General Pokémon

[fingerz]

Yeah. Kinda confusing though. He's actually meant to be middle-aged...

[garlicbananas]

Sonic's already way passed the average hedgehog life expectancy.

[DrP]

If anyone has a twitter account and is following @NintendoAmerica, they can win some Pokémon stuff...

GOGOGOGO! (This includes a signed copy from Junichi Masuda!)

[Jub3r7]

A signed copy of Junichi Masuda? Sweet!

[SlowPokemon]

Yes.

[DrP]

You guys has a twitter???

Follow me @nkonny

[fingerz]

MUST GET!!

[Cobraroll]

A short opinion by me about the general state of Pokémon at the dawn of the fifth generation. I think this belongs in this thread, as it's in no way "news":

Where to start? Well, guess I can skip straight to the point: I feel more and more like Game Freak is trying ot completely "restart" Pokémon with Black & White, and distancing the franchise from the first four generations. It seems like the older generations take a back seat, the old Pokémon being more like bonus materiel in the new games, and new Pokémon taking over the established roles of old ones.
For a start, take one of the first things revealed about the Unova region: It is located far away from the other regions, reflecting America more than Japan. The short time span between the Japanese and international releases, the web connections, etc, all means that these games are meant to be more "international" than the others, catering to a global audience and focusing less on Japanese culture and legends. It's also a convenient way to distance itself from the elements and characters from the first generations:

Look at the Animé. For a start, Ash got a new look, for no reason whatsoever. Not only a change in clothing, but his face changed too, and the vivid colours are toned down. Predictably enough, after Sinnoh, he decided to ditch his old Pokémon, lobotomize Pikachu and head for a new region. However, this time he's ditching Oak as well, sending his Pokémon to professor Juniper instead. Only the sixth generation will tell if this is staying, but I'm worried already. How long before it's never mentioned again that Ash is from Pallet, or his mother/Oak moving to Unova? The latter is unlikely, but still...

Then, the case of new Pokémon in old roles. For a moment, let's forget the ever-present Pidgey, Rattata and Pikachu clones; they have become a tradition at this point. Instead take this: the staple Pokémon of choice in Pokémon centres have always been Chansey and Blissey. I mean, how can you think "Nurse Joy" without an image of a Chansey by her side (or a lovestruck Brock, may he return ASAP)? Well, Game Freak wants to teach you how: Meet Audino.
What if I say "All-male Fighting Pokémon, constantly sparring and training martial arts"? Some will picture the classic Hitmonchan and Hitmonlee, while Black and White give us Throh and Sawk.
"Annoying bat jumping at you for every other step you take in a cave"? Zubat, Golbat, ooooor... yeah, Woobat and Swoobat.
"Annoying jellyfish jumping at you for every other step you take in the sea"? Tentacool has always been a staple here... until Frillish came along
"Huge, bulky Pokémon valued at construction sites due to their immense strength. Have to be traded to evolve". Machop or Conkeldurr, the choice is yours (at the moment). Here are a few more:

"Pokémon created by human carelessness, living and thriving in the pollution of large cities"
"Tapir-based Psychic Pokémon feeding off dreams"
"Tadpole-like Pokémon living in ponds"
"Bull Pokémon roaming the great plains"
"Weak fish Pokémon found everywhere you can surf or fish"
Smogon sums it up greatly here: http://www.smogon.com/smog/issue14/firstvsfifth
Also, it's important to note that the generation V Pokédex is the only one not to have any Pokémon from other generation related to it by evolution.

Last, I'd like to point out that the Pokémon World Championship only allows Unova Pokémon to be used this year. That's right, kids, forget the old and bring in the new.
With all the backwards compability of the games nowadays, it's likely that Game Freak will use the Generation V Pokémon primarily in the future, and keep the older ones as "history" for new players. As in, they are compatible with the new games, and some can be found directly in them as well, but they will have as little to do with the storylines as possible.

[Shadoninja]

"Offensively, the only Pokemon that resisted Psychic attacks were . . . other Psychic Pokemon, which further perverted the telepathic circle jerk that was the RBY metagame." win.

[Jub3r7]

I'm trying to vote in the poll. It's better than previous generations, but I expected it to be this great...

[SlowPokemon]

A short opinion by me about the general state of Pokémon at the dawn of the fifth generation. I think this belongs in this thread, as it's in no way "news":

Where to start? Well, guess I can skip straight to the point: I feel more and more like Game Freak is trying ot completely "restart" Pokémon with Black & White, and distancing the franchise from the first four generations. It seems like the older generations take a back seat, the old Pokémon being more like bonus materiel in the new games, and new Pokémon taking over the established roles of old ones.
For a start, take one of the first things revealed about the Unova region: It is located far away from the other regions, reflecting America more than Japan. The short time span between the Japanese and international releases, the web connections, etc, all means that these games are meant to be more "international" than the others, catering to a global audience and focusing less on Japanese culture and legends. It's also a convenient way to distance itself from the elements and characters from the first generations:

Look at the Animé. For a start, Ash got a new look, for no reason whatsoever. Not only a change in clothing, but his face changed too, and the vivid colours are toned down. Predictably enough, after Sinnoh, he decided to ditch his old Pokémon, lobotomize Pikachu and head for a new region. However, this time he's ditching Oak as well, sending his Pokémon to professor Juniper instead. Only the sixth generation will tell if this is staying, but I'm worried already. How long before it's never mentioned again that Ash is from Pallet, or his mother/Oak moving to Unova? The latter is unlikely, but still...

Then, the case of new Pokémon in old roles. For a moment, let's forget the ever-present Pidgey, Rattata and Pikachu clones; they have become a tradition at this point. Instead take this: the staple Pokémon of choice in Pokémon centres have always been Chansey and Blissey. I mean, how can you think "Nurse Joy" without an image of a Chansey by her side (or a lovestruck Brock, may he return ASAP)? Well, Game Freak wants to teach you how: Meet Audino.
What if I say "All-male Fighting Pokémon, constantly sparring and training martial arts"? Some will picture the classic Hitmonchan and Hitmonlee, while Black and White give us Throh and Sawk.
"Annoying bat jumping at you for every other step you take in a cave"? Zubat, Golbat, ooooor... yeah, Woobat and Swoobat.
"Annoying jellyfish jumping at you for every other step you take in the sea"? Tentacool has always been a staple here... until Frillish came along
"Huge, bulky Pokémon valued at construction sites due to their immense strength. Have to be traded to evolve". Machop or Conkeldurr, the choice is yours (at the moment). Here are a few more:

"Pokémon created by human carelessness, living and thriving in the pollution of large cities"
"Tapir-based Psychic Pokémon feeding off dreams"
"Tadpole-like Pokémon living in ponds"
"Bull Pokémon roaming the great plains"
"Weak fish Pokémon found everywhere you can surf or fish"
Smogon sums it up greatly here: http://www.smogon.com/smog/issue14/firstvsfifth
Also, it's important to note that the generation V Pokédex is the only one not to have any Pokémon from other generation related to it by evolution.

Last, I'd like to point out that the Pokémon World Championship only allows Unova Pokémon to be used this year. That's right, kids, forget the old and bring in the new.
With all the backwards compability of the games nowadays, it's likely that Game Freak will use the Generation V Pokémon primarily in the future, and keep the older ones as "history" for new players. As in, they are compatible with the new games, and some can be found directly in them as well, but they will have as little to do with the storylines as possible.

I don't know why you sound so disdainful. Pretty much all of the things you mentioned are an improvement. Fifth generation is way better than the fourth and third, and it's right up there with the second.

[Cobraroll]

^I haven't played the games yet, so I don't know if it will turn out any better or worse, but I still feel that they shouldn't just "replace" all the old Pokémon with new ones, if you get what I mean. It's like they "kick out" the ones who have filled certain roles since the first generation, put in some new and suspiciously similiar ones instead, and pretend the old ones never did anything but just existing. I know keeping track of almost 650 Pokémon is a hard task, but I feel that they shouldn't forget all the old ones.

I know it's better marketing to milk the new Pokémon for all they're worth, then create some more when people start losing interest, though, so sticking to the traditions makes no sense from a business perspective... still, it makes me sad. No matter how you word it, Poliwag is better than Tympole, Pidgey curb-stomps Pidove any day, Woobat is a silly excuse for a Zubat, etc. Yes, I will learn to love the fifth gen. Pokémon one day too, but in my heart, there's nothing like the original 151. Seeing Sentret and eventually Zigzagoon take Rattata's place saddened me, as I knew they were essentially the same Pokémon, but the concept eventually grew on me. Same with the birds of the respective regions, but when they extend this and put in new Pokémon for every role in the games, I die a little inside... a little pick and mix wouldn't have hurt, would it? Sure, I too am annoyed by always meeting Zubat and Tentacool, but who's to say they are the only Pokémon in four generations that can inhabit their respective caves and seas en masse?*

Also, I forgot something in my last post: http://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/List_of_Pok%C3%A9mon_by_Unova_Pok%C3%A9dex_number
These are the new Pokémon (yes, spoiler alert and all that) listed up. Do anyone else thing that after Zoroark, as listed, the Pokémon become more original (with the exception of Emolga)? It seems like they've put the old and used concepts at the top half of the Pokédex, and the original concepts at the bottom...

*Yes, I know that you technically can blame Woobat's type advantage over Zubat to explain how there are no Zubat in Unova, but Staryu never expelled Tentacool from the seas... Though Staryu are dwelling at the bottom of the oceans, while Tentacool float on the surface.... bah! Can't make a logically sound argument!

[fingerz]

Don't worry. You can find most the old Pokemon once you've beaten the game once.

[SlowPokemon]

Also, I forgot something in my last post: http://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/List_of_Pok%C3%A9mon_by_Unova_Pok%C3%A9dex_number
These are the new Pokémon (yes, spoiler alert and all that) listed up. Do anyone else thing that after Zoroark, as listed, the Pokémon become more original (with the exception of Emolga)? It seems like they've put the old and used concepts at the top half of the Pokédex, and the original concepts at the bottom...

I can see where you're coming from there! (BTW the Pokemon have been out for like a few weeks now...just so you know... you don't have to worry about spoilers)

I truthfully think Blitzle is the bigger Pikachu copy than Emolga... Blitzle is just overused. xD Nothing wrong with it...but it is overused. So is Darmanitan.

Minccino... <3 I think it's my new favorite Unova Pokemon.

Also, I exclude Vanillite's family from the cool designs... though I suppose it was "original"... xD

I am quite happy with these Pokemon... the only one I really HATE is Ferroseed.

[DrP]

I absolutely hate that steel spider... absolutely hate it.. oh and the tentacool replacement (the one that is blue or pink)