#207, #472: Gligar & Gliscor

Ash is clearly doing something wrong if
his Pokémon is crying. Then again, if I was
a Pokémon, I wouldn't want Ash as my
Trainer, either.

Gligar seems to look like a combination of a bat, a scorpion and a gargoyle. The latter would be quite ironic, because gargoyles are building ornaments and usually tend to convey water from a roof and away from the side of a building, preventing rainwater from running down masonry walls and eroding the mortar between. And while they also have the function of frightening off evil spirits or demons and protecting the building it guards (most commonly a church), it is most often intended as a waterspout. Why it's ironic Gligar seems to be based on one, you ask? Well, Gligar is a ground-type Pokémon - with flying as its secondary type - and it's weak to water, so I wanna bet it can't convey it. The bat and scorpion elements are more eminent in its design, however, which is demonstrated by its Pokédex entries: it uses its membrane wings to glide from tree to tree or to fly directly to its prey, startling it then clamping onto its face with its clawed legs and pincers and finally injecting it with venom from its stinger. Gligar's typing has always been a little tricky, in my opinion, and I find it hard to see why it is a ground type. Because it's partly based on a scorpion, I think the bug type wouldn't look bad on it, but the type that would really fit it perfectly is the poison type. While it learns quite a few bug-type moves (U-Turn, Fury Cutter, X-Scissor, Struggle Bug and Bug Bite), it actually capable of learning a plethora of poison-type moves as well: Poison Sting naturally, a couple of TM moves like Sludge Bomb and Venoshock, and Cross Poison and Poison Tail through breeding. But ground? So, is the only distinction that it builds its nest on the edge of a cliff? Interesting, but it's hardly enough to define it as 'ground', so no, I can't say I see it.

Happy-go-lucky Gligar and Gliscor. I think that's just a façade and
that they're really ferocious motherfuckers. There, I said it. 

Of course, I mainly remember Gligar from the anime, in which Ash owned one that was quite a crybaby and was scared of heights and facing other Pokémon. It became somewhat clingy to Ash when it was gliding along with him and accidentally crashed into a boulder. Its fears disappeared when it had to evolve into a Gliscor in order to save Ash from a fall, but it was still the goofiest Gliscor I've ever seen, which I love. In reality, Gliscor isn't such a goofy Pokémon at all: it is a nocturnal Pokémon that emits a sort of sound wave in order to detect obstacles and fly around them - similar to echolocation - and it likes to sleep ot hunt for prey upside down; in short, it behaves very much like a bat. While it is capable of soundless flight, it uses winds and updrafts to glide from place to place, being able to circle the globe on just a single breeze. It even climbs to the top of tall trees to slide from tree to tree when there is no wind. Gliscor's legs don't seem to be suitable for walking, so on the ground it likes to... hop around? Goddammit, Game Freak, you don't make such a Pokémon do that. It's dumb. It's more evidence that Gligar and Gliscor shouldn't have been ground types in the first place, but at least ground/flying is a unique typing that only Landorus shares with them.

This is a very scary take on Gliscor. It doesn't
look quite like Game Freak intended it to, but
that's why some fan art is so awesome! 

While Landorus is a legendary Pokémon and is more of an offensive threat, Gliscor benefits from an excellent defense stat and respectable HP, which makes it a tanky Pokémon. Because it is already naturally physically bulky, you could go for a Careful nature to boost its moderate special defense instead of an Impish nature for its defense. However, the latter is a very viable option as well, and in the end it doesn't really matter which one you choose. What does matter, is its ability. Both Gligar and Gliscor have access to Hyper Cutter and Sand Veil; the former prevents their attack stat from being lowered, while the latter raises their evasion in a sandstorm, but neither are great. You want to have their hidden abilities: while Gligar has Immunity, which prevents it from being poisoned, Gliscor has an even better hidden ability in Poison Heal, which heals Gliscor a little every turn when it is poisoned. That's why competitive players often give it a Toxic Orb to poison Gliscor at the end of the first turn it's in play, and that prevents the opponent from inflicting another status condition on it, as Gliscor can't suffer from two status ailments at the same time. Basically, it's handier than the Leftovers. There are a couple of movesets you could run with Gliscor, but a support moveset is the more common one: Taunt is used to bait foes and lets them use only damaging moves, Toxic badly poisons an opposing Pokémon, Roost is handy to let Gliscor heal half of its HP, and Earthquake or Knock Off are viable options to inflict damage (the latter knocks off the opposing Pokémon's item, but Earthquake provides STAB). You could also go for a Swords Dance set and wreck house, especially when you use an Adamant or Jolly nature, or the Substitute/Protect combo. The Swords Dance set isn't quite as common, but Substitute/Protect has proved to be a very reliable combo for durability. It's your choice, I'm just mentioning all the options.

And just for the record, Gliscor learns a ton of attacking moves of many different types, so if you want to use it for in-game purposes, go ahead. It has the attack stat to hit relatively hard and the defensive stats to tank hits.

Another thing I love about Gliscor is that there is plenty of astonishing fan art like
this to be found on the Internet. It sure looks merciless...

I love this thing so much. From its stunning design, callous stance and vampiric looks to Ash's goofy Gliscor, all the breathtaking fan art from fans and its competitive utility, Game Freak have done a remarkable job creating Gliscor. Gligar needed an evolution and Gliscor is absolutely perfect. Even the evolution method isn't too hard to implement: just let Gligar hold a Razor Fang and level it up at night, and you'll have yourself a badass Gliscor. I haven't always loved it so much, but I'm glad to announce that I'm giving it a perfect rating now!

Rating: 5/5