Pokemon in the Nintendo 3DS era ofPokemongames had a more visual way of interacting with their trainers outside of battle. Thanks to the Pokemon-Amie feature, Trainers and Pokemon can develop a special Affection trait outside the typical Friendship feature. First shown inPokémon Xand Y,the Pokemon-Amie gives players a more dynamic way of building their relationships with their Pokemon.
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Albeit short-lived, Pokemon-Amie became a memorable feature while it lasted. Moreover, its new offerings to Pokemon added new and interesting dimensions to combat. Interestingly, this gameplay mechanic had more to offer than just an interactive feature.
10Introduces The Affection Stat
Thanks to Pokemon-Amie, players get firsthand experience of Generation VI’s Affection stat. This serves as a reflection of a Pokemon’s closeness to its Trainer. In Pokemon-Amie, players can keep track of Affection alongside Fullness and Enjoyment.
Affection can bestow various benefits. For instance, Affection 2 grants higher experience, while Affection 3 helps Pokemon resist fainting. Meanwhile, Affection 4 can help Pokémon avoid attacks or dispel status conditions, while Affection 5 doubles critical chance. As well as stats, Eevee needs to know a Fairy-type move and at least Affection 2to evolveinto Sylveon. Affection levels also affect dialogue in combat.
9Pokemon Become Villagers
Fans of pet simulators will love the Poeémon-Amie feature, as it essentially transforms their Pokemon into a Tamagochi. Courtesy of the 3DS bottom screen or the PokéNav Plus (inOmega RubyandAlpha Sapphire), Trainers get a dedicated space for their active Pokemon.
Players can also purchase wallpaper and various decorations to populate the space. Additionally, thanks to the Poké Puff item, players can attract visitors to stop by and interact with their Pokemon.
8Trainers Get New Minigames
As if various Pokemon Contests aren’t enough minigames for players, Pokemon-Amie contains its own set of minigames for Trainers to try. These minigames simulate playing experiences with Pokemon in the interface. They also allow Trainers to play with the rest of their party, with the winners receiving varying amounts and quality of Poké Puffs.
The Berry Picker minigame requires players to drag Berries from a tree to the Pokemon that likes them. Meanwhile, Head It needs Pokémonto headbuttyarn balls as they fall from the skies. Lastly, The Puzzle needs players to move pictures to solve puzzles.
7Makes Use Of Touch Screen To Touch Pokémon
Anyone who’s had the opportunity to meet a Pokemon in games would want to have touched them if they were real. Thanks to Pokemon-Amie, players can do this – at least in a digital format. With the 3DS touch screen, players have the ability to pet their Pokémon with a special Petting mechanic.
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Interestingly, the Petting system is that Pokemon actually have parts of their body that generate a positive, neutral, or negative reaction when petted. Players should learn their creatures' favorite places to be pet!
6Trainers Can Make Faces For Pokémon
Alongside the three main minigames is the special Making Faces game, which utilizes in the Nintendo 3DS camera. In this game, the active Pokemon will ask Trainers to make faces in the camera, such as winking and smiling. When players do this successfully, the Pokemon will get an increase in affection.
To ensure that this feature works properly, players need to stay in a well-lit area or even face a direct light source, with the 3DS at an arm’s length away. Moreover, the player needs to have their face visible and the 3DS camera must be clean.
5Makes Better Use Of The Player Search System
Thanks to the Player Search System, 3DS players can not only make Friends but they can also meet Acquaintances and Passersbyto do battle with. With Pokemon-Amie, the Player Search System becomes a way to add a livelier component to the “Pokemon With Friends” motif.
Pokemon-Amie will prompt Pokemon from the Trainer’s Player Search System (be it from Passersby, Acquaintances, or Friends) to visit the Pokemon-Amie space. Once a Pokemon enters the space, they decide whether they want to stay or not. By the time three Pokemon decided to stay, they will interact with the ones inside. They will do this for 30 seconds before providing a gift, and then departing.
4Simple Things Impact Affection
Interestingly enough, players don’t necessarily have to rely on Petting and playing Minigames to increase their affection with their Pokemon. In Pokemon-Amie, smaller things and actions can still increase Affection. For instance, giving Pokémon some Poké Puffs can also increase affection.
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In terms of minor interactions, Trainers can “talk” to their Pokémon to slightly increase affection. They can do this via the microphone, though it seems any sound strong enough for the mic can trigger this effect. Meanwhile, Pokemon with at least Affection 5 will attempt to high-five the player once they move the stylus away for around five seconds. If they do this successfully, their Enjoyment will increase.
3Pokemon Refresh Changes The Game
In Generation VII,Pokemon SunandMoonintroduced players to the Pokemon Refresh feature. Serving as an off-shoot to Pokemon-Amie, Pokemon Refresh instead removes the decoration feature of the latter. As the name suggests, Pokemon Refresh introduces a Refresh feature alongside Petting and Feeding.
The eponymous Refresh feature focuses on treating the Pokemon as traveling companions. With Refresh, players can treat their Pokemon with medicine, brush sand off them, wipe away dirt, or even dry them fromWater moves. Due to the updated graphics ofSunandMoon, Refresh also gives players a more detailed look when Petting and Feeding their Pokemon.
2Became Fully Integrated With Friendship
Despite the interesting nature of the Pokemon-Amie feature, it didn’t last long within the series. After all, in theLet’s Go!games, Affection didn’t become a separate stat. Instead, its benefits became factored into the core Friendship mechanic.
For instance, in theLet’s Go!games, Friendship now affects all statistics except for HP. At maximum Friendship, a Pokemon now receives a 10-percent boost to all its statistics prior to adding any AV (awakening values). In terms of mechanics, the percentage boost scales with the Friendship level - from 0-percent at Level 0 to a full 10-percent at Level 255.
1It Existed In The Manga
Remarkably enough, Pokemon-Amie also makes an indirect appearance in thePokemon Adventuresmanga. Readers can see allusions to Pokemon-Amie once protagonist Y captures Veevee, her Eevee. Some panels demonstrate Y making various faces, alluding to Making Faces minigame.
Moreover, inPS553of theAdventuresmanga, Veevee is shown evolving into Sylveon. This also proves that Y managed to raise her affection with Eevee enough to help facilitate its evolution. Unfortunately, it seems this is the only time the Pokemon-Amie system seems to appear in the manga, and it doesn’tappear in the anime.
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