#543 - #545: Venipede, Whirlipede & Scolipede

Venipede in TCG, standing in what can only be Roxie's Gym.

From cooing over a cute little caterpillar we proceed to be grossed out by a bug that could easily replace Quasimodo in The Hunchback of Notre-Dame. The only problem with that is that Quasimodo is actually quite a nice person, while Venipede is aggressive and insistently expresses its continuous anger by injecting a potent poison. Bird Pokémon that try to prey on it are in for a very rude awakening, and Venipede uses the feelers on its head and tail to pick up vibrations in the air and determine its own prey's location and state. Venipede is dangerous, and it gets worse when this thing evolves into Whirlipede: while usually remaining motionless in order to store energy for evolution, it has the tendency to quickly spin its hard-shelled body like a tire and crash furiously into opponents - especially if it's attacked - and it continues to stab approaching predators with its poisonous spikes. And then... Oh boy, to quote Pokémaniacal here: "Then [Whirlipede] evolves into Scolipede and everything gets a whole lot worse for everyone." He's not wrong; Venipede is already pretty foul-tempered, but its final evolution Scolipede takes more than just one cake. This Pokémon is merciless and brutally attacks anyone in its way, clasping its targets with the claws in its neck and finishing them off with a deadly poison, even chasing them down with great speed when they manage to escape. Suffice to say, it won't give up until it emerges victorious.

Also, I think it's safe to say that Scolipede probably doesn't even have predators anymore, because this thing is a massive 8'02" tall and weighs a solid 442 pounds - a human would be morbidly obese if they weighed as much. Real-life centipedes are pretty scary already (I really don't like bugs, especially when they have more than six legs), but Scolipede is nothing short of absolutely fucking terrifying.

One big happy family... literally.

But while Venipede is categorized as the 'Centipede Pokémon', it is more similar in appearance to millipedes, especially green-colored pill millipedes of the glomeris marginata species. Pill millipedes shouldn't be confused with pill bugs, which are a type of woodlouse from the genus armadillidium and are often known as 'armadillo bugs' as a result. Both pill millipedes and pill bugs are able to curl up into a ball when they're in danger (the woodlice more symmetrically so), which probably explains Venipede's evolution into the cocoon-like Whirlipede. While these two types of bugs look alike, pill millipedes can be distinguished from pill bugs by the fact that they have two pairs of legs per body segment, while pill bugs have only one pair. That, as well as the design of Venipede's final evolution Scolipede, makes me think that this evolutionary line is more so based on millipedes going on centipedes rather than ordinary woodlice. Because let's face it: Scolipede is no woodlouse and isn't just a simple millipede anymore, either - as becomes evident in its name, Scolipede is based on the scolopendra genus of centipede, specifically the species scolopendra gigantea. Also known as the Amazonian giant centipede, this bug can reach lengths up to 12 inches and is known to be venomous and predatory, hunting other sizable arthropods, amphibians, reptiles (including small snakes) and even mammals like bats and sparrow-sized birds - large individuals have been known to employ unique strategies to catch bats in which they climb cave ceilings and hold or manipulate their heavier prey with only a few legs attached to the ceiling. Other scolopendra species can be venomous as well, and bites are reported to cause extreme pain and swelling, but most species are by far not as large as scolopendra gigantea - or Scolipede, for that matter.

Big, bad, scary Scolipede.

Gigantea may be fearsome, and Scolipede even more so judging by its behavior, but competitively this Pokémon doesn't quite live up to its reputation of aggressiveness and brutality. Yes, it's speedy and relatively strong on the physical side of the spectrum, but its cardboard defenses and subpar HP make sure it won't live many hits to begin with. It's best to squeeze your Scolipede in a favorable position so that it can set up with Swords Dance and annihilate the hell out of its opponents with moves like Megahorn, Earthquake and Aqua Tail (Hydro Vortex if powered up by a Waterium Z), although it also learns Poison Jab, Rock Slide, Throat Chop and Superpower, among other things. Definitely give Scolipede a Jolly nature and the ability Speed Boost, the latter of which raises its speed at the end of every turn, and you'll have an excellent end-game sweeper. Don't even bother with any of its other abilities, because Poison Point is just purely situational, and Swarm (ups bug-type moves when Scolipede has less than 33% of its HP remaining) isn't all that useful, even though Megahorn becomes a very dangerous move after applying Swarm and a Swords Dance boost. There's also Protect to pull off a free speed boost, but I don't recommend it because Scolipede can't afford losing any of its offensive moves - or you would want to have Baton Pass, in which case you'll have to Swords Dance up and then use Protect for an extra speed boost, allowing you to pass double stat boosts to another, more powerful Pokémon on your team. Scolipede learns both Spikes and Toxic Spikes, but Spikes needs three layers (and thus requires three turns) to have maximum effect and Toxic Spikes is only really effective if you manage to set up a second layer to badly poison all of your opponents. Scolipede just isn't defensive enough for that, although you could delay its demise by giving it a Focus Sash. It's generally better to stick with its Swords Dance set and give it a Z-Crystal or Life Orb to hold - or a Choice Band, if you are willing to drop Swords Dance in exchange for a strong offensive move.

The most frightening thing about Scolipede is that its legs look so... equine. It's
like a gigantic horse centipede; I'm positive you could make a mean ride on it.

I consider myself lucky that there are no bugs of such extreme size to be found here in the Netherlands - aside from the occasional weirdo that keeps them as pets, obviously. My fear/distaste for big bugs with too many legs hasn't carried over to the Pokémon franchise, and I am simply unfazed by Scolipede being a gigantic, formidable centipede. It's one of the coolest bug types I have seen so far, and it definitely pulled me and the rest of my team through in one of my Y playthroughs - especially since it got a slight boost in its base attack stat as of Gen. VI, anyway. For Pokémon that are supposed to be replacements of some sort for the early-game Kanto bugs (Butterfree and Beedrill), Leavanny and Scolipede are pretty goddamn awesome. The thing is that Scolipede is just slightly more awesome (partly due to its marvelous shiny form) and therefore gets a perfect rating from me.

Rating: 5/5

#540 - #542: Sewaddle, Swadloon & Leavanny

Pinsir, Scyther and Armaldo aren't bad, Scizor and Heracross are even better, and Game Freak did Beedrill and Yanma a huge favor by giving them a respective Mega evolution and regular evolution (Yanmega). On the whole, though, there aren't that many good bug-type Pokémon to be found in the earlier generations, which is partly due to said bug types being such early-game trash: Caterpie, Weedle, Ledyba, Spinarak, Wurmple, Surskit, Kricketot and Burmy turned out to be nothing good offensively and even Paras, Venonat and Nincada are useless to some extent. Heck, Pineco shouldn't be that bad, but Forretress doesn't learn shit for offensive moves and is used as a wall more than anything else, which makes it tricky to use in a playthrough.

Admittedly, Sewaddle is pretty cute for a caterpillar.

Gen. V took a turn for the better when the early bugs were repositioned and weren't even available to you until after beating the second Gym Leader, Lenora. Even then, Sewaddle and Venipede are both excellent options for your in-game team, despite them being the first bug types you happen to run into in Pokémon Black and White. I've actually never used Sewaddle in particular, but I have to say this grassy caterpillar is one of Game Freak's most original bug designs. There's a big, broad, bitten leaf enfolding its head like a hood, which it chews up and then sews using a sticky, thread-like substance extruded from its mouth. This leaf is used by Sewaddle to hide from enemies or gets eaten when food is scarce, but its ability to make its own 'clothes' (or Leavanny does when it just hatches) makes it a popular mascot for fashion designers nonetheless. Sewaddle, then, is of course a combination of 'sew' and 'waddle' (the manner in which a baby walks) or 'swaddle' (to wrap a baby in cloth), with similar references in Sewaddle's Japanese and other foreign names. It shares characteristics with the larva stage of weaver ants, which are arboreal and are known for their unique nest-building behavior where workers construct nests by weaving together leaves using larval silk. However, this Pokémon appears to be based specifically on the caterpillar of the silver-spotted skipper (epargyreus clarus), as they fold leaves over themselves for shelter as they age and, when cocooning, produce silk to stick the leaves together and form its chrysalis.

So perhaps Swadloon is a little bit shy after all, huh?

Speaking of which, Sewaddle's cocoon-like evolution Swadloon definitely looks like its leaves are stuck to its body. A blanket or cloak of leaves is draped over its entire body except for its face, which Swadloon does to protect itself from the cold. It prefers dark and damp places and spends the entire day eating fallen leaves, which it uses to make nutrients that nourish the plant life in the forest. According to Bulbapedia, the appearance of Swadloon hiding in its blanket bears some resemblance to the stereotypical portrayal of people suffering from hikikomori syndrome (a term often used to refer to suddenly reclusive adolescents or adults who isolate themselves from social life in their homes for an extended period of time) in Japanese media, and its evolution into Leavanny being caused by friendship may be a lesson. However, nothing in Swadloon's Pokédex entries points to itn being such a loner, and it's definitely not the only Pokémon that evolves by friendship. Sure, it's based on a cocoon of some sort, but that's hardly a satisfying explanation for the so-called hikikomori origins Bulbapedia claims Swadloon has. Besides, its evolution Leavanny is a very nurturing and parental Pokémon that uses its arm cutters and a sticky silk it produces to create leafy clothing for small Pokémon, which is hardly a trait that can be attributed to people with an acute social anxiety disorder. What makes it more confusing is that Leavanny's Japanese name is actually Hahakomori (ハハコモリ), but komori means 'babysitting', something that is undeniably in Leavanny's nature to do. Additionally, its English name suggests that it was inspired by Levana, the ancient Roman goddess involved in rituals pertaining to childbirth. Go figure.

Amazing 3D art of Leavanny.

Leavanny itself looks a bit like an ant, which harks back to Sewaddle's possible weaver ant larva origins, although it's more likely that its design is derived from phylliidae, a family of not-so-little bugs that look like walking leaves and are more commonly known as leaf insects. Some sources suggest that Leavanny may be based on mantises, choeradodis in particular because of their laterally expanded thoraxes and abdomens, but true leaf insects actually fall under the order phasmatodea and are stick insects rather than mantises - the latter belong to the order mantodea, in fact, and are thus completely unrelated. However, Leavanny's primitive clothes-making skills and aesthetics ('dress', 'collar' and 'paned sleeves') point to it being designed after fashion in the early 1600s.

Leavanny doing some kind of ballet dance... or something.

However interesting Leavanny's origins may be, though, it is by far not a goddess in a competitive setting. It has mediocre HP and defenses, which makes it incredibly vulnerable, and its speed and attack stats don't actually make up for that entirely. Grass and bug are two of the worst offensive types in the arena and that means I don't recommend using it at all. But wait a minute, I said it was an excellent bug type to use, didn't I? Well, yeah, for in-game purposes it is actually an amazing Pokémon that can set up with Swords Dance and annihilate things with a base 103 attack stat and a moveset completed by Leaf Blade, X-Scissor and some kind of type coverage move; Steel Wing works well against fairy and ice types, the latter of which Leavanny is weak to, although Poison Jab isn't bad at all, either. Shadow Claw and Throat Chop are there as well, but both are primarily used against psychic types, and Leavanny has X-Scissor for that. Should you want to use this Pokémon in competitive despite my warnings, I'd recommend a Jolly nature to make this thing as fast as possible and the Swarm ability to make its bug-type moves hit even harder when it has less than 33% of its original HP left (ignore Overcoat and Chlorophyll, you won't need those abilities in the slightest). Let Leavanny hold a Focus Sash so that it can live a hit at full HP and pull a Sticky Web off (or perhaps even a Swarm-boosted X-Scissor after the Focus Sash is used). You should even teach Leavanny Knock Off aside from its STAB moves Leaf Blade and X-Scissor, so that it can get rid of opponent's annoying held items. Smogon even suggested some special sets involving Leaf Storm and Bug Buzz, among others, but Leavanny's base 70 special attack is abysmal in a competitive setting and there are much better special attackers out there. Galvantula, whom I have yet to review, is an excellent bug-type special attacker that can also set up Sticky Web, so I would advise you to just slap physical moves on Leavanny and be done with it.

Leavanny making clothes for its young with a sewing machine in the form of a
Mawile. I love this.

The first Unova bug type may not be the greatest in terms of competitive usage, but at least it's far better in-game than many bug types that preceded it. Leavanny is relatively strong and fast and has one of the most original designs (and origins) I have seen for a bug type so far. Honestly, I'm surprised there isn't that much more to say about this thing other than the fact that it completely deserves the high rating I'm gonna give it. In the end, Leavanny isn't one of my absolute favorites, but a rating of 4.5 stars is still nothing to sneeze at. Unfortunately, though, it is completely overshadowed by the other bug type that can be found in the interior of Pinwheel Forest...

Rating: 4.5/5

#539: Sawk

TCG art of Sawk standing in front of the Unova Pokémon League,
looking as angry as a motherfucker.

Writing this review of Sawk will hopefully be a breeze, because a lot of the things I said about Throh also apply to Sawk. First and foremost, Sawk, just like Throh itself, is based on an oni, a supernatural troll- or ogre-like creature in Japanese folklore that is stereotypically depicted as being either red or blue and is often seen wearing some kind of loinclothes. They normally have horns, and Ken Sugimori once admitted in an interview that Sawk and Throh did have horns when they were still in development, but that was ultimately changed so that they wouldn't be confused with the oriinal designs of Tornadus and Thundurus. Like Throh, Sawk practises a martial arts, but rather than judo Sawk specializes in karate. Its tall and skinny appearance points to this, as does the karategi (complete with black belt) it is wearing, just like a real karateka. This is where Sawk starts to deviate from Throh, as its Pokédex entries state that this Pokémon is very seclusive, as opposed to Throh traveling in packs of five. Sawk trains in the mountains until it has mastered the strongest karate chop possible - without intermissions or sleep - and the sound of its punches against boulders and trees can be heard from all the way down. Sawk gets angry when its training routine is interrupted, and tying its black belt gets it pumped up and makes its punches even more destructive than they already are. Whereas Throh has the tendency to throw larger opponents around without due warning, as its name suggests, Sawk is capable of delivering powerful socks with utmost precision and discipline.

Sawk looking ready to sock it to you.

Throh may look like there's a lot of brutal force behind it, but Sawk is actually the strongest of the two. At base 125, its physical attack is 25 base points higher than Throh's, and it is much faster to boot. Its base 85 speed doesn't make it one of the fastest Pokémon out there, but there are a few ways to get around that. I've seen people running a Salac Berry set, which is an amazing way to raise Sawk's speed without getting hindered by the effects of a Choice Scarf. The only downside to that is that the berry will only be consumed when Sawk's remaining HP is low, but this works tremendously well in combination with Sturdy, an ability that allows Sawk to live any hit at full HP if it would have knocked it out otherwise. This makes Sawk a perfect end-game sweeper, although there are better and more reliable ways to make use of this Pokémon. Sawk benefits greatly from a Choice Scarf, which raises its speed right away but limits it to using only one move consecutively until you switch it out. A Choice Band does the same thing with Sawk's physical attack stat, which makes it an absolute powerhouse. While both sets warrant a Jolly nature, which is even recommended when using a Choice Band, you could breed a Sawk with an Adamant nature should you decide to go for a Choice Scarf instead. The Choice Scarf makes Sawk faster anyway, and some extra power behind its attacks wouldn't hurt anybody but your opponent. Speaking of attacks, Sawk has a lot of moves in its arsenal that it can use: Close Combat is its go-to STAB move, while it has excellent coverage moves like Earthquake, Knock Off, Stone Edge, Rock Slide, Poison Jab, the elemental punches, Zen Headbutt, Throat Chop and Dual Chop to its disposal. As for abilities, I've already mentioned Sturdy, but just like Throh it gets Mold Breaker as its hidden ability, which allows it to nullify opposing Pokémon's abilities if its moves would otherwise have no effect on them. For example, Sawk can now hit Levitate Pokémon with ground-type moves, paralyze Pokémon that have Limber and even make Pokémon with Inner Focus flinch.

Speaking of Inner Focus, Sawk also has access to this ability (again, just like Throh), but as it's frail and you want it to hit first no matter what, it is not the greatest ability for it to have. Sure, there's always a chance you'll come across the occasional Pokémon whose shtick is to make your Pokémon flinch as often as possible, but the most common ones are Jirachi and Togekiss - and perhaps even Shaymin - and those are Pokémon with types that Sawk is weak to, meaning you don't want to let it stay in against them in the first place.

Bianca is totally enamored by Sawk's flexing muscles. 

I actually like Sawk well enough, but I have to say that the weird eyebrow thingsie is a little bit off-putting. Moreover, the blue on Sawk doesn't look as good as the red does on Throh, and the latter's beefy appearance and 'come-at-me-bro' stance makes it a lot more intimidating than its counterpart. Also, I don't have quite the bond with it as I do with Throh, which I know is is kind of unfair. Sawk is okay in and of itself, and when reviewing it with its origins and its counterpart Throh in mind, there is no reason why I would give it any fewer than 3.5 stars.

P.S.: Does anybody have the feeling that Sawk should have gotten Guts and Throh should have gotten Sturdy? I think Sawk, having such mediocre HP and defenses, has no business having Sturdy as its primary ability in the first place, but I guess that's just me.

Rating: 3.5/5

#538: Throh

Two male-only fighting-type counterparts with their own specific martial art specialty... Hmmm, does anybody have any idea where I've seen that before?

All jokes aside, though, Hitmonlee and Hitmonchan share their pre-evolution Tyrogue with each other and so they're technically both part of an evolution line, which means I reviewed them simultaneously (along with their third counterpart Hitmontop). Such a thing won't be happening with Throh and Sawk, especially since they will receive different ratings as well.

Throh as seen in TCG. This drawing is actually pretty accurate
as well: one of Throh's Pokédex entries states that this Pokémon
always travels in packs of five.

Even though they have a lot of things in common aesthetically, Throh - red-skinned and beefy and apparently specializes in judo - is unequivocally the opposite of Sawk, who is blue and thin and seems to specialize in the more offense-oriented martial art karate. First and foremost, though, both Pokémon are based on oni, some kind of ogre or troll creatures in Japanese folklore that are usually red or blue and are typically portrayed as hulking fugures with one or more horns growing out of their heads. In fact, according to interviews with Ken Sugimori in Nintendo Dream, Sawk and Throh both had horns when they were still in development. Game Freak did this to make these Pokémon look more like oni, but the horns were ultimately omitted in their final designs and replaced with eyebrows so as not to clash with Thundurus and Tornadus, who were both originally designed to be red and blue. To tie in with the fact that oni are often portrayed wearing something, usually loinclothes, Throh looks like a judoka wearing a white judogi with a black belt, the latter of which it actually weaves from vines and ties around its waist to increase its own power. Throh is driven by an irresistable urge to throw larger opponents, probably trying to prove itself compared to Sawk, who is taller and physically stronger.

Sawk (left) and Throh (right).

However, Sawk is also as breakable as a toothpick, while Throh has above-average defenses and a massive base 120 HP stat, allowing to live a hit from anything that isn't super-effective on it - and sometimes even when a move is super-effective. It takes on the role of Hitmonchan substitute in that regard, as that Pokémon is also a bit more defensive than Hitmonlee, although the latter is just slightly faster and more aggressive and has the same special defense stat as Hitmonchan. Throh, on the other hand, has a significantly better HP stat than Sawk and is much less offensive-oriented than its counterpart as well. The problem with that is that Throh doesn't learn a whole lot of support moves to go with its defensive disposition. Sure, there's Rest and Sleep Talk, but that usually means that Sleep Talk will select Rest when Throh is asleep because of Rest. I'm not a huge fan of this combination - except on a Pokémon that can actually pull it off quite well, like Suicune - and I'd recommend you go for an offensive set. Nothing crazy, mind you, but at least Throh learns a few nifty moves that are available to only a handful of other Pokémon: Storm Throw has a base power of 60 but always results in a critical hit, while Circle Throw has decreased priority but forces the opposing Pokémon to retreat to its Poké Ball. Throh doesn't mind the decreased priority anyway, because it's slow as hell to begin with. In fact, a moveset consisting of Bulk Up, Circle Throw/Storm Throw, Rest and Knock Off isn't that bad, as long as you give Throh a Careful nature to give its special defense a small boost and let it hold the Leftovers so that it can heal up a bit of its HP every turn. Throh also has access to a few great coverage moves if you need them. Poison Jab comes in handy against fairy types; Stone Edge, Rock Slide, Ice Punch or Thunder Punch are perfect against flying types; and Fire Punch, Earthquake and Zen Headbutt are overall handy moves against Pokémon that Throh can't touch with its STAB moves, like bug and poison types.

The trickiest is determining Throh's ability, though. Guts increases Throh's defense by 50% when it suffers from a non-volatile status condition and is amazing when it gets burned or paralyzed (poison is more annoying and takes more HP from Throh every turn than a burn does). As this Pokémon is slow, it is very susceptible to flinching, and Inner Focus prevents that altogether. Finally, Mold Breaker ignores the effects of abilities that could potentially affect the damage or effects of a move that Throh executes, meaning, for example, that Throh can bypass Levitate and use Earthquake as it goddamn well pleases.

A Throh figurine, with its counterpart Sawk standing in the background.

Design-wise, I like Throh a lot more than Sawk: in this case, red looks better than blue, beefy looks better than skinny, and the T-shaped unibrow (which probably wasn't intentional... right?) isn't as stupid-looking on Throh as the reversed S on Sawk. While I like Hitmonlee and Hitmonchan - and even Hitmontop - more or less equally, this isn't the case with Throh and Sawk at all. I even did a Pokémon Y Wonderlocke once, in which I got a Throh that pulled me and the rest of my team through pretty much 95% of the game, until I was so stupid not to heal it when it was facing a fucking Crustle with Rock Wrecker. I have to say I got a bit attached to this bulky bruiser, and for all of the reasons I mentioned I'm giving it a solid 4-star rating.

Rating: 4/5

#535 - #537: Tympole, Palpitoad & Seismitoad

The Machop and Poliwag families almost sit back to back in the Kanto Pokédex, with the Abra line spoiling the fun for them; in Unova we actually get to discuss Tympole, Palpitoad and Seismitoad right after we're done with the Timburr line.

Official art of Tymple, drawn by Ken Sugimori.

To be honest with you, I've always been a little underwhelmed by Tympole and its evolutions, as there doesn't seem to be anything that makes them distinctive enough from the Poliwag family to warrant their very existence. I mean, they even have the same color scheme! Sure, they have supersonic abilities, but I can name a few other Pokémon that have the exact same powers; and when it comes to Seismitoad's typing (water/ground), it is heavily outclassed by the likes of Swampert and Gastrodon, and perhaps even Quagsire. That is not to say that Tympole isn't interesting at all design-wise, as its face looks as flat as a drum, the half-spheres on the side of its head make it look like it's wearing headphones and its eyebrows look like little musical notes. The aforementioned 'headphones' - or 'loudspeakers', rather - are actually rhythmically vibrated by Tympole to create a sound so high-pitched that it is imperceptible to humans, in order to communicate with others of its kind and warn them of danger. They also look like a toad's 'warts' or poison glands, although Tympole's name and Pokédex entries point to them being based on a tympanum, an external hearing structure in animals such as mammals, birds, some reptiles, some amphibians and even some insects. In frogs and toads, the organ is large and oval-shaped and is visibly located behind the eye, while it is simply used to transmit sound waves to the inner parts of the amphibian's ear. Heck, I already said Tympole's face looks like a drum, so its name might very well be derived from big Italian percussion instruments called timpani - also known as kettledrums.

Honestly, Palpitoad is a weird-looking Pokémon in every way
possible: limbless, warty, kinda plump... not Game Freak's best
effort to date. 

Unfortunately, the musical theme is dropped when Tympole evolves into Palpitoad, and the only thing that Palpitoad does that Tympole doesn't is using its ability to vibrate to create giant waves when it's underwater or earthquakes when it's on land - even though it cannot learn Earthquake in any way, shape or form. Palpitoad is a ground type and therefore it's capable to live on land just fine, which means it is based on a toad rather than a frog, but like Poliwhirl it is still a water type - and yes, I do still hold on to my belief that Poliwhirl and Poliwrath are grown-ass frogs, not tadpoles. Also, the bumps on Palpitoad's back, its more toad-like appearance and its ability to create vibrations underwater are derivative of the common Suriname toad, an aquatic amphibian whose back is covered in pockets that hold its eggs - although strangely, Palpitoad's Japanese name Gamagaru (ガマガル) is a corruption of gamagaeru and suggests that it is based on the Japanese common toad instead. Hell, its German name Mebrana even includes rana, a genus of frogs, which is... ahem, NOT what Palpitoad is based on at all. Come the fuck on, Game Freak. You're not gonna tell me you can't be at least a little bit consistent, are you?

"Come at me, bro!"

But then there's big, bad Seismitoad, and I have to say it has grown on me quite a bit. It is good design-wise, at least as far as toads go, and characteristically it has found many more ways to make use of the 'warts' found all over its body. Seismitoad can make all of its lumps vibrate at will, obviously, but it uses this function to make tormenting sounds and catch opponents off guard (unironically, the two bumps right above its eyes may be based on the bells of a traditional alarm clock, an invention that has been tormenting people ever since it came into existence). Some lumps have specific capabilities: the ones on Seismitoad's head can be used to spray a paralyzing liquid - which in my opinion is simply masked language for some kind of poison - and the ones on its fists can be vibrated to give more power to its punches, allowing it to turn a big boulder into rubble within seconds. Seismitoad's punching ability can actually be really dangerous if not controlled, because its hands will vibrate with the resonant frequency of the object about to be hit (in physics, resonance is a phenomenon in which a vibrating system drives another system to oscillate with greater amplitude at specific frequencies), causing extra, devastating damage to said object. Buildings can sway or collapse entirely, while for living creatures it could cause internal organ damage to the extent of possibly rupturing them. Sounds quite lethal, doesn't it?

Seismitoad being protective of its young.

Yeah, well, the problem with that is that Seismitoad isn't very good at punching things when it comes to competitive. Focus Punch is generally not recommended on any Pokémon and Ice Punch should be used on a Pokémon with more offensive presence (Mega Swampert, anyone?), which leaves Drain Punch as the only viable option for Seismitoad to use. And even then Seismitoad can be put to better use by giving it a support moveset of some sort, which should consist of Scald, Stealth Rock and the classic Toxic/Protect combo - or perhaps you could ditch Protect and give it Knock Off instead, so you can get rid of opposing Pokémon's held items. Combine this moveset with the Leftovers, the ability Water Absorb and a Bold nature (lowers its physical attack, but even though that stat is ten base points higher than its special attack, its only offensive move - which is Scald - is special-based), and you'll have a tanky water/ground type that isn't that easy to take down. And yes, alright, Seismitoad's defensive stats aren't very good in and of themselves, but its excellent HP more than makes up for that. There is one offensive set that could actually work, though: a Swift Swim set with a Life Orb and a Modest nature. Swift Swim doubles Seismitoad's average speed when it's raining on the battlefield, so if you somehow manage to let another teammate set up the rain for Seismitoad, you've got a very decent sweeper on your hands. There are exactly four good special moves of different types that Seismitoad can learn, too: Hydro Pump, Earth Power, Focus Blast and Sludge Wave, although you could opt to slap Surf on Seismitoad for more accuracy (100%, against the 80% of Hydro Pump). Seismitoad has access to a lot more physical moves than special moves, so a physical moveset is possible, but keep in mind that Seismitoad cannot learn a single physical-based water-type move, which kind of defeats the purpose of a rain set in the first place.

Seismitoad and its little babies.

I like Seismitoad. It may look hideous, but toads aren't pretty creatures to begin with and Game Freak can't make all Pokémon look aesthetically pleasing. This Pokémon is fine for what it is. Technically, there was no need for it, especially since all other water/ground dual-type Pokémon (Quagsire, Swampert, Whiscash and Gastrodon) serve as bulky support Pokémon, but it is obvious that Game Freak were aiming for at last some Kanto rip-offs during the production of Black and White. This time I'll forgive them for being such lazy asses, because if anything, Seismitoad is just a well-designed Pokémon. The only thing that could have been different aesthetically is Seismitoad's color palette, which should have been green/brown - or something along those lines - to make it at least a little bit more distinctive from Poliwrath design-wise. Then again, if that had been the case, people probably would have thought that it was a Politoed rip-off or something.

Rating: 4/5