Gardevoir
Enjooooy the picture! xD
First off, welcome to this thread.
I can imagine that many of you might be frowning, shaking their heads or just thinking "double-you tea eff?".
Well, this is now the official support thread for the Pokemon character Gardevoir.
Yeah, whoopdeedoo, another Pokemon. "Spare me, lord."
So what's so special about this one that makes me, who is by no means the greatest Pokemon fan in the world, invest such effort into a support thread for it?
Let me tell you just why this one is so special to me.
Some years ago, I have played Pokemon Sapphire for the first time. It was the first time I played a Pokemon game without knowing anything about it beforehand.
Shortly after finally gaining those darn Pokeballs and setting foot into new lands, I found a peculiar little thing called Ralts, having no idea how lucky I was.
I immediately liked it. A Pokemon based on feelings, how cute! And it's Psychic, and it's so weak, it has to evolve into something awesome.
And boy did it ever evolve.
When it finally evolved from the Kirlia it became into Gardevoir and I first saw the grace and beauty of this new form of hers, I was out of my mind. It was possibly the best moment I ever had when playing a game.
Ever since then, I never lost an opportunity to have her in my team, and even though I rarely play Pokemon, I still share a certain bond with this creature.
Not to mention she's darn pretty.
So, what exactly is Gardevoir?
Let's cite some sources!
Wikipedia:
An indepth page on Gardevoir's abilities on Serebii.net.
And why should she be in Brawl? I'll go ahead and point out the reasons:
Popularity:
She is among the most popular Pokemon in Japan and generally well-liked elsewhere, too.
I can imagine what you might be thinking: "Of course she's popular in Japan, she's grade A hentai material! Pervert!"
You're confusing her with Lopunny.
Japan is known for their wide variety of fetishes, however, that is not the only thing. Their country has a culture of emotion, which probably has to do with the fact that they work so hard; culture based on emotions offer themselves as an escape from the lifeless grayness of a life of hard work.
Gardevoir is based on emotion. She is beautiful, but her beauty is graceful rather than sexy, and one might see in her a loving creature to comfort you when you feel lonely.
Or something like that.
Significance:
Yes, a Pokemon with significance despite lacking Legendary status! What's this!
In the Ruby and Sapphire games, you have a rival called Wally.
Wally is a frail, lonely, unwashed nerd-boy without friends.
To advance in the game, the player has to show him how to catch Pokemon... and the lucky ******* just happens to catch himself a Ralts.
You then proceed to, over the course of the game, observe Wally's development into a strong person, until, in the end, you encounter him again, with a powerful team lead by his Gardevoir.
The whole bit of philosophy that the series tries to convey is the concept of growing up and growing stronger. As the Pokemon representing Wally, whom many players can without a doubt identify with, Gardevoir would stand for just that.
Growing up as a person.
Also, she plays an important role in Pokemon Mystery Dungeon, and she's a Pokemon that is neither adorable, nor badass, but just absolutely beautiful.
Sakurai-ness:
Gardevoir stands as the only Pokemon to be mentioned by Sakurai in the infamous polls.
IN YOUR FACE!
Space:
Let's look at it this way: The only REALLY important Pokemon in Melee are Pikachu and Mewtwo, and some even disagree with Mewtwo ( Whoever does so hates happiness. There, I said it, too. ).
Jigglypuff was not originally planned for the original game, but got in instead of Pit due to time constraints and marketability. Next game as well, it was planned to be scrapped, but remained in due to popularity. This popularity has waned, and as much fun as it is to play, Jigglypuff might not reappear.
And I don't even have to mention Pichu, right?
That leaves us with about two possible goners, and since the Pokemon representation might even increase, that makes for about THREE possible newcomers.
Lucario, maybe Deoxys and why the heck not Gardevoir, anyone?
Moveset-wise, there might be worries of her turning into a clone of someone or other, but that is not necessarily true. It's not like there are really a lot of psychics in Smash, and it's not like those that are psychics really use those powers a lot. Mewtwo is more of a dark energy and tail-attack user, Ness uses all sorts of magic projectiles and his head and Zelda has sparkles.
Gardevoir is a dancer, she has the power to distort space, see the future and read one's emotions, and above that, she protects those close to her at the risk of her life.
It's 1am now, so I'll just copy the moveset I've made for her long ago.
I really wanted to make a new one, or rather, edit this one, but I spent all day working on that darn picture and playing Melee.
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The way I see it, she should have about the weight, size and moving speed as Mewtwo does now, which will be no problem if they fix him ( making the big guy lightweight just makes NO sense ). But on the other hand, she should have a great horizontal moving speed in the air, like Jigglypuff. The first jump is very low, but the second jump makes her rise and float as if she had summoned wind to carry her aloft.
A: It does a move like Mewtwo's Disable and a brief distortion in the air flings opponents back a little. Used to keep them off her face.
>A: Like A, but she moves her hands around forming a swirl that briefly sucks an opponent in and then spits them out, kinda like Pichu's or Zelda's smashes, but weaker.
^A: She goes into a praying pose bowing down a little and energy appears above her head; very many little hitboxes, low damage and knockback, but very good range - used for defense against aerials.
vA: A more-or-less kneeling attack where she does a blocking motion with her hands - about the same effect as Yoshi's down+A, set knockback.
*Her smashes are meant to look like dances.
>Smash: En Garde
She does a sort of half-spin, then looks away from the direction she faces and thrusts out her hand as if to forbid someone to get closer. A flash of light deals little damage for a smash, but explosive knockback. Very slow startup and cooldown.
^Smash: Prayer
A very low and slow kneeling dance move ( dying swan? ), her hand draws a circular motion upwards along with her head. Flash of light again, same as before.
vSmash: Dance of Fall
Faster than the others, she does pirhouettes that first deal a little damage caused by little particles of light that look like leaves, then a stronger blast sends the opponent(s) off at about the strength of Jiggly's down-smash.
*Using her telekinesis, Gardevoir masterfully keeps herself aloft. Her aerials are both powerful but slow attacks that are made useful by her good aerial movement, as well as unsurpassedly graceful attacks that are the only one that make her attack physically.
Nair: Pulse
A small praying motion with her hands with closed eyes, she emits a red pulse from the gem-like outgrowth from her chest. A lot like GaW's nair, but with a smaller hitbox.
Fair, Bair, Dair: Dance of Spring
Three times the same attack? Almost.
These attacks involve Gardevoir flying through the sky like a fish swimming in water.
Depending on the direction, she will first fly in the opposite direction in a circular motion, then return to strike with her body.
Imagine a snake-like dragon flying in arcs through the sky.
The knockback is comparable to Peach's hips and the hitbox comes out much later, but these moves are perfect for counter-attacking, aerial evasion and mindgames as Gardevoir seemingly changes her position and also makes her own hitbox smaller in the process.
Uair: Dance of Summer
She whirls in the air, then sends her hand towards the sky, where light energy forms in the shape of an upside-down cyclone. The tip of this cyclone has a sweetspot that makes this Gardevoir's best vertical killer, the rest has low knockback and damage.
B - Confusion: A bluish aura is created around her that shakes up any opponent caught in it, dealing some damage and potentially stunning them enough for a combo. Also reflects non-energy projectiles.
^B - Double Team: Works like a teleport, but slower. To make up for that, the opponent won't even know she used it until she suddenly appears behind him while the false image of her slowly fades away.
>B - Future Sight: Gardevoir glows and sees into the future. If she isn't hit within the next 4 seconds, all opponents receive 10-15%.
vB - Synchronize: If Gardevoir is hit by a B button move while this move is in effect, the opponent receives the same damage as Gardevoir. Damage is not blocked and no knockback is dealt to the attacker. Almost as quick as the Shine.
Unnecessarily complicated Final Smash: Wish upon a Star:
You remember DK's Final Smash that makes you play a rhythm minigame or something like that?
This is... similar.
Upon activation, Gardevoir will go into a praying pose and the background turns darker, or even completely black. All other fighters are free to go on fighting during the next phase.
In this phase, all attacks that hit Gardevoir are phantom hits, no knockback, half damage.
Now, in the background, you will see a certain number of shooting stars shoot briefly across the sky one after another in random intervals.
Your task as the player is to press the button as soon as you see a shooting star appear, which might be hard because they shine only briefly, they are a bit small and they appear in random ( but visible ) locations in the background. You have to try to keep the button pressed from the very beginning to the very end of a star's duration. The better your timing, the better the effects. Of course, keeping the button pressed or mashing it won't do any good.
The point is that each star stands for a certain move that will be incorporated into the Final Smash combo. If you miss a star completely, the attack will either not be in at all or just have weak effects.
Once all stars have passed by, the background will dramatically turn light again and the following moves will occur in this order ( a textbox with the name of the move will pop up each time ):
Mirror Coat:
All damage done to Gardevoir while she was praying will be dealt back to those who inflicted it. Depending on the timing, it ranges from the same amount to double the amount, also, increasing knockback will be dealt ( hardly anything lethal, though ).
Psychic:
Following immediately after Mirror Coat, anything within the range of this attack will be taken by a psychic force and slammed diagonally downwards and into the direction of Gardevoir. It's pretty much a spike.
The range is quite large and, with perfect timing, it can take up all of the battlefield.
Rest:
Gardevoir falls asleep.
Due to its Synchronize ability, this instantly causes everyone on the battlefield to fall asleep as well, without exceptions!
This move is not assigned to a star and will be used regardless of your timing.
Wish:
If you managed to catch this star, it will return to wake up Gardevoir immediately.
Dream Eater:
And finally, everyone who's still asleep ( which should be everyone ), will get a bunch of their HP drained. The strength is dependent on the timing, of course. And, of course, the drained health is subtracted from Gardevoir's damage. Yay!
And since this move does no knockback, everyone should still be fast asleep and ready for some smashing.
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*Here goes a special treat for Gardevoir fans!
I've mentioned her role in Pokemon Mystery Dungeon, remember?
Well, here's some footage showing her, her role, her personality and her theme song!
Now how many Pokemon have a theme song!
http://youtube.com/watch?v=PvATQ7Hcmh4
Naturally, you have to beware of spoilers! Don't watch if you're still going to play the game!
Now, let's spread the love. ^^
PS: Updates are marked by a red askerisk!
