Little things you like about Pokémon

[Coronis]

It's definitely not a super overbearing mechanic which was nice. Yeah yeah yeah they ~should have made the bosses use it better~ whatever. It had a nice sweet spot for me.

Shoutouts to Clavell whose Tera Water Quaquaval beat my ass in.

Really?

 

[R_N]

Really?

Yes?

 

[CPU]

Tera-boosted Aqua Step boosting Speed along with the potential Torrent checks out imo

 

[R_N]

Tera-boosted Aqua Step boosting Speed along with the potential Torrent checks out imo

Yeah it started going south in a hurry, and his Brick Break also did not help. I think I had to send Mabosstiff in several times to initimidate him to give me some breathing room
it also did not help that my only water answer was Arboliva. Who I think I did terastalize, but, well, you know. Ice Spinner....

 

[DrrT]

Speaking of Clavel's starter, I absolutely loved it as a whole. Not only because Quaquaval fits his disguise so well, but because it's always nice to see the third starter being used in something at all. It's a small and dumb thing but it always bothered my child self that Oak wanted me to complete the dex but would just have the rare Bulbasaur sitting on his lab for all eternity- something I loved about LA was being gifted the other starters after the credits.

I have also seen newish players like my brother and ex partner struggle with the mentioned Clavel battle (because of Quaquaval and Polteageist). It leaves a lot more of an impression that Penny's eevolutions.

Honestly, Clive as a whole was a great character and a nice twist on the old mentor formula.

 

[Suspicious Derivative]

I know it was already talked about some years ago, but I still want to bring up changing music (there is a better words for this but it eludes me right now) in Gen V.

The musicians are probably the most well-known, but there are more. Some routes have instruments added depending on the season, some percussion is only present when you're actually moving and in certain caves the lower levels will change both the tempo and pitch.

To some it might be just minute details, but I really enjoy it.
Fitting also since Gen V was the last Main Game to use soundfonts (which make this sort of thing easier to do)

I think the most commonly used term is "Dynamic music". Either way, I completely agree with you. It is just so amazing in every possible way. I have made an in-depth post about this in the past, as have my friend DrumstickGaming, our posts on the subject can be found here and here.

On that note, I like how S/S also has a bit of dynamic music since the Gym Leader theme changes when the battle is down to the Gym Leader's last Pokémon, just like in Gen 5. I didn't know that the music changed to be more poppy or muffled when a Pokémon gets knocked out, though. Never noticed that when I played Sword.

As for the guitarist in Mezagoza, I have completely missed him... or I can at least not remember encountering him. I'll have to go find him the next time I play Violet.

To add something of my own to the thread... I like the Pokémon icons used in Gen 1-2. I think they are really charming. Gen 2 especially, because of how many there are. Some of them are very specific, being used for just one or a few Pokémon. Some aren't all that suitable for the Pokémon they represent, like the Marill line using the Jigglypuff icon, but I like it anyway because it just makes things funnier. But even if I like these icons, I prefer when every Pokémon species has its own unique minisprite/icon. That makes it easier to see exactly which Pokémon it is without having to look at its name... but if they are nicknamed, that doesn't always help either.

 

[QuentinQuonce]

Never used to be particularly crazy about any of Unova's mythicals but I watched some footage of Meloetta in Sc/Vi recently and I've gotta say I'm appreciating its design a lot more with the increased size and detail of the 3D games. It's funny how some designs work less well in their native titles: Meloetta looks fine in BW, but the dinky little sprite you get in the cafe event never really impressed me and I've never much used it in battle in BW beyond a couple of token "let's see how Relic Song looks" goes.

It's just so on-theme in a way I really appreciate. The way the hands look like both semibreves AND microphones, but how that one tuft of hair also resembles an attached microphone, the way its hair is a musical bar, the way the lower portion of its body looks like a slip dress... it's a fun design because you notice more little details after looking at it for a few moments. There's something to be said for simplicity, especially when you look at the other mythicals in the "cute club", but Meloetta is a slightly busy design that actually works. Unova doesn't have the best-designed legendaries in general (I've never much liked Genesect or Victini or any of the Swords of Justice bar Keldeo, and find the Kami trio very hit-and-miss) but Meloetta is definitely among the best.

I just wish there was a way to change it into the Pirouette Form out of battle, as that's a good design for very similar reasons - I like the way that its hair wrapping around its head and the way its skirt flares outwards causes it to look somewhat more combative but no less feminine.