Some Pokemon are too powerful to contain. As you explore the RPGs, that’s usually Latias breaking out of your last Poke Ball or a shiny Abra teleporting to safety before you even get a chance to fight it properly. In the competitive world, however, this is reflected in prohibitions.
Pokemon have been banned for a myriad of reasons. Mega Rayquaza is too damn strong. Smeargle is banned purely because it can legitimately learn Dark Void, and Darkrai’s signature move is broken at a competitive level, making battles both pointless and boring. Darkrai is of course also prohibited. Caterpie was once banned for knowing String Shot, a move that could freeze the game at the time. But Chatot isn’t incredibly powerful, nor can it learn a game-breaking move. However, it can learn Chatter.
Chatot’s ban goes all the way back to Diamond & Pearl, the games it was introduced in. It came with its own mechanism, meant to show off the features of the Nintendo DS. If you were using Chatter as a field move, you could use the DS’s microphone to record your own audio, which would play in battle if Chatot used the move. The louder you yelled, the more likely Chatter is to confuse your opponent. I bet the parents loved that.
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This was accompanied by obvious problems. The sound Chatter played was distorted, but because there was no way to view the audio, Chatot had to be banned from playing online in case someone recorded inappropriate language. Chatter was banned for two generations, but removing the move’s signature ability meant the Pokemon was allowed to be used online again. As an added bonus, Chatter is guaranteed to confuse your opponent, making it an incredibly annoying move to come across.
Since Smeargle is now also no longer banned (after losing access to Dark Void), a Chatter, Thunder Wave, Iron Head set could be the most annoying in the game. Throw Fissure of Sheer Cold into the last slot and you’ve hit the insane jackpot.
Chatot is freed from prison, but at what cost? All Chatter’s fun has been taken away, and we’re left with a sad little parrot with no voice. As confusing as his move is now, there’s no reason to use Chatot instead of other Flying types in the game. Just pick Tornadus and hit your Hurricanes for much the same effect. What, you don’t hit your Hurricanes? It can’t be me.
Sure, the Switch doesn’t have a microphone and the online mode would be full of profanity, but where’s the fun? Pokemon should ban Chatot again and return his Chatter. I want to yell at my OLED as loud as possible (either through a plug-in mic or using the Nintendo Switch Online app) to make my move more powerful, even if that means limiting myself to yelling one player. I want Pokemon Scarlet & Violet to take it a step further and introduce more gimmicky moves for underused Pokemon. Let me grunt to give Lechonk a speed boost. Let me change Arceus’ type by targeting my Switch to a specific color, or have my Fire types deal more damage when there’s a heat wave. By now you can see I’m not very good at coming up with gimmicks, but hopefully you get the point. Pokemon should be fun again, and making otherwise pointless Pokemon exciting by some crazy little gimmick is part of that.
Chatter brought the fun into Pokemon, something that seems to have been lost along the way as the games evolved. Pokemon can’t remember if it wants to make games for kids or adults, but as long as Scarlet & Violet Chatot return its stupid gimmick, they’ll be a success in my eyes, VGC damn.
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