Ralts > Gothita/Espurr?

[Quattro Staravia]

As some of you might know, the cabin guarded by the drunk used to contain a Ralts. Back in gen V (Which were the mechanics used for Reborn Episodes 1-10), it and its evolutions (With the exception of Gallade) were pure psychic. This simple fact meant that it could benefit the player against Corey and Aya.

Come gen VI (Which Reborn Episode 11 to today is based on), Ralts has been added the new fairy typing.

Which has a weakness to poison.

Now, I am fully aware that there are speed EVs available early on, but the fact still stands, unless the Kirlia/Gardevoir is indeed faster, then their fairy typing will screw them over.

And yet, a Psychic/fairy type was moved, and in it's place in the cabin was.... a pure psychic type? And then ANOTHER pure psychic type?

And all in the name of usage.

This seems odd to me. While you might argue that , "GARDEVOIR OP, GARDEVOIR IS IN UBERS IN SMOGON" you have to realize that in terms of what it will probably be used for early on, the fairy typing screws it over.

And I speak from experince, and perhaps most of you do too.

So, why is a pure psychic type a downgrade?

[AuthorReborn]

I personally prefer an early game Espurr over an early game Ralts. Ralts is insanely weak in the weak game and its stats allow it to be obliterated by anything it can't kill turn one. Espurr, on the other hand, is designed for the early game. It doesn't match up well against the likes of Gardevoir and Alakazam, so it tends to have its usage limited to the early game. But once it gets its first special attacking move, bam, it can instantly start doing serious damage. Furthermore, Espurr has a couple key advantages:

-No poison weakness

-TWO viable options for early-mid game (Sweeper with F or Prankster Support with M)

-Superb early game level up moveset (M gets both Screens to pair with HA and F actually learns Shadow Ball via level up, making it invaluable on Shade)

-Reaches final stage at lvl 25, allowing for more imediate stat boosts.

Of course, not everything is perfect with the Espurr line:

-weak to common Dark type moves and Bug types where Ralts is not

-peters out in the later game in light of better options

All in all, I am in total support of early game Espurr>Ralts and/Gothita. Ralts will have its day arrive as either Gardevoir or Gallde, and until then, Espurr shall shine brightly.

[Vinny]

I think the change was done more for the sake of Espurr than anything.

It's the same story of Gyarados: "Why use another water type (In this case, a psychic/fairy type), when after 20 (30) levels, you have a monster (waifu) in your party?"

A weakness to poison you say? Sure.

And a resistance to Dark,a resistance to Bug, a double resistance to fighting and an immunity to Dragon.

Poison runs rampant during the start of the game, but it starts to be not so common from Serra onwards.

I guess what I'm trying to say is: Having Espurr at the start of the game is way better than Ralts! Ralts is so annoying to train, and now, it gets destroyed by all the poison present at the start. And don't even start with the poison gym. We should actually thank Ame for giving us early access to two pure psychic types that will put in work during the start of the game!

So yes, I very much prefer it this way. Just my opinion.

But honestly, no one would use Espurr/Gothita if Ralts was still available before the first gym. It happened before, and the fairy typing helps Gardevoir more.

P.S: Not talking about Gallade cuz Dawn Stone too far

Edited May 12, 2015 by Vinny

[Personthing]

I guess they were just worried about the player having access to a potent fairy/psychic type by Kiki. Honestly though, Espurr is an upgrade until the late game, as Ralts is mediocre, and Kirlia is absolutely abysmal compared to the Pokemon that they will be facing off against at their respective points in the game, if it were moved back into it's old spot.

Edited May 12, 2015 by Mighty Kamina

[dondon151]

Kirlia evolves into Gardevoir at L30 and by then will have Calm Mind and Psychic; game over.

[Vlado Vladimir]

I'd definetly choose Ralts over those 2, not only because for it's double and usefull STAB coverage (either Gallade or Gardevoir), yeah, Ralts is hard to raise, but any of its evos are just really good options for a team. I'll talk only about Gardevoir, since it plays a similar role to that of Espur and Gothi.

Gothita/thotita/thitelle are used competitively because of its ability to criple/take down some threads (popular in the OU metagame) for its teammates: That is not really THAT usefull in-game, since it doesn't even have team preview. It has mediocre stats and it's slow compared to Gardevoir.

I honeslty haven't used a Meowstic, but by seeing it's stats, I can say it'll only work as a supporter for either screens and maybe to cripple foes (TWave, Yawn, Toxic(?). It's not that fun to use outside of competitive battling (it might be usefull tbh) but it just doesn't have the offensive presence that Gardevoir does. (nor defensive).

Gardevoir does have a great ability, it can intimidate, be immunde to electric, ground, fire, water, etc. moves or even gett a download boost! it just depends on what you are switching it into. Has a not-that-bad speed stat, cool HP, Sp. Attack and Sp. Defense, and a decent movepool, with dual high bst STAB moves, a set up move in calm mind; and can also be super useful to your other team members if you do some breeding. (Memento, Destiny Bond, WilloWisp, Healing Wish, Wish to name some)

And the most important thing.... Mega Evolutions... Gardevoir DOES have a Mega, and since we've seen some Megastones already, I'm pretty sure we'll have the Gardevoirite later :]

The only pokemon I can see doing Gardevoir's "job" almost as good is Alakazam,since it has a powerful Sp. Attack and Speed. but it's frailer, so you'll need to be aware for prioritiy moves, it doesn't have double typing and you'll need to use a Linkstone.

Edited May 12, 2015 by Vlado Vladimir

[Deleted User]

I guess they were just worried about the player having access to a potent fairy/psychic type by Kiki.

That's a big part of it, and why many things get axed in the story (actually just pushed back but...)

[Darvan Korematsu]

Honestly like everyone else has said, Ralts is better than Espurr and Gothita in the mid-late game. When it gets Moonblast it's essentially all set with it's arsenal. Meowstic male you can't go wrong with in the early part of the game up until Aya just for dual screens. I ran Meowstic male on my team alongside Gardevoir all the way to Radomus JUST for free screens.

Gothitelle only has use as a tanky Calm Mind user and the rest of it's usefulness fades to competitive use. You're playing AI who almost never switch, so Shadow Tag is next to useless. Frisk is good too, but is outclassed by Prankster and Trace.

What makes Ralts terrible in the early game is shoddy stats. Forget that it's weak to Poison and Steel for a moment, because Gardevoir does an adequate job tackling those. Ame was also smart in moving Ralts - a fan favorite - to later on so she gives you the player a chance to use otherwise terrible Pokemon. I can never look at Cricketune the same way again when I did Fury Cutter sweep on the first 2 gyms. (Except for damn Emolga)

Ralts was like most of the axed Pokemon - a fan favorite. Most fan favorites like Gyarados, Lucario, Metagross, Sableye, etc. were moved so you could use a broader spectrum of Pokemon.

That's how I've come to respect Steelix, Toxicroak, Noivern, and Ninetales. Four Pokemon I never ever would have used if way better options were available.

[Fury]

Hm, I wonder how many people ended up catching and raising a Woobat on their team instead of Ralts/Gothita/Espurr for their early game? I started a new playthrough recently and decided to box Espurr while keeping Woobat as a main party member. Swoobat + Simple + Calm Mind is really devastating early and mid game and it should be able to continue pulling its weight for a majority of the late game.

[dondon151]

Hm, I wonder how many people ended up catching and raising a Woobat on their team instead of Ralts/Gothita/Espurr for their early game? I started a new playthrough recently and decided to box Espurr while keeping Woobat as a main party member. Swoobat + Simple + Calm Mind is really devastating early and mid game and it should be able to continue pulling its weight for a majority of the late game.

I used Swoobat in the first iteration of the speedrun route. It has strong traits, but the problem that I had with it was that it basically required Calm Mind to sweep, so any battle in which I had to use it to keep its level up would take longer. It's also not the best at setting up because its durability is terrible.

The change to the move tutor also hurt it a bit because normally I would catch Woobat at L20 and use a Heart Scale to relearn Confusion. I've since switched to Diggersby in the route, but I'll switch back to Swoobat if Diggersby ever gets axed. Diggersby is also way more fun to use.

Edited May 13, 2015 by dondon151