General Pokémon

[Nebbles]

I'm really fond of RSE and the Gen 5 rival themes the most.

[Latios212]

Gen 7 with Hau and Gladion!

Then Gen 2.

Then all the rest.

[DocDoom2]

best rival themes let's go

RSE

everything else

Rival themes...
I'm assuming you mean battle themes and not encounter themes so I'd say

1. May/Brendan's
2. Gladion's
3. Hugh's
4. Silver's
5. Barry's
6. Hau's
7. Kalos rivals whose names I can't remember...
8. Cheren/Bianca (Yes, Gen 6 isn't last for once)

On a separate note, I don't think this thread has ever gotten this much attention in such a short timespan (At least as long as I've been here)

[BlackDragonSlayer]

http://forum.ninsheetmusic.org/index.php?topic=9540.0

go wild people \o/

[SlowPokemon]

@MSF the trainer, gym leader, and champion battle tracks in RS all use variations on a similar theme intentionally. Still, doesn't help them stand out from one another, though I like how intense the ORAS version of Steven's battle is.

@rival battle tracks

1. Hau
2. May/Brendan
3. Cheren/Bianca
4. Hugh
5. Friend (XY)
6. Rival (DP)
7. Rival (GS)

Guess it's clear from this that I generally like the more playful rival themes better

[AmpharosAndy]

Silver and Hugh surely m8

I hated the rivals in XY but the music was catchy

[WaluigiTime64]

If your question is "are you hoping to cause a big discussion and argument" the answer is yes

Considering I struggled to even find this post (especially considering I didn't even know it existed) you succeeded.

[Echo]

But my point was that small technical things =/= greatest game evar. Hence the icing analogy. My question was why you think that this cake is better than the other cakes.

Number 1 reason Gen 5 was the best:
- Itemfinder on the bottom screen

Second reason here (very tl;dr, Team Plasma was the best villain team)

Spoiler

My reason for liking Gen 5 the most is because of the premise and the antagonists. The main thing that captivates me in most stories is the antagonist, and I think Team Plasma was handled the best so far (not counting Sinnoh games because I never finished them, like I said). They're cheesy for sure, but you could actually see them progress as a threat to be on par with the protagonist.

Compare to the previous gens for example. In Gen 1, Team Rocket and Blue were built up throughout the story, but you couldn't take them too seriously at the end because, well, you already took down Blue and the Boss plenty of times by the time you got to their "endgame" fights. Gen 2's even worse, because your Rival never amounted to anything the whole time, and Team Rocket was just a bunch of babies crying back for Giovanni. In Gen 3, the problem was that it didn't feel like Team Aqua/Magma was really doing anything because you stopped them by yourself almost every time they tried anything, and their plan's stupidity bites them back by the end of it. In a nutshell, the status quo was that the villains were always a joke that you curbstomped.

With Team Plasma though, you might've been able to stop them handily and beat N easily at the start of the game, but throughout the rest of your encounters, they actually come close to causing meaningful harm like stealing your friend's Pokemon, and you do actually need the help of your friends and the Gym Leaders to chase them away at times.

N's interesting compared to the other Team Leaders because he's more of a rival, so you see him actively getting stronger to challenge and surpass you. He goes from being a random stranger that you take down like anyone else, to someone who sweeps up a legendary Pokemon, and then even crushes the Champion right in front of your face. Team Plasma as a whole end up coming close in their goal of actually convincing people to question whether they should keep their Pokemon, making them much more successful than most other teams, and they show that they're a real threat when they take over the League itself. Like I said, you see progression in how competent they are, since they require all your friends and top-level trainers like the Gym Leaders to help stop, unlike the other teams that actually get solo'd by some random 11-year old. They do things right with Ghetsis too, since there's still buildup with numerous encounters with him, but unlike the other big bads, he's not a joke to take down since you never actually fight him before (also that darn Hydreigon).

Similar points hold true for Black 2/White 2, only replace N with Colress pretty much. There are actually a couple of times you actually fail against Team Plasma, and you straight up would've died at one point if it weren't for N.

Overall, they're the only team I took seriously, and it's really refreshing with the theme of your rivals and enemies getting stronger alongside you. Most of the other games were about being guided by a mentor like Lance/Steven/Cynthia/Kukui, and there still is a figure like that in Alder, but what kept it fresh was that the end game was about facing ambitious, up and coming trainers seeking to prove themselves just like you (N and Iris).

[close]

Other reasons here:
- This is probably not a popular opinion, but the seasons gimmick was one of the best features. Really added to the longevity of the game because it created more meaningful changes to the environment, unlike just the Day/Night system. You could take a long break from the game, come back, and then find tons of new things to discover and explore.
- Aesthetically, the animated sprites gave the Pokemon the most character
- In general, all the humans got more character, like with the Gym Leaders being more involved in scenarios. The protagonists actually seem to get more personality to them, what with stuff like the Ferris Wheel dates or PokeStar Studios.
- Pokemon World Tournament is the best post-game facility, making hype for both casual fans and competitive players at once. You've got all the nostalgic characters returning, as well as cool stuff like being able to play against teams from real-life champions. The Tournament Finals is one of the best battle music tracks too

All these things made Gen 5 stand out as the most "alive" to me.

Silvally is such a versatile and fascinating Pokemon; shame that right now, it's not exactly the best, or even very good. :<

I actually don't think Silvally's not viable, the whole Parting Shot/Thunder Wave + any coverage you want isn't anything to write off. Not to mention the move tutors the Ultra games might bring. The only thing that I really wish was different would be that Silvally's ability should've worked off of Z-Crystals instead, so that Silvally's type and Multi-Attack changes based on the Z-Crystal held so that you can use any Z-Move you want effectively.

[BlackDragonSlayer]

I actually don't think Silvally's not viable, the whole Parting Shot/Thunder Wave + any coverage you want isn't anything to write off. Not to mention the move tutors the Ultra games might bring. The only thing that I really wish was different would be that Silvally's ability should've worked off of Z-Crystals instead, so that Silvally's type and Multi-Attack changes based on the Z-Crystal held so that you can use any Z-Move you want effectively.

Except it's solidly in PU right now, the lowest tier. While Parting Shot is pretty nice, overall, due to its "balanced-but-not-quite-good-enough" stats, there's usually a lot of other stuff that can take care of the roles it tries to fulfill, except better. I think the Silvally that people are tossing around right now is Silvally-Fairy, which I suppose does its role pretty well because Multi-Attack can become the most reliable physical Fairy-type move (and apparently because Malamar is good in PU). Or regular old Silvally, because you don't have to waste an item slot.

[Altissimo]

silvally isnt bad in battle tree so

[mastersuperfan]

Rival battle themes... let's see...

GREAT TIER:
1) May/Brendan (ORAS) (those DRUMS)
2) Silver (HGSS)
3) Hugh (B2W2)
4) Hau (SM)

GOOD TIER:
5) Gladion (SM) (I love the intro but I do wish the middle part was a little more interesting)
6) Cheren/Bianca (BW)
7) Too many goddamn friends (XY)
8} May/Brendan (RSE) (lol no drums)

MEH TIER:
9) Barry (DPPt)
10) Silver (GSC) (ngl I can't get myself to like this version at all when compared to HGSS)

[Echo]

RSE Rival Battle > ORAS Rival Battle because of that jingle near the start

[Dudeman]

Ooh, that really high 8-bit really fast C-D-E-F-G-G-F-E-F-E-D figure just before the main melody kicks in?

[Echo]

^ Yup. No way can I accept the ORAS version being the best when it doesn't even have the best part of the piece.

Also, do you guys not count N and Wally as rivals or something?

[mikey]

Wally isn't a rival he's too wimpy