#385: Jirachi

I don't know what the background is supposed to be exactly, but
Jirachi sure seems happy about it. 

With all the violence coming from Kyogre, Groudon and Rayquaza, it's a relief to be reviewing something that's supposed to be so soothing, so serene. Jirachi doesn't have an ounce of evil in its entire body, and it is even said to grant three wishes to one single person if they write them on the notes attached to its head. That is to say, it does so after it awakens after a long period of hibernation. You see, this Pokémon hibernates enveloped in a tough crystalline shell for extensive periods of time and awakens only seven days every thousand years or if it's sung to by a voice of purity, absorbing the energy it needs to hibernate through the third eye on its chest during the short period it is awake. It can't materialize an object that is desired from a wish out of nowhere, though; rather, it teleports the desired object to the person who made the wish. Quite obviously, Jirachi is based on the concept of "wishing upon a star" - though these so-called stars that are being wished upon are usually not actual stars but a phenomenon called shooting stars, the visible path of meteoroids as they enters Earth's atmosphere, becoming meteors - which is why its body is star-shaped and why its name can basically be translated to 'wish wish', coming from the Russian zhelat' (желать) and the Japanese sachi. In addition to that, the tags on Jirachi's head are a reference to the paper strips called tanzaku that are written on the festival of Tanabata, also known as the Star Festival. It is derived from the Chinese Qixi Festival and celebrates the meeting of the deities and lovers Orihime and Hikoboshi - represented by the stars Altair and Vega - who are separated by the Milky Way and are allowed to meet only once a year on the seventh day of the seventh lunar month of the lunisolar calendar.

I have to say this is an interesting rendition of Van Gogh's De sterrennacht.

In fact, Jirachi is often distributed in Japan in celebration of Tanabata, being given away every year from 2004 to 2009 and again from 2013 to 2016. From 2013 on, Tanabata Jirachi have even been known to know moves that Jirachi could normally not learn: the 2013 one has Draco Meteor - a Tutor move exclusive to dragon-type Pokémon - and Meteor Mash, the 2014 one is shiny and knows Moonblast, the 2015 one knows Heart Stamp and Play Rough, and the 2016 one has Meteor Mash in addition to the moves it can already learn.

Sweet little cutie is sleepy. 

And those moves are honestly being used, too. Being a so-called 'pixie' Pokémon, Jirachi has base stats of 100 across the board, making it suitable for nearly everything, including an offensive approach on both sides of the spectrum. On top of that, Serene Grace is an ability that will double the chance of a move having an additional effect, which means a move like Heart Stamp will now have a 60% flinch rate instead of 30%, and so forth. That also means people abuse the hell out of certain moves, including Iron Head and the before-mentioned Heart Stamp, just because there's a high chance the opponent won't be able to move that turn. Easy knock-outs for the win. It's not hard to fill up the other two spots of a physical moveset, either: Jirachi has access to Play Rough, Zen Headbutt, U-Turn, Drain Punch and the elemental punches. Meteor Mash is an option, but only if you are willing to let go of Heart Stamp and Play Rough and go with Zen Headbutt and no fairy-type move at all. Alternatively, a specially offensive moveset isn't unthinkable. Charge Beam will now always cause Jirachi's special attack to go up by one stage due to Serene Grace, which makes it a dangerous potential sweeper. Its special movepool is wider and more diverse than its physical movepool as well, having access to nifty moves like Moonblast, Psychic, Flash Cannon, Psyshock, Thunderbolt, Shadow Ball, Energy Ball, Icy Wind, Hidden Power, Signal Beam and Dazzling Gleam. Obviously, the required nature for physical Jirachi is a Jolly or an Adamant nature, while special Jirachi prefer Timid or Modest; and on that note, physical Jirachi prefer a Choice Band and special Jirachi the Choice Specs, while both kinds could hold a Life Orb, a Choice Scarf, an Air Balloon, an Expert Belt or even something else.

Jirachi levitating under a starry sky, witnessing a meteor shower. 

Of course, an offensive approach is not the only option to go for: lots of people actually also use Jirachi defensively, with support move combos such as Substitute/Toxic, Toxic/Protect, Rest/Sleep Talk and Wish/Protect as well as other miscellaneous moves like Thunder Wave, Magic Coat, Stealth Rock and Healing Wish. Jirachi is just so fucking diverse. Physical attacker, special attacker, mixed attacker, defensive pivot, support Pokémon, offensive tank... you name it, and Jirachi can pull it off. Its steel/psychic typing definitely helps a bunch, as steel is one of the most defensive types out there, with resistances to 10 different types and even an immunity to poison. This is what makes Jirachi a better tank than, say, Mew or Celebi, because the latter gets bodied by bug-type moves and the former doesn't resist as much as Jirachi does. It goes without saying that it is far from clever to use an offensive nature on a defensive Jirachi, but I do recommend letting it hold the Leftovers to extend its time on the battlefield.

Jirachi even got its own movie with Pokémon - Jirachi: Wish Maker.

Jirachi is certainly an interesting Pokémon, and I don't think we had anything like it before design- and flavor-wise. It's strong, defensive, diverse and very cute and I honestly think this Pokémon appeals to a broad audience. It's not quite one of my favorite Pokémon yet (although it's a close call), but it is definitely one of the better Hoenn legendaries - I'm not going to call the other legendaries 'mythical', even though that would be the correct term to use in Jirachi's case - and biased me is just giving this thing half a star extra because of its steel typing.

Rating a Pokémon by using stars has never been so appropriate as now.

Rating: 4.5/5

#384: Rayquaza

I have no idea whether this piece of art is actually official, but
Rayquaza sure as hell looks savage here.

Oh man, I don't even know where to start with this one. There is a whole lot to be said about Rayquaza and the majority of that is dedicated to how fucking awesome this goddamn thing actually is. I mean, if you manage to break up Groudon and Kyogre's apocalyptic confrontation just by showing up and roar a little, as was demonstrated in Pokémon Emerald, you deserve respect. It was literally all Rayquaza had to do, meaning Groudon and Kyogre are probably scared shitless of this guy. And let's be honest here: Rayquaza looks like a wise old dragon with a certain degree of authority over its minions, while managing to maintain a look that says it will show you no mercy. Its Mega is even worse, mind you - or better, in this case, as all of the additional horns, orbs and glowing tendrils actually give it more grace, beauty and an air of importance, power and might. That's a difficult feat to pull off when too many additional doodads on stronger forms of certain Pokémon such as fusions and Mega evolutions are sometimes regarded as redundant or occasionally make them look overdesigned. White and Black Kyurem are good examples of that, but Zoptimus Prygarde probably takes the cake. I love the Transformers movies, and I have fond memories of the times when I still enjoyed Power Rangers, but creating a Pokémon that looks like an Autobot or a Megazord is really pushing it a bit, Game Freak. And remember when I talked about Mega Venusaur's butt flower way back when? Yeah, I already regret bringing that up again...

Fortunately, no such fate has befallen Rayquaza, and it so happens this thing is the one I'm actually talking about, so it's no use to keep lingering in such negativity.

I used a GIF of Kyogre from the same artist over a week ago, just because I think
this guy's style is just so freaking awesome! 

Rayquaza's origins lie in the Hebrew legend of Ziz, the unconquerable primal master of the sky, as opposed to Leviathan being the primal master of the sea and Behemoth being the primal master of the land. While Rayquaza has significant dominance over Kyogre and Groudon and is able to break them up when they're fighting, Ziz seems to be an equal of Leviathan and Behemoth rather than their 'master', meaning Game Freak and Nintendo have shown some imagination in favor of Emerald's storyline. In fact, Rayquaza's signature ability Air Lock eliminates the effect of weather conditions, and back in the day that rendered Kyogre's ability Drizzle and Groudon's ability Drought completely useless. But Ziz is also often depicted as a giant griffin-like bird, which Rayquaza definitely has nothing to do with, and this means it is most probably inspired by other mythical creatures aside from just Ziz. Looking at its dragon typing, it may well be based on the lindwyrm, in British heraldry a two-limbed and wingless dragon with a serpentine body. The word is actually a cognate, deriving from the Norwegian linnorm, the German Lindwurm and the Swedish lindorm (all meaning 'dragon'), as well as the Danish lindorm ('serpent'). It's a little confusing, because in Norwegian heraldry the lindorm also exist, but rather than a serpent or a dragon in general it's actually the same as a wyvern is in British heraldry.

Mega Rayquaza hanging around in what is apparently the
stratosphere.

Not that any of this can be found in Rayquaza's name. It is probably a reference to raqiya, the Hebrew word for 'firmament', which in biblical cosmology is the structure above the atmosphere, conceived as a vast solid dome. Speaking of which, Rayquaza's Japanese name is the same as in most other languages and the word combination of retsu ('violent' or 'furious'), kū ('sky') and za ('seat' or 'location') can be taken to mean "one that sits in the ferocious heavens". Being a dragon/flying type, it makes sense; however, it's most likely a reference to Rayquaza being able to live in the ozone layer for hundreds of millions of years, where it feeds on water and meteoroids. This is actively demonstrated in Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire's Delta Episode, a post-game episode in which it's your objective to prevent a meteorite from colliding with Earth. In order to do so, a character called Zinnia (who's a bitch, by the way) summons Rayquaza and tries to pursuade it to Mega-evolve using an organ inside its body filled with energy from the meteoroids it eats as it flies through the stratosphere. Hence why Zinnia stole all of the Key Stones she could find. The energy stored within this organ is practically nonexistent at that point, however, which is why it devours the Meteorite the player character had obtained and safely stored in its bag after their encounter with Team Magma/Team Aqua at Mt. Chimney earlier in the game. A battle with Rayquaza ensues, and you have to catch it in order to make a trip to space on Mega Rayquaza's back and destroy the meteorite threatening Earth.

And hidden within that meteorite is... well, I'll talk about that when I get to the last Pokémon in the Hoenn Pokédex.

Don't fuck with Mega Rayquaza, because it'll screw you over big time.

Alternatively, Rayquaza's name could be a combination of 'ray' (a term in geometry of which I don't understand the definition at all) and 'quasar'. The latter is an abbreviation of 'quasi-stellar object', an active galactic nucleus - called that way because it occurs in the center of a galaxy - consisting of a supermassive black hole surrounded by an orbiting disk of gas. Quasars have a very high luminosity - the total amount of energy emitted by stars, galaxies or other astronomical objects per unit time - and because they were first identified as sources of radio-wave emission and resembled point-like stars in photographic images at visible wavelengths, the term 'quasar' originated as a contraction of 'quasi-stellar radio source'. It's not as if any of this doesn't make a lick of sense, and Rayquaza is very powerful in its own merits, but I doubt it can be considered the center of a galaxy or something like that. Space always kind of intrigued me as a child, so it's still cool to learn about all this stuff.

A shiny Rayquaza in Pokémon the Movie: Hoopa and the Clash of Ages.

Again, like I did with Kyogre and Groudon, I will omit Rayquaza's competitive capabilities from this article - that is to say, you won't see any suggestions for possible movesets here. I mean, you can just slap any move on it and wreak havoc, especially in Mega Rayquaza's case: because it doesn't require a Mega Stone for you to Mega-evolve Rayquaza, Mega Rayquaza can hold something else, like a Choice Band or a Life Orb or any other item that either increases its attacking stats or strengthens its moves. Therefore, it was even banned from Smogon's Uber tier, being the only Pokémon to date to have been banned from being used in a competitive setting within Smogon and Pokémon Showdown at all. That's how strong it really is, especially when you consider its ability Delta Stream eliminates all weaknesses it would otherwise have had as a flying-type (because it's a dragon type, it is still normally weak to ice, but this makes electric-type moves not very effective now) and prevents all kinds of weather from taking effect apart from the Desolate Land and Primordial Sea abilities.

I already thought Rayquaza was a very cool Pokémon, but I've really taken a liking to it when its Mega evolution was revealed. It's one of the most most well-designed Megas out there; so beautiful, so elegant, so powerful. And damn, its shiny. Black shiny Pokémon are almost always some of the best shinies out there, and Rayquaza is absolutely no exception. Everything summarized, Rayquaza's design, flavor and origins are just so awesome I'm giving it a perfect rating.

Rating: 5/5

#383: Groudon

Oh yeah, Groudon looks scary, alright. And all they had to do
 here was copy and paste Groudon's segmented red plates on a
picture of a tyrannosaurus rex from Jurassic Park. Genius.

Let's cut to the chase here: Groudon isn't as interesting as Kyogre by a long shot. It looks like it is barely able to move, but its apparent stiffness isn't accompanied by Kyogre's beauty and grace. This former gold-medal heavyweight (unfortunately for Groudon, Gen. VII Pokémon Celesteela and - of all things - Cosmoem are now the heaviest Pokémon in existence) is just a giant dinosaur monster controlling the land and the sun, which is exactly why it is sought after by Team Magma. Their leader Maxie's objective in Ruby is to expand the landmass in the world to create an ideal living place for both Pokémon and humans alike, although this was slightly altered in Omega Ruby, in which Team Magma wishes to put an end to the misguided ideal of coexistence and expand the land to give humanity more space on which to build and develop civilization. This puts them in direct opposition to Team Aqua, whose leader Archie wants to awaken Kyogre to increase the amount of water in the world to create a situation in which human beings and Pokémon live in perfect harmony with each other. Of course, Archie's ideals in Sapphire are largely the same as Maxie's in Ruby; the only thing that differs is their means of execution. In Alpha Sapphire Team Aqua's motivations have been significantly altered, with Archie now wanting to erase human civilization from the planet by expanding the oceans, so that Pokémon can live untainted by humanity's progress. In both occasions, the player character is there to save the day, so the NPCs in the Pokémon world really have absolutely nothing to worry about, ever.

I honestly intended to include this part in Kyogre's entry, but I wanted something to talk about in Groudon's as well, so here you go.

Primal Groudon is coming to get you.

Whereas Kyogre is based on the Hebrew legend of Leviathan, Groudon is based on its counterpart Behemoth. It is said that at the end of times the sea deity Leviathan and the land deity Behemoth would engage in a titanic battle that would kill them both. While Behemoth is often depicted as some kind of warthog- or hippopotamus-like creature, which - and let's be honest here - doesn't sound nearly as intimidating as a giant sea serpent, it is considered the unconquerable primal master of the land. This also manifests itself in-game in Groudon's former signature ability Drought and its Primal form's ability Desolate Land: Groudon has the power to scatter rain clouds and make water evaporate with light and heat, which is why it brought down droughts in ancient times in order to save people who had been suffering from terrible floods. It is said to have created the continents by causing volcanic eruptions, and much like Kyogre resting in a deep oceanic trench, Groudon slumbers in magma in the profound depths of the Earth, even though this seems strange because regular Groudon doesn't have the fire type at first. Additionally, fire-type moves deal normal damage to Groudon in-game, which contradicts everything it stands for.

Groudon as seen in Pokémon the Movie: Hoopa and the Clash of Ages, emerging
from glowing magma. 

Groudon does get the fire typing on top of its primary ground typing upon Primal Reversion. Usually, this type combination would make Primal Groudon four times weak to water, but its ability Desolate Land summons a sun so scorching hot that all water-type moves evaporate before they have a chance to get into contact with it. Reversely, Primal Kyogre's ability Primordial Sea douses any fire-type moves before they'll be able to as much as touch it, which... isn't actually all that helpful, because Primal Kyogre is a pure water type and resists fire in the first place. Way to go, Game Freak. At least the effects of these abilities last for as long as Primal Groudon and Primal Kyogre are on the battlefield. Frankly, Primal Groudon looks like it's much more true to its original purpose than Primal Kyogre is, with the magma flowing through its entire body and all. This magma burns with such an extreme temperature that its body is always shimmering with the haze of its heat, which is to be expected from a creature slumbering so close to the Earth's core, which is proved to be the hottest fucking place on Earth. Now, that's more like it, Game Freak.

A robotic Groudon built by a maniac in Pokémon - Jirachi: Wish Maker.

Like I did in Kyogre's entry, I won't delve into Groudon's competitive utility too much; it is in Smogon's Uber tier for a reason, and with Swords Dance and a couple of strong offensive moves it can absolutely fucking destroy anything in its path. Even Primal Kyogre doesn't stand much of a chance, unless it is switched in at a later point of the match than Primal Groudon, in which case its Primordial Sea ability activates and the effects of Desolate Land fade away, although the exact oppositie happens when Primal Groudon is switched in last.

(Disclaimer: I meant to say that the effects of Desolate Land overturn the effects of Primordial Sea when Primal Groudon is switched in later than Primal Kyogre, not that absolutely nothing would happen when it enters the battlefield.)

While regular Groudon doesn't pique my interest all that much, its Primal form is a lot more fascinating. Not only does it differ much more than its regular form than Primal Kyogre does, it actually gains something of an advantage over its counterpart as well, something that wasn't the case for at least twelve years. Kyogre is still my favorite Hoenn legendary alongside Rayquaza, so it's useless to say that I'm not entirely happy with that. Still, I think Groudon is worthy of being granted a 4.5-star rating nowadays, something I wouldn't have done a couple of years ago.

Rating: 4.5/5

#382: Kyogre

Kyogre whipping up a storm. Because it can, goddammit.

When Ruby and Sapphire were released in the Netherlands, my decision on which game I was gonna get was totally based on the box legendary. You've probably guessed it already, but Kyogre appealed to me more than Groudon did and so I first played Sapphire. (It was but a few years later that I started to get both games, e.g. Diamond and Pearl, Black and White, etc.) In all honesty, I thought both box legendaries looked a little stiff, but Kyogre had an air of beauty and grace to it in my opinion, and nowadays it is still my favorite Hoenn legendary along with Rayquaza. This is partly due to its recent Primal form, which looks both transparent and luminescent and definitely radiates beauty, grace, energy, power and might. And Jesus fucking Christ, mighty it is indeed. Kyogre has control over rain and the element of water in general, and it is said to have expanded the seas and quenched areas of the world plagued with drought by bringing about torrential downpours - which manifests itself in-game in its former signature ability Drizzle and its Primal form's ability Primordial Sea. While normally a calm and peaceful being, Kyogre will engage in a cataclysmic battle against its counterpart Groudon whenever they meet each other, which has definitely ocurred more than once in ancient times, at least according to Zinnia (who is one of my least favorite characters in the entire franchise, by the way; I really can't stand that chick) in the Delta Episode of Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire.

Primal Kyogre being totally badass. 

Both Kyogre and Groudon received more powerful Primal forms reminiscent of Mega evolutions in those games, with the only difference being the Blue Orb and Red Orb automatically activating once the player character sends out Kyogre or Groudon, respectively - providing they are actually holding the item, that is. In short, you can't choose whether you want them to undergo Primal Reversion if you let them hold such an orb; you'll just have to make sure you're giving them another item to hold instead if you don't want them to take on their crazy powerful state. I don't know why you wouldn't want to, because Game Freak actually managed to make an alternate form of a legendary not terribly overdesigned for once. I mean... sure, they made these Primal forms way too overpowered, but that's basically what they embody. They're legends, after all. As a matter of fact, Primal Kyogre - who is roughly twice the size of regular Kyogre - is said to have widened the seas by a large margin simply by taking a swim. Dude, if you can widen the seas just by taking a fucking swim, you should be rightfully feared by every living being on Earth.

This GIF of a more realistic approach to Kyogre is nothing short of phenomenal!

Kyogre is most probably based on the Hebrew legend of Leviathan, the unconquerable primal master of the sea. It was said that at the end of time Leviathan and its counterpart Behemoth, the unconquerable primal master of the land, would start a battle that'd kill them both. Obviously, this is reminiscent of Kyogre's conflict with Groudon, which was also tackled by the anime series at some point as a climax to the Team Magma/Team Aqua story arc. While Leviathan is usually depicted as some sort of giant marine snake creature, the Hebrew word for it is commonly used to refer to whales nowadays, hence why Kyogre's appearance draws inspiration from killer whales - or orcas, as they're commonly called - more than sea serpents. While orcas are often described as a whale species, they are more closely related to dolphins, so people who have been whining about wanting a dolphin Pokémon in the franchise so badly for ages technically already got one in 2002 (okay, 2003 for Western countries). Well, to some extent, anyway.

Kyogre is said to have been asleep in a marine trench. I think it has awoken now. 

I'm not even going to address Kyogre's battling capabilities; it stands to reason that it'll deal devastating damage when you slap any good specially offensive move on it, even as its regular form. While I was never a big fan of Kyogre, its Primal form has awakened a love for it in me. It has just the right aspects of being a monster, but it does so with style, which is one of the reasons why I think it's superior to Groudon. Sure, water beats ground, but Groudon has access to the amazing combination of Drought and Solar Beam, so it has nothing to complain about. Kyogre will be the second-to-last Hoenn Pokémon that gets a perfect rating of 5 stars from me, the last being... well, you probably already know. And if you don't, you'd better read this article again very thoroughly.

Rating: 5/5

#380 - #381: Latias & Latios

Latias (left) and Latios (right) as they appear in the manga
series.

I seriously considered rating Latias and Latios separately, but like with Plusle and Minun, they don't differ an awful lot from each other: they're both known as the 'Eon Pokémon', their stats are practically the same aside from some minor differences, their Mega evolutions look almost exactly the same, both only have one possible gender (Latias is female, while Latios can only be male), and they're each other's version counterparts. Heck, even their characteristics aren't that much different if I have to believe their Super Smash Bros. flavor texts. Both Latias and Latios become super aerodynamic when tucking their arms in, allowing them to fly faster than fighter jets; both use telepathy to communicate with others and detect their locations, emotions and intentions; both use the light-bending trait of their glass-like down coats to make themselves invisible when sensing the presence of a human or an enemy, as they tend to be pacifists; and both are intelligent beings that can understand human speech, even though this applies to all Pokémon to some extent. The only difference is that Latias is a delicate little snowflake sometimes (which is by no means meant to be derogatory on my part), as it is prone to crying shrilly to scare off foes when it experiences hostility towards it, while Latios has the ability to make its foe see an image of what it has seen or imagines in its head.

Some nice-ass piece of fan art.

In fact, it is able to share what it's seeing with Latias as well as with other Pokémon and humans, while Latias is able to share what Latios is seeing with other beings as well. This was only demonstrated in the fifth movie Pokémon Heroes: Latios & Latias, but I thought it was still worth mentioning. Also worth mentioning is the plot of this very movie, in which the Soul Dew, a special jewel that houses the soul of Latias and Latios's ancestor who once saved the city of Alto Mare from an evil Trainer, is sought by a female Team Rocket duo of Annie and Oakley - whose names are totally not a reference to the American exhibition sharpshooter Annie Oakley, by the way. Like, at all. In any case, the Soul Dew acts as a key for activating the Defense Mechanism of Alto Mare - or DMA for short - and once Annie and Oakley manage to get hold of the jewel and capture Latios, using both to control the DMA, they revive the fossils of the evil Trainer's Kabutops and Aerodactyl in order for them to find Latias. Aside from the fact that they look as undead as the rotten walker in the well on Hershel's farm (okay, maybe I'm exaggerating a little), the big chase that ensues through the canals of Venice - pardon me, Alto Mare - fails for Team Rocket, and Ash and his friends manage to free Latios from a DMA gone berserk. They also obtain the Soul Dew, but the damn thing turns black and vanishes the moment Annie tries to take it back. The waters of Alto Mare become one giant tsunami, which Latias and Latios try to stop with their psychic powers, but Latios is already weakened and it makes the ultimate sacrifice in order to save Latias and the rest of the city, becoming a new Soul Dew and the guardian of Alto Mare once the tsunami dies down.

Latios (right) reaching out to Latias (left) seconds before its death in Pokémon
Heroes: Latios & Latias.

If I included a poll with the saddest deaths in Pokémon, I have no doubt Latios's death would get the most votes. Maybe I'm callous, but I never cried when I saw this movie. I don't easily cry in the first place; you could show me the most tragic love story of all time and I still wouldn't bawl my eyes out, and I honestly think a movie is not worth spilling your tears over. Especially not an animated movie, since it's all... you know, fake.

Finally, Latios's Pokédex entry mentions that it only shows itself before and opens its heart to Trainers with a compassionate spirit, which brings us to Ash Ketchum. You can say what you want about him; he may be dense and highly incompetent at times, but he deeply cares about his Pokémon and always considers them his friends rather than straight-up battle tools, which is very commendable.

Mega Latios (left) and Mega Latias (right). Blue and red make
purple, so I guess these Megas aren't entirely illogical, but I still
think they're dumb and I tremendously dislike them. Ken
Sugimori must have really had an artist's block when he drew
these, goddamn. Literally the only way to distinguish these
Megas are the color of their eyes, otherwise they're basically the
same Pokémon. 

In the games, however, that's exactly what Latias and Latios are: battle tools. Earlier on in this post I've mentioned their similar stats, both having decent base 80 HP and excellent 110 speed. With base 80 attack, 90 defense, 110 special attack and 130 special defense, Latias tends to be more defensive than offensive, while Latios's attack and defense as well as its special attack and special defense are switched around. Despite that, both Latis are primarily used offensively, although Latias tends to be used more as an offensive support Pokémon with moves like Reflect Type, Defog, Healing Wish and Thunder Wave (not necessarily all of them on one particular moveset) along with a couple of offensive moves. However, its Mega allows it to go completely berserk, as its special attack and special defense are now a solid base 140 and 150, respectively, and Calm Mind boosts each of these stats by one stage every time it is used. Set up once or twice and go all out, that's my advice. That goes especially for Mega Latios, whose special attack is now 160 and becomes as destructive and indestructible as Mega Latias once it's set up. But not only does Mega Latios hit harder than Mega Latias, regular Latios is also stronger than regular Latias, and at exactly the same speed as well. That is why many people like to rock out with a regular Latios holding something else than a Mega Stone, such as a Choice Scarf, Life Orb, Soul Dew (yes, this is also an in-game item; it boosts Latias and Latios's special attack and special defense by 50%, but it was banned from regular tiers and now it can only be used in the Uber tier) or the Choice Specs.

Latias and Latios soaring under a starry sky. Beautiful fan art, i.m.o. 

You don't even have to worry about what ability you want, because both the regular and the Mega Latis come with Levitate, which gives them an immunity to all ground-type moves. Their nature should be Timid at all times, so that you can outspeed a good portion of the metagame, although a Modest nature could be run on Latios - Mega or no - to add a little bit more oomph to its attacking moves. And while there are a couple of differences in the level-up movepools of both Latias and Latios (Latias gets Healing Wish instead of Memento, Guard Split rather than Power Split, Mist Ball instead of Luster Purge, Charm in lieu of Dragon Dance, etc.), they basically learn the same offensive moves: Psychic, Draco Meteor, Psyshock, Surf, Ice Beam, Dragon Pulse, Thunderbolt, Hidden Power, Shadow Ball, Energy Ball... you name it. In short, there's no shortage of coverage moves to choose from - or healing moves, for that matter, because they can both learn Roost and Recover. Having both on the same moveset is of course redundant, but it's a nice thing you have a choice.

Latias and Latios racing across the water with the city skyline behind them. 

Aside from their Megas, though, there is one thing I don't partcularly like about them, which is their religious origin. Latias and Latios are based upon the aeons in Gnosticism, immaterial beings of concepts existing in pairs of males and females emanated from God and one another, hence their classification as the 'Eon Pokémon'. That's... fine, I guess? I don't believe in God and I don't think I entirely understand the concept of aeons, so that makes Latias and Latios's origin story a bit more confusing to me. I guess it could be a nice concept for someone who's into this nonsense, but I guess I'm going to rate Latias and Latios based on their designs and competitive utility, which are more than okay. I can't say either belongs on my favorites list, but at least neither will miss out on a good rating.

Rating: 4/5

#379: Registeel

This is one way to make Registeel look alien. Nice job.

You'd probably think that I, as a huge fan of steel types, would consider Registeel the best and most interesting Regi, but nothing could be further from the truth: I actually think Registeel is quite bland and boring. However, it has to be said that it has a relatively smooth design compared to the other Regi things, and that has everything to do with the fact that Registeel's body has been tempered by underground pressure for thousands of years. It was made of a material that is sturdier than any metal known to mankind, is able to stretch and shrink despite its hardness, cannot be scratched or damaged in any way, and is thought to be a curious substance that is nowhere to be found on Earth. On top of that, Registeel apparently has a hollow body and it has never been seen eating, so it's a mystery to modern scientists what this Pokémon consumes exactly. Unlike with Regirock and Regice, Game Freak are keeping us in the dark about the source material of Registeel's body; the thing is just that I love Regirock's imperfectly craggy design and Regice's badass flavor, so I don't see why Registeel should get more love than its... siblings, I guess? Can you even call them siblings? Does that make Regigigas their Daddy?

Hell, who cares?

What's more, in the non-English European versions of Diamond and Pearl, Reisteel's sprite was edited due to the position of its arm resembling a Nazi salute. The sprite was changed for all regions from Pokémon Platinum onwards, but it had already caused quite the controversy by then.

Registeel doing... something with magnetism, even though
there's nothing in its flavor that indicates it is capable of messing
around with that? Then again, it's a steel-type legendary, so it's
probably capable of doing stuff we had no idea it could do in the
first place.

In Registeel's defense, though, it is probably a lot better competitively. While its base 80 HP stat and base 150 defenses provide it incredible bulk, its very mediocre offensive presence means it may have to rely on Seismic Toss for dealing damage, which can only be learned via a Move Tutor in FireRed, LeafGreen and Emerald. If you are not willing to go out of your way to transfer your Registeel from Ruby or Sapphire to FireRed or LeafGreen, teach it Seismic Toss there and let it travel through three different generations (excluding Gen. VI, because the Poké Transporter just stores your Pokémon from Black and White in a box in Pokémon Bank, which is compatibe with Sun and Moon), a STAB move like Iron Head or Flash Cannon is probably a much better option. In any case, Registeel is most commonly used for Toxic stalling and setting up Stealth Rock, so those moves along with Protect ensure a solid but uninspired moveset. It's proved to be an effective moveset as any, and Registeel is probably better at it than certain other Pokémon, so there is absolutely no reason to sulk over that. You could even stir things up with Thunder Wave instead. Nonetheless, there are other sets to try out, including a Curse set that powers up its STAB Iron Head. You could round it out with a Rest/Sleep Talk combo or just all-out offensive moves like Hammer Arm, Superpower, Earthquake, Shadow Claw, Rock Slide, Ice Punch and Thunder Punch, but the drawback of the latter option is that Registeel doesn't have much offensive presence in the first place, like I said earlier - although at a base 75, neither its attack nor its special attack is terrible. Regardless, it's better to go with a support moveset backed up by Levitate and a defensive nature (Careful, Calm, Impish, Bold, Sassy and Relaxed are all excellent options, depending on whether you want to run Iron Head or Flash Cannon - or simply both), so that it at least has something useful to do; something it's good at.

Regice (left), Registeel (middle) and Regirock (right) going wild, by the look of it.
They even don't look as stiff as they always do. 

And that's pretty much the end of the Regi thingsies for now. I won't be discussing Regigigas after this, because I'm reviewing all Pokémon in National Dex order and Regigigas wasn't introduced until Gen. IV. It's not an evolution of any of the three, either, so you won't be seeing it here until I've finished Gen. III and the largest part of Gen. IV. For now, I'll have to rate Registeel, and I think I'll go with a more-than-average 4-star rating.

Rating: 4/5

#378: Regice

Regice's icy body looks very much crystalline in this stunning
piece of fan art. 

Whereas Regirock's typing makes it more plausible it's actually based on the golems of Jewish folklore, Regice and Registeel are most likely just loosely based on these mythical creatures, being made of ice and steel rather than stone - or ceramic, for that matter. Regirock might be the most aesthetically pleasing of the three legendary titans, but I have to admit Regice is a lot more interesting flavor-wise. Its deep-frozen body, made entirely of Antarctic ice during an ice age, is cloaked in air of -328°F and everything and everyone that comes near it will be frozen solid instantly. Fire won't melt Regice's body, and even if it's immersed in magma it will remain intact. Dude, how fucking awesome is that? This giant ice statue can take a bath in scorching magma if it desires so and will come out unscathed no matter what. That is scientifically impossible, as ice starts to melt at a temperature of 32°F. Which, by the way, is kind of a weird thing for me to say, because I live in the Netherlands and we use the Celsius scale instead of the Fahrenheit scale (as well as the metric system rather than the imperial system), so I've learned that the freezing point of water is exactly 0°C and the boiling point 100°C - and not 212°F, as the Americans so stubbornly hang on to. It's so easy to learn English and tell apart the spelling differences between the British and American variants, but the measurement systems used in English-speaking countries are an absolute mess and I just cannot learn them by heart, no matter how hard I try. Google to the rescue, I guess...

Official Sugimori art of Regice. 

But I ain't here to rant about no goddamn illogical measurement systems. This entry is about Regice, and basically it's just a specially oriented ice-type variant of Regirock. Whereas the latter has great attack and crazy defense, Regice is blessed with a great special attack stat and an insanely high special defense stat. Its special movepool might not be as impressive as Regirock's physical movepool, but there's definitely something we can work with. First off, Regice isn't very fast, so it's an option to set up with Rock Polish first and bombard the opposing Pokémon with moves like Ice Beam, Thunderbolt, Focus Blast, Flash Cannon, Ancient Power and Signal Beam. Of course, such a set is supported by a Modest nature and a Life Orb, although the Choice Specs are viable as well if you drop Rock Polish for an attacking move. It could also be used as an offensive tank, sporting the Leftovers and the move Thunder Wave in order to paralyze - and thus slow down - foes, only to take advantage of that later on by shooting off its offensive moves in rapid succession. Okay, I'm overreacting a little bit, but at least it's an option. However, ice isn't a great defensive typing at all, resisting only itself, and Regice's glaring weaknesses to types like fighting, fire, rock and steel (the latter isn't as prevalent in competitive play as I'd like it to be) will only wear it down quicker, especially since three of the four tend to be physical-based rather than special-based. Finally, Clear Body prevents any stat reductions on Regice and is definitely the preferred ability, as Ice Body only heals its HP in hail, which will almost never occur in a competitive match. Unless one of the Pokémon has Snow Warning, that is...

The Regis all lined up. From left to right: Regice, Registeel and Regirock.

While I think Regice is definitely interesting, its design is a bit too blocky to my taste. Especially the conical feet/legs are off-putting; they seem tremendously impractical and I'm 100% positive that those disc-shaped things attached to the underside of Regice's body prevent it from walking in an ordinary fashion. Then again, a Pokémon of Regice's caliber would probably just float; if it's cool enough to bathe in magma without melting, I'm sure floating wouldn't be that big of a problem. In any case, Regice isn't as competitively useful as Regirock and I am of the opinion that its design could have been a little bit better as well. Therefore, I won't grant it a perfect rating; instead, it'll have to do with 'just' 4.5 stars.

Rating: 4.5/5

#377: Regirock

Regirock's official art. 

Just as we had gotten used to the three oversized elemental birds from Kanto and the three mammalian beasts roaming around Johto, Game Freak decided to drop the success formula altogether in Gen. III and saddled us with a trio of robotic golems. This is what people were talking about when they said a lot of the Hoenn Pokémon didn't feel like Pokémon to them at all. A lot of people could still take them or leave them depending on their usefulness nowadays, while Articuno, Suicune, Entei, etc. quickly grew to be fan favorites based on their designs. Regirock, Regice and Registeel are still pretty much interchangeable, mainly because their blocky and inorganic designs just make them feel like the same Pokémon to many people. It's a miracle to me that so many people found out how to obtain them in the first place, as they're a bitch to catch in Ruby, Sapphire and ORAS due to the many requirements you'll have to fulfill. First off, make sure you have Wailord in the first spot and Relicanth in the last spot of your party (good luck with that, by the way, because both are pretty rare in the first place). Then, use Dive in the one diving spot on Route 134, which you can only reach by going through the maze of sea currents on the routes before that. Make one mistake and you can fly back to Pacifidlog Town to start all over again. Once you've gained access to the Sealed Chamber, you'll have to follow a couple of instructions involving certain moves - here, I believe it's Dig you're required to use in a certain spot. If it works, an earthquake occurs and a text box telling you it sounds like doors opening far away appears, which means you've activated all of the chambers the Regi thingsies hide in. Unfortunately, that doesn't mean that they are now easily accessible; for Regirock you'll have to use Rock Smash in a certain spot of the chamber found in the desert on Route 111, for Regice you'll be required to walk counter-clockwise around the edges of the entire chamber found on Route 105, and for Registeel you'll have to use Flash in the direct center of the chamber found on Route 120.

Ain't nobody got time for all of that.

This kind of 3D art makes a Pokémon like Regirock surprisingly realistic. 

While 12-year-old me was also disappointed with this legendary trio, I find them much more interesting now that I am 27. Of the three, Regirock is by far my favorite. It may have the most chunky design of the three Regis, but at the same time it has the most natural look to it due to its imperfectly craggy body. Regirock achieves its craggy look by repairing itself with new rocks after it gets damaged in battle, causing it to be composed of different unearthed minerals from all over the goddamn world. And while it clearly has the conscience to seek out suitable rocks for it to patch itself up, there are no signs of it possessing a brain or heart, which is a mystery even to modern-day scientists.

This aspect of Regirock suggests it is based off of the golems of Jewish folklore, which casts them as servants of higher powers with writings on their heads, very much like the braille script found on Regirock and its cohorts. According to some Hebrew legends, removing the writings would weaken, deactivate or destroy these golems. For example, there is the tale of the Golem of Chełm, which was said to have been in the possession of a Polish rabbi called Eliyahu Ba'al Shem. He created the creature himself, inscribing the word emet (אמת, Hebrew for 'truth') in its forehead and making it carry out difficult tasks for him. When he realized the golem was growing larger and larger, he feared that it would destroy the entire universe and removed the aleph (א, the first letter of the Hebrew alphabet) from its forehead. The inscription would suddenly say met (מת, meaning 'death') instead and before the golem disintegrated and turned to dust, it left severe scratches on its master's face.

Some more amazing 3D art, goddammit.

There's an interesting lore behind Regirock, and because the golems we've come to be familiar with are usually made of clay or any other earthy matter, Regirock comes closest to being an actual golem. It's one of the reasons why this Pokémon is my favorite of the legendary titans, although its competitive use definitely plays a big role in that as well. I kinda have a thing for high defense stats, and that probably has something to so with my affection for steel types - which would also explain why I love Pokémon like Regirock and Gigalith so much. Regirock is sporting one of the highest defense stats in the game, though, and in that regard it is defeated only by Shuckle, Mega Steelix and Mega Aggron and equalled by regular Steelix. That's a lot to work with, especially when you consider its HP stat is a very decent base 80, backing up that defense stat quite nicely. Because Regirock is naturally bulky - for some reason, it also possesses some moderate special defense - you could run an all-out offensive set supported by an Adamant nature and something like a Life Orb or a Choice Band. It benefits from having a wide physical movepool, with moves like Rock Slide, Stone Edge, Earthquake, Hammer Arm, Superpower, Drain Punch, Fire Punch, Ice Punch, Thunder Punch and Iron Head. If a base 100 attack stat is a little less to work with for you, you could also run an offensive-supportive moveset consisting of Thunder Wave, Stealth Rock, Earthquake and Stone Edge, backed up by an Impish nature to make maximum use of Regirock's physical bulk and the Leftovers to ensure its endurance in battle. If speed is your problem, Regirock can set up with Rock Polish, effectively doubling its speed when it is used the first time. As far as abilities go, Clear Body is by far the superior one, as it prevents any stat reductions coming from opponents. Sturdy might come in handy on the off chance Regirock is in the proximity of being OHKOed, but it is not recommended.

Well, Rocky... you look kind of awkward just standing there, blankly staring at
nothing. Are you okay?

It probably won't come as a suprise that this will be the longest article about a single legendary titan, mainly because I've spilled everything about their origins already. I most likely would have waited with that had Regirock come last rather than first, but what's done is done and I can't reverse it now, right? (Disclaimer: Well, I probably could have done that when I was still in the process of writing, but you didn't really think I would have thrown all of that hard work away, now did you?) We're nearly at the end of Gen. III and Regirock's rating is by far not the last perfect rating I'm giving this generation. Not just yet.

Rating: 5/5

#374 - #376: Beldum, Metang & Metagross

Beldum emerging from its Heavy Ball, a ball used
for catching heavier Pokémon.

Okay, now we're talking pseudo-legendaries. Metagross is actually one of only two I absolutely adore (the other one being Hydreigon), which should not be surprising to you in the least, because Metagross is a badass-looking steel-type Pokémon and y'all probably know by now that steel is my favorite of all 18 types.

Like all other pseudos, however, Matagross has to go through its infant stage, and that's exactly the right way to describe Beldum. You'll have to baby it in order for it to evolve, because literally the only move it learns by level-up is Take Down, which isn't even a STAB move and does recoil damage in return. That's not to say there isn't anything noteworthy to say about Beldum; on the contrary, really, bacause its flavor is far more interesting than its generational pseudo-legendary counterpart Bagon. Despite being a mechanical creature, this little dumbbell Pokémon - although its appearance is more reminiscent of some kind of surveillance camera, which is only strengthened by its trait of using the claws on its rear end to anchor itself to walls or ceilings in order to get some rest - still has emotions, the need to eat and sleep, and a way of reproducing. Its body lacks blood, however, and it is instead powered by magnetism: by emitting magnetic waves to repel the Earth's magnetic field, it is able to levitate (it doesn't have access to the ability with the same name, though), and it uses magnetism to move, communicate, hunt and control its attacks. Well, the only attack that it has, that is, unless you have an event shiny Beldum with moves like Iron Head and Zen Headbutt.

Metang's arms are rotated backwards when traveling, so that it
can reach speeds of over 60 miles per hour. 

Fortunately, you won't have to put up with Beldum for too long, as it evolves into Metang at level 20, the earliest of any pseudo-legendary basic stage. Metang is said to form when two Beldum merge, but there is no visible evidence of that - much like with Magneton. In any case, the brains of the fused Beldum are joined by a magnetic nervous system, allowing Metang to generate strong psychokinetic power and enhance its intelligence. Furthermore, its steel body is so strong that even a collision with a jet - as it's still able to hover in mid-air using magnetism - won't leave a scratch on it. But however clever Metang may be, this thing ain't got nothing on its evolution Metagross: whereas Metang is the result of two Beldum fusing together, Metagross is the result of two Metang fusing together, leaving Metagross with a total of four brains. These brains are all connected by a complex network of neurons, which makes Metagross capable of breezing through difficult calculations that it uses to analyze its opponents during battles. In short, Metagross is more intelligent than a supercomputer. How awesome is that?

Steven Stone is a collector of rare minerals and gemstones, so I
like the more 'natural' approach of Metagross here. 

Why, 12-year-old me definitely didn't think much of it. In fact, for the longest time I thought most of the Hoenn Pokémon were the worst, just because the creators had deviated from the 'basic' designs we'd come to know and love so much - at least in my opinion. Game Freak went way overboard with the designs for the Hoenn Pokémon, partly due to Gen. III being the first generation in which everybody at the company was able to submit their own ideas for new Pokémon, if I remember correctly. A lot of players took a dislike to these outlandish new Pokémon designs, and I wasn't an exception. I just dashed through the game with my starter and Kyogre, and that was it. That's what I did when starting a new adventure, anyway; it wasn't until Diamond and Pearl that I started creating balanced teams of six Pokémon. Hence, I never paid much attention to Metagross and its pre-evolutions. They looked too robotic and inorganic to my taste, so Metagross actually only came to my attention when I caught a Metang in my Black 2 playthrough. I evolved it, of course, and it literally fucked people up. Since then, I have come to appreciate Metagross a whole lot more, battle-wise as well as design-wise, and now it is actually very high up on my list of favorite Pokémon. And rightfully so, because who wouldn't want a hyperintelligent mechanical arachnid to command around, right? It's better to get this thing on your side in the first place, because you wouldn't want to be hunted down by this thing: it uses its extremely heavy body (at 1,212 pounds, Metagross is heavier than your average Snorlax, yo) to pin down its prey and then eats the helpless victim using the large mouth on its stomach. Being eaten alive by a supercomputer... that's one of the most inglorious ways to go down, if you ask me.

Badass Metagross is badass.

Guess who my favorite Pokémon League
character is?

The best thing about it is that this thing has a Mega evolution, despite its bullshit Pokédex entry from Sun stating that this Mega form 'results from one Metagross, one Metang and two Beldum linking up'. Yeah, right. At least Metagross gets even more badass by tucking away its legs to the back and creating a set of four giant arms with which it can fuck opponents up, so that's a plus. And with an attack stat of 145, the Tough Claws ability, a great psysical movepool, great defenses and a great defensive typing, Mega Metagross is indeed hard to take down. And because you won't retain the speed stat of the regular form in the turn you Mega-evolve your Pokémon anymore, like in Gen. VI, Mega Metagross has become dangerous to such an extent that it was immediately banned to Smogon's Uber tier. With no quadruple weaknesses and only its base 80 HP not exceeding 100 base points (it has base 145 attack, 150 defense, 105 special attack, 110 special defense and 110 speed), Mega Metagross matches a lot of legendary Pokémon in bulk and power. It suffers from the notorious four-moveslot syndrome, which means you won't be able to choose only four moves it can carry; its movepool is just that good. Meteor Mash and Zen Headbutt are excellent STAB moves, while Earthquake, Thunder Punch, Ice Punch, Hammer Arm, Rock Slide, Bullet Punch and Pursuit are all great options to consider filling the final two slots with. The only downside is that Metagross, and by extension Mega Metagross, doesn't have access to any good stat-boosting moves like Swords Dance or Dragon Dance or something (they're just examples), aside from maybe Power-Up Punch, which is a relatively weak non-STAB move and only boosts its attack by one stage each time it's used. Not worth it. You'll have to rely on Meteor Mash and pray the 20% chance of getting an attack boost comes through. And although its base 145 attack stat assures heavy damage output, it doesn't really help you'll need a Jolly nature in order to maximize Mega Metagross's speed stat and outspeed some of the legendary Pokémon in the tier.

Awesome Metagross is awesome.

In that regard, regular Metagross is better. Sure, its base 70 speed doesn't make it a fast Pokémon, but you can set up with Agility to make up for that if need be. And because it isn't very speedy in the first place, you can breed an Adamant nature onto it and let it hold a Life Orb or Choice Band, maximizing the damage output. You'll absolutely wreck house. And to hell with Intimidate users, because Clear Body prevents any stat reductions completely.

Like I said earlier, I absolutely adore this brutal-looking monstrosity now and I am so glad Game Freak decided to give it a Mega form, however overpowered it may be. I can't believe I didn't realize how badass Metagross actually is when I was just in my early teens, but I guess we've all come to get used to more extravagant and alien designs and have even started to really appreciate some of them. Let's face it, how fucking awesome does 'robot spider' sound?

Rating: 5/5