#488: Cresselia

Cresselia radiates an air of beauty and grace.

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

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

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

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

Shiny Cresselia is absolutely gorgeous!

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

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

Rating: 5/5

#487: Giratina

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Giratina's Altered Forme.

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

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

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

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

Rating: 5/5

#486: Regigigas

Either this Regigigas is way too small or these Eevee are
way too big. 

Usually, there are some redeeming qualities to be found in legendary Pokémon that aren't considered to be very good in a competitive setting. I mean, I made Articuno and Virizion work on Pokémon Showdown to some extent, but they're by far not the best Pokémon to use competitively. However, I guess nobody can really save Regigigas from being downright terrible. For Christ's sake, this thing resides in Smogon's lowest tier (PU) despite having approximately the same base stat total as many of the box-art legendaries. Yeah, Regigigas is that bad. Of course, this has everything to do with its ability Slow Start, which halves its actual attack and speed stats during the first five turns in battle, and switching it out for another Pokémon will only reset the counter. You could give it Substitute in order for it to last a couple turns, but a good fighting type will have no trouble knocking it out in two turns at most. Hell, Regigigas is even set-up fodder, which means opponents with moves such as Swords Dance, Calm Mind or Dragon Dance now have an excellent opportunity to raise their stats and sweep your team. And a defensive Regigigas altogether really doesn't make a lick of sense, because it doesn't learn a wide array of good support moves (it cannot even learn Protect) and it will be at full power and speed after five turns, anyway. No no no, this Pokémon is best to be avoided; if you wish to use crazy powerful Pokémon - I'm talking Groudon, Rayquaza, Solgaleo, Dialga, Yveltal, Reshiram and Zekrom and the like - you'd do better to just participate in Smogon's Uber tier.

Lucas and Dawn (the Diamond and Pearl player
characters) encounter a slumbering Regigigas in
the basement of Snowpoint Temple.

Regigigas's redeeming factors lay in its design and origins. It doesn't occur often that a trio of legendaries get a downright follow-up one generation later; I mean, Lugia had Articuno, Zapdos and Moltres to watch over, but I believe this was merely for the sake of the second movie's storyline. However, Regigigas is very much aesthetically related to Regirock, Regice and Registeel, complete with their signature seven-eye pattern. The six spots apart from its eyes appear to be gemstones, with the red gems representing Regirock, the blue gems indicating Regice and the silver/grey gems representing Registeel. It actually created the legendary titans itself from clay, ice and magma, which showcases its excellent craftsmanship and ability to survive in and work under extreme conditions - for example, it had to work with boiling temperatures of magma (1300 to 2400°F) when creating Registeel and with frigid ice (-328°F) when crafting Regice. Regigigas seems to have parallels to the Legendary Golem of Prague, created out of clay from the banks of the Vltava river by the late 16th-century Czech rabbi Judah Loew ben Bezalel and brought to life through rituals and Hebrew incantations to defend the Prague ghetto from anti-Semitic attacks and pogroms. The latter is a term ascribed most often to the deliberate persecution of an ethnic or religious group, usually Jews. The golem went out of control, however, and was immobilized and sealed away in the attic genizah of the Old New Synagogue, where it could be restored again if needed. Conversely, Regigigas was stored in the basement of Snowpoint Temple and will go on a rampage if awoken from its slumber uncarefully - and a long slumber it must have been, judging from its mossy feet and bushy shoulders.

For some reason, some of Regigigas's Pokédex entries also mention that there is an enduring legend that states this Pokémon towed continents using ropes. I think this random 'fact' doesn't really fit its design and the rest of its origins, if you ask me, but... I guess I'll believe it?

Regigigas isn't exactly Regi Kick-Ass.

Like Heatran, Regigigas is yet another post-game legendary Game Freak added to Diamond and Pearl just because they could, and it won't be the last one we'll encounter this generation. Unfortunately, it cannot live up to Heatran's offensive prowess and Cresselia's notorious tanking abilities due to its terrible ability hindering it tremendously. Regigigas is basically a second Slaking: both are normal types, both have the same base stat total of 670 and base 160 attack stat, and both have abilities that significantly limit their power. Truant is slightly better than Slow Start, because at least it doesn't halve Slaking's attack stat upon entering the battlefield, making Giga Impact a highly viable move that can do some very serious damage. Sure, Slaking can only move every other turn, but at least it's better than doing only minimum damage for the first five turns. Very few Pokémon stay in play for five turns or more, which officially makes Slow Start the worst ability and Regigigas the worst legendary in the entire franchise.

There, I said it.

Rating: 3.5/5

#485: Heatran

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

TCG promotional art of Heatran.

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

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

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

Heatran is completely in its element in a volcanic area.

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

Ugh, whatever.

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

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

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

Rating: 5/5

#484: Palkia

Even though Palkia may look a bit weird and awkward (to me),
there is quite a bit of fun fan art to be found of it. This artist
actually made Palkia a bit less weird, if only because it seems it
can move its arms more freely and because its design looks
more streamlined.

While Dialga looks as if it's about to fuck you up, Palkia could easily be Groudon's awkward cousin. Now, Dialga is a big, heavy steel-type sauropod and you wouldn't think it has a lot of space to move freely, but in some way Palkia looks way more stiff and robotic than its Diamond counterpart. The two big plates on its shoulder area, each encrusted with a pink pearl, are too round and feel out of place design-wise; its awkward little arms/hands seem to be anatomically connected to its shoulder plates, and judging from its official art it doesn't look like Palkia can move them up; its feet and nails are big and inelegant and stand in contrast to its tiny arms; and its elongated neck and the fins on its back give it fish-like properties. Considering Palkia's water typing that shouldn't be entirely surprising, but there is nothing in its lore or flavor that mention its affiliation with water and those features just make it look all the less menacing for a box legendary. It's like Ken Sugimori decided to randomly put a mishmash of features on the Pearl legendary and called it a day. Not his best day, I'd dare say. Dialga actually looks like it makes sense type- and design-wise, but Palkia...? Ehhh, not so much. That is not to say I hate or dislike Palkia, because it honestly still looks like a big-ass dragon and it has a power I wish I had, but I can't help but to think Game Freak could have put a little bit more effort into it instead of going with such a jumbled design.

Palkia and Dialga in a special LEGEND card
belonging to the Triumphant expansion of the
HeartGold and SoulSilver TCG series. These
are actually two separate cards.

Like I said, Palkia has a power I would kill for and it uses it with finesse. You see, it has the ability to warp space and create alternate realities - a concept we've gotten more familiar with in Pokémon Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon, but not due to Palkia. However, it lives in a different dimension itself and as a result its behavioral patterns are nearly impossible to study. Using its signature move Spacial Rend, it can rip through the very space an enemy resides in and damage it in the process. While it is known for its violent conflicts with Dialga, I'm sure Dialga will live a Spacial Rend due to its steel typing making it neutral to dragon-type attacks and blow Palkia out of the water with only one Roar of Time. On top of that, sauropods tended to be bigger and stronger than theropods, so that's another advantage Dialga has over Palkia, especially when you consider that Bulbapedia suggests the latter is based on a couple of smaller theropods - most likely the oviraptor. That critter had a couple of features that fit Palkia quite well, including a flashy mohawk cut. Furthermore, Palkia could be based on the liquid state of matter - hence its water typing - and while I think it's a solid theory, there are a few problems I have with it that I already discussed in Dialga's review. Folklorically, though, its origins most likely lay in the Shintō myth of Izanami and Izanagi - the respective goddess and god of both creation and death - who are said to have created one island with a spear, erected a pillar on it in order to mate and from there created the islands of Japan. That is probably why you face Cyrus and encounter the box legendary on a site called Spear Pillar, on top of Mt. Coronet. Not the most logical place to encounter a water type, but I digress. Last but not least, its name is simply derived from the Japanese spelling of pearl, pāru.

Palkia... about to screw things over? I don't know man, Palkia just doesn't look
threatening enough.

As for its competitive use, Palkia has a base stat total of 680 and it is therefore banned to Smogon's Uber tier. It has similar stats to Dialga, with only slight changes in its speed and HP as well as its defense and special defense being reversed. Like Dialga, Palkia has base 150 special attack and benefits from having access to STAB moves such as Spacial Rend, Dragon Pulse and Surf as well as coverage moves like Power Gem, Earth Power, Aura Sphere, Ice Beam, Flamethrower, Fire Blast, Focus Blast and Thunderbolt. Those moves are basically the same as Dialga's, with the exception of Focus Blast and their respective signature and non-dragon STAB moves. Just slap on the best moves you can find and you'll be good.

Palkia is interesting enough as a legendary and I have to say that I don't harbor a hatred or dislike for this Pokémon, but its cluttered design is a huge drawback in giving it a rating of 4 stars or higher. Flavor-wise there is nothing wrong with Palkia, but I have to say that it is definitely one of my least favorite legendaries so far because I just can't fully get behind its design.

Rating: 4/5

#483: Dialga

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

Dialga as a trophy in Super Smash Bros. Brawl.

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

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

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

Holy shit, this fan art of Dialga is amazing!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Rating: 5/5

#482: Azelf

I don't know about you, but I think Azelf is pretty cute.

Azelf looks like the default design the other Lake Guardians were drawn from, but at the same time its cyan face and its minimalistic design - along with its cuteness and competitive prowess - make it the most memorable of the three. It was also the first and only Lake Guardian I captured and used on my team along with Dialga (yeah, I have no problem with using legendaries on my in-game teams), and I was honestly impressed by its strength. This is no surprise, as this azure elf is actually known as 'the Being of Willpower' and is said to have given humans the determination to do things, keeping the world in balance from the bottom of Lake Valor. Some say that whoever harms or injures it will become unable to perform any kind of action after seven days, losing all will inside of them and staying completely immobile for all eternity. Unsurprisingly, Azelf is based on the last of the Imperial Regalia of Japan, the Kusanagi no Tsurugi, which is a sword that represents the primary virtue of valor. Its Japanese name Agnome (アグノム) seems to contradict that, as it is probably derived from 'agnosticism', which is from the Greek word for 'knowledge', gnôsis (γνῶσις); and as we've all found out, that is Uxie's thing. Azelf's Japanese name also suggests it's a gnome, but that isn't surprising in the least, as Uxie, Mesprit and Azelf's English names are plays on 'pixie', 'sprite' and 'elf', respectively. There are a lot of tiny folkloric creatures to base a Pokémon on, such as fairies, gnomes and leprechauns and the like, so at least Game Freak wouldn't have run out of ideas in that regard.

Look at Azelf adorably holding onto its Life Orb!

As I mentioned before, Azelf is best known for its glass-cannon function in competitive play. It boasts some amazing base 125 attack and special attack as well as an excellent base 115 speed stat, making it faster and stronger than both Uxie and Mesprit by a significant margin. It is quite frail, though, and as a result it is barely able to take a hit. Fortunately, you can turn Azelf's speed and power to your advantage by giving it a Choice Scarf, so that it gets an immediate speed boost once it's switched in. Give it a Modest nature (rather than a Timid one, mind you), which allows you to max out its special attack and teach it a full moveset of crazy powerful special moves. With moves like Psychic, Psyshock, Thunderbolt, Shadow Ball, Flamethrower, Fire Blast, Dazzling Gleam, Energy Ball and Signal Beam you are spoiled for choice. Alternatively, a moveset accompanied by a Timid nature and the Choice Specs isn't a terrible option, either. One move Azelf has access to and the other Lake Guardians don't learn - at least not to my knowledge - is Nasty Plot, a move that raises Azelf's special attack by a whopping two stages every time it's used. Teach it this move and you can run a Timid nature and a Life Orb. Azelf's speed even makes it a decent suicide lead, which mostly means it's running a support moveset consisting of Stealth Rock, Taunt, Knock Off and Explosion - the last of which is mainly used when you don't need Azelf anymore and sacrifice it by letting it blow up in your opponent's face. When using a support set on Azelf like that, people run a Jolly nature on it most of the time so that its attack stat isn't hindered, while a Focus Sash prevents Azelf from getting OHKOed by a strong offensive move - if Azelf is still at full HP, that is.

3D art of Azelf.

Even though letting Azelf serve as a suicide lead is a waste of its potential in my opinion, it does show how versatile this adorable little shit can be. It is by far my favorite of the Lake Guardians, that's for sure, only because the simplicity of its design makes it the cutest and most aesthetically pleasing of the three. To me, it is the most memorable and the most competitively viable, which is why I am giving it a near-perfect rating of 4.5 stars.

Rating: 4.5/5

#481: Mesprit

Mesprit making a big splash.

Mesprit may be the second Lake Guardian in the National Pokédex, but it is the most unique in that it doesn't just stay in place when you interact with it in order to catch it; it leaves its cavern in Lake Verity and becomes a roaming legendary, much like Raikou, Entei and Suicune in Gold, Silver and Crystal and Latias/Latios in Ruby, Sapphire and Emerald. It's quite fitting for a legendary Pokémon that is called 'the Being of Emotion', said to have endowed the human heart with sorrow, pain, joy and all kinds of other emotions. It is no surprise, then, that Mesprit seems to be based on one of the Imperial Regalia of Japan (also known as the Three Sacred Treasures) called the Yasakani no Magatama, a jewel that represents the primary virtue of benevolence. I would think such an emotional being like Mesprit is restive; and true enough, its spirit is said to leave its body and flitter on the water surface of Lake Verity, while rumor has it that a person who touches it will have their emotions completely drained away after three days, much like Uxie will wipe out the memory of whoever sees its eyes. Mesprit's name makes sense as well, being derived from the French esprit ('spirit'), although it could have an ambiguous meaning: 'sprite' is derived from the Latin spiritus via the French esprit, but it is generally a term used to describe a fairy- or elf-like entity, exactly like Uxie's name is derived from 'pixie' and Azelf's from 'elf'.

This looks like TCG box art, but I could be wrong on that matter.

Competitively, Mesprit is kind of an oddball. It has very good base 105 attack, defense, special attack and special defense stats and a more-than-decent base 80 HP stat to back up those excellent defenses. Here's the catch, though: it is by far not as bulky as Uxie, it is nowhere near as strong as Azelf and it is honestly the slowest of the bunch, which means it isn't as fast as you'd like it to be. An offensive Calm Mind set is one of the better sets Mesprit can run, as it buffs up its special attack and special defense by one stage each, making it more specially oriented. It's a versatile Pokémon move-wise, as it has access to a strong STAB Psychic as well as some nifty coverage moves like Ice Beam, Thunderbolt, Shadow Ball, Dazzling Gleam, Signal Beam and Energy Ball, all special moves that become much stronger after a Calm Mind or two. A Timid or Modest nature and a Colbur Berry, a Life Orb or some kind of Z-Crystal work best on such a set, although the Leftovers work well in combination with both Substitute and Calm Mind. Mesprit could even run four offensive moves and a Choice item. I would pass on a defensive set, as Mesprit isn't overly bulky in the first place and you can just use Uxie to set up Stealth Rock, Sunny Day or Rain Dance or what have you. Mesprit can take some hits for sure, and it'll have some longevity on the field due to Leftovers, but Uxie is just much better-suited for the role of bulky support Pokémon. However, Mesprit has one trick up its sleeve that Uxie doesn't have as far as I'm concerned: Healing Wish. This move makes Mesprit faint, but it can be used when it's worn out in order to completely heal up another Pokémon on your team.

3D art of Mesprit.

I have to say that Mesprit is my least favorite of the Lake Guardians. Aesthetically it looks the goofiest, with the weird dreads hanging from its head, and competitively it is outclassed defensively by Uxie and offensively by Azelf. Also, Mesprit is a roaming legendary and is therefore much harder to find than its fellow Lake Guardians - and to make matters worse, it has a tendency to run away almost immediately should you so happen to run into this thing, which means you'll have to immobilize it by putting it to sleep or paralyze it in order for you to catch it. Unless you're actually actively hunting this thing, you'll never be entirely prepared for that shit. Also, I'm not the biggest fan of pink Pokémon; the only ones that got 5 stars from me so far are Mew and Granbull, while Pokémon like Ditto, Gorebyss, Lickilicky, Luvdisc and Mr. Mime are among the 20 lowest ratings on this blog. The rest are just okay, and Mesprit is no different.

Rating: 3.5/5

#480: Uxie

So now we've come to the first legendary Pokémon in the Sinnoh Pokédex, being Uxie, one of the Lake Guardians. Mesprit and Azelf are aesthetically similar to Uxie, but these three Pokémon are not as similar as, say, Latios and Latias are and they each boast different Pokédex entries as well as competitive strategies.

3D art of Uxie.

To start off, Uxie and its fellow Lake Guardians are the first legendary trio to play a significant part in the storyline of Pokémon Diamond, Pearl and Platinum, as Team Galactic's boss Cyrus uses the crystals extracted from their tails and heads to create the Red Chain and contain either Dialga or Palkia - or both, as seen in Platinum, only for his plans to be thwarted by Giratina - so as not to reduce their power by capturing them in a Poké Ball. Uxie, Mesprit and Azelf even guide you through the Strength puzzle in the Distortion World in Platinum, and along with them being the source of the Red Chain this makes them probably the most important legendary trio in any storyline in the Pokémon franchise so far - and that's excluding the individual escapades of Suicune in Crystal and (to a lesser extent) Tapu Koko in Sun and Moon.

This artist has certainly made the Lake Guardians more kawaii.

Uxie looks to be the most serene one of the Sinnoh legendary trio. Known as 'the Being of Knowledge' and the guardian of Lake Acuity, it is said that its emergence gave humans the intelligence necessary to solve various problems and the wisdom to improve the quality of their lives, while those who see Uxie's eyes will have their memory wiped out by it. These characteristics, as well as its name, imply that it has the power to foresee the future: Uxie and Yuxie (ユクシー) both derive from yukusaki ('future'), chishiki ('knowledge') and 'pixie', indicating that it has the knowledge to see the future... or something like that. At least Uxie is a psychic-type Pokémon, so I wouldn't be the least bit surprised if that was actually true. The most interesting part about this Pokémon, however, is that it and the rest of the trio seem to have originated from another Japanese legend called the Imperial Regalia of Japan. Also called the Three Sacred Treasures, these regalia represent the three primary virtues of valor, wisdom and benevolence. I'll talk about the other two in Mesprit and Azelf's entries, but the artifact that Uxie seems to be based on is a mirror called the Yata no Kagami, representing wisdom and honesty. It seems to blend in perfectly with Uxie's design and Pokédex entries, and even its competitive utility to some degree.

This dreamy piece of Uxie fan art looks amazing!

Uxie is a serene and patient creature that likes to depend on its knowledge and wisdom, and I imagine it being some kind of pacifist. Therefore, this Pokémon seems to focus more on defense rather than offense, as is reflected by its base stats: its defense and special defense are both 130, backed up by a decent 75 HP stat, while its attack and special attack are both a mediocre 75 (yes, there's a difference between the base HP stat and the other base stats, but I don't know how this is calculated). With base 95 speed, Uxie is even quite fast, which is a rarity among tanky support Pokémon. It's incredibly passive, though, and it's really only viable when sporting Trick Room (reverses priority brackets, which means slower Pokémon move first unless a priority move is used on them) or a move that can set up sunny or rainy weather. Before doing that, however, you have the option to let Uxie set up Stealth Rock and/or kill itself with Memento, lowering the opposing Pokémon's attack and special attack by two stages while it's at it. Suspect a Stealth Rock coming your way? Uxie can learn Magic Coat, which bounces certain status moves back to the user. Yawn and Thunder Wave are options in order to inflict a status condition on the foe, while Skill Swap is a gimmicky and risky option that lets Uxie swap its ability Levitate with the target's ability. Unnecessary and unpredictable, if you ask me. You should at least teach Uxie one offensive move of its own type, preferably Psychic or Psyshock, so that it's not completely passive - and to prevent it from being Taunt bait, you could give it the Mental Herb, even though the Leftovers are generally better for longevity on the field alongside its defensive nature (Bold and Calm are the best ones, although Relaxed and Sassy work best when it's running Trick Room). U-Turn is an option, but it's quite weak on Uxie and perhaps you're just better off hard-switching out into another Pokémon.

I like this sassy fan art of Uxie, Mesprit and Azelf. 

It stands to reason that Uxie is not an easy Pokémon to use on a competitive team - and also not the most obvious tank - so maybe beginners should stay away from it until they have some experience in competitive battling. The fact that it is in one of the lower Smogon tiers doesn't help either, because that pretty much means that there are far better bulky support Pokémon than Uxie out there. Fortunately, it's still there forming an interesting trio with Mesprit and Azelf, who will have their turn being reviewed by me in the coming week. I love Japanese myths and stories, and these three being based on the Three Sacred Treasures really helps amp up their ratings, as they're honestly a little bland design-wise. Objectively seen, Uxie is the most interesting one aesthetically and flavor-wise, with its eyes that are constantly closed, but for other reasons Azelf is my favorite. That is exactly why I can't give Uxie a rating higher than 4 stars, although that isn't bad by any means.

Rating: 4/5

#479: Rotom

No, you didn't miss anything; between Abomasnow and Rotom there's a large batch of Gen. IV evolutions of Pokémon introduced in previous generations, and I've already reviewed them accordingly. All the better, because the huge gap in the National Pokédex makes me feel I have made some progress at least, ha ha ha.

Regular Rotom surrounded by its five alternate forms. Clockwise
starting from the top left: Frost Rotom, Fan Rotom, Wash Rotom,
Mow Rotom and Heat Rotom.

Anyway, as I've mentioned before, today's Pokémon is a curious little critter called Rotom. It is unique in the fact that it is the only electric/ghost dual-type Pokémon and the only Pokémon to have its type changed into a type that wasn't newly introduced. Introduced in Diamond and Pearl as a Pokémon with the ability of possessing several household appliances, Rotom can change its appearance in order to correspond with the design of the appliance it possesses from Platinum onwards, and for in-game purposes this means it has no fewer than six different forms. The default form is its regular electric/ghost-type form that resembles a lightning rod; the others are a microwave oven, a washing machine, a lawnmower, a refrigerator and an electric fan. These alternate forms didn't have a different type than regular Rotom when they were first introduced to us in Platinum, but this all changed in Gen. V: Heat Rotom became electric/fire, Wash Rotom electric/water, Mow Rotom electric/grass, Frost Rotom electric/ice (even though it's a refrigerator and not a freezer, it must have a built-in freezer unit), and Fan Rotom electric/flying. This opened the path for brand new competitive strategies, as a few of these type combinations are extraordinarily useful in the competitive metagame, especially when you consider all forms come with the ability Levitate and thus aren't weak to ground-type moves due to their being part electric - although this ability is quite redundant on Fan Rotom due to its flying type making it immune to ground in the first place. But I'll talk some more about Rotom's competitive utility later on in this review.

An amazing drawing of all Rotom forms gathered together. Even
the electrical auras of the different forms look different; Wash
Rotom's looks like a clothespin, Heat Rotom's is reminiscent of
oven mitts, Mow Rotom's resembles splintered wood, Frost
Rotom's bears resemblances to lightning bolts, and Fan Rotom's
look like wind currents. 

First off, how is Rotom able to enter and control these electronic devices in the first place? Well, it has a body of plasma with a whitish aura of electricity around it that forms lightning bolt-shaped appendages, and it appears to be based on uproarious and disrupting ghoul-like creatures called poltergeists. While poltergeists are generally believed to be responsible for physical disturbances such making loud noises, moving objects around (by levitation, if necessary) and sometimes even possessing certain objects, folkloric creatures called gremlins are more notorious for causing malfunctions in aircraft and other machinery. I want to believe poltergeists are the actual inspiration for Rotom here, as indicated by its specific ability to possess home appliances and the fact that ball lightning, an unexplained atmospheric electrical phenomenon involving luminous spherical objects bouncing about, might often cause the spooky movement of objects blamed on poltergeists. Also, poltergeists tend to wander about in urban/suburban areas and cause disturbances in the homes of middle-class families when depicted in popular media - or maybe I have that idea because I watched the 1982 supernatural horror film Poltergeist a couple of times, although the same could be said about the 1984 movie Gremlins. In any case, you first encounter Rotom in a creepy old mansion called the Old Chateau, inside of a defective TV, of all things. Go figure.

Official artwork of the Rotom Pokédex. The right image demonstrates how the
device actually works.

However, while Rotom is a mischievous creature and takes over electronic devices in order to play practical jokes on people, causing all sorts of problems, scientists continue to conduct research on this Pokémon because they think it could be the power source of a unique motor (Rotom is 'motor' spelled backwards, probably a reference to the fact that motors make many appliances function while Rotom makes them fail). While this specific Pokédex entry appeared in HeartGold and SoulSilver first, Game Freak surprised us three generations later by introducing the first ever Pokédex inhabited by a Pokémon: Rotom! Positioned on the lower screen of your 3DS, the Rotom Pokédex gives you unwanted advice, asks you stupid questions, rambles on about nothing in particular and sometimes makes lame-ass jokes, but also helps you out in sticky situations by granting you another chance to perform a Z-Move, gathers and stores data of all Pokémon found in Alola and shows you the way by almost continuously displaying a map of the region on its screen. It is kind of a double-edged sword, as the Rotom Pokédex can get pretty annoying at times, but I like its cheeky personality and the features it provides.

Holy shit, think about it: your Pokédex is a living, sentient being that talks to you and helps you out on your journey to becoming a Pokémon Master. Pokémon is getting more awesome every day, I swear.

Rotom having fun with a microwave oven. 

We now know what Rotom is based on and what this Pokémon encompasses, but I said I would talk about its competitive prowess; and to tell you the truth, its regular form isn't anything worth mentioning. Although the encounter music that is played when encountering Rotom in Gen. IV is the same music used with legendary encounters, its stats are all but legendary. I urge you to find the place wher you can change Rotom into one of its other five forms and do just that, because its 'measly' 440 base stat total will rise notably, exchanging a little bit of speed for significantly more bulk and slightly more offensive presence. Heat and Wash Rotom are the most popular forms to use in the competitive metagame, which isn't surprising, as fire is one of the best offensive types in the game and Heat Rotom's otherwise terrible quadruple weakness is nullified by Levitate, while Wash Rotom has literally only one weakness (also due to Levitate) and is therefore a great defensive asset to any team. Frost and Mow Rotom don't really have that defensive presence, and Fan Rotom doesn't have a STAB move that is strong enough - Heat, Wash, Mow and Frost Rotom get Overheat, Hydro Pump, Leaf Storm and Blizzard, respectively, while Fan Rotom will have to do with the much weaker Air Slash.

Looks like Rotom is having some fun in what looks like a
control room.

As for complete sets for some of these Rotom forms, I am not going into detail for all of them, especially not Fan Rotom. For Wash Rotom, however, I would definitely recommend a defensive set consisting of Hydro Pump, Volt Switch, Will-O-Wisp and Defog, to cripple physical threats and remove entry hazards. Pain Split is often used for some recovery, although it is not always a very reliable way to restore HP; an Iapapa Berry or Sitrus Berry will do the trick more effectively. More options are Substitute, Rest and Sleep Talk, as well as the Letovers as a very solid hold item and a Bold or Calm nature to boost one of its defenses. It's your call whether you want to make it physically or specially bulky. You could actually go the same way with Heat Rotom and be just fine, although an offensive moveset might do more in this case because of Heat Rotom's amazing offensive typing: a Timid or Modest nature lets it be slightly faster or specially offensive, respectively, while a Firium Z (the fire-type Z-Crystal) can change its Overheat attack to an insanely strong Inferno Overdrive. Choice Specs aren't bad either, and might even be more reliable in the long run, as a moveset consisting of Overheat, Volt Switch, Thunderbolt and either Shadow Ball or some type of Hidden Power doesn't seem all that strong in the first place and a Choice Specs might just be the item Heat Rotom needs to give its moves a little bit more oomph.

Frost and Mow Rotom aren't used as frequently as Heat and Wash Rotom, but ice and grass are pretty good offensive types, which mean you could slap the Choice Specs or an Icium Z on it (Grassium Z in Mow Rotom's case), but I reckon you should just use the Rotom of your preference. I mean, my favorite form is Mow Rotom and that's not a popular one at all - I even think it's the second least favorite form behind Fan Rotom among Pokémon fans. I don't know if it's its typing or its maniacal grin that is putting people off, but that's exactly what I like about it in the first place.

All of the Rotom forms doing what they can do best.

One more curious thing about Rotom's origins is that Bulbapedia suggests that this Pokémon is based on the main character from the 1994 Sega game Pulseman, on which Ken Sugimori (responsible for all of the Pokémon's official artwork), Satoshi Tajiri (the creator of Pokémon) and Junichi Masuda (director, producer and composer for many Pokémon games) all worked on. Aside from the spike on Pulseman's head and the fact that it was designed by Ken Sugimori, I really don't see the resemblance with Rotom. However, Pulseman is half human, half AI and I guess his subsequent power to channel electricity through his body and use it as both a weapon and a means of quick transport might be reminiscent of Rotom's ability to permeate household appliances as well as it being made up of plasma and electricity. There's a whole list of references to Pulseman in the Pokémon games, but I personally think it's a little bit of a stretch to compare the two franchises, even though the same people worked on both of them (honestly, Pulseman isn't even a franchise, just a stand-alone game).

Rotom is without a doubt one of the most unique, creative and popular Pokémon Game Freak have ever created. It's a fan favorite for a reason: there are a lot of Pokémon that are based on contemporary animals, extinct creatures, mythical entities and/or inanimate objects, but a poltergeist able to take control of electronic devices must be one Game Freak's most genius inventions. Aside from that, Rotom is pretty viable in the competitive scene, so I'm sure that contributes to its popularity as well. I have to say that Rotom is not one of my personal top favorites, but I still think it's damn worthy of a 5-star rating from me!

Rating: 5/5

#459 - #460: Snover & Abomasnow

Somehow I managed to take it upon myself to listen to every goddamn Eurovision song in existence during the past two and a half months. The Eurovision Song Contest is an annual song competition watched by more than 200 million people in Europe every year and has been around uninterrupted since 1956, with now over 1500 different entries, so it took a long time before I was done checking them all out. It totally explains my long absence from this blog, so I would like to apologize for that while I'm at it. But now I'm back, bitches! It's been a while since I posted a review - New Year's Eve, to be precise - so I wonder if I've still got it in me. Let's start where we left off, shall we?

Snover as depicted in TCG.

Today's topic is Snover, a cute little snow-covered tree Pokémon that is basically nothing more than a walking fir tree topped with a layer of snow. While its brown lower body resembles a pinecone of some sort, Snover is more likely to be the illegitimate love child of the Yeti and an evergreen tree. Sure enough, Snover live mainly on snowy mountains with little human contact, but they move to the lower reaches when the weather turns cold (Jesus fucking Christ, Snover, are you an ice-type Pokémon or what?) and returning to the summit in the spring, when it grows edible white berries with the texture of frozen treats along its midsection for some indiscernible reason. They are boldly inquisitive when it comes to humans, approaching them without fear and gathering around footsteps they find in the mountains. It's all very cute - even its 'hat' resembling three mountain peaks, which is a nice little touch - but Snover isn't nearly as fascinating as its evolution, as is the case with many basic-form Pokémon.

Abomasnow whipping up a blizzard. 

Abomasnow, whose name is an obvious play on the Abominable Snowman (a.k.a. the Yeti of Nepalese folklore), is where things start to get really interesting. This monstrosity is basically still a big walking tree, but the mustache-like appendages that cover its mouth remind me of Cthulhu, which is a classic creature within the pantheon of Lovecraftian cosmic entities for being a gigantic octopus worshipped by cultists. It gives Abomasnow kind of a creepy appearance, that's for sure. Like its pre-evolution Snover, Abomasnow prefers snowy mountains to live in and appears only when snow flowers bloom. Once the flowers wither, it retreats to isolated areas, where it creates blizzards to hide itself from humans, even creating the legend of the Abominable Snowman within the Pokémon universe this way. The most interesting part about this is that Abomasnow is based on a certain phenomenon called juhyou, in which harsh winters in the northern prefectures in Japan cause landscapes to become white and ghostly and the trees to get completely covered in ice. It's an eldritch but stunning sight, and as the phenomenon only occurs in Japan, I have no doubt juhyou (literally 'frost-covered trees') were the main inspiration for Abomasnow's design.

Abomasnow is also the only name that is a play on the common term for a folkloric creature, as all of its foreign names suggest it has royal blood in some way. Its Japanese name Yukinooh (ユキノオー) literally means 'snow king' (yuki no ō); in its French and German names of Blizzaroi and Rexblisar, respectively, roi and rex both mean 'king', with roi being French and rex being Latin; and its Korean and Mandarin Chinese names of Nunseolwang (눈설왕) and Bàoxuěwáng (暴雪王) both contain the word wang, which of course means 'king' as well.

You'll see the actual Mega Abomasnow in a minute, but I wanted
to include this amazing piece of realistic fan art here for the sole
reason that it is outright terrifying. 

However, Abomasnow is all but a king in competitive play. Even when the sprouts on its back grow into huge-ass icicles as Mega Abomasnow, this Pokémon is nothing short of underwhelming. This is partly due to Abomasnow's terrible typing, as its grass/ice typing gives it weaknesses to no fewer than seven different types, one of them being a quadruple one to fire. Even its solid bulk (base 90 HP as well as base 105 defense and special defense) won't make it live a Fire Blast or a Flare Blitz, and there are a lot of people that have at least one fire-type coverage move on one of their competitive Pokémon, because fire is such a great offensive typing and resists all of Abomasnow's STAB moves. Mega Abomasnow is also excruciatingly slow as its back now has to support enormous shafts of ice, and I can only assume it has taken a hunched posture in order for its back to carry the weight of these icicles. It's not a terrible Pokémon to use, however, and a Brave or Quiet nature allows it to attack on both sides of the spectrum. With both physical and special STAB moves like Blizzard (100% accurate due to its ability Snow Warning summoning a hailstorm in battle), Wood Hammer, Giga Drain, Ice Shard (always hits first unless countered with another priority move or cancelled due to certain moves or abilities), Ice Beam, Energy Ball, Ice Punch, Seed Bomb and Avalanche (does double damage when acting last, but that's a plus with Mega Abomasnow's abominable speed star), you can expect this Pokémon to hit very hard. All moves vary in power and effect and could be tremendously useful, so pick whatever suits your needs. You could even opt to throw a few coverage moves like Focus Blast, Iron Tail, Earthquake, Outrage, Rock Slide, Shadow Ball and Brick Break into the mix or give its Swords Dance to give a boost to its attack. This here variety is why Abomasnow's Mega form is often used as a mixed attacker.

As for regular Abomasnow, I would not recommend using it whatsoever. It is significantly less bulky and offensive while it is only slightly faster, and it'll go down quicker than you can say "Motherfucker!" Yes, it has Soundproof, which nullifies all sound-based moves used on it, but it really doesn't matter if you're going to use Mega Abomasnow anyway.

The 'real' Mega Abomasnow.

Abomasnow is certainly an interesting Pokémon, and I have to admit that I quite disliked it when it was first introduced to us: it looked weird and creepy and it made me slightly uncomfortable. I have come to like this thing, however, even though it left me quite underwhelmed during the one time that I used it and its Mega in an X or Y playthrough. Its origins are interesting, however, and its Mega is a significant improvement compared to its original design, as it now looks like a terrifying, shaggy fur monster you don't want to encounter in the wild. It won't get a perfect rating by any means, probably not even in the future, but 4.5 stars ain't bad.

And we're off to a good start, aren't we? Just you wait until I'll be reviewing the next Pokémon on the list.

Rating: 4.5/5