Unpopular opinions

Here are my thoughts on the rivals:

- I found Blue decently challenging since he picked very powerful and rare mons for his team, some of the best in Gen 1: Rhydon, Exeggutor, Alakazam, etc. Problem is, the AI and movepools suck...I still find him a good rival but not the best. He got better characterization on later games, when he isn't your rival anymore. Trace is pretty bland imo, and taking the role of the antagonistic Blue in a remake of RBY is not doing him any favors. He even has the same champion battle theme, which doesn't fit him AT ALL.

- Silver is...hilariously easy to beat even on his final matches despite all his talk about being strong and invencible. Nevertheless, he shows a very notable development after he gets beaten by Lance, starting questioning his flawed ideology and becoming a better trainer, which is among my favs. It gets even better in HGSS, where it's finally addresses he stole his starter and got a nice resolution out of it. Also, by fully confirming his family ties to Giovanni.

- Agreed with May/Brendan being forgetabble, these guys suck and left a dirty mark on friendly rivals. They even gave up on their journey wtf? Wally should be the main rival, having more humble origins and becoming an outstanding trainer, yet the game barely focuses on him...

- Barry is my favorite rival, unless we count N, like the tier list below does. He mixes well being your reliable friend from childhood, and also being a bit of an impatient prick. I remember he gets so cocky when he finds out the art of "just avoid all hits, attack and win lol" which translated to Staravia double teaming, and that fails. Yet, despite his lack of patience, he has Heracross and Munchlax, two of the hardest mons to find in Sinnoh. He gets beaten by Jupiter and realizes he needs to get serious and heklps you later on.

- I like Bianca a bit better than Cheren because I found her journey more relatable and interesting, but Cheren is also a pretty good character; both representing the Truth and Ideals motif of the game. Hugh has his own journey at chasing down Team Plasma, I think you get to team up more than you get to fight him, which is a nice change of pace.

- Do I really need to say why gen 6 rivals bad? Calem/Serena are marginally better, but their character and interactions are so barebones I couldn't care less, unlike....

- Hau, his easy going nature becomes a problem later on in the game when he fails to protect Lillie and realizes he needs to get serious, which Gladion called him out in Akala Island. While Gladion gets screwed by his lack of trust and communication, which Hau is good at. I wouldn't say he's a jerk rival since he respects your strength when you first met him.

- On gen 8 we got Nice Mean and In between rival dynamic. Hop was pretty good: being your childhood friend having dreams of following his bro's steps only to get a massive reality check courtesy of Bede, which really shows on his team building. He always showed interest in Sonia's work and the desir to help Pokémon, so I liked that he wants to be professor instead.

Unlike Gladion, Bede was a JERK, but like Silver, not a very challenging one. He has an interesting backstory in his trainer card and a deep loyalty to Rose, but it's like never brought up despite how potentionally good it could have been in the story, and disappears from most of the game. I like his eventual change to Fairy Gym, being more fabulously stylish and slighty more open to you despite still being a showoff.

Marnie was there. Despite being more present than Bede, she (and Team Yell as a whole) felt even more disconnected to the plot. I know she is the middle ground between Hop's friendliness and Bede's aggresiveness, but I wasn't sure what to think of her or if she really changed at all during this journey (she didn't want to be the Dark Gym Leader but she ends up with the title with little fanfare and she doesn't even appear in the postgame story), so I found her boring. Maybe if she had a more Tsunder-ish dynamic, or if she were more openly cold but not a jerk, I would've liked her better. Also, I'm lowkey salty she was selected as the best SwSh character in a poll in Japan, but at least that means this mini rant completely counts as an "unpopular opinion".

The two IoA rivals, Klara and Avery, were ok, with both being haughty yet insecure trainers that try to one up you and hilariously fail at it. I personally like Klara a bit better since she tries so hard to look sweet, not even bothering to hide her venom shortly after. Also, these two guys are the first trainers to fight you with you being at disadvantage, it surprises me it took 8 generations and a dlc for the bad guy to actually cheat, and it's not even a main villain that does it.

I remember I did a tier list a few weeks before:
tier list pokemon rivals.png
 
Honestly i feel like all my unpopular opinions are biased bc i played these games when i actually had a brain (child me did not have a brain. i was the definition of head empty). I find most games easy bc they are pretty easy for adults. I never had any connections to most characters and legendaries until now bc i didnt have that childlike wonder you have when playing games.

Also ign was right. 7.8/10 too much water
 
Honestly i feel like all my unpopular opinions are biased bc i played these games when i actually had a brain (child me did not have a brain. i was the definition of head empty). I find most games easy bc they are pretty easy for adults. I never had any connections to most characters and legendaries until now bc i didnt have that childlike wonder you have when playing games.

Also ign was right. 7.8/10 too much water
Obligatory reminder that there isn't too much water in Hoenn, there isn't enough biodiversity in the water in Hoenn (and in general, as any game with more than two water routes will remind you).
 
Obligatory reminder that there isn't too much water in Hoenn, there isn't enough biodiversity in the water in Hoenn (and in general, as any game with more than two water routes will remind you).
I mean, i do feel there also is too much "water" bc of 3 obligatory water hms, annoying encounters (its a cave area but worse) with a ton of npc ready to fight you with the exact same pokemon youre seeing in the ocean.

the only good thing is that surfing is fast (faster than gen 4 anyways) and diving can avoid encounters pretty easily.
 
I think that pikachu's old cry was cuter. It's obviously more artificial-seeming, but considering my list of cute mons also includes Magnemite and Porygon, that's not much against it. I think it worked quite well for a less aggressive electric-type. On the other hand, a clear voice line doesn't do anything for me.
 
For what it is worth, I always enjoyed the Gen 6 rivals the most. I liked how Serena was set up to be the ace of the group until you just roll into town and take the title. I enjoyed it because, for once, the game has the rival acknowledge how you are superior and how she copes with losing her predestined role. It beats Blue and Silver blatantly ignoring reality by pretending how they are so strong right after I swept them.

As for the Trio, I appreciated how they represented each niche: Collecting, gimmick team, and just enjoying the journey.
 

Winry

Super Graduate-Level Napper
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max raids have shown to me that the whole battling system needs a complete overhaul next gen. it's becoming incredibly clunky and hard to transition back to after playing other games that aren't so slow (I don't even think I could go back and play the old Pokemon games anymore when everything was even slower). this is not just exclusive to max raids obviously, but it's why I hate this feature, each battle is so slow for like no reason.

like I personally don't understand why we have so many text boxes and why each effect needs it's own line and pause AFTER the action has been done. ex when you use a boosting move, you see the text box of your mon using the move, plays the boosting animation, then the text box displays the effect. or when a dynamax Pokemon puts up a shield you see the shield go up then a text box explaining it. or when you get a crit that gets its own text box and a pause too. why aren't these things happening at the same time why do I have to sit through each individually.

also clunky stuff like when you use multi hit moves on a dynamax Pokemon you have to sit through a zoom in, attack animation, zoom out, zoom in, attack animation, repeat, then "it's super effective," followed by "x used the move y times." it just looks really bad and I don't think there's any excuse for keeping it like this anymore.
 
Marnie was there. Despite being more present than Bede, she (and Team Yell as a whole) felt even more disconnected to the plot. I know she is the middle ground between Hop's friendliness and Bede's aggresiveness, but I wasn't sure what to think of her or if she really changed at all during this journey (she didn't want to be the Dark Gym Leader but she ends up with the title with little fanfare and she doesn't even appear in the postgame story), so I found her boring. Maybe if she had a more Tsunder-ish dynamic, or if she were more openly cold but not a jerk, I would've liked her better. Also, I'm lowkey salty she was selected as the best SwSh character in a poll in Japan
Why does anyone like Marnie? I mean I don't dislike her but she is about as important as wallpaper and about as memorable
seriously, there's no reason for her popularity unless you count those creeps that like to sexualize pre-pubesent cartoon girls and they do that for every pre-pubesent cartoon girl

sincerely what is the reason that this character has been deemed popular? it really makes no sense
 
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Why does anyone like Marnie? I mean I don't dislike he but she is about as important as wallpaper and about as memorable
seriously, there's no reason for her popularity unless you count those creeps that like to sexualize pre-pubesent cartoon girls and they do that for every pre-pubesent cartoon girl

sincerely what is the reason that this character has been deemed popular? it really makes no sense
If I had to guess, it's probably her whole aesthetic and the fact that she strikes a good balance between seeming kind of edgy or dark and then nice/not scary. Or maybe it's mostly the creepy stuff...who knows.
 
max raids have shown to me that the whole battling system needs a complete overhaul next gen. it's becoming incredibly clunky and hard to transition back to after playing other games that aren't so slow (I don't even think I could go back and play the old Pokemon games anymore when everything was even slower). this is not just exclusive to max raids obviously, but it's why I hate this feature, each battle is so slow for like no reason.

like I personally don't understand why we have so many text boxes and why each effect needs it's own line and pause AFTER the action has been done. ex when you use a boosting move, you see the text box of your mon using the move, plays the boosting animation, then the text box displays the effect. or when a dynamax Pokemon puts up a shield you see the shield go up then a text box explaining it. or when you get a crit that gets its own text box and a pause too. why aren't these things happening at the same time why do I have to sit through each individually.

also clunky stuff like when you use multi hit moves on a dynamax Pokemon you have to sit through a zoom in, attack animation, zoom out, zoom in, attack animation, repeat, then "it's super effective," followed by "x used the move y times." it just looks really bad and I don't think there's any excuse for keeping it like this anymore.
Agree with most of this but not sure what you mean by saying that battles were slower in older generations. As a whole, move animations were faster in the 2D games and barring stuff like horrible HP drain rate in Gen 4, I feel like most of the messages displayed quicker and resolved faster, too. I don't have numbers to support this, though.

A lot of out-of-battle aspects were slower in older generations, though, I agree with that. Maybe that's what you mean?
 

Pikachu315111

Ranting & Raving!
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SM Lusamine was under the influence of Nihilego toxins
she's still a shit person but kinda good intentions if you consider nihilego's toxin bullshit amplifying/shifting it into full obsession from "finding her husband". really wish SM actually told what happened after lillie left + lusamine's fall from ""grace"" but like we're probably not getting that ever
Actually she wasn't infected by the toxins. I made the same mistake too after reading Nihilego's dex description, but thinking about it that doesn't make sense. Nihilego breaking into the Aether Foundation (and defeated by the player) was the first time Lusamine physically encountered one (though she knew about them from the notes Mohn left). She wasn't poisoned by them at least until she went to their world. No, Lusamine pretty much went insane after Mohn vanished into Ultra Space. Remember he cruelty wasn't because she hated her kids, rather it was because she was emotionally controlling and manipulative. I'm going to guess this is because she didn't want to lose anyone else she loved so "tightened the leash", meanwhile she began researching to explore Ultra Space likely to find Mohn but she became just as obsessive over the Nihilego. She was willing to do this no matter the cost, cancelling & freezing the Beast Killer project and torturing the Cosmog that Mohn had also left behind. Gladion opposed the freezing of the Beast Killers, the Type: Nulls, so took one and ran away. That probably did a number on Lusamine's already fractured psyche, was one thing to lose a loved one but to then have one betray her despite "showering" them with her love. So she began to close herself off, completely abandoning those that she lost (Mohn and Gladion) and instead focusing on the Nihilego... and Lillie. And then when Lillie managed to run away and this time with the Cosmog that was vital to Lusamine's plans did she probably decide to abandon the whole world entirely and go to live with the Nihilego.

the anime was kinda weird making lusamine Not the antagonist but it fleshed her out more
That was likely due to the change of making it a slice of life series where Ash is going to school with several of the Trial Captains and Lillie. They couldn't have Lillie if Lusamine was like she was in the games so toned down her insanity and kept her "smothering" trait hence the conflict with Lillie (which unfortunately took a lot away from Lillie's character as her whole thing was building up the courage to confront her mother. Poignant in the games where Lusamine is a psycho sociopath that Lillie is afraid of, less so when their biggest argument in the anime was whether they should evolve a Clefairy and Lusamine going ahead without Lillie's approval because she thought it was "cuter" as a Clefairy. I think maybe the anime wanted to show in this regard Lillie isn't anymore different from Lusamine in having strong (& selfish) convictions... but they wanted that "big moment" from the games too).

swsh's gameplay mightve been Wack but its character list was genuinely memorable and the way they were written is Very Good
*Glares at Rose.*

Is this a prank?
This is Unpopular Opinions. In which anything positive about SwSh would qualify.
Much like with Lysandre, Rose had a good setup to be an interesting & unique villain... but they cut way too many corners with SwSh that they didn't make the landing. Not sure if we needed more interactions, but Rose being the villain felt out of nowhere. Compare to Ghetsis, Lusamine, and even Lysandre who were presented as "good" characters when you first encounter them but there was these odd extravagances about their characters which told you there was more going on under the hood.

None of the admins stand out competitively or charismatically. It's plain that there is no-one among them with an ounce of the charisma or decisiveness that Giovanni had, and they are completely lost: there's no actual overarching plan to their schemes beyond "try and get Giovanni back".
*Takes a look at recent political events*

And who said Pokemon wasn't prophetic...
I remember I did a tier list a few weeks before:
tier list pokemon rivals.png
Not that I'm arguing against this, it's your opinion obviously, but I feel at least Shauna could be bumped up to a D as her character arc had way more going on than Tierno and Trevor (I'd argue she even has more depth than the opposite gender rival).

Also I don't feel Hop is quite an S, or Hau is just an A. I feel wherever you place one you kind of place the other as they have a number of similarities or parallel foils.

Also the cynic in me wants to place Trace in F cause of the stupid reason they made him.

Wally's theme in ORAS sucks.
I like it more as an encounter theme than a battle theme.

Obligatory reminder that there isn't too much water in Hoenn, there isn't enough biodiversity in the water in Hoenn (and in general, as any game with more than two water routes will remind you).
Hence too much water. Yeah, if they made the different areas of water interesting then this complaint wouldn't hold much water *dodges brick* but all water routes feel too much like the same so when you get to that part of the game you feel a bit of a drag (probably not helped with random encounters on the water).

I genuinely hope that getting a new Meowth form becomes a staple on every game with regional variants in them. I require my multi-colored coin cat army
Like, they might as well. There's plenty of cat breeds out there *waits for Tabby Meowth to name him Garfield, bonus if that region's food specialty is lasagna (Italian region? It can be a Fire-type that likes spicy pasta as it uses the pepper's capsaicin, tomato's acidity, & pasta's carbohydrates to fuel its flames. Maybe have it evolve into a Fire/Grass-type that grows its own peppers & spices)*

Why does anyone like Marnie?
Like mentioned above, they probably like her character setup and what potential it had/implied then what we actually was shown in the games.

When you think about it Marnie has a lot of weight on her shoulder. She loves her hometown and the people in it, but it's dying because the Chairman of the Pokemon League doesn't like it doesn't have a Power Spot and her older brother Piers is barely holding the city together as its Gym Leader. She decides the only way things are going to get better is to become Champion and bring attention to Spikemuth's plight. But things only get more difficult when the Gym Trainers form a fan group they call "Team Yell" to not only root her on but also cause trouble for the other Gym Challengers. Marnie wants to do this legit to best get people's support, but Team Yell's antics look bad on her as they portray her as their leader, but she knows they only mean well and doesn't want them to be punished. So, in addition to participating in the Gym Challenge, she needs to be on top of Team Yell as they'll listen to her if she tells them to stop. Menawhile everyone else sees how Marnie is dressed and that she "leads" Team Yell so assume she's some edgelord/egotist girl who's trying to push her way to the top by having Team Yell bully others, so it's a surprise when you interact with her she's actually reserved and a sweet girl. Yeah, she does have some "bite" to her as she wants to be Champion and is a Dark-type user, but she's not bad and wants to prove herself to be a trainer that is to be respected.
 
Im tired of seeing the gen 4 battle revolution being used as the great examples of battle animation that gamefreak should take.

No offense to those who like the game, but the animations in that game are slow and look really ugly. The fact pokemon just walk towards the enemy really breaks any sense of immersion and makebelive that the games try to put and just says "yeah theyre actually standing like that and waiting each turn, no actual fight happening under the game mechanics of a turn base game, its just how it actually is" and it bothers me a lot.

The animations take so long for everything. It takes long to do a move, it takes long for a pkmn to recover from a move, it takes long for a pokémon to faint. It looks nice in the first 10 minutes and quickly turns into a snooze fest. It being online, with lots of wait probably give them leeway, but if those animations were used for a main pokémon game i'd never turn animations on again
 

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