Pokemon Gen 6, X & Y announced; worldwide release in October

[Ultima Shadow]

Yep. Not guaranteed, but I think it's likely. It adds some balance to the Mega-Forms.

Also, how often do you switch Pokémon around in combat? I mean, Intimidate doesn't get that many uses for me in a typical battle anyway. Playing single player, I almost never pull a Pokémon, instead only switching after the opponent faints and I get my free switch. So I would usually only get a maximum of three uses of Intimidate anyway. And Mold Breaker is pretty awesome. It would negate Flash Fire, Water Absorb, Volt Absorb, Levitate, Sap Sipper, etcetera. Negating Water Absorb on a Quagsire can make Mega Gyarados's water attacks hit a lot harder.

Depending on the team I'm using and the team I'm facing, I might actually switch around a whole lot. And even if I only switch in Gyara twice in a battle, Intimidate will usually be very relevant both of those times. Only in online-play though. Switches are less relevant against the in-game AI trainers. And Mold Breaker is a great ability too, but I'm just a really big fan of Intimidate.

Ghost/Dark is now weak to Fairy. No more Wondertombs.

Oh! Didn't notice! Well, then that typing isn't quite as crazy anymore.

I liked it better when it was a living sword, not a shield holding a sword. But oh well.

It's actually still a sword. A sword holding a sheild and not the other way around. It's easier to see in its attack form I guess.



And apparently, it switches mode at the same time it uses a move, but it starts out in defense mode. And it's actually best that way, since this makes it one of the best Scizor-counters ever. A max attack CB scizor would 5-hit KO it at best as long as it stays in the defensive form and has a 252 HP investment. Unless the Scizor switches out immediately, it could get two sword dances in, OHKO Scizor with Sacred Sword and then OHKO or 2HKO pretty much everything else in its path with Shadow Sneak.

It seems like it also has a move that works like Protect, but reduces the opponent's Attack at the same time as an additional bonus, which makes it even better and gives it an instant and safe defense-mode switch option.

I think the tier system is going to be torn to shreds when people realize that there isn't a cheat system for the 3DS, and lose their ability to create custom Pokémon at will. Smogon is certainly going to have to rethink its systems.

Possibly, though it will still be relevant at online battle sites. And even though it's almost impossible to get full 31's, it's completely possible to get 30-31 in the stats that matter the most. For example, I've managed to breed a Gyara that has 30 attack, 31 Speed and 28-30 in all the defensive stats. It's not quite the same as a full 31, but it's close enough that it won't really matter most of the time.

I suppose the new movepools are a possibility. Since GameFreak does actually seem to be looking at the old Pokémon, even a little. Maybe they'll finally realize that the Eeveelutions really need more than their STAB attacks to survive.

90% of Pokémon don't have Hidden Power 70 anyway. Honestly, the move is already so gimmicky, and now they're reducing it even more?

One can always hope.

And yeah, that's true. Now, it will hardly be worthwhile at all since a decent resisted STAB move probably will do as much as a super effective Hidden Power anyway in a lot of cases.

Edit: Fireblast, Thunder and Blizzard also get reduced to 110 instead of 120.