Route Distribution Rant Thread

[Fontbane]

Whether it's having too many different Pokémon on a route, new Pokémon being too rare compared to old ones, or an overabundance of Gumshoos, here's a thread to vent your opinions on Pokémon's biggest mistakes in distributing Pokémon in routes and caves.

 

[Lorekitten]

Wild Tranquill in Gen 5 are an absolute pain. Spams Detect, Double Team, and Roost... what is WITH these birbs?

I can easily believe that they have their own place in the forest where there is no war. No wild Pokemon can possibly be fool enough to bother a Tranquill.

 

[TechSkylander1518]

As much as I love SuMo, I feel like there was a lot of problems with Pokemon distribution.

First of all, there's the way the Pikipek and Yangoos lines were just shoved down your throat. Between the two of them, the only routes that you can't encounter either one are Route 5 and Routes 12-14. In a region with 17 routes, 13 of them have the same Pokemon, over and over. (And, of course, because they're "common" Pokemon, they have high encounter rates) They have solid designs, but there's nothing so interesting about them that I would want to see them a million times over. It makes it hard to enjoy other Pokemon-why bother seeking out new Pokemon when I know I'm going to see the same ones a dozen times before finding something new?-and doesn't show off the Pokemon's skills at all. Nobody wants to battle all those wild Pokemon-they're just going to flee. They could show these Pokemon being "common" far better by using them more often in the overworld, and by including them in trainer battles (and using more skill with them so they're seen as actual threats). High encounter rates on the same Pokemon across the entire region is just a nuisance.

And, in a similar vein as those two, Magikarp. Magikarp's encounter rate in fishing never falls below 50%, and can reach as high as 79%. Did you want to use some of the new aquatic Pokemon introduced in these games? Game Freak advises you to put such foolish thoughts out of your mind, and use Magikarp, the Pokemon that's been around for twenty years. I understand in fan games when there's a common fishing Pokemon-they have a much smaller dex-but out of 133 Water-types, we get the same Pokemon in every fishing spot, taking priority over all others?

And we have the problem of how many new Pokemon just get shoved to the side.

• The Jangmo-o line can only be found in a certain path of grass in one area, and after the last trial, no less. (And if it's done to keep a pseudo-legendary out of player's hands until later, why can Beldum and Bagon be found so much sooner?)
• Dhelmise, a fantastic and unique design, is barely seen in the game at all. You might not even know it exists until you see Acerola use it in her Elite Four battle. And where do you find Dhelmise? Fishing, of course, where Magikarp has 50% encounter chance.
• Mimikyu gets put on display at its Totem Battle, but it's near impossible to find in the abandoned mart, with only a 5% encounter rate. (and this is the only location it can be found) Where does 80% of the encounter chances go to? Why, to the two-decade-old Golbat and Haunter, of course!
• Thinking of adding a Sandyghast to your team? Good luck with that-Sandyghast is found in one location, and shares its encounter method with Starmie, who sucks up a greedy 80% chance.

 

[aiyinsi]

well I totally agree to Tech ... I tried to complete the dex ... it's horrible. Also the way you collect Zygarde is just impossible. Also that new bubbles system with fishing ... seems new but is totally frustrating because you have like a 1% encounter rate if you don't leave the route afer each try. And then there are Pokémon that can only be called at a small chance by rare Pokémon ... I didn't even finish the game because it frustrated me too much ...

 

[Hematite]

Bonus points to Jangmo-o: in the demo version, not only do they appear in Ten Carat Hill, but they have an entire dedicated Trial there including a Totem Hakamo-o. Then they don't appear in Ten Carat Hill at all in the final game. Honestly, it would be the perfect place to find them early-game - why did that not happen? OTL

Yeah, encounter rates of 5% and below all bug me a lot. If you're doing it because you have too many encounters in an area, remove some encounters entirely and put them somewhere else (side note: Kalos had a huge problem with too many encounters - your regional Pokédex does not need 450 Pokémon unless you really have somewhere to put them and are actually running out of Pokémon to put in a new place), and if you don't have that many Pokémon and just want it to be rare for the sake of being rare... first of all, 10% is as low as you need to go for that, and second, that's really not the best way to make something hard to get.

ALTHOUGH, SPEAKING OF MAKING THINGS HARD TO GET BY OTHER MEANS... has anyone ever actually used a Mareanie for an in-game team? Because wow, I cannot imagine that. It's locked behind optionally fishing to get lucky with a Corsola (which is already not that common) and then waiting for it to call for help and accidentally get a Mareanie. This definitely toes the line between "interesting encounter method that relates to the Pokémon's concept" and "well actually, no, has anyone ever figured this out?" I'm pretty sure everyone who has a Mareanie either got it by looking it up or by accident. What they did wrong was making Mareanie only available this way and still rare with it; I would suggest making it a possible but rare encounter by itself, then way more commonly called by a Corsola so people who know Mareanie well can use a neat trick to get it more readily.

One thing Alola did with encounters that I actually really like is having different encounters for different patches of grass within the same Route. So here's a suggestion if you really want something to be rare: instead of 5%, make it reasonably uncommon (anywhere from 10% to 20%) and then make it only appear in a specific patch of grass, especially one that's hard to reach (blocked by a Trainer or generally out of the way/off the beaten path).

Something I'm considering for my fangame: the first encounter in every area in my game will be guaranteed to be something new to the area (at least until you reach the point where there aren't any entirely new species being introduced, around Gym 7 or so because nobody catches stuff that late). This way, every area stays interesting and you're not bored to death by all of the repeats - TechSkylander, that is a really good point about how many Routes had Pikipek and Yungoos... - and the area always shows you something new it has to offer rather than make you think it doesn't have any, so you're more interested and more likely to look in the grass than spray Repels.

 

[TechSkylander1518]

ALTHOUGH, SPEAKING OF MAKING THINGS HARD TO GET BY OTHER MEANS... has anyone ever actually used a Mareanie for an in-game team? Because wow, I cannot imagine that. It's locked behind optionally fishing to get lucky with a Corsola (which is already not that common) and then waiting for it to call for help and accidentally get a Mareanie. This definitely toes the line between "interesting encounter method that relates to the Pokémon's concept" and "well actually, no, has anyone ever figured this out?" I'm pretty sure everyone who has a Mareanie either got it by looking it up or by accident. What they did wrong was making Mareanie only available this way and still rare with it; I would suggest making it a possible but rare encounter by itself, then way more commonly called by a Corsola so people who know Mareanie well can use a neat trick to get it more readily.

Oh, gosh, I can't believe I forgot about Mareanie's encounter method, it's the worst. I think the only reason anyone knows how to get it is datamining or some shiny Corsola hunter.

And, sure, Mareanie trying to get Corsola makes sense, but predators don't exist just when their prey is harmed. Golbat is a predator, too, and that thing never stays away from trainers!

One thing Alola did with encounters that I actually really like is having different encounters for different patches of grass within the same Route. So here's a suggestion if you really want something to be rare: instead of 5%, make it reasonably uncommon (anywhere from 10% to 20%) and then make it only appear in a specific patch of grass, especially one that's hard to reach (blocked by a Trainer or generally out of the way/off the beaten path).

That's a fantastic idea! It makes finding a rare Pokemon actually feel like an accomplishment, instead of just "Oh, finally I got the luck of the draw..."

Something I'm considering for my fangame: the first encounter in every area in my game will be guaranteed to be something new to the area (at least until you reach the point where there aren't any entirely new species being introduced, around Gym 7 or so because nobody catches stuff that late). This way, every area stays interesting and you're not bored to death by all of the repeats - TechSkylander, that is a really good point about how many Routes had Pikipek and Yungoos... - and the area always shows you something new it has to offer rather than make you think it doesn't have any, so you're more interested and more likely to look in the grass than spray Repels.

It sounds complicated to code, but I think it'll be worth it, that'll be a really great way to keep things new and exciting!

 

[MadDeodorant]

Just a couple words... No fire types in Diamond and Pearl aside from Chimchar and Ponyta!!!!!

 

[Lorekitten]

Just a couple words... No fire types in Diamond and Pearl aside from Chimchar and Ponyta!!!!!

Agreed, and this is made all the more frustrating because of Bronzor. Bronzor, the wild Pokemon with Confuse Ray and only two weaknesses... one of which is limited to only two Pokemon, including a starter... and the other Fire-type Pokemon, Ponyta, is the Flinch hax horse.

When and if we get Sinnoh remakes, we'd better get Platinum-style wild encounters rather than being stuck with Diamond/Pearl encounters. Although Gen 6-7 mechanics nerfing Steel to no longer resist Ghost and Dark will triple Bronzor's weaknesses, which should make them easier to handle.