adiosToreador

Flareon bashing and why it sucks

, 27th May 2012 at 03:22 AM (1436 Views)

Ugh. I am sick and goddamn tired of seeing Flareon bashing everywhere I go. I know I probably have some bias (it being my favorite pokemon and all) and I realize that everywhere I see bashing is in a competitive sense, but come on. This is ridiculous. I go and check the Smog's new issue and I see an article on nuzlockes, which, if you know anything about my fic, you'll know are of particular interest to me. So I read it, and it's actually pretty interesting. It's got Smogon's usual bent towards complete powerhouse pokemon as a legit strategy (going so far as to recommend the use of death fodder in a nuzlocke...), but overall, a good article. Then I see that the author has given a personal rating of the games in order of difficulty for nuzlockes. Fire Red/Leaf Green are listed pretty high up on the difficulty list (due apparently to lack of the physical/special split and the lack of pokemon that can compare to the likes of Darmanitan or Tyranitar). And then I see this:

Originally Posted by The Smog's nuzlocke article

FireRed and LeafGreen are often a bit difficult for some people due to the physical / special split not existing. This helps Pidgey though, making Gust physical. There is also a lack of amazing Pokemon; the Pokemon aren't bad, just none that demolish everything like Darmanitan or the like. All of the starters are pretty decent, but taking Bulbasaur will make the first 3 gyms so much easier. Eevee can also patch any holes your team has, just don't choose Flareon. Last but not least, the runt of a rat you can obtain early on, Rattata, is actually fairly good.

Holy goddamn fuck, come on. They're praising Rattata over Flareon. Flareon is not terrible in game. You've just got to be willing to spend a few TMs on it. Even then, this isn't a competitive setting. This is in game, where the best solution to ANY problem is enough level grinding. Yet they recommend Rattata and Raticate over it.

Look, using Flareon in FR/LG is simple. You get the Eevee in Celadon. You evolve it into Flareon. You get the TMs for Flamethrower, Iron Tail, Shadow Ball, and maybe Dig. You don't keep Flareon in on Rock, Water, or Ground types, and you really won't have to worry about it's low HP or physical defense. If speed is your issue, you level grind - you have to do it anyway to progress in the game, so why is it such a fucking big deal to do it for Flareon? Do people actually have such a low opinion of Flareon think that Raticate is a better resource for your EXP?

I'm not going to preach about Flareon's virtues in the competitive metagame, because yes, it's stats are flawed and it does have a very shallow movepool. If you're playing competitively, Flareon gets outclassed a lot, and I'm not going to deny that there's a reason it's scraping the bottom of the NU tier. But for a regular playthrough and for in game purposes, it pisses me right the fuck off that Flareon has earned such a reputation as a shit pokemon that fucking Raticate would get recommended over it.

Every pokemon is usable in game. Your regular playthrough is the time where, even if you're a hardcore battler, you can use pokemon that aren't necessarily the best just because you like them and still make it through the game just fine. The in game portions are about having fun and using the pokemon you want, and the nuzlocke challenge is all about helping players to discover the merits of pokemon they may never have used before. To discover that, hey, yeah, Raticate actually isn't that bad in game. Maybe Bidoof can be useful as more than an HM slave. And maybe, since I picked Bulbasaur as my starter and got unlucky with encounters, I can evolve this Eevee into a Flareon and see how well it does.

I realize that, because of the time I'm posting this (and because of the fact that it's apparently really fucking easy to ignore me), no one's going to read it. But it's just something I had to get off my chest.

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Comments

Locked In My Asylum - 27th May 2012 05:42 AM
That is one of the reasons I don't do Nuzlockes. Flareon's a cool Pokemon. Just because it doesn't do very well competitively doesn't mean that you can't use it during your playthrough. XP

jda95 and Octy like this.
Ranger Jack Walker - 27th May 2012 06:03 AM
Smogon should stick to the metagame scene.
Shift Gear - 27th May 2012 08:03 AM
I like Flareon, even if I don't use it for competitive battling.
~~Ghetsis-Dennis~~ - 27th May 2012 08:58 AM
You have to admit, not all Pokemon are good in-game. Take Chansey for example.
The Outrage - 27th May 2012 10:05 AM
Holy goddamn fuck, come on. They're praising Rattata over Flareon. Flareon is not terrible in game. You've just got to be willing to spend a few TMs on it. Even then, this isn't a competitive setting.

I think you're taking this way out of context. The first statement s true, simply because there are better fire types while Jolteon and Vaporeon are fairly high up there in terms of selection for electric and water types. Flareon is being rated down by comparison to its other evolutions NOT by comparison to Rattata.

The last statement isn't meant as added insult to Flareon, but also a true statement. It also isn't being recommended or praised OVER Flareon as you seem to suggest. Flareon's other evolution are being recommended over it, while Rattata is being praised INDEPENDENTLY. No where does it say "Use Rattata over Flareon". Now onto the truthfulness of that statement: Rattata is an early-game Pokemon who learns Hyper Fang at level 13. This is a STAB base 80 move from a relatively fast Pokemon early on. In terms of usefulness from when the player gets access to Flareon or Rattata, Rattata is much more useful, especially given the alternatives, whereas Flareon isn't (especially when the alternatives are its other evolutions).

Now as for your suggestion on how to make Flareon good, one problem with that is in order to be good, you've just wasted 4 TM's on it. Now, this is in the age before reusable TM's in a play style where, if Flareon dies, all those TM's have been wasted. Rattata doesn't actually need anything since the reason to use it is its Fang moves. Obviously, Rattata/Raticate would likely be replaced later on (Maybe by the time you get to Lavander town?) but in terms of sheer usefulness on when it's caught (first route vs. fourth gym), not many Pokemon level 10 - 20 can handle a STAB base 80 move, and is certainly going to be one of your most powerful moves that early in the game. Objectively, Rattata is the better option compared to its alternatives at the time of its availability, while Flareon has to face up against other strong contenders.

This is in game, where the best solution to ANY problem is enough level grinding. Yet they recommend Rattata and Raticate over it.

Sure, you can say "level-grind" but let's look at the purpose of this article. Not only is it to inform individuals on what a Nuzlocke is, but to also give people tips on how to succeed on their first try. Why on earth would anyone want to read an article that states the obvious? You've got to be really stupid if level grinding isn't the first thing that occurs to you. However, given that few people give Rattata a chance, very few would know of its early-game utility without looking up the fact that it learns Hyper Fang at level 13. Even then, if you're looking up Pokemon, why would you look up Rattata? Also, people begin to level grind when they can't beat a particular opponent. This is a nuzlocke, so you'll have to know whether you can beat an opponent beforehand otherwise all your Pokemon are gone.

If anything, the only criticism you can draw from that statement is that it overinflates Rattata's usefulness since its only good early on, but what are you going to do if you only have one paragraph to describe FrLg nuzlocke? Finally, anyone who actually wants to use Flareon will use it regardless, but for those uncertain of what to evolve eevee, that's merely a suggestion.

Updated 27th May 2012 at 10:36 AM by The Outrage
Octy - 27th May 2012 11:50 AM
I love Flareon though. I have two of them on my Pokemon White. .__. it is pretty kick-ass. People should just give it a chance.
Shiny Celebi - 27th May 2012 12:10 PM
Ive never actually used Flareon, so Im not gonna say it's bad in anyway. Im considering using one in B2/W2 though. Basically, Smogon can say whatever they like, dosent mean you need to listen.