#296 - #297: Makuhita & Hariyama

Makuhita's official artwork, drawn by - who else? - Ken
Sugimori.

We start the new year with two sumo wrestler Pokémon. That is already really apparent in their designs and typing, but becomes especially apparent when you look at the fact that Makuhita and Makunoshita (マクノシタ) are a corruption of makushita, which is the third highest devision in sumo wrestling. Hariyama's name is a little more complicated than that; it may be based on hariyama, which is literally a pincushion but also the name of a sumo ranking, although its Japanese name of Hariteyama (ハリテヤマ) suggests that it is also most likely a combination of harite - an open-hand slap move in sumo - and yama ('mountain'). The latter doesn't surprise me, because when you look at Hariyama's in-game battle sprite in Gen. VI onwards, you'll find that it's actually a big boy - a very big boy indeed. It's not so big that its head isn't even seen on the upper screen of my 3DS (I am looking at you, Alolan Exeggutor), but I assume it has one of the biggest sprites in X, Y, Sun, Moon and ORAS. Trust me, I know, because I used one in my Omega Ruby playthrough and I remember being quite underwhelmed by it. That has nothing to do with its size and little with its excellent HP and attack stats, but more with the fact that Hariyama doesn't really feel like a legitimate Pokémon. More on that later.

You are not going to tell me Makuhita is only 3'03" tall. Max is, like, eight years old
and should at least be a couple of inches taller than Makuhita. 

Makuhita, then. This tenacious, tireless and feisty little thing never stops getting up and attacking its foe no matter how many times it's knocked down. Never giving up hope, Makuhita eats a lot of food, gets plenty of sleep and devotes itself to rigorous and strenuous training first thing in the morning by slamming its body into thick trees, turning them to splinters. Makuhita stores more and more energy in its body every time it gets back up and hereby prepares itself for evolution. In addition to all characteristics above, Makuhita got a Pokédex entry in Sun that thoroughly confuses me: "It was originally brought in from another region, but now Makuhita from Alola are more famous." Huh? What do wild Makuhita in Alola do - besides charging at you when you enter the tall grass - to become so famous? This Pokémon didn't get an Alola Forme; that feature is reserved for a handful of Kanto Pokémon only, and Makuhita is from Hoenn. Or are they more notorious than they are famous? Unfortunately, the Pokédex doesn't bother explaining and we're left in the dark as to why the hell Makuhita from Alola get more attention than those in Hoenn.

Did an NPC in Sun and Moon mention something about it? Did I miss it?

Big bad Hariyama.

Ugh, I'm probably pondering too much over that one particular Pokédex entry. It's time to get a move on and proceed with Hariyama, Makuhita's evolution. It may look like a fat-ass, but its body consists mostly of muscles - which become hard as stone when its body tenses - as opposed to fat. Hariyama likes to match power with other big-bodied Pokémon and can stomp the ground to build power, while its powerful open-handed and straight-arm punches cause 10-ton trucks to be sent flying and telephone poles to be smashed to smithereens. Its powerful arms can even stop running trains. Like Makuhita, Hariyama dedicates a lot of time and effort into its own training, but as it grows older it focuses more on training Makuhita.

A more 'realistic' depiction of Hariyama, showing a sumo
wrestling stance (well, kind of) and a more muscular body. 

While Makuhita and Hariyama's Pokédex entries talk about sturdy bodies and hard-as-stone muscles, these Pokémon are surprisingly frail. Well, Hariyama has a beefy base HP stat of 144 that enables it to live a couple of hits, but its base defense and special defense are both a mediocre 60, meaning a strong hit will leave a respectable dent in its health bar. That can be solved by giving Hariyama an Assault Vest to hold in order to boost its special defense by 50% and make it a specially bulky physical attacker with resistances to fire and ice due to its ability Thick Fat. Hariyama is slow, so an attack-boosting nature like Adamant is the better option for you, allowing it to hit hard with a wide variety of physical moves. Its fighting type makes Close Combat a move to watch out for, but remember that this move lowers both of Hariyama's defensive stats every time it is used. On the flip side, Hariyama has access to many more moves for you to use: Earthquake, Stone Edge, Rock Slide, Poison Jab, Iron Head and the elemental punches provide some excellent coverage (Poison Jab is especially handy against fairy types, to which Hariyama is weak), while Knock Off allows it to knock off the opposing Pokémon's item and Bullet Punch and Fake Out could be considered for some decent priority.

That's not all, though: Guts is an ability that increases Hariyama's attack by 50% when it suffers from a status condition, so you could give it a Flame Orb or Toxic Orb instead. However, this tactic wears it down relatively easy - the same goes for a Life Orb - so only use it when you know what you're doing. A safer alternative might be a Choice Band, but this item locks Hariyama into one single move until it is switched out. At least it leaves room for you to choose either of Hariyama's regular abilities. And while its hidden ability Sheer Force, which removes the added effects of moves in exchange for a little more power, might sound good, you'll find that it's not as useful on Hariyama as on any other Pokémon with the same ability; there are only a few moves that benefit from it and none of them are STAB moves.

A wallpaper focusing on Hariyama's features rather than its entire design. 

Like I said earlier in my review, I was left quite underwhelmed by Hariyama's battle prowess. It's not like it had a low attack IV or something, and its HP stat didn't leave it all that vulnerable either, but I guess I wasn't looking forward to using this thing. I had a Sceptile with an Adamant nature, a Cosplay Pikachu (Pikachu Belle with Icicle Crash), a big-ass whale and a shiny Swellow on the same squad, so Hariyama ultimately ended up being the one Pokémon I didn't use all that often. And while I don't have a problem with humanoid Pokémon as a whole, Hariyama is just a little bit too humanoid to my taste. Makuhita and its top-notch topknot don't face that problem and I'd even dare say it's kind of cute. It's such a shame, because the concept of sumo wrestler Pokémon ain't a bad one by any means and Hariyama isn't a bad Pokémon to use, either. I'm just... not as charmed by it as I probably should be, I guess? I'm sorry, even with the best will in the world I can't give it a good rating.

Rating: 2.5/5