#369: Relicanth

As Relicanth comes right after Huntail and Gorebyss in the National Pokédex, it's probably not a coincidence it has the same base stat total as the Pokémon who precede it, right? It's even found in the same underwater areas as Clamperl, although it has to be said that it's much rarer to be found.

Official art of Relicanth by Ken Sugimori. I have absolutely no
idea what the red spot on its body is doing there. 

Relicanth, however, focuses less on offense and more on defense, sporting great HP and defense and close-to-horrid special defense. This comes at the cost of its special attack, which is terrible and shouldn't be used, but at least its base 90 attack is something we can work with. Its speed is low - although it is surprisingly faster than Huntail and Gorebyss - but it has access to Rock Polish and thus has a way to work around that. Once it manages to set once up, Relicanth is fast enough to fuck opponents up with Head Smash, a STAB rock-type move with 150 power that normally deals recoil damage, which is now prevented by its ability Rock Head. As for the rest of its moveset, Waterfall is a must as it gains STAB from it, while the other slot could be filled by either Zen Headbutt or Earthquake, depending on what you need. Whereas a physical moveset like this should be supported by a Life Orb or Stone Plate (either is fine, although a Life Orb will wear it down more easily) and a Jolly or Adamant nature, Relicanth can also be used as a defensive pivot. Give it an Impish nature, let it hold the Leftovers and invest in HP and defense, and you'll have a reliable Stealth Rock user with the classic Toxic/Protect combo as well. Waterfall or Scald can be used over Protect, and in case of the latter you'll have to change its nature into a Relaxed one so that its special attack isn't hindered. Relicanth does still need an attacking move despite its defensive use, and that honor usually goes to Head Smash in combination with Rock Head or Rock Slide in conjunction with Sturdy. This is mainly done to prevent recoil damage of any kind.

That's a nifty-ass papercraft Relicanth, i.m.o.

I had always wanted to use one on my team, and I was adamant to use one in my very first Alpha Sapphire playthrough, which I did. It's an interesting Pokémon after all, being heavily based on the coelacanth, which is in fact pronounced 'see-luh-kanth'. The coelacanth is a fish that was thought to have gone extinct at the end of the Cretacious period nearly 66 million years ago, until a single specimen was found off the east coast of South Africa in 1938. Since then, extensive research has been done and another extant coelacanth species was discovered years later in 1999. The entire order of fish have been called living fossils ever since, although the coelacanth's continued survival may be threatened by commercial deep-sea trawling, in which it is caught as bycatch more often than preferable. Relicanth, on the other hand, was fortuitously rediscovered on a submarine expedition rather than during fishing, having remained unchanged in over 100 million years. Like with Huntail and Gorebyss, its Pokédex entries also mention it being able to withstand the enormous water pressure of the ocean depths, but this time it is more obvious by taking a look at Relicanth's design, flavor and typing: its body is filled with thick fat, its scales are like craggy rocks and its rock typing clearly makes it sturdier overall.

TCG art of Relicanth on a holographic card.

I really like Relicanth. It's an interesting idea to base a Pokémon off of a fish that was once thought to have gone exinct millions of years ago, even though its rocky head is reminiscent of a certain species of actually extinct fish called placodermi. The head and thorax of a placoderm were covered by armored plates and the rest of its body was scaled or naked depending on the species, just like Relicanth appears to be. Design-wise, Relicanth really is just a sylized coelacanth, and its flavor sure points that way, too. This Pokémon isn't one of my absolute favorites yet, but it could easily become one if I spend some more time with it. For now, though, I think I'm giving this thing 4.5 out of 5 stars.

Rating: 4.5/5