#258 - #260: Mudkip, Marshtomp & Swampert

A part of the July 2014 issue of the Japanese manga magazine
CoroCoro Comic was made into a variation of an old Mudkip
meme. 

Goddamn, Mega Swampert is on steroids, I'm tellin' ya. Look at the motherfucker in the image on the right and tell me it's not swallowing anabolic substances. Mega Swampert looks like a bodybuilder whose muscles and veins are fit to burst, so it might be best for it to quit that synthetic crap. All jokes aside, though, the image on the right is an excerpt from the July 2014 issue of the Japanese manga magazine CoroCoro Comic, in which Mega Sceptile, Mega Diancie and Mega Swampert were revealed for Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire. It was made into a variation of an old Mudkip meme called "So I herd u liek Mudkipz" (in correct English: "I heard you like Mudkip"), as Mudkip is Swampert's basic stage. The new phrase said, "I herd u liek MURDER", which was due to Mega Swampert's ridiculously bulky appearance. It didn't quite catch on, as the Mudkip meme had died off about two or three years previous, but at least it made me snigger a little. That's mainly because I knew the "So I herd u liek Mudkipz" meme existed, although I never quite understood it. Apparently it originated in 2005 with the DeviantArt group MudKipClub, an account founded as a place for users to share their love for Mudkip and its evolutions by submitting fan art of them. The owner of the community started posting the phrase "So I herd u like Mudkips" ('heard' probably unintentionally misspelled) on other users' comment walls as an invitation to join the MudKipClub community. The phrase catched on and other users started to post variations of it in comment sections on forums of sites like Fark and Reddit. The spelling of 'like' and 'Mudkips' - although it's more common for Pokémon names to stay the same in plural - slowly changed into 'liek' and 'Mudkipz', and by 2009 the latter two dominated as opposed to their 'original' spellings.

An adorable little Mudkip playing in the mud. 

It's curious that, of all Pokémon, Mudkip became a meme. I mean... it's cute and all, but if this "So I herd u liek Mudkipz" thing hadn't become a famous Internet meme, it would easily have been one of the most forgettable starter Pokémon. That's my opinion, anyway, and it's mostly based on the fact that Mudkip is supposed to be an axolotl, an animal that was already the inspiration for the design of Wooper. Mudkip does have some features that could resemble those of axolotls, but its classification as the 'Mud Fish Pokémon' might refer to gilled African lungfish. Additionally, its Japanese name Mizugorou (ミズゴロウ) contains the word mutsugorō and indicates - along with the English name of Mudkip - that this Pokémon is based on a mudskipper, while its German name Hydropi refers to the mudpuppy. It's unsurprising Mudkip keeps being compared to an axolotl though, as all above-mentioned critters have some of the features axolotls have as well. At least they're all a little slippery, I imagine. As far as Pokédex entries go, Mudkip can use the sensitive radar receptors on its headfin to determine changes in air and water currents and that's pretty much all there is to say about it.

Up: someone made a collage of Marshtomp's
disquieting Gen. VI sprite. Just what we needed,
right? Down: HELP, AN INVASION OF
MARSHTOMP! RUN FOR YOUR LIVES!!!

Mudkip evolves into what is probably the most awkward middle stage of a starter Pokémon I have ever seen. Marshtomp looks both goofy and creepy, and for the most part I can attribute that to its unsettling eyes in combination with its wide mouth. Have you seen its frickin' Gen. VI sprite??? Swampert has the same eyes, but at least it looks a little more intimidating than Marshtomp, whereas the latter is supposed to be somewhat cute. Except it doesn't look cute to me, and I also don't like its design as a whole. As for its Pokédex entries, none actually stood out. Its has a thin, sticky film enveloping its body that enables it to live on land, but it likes to play in and moves faster through mud than actual water. It looks up mud pools when it becomes weak and dehydrated due to its skin drying out and wants to replenish its fluids. Eh. I'm sure mudskippers are called that way for a goddamn reason. Marshtomp's headfin does resemble a murmillo helmet, a helmet worn by a type of gladiator during the Roman Imperial age, and it might be evidence of Swampert's oncoming destructive abilities (note that Mudkip is already stronger than it looks, as it can smash rocks that are bigger than itself, and Mudkip is a mere 1'04"). Swampert, who can apparently be both bipedal and quadrupedal according to its game sprites, is where all the excitement is. Most of its Pokédex entries elaborate on what Mudkip's entries have told us, like Swampert's ability to sense the most subtle of changes and differences in the sounds of waves and tidal winds and its tremendous strength: it can move boulders weighing more than a ton, is capable of towing a gigantic ship while swimming, and propels through water faster than a jet ski. Swampert's vision is excellent, as it can see perfectly in even the murkiest bodies of water.

This piece of fan art perfectly demonstrates how badass
Swampert is.

Most of Swampert's flavor doesn't follow through in the games, though; it is quite slow, and Muddy Water still has terrible accuracy compared to Surf. Game Freak didn't lie about its power, though, as its base 110 attack stat is absolutely nothing to sneeze at. With base 100 HP and 90 defenses, it even has some considerable bulk behind it. which makes it more than viable as a Relaxed- or Impish-natured support Pokémon with moves like Stealth Rock, Roar and an attacking move or two rather than a powerhouse. Let it hold the Leftovers and it will endure the battle for quite some time. When you run a Careful or Sassy nature (both boost its special defense) you can run a Curse set, which allows Swampert to pump up its attack and defense and annihilate incoming foes. It becomes super fast as Mega Swampert, however, due to its excellent Swift Swim ability. If you set up the rain, this ability will activate and double Mega Swampert's speed stat, allowing it to sweep pretty much everything but grass types with its base 150 attack stat. All it needs is Rain Dance, Waterfall, Earthquake and Ice Punch, although it learns Hammer Arm, Rock Slide, Stone Edge, Aqua Tail, Iron Tail and Power-Up Punch if you need any these moves. This Rain Dance strategy doesn't explicitly require a Jolly nature, so you can max out its attack stat by slapping an Adamant nature on it. Take note of this, though: an Impish nature on a regular Swampert doesn't work if you want to use the special-based Scald as support, and due to its speed, an Adamant nature on a regular Swampert is more effective if you want to go the offensive way.

Instead of getting carried away about how awesome Swampert is, I'm giving you a
heap of adorable Mudkipsies, because "I herd u liek Mudkipz". 

Swampert is amazing. I never used it in the days of Ruby and Sapphire, but I have gotten a newfound love for this slimy badass - or, more specifically, its Mega - since I used it a couple of times in Omega Ruby and realized this thing is just as good as the other Hoenn starters. Hoenn is by far not my favorite region and the Hoenn Pokémon aren't really my favorite, but I have to say the starters of this region are the absolute best, no exceptions. This is the first - and only - generation in which I'm giving all of the starters perfect ratings, and I don't regret it.

Rating: 5/5

#255 - #257: Torchic, Combusken & Blaziken

From an incredibly badass plant lizard we move on to... an oversized chicken. An awesome oversized chicken, that is.

Awww, our cute little chickie!

Of course, every oversized chicken starts off as a chick. Torchic is the perfectly adorable starter Pokémon, and like we can expect from a chick it follows its Trainer with an unsteady gait. It keeps a flame somewhere in its belly that causes it to feel warm when it is hugged, which - in combination with its own fluffy coat - will give its Trainer a warm feeling indeed. When Torchic is attacked, it will shoot fireballs with a temperature up to 1,800°F resulting from above-mentioned internal flame. It should be mentioned that Torchic's Japanese name is Achamo (アチャモ), which is derived from the shamo, a breed of chicken once bred and raised for cockfights. As Torchic evolves into Combusken, it gains the fighting type, which set the tone for Game Freak to create Gen. IV and Gen. V fire/fighting starters as well. Maybe they noticed Blaziken's overwhelming popularity and decided to build from there, but by the time Emboar was announced, everybody had come to hate new fire/fighting starters tremendously. I mean, you can pull off the same trick twice in a row, but three times? No. And let's be frank here: a skinny ape and a fat boar aren't quite as impressive as an oversized chicken that beats the crap out of everybody, right? (Yes, I know the phrase 'oversized chicken' has a negative connotation to it, but I don't mean it that way, I swear.)

Pretty cool fan art of Combusken, who seems to be sparring
with Braixen. 

But Torchic and its evolutions are not only based on the shamo chicken. There's a creature in Japanese mythology called the basan - or, alternatively, the basabasa or inuhōō - which is a fowl-like bird that resembles a large chicken and breathes a cold, ghostly fire. The only difference, of course, is that Torchic and its evolutions produce scorching hot flames... Anyway, let's continue with Combusken, a Pokémon that is so engrossed in training every day that its powerful legs can dish out up to ten kicks per second. Combusken is noisy while it fights, producing sharp cries that distract and intimidate its opponent and boost its own confidence and concentration. As a Blaziken, its legs have developed and muscled up so much that it can use techniques Combusken cannot, such as Blaze Kick and High Jump Kick. What's more, its legs are actually so powerful that they allow Blaziken to leap over 30-story buildings. However, not only its kicks are devastating; its punches are also very dangerous, and that's because of the white-hot flames that come out of its wrists, which burn more intensely the tougher the foe is and leave them scorched and blackened. Blaziken even has a Mega evolution, who hones the power of its kicks and even experiences a burning feeling from the friction of the surrounding atmosphere as it unleashes a flurry of savage kicks. As Mega Blaziken's body temperature increases, its power and speed continue to ramp up.

Blaziken as seen in Pokkén Tournament.

In that regard, the Speed Boost ability is quite fitting on (Mega) Blaziken, but when I take a look at its moves I'm surprised it didn't get Reckless. It's an ability that boosts the power of recoil moves by 20%, and moves like High Jump Kick, Brave Bird and Flare Blitz would greatly benefit from it. Speed Boost ain't bad though, and when a hidden ability Blaziken Mega-evolves, it retains that ability. That, in combination with a potential Swords Dance and Blaziken's formidable attacking stats, makes both Blaziken and its Mega form so incredibly powerful that they were bundled off to Smogon's Uber tier. Both can be used as mixed attackers, but they lean more towards a physical moveset, especially when you consider they have easy access to Swords Dance. Blaziken's physical movepool is also extensive to such an extent that a special moveset would be stretching it. I mean, you can run Overheat or Fire Blast instead of - or next to - Flare Blitz, just because the latter deals so much recoil damage to Blaziken, but aside from that a late-game Swords Dance sweep is very much preferable. Just note that you need to let Blaziken carry a Blazikenite when you want to Mega-evolve it, but that a Life Orb or Choice Band would suffice if you don't. And because you're running Speed Boost on Blaziken by default (ain't nobody want to use the Blaze ability; this ability fires up fire-type moves when Blaziken gets below 33% health, but it doesn't have the defenses to make good use of it), you can just slap an Adamant nature on it, no problem. You can even give it the move Protect, so you can get a free speed increase.

Amazing fan art of Mega Blaziken. Yes, the fire 'ribbons' on its wrist are part of
its design. 

Yup, Blaziken is a monster and a fan favorite, and the fact that it got a Mega before Sceptile and Swampert only supports that statement. I always ended up choosing either Treecko or Torchic as my Hoenn starter, just because I thought their final evos were awesome (they still are). Sceptile is still my favorite starter Pokémon ever, but I love Blaziken as well and I certainly think it deserves a perfect rating.

Next up is Swampert. Oh man, you gotta love the Hoenn starters!

Rating: 5/5

#252 - #254: Treecko, Grovyle & Sceptile

Fan art of Treecko (on top of Sceptile), Grovyle (left) and
Sceptile (right).

It's time to enter the Hoenn region, and what better way to do that than to start off with the best starter Pokémon ever? I am, of course, talking about Sceptile. Its pre-evolution Treecko, however, is a feisty little thing. It is a cool, calm and collected Pokémon in dire situations and almost never gets upset, although it is bold enough to hold staredowns with opponents larger than itself. While it is clearly based on the leaf-tailed gecko, a species of lizard that blends in with plant-like appendages, the digits on Treecko's hands and feet have small hooks rather than adhesive toepads and enable it to scale vertical walls with ease. It is even able to predict the next day's weather by sensing humidity with its tail. Grovyle isn't all that interesting; it has stronger muscles than Treecko and is known for its dexterity in the treetops, as it has powerful legs that allow him to leap from branch to branch with astounding agility, which I'm sure Treecko is able to do to some extent as well. The leaves protruding from Grovyle's body are used for camouflage, which is not surprising for a Pokémon that is based off of geckos. And while Bulbapedia states that Grovyle - and Sceptile, for that matter - resembles certain species of dinosaurs appearance-wise, I still consider the whole evolution line lizards, geckos in particular.

This Treecko wants to be a Sceptile so badly that it is dressed
in a Sceptile tracksuit. So adorable.

I mean, there were some feathered bipedal dinosaurs, and the leaves on Grovyle's arms do give it some aesthetic similarities to dromaeosaurus and protarchaeopteryx, but where is the collar-like appendage on Sceptile that the dilophosaur is so well-known for nowadays? Or did Michael Crichton and Jurassic Park's scenarists make it up entirely? I don't think so. No, I'm sticking with leaf-tailed geckos, and you can take that quite literally: Sceptile has a leafed tail that looks like the tree branch of a conifer. Also, its behavior seems to be more plant-like than lizard-like, as it seems to be basking in sunlight to regulate its body temperature. Sceptile also has two rows of yellow nodules on its back, which are described as seeds with nourishing effects and the ability to revitalize trees. This gives Sceptile resemblances to leguminous plants with nitrogen stored in nodes of their roots, while the seeds or seed pods of these legumes contain quite some nutrients, too: well-known examples that can be included in a healthy diet are peas, beans, peanuts, lentils and soybeans. Aesthetically, the rows of nodes on Sceptile's back - especially when it comes to shiny and Mega Sceptile - bear resemblances to seed cones of certain yew trees. And considering the entire Treecko line's relation to trees, this affiliation is not too farfetched.

Official art of Mega Sceptile, which is one of my favorite Megas
to date. The tail is longer than regular Sceptile's and can be fired
at opponents like a missile.

Unfortunately, Sceptile has been nerfed in Gen. IV, making its then signature move Leaf Blade a physical move while Sceptile itself was more of a special attacker. It is still more of a special attacker, but its physical movepool is so much better. Crunch and Dragon Claw were two of its best special-based coverage moves because of their typings, but since the Gen. IV physical/special split they're physical. Furthermore, Sceptile learns Earthquake, Outrage, Iron Tail, Thunder Punch, Drain Punch, Rock Slide, X-Scissor and Brick Break, whereas the best special-based moves it can get are several grass-type moves like Leaf Storm and Energy Ball and two coverage moves in Focus Blast and Dragon Pulse. Dragon-type moves do get a STAB boost upon Mega-evolving, but it's basically adding insult to injury. However, I personally like a physical Sceptile more than a special one, although this is mainly because of its insanely large physical movepool and access to Swords Dance. Like, Mega Sceptile's base attack stat is still a solid 110, so it isn't bad by any means, although its base 145 special attack and ability Lightning Rod (draws in electric-type moves, nullifies them and raises Mega Sceptile's special attack by one stage afterwards) inarguably make it more of a special attacker. And you know what? A special moveset is the most efficient and most utilized moveset on Sceptile, but a Swords Dance set is so much more fun to use, only because of its gigantic physical movepool. And because its base 145 speed is already insane to begin with, you can easily run an Adamant nature instead of a Jolly nature; barring any Pokémon holding a Choice Scarf, it'll outspeed everything anyway.

Ash's Sceptile, with its signature twig.

Sceptile, and especially its Mega form, is my favorite starter Pokémon to date, although I have to say they're gonna be surpassed by Litten and Torracat and whatever their final evolution will be when Pokémon Sun and Moon drop. And I'm not joking this time. Of course, Sceptile will forever be one of my favorite Pokémon, not in the least because Ash owned a Sceptile that showed some serious badassery and personality in the anime. It already came up with and perfected new variations of certain moves when it was still a Treecko or Grovyle, but as a Sceptile it started keeping a twig in its mouth like a banchō, a Japanese juvenile gang leader. This character type was very common in sixties and early seventies manga and anime and it gave Sceptile a little bit more of a mischievous personality, which I loved. By the way, have you seen Sceptile's shiny form? Gorgeous. This factor, and all of the other factors described above, at least result in a perfect rating from me on this blog.

Rating: 5/5

#249: Lugia

Film poster for the second Pokémon movie.

I am going to have so much fun writing this. This is even going to be the article I'm having the most fun writing since Togetic's entry, because Lugia is my second favorite Pokémon in existence. Of course, I fell in love with this thing when I saw the second Pokémon movie, Pokémon the Movie 2000: The Power of One. This movie also made me grow more affective towards Articuno, who is one of my favorite Pokémon ever and by far my favorite Kanto legendary. The plot is fairly simple: Lawrence III, a wealthy collector of the world's most valuable antiques, is out to capture the legendary birds Articuno, Zapdos and Moltres, but only in order to capture the more powerful Lugia. After Lawrence provokes Moltres by shooting ice cannons at its habitat and succeeds in capturing it on Fire Island, the world's climate begins to change. It seems that a prophecy, guarded by a talking Slowking, is about to come true and a disaster is on its way:

"Disturb not the harmony of fire, ice or lightning, lest these titans wreak destruction upon the world in which they clash. Though the water's great guardian shall arise to quell the fighting, alone its song will fail, and thus the Earth shall turn to ash. O Chosen One, into thine hands bring together all three. Their treasures combined tame the Beast of the Sea."

Lugia being awesome in the second Pokémon movie. It is using
Aeroblast in order to repel the iron triangles Lawrence III used
for capturing Moltres and Zapdos.

Meanwhile, Ash Ketchum and his friends Misty and Tracey - the latter of whom temporarily replaced Brock in the Orange Islands saga - end up in the middle of a storm, after which they get washed ashore on the beach of Shamouti Island. There, they meet the islanders, who are celebrating their annual festival following the prophecy's tale. When Ash is introduced as a Pokémon Trainer, the islanders become excited because they think he is the Chosen One spoken of in the prophecy (the "And thus the Earth shall turn to ash" part). Ash sets out on a mission and tries to retrieve the three glass orbs also spoken of in the prophecy, bringing them back to Shamouti's shrine where a girl called Melody will play the same tune she played at the festival - a tune similar to Lugia's cry. Of course, nothing goes as planned and Lawrence III even manages to capture Zapdos on Lightning Island, after which Ash teams up with Team Rocket in order to free Zapdos and the already captured Moltres. Once freed, the birds start to fight each other and venture out let Articuno, whom Lawrence is trying to capture at that moment, join the fight, destroying Lawrence's ship in the process. Lugia, noticing the commotion from the very bottom of the ocean, ascends and attempts to interrupt the fight. The rest of the movie shows Lugia getting injured, the legendary birds fighting each other, Lawrence III frustrating Ash's plans and Ash succeeding in bringing the orbs to the shrine. Peace returns and Articuno, Zapdos and Moltres return to their respective caves and Lugia returns to the bottom of the ocean.

Ritchie and Sparky (left) and Ash and his own Pikachu (right)
with the baby Lugia dubbed Silver, an obvious reference to the
game.  

I was absolutely awestruck by the appearance of Lugia when I first watched the movie, and when I caught it in the first game I ever played (Pokémon Silver) I trained it all the way up to level 100. It was the first Pokémon of mine reaching level 100 and I was mighty proud of it, goddammit. From then on, my love for Lugia became kind of an obsession, and I was absolutely ecstatic when Lugia appeared in an anime three-parter, consisting of the episodes "The Mystery Is History", "A Parent Trapped!" and "A Promise Is a Promise". In these, Ash and his friends bump into Ritchie, a boy whom Ash befriended earlier on in the Johto saga. Ritchie says he was told about a mysterious Pokémon and that he had spent extensive time researching the area. His story soon proves to be true when they meet a young boy called Oliver, who is acquainted with a baby Lugia he dubbed Silver. However, the young Lugia is accidentally discovered by Team Rocket (a scientist called Dr. Namba and a Rocket grunt, not Jessie and James), who capture it by luring it with a decoy. They hope to capture the parent Lugia soon, and they succeed when the furious parent whips up a storm upon hearing the news from Ash and Ritchie and falls right into their trap when it tries to rescue its child. Ash and Ritchie try to warn it, but are interrupted by Butch and Cassidy and ultimately end up in a cage in Team Rocket's underwater base themselves, along with Misty and Brock.

Lugia cuteness overload.

The last episode is probably the most action-packed one of the bunch, or at least the most suspenseful one. Dr. Namba enters the room where Ash and his friends are held and explains his evil plan: the head items Butch's Houndour and Cassidy's Hitmontop were wearing earlier in their fight with Ash and Ritchie are actually devices that enhance a Pokémon's energy, and Namba wants to use one of these amplifiers on the parent Lugia. Meanwhile, Oliver is still out and about and decides to go rescue the bunch. Upon entering Team Rocket's base he is helped by Jessie and James, who tell him where Ash and the rest are. Just as Dr. Namba is about to test his amplifiers on Pikachu and Sparky (Ritchie's Pikachu), Oliver quietly breaks into the room and punches in the lock code of the cage, enabling Ash to break out and slam himself into Namba.

After that they try to flee, but Namba sets off an alarm and the bunch is forced to fight Butch and Cassidy again. Luckily, Ash and Ritchie now know what the head items are for and order their Pikchu to destroy them and finish off Houndour and Hitmontop. As Butch and Cassidy flee the scene to ensure the parent Lugia doesn't go anywhere, they run into Jessie and James trying to set the Lugia free. A battle ensues and a dodged Flamethrower from the Houndour destroys one of the supports for the energy barrier that is keeping Lugia in. While Ash and Ritchie are stopped by Namba and his amplified Electabuzz when they try to rescue the baby Lugia, the parent Lugia severely damages the base, causing it to float to the water surface. Meanwhile, Ash's Pikachu distracts the Electabuzz so that Sparky has a chance to electrify Namba and his little controller for the energy amplifier.

Of course, the gang manage to free the baby Lugia and escape the base, but not before persuading the parent Lugia to stop going rampant and gaining its trust. This is demonstrated by a piece of debris falling on the gang, which is stopped by the parent Lugia when it sees they saved its child. In the evening, Lugia and its child head for the ocean, probably never to return.

Shadow Lugia from Pokémon XD: Gale of Darkness.

You guys don't understand how much I ADORE Lugia. The three-episode Lugia arc is my favorite part of the anime, the second movie is my all-time favorite Pokémon movie, and the Crystal Lugia I have - although I have to say that I don't collect the TCG cards anymore - is the best card I possess. For the longest time Lugia was my favorite Pokémon ever, until Luxray came along in 2007 and Lugia was pushed back to a solid second place. Although... it might lose that spot to the recently revealed Torracat, because I am absolutely IN LOVE with that Pokémon already. Anyway, can you blame me for loving Lugia? Lugia manages to maintain a certain air of beauty and majesticness while still looking savage. It also seems to get more love from Game Freak, Nintendo and The Pokémon Company than its counterpart Ho-Oh, and rightfully so: it gets a movie and an anime three-parter, and it is the mascot of three games, making it the record holder of most number of times used as a game mascot. Silver and SoulSilver are obviously two of them, but a Shadow Lugia is proudly occupying the cover of Pokémon XD: Gale of Darkness, the GameCube follow-up to Pokémon Colosseum. In Gale of Darkness, the criminal organization Cipher have rekindled their desire for world domination and created a Shadow Lugia codenamed XD001, claimed to be immune to purification. Naturally, it is your objective to thwart Team Cipher's plans and rescue this Lugia.

Awesome realistic art of Lugia, who resembles a plesioaur in
this picture. No wonder, as it is probably based on one. 

But Lugia's origin plays a big role in my love for this Pokémon, too. As demonstrated by the image on the left, Lugia is probably based on the extinct plesiosaur, although the name could be a reference to the beluga whale. It could also come from 'lutetium', a silverish element, and the Latin lugeo, which means 'to lie dormant', alluding to the way Lugia lies at the bottom of the sea. Speaking about that, Lugia may be based on the Japanese Shintō god of the sea, the dragon Ryūjin, as the two have similarities in mythology and Lugia's shiny colors even match those of the coral Ryūjin's palace was made of. And the ocean floor seems to be a big part of the mysterious 'Guardian of the Seas': it isolates itself in a deep-sea trench and tends to sleep in solitude, because the storms it could hypothetically spawn by flapping its wings can last as long as 40 days and could potentially inflict devastating damage. It is said that even a light flutter of its wings is capable of causing winds powerful enough to tear down cliffs and blow apart regular houses. Because of these traits, many people believe Lugia should have been a water/flying type instead of a psychic/flying type, and I am inclined to agree with them. It doesn't take anything away from my love for it, but psychic is kind of a weird type for Lugia and I think it should have been a water type. Even some TCG cards erroneously depict it as a water type. Go figure.

This artist used Lugia's official art for their work,
but it looks absolutely amazing!

In the games, Lugia is not as powerful. Its base attack and special attack are 'only' 90, which are decent for common Pokémon but seem to be disappointing on a legendary Pokémon with a base stat total of 680. Luckily, base 90 special attack is very decent to work with, although its base 106 HP, 130 defense and 154 special defense make it more of a wall than an offensive threat. With base 110 speed it is even quite speedy, and you don't see a lot of tanks that can move fast in the competitive metagame. Lugia has access to Multiscale, which is an ability that lets Lugia take half the damage from an incoming move when it is at full HP, making it even more defensive. A Bold nature makes it physically defensive, while a Calm nature makes it specially defensive; both make sure its special attack isn't hindered. It is used to set up screens like Light Screen and Reflect, making your whole team take one hit after another. It can use Toxic or Thunder Wave to inflict a status condition on the foe, Whirlwind to remove opponents that are setting up from the battlefield, and Recover for some reliable healing - alongside a little Leftovers recovery every turn. The Smogon set mentions Roost, but I'd recommend Recover; it is easily learned by Lugia at level 71, heals the same amount of HP as Roost does, has more PP and doesn't make Lugia vulnerable to ground-type moves the following turn. And if you do want an offensive Lugia, I'd recommend a Timid nature and the held item Choice Specs, because its special movepool is better than its physical movepool - although on both sides of the spectrum it learns conspicuously many water-type moves. Hmm...

Lugia (left) battling Shadow Lugia (right). And there is even more amazing fan art to
be found on the Internet; I'd recommend you go check it out.

Man, man, man. This Pokémon will probably never lose its spot as my second favorite Pokémon (the Torracat comment was a joke, although I'm absolutely fanboying over that adorable Pokémon already); I thought it was harsh to let Luxray dethrone Lugia as my favorite Pokémon, but I cannot control my feelings for certain Pokémon. This is also one of the longest articles I've written - Pikachu and Eevee's are longer, I think - but Lugia is worth every second I've spent writing about it. Although it has been pushed back to a second place, that second place is still nothing to sneeze at; and in any case, it is still my favorite legendary Pokémon ever. Just sayin'.

Rating: 5/5

#245: Suicune

This might well be the shortest article I'll write about the legendary beasts; not only have I said quite some things about Suicune when I talked about Raikou and Entei in my previous two posts, but Suicune is also the easiest to write about somehow.

This environment seems about right for Suicune, It might not be
an ice-type Pokémon, but I think it is perfectly able to withstand
cold.

Like Entei and Raikou, Suicune is one of the legendary beasts resurrected by Ho-Oh after the burning of the Brass Tower (referred to as the Burned Tower in the games). While Raikou represents the lightning that struck the tower and Entei the flames that consumed it, Suicune represents the rain that quenched the flames. It also looks the most regal of the three beasts, a trait that can be found in its name: Suicune's name is derived from the Japanese words of sui ('water') and kun ('monarch'), and as this Pokémon is also the mascot of Pokémon Crystal, it is not unlikely that the word suishō ('crystal') was also the inspiration for its name. And - again - while Suicune looks canine rather than feline, the spots on its body indicate it is based off of leopards and possibly even snow leopards. The Japanese deity of Fūjin, the god of the wind in the Japanese Shintō religion, carries a large bag of winds on his shoulders and is often depicted wearing a leopard skin, and the fact that Suicune represents wind and rain - it is a pure water type, but it also learns some flying-type moves like Tailwind, Gust and Air Slash - might mean that it is not only based on this very wind deity but also on wind deities from other cultures. The leopard characteristics, the fact that its mane is based on the northern light (aurora borealis; the light seen on the southern hemisphere is called aurora australis), the Pokédex entry that says that northern winds always blow stronger in its presence and its event-only move Sheer Cold - a move that normally only ice types get, aside from Kyogre - even give it some similarities to ice and cold.

The girl character in Pokémon Crystal (or HeartGold and SoulSilver) discovers the
legendary beasts hiding in the Burned Tower with a character called Eusine, who is
after Suicune. While they flee the moment you approach them in the tower, you can
encounter them later on; Raikou and Entei start wandering around the Johto region,
but you get to follow Suicune all the way to somewhere in the vicinity of Cerulean
City, where you can try to capture it without worrying whether it will flee or not.

But the most distinctive trait Suicune has is that it can purify any filthy, polluted body of water it walks on. That's right, it can walk on water.

Suicune is literally the reincarnation of Jesus fucking Christ.

For real though, it is more likely that Suicune takes homage from the Chinese myth of the qílín. This creature is believed to appear with the imminent arrival or passing of a sage or illustrious ruler and is said to be able to walk on water, like Suicune. It is a powerful and peaceful being that represents prosperity and serenity - one could say Suicune is also the most heroic, serious, calm and serene of the legendary beasts - and possesses a pair of antlers similar to Suicune's crest, with two prongs on either side of the base.

Suicune walking on water.

I can be very brief about Suicune's competitive capacities: it is a bulky staller. Its excellent HP and even more excellent defenses makes it one of the sturdiest walls in the UU and OU tiers. Because it has access to Calm Mind, a move that raises its decent special attack and outstanding special defense by one stage each, you can easily go for a Bold nature, which boosts its defense instead. Suicune can then hit relatively hard with Scald and Ice Beam, while Rest is used to fully heal its HP. It does put Suicune to sleep, though, so you might want to let it hold a Chesto Berry or Lum Berry, both of which wake Suicune up immediately. Leftovers, however, is a nice held item for a little recovery every turn and only enhances Suicune's longevity. And there are other options, too: you can ditch Ice Beam in favor of Roar, which removes the opposing Pokémon from the battlefield and brings another one in. It's a perfect move against Pokémon who want to set up on you. Sleep Talk can be used when Suicune's asleep due to Rest and selects any of its remaining three moves to use while it sleeps - including Rest, which is just fucking dumb. Tailwind increases the speed of your entire team by 50%, while Substitute could come in handy if you want to set up with Calm Mind and PP stall low-PP moves that hurt Suicune, like Leaf Storm and Power Whip. You can even go all-out offensive, but I wouldn't really recommend that; Suicune is just too good a staller for it to be used completely offensively. It's not impossible, as it still learns good coverage moves like Extrasensory, Shadow Ball, Ice Beam, Air Slash and Signal Beam, but still...

One last piece of fan art of the legendary beasts. Look at Suicune being all cool,
calm and collected, as opposed to the savagery Raikou and Entei are radiating. 

While Entei takes up the spot as my favorite Johto legendary beast, I still love Suicune to bits. What especially attracts me is its design; Suicune is so beautiful and so graceful, and its calm and serene water typing is very much in contrast with the restless electric and fire typings of Raikou and Entei, respectively. Maybe that's why I like Articuno more than Zapdos and Moltres as well. All I know now is that, after all these years, Suicune is still deserving of a perfect rating and a spot in my list of favorite Pokémon.

By the way, I guess this isn't the shortest article about the legendary beasts after all; that dubious honor goes to Raikou.

Rating: 5/5

#244: Entei

Entei in a volcanic landscape, apparently its natural habitat.

Entei is the second of the Johto legendary beasts, but I'm still not sure whether it's tied with Suicune as my favorite one, whether it is actually my favorite one or whether the honor of being my favorite legendary beast goes to Suicune. I guess the following two entries should decide which one of the above options is applicable to me. And yes, I know that it was Suicune who had a spot in my top 50 of favorite Pokémon, but as I said before, that blog is badly written and even makes myself cringe from time to time. Moreover, the majority of the Pokémon in that list were on there because of their designs. On this blog I'm taking a number of factors into account for my final rating - think about design, cuteness, competitive and in-game viability, fondness of the Pokémon, my own experiences, etc. - so there's a world of difference between the two blogs. I am of the opinion that this very blog is the better one by a landslide, although that should be kind of obvious: I am significantly better at English than I was three years ago, especially when you consider that I actually studied Enlish in order to become a literary translator in the meantime. But this blog is also a much bigger project than my previous blog. It will take up years and I think it's a very effective way to practice, and subsequently improve, my writing skills. I hope.

This art should at least clarify why I like Entei more than
Raikou.

You know, I usually make shit up as I go, so excuse me for wandering off too much. This article is actually about Entei, who represents the flames that burned the Brass Tower. And no, it didn't cause the fire; Entei was resurrected by Ho-Oh after the Brass Tower burned down, along with Raikou and Suicune - the former represents the lightning bolt that struck the tower and the latter represents the rain that quenched the flames consuming it. Entei's Pokédex entries actually contradict the whole resurrection thing, because they say that it is said that an Entei is born every time a volcano appears and that one erupts somewhere around the globe whenever Entei roars. Following that logic, there should be hundreds of Entei in the world, although it has to be said that the topography of the Pokémon world probably differs quite a bit from that of the real world. Entei is probably best known for its appearance in the third Pokémon movie, Pokémon 3: The Movie - Spell of the Unown: Entei, in which a scientist gets sucked into an alternate dimension by a bunch of Unown, after which they make his daughter Molly's every wish come true and create an Entei as a substitute Daddy. This Entei wasn't real, but it was still pretty goddamn powerful for something that was nothing more than an illusion created by a bunch of letters.

A wild Entei appeared!
(Also, I picked this picture because there's a Togetic in it, duh.)

Not only is Entei a powerful Pokémon, it also looks very regal. The mane of grey smoke definitely contributes to that, but its origin is the most important part. First off, Entei's name is composed of the Japanese words en ('flame') and kōtei ('emperor'), forming entei ('flame emperor'). It is probably also derived from enten, meaning 'blazing heat', which sounds about right when you consider that Entei can spout flames hotter than a volcano's magma. Even its Chinese name Yándì (炎帝) is derived from yán dì, meaning 'flame emperor', and is actually a corruption of entei. Aesthetically, Entei may be based on Chinese guardian lions, which correlates with it serving as a guardian for Molly and her allies in the third movie. Entei may also be based on the Balinese lion spirit Barong, due to its lion-like appearance, mask-like crest - which also vaguely resembles a kabuto, a type of helmet that became an important part of the traditional Japanese armor worn by the samurai class, but were first used by ancient Japanese warriors - and masses of fur. This Barong creature is often seen in Indonesian parades and festivals with the aesthetic features of Entei I just mentioned and all kinds of bling attached to it. But despite Entei's feline origin, it actually looks more canine, which oddly also applies to Raikou and Suicune.

Oh man, there's an abundance of Entei fan art to be found on the
Internet. I had a hard time picking the most awesome pieces of
art.

Entei, however, is by far the best to use competitively. Whereas Suicune is used for stalling and both Raikou and Suicune can set up with Calm Mind, Entei has a few tricks up its sleeve that make it stand out to its two companions. First off, it is one of only two Pokémon that can learn Sacred Fire (the other is Ho-Oh, its resurrector), which is a base 100 physical-based fire-type move with a 50% chance of burning the foe and no recoil damage whatsoever (I'm looking at you, Flare Blitz). Second, its access to Extreme Speed makes Entei a fantastic late-game cleaner. Flare Blitz and Extreme Speed are exclusive to an event-only shiny Entei from 2010 and 2011, rocking an Adamant nature, so you're required to use this one if you want Extreme Speed. This particular Entei also knows Howl, which raises its attack by one stage, but that's not a very good move and doesn't do well on a Choice Band set at all. I'd recommend you go with a moveset consisting of Sacred Fire, Extreme Speed, Stone Edge and either Iron Tail or Iron Head. Sadly, that's as far as Entei's physical movepool goes, so you're basically stuck with these moves. Why, at least it's a good moveset; you can't really go wrong with it.

Even art that seems to be made with crayons makes Entei look
beautiful. 

But wait a minute, that shiny Entei isn't the only event Pokémon from the winter of 2011; players could also acquire shiny Raikou and shiny Suicune with event-only moves. Don't they have some tricks up their sleeves? The short answer to that question is, 'No.' The shiny Suicune has a Relaxed nature, which is a terrible nature that slows Suicune down; and at base 85 speed, it's already the slowest of the legendary beasts to begin with. One of the moves it has is Sheer Cold, which is a horribly inaccurate OHKO move, and even Aqua Ring, Air Slash and Extreme Speed don't really help its cause. Okay, Air Slash is a decent flying-type coverage move, but Suicune's base 75 attack stat renders Extreme Speed pretty much useless. And Raikou? Raikou has a Rash nature, which is not the best nature for it but also not the worst. The moves it gets are Zap Cannon, Weather Ball, Aura Sphere and Extreme Speed. Zap Cannon, like Sheer Cold, is horribly inaccurate, but at least it will inflict guaranteed paralysis on the foe if it hits. Thunder Wave is still better for guaranteed paralysis, though, and you can always use Thunderbolt to damage opponents. Weather Ball only works in combination with a weather condition; it will do base 50 normal-type damage when there's no weather, but it will turn into a base 100 water-, ice- or fire-type move in rain, hail or sun, respectively. It's merely situational and not very useful. Even Extreme Speed doesn't do all that much due to Raikou's base 85 attack stat, although I have to say Aura Sphere provides for some very neat fighting-type coverage.

Shiny Raikou (left), Entei (middle) and Suicune (right). Their shiny forms were
even present in the thirteenth Pokémon movie, Pokémon - Zoroark: Master of
Illusions.

At the end of the day, though, it is clear that Entei is supposed to be a physical attacker and that Adamant nature only boosts its attack. And as Sacred Fire and Extreme Speed are both physical-based moves, Entei can make perfect use of them. I think I've made up my mind now: Entei - and not Suicune - is my favorite Johto legendary beast, and I don't think writing Suicune's entry will change that. What's more, I feel a little ashamed that I didn't include Entei in my top 50 favorite Pokémon, because it's no less than iconic. Plus, I am of the opinion that fan art of Entei is just this little bit more awesome than fan art of either Raikou or Suicune, and I'm not saying that because I like Entei much more than Suicune and, especially, Raikou. You probably already noticed that while scrolling through this article. And if you didn't, you're just fucking blind.

Rating: 5/5

#228 - #229: Houndour & Houndoom

(Disclaimer: The following paragraph contains some content from Pikachu's Global Adventure: The Rise and Fall of Pokémon by editor Joseph Tobin. It is an informative book containing a collection of essays by various authors analyzing the popularity of Pokémon by addressing core debates about the globalization of popular culture and children's consumption of mass-produced culture.)

TCG art of Houndour.

There has been public outcry from religious parents against Pokémon since it started to be a thing in 1998; in Japan the craze started two years previous, but the franchise has remained relatively free of criticism in its home country, despite the infamous spree of epileptic seizures that the anime episode "Electric Soldier Porygon" induced in young viewers in 1997. In spite of official approval from the Anglican Church and the Vatican in 2000, religious parents and other church officials continue to believe the subliminal messages found in the cartoon series, movies, games and cards are 'tantamount to training children in the occult'. Those so-called malevolent messages include evolution, occultism, violence as a source of power, sexual perversion, and New Age concepts such as reincarnation (wait, I am genuinely confused right now; 'original' Christians don't believe in reincarnation?) and psychic powers. Critics cite Satanic elements in Pokémon, such as 'inflicting pain through slashing, psychic powers, fits of rage and draining the life force out of on opponent', and according to them, Pokémon is nothing short of 'an epic struggle with Satan for the souls of children and adults'. Some parents go as far as making their children burn their cards and destroy their video games.

OMG, this papercraft Houndoom is amazing!

While I personally believe these cries of disapproval and condemnation are nothing but a pile of horseshit, Game Freak did create two Pokémon based on creatures from the underworld: Houndour and Houndoom, who are obviously based on hellhounds. They also share some traits with regular dog breeds like Rottweilers and Doberman Pinschers, and the striped patterns on their backs even make them bear resemblance to the thylacine. While this creature sounds like it's some kind of base liquid, it was actually a marsupial more commonly known as the Tasmanian wolf or Tasmanian tiger (even though it wasn't feline) - not to be confused with the Tasmanian devil - and is believed to have gone extinct in 1936. There are several tales of different kinds of hellhounds in various kinds of folklores, but it's enough to know that Houndour and Houndoom are based on hellhounds in general. And let's be honest here: some of their aesthetics are noticeably satanic, among which the skull-like crest on Houndour's head, Houndoom's curved horns and Houndoom's arrow-shaped tail. The latter is commonly associated with the devil, who is often depicted with a tail ending in a triangular tip. Even Houndour and Houndoom's Japanese names, Delvil (デルビル) and Hellgar (ヘルガー), are obvious references to Hell and the Devil, while Houndoom's French and German names, Démolosse and Hundemon, contain the words démon and Dämon, respectively. I probably don't have to tell you what the English translation of those words is, right?

This more realistic approach of Houndour and Houndoom is fantastic. There are
some really talented artists on the Internet. 

Unfortunately, Houndour's Pokédex entries are excruciatingly lame. They're nothing more than it showing common pack behavior and teamwork with others of its species. Houndoom's also mention pack behavior, but quite differently: the one Houndoom with its horn raked sharply towards its back serves a leadership role in the pack, and the leader is usually chosen by fighting among themselves. Houndoom's guts contain toxins that it uses to create fire, which is why Houndoom's fire has a foul odor and the wounds and pain inflicted by it will never heal or go away. Other Pokémon shudder in fear and flee when they hear its eerie howls, and people from the past imagined its howls to be the call of the Grim Reaper. Now, that's more like a hellhound!

Mega Houndoom.

Houndoom also proves to be quite the hellhound in the competitive scene: it's supposed to be a speedy special attacker with a Timid nature, a Life Orb attached to it, and a moveset consisting of Nasty Plot and three attacking moves. As Houndoom's movepool is kind of lacking, you're stuck with Dark Pulse and Fire Blast, and probably Sludge Bomb or some type of Hidden Power. Mega Houndoom, however, has a whole different tactic: the Sunny Day/Solar Beam combo. While regular Houndoom doesn't have access to the ability Solar Power - the best ability for it is Flash Fire, which lets it absorb fire-type moves and raises its special attack in the process - Mega Houndoom does, and it uses it with flair. This ability increases Mega Houndoom's special attack when the sun is up at the cost of some HP each turn, and when Sunny Day is in effect, fire-type moves get a 50% boost and Solar Beam doesn't require a turn to charge. It's like a Life Orb, only in the form of an ability. It has proved to be quite effective, although you could just slap Nasty Plot on it and replace Solar Beam with something like Taunt or Will-O-Wisp if you want Houndoom to last longer. By the way, have you noticed how Mega Houndoom's tail now almost looks like the devil's trident? Nice touch. Also, its body is now covered with a bone-like armor and the claws on its paws are red because of its ability to generate more heat.

Houndoom in what looks like the middle of a wildfire.

I have nothing but love for this thing, especially since Game Freak decided to give it an awesome Mega. Those who regularly visit my blog have probably deduced by now that I am an atheist, by the use of variations of the word 'goddammit'. I don't have much with religion in general, and that has much to do with religious people in my environment condemning my lifestyle and saying I should turn my life around (I'm gay), but mostly I just think most of them are hateful, hypocritical and biased and don't want me to play Pokémon. So Pokémon based on creatures from the underworld is my definition of irony, although I think Game Freak didn't create Houndour and Houndoom to intentionally offend Christians - or religious people in general. Of course, the main reason why I love Houndoom and its Mega is because they look awesome, but I figured this would be an excellent moment to voice my opinion about religion. I know I don't seem nice right now, but I have had too many negative experiences with Christians in my own country (lucky for me I live in the Netherlands, one of the most gay-friendly countries in the world). However, believe me when I say I'm very much like Houndour: I bark, but I don't bite.

Rating: 5/5

#227: Skarmory

Skarmory being savage in its natural habitat.

So next up we have a steel bird. How do you come up with a steel bird exactly? Well, you take a look at a few myths from different cultures and combine them. The Stymphalian birds are a group of birds in Greek mythology and have bronze beaks, sharp metallic feathers they can launch at their victims and poisonous dung. They were the pets of the goddess of the hunt, Artemis, and were ultimately defeated by Heracles. The Russians speak of Gagana, a miraculous bird with an iron beak and copper claws and is often believed to guard other mythical creatures. Finally, there's the alicanto - or allicanto - which is a bird of Chilian mythology that is said to let its wings shine with bright, metallic colors during the night. The alicanto lives in caves in hilly areas containing minerals and feeds on gold and silver. It is said to bring luck to any miner who sees it; if the lucky miner follows an alicanto without being caught, he can find silver or gold, but the bird will guide the greedy miner off a cliff if it notices him following it. Aesthetically, though, Skarmory shares some traits with pteranodons (a genus of pterosaurs), paper cranes and hand fans. And let's be honest here: instead of being born as a whole, Skarmory looks like it came straight out of a building kit.

Skarmory being savage in TCG art.

But how did Skarmory get that armored hide? Well, it lives and is raised in very harsh environments, often building its nests in thorny bushes called briers, where continual scratching of their skins will eventually harden the chicks into an iron-like state. Skarmory engages in battles repeatedly, and because of that its blade-like wings become tattered and bashed in and eventually grow back after a year. They may look heavy, but they are actually hollow and light, can be moved independently and allow Skarmory to fly at speeds up to 190 miles per hour, according to Ruby and Omega Ruby (D/P/P and B/W/B2/W2 mention it goes 180 mph, but that's just a minor detail). Because its wings are so sharp, people in the past used feathers that had been fallen off to make knives and swords.

A more realistic approach of Skarmory. It looks savage.

Of course, because Skarmory is clad entirely in steel-hard armor, it is insanely defensive in competitive play. Basically it's Mantine's counterpart: whereas Mantine excels in special stats, Skarmory shines when it comes to its physical stats. First off, it's base 140 defense makes it a physically bulky bitch, while its base 80 attack is its second best stat and is decent enough in order for Skarmory to fight back. However, more investment is usually put into its HP and one of its defensive stats - its physical defense is high enough to pay attention to its special defense instead - and a support set is the most common set you'll find on a Skarmory. Whirlwind removes any Pokémon that try to set up and sweep from the battlefield, while Taunt prevents setting up at all and limits the opposing Pokémon to using only damaging moves. Skarmory has access to Defog, a move that removes all entry hazards on your as well as the opponent's side of the field, while Spikes puts an entry hazard of up to three layers on the opposite side of the field, thereby damaging Pokémon that come in - barring any flying types, that is, so for those you could use Stealth Rock instead. Roost is used for healing, but as this moves makes Skarmory lose its flying type, its steel typing leaves it vulnerable to ground-type attacks. Leftovers is used as a held item for some additional passive recovery, although a Rocky Helmet could be used against Pokémon that hit Skarmory with direct attacks and Shed Shell is an alternative against Pokémon with the Magnet Pull ability. Speaking about abilities, Sturdy prevents Skarmory from being OHKOed when at full HP, which is handy when you don't see a Fire Blast coming your way. It is inarguably the best ability for it.

And if you really want to go weird, a Choice Banded Skarmory with Iron Head, Brave Bird, X-Scissor and Rock Slide might do the job. In any case, one of the two STAB moves (Iron Head and Brave Bird) should also be on a support moveset so that Skarmory can fight back, so you're gonna have to choose which support moves you want on it.

Skarmory being a transporter for Steven Stone, which is... not all that savage,
actually. But it's still very cool.

I'm not quite done with this thing yet. In all hurry to explain Skarmory's origin and competitive use, I completely forgot to mention how much I adore this thing. I already thought it was cool, but it was never one of my favorite Pokémon. It also didn't make my top 50 of favorite Pokémon (seriously, don't read that blog; it's bad, worse, worst), but I warmed up to it in a Pokémon X Wonderlocke. It was one of the first Pokémon I received over Wonder Trade - I'm 100% sure it was before the first Gym, as I remember it completely walled Vivillon - and it stayed with me until the very end, contrary to other Pokémon I use in Nuzlockes or a variant thereof. Yes, I'm bad at Nuzlockes; my Pokémon die very often, especially when I'm trying to grind, but Skarmory stayed a part of my team until I beat Diantha, due to its bulk and excellent typing. I love this thing and it has easily become one of my favorite Pokémon to date.

Rating: 5/5

#213: Shuckle

Official Sugimori art of Shuckle.

This is a tricky Pokémon...

Shuckle is the one Pokémon with the most extreme stat distribution, being either the best or in the bottom three of every base stat category. First off, it is tied with Mega Steelix and Mega Aggron for the highest base defense stat and has the highest base special defense stat, period. Both sit at a monstrous 230, although they're offset by Shuckle's terrible base 20 HP stat. It kind of renders those defenses tricky to utilize, as it wears Shuckle down more easily than you'd like. But aside from its good defensive stats, Shuckle also has some atrocious other stats: it is tied with Munchlax for the lowest speed stat, tied with Feebas and Bonsly for the lowest special attack stat, and tied with Magikarp and Blissey for the second lowest attack stat (only Happiny and Chansey have a lower base attack stat). You'd think that Shuckle is impossible to use at all in competitive play, but that couldn't be any further from the truth. It's mainly used as a support Pokémon, sure, but a good support Pokémon despite the low HP stat that hardly backs up its defenses. And in spite of the fact that I love Shuckle for what it is, I'll never use it in competitive play (I'm not really a competitive battler to begin with), simply because I'm sure I'll never make good use of it and because I want a more reliable tank.

Amazing papercraft Shuckle.

While it wasn't used very often prior to X and Y, Gen. VI was kind to Shuckle and gave it access to Sticky Web, a move that lowers the speed of every opposing Pokémon by one stage when they enter the battlefield. That's handy to let the rest of your team get the edge they possibly need over faster foes. The rest of Shuckle's moveset should consist of Stealth Rock for setting up entry hazards on the opponent's side of the battlefield, Encore to lock the opposing Pokémon into some move, and either Infestation or Toxic. Toxic instantly inflicts the foe with bad poison, but Infestation does immediate damage and damages the foe significantly every turn while it also prevents said foe from switching out. Could be useful if you want a Pokémon to stay in if it can't hurt Shuckle all that much. Unfortunately, you'll have to choose between a physically or specially bulky Shuckle, because you need to invest in its HP. If physically defensive, go with a Bold nature, and if specially defensive, a Calm nature would be a good idea. Either way, Shuckle is slow and is very susceptible to Taunt, so give it a Mental Herb to remove the effects of that move. And don't worry about Shuckle getting one-shotted, because it has the Sturdy ability, which leaves it at 1 HP if attacked at full HP should the attack have knocked it out. Gluttony lets it consume a berry earlier than usual, which it doesn't need, while Contrary reverses stat changes, which is only handy if you have a Shuckle with Superpower - lowers attack and defense by one stage after use - or something. And that's a move it doesn't even learn.

A Shuckle wallpaper. Just because there isn't anything else to be found on the
Internet. 

It's such a shame Shuckle can't make use of some awesome moves it gets. Shell Smash lowers its defenses by one stage while it boosts everything else by two stages 'cept for HP. Too bad 'everything else' on Shuckle is downright terrible and disappoints even when maxed out (six stages). Power Trick is a nifty move that switches Shuckle's defense with its attack, which lets it temporarily get an attack stat equivalent to a base 230 stat. Unfortunately that means its defense will be paper-thin, but with Sturdy it should be able to live a hit. If you can pull it off, it's a nice gimmick. Substitute would only break Sturdy because it requires 25% of Shuckle's health, and Shuckle doesn't have any means of recovery except for Leftovers, which I don't recommend giving it. The Rest/Sleep Talk combo would only take the spotlight off of other, more handy moves Shuckle has. This Pokémon is basically a one-way road: everybody knows exactly where you're going with this thing.

A shiny Shuckle in the anime.

But I don't love Shuckle because of its competitive utility; no, I love it for its design. I know it's a bug Pokémon, but it's so adorable. There are some bug types that have a couple of features that make them look kind of cute, but can you name one bug type that's as cute as Shuckle (and no, the recently announced Cutiefly for Pokémon Sun and Moon doesn't count)? I didn't think so. Given the organisms it may be based on, it's no mean feat to make it appear cute, though: Shuckle is based on an endolith, an organism that lives inside porous rocks or animal shells, and possibly also scale insects - small, shelled parasites that produce a sweet fluid called honeydew that attracts other insects. Shuckle does a similar thing: it likes to collect berries and store them in its shell, then liquefies and ferments them with its digestive juices for it to consume or be used to dissolve rocks with so that it can hide under them. But wait, does Shuckle ferment the collected berries with digestive juices or does it turn said barries into a unique juice? Bulbapedia claims it's both, although that website is just a source that keeps information about what the anime and games explicitly say about Shuckle, so blame it on Game Freak. Or Nintendo. Or The Pokémon Company.

Whatever, one of the three.

More anime Shuckle. Don't you think it looks adorable?

Anyway, other organisms Shuckle may be based on are mollusks - due to the use of acids to receive foods or break obstacles, the liking for fermented foods, the tendency to live near water, and the seemingly limp but actually muscular feet - and, appearance-wise, turtles and vases/jars. The Japanese tsubo, the Korean danji, the Chinese hú and the German Pott all mean 'jar' and refer to Shuckles tendency to store berries in its shell. Shuckle's Japanese and Mandarin Chinese names, Tsubotsubo (ツボツボ) and Húhú (壺壺), contain the words fujitsubo and ténghú, respectively, and both mean 'barnacle'. It's probably the holes in its shells rimmed with white that make it look barnacle-like, but I think that's a bit of a stretch.

I love Shuckle. I know I said I wouldn't ever use it anymore, but that doesn't mean I never tried. I had a Shuckle in Black 2 or White 2 (I forgot which one) and carried it around on my team. It already had Power Trick upon capture and I tried the tactic over and over again, but it was just way too unreliable and I boxed it before I got to the Pokémon League. However, I adored this thing even before that: Gold and Silver were my first Pokémon games, and I remember a PokéManiac in Cianwood City would offer you to take of his Shuckle named Shuckie for a while because he was scared of Team Rocket and wanted Shuckie to be taken care of by an experienced Trainer. I realized it wasn't very good in battles, but I kept it anyway (who didn't?) and stored it in the PC. I felt like such a thief, but at the same time I didn't care because I loved everything about that thing. And because I still have a love for this adorable critter, I'm giving it a perfect rating.

Rating: 5/5