#23 - #24: Ekans & Arbok

Official art of Ekans.

OMG, IT'S A PURPLE POKÉMON!!! I FUCKING LOVE PURPLE, LET'S DO THIS!!!

Ahem...

Yeah, I need to get my shit together now.

So... where were we?

Right, the next Pokémon. Ekans. To be honest, it's not the first purple Pokémon we've come across; we discussed Butterfree as well. That Pokémon isn't predominantly purple, however, as its wings are white and black, its big eyes are red, and its limbs are blue. And Rattata... well, let's not discuss Rattata. I hate rats. Snakes, on the other hand, are more interesting creatures, and that is exactly the reason why I like snake Pokémon. Add the poison type and my favorite color (which is purple, if that wasn't already quite obvious) and you get a Pokémon I've wanted to use in a playthrough since a couple of years ago: Arbok. Unfortunately, Ekans seems quite hard to get somehow.

Let me explain. In Diamond, Pearl and Platinum, Ekans was only available on Route 212, and even then you had to have FireRed inserted into the GBA slot of your Nintendo DS. In HeartGold they were available in the Goldenrod Game Corner, but I spent my coins on a Dratini instead of an Ekans (duh!). In SoulSilver, even though they were not uncommon in this game, I didn't manage to encounter a single one of them on Route 32 after a search of fifteen minutes (not only am I pretty much the unluckiest guy in the world, I am also a bit impatient). They weren't available in Black and White, except in the Dream World, to which I've never been. And X and Y... well, I encountered lots of Ekans on Route 14, but I only used brand new Pokémon in those games. That is understandable, isn't it?

Ekans and Arbok collectible figures.

So up till today, I'd love to use Arbok in a playthrough once. I guess I should wait until the inevitable follow-up to X and Y (which is most likely going to be Pokémon Z) comes out and hope that Ekans will be available still. I can hear you ask, 'Why would you want to use Arbok, anyway?' You're right if you say that Arbok is a mediocre Pokémon and that it's never used in the competitive scene, but it's actually quite a decent Pokémon to use in a playthrough. Its base attack stat is a solid 85 and its speed isn't that much lower. With a little EV investment in attack and speed, you can have a hard-hitting Pokémon that might be able to outspeed 90% of the things you encounter throughout your playthrough. And Arbok has a quite diverse movepool to go with that, too! It learns Crunch and Gunk Shot (which are must-haves, even though Gunk Shot has relatively low accuracy) by level-up and learns the TM moves Rock Slide, Earthquake and Poison Jab. The latter should be replaced by Gunk Shot as soon as it gets to the point of learning it, while Rock Slide should be replaced by Earthquake as quickly as possible as well. If you transfer an Ekans to another game to start a brand new playthrough, you can teach it Aqua Tail, Iron Tail and Seed Bomb at the Move Tutor too, if you badly need those moves. You might want to leave one spot open for the amazing status move Coil, which raises Arbok's attack, defense and accuracy by one stage each. That's an awesome way to get around the low accuracy that Gunk Shot has, as well as to make Arbok stronger and bulkier!

Great fan art of Arbok. 

In the end there is little that I don't like about Ekans and Arbok. In fact, because Glare was the signature move of these Pokémon in Gen. I, they might be based on the basilisk, a mythical monstrous snake that would kill people with its stare (or paralyze them, if said people looked at its reflection, but maybe that's a Harry Potter thing). And I love a little mythology behind a Pokémon design! Also, if you ever find a real-life snake that can flatten steel oil drums and is able to regenerate any part of its body but its head, let me know. The only thing that confuses me is that Arbok gets to learn the elemental fangs (Thunder Fang, Fire Fang and Ice Fang) at level 1, while it's only able to get Poison Fang through breeding with Seviper. Oh well, it gets a chance to learn it at least, which can't be said about Fearow and Brave Bird... Arbok is one of those Pokémon that don't seem special in the least but that I've taken a huge liking to. Well, what can I say? I am a sucker for purple Pokémon.

Rating: 4.5/5