Pokémon Sun/Moon - Nov 18, 2016

[Moss]

I don't imagine any newer forms of the 3DS will come out. I enjoy my XL; I think it has about the perfect screen size and weight.

Yeah the Pokemon Sun/Moon black XL looks cool too. Don't think I can justify it with the Switch coming out so soon though

[Adajer]

Want to buy my blue 3ds xl? PRistine condition minus the dust from sitting

[Gredival]

should I buy XL or are there any other versions coming out soon?

"New" 3DS XL is the top of the line and I don't forsee anything changing that within the next year or two. However you'd probably be fine getting a used regular 3DS XL or a 2DS if you want to save (I don't see a reason to get a non-XL over a 2DS if you are going budget conscious)

[Rooney]

Anyone manage an extra genesect code? I have an extra volcanion code I can trade in exchange.

[Rhyis.]

So I haven't played a pokemon game since red/blue, but I'm thinking of buying a 3DS just for this generation.

Anyone mind giving me the quick down and dirty of the major differences the new generations have brought about and will be included in the new game? I know there's night and day now. Just basic stuff like that.

[Adajer]

So I haven't played a pokemon game since red/blue, but I'm thinking of buying a 3DS just for this generation.

Anyone mind giving me the quick down and dirty of the major differences the new generations have brought about and will be included in the new game? I know there's night and day now. Just basic stuff like that.

wow. i dont even. you didnt play 2nd gen? how? 3rd?

I can understand fall off from that point but damn

[Rhyis.]

I'm like that with games. I'll play the shit out of the originals but generally won't get into sequels too much.
Haven't played this stuff in decades so I figure it'll feel brand spankin' new

[Vaspinne]

So I haven't played a pokemon game since red/blue, but I'm thinking of buying a 3DS just for this generation.

Anyone mind giving me the quick down and dirty of the major differences the new generations have brought about and will be included in the new game? I know there's night and day now. Just basic stuff like that.

There are a LOT of differences lol. But at the same time the basic gameplay is the same, i.e., gotta catch em all and battle them and raise them and etc. If you are just going through the main story then you don't need to worry about the whole EV/IV stuff (which are basically hidden stat growths). You just gotta get used to new elemental weaknesses with the 3 new Pokémon types.

Umm... new poke balls too I guess? And if you're starting with Sun/moon, it seems like you don't need an hm slave anymore so that's a welcome change. But honestly, the core of the game hasn't changed much at all since red and blue. Catch em, raise em, battle em. And I think that is partly the reason why so many people are still glued to Pokémon, it's still very much the same game with the major gameplay aspects staying the same.

[Rhyis.]

please explain EV/IV. help me out my dudes

[Kaslo]

wow. i dont even. you didnt play 2nd gen? how? 3rd?

I can understand fall off from that point but damn

To be fair, I fell off after Red/Blue then picked up X/Y last year.

[Taim Meich]

please explain EV/IV. help me out my dudes

The stats of pokémon are influenced by 4 factors, 3 of them additive, one multiplicative:

- The base stats of a pokémon that are solely determined by their species. For example, all pikachu have a base speed of 90, so they will be naturally faster than mankey, with a base speed of 70. Mankeys, on the other hand, have stronger physical attacks (base attack 80) than pikachus (base 55).

- The IVs, which are up to 31 bonus stat points at level 100 (and proportionally lower a lower levels) that are, on wild pokémon, randomly generated for each stat. This stat could be summed up as the "gene pool" of a pokémon, that is, their innate potential at birth. Until this new generation, the only way to get desirable IVs was through careful crossbreeding between pokémon of increasingly better IV pools, as IVs are partially passed down from the parents to the child. It seems that Sun/Moon will change this and we will be able to increase IVs through some kind of minigame (which by the way I find stupid and defeats the purpose of having IVs and EVs).

- The EVs, which are a pool of up to 510 points (and up to 255 per stat) that the pokémon earns by defeating other pokémon or through some training minigames. Every 4 of those points allocated to one stat, it goes up 1 point at level 100. That means that, for example, a pokémon with 252 in attack, 128 in HP, and 128 in Defense, will get and extra 63 attack, 32 HP and 32 defense at level 100.

- The nature, which is a 10% bonus to one stat and a 10% penalty on another. For example, a Jolly nature gives a 10% bonus to speed (after adding up the previous 3 stats), and a penalty of 10% to special attacks. There is a nature for each combination of stats, including neutral natures with boosts and penalizes the same stat, ending in no changes at all.

[Seravi Edalborez]

To pare them down to broad concepts, EVs are core training, IVs are genetics.

There's so much expanded from gen1-7 that to list them all is to almost list all of the mechanics since even the gen 1 type chart is weird in a few areas (because Bug Ghost and Dragon all got shit for attack moves).

Everything has an ability. Basically a passive. Weezing for example has Levitate which avoids Ground moves, Pikachu has Static which sometimes paralyzed attackers who use moves that make contact (like Ice Punch or something). Some have 2 possible abilities; Arbok can have Shed Skin (30% chance to cure own status effects at turn end) or Intimidate (reduces foe Attack when it switches in). Most everything also has a "Hidden" ability which is notnaturally found but can be bred to new offspring when you have it. Abilities are a big part of what makes some Pokemon good, though stats and movepool are also big parts of that.

Moves that affect the whole battlefield like weather, terrain, and Trick Room are also a thing. There are battle types that let each side use more than one Pokemon: double, triple, rotation (each player has 3 out but only one is active at a time; rotating is a free action so there is a lot of guessing games), multi (doubles but each side is 2 players). Free for all is being introduced in Sun/Moon.

Mega evolution is a mid-battle super mode available to some Pokemon. Pokemon can hold items that give some benefit, like boosting power by 30% but taking damage with every attack, or boosting speed by 50% but locking yourself into one move until you switch. Mega stones are one of the possible hold items.

[Rhyis.]

All good stuff peeps. Much appreciated

[Silenka]

As someone who also only really played RBY until picking up X/Y when that came out (though I did dabble with other games, esp B&W), there are so few overt changes between Gen 1 and Gen 6. XYORAS you still get a starter, still go travel around catching shit, still have an HM slave shitting up your team, still go beat the Elite 4 and that's basically it. Postgame content is expanded, but there's still the holdovers from Gen1 such as catching legendaries that only unlock once you make it to the end of the game. Only when you get into breeding for competition do you have to know all the extra shit about IVs and EVs and whatnot but it's all good to know. Night/day used to be important in earlier gens but in Gen 6 it's (mostly, except for a few holdovers like needing to evolve some stuff at night) defunct as a core mechanic.

Sun and Moon, however, are going to shake up the formula. You won't need an HM slave anymore, cause that's all gonna be done through Pokemon you can call to your aid. The distinction between night and day is perhaps going to become important again given the titles of the games, but no one is sure how exactly that's going to play out yet. Many items you need (evo stones, good items for pokemon to hold etc) can be gotten through minigames instead of just dowsing or finding them on the ground. You can now directly interact with each Pokemon on your team through Pokemon Amie (and S&M will include being able to brush and pamper them as well as petting and poking them), and the affection level they gain from your interactions can give them bonuses in storyline battling; it also affects 2 of the newer moves, Return and Frustration, which are stronger depending on how much your pokemon loves/hates you respectively. Trainer customization is also a fun new thing, you can use all those extra pokeyen to buy clothes and accessories to dress yourself up with

I should mention that the biggest change for S&M from Gen 1 might be that your trainer is present in battle! You can see yourself finally, and see how large your pokemon is compared to you. Also there is gonna be a Pokemon Snap style mechanic where you can take pics of wild Pokemon for (assumedly) rewards.

[Scythiroth]

~95% living dex completion. Might just be waiting until sun and moon come out to roll the rest of the legendaries, since those are basically all I'm missing. If Hyper Training is super easy (besides the hitting level 100 part, which is still pretty easy to do with Blissey bases in ORAS), just going to get their natures and not even care about IVs at all. >.>

[Seravi Edalborez]

Small correction on Amie; it's not related to happiness (the mechanic for friend evolutions and Return). It's a only tangentially related thing, I forget the exact word they use for it. Amie has a few ingame effects if you get (hearts) up to a certain amount though. Flavor text, auto critical, etc. doesn't apply anywhere that is pvp or Battle Tower-like.

~95% living dex completion. Might just be waiting until sun and moon come out to roll the rest of the legendaries, since those are basically all I'm missing. If Hyper Training is super easy (besides the hitting level 100 part, which is still pretty easy to do with Blissey bases in ORAS), just going to get their natures and not even care about IVs at all. >.>

The downside is that probably none of them will be legal in Battle Spot online since they won't be Gen7-born. Unless they go real generous and allow the pentagon too. This is part of why I'm not even bothering to raise my "teams" in OR now; I'll just have to re-breed them again in Sun. I am gonna level one of my Ditto to 100 though.

[Rhyis.]

You won't need an HM slave anymore

My slowbro gonna be so sad dawg

[Silenka]

Small correction on Amie; it's not related to happiness (the mechanic for friend evolutions and Return). It's a only tangentially related thing, I forget the exact word they use for it. Amie has a few ingame effects if you get (hearts) up to a certain amount though. Flavor text, auto critical, etc. doesn't apply anywhere that is pvp or Battle Tower-like.

Yes, happiness (that you get from walking around/battling with your pokemon) and affection (that you get only from Amie) are different. Most of the game mechanics work on happiness and not affection. What I was wrong about was Return/Frustration, I could have sworn they were changed to work with affection but it appears they work on Friendship level, which is...uh... another name for happiness. It's really overly confusing because there are so many words for basically the same thing bandied about in regards to this stuff.

[Kaslo]

[Seravi Edalborez]

They're up a fair ways now. (link) Decidueye was obtained and it looks like the 3 starters all have a unique Z-move with their signature moves. Decidium Z changes Spirit Shackle into Sinister Arrow Raid (180 BP Phys Ghost). Decidueye's stats are rather unfortunate; mixed offense with good special defense, but low defense and low speed. Is kind of treading the same grounds as the other Grass/Ghosts except for it maybe being able to go phys or special where the others can't really deviate.

Wishiwashi seems kind of interesting, like a more extreme version of Archeops. Has pretty huge stats until 25%, where they become garbage, but HP doesn't improve in school form and speed is low.

edit: Can't help myself with looking at spoilers; I think people are going to be pleasantly surprised with this one in general. Subverts a lot of expectations and series conventions. If you thought BW was the series high for plot, this is for you.

e2: Datamining is underway, we know Hidden Abilities for the starters:

Spoiler: show

Decidueye: Long Reach - User's attacks do not make contact.
Incineroar: Intimidate
Primarina: Liquid Sound - User's sound moves are Water type.

Leech Life is buffed to 80 BP, jesus christ. Remember I think it's a TM now.