VikingBoyBilly asks:

Why can’t persian relearn Pay Day after it’s evolved? Why does drowzee/hypno have Assist as an egg move? (the japanese name for the move is a cat-related idiom, isn’t it?)

1) I suppose because Pay Day is so closely associated in the designers’ minds with Meowth’s habit of collecting coins and other shiny objects (which Persian doesn’t share), and also with the basis of Meowth’s design in those little waving cat statuettes you see in Japanese shops sometimes (again, a feature Persian doesn’t share), which are supposed to bring luck and prosperity.  Discounting the existence of a first-generation TM, it’s actually one of the most exclusive moves in the game – the only other Pokémon who can learn it is Purrloin (and even then only as an egg move, which means that she can’t relearn it either, whether before or after evolving [EDIT: WRONG; as of X and Y you actually can re-learn egg moves]).  Contrasting that with Game Freak’s willingness to splash around other things that were originally signature moves, like Leaf Blade and Waterfall, it seems like Pay Day’s ability to generate wealth must be specific to the design of Meowth and Meowth alone.  Apparently this is really important to them.

2) They’re hardly the only non-cat Pokémon who learn it that way – so do Sneasel, Chimchar, Sentret, and Spinda.  To me it makes perfect sense that a manipulative Pokémon like Drowzee would be able to learn a skill that makes use of allies’ powers in place of his own.

GrayGryphon asks:

Man, Spruce reminds me so much of one of my own Pidgey characters from a Pokemon RP. Noble and knightly, and referring to his trainer as “my lady” nonironically. He’s probably the one who likes her best, except maybe for her Phanpy who thinks of her as his mom.

I’m glad you like him, although to be honest I don’t think I’d call Spruce “knightly.”  He’s… not really a terribly disciplined person.

Anonymous asks:

Any thoughts on why Meowstic-M and Meowstic-F are considered the same Pokemon while Nidoran-M and Nidoran-F are not?

I think really it’s just a matter of the games’ history.  In Red and Blue, gender was something that was unique to Nidoran, so having separate “species” was the only way they could do that.  They could have retconned that, of course  – reassigned the Pokédex numbers so that male and female Nidoran were formally the same species – but then there would technically be only 149 first-generation Pokémon, not 150, and something tells me that the idea of reducing the official number of Pokémon species would make Game Freak very uneasy.  If you want an in-universe answer… well, it seems like they do consider them the same Pokémon.  I mean, they’re both called “Nidoran.”  Possibly the Pokédex separates them because they have different evolutionary paths, which Meowstic doesn’t.

Anonymous asks:

Does it bug you when people associate anime only elements (like Pokemon speak or the player characters being ten) with the games/manga?

In a word, no.  The way I see it, the games don’t do a huge amount of world-building.  They’re getting better, of course, but it’s still not a task to which their format is terribly well-suited.  The anime is just better at that.  Obviously different writers are responsible for the two, but they ostensibly have in mind versions of the same world, and every detail is a useful one.  And there’s room to fudge things too – like, maybe there isn’t a strict age limit of 10 years that applies everywhere, but pretty clearly the point is that kids can become Pokémon trainers at a fairly young age, though not without some restrictions or oversight.  If something directly contradicts, sure, that’s something you have to resolve, one way or another, but there’s lots of ways you can do that, depending on exactly what the problem is.  I have very little patience for the word “canon,” or any argument that surrounds it.

Anonymous asks:

Why do Vanillite and Swirlix get bashed and raged at for being based off of food, but Exeggcute is given a free pass? Is it just because Exeggcute is from first gen?

Well, I think if you spend more than about two seconds considering it, you can come up with more convincing reasons.  Like, I suspect people who dislike Swirlix and Vanillite are likely to be more turned off by them on the grounds that eggs are things that exist in nature, while ice cream and candyfloss are not.  A sunny-side up Pokémon would probably suffer similar bad press (we’ll also gloss over the fact that in-universe sources actually describe Exeggcute clusters as being more like seeds than eggs anyway).  Then there’s the fact that Exeggcute is actually interesting and quirky – they have the thing where they’re multiple bodies in a psychic link, and they evolve in a really weird direction, becoming a goddamn walking coconut tree.  Vanillite… is an ice cream, has ice powers, and becomes a bigger ice cream.  Personally I have no problem with Vanillite being a food Pokémon; I have a problem with the fact that Vanillite is just bloody dull.  Swirlix less so; I’m okay with Swirlix, although I kinda think more could have been done with that idea.  Exeggcute and Exeggutor are just a lot more interesting than both, I think (also, you have to admit, their English names are badass).

Anonymous asks:

Do you think fairies do a good job at balancing dragons? And in a semi related question, do you think fairies are overpowered?

Gnyyyerrgh.  If anything I think they’re a bit much; Dragon is actually kind of a bad type now, just in and of itself, since its main advantage was always that it was so difficult to block.  Particular Dragon-types are still really, really good, obviously, but mainly ones like Garchomp and Dragonite who are really, really good pretty much regardless of what you do to the type.  On the other hand, most Dragon-types are quite powerful on their own merits.  The weakest ones were Druddigon and Altaria, and Altaria now has a kick-ass Mega form, and Druddigon… well, Druddigon sucks, but there’s sort of not much you can do about that anyway.  So basically it just winds up making life seem very unfair for Flygon, Tyrantrum and Noivern.  It could be worse.

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Anonymous asks:

What would be your ideal worm–>cocoon–>some kind of winged thing line?

I don’t really have an “ideal” one, in the sense that there’s something in the back of my head that would work really well for it, but if you really wanted me to do the whole caterpillar/cocoon/butterfly thing, then I guess I think it would be really neat to do something with the Atlas moth.  You know, this guy:

As it’s one of the biggest moths in the world, as well as named after the titan who holds up the sky, we have an excuse to do some somewhat unconventional things with it, like allow it to learn Fly and make it a big physical bruiser instead of special attack and support.  Maybe have it punch things with six arms at once.  I want to do something with the false snake heads on its wing tips too, but as tempting as it is, I worry that giving it actual snake heads that bite opponents is probably a bit too weird for something that traditionally would go in an early-game slot, and probably make the design too complicated and crowded.  Possibly just give it the ability to use Glare and be done with it.

Atlas caterpillars and chrysalises aren’t all that exciting to look at, so it’s probably best to take a bit of artistic license with them, and fit them in with however the final form ends up looking.

X Nuzlocke, episode 8: Seeing Eye Dogs

Shalour City

Chris: Gosh; that tower’s incredible, isn’t it, Ruby?  I’ve read about it but it’s even more amazing to actually see it!
Ruby: Mmm, I suppose even I must admit it’s rather impr- wait, hang on, you can read!?
Chris: Come on!  Korrina said that’s where she hangs out most of the time; let’s go see her!
Ruby: Yes… yes, the human who travels with those two Lucario.  They’ll not escape me this time.  Whatever secrets they hold will be mine!  MINE!  HA-hahahahaha-HAH!
Fisher: …my lady, I must confess you frighten me sometimes.
Spruce: Sometimes?

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