Pokémon Scarlet & Violet - The Hearthflame Knows What It Wants - Global Challenge 2024 II #4
8Last generation, Generation VIII, was the first one to come and go without Looker being in any of the main series games ever since he was introduced in Generation IV. (However, he DID appear in a side game: Pokémon Masters EX. While it originally came out during Generation VII, Looker would not be introduced until 2022.) This generation, meanwhile, is the first one to begin without Game Freak hanging out somewhere in the game to introduce the generation. (And so far, Looker's not in it, though he doesn't always turn up at the beginning of the generation.)
I hope this doesn't start a precedent where they try to minimize callbacks to previous generations. I always liked how characters from previous games would turn up, because it made the Pokémon world feel more complete and connected. You'd meet Cynthia, Sinnoh's Champion, in Undella Town, which is in Unova. Mewtwo fled from Kanto's Cerulean Cave to come hide out in Kalos's Pokémon Village. Grimsley, of the Unova Elite Four, teaches himself how to Sharpedo Surf in Alola. Galar was pretty devoid of these, and it seems Paldea's going on a similar path. I get doing away with them to make them more approachable to newcomers, but I don't think references like these will make a Pokémon game too obtuse even for young players. You’ll see that they were very careful not to make mention of Pokémon Black and White characters for Blueberry Academy, despite it taking place in Unova. Lacey is hinted to be Clay’s daughter, and Drayton to be Drayden’s grandson, but neither of them are referred to by name, just “a certain Unova Gym Leader” in both cases.
Of course, I do also suspect that Game Freak was originally going to be in the highrise towers in Levincia, but development had to cut them from the game due to most doors in Paldea now being locked. And if what I suspect is true, and Pokémon Legends: Z-A is set in present-day Kalos, then there’s a strong chance we will find Looker there, considering his former protégé, Emma, now runs a detective agency within Lumiose City.
Type: Double Battle
Opponent: Saya
Battle Court: Blueberry Academy
Music: Terapagos
My Pokémon: Mighyena, Pyroar, Zebstrika, Farigiraf
Opponent's Pokémon: ランドロス (Landorus) (Incarnate), ゴリランダー (Rillaboom), Ogerpon (Hearthflame), ウーラオス (Urshifu) (Single Strike)
After four generations of Therian Landorus being a common sight on competitive teams, this generation, that version of Landorus gave way to Incarnate Landorus. I’m not entirely sure what changed to prompt that, considering it didn’t happen until after Indigo Disk’s release, but Incarnate Landorus is a brutal special attacker boosted further by Sheer Force (meaning most of them are carrying Life Orbs). Sandsear Storm, which debuted in Pokémon Legends: Arceus but made its competitive debut in Pokémon Scarlet and Violet, may have brought special-attacking Landorus to the edge, but there’s nothing in particular I can find that pushed it to, sharing with Bloodmoon Ursaluna, the status of premier special-attacking Ground-type. None of the ones I’ve seen use Scorching Sands, Sludge Wave, or Weather Ball, DLC-introduced TMs.
Something odd about my opponent’s Pokémon, though: Ogerpon seems to have come from a different game. Though my opponent’s name is written in English lettering, it’s actually Romaji, as can be seen by its wider font, and all of my opponent’s Pokémon names are Japanese except for Ogerpon. This means someone lent Saya their Ogerpon, even though Saya has access to Ogerpon’s masks. Not really sure what the history of that is.
Just that Hearthflame Ogerpon is basically the new Crown Zacian, a powerful Pokémon with a very high Attack and high Speed who gets an Attack boost once certain easily-met conditions occur. Without some kind of Speed advantage, it's quite difficult to actually get an edge in, because a Terastallized Hearthflame Ogerpon can knock out pretty much anything that isn't built like a wall. Bug-type Pokémon have largely vanished from the top 50 for double battles--I would bet that Hearthflame Ogerpon is the major reason behind that.
Other Videos By Overhazard
Other Statistics
Pokémon Scarlet and Violet Statistics For Overhazard
Overhazard presently has 59,173 views for Pokémon Scarlet and Violet across 209 videos, and about 22 hours worth of Pokémon Scarlet and Violet videos were uploaded to his channel. This is 2.52% of the total watchable video on Overhazard's YouTube channel.