Topic: The Chit-Chat Thread

I just learned that Mareep can learn Fire Punch in gen 2, but it cannot learn Thunder Punch.

To be fair, in generation 2 thunder punch would be just a weaker alternative to thunder(bolt).

So they probably didn't see the need. In a pragmatic kind of way.

Edit: it's way worse when you check and realize it can't learn thunderbolt either, unless you breed it with a Pikachu or a Raichu that knows that move.

Generation 2 was awkward like that. Most new Pokemon have terrible move sets. Just look at jumpluff and xatu.

@Eel No, the weird thing is that Flaaffy and Ampharos CAN learn Thunder Punch; Flaaffy by TM, and Ampharos learns it at level 30 when it evolves from Flaaffy. I guess the logic was that Mareep is not bipedal and can't punch, but it can learn Fire Punch lol.

@Octane perhaps its just a phase. "No mooooom I'm gonna be a fire/fighting type!"

@Eel lol!

I'm doing solo runs in Gold, trying to do all the first stage mons, and this is going to make a solo run Mareep so much more difficult, sigh. It's gonna be either Thunder or Thundershock...

@Octane maybe you could do a Fire Emblem Awakening and breed a thunderbolt mareep at some point. Maybe just trade a pikachu with thunderbolt as soon as you reach goldenrod to speed up the second generation.

Or just trade yourself a mareep egg with the move from the beginning.

@Eel Yeah, but that's cheating

I'll hack the starters to get what I want, but that's it.

@Octane "that's cheating! Anyway I'll just hack it in"

(just give it thunderbolt, it's a perfectly legitimate egg move, replace it later if you feel it's cheap!)

Your next run better be hoppip btw, ultimate challenge.

Today I made another ring out of boredom from all the working and studying for my love.

Look how good it stands on my hairy hand!

@Eel I've only done Totodile and Elekid so far, and currently doing Phanpy.

I fear the Sunkern run more...! Hoppip gets Sleep Powder + Leech Seed, Sunkern gets neither.

Anyone that want's to see, NASA is streaming their attempt to get a sample of asteroid Bennu with the OSIRIS-REx probe (200 million miles away). The point is to return the asteroid rock sample back to earth, if successful, it will get back to earth 2023, I think? @Ryu_Niiyama @Octane (Octane, you seemd to like science stuff, so I tagged you, just in case)

EDIT: Dangit. NOW they just said there will be no images/footage in this stream. Images will take hours to be compiled and will come much later tonight. False alarm. They fooled me, good. There will only be info updates as it happens at 6pm eastern US time. NASA=tricksters

@WoomyNNYes Cheers!

@Octane Oh BOOOO, they just said we won't get images until much later tonight. Kind of a false alarm. So, no actual footage during the stream. NASA fooled me good.

@WoomyNNYes Well, that's kinda a given. I didn't expect any live footage to begin with.

@Heavyarms55 I still don't have a normal shiny Vulpix - it's one I've definitely been hunting - but I did hatch a shiny Alolan Vulpix awhile back. I love shiny Alolan Ninetales!

@WoomyNNYes Weather and geography definitely influence what appears in the game. Sunny, cloudy, rain, wind, fog (rare here), snow, etc. make certain types more likely to spawn. Grass and bug Pokemon are more likely to appear in wooded areas whereas electric and steel types appear more in urban areas. Then there are some Pokemon exclusive to certain regions of the world.

Depending on where you are, what events are going on (as Pokemon can rotate or appear more often during these) and if you don't meet anyone with a Pokemon not in your region, a small handful of Pokemon are hard to get. Eel likely has access to Maractus, for example.

Probably the rarest Pokemon I've caught outside of an event is Carnivine. IIRC it only appears in the southeastern US. I was in the Carolinas a couple of years ago on vacation and caught one.

What would be a good starting point for playing the Ace Combat series?

Man, I've been replaying Xenoblade Chronicles 2, and I've dropped 40 hours into this game again like it was nothing! Time is flying by while I play it just like it did the first time I played it. This time around all the DLC is out, so new blades and quests and such so it's a mix of new and revisiting for me this time. I'm having a blast with it! Although my backlog is glaring angrily at me.

@Tyranexx Oh wow! Now that's another great shiny! Very nice! I watched aDrive on YouTube breeding one for competitive before we knew about the DLC bringing the Hidden Ability patch to the game? He ended up hatched something like 3 or 4 over several thousand eggs before he got one with the hidden ability. I can never hear about shiny Alolan Vulpix without thinking about that now.

@Heavyarms55 Thanks! That aDrive guy sounds very dedicated; I never got too into shiny hunting in the main games due to how time-consuming it could be, and for competitive even? That takes a ton of patience! Sounds like he had fun with that endeavor!

I still have XC2 backlogged. I do hope to get to it...at some point! The problem is the Switch is starting to become my de facto JRPG machine, and yet I'm still doing some cleanup in my 3DS library on that front....I'm intentionally picky about which JRPGs (especially long ones) that I do pick up, but there are so many decent ones. I also have, to name a few, Ys VIII, Dragon Quest XI S, Octopath Traveler, and Final Fantasy X/X-2 waiting in the wings.

@Tyranexx Shiny hunting is a big time sink. I've hatched a good few but hunting for a shiny with its hidden ability is particularly hard because until this new DLC drops, there's no way to give a Pokemon its HA if it doesn't start with it.

When I hunt I use the manufacturer method and do it while watching a streamer or something because it doesn't require my full attention. For arrived, he chats with his audience while he does it.

As for JRPGs I understand being picky. Even short ones tend to be 50 hour commitments.

I am subbed to aDrive. I get the feeling that he tries a bit too hard to be a "cool youtuber" type, but he uploads various types of pokemon content, which I enjoy.

On Saturdays he also organizes "shiny egg saturdays" events on twitch. Last time I participated, I ended up with a shiny Arrokuda, and got word that one of the Larvitar eggs I sent ended up being a shiny too.