Interesting; I'm very glad that none of these 3 Pokemon match the "Pokemon containing ラ (
ra) in its Japanese name" set for unveiling on January 15, 2016; even more surprises await/abound! ^^
Reactions:
Garchomp - Dang it,
Pokemon and all of your patterns/counterparts! >.< While I'm glad for the inclusion of Garchomp since he/she/it (although I perceive it as male) has long been a competitive threat in the core series
Pokemon games and does not seem to be a "clone of standard dragon fare/Charizard" in terms of playstyle, Garchomp's inclusion just makes me pine for all of the other pseudo-legendary Pokemon/Dragonite-esque Pokemon - namely, Dragonite, Tyranitar, Salamence, Metagross, Hydreigon, and Goodra. I personally feel that Metagross and Goodra would be the only other Dragonite-esque Pokemon capable of offering a unique playstyle in
Pokken Tournament, but then again, there is a large potential for innovation.. Well, at least Dragonite made it in as a Pokemon tournament.. I'll await Garchomp's moveset, although I feel that Scyther could have been included in Garchomp's place due to the
"arm blades" concept (as well as the equally cool-looking design of Scyther).
Regular!Mewtwo - Sigh...what is this, one clone already, before the
Pokken Tournament game has even come out (I haven't fully watched the gameplay of Regular!Pikachu and Masked Pikachu, although my inference is that it seems that their movesets will differ sufficiently from each other)? I hope that their playstyles differ
drastically; otherwise, I will probably be annoyed, as one of them (mostly Shadow Mewtwo and all of its "dark crystal"
nonsense shenanigans) could have served as a dedicated palette swap/alternate costume. I have read about the potential for Shadow Mewtwo showcasing "Mega Mewtwo X" and Regular!Mewtwo showcasing "Mega Mewtwo Y", although the rationale will still be poor to me, as I personally feel that only Mega Mewtwo Y/Awakened-Forme Mewtwo should have existed in the first place. I dislike "Mega Mewtwo X" particularly since it goes against Mewtwo's foundation that was instituted in Generation 1 (being Psychic-type-oriented and excelling in terms of Special Attack). The idea of a Pokemon having the option to be physically-oriented or specially-oriented at full power (Mega Evolution) is intriguing, although I don't think that Mewtwo or Charizard fits that. If Mewtwo's natural Attack and Special Attack base stats had been identical and if Mewtwo lacked such a diametric typing (the Psychic type evoking that mental/psychic techniques counterparting physical/hand-to-hand techniques), I would have been fine with Mewtwo's 2 Mega Evolutions (since it was basically conceived as the
de facto "most powerful Pokemon" incarnate), but as it is, "Mega Mewtwo X" just rubs me the wrong way.. Anyways, back to
Pokken Tournament..
Braixen: Sigh...similar to the aforementioned "pattern/counterpart" with Garchomp and the accompanying Dragonite-esque Pokemon, now I'm going to feel like the other Kalos starter Pokemon should be included as playable (at least Frogadier is a background Pokemon, and I guess Chesnaught lends itself well with the Fighting type..).. Oddly enough, I don't mind that Greninja is the only playable Kalos starter Pokemon included in
Super Smash Bros. 4, probably because Greninja's design is
leagues above its compatriots, there's not many water users on the roster, and because it's a freaking ninja frog!
Anyway, I tend to dislike the concept of "not-fully-evolved Pokemon" being elevated to the status of fully-evolved Pokemon (although I guess it works fine for "underdog
Pokemon anime episodes"..).. You already have the concept of "final evolutionary stage" (at least for 2-stage and 3-stage evolutionary Pokemon families) representing the concept of a Pokemon attaining its full natural potential, and then the concept of Mega Evolution permitting the Pokemon in question
to go beyond and access even more strength/power/capabilities. Having a second-stage Pokemon that isn't fully-evolved match feats with other fully-evolved Pokemon just looks downright strange. At least Pikachu (if it is perceived as being based off of Ash's Pikachu) generally has the excuses of "Series Mascot" (an anomaly as it is) and "Light Ball" (providing an in-game rationale for Pikachu's irregular heightened power, and most likely derived from the excuse of "Series Mascot"). Jigglypuff has less of an excuse (I'm mostly thinking in terms of
Super Smash Bros.), but I'll give it "former anime prominence", I guess..
But yeah,
Braixen's inclusion just seems odd. If the developers are going to include a member of the Fire-type Kalos starter Pokemon family, at least make it Delphox to give her/him/it (I perceive it as female) full access to her capabilities. The only plausible rationale I have seen as to why Braixen trumped Delphox is due to design/aesthetics, which is kind of weird, in my opinion. It is not
that hard to make Delphox look as nice as Braixen. I feel like the main issues with Delphox's design are the clashing "red" and "dark red" on its "dress fur", as well as the humongous big ol' "red ear tufts" and less visible "black leg coloration" to contrast Delphox's white fur. The other rationale that I've seen is that because
Yvonne/Serena currently has a Braixen in the anime, which isn't good enough, in my opinion - the ultimate goal of a competitive Pokemon Trainer, in my opinion, should be to fully-evolve as many Pokemon as possible (unless the Pokemon itself is unwilling, which isn't a scenario in the core series
Pokemon games except for
Pokemon Yellow, and I guess also if you count the mechanics of happiness and affection for other games)...and I feel that anime!Braixen should eventually become a Delphox, cuteness factor and design factor be darned. I mean, one can go and challenge the Battle Frontier (or similar battling facilities, each being the perceived pinnacle of Pokemon battling) Pokemon Trainers and personally adhere to "Little Cup" rules, but don't come crying back when the fully-evolved Pokemon powerhouse foes utterly trounce one's team - one is just handicapping himself/herself/itself in such a scenario..
And yeah, I also dislike the concept of Eviolite (along with providing the obstacle of causing balance issues if current powerful single-stage and 2-stage Pokemon were to gain future evolutionary stages/forms). {XD} If any not-fully-evolved Pokemon should get a slot in
Pokken Tournament, I feel that it
should be Scyther, since it is notable in that its Base Stat Total does not change upon evolution and the only distinct/main difference(s) with Scizor being 1 type, the coded Hidden Ability, and potentially moveset. The only other viable cases I see are Team Rocket!Meowth (since it specifically has a vendetta against Persian, particularly Giovanni's Persian, not to mention being rather tactical and talented at its current state with all of Team Rocket's plans and such) and Porygon2 (with Porygon-Z being a literally dubious evolution, as well as their competitive roles notably being different, even without considering the usage of Eviolite).
Nevertheless, I still hope that Greninja is playable with
Pokken Tournament (and he
should be, considering it beat out every other Kalos-debuting Pokemon for a "slot"/dedicated development time in
Super Smash Bros. 4); otherwise, I might feel that development time was wasted on Braixen.
TL;DR: Yay for Garchomp although ZOMG-patterns&counterparts; Mewtwo had better not be a clone, otherwise, a palette swap/alternate costume would have been better; Delphox > Braixen in terms of roster choice since Pokemon should be accessing their full battling potentials (as generally "fully-evolved" > "not-fully-evolved") to be, as Nurse Joy would say, "fighting fit".
