#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