#347 - #348: Anorith & Armaldo

Image of a happy prehistoric Pokémon family (minus Tyrunt,
Tyrantrum, Amaura and Aurorus). Armaldo is the big arthropod
standing beneath Archeops, the big flying dinosaur bird. And I
don't know what the fuck Anorith - beside Arnaldo's right eye - is
doing exactly, but I can tell you right now that it certainly doesn't
have the ability to fly.

While it looked like Game Freak went out of their way to make the Gen. III fossils something unique and unexpected, they did go back to arthropods with Anorith and Armaldo. Kabuto and Kabutops may look more badass and menacing, but I don't think these Gen. III arthropods should be underestimated. Not only is Armaldo stronger and more defensive than Kabutops stat-wise, it also has a better typing in rock/bug rather than rock/water. The result? It doesn't have any major weaknesses to worry about aside from rock and maybe water, which aren't even quadruple weaknesses like Kabutop's one to grass, and it has access to a much better physical movepool, which it benefits greatly from. First off, Armaldo is much better suited to run a Leftovers set accompanied by moves like Stealth Rock and Rapid Spin in order to set up rocks or remove them, respectively. It's also able to take a hit or two - especially when they're physical-based - only to set up with Swords Dance and wreck entire teams with STAB moves like Stone Edge, Rock Slide and X-Scissor. It has much better type coverage than Kabutops in the fantastic Earthquake, as well as in moves like Aqua Tail, Aqua Jet, Cross Poison, Brick Break, Superpower, Iron Tail and Knock Off.

TCG art of Armaldo.

What's more, you don't even have to worry about your Armaldo getting critted, because its only regular ability, Battle Armor, prevents the opponent from landing a critical hit on it. Its hidden ability Swift Swim doubles its speed in the rain, but Armaldo isn't fast in the first place and the rain can be used against it, as water-type moves will cause devastating damage on it due to its weakness to this type. Running Swift Swim is possible in combination with a Swords Dance set and a Life Orb, but it will be quite tricky to pull off and I therefore recommend sticking with Battle Armor if you're not ready to take on complicated rain sets for a Pokémon that is weak to water in the first place. You do need another Pokémon to set up the rain, after all.

Isn't Anorith just adorable???

Anorith and Armaldo may be based on arthropods that have gone extinct, but that doesn't mean they're a complete rip-off of Kabuto and Kabutops. Anorith resembles an anomalocaris, an extinct arthropod believed to have been a predator of approximately 3 feet long and the ancestor of all modern-day arthropods. The anomalocaris had strange aesthetic qualities to it, possessing two large compound eyes on stalks protruding from either side of the head and a pair of arm-like proboscides extending from between its eyes. Those features were maintained when Game Freak created Anorith, and the result is an interesting Pokémon. When Anorith evolves, it becomes bipedal; and while some features of the anomalocaris are still eminent in Armaldo's design, including the side 'feathers' and the eyes on stalks, this Pokémon looks more saurian than ever. It makes Armaldo bigger and more intimidating and the claws protruding from its chest more lethal. And they are deadly, because they can be freely extended or contracted and can cut through steel slabs (which, of course, isn't noticable in in-game mechanics). The only thing that doesn't make sense to me is that both Anorith and Armaldo are weak to water. Anorith's Pokédex entries clearly state that it once lived in warm seas, undulating the eight wings on the side of its body - which were once feet that transformed to adapt to life in the sea - to swim around. Granted, it went ashore upon evolving and thus it became bipedal, which was more convenient for life on land, but Armaldo still hunts for prey underwater and swims around using its two large wings - which are actually the yellow-edged black plates that are part of its armor rather than the weird 'feathers'.

Sigh. I love Pokémon, Game Freak, but you are not without your flaws, are you?

Still of a video tutorial teaching y'all how to draw (and color) Pokémon.

On its own merits, Anorith is kinda cute, but Armaldo is really where it's at. It doesn't look too menacing, but don't be deceived by its rather innocent appearance at first: this thing is a beast. While I never had the privilege to use one in a playthrough (the only time I used a Hoenn fossil was when I picked the Root Fossil rather than the Claw Fossil in an Omega Ruby playthrough of mine, and I only decided on that because I needed a grass type on my team), Armaldo's shrimp-like design appeals to me more than Cradily's disproportional plant-that-is-not-really-a-plant-but-a-marine-animal-called-a-crinoid-and-thus-cannot-actually-be-a-grass-type design. Armaldo doesn't belong to my absolute favorites, but at least I'll grant it half a star more than Cradily.

Rating: 4.5/5