Unpopular opinions

I never saw either of these anime versions of Dragonite, so I never got that impression from it.

Clair's Dragonite: In the Johto arc, when Ash & co. arrives to Blackthorn City for Ash to get his eighth Johto Badge, they learn that nearby Blackthorn is the Dragon Holy Land and living there is the former Blackthorn City Gym Leader's Dragonite who guards it. Normally peaceful, Team Rocket end up getting into the Dragon Holy Land, trick Dragonite into helping them, and while Dragonite was fighting Ash & co. & Clair they tried to steal the valuables from the shrine there. They try stealing a golden prayer ball with the flame still lit in it, but accidentally end up setting the Dragon Holy Lands on fire. Dragonite, seeing the destruction and realizing it was tricked, immediately went into a rage causing even more damage to the Dragon Holy Land. Ash & co. & Clair succeed in calming down Dragonite, it weeping for the massive damage it has caused to the Dragon Holy Land though all the other Pokemon living there comfort it. Meanwhile Team Rocket try leaving with a holy relic, a Dragon Fang, but Ash has Pikachu use Thunderbolt blasting them off and retrieving the Dragon Fang. (EP252 & EP253)
It's then revealed in Black & White's Decolore Arc that Clair had caught this Dragonite and uses it for the episode she appears in, it forming a fierce rivalry with Iris's Dragonite, both trying to one-up each other (and poor Ash's Charizard trying to break up their fights only for both of them to push it aside). (BW136)

Iris's Dragonite: Iris's Dragonite is notable for being cranky and foul-tempered which is different from how a Dragonite usually is. It's revealed in the past it has had a fierce rivalry with a Hydreigon. It was after one battle with Hydreigon that it injured its wing causing it to find someplace to rest which ended up being inside a power plant accidentally causing Undella Town to have a blackout. This is where Ash & co. get involved and, after helping Dragonite and Iris forming a bond with it, it does decide to stay with Iris. From there you can read the rest of its article, but main point is that Iris's challenge with Dragonite is getting it to open up to her but it's too jaded to want to do it, even not wanting to listen to her if it feels like it could battle batter than what she's telling it. Dragonite also liked picking fights with strong opponents, notably Ash's Charizard and the above mentioned Clair's Dragonite.
There's plenty of clips on Youtube of Iris's Dragonite essentially being a jerk cause it's such a stark contrast to how Dragonite is usually shown it sticks out.

I also want to say something about Pokémon Archetypes since it has been discussed recently and I came up with a potentially new archetype which I don't think has been mentioned before. This might be the wrong thread, but I'll say it here anyway since I'm not sure where else to post it. What I came up with is the "Mushroom" archetype, as I like to call it. However, it only appears in every other generation as opposed to in every generation. The Pokémon that are a part of it so far are the Paras, Shroomish, Foongus and Morelull lines. What they all have in common is the following:
- They are always introduced in an odd generation (1, 3, 5, 7, with 9 very likely to follow)
- They are based on mushrooms/fungi
- Apart from Morelull/Shiinotic, they are all classified as Mushroom Pokémon in the Pokédex. Morelull and Shiinotic are classified as Illuminating Pokémon instead
- They are two-stage Grass-types
- The final evolution is always dual-typed (and with the sole exception of Shroomish, all base stages are dual-typed as well)
- They have Effect Spore as one of their primary Abilities (or in the case of the Foongus line, their only primary Ability)
- They can learn the move Spore, and they are the only Pokémon which can learn the move (apart from Smeargle). The only exception is Breloom which cannot learn Spore through level-up, but Shroomish can which means Breloom can get it as well.

Huh, never realized that but you're right. Let's see what Gen 9 does though before making it an official archetype.
 
There's plenty of clips on Youtube of Iris's Dragonite essentially being a jerk cause it's such a stark contrast to how Dragonite is usually shown it sticks out.

And now you have Ash's Dragonite that is taking the "stereotypes" to an extreme.

(which kind of reminds me on an incomplete fan fiction I made a long time ago that had a Haxorus that was the girliest girl ever in terms of personality, but at the same time she could decimate opponents in battle with her hacked moveset)
 
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And now you have Ash's Dragonite that is taking the "stereotypes" to an extreme.

(which kinds of reminds me on an incomplete fan fiction I made a long time ago that had a Haxorus that was the girliest girl ever in terms of personality, but at the same time she could decimate opponents in battle with her hacked moveset)

Interesting, tell us more. The idea of a ''girly girl'' Haxorus is pretty cool, I like it when you have characters that are multidimensional like that. A sadistic and bloodthirsty Wigglytuff would be a pretty hilarious Pokemon to have in a work, I think.

Wait...Ash has a Dragonite?! Since when?!
 
If anything, Pokemon's easiness comes from the lack good AI and IVs and bad movesets. For example, every generic trainer that isn't part of the gym challenge have their IVs set to 0 in SwSh. Or the lack of proper movesets, for example, Allister's Mimikyu doesn't have a single Fairy type move despite being an excellent way to prevent you from steamrolling with Dark types. It doesn't even have 4 moves. If you know basics of The Pokemon, I highly doubt SwSh would prove challenging even if you did not have the experience share.
I can't defend/explain GF's odd penchant for leaving important trainers' Pokémon with only three moves (sudden thought: a way to regulate the AI's move selection perhaps?), but the lack of a Fairy move on Mimikyu is at least partially due to Fairy having one non-signature physical move (and one that may be a bit too overbearing at the point you fight Allister, especially with its Disguise). The only options it has for any Fairy attacks are Play Rough, Draining Kiss, and Dazzling Gleam (having it use its weaker offensive stat probably would have been okay but oh well).
 
I can't defend/explain GF's odd penchant for leaving important trainers' Pokémon with only three moves (sudden thought: a way to regulate the AI's move selection perhaps?), but the lack of a Fairy move on Mimikyu is at least partially due to Fairy having one non-signature physical move (and one that may be a bit too overbearing at the point you fight Allister, especially with its Disguise). The only options it has for any Fairy attacks are Play Rough, Draining Kiss, and Dazzling Gleam (having it use its weaker offensive stat probably would have been okay but oh well).

Hot take: Maybe why they do that is to give the gym more of a ghost gym? Perhaps, they just add a bunch of ghost moves to make it more centralized, and not have a younger player with his Galarian-Linoone get a curveball thrown at him because of a play rough. You have to think from GF's point of view to understand they're thinking. It may seem just to be a useless dumming down, but it helps those kids from throwing out the game because the dumb pikachu hit them with a super effective move when he was a ghost type. Deep down, GF actually has a reason for their nonsense. This is why I couldn't disagree with you ever more. ( Kinda playing devil's advocate, but I have a reason for doing so.)

Edit: The same reason we cant get all this super hard stuff in the post-game is because GF understands that the majority of people who play their games are kids. So, they want them to keep playing, so they throw in a bunch of easier stuff to keep their brains engaged and never to feel really roadblocked. They won't add a hard mode, because we are the minority of a the people who buy their games. Why spend money to appeal to teh minority? At a company's standpoint, it's a useless feature to add. They are cold hearted, but cunning.

Edit 2: I met a younger kid, maybe 8, lets call him David. David grew up with X and Y. He was always engaged because he could get past everything, and every time it gave him a lot of dopamine. He brought everything pokemon, plushies, beds, wallpapers, etc. This is what GF wants. They want to get kids to spend all this money on all these things from their products. They want this kid to be engaged in the games, get the new games, buy everything they have, and in the end, use him to make money. Once he is dis-intrested, they made more money David's spending than they spent on the products they were selling him. They want more Davids, so they make it to appeal to davids, by making it easier for younger kids. Once tehy are a teen, they move on, but they still made a lot of money from when he was a fan. It's a un-ethical cycle, but a effecient one.
 
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Are kids still the majority of players? I've never seen actual stats and it's not an assumption I'm willing to make.
Googled it, and you are right. I guess my post kinda just got instantly disproved. I think that they do perhaps maybe kind of trying to appeal to these kids? I cant fully trust the reddit post that said that most people who play are over 18, put salvaging my idea, maybe they are trying to grapple in these kids and turn them into these die hard gamer fans like (maybe perhaps kinda not) people who commit their lives to pokemon(?) . Maybe they already know that most people are over 18 and becoming big critics, so they want to push them away? I try to defend GF and get instantly yeeted. Maybe Gf doesn't have that much cunning? ( I just pulled all of this form under the table, so i think it's horrible)

Edit: Nah, they know that they're audience are adults, and have been trying to nostolgia trip all of their origninal buyers back in. I feel really dumb now.

Edit 2: yay reddit post

Edit 3: " Online demographics polls like these are really not that trustworthy because what 7 year old is doing an online demographics poll on twitter or reddit? "

Checked it, and the info was right. They proved it right with links, (to real interviews) so I can trust it.

Edit 4: Oh crap, dramps was right. This isnt really real info, and it was poll based. On reddit.

lol
 
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Googled it, and you are right. I guess my post kinda just got instantly disproved. I think that they do perhaps maybe kind of trying to appeal to these kids? I cant fully trust the reddit post that said that most people who play are over 18, put salvaging my idea, maybe they are trying to grapple in these kids and turn them into these die hard gamer fans like (maybe perhaps kinda not) people who commit their lives to pokemon(?) . Maybe they already know that most people are over 18 and becoming big critics, so they want to push them away? I try to defend GF and get instantly yeeted. Maybe Gf doesn't have that much cunning? ( I just pulled all of this form under the table, so i think it's horrible)
Online demographics polls like these are really not that trustworthy because what 7 year old is doing an online demographics poll on twitter or reddit?
 
Hot take: Maybe why they do that is to give the gym more of a ghost gym? Perhaps, they just add a bunch of ghost moves to make it more centralized, and not have a younger player with his Galarian-Linoone get a curveball thrown at him because of a play rough. You have to think from GF's point of view to understand they're thinking. It may seem just to be a useless dumming down, but it helps those kids from throwing out the game because the dumb pikachu hit them with a super effective move when he was a ghost type. Deep down, GF actually has a reason for their nonsense. This is why I couldn't disagree with you ever more. ( Kinda playing devil's advocate, but I have a reason for doing so.)

Edit: The same reason we cant get all this super hard stuff in the post-game is because GF understands that the majority of people who play their games are kids. So, they want them to keep playing, so they throw in a bunch of easier stuff to keep their brains engaged and never to feel really roadblocked. They won't add a hard mode, because we are the minority of a the people who buy their games. Why spend money to appeal to teh minority? At a company's standpoint, it's a useless feature to add. They are cold hearted, but cunning.

Edit 2: I met a younger kid, maybe 8, lets call him David. David grew up with X and Y. He was always engaged because he could get past everything, and every time it gave him a lot of dopamine. He brought everything pokemon, plushies, beds, wallpapers, etc. This is what GF wants. They want to get kids to spend all this money on all these things from their products. They want this kid to be engaged in the games, get the new games, buy everything they have, and in the end, use him to make money. Once he is dis-intrested, they made more money David's spending than they spent on the products they were selling him. They want more Davids, so they make it to appeal to davids, by making it easier for younger kids. Once tehy are a teen, they move on, but they still made a lot of money from when he was a fan. It's a un-ethical cycle, but a effecient one.

On the other hand... Look at that KANTOOOOOO pandering to appeal to those RBY Gen 1 OGs.

Game Freak repeatedly tries to have their cake and eat it too when it comes to difficulty.

Too easy, and people like us get bored. Too hard (Hi Platinum) and apparently, the kids throw the game out to go back to their mobile games. That is *high-key* insulting to newer generation kids btw, but apparently, people raised on GOAT Platinum's era were built different.

If only there was a way to have a different difficulty setting to make things easier or harder in the game... :psysly:
 
Suspicious Derivative, do you at least remember this big mon?
Partly. I believe I watched that episode of the anime (not sure though), but the main thing I can remember from it is how Dragonite was portrayed as a complete mystery, not so much regarding Dragonite itself.
Clair's Dragonite:
-snip-

Iris's Dragonite:
-snip-
Thanks for the very detailed information! Iris's Dragonite is interesting, I read a bit about it on Bulbapedia yesterday. I guess it showcases something I like with the anime: how they can put a completely different and unexpected spin on certain Pokémon, breaking stereotypes for their species. Something that is unfortunately very hard to do (right) in the games.

Also, my unpopular(?) opinion regarding difficulty and the age of the fanbase: It doesn't matter whether the majority of players are adults or kids, the target audience for Pokémon is still kids (as it has always been), and the kids should never be ignored or considered less important in favor of the adults. Also, just because we old players find the newer games easy doesn't mean the same goes for the younger players of today. I have talked about this before, using an example I have seen in real life. Difficulty settings that are 100% optional would be a good option to make everyone satisfied (but since we are Pokémon fans, we will of course complain about them anyway if they should exist, am I right?). But asking for difficulty settings in the games is hardly an unpopular opinion. It feels like this is another of those discussions that gets brought up every once in a great while without ever reaching a conclusion, but I guess that's because we players are not in the position to fix this issue.
 
But asking for difficulty settings in the games is hardly an unpopular opinion. It feels like this is another of those discussions that gets brought up every once in a great while without ever reaching a conclusion, but I guess that's because we players are not in the position to fix this issue.
Pretty much. It's the one quick and easy solution to at least attempt to please everyone.

Sure, some people will complain regardless, but there will always be complaints. What matters is evaluating whether or not they're justified.
 
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But asking for difficulty settings in the games is hardly an unpopular opinion. It feels like this is another of those discussions that gets brought up every once in a great while without ever reaching a conclusion, but I guess that's because we players are not in the position to fix this issue.
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Difficulty options is not a unpopular opinion, ( Like SD said) and I think we, as a fanbase, should stop whining because GF isn't going to put it in. Incredible try-hard die-hard fans aren't going to get that put in, because it would only truly benefit them, not the kids, which it is aimed at. Most of those people THAT are adults, probably are being nostolgia baited, so we are kinda the minority. Why spend resources that would only appeal to a minority, when you could spend it on the appeals the majority and the target? ( Kids & and Adults coming back for nostolgia) doesn't really make sense to do it for us, unless it takes a dramatic turn in the people who play, then they might(?) but probably won't. It's a dumb topic to spar about, because difficulty options or things that appeal die-hard fans aren't going to added. ( maybe probably not at all perhaps)


Edit: Oh, maybe I am wrong on this one, for the 7th time. If it would please everyone like Volt said, then my logic is fundamentally flawed. Maybe I shouldn't side with Gf anymore...


Edit 2: Good point, Good point, maybe I shouldn't give up on Gf. Thanks for addressing me Clever ( Clev or clever?) . That could be a reason for not implementing it, maybe giving my post any tiny bit of evidence (?) And i forgot what I was going to say.

Edit 3: Celver. It's Celver. Not clever. I'm really sorry dude.

Edit 6: How do I fix my quotes like Celever?

Edit 4: Wait, it was Celever? I feel... I'm just sorry for my stupid brain.
 
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But asking for difficulty settings in the games is hardly an unpopular opinion. It feels like this is another of those discussions that gets brought up every once in a great while without ever reaching a conclusion, but I guess that's because we players are not in the position to fix this issue.

Difficulty options is not a unpopular opinion, ( Like SD said) and I think we, as a fanbase, should stop whining because GF isn't going to put it in. Incredible try-hard die-hard fans aren't going to get that put in, because it would only truly benefit them, not the kids, which it is aimed at. Most of those people THAT are adults, probably are being nostolgia baited, so we are kinda the minority. Why spend resources that would only appeal to a minority, when you could spend it on the appeals the majority and the target? ( Kids & and Adults coming back for nostolgia) doesn't really make sense to do it for us, unless it takes a dramatic turn in the people who play, then they might(?) but probably won't. It's a dumb topic to spar about, because difficulty options or things that appeal die-hard fans aren't going to added. ( maybe probably not at all perhaps)


Edit: Oh, maybe I am wrong on this one, for the 7th time. If it would please everyone like Volt said, then my logic is fundamentally flawed. Maybe I shouldn't side with Gf anymore...
Difficulty setting were in B2W2. They just implemented them so horrendously badly that no one was able to use them without 2 DSes and both B2 and W2.

It’s plausible that the “poor reception to the difficulty settings” means GF thinks fans don’t care if they’re included or not, but if that’s true it shows how clueless GF is. People took issue with the implementation but were a big fan of the idea, and the difficulty modes were hyped up pre-release by everyone.

They also included an easy mode in this instance for young kids!
 
Difficulty setting were in B2W2. They just implemented them so horrendously badly that no one was able to use them without 2 DSes and both B2 and W2.

And even if you play around it (say, play on an emulator with an Action Replay code to unlock the Key before starting a new game) you find out it's poorly done even without considering the Key mess. It was just one more mon per major trainer and teeny little more grinding.

You guys want a harder difficulty option, but Game Freak is neither willing or actually capable of making one. It's not worth bothering. Just tinker with the game's already existing options to increase difficulty in a fun way...
 
And even if you play around it (say, play on an emulator with an Action Replay code to unlock the Key before starting a new game) you find out it's poorly done even without considering the Key mess. It was just one more mon per major trainer and teeny little more grinding.

You want a harder difficulty option, but Game Freak is neither willing or actually capable of making one. It's not worth bothering.

Interesting, is that so? I've been interested in doing a hard mode run because of the hype, and I'm lucky enough to own both games and two systems, but I've never tried it. How so is it poorly done (in terms of difficulty) if you don't mind me asking?
 
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Interesting, is that so? I was considering doing a hard mode run because I'm lucky enough to own both the games and two systems, but I've never tried it. Why is it poorly done (in terms of difficulty) if you don't mind me asking?

Basically most major trainers add one more Pokémon, some of their moves are replaced with a stronger moves (e.g. Iris's Aggron has Head Smash instead of Rock Slide) and their teams are 3-4 levels higher than in Normal.

The difficulty change is small at best. Not enough to call it a "Challenge".

I'm not talking about expecting difficulty more like those of the Drayano ROM Hacks, but it was still disappointing.

I'd say, with complete confidence, that Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon are more of a Challenge Mode to Sun and Moon than this.
 
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It was just one more mon per major trainer and teeny little more grinding.
Not really, some teams had more than just an extra mon, they also had alternate movesets.

https://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Marlon#Challenge_Mode

The added mon also were usually a mon that could cover for one of their weaknesses, for example, Mantine to cover against Grass.

And let's be real, look at those Wailord differences. It's straight up silly to treat them as pretty much the same team. Marlon's non-Challenge mode is a joke.
 
Interesting, is that so? I was considering doing a hard mode run because I'm lucky enough to own both the games and two systems, but I've never tried it. How so is it poorly done (in terms of difficulty) if you don't mind me asking?
In my opinion, it's not poorly done at all. There is a surprising amount of thought put into the challenge mode gym fights, it's just that the challenge mode, and especially the easy mode, are incredibly poorly implemented. To give you an example of what the challenge mode might change, let's look at Roxie.

1611257631777.png

Apart from having slightly higher levels and using an extra Pokemon, Roxie also makes use of held items and her Pokemon have updated movesets. Koffing has a much more threatening STAB move and Whirlipede can now get out of control with rollout. I think Grimer is a particularly good option here as well, as it has mud-slap to check the Magnemite line which would otherwise totally wall Roxie.

Some of the late game fights go all out with items. Look at Shauntal's challenge mode team.

1611258312187.png

That scarf Chandelure is infamous for being such a big surprise the first time you encounter it. Drifblim uses a common competitive strategy with flying gem acrobatics. What's interesting to note is that Shauntal's Drifblim doesn't have unburden on her normal mode team, so the designers actively chose to chance its ability to unburden specifically for challenge mode. It demonstrates that GF does know what they are doing in terms of boss design, sometimes anyway.

Challenge mode does much more than just adding levels. I think the fact that trainers use items now is enough to make a difference in and of itself to be honest. I would really like to see this in future games. Just let us pick the challenge mode option from the start please.
 
My unpopular opinion is that Blaziken and Swampert aren't the coolest Hoenn starters. I always thought Sceptile was coolest, but no one really gave him any attention. I mean, Blaziken and Swampert are good, but I feel like people only like them because they're powerful and not because they actually like them. Sceptile is actually a really good special attacker and revenge killer, plus a great SubSeed user in Gen III. But for whatever reason, nobody uses it, and Sceptile and its evolution should get more love. Who agrees with me?
 
My unpopular opinion is that Blaziken and Swampert aren't the coolest Hoenn starters. I always thought Sceptile was coolest, but no one really gave him any attention. I mean, Blaziken and Swampert are good, but I feel like people only like them because they're powerful and not because they actually like them. Sceptile is actually a really good special attacker and revenge killer, plus a great SubSeed user in Gen III. But for whatever reason, nobody uses it, and Sceptile and its evolution should get more love. Who agrees with me?
Being cool is not the same as being good.
 
My unpopular opinion is that Blaziken and Swampert aren't the coolest Hoenn starters. I always thought Sceptile was coolest, but no one really gave him any attention. I mean, Blaziken and Swampert are good, but I feel like people only like them because they're powerful and not because they actually like them. Sceptile is actually a really good special attacker and revenge killer, plus a great SubSeed user in Gen III. But for whatever reason, nobody uses it, and Sceptile and its evolution should get more love. Who agrees with me?

I think Grovyle is cooler than Sceptile.

But I digress, the Hoenn trio is good. Top 2 tbh.
 
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