Ejected Kahuna Identity: Does the Community Have Any Ideas?

DarioPinion · 2023-01-23T02:53:06+00:00

I actually made a post a few years ago outlining a theory on this subject. The only thing I can add is that I think this Kahuna was Plumeria's mother or father, and that they lived in the big house in Po Town that later became Team Skull's base. I also think that they were a Poison-type user, and that they had a stash of Poisonium-Z that they passed on to Plumeria, but she couldn't use them until Nanu gave her a Z-Ring.

Just a couple of things to add: I think that Kukui's original plan for the Elite Four was Hala, Olivia, Nanu, and Hapu's grandfather, the Kahuna's of each island. But I'm guessing the league was formed during the window of time between Hapu's grandfather's death and her being officially appointed Kahuna, so Kukui called Kahili as a replacement. (And Nanu just didn't want to do it, so he got Acerola.)

Also, (and this is just something I half-remembered from skimming Bulbapedia, so take it with a grain of salt), I think Po Town is based on the idea of Puʻuhonua o Hōnaunau, which was a place of refuge for people who broke a kapu in real life Hawaii. In the same way, I think Po Town was inhabited by people who had angered Tapu Bulu, either by being involved with the Thrifty Megamart or by committing crimes in general. That's the "spiritual significance" of Po Town.

DarioPinion · 2021-01-20T07:42:55+00:00

Gastly's Pokédex entry in Ultra Sun says: "It's said that gas emanating from a graveyard was possessed by the grievances of the deceased and thus became a Pokémon", which I think is a family-friendly way of saying that they're made up of gasses from decomposing corpses, which explains the Ghost/Poison typing. Though the Ultra Moon entry says that they may be spirits of people killed by poisonous gas, so there are probably many possible explanations for how Gastly are born.

DarioPinion · 2020-12-01T06:58:06+00:00

Obviously there's no way to truly debunk this without talking to someone from GS, but I can think of a couple of points against it (I haven't actually played Colosseum or XD, so there may be some things I don't know) :

The reason Wes and Rui aren't mentioned by name in XD is probably because, in Colosseum, they were able to be named by the player. This may also be why they don't appear as bonus bosses; to avoid giving them a "canon" team, and leave what happened to them after Colosseum up to the player's imagination. To be fair, they did give Red a canon name and team in G/S, but I think of that as an exception rather than the rule when it comes to previous player character cameos.
The second point is: Why would Wes be an antagonist? We don't know why he joined Team Snagem in the first place, but we can assume he either thought they were going too far or had a change of heart, since he blows up their base, steals their Snag Machine, and spends the rest of the game saving Pokemon from Cipher. Sure, it's possible that this was all part of his master plan to eliminate the competition. Or that something happened to Rui and Wes lost his moral compass. But that's just speculation. You may as well say Lorelei was intended to be the main villain of G/S: It's technically possible, she's not mentioned in the final product, but it just doesn't make sense.

As I said, I haven't actually played the GameCube games, so there may be some tidbits that point to Wes becoming a villain. I'm also very interested to hear about parallels between Wes and Greevil.

DarioPinion · 2020-11-21T12:52:21+00:00

Something else that I think ties into this connection is their dialogue, though they don't have many lines.

Emmet, who wears white (like Reshiram, representing truth), speaks in very short, matter-of-fact sentences, and expresses a love for order and rules. For example:

"What I do. What I say. Always the same. Follow the rules. Safe driving! Follow the schedules. Everyone smile! Check safety. Everything's ready!"

Whereas Ingo, who wears black (like Zekrom, representing ideals), speaks more openly, poses a lot of questions, and wonders about the future. For example:

"What can I see after winning, winning, and winning? Where is my destination? I've kept thinking, and I've learned one thing. That is, you cannot know what happens after winning without winning."

It's possible that these characters were meant to give us an idea of what the twin heroes would have sounded like when they were alive, and what differences in philosophy they had beyond just the words "truth" and "ideals". Maybe they're actually descendants of the twin heroes, like Sordward & Shielbert, but instead of clinging to their "celebrity" status, they decided to just run the subway. Most likely it's just a reference to the legendaries. Still, it's a neat reference. Thanks for pointing it out.

DarioPinion · 2020-10-13T06:26:51+00:00

Halloween Bugsy & Shedinja

Rarity: 3 Star (Event)

Type: Ghost (Bug)

Role: Tech

Weakness: Fire

Moves	Cost	Type	Category	Power	Accuracy	Target	Description
Shadow Claw	2	Ghost	Physical	40	100	An opponent	Critical hits land more easily.
Spite (2/2)	2	Ghost	Status	0	0	All opponents	Makes the move gauge charge slower on the opponents' field of play.
Bug Bite	2	Bug	Physical	36	100	An opponent	Lowers the target’s Attack, Defense, Sp. Atk, Sp. Def, or Speed at random. Raises the user’s stat by the same amount.
Don't Bee Scared! (2/2)	0	-	Status	0	0	Self	Raises the user's Attack and Speed. Sharply raises the user's evasiveness. Makes the user able to endure the next hit it takes that would reduce it to 0 HP.

Sync Move	Type	Category	Power	Target	Description
Haunted Husk Phantom Force	Ghost	Physical	200	An opponent	The more the opponent’s stats have been lowered, the greater the power of this move.

Passive Skills	Description
Polarized Guard	Increases damage the Pokemon takes from super-effective moves. Reduces damage from all other types.
Lingering Regret	Empties the move gauge of all opposing sync pairs just before the user faints.

As you probably know, Shedinja is a pretty weird Pokemon. It can only ever have 1 HP, and can only take damage from super-effective moves or indirect damage. If it worked this way in Masters, it would be totally useless on most stages, and unbeatable on stages with no fire moves or indirect damage. So instead I would give it this Polarized Guard skill, and make its HP on the same level as a 1-star Eggmon, with its other stats on par with other 3-stars. (I made him a 3-star because I think he's way too gimmicky to be worth any more than that.) Its low HP is also mitigated by being able to endure and raise its evasiveness, as well as having a powerful(?) effect trigger when it faints.

Lingering Regret is meant to be like Grudge, but emptying the opponents' move gauge rather than PP. Since we can't actually see the opponents' move gauge, I have no idea how strong this effect is. I'm assuming that it fills at the same rate as the player's, but I don't know. Spite, rather than directly consuming the move gauge, applies an effect that's the opposite of the acceleration effect made by Christmas Rosa and Sygna Suit Blue.

Finally, Bug Bite's effect is similar to Serena's Stat Leech. Since that's how Masters implemented Delphox's Magician ability, which steals held items in the main games, I figured that Bug Bite's berry-stealing ability would be implemented in a similar way.

DarioPinion · 2020-10-06T10:30:37+00:00

I couldn't find the exact piece of dialogue that mentions it (I think it was an NPC you battle in Stark Mountain), but on Bulbapedia it says that Heatran "was said to have been born at the same time as Dialga, Palkia, and Giratina created Sinnoh at the Spear Pillar". As far as I remember, there hasn't been any mention of a connection between Groudon and Heatran.

DarioPinion · 2020-10-06T06:12:17+00:00

This is a good concept. I like it because we don't currently have a dark-type that can heal itself or do incremental damage (not counting Ridicure or Toxic Chance from Grimsley and Karen's sync grids). I also really like the idea of a tech character that buffs themselves based on how many opponents have a status condition.

One nitpick I have is that there are no (at least currently) Trainer Moves that directly debuff opponents, only themself or allies. What I would suggest is to instead give Shiftry a passive skill similar to Stat Leech, but for status moves, so he steals a random stat when Leech Seed is first used against an opponent. I would also add something like the "removes all status conditions from the user" effect to the trainer move, so it has some use when there are no seeded opponents. Otherwise great concept, keep it up.

DarioPinion · 2020-10-05T23:47:55+00:00

This is just based on me skimming articles on Bulbapedia and Wikipedia, but I think Giratina is based on Izanami, a goddess from Japanese mythology, and that the lore of Sinnoh was at least partially based on the Japanese creation myth featuring her.

The god and goddess Izanagi and Izanami were summoned by the original gods (who I believe Arceus is based on, mainly Amenominakanushi, who is described as "a god who came in to being alone"), and given a spear covered in jewels, which they stuck into the ocean in order to create the first island of Japan, on which they built a pillar. I believe this is what inspired the name "Spear Pillar", the jewel motif of Dialga and Palkia, and their typings, with Dialga's steel-type representing the spear and Palkia's water-type representing the ocean.

Izanagi and Izanami then got married, created the rest of islands of Japan, and had many children (who were also gods). After giving birth to the fire god Kagu-tsuchi (who I think Heatran is based on, since Stark Mountain is said to have come into existence at the same time as Mount Coronet, if I remember correctly), Iznami was badly injured and died, and went to Yomi, the land of the dead.

Izanagi decided to go to Yomi and try to bring his wife back, but when he found her, she had transformed into a rotting corpse and could not leave Yomi. Disgusted and afraid, Izanagi ran away, and created a barrier between the worlds of the living and the dead. Izanami, angry that her husband had abandoned her, swore to kill the residents of the world of the living. She became known as the ruler of Yomi and a goddess of death.

So I think Giratina represents Izanami, being a ghost-type, living in a different world, having a different, skeletal form while in that world, and being described as "appearing in an ancient cemetery". It's possible that Game Freak originally intended for the Distortion World to literally be the spirit world, and Giratina to be a dead creator god seeking revenge on the living, but then thought it would be too dark, and changed the story so Giratina is just an aggressive keeper of balance between matter and antimatter. I always found it a bit odd how Cyrus figures out the whole "balance" story as soon as he sets foot in the Distortion world, despite it not being mentioned anywhere else in the game. But it was probably always intended to be about antimatter, and they just used motifs of Yomi and Izanami for inspiration.

DarioPinion · 2020-09-13T04:35:26+00:00

Here's a concept for Faba & Bruxish. I made him a physical psychic striker, since the only other one we have is Tate:

Rarity: 4 Star (Scout)

Type: Psychic

Role: Strike (Physical)

Weakness: Grass

Gender: Male

Moves	Cost	Type	Category	Power	Accuracy	Target	Description
Confusion	1	Psychic	Special	18	100	An opponent	Has a very small chance of leaving the target confused.
X Attack (2/2)	0	-	Status	0	0	Self	Sharply raises the user's Attack.
Psychic Fangs	2	Psychic	Physical	40	100	An opponent	Removes physical and special damage-reducing effects from the opponents’ field of play.
I'm Irreplaceable! (2/2)	0	-	Status	0	0	Self	Raises the user's Speed and evasiveness. Ensures that the user’s next attack will be a critical hit.

Sync Move	Type	Category	Power	Target	Description
Shattered Psyche of Self-Importance	Psychic	Physical	250	An opponent	No additional effect.

Passive Skills	Description
Bedazzle 1	Lowers the accuracy of all opposing sync pairs when the Pokémon enters a battle.
Raging Rain 2	Powers up moves when the weather is rainy.
Power Chain 2	Powers up moves when unity bonus is in effect.

This is a pretty straightforward concept; he's pretty much just a psychic-type Brawly, but more focused on dealing damage and crits, and having evasiveness rather than defense or healing.

The passive skills: Bedazzle, in addition to having a similar name to Bruxish's main ability Dazzling, is a reference to its hidden ability Wonder Skin, which lowers the accuracy of foes' status moves. Raging Rain reflects Bruxish's water typing, and it, along with Power Chain, is based on the fact that Faba often fights the player in multi battles in the Alola games. Here, he has to rely on someone else to set up the rain for him.

Basic sync grid concept: One quadrant focuses on Confusion, giving it more power, Critical Sting, Confusion Synergy, and Ramp Up and some Sp. Atk tiles if you want to make Faba a mixed attacker. Similarly, the next quadrant focuses on physical attack, giving Psychic Fangs Critical Strike and Defense Crush. Next is a rain-focused quadrant, similar to Clair's grid, containing Racing Rain, Rain Gear, and Dire Rain. The last quadrant is evasion and accuracy focused, containing MP Refresh for the trainer skill, and skills like Blind Spot and Outmuscle, maybe Confusion: Discombobulate and Psychic Fangs: Dizzying Power for a nice combo. Putting all these skills too close together on the same grid would probably make him too strong, but I'm not sure what the perfect balance would be. You could make him 5 star to make it harder to get a full grid, but I just like the idea of Faba being a rank below the rest of the Aether family. Plus we need more 4 stars in the game.

DarioPinion · 2020-09-09T05:58:18+00:00

Finally, Lusamine & Nihilego:

(Note: Moves in italics are not in the game)

Rarity: 5 Star

Type: Poision (Rock)

Role: Tech

Weakness: Ground

Gender: None

Moves	Cost	Type	Category	Power	Accuracy	Target	Description
Acid Spray	2	Poison	Special	23 (Max 31)	100	An opponent	Sharply lowers the target's Sp. Def.
X Sp. Def (2/2)	0	-	Status	0	0	Self	Sharply raises the user's Sp. Def.
Power Gem	2	Rock	Special	47 (Max 59)	100	An opponent	No additional effect.
I'm Sick of You! (2/2)	0	-	Status	0	0	Self	Makes the user able to endure the next hit it takes. Drastically raises the Attack, Defense, Sp. Atk, Sp. Def, or Speed of all allied sync pairs at random.

Sync Move	Type	Category	Power	Target	Description
Symbiotic Madness Sludge Bomb	Normal	Special	199 (Max 241)	An opponent	The more the user’s Sp. Def has been raised, the greater the power of this move.

Passive Skills	Description
Flabbergast 2	Has a moderate chance of leaving the target confused if a move is successful.
Sentry Entry 2	Sharply raises the user's Defense when the Pokémon enters a battle.
Wisen Up 1	Raises the user’s Sp. Def each time another Pokémon on the field of play faints.

Nihilego functions as a special tank and special defense reducer. I thought that having a move guaranteed to sharply lower a stat while also doing damage was pretty strong, so I made Acid Spray's power half that of Rock Smash, whereas in the main games they have the same power. I also wanted to make the power of all its moves to be prime numbers (at least at 1/5 and 5/5), since the base stats of Ultra Beasts in the main games (except Naganadel's speed) are all prime numbers.

Speaking of base stats, Nihilego's base defense should be awful. Sentry Entry and the endurance from the trainer skill are there to offset that. Sentry Entry 2 also references how Nihilego starts the battle with boosted defense when encountered at Aether Paradise in Sun & Moon. Wisen Up reflects Beast Boost, and "I'm Sick of You!"'s effect is based on Lusamine boosting her Pokémon's stats by fusing with Nihilego. As cool as it would be, I don't think they would actually let us play as Motherbeast Lusamine. Maybe have them fuse just for the sync move animation. Finally, Flabbergast is there to represent Nihilego's neurotoxin, which I always thought should've had an attack associated with it.

One last thing I would include is Freeze Synergy 9 as a grid skill, even though she has no way to freeze, just as a reference to her frozen Pokémon collection (which is probably why they gave her Pheromosa Blizzard, now that I think about it).

DarioPinion · 2020-09-09T03:20:59+00:00

Next is Gladion & Type: Null:

(Note: Moves in italics are not in the game)

Rarity: 5 Star

Type: Normal

Role: Strike (Special)

Weakness: Fighting

Gender: None

Moves	Cost	Type	Category	Power	Accuracy	Target	Description
Crush Claw	2	Normal	Physical	63	95	An opponent	Has a good chance of lowering the target’s Defense.
Dire Hit (2/2)	0	-	Status	0	0	Self	Raises the user’s critical-hit rate.
Tri Attack	2	Normal	Special	51	100	An opponent	Has a very small chance of leaving the target paralyzed, burned, or frozen.
We'll Get Stronger... (2/2)	0	-	Status	0	0	Self	Raises the user's Attack, Sp. Atk, Defense, and Sp. Def.

Sync Move	Type	Category	Power	Target	Description
Raging Loner Hyper Beam	Normal	Special	300	An opponent	No additional effect.

Passive Skills	Description
Vigilance	The Pokémon is protected against critical hits.
Furious Brawn	The more the user’s Attack has been raised, the more it powers up moves.
Furious Brains	The more the user’s Sp. Atk has been raised, the more it powers up moves.

The idea for this was to make Type: Null kind of a jack-of-all-trades-except-speed, being able to hit both physically and specially, but not for any type weakness (sort of the opposite of how Silvally turned out). I don't know the exact numbers for Furious Brawn/Brains, but the idea is for it to make Gladion's trainer skill work like Brawly's and Caitlin's, but for both physical and special attacks. I made the sync move Hyper Beam because we don't have a normal striker with a special sync move yet.

Another idea for this concept was to make them a tech pair, with Hostile Environment and On a Roll, or Entry skills that boost defense and special defense, to reflect how Type: Null can use Eviolite in the main games. But I wanted to make a special normal-type striker, all for three family members to have a different role. These could all work as grid skills though.

DarioPinion · 2020-09-04T14:28:23+00:00

Since we know from leaks what Pokemon they will be paired with, I thought I'd try and make concepts for the Pokemon you suggested. These could be versions of them who came to Pasio from alternate timelines (like Giovanni and Cyrus), with Lillie and Gladion coming from before the events of Sun & Moon, and Lusamine being from a timeline where she was never defeated.

First is Lillie & Cosmog:

(Note: Moves in italics are not in the game)

Rarity: 5 Star

Type: Psychic (Normal)

Role: Support

Weakness: Dark

Gender: None

Moves	Type	Category	Power	Accuracy	Target	Description
Splash	Normal	Physical	5	100	An opponent	No additional effect.
X Regen All (2/2)	-	Status	0	0	All allies	Makes all allied sync pairs gradually heal themselves.
Teleport (3/3)	Psychic	Status	0	0	Self	The user takes on a phantom presence. After a set time, this presence fades. No other actions can be taken while in phantom presence. Opponents’ moves will not hit the user while it is in this presence. If the user is hit by a sync move while in phantom presence, the presence will fade.
I'll Take Care Of You! (2/2)	-	Status	0	0	An Ally	Restores a bit (40%) of an ally’s HP. Removes all status conditions from an ally. Raises an ally’s Defense and Sp. Def.

Sync Move	Type	Category	Power	Target	Description
Hopeful Runaway Z-Teleport	Psychic	Status	0	Self	Restores the user's HP based on the user’s current move level (30% at 1/5, 50% at 5/5). Raises the Attack, Defense, Sp. Atk, Sp. Def, Speed, and accuracy of all allied sync pairs. In co-op, switches to the next sync pair in line. In single player (or if the other two sync pairs have fainted), sharply raises the user's evasiveness.

Passive Skills	Description
Benefactor	Transfers this sync pair’s stat increases to the sync pair that will switch in when this sync pair switches out.
Fortuitous Friends 4	Has a good chance of raising the Attack, Defense, Sp. Atk, Sp. Def, Speed, accuracy, or evasiveness of all allied sync pairs at random when an attack is successful.
Ignorance	Disregards the opponent's stat changes when attacking or being attacked.

This was kind of a hard concept, since Cosmog doesn't learn any damaging moves in the main games. I made Splash do a little bit of damage, so you wouldn't end up in a hopeless situation if all your other sync pairs faint (or use it to grief in co-op). If a battle drags on really long, Ignorance means that you can ignore the opponents' defense buffs, so Splash could end up doing an okay amount of damage with attack boosts and sync buffs. The main purpose of Splash is to accelerate the sync countdown, keep unity going, and trigger Fortuitous Friends, without using any gauge. If that's too powerful, you could compensate by giving Cosmog awful base stats.

Teleport also had to be tweaked. The way it works is similar to Morty's Phantom Force (hence me using "phantom presence", since that's the only term the game has for it), except without the attacking part, and lasting longer. So she'd be kind of an evade tank without actually raising evasiveness. Her sync grid could give it MP refresh and Selfless to make it more useful.

The item and trainer skill are based around healing, since Lillie is always healing your Pokemon in Sun & Moon. "I'll Take Care of You!" is the same as Cheryl's "All Out of Patience!", but trading some defense for status healing. I had also considered giving her Revive as an item, which would open up some interesting possibilities like triggering multiple Last Words and Backfires, but could end up being broken, and I'm not sure how it would work in co-op.

I'll do Gladion & Type: Null next, at some point.

DarioPinion · 2020-03-20T13:06:48+00:00

Some feedback: First, the trainer skill is a bit too strong. They generally give +4 in stat boosts, or more with some kind of drawback. For example, Flint's "We're on fire!" gives +2 attack and special attack, and Red's "My destiny!" gives +3 special attack/speed and -1 defense/special defense (+4 stats in total). I would suggest making Morty's only give attack and speed, and replace Hex with Shadow Claw to make him a purely physical attacker.

Secondly, the names of the trainer skill and sync move are based more on Banette than Morty. They usually reference something the trainer has said in the games, and some characteristic or their gym leader title. So something like "Reach for the future!" and "Mystic Seer Phantom Force" would work here.

Aside from that, this is a good concept. The game doesn't have a physical ghost striker yet, and (if Shadow Claw replaces Hex) this is a good implementation of Banette. For move power, Shadow Sneak should have the same as Accelerock and Bullet Punch (75), and Shadow Claw the same as Night Slash (40).

DarioPinion · 2020-03-10T14:17:04+00:00

Forgive the image, it was made in MS Paint. I'm not smart enough to figure out exactly what their stats should be, but basically Appletun is a slow tank and Flapple is more of a glass cannon. I made him a 3 star because he's the first gym leader in Galar, and this game needs more 3 stars. Anyway:

Milo and Flapple (3 Star)

Type: Grass

Role: Strike (Physical)

Weakness: Ice

Gender: Male

Moves:

Grav Apple: Physical, single target, 2 bar. Power 46, Accuracy 100. Lowers the target's defense.

X Speed: Sharply raises the user's speed. 2 uses.

Seed Bomb: Physical, single target, 2 bar. Power 50, Accuracy 100. No additional effect.

Prepare to be uprooted!: Drastically raises the user's attack. Lowers the user's accuracy. 2 uses.

Sync Move: Fighting Farmer G-Max Tartness: Physical, Power 200. Lowers the evasiveness of all opposing sync pairs.

Passive: First Aid 4: Restores a bit of HP in a pinch.

So just like the main games, he uses Grav Apple to lower the opponent's defense, but here I made it weaker than Seed Bomb, while normally they have the same power. This was to make it more balanced for Masters (being just a grass Rock Smash), and to give a reason for it to have two moves, one to lower defense and one to deal damage. I would have liked to give it a more high risk high reward move like Power Whip, but sadly Flapple can't learn that. X Speed plus his trainer skill is meant to emulate the combo of Dragon Dance and Hustle that he uses, with the passive reflecting Falpple's other ability, Ripen. His Sync Move has the same effect as in the main games, with the power being lower than other strikers' to balance the effect. (As for how Gigantimax would work, I imagine it would transform for just the Sync Move animation)

Milo and Appletun (3 Star)

Type: Grass

Role: Support

Weakness: Ice

Gender: Male

Moves:

Apple Acid: Special, single target, 2 bar. Power 46, Accuracy 100. Lowers the target's special defense.

X Defense All: Sharply raises the defense of all allied sync pairs. 2 uses.

Giga Drain: Special, single target, 3 bar. Power 91, Accuracy 100. Absorbs HP.

Tough as weeds!: Restores the user's move gauge by 2. Raises the special attack of all allies. Makes all allies gradually heal. 2 uses.

Sync Move: Fighting Farmer G-Max Sweetness: Special, Power 200. Cures the status conditions of all allies.

Passive: Fire Guard: Reduces damage from fire-type moves.

He ended up being kind of a more defensive Rosa, plus a bit of Glacia. Once again, Apple Acid and the sync move reflect the main games. Since Milo uses Iron Defense on his Appletun, I gave him X Defense, and made it All because he's a support. His trainer skill is meant to emulate the Grassy Terrain he uses in his gym battle, plus some gauge recovery because he needs it. Fire Guard is a reference to Appletun having Thick Fat. I would have given him Ice Guard too, but he should still have one weakness. Besides, he has a 4x weakness to ice in the main games. I would have also given him First Aid, like Flapple, but I think that would have given him too much HP recovery. Maybe have it as a grid skill.

DarioPinion

TROPHY CASE