#I miss the mega evolutions

[snailfen]

ik im a big johto/unova lover (THAT goes without saying) and feel more nostalgia for unova rather than kalos (i grew up on the B&W anime before ever getting pokemon x) but im actually really glad theyre making legends z-a rather than a johto/unova remake or legends title.

legends z-a is coming out on its own, unlike legends arceus, which means gamefreak can put most of their focus on that

they arent trying to release it within a year. i hope they keep this up, because if we ever DO get those aforementioned titles i NEED them to be good. i NEED them to stay in the oven a lot longer

[stunfiskz]

i forgot just how cunty shiny mega gardevoir is

[fluff-e-boy]

yeahhhhhh the gummy

[steampoweredace]

Pokémon Z????

[pokemonheritageposts]

Thoughts on wurmple??

Might as well answer this while also doing the TCG ranking for the Wurmple family because I've had four seperate requests for them (and only one of them was anon, so it's not like it was even one guy spamming anon)

Anyway Wurmple is a really cute design and I honestly think it's my favourite of any of the early route bugs. Also one of the first shinies I ever caught! Managed to hold on to Purmple the Wurmple all the way from my old Emerald version, I still have it.

Not as big a fan of its evolutions, I feel like they missed the mark hard on the coccoon forms, some of the most underdesigned mons they ever made. I like Beautifly and especially Dustox, but I've never used either in a playthrough, since RSE give you so many good options off the bat and they're kinda. Incredibly weak.

Not expecting megas or anything but I hope GameFreak some extra love at some point.

Anyway cards! I'm gonna do 15 since I'm covering 5 entire Pokemon here.

15. Wurmple (illus. Mina Nakai, Sun & Moon - Lost Thunder 24/214)

14. Beautifly M (illus. 2009 Pikachu Project, 2009 Movie Promo 3/22)

13. Silcoon (illus. Hajime Kusajima, EX Ruby and Sapphire 43/109)

12. Beautifly (illus. Yuu Nishida, Sword & Shield - Lost Origin 8/196)

11. Dustox (illus. match, X & Y Roaring Skies 8/108)

10. Cascoon (illus. Sachiko Adachi, EX Legend Maker 30/92)

9. Dustox EX (illus. Mitsuhiro Arita, EX Legend Maker 86/92)

8. Wurmple (illus. Kagemaru Himeno, EX Deoxys 82/107)

7. Beautifly (illus. Kagemaru Himeno, EX Deoxys 2/107)

6. Dustox (illus. Yukiko Baba, Platinum 25/127)

5. Wurmple (illus. Hajime Kusajima, EX Ruby & Sapphire 78/109)

4. Wurmple (illus. Katie Gross, Creator Contest #2)

3. Beautifly (illus. Hajime Kusajima, EX Ruby & Sapphire 2/109)

2. Dustox (illus. Midori Harada, EX Ruby & Sapphire 6/109)

1. Wurmple (illus. Yuka Morii, Platinum 103/127)

[gamerbeta]

Emmet with a Mega Chandelure?

It’s been a LOOONG time since I did a fan made mega evolution! (I think the last one I did was a Ho-Oh when I was 10) So here’s my vision of Chandelure’s Mega Evolution (though I’m not sure if Chandelure’ll get a mega, and if so, I definitely think I missed the mark on this one lmao)

Anyways! Now thinking about it, I think Emmet could be in Legends Z-A for two other reasons now (please don’t get your hopes up too much tho!)

1- Trains appear to be a somewhat a major part of the storyline in Legends Z-A, why else would the Pokémon company post this image in their storyline slides otherwise? (Pretty sure someone mentioned this before already)

I think this is a slightly different station than the Lumiose Subway station, but seems to be a major start to the story…

2- I wouldn’t necessarily count this as a major reference, but I kinda thought the rivals looked pretty close to twins (even though seems more apparent they’re counterparts of the character). But odd enough, their official 2D art relationship seems oddly familiar…

Both even have a right-handed vs left-handed similar character! (Even though seems no matter what your rival will be right-handed through gameplay). I could be delving too deep in this last one, but just something I noticed 😅

So if Emmet is in the game, I really hope we can get a special pissed-off line from him if we decide to use a chandelure! XD

[1ightsen]

Maxie Infodump #1 - Little known character details from official media

I promised to post some of my maxie infodumps and headcannons, and I think I'll start it off with something simple. His official character bio that was hosted originally on the first release of ORAS (this will be ORAS Maxie focused)

here is a transcript for easy reading: "Maxie is the leader of Team Magma, the team seeking a world ideal for humanity. He pays attention to even the smallest of details, and is quite sensitive in some regards. He has a habit of describing situations in numerical terms. He possesses a cool-headed outlook, thinking that some sacrifices cannot be avoided if he is to achieve his goals." Okay, so first, after looking at the original japanese version of this page,

小さいことまで細かく気にする、神経質なところがあり、さまざまなことを数字を交えてあらわすのが口癖。 目的を果たすためなら、犠牲が出ても仕方ないと考える冷徹な思想の持ち主でもある。 The one word in here I wanted to be sure of was 'sensitive' since it can have many meanings, and the original japanese gives us some possibilities with:

Personally I think (being) highly strung is the most likely option here, but either way its an interesting character trait. And we all know he certainly builds up frustration and tension and explodes a bit like a volcano. Even if he does manage to correct himself afterwards.

~ ANYWAYS ~

Now that we have the bio, let's break it down a little and look at some fun examples of it in action! Maxie has a habit of describing situations in numerical terms. This typically comes out more when he is nervous or stressed. Here are some examples: Ill just take ORAS as an example here since this is already getting pretty long... In ORAS after fighting him at mt chimney, he lets you know in a specific numerical way, how much he fell behind:

And then again, when you battle with him and lose in the Battle Resort where he just has to let you know the situation in numerical terms by giving you the exact lose chance according to his own calculations of course:

"So the great Maxie has fallen, even when battling alongside your team... I shall commit this curious phenomenon to memory. It had less than a 1 percent probability of occurring, you know."

this culminates in a really interesting interaction between him and courtney after the delta episode. While It's pretty clear that Maxie cares for his team and especially his admins, he definitely struggles when faced with his crying admin, and being unsure of what to say, he settles with a numerical quantifier again.

He assesses the situation, and decides to comment on how MUCH courtney is crying. His "paying attention to even the smallest details" trait also ties into this habit of his, and is probably why he jumps to conclusions a little too early because of small things he's noticed. Accusing Tabitha of wanting his spot as leader, just because he disagreed with him is one of those situations.

Pokemon Masters EX has a lot of new scenes with Maxie, and I would love to talk all day about them, but I'll just pick out one here, and that's from the "A pasio Spectacle" event. In this event, Maxie overhears team break members simply say the word 'glasses' and instantly jumps to the conclusion that not only did they want to talk to him, but that they noticed his "magnificent mega glasses" and would like to hear a lecture on how they were scientifically made.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rZmmaf9bhD8&t=144s here's a link to watch it, its worth it :D He certainly picks up on small details, but tends to miss the bigger picture sometimes, which is fun because I believe archie tends to do the opposite. Perhaps his mega glasses are actually designed to reflect this, because they work like horse blinders, and keep maxie looking straight ahead (trust me, I've made a pair of these, and you cannot see someone standing to your immediate side). Looking straight ahead is also relevant to his life goal, of ensuring the bright future of humanity, and as he says: "propel humanity to greater heights of progress and evolution." And that concludes my infodump regarding this one little bio that is no longer available without the wayback machine, and I just wanted to share it with any other Maxie fans out there :D Next I think I might tackle the bigger topic of how Archie and Maxie have so many fun contrasts in personality and more. and then maaayyybe I'll feel comfortable enough sharing my headcannons and theories. But only if people want more lol, I am not good at writing big posts :>

[floaromaxtowns]

StS x Pokemon AU brainstorming stuff

Now I'll have to publicly share some flow of thoughts rambles, I've been accumulating for an year now.

Bless @ectogusher for listening to my rambles, and @doodlingwren for busting my door open to finally share what I got.

Excuse me as I talk in my notes as if these things were like a guide/romhack shit

All under read more bc it gets long c:

Here's the main skeleton of this whole deal-

Sanctuary = Its own region. No new fakemons, but it's a sizeable piece of land that has gathered up a wide variety of various species found across the globe. This worldwide thing also influences the type of trainers and people from all over the world going there. If we were to touch on the subject of game mechanics: There would be most of them (Mega evolutions, terastalise, Dynamax even Paradox pokemon forms) further showing how mysterious and mythical this region is.

PC - Seiya / Shoko Rivals - Seiya -> The other bronze boys / Shoko ->The other saintias

With Ikki being the Silver-esque type of rival, meanwhile Shiryu/Hyoga/Shun all follow the same line of friendly rival archetype. I still haven't thought that far on the Shoko route.

Other prominent NPCs:

Professor Shion: Former gym leader, he was once offered the champion title but refused it. Claiming that his passion was in research and studies, rather than the battlefield. Due to stepping down from battles, his friendship/relationship with Dohko has strained over time. Shion is the one who brought Mu to Sanctuary down the line.

Schoolkid Kiki: Catching Tutorial NPC. He can be usually found at the Pokemon School in Mu's city. He will inherit Mu's mantle down the line. The pokemon he uses in the tutorial is a Noibat;

League Chairwoman Saori Kido - With Julien Solo and Hades coming in as other seemingly "investors" on the project

Gym leaders: Most of these guys' aces aren't fully evolved, bc they chose to keep them like that. Yadda yadda friendship boosting their favorites.

Mu: Sinnoh - Dragon - Dragonair

Aldebaran: Hoenn - Ground - Rhydon

Saga/Kanon: Alola - Water - Gyarados (Saga)/Kingdra (Kanon)

Deathmask: Kalos - Dark - Murkrow

Aiolia: Sanctuary (native) - Electric - Electabuzz

Shaka: Kanto - Psychic - Alakazam

Dohko: Johto - Fighting - Mienshao

Milo: Unova - Bug - Volcarona

Elite fours:

Aiolos: Sanctuary - Fire - Charizard

Shura: Galar - Steel - Metagross

Camus: Sinnoh - Ice - ? (Either Froslass or Glaceon)

Aphrodite: Paldea - Poison - Roserade

Champion - ??? (the plot twist is that: the PC wouldn't fight the 3rd gym leader, bc Saga was pretending to be the champion. When he really wasn't chosen or appointed to that position)

Evil organisations: They definetely do exist, and they are obviously tied to the aforementioned Julien and Hades figures. But I still haven't thought that far.

Worldbuilding notes:

Muvians are similar to draconids (introduced in ORAS), a small tribe that originates from Sinnoh and has some deep connections and bonds to dragon types. Which means, any muvian = dragon type specialist or in the very least owns one. Muvians are also meant to have a foot in aura sensitivity (see characters like Lucario, Riley, etc.);

Sanctuary's League has a rampant corruption problem, as seen by what I mentioned about Saga. The two evil organisations are basically being pitched against one another, as smokescreen for the real problem. Their current champ is this sort of "elusive" figure. There hasn't been a proper champion in a long time. And yet, according to paperwork and the system, it states that the role is currently filled by someone. Anyone that isn't tied to Saga's schemes is left in the shadows, even those that allegedly should be the closest to him (Aiolos for SURE has no clue of what's going on. He's probably hiding or declared missing in action during the events, and only shows up when the time comes to challenge the E4).

There's a small timeline:

ND folks (a good few years into the past) -> Classic folks -> Omega folks (+20 years into the future)

In ND's setting we see how odd and hapharzadly the League was instated in the region. Which sets up the perfect grounds for Saga to exploit down the line;

Shion and Dohko are recently turned gym leader here. Mu comes onto the picture a good few years after ND's events; In a way, since Tenma would be the PC here and Alone his rival. It could be the Red vs Blue type of ordeal.

In Omega we'd see how the League is trying to remedy its reputation & amend for Saga's schemes, with an entirely new set of gym leaders and League members. + Former league members can still be found and fought in the post game, Silver/Gold style.

Individual notes:

Mu - Obligatory pokemon Aldemu food

Mu used to own a Gible and Alde once owned a Trapinch, at some point they traded pokemon. So now, Alde has a Garchomp in his personal team and Mu has a Flygon;

Mu's battle team against young trainers has a Swablu, which is used as a messenger to carry mail exchanges between him and Alde;

Mu LOVES pokemon dolls and has a huge collection of it. In the post-game: PC can find Mu and Alde on a date at the region's big mall, with them looking at a shop's display window. Mu gets mad at PC for ruining his date, but would give out his pokegear number;

Aldebaran -

Aldebaran gym's city is also where the pokemon day-care can be found. He may not run it, but he often helps out the elderly couple currently in charge of it;

In the post-game: After adding Mu's re-match call number. Alde can ba found on the route between his and Mu's towns, he was on his way to take a meal for him, and he also shares with PC that they bought the doll in the end

Saga/Kanon -

PC doesn't really get to fight for the 3rd gym badge. Rather, it's simply handed out by Kanon, who approaches them to talk about how the leader hasn't been seen in so long;

Saga's "fall from grace" comes from a humiliating match against Aiolos, originally fighting for the E4 member promotion which he lost. Despite the clear type advantage;

It's left implied that these two were meant to be gym leaders, the matches would have been double battles.

Deathmask -

DM gym's city houses a Game corner (Casino) and a contest hall. First sighting of an E4 member is Aphrodite, who introduces PC to them;

DM is a sore loser AND has no qualms with cheating against his challengers, if it means he gets to maintain his "streak". In the battle against PC he would use an overleveled Crawdaunt;

In the post-game: PC will get a hint from Shaka's radio talkshow mentioning DM's whereabouts, in the city's underground game corner;

DM's strength is everything philosophy = DM's entire personal team consists of very strong dark types with some form of 4x weakness;

DM is well in kahoots with Saga's schemes;

Aiolia - TBA I haven't thought anything for him c':

Shaka -

Shaka gym's city is meant to be the largest and the most advanced one (Saffron and Goldenrod cities style), it has the region's largest shop for expensive and important items. It also has a radio tower, which broadcasts various programs (professor talk, loterry ticket, poke flute, etc), Shaka hosts a talk show where he commentates on PC's progress, all while actively putting down/poking fun at his defeated colleagues. Under specific time slots, he will have a guest join him, which will be an exchange between the various league's members. But the most important one is where he will be joined by the region's "champion";

Shaka is a fan-favorite across several trainers in the region, with many NPCs commentating how much they love tuning in to hear him talk & so on;

Shaka is also well known for his psychci prowess (Sabrina style);

Shaka is also deeply involved in Saga's schemes;

Dohko -

Dohko gym's city also houses the pokéathlon. With Dohko going undefeated in all the challenges, until PC comes along;

Post-game: to get Dohko's number for rematches. PC has to visit Shion after obtaining a certain number of species then, take a mail key item to Dohko. And THEN they get Dohko's number. it's a love letter, an invitation for some tea at noon

Milo - TBA I haven't thought anything for him c':

And "unfortunately", that's all I got x)

I suppose this is a lot better than trying to find all my notes scattered around all over the place. Hope it makes sense or that in the very least, it's fun to read through.

RN I focused on the classic folks bc it's the one I've been working and thinking of for the longest time.

[burningcheese-merchant]

screw the setting, legends ZA could be set entirely in a white padded cell in an asylum for all I care, but holy fucking shit. those battles. look. NAUSEATING. gamefreak, buddy, can we try not to re-invent the fucking wheel every few years or so? you have been shoving new cheap battle mechanics down our throats every new generation, and now I gotta jog circles around my rival's tepig so I can make sure my totodile doesn't miss his water gun? WHAT!?!? 😨

I was interested for 5 seconds and then reality clocked me in the nose and landed me in the ER lol. You're right, the battles look irritating as fuck. I gotta run all around the damn place for my pokémon to dodge? Why can't they just keep the old dodge mechanic where they'll do it on their own, but randomly and not often? What was wrong with that? And what was that about different moves having different ranges??? So I have to take THAT shit into account, too? So much extra hassle for no reason. "Hurr durr it's like the anime now" fuck that I don't give a fuck about the anime. I never did. The games are not the fucking anime. This shit is fucking annoying as fuck

Also, am I the only one who's not happy that they seem to be doing away with turn-based battles? That is literally the foundation of a Pokémon battle. I understand wanting to do something new, this franchise NEEDS to do that shit's gotten stale, but not like this. Change too much and you'll lose your identity. What else will they take away? Completing a Pokédex? Oh God if they don't have a National Dex in this game I swear...

The only mechanic I'm happy to see is Mega Evolution. That's still the coolest gimmick so far, outside of regional variants (I also like Z-moves and Terrastalizing is an interesting concept. I don't care about Dynamaxing, you literally just make Pokémon extra large). But the trailer made it look like it'll be on a short timer instead of lasting the whole battle like in XY, so I guess they're gonna ruin that, too

[gracefireheart]

✨Here comes the Administrator and Miss Pauling - Pokemon [Mystery Dungeon] Edition✨

[A sort of continuation of my TF2 x PMD drawing]

Gonna go over what pokemon I had in mind for these two, and why I ended up choosing Galarian Articuno for the Administrator, and Mawile for Miss Pauling :]

For the Administrator, I first made a list of pokemon that could be a nice choice for her (mostly, it was snake pokemon like Arbok, Seviper, and Serperior), but then my thoughts went to legendaries. Before I thought about G. Articuno, I was going to draw her as a Walking Wake (Suicune from the past). And then I saw G. Articuno, and I went for that one 'cause of 1. Their moveset fit her more, and 2. G. Articuno's overall appearance just screams the Administrator to me. Btw, if you're wondering how tf she gets the vest on, G. Articuno has such strong psychic power that it can fly without using it's wings. She would have no problem putting on a piece of fabric with just her psychic powers :'>

For Miss Pauling, it was a tough choice between three options I had dwindled down to: Liepard, [shiny] Alolan Ninetales, and Mawile. I was going to draw her as an A. Ninetales for a while, but after looking through all three of these pokemon's movesets, abilities, pokedex entries, and their classification, I ended up choosing Mawile instead. Why? They're the deceiver pokemon :) Also, I just love giving pokemon (that has a mega-evolution) a mega-stone as part of their accessories <3

[inprogresspokemon]

What do you think of the upcoming pokemon game(Pokemon Legends Z)?

I'm excited for it! The trailer makes me think this game is leaning more to the future and/or more recent past, so it'll be interesting to see how new Pokemon evolutions and forms are handled.

I thought Legends: Arceus was a really cool and innovative take on a classic Pokemon game, and I hope Legends: Z-A follows suit and continues to improve things. It's been revealed via Nintendo's twitter account that the game will take place entirely in Lumiose City, so I'm hoping that the city is well-fleshed out and expanded in the new game. I also wonder how catching Pokemon will work in a game entirely set in a city, so I'm expecting big parks, pockets of nature, or maybe some Pokemon running wild in the streets.

I'm also really excited for Mega Evolutions to come back and the expectation for some new Megas! They were my favorite Generational gimmick and it's exciting to see them again.

The trailer didn't show much, but what do you guys think?

(For those who missed the on today's Pokemon Presents, you can see the Pokemon Legends: Z-A announcement trailer on the Pokemon website, here.)

[qadmonster]

okay, mega evolutions...fine, whatever. Pokemon amie tho? Can I pet my damn pokemon again plz? hand feed them? EV train with cute little games or play games for pokepuffs ?

SV seemed it was all about the meta, which is fine I mean it must be making money because it's easier than ever to make tournament ready pokemon, but I miss little casual things that fill out the game world and make for little excursions from just battling. Growing berries, food making mini games (sandwiches are okay but like...c'mon) I'd even be happy if contests were a staple again. I'm talking about for the next gen of course, not remakes and stuff. SV was just so...well, it was fun to traverse so freely at least.

rant over.

[gouda-nough]

hello hello! ran into your aus and blog while going thru the steven stone tag after my pokemon fixation reignited and anyways, if i may ask for it but random info about the lapis au? :>

Anon thank you for the ask! Hell yeah i can talk about the Lapis au, i keep not making a tumblr post about it.

It's premise is that thanks to Hoopa a Wallace (Lapis) from a pretty doomed Sapphire (rse verse, gen 3 rules) gets thrown into Alpha Sapphire and he tries to figure out what the hell happened to him.

I take some liberties about canon so while Rayquaza is indeed a thing it just never shows up to help in Lapis' timeline so theres no easy way to stop Kyogre. Can't even summon Groudon since the Red orb's at the bottom of the ocean. Lapis and his Steven try to send Kyogre to sleep with the Blue orb since that should work but uh. Lets say it didn't go very well.

Don't worry about Lapis' Steven he's fine :))

Anyway, Lapis ends up in Alpha Sapphire and has no clue what he's doing. He thinks he's back in time but people keep mistaking him for the present Wallace, including a niece??? Lapis doesn't have a niece?? Also what's Mega Evolution?

Lapis decides since he has to try and stop Kyogre from awakening he may as well infiltrate Team Aqua (but has he missed something? This Archie guy looks nothing like the man he saw in his time), he doesn't expect some mysterious woman to be there also, he doesn't trust Zinnia and she doesn't trust him either.

All in all Lapis does his best and causes minor chaos from a) looking almost identical to Wallace and b) the crimes he's commiting. And for fun Lapis and his Steven were dating for a while before everything went wrong but the Oras versions? Not dating yet for some reason? Lapis should try and fix that.

[gamerchip]

All Visible Pokémon in the Legends Z-A Trailer (New Kalos Pokédex)

So I'm sure I may miss something but with the Legends Z-A trailer they showed off a series of Pokémon, many of them distinct being the only colored models in the New Lumiose. I went thought to find all the Pokémon available in the New Kalos Pokédex! (Speculation at end).

The first mons we see are series mascot Pikachu running through a group of Litleo and Pyroar (male and female).

Next we pass by our outdoor café with Flabébé, Klefki, and a Matron Trim Furfrou. Based on the coloration, we can assume all the Flabébé are holding red flowers.

Next we come to the waterway, presumably the one between Vert and Jaune Plaza. It's where we see the most Pokémon starting with Fletchling on the top left railing, Dragonair and Staryu in the water, and a Hawlucha with the trainer catching Dragonair.

Pulling out further we can see a Gogoat and Arbok on the bridge, and Hippopotas and Absol with people on the lower right walkway. In the waterway we see more Staryu along with Magikarp and Gayarados. An Emolga flies in before we switch scenes, (Its impossible to get a screen grab with both Absol and Emolga in frame).

We move on to the battle between Sylveon and Aegislash, several Pokémon are seen in the background. From left to right they are Female Meowstic, Diamond Trim Furfrou, and Krookodile with several Sandile.

As the camera switches to Sylveon attacking we can see Bellsprout, Heracross, and Pinsir to its right.

As the camera switches to fallow the Talonflame, we see it fly towards an Eevee, Onix, and Pangoro.

Continuing the flight, we see an Ariados scaling one of the buildings on the left and a Dandy Trim Furfrou on the right. There is also a Pokémon walking next to a trainer, while it is hard to make out I assume that this is an Espurr.

The final scene with Pokémon fly's us over what I assume is the new Jaune Plaza. On the far left there is a Heart Trim Furfrou. In the center plaza Tyranitar and Male Pyroar appear near a trainer while Krookodile and a Sandile are playing in the center fountain. Finally a Noivern and two Noibat fly in from the right.

Assuming that no evolution lines change, there are currently 56 Pokémon in this new Pokédex all which appeared in the Original Kalos Pokédex, 5 of which have Mega Evolutions (Absol, Heracross, Pinsir, Tyranitar, and Steelix). Interestingly the trailer showed off no Ice type Pokémon. Regardless I'm super excited to see this new urban based Pokémon game!

[bethanythebogwitch]

I talked before about fish Pokemon and that was great, but it's not the only mon series I like. So fuck it, fish Digimon time. This will definitely be less analytical and more me gushing about Digimon I like because I may be a bit out of it right now. Also sorry if I missed any.

Starting at rookie/child level we only have one fish but why would we need more when we have Swimmon?

Loot at it, it's amazing! It's some some sort of tropical fish, obviously, but with some embellishments, like the beak full of teeth. I love how colorful and pointy it is. It works great as a rookie for so many aquatic lines. I think some great lines for it would be Swimmon -> Coelamon -> Piranimon -> MetalPiranhimon or Swimmon -> Tobiumon -> DIvemon -> Surfimon. Speaking of which...

I'm going over champion/adult Digimon together and starting with Coelamon.

It's a coelacanth! Coelacanths are amazing as some of the last lobe-finned fish. In this case, the lobes have been exaggerated into proper limbs, like how lobe-finned fish are the ancestors of tetrapods through intermediate limbed fish stages like tiktaalik. Its armor might also be based on placoderms, extinct fish with bony armor.

We have surprisingly few shark Digimon, but one we do have is Tobiumon, and it's amazing.

A shark with arms that can fly with its fins is such a Digimon concept that all it needs are some guns to be peak Digimon. It even has a remora missile launcher on its chest!

The armor Digimon give us several fish, and while I don't think any of them particularly work as armor evolutions, they're fine as Digimon on their own. And before anyone mentions it, Tylomon is a tylosaurus, not a fish. The first is Manbomon, and while it's a terrible armor evolution for Patamon, A mola mola wearing boxing gloves is such a goofy concept I can't help but love it.

Next is Seahomon, which is pretty obviously a seahorse, but its snout is a trumpet and it has a cape that turns into wings I guess? I dunno, it's a pretty weird one.

My favorite of the three is Mantaraymon. Despite the name, it doesn't have a manta ray's face, instead having a rostrum like a shovelnose ray or even maybe a dolphin. I do like how they used Patamon's ears as the cephalic fins.

Mantaraymon also has a more mechanical X-antibody variant that gives it kind of a stealth fighter vibe. I kind of like it more than the original Mantaraymon, which is saying something since I usually don't like X-antibody Digimon.

Moving onto the ultimate/perfect level we have a new mon from China, Huankunmon.

I love this design so much. Its based on the peng, a mythical creature that can turn from a bird to a fish. Fittingly, Huankunmon's line goes from a bird (Xiquemon) and goes to a bird/fish/dragon hybrid (Xiangpengmon). It'a also based on a flying fish since it can fly with a swimming motion. And it can turn invisible. There's nothing not to love about it.

Next is Piranimon, and look at this absolute beast

Some might call it overdesigned, but I absolutely love it. I particularly dig the tail being a fish hook covered in barbed wire. Its based on a red-bellied piranha, but the pop-culture version where they're bloodthirsty monsters that attack everything they see. Real piranhas are not like that. The helmet it wears may also be based on placoderms, some of which only had the bone armor on the front of their bodies.

Finally at this level, we have Divemon.

I'm not as big of a fan of this as I am of the other two, but I do like the Polynesian-style tattoos it has. Its a combination hammerhead shark and professional swimmer.

Maxing out at the mega/ultimate level we have MetalPiranimon.

While I appreciate any fish megas, I think this is a step down from Piranhimon. It's just a red-bellied piranha with a big metal head dragging around a counterweight. I'm not saying its bad, I'm just saying that Piranhimon is better. Fun fact, Metalpiranhimon came first. Piranhimon was designed because someone thought it was weird that there's a MetalPiranhimon but no regular Piranhimon. There are a few examples of that in Digimon, like SkullBaluchimon coming before Baluchimon.

Next is Regalecusmon, which might be stretching the definition of fish a bit, but it does have an oarfish for a head.

I really like this design, especially it using Zudomon's horn as a sword and what looks like Ebidramon's claw as a shield. I think it would make a great villain for an aquatic episode or storyline of a show. Maybe like a more modern version of MetalSeadramon from Adventure.

Finally, we have Surfimon.

It's a mechanical shark man riding a rocket-powered hammerhead shark surfboard with a buzzsaw on the front. We have reached peak Digimon, people. And even better, it was created by a fan as part of a contest. Frankly, it's a shame that it hasn't gotten any appearances in the anime or games. I don't get why some fan-made Digimon can go onto have major appearances like Dobermon, Cyberdramon, and SoundBirdmon while others get ignored. A lot of them don't even have art. I'd be pretty bummed if I was a kid who won a contest to have my design become official and then it was never used. I think Surfimon should get an anime appearance and the English dub should make it talk like a Californian surfer dude.

[charrfie]

do you have a favorite mega evolution design

MEGA ABSOL WITHOUT A DOUBT. Zero hesitation in my answer. I've always liked absol's whole deal in general, being equivalent to that of an angel who's unwillingly become a bringer of doom. Mega evolution simply accentuates that fact. The change of form adds nice contrast in the form of elevating absol's angel-like traits while also- in a twist of cruel irony- making it more dangerous, more powerful... and although absol prefers to use this power to protect others or ward off aggressors, these newfound dangerous abilities further blemish it's reputation. It's a very tragic pokemon.. and I'm very endeared to it. Both for the design itself AND the implications it brings

That being said.... to be fully transparent with you anonymous, I'm not the biggest fan of mega evolutions in general. The gimmicks pokemon have been known to introduce over the past few games have been pretty boring to me, and feel very much so like an introduction of a new feature just for the purpose of having something new. Something marketable. I feel that the concept of mega evolutions could be interesting, what with it essentially being a souped-up, way more edgy design (and edgy designs will ALWAYS sell me on something) of a previously known pokemon..... buuuut a lot of those times, the design sadly misses the mark for me. They really should go more intentionally edgy with it rather than adding on..... extra. Forgive me, what I mean is difficult to describe. But mega gyarados, mega aerodactyl, and mega tyranitar are good examples of this. There's just..... extra tacked on. Like the designs aren't quite sure what they're meant to be, or what the purpose of these additions even are. But they have more, so they have to be more marketable, right?

Thats not to say mega evolutions are always a bad thing.... clearly there are cases of things being done RIGHT, and look no further than mega absol for that!!! Knocked it out of the park COMPLETELY with this design. I'm thankful for the introduction of this feature for that alone. And as much as I am a die hard charizard hater, it's X mega form improved it lots from a design standpoint. The ones that shine the most in my opinion are mega mawile, mega slowbro, and mega kangaskhan. Plus, mega audino is up there with mega absol for me; it's a very close second favorite. Although I'm not very optimistic about legends ZA based off the trailer we recently got, I'm hopeful that if any new mega forms are introduced then they'll be done well rather than just becoming "more" of something!

Thank you for asking! ☆