#493: Arceus

Arceus.

In quite a few ways, Arceus is a highly controversial Pokémon. I can only assume that it isn't commonplace to include a creature based on a creator deity responsible for the creation of the Earth, galaxy and universe - present in many world cultures and religions - in a prominent video game franchise predominantly aimed at children. In many monotheistic religions the single God is also the creator, but I am an atheist and I wholeheartedly believe in the Big Bang, a popular term for a cosmological theory based on the general theory of relativity stating that the universe (or cosmos, if you will) came into existence 13.8 billion years ago and expanded from a very high-temperature and high-density state called a singularity. Our Earth is significantly younger - although much older than many Christians would like you to believe - and was formed approximately 4.6 billion years ago, when our solar system was but a mere cloud of gas, dust and rubble originating from exploded stars. The massive cloud, often called a nebula, began to spin and clump up; and while the absolute lightest materials ended up in the middle and formed the sun, the solar wind swept away lighter elements that were the basis for gas giants Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune - such as hydrogen and helium - from the closer regions and left only rocky meterials to create smaller terrestrial worlds like Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars. And then, all of a sudden, Game Freak gave us a Pokémon that is the literal embodiment of a nonexistent supernatural being that is the source of all kinds of bias and misinformation in millions of humans around the world.

Just for the record: I'm not generalizing religious people. I am certain there are many progressive Christians and Muslims (or adherents of other religions, for that matter), but for every open-minded and forward-thinking Christian there seem to be a hundred of them who want to go back to the Middle Ages. Also, I should mention that I've personally had my fair share of negative experiences with Christians, so excuse me for not being a huge fan of religion in general.

Very atmospherical fan art of Arceus waiting for you on an extended platform
hovering above Spear Pillar. It was intended to be summoned in-game by use of
the Azure Flute, distrubuted by Nintendo and The Pokémon Company, but the
event was ultimately cancelled.

Anyway, Arceus is believed to have hatched from an egg in a place where there was nothing and then shaped the world with its 1,000 arms, which ties in with a mythological motif found in the creation myths of many cultures and civilizations called the world egg, or cosmic egg. Its Pokédex entry is also a reference to the bodhisattva (a Sanskrit term for anyone who has generated bodhicitta, an enlightened mind) Avalokiteśvara, who in Buddhism is either pictured with eleven heads and one thousand arms or in a white, four-armed manifestation. Arceus's aesthetics derive from equines such as horses and llamas, although Bulbapedia suggests its stance and general form are similar to Egyptian bull and calf idols, particularly Apis. Uhm... okay? I don't see it, but what-fucking-ever.

Arceus... at the beginning of time? I don't know man, I just think
the background looks cool. 

Other controversial topics surrounding Arceus are its feature film and the pronunciation of its name. While 'ce' is usually pronounced with a soft c, the voice director of the anime dub at the time chose to pronounce Arceus with a hard c instead due to concerns over the soft c pronunciation's potential implications in British English-speaking territories, because of course British children would immediately think of an 'arse' (which is 'ass' in American English). As a result, there have been heated debates on the Internet about how to really pronounce Arceus's name, with roughly a 50/50 margin between the Ar-see-us and Ar-key-us camps and me joining the former. What everyone generally seems to agree on, however, is how shit the movie Arceus and the Jewel of Life actually is, not in the least because of the voice actor who was tasked with dubbing Arceus. The pitchy and whiny voice didn't fit such a mysterious and regal creature at all, and many found it highly disconcerting and irritating and didn't understand at all why Arceus wasn't given a much deeper voice. The movie's plot, which revolves around Arceus getting mad at the people of Michina Town for being betrayed in ancient times by a person called Damos and Ash traveling back to the past with his friends in order to directly influence the event for the better, isn't the worst I have ever seen and actually seems legitimately fun, but it contains some serious plot holes concerning time traveling and tampering with the timeline of events that I was really annoyed by.

This artist has managed to make Arceus look at least a little less
awkward. 

What I am also annoyed by - even though I shouldn't - is the stupid golden cross-like wheel around its abdomen, based on the bhavacakra ('wheel of life') from Buddhism. A symbolic representation of saṃsāra (or cyclic existence), it is found on the outside walls of Tibetan Buddhist temples and monasteries in the Indo-Tibetan region and helps ordinary people understand Buddhist teachings. This wheel thing on Arceus, which is probably more like an arc, changes color along with its eyes and hooves based on the type of plate or Z-Crystal that it is currently holding, which can basically be seen as helping ordinary people understand typings. I'm sure this arc thing plays an important role in changing the usually normal-type Arceus's typing, but there is no proof of that in the Pokédex or any other source aside from the aesthetic change. With base 120 base stats across the board - resulting in a base stat total of 720 - as well as the existence of some slightly overpowered mono-types in the competitive metagame (steel, fairy, dragon) and access to an insanely wide variety of moves, Arceus can be such a broken Pokémon in so many ways. It wasn't banned to Smogon's Uber tier for no reason, and I don't think you can actually use it in official tournaments, either. It's mainly just... there.

Even the manga didn't hold back displaying all types of Arceus.

And then its name... holy fucking shit. There are so many affixes and words that could be the inspiration for its name, and they all make sense. This is actually a warning, as it could get a bit repetitive, so if you don't feel like going through all of them, I'd recommend just skipping the following paragraph altogether.

So, the prefix arch- means 'most extreme' or 'highest', while árchon - or ἄρχων - is Greek for 'ruler' (not the mathematical kind) or 'lord' and deus is Latin for 'god' or 'deity'. It may also be the case that Arceus's name is derived from 'archaic' or from the Greek ἀρχή and ἀρχαῖος (arkhē and arkhaîos, respectively, with the former meaning 'beginning' or 'origin' and the latter meaning 'ancient') and Latin archetypus ('original'). There's 'arc' and aureus as well - with the latter being Latin for 'golden', in reference to its hooves and gold-colored wheel - but the last reference is even phonetically the same depending on which Arceus pronunciation camp you're in: Archeus - derived from the earlier-mentioned arkhaîos - which is the vital principle or force believed by the Paracelsians to be responsible for alchemical reactions within living bodies, and hence for the growth and continuation of all living beings. Essentially it was seen as the gray area wherein matter, speaking parallel and not laterally, begins to transmute into spiritual energies, and in effect it is the glue which binds the heavens to the material. It's such a vague concept that I don't fully understand it, but as Arceus is responsible for creating Sinnoh and Ransei (the region in Pokémon Conquest, my favorite Pokémon spin-off game) and possibly all life on Earth in the Pokémon world, I don't think this reference is all too farfetched.

The Last Supper re-enacted by all of the relevant legendaries, with Arceus
obviously acting like Jesus Christ.

I don't like Arceus, goddammit. There are too many religious references in its design and flavor, and I think it's all a bit too much. Arceus itself looks weird, especially with all of its body parts out of proportion (its awkwardly round abdomen, its long knobbly legs, the wheel being stuck around its body, its weird 'haircut', etc.), and I don't really see the need for such a Pokémon. Event Pokémon tend to be a little bit unnecessary in the first place, but at least most of those are competitively viable without being banned and aren't just mere collectibles. Arceus is by far my least favorite legendary/mythical Pokémon in existence and it's actually the only one not getting a passing grade - in fact, all of the other legendaries have gotten or will get at least 3.5 stars. Sucks to be you, Arceus.

Rating: 2.5/5

#492: Shaymin

Let me start off this review by saying that the Shaymin from the movie Giratina and the Sky Warrior is a conceited little asshole; its stuck-up attitude did not make the movie very enoyable to watch, especially since this Pokémon plays such a crucial part in it. The fact that a Pokémon known as the 'Gratitude Pokémon' was such an ungrateful brat didn't really make any sense to me (and to this day it still doesn't), but maybe the whole thing was done on purpose. It's just not very cute on a Pokémon that is supposed to radiate cuteness, though, and it's still a mystery to me as to why Ash didn't just leave it to its fate. Celebi, Jirachi, Manaphy and especially Mew were much more likeable in their respective movies, if I have to be honest.

OMG, aren't they cuuuuute? 

I love Shaymin when it comes to its design, flavor, form change and competitive capability, however, so its whiny and ungrateful behavior is hardly a reason for me to start disliking/hating it. The cuteness of its hedgehog Land Forme is exactly one of the reasons why I love it so much, although the more canine or reindeer-like Sky Forme's superhero aesthetics (fur like a mohawk, a flower like a cape/scarf and wing-like ears) really made me fall in love with Shaymin. It looks graceful yet feisty, although I do have to say there's an air of arrogance surrounding it. Shaymin's personality is almost opposite with each form, after all: in its Land Forme it is shy and easily frightened, while in its Sky Forme it is courageous and playful, which is probably why it looks a bit superhero-ish.

Shaymin's Land Forme (left) is usually portrayed with just one Gracidea flower, but
the other lowers burst into bloom when it senses feelings of gratitude. I do prefer its
Sky Forme over its Land Forme, though.

There are no separate Pokédex entries for Shaymin's Sky Forme, however, and I am pretty certain the entries that do exist all apply to its Land Forme. Luckily, we still have the movie, in which it is explained that Shaymin gathers with others of its kind in some flower field each season and migrates from there. This practice is called Flower Carrying, because a new field of flowers grow where it lands. As for Shaymin's Pokédex entries... well, they state that it lives in flower patches, avoiding detection by curling up to look like a flowering plant, and dissolves toxins in the air to instantly transform ruined land into a lush field of flowers. The Gracidea flowers all over its body burst into bloom if it is lovingly hugged or feels comfortable around someone, although it rapidly hides it back when it senses danger. The Gracidea is also an in-game key item that is used to change Land Forme Shaymin into Sky Forme Shaymin, although this can only be done during the day.

Lastly, Shaymin's name may be a combination of xiè (Chinese for 'thanks' or 'gratitude') and harinezumi ('hedgehog' in the same language, even though it sounds Japanese), and it is possible it's merely a corruption of shamayim (Hebrew for 'sky'), correlating directly with Shaymin's Sky Forme.

I like well-drawn art like this that makes certain Pokémon look
different yet still distinguishable.

I was never able to obtain Shaymin prior to the year-long mythical event held by Nintendo and The Pokémon Company in 2016, but I am having so much fun using one in competitive play at the moment. While Shaymin's Land Forme has base 100 stats across the board, its Sky Forme has the same base stat total, although with boosts in its special attack and speed and drops in its defenses. Base 75 defenses are a tad mediocre, but they're backed up by a more-than-decent base 100 HP stat, so it will have no trouble living at least a few hits before it goes down. I only care for Sky Forme competitively, but both forms of Shaymin are largely used as fast special attackers. It really helps that this Pokémon has a couple of unique and/or devastating attacking moves in its arsenal, among which are Seed Flare, Air Slash, Psychic, Dazzling Gleam, Earth Power, Giga Drain and Energy Ball. I'd like to mention that Seed Flare and Air Slash are definite must-haves on Sky Forme, especially since its high speed stat and Serene Grace ability make it able to flinch opponents down with a 60% chance to flinch with Air Slash. Serene Grace also boosts the chance of dropping the foe's special defense with Seed Flare to a whopping 80%, which allows it to break down special walls. Attach a Life Orb to it and it'll do even more damage, although a Choice Scarf allows you to run a Modest nature instead of a Timid one and the Choice Specs aren't half bad, either. The last option is Healing Wish, which can be used in a pinch and lets Shaymin faint in order to fully recover an injured Pokémon on your team. It's your call whether you want to sacrifice a coverage move in favor of Healing Wish, but I personally don't run that move.

Sky confidently standing in a field of flowers. Don't you think its mohawk cut is
better than Scrafty's?

Land Forme is definitely bulkier than Sky Forme and is probably just as offensively viable as Sky Forme is (even though it is slightly weaker), but its ability is Natural Cure, which isn't as competitively useful as Serene Grace. Healing a status condition upon switching out is surely nothing to sneeze at, but it is merely situational, while the Serene Grace/Air Slash combo is an actual strategy that has proved to be more than effective on multiple occasions. A supportive approach might make Land Forme stand out a little bit more, as it is more suited than Sky Forme to run a moveset consisting of Leech Seed, Substitute, Protect and Giga Drain, backed up by the Leftovers as held item. It's just an example, so maybe you could ditch either Substitute or Protect and go with Synthesis for more reliable recovery instead. Perhaps you'll find yourself in need of Healing Wish because you need an injured teammate to go back to sweeping again; you never know.

GIF of Land Forme Shaymin drinking water from a pool. Adorable.

It's such a shame event Pokémon are just handed to you through a Nintendo Zone hotspot or the Nintendo Network; usually there isn't any challenging quest in the game in order to obtain them. On the other hand, without those Wi-Fi features I would never have been able to obtain all these event Pokémon and I can now safely say that my collection of legendary Pokémon is complete - with the exception of Zeraora, obviously. Shaymin is one of the best event-only Pokémon and I absolutely adore its Sky Forme for having such a sleek design, a courageous and heroic personality and amazing battling capabilities. Take one guess what rating I'm gonna give it?

P.S.: Bulbapedia suggests Shaymin may have gotten its inspiration from Chia Pets, small American-styled terracotta figurines used to sprout chia, where the chia sprouts grow within a couple of weeks to resemble the animal's fur or hair. While there was never a hedgehog Chia Pet, I can definitely see the resemblance, although I have to wonder whether Game Freak really created Shaymin with these distinctively American toys in mind. I don't know how popular - if at all - they are in Japan, but you rarely see them here in the Netherlands and I had never even heard of them prior to writing this article...

Rating: 5/5

#491: Darkrai

Darkrai is such a creepy Pokémon, which in turn makes it very
popular. I had no difficulty finding some awesome fan art of it.

Out of all 807 Pokémon, who else feels like Darkrai is kind of the odd one out? While Absol is often chastised for being the bringer of natural disasters even though it only wants to warn people of impending danger, Darkrai is known to 'inhabit' dreams and causes its victims to have never-ending nightmares that can be stopped instantly with Cresselia's Lunar Wing. Like its ability to turn into a shadow and escape danger or contact with humans, its nightmare-causing ability is actually a defense mechanism rather than an intentionally malicious act. As shown in the 52nd and last episode of the 11th season of the Pokémon anime, "Sleepless in Pre-Battle!", Darkrai doesn't only cause nightmares; it is also attracted to the nightmares the people of Canalave City were having due to Team Rocket's nightmare machine, which they had built to scam people into buying their fake Lunar Wings. That this Pokémon fails to be understood by humans is demonstrated once more in the movie Pokémon: The Rise of Darkrai, in which the people of Alamos Town are plagued by terrible nightmares and damage to property. A dashing but arrogant douchebag of noble descent called Alberto - whom I immediately disliked upon seeing the movie, not in the least because he has a goddamn Lickilicky - doesn't hesitate to put the blame on Darkrai, until a scientist fellow named Tonio proves it is in fact a disturbance in the space-time continuum caused by a fight between Palkia and Dialga. Eventually, after being chased and attacked by Alberto on multiple occasions, Darkrai manages to hold off Dialga and Palkia from destroying Alamos Time, giving Ash and Dawn some time to put an ancient music disk with a song called Oración in the Space-Time Tower music player so as to calm down the two brawling Pokémon.

I didn't lie when I said I had no problems finding terrific Darkrai fan art on the
Internet. This piece really makes you believe this Pokémon is pure evil and I think
it's absolutely fantastic! 

While stories in the movies and TV show always have a happy ending - i.e. the people actually coming to understand and respect the misunderstood Pokémon - Darkrai will always bear the stigma of being a Pokémon that actually causes pain and discomfort. There is a part in the Diamond and Pearl post-game that includes finding a Lunar Wing for a Sailor's son, who is having bad dreams and constantly mumbles "Dar... Dark... is watching me" in his sleep, indicating Darkrai is causing his nightmares. In the Pokédex it is even portrayed as evil, as its Diamond and Pearl entries state that on moonless nights (nights of the new moon) it will lure people to sleep and unleash horrific nightmares on them. It's only a legend, but Darkrai chasing people and Pokémon from its territory by causing them to experience deep, nightmarish slumbers really doesn't improve its bad rap. How do you chase someone away by letting them experience nightmares, anyway? I'm sure sleeping people don't move, barring the occasional sleepwalker here and there.

Again, amazing drawings of Darkrai, this time by the same artist.

In any case, these abilities that Darkrai doesn't want to use to do harm but uses anyway are detrimental to its reputation. The question is how this reputation came to be. I mean, what is it protecting itself from exactly? Humanity? As it is drawn to nightmares, I am inclined to believe this isn't the case at all. It may mean no harm, but its Bad Dreams ability takes away ⅛ of opposing Pokémon's health in battle when they're asleep and indicates that the nightmares it causes are in fact harmful. Does Darkrai like the nightmares people have, or are they essential for it in order to stay alive? Does it feed on them? Questions, questions, questions...

Regarding Darkrai's aesthetics and flavor, it is probably based on the Oneiroi - or Ὄνειροι - which are various gods and demigods in Greek mythology that ruled over dreams, nightmares and oneiromantic symbols (oneiromancy is a form of divination based upon dreams; it is a system of dream interpretation that uses dreams to predict the future), specifically Phobetor. Phobetor is the personification of nightmares and appeared in dreams in the form of animals or monsters, which is exactly what Darkrai reminds me of, although it cannot have eluded anyone that shadows and jinn (genies) lie at the basis of Darkrai's design.

More awesome Darkrai fan art. 

Though Darkrai may be the king of darkness and nightmares, it is by far not the king of the Uber tier anymore. Sun and Moon saw the nerf of Darkrai's signature move Dark Void, which had an 80% chance of putting a foe to sleep (both foes in a Double Battle) but now only has a terrible 50% chance of doing so. This has caused some players to resort to Hypnosis - which has a 60% of putting a foe to sleep and is therefore only slightly better than Dark Void now - in order to activate Bad Dreams instead. I understand why Game Freak have decided to nerf Dark Void; Darkrai is a mythical Pokémon with a base stat total of 600 and isn't actually banned in Sun and Moon's Battle Spot, so Dark Void in combination with the ability Bad Dreams would have been way too overpowered. Fortunately there's still a solid Nasty Plot set to work with, and with base 135 special attack and 125 speed Darkrai is the perfect candidate to pull that off. A set consisting of Nasty Plot and three strong attacking moves - STAB Dark Pulse and two coverage moves such as Ice Beam, Focus Blast, Sludge Bomb, Psyhic and Thunderbolt - is backed by a Timid nature and a Life Orb or Darkinium Z as a held item, just because the Leftovers won't accomplish much on a relatively non-defensive Pokémon like Darkrai. Base 70 HP and base 90 defenses are nothing to sneeze at, sure, but for Uber-tier standards it's actually quite frail and I think you'll just want to add some extra oomph to Darkrai's attacks, anyway.

TCG promotional art for Darkrai.

Look, I know I said in Cresselia's entry that Darkrai's design is weird and that I'm not particularly fond of Pokémon that tend to be portrayed as purely evil, but the more I come to know about this thing, the more I'm starting to think that it's actually quite an intriguing Pokémon. Even though it looks like a pretty evil creature, it is just a protective Pokémon and doesn't seem to want to do anyone harm. It's even regarded as a hero in The Rise of Darkrai after helping stop the destructive fight between Dialga and Palkia. There are still certain elements in its design that don't make a whole lot of sense to me, including the red collar-like growth around its neck (honestly, it looks like a gaping mouth full of teeth with a hairy eye protruding from it), but Darkrai is supposed to be a nightmarish creature, so maybe some parts of its design aren't supposed to make sense in the first place.

People, me giving 4.5 stars to a Pokémon I didn't even think was anything special is exactly the reason why I started this blog.

Rating: 4.5/5

#489 - #490: Phione & Manaphy

Cute little Manaphy frolicking around in the water.

Manaphy used to be one of those Pokémon you could only get through a fairly ridiculous method prior to being distributed through online events regularly along with a whole bunch of other mythical Pokémon. In the fourth generation, however, a special egg containing Manaphy had to be inserted into some stupid Pokémon Ranger game by code before it could be transferred to Diamond or Pearl. In fact, you had to struggle your way through some unnecessary story first, in which a character called Murph picks up the Manaphy egg that had washed ashore on a beach and brings it to Professor Hastings, only for some villains to steal it. The player character is then required to retrieve it safely from the villains, after which Hastings reveals that the egg can only hatch if it is given to 'a Trainer in a faraway region', which is quite a roundabout way to say that the egg will only hatch if you transfer it to Diamond or Pearl. (Not sure if Platinum was in on the joke as well, but I can't see it being left out, being a carbon copy of Diamond and Pearl and all.) Aside from playing a minor role in quite a few Pokémon games, Manaphy had its own movie in Pokémon Ranger and the Temple of the Sea, in which it was first seen as an egg being stolen by Pokémon Ranger Jackie from a villain named Phantom. Phantom needs Manaphy in order to find the Sea Crown kept in Samiya, an underwater temple created by the People of the Water, but Ash and his friends arrive just in time to ruin his day and manage to keep Phantom from stealing back the egg again. Ultimately, a chase ensues and after performing some dangerous acrobatics in order to keep the egg from falling on the ground multiple times, the egg hatches in May's hands. May and Manaphy bond - much like Misty and Togepi did way back when - and Ash and his friends help the mythical Pokémon to find its home base Samiya.

Manaphy (left) and Phione (right).

The whole egg-hatching thing doesn't make any sense to me in the first place, because if you let Manaphy breed with a Ditto, you'll actually be able to obtain eggs containing Phione. You'd think that Pokémon is Manaphy's pre-evolution then, but nothing could be any further from the truth: Phione is Phione and will always stay a Phione no matter what, which means you'll forever be stuck with what is basically a weaker version of Manaphy, as all of its stats are a base 80 across the board compared to Manaphy's base 100 stats. It's a mystery to me as to why Phione exists in the first place, but I guess Game Freak had to fill up a vacant spot in the National Pokédex or something. As such, Phione's status as a mythical Pokémon is often disputed, with several pieces off evidence and even official statements contradicting each other, but I'm leaning towards the 'no' camp. Admittedly, strategy guides and handbooks have - somewhat inconsistently - listed Phione as a mythical Pokémon simply for being Manaphy's offspring; people seeking Phione on the Global Trade System will not be displayed if the player chooses to exclude people seeking mythical or legendary Pokémon; Phione is banned from most online competitions and online battles; and it is not needed to obtain certain in-game certifications for completing a regional or the National Pokédex, a trait otherwise exclusive to mythical Pokémon. At the end of the day, though, there is one thing that makes me question Phione's status as a mythical Pokémon: it is far too easy to obtain once you actually possess a Manaphy, and you could potentially end up with a hundred Phione coming from one Manaphy and a Ditto. Also, Phione is significantly weaker than other mythical Pokémon, lacking at least 90 base points in its base stat total to even just be considered a legendary Pokémon.

Mommy Ditto and Daddy Manaphy taking care of their young. Aren't they the most
adorable family you have ever seen? 

It's not that I hate Phione or its design or anything; I just can't see the use of a Pokémon like this if it can't evolve anyway and doesn't give a single fuck about making itself at least somewhat distinctive from its parent Pokémon. Both Phione and Manaphy are based on sea angels, a large group of small, transparent-looking swimming sea slugs often known as clione, which is a misleading term because the family clionidae is just one of the six families within this clade. As Phione's name suggests, this Pokémon is definitely based on clione, and it is entirely possible that Manaphy continues this trend despite there being no evidence for this 'theory' in its name. Clione are remarkably popular in Japan for some reason, especially in Hokkaido, the area that Sinnoh is based on, so it shouldn't be a surprise that Manaphy and its useless kin showed up in the fourth generation.

Phione and Manaphy's Pokédex entries are also pretty much the same, as Manaphy's state it will swim great distances to return to the cold seafloor on which it was born and Phione's mention a similar activity: it inflates the flotation sac on its head to languidly drift in warm seas and search for food, which it does in packs (another indication that there are more Phione than Manaphy), but it will always return to its birth place no matter how far it drifts away. While Manaphy is born with a wondrous power that lets it bond with any kind of Pokémon and is easily affected by its environment as 80% of its body consists of water, there is absolutely nothing more to say about Phione, which only makes me wish that Game Freak hadn't created this thing in the first place.

Manaphy playing with Pikachu. How kawaii is this???

Luckily we still have Manaphy to fall back on for competitive purposes. As it has base 100 stats across the board and a fantastic set-up move in Tail Glow, Manaphy is a force to be reckoned with in Smogon's OU tier, as it can boost its special attack to incredible levels and absolutely annihilate everything in its path while still having some natural bulk behind it. After just one Tail Glow, which raises its special attack by a whopping three stages, Manaphy can just use a STAB move like Surf or Scald and do massive damage, although it has access to some amazing coverage moves like Ice Beam, Psychic, Shadow Ball, Energy Ball, Signal Beam and Dazzling Gleam. There are so many good options to choose from, in fact, that it significantly suffers from four-moveslot syndrome. As Manaphy's special attack is going to be raised drastically anyway, you might want to give it a Timid nature and the Leftovers as a hold item, although a Life Orb or a Waterium Z are splendid options as well. Just make sure to steer away from Choice items, as they make Tail Glow ineffective all of a sudden. As for its ability, Manaphy only has Hydration, which will cure it of any non-volatile status conditions (burn, sleep, freeze, paralysis and poison) when it is raining. It's the reason why people often run Rain Dance on it, but I think that's a waste of Manaphy's potential and only worsens its four-moveslot syndrome, so I guess it's better just to let another one of your Pokémon set up the rain for it.

Happiny, what the actual fuck are you doing with that Manaphy egg? Step the hell
away from it; you ain't worthy to take care of that thing.

Although Tail Glow Manaphy is incredibly overpowered, there is one Pokémon that benefits from it even more than Manaphy does: Xurkitree. With a base 173 special attack stat, just one Tail Glow boost would be absolutely destructive. Still, Manaphy is very much worth your time and it can be an asset to any competitive team with some investment in finding a competitively viable one. I am mainly a collector and I don't really care all that much about the competitive scene (even though I can sometimes have a blast on Pokémon Showdown), but at least I know how viable it can be. This thing isn't one of my favorite Pokémon by any means, but I acknowledge its cuteness, strength and popularity and therefore I am giving it 4 stars.

P.S.: Did you know the Manaphy egg is actually based on a real-life sea creature? Pokémon eggs are normally beige with green spots, but Manaphy's is a transparent blue with a red core and a ring of yellowish spots above it. These traits give it resemblances to turritopsis dohrnii, also called the immortal jellyfish, which is found in the Mediterranean Sea and in the waters of Japan. The more you know...

Rating: 4/5

#488: Cresselia

Cresselia radiates an air of beauty and grace.

Legendary Pokémon are relatively popular in general, and Cresselia is actually no different, but this Pokémon is annoying for two simple reasons. The first is that it's usually a roaming Pokémon in the Gen. IV games, which makes it a bitch to find and a bitch and a half to catch, as it has the tendency to run away one turn after it appears. Indeed, you'll have to come prepared if you're hunting for this thing and immediately put it to sleep with Spore or prevent it from fleeing with Mean Look. The second reason why Cresselia is annoying is its competitive usage, because its amazing base 120 HP as well as its base 120 defense and 130 special defense make it a tough cookie to crack. With a Calm or Bold nature you can crank up Cresselia's defenses even more (especially when you invest the right amount of EVs in the right stats), while the Leftovers heal it a little bit at the end of every turn. For more durability on the battlefield, most Cresselia have a moveset consisting of at least Moonlight, Toxic and maybe also Protect, while a move like Psychic provides excellent STAB damage in case of emergency. At least it needs something to attack with, right? Substitute might be a better option instead of Protect, while Reflect and Light Screen extend its longevity on the battlefield even further and Lunar Dance lets it faint in favor of fully recovering the Pokémon that is sent out after Cresselia.

And as Cresselia is tanky enough already, you could run an offensive set consisting of Calm Mind, Psychic, Moonblast and Ice Beam - Shadow Ball, Energy Ball and Signal Beam are good options as well, depending on what you need - although a Modest nature is surely recommended because of Cresselia's mediocre base 75 special attack. Boosting its special attack and special defense with Calm Mind every turn will definitely pay off in the end, though.

Cresselia engulfed in undulating light, while Darkrai is looking
on in darkness.

But Cresselia is ultimately more interesting in terms of design, origins and overall flavor. This Pokémon shares characteristics with the Sarimanok, a legendary fowl of the Maranao people who originate from Mindanao, one of the most southern islands - and the second largest at that - in the Philippines. This bird, whose name derives from sari ('cloth' or 'garment') and manok ('chicken'), has become an ubiquitous symbol or Maranao art and is often depicted with colorful wings, a feathered tail and a profusely decorated head. It is said to be a symbol of good fortune. Furthermore, the constellation Cygnus derives its name from the Latinized Greek word for 'swan', and considering Cresselia's crescent moon motif and the aurora-colored planetary rings around its body, it is more than possible Cygnus has been an inportant inspiration for Cresselia. While it's true that Cresselia looks very swan-like, it is mainly based on the shape of the crescent moon (its name may have even been inspired by Selene, the Greek goddess of the moon) and makes up one half of the Lunar Duo, the other being Darkrai. Darkrai is said to induce nightmares in people, however, while Cresselia is known to prevent or cure them, which manifests itself in the games by having the player cure a Sailor's son with the Lunar Wing found on Crescent Isle. What's more, those who sleep holding Cresselia's feather are assured of joyful dreams.

Shiny Cresselia is absolutely gorgeous!

And that's exactly why I like Cresselia more than the other half of the Lunar Duo. Don't get me wrong; Darkrai seems like an interesting enough Pokémon, but its design is weird and I am not usually drawn to Pokémon that tend to be portrayed as purely evil. There's a certain movie that actually contradicts that, but I'll talk about that when it's Darkrai's time to shine on this blog. The main reason why I love Cresselia so much is its design. In my opinion, Game Freak went out of their way to make it as graceful and beautiful as it could be. I would compliment them on Cresselia's shiny as well, if it weren't for the fact that from Gen. II to Gen. V shinies were created by simply letting the game's code switch up a Pokémon's color palette until they got a decent-looking shiny, while truly handmade shinies didn't appear until the sixth generation. I won't deviate from the topic by nitpicking too much about whether or not Game Freak is fully responsible for creating Cresselia's shiny, because at the end of the day it is still one of the most gorgeous shinies I have ever seen (the purple definitely helps!), but I just thought I'd mention it. If you look past its annoying catching method, Cresselia is just an amazing Pokémon overall - design- and flavor-wise as well as competitively. It may be one of the most average Pokémon out there when it comes to offense, but there is an excellent move that can fix that to some extent and it's still one of the best tanky support Pokémon to use in the competitive metagame.

Holy shit, because I barely even use it I never realized how much I really love this Pokémon.

Rating: 5/5