I have seen all the Ultra Beasts, but I'm not going to talk about them here, or the new Legendaries because they're a huge part of the plot and I'll try not to spoil myself all that much. With that in mind, let me talk about the Alolan Pokemon that hasn't been revealed through official means. Again, while I've seen their sprites in the huge leak, it's nice to actually see their Pokedex entries, typings, and what they're all about.
- Trumbeak: Trumbeak is a half-woodpecker, half-toucan that sits in-between Pikipek and Toucannon. It's a pretty generic middle-stage bird, to be honest. It carries berries and make calls and shit. It's still Normal/Flying. It's... very boring. Everything about Trumbeak is boring.
- Toucannon: So yeah people are flipping out that a woodpecker evolves into a toucan... but come on. This is pokemon. We've got pigeons that evolve into pheasants, carps that evolve into sea serpents, piranhas that evolve into sharks... and honestly woodpeckers and toucans are actually relatively close in real-life evolutionary classifications, so whatever. Toucannon is... a pretty whatever design. He's just a colourful toucan, and still Normal/Flying... but his beak can heat up and cause severe burns, launching seeds with such force that they can destroy boulders. I'm not sure if real toucans can launch seeds, but they definitely cannot heat up their beaks like cannons nor can they burn people who come into contact with it (that's a cool bit of signature move that ties into the lore). Overall it doesn't look like it's going to be anything special like Staraptor or Talonflame, and I'm not a big fan of the regional bird not really being a bird of prey... but it's not a bad design.
- Crabominable: There are apparently Yeti Crabs in real life, but they look nothing like Crabominable, who's basically the coconut crab Crabrawler covered in yeti fur. But the reference to a very, very obscure animal like the Yeti Crab is a very appreciated move on Gamefreak's part, and it's not often that they drag out an animal -- an aquatic animal to boot -- that I had to look up. That said, though... Crabominable still looks pretty ugly. Especially those fists, who barely even look like crab claws. Not a big fan of the design in general. Crabominable is Ice/Fighting, which I think is an exclusive type combination to him which is cool. Apparently while aiming for the top Crabrawler got lost in blizzards and adapted by growing fur? The cool shit that Crabominable can do is apparently lopping off his own fists and launching them like rockets. That's hardcore. Still don't like him.
- Mareanie: So, it's not a sea urchin but a crown-of-thorns starfish which is, in my opinion, a lot cooler. It's a cool design to boot, with the basic body of the crown of thorns, with a little central body inside the dome. And its Pokedex entries are just hardcore -- it straight-up loves to feed on Corsola, and indeed in real life crown-of-thorn starfishes are one of the biggest causes of the destruction of coral reefs due to their insatiable hunger and generally destructive feeding and breeding sprees. There's a bit of octopi-esque thing going on, too, with emphasis being put on Mareanie's ten tentacles and poisonous spikes.
- Toxapex: Mareanie then evolves into Toxapex, a very, very cool name, and it's even more dome-esque with the main body being smaller. "It leaves a trail of Corsola bits scattered in its wake." Yep, straight-up murders families of Corsola for a single lunch. Toxapex is hardcore! And, eh, it's not like Corsola's any relevant in the lore. Ever. Like, they are the base of Pacifidlog Town (no Toxapex in Hoenn, I bet) and Misty used one for a bit in the anime, but Corsola's kind of is just there. Toxapex's a lot cooler. Humans struck by Toxapex's poison will suffer intense pain for three days, and then will still suffer aftereffects. Don't mess with Toxapex! He's got a signature move, Baneful Bunker, which is basically like King's Shield, but instead of debuffing physical attack, Toxapex poisons any attacker that makes direct contact. She's got a fair amount of cool moves and her statline is definitely defensive, which actually makes her a pretty decent tanking options because Water/Poison isn't honestly a bad type combination, and Toxapex's moveset has a fair amount of access to other debilitating moves.
- Dewpider: This is another Pokemon based on an obscure animal, the water-bubble spider. Dewpider is a lot more adorable than real-life spiders, though! just look at its huge googly eyes. Nowhere as cute as my boy Joltik of course, but still. Dewpider has the signature ability Water Bubble, that decreases Fire type-moves done onto him, as well as increasing the base power of all Water moves by 100% before adding STAB calculations which is crazy. Unlike real-life water bubble spiders, Dewpider is aquatic, and crawls up on land in search of food, carrying a bubble of water (instead of real-life spiders bringing a bubble of air into the water). It also uses the water bubble offensively, smashing them into enemies.
- Araquanid: Araquanid just looks badass. He's just this cool-looking spider tank thing with creepy spindly legs and a very large and cool-looking head. I have a love-hate relationship wit spiders. I find them absolutely fascinating and I can watch spider documentaries for days, but if a spider is to run around in front of me I will freak the shit out. Araquanid's definitely cool, though. It sucks small Pokemon into its water bubble where they drown... but Araquanid's a bit of a softie that uses that same water bubble to protect vulnerable Pokemon. It's very defensive, especially its Special Defense, and its Bug/Water typing is pretty fun and unconventional. I'm seriously considering putting this on my team, and if Generation VII didn't introduce a different Bug/Water type we'll talk about below, I probably would.
- Shiinotic: I forgot Morelull exists! I've seen the leaks, but I forgot Shiinotic exists as well! It's a pretty weird design that really plays up on the wide-rimmed mushrooms, with Shiinotic basically being a little mushroom person with an oversized hat, and a creepy, smiling doll-like face. This thing's expression disturbs me, how it's just beady eyes and a faux-innocent smile. And the Pokedex agrees with me, where it talks about how forests inhabited by Shiinotic are treacherous because if you enter at night you'll never leave because of Shiinotic's strange lights, and it will cause people to fall asleep and straight-up feed on their energy. Yeah, generally you'd think these kinds of descriptions are better left to Ghost-types, but Shiinotic is evil. Trevenant only looks scary. Shiinotic straight-up traps people in their forests and eats them. Yeah, Shiinotic is an evil, creepy fairy. Not a big fan, but I don't hate her either.
- Salazzle: Apparently only female Salandit can evolve into Salazzle. She's still Poison/Fire, and is a respectable Special attacker with a fair repertoire of Fire, Poison and Dragon moves. Her Pokedex entry makes explicit references to a harem of male Salandit that Salazzles live with, which is... okay, I didn't expect the word 'harem' to appear anywhere in Pokemon games, but I guess. Not a big fan of how slightly-sexualized Salazzle's body seems to be, but it's nowhere as bad as Lopunny, and besides Salazzle does look cool as this lady velociraptor. All in all I think I still prefer Salandit than her evolution, but Salazzle is a respectable addition to the Pokemon roster.
- Golisopod: Holy shit, I knew Wimpod's evolution looks badass, but his name? Golisopod, like, goliath and isopod? It might just be my favourite name in this generation yet. Sadly Golisopod still has the same 'Emergency Exit' ability that switches it out whenever his health decreases below 50%, which might be annoying, but who cares? He's the thing that gives you nightmares. He rises from deep beneath the ocean, with his two gigantic crab-claws, his hunched, creepy prawn-isopod body with little hands hanging off his torso and his very cool face... and, man, Golisopod is such a monster. He's just so monstrous, yet unlike the Ultra Beasts still looks natural. Golisopod is like Kabutops and Armaldo if they went to the gym and made some gainz (though Golisopod skipped leg day, it seems). Golisopod's pokedex entries state that it's hardcore enough to slice seawater and air into two, but he also likes to meditate in caves below the sea. Golisopod is still Bug/Water, which is both cool and slightly unfortunate since now I have to choose between Araquanid and Golisopod... but honestly, look at this hardcore-looking fucker. How can I not pick Golisopod? He's got a wide array of physical moves, not just Bug-types and Water-types either but also a fair bit of Fighting and Dark types, plus it has this new Bug-move First Impression. Basically like Fake Out where it only works on the first turn Golisopod enters battle, but it's a whooping 90-power Bug move. He also has access to Liquidation, a 85-power physical Water move, in addition to Samurott's Razor Shell. Man, this dude's a physical wall and battler. I think I'm really going to love Golisopod. Out of seventh generation's Pokemon Golisopod definitely ranks high up in pure design, I can tell you that much.What a hardcore-loooking fucker.
- Dhelmise: Dhelmise is the anchor-ship's wheel-seaweed Pokemon that looks like Aegislash's drunk sailor cousin, and unlike what everyone thought it would be (Water/Ghost) Dhelmise is actually Grass/Ghost, also with a unique ability that increases Steel-type moves used by Dhelmise by 50%. What a weird fucker! Dhelmise is the ghost within the seaweed, it appears, and the anchor and the ship's wheel are just debris that it uses as weapons. It's... an interesting design choice, that's for sure. I don't hate him. He looks pretty okay, though I don't think he's quite as lovable as previous object Ghost-types like Chandelure and Aegislash.
- Alolan Geodude: So unlike my original analysis when all we had were leaked images and sprites, Alolan Geodude is actually Rock-Electric instead of Rock-Steel. Rock-Electric is a unique typing, and it's an interesting one. The Rock-typing brings a lot of weaknesses to it (and makes Alolan Golem absolutely allergic to Ground) and Electric doesn't really add that much coverage other than being very good against Water... but we'll see. It's basically a cross between the original Geodude (hides as rocks) and Magnemite or Nosepass (the black parts of his body are magnets). He's gotten a couple of Electric-type moves added to his learnset, and my head is going to have to wrap around the fact that Geodude can freaking Thunderbolt people now. I mean, not that you're going to teach Geodudes Thunderbolt because he's Physical but you know what I mean. I find it weird that Alolan Geodude is a bit purple in shade, though -- Alolan Graveler and Alolan Golem are just a shade off the original versions, albeit with those black magnet pieces strapped on, but Geodude is purple for no real reason.
- Alolan Graveler: Graveler, I think, is the ugliest out of the Alolan Geodude line, mostly due to the random yellow bits that litter his body. I mean, I get the magnetic black pieces around his face, but the yellow bits are just weird. It's like someone dropped a bowl of corn onto Graveler. He's basically the same with the original Graveler, nothing really much to say here.
- Alolan Golem: Alolan Golem, though... his hands have shortened, he's grown a dapper magnet-mustache and magnet-beard, but most of all he's strapped a gigantic magnetic railgun cannon onto his back. And, yeah, according to his pokedex entries, Alolan Golem launches rocks charged with electricity like a freaking tank, and if there aren't rocks around? Alolan Geodude get used as makeshift bullets. Man, Alolan Golem is a dick. I think I prefer that they didn't randomly decide to give Alolan Golem such weird facial hair -- it's not as bad as Probopass, but still, it does look absolutely weird. I've no problems with the rest of him, though.
So yeah, that about wraps it up. We'll talk about Cosmoeg and Marshadow and the eight Ultra Beasts in a future article.
The popular videos prior to the launch of Sun and Moon have had people make their 'this is my team!' videos. I tend not to do that, mostly because, well, I'm a very fickle person and I might just change my mind halfway through when I see a Pokemon I like and I'm like 'oh shit that is going in my team'. But as far as preliminary teams go, here's mine: Decidueye, Vikavolt, Lycanroc, Golisopod, Ninetales, and a sixth member that's probably going to be the flier... but otherwise could be Exeggutor or Araquanid. I dunno. Still undecisive. I'm trying to use all-new Pokemon in Generation VII, something I... didn't quite manage to do while playing though Pokemon Y.
No comments:
Post a Comment