#175 - #176, #468: Togepi, Togetic & Togekiss

There is so much adorable Togepi fan art to be found on the
Internet that I had a hard time not to download everything of it.

So, there's this question about whether I think Togepi is a baby Pokémon or not. My answer is a whole-hearted 'NO!' In my opinion, baby Pokémon are pre-evolutions of certain Pokémon from previous generations (e.g. Smoochum was introduced in Gen. II and is the pre-evo of the Gen. I Pokémon Jynx, and Bonsly was introduced in Gen. IV and is the pre-evo of Sudowoodo, a Gen. II addition), which means they're pre-evolutions of Pokémon that used to be already in their most basic stage. However, Togepi was introduced in Gen. II alongside its evolution Togetic, and I just cannot see Togetic as a basic Pokémon. The same goes for Riolu and Lucario. I mean... sure, unlike their evolutions and unlike most basic Pokémon, baby Pokémon cannot breed and they all automatically belong to the 'Undiscovered' egg group, which technically makes Togepi and Riolu baby Pokémon as well. Still, I have a hard time considering them as such just for the reasons I mentioned above. Also - as many of you probably know by now - I don't like baby Pokémon. Most of them are useless and I just don't understand why Game Freak would want to add weaker forms of already existing Pokémon rather than stronger forms. Fortunately, this is not the case with Togepi and Togetic, and the latter even got an evolution in the fourth generation, Togekiss, so I dare say that there is plenty to discuss!

Misty's Togepi using Metronome.

Of course, most people know Togepi from the anime. In "Attack of the Prehistoric Pokémon" (season 1, episode 46), Ash and his friends get attacked by - you guessed it - a couple of prehistoric Pokémon that were woken up by a few explosions as the result of a fossil hunt, and after Jigglypuff comes to their rescue, everybody falls asleep. Ash wakes up with an egg in his arms, and for a couple of episodes we were left with no clue whatsoever of what Pokémon the egg contained. In the 50th episode, "Who Gets to Keep Togepi?", the egg finally hatches into Togepi and - you guessed it again - a battle about who gets to keep it ensues. Personally, I was on Ash's side, because he basically found the egg and thus it was his, but Misty was the first person Togepi saw when it hatched and that's why it saw her as its 'mother'. From then on, Togepi became a permanent character and was seen in almost every episode until Misty left the show, often helping the friends out when a situation got really dire. Starting during the Orange Islands saga, it would use Metronome to cause big explosions and even produce defensive screens, unbeknownst to Ash, Misty and Tracey (and later Brock when he returned for the Johto saga).

Misty saying goodbye to her Togetic in "A Togepi Mirage!";
season 7, episode 5.

When Misty left the show in favor of May and Max when the Advanced Generation series arrived, Togepi disappeared from the small screen as well. However, in the second season of that series (the seventh season of the Pokémon anime overall) Misty and her Togepi are the center of a two-parter. In "The Princess and the Togepi", Misty is lured to a Togepi festival by a disguised Team Rocket and they guide her to the Mirage Kingdom, followed by Ash, Brock, May and Max, who realize that Misty is in trouble when they see the building from which they take off collapse. Upon arrival, Misty and the rest are attacked by Colonel Hansen, who is after Togepi. After they try to get away, Misty loses Togepi in the chaos and it is then found by Sara, the princess of the Mirage Kingdom. Soon after she shows Togepi to her parents, Misty barges in and demands her Togepi back. Just as Misty and the rest get ready to leave the Mirage Kingdom for their safety, they are attacked again by Hansen and, as a result of fleeing from him, end up in the Togepi Paradise. The story continues in the next episode, "A Togepi Mirage!", when Hansen breaks into the paradise and abducts Togepi in order to rule over the kingdom. He throws the true king in the dungeons and betrays Team Rocket, but Ash and his friends manage to free the king with the help of a vengeful Team Rocket and challenge Hansen once more. Just as Hansen is on the winning side, the Togepi break out of the paradise, which causes Misty's Togepi to evolve into Togetic. Hansen's Shedinja is defeated by a Flamethrower from Misty's Gyarados and after a tearful goodbye, Togetic stays behind to protect the paradise.

All's well that ends well.

Old (left) and new (right) official Sugimori art of Togetic.

Yeah, Togepi was definitely a memorable character and it is a shame that it isn't seen in the anime anymore (not counting any possible cemeos). Togepi was such an innocent little thing and I'm glad it was the center of a storyline in which its flavor becomes more apparent than ever: it exudes a relaxing aura from inside its shell that grows stronger when it is treated nicely, and it is always willing to share some of its energy with kind people, but when it comes near a human with an impure heart this energy quickly disappears. That's why many Togepi in the paradise were so exhausted: Colonel Hansen's presence weakened them because of his impurity. Togetic takes this happiness thing a step further and tends to shower kind-hearted persons with luck and happiness - this is called 'joy dust'. As it can sense someone's personality, it flies around the world seeking these people in order to share its happiness, but, like Togepi, becomes dispirited when it is surrounded by mean or foul people.

Awwww... Such a cute family picture! :D

This is where I start cooing about HOW FUCKING MUCH I LOVE THIS THING!!! Ever since the days of Gold and Silver I've been in love with Togetic, and for the longest time it used to be my second favorite Pokémon, until Luxray came along in 2007. Now, it sits at a solid third place, behind Luxray and Lugia, and I'm still not tired of this Pokémon. I mean, how could I ever get tired of Togetic? Look at it: it's so cute and happy, and I always wish this thing was real so I could give it a hug and never let go of it. That is how fucking much I love Togetic, goddammit! You'd think I was pissed when Togekiss was introduced in Diamond and Pearl, but that's not true at all. I don't dislike Togekiss by any means; on the contrary, I actually quite like it... just not as much as Togetic! Togekiss will never beat my love for its pre-evolution. I did use it in a fairy mono-type playthrough, but that's mainly because it can learn Aura Sphere and Air Slash, whereas Togetic cannot. Deep inside, I hated that I 'had to' evolve Togetic in order to gain a little move diversity that others on my team didn't have, even though Togekiss didn't disappoint me at all. But however strong and diverse Togekiss may be, Togetic will always be my little chick - and I mean chick as in 'baby bird'. Because that is what Togetic is probably based on, y'know.

A Togekiss among other flying types in the movie Pokémon:
Giratina and the Sky Warrior. 

And competitively? Togekiss, whose Pokédex entries don't differ much from its pre-evolutions', is a damn good competitive battler, if I may say so. Its special attack and special defense are off the charts, sitting at base 120 and 115, respectively. It even has some very decent defense and a good HP stat to boot, which makes Togetic quite the bulky Pokémon. That is why it is often used as an offensive and defensive Pokémon in one. Having natural bulk, Togekiss likes to make use of Heal Bell and Roost, which can cure any status condition and heals up Togekiss's HP by half, respectively. It has access to Nasty Plot (why it learns NASTY Plot is beyond me, with its flavor about luck and happiness and all, but I'm not complaining), which increases its special attack by two stages, and in order to attack it can use Air Slash. With its Serene Grace ability, which doubles the chance of additional effects occurring, Air Slash has a 60% chance to make the foe flinch each turn. That is excellent to get Togekiss gain momentum against slower and bulkier foes, because it isn't the fastest Pokémon out there. That's why a Timid nature is recommended, although you could also go for a Modest nature for more offense or a Calm or Bold nature for more defense. In the latter cases, Leftovers would only add to its bulk by healing a little of its HP every turn.

Yes, Togekiss is good, but when you slap an Eviolite on Togetic it will increase its defense by 50%. That's not bad either, because Togetic has some pretty good natural bulk. A Bold-natured Togetic with max HP and defense is often used as a Defogger - so that it can remove entry hazards such as Stealth Rock - and healer, while the Nasty Plot/Baton Pass combo isn't uncommon, either: Togetic can pass on the boost in its special attack to a stronger teammate.

This Togetic is pretty exhausted. Would there be a cold-hearted person around?

Togekiss. I'm sorry buddy, but you'll never be better than Togetic, at least not to me. Your pre-evolution is superior in everything and no evolution can exceed my love for Togetic. Ever. This happens more often than I'd like to, but yet again an evolution gets a lower score than its pre-evolution. Togetic is love, Togetic is life, and not even an evolution and a change in its typing (it went from normal/flying to fairy/flying in X and Y) was able to change my love for it.

Rating Togetic: 5/5

Rating Togekiss: 4.5/5

#170 - #171: Chinchou & Lanturn

To those of you who think I just skipped number 169 in the National Pokédex: you haven't paid attention to my blog at all. I talked about Crobat along with Zubat and Golbat in a previous entry, because they're obviously related through evolution. Besides, it's bullshit not to discuss a certain evolution even though it was introduced in a later generation, right? Trust me, I will be 'skipping' quite some Pokémon in the future.

Old official art for Chinchou and Lanturn, drawn by Ken Sugimori.

Let's move on to the Pokémon with the unique water/electric-type combination: Chinchou. Of course, it owes its typing to its origin, as it is based on the anglerfish. More specifically, it is based on the footballfish, which can be seen in its name as well: Chinchou and its Japanese name Chonchie (チョンチー) are derived from chōchin, which is Japanese for 'lantern' and can be found back in the Japanese name for the footballfish, chōchin-ankō. The interesting thing is that it doesn't overly behaves like an anglerfish: in the anime it can be seen standing on its two little legs while on land, something an actual anglerfish can't do. I don't think the antennae of anglerfish have so many positive and negative charges flowing through them that it makes even them tingle, either. But, above all, Chinchou looks cute and friendly, as opposed to the predatory anglerfish with two rows of sharp, big-ass teeth visible in their gigantic mouths.

Adorable fan art of Lanturn. 

And its evolution Lanturn? Well, Lanturn is just as cutesy and huggable as Chinchou is, although it has more of an anglerfish body shape than Chinchou as well. Despite its adorable aesthetic, it shows the behavioral traits of real-life anglerfish: it uses its Y-shaped antenna to lure prey and gulp them down after blinding them with a flash of light first. The orbs on its antenna contain a colony of bacteria that create a chemical reaction, which can be compared with how a battery generates electricity, and the light Lanturn produces is so strong that it can illuminate ocean floors and even penetrate the sea's surface from the very depths of the ocean. That's why it is popularly nicknamed 'the Deep-Sea Star'. Otherwise, Lanturn is quite the interesting Pokémon. Too bad its namesake is a little unimaginative, as it literally derives from 'lantern', but whatever. I have never used Lanturn once in a playthrough and I would love to sometime, but the problem is that Chinchou is generally capturable late-game, and by that time I'll already have a full team of six Pokémon most of the time. Maybe Pokémon Sun and Pokémon Moon will provide us with a chance to catch Chinchou early on in the game, but for now I'm just really happy I can write an article about it.

Cute how Lanturns allows itself to be used as underwater
transportation for Manaphy.

I can hear you asking, "But what about its utility in the competitive scene; can't you just use it on your competitive team?" Well yeah, I could, but I'm not that much of a competitive battler and I really don't have the time or patience to breed a perfect Chinchou and start EV-training it properly. That is not to say Lanturn is not a good asset to any team: with its base 125 HP stat, it is an incredibly bulky Pokémon, even though its defenses are only mediocre. Its special defense is inarguably better than its defense, so you might as well make use of it by giving it a Calm nature and a support moveset. Heal Bell is a must-have in order to cure your teammates from a status conditions such as poison, sleep or a burn, while it can learn Toxic and Thunder Wave in order to induce poison or paralysis on the foe. You might want to consider Protect as well so that it can stall for a little Leftovers recovery, but Volt Switch and Scald should definitely be included in Lanturn's moveset. You'll find that Lanturn is very hard to take down, even with its low defense stat, although you can cheat a little by giving it a Bold nature instead of a Calm nature. It's not a terrible idea by any means, but it just generally better to make use of a Pokémon's best stats.

Speaking of which, Lanturn's special attack is tied with its special defense as its second best stat. Smogon lists some offensive movesets for Lanturn, but I'm second-guessing whether that would really be the best option. Correct, with a Modest nature, the Choice Specs or an Assault Vest, and a couple of good offensive moves, Lanturn can put in some work. Still, its base 76 special attack is not really suited for competitive play, at least in my opinion. Then again, Lanturn can endure quite some (special) hits naturally, so it might very well be a valuable offensive asset to your team. It learns a decent amount of coverage moves, too: Hydro Pump (can be replaced by Scald if you think it's too inaccurate), Thunderbolt, Volt Switch and Ice Beam is a very good offensive moveset, while Signal Beam and Dazzling Gleam aren't bad for some bug- and fairy-type coverage, either. Oh, and make sure its ability is always Volt Absorb, which renders electric-type attacks used against it completely useless while still healing some HP when hit by one. Its hidden ability Water Absorb does the exact same thing, but with water-type moves instead; however, Lanturn is already resistant to water and its water/electric typing makes it so that electric-type moves against it are neutral hits, as water is usually weak to electric. Illuminate doesn't even have any effects in battle, so you'd be smart to ignore that ability completely.

I guess this is not what Game Freak intended for Lanturn to look like.

In the end, Lanturn is a great Pokémon sporting a unique typing and design, and I would love to use sometime. It may not be the best battler in the world, but I think Lanturn is supposed to be more of a support Pokémon, anyway. I like how it is based on the anglerfish; it's such a unique animal. Some say Lanturn is also based on a dolphin and that its origin contains a small piece of the Greek legend of Apollo, who was the god of light and rode a dolphin, but that's a little bit farfetched. I don't think Lanturn is dolphin-like in the slightest; and besides, Pokémon freaks have been anticipating a true dolphin Pokémon for ages, which makes me think they don't consider Lanturn a dolphin at all. Dolphin or not, I still love this thing, and that's why I'm granting it an excellent rating of 4.5 stars.

Rating: 4.5/5

#167 - #168: Spinarak & Ariados

People with arachnophobia are advised to back away from this entry, because there gon' be plenty of scary-ass spider talk.

...what the hell am I doing to myself?

Spinarak and its host, Joltik.

Anyways, let's start with the ever-patient Spinarak, who lies still in the same pose for days in its own web, waiting for unsuspecting prey to wander close. Spinarak even lets its prey suffer for hours if they get caught during the day, as it waits to devour them until it becomes dark. And I don't know if this is a trait of real-life spiders, but Spinarak's web can be considered its second nervous system, as it recognizes its prey by the vibrations it feels through the web's threads. More interesting is its origin, at least to me. Spinarak's design is obviously based on the Hawaiian happy-face spider (theridion grallator), which has a face-like marking on its abdomen, just like Spinarak does. Its name is derived from 'spinneret', the silk-spinning organ of a spider, but might also be a combination of the verb 'spin' and 'arachnid'. However, I would like to believe it's more probable that Spinarak's name derives from spinnerak, the Afrikaans word for 'spider web' or 'cobweb'. And as Afrikaans is descended from Dutch (personally, I see Afrikaans as a heavily simplified version of Dutch), it makes much more sense to me that spin, spinrag and spinnenweb - Dutch for 'spider', 'spider silk' and 'cobweb', respectively - are the words that lie at the basis of its name origin, as well as the Afrikaans variant.

From Pokémon (Heart)Gold, LeafGreen and X: "It spins string not
only from its rear but also from its mouth. It is hard to tell which
end is which." Well, I can perfectly tell which end is which, thank
you very much. 

Ariados, on the other hand, is a very smart kind of savage: it attaches silk to its prey and sets it free, only to track down the silk to the prey and its friends. A single strand of a special string is endlessly spun out of its spinneret, but it can also produce silk from its mouth, although it is said that it's hard to say which end is which. Wut? That makes no sense whatsoever, because its mouth and rear don't even look the same in the slightest. I guess the people in the Pokémon world are blind, but whatever. Anyway, that endless string is a reference to the Greek myth of Theseus and Ariadne, wherein Ariadne gave Theseus a ball of twine before he entered the labyrinth to slay the Minotaur, so that he may trail the strand behind him and find his route back to her. There may also be a hint of 'arachnid' and dos (Spanish for 'two') or odosu (Japanese for 'to threaten'; just because Ariados's Japanese name is the same as its English name) in its name, but the reference to Ariadne is just very obvious in this case. And I love references to myths and legends in Pokémon names and lore, even though they are obvious as fuck in all respects, because they allow me to learn a bunch of new things. Honestly, you'd be surprised about the things I learn while doing research for my articles. Of course I already knew about the myth of Theseus and the Minotaur, but you probably get my point.

What would you do if you came across a horde of gigantic-ass
spiders? I'd run; that would probably the best idea. 

Like the competitive utility of certain Pokémon. Sigh... Don't get me started about Ariados, because it has the same base stat total as Ledian, which means it is not a good Pokémon at all. Certainly, with its access to both Sticky Web (lowers opponents' speed by one stage when they switch in) and Toxic Spikes (one layer poisons opponents when they switch in; two layers badly poison opponents, very much like Toxic), Ariados can be a very good lead to any team, especially when you give it a Focus Sash to hold. This item prevents Ariados from fainting when it is hit at full HP and allows it to set up before it gets knocked out, because it is slow as molasses and its defenses are mediocre at best. Might as well run an Adamant nature instead of a Jolly one, too, although either would be fine. At least its base 90 attack stat allows it to hit some Pokémon fairly decently before it goes down. It gets access to some very nice moves that Ledian can only dream of: Megahorn, Foul Play and Sucker Punch, the latter of which lets Ariados attack first when the opponent is using a damaging move. Might come in handy. But sometimes Toxic Spikes isn't necessary, and it is generally better to use another, more competent Pokémon to use Sticky Web. In-game, however, it might well be a decent Pokémon to use: Agility doubles its speed, while Poison Jab, X-Scissor and Dig provide for some pretty neat type coverage. Might as well give it a shot.

Well, I'm not going to do that, because I have no intention of using Ariados anytime soon, but that doesn't mean I don't like it at all. In fact, I think Ariados might have potential, but I do not feel inclined to try it out. At least I like its design and origin; and the same can be said about Spinarak. I don't think they're as appealing as Ledian, however, so even though it is a generally better Pokémon to use, it will not get a better - or even the same - rating from me. Alas.

Rating: 3.5/5

#165 - #166: Ledyba & Ledian

Two Ledyba and a Ledian accompanied by a Yanma.

When I was a kid, ladybugs were the only species of insects that weren't scary or annoying to me. I thoroughly hate most kinds of insects, to be honest, and although I have to admit some species serve as the inspiration for awesome Pokémon, I really don't have to like the real-life variants. Today, ladybugs are still the exception; my country (the Netherlands) has even adopted this little critter as a symbol against senseless violence, and more often than not the Dutch Foundation Against Senseless Violence places a street tile with this symbol on the sites of deadly crimes. Nintendo and Game Freak saw the ladybug as an inspiration for something more fun, however, and created Ledyba and Ledian. And I have to say that I actually kinda like their designs, even though they're nothing special. Ledyba suffers from an extreme form of anxiety: it is afraid or even unable to move when it is alone. It is a gregarious Pokémon and would rather want to stick with others of its species, which it communicates with by secreting an aromatic fluid from where the legs join its body and altering the scent when it wants to convey its feelings. When winter comes, they gather from everywhere and cluster to keep each other warm. Ledian, on the other hand, curls up inside a big leaf to drift off when it gets too warm during daytime. It is a nocturnal Pokémon that uses starlight as energy, and the star patterns on its back (which are just normal ladybug spots in its back sprites in the games) grow larger or smaller depending on the number of stars in the night sky.

Cute fan art of Ledian roaming around in the middle of the night. 

Though competitively, Ledian is absolute garbage. I don't like calling Ledian garbage, because I'm quite fond of this Pokémon, but Ledian is absolutely NOT a good competitive Pokémon. Heck, even in-game it's a terrible Pokémon: its attack and special attack are way too low for it to be useful, and its defenses are ass. Well, its special defense is a solid base 110, but it has no HP to back that up, so you'll be lucky if Ledian can survive two strong hits. I ever used one in a HeartGold playthrough, but I boxed it mid-game because it was such an underwhelming Pokémon. And that's an understatement. Let's put it this way: if Iron Fist was one of its two normal abilities instead of its hidden ability, Game Freak had switched Ledian's base 35 attack with its base 55 special attack, and the Choice Band was a regular item that could be found randomly during a playthrough, Ledian would still only be an OK Pokémon to use. I mean, what are you supposed to do with it, anyway? It has terrible offensive stats, which completely nullifies its extensive offensive movepool. And it has such a shallow support movepool that it renders it useless in that regard. Your best bet would be a Light Screen/Reflect set with Light Clay, but Ledian is outclassed by Pokémon who can do a far better job setting up or making opponents see stars.

Sigh. Game Freak, for heaven's sake, please find a way to make Ledian better than it is now, because it's such a shame to keep such a nice Pokémon so incredibly useless. At least make it so that Ledian can be used in a regular playthrough. I really, really like Ledian, but in order for it to get a perfect rating it'll have to become a lot better first.

Rating: 4/5

#163 - #164: Hoothoot & Noctowl

Yes, Hoothoot resembles a clock. Noctowl, not so
much. 

While Pidgey and Spearow were the generic bird Pokémon of the first generation, Hoothoot is the generic bird of the second generation. In Gold and Silver it is only found at night-time, so it's not all that common as Pidgey and Spearow - or maybe that's just because kids usually play during the day rather than at night. While Hoothoot - which, of course, is derived from 'hoot', an onomatopoeia for the sound an owl makes - might not seem like something special, its design is interesting enough: time is a recurring theme in its flavor. Not only does Hoothoot have clock-like elements in its design, like the mask-like crest around its eyes that looks like they're clockwork gears with the hands of a clock protruding from them, but it also has an internal organ that senses the Earth's rotation. This organ allows Hoothoot to keep track of time, cocking its head rhythmically like a metronome as aid, and start hooting at precisely the same time every day. I wish I had a clock like that; Hoothoot is 100% accurate and doesn't need batteries or charging. I'll just have to make sure it doesn't evolve into Noctowl, because nothing in its flavor indicates that Noctowl can do the same thing Hoothoot can. If anything, it behaves perfectly like a normal-ass owl, having exceptional hearing and eyesight and the ability to fly silently. The only difference is that it rotates its head 180° to sharpen its intellect, but even then I'm not impressed in the slightest: normal owls can rotate their heads up to 270°, which is much further than Noctowl can. But is Noctowl worth it in the end? Why, it might be better for me to keep Noctowl around, because I won't be able to hear Hoothoot hooting with my poor hearing, anyway. I can't hear shit without my hearing aids...

A Noctowl with a bunch of Hoothoot.

Do you remember that I said that Furret isn't the best fighter but that it still did a good job in my Pokémon X playthrough? Well, Noctowl's special attack is a decent 76, the same as Furret's attack stat, although it's still nothing out of the ordinary. Furthermore, its HP and special defense are much better than its special attack, which makes it a special wall rather than an offensive threat. That's why a Calm nature is much preferred over any other nature, as it boosts special defense and lowers attack, a stat it isn't gonna use in the first place. With EV training in HP and special defense, the Leftovers as a held item, and an excellent support moveset (Roost for healing, Defog to remove entry hazards, Toxic to cripple foes and Night Shade to deal damage equal to Noctowl's level), Noctowl can be quite the tough Pokémon to take down. It still can't handle a physical hit with ease, though, so watch out with that. To top it off, you might want to have the ability Insomnia on your Noctowl, which - if that wasn't already quite obvious - prevents it from falling asleep by sleep-inducing moves. Keen Eye prevents the loss of accuracy and negates opponents' evasion boosts, but it's practically useless in competitive play, while Tinted Lens boosts not-very-effective moves, which is only handy when you're doing a regular playthrough. Speaking of which, a Modest Noctowl with Air Slash, Uproar, Psychic and Shadow Ball (or maybe Hypnosis) will suffice; you don't need support Pokémon in an LP.

Ash's shiny Noctowl, who he caught in "Fowl Play!"; season 3, episode 38.

However, Noctowl isn't a forgettable Pokémon by any means: Ash's shiny Noctowl will be forever etched into my memory (I don't know about yours, obviously). In the episode "Fowl Play!", Ash comes across a mad scientist who wants to capture the Noctowl by setting up traps - because Poké Balls are too mainstream - but is outsmarted by it time and time again. After Team Rockets stirs things up and then blast off for the 756,388th time, the Noctowl challenges Ash to a battle, who then captures it. Shiny Pokémon were definitely a thing back then, as they were introduced in Gold and Silver and were still brand new. Of course, their popularity has only increased since then, and we can't imagine any games without their presence.

Noctowl is a decent Pokémon all around, but of course you shouldn't put it up against an Articuno or something. That's why it resides in the PU tier, one of the lowest Smogon tiers, but at least it's good in what it does. Personally, Noctowl is not one of my favorite Pokémon, but it's still not bad and it deserves a 3.5-star rating.

Rating: 3.5/5

#161 - #162: Sentret & Furret

Fan art of Furret with Sentret on its back (left) and tail (right)

Look, I'm going to be the biggest fanboy you've ever seen here, so don't say I didn't warn you.

Let's start with stating that I don't care for Sentret. Although its name suggests that we're dealing with a ferret of some sorts, its appearance resembles that of flying squirrels and its behavior is actually more similar to meerkats. Sentret always behave nervously and cautiously, apparently fearing for their lives. They will never sleep alone; while the others sleep, there is always one Sentret that watches for danger by raising up on its tail - it can scan wide areas when doing so - and emitting a loud, shrill cry as a warning when it spots any kind of danger. The herd then flees, but if one Sentret gets separated from the others, it becomes sleepless with fear. Furret, on the other hand, is where I start fanboying so hard that even my mother will wonder if it wouldn't be better for me to check into an insane asylum. Because I absolutely 100% love and adore Furret. Look at it, IT'S JUST SO CUUUUUUTE!!!

That's okay, cutie, I don't mind. You can sleep in my sock drawer
as often as you want.

Seriously though, Furret has slowly become one of my favorite Pokémon ever, easily taking up a spot in my top 10. I know it wasn't included in my top 50 favorite Pokémon at all, but just ignore that blog. I'm just keeping it around because there might be a few things on it that I can use for this blog, but otherwise it's so badly written that it even makes myself cringe. Besides, I created that blog approximately three years ago and finished it in about two months, so it's hardly accurate or contemporary anymore. The good thing about my current blog is that I'm using a whole different concept: I can alter my reviews and ratings as many times as I please, while it doesn't affect the previous or subsequent articles. You can't exactly change the order of a top 50; I mean, it is possible, but it takes a lot of work and it's actually more hassle than it's worth. That's why I love this blog: by reviewing every single Pokémon in existence, I'm getting a much better perception of which Pokémon I like or dislike, love or hate. The articles are longer and I'm spending more time writing them, which is why I often get to know the Pokémon that I'm writing about much better than I did before. And if I get tired of a certain Pokémon, or if I was too hard on one, I can always alter its review and rating for better or worse. Not that this happened much yet (only a couple of times), but the possibility is still there.

Extremely adorable fan art of Furret standing in a meadow,
accompanied by Drifloon and Minccino. 

That allows me to fanboy over Furret without actually having to rank it before or after another favorite of mine, because Furret is indisputably one of my favorite Pokémon right now, only because of its high level of cuteness. Let's face it, Furret's flavor isn't interesting at all, and its fighting capacities are nothing to write home about. Well, I did do a Pokémon X playthrough in which I caught an Adamant Sentret and added it to my team, but it wasn't the best Pokémon by any means. It did a pretty good job, that's for sure, but I just wanted to use a Furret once and now I can say, "Mission accomplished." By the way, that is the only thing that Furret should be used for (it doesn't deserve to be used as an HM slave, it's way too adorable for that), because it is not suited for competitive play at all. Its stats are all mediocre at best and it has absolutely no durability in battle because of that. Furret has one trick up its sleeve (pun most definitely intended): Trick. This move switches Furret's held item with the opposing Pokémon's, and with the hidden ability Frisk you can see what item the opponent has before you make a decision. It's handy and it can cripple the foe, especially when a Jolly Furret is holding a Choice Scarf, but it is generally better to avoid using it competitively. Its decent to use in-game and it is very versatile move-wise, but Furret is not a good fighter.

Dammit, it breaks my heart to say that.

Peekaboo!

However, I should be happy that this Pokémon exists at all. I generally don't care for real-life ferrets and weasels (with the exception of ermines) because they're vicious little things, but Furret has gained a special place in my heart and it will stay there forever. By the way, I downloaded 23 images of Furret so I could potentially use them for this article, but I obviously couldn't use them all. Go take a look on Google Images, I'm sure you'll melt when you see all this cute fan art of Furret. I know I did.

Rating: 5/5

#158 - #160: Totodile, Croconaw & Feraligatr

Team Rocket's Jessie trying to shake off Professor Elm's Totodile
in "Don't Touch That 'dile"; season 3, episode 1.

I was going to make a comment about how I loved it that Ash's Totodile continuously clenched onto Jessie's hair with its jaws, but upon doing some research I came to realize I got some things mixed up. The Totodile that kept biting Jessie's hair is actually Professor Elm's Totodile we saw in the very first episode of the anime's third season, "Don't Touch That 'dile". Yet, Ash's Totodile was one of the best comic relief characters and always managed to make me smile or laugh. It even laughed at Duplica's Mini-Dit's (yup, the chick was at it again, but this time she brought a Ditto that retained its own size when it transformed into another Pokémon) attempt to use Scary Face in "Imitation Confrontation", the 17th episode of the fourth season. It is joyful and playful by nature and loves to chomp on anything that moves with its strong and well-developed jaws, with which it is capable to crush anything. Even its Trainers have to watch out for it. It's nice to see the anime was actually truthful to the personality and traits that described Totodile in the games, but unfortunately, Croconaw's entries aren't that much different from Totodile's. It likes to bite things and will absolutely not let go of them, not even when it loses one of its fangs, which will grow back rapidly anyway. Yeah, actual crocodilians can do that too, so I'm not impressed.

Fun fact: Croconaw actually has twice as many teeth lining its mouth as a real-life crocodile: 48. I guess Game Freak wanted to make Croconaw sound more impressive, at which they have failed, as official artwork of Feraligatr show it having only ten teeth in its mouth. Then again, what's Game Freak to do without adding a little bit of inconsistency here and there, right?

Because fan art of Croconaw doing the samba makes perfect
sense, doesn't it? 

Feraligatr, whose name is stylized that way because of a ten-character limit for names prior to Pokémon X and Y, turns out to be a lot more impressive than Meganium and Typhlosion flavor-wise. Because, as its name suggests, Feraligatr is ferocious: when it bites with its massive jaws, it shakes its head and savagely tears its victims to shreds. Sheesh. You sure you wanna give Totodile to beginning Trainers, Professor Elm? The rest of its Pokédex entries aren't all that special, but they're kinda contradictory: with base 78 speed, Feraligatr (fuck, I keep mistyping its goddamn name) isn't all that fast, although its entries state that its strong hind legs make it move quite quickly on land. It primarily uses them to kick the ground so as to charge at foes, but still... Game Freak couldn't really get it right with Feraligatr and its kin, especially not when Gold and Silver were released. Being a pure water type, Feraligatr had to rely on special-based moves rather than physical-based ones, as type still determined whether moves were physical or special, and water was still entirely special at that time. While a base 79 special attack stat isn't necessarily terrible, it's nothing to write home about, either; I mean, it's Feraligatr's second worst stat. Fortunately, Feraligatr benefited greatly from the physical/special split in Gen. IV, and from then on it has only gotten better.

This really shows Feraligatr's ferocious nature. 

While Earthquake was the best physical move it could get prior to Gen. IV, it got Crunch, Aqua Tail and Superpower for level-up moves in Diamond and Pearl. And they're all physical-based, too. It also gets Waterfall, Dragon Claw and Ice Punch, which were all accessible to Feraligatr before Diamond and Pearl, but were special-based nonetheless. And now they aren't. That's terrific. Additionally, it learns Brick Break, Shadow Claw, Rock Slide, Iron Tail, Outrage, Focus Punch and Aqua Jet, as well as the staple move of every competitive Feraligatr's moveset: Dragon Dance. This move increases its speed and attack by one stage each, which makes it an excellent late-game sweeper and allows you to run an Adamant-natured Feraligatr. The rest of its moveset should consist of only damaging moves (preferably Waterfall, Ice Punch and either Crunch or Earthquake), while a Life Orb powers up its moves even further and its hidden ability Sheer Force removes any additional effects of moves - if any - in exchange for even more power. You could also run a Swords Dance Feraligatr, as this move lets it gain a two-stage attack increase in one turn, but it's generally better to stick with Dragon Dance. Either way, Feraligatr has become a force to be reckoned with.

Never fuck with alligators!

Amazing realistic fan art of Totodile (left), Croconaw (right) and Feraligatr (middle).

Although Meganium is still - and will always be - my favorite Johto starter, Feraligatr has taken second place after I played HeartGold and SoulSilver (those are technically Gen. IV games), which moves Typhlosion to the third spot. Feraligatr has a great design, amazing competitive utility and an interesting flavor to it, but it's just half a star shy from a perfect rating. I think I've pissed off some passionate Meganium haters out there, but you know what? I'm totally fine with that!

Rating: 4.5/5