r/TruePokemon

I'd say a cassowary - it already looks like a Pokemon, it would be easier than Flamigo to come up with a concept.

More generally, it's wild to me that there's only a single shark (ok two if you count Garchomp) or whales given how many different kinds there are IRL, but we have no shortage of cats.

I got Blue version waaaaay back in '98 when I was 4 at Christmas. Even then, I hated trade evolutions. Then Gold came out and got that plus a strategy guide (which in a way helped me learn to read at 6) and when it showed more trade evolutions I was even more befuddled.

Took a long break during my teens from Pokemon and didnt come back into it until a few years ago when I decided to try Arceus and I had a great time. The Switch vouchers were still a thing and I even decided to use some to get Sword and Brilliant Diamond, Arceus got me back into the franchise after roughly 15 years. Arceus gave me a good belly laugh when I found the link cable item and was able to evolve the original 4 Pokemon that needed trading (Golem, Gengar, Machamp, Alakazam) and it made me appreciate the game even more. I was able to effectively play at my own pace.

ZA comes along, I see in a store in the game Gengarite and thought "oh I could get a link cable item again and get Mega Gengar!" only to find that no such item existed in ZA. Can't just give Onix a metal coat anymore either, gotta trade. No longer can I play at my own pace: I have to stop my progress, try and find a person online, trade with them, and pray they trade it back. Worse if I want to evolve and Alpha or Shiny Pokemon.

Today I find myself in an annoying spot: I decided to restart my ZA and go through the game again (I also did that with Arceus) and I find myself in a dumb spot thanks to the necessity of trade evolutions and how trade evolution items are given in game. I cant get a metal coat until much much later in the game, even though I can buy a Steelixite as soon as I get to the Stone Emporium. So the most efficient way is to trade with a stranger my Onix, they give it a metal coat, then send it back. Why allow me to get an item for a Pokemon I'm effectively not allowed to have until the last quarter of the game?

Even worse with the need to trade away Pokemon for evolutions, any Alpha or Shiny Pokemon you get are stuck that way until you find a trustworthy trade partner. I have a Shiny Phantump, wasn't hunting for it it just happened. Cool. Can't do anything with it... in Arceus I got Shiny Abra and Geodude just from wandering around and thanks to the link cable item I was able to evolve them myself. No hassle, no Discord, no Reddit, nothing extra outside the game itself.

I really don't understand why there's an insistence on trade evolutions. It's basically like saying I can't play with this one toy in a box unless I have my friend over and he wants to play with it too. I was a very introverted kid so I mostly just kept to myself so I never got any trade evolutions in the generations I grew up with EXCEPT Gen 3 thanks to the wireless adapter that came with Fire Red/Leaf Green. Even the other kids I knew also used Action Replays and Game Sharks for their games just to bypass any trade evolutions (and version exclusives too) so from the kids I knew growing up any intent on "community" was a failure. Even if I use the Austin John codes here on Reddit there's no guarantee someone wouldn't snipe my Shiny from me. No way to report to anything in game, it'll just be gone. Arceus proved that this gimmick is entirely unnecessary and really adds nothing to the gameplay of the one game I did buy. When the servers go down, what do I do? (I know its barely a year old but the point still stands)

I imagine I'm preaching to the choir but tonight really annoyed the crap outta me and replaying this game, while enjoyable in moments, sucks the fun when a Pokemon I want is locked away by a multiplayer function that has zero moderation in-game. Its bothered me since I was 4. The Gen 4 trade evolutions were one reason I stopped. Some time ago a buddy helped me in getting a Poliwhirl in Crystal version on the 3DS and it felt weird, a Pokemon that I always could've had took this long to finally get because it required another person with another copy to help me get it.

There's nothing wrong with me wanting to put my feet up and play any Pokemon game (or any single-player game for that matter) at my own pace, but effectively I can't because of a backwards and unnecessary mechanic. I hope things change after Winds and Waves, they took out HMs eventually so why not trade evolutions?

Rant over, had to vent that out.

I dont rlly like this series idk why, controversial or not i js hate it.

I've gone through each of the evil teams and have selected every Pokemon they use, including the rust syndicate, so I can do a tournament style elimination to determine which team is the most powerful. Since the Rust syndicate aren't necessarily evil I am mixed as to whether they should be counted and i'm curious on other people's thoughts

I’m starting to get back into pokemon after 10 or so years and I’ve recently discovered that a team aqua’s kyogre ex psa 10 sells for around ~380k at the moment (correct me if I’m wrong please). I’ve always wondered why I’d never see psa 10 listings for this card, I guess because it’s so rare.

I have one of these cards with fairly minimal damage, and I’d like to get it graded but want to send it to get repaired first so I can ensure it gets a 10 when graded. I’m looking for recommendations on where to send it to be repaired, simply looking for the best.

When it comes to actually grading the card, I know psa has done some questionable things in the past, intentionally give out 9s to keep the population of 10s low, i’ve heard that they’ve switched out cards before, overall just suck at a grading as well. But if i were to send it to say cgc, tag, or really any other grading company, would it still be worth the same amount if I had gotten it graded with psa?

If I were to actually get a 10, would it be worth selling it now, or holding it? The raw value of the card has been going up, not too sure how closely that correlates to the graded value though.

I would’ve attached a couple pictures of the card but I guess I can’t add any in this subreddit :(

For the past week, when I go to bed, I’ve tried listing all 151 Kanto pokemon in my head.

it has worked like a charm for calming my thoughts, keeping me focused on something semi simple and rote, and it’s lowkey been a lot of fun!

I get in bed and immediately count to 15 for the starters and the Weedle and Caterpie line cause those are basically gimmies. My strategy is to try to name all the standout pokemon, single evolution lines, the trade lines, the end of the Pokedex, and I even count on my fingers. I can usually get to 80-120.

that’s when the real trick starts. When I start going through Pokemon in my head, I try to think of core memories from the videogames to see if any lines stick out from that. Last night I named Hitmontop and Hitmonlee for the first time, I had totally forgotten about them until I thought of that dojo.

and the trick is that as I focus on trying to name the next pokemon, sometimes my mind wanders into la land, and I let it. Next thing I know, I’m asleep and haven’t even hit 151

and I assume you could do it with any region you’re pretty familiar with, or even the whole Pokedex if you’re too good!

i haven’t tried it yet, but I think it would also be good for anxious moments in public or intimate moments in private (like how some guys say to take their minds off “things” they rattle off baseball statistics in their head, so why not Pokemon?)

would love to let other people know about this trick, and see what they think! Also I’m sure I’m not the first person to think of it