Changes to old mons

[COOLTRAINER♂]

I would love to see new abilities, but because of Sugimori saying there's going to be a more simplistic approach, I'll probably expect less new moves and abilities added in this generation.

I think this is an enormous red herring people are sticking on? He said it nearly 3 years ago and even de-emphasized his stance then, besides, he's the art director and character designer for Pokemon, not a game designer.

 

[Hikamaru]

Aegislash got Sacred Sword gal

Aegislash is a sword, so that kinda makes sense.

I think this is an enormous red herring people are sticking on? He said it nearly 3 years ago and even de-emphasized his stance then, besides, he's the art director and character designer for Pokemon, not a game designer.

I think I may have misinterpreted some of the statement, but maybe it's a sign the art design may be getting more simplistic, as opposed to the game mechanics.

 

[OmegaRuby and AlphaSapphire]

I think this is an enormous red herring people are sticking on? He said it nearly 3 years ago and even de-emphasized his stance then, besides, he's the art director and character designer for Pokemon, not a game designer.

We don't know how much influence he has beyond the art. He's been part of the team since the beginning irc, so perhaps his input has more sway than a typical art and character director and designer.

 

[Sopheria]

Other than the usual changes in learnsets and maybe a few new evolutionary stages being added, I'm of the personal opinion that major changes like changes in typing, stats, or abilities should be relatively infrequent since they feel a bit retcon-ish.

That said though...retcon or not, it would be pretty cool if they introduced a few changes to Lunatone and Solrock to make them a bit more interesting :)

 

[Rivvon]

I don't think any changes will be made due to Smogon's tier placements. If anything, there may be some alterations made, but based on official VGC tournament outcomes. And it would mostly be done to mechanics rather than to the Pokémon themselves--even the gen 6 changes done directly to certain Pokémon was a measly +10 to one base stat. Nothing game-changingly major.

I'd like to personally pioneer the #BringBackPikachusOldCry2k16 movement. I really don't like how Pikachu is the only one in its line who says its name... it's just weird when it evolves...

 

[Hikamaru]

Like Rivvon said, I could pretty much see an increase of 10 in a base stat to be the only change happening, especially when you consider that a lot of us don't want competitive play to become too complicated due to a new mechanic. VGC outcomes are something I wouldn't imagine influencing a stat change though.

 

[Kameken]

They could finally give meloetta boomburst.

But they won't.

 

[Runiel]

Ray-qua-qua needs Nerf. It's too damn Powerful, plus, I want to use it in Uber.

Oh, and enjoy this meme:

Spoiler:

 

[Rivvon]

VGC outcomes are something I wouldn't imagine influencing a stat change though.

Yeah, the VGC definitely influenced the powder-move nerf, and it likely had a hand in the weather nerf, too. But those kinds of things aren't directly tied to a Pokémon than they are to mechanics. Maybe gen 7 will be the gen where Pokémon themselves are significantly buffed or nerfed (I remember Masuda in an interview acknowledging Mega Kangaskhan's over-poweredness), but if it is it will be truly unprecedented for the series.

 

[Hikamaru]

Yeah, the VGC definitely influenced the powder-move nerf, and it likely had a hand in the weather nerf, too. But those kinds of things aren't directly tied to a Pokémon than they are to mechanics. Maybe gen 7 will be the gen where Pokémon themselves are significantly buffed or nerfed (I remember Masuda in an interview acknowledging Mega Kangaskhan's over-poweredness), but if it is it will be truly unprecedented for the series.

So it appears the VGC sometimes does influence huge mechanic changes, now that I'm looking at it. Next thing I could see would be the nerfing of some Megas, like Kangaskhan as you said.

 

[illumine]

They might make certain alterations to accommodate for certain new Megas, forms (such as perhaps that alluded to with Greninja, although unless they re-use starters it wouldn't come up that early), etc., but generally they might not need to change that much elsewhere. If it's an anniversary edition, it might also be a bit strange to change the earlier Pokémon that much.

 

[Deokishisu]

Remove Megas. Either return to the pre-mega universe or some energy or radiation has flooded the world in the time between XY and SM that renders Pokemon unable to Mega Evolve. It will absolutely never happen, but it'd be nice.

And specifically for my favorite Pokemon, my Gen 7 wishlist for Mismagius:

Hidden Ability is Ghost-type Pixilate (Spookify!)

Hoping they do another round of +10 buffing to stats, and hoping Mismagius gets a +10 Speed boost.

Added Fairy-type and access to Moonblast. If not adding Fairy to more existing Pokemon, at least give access to a new Fairy-type move with slightly lower power than Moonblast with a decent secondary effect. Something that could force switches or otherwise screw with an opponent. Something more powerful than Dazzling Gleam. I could see a magical Fairy ability that pacifies the opponent, doing damage and having a flinch chance. A sound-based one would be thematically perfect. I don't care who you are, you're going to flinch if a Mismagius screams right next to you. Fey Cackle? Fey Screech?

Access to Mystical Fire, and all other remaining "Magic" moves that make sense. Access to Roar because it's a banshee. I don't think anyone will run Roar on Mismagius because of the general frailty. Eviolite Misdreavus may appreciate it, though. Misdreavus also gets Sonicboom as an egg move because it's a banshee.

Spookified-Hyper Voice becomes most powerful Ghost-type move in existence. Other potential attacks in a moveset have secondary effects that can annoy and force switches. Mismagius screws with people. Its existing status and support movepool is wide enough for this already, I think. Otherwise, run Nasty Plot and blow holes in teams with your fast and boosted banshee wails. It's still pretty frail, but the raw power of a Spookified-Hyper Voice combined with Nasty Plot means you could sacrifice some Special Attack EVs to supplement your bulk if needed, and it gives pure annoyer/support Mismagius respectable attacking power without a Sp. Atk investment (like what Pixilate Hyper Voice did for bulky support Sylveon).

Also, ditch that horrid mustard shiny and give us a gray-and-white or a black-and-gray Mismagius. With deep purple eyes and gemstones.

...Or, don't make Spookify and give Mismagius Boomburst? I'd rather have boosted Ghost-type Hyper Voice than unmodified Normal-type Boomburst. You can't give Mismagius access to hypothetical Spookify and Boomburst at the same time because that'd be insane. It's a shame that Boomburst is thematically perfect though.

Mismagius also loses Ground-type immunity with Spookify, so that's another vulnerability for it.