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#306: Mega Aggron
- Type: Steel
- Japanese name: Mega Bosugodora
- Category: Iron Armor
Mega Aggron's pretty cool, but while I like the face that Mega Aggron looks more like an actual living monster and less "man-in-a-suit" Kaiju posture that regular Aggron has, it's... it feels a wee bit too cluttered, almost? Maybe one less detail, like cutting out the sloping silver plates on the back, or trimming down the chest/abdomen plates, or those really weird shoulder things... Mega Aggron's one of those designs that I can't really find any fault with because look at it -- it's pretty damn cool -- but at the same time I just can't really muster much enthusiasm. It looks like a scarier, bigger Aggron, but there's just something about it that's just off. Oh, and Mega Aggron's now pure-Steel, dropping the Rock-typing and becoming intensely better because Rock's a shitty type defensively. Overall, while there's not much that I dislike about Mega Aggron, there's really not much else about it that I can say beyond "eh, it's neat". I guess I just like regular Aggron's skull-helmet-head better, while Mega Aggron looks like some sort of weird snapping turtle? I dunno. That head-helmet looks like it should be pointing forwards and looking threatening. It's still objectively very cool, even if I don't really feel that much attachment to this dude.
3/6. #308: Mega Medicham
- Types: Fighting/Psychic
- Japanese name: Mega Charemu
- Category: Meditate
I'm definitely not Medicham's biggest fan, but his mega evolution is... it's alright, I guess. It builds on the whole Indian yoga master deal, adding extra baubles and a turban and... four floating... ghostly cloth-arm things? The multiple arms are a reference to the Hindu gods, I guess, but just like regular Medicham, there's really not much in Mega Medicham that appeals to me. I'm also not a big fan of Mega Medicham's white turban, which makes the upper half of the body so weirdly devoid of colour, and clashes really bad with Mega Medicham's gray/red/yellow colour scheme. I dunno. Maybe it's just my general disdain for humanoid pokemon rearing its ugly head again, but this time it's amplified by the bizarre floating cloth-arm things. I'm still not sure if Medicham is a racist caricature or not, because no one really complains about it? I've never really liked Medicham all that much, and I like its mega form a lot less.
0/6. #310: Mega Manectric
- Type: Electric
- Japanese name: Mega Raiboruto
- Category: Discharge
Yeah, I'm not feeling this one. Manectric's a pokemon that deserves a mega evolution, no doubt, but this one just turns it into a weird chunky lightning bolt and there's this huge artificial plastic-like quality to the yellow bits of Mega Manectric that doesn't look at all like it is meant to be fur of any sort. I mean, like, Mega Manectric at least looks memorable, but it's memorable for all the wrong reasons... to me, at least. Mega Manectric apparently has his fans out there, but by god, this is such a messy design with such awful-looking random spikes all over the body. I dunno. Add that to the relatively awful 3D model that Mega Manectric got, which makes the cartoon lightning bolt look like so much more like a cheap stage prop for a grade school production, and Mega Manectric is easily be one of my least-favourite mega evolutions due to how it looks visually.
1/6. #319: Mega Sharpedo
- Types: Water/Dark
- Japanese name: Mega Samehada
- Category: Brutal
Saw-sharks are animals that look insane enough to be Pokemon themselves with minimal exaggeration. It's a shark whose snout has quite literally evolved to look like a sawblade! It's pretty cool, and we're overdue another shark pokemon anyway since our last one was... Garchomp, I think? So it's definitely surprising that ORAS took the Heracross route with the saw-shark and adapted it into Sharpedo's mega evolution. And... and I'm definitely of two minds of this design. On one hand, I really like that from a silhouette standpoint the real difference is the elongation of the snout and giving it retractable saw-blades (a little tidbit I was delighted to find out when playing the game) and giving the teeth near the edges of his jaw some neat redesign. On the other hand... Mega Sharpedo's body is just covered with way, way too many yellow "scar tissue" that makes the whole thing look really cluttered. Granted, the actual 3D model does make Mega Sharpedo look a lot less busy with its default state having its blades retracted... but I dunno. I like the messy-looking scars on its snout and dorsal fin, but just slathering yellow on his other fins and that weird-ass goatee makes me really not feel Mega Sharpedo. Like, I really want to like this thing! I love Sharpedo and I love that it retains the same half-a-shark ridiculousness, and I really want to like it... but overall it's too messy that I can't really give it a high rating here.
4/6.#323: Mega Camerupt
- Types: Fire/Ground
- Japanese name: Mega Bakuuda
- Category: Eruption
4/6.#334: Mega Altaria
- Types: Dragon/Fairy
- Japanese name: Mega Chirutarisu
- Category: Humming
In a world where Fairy-types were a thing back in 2006, I'm pretty sure Altaria would be Fairy/Flying and not Dragon/Flying. And in fact, back when the Fairy typing was announced, a lot of people speculated that some of the older dual-typed Pokemon would have their types retconned into Fairy, with Mew and Celebi and their ilk, as well as Altaria, being popular candidates. And while I still maintain that some of the pixies would work better as Fairies instead of Psychic-types, Altaria at least got herself the Fairy-typing via mega evolution, following Mega Ampharos' example and blossoming into a giant fuzzy-wuzzy glorious being. I'm not sure why Mega Altaria's main body looks so washed-out compared to regular Altaria's far more pleasant shade of blue, but I do like Mega Altaria! I'm not sure why it has a pirate captain hat made out of the cloud-fluff, but I do like it. It's cute. It's a Dragon/Fairy type, so in my headcanon Mega Altaria's too cumbersome due to that gigantic pile of fluff on her back that she can't dodge Ground-type moves as easily as before. Overall, not much to complain here -- it's a neat mega evolution for Altaria.
4/6.#354: Mega Banette
- Type: Ghost
- Japanese name: Mega Jupetta
- Category: Marionette
6/6.#359: Mega Absol
- Type: Dark
- Japanese name: Mega Abusoru
- Category: Disaster
Yeah, Absol getting a mega-evolution is a no-brainer, and I'm 90% sure that this is one of the first mega evolutions revealed to the public. Mega Absol essentially reveals Absol's "true" nature as a protector and an oracle, I suppose, which expands its fur into angelic wings, makes that wicked-looking sickle claw into a flatter, less threatening-looking horn, and expands on the yin-yang face. Oh, and we get some extra exaggeration on the furs of its lower legs and its bat-wing-tail. This really could've been a generic Anime 101 power-up, but for what it is, I do appreciate that they didn't go for the edgy-demon-beast route with Absol. I prefer regular Absol's clean, bestial look so much more than Mega Absol, but Mega Absol itself is also a pretty damn cool design. It's also one of those designs that surprisingly doesn't look that busy when animated, drawn in an action pose or rendered in a 3D model. Mega Absol's definitely not my favourite design (and I'm surprised they didn't make him Dark/Flying or Dark/Fairy or something, keeping the pure-Dark typing) but it's a neat one.
5/6.#362: Mega Glalie
- Type: Ice
- Japanese name: Mega Onigori
- Category: Face
Yeah, I'm not really feeling this. I get that a gigantic snowy demon with an unhinged jaw like Pac-Man from hell is a neat concept, but regular Glalie is already so ominous and sinister looking, and turning him into... into whatever this is is a bit too much. I get the art decision that the lower jaw has evolved so much that all the ice that once covered the lower half of the jaw broke away, but on the other hand it also makes Mega Glalie look like he desperately needs a shave. Apparently its jaw-bones are dislocated and broken, so Mega Glalie can only chomp down on prey and not eat them? That's really sad, and I'm thankful mega evolution's only temporary. But really... Mega Glalie's just such a weird mess that I can't really tell what they're going for here beyond being a generic scary floating jaw-skull guy... and there are better ways to turn Glalie's design into a floating jaw-skull guy without resorting into... into whatever this is. Mega Glalie's typing also remains pure-Ice... wouldn't it be the perfect time to turn it Ice/Dark or Ice/Rock? Eh. Overall Mega Glalie feels like very little effort was put into designing him, and probably just one of the mega evolutions from the ORAS batch that was designed to pad out the game.
2/6.#373: Mega Salamence
- Types: Dragon/Flying
- Japanese name: Mega Bomanda
- Category: Dragon
Everyone expected a Mega Salamence in ORAS, and everyone I know back then was disappointed that Mega Salamence ended up looking like... a weird UFO? A moon-shaped frisbee? But for me, I actually like the unexpected twist. See, Bagon's whole story is that it wants to soar freely in the sky. It's never about becoming just a dragon, it's about being the best flier ever, so Mega Salamence adapts a far more sleek and airplane-like visage, and I really love how its front legs tuck into those gray harness-like bits on its body to give it a more aerodynamic body. Mega Salamence's gigantic crescent-shaped wings also function as blades that slice through anything Mega Salamence flies towards, but apparently one of the dex entries note that the wings being 'stuck together' pisses Mega Salamence off, causing it to go on rampages. I, for one, think that it's a cool and unexpected powered-up form, and the ability they gave Mega Salamence is even Aerilate, transforming Mega Salamence's Normal-type moves into Flying-type moves, showing how much Mega Salamence has embraced his Flying side.
3/6.#376: Mega Metagross
- Types: Steel/Psychic
- Japanese name: Mega Metagurosu
- Category: Iron Leg
How do you make Metagross evolve? Well, clearly, since we've been adding Beldum units all throughout the evolution line, we add four more! It's a bit hard to see in the official art, but there are four tiny Beldum-arms jutting backwards from Mega Metagross's back like some sort of weird rocket booster. The end result looks actually threatening as Mega Metagross eschews crawling on the ground like a crab-spider, and now permanently floats in the air with psychic power, with its forward-facing arms transformed into claws that look far more adapted towards rending the prey instead of scuttling on the ground. The more bold golden X is also very cool, as is the extra little horn on its chin. Mega Metagross's brain has been stimulated and its battles are ruthless cruel, according to the pokedex, and even if it meets an enemy it can't beat, it would rather dig its claws in and blow itself up. The anime, of course, just treats Mega Metagross as a happy little buddy to Hoenn's champion Steven Stone, giving Mega Metagross a ton of screentime in the mega evolution specials. Everyone gets a shiny Beldum in the ORAS release tie-in promotion, so everyone gets to play with a shiny silver Mega Metagross in their first playthrough, myself included.
5/6.#380-381: Mega Latios & Mega Latias
- Types: Dragon/Psychic [both]
- Japanese names: Mega Ratiosu & Mega Ratiasu
- Category: Ion
0/6.#382: Primal Kyogre
- Type: Water
- Japanese names: Genshi Kaioga
- Category: Sea Basin
So when Omega Ruby/Alpha Sapphire rolled along, the twist to the original Hoenn plot is that Groudon and Kyogre... haven't even reached their final form! See, the Kyogre we're familiar with is Kyogre after centuries of slumber, and the plot devices, the Blue Orb and Red Orb, will 'revert' it into its terrible, ancient state. Basically, primal forms are mega evolutions by another name, which means you're not beholden to the one-mega-in-a-team restrictions. Primal Kyogre's... neat. It eschews much of the bright red that original Kyogre has, swaps the bold blue for a more purple shade, and you can clearly see through the transparent skin the glowing yolk-like energy within Kyogre. The neon lines make it a bit busier, but at the same time the purple and yellows work so well as a colour scheme that it actually looks fairly more graceful than regular Kyogre. In this form, Primal Kyogre has the ability Primordial Sea, basically old-school Drizzle -- permanent rain -- before it was nerfed, which also now gets the extra bonus of nullifying all Fire-type moves. Primal Kyogre is also able to unleash Origin Pulse, which just looks goddamn cool for what's essentially a beam-spam of hydro pumps. Best of all is that Primal Kyogre ends up being the subject for this Generations short that truly sell what a monstrous force of nature a being whose mere presence fucks up the weather can be. Primal Kyogre's all right.
3/6.#383: Primal Groudon
- Types: Ground/Fire
- Japanese names: Genshi Guradon
- Category: Continent
See, while Kyogre just gets bigger and slightly different in primal reversion form, Primal Groudon actually does feel far more primal, going from a pure-Ground type into Ground/Fire. Its body is now lathered all over with lava glowing through the cracks in its red-and-black armour, and while I'm not a big fan of how its lower jaw and teeth are all this one massive chunk of black instead of the tooth being separate colours... it's a pretty badass design, really. Making the spikes black instead of white is an inspired choice that de-clutters Primal Groudon's design significantly despite it essentially being identical to original Groudon, just with a palette swap. See how much a simple colour change can make things work? Oh, and Primal Groudon's ability is Desolate Land, which, in addition to being perma-Drought, also nullifies all water-type attacks. Which means... yep, despite being Ground/Fire, Primal Groudon is immune to the water attacks of Kyogre, finally giving the big land lizard a leg-up after a decade of being objectively disadvantaged. Primal Groudon's signature move is Precipice Blades, which causes Primal Groudon to unleash a string of giant spear-like stone formations to form to impale the enemy. Pretty badass. I think Primal Groudon is the one out of the Hoenn weather trio that actually feel like the design is significantly improved from the original.
4/6.#384: Mega Rayquaza
- Types: Dragon/Flying
- Japanese names: Mega Rekkuza
- Category: Sky High
We're back to Rayquaza, who plays a significant role in the ORAS storyline. See, Rayquaza is the original Mega-Pokemon, because Rayquaza goes around consuming asteroids, creating an organ within itself that mimics the power of a mega stone. What does this mean? Well, this means that Rayquaza can access its mega-evolved state without the handicap of having to hold a specific item, which means that Mega Rayquaza is absolutely broken in competitive tier, moreso than anything else in the game. And... and yeah, Mega Rayquaza is helluva detailed. It's definitely one that looks better in motion, because those glowing trailing whisker-things look so much better rendered in 3D, but I really do like Mega Rayquaza. Its shovel-mouth-blades, its more pronounced fins, and the more prominent black chunks on its body.... Mega Rayquaza does look a lot like a jade sculpture or a majestic dragon that inspires all those oriental jade sculptures. Mega Rayquaza is also the subject of worship of the dragon clan of Hoenn, and the way you unlock your Rayquaza's mega evolution is by a ritual, which all but implies that you pray to Rayquaza. Mega Rayquaza's signature move is Dragon's Ascent, a move that Rayquaza must have in its movepool to access the freebie mega evolution... which, of course, isn't a particularly hard choice since it's one of the most powerful Flying-type moves. "Dragon's Ascent", or garyo-tensei in the original Japanese, is a reference to a metaphor in Japan where a painter painting a dragon will have to dot the eyes of the dragon it's painting to truly give it a spark of life (and in some Chinese legends, particularly skilled painters upon filling in the eyes will cause the drawing itself to manifest into a living being). Neat! Overall, Mega Rayquaza's slightly too busy for me, unfortunately, though it does have a hypnotic final form.
2/6.#428: Mega Lopunny
- Types: Normal/Fighting
- Japanese names: Mega Mimiroppu
- Category: Rabbit
Oh, hey, we're done with the third generation! Yeah, ORAS really loved the third generation and gave all of them (except poor Flygon) mega evolutions. Well, Mega Lopunny time and... and sheesh. They're really taking this too far, huh? Like, I like the fact that Mega Lopunny's not in that demure playboy bunny pose and is constantly being a hyperactive punchy-punch bunny, but on the same token they gave Mega Lopunny extra black markings, which are definitely meant to involve a low-cut top and ripped stockings. God damn it, Nintendo. It's a real shame, because Mega Lopunny's design does have a lot of personality, from its ears and face, and manages to look like it can kick your ass while still looking like a cute rabbit. This thing is now a Normal/Fighting Pokemon, and has shed all of the furs that once gotten in the way of its attack, including the ones on his ears, turning them into what apparently functions like crazy nun-chuck whips. That's pretty cool, actually. Definitely not my favourite mega-evolution, but there are worse ones.
1/6.#445: Mega Garchomp
- Types: Dragon/Ground
- Japanese names: Mega Gaburiasu
- Category: Mach
Oh, hello, Mega Garchomp! Yeah, Garchomp's insanely popular, and they gave him a mega evolution that makes him look even more psychotic than before. Mega Garchomp is easily one of my favourite mega evolutions in that it doesn't actually change much -- just two or three details -- but changes them significantly to make this form truly distinct from regular Garchomp without adding too many details. There's the added spikes on his chest, but the two big changes is swapping out the shark-wings for two gigantic blood-soaked scythes, and giving Mega Garchomp a thick-set lower jaw. Apparently the mega evolution to form Mega Garchomp involves the lower arms melting into scythes, which... wow. That's brutal. No wonder Mega Garchomp's angry all the time! Interestingly, Mega Garchomp is, I think, the only mega evolution to lose stats when it mega-evolves, reducing its speed and putting all those points into further boosting its attacking stats, making it a slight gamble to use Mega Garchomp. I wish more mega evolutions worked this way, actually. Overall, Mega Garchomp looks amazing, sinsiterly human and psychotic-looking. Must've been the chin.
5/6.#448: Mega Lucario
- Types: Fighting/Steel
- Japanese names: Mega Rukario
- Category: Aura
The ever-popular Lucario gets a mega evolution, of course, also among the first to be released and... and hoo boy, look at how much Mega Lucario improved upon regular Lucario. I mean, sure, I could've done without some of the black stripes that felt like one too many details on his face and legs, and I'm still not sure about the red paws which I felt was unnecessary... but take a look of Lucario and Mega Lucario side by side and tell me that this isn't how Lucario should've looked in the first place. Changing the weird little aura-sensor blobs into actual hair-like structure, swapping out the weird "only functional if he backhands someone" spikes into something that points forward, getting rid of the weird flare-shorts and making the blue upper legs actually feel organic, getting rid of the stupid-looking 'bent stick' tail and giving it a proper bushy fox tail... Again, there are some problems with Mega Lucario's design, most of all the unnecessary red bits, but overall Mega Lucario looks pretty damn badass in the way that regular Lucario never quite did to me. Oh, and the anime characterizes Mega Lucario as an insanely feral Hulk-like stage where he can barely control his anger, which is definitely appreciated -- something that the seventh generation dex explains by apparently having the energies of its aura and mega evolution energy blend together, resulting in a merciless, heartless monster. Yep, some Super Saiyan stuff going on here.
4/6.#460: Mega Abomasnow
- Types: Grass/Ice
- Japanese names: Mega Yukino'o
- Category: Frost Tree
Mega Abomasnow is the last of the original XY-era mega evolutions we're going to talk about, because every other mega evolution debuted in ORAS. The poor fifth and sixth generation only got a token mega evolution, which... which, yeah, that isn't fair. Really. But I definitely appreciated the fact that out of the fourth-generation cast, of all things, they picked my boy Abomasnow as the one to give a mega evolution to, and look at this thing! Look at this gigantic Christmas tree gorilla, with its root-like knuckles and the two huge icy growths coming out of his back! It has a lot of things going on for it, but it never feels cluttered the way that things like Mega Steelix does because of all the lines just being 'more leaves'. I really do like Mega Abomasnow. It's this giant yeti-tree monster that truly embodies something abominable, whereas regular Abomasnow looks more like a friendly snowman. Not a bad design at all.
5/6.#475: Mega Gallade
- Types: Psychic/Fighting
- Japanese names: Mega Erureido
- Category: Blade
Yeah, I'd like Mega Gallade a lot more if they had actually put more effort into its mega-evolution. It made sense with Gardevoir's white dress, but the lack of green on Gallade's upper body is really distracting, especially since regular Gallade's green-ness is pretty prominent. The cape is cool, I guess, but the blades doesn't quite look as neat as regular Gallade, and they had a chance to get rid of that weird-looking UFO waist, but they didn't take it. I like Gallade well enough, and the concept of a Gallade with a bigger blade and a cape is great, but I dunno. Mega Gallade ends up being very underwhelming and looks unfinished, like someone forgot to put an extra paint-bucket of green or blue somewhere. I used a Gallade prominently in my Alpha Sapphire playthrough, but even then I never resorted to mega-evolving him more than a couple of times.
2/6.#531: Mega Audino
- Types: Normal/Fairy
- Japanese names: Mega Tabunne
- Category: Hearing
Mmmmm yeah, the only fifth-generation mega evolution is Audino, and while I appreciate the unexpected choice, it's not a particularly interesting one. Mega Audino is Normal/Fairy, and it's got a proper extra set of stethoscope-tentacles on its chest, with a white coat that looks more like a nurse's coat, but overall it just feels pretty bland and boring. Like, I appreciate that some of the mega evolutions aren't just scary frothing berserkers, and we have dudes like Mega Audino, Mega Altaria and Mega Sableye that seem just pretty chill to hang out with, but Mega Audino is still pretty boring, and at this point I'm sad that they didn't pick some other choices from the fifth generation instead.
2/6.#719: Mega Diancie
- Types: Rock/Fairy
- Japanese names: Mega Dianshii
- Category: Jewel
3/6._________________________________________________
#658: Ash-Greninja ("Mega" Greninja)
- Types: Water/Dark
- Japanese names: Satoshi-Gekkouga
- Category: Ninja
And to say that the fandom was rent asunder when Ash-Greninja showed up was a combination of 'ruined FOREVER' and 'wait, what?' for the simple reason that Greninja randomly incorporates design elements from Ash, his trainer. Greninja is easily one of the more popular Pokemon, and the anime staff adored it the way that it did Charizard back in the original anime. And the idea of a Pokemon unlocking a new form if it has a strong bond with its trainer isn't new. Not only is it the basis of mega evolution in general, it's also the backbone of the franchise of Pokemon as a whole.
And as a design, Ash-Greninja is... well, it kinda looks dumber than regular Greninja, but it's, y'know, still a badass ninja frog. He gets a gigantic shuriken made out of rippling water on his back and that's cool, but his head essentially sprouts some weird black growths based on Ash's hair, which seems to be the 'breaking' point of Ash-Greninja's design. Removed from the context that Greninja is aping Ash, I just feel that the addition of two shades of colour (black and red) onto Greninja's head where the colour is not found anywhere else on Greninja's body just doesn't blend in with the entire design as a whole.
And really, it raises a lot of questions. If this Greninja is bonded with Ash, the character from the show, why are the random trainers who received the event Greninja be able to activate this form? And wouldn't the Greninja mimic the appearance of the trainer that is using the Greninja? It's a whole hot mess and the fact that Ash Ketchum himself is a divisive character doesn't help matters any. And the name 'Ash-Greninja' is also quite divisive -- and on that end, I agree. Why not just call him Mega Greninja, or Battle Form Greninja or something along those lines? Eh. It exists. It's a thing. I don't care much for it, really. I don't like it, and I think regular Greninja's a lot better. It's curious if it's considered as 'real' of a Pokemon as some of the other playable one-offs like Shadow Lugia or Spiky-Eared Pichu or Cosplay Pikachu or whatever. I dunno. I guess I'll include it here considering that it's easily the most prolific of the one-off Pokemon forms.
1/6.Speaking of Ash-Greninja and one-off alternate forms that appear only in a single generation or game, I feel like it's worth noting a bunch of alternate forms that only appear in one-off games and are ones that I don't really feel different enough to mention. I'll acknowledge they exist, but I really don't have opinions about them:
- Shadow Lugia from XD: Gale of Darkness.
- Primal Dialga from the Mystery Dungeon games.
- Spiky-Eared Pichu and Pikachu-Colored Pichu from HeartGold and SoulSilver.
- The random new gender differences given to Generation I-III Pokemon that happened in Generation IV.
- Eternal Flower Floette from XY.
- Cosplay Pikachu from Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire.
- The seven different Hat Pikachu from the seventh-generation games and Pokemon Go.
- Armored Mewtwo from Pokemon Go.
- Various other accessory-wearing Pokemon 'variants' from Pokemon Go.
- Shadow Mewtwo from Pokken Tournament.
- Various one-off colour or pattern-difference Pokemon in the anime or the Adventures/Special manga. This includes things like Zapmolcuno, Fake Groudon, Fake Kyogre, et cetera.
I'll acknowledge they exist here, but they have such a minimal appearance or such negligible visual differences that I'm not really going to mention them.
That's a lot of mega evolutions, huh? A lot of these end up being hit-and-miss. Join us next week for our journey to Alola, at the moment of writing the newest generation of pokemon games!
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