August: Depends entirely on the pokemon in question in my experience. For some it just fails, others have a visable negative reaction to it.
Like my Gardevoir Tessa, I remember a battle about 7 years ago where a Machamp used it on her and she just doubled over and puked right there on the field. She wasn't completely comfortablely out yet so we just played it off as food poisoning.
August: Not sure if they can either or if he was just an oddity who knew something he technically shouldn't. Pokemon learning moves typically outside their normal set isnt completely unheard-of
August: I mean seeing someone might also be a bit strong, it might be a more "casual encounter" if you catch my drift. But hey 14 is adultish for Gardevoir, and she spent pretty much every day next to me in med school so I feel i can trust her with this stuff
Yeah- moves are super flexible. Hell, I've heard some eggheads like making new ones for Pokemon to learn- actually, "heard" is a misnomer, I'm actually waitin' on a commission from one of 'em.
Several strange move developments over in the wild populations starting to show up on Orre. The place isn't exactly hospitable, even for desert adapted pokemon.
So anything that might confer an advantage is being natural selected for. A professor studying over there is convinced that we'll be seeing full blown regional variants appear before too long.
Hang on, does that mean if I get an asexual Pokemon, nobody can use Attract on the- ohh, right, it could just make them vomit. There goes my plan. Still, turning Attract into, at worst, like Toxic or something, isn't the WORST I've heard.
No, it is entirely based on sex and not gender or orientation. Same as how a male pokemon can never use attract on another male pokemon even if statistically he should eventually run into one who is gay. The move just doesn't take anything else into account.
I guess, but tbh I don't really see how it's different from similar moves like confuse ray or baby doll eyes or something. It's not like it's a magical love potion just because we call it 'attract'.
Attract really has very little to do with sexual/romantic attraction. Its closer to a psychic move in function than anything else. Simmilar to the confusion status (which simmilarly doesn't really cause confusion. But instead debilitates the motor functions of those afflicted to the point of smacking or falling over themselves).
I mean really: If a human falls in love would that suddenly stop them from fighting back in a martial arts match? *especially* if their opponent is somebody they want to impress.
What attraction does instead is mess with the brain's wiring a bit so that the "This is an opponent" part gets supressed. And gets connected to the "This is somebody I shouldn't hurt" part of the brain. This is commonly a romantic partner. But could also be a child, brother, grandma, or any number of things.
The reason the user needs to be of the opposite gender has to do with what I can best describe as psychic feedback loops.
Like I said earlier: this move functions simmilarly to psychic moves. And psychic moves are *very* in tune with the emotions of their target.
So the target pokemon starts to see the user pokemon as a friend. The user pokemon then is intricatly connected to the friendly brain. Which in turns makes them more friendly to their opponent. And now neither pokemon can harm the other. The connection then is instictually broken by the user pokemon.
When the user pokemon & target pokemon are opposite genders however: that means their brains are ever so slightly different. Which, because of a long evolutionary history that I don't have time to explain in this comment, means the "don't harm this guy" part of their brain gets interpreted differently. Which means the user pokemon can prevent the feedback loop by recognizing the difference in emotion and emotionally disconnecting somewhat... This is also why attract eventually ends though.
In theory: you can train a pokemon to have a functioning attract on all genders. But that would be incredibly difficult, and would likely involve unethical experiments. All for very little gain. So very little research has been done on it.
There are also some very rare instances of pokemon not having the "don't hurt this guy" part of your brain. Its a non-dominant and near extinct gene. But on those guys: attract has no effect. But its interesting to note that from an evolutionary perspective: more effective cooperation is more valuable than resistance to a relatively common move.
I should also note that while I compare this move to a psychic one. It isn't actually a psychic move. But its one of the most complicated moves in the known world. And a proper explanation is one I have neither the time, expertise, or battery for
You’d think having a genderless ‘mon like my pal N-Byte (Metang) would keep Attract weirdness like this from being a thing, at least for that one.
I sure thought so, until I ran into some Rocket wacko who had somehow managed to teach HER Metang the move.
Barely managed to avoid a forced evolution that probably would’ve screwed up their registration something fierce. Freaking Rockets, I tell you.
As for Nykol, there was this coffee machine in this one Pokémon center cafe that they kept insisting was usi-<(I REDACT THIZZ ENTIRE EXPOZITIONAL TANGENT)>
A bond doesn't necessarily need to work in the way you think it does.
It's like how some men will be great friends for a month and still not know each other's names. Knowing all the details about one another isn't always completely necessary for a good bond.
That's not to say knowing the details can't help, but more that a bond is about understanding how the other thinks and acts, and being on the same wavelength.
It sounds like they've got a pretty good bond to me.
My Gallade, Sabre, has clocked me with an Ice Punch for “freezing up” on occasion when I get over-stimulated in social interactions.
Wouldn’t trust anyone else to jolt me to my senses like that, and if we didn’t trust each other as implicitly as we do, he definitely wouldn’t be able to pull of a relatively effortless Mega-Evo when we need that extra nudge.
Bonds are more than just knowing everything about each other, it’s like having a friend you take everywhere. Sometimes they joke with you just to shake things up, yknow?
Buddy, if your Pokémon never troll or prank you, that’s probably a result of their Nature. The Trapinch line doesn’t even have sexual dimorphism that humans can spot at a glance, anyway. What do you expect them to do?
Yeah, people get confused when Gold-Motor is shown to be a female Revavroom. Sinnoh tourists especially, since they assume Revavrooms are like Bronzongs and are neither male nor female.
Okay but this does actually have me wondering how Attract works with gay Pokemon
August: Depends entirely on the pokemon in question in my experience. For some it just fails, others have a visable negative reaction to it.
Like my Gardevoir Tessa, I remember a battle about 7 years ago where a Machamp used it on her and she just doubled over and puked right there on the field. She wasn't completely comfortablely out yet so we just played it off as food poisoning.
Joseph Amber: That…is one of the reactions of all time.
August: Yeah I kinda felt bad for the guy, he wasnt a jerk or anything. She just really had a bad physical reaction to it.
Joseph: Yeah…fair enough. I didn’t even know Machamp could learn Attract…
August: Not sure if they can either or if he was just an oddity who knew something he technically shouldn't. Pokemon learning moves typically outside their normal set isnt completely unheard-of
Joseph: Definitely true…huh. Also, random question because you mentioned the Rave: do you know if Tessa is seeing someone? Pure curiosity is all lol.
August: No idea, if she is she hasnt told me.
Joseph: Fair enough. Guess we’ll see if instead of a car…there is something else this year. shrug
August: I mean seeing someone might also be a bit strong, it might be a more "casual encounter" if you catch my drift. But hey 14 is adultish for Gardevoir, and she spent pretty much every day next to me in med school so I feel i can trust her with this stuff
Yeah- moves are super flexible. Hell, I've heard some eggheads like making new ones for Pokemon to learn- actually, "heard" is a misnomer, I'm actually waitin' on a commission from one of 'em.
Several strange move developments over in the wild populations starting to show up on Orre. The place isn't exactly hospitable, even for desert adapted pokemon.
So anything that might confer an advantage is being natural selected for. A professor studying over there is convinced that we'll be seeing full blown regional variants appear before too long.
Fun fact: Machamp *can* learn attract. But only through a TM.
And even then it depends on the region. Small regional differences in genetics and all that
Joseph: Huh. Neat.
To be fair, Attract is one of those TMs where the compatibility list on bulbapedia says “everything can learn it EXCEPT these pokemon”
Joseph: Fair enough.
Jotting it down in my research that Attract may inflict Poison status, thanks
Hang on, does that mean if I get an asexual Pokemon, nobody can use Attract on the- ohh, right, it could just make them vomit. There goes my plan. Still, turning Attract into, at worst, like Toxic or something, isn't the WORST I've heard.
August: I think it would work on them the same way it does on pokemon without a sex to begin with. As in not at all
No, it is entirely based on sex and not gender or orientation. Same as how a male pokemon can never use attract on another male pokemon even if statistically he should eventually run into one who is gay. The move just doesn't take anything else into account.
August: So its basically a minor form of mind control, solidifying my hatred of it
I guess, but tbh I don't really see how it's different from similar moves like confuse ray or baby doll eyes or something. It's not like it's a magical love potion just because we call it 'attract'.
It works based on gender. Not sexual attraction.
Attract really has very little to do with sexual/romantic attraction. Its closer to a psychic move in function than anything else. Simmilar to the confusion status (which simmilarly doesn't really cause confusion. But instead debilitates the motor functions of those afflicted to the point of smacking or falling over themselves).
I mean really: If a human falls in love would that suddenly stop them from fighting back in a martial arts match? *especially* if their opponent is somebody they want to impress.
What attraction does instead is mess with the brain's wiring a bit so that the "This is an opponent" part gets supressed. And gets connected to the "This is somebody I shouldn't hurt" part of the brain. This is commonly a romantic partner. But could also be a child, brother, grandma, or any number of things.
The reason the user needs to be of the opposite gender has to do with what I can best describe as psychic feedback loops.
Like I said earlier: this move functions simmilarly to psychic moves. And psychic moves are *very* in tune with the emotions of their target.
So the target pokemon starts to see the user pokemon as a friend. The user pokemon then is intricatly connected to the friendly brain. Which in turns makes them more friendly to their opponent. And now neither pokemon can harm the other. The connection then is instictually broken by the user pokemon.
When the user pokemon & target pokemon are opposite genders however: that means their brains are ever so slightly different. Which, because of a long evolutionary history that I don't have time to explain in this comment, means the "don't harm this guy" part of their brain gets interpreted differently. Which means the user pokemon can prevent the feedback loop by recognizing the difference in emotion and emotionally disconnecting somewhat... This is also why attract eventually ends though.
In theory: you can train a pokemon to have a functioning attract on all genders. But that would be incredibly difficult, and would likely involve unethical experiments. All for very little gain. So very little research has been done on it.
There are also some very rare instances of pokemon not having the "don't hurt this guy" part of your brain. Its a non-dominant and near extinct gene. But on those guys: attract has no effect. But its interesting to note that from an evolutionary perspective: more effective cooperation is more valuable than resistance to a relatively common move.
I should also note that while I compare this move to a psychic one. It isn't actually a psychic move. But its one of the most complicated moves in the known world. And a proper explanation is one I have neither the time, expertise, or battery for
It depends on gender and orientation. If they're compatible, then it works. If not, then not.
No, if that was the case no baby pokemon would learn attract, but some can. The move only takes the mons sex into account and nothing else.
Honestly, I only bring my asexual Pokemon into tournaments so I don’t have to deal with attract.
For the others, they’re beginner-rank contest stars- where attract isn’t particularly an issue.
I am very confused by the last sentence Vigil posted in the first one.
Did they trick their Pokemon inadvertently as well?
I trick and troll people a lot, so it is no surprise my Pokemon ended up being a prankster as well.
-Vigil
Me when someone taught my Deliberd how to hack the GTS while I was training a wild deliberd how to deliver pipebombs:
There is so many questions I have for that sentence that I’m afraid will only result in more questions. - Fin
Mate how did you not notice? - Axlewood
You’d think having a genderless ‘mon like my pal N-Byte (Metang) would keep Attract weirdness like this from being a thing, at least for that one.
I sure thought so, until I ran into some Rocket wacko who had somehow managed to teach HER Metang the move.
Barely managed to avoid a forced evolution that probably would’ve screwed up their registration something fierce. Freaking Rockets, I tell you.
As for Nykol, there was this coffee machine in this one Pokémon center cafe that they kept insisting was usi-<(I REDACT THIZZ ENTIRE EXPOZITIONAL TANGENT)>
I gotta be honest, seems like you two have a pretty poor bond. Not like me and my gang at all.
-Holler
If we have a poor bond, they why would Dragonfly take 3 point-blank Moonblast to save me?
-Vigil
I mean you might have just made that up
-Holler
Well I mean it's true. You can go ask Jacinthe for clarification, but fair.
-Vigil
I’m no fan of Jacinthe. You won’t catch me talking to her.
Poor bond?
A bond doesn't necessarily need to work in the way you think it does.
It's like how some men will be great friends for a month and still not know each other's names. Knowing all the details about one another isn't always completely necessary for a good bond.
That's not to say knowing the details can't help, but more that a bond is about understanding how the other thinks and acts, and being on the same wavelength.
It sounds like they've got a pretty good bond to me.
-Sally
My Gallade, Sabre, has clocked me with an Ice Punch for “freezing up” on occasion when I get over-stimulated in social interactions.
Wouldn’t trust anyone else to jolt me to my senses like that, and if we didn’t trust each other as implicitly as we do, he definitely wouldn’t be able to pull of a relatively effortless Mega-Evo when we need that extra nudge.
Bonds are more than just knowing everything about each other, it’s like having a friend you take everywhere. Sometimes they joke with you just to shake things up, yknow?
-Mystos ❄️
Buddy, if your Pokémon never troll or prank you, that’s probably a result of their Nature. The Trapinch line doesn’t even have sexual dimorphism that humans can spot at a glance, anyway. What do you expect them to do?
~Red
Tara Aurum: I mean…that could also still be the case, and the move is weird…unfortunately.
I will say, it's pretty funny when your opponent figures out why their attract failed.
Yeah, people get confused when Gold-Motor is shown to be a female Revavroom. Sinnoh tourists especially, since they assume Revavrooms are like Bronzongs and are neither male nor female.
What if your flygon is just trans masc?