Individual Values: A Pokémon Feature - Week 79: Choose Your Buddy

Welcome to the seventy-ninth week of my Pokémon feature here on Game Podunk! In case you missed last week's, check it out! Stay tuned for future entries coming every Friday.

Victini will be available via the Nintendo Network until September 24th. Every single Mythical Pokémon will be distributed during a specific month for the remainder of this year. Now may be your only chance for a really long time, to actually catch them all!

The Nintendo Direct that happened yesterday brought some interesting Sun & Moon news. The Alolan Rattata is almost certain to become a meme in its own right -- that mustache makes it kind of resemble an old-timey comic book villain. And there“s the poor Ditto on the receiving end of Snorlax“s special Z-Attack, Pulverizing Pancake. Interesting that they chose to pack in a special kind of Z-Move as the "Launch Window Mystery Gift". In the past, it“s been a Pokémon -- like Genesect & Victini in the Black & White days, and Torchic and Shiny Beldum from 6th Gen. With the versatility you can see in

There“s not a whole lot else to get to this week. Pokémon Snap didn“t come out today, like I thought it would -- likely because of both Axiom Verge on Wii U & Skyward Sword wildly overshadowing it. Maybe next week? Oh, and more Pokémon Sun & Moon news is confirmed for September 6th -- so maybe next week“s IV will be much more jam-packed.

One last thing of note, though: something interesting was datamined from Pokémon GO.

A future update could see the addition of “Buddy Pokémon” -- a concept that borrows a bit from HeartGold & SoulSilver, in practice. As per the findings: if I select a Pikachu I caught, it“ll walk beside me and gather Pikachu Candy, using the same method as one does to hatch eggs. This would feel most welcome, honestly -- as it allows folks who have only seen one kind of a certain Pokémon [like me and Vulpix] to let that one walk beside them and get its respective candy to help evolve or power it up.

It also addresses something I did about a month ago -- it gives you the opportunity to interact with your Pokémon after you catch them, outside of gyms. While it“s a subtle thing at best, and it“s not actually here yet -- I think the whole concept of Buddy Pokémon is absolutely a step in the right direction. Here“s to more updates that move to better communicate the philosophies of the main games. GO still feels a little too much like a departure, to me personally.

That does it for this week! How do y“all feel about the Alolan Rattata, or this reported “Buddy Pokémon” deal? What news awaits us in just a few days?