Little things you like about Pokémon

[R_N]

This is the first time I have heard about this. Do you know what this bonus is, specifically? I tried to find the answer myself, but the only thing I could find was this question and answer on Gamefaqs, which doesn't really give a clear answer.

Checking on bulbapedia, while they don't mention anything about other rewards (& seems the answers on gamefaqs agrees, its just the diploma's text) the diploma's text is actually different
https://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Diploma#Kalos_Pok.C3.A9dex

 

[QuentinQuonce]

Cerulean Cave, duh

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1754958176762401095

 

[DreamPrince]

This is the first time I have heard about this. Do you know what this bonus is, specifically? I tried to find the answer myself, but the only thing I could find was this question and answer on Gamefaqs, which doesn't really give a clear answer.

Checking on bulbapedia, while they don't mention anything about other rewards (& seems the answers on gamefaqs agrees, its just the diploma's text) the diploma's text is actually different
https://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Diploma#Kalos_Pok.C3.A9dex

Apologies, I made a mistake its for the Kalos Dexes, should you complete each one with pentagon only Pokemon, you get a crown.

 

[Nickeljorn]

Cerulean Cave, duh

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1754958176762401095

Wow the disrespect to the Unknown Dungeon

 

[Yung Dramps]

Cerulean Cave, duh

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1754958176762401095

Ultra Space Wilds (Rocky World) bros.... we lost

 

[Suspicious Derivative]

Checking on bulbapedia, while they don't mention anything about other rewards (& seems the answers on gamefaqs agrees, its just the diploma's text) the diploma's text is actually different
https://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Diploma#Kalos_Pok.C3.A9dex

Apologies, I made a mistake its for the Kalos Dexes, should you complete each one with pentagon only Pokemon, you get a crown.

Thanks for the answers! Seems like it was nothing more than different text on the diplomas after all, and only for the Kalos dexes, not the National Dex.

I decided to check my games today just to see what I was missing in order to update my diplomas with the new text, but to my own surprise, it turned out I already had the special diplomas on both games, with "solely" added in all of them. This was unexpected. I checked my Pokédexes, and on both games, I had not obtained all of the legendary birds with pentagon marks. I'm also quite sure I hadn't caught Mewtwo on either game when I completed the dex, I had just sent over one from the older generations. My guess is that you don't need the pentagon mark on the Gen 1 legendaries in order to get the special diplomas. Either way, all of this taught me something new about X/Y, even if it has been more than ten years since their release. It is fun how there are still new discoveries to be made in the older games.

Speaking of Pokédexes... going back to X/Y and looking at all of my diplomas, it made me realize how much I liked when the National Dex was in the actual games themselves, instead of being locked to side-apps. Gen 6 was the last generation to have the National Dex in the games, and it is something I miss a lot in the newer games.

Completing the National Dex was something I always did in my games, and it was a lot of fun. Especially in X/Y because of their great Pokémon availability and awesome training spots.

Something else related to diplomas that I just learned today. In OR/AS, you get a special Time Travel diploma if you transfer a Pokémon from the original R/S/E. But after looking through all of the different diplomas at Bulbapedia, it turns out that this reward exists in BD/SP as well!

This is really cool! I didn't know about it since I haven't played BD/SP and I have never really looked into everything they feature in full detail.

 

[Coronis]

Cerulean Cave, duh

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1754958176762401095

I think I was in some sort of Time Capsule.

 

[Cobalt Empoleon]

Cerulean Cave, duh

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1754958176762401095

Funny to think that for a lot of people nowadays the answer is "in the park near my house"

 

[Nickeljorn]

Ultra Space Wilds (Rocky World) bros.... we lost

Don't forget the little kids who started Pokemon in the Switch era and would answer a Dynamax Adventure or Ramanas Park

 

[R_N]

I can't remember if they did anything similar in SWSH, but at least in LA & SV I like how the Pokemon will do little roaring animations when they get a knock out or as an extra type of idle animation. Adds a little extra pizzaz, the added sound effects also make the battles feel more energetic

But also, they sometimes do other more minor things, like extra head tracking

When Farigiraf does Ally Switch, Hippowdon & Farigiraf actually look at each other briefly and you can see that Iron Crown & Indeedee are also looking directly at who just swapped to the other side.

It's cute.

e: SWSH did do headtracking in battle, but I think only for Dynamax. They would look down at you (assuming they could, you know, look at you). Might have been what I was thinking of

 

[a blue banana]

I like to add on to the previous post about SV's animations that I really like how they updated some of the in-battle idle animations for older Pokemon. Most of them tend to be subtle (a quadraped like Growlithe now standing a bit more hunched down than out of battle), but some like Mienshao and Porygon-Z have way different idle animations than before. Mienshao's updated battle stance is now closely based on its animations in Gen 5, and Porygon-Z now has irregular robotic movements that match its design concept well.

 

[DrrT]

I'm late to it but the Maushold line's cries in the anime are awesome. Not what I was expecting but they are such unique critter sounds. I always appreciate when Pokemon get more unique ones.

 

[R_N]

Shout outs today to: Platinum's Poffin Store

I originally just went with this to fill in the "Sheen" challenge in Home, since it was a source of Poffin that did not involve terrible time consuming minigame (in addition to time consuming berry management) but those things are kind of absurd? If you focus on one combination of flavors, you will guarantee to max out 2 of the 5 stats, even if the Pokemon in question hates it, and still have enough Sheen left over to get some decent points in the other flavors. They're somewhat expensive and you can't buy in bulk, but wow what a life saver; and means great way to evolve Feebas back then too that I just never really acknowledged.

What an underrated addition!

 

[Polderjoch]

Shout outs today to: Platinum's Poffin Store

I originally just went with this to fill in the "Sheen" challenge in Home, since it was a source of Poffin that did not involve terrible time consuming minigame (in addition to time consuming berry management) but those things are kind of absurd? If you focus on one combination of flavors, you will guarantee to max out 2 of the 5 stats, even if the Pokemon in question hates it, and still have enough Sheen left over to get some decent points in the other flavors. They're somewhat expensive and you can't buy in bulk, but wow what a life saver; and means great way to evolve Feebas back then too that I just never really acknowledged.

What an underrated addition!

The Veilstone basement in general is a pretty underrated little area; the Berries sold there are also useful for making Poffins if you'd rather make them yourself and are a real cheap and fast way to just get them in bulk without having to wait days on end just to grow a few, and Lava Cookies being buyable for cheap as well is a big money saver over other restorative items.

 

[DrrT]

The Gimmighoul video reminded me of something about SV I like: despite the main takeaway of the story being obviously "friendship is the real treasure" (Mabostiff, the player to Nemona, the whole Team Star plot and Ogerpon/you again in the DLC) I like that there are like, actual treasures you can find in the game. It ties that aspect nicely with exploring the open world. And Gholdengo is definetly worth it.

I think the Adventures manga is playing with the concept too (with both Gimmighoul and the Treasures of Ruin) but after the BW2 situation I don't think I'm going back to it anytime soon.

 

[R_N]

The Gimmighoul video reminded me of something about SV I like: despite the main takeaway of the story being obviously "friendship is the real treasure" (Mabostiff, the player to Nemona, the whole Team Star plot and Ogerpon/you again in the DLC) I like that there are like, actual treasures you can find in the game. It ties that aspect nicely with exploring the open world. And Gholdengo is definetly worth it.

I think the Adventures manga is playing with the concept too (with both Gimmighoul and the Treasures of Ruin) but after the BW2 situation I don't think I'm going back to it anytime soon.

Briar: the real treasure of area zero was learning to be more cognizant of those around us

And also this extensive scientific research, ecological information and that cool turtle we found

 

[DrrT]

Briar: the real treasure of area zero was learning to be more cognizant of those around us

And also this extensive scientific research, ecological information and that cool turtle we found

I'm still kind of annoyed at how quick her character "arc" was. She was obsessed with the treasure of Area Zero (name of the entire DLC, surely it's something very important to the plot right) but as soon as the situation turned into a dangerous one she changed enough to later decide to just let the player keep Terapagos. Maybe the book just sold that well.

I feel like Kieran himself already did it better and it felt more organic. Perhaps a too literal version of the message but still.

 

[pika pal]

Briar: the real treasure of area zero was learning to be more cognizant of those around us

And also this extensive scientific research, ecological information and that cool turtle we found

This is the "good" version of "I'm going to defeat you with the power of friendship and this Gun I found"

 

[ant4456]

I like pokemon :>

 

[Karxrida]

Briar: the real treasure of area zero was learning to be more cognizant of those around us

And also this extensive scientific research, ecological information and that cool turtle we found

The real Tera was this turtle we found along the way.

 

[DrumstickGaming]

Rad Miltank trivia

 

[Sonikku A]

Except they don't lay eggs (bar birds, reptiles, fish)
An XY NPC confirms they're not birthed. They're made after that
It's why no one has seen a pokemon lay eggs in Gen 2 and on, how Kangaskhan and Tandemus exist, etc

 

[Bakugames]

I always imagined pokemon create eggs following a very literal "when two x love each other very much" kind of magic. they just create the egg if they like each other (and maybe its even involuntary if theyre just hanging around). the real answer is probably "doesnt matter", since all of this is just to not talk about sexual reproduction in the pokemon game, but i think magic kids/eggs are a very common trope in pg works or any setting that doesnt want their characters to be seen that way

 

[ScraftyIsTheBest]

Playing through RB on 3DS VC and noticing a lot of cool things about Gen 1's game design while studying it, I think it's an ingenious decision to put Moltres in Victory Road on the main path right before the League, and to name it Moltres. As in "tres", which is Spanish for "three", and everyone knows uno, dos, and tres as one, two three.

Moltres itself being on Victory Road as a Level 50 powerful Pokemon gives you a strong Pokemon that given TM support in Fire Blast and Fly/Sky Attack can be a powerful ally for the challenges directly ahead of you if your team needs some extra firepower, thanks to its high stats and whatnot. But because its name is "tres", the attentive player will notice that and realize that tres means three, which also makes them realize there are two other birds out there, and they will want to look for "dos" and "uno". The even more attentive player, and players playing in Japanese, will also look through the Pokedex after capturing it and notice that there's two empty slots between Snorlax and Moltres, which further reinforces the hint that the game is telling you that there are two more powerful Level 50 birds hiding out somewhere off the beaten path.

This is a good way to nudge players to explore places in Kanto they never would have if they followed the direct path, and using Surf they will explore and find the Power Plant and Seafoam Islands, and voila, they get two even better powerful birds: Articuno and Zapdos. A great way to both nudge players towards exploring unknown parts of Kanto and rewarding exploration in doing so. You not only are enticed to find the side dungeons after meeting Moltres, the game rewards you for doing so in the form of two more powerful Pokemon in Zapdos and Articuno. And both are also very good, and if an unsuspecting kid is struggling with Lance's Gyarados and Dragonite, these two birds in particular will be their best friend in dealing with them, Zapdos one-shotting Gyarados with Thunder and Articuno dealing with Dragonite in a single Blizzard.

I think that's a pretty cool way to implement the birds as late-game powerful allies that a player can rely on that also makes it feel rewarding, not just shoved in your face.

 

[Esserise]

Playing through RB on 3DS VC and noticing a lot of cool things about Gen 1's game design while studying it, I think it's an ingenious decision to put Moltres in Victory Road on the main path right before the League, and to name it Moltres. As in "tres", which is Spanish for "three", and everyone knows uno, dos, and tres as one, two three.

Moltres itself being on Victory Road as a Level 50 powerful Pokemon gives you a strong Pokemon that given TM support in Fire Blast and Fly/Sky Attack can be a powerful ally for the challenges directly ahead of you if your team needs some extra firepower, thanks to its high stats and whatnot. But because its name is "tres", the attentive player will notice that and realize that tres means three, which also makes them realize there are two other birds out there, and they will want to look for "dos" and "uno". The even more attentive player, and players playing in Japanese, will also look through the Pokedex after capturing it and notice that there's two empty slots between Snorlax and Moltres, which further reinforces the hint that the game is telling you that there are two more powerful Level 50 birds hiding out somewhere off the beaten path.

This is a good way to nudge players to explore places in Kanto they never would have if they followed the direct path, and using Surf they will explore and find the Power Plant and Seafoam Islands, and voila, they get two even better powerful birds: Articuno and Zapdos. A great way to both nudge players towards exploring unknown parts of Kanto and rewarding exploration in doing so. You not only are enticed to find the side dungeons after meeting Moltres, the game rewards you for doing so in the form of two more powerful Pokemon in Zapdos and Articuno. And both are also very good, and if an unsuspecting kid is struggling with Lance's Gyarados and Dragonite, these two birds in particular will be their best friend in dealing with them, Zapdos one-shotting Gyarados with Thunder and Articuno dealing with Dragonite in a single Blizzard.

This would be more a happenstance of localization rather than intentional game design, no? Because the birds’ Japanese names don’t have that numbering theme as far as I know.

Unfamiliar Japanese players would still be able to notice the two empty spaces in the Pokédex, but it’s possible they could interpret that as a two-stage line they haven’t discovered yet, or an evolution to Snorlax and a standalone Pokémon.