#360, #202: Wynaut & Wobbuffet

You know, I think I'm at a point I've had it with these baby Pokémon. Adding pointless pre-evolutions to already existing Pokémon doesn't make sense to me, and adding a pointless pre-evolution to a Pokémon that is pointless in the first place makes even less sense.

So that's where I should talk about Wynaut, right? Because, why not?

One big, happy family of mama and papa Wobbuffet and their three little Wynaut.
The lipstick on mama Wobbuffet is absolutely ridiculous, though. 

Well, to be honest, there is absolutely nothing interesting to say about Wynaut. It is merely Wobbuffet's pre-evolution and doesn't have any distinctive traits that sets it apart from its parent, so to speak, so I'm pretty much done talking about it. I mean, should I say Wynaut is almost always happy and throws a tantrum with its tail when angered? Or that it likes to eat sweet fruits? Great, so do I. NEXT!

Jessie's Wobbuffet in love, apparently.

It has to be said that herds of Wynaut like to squeeze up against each other to gain endurance, while at the same time they are trained to dole out powerful counterattacks. That is why this Pokémon learns Counter and Mirror Coat at level 15 and evolves into Wobbuffet immediately after. And Wobbuffet is supposedly where it's at. It's a docile Pokémon that never attacks first, but when it is attacked it will inflate its body and initiate a counterstrike - which sounds about right, by the way, as both Counter and Mirror Coat have negative priority in the games and always act after the opponent has attacked. When two Wobbuffet meet, they will attempt to outlast each other in a battle of endurance, but since neither of them is able to attack, they may compete to find out which can last longest without food. Wobbuffet is very secretive and overprotective regarding its pitch-black tail, so it likes to reside in dark caves. Also, it can't endure an attack on its tail, so when it's attacked it takes the foe with it by using Destiny Bond, one of the very few moves Wobbuffet can learn at all.

You know when fan art isn't abundant when you
have to feature an entire TCG card. 

And that's why it's not a good Pokémon, in-game as well as competitively. All it can do is wait out an attack with its massive base 190 HP stat and strike back with Counter (in case of an incoming physical attack) or Mirror Coat (in case of an incoming special attack). Its defenses are just mediocre enough - both defensive stats sit at base 58 - that it can take a hit with that massive HP and knock out the opposing Pokémon with its counterattack, but everybody knows what to expect from Wobbuffet, so they'll try to set up when it comes into play and wait until all Destiny Bonds have been used up. That's why it's not very viable in competitive play. At the same time it is very tricky to use in-game, because you never know if the opponent is going to use a physical or special move on you. Of course, you can predict it as accurately as possible, as some Pokémon tend to be special and others tend to be physical, but most AIs tend to use their Pokémon's level-up movepools and there are still special Pokémon with a largely physical movepool and vice versa. In other words, Wobbuffet is always a tricky Pokémon to use. Not good. It's really one of those Pokémon that makes me go, "What were Game Freak thinking? This can't turn out to be any good." And that's the truth, because its low popularity causes it to be not used at all by anyone. And its anime appearances don't really help its cause, either, because Jessie's Wobbuffet tends to break out of its Poké Ball at undesirable moments, much like Misty's Psyduck, and that is just plain irritating. I understand it's supposed to be a running gag, but you don't have to repeat the same unfunny thing all over again, especially when you've done the same with a certain Pokémon called Psyduck previously.

Yeah, would Jessie really love her Wobbuffet? It is often
a source of annoyance, as it lets itself out of its Poké Ball
without having been asked to.

As you can make out from the description above, Wobbuffet is literally a punching bag. That's where an interesting theory comes into play: the tail is actually Wobbuffet's body and the rest is just a cover-up created to take hits. It's an interesting theory, but there's actually not much to back that up; Wobbuffet itself acts so much like an actual living being - again, this could be a cover-up - that I don't think this theory can hold its own unless substantial evidence surfaces anytime soon, which I don't see happen at all. I can tell you what Wynaut and Wobbuffet are probably based on, however, and that's exactly what I'm gonna do. Both are based on a traditional Japanese doll with squinted eyes called the okiagari-kobōshi, which means 'getting-up little priest', and it stands back upright when it is pushed over. It is a symbol of perseverance. Pretty much the trait of a punching bag, which Wobbuffet is based on. Wynaut and Wobbuffet's Japanese names are Sohnano (ソーナノ) and Sonans (ソーナンス), respectively, and are a play on the respective phrases of sō na no and sō na-n-su. Together, they make for a potential perpetual conversation of, "Is that so?" followed by, "That's the way it is," and so on. Additionally, Wobbuffet is probably also based on the Japanese comedian Hayashiya Sanpei, who was famous for repeatedly touching his forehead while saying one of his trademark lines: Sō nansu, okusan! ("That's the way it is, ma'am!")

That Wobbuffet family again. Because, Wynaut?

While Wynaut and Wobbuffet's perpetual conversation probably makes a lot more sense in Japanese, other languages' names for these Pokémon do not feature this pun. The French names are Okéoké and Qulbutoké - Culbuto is the French trademarked name for Weebles - and feature a pun on 'okay', but don't make for a conversation between Wynaut and Wobbuffet. The German names of Isso - from Ist es so? ("Is that so?") - and Woingenau - from Wohin genau? ("Where to, exactly?") - don't make much sense when put together. And don't get me started on the Korean names. Maza (마자) and Mazayong (마자용) seem both be based on majayo, which is 'that's right', but it seems to fit Meowth better than Wynaut and Wobbuffet, I dare say.

Meh, I don't like Wobbuffet all that much. The mystery surrounding its tail isn't all that interesting, as opposed to the mystery surrounding Unown, and it's just a weird-looking Pokémon. And not in a good way. Sorry, I can't give it a passing grade at all.

Rating: 2/5