#524 - #526: Roggenrola, Boldore & Gigalith

Okay, so let me tell you this right now: Geodude, Graveler and Golem version 2.0 are wildly interesting, unlike the originals...

Two examples of Roggenrola art in the Trading
Card Game.

Granted, it's not hard to be more interesting than Geodude and Graveler, and Golem doesn't have much to write home about, either. It's like Game Freak took the rock part of Geodude and just improved on it with Roggenrola, whose ear seems to be the hexagonal gap positioned smack-dab in the middle of its body rather than the rocky protrusion coming from its head. Cilan, Ash's traveling companion in Unova, actually explained in the anime that Roggenrola has sensitive hearing and can hear sounds that are inaudible to humans, panicking and toppling over if the sounds it tends to follow with its ear cease. Roggenrola is born deep in the Earth (its classification as the 'Mantle Pokémon' suggests that it was the Earth's mantle it was born in) and only made its way into shallower caves by way of fissures caused by earthquakes. Its body contains an energy core that is as hard as steel from being compressed underground, further solidifying the evidence that this Pokémon is based on a geode, which is a geological secondary structure that occurs in sedimentary and volcanic rocks and is usually hollow and vaguely spheroid in shape in order to oblate masses of mineral matter. The Sun and Moon Pokédex even state that it compares the hardness of its body with that of similar species like Geodude and Carbink. Roggenrola did steal Geodude's shtick of being able to roll, and people in Unova even use it as balls in a televised version of bowling, which is likely why its name is a play on the term 'rock and roll' - or, more specifically, 'rock-'n'-roller'.

Another reason why Roggenrola and its evolutions are rip-offs of the Geodude family is that Roggenrola and Geodude both evolve at level 25 and evolve once more into their final stages when traded.

Boldore... trying to be tough, I guess? Trust me, little guy,
you'll become much more badass when you evolve.

Actually, Boldore also follows Graveler in that it receives at least one extra limb upon evolving from Roggenrola. It looks strangely arachnid, and although I am absolutely terrified of spiders (they're my biggest fear), I don't particularly mind Pokémon that are based on them - in fact, Galvantula and Araquanid are pretty solid Pokémon in my opinion. Boldore, on the other hand, not so much. Sure, it's made of rock and therefore it's literally solid, but its characteristics seem to be greatly inconsistent with its actual in-game stats. You see, Boldore seems to have an internal core in which massive energy flows continuously, but it can hardly contain said energy and so it leaks to the surface, forming the precious orange crystals found all over its body. This indicates that Boldore is able to fire off powerful energy-based attacks, but there is just one problem with that: its special attack is absolutely horrendous. To add some more flavor, Game Freak gave Boldore the special-based rock-type move Power Gem by level-up, which I merely view as their way to rub salt into its wound. To make matters even worse for Boldore, the orange crystals on its body are so full of energy that they provide enough fuel for hundreds of dump trucks; they're incredibly valuable, so Boldore is sometimes targeted for them.

Honestly, Gigalith has one of the best shinies in the
entire franchise.

And as for Gigalith... Well, Gigalith continues Boldore's trait of converting the compressed energy within its core into devastating blows that can even destroy mountains and cause countless fissures to appear all over its body. This energy is absorbed from rays of sunlight, and it is only appropriate for Gigalith to be able to learn Solar Beam, but yet again its special attack is absolutely atrocious. Consistency has never been one of Game Freak's strengths, but this is ridiculous. At least Gigalith can claim that it's much better than Golem. First off, Gigalith is a pure rock type instead of a rock/ground type, which means it doesn't have quadruple weaknesses to grass and water and doesn't have a weakness to ice at all. It isn't immune to electric, like Golem, but its ability Sand Stream whips up a sandstorm in battles and boosts its special defense by 50%, allowing it to take even super-effective hits better while the sandstorm is in effect. The fact that Gigalith doesn't get STAB from Earthquake is compensated by its massive base 135 attack stat, which makes its other physical attacks (Stone Edge, Rock Slide, Throat Chop, Iron Head, Superpower and even Explosion) hit harder as well. Gigalith is slower than Golem, which makes the latter more adept at using a Rock Polish set, but both are pretty slow and Gigalith can take hits much better than Golem anyway, only for it to retaliate much harder. The only advantage Golem may have over Gigalith is its more diverse movepool, having access to nifty moves like Thunder Punch, Fire Punch and Hammer Arm. Golem does have an Alola Forme as well, but it's rock/electric and so it's four times weak to ground (and, therefore, Earthquake), which cripples it tremendously.

Yikes. You go and tell me Gigalith isn't terrifying...

As I mentioned before, Gigalith has excellent overall bulk and that makes it incredibly fun to use competitively. You can run Sand Stream in combination with a Sassy or Careful nature to boost its special defense (its base 130 defense is already good as is) and then simply slap a Choice Band on it to boost its physical attack by 50%. Just remember you'll be able to use only one move until Gigalith is switched out, so perhaps you'll want to change the nature into Brave or Adamant to compensate for that; it'll make it hit unnecessarily hard. There's also the option of letting Gigalith hold the Leftovers instead, just for a little bit more durability in battle, which also allows it to make use of Stealth Rock and Toxic more effectively as it isn't hindered by the effect of using only one move. Last but not least, there's Gialith's remaining abilities. Sturdy prevents Gigalith from being knocked out in one hit when at full HP, but that will most likely not happen anyway, and so it's an ability that is more useful on a Pokémon like Golem due to its quadruple weaknesses and less-than-stellar special defense. Sand Force increases the power of rock-, ground- and steel-type moves, but doesn't whip up a sandstorm itself, which means Gigalith will have to rely on a teammate to set up a sandstorm first before it can actually be effective. It's more of a hassle than it's actually worth, really, especially since items like a Choice Band or a Life Orb do a much better job at boosting attacks.

Gigalith looking like one of those monsters you encounter in your dreams.

Personally, I love Gigalith so much because of its design. It just looks plain monstrous and badass, and I have to say it's such a shame I have never used one before because I could never trade off a Boldore. I'm glad Game Freak decided to reboot the series and rehash some of their earlier designs, because most of them are improved versions of the originals. Gigalith is no different, being more interesting flavor-wise and more complex design-wise, actually resembling a fantasy monster dwelling deep in some dark and scary cave. Pokémon like Gigalith are exactly what makes Unova so great, and we're not done with this generation yet... not by a long shot.

P.S.: I'm on a roll, posting reviews four days in a row. So far, so good. Unfortunately for you, you'll have to wait at least a couple of days for the next one to appear. Bummer.

Rating: 5/5

#522 - #523: Blitzle & Zebstrika

Adorable little Blitzle.

Those of you who have been reading my blog long enough know that I love any animal belonging to the felidae family: tigers, lions, leopards, cougars, servals, lynxes, domestic cats... you name it, I love them all. Oftentimes, feline Pokémon don't quite capture the feel of real-world cats. Persian, Luxray and Liepard are perfect examples of feline Pokémon done well, while Delcatty and Purugly completely miss the mark and Meowstic hasn't yet won a spot in my heart, either. It's a hit-or-miss kind of situation and I have to say it frustrates me to no end.

In any case, the ermine - a common name for the stoat when it's in its pure white winter coat - is my second favorite animal, while the zebra closes out the top three. And that's where the relevancy of this introduction kicks in: Blitzle and its evolution Zebstrika are the first and currently only zebra Pokémon in the franchise (there are three species of zebra in the world, but they all look pretty much the same, so I don't expect new Pokémon based on this animal to pop up anytime soon), and Game Freak have done a phenomenal job creating them, at least design-wise.

Blitzle as seen in TCG.

Of course, we start off with the cute but feisty Blitzle, actually available to players pretty early on in Black and White. While the stripes on Blitzle's body are few and far between compared to a real-life zebra, it is undeniably based on one, with a spiky white mane running up its neck that culminates on its forehead in a long extension shaped like a lightning bolt. Blitzle's mane serves as a lightning rod, because this Pokémon can actually catch lightning with it and store the electricity afterwards, only to discharge said electricity via its glowing mane again. The frequency and rhythm of these bright flashes are in turn used to communicate with each other. But while Blitzle probably has no trouble containing itself, Zebstrika is an ill-tempered Pokémon that can be dangerous when angry, shooting lightning from its mane in all directions. It is as fast as lightning and releases deafening, reverberating thunderclaps when at full gallop. Zebstrika's irritable nature falls in line with how difficult - nigh impossible, even - zebra are to tame and how awfully dangerous they are to ride due to their extreme unpredictability and aggression; they have the tendency to bite, kick, flail and buck much more than other equids do.

Zebstrika is ready to charge at something.

Unfortunately, these characteristics aren't conveyed in Zebstrika's stats and movepool. Its flavor indicates that it's a physical attacker, and that's absolutely true, but the problem is that it lacks the physical attacks to be competitively viable. Base 100 attack and 116 speed stats are nothing to sneeze at, and they could have been good in combination with a Choice Band or Choice Scarf... if only Zebstrika had something to choose from. Sure, Wild Charge is a decent 90-power move, but it deals recoil damage and isn't as strong as similar moves like Flare Blitz, Brave Bird, Head Smash and Wood Hammer, while the only competitively viable move seems to be Pursuit in case you predict a hard switch on the opponent's part. It is therefore better to use it for in-game purposes, as its special attack isn't terrible in that regard and the fire-type Overheat actually hits quite hard; the special attack penalty from that move doesn't even matter if you just click on Return or Wild Charge during the next turn. Life Orb sets on Smogon even revolve around Zebstrika's specially offensive presence, with moves like Volt Switch, Thunderbolt, Overheat and Hidden Power backed up by a Timid nature, but neither a Life Orb nor the ability Lightning Rod (which raises the special attack stat of the user by one stage upon switching into an electric-type attack while granting it immunity to them; Motor Drive does the same but with the speed stat) will be able to save Zebstrika's subpar special attack. Its hidden ability Sap Sipper makes it immune to grass-type attacks and even boosts its attack by one stage when switched into one, but a physical competitive set is not a good idea and the special attack raise from Lightning Rod will come in handy much more.

A good portion of Zebstrika fan art shows how badass this Pokémon actually is.

In the end, Zebstrika's physical movepool is just too shallow for it to be a good Pokémon to use, but that is hardly the reason why I love it so much. I love it because it's a fucking zebra, goddammit! At the time it was released, a zebra Pokémon had been long overdue, and I immediately fell in love with the damn thing. It just looks so badass! And while real zebra seem to be evenly black and white, Blitzle and Zebstrika are mainly black with white lightning-shaped stripes on their bodies, which is a genius tie-in with their electric typing. I was even lucky enough to obtain a shiny Zebstrika during one of the rare occasions I was actually shiny-hunting for a specific Pokémon. You probably suspect me to give Zebstrika a 5-star rating by now, and you would be absolutely correct, because there is nothing about this Pokémon design- and flavor-wise that I don't love. Heck, even its name is cool!

Rating: 5/5

#519 - #521: Pidove, Tranquill & Unfezant

Ah, yes, the obligatory early-game bird. How could I have forgotten that?

Right, because I waited two months until posting shit again...

Official art of Pidove, because there is literally no way to make
an ordinary street pigeon any less boring.

First off, Pidove is obviously based on those annoying feral pigeons you see in basically every big city throughout the world, not on a dove. Its heart-shaped chest could prove I'm wrong, but Pidove is gray and doves as we are all familiar with are usually white in color. Also, Pidove's flavor points to it being an ordinary city pigeon anyway, as it is accustomed to people and loud flocks of them are often found in city parks and plazas. I'm going to assume that Pidove is considered a pest, like real-world city pigeons, which are even labeled an invasive species in North America by the USDA. Pidove isn't particularly intelligent and often fails to understand its Trainer's commands - in fact, the new game Detective Pikachu portrays Pidove as so forgetful that it doesn't even remember its own name. Its evolution Tranquill, on the other hand, is always able to return to its Trainer regardless of the distance separating them. It is therefore based on homing pidgeons, a variety of domestic pigeon selectively bred for its ability to find its way home over extremely long distances. Many people believe that Tranquill lives in deep forests, where there is a peaceful place without conflict, which means that it may indeed draw inspiration from doves - because, as we all know, these birds are commonly used as a symbol of peace. Additionally, some of the works of Japanese poet and author of children's literature Kenji Miyazawa mention a fictional utopia called Īhatōbu (based on the Iwate Prefecture in Japan and often anglicized to 'Ihatov'), which is reflected in Tranquill's Japanese name Hatoboh
(ハトーボー) and its alleged war-free habitat.

Ash's Tranquill in the anime.

But even though Tranquill's design and color scheme are similar to that of a secretary bird, it can be seen as having pigeon-like features. Its final form Unfezant doesn't even look much like a pigeon anymore, but more like its namesake the pheasant. In fact, Unfezant seems to be one of these extreme cases of sexual dimorphism in Pokémon (the first being Hippopotas and Hippowdon), which also commonly occurs in birds, including pheasants: male pheasants are very colorful and quite beautiful, while female pheasants are paler and seem to be built to better camouflage themselves. More specifically, Unfezant may have drawn its inspiration from the green pheasants native to the Japanese archipelago, known for their dark green plumage and relatively large red wattles, not unlike male Unfezant - whose reddish pink wattle looks more like a mask. The females of this species are more brownish in color, just like female Unfezant, and lack the big wattles and vibrant colors the males are known for.

Flavor-wise, Unfezant doesn't seem to have anything interesting to say about. Males swing the ribbon-like appendages on its wattle to threaten its opponents, while females seem to be more adept at flying, which... Seriously, that's it? There's not even an explanation as to why this Pokémon's name contains a play on 'unpleasant'? There's literally nothing that indicates these birds are unpleasant aside from its classification as the 'Proud Pokémon', indicating they might act irritatingly haughty, but I'm pretty sure Piplup, Prinplup and Empoleon out-snob Unfezant in a competition.

Female Unfezant (up) and male Unfezant (down) probably
performing some kind of mating ritual. 

At the same time, Unfezant is easily outclassed in the competitive metagame by basically 95% of all final evolutions in the Pokémon franchise. It may have base 115 attack and 93 speed, but its mediocre defenses and shallow movepool keep it from being useful in competitive at all. Even worse, Unfezant gets Super Luck, an ability that increases its chance of getting a critical hit when all-out attacking, which stacks up nicely with two moves it learns that have a higher critical hit ratio: Air Cutter and Night Slash. Sounds nice and all, but unfortunately Air Cutter is a special move and Unfezant's base 65 special attack doesn't allow it to make good use of Air Cutter, while Night Slash is a dark-type move and doesn't even provide STAB. It's a shame Unfezant doesn't get regular Slash, which would have complemented its normal typing and physical offensive presence, but it doesn't seem like Unfezant gets anything noteworthy. It's decent for in-game purposes, as Return and Fly hit quite hard and Steel Wing provides excellent coverage against rock and ice types, but I would just recommend Swellow or Staraptor if you're looking for an offensive competitive bird. I mean, do you really want to resort to a Flyinium-Z-boosted Aerial Ace, or the inaccurate Hypnosis? A one-turn Sky Attack boosted by a Power Herb, perhaps? Trust me, Archeops - also native to Unova - can make much better use of that due to its higher attack and speed. Also, there are much better U-Turn users than Unfezant here. The only viable option at this point is to slap a Scope Lens on it to increase its critical hit ratio even further and hope for a miracle to happen.

Ugh, Unfezant, why must you be so bad?

A male Unfezant in the anime. It isn't Ash's, because Ash's Unfezant is female.

I think it's a shame that Unfezant is such a terrible Pokémon, because I absolutely love male Unfezant's design. And yes, I know I said it's decent for in-game use, but it's movepool is just so... lacking. I've always been hesitant about using it in a playthrough, and I probably would have used it already if it had been a little bit more diverse. As a result of its terribleness, Unfezant has become such an unpopular bird that there is hardly any fan art to be found of it on the Internet and I was pretty much forced to use official images and anime stills for this review more often than not. Despite that, I am willing to give Unfezant the benefit of the doubt because of its design and give it 4.5 stars rather than 4.

Rating: 4.5/5

#517 - #518: Munna & Musharna

Alright, so I was thinking I should shorten my reviews down significantly, giving you a brief summary of a Pokémon's origins and flavor and only mentioning its most common Smogon competitive set instead, but I know that would leave me greatly unsatisfied in the end. I will continue writing my reviews as I have done in the past three years, so perhaps you should get used to a less frequent posting schedule. At least I'll try not to take a two-month hiatus anymore, okay?

Munna, who has one of the simplest designs ever in Pokémon.

Having said that, the Kanto rip-offs really start with today's Pokémon. Purrloin and Liepard may be distantly based on Meowth and Persian - and only when it comes to their malignant personalities - but Munna and Musharna share much of their origins with Drowzee and Hypno. They seem to be based on traditional Japanese incense burners called koro, which are used in traditional tea ceremonies and have been developed to be used with insect repellent incense nowadays. These incense are often shaped like a pig and are richly decorated with all kinds of patterns painted on them, including the floral patterns that can be found on Munna - whose existence was even hinted upon in the very first Pokémon games, with an NPC stating that the Pokémon in the Rock Tunnel area are too chunky and that, quote unquote, 'there should be a pink one with a floral pattern!' The whole censer thing falls in line with Munna's ability to eat the dreams of people and Pokémon and project these dreams by expelling Dream Mist. This mist - which in Musharna's case is continually emanating from the mark on its forehead and can be used to create shapes of things from dreams it has eaten - will be pink-colored if the dream was pleasant, but Munna can seek out and cure people and Pokémon who are having nightmares, as someone whose dream was eaten by Munna will forget its contents. Musharna seems to distinguish dreams more adeptly, as the Dream Mist coming from its forehead changes into many different colors depending on the dream that was eaten.

That is probably why Fennel wanted the Dream Mist emanated by Musharna to finish her research on the Game Sync function of the C-Gear, a device that absolutely nobody in the entire world has ever used except to access the online single-player game called the Dream World, where wild Pokémon with their hidden abilities could be caught. You had to create an account at Pokémon.com (for international players) or the Pokémon Daisuki Club (for Japanese players) in order to get access to it, and at a certain point in time, players were given only one hour every 20 hours to explore the Dream World due to the large number of people accessing the site at the same time.

I never knew a Musharna plushie could be so cute, despite the
notion that its curled-up appearance is similar to that of a fetus
and the Dream Mist coming from its forehead looks like an
umbilical cord.

In any case, as Munna and Musharna seem to share some inspiration from the myth of the baku (fun fact: according to Google, Baku is - first and foremost - the capital and largest city of Azerbaijan), a tapir-like creature known for eating dreams, this is where Drowzee and Hypno come in. Pokémon Sun goes as far as to give Drowzee a Pokédex entry that states it is thought to share common ancestry with Munna and Musharna, indicating that the latter are, in fact, blatant rip-offs. As it was Game Freak's intention to sort of reboot the franchise with Black and White, it makes sense for them to hark back to some of their early designs, but Munna and Musharna are just different enough from Drowzee and Hypno to justify their existence. Even if you disagree with that, at least Drowzee's Sun entry is a nice attempt from Game Freak to rectify that. As for Munna and Misharna's names, they're derived almost entirely from Japanese, being a combination of mu ('dream') and mushamusha (onomatopoeia for eating, as they eat dreams) with a little bit of the Latin word for 'moon', luna, thrown into the mix. Additionally, there is a term/concept in the Japanese martial art aikido called munen or mushin, referred to as the state of no-mindness or no-thought, where the conscious mind becomes instinctual - which is a large part of what dreams are like - and isn't preoccupied by other thoughts. It seems a little farfetched, as Munna and Musharna are pretty motionless as is, but this martial arts term sounds an awful lot like their names.

Also, additional points to Game Freak for including the word 'yum!' (mjam!) in Munna's German name Somniam.

Musharna in the middle, with its kin sleeping on the Dream Mist
it is emanating. In the top left corner you can even see a
Drowzee trying to blend in with the rest of its alleged common
ancestors.

Last but not least, there is the question whether Musharna can hold its own in a competitive battle. Well, despite it being bulky as fuck, it was dropped to the lowest Smogon tier possible (PU) simply for the fact that it's not a very popular Pokémon to use. However, Base 116 HP and base 85 and 95 defense and special defense, respectively, are absolutely nothing to sneeze at and could make Musharna an excellent bulky pivot with Baton Pass, Moonlight, a STAB psychic-type move and either Thunder Wave or Toxic. Protect is an excellent move in order to scout what the opponent is going to do, while Heal Bell heals all status conditions inflicted on your Pokémon in battle, Magic Coat bounces any status move back to the opponent, Sleep Talk can be used most effectively in combination with Rest, and Reflect and Light Screen provide for some additional bulk to your entire team. Calm Mind - which raises the special attack and special defense stats by one stage each upon use - can be an option to make use of Musharna's excellent base 107 special attack, especially since it's able to learn a wide variety of special attacks. These include Psychic and Psyshock, but also type coverage moves like Dazzling Gleam, Shadow Ball, Energy Ball, Signal Beam, any type of Hidden Power and even Shock Wave and Charge Beam. Moonlight is basically required on any Musharna set, since it provides reliable HP recovery, so just pick a STAB move and one type coverage move that you feel is necessary in your upcoming battle. Just be aware that some moves can only be learned by Munna because of it being a stone evolution (in this case, Munna evolves into Musharna by exposing it to a Moon Stone).

Because Calm Mind raises Musharna's special defense and its base defense is lower anyway, I'd go for a Bold nature for it to take physical hits better, of course supported by the Leftovers as its held item. If you're really scared of a possible incoming dark-type attack, a Colbur Berry isn't a bad option at all. Some sets suggest a Life Orb or Choice Specs for offensive utility, but since Musharna is slower than molasses in January and has to take a hit first, that's asking for trouble. As for abilities, the only useful one in singles is Synchronize, which inflicts the same status condition to the opponent as Musharna was inflicted with by the opponent in the very same turn.

Some more amazing Musharna fan art,

As you're all probably aware of by now, I am not the biggest fan of Pokémon that look fat. To me, Musharna falls into that category; and even though its origins and flavor are interesting enough, they're so blatantly ripped off of Drowzee and Hypno's not-so-signature characteristcs that I wish Game Freak had put a little bit more effort into these 'new' Pokémon. I don't hate Munna and Musharna by any means, and their designs are totally unlike Drowzee and Hypno's, which I can appreciate, but they're by far my least favorite Pokémon introduced in the fifth generation. Still, if my least favorite Unova Pokémon gets three stars, you know what's in store for the rest of the Unova roster.

Rating: 3/5

#515 - #516: Panpour & Simipour

I could've been done with this review already if I hadn't decided to post my top 7 favorite Pokémon generations instead. Let's get this over with, shall we?

See no evil.

Panpour follows the same pattern as Pansage and Pansear in the sense that it is based on the same concept of "see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil", a Japanese proverb used to describe people that turn a blind eye - as well as a closed mouth and a deaf ear, while we're at it - to things that are considered even slightly inappropriate. Panpour and its evolution Simipour represent the 'see no evil' part of this proverb, which is kind of obvious considering they're continuously depicted with closed eyes. However, Simipour also continues the premise that the evolved forms of the elemental monkeys are based on Japanese delinquents and failed their assigned roles as wise monkeys. While Simisage's design contains aspects of the yankii culture and Simisear's is based on bōsōzoku, Simipour derives certain elements of its design from 'kogal', the anglicized form of kogyaru, which involves school girls wearing an outfit based on their uniform - only with shortened skirts, loose socks, dyed hair and a ton of make-up. Kogyaru are assumed to care only about their looks (hence why Simipour failed to see no evil) and are considered vain and shallow, while the modern school girls' uniform has come to be percived as the dress code for promiscuity, easiness, greed and stupidity. Lastly, Simipour's chest fur resembles a volcano - much like the fur on Simisear's shoulders resembles smoke or steam and its entire design indicates that it is based on an active volcano - and may have possibly been based on geysers, the froth of a gushing waterfall, subaqueous volcanoes and cryovolcanoes, the latter of which erupts volatiles such as water, ammonia or methane instead of molten rock.

Unfortunately, Panpour and Simipour's flavor text doesn't seem to be all that exciting: Panpour's only mention that its geyser-shaped tuft contains water that is full of nutrients, while Simipour's mention that it replenishes its tuft by siphoning up water with its tail, which can shoot powerful pressurized blasts of water that can demolish a concrete wall.

3D art of Simipour.

Also, when you look at the foreign names of the elemental monkeys, Game Freak don't seem to be able to settle on which monkey these Pokémon are based on. Their Japanese names keep it fairly general and just contain the words 'ape' and 'monkey', but the French names of the basic forms - being Pansage, Pansear and Panpour - all contain the word sapajou ('capuchin monkey'), while their evolutions are apparently based on orangutans. The German names of the pre-evos are derived from Makak, which means 'macaque', the type of monkey that the wise monkeys from the Japanese proverb are usually depicted as. The prefix pan- from their English names is based on the genus name for chimpanzees, however, which the German names for the fully evolved forms seem to back: Cheeta, sometimes billed as Chita, is a chimp character who appeared in numerous Tarzan movies from the 1930s to the 1960s as the ape sidekick of Tarzan himself. This whole name origin thing is thoroughly confusing, and I wish Game Freak had paid a little more attention when naming the elemental monkeys. It is literally not that difficult to have them based on the one and the same kind of monkey/ape, especially since they don't look like hybrids in the first place.

Despite being fully evolved, these elemental monkeys don't seem
to have matured much. 

The only thing left to discuss is Simipours competitive viability, and I have to say that... well, its as bad as its contemporaries. As water is a great offensive typing mainly specializing in special moves, I wouldn't even recommend using Simipour as a physical attacker; I'd go with Scald, Focus Blast, Ice Beam and Nasty Plot instead. Perhaps you could get rid of the unreliable Focus Blast and give it Grass Knot or Substitute, but that's about it, basically. A physical set is possible, as Simipour learns Aqua Tail and Waterfall - as well as quite a few coverage moves such as Crunch, Brick Break, Throat Chop, Gunk Shot, Rock Slide, Ice Punch, Acrobatics, Superpower, Knock Off and Iron Tail - and hits hard whenever it's holding a Choice Band, but a special set is generally better because Ice Beam is considered one of the best coverage moves in the game and Scald has a chance to burn the foe. Of course, you should give it a Timid nature rather than a Jolly nature when going with a special set, but that's a given by now. Simipour should be holding a Life Orb at all times (remember: the Choice Specs don't work in combination with Nasty Plot), as this item has proved to be more than effective in the competitive scene... but personally, I wouldn't waste it on any of the elemental monkeys. I'd give it to a more useful water-type Pokémon; there are plenty of them to be found in the games, anyway.

Panpour (left), Pansage (middle) and Pansear (right), holding what seem to be
little figurines or dolls of themselves. I'm including this because I think it's cute.

That doesn't mean you can't use Simisage, Simisear or Simipour in a playthrough, however. I've used them all at least once, and they're fast and strong and get the job done perfectly. Design-wise, Simisage is my favorite and Simisear my least favorite, so I'll rank Simipour somwhere in the middle. All of the elemental monkeys have something charming about them, and I really don't understand why so many people seem to despise them. Unova is great, y'all.

Rating: 4/5

My personal top 7 Pokémon generations

July 18th, 2018

While this blog is mainly dedicated to reviewing and rating all existing Pokémon, I sometimes put out some miscellaneous articles that have little or nothing to do with the Pokémon themselves and more so with the franchise as a whole. Aside from the very first post, which served to introduce this blog to my readers, the other two articles were game reviews of Pokémon Sun and Moon and Pokémon Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon, respectively. I guess you could say this article is also a 'game review' of some sort, because today I present to you my top 7 favorite Pokémon generations, and those who have read my review for Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon will remember exactly - or not - what this list looks like. However, in this article I am going to give actual reasons and arguments for the placing of certain generations in my list. I am fully aware that we are living in a trigger-happy society, but please don't get mad at me for not liking (certain aspects of) your favorite generation. This is my list and I write whatever the fuck I want about whatever the fuck I want to write about in the first fucking place; it's called an opinion for a reason and you don't have to agree with mine by any means, but please be civil about it if you decide to leave a comment about how butthurt you are.

Without further ado, though, let's get this motherfucker started.

#7: Generation 1 (Red, Blue & Yellow)
Oh boy, am I going to piss off a bunch of Genwunners with this one. Look, I was born in 1990. I got into the Pokémon anime when I was 8 years old and played my first Pokémon game two years later, when I got a Game Boy Color and Pokémon Silver to go with it. I didn't get a chance to play Pokémon Red and Blue until a couple of years later, and they honestly sucked ass. The graphics are shit (seriously, have you seen the Pokémon's sprites?), the story is basically nonexistent, a lot of moves and other gameplay mechanics are broken as fuck or don't work the way they're supposed to, and the games overall are a glitchy mess. There is nothing fun about being trapped by Wrap, Clamp or Fire Spin and being prevented from doing anything at all until your opponent uses another move or misses; there is nothing fun about your opponent not being required to recharge from Hyper Beam just because they knocked out one of your Pokémon with it in the previous turn; there is nothing fun about getting critted one turn after another just because the opposing Pokémon is faster than yours; there is nothing fun about your game having a chance to freeze just because you caught a glitch Pokémon that has the honest-to-goodness bird type; and there is nothing fun about an opponent getting its original speed stat back and subsequently having it doubled by a single Agility after the speed loss by the paralysis you inflicted on it (same goes for Swords Dance and burn), because that is absolutely ridiculous. Hell, what's the fun in doing any of these things yourself? Also, all moves have a chance to miss regardless of their accuracy, some type match-ups are totally fucked up (making the psychic type stupidly overpowered), and you can actually fail at throwing a goddamn Poké Ball.

Fuck. That. Shit.

Those are only a few examples, though; there are over two dozen other problems that plague Red, Blue and Yellow and they all equally make you want to facepalm. Sure, Pokémon Red and Blue - Green in Japan - were the first Pokémon games ever and I don't think Game Freak and Nintendo had anticipated the amount of popularity Pokémon would receive and keep receiving in subsequent years, but that is not an excuse to defend such bad games even to the point that it gets annoying (yes, I am looking at you, Genwunners). The only redeeming factors are the roster of Pokémon - while not the best in any way, shape or form, there is no denying that the likes of Pikachu, Charizard, Lapras, Mewtwo, Snorlax, Eevee, Arcanine, Alakazam and many more classics still have a huge impact on the lives of many children and adults around the world - as well as the characters, who have become staples of the franchise in the years after their initial introduction. But in the end, Gen. I has not aged well at all. Red, Blue and Yellow are utterly terrible games, and to this day, they're the only main games that I genuinely dislike.

#6: Generation 3 (Ruby, Sapphire, Emerald, FireRed & LeafGreen)
From this point on, I actually like the main series games discussed here... albeit to some extent, in this case. Ruby and Sapphire looked nice enough and worked fine, while the Hoenn region felt very complete and detailed, but I can't help but feel that the games were lacking something. Until a couple of years ago, it didn't dawn on me that it was actually the story that was kind of ridiculous: Team Magma's Maxie wants more land in order for humans to develop technologically and intellectually, so he summons Groudon to evaporate the oceans, while Team Aqua's Archie wants more water in order for Pokémon to freely roam about and summons Kyogre to flood the mainland. Bitch, what? Archie and Maxie's motives are weak and their actions make no sense at all, and all that bullshit was a poor attempt from Game Freak to create a story with different villains than Team Rocket. However, I think the abduction of Pokémon by a criminal orginisation led by a mob boss - or even the goons from said crime syndicate trying to do everything in their power to get their leader back after he got his ass handed to him by a 10-year-old - is more plausible than a bunch of geo-terrorists who want to vaporize the seas or inundate the land masses by summoning some wacky-ass legendary Pokémon.

Dude, if you want a flood, just melt the fucking ice caps.

Then Emerald came along, and boy, does that game annoy the shit out of me. Not only does this game combine the two villanous teams to create a story that makes even less sense than Ruby and Sapphire's, it also includes a ton of Double Battles with random Trainers that you come across along your journey. It is simply irritating. And as I played through Omega Ruby again a few months ago, I realized that IGN was right and that there is indeed too much water to be found in Hoenn, and anybody who knows me knows I despise water routes. As for Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen, these games are a massive improvement compared to their originals, but the upgraded graphics and better gameplay mechanics cannot hide the fact that the Kanto region is pretty toothless, and the story even more so.

Of course, there are a lot more redeeming factors to the third generation than there are to the first, and the most important one is the Pokémon roster. I wasn't a fan of most of the new Pokémon when I first played through Ruby and Sapphire, but I have definitely come to appreciate a lot of them over the years, even though Hoenn is still home to some of my least favorite Pokémon, such as Spinda, Castform, Luvdisc and - the worst Pokémon of all time - Pelipper. And while natures and abilities were initially confusing to me, as my knowledge of the English language was very limited at the time Ruby and Sapphire were released, it cannot be denied that they have become very important features in the Pokémon franchise and are here to stay until the whole thing ends. Even the current IV/EV system was introduced in Gen. III and allowed for a more competitive approach to Pokémon.

#5: Generation 6 (X, Y, Omega Ruby & Alpha Sapphire)
Listen, I actually loved the hell out of X and Y when they first came out. Only five years ago, the 3D graphics and Pokémon models were just goddamn phenomenal. Kalos is pretty, its rich history of war and conflict is fascinating, and Lumiose City is the largest - and arguably the best - city in the entire franchise. Gameplay-wise, the fairy type has become crucial to the current competitive landscape as well as the entire fucking franchise, and Mega evolutions have had quite the impact as well. They're not as prevalent in competitive now as they were two or three years ago, as only a select group of Pokémon can actually Mega-evolve and Z-Crystals have basically taken over for now, but currently I don't see Game Freak getting rid of them.

Now that Sun and Moon and even Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon are out, however, X and Y have lost a bit of their charm. While you could argue they have a huge replay factor due to the characters and the region, there is just no use in picking up X or Y while you can play an even prettier game on the 3DS. And in hindsight, there are some glaring issuess X and Y have that I'd like to address. The first involves the small roster of new Pokémon, which feels rather underwhelming with only 72 additions, and on top of that there are some Gen. VI Pokémon that didn't quite meet their expectations. Sure, some Megas could be used during the main story, but most them could only be acquired post-game, which basically defeats the purpose of putting them in, anyway. Why not make them gradually obtainable throughout the main story? Speaking of which, X and Y are fairly lacking in that regard. While I like how much history Kalos has, Team Flare is kinda dumb and their arc could have been executed a lot less poorly than it was. Strangely enough, I understand Lysandre's motives and actions (not that I approve of them), but there is some poor writing involved and by this time narrative slip-ups can hardly be excused anymore.

Also, can anybody shut that bitch Shauna up, please and thank you?

One other reason why Gen. VI is so low on the list is that there aren't any enhanced versions of X and Y, as Nintendo and Game Freak did absolutely nothing with Zygarde and went straight for remakes of Ruby and Sapphire. Granted, those games are what fans had been asking for for a while, and I enjoyed them as much as the next person, but I got a little salty when Game Freak put their half-assed attempt to give Zygarde some attention in Sun and Moon instead of a different game under the Gen. VI umbrella.

#4: Generation 2 (Gold, Silver & Crystal)
I heavily debated putting these games on the #3 spot, but in the end I simply cannot look at these games without nostalgia goggles on - and without them, they would be even lower on the list. Like I mentioned earlier, Pokémon Silver was the first Pokémon game I played on a handheld console, which is the reason why I still love Lugia so much. Gold and Silver aren't even that bad graphic-wise, as they are a massive improvement compared to their dreadful predecessors, even though some sprites are completely off - Raikou and Sneasel, for example. A lot - if not all - of the mechanical issues that Red and Blue had are completely gone, though, and it seems like the creators knew these games were going to be immensely popular and put a lot more effort into them as a result. While the Team Rocket story in the Gen. II games isn't all that engaging, watching the villains do everything they can to get their beloved leader to come back and lead them again is more entertaining than their original story. Also, Johto has a very historical feel to it, especially in Ecruteak City, while the Kanto post-game is no less than phenomenal and the final battle with Red is iconic.

Unfortunately, out of the 100 'new' Pokémon pretty much 10% are baby Pokémon. Breeding wasn't really necessary in this generation at all and I think it would have been better if Game Freak had introduced this mechanic in Gen. III alongside natures, abilities and the current IV/EV system. However, baby Pokémon are by far the most redundant Pokémon in the franchise ever; with literally just a few exceptions (Magby and Pichu; I don't regard Togepi and Riolu as baby Pokémon), I hate or dislike them all. Also, a couple of the Pokémon introduced in Gold and Silver - like the Houndour line, the Larvitar line and Skarmory - aren't available in Johto at all and can only be caught in Kanto at a relatively low level, after defeating the Elite 4 and the Champion. It really doesn't make sense, because I don't see any reason why these Pokémon would be native to Kanto other than the fact it makes them harder to obtain. It also makes the selection of good Johto Pokémon to use during a playthrough very limited, which means you'll probably have to resort to using at least one or two Gen. I Pokémon on your team - if not more. Still, I think Gold, Silver and Crystal have aged a lot better than Red, Blue and Yellow, even though they have their fair share of flaws and they're nowhere near as perfect as their remakes, which I will talk about in the next section of this list.

#3: Generation 4 (Diamond, Pearl, Platinum, HeartGold & SoulSilver)
First off, I am going to mention the two things that bother me about Diamond and Pearl. Aesthetically, the Sinnoh region looks very limited and pretty much the same all throughout, and while it is just distinctive enough to determine where the fuck I am, I don't feel like there is all that much variety to be found in Sinnoh except for the major cities. Diamond and Pearl are also terribly slow-paced; there are areas in the game that slow you down significantly (like the mist-covered Route 210 and the snowy routes leading to Snowbelle City), sometimes there are large chunks in the main story where absolutely nothing noteworthy happens and you're just left to explore route after route after route (between Eterna City and Veilstone City, as well as all of the routes leading to Pastoria City), and it feels like an eternity before the entire battle screen is finally loaded, not to mention that the long move animations and slowly decreasing health bars make battles even longer than absolutely necessary.

Having said that, it must be mentioned that the story - while a little bit over the top - is engaging and much better thought-out than Ruby, Sapphire and definitely Emerald's, and Cyrus is a cunning leader of this generation's villainous team, Team Galactic. Sometimes it's hard to pinpoint what exactly Cyrus is on about, but it is obvious we're dealing with a very asocial and troubled young man who feels rejected by his parents. As a result, he decided that emotions are the source of strife in the world and that eliminating them would be the end of wars and conflicts. The roster of Pokémon is also one of the better ones, with two of my favorite starters (Empoleon and Torterra), my all-time favorite Pokémon in existence (Luxray), some solid steel types (Lucario, Bronzor/Bronzong, Heatran, Dialga) and a whole bunch of evolutions of old Pokémon all residing here. It's a shame most of these evolutions weren't available in Diamond and Pearl until post-game, but Platinum fixed a lot of the things plaguing Diamond and Pearl, which is one of the reasons why it's such a fan favorite. Adding a whole segment revolving around Giratina and the Distortion World really helped, too, as an alternate dimension in which the normal laws of physics are disobeyed is something Game Freak and Nintendo hadn't done before - at least not to my knowledge.

Functionally, Diamond and Pearl were the very first Pokémon games in the core series that ran on the Nintendo DS system, and the touch screens made for a whole new playing experience. I'm actually sad to see the current battle interface leaving when the new games for the Nintendo Switch come out, but it was fun while it lasted. What isn't going anywhere, though, is the physical/special split, which determines whether a move is special or physical based on what they do instead of their type. We're used to Crunch being physical and Dark Pulse being special, but at the time the physical/special split was introduced it was one of the welcomest additions to any Pokémon game ever. It was ridiculous that a move being special or physical was determined by the type of the move, which meant Hitmonchan couldn't use Fire Punch, Ice Punch and Thunder Punch effectively because they were all special moves! It made no sense, and the physical/special split finally added a whole lot of much-needed logic to the franchise and made a bunch of Pokémon actually viable in battle - I mean, some Pokémon got the short end of the stick (*cough* Sceptile *cough*), but there's always casualties in love and war.

Last but not least, HeartGold and SoulSilver really tickle my nostalgia bone and are a definite improvement of the originals. Game Freak and Nintendo even added the Suicune story from Pokémon Crystal to these games, yet even now it doesn't feel crammed in. HeartGold and SoulSilver take all of the things that make the originals so good in the first place and improve on them, even adding some nifty new features that make the games feel more complete. The cherry on top is that these games run on Gen. IV mechanics (duh!), which means the presence of a bottom screen as well as the divine physical/special split. HeartGold and SoulSilver check all the right boxes and they're easily among my top 5 Pokémon games of all time.

#2: Generation 7 (Sun, Moon, Ultra Sun & Ultra Moon)
I already posted extensive reviews of both of the Gen. VII installments - for reference, you can find them here and here - so I'll be keeping this section short and sweet.

Goddamn, what is not to like about Sun and Moon and their enhanced versions? The story is amazing, while the characters feel incredibly fleshed out and have a lot more involvement in the storyline than characters in previous games; grid-based movement is done away with entirely and is replaced by a much more refined system; the Pokémon introduced in these games - including the regional variants and Ultra Beasts - have better designs, have better or more interesting gimmicks and are generally better in the competitive scene than a lot of the Pokémon released in Gen. VI; trials, Trial Captains, Totem Pokémon and Kahunas replace the Gym system from previous games and are fresh and welcome new additions to the franchise; features like side quests, Pokémon Refresh, Poké Pelago and Trainer customization make for a fun playing experience; and the games are a true visual treat. Alola is beautiful and remarkably diverse, and Z-Moves - while overpowered - look fantastic.

The biggest issue is the hand-holding in the beginning of the games, but they're a breeze once all of the tutorials are over and done with. There are some more minor flaws, but they're few and far between and don't matter all that much. All Game Freak had to do is make some much-needed changes and implement them in Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon, and that is exactly what they did. Gen. VII is almost flawless, and they would have been #1 if it wasn't for just one absolutely perfect generation.

#1: Generation 5 (Black, White, Black 2 & White 2)
I've seen a lot of comments by many adult Pokémon fans that they had left the franchise for a while and skipped Gen. IV in its entirety, only to return when Gen. V came out. Pokémon has been a part of my life since I was 8 (I'm 28 now) and I have never even considered leaving Pokémon behind, but Black and White did make me fall in love with the franchise all over again. Because only new Pokémon - some of them clearly Gen. I rip-offs, yet totally different - can be caught until the storyline reaches a climax, the games feel like a reboot of the series. Not that I'm complaining, because the Gen. V batch of Pokémon is absolutely the best in the entire franchise; there is literally not a single Pokémon from the fifth generation that I hate or dislike, not even the likes of Garbodor, Vanilluxe, Basculin, Stunfisk or Alomomola, just to name a few universally hated Pokémon. Even if you want to compose a good team consisting of Unova Pokémon that do not receive so much hate, there are dozens of options for you to choose from: Golurk, Sawsbuck, Chandelure, Zebstrika, Braviary, Ferrothorn, Gigalith, Scolipede, Darmanitan, Zoroark, Samurott, Serperior, Haxorus, Klinklang... they're all so incredibly good, and that's only a select few!

Back in 2011, Black and White felt new, fresh and unique, not in the last place because of the region. Unova is absolutely stunning and is home to some of the most diverse places in the franchise. One moment you're running through lush woodlands, the next you're crossing a gigantic bridge traversing a highway just to enter a true metropolis in the form of Castelia City and continue on to conquer a desert area where a sandstorm is brewing. Unova is vibrant; it's full of life, history and color, and a big part of that is due to the changing of the seasons. The Gen. V games are the only ones that contain the season system in the first place (every real-life month the season changes), and a result of that is that Twist Mountain and Icirrus City are covered in snow in the winter and certain areas are a vivacious red-and-orange in the fall. Even without the seasons there are places that look pretty, despite being rocky and colorless, like Chargestone Cave.

And I haven't even discussed the gameplay features yet. Black and White are the first games in which the models of Pokémon on the battle screen are constantly moving, which makes for a more lively battling experience. Also, I think that competitive battling really took off with this generation, although I could be wrong and I'd like you to correct me if I am. Heck, Black 2 and White 2 even introduced the Pokémon World Tournament, which is still one of the better in-game competitive tournaments to date. Oh man, Black 2 and White 2... everybody thought we would get Pokémon Gray or something, and then Game Freak gave us full-on sequels. Madness! The story is not as strong as the one in Black and White - the latter of which asks tough questions about the ethics of keeping Pokémon contained in man-made balls, makes you think, draws you in, gives clear motive and gives you insight into the feelings and thoughts of enemies and friends/allies alike - but at least they get the job done. However, the original Black and White make their point across so perfectly, and their story is hands down the best I have seen in any Pokémon game so far. Black 2 and White 2 lightly elaborate on it, but those games mainly serve to show off new areas in Unova, give us insight into the lives of the characters we've come to know and love two years after the events of Black and White and introduce new and unforgettable characters like Colress. We even got Pokéstar Studios, which is by far the dumbest thing to have happened to Gen. V, but if that's literally the only thing I'm whining about...

I absolutely love this masterpiece of a generation and I'm sure it will always be my favorite. Ignore the ranking in my review of Pokémon Sun and Moon; I was just awestruck by how beautiful those games were, until I realized they weren't quite that flawless. Gen. V will always have the best Pokémon, best story, best gameplay mechanics, best characters and... well, I was about to say 'best graphics', but even I think that's disputable. Heh. I guess this generation is not so perfect after all.

#513 - #514: Pansear & Simisear

Simisear ranked last in the Japanese Pokémon general election 720 poll to decide what would be distributed at Japanese showings of Pokémon the Movie: Volcanion and the Mechanical Marvel, so I guess it's safe to say that it was effectively voted the (Japanese) fandom's least favorite Pokémon, right? The fact that the elemental monkeys - barring Pansage, for some reason - all ended up in the bottom 100 of this big list is a testament to their joint unpopularity, and it's just... unwarranted.

All of the elemental monkeys depicted together, with Pansear
and Simisear in the middle.

Having said that, Simisear might just be the silliest-looking elemental monkey, with its sassy stance and that goofy look on its face. There's a reason for that, though. Its appearance of wearing a fur jacket and fingerless gloves - as well as its hands being outstretched like it's gripping a pair of handlebars - are reminiscent of traits of bōsōzoku, a Japanese youth subculture associated with customized motorcycles. Like Simisage and Simipour, Simisear is based on the Japanese tale of the three wise monkeys that together form the embodiment of the proverbial principle of "see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil", which is used to refer to people who choose to ignore inappropriate things when they see them and even got its own (quite popular) emojis to be used on a variety of social media platforms. However, the idea is that Simisage, Simisear and Simipour failed their assigned roles as wise monkeys; and as bōsōzoku gangs often like to remove the mufflers on their vehicles so that more noise is produced and people start complaining about noise pollution, it is obvious that Simisear is supposed to have failed to hear no evil. Even the names of Pansear and Simisear, with the suffix -sear being derived from 'to sear' as well as 'ear' or 'to hear', are direct references to the 'three wise monkeys' motif all elemental monkeys share with each other. And is it me, or are Simisear's ears larger than Simisage and Simipour's...?

Hear no evil.

But wait, what about Pansear? Well, its Pokédex entries only mention it living in volcanic cave and roasting berries with its tuft, which can reach temperatures of up to 600°F whenever it is angered - not the hottest I've seen in flavor texts of fire-type Pokémon so far. Simisear doesn't fare that much better: while bōsōzoku also like to engage in reckless driving, street races and getting into fights that may or may not include weapons, no such behavior is spoken of in Simisear's Pokédex entries, unlike Simisage's foul temper being derived from the yankii subculture. Simisear just likes to eat sweet foods in order to sustain the flame flickering inside its body, and it scatters embers from its head and tail to sear opponents or whenever it gets excited. I actually think this is far from exciting, and its competitive usage honestly does nothing to improve that. Simisear is pretty much the same as Simisage in that regard, with good offensive stats and speed as well as mediocre defenses, and the only difference being its fire type. Most of the fire type moves it has access to are special-based, and a Nasty Plot set supported by Fire Blast, Grass Knot and Focus Blast was a 'common' set to use prior to Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon, but ever since you can breed the move Flare Blitz onto Simisear it is better to just run a physical set on it, especially with its superior physical coverage movepool.

Its moveset - accompanied by a Jolly nature and either a Life Orb or a Choice Band as a held item - should indeed consist of Flare Blitz, Knock Off (Crunch and Throat Chop might be more reliable in the end), Superpower and Gunk Shot, which is the same as Simisage's aside from the elemental move specific to its type. Rock Slide is unfortunately not as compatible with Simisear as it is with Simisage, although it is an option, and Acrobatics could come in handy when your own item is knocked off. Be wary with Flare Blitz, though, as it deals a significant amount of recoil damage to Simisear.

Here is a picture of Simisage in TCG, because there is literally nothing else I can
use for this blog. Good fan art of this thing is incredibly scarce. 

While I'm aware that I seem to be more critical of Simisear than of Simisage, this simply isn't true. Admittedly, I love Simisage a whole lot more than its contemporaries, but competitively Simisage is as bad as Simisear and I'd rather use something else in such a 'professional' environment. It's better to use the monkeys in a normal playthrough - although maybe not all three at the same fucking time - and have fun with them as you proceed through the story. Design-wise, I like Simisear even better than Infernape, the other fire-type monkey, but its strangely shaped lower body prevents me from giving it a higher rating overall. I just don't have the same love for it as I do for Simisage, and even Simipour is slightly better design-wise. Still, 3,5 stars isn't so bad at all for a Pokémon that is universally being hated upon.

Rating: 3.5/5