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Pokémon Community Thread: Gotta Catch 'Em All!

MikeMyers

Member
Wait, you beat the Elite 4 using pokemon under level 50? Under level 60 is one thing but under 50...that's pretty nuts.
I always thought Yellow had the hardest Elite 4 from any game.

Well, I had 10 Full Restores and 10 Revives.

By the time I beat Gary with just Charizard left, I had no full restores and no revives.

And yeah, Yellow E4 seems harder than the RB one for some reason.
 

ThatObviousUser

ὁ αἴσχιστος παῖς εἶ
Drake would have a Raichu plush, reaffirming his position as best Robin ever.

Also it's Grayson.
 

backlot

Member
Just got myself a 31/x/31/x/31/x prankster Sableye. I guess those are the only stats that really matter. Only took 3 eggs too.
 
Just got myself a 31/x/31/x/31/x prankster Sableye. I guess those are the only stats that really matter. Only took 3 eggs too.

Dang, son. Looks like you've got yourself a grade A troll there.

Just give it Mean Look and Toxic, then sit back and watch as people tear their hair out.
 
Man, the Deoxys battle theme was so epic. It's a shame that all of six people legitimately got to listen to it.
Definitely the best piece Junichi Masuda composed and arranged himself. I honestly think that Go Ichinose's involvement in arranging the latest battle themes heard in B/W share his battle theme style much more than they resemble Masuda's usual. But, of course, Junichi did do Deoxys, so that counts for something.

In fact, I was just reading some entries on Junichi's English blog, and his piece about N's battle theme is neato. The theme's composition is based on a sequence of prime numbers, as prime and perfect as N himself (which, as we learn later, really isn't the case outside of his proficiency in math). We could use another Pokemon music appreciation thread, so I'll get to work on it.
 
Looking back on Black and White, I really appreciate all of the little things they did with the game in order to give the characters more personality. For example, even with text speed set to "slow," N's text still moves at the fastest speed, indicating that he is a fast talker (which in and of itself is a common trait of intelligent individuals), or how Ghetsis' name stems from G'Cis, a discordant tritone, representing his chaotic personality.
 
I thought that naming him G'Cis was a stroke of genius when I first read up on it. Even if they're making these games based on a tried-and-true formula, the guys at Game Freak know how to make the little details matter a lot in a restricted developing scenario like Pokemon.

—On the other hand, I just wish Ken Sugimori and company get to make another side-scrolling platformer in the near-future. Drill Dozer was promising if neglected, and I want more music from Game Freak!

N's battle theme is amazing in both iterations, the first being more controlled and the second, though just as mathematical, clearly getting off-kilter, as if to represent some internal and external conflict affecting the player and N alike.
 
My vote for most underappreciated song goes to Unwavering Emotion, which is a beautiful, touching piano piece used in a whopping ONE scene, in a city that you may or may not have turned your volume down in.

My vote for best overall BW piece definately goes to Ghetsis' theme. I remember watching the cutscene before the battle, thinking that the game was over, when suddenly the music just drops out and DEM TIMPANI commence (playing C# and G!). I remember picking my jaw off of thr floor, then thinking to myself, "CRAP IS ABOUT TO GO DOWN!"

It was just so shocking, as no other piece of music in the series had been so intimidating or carried such weight before.

Flawless.
 
N's battle theme is indeed awesome. The second one is one of my favorites. Others would be...well, so many:
Emotion (that theme with Bianca and her father)
Route 10 (excellent lead up)
Badge Gates, and the buildup to Victory Road (the gates adding layers to the song were cool, and the final version was very 'epic' in a sense)
Opelucid City, White Version (better than Black Version lol)
Gym Leader theme (it sounded different from the usual structure gym music followed in past games, was interesting)
Credits (Completely different style than what i was expecting from these games, had a very RPGish adventure feel. Loved that last part of the song, wow)
Entralink (great track, gave me a 'fantasy' sort of feel)
Undella Town (mmm yes)
Dive (wow wow wow)

BW's music was very different, for the better. I hope GF goes in a different direction for BW2 as well, considering how we got 3 different sound styles out of the same system

*As an aside, I like the majority of DPPt music... I don't concentrate on the sample quality much.
 
That's good, but it doesn't hold a candle to the Legendary Beasts theme.

Ever since I played Silver for the first time as a young child, this piece has been my favourite track of the entire series. It's just so beautifully majestic, and yet fills you with a sense of anticipation.
 
My vote for most underappreciated song goes to Unwavering Emotion, which is a beautiful, touching piano piece used in a whopping ONE scene, in a city that you may or may not have turned your volume down in.

I like it quite a bit myself. Bianca needed something to help counteract her uneventfulness, in comparison to what Cheren got to do, so she had her little moment outside of the Musical Hall.

My vote for best overall BW piece definately goes to Ghetsis' theme. I remember watching the cutscene before the battle, thinking that the game was over, when suddenly the music just drops out and DEM TIMPANI commence (playing C# and G!). I remember picking my jaw off of thr floor, then thinking to myself, "CRAP IS ABOUT TO GO DOWN!"

Yeah, they weren't fucking around, were they? One of my favorite battle themes in the whole franchise, mainly because of the tritonality and the timpani just ravaging the whole joint. And then I hear
Dennis!
Geh-chis over and over again, much to my joy, and it returns with the timpani for maximum effect. More so than the RSE battle themes arranged by Go Ichinose, this one just went all out with the percussion, experimental and very fitting.


It was just so shocking, as no other piece of music in the series had been so intimidating or carried such weight before.

Flawless.
Definitely. I think it's effectiveness also comes down to clever pacing of cutscenes and battles in that part of the game. Everything seemed like it was over and final with N—but then Ghetsis spits out his marbles and tries to do things the crude way! And having that last conversation with N at the top of the castle, where he bid farewell and the credits ran, was an excellent choice for the main campaign. Otherwise, the staff roll music would have been a lot less effective (which I don't think it is standalone, something that Go usually accommodates for with his slower ending themes).

You seem to have an interest in musical terminology. You play any instrument(s) or what-not?

@Coltraine: Route 10 was one of three amazing route themes in the game (Route 12, Route 10, and Route 1), the only three I think were any good at the least. It fit the general atmosphere of the story like a glove, while Route 12 is simply beautiful and Route 1 is an unique, loving take on the opening route archetype. Victory Road was excellent, of course, as were both Opelucid themes (I like White better myself, but Black's version is simply awesome—much better than the abomination that is Driftveil's theme!). Entralink stuff was great, as were all of the Go Ichinose-arranged battle themes (Legendary theme included).

I like the approach used for B/W's soundtrack, as it ties in with the accessible, almost-generic JRPG feel that the team was aiming for with the story and linearity of the game itself, but I always want Game Freak to continue experimenting with new stylistic interpretations of what Pokemon music should be. Gold and Silver, for example, introduced Go's romantic melodicism and stylistic versatility to the series for the first time, leaving us with a real-cool oriental take. And Diamond and Pearl had a wondrous bluesy feel all around, with plenty of modern arrangement and more sparsely-arranged pieces going up against the usual marches that Pokemon is known for. (I've been listening to D/P's music recently, and it's really good in spite of the relatively-bad sample quality. The samples really improved after Shota Kageyama joined and lent his expertise with sound samples, but we've had less participation and representation from Go in both HG/SS and B/W compared to Hitomi Sato and Shota.)
 
Strangely, one of the pieces that is closest to my heart is the Mt. Moon theme from the original Gold and Silver.

Maybe it's the simple, scale-like melody or just the sense of wonder it invokes in me, but whenever I walk up those stairs into the sunlight and seeing those flowers swaying in the breeze, I remember why this song has always been a surprise favourite of mine.
 
Original Mt. Moon was better, and I'm certain that they changed it drastically in G/S to save memory needed for the rest of an already-compressed Kanto region. By N was that game big for its cartridge size.
 
Strangely, one of the pieces that is closest to my heart is the Mt. Moon theme from the original Gold and Silver.

Maybe it's the simple, scale-like melody or just the sense of wonder it invokes in me, but this song has always been a surprise favourite of mine.

Gen 2 has too many of my favourite songs from the series.
Route 26
Lance and Red's theme
Cherrygrove City
^That's actually the HG/SS version, and it's the one time I prefer the remake version to that of the original.

Just to name a few.


EDIT: Actually this was better than the original too. They really hit a home-run with this version I think.
National Park

EDIT2: Oh god now I'm just getting real nostalgic, clicking all the related videos haha.
Indigo Plateau
Ecruteak City
 
True as that may be, the G/S version truly needs context in order to be enjoyable.

If you can, fire up your copy of G/S and walk out into the field of flowers in the outdoor section of Mt. Moon with the volume on.

If you still don't see it, than I dunno, maybe my nostalgia is just making me delusional.
 
I currently have DPPt OST on playthrough (along with RSE), and there are a good amount of good songs from there. It definitely has more good route music than BW, and while it doens't contain my absolute favorite tracks, these are some of my likes from the game:

Opening (This recently grew onto me. The beginning is my favorite part, that lead in is very tense to me. The rest is pretty good.)
--As a side note, I found it interesting how that sort of served as the title theme, since the actual title music was just that tense buildup with some odd noises.
Route 209 (Well, it feels basic from the beginning, I mostly like what comes after that intro.)
Route 216 (walking through a heavy blizzard, with that track on, so very atmospheric.)
Route 228 [Night] (Super jazzy, one of my favorite night themes)
Mt. Coronet (Another snowy track, but it really rose in tension at the end, sort of mirroring the Dialga/Palkia event, and that climax at the end, oof)
Bike Theme (I'll go as far to say this game has the best bike theme IMO.)
Cynthia, before battle ("You are going to die", in piano form. Lovely.)

The legendary themes were awesome, and the Dialga/Palkia battle had an amazing opening.

Aside from those, most of the tracks didn't really grow on me. I didn't find the town themes too hot (most were very mellow, for lack of a better term), and the battle themes were sorta alright, but not really omg good IMO.
 
That Cynthia piano theme is a gem. I remember the first time I fought her, I just sat there and listened to that music for literally 3 minutes before advancing any of the text.
 
As much as I adored R/S/E, the music was just a tad too midi for my tastes.

When the inevitable remakes DO come, there are a few tracks in particular that would make for fine remix material:

Rival battle theme (best trainer theme in the game, IMO)

Champion theme

Mascot legendary theme

Regi trio theme

Elite four theme
I respectfully disagree. Calling it "MIDI" is, first of all, a bad example in itself because MIDI is just a method used to connect sequencing devices to on-computer systems and streamline the process of sequencing the music itself. You're talking about the choice of samples and sound quality itself, I think, which leads me to believe that it's the trumpets, horns, and odd mixture of instrument samples and GB-quality synth lines integrated throughout R/S/E's soundtrack that gets on to ya. I quite like it, as it plays into the brassy, exotic adventure theme of Hoenn.

All of those battle themes are really good, except the Champion's—never thought it stood up to the more dramatic E4 battle theme. It'll be interesting to see how they're arranged, and who arranges them. The Frontier Battle theme better get rearranged by Go Ichinose, because Hitomi reused her version of the composition from Platinum in HG/SS, which was a bit lazy. I can't imagine how good Slateport City and Route 104 might sound, knowing how good B/W sounded!

My favorite Lavender Town arrangement is the original, mainly for the album versions' reverb and for those bagpipe-like backing synths. It's genuinely unsettling, and it felt more convincing to me than the more conventional gloom-and-doom arrangement in FR/LG or the more optimistic disposition of Go's arrangement in G/S (though I love that one a lot). G/S' best aspects were the new game mechanics and the new musical styles in it, I'd say.

I currently have DPPt OST on playthrough (along with RSE), and there are a good amount of good songs from there. It definitely has more good route music than BW, and while it doens't contain my absolute favorite tracks, these are some of my likes from the game:

Opening (This recently grew onto me. The beginning is my favorite part, that lead in is very tense to me. The rest is pretty good.) Darn stunning arrangement, though it goes to show that the brassy synths from Gen 3 just don't work as well as they used to, and that shows here. I love the changes in rhythm that just come up.
--As a side note, I found it interesting how that sort of served as the title theme, since the actual title music was just that tense buildup with some odd noises.
Route 209 (Well, it feels basic from the beginning, I mostly like what comes after that intro.) Hitomi did these more basic, brassy route themes to balance out Go's more hectic and style-bridging tracks, and they're quite good.
Route 216 (walking through a heavy blizzard, with that track on, so very atmospheric.) My favorite route theme on the album. Brilliant mix of snowy atmosphere and, suddenly, a great dose of bell-ridden jazz and funk. Very well-developed.
Route 228 [Night] (Super jazzy, one of my favorite night themes) It feels a little abrupt for my tastes, and the brass samples sound weak compared to R/S/E, but it's good.
Mt. Coronet (Another snowy track, but it really rose in tension at the end, sort of mirroring the Dialga/Palkia event, and that climax at the end, oof) Snowy isn't a good word to describe "chaotic", if you know what I mean. Chaotic and complex, which is rare for Pokemon music, and that's a shame given how great this track is.
Bike Theme (I'll go as far to say this game has the best bike theme IMO.) Definitely tied with B/W's. I've always liked Go's light, windy style of cycling music, compared to Junichi's straight-ahead ska and Hitomi's jazz-fusion style.
Cynthia, before battle ("You are going to die", in piano form. Lovely.) Simply magnanimous, I must say. Glad it featured in B/W as well

The legendary themes were awesome, and the Dialga/Palkia battle had an amazing opening.

Aside from those, most of the tracks didn't really grow on me. I didn't find the town themes too hot (most were very mellow, for lack of a better term), and the battle themes were sorta alright, but not really omg good IMO.
Battle themes never got my attention, but a good number of the town themes are great (i.e. Twinleaf, Sandgem, Jubilife, Eterna, Veilstone, I could go on). Hitomi Sato's were the weakest, while Go did some of his best material here. It's a surprisingly-great soundtrack.
 
Opening (This recently grew onto me. The beginning is my favorite part, that lead in is very tense to me. The rest is pretty good.)
--As a side note, I found it interesting how that sort of served as the title theme, since the actual title music was just that tense buildup with some odd noises.
Bike Theme (I'll go as far to say this game has the best bike theme IMO.)
Cynthia, before battle ("You are going to die", in piano form. Lovely.)

Ahhhhh I still prefer the original.

The Cynthia theme is great though, and the intro was just awesome. HG/SS and B/W vastly improved on the DS pokemon formula, but nothing can top the first time you booted up Diamond or Pearl, your first foray into Pokemon on the DS. Hearing the few notes play at the beginning of the intro before a brief pause before the real theme started was really memorable for me.
 
Please excuse me for the misclassification, it's almost 1:00 AM here in Toronto and I haven't had my coffee yet.

EDIT: Looking back, I guess the reason that the music began to grate on me was because I had heard almost every track literally thousands of times before I retired my old cartridge, and so had simply grown sick of them. I do admit that most if not all of the tracks were expertly written and had a really fun feel to them; it was as Dragoon said the strange choice of samples that I was slightly dissatisfied with.
 
Well, playing the game non-stop and listening to the loud, brassy stuff got on my nerves back then too. I find that I have to play the DS games at half-volume to not disturb the rest of the family and/or my ears as well. RSE had and still has my favorite soundtrack in the series, but it's a taxing one to listen to after a while, mainly due to how in-your-face it can get. And those samples, no matter how awesome they sound, do have a lot of grain that the DS versions lost.

Which version of the Frontier Brain battle theme do you guys prefer, anyway? The one in Emerald or the one first appearing in Platinum? Two different composers/arrangers, two different styles.
 
Believe it or not, I actually prefer the Emerald version. It sounds very epic, and really hits my mental sweet spot around the 0:30 mark. The Platinum one, although still good, lacks the same sense of urgency that the Emerald version captures so well, and seems more like something you'd hear at a carnival (which, admittedly, the Battle Frontier is similar to).
 
RSE...had some of my favorite tracks. The instrumentation especially, because it was so very different from GSC. I'm a fan of the trumpets *_*.

In my opinion, this game was very good with the route music and the town music, as well as certain battle themes (the rival battle is one of the best, the Frontier Brain theme is the absolute best track, although the Plat one is no slacker).

...On second thought, the town music is mostly low-key, with few standouts.

Route 104 (Goodness, those horns)
Route 110 (the first 'adventure' track. Not quite reaching the epic sound that Route 42(GSC) gave, but still good)
Route 119 (Now this is more like it.)
Route 120 (AAaahhhh)
Route 113 (Hard to say, it has that...desert sound to it? It reminds me of another later track in the game, can't remember which. Good though.)
Marine Science Museum (One of the best non-trumpet heavy-oh wait *listens to horn at the end*. Solo at the end is awesome.)
Abandoned Ship (I'm just gonna put the anime version up, because it's 10x better)

Groudon/Kyogre themes are absolutely ridiculous in their trumpetness, and the battle themes, while they sort of blend together, still work. Gen 3's music is the one I want most to see remixed (well, they're the only one left at this point, not counting the lazy remixes in HGSS).


On the note about Mt. Coronet, I was thinking more of the beginning, the notes reminded me of the same instruments used in 216, but I do agree it gets chaotic later on.
 

Boogiepop

Member
Bah. Would be nice for my paranoia if you could check the pokemon you put in the daycare without having to take them out. Wanna confirm I put in a Deino with the particular set of perfect IVs for chain breeding, but doing so would remove it from breeding as it's passing on the egg move. Bleh.

Modest Deino:
HP: 31
Att: 4 - 5
Def: 26 - 27
SpA: 31
SpD: 6 - 7
Speed: 31

I actually had an everstone down for timid, but I think I may just go with this.
 
RSE...had some of my favorite tracks. The instrumentation especially, because it was so very different from GSC. I'm a fan of the trumpets *_*.

You and me. I love the trumpet sampling in particular—sounds so good in the Team X battle theme from RSE. The upgraded instrumentation was simply monumental for the in-game music back then.

In my opinion, this game was very good with the route music and the town music, as well as certain battle themes (the rival battle is one of the best, the Frontier Brain theme is the absolute best track, although the Plat one is no slacker).

Nearly all of the battle themes were amazing in RSE, even the Wild Pokemon Battle stuff. The only disappointing battle theme was the one Junichi did for Steven/Wallace, which was so anticlimactic after listening to the E4 theme. I prefer the Emerald version of the FB battle anthem myself—but Hitomi Sato's version is damn good.

...On second thought, the town music is mostly low-key, with few standouts.

RSE has some of the best town music in any Pokemon game, with more complex melodies and themes that still manage to be of similar memorability alongside themes from Gen 1 and Gen 2. Slateport City and Dewford Town are two of my big favorites, but subtle songs like Fallarbor Town and Sootopolis City fit in perfectly with their surroundings while making for great out-of-context listens.

Route 104 (Goodness, those horns) It feels like a well-condensed experiment in making a brassy route theme, full of adventure albeit simple and to-the-point on a structural level.
Route 110 (the first 'adventure' track. Not quite reaching the epic sound that Route 42(GSC) gave, but still good) Never liked this one as much as others, but it's definitely one of the more fast-paced and intense route themes I've heard in the series. Just wish it was more well-developed, because Morikazu Aoki had a lot of potential when she composed parts of RSE with Go.
Route 119 (Now this is more like it.) Route theme of the forever. I'm not actually certain howI'd rank it compared to every other route theme I've listened to extensively, but it's well up there in my list of favorites. Love the contrasts and dynamic changes that just come so suddenly.
Route 120 Another great one, along the same lines of Route 119 in terms of awesome.
Route 113 (Hard to say, it has that...desert sound to it? It reminds me of another later track in the game, can't remember which. Good though.) You're probably thinking of Route 111's music, which is definitely desert-oriented and Arabic in feel. This track has more of a moody feel to it, with all of the synth cascades and 6/8 feel driving you forward, as if you were on some desperate journey to get through the snowing ashes to Fallarbor. It ranks with Route 119 as one of my all-time favorites.
Marine Science Museum (One of the best non-trumpet heavy-oh wait *listens to horn at the end*. Solo at the end is awesome.) An amazing arrangement from Morikazu. She really knew how to make the S.S. Anne even better than what Go did in FR/LG (though he and Junichi opted for a more conservative series of arrangements for the remakes anyway, so...)
Abandoned Ship (I'm just gonna put the anime version up, because it's 10x better)

Groudon/Kyogre themes are absolutely ridiculous in their trumpetness, and the battle themes, while they sort of blend together, still work. Gen 3's music is the one I want most to see remixed (well, they're the only one left at this point, not counting the lazy remixes in HGSS).

Agreed on hearing it all rearranged in the inevitable remakes. The battle themes arranged by Junichi do sort of sound same-y, but Go's all have a similar style with individual distinctions implemented to make each one sound unique and refreshing. The opening to the Team X battle theme is so good, even today.

On the note about Mt. Coronet, I was thinking more of the beginning, the notes reminded me of the same instruments used in 216, but I do agree it gets chaotic later on.
Yeah, I can see what you're getting at. Mt. Coronet is, from my perspective, an evolution of the technical complexity found in both the cave dungeon themes of games past and Mt. Chimney's lovely panahce and intensity, finding a nice equilibrium that set the standard for future tracks like Sinjoh Ruins.
 
I would say something like Gen 3 having the majority of my favorite tracks out of all the games, but alas, Gen 3 isn't a super favorite in most fan's eyes, so not much discussion there (except certain supporters here, yay)

Remakes will fix that, I'm sure... *looks at GF*
 

Sofo

Member
Had my first encounter against Lugia! Used Feraligartr with avalanche, but being 38, it died against it. Then used Dragonair, which managed to get two hits thanks to Lugia's misses. Then switched in Meganium, which also died, but not before using a weak grass attack! At this point has a sliver of health (can't even see the bar), so I switch Jirachi in. Jirachi acts like a tank and takes all attacks like a champ. After 27 Ultra balls though, Lugia uses a self hitting attack and faints. ;___;

Guess I'll try later (should/can I get it shiny?).
 

Wiseblade

Member
This might be a long shot, but does anyone have a female Lightningrod Pikachu? There was an event last year in Japan giving them out, so there should be some in the wild...
 

Wichu

Member
Had my first encounter against Lugia! Used Feraligartr with avalanche, but being 38, it died against it. Then used Dragonair, which managed to get two hits thanks to Lugia's misses. Then switched in Meganium, which also died, but not before using a weak grass attack! At this point has a sliver of health (can't even see the bar), so I switch Jirachi in. Jirachi acts like a tank and takes all attacks like a champ. After 27 Ultra balls though, Lugia uses a self hitting attack and faints. ;___;

Guess I'll try later (should/can I get it shiny?).

You can get it shiny. But should? Unless you want to waste weeks of your life, probably not.
or just learn to RNG
 

backlot

Member
Bah. Would be nice for my paranoia if you could check the pokemon you put in the daycare without having to take them out. Wanna confirm I put in a Deino with the particular set of perfect IVs for chain breeding, but doing so would remove it from breeding as it's passing on the egg move. Bleh.

Modest Deino:
HP: 31
Att: 4 - 5
Def: 26 - 27
SpA: 31
SpD: 6 - 7
Speed: 31

I actually had an everstone down for timid, but I think I may just go with this.

For future reference you can just save your game and take the Pokemon out and check. After that reset your game without saving and he'll still be in daycare.
 

EvilMario

Will QA for food.
This might be a long shot, but does anyone have a female Lightningrod Pikachu? There was an event last year in Japan giving them out, so there should be some in the wild...

I'll give you a female offspring after I breed mine down. I can do it later today. ;)
 
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