#270 - #272: Lotad, Lombre & Ludicolo

Lotad watering flowers using the dish-shaped lilypad on its back.

Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire were unique in the sense that they provided version-exclusive counterparts to be caught early on in the game. Even before you'd reach Petalburg City, Lotad could be caught on Route 102 in Sapphire, while Seedot could be caught in the same area in Ruby. While both got unique typings (Seedot evolves into the grass/dark-type Pokémon Nuzleaf, who eventually evolves into Shiftry, while Lotad is water/grass to begin with and stays that way all the way up to its final evolution Ludicolo), Lotad and its evolutions are basically the superior counterparts. Water/grass is such a good typing that it eliminates weaknesses to moves of common types like electric, grass, ice and fire, making them neutral instead, and leaves Lotad with trivial weaknesses to bug and flying and a significant one to poison due to all the fairy types chillin' around lately. Lotad itself is not all that interesting; it is a fresh-water Pokémon with a lilypad on its back, which is used to ferry smaller Pokémon that can't swim across lakes and ponds sometimes and withers when Lotad becomes dehydrated. That's pretty much all there is to say about it, to be honest. Nothing out of the ordinary to be seen here.

Lombre carrying three adorable Mudkipsies on
the hat-like lilypad on its head.

When Lotad evolves, however, it'll become a Pokémon Donald Trump would dub a 'bad hombre'. (Disclaimer: I pity any American who voted for Trump and thinks he will in fact change their country for the better, but I truly feel sorry for those who voted for Hillary Clinton and have to put up with a misogynistic, racist, homophobic and just generally douchy excuse for a President now.) You see, Lombre is a play on either hombre or sombrero - Spanish for 'man' or 'hat', respectively - or both, although its Japanese and German names of Hasubrero (ハスブレロ) and Lombrero definitely point to the latter. If you look closely, you'll see that the lilypad on its head indeed looks a little like this distinctive Mexican hat everybody would recognize from a considerable distance. Also, Lombre looks like it's wearing overalls, giving it the general appearance of a lazy Mexican, which even I think is a little stereotypical. But Lombre is primarily based on a certain creature from Japanese mythology: we've come across Golduck already, who seems to have some traits of a kappa, but Lombre is more obviously based on this creature. Kappa means 'river child' and this may be why Lombre is often mistaken for a human child, but aside from that it also has the aesthetic features of a kappa: the dish on a kappa's head is called a sara and is the source of its power, while the turtle-like beak it is often depicted with can also be found in Lombre's design (when Lombre opens its mouth, it resembles a Mexican with a mustache, too). However, there is nothing much to say about Lombre's Pokédex entries, except for the fact that the film that covers its body is unpleasant to touch and that it is a mischief-maker. When it spots anglers, it tugs on their fishing lines from beneath the surface to interfere and enjoys their consternation, and it even pops out of rivers to startle people. Naughty, naughty Lombre.

Even in the anime Ludicolo has a Mexican Trainer.

The Mexican aspects of this evolutionary line's designs become especially apparent when Lombre evolves into Ludicolo by use of a Water Stone: its headgear now looks more like a traditional sombrero, complete with a pointed crown shaped like a pineapple, while its body seems to be draped in a zigzag-patterned poncho. As if that wasn't enough already, all the cells in Ludicolo's body become stimulated when it hears children singing on hiking outings or just festive music in general, and it will break into a dance as it becomes more energetic and active, making it more powerful. All this certainly makes most people associate Ludicolo with a stereotypical Mexican dancer. However, Japan is a rather homogeneous country: 98% of the population is of Japanese descent and their knowledge of or experience with foreign people is practically nonexistent, so it could very well be that Nintendo and Game Freak were trying to create Pokémon with aesthetics referring to the Mexican culture and it didn't occur to them that said aesthetics are actually regarded as racial stereotypes. The same thing happened with Jynx, who looked evidently African in its older official art with its black skin and thick pink lips. The Story of Little Black Sambo is still considered a classic in Japan and merchandise hereof is still being sold like hotcakes, including things like palm tree kits, figurines, coffee mugs, school accessories and even fruit. It's not exactly what Jynx is based on, but I don't think it is a coincidence that it had a black skin before it was changed to purple due to controversy, even though it wasn't created with bad intentions.

Ludicolo (right) performing some exotic dance with Roserade (left) and Sceptile
(middle), playing the bongo drums in the meantime. 

I reckon the creation of Lombre and Ludicolo didn't go any differently, although it doesn't help that the suffix -colo might be an anagram of loco, Spanish for 'crazy', or may be a reference to the Spanish word for 'ridiculous', ridículo. Additionally, 'ludic' is an adjective you use when you refer to someone who is aimlessly playful (Ludicolo is also classified as the 'Carefree Pokémon') and Ludicolo's name might even refer to the word 'ludicrous', which means something is absurd or laughable. For Nintendo and Game Freak it's probably just a serious attempt to create a pocket monster, but to many people, Ludicolo being a laughably crazy Mexican dancer will have a negative connotation. I'm not particularly bothered by Pokémon clearly based on certain ethnicities, especially since I believe they affirm that Pokémon is meant to be universally recognizable. Since Gen. V, the regions in the core series games have started to be inspired by areas outside of Japan as well: Unova was based on New York City, Kalos was clearly based on France and the Alola region in the upcoming Sun and Moon games is supposed to be an adaptation of Hawaii. Still, I think Game Freak should exercise caution when it comes to applying certain stereotypical features to certain Pokémon's designs, like Ludicolo. At least it can still say it is based on a kappa, as its respective Japanese, German, Korean and Chinese names of Runpappa (ルンパッパ), Kappalores, Ropapa (로파파) and Lètiānhétóng (樂天河童) suggest - lètiān and hétóng mean 'happy-go-lucky' and kappa, respectively, so its Chinese name literally means 'happy kappa', which is cute.

A pretty cool drawing of a shiny Ludicolo.

How does this platypus duck thing hold up in the games, though? Well, while its base stat total of 480 isn't anything crazy, you'll be able to work with it. Its mediocre base 70 defense and excellent base 100 special defense are backed up by its more-than-decent base 80 HP, which makes it a moderately bulky Pokémon all around. What's more, its base 90 special attack can even be used to sweep, especially in the rain. You see, Ludicolo has access to the Swift Swim ability, which doubles its speed when it's raining, so you can set up Rain Dance and pretty much execute a late-game sweep with Hydro Pump. Because its speed is already doubled due to Rain Dance, a Modest nature and a Life Orb as Ludicolo's held item are recommended. So is a complete moveset, by the way, so give it Ice Beam and Giga Drain as a finishing touch. You can even let another Pokémon set up the rain for Ludicolo and replace Rain Dance with Focus Blast in order to have some extra type coverage, although this is optional. There's a Swords Dance set mentioned on Smogon, but due to Ludicolo's mediocre base 70 attack I don't recommend running it, unless you want to catch your opponent off guard. A Waterfall in the rain still hurts, of course, but Hydro Pump - or even Surf if you want a more accurate move - hits much harder, not to mention moves like Giga Drain and Ice Beam are more useful or hit harder than their physical counterparts Seed Bomb and Ice Punch. I mean, Giga Drain is Ludicolo's only means of recovery, except when you let it hold the Leftovers, which honestly works much better in conjunction with its second ability called Rain Dish.

Ludicolo playing in a pond with Ducklett (in the sombrero on Ludicolo's head),
Surskit (on the water), Lotad (in the water), and Goldeen and Poliwag, who can
vaguely be seen underwater.

Ludicolo is an interesting Pokémon. So far, it and its pre-evolutions are the only water/grass dual-types in the Pokémon games, unless Pokémon Sun and Moon will have some pleasant surprises in store for us (THIRTEEN MORE DAYS UNTIL I CAN FINALLY PLAY THESE GAMES I'M SO HYPED AAAAHHHHH!!!). Ludicolo is a comical yet surprisingly useful Pokémon and I really like it, so I'm giving it a 4.5-star rating.

Rating: 4.5/5