#506 - #508: Lillipup, Herdier & Stoutland

Readers who have visited my blog consistently over the past three years probably remember that I love cats and that I'm not the biggest fan of dogs. However, I feel like canine Pokémon are generally better than feline Pokémon, with Pokémon like Arcanine, Houndoom, Granbull, Lucario and - according to my crystal ball - Lycanroc all getting a perfect rating from me (but if you want to find out what rating Stoutland's getting, you'll have to scroll down or just keep reading).

Isn't it adorable, though?

Strangely enough, Lillipup and its kin are the first normal-type dogs we encounter in the National Pokédex. Of course, Snubbull and Granbull were normal types prior to Gen. VI, but they are now technically pure fairy types and have been since the type's introduction in X and Y in 2013. Lillipup is a cute little pupper that is popular among Trainers who live in apartment buildings because it doesn't yelp, while it is the perfect Pokémon for aspiring and beginning Trainers because it's intelligent, obedient to its master's demands and easy to raise. Its intelligence allows it to realize in time when it's at a disadvantage in a fight, only to turn tail and vamoose. However, when a foe is strong enough for Lillipup to handle, this courageous little Yorkshire Terrier - its Japanese name Yorterrie (ヨーテリー) is even based on the name for this breed - uses the long fur surrounding its face as a radar to probe the condition of its battle opponents and sense subtle changes in its surroundings. That's a lot of information to take in for just a basic Pokémon, but I swear Gen. VII is so much more informative on certain Pokémon than most other generations are. It is pretty good for early-game 'trash', especially when it evolves into Herdier pretty early on as well.

TCG art of Herdier.

Herdier looks much more like a Yorkshire Terrier than Lillipup does (with characteristics of Australian Silky Terriers and even Scottish Terriers), and its name is probably a reference to herding dogs - not to be confused with livestock guardian dogs, whose primary function is to guard flocks and herds from predation and theft, although both kinds of dogs may be called 'sheep dogs'. Trainers aren't as happy with Herdier as they are with Lillipup, apparently: the black, cape-like fur on its back is very hard and impervious and makes Herdier a troublesome Pokémon to train due to the high cost of properly grooming it. It is still loyal to its Trainer and even helps them raise or take care of other Pokémon, although it refuses to listen to people it doesn't respect. When it comes to the final stage of this evolutionary line, Stoutland, its wise disposition leaves no concern that it will ever attack people, though. Parents even trust it to babysit. It is intelligent, good-natured and valiant, and therefore it is a trustworthy partner on rescue teams, saving people stranded at sea or by blizzards in the mountains while its shaggy fur shields it and the people it rescues from extreme weather conditions - although Stoutland in Alola do seem to be a little uncomfortable. Its talent for rescuing humans in the mountains is similar to a St. Bernard's, don't you think?

Origin-wise, Bulbapedia offers the suggestion that Stoutland is based on a combination of a Shih Tzu and a Maltese, probably because of that truly magnificent mustache, although it is still obviously reminiscent of Yorkies and Scotties. Even its name is a reference to terrier dogs, as the Latin terra means 'earth' and the play on 'Scotland' refers to the Scottish Terrier it is based on.

Stoutland taking care of its young.

Its name doesn't lie, though, as Stoutland is pretty stout. Its base 85 HP and 90 defenses makes it a pretty bulky Pokémon in the competitive scene, even though its base 110 attack and 80 speed allows it to run a physical Choice Scarf or Choice Band set with ease. You'll have a more-than-decent offensive threat for your opponent to handle if you add an Adamant or Jolly nature and a moveset consisting of at least Return and a couple of coverage moves. It depends on what you need, really, but among the moves that Stoutland has access to are Crunch, Pursuit, Play Rough, Wild Charge, Psychic Fangs, the elemental fangs, Iron Head, Stomping Tantrum and Superpower. There are even three great abilities to choose from: Intimidate lowers the foe's attack stat and makes Stoutland even more physically defensive, Scrappy allows Stoutland to hit ghost-type Pokémon with normal-type moves, and Sand Rush doubles Stoutland's speed in a sandstorm and prevents it from taking any sandstorm damage. The latter is very handy when you have a Pokémon with the ability Sand Stream on your team, which whips up a sandstorm and allows Stoutland to come in with double speed. That's why Smogon suggests sets that involve an Adamant nature, as it outspeeds a lot of Pokémon after a Sand Rush boost, anyway.

An old Stoutland in the Sun and Moon series of the anime, in which it was living
with a wild Litten who would eventually become Ash's. They sought refuge in an
abandoned house and under a canal bridge, until Stoutland's health deteriorated
and it disappeared after being discharged from the Pokémon Center to save Litten
from seeing it pass away, leaving Litten upset.

Stoutland is a good boy. It already appeared in my list of top 50 favorite Pokémon, and my love for this cool doggo has not died down since. I always try to use a Stoutland in any of my Black and White playthroughs, just because it's such a good Pokémon, even late-game. Above all, though, I love Stoutland's design. Canine Pokémon are so much better than feline Pokémon in my opinion, even though I am a cat person and consider myself pretty much the 28-year-old gay guy equivalent of the old cat lady.

...I'm pathetic.

Rating: 5/5

#501 - #503: Oshawott, Dewott & Samurott

Ash's Oshawott throwing its scalchop down in anger, only to pick
it up immediately afterwards because it is worried it might have
damaged its beloved weapon. 

Oh, how an initially unpopular Pokémon has come to be an outright fan favorite. When Oshawott was first released, Pokémon fans were fast to nickname it 'Wotter', but I can't say they were particularly charmed by its design. It wasn't until the anime that the fans started to like this thing, and only because of Ash's Oshawott's outgoing (and oftentimes even inconsiderate) personality. While it could be cute at times, Ash's Oshawott had a propensity for being dramatic whenever things went wrong or didn't go its way, and it acted proud and boastful - not unlike Dawn's Piplup, with whom it had a transitory rivalry. Oshawott's antics greatly entertained the Pokémon fans and it quickly grew to be a fan favorite during the Best Wishes! series, which is widely regarded as a disappointing anime generation. Then there's Oshawott's scalchop, a shell that is used as a weapon when Razor Shell is executed and is made of the same material as claws and fingernails (keratin), growing back whenever it happens to get destroyed. Ash's Oshawott even panicked whenever it lost its scalchop, was happy when he found out that it hadn't done any major damage to it after throwing it down in anger, and got angry whenever it got stolen by another Pokémon.

Ash's Oshawott was... easily infatuated. This GIF shows Oshawott and Dawn's
Piplup falling in love with the same Pokémon.

Piplup and Oshawott's rivalry continues as Piplup attempts to best Oshawott
in getting Meloetta's attention.

But eventually, Piplup and Oshawott realize they care deeply for each other as
they say a teary-eyed goodbye. 

The scalchop also plays a big part in the whole samurai theme that this evolution line has going for them, as it holds similarities with Japanese war fans, which were often used by samurai for defensive purposes. Moreover, the fans weren't wrong calling Oshawott 'Wotter', because sea otters were definitely the inspiration for this Pokémon, as is indicated by its English name as well as its German name Ottaro and its Korean and Mandarin Chinese names. Incidentally, Oshawott's Japanese name Mijumaru (ミジュマル) may refer to an otter named Mijbil, the subject of an autobiographical novel and movie called Ring of Bright Water by Gavin Maxwell, about his life in a remote house in coastal Scotland where he kept several wild otters as pets.

One of the surprisingly few pieces of fan art I could find of Dewott.

When it comes to Oshawott's evolutions, Dewott (probably from the name Helen DeWitt, author of The Last Samurai) isn't that much different apart from having two scalchops instead of one, complete with honest-to-goodness samurai gear. Dewott uses its scalchops more intensively than Oshawott, using its double-scalchop technique through rigid training in order to accomplish fluid swordsmanship, although techniques differ from one Dewott to another. This fighting style is reminiscent to tessenjutsu, a martial art involving Japanese war fans that could make people so skilled that they were able to defend themselves against attackers with swords and even kill opponents with a single blow. The skilled wielder could even use it to fence and fend off knives and poisoned darts thrown at them. While Dewott probably doesn't possess such a level of skill, it is probably skilled enough for its evolution Samurott to suddenly wield whole-ass swords called seamitars. Now resembling truly armored samurai or shōgun, the war fan aesthetic is translocated from its pre-evolution's scalchops to its own goddamn tail, while the helmet-like shell over its head appears to be based on murex trapa - or the rare-spined murex shell. Samurott looks old and wise yet intimidating, and it actually is intimidating: in the time it takes for a foe to blink, Samurott can draw and sheathe the seamitars attached to its front legs, and one swing of its seamitar can fell an opponent. One simple glare or howl from Samurott quiets everybody.

Oshawott falling for Buneary, who shows more interest in Ash's Pikachu instead.

Isn't it adorable? I swear, The Pokémon Company have struck gold with
Oshawott's personality.

Oshawott, what the fuck are you doing? You can't even learn Belly Drum...

While still reminiscent to the giant otter, Samurott now looks more like a sea lion of some sort. In an interview, Ken Sugimori said that Oshawott and its evolutions were the hardest for the team to design during production, as conceptualizing its evolutions was difficult. The sea lion show during a trip to an aquarium inspired them to incorporate elements of sea lions in Samurott's design, hence why it looks so unlike its pre-evolutions. I just wish we had a different name for Samurott in English, because its French and German names of Clamiral and Admurai obviously refer to 'admiral' and its Japanese name Daikenki (ダイケンキ) is the complete on'yomi reading* of the word daikenki, which means literally 'big sword-wielding demon' in Chinese. I would have loved such a name for Samurott in English, too, but alas...

*(Sino-Japanese vocabulary - or kango - refers to that portion of the Japanese vocabulary that originated in Chinese or has been created from elements borrowed from Chinese, and on'yomi is the modern descendant of the Japanese approximation of the base Chinese pronunciation of a character at the time it was introduced.)

Badass TCG promotional art of Samurott.

Competitively, Samurott is... not very good, unfortunately. It has good HP, workable attacking stats, okay defense and mediocre special defense and speed, which doesn't make it a very versatile Pokémon: it cannot take special hits very well and it doesn't really outspeed many Pokémon in the metagame, either. You could fix that last problem with a Choice Scarf, but that means you won't be able to run a Swords Dance set. With base 100 attack and 108 special attack, Samurott doesn't really excel at anything in particular; despite its slightly higher special attack stat, its special movepool is incredibly lacking, with access to only STAB moves and Ice Beam - and Grass Knot, if that's your style. With access to Swords Dance - a move that raises its attack stat by two stages every time it is used - and a considerable amount of physical moves, a physical set is heavily recommended. The newly required Liquidation is definitely a must-have on a Swords Dance set, while Samurott has access to some nifty coverage moves like Sacred Sword (as of Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon), Megahorn, Smart Strike, Iron Tail, Night Slash and Knock Off. Priority in Aqua Jet wouldn't be terrible to have on it, either, especially since Samurott isn't very fast in the first place. Now that I mention its speed, I'd recommend a Jolly nature to maximize its speed stat; you can just use a Life Orb for a bit more oomph behind its attacks instead of giving it an Adamant nature. Finally, Samurott's hidden ability Shell Armor prevents it from receiving critical hits, but maybe you'll want to go with its regular ability Torrent instead, which boosts its water-type moves when it is at or below one third of its health.

When in battle, Samurott can stand on its hind legs and use one of the blades
from its anterior legs as a sword to fight. 

The ultimate question is, 'Do I really want to use Samurott in a competitive setting?' Smogon also mentions a special set with Hydro Pump, Ice Beam, Grass Knot and either Aqua Jet or Taunt, but it's oftentimes not even fast enough to use Taunt and prevent opposing Pokémon from setting up on it, especially if it has any other nature than Timid. Samurott is an excellent Pokémon to use in a playthrough due to its well-roundedness, but it actually isn't that good in competitive. There are plenty of Pokémon that can do what Samurott can, and the abundance of water-type Pokémon in the games won't leave you dissatisfied in finding a better physical-based water type (right off the bat I think of starters like Feraligatr, Swampert and even Greninja, who are all miles better than Samurott when it comes to their physical utility).

Ash's Tepig (later Pignite) and Oshawott didn't get along very well...

Dafuq are you laughing at, Oshawott? As if you don't look ridiculous in that
Sewaddle collar...

I really do love Samurott's design and flavor. I was happy to use it multiple times throughout any Black/White/Black 2/White 2 playthrough, especially since I got sick of fire/fighting starters by the time Black and White were released, and I have to say it didn't disappoint at all: it was moderately bulky (AI Pokémon are stupid and aren't properly trained, so Samurott was sure to live a couple of hits as long as they weren't super-effective) and it did its job excellently once it had access to Swords Dance. So, as I did with some other Pokémon, I'm giving Samurott a perfect rating purely for its aesthetic qualities.

Rating: 5/5

#495 - #497: Snivy, Servine & Serperior

Snivy and Servine.

We have arrived at the first official Unova starter Pokémon, and now we truly get to dive into the fifth generation. Snivy is a serpent-like grass-type creature, although with hands and feet and a snooty disposition. Its smug appearance and self-contented grin may throw you off a bit - in fact, when this Pokémon was first released and no official name was known yet, people were quick to give it the fan-made moniker 'Smugleaf' - but flavor-wise this Pokémon is honestly nothing more than just a photosynthesizing grass snake, basking its tail in sunlight in order to make its movements swifter. Even though Snivy and its middle evolution Servine are classified as the 'Grass Snake Pokémon', they may have been inspired by a variety of green vine snake species with a pointed snout, including oxybelis fulgidus, ahaetulla nasuta and ahaetulla prasina. Snivy's cool, calm and collected demeanor carries on to its evolution Servine, who tends to sink into the shadows of thick foliage before retaliating, although it fusses about staying dirt-free because its leaves are only capable of photosynthesis when they're clean.

Lastly, before we proceed to discuss Snivy's final stage Serperior, there's something to be said about the words 'snide' and 'snicker' being present in Snivy's English name, even though it's honestly more likely to derive from 'snake' and 'ivy'. I refuse to believe, however, that Servine comes from 'servant'. Ken Sugimori has stated that the whole evolution line is based on French royalty (wrong region, anyone?), specifically mentioning the anime The Rose of Versailles as inspiration, which is only backed up by the fact that some of Servine's physical features resemble the acanthus leaf motifs popularized during the Renaissance.

Frankly, I think Serperior is very beautiful and majestic, which
is why it's one of my favorite starters to date. Its royalty
aesthetics and regal disposition makes it quite the interesting
Pokémon, really.

The whole royalty aesthetic is most eminent in Serperior's design, too. This Pokémon radiates power and authority and can stop its opponent's movements with just its piercing glare, while foes unfazed by the glare from Serperior's noble eyes will get attacked by it at full force, indicating that it only gives its all against foes that it deems worthy battling with. Its Pokédex entries state that it is also capable of amplifying solar energy within its body, something I guess all grass-types can do by simply using Solar Beam, but this fact may very well be an allusion to King Louis XIV of France, who infamously referred to himself as the 'Sun King'. Serperior's white face alludes to the skin-whitening fashion mostly used by the European aristocracy in the 17th century, while the dark green mark on Serperior's chest seems to form a fleur-de-lis, a French insignia that is used on many European noble families' and nations' coat of arms. Aside from the ongoing French royalty theme, Serperior's design and flavor may also be inspired by several species of snake, specifically the emerald tree boa, the royal python or - as indicated by its paralyzing stare - the basilisk, the king of serpents in European legends (just watch Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets if you want to know what a basilisk does exactly). Finally, Serperior may also originate from an Aztec serpent deity called Quetzalcoatl, revered for its wind and wisdom.

Serperior whipping up a Leaf Storm.

Unfortunately, Serperior is a very one-dimensional Pokémon in the competitive scene. It has excellent speed and decent HP and defenses, making it one of the rare cases of a Pokémon being a speedy wall. Well... semi-wall, because its base 95 defenses aren't anything near perfect, which - for a Pokémon that I guess was supposed to be defensive - leaves a lot to be desired in combination with its base 75 HP. Sadly, Serperior lacks the support movepool to go with the utility strategy, which probably makes you wonder what exactly Serperior is used for? Strangely enough, it's an offensive Pokémon. Its base 75 attack and special attack are nothing to write home about, especially for a fully evolved Pokémon, but with its hidden ability Contrary and the move Leaf Storm, Serperior can actually sweep. Leaf Storm usually lowers the user's special attack stat by two stages after use, but Contrary inverts all changes to the stat stages of a Pokémon with this ability - e.g. a foe's Intimidate ability would raise Serperior's attack rather than lower it, and a move like Coil would lower its attack, defense and accuracy rather than raise them. This means Leaf Storm actually raises Serperior's special attack by two stages, making it increasingly dangerous to switch into. This strategy is fairly straightforward and very easy to see coming, although it has proved to be very effective when backed up by a Timid or Modest nature. The problem is that Serperior isn't very versatile when it comes to special moves; the best it has access to are Leaf Storm, Giga Drain and Energy Ball - all grass-type moves - and some type of Hidden Power. Substitute and Leech Seed (and Leftovers as a held item) are the only good support options to go with Leaf Storm, since it allows Serperior to build up strength and momentum without taking too much damage.

Additionally, one Smogon set mentions a 200-power Breakneck Blitz coming from Hyper Beam to counter Pokémon that otherwise wall Serperior, which could legit be an option to consider for the fourth move slot. You could even ditch Leech Seed and Substitute and go with a moveset consisting of Leaf Storm, Hidden Power, Hyper Beam and a status move such as Glare or Taunt. It isn't recommended if you don't know how to utilize that moveset, but maybe it'll work out just fine for you.

Holy shit, this creepy realistic art of Serperior is amazing!

I absolutely love Serperior. At one point in time, it was even my favorite starter Pokémon, until I got a newfound love for Sceptile during a couple of ORAS playthroughs and Empoleon because of my fairly recent admiration for steel types. I am currently doing an Ultra Moon playthrough with solely starter Pokémon (a physical- and special-based attacker for every type) and Serperior is my grass-type special attacker. To my disappointment, the Contrary/Leaf Storm set doesn't work as well in an in-game setting as in the competitive metagame, but at least it is competently bulky and it can take down Trainers with multiple Pokémon just fine. And seriously, though, Serperior is just a sight to behold, so I don't mind seeing it in battle.

Rating: 5/5

#492: Shaymin

Let me start off this review by saying that the Shaymin from the movie Giratina and the Sky Warrior is a conceited little asshole; its stuck-up attitude did not make the movie very enoyable to watch, especially since this Pokémon plays such a crucial part in it. The fact that a Pokémon known as the 'Gratitude Pokémon' was such an ungrateful brat didn't really make any sense to me (and to this day it still doesn't), but maybe the whole thing was done on purpose. It's just not very cute on a Pokémon that is supposed to radiate cuteness, though, and it's still a mystery to me as to why Ash didn't just leave it to its fate. Celebi, Jirachi, Manaphy and especially Mew were much more likeable in their respective movies, if I have to be honest.

OMG, aren't they cuuuuute? 

I love Shaymin when it comes to its design, flavor, form change and competitive capability, however, so its whiny and ungrateful behavior is hardly a reason for me to start disliking/hating it. The cuteness of its hedgehog Land Forme is exactly one of the reasons why I love it so much, although the more canine or reindeer-like Sky Forme's superhero aesthetics (fur like a mohawk, a flower like a cape/scarf and wing-like ears) really made me fall in love with Shaymin. It looks graceful yet feisty, although I do have to say there's an air of arrogance surrounding it. Shaymin's personality is almost opposite with each form, after all: in its Land Forme it is shy and easily frightened, while in its Sky Forme it is courageous and playful, which is probably why it looks a bit superhero-ish.

Shaymin's Land Forme (left) is usually portrayed with just one Gracidea flower, but
the other lowers burst into bloom when it senses feelings of gratitude. I do prefer its
Sky Forme over its Land Forme, though.

There are no separate Pokédex entries for Shaymin's Sky Forme, however, and I am pretty certain the entries that do exist all apply to its Land Forme. Luckily, we still have the movie, in which it is explained that Shaymin gathers with others of its kind in some flower field each season and migrates from there. This practice is called Flower Carrying, because a new field of flowers grow where it lands. As for Shaymin's Pokédex entries... well, they state that it lives in flower patches, avoiding detection by curling up to look like a flowering plant, and dissolves toxins in the air to instantly transform ruined land into a lush field of flowers. The Gracidea flowers all over its body burst into bloom if it is lovingly hugged or feels comfortable around someone, although it rapidly hides it back when it senses danger. The Gracidea is also an in-game key item that is used to change Land Forme Shaymin into Sky Forme Shaymin, although this can only be done during the day.

Lastly, Shaymin's name may be a combination of xiè (Chinese for 'thanks' or 'gratitude') and harinezumi ('hedgehog' in the same language, even though it sounds Japanese), and it is possible it's merely a corruption of shamayim (Hebrew for 'sky'), correlating directly with Shaymin's Sky Forme.

I like well-drawn art like this that makes certain Pokémon look
different yet still distinguishable.

I was never able to obtain Shaymin prior to the year-long mythical event held by Nintendo and The Pokémon Company in 2016, but I am having so much fun using one in competitive play at the moment. While Shaymin's Land Forme has base 100 stats across the board, its Sky Forme has the same base stat total, although with boosts in its special attack and speed and drops in its defenses. Base 75 defenses are a tad mediocre, but they're backed up by a more-than-decent base 100 HP stat, so it will have no trouble living at least a few hits before it goes down. I only care for Sky Forme competitively, but both forms of Shaymin are largely used as fast special attackers. It really helps that this Pokémon has a couple of unique and/or devastating attacking moves in its arsenal, among which are Seed Flare, Air Slash, Psychic, Dazzling Gleam, Earth Power, Giga Drain and Energy Ball. I'd like to mention that Seed Flare and Air Slash are definite must-haves on Sky Forme, especially since its high speed stat and Serene Grace ability make it able to flinch opponents down with a 60% chance to flinch with Air Slash. Serene Grace also boosts the chance of dropping the foe's special defense with Seed Flare to a whopping 80%, which allows it to break down special walls. Attach a Life Orb to it and it'll do even more damage, although a Choice Scarf allows you to run a Modest nature instead of a Timid one and the Choice Specs aren't half bad, either. The last option is Healing Wish, which can be used in a pinch and lets Shaymin faint in order to fully recover an injured Pokémon on your team. It's your call whether you want to sacrifice a coverage move in favor of Healing Wish, but I personally don't run that move.

Sky confidently standing in a field of flowers. Don't you think its mohawk cut is
better than Scrafty's?

Land Forme is definitely bulkier than Sky Forme and is probably just as offensively viable as Sky Forme is (even though it is slightly weaker), but its ability is Natural Cure, which isn't as competitively useful as Serene Grace. Healing a status condition upon switching out is surely nothing to sneeze at, but it is merely situational, while the Serene Grace/Air Slash combo is an actual strategy that has proved to be more than effective on multiple occasions. A supportive approach might make Land Forme stand out a little bit more, as it is more suited than Sky Forme to run a moveset consisting of Leech Seed, Substitute, Protect and Giga Drain, backed up by the Leftovers as held item. It's just an example, so maybe you could ditch either Substitute or Protect and go with Synthesis for more reliable recovery instead. Perhaps you'll find yourself in need of Healing Wish because you need an injured teammate to go back to sweeping again; you never know.

GIF of Land Forme Shaymin drinking water from a pool. Adorable.

It's such a shame event Pokémon are just handed to you through a Nintendo Zone hotspot or the Nintendo Network; usually there isn't any challenging quest in the game in order to obtain them. On the other hand, without those Wi-Fi features I would never have been able to obtain all these event Pokémon and I can now safely say that my collection of legendary Pokémon is complete - with the exception of Zeraora, obviously. Shaymin is one of the best event-only Pokémon and I absolutely adore its Sky Forme for having such a sleek design, a courageous and heroic personality and amazing battling capabilities. Take one guess what rating I'm gonna give it?

P.S.: Bulbapedia suggests Shaymin may have gotten its inspiration from Chia Pets, small American-styled terracotta figurines used to sprout chia, where the chia sprouts grow within a couple of weeks to resemble the animal's fur or hair. While there was never a hedgehog Chia Pet, I can definitely see the resemblance, although I have to wonder whether Game Freak really created Shaymin with these distinctively American toys in mind. I don't know how popular - if at all - they are in Japan, but you rarely see them here in the Netherlands and I had never even heard of them prior to writing this article...

Rating: 5/5

#488: Cresselia

Cresselia radiates an air of beauty and grace.

Legendary Pokémon are relatively popular in general, and Cresselia is actually no different, but this Pokémon is annoying for two simple reasons. The first is that it's usually a roaming Pokémon in the Gen. IV games, which makes it a bitch to find and a bitch and a half to catch, as it has the tendency to run away one turn after it appears. Indeed, you'll have to come prepared if you're hunting for this thing and immediately put it to sleep with Spore or prevent it from fleeing with Mean Look. The second reason why Cresselia is annoying is its competitive usage, because its amazing base 120 HP as well as its base 120 defense and 130 special defense make it a tough cookie to crack. With a Calm or Bold nature you can crank up Cresselia's defenses even more (especially when you invest the right amount of EVs in the right stats), while the Leftovers heal it a little bit at the end of every turn. For more durability on the battlefield, most Cresselia have a moveset consisting of at least Moonlight, Toxic and maybe also Protect, while a move like Psychic provides excellent STAB damage in case of emergency. At least it needs something to attack with, right? Substitute might be a better option instead of Protect, while Reflect and Light Screen extend its longevity on the battlefield even further and Lunar Dance lets it faint in favor of fully recovering the Pokémon that is sent out after Cresselia.

And as Cresselia is tanky enough already, you could run an offensive set consisting of Calm Mind, Psychic, Moonblast and Ice Beam - Shadow Ball, Energy Ball and Signal Beam are good options as well, depending on what you need - although a Modest nature is surely recommended because of Cresselia's mediocre base 75 special attack. Boosting its special attack and special defense with Calm Mind every turn will definitely pay off in the end, though.

Cresselia engulfed in undulating light, while Darkrai is looking
on in darkness.

But Cresselia is ultimately more interesting in terms of design, origins and overall flavor. This Pokémon shares characteristics with the Sarimanok, a legendary fowl of the Maranao people who originate from Mindanao, one of the most southern islands - and the second largest at that - in the Philippines. This bird, whose name derives from sari ('cloth' or 'garment') and manok ('chicken'), has become an ubiquitous symbol or Maranao art and is often depicted with colorful wings, a feathered tail and a profusely decorated head. It is said to be a symbol of good fortune. Furthermore, the constellation Cygnus derives its name from the Latinized Greek word for 'swan', and considering Cresselia's crescent moon motif and the aurora-colored planetary rings around its body, it is more than possible Cygnus has been an inportant inspiration for Cresselia. While it's true that Cresselia looks very swan-like, it is mainly based on the shape of the crescent moon (its name may have even been inspired by Selene, the Greek goddess of the moon) and makes up one half of the Lunar Duo, the other being Darkrai. Darkrai is said to induce nightmares in people, however, while Cresselia is known to prevent or cure them, which manifests itself in the games by having the player cure a Sailor's son with the Lunar Wing found on Crescent Isle. What's more, those who sleep holding Cresselia's feather are assured of joyful dreams.

Shiny Cresselia is absolutely gorgeous!

And that's exactly why I like Cresselia more than the other half of the Lunar Duo. Don't get me wrong; Darkrai seems like an interesting enough Pokémon, but its design is weird and I am not usually drawn to Pokémon that tend to be portrayed as purely evil. There's a certain movie that actually contradicts that, but I'll talk about that when it's Darkrai's time to shine on this blog. The main reason why I love Cresselia so much is its design. In my opinion, Game Freak went out of their way to make it as graceful and beautiful as it could be. I would compliment them on Cresselia's shiny as well, if it weren't for the fact that from Gen. II to Gen. V shinies were created by simply letting the game's code switch up a Pokémon's color palette until they got a decent-looking shiny, while truly handmade shinies didn't appear until the sixth generation. I won't deviate from the topic by nitpicking too much about whether or not Game Freak is fully responsible for creating Cresselia's shiny, because at the end of the day it is still one of the most gorgeous shinies I have ever seen (the purple definitely helps!), but I just thought I'd mention it. If you look past its annoying catching method, Cresselia is just an amazing Pokémon overall - design- and flavor-wise as well as competitively. It may be one of the most average Pokémon out there when it comes to offense, but there is an excellent move that can fix that to some extent and it's still one of the best tanky support Pokémon to use in the competitive metagame.

Holy shit, because I barely even use it I never realized how much I really love this Pokémon.

Rating: 5/5

#487: Giratina

I am terribly annoyed and frustrated with Google at the moment, because they display Blogger in English while the language on both of my Google accounts is clearly set on Dutch. And here I am, trying to write a review about a creepy ghost-type Pokémon that was banished to the Distortion World for being too violent. I feel this will not have a positive effect on my current state of mind, but my goal is to have finished the Gen. IV legendaries plus Victini by the end of May, so here goes nothing.

(Disclaimer: Yes, I know that Victini is technically from the fifth generation, but this Pokémon comes before Snivy and after Arceus in the National Pokédex, so please cut me some slack here.)

Shiny Giratina in its Altered Forme. Isn't it gorgeous?

Giratina is the box-art legendary of Pokémon Platinum in its Origin Forme and is supposed to be Dialga and Palkia's counterpart, but it is separated from the other members of its trio in the Pokédex by Heatran and Regigigas. This is not an uncommon occurrence, however; Cresselia and Darkrai aren't found next to each other in the Pokédex either, no fewer than three legendary Pokémon would be found separately from the other members of their respective groups exactly one generation later as well, and a couple of Ultra Beasts prevent Necrozma from chilling with Solgaleo and Lunala. At the end of the day it doesn't really matter, because it's all about the Pokémon themselves and not about their position in the National Pokédex. In that regard, Giratina may be the most interesting of the Creation Trio flavor-wise, even though some of the references are clearly biblical in nature. Some of Giratina's Pokédex entries claim that it was banished to the Distortion World for its excessive violence, which may be based on the story of how the Devil was once an angel who was banished to Hell for attempting a revolution. Furthering this are the possibilities that Giratina's Altered Forme is based on a basilisk and its Origin Forme on a serpent, two creatures that the Devil would often take the form of in the Bible.

Amazing art of Giratina emerging at Spear Pillar from a portal leading to the
Distortion World.

But the two forms of Giratina seem to be based on entirely different things altogether. Bulbapedia claims that Giratina's Altered Forme may be based on a giant centipede from the Japanese fairytale "My Lord Bag of Rice", which was said to be as large as a mountain and prey on dragon hatchlings. It doesn't really make sense to me, because Giratina is a dragon type itself. Sure, its six legs make it look somewhat insect-like, but not overly so; if anything, I am of the opinion that it has more saurian and draconian features. When in its Origin Forme, Giratina shares physical traits with a creature called an amphiptere, a European dragon-like creature with bat-like wings and a serpentine body but no legs. Too bad the bat-like wings are a feature of Giratina's Altered Forme, as its Origin Forme possesses six black ghostly streamers protruding from its back, and the red spikes attached to the tips of those streamers are reminiscent to scorpion stingers or spider legs.

Also, in interviews Junichi Masuda and Takeshi Kawachimaru did with G4, they said that Giratina and the Distortion World were created to be personifications of antimatter, which Cynthia also states in HeartGold and SoulSilver. I'm guessing antimatter isn't the exact opposite of time and space, but I'll buy it. It's better than having to listen to the trifecta-of-matter theory for the umpteenth time, however solid this theory may be.

Giratina's Origin Forme chillin' with its creator, Arceus. 

Too bad Game Freak cannot be consistent when it comes to creating certain Pokémon's characteristics, because Giratina still seems to be able to travel through and control dimensions besides those of time and space. The movie Pokémon: Giratina and the Sky Warrior shows that it can pass through dimensions at will by emitting a whirlwind from its mouth, thereby creating a portal. Traveling to the 'normal' Pokémon world, it ambushed Dialga and dragged it to the Reverse World - the Distortion World in Pokémon Platinum - in order to exact revenge against it for causing damage to said Reverse World during its fight with Palkia in Pokémon: The Rise of Darkrai, which shows that Giratina is a highly aggressive and territorial Pokémon protective of its home and capable of kidnapping. In Pokémon Diamond and Pearl it can even be caught in its Altered Forme - its default form when not in the Distortion World or holding a Griseous Orb, due to the change in gravity between dimensions - in an ancient cemetery in Sinnoh called Turnback Cave, which is not even in the Distortion World and so it has no business being there in the first place. The point I'm trying to make here is that, ultimately, banishing Giratina to the Distortion World didn't seem to have had any effect whatsoever, as it is still able to travel between all kinds of different dimensions. Great consistency there, Game Freak.

While I'm at it, I should add that I think Giratina's Origin Forme should be called its Altered Forme and vice versa. The way I see it is that Giratina had to alter its body in order to adapt to a different environment after it was banished to the Distortion World, thereby taking on the form of a serpent rather than a centipede of some sort. I think. But what do I know, right?

Giratina's Altered Forme.

In any case, real-life references and name origins are almost never downright confirmed, so we could only guess where Giratina's name comes from. It almost feels like a Japanese corruption of the world 'guillotine', but that can't be the only thing. Bulbapedia suggests that Giratina's name may be derived from girasol opal, a term that is often mistakenly used to refer to red-, orange- and yellow-colored fire opals, but true girasol is a type of translucent hyalite opal that exhibits a bluish glow or sheen that follows the light source around and is sometimes called water opal when it is from Mexico. No, let's go the 'guillotine' way instead and throw some purachina (Japanese for 'platinum') in the mix as well. As Giratina is the game mascot of Pokémon Platinum, I guess the latter isn't such an over-the-top assumption. Lastly, when it comes to Giratina's competitive utility, it actually works quite differently from Dialga and Palkia, who mainly serve as strong special attackers. In its Altered Forme Giratina is a defensive wall sporting an annoying support set consisting of at least Defog, Toxic and Rest, while its Origin Forme swaps some base defenses for some more base offenses. It still won't be knocked out easily though, not even by another legendary Pokémon. Do think twice before sending this thing out to other dragon or ghost types (as well as fairy, ice and dark types), two types Giratina is weak to, which makes it the only dual-type Pokémon that is weak to both of its own types. Ouch.

Palkia (left) and Dialga (right) facing off against Origin Forme Giratina (middle).

I love this thing. It's a creepy yet cool Pokémon to look at, and I can understand why Pokémon Platinum - and by extension also Giratina and the Distortion World - enjoys so much popularity. The fourth generation isn't my favorite by a long shot, but Sinnoh is home to some of the most amazingly designed Pokémon, including my all-time favorite, Luxray. While I'm not a big fan of religious references in Pokémon, I can certainly see the irony in a Pokémon that might be the very embodiment of the Devil, especially since the franchise receives so much backlash from Christian parents. Giratina definitely gets no less than a perfect rating from me!

P.S.: I have now tagged all of my blog posts. From now on, every review will receive labels with the respective Pokémon's typing and rating, as well as the generation it's in. This way, it'll be easier for you to search for Pokémon in certain categories, should you so desire.

Rating: 5/5

#485: Heatran

The next legendary on the list is actually a Pokémon you can catch post-game in Diamond, Pearl and Platinum. Upon beating Champion Cynthia and entering the Hall of Fame, the player character has a chance to board a ship to an island somewhere in the northeast area of Sinnoh, where a volcano called Stark Mountain is located. After traversing the volcano with a fella named Buck, the legendary Heatran can be found in a cavern in the back, ready for you to catch it.

TCG promotional art of Heatran.

Heatran is not one of those overly powerful box-art legendaries like Lugia, Kyogre and Dialga, but it's a steel type and it is very popular in competitive play as a result. It's a pity that there isn't much story to be told about Heatran in the games, because design-wise this Pokémon is nothing short of fascinating. Heatran looks like a combination between a tortoise and a warty toad, but it is a cave-dwelling creature that spits fire and has a body armor made of steel, its most prominent feature being the metal bangles locked around its legs. Some parts of its body do look like they're slightly out of shape, because the intense body heat coming from its boiling blood (like magma) made them melt. It is said that some melted bits of metal on its body are the remnants of what used to be its shell, enhancing the theory that Heatran is based on a tortoise. Additionally, the cross-shaped metal claws that allow it to dig deep into walls and the feet that allow it to stick to a surface - so it can hang from and climb walls and ceilings using all four of its feet - give it the characteristics of some larger variants of insects, particularly cockroaches. It also learns Bug Bite by Move Tutor, so go figure.

This art is... different, and I like it.

However, it's almost as if Game Freak intended for Heatran to be the embodiment of the Earth's core, and not only because it is found in the interior of a volcano. Its name is probably derived from 'transition metal', referring to the fact that iron - a transition metal - forms much of Earth's outer and inner core under immense pressure, along with nickel. It's exactly the reason why Heatran is a fire/steel type and the only Pokémon with that type combination to date. Even though this typing comes with a huge quadruple weakness to ground-type moves, Heatran also benefits from being resistant to nine types (and an immunity to poison), of which five are quadruple ones: bug, steel, grass, ice and - most importantly - fairy. Fairy is one of the most common types seen in the competitive metagame nowadays, and Heatran makes for the perfect fairy-type counter. Combined with its base stat total of 600, this makes Heatran a very commonly used Pokémon in competitive play, especially when you consider its base 130 special attack stat has the chance to leave huge dents in your team if you don't watch out. Then again, you can combine almost any other type with steel and you'll have at least a decent Pokémon to work with; the type is that good. As always, there are a few exceptions, but Heatran isn't such an exception by any means and I'd recommend using it if you're looking for an offensive fire type.

Heatran is completely in its element in a volcanic area.

Let's start with the basic things: Heatran should have a Timid nature and the Flash Fire ability. As its speed isn't anything to write home about, a Modest nature is an option as well, but I would definitely stick with Flash Fire over Flame Body. Yes, there is a chance Heatran burns the opposing Pokémon if the latter uses a direct move on it (most of the time this is a physical move), but if you suspect an incoming fire-type move you can just switch in to Heatran, nullify the opponent's attack and raise the power of Heatran's own fire-type moves by 50%. If you really want to burn an opponent, you can just teach Heatran the move Will-O-Wisp anyway. The biggest problem is Heatran's glaring weakness to ground, which is often solved by giving it an Air Balloon to hold, although the Choice Specs or a Choice Scarf might not be a bad idea to give to Heatran at all. Plus, ever since the introduction of Z-Crystals it has been very common to let Heatran hold a Firium-Z and obliterate certain threats by locking them into Magma Storm and upgrade said Magma Storm to an insanely powerful Inferno Overdrive. If you want to use more reliable move than Magma Storm, which has 100 base power but is only 75% accurate, I'd recommend a moveset consisting of Fire Blast/Flamethrower/Lava Plume/Heat Wave, Flash Cannon, Earth Power and Dark Pulse, accompanied by a Choice item or a Life Orb. It is possible to ditch Dark Pulse in order to run two fire-type moves, as Flamethrower and Lave Plume are more accurate and Fire Blast is significantly more powerful. As Heatran has excellent defensive stats as well, it is often used as a utility Pokémon with Taunt, Stealth Rock and either Toxic or Will-O-Wisp, which I honestly think is wasted potential. There are so many tanks with worse offensive stats than Heatran, so I don't know why you would use Heatran as a defensive support Pokémon like that.

Ugh, whatever.

Heatran as seen in a Pokémon Ranger anime special. The yellow spots on its body
make it look as if it's sick and contagious (or warty, for that matter) rather than hot.
This depiction of Heatran is not flattering it at all. 

In any case, Heatran is no doubt an interesting Pokémon, design-wise as well as battle-wise. It's probably because Heatran is yet another steel type, but I never realized how much I love this thing until now. I wish there was a little bit more lore to it, but for a one-off legendary that isn't an event Pokémon and doesn't tie in with the rest of the Diamond and Pearl storyline, I'm surprised Heatran enjoys such a huge amount of popularity, albeit only for its immense competitive utility.

Well, it's better than not being popular at all, right?

Rating: 5/5

#483: Dialga

It's another steel type! Y'all know what rating I'm gonna give this thing, right?

Dialga as a trophy in Super Smash Bros. Brawl.

In all seriousness, though, Dialga may just be one of my favorite legendary Pokémon ever. It just looks incredibly cool, is amazingly powerful, has a fantastic type combination that only makes it weak to ground and fighting, and plays a big part in several games and movies. Being the box legendary of Pokémon Diamond, Dialga is the reason for Team Galactic's boss Cyrus's criminal operations, getting captured and being contained by him by use of the Red Chain he made from the crystals found on the Lake Guardians. Cyrus is a nutcase anyway, because he wants to use the power of Dialga (Palkia in Pokémon Pearl) to destroy the world and create a new one without 'illogical and irrational' emotions, one without spirit. Of course, as is the case with every game's storyline, absolute annihilation never actually occurs because the player character saves the day and even catches or defeats the big bad legendary. But why does Cyrus believe that Dialga can be used to destroy the entire fucking world in the first place? Well, according to Sinnoh myths, Dialga, Palkia and Giratina were simultaneously created by Arceus when the universe began, which is why they are often called the Creation Trio. While Palkia represents and controls space and dimensions and Giratina represents antimatter, Dialga is the representation of time and is said to have the power to control it, using the wing-like structure on its back to focus the flow of time by speeding it up, slowing it down or stopping it altogether.

The player character and their partner facing Primal Dialga as the Temporal Tower
is collapsing. Dialga can only be seen in this form in the Gen. IV Mystery Dungeon
games, as Primal Dialga is not present in the main series games. This piece of fan
art is fantastic, by the way.

In other words, Dialga may just be a more powerful creature than many other legendary Pokémon when it comes to lore, which is once more demonstrated in the Mystery Dungeon games Explorers of Time, Explorers of Darkness and Explorers of Sky, appearing mostly as a fearful creature called Primal Dialga, having lost control of itself and having entered a state of self-preservation due to the Temporal Tower having collapsed. It's keeping time frozen and refuses to let it flow properly, so the player caracter and its partner must return to the present from the future and take on an almost-Primal Dialga upon arriving at the collapsing tower. After beating some sense into it, Dialga is so thankful that it revives the player, who had previously been erased from existence altogether. You can be sure Dialga plays a very big part in all of the Gen. IV Mystery Dungeon games, as the storyline of Explorers of Sky barely changes compared to its two predecessors; if Platinum is an enhanced version of Diamond and Pearl, with mostly the same storyline, Explorers of Sky is an enhanced version of Explorers of Time and Explorers of Darkness. Aside from being the main 'antagonist' and biggest boss battle in the Mystery Dungeon games - as well as being integral to Pokémon Diamond and Platinum - it also appears in no fewer than four different movies, the most prominent of which are The Rise of Darkrai, Giratina and the Sky Warrior and Arceus and the Jewel of Life. Go figure.

Holy shit, this fan art of Dialga is amazing!

In short, Dialga seems to be a highly favorable Pokémon to be utilized by Game Freak due to it being the most popular of the Creation Trio aesthetically, but what is this thing actually based on? Let's get the crazy fan theory out of the way first: the Pokémon fandom believes that Dialga, Palkia and Giratina are based on the states of matter - the trifecta of solids, liquids and gases - hence Dialga's steel type, Palkia's water type and Giratina's ghost type, while all have the secondary dragon type tacked onto them. While I think it's a solid theory that sounds far more plausible than time being rigid and space being fluid or some shit like that, there are a couple of problems I have with it. First off, this theory is nowhere to be found on Bulbapedia and I don't think it's officially considered to be the inspiration for the Creation Trio's origins, much less confirmed to be true; and second, gases are still considered matter - no matter how unstable they may be - while Giratina and the Distortion World were created to be the personifications of antimatter, as confirmed by Junichi Masuda and Takeshi Kawachimaru in interviews they did with G4. There's a little inconsistency there, but this matter theory is not a bad theory at all and I am definitely not inclined to dismiss it as bullshit.

But enough about this theory; I've spent an entire paragraph on it, goddammit!

Little Riolu (probably representing the player character in
Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Sky) facing a badass
Primal Dialga.

I'm not done yet, however, as there's more to Dialga, including plenty more reasons to why it's a steel type. The hardness of diamonds (or the fact that diamonds are compressed carbon and steel is an alloy from iron and carbon) may be a possibility, as is the fact that most part of a clock are made of metal. Additionally, the turquoise lines on its body are vaguely reminiscent to the diamond-shaped ends of clock hands you see all the time, while the spikes in its neck look similar to Time Gears, artifacts of great importance in the Mystery Dungeon games. As they help keep control of the flow of time in the Pokémon world, it is hardly a surprise that the Time Gears were designed to look specifically like parts of Dialga. The 'dia' part in its name may even derive from dia (Spanish for 'day', a unit of time) or 'sundial', the latter of which is an instrument used to tell time using shadows on a clock face. Faunatically, Dialga bears resemblances to certain genera of short-necked sauropod dinosaurs called camarasaurus supremus and brachytrachelopan mesai. Folklorically, its origins lay in the Shintō myth of Izanami and Izanagi - the respective goddess and god of both creation and death - who are said to have created one island with a spear, erected a pillar on it in order to mate and from there created the islands of Japan. Not unintentionally, you face Cyrus and the box legendary on top of Mt. Coronet, on an ancient site called Spear Pillar.

Game Freak, don't make me think you are secretly geniuses.

Dialga using its signature move Roar of Time, which is basically just a dragon-type
Hyper Beam. 

Finally, do I have to talk about Dialga's competitive utility? This beast has a base stat total of a whopping 680, making it too strong for Smogon's regular tiers. Just make sure you max out its excellent special attack and choose from its wide arrange of special moves (seriously, it learns amazing coverage moves like Power Gem, Earth Power, Aura Sphere, Thunderbolt, Ice Beam, Fire Blast and Flamethrower alongside STAB moves like Dragon Pulse and Flash Cannon), and you'll annihilate at least half of your opponent's team.

Honestly, Dialga has become one of my favorite legendary Pokémon by now. It certainly helps that it's a steel type, but how cool is it that you can catch an awesome-looking god-like dinosaur creature that can manipulate time at will? Think about that.

Rating: 5/5