6th Gen Horde Battles

Horde battling is a new feature introduced in X and Y. When you run into hordes, you guy up against multiple wild Pokémon at once. So, tell us--what are your overall opinion on this? Do you like it, or dislike it? Which Pokémon was your first horde? How often do you find yourself encountering hordes?

I would have liked it way better if you could send tow pokemon out, sort of like a typical role playing party, and just battle like a regular RPG, however 5 on one, even when they're not a difficult battle is just SO tedious and boring. You can make 1 move, then have to wait for all 5 opponents to make their move. Then there's the chance that they all lower one of your stats, or if you miss then you need to wait for everything to move, it's just long and tedious that I don't even bother with them anymore. I just run away unless there's a pokemon I need within the horde. IT wasn't a very well thought out system as far as I'm concerned, and they really should have had 2 vs 5 at least because, as I said, it's not challenging, it's just laborious and boring.

I honestly don't like it, especially because it takes a whole minute just to do a turn. I know you can turn the animations off, but really?

It's a shame they didn't go for 4 vs. 2 on Hordes as it'd have been less Tedious.


Really, it'd have been nice to have the option of double battling wild pokemon at all times by either Options menu or a switchable item....


As for why it's 1 vs. 5, I Guess 4 isn't enough for GF to call them a "horde" and the game can only render 6 Pokemon at a time

The implementation was a bit clunky, probably because of the hardware limitations (speak: lags, lots of), but it helps a lot in EV training. Combined mit Pokerus, Power Items and drugs you usually can max out your EVs in less than six battles. Making some Hidden Abilities obtainable without Friend Codes is also neat.

Still, we want to punch the one who thought it was a good idea to let some of them spam Sand Attack, especially when there is no Keen Eye Worry Seed.

Originally, I hated them for the fact that they were so annoying, like when five Scraggy would gang up on you and use Leer and Sand-Attack, which wasn't fun. That is, until I realized that moves like Surf, Earthquake, Rock Slide and Dazzling Gleam can beat them in a cinch. They're still rather annoying if you don't have those moves, even despite their lower levels.

I find hordes annoying if you don't have moves that hit multiple targets, so I always try to carry those moves in case I want to take the hordes out quickly. At least they give a solid amount of EXP out when you knock all the Pokemon out at once. As for my first horde encounter, it was a Gulpin horde on Route 5.

I even got something with its hidden ability out of one of the hordes, a Scraggy with Intimidate. Didn't even know she had the ability until after she was caught.

When I'm not EV training or HA hunting, hordes are pretty annoying so I tend to run from them all during normal play. I still hate sitting through the turns when I'm HA hunting. Ain't nobody got time for that. But goodness gracious are hordes fantastic for EV training. <3 Overall, I think theyre pretty nice.

My first horde was a Plusle horde and I thought the dang Minun was a shiny Plusle at first. >:(

Hikamaru said:

I find hordes annoying if you don't have moves that hit multiple targets, so I always try to carry those moves in case I want to take the hordes out quickly. At least they give a solid amount of EXP out when you knock all the Pokemon out at once. As for my first horde encounter, it was a Gulpin horde on Route 5.

I even got something with its hidden ability out of one of the hordes, a Scraggy with Intimidate. Didn't even know she had the ability until after she was caught.

Click to expand...

Yeah, it really sucks. When you do a battle and a pokemon's hidden ability comes into effect, it should TELL you or show you which one used the ability, intimidate, or rain dish, w/e it may be.

I actually like Hordes, though there are a few things about them that really bother me, namely when they spam status moves on you, and the intense lag that can sometimes occur. I really don't mind how long it takes to do one move, but the fact that the frame rate sometimes goes way down is a little awkward.

Since the pokemon are much lower leveled, it's also usually easy to just Run if you don't have anything to take them all out in one hit and don't feel like dealing with one at a time.

Defeating all pokemon at once for EVs or experience is pretty useful too :) And some hordes made me smile a lot, like Spinda hordes, and the ones with Zangoose/Seviper where they attack each other. hehehe. Oh yeah and when Sudowoodo is in a horde with Trevenant... he wants so badly to fit in with the other trees. ^_^

I personally love hordes; they make it very easy for you to gain to EVs and experience, as mentioned above. Though, when you run into them, you would always have to be prepared. If you aren't, they could wind up to be sort of frustrating. You should make sure to have some moves in your arsenal that could take them all out in one hit, such as Earthquake and Surf. Without those, you'd simply be having quite a hard time. :P

I loved the Idea But it doesn't work that well in my opinion.
Its easy XP.
Fighting hordes is only fine when you have a move what hit multiple Pokemons.

I love them because using exp share + multi hitting move + pokerus + power item = super fast EV training

I agree with everyone saying that it takes too long. The horde battles I did like though are the Seviper/Zangoose ones because at that early stage of the game if you have a multi-pokemon hitting move then it's great experience as they give you a lot!

I love them for 1. EV training is sooo fast with hordes and 2. Shiny's are easier to find in hordes due to 5 pokemon being sent out rather then the normal 1.

1. The hordes are usually at such a low level (and thus speed) that you can just run away with them using your lead pokemon.
2. Conceptually, it's a fun idea, a 1 vs. All.
3. EV training, nuff said.


I hope horde battles stay in every pokemon game.