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Hope for Transforming Pokemon

So I've been following a trail of bread-crumbs around, and while it's possible that I need a tin-foil hat for this, I think that MAYBE Niantic isn't going to leave us in the dust with transforming Pokemon.... and allow me to clarify; by forms I'm referring to Pokemon with the ability to fluidly assume a new form in the main game and return to the previous form later, not things like hat-Pikachu or Spinda's spot pattern

1: Castform
This was the first multi-form pokemon that we've seen in Go, and Niantic handled it in the laziest way possible: Catch a castform, it stays in its initial form forever. We've been using this as the model for future pokemon forms, but I'm now fairly convinced that it's just an outlier, or prototype for a more advanced system. Why? Because Castform is a low-priority pokemon.Why would they add a mechanic that changes forms/types/moves as fluidly as what would be expected of Castform, when it's little more than a dex filler?

2: Deoxys
We only got normal form for EX raids, but do you remember the release notes? Deoxys "transforms" into battle? That one stuck with me. It could just be flavor text since Deoxys was the first note-worthy Pokemon with multiple forms, but I feel like it was Niantic saying "it's coming".

3: Giratina
First, let me reference this topic:
https://pokemongo.gamepress.gg/q-a/anybody-got-weird-giratina
Saw this as soon as I got up, and it gave me real hope. Why would Giratina still have its origin form stats? As the (VERY temporary) CP change should tell us, Niantic can make blanket changes on the fly easily. The reason is that these Giratina actually are in their Origin form, but due to the glitch they're not showing the right model. The only way that I can see this happening is if the files for Origin and Altered are one-and-the-same, which tells me that there will likely be a way to change forms moving forward. As for the "un-nerfed" part; they seem to leave Pokemon un-nerfed until right before their release; no need to change that CP right now.

4: The Future
Rotom, Shaymin, Arceus, the forces of nature trio... there are so many different pokemon with normal form-change abilities. Then there are pokemon like Darmanitan, Kyurem, Meloetta, or Necrozma with VERY unique form-change requirements. Niantic HAS to know that we'll be ticked off if they treat each like its own unique pokemon. And what about cases like the aforementioned Necrozma, which as base form, out-of-battle form change, AND in-battle form change? Are they really going to treat it like 4 different pokemon, thus ruining its entire theme? I have VERY little faith in Niantic, as I feel like they just wanted to make this a jogging game more than anything else, but at this point I don't see them ticking the real fanbase off to that degree moving forward. One thought that I have is the "sinnoh stone" that was recently found in network traffic: maybe they'll release a blanket form-change item?

....and yes, you CAN just say "Niantic is Niantic" to counter all of what I've said. But hey; any thoughts on my theory?

Asked by Raven85 years 4 months ago
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Answers

I really, really wish I had your levels of optimism. Truth is I just don't see it happening given how they've handled multi-forme Pokemon thus far:

Castform:
Having Castform dynamically change forme in your box might have been too complex of an endeavor for something very few people would notice. A Ditto-esque mechanic where it changes upon being sent out to battle would be cool but it would pretty much lose any STAB it would have had unless you routinely changed its attacks before sending it out. A workaround to this could be to give it one set of moves for each forme similar to how Ditto takes the attacks of whatever it transforms into.

Deoxys:
The announcement specifically said you can catch Deoxys in its Normal forme. To be able to change it on the fly would make this statement a little redundant. "Transforming" EX raids could just mean that it's the first EX boss change in ever while being a nod to its gimmick in the main series, not necessarily indicative of them implementing it.

Giratina:
The Giratina thing was just one of many recent bunglings with the Gen 4 rollout. The game master (I think) currently has the 9% nerf applied to anything that goes over 4k CP, released or otherwise. The promo art for the Halloween event and Gen 4 release video showed Altered forme, why would they do this if Origin was meant to appear first?
Also the game master lists each forme as separate entities, meaning they are not one and the same.
Also also whenever the Giratina with the bungled CP gets powered up its CP drops to what Altered forme should have.

Future:
Prepare for disappointment; multi-forme Pokemon will likely continue to be handled this way unless fan outrage grows big enough to hurt them financially. Rotom formes will probably be research related like the Spinda patterns, Shaymin may or may not be special research related netting players one of each forme, the djinn trio will probably see separate releases for each forme, I have no idea if they'll even acknowledge Arceus, much less how they would. I'd love to be proven wrong about these but given what we've seen and how much they like to pad content I expect this to be par for the course.

EDIT: Missed your bit about the Sinnoh Stone the first time around.
This likely is meant to be a universal item for the plethora of cross-gen evolutions that require specific items. Honestly this is fine in my book. I'd rather one item for all of them than have them individually add Shiny Stone, Dusk Stone, Razor Claw, Protector, Electricizer, Magmarizer, Razor Fang, Dubious DIsc, Dawn Stone, Reaper Cloth, and whatever their solution to location/moveset based evolutions would entail. Maybe the Shiny and Dusk stones will be added separately since future Gens use them but the rest can be lumped into one item without harm.

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by Kazlu 5 years 4 months ago

"Why would Giratina still have its origin form stats? "
Sorry to be pessimistic, but to me it's more likely that the person in charge mixed up things, not knowing much about pokémon in the main series, and when he/she needed to enter the stats was like: "Well, we release this one first, so it should be the Original one I guess, the Altered comes next, right?"

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Not gonna happen.... Niantic has repeatedly said they want to keep the game as simple and accessible to the non gamer public as possible... and let’s be honest the vast majority of players don’t understand the game as it is.... have you tried talking about movesets, S.T. A.B, Weather Boost or typing with a casual? Never mind break points, bulk points, or supreme points

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