Oh yeah, Groudon looks scary, alright. And all they had to do here was copy and paste Groudon's segmented red plates on a picture of a tyrannosaurus rex from Jurassic Park. Genius. |
I honestly intended to include this part in Kyogre's entry, but I wanted something to talk about in Groudon's as well, so here you go.
Primal Groudon is coming to get you. |
Whereas Kyogre is based on the Hebrew legend of Leviathan, Groudon is based on its counterpart Behemoth. It is said that at the end of times the sea deity Leviathan and the land deity Behemoth would engage in a titanic battle that would kill them both. While Behemoth is often depicted as some kind of warthog- or hippopotamus-like creature, which - and let's be honest here - doesn't sound nearly as intimidating as a giant sea serpent, it is considered the unconquerable primal master of the land. This also manifests itself in-game in Groudon's former signature ability Drought and its Primal form's ability Desolate Land: Groudon has the power to scatter rain clouds and make water evaporate with light and heat, which is why it brought down droughts in ancient times in order to save people who had been suffering from terrible floods. It is said to have created the continents by causing volcanic eruptions, and much like Kyogre resting in a deep oceanic trench, Groudon slumbers in magma in the profound depths of the Earth, even though this seems strange because regular Groudon doesn't have the fire type at first. Additionally, fire-type moves deal normal damage to Groudon in-game, which contradicts everything it stands for.
Groudon as seen in Pokémon the Movie: Hoopa and the Clash of Ages, emerging from glowing magma. |
Groudon does get the fire typing on top of its primary ground typing upon Primal Reversion. Usually, this type combination would make Primal Groudon four times weak to water, but its ability Desolate Land summons a sun so scorching hot that all water-type moves evaporate before they have a chance to get into contact with it. Reversely, Primal Kyogre's ability Primordial Sea douses any fire-type moves before they'll be able to as much as touch it, which... isn't actually all that helpful, because Primal Kyogre is a pure water type and resists fire in the first place. Way to go, Game Freak. At least the effects of these abilities last for as long as Primal Groudon and Primal Kyogre are on the battlefield. Frankly, Primal Groudon looks like it's much more true to its original purpose than Primal Kyogre is, with the magma flowing through its entire body and all. This magma burns with such an extreme temperature that its body is always shimmering with the haze of its heat, which is to be expected from a creature slumbering so close to the Earth's core, which is proved to be the hottest fucking place on Earth. Now, that's more like it, Game Freak.
A robotic Groudon built by a maniac in Pokémon - Jirachi: Wish Maker. |
Like I did in Kyogre's entry, I won't delve into Groudon's competitive utility too much; it is in Smogon's Uber tier for a reason, and with Swords Dance and a couple of strong offensive moves it can absolutely fucking destroy anything in its path. Even Primal Kyogre doesn't stand much of a chance, unless it is switched in at a later point of the match than Primal Groudon, in which case its Primordial Sea ability activates and the effects of Desolate Land fade away, although the exact oppositie happens when Primal Groudon is switched in last.
(Disclaimer: I meant to say that the effects of Desolate Land overturn the effects of Primordial Sea when Primal Groudon is switched in later than Primal Kyogre, not that absolutely nothing would happen when it enters the battlefield.)
While regular Groudon doesn't pique my interest all that much, its Primal form is a lot more fascinating. Not only does it differ much more than its regular form than Primal Kyogre does, it actually gains something of an advantage over its counterpart as well, something that wasn't the case for at least twelve years. Kyogre is still my favorite Hoenn legendary alongside Rayquaza, so it's useless to say that I'm not entirely happy with that. Still, I think Groudon is worthy of being granted a 4.5-star rating nowadays, something I wouldn't have done a couple of years ago.
Rating: 4.5/5
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