To many, a Pokemon game's replay value is reliant on a solid post-game to look forward to. However, this might not be the only way.  In fact, many of the most successful RPGs go a very different route towards replayability: The humble, but serviceable side quest.  Often, players will glaze over these quests during the main story, which effectively makes those undone story beats a post game matter for many. Some games even build side quests into the core of the main game, allowing for a personal feel to each run. Different players will get different games, based on the side quests they choose to undertake.  So why, in Pokemon, where many of these ideas are considered crucial, are there so few side quests? Sure, you might get a small reward for catching a tiny pokemon and showing it to some guy in Kalos, or some Ribbons from the Pokemon Contest.  But it all seems a little shallow. There's so much potential, especially with the open-world direction the mainline Pokemon series

Some Pokemon players aren't content with simply catching 'em all normally.  Thankfully, Game Freak created shiny Pokemon a long time ago to give players a new quest; they can now catch super rare versions of each Pokemon with an alternate color scheme.  With the graphical advances to all video games, including Pokemon, these shinies are better and more popular than ever. So popular, in fact, that a slew of shiny hunters have sworn against the easiest way of catching these 'mons: the Quick Ball. (Behold, the ire of half of the Pokemon fanbase.) A Quick Ball is simple: It has a higher catch rate, but only on the first turn of a wild encounter.  For many Pokemon, especially those that could flee or know dangerous self-destructive moves like Explosion or Final Gambit, it would seem like a good thing to be able to catch a Pokemon more easily at the start of a battle.  But if you've been on Twitter lately, you might know where I'm going with this.  Quick Balls have gai

Mega Evolution was a beloved mechanic by many Pokemon players from the day it was announced (or more likely, the day it was leaked.)  Even from just bare details of the mechanic, Nintendo Life's Thomas Whitehead made it clear that " it's all shaping up nicely. "  The phenomenal reception Megas had eventually led to similar mechanics in every later generation thus far.  Gen 7 had Z-Moves, gen 8 introduced Gigantamax transformations, and Gen 9 brings with it the Terastal mechanic. Needless to say, Mega Evolution is a very important part of modern Pokemon's history.  In fact, it's so important, that in a game with endgame themes of past and future, it makes sense to return to this masterwork of Pokemon design.  Beyond that, it likely will, thanks to the likely upcoming DLC for Pokemon Scarlet and Violet. The Mega Evolution mechanic was introduc

The release of Scarlet and Violet as a Pokemon TCG set, and the introduction of gen 9 cards to the game, is very close. With this, we're seeing a new/old mechanic: Pokemon-ex.  Not to be confused with the slightly more recent Pokemon-EX, which are always Basic, Pokemon-ex are beefed-up versions of Pokemon with high build-around power.  However, this comes at a cost. When a Pokemon-ex (or Pokemon-EX, for that matter) is knocked out, your opponent takes 2 Prize Cards, not just 1.  Despite this, I believe that Pokemon-ex is the perfect mechanic for Scarlet and Violet. Perfect Timing True to the games' endgame theme of time travel, we're seeing a new swath of Pokemon for a past mechanic.  On the surface, this seems like a pretty basic point.  But when you include the specific Pokemon getting a Pokemon-ex, the real genius of this is revealed.  Every single Pokemon is either available in both versions, a new Pokemon, or a past/future form.  This, again, helps bridge the gap be

Just a few months ago, I overheard a dormmate playing Pokemon Unite. He lamented the lack of skill his teammates displayed as if he just got paired up with the Three Stooges and Patrick Star. These teammates, to him, were unacceptably stupid.  I interjected to his unanswered curses with this: "you're acting like it's rude to be bad at a game." The only reply I got was "it is!" Surely, if his team could hear him, they'd get just as much of a rude vibe from these claims.  But therein lies the problem. Pokemon Unite, to Nintendo, was a moderate success. With one game, they've marketed to many demographics of both Pokemon fans and MOBA players.  But with that massive pool of opinions on how both types of game should be, you get a massively splintered community. You get people who think it's rude to be bad at a game. You get people who are rightfully a little miffed at those people. You get people who start drama on those people's behalf (or

The stage is set.  Leon has only one Pokemon left: the unbeatable Charizard of the unbeatable champion.  The crowd, despite the carnage against their champion, is still singing.  The Hall of Fame theme, a motif reserved for winners, becomes the theme of the cornered.  As Leon Dynamaxes his final fighter, you know he's doomed.  A single Max Rockfall from your Dreadnaw, and Charizard is down.  It feels anticlimactic.  You just downed the supposed strongest Pokemon in the whole of Galar with one fell swoop. But that single decision, the dynamaxed Dreadnaw, is part of why that Charizard is a great final boss. Very few encounters in Sword or Shield can be answered only by a Rock-type STAB move from a high-damage Pokemon. While the decision is fairly obvious, it's still a decision that had to be made.  It was premeditated, and you likely are training such a Pokemon with the Galarian master in mind. And if you don't run a Pokemon to counter that Charizard, the fight becomes m

The Kanto region's Pokemon and mechanics garner a lot of nostalgia, even for people who weren't alive when the original Pokemon games released. It's no surprise, then, that RBY Smogon battles are quite popular on Pokemon Showdown. The tiers found in this generation have been set in stone for a long time. Those tiers, however, are for a 6v6 Singles battle. What happens to the ranking a Pokemon accrues if it is the only Pokemon you can use? What happens if we pit every Gen 1 Pokemon against every other in a mano a mano fight to the fainting? Welcome to the Kanto 1v1 Round Robin. (This series assumes all Pokemon have their best 4 attacking moves, all multi-hits hit the maximum damage, and no moves crit. Chance effects that decide a battle round to the nearest whole number, meaning an over 50 percent chance indicates a success.) Alakazam Alakazam, for a long time, was considered the best OU Pokemon in Gen 1.  While it is still excellent, it's usage has declined due to th

The Kanto region's Pokemon and mechanics garner a lot of nostalgia, even for people who weren't alive when the original Pokemon games released.  It's no surprise, then, that RBY Smogon battles are quite popular on Pokemon Showdown.  The tiers found in this generation have been set in stone for a long time. Those tiers, however, are for a 6v6 Singles battle.  What happens to the ranking a Pokemon accrues if it is the only Pokemon you can use? What happens if we pit every Gen 1 Pokemon against every other in a mano a mano fight to the fainting? Welcome to the Kanto 1v1 Round Robin. (This series assumes all Pokemon have their best 4 attacking moves, all multi-hits hit the maximum damage, and no moves crit. Chance effects that decide a battle round to the nearest whole number, meaning an over 50 percent chance indicates a success.) Over the next few articles, we'll look at premier OU threats in a 1v1 context. Snorlax Snorlax is an excellently bulky Pokemon with a 160 base H

 The Kanto region's Pokemon and mechanics garner a lot of nostalgia, even for people who weren't alive when the original Pokemon games released.  It's no surprise, then, that RBY Smogon battles are quite popular on Pokemon Showdown.  The tiers found in this generation have been set in stone for a long time. Those tiers, however, are for a 6v6 Singles battle.  What happens to the ranking a Pokemon accrues if it is the only Pokemon you can use? What happens if we pit every Gen 1 Pokemon against every other in a mano a mano fight to the fainting? Welcome to the Kanto 1v1 Round Robin. (This series assumes all Pokemon have their best 4 attacking moves, all multi-hits hit the maximum damage, and no moves crit. Chance effects that decide a battle round to the nearest whole number, meaning an over 50 percent chance indicates a success.) Mewtwo Mewtwo, needless to say, is easily the best Pokemon in the game for 6v6. For this experiment, Mewtwo will have Psychic, Thunderbolt, Ice Bea

 The Pokemon franchise spans almost every medium that art can take - Writing, drawing, animation, music, video games, card games, and likely a few others I can't think of.  However, as a series, there's a gaping hole: Not a single official tabletop Pokemon RPG has been made.  A couple of fan teams have put their hat into the ring, however, most of these translations are either extremely rules-heavy, or simple ports of the iconic creatures into other games.  Almost all of them make keeping track of your team a nightmare. Enter the RPG format known as Powered by the Apocalypse (PbTA.)  The rules of almost all PbTA games are fairly light, leaving much of the rulings to the character sheets themselves.  And in addition to those character sheets, every character has a playbook.  (An example of a playbook from the Monster of the Week RPG.) Playbooks are very well-organized, having a set number of stats and "moves" a character can use.  Remind you of anything?  Already,

Introduction On Sunday, February 5th, Noibat will be the focus of the latest Pokemon GO Community Day.  For established players of the game, Noivern, its evolution, isn't likely to be more than a Pokedex entry.  But for those without many solid Pokemon for gyms, Noivern becomes a very attractive option.  Normally, the 400 Noibat candy it would take to evolve Noibat into Noivern would be nearly impossible for a new player to rack up with any efficiency.  However, with Noibat spawning all over the place, and all candy from catching being doubled, this evolution gets much easier for one day only. (This guy right here? Keep an eye on him, newbies.) Why Noivern Saves Noobs While Noivern lags behind its Dragon-Flying counterparts in most ways, the availability the dragon-bat gets for this one day is very important. While Dragonite takes only 125 Dratini candy to evolve, Dratini is a wildly rare spawn.  Even using Pinap Berries on every catch means you'll have to catch it 21 times

By all metrics, Pikachu... kinda sucks.  Its abysmal stats, mediocre movepool and 'meh'-inducing evolution would in any other case, make it a pick in very few teams, from casual playthroughs to hardcore competitors. But when you take into account all the things in the message of Pokemon, Pikachu goes from terrible to one of the very best. This all starts with Trainer that made Pikachu the franchise's face: Ash Ketchum.  From the first episodes of Indigo League to the final battles of his share of the anime, Ash is inherently an underdog.  In fact, he's one of the few anime underdogs who loses fairly often, adding to the realism of his story. And what happens an underdog Trainer with the Pokemon that he got because he showed up late to get a Pokemon at all? You get one of the most well-known protagonist duos of all time. Despite the losses Ash and Pikachu face together, neither gives up on their goal or each other.  And eventually, no matter how long it took, the du

Playing a stall team on Showdown is a great way to earn the respect (read: hatred) of your opponents!  No gamer is patient enough to withstand the slow-play antics of a stall team - except the ones playing them!  Ready to get stally and make your opponents salty?  Let's find out how!  This guide is completely format-agnostic.  Try it anywhere you can play competitive Pokemon! Step 1:  Know the format. In order to stall the best attackers in your tier, it might be wise to know *what* those attackers are. For example, in a stall team, you're likely to have a physical wall and a special wall. You should aim to ensure those walls can handle common attackers of that type. Step 2:  Have a win condition (besides rage-quitting!) Yes, yes, I know, many stall games end in a rage-quit.  But for the players that stick it out, you'll need a way to win in-game.  Commonly, this means status conditions and chip damage.  Even in a stall team with big numbers in the HP stat, you're st

Much like the normal world, the world of Pokémon Go celebrates a number of holidays in its events. These events often include special research missions, new Pokemon, and more! Check out these exciting events year after year: 4: Pokémon Go Fest Pokémon Go Fest is a yearly event that takes place in the summer.  It's a great time to get out, find a good area to grind, and start catching! The event includes special bonuses for players who buy an extra pass: Shinies appear much more frequently than usual, and you can get an extra research mission to give you extra rewards. Beyond that, everyone who plays during the event can take a crack at raids against some Legendary Pokemon! 3: Halloween Halloween is a great time to get your hands on some solid ghost and dark type Pokemon. There are also interesting non-legendary raids during this period, most of them being those types as well.  All around, a great time to come out and socialize with some grim grinning Gastly! 2: Equinox event The Eq

Remember when Wizards of the Coast didn't screw things up on the regular? The Pokemon TCG was originally created by Wizards of the Coast in 1998, after finding huge success with Magic the Gathering. Eventually, control of the game's design went to a team specific to Game Freak and Nintendo. But the influence Magic had on the Pokemon TCG is still felt to this day. In fact, both games have grown in parallel to one another in certain ways. Let's take a look: Power Creep Parallel Power creep can be seen in Magic: The Gathering and Pokemon cards, which both introduced more and more powerful cards with each set. But beyond the simple existence of power creep, certain types of cards in both games have shifted with each other. In Magic, creatures started as very weak, and by today's standards are mostly obsolete. However, non-creature spells, especially instants and sorceries, were often much more powerful than any that could be made today. Not a single member of Magic

  Weather in Pokemon is much like real life weather. It's often volatile, but it can also be vital to certain plans. The question is, can weather be competitive with this touch-and-go nature?  What is weather? What does it do? Weather is a temporary condition that affects mainly the power of certain types. Weather can be set by an ability or move and only one weather effect can be active at a time. If a Pokémon uses a damaging move of a type the active weather benefits, they will deal increased damage from the move. Fire types get boosts from Sun, Ground types are buffed by Sand, Hail and Snow both help Ice types thrive, and Rain works with Water types. Doubles vs. Singles. Weather has a different metagame effect in doubles than in singles. In double battles, only 4 pokemon are sent out in a given game. Beyond that, they come in pairs. This means games last fewer turns, which is crucial for weather teams, as each effect only lasts so long. However, on Smogon's singles ladder

It's the first season of gen 9 VGC! This season is going to be filled with action, excitement and most importantly: new Pokemon to build around! So which ones work well? What old favorites can we dig up? Let's take a look at some of the most popular options so far: 1. Murkrow Murkrow is the most used Pokemon in the VGC metagame, and for good reason. This bird Pokémon can set up Tailwind thanks to Prankster, which gives its status moves priority. This allows it to speed up its teammate and itself for later turns. It also packs Haze, which is very useful for countering the very common Tatsugiri and Dodonzo combo. Murkrow is a top-notch support. If you're playing in competitive doubles in any capacity, you should definitely be considering this Pokémon on your team. 2. Tatsugiri and Dondozo Tatsugiri and Dondozo are a great offensive combination. They have the same typing and when they're on the field together, they become nearly unstoppable. The main reason this works is b