Poké Floats

Poké Floats
File:Pokémon Icon.gif
Universe	Pokémon
Appears in	SSBM
Availability	Unlockable
Tournament legality Melee Singles: Banned Doubles: Banned

Poké Floats is a stage in Super Smash Bros. Melee that can be unlocked by playing 200 or more battles in VS mode. In All-Star mode, this stage is played on when the main opponent is Jigglypuff.

Poké Floats is a stage similar to Rainbow Cruise since both are naturally fixed-camera and scroll. The fighting is on top of giant Pokémon floats (hence the name) which are in a constant cycle. Staying on a certain float too long will cause the player to lose stock if the float goes off the screen. It is a good idea to practice on this stage first before engaging into actual battles, as the floats appear in a pattern, as opposed to random. A caution is that the floats tend to become harder to predict as the loop goes on, until it resets back to the first one.

It is interesting to note that Poké Floats is the only stage that doesn't appear, or have a similar or spiritual successor, in Super Smash Bros. Brawl. However, the music from the stage can be used on the first Pokémon Stadium stage as with other Melee Pokémon music.

The Sudowoodo trophy is unlocked upon unlocking this stage.

In competitive play

It is often surprising to newer tournament-goers that Poké Floats is not banned in tournaments. The reason for this is because, while the stage does move, it follows a repetitive, predictable pattern (unlike Big Blue or Brinstar Depths) and does not force players to adopt tactics that are virtually unseen on other stages (such as Temple or Flat Zone). Instead, Poké Floats moves slowly enough that slower characters are at no more of a disadvantage than they would be on any other stage. Furthermore, there are few radical changes in the stage over any small unit of time, and all changes are completely predictable, as the stage follows the same cycle every time.

List of Floats in Order of Appearance

• Squirtle
• Onix
• Psyduck
• Chikorita
• Weezing
• Slowpoke
• Porygon
• Wooper
• Sudowoodo
• Snorlax
• Venusaur
• Seel
• Wobbuffet
• A large quantity of Unown, interspersed with the other floats until the level loops again
• Goldeen
• Lickitung
• Chansey
• Geodude

After Geodude, the last few Unown clear the screen just before resetting back to Squirtle, and the process starts all over again.