Pokémon Generation VIII

[Bongo]

Seven times? Christ, man, that's bad luck. I can see failing on the first time out because it's not at all a sure thing, but they've tuned it so that your power levels are pretty close.

I like adventure raids much more than the regular kind, but if you have bad luck getting matchmade with literal children who take 30 seconds to decide twice in a row to use Poison Fang against a steel-type legendary I can see how that'd turn you off. (We still won.)

If you want to heal during battle, pick a pokemon who knows a healing move. If you want to heal between battles, swap in a fresh catch, trade with a scientist, or pass through a berry pile. If you're raiding solo, you control the path through the dungeon unilaterally.

Whoa whoa whoa, hold the phone, there are catchable Mythicals now? As in, they’re just there, in the game? Oh man I hope this means we see some in VGC.

It's a situation kind of like Deoxys in Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire, in that although they were previously event-exclusive, you can now get some of them in-game. Data miners found that an encounter for Victini exists, but it's still undiscovered how to trigger it. For Keldeo in particular, here's how you get one:

Spoiler: how you get one (or so they told me) (I haven't done it yet)

Bring a Cobalion, Terrakion, and Virizion that were caught in Galar (possibly even the specific ones you caught in your own save file) to the little island next to the large island with the big tree. On that island, there's a pot. Set up a campsite there and make curry, and Keldeo will appear.

Also, the conditions for triggering an encounter with Spiritomb are kind of obscure, so this may help:

Spoiler: it's a "common" pokemon, but not that common

Near the lake is a tombstone with the words "Spread my voice" on it. What this means is to talk to a lot of other players in the Crown Tundra area. I think the threshold is like 40, but the message you get for checking the tombstone will change every 10.

 

[Zef]

Seven times? Christ, man, that's bad luck. I can see failing on the first time out because it's not at all a sure thing, but they've tuned it so that your power levels are pretty close.

My "favorite" one was my second pass, where my AI team and I made it all the way to Suicune with just 1 KO, everyone at full health, and I got to Dynamax on the first round. Then Suicune used Max Geyser on the AI's Carkol. Then again when it came back. And again when it came back.

At least three tries I got within 1 HP of defeating it.

If you want to heal during battle, pick a pokemon who knows a healing move. If you want to heal between battles, swap in a fresh catch, trade with a scientist, or pass through a berry pile.

Problem is, the loadsets are randomized, and I only saw healing moves twice--once, on a 'mon that would've been instakilled by the next foe, so I didn't pick it. The AI did, and it got instakilled. Then, you never know what a scientist may give you, so if I have an Electric that has a good shot at making it to Suicune, I may end up getting a Fire type. So Berries are the only reliable method, but in my experience, the game puts Berries behind strong Normal or Steel types that usually knock 1 or 2 "lives" off of my stock.

I still dislike Max Raids when I get Martin and his Solrock or when a Jigglypuff that has a super-effective move wastes a turn instead by doing that clapping move or a "target me!" aggro, but at least I have a very high-level team that can cover most scenarios and even beat Dynamax Gengars 6/10. Also, I can heal if necessary. I understand the point of Dynamax Adventures, but everything about them is stacked against solo players.

 

[Bongo]

The last hat Pikachu is available with the code K1NP1KA1855.

 

[Rascally Badger]

I haven't really paid attention, but are Sword and Shield worth playing? Its been some time since I've played a Pokemon and I'm feeling the urge.

 

[Vidfamne]

I haven't played S/S but from all I've heard from those who have, long-time players stick to this for single-player Restricted Sparring, PvP combat, co-op raids, or the co-op roguelike of questionable balance (only in the Crown Tundra add-on).

If you just want to curbstomp 30h of "the story" with cute critters of choice, I think you'd do better to run a randomizer of an old game instead, or try Stadium or Gale of Darkness if you haven't, as those games at least deviate more substantially from -- yes -- the same old Pokemon since 1996: Stadium's Round Two with rentals and Gale's Orre Colosseum with in-game mons are quite difficult.

 

[Phantoon]

I haven't really paid attention, but are Sword and Shield worth playing? Its been some time since I've played a Pokemon and I'm feeling the urge.

Yeah, I'd go for it. The new pokemon are fun and the region is interesting. The story is the complete opposite of Sun and Moon's insufferable "walk 200 yards and hear about Lillie and malasadas again" but too far in the opposite direction as it feels like part of it is entirely missing. Still, even after that the DLC is fun and raids are cool.

 

[Bongo]

They've begun rolling out the integration between Pokemon Go and Pokemon Home. High-level players have access already, and lower-level players should see it in the coming days.

If you transfer at least one 'em from Go to Home, you will receive a Gigantamax-capable Melmetal as a gift.

Based on descriptions I've read (I haven't touched Go in years, so I don't have access to the transfer feature yet), there's a limit on the transfer. You can have a maximum of ten thousand transfer points, and they recover at a rate of one per minute, so it's almost exactly a week for a full recharge, or you can spend some kind of funbux for an instant charge (please don't do this). Each pokemon transferred takes a certain amount of charge, with legendaries and mythicals costing more, and being shiny further increasing the price.

Personally, my plan is to catch a bunch of Meltan until I get bored, and give them away for people to fill what is likely to be the last gap in their pokedex.

 

[Kirin]

If you're curious the charges break down like this - sending a shiny-Legendary (or shiny-Mythical) takes almost an entire full charge, which will take a week to re-fill without paying in-game currency. Non-shiny legendaries or shiny non-legendaries go at a rate of 5 or 6 in a full charge. Non-shiny regular pokemon at low levels cost negligible amounts such that you can transfer hundreds before running out of energy. If they're high level it's a bit more but still room for dozens.

I'm playing with this just to start filling out a Home-dex even without having any of the main RPGs (well, I have LG but I'm not playing it much). What's good GTS bait to get things I want? I've had some success with Bulbasaur (which happen to be abundant in GO right now) but haven't tried asking for Legendaries yet. I imagine Meltan could work but it's mythical and I'm avoiding using up all my xfer charge while I'm still trying to get lots of normal things in the dex there. I know Ditto is a hot commodity and I'm kicking myself for not saving more, since it's not easy to come by in GO either. Throwing random crap in Wonder Trade is getting some fun Gen 8 stuff now and then.

 

[Bongo]

I just realized I could transfer these Meltan over through LGPE, since I had to unlock that capability in order to catch them anyway. So that'll be a time-saver.

I don't actually know the best GTS strategies, but this would be the approach I'd take:

Legendaries for legendaries seems reasonable. Some of the difficult-to-find pokemon in Sword and Shield are Lileep/Cradily and Spiritomb, so there may be players who will offer a premium for those. Asking for legendaries that could be attained repeatedly in earlier games, such as the Ultra Beasts or Zygarde, might be a good next step, and from there, legendaries for legendaries become attainable, especially if you can get your hands on spares of version-exclusive ones. Most precious are the mutually exclusive pairs introduced in gen 8 - Zacian, Zamazenta, Spectrier, Glastrier, Regieleki, and Regidrago. Spare Kubfu will also get you what you want.

If you get wonder traded something hacked with a website for a nickname, you can use those to fill GTS requests.

 

[gogglebob]

If memory serves, you cannot search for mythical Pokemon on the GTS, thus Meltan and Melmetal are right out as being valuable on the GTS.

I don't know if P-Go is going to completely upset this economy, but a number of people that have been trying to complete their Home Pokedex have been looking for mundane pokemon that aren't in Sword/Shield+Expansions, and weren't plentiful in Sun/Moon. As an example, I got a new legendary (SSDLC: Ice Horse) for a common skitty. It might be worthwhile to check out what IS in P-Go, but isn't in Sword/Shield.

 

[Kirin]

Oh yeah, dang mythicals and their trade restrictions. Also learning I really shouldn't have bothered GTS'ing for the Gen8 starters as they're all over Wonder Trade, but that's fine. Set up some GTS fishing for Ultra Beasts, and then got a surprise Xurkitree from Wonder, so that's fun!

 

[Bongo]

Xurkitree got done dirty in generation 8. It lost Tail Glow and Z-Hypnosis, and on top of that, there's Regieleki stealing its (heh) thunder.

 

[Bongo]

I seem to be grinding up lots and lots of Meltan. If you want a Meltan or Melmetal but don't want to play Go, let me know, and I'll hook you up.

 

[Phantoon]

Remakes of Pokemon Diamond and Pearl and the open world Pokemon Legends Arceus have been revealed! I really like both of them for entirely different reasons.

 

[Zef]

And here's the trailer:

I really enjoyed PokePearl, mostly because it was my first Pokemon game and I have fond memories of everything that was NOT grinding for hours on end at Iron Island --which I assume won't be a problem anymore with the S&Sh QoL improvements. It would be awesome if I could import my DS team into it, but I'll enjoy rebuilding it and giving my critters the same names all over again

 

[Jeanie]

If anyone was wondering about the company working on the Diamond/Pearl remakes:

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1365320882583965702

 

[MetManMas]

It's a li'l weird seeing these games look so retraux-ish with the field graphics after previous remakes were up to the standards of the latest previous games in the series, but given the costs and difficulties of HD development and that the remake's being outsourced to another company, it's an acceptable compromise.

Even without diving into the hellscape that is Twitter comments I've no doubt the chibi models and world will be divisive, though.

 

[Bongo]

I like that there's a distinctive visual identity for Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl. (I'm typing out the full names so that I remember them, but eventually I will revert to calling them Pokémon Crazy Diamond and Pokémon Pearl Jam.) It seems like it still uses the regular gen 8 battle system, so I'm assuming they'll be interoperable at least for battling and trading.

 

[muteKi]

I'm going to be so mad if they make us use rock climb again.

 

[Zef]

but given the costs and difficulties of HD development and that the remake's being outsourced to another company, it's an acceptable compromise.

Plus, there's the Legends game:

I feel like getting two full-scale Pokegames in close succession, with the main thrust of R&D going to a Pokegame that radically changes the mechanics and feeling of the franchise, is MORE than an acceptable compromise. I was excited for Shine On, Crazy Diamond, but I'm day-one for Legends, and all the new ways it upends the style of the games.

 

[conchobhar]

I'm going to be so mad if they make us use rock climb again.

If they replace all the HMs with Ride Pokémon, it'll be golden.

Actually, what I'd really like to see is for all the ride abilities to be consolidated onto one mon, a la Let's Go— and that mon is a Bidoof.

 

[muteKi]

Actually, what I'd really like to see is for all the ride abilities to be consolidated onto one mon, a la Let's Go— and that mon is a Bidoof.

I will buy two copies of each of the two if they do this

 

[BEAT]

 

[BEAT]

POKEMON FANS BITCHING ABOUT NOTHING GIVES ME LIFE.

 

[BEAT]

People are still immolating themselves with gasoline over how Sword and Shield look like 3 years later fucking seriously.

 

[Pajaro Pete]

i'm old enough to remember when pokemon fans were cheering on timtam tamtam tem tem to end gamefreak

 

[muteKi]

Whatever happened to temtem anyway?

 

[Zef]

People are still immolating themselves with gasoline over how Sword and Shield look like 3 years later fucking seriously.

That's what makes this comment on above's Legends video the best:

(Although I'm not sure if they're sincerely praising "the trees" because of their graphical fidelity, or if they're taking the piss out of the Pokemon Superfans who kept screenshooting the spherical foliage that berry trees have in S&Sh as proof that the game was crap.)

 

[Mightyblue]

Whatever happened to temtem anyway?

Still in early access, I believe?

 

[Pajaro Pete]

i think it came to all the consoles, but it's still labeled as Early Access