Anonymous asks:

I noticed that Tyranitar’s the only pseudo-legendary to not be used by a final boss in its introductory games; any guesses as to why they didn’t give Lance one in GSC/HGSS? It’s reasonably draconic-looking (hey, they made Tyrantrum a Dragon!) and it’s quite powerful and God knows Lance could do without one of his blasted cheating Dragonite and get some variety in his team! Similarly, any thoughts as to why they didn’t give Steven a Magneton, a strong Steel Pokémon that was available in RSE/ORAS?

You know, I’ve never thought about it… I think there are several plausible reasons, though. First, in most generations, there’s someone new who fills that role, whereas Lance was an established character already and Dragonite was firmly set as his signature Pokémon before Gold and Silver happened. And this was only the second generation, so it’s not like this was already a rule or convention by that point; in Red and Blue the final final boss was the rival character, not the guy with the Dragonite. And maybe the very fact that they didn’t give Lance a Tyranitar, in contrast to the way they’ve behaved more recently, says something about what they think Tyranitar is supposed to be – that is, maybe there’s something about him that strikes Game Freak as particularly not draconic, possibly because he’s basically a dinosaur and therefore needs to be a Rock-type (yes, you can compare Tyrantrum, but that’s fifteen years later, and I don’t know if I’d expect 100% consistency over such a long period on something as vague as what the Dragon type is; they may have different ideas about it now). I also kinda think maybe they had in mind for Larvitar and its evolutions to be almost like a “secret” Pokémon – Larvitar doesn’t show up until the very end of the game, at Mount Silver, and neither it nor its evolutions are ever used by any trainer prior to that. Misdreavus is the same. I think that’s part of a deliberate choice, meant to emphasise the remoteness of Mount Silver – there are Pokémon there that you won’t even have heard of during a playthrough of Gold or Silver, and Larvitar, Pupitar and Tyranitar are part of creating that aesthetic.

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Anonymous asks:

Trend is a bit too strong a word, but I’ve noticed in your reviews of new Pokemon, specifically version-exclusive Pokemon, you tend to prefer one over the other. Cf Cottonee/Petilil, Solosis/Gothita, Clauncher/Skrelp. Would you care to talk about the implications of version exclusivity at all? (I mean, beyond the natural selling point of forcing people either to make new friends or buy two versions of the same game.)

Well, I talked a little about this here, and honestly I tried to think of some point to it beyond driving more sales, but didn’t come up with anything. In gameplay terms I think that particular aspect of the paired-game concept is obsolete, because version-exclusive Pokémon are among the smallest obstacles to finishing a Pokédex today. So is there anything else to it? I suppose it would be something if you could argue that the sets of version-exclusive Pokémon say something about the character of the games they appear on – like if you could say, for instance, that Ekans, Vileplume, Primeape, Arcanine, Scyther and Electabuzz somehow thematically “go with” Red/Fire/Charizard in a way that Sandslash, Victreebel, Persian, Ninetales, Pinsir and Magmar do not. And I think maybe you can almost say that for the Ruby and Sapphire sets, but you really have to stretch some of them to make it fit. Or perhaps you could conjecture that the different versions represent different seasons, or something along those lines, so that Red version represents the experience of a trainer who started a journey in winter rather than summer (that doesn’t work for generation V, of course, which actually has a season mechanic), or something else along those lines. In the end I really don’t think there’s much you can draw out of it.

Anonymous asks:

How do you think “fainting” came about in the Pokemon universe and what is its purpose? I might be stretching things, but it seems to be some sort of specific process that’s different from being knocked unconscious, due to the way ALL Pokemon, even ones that are totally different – dragons, starfish, floating magnets – faint in the same way, and faint in the same way in response to a wide variety of totally different attacks.

Do they?

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vikingboybilly asks:

Do you think it’s cool that they figured out how to send 1st generation pokémon to generation 7? Too bad it’s a decade too late for my Silver and Crystal buddies =(

Well, I would assume that this is something they planned for when they were putting together the 3DS versions of Red and Blue. So it’s not so much that they figured anything out, more that they had the opportunity to sidestep all of the problems that ever made it an issue in the first place. My understanding (and I’m vague on exactly how this works so take it with a grain of salt) is that the reason Pokémon couldn’t be transferred from II to III is because the earlier games stored Pokémon data in a different format to the later ones. So all they would have had to do for these new versions of Red and Blue is… not do that. There aren’t even any issues of hardware compatibility because they’re being released as 3DS apps and can be programmed to interface directly with Pokébank. So like… I think it was a good idea for marketing purposes, and it’s nice that we can do that, but it’s not like it would have been particularly difficult, as far as I am aware.

vikingboybilly asks:

Pokémon Sun and Moon! I’m the first to put it in your question box! Now what on earth can this be? Why are we getting gen 7 before Vishnu/Zygarde’s game?

a) No you’re not, Billy; shut up.

b) Not a clue. If I had to guess, though, I would speculate that generation VII will be more closely tied to the story of generation VI than has been the case in previous games. It seems like the logical extension of what they did with Black and White 2, at any rate. This is not to say that they’re sequels in the sense that Black and White 2 were, but perhaps we might expect further involvement of the same characters, legendary Pokémon and plot elements that were prominent in generation VI. Of course, this is just a guess at something that we objectively do not have sufficient information to figure out with any confidence at this point.

Alternatively, it’s possible they’ve pulled a GS Ball and decided to just forget about Zygarde and hope no one notices.

Anonymous asks:

What do you think the Sun/Moon region will be like? The ad seems to play up the inclusion of Simplified Chinese, so maybe a province of China?

Not really sure – I mean, I think to say that they were “playing up” the inclusion of Chinese is rather a misreading of the ad; it seemed to me much more like they were showing off the number of languages rather than any one in particular, which is perfectly consistent with the way Pokémon has been explicitly emphasising its status as an international phenomenon for several years now. But I suppose it’s as good a guess as any. I’ve talked before about wanting to see a Pokémon region based on India, but China (or part of China) would be a good choice as well, for many of the same reasons. Chinese mythology might then produce a three-legged crow Pokémon for the sun and a rabbit Pokémon for the moon, so if you think China is a likely source of inspiration, watch for those.

vikingboybilly asks:

I really really want your opinion of Undertale. Is it the antithesis of pokémon? Forcing pokémon into the subject matter will make you obligated to write about it.

Oh, FINE, but only because Undertale deserves to be talked about.

Note: if you haven’t played this game, then 1) you should seriously consider it because it is fantastic; in my opinion it pushes the current boundaries of what video games as a medium can accomplish, and it does that in maybe 6 hours of play time and with a $US 10 price tag, and 2) avoid spoilers like the plague; I mean it. As a corollary to 2), I’ll speak here in only the vaguest and most circumspect terms possible.

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Anonymous asks:

The more recent Pokemon games imply that Gym Leaders adjust their strength and difficulty based on the challenger so that its not a complete stomp in either direction what are your thoughts on this?

That it’s really the only way the Gym system can make any damn sense.

Think about it; not all trainers start their journeys in Pallet Town (or New Bark Town, or wherever), and not all of them will follow the same routes as we do through their home regions – not least because our routes are often determined by unusual temporary obstacles; if that Sudowudo hadn’t been standing in that exact spot, it would have made perfect sense for a trainer starting in Violet City to earn their second badge in Ecruteak City. Gym Leaders are supposed to be educators as much as they are obstacles; they want trainers to learn stuff, not get curb stomped three weeks into their journeys, give up, and go home.

Anonymous asks:

What do you think of Detective Pikachu for 3ds?

…I am so confused.

It’s actually kinda neat in a lot of ways, though. Like, if I have this straight, the deal with the kid is that he and the Pikachu can understand each other for reasons that are currently mysterious, and as a result they can work as a team to operate just as effectively among humans and among Pokémon. That puts them in a very unique position that could be exploited in all kinds of ways by a shrewd and discreet investigator. And that is a really interesting premise; it’s just a shame this is a fairly low-budget game and won’t have the space or the ambition to explore it fully.

…and yes, I have signed the change.org petition to get Nintendo of America to hire Danny de Vito as the English language voice actor for Detective Pikachu.

Update: No Danny de Vito ='(

Anonymous asks:

I dunno if this has been asked, but I wondered if you think there are any parallels between a Pokemon journey and a religious pilgrimage?

Well, I suppose you do travel to a number of specific sites in order to become a better person… I don’t know if I think it’s a particularly useful metaphor for the way modern Pokémon journeys are portrayed in the games and anime, because it tends to be seen as more a “coming of age” thing than a “spiritual enlightenment” thing, so actually a better analogy might be the classic American road trip… which would make a damn good live action Pokémon movie, I think. We could, perhaps, speculate that the modern Pokémon journey is based on some traditional activity with much greater spiritual significance – replace the gyms with monasteries, for instance (and some gyms may not have changed much since then, like Fuchsia and Ecruteak) – but that would be pure speculation.