Malamar
Chance: 30%
Ah Malamar, perhaps one of the most villainous Pokemon out there (seriously, watch the anime if you don't believe me). As one of the first generation 6 Pokemon revealed, it is a Dark/Psychic-type who "wields the most the most compelling psychic powers of any Pokemon, and it forces others to do what it wants" (as its Pokedex entry states). Malamar can make for an interesting inclusion where it could hypnotize its opponents to hit themselves with an attack or even put its foes to sleep to stun them in some sort of way as it proceeds to easily attack him/her.
I also see Malamar utilizing a physical-based moveset that would likely involve its two tentacle arms. In the games, Malamar has a higher attack stat and learns more physical attacks than special ones, especially by leveling up. What attacks could it use? Psycho Cut, Night Slash, and Constrict come to mind, as well as Peck due to its beak.
So what issues does it have? Compared to other Dark types that could very attack similar to it (a physical Dark-type moveset), Malamar isn't as popular or iconic when compared to its competitors in that regard. For a hypnotizing/sleep-inducing kind of moveset, it even has to compete with Darkrai, who could potentially do a better job with a sleep mechanic compared Malamar. Even for a physical-based Psychic-type moveset it has some competition with more popular Pokemon, such as Gallade for one.
Want: 35%
I've always found Malamar's design to be intriguing... yet very interesting to the point that I kind of like it. I mean, it's a squid upside-down done right. I'm also drawn to its villainous-like traits, which it could really accentuate really well to make it stand out as a real "villain" in the roster alongside characters like Dark Mewtwo and possibly Gengar and Weavile (due to their nature). But when compared to other Pokemon that I wish, Malamar isn't someone I'm that interested in seeing.
Pokemon as background characters AND playable
Chance: 15%
I'm keeping my expectations low for this one. We still don't know what is in the developers' minds when it comes to this concept. However, I wouldn't say that this concept is flat out impossible.
What we do know it is possible for Pokemon in this game to be both background characters and Assist Pokemon. Mismagius is the only Pokemon that has demonstrated that thus far. It was originally a background character, and a few months later, it was also added as an Assist Pokemon. Perhaps this could mean that a similar treatment with an actual fighter could follow suit, but again, I think it is too early to tell with Mismagius still being the only Pokemon to have a somewhat similar special treatment to the topic we are discussing today.
In other fighting games though, we can notice that background characters being promoted to full fledged fighters has happened in the past. Two recent titles that particularly come to mind are Super Smash Bros 4 and Street Fighter V. In Smash 4's case, Toon Link and King Dedede appear as background characters in the Spirit Tracks stage and Dream Land 64 respectively. If someone is actually using them for a battle though, they simply won't appear in the background for that match or another character will replace them (as it is the case with Alfonzo and Toon Link). With Toon Link's case, when people originally saw him (Toon Link) in the first footage of the Spirit Tracks stage, many thought he would be deconfirmed, only to be proven wrong a few months later.
Similarly, we saw something like this happen in Street Fighter V recently. Alex from the SFIII games was a heavily demanded character to return for SFV, but the first footage we saw of him from that game was his appearance as a background character when the U.S.A. stage, City in Chaos, was first revealed. It seemed like Alex was deconfirmed all thanks to it... but flash forward a few months later, we learned that Alex will be joining the SFV cast after all as a DLC character, so it's very likely there will be special treatment where another character will replace him if someone is using Alex and is fighting at City in Chaos.
If other fighting games managed to pull it off, it looks like Pokken could as well. When a Pokemon is already implemented into the background of a stage, it already gives the developers an HD, 3D model to work with, and they can expand on the character from there. You also have popular Pokemon like Flygon, Electivire, and Serperior who would work perfectly as full-fledged fighters (and were arguably decently requested as well), yet they have found themselves being reduced to the roles they have now, so to appease fan demand, this is something developers could consider.
But then again, with the game still having only a few characters implemented on the roster and not too many stages to choose from, it is still hard to tell whether or not this concept will become reality.
Want: 50%
Out of all the background Pokemon in Pokken, the only ones that I'm interested in seeing as full-fledged fighters are Electivire and Serperior, and Flygon and Dusknoir to some degree. As for everyone else? Not too interested.
Nominations:
I was really hoping we could rate Salamence and Toxicroak at some point this week, but oh well.
Aggron:
x4
Kangaskhan:
x3
Hydreigon:
x3
