#522 - #523: Blitzle & Zebstrika

Adorable little Blitzle.

Those of you who have been reading my blog long enough know that I love any animal belonging to the felidae family: tigers, lions, leopards, cougars, servals, lynxes, domestic cats... you name it, I love them all. Oftentimes, feline Pokémon don't quite capture the feel of real-world cats. Persian, Luxray and Liepard are perfect examples of feline Pokémon done well, while Delcatty and Purugly completely miss the mark and Meowstic hasn't yet won a spot in my heart, either. It's a hit-or-miss kind of situation and I have to say it frustrates me to no end.

In any case, the ermine - a common name for the stoat when it's in its pure white winter coat - is my second favorite animal, while the zebra closes out the top three. And that's where the relevancy of this introduction kicks in: Blitzle and its evolution Zebstrika are the first and currently only zebra Pokémon in the franchise (there are three species of zebra in the world, but they all look pretty much the same, so I don't expect new Pokémon based on this animal to pop up anytime soon), and Game Freak have done a phenomenal job creating them, at least design-wise.

Blitzle as seen in TCG.

Of course, we start off with the cute but feisty Blitzle, actually available to players pretty early on in Black and White. While the stripes on Blitzle's body are few and far between compared to a real-life zebra, it is undeniably based on one, with a spiky white mane running up its neck that culminates on its forehead in a long extension shaped like a lightning bolt. Blitzle's mane serves as a lightning rod, because this Pokémon can actually catch lightning with it and store the electricity afterwards, only to discharge said electricity via its glowing mane again. The frequency and rhythm of these bright flashes are in turn used to communicate with each other. But while Blitzle probably has no trouble containing itself, Zebstrika is an ill-tempered Pokémon that can be dangerous when angry, shooting lightning from its mane in all directions. It is as fast as lightning and releases deafening, reverberating thunderclaps when at full gallop. Zebstrika's irritable nature falls in line with how difficult - nigh impossible, even - zebra are to tame and how awfully dangerous they are to ride due to their extreme unpredictability and aggression; they have the tendency to bite, kick, flail and buck much more than other equids do.

Zebstrika is ready to charge at something.

Unfortunately, these characteristics aren't conveyed in Zebstrika's stats and movepool. Its flavor indicates that it's a physical attacker, and that's absolutely true, but the problem is that it lacks the physical attacks to be competitively viable. Base 100 attack and 116 speed stats are nothing to sneeze at, and they could have been good in combination with a Choice Band or Choice Scarf... if only Zebstrika had something to choose from. Sure, Wild Charge is a decent 90-power move, but it deals recoil damage and isn't as strong as similar moves like Flare Blitz, Brave Bird, Head Smash and Wood Hammer, while the only competitively viable move seems to be Pursuit in case you predict a hard switch on the opponent's part. It is therefore better to use it for in-game purposes, as its special attack isn't terrible in that regard and the fire-type Overheat actually hits quite hard; the special attack penalty from that move doesn't even matter if you just click on Return or Wild Charge during the next turn. Life Orb sets on Smogon even revolve around Zebstrika's specially offensive presence, with moves like Volt Switch, Thunderbolt, Overheat and Hidden Power backed up by a Timid nature, but neither a Life Orb nor the ability Lightning Rod (which raises the special attack stat of the user by one stage upon switching into an electric-type attack while granting it immunity to them; Motor Drive does the same but with the speed stat) will be able to save Zebstrika's subpar special attack. Its hidden ability Sap Sipper makes it immune to grass-type attacks and even boosts its attack by one stage when switched into one, but a physical competitive set is not a good idea and the special attack raise from Lightning Rod will come in handy much more.

A good portion of Zebstrika fan art shows how badass this Pokémon actually is.

In the end, Zebstrika's physical movepool is just too shallow for it to be a good Pokémon to use, but that is hardly the reason why I love it so much. I love it because it's a fucking zebra, goddammit! At the time it was released, a zebra Pokémon had been long overdue, and I immediately fell in love with the damn thing. It just looks so badass! And while real zebra seem to be evenly black and white, Blitzle and Zebstrika are mainly black with white lightning-shaped stripes on their bodies, which is a genius tie-in with their electric typing. I was even lucky enough to obtain a shiny Zebstrika during one of the rare occasions I was actually shiny-hunting for a specific Pokémon. You probably suspect me to give Zebstrika a 5-star rating by now, and you would be absolutely correct, because there is nothing about this Pokémon design- and flavor-wise that I don't love. Heck, even its name is cool!

Rating: 5/5