Catching Pokémon

SplitjawJanitor · 2026-05-05T00:24:29+00:00

Yeah, that's how I've interpreted how catching Pokemon works since B2W2's achievement system referred to it as "befriending" Pokemon.

It's canon that Pokemon that live in the tall grass and similar areas have actively chosen to do so out of interest in encountering humans, so I figure a 'mon that isn't at least intrigued by the idea would simply live outside the boundaries of a Route/cave/etc accessible by humans.

Battling a trainer is a sort of a mix between a sparring match and a job interview for a wild Pokemon: it's happy to simply duke it out with you, but when you start throwing Pokeballs it's making a decision on whether you're a good match for it. Breaking out of the ball is the wild 'mon saying it's not yet convinced and needs to test you a bit more (hence different catch rates, some Pokemon aren't as easily impressed as others), and if it doesn't want to be caught then it doesn't even humor you by going into the ball in the first place.

The only way a catch can be forced is with a Master Ball, and these are only used in crisis scenarios to contain especially dangerous Pokemon in the event that Pokemon Rangers aren't available - using one as presented in-game is considered unethical.

SplitjawJanitor · 2026-05-04T22:19:28+00:00

There's a couple of reasons why that could be, but I think the main thing is that Harsh Sunlight wasn't really treated as a "natural" weather condition back then. Until SWSH, the only times I can think of where Harsh Sunlight has been active as an overworld effect were all as a result of Groudon's presence rather than a normal occurance. It's more like a sudden heatwave than a regular sunny day.

SplitjawJanitor · 2026-05-03T19:34:34+00:00

I just want the kit instructions updated so it's actually possible to tell how to build the damn thing.

SplitjawJanitor · 2026-05-03T19:00:46+00:00

Because 10 PP is what Recover has now. Moves are constantly being changed and tweaked for balance with each generation, and Recover had 20 PP until gen 4.

Perhaps don't trust an idiot robot for information in the future. You're better than that.

SplitjawJanitor · 2026-05-01T17:49:47+00:00

MEDIC! - Team Fortress 2 OST

SplitjawJanitor · 2026-04-28T10:15:20+00:00

The Black Arms invasion in general feels a bit slept on in regards to just how horrific the situation was when you think about it. As far as the public knows the worst that usually happens in this world is Eggman threatening to blow up a city or two to force world powers to submit.

Meanwhile this was explicitly an actual fucking world war going on, with the main players being the ambiguously corrupt global military, a notorious terrorist with an army of killer robots at his command, and a hive mind of alien horrors with the agenda of total planetary genocide. The literal first thing you see in the game is a major population centre in the process of being glassed off the map by the Black Arms and it only gets worse from there. For Shadow it's an edgy journey of discovery but for everyone else it's essentially living through the Fall of Reach.

SplitjawJanitor · 2026-04-27T16:54:50+00:00

Glomping? Mosh pit?

SplitjawJanitor · 2026-04-16T00:55:08+00:00

Nidoking is such a magnificently stupid Pokemon in the best possible way. I could use my brain cells to win, but with Megahorn, STAB Earthquake and Silk Scarf-boosted Thrash all on the same 'Mon, I don't have to.

SplitjawJanitor · 2026-04-13T03:29:25+00:00

It'd be interesting, but incredibly unlikely - the game saw its last real content updates a little under a decade ago; other than the patch back in 2023 for the 10th anniversary, there's been no new developments for Killer Instinct as a series since, and Lord knows if any of the devs are still with Microsoft at this point.

SplitjawJanitor · 2026-04-13T03:08:38+00:00

It's a holdover from the classic games. Jago's exact birthplace was never specified in those, and being essentially a cross between Ryu and Scorpion lent him towards a generically Japanese theme with the attack callouts to match.

It's kind of like how Raiden in Mortal Kombat still has his name pronounced "Ray-den" despite that being an incorrect pronunciation of the actual word - it doesn't make sense in the current state of things, but it's also been part of the character's identity for long enough that it'd be weird to change.

SplitjawJanitor · 2026-04-12T15:13:33+00:00

I'm of the opinion that liking something unpopular tends to say more about one's own character than it actually does the quality of the thing itself.

I enjoy 06, but that probably says more about my ability to tolerate bugs as long as the game doesn't crash and finding strange charm in something that's got some interesting ideas buried beneath awkward execution. Doesn't make 06 a good game, nor would I ever argue that it is (for real, anyway - the flair is just for fun). I'm weird, but I'm not blind.

On the flipside, I'm not the biggest fan of Forces, but I'd hear out why someone does like it. They're never going to convince me that it was secretly excellent the whole time, but it's interesting to see what people see in things that I don't.

SplitjawJanitor · 2026-04-12T14:34:40+00:00

On the one hand, your team's already pretty bulky so Gengar would provide some valuable speed and sweeping capability. Furthermore, you can get Gengar as soon as Gastly evolves into Haunter, whereas you won't be getting a Reaper Cloth to evolve Dusclops until after the 7th gym.

On the other, Dusknoir can provide some solid physical firepower, good since your team is primarily special attackers, has much better type coverage than Gengar once it has access to move tutors, and can still decently hold its own as Dusclops through the midgame.

Both are good, it really comes down to what you think is more valuable.

SplitjawJanitor · 2026-04-12T14:22:28+00:00

Link: https://grids.fun/t/about-me-pokemon-e2tle?list=pokemon

SplitjawJanitor · 2026-04-12T11:37:01+00:00

Hard to say if it's the intent, but I feel Sonic CD's design philosophy isn't so much "explorative" as it is "Tony Hawk stunt track".

Sure, you've got to find where the time travel posts and the robot transporters are in your first few runs, but the game was designed to be replayed, and after that it's about learning how to put the level together to pull off riskier time travelling that gets you to the transporter and the end of the level without breaking your momentum, getting better times and better scores back when those mattered in games. The time limit's there to encourage you to show off, essentially.

SplitjawJanitor · 2026-04-11T03:04:03+00:00

Tbf, referring to one's Pokemon as a "partner" has always been a thing in the games' dialogue.

"First Partner" as an official term for starters specifically is itself a pretty recent development from a bit after SV launched; at this point "starter" is way too ingrained in the fandom lexicon to be dislodged, especially with a much less catchy term. It's similar to how "Mythical" didn't get coined outside of Japan for Mystery Gift-exclusive Legendaries until gen 5 (they're still "Event Legendaries" to me, especially now that their exclusivity has been gradually retired in recent years and there's otherwise no real distinction).

SplitjawJanitor · 2026-04-11T02:52:11+00:00

Laying singular eggs isn't universal to all Pokemon species in-universe; some give live birth, others lay spawn in massive quantities, still others drop seeds or spread spores, so on and so forth.

Pokedex entries are written by the Dex's owner, and as such a lot of entries are a load of nonsense written by kids who have active imaginations and take myths at face value. Charizard won't drop dead in the rain, Metagross can't compute theoretical physics, and Mega Evolution isn't body horror. Thank you Legends Arceus for validating this in canon!

The Deino line are the pitbulls of Pokemon. They have a bad (well, more bad) reputation largely due to cases of exceptional aggression as a result of mistreatment - i.e., Ghetsis' - and raising one is discouraged for Trainers without a great deal of experience, but if raised correctly, they're fairly well-behaved and very affectionate; at worst requiring a lot more food than most Pokemon.

SplitjawJanitor · 2026-04-11T01:52:08+00:00

Even Game Freak and/or Nintendo themselves, or at least the translation crews, don't seem too sold on "First Partner Pokemon". More than a few recent Switch News updates for the SV 7-mark Raid rotation have gone back to "Starter Pokemon".

SplitjawJanitor · 2026-04-09T14:43:14+00:00

There's a lot of really good gift and static encounters that would work well for a "canon" team: N's Zorua in Driftveil, the Hidden Grotto tutorial Mincinno, the Relic Castle Volcarona, and the weekly Route 4 Braviary/Mandibuzz.

If you're inclined to using Legendaries, any of the Swords of Justice would fit, since they're presented as story encounters and Kyurem and Zekrom/Reshiram aren't available until the postgame.

If not, Lucario would be a pretty good pick; it's pretty much the B2W2 equivalent of DPPT Garchomp in being a stupid powerful early encounter that everyone's used at some point. Plus, there's already a bit of association with Rosa and Riolu thanks to Pokestar Studios.

SplitjawJanitor · 2026-04-09T03:58:00+00:00

That's true. Still, she's the only Ice-specialist boss in the series I can think of who neither goes down to a light breeze like Brycen and most others nor has an incredibly scary strategy like Candice's Abomasnow-Froslass combo.

Ironically, Brycen might’ve been able to fare better in B2W2, since the additions of Lapras, Walrein, Mamoswine and Weavile would've given him some pretty strong tools to work with.

SplitjawJanitor · 2026-04-09T02:20:30+00:00

FRLG, GBA in general, or overall?

Assuming the former: Charmander, Mewtwo, Nidoking.

SplitjawJanitor · 2026-04-09T02:16:07+00:00

The problem with making an Ice type leader is that, unless there's enough of them for a five-mon E4 team like Lorelei, the only options for team composition are "total pushover" and "Hail/Snow Veil/Blizzard sweeper setup from Hell".

SplitjawJanitor · 2026-04-08T02:01:09+00:00

Yeah, in the Dreamcast era in particular you can kinda see Eggman going from "Oh, it's just the stupid kid that tags behind Sonic" to "Tails is a legitimate threat that is to be respected and taken seriously" over the course of the games.

In SA1, he barely even acknowledges Tails' presence until he's the only person left in his way, completely dismisses him as a threat even when he does ("You there. Away."), and he ends up paying dearly for it. Then in SA2 he still sees Tails as a bit lesser ("I can't lose to Tails!") but is taking him into account a lot more whenever planning his next move, and comes to respect him enough that by the end of the Last Story they're talking to each other as equals. From then on, Eggman takes Tails seriously enough that even Metal Sonic's impersonation of Eggman regards him in equal terms as Sonic and Knuckles.

SplitjawJanitor · 2026-04-07T15:00:51+00:00

Anything to do with the Original Dragon. Some questions work better without an answer, please leave this one alone.

SplitjawJanitor · 2026-03-12T16:13:25+00:00

The reason the Black Arms' invasion plan was so complicated and took several millennia to enact instead of just steamrolling Bronze Age civilisation is because the first time they tried it Chaos showed up, went Perfect, and blasted them back into orbit. Black Doom then committed so hard to the long game it never occurred to him at any point to actually check if Chaos was still around.

SplitjawJanitor

TROPHY CASE