Hoenn Region Discussion Thread

[The Red Thunder]

It would certainly be a nice surprise for it to be redesigned, since we've gotten the 3D update. Another area I'm hoping to see completely redesigned are the sea routes, too. I hated the way Azure Bay was, and I sincerely hope that the sea routes of Hoenn have more linearity to them.

And, I'm thinking we'll probably end up seeing the old Ruby/Sapphire story when it comes to Team Magma and Team Aqua.

 

[.Aerodactyl.]

As I said earlier, I don't 100% remember Pokemon ruby at all, but I agree that its essentially the same plot as the originals and less so of emerald. I will say that it looks like its still an expanded plot though... Their motives are better fleshed out, we have mega evolution now as well as primal forms. All of the Admins have been redesigned to give them more personality. I'm okay with the plot being that of ruby and sapphire. I feel like we'll still get some of the important things from emerald, like the battle frontier and move tutors. I've heard someone mention elsewhere that shiftry now has lead blade which it didn't previously, and that it might be a move tutor move. They saw shiftry use it in one of the trailers and looked it up. Unless they just added it as an egg move or something... Do they ever add egg moves in between generations? I don't remember.

I'm looking forward to exploring Mauville city the most in its giant building! I wonder if the interior is going to try and mimic lumiose city a bit with all of its buildings, like a giant mall? Then again, we still have lilycove department store for that. To be honest, I'll like having a department store again!

 

[The Red Thunder]

As I said earlier, I don't 100% remember Pokemon ruby at all, but I agree that its essentially the same plot as the originals and less so of emerald. I will say that it looks like its still an expanded plot though... Their motives are better fleshed out, we have mega evolution now as well as primal forms. All of the Admins have been redesigned to give them more personality. I'm okay with the plot being that of ruby and sapphire. I feel like we'll still get some of the important things from emerald, like the battle frontier and move tutors. I've heard someone mention elsewhere that shiftry now has lead blade which it didn't previously, and that it might be a move tutor move. They saw shiftry use it in one of the trailers and looked it up. Unless they just added it as an egg move or something... Do they ever add egg moves in between generations? I don't remember.

I'm looking forward to exploring Mauville city the most in its giant building! I wonder if the interior is going to try and mimic lumiose city a bit with all of its buildings, like a giant mall? Then again, we still have lilycove department store for that. To be honest, I'll like having a department store again!

I'm doing a replay of Sapphire right now (have been for the past week or so), so I am pretty familiar with the plot. I am certainly hoping for a more fleshed out plotline than what we originally have in Ruby and Sapphire. We know that Archie and Maxie oppose each other's ideals, but beyond that, there's not much to go on. I mean, we know that the team opposite the version we're playing is the "sensible" one, while the team corresponding to the version we're playing is the "radical" one. I'd like to see more interaction between the two.

I can confirm that remakes usually enhance movesets of existing Pokémon. It happened in Fire Red and Leaf Green, as well as Heart Gold and Soul Silver. And, it's not just via tutors either. In fact, some Pokémon get new moves in their natural level-up pool simply by being in a new game. Case in point, Bullet Punch Scizor. In Diamond and Pearl, you can't teach Scizor Bullet Punch, but in Platinum, you can. I remember trading a Scizor over to a player who had the Japanese Platinum, and gave him a shiny Tyrogue in exchange for him teaching my Scizor Bullet Punch for me.

 

[Bolt the Cat]

The bank has the maintenance costs and it's only 5 euros/dollars yearly so it's no big deal.

It's cheap, that's for sure, but from the consumer end of things I think it is the bad kind of DLC because it's taking something that you previously got in game and locked it behind a paywall (and a recurring paywall no less). If they're serious about not having paid DLC, they need to avoid making Bank a necessity for transfers whenever they can.

But, it's really hard not to get corrupt about DLC, so its better that they don't even go down that road.

And considering how Game Freak is the king of removing features for absolutely no reason I can't say I trust them to handle DLC correctly.

But this is a region thread so what do you think will happen with mawvile's power plant? will they expand it?

Maybe, but it's not necessary.

 

[The Red Thunder]

It's cheap, that's for sure, but from the consumer end of things I think it is the bad kind of DLC because it's taking something that you previously got in game and locked it behind a paywall (and a recurring paywall no less). If they're serious about not having paid DLC, they need to avoid making Bank a necessity for transfers whenever they can.

Their initial handling of the Pokémon Bank was pretty rough, I'll admit. But, it's one of those "lesser of two evils" things, that I can really get behind. Yes, it's $5 and the release was nothing short of a debacle. However, that's all over with. $5 a year is pretty affordable, and the benefits are great. It's meant to be a long-term storage solution to Sixth Gen and beyond, so that the in-game transfer method never needs to be used again. As it stands, to get a Pokémon from Third to Sixth Gen, I have to own at the very least, a DS-Lite and a 3DS, as well as game from each generation. The Bank is meant to get rid of all that necessary hardware, and just let you transfer and store all Pokémon on the cloud from one single device. Once the succeeding generations beyond Sixth come around, the Bank's true prowess will shine, especially for collectors like me who have well over a thousand Pokémon stored in our games.

 

[.Aerodactyl.]

Yeah, I believe the Pokemon bank is well handled and we've never had anything like it before. Its really cheap for the year... And personally I like poke transfer. They gave us a free trial period with the bank so we could transfer all of our Pokemon without paying to our new X/Y. If we wanted to continue the service after that, we could pay for it. Hiving us a free service we really only have to use once doesn't sound like a cash grab to me. They weren't even originally going to allow backwards compatibility to get rid of all the hacked Mon, but they responded to the fan outcry, made Pokemon transfer to work along side the bank, and like I said, gave us a free trial to move all of our pokemon over. I don't really thinknit was a feature that was previously free.. We've never had anything like it before. It allowed transfer instantly without having to wait to beat the games first, gave us additional storage space to use between games. And I'm pretty sure with ORAS, we will be able to trade back and forth freely without the bank with X/Y. Their motivations make sense too... Its a reoccurring service that has to be maintained, so a five dollar fee a year sounds pretty reasonable to me. That's one Starbucks coffee I'll never have this year, I know I'll manage.
I don't mean to put down other peoples feelings about it, I just personally love the bank and felt it was well designed and marketed. If you don't approve that's fine, and I'm sorry. If the cost seems a little much and you have friends, you could consider combining together to share a Pokemon bank. 300 boxes is more than enough to share I'm sure! My siblings and I almost did that, but we thought the cost was so low we would just get our own.

I don't remember the debacle in the beginning, was it just the late release and the initial problems of it being over used and straining the server or whatever? I admit those were frustrating, but they're over now.

 

[The Red Thunder]

Getting back on topic, one of the places I'm most eager to see is the Fortree area. North-eastern Hoenn has always been one of my favorite places to explore. The cliffs, jungles, large trees ... so awesome. I'm so stoked to be able to visit the place in glorious 3D once again.

I don't remember the debacle in the beginning, was it just the late release and the initial problems of it being over used and straining the server or whatever? I admit those were frustrating, but they're over now.

Yep. Those are the problems I was referring to. And it's well over now, so I'm more than pleased with the service. I also appreciate them telling me how much time I have left in my pay period. Very considerate on their behalf.

 

[KyogreThunder]

As I said earlier, I don't 100% remember Pokemon ruby at all, but I agree that its essentially the same plot as the originals and less so of emerald. I will say that it looks like its still an expanded plot though... Their motives are better fleshed out, we have mega evolution now as well as primal forms. All of the Admins have been redesigned to give them more personality. I'm okay with the plot being that of ruby and sapphire. I feel like we'll still get some of the important things from emerald, like the battle frontier and move tutors. I've heard someone mention elsewhere that shiftry now has lead blade which it didn't previously, and that it might be a move tutor move. They saw shiftry use it in one of the trailers and looked it up. Unless they just added it as an egg move or something... Do they ever add egg moves in between generations? I don't remember.

Actually,they do add egg moves in between generations.For example,the Aron line can learn Head Smash as an egg move in HG/SS,but not in D/P/Pt.

 

[.Aerodactyl.]

Ah well! I was hoping it was strong evidence for move tutors. Ah well! Guess we still have to wait and see.

 

[Endless]

Bank is pretty cool. I do wish they would update it so it becomes compatible with items as well though.

I don't remember the debacle in the beginning, was it just the late release and the initial problems of it being over used and straining the server or whatever? I admit those were frustrating, but they're over now.

It got a lot of hate for the delay. I think that was understandable, especially since Japan had it exclusively for themselves for quite some time. However that problem is solved now and shouldn't be used as criticism of the current bank.
It is true that it does get some hate for being subscription-based, however from my experience it is a small but vocal community that holds this opinion. Bank was also free the first month so they had plenty of time to transfer all their old Pokémon without paying anything.

 

[The Red Thunder]

Ah well! I was hoping it was strong evidence for move tutors. Ah well! Guess we still have to wait and see.

Well, both the remakes of First and Second Gen had tutors. In addition to that, Platinum, and Black 2 and White 2 had tutors as well. It's probably a good chance that Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire will have them as well.

 

[Disaster_Lord]

Well, both the remakes of First and Second Gen had tutors. In addition to that, Platinum, and Black 2 and White 2 had tutors as well. It's probably a good chance that Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire will have them as well.

I just hope they give us defog, hyper voice sr and knock off. With my pbank dead i have to do ridiculous trades for them

 

[magma grunt edu]

I'm also really impressed with a lot of peoples memories. You're all able ro recall such specific details! I haven't played ruby in so long, its really going to feel like a new game for me. Its probably part of the reason why I'm more hyped then some for this game... Because plot wise a lot feels fresh and new simply cause I don't remember it.

Well, it's my favorite gen, i replayed the games so many times and, once again, the music helps retain those small events. I'm considering replaying through it again now, (ruby) as a counterpart of theredthunder's playthrough.

You mean New Mauville? I think that'll probably get a significant expansion, if Mauville's new look is anything to go by. As far as story goes, as we're getting the two games, I think it's probably going to be the case as it was in R/S.
As for Pokemon logic, that's never been the best or brightest, so I'm not really surprised by anything like this anymore!

Yeah, i never had thought about groudon and kyogre's mysterious teleport. But since megas mewtwo became stronger than the god of pokemon i don't consider much logic in pokemon games.

It's cheap, that's for sure, but from the consumer end of things I think it is the bad kind of DLC because it's taking something that you previously got in game and locked it behind a paywall (and a recurring paywall no less). If they're serious about not having paid DLC, they need to avoid making Bank a necessity for transfers whenever they can.

I guess you're right but they giving you a free month to transfer your previous mons and celebi just reiterates the fact that they are really not after the money. And since there's gonna be exclusive games to the new 3ds i'm grabbing one and then i have no problems with transferring and evolving by transfer so i have no further use for the bank (i just used the free trial) and will only pay the fee to transfer pokemon between gens, if it's obligatory to use the bank (which i assume it is). But the idea that i can have my kids (if i ever have any) to try out the pokemon i had is an incredible idea.

I just hope they give us defog, hyper voice sr and knock off. With my pbank dead i have to do ridiculous trades for them

I also want them to give pokemon moves to make their attacking stats at least useful and my vain hope to get a cut upgrade. I can't believe the 1st attack of most pokemon is better than an HM.


I liked the new locations introduced in emerald (mainly magma's new base and sleeping groudon's location, which makes sense for once), which made the jagged pass not totally useless (giving it a pokemon that isn't found anywhere else doesn't do it and spoink is so lame (although grumpig is ok)) and i hope they make an appearance somehow (not counting the battle frontier which i am taking for granted at this point (and i hope i don't regret it).

 

[Impreza]

Ah well! I was hoping it was strong evidence for move tutors. Ah well! Guess we still have to wait and see.

I'd be pretty surprised and disappointed if move tutors weren't in ORAS. Things like Scizor benefit from them so much - Knock Off, Superpower, Bug Bite... It's really annoying how a lot of mon's require certain tutor moves to be viable and you can't get them only using Gen 6 yet.

I also think it'd be cool if they gave us the ability to remember tutor moves after they've been replaced with another move. They allowed us to remember egg moves this gen, why not tutor moves?

 

[Yurimin]

Getting back on topic, one of the places I'm most eager to see is the Fortree area. North-eastern Hoenn has always been one of my favorite places to explore. The cliffs, jungles, large trees ... so awesome. I'm so stoked to be able to visit the place in glorious 3D once again.

I agree. In addition to the cliffs, jungles etc, I personally love the music of the routes near Fortree (can't remember the numbers), another reason why I'm looking forward to exploring the are

 

[tomatohater]

My favourite towns in Hoenn were Lavaridge (maybe my favourite in all the games...?), Fortree (who doesn't like Fortree?), Pacificlodge or however you spell it and Sootpolis City. Hoenn, in my honest opinion, has the best map design out of any of the Pokemon regions, and I absolutely love the variety between all the towns! It has tons of different sceneries, form deserts, to volcanoes, to vast oceans, big cities and woodland areas too!

 

[Hero of Truth]

What I like about Hoenn is how it's the largest of all regions we got so far. And of course, the variety in sceneries (volcano, desert etc.)

 

[TrottingMinccino]

Oh yes, I dig Fortree too. Namely the music, i'm always finding myself swaying to those flutes, and I do wonder how it will look in 3D (Huge suspension bridges anyone?!). I'm also eager for Lilycove/Pacifidlog, Route 113, some of the earlier routes, the desert, and several gyms!

Another note: I wonder if the Game Corner will be still there? But i'm seeing it getting replaced, because you know, gambling?

 

[Yurimin]

Oh yes, I dig Fortree too. Namely the music, i'm always finding myself swaying to those flutes, and I do wonder how it will look in 3D (Huge suspension bridges anyone?!). I'm also eager for Lilycove/Pacifidlog, Route 113, some of the earlier routes, the desert, and several gyms!

Another note: I wonder if the Game Corner will be still there? But i'm seeing it getting replaced, because you know, gambling?

I won't be surprised if it was taken out. I really don't think it will be returning. Personally, I never cared for the Game Corner because I suck at slots - so its absence won't really make a difference to me

 

[Hexin' Wishes]

Another note: I wonder if the Game Corner will be still there? But i'm seeing it getting replaced, because you know, gambling?

I think it should remain but as an actual arcade for the eReader mini-games (they don't even have to be in 3D). Just hand out "tickets" instead of "coins" and boom!

Arcades aren't illegal and they look so cute!