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Day, Night, and Dusk - Lycanroc for Smash Bros. Ultimate

Cosmic77

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Got some interesting info on the anime.

Top 16 so far:

Ash vs Faba
Guzma vs Ilima
Oak vs Hau
Mallow vs Lana
Jessie vs James

Top 8 so far:

Ash vs Hau

So based off this, I have a feeling, Ash, Gladion, and Guzma will be three of the top four.
 

RandomAce

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Got some interesting info on the anime.

Top 16 so far:

Ash vs Faba
Guzma vs Ilima
Oak vs Hau
Mallow vs Lana
Jessie vs James

Top 8 so far:

Ash vs Hau

So based off this, I have a feeling, Ash, Gladion, and Guzma will be three of the top four.
A battle against Hau seemed to be obvious, what I’m wondering is how Ash’s Rowlet will for god sake best Decidueye, if he even uses Rowlet, but seeing how they established the rivalry between Rowlet and Decidueye, he will.

I could see it going like this: Ash vs. Hau, then Ash vs. Gladion, and finally Ash vs. Guzma. Whether Ash beats Guzma really depends on what the writers and whether they will let Ash win. They did establish a sort of backstory between Guzma and Kukui’s relationship, so Guzma going against Kukui could happen.
 

Cosmic77

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A battle against Hau seemed to be obvious, what I’m wondering is how Ash’s Rowlet will for god sake best Decidueye, if he even uses Rowlet, but seeing how they established the rivalry between Rowlet and Decidueye, he will.

I could see it going like this: Ash vs. Hau, then Ash vs. Gladion, and finally Ash vs. Guzma. Whether Ash beats Guzma really depends on what the writers and whether they will let Ash win. They did establish a sort of backstory between Guzma and Kukui’s relationship, so Guzma going against Kukui could happen.
Rowlet beating Decidueye makes just as much sense as Greninja losing to Charizard. Regardless, it's an outcome I consider to be etched in stone. There's no way Ash is losing this early without a match against Guzma, or at least Gladion.

But yeah, because Kukui is technically the final battle, Ash and Guzma are the only characters who would make sense with the plot we know. I guess there's a chance Gladion pulls an Alain and beats Ash without ever losing to him, but I doubt it. There doesn't seem to be any connection between Gladion and Guzma, so a final match with them as the last two competitors seems off.

Kukui's opponent being Ash or Guzma both seem equally likely, but I feel like it's fairly safe to assume the final match of the league will be Ash vs Guzma.
 

Delzethin

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There we go, back to life again! Thread was quiet for a few days.

A couple pieces of news have dropped in the time since. The first is regarding Pokémon Masters, as the game's website just went up earlier today. And one of the pages talks about the sync pairs we know of so far. And with it came news that apparently your first recruits are actually Brock, Misty, and Rosa, which means the Rockruff guy is not.

So...what role does he have, then? He's still important somehow, odds are, or else it'd be weird to give him such a prominent spot in the trainer montage. Could he be a rival figure of some kind? The obligatory friendly rival to contrast with the antagonists?

Secondly...well, y'all have beat me to the anime news already.

Got some interesting info on the anime.

Top 16 so far:

Ash vs Faba
Guzma vs Ilima
Oak vs Hau
Mallow vs Lana
Jessie vs James

Top 8 so far:

Ash vs Hau

So based off this, I have a feeling, Ash, Gladion, and Guzma will be three of the top four.
That (mostly) lines up with some promotional art from a few days ago:



It seems like Guzma and Gladion are, in some order, going to be Ash's final two opponents for the Alola League. The question now is who he'll fight when. I've seen arguments that he'll face Guzma in the finals, mainly since he and Team Skull got a focus in last week's episode, but I still believe Gladion would be a better fit despite that.

Gladion's had a continuous presence for almost all of the Alola saga as a rival figure for Ash to overcome, while Guzma's only popped up one other time before now. Gladion's consistently been shown as a skilled trainer (the episode before last started with him clearing his fourth Grand Trial and ended with his father's old Zoroark companion joining his party), and Ash is actually 0-3 versus him so far, getting closer to winning each time. He even has the most 'mons of any secondary character now with 4 (Midnight Lycanroc, Silvally, Umbreon, and now Zoroark), and all of them have had prior screen time, while we've only seen Guzma use two (Golisopod and Scizor), meaning a battle against him would either be shorter or require introducing new 'mons with less buildup than Gladion's team has had.

That, and Gladion being the other finalist would actually work better in context. If Ash loses, then Alola's first champion would still be someone who would give a damn about the title instead of someone who has outright said he'd use his newfound clout to abolish the League to spite his former colleague (the Masked Royal match is just an exhibition and wouldn't have any impact on who the champion is, from what it sounds like). If Ash wins, he'll still be leaving Alola once something happens to necessitate him heading to Galar, meaning he'd probably need to relinquish the title, and it'd work better if it could just be passed on to the runner-up.

Either way, should be interesting to see how this plays out. Would be nice for Ash's first championship to come from winning a Lycanroc mirror match!
 
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Cosmic77

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There we go, back to life again! Thread was quiet for a few days.

A couple pieces of news have dropped in the time since. The first is regarding Pokémon Masters, as the game's website just went up earlier today. And one of the pages talks about the sync pairs we know of so far. And with it came news that apparently your first recruits are actually Brock, Misty, and Rosa, which means the Rockruff guy is not.

So...what role does he have, then? He's still important somehow, odds are, or else it'd be weird to give him such a prominent spot in the trainer montage. Could he be a rival figure of some kind? The obligatory friendly rival to contrast with the antagonists?

Secondly...well, y'all have beat me to the anime news already.


That (mostly) lines up with some promotional art from a few days ago:



It seems like Guzma and Gladion are, in some order, going to be Ash's final two opponents for the Alola League. The question now is who he'll fight when. I've seen arguments that he'll face Guzma in the finals, mainly since he and Team Skull got a focus in last week's episode, but I still believe Gladion would be a better fit despite that.

Gladion's had a continuous presence for almost all of the Alola saga as a rival figure for Ash to overcome, while Guzma's only popped up one other time before now. Gladion's consistently been shown as a skilled trainer (the episode before last started with him clearing his fourth Grand Trial and ended with his father's old Zoroark companion joining his party), and Ash is actually 0-3 versus him so far, getting closer to winning each time. He even has the most 'mons of any secondary character now with 4 (Midnight Lycanroc, Silvally, Umbreon, and now Zoroark), and all of them have had prior screen time, while we've only seen Guzma use two (Golisopod and Scizor), meaning a battle against him would either be shorter or require introducing new 'mons with less buildup than Gladion's team has had.

That, and Gladion being the other finalist would actually work better in context. If Ash loses, then Alola's first champion would still be someone who would give a damn about the title instead of someone who has outright said he'd use his newfound clout to abolish the League to spite his former colleague (the Masked Royal match is just an exhibition and wouldn't have any impact on who the champion is, from what it sounds like). If Ash wins, he'll still be leaving Alola once something happens to necessitate him heading to Galar, meaning he'd probably need to relinquish the title, and it'd work better if it could just be passed on to the runner-up.

Either way, should be interesting to see how this plays out. Would be nice for Ash's first championship to come from winning a Lycanroc mirror match!
Just to prepare you in case you get too hyped for a Lycanroc vs Lycanroc finale, remember that it's not atypical for the Pokemon anime to randomly introduce a strong rival toward the end of the series that'll serve as Ash's final league battle, There was Tobias, then Cameron, then (technically) Alain, and now there's a huge possibility that Guzma could continue the trend.

I'd prefer Gladion too, but with Guzma not debuting until just recently, along with the new rivalry between him and Ash/Kukui, I feel like this league will be pretty straightforward on Ash's end. As of now, I'm actually more interested to see how the other characters fare, particularily Team Rocket and Ash's classmates.
 

LukeRNG

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Just to prepare you in case you get too hyped for a Lycanroc vs Lycanroc finale, remember that it's not atypical for the Pokemon anime to randomly introduce a strong rival toward the end of the series that'll serve as Ash's final league battle, There was Tobias, then Cameron, then (technically) Alain, and now there's a huge possibility that Guzma could continue the trend.

I'd prefer Gladion too, but with Guzma not debuting until just recently, along with the new rivalry between him and Ash/Kukui, I feel like this league will be pretty straightforward on Ash's end. As of now, I'm actually more interested to see how the other characters fare, particularily Team Rocket and Ash's classmates.
Given the end of yesterday's episode, i think the order the matches were given will be the order of the brackets, which means Ash would end up fighting Guzma in quarter finals and Gladion in finals. Definitely interested to see Gladion fight Lillie.

Also, random news drop from pokemon:
 
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Cosmic77

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Given the end of yesterday's episode, i think the order the matches were given will be the order of the brackets, which means Ash would end up fighting Guzma in quarter finals and Gladion in finals. Definitely interested to see Gladion fight Lillie.

Also, random news drop from pokemon:
We already know Ash is fighting Hau in the Quarterfinals, so I don't think the order of the current matches has anything to do with the future match-ups.
 

Delzethin

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Given the end of yesterday's episode, i think the order the matches were given will be the order of the brackets, which means Ash would end up fighting Guzma in quarter finals and Gladion in finals. Definitely interested to see Gladion fight Lillie.
Well, not quite. While we know of every first round match thanks to this segment near the episode's end...



...We also already know that Ash is facing Hau in the second round, meaning the graphic isn't an exact 1:1 recreation of the bracket. They might give a rough idea of who is on what side of the bracket, which would work for us since Ash and Gladion were announced on complete opposite ends, but things are still ambiguous here. And as we've seen before, anything that isn't clear-cut has a chance to blow up in our faces.

Just to prepare you in case you get too hyped for a Lycanroc vs Lycanroc finale, remember that it's not atypical for the Pokemon anime to randomly introduce a strong rival toward the end of the series that'll serve as Ash's final league battle, There was Tobias, then Cameron, then (technically) Alain, and now there's a huge possibility that Guzma could continue the trend.

I'd prefer Gladion too, but with Guzma not debuting until just recently, along with the new rivalry between him and Ash/Kukui, I feel like this league will be pretty straightforward on Ash's end. As of now, I'm actually more interested to see how the other characters fare, particularily Team Rocket and Ash's classmates.
For what it's worth, while Alain didn't directly meet Ash until halfway into the Kalos saga, he'd been established as a major player much earlier through the Mega Evolution Specials.

I think ultimately this may come down to which angle they push here for the League. Will it be about determining the best trainer among them, finishing with the two who've proven to be the most capable over the course of the Alola saga? Will there be a thread about Ash potentially finally winning his first major League tournament? Or will they focus on how Guzma needs to be stopped, leading to him being the final boss of the League arc?

Also, random news drop from pokemon:
Yeah, that one came out of nowhere, eh? More interesting stuff so far, even if it doesn't directly pertain to Lycanroc's chances.
 
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RandomAce

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Given the end of yesterday's episode, i think the order the matches were given will be the order of the brackets, which means Ash would end up fighting Guzma in quarter finals and Gladion in finals. Definitely interested to see Gladion fight Lillie.

Also, random news drop from pokemon:
Seems the reason for removing Mega Evolutions was because Gigantamaxing essentially functions as that, giving Pokémon more powerful looking designs. I wonder if rather than give some Pokémon new Gigantamax designs, they use their Mega Evolutions instead, or are at least inspired from it.

I sorta doubt that all final evolutions in SwSh will be able to gigantamax, but I do wonder if Lycanroc (if they come back) will get gigantamax designs as well, and if they decide to only give Dusk one or all the forms.

Aside from that, I’m hoping they do give Lycanroc some buffs this time around. Especially Midnight, and I’m hoping Gigantamaxing could help in that regard as well.
 

Guynamednelson

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I wonder if rather than give some Pokémon new Gigantamax designs, they use their Mega Evolutions instead
If they're gonna do away with Mega Evolution, and a new mechanic seems very similar to it, they might as well retcon the megas into Gigantamax.

Also, I'm working on a document that explains why Lycanroc could be DLC. Here's version 0.01: https://pastebin.com/ePTY5UqL
Like I said, this is a very early version. I've already added TKOWL_Art's tweet and Delzethin's video showcasing how it could work in Smash to the file on my computer.
 
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LukeRNG

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I don't think we've discused this point before, but given that each dlc character from the pass brought with them new mii costumes, how about some pokemon mii costumes for once, for as unlikely as they may be given the current trackrecord.

A Nihilego hat would be hilarious, but i'd die to see the Kommo-o armor that you can wear in USUM.
 
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Adelto

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That's both good ideas but i would love to have some "anime" representation with the aurasphere guy from the lucario movie .His costume would be great for fighter miis.
 

LukeRNG

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Don't know how you're all feeling about the new pokemon, but i'm really digging baby Dialga aka Mecha Godzilla aka Duraludon. Arguably my favorite new pokemon so far along with Drednaw & Yamper.

And it seems that the original Rumor/Leak from May 23rd (i think) on 4chan is proving to be more and more true. Gigantamaxing, Chariman Rose and his secretary Oleana, needing an endorsement to enter the gym challenge amoung other things that were confirmed previously.
The only things to be proven true are the other rivals, the other gym leader, the regional forms and other gigantamax forms, other new pokemon and the evolutions for the starters. But the leak/rumor has been proven to be about 75% right.
 

Adelto

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Is it the leak where the water starter final evolution is spy inspired ? if it is i'm definitely down for that.
 

RandomAce

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Don't know how you're all feeling about the new pokemon, but i'm really digging baby Dialga aka Mecha Godzilla aka Duraludon. Arguably my favorite new pokemon so far along with Drednaw & Yamper.

And it seems that the original Rumor/Leak from May 23rd (i think) on 4chan is proving to be more and more true. Gigantamaxing, Chariman Rose and his secretary Oleana, needing an endorsement to enter the gym challenge amoung other things that were confirmed previously.
The only things to be proven true are the other rivals, the other gym leader, the regional forms and other gigantamax forms, other new pokemon and the evolutions for the starters. But the leak/rumor has been proven to be about 75% right.
The only ones I really like so far is Corvinknight, Duraludon and Zacian. So far, Gen 8 is looking a bit lackluster for me in that department, but we haven’t seen many Pokémon yet. The leak is vague at best when it comes to potential new Pokémon and evolutions.

I don't think we've discused this point before, but given that each dlc character from the pass brought with them new mii costumes, how about some pokemon mii costumes for once, for as unlikely as they may be given the current trackrecord.

A Nihilego hat would be hilarious, but i'd die to see the Kommo-o armor that you can wear in USUM.
A Niheligo hat would be a smart move, but I don’t really see Pokémon getting any costumes, not that I know of.

Maybe if Dusk is alone then the other forms could be costumes? Midnight would fit with the Brawler archetype.
 

Delzethin

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I don't think we've discused this point before, but given that each dlc character from the pass brought with them new mii costumes, how about some pokemon mii costumes for once, for as unlikely as they may be given the current trackrecord.

A Nihilego hat would be hilarious, but i'd die to see the Kommo-o armor that you can wear in USUM.
You know, I haven't actually thought of this as much as I probably should've. We've never actually had Pokémon-themed Mii costumes before, but hey, who's to say we couldn't? I could see something like a Gallade ensemble for Swordfighters, or a Blaziken outfit + mask for Brawlers. But there's surely more potential here...

Maybe if Dusk is alone then the other forms could be costumes? Midnight would fit with the Brawler archetype.
That...would also work really well, actually. Especially if you picked a loadout of more defensive specials!

I have a lot of thoughts on how Sword & Shield are sitting right now, but I'm legit tired and not thinking the most lucidly at the moment. Will double back to it later!
 
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LukeRNG

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Just had a thought regarding the posibility of a second fighter's pass: what if they spend like multiple months after the last character is released without telling us anything till e3 2020.

There could be more content in the shape of an expansion to smash bros., like a new story mode where all the dlc is included.
I think it's unlikely as of now, but i'd like for it to happen.

And regarding who could be Lycanroc's contender in the 1st party dept., Edelgard from Fire Emblem is also likely given the timeframe would be very similar to Corrin's timeframe of announcement 6 months after the release of Fates.
 
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Delzethin

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Just had a thought regarding the posibility of a second fighter's pass: what if they spend like multiple months after the last character is released without telling us anything till e3 2020.

There could be more content in the shape of an expansion to smash bros., like a new story mode where all the dlc is included.
I think it's unlikely as of now, but i'd like for it to happen.
I could see a scenario where they wrap up the Fighters Pass without explicitly saying "that's all we're doing", then keep quiet for several months while they develop the first batch of characters for a second season. Something we should consider, at least.

Though I'm not sure of the odds of a new story mode...

And regarding who could be Lycanroc's contender in the 1st party dept., Edelgard from Fire Emblem is also likely given the timeframe would be very similar to Corrin's timeframe of announcement 6 months after the release of Fates.
Actually, if we're talking Three Houses, we're probably better off looking at Byleth. As the character you directly play as in the game, he/she would likely have higher priority than any of the three lord characters. Not that it's a bad thing, considering Byleth's repertoire includes the potential for multiple weapon types, summoning allied soldiers, the ability to rewind time with Divine Pulse (for stuff like moving yourself back to where you were a few seconds prior, etc.), and with a whipsword as a signature weapon!

Can you tell I'm hyped for Three Houses? Two weeks to go!

That said, there's still the issue of timing. Since Three Houses probably didn't wrap up development until last month or so, and this wave of DLC was locked in over half a year ago now, it raises serious questions as to what chance anyone from the game has right now. Given a second season, though, and Edelgard, Byleth, and crew would jump from conditionally possible to frontrunners.
 
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Cyborg Sun

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I could see a scenario where they wrap up the Fighters Pass without explicitly saying "that's all we're doing", then keep quiet for several months while they develop the first batch of characters for a second season. Something we should consider, at least.
I would love an outright "expansion" type of thing where multiple characters release at once for a potential "Season 2". It seems the popular thing to think is that characters in the Fighters Pass MUST be mind blowing third parties... If that's what ultimately ends up happening, maybe "lower-key" first parties can be introduced in this "expansion"?
 

Cosmic77

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At this point, I don't know whether a Gen 7 or Gen 8 Pokemon would be more likely given when the DLC was decided, but I can tell you that the first Fighter Pass is Lycanroc's last shot of getting in. Once the fifth character gets revealed, there's little to no reason to for Sakurai to choose Lycanroc over a Gen 8 rep, even if it were to somehow become massively popular. We rarely revisit older games of franchises with a revolving cast, and the only exceptions have been Mewtwo, our de facto Legendary Pokemon mascot, Pokemon Trainer, a character who's more or less the real protagonist of the games, and Chrom, someone who was able to get in solely because Echoes are a thing. Our next real shot might not be until two decades from now when we're talking about Sun and Moon remakes.

The only way Lycanroc would be able to survive in a second pass is if it had a massive role in SwSh, but I wouldn't count on that. Pokemon from the previous Gen rarely get that sort of attention. Not even Lucario got that kind of attention in Gen 5.

Actually, if we're talking Three Houses, we're probably better off looking at Byleth. As the character you directly play as in the game, he/she would likely have higher priority than any of the three lord characters. Not that it's a bad thing, considering Byleth's repertoire includes the potential for multiple weapon types, summoning allied soldiers, the ability to rewind time with Divine Pulse (for stuff like moving yourself back to where you were a few seconds prior, etc.), and with a whipsword as a signature weapon!
Byleth would be more likely just because Sakurai tends to put the main character/avatar on a higher pedestal than the rest of the cast.

Regardless, I can't say I'd be very excited about Byleth or any Three Houses character. I wish I could say I have faith in Sakurai going with something besides a generic sword moveset (or an axe too for that matter, since they would likely function almost identical to swords), but...I can't. Unless the character has a sword and barely uses it like Corrin does, I'm not interested in the slightest.

FE has the cast like Pokemon, but it can't come close to the latter's abundance of unique movesets.
 

Guynamednelson

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Just had a thought regarding the posibility of a second fighter's pass: what if they spend like multiple months after the last character is released without telling us anything till e3 2020.
This can happen, there are fighting games that wait a while after the release of a season's final character to reveal the new pass.
 

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Mildly off-topic, but I've always wanted a summoner character in Smash. Taking that sort of angle with Byleth would be the kind of thing to get me excited about him/her.

Also, I got around to finally watching the time travel episode of Sun/Moon. It's a fun one, and Kid-ukui is pretty cute. However, Ash getting a Firium Z for Torracat seems to be a pretty major blow against his potential evolution. It would feel strange for Torracat to get Inferno Overdrive as his z-move, only to have it replaced with Malicious Moonsault a few episodes later. We could still see it happen, but its chance seems to be getting slimmer and slimmer.

In other news, how's everyone feel about the direction Sword/Shield are taking? I think they're okay, but I'm still really bummed out about the whole "regional Pokedex only" thing. Plus, I haven't seen anything that majorly wows me in a way that makes up for cut content.
 

LukeRNG

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Mildly off-topic, but I've always wanted a summoner character in Smash. Taking that sort of angle with Byleth would be the kind of thing to get me excited about him/her.

Also, I got around to finally watching the time travel episode of Sun/Moon. It's a fun one, and Kid-ukui is pretty cute. However, Ash getting a Firium Z for Torracat seems to be a pretty major blow against his potential evolution. It would feel strange for Torracat to get Inferno Overdrive as his z-move, only to have it replaced with Malicious Moonsault a few episodes later. We could still see it happen, but its chance seems to be getting slimmer and slimmer.

In other news, how's everyone feel about the direction Sword/Shield are taking? I think they're okay, but I'm still really bummed out about the whole "regional Pokedex only" thing. Plus, I haven't seen anything that majorly wows me in a way that makes up for cut content.
I'm personally looking foward to it. And the mindblowing news usually comes between August-October so there's still a ways to go.


Also, something crucial regarding the lack of all pokemon in Sword & Shield was talked about in a recent Famitsu Interview with Game Freak:
Source: https://nintendoeverything.com/game...n-not-in-the-galar-pokedex-pokemon-home-more/
Also, this was from after e3 and was barely spread around. I'm honestly shoked that just now people found about this. I didn't even find this til recently.


The key points:
-(This one is being debated if it's true or not given some testing and comparing 3d models from 3ds to let's go & the footage from sword & shield) They had to remake a lot (not clear if all) pokemon models from scratch, it's uncertain if dynamax also needed new models. No reason yet.
-The return of the left out pokemon in updates is not guranteed but will get a chance to shine in future titles.
-They have plans to add some gameplay features to Pokemon Home and maybe even make it compatible with spin-off games.
 
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Cosmic77

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Also, I got around to finally watching the time travel episode of Sun/Moon. It's a fun one, and Kid-ukui is pretty cute. However, Ash getting a Firium Z for Torracat seems to be a pretty major blow against his potential evolution. It would feel strange for Torracat to get Inferno Overdrive as his z-move, only to have it replaced with Malicious Moonsault a few episodes later. We could still see it happen, but its chance seems to be getting slimmer and slimmer.
I still believe we could see Torracat evolve, but I'm starting to doubt that it'll face off against Kukui again. Seems like each of Ash's Pokémon are getting a round dedicated to them.

Round 1 - Pikachu
Round 2 - Meltan
Round 3 - Rowlet
Round 4 - ? (Probably Lycanroc against Gladion).
Round 5 - ?

Assuming Torracat gets a focus in one of these episodes, which I'm assuming it will since the Mallow's mom episode and the time travel episode have been setting this up, then it's possible it'll go against Guzma in the finals and lose. Either that, or Ash wins a league for once and Torracat really will face Kukui.

In other news, how's everyone feel about the direction Sword/Shield are taking? I think they're okay, but I'm still really bummed out about the whole "regional Pokedex only" thing. Plus, I haven't seen anything that majorly wows me in a way that makes up for cut content.
Like LukeRNG said, there's still a ton of stuff left to see. It's way too early for people to be judging these games as harshly as they are.
 

Delzethin

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Overall, I'm feeling pretty optimistic about Sword & Shield, albeit with a few concerns. The setting feels inspired, the new 'mons we've seen so far have good-to-great designs, and there's the potential for an interesting story. I even have fewer qualms with the Dynamax mechanic than others, since it has the potential to be better balanced than its predecessors--turning one of your party members into a boss for three turns, gaining mostly just HP and new moves specific to the mode, are easier to rein in than Limit Break-like Z-Moves that trivialized random encounters! I have a sneaking suspicion that Chairman Rose is tapping into some ancient power he really should've left alone, what with how extensively he's worked Dynamaxing into the Galar League...

That said, I'm worried about the game winding up feeling rushed at the end like Sun & Moon did, and word that they had to spend way longer than anticipated just getting the models up to par hasn't eased those concerns.

I'm in a weird spot where I don't feel very strongly about the whole National Dex controversy. With the sheer number of 'mons we're working our way up to, I figured it was only a matter of time before they wouldn't all be present at once. Maybe it's because I'm conditioned more to thinking from a game designer's perspective. Maybe it's because I've never tried for National Dex completion because of how damn tedious it'd be. Maybe I'm just used to focusing on new 'mons when I build ingame teams in new generations. Whatever the reason, it's given me an oddly neutral position for this whole mess.

Though the whole "Gamefreak is clearly lazy, there is no other possible explanation" angle still reeks of mob mentality.

And hey, we know that everyone will be available at some point in Gen 8, or else they wouldn't have advertised Pokémon Home as being the new storage program with compatibility and everything. In fact, the way Home's announcement was handled may be further evidence that the current course of events wasn't the original plan!
 
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Cosmic77

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Overall, I'm feeling pretty optimistic about Sword & Shield, albeit with a few concerns. The setting feels inspired, the new 'mons we've seen so far have good-to-great designs, and there's the potential for an interesting story. I even have fewer qualms with the Dynamax mechanic than others, since it has the potential to be better balanced than its predecessors--turning one of your party members into a boss for three turns, gaining mostly just HP and new moves specific to the mode, are easier to rein in than Limit Break-like Z-Moves that trivialized random encounters! I have a sneaking suspicion that Chairman Rose is tapping into some ancient power he really should've left alone, what with how extensively he's worked Dynamaxing into the Galar League...

That said, I'm worried about the game winding up feeling rushed at the end like Sun & Moon did, and word that they had to spend way longer than anticipated just getting the models up to par hasn't eased those concerns.

I'm in a weird spot where I don't feel very strongly about the whole National Dex controversy. With the sheer number of 'mons we're working our way up to, I figured it was only a matter of time before they wouldn't all be present at once. Maybe it's because I'm conditioned more to thinking from a game designer's perspective. Maybe it's because I've never tried for National Dex completion because of how damn tedious it'd be. Maybe I'm just used to focusing on new 'mons when I build ingame teams in new generations. Whatever the reason, it's given me an oddly neutral position for this whole mess.

Though the whole "Gamefreak is clearly lazy, there is no other possible explanation" angle still reeks of mob mentality.

And hey, we know that everyone will be available at some point in Gen 8, or else they wouldn't have advertised Pokémon Home as being the new storage program with compatibility and everything. In fact, the way Home's announcement was handled may be further evidence that the current course of events wasn't the original plan!
I rarely use my old Pokémon until after I've completed the main game, so the National Dex isn't really a huge issue to me. I'll be sad if some of my favorites like Zoroark and Lycanroc miss out, but it's not the end of the world if they do. Graphics aren't really something I'm picky toward either, so I don't mind having a few crappy trees and bushes as long as the character models look smooth and clean. I mean, those are the things I'll be paying the most attention to, not the flora and hills in the background.

Personally, my biggest concerns are...

(1) Good new Pokémon designs.
(2) Enough new features to make the game stand out.
(3) A compelling story.

X and Y may have given us every Pokémon and stepped up the graphics, but it failed to accomplish the other three for me. From what little we've seen, I feel like SwSh is capable of hitting all those marks, so I'm feeling fairly optimistic.
 

RandomAce

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The recent episode came out, and what do you know, Ash, Guzma, and Hau win. Lana won her match against Mau. The rest are going in the next episode.

Faba’s battle took a more comedic approach. Essentially Meltan wasn’t supposed to battle in the first place, instead Faba snuck into Ash’s house, took a look at his Pokémon, used Psychic to summon Meltan who he thought was weak in place of Pikachu.

Now for my takes: I understand that Faba is more of comedic character in the anime, and these two episodes are composed of minor battles against minor characters, but I do not like the way the anime is approaching with these league battles. They feel very quickly paced and a bit rushed, less “epic”, and the animation isn’t great, and I’m fearing that some of the later more important battles end up being the same.
 

Cosmic77

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The recent episode came out, and what do you know, Ash, Guzma, and Hau win. Lana won her match against Mau. The rest are going in the next episode.

Faba’s battle took a more comedic approach. Essentially Meltan wasn’t supposed to battle in the first place, instead Faba snuck into Ash’s house, took a look at his Pokémon, used Psychic to summon Meltan who he thought was weak in place of Pikachu.

Now for my takes: I understand that Faba is more of comedic character in the anime, and these two episodes are composed of minor battles against minor characters, but I do not like the way the anime is approaching with these league battles. They feel very quickly paced and a bit rushed, less “epic”, and the animation isn’t great, and I’m fearing that some of the later more important battles end up being the same.
The animation looks weird because they're using rounder edges and a lighter color scheme. It's still really smooth, just different.

Anyway, while I'm not too crazy about the 1on1 battles, I do like how the meatier part of the league is filled with a lot more notable characters instead of just four or five like we usually get. I feel like that's one plus about the "anyone can enter" rule. Plus, this league is shaping up to be the longest we've ever had. Compare that to X and Y, where Ash kept winning off-screen until the semi-finals.

Personally, I like it so far. I expect the really competitive battles to take place in the next round, when we'll be able to have two battle per episode instead of four.

And Guzma wiped out the person who was expected to win the league. I don't see how Guzma and Ash don't clash at some point in this competition. I'm betting the top four will be Ash, Guzma, Gladion, and Kiawe.
 

LukeRNG

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So it seems thanks to this video the Hero will arrive in July: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ldS_kVFyOAI

It'd make no sense to explicitly promote the Hero in a July promo vid for their games if Hero wouldn't come up in July.
So given we're most definitely getting Hero this month, would that suggest Banjo would arrive early Fall, around late September or early October?

If so i can definitely see the 4th Fighter be shadowdropped at the Game Awards ending with a 5th reveal set to release in February, unless they leave the last 2 for a dedicated smash direct.
And if this is our circumstances, unless Lycanroc is prominent in Sword & Shield, i don't think Lycanroc will happen given that by December everyone will quickly move on from Alola indefinitely.

But it's Sakurai, so really what i've said probably means nothing.
 
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Delzethin

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So it seems thanks to this video the Hero will arrive in July: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ldS_kVFyOAI

It'd make no sense to explicitly promote the Hero in a July promo vid for their games if Hero wouldn't come up in July.
So given we're most definitely getting Hero this month, would that suggest Banjo would arrive early Fall, around late September or early October?

If so i can definitely see the 4th Fighter be shadowdropped at the Game Awards ending with a 5th reveal set to release in February, unless they leave the last 2 for a dedicated smash direct.
And if this is our circumstances, unless Lycanroc is prominent in Sword & Shield, i don't think Lycanroc will happen given that by December everyone will quickly move on from Alola indefinitely.

But it's Sakurai, so really what i've said probably means nothing.
If anything, I think the most likely scenario is Fighter #4 being revealed during the obligatory autumn Nintendo Direct, kind of like how Cloud was handled.

The schedule I've been theorizing since E3 is:

Hero: Released in July (within the next week, based on what we know now).
Banjo-Kazooie: Released in mid-late September.
Fighter #4: Revealed in autumn Nintendo Direct, released in early December.
Fighter #5: Revealed in early December Smash Direct that also goes over 4 & 5's movesets, released in early-mid February.

This setup would mean we'd have at least one more shot, possibly two.
 
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LukeRNG

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Huh, the video was now changed to Summer. I guess Hero releasing this month was supposed to be a shadowdrop like Joker.
 

RandomAce

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If anything, I think the most likely scenario is Fighter #4 being revealed during the obligatory autumn Nintendo Direct, kind of like how Cloud was handled.

The schedule I've been theorizing since E3 is:

Hero: Released in July (within the next week, based on what we know now).
Banjo-Kazooie: Released in mid-late September.
Fighter #4: Revealed in autumn Nintendo Direct, released in early December.
Fighter #5: Revealed in early December Smash Direct that also goes over 4 & 5's movesets, released in early-mid February.

This setup would mean we'd have at least one more shot, possibly two.
But wouldn’t it be contradictory (sorry for the lack of a better word) to have Lycanroc be potentially released after Sword and Shield go into full force? I get that if Lycanroc was revealed prior that may work, but I’ve always been wary of having a Gen 7 Pokémon be shown off/released when the more recent and more pushed Gen 8 games are already out... Unless Lycanroc still becomes a big deal going into Gen 8.

I’m more into a November release tbh.
 
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LukeRNG

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I'm not sure if we talked about it, but if we say Lycanroc is indeed one of the dlc characters (namely the 4th one), who would the other character be?
Would it be another 3rd party or another nintendo character.
 

Delzethin

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So, a couple things.

First, I've been looking into the artist who was mentioned a little while back. If we want to get some artwork done, it'd run us a pretty penny--his price ranges from £30-£50, equal to about $35-$62.

We'd need to pool some funds together to make that happen. How feasible is such an option?


Second...we got a new trailer for Pokémon Masters.


Some interesting stuff there, like a glimpse of how co-op multiplayer will function, but nothing that directly pertains to us.

However, the official website also updated with details on the game's original characters...including our mystery Rockruff guy. And, turns out he's a rival figure.


Paulo looks to be The Ace, playing a role both as someone for the player to eventually surpass and someone who inspires you to keep going. That line about having a strong sense of justice may hint at him being involved in the plot and not just sitting around and waiting for the player to catch up--would be interesting if you could team up with him during major events. Maybe he'll also help show how co-op mechanics work early on, by having you fight alongside him in a battle?
 
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Cosmic77

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Got our batch of match-ups for the quarterfinals in the anime.

Gladion vs. James
Ash vs. Hau
Kiawe vs. Sophocles
Guzma vs. Lana

So yeah, this league has been pretty predictable. It's common sense that James, Hau, and Lana are getting the boot in this round. The only toss-up is Kiawe vs. Sophocles, and even then it feels safe to assume Kiawe will be the winner.

I guess we also know the layout of the rest of the league now.

Semifinals:
Ash vs. Gladion
Guzma vs. Kiawe

Finals:
Ash vs. Guzma
 
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Garteam

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Got our batch of match-ups for the quarterfinals in the anime.

Gladion vs. James
Ash vs. Hau
Kiawe vs. Sophocles
Guzma vs. Lana

So yeah, this league has been pretty predictable. It's common sense that James, Hau, and Lana are getting the boot in this round. The only toss-up is Kiawe vs. Sophocles, and even then it feels safe to assume Kiawe will be the winner.

I guess we also know the layout of the rest of the league now.

Semifinals:
Ash vs. Gladion
Guzma vs. Kiawe

Finals:
Ash vs. Guzma
I'm gonna put my money on Guzma probably winning the league to set up his match against Kukui. I feel if they wanted Ash to win, he would be up against Gladion. It's a shame Torracat's arch may not get resolved though
 
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RandomAce

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Seeing Gladion use Lycanroc in the top 8 match already definitely is a bit worrysome for a Lycanroc vs Lycanroc battle in the Alola league. If Ash does go against Gladion in the semi finals, he’ll most likely use Sivally and maybe do a Dusk vs Sivally rematch. If Gladion ends up facing Ash in the finals instead, then maybe we could see their Lycanrocs clash.

By the way, the preview of the upcoming match with Ash against Hau reveals that Rowlet is going to be dressing up as a Decidueye for the match

...

They’re making fun of the fact that some people want Rowlet to evolve.
 

Cosmic77

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I'm gonna put my money on Guzma probably winning the league to set up his match against Kukui. I feel if they wanted Ash to win, he would be up against Gladion. It's a shame Torracat's arch may not get resolved though
That's what I'm thinking as well. Though I feel like Torracat might still get it's moment to shine facing Guzma. Seems like every Pokémon is getting a round that focuses primarily on them.

Anyway, back to Ash and Guzma, I'm not calling it just yet. The stakes are much higher with Guzma, so it makes sense why he'd be the final battle instead of Gladion, someone who's been a friendly rival at worst. I could see them letting Ash win just so they can deny Guzma the official title of being Champion and put him in his proper place. It'd also let Kukui take pride in teaching one of his students well enough to beat Guzma - something that mirrors himself when he was Hala's student and beat Guzma at Ash's age (it'd feel a little brutal to have Guzma curbstomp three of Kukui's best students in one league [Lana, Kiawe, and Ash])

Plus, this is arguably the best league the writers could let Ash win and have him move on to another region without consequences. The rules are so flexible.

Seeing Gladion use Lycanroc in the top 8 match already definitely is a bit worrysome for a Lycanroc vs Lycanroc battle in the Alola league. If Ash does go against Gladion in the semi finals, he’ll most likely use Sivally and maybe do a Dusk vs Sivally rematch. If Gladion ends up facing Ash in the finals instead, then maybe we could see their Lycanrocs clash.
The quarterfinals are confirmed to be 2on2 battles, so at worst, the semifinals would be 2on2 as well.

I think there's a good chance we'll see Midnight at some point during it's battle against Ash. I can't promise that it'll be the star of the show if Zoroark is competing in this league, but still, better than nothing, right?
 
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