#433, #358: Chingling & Chimecho

I am so sick and tired of these useless baby Pokémon. Luckily, this is the last one...

I still don't know what baby Pokémon are good for. Honestly,
Chimecho didn't even need a pre-evolution; if anything, it's
desperately in need of an evolution. 

There's nothing much to say about Chingling, either. It's a bell Pokémon based on the suzu bells used at shrines visited by followers of the Japanese Shintō religion, and it has a red orb in the back of its throat used to emit high-frequency and long-lasting cries that deafen its opponents but can be too high for people to hear. Or it just makes ringing sounds whenever it is hopping around, going about its business. Whatever, I don't care about Chingling. Nor do I care an awful lot about Chimecho, to be honest, but maybe that's because I haven't ever paid it much attention. The Japanese bell aspect is retained (or rather, Game Freak elaborated on this aspect with Chingling), but Chimecho is based on a fūrin rather than a suzu bell. Fūrin are particularly beautiful wind chimes made of glass that have been produced since the Edo period (c. 1603 - 1868 AD) of Japanese history, as glassblowing techniques from the Netherlands were introduced to the Japanese people in the seaport of Nagasaki during the 18th century. It was the first time the Japanese ever saw glass. After the glass objects were shipped to more affluent areas, the Japanese were prompted to learn glassblowing for themselves and create their own distinct glass paraphernalia, which resulted in the creation of Edo fūrin in the 19th century. At first these were used to ward off evil and epidemics, like their bronze predecessors called fūtaku, but nowadays they're used to enjoy their cooling and soothing sounds during hot summer days. One technique the Japanese have mastered is painting the glass on the interior of the chime so that the colors won't fade easily.

Chimecho. Don't you think its tail looks like a blood-soaked tissue paper?

But as beautiful and fascinating fūrin are, so bland is Chimecho. Such an interesting concept could have been the basis for an awesome Pokémon design, but Chimecho actually suffers from being a tad bit underdesigned: its bluish white body is partially covered by red marks that make it look as if someone has just tried to stop their nosebleed with a facial tissue. The vast majority of its flavor is directly derived from the way fūrin are used, too, as it comes flying on air currents when the hot season arrives and hangs from tree branches or the eaves of a building using the weird yellow suction cup on its head. (Wait a minute, that thing is a suction cup? It certainly doesn't look the part.) However, it is a whole lot louder than a regular wind chime. Chimecho utters cries that reverberate from deep within its body, and if it becomes enraged or upset enough, its cries result in ultrasonic waves that have the power to knock foes flying.

Chimecho using either Hyper Voice or Uproar. Both fit its flavor
perfectly, but neither actually provide it STAB: both Uproar and
Hyper Voice are normal-type moves, while Chimecho is pure
psychic.

Not that Chimecho is anywhere near as strong as its flavor suggests: its stats are no more than decent, but if your best stat is your base 95 special attack, you're gonna have a hard time keeping up with other Pokémon with better offensive or defensive stats - or both. Chimecho did get a buff in its defensive stats in Gen. VII, but ten extra base points in HP, defense and special defense won't make that much of a difference. Using it competitively is out of the question, so I'd recommend using it solely in playthroughs - if you want to, obviously. It learns just enough attacking moves - Psychic, Shadow Ball, Energy Ball and Dazzling Gleam - to fill up a moveset, and you could even ditch one (not Psychic, though) to give it Calm Mind. It's just a shame Chimecho isn't of much use. Smogon mentions a Leftovers set with a couple of moves such as Healing Wish (causes the user to faint and recovers the incoming Pokémon's HP and cures it of any status conditions it may have), Recover, Heal Bell, Thunder Wave and Taunt. Recover and Heal Bell are good moves indeed, but Chimecho is slow and it won't be able to effectively use Taunt very often because of that. It's not bulky enough to take hits either, so instead you could opt to go for a Light Clay set with Reflect and Light Screen, which - once set up - make Chimecho somewhat harder to take down. I'd just set up screens and switch out to some offensive tank or something, that will be more effective.

While Chimecho has an interesting concept behind its design, it is actually poorly executed. I don't hate Chimecho's guts, and it narrowly escapes a bad rating from me, but it does make you long for something that could have been.

You know what would be an amazing evolution for Chimecho? A carillon.

Rating: 3/5