#174, #39 - #40: Igglybuff, Jigglypuff & Wigglytuff

Official art of adorable, round Igglybuff.

Who remembers that annoying-as-fuck Jigglypuff that occasionally sang everybody to sleep in the first season of the anime series?

Yeah, that's what this article is about...

Seriously though, that Jigglypuff was incredibly annoying. And unreasonable too, for that matter, as it got mad and inflated when they fell asleep after its lullabies. The first time it got mad it stole a marker from Ash's backpack and started to doodle on their faces. Jigglypuff carried that marker along with it everywhere and never hesitated to use it when Ash and his company fell asleep once more. I never liked that Jigglybuff, though. It only interrupted the episode and it had no purpose in the anime whatsoever, so you can say that my 'experience' with this windbag (literally, because after mesmerizing its opponent with its eyes, Jigglypuff inflates its lungs to start singing a lullaby, endangering its own life by continuing to sing until its lungs run out of air if the opponent resists falling asleep) hasn't exactly been of a positive nature. It took a long time for me to actually start liking Jigglypuff. And then came Igglybuff...

Fan drawing of Jigglypuff (left) and Wigglytuff (right).

Like, was it really necessary to add another useless baby Pokémon? We've had Pichu and Cleffa now, who serve no purpose whatsoever (except maybe breeding the move Volt Tackle on Pichu in Pichu's case), and it's not even the last baby Pokémon to have been introduced in Gen. II. In fact, I am yet to review Tyrogue, Smoochum, Elekid and Magby, who have all been introduced in Gen. II as well. Gen. IV isn't much better, with a total of seven new pre-evolutions of Pokémon that already existed. Let it be clear, I don't hate baby Pokémon... I mean, they are cute and all, but what purpose do they serve other than being the result of introducing breeding (which, let's be honest, could have been introduced without adding weaker forms of already-existing Pokémon)? I don't want to rant about baby Pokémon and dedicate this whole article to it, but I had to put it out there. Again, this doesn't mean I hate Igglybuff; on the contrary, really, I just wonder why these Pokémon were added in the first place...

Cute.

Well, it can't be helped; Igglybuff is here, bouncing continually and uncontrollably once it starts with that, and with a sore throat of singing too much (if only the anime Jigglypuff had had this problem once in a while...). In the end, though, this article is largely based on one Pokémon: Jigglypuff's evolution Wigglytuff. Like Cleffa, Clefairy and Clefable, it is now a fairy type (just like Igglybuff and Jigglypuff), but rather than having been changed into pure fairy types, Wigglytuff and its pre-evolutions have had the fairy type added to their primary normal typing. Other than taking neutral damage from fighting-type moves rather than being weak to it, this type combination makes no sense. Game Freak might as well have changed them into pure fairy types, but whatever... The main thing is that Wigglytuff got a boost in its base special attack, making this stat halfway decent. Its defenses are still booty, but its massive HP stat makes Wigglytuff bulky, anyway. Combine its passable special attack with moves like Ice Beam, Psychic, Shadow Ball, Dazzling Gleam, Hyper Voice, Flamethrower, Thunderbolt, Focus Blast and even Grass Knot and you have a Wigglytuff with so much diversity that you don't even know where to start when filling a moveset.

All in all, Igglybuff and its evolution Jigglypuff don't particularly pique my interest, but Wigglytuff is cute and interesting enough to pull off a very decent rating. I mean, who wouldn't want a fluffy balloon? Indeed, Wigglytuff's pink fur is so soft that those who touch it (including its own species) will not want to stop, and its body is so soft and rubbery that it is able to inflate by inhaling, moving around by bouncing or floating while it is inflated. I want to see you find a fluffy bunny/balloon thing that can do that. And yes, eventually I did get over my annoyance with Jigglypuff, because I haven't watched the anime series in ages...

Rating: 4/5

#37 - #38: Vulpix & Ninetales

Official art of Vulpix.

Next up on my list are the pure fire types Vulpix and Ninetales. Yeah... pure fire types.

You see, everything about their flavor indicates they should have had a secondary typing, probably ghost or maybe even psychic. Well, at least Ninetales should have... Because even though Vulpix is capable of manipulating fire to such precision that it can create floating wisps of flame, is born with one white tail that splits into six and learns most of the moves that define their flavor, such as Extrasensory, Hex, Spite, Grudge, Feint Attack, Confuse Ray, Hypnosis and even Will-O-Wisp (almost all fire and ghost types can learn this move, but I'll mention it just for the sake of making my point; besides, aside from Vulpix and the Fennekin line, another line of fiery foxes, only some ghost-type moves can learn this move by level-up), Ninetales is the one Pokémon in this evolution line that is the most fascinating. Vulpix is cute and all, but Ninetales is where things get weird. It is a very beautiful Pokémon, but it is also very vengeful towards those who mistreat it, laying a 1,000-year curse on them. Ninetales can live for 1,000 years due to the energy within its nine tails, each of which is said to have its own mystical power. That is not all, though: Ninetales is based on a kitsune, a fox-like creature of Japanese folklore that have many tails, have extremely long lifespans and can breathe fire. After a long-lived life, kitsune take on spirit forms, which is exactly the reason why Ninetales should have had a secondary ghost typing to begin with. And the ability to learn Shadow Ball, while we're at it.

Beautiful, majestic Ninetales.

That is not to say that Ninetales doesn't learn any other good moves, however. You might want to make sure to have a Ninetales with its hidden ability, which is Drought. It conjures up the sun for at least five turns and powers up its fire-type moves by 50% while weakening any super effective water-type moves opponents might use against Ninetales by 50% as well. This ability is excellent for setting up, because Ninetales can learn Nasty Plot, which is a start move that sharply raises its somewhat mediocre special attack stat. That, combined with Drought, the item Life Orb, its excellent special defense and speed stats, and the moves Solar Beam, Flamethrower and Psyshock, makes for an excellent competitive Pokémon in the NU tier. That way, you can go all-offensive and you won't have to spend a moveslot on Sunny Day or Will-O-Wisp. You could go for the Hypnosis/Dream Eater combo, but Hypnosis has such low accuracy that it's not really worth it. Besides, Psyshock is more reliable and consistent and, above all, hits for physical damage rather than special damage, while still making use of Ninetales' special attack stat. That is quite useful against specially bulky opponents and provides for more coverage anyway.

Shiny Ninetales is one of my favorite shinies. 

One more reason why Ninetales is one of my favorite Pokémon is its shiny form. Usually, Ninetales are beige with brown tail tips, but shiny Ninetales is gray with blue tail tips. It is... beautiful. One of my favorite shiny Pokémon for sure. Also, this color scheme fits Ninetales' flavor of being a mystical creature even more than its regular color scheme, as it looks more like a ghost-type Pokémon (there I go again about its should-be secondary typing!) when it's shiny. I love Ninetales for everything it stands for, though, so I can't help but give it a perfect rating of five stars!

Rating: 5/5

#173, #35 - #36: Cleffa, Clefairy & Clefable

Cute fan art of Cleffa (right) and its evolution Clefairy (left).

Damn, I was looking forward to discussing these Pokémon. Let's do this.

So, as it happens, Pokémon X and Y introduced the brand-new fairy type. These games also marked the first time that Pokémon from earlier generations had their typing completely changed, rather than that this new type was added to them on top of their primary typing (like Gen. II did with Magnemite and Magneton, when they gained the steel typing on top of their primary electric typing). The Cleffa line, the Togepi line, and Snubbull and Granbull had all been pure normal types (or normal/flying types in the case of Togetic and Togekiss) prior to X and Y, but have been made pure fairy types (or fairy/flying types in the case of, again, Togetic and Togekiss) in X and Y. This actually made the Pokémon mentioned above quite useful, as they weren't so great prior to X and Y. You see, the normal type is probably the worst offensive typing in the game, being super effective against absolutely nothing and resisted by rock and steel. Ghosts aren't affected by normal types at all, but can't do anything to normal types in return, either. Fairies, however, are dragon slayers and are super effective against fighting and dark types as well.

Official art of Clefable

Of course, Cleffa and Clefairy are still pre-evolutions of Clefable and aren't that useful against most dragons, especially not competitively. Clefable, on the other hand, didn't only get a useful typing; it also got a boost in its base special attack stat. Not that Clefable was particularly bad before Gen. VI, as its ability to learn moves like Ice Beam, Thunderbolt and Flamethrower and the like made it a very versatile Pokémon. The normal type was physical in the first three generations, however, so it didn't have a proper damage-dealing STAB move until Black and White, when it was able to learn Hyper Voice (let's leave out Hyper Beam in Gen. IV; even though it's a strong move, it requires Clefable to recharge the turn after that, and that is exactly what Clefable doesn't need). Its new fairy typing comes with a couple of STAB moves that are much better, though: Moonblast is a strong move that has a chance to lower the opponent's special attack stat, while Dazzling Gleam hits multiple opponents in double and triple battles. Due to its fairy typing (see how many benefits it gained by having its typing changed?), its crazy diverse movepool, and its more-than-decent special attack, special defense and HP stats, it is often used in the competitive scene. Whichever way you wanna go with it, you can let Clefable set up as a (specially) defensive wall or special sweeper. Its abilities, Magic Guard and Unaware, don't play an unimportant role in that, either.

Metronome the night away!

When I was doing a fairy mono-type playthrough of Omega Ruby (yeah, I like to keep it interesting), it was one of my main hard-hitting Pokémon. And when you're doing a playthrough like that, you quickly become attached to the Pokémon you're using. Also, the fairy type is easily my second favorite type in the game, having been unable to exceed the steel type as my favorite type, so all things considered it is not a surprise that I love this Pokémon so much all of a sudden. And not only Clefable, but the entire evolution line. Their flavor definitely suggests that these Pokémon are one of the rarest in existence; Cleffa are believed to have reached the Earth on shooting stars and are more frequently seen during meteor showers as they are attracted by them, Clefairy rarely show themselves to humans and are mostly seen dancing under the light of the full moon, whose light they absorb to be able to float, and Clefable flee when they hear humans approaching with their sensitive ears that can even hear a pin falling from half a mile away. The anime has even shown that these Pokémon are extraterrestrial, which is always a nice feature to add to a Pokémon's flavor.

There's a theory going around that Gengar is actually Clefable's shadow, due to
them sharing some similarities. 

The most interesting part about Clefable, however, is a theory that's been roaming around the Internet for ages: Gengar is Clefable's shadow. Personally, I don't really believe in this theory, but it is interesting to think about. Clefable's feet, three-fingered hands and pointy ears are features that Gengar has as well, while its wings have turned to spikes on Gengar's back, its curly hair has been replaced by spikey 'hair' and its tail has been uncurled. Also, prior to X and Y, Clefable and Gengar couldn't even touch each other with their STAB moves, as normal is immune to ghost and vice versa. Have you ever been able to hit your shadow? The theory is a little farfetched, as Gengar and Clefable were - and still are - able to hit each other with other moves. Besides... now that Clefable is a fairy type, Gengar has a huge advantage over Clefable, because Gengar's secondary typing is poison and fairy is weak to that. Also, Gengar is stronger than Clefable, at least according to base stats; although its attack stat is very medicore, and both ghost and poison were physical before the physical/special split in Gen. IV. Finally, it is heavier. Yeah, you read that correctly: Gengar is more than a pound heavier than Clefable, and I have never seen a shadow that is heavier than the person or creature the shadow belongs to.

Another cool image of Gengar being Clefable's shadow.

All things aside, Gengar might as well be considered the ghost of Clefable rather than Clefable's shadow, but even that I deem very unlikely. For starters, Gengar is nowhere close to Clefable in the Pokédex. Moreover, Gengar evolves from Haunter, who in turn evolves from Gastly, and I can safely say that Gastly and Haunter have nothing to do with Cleffa and Clefairy, respectively. Gengar being Clefable's shadow (or ghost, if you will) is a cool and interesting theory, but nowhere near believable. Not to me, anyway.

But enjoy your mindfuck, conspiratorialists!

To finish things off, Clefable is probably one of my favorite fairy types. It's also interesting to know that Game Freak almost decided to make Clefairy Ash's starter Pokémon rather than Pikachu. It wouldn't have been quite as fitting or effective as a mascot (or as Ash's starter Pokémon, for that matter, as it's way too girly), I believe, so I'm glad Game Freak went with Pikachu instead. Clefable is a whole different story; I won't give it a perfect rating, but I guess 4.5 stars should suffice.

Rating: 4.5/5

#29 - #34: Nidoran♀, Nidorina, Nidoqueen, Nidoran♂, Nidorino & Nidoking

Love at first sight. In the games they aren't able to breed with
each other, though.

Poor little Nidoran♀...

It shouldn't come as a surprise that the female Nidoran has been the least favorite Nido since the beginning, especially considering the fact that Pokémon was initially a boys' thing (although it wasn't necessarily aimed at just boys) and Nidoking was obviously more savage-looking to them than Nidoqueen. However, it goes without saying that the entire Nido family have always been an interesting bunch. Up to now, these Pokémon have been the only species of which the different genders occupy different places in the Pokédex. Without a doubt, the female Nidoran is related to the male Nidoran, but have them be the exact same species and number rather than place them in different spots in the Pokédex (although both evolution lines appear next to each other) was difficult, if not impossible, for Game Freak and Nintendo to encode into the games at the time. I guess. I don't even know exactly, maybe that wasn't even their intention at all, as both Nidoran's evolutions have different names: Nidoran♀ evolves into Nidorina and eventually Nidoqueen, while Nidoran♂ evolves into Nidorino, who ultimately evolves into Nidoking. The same cannot be said about the likes of Unfezant, Meowstic and Pyroar, for example. Their appearances differ drastically based on their gender, but both males and females have the same name.

Official Ken Sugimori art of Nidorina (left) and Nidorino (right). Nidorina are shown
to deeply care for their young, while Nidorino are often violent and easily angered.

One peculiar thing about both Nidoran is that they cannot breed. At least not with each other. They both belong to the 'Monster' and 'Field' egg groups, which are both egg groups with Pokémon that are perfectly able to breed with each other, but both Nidoran are only able to breed with Ditto. It gets even odder, as both Nidoran can produce both Nidoran. Let me explain: if a female Nidoran breeds with Ditto, it is able to produce an egg with either a female or a male Nidoran. The same goes into effect when a male Nidoran breeds with Ditto. Nidorina, Nidorino, Nidoqueen and Nidoking are part of the 'Undiscovered' egg group and cannot even breed themselves. I can imagine the frustration if you're breeding with the goal of getting five or six perfect IVs on your male Nidoran and you're getting a female one... Well, the chance is 50/50 anyway, so I guess it wouldn't be that hard; breeding perfect IVs onto your Pokémon is a torture in the first place.

The Nido family: Nidoking and Nidoqueen (back), Nidorina and
Nidorino (bottom left), and both Nidoran (bottom right).

But eventually it'll be worth your while. Just use a Moon Stone on Nidorina or Nidorino if you want Nidoqueen or Nidoking, respectively, because they do not evolve by leveling them up. Both final evolutions are quite capable in battles, though, and Nidoking is even often used in the competitive scene. That is not without a reason, because it is a little bit stronger than Nidoqueen. Whereas Nidoking is slightly faster and more offensive than it is defensive, Nidoqueen is more of a bulky Pokémon rather than an overly strong one, even though its attack stat is more than decent. It doesn't help Nidoqueen's cause that it is hardly able to effectively use its special attack stat, as it is just mediocre (just like its speed stat, so a choice item Nidoqueen is a lot less effective than a choice item Nidoking, with the exception of maybe the Choice Band). Both Nidos have some interesting physical-based level-up moves and can be taught the very same TM and HM moves, except Aerial Ace (which, for some strange reason, only Nidoqueen can learn), so both can learn some great physical moves, even through breeding.

Awesome 'realistic' interpretation of Nidoking.

As Nidoking has very respectable special attack and speed stat, however, it is often used as a special attacker, not seldom in combination with a choice item such as a Choice Scarf and its hidden ability Sheer Force, which takes away added effects of moves (reducing the target's stats, boosting the user's stats or causing a status effect to the target, but not a higher chance of a critical hit) and adds some extra power. Let's take a look at the special-based moves it can take advantage of due to its ability, shall we? Ice Beam, Thunderbolt and Flamethrower, as well as their stronger counterparts Blizzard, Thunder and Fire Blast, are viable options. Earth Power and Sludge Wave (which is stronger in one-on-one battles, but hits multiple Pokémon in double and multi battles) are must-haves for Nidoking, as they're STAB moves and receive an added bonus due to Sheer Force. It also learns Shadow Ball, Focus Blast and Surf, just for good measure. Nidoking's physical attack is even higher, but its hidden ability doesn't allow many physical-based moves to gain a boost from it. The best are probably Poison Jab, Rock Slide and the elemental punches, although Nidoking's attack stat is already so high that it can safely use moves with no added effects such as Megahorn and Earthquake (especially since it's STAB due to Nidoking's secondary ground typing). Thrash is an option, but doesn't counter any other types, and Brick Break and Shadow Claw are a little too weak for Nidoking to make good use of them. Finally we have Head Smash as an egg move, but this isn't STAB, doesn't get the power bonus from Sheer Force and does half the damage Nidoking dealt to its opponent to itself.

Old-ass official art of Nidoran♀ (left) and Nidoran♂ (right). Nidoran♀'s poison is
so venomous that only a scratch from its horn or a drop of poison is deadly.
Nidoran♂ has the ability to detect sounds with ears that contain unique muscles
that allow it to be moved in any direction, flapping them when it hears enemies
approaching.

By the way, do you want more proof of Nidoking's superiority? Its tail causes metal towers to fall over and Nidoking uses it to smash, constrict or break a prey's bones or to create distance between it and its foes in battles before it charges, while its horn is so hard that it can pierce a diamond. Also, IT IS PURPLE!!! Just like Baragon, by the way, which is a purple dinosaur-like creature from old Japanese kaijū movies - a film genre that is all about monsters and strange beasts that fight each other or attack big cities; Godzilla, for example - with bunny-like ears and a big horn on its head and the ability to burrow through earth.

All in all, the entire Nido family are great additions to the Pokémon world, especially since they're the first Pokémon that show gender differences. In fact, they were basically the only ones that were assigned a gender in Red, Blue and Yellow, because the rest of the Pokémon didn't get a gender until the second generation, when the concept of breeding was introduced. As Nidoqueen and Nidoking are two entirely seperate Pokémon in both appearance and flavor, and considering the fact that these two Nidos aren't quite equally as interesting to me, I am going to rate them separately.

Rating Nidoqueen: 4/5

Rating Nidoking: 5/5

#27 - #28: Sandshrew & Sandslash

I had this exact same Sandshrew plushie.

Jeez... Writing the previous entry about the Pokémon franchise mascot felt like writing a 1,000-page novel.

Yeah, I don't think that's gonna happen right now though, because Sandshrew and Sandslash cannot compete with Pikachu's popularity. I'm not saying that they're not likeable or even capable Pokémon, so let's see what they have in store for us. Well, Sandshrew is actually just there for being adorable, and that manifests itself in those fluffy plushies of Sandshrew that I had one of as well. And even though I don't have it anymore, it was definitely my favorite and most huggable Pokémon plushie, aside from maybe Togepi. (Perhaps I should mention that I didn't have all that many plushies to begin with, so that is probably the reason why it was my favorite.) Game Freak can even make a pangolin/armadillo Pokémon look cute if they want to, even though it should be noted that all real-life animals can be cute if drawn correctly. However, it seems that Game Freak have had a broad view of what exactly a mouse is: as is the case with Rattata and Raticate, both Sandshrew and Sandslash have been erroneously classified as 'Mouse Pokémon'. I'll grant them, Sandshrew has some traits of mice, but Sandslash... Goddammit, I shouldn't worry about this whole thing over and over again. I wanted to say that Sandshrew mainly serves as the pre-evolution of the ground-type hedgehog/porcupine thing that is Sandslash, so how does Sandslash fare in battles?

Nice fan art of Sandslash

Well, Sandslash isn't used all that much in the competitive scene, but that doesn't mean it's not capable. In fact, with its high attack and defense stats it can actually put in some good work. Its special attack is absolutely booty, but it doesn't need it, while it could use some more special defense and speed. However, spend some time EV-training Sandslash with either an attack- or defense-bossting nature in its attack and defense stats (as well as some of its HP) and you have a hard-hitting physical tank. The moves it learns are some really basic TM moves though, but Earthquake is going to be its main move anyway, combined with Swords Dance. The other two slots in its moveset should be filled in by Rock Slide and Poison Jab (to counter ice and grass types, to which Sandslash is weak), while X-Scissor is also an option. You can even go with a speed-reducing nature and teach it Gyro Ball (a move that does more damage the slower the user is compared to the target), but if you insist on teaching Sandlsash a steel-type move, you'll be better off with the Move Tutor move Iron Tail instead, because most ice types aren't very fast to begin with. Not to mention it would be completely bodied by fairy types due to its lackluster special defense.

Sandslash wallpaper.

One last feature I think is really nice, is that Sandshrew and Sandslash's claws are venomous, just like a shrew (a mouse-like mammal) is poisonous in real-life, hence their ability to learn Poison Sting naturally. Moreover, Sandslash's claws can break and its spikes are shed regularly, after which they grow back quickly. And even though Sandslash may not be the best Pokémon out there, I really like this Pokémon. Remember, my rating is not based on just a Pokémon's fighting performances, but also on its design, my personal experiences with said Pokémon and whether or not I'd like to use it in a playthrough once. That is the reason why Sandslash gets a 3.5-star rating.

Rating: 3.5/5

#172, #25 - #26: Pichu, Pikachu & Raichu

Unbelievably adorable Pichu fan art.

While in previous entries I didn't even know what the hell I had to write and tried to fill some 'gaps', I don't even know where to begin  right now.

Let's start with the fact that the headline of this entry starts with the number 172. That is, of course, the Gen. II Pokémon Pichu, the pre-evolution of first-generation Pokémon Pikachu and Raichu. It is not even skilled at using its electricity, even though it can zap adult humans while surprising itself at the same time. In that regard, Pichu is a danger to humanity and its own species alike, and I think it should be kept in an electricity-proof cage until it evolves into Pikachu. Then again, that probably wouldn't work as it evolves with high friendship, and I don't think locking it up is contributory to a good friendship in the first place. Anyway, Pichu is a baby Pokémon, and along with breeding, baby Pokémon were introduced in Gen. II and it wouldn't be until after Gen. IV that Game Freak would stop adding new baby forms of previously introduced Pokémon. Baby Pokémon are the product of breeding and can be obtained by having their evolutions breed with one of their species or with another Pokémon from the same egg group. That excludes baby Pokémon, because they cannot breed themselves and all automatically belong to the 'Undiscovered' egg group.

Technically, this feature makes Riolu and Togepi baby Pokémon as well, even though I would personally like to see them as basic Pokémon, as they were introduced alongside their evolutions in the same generation (the second and fourth, respectively). I want to believe baby Pokémon were introduced to appeal to girls as well, by adding more cuteness to the franchise. That definitely worked, because baby Pokémon are generally cute, pink and/or cuddly, with the notable exception of Tyrogue, and are useless most of the time. Pichu, however, gets one feature that actually makes it - or its evolutions Pikachu and Raichu, rather - quite useful, but I'll get to that later in this entry.

The Pichu evolution line: Pichu (front), Pikachu (middle) and
Raichu (back). 

Well, then it is time to move on to what is unquestionably the most well-known Pokémon in existence: Pikachu. This is not without a reason, though, because it has appeared as Ash's sidekick in the anime series since the very first episode. Well, it didn't actually start to act like Ash's sidekick until the episode after that, but let's not be nitpicky about that. We all know the story anyway: Ash gets to become a rookie Pokémon Trainer, but on the day he gets to pick his first Pokémon - Bulbasaur, Charmander or Squirtle, which he obtains a little later on in the series, anyway - he arrives late at Professor Oak's lab, and by that time there is only one Pokémon left: Pikachu. It doesn't listen to Ash at first, regularly zapping him with Thunder Shocks, but after Pikachu gets hurt by a horde of vicious Spearow, Ash snitches Misty's bicycle and rushes to a nearby Pokémon Center. From that moment on, Ash and Pikachu have been inseparable. During the course of the anime, Ash's Pikachu has shown a lot of personality: it has a love for ketchup, is sometimes seen in a bad mood, once refused to evolve into Raichu when Ash offered it a Thunder Stone, had temporarily lost its memories and sided with Team Rocket during the Hoenn saga, has been seen mediating and even breaking up fights among other Pokémon, and even acted as a guardian and big brother to Misty's weak Togepi. As a result of having been Ash's main Pokémon for, like, an eternity, it is probably the only Pokémon that has appeared in almost every episode and movie so far, if not actually every episode and movie.

There was a reason why Pikachu was on the logo of
the 10th anniversary of Pokémon.

Another reason why Pikachu is the most well-known Pokémon is that it has been the mascot of the Pokémon franchise since the franchise took off in 1996. On itself, Pikachu isn't such an overly strong Pokémon, but it really doesn't need to be. As the Pokémon mascot, it has to be recognized by every living being on this goddamn planet. I mean, not everyone can say that they know Sceptile, Luxray, Klinklang or Avalugg, but almost everyone has heard of Pikachu. Naturally, Ash's Pikachu has played a very big part in that, as it shows up in virtually every episode, getting Ash out of trouble time and time again. So it isn't without a reason that Pikachu shows up on banners and commercials announcing or representing official Pokémon events, such as the Pokémon National and World Championships - at which video game and TCG competitions are held annually, enabling candidates to win a scholarship of $10,000 or $25,000, respectively - and even the 10th anniversary of Pokémon. A series of events were held across the entire United States and even reached countries on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean (including the Netherlands, my native country), a special anime episode called "The Mastermind of Mirage Pokémon" was made for this special occasion, and the chicken-producing company Perdue Farms distributed promotional mini-discs in their packages of chicken breast nuggets. The promotion they carried out featured three different mini-discs, each containing one of three games, a Pokédex of only one of three generations depending on which disc you had, and a "Learn to Play" demo of TCG (Trading Card Game). And all this time, Pikachu was the 'face' of this whole promotional stunt.

Pikachu has been on a strict diet since 1996, in official art (left) as well as in the
video game sprites (right).

Pikachu is also notorious for the changes it has undergone since it appeared as a fat, yellow mouse thing in Red and Blue (Green in Japan). During the past twenty years, Pikachu has gradually been losing weight, drastically changing its appearance in both official Ken Sugimori art and the video games. In the image above you can see the 'evolution' of Pikachu throughout the years; it is noticeable that Pikachu has gotten slimmer. That's not the only change Pikachu could have had, though: in 2013, there was a discussion going on about whether Game Freak would dare add the fairy type to Pichu, Pikachu and Raichu, especially after Dedenne (an electric/fairy-type Pikachu clone resembling Raichu) was revealed. Thank God Game Freak didn't do that to our beloved mascot, because changing its typing would have been way too much of a change for such a well-known Pokémon.

In every generation a new Pikachu clone was introduced: Pichu
in Gen. II, Plusle and Minun in Gen. III (top left), Pachirisu in
Gen. IV (top right), Emolga in Gen. V (bottom right) and Dedenne
in Gen. VI (bottom left).

Furthermore, Pikachu's popularity has risen to such an extent that Game Freak found it necessary to produce a new Pikachu clone every generation. That's right, every generation contained a new electric-type rodent Pokémon with features that so strongly resemble Pikachu that it's just obvious they're 'clones' - or remakes, if you will. Although one could argue whether or not Pichu should be considered a Pikachu clone, as it is technically Pikachu's pre-evolution, many people do consider Pichu as such and thus it is the Pikachu clone of the second generation. We shouldn't be picky about that, it was introduced in the generation after Pikachu, after all. All of the generations after that saw the introduction of electric rodents as well. Gen. III even added two more mice to the list: Plusle and Minun, which are supposed to be opposites (plus and minus), but are obviously related. Gen. IV introduced the electric-type squirrel Pachirisu and Gen. V has the flying squirrel Emolga, which is the first dual-type Pikachu clone. The last one is Dedenne, introduced in Gen. VI, and has the fairy typing on top of its primary electric typing. Why that is? Beats me.

ORAS introduced the feature of Cosplay Pikachu. The different
forms clockwise: Pop Star, Ph.D., Libre, Rock Star, and Belle.

Anyway, enough with the clones and the mascot thing. How does Pikachu do in the video games? Well... not half bad, to be honest. It is uncommon (rare, even) to see a Pikachu in the competitive scene, but it can deliver a damn good job if you know how to use it. You should at least have it hold a Light Ball, which doubles its attack and special attack stats, effectively making its attack stat of 458 at level 100 higher than most other Pokémon. Its moves are also worthwhile. Pichu is the only baby Pokémon that can learn a special move when one of its parents is holding a Light Ball: Volt Tackle. With a base power of 120, it is an insanely strong physical-based electric-type move that hits HARD when used by Light Ball Pikachu (just mind the recoil damage). It also learns Brick Break and Iron Tail, and even some decent special-based moves if you want to go that way. Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire even introduced a nice new feature: a Cosplay Pikachu given to you by a non-player character. Depending on which form you dress it into, Cosplay Pikachu learns a special move, of which Rock Star and Belle learn the most useful ones (Meteor Mash and Icicle Crash, respectively; the others get Draining Kiss, Electric Terrain and Flying Press).

This piece of Pikachu fan art is too cute not to share with you guys. 

Pikachu has no durability, however, because its defenses suck and its base speed of 90 is, compared to that of other Pokémon, only mediocre. If only Pikachu could take a hit... Raichu, who can store more than 100,000 volts of electricity and discharges them into the ground via its tail before it can get agressive, is faster and far more capable of taking hits, especially when special-based. However, both of its attacking stats are only decent compared to Light Ball Pikachu. Also, Pikachu receives much more attention than Raichu, not in the least because it's the friggin' Pokémon mascot. It even got a couple of video games of its own, for heaven's sake. All three of them are lovable enough, however, and Pikachu is even one of my favorite Pokémon, for all of the reasons stated above.

Rating Pikachu: 5/5

Rating Raichu: 4/5

#23 - #24: Ekans & Arbok

Official art of Ekans.

OMG, IT'S A PURPLE POKÉMON!!! I FUCKING LOVE PURPLE, LET'S DO THIS!!!

Ahem...

Yeah, I need to get my shit together now.

So... where were we?

Right, the next Pokémon. Ekans. To be honest, it's not the first purple Pokémon we've come across; we discussed Butterfree as well. That Pokémon isn't predominantly purple, however, as its wings are white and black, its big eyes are red, and its limbs are blue. And Rattata... well, let's not discuss Rattata. I hate rats. Snakes, on the other hand, are more interesting creatures, and that is exactly the reason why I like snake Pokémon. Add the poison type and my favorite color (which is purple, if that wasn't already quite obvious) and you get a Pokémon I've wanted to use in a playthrough since a couple of years ago: Arbok. Unfortunately, Ekans seems quite hard to get somehow.

Let me explain. In Diamond, Pearl and Platinum, Ekans was only available on Route 212, and even then you had to have FireRed inserted into the GBA slot of your Nintendo DS. In HeartGold they were available in the Goldenrod Game Corner, but I spent my coins on a Dratini instead of an Ekans (duh!). In SoulSilver, even though they were not uncommon in this game, I didn't manage to encounter a single one of them on Route 32 after a search of fifteen minutes (not only am I pretty much the unluckiest guy in the world, I am also a bit impatient). They weren't available in Black and White, except in the Dream World, to which I've never been. And X and Y... well, I encountered lots of Ekans on Route 14, but I only used brand new Pokémon in those games. That is understandable, isn't it?

Ekans and Arbok collectible figures.

So up till today, I'd love to use Arbok in a playthrough once. I guess I should wait until the inevitable follow-up to X and Y (which is most likely going to be Pokémon Z) comes out and hope that Ekans will be available still. I can hear you ask, 'Why would you want to use Arbok, anyway?' You're right if you say that Arbok is a mediocre Pokémon and that it's never used in the competitive scene, but it's actually quite a decent Pokémon to use in a playthrough. Its base attack stat is a solid 85 and its speed isn't that much lower. With a little EV investment in attack and speed, you can have a hard-hitting Pokémon that might be able to outspeed 90% of the things you encounter throughout your playthrough. And Arbok has a quite diverse movepool to go with that, too! It learns Crunch and Gunk Shot (which are must-haves, even though Gunk Shot has relatively low accuracy) by level-up and learns the TM moves Rock Slide, Earthquake and Poison Jab. The latter should be replaced by Gunk Shot as soon as it gets to the point of learning it, while Rock Slide should be replaced by Earthquake as quickly as possible as well. If you transfer an Ekans to another game to start a brand new playthrough, you can teach it Aqua Tail, Iron Tail and Seed Bomb at the Move Tutor too, if you badly need those moves. You might want to leave one spot open for the amazing status move Coil, which raises Arbok's attack, defense and accuracy by one stage each. That's an awesome way to get around the low accuracy that Gunk Shot has, as well as to make Arbok stronger and bulkier!

Great fan art of Arbok. 

In the end there is little that I don't like about Ekans and Arbok. In fact, because Glare was the signature move of these Pokémon in Gen. I, they might be based on the basilisk, a mythical monstrous snake that would kill people with its stare (or paralyze them, if said people looked at its reflection, but maybe that's a Harry Potter thing). And I love a little mythology behind a Pokémon design! Also, if you ever find a real-life snake that can flatten steel oil drums and is able to regenerate any part of its body but its head, let me know. The only thing that confuses me is that Arbok gets to learn the elemental fangs (Thunder Fang, Fire Fang and Ice Fang) at level 1, while it's only able to get Poison Fang through breeding with Seviper. Oh well, it gets a chance to learn it at least, which can't be said about Fearow and Brave Bird... Arbok is one of those Pokémon that don't seem special in the least but that I've taken a huge liking to. Well, what can I say? I am a sucker for purple Pokémon.

Rating: 4.5/5