#313 - #314: Volbeat & Illumise

A little GIF of a smitten Volbeat (left) and Illumise (right).

Like Plusle and Minun, Volbeat and Illumise were created to introduce Double Battles, even though that didn't turn out quite well. Both bug-type Pokémon are pretty bad stat-wise, and thus no good competitively, and some of the moves in their movepools should actually be switched. Clearly, Game Freak haven't thought these two Pokémon through very well, and here's why: Volbeat gets Tail Glow and Illumise doesn't. For those who aren't aware, Tail Glow is a move that raises the user's special attack stat by a whopping three stages! That sounds broken, and it actually is to some extent, but only three Pokémon can learn it: Manaphy, Xurkitree and, obviously, Volbeat. Because, you know, it's based on a firefly and it has an adorable and tiny oval tail? Well, the only problem is that Volbeat's base special attack stat of 47 is terrible and its base attack of 73 makes it more of a physical attacker. With Illumise it's exactly the other way around, and that is precisely what bugs me (no pun intended), because Illumise has nothing to boost that somewhat mediocre special attack to competitive levels. It's a shame, because its movepool is quite diverse: Bug Buzz, Thunderbolt, Shadow Ball, Dazzling Gleam, Giga Drain and even Water Pulse all would have been very good options to use after a nonexistent Tail Glow boost.

Volbeat and Illumise.

Volbeat's physical movepool is not as useful, however. Its strongest STAB move is U-Turn, which at a base power of 70 is decent at best and forces Volbeat to switch out, and only when it comes to coverage moves does Volbeat have a chance to shine: Power-Up Punch is a rather weak move but it raises the user's attack stat by one stage every time it's used, while Acrobatics' base power of 55 doubles when Volbeat isn't holding an item, which I don't recommend. Other moves are Brick Break (redundant when you're running Power-Up Punch), Ice Punch, Thunder Punch, Zen Headbutt and Play Rough. My conclusion is that both Volbeat and Illumise aren't good at all, and the small defense and special defense buffs on both Pokémon in Gen. VII won't make any difference. Masquerain's got buffs in both special attack and speed in Pokémon Sun and Moon; now, those make a difference. Not that there isn't any use for Volbeat, though: its hidden ability Prankster treats support moves as if they're priority moves, allowing Volbeat to lock the opponent into an undesirable move with Encore, set up with Tail Glow and pass on the special attack boost to another Pokémon by using Baton Pass. Alternatively, Volbeat is a passable weather setter, being able to use either Sunny Day or Rain Dance while holding a respective Heat Rock or Damp Rock to extend the duration of these moves. While Volbeat also has priority Thunder Wave to paralyze foes, Illumise is better off setting up a Substitute and Baton Pass it on to a bulkier Pokémon.

This comic strip by Rare Candy Treatment is funny
and sad at the same time. 

The reason I put these two Pokémon together in one single review, though, is because they are related. And I mean they're actually related by blood, or whatever you want to call it: when Illumise and Volbeat breed, there is an equal 50/50 chance that either Volbeat or Illumise hatch from the eggs they lay. Even when either Volbeat or Illumise breeds with Ditto, this chance stays the same. Their Pokédex entries also state the one can't live without the other, as Illumise emits a sweet fragrance to lure in swarms and Volbeat in order to lead them to draw geometric patterns in the sky. The Volbeat are able to work in unison because they communicate with each other by adjusting the intensity and flashing of their glowing tails. The more complex the designs in the sky, the greater the respect Illumise gets from its peers. In short, Volbeat and Illumise's flavor is as interesting as a football match... oh, pardon me, a soccer match. I hate all kinds of sports, so you figure out how interesting exactly I think a soccer match is. What is kind of fascinating, though, is the fact that both Volbeat and Illumise are based on fashion styles that were popular in the past. Volbeat's collar, black 'shirt' and striped belly 'undershirt' give it the appearance of a bōsōzoku - the more colorful Japanese counterpart of a greaser, a subculture that was popular among male adolescents in the 1950s - and even its pose may be a reference to greasers, as they are commonly shown with their hands either holding or popping the collars of their leather jackets. The style Illumise sports goes a little while back, as its curled bob and long black 'coat' or 'dress' might be references to flappers, a 1920s women's style.

Fun fact: flappers were often seen as brash for wearing excessive make-up, drinking, treating sex in a casual manner, smoking, driving cars and otherwise flouting social and sexual norms. While 'flapper' was generally used to describe a young woman or teenage girl, it is derived from the derogatory slang word 'flap', which was used in England as early as 1631 to refer to a young prostitute. Goddamn.

Yes, this is indeed how Illumise and Volbeat are often depicted in fan art: in love.

Other than the historical fashion styles Volbeat and Illumise are based off of, I don't think these Pokémon are overly special. They even seem a little too awkwardly shaped to me, even though I don't hate their designs by any means. Like I said earlier, it's too bad that the one who has access to Tail Glow is Volbeat, so I think Game Freak could have at least switched up their physical attack and special attack stats. Other than that, I don't think these Pokémon deserve a bad rating and thus I'll reward them with 3 stars each.

P.S.: Has anyone heard of a Danish heavy metal band called Volbeat? Neither had I, until I needed images of Volbeat and Illumise and the only thing that popped up when I was searching for Volbeat on Google Images was this band I'm talking about. Huh. The band Volbeat has even been around longer than the Pokémon, because the former was founded in Copenhagen in 2001 and Ruby and Sapphire weren't a thing until late 2002.

Rating: 3/5