Mega Evolution Discussion & Speculation Thread

[JVLightningLover]

I don't think they'll be as big as Mega-Evolution, if anything I see them being pretty restricted to just story mode where you can spam the move battle after battle. Team Skull grunt challenges you to a battle, Grunt sends out Zubat, Pikachu uses havoc charge (or whatever its called), Zubat faints you win... next

I guess it also depends on how they actually work.
- Can they miss?
- Dose Protect, Detect, Mat Block, Substitute, semi invulnerable turns stop them?
- Do they have increased priority?
- Do they use stats for damage calculation or do they do set damage or 1-hit-OK?
- Will focus Sash or Sturdy stop them if its the later?
- Do immunity's still play a factor?

If they end up being 1-hit-OK moves with increased priority then that's just overkill, Ratatta beating a Mega-Rayquaza. Your trump cards and main players will just get knocked out without any effort or tactics.
I really hope you can waste a Z-move by just hitting a protect or Sub. in which case mimikyu will be very handy.

However megas will always keep the tactics and team building aspect. And while some Mega's are overkill and easy wins, others actually take some skill to use. Which is why I like them. I wouldn't waste my Mega-stone slot on Blastoise just so I can 1-hit-Ko 1 pokemon with a Z-move, then leaving me with a reg Blastoise for the rest of the match.

Z-Moves are not guaranteed OHKO's. As for the rest, there is some speculation that Hyper Sprint Attack will have priority, but no one knows if Z-Moves will have any special traits beyond raw power. As for Sash, Sturdy, and immunities, they should all still apply, and Protect, and Sub will likely block them, unless (and I reiterate) the moves have specialized traits that circumvent them. Still, I doubt that every Z-Move will bypass all of those factors.

Also, I doubt you'll need to rely on Gigavolt Havoc to KO Zubat.

 

[MechaBulba]

Z-Moves are not guaranteed OHKO's. As for the rest, there is some speculation that Hyper Sprint Attack will have priority, but no one knows if Z-Moves will have any special traits beyond raw power. As for Sash, Sturdy, and immunities, they should all still apply, and Protect, and Sub will likely block them, unless (and I reiterate) the moves have specialized traits that circumvent them. Still, I doubt that every Z-Move will bypass all of those factors.

Also, I doubt you'll need to rely on Gigavolt Havoc to KO Zubat.

I'm so glad they are not 1-hit-Ko moves. From their debut trailer (the only 1 i've personally seen them in) then that's the impression I got from them.

So if that's the case then I really don't see why you'd waste an item slot (which could be for a mega stone), over an item that you can only use once and may fail. Its like Gems before they got removed apart from the Normal gem (for triggering unburden). Why waste an item slot on an Electric Gem for 1 turn (which may be wasted), when you can use a choice item or life orb to consistently boost the power of an electric type move throughout the battle? Or why people run Thunderbolt over Thunder, because Thunderbolt has more overall benefits across an entire battle and not just one turn where you may need a more powerful option, which again you can get around by using boosting moves, holding an item or mega evolving.
I can see Z moves being niche options for some pokemon, but otherwise it seems like a wasted choice. Atleast from what I'm currently seeing.

Oh yeah I know, Zubat was just a pull from the top of my head.

 

[amoebo]

IMO I see Z-Moves only really affecting pokemon like Electivire or Zebstrika in giving them an item that helps there coverage; Zebstrika needs more than 2 physical moves and Electivire could use a better coverage for ground.

 

[gliscor&yanmega]

do you guys think Z stones will be as big as Mega Evolution?

Depends what you mean by "as big as". Mega Evolutions are essentially new Pokemon, whereas Z-Moves are just powerful moves, I feel more people would be more likely interested in Mega Evolutions.

They could possibly be just as; if not more, powerful as Mega Evolution, but I doubt it since it's a one time thing and hasn't really shown that it'll really be too ground breaking.

I would imagine it'll probably be heavily important to the story of the games though, just like with Megas. But overall, I feel it was just put in to have something new and focus a little more on moves overall and maybe some story reasoning.

Personally, I'm more interesting in finding our more about Megas this gen over Z-Moves. I'd like to see how each move looks, but other than that, meh.

 

[Lexya428]

Depends what you mean by "as big as". Mega Evolutions are essentially new Pokemon, whereas Z-Moves are just powerful moves, I feel more people would be more likely interested in Mega Evolutions.

They could possibly be just as; if not more, powerful as Mega Evolution, but I doubt it since it's a one time thing and hasn't really shown that it'll really be too ground breaking.

I would imagine it'll probably be heavily important to the story of the games though, just like with Megas. But overall, I feel it was just put in to have something new and focus a little more on moves overall and maybe some story reasoning.

Personally, I'm more interesting in finding our more about Megas this gen over Z-Moves. I'd like to see how each move looks, but other than that, meh.

I actually agree with you, I am quite interested in if they are introducing any mega evolutions, less interested in the Z-moved. Although, I don't really see mega evolutions as new Pokémon, just the same Pokémon with new abilities... similar to the idea of Alola Forms, which also interest me a bit. However, when I had first heard of mega evolutions I was pretty skeptical.

 

[gliscor&yanmega]

I actually agree with you, I am quite interested in if they are introducing any mega evolutions, less interested in the Z-moved. Although, I don't really see mega evolutions as new Pokémon, just the same Pokémon with new abilities... similar to the idea of Alola Forms, which also interest me a bit. However, when I had first heard of mega evolutions I was pretty skeptical.

I feel like the creators see Megas(And likely Alolan Forms for that matters) as new Pokemon; to some degree at least. While they are still technically the same Pokemon, there's more then just a change of Ability, they have more stats and a different design, they even have descriptions making them sound like their own unique Pokemon even though they can only exist in battle. The whole thing just seems like a way to have older Pokemon get more power and attention without giving them actual evolutions and/or increasing the number of overall Pokemon in the dex.

 

[Disaster_Lord]

Just to stirr up some discussion, what are some of the worst fan mega concepts you have seen?

For me it's bisharp, we have the infamous Centaur and even a knight with a shield, or heck a gender restricted king and queen been made for him.

Sadly these fan Megas only take into account the English side of the fandom and miss entirely on what Bisharp line actually resembles.

They are bandits and a bandit leader using armor from the 1500 on Japan, basically Samurai bandit leaders that went rougue after the upheaval and sword hunt that followed, heck it's hard to not see them coming from here with all the stuff bisharp carries in its concept.

Their names play a pun on a shogi piece and a blade and on the act of mincing and slaying for Bisharp, this is why all these heroic or chess piece themed evolution just end up missing the mark by a mile of what this guys actually are.

If instead they played the pun on hidden blade, the act or cutting or simply using a Naginata they could have come up with realistic mega evolutions that don't contradict the Japanese context, heck a bandit lord or a warlord with an army of bandit using a big shoulder pad and 2 crest/blades on his back with an elongated backward blade on his chest would be one of the best approaches to Japanese bandits and the historic period that Bisharp concept seems to come from while looking badass as hell.

What about you? Any fan mega that you simply can't get behind for a reason? And what would be that reason?

 

[Sabre_King]

My biggest questions regarding Z moves are:
Do z-moves take on the form of either a physical or special attack, or can they be categorized as both? I am wondering this since every pokemon of each type can lean more towards one or the other, and in rare times they specialize in both fields.
This leads into my next question which is if they are not categorized as both will there be two z moves per type based on having one attack centered around physical attacking pokemon, while the other handles special attacking pokemon.

 

[clbgolden12]

My biggest questions regarding Z moves are:
Do z-moves take on the form of either a physical or special attack, or can they be categorized as both? I am wondering this since every pokemon of each type can lean more towards one or the other, and in rare times they specialize in both fields.
This leads into my next question which is if they are not categorized as both will there be two z moves per type based on having one attack centered around physical attacking pokemon, while the other handles special attacking pokemon.

Unfortunately, we're not sure about either of those things currently.

 

[roserade the warrior]

Just to stirr up some discussion, what are some of the worst fan mega concepts you have seen?

For me it's bisharp, we have the infamous Centaur and even a knight with a shield, or heck a gender restricted king and queen been made for him.

Sadly these fan Megas only take into account the English side of the fandom and miss entirely on what Bisharp line actually resembles.

They are bandits and a bandit leader using armor from the 1500 on Japan, basically Samurai bandit leaders that went rougue after the upheaval and sword hunt that followed, heck it's hard to not see them coming from here with all the stuff bisharp carries in its concept.

Their names play a pun on a shogi piece and a blade and on the act of mincing and slaying for Bisharp, this is why all these heroic or chess piece themed evolution just end up missing the mark by a mile of what this guys actually are.

If instead they played the pun on hidden blade, the act or cutting or simply using a Naginata they could have come up with realistic mega evolutions that don't contradict the Japanese context, heck a bandit lord or a warlord with an army of bandit using a big shoulder pad and 2 crest/blades on his back with an elongated backward blade on his chest would be one of the best approaches to Japanese bandits and the historic period that Bisharp concept seems to come from while looking badass as hell.

What about you? Any fan mega that you simply can't get behind for a reason? And what would be that reason?

Gardevoir is named sirknight in japanese (as far as I know), and even though we dont really know in whats based, it is most likely some kind of mage or guardian angel; but that didnt stop gamefreak to put mega-gardevoir in a wedding dress anyway.
In any case, answering your question, design wise I like most fan-megas. The only ones I kind of dislike (I dont dislike them I am just a bit fed up of them) are the ones made for the popular mons, simply because there are too many of them (flygon, blissey, dragonite, even charizard... I saw a fanmade mega-charizard "Z" that was fire/ground, and was basically a snake, it was cool and I liked it, but it was charizard xD).

 

[NeptuneCloyster]

My biggest questions regarding Z moves are:
Do z-moves take on the form of either a physical or special attack, or can they be categorized as both? I am wondering this since every pokemon of each type can lean more towards one or the other, and in rare times they specialize in both fields.
This leads into my next question which is if they are not categorized as both will there be two z moves per type based on having one attack centered around physical attacking pokemon, while the other handles special attacking pokemon.

What I think they're going to do is just make some types Z-Moves physical, and some special.
If they do that, they'll probably make the types attack type line up with how they were pre gen 4 split, so fighting, poison, ghost, normal etc being physical, and water, dark, psy, elec, etc being special. fairy will probably come under special.

 

[Tuoko]

At least people can stop worrying about Mega Evolutions not being in Sun/Moon now.

Why? Read here: https://twitter.com/JoeMerrick/status/771758773719433216

 

[JVLightningLover]

At least people can stop worrying about Mega Evolutions not being in Sun/Moon now.

Why? Read here: https://twitter.com/JoeMerrick/status/771758773719433216

And if the MALLOWFUL concept art leak has taught me anything, there will still be people who don't think this proves anything.

But yeah, Megas aren't going anywhere (except maybe to the post-game).

 

[goodpeople25]

Proves? No. A huge indicator(or sign, whatever you want to call it) that shouldn't be ignored and changes the game? Yes.

 

[AuraChannelerChris]

We still get Misty merchandise. That doesn't mean Misty is going to be relevant in the current games.

Again, we need an outright confirmation.

 

[Tuoko]

We still get Misty merchandise. That doesn't mean Misty is going to be relevant in the current games.

Again, we need an outright confirmation.

When have we gotten merchandise of her? She's still relevant this year due to the RGBY VC releases.

 

[JVLightningLover]

We still get Misty merchandise. That doesn't mean Misty is going to be relevant in the current games.

Again, we need an outright confirmation.

That's a bit different, as Misty was both a member of the main cast in the first 273 episodes of the anime, and she appeared in every Generation except Gen 6. She's a character with a lengthy pedigree, much longer than the not quite 3 years we've had Megas. Besides, she mostly appears in unofficial and niche merchandise. We're talking about Megas appearing in official, marketed, front and center merch here, and that's a whole other story.

 

[Mr. Reloaded]

There was no way an entire mechanic that was so heavily advertised on would get cut so early in it's time, if anything the Alola forms only killed the chances of new megas being made. Z-moves are an argument for another time.

Expect them to be post-game exclusive seeing as this game does not heavily focus on them.

 

[R_N]

When have we gotten merchandise of her? She's still relevant this year due to the RGBY VC releases.

we got some a Misty statue & a misty figure (maybe a figma)

the statue was explicitly part of a retro line of high quality statues based on the original games. Obviously, for the 20th anniversary.
The figures were part of a bunch of anime figures released for....reasons? Might just be part of the 20th zeitgeist, but I know Ash, James, Jessie, Brock and I believe May all had them. Unsure if Dawn got one yet.

Mega Evolution merch in 2017 doesn't have quite the same reasoning behind it. It's likely just standard merchandising and that usually tries to stay relevant. Would be kind of awkward to have new mega evolution toys when they'd otherwise be phased out in this bizarre scenario of "megas are being dropped from the game"

 

[kemal07]

I could honestly imagine a trailer before the release of Sun and Moon saying 'Mega evolutions are back'!

Mega evolution is quite a big mechanic to ignore. I honestly don't think they are scrapped. The way I see it is that they are promoting 'new' signature mechanical elements to promote sun and moon, such as Z- moves and Alolan forms.

The way I see it is, ONLY kanto Pokemon receiving Alolan forms while a few Pokemon from Johto, Hoenn, Sinnoh, Unova and Kalos receive mega evolutions.