Your Favorite Theme in Pokemon?

Yung Dramps

awesome gaming
Hm, out of the admins who use a remix of the grunt theme I prefer Plumeria's as it gives it a completely different feel (making it match her Poison-type preference), however this remix is good with its faster pace plus those sirens; gives a feeling the admin is a step above the grunt and you're actually in for a challenge (helps the first admin you face is Mars who uses a Skuntank (at a level it shouldn't have evolved at) which packs quite the punch at that point in the game).

BTW, a new Masters trainers was released with a unique them:

Zinnia (was surprised they through in the the Hoenn Trainer theme in first though the transition to Zinnia's theme proper is nicely done)

Steven should be coming up next!
Minor nitpick: Mars uses underleveled Purugly. Jupiter's the one who has Skuntank
 

Pikachu315111

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Minor nitpick: Mars uses underleveled Purugly. Jupiter's the one who has Skuntank
Fix'd.

Still a pain to battle.

... Let me see something... YUP. Knew I wasn't making things up. While Mars & her Purugly is the first Admin you fight in Valley Windworks, you then fight Jupiter in the Galactic Eterna Building and her Skuntank is also at a level it wouldn't have evolved at.
 

Yung Dramps

awesome gaming

My definite winner for the "most oddly somber" Pokemon theme. Most Pokemon League/final pre-League area themes are designed to get you pumped up, and yet this one's so melancholic to the point where I legit wonder if it was intended to commemorate someone important to the dev team who died during production or something. Dunno the proper terms to describe it, but it's extremely pretty that's for sure. God bless the DPP soundtrack!
 

bigtalk

Banned deucer.
Here are some more favorites I've discovered since last posting here. They're mostly from Unova / Galar since I've played through Black / Black 2 / Shield since then, but there are also a bunch from other regions.


definitely one of the better side legendary themes imo

i can literally listen to this for hours

there is also a nice remix with god knows what on the thumbnail

this is the best out of all of the e4 themes, imo


mewmore made a remix that's not as good as the original, but has a prettier thumbnail:


i can listen to this for hours too
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P-R4iDxjMRw

never played this game at all but yt suggested this to me and i liked it

 
Here's a little top three for some of my favorate games in the franchise:

Platinum
- Professor Rowan's Laboratory music (the nostalgia)
- Mount Coronet (very weird theme, but fitting for a mysterious cave)
- Eterna City (It sounds kind lazy in a way, perfect for a lazy day)

Pokemon Battle Revolution
- Sunset Colosseum (that damn piano solo)
- Collosseum Leader Joe's theme (very groovy, but also much too short)
- Neon Colloseum (I love getting destroyed by my own Pokemon)

HGSS
- Ecruteak City (that intro)
- National Park (THAT INTRO)
- Ice Cave (It's very fast paced for a cave theme, which gives the impression that you're being followed/surrounded and have to get out quickly)

BW
- Relic Castle (most underrated song in the entire game)
- N's Bridge (> one of the best songs in the game > plays for 30 seconds... )
- Entralink (honestly, this could have been the e4 theme or something. It sounds very grand and mysterious)

Pokemon Conquest
- Normal Battle (very high energy song, perfect to start a game with)
- Dungeon Theme 1 (it's short but very good)
- Grass Battle (relaxing song)
 

Yung Dramps

awesome gaming
This is going to sound mad corny but I promise every bit of it is true

So, as you may or may not have gleamed from some of my past posts, I'm not the fondest of Gen 2 as a whole. I've made tons of arguments about its many many shortcomings, from boss design to Pokemon selection to characters. In fact, I daresay that I never could really grasp what people liked about this generation.

One OST I've always appreciated from these games is Cianwood City. Earlier today I discovered there was an anime remix for it. I decided to check it out and...

Let me be clear for a second: Those shortcomings I mentioned? They haven't gone away, they aren't excused at all. But after soaking in this absolutely masterful, heart-wrenching composition, I can safely say that I get it. This music has conveyed to me what numerous diatribes arguing for Gen 2 to be recognized as the pinnacle of the series have failed to: An incredible sense of pure, beautiful scope wrapped in an air of warmth and homely familiarity, so simple yet so grandiose! This is what Gen 2 means to so many, this is what this outstanding piece of music has made me finally understand without a single spoken word! I swear to god when I listened to this for the first time 1:24 onward coincided with that burst of realization, images of all the trials, battles and places of HGSS flashing through my mind in a whole new, far more positive light! I now have a renewed surge of confidence to give this generation a chance, that maybe, just maybe the Johto experience is far beyond the sum of its parts and isn't all purely nostalgia-driven fellatio.

In general I implore you all to take a listen to the anime OSTs sometime. There are others besides this that are true hidden gems of Pokemon music; Lilycove City, Petalburg City and the Snowbelle City remix from the SM series get honorable mentions.
 
These songs are all my jams.

20. VS Mewtwo (USUM)
19. Sinjoh Ruins : Arceus Event (HGSS)
18. Summoning Ho-Oh (HGSS)
17. N’s Regular Theme (BW)
16. Wally’s Theme (ORAS)
15. Kanto Gym Battle (HGSS)
14. Swords Of Justice / Forces Of Nature (ORAS)
13. Legendary Beasts (GSC)
12. Xerneas & Yveltal (XY)
11. Lake Trio (DPP)
10. Unova Elite Four (BW)
9. N’s Final Theme (BW)
8. Alola Elite Four (SMUSUM)
7. Lusamine’s Theme (USUM)
6. Legendary Titans (ORAS)
5. VS Ho-Oh (HGSS)
4. Maxie’s Theme / Archie’s Theme (RSE)
3. Solgaleo & Lunala (SM)
2. VS Deoxys (E)
1. Lance’s Theme / Red’s Theme (HGSS)
 

Ransei

Garde Mystik
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Honestly pit this with any other legendary theme and this one stomps. To me it never gets old for some reason either. I started listening to it shortly after USUM's release and it became one of my primary reasons to consider getting the game... along with the rest of this match. To experience how it was like facing such a difficult beast (Ultra Necrozma is notorious for being immensely difficult with a lack of prep. It makes those like Cynthia and BW Ghetsis look easy and can be considered the ultimate nuzlocke killer to players who were going in blind. Imagine being a sightly overleveled legendary beast with higher BST than Arceus, dual 167 offenses, two of the most notoriously broken types in the history of Pokemon, and STILL getting +1 boosts in each stat!!!! It's all stacked up with this theme in the background to truly express this mon's impact in USUM!)
This theme defined my favorite ingame series Pokemon match... The theme when played itself sounds pretty cool but can get repetitive, I get, but play ORAS and make it to the end of the game... the entire scene couldn't have been executed any better and in any other Pokemon game. When I first encountered this I could barely even make a reaction. My jaw was dropped for the entire match!!! It was all so beautiful. Knowing what was going on I even wished I could've lost!! Holy heck.

Watch this youtube video. It'll explain my point further.
Admittedly, I have never played this game, but the theme above is its final boss fight. This boss battle theme however is better than anything else I've listened to in a spinoff. It makes Primal Dialga's theme sound soft. Listen to it. You'll know what I mean and thank me later. Honestly it holds the chance of being higher but I ended up listening to this theme so many times at one point that it became bland LOL.
......... this is the best theme in Gen 4
......... i would literally sit in the game corner for long periods of time just to listen to this theme
Heavily underrated theme. Ok it sounds like Nyan Cat's having an amazing time and you're on some omega Rainbow Road track on Mario Kart. That might sorta be the point. It's not just a Champion match. It's the end of an adventure and a conclusion to the NDS Pokemon games. You've already been through the difficulties of Ghetsis, Colress, and the Unova Elite Four. You're almost entirely done, just one step further. The special thing about Iris's theme is it portrays more of a "finality" than any other Champion theme. For example, if you slapped Iris in the middle of the game with this theme, it'd be really confusing and weird, but if you slapped let's say, Cynthia or Diantha in the middle of the game, their themes sound more reasonable with it. This is truly the final storyline battle of Gen 5 and the NDS games! Just sit back and enjoy the match! You'll make it!

Her mons go along with it well too! Take for instance, the beginning starts off with a high pitch while showing Iris's sprite, then she sends out Hydriegon and the tone becomes much deeper! Listening to it while playing has always been a fun experience regardless of how difficult I found her match. I do wish AIs were better with status moves however... otherwise she would've probably been the most difficult with that Focus Sash Dragon Dance STAB Dragon attack Haxorus. Last but not least Iris's champion theme also comes with incredible remixes!
I might be a bit biased, but imagine 6-0ing Volkner with 6 Gyarados then walking out of the gym and listening to this rewarding theme! It felt like a complete celebration.

FYI beating Volkner with 6 Gyarados is much easier than you think. He leads with Charge Beam Jolteon. :blobshrug: If you have Dragon Dance, you're good as long as there are no crits.
Will not lie, I am very much biased here because I lead Pure Hackmons and Eternamax absolutely dominates over it. I haven't even played Sword and Shield for more than the first 4 hours of it.

Will say though hearing through many themes in the game this one stood out. Not only did it feel like the complete and final version of what was similar to many other themes (similar to Hopes and Dreams from Undertale), I found this seems to be the best theme in that entire game.

Zinnia is one of the best characters in the franchise. Her theme describes her character very well once you get to know her. I recommend you play ORAS.

Also I like how this theme follows the same motif in 1:07-1:14 as the one in my favorite theme in Pokemon Conquest does in 1:11-1:17 (or further)
I'd like to pit these together because I can never figure out which one I like more, but these are my favorite themes from the regular Pokemon Sun and Moon games. I can't describe much other than that they sound pretty majestic for battle themes.
Never would've thought the credits theme would be this good in a Pokemon game. It perfectly wraps up the game with the best storymode while giving us a hint that there may be a sequel. It's not like GSC/HGSS's credits, B2W2's credits, and USUM's credits (all of these are also great) where we're sure those would be the final games of the gen [or in GSC's case, the entirety of Pokemon as those were initially intended to be the final games]). That's not what makes this theme so great however. Just how perfectly it wrapped up Pokemon Black and White based on its character development and story.

There are a lot of fantastic Pokemon themes out there and I know there were many other top tier options I didn't point out but these were the 10 that happened to come in mind right as I noticed this thread. Most of these were battle themes but the ones that weren't were just really good non battle themes. I might make another post in the future with mostly route, city, and even themes but until further notice this is all I'm bringing!

Edit: As for how strongly I feel about this list, the top 3 are spot on. 4 and 5 are definitely accurate. The rest are a bit shaky.
 
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Lavender Town has two separate themes: one for Red and Blue, and one for Gold and Silver (and of course the remakes of both pairs of games). Individually, they're alright, but nothing special. However, when viewed together, they tell a story.
The Red/Blue Lavender Town music is dissonant, creepy. Fitting, as the town is home to agitated spirits. But by the time of the second game, Lavender Town is in a much better place. With the spirits finally at rest, the music becomes calm and bittersweet, like a fond memory of a loved one who's passed away.

Let's Go actually uses both themes.
The town uses the Red/Blue theme, but in the cutscene where the Marowak ghost sees her baby one last time and moves on, a snippet of the Gold/Silver theme plays.
 
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Yung Dramps

awesome gaming
Let's Go's OST is one of those things about it that never gets the credit it deserves. Like I get it has insanely stiff competition considering this is Pokemon music we're talking about but even by that standard it's hella solid with the orchestral sound being pretty damn unique for this series

Exhibit A: My favorite gym leader theme
 

Pikachu315111

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More Master's themes. Since last time they actually added a quite a bit more:

  • Plumeria's Theme (Which now sounds like the normal Team Skull theme, a bit disappointing compared to the original which, while a version of the Team Skull theme, felt like it had a more "toxic" feel to it... because, you know, Plumeria is a Poison-type specialist)
  • Wallace's Theme (So with Steven they kept to sort of the original tune of the Hoenn Champion theme. But, to show the difference between the two Hoenn Champions, Wallace's theme adds in somber violin parts (since Wallace is more artsy compared to Steven))
  • Entei's Theme (Pretty much just a Pokemon Master's version of his HGSS theme, which I like as that means if they ever bring in Raikou or Suicune that means they'll have their theme)
  • Unova Legendary Theme (Eh, like it's okay and sort of hits the same notes, but the instruments during the breakdown & build-up just doesn't feel right as it keeps with the beat & rhythm where the original was a chaotic string of notes which really gave that theme a punch)
  • Alola Trial Captain Theme (Wait, until they added Mina they didn't have an Alolan Captain? Weird. Well, sounds fine. Actually, thinking about it, this would actually be their first original theme as all other times you battled an Alolan Trial Captain they used the normal Trainer theme (except for Acerola cause she became an Elite Four member thus used that theme), then in USUM they tried to be sneaky by changing the normal Trainer Battle theme but kept the one from Sun & Moon for when you faced a Trial Captain. So, while still a remix of the Alola Trainer theme, at least now its an original composition for only Trail Captains)
  • Jigglypuff's Theme (OH SWEET ARCEUS SHE'S ESCAPED FRom... the... animeZzZzZz)
  • Jigglypunk:


    Anyway it's cute they added these themes and I appreciate they did make the Jigglypunk theme to add something to Jigglypuff's song than just porting it (and I just love that name, lol).


But Pokemon Masters wasn't the only thing that recently added awesome music.
Pokemon Smile's OST
... Wait, WHAT? NO! Who put that in my notes! Why is Pokemon Cafe Mix OST here too? *throws away script*


What I of course MEANT to say was the new Isle of Armor themes! We got ourselves eight new themes:
  • Isle of Armor Overworld (A theme both soothing but gives a sense of adventure, a promise of a new exciting experience but one that goes at your own pace. It's constantly changing music cues is very fitting for the Isle of Armor as the island itself has many distinct locations so close to each other though it never feels like its a sudden or out of nowhere transition from one to the other)
  • Master Dojo (The only other overworld theme, it makes itself immediately different from the normal overworld theme with a more serious tone and noticeable use of Japanese instruments and voices that I can only best describe as "martial art's chanting". It gives off that traditional martial arts dojo feel, which is good cause it's a dojo run by a Fighting-type martial arts specialist)

Of course, even before you get to the Master Dojo you encounter your rivals for the DLC:

  • Klara's Themes: Encounter & Battle (A wannabe idol and Poison-type Gym Leader, Klara's theme is a very surgery bop with that slight tinge of bitterness you would expect a toxic pop idol to have)
  • Avery's Themes: Encounter & Battle (A Psychic Gym Leader prodigy that lacks potency, Avery's themes give off an air of sophistication before transitioning into a jumble of strange sounds)

Love that they gave both Rivals not only their own battle themes but also their own Encounter theme, you can tell that GF really liked designing these rivals not only from this but also with their animation and personalities (I got more character and emotion from these two in just a few hours than I did from Hop, Bede, or Marnie during the whole main game). But this isn't discussion about the DLC, this is about the music and there's two more to go and both for the same guy:

  • Mustard's Training Battle Theme (The first theme that plays for Master Mustard in his welcoming battle & for his Galarian Slowpoke. Shows Mustard isn't your ordinary dojo master as the theme has a playful tune to it, you even hear the now stereotypical oriental riff at the very beginning of it. It's a nice theme to get you into the feeling the next few hours are gonna be like with the DLC, some wacky shenanigans... until things get serious...)
  • Mustard's Serious Battle Theme (Been having fun with the Isle of Armor DLC? Good!... Because now it's time for the old man ex-Champion to school you. Oh, it's the same notes as the above theme but is now more drastic and bringing in the instruments and voice clips of the Dojo theme. This is Mustard's true theme, powerful and skillful)
 
at large im not mostly familiar with a majority of the pokemon tracks but from the little that ive come across my favourites would be
(1) the johto victory theme from the pokemon anime
(2) konikoni's city theme -the day version-
(3) Vast poni canyon and lastly the respective solgaleo/lunala/necrozma encounter themes from the SM games
 
I looooooove credits themes, and Pokémon is no exception, here's a personal ranking and some thoughts:

10. SwSh: Another Hall of Fame rendition, but with more sense of finality. Love the electric guitar and orchestal mix.

9. USUM: Happy, energetic tune, with a Trial theme rendition in the second half. A nice farewell to Gen 7 and the 3DS. But I dislike that it slaps SM The End theme, which doesn't fit at all in a black screen.

8. DPPt: After those intense final battles, what a better way to end the journey with a calm guitar song? Then it becomes more lively and full of energy, to finalize with a piano as the hero arrives home.

7. XY: Credits song has two parts: a beautiful and kinda underrated orchestal melody and Kiseki, one of the few songs in the main games with lyrics (that very unsubtly spell out the game's message xd). Fitting choice for the region of beauty and aesthetic. And then The End theme, to close it up.

6. GSC/HGSS: Oh man, the memories. This one spells out: YOU DID IT, MY BOY, YOU ARE THE NEW CHAMPION!!! The remake ver has a more soothing tone to symbolize the end of your adventure in Johto. Personally I am more of a fan of the original ver. But once you think it's over, this plays, and it can definitely make nostalgic fans shed tears.

5. SM: A nice remix of the Alola Region theme to close this adventure, it's both happy and uplifting because of the rise of Alola's first champion yet saddening because of Lillie's departure. It loops until it reaches the professors, her ohana, and the song becomes more heartwarming as it ends. Then Lillie's theme comes into play as it says her final goodbyes. The End theme plays, with the sound of ocean waves and a soothing remix of your House, where it all began...

4. RBY/FRLG/LGPE: This theme is so iconic, the conclusion of many first adventure in the world of Pokémon. My favorite being the FRLG: celebrating first your recent victory, then more suspenseful with some Team Rocket added in, then it becomes more quiet as it begins escalating back to an uplifting song, as the final notes give a sense of: On to your next adventure!

As a bonus, here's the anime version of it, sometimes called AVANT. Simply outstanding, while kinda ironic that this ending theme is mostly used at the BEGINNING of most movies. Except I Choose You, because its ending it's just the beginning...

3. BW: This one stands out from the other ones, being much more upbeat from beginning to end than the other ones, as it celebrates Unova is saved and both heroes of Truth and Ideals. This song, or at least part of it, is the only song here that made it to Smash. My favorite part is the second half, it's just sooo glorious when it plays as the dragon appears on the screen. And then the final notes give a sense of: to be continued. But wait, Pokémon games don't have sequels, right?...

2. BW2: Now this one gives a bigger sense of finality, as your adventures in Unova (as well as the whole DS era) come to an end. Unova is saved for good this time, you are the new champion, the song begins as the fireworks light up in the sky. After all of this, you deserve a well earned rest. As the player comes back home to meet her mother, the theme reaches its soothing conclusion. And a music box to close it up. Goodbye, Gen 5.

1. RSE/ORAS: THIS THEME. It begins with a calm, soothing piano piece. In the original, we get to see our hero cycling in the sunset with the caught Pokémon being displayed as the song gets more triumphant, reaching its highest point when your starter appears. The remake amps it up and becomes a beautiful Hoenn medley while it revisits your adventure and your partners. Both versions end with a nice callback to the RBY credits. Simply majestic. Oh and who can forget that lovely piece at the end.
 
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