#245: Suicune

This might well be the shortest article I'll write about the legendary beasts; not only have I said quite some things about Suicune when I talked about Raikou and Entei in my previous two posts, but Suicune is also the easiest to write about somehow.

This environment seems about right for Suicune, It might not be
an ice-type Pokémon, but I think it is perfectly able to withstand
cold.

Like Entei and Raikou, Suicune is one of the legendary beasts resurrected by Ho-Oh after the burning of the Brass Tower (referred to as the Burned Tower in the games). While Raikou represents the lightning that struck the tower and Entei the flames that consumed it, Suicune represents the rain that quenched the flames. It also looks the most regal of the three beasts, a trait that can be found in its name: Suicune's name is derived from the Japanese words of sui ('water') and kun ('monarch'), and as this Pokémon is also the mascot of Pokémon Crystal, it is not unlikely that the word suishō ('crystal') was also the inspiration for its name. And - again - while Suicune looks canine rather than feline, the spots on its body indicate it is based off of leopards and possibly even snow leopards. The Japanese deity of Fūjin, the god of the wind in the Japanese Shintō religion, carries a large bag of winds on his shoulders and is often depicted wearing a leopard skin, and the fact that Suicune represents wind and rain - it is a pure water type, but it also learns some flying-type moves like Tailwind, Gust and Air Slash - might mean that it is not only based on this very wind deity but also on wind deities from other cultures. The leopard characteristics, the fact that its mane is based on the northern light (aurora borealis; the light seen on the southern hemisphere is called aurora australis), the Pokédex entry that says that northern winds always blow stronger in its presence and its event-only move Sheer Cold - a move that normally only ice types get, aside from Kyogre - even give it some similarities to ice and cold.

The girl character in Pokémon Crystal (or HeartGold and SoulSilver) discovers the
legendary beasts hiding in the Burned Tower with a character called Eusine, who is
after Suicune. While they flee the moment you approach them in the tower, you can
encounter them later on; Raikou and Entei start wandering around the Johto region,
but you get to follow Suicune all the way to somewhere in the vicinity of Cerulean
City, where you can try to capture it without worrying whether it will flee or not.

But the most distinctive trait Suicune has is that it can purify any filthy, polluted body of water it walks on. That's right, it can walk on water.

Suicune is literally the reincarnation of Jesus fucking Christ.

For real though, it is more likely that Suicune takes homage from the Chinese myth of the qílín. This creature is believed to appear with the imminent arrival or passing of a sage or illustrious ruler and is said to be able to walk on water, like Suicune. It is a powerful and peaceful being that represents prosperity and serenity - one could say Suicune is also the most heroic, serious, calm and serene of the legendary beasts - and possesses a pair of antlers similar to Suicune's crest, with two prongs on either side of the base.

Suicune walking on water.

I can be very brief about Suicune's competitive capacities: it is a bulky staller. Its excellent HP and even more excellent defenses makes it one of the sturdiest walls in the UU and OU tiers. Because it has access to Calm Mind, a move that raises its decent special attack and outstanding special defense by one stage each, you can easily go for a Bold nature, which boosts its defense instead. Suicune can then hit relatively hard with Scald and Ice Beam, while Rest is used to fully heal its HP. It does put Suicune to sleep, though, so you might want to let it hold a Chesto Berry or Lum Berry, both of which wake Suicune up immediately. Leftovers, however, is a nice held item for a little recovery every turn and only enhances Suicune's longevity. And there are other options, too: you can ditch Ice Beam in favor of Roar, which removes the opposing Pokémon from the battlefield and brings another one in. It's a perfect move against Pokémon who want to set up on you. Sleep Talk can be used when Suicune's asleep due to Rest and selects any of its remaining three moves to use while it sleeps - including Rest, which is just fucking dumb. Tailwind increases the speed of your entire team by 50%, while Substitute could come in handy if you want to set up with Calm Mind and PP stall low-PP moves that hurt Suicune, like Leaf Storm and Power Whip. You can even go all-out offensive, but I wouldn't really recommend that; Suicune is just too good a staller for it to be used completely offensively. It's not impossible, as it still learns good coverage moves like Extrasensory, Shadow Ball, Ice Beam, Air Slash and Signal Beam, but still...

One last piece of fan art of the legendary beasts. Look at Suicune being all cool,
calm and collected, as opposed to the savagery Raikou and Entei are radiating. 

While Entei takes up the spot as my favorite Johto legendary beast, I still love Suicune to bits. What especially attracts me is its design; Suicune is so beautiful and so graceful, and its calm and serene water typing is very much in contrast with the restless electric and fire typings of Raikou and Entei, respectively. Maybe that's why I like Articuno more than Zapdos and Moltres as well. All I know now is that, after all these years, Suicune is still deserving of a perfect rating and a spot in my list of favorite Pokémon.

By the way, I guess this isn't the shortest article about the legendary beasts after all; that dubious honor goes to Raikou.

Rating: 5/5