Pokemon players are lamenting the lost potential of many Legendaries from older generations who share one “boring” ability: Pressure.
Legendary Pokemon are among the most powerful in the entire franchise, but not all of them are as strong or cool as they could be. This is especially true of some older Legendaries, as Twitter/X user WeedleTwineedle pointed out.
There are currently 15 Legendary Pokemon who all share the Pressure ability, which increases the amount of PP the opponent uses each time they use an attack.
That’s useful for putting the pressure on your opponent (pun intended) by forcing them to waste resources, but players like the poster see it as more of a missed opportunity for beloved Legendaries like Mewtwo, Ho-Oh and Dialga.
It isn't talked about how boring and disappointing it is that so many legendary Pokemon are just stuck with Pressure as their main ability. I really hope Gamefreak reworks these eventually. Imagine Ho-Oh with a rainbow pledge setting ability, giving sacred fire 100% burn chance. pic.twitter.com/RfK4BFe0gK
— WeedleTwineedle (@WeedleTwineedle) July 16, 2024
“I really hope [Game Freak] reworks these eventually,” WeedleTwineedle said. They also proposed a possible way to improve Ho-Oh that would make its signature move Sacred Fire even more powerful.
While in a later tweet, the user said “Pressure as an ability making pp stalling a viable strategy is cool,” they felt Legendary Pokemon should have more “impactful” abilities. While not every single Legendary can or should get a signature one, “replacing pressure with more unique abilities would be nice.”
Subscribe to our newsletter for the latest updates on Esports, Gaming and more.
Plenty of Pokemon fans agreed with WeedleTwineedle’s post, with one saying “pressure felt like the placeholder ability” for Legendaries – many of which were incredibly OP when they were introduced – in early Generations.
However, with so many new Pokemon and mechanics balancing things out, these older Legends feel uninteresting and underpowered. That’s especially true when compared to newer ones like Scarlet and Violet’s mascots Koraidon and Miraidon, who create a weather effect and terrain, respectively, and gain additional benefits from them in addition to the usual bonuses.
Others suggested specific ability changes that would better reflect the lore and in-universe powers of certain Legendaries. This includes the suggestion that “dialga should have ability that sets trick room and palkia a ability that sets gravity.”
Fortunately, while Pressure may be seen as a boring ability, many Legendaries have Hidden Abilities. These might not be as exciting as the brand-new abilities the community has proposed, Sword and Shield’s The Crown Tundra DLC added a way to change a Pokemon’s standard ability to a Hidden one through the Ability Patch.