Yall left out the best one! Silver having a golbat throughout the game but when u finally make him realize friendship it becomes a crobat in the postgame
Also similar case for Cyrus , he is shown to be a sinister person with evil plans , but still his Golbat eventually evolves into a Crobat . This shows that even villains love their pokemon . (Except for Ghetsis , his Hydreigon's Frustration hits with max power)
@@gourishpyne304 It's also theorized that Ghetsis forced his Hydreigon to evolve early (it's level 54 in BW when it's not supposed to evolve from Zweilous until it reaches 10 more levels).
@HimekoIzayoi Ghetsis's team in BW also completely sweeps N's team, his Hydreigon can completely one shot all of N's pokemon, he was fully prepared to betray N from the beginning and it was foreshadowed in his team. It's terrifying.
In twilight wings it show ed she hada him when she Was a resercher. And shows than even tho she now is evil and beatiful she Still loyal to the end [That pokemon is her ace, highest level pokemon, her Gmax and the one that shows her true inner nature ]
I thought you'd point out Gladion's team. Almost all of his pokemon evolve through friendship, which is such a good way to hint that he's kinder than he appears to be, consider the way he must genuinely care for his pokemon, who literally wouldn't have evolved otherwise
Its why i love N so much. In all his battles before his final one his team is made up of all pokemon that can be caught in the immediate routes. The implication, and later confirmed truth in B2/W2 memory links, being that he only caught pokemon when he needed to battle and immediately released them afterwards.
@@thedashey What I meant was creating a unique animation of him sending out the Pokémon instead of just relying on the default animation of sending out a pokeball
Kieran's team also goes through a Hop phase in the Teal Mask DLC where his team starts of with cute Pokemon like Yanma and Sentret/Furret, and then his final battle in the Teal Mask his team is now full of mean/wicked looking Pokemon and the once cute Yanma is now the terrifying Yanmega. (And VERY funnily, Hop and Kieran are also VERY similar in that they use Cramorant when they're at their lowest point, but the Cramorant only shows up ONCE before it suddenly disappears.) And Oleana's Garbodor not only acts as Oleana's other side, but lorewise, Oleana WAS very poor before Rose took her in. And her only parter back then? Was a Trubbish.
@@Articfoxgamez If it makes you feel better, in the League Club at Blueberry Academy, when inviting Arven and Kieran they would talk about which Pokemon would be their best bud, and Kieran mentioned Poliwrath, Politoed Yanmega AND Furret then saying he can't choose a favorite!
In BW, Ghetsis' Hydreigon has moves that can counter almost all of N's team and it has a super effective Dragon Pulse for the legendaries. Not to mention the rest of his team also counter N's team, implying he was always waiting to betray him. In BW2, Ghetsis has gotten even crazier so he replaces his Hydreigon's effective special attacks with less effective physical attacks, it has a Life Orb, and it has a FULL POWER Frustration, meaning between the events of BW and their sequels, Ghetsis abused his Hydreigon even more.
Honestly it makes sense, whatever sense of duty Ghetsis had to keep his illusion to N of being someone to trust but after the events of B/W he has no need for that anymore… makes sense the abuse kept happening and got worse
Hydreigon are also naturally sweethearts despite their fearsome appearances Ghetsis must've treated the poor thing like absolute dogcrap to get it to hate him that much
And I've heard it's also got a flavor theme going. The ones I know for sure are that Garganacl represents salty and Scovillain is spicy. Though Toedscruel could be savory, Mabosstiff bitter, and Greedent sweet. Don't remember what Cloyster represented.
@@VixstraLarge I don't think it's flavor specific as much as they're all either references to food or actually have food on them according to their dex entries: -Shellder/Cloyster is a reference to clams and other shellfish -Scovillain refers to spices/pepper -Sqwovet/Greedant always have berries stored in their cheeks/tail -Toadcool's Dex entry in Scarlet says that it's flaps are edible and delicious -Garganacl's salt can be used as both flavoring and a healing agent
Interesting Trivia: Arven was awarded the 2022 Famitsu Dengeki Game Award for Best Character. During the event, Pokémon Scarlet and Violet director Shigeru Ohmori explained via a written message that Arven's character was based on his personal experience of losing his parents at a young age.
Porygon-Z in Kieran’s team represents his corruption. It shows how much different he’s become and how he lost all his original beliefs, and it may or may not have to do with the Loyal Three. That’s why it’s on his team.
@@birb1786 It makes it really easy to take him down if you've specced Ogerpon correctly. Bulky Water Ogerpon can take hits well, combined with Horn Leech, Leftovers or a Sitrus Berry. You don't even have to use Follow Me, just Protect every other turn while your other Pokèmon sweeps his ass.
@@Mr-Trox my main team is a lvl 100 meowscarada and tinkaton and I just swap out the rest. When I fought him I used a lvl 80 ogerpon. Also I only use attacking moves. If it doesn't take health then it's a waste of a move.
It works so damn well tho. Common mon, usually thought of as nuisance, but given the right person to care for it (heartless as it might be) the mon will care back and give it it's all for you. This message it's brought to you by the love your regional pest association.
Counterpoint: Cyrus. Though you can argue that makes it depressing, seeing as Cyrus's Crobat loves him, but Cyrus obviously doesn't return the sentiment.
@@Mr-Trox it's also serve as a paralel between Cyrus and the rest of Team Galactic as all of the admin are deeply loyal to hil while he doesn't think anything of them
@@Mr-Trox What do you mean, obviously? I think the implication is the exact opposite, that he does care. He just doesn't show it or is bad at showing it. It evolves with Friendship. Friendship is not a one way street, he cared for that Zubat long enough for it to evolve, twice, despite Zubat's being weak as hell.
I also love how Archie and Maxie have Crobats, how Silver’s Golbat evolves into a crobat at the end of his journey, and how Ghetsis has a maximum power frustration on his Hydreigon. Those little details tell SO much about the characters; I LOVE when pokemon teams are taken into account for the whole character design 🫶 Also still love the theory that the player unknowingly led to the death of Blue’s raticate on the SS Anne, which is why he was at the tower in lavender town and why he stops using raticate
@@daemonmoreno9456 I feel that was likely, he's the same character who has found 40 different species, but only carried around 4, I feel like he's very, VERY selective as far as his party goes
There’s also the fact that when you face off against Blue he has two new pokemon on his team, presumably to replace Raticate (whether it died like in fanon or if he, like many players, decided it was too weak and took off his team)
Lolno. Every subsequent villain with a Crobat is not story-relevant, and is just filling in blanks considering there is no story development for them that implies any sort of friendship/love.
Lol I was wondering when the flood of "um actually"s was gonna come Why bother reading the correction someone posted earlier when ya can just post the same thing
@@mrroboshadow Because the second person believes their own answer fleshes things out more or simply did not read the other reply. BTW Jessie released it so it and James's Weezing could save a group of Koffing and Ekans
I swear we gotta stop comparing them just because it's an evolution, one is a defensive pokémon and the other is offensive. Also it's still viable today with download and tri-attack.
@@chemistryalchemy196 Kieran plays VGC, and Porygon Z has only ever been VGC viable in generation 4 with a pretty gimmicky set. And it *definitely* isn't viable anymore, after Ursaluna-Blood Moon stole its lunch.
@@EnderPryde Idk VGC enough to retort on that part but it's definitely still viable in its own tier in solos, doesn't have to be OU or anything since power creep makes it impossible for most mons. And it's still viable in gen 9 NU (a tier that has Flygon, Infernape or even Thundurus) so we defo shouldn't sleep on that thing, nor should we compare it to its defensive pre-evo lol.
@@chemistryalchemy196Porygon 2 isn't purely defensive though, with analytic (or download/trace if you wanna gamble) it can still hit pretty hard with all it's moves while also being beefy with recovery. Pory 2 is just used for support most of the time cause it's the better option
@chemistryalchemy196 Smogon tiers arent exactly the best way to compare a pokemon's viability lol. It's a metagame after all, look at cofagrigus' viability in gen 6 and gen 7. In gen 6 cofagrigus was usable with a solid niche in OU. In gen 7 cofagrigus was ZU and was too terrible for PU. In the end smogon tiers aren't the best way to determine a pokemon's exact power level, it's more of a base of where it could be. Some pokemon are way higher rated because they deal with the meta particularly well while some pokemon are underrated because they just don't match well with the meta game. Porygon-z in particular is interesting because while it is strong enough to threaten a blissey with special attacks using 1 turn of setup, it's also paper frail and isn't fast making it extremely easy to out offense thus making it not that good. It's what other people say, it's a niche pokemon.
Random fun fact but ghetsis’s team was specifically designed to overpower the legendary dragons and his Hydreigon in the remakes shows its true colors by having frustration probably with max power and funny enough frustration is the first tm the player gets
Haven’t played the game but wasn’t the fact that back then she wasn’t rich at the time and lived a poor life and she found her first pokemon being a trubbish and even though she looks elegant now she still has the same trubbish all this time since well. It was her first pokemon friend to be with
@@kasagrim7215 Yes exactly! It shows that no matter how she is now and presents herself, she hasn't forgotten where she came from and Garbordor is still her best friend!
@@kasagrim7215 also the reason she's so devoted to the chairman rose is bc he was the only one who thought she was worth something when nobody even cared for her existence. She worked so hard to prove her worth to him that she started to go a lil crazy. And she was still loyal to him till the end even when she knew his plans were horrible. She had so much talent and dedication but fate was cruel and she later on became a little crazy. Tragic. If u haven’t already watched the Twilight wings episode on RUclips then you should deffo check it out.
Another sad thing about kieran, if you use ogerpon against him. His Ai will specifically target her and only her. He will feel so hurt and enraged he'll do anything to get her out of sight
@@Maritime_Memories If you want to know; Kieran originally thought that the Ogre was just as dangerous as the myth originally portrayed it, and was still obsessed enough to stalk the Ogre at her own home in the hopes of seeing it. That's another issue, Kieran is a genuine stalker, he literally admits to it, and his obsession with Ogerpon leads to him feeling possessive of something he doesn't even own. Kieran is a great character and a terrible person, who reflects the story of Kitikami's Toxic Trio. The only thing "sad" about him is how pathetic he seems when you first meet him.
@@anonymousapproximation8549 Only toxic person I saw was his bitch of a sister who thinks that just because she doesn't hit him, she isn't being mean.
Chairman Rose also uses all steel types because he brought this team to deal with the Poison/Dragon Eternatus What he didn’t realize is, Eternatus had Flamethrower
This makes me think about Cyrus' Crobat. It's strong, fierce, and can one shot you if you mess around. But Crobat is a pokemon that can only come into being with _love._ It makes me sad to see Cyrus toss his emotions away; but also makes me happy to know that deep, deep down he isn't 100% a bad person.
Thinking about Cyrus suddenly made me think of a comparison to Zamasu from Dragonball In that series, Zamasu is a bad guy, wanting to erase all mortals, but hes also not technically bad? As it was revealed that despite his evil actions, hes still pure of heart (this being further signified by a cup of tea he was serving being unclouded, despite it having properties that reveal your true heart) This being DB's take on being pure of heart, where it isnt just naturally being good or bad, but how you percieve your actions. And since Zamasu perceives his actions as just, hes pure. Makes me wonder if Cyrus is similar, somebody who despite their evil actions, they still see said actions as pure and just, hence the supposed friendship towards his Crobat.
Oleanna's trubbish in twilight wings is so cute! She's such a fun character even though she doesn't get much good screentime in the games. A hardworking woman who genuinely loves her pokemon, defending the one man who saw her talent and let her rise above her station even though he has morally dubious plans
I think Kieran uses Porygon-Z because it kinda parallels him, starts out at this cute lil guy, gets stronger & then unleashes its true strength when it loses its marbles
Ah like Ghetsis’ Hydreigon having max damage frustration(what he did to that super powerful dragon to make it hate him so much, yet also not kill him is beyond me)
Probably the same thing he did to N, lots of abuse and gaslighting, so the Hydreigon hates his guts but can’t allow itself to leave because it wouldn’t know what to do without him.
Not to mention Ghetsis' entire BW team is perfectly designed to counter N's, with his Hydreigon also being perfectly designed to solo N's entire team and counter its own weaknesses.
@@macaronsncheese9835that is unfortunately a myth. The red eye is a scouter measuring life force and power, and the anime has shown his off hand. And that cane is basically a wizard staff. But there are probably a lot of fanimations out there where this mad mage gets deleted.
Not really. At least in VGC, outside of Gens 4 and 5, Z just has basically *no* presence in the metagame, while 2 pops in and out of the meta regularly as a turbo bulky trick room setter.
@@EnderPrydePorygon Z is more of singles. It was really strong with Conversion Z in 7th gen and has always been on the edge of “One buff will make this thing one shoot whatever”
I’m not sure if anyone has mentioned this but can we also give Silver a major shoutout for have a Golbat all throughout Johto and when he finally matures he has a Crobat which evolves through friendship showing how much he has grown as a human and as a Pokemon trainer. I love that storytelling and also Wally who ends up with a Mega Gallade in the end with an epic battle music
I love how Ghetsis's team is designed to hard counter N's, implying he had a backup plan if N rebelled, or that he was planning to 'dispose of' N once he's fulfilled his purpose.
Incredibly valid of her honestly. Though as an aside her Ace is Sylveon who requires affection to evolve indicating she spoils her Eevee rotten, which is backed up by absolutely all her team having both Baby Doll Eyes and Growl (aka they're not a battle team really, they're just her pets) XD Additionally given the variety of evolutions on the team one could argue that's representative of how much effort she'll go to to ensure her friends' happiness - a custom effort every time (one's even Leafeon so horror upon horrors that Egirl went out and actually touched grass XD)
@@FaisLittleWhiteRaven well I mean for that particular Pokémon it makes sense to get it to evolve into the fairy type it least know at least one fairy type move
@@FaisLittleWhiteRaven I mean as of gen 8 you don't need to go to the Mossy/Icy Rock for Leafeon and Glaceon they can just use stones (and there are no Evo Rocks in Galar or Paldea, Penny is from Galar)
I know you had time constraints, but Arven also has a team like that, as all of his Pokemon reference food/cooking somehow. I agree, it is nice when important character teams can be more than just a random assembly, or merely type-themed.
Almost all of the Pokèmon Arven catches during the Path of Legends have some form of ingredient or seasoning associated with them that you get from defeating them. Shellder doesn't, but he makes a good pun about serving Klawf a beating on the half shell. Toedscool drops flaps that the Pokèdex explicitly describes as delicious. Nacli drops salt. And Scovillain drops Capsakid seeds, the hottest part of a pepper, iirc. Skwovet/Greedent are just gluttons, and he had that before you started the Titan quest line.
Tbh, I love Hop from SwSh. What a lot of players don't realize because they're complaining to much is that Hop tries his best to step out of his brother's shadow and shows with his team and fights you so he can become stronger. And despite losing over and over, Hop still has a smile because he has determination. And eventually, he becomes a professor assistant to step out of his brother's shadow, become something Leon isn't.
I AGREE WITH YOU SO DAMN MUCH!!! Is it so scary that people who even played and passed swsh might not understand his story? Hop literally teaches young children that not everything can be achieved with one desire, sometimes life goes wrong. Is he going through a wonderful path with his ups and downs and is he HATED for some reason??? I'm just flipping through these comments in search of Hop support because, DAMN IT, MY FAVORITE RIVAL IS HOP AND I'M NOT ASHAMED HE'S THE BEST BOY!!!! I’m gonna cry again
In the final battle with Hop at Wyndon Stadium, his usage of Dubwool is a perfect display of how much he's grown and learned from his mistakes as a Trainer. As much as we all make fun of him complimenting your use of super effective attacks, we never realize that Hop is taking mental notes. By the time you face off with Hop at Wyndon, he has taught his Dubwool Zen Headbutt, a Psychic move super effective against Dubwool's biggest threat, being the Fighting type. So not only is Hop fully anticipating you using a super effective move on him-- he's counting on it.
Missed out on some epic Kieran lore. In TM, his ace was Poliwrath during his final battle, but come ID he trades it for politoed to set up for dragonite. But in the DLC epilogue, he brings Poliwrath back on his team, showing he never forgot about his old friend.
@@someoneweird4439 um NO. Did Hau catch a legendary? Did Hau have any character growth? Did Hau become the second Pokémon Professor in training from one of the rivals? Was Hau an important protagonist in the games? No, Hau is easily one of the worst characters in the games, he does so little for the story it’s not even funny. Hell LILLIE has more character growth than the actual Trainer who’s supposed to BE our rival. Hop is an amazing rival, he didn’t NEED a second game to somewhat flesh him out more, he didn’t NEED an extra story to be better he just IS a better rival than Hau
@@someoneweird4439 also! Hau was so unimportant in the game that he BARELY got any screen time in the Anime other than battling Ash, yes the same COULD be said for Hop, but Journeys was completely different than the rest of the seasons that focused on one Region, I’d bet if it was focused in the Galar Region that we’d see more Hop
I honestly love Hop's character development, it's just a satisfying story of him figuring out what he wants to be instead of just following in his brother's footsteps
Cynthia is a decent example too. Hers is somewhat of a lore team. Her ace is a Garchomp, which is tucked away in an obscure cave. Spiritomb is found in a ruin near Hearthome. Gastrodon’s forms relate to the Sinnoh myths and Mt Coronet. Lucario and Roserade are aces of previous in game bosses. Milotic is the ace of a previous Champion, and is once again exclusive to Mt Coronet.
I always think about how Kieran initially replaced his Poliwrath for the competitively better Politoed in the BB League, before going back to using his Poliwrath in the DLC. Just thought that was interesting; the fact he once left behind his Poliwrath for its superior split evo just to get stronger is so neat. And sad. Neat and sad.
after mochi mayhem, there's league club dialogue from kieran that basically says both poli's are precious to him. i assume he always had them as a pair, but opted for wrath in TM because it was better in singles, then toed because it's better in doubles.
I love it when the edgy rival ends up having a pokemon that evolves via friendship is such a neat bit of characterization. With silver it’s to show he’s changed his attitude and with gladion it’s to show he was always compassionate, just rough around the edges
considering his team even in VGC outside of pairing Porygon2 with Hydrapple, PorygonZ would be better, Porygon2 is mainly there for Trick Room which would ruin about half his team
1. Oleana's garbodor isn't her 'true nature' it can be read on her league card that she grew up poor and it is elaborated in Twilight Wings that trubbish was her first pokemon. It shows how loyal she is that even with all of these beautiful pokemon and how rich she is now, she still values her first pokemon and really cements in how loyal she is outside of her loyalty to chairman rose 2. Red's Espeon is a reference to the one he has in the manga, not the gift gen 2 one. As far as we know he's never been to Johto lol
With the eevee he's probably talking about the one you recieve in celadon not the one in goldenrod. Also in gen 2 there's nothing stating directaly that gen 1 pokemon can't evolve into gen 2 pokemon, and even if you apply the gen 3 remakes logic here, he has already defeated the champion at this point, and considering he cary it to the elite for unevolved (witch is very likely, even with lightball pikachu still has the consistency of wet paper towel) this eevee becoming an espion is 100% possible
People who say hop is boring and just another overly friendly rival should’ve paid more attention to the story Dude is depressed as hell, just putting on a happy front to appear more like his much more successful brother
Kieran's Hydrapple has Tera Fighting which further shows how obsessed with winning he became not because it's a good Tera type for the Hydrapple, but because beneath the fist is a champion's belt.
@@Mr-Trox Just checked and saw Kieran's Hydrapple had Tera Blast, I'll give you that, good eye. Though it's still funny to think that the character had Fighting as the tera type seemingly for the belt rather then Steel that would cover not only it's x4 weakness to Ice, it would cover weaknesses to Flying, Bug, Poison, Dragon, and Fairy all as resistance (except poison which becomes an immunity).
I always feel like I'm insane when I think about how Hop (in my game at least) seems to prioritise recoil moves in the postgame. Something something recklessness and finding himself? Also his narrative parallel to Leon, with Leon being geographically easily lost and Hop being emotionally easily lost. I KNOW It's not that deep but what if it was, imagine
That only really works with his Life Orb Porygon-Z. Flare Blitz is just the best physical fire type move. His Incineroar also has a Sitrus Berry to help offset it. People run Flare Blitz on Incineroar in VGC alongside Parting Shot, Fake Out and Knock Off. They gave him Darkest Lariat and Brick Break instead, presumably to be slightly nicer to more casual players while still being a threat if they tried to make it easier with screens/Aurora Veil.
In gen 5, Cheren mentions items many times, and all his Pokemons use items. Bianca's pokémons all have max friendship, meanwhile Ghetsis' Hydreigon has maxed frustration. And of course, when you battle N, his team always has pokemon from nearby areas!
You seem to have missed out on the most notable story building team member, The Cramorant of Woe If a notable trainer has a Cramorant on their team suddenly it is to show they are “going through it” and then will suddenly disappear after that battle. Kieran had a Cramorant for one battle during his mental break with the Ogerpon story but Hop had a Cramorant too. Once in Stow-on-side when he’s shuffling our team members questioning his strength as a trainer, the same battle he boxed Wooloo, and later in the postgame when he’s questioning if he even wants to be a trainer anymore, and then becomes Sonia’s assistant later The Cramorant of Woe is like the orange butterfly in Kirby
I feel like Blue's Party being pretty much RGB's (missing just his starter) imply otherwise That and lots of smaller details from Yellow that are missing in Gen 2 and details just as small that were only in RGB but not Yellow being present (Like the presence of the old man in Cerulean from RBG who loves trading while the Bulbasaur girl is absent)
Kieran's final team is like Hop's final team but cranked up to 11. You could definitely tell with both of them that you (the protagonist) were the one to make them into the "monsters" that they became.
I personally love when Pokemon do stuff like this Wally's Gardevoir/Gallade also falls into this. Both he and ralts start out weak and frail but by the end, they are stronger Nemona has a goodra, a pokemon who is friendly like her but also hates being alone. Nemona was also alone before she met the player as she never fit in (Kind of like Goodra as well, it's much more cuddly and friendly looking then most pseudos) and was so happy when she finally had a friend Lillie has a clefairy because it is useless just like her
Still can't get over them not giving Lusamine a froslass despite it being the perfect pokemon for her twist of having freezedried pokemon in her basement, but at least it got a place on oleanna's team.
My favorite is in Colosseum, how do we know the player character Wes is both an ace trainer and a good guy? He's starters are Espeon and Umbreon, evolutions of a usually rare Pokémon and both evolve through friendship.
Meanwhile Lysander can not only Mega Evolve, something that can only be done through having a powerful bond with your Pokemon, but it's a Mega Gyardos, a Pokémon who's inspiration is literally the exact OPPOSITE to Lysander in every way.
This is honestly a reason why I enjoy friendship evolutions despite the tedious nature. Environmental storytelling. You can honestly tell if the people making the teams are either paying attention to the lore of the characters and Pokémon, like with Gladion and Carmine, or not paying attention, like Cyrus and one of the villains from Horizons.
All iterations of Maxie, Archie, and Cyrus have a Golbat that evolves into Crobat, which only evolves through high friendship. The former two also each have a Mega in the remakes, which according to lore relies on a strong bond between pokemon and trainer. Hopefully that means to some degree, even Cyrus has a good heart somewhere beneath the layers of ice and trauma; Maxie and Archie tend to be a bit more obvious with their kinder sides when you reach that point in the story.
another interesting detail of Lusamine's team in the Mother Beast fight of SuMo, they all have recovery moves, Milotic's Recover, Liligant's Leech Seed, Clefable's Moonlight, and Mismagius & Bewear's Pain Split. When Lusamine's fused with Nihilego, she's riding the high of its toxins, and so I think giving all her pokémon recovery moves here--something that drags out the battle--is suppose to evoke the idea that Lusamine wants to prolong said high for as long as possible. If she can ride that high long enough, maybe just maybe, she can learn everything about the UBs, and find a way to bring back her husband who was researching them. That's how I've come to interpret that fight at least, a grieving mother holding on to her glory days with her love.
Unrelated but I'm kind of glad that he razzes (pokes fun at) both old and new games, rather than saying all of the older games are flawless and all the newer ones are garbage. I like that alot.
I always thought Kieran’s porygon Z represented his self-destructive behavior. Since it is very powerful indeed but its strategy is very reckless with hyper beam + life orb. As if showing Kieran was becoming more powerful but it was costing him his sanity.
Same thing with N's team being made every time with pokemons found in the route And with Ghetsis' being made just to counter N's team With his hydreigon there to completely tear the legendary to shreds
There is that other Alolan rival and he has mostly friendship evolving mons in his team on victory route. Its such a nice way to show that he actually cares and isnt as mean as he seems.
Totally. Though somehow I felt worse for the AI. Arven has friends now, and a new lease on life, while the AI is going to be alone for the rest of their existence.
I just realized... Gary's team is like the other side of catching Pokemon.. you got the starter, then the basic route 1 pokemon (pidgeott), catching the hard-to-get pokemon (Alakasam), getting a magikarp from Fishing... Safari Pokemon for Execcute and Rhyhorn, and a version exclusive in Arcanine...
If I had a penny for every pokemon character that has parent issues and their turn out to be the big evil I would have 4 pennies, which isn't much but it's rare it happened 4 times
Haven't seen it mentioned here yet- similarly to how Silver having his Golbat evolve into Crobat, Cyrus also evolves his Golbat into Crobat. I like this detail because the extra characterization he is given in Platinum shows him to be hypocritical, acknowledging in the Distortion World that he does experience emotions, but only chooses to dwell on those considered "negative." Ultimately shows he does care for his Pokémon, he just doesn't outright admit it. Some might say it's a sort of manipulation tactic but given how much the Crobat evolution is used as a storytelling device in this context(the aforementioned Silver) and the fact that Cyrus is a known hypocrite, I have my doubts on that. I think it makes him a bit more interesting that way
Yall left out the best one! Silver having a golbat throughout the game but when u finally make him realize friendship it becomes a crobat in the postgame
Also similar case for Cyrus , he is shown to be a sinister person with evil plans , but still his Golbat eventually evolves into a Crobat .
This shows that even villains love their pokemon . (Except for Ghetsis , his Hydreigon's Frustration hits with max power)
@@gourishpyne304 It's also theorized that Ghetsis forced his Hydreigon to evolve early (it's level 54 in BW when it's not supposed to evolve from Zweilous until it reaches 10 more levels).
It's also theorized that Silver's rare Pokemon were stolen from people, like his sneasel is most likely taken from the guy that gives you Shuckle
@HimekoIzayoi, so did Lance force his dtagonites to evolve since they're level 50?
@HimekoIzayoi Ghetsis's team in BW also completely sweeps N's team, his Hydreigon can completely one shot all of N's pokemon, he was fully prepared to betray N from the beginning and it was foreshadowed in his team. It's terrifying.
Apparently Oleanna uses Garbordor bc she was born poor and lived on the streets, where she meet her first Pokemon Trubbish
In twilight wings it show ed she hada him when she Was a resercher. And shows than even tho she now is evil and beatiful she Still loyal to the end [That pokemon is her ace, highest level pokemon, her Gmax and the one that shows her true inner nature ]
I love trubbish so pretty relatable
Damn I wish I was her so bad (just the trubbish part though)
Ah
Notice how she caresses its pokeball before she throws it to G-Max. Really sweet detail.
I thought you'd point out Gladion's team. Almost all of his pokemon evolve through friendship, which is such a good way to hint that he's kinder than he appears to be, consider the way he must genuinely care for his pokemon, who literally wouldn't have evolved otherwise
Its why i love N so much. In all his battles before his final one his team is made up of all pokemon that can be caught in the immediate routes. The implication, and later confirmed truth in B2/W2 memory links, being that he only caught pokemon when he needed to battle and immediately released them afterwards.
I think he doesn't even catch them. Probably just asked them
@@HazeEmry he uses pokeballs
@@emperortohoCould just be because they didn’t bother animating them, but I remember seeing one comic that lampshaded this
@@garg4531 Didn't bother animating what?
@@thedashey What I meant was creating a unique animation of him sending out the Pokémon instead of just relying on the default animation of sending out a pokeball
Kieran's team also goes through a Hop phase in the Teal Mask DLC where his team starts of with cute Pokemon like Yanma and Sentret/Furret, and then his final battle in the Teal Mask his team is now full of mean/wicked looking Pokemon and the once cute Yanma is now the terrifying Yanmega. (And VERY funnily, Hop and Kieran are also VERY similar in that they use Cramorant when they're at their lowest point, but the Cramorant only shows up ONCE before it suddenly disappears.)
And Oleana's Garbodor not only acts as Oleana's other side, but lorewise, Oleana WAS very poor before Rose took her in. And her only parter back then? Was a Trubbish.
Cramorant= lowest point in life
Cramorant- For when you're at rock bottom and only rock bottom.
I will never forgive Kieran for boxing Furret
@@Articfoxgamez If it makes you feel better, in the League Club at Blueberry Academy, when inviting Arven and Kieran they would talk about which Pokemon would be their best bud, and Kieran mentioned Poliwrath, Politoed Yanmega AND Furret then saying he can't choose a favorite!
I thought i commented
There's storytelling with Ghetsis's Hydreigon being under levelled and having Frustration, implying he abused it
In BW, Ghetsis' Hydreigon has moves that can counter almost all of N's team and it has a super effective Dragon Pulse for the legendaries. Not to mention the rest of his team also counter N's team, implying he was always waiting to betray him.
In BW2, Ghetsis has gotten even crazier so he replaces his Hydreigon's effective special attacks with less effective physical attacks, it has a Life Orb, and it has a FULL POWER Frustration, meaning between the events of BW and their sequels, Ghetsis abused his Hydreigon even more.
Honestly it makes sense, whatever sense of duty Ghetsis had to keep his illusion to N of being someone to trust but after the events of B/W he has no need for that anymore… makes sense the abuse kept happening and got worse
Not just frustration. Maxed out frustration
Hydreigon are also naturally sweethearts despite their fearsome appearances
Ghetsis must've treated the poor thing like absolute dogcrap to get it to hate him that much
@@BingQilindon't present headcanon as fact
lets not forget Arven, whose team is literally the friends he's made along the way lol
apparently it is also possible for them to be shiny
@@wolfekupo5651Only in the Titan Battles. They revert to normal when you battle him.
And I've heard it's also got a flavor theme going. The ones I know for sure are that Garganacl represents salty and Scovillain is spicy. Though Toedscruel could be savory, Mabosstiff bitter, and Greedent sweet. Don't remember what Cloyster represented.
@@VixstraLarge I don't think it's flavor specific as much as they're all either references to food or actually have food on them according to their dex entries:
-Shellder/Cloyster is a reference to clams and other shellfish
-Scovillain refers to spices/pepper
-Sqwovet/Greedant always have berries stored in their cheeks/tail
-Toadcool's Dex entry in Scarlet says that it's flaps are edible and delicious
-Garganacl's salt can be used as both flavoring and a healing agent
@@ashec.6824and Mabosstiff is the hungry puppy they’re fixing the meal for ❤
Interesting Trivia: Arven was awarded the 2022 Famitsu Dengeki Game Award for Best Character. During the event, Pokémon Scarlet and Violet director Shigeru Ohmori explained via a written message that Arven's character was based on his personal experience of losing his parents at a young age.
🥺 god that makes me love Arven even more
I didn't know what. Thats so sad. 😢
I fr just went "yay- aw man"
Porygon-Z in Kieran’s team represents his corruption. It shows how much different he’s become and how he lost all his original beliefs, and it may or may not have to do with the Loyal Three. That’s why it’s on his team.
You just melted my brain
Didn't expect you to put in that pasta in the end there
@@HazeEmry lmao I put that as an autocorrect for “why” in my typing as a bit and forgot to fix if
@@fredducine7109 that makes more sense lmao
Thank you
Fun Fact: If you use Ogrepon against Kirian he forgets all strategy and logic and focuses dead set on killing it
wtf??? he really wants to murder Ogrepon, damn
@@birb1786 It makes it really easy to take him down if you've specced Ogerpon correctly.
Bulky Water Ogerpon can take hits well, combined with Horn Leech, Leftovers or a Sitrus Berry.
You don't even have to use Follow Me, just Protect every other turn while your other Pokèmon sweeps his ass.
@@Mr-Trox now imma sound dumb but when I play pokemon I just bonk them until they are no longer a problem.
@@KiomonDuck Unless you're steamrolling with level 100 legendaries or something, Kieran does require at least some counterplay.
@@Mr-Trox my main team is a lvl 100 meowscarada and tinkaton and I just swap out the rest. When I fought him I used a lvl 80 ogerpon. Also I only use attacking moves. If it doesn't take health then it's a waste of a move.
How to symbolize that a character cares about their pokemon: Give 'em a crobat.
It works so damn well tho.
Common mon, usually thought of as nuisance, but given the right person to care for it (heartless as it might be) the mon will care back and give it it's all for you.
This message it's brought to you by the love your regional pest association.
Counterpoint: Cyrus.
Though you can argue that makes it depressing, seeing as Cyrus's Crobat loves him, but Cyrus obviously doesn't return the sentiment.
@@Mr-Trox it's also serve as a paralel between Cyrus and the rest of Team Galactic as all of the admin are deeply loyal to hil while he doesn't think anything of them
@@Mr-Trox What do you mean, obviously?
I think the implication is the exact opposite, that he does care. He just doesn't show it or is bad at showing it.
It evolves with Friendship. Friendship is not a one way street, he cared for that Zubat long enough for it to evolve, twice, despite Zubat's being weak as hell.
Bro is down tremendous for lusamine 😭
Who wouldn't?
Pokémon chars are either underage or parent figures...
So am I
@@malachioom what you mean by that? 🤔🤨
tremendous literally means “good” or “very big”… also what do you expect, it’s a conventionally attractive white woman
How can you not be
I also love how Archie and Maxie have Crobats, how Silver’s Golbat evolves into a crobat at the end of his journey, and how Ghetsis has a maximum power frustration on his Hydreigon. Those little details tell SO much about the characters; I LOVE when pokemon teams are taken into account for the whole character design 🫶
Also still love the theory that the player unknowingly led to the death of Blue’s raticate on the SS Anne, which is why he was at the tower in lavender town and why he stops using raticate
Idk, it's never explicitly stated that the S.S. Anne crashes in the games. Maybe Raticate was just too weak for him
@@daemonmoreno9456 I feel that was likely, he's the same character who has found 40 different species, but only carried around 4, I feel like he's very, VERY selective as far as his party goes
There’s also the fact that when you face off against Blue he has two new pokemon on his team, presumably to replace Raticate (whether it died like in fanon or if he, like many players, decided it was too weak and took off his team)
Lolno. Every subsequent villain with a Crobat is not story-relevant, and is just filling in blanks considering there is no story development for them that implies any sort of friendship/love.
Mattpat crushed that raticate theory over a decade ago
Let's not forget how Carmine's Swadloon evolved, Swadloon evolves from happiness
What the hell is a Swadloon I HAVE NEVER HEARD OF A SWADLOON???
It's the bug-grass unova pokemon
Middle evo? (seeing as Sewaddle's the base stage and Leavanny's the final stage)
@@tammyc7136 Swadloon is what Seawaddle evolves into.
Then with max friendship, it evolves into Leavanny.
@@tammyc7136 Yup!
Isn't the reason Garbodor is Oleana's ace because it was also her first Pokémon?
Kinda similar to Jessie and Ekans
And similar to Hop, Jessie also ditches her first pokemon for Seviper
@@mrroboshadow i wouldn't say she "ditches" it, she released it for the sake of all the wild Ekans that needed it
@@mrroboshadow Jessie released it so it and James's Weezing could save a group of Koffing and Ekans
Lol I was wondering when the flood of "um actually"s was gonna come
Why bother reading the correction someone posted earlier when ya can just post the same thing
@@mrroboshadow Because the second person believes their own answer fleshes things out more or simply did not read the other reply.
BTW Jessie released it so it and James's Weezing could save a group of Koffing and Ekans
come on man, Porygon Z with Adaptability and Life Orb using Hyper Beam hits like a truck and was a Metagame set.
I swear we gotta stop comparing them just because it's an evolution, one is a defensive pokémon and the other is offensive. Also it's still viable today with download and tri-attack.
@@chemistryalchemy196 Kieran plays VGC, and Porygon Z has only ever been VGC viable in generation 4 with a pretty gimmicky set.
And it *definitely* isn't viable anymore, after Ursaluna-Blood Moon stole its lunch.
@@EnderPryde Idk VGC enough to retort on that part but it's definitely still viable in its own tier in solos, doesn't have to be OU or anything since power creep makes it impossible for most mons. And it's still viable in gen 9 NU (a tier that has Flygon, Infernape or even Thundurus) so we defo shouldn't sleep on that thing, nor should we compare it to its defensive pre-evo lol.
@@chemistryalchemy196Porygon 2 isn't purely defensive though, with analytic (or download/trace if you wanna gamble) it can still hit pretty hard with all it's moves while also being beefy with recovery. Pory 2 is just used for support most of the time cause it's the better option
@chemistryalchemy196 Smogon tiers arent exactly the best way to compare a pokemon's viability lol. It's a metagame after all, look at cofagrigus' viability in gen 6 and gen 7.
In gen 6 cofagrigus was usable with a solid niche in OU.
In gen 7 cofagrigus was ZU and was too terrible for PU.
In the end smogon tiers aren't the best way to determine a pokemon's exact power level, it's more of a base of where it could be. Some pokemon are way higher rated because they deal with the meta particularly well while some pokemon are underrated because they just don't match well with the meta game.
Porygon-z in particular is interesting because while it is strong enough to threaten a blissey with special attacks using 1 turn of setup, it's also paper frail and isn't fast making it extremely easy to out offense thus making it not that good.
It's what other people say, it's a niche pokemon.
Bro's down bad for Lusamine and I don't blame him
same
Relatable
Real.
Who isn’t bruh
@@drillbitz2816 her children... oh wait... pokemon shipping exsists...
Random fun fact but ghetsis’s team was specifically designed to overpower the legendary dragons and his Hydreigon in the remakes shows its true colors by having frustration probably with max power and funny enough frustration is the first tm the player gets
Cool pfp!
What remakes?
@@velvetbutterfly BW2
@@stratigangames508 those are sequels, not remakes
@@velvetbutterfly I know. I'm just telling you what OP meant.
Noooo don't do Oleanna like that, her story is actually so so sweet!!!
Haven’t played the game but wasn’t the fact that back then she wasn’t rich at the time and lived a poor life and she found her first pokemon being a trubbish and even though she looks elegant now she still has the same trubbish all this time since well. It was her first pokemon friend to be with
@@kasagrim7215 Yes exactly! It shows that no matter how she is now and presents herself, she hasn't forgotten where she came from and Garbordor is still her best friend!
@@kasagrim7215 also the reason she's so devoted to the chairman rose is bc he was the only one who thought she was worth something when nobody even cared for her existence. She worked so hard to prove her worth to him that she started to go a lil crazy. And she was still loyal to him till the end even when she knew his plans were horrible. She had so much talent and dedication but fate was cruel and she later on became a little crazy. Tragic. If u haven’t already watched the Twilight wings episode on RUclips then you should deffo check it out.
Another sad thing about kieran, if you use ogerpon against him. His Ai will specifically target her and only her. He will feel so hurt and enraged he'll do anything to get her out of sight
"sad" lol, lmao even.
@@anonymousapproximation8549 huh
@@Maritime_Memories If you want to know; Kieran originally thought that the Ogre was just as dangerous as the myth originally portrayed it, and was still obsessed enough to stalk the Ogre at her own home in the hopes of seeing it. That's another issue, Kieran is a genuine stalker, he literally admits to it, and his obsession with Ogerpon leads to him feeling possessive of something he doesn't even own.
Kieran is a great character and a terrible person, who reflects the story of Kitikami's Toxic Trio. The only thing "sad" about him is how pathetic he seems when you first meet him.
@@anonymousapproximation8549
Only toxic person I saw was his bitch of a sister who thinks that just because she doesn't hit him, she isn't being mean.
Chairman Rose also uses all steel types because he brought this team to deal with the Poison/Dragon Eternatus
What he didn’t realize is, Eternatus had Flamethrower
That's actually kind of clever, and it ties in with his themes of being a huge fan of cutting edge tech and machinery
Steel runs in the family too, given Peony was a steel gym leader and still sticks to that type
Which also plays into how short sighted Rose was.
@@KnightofChaosDeck to be fair he wouldn’t have known what moves Eternatus would have
@@samboi123 well, that’s true, but one should never face a Legendary without SOME amount of variety in general
This makes me think about Cyrus' Crobat. It's strong, fierce, and can one shot you if you mess around. But Crobat is a pokemon that can only come into being with _love._ It makes me sad to see Cyrus toss his emotions away; but also makes me happy to know that deep, deep down he isn't 100% a bad person.
Thinking about Cyrus suddenly made me think of a comparison to Zamasu from Dragonball
In that series, Zamasu is a bad guy, wanting to erase all mortals, but hes also not technically bad? As it was revealed that despite his evil actions, hes still pure of heart (this being further signified by a cup of tea he was serving being unclouded, despite it having properties that reveal your true heart)
This being DB's take on being pure of heart, where it isnt just naturally being good or bad, but how you percieve your actions. And since Zamasu perceives his actions as just, hes pure.
Makes me wonder if Cyrus is similar, somebody who despite their evil actions, they still see said actions as pure and just, hence the supposed friendship towards his Crobat.
@@sketchydude8431 I like your point of view on this! 🫂
The additional factor in Cyrus' case is that Mars and Saturn, his direct subordinates, only have Golbats in their fight at Spear Pillar.
The reason Kiren has the porygon Z is because it’s funny to nuke everything that isn’t a tanks steel or rock or ghost with hyper beam
(nodding furiously) literally nothing compares
adaptability hyper beam superiority
Normal/Ground hits basically everything except Flying/those
Oleanna's trubbish in twilight wings is so cute! She's such a fun character even though she doesn't get much good screentime in the games. A hardworking woman who genuinely loves her pokemon, defending the one man who saw her talent and let her rise above her station even though he has morally dubious plans
I think Kieran uses Porygon-Z because it kinda parallels him, starts out at this cute lil guy, gets stronger & then unleashes its true strength when it loses its marbles
Ah like Ghetsis’ Hydreigon having max damage frustration(what he did to that super powerful dragon to make it hate him so much, yet also not kill him is beyond me)
Probably the same thing he did to N, lots of abuse and gaslighting, so the Hydreigon hates his guts but can’t allow itself to leave because it wouldn’t know what to do without him.
Isn't it a popular headcanon that Ghetsis is short an eye an possibly an arm thanks to his Hydreigon? It may well have tried.
Not to mention Ghetsis' entire BW team is perfectly designed to counter N's, with his Hydreigon also being perfectly designed to solo N's entire team and counter its own weaknesses.
@@macaronsncheese9835that is unfortunately a myth.
The red eye is a scouter measuring life force and power, and the anime has shown his off hand.
And that cane is basically a wizard staff.
But there are probably a lot of fanimations out there where this mad mage gets deleted.
Porygon2 and Z are usually a back and forth thing. 2 is more of a defensive mon while Z is just "delete this"
The definition of "feltcutemightdeletelater". 😂
Not really.
At least in VGC, outside of Gens 4 and 5, Z just has basically *no* presence in the metagame, while 2 pops in and out of the meta regularly as a turbo bulky trick room setter.
@@EnderPrydePorygon Z is more of singles. It was really strong with Conversion Z in 7th gen and has always been on the edge of “One buff will make this thing one shoot whatever”
@@lyg483 well considering Kieran's full team is a doubles team... Z being viable in singles is kinda moot.
@@EnderPrydeI think people have forgotten the horror that was Max Hyper Beam Porygon-Z in gen 8
My favorite part of Pokémon is lore, worldbuilding, art direction and storytelling.
It’s probably why I’m majoring in story and concept
I’m not sure if anyone has mentioned this but can we also give Silver a major shoutout for have a Golbat all throughout Johto and when he finally matures he has a Crobat which evolves through friendship showing how much he has grown as a human and as a Pokemon trainer. I love that storytelling and also Wally who ends up with a Mega Gallade in the end with an epic battle music
Red’s party is composed of the gift Pokémon you receive from a playthrough of Yellow, and also Snorlax.
I love how Ghetsis's team is designed to hard counter N's, implying he had a backup plan if N rebelled, or that he was planning to 'dispose of' N once he's fulfilled his purpose.
Then there’s Penny…who likes Eevee.
She’s like the Pokemon equivalent of a horse girl. Her personality, life story, and motivation is Eevee.
I mean, from memory she is the only Trainer to actually use a full team of Eevelutions
Incredibly valid of her honestly.
Though as an aside her Ace is Sylveon who requires affection to evolve indicating she spoils her Eevee rotten, which is backed up by absolutely all her team having both Baby Doll Eyes and Growl (aka they're not a battle team really, they're just her pets) XD
Additionally given the variety of evolutions on the team one could argue that's representative of how much effort she'll go to to ensure her friends' happiness - a custom effort every time (one's even Leafeon so horror upon horrors that Egirl went out and actually touched grass XD)
@@FaisLittleWhiteRaven well I mean for that particular Pokémon it makes sense to get it to evolve into the fairy type it least know at least one fairy type move
@@FaisLittleWhiteRaven I mean as of gen 8 you don't need to go to the Mossy/Icy Rock for Leafeon and Glaceon they can just use stones (and there are no Evo Rocks in Galar or Paldea, Penny is from Galar)
I know you had time constraints, but Arven also has a team like that, as all of his Pokemon reference food/cooking somehow.
I agree, it is nice when important character teams can be more than just a random assembly, or merely type-themed.
Also it's all pokemon he found on the way when fighting the legends
Almost all of the Pokèmon Arven catches during the Path of Legends have some form of ingredient or seasoning associated with them that you get from defeating them.
Shellder doesn't, but he makes a good pun about serving Klawf a beating on the half shell.
Toedscool drops flaps that the Pokèdex explicitly describes as delicious.
Nacli drops salt.
And Scovillain drops Capsakid seeds, the hottest part of a pepper, iirc.
Skwovet/Greedent are just gluttons, and he had that before you started the Titan quest line.
@@Mr-Troxshellders are clams and people eat clams all the time
@@lightningrose3654 I specifically meant the items they drop. Shellder drops pearls, not a food or seasoning item.
@@Mr-Trox oh. My bad.
Tbh, I love Hop from SwSh. What a lot of players don't realize because they're complaining to much is that Hop tries his best to step out of his brother's shadow and shows with his team and fights you so he can become stronger. And despite losing over and over, Hop still has a smile because he has determination.
And eventually, he becomes a professor assistant to step out of his brother's shadow, become something Leon isn't.
I AGREE WITH YOU SO DAMN MUCH!!! Is it so scary that people who even played and passed swsh might not understand his story? Hop literally teaches young children that not everything can be achieved with one desire, sometimes life goes wrong. Is he going through a wonderful path with his ups and downs and is he HATED for some reason??? I'm just flipping through these comments in search of Hop support because, DAMN IT, MY FAVORITE RIVAL IS HOP AND I'M NOT ASHAMED HE'S THE BEST BOY!!!!
I’m gonna cry again
My only genuine grievance with Hop is that he didn't end up a Ranger... but otherwise I adore him
In the final battle with Hop at Wyndon Stadium, his usage of Dubwool is a perfect display of how much he's grown and learned from his mistakes as a Trainer. As much as we all make fun of him complimenting your use of super effective attacks, we never realize that Hop is taking mental notes. By the time you face off with Hop at Wyndon, he has taught his Dubwool Zen Headbutt, a Psychic move super effective against Dubwool's biggest threat, being the Fighting type. So not only is Hop fully anticipating you using a super effective move on him-- he's counting on it.
However he did not anticipate the fighting moves I have on my not fighting type Pokémon
Missed out on some epic Kieran lore.
In TM, his ace was Poliwrath during his final battle, but come ID he trades it for politoed to set up for dragonite. But in the DLC epilogue, he brings Poliwrath back on his team, showing he never forgot about his old friend.
OLEEANA USES GARBODOR BECAUSE ITS GER BEST FRIEND!!!!!!!!!!! It ACTUALLY shows how sweet she is deep down!!!!🤬🤬🤬🤬
I’m glad someone gave Hop the recognition he deserves like seriously he’s one of the best rivals we’ve ever gotten next to Cheren and Bianca
How? His personality and entire story are mostly a copy paste from the alolan rival.
@@someoneweird4439 um NO. Did Hau catch a legendary? Did Hau have any character growth? Did Hau become the second Pokémon Professor in training from one of the rivals? Was Hau an important protagonist in the games? No, Hau is easily one of the worst characters in the games, he does so little for the story it’s not even funny. Hell LILLIE has more character growth than the actual Trainer who’s supposed to BE our rival. Hop is an amazing rival, he didn’t NEED a second game to somewhat flesh him out more, he didn’t NEED an extra story to be better he just IS a better rival than Hau
@@someoneweird4439 also! Hau was so unimportant in the game that he BARELY got any screen time in the Anime other than battling Ash, yes the same COULD be said for Hop, but Journeys was completely different than the rest of the seasons that focused on one Region, I’d bet if it was focused in the Galar Region that we’d see more Hop
“I’d risk it for them both” Understandable have a nice day
I honestly love Hop's character development, it's just a satisfying story of him figuring out what he wants to be instead of just following in his brother's footsteps
If Kieran was allowed to use a legendary/mythical pokemon then he should've used Victini as in the lore it is said to make the user win automatically
But if Kieran got a Legendary/Mythical, he'd feel like a main character, and we can't have that.
The Ex-Champion must know his place.
The only thing worse than another kanto remake would be another kanto remake where i still can't evolve golbat AGAIN
I like how in Fire Red and Leaf Green, Lorelei buys a plushie every so often when she loses. I've seen some good art of her with those plushies. ;)
Mmmm idk how to feel about that winky face
Olennas garbador is like her best friend
Oleada feels more overworked than evil honestly, not to mention her trubish in the twilight wings anime is cute
Let's not forget the legendary couple that used an Onix and a Cloyster for their team!
Cynthia is a decent example too. Hers is somewhat of a lore team. Her ace is a Garchomp, which is tucked away in an obscure cave. Spiritomb is found in a ruin near Hearthome. Gastrodon’s forms relate to the Sinnoh myths and Mt Coronet. Lucario and Roserade are aces of previous in game bosses. Milotic is the ace of a previous Champion, and is once again exclusive to Mt Coronet.
I always think about how Kieran initially replaced his Poliwrath for the competitively better Politoed in the BB League, before going back to using his Poliwrath in the DLC. Just thought that was interesting; the fact he once left behind his Poliwrath for its superior split evo just to get stronger is so neat. And sad. Neat and sad.
True but poliwrath does have a high bst with 10 more points
after mochi mayhem, there's league club dialogue from kieran that basically says both poli's are precious to him. i assume he always had them as a pair, but opted for wrath in TM because it was better in singles, then toed because it's better in doubles.
@@bewearstar9462Politoed has Drizzle and a better defensive typing.
Adding to Hop boxing his partner he also completely changes his team if memory serves, showing that he’s trying to experiment and see what works
I love it when the edgy rival ends up having a pokemon that evolves via friendship is such a neat bit of characterization. With silver it’s to show he’s changed his attitude and with gladion it’s to show he was always compassionate, just rough around the edges
Gladion's whole team is centered around this, too!
I like how Cyrus has a Crobat on his team, it’s obtained by evolving Golbat with high friendship so it shows that he isn’t completely heartless
Ok but Kieran picking up a porygon-2 then not knowing it’s better unevolved and evolving it anyway is such a lore accurate mental image to me
considering his team even in VGC outside of pairing Porygon2 with Hydrapple, PorygonZ would be better, Porygon2 is mainly there for Trick Room which would ruin about half his team
1. Oleana's garbodor isn't her 'true nature' it can be read on her league card that she grew up poor and it is elaborated in Twilight Wings that trubbish was her first pokemon. It shows how loyal she is that even with all of these beautiful pokemon and how rich she is now, she still values her first pokemon and really cements in how loyal she is outside of her loyalty to chairman rose
2. Red's Espeon is a reference to the one he has in the manga, not the gift gen 2 one. As far as we know he's never been to Johto lol
With the eevee he's probably talking about the one you recieve in celadon not the one in goldenrod. Also in gen 2 there's nothing stating directaly that gen 1 pokemon can't evolve into gen 2 pokemon, and even if you apply the gen 3 remakes logic here, he has already defeated the champion at this point, and considering he cary it to the elite for unevolved (witch is very likely, even with lightball pikachu still has the consistency of wet paper towel) this eevee becoming an espion is 100% possible
People who say hop is boring and just another overly friendly rival should’ve paid more attention to the story
Dude is depressed as hell, just putting on a happy front to appear more like his much more successful brother
Now I want to see a wooloo/dubwool get the same fame as Pachirisu in a tournament
Dubwool is meta in Go
Dubwool would need Follow Me to get that far.
That's the only reason Pachirisu made it onto that team.
Great, now that you showed Kanto any degree of praise, we're gonna get Blazing Fire Red, Verdant Leaf Green. 😂
Kieran's Hydrapple has Tera Fighting which further shows how obsessed with winning he became not because it's a good Tera type for the Hydrapple, but because beneath the fist is a champion's belt.
It *does* help deal with Ice Types, which it's otherwise 4 times weak to, it just also still leaves him open to a Moonblast.
@@Mr-Trox Just checked and saw Kieran's Hydrapple had Tera Blast, I'll give you that, good eye. Though it's still funny to think that the character had Fighting as the tera type seemingly for the belt rather then Steel that would cover not only it's x4 weakness to Ice, it would cover weaknesses to Flying, Bug, Poison, Dragon, and Fairy all as resistance (except poison which becomes an immunity).
@@Mr-Troxor a Hurricane
I always feel like I'm insane when I think about how Hop (in my game at least) seems to prioritise recoil moves in the postgame. Something something recklessness and finding himself?
Also his narrative parallel to Leon, with Leon being geographically easily lost and Hop being emotionally easily lost. I KNOW It's not that deep but what if it was, imagine
Also some of Kieran's Pokémon have moves that'll damage them, showing that kieran's so obessed with beating you, he doesn't care if he gets hurt.
That only really works with his Life Orb Porygon-Z.
Flare Blitz is just the best physical fire type move. His Incineroar also has a Sitrus Berry to help offset it.
People run Flare Blitz on Incineroar in VGC alongside Parting Shot, Fake Out and Knock Off.
They gave him Darkest Lariat and Brick Break instead, presumably to be slightly nicer to more casual players while still being a threat if they tried to make it easier with screens/Aurora Veil.
In gen 5,
Cheren mentions items many times, and all his Pokemons use items.
Bianca's pokémons all have max friendship, meanwhile Ghetsis' Hydreigon has maxed frustration.
And of course, when you battle N, his team always has pokemon from nearby areas!
I do like that Kieran kept Dipplin as his ace though. Hell, he was so dedicated to it he found a whole new evolution for it!
You seem to have missed out on the most notable story building team member, The Cramorant of Woe
If a notable trainer has a Cramorant on their team suddenly it is to show they are “going through it” and then will suddenly disappear after that battle.
Kieran had a Cramorant for one battle during his mental break with the Ogerpon story but Hop had a Cramorant too. Once in Stow-on-side when he’s shuffling our team members questioning his strength as a trainer, the same battle he boxed Wooloo, and later in the postgame when he’s questioning if he even wants to be a trainer anymore, and then becomes Sonia’s assistant later
The Cramorant of Woe is like the orange butterfly in Kirby
Also literally everyone with a crobat
You take that Johto slander back!
Fun fact. Red's entire team can be obtained in Yellow without having to trade.
Therefore, Yellow is the canon version
I feel like Blue's Party being pretty much RGB's (missing just his starter) imply otherwise
That and lots of smaller details from Yellow that are missing in Gen 2 and details just as small that were only in RGB but not Yellow being present (Like the presence of the old man in Cerulean from RBG who loves trading while the Bulbasaur girl is absent)
Kieran's final team is like Hop's final team but cranked up to 11. You could definitely tell with both of them that you (the protagonist) were the one to make them into the "monsters" that they became.
I find it funny that Arvins hole team is all related to food
"Porygon2 is so much better" adaptability tri-attack entered the room
I personally love when Pokemon do stuff like this
Wally's Gardevoir/Gallade also falls into this. Both he and ralts start out weak and frail but by the end, they are stronger
Nemona has a goodra, a pokemon who is friendly like her but also hates being alone. Nemona was also alone before she met the player as she never fit in (Kind of like Goodra as well, it's much more cuddly and friendly looking then most pseudos) and was so happy when she finally had a friend
Lillie has a clefairy because it is useless just like her
Still can't get over them not giving Lusamine a froslass despite it being the perfect pokemon for her twist of having freezedried pokemon in her basement, but at least it got a place on oleanna's team.
In Legends: Arceus, Warden Melli’s Golbat never evolves into Crobat, implying that even his own Pokémon doesn’t really like him.
as a nuzlocker, i appreciate the compliment of being called "heartless" for boxing my starter
Unless you picked Chikorita or are going for a challenge run, at least say Goodbye when you do it.
My favorite is in Colosseum, how do we know the player character Wes is both an ace trainer and a good guy? He's starters are Espeon and Umbreon, evolutions of a usually rare Pokémon and both evolve through friendship.
Hop was one of the better rivals imo. He had such an interesting character arc
Garbordor is also known for cleaning up messes, Oleanna's ace monster helps her clean up Charmaine's mess.
finally someone who is a hop enjoyer
Oleana's Garbodor is actually really sweet. She may have redone her looks but never left her loyal companion behind.
Hearing someone say hop is a good part of sword and shield wasn't something i thought I'd hear today
And then there were times when a trainer's team conflicts with their story, in Cyrus's Crobat
Meanwhile Lysander can not only Mega Evolve, something that can only be done through having a powerful bond with your Pokemon, but it's a Mega Gyardos, a Pokémon who's inspiration is literally the exact OPPOSITE to Lysander in every way.
I never box my starter, since they always end up as my most powerful pokemon being the first to hit lvl 100
This is honestly a reason why I enjoy friendship evolutions despite the tedious nature. Environmental storytelling. You can honestly tell if the people making the teams are either paying attention to the lore of the characters and Pokémon, like with Gladion and Carmine, or not paying attention, like Cyrus and one of the villains from Horizons.
And Gladion! His whole team is based around the mechanic and it's so freaking sweet...
Fun fact about Olianna, her garboder had a negative opinion about itself but Olianna always gives it beauty alarming compliments
All iterations of Maxie, Archie, and Cyrus have a Golbat that evolves into Crobat, which only evolves through high friendship. The former two also each have a Mega in the remakes, which according to lore relies on a strong bond between pokemon and trainer. Hopefully that means to some degree, even Cyrus has a good heart somewhere beneath the layers of ice and trauma; Maxie and Archie tend to be a bit more obvious with their kinder sides when you reach that point in the story.
Bro, I really like your videos, keep up the good work!
Porygon Z actually has a lot of usage in early metas during new formats in VGC
Also the vibe of the corrupted Porygon Z hits harder
another interesting detail of Lusamine's team in the Mother Beast fight of SuMo, they all have recovery moves, Milotic's Recover, Liligant's Leech Seed, Clefable's Moonlight, and Mismagius & Bewear's Pain Split. When Lusamine's fused with Nihilego, she's riding the high of its toxins, and so I think giving all her pokémon recovery moves here--something that drags out the battle--is suppose to evoke the idea that Lusamine wants to prolong said high for as long as possible. If she can ride that high long enough, maybe just maybe, she can learn everything about the UBs, and find a way to bring back her husband who was researching them. That's how I've come to interpret that fight at least, a grieving mother holding on to her glory days with her love.
Unrelated but I'm kind of glad that he razzes (pokes fun at) both old and new games, rather than saying all of the older games are flawless and all the newer ones are garbage. I like that alot.
Fr
I always thought Kieran’s porygon Z represented his self-destructive behavior. Since it is very powerful indeed but its strategy is very reckless with hyper beam + life orb. As if showing Kieran was becoming more powerful but it was costing him his sanity.
Same thing with N's team being made every time with pokemons found in the route
And with Ghetsis' being made just to counter N's team
With his hydreigon there to completely tear the legendary to shreds
“Hop is such a great part of sword and shield!” 🧢🧢🧢🧢
Leon would be boring without Hop
@@Toadey2012 leon is boring either way
There is that other Alolan rival and he has mostly friendship evolving mons in his team on victory route. Its such a nice way to show that he actually cares and isnt as mean as he seems.
Gladion!
Arvens story makes me weep.
Totally. Though somehow I felt worse for the AI. Arven has friends now, and a new lease on life, while the AI is going to be alone for the rest of their existence.
I beat owl father while listening to this short on repeat
I just realized... Gary's team is like the other side of catching Pokemon.. you got the starter, then the basic route 1 pokemon (pidgeott), catching the hard-to-get pokemon (Alakasam), getting a magikarp from Fishing... Safari Pokemon for Execcute and Rhyhorn, and a version exclusive in Arcanine...
If I had a penny for every pokemon character that has parent issues and their turn out to be the big evil I would have 4 pennies, which isn't much but it's rare it happened 4 times
Well that explains why kieran was the real hard battle in scarlet and violet. Because he watch all that flase swipe vids.
I would've busted out laughing if I saw Kieran use eviolite Porygon 2😂
“That’s like Boxing your starter which is a heartless thing to do”
Me who boxes all my starters (except pokemon dp):
Haven't seen it mentioned here yet- similarly to how Silver having his Golbat evolve into Crobat, Cyrus also evolves his Golbat into Crobat. I like this detail because the extra characterization he is given in Platinum shows him to be hypocritical, acknowledging in the Distortion World that he does experience emotions, but only chooses to dwell on those considered "negative." Ultimately shows he does care for his Pokémon, he just doesn't outright admit it. Some might say it's a sort of manipulation tactic but given how much the Crobat evolution is used as a storytelling device in this context(the aforementioned Silver) and the fact that Cyrus is a known hypocrite, I have my doubts on that. I think it makes him a bit more interesting that way