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How you feel about the Kalos Champion
- Thread starter Cap
- Start date
In all honesty, the fight was ok, she has a cool team (and is weird how much she resembles to Mega Gardevoir), but plot wise she was nothing. It was quite surprising that she's the champ, but that's it. I think that the rumors about the professor being the champion were much more intriguing.
CrushinDefeat
Defeat me if you can... Survive if I let you!
In regards to her as a character, I gotta admit its kinda refreshing to see that Diantha, while the champion of Kalos, is also a movie star and actress, I can see where people see her character as bland and boring but I think its kind of cool that a champion can do other things like be a movie star or just something else that is influential. I think Steven Stone was the only other Champion I can think of that had a bit of extra story as well, being the son of Devon Corp. I think little things like that are pretty interesting to add to the champions stories.
My biggest problem with her is her team's lack of uniqueness; everything bar Gardevoir you're seen before ingame. Previous champions (except lol Wallace) had Mons you haven't seen until that point of the game, making the champion that much more difficult since you don't really know what you're up against (if you've never played the games before and haven't memorized the BSTs, at least :P). It also makes them feel more prestigious with the super-rare mons they have, emphasizing their power and authority.
My only opinion, bring back Lance
CrushinDefeat
Defeat me if you can... Survive if I let you!
Wikstrom would have been really cool as the Champion, hmm If he had to run a team I guess he should stick with Mono Steel. Mega Scizor, Klefki, Aegislash, Probopass, and possibly having Metagross, Excadrill, or Klinklang. Would be interesting to see a Mono Steel Champ but I think at this point Mono Champions aren't favored anymore, since people enjoy variety more.
The main extension to this is that most "principle" trainers are of a selected type. Having a few curve balls of trainers with more balanced teams (Most Veterans/Ace Trainers have this) helps break it down and you don't end up with one Pokemon sweeping their whole team (assuming similar levels). It does make it a more challenging battle in general.
Oh, in regard to a post I made here earlier, there IS a billboard in Lumiose City with the Champion on it... Just you have to be really looking out for it as its one of those high billboards you can only JUST see when moving in certain directions!
Steven was already a steel champion so it would feel like a retread IMO
CrushinDefeat
Defeat me if you can... Survive if I let you!
Why not Gallade instead of Gardevoir, are you referring to a Random mixture of typings on his team if he were hypothetically champion?
Fair point, Steven didn't have all steel types though, but I see what you mean.
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I originally had Gallade too but I took it back out again. Gardevoir fits better as it is literally a knight (the Japanese name means "Sir Knight". Gallade is not.
Maybe Gallade instead of Nidoqueen as two poison/ground types seem a bit OTT even for a computer team.
And yep, I'm saying that if he were champion, he could have a mix of typings. But I'm trying to retain his general flavour.
Only half of his team were Steel, and even then their secondary typings made it harder to sweep through his team with one Mon. The only thing you had access to ingame that could sweep him was Blaziken (which is frail and could easily die to Metagross, Claydol, or Armaldo) or the title legends. Wallace, on the other hand? Shit ton of stuff you could get to sweep him.
Its name actually means something along the lines of "come here, sir knight" or something; you're taking it out of context.
I agree on the point of her not having nearly enough to do with the story. You'd think you'd have more recognition of her if she's both a movie star and a champion.
That being said, I have nothing wrong with her team. Even though you've seen her Pokemon before it's not like you've been overrun with facing tons of them (Kalos has 450 Pokemon, after all) and they have good variety. Aurorus and Gourgeist aren't that great, but then you have Hawlucha, Goodra, and Mega Gardevoir, all of which are quite tough Pokemon. At least you're not going to sweep her with one Pokemon near her level, unlike Wallace or GSC Lance.
Was she the best champion? No, definitely not. I'd leave that for Cynthia. But I can't see her as the worst by any means. I'd easily put at least Wallace and Alder behind her, with possibly Lance and his horribly overlapping teams nearby.
That being said, I have nothing wrong with her team. Even though you've seen her Pokemon before it's not like you've been overrun with facing tons of them (Kalos has 450 Pokemon, after all) and they have good variety. Aurorus and Gourgeist aren't that great, but then you have Hawlucha, Goodra, and Mega Gardevoir, all of which are quite tough Pokemon. At least you're not going to sweep her with one Pokemon near her level, unlike Wallace or GSC Lance.
Was she the best champion? No, definitely not. I'd leave that for Cynthia. But I can't see her as the worst by any means. I'd easily put at least Wallace and Alder behind her, with possibly Lance and his horribly overlapping teams nearby.
Aegislash fucks up her entire team bar Goodra, and it's already S-Rank for ingame.
Alder was one of the better champions as far as the story went, since he tried to do something about Plasma and you met up with him several times. He might have lost to N, but there's a legit explanation for that (and otherwise you wouldn't have that awesome scene with the castle).
Is that so? I always understood it to literally just be "sir knight".
Aegislash makes things run different moves just for it competitively, so I guess I shouldn't be surprised. Not sure that's a giant mark against her because it is Aegislash, but point taken.
My problem with Alder is that, even more than Diantha, he just doesn't feel like a champion to me. He literally doesn't battle until he has to face N, and it seems to be hinted that he never really won the title in the first place, more like they just kind of gave it to him. I mean his reasoning makes sense: A Pokemon of his died in the past. He just seems like he'd be a great character in a different role. Good character in the wrong place, basically.
To understand why Diantha was such a disappointment, I had to go down the line and identify what I did and didn't like about each former champion.
Blue: Total boss. Easily one of the hardest opponents in the game, and had genuine drama with behind him. I was emotionally involved and challenged by his decent team. Only complaint is that he fits the rival role better than champion one.
Lance: Again, very good because you saw and interacted with him often. When you team up with him in HGSS, you see how strong he is, and by knowing he's considered significantly stronger than his cousin, the strongest gym leader, adds depth. Unfortunately, his first team is mono flying and very easy to sweep. Later battles improve his team, and his reputation as the dragon master adds character, but his teams are never that difficult to beat with a balanced team.
Steven: I thought he was cool, but I really could have used more build up. His team, while not really balanced, at least couldn't be beaten by single pokemon (besides Blaziken unfortunately), and he had a great storyline in emerald.
Wallace: He's a joke. Monowater was easy to beat, and he didn't come across as a serious trainer at all.
Cynthia: Very good. She was involved in the story from the beginning, and helped the player out a lot. She was portrayed a lot like the player which fore casted your own eventual championship, and she was able to keep up with you all the way into the distortion world, and was even referred to by other characters as being good. Not only that, but fighting her was an experience. Her team was troublesome, and the elements like music contributed to an all around great climax.
Alder: He was certainly well respected, portrayed as strong, and involved in the story, but there were 2 big mistakes they made with him; he was shown losing a battle to N, and fighting him wasn't part of the main story. Champions are supposed to be the strongest in the region, so you should never show them lose, and if the story didn't consider him worth fighting, then neither do I.
Iris: Really not that special. She's another monotype, and we saw her being young and inexperienced in the first games. I also was unable to see her as anything other than silly, especially in her fluffy dress and happy go lucky dialogue.
Conclusion: The best champions are shown to be strong, serious, and interesting characters. Diantha was strong, but not serious or interesting.
Blue: Total boss. Easily one of the hardest opponents in the game, and had genuine drama with behind him. I was emotionally involved and challenged by his decent team. Only complaint is that he fits the rival role better than champion one.
Lance: Again, very good because you saw and interacted with him often. When you team up with him in HGSS, you see how strong he is, and by knowing he's considered significantly stronger than his cousin, the strongest gym leader, adds depth. Unfortunately, his first team is mono flying and very easy to sweep. Later battles improve his team, and his reputation as the dragon master adds character, but his teams are never that difficult to beat with a balanced team.
Steven: I thought he was cool, but I really could have used more build up. His team, while not really balanced, at least couldn't be beaten by single pokemon (besides Blaziken unfortunately), and he had a great storyline in emerald.
Wallace: He's a joke. Monowater was easy to beat, and he didn't come across as a serious trainer at all.
Cynthia: Very good. She was involved in the story from the beginning, and helped the player out a lot. She was portrayed a lot like the player which fore casted your own eventual championship, and she was able to keep up with you all the way into the distortion world, and was even referred to by other characters as being good. Not only that, but fighting her was an experience. Her team was troublesome, and the elements like music contributed to an all around great climax.
Alder: He was certainly well respected, portrayed as strong, and involved in the story, but there were 2 big mistakes they made with him; he was shown losing a battle to N, and fighting him wasn't part of the main story. Champions are supposed to be the strongest in the region, so you should never show them lose, and if the story didn't consider him worth fighting, then neither do I.
Iris: Really not that special. She's another monotype, and we saw her being young and inexperienced in the first games. I also was unable to see her as anything other than silly, especially in her fluffy dress and happy go lucky dialogue.
Conclusion: The best champions are shown to be strong, serious, and interesting characters. Diantha was strong, but not serious or interesting.
Swept by Xerneas. But just to be positive,I kinda liked the battle music.
True, but her team was based on dragons, and especially when compared with Lance, she was a disappointment
Wikstrom left far more of an impression on me. Not just because of that enjoyable character or design - fucking major armstrong eyelashes - but because even though my 'mon were at the early level 80s, his team still left an impression on me - despite the Probopass just being annoying because "lol sturdy full restore", his Aegislash really impressed me - as I tried to avoid spoilers as much as possible, this was really the first time I found out about Aegislash's gimmick of Stance Change and King's Shield, and... it impressed me. Almost shocked me for a minute; I just loved how unique this was.
I was glad to see Gardevoir had a Mega. That sums up how I felt about Diantha, because she herself is... eh? She doesn't really have a character, there's none of the build-up like there was with Blue/Green/Douche, N, Lance and Cynthia, half her team has already been used by gym leaders, they barely pose a threat... and yes, I know, I used Exp. Share and everything got to level 80, but I'm sorry, do you really expect me to not use this new, amazing fucking exp share they gave us? Especially when I'm completing the dex - I found it really damn fun how I was picking up new dex entries each fight just because I had a Weedle or Marill in my party.
Everything that could be said about how Cynthia, Blue and Alder were fantastic champions has already been said, Lance too. I can't really comment any more because these guys were great champions; kind of on the fence about Iris and Steven but Wallace pretty much sucks.
Should we include N? Not sure if anyone's said anything about him yet but he probably counts as a champion, right?
Well... he's probably the best character there's ever been in all of Pokémon. He's complex, he's built up, his morals are interesting and takes on one of the biggest questions ever posed about Pokémon, there's a lot you can look into, he meshes well with Reshiram and Zekrom... what can I say? He's an amazing character and champion.
Also, Elite 4 have to back to having 5 'mon instead of 4. Seriously changing it to just 4 and keeping it like that was just dumb why gf why
I was glad to see Gardevoir had a Mega. That sums up how I felt about Diantha, because she herself is... eh? She doesn't really have a character, there's none of the build-up like there was with Blue/Green/Douche, N, Lance and Cynthia, half her team has already been used by gym leaders, they barely pose a threat... and yes, I know, I used Exp. Share and everything got to level 80, but I'm sorry, do you really expect me to not use this new, amazing fucking exp share they gave us? Especially when I'm completing the dex - I found it really damn fun how I was picking up new dex entries each fight just because I had a Weedle or Marill in my party.
Everything that could be said about how Cynthia, Blue and Alder were fantastic champions has already been said, Lance too. I can't really comment any more because these guys were great champions; kind of on the fence about Iris and Steven but Wallace pretty much sucks.
Should we include N? Not sure if anyone's said anything about him yet but he probably counts as a champion, right?
Well... he's probably the best character there's ever been in all of Pokémon. He's complex, he's built up, his morals are interesting and takes on one of the biggest questions ever posed about Pokémon, there's a lot you can look into, he meshes well with Reshiram and Zekrom... what can I say? He's an amazing character and champion.
Also, Elite 4 have to back to having 5 'mon instead of 4. Seriously changing it to just 4 and keeping it like that was just dumb why gf why
Hate to bust your bubble but I actually did this twice...first time was with Garchomp, second time was with Mega Gengar. They were ~Level 68 so not terribly overleveled either.
Although to be fair one is Garchomp and the other one is an Uber...
Overall I felt that Diantha would have been cool with more character development, shame she wasn't really involved in the story. Her team also isn't horrendously tough aside from Goodra and Gardevoir (and Tyrantrum I guess if it gets a Head Smash off).
In battle, she was forgettable. I almost swept her entire team with Delphox (starter, level ~60). During a blind run.
As for the storyline… I had completely forgotten that she existed. Then, when I faced her, I remembered her. I was fine with her up until that point, but then she uttered the following:
So wait. You're telling me that you're the strongest trainer in the region, and you couldn't be bothered to at least pretend to help stop the next extinction event!? Were you too busy in pre-production or something? Not to mention your Mega Gardevoir alone theoretically beats ¾ of Lysandre's team.
It felt so good demolishing her afterwards…
As for the storyline… I had completely forgotten that she existed. Then, when I faced her, I remembered her. I was fine with her up until that point, but then she uttered the following:
So wait. You're telling me that you're the strongest trainer in the region, and you couldn't be bothered to at least pretend to help stop the next extinction event!? Were you too busy in pre-production or something? Not to mention your Mega Gardevoir alone theoretically beats ¾ of Lysandre's team.
It felt so good demolishing her afterwards…