B & W: 1.08 million sold day 1 (US)

[Talon87]

You're so right. *smack, smack @ self* Good save. My apologies, Doppel. It's similar to confusion but just as Concept says: if the attack fails, you just sit their "immobilized by love" doing nothing. Will edit post to correct it.

[Doppleganger]

OK, so why does the Attract allow for two moves in one round?

Originally Posted by Talon87

2. Hyper Beam (special) and Giga Impact (physical). It's still here. What do you want to know? If you look at moves on your creatures (from the "POKEMON" menu option while on the overworld map), you can see symbols next to the moves. An orange explosion symbol is physical. A purple Third Eye is special. A white-and-gray symbol means that it is neither, usually because it's a status-inducing move or a healing move or something.

I see it now. But those attributes mean nothing to me, what Pokemon are resistant to Special/Physical moves? Is it type dependant?

Also, that Ouran Berry has got to be the most annoying game mechanic ever.

"10 Damage! Your Pokemon used Ouran Berry!"
"Opponent found Ouran Berry! Opponent regained 10 HP!"

[repeat ad infinitum]

I went through 10 minutes of this back and forth BS until my Lilipup got KO'd by crits. Ridiculous! -_-

Originally Posted by Talon87

3. It was truer in RBY than it has been since Gen 3. You're probably going to confuse the younger kids here with what you're talking about; they won't remember Chris Pioli's Rhyhorn experiment in the patch of grass north of Pallet Town nor the other experiments which led to our primitive understanding of proto-EVs. Basically, back in Gen 1, you ran the real risk of not being able to max your creatures stats if you leveled it up too fast relative to the number of creatures you killed. That's more or less been a non-issue since Gen 3. You'd have to try very hard to get to Level 100 without getting the 508 EVs maximum. I'd say "do what you have to do to advance the team" is a good rule of thumb. In general, I'd keep a Pidgeotto I'd raised, Lvl 19, over capturing a wild one, Lvl 22; but I'd box that same Pidgeotto, Lvl 19, if I ran into and captured a wild one, Lvl 45. You know what I mean?

Speaking of that, what happened to Wrap?

The last time I played Red, I hacked it to give me a starter Dratini (for the stronger stats) who had Wrap. Wrap was incredibly broken in the early grounds around Pallet and it was still useful up through the Gym Leaders. But my Snivy learned it, and it was fudge awful. Did it get nerfed or something?

(I replaced Wrap with Growth. Good/bad move?)

[Loki]

Originally Posted by Doppleganger

OK, so why does the Attract allow for two moves in one round?

It doesn't.

Originally Posted by Doppleganger

I see it now. But those attributes mean nothing to me, what Pokemon are resistant to Special/Physical moves? Is it type dependant?

Type determines resistance. Special/Physical merely checks whether the attack checks the user's Special Attack or Attack and the defender's Special Defense or Defense.

Originally Posted by Doppleganger

Also, that Ouran Berry has got to be the most annoying game mechanic ever.

"10 Damage! Your Pokemon used Ouran Berry!"
"Opponent found Ouran Berry! Opponent regained 10 HP!"

[repeat ad infinitum]

I went through 10 minutes of this back and forth BS until my Lilipup got KO'd by crits. Ridiculous! -_-

Berries are one time use only. After it triggers, it is gone.

Originally Posted by Doppleganger

Speaking of that, what happened to Wrap?

The last time I played Red, I hacked it to give me a starter Dratini (for the stronger stats) who had Wrap. Wrap was incredibly broken in the early grounds around Pallet and it was still useful up through the Gym Leaders. But my Snivy learned it, and it was fudge awful. Did it get nerfed or something?

(I replaced Wrap with Growth. Good/bad move?)

Wrap only prevents switching or running away. It doesn't cripple Pokemon like it did in Gen1. And Growth is totally worth it. +1 level of Attack or Special Attack. 1 level is +50% of your stat. 2 levels is +100%, doubling your stat. It goes up to 6 levels. So yeah, it's worth using over Wrap.

///

Anyway, it sounds like your ROM is all levels of messed up.

[Doppleganger]

Originally Posted by Raptor Jesus

It doesn't.

I'm certain I'm seeing that cat-thing (don't know the name yet) use Attract, then follow up with a Scratch or Tail Whip. It hasn't happened just once.

Originally Posted by Raptor Jesus

Type determines resistance. Special/Physical merely checks whether the attack checks the user's Special Attack or Attack and the defender's Special Defense or Defense.

How's that different from the old days, then? From what I gathered, splitting of Hyper Beam into two 150 damage moves was supposed to be a big deal.

Originally Posted by Raptor Jesus

Berries are one time use only. After it triggers, it is gone.

I figured the berries would be one-time, but in-battle, the opposing Pokemon picks up/finds a berry immediately after my Pokemon uses one. Then my Pokemon repeats the process after damaging the opponent.

I'm still holding Ouran Berries despite eating like a billion of them because they're picked up almost immediately after use. And for some reason, they don't always trigger.

Originally Posted by Raptor Jesus

Wrap only prevents switching or running away. It doesn't cripple Pokemon like it did in Gen1. And Growth is totally worth it. +1 level of Attack or Special Attack. 1 level is +50% of your stat. 2 levels is +100%, doubling your stat. It goes up to 6 levels. So yeah, it's worth using over Wrap.

Cool. Sucks about the nerf though, isn't it useful for the elusive legendaries, though?

Originally Posted by Raptor Jesus

Anyway, it sounds like your ROM is all levels of messed up.

Possible. I wouldn't know any better if it was or wasn't.

[Talon87]

Let's look at one element, fire. In the old days, all fire attacks were special. This meant that if you got hit by fire, your only concern was how big your special defense stat, HP, and type were. So for example, even though HypotheteticalMon was 2x weak to fire, since it had a base special defense of 160 (huuuuuuge!), it really didn't care about fire.

Nowadays, all seventeen elements have both physical and special moves. So it's not good enough to have a good special defense against fire now: you have to have a good defense, too, or else you're going to get hurt pretty badly if you're weak to fire. Let's look at HypotheticalMon again. He's 2x weak to fire, and it turns out his regular defense (not his special defense) is base 30. This is terribly small. Fire Punch? A meager fire noogie might KO this guy with the right muscle behind it.

The reason the split was so big was because it made the game that much more aggressive and that much less stall-based or defensively-played. People thought Gen 4 would be the death of stall: it wasn't. They said the same for Gen 5, briefly, before laughing and realizing Gen 5 wouldn't be the death of stall either. And it hasn't been. But certainly stall's days were king in Gen 3 with the famous duo of Skarmory and Blissey ("SkarmBliss") as well as other contenders for top spots on teams.

[Loki]

Originally Posted by Doppleganger

I'm certain I'm seeing that cat-thing (don't know the name yet) use Attract, then follow up with a Scratch or Tail Whip. It hasn't happened just once.

Okay. That move is ASSIST. Not ATTRACT. Assist chooses a move on the user's team randomly and the user does it. So if the cat has a Geodude with Rock Throw and Tackle, it might choose Rock Throw or Tackle. It can choose non-damaging and self-KO moves too if you're unfortunate.

Originally Posted by Doppleganger

How's that different from the old days, then? From what I gathered, splitting of Hyper Beam into two 150 damage moves was supposed to be a big deal.

This means that a bunch of Pokemon become less useful because of their statistical setup.

For example, Umbreon used to be a good Special Defense Wall thanks to it's high Special Defense. But now with Fighting special, which is super effective, it makes the Dark Eeveelution less usable.

Originally Posted by Doppleganger

I figured the berries would be one-time, but in-battle, the opposing Pokemon picks up/finds a berry immediately after my Pokemon uses one. Then my Pokemon repeats the process after damaging the opponent.

I'm still holding Ouran Berries despite eating like a billion of them because they're picked up almost immediately after use. And for some reason, they don't always trigger.

Sounds like something is wrong with your game. The only way to bring back a berry is Recycle, but that requires a turn of action.

Apparently, the ability Pick Up has been changed. So... yeah. Only Pokemon with Pick Up do this.

Originally Posted by Doppleganger

Cool. Sucks about the nerf though, isn't it useful for the elusive legendaries, though?

Not really because most of them use Roar.

[Doppleganger]

Actually I lied, none of my Pokemon are holding berries anymore. But they were certainly chugging them down like mad during this one battle after Cheron. In fact, my Snivy picked up his berry during that battle.

About CUT - I think I understand Talon's beef with it earlier. I too remember the horrible days of teaching my Bulbasaur Cut and realizing how painfully terrible a decision that was. So I caught some throw-away Patrat to use my cuts.

The question is, though, if I can still clear grass away with it. I'm using the Running Shoes right now and there doesn't appear to be a way to switch out of them, but IIRC I could cut grass like Link did in Zelda using a Pokemon with Cut. I just can't use it.

...and yeah, sorry about the Attract/Assist mix-up. That certainly confused some people for a couple rounds...

[Lady Kuno]

Originally Posted by Doppleganger

The question is, though, if I can still clear grass away with it. I'm using the Running Shoes right now and there doesn't appear to be a way to switch out of them, but IIRC I could cut grass like Link did in Zelda using a Pokemon with Cut. I just can't use it.

That was removed a looong time ago.

[Talon87]

You've never been able to mow grass with Cut. Not to my recollection, anyway. EDIT: Kuno ninja'd me and seems to remember it. I however have no memory of being able to cut tall grass with Cut.

The running shoes are always with you in Gens 3, 4, and 5 but you have the choice of whether to use them or not. I prefer HGSS's approach to the matter by letting you actually equip or unequip them, but unfortunately B/W has regressed to an earlier pattern of having the player manually press down B to run (and releasing it to walk at normal speed), giving them no option for always having the running shoes equipped (i.e. being able to run without pressing down any buttons besides the D-pad for your intended direction).

EDIT:

Originally Posted by Bulbapedia

In Generation I and Generation III, if Cut was used, the grass adjacent to the player would be totally erased; in Generation II, longer grass would be gradually cut shorter before disappearing. The ability to use Cut on grass was removed in Generation IV.

I'll be damned. That sounds pretty cool. But I guess I would have never missed it!

[Doppleganger]

This GameSynch stuff, I have no words. The explanation seems mixed, like it's half linking up Nintendo DS to each other over the internet and half plot related. Am I expected to learn how to use this thing, or can I just zone it out?

[Lady Kuno]

That's optional stuff.

[Kindrindra]

Originally Posted by Holy Emperor

That's optional stuff.

Yeah, and you'll really have no use for it if you're using a ROM, unfortunately

[Doppleganger]

Snivy evolved into Servine. I hope there wasn't a move I was supposed to learn as a Snivy that was important for it later down the line.

I like N, the "rival". He doesn't seem like the typical arrogant, self-absorbed rivals of the past. Frankly, I'm having a hard time accepting him as a rival, there's almost nothing to hate him on. He's not even that powerful, so I feel like a bully pushing him around.

[Kindrindra]

Originally Posted by Doppleganger

Snivy evolved into Servine. I hope there wasn't a move I was supposed to learn as a Snivy that was important for it later down the line.

I like N, the "rival". He doesn't seem like the typical arrogant, self-absorbed rivals of the past. Frankly, I'm having a hard time accepting him as a rival, there's almost nothing to hate him on. He's not even that powerful, so I feel like a bully pushing him around.

Technically, Biancia and Cherin are the Rivals. N... well, he could be considered a third rival, I suppose. He's unique, compared to previous pokemon characters.

[Doppleganger]

Bianca registered in my brain as the childhood friend who'se destined to get overshadowed by a rival love interest. I'm probably expecting too much from this game, and am contaminated by the stuff I've played up to this point (plus TVTropes) but I have a hard time not seeing some kind of shipping pairing with the main character. I mean, the fact that the opposite sex trainer picked the weaker type is almost stereotypical with that kind of stock character.

Cherin kind of annoys me, he comes off as more villainous for some reason.

[Loki]

For the most part, many Pokemon that evolve through level up don't lose many attacks through evolving early. If you evolve something through Evolution Stones, you it could potentially cripple the moves. i.e. Simipour does not learn most of the moves Panpour learns and is an evolution via Water Stone. Snivy learns Leaf Storm and Serperior (it's final form) also learns Leaf Storm, but Snivy learns it at level 43 while Serperior has it at 62.

Don't worry too much about evolving early, as the statistical increase to virtually all stats is typically well worth it.

[DaveTheFishGuy]

>I mean, the fact that the opposite sex trainer picked the weaker type is almost stereotypical with that kind of stock character.

If you choose the female player character, then Bianca still chooses the starter weak to yours. Just the way she rolls.

[Lindz]

Ya all is driving me crazier lol

What ya want added or changed in PKMN games is post-worthy but not in a SALES thread x_x; I mean the series still doesn't have character creation/customization but ya don't see me complaining about that in a PKMN music appreciation thread or w/e.

[Loki]

At least we are talking about Pokemon lol.

[Lindz]

Back on the subject of sales, NoA recently announced SoulSilver has sold 2 million in the US since release. For perspective in its first month it sold 1.02 million just under what B/W did in its first day. No word on what HG is sitting at. Clearly the SuperiorSilver meme had some effect!