#58 - #59: Growlithe & Arcanine

Cute little Growlithe chasing (about to chase?) its tail, as befits
a dog.

One thing I love about Growlithe and Arcanine is that there is so much cute and cool fan art to be found on the Internet. Just insert Growlithe in Google Images and you'll get lots of cute fan art, while Arcanine is mostly depicted as wild, ferocious and dangerous. In my opinion, both are such distinctive Gen. I Pokémon and I like them a lot. I am probably contradicting myself now, because in Meowth and Persian's entry I said that I do not like real-life dogs at all, but fortunately my dislike for dogs does not make me dislike canine Pokémon at all, so I'll be able to go into this review completely unbiased. Having said that, I have to say that Growlithe's characteristics are so... ordinary. It is loyal and obedient and it will bark at, bite and chase away any threats and will defend its Trainer and territory from them. It also has an amazing olfactory sense and never forgets a scent. Except for the fact that Growlithe uses its sense of smell to detect the emotion of others, all of this sounds like it is an ordinary dog, to be honest. That can't be said of Arcanine, who is capable of running 6,200 miles (10,000 kilometers) in 24 fucking hours. Arcanine is admired for its beauty and speed and anyone who hears its bark will grovel before it, hence its classification as the 'Legendary Pokémon', even though, strictly speaking, it isn't a legendary Pokémon by any means. Considering both it and its pre-evo Growlithe are based on Japanese artifacts called shisa or komainu, guardian statues that resemble lions and have traits of dogs and tigers, its classification isn't even that farfetched. To top it all off, the source of its power is a flame blazing wild inside its body.

You can't talk of dog-like features in this case, can you?

Some awesome fan art of Arcanine. These show
the beauty, elegance and strength of Arcanine.

But that is exactly what fan art likes to show you: the beauty, elegance and strength of Arcanine. Strength? Yes, because no matter how you look at it, Arcanine is one of those Pokémon with very balanced stats. Its defenses are decent and it has some nice HP to back them up, its speed is good and it will be even better when it's holding a Choice Scarf, and it is capable of using both attacking stats for some heavy damage. It sits in the UU tier of the competitive scene and despite this tier's name (UU means underused), Arcanine is quite a popular Pokémon. Most people use it as a fast physically offensive sweeper with a moveset consisting of Flare Blitz (be wary, as this move causes recoil damage), Close Combat (to counter one of its weaknesses, which is rock), Wild Charge (to counter another one of its weaknesses, which is water) and Extreme Speed (a Quick Attack on steroids; it's nice to have for some priority) and a hold item like Choice Band, Choice Scarf or Life Orb. You could even ditch an offensive move and throw in Morning Sun for healing purposes. If dragons are a threat, you can teach your Growlithe Outrage, which it learns by level-up, while Crunch, Iron Tail and Iron Head are also viable options for some coverage. These might only be useful for in-game purposes though, because steel is not an overly useful offensive type in the competitive scene - even though it is fantastic defensively. If you want to surprise your opponents, you could rock a specially offensive Arcanine. Its base physical attack (110) is slightly better than its base special attack (100), but the latter is more than usable. The only downside to using a special Arcanine is the lack of special moves. The best it gets are some strong fire-type moves. It also learns Dragon Pulse and some other weaker coverage moves, but those aren't even worth the hassle.

Arcanine vs. Luxray. Some people apparently see Luxray as Arcanine's feline
equivalent, as there is some fan art with these two to be found on the Internet. 

Now, I know that Arcanine was number 25 in my list of favorite Pokémon two years ago, but I think I'm going to reconsider that position. Don't get me wrong; Arcanine is still one of those cool Pokémon that are definitely worth your while, and I totally love the fan art that's made of it. Don't worry though, it will still get a perfect rating from me, especially considering the fact that I am currently using Arcanine in a playthrough (it is such a monster!), but there are other Pokémon I've come to love a lot more than I actually did. Maybe I'll make a top 100 of my favorite Pokémon - just a list with the names of my 100 favorite Pokémon, by the way - after I've rated all 721 Pokémon (that's still quite a while away, though).

Rating: 5/5

#56 - #57: Mankey & Primeape

The wild Mankey who stole Ash's hat in the anime episode
"Primeape Goes Bananas"; season 1, episode 25. Ash would
later catch it (as a Primeape).

Next up on my list are the monkey/pig hybrid things that go by the names of Mankey and Primeape.

Oh wait, the Pokédex says they're 'Pig Monkey Pokémon'.

Details... They're a combination between a monkey and a pig (which is anatomically impossible in real life), so it doesn't really matter whether Mankey and Primeape are called monkey pigs or pig monkeys. You know what I'm talking about either way. And it's still a fact that Mankey are some of the most agressive and short-tempered Pokémon you've ever seen in your life. If one Mankey gets livid, the whole goddamn colony rampages for no reason. Talk about throwing a tantrum. And when a Mankey loses sight of its colony, its loneliness causes it to become infuriated; it begins shaking and its breathing turns rough. That is easily demonstrated by a Mankey that becomes angry with Ash when he tries to catch it, resulting in the Mankey beating up Ash and stealing his hat. Then *blah blah blah* Team Rocket tries to steal Pikachu *blah blah* James kicks Mankey *blah blah* causes it to evolve into Primeape *blah blah blah* beats them up *blah blah* beats up Brock and chases Ash *blah blah blah* Ash's Charmander defeats it and Ash catches it *blah blah* unleashes it on Team Rocket *blah blah*. Y'know, the usual stuff.

Mankey (left) with Ash's first hat balancing on its tail, and Primeape with its
ever-so-recognizable stress mark on the left side of its forehead.

But Mankey are sweet little fluff balls compared to Primeape. The latter's blood circulation becomes more robust when they become furious, which makes their muscles stronger. They go bananas even if someone or something only makes eye contact with them, and they will chase anyone who (or anything that) enrages them. That is also the case with Ash's Primeape, who was mischievous, vicious, extremely violent, out of control all of the time and easily angered. This caused Ash to reconsider using Primeape in battles multiple times, until they came across a man called Anthony and the P1 Grand Prix, a battle tournament in which only fighting-type Pokémon could participate. This competition caused Ash and Primeape to bond a little, but Ash didn't hesitate to leave Primeape with Anthony, who would train Primeape to be a P1 champion.

Fan art of a furious Primeape. 

But these characteristics should result in a capable Pokémon to use in the video games, right? Well, sort of. Its defenses are really mediocre and its HP stat doesn't help either, but its attack and speed are actually quite good. Primeape sits in Smogon's NU tier and its strength and speed can be taken advantage of by giving it a Choice Band or Choice Scarf, which raises its attack or speed by 50%, respectively. In combination with Primeape's ability Anger Point, which maximizes its attack stat when the opponent gets a critical hit on it, it can hit hard and fast. Its hidden ability Defiant, which sharply raises its attack when another stat is lowered, is more reliable though, as the use of Anger Point is somewhat situational. Other items, like a Life Orb, Expert Belt or Black Belt, are viable options as well, especially in combination with Primeape's main STAB move Close Combat (that move does lower its defenses though, so watch out). And with coverage moves such as Earthquake, Stone Edge, Poison Jab, U-Turn (to quickly get out of unfavorable situations), the elemental punches, Gunk Shot, Acrobatics, Seed Bomb and even Iron Tail and Outrage you just can't go wrong; just pick whatever moves you think you might need. An Encore set, which Primeape can use to lock the opponent in the move it last uses, isn't unheard of, either.

I really can't get enough of this beautiful kind of (modified) official art. 

The only thing about Primeape is that, apart from its flavor as a short-tempered and violent monkey, it doesn't really stand out in comparison with other fighting types. Stronger, bulkier fighting-type Pokémon like Machamp, Hariyama and Conkeldurr are often used in favor of Primeape, even though the former three are much slower. Its design, although it will always be a crossbreed between a pig and a monkey, isn't all that interesting compared to other Pokémon (not just fighting types), either. I don't hate it though, and using it in a playthrough would be interesting... I think. Either way, I don't hate Primeape and it doesn't deserve a bad rating. It'll be far from a perfect rating, but I would think 3.5 stars is good enough!

Rating: 3.5/5

#54 - #55: Psyduck & Golduck

Fan art of Psyduck. It's probably having a headache.

Psyduck looks dumb.

There, I said it. I'm sorry to all you Psyduck lovers out there, but I'm not really all that fond of the thing. I totally felt for Misty every fucking time her dim-witted Psyduck, which she accidentally caught, broke out of its goddamn Poké Ball without having been asked to. This source of annoyance, to Misty as well as to the viewers, might have been dim-witted and oblivious, but it has been shown to use psychic powers that far exceed its normal abilities when its headaches get bad enough. No surprises there, because that is what Psyduck is all about: being dumb and oblivious, being plagued by chronic headaches, trying to calm its headaches by standing immobile (hence the Psyduck on Sinnoh's Route 10 in Diamond, Pearl and Platinum, who won't move until Cynthia gives you a Secret Potion), and releasing crazy-strong psychic powers when its headaches become too severe. It is even unable to recall such episodes. The psychic thing, along with Psyduck's ability to learn several strong psychic-type moves, makes me believe that it should have had the psychic type as its secondary typing to begin with, but I guess that is absolutely none of my business.

Old TCG art of Golduck in action.

I feel like Golduck is, however, which is mainly because I love it, whereas I really don't care for Psyduck in the slightest. You'd think Golduck gains the psychic type as its secondary typing upon evolving from Psyduck, but that couldn't be any further from the truth: Golduck is a pure water type, just like its pre-evolution. Even so, it inherits Psyduck's psychic powers (although not its headaches), only with the ability to control them through the gem on its head, which glows when it is using its psychic powers and occasionally when it swims at full speed. And that is pretty fast, considering the fact that it outswims the most athletic humans because of its webbed hands and feet. It isn't even bothered by rough seas and will sometimes rescue people from shipwrecks. That is probably why it is often mistaken for a Japanese monster called the kappa, which is exactly what Golduck is based on (and quite frankly, I like that a lot). In short, Golduck is a hundred times more bad-ass than its pre-evolution.

Official art of Golduck.

But how good is it in the video games? Well, Golduck's flavor is perceptible through its ability to learn quite some psychic-type moves (such as Psychic, Psyshock, Confusion, and even egg moves like Psybeam, Synchronoise and Future Sight) and its hidden ability Swift Swim, which doubles its speed when it's raining in battles. It is therefore not uncommon to use a 'rain' Golduck in the NU tier, with a moveset consisting of Rain Dance, a STAB move like Scald or Hydro Pump, Ice Beam, and Psychic. Maybe you can omit either Psychic or Ice Beam and give it Calm Mind, to boost its more-than-decent special attack and fairly decent special defense and use it as a sweeper. For in-game purposes, you might want to go for an all-offensive Golduck with a moveset consisting of Surf, Ice Beam, Psychic and Focus Blast. Signal Beam is an option, but it's a Move Tutor move and can't be obtained until after you've finished the Delta Episode. As you can see, its movepool is just diverse (and strong) enough to consist of moves of four different types. If only Psychic was a STAB move... right?

Some awesome modified art of Golduck.

Forget about it, Game Freak will never decide to bless Golduck with that ever-useful psyhic type. Nonetheless, Golduck has always been one of my favorite Gen. I Pokémon: its streamlined design is simplistic but effective, and it is a strong Pokémon that's somewhat capable of taking a hit from another Pokémon (both its HP and defenses are halfway competent, resulting is some decent bulk). Overall, Golduck is a very interesting Pokémon that totally lives up to the characteristics it is known for. I can't help but give it a perfect rating, which is the second one in a row. Will Primeape be able to add a third?

Rating: 5/5

#52 - #53: Meowth & Persian

A cute little Meowth playing with its Amulet Coins. This
is not surprising, though, because it is attracted to round
and shiny objects, picking up anything that sparkles when
wandering the streets, including loose change. Its eyes then
glitter and the coin on its forehead will shine brightly.

Awww, look at that adorable little kitty! Who's a cutie? Who's a cutie? Yes, it's you! Coochie coochie coo!

Ahem... You saw nothing.

Seriously though, while I am not fond of dogs at all, I have an inexplicable affection for cats. Some dogs are graceless, clumsy and ugly monsters (pitbulls, bulldogs and chihuahuas, for example, the latter of which is a rat rather than a dog; I can't even call that a proper dog species) that are way too energetic and playful around humans, which I can't stand. Cats, on the other hand, are beautiful, graceful, fluffy and calm creatures that don't follow you around all day trying to get your attention, which I like. The only downside of having three cats, however, are the dead mice and birds they bring home every night, but I'll take those dead bodies anytime over a dog that barks constantly while you are attempting to get your necessary eight hours of sleep. My love for cats has carried over to Pokémon, as quite some cat Pokémon have been introduced throughout the years, the latest additions being Pyroar and Meowstic. I even did an ORAS playthrough with only feline Pokémon (Luxray, Persian, Purugly, Liepard, Meowstic and Pyroar; I decided not to go with Delcatty because that Pokémon is terrible). Yeah, my love for cats has gone that far...

Official art of Persian by Ken Sugimori.

So it is probably not a surprise that I'm so head over heels in love with Meowth and, specifically, Persian. I have not always loved Persian so much though, mainly because I came to love cats only eight years ago, when my mother got us a cat in the first place. My newfound love for Persian, however, only hatched some three months ago, when playing that ORAS cat playthrough. I can tell you it was a true MVP, all because of one move: Nasty Plot. Yes, I know that Persian's base attack stat is 70 and its special attack is 65, but it is Nasty Plot what makes Persian so good, as this move raises a Pokémon's special attack by two stages. Hone Claws only raises Persian's attack by one stage, as well as its accuracy, but it doesn't need the accuracy boost because all special moves it can learn have perfect accuracy, anyway. And it learns quite some special moves, whether or not they'll have to be taught to Persian through a Move Tutor. Nasty Plot and either Hyper Voice or Swift are must-haves, while Icy Wind and Water Pulse are there for coverage (and will be stronger if you use a Persian that has the ability Technician, which boosts moves that have 60 base power or less; Swift also gets that boost). It learns Power Gem by level-up and Thunderbolt, Thunder, Shadow Ball and Dark Pulse by use of TMs. A Hypnosis/Dream Eater combo is an option as well, but it'll take up Persian's remaining two moveslots, which might not be what you desire. Hypnosis has terrible accuracy, anyway. The coverage depends on what moves the other Pokémon in your party have; my own Persian had Power Gem and Water Pulse.

Persian is, without a doubt, an amazing Pokémon, but it is probably best known for being mob boss Giovanni's pet. That's no mean feat, because Persian is extremely difficult to raise due to its temper and barbaric personality; it will scratch anyone with little or no provocation, including its Trainer, and it has been seen ripping its prey apart for no discernible reason. How's that for a pet cat? However, much more gentle and well-known (probably the most well-known Pokémon aside from Pikachu) is Team Rocket's Meowth, who has been Jessie and James' sidekick since the very first season of the anime series. He was introduced in the second episode alongside Jessie and James, in which he could already talk.

Meowth in the anime series, as one third of Team Rocket.

Later on in the series, we get to know Meowth's history. He starts off as a young Meowth in a camp, waking up all alone in the rain and ultimately being strung up from a tree as a punishment by a baseball coach for knocking over a basket with baseballs because he was trying to eat the basket. After seeing a film depicting a Meowth being given delicious foods, Meowth decided to go to Hollywood, but upon arriving he was merely perceived as a stray Pokémon. After joining a gang with Meowth led by a Persian for a long time, annoying the humans in town by stealing food and causing trouble, Meowth meets and falls in love with a female Meowth called Meowzie. She rejected him, saying he was poor and preferred humans, but when Meowth learns to walk and talk like a human, she calls him a freak.

Meowth hanging on to James, probably busted while executing one of Team
Rocket's 'evil' plans. 

Heartbroken, he joins Team Rocket, inspired by the very first word he learns: 'rocket'. That is how we know Meowth nowadays: as one third of an evil team trying to steal other people's Pokémon, but failing miserably over and over again. Until Unova, that is, when Team Rocket developed a more serious attitude, acting more like professional criminals. This even got out of hand when Ash found Meowth injured. Meowth explained that he screwed up one of Team Rocket's big schemes in Nimbasa City and decided to travel with Ash and his friends onwards, only to get busted later on, when it was revealed that Meowth's dismissal was fake and part of Team Rocket's big plan to steal all the Pokémon from Nimbasa City's Pokémon Center. I personally love this little piece of history of Meowth's life and the development of his character, which we almost never get to see in the Pokémon anime. It adds a little depth to an otherwise bland series, in my opinion.

I love Meowth and Persian. The legend of the maneki-neko ('lucky cat' or 'beckoning cat'), a common Japanese ceramic or plastic figurine of a cat holding a koban, a kind of ancient Japanese coin like the one on Meowth's head, is perfectly incorporated in Meowth's design and flavor. I guess it is just a matter of personal taste and experiences, though; and even though I have to admit Meowth and Persian are not strong Pokémon at all, I love them for their designs, flavor, the roles they play in the animated series, and because they're freaking cats, goddammit!

So, uhm... did I mention that I love cats already?

Rating: 5/5

#50 - #51: Diglett & Dugtrio

"Diglett-dig, Diglett-dig!"

"Trio! Trio! Trio!"

Fan art of Diglett, in which the thing actually looks like a mole.

Yeah, that's right. You just read that in Diglett and Dugtrio's voices. Just admit it already.

Sorry, I just had to do that, ha ha ha.

Anyway.

If I had to mention the most unimaginative Pokémon to date, I would say that'd be Diglett and Dugtrio. I absolutely don't like these Pokémon. I've never liked them, in fact, and there is probably nothing that can change that, except for maybe a Mega evolution. And even then I doubt I'll like Dugtrio all that much. Yes, I know that there are other Pokémon out there that are composed of three or more specimens of their pre-evolutions, but I dare say that Dugtrio is by far the most unimaginative. It looks like three Diglett that have gathered together rather than an actual evolution. Meh. Well, it is actually a Diglett triplet that emerged from one body, so... no, still meh. Even their Pokédex entries aren't interesting. Add the fact that both Pokémon get Arena Trap, an ability that makes your Pokémon unable to run away from it or switch out, and you get an irritating Pokémon.

This is a plausible theory of how Diglett and Dugtrio's lower bodies,
which they hide underground, might look like.

However, there is one particular thing that really bothers me about Diglett and Dugtrio. You see, the Pokédex classifies them as 'Mole Pokémon', and I won't even contradict them in that, because everything points towards that direction: they're ground types, their heads are sticking out of the ground, and they learn moves that show that they clearly have claws, such as Scratch, Slash, Night Slash, Hone Claws, Shadow Claw, and even Sucker Punch. This is what bothers me: their claws and feet are never shown! In one of the Mystery Dungeon games (a side-series game), a Diglett mentions that it has feet, but the fact that there is nothing to see of them bothers me so fucking much! I know it's all part of how Game Freak want to characterize these Pokémon, and I also know they might be based on the moles used in those dumb Whac-A-Mole arcade games, but it's just stupid. I'm not against a little mystery, but of all Pokémon to add some mystery to, Diglett and Dugtrio are most probably the most insignificant. Also, the Internet has been bombarded with the dumbest theories as well: Diglett might be just a tiny part of an enormous nightmare monster, Diglett might be a person whose head is sticking out of the ground, or (and this one is the absolute best!) Diglett might actually even be the penis of some bigger creature hiding undergound. I can't even...

TCG art of Dugtrio.

Even worse: Dugtrio is not a good Pokémon at all. Its speed stat is great and its attack stat is decent, but its defenses are mediocre. It's not that its defenses save the day, though, because these are even made worse by its HP stat, which is absolutely GARBAGE. I guess Dugtrio wouldn't even be such a great Pokémon to use in-game, but there are always people who would like to make use of it, so let's see what this thing can actually do. It learns Earthquake, for starters, but that is a move that almost every ground-type Pokémon can learn, and even a lot of non-ground types for that matter. Rock Slide and either Shadow Claw (a ghost-type move) or Night Slash (a dark-type move), which both have the same type coverage, the same power and the chance to crit, are viable options, as well as Hone Claws. That move should definitely be in its moveset, because it raises Dugtrio's attack stat and accuracy (handy for Rock Slide) and because Aerial Ace is just too mediocre for it to use. Competitively, it is no good either, but an all-out offensive Dugtrio with the ability Arena Trap (which does exactly what the name suggests: it prevents the opponent from switching out), holding a Choice Band or Life Orb, will have to do, whereas a Focus Sash/Reversal combo might do the trick as well.

Dugtrio isn't one of my absolute least favorite Pokémon, but this thing comes damn near close. Luckily for Dugtrio, I don't obsessively hate it like a certain Gen. IV Pokémon (let's say I strongly dislike it), which saves it from getting the lowest rating possible.

Rating: 1.5/5

#48 - #49: Venonat & Venomoth

Official art of Venonat.

I have absolutely no idea what the hell I'd have to write about Venonat. It's just a bad Pokémon to use, and ultimately it's a forgettable Pokémon as well. It's not that I don't like Venonat, it's just that there's nothing specific about it that I'd want to write about, aside from maybe its radar eyes that allow it to see in the dark. In my opinion, it doesn't add anything to the franchise other than being Venomoth's pre-evolution. That is not necessarily a bad thing, though; the game should not allow you to use some Pokémon until they are actually fully evolved. Venomoth is not one of them, however, but I'll get to that later on. The thing is that Venomoth has become a kind of a legend lately, and I think that this Pokémon won't easily be forgotten. That has everything to do with the part it played in 'Twitch Plays Pokémon'. I told you almost everything in Pidgeot's entrance, though, so I'm not going to repeat all of that right now. All I can say that AATTVVV (also commonly referred to as ATV or All-Terrain Venomoth), as the Venomoth was called because everybody was pressing multiple buttons at the same fucking time, has played a major part in defeating Lance, the fourth Elite 4 member.

Fan art of All-Terrain Venomoth, who slayed Lance's dragon all by itself during the
disaster that is called 'Twitch Plays Pokémon'.  

You see, when ATV was facing Lance's Dragonite, it managed to survive by using Poison Powder on the thing, which slowly wittled away Dragonite's health while it only used Barrier and Agility in return. Needless to say that the poison damage did it in, and therefore, ATV is commonly called 'The Dragon Slayer'. It was one of the most memorable moments during the playthrough of Pokémon Red on streaming service Twitch, but unfortunately, ATV went down during the battle against Champion Blue and the entire team had to defeat the Elite 4 and Blue from scratch. That didn't affect the 'legendary' status Venomoth received after the playthrough was done, by the way, because from now on, many people will think of All-Terrain Venomoth when you mention this Pokémon.

All hail to Ken Sugimori for providing us with this beautiful
official Venomoth art. 

Well, let's be honest... That is not exactly a surprise, as Venomoth isn't really a good Pokémon to use in the competitive scene. For in-game purposes, on the other hand, it would be quite a decent Pokémon to use. Its attack and defense are terrible and should be ignored, but it has a reasonable special defense stat and even better special attack and speed stats. With those, you can hit fast and relatively hard, and with good moves at that, too. Bug Buzz and Sludge Bomb are must-haves, while the other slots should be filled in by Quiver Dance (which raises its special attack, special defense and speed by one stage each) and either Psychic or Energy Ball, depending on the Pokémon you already have in your team. You can even omit Quiver Dance and go for both offensive moves; Venomoth's stats are decent enough to pull that off. There might be people who might make good use of this Pokémon competitively, but I think it would go down very fast. No matter how you look at it, Venomoth is still quite a frail Pokémon, after all...

Ultimately, Venomoth is a likeable Pokémon, but no matter its legendary status, it is still only a decent Pokémon. There is nothing about it that really makes it stand out to other Pokémon. That is to say, if you don't count the stupid theory that it should have been Metapod's evolution while Butterfree should have been Venonat's, because the latter two share so many similarities; from the large bug-like eyes to the little hands and their antennae. Even so, 3.5 is not a bad rating at all!

Rating: 3.5/5

#46 - #47: Paras & Parasect

Newer official art of Paras.

Have you actually ever run into a Paras with pink mushrooms on its back and gotten totally ecstatic because you thought you had encountered a shiny Paras, only to find out that a regular Paras' mushrooms are actually pink; and NOT red, as I thought myself?

No? Lucky you.

Seriously though, apparently I just can't seem to remember certain Pokémon's color schemes. Paras is a perfect example of such a Pokémon. The worst part is that the mushrooms of a shiny Paras are actually pink as well; Paras is just a darker shade of orange in its shiny form. And if I remember correctly, Paras' mushrooms were RED prior to X and Y, even in the anime and its older official art... Or have its mushrooms always been pink in its official art? Well, it's whatever; I'm only confusing myself now. I should ask myself whether Paras is actually worth fussing over, and the answer is a firm 'NO'! There is nothing interesting about Paras itself, not even the parasitic mushrooms called tochukaso that are growing on its back and exert some command over Paras' actions. That is to say, these mushrooms only get interesting when Paras evolves into Parasect, when the host is drained of its nutrients and energy and the two tiny tochukaso become one big mushroom that has full control over Parasect. In short, Parasect is a zombie.

Those big, creepy, glassy, milky-white eyes, though...

Adorable mommy Parasect with her cute little baby Paras on
her back. 

You'd almost think that I don't like Parasect, but that is not exactly true. I just think Parasect is a tad bit underwhelming in battle. It is by no means a good competitive battler, as its defensive stats are only somewhat decent (but nothing to write home about); and while its attack is actually quite good, it has nothing to back it up with, like a good HP or speed stat or even better defenses. Not to mention that this thing has quadruple weaknesses to both flying- and fire-type moves, very common types in the game. Parasect serves a better purpose when it is used in-game, and with that I mean a playthrough of the main storyline. Like I said, its attack is actually a solid base 95, but the problem is that Parasect's movepool isn't all that great when it comes to diversity. It's staple move is X-Scissor, which you should deinitely teach it. However, while it is capable of learning grass-type moves, its secondary typing, they're all special-based and you'll find them doing less damage than you wish they would, especially due to Parasect's very medicore special attack stat. You don't even get access to Seed Bomb until after you've finished the Delta Episode in Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire. At least teach it Giga Drain though, as this move let Parasect heal itself while doing damage to its opponent, and fill in its other moveslots with Swords Dance and either Brick Break or Cross Poison.

When it comes down to it, I'll use Parasect. But only if I have to, 'cause I have no plans on using this thing anytime soon. The whole creepy parasite/zombie thing is quite interesting, if I'm being honest, so I'll give it an extra star for its flavor.

Rating: 3/5