Datamining 3DS games: done deal

Never underestimate the power of Pokémon. The 3DS has been hackproof for over two and a half years, but give us a Pokémon game and suddenly you're giving people incentive to blow everything to pieces. And it took less than three weeks, too. For the time being we have the event Pokémon to show for it, but there should be more soon, like egg moves, whatever updated stats Serebii's list is still missing, and most importantly, whatever mega evolutions may still be hidden in the code (if there are any).

Well, I guess from Nintendo's point of view, it's a success... at least the games haven't been hacked to pieces before release. Of course, the leaking situation is another matter, but maybe the 3DS' successor will be able to last a whole month after its first Pokémon game?

A return on recent posts

First, I'd like to come back on what I said the other day about the Fairy type. Remember back when I said my approval of its introduction depended on Gamefreak's willingness to retcon existing Pokémon into it? Well, despite many legendaries, including a trio colloquially referred to as the PIXIE trio, begging for just that, it didn't happen for any of them, just regular Pokémon. That's on top of other occasions missed, like Chansey/Blissey, Mismagius or Milotic. This means that Gamefreak did a half-baked job of it - and as a result my approval will be just as half-baked. The roster of Fairy Pokémon that look really exceptional seems rather thin to me, no thanks to the lack of Uxie, Azelf, Cresselia and such. I wouldn't be at all surprised if some Fairies that would otherwise be confined to lower tiers managed to sneak into OU just because there are so few real quality ones. I think we can all agree Togekiss was going to be a shoe-in either way, and Azumarill looks really compelling as well. Other than that... well, we have the megavolving duo of Mawile and Gardevoir, who can count on Huge Power and Pixilate sub-bypassing Hyper Voice respectively (since Pixilate, Refrigerate and Aerilate boost Normal moves by 30%). So they could do some damage. Then what, Klefki? Eeeeeh... not so sure. That's five names I mentioned, and five OU Fairies would be great, but safe money is on that not happening. Really, really looking forward to the big Bank release so we can finally start playing for real, until then anything we say is speculation. We should also be keeping our fingers crossed for Diancie to not be the second coming of Carbink, while we're at it.

Moving on, while I just mentioned Diancie... remember a few days ago when Serebii accidentally leaked the three event Pokémon? Well, after he quietly took the pages down but before anyone tried the GTS thing, one thing he didn't do quietly was, well, STAY quiet. I don't remember the exact wording, but he said something along the lines of "if I had knowledge of these things, I'd advertise that fact as much as humanly possible". And then the GTS proved their existence minutes later, outing this statement as a poorly thought-out lie. No, Joe, you can't advertise them, because Nintendo/GF/TPC tells you that stuff, and in exchange you keep quiet. We know and understand that, you don't have to pretend like it's not the case, because it's normal. 2013 seems to be the year of lies. First Pokémon Smash, then CoroCoro, now Serebii. Next thing you know GCPM is going to become truthful somehow.

Finally, a thought on the relatively low amount of new Pokémon that seems to anger so many people. Probably the same people who complained that they introduced too many last time, because they had to resort to random crap like garbage bags and ice cream cones, mind you. (If you ask me, a small regional Dex made entirely of newbies is far more of a design problem than having "only" 72 new Pokémon in an enormous regional Dex...) Or the same people who complained that they made too many legendaries per generation, for that matter. Am I the only one who realizes that those mega evolutions took resources to design and program, probably almost as much as new species themselves? 72 new species, 28 mega evolutions, that makes a nice round 100. The same amount as gen 2, and only 7 less than gen 4. Heck, I think we better get used to it, because mega evolutions are here to stay, and they will only get greater and greater in number in the future. So having an amount of new species in the high double digits may become the new standard. And quite frankly, I'm okay with it, because it means the quality will be higher overall.

Jumping the gun: Fairy-type edition

The Pokémon fandom is no stranger to wild predictions, and with a new generation getting started it's the season for just that. And the thing that surprises me every time is how radically different everyone's thoughts are, with many people saying they're "absolutely certain" things are going to go one way, and others are equally sure things will go the other. Enter the Fairy type. Making much fanfare pre-release as it turned out to trump two of the three best types in the game, and the other one being effective against it at the cost of pretty major nerfs elsewhere, the knowledge we gained about it over the course of the last camp separated players in two opposite camps.

One claims the Fairy type is dead on arrival due to the lack of strong representatives. And while I don't approve of that school of thought (I'll get to why in a moment), I can see why one would think that. Looking at the current roster, there isn't a single OU on there. That's right, the highest-ranked confirmed retcon is Togekiss (what a surprise) at #63. And as far as new Pokémon go... well, aside from obvious uber Xerneas, the one that's the most likely to do any damage is, hilariously, Klefki (depending on its egg moves, it goes without saying). Aromatisse and Slurpuff's stats are beyond crap and were given abilities that are exclusively for doubles and triples, and Florges also suffers from the latter, despite being this generation's Arcanine/Volcarona in terms of stats (the farcical movepool and mysterious lack of a Grass type don't help much either). Then there's the fact that many popular retcon picks, such as Chansey/Blissey, just plain didn't happen.

Still, that's jumping the gun a bit. The prime argument I'm going to use there is the fact that gen 5 OU was based entirely around weather. That won't hold true anymore, now that weather can only last 8 turns at most, and even that requires a big opportunity cost. As a result, a large chunk of the gen 5 OU tier - inducers, abusers and counters - will suddenly have a sharp decrease in usefulness. And who should be in a prime spot to take advantage of this but the Pokémon that found a home in UU and thrived in its weather-free environment, such as Togekiss and Azumarill.

We also can't neglect the fact that the Fairy type will radically change the way these Pokémon are played, defensively and offensively. I just mentioned Togekiss and Azumarill... they finally gained the secondary STAB they always dreamed of, and in the latter's case it can finally run Aqua Jet and Belly Drum together. They will also get extra opportunities defensively, with the immunity to Dragon and resistances to Fighting, Dark and Bug. Unfortunately, Togekiss does NOT get Moonblast, even via egg move. That shit would've been terrifying, to tell you the truth. 95 power, and 60% chance to lower special attack with Serene Grace? Sadly, it'll have to settle for Dazzling Gleam, but c'est la vie. We may also be able to count on Mega Mawile to invite itself to the party, depending on how much the one-per-team rule will screw it over, with terrors like Gengar, Blaziken and Lucario running around.

All in all, it's impossible to predict how big an improvement the addition of the Fairy type will be on these Pokémon, but just the fact that it will set them apart from their competition in the hunt for a team slot will be a huge boon. Heck, we may see the return of Pokémon like Whimsicott and Gardevoir (too bad about Pixilate being worthless on Mega Gardevoir, though).

But wait, there's more! We still have 120 or so Pokémon that aren't obtainable through any means in X and Y, and among them no less than 43 legendaries. And this is where things could get really interesting for the Fairy type. The pixie trio and Cresselia will almost certainly see it added to their typing, which could easily give them a second wind after suffering at the hands of Alakazam and Reuniclus in gen 5. Furthermore, many event Pokémon could also get the same treatment... for better or for worse. While Pokémon like Mew, Manaphy and Victini may enjoy that change, Celebi and Jirachi are praying so hard right now that their exceptionally synergetic typings remain intact. Even so, any of them would be a great addition to the Fairy roster, which would help cement the type's place in the metagame.

So that's it for the doomsayers. On the other end, you have those who claim Fairy is simply too good. Their logic: they're strong against the two best offensive types, and weak to two nearly unused ones, meaning Fairies will be able to just rain destruction freely. That one's way easier to reply to: if Fairies start overpowering everything (which I don't think is that likely, honestly), more stuff will start packing Poison and Steel moves just to beat them... and there's no shortage of Pokémon that can learn Iron Head or Sludge Bomb, let me tell you that. That was the entire point of the Fairy type to start with: make Steel and Poison more worthwhile offensively by having them be the only foils to a type that (theoretically) counters the best ones. It's a lot like going from rock-paper-scissors to rock-paper-scissors-lizard-Spock. Sure, Spock may look impressive because he beats rock AND scissors, two of the three that were there before, but then he loses to paper and lizard, and he doesn't look so hot now.

Wow, that went on way longer than it had any right to. So, what future can we expect for the Fairy type (at least until gen 7 shakes everything up again)?

Edit: Copypasta from the comments (because if there's one thing I learned from my time as an LPer, it's that no one ever reads them):

Nope. There's 2 ways to check out typings as of now:
1. Battle Maison. I believe Cresselia shows up there, for example
2. Asking for things on the GTS. While types wont show up in-game, they DO show up (like an hour later, sometimes more) on your Global Link profile's GTS tracker.

Anyway the point is: None of these are fairy type. I've personally checked out Phione, Manaphy & Mew and I am pretty certain that the pixies are pure psychic as well.

So basically, Gamefreak are complete idiots. Not touching them just because they're legendary? If you're going to make a new type, at least go all the way with it. I mean, this makes Fairy the least populated type despite all the retcons that DID happen.

Please, Gamefreak, don't ever do this again.

FUCK LUMIOSE CITY.

Yep, I finally get to get this out of my system. Lumiose City is terrible. I know, I'm not stupid, I know what Gamefreak was going for. "Ooooooh look at the pretty graphics." Unfortunately, this is one of those cases where gameplay really suffers. The camera angles, or should I say angle, is absolutely horrendous when it comes to figuring out where you are. Every area of the North and South Boulevard looks the same, all the plazas look the same, all the avenues look the same. There's simply no way to easily figure out where you are. Well, to be fair, there is one... there's a mini-map that appears when you change area so you have a little idea of where you are. Still, two major complaints: one, you didn't need to resort to that in Castelia, and two, it's still no guarantee of finding out where you want to go (again, unlike Castelia, mostly due to its size being much more reasonable). There's so much shit going on in this city that you WILL need a detailed map if you want to find anything that's not called the gym. Fortunately, such a thing exists, thanks to someone with far more time to waste than me. Castelia wasn't the best at cutting out the fat, sure, but did we need SIXTEEN FUCKING CAFÉS, few of which actually do anything? What is this, New York with a Starbucks at every street corner?

Then there's the annoying style system, which would be much more occult than it is had it not been for the official strategy guide. Well, that's what I'd like to say, but I'm told this strategy guide goes to extremes Smogon wouldn't even dare reach with Pokémon available early and recommends FARFETCH'D as a potential team member. Seriously, how can you have such in-depth data on this style bullshit, then proceed to sing the praises of one of the all-time worst Pokémon? But I'm rambling on now. You unlock more stuff by wasting your time and money doing asinine stuff, and this culminates in the ability to buy the Kanto starters' Mega Stones for prices ranging from a million to 10000 depending on your style, and to obtain the Hatching Power from Mr. Bonding (who doesn't ever hold out on O-Powers, except for this one specific power with this one specific mechanic). Look, if I want some clothes, a specific haircut or Furfrou trim, I shouldn't have to run all over the place, just give it to me. Did Gamefreak somehow think this was interesting? I LOST MY JOIN AVENUE FOR THIS? (I would also like to point out that talking to Alexa is what gives you the most style. I want to hear the game designers' reasoning for this.)

Most of what this game does is great, but Lumiose City is a resounding miss, and I can now join my voices to the legions of players who don't want to see this in any future generations. At least Gamefreak is clearly listening to us, as I've said before, so my hopes are high that we'll see more Castelia and less Lumiose in the future. Ever wanted to know why video game towns are so much smaller than in real life? There's your answer.

Edit: I totally forgot to mention... Lumiose's layout is practically identical to that of FF8's Deling City, and that too was plagued with horrible angles that left you in the dark as to where you were. It still was kind enough to cut out the fat and have many many MANY less streets, though, and the game designers acknowledged that they screwed up enough to make the buses free. Lumiose? Nope. Gotta pay every single time you want to go somewhere, or go on foot.

Edit 2: I'm told in the comments that buying balls one by one at the specialty Pokéball shop is the best way to max out your style quickly... about 100 should do, apparently. I recommend either Premier Balls because they're the cheapest and most cost-effective, or Dusk Balls because of their overall usefulness.

Few TMs in, even less TMs out

One minor thing I was looking forward to this generation was the potential removal of useless TMs to make room for more useful moves, old or new, to give to Pokémon that might need them. But in the end, we didn't get a whole lot in that department. Quick recap:

Lost TMs: Telekinesis, Ally Switch, Work Up
New TMs: Infestation, Nature Power, Power-Up Punch, Dazzling Gleam, Confide
Returning TMs: Roost, Steel Wing, Dark Pulse

Yeesh. Aside from Dazzling Gleam, which is the obvious coverage move for most non-Fairies (and whatever Fairies end up not getting Moonblast, I guess), the only draws are TMs that should've remained so through gen 5. And Power-Up Punch for Mega Kangaskhan. That is IT.

Heck, looking at the list of new moves, there aren't many that sound really interesting. The big non-offensive one is, of course, Sticky Web, which the only confirmed users of are Ariados, Shuckle, Masquerain and Galvantula (Pokémon Bank pending, of course). Not a riveting lineup, though given how good the move sounds it might end up being the cause of massive tiering shifts for these guys. Not complaining if nothing better than Galvantula gets it, to be honest.

As for Spiky Shield and King's Shield... well, they sound interesting enough, except for the fact that they only protect from offensive moves, which is a big problem, as usually Protect is used to scout when you have no clue what's coming. Including status moves and such. Not sure why they thought making Spiky Shield work like Protect against these would break Chesnaught, but that's a shame. As for King's Shield... well, its added effect has the potential to be much more devastating, because an attack drop usually means you're forced to switch. That and Aegislash has the potential to be one of the best new Pokémon from the start. Still, King's Shield's protection not being absolute (not that Protect is anymore, with sound moves bypassing it) may be an issue. And Protect doesn't change Aegislash into defense mode either, that's purely a King's Shield thing.

On the offensive side, the only moves with learnbases that aren't horrendously limited are the Fairy trio of Moonblast, Dazzling Gleam and Play Rough. And they're only interesting because they're of a brand new type (though Moonblast is still an amazing move based on its own merits). Other than that? Boomburst for Exploud and Noivern, Geomancy for Xerneas, Oblivion Wing for Yveltal... yeah. Why, oh why did they have to go and nerf Draining Kiss? And the least said about Land's Wrath the better.

To be fair, the main reason why the new move lineup is as unappealing as it is is because of the enormous focus on doubles and triples, in an attempt to get more people to play them, I guess. Seriously, look at all these moves and tell me their purpose is for anything else than doubles and triples. Heck, even the aforementioned Land's Wrath may be just that.

To end this rant off, a little comeback on what I said yesterday about there being too many mechanics interacting with each other: we've known about the critical nerf and the Storm Throw/Frost Breath power increase for a while, and still I only realized today that the former was the reason for the latter. So nobody gets gen 1 Blizzard, unfortunately... I only say that last word because of these moves' bleh distribution.

Mr. Thou like shiny thing?

Yeah, looks like "shiny" is on everybody's lips these days. I want to say I can't blame them, but really, with millions, if not tens of millions of people playing, did you expect no one to find shinies? The usual rate is 1 in 8192, not 1 in 16777216. So of course everybody who finds one brags about it on the internet, and with the sheer volume of players, it leads to the inevitable "shiny rates have gone up!" crap we see every single time a new game comes out. I've grown so jaded to that stuff that I can't possibly believe it without proof. And guess what? We now live in a datamining-free world, so there goes any chance of finding proof for or against it in the near future.

But hey, it's not like Gamefreak hasn't been trying to make shinies more common (after gen 3 changed up things so that shinies no longer automatically meant crap IVs). We had the Masuda method from gen 4 on, which multiplies your odds by 6. We had the Pokéradar, which was frustrating yet sort of effective in gen 4. And it then made a return in gen 6, where we have the added fun of red herring patches which automatically break your chain (which is more frustrating, that or a random Bidoof? You decide). Still, this time around the Pokéradar's sole purpose is to find shinies, as opposed to gen 4 where its primary purpose was to find species you wouldn't ever encounter in any other way, and chaining was a little something on the side that got way out of hand, because shiny is awesome.

But then Gamefreak decided to throw in something for aquatic Pokémon, since there was no way to chain for these. Enter consecutive fishing, a method that's in theory impractical because your chain can be broken simply by not getting a bite, which is totally random (and rather common). Now, have you noticed the two words that change the meaning of this sentence completely? "In theory". Because in practice, Suction Cups exists, and its field ability greatly increases your chances of getting a catch, to such an extent that finding a shiny requires none of the skill and knowledge Pokéradar chaining requires, it's just a matter of fishing on cruise control until you get a shiny, and getting your chain broken by not getting a bite becomes the exception, not the rule.

I can't help but think Gamefreak genuinely forgot about Suction Cups when making this thing up, and quite frankly... I can't blame them. Sure, they programmed it into the games over and over, and who knows how much of it is copypasting, but I think we've reached critical mass in terms of game mechanics, since every little thing can be affected by so many others that it becomes hard to keep track of at times. Remember when Serebii inaccurately listed Intimidate as lowering attack by two levels, despite only having a single screenshot to work with? Well, the thing that was Intimidated was a Simple Bidoof, and things got way out of hand. Of course Serebii was going to forget about it, because come on, it's BIDOOF. HM slave extraordinaire, not extraordinary Simple abuser.

So, even if the base shiny rate remained the same, are shinies too accessible now? Should have things remained the same as in generations 2 and 3, with a flat rate of 1 in 8192? They definitely feel a lot less special than they used to, in my opinion.

Edit: Should've mentioned hordes too, they really help. Rolling the dice five times instead of one comes with obvious effects.

Event Pokémon confirmed: Diancie, Volcanion and Hoopa

I was planning on talking about something else today, but I guess this'll wait, because boy I have huge news for you! Serebii made a colossal blunder that was found out today, which revealed the name and typing of the three gen 6 event legendaries. You know the location details pages he has for each Pokémon, such as this one? Well, someone tried the experiment of replacing the Pokémon number in the URL with 719, 720 and 721, and lo and behold, the pages existed. For a while anyway, because they were taken down since then.

Now, how do we know that these are real? Simple: we use the new GTS function that allows us to ask for and look for any Pokémon we know the name of. If the name doesn't exist, then it's rejected. And as it turns out, the GTS accepts these three names, so we know these are for real. We've known for years that Serebii has access to juicy insider stuff that he's not allowed to share, but still, how hard can it be to program your site so that these three events aren't acknowledged at all until they're released? When you think about it, this is kind of weird.

Even weirder is the fact that he has catch rates listed for them. Maybe they're filler data that were the result of a copypaste job and he just didn't delete them because we're not supposed to see that stuff, who knows. But if they turn out to be real, then it means he's holding out info that doesn't need to stay hidden on us. Stuff like egg moves, catch rates, new stats for old Pokémon, which he's giving us in tiny bites on purpose to look inconspicuous. Fortunately I'm not one for tinfoil hats, so I'm not going to sling mud at him, and even if that was the case, well, if he wants to keep a working relationship with Nintendo and friends, he pretty much has to do stuff like this.

As for the Pokémon themselves, literally all we know is the typing, which definitely doesn't look like filler data since, well, Volcanion is part Fire. Speaking of which, I think we've all wanted a Fire/Water Pokémon for a long time now, and it's about time we got one. Really looking forward to seeing its theme. As for Hoopa... well, the name doesn't exactly fill me with hope, except for the fact that it's Psychic/Ghost, which doesn't at all suggest some lamewad Pokémon, especially since it's an event legendary. As for Diancie... Rock/Fairy, same as Carbink. Let's hope it's a good bit better, shall we?

This is my home from now on

If you haven't seen my latest announcement yet, go watch it now.

Anyway, it was a surprise to see how many people wanted to see this blog stay up, and since it's much less time-consuming than LPing, I'm more than happy to oblige. And hey, no more awkwardly splitting content between here and my YouTube channel, this is going to make things much easier for me.

I am officially a terrible human being.

Totally forgot TSG's Halloween marathon was going on until half an hour before it started. I bet you'll never guess why! This has to be the worst timing possible for the marathon, aside from last weekend of course. Remember, when they scheduled this event X/Y wasn't even announced yet. Anyway, this time they're raising money for Heifer International... not Hefner International as poor Britt said it was. Goal's lower than usual, and I suspect it's because a Halloween marathon is a harder sell than a specific franchise (as the crew often points out), and, well, POKÉMON. Still, $8000 seems pretty doable. But for that, we need help! Unfortunately, we seem to be lacking in terms of renameable rat women this time around... let's see if we can surmount this enormous handicap, okay?

Edit: Well, nevermind that... though most of the donations were made by one guy, to be fair.

I'm finally ready to rock!

 (Yes, I'm putting this in a different entry than my rant from earlier. I just think it fits better that way.)

After many days of saying, "I'm close enough to the gym, I'm going to reach it today!", it was finally done today! The place was quite visually impressive, though the puzzle... I'm not sure it's worth calling a puzzle, really. The guy at the entrance of the gym cracked me up by outright saying how pitiful Rock was defensively, because for years and years and years Gamefreak tried to sell us the idea that Rock was an amazing defensive type. Then they just gave up entirely and took it away from Mega Aggron. Yikes. Grant was... well, I had three overleveled Pokémon, all with super-effective moves. I let Mienfoo go at it since it was still the lowest of the three, and two Jump Kicks later that was it. I actually had a use for the Rock Tomb TM - I gave it to Mienfoo instead of Protect, which makes its buff to 60 power and 95 accuracy (up from 50 and 80 respectively) all the more fortunate.

Random thought of the day: if Blaziken is so in sync with my wishes that it avoids moves and performs criticals, why can't it be in sync with my wishes and OBEY ME?

Current team: L44 Blaziken, L44 Venusaur, L38 Mienfoo

Edit: Something I forgot to mention yesterday... gift Pokémon are FINALLY sent to your PC when your party's full! It took them, what, five generations to get it right again? Anyway, I really like that... I can appreciate the little things.

Datamining would've been great right about now

So we're just getting around to getting some accurate readings on the base stats of the new Pokémon, among other things, and guess what? Turns out Gamefreak may have tinkered with old Pokémon's stats. And I think this is for real, because all accounts of such a thing happening report a +10 boost to a single stat. I've heard Ampharos' and Forretress' defense, as well as Wigglytuff's special attack, were subject to such boosts. You know what this means? We're going to have to go through all this tedious process with no less than 649 Pokémon, about a quarter of which won't be available until Pokémon Bank comes out. And this all happens in the generation where the all-powerful tool that is datamining is no longer available. I guarantee that if it was, we would've known all of these boosts days before release.

Another fun effect of the generation still being in its infancy is the hilariously hasty current iteration of Pokémon Showdown's gen 6 ladder. One outlandish comment I've heard about it is that Life Orb Mega Mewtwo Y was much too good for ubers. Can you spot the mistake? Yeah, that's how inaccurate simulator play is right now. Of course no one can expect to get all of these things right in a matter of days, but still, passing judgement on Pokémon over what amounts to little more than a diversion is not a good idea. This all reminds me of the early days of Shoddy Battle, where Pokémon, moves and abilities were missing, and Close Combat was glitched and had 240 power, causing Primeape to have just about the only fifteen minutes of fame it would ever have. (Hard to believe it would move on to be so good it would cause Smogon's Competitor to be permanently canned during development.)

Team Flare's overdue appearance

After exploring Ambrette Town, I tried heading back up towards Cyllage City to take on the gym there, because it's been... how long since I beat the last one? To put it in old game terms, it's as if there was no gym between Striaton and Nimbasa in BW1, and the levels are similar enough to show that argument. Unfortunately, guess what? Roadblock time! This time it was a swimmer who lost... a fossil, I think? I didn't pay attention, too busy swearing. It might as well have been a contact lens, because no matter what I did there was no way through. So it was off to route 9 instead, to try the fabled Pokémon riding, and... well, I thought it was faster than this. Rhyhorns happen to be just as slow out of battle as during one, so it was a bit annoying, but not cataclysmic.

Glittering Cave was... interesting, to say the least. Mostly due to the camera angle that can easily cause you to lose your bearings. It would've been much simpler with the top-down perspective from the previous games, but fortunately this was just one main path with many branching dead ends. And just as I was beginning to wonder where the hell Team Flare was... well, I ran into the first few grunts. Sure, introducing a villainous team before the second gym is not only standard, but it's what always happened. It's just that with how late the second gym is, I figured they would've been introduced a long time ago. I was given the choice of which fossil to take... I chose Amaura, just because. Not that it matters anyway, when I get a Ditto I'll just breed it and trade the offspring for a Tyrunt. Mienfoo learned Drain Punch on the way out, which should help with both power and bulk.

Unfortunately, I haven't caught anywhere close to everything that was in the cave, so I'm going to head back in there for a bit. Fortunately there's an NPC who heals my team right at the entrance, so I don't even need to go back to Ambrette.

Current team: L42 Blaziken, L42 Venusaur, L33 Mienfoo

Edit: A few mechanics were updated, which I'd like to point out:

- Sound-based moves and Pokémon with Infiltrator now hit through Substitute
- Oblivious Pokémon are now immune to Taunt
- Female Pokémon can now pass down egg moves too, making illegal egg move combos a thing of the past. Aqua Jet + Belly Drum Azumarill and Spikes + Sleep Powder + Leaf Storm Roserade are the most notable ones.

The hunt for MienFUUUUUU

Raging hard right now. After clearing route 7, I had the choice between two cave entrances, chose the bottom one, then accidentally ended up on route 8 (I assume I was supposed to take the other entrance), where my next team member awaited. Unfortunately, it seems to be by far and away the rarest denizen of the area. I have been looking for, no joke, an HOUR for a Mienfoo, and only found one with Inner Focus. Nope, it's Regenerator or nothing. Of course I caught everything else in the area (all I'm missing at this point is a Zangoose and a Taillow), but still. Getting really frustrated, so much I started running away from everything to make the process go quicker (that and backtracking to Camphrier Town every time I need to replenish my Venusaur's PP is incredibly tedious at this point).

Current team: L37 Blaziken, L37 Venusaur, and a Mienfoo that's still in the wild... somewhere.

Edit: Not long after writing that last part, I found two Mienfoos back-to-back, the first one having Inner Focus, and the second Regenerator. With a Jolly nature. I'll take that one, thank you very much. Thanks to the progress I made in the Battle Château, I became an Earl, which caused some evolved level 25 Pokémon to appear there... excellent experience for Mienfoo, which I put in the front to get it the full experience. Half just isn't going to cut it when you learn your first STAB move at level 29. So now I can properly move on to the cave past route 7, which I just rushed through to get a Mienfoo. Blaziken is closing in on level 40... it's probably STILL not going to obey me even when I get the next badge. Feels like a dog chasing its tail right now.

Current team: L39 Blaziken, L40 Venusaur, L25 Mienfoo

Is the Kalos Dex too big?

Yes, believe it or not, this is an honest question. Thing is, I'm trying to get everything, which can be a pain. And since there are so many Pokémon, when you venture out on a new route just about everything you can meet in the wild is new. This results in many rare encounters, many more than in any other game. Right now I'm having trouble finding, wouldn't you know it, a Ralts. I already have one, but I need a second one to get both Gardevoir and Gallade. And I can't find another one! That's rather frustrating. I put up a spare Dunsparce on the GTS in exchange for a Ralts just in case, but I'm not expecting too much out of that.

Anyway, I visited what I could of Lumiose City, where half of the population's job is to tell you you can't go further because of the blackout... while failing to prevent other wandering NPCs from going through. Yes, that happened. This may actually top the row of dancing guys as worst roadblock for that reason alone: it's only a roadblock for you, but anyone else can just waltz in.

Current team: L22 Ivysaur, L25 Combusken

No, I do not want to sit on that chair

Went to buy my copy of Y today, and I just got started on the game. First things first: the graphics are gorgeous. I only did the one battle against Shauna, but it leaves me dying to experience battles with better moves than Vine Whip. That's gotta be an incredible sight!

Never thought I'd say this about a main series Pokémon game, but the controls need to get used to. It's nothing major, but after being stuck on a grid for 17 years, this is a total culture shock. There's also the annoying part where my character will sit down on any piece of furniture, even if I don't ask him to. The plaza with all these chairs in Aquacorde Town... well, that was a bit annoying to get around and talk to everyone. I don't know if it does something, but my money's on no (at least in Skyward Sword it wasn't automated, and it healed you to boot).

Also, what the hell is the point of this empty-ass route 1? I know it's because you get your starter in the second town, but then why make them two smaller, separate towns instead of one big one? This makes no sense! But I guess I'm nitpicking now, so I better just move on.

I was disappointed to find out there's no Pokémon Center until Santalune City, which means I won't be able to cash in on my Torchic until I reach that point. Not that it's much of a problem, because after it levels up once it's going to start disobeying me until I get the first badge. That is, unless they changed the level at which Pokémon stop listening to you if you don't have any badges. According to Serebii, even the first badge allows Pokémon up to level 40 to listen to you, so they might have changed that as well. Did anyone use their Torchic at level 11 and beyond before beating Viola? I'd like to know.

Finally, for those curious, it took me two attempts to get a good-natured Chespin (yes, I went through that even though it's only a temporary team member). First one was Rash, which is pretty close to worst-case scenario, and the next try was Jolly, a definite keeper.

If I have anything more to say later, I'll edit this after the jump.

Current team: L6 Chespin (temporary)

Well, my job here is done.

With Serebii starting to compile everything, most of the interesting stuff being already known, and so on, I don't think there's any point in me keeping up these updates. Between Serebii's front page, his discovery thread, and Smogon's data collection thread, you'll probably find every new development you want to hear about, so there's no point in me trying to aggregate stuff from all over the place anymore.

Besides, I've come to a decision: I'm getting Y at launch. I know I've said before that I would wait a little while, but I never expected stuff to start leaking no less than 11 days early, nor did I expect that so much would be known by launch day. I mean, I have a pretty dang good idea what team I'll be using, and I even have a few failsafes in case it doesn't work out. So I'll be busy playing most of the time I won't be sleeping, eating or at work. (Also, perfect timing for Canadian Thanksgiving!)

Edit: I'm going to say one last thing, though. It's weird how the next issue of CoroCoro will reveal how to get Garchomp's Mega Stone, as if it's so occult that they expect none of the millions of players to find it in a full month before then. Can't wait to see where this goes.

Edit 2: CAN I JUST SHUT UP NOW? Geez. Anyway, just to bring some closure on that whole saga, the 95-power special moves were nerfed to 90, which explains the nerf to their 120-power counterparts. Needed? Not particularly, but still, the metagame was a bit too skewed towards offense for my liking. Also, Gamefreak got really creative with Low Sweep, by increasing its power from 60 to 65... which is a HUGE nerf, considering the only thing that used it regularly (Breloom) has Technician. No one will make me believe that they're not keeping tabs on the metagame now. All we need is definite confirmation on Stealth Rock, and we're set.

Day 10: Under the weather no more

First off, Serebii finally started posting stuff, including the version exclusives and the full Kalos Pokédex! There's also the discovery thread which is full of info on all sorts of things! So keep an eye on that!

Now, on to moves! In addition to getting its PP buffed to 25, Vine Whip's power to 45. Not bad! Also, Bubble's power was DOUBLED, all the way to 40. Same for Fury Cutter, 40 power. Can you imagine it once was 10 power? Also, new move sighted on Vivilion: Powder (yes, just Powder), which causes the opponent to take damage if it uses a Fire move. Pretty sure it's meant to be "gunpowder", but, you know, censorship and all.

Mega Aerodactyl stats: 80 HP, 135 Atk, 85 Def, 70 SA, 95 SD, 150 Spd. Excellent spread, I have to say. Tough Claws is still a waste on it, but whatever, more attack, speed and defenses are always good.

Also, an NPC hints at Pokémon found in horde battles sometimes having their DW ability. I'll keep an eye on that, especially if gen 6 Pokémon (who we don't know the DW abilities of) are involved.

Day 9: We're heading for Kalos, and still we stand tall

We start this new day off with typing shenanigans! Mega Gyarados is weak to Grass, which means its second type is no longer Flying... BUT that also means it's not Dragon, either. Also, Snubbull and Granbull are both confirmed to be mono-Fairy, losing their Normal type, unlike the Jigglypuff line. It's quite possible something similar happens to Clefable and Blissey. But yeah, Fairy Granbull is good, considering how the comparisons game with Ursaring was. Both are among the most similar Pokémon in the entire game, and there's not a damn thing Granbull did better.

Also, we have Mega Lucario's stats: 70 HP, 150 Atk, 70 Def, 140 SA, 70 SD, 120 Spd. This means no defensive boosts whatsoever, but a pretty large boost to both attack stats. Not sure this'll suddenly make special Lucario more viable, since regular Lucario's attack was LOWER than its special attack. The physical attack boost corresponds to more or less a 25% damage increase, which comes VERY close to the Life Orb it loves oh so much... and not only won't it have to deal with recoil, BUT it also gains Adaptability, and more importantly... LOOK AT THAT SPEED. I think it's safe to say Lucario is clearly one of these Pokémon you won't ever see not megavolved ever again.

Speaking of mega evolutions, there's an interesting pattern that's emerging: it seems like they always increase the Pokémon's BST by 100. From 680 to 780 with Mewtwo, from 525 to 625 with Lucario, and from 518 to 618 with Gardevoir. Something to keep in mind as we keep looking at these mega evolutions.

Day 8: A machine for Floettes

After all the gameplay-related stuff, how about a quick peek at the game's backstory? Apparently Team Flare wants to use the machine that is totally not fueled by the souls of Pokémon for goals that are not at all nefarious, which will definitely not result in a Pokémon genocide.

Anyway, after the Mega Tyranitar balloon from yesterday, we got slightly more cheerful news today, with the appearance of a Mega Aggron balloon! I wonder if it'll get a boost to its special attack? (Nah, just kidding... I hope. It needs everything EXCEPT that. It also needs to keep Rock Head, or otherwise get an ability that'll be an improvement over it. Solid Rock maybe?) Also, I hear Fairy Aura and Dark Aura affect teammates in doubles and triples. Here's to hoping it doesn't get the Victory Star treatment and has its effect reduced to negligeable proportions because of that. I mean, Yveltal got screwed over so hard with Oblivion Wing's inexplicable type change already... just watch as Geomancy does exactly what it says on the tin and turns out to be a GROUND move. This feels like the kind of thing Trollfreak would do.

So, we got a lot of info already, and I couldn't be happier about it. Not only because we know stuff earlier than we should, but because when the games come out, there will be a flood of so much new information that we won't know where to start, and at least with many things out of the way less elements are likely to get lost in the mix.

Day 7: Time flies when you're having leaks!

A few tidbits to start us off today: Eevee evolves into Sylveon by maxing out its Pokémon-Amie happiness. FUCK. So if you want to catch 'em all, it's unavoidable, you're going to have to put up with this crap. Speaking of Pokémon-Amie, it's heavily rumored that its added effects DO NOT affect the Battle Tower Maison or battles against human players. Phew, crisis averted. At least Gamefreak knew how bad all this would be for the metagame. Finally, Moonblast seems to be a clone of Thunderbolt and Flamethrower, with 15 PP and 95 power. So much for Fairy not having a good move, right? Here's to hoping it gets good distribution.

Edit: Oblivion Wing is said to be an 80 power, 100 accuracy attack that drains HP. However, there are conflicting reports on the magnitude of the draining, some say 50%, some say 75%, some say 100%. I assume that as a cover legendary's signature move, it's going to be MUCH better than a Giga Drain with 5 more power, so I think it'll be more akin to a Draining Kiss with 20 more power instead. As for Pokémon-Amie, its happiness factor is separate from the one that already existed, so Sylveon's "traditional" happiness won't be topped after evolution. Also, judging from older information we have, Moonblast's added effect is lowering special attack (at a 10% rate like its counterparts, most likely).

Day 6: Changing of the guard... not!

As it turns out, the 69 figure I put forward yesterday is the one that's accurate, as there's no spot between Yveltal and Zygarde, our third cover legendary. You can learn Beta from it by equipping the Enemy Skill materia... sorry, that was just too easy. The name actually beginning in Z suggests a possible return to the deluxe version formula this gen, though I wouldn't call it just yet. In addition, runners make a return in this game, with Zapdos being found in the middle of nowhere. Oddly enough, it happened to rain when it was found.

So, 69 new Pokémon, plus events. How do I feel about that? I've had time to think it over, and quite frankly... I think this is a good idea, for two reasons. First, and most obvious, they didn't have to run their well of creativity dry, with the only dubious Pokémon being Klefki - I can forgive Doublade considering what it evolves into. This is as opposed to gen 5, where them being forced to make over 150 to make a Pokédex made entirely of new Pokémon gave us more than a few... questionable designs (though we also had some of the best ever, mind you).

On top of that, it's clear that much of the effort went into the mega evolutions, which (at least in theory) are meant to help out weaker Pokémon. I've always said that making less Pokémon, but focusing on making the existing ones better, was the way to go to make a more varied game. And aside from the fact that they gave some to the likes of Blaziken and Garchomp, that's the path they chose to go down, and it would be hypocritical of me to complain. So, thumbs up to Gamefreak for that.

The Sonic fanbase is terrifying

But you knew that already. Anyway, contrary to popular belief, Memebase sometimes (SOMETIMES) hits the nail on the head. Look at this for example. It's funny because it's true... just look at some of the comments for crying out loud. This is scary beyond words... how can so many people think making crappy Sonic recolors is something that's socially acceptable? Why is this encouraged? WHY? The meme highlights the fucked-up part, there are so many of them that odds are at least one has your name on it. I tried the exercise with my anglicized diminutive (which is a common, if extremely boring and unoriginal, name), and, well... goddammit. Feel free to try this yourself and share the results!

(By the way, I won't make another blog entry about the leaks today just because I posted this, I'll just keep editing the one below, so keep checking that out.)

Day 5: Eye of the cyclone

Another day, another Pokédex update! Central, Coastal and Mountain! Of note is the fact that only one Pokémon in Central is missing... could it be Audino? Xerneas and Yveltal are also accounted for, but even though we know their exact placement, as well as Druddigon's, I don't want to pronounce myself on the number of legendaries, especially since the minor ones could be located elsewhere, like they did in BW2 where the genies and the musketeers were in the middle of everything. Also, interesting fact: to my knowledge, among the gen 6 Pokémon we knew about beforehand, Noivern is the only one who's still unaccounted for. I know many people wanted to use it, and they're going to rage that it's either obtained very late, or very rare.

Edit: Your gym leaders, ladies and gentlemen. Also, here's a picture of Goodra, complete with stats. This seems like our pseudo-legendary, considering not only the stats, but the fact that it evolves at level 70. You read that right, SEVENTY. Remember the days when we thought the usual 45-55 range was absurdly late? Why are they doing this? Do they want to make sure these guys are post-game only or something, while still giving you their earlier stages in the main game? Because this is just silly. As is the fact that it's not very intimidating-looking. I mean, Dragonite isn't very much so either, but it still has that imposing aura that this thing clearly lacks. But still, man, LEVEL 70. Gen 7 pseudo-legendary evolves at level 100, calling it now.

Just as interesting is the fact that you can now compensate for poor IVs with extra EVs in a given stat. It appears that a Pokémon with an IV of 28 to a certain stat can invest 12 extra EVs (four per missing stat point) to reach the max stat you'd have with a perfect 31 IV. At this point it's assumed that the overall EV cap is still 510, but if it isn't the case I'll get back to you on that. The impact will be most clear in-game, since most high-end competitive players use simulators, and max IVs still provide a huge advantage since you won't need to sacrifice EVs you could use elsewhere to max out the stat you want. The only reason why you wouldn't use max IVs is to tweak Hidden Power's type, and even there you can get every type by just taking off a single IV in certain stats. Still, it's a slight extra for cartridge players, so there's that.

Day 4: Filling in the blanks

First, here are the updated Pokédexes: Central, Coastal and Mountain. Note how there's no extra space for new Eeveelutions, thanks to Emolga. I myself couldn't care less, but some people will have found an extra reason to hate Emolga.

Also, Malamar's stats look... highly underwhelming. Between Topsy-Turvy and Contrary, they must've been afraid it'd break everything. This coming from the same guys who megavolved Blaziken, Garchomp AND possibly Excadrill. *sigh*

As usual, more will come, though it might be even more sporadic than in the last few days.

Day 3: No lawyer team in the world can stop this now

So much happened this afternoon while I was at work... where to begin? A mega evolution to another Pokémon that really didn't need a hand, maybe? See, that's the danger of giving mega evolutions based on both popularity and power (as that interview from the other day suggested), because some Pokémon are popular BECAUSE they're powerful. One glimmer of hope, though: if it loses Levitate, it will be a tremendous blow to it no matter what it's being replaced with (to a few exceptions, for those nitpickers out there that are ready to jump down my throat). With that said, Gengar's type makes it effective against Fairy, as well as not being resisted by Steel anymore, so it already got a significant buff even before this happened.

For a silver lining, though, how about a mega evolution for something that DID need one? Let's hope it gets an ability it could use, because the three it has right now... no thanks. Of course, Rock Head COULD be useful if it had Brave Bird and Head Smash, and maybe they did give it these moves this time around, but the odds of that... wouldn't count on it, I'll say that much.

Oh, remember what the leaker from Pokébeach said about dual-typed moves? Yeah, they're a thing too now. Welcome to the generation of random, stupid fan theories coming to life. And with that damage output, this is NOT a move that has an effect with nice practical uses but is too weak to be of use, like we've seen a lot of these past generations. The good news is, judging by the move's flavor this seems to be Hawlucha's signature move (meaning every Flying-type will have it in gen 7), and I don't think there'll be too many of these moves to start with. It also depends on whether the final form in that line has usable stats, and knows high-power moves like Close Combat and Brave Bird that could make this a non-issue. Seriously though, how could have Gamefreak gone through with that idea? Are the reasons why this is incredibly stupid not painfully obvious to them?

And finally, how is this a Dragon? I really really want to know what this evolves into. (By the way, don't panic with the Pokédex number, this is the MOUNTAIN Pokédex we're talking about here.)

As usual, keep checking back for more! I'll add edits after a jump should anything come up (and you just know that'll happen).

Day 2: Leaky ceilings everywhere

I guess this should go without saying, but even though one leaker was for real, that won't stop others from trying to fool you. I got a tip regarding this guy, but it doesn't look really believable. Why would he have screenshots from both the Japanese and English versions, especially when it seems like the guy's German? Why would he have two starters when he made it sound in one of the screenshot's comments like he could only use one? Why would he conveniently cut off the name and typing of Fennekin's final form? And more importantly, what the hell is up with that Chespin final form?

These are the kinds of questions you should be asking yourselves, especially when the quality just isn't up to par with what yesterday's guy managed to put out.

Edit: Scratch that, he has ALL THREE starters, and he claims Froakie evolves into the same thing these screenshots from the other day had. Wait, so those were REAL? ...Maybe? I mean, it's not in the exact same pose as last time, so, um, guys, this might be real. Just saying. (Edit to the edit: These are real. Holy crap Chesnaught caught me with my pants down. If you claim you expected this, you are LYING.)

Well damn, you just knew this was coming.

Mega Charizard X or the leaker getting shut down by Nintendo, you ask? Well... both.

Considering that they said in an interview that popularity was one of the factors deciding who was going to megavolve, it's not that much of a surprise to see that both Charizard and Mewtwo would get two, since when it comes to final forms you don't get any more popular than that. And as for the typing... well, ABOUT FUCKING TIME. We were all perplexed when we saw Mega Charizard Y's typing remained unchanged, and now we have the explanation. I'm looking forward to seeing how this one will work, with improved attack and an ability that powers up contact moves (most notably Outrage and Flare Blitz). Heck, like its Y counterpart it actually looks rather neat. I think at this point that if it's not OU, between this and Drought, it'll be a big surprise.

And of course we knew it was only a matter of time before yesterday's leaker got a phone call from men with sunglasses and black suits. Still, we got some valuable info out of that, especially the fact that you need to hold out for team members more than ever before. So I suppose it's back to business as usual for a week or so?

Day 1: Holy legitimate leaks Batman!

Okay, I think this is for real this time, since the pictures are actually high-quality. Nothing outstandingly interesting thus far, except for the fact that Work Up's lifespan as a TM was as pitiful as its competitive use. It's being replaced by Infestation, a move that's clearly Bug-type since you get it from Viola. Here's to hoping it'll be an improvement over Struggle Bug...

Naturally, this post will be edited should anything worthwhile come up. Stay tuned.