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

[Ultima Shadow]

I don't think it's enough of a nerf to make most of the other alternatives viable, but we'll see.

I'm also worried about how it will change growth and progression in the single player game. Pokémon generally start with weaker moves and learn stronger ones as they level (and Pokémon and TMs acquired later are similarly more powerful). If things get balanced to make everything competitively viable, that entire growth curve, which has served the series very well, goes out the window.

Yeah, it probably won't. But it's a possibility at least.

And I wouldn't worry about that. It's not like Mud Slap is going to suddenly become as good as Earthquake. I'm thinking more like Heatwave and such moves that you would learn pretty late anyway will be more viable as an alternative to Fire Blast etc.

But I am wondering just how useful that information will be when you're not facing a "max Sp Attack *insert pokemon*". I mean, who is going to get even close to that on the legendaries or event Pokémon? And how many people are going to have the patience to get those on the Pokémon that can be bred, knowing how long it can take?

I think some of the most popular Pokémon transferred are going to be max IV Dittos, just for breeding. Along with possible Synchronize Pokémon for Nature farming.

It's actually not THAT hard to reach 30-31 in just one or even two stats. At least not if you already have some solid breeding pokemon. You're right about the legendaries though. They will have a hard time. But all breedable pokemon can still get there.

And yes, if people can transfer over full 31 dittos, then getting pokemon with at least tripple 31's won't be hard at all. I don't remember the exact numbers, but I think either the mom or dad has something like a 50% chance to give its own value in a stat to the child. And this "check" goes through all of the stats. So yeah. "Maxed" pokemon will be less common, but they will probably not be entierly gone either.

IVs are only a portion of it. How many different Pokémon breakdowns suggest "Hidden Power Grass" or something similar, dependent on having a HP70 IV spread? How many require egg moves (or worse, chain breeding) to learn the moves? How many Pokémon setups do they have that you can't even get (like, for example, Blaziken, who was only ever available with Speed Boost in Japan until the XY starter event, yet has that ability in every Smogon breakdown).

And, sure, maybe Smogon does base their systems on an online simulator. But I think a lot of their followers and fans look forward to be able to use the systems and setups in their actual games. And I think losing that ability is going to hurt them somewhat.

Yeah, though since HP gets nerfed quite a bit, it will be a less common move even on Pokemon Showdown anyway. Chain breeding takes time and effort, but is doable and I rememeber doing it back in Emerald. And while it makes it harder to abuse a super-ditto, you can still do it to a degree by first breeding a good pokemon of the kind that you then want to move-breed with etc.

I actually hope that you are right, since that would make people use more creative setups of their own instead of "copy-pasted from smogon". But I'm pretty certain that people will find ways to breed pokemon with super high IV stats and smogon recommended movepools with relative ease (at least if maxed dittos are transferable). But once again, we'll just have to see. Perhaps they have adjusted breeding somehow too to prevent that?

In that case, I think I'm going to have to say I was wrong about losing the Mega Evolution when you switch out. The right counter can pretty much force a switch, and if you lost the Mega form and couldn't get it back in that battle, it would make certain Pokémon worthless. I mean, imagine you setup a Physical, Psychic/Fighting moveset, with proper EVs, for your Mewtwo, anticipating the Mega-Evolution, and then lost it. Mewtwo is then worthless to you, as without the Physical boost (and STAB), those moves are junk with normal Mewtwo's stats.

They might still restrict that, but it would make Mega-Evolution very risky.

Yeah, pretty much. On the other hand, sice the mega evolution doesn't even seem to cost a turn, I think I still wouldn't mind if you'd lose it when switching out. It's better to make something very situational than game-breaking after all. And if you lose it when switching, you'd really have to save it for the right moment and use it very wisely instead of just going for it right away.

Edit: mega evolutions do stay after switching out.