PHENOMENA



A new mechanic introduced this generation was something known as Phenomena. There are 4 types of Phenomena: rustling grass, rippling water, dust clouds, and flying Pokemon shadows. If you walk over one of these spots you will have a chance to encounter a rare Pokemon. A lot of people used the rustling grass as a way to farm easy experience because most of the time you would encounter a wild Audino. What did you think about this mechanic? Did you use it often? Which Phenomena was your favorite? What was the best Pokemon you encountered via this? Would you like to see this make a return again? Discuss!

Hikamaru

Age 30
Female
Australia
Seen January 24th, 2019
Posted September 4th, 2018
50,214 posts
12.2 Years
I used the mechanic a lot, because with what little EXP you gained from regular wild encounters it was nice to have an alternative method to train thanks to the Audino which are common encounters in the shaking grass, and since you'll likely find Audino most of the time you can get EXP at a much more rapid rate.

While it never returned in 6th Gen, ORAS's DexNav does at least serve a similar purpose.
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I used the mechanic a lot, because with what little EXP you gained from regular wild encounters it was nice to have an alternative method to train thanks to the Audino which are common encounters in the shaking grass, and since you'll likely find Audino most of the time you can get EXP at a much more rapid rate.

While it never returned in 6th Gen, ORAS's DexNav does at least serve a similar purpose.

Yeah the gen 5 experience system was really bad imo so this was the only effective way of leveling. My Pokemon had max HP EVs due to this haha...

Pendraflare

Age 32
Male
Pennsylvania
Seen July 30th, 2021
Posted March 29th, 2021
6,263 posts
9.8 Years
I actually thought Generation V had easy ways to level up with the Exp. Share and really high level Pokémon, as you would gain a LOT when you were evenly leveled. I remember those Veterans and Ace Trainers in Victory Road in B2W2 giving so much EXP when I was lower leveled than them...

Anyway, this was a cool mechanic. I would on occasion find really cool final evolutions, but Audino were good for training. It was something neat, indeed.
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Zoroark Cutie

The Illusion Fox Skyfarer

Age 28
Male
Auguste Isles
Seen December 13th, 2017
Posted October 24th, 2017
2,511 posts
8.3 Years
I did like the idea of Phenomenons and I would love to see it return, but as it is in Gen 5, I only think it's meh. My biggest issue would be the rustling grass and Audino. Audino just infuriated me to no end when I was trying to catch other Pokemon, and after awhile of seeing only Audino appear in rustling grass, I thought of it as a sign from the game giving me a double bird, and I actively avoided the rustling grass whenever possible knowing that an Audino was going to show up in it even when I knew that there was a chance of encountering and being able to catch something else. All the other Phenomenons I like, especially since you can get a few trade only Pokemon through it or useful items when it comes to dust clouds.

Hikamaru

Age 30
Female
Australia
Seen January 24th, 2019
Posted September 4th, 2018
50,214 posts
12.2 Years
You have to admit I also loved how could you occasionally find evolved Pokemon in the rustling grass which was pretty fun to experience, and B2/W2 also threw Dunsparce and Castform in there as well. But the phenomena I enjoy most is the dust clouds with the items you can get from them, such as elemental gems, evolutionary stones and in B2/W2, shards which you can use at the Move Tutors.
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Winter

KAMISATO ART: SOUMETSU

Age 26
they/them/she/her
Kamisato Estate
Seen December 2nd, 2022
Posted September 29th, 2022
8,320 posts
8.2 Years
I like how you could also sometimes get items, from dust clouds. Being able to encounter rarer species of Pokemon also made phenomena a lovely feature, especially whirlpools - I found a few of my favourite Water types there that couldn't be found elsewhere.

Sun

When the sun goes down...

Male
Seen January 20th, 2017
Posted January 2nd, 2017
4,705 posts
9.7 Years
This is one of the unique features that Gen V has brought. I'm cool with it, it would be great if Evolutions Stones are more common than Gems and wild Pokémon though. :P
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Starry Windy

Everything will be Daijoubu.

Male
Liberty Garden
Seen April 28th, 2020
Posted April 28th, 2020
9,307 posts
10.4 Years
This is one of the enjoyable features in Gen V, because it makes raising Exp. Points a bit easier thanks to Audino being so common in there, and it makes finding rare Pokémon somewhat of a breeze too. Sometimes I may find some precious items like Thunder Stone and several Gems as well.

Bounsweet

Fruit Pokémon

Seen September 17th, 2018
Posted October 11th, 2017
2,102 posts
15.6 Years
I really only did Audino farming with this feature, although it was one of the few features from BW that I actually really liked. It was nice when it also made rare evolution Pokémon (Delcatty, Lopunny, Lilligant, and Whimsicott from that route in Castelia come to mind) available to capture in the wild at really low levels.

Sheep

She/Her
Australia
Seen 40 Minutes Ago
Posted 40 Minutes Ago
39,247 posts
16.6 Years
iirc this wasn't affected by repels so it bugged me when I ran into them on accident. Never did Audino farming since I had other preferred methods of training and I wasn't a big collector/breeder during the fifth gen days.. so phenomena had little impact on me. :(

tokyodrift

got me looking for attention

Age 29
he/him
Seen 2 Days Ago
Posted 1 Week Ago
4,525 posts
11.9 Years
I favored the rustling grass opposed to the others simply because of Audino. It was really the only way of grinding without it being even more tedious than it already was.

Hikamaru

Age 30
Female
Australia
Seen January 24th, 2019
Posted September 4th, 2018
50,214 posts
12.2 Years
I favored the rustling grass opposed to the others simply because of Audino. It was really the only way of grinding without it being even more tedious than it already was.
I agree with you. The EXP system in this generation was pretty flawed because as your Pokemon leveled up, you are fast running out of options to get reasonable EXP because most wild Pokemon gave minimal levels regardless of what your level was. To me, it was clearly encouragement from the developers to utilize the Audino if you wanted to grind.
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Dragon

lover of milotics

Age 30
Male
Viridian City
Seen 4 Days Ago
Posted October 24th, 2022
11,170 posts
9.7 Years
Yeah I did a looot of Audino farming back in the day where I've started playing Pokemon Black 2 and White 2, especially near end game / post game because the levels were starting to creep up, gah. But it was pretty easy, and with Repels and such, it became all quicker to find Audinos without going into random pokemon.

However, I did use the phenomenon so I can fill up the Unovian pokedex during my travels, which was fun to see what will pop up next! Oodles of excitement~


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FireSnow

Show me that Fighting Spirit

Age 27
Male
Ambrette Town, Kalos
Seen August 20th, 2021
Posted October 3rd, 2020
2,644 posts
7.7 Years
Contrary to everyone else's opinion, I actually did not like the phenomena. Now i think they are a good addition to the games, but for me personally, I did not like it. NOw part of that reason is because i just don't like running into wild Pokemon (I play for the storyline and beating the Champion not to catch them all and fill up the Pokedex). So once I have my team set, I actively try to avoid running into wild Pokemon if I can through the use of repels and the like. SO when I would be running along, nothing impeding my progress and then all of sudden hit one of those phenomena, it was very annoying for me!

Anyways, like i said, good addition to the games and much improved in ORAS, just not my cup of tea :)

ShiningKami

Age 29
She/her
Northern Ireland
Seen November 24th, 2021
Posted September 12th, 2021
85 posts
9 Years
I quite liked the idea of Phenomena, particularly being able to find Gems and evolution stones in caves. Unfortunately I ran into Audino too many times for me to be particularly enthusiastic about rustling grass, even with the possibility of finding Eevee in Castelia City in BW2 (I love Eevee way too much). As Hikamaru said, though, it seems to have inspired the DexNav, which is pretty cool and a lot easier to work with when it comes to finding the Pokémon you're looking for.


"You're going to live. And I'm sure that living is wonderful."
Male
Seen February 10th, 2023
Posted January 1st, 2017
439 posts
9.7 Years
I loved that idea, and other than the Audino grinding, it's also fantastic to get rare Pokemon such as Eevee, Whimsicott and more with that instead of just (mostly) running through grass and hope for the best.

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