#50 - #51: Diglett & Dugtrio

"Diglett-dig, Diglett-dig!"

"Trio! Trio! Trio!"

Fan art of Diglett, in which the thing actually looks like a mole.

Yeah, that's right. You just read that in Diglett and Dugtrio's voices. Just admit it already.

Sorry, I just had to do that, ha ha ha.

Anyway.

If I had to mention the most unimaginative Pokémon to date, I would say that'd be Diglett and Dugtrio. I absolutely don't like these Pokémon. I've never liked them, in fact, and there is probably nothing that can change that, except for maybe a Mega evolution. And even then I doubt I'll like Dugtrio all that much. Yes, I know that there are other Pokémon out there that are composed of three or more specimens of their pre-evolutions, but I dare say that Dugtrio is by far the most unimaginative. It looks like three Diglett that have gathered together rather than an actual evolution. Meh. Well, it is actually a Diglett triplet that emerged from one body, so... no, still meh. Even their Pokédex entries aren't interesting. Add the fact that both Pokémon get Arena Trap, an ability that makes your Pokémon unable to run away from it or switch out, and you get an irritating Pokémon.

This is a plausible theory of how Diglett and Dugtrio's lower bodies,
which they hide underground, might look like.

However, there is one particular thing that really bothers me about Diglett and Dugtrio. You see, the Pokédex classifies them as 'Mole Pokémon', and I won't even contradict them in that, because everything points towards that direction: they're ground types, their heads are sticking out of the ground, and they learn moves that show that they clearly have claws, such as Scratch, Slash, Night Slash, Hone Claws, Shadow Claw, and even Sucker Punch. This is what bothers me: their claws and feet are never shown! In one of the Mystery Dungeon games (a side-series game), a Diglett mentions that it has feet, but the fact that there is nothing to see of them bothers me so fucking much! I know it's all part of how Game Freak want to characterize these Pokémon, and I also know they might be based on the moles used in those dumb Whac-A-Mole arcade games, but it's just stupid. I'm not against a little mystery, but of all Pokémon to add some mystery to, Diglett and Dugtrio are most probably the most insignificant. Also, the Internet has been bombarded with the dumbest theories as well: Diglett might be just a tiny part of an enormous nightmare monster, Diglett might be a person whose head is sticking out of the ground, or (and this one is the absolute best!) Diglett might actually even be the penis of some bigger creature hiding undergound. I can't even...

TCG art of Dugtrio.

Even worse: Dugtrio is not a good Pokémon at all. Its speed stat is great and its attack stat is decent, but its defenses are mediocre. It's not that its defenses save the day, though, because these are even made worse by its HP stat, which is absolutely GARBAGE. I guess Dugtrio wouldn't even be such a great Pokémon to use in-game, but there are always people who would like to make use of it, so let's see what this thing can actually do. It learns Earthquake, for starters, but that is a move that almost every ground-type Pokémon can learn, and even a lot of non-ground types for that matter. Rock Slide and either Shadow Claw (a ghost-type move) or Night Slash (a dark-type move), which both have the same type coverage, the same power and the chance to crit, are viable options, as well as Hone Claws. That move should definitely be in its moveset, because it raises Dugtrio's attack stat and accuracy (handy for Rock Slide) and because Aerial Ace is just too mediocre for it to use. Competitively, it is no good either, but an all-out offensive Dugtrio with the ability Arena Trap (which does exactly what the name suggests: it prevents the opponent from switching out), holding a Choice Band or Life Orb, will have to do, whereas a Focus Sash/Reversal combo might do the trick as well.

Dugtrio isn't one of my absolute least favorite Pokémon, but this thing comes damn near close. Luckily for Dugtrio, I don't obsessively hate it like a certain Gen. IV Pokémon (let's say I strongly dislike it), which saves it from getting the lowest rating possible.

Rating: 1.5/5