Chessrook44 said:
"Alright, it's time for a new Pokemon game! Let's here your ideas people!"
"I don't have any."
"Very funny, now what have you got?"
"Seriously, I don't have any! I ran out of ideas when I turned the ALPHABET into Pokemon!"
"PokeGod and PokeDevil were my last ideas."
"I've just been throwing random sounds together for years!"
"Can't we just tack Mega onto the beginning of a few to make them stronger?"
"BRILLIANT! Cut it, print it, and find a way to make PokeConciences!"
PokeDevil still isn't a thing, technically. The Distortion World was more alternate reality than Hell, so Giratina doesn't quite count.
...I've got mixed feelings. On the one hand, yeah, the Mega-name is dumb and they should feel dumb. Hell, MegaMewtwo was originally referred to as Awoken Mewtwo. Awoken pokemon would work much better than 'Mega,' which really does just feel tacked on. On the other hand, it's just pokemon changing form and stats (and in a couple of cases typing) when holding a particular item (their respective Mega Stones), which happens to
already be a thing that exists. Origin Giratina says hello:
It was a nice move introducing Mega forms with five generally-considered fan favorites (Mewtwo, Lucario, Absol, Blaziken, Ampharos)...plus the much-maligned Mawile, an example of a pokemon let down by poor stats that's getting a needed buff from the process (Huge Power? Yes, please).
I also find it amusing how much more...fashionable the Mega forms seem to look (sans Kangaskhan and arguably Mewtwo). Everyone seemed to get new hairdos except for the bald Mawile, which got a fancy new dress (and a second set of jaws, the better to eat you with), to the point where it almost seemed like they changed form purely for the sake of fashion. A theory that's helped by the fact that the game is set in PokeFrance (the Kalos Region is specifically supposed to have a focus on beauty...Mega Milotic?). Seriously, that hair is glorious.
That's another thing: the Mega pokemon honestly all look really cool, but still like pokemon. That's enough for me to look past the "OMG, something changed in Pokemon, it's the end of the franchise forever!" and just look forward to using some of these guys on my future teams (especially Mega Mawile)...plus the fact that the Mega concept is very similar to a mechanic in a fanmade pokemon project I'm a part of (where a select few pokemon hold a certain item that lets them take on a new form...including Ampharos) doesn't hurt.