Pokémon Trainer (SSBU): Difference between revisions
→Tier placement and history
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{{Infobox Character | {{Infobox Character | ||
|name = Pokémon Trainer | |name = Pokémon Trainer | ||
|image = {{tabber| | |image = {{tabber|size=250px|title1=Male|content1=[[File:Pokémon Trainer (solo) SSBU.png|x250px]]|title2=Female|content2=[[File:Pokémon Trainer (solo)-Alt1 SSBU.png|x250px]]|title3=Team (Male)|content3=<br><br>[[File:Pokémon Trainer SSBU.png|x150px]]|title4=Team (Female)|content4=<br><br>[[File:Pokémon Trainer-Alt1 SSBU.png|x150px]]}} | ||
|game = SSBU | |game = SSBU | ||
|ssbgame1 = SSBB | |ssbgame1 = SSBB | ||
|shareslot = {{SSBU|Charizard}}<br>{{SSBU|Ivysaur}}<br>{{SSBU|Squirtle}} | |shareslot = {{SSBU|Charizard}}<br>{{SSBU|Ivysaur}}<br>{{SSBU|Squirtle}} | ||
|availability = [[Unlockable character|Unlockable]] | |availability = [[Unlockable character|Unlockable]] | ||
|tier = A | |tier = A- | ||
|ranking = | |ranking = 24 | ||
}} | }} | ||
<!--NOTICE BEFORE EDITING: When using pronouns, use those that match the gender of the default when referring to their Smash incarnation (treating the alternate gendered variant as a character costume like Alph) and gender neutral for home series info. However, completely omitting pronouns is entirely a valid style, as long as the sentence stays coherent.--> | <!--NOTICE BEFORE EDITING: When using pronouns, use those that match the gender of the default when referring to their Smash incarnation (treating the alternate gendered variant as a character costume like Alph) and gender neutral for home series info. However, completely omitting pronouns is entirely a valid style, as long as the sentence stays coherent.--> | ||
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Unlike ''Brawl'', ''Ultimate'' does not have a Korean dub, with Pokémon Trainer instead using his Japanese voice in the Korean versions. | Unlike ''Brawl'', ''Ultimate'' does not have a Korean dub, with Pokémon Trainer instead using his Japanese voice in the Korean versions. | ||
Pokémon Trainer is ranked | Pokémon Trainer is ranked 24th out of 82 on the current [[tier list]], placing him in the A- tier. This is a drastic improvement over his 29th out of 38 placement in ''Brawl'', and a significant improvement over {{SSB4|Charizard}}'s placement in ''Smash 4'', where it was ranked 42nd out of 54. This improvement is thanks to the faster [[Pokémon Change]], the ability to use Pokémon Change in mid-air, and the removal of the {{h2|Pokémon Change|Stamina}} and [[Type effectiveness]] mechanics. | ||
==How to unlock== | ==How to unlock== | ||
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==Changes from ''[[Super Smash Bros. Brawl]]''== | ==Changes from ''[[Super Smash Bros. Brawl]]''== | ||
:''The list below covers the general changes of the Pokémon Trainer and | :''The list below covers the general changes of the Pokémon Trainer and his party as a whole. For information about each individual Pokémon's moveset changes, see [[Squirtle (SSBU)]], [[Ivysaur (SSBU)]], and [[Charizard (SSBU)]].'' | ||
Pokémon Trainer was considered a lower-ranking character in ''Brawl'', as despite many of the Pokémon's unique strengths, the team's polarized balance and mechanics that adversely worked against the team counterbalanced said traits. Most likely following this status, Pokémon Trainer has been buffed significantly in the transition to ''Ultimate''. | |||
Notably, both the [[Pokémon Change#Stamina|stamina]] mechanic and [[type effectiveness]] have been completely removed, and [[Pokémon Change]] has been granted high utility due to the addition of aerial switching and significantly faster Pokémon switches. As such, switches between the three Pokémon have now become a unique advantage for the Pokémon Trainer alone instead of being a major mandatory commitment, and the Pokémon are now free to fight indefinitely without being limited by Stamina during battle. In addition, Ivysaur, who was previously the worst Pokémon in the party, has been greatly buffed, and the general changes to ''Ultimate''{{'}}s mechanics greatly benefit Ivysaur and Squirtle. | |||
Despite some noteworthy buffs, Pokémon Trainer has also received some nerfs. The removal of type effectiveness slightly benefits Charizard and greatly benefits Ivysaur due to the latter's weakness to the near omniprescent [[flame]] effect, it also greatly hinders Squirtle due to its resistance to said effect. Additionally, while Pokémon Change has been greatly improved, it has also received a few new disadvantages, as there is now a timer which prevents switching for a couple of seconds (although there are ways to work around this) and it no longer resets [[stale move negation]], effectively weakening the next Pokémon. Squirtle has also been objectively nerfed overall, and Ivysaur and Charizard have received a few nerfs as well. | |||
In bulk, Pokémon Trainer has become a significantly more effective character than in ''Brawl''. Despite retaining a high learning curve, all three Pokémon now boast their own degree of effectiveness for certain matchups, making the character more dynamic overall. Still, while each of the Trainer's Pokémon is usable as its own character, as in ''Brawl'', usage of all three for different situations is optimal. Nevertheless, the team performs much better than they previously did in Brawl. | |||
{{SSB4 to SSBU changelist|char=Pokémon Trainer}} | {{SSB4 to SSBU changelist|char=Pokémon Trainer}} | ||
==Update history== | ==Update history== | ||
Unlike his Pokémon, Pokémon Trainer did not receive any buffs or nerfs via game updates. Instead, he received only a number of fixes to both minor and major glitches. | Unlike his Pokémon, Pokémon Trainer did not receive any buffs or nerfs via game updates due to not being a directly playable character. Instead, he received only a number of fixes to both minor and major glitches. | ||
'''{{GameIcon|ssbu}} {{SSBU|2.0.0}}''' | '''{{GameIcon|ssbu}} {{SSBU|2.0.0}}''' | ||
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<gallery> | <gallery> | ||
Pokémon Trainer English Announcer SSBU.wav|English/Japanese/Chinese | Pokémon Trainer English Announcer SSBU.wav|English/Japanese/Chinese | ||
Pokémon Trainer French Announcer SSBU.wav|French | |||
</gallery> | </gallery> | ||
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! scope="row"|English | ! scope="row"|English | ||
|"All right!" || "Yay!" | |"All right!" || "Yay!" | ||
|- | |||
! scope="row"|Japanese | |||
|"{{ja|よし。|Yosh.}}"<br>(''Alright.'') || {{ja|うん！|Un!}}"<br>(''Yeah!'') | |||
|- | |- | ||
! scope="row"|Spanish | ! scope="row"|Spanish | ||
|"¡Ja!" || "¡Tu puedes!" | |"¡Ja!" || "¡Tu puedes!" | ||
|} | |} | ||
===[[Idle pose]]s=== | ===[[Idle pose]]s=== | ||
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*Jumps gently on the spot twice. | *Jumps gently on the spot twice. | ||
<gallery> | <gallery> | ||
SSBURedIdle1.gif|Male Pokémon Trainer's first idle pose | SSBURedIdle1.gif|Male Pokémon Trainer's first idle pose. | ||
SSBURedIdle2.gif|Male Pokémon Trainer's second idle pose | SSBURedIdle2.gif|Male Pokémon Trainer's second idle pose. | ||
</gallery> | </gallery> | ||
====Female==== | ====Female==== | ||
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*Stretches her right arm, holding her elbow with her left hand. | *Stretches her right arm, holding her elbow with her left hand. | ||
<gallery> | <gallery> | ||
SSBULeafIdle1.gif|Female Pokémon Trainer's first idle pose | SSBULeafIdle1.gif|Female Pokémon Trainer's first idle pose. | ||
SSBULeafIdle2.gif|Female Pokémon Trainer's second idle pose | SSBULeafIdle2.gif|Female Pokémon Trainer's second idle pose. | ||
</gallery> | </gallery> | ||
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===[[Victory pose]]s=== | ===[[Victory pose]]s=== | ||
The male Trainer can say "You all did great!" ({{ja|よくやったな、みんな！|Yoku yatta na, minna}}, ''Good job, everyone!''), while the female Trainer can say "Everyone did great!" ({{ja|みなさんは素晴らしい！|Minasan wa subarashī!}}, ''All of you did great!''). They will either say a non-specific line, or a Pokemon-specific line. In Team Battles, if there | The male Trainer can say "You all did great!" ({{ja|よくやったな、みんな！|Yoku yatta na, minna}}, ''Good job, everyone!''), while the female Trainer can say "Everyone did great!" ({{ja|みなさんは素晴らしい！|Minasan wa subarashī!}}, ''All of you did great!''). They will either say a non-specific line, or a Pokemon-specific line. In Team Battles, if there are more than two players on the winning team, the Pokémon will not be present, but this does not affect the Trainer's lines. The male and female Trainers also have variations in their own pose depending on the gender of the Trainer, similarly to the Inklings. | ||
*'''Left:''' The Trainer throws a Poké Ball up. The male Trainer poses before catching the Poké Ball and holding it in front of him, while the female Trainer performs a twirl, catches it, and holds it out in front of her. The only animation the Pokémon Trainers use during team victories. | *'''Left:''' The Trainer throws a Poké Ball up. The male Trainer poses before catching the Poké Ball and holding it in front of him, while the female Trainer performs a twirl, catches it, and holds it out in front of her. The only animation the Pokémon Trainers use during team victories. | ||
*'''Up:''' The Pokémon does one of its moves, and the Trainer cheers it on. The male trainer ends his pose by raising his left arm high in the air with a fist pump. The female trainer ends her pose by bending her left elbow with a fist pump. | *'''Up:''' The Pokémon does one of its moves, and the Trainer cheers it on. The male trainer ends his pose by raising his left arm high in the air with a fist pump. The female trainer ends her pose by bending her left elbow with a fist pump. | ||
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==In [[competitive play]]== | ==In [[competitive play]]== | ||
=== | ===Most historically significant players=== | ||
<!--This character has a ten player limit for this section. Before adding and/or removing a player, read these guidelines: https://www.ssbwiki.com/SmashWiki:Notability#%22Most_historically_significant_players%22_guidelines --> | |||
''See also: [[:Category:Pokémon Trainer players (SSBU)]]'' | |||
*{{Sm|Atelier|Japan}} - Used Pokémon Trainer as a main during the pandemic, and was considered the best Pokémon Trainer in Japan during this time, winning the regional {{Trn|Maesuma TOP 3}}, placing 2nd at the major {{Trn|Kagaribi 3}}, and placing 4th at the supermajor {{Trn|Kagaribi 5}}. He has since relegated Pokémon Trainer as a co-main, mainly using {{SSBU|Wolf}} in tournament. | |||
*{{Sm|HIKARU|Japan}} - Although known for playing a variety of characters, he mainly played Pokémon Trainer from mid-2019 up until early-2020, and was considered the best Pokémon Trainer player in Japan. With Pokémon Trainer, he notably placed 17th at the supermajors {{Trn|Umebura Japan Major 2019}}, {{Trn|EVO 2019}}, and {{Trn|EVO Japan 2020}} and was ranked 41st on the [[Fall 2019 PGRU]]. | |||
*{{Sm|Leffen|Sweden}} - The best Pokémon Trainer player in Europe in the early metagame, although the majority of his tournament activity was in the United States. He notably won the superregional {{Trn|DreamHack Winter 2019}} and has also placed 9th at the major {{Trn|Smash Ultimate Summit 2}} defeating {{Sm|Tweek}} and 17th at the supermajor {{Trn|Super Smash Con 2019}} defeating {{Sm|Maister}}. He was also ranked in the Area 51 position on the [[Fall 2019 PGRU]]. | |||
*{{Sm|moxi|USA}} - One of the best Pokémon Trainer players in the world in the early metagame, ranking 33rd on the [[Fall 2019 PGRU]]. She placed top 64 at almost every major she attended while using the character, including placing 13th at {{Trn|Mainstage}} and 17th at {{Trn|EVO 2019}}. However, since late-2021 she has dropped Pokémon Trainer in favor of {{SSBU|Wolf}}. | |||
*{{Sm|Ned|USA}} - Mained Pokémon Trainer in 2019, and was considered one of the best Pokémon Trainer players in the United States, ranking 37th on the [[Fall 2019 PGRU]] and placing 9th at {{Trn|DreamHack Atlanta 2019}} and 13th at {{Trn|The Big House 9}}. Since then, he has picked up other characters to play alongside Pokémon Trainer. | |||
*{{Sm|Puppeh|USA}} - One of the best Pokémon Trainer players in the United States and one of the few notable Pokémon Trainer players who continued to solo-main the character in the post-online metagame. His breakout tournament was placing 5th at the major {{Trn|CEO 2019}} defeating {{Sm|Nairo}}, {{Sm|ESAM}}, and {{Sm|Samsora}}, and he has since consistently placed in the top 48 at almost every major he has attended. His best ranking was 28th on the [[Spring 2019 PGRU]]. | |||
*{{Sm|Quidd|USA}} - The best Pokémon Trainer player in the world in the post-online metagame, although he seldom travels outside his region. Aside from winning several large events in his region, he is also the second Pokémon Trainer player to win a major, doing so at {{Trn|Let's Make Big Moves 2022}}. | |||
*{{Sm|Tweek|USA}} - Although he only played Pokémon Trainer for several months in the second half of 2019, he is considered the best Pokémon Trainer of all-time and was a top 3 player in the world when he played the character. He is the first Pokémon Trainer to win a major, doing so at {{Trn|Low Tier City 7}}, and has also placed 2nd at the supermajor {{Trn|EVO 2019}} and 3rd at the supermajor {{Trn|Super Smash Con 2019}}. | |||
*{{Sm|Wishes|USA}} - The best Pokémon Trainer in the first few month of the game's lifespan, ranking 21st on the [[Spring 2019 PGRU]] and placing 9th at the supermajor {{Trn|Frostbite 2019}} and the major {{Trn|Collision 2019}}. However, he began slowly picking up {{SSBU|Joker}} as time went on before retiring by 2020. | |||
=== | ===Tier placement and history=== | ||
Thanks to the various buffs given to his three Pokémon, especially the removal of the infamously counter-intuitive mechanics [[Pokémon Change#Stamina|stamina]] and [[type effectiveness]], Pokémon Trainer received a strong positive reception in the early metagame. This reception correlated with a large playerbase in the early metagame which was initially spearheaded by players such as {{Sm|Wishes}} and {{Sm|Puppeh}}. This playerbase only grew as 2019 went on after many other players began placing well with the character, including {{Sm|moxi}}, {{Sm|Ned}}, and -- most notably -- {{Sm|Tweek}}, who notably won the major {{Trn|Low Tier City 7}} with solo-Pokémon Trainer. By the end of the year, all three superregions had a Pokémon Trainer player ranked on the [[PGRU]] or its Area 51: the aforementioned players in North America, {{Sm|HIKARU}} in Japan, and {{Sm|Leffen}} in Europe. This resulted in Pokémon Trainer having one of the best representation in the early metagame, peaking at 5th for the second half of 2019, and leading many to believe the character was top 10. | |||
During and following the [[COVID-19 pandemic and its impact on competitive Smash|COVID-19 pandemic]], Pokémon Trainer saw a decline in tourney success, due to multiple factors such as buffs to other characters, a lack of viability online, [[downloadable content]] bringing forth a number of stronger characters, and new weaknesses growing more apparent such as limited landing options, linear gameplans, poor ledge options, and an over-reliance on [[Pokémon Change]] to cover one another's weaknesses. In addition, [[Ivysaur (SSBU)|Ivysaur]], who was initially considered the best Pokémon of the three, received nerfs in Patch 4.0.0 such as increased startup lag on [[Razor Leaf]], reduced knockback on [[Vine Whip]], and down aerial's smaller sweetspot. | |||
Most likely as a result of this, almost all of Pokémon Trainer's best players from the early metagame either dropped the character (most notably HIKARU and Tweek), relegated the character to a secondary (most notably Ned), or stopped competing altogether (most notably Leffen and Wishes). Although this led to a decline in representation, several new Pokémon Trainer players stepped into the limelight, including {{Sm|Atelier}} and {{Sm|DDee}}. Most notable among these new players was {{Sm|Quidd}}, who won the major {{Trn|Let's Make Big Moves 2022}} and has since been a consistent top 50 player despite limited appearances outside of his region. The efforts of these players has kept Pokémon Trainer's reputation afloat, and he is still considered a strong character in the current metagame. This is reflected in the character's current placement on the tier list, where he is ranked 23rd out of 82 characters as a high-tier. | |||
=={{SSBU|Classic Mode}}: The Future Champion== | =={{SSBU|Classic Mode}}: The Future Champion== | ||
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*Prior to launch, there was a glitch where Pokémon Trainer could win a [[time]]d match regardless of the score. This would only occur whenever [[Sudden Death]] was supposed to happen. | *Prior to launch, there was a glitch where Pokémon Trainer could win a [[time]]d match regardless of the score. This would only occur whenever [[Sudden Death]] was supposed to happen. | ||
*In Spanish, German, French, and Italian, the voice clip from the announcer on the victory screen is slightly different from the one used on the character select screen, instead featuring a noticeable translation of "the" (respectively, "'''el''' Entrenador Pokémon"/"'''la''' Entrenadora Pokémon", "'''der''' Pokémon-Trainer"/"'''die''' Pokémon-Trainerin", "'''le''' Dresseur de Pokémon"/"'''la''' Dresseuse de Pokémon", and "'''l''''Allenatore di Pokémon"/"'''la''' Allenatrice di Pokémon"). This also happens with {{SSBU|Wii Fit Trainer}}, {{SSBU|Inkling}}, {{SSBU|Villager}}, {{SSBU|Hero}}, the {{SSBU|Ice Climbers}}, {{SSBU|Zombie}}, {{SSBU|Enderman}}, and the Mii Fighters. | *In Spanish, German, French, and Italian, the voice clip from the announcer on the victory screen is slightly different from the one used on the character select screen, instead featuring a noticeable translation of "the" (respectively, "'''el''' Entrenador Pokémon"/"'''la''' Entrenadora Pokémon", "'''der''' Pokémon-Trainer"/"'''die''' Pokémon-Trainerin", "'''le''' Dresseur de Pokémon"/"'''la''' Dresseuse de Pokémon", and "'''l''''Allenatore di Pokémon"/"'''la''' Allenatrice di Pokémon"). This also happens with {{SSBU|Wii Fit Trainer}}, {{SSBU|Inkling}}, {{SSBU|Villager}}, {{SSBU|Hero}}, the {{SSBU|Ice Climbers}}, {{SSBU|Zombie}}, {{SSBU|Enderman}}, and the Mii Fighters. | ||
*If Pokémon Trainer is present in an 8-Player Smash, the sound effects for transitioning to the results screen will be out of sync, with the sound effect playing before the animation. | *If Pokémon Trainer is present in an 8-Player Smash, the sound effects for transitioning to the results screen will be out of sync, with the sound effect playing before the animation. | ||
*The male Pokémon Trainer's official artwork closely resembles [[bulbapedia:File:Spr_FRLG_Red.png|his battle sprite]] from ''{{s|bulbapedia|Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen}}''. | *The male Pokémon Trainer's official artwork closely resembles [[bulbapedia:File:Spr_FRLG_Red.png|his battle sprite]] from ''{{s|bulbapedia|Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen}}''. | ||