#293 - #295: Whismur, Loudred & Exploud

TCG art of Whismur.

Let's do this. Let's end the year with a Boomburst.

Next on the review list are the curious Pokémon Whismur, Loudred and Exploud, who are entirely sound-themed. Rather than being inspired by real-life animals, these Pokémon don't look like any animal from the real world, although they are supposed to represent sound-based items. Whismur (from 'whisper' and 'murmur', both of which mean speaking in a very soft voice) has ears that resemble earmuffs that are used to protect one's ears against loud noises. Beneath those ears are holes that are used to inhale air, and because of this system it can cry continuously without having to catch its breath. Whismur's voice may be very soft - it's inaudible at times, even when you're paying close attention - but when it senses danger, it starts crying at an earsplitting volume equal to the noise a jet plane makes. It startles even itself when it starts crying, which results in it starting to cry harder than ever before and becoming exhausted when it stops. In addition to its earmuff system, as I'd like to call it for convenience sake, Whismur also presumably serves as an electronic amplifier as its butthole resembles an in- or output port.

Is Loudred laughing at something or someone or is it trying to
join a boyband?

And Whismur is not the only one with such a butthole. Its middle evolution also has one, although this is for a more logical reason: Loudred is supposed to resemble a boombox, a portable music system that can play music at a relatively high volume. And that is exactly what Loudred does, as it is able to shout at high volumes by inhaling air then exhaling it using powerful stomach muscles. What's more, by stomping its feet it can generate ultrasonic waves so powerful that they can tip over trucks and blow wood-frame houses to splinters. Loudred's ears serve as loudspeakers, but it will be temporarily deaf when it finishes shouting. Loudred is nothing compared to Exploud, though. Whereas Whismur looks more like a timid toddler and Loudred resembles an awkward but boisterous (pre-)teen, Exploud is the equivalent of your old neighborhood grampa shouting his lungs out at you to get off his goddamn lawn. Sharing features with a pipe organ, a musical instrument known for its loud volume, it uses the tubes on its body to violently draw in air and increase its sound-based attacks. Exploud's bellowing is capable of triggering earthquakes and can be heard from over six miles away.

Damn, I fucking LOVE this art. Such a creepy take on a pocket
monster that is already weird. 

However, Exploud emits whistle-like sounds from the tubes of its body to communicate its feelings to others and only raises its voice in battle. And that is noticable. You see, Gen. VI was very kind to Exploud, giving it access to a move only a few Pokémon can access in the first place: Boomburst. It's a 140-power normal-type move with 10 PP and no negative side effects, and a normal type like Exploud can make tremendous use of it. In fact, Exploud's Boombursts leave holes in entire teams, especially when it is holding the Choice Specs and rocking a Modest nature. It doesn't even matter whether the hit is resisted or not, or whether a specially bulky Pokémon is taking the hit or not, or even whether the victim is a ghost type or not; Boomburst is devastating and the Scrappy ability lets Exploud use normal- and fighting-type moves against ghost types, which would normally be immune to those types. On top of that, Exploud has excellent move coverage in Flamethrower, Fire Blast, Ice Beam, Shadow Ball, Focus Blast, Surf, Extrasensory and even Shock Wave. Wanna get physical? Sure, why not? Its base attack of 91 is exactly the same as its base special attack, the Choice Specs can be exchanged for a Choice Band, you can slap an Adamant nature on Exploud rather than a Modest nature, and its physical move coverage is as insane as its special move coverage. Watch Exploud wreak havoc with moves like Return, Earthquake, Rock Slide, Crunch, Zen Headbutt, Fire Punch, Ice Punch, Thunder Punch and Hammer Arm. It hits hard at both sides of the spectrum, although there is nothing as attractive as wreaking havoc with a 140-power special-based normal-type move with no negative side effects whatsoever. The only downside is that Exploud is kind of slow, which means it hardly hits first.

Exploud with its mouth closed, although it can be opened as wide as Loudred's.

Who cares, though? I've absolutely come to ADORE Exploud. I used one in a playthrough on Pokémon Y and it was by far the strongest member on my team, although a special attack-boosting nature sure helps with that. I didn't think much of Exploud before that; I even thought it was one of the ugliest and most bizarre Pokémon out there, and not the good kind at that. However, I've come to appreciate the weirdness and ugliness of its design recently, and I realize this is one of the most original Pokémon Game Freak have ever created. It's kind of a shame the butthole is replaced by something that is supposed to represent a tail of some sort, but Exploud's design is still really neat. On top of that, Exploud is a beast in competitive play; it is meant to be spamming catastrophic Boombursts and does not mind being locked into this move by Choice Specs. While not my absolute favorite, I think this Pokémon deserves a 5-star rating more than a lot of other Hoenn Pokémon.

Happy New Year, everyone!

P.S.: I like Exploud's Korean and Mandarin Chinese names of Pokumryong (폭음룡) and Bàoyīn'guài (爆音怪), respectively. The former derives from pok (a prefix for 'explosive'), eum ('sound') and ryong ('dragon') - so Exploud is basically an 'explosive sound dragon' according to the Koreans - while the latter literally means 'sonic boom monster'. I love how literal they get in Asia sometimes, while most English names are mostly a play on certain words - Exploud, for example, is a combination of the words 'loud' and 'explode' and a play on the latter.

Rating: 5/5