Author Topic: Pokemon Sun and Moon are out! Alola, MoTK!  (Read 109839 times)

Re: Pokemon Sun and Moon are out! Alola, MoTK!
« Reply #330 on: November 28, 2016, 02:05:40 AM »
To be fair, all three Gen 7 starters are fairly slow, which is a theme for a bunch of Alola's Pokemon in general.

Obviously I can't say anything regarding playing through with the other two starters, but Incineroar definitely felt far from useless. You get Bulk Up and Leech Life on the second island, which can provide it with some extra longevity (beyond your own healing items lol), and Incineroar itself has decent natural bulk to help that out (less so before it evolves, however). Fire is well known to be terrible defensively, so that's something you just kinda have to accept going into it - at least Fire is also really good offensively, unlike Grass. Admittedly I didn't find too many situations in-game where Darkest Lariat's secondary effects mattered (competitive players are more privy to using boosting moves than CPU opponents), but then again, I doubt Decidueye or Primarina can say anything better about their signature moves' effects in-game (very few CPU trainers switch their Pokemon at all, and why would you ever want to heal an opponent's burn in singles?). Even before evolving, Torracat is by far the fastest of any of the starters' forms, which has to count for something. So yeah, while I can agree that Primarina's typing and movepool are better just from a glance, I wouldn't say Incineroar is, say, vastly inferior to Decidueye for the purposes of going through the campaign.

And Sparkling Aria's Z-move is stronger because its base power is in a higher increment of 10, which is generally how the Z-moves' base powers are determined. For example, Flamethrower and Heat Wave have base powers in the 90s, so an Inferno Overdrive from both is 175 base power despite the original moves' power difference (90 vs. 95), while one from Sacred Fire (100 base power) gets bumped up to 180 base power. The starters' signature moves work similarly, i.e., original moves with base powers in the 80s vs. the 90s.
Sparkling aria is a hit's everyone move, it's for de-burning your double partner (if they aren't too weak to it).. the reduction to single target might explain the higher power Z-move (it's about the only reason to keep it normally).
Also the advantages of healing enemies in battle royal might be worth it... battle royal is an odd ruleset.

Now up to the league... the past few major trainer encounters have been "fun", when did NPCs except the champ learn to make teams that are actually balanced?!

Not many version exclusives this time around, the can get but requires SOS battles and/or weather effects and/or 1% encounter rate (5% at best) mons seem to be the in demand ones for trades. (thankfully female starter, so have things to give out)

« Last Edit: November 28, 2016, 03:43:28 AM by Think Komachi with a Rifle »

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Re: Pokemon Sun and Moon are out! Alola, MoTK!
« Reply #331 on: November 28, 2016, 06:10:37 AM »
Do we have an idea of how best to get to level 100? Not being able to use our precious bottle caps on a mon until then is suffering.

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Re: Pokemon Sun and Moon are out! Alola, MoTK!
« Reply #332 on: November 28, 2016, 08:41:01 AM »
Does anyone know of any ideas to get newer stuff from Pokemon Center outside the US? Canada gets some of this stuff eventually but it's impossible to tell whether miscellaneous places will stock in time for gifting.
« Last Edit: November 28, 2016, 08:52:17 AM by Drake »

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Re: Pokemon Sun and Moon are out! Alola, MoTK!
« Reply #333 on: November 28, 2016, 02:38:11 PM »
Do we have an idea of how best to get to level 100? Not being able to use our precious bottle caps on a mon until then is suffering.
Abuse Rare Kitchen Although you can't do over lvl 90.

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Re: Pokemon Sun and Moon are out! Alola, MoTK!
« Reply #334 on: November 28, 2016, 04:20:53 PM »
Sparkling aria is a hit's everyone move, it's for de-burning your double partner (if they aren't too weak to it).. the reduction to single target might explain the higher power Z-move (it's about the only reason to keep it normally).
Also the advantages of healing enemies in battle royal might be worth it... battle royal is an odd ruleset.
I did say "in singles", which is what the vast majority of the campaign consists of. And I already explained the power increase in my last message.

Also regarding leveling up fast, if you have mons at a lower level you want built up, you can also run them through the Pokemon League if you have a mon that can solo it (or however many you need). Because EXP scaling is back, that means any EXP your other mons get from the EXP Share also gets boosted based on the level difference, independent of who is out in the field. This makes it possible for the mon out in the field to sometimes get less EXP than a mon in back, and since the Pokemon League has the highest level trainers in the game, this gives you the most bang for your buck. Rare Kitchens are very good, but they're the most valuable when the mon you're trying to level up is already at a very high level.
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Fulisha of Light

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Re: Pokemon Sun and Moon are out! Alola, MoTK!
« Reply #335 on: November 28, 2016, 07:27:07 PM »
Mimikyu is so cute, I can't decide on whether to keep it on my Moon team because I plan to have my Oricorio be the ghost type  :( and getting the 4th nectar will take forever since its on the 4th island...
I've tried chaining SOS with both Mimikyu and Oricorio (since the former kept doing so during training), but I can't seem to get it to last; its either they get a lot of no help or they stop calling for help forever. I want a shiny damnit!  :(

Spoiler:
Galdion wants to take me somewhere, which is either the 4th island or Aether Paradise to find Lily, but I'm not sure if I'm ready. My Sun party is all at lv. 41 and I traded and hatched for a Jangmo-o (and Drampa for Moon) early since you get it too late in the game and don't want to get too attached to a temporary mon/meat shield. Am I ready to take on anything where we're going? My Sun party is:

Decidyeye
Oricorio Balie
Lycanroc Midday
Toxapex
Ribombee
Hakamo-o

I don't want to know exactly what's up, but subtle advice on what I may need to have would be nice like lots of healing items or balls for example. Screw the Z-moves, I'm not using them  :V

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Re: Pokemon Sun and Moon are out! Alola, MoTK!
« Reply #336 on: November 28, 2016, 07:30:54 PM »
So... What's the best way to EV train? I bred a Mareanie with a good ability (just Merciless, not hidden ability) and nature but every method of EV training seems super annoying. What the fuck Nintendo, why no more super training?

Mimikyu is so cute, I can't decide on whether to keep it on my Moon team because I plan to have my Oricorio be the ghost type  :( and getting the 4th nectar will take forever since its on the 4th island...

Eh, it'll be fine. My team had three ghosts and a Vulpix that didn't do anything. Doesn't matter, balance isn't necessary. However, the purple nectar is super postgame, so unless you can trade Oricorio, have someone else form change it, and receive it back in that form you won't be doing that. If that does work I'd be happy to feed yours a purple nectar and send it back.
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Re: Pokemon Sun and Moon are out! Alola, MoTK!
« Reply #337 on: November 28, 2016, 08:07:33 PM »
Mimikyu is so cute, I can't decide on whether to keep it on my Moon team because I plan to have my Oricorio be the ghost type  :( and getting the 4th nectar will take forever since its on the 4th island...
I've tried chaining SOS with both Mimikyu and Oricorio (since the former kept doing so during training), but I can't seem to get it to last; its either they get a lot of no help or they stop calling for help forever. I want a shiny damnit!  :(
If you're willing to wait until the post-game for Sensu Oricorio, because that's unfortunately the only place you'll find the mon itself and the purple nectar to change from other forms. Mimikyu is arguably a better choice for single-player anyway. Disguise is godlike, especially if you play on "set" style like I do. Though if you don't want to load up on Fairy types, that's understandable.

As for your next location, you're more than ready level-wise. I finished that section with mons in the high-30s to really low 40s, so technically I started even lower than that. You'll also have plenty of chances to go get healing items and whatnot if you need more.

So... What's the best way to EV train? I bred a Mareanie with a good ability (just Merciless, not hidden ability) and nature but every method of EV training seems super annoying. What the fuck Nintendo, why no more super training?
Chaining mons in SOS battles is good since each new mon that gets called in has their EV yield doubled each time (I imagine there's a limit, but I don't know it off the top of my head). If you set yourself up right against a mon that can't hurt you too badly, you can chain for quite a while. Recently I did SOS battles outside Po Town to find a Castform, and as I kept killing Fearow to continue the chain, my Sneasel's Speed kept going up massively with each level up (it was in the 40s at the time, and its Speed was going up 7 or 8 points at a time). Also, you can use Isle Evelup to train EVs. It's a lot slower obviously, but the trick is using this while you're not playing, such as when you're sleeping, so you can keep on passively training your mons.
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Fulisha of Light

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Re: Pokemon Sun and Moon are out! Alola, MoTK!
« Reply #338 on: November 28, 2016, 08:34:40 PM »
Eh, it'll be fine. My team had three ghosts and a Vulpix that didn't do anything. Doesn't matter, balance isn't necessary. However, the purple nectar is super postgame, so unless you can trade Oricorio, have someone else form change it, and receive it back in that form you won't be doing that.
If you're willing to wait until the post-game for Sensu Oricorio, because that's unfortunately the only place you'll find the mon itself and the purple nectar to change from other forms. Mimikyu is arguably a better choice for single-player anyway. Disguise is godlike, especially if you play on "set" style like I do. Though if you don't want to load up on Fairy types, that's understandable.

As for your next location, you're more than ready level-wise. I finished that section with mons in the high-30s to really low 40s, so technically I started even lower than that. You'll also have plenty of chances to go get healing items and whatnot if you need more.

Post-game? :( Damn, why does Gamefreak have to do that for?

If that does work I'd be happy to feed yours a purple nectar and send it back.
I'd really appreciate it if you could :'D

Raikaria

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Re: Pokemon Sun and Moon are out! Alola, MoTK!
« Reply #339 on: November 28, 2016, 09:15:28 PM »
I never noticed Torracat learns Leech Life.  I definitely got it; I taught it to my Formantis. It was so unexpected that I never even noticed it.

I rarely; if ever; use setup moves in the story. So few trainers have enough pokemon to make it worthwhile; and if you're going to even +2; it's a case of you're actually better off just attacking twice because you'll hit just as hard overall and have twice the chance for a crit or a secondary effect. Bulk Up being a +1 is even worse; for Bulk Up to break even offensively you need to attack twice after using it [Discounting crits and such].

Also the slowness really is felt as Inceniroar because you actually lose 30 base speed on evolution. Inceniroar is slower than Litten. So when you go through the game with Litten/Torracat Inceniroar is jarring.

I mean; I'm not 100% on how good Deducieye is; but Ghost is a kinda OP attacking type ever since the Steel nerf made it so only Dark and Normal resist/are immune to Ghost [Ghost is the new Dragon]. But Ghost/Flying/Grass is literally perfect coverage except for Bisharp which isn't in this game. I think it is pretty obvious Popplio is the best starter in-game. If only because Scald of all moves is a TM you can obtain Lv 15~18; and just before the Waterium Z.

Anyway I think I'll just muse about the rest of my team in-game right now. I'm using a mixture of new pokemon and pokemon I just haven't used before because they usually show up pretty late.

Inceniroar - I don't like it's movepool and think it gets comparatively screwed compared to the other starters on TM's. I'd probobly place him 4th.

Laurantis - As Formantis it kinda sucked. As Laurantis... it still is pretty bad but at least hits harder? Crit moves + Scope Lens here. Totem Laurantis makes you think this guy is awesome then you get him and he lets you down...

Magneton - Oh my god this is carrying me so hard. Steelium-Z is surprisingly awesome. No Eviolite for... well... see Misdrevus.

Misdrevus - The game outright teased me with one NPC talking about how they had a Dusk Stone but nothing to use it on. Despite the fact that Misdrevus hasn't evolved yet. Also; I apparently missed the Eviolite? I just looked up where it is and MAN DO I FEEL DUMB. Although at this point I might just not bother with the Eviolite because then I'll be tempted to not evolve my Magneton and just use Evolite Magneton instead of Magnezone.

But the fact it's been carrying me even without it is awesome. Overall; Misdrevus has been my most reliable pokemon. It was my strongest earlygame; and is still probobly 3rd place now. It's pretty fast; Charge Beam and it's typing combined well to give it punch. Psywave was actually really good early and in a pinch there's always Confuse Ray.

Slowpoke: Missed the Eviolite; but TM's are making Slowpoke still useful. Scald early; Psychic respectably early. Waterium Z on this right now; mostly because I can't be asked to sit through Leftovers animation and it gives Slowpoke some punch against Fires; which I otherwise have no answer to. Strill; simply due to still being Slowpoke Slowpoke is the weakest member of my team right now. Also a massive pain against wilds. It dosen't hit hard enough to KO them before they call for help and it's too slow to run...

If I knew where the King's Rock was I might even use Slowking. But then I can't use Mega Slowbro in the postgame.

Rimbobee: Man this thing is awesome. Was certainly my MVP after it evolved; but before Magnemite evolved into Magneton. Was my MVP immediately after it evolved, and is still probobly 2nd strongest on my team after Magneton. It's pretty glassy but Draining Kiss helps with that. If I find myself behind the curve I usually pop on the XP.Share for a breif bit and use Rimbobee to grind some wilds due to it's speed and healing ability. [Example: Did this after my first loss to Totem Mimkyu to evolve my Torracat and Formantis]
« Last Edit: November 28, 2016, 09:41:12 PM by Raikaria »


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Re: Pokemon Sun and Moon are out! Alola, MoTK!
« Reply #340 on: November 28, 2016, 11:59:51 PM »
Beat league with like 3 mons
Spoiler:
magnezone
salazzle
and
primarina

Slazzle was for flamethrower like twice, the others just plain carried
postgame time!

Fulisha of Light

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Re: Pokemon Sun and Moon are out! Alola, MoTK!
« Reply #341 on: November 29, 2016, 09:31:19 AM »
Story spoilers~
Spoiler:
Ok, what the fuck, the Aether Foundation and the UBs are a lot more fucked up than I thought.  :o

Type: Null's origins, Team Skull not being bros but working with Lusamine the whole time, and Lusamine herself being both an abusive Narcissist mom and psychotic Collector (cryogenically frozen mons, wtf) and fusing with Nihilego into some freak of nature (that I really wish was the boss instead of her beefed up party). In both of her battles, her Clefable walled me with Cosmic Power because I forgot to poison it with Toxapex. Decidueye walled Bewear though since it couldn't do anything but lower my attack to nothing, which resulted in yet another slug fest. Despite being about 3-4 levels lower, I beat her with only 1 loss. Her first battle was harder because I didn't know what she had to throw at me, I was disappointed her party was the same in the second one.

And even after beating Beast!Lusamine, I reset because I wanted to see the cutscene where we play the flutes and Nebby evolves into Solgaleo  :3 it was cool~ sure I'll have to fight Lusamine again, but I don't mind since I have to do it again in Moon anyway with a different party.

Where did Nihilego's name come from after all that, did Lusamine name it? All I could think of was, "That thing has a NAME?!" and why I didn't face off against one.

Lillie's sudden shift in character development is...strange. I'd prefer it more if she changed her look after everything rather than the middle. Feels weird where she's so oddly positive about everything after it going to shit.

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Re: Pokemon Sun and Moon are out! Alola, MoTK!
« Reply #342 on: November 29, 2016, 03:18:03 PM »
I got Sun on Thanksgiving for $30, now at post game.

It's great. I can't stop playing...
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Re: Pokemon Sun and Moon are out! Alola, MoTK!
« Reply #343 on: November 29, 2016, 06:10:23 PM »
Story spoilers~
Spoiler:
Ok, what the fuck, the Aether Foundation and the UBs are a lot more fucked up than I thought.  :o

Type: Null's origins, Team Skull not being bros but working with Lusamine the whole time, and Lusamine herself being both an abusive Narcissist mom and psychotic Collector (cryogenically frozen mons, wtf) and fusing with Nihilego into some freak of nature (that I really wish was the boss instead of her beefed up party). In both of her battles, her Clefable walled me with Cosmic Power because I forgot to poison it with Toxapex. Decidueye walled Bewear though since it couldn't do anything but lower my attack to nothing, which resulted in yet another slug fest. Despite being about 3-4 levels lower, I beat her with only 1 loss. Her first battle was harder because I didn't know what she had to throw at me, I was disappointed her party was the same in the second one.

And even after beating Beast!Lusamine, I reset because I wanted to see the cutscene where we play the flutes and Nebby evolves into Solgaleo  :3 it was cool~ sure I'll have to fight Lusamine again, but I don't mind since I have to do it again in Moon anyway with a different party.

Where did Nihilego's name come from after all that, did Lusamine name it? All I could think of was, "That thing has a NAME?!" and why I didn't face off against one.

Lillie's sudden shift in character development is...strange. I'd prefer it more if she changed her look after everything rather than the middle. Feels weird where she's so oddly positive about everything after it going to shit.
Presumably the Ultra Beasts had been known about for years beforehand, so plenty of time for people to give them names, I think.

But yeah, that does tie into some gripes I have with the story (as in, the parts that involve the villains, separate from the whole island challenge + Pokemon League stuff, which I usually refer to as the "campaign"). I've yet to do the post-game sidequests, but given where I am, I think I can safely give my thoughts on the story now. And my takeaway is that this game's story does a pretty poor job explaining stuff and, by extension, setting up and reinforcing the kind of character development they seemed to be going for. Like, I can still see how various characters would fit into certain themes ("family/community" being a common one I've seen thrown around by others) - the "foundation" is there, so to speak - but not nearly enough time is given to the villains to properly develop them according to those themes, and as a result I barely felt any sort of connection to them when I was supposed to (namely,
Spoiler:
when you storm the Aether Foundation and when you visit Ultra Space later on
). I mean,
Spoiler:
Lusamine is given exactly one scene before her proper reveal as a villain - enough to drop in some hints that she's crazy, sure, but you need more than that to set up any sort of real contrast regarding whether she's actually good or evil. Maybe this is more a case of older players like myself being more able to recognize those hints than kids, but the extremeness of some of her lines during her first scene was pretty dang palpable, which further ruined any illusion that she had a good side to her - not unlike Lysandre in that sense, which is not a compliment lol.
But that's not all. I learned after the fact that apparently
Spoiler:
Lusamine was being influenced by Nihilego's neurotoxins the whole time, which is what made her so extreme in her views to begin with
. Never mind that it's much harder to care about villains when
Spoiler:
they're not entirely in control of their own actions
, this also wasn't something I remember being properly explained beforehand, unless I just missed the lone mention it might've had (I wouldn't be surprised lol). Meanwhile,
Spoiler:
Guzma felt fairly flat as a whole, seeming more like a villain you'd find on a Saturday morning cartoon or something, minus the more mature nature of his backstory. The only sort of characterization he displayed beyond just wanting to "mess everything up" around Alola was his connection to Lusamine, but even that didn't last very long once he and Lusamine went into Ultra Space (granted, rightfully so because Lusamine is crazy, but it still sorta breaks from the "family" theme with him just up and ditching her without any further meaningful conflict on his part)
. So yeah, the "execution" of the villains was kinda a mess imo. And given there's likely more to find out about the Ultra Beasts in the post-game, I fear this'll only reinforce the game doing a bad job of explaining stuff.

Funny you should mention
Spoiler:
Lillie
though, I also felt their characterization was a bit wonky, but more so because it seemed like the game couldn't decide whether they were supposed to be supporting or contrasting the "family" theme as well.
Spoiler:
She very clearly takes steps to improve as a person in the middle of the story... by specifically breaking away from her mother's influence (read: the outfit change). Again, Lusamine is crazy, but she is still Lillie's mother. Then there's why Lillie wanted so bad to go track down Lusamine in Ultra Space - was it so she could save her, or so she could get a chance to tell her off and further break from her mother's influence? Unless Lillie thought telling her off would be enough to save her or something, which would admittedly be something a kid like her could think, but I digress. She does end up doing the latter anyway, but then once Lusamine is freed from Nihilego's influence (and not even by being told off, but simply by getting hit hard by Nebby) Lillie is right back to supporting her mother
. Btw this next part is a post-Pokemon League thing, so don't read if you haven't beaten it yet, but
Spoiler:
if you consider the player and Hau to have become her new family throughout the story given all their adventures, Lillie even breaks from that by leaving them to become a trainer in Kanto (though she does take Lusamine with her)
.

I basically felt the same way about the fights against
Spoiler:
Lusamine
, definitely easier the second time. But it actually makes sense that
Spoiler:
her team is the same the second time around - unless Ultra Space somehow has PCs, she's stuck with the mons she brought in with her. Though I think they did miss an opportunity to have something like a Totem Nihilego be her sixth mon or an extra boss in a separate battle
.
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Re: Pokemon Sun and Moon are out! Alola, MoTK!
« Reply #344 on: November 29, 2016, 11:38:54 PM »
Presumably the Ultra Beasts had been known about for years beforehand, so plenty of time for people to give them names, I think.

But yeah, that does tie into some gripes I have with the story (as in, the parts that involve the villains, separate from the whole island challenge + Pokemon League stuff, which I usually refer to as the "campaign"). I've yet to do the post-game sidequests, but given where I am, I think I can safely give my thoughts on the story now. And my takeaway is that this game's story does a pretty poor job explaining stuff and, by extension, setting up and reinforcing the kind of character development they seemed to be going for. Like, I can still see how various characters would fit into certain themes ("family/community" being a common one I've seen thrown around by others) - the "foundation" is there, so to speak - but not nearly enough time is given to the villains to properly develop them according to those themes, and as a result I barely felt any sort of connection to them when I was supposed to (namely,
Spoiler:
when you storm the Aether Foundation and when you visit Ultra Space later on
). I mean,
Spoiler:
Lusamine is given exactly one scene before her proper reveal as a villain - enough to drop in some hints that she's crazy, sure, but you need more than that to set up any sort of real contrast regarding whether she's actually good or evil. Maybe this is more a case of older players like myself being more able to recognize those hints than kids, but the extremeness of some of her lines during her first scene was pretty dang palpable, which further ruined any illusion that she had a good side to her - not unlike Lysandre in that sense, which is not a compliment lol.
But that's not all. I learned after the fact that apparently
Spoiler:
Lusamine was being influenced by Nihilego's neurotoxins the whole time, which is what made her so extreme in her views to begin with
. Never mind that it's much harder to care about villains when
Spoiler:
they're not entirely in control of their own actions
, this also wasn't something I remember being properly explained beforehand, unless I just missed the lone mention it might've had (I wouldn't be surprised lol). Meanwhile,
Spoiler:
Guzma felt fairly flat as a whole, seeming more like a villain you'd find on a Saturday morning cartoon or something, minus the more mature nature of his backstory. The only sort of characterization he displayed beyond just wanting to "mess everything up" around Alola was his connection to Lusamine, but even that didn't last very long once he and Lusamine went into Ultra Space (granted, rightfully so because Lusamine is crazy, but it still sorta breaks from the "family" theme with him just up and ditching her without any further meaningful conflict on his part)
. So yeah, the "execution" of the villains was kinda a mess imo. And given there's likely more to find out about the Ultra Beasts in the post-game, I fear this'll only reinforce the game doing a bad job of explaining stuff.

Funny you should mention
Spoiler:
Lillie
though, I also felt their characterization was a bit wonky, but more so because it seemed like the game couldn't decide whether they were supposed to be supporting or contrasting the "family" theme as well.
Spoiler:
She very clearly takes steps to improve as a person in the middle of the story... by specifically breaking away from her mother's influence (read: the outfit change). Again, Lusamine is crazy, but she is still Lillie's mother. Then there's why Lillie wanted so bad to go track down Lusamine in Ultra Space - was it so she could save her, or so she could get a chance to tell her off and further break from her mother's influence? Unless Lillie thought telling her off would be enough to save her or something, which would admittedly be something a kid like her could think, but I digress. She does end up doing the latter anyway, but then once Lusamine is freed from Nihilego's influence (and not even by being told off, but simply by getting hit hard by Nebby) Lillie is right back to supporting her mother
. Btw this next part is a post-Pokemon League thing, so don't read if you haven't beaten it yet, but
Spoiler:
if you consider the player and Hau to have become her new family throughout the story given all their adventures, Lillie even breaks from that by leaving them to become a trainer in Kanto (though she does take Lusamine with her)
.

I basically felt the same way about the fights against
Spoiler:
Lusamine
, definitely easier the second time. But it actually makes sense that
Spoiler:
her team is the same the second time around - unless Ultra Space somehow has PCs, she's stuck with the mons she brought in with her. Though I think they did miss an opportunity to have something like a Totem Nihilego be her sixth mon or an extra boss in a separate battle
.
Spoiler:
Didn't feel Lusamine was that badly developed, after it reveals her motivation (i.e. Lillie's father, and then her children running off with the only hopes she had to possibly rescue him). Albeit her good intentions get corrupted courtesy of Nihilego.
Also as regards to the comedy villains, are Team skull ever not played for laughs.
This is a Saturday morning kids show!!!

ふねん1

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Re: Pokemon Sun and Moon are out! Alola, MoTK!
« Reply #345 on: November 30, 2016, 01:40:30 AM »
Spoiler:
Didn't feel Lusamine was that badly developed, after it reveals her motivation (i.e. Lillie's father, and then her children running off with the only hopes she had to possibly rescue him). Albeit her good intentions get corrupted courtesy of Nihilego.
I'm aware of their motivation, but this actually reinforces my point above. This little tidbit isn't brought up until well after it actually matters. By the time you get told this,
Spoiler:
Lillie and Lusamine are long gone, both of their roles in the story complete
. It's sorta like if Vader didn't tell Luke he was his father in The Empire Strikes Back and you had to rely on other side materials released afterwards to figure that out - it would still put a different perspective on his actions in the movie, but it would also take away from the vast emotional impact the movie's climax would've had the first time you see it. That's what I'm getting at when I talk about execution here; character design and actual storytelling are not one and the same and can be handled differently. If you ask me, everything taken together,
Spoiler:
Lusamine
is indeed a better character than some other villains we've had recently, but the way everything about them was presented didn't help me build any sort of emotional connection to them as the story was still going (I do want to stress that last part lol).
"Science is more than a body of knowledge. It's a way of thinking." - Carl Sagan

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commandercool

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Re: Pokemon Sun and Moon are out! Alola, MoTK!
« Reply #346 on: November 30, 2016, 06:13:09 AM »
So I just got my
Spoiler:
Cosmog
and as much as I love petting it I just realized that
Spoiler:
this is potentially going to be a hassle with how I like to collect Pokemon. I try to keep one of everything in numerical order in my boxes, so getting a Cosmog, a Cosmeon, AND trading for a Lunala
is going to be trouble.
I made a PADHerder. It's probably out of date though.

The Greatest Dog

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Re: Pokemon Sun and Moon are out! Alola, MoTK!
« Reply #347 on: November 30, 2016, 09:27:06 AM »
oh my gods
trying to capture a modest
Spoiler:
Xurkitree
is hell

this wild Pok?mon is legit sweeping my team if I don't catch it quickly

Re: Pokemon Sun and Moon are out! Alola, MoTK!
« Reply #348 on: November 30, 2016, 10:21:20 AM »
oh my gods
trying to capture a modest
Spoiler:
Xurkitree
is hell

this wild Pok?mon is legit sweeping my team if I don't catch it quickly

(spoilered mainly because it might identify the mon by accident)

Spoiler:
Possibly not worth it to raise one up for this specific purpose, but if you have a high-level Alolan Marowak with Lightning Rod as its ability, that might help? Resists Power Whip and turns Discharge into a buff, at least.

commandercool

  • alter cool
Re: Pokemon Sun and Moon are out! Alola, MoTK!
« Reply #349 on: November 30, 2016, 01:59:29 PM »
oh my gods
trying to capture a modest
Spoiler:
Xurkitree
is hell

this wild Pok?mon is legit sweeping my team if I don't catch it quickly

Don't tell anybody, but the one time I've been wiped so far in the entire game was by
Spoiler:
Kartana
.

Does Synchronize still force wild encounters to match your nature? Could go breed a bunch of Abras.
I made a PADHerder. It's probably out of date though.

The Greatest Dog

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Re: Pokemon Sun and Moon are out! Alola, MoTK!
« Reply #350 on: November 30, 2016, 02:38:54 PM »
that was the issue
I tried leading with a level 1 Modest Synchronize Abra

I probably should have picked up a Clear Smog user or some such because DAT DAMAGE

Story time. Used Blizzard with my Snow Warning Ninetales because it's pretty good. Get the freeze on
Spoiler:
Lighting
, but then it thaws out on the same turn like :|
Oh well.
Spoiler:
Got both of my modest Lighting, an Adamant Absorption, a Timid Symbiote with Hidden Power ice to smite any Garchomp that thinks it can Earthquake it for free.
(and now we move onto Blade)

Raikaria

  • Do Tank Girls Dream...
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Re: Pokemon Sun and Moon are out! Alola, MoTK!
« Reply #351 on: November 30, 2016, 07:34:47 PM »
Don't tell anybody, but the one time I've been wiped so far in the entire game was by
Spoiler:
Kartana
.

Does Synchronize still force wild encounters to match your nature? Could go breed a bunch of Abras.

Spoiler:
Kartana and Celesteela actually have Catch Rates of 255 [Same as pokemon such as Pidgey]. Throwing a Beast Ball at them while they are at perfect HP and no status is actually a 100% guarenteed capture. Probobly done since you have to catch multiple


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Fulisha of Light

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Re: Pokemon Sun and Moon are out! Alola, MoTK!
« Reply #352 on: November 30, 2016, 07:45:40 PM »


I can't believe I caught it on the first go in a Moon Ball. The only one you get too. I can't stop laughing.  :V Kinda wish there was a Sun ball...
Spoiler:
I'm guessing now I'm gonna have to grind to lv. 60 since the league is coming up and based Nanu wants to take me there. I wanna use Solgaleo, but I love my party as is without using a legendary. I'm assuming UBs are post game too.

So I just got my
Spoiler:
Cosmog
and as much as I love petting it I just realized that
Spoiler:
this is potentially going to be a hassle with how I like to collect Pokemon. I try to keep one of everything in numerical order in my boxes, so getting a Cosmog, a Cosmeon, AND trading for a Lunala
is going to be trouble.
Oh I know what you mean. I had to deal with that when trying to get actual living dex in X&Y and a complete Vivillion collection with unreasonable trades everywhere. With the few legendaries and shinies I got off of Wonder Trade, I finally did it.  :3

Spoiler:
Does the Cosmog you get evolve into the same legendary or the opposite of your game?

commandercool

  • alter cool
Re: Pokemon Sun and Moon are out! Alola, MoTK!
« Reply #353 on: November 30, 2016, 08:12:00 PM »
Spoiler:
Does the Cosmog you get evolve into the same legendary or the opposite of your game?

Spoiler:
Same, which is weird given the method you need to use to get it. You're supposed to evolve it into a duplicate yourself and trade it for someone else's duplicate.
I made a PADHerder. It's probably out of date though.

ふねん1

  • Scientific editor
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Re: Pokemon Sun and Moon are out! Alola, MoTK!
« Reply #354 on: November 30, 2016, 08:12:47 PM »
Spoiler:
Kartana and Celesteela actually have Catch Rates of 255 [Same as pokemon such as Pidgey]. Throwing a Beast Ball at them while they are at perfect HP and no status is actually a 100% guarenteed capture. Probobly done since you have to catch multiple
Spoiler:
It's Pheromosa and Kartana that have 255 catch rates because there's four of them. The ones you have to catch two of have lower rates. I should know since Celesteela was the only one to ever break out of one of my Beast Balls lol.

Spoiler:
Does the Cosmog you get evolve into the same legendary or the opposite of your game?
Spoiler:
It's the same legendary as your version, so you basically get two of the same mon in one file. Useful for those wanting to trade for the other cover legendary at least since it puts more of them out on the market.
"Science is more than a body of knowledge. It's a way of thinking." - Carl Sagan

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Raikaria

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Re: Pokemon Sun and Moon are out! Alola, MoTK!
« Reply #355 on: November 30, 2016, 08:32:15 PM »
Spoiler:
It's Pheromosa and Kartana that have 255 catch rates because there's four of them. The ones you have to catch two of have lower rates. I should know since Celesteela was the only one to ever break out of one of my Beast Balls lol.

Spoiler:
Oh I just assumed that it was the same set of exclusives.


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I don't even remember who put the above in my sig. [Wasn't me] Nor do I understand why I keep it here anymore.
Those two facts sum me up pretty well.

Re: Pokemon Sun and Moon are out! Alola, MoTK!
« Reply #356 on: November 30, 2016, 09:38:22 PM »

Spoiler:
It's the same legendary as your version, so you basically get two of the same mon in one file. Useful for those wanting to trade for the other cover legendary at least since it puts more of them out on the market.
Also very useful
Spoiler:
to have both one file for day/night shifting whenever you want
Love the fact starters are like more common than pidgey (equivalents) on GTC.

Raikaria

  • Do Tank Girls Dream...
  • *
  • Of Floating Eyeballs?
Re: Pokemon Sun and Moon are out! Alola, MoTK!
« Reply #357 on: November 30, 2016, 10:44:22 PM »
D-Did I just miss a massive area or something or was there suddenly a massive level jump?

I was equal level to most of the enemies at
Spoiler:
Po Town and Aether Foundation
and then suddenly
Spoiler:
Guzma is Lv 39~41 while I'm packing 38's
then
Spoiler:
Lusamine is Lv 41 and has 5 pokemon
and now the wilds on Poni Island are Lv 43. While my team is still largely Lv 38. Magneton is Lv 41 because Magneton is a freaking godsend and was really; really helpful against the bosses and Inceniroar is Lv 40 due to a Psychic-type using miniboss.

But still; sudden 5 or so level spike between Trainers in one area and the wilds in the area immediately afterwards. Particularly hard on my Misdrevus which still hasn't evolved and of course
Spoiler:
Lusamine
had to rub it in by having a Mismagius. Mercifully; I am aware the Dusk Stone is imminent. I just need to find it. And once I have my Dusk Stone my team will be fully evolved bar Magneton... which is already my MVP.
« Last Edit: November 30, 2016, 10:48:40 PM by Raikaria »


http://www.malevole.com/mv/misc/tribute/
I don't even remember who put the above in my sig. [Wasn't me] Nor do I understand why I keep it here anymore.
Those two facts sum me up pretty well.

ふねん1

  • Scientific editor
  • If you're alive, you can always keep moving.
Re: Pokemon Sun and Moon are out! Alola, MoTK!
« Reply #358 on: December 01, 2016, 02:00:47 AM »
D-Did I just miss a massive area or something or was there suddenly a massive level jump?

I was equal level to most of the enemies at
Spoiler:
Po Town and Aether Foundation
and then suddenly
Spoiler:
Guzma is Lv 39~41 while I'm packing 38's
then
Spoiler:
Lusamine is Lv 41 and has 5 pokemon
and now the wilds on Poni Island are Lv 43. While my team is still largely Lv 38. Magneton is Lv 41 because Magneton is a freaking godsend and was really; really helpful against the bosses and Inceniroar is Lv 40 due to a Psychic-type using miniboss.

But still; sudden 5 or so level spike between Trainers in one area and the wilds in the area immediately afterwards. Particularly hard on my Misdrevus which still hasn't evolved and of course
Spoiler:
Lusamine
had to rub it in by having a Mismagius. Mercifully; I am aware the Dusk Stone is imminent. I just need to find it. And once I have my Dusk Stone my team will be fully evolved bar Magneton... which is already my MVP.
Yeah, it is a real level jump, you didn't miss anything. It's honestly not too bad though if you play to type matchups right and all that, but of course you can always grind some wilds if you're concerned about being underleveled. I was in the exact same situation as you level-wise, and I finished all the events on Poni Island in the mid-40s (43 to 46), so it's more than doable.

As for me, I'm nearing the end of the single-player stuff that's available, outside the Battle Tree anyway (not sure how much I'll do that). Every area explored, almost every sidequest done afaik, and only six more mons I can get for the Pokedex without resorting to trading (though two are SOS summons >.<). I guess it's appropriate I named my character Chara, given how I'm keeping track of things to do before moving on lol. But overall, despite my earlier mini-rants of sorts on the story, it's still safe to say this is yet another solid entry in the series, at least as solid as they tend to be. The only big shake-ups are of course Z-moves and the Island Challenge, so the gameplay remains very familiar while still adding some key things to keep it fresh, which made going through the campaign quite enjoyable. Plus the difficulty was certainly improved without making things too frustrating (assuming no EXP Share of course) - not being able to throw Poke Balls when two mons are out is still a big problem though because of how the SOS system works, and I still don't understand why they haven't changed that, especially since Colosseum and XD let you do it. The world of Alola itself is quite interesting with its various environments and how society meshes with it all, and the way the regions are split up helps make smaller areas more distinctive and memorable. On the other hand, the music is much more of a mixed bag than in previous gens imo. Thankfully what I said in my "first impressions" list did come true, some songs did come up later that I thought were very good, but most of those were overworld themes. I really didn't like most of this game's battle themes at all, which is a big deal since these games are all about battling. It's telling when you intentionally keep the sound off and choose to listen to stuff like Guzma's theme or either of
Spoiler:
Lusamine's
themes instead, because the song that's playing is just that annoying, which unfortunately came up a lot for me. But outside of that, the occasional slow-down that occurs (admittedly a product of being on older hardware), and some of the story stuff I mentioned before, there aren't really many bad things to say about Sun and Moon, so definitely give it a shot if you haven't already.
« Last Edit: December 01, 2016, 02:24:55 AM by ふねん1 »
"Science is more than a body of knowledge. It's a way of thinking." - Carl Sagan

NEW AND IMPROVED YOUTUBE, now with 60 fps Touhou videos! Latest video update: WBaWC Lunatic/Extra no-miss no-bomb no-Roars no-Spirit-Strikes compilation.

Fulisha of Light

  • Also known as Felis-Licht
  • Light and Day Aeon ~C☆
Re: Pokemon Sun and Moon are out! Alola, MoTK!
« Reply #359 on: December 01, 2016, 03:45:05 AM »
So I went on the GTS to see if people were offering UBs for trade because I was waiting for someone to take my offer for a mon so I get more for my living dex. Why not, it's not I can get anything now anyways without the stuff in my bank, right?

Spoiler:
Someone was asking for a female Mimikyu at lv. 30 for their UB-03 Lighting. I took the trade and it actually went through. I actually got a UB early  :o HE DANCES IN REFRESH WHY DOES HE DANCE SO JOYFULLY