Part five of my review of the fan-made Pokemon designs in the fan-romhack Quarantine Crystal. This one took a bit longer for me to publish. Apologies.
Once more, with thanks to commenter Heckbot, who provided all of the screenshots for the dex entries.
EDIT: Republished around a week later after fixing a bunch of swapped images and a bunch of typos.
Smucious here is an... interesting one. The idea is for a succubus Pokemon, I think, looking at her and her evolution, and... and it's interesting? There's a pleasantly Digimon-esque vibe to this little critter's design. I like the very fairy-like body, the two tiny bat-wings, the lack of eyes and the fact that its face is just dominated with a single pair of thick lips. It's a lot more of a 'kissing monster' than the official Smoochum or Jynx, which are just... weirdly-drawn humans. Smucious at least looks like some sort of more ethereal-looking fairy-like monster. I wonder if it just visits people in their dreams, or if it physically shows up and drains blood or something like a mosquito?
Presumably Fairy-type, or Fairy/Dark.
I am very pleasant to see that the evolved form isn't just a sexy lady! Smotherene has the silhouette of one from a distance, yes -- a humanoid torso, more pronounced legs, and the horns have evolved into 'pigtails', but I do like that it's still a creepy succubus demon. It's more obviously a vampire, too, with vampiric fangs and stuff. I don't have too much to say here -- it's a very cool way to adapt a concept like the succubus (something that is very much not a regular Pokemon prompt) into a Pokemon in a way that makes sense, I feel.
A cutie! This one almost looks like some sort of Metroid or Mega Man enemy or something. It's a cute little bat-dragon whose body is a pyramid! I like the little fangs (feet?) poking out of it, and I especially like that it doesn't really have any sort of conventional face. Such a cute weirdo! Kodoroyah is a little fear spirit, too, being a little gremlin that 'spreads fear through the land', but is also absolutely terrified by Smucious.
Dragon or Dark, presumably? Dark/Dragon when evolved? Being either or both would definitely cause its fear of a Fairy-type something that makes sense!
The evolved form, Casanocte, has such a neat 'tokusatsu kaiju monster' vibe to him! I love those two tiny eyes nestled within a black void, and I like the two giant horns bordering the face. Interestingly, while its smaller form is afraid of Smucious, Casanocte is actually a creature that tries to woo Smucious's evolved form Smotherene. So basically just like a little boy who is afraid of cooties, but grows up into a man who woos women? Do these form a breeding pair like the Nidorans, too? Also, judging by the name of "Kodoroyah", and the two giant spikes on the sides of his head, I'm 90% sure that Casanocte is meant to be a homage to the Godzilla monster Destoroyah.
I wonder if there's a specific area for these more hell-themed monsters to hang out?
We move to what I think is a three-stage evolutionary line. Missteria is a cute little mummy Pokemon! It's also noted as a tense spirit, and identified as a 'Torment' creature. Pretty cute sprite, but otherwise not that interesting if taken alone. But it's not alone! Or, well, not exactly.
Unfortunately, cute little anime-mascot Missteria ends up being captured by someone and tossed into an iron maiden! Or a Dismaiden, in any case! Oh no, look at that terrified :o face that Dismaiden has! It's not as brutal as traditional depictions of iron maidens are, but there are those bulbs running down the side that might actually be like, needles or sword hilts. Such a clever way to do the 'ghost sealed in an object' trope!
Poor Dismaiden is described as a 'curious spirit confined', and that it ponders about life in solitude. Oh no! Does it become Ghost/Steel when it gains its shell?
And then we get the glorious final form, Bedlamam. Such a cool, cool design! The iron maiden armour of Dismaiden just explodes out in this hideous, eldritch abomination. The spirit of Missteria has apparently merged with the torture device that held her in place. Look at how nasty it is, and I love that it's using spikes to essentially make a 'face' with those two pointy things as eyes and two more below resembling a bug mandible. And, of course, the parts of the iron maiden that cover the body has turned into a spiky, set of maws resembling wings. And I was right! Those nubs are the tips of needles!
And you'd think that this eldritch abomination would be a terrifying monster out for revenge, but no! "This Pokemon is rather sweet", says the Pokedex. It's curious about the world! Just, uh, don't go around giving hugs to people with your spiky butterfly arms, Bedlamam! I really like this evolutionary line as a set, and I appreciate that it's given a happy ending. Even mummy ghosts that merge with their torture implements deserve happinesss!
Another pretty cool one! Hoplaque here is a little bony fang, but he also looks like a cute little fish! A bony fish, at least. But! But the Hoplaque's dex entry talks about how the buried fang of a dragon Pokemon would grow into Hoplqaues, which act as fierce guardians. It's a reference to a Greek mythology, where the hero Cadmus slew a dragon that guarded the spring of the god of war Ares, and harvested the teeth of the dragon. When he planted them in the soil, they transformed into fully armed warriors called Spartoi. Jason would toss a jewel in the midst of the warriors, and they would fight each other. Hoplaque's just the dragon teeth!
Dragon/Ghost?
It evolves into Phanguard, which is a more humanoid figure, which would be the soldiers that grew from the dragon's teeth. Except this Pokemon actually does retain memories of life as a dragon! Do teeth do that? Do all the Phanguards that fall from the same Brigadoom share the same memories? "It yearns to be one again", so I guess all the Phanguards that come from a single dragon's teeth are all trying to combine into a singular whole again? Pretty cool.
Design-wise, I really like the ratty cape that Phanguard has here, but my favourite aspect of him has to be the head. I thought it's just an unconventional skull or a pumpkin head for a bit before realizing that, no, it's a freaking molar! As in the teeth! Genius.
In the myth of Jason and the Argonauts, the dragon-teeth were just things that grew into soldiers and that's it for them. But this is Pokemon, so of course the skeletal warriors grew into a giant skeletal dragon. "Brigadoom" is a fucking cool name, too! I do like how this isn't just a dinosaurian skeleton and that's it -- Dracoliches are cool, but this is Pokemon! And I really like the face in particular, with the pronounced lower jawbone. Also love the tattered wings that match that of Phanguard, and I do like that there seem to be a bunch of skulls littered all over Brigadoom's body, like where the front arms connect to the torso and stuff. Pretty cool! Looking at the design a bit more, I guess this is less the 'original form' of the dragon, but more of a bunch of Phanguards merging together to create an approximation of the dragon that they once was? It is a 'legion' Pokemon, after all!
AAAA WHAT A CUTIE. I just like owl masks on little ghostly bodies, okay? There was one of these mask-birds in Pokemon Uranium too, although that one had a more opera theme to it. Oscurasa is much more obviously a ghostly specter that just happens to have an owl mask for a face. Such pleasant colours, too! It's identified as a 'harpy', which is interesting -- harpies, as far as I remember, don't have any ghostly connotations to them. Owls are called 'ghost birds' in some languages, though, so making an owl Pokemon into a ghostly, haunting figure that silently moves in the night and just stares and judges with those massive, creepy eyes... I approve.
Ghost/Flying, I assume? Or merely just Flying, since they're only 'thought' to be lost spirits?
Madrugasa is the evolved form, and it's basically got a more defined bird-of-prey anatomy. Despite looking like a ghost himself, Madrugasa goes off to fly and save people being haunted by ghosts with a dance. A really cool concept for an owl Pokemon, and I do like how relatively simple of a concept it is, but still manages to feel so much more unique compared to Decidueye, the other ghost-owl that Pokemon actually made!
YES! A scarecrow monster! Not just a scarecrow monster, but a creepy-murder-of-crows monster! Two of my favourite horror tropes! Murdermis is a raggedy scarecrow which has exploded and created a massive body made of a swarm of birds (non-Pokemon birds? Or like several dozen unfortunate Murkrows?) to form its body. Very awesome! Murdermis is seemingly benevolent, using his murder of crows to protect the crops, but what about the massive army of birds that he has presumably enslaved with the 'strange force' inside the pumpkin head?
I really like this one. Ghost/Grass? Ghost/Flying? Just Ghost? Very cool concept, whatever typing he is.
Oh, it's a long cat, I think? I'm not sure if the 'hunter of the mountains' is meant to refer to a specific mythological creature, but Purraatzle is like, a super-long patchwork cat doll that likes to cuddle for warmth. A cute concept, and I especially like the button eyes and the little pieces of stuffing that's peeking out of the sides of Purraatzle's body. It's cute! I think it's meant to be a nod on how humanity's domesticated wild tigers and lynxes and eventually turned them into the adorable kitty-cats that live with us now.
Presumably just a Normal-type.
Speaking of kitties, we've got Odditten! At some point, humanity sent Shabbycat into space, but when it returned, Odditten emerged. What a cool origin story for this Pokemon! I don't think modern-day Pokemon does these sort of pulp 80's sci-fi movie origin stories anymore -- stuff like "Grimer was factory goop animated by moonlight" or whatever. But Odditten's a cat that has been transformed by exposure to space! So cool! What alien species did this, I wonder? Quarantine does have a large selection to pick from...
Odditten himself doesn't really seem to care. Look at that swagger! He's a cute space cat with a mask-like face and he's just prancing around making a ( - o - ) face. I like the shape of the tail, which looks a bit like an alien tree. Not sure if this is in a reference to a specific breed of cat, since we got a bunch of specific dog breeds before.
Astrotom is the evolution, and, oh, I get it. These are 'glam star' cats and they come from the stars. Astrotom looks a bit more alien, although not by that much, really. It's got a longer neck and longer limbs, but real cats also kind of have surprisingly long legs sometimes. I do like the head design with the way the fur is arranged, it really reminds me of background aliens in like, old comic books or Saturday morning cartoons.
Since these are space Pokemon, I'm obligated to speculate that they are Psychic-type.
One of my favourites, due to just how utterly creative it is. Clibble is an adorable little creature made out of staple clips! But look at that face. Look at those adorable baby eyes with the two bug-fangs. This guy looks like a pillbug or something, and it just goes around 'clipping' itself onto machines or ore veins to leech energy! Hell, look at the species name. The 'stable' Pokemon. Because it's based on a staple.
A pure Steel-type, presumably?
Of course, Clibble evolves into a staple monster, but instead of a robot, it evolves into a Giguard! Such a fucking creative decision by the art team, too, to take the Alien franchise's lead monster and to see that, hey, that giant elongated head doesn't just resemble a human phallus, but it also resembles a stapler! Especially with those prominent fangs! The rest of Giguard's body is basically a stylization of the Xenomorph, but it's okay. I love that it's a giant stapler monster now.
In a hilarious, twist of how the Xenomorphs reproduce, Giguards are very, very good parents! They will help embed young Clibble into machinery. Get it? The stapler Pokemon helps to staple the clips into stuff? What a good parent. I love this take. And, obviously, since all they're doing is presumably leeching energy, they don't go through anything as horrifying as the Xenomorph's parasitic life cycle.
And then the final stage transform into the animal that I actually associate a bit more with staplers, an alligator! Although I wonder if Gigerator is actually an alternate evolution, because, see, it's not just an alligator with a stapler for a mouth, it's an alligator with a stapler remover for a mouth!
That alone is neat enough, but they even gave him a backstory! It's a Clibble rejected from its pack, so now it evolves not into a stapler that helps other members of its species, but into a terrifying Gigerator, who rips out staple clips from where they are and eat them whole. An enemy against its own species! A pretty cool idea. I love this whole line!
Speaking of alien Pokemon that might've created Odditten, we've got Navigazer here, who looks a lot like a Metroid crossed with those pinball beetles from the 2D Zelda games. I love it! I love the fact that the squid-like legs look like the ornate legs of a crystal ball, and the head of the squid ends up basically having a little galaxy inside of it. I enjoy the concept, too -- the official Pokemon Nosepass is basically a personified compass, with a magnetic nose that always points north. Navigazer takes it several steps further, where its internal mini-stars will always align with the corresponding points in the sky. That's such a cool concept for a fantasy creature (or item, really). I love it!
Psychic-type? I just have an instant urge to say anything connected to the stars is Psychic-type. Psychic/Rock, considering the evolutions?
The second stage of the evolution is Obelith, who looks even more like some sort of prehistoric squid. Of course, the head part resembles one of those obelisks that fiction likes to associate with ancient aliens. Was it 2001: A Space Odyssey that popularized this? It probably is. Obeliths have this absolutely glorious creepy description where it keeps forming formations and blinks in sequence, making runways for UFO's that never come.
I wonder if Obelith actually has any connection to a specific alien species? Is it waiting for Yuefoe, the giant UFO computer mouse? Is the same alien species that left it behind the same one responsible for leaving the Junobe line in the oceans?
And we finally have the final stage, the Moneumenn. Of course, it's a pyramid! Kind of! It's more of a spaceship that happens to look like a pyramid, doesn't it? Or, rather, a beacon, as the pokedex itself points out? I like the description how it is planted firmly, and that there are doors that can never open. I like that the dex entry basically points out that the bottom half of the pyramid, the parts that would be below the sand, look a bit more metallic and sci-fi, and there's even a drill for it to plant itself firmly within the sand.
I think I like Navigazer's concept the best out of the three, but both Moneumenn and Obelith are pretty dang cool too!
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A bit of a shorter one this time around. I debated doing all the way to 250, but I decided to cut it here because of length purposes.
