Thoughts on SOS battles?

[blue]

A new battle mechanic that has been introduced in Pokémon Sun & Moon is SOS battles which are essentially when wild Pokémon call out other Pokémon for help. This can either be useful as it can alleviate the hunt for shinies and even seek out some of the more uncommon Pokémon in Alola. On the other hand, it can also be tedious and tricky when stronger Pokémon call for help making it more difficult to escape and so on.

What are your thoughts on this new feature? Have you found this to be a useful addition when searching for Pokémon? Do you find it to be more trouble than not?

Personally, I think it can be useful for grinding lower level Pokémon at times, but wild battles can tend to drag on a little if the Pokémon keeps calling for allies.

 

[Rivvon]

Absolutely annoying. I've heard these battles can be used for shiny chaining, but the Adrenaline Orb costs money--I don't want to have to pay to shiny hunt. And just trying to catch Pokémon for the Pokédex or for your team or whatever becomes so much more irritating, especially when you defeat the partner and they call yet another. Having the Totem Pokémon call for an ally makes sense, but it happens so frequently in standard wild battles and it's generally just frustrating. Maybe it won't be such a nuisance once I've cleared the game and my Pokémon are much stronger, but right now it's for the most part not enjoyable. I think gen 5 did this better, where darker grass would have Pokémon appear in a double battle--but once you defeated one, no more would ever appear.

 

[Keiran]

It's a terrible mechanic normally. It has made catching Pokemon incredibly frustrating, especially the Pokemon with low catch rates.

However, it makes Totem Pokemon battles interesting. I think it's also a neat way to chain for Shiny Pokemon, or even rare Pokemon. I just don't think Pokemon should call for help naturally, before the use of an Adrenaline Orb, because it's made simply catching Pokemon in the wild a real nuisance.

 

[Ammy175]

Since I don't have a Pokemon on my team that knows a sleeping move, does putting a wild Pokemon to sleep make it so that it can't call for help?

Honestly, I haven't had that much trouble with SOS battles, outside of the Totem Pokemon fights, since they're specially made to be tough. In fact, I've barely even seen them; I more often than not end up KOing the Pokemon before it can call for help. Perhaps I'll start to get annoyed by them when I go to catch stuff for the Pokedex.

 

[EC]

They were a pain to me at first, but now I've learned to enjoy them for some grinding. Plus, if you have a move that hits both opponents, it'll be over in a flash.

 

[UmbreShaun]

Yeah I only recall once where it was truly annoying to me, it makes Totem battles more challenging. I like the mechanic and I like the whole "Pokemon are more willing to help each other in Alola" logic. It can be ironed out, sure, but as it is it has added a lot of twists to otherwise redundant wild encounters and battle mechanics.

 

[Sheep]

Can be really annoying in all honestly. Part of why I chose Petal Blizzard over Leaf Blade on Lurantis, since it hits all enemies...

Tedious when they summon help if I'm trying to catch things. Should've at least made it so wilds can't summon anything else on the same turn their summon fainted. Can't count how many times I defeated the summon only to have them summon another Pokémon at the end of that same turn. @_x

 

[Sylphiel]

I believe my reactions to this has mostly been "no I almost have you, don't you dare...!"

In general I'm not too bothered by the mechanic, but when I'm out just trying to catch pokemon, I would prefer not to have to deal with stuff like that. :V Maybe if I were trying to grind something out, I would appreciate it more. But right now it's mostly just like "meh whatever".

 

[Hermione Granger]

Shouldn't happen unless you use a adrenaline orb for wild pokemon encounters. Makes sense in a Totem Pokemon fight.

 

[mikey]

This is the one thing I really dislike about Sun and Moon. Seriously, everytime I find a Pokemon I want to catch and get down to the red, it calls for help. It wouldn't be an issue if we could throw Pokeballs with two Pokemon on the opposing side, but we can't.

It annoys me so much haha.

 

[Smooth Vibes]

I'm finding this feature incredibly annoying for the main leveling journey. I'll probably like it at end game, but for now it's definitely frustrating.

 

[Maserati777]

It doesn't even appear to be a good form of shiny hunting. It's infinitely easier then Pokeradar, but it still evolves chaining and you end up using millions of potions to heal your Pokemon. Plus you have to worry about struggle. It's infinitely harder then dexnav or friend safari which don't involve chaining at all, so you can go to the Pokemon center whenever. Dexnav did involve buying repels or using o-powers which were free.

The odds for it seem terrible however compared to previous methods. Definitely not 1/512, more like 1/lucky

 

[Sydian]

I'm finding it annoying while I'm trying to train. If I was shiny hunting, ie. carrying around something insanely strong and actively seeking these battles, then it would be a different story. Similar to the hordes of gen VI, if you're not prepared for it, then it's a pain in the ass. I see the benefits, but it's incredibly annoying when training, especially new party members. And I can only imagine it's an absolute nightmare for any sort of nuzlocke variant.

 

[Kieran]

I like it because they can summon similar Pokemon for help that I want of another gender, but it does get frustrating when the one I want pops out and summon more.

 

[Esper]

I don't get why people hate them so much, but I kinda like them. It's something different and even if it's not perfect and sometimes difficult or taking too long, I like that we got something different added to these games.

 

[Altairis]

I hate how Pokemon can attack AND summon allies in the same turn. I feel like only Totem Pokemon should be able to do that.

Honestly it's really annoying because you have to lower the wild 'mon's HP to catch it and you can't throw a Pokeball when there are two 'mons on the field. >.>

 

[Zeturic]

I wish that summoning allies used up their turn. It's not exactly fair that they can summon another ally on the turn their current ally faints.

I can understand that it would probably help with getting long chains faster, but it's frustrating when you're trying to catch something and can't because it won't stay alone long enough for you to throw a ball.

 

[Thunderflare]

I've found that putting Pokemon to sleep has stopped them from calling.

 

[Iceshadow3317]

It is a great way to grind for a shiny pokemon, however, it can be extremely annoying. Especially when they spam call for an ally when you are trying to catch it.

I liked hoard battles a lot better. You had a massive chance increase to see a shiny.

 

[The Evil Mewtwo]

It was really annoying when I tried to catch Pokemons and breeding materials too. Soon then I could find a Pokemon with a different gender and a better ability.