Continue reading “Anonymous asks:”Considering Blaziken and especially Infernape, I feel Emboar got the short end of the stick in terms of Fire/Fighting starters… How would you redesign Emboar to make him more interesting? Change his typing? Stats? Movepool? Ability? What about his general design aesthetic? I personally would make him a pure Fire type, since the only pure Fire type fully evolved starter so far is Typhlosion… It would make sense among his own trio with Serperior and Samurott being single typed, too!
Pokémon Moon, Episode 7: In Which My Culinary Skills Are Pushed To Their Limit
Since the next Captain, Kiawe, is a Fire Pokémon specialist, he lives on a volcano. Because of course he does. Fire trainers don’t really ‘do’ subtlety. Wela Volcano, which is named for the Hawaiian word for heat or burning, and corresponds to Haleakala in the real world, looms over the northeast corner of Akala Island. Although many of its basalt flows are still glowing red from the last eruption, the volcano is perfectly safe – or at least, this is the claim made by the Seismic Sisters, a set of Alolan triplets who maintain tunnels that provide surprisingly easy access up and down its slopes. Among the hardy, fire-tolerant Pokémon that live there is a wily black lizard Pokémon called Salandit, a Fire/Poison-type, which nearly blows my Trumbeak out of the sky with Dragon Rage. I decide to retire my Butterfree and recruit one in her place (a female, which I’m told is important); that Dragon Rage is sure to come in handy as long as we’re still low-level.
Continue reading “Pokémon Moon, Episode 7: In Which My Culinary Skills Are Pushed To Their Limit”criduchat92 asks:
Hi Chris! Just like you like the Pokemaniacs, my favourites are the Hex Maniacs and Channelers. While randomly surfing Bulbapedia, I found references of two Hex Maniacs who look at the player and say, ” oh you are not the one” Do you have any head-canons on what they are referring to?
Well, I didn’t before, but since you ask, I suspect they’ve probably been told by their ghost friends to expect someone who will change their lives, in some vaguely horoscope-esque fashion – you know, “you will meet a tall, dark, handsome stranger who will sweep you off your feet,” that sort of thing.
I mean, either that or they’re just saying confusing things to spook you.
Anonymous asks:
Could you look up “what are all the nerfs and buffs in pokemon sun and moon” over on pokemondb, and tell us your thoughts? Please and thank you! :3 (also, unmentioned in the list is the fact that Gengar no longer has Levitate!?!)
Couple of people have asked me about this; I think I’ll do a full length screed of rambling nonsense when I finish the playthrough.
Anonymous asks:
Slowbro or Slowking?
Probably Slowbro. I like the notion of what they were doing with Slowking design-wise, but I think it needed more to make it mechanically distinct, because the differences in their skill-sets are extremely subtle, and to be honest I’m not sure what else could have been done, using generation II mechanics, to differentiate them, other than maybe push more extreme differences in stats. Slowking winds up feeling a bit superfluous, which is a shame because turning Slowpoke’s evolution literally on its head was a cool starting point.
Anonymous asks:
why do bugs resist fighting? i mean, they’re fragile af and powerful fists should crush them. i just noticed this when my butterfree singlehandedly effed the saffron dojo up, quadresist and all.
Not sure, but I think it’s probably something similar to the logic of Bug being strong against Dark – in Japanese popular culture, insect-themed heroes are very common, so it makes perfect sense for Bug-types to be strong against the “evil” type. In the same way, Fighting and Bug are both “heroic” types, but in very different ways and with different fighting styles, so they’re not very good at attacking each other. But that’s mostly a guess.
Anonymous asks:
Im going to try “your” crema di limoncello, seems to be good (im not the guy who asked that). Please make a quick review about feebas and Milotic, they are also some of my favorite pokemon. And im having so much fun reading your Moon chapters! So funny. Love your “impressions” of the new stuff, I also tried to play it avoiding the most spoilers possible; and your “flirting” with the hard grunt…
You probably want to follow some variation on these instructions. Also, it’s very important to boil the milk; that stops it from curdling (and don’t worry about the milk going off – there’s enough alcohol in this stuff to kill most bacteria, so it keeps basically forever if you chill it).
Continue reading “Anonymous asks:”ill337erate asks:
I’m so happy you’re writing up your Moon playthrough!! Your posts already made me laugh out loud a few times and, as always, you make make thorough observations & bring up interesting points. Side note, did you notice Rotom call Ilima a dreamboat? Anyway, I wanted to let you know that different forms of the same species get their own dex entries in Sun and Moon. I strongly suggest looking at them all at some point! Several shed a new light on some of the pre-existing Pokémon forms.
I did notice, and he is. And that’s good to know; I’ll look out for it. I think maybe when this playthrough is over I want to do a sort of Alola Pokédex appreciation post, because some of this stuff is gold (and possibly dethrones the original Ruby and Sapphire in my personal rankings for best-written Pokédex).
Pokémon Moon, Episode 6: In Which I Offer Charity To A Character of Dubious Virtue
When I reach the entrance to the quiet valley of Brooklet Hill, a Water Pokémon paradise, I am greeted by none other than the local Captain herself: Lana, a dreamy young woman with blue hair. Lana needs help with something, and apparently won’t take ‘no’ for an answer. Well, the sooner I make her happy, the sooner I can attempt her trial, and the sooner I can get out of here… I follow Lana down into the valley, past tranquil pools and rumbling waterfalls, until we reach a large pool being disturbed by a strange thrashing out in the deepest part.
Continue reading “Pokémon Moon, Episode 6: In Which I Offer Charity To A Character of Dubious Virtue”Anonymous asks:
After reading and writing so much about Pokémon, are there any traditional Japanese folktales or myths you find particularly interesting? Would love to know what a classicist like yourself think about Japanese folklore! 🙂
Honestly for me the takeaway from it all has been that I clearly don’t know enough about Japanese folklore to talk about it properly – mostly I just know the bits that have Pokémon based on them. If anyone would like to recommend some introductory books…?
Pokémaniacal 