#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