see why people dislike some of them. Xatu in particular.
EDIT: Tangrowth is cool. Tangela is lame but the evolution really nails the concept to me. I don't think I've ever used it though...
younglink7
Member
Unless I missed one already, I've been waiting for this.... I can finally talk about how much I dislike incense baby pokemon.
I mean, in my mind the entire reason you design a baby pokemon is because the original base pokemon looked too unnatural hatching from an egg. Now they've designed some and what do they do but still have the same huge Chansey/Snorlax/etc. busting out of eggs! This just defeats the purpose of the baby and makes them feel tacked on and not really a true part of the evolutionary family. In my opinion it would be so much better to just retcon what pokemon hatches and move on :/
I mean, in my mind the entire reason you design a baby pokemon is because the original base pokemon looked too unnatural hatching from an egg. Now they've designed some and what do they do but still have the same huge Chansey/Snorlax/etc. busting out of eggs! This just defeats the purpose of the baby and makes them feel tacked on and not really a true part of the evolutionary family. In my opinion it would be so much better to just retcon what pokemon hatches and move on :/
Watch Da Birdie
I buy cakes for myself on my birthday it's not weird lots of people do it I bet
The closer I get to finishing Kanto I realize I have sixteen additional cross-gen Pokemon to cover as well, not counting the seven Mega Evolutions. 0.o
So...53 more to go. And I thought I was in the home stretch...
So...53 more to go. And I thought I was in the home stretch...
unknownstranger
Member
Gen 2 and 4 will go by fast at least. Also I don't think people would be that upset if you didn't include mega forms.
Watch Da Birdie
I buy cakes for myself on my birthday it's not weird lots of people do it I bet
Nah, gotta be complete, and I do wanna talk about them. I just hate when I get through a three-stage line and there's still a Mega to talk about.
unknownstranger
Member
Nah, gotta be complete, and I do wanna talk about them. I just hate when I get through a three-stage line and there's still a Mega to talk about.
Eevee's going to be a lot of work. Look at it this way though: Eevee's line alone will be over 1% of the Pokémon done.
Watch Da Birdie
I buy cakes for myself on my birthday it's not weird lots of people do it I bet
Quick correction, Baby Pokemon didn't give 3 IVs in ORAS, so it might have been an oversight since they're in the same Egg Group as Legendaries, who do give 3 IVs in both X and Y and ORAS.
Happiny wasn't available in the wild in XY, so thus it never got this bonus. I hope Game Freak realize that was a GOOD idea and keep it in Z/whatever.
Happiny wasn't available in the wild in XY, so thus it never got this bonus. I hope Game Freak realize that was a GOOD idea and keep it in Z/whatever.
foxuzamaki
Doesn't read OPs, especially not his own
I should have came into this thread earlier.
Benzychenz
Member
I actually quite like Rhyperior. It's not amazing and it has it's problems, but it's an interesting evolution and I never understood why it has received that much hate, seems to be one of the most disliked Pokemon and Top 3 disliked evolutions.
Tangrowth on the other hand, I hate it. Not for the reasons Birdie listed though, I really hate the way it's vines meld into a single surface (matter?) at the center of it's body, under it's eyes. Minor nitpick maybe, but it's my reason for really disliking Tangrowth.
Tangrowth on the other hand, I hate it. Not for the reasons Birdie listed though, I really hate the way it's vines meld into a single surface (matter?) at the center of it's body, under it's eyes. Minor nitpick maybe, but it's my reason for really disliking Tangrowth.
In regards to breeding, my personal theory is that breeding occurs through a merging of energies rather than through traditional reproduction. The 2 pokemon combine their life energy which produces new energy that takes the form of an egg and develops into a new pokemon.
I find it's a bit easier to think of the egg as just a form of energy rather than imagining something like Kangaskhan hatching from one.
I find it's a bit easier to think of the egg as just a form of energy rather than imagining something like Kangaskhan hatching from one.
aside form a shiny male Ralts, my only other shiny encounter was exactly like this...
and I'm now sobbing, you should know why I'm sobbing
;_;
(no I don't count the gyarados shiny encounter in Gen 2 as a real encounter for obvious reasons)
Welp. This just happened to me. Shiny geodude in an outbreak and they all spammed magnitude and killed it. Someone say something to make me feel better.
balladofwindfishes
Member
Yea, I know of those famous "Gliding Totem Poles" of the great American mid west that exist. Xatu was specifically designed to rest on the ground (like a totem pole). His back is boring and all of his interesting details are on his body, which you can't see because the angle the camera sits at while Xatu glides.
Skarmory isn't a stealth fighter, and that's not how Skarmory flies. In all other appearences, Skarmory flies by moving his wings very quickly, like an insect. He does glide occasionally, but not to maintain flight, that would be impossible.
Skarmory is based on several myths revolving around armored birds, but his visual design is more of a "bird knight", as his head is shaped like a helmet and the details on his body are vaguely armor shaped.
Pokemon "gliding" in a neutral stance is always going to look odd unless it's a Pokemon like Wingull that was specifically designed to look like it's gliding. It looks especially odd on Pokemon like Xatu and Skarmory who have never been portrayed as in a constant flight and whose designs were made assuming the Pokemon would always be grounded. Both Xatu and Skarmory have design elements on their body and under their wings that are only noticeable in a grounded pose.
They basically hurt the designs of a dozen or so Pokemon for a stupid battle gimmick that's used, like, three times in the entire series.
They still look terrible in those positions. They should incorporate the flying styles into their attack animations, rather than have them weirdly hovering in place.
Ouch. If it's any consolation, you are not alone.
The other wonderful thing about shiny Geodude/Graveler:
balladofwindfishes
Member
My brother caught a Shiny Geodude in Leaf Green. Just threw a Pokeball and caught it without even hurting it.
BodiesWithoutOrgans
Member
Togepi is the best that is all
NipplesAndToes23
Member
I had no idea that Tangela had an evolution nor there was a baby Chansey. That Tangela is ugly as hell and would be one of the pokemon I'd least expect to get an evolution. It's also weird to hear you call Tangela a he. I know there are male versions, but the default of Tangela has always been female with me like Chansey, Clefairy, and Jigglypuff.
Happiny is cute. I never bothered getting a Chansey because I don't like its egg shape and it was a Safari Zone pokemon. It's easy to catch Safari pokemon with the glitch, but I'd really wouldn't use any of them anyway.
Happiny is cute. I never bothered getting a Chansey because I don't like its egg shape and it was a Safari Zone pokemon. It's easy to catch Safari pokemon with the glitch, but I'd really wouldn't use any of them anyway.
Watch Da Birdie
I buy cakes for myself on my birthday it's not weird lots of people do it I bet
Horde Battles you can't catch a Pokemon unless it's the last one.
I'd love to see that changed in Gen VII. Basically, let all the Pokemon in a Horde catchable, but their catch rate is divided based on how many are left, so there's still a reason to weed out the others.
SatelliteOfLove
Member
Its like Sugimori got tired drawing, doesn't it?
balladofwindfishes
Member
They shouldn't roll for shinies in horde battles. It causes nothing but heart ache.
It shouldn't roll for shinies if you have no Pokeballs as well.
Well it's just the hordes that attack each other that matter for this, which I think is just the Zangoose/Seviper hordes.
If it is a regular horde it's all good. Unless you get two I suppose.
Or unless they use area attacks like surf or earthquake.
The geodude horde I ran into with the shiny all new Magnitude, which hits everything, so a couple magnitude 9's later and my poor shiny was dead.
They should just make it so that horde Pokemon don't have spread moves. The player only has one Pokemon out anyway, so it's not as if it's making it any more challenging. It's actually the opposite, since those moves are being made weaker only because they are hitting their own crew.
Watch Da Birdie
I buy cakes for myself on my birthday it's not weird lots of people do it I bet
#115 - Kangaskhan
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Kangaskhan is another rare Pokemon introduced in Generation I, only catchable in the Safari Zone and arguably its "mascot". Unlike some of the other rare, single-stage Pokemon like Farfetch'd, Lickitung, and Tangela, Kangaskhan has always been pretty decent, not the best, but useful enough you may consider putting one in your team if you have enough patience to capture one in the first place. Despite humble beginnings, in Generation VI something happened to Kangaskhan making everyone want to use her, but we'll talk about that soon enough. One other thing I like to add in the introduction is its Type---Kangaskhan is Normal-type, and learns pretty much all Normal-type moves, but I wonder if at one point it was meant to be Ground? There's a certain reasons for this as I'll explain later, but another reason is that Giovanni uses one in Red and Blue. He doesn't have it with him in the actual Gym Battle, but all the other fights with him as the leader of Team Rocket he has one, and excluding Persian adding Yellow, it's the only Pokemon that's not a Ground-type or related to a Ground-type Pokemon, in the case of Nidorino. Just food for thought, it certainly has the appearance of one.
In the localization, Kangaskhan is named after Genghis Khan, which makes a lot of sense as the two share a lot in common: like Genghis, Kangaskhan is a famous warlord who decimated the population of the Iranian plateau and countless Asian men can claim to be its ancestors. Okay, not really, naming Kangaskhan after Genghis Khan was a pretty weird idea---I guess you can say Genghis was a good parent, in a roundabout way---but honestly, it's kind of a catchy name even though with Generation II it got a bit odder with Kangaskhan being a female-only Pokemon. Kangaskhan possibly has even less in common with actual kangaroos, the only real element of them is the trademark pouch. While normal kangaroos are rather shy, timid creatures known to rarely attack humans, Kangaskhan are powerful and aggressive saurian beasts who will absolutely destroy anyone who dares get close to its baby, so yeah, it's one bad mother---what, I'm only talking about Kangaskhan. I like Kangaskhan, I think giving it a more exaggerated, "Pokemon" appearance actually works to have it stand-out, but I'm not going to lie, I'd love to see a more normal, possibly male-based kangaroo Pokemon one day. Actually, one popular idea for a kangaroo Pokemon is making it part-Fighting, due to the idea of "kangaroo boxing", but this is one element Kangaskhan actually does embody, as it learned three (non-Fighting) punches since the beginning, with Comet Punch described as its signature move by the PokeDex.
Now, let's get into what you all came here for---Baby Kangaskhan. We've seen plenty of "multi-Pokemon", but in most cases they had a reason to be considered the same species, such as multiple heads sharing a body, or being connected through "telepathy". Baby Kangaskhan, on the other hand, is clearly an individual living with its mother, and everyone was thinking with the introduction of Baby Pokemon in Generation II, Baby Kangaskhan was soon to follow---but, nope, Kangaskhan is hatched from an egg with the baby in its pouch, which pissed a ton of folks off. Despite years and years going by, and more and more Baby Pokemon being introduced, Game Freak never "fixed" this issue, and Baby Kangaskhan was probably the #1 requested pseudo-Pokemon to be made into an actual one. In Generation VI, they finally "addressed" this, but in a way no one imagined, and it seemed to kill the chance of Baby Kangaskhan becoming its own Pokemon completely dead. There was a long-standing rumor that Baby Kangaskhan was cut from Generation 1 due to one of the variants of MissingNo, "M", actually evolving into Kangaskhan due to how the game's data was programmed, and people speculating MissingNo in general was intended to be Baby Kangaskhan. This is probably not true, as MissingNo is nothing more than a glitch, and not a purposeful element or "mystery Pokemon" like some folks still seem to believe, but it was a popular theory that even I thought true when I was young. It didn't help that as mentioned before, in Stadium MissingNo resembled a Baby Rhydon, which kind of looked like a slightly older Baby Kangaskhan as well. Anyway, one other note about Baby Kangaskhan---normal joey typically leave their mother's pouch permanently after eighteen months, yet Baby Kangaskhan actually remains with its mother for about three years, so it seems to develop much more slower than its real-world counterpart.
Perhaps we already had Baby Kangaskhan as a Pokemon under our nose? A very popular theory, and one that I actually do think is plausible, is that Cubone and Kangaskhan are related. Even though the game says Cubone's mother is Marowak, as I pointed out this doesn't make much sense---Marowak is described as being a Cubone who overcame its sadness, and visually does not look like a fully-grown Pokemon. Kangaskhan, on the other hand, is known as the "parent Pokemon", is considered a rare Pokemon and possibly worth hunting for by Team Rocket, and its general head-shape looks similar to the skull atop Cubone's head. Likewise, Cubone has a passing resemblance to Baby Kangaskhan, and Cubone being Ground-type connects to what I mentioned earlier, with Kangaskhan having a relationship to a Ground-type Gym Leader that possibly suggests at one point it was a Ground-type Pokemon as well. Even their Japanese names are similar, with Cubone being Karakara and Kangaskhan being Garura. I really do think this was the original plan, but by the time the final game came out, they changed their minds, and changed up the appearance of Cubone and Kangaskhan to make the resemblance less obvious, but left enough of the original designs, perhaps intentionally, to leave room for the player to speculate. Ultimately, I guess I'd say that Cubone and Kangaskhan thus are NOT related, because it seems clear Game Freak has since made them distinct from one another, but at one point they probably were meant to be related, so both sides are right in a way. I imagine in Game Freak's "canon", they have no relationship to one another, but Pokemon plays really loose with continuity, and a ton of elements are left ambiguous enough that you can easily claim "death of the author" and make up your own canon without much issue. Just remember that Gary's Raticate dying is bullshit, and Kyurem has nothing to do with 9/11, and we're good.
In the show, we actually see Baby Kangaskhan leave its pouch and seems much more independent than the one in the games, but Baby Kangaskhan in the show's canon has never been treated as a distinct Pokemon as far as I know, so we've never seen one caught individually separate from its mother, nor do I think we've ever seen one use any moves either, so like the in the games it's merely an "accessory" Pokemon. Kanga, Kanga, Kangaskhan!'s sole focus episode in the show was "The Kangaskhan Kid", another early Kanto episode that was inspired by a pop-culture plotline, in this case basically being Tarzan, with a young boy ending up bonding with the Kangaskhan as one of their own. A cute episode, certainly, but for such a "mysterious" Pokemon, I wish Kangaskhan got more episodes exploring the unique relationship between parent and child.
#M115 - Mega Kangaskhan
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Most of the Mega Evolutions that were first revealed followed a simple pattern---a pretty powerful Pokemon, or a weak, yet cool, non-evolved Pokemon would gain a new form that looked simillar to the original, but with a lot of additional adornments to make it look cooler. And then we got Mega Kangaskhan, our first "twist" in the formula where rather than Kangaskhan itself change its appearance, instead the long-awaited Baby Kangaskhan finally makes its battling debut! A lot of people were hyped for this, and in the end it proved to be well-deserved---Mega Kangaskhan is an absolute beast, gaining a new Ability, Parental Bond, which has basically any attack Mega Kangaskhan uses hit an additional time at half the damage, powering it up quite significantly. This is even more broken when you consider each hit also applies any secondary effects, thus using Power-Up Punch will allow Mega Kangaskhan to boosts its Attack twice, and there's other bonuses like both attacks factoring in a critical hit chance, so there's a lot of nuance to explore when using this lethal Ability. Of course, Mega Kangaskhan also gains 100 points to its already decent base stats, becoming an absolute monster. If you told me back in Gen V even that Kangaskhan would end up being one of the most popular and powerful Pokemon, I would've laughed in your face probably. Who knows what seemingly average Pokemon will end up becoming a Mega monster in Gen VII---someone as plain as Sandslash?
Baby Kangaskhan is a Pokemon that everyone wanted for years, but only because it seemed like a logical inclusion---I don't think most folks really cared what it looked like, or how it added to the family, people just wanted one because, and most people would've probably accepted if Game Freak just had it look identical to the one sitting in Kangaskhan's pouch. I was pleasantly surprised with "Baby Kangaskhan", though, because I find the design they use for Mega Kangaskhan to be absolutely adorable, and now I'm devastated it likely will never, ever, ever be its own Pokemon. Even though Kangaskhan is a female-only species, I always assumed that was simply because they've ever only shown the mother variety, and I figure there are male Kangaskhan out there, Game Freak just haven't had any reason to show them---in particular, I always thought Baby Kangaskhan was meant to be a baby boy, and its appearance upon Mega Evolution seems to support this notion. Unlike its mother, Baby Kangaskhan lacks a pouch, and instead has little rocks running around its tummy (it looks a lot like Rhyperior's Protector actually...), possibly suggesting it's actually the child form of the unseen, pouchless male variety. Maybe Generation VII will surprise us, giving us both an actual Baby Kangaskhan, and a new "male" Kangaskhan to go along with it?
Mega Kangaskhan has only made a cameo in the show in the opening credits of Mega Evolution Act I. It'll be interesting to see what they'll do with Baby Kangaskhan going Mega.