Mega-Evolution

Do you like Mega-Evolution?

  • Yes, I love everything about it!

    Votes: 114 53.5%
  • I like the majority of the designs, I just don't like the concept.

    Votes: 32 15.0%
  • I like the concept, I just don't like the majority of the designs.

    Votes: 46 21.6%
  • No, I don't like Mega-Evolution very much.

    Votes: 21 9.9%

  • Total voters
    213
To be honest, not a fan. I feel like Mega Evolution is alright on paper. But the number of Pokémon that is getting a mega is, in my opinion, a little outragous. It seems like mega evolving is the new thing (which it is) and it really seems like a cheap way to make a Pokémon 'evolve', for the design doesn't change that much. Personally, I think that most pokémon that got a mega evolution either:
A. Didn't need one because they were good already. (Such as Gengar and Mewtwo)
B. Didn't need one because they didn't /need/ to be good. (Such as the kanto starters, they didn't really need one did they? Making fun of Charizard is the best thing to ever happen)
C. Could just get a normal evolution. (Such as Mawhile, which in, my opinion might as well get a normal evolution)
Just my opinion though.
 

Cresselia~~

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Maybe Mega Evolution will eventually become a thing that every single fully evolved Pokemon have at least one.
And maybe even, lots have 2 or more.
 

Pikachu315111

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I really hope that not every Pokémon gets a Mega. That'd just be absolutely horrendous.
Well not every Pokemon, only those who are considered fully evolved. But yeah, I imagine the idea is that as long as its a fully evolved Pokemon it can get a Mega Evolution. Of course since Mega Evolution is a new thing it's getting a whole batch right now but I imagine it'll slow down come next generation (where they'll also hopefully start focusing also on some non-popular choices, not that they haven't already). Is there any Pokemon you don't want to have a Mega Evolution?
 
Well not every Pokemon, only those who are considered fully evolved. But yeah, I imagine the idea is that as long as its a fully evolved Pokemon it can get a Mega Evolution. Of course since Mega Evolution is a new thing it's getting a whole batch right now but I imagine it'll slow down come next generation (where they'll also hopefully start focusing also on some non-popular choices, not that they haven't already). Is there any Pokemon you don't want to have a Mega Evolution?
Well, in particular I feel two Pokémon that should never get a Mega would be Ditto and Zoroark, due to them receiving a Mega destroying the gimmicks that are integral to them. But I was just talking in general; I do not think every Pokémon should get a Mega - it should be kept to a relatively smaller group, and from XY and ORAS pre-release I'm really scared as to how many Megas we'll have by the end of the inevitable XY sequels.
 
My personal feeling is that the Pokémon who get a Mega should be starters, Pokémon central to the game (such as the champion and evil team leader's main), and a few weaker oddballs. And keep it to a relative minimum, with XY getting the most - fill the game up with Megas of everyone and their mother and Mega Evolution loses it's whole special and unique quality, making it as much a layman's item as a choice scarf.
 

Pikachu315111

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Well, in particular I feel two Pokémon that should never get a Mega would be Ditto and Zoroark, due to them receiving a Mega destroying the gimmicks that are integral to them. But I was just talking in general; I do not think every Pokémon should get a Mega - it should be kept to a relatively smaller group, and from XY and ORAS pre-release I'm really scared as to how many Megas we'll have by the end of the inevitable XY sequels.
Ditto: Well for Ditto's who have Imposter I do feel it'll be impossible to Mega Evolve them unless they go out against an opponent who's hiding under an Illusen, Transformed themselves, or has set up a Substitute. For for normal Ditto's, still hard but maybe no impossible. It'll all be in its Ability, obviously, so I'm thinking that since they're not afraid to give Mega Evolution's their own Abilities that Mega Ditto probably would have its own "super" Ability. Something like "Mega Imposter" which would have Mega Ditto instantly turn into the Mega Evolution of the Pokemon its facing even if that Pokemon hasn't Mega Evolved or isn't even holding its Mega Stone. VERY gimmicky, but could be effective if uses on the right Pokemon.

Zoroark: True that if you Mega Evolve Zoroark before its Illusen is broke you'll ruining its gimmick and some mental advantage you have over your opponent, but I could see Mega Zoroark being used as when it's Illusen Ability is broken. Once Illusen is broken there's no reason it shouldn't go hog-wild. Personally I'd give Mega Zoroark the Ability Protean, mainly focus on offense and speed (of course giving a little to defensive stats), and let it do as much damage as it could.

But yeah, I do agree after ORAS they should start scaling back. If I were to make a guess for what they would do for XY2, I'd say those games would probably start focusing on Gen VI Pokemon Mega Evolutions (maybe do what you said, giving Mega Evolutions to the characters main Gen VI Pokemon (Starters, Gym Leaders, Elite Four, Champion, Villain Syndicate Boss, Rivals(?), etc.)). Then after Gen VI they should start REALLY scaling back.

To be honest, I wished they focused more on the pokemon that doesn't evolve gets a mega like they did with Mawile, Audina ( that's the nickname I gave it xD ), Diancie, Absol, Sableye, Pinsir, and a couple others. That would have been more interesting though.
Diancie and Pinsir yes, but for the others I feel like they had evolution potential which they'll now never get.

My personal feeling is that the Pokémon who get a Mega should be starters, Pokémon central to the game (such as the champion and evil team leader's main), and a few weaker oddballs. And keep it to a relative minimum, with XY getting the most - fill the game up with Megas of everyone and their mother and Mega Evolution loses it's whole special and unique quality, making it as much a layman's item as a choice scarf.
Also maybe have some characters only able to Mega Evolve post game. Like I mentioned Gym Leader and Elite Four previously, though they'd probably Mega Evolve post game for story reasons. As for Rivals, maybe your main rival should be able to evolve and any additional rivals you have can get one post game. In addition limiting to those characters having Mega Evolutions post game can let them use an older Mega Evolution and not one introduced in that generation.
 
Well not every Pokemon, only those who are considered fully evolved. But yeah, I imagine the idea is that as long as its a fully evolved Pokemon it can get a Mega Evolution. Of course since Mega Evolution is a new thing it's getting a whole batch right now but I imagine it'll slow down come next generation (where they'll also hopefully start focusing also on some non-popular choices, not that they haven't already). Is there any Pokemon you don't want to have a Mega Evolution?
Sadly, I think at this point if a current Pokemon is already as evolved as it can be, like Sawk or Golurk, they're not going to evolve further in future games outside of a Mega Evolution. So far the amount we know about is fine, a few randoms, the other Hoenn starters, Metagross for Steven, Camerupt and Sharpedo for Maxie and Archie, and Gallade for Wally, (plus Diancie which I hope will be the only event legendary to be able to do this) but much more than this may be a tad much. There's a ton of Pokemon that could make wonderful choices for receiving a Mega Evolution, I just would like to be able to have them spread out more rather than have them crammed down my proverbial throat all at once.
 

Pikachu315111

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Sadly, I think at this point if a current Pokemon is already as evolved as it can be, like Sawk or Golurk, they're not going to evolve further in future games outside of a Mega Evolution. So far the amount we know about is fine, a few randoms, the other Hoenn starters, Metagross for Steven, Camerupt and Sharpedo for Maxie and Archie, and Gallade for Wally, (plus Diancie which I hope will be the only event legendary to be able to do this) but much more than this may be a tad much. There's a ton of Pokemon that could make wonderful choices for receiving a Mega Evolution, I just would like to be able to have them spread out more rather than have them crammed down my proverbial throat all at once.
As I mentioned one of my problems with Mega Evolutions, sadly it looks like the days of past generation Pokemon getting normal evolutions are now gone. It felt GameFreak went all in on Mega Evolutions without taking a second glance at possible normal evolutions.

Anyway I think we're going to wrap up the ORAS Mega Evolutions soon, I think we have more than enough and it would be a nice note to end it on Mega Rayquaza. I'm also expecting a few other Mega Evolutions to be revealed along with it, but I think we're ending it with Mega Rayquaza (it does seem to end everything that Groudon and Kyogre start up).

Hmm... maybe I should make a list of all Pokemon that could possibly Mega Evolve. I've been wanting to for a while, and while I did start making once I also started making some observations.
 
As I mentioned one of my problems with Mega Evolutions, sadly it looks like the days of past generation Pokemon getting normal evolutions are now gone. It felt GameFreak went all in on Mega Evolutions without taking a second glance at possible normal evolutions.

Anyway I think we're going to wrap up the ORAS Mega Evolutions soon, I think we have more than enough and it would be a nice note to end it on Mega Rayquaza. I'm also expecting a few other Mega Evolutions to be revealed along with it, but I think we're ending it with Mega Rayquaza (it does seem to end everything that Groudon and Kyogre start up).

Hmm... maybe I should make a list of all Pokemon that could possibly Mega Evolve. I've been wanting to for a while, and while I did start making once I also started making some observations.
You're talking as if every ORAS Mega will be revealed pre-release.
 

Pikachu315111

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You're talking as if every ORAS Mega will be revealed pre-release.
True, I'll rephrase myself: Mega Rayquaza (and any Mega Evolution revealed alongside it) will probably be the last of the ORAS Mega Evolutions that'll be announced. However, with that said, I do doubt there will be much more Mega Evolutions kept hidden. XY had 26 Pokemon given Mega Evolutions (2 getting 2 giving us a grand total of 28 Mega Evolutions) and so far ORAS had revealed 13 (not counting Rayquaza, Eon Duo, or Blaziken). XY had so many Mega Evolutions was because it was the game that introduced the mechanic so needed plenty to show off how it worked. But now with it cemented into gameplay I doubt there would be anymore than 20 (which would bring the number to 48. I would have said 22 since it would make it a nice rounded 50, of course if GameFreak cared about round even numbers they would have added the 2 extra Mega Evolutions before). As some of you said on this board, we don't want there to be a flood of Mega Evolutions, even though there are plenty of possibilities:

BTW, I made the list:

I separated the list by primary type unless stated otherwise:

NORMAL (37): (Normal/Flying-types are listed with the Flying-types)
Basic Stage (14): Tauros, Ditto, Snorlax (Baby Pokemon don't count), Dunsparce, Stantler, Smeargle, Miltank, Spinda, Zangoose, Castform, Kecleon, Bouffalant, Furfrou, & Girafarig
1st Stage (16): Raticate, Persian, Furret, Ursaring, Blissey, Linoone, Delcatty, Ambipom, Purugly, Lickilicky, Watchog, Cinccino, Wigglytuff, Bibarel, Sawsbuck, & Diggersby
2nd Stage (4): Slaking, Exploud, Porygon-Z, & Stoutland
Legendary (3): Regigigas, Arceus, & Meloetta

FIGHTING (12):
Basic Stage (6):
Hitmonless, Hitmonchan, Hitmontop (Tyrogue is a Baby Pokemon), Throh, Sawk, & Hawlucha
1st Stage (4): Primeape, Hariyama, Mienshao, & Pangoro
2nd Stage (2): Machamp & Conkeldurr

FLYING (12): (Normal/Flying-types are listed here too)
Basic Stage (2): Farfetch'd & Chatot
1st Stage (6): Noivern, Fearow, Dodrio, Noctowl, Swellow, & Braviary
2nd Stage (3): Pidgeot, Staraptor, & Unfezant
Legendary (1): Tornadus

POISON (13):
Basic Stage (1):
Seviper
1st Stage (9): Arbok, Muk, Weezing, Swalot, Garbodor, Skuntank, Drapion, Toxicroak, & Dragalge
2nd Stage (3): Nidoking, Nidoqueen, & Crobat

GROUDON (14):
Basic Stage (1):
Stunfisk
1st Stage (9): Sandslash, Dugtrio, Marowak, Donphan, Hippowdon, Claydol, Gliscor, Excadrill, & Golurk
2nd Stage (3): Flygon, Rhyperior, & Krookodile
Legendary (1): Landorus

ROCK (18):
Basic Stage (3):
Sudowoodo, Lunatone, & Solrock
1st Stage (11): Rampardos, Omastar, Kabutops, Cradily, Armaldo, Bastiodon, Probopass, Archeops, Barbaracle, Tyrantrum, & Aurorus
2nd Stage (2): Gigalith & Golem
Legendary (2): Regirock & Terrakion

BUG (30):
Basic Stage (4):
Volbeat, Illumise, Shuckle, & Durant
1st Stage (18): Kricketune, Accelgor, Parasect, Venomoth, Ledian, Ariados, Forretress, Masquerain, Ninjask, Shedinja, Wormadam, Mothim, Vespiquen, Yanmega, Crustle, Escavalier, Galvantula, & Volcarona
2nd Stage (7): Butterfree, Beedrill, Beautifly, Dustox, Leavanny, Scolipede, & Vivillon
Legendary (1): Genesect

GHOST (9):
Basic Stage (1):
Spiritomb
1st Stage (5): Mismagius, Cofagrigus, Drifblim, Trevenant, & Gourgeist
2nd Stage (2): Dusknoir & Chandelure
Legendary (1): Giratina

STEEL (10):
Basic Stage (2):
Skarmory & Klefki
1st Stage (2): Steelix & Bronzong,
2nd Stage (2): Klinklang & Aegislash
Legendary (4): Registeel, Jirachi, Dialga, & Cobalion

FIRE (20):
Basic Stage (2):
Torkoal & Heatmor
1st Stage (9): Ninetales, Arcanine, Rapidash, Flareon, Magmortar, Simisear, Darmanitan, Magcargo, & Pyroar
2nd Stage (5): Typhlosion, Infernape, Emboar, Delphox, & Talonflame
Legendary (4): Entei, Moltres, Ho-Oh, & Heatran

WATER (48):
Basic Stage (8):
Luvdisc, Basculin, Alomomola, Lapras, Qwilfish, Corsola, Mantine, & Relicanth
1st Stage (27): Golduck, Kingler, Seaking, Vaporeon, Octillery, Wailord, Milotic, Huntail, Gorebyss, Floatzel, Lumineon, Simipour, Clawitzer, Tentacruel, Dewgong, Cloyster, Starmie, Lanturn, Azumarill, Quagsire, Slowking, Pelipper, Whiscash, Gastrodon, Carracosta, Swanna, & Jellicent
2nd Stage (8): Feraligatr, Politoed, Samurott, Poliwrath, Ludicolo, Empoleon, Seismitoad, & Greninja
Legendary (5): Suicune, Phione, Manaphy, Palkia, & Keldeo

GRASS (28):
Basic Stage (3):
Carnivine, Maractus, & Tropius
1st Stage (14): Sunflora, Cherrim, Tangrowth, Leafeon, Simisage, Lilligant, Gogoat, Exeggutor, Breloom, Cacturne, Roserade, Whimsicott, Amoonguss, & Ferrothorn
2nd Stage (9): Maganium, Bellossom, Serperior, Vileplume, Victreebel, Jumpluff, Shiftry, Torterra, & Chesnaught
Legendary (2): Shaymin & Virizion

ELECTRIC (19):
Basic Stage (6):
Plusle, Minun, Pachirisu, Rotom, Emolga, & Dedenne
1st Stage (6): Raichu, Electrode, Jolteon, Electivire, Zebstrika, & Heliolisk
2nd Stage (4): Ampharos, Luxray, Eelektross, & Magnezone
Legendary (3): Raikou, Zapdos, & Thundurus

PSYCHIC (24):
Basic Stage (5):
Unown, Wobbuffet, Chimecho, Mr. Mime, & Sigilyph
1st Stage (8): Hypno, Espeon, Grumpig, Musharna, Beheeyem, Meowstic, Xatu, & Swoobat
2nd Stage (2): Gothitelle & Reuniclus
Legendary (9): Mew, Deoxys, Uxie, Mesprit, Azelf, Cresselia, Lugia, Celebi, & Victini

ICE (13):
Basic Stage (3):
Cryogonal, Jynx, & Delibird
1st Stage (5): Glalie, Glaceon, Beartic, Avalugg, & Froslass
2nd Stage (3): Vanilluxe, Walrein, & Mamoswine
Legendary (2): Regice & Articuno

DRAGON (8): (I'm leaving out Rayquaza for obvious reasons)
Basic Stage (1): Druddigon
2nd Stage (3): Haxorus, Goodra, & Dragonite
Legendary (4): Reshiram, Zekrom, Kyurem, & Zygarde

DARK (13):
1st Stage (10):
Umbreon, Mightyena, Liepard, Zoroark, Honchkrow, Weavile, Scrafty, Bisharp, Mandibuzz, & Malamar
2nd Stage (1): Hydreigon
Legendary (2): Darkrai & Yveltal

FAIRY (8):
1st Stage (5):
Clefable, Granbull, Aromatisse, Slurpuff, & Sylveon
2nd Stage (2): Florges & Togekiss
Legendary (1): Xerneas

TOTAL:
336


Yikes! Well, there's certainly a lot of possibilities but of course not every Pokemon on this list can receive a Mega Evolution as easily as another. As mentioned before, Pokemon with gimmicks would certainly have problems. There are also Pokemon who have different formes, be them cosmetic or there are changes done to the Pokemon. I can create a whole other list of those Pokemon (and maybe possible solutions).
 
So I've been playing the hell out of Smash 3DS recently and because I'm a massive nerd I've been trying to complete all the challenges - only 10 left, not even had it for a week, yikes I have no life - so that meant going to the trophy shop regularly. And today I got the trophy for Porygon-Z. And what I found interesting... is what it said on it's trophy description.
"You'd think two upgrades would make it the perfect Pokémon, but actually, the Dubious Disc used to make Porygon2 evolve makes it a bit glitchy. Maybe there's a patch in the works..."
That looks way too much like a hint to me than anything. And then I... started considering other factors.
-Porygon-Z, unlike most other Pokémon trophies has absolutely no relevance to Smash Bros. in the slightest, despite being a trophy - this is a trait it shares only with the trophies of Mega Blastoise, Mega Venusaur, Sylveon and Audino, three of which are confirmed to get Megas, as well as the trophies of the XY Trainers and Professor Sycamore. And even then, unlike Sycamore, XY Trainers and Sylveon it has absolutely no relevance to anything recent.
-ORAS has already shown it's willing to give Megas to non-Hoenn Pokémon.
-Gen 4 is generally scarce in the Mega department compared to Gen 1 and 3, and out of the non-hoenn megas confirmed for ORAS so far the majority (two, lol) have been Gen 4, one of which is an evolution of a previous-gen Pokémon.
-Concerning the plothole about an artificial Pokémon getting a Mega even though Xerneas granted Mega Evolution long ago... well, Mega Mewtwo.
-There are only 3 Normal-Type Megas so far
-The Porygon family is one of a relatively small group not obtainable in any way, shape or form in XY without Transfer, a trait shared with some of the Pokémon who are getting Megas in ORAS - Lopunny, Metagross, Legends, Hoenn Starters, likely Latis. Of course, this can be completely counter-argued by the fact that most of the Pokémon getting Megas in ORAS are obainable in XY, and even then the only non-starter and non-legend ones not available in XY are Beldum and Buneary, and even then Metang is available through safari... and... I should shut up.

Regardless, maybe this is just me bias fanboying, but the Smash Trophy does seem a little too much like a hint to me. Even so, could easily just be a red herring, not gonna get my hopes up. Thoughts?
 

Codraroll

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It is a solid hint, all right, but who gives the hint? As far as I know, GameFreak develops the Pokémon games whereas Smash Bros. is done by an entirely different studio (HAL?). Is it likely that whoever is tasked with writing the Trophy texts would know about an eventual Porygon-M, or is it just another case of wishful speculation by another Pokémon fan? As evident by the other Pokémon trophy texts, whoever wrote them clearly has fond memories of the games. It could be a hint, it could be speculation by yet another fan (albeit a fan with a wide audience). It is a possibility, however, that the text was written by a GameFreak employee with inside knowledge, or maybe a translater working on both series (which would also give him inside knowledge).

Also, Porygon-Z has a somewhat flimsy connection to the Smash Bros. series. Porygon appeared in SSB, on the Saffron City stage. In Melee, Porygon2 was one of the Poké Ball Pokémon while Porygon got a cameo on the Poké Floats stage.

Still, I wouldn't entirely rule out Porygon-Z as a Mega, although I didn't before I knew this either.
 

Hulavuta

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So I've been playing the hell out of Smash 3DS recently and because I'm a massive nerd I've been trying to complete all the challenges - only 10 left, not even had it for a week, yikes I have no life - so that meant going to the trophy shop regularly. And today I got the trophy for Porygon-Z. And what I found interesting... is what it said on it's trophy description.
"You'd think two upgrades would make it the perfect Pokémon, but actually, the Dubious Disc used to make Porygon2 evolve makes it a bit glitchy. Maybe there's a patch in the works..."
That does seem a little stretchy just because it would be weird to have such a hidden clue (and if we're being honest, I hope it's not because I do not want to see GameFreak mess up Porygon-Z). It would all really depend on a number of factors that we unfortunately cannot know. Do the trophy description writers usually get input from the creators of those characters? When was this particular trophy written? Just recently, or back a few years in the production? Maybe they quickly added it just a little while back after a Mega Porygon-Z was made but we can't really know that either.

They could just have thrown in that line, as it's innocent enough (it isn't exactly wrong or anything, and it does fit in with the flavor). It is in keeping with the cryptic style of Pokemon stuff but there are almost 700 trophies so I am really skeptical about putting this clue where a lot of people might not see it.

EDIT: Yeah Cobraroll basically said everything I was gonna say. (ninja'd)
 
It is a solid hint, all right, but who gives the hint? As far as I know, GameFreak develops the Pokémon games whereas Smash Bros. is done by an entirely different studio (HAL?). Is it likely that whoever is tasked with writing the Trophy texts would know about an eventual Porygon-M, or is it just another case of wishful speculation by another Pokémon fan? As evident by the other Pokémon trophy texts, whoever wrote them clearly has fond memories of the games. It could be a hint, it could be speculation by yet another fan (albeit a fan with a wide audience). It is a possibility, however, that the text was written by a GameFreak employee with inside knowledge, or maybe a translater working on both series (which would also give him inside knowledge).

Also, Porygon-Z has a somewhat flimsy connection to the Smash Bros. series. Porygon appeared in SSB, on the Saffron City stage. In Melee, Porygon2 was one of the Poké Ball Pokémon while Porygon got a cameo on the Poké Floats stage.

Still, I wouldn't entirely rule out Porygon-Z as a Mega, although I didn't before I knew this either.

The developers of Smash Bros. and Pokemon work together sometimes. Greninja was added to SSB4 long before XY came out, so this might be a new hint.
 
I like Mega Evolution as a concept, but so far the implementation feels really lazy a lot of the time. It's an okay gimmick for things that can't evolve any further like starters and legendaries, but half the existing mega evolutions could just have been real evolutions instead (except Game Freak apparently doesn't do that any more, unless you're Eevee).

Also the choices for what gets one and what doesn't are completely baffling. Who looked at Tyranitar, Scizor, Garchomp, Blaziken, Salamence, and so forth and thought "this needs to be stronger"? Why did Pidgeot and Beedrill get mega-evos but not Butterfree and Fearow? Why did Glalie get one and Frosslass didn't?
 
Also the choices for what gets one and what doesn't are completely baffling. Who looked at Tyranitar, Scizor, Garchomp, Blaziken, Salamence, and so forth and thought "this needs to be stronger"? Why did Pidgeot and Beedrill get mega-evos but not Butterfree and Fearow? Why did Glalie get one and Frosslass didn't?
Who's to say Butterfree, Froslass, Slowking etc. Won't? People put forward the same reasoning for "Why does Gardevoir get a Mega while Gallade doesn't, and why do Sceptile and Swampert not get Megas when Blaziken does", and look what happened in ORAS. At this point I think it's a very, very safe assumption that if a counterpart Pokémon gets a Mega, then it's counterpart(s) will get a Mega in the future if not at the same time.

Megas were also based on popularity, hence why all the Pokémon in your first statement got Megas (that said I really fucking wish they'd made them different and held off Blaziken till ORAS and Garchomp till some DP remake).
 
I like that a lot of bad pokemon just got viable and some good abilities got good users of them like Magic Bounce for Sableye.

Also I liked how Abilities that even got considered irrelevant were put on Pokemon that is considered pretty viable just because of that ability (I am speaking of Slowbro mainly)

I see a lot of things that Game Freak intended when they introduced the Hidden Abilities. Some pokemon with that ability just didn't work out well, so they gave Charizard, who had Solar Power which was pretty bad for it, a Mega who sets up the Sun automaticly.
That goes for Mega Gengar as well, which I didn't like.
People claim that Game Freak cares about Doubles mainly and I would argue that it is not true.
The reason for that is, that Game Freak decided not to release Shadow Tag Chandelure and in Gen 6 change its ability to Inflicator, so they made Mega Gengar who has no boosting moves like Chandelure, no powerful STAB Fire Typing, no ability to hold items etc. The thing they might not have noticed is, that Mega Gengar still turned out to be more threatening thanks to its huge movepool, good defensive typing and (suprisingly) good bulk.
Looking back to it now, a lot of people might have had Shadow Tag Chandelure in the back in their mind when Mega Gengar was suspected completely disregarding its actual role which differs from those of a normal Gengar or what Shadow Tag Chandelure suppost to be.
I think that not even Game Freak thought about that when designing it, same goes to Aegislash or Mega Kangaskan (Power-Up Punch shanadigans).

However, with ORAS I think they stopped caring about it, because of marketing purposes they made Megas such as Mega Salamence or Mega Rayquaza which competely broke the intent of balancing out the concept of Mega Evolution to begin with.

Back to things I liked about the Mega Evolution the most is that we got with Mega Charizard X a physical Dragon/Fire Type which is awesome because it can't get burned, can set up Dragon Dance, its Charizard being a Dragon finally and it actually looks badass. It is pretty much anything I wished Reshiram to be.

The Megas that I consider disappointing are for the most part those who are just a copy and past of the previous form, already viable pokemon got a buff, not improve from the base form or something we already have like Mega Banette, Mega Lati@s, Mega Glalie, Mega Ttar, Mega Gengar, Mega Blaziken, Mega Gyarados, Mega Scizor, Mega Mewtu (aspecially X because it is the ugliest thing I have seen) and Mega Garchomp (not necessary bad megas).

I am centain we will get more megas, I would be looking forward to see megas that could potencially bring new things to the table like unique types, a type combination that can fullfill the role which it should (Mega Charizard X), abilities on the right pokemon (Mega Slowbro, Mega Sableye, Mega Venusaur) or something completely unexpected like Mega Lopunny.

A fast snow warning attacker anyone?
 
I don't think Game Freak has properly thought through the whole Mega Evolution idea. For them, it's probably just an easy way to hype new games and increase sales by not patching new Mega Evolutions for older games, but it's getting out of hand. With more and more Megas coming out with every new release, not all Megas will have any proper use. We're already in a situation where many Megas are either bad or completely outclassed by some other Mega(s) (Ampharos, Banette, Abomasnow, Steelix, Medicham, Pinsir, Audino, Glalie...) and thus are never or very rarely seen anywhere. One day we'll have 150+ Megas, the power creep has gone through the roof multiple times, 80% of all Megas are useless, and you're wondering which Mega should be the one that you pick in your team. It's not going to work. The other possible scenario is that we're allowed to have multiple Megas in a team, which will turn the entire game into a Mega-centric clusterfuck of overpowered Megas checking other overpowered Megas. No matter what happens, I don't see this concept working.

Also, most of the designs are really bad. There are a couple of really good ones, such as Kangaskhan and Venusaur, because they're simple and seem like a natural progression to the Pokemon's original design, but then there are things like Tyranitar and Sharpedo that just add spikes and look horrendous. It couldn't have taken more than five minutes to design either one of those.

When it comes to the viability of Megas, there's something terribly wrong. Megas should be used to buff mediocre Pokemon, not to give blatantly overpowered new forms to already powerful Pokemon. There's no consistency in this whatsoever: some Megas have borderline broken abilities like Parental Bond, Speed Boost, and Huge Power, while some have practically useless abilities such as Sand Force (would have been good in Gen V but not anymore), Healer, and Inner Focus. Some of the Megas have 20 or more stat points wasted to stats they don't really need, and some of them are minmaxed to be as effective as possible. Megas like Audino, Ampharos, and Banette aren't even half as powerful as Salamence, Kangaskhan, or Charizard X.
 

Xen

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You're talking as if every ORAS Mega will be revealed pre-release.
lol

Mega evolution to me is pretty hit or miss. As far as why some are better than others, many of the megas, especially some of those from ORAS, seem like they were tailored-made for Smogon's lower tiers such as UU and RU (such as Sharpedo, Camerupt, etc), or for the Doubles metagame (Audino). Some megas also play an entirely different role to their standard counterparts which adds more variety to the game.

On the other hand, some megas such as Rayquaza and (argubly) Salamence should never have existed. I honestly wonder what was going through gamefreak's head when they designed mega Rayquaza.

Design-wise, I don't really mind most of them, though some are better designed than others.
 

Codraroll

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^^You could sort of say the same about most Pokémon in general. As a rule of thumb, only the 50-60 strongest fully evolved Pokémon can be considered good enough to compete at the top level of standard play. With more than four hundred fully evolved 'mons, even when the blatantly overpowered (banned) ones are subtracted, the vast majority of Pokémon don't make the cut to compete at the top level. The solution has been to create more levels of play, to encourage a battling environment where most, if not all, of the Pokémon are viable to use on some level.

Then again, this philosophy doesn't extend as well to Megas. Regular Pokémon compete for six team slots, where they can take on any role to help the team achieve victory. A weak Pokémon can be offset by the rest of the team.

Megas, on the other hand, compete for one slot. By necessity or definition, the Mega is meant to be the team's trump card, its strongest Pokémon, a fighter to turn the battle or at least to check the opposing Mega. If it isn't, well, you'd be better off using a different Mega in the first place. When picking the Mega for your team, you need to pick well, since you only get one Pokémon to fill this slot. A Mega Evolution outclassed by a non-Mega Pokémon is useless. A Mega Evolution outclassed by another Mega Evolution is also useless. Worst thing is, a bad Mega can't even always move down a tier like a regular Pokémon can, because it (or even the base form) might still be deemed too strong for the tier below.

Worst thing is, increasing the number of Megas will only exacerbate the problem in the long run. It will only harden the competition for that one slot, making it even tougher for outclassed Megas to earn that special spot on the team. You could even argue that the worse-than-worst thing is that at some point, only a fraction of Mega Evolutions will be viable for high-tier play. Say, one in five as predicted above. Now, if GameFreak releases ten new Megas, if they were to follow the same distribution of power, eight of those would go straight to the "never gonna be used" bin. A lot of marketing and hype, but ultimately, they'd be forgettable on the competitive scene. If some executive gets the brilliant idea of "let's intentionally make all the new ones strong enough to be viable, so that they'll live up to the marketing hype!", we're gonna end up in trouble. Power creep to be followed by power creep.


However, I don't look too grimly on this yet. For non-competitive purposes, every Mega so far seems to follow up with its promises good enough. A temporary boost to make any Pokémon capable of playing on a much higher level than it usually does, allowing it to effectively win most battles you set before it. Gone are the days when your ingame team struggled to beat the final boss, with a Key Stone in your pocket you can pick your favourite Mega and go to town. Even the Elite Four fall like dominoes against most Mega Evolutions. It can make a mediocre Pokémon good enough to do stuff usually reserved for late-game powerhouses. For instance, the humble Beedrill can hit harder than the hard-to-find Heracross. Mega Evolution allows Ampharos to dish out hurt on a level unheard of from even Zapdos. And in ORAS, your starter will one-hit-KO things left and right. In a non-competitive light, all Megas seem to be able to pull their weight. And Pokémon that were strong enough before, are now able to roflstomp their way through anything. Using them to do this, however, is entirely optional.

Also, with Mega Evolution, a bad Mega does not necessarily mean that the Pokémon will fall back into obscurity. I have high hopes in the Charizard/Mewtwo treatment: Multiple Megas Make Much Mediocrity Mean... Nothing.
Don't people like Mega Abomasnow? Didn't it live up to the hype despite Abomasnow heavily featuring in the anime, and now you've got sixteen warehouses full of plushies you can't sell? Take Mega Abomasnow Z, with its stats tailored to be offensive, its type changed to Grass/Fire, and an ability that makes all its moves 50 % stronger in Hail. Wasn't Mega Slowbro the success you hoped for? Mega Slowbro W got you covered, with base 140 speed and an ungodly Sp. Atk to back it up. Or is the year 2024, and you want the Hoenn Starters to be relevant again? Release new Megas that reverse the type triangle or something.

A Mega Stone is an item to be equipped, and there is already presedence for them not to be unique for every species. If a Mega fails to impress, or they feel like giving a fan favourite more publicity, they can simply create another Mega Stone for the same Pokémon. Competitively, this also gives both forms a boost: Now you can play mindgames with them too (okay, this doesn't diminish the problem of outclassed Megas, but at least it is something).


Also, we can handle broken stuff the way we've done since RBY: Ban it, create clauses, and create a healthy metagame on our own premises. There's enough non-broken content to create a fun metagame no matter the circumstances. As for outclassed Megas, they'd go the way of Lumineon, Phione, Ledian or Noctowl. The path to absolute obscurity is well-trod by many, many Pokémon already. I think we can handle stuff being useless competitively; we already have for almost twenty years. Seeing some Megas go down the same path will be sad at first, but we'll get used to it. Even in Gen. 6, several Pokémon went straight to the bottom of the barrel, and they weren't mourned by anyone.

In short, we can deal with Megas almost no matter what happens to them. I don't worry.
 

Pikachu315111

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Hmm, maybe over time they could maybe even "retire" certain Megas, replacing them with something else? They could explain it away like the Pokemon's biology "evolved" to a point where its Mega Evolution also changed.

This could also allow certain Pokemon to receive proper evolutions. Like Absol, they could give it a proper evolution, "retire" Mega Absol, and give Absol's evolution a Mega Evolution.
 

Codraroll

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As I've said elsewhere, I think the time for "proper" evolutions is over, at least for the foreseeable future. It messes too much with fan favourites, so to say.

Take Absol as an example. People generally like Absol. It has gained a sizeable following on the Internet. If Absol were to get an evolution, Absol itself would be reduced to a "transitional stage". All fans of middle-stage starters know the pain in this. Like Ivysaur, Monferno or Frogadier, Absol would suddenly get the role of "Pokémon you're stuck with until you unlock the final form".

A lot of previously popular Pokémon got this treatment in Gen. IV, and GameFreak got a lot of flak for it. Magmar, Electabuzz, Magneton, Togetic and Dusclops were all well-liked and popular, but the introduction of their evolutions sent them into obscurity. Often, their evolved forms were also regarded as objectively uglier than the cherished designs they replaced. See Magmar and Magmortar, for instance. Making new evolutions is always a gamble, as there will always be somebody who prefer the Pokémon the way they are. For them, replacing the Pokémon at the top of the evolution chain is alienating, a sign that the franchise is getting unrecognizable, so to say.

Mega Evolution bypasses this problem. It allows GameFreak to design a "stronger and cooler" successor to the Pokémon, but without replacing them. Absol is a fan favourite, but a little too weak to see use in most battles. Mega Absol solves this problem, it gives Absol a strong and viable form, but at the end of the battle, it's still an Absol and not an evolution. Absol is not replaced, it will still be your travelling companion and the Pokémon you call out of its ball. People who prefer Absol to its Mega won't have to sacrifice anything (compared to the people who, say, prefer Piloswine to Mamoswine, and thus will never realize the full potential of the Swinub line). It's a win-win situation, and I believe it is a situation that will be called upon every time an evolution of an existing design is warranted in the future. The possible exception is split evolution lines, as they don't take away the status of a previous "top-of-the-tree" Pokémon, it merely adds a new branch. We might still get the equivalents of Gallade and Froslass, and maybe even more Eeveelutions, but I think the time of the likes of Weavile and Magmortar is over.
 

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