This is for real. BlueBoyPhin uploaded a video earlier today in which he tested this out, reaching out to the people who are in charge of the Gen 4 decompilation, and they were able to get him a version of Platinum where the one and only change made was that Gaspar wasn't holding an Everstone, and when he made the trade, it still didn't evolve. Trade evolutions just don't happen in Gen 4 if the trade was an ingame one. I'm guessing they found this out very late in development, couldn't fix it in time, and so slapped an Everstone on Gaspar and made Mindy out to be a troll.

And- and this is the part Mikey is gonna love- this is actually another point against BDSP, because this was absolutely within their power to fix by then, and they decided to leave it be.

The video in question

So, I've been seeing a lot on this sub as of late of people asking what the deal is with the random titles some of the recruited Pokémon come with, why it's only on one and not the others, and does it affect anything, that sort of thing. So, I wanted to create this kind of PSA to educate about titles.

What the heck is a title?

A title is a little descriptor tacked onto the Pokémon's name. I've provided several examples of such in the images above, such as Kommo-o the Teeny, Qwilfish the Triumphant, Koffing the Recluse, and Weezing the 100x Victorious.

What the heck do titles DO?

In terms of practicality? Absolutely nothing. They are purely for the aesthetic. When you send out a Pokémon that has a title, that title is displayed to both you and your opponent. It's a fun way to showcase a Pokémon's individuality.

How the heck do I get titles on my Pokémon?

Well, if you're only using Pokémon you've recruited in Champions, they have to come with them, except for titles like Rank Master, which are granted on the basis of ranking up sufficiently. Some event distribution Pokémon in Champions will also come with the title "the Festive".

However, if you're bringing Pokémon in from the main series, it will have titles to choose from based on its Ribbons and marks. Ribbons, of course, are little awards affixed to your Pokémon for various achievements. They've existed since Gen 3, but as of Sword and Shield, each Ribbon has an associated title. My Qwilfish, for example, is a former Shadow Pokémon from Pokémon Colosseum, and thus received the National Ribbon upon being purified. That Ribbon gives it the title of "the Triumphant", so when I send it into battle, my game says, "Go! Qwilfish the Triumphant!"

Marks are similar- functionally they aren't any different from Ribbons, but marks mostly occur naturally on Pokémon found in the wild. The titles you see on Pokémon that you recruit in Champions all come from the generic random marks in the main series. Some can only be obtained in certain conditions, such as weather or time of day, and some are just universally available with varying states of rarity- the Uncommon Mark, which gives the title of "the Sociable", is the most common, while the Rare Mark, which gives the title of "the Recluse" is, as the name would suggest, the rarest kind.

There are some marks you can get on Pokémon after the fact, such as the Jumbo and Mini Marks- those two are awarded by an NPC in Mesagoza in Scarlet and Violet to Pokémon that are either the largest or smallest that their kind can possibly be. Others are silently given during gameplay, such as the Itemfinder Mark, given to Pokémon who find a lot of items for you in the overworld (title: "the Treasure Hunter").

Should I go for titles over Shinies if I have to choose between them when recruiting in Champions? ...The heck?

That is entirely up to you. Both are purely aesthetic with zero competitive advantages, so in the end, it comes down to your own personal sensibilities. Different people will have different opinions on the matter- this is a decision only you can make for yourself.

I plan to work with Pokémon I brought into Home from GO, and I don't have any main series games to work with. What the heck kind of titles can I get on them?

Well, unfortunately, there are none. Pokémon from GO won't come with any Ribbons or marks (no, not even if they had the Best Friends Ribbon in GO- that for some reason does not count), and any means to change that do require main series games. There is one Pokémon you can get with a Ribbon by just having GO and Home, however- Melmetal. At time of writing, Melmetal cannot be sent into Champions, but it's likely to change eventually, and once it does, you can bring the gift Gigantamax Melmetal in, and it will have the Premier Ribbon, giving it the title "the Celebratory".

OK, OK, I'll get a main series game. What the heck are some of my options now?

Well, by and large, the Effort Ribbon is a fairly universal option. It's awarded to fully EV-trained Pokémon and gives the title of "the Once Well-Trained". There's also Ribbons awarded for beating the Champion, varying by the game you're playing- the Sinnoh Champion Ribbon in BDSP, for example, and the Galar Champion Ribbon in SwSh (titles; "the Sinnoh Champion" and "the Galar Champion", respectively.

However, the Legends games, as well as Let's Go, simply do not deal in Ribbons or marks. Well... mostly, anyway. There is one exception- the Hisui Ribbon. This is silently awarded in Pokémon Legends Arceus to any Pokémon you take a photo with in the photography studio in Jubilife Village, and is not visible unless the Pokémon is moved into another Switch game (other than SwSh or Legends Z-A). It gives the title "of the Distant Past", and is, in my opinion, one of the cooler titles you can attain through Switch games. There is actually one more that is obtainable in both Legends games- the Alpha Mark. This mark is found on all alpha Pokémon caught in a Legends game, giving the title "the Former Alpha".

Additionally, if you choose to go with Brilliant Diamond or Shining Pearl, you can get Ribbons from winning Master Rank Contests in Hearthome City- the Coolness Master Ribbon (title; "the Former Star"), the Beauty Master Ribbon (title; "the Vintage Beauty"), the Cuteness Master Ribbon (title; "the Former Idol"), the Cleverness Master Ribbon (title; "the Historic Genius"), and the Toughness Master Ribbon (title; "the Formerly Buff"). Winning all five of these Ribbons on a single Pokémon also gives it the Contest Star Ribbon (title; "the Shining Star"), which also gives it the right to compete in a Master Rank Brilliant/Shining Contest, which awards the Twinkling Star Ribbon (title; "the Twinkling Star").

BDSP also give access to various Ribbons available on certain days of the week in Sunyshore City- the Alert Ribbon (title; "the Once Vigilant"), the Shock Ribbon (title; "the Once Cowardly"), the Downcast Ribbon (title; "the Once Shaken"), the Careless Ribbon (title; "the Once Imperfect"), the Relax Ribbon (title; "the Once Well-Rested"), the Snooze Ribbon (title; "the Once Sleepy"), and the Smile Ribbon (title; "the Once Cheery"). There are also three Ribbons available for purchase in the postgame for increasingly exorbitant amounts of Pokédollars- the Gorgeous Ribbon (title; "the Gorgeous"), the Royal Ribbon (title; "the Royal"), and the Gorgeous Royal Ribbon (title; "the Gorgeous Royal"). And of course, there is the Footprint Ribbon, which is awarded either for the Pokémon being at least 30 levels higher than the level at which it was obtained, or for reaching maximum friendship (title; "the Strutter"). The requirements vary based on the Pokémon for reasons I'm not completely clear on.

More widely available among Switch games is the Best Friends Ribbon, which is also awarded for maximum friendship (more consistently so than the Footprint Ribbon) (title; "the Great Friend").

Last, I want to cover the Partner Ribbon, obtainable on Pokémon that are offered for ingame trades by prominent characters in Scarlet and Violet, but only in the DLC, and after completing basically the entire story. These are unique, as the title changes to reflect the OT of the Pokémon. For example, if you trade to get Magnemite from Iono, the title will be "Iono's Magnemite". This Ribbon is also available on various event Pokémon with significant OTs, such as Pokémon that are meant to represent ones used by VGC winners, like Wolfe's Incineroar, or else representing characters from the Pokémon Horizons anime, like Liko's Sprigatito. Pokémon with this Ribbon aren't particularly easy to get ahold of, but it's still one of the coolest ones, so I knew it warranted mentioning.

That can't be all of them. What the heck did you leave out?

Oh, quite a bit. There's lots of titles. For a more comprehensive listing, please see Bulbapedia's page on titles. Some of them will require older hardware, however, so some titles might be inaccessible depending on how far back your game collection goes.

And I believe that's everything I had to say on the matter of titles. Hope y'all learned something today!