QOTD: For me it has to be Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon. It could be because its the very first Pokemon game that I played but I also think its the best because it has every single Pokemon up to gen 7, the unique Z moves and also MEGAS! And I like the "having a good time" vibes.
Qotd: idk if this counts but Mystery Dungeon Explores of Sky! Its story definitely had the most impact on me and the sound track is amazing! I’m also fond of the regular gen 4/5 games, but the DS spin off games like the Dungeon series and the Ranger series are definitely what comes to mind when I think of all the cool possibilities of what it could be like to live in a world with Pokemon.
I really hope they either remake Explorer's of Sky, or make a sequel to the series. Even though they remade the original Mystery Dungeon, Explorers story and especially character personality was leagues ahead of it. I remember being very emotional about it as a kid along the way and especially climax of the story.
Tera ghost really helps it exert tremendous offensive pressure since no non fairy type in the game wants to tank a dragon energy, and Tera ghost shuts down one of the best answers against dragon energy with fake out and an attack to cripple its base power.
This is why I love ORAS. Took Gen 3 and somehow made it even better which I didn't think possible. Leaving out the Frontier was the only thing mark against it
Do you all think there was one person on the art team whose job it was to position the Tera Crowns on every single Pokemon? Day in and day out? I don’t know why I like to imagine this one person getting to Regidrago and working for days trying to figure out where it should go and then one day having that Eureka moment!
QOTD: Legends Arceus personally though for main series games gen 9 did a lot of stuff right (graphics / lagging issues aside) That being said I still have far more nostalgia for anything set in Kanto, Johto (!) and Hoenn so whenever those get remakes with newer graphics and mechanics I'm usually quite happy with the outcome... as long as they don't include weird choices like the Let's Go games.
Black and White 2 really feel like the ultimate Pokémon game to me. The sprite work and overworld design on Gen 5 is my absolute favorite, and it feels more alive than some Pokémon games today. The story continuation from Black/White is great, and genuinely has a very gripping and interesting story. It has a wonderful endgame, and the returning 'mons post the first iterations was awesome.
I think the move to 3D definitely created far more animation work for them than they were ready to handle. Especially when moving to the Switch. I imagine that was a big part of them trying to cut down the Pokedex for Sword and Shield.
I wholeheartedly agree; tons of Pokémon available during the journey, the PTW was great because it allowed older champions/gym leaders with their respective (and remade) battle themes, Cynthia match in her home, great soundtrack overall, a continuation of one of the best storylines in Pokémon, a long journey with tons of things to do, Ghetsis feeling like a true and great villian (like bro tried killing the player), bringing back N with a great new theme, some actually decent trade/gift mons (Zorua and Gigalyth for example), really good post-game, Pokestar Studios (if you like it, some people don't), the option to play with both really strong Pokémon (such as Darmanitan, Excadrill, Conkeldurr, Ferrothorn, etc.) or using more balanced Pokémon that are a bit more balanced (Krookodile, Leavanny, Lucario, the monkeys, etc.), great move tutors locations and moves... such a perfect game (WITH THE EXCEPTION OF NO EARTHQUAKE TM TILL POST-GAME, but that's all.)
pokemon colosseum because it got me interested in double battles as a kid and its what drove me to play vgc after watching aaron miss a bunch of will o wisps in vancouver. I have been playing for 10 years since then
Qotd: Best Pokemon story to me? Ill say its BW, the friendship and how not only your partners developed. Especially the whole thing with Bianca and her dad situation, seeing him wise up/ease up on being overprotective was nice.
I love Chandelure having a place in the meta. It's nice the way restricted Pokémon can encourage new and interesting support picks to counter them, like the famous Pachirisu and the Chandelure in the game 1 person's team
Qotd: Emerald. Not only was it my most played on GBA, when I first got a DS I didn't have any games for it so I just kept playing Emerald. My first level 100 pkmn and first shiny (not counting Red Gyara) were in that game, too. Such a nostalgic and amazing game.
I tried Zacian at the start, couldn't get it to work. But damn, this team looks good. Also best Pokemon game is Crystal, 16 badges. Only game that comes close is Emerald with the battle frontier.
QOTD: I have the most fond memories of playing Emerald over and over again when I was young. However, when I got back into Pokemon in college, I had the most fun playing the BW2 on an emulator.
QOTD: ORAS for me. Hoenn wasn't my first region but it's my favorite. I love playing through the region and the remakes were better than the originals.
Qotd: I will have to say XD gale of darkness I’m replaying right now and the game has everything good story amazing soundtrack and capturing shadow pokemon from the evil team while managing a double battle feels challenging and so satisfying.
QotD: Pokemon Conquest! It isnt actually my favorite, but it's top 3 and very underrated! It's a tactics game instead of a mainline pokemon game, but I love that game. Got it the day it came out, put a ton of hours into it, and I still have it
Good games to watch. That last game if you Tera Ground the Zacian to avoid Thunder Wave from Grimmsnarl and doubled up into Calyrex with Horn Leech and an attack from Zacian you might have knocked it out.
1:03:42 "I haven't brought out Ogerpon so far today" 2 min after winning a game with Ogerpon 😂I'm guessing it was recorded out of sequence or on different days but it comes off funny in context lol.
I'd like to hear more about the different teams used in the Japanese nationals. I only heard someone used Kyogre with Blizzard alongside Tornadus with Snowscape.
Aaron, game 5, second to last turn. Zacian and Regidrago vs. Raging Bolt and Groudon. You said you were worried your opponent would Thunderclap Regidrago as you would terastalized it into Ghost type and reducing Dragon Energy damage output. So why didn't you just terastalize Zacian into Ground that turn so that you would have removed your weaknesses to Fire and Ground move by Groundon AND being immune to Electric type attacks and just leave Regidrago as a Dragon type, that way Thunderclap would have been not very effective. And then at that point just click Behemoth Blade (as you did) but Dragon Energy instead of Draco Meteor. Why didn't you consider this? Is this play viable in that situation? What would have been the risks?
Qotd: The best game in ny opinion is definitely BW and B2W2. Maybe it’s just nostalgia as they were my introduction into the series, but I love the story and characters of those games. And the post game in the second parts, wow so good.
QOTD: Pokemon Mystery Dungeon Explorers of Time for 2D // Legends Arceus for 3D //Heartgold/SS for Main Series Now my personal favourites are : Still Mystery Dungeon Explorers of Time for 2D //Still Legends Arceus for 3D // Black/White for main series Just been climbing Showdown with a Zacian team of my own last night, so Im happy to see him under the spotlight again
Best pokemon games IMO: Overall: HGSS (due to replayability, nostalgia, extra content, graphics, gameplay, story). Best gimmic for VGC: Scarlet/Violet (tera is balance and allows for so much reads and caution playing, since 1 tera can win or lose you a game). Hardest: GSC (leveling scaling was so bad and pokedex was poor)
QOTD: HGSS (2 regions), Platinum (I like the story and I like the battle frontier), and Sword and Shield (Just bc of dynamax adventures, I just really liked shiny hunting them and it was fun imo).
I love Zacian, one of my favorite legendaries now and I've been playing since Red/Blue. I love the shiny as well, I bought the Shield version just to redeem shiny Zacian LOL. Hope to see it more even with all the nerfs! QOTD: Best Pokémon game is definitely Emerald, ORAS were solid remakes as well
Hi Aaron and everyone. I've got a question: I've watched the Bologna Special Event final, which was very much decided by luck. What would you think Pokémon would be like without percentages? Would it be better, worse, different? What changes would have to be made?
QOTD: Best Pokémon game overall is either HG/SS due to it having 2 different regions combined into one game, or (don’t shoot me) Scarlet/Violet because it has a lot of good quality of life changes, and the open world aspect is just so good
My favorite game is Pokémon Colosseum. First game for mons has to be the favorite for me. Also, Zacian, welcome back, if you win worlds again, I swear 🗡️ 🐕
"They nerfed it a little bit..." Zacian nerfs: - Intrepid sword only activating once per battle - Base attack stat dropped by 20 (which is pretty significant) - Behemoth Blade not having any secondary effect While other restricteds were untouched or buffed... RIP Zacian-Crowned Tbh I do think it will make it's return even without that much support
