#485: Heatran

The next legendary on the list is actually a Pokémon you can catch post-game in Diamond, Pearl and Platinum. Upon beating Champion Cynthia and entering the Hall of Fame, the player character has a chance to board a ship to an island somewhere in the northeast area of Sinnoh, where a volcano called Stark Mountain is located. After traversing the volcano with a fella named Buck, the legendary Heatran can be found in a cavern in the back, ready for you to catch it.

TCG promotional art of Heatran.

Heatran is not one of those overly powerful box-art legendaries like Lugia, Kyogre and Dialga, but it's a steel type and it is very popular in competitive play as a result. It's a pity that there isn't much story to be told about Heatran in the games, because design-wise this Pokémon is nothing short of fascinating. Heatran looks like a combination between a tortoise and a warty toad, but it is a cave-dwelling creature that spits fire and has a body armor made of steel, its most prominent feature being the metal bangles locked around its legs. Some parts of its body do look like they're slightly out of shape, because the intense body heat coming from its boiling blood (like magma) made them melt. It is said that some melted bits of metal on its body are the remnants of what used to be its shell, enhancing the theory that Heatran is based on a tortoise. Additionally, the cross-shaped metal claws that allow it to dig deep into walls and the feet that allow it to stick to a surface - so it can hang from and climb walls and ceilings using all four of its feet - give it the characteristics of some larger variants of insects, particularly cockroaches. It also learns Bug Bite by Move Tutor, so go figure.

This art is... different, and I like it.

However, it's almost as if Game Freak intended for Heatran to be the embodiment of the Earth's core, and not only because it is found in the interior of a volcano. Its name is probably derived from 'transition metal', referring to the fact that iron - a transition metal - forms much of Earth's outer and inner core under immense pressure, along with nickel. It's exactly the reason why Heatran is a fire/steel type and the only Pokémon with that type combination to date. Even though this typing comes with a huge quadruple weakness to ground-type moves, Heatran also benefits from being resistant to nine types (and an immunity to poison), of which five are quadruple ones: bug, steel, grass, ice and - most importantly - fairy. Fairy is one of the most common types seen in the competitive metagame nowadays, and Heatran makes for the perfect fairy-type counter. Combined with its base stat total of 600, this makes Heatran a very commonly used Pokémon in competitive play, especially when you consider its base 130 special attack stat has the chance to leave huge dents in your team if you don't watch out. Then again, you can combine almost any other type with steel and you'll have at least a decent Pokémon to work with; the type is that good. As always, there are a few exceptions, but Heatran isn't such an exception by any means and I'd recommend using it if you're looking for an offensive fire type.

Heatran is completely in its element in a volcanic area.

Let's start with the basic things: Heatran should have a Timid nature and the Flash Fire ability. As its speed isn't anything to write home about, a Modest nature is an option as well, but I would definitely stick with Flash Fire over Flame Body. Yes, there is a chance Heatran burns the opposing Pokémon if the latter uses a direct move on it (most of the time this is a physical move), but if you suspect an incoming fire-type move you can just switch in to Heatran, nullify the opponent's attack and raise the power of Heatran's own fire-type moves by 50%. If you really want to burn an opponent, you can just teach Heatran the move Will-O-Wisp anyway. The biggest problem is Heatran's glaring weakness to ground, which is often solved by giving it an Air Balloon to hold, although the Choice Specs or a Choice Scarf might not be a bad idea to give to Heatran at all. Plus, ever since the introduction of Z-Crystals it has been very common to let Heatran hold a Firium-Z and obliterate certain threats by locking them into Magma Storm and upgrade said Magma Storm to an insanely powerful Inferno Overdrive. If you want to use more reliable move than Magma Storm, which has 100 base power but is only 75% accurate, I'd recommend a moveset consisting of Fire Blast/Flamethrower/Lava Plume/Heat Wave, Flash Cannon, Earth Power and Dark Pulse, accompanied by a Choice item or a Life Orb. It is possible to ditch Dark Pulse in order to run two fire-type moves, as Flamethrower and Lave Plume are more accurate and Fire Blast is significantly more powerful. As Heatran has excellent defensive stats as well, it is often used as a utility Pokémon with Taunt, Stealth Rock and either Toxic or Will-O-Wisp, which I honestly think is wasted potential. There are so many tanks with worse offensive stats than Heatran, so I don't know why you would use Heatran as a defensive support Pokémon like that.

Ugh, whatever.

Heatran as seen in a Pokémon Ranger anime special. The yellow spots on its body
make it look as if it's sick and contagious (or warty, for that matter) rather than hot.
This depiction of Heatran is not flattering it at all. 

In any case, Heatran is no doubt an interesting Pokémon, design-wise as well as battle-wise. It's probably because Heatran is yet another steel type, but I never realized how much I love this thing until now. I wish there was a little bit more lore to it, but for a one-off legendary that isn't an event Pokémon and doesn't tie in with the rest of the Diamond and Pearl storyline, I'm surprised Heatran enjoys such a huge amount of popularity, albeit only for its immense competitive utility.

Well, it's better than not being popular at all, right?

Rating: 5/5