#i think water/ground is like a Good typing even if it's 4x weak to grass. it's the quagsire typing and i swear it's only like

[front-facing-pokemon]

[askkrenko]

Krenko’s Guide to Pokemon: Dratini Line

The mythical, super rare, impossible to find, recently confirmed Pokemon that you can buy at your local arcade

DESIGN:

Dratini is a very simplistic sea serpent, perfect for a first form Pokémon. It has a basic snake-like body, but the fins on its head are all it needs to tell you that it’s not actually a snake. The little dot on its head suggests a horn without being one, as it’s still just small, cute, and lovable. Well, small-ish. Dratini is almost six feet long, which is way bigger than one would instinctively assume. 

Dragonair is the obvious evolution of Dratini. The little head-fins have grown into oddly feathery wings. Its little dot has become a horn. It’s longer, sleeker, and has magical gems on its tail and throat for no apparent reason. I actually like the tail ones, giving an impression of a rattlesnake but with a magical air. I don’t get the throat one at all. It looks stuck on, and I think it might’ve been more interesting if Dragonair had a row of them around its neck, like a string of pearls or beads.

Okay, where the fuck did this thing come from?

Big, fat, orange, with tiny wings and an unusually friendly face, Dragonite is a design fail in multiple respects. First and most importantly, there’s no throughline at all from Dragonair to Dragonite. Color, shape, design, style, there’s simply no reason to see these as two members of the same family. While a drastic transformation isn’t inherently bad, there should be some sort of storytelling behind it. Magikarp is a small weak nothing that turns into its opposite by an old legend. The Caterpie line is based on butterflies. Exeggcute are seeds that turn into a tree. So what’s going on here? Where’s the leap from Dragonair to Dragonite? If Dragonite was at least blue with a smooth white belly, there’d be something, but no. Their horns aren’t even in the same position. 

But okay, how is Dragonite as a standalone design? Well, it’s the strongest non-legendary Pokemon in the game, the mythical dragon, so it’s… fat, friendly, softly colored, doesn’t look flightworthy, has tiny claws, has a basically cosmetic horn, and has antennae for some inexplicable reason. Now, some of this is due to design evolution- its original Gen 1 design isn’t quite so goofy- but everything about Dragonite seems out of left field. The worst part is, Charizard exists.  Charizard, the box-art starter, has much of the same basic design as Dragonite, but it’s rougher, more dangerous looking, with larger wings, and traditional firebreath. If Dragonite’s going to be your iconic dragon, you simply can’t include Charizard in the same game. Obviously design choices are subjective, but Dragonite just feels LESS like a super powerful dragon than Charizard and more of a joke dragon. Hell, it doesn’t even look flightworthy. How fast does a Dragonite have to flap its wings to fly? Can we get a physicist on the line here, because I bet the answer is “hella.”

And yet… there’s still something charming about Dragonite’s design. It DOES look friendly. It does look soft. And I think if it were on its own, I’d be able to love it, but as an evolution of Dragonair, as the creature that’s supposed to be infinitely more Dragon than Charizard, it just feels like a failure.

My Child by Genystar

TYPING:

So, Dragon type was intentionally broken. Defensively, it was only weak to Ice and Dragon for a long time, with Gen 1 not actually giving any Dragon attacks worth a damn. Now, since then we’ve had Steel and Fairy both added to resist Dragon, with Fairy being super-effective against it, but it still resists Electric, Grass, Fire, and Water, some extremely common types, so is all around just a good type to be. 

Dragonite’s flying type mixes that up, of course. Overall, it’s 4x weak to Ice, weak to Rock, Dragon, and Fairy, but resistant to five types and immune to Ground. Defensively, it’s a good deal. Offensively, though, Dragon is only strong against Dragon, and Flying against Bug, Fighting, and Grass. Further, both types are resisted by Steel, so coverage isn’t automatic here.

Pikachu vs Dragonite by Curly-Artist

STATS:

Dragonite’s stats are, frankly, bullshit. Its lowest stat is its 80 speed, and its highest is a 134 physical attack. With its defenses in the 90-100 range, Dragonite basically just has all the numbers. Yes, plenty of things can outperform an 80 speed, but Dragonite’s tough enough to take a few hits as long as it’s not from a strong Ice attack.

Also, if you really, really want to use it, its special attack is 100. Which is quite good, but pales in comparison to its physical attack.

Art by Arvalis

ABILITIES:

Like many Pokemon, Dragonite’s abilities completely change on evolution. Dratini and Dragonair have Shed Skin (⅓ chance of removing status conditions each turn) and Marvel Scale (which increases defense by 50% when under the effect of a status condition.)  But Dragonair’s still a physical attacker, so Burn Orb for Marvel Scale isn’t a great idea, and Dragonair would most likely be using an Eviolite anyway. Either way, it’s just not a Pokemon that’s going to see play unevolved in high-tier battles. 

Dragonite has two abilities, both of which are solid. Inner Focus prevents Flinching (read: Fake out) and the effects of Intimidate, basically telling Incineroar to go shove it up his furry ass. This isn’t a huge deal in singles, but they’re both serious issues in Double Battles. 

For most purposes though, Dragonite wants its hidden ability Multiscale. Multiscale reduces incoming damage by half when Dragonite is at full HP, and this effect can trigger multiple times if Dragonite heals itself, such as through Roost. This makes Dragonite almost impossible to One-Hit KO, even by an ice attack. 

Art by JoshuaDunlop, but if you’ve been following me for a while you should know that just by looking at it

MOVES:

So remember the part where I said Dragon is only super-effective against Dragon? Well, maybe that means we just don’t bother with a Dragon attack. Sure, there’s a few strong options, but getting 1.5x damage from STAB just isn’t as good as getting 2x damage from having more coverage moves. Further, every good Dragon attack has some serious drawback, with Outrage being insanely powerful but also locking you in and confusing you. An Outrage sweeper isn’t out of the question, but a Fairy type can stop it cold.

So we start with Flying, where the relatively new move Dual Wingbeat is the obvious right answer. 40+40 power means it can punch through Substitutes and Focus Bands, and the only real “drawback” is 90 accuracy instead of 100. An argument can be made for using Fly + Leftovers, but telegraphing a move so directly can be dangerous. 

Then, we look at coverage. Dragonite gets Fire Punch, Ice Punch, and Thunder Punch with that 134 Physical Attack, and plenty of targets for all three. Then there’s Aqua Tail, Rock Slide, Brick Break, Iron Head, and of course, one of the all-around best attacks, Earthquake. Dragonite basically gets whatever coverage it wants.

But you know what isn’t coverage? Extreme Speed. With Dragonite’s speed being so middle of the road, Extreme Speed can be a great way to take down opponents that should go first.

...Wait, wait, why should we let them go first? We have huge bulk. We have Marvel Scale. Lets take a turn and set up. With Dragon Dance.

With Dragonite safely taking that first hit, Dragon Dance raises its attack even higher and improves its speed to a decent tier, allowing the Dragonite to then just go off and start sweeping. And if you’re lucky, you can even get in two. What we have here is a rare sweeper that can comfortably take the turn to set up. Further, Dragonite can take Roost, a healing move that, thanks to Multiscale, winds up being far more effective than on other Pokemon.

And that’s not even getting into its sideways utility moves like Defog and Substitute.

My recommended moveset for Dragonite would be Dual Wingbeat, Earthquake, Dragon Dance, and Roost, but if your team already has a strong Earthquake user, try swapping that out for whatever coverage you need.

Art by mcgmark

OVERALL:

Dragonite is an absurdly powerful pokemon, properly built for being the first game’s Psuedo-Legendary, that still holds up today thanks to a great Hidden Ability and a strong moveset. It may be a bit too good though. It’s not that Dragonite is game breaking, especially now that Fairies exist, but such a wide array of coverage and a high attack stat means it’s able to do a lot more than it probably should be able to. One thing that’s changed in design philosophy over the years is how many moves any given Pokemon can learn, but Dragonite seems to still have a huge variety of options that have nothing to do with it.  Just comparing its move list to the later Psuedo-Legendaries like Goodra and Dragapult you can see that Dragonite has significantly more options.

Still, Dragonite’s in a comfy place, and as long as they don’t introduce something like Dragoniteite it’s going to be fine for years to come. Even if it does look like a crappy Charizard.

Art by runde

[raeynbowboi]

My Favorite Pokemon of Each Type

I wonder how obvious it is which Pokemon Gen was my first? So I wanted to not only share my favorite Pokemon, but also the reasoning behind why I like them as much as I do. I also took the liberty to include in the descriptions below the 2nd and 3rd place runner ups for each type. A couple ground rules I held myself to: 1. No legendaries, mythical pokemon, or special event Pokemon 2. No Megas, no Alolan Forms

GRASS - SCEPTILE

My least favorite of the Hoenn starters, and the one I was last to do a playthrough with, Sceptile is still by far one of, if not the best grass starter in any generation. The Hoenn region being covered by a lot of water certainly does help its case, and gives it an edge over Team Aqua. Although, for being named Team Aqua, they sure don’t have a lot of water-type pokemon. Still, Sceptile’s speed made it quite the formidable pokemon.

2nd - Tsareena 3rd - Trevenant

FIRE - BLAZIKEN

The first starter I ever completed a Hoenn playthrough with, Blaziken was often my go-to starter for the Hoenn region, largely due to how adorable Torchic was, and how strong Blaziken was. Honestly, I think it has one of the most broken, OP Mega forms in the game, and I absolutely adore it. You may have noticed my top 3 Fire types are all starter pokemon. Yeah, Fire Pokemon as a whole are not very good, so the starters tend to be the only really viable fire types in any given game.

2nd - Charizard 3rd - Infernape

WATER - MILOTIC

I freaking love this monstrosity. Pack this little lady up with Surf, Recover, Toxic, and Ice Beam, and you’ve got a self-regenerating wall. I’ve blown through entire teams with this dynamite creature. This thing has saved me from the brink of defeat, swept teams, stalled long enough to give me the advantage, and whatever else it could in so many battles that I do not do a playthrough without one on my team. I’m even willing to violate the “no repeating types” rule I tend to employ just to have this thing with me. I truly cannot sing its praises enough.

2nd - Kingdra 3rd - Azumarill

NORMAL - LOPUNNY

A very solid hitter, I ran one on a cutesy/beauty team a while back, and it sometimes swept entire teams. I still remember a fight where one of these lovely ladies punched her way through an entire team of Snorlaxes and she wasn’t even Mega-Evolved. I tended to run Power Up Punch, Drain Punch, Attract, and Fire Punch in case of ghosts. Her speed made her a phenomenal support, and the only reason I don’t use her as much any more is that she could benefit from more healing moves or just being bulkier.

2nd - Blissey 3rd - Eevee

ELECTRIC - ELECTIVIRE

Okay, so this thing is more physical than special, and most Electric moves are special, but I tended to just run  this guy with Wild Charge, Earthquake, Ice Punch, and Giga Impact. While not the greatest pokemon in the world, I certainly can recall numberous fights where it saved my butt. Plus, it just looks really awesome.

2nd - Luxray 3rd - Manectric

PSYCHIC - ESPEON

Prior to the introduction of Sylveon in gen VI, this thing was the undisputed best Eeveelution in my opinion. Now, I still hold Espeon as #1 due to its healing factor, but Sylveon is a very close 2nd place. I always run this Pokemon with Magic Bounce, and the moves Psychic, Dazzling Gleam, Calm Mind, and Morning Sun. While it’s not a perfect set and it doesn’t protect against physical moves, it has been useful in the past, and has even completely stonewalled opponents from being able to do anything. It’s also a great pokemon to send out first, since it counters set up Pokemon, and so it can set up Calm Mind while the opponent is busy swapping out for a Pokemon that can actually do damage. If possible, it’s a really good Pokemon to Baton Pass out because if you can send it out with raised Defense stats, the Magic Bounce will protect it from moves like Roar, Whirlwind, and other moves that would normally destroy a set up playing style.

2nd - Alakazam 3rd - Gallade

FIGHTING - LUCARIO

Not gonna lie, this one is more of a favorite due to cool factor and awesome design, as Fighting is really not one of my favorite types, and I’ve only actually used this Pokemon a couple of times. It’s good, really very good, but it’s just not one I instinctively say “yes, this is a must have on any team”, so it doesn’t get used very much.

2nd - Breloom 3rd - Toxicroak

ROCK - AGGRON

Another Pokemon I can remember liking more for design, I remember working very long and hard to get one for Pokemon Emerald, and I just caught a wild Lairon on Victory Road and trained it until it evolved. I don’t have a deep emotional connection to it, but when I need a bulky tank with an earthy kind of type, this pokemon is always the first to pop into my mind.

2nd - Tyranitar 3rd - Aerodactyl

GROUND - SWAMPERT

My very first starter pokemon ever, Swampert has always had a place in my heart, and its role as a bulky tank that hits hard has endeared it greatly in my heart. Although it suffers from a 4x weakness to grass, in the original Ruby and Sapphire games, this really wasn’t an issue, since most trainers lacked grass-type pokemon.

2nd - Garchomp 3rd - Flygon

FLYING - TOGEKISS

This thing is a freaking nightmare. You get this little lady with Ancient Power, Air Slash, Flamethrower, and Dazzling Gleam, and you’re looking at a non-stop flinching and stat boosting villain. I have completely curbstomped players with one of these, I cannot stress how great this thing is. And if you don’t feel like running Ancient Power, Thunder Wave can be great for eliminating whatever competition it might possible have for speed. And Roost can make this thing all the more annoying to try and kill. This thing is just great all around.

2nd - Gliscor 3rd - Crobat

BUG - SCOLIOPEDE

I’m not a big fan of bug-types. Most of them suck, and even most bug type moves are complete crap, so I don’t really use the type very much. Still, I have run one of these in the past, and Protect + Swords Dance + Speed Boost can turn this thing into a high speed sniper. I definitely have fond memories of this thing. And because it can learn Baton Pass, it’s a great stat gatherer too.

2nd - Ribombe 3rd - Beautifly

POISON - ROSERADE

Another type I don’t really use very much, my favortism for Roserade is mostly due to loving Drew’s Roselia in the anime, and just loving it’s design as a beautiful rose. A solid Pokemon, I don’t really use one anymore, but for a casual playthrough, it works well enough.

2nd - Dragalgae 3rd - Toxipex

DARK - GRENINJA

Let’s be real, everybody loves this thing. We all know why we love this thing. It doesn’t need to be spelled out. Greninja is awesome. The internet collectively agrees. This thing rocks.

2nd - Hydreigon 3rd - Absol

GHOST - MIMIKYU

Talk about a broken ability. With its Disguise ability, Mimikyu effectively has a free turn to do whatever. Whether you want to use Swords Dance to strengthen yourself, or if you wanna get in a strong Super Effective attack, Mimikyu really is just a free turn, and who can argue with that?

2nd - Aegislash 3rd - Mismagius

ICE - WALREIN

Another type I don’t use very much, I  can remember this thing being so hard to kill while fighting Glacia. This thing is an absolute wall, and it’s a shame it doesn’t have any healing moves because this thing would become an impregnable barrier.

2nd - Cloister 3rd - Frosslass

STEEL - METAGROSS

It’s an extremely overpowered pseudolegendary. Do I really have to say more? It’s a major fan favorite, and it’s a lot of people’s favorite steel type.

2nd - Steelix 3rd - Scizor

DRAGON - SALAMENCE

There are a lot of good dragons, but when I was a kid, this was the king dragon (except for Rayquaza), and you  were the envy of every kid on the playground if you had one of these guys. So for that reason, this guy is forever in my heart as the best dragon.

2nd - Noivern 3rd - Goodra

FAIRY - GARDEVOIR

Let me tell you, this little lady right here is hands down my absolute favorite pokemon, and no not because of waifu art. This thing right here is hands down one of the strongest pokemon in the series, one of the most popular, and is also extremely beautiful. I thought very little of Ralts when I saw them, but when I saw my rival’s Gardevoir, i fell in love so fast I actually restarted the game from scratch to go back and get myself a Ralts. I do not play a game without this pokemon on my team. Period. End of Discussion. I absolutely adore this pokemon, and the mega evolution only made its carnage all the more destructive. 10/10, #1 favorite pokemon. Just amazing. 

2nd - Sylveon 3rd - Clefairy

[crystalelemental]

You know, talking even briefly about how I don’t care much for the Gen 5 starters has resulted in me wanting to share my opinions about starter Pokemon as a whole.  Like, what I think of each of their evolutionary lines.  So let’s do that.  Not really a ranking or anything, just my opinions on each.

BULBASAUR LINE Bulbasaur’s evolution line is great, fight me.  They’re little dinosaur creatures with a giant flower that blooms on its back as it evolves, how is that not cool?  Grass/Poison was super redundant in Gen 1, putting it into conflict with every other grass type bar Tangela, but nowadays it’s...slightly less common of a typing?  Okay, it’s pretty standard.  But I really like the concept behind them.  Also, I can’t remember where I saw this, but someone insulted Venusaur’s design and I want you to know I’m judging.

CHARMANDER LINE Okay, Charmander?  Super cute, love the little lizard creature.  Charmeleon?  Okay, bigger and angrier, kind of a thing with Pokemon as they evolve.  Charizard?  The most stock-standard “dragon” you can imagine.  It’s literally just a Dragon.  Had they not been cowards about the typing back then, it probably would be Fire/Dragon.  But no, Fire/Flying.  I really don’t like Charizard.  It’s so standard and yet it’s held up as one of the best Pokemon designs, and for what?  For being a standard, boring-ass dragon.  Listen kids, dragons are boring, and we need to get over them.

SQUIRTLE LINE Squirtle itself is just adorable.  I love this thing so much, it’s honestly becoming my favorite of the gen 1 starters, even over Bulbasaur who I adore.  I’ve heard others mention that Wartortle is kinda underwhelming, but really, it’s not worse than Charmeleon or Ivysaur, and they’re just fine, so I think those people are just mean.  As for Blastoise itself, it’s a cool concept, though you do have to wonder how it got metallic cannons coming out of its shell.  Really doesn’t make much biological sense at all, which proves once again that anything that genwunners complain about Gen 5 being stupid for, Gen 1 did it too.  Overall great, probably turning into my favorite of the evolution lines.

CHIKORITA LINE Okay, I really like this evolution line, but for contrarian reasons.  Chikorita is not the cutest of the starters in Gen 2.  Cyndaquil is.  Its concept of having a giant flower around its neck isn’t bad, but Venusaur’s just a little more interesting in concept.  But ultimately, I still really like this line.  Because it’s the worst starter line from a competitive standpoint.  It’s so bad it’s hard to use even in the main game.  This poor thing deserves love, and if you hate on them, you are a bad person.

CYNDAQUIL LINE Okay, real talk: Cyndaquil was my go-to as a kid.  It’s so cute!  It’s such a cool concept, too.  The evolution line is a little stale, though?  I know the other starters aren’t exactly much better, but it really feels like it’s just slowly elongating with no substantial differences between the forms.  Also, mono-Fire feels like a huge waste on such a cool concept.  Like, imagine if this thing got a secondary Electric or Ground type or something.  Yes, horrific 4x weaknesses, I understand that, but counterpoint: it’d be cool.  And that’s really what matters.  Not like Typhlosion’s exact copy of Charizard’s stats did it any favors to begin with.  Still, this line is probably my favorite of the generation for one, singular reason.  It’s not a reptile.  Every other starter up to this point was some kind of reptile!  Gen 1 had this whole dinosaur motif going on, and Chikorita’s basically a dinosaur thing while Totodile is an alligator...crocodile...thing.  Thank you, Cyndaquil, for being the most unique animal type of the starters.  Even if your evolution path is kinda boring.

TOTODILE LINE Totodile’s line is...interesting.  It starts out as a cute little critter, and as many evolutions do, becomes a huge hulking monstrosity in its final form.  Feraligatr is pretty cool, and I do think it’s interesting how it’s the lowest level for final evolution of all starters.  That was a neat trade-off.  But man, Croconaw’s design just looks...odd.  It’s probably supposed to be like an egg pattern, but it really looks like a weird caveman cloth print, and it doesn’t look great.  It’s like an awkward teen years before getting to be a fairly cool adult.

TREECKO LINE Treecko was always my least favorite of the Gen 3 starter lines, and I never really knew quite why I was so lukewarm about it.  Spoilers, I adore the other two, but Treecko never really stood out.  I think my comments on Cyndaquil gave me a realization as to why: it’s another reptile creature.  It’s a cool-looking evolution line, but it’s still a reptile.  And I’m about reptiled out.  Still, we have to admit that Grovyle is super cool, both because of its sleek design, and its role in Explorers of Sky.

TORCHIC LINE Prior to Gen 6 producing the greatest starter of all time, Torchic was my stated favorite.  Listen, Fire/Fighting was a cool typing back when it happened the first time.  It wasn’t until it kept happening that everyone got sick of it forever.  A kickboxing chicken is also just about the funniest way to go with the typing, too.  You can’t deny how imaginative this line is.  Plus, the first form is super adorable.  Tiny little chicken, doing its best.  I love it so...  And its final form looks nice, too.  Really, the designs of Gen 3 were all spectacular.

MUDKIP LINE Mudkip was the one that gave Torchic a run for its money.  Mudkip itself is super adorable and precious, and while it and all its evolutions can look a little dopey, they have a lot of charm in their design.  Plus, Water/Ground is an awesome typing.  Quagsire did it first, yes, but that didn’t make it any less cool.

TURTWIG LINE Believe it or not, I don’t have very strong opinions about most of the Gen 4 starters.  Like Gen 5, I feel like none of them stuck with me that strongly, and any playthrough of the game, I’m perfectly fine dumping the starter.  That said, if I had to pick a favorite of them, it’s Turtwig.  I guess I just like turtles.  It’s mostly the concept behind its final form that I love.  It carries a giant tree on its back, and packs a fairly unique Grass/Ground typing.

CHIMCHAR LINE And now the exact opposite.  From day 1, I never liked Chimchar.  First off, I do not like monkeys.  I just don’t.  Secondly, Infernape stole the exact same typing as Blaziken, which is not only shitty, but also really boring.  Every other starter so far has been fairly unique in typing choices, and this asshole is gonna just do the exact same thing as last gen?  Oh, I’m sorry, it gets to be way faster but a bit less strong but still really strong.  Fuck Infernape.

PIPLUP LINE Piplup is cute, though.  And having its final form be some emperor penguin that’s apparently made of steel is awesome.  Torterra is the favorite from this gen, but man, Empoleon had such a cool typing it was hard to not consider it the most interesting.

SNIVY LINE Snivy’s alright.  It had a solid design, and I can understand why Smugleaf caught on as the fan favorite.  That said, that’s kinda all it’s got.  Serperior is plain boring, and it’s the only Grass starter not to get Earthquake for coverage at any point.  The only thing to its name is Contrary, and somehow it’s on its way to being the highest competitively ranked Grass starter, even above Mega Venusaur.  Which just goes to show that competitive Pokemon is broken beyond all repair and we should probably torch it all and start over.

TEPIG LINE I can’t believe they gave us three Fire/Fighting types in a row.  I’m gonna say it: if Emboar had gotten literally any other typing, it’d be my favorite of this gen.  Not even a contest, really.  Emboar looks cool, and Tepig is adorable.  Sure, Pignite is...a little awkward of a design, but that’s fine, it stood up.  It’s not lying to me unlike some middle stage fire starters I could mention.  But the fact that it’s part Fighting means it’s a huge disappointment.

OSHAWOTT LINE Oh wait, except Oshawott is also a huge disappointment.  An adorable little otter to a cool samurai otter, to whatever the hell is going on with Samurott.  “Steve, it can stand on its back legs and has the sword thing so-” no.  No it does not.  You know why?  Because it’s not drawn like that.  If you wanted to keep the samurai thing going, it’d be drawn and displayed as bipedal.  Instead, you gave us water horse, whose special attack is higher than its physical attack.  This should’ve been the favorite of the generation, but that final form does not look good, does not make sense for the line, and is mono-Water.  Not even a dual typing to keep things interesting?  Sad.  So I guess I don’t have a favorite of Gen 5 starters.  Because none of them are consistently good.

CHESPIN LINE Gen 6 did many things wrong.  Starters were not one of them.  Chespin is adorable and wonderful.  People made fun of Quilladin, but really, it’s the same deal as Pignite: it looks a little awkward but ends on a high note.  Chesnaught looks great, and the paladin concept is great, giving it a lot of good support moves and a Grass/Fighting type that is never really good but is interesting.  I like it a lot, but it’s massively overshadowed by...

FENNEKIN LINE Behold, the greatest starter line ever made.  They gave me a fox!  A Fire/Psychic fox!  Do you know how long I had waited?  Literally since Ninetales.  Fennekin is adorable, Braixen is the sassiest thing ever I love it, and Delphox is still an excellent witch design.  If there is any flaw this line could possibly have, it’s that Braixen should have the Psychic typing and access to some of the tech Delphox does.  Oh, and that the evolution line is competitive trash and has gotten literally nothing of value while a certain bastard-ass frog gets like 12 different favors over nothing.

FROAKIE LINE This is the worst starter line of all time.  Froakie itself was fine.  The idea of going ninja-theme on the frogs?  Fine.  I don’t care about ninjas at all, but fine.  That should’ve been the end of it.  But no.  It could’ve been just as simple as “not my preference” and move on.  And it should be.  But instead, they give it Protean, one of the most broken abilities in the series, on top of its blistering speed.  Hell, in ORAS, they gave it Gunk Shot, which rounded its coverage so perfectly it got banned to fucking Ubers.  So obviously, we went too far, right?  Time to dial it back.  Haha, idiot.  In the change to Gen 7, they give its multi-hit priority move a special designation instead of physical, because god forbid this bougie-ass frog have to work for anything in its goddamned life.  Oh, and we gave it a special snowflake form based on the anime, that gets like 50 more base stat points than a goddamned mega evolution.  Because, again, god forbid this bougie frog have to work for a damned thing in its life.  I thought it was blatant favoritism that Charizard got two megas.  I thought it couldn’t get any more obvious who their favorite starter was.  I was a goddamned idiot.  They could’ve gone way harder, and they did.  Greninja deserves nothing but getting its ass nerfed into the ground where it belongs.

ROWLET LINE You know, I actually wish the Rowlet line was better than it is.  Rowlet itself is cute, and while the final form’s design isn’t really my thing, the concept of it being an extinct bird and thus being part Ghost is...morbidly hilarious.  It’s also an archer!  That’s really neat!  But...it’s not very good.  I blame the speed.  Why did they want to make everything so bulky offensive this gen?  It didn’t work.  Whatever their reason, it’s a nice enough evolution line that just doesn’t quite hit the mark for me.

LITTEN LINE Ooooh boy, okay.  Look.  Litten’s super cute.  Torracat?  I can work with that.  But Incineroar...  Oh my god it looks so weird.  I don’t know what it is.  I think it’s similar to Bewear, in that it really just looks like someone’s fursona, only instead of being a really bad and lazy fursona with no personality, it’s a surprisingly high-quality one with a backstory about being a wrestler that’s simultaneously endearing but also concerning how much effort was put into it.  I know it’s a fire-type thing to stand up in the final form, but maybe...you shouldn’t have.  Maybe you should’ve been like Samurott.  Actually, maybe the two of you should trade places!  Samurott should stand its ass up, and you should sits yours down.  Then everything would be fixed.  Forever.

POPPLIO LINE Were it not for Fennekin being an adorable fox with the best typing, this would be my favorite evolution line.  Popplio was cute.  Maybe a little odd looking, but still cute.  Brionne was one of the prettiest middle evolutions in starter history, and it ends on the most elegant thing in the world.  Primarina is gorgeous, and I adore it.  Much like Fennekin, if there’s any real detriment, it’s that the middle stage doesn’t get the secondary Fairy typing.  Then it would truly be perfect.

[ianmrid]

I Want The Whole World To See! (I Believe!)

Pokémon SoulSilver: Completed!

Finishing up Gen4 with my second trip through the Johto remakes was, as always, speedier than my initial, more explorative trip. However, since these games are still rather large, with two regions, I still clocked in 50 hours, 38 minutes of gameplay. There were very few pokémon that I needed to capture here - mostly just ones I had held back in order to use them on a team - and unusually, I had completely pre-planned my team ahead of time. This was in part to make sure I had the right team to cover all the HMs I needed, and also because I wanted to transfer in my whole team as early as possible so that my levelling up was nice and even and I would be much better prepared for Red. I didn’t want to get my arse kicked again! This absolutely worked, as when I reached the climax of the game, I needed a lot less level grinding to get me up high enough to defeat him and complete the game.

This means that there was much less Pokédex focus this time out, just 227 seen / 29 caught pre-National ‘Dex, increasing ever so slightly to to 321 seen / 38 caught once the National ‘Dex was obtained. I think this is a record low of pokémon caught (discounting the semi-completed Emerald US run)!

Let’s meet the team.

Washington the Feraligatr: Finally wrapping up my usage of all the Johto starters, Washington is very useful as it has the ability to learn all three Water-type HMs; Surf, Waterfall, and Whirlpool, meaning I don’t need a second Water-type on the team. However, this leaves him very short of coverage, so I actually just taught him the latter two, and added in Dragon Claw and Avalanche for some super-effective coverage against the powerful Dragon-type that show up later in the game. Feraligatr has good all-round stats, and a strong Attack, so Washington was pretty good in this role, especially as he held a Wacan Berry to reduce super-effective Electric-type damage. This was great as Dragonite in particular would often use Thunder which, with the berry, couldn’t OHKO Washington and he would then destroy them with Avalanche (which doubles it’s base power if you take damage before you use it on that turn).

Nahuatl the Xatu: I never actually planned to use Xatu - mine is named after an ancient Aztec language - until I realised that there is almost no other Johto pokémon, that I hadn’t already used on a team before, that learns Fly. Fly is pretty much an essential move and since I didn’t want to use Lugia or Ho-Oh (mainly because I wanted my team available early and they are usually caught at level 40+), it came down to a toss up between Xatu and Delibird. Although I don’t hate Delibird, it’s far from my favourite pokémon (even if the Ice-type would have been useful), and I do like Natu/Xatu - so the choice was easy. It threw my team balance off a bit, since both the Flying and Psychic-types were covered elsewhere, so Nahuatl became a bit of a mishmash of strategies. Aside from Fly, she had Shadow Ball to take on other Psychics, Light Screen (with a Light Clay held item) to help boost the team’s Special Defence, and Pluck. Pluck, I really enjoyed, as it will deal damage as well as stealing and consuming the opponents berry. Given nearly every high level opponent has a health restoring berry on their ace pokémon, this was immensely satisfying!

Buzzkill the Yanmega: Named after the two things I can imagine it being good at doing, Buzzkill is the only new evolution to a previously established pokémon on this team, that is otherwise full of classic Johto ‘mons. Evolving from the cheery-looking Yanma, Yanmega is a big, vicious-looking, prehistoric dragonfly, and I love it. It is quick, with a great Special Attack, so I loaded up Buzzkill with dual STAB options; the Bug-type moves Bug Buzz and U-turn, and the Flying-type Air Slash. U-turn in particular is a basic but fun strategy, making Yanmega a great lead pokémon. You just U-turn on whatever you are facing, dealing huge damage if you are (super-)effective, or allowing you to bring in a better type match-up if it is resisted. The last slot was Flash as this was still a required HM in Johto, and his held item was a Charti Berry to try and mitigate his 4x Rock-type weakness. To be honest, with not amazing defences, this didn’t always work, but it did help out a few times when I was expecting Buzzkill to go down, allowing for a U-turn and a last minute escape!

セレビィ the Celebi: Something I don’t tend to use much on my teams are the Legendary or Mythical pokémon, but they do occasionally sneak in. In Celebi’s case, I’ve always liked it and I decided that I wanted to use this one in particular. This Celebi is the one that I caught in the Japanese version of Pokémon Colosseum when I was working completing the Gen3 pokédex. This took a lot of effort, and since Celebi is obtained at the low level of 5, it seemed a great opportunity to add it to my team so I used Pal Park to transfer it over. It’s name here is just the Japanese version of the name (Serebyi) as I didn’t want to try and nickname it in Japanese when I caught it (if it even gave me the option, I don’t actually recall!). Being a Mythical, Celebi has great all-rounder stats and ended up as a jack-of-all-trades. A supportive mixed attacker  with dual Psychic and Grass STAB moves in Psychic (hence why I didn’t bother with any Psychic-type moves for Nahuatl) and Energy Ball (powered up with a Miracle Seed). Aside from the HM Cut, the other move was Heal Bell which clears all status effects from you team - very handy in a support context.

Kaiju the Tyranitar: A much better choice than my HeartGold Electivire for a Godzilla-inspired nickname, Tyranitar was originally a pokémon I never planned to use. It is very popular, which put me off (I can be a stupid pokémon hipster, apparently), but I grew to really like it in Pokémon Go, where I have several very powerful ones that I use regularly, as well as a Larvitar named Shinjuku that I actually caught in Japan. So I relented and included Tyranitar on my team and it is really hard not to enjoy using it as it is so powerful! I gave Kaiju a Choice Scarf to help boost it’s not-so-great Speed, and the by-now-obligatory dual STAB moves. This time it was a Dark-type Crunch and a Rock-type Stone Edge (which, although it has shaky accuracy, devastates anything it does hit), as well as the HM Rock Climb to share the HM load. The final slot was used for Surf - which Tyranitar can rather inexplicably learn. I’m not complaining though - it freed up a slot on Feraligatr and gives Kaiju useful coverage against Ground-types!

Goodyear the Donphan: Last, but not least, a Johto pokémon I actually always wanted to use, but never managed to find a slot for until now. Donphan is not available until very late in the game so always missed out in Gen2, but with me transferring in team members from the off, this seemed like the perfect chance to add Phanpy to my team and have him evolve into Donphan. I’ve always liked the design of Donphan - the elephant/tire combination is really unique, and I think it was also really cool in the anime, so it was great to finally try one out. Aside from the ever useful Electric-type immunity, Goodyear (named after the tire brand) carried the last two HMs I needed - Strength and Rock Smash - and then my favourite; STAB Earthquake. Later in the game I also managed to get him to re-learn Thunder Fang as coverage against Water-types and a super-effective way to hit the Flying-types that are immune to Earthquake. To help counteract it’s poor speed, I gave him the Quick Claw. It is always very pleasing when this kicks in and you suddenly get to move before, and take out, an opponent before it deals you any damage!

And here they are - not as colourful as my HeartGold boys, but a nice Blue/Green/Grey aesthetic going on here:

And that is it for Gen4! All of my multiple trips through Sinnoh, Johto, and Kanto are completed. Now I just need to consolidate all the Pokédex into Pokémon Platinum and then it’s time for my favourite bits: Tops Tens and Graphs!

[atrainernamedradish]

Build-A-Dex Challenge [2/3]

Part 1: https://atrainernamedradish.tumblr.com/post/186594319157/build-a-dex-challenge-13

Build-A-Dex Challenge:

3 Starters:

In the video the starters weren’t based off pre-determined region trios but more on choosing one of each of their signature typing making them into their own separate trio.

For grass I chose my 3rd favorite grass starter in Torterra. It’s bulk and attacking prowess makes up for its lack of speed with a nice STAB Earthquake and Wood Hammer! Ground is also such a wonderful secondary typing for the primary grass. I have no problem using such a tanky Pokemon, and it deserves some love and face time compared to the other two that rank higher than it on my starters list.

For fire I went with another 3rd favorite choice in Delphox. I don’t care what anyone says, I simply adore this entire starter line~! Fire/Psychic is such a great unique typing that I can use thru this Pokemon without having to resorting to hindering Darmanitan or hoping Game Freak can lend me a level 50 Victini, which I doubt! This is a special powerhouse that I am always eager to have on the team, and just like Torterra, it needs more love~

When looking at my choices for a water starter I realized something... I am not the biggest fan of water starters. I don’t necessarily hate them, but I honestly don’t care for them. One of the few I simply adore however is Primarina. Fairy typing is always a solid typing to have, and you can teach it coverage moves to take down those pesky weaknesses. It’s slower like Torterra, but like Delphox has a good special attack to scare away any threats!

My three choices honestly just have great dual typings, and aren’t so bad in battle for an in-game play through. I guess you could say that my choices were underappreciated underdogs~

Regional Bug:

One of my favorite regional bugs originates from Hoenn in Wurmple. It is cute with an unique way of evolving. Unlike other bugs native to other regions who simple have a three stage evolution, Wurmple has five! Not to mention its branched as well determined by its personality value, which cannot be altered. So not only do you get a few extra Pokemon to fatten up the Pokedex, but you have it in an unique way too~

Regional Bird:

I personally am not the biggest fan of regional birds as well as the dual typing of normal/flying. With that in mind I went for Fletchling because it drops the normal typing for fire upon evolving. Plus Talonflame is a beast in battle, and helpful outside for hatching eggs and getting you around the region.

Regional Rodent:

While I’m not the biggest fan of Diggersby’s design, it is one of the better options among its niche when Bunnelby evolves. Not only is ground a nice secondary typing, but eventually this Pokemon learns STAB Earthquake via level up among other useful moves via TM. STAB Earthquake and Return make it a viable team member early on and setting it apart from the basic boring options of route 1 normal rodent encounters.

Regional Cat:

Setting my Pokedex choices apart from the aforementioned basic boring normal types is the dark type Purrloin and its evolution in Liepard. Liepard can actually be a nuisance to deal with if you have the right moveset on it. Dark typing is always nifty to obtain early game as well.

Pikachu Clone:

I promise you that I am not trying to squeeze as many fairy types as I can into this Pokedex. Pretty much I wanted to add in a decent clone among the list and it was between my choice of Dedenne and the one that I didn’t choose in Togedemaru. Dedenne is not only adorable, but can be very hard to deal with if you don’t have two of its only weaknesses since the third one is neutral in this type combination.

Pair of Fossils:

Emperor Cubone didn’t specify if you had to choose an actual regional pair, or if you could mix and match them. Since I am unsure of that I will simply go with fossils from Hoenn in Lileep and Anorith. Personally, I really don’t care for the Anorith line. It’s simply there for the Lileep line since that is my favorite fossil line hands down! Lileep and Cradily are one of the few fossil Pokemon that doesn’t have to deal with water, and especially a 4x weakness to grass compared to the other fossils, and that’s always viable. Some of its other weaknesses like bug and flying have to be extremely careful around its rock typing, which with its high defense and HP stat can usually soak up attacks from. Not to mention its other grass side weaknesses in fire and poison are neutral since its rock side resists the two.

Overall the Lileep line is one of the best fossils you could ask to have (though I’m sure the Anorith line has its merits).

Unrelated Connections:

I went with Durant and Heatmor because I wanted typings with lesser numbers to fill the dex likes steel and fire (since starters make up most of the fire typing). I think Durant is a pretty cool Pokemon who usually overshadows its rival, and I wanted Heatmor to get more attention since I can image it being pretty forgettable.

Cave Encounters: 

I wanted to spice up this category by eliminating typical encounters such as Zubats/Woobats and mono-type rock types as entries. There will be a bat and rock in the forms of Noibat and Carbink. I chose these two since their typings correspond with each other. Plus they have a lot more to offer than your typical bats and rocks.

I thought I’d throw in a ground type since ground types can be a common typing to be found in caves so I went with Drilbur. Not only is Excadrill such a beast of a powerhouse, but it also gets the steel typing which can be a later threat to Carbink to round off the typings in the caves.

Surf Encounters:

Instead of annoying sea birds and jelly fish I thought Wishiwashi would make a good replacement, At lower levels it’s annoying at best, but in higher leveled waters this thing would not only be terrifying, but is powered up, but there’d be some juicy XP to gain.

Remoraid is another option I wanted to add since it actually learns a fair amount of moves that can not only handle its weaknesses but is powered up by its ability.

Mantyke/Mantine is the last surf encounter option. Since Remoraid is its counterpart I thought it would be a good idea to have it with it. It would be the rarer encounter with Mantyke in lower leveled water and Mantine in higher level water. It also sort of replaces Wingull/Pelippers annoying flying asses,,,

Tough to Find/Evolve:

I’m going to start off with a Pokemon that fits the bill for both these requirements: Feebas.

Feebas is usually hard to find with Alola having it at 10% which I believe is pretty high compared to the low specific areas to usually find in other regions. Depending on in-game mechanics, Feebas can evolve in two different ways which can be easier or harder depending on the way to do so. So that’s why Feebas is on this section of the list.

I have three Pokemon for Tough to Find with female Salandit starting off the list. Unless you are lucky, or can exploit a male Pokemon with the Cute Charm ability, then you’d have a 1 out of 10 (I’m treating 100% as a 10) of finding one that is female. The reason gender is so important is because only the female can evolve. You could use a male Salandit, but it’s so weak that I wouldn’t bother... (Salandit is actually really cute and I feel bad pointing out how weak it is.)

My second pick is Mareanie, and to some extent Corsola. Corsola only as a 5% chance to be found through fishing unless you look for bubbly spots to fish at bringing it up to 20%, which is lower compared to other Pokemon you can fish for as well in those spots. You also have to spend time leaving and coming back to the minuscule routes Corsola’s on for the bubbly spots to appear if you want that extra 15% chance to encounter it. And even when you finally encounter the damned thing you have to hope you get another 20% in the SOS method to lure out the Pokemon you’re actually trying to get! So good luck~

My third pick is Maractus. In the generation its from you have a very small chance of finding it. You can practically overlook it that’s how rare it is! I chose it because it needs more love~

For Tough Pokemon To Evolve I have another set of three Pokemon.

My first choice is Nincada. Leveling it up is a fucking pain, especially in early games (think of Magikarp in that regard)! Then you need to make sure you have an open slot in your party and a spare Pokeball, or you can kiss getting both of its branched evolutions in Shedinja!

My second choice is Clamperl. It isn’t the super rarest Pokemon to find, but finding it is tedious since it has either a lower percentage or you need an HM. You also need to catch two and have two specific items so you can trade them while holding said items to get it to evolve both into Gorebyss and Huntail.

My last choice is Porygon. You usually gave to go out of your way for it, or much later in game to obtain it. Then you need to find two specific items to not only trade and evolve it, but then once more to get it to evolve again!

Doesn’t Evolve (Minimum 2):

I have chosen four Pokemon for this category” Girafarig, Mawile, Cryognal, and Drampa.

Girafarig is an odd Pokemon with a mostly unique typing (at least the one who started it lol). I feel like it’s very underrated, underappreciated, and forgettable to most so I wanted to add it to give it more love and attention~

Mawile is cute and has a good typing.

I don’t know why but I’m very fond of Cryognal. Sorry if that’s not a good enough reason to have it on the list lol~

Drampa is my favorite dragon type. It’s a shallow reason I know but... *shrugs* eh. What do you want from me?

Pseudo-Legendary:

I chose Beldum because it has such a desirable typing and Metagross is an absolute beast as well as can learn some good moves to cover its weaknesses. Plus it is a well designed Pokemon from it’s first-stage to its Mega. An extra bonus is that it’s a non-dragon Pseudo compared to the rest, and the less dragons the better!

Legendaries (Max 5?):

In his video Emperor Cubone stated that just like the starters, they don’t have to be with their respected pairs/trios/etc.. Unfortunately Mythical Legendaries aren’t an option for this list since they require outisde sources to get them usually. I also didn’t include Ultra Beasts since they’re more of a regional gimmick.

For these five I was trying to have as little typings shared between them as well as these choices were made more for aesthetics than anything.

I have no real other explanations for why I chose these other than what was aforementioned or that these were my favorites from their group/pair/version exclusives: Xerneas, Virizion, Lugia, Giratina, and Solgaleo.

[crystalelemental]

suitsongirls replied to your post: suitsongirls replied to your post: ...

Nah, you ingrain, use Z-Geomancy to get full stat boosts across the board, live a hit, finish the boosts, and then proceed to 6-0 your opponent. Also, as powerful as ground is, it still has fairly common weaknesses. Water and Grass weaknesses are not fun, and ice weaknesses hit some of the hardest hitting ground types the worst: Lando, Chomp, and DD Flygon. I’m honestly tempted to run Scarf Cryagonal just to fuck with people, since levitate + high SpAtk and ice stab.

Which, honestly, is the main reason I don’t think they need nerfed as bad as Fighting does.  The weaknesses can keep Ground in check, especially with so many of them having a 4x weakness somewhere.  Having so many 4x weak to Ice is nice, though I argue that’s another reason why Ice types struggle; Ice coverage on anything with less terrible defenses can take care of those ‘mons.  But that’s another issue entirely.

What really makes me think Ground needs nerfed is that offensive coverage.  5 super-effective hits.  Five!  That’s outrageously good!  The 4x weaknesses can keep them mostly in check on the defensive end, but they tend to have strong bulk, a surprising number are fast enough to be potent Scarf sweepers, and the secondary typings tend to confer more benefits than the cost of a 4x weakness.  I’d just like to see them lose a super-effective matchup.  Though really, if Grass and Ice types didn’t struggle so much, maybe this wouldn’t even be a problem.

Scarf Cryagonal does sound entertaining, though.  Probably works pretty well, too.