Special Move Howling

[Kaoz]

Let's talk a bit about Howling. What we know:
1) In order to activate, both partners must have skills that "attract each other."
2) Those skills will then be combined and both players benefit from the combination.

The only Howling we've actually seen so far is Tokugawa and Yukimura's. It's called Sechster Sinn (Sixth Sense) and combines Tokugawa's Premonition with Yukimura's Yips (although they probably mean his ability to return all shots here), allowing them to see what the opponents are going to do in advance and to react accordingly.

It's also been hinted that Volk and Tezuka have the potential for a Howling. What do you think would theirs look like? And which other characters do you think might be able to use Howling in theory?

 

[Philia]

Yukimura's Yips, and Ibu Shinji's Spot may result in a howling together

Tohno/Kirihara may be able to do so as well.

 

[Anera]

It's also been hinted that Volk and Tezuka have the potential for a Howling. What do you think would theirs look like?

Difficult to say, we haven't seen the full extent of Volk's strentgh... I guess they'll be able to counter all kind of techniques, based on their techniques. About their personalities, they're very alike (stoic and calm), could it also be something which can stimulate the appearance of Howling ?

 

[ChinkyCandie]

It's also been hinted that Volk and Tezuka have the potential for a Howling. What do you think would theirs look like? And which other characters do you think might be able to use Howling in theory?

I'm guessing it'll be prefection, like how Volk is a superior version of Yukimura with PoP Tezuka. Obviously it'll be an undefeatable pair. But Tezuka will be the weak link since his stamina/strength isn't on Volk's level yet.

 

[Phantron]

I'd say if Volk and Tezuka does howling it'd be like the 'what if the winner's went to mountain training' special when they combine their gravity powers similar to how Tezuka repelled the eagles and random players away from him. You'd see a guy try to hit their shot but that guy would get thrown into the standards before he even hits the ball from the spin on the ball.

I think Sanada would be pretty useful for Howling since his techniques pretty much cover everything and it'd work well with someone with good stats but so-so special moves, though not sure who would be compatible with him. Actually, Sanada and Yukimura would probably work.

 

[Kaoz]

About their personalities, they're very alike (stoic and calm), could it also be something which can stimulate the appearance of Howling ?

I'm not sure. Would you describe Tokugawa's and Yukimura's personalities as overly similar? In my eyes the connecting factor between these two is something like heightened senses, and in Volk and Tezuka's case it would be heavy spin shots - Wirbel Traufe and Tezuka Phantom respectively to be specific.

Tezuka: "If it's a shot that cannot be returned... then I shouldn't have to return it."
Volk: "Even if you know it's coming... I'll just hit a shot you can't return."

They're basically doing something very similar to produce opposite effects I guess? I like Phantron's take on it, personally:

I'd say if Volk and Tezuka does howling it'd be like the 'what if the winner's went to mountain training' special when they combine their gravity powers similar to how Tezuka repelled the eagles and random players away from him. You'd see a guy try to hit their shot but that guy would get thrown into the standards before he even hits the ball from the spin on the ball.

Except sending them flying into the stands doesn't really fit Volk or Tezuka, but a shot that makes it so that the opponent can't even touch the ball anymore sounds pretty solid to me.

I think Sanada would be pretty useful for Howling since his techniques pretty much cover everything and it'd work well with someone with good stats but so-so special moves, though not sure who would be compatible with him. Actually, Sanada and Yukimura would probably work.

I don't think Yukimura and Sanada could use Howling, their skill sets and personalities are way too different. If I had to pick anyone for Sanada, maybe Yuushi? Considering they both have a great number of techniques for different situations and such. Not particularly confident about this pick though.

Atobe and Irie might work, considering they both have a high level of Insight.

 

[Fayte]

Howling is the new Synchro.
Howling is Konomi's way of saying, "Doubles is cool too guys, I swear."
Tachibana/Chitose Howling, I call it.

 

[Phantron]

I'm not sure. Would you describe Tokugawa's and Yukimura's personalities as overly similar? In my eyes the connecting factor between these two is something like heightened senses, and in Volk and Tezuka's case it would be heavy spin shots - Wirbel Traufe and Tezuka Phantom respectively to be specific.

Tezuka: "If it's a shot that cannot be returned... then I shouldn't have to return it."
Volk: "Even if you know it's coming... I'll just hit a shot you can't return."

They're basically doing something very similar to produce opposite effects I guess? I like Phantron's take on it, personally:



Except sending them flying into the stands doesn't really fit Volk or Tezuka, but a shot that makes it so that the opponent can't even touch the ball anymore sounds pretty solid to me.



I don't think Yukimura and Sanada could use Howling, their skill sets and personalities are way too different. If I had to pick anyone for Sanada, maybe Yuushi? Considering they both have a great number of techniques for different situations and such. Not particularly confident about this pick though.

Atobe and Irie might work, considering they both have a high level of Insight.

Given both's tendency to play tennis that involves not killing people you'd probably just see a guy try to reach the ball and stumble back or veer to the side because of the spin repelling the player, but this is POT we're talking about and that's not nearly dramatic enough so we'll probably see someone getting tossed into the stands for dramatic effect. Unlike the normal 'send someone flying' effect the guy would likely land without getting hurt though!

I don't think the personality part matters very much. At least I don't see much in common between Tokugawa and Yukimura other than both are high level players that take winning tennis way too seriously, though that describes pretty much every high level player in POT anyway.

Just a random thought, but the Golden Pair would be pretty useless with Howling, since if Kikumaru uses Oishi Zone then it'd just be the same as both players playing baseline. Well, maybe they can both clone themselves and play 4 on 2, though I don't think they'd win even with 4 or more guys against any 2 players since doubles has become more of a straight up stat matchup, and 4 or more of Oishi/Kikumaru is still nowhere near 2 top players.

 

[Ganonslayer101]

I wonder, knowing of howling now, could the Wild Beast Like Synchro have been a howling of Saiki and and Moju no Aura? Just a thought, feel free to explain why i'm completely wrong.

 

[Kaoz]

@Phantron
Yeah, Howling would be pretty useless for the Golden Pair. Highly doubt they could even use it though.

I wonder, knowing of howling now, could the Wild Beast Like Synchro have been a howling of Saiki and and Moju no Aura? Just a thought, feel free to explain why i'm completely wrong.

Well, the biggest strike against this theory is that it actually has Synchro in the name. You could maybe argue that it's in between Howling and your regular Synchro since it essentially grants Tachibana's inherent skill to Chitose, but I kinda don't think it let them use Saiki as well. Makes you wonder if there could be other "???-like Synchro" variations though if one of the partners has a similar state.

Something else I've been wondering, could Niou's Illusions produce a Howling? Unlike Synchro, Howling seems to be more skill dependent, so if it's something like Premonition or Yips that Niou shouldn't be able to copy, I feel like he shouldn't be able to copy Tokugawa and use Howling together during the WC for instance. What do you guys think though?

 

[LetalHawk]

@Phantron
Yeah, Howling would be pretty useless for the Golden Pair. Highly doubt they could even use it though.



Well, the biggest strike against this theory is that it actually has Synchro in the name. You could maybe argue that it's in between Howling and your regular Synchro since it essentially grants Tachibana's inherent skill to Chitose, but I kinda don't think it let them use Saiki as well. Makes you wonder if there could be other "???-like Synchro" variations though if one of the partners has a similar state.

Something else I've been wondering, could Niou's Illusions produce a Howling? Unlike Synchro, Howling seems to be more skill dependent, so if it's something like Premonition or Yips that Niou shouldn't be able to copy, I feel like he shouldn't be able to copy Tokugawa and use Howling together during the WC for instance. What do you guys think though?

I think Howling, unlike Synchro, it's impossible to copy or at least create a similar version. It's pretty clear that is a high level doubles technique, I would say that is a pro-level technique, so copying it it's impossible unless the two players skills and playstyle are practically equal.

A possible howling could be Niou and Kabaji, both of them can copy other moves and imitate playstyles, or Niou and Hitouji. My biggest question is, what kind of body do you need to use Howling to its fullest? Volk said that Yuki and Tokugawa don't have a body strong enough to make use of Howling yet, what could happen if Howling is used by a pair that have the proper body to make use of it? Howling can bring a lot of possibilities and I'm sure Konomi will show us a lot more from it in the future.

What do you think is going to happen from the match point onwards? I'd love to see Yukimura and Tokugawa getting a last moment upgrade before they lose, or even I'd say Yukimura could unlock Kijin (even if it's a crazy theory, but who knows).

 

[Kaoz]

My biggest question is, what kind of body do you need to use Howling to its fullest? Volk said that Yuki and Tokugawa don't have a body strong enough to make use of Howling yet, what could happen if Howling is used by a pair that have the proper body to make use of it?

The way I understand it, Volk says that in regard to them being unable to return Wirbel Traufe. Basically, even if they know it's coming through Howling, they can't do anything with that knowledge because they just aren't able to return the shot. I reckon that in this particular case it refers to their grip strength or something.

What do you think is going to happen from the match point onwards? I'd love to see Yukimura and Tokugawa getting a last moment upgrade before they lose, or even I'd say Yukimura could unlock Kijin (even if it's a crazy theory, but who knows).

Well, if you checked the poll results from the chapter thread, I actually voted that Tokugawa and Yukimura are going to win the the match. I'm not quite sure about the particular upgrade, but I think they'll find something and Volk will keep using Wirbel Traufe instead of revealing another special move. I don't think it'll be anything like Kijin though, more like a Black Hole upgrade or maybe Tokugawa will do something with the glowing shot or something.

 

[Ganonslayer101]

@Phantron
Yeah, Howling would be pretty useless for the Golden Pair. Highly doubt they could even use it though.



Well, the biggest strike against this theory is that it actually has Synchro in the name. You could maybe argue that it's in between Howling and your regular Synchro since it essentially grants Tachibana's inherent skill to Chitose, but I kinda don't think it let them use Saiki as well. Makes you wonder if there could be other "???-like Synchro" variations though if one of the partners has a similar state.

I would guess that no one at the court at the time besides maybe Irie had any idea what Howling was. As far as they knew, Synchro was the pinnacle of doubles so if they saw to people synch up their skills and play styles, what would you call that other than Synchro. While we know people can see Muga's Aura thanks to Kite, no one ever brings up Synchro Aura so it's possible that it isn't seeable to they wouldn't know if they were actually in synch.

Also Howling gives possibly the best explanation as to why the Mutsu twins are so low, it's because there is a level beyond their Synchro in doubles.

 

[Phantron]

Since Niou's illusions are as good as the real thing there's nothing stopping him from using Howling if his partner had someone else that can trigger Howling. Now it's not clear to me how Niou would know who to illusion into to do Howling with his partner at this point since existing information shows you literally have no idea who you can use Howling with. E.g. Tohno suggested he can do Howling with Kimijima, and I don't think he was kidding. He looked like he honestly thought they can do a technique like 'execution negotiation' before Kimijima rejected the possibility, and based on what I know so far I don't see the Kimijima/Tohno pair being any more or less likely to do howling compared to Tokugawa/Yukimura, who probably never talked to each other prior to this match.

Now if there is a consistent way to figure out who can trigger Howling then Niou would be pretty much unstoppable in doubles. Then again he should be more or less unstoppable in just about everything unless he's playing the best player in the world with his illusions. Okay maybe you can say Niou illusion into whoever is #1 might not be enough to beat say the #5 player, but everyone else it should be cake.

 

[ChinkyCandie]

I'm with Phantron on this. If Niou can use Synchro and Illusion, he'll be a suitable candidate to use Howling. Question is, who would he have as a partner to activate it? Irie? Since they're both tricksters. Although Irie is more focused on Atobe.

 

[Anera]

I'm with Phantron on this. If Niou can use Synchro and Illusion, he'll be a suitable candidate to use Howling. Question is, who would he have as a partner to activate it? Irie? Since they're both tricksters. Although Irie is more focused on Atobe.

I don't think it's a problem. The main point is if Irie and Niou really have "common" skills to unlock Howling, their preference about the player they want to play with is not a criteria. So they might have Howling...

 

[Phantron]

Well with Howling not only the two has to be compatible personality-wise but their technique has to have some kind of meaningful synergy. I can see how premonition + strip five senses = sixth sense even if it's a stretch. If you take say Golden Pair, there's no combination of their abilities that'd produce a technique that is meaningful against the highest level of competition. Even if you take someone like Irie, he has basically no technique besides some form of WoI so what does an upgraded version of his skill become? Irie Kingdom?

I think Howling only makes sense with guys who have great stats but relatively weak moves. For example when Kaidoh learned the Gyro Laser it's said that his laser is faster than the original version because of... reasons... but at least he'd be an example of someone who can benefit from Howling.

 

[ChinkyCandie]

^Hahaha I was thinking more something along the lines of a more advanced illusion.

 

[Kaoz]

While we know people can see Muga's Aura thanks to Kite, no one ever brings up Synchro Aura so it's possible that it isn't seeable to they wouldn't know if they were actually in synch.

I don't think that's correct. 1 2

As you can see, Washio and Suzuki didn't announce they're activating Synchro and they hadn't played any points yet either, but the bystanders were still able to tell they entered it. Also, back when it was first shown, Atobe instantly realized that Oishi and Kikumaru activated it before they hit any shots.

Also Howling gives possibly the best explanation as to why the Mutsu twins are so low, it's because there is a level beyond their Synchro in doubles.

But none of the higher ranked pairs can use Howling either. The reason the twins are that low is because they can't keep up with the stronger pairs stats wise. They probably can't do anything about Date's Season techniques, Mach or the Executions, so even though they're in sync, it doesn't matter when neither of them can compete with the opponents.

I'm with Phantron on this. If Niou can use Synchro and Illusion, he'll be a suitable candidate to use Howling.

It depends. For Synchro, it's enough to copy the person's presence which is doable with Illusion, however, for Howling that doesn't cut it. For instance, Yips is an ability exclusive to Yukimura, so Niou shouldn't be able to copy it to use Sixth Sense no matter what. Likewise he shouldn't be able to copy Atobe's Insight.

So when the Howling relies on those skills, I doubt Niou can do it. Likewise, if it requires a specific technique that Niou can't use, it shouldn't work either. E.g. let's assume Volk and Tezuka are capable of using Howling; Niou wouldn't be able to substitute Volk in this combination because he shouldn't be able to use Wirbel Traufe.

I can see how premonition + strip five senses = sixth sense even if it's a stretch.

I feel the implication might be that Yukimura's own five senses are extraordinary good and that they are the basis for his godly return game, not sure.

 

[ChinkyCandie]

I was thinking if Niou has someone like Irie as his doubles partner (which probably won't happen), he might be able to use Howling, since they're so similiar in terms of tricksters. Double tricksters could mean some advanced illusion or something.