NotMyWaifu

Plenty of relevant pokemon don't have a HA or won't use it if they get it, you could make those. You could also just go with semicomps for pokemon you're worried about being outclassed, though either way whatever comp you breed should retain value because of how breeding works. It'll just take a while to sell something if you don't want it anymore but it's not like your money is gone forever.

Sitting at 41% and 18.5% usage I don't think the dragons are starved for additional options. They're plenty powerful as is. Hell, chomp just got its HA released which makes going physdef a lot more feasible. The knock off buff isn't just the base power increase, it's also increasing the damage by 1.5x when it removes an item. It's a move that very few pokemon really switch into given the absence of mega stones and Z-crystals. The dark types that would really benefit from the buff are already good. Knock off is currently a viable move in a healthy state, why buff it?

Alternatively we just keep it the way it is because it's both viable and healthy that way. Which pokemon need buffed knock off exactly and why should the fighting types that can use the move have their options decreased for their sake?

If people choose to build their team with another mon that likes running sash, sure, that is by no means essential though. I know how item clause works, you don't need to explain it to me, c'mon man. Raichu has a 67% usage for focus sash in doubles. Magnet and electric gem are both used more often than life orb on it. The newly released assault vest is a viable item for it, as are shuca berry and sitrus berry. Regardless, the role overlap between Raichu and Mienshao (them being fast fake out users with a decent damage output) means you wouldn't really want to put them on the same team either way. You can build a team that leaves life orb free for Mien to use, it's not completely restricted the way you're saying it is. It can viably run black belt, assault vest or a coba/payapa berry. It may very well be more restrictive than other pokemon in terms of items, sure, but that does not mean it's not viable. The first point I made still stands:

If your argument is that item clause destroys its viability then you need to prove not only that Mienshao absolutely needs focus sash to function, but also that it needs to be paired with something else that uses a focus sash to function. You haven't done that at all. Because maybe the other 5 pokemon on your team don't need a sash. Maybe your team prefers the increase in power and speed Mien has over Top. Maybe you already have an intimidate pokemon and don't want to double up on that and create a huge weakness to defiant/competitive pokemon. Maybe the U-turn + regenerator combo fits your team well. Maybe you want a fast taunt user, or something with knock off. There are lots of reasons to use Mien over Top, it just depends on the rest of your team.

"When Alpha?"

I don't think they should go as far as removing everything under the sun that isn't a direct attack or directly lowering something's stats. There is some room between trivializing something and just being good for something. There should absolutely be some utility pokemon that are specifically good for alphas. It's healthy for there to be more PvE niches. Endeavor Aron wasn't exactly healthy. It's extremely low effort to get, just a level 1 sturdy aron with a tutor move could bring the alpha to 1hp in a single turn. With a shell bell it could live and stall out more turns if the opposing pokemon had a healing move. Berry juice could let sturdy tank multihit moves so long as they hit twice. If alpha pokemon are meant to be a longer fight that you need to prepare for, endeavor's damage output is too high and aron is too fast to prepare. It also worked against essentially every alpha so long as you had a pokemon with soak. Trick and switcheroo are completely fine with choice items because they come with significant preparation and drawbacks. You need to get a choice item to trick which is a good amount more expensive than an aron. If you lock an alpha into a move you have to have something that can take that move repeatedly. Even if you do, you are still potentially going to have to deal with the alpha mon using struggle because it will eventually run out of PP. Lagging tail and sticky barb are arguably more risky because the pokemon is still free to select any of its 4 moves. Magic bounce, fling and taunt also shut this strategy down entirely. Seismic toss and night shade are completely fine, their damage output isn't that high. Super fang's damage output is only high for one turn, it's not as free as endeavor and is fine imo. Setting trick room to deal with something that has boosted speed is completely healthy. Power split is fine because these alphas will still hit hard and lots of them either boost their stats with moves or use status. Pain split is the only move I really agree with you on and it's only because you can get it on a low level pokemon with sturdy. It's basically aron except with more PP for endeavor. As for the abilities: Preparing an unaware mon so you can deal with the boosts is precisely what they want you do do with how the fight is designed. It's not a foolproof strategy either. Wonder guard has been nerfed in PvE already precisely for this. Prankster adds +1 priority, you still need to outspeed anything using a priority move and dark types are completely immune. Cottonee isn't as problematic because it dies without sash. Impostor ditto is giving up a full team slot just to scout the moveset, that's completely fair. You should be able to mostly prevent yourself from wiping if you prepare well, I don't think we should try to completely remove someone's agency by disabling shell armor. Taking away a lot of strategies just isn't a good thing imo. Alphas without the HA won't have a diamond next to their sprite, it's pretty clearly visible and you can also just filter the GTL to only show you alphas with HA.

Praying that I haven't been telling people the wrong info for over a week now

Back in July during the part 1 patch timer balls were buffed, the following was said in the patch notes: However, if you look ingame you can see that timer ball starts at 1.33 instead of 1.30. Can July's patch notes please be edited with the correct information, it's such a common misconception that timer balls take 10 turns to max their catch rate when it's actually 8. It would be nice if the clarification could be added to the most recent patch as well.

Except it has been officially confirmed they are permanent

I'd obviously like better rewards for PvP they can feel a bit lackluster. What would also be fantastic is if you could actually see what's inside the mystery boxes, I haven't been able to find a good resource for it. Gift pokemon are a pain and should just be breedable but pass down their gift ribbon.

Kyu confirmed that there will be ~60 lines that get released with this update.

Crawdaunt should absolutely start in OU. It might not have knock off but crunch works just fine to hit things hard with dark stab. If Gator is on the overwhelming side in UU then Daunt is absolutely too much.

Drago's Aron box profits in shambles rn

As Suigin mentioned lots of fighting types have access to knock off and it would become more difficult for psychic and ghost types to handle them. We both don't have the base 65 power or the damage increase if an item is actually knocked off. Conk is example of a pokemon that would benefit massively from buffs to knock off. Cofagrigus is a common answer so let's use that as a thing to calc against. Knock off currently: 252+ Atk Guts Conkeldurr Knock Off vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Cofagrigus: 44-52 (13.7 - 16.2%) -- possible 7HKO Knock off boosted to 65 base power: 252+ Atk Guts Conkeldurr Knock Off vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Cofagrigus: 136-162 (42.5 - 50.6%) -- 2.3% chance to 2HKO Knock off 65BP + damage boost on item removal 252+ Atk Guts Conkeldurr Knock Off (97.5 BP) vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Cofagrigus: 204-242 (63.7 - 75.6%) -- guaranteed 2HKO Over 70% of Confagrigus run leftovers, even taking 40% losing leftovers is a huge deal if you want to keep checking Conk with them. One the few things that can check it defensively would no longer be able to. Even if you predict the move, it's very difficult to punish. Nothing really likes taking a knock off, bar maybe justified Lucario, but that can't really take a fighting move. It's already a move worth using even at the low base power it has. The dark types that would benefit from having it are already good without it or would still be bad with it. It would just make Conk and Mien a lot harder to deal with.