I have played the least games of the fourth generation, but my copy of Pokemon Platinum was the longest total time played on a single cartridge of Pokemon, with perhaps only Pokemon Y rivaling it. It's a bit weird -- I've done Nuzlockes and fast ROM playthroughs through the first, second, third and fifth generation games, but never really through the fourth. I've also never experienced Diamond or Pearl, jumping straight into Platinum.
The fourth generation ended up feeling like a huge 'expansion pack' of sorts instead of a 'soft reboot' the way that the third and fifth generation felt like. Half of the new pokemon introduced in the fourth generation are evolutions of pokemon introduced in the first two generations, ending up with a lot of otherwise ignored old-timers, particularly from the second generation, to get some extra bits of love.
From a mechanical standpoint, other than the jump from Game Boy Advanced to DS, the biggest significant change is the Physical/Special split. In the first three generations, all types are assigned as 'physical' and 'special', with the stat calculation being done based on that. From the fourth generation onwards, it ends up with a far more sensible division depending on the attack being done itself -- so Fire Punch will play off your physical stats, while Flamethrower will play off your special stats. This led to the unfortunate side-effect of many older pokemon whose stats were designed with the old system in mind ending up becoming kind of screwed over, most memetically Entei.
There are also a slew of additional mechanics like new evolution methods (of course), a whole slew of legendaries and the addition of additional flavour in the form of different sprites for males and females of many previously-established species which... some of them are near-negligible, and some end up being distracting. But they're there to stay, so eh. I tend to rank the fourth generation pretty low from an overall quality of pokemon design, despite really really enjoying the games themselves, so we'll see how I feel about them when we're done.
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#387-389: Turtwig, Grotle & Torterra
- Types: Grass [Turtwig/Grotle], Grass/Ground [Torterra]
- Japanese names: Naetoru, Hayashigame, Dodaitosu
- Categories: Tiny Leaf [Turtwig], Grove [Grotle], Continent [Torterra]
Say what you will about the fourth generation, they do have a solid set of starters. Well, mostly. I tend to think that the middle forms end up being pretty awkward looking, but that's been a complaint ever since the second generation. Our grass-type starter is Turtwig, which is inoffensive. It's a cute little chunky four-legged reptile with a plant on its head, which is essentially Bulbasaur and Chikorita fused together. Turtwig's cute enough on its own, though, adapting some sort of a baby tortoise, and while it does seem to have one colour too many, I've always loved the innocent look it has on its face and the huge beak-like upper jaw. Plus, the manga made Turtwig so, so adorable-looking, pairing the dumb, vacant-minded Turtwig with an equally dumb, vacant-minded trainer. Sadly, it's the fourth generation that started to severely reduce the length of the pokedex entries and the quality of the entries ended up being so hilariously simplistic, and I feel like it's a huge, huge hit for the franchise as a whole. Turtwig's dex entries note that its shell is made of hardened soil, foreshadowing what's to come once this dude evolves.
So remember how Bulbasaur has a little bulb that grows bigger? Well, Turtwig takes one step further and essentially grows a garden on its back. It evolves into Grotle, which honestly feels more like an Ankylosaur or Euplocephalus type of dinosaur as opposed to a turtle, with how the brownish parts of its shell extends all the way to its head and tail. It's a neat design, but I always felt that the random chunks of bushes are poorly placed and definitely could've been integrated a bit better into the design. It's perhaps my least favourite out of these three, embodying all the awkwardness of a middle-stage evolution. Apparently the dex entries note that bird pokemon likes to fly and pick on berries on Grotle's back, which I really hoped that we actually saw in the sprite itself.
Grotle's final evolution makes me forgive the awkwardness of Grotle. Because Torterra has evolved into a mighty Grass/Ground type, and it's clear what this line is supposed to be. Far from the awkward bushes that adorn Grotle's back, Torterra has a pretty majestic bonsai garden on its back, looking complex but not cluttered -- a delicate balance that I'm surprised they even manage to pull off. Torterra looks like an awesome cross between a tortoise and a dinosaur, with its cool-looking beaked mouth, the silver rims that run around its shell/garden, the way that the 'soil' on its back has brown and green patches, and the small tree and mossy spikes on it. Torterra is based on the legends of the World Turtle, a concept in Chinese and Japanese mythology that states that the world rests atop a giant turtle. (Or sometimes, an elephant on top of the turtle). Multiple other legends in different cultures also note of a turtle with an island on its shell.
For my part, I saw Torterra as instantly my favourite starter of the three, being a mixture of Venusaur and Swampert of sorts. It looks hardy, tough and weird all in the same breath, and if there's one criticism I have about its design is its weird black nose. I love it, though, and I also love how the dex mentions that Torterra sometimes have pokemon that spend their entire lives on its little mini-garden. Again, it would be so easy for them to over-design this thing, but they didn't.
6/6.#390-392: Chimchar, Monferno & Infernape
- Types: Fire [Chimchar]; Fire/Fighting [Monferno/Infernape]
- Japanese names: Hikozaru, Mokazaru, Gokazaru
- Categories: Chimp [Chimchar], Playful [Monferno], Flame [Infernape]
Monkeys have never been my thing. I wouldn't say that I hate them, but I've never cared much for them as an animal. Which is why I've never cared all that much for Chimchar. He's okay -- he's a skinny chimp baby with its butt on fire. Apparently the butt-flame is actually made by its fart. Or, as the dex puts it, "gas made in its belly". It's neat, but I've never cared much for this hyperactive little monkey. I think it's around this generation that people are starting to talk about how the fire starters all adapt an animal from the Chinese zodiac? While Charizard (dragon), Infernape (monkey), Blaziken (chicken) and Emboar (pig) fit well enough, Typhlosion as a rat always felt like a stretch, and no animal in the zodiac really fits with Delphox's fox theme. So... eh. In the anime, Chimchar's given essentially a revamped version of Charmander's character arc, but he actually gets to fight, surpass and beat up his shitty-ass trainer that abandoned him.
Monferno is somewhatunderwhelming, with the flame moving to the tip of its tail and its face getting a couple extra colour in some sort of a mandrill-eqsue deal going on. Monferno also became a Fire/Fighting, starting a trend across the third through fifth generation of the Fire-types becoming bipedal Fire-Fighting pokemon, personally a theme that I really wished wasn't done. Still, Monferno's neat in the "inoffensive but I don't really love" category. Again, not a big monkey fan, but I can appreciate Monferno for at least being a pleasant-looking monkey. I've seen how terrible monkeys can be when not designed well, so I appreciate Monferno at least for being pretty cool-looking.
Infernape, on the other hand, is pretty damn cool. The flames move to its head, making it look a lot neater compared to trying to riff off Charmander, and the white fur around its body, coupled with the golden chunks on his wrists, chest and knees, mark Infernape as a low-key adaptation of Sun Wukong, the Monkey King, the protagonist of one of the best-known Chinese Legends, Journey to the West. In Japan, Sun Wukong is better known as Son Goku. No, not the Dragon Ball character, although he was originally meant to be an adaptation of Wukong. This skyrocketed Infernape up to go from "fire monkeys, that's nice" to "holy shit, that's cool". The red eyebrows are also a far nicer touch compared to Monferno's out-of-place blue. The whole design ends up looking so aesthetically pleasing and far less cluttered than even Blaziken, and Chinese Kung Fu actually has a sub-branch called "Monkey Kung Fu".
Infernape's just such a neat-looking design that more than makes up for the two honestly somewhat-underwhelming first two forms, and it's even got a cool name. Inferno ape? Its Japanese name is even cooler -- Gokazaru, literally meaning Hellfire-Monkey. Ape's a bit of a misnomer here since Infernape actually has a tail, and apes are by definition tail-less monkeys... but eh. Translation issues, am I right? Infernape's one of the coolest-looking final starters from a purely visual standpoint, if we're being pretty honest. I don't have a whole ton of personal attachment to Infernape, I like its design and I can respect that there's a lot of people who view him as their favourite starter line. That's the beauty of the franchise, I feel -- someone that elicits emotions of 'that's neat' for me could really appeal heavily to someone else.
3/6 as a set.
Piplup's an adorable little penguin baby. The anime loves Piplup and essentially gave it second billing among the pokemon cast during the Diamond/Pearl saga. It's cute! I always felt that it's odd that there's a random patch of light-blue on its nose area, though -- wouldn't it be better if the dark blue bits just continued to its beak? In either case, be it in the anime or manga, Piplup tends to be portrayed as a high-maintenance princely little penguin, even though it's just a little baby. The dex entries also note the breed's pride, noting that, just like real penguins, it likes to puff up its chest. It's neat, even if I'm not sure if we need those extra white Mickey-Mouse-esque spots on its chest to communicate that, yes, this baby penguin is a baby. It's pretty adorable, though, especially in the 3D games and the anime.
Prinplup is the middle-stage of this evolutionary line, and he's like a princely penguin. He's taller, loses Piplup's cute baby head, and has an anatomy far more appropriate for a penguin... but ends up looking somewhat generic. It has more 'buttons' on its belly, and a crest that's going to evolve into Empoleon's crown, but honestly even compared to Grotle and Monferno, Prinplup really feels like it doesn't have its own personal identity, just a stepping stone in-between the cute Piplup and the regal Empoleon. I do like how the dex entries note that Prinplups are forced to live a solitary life, because every Prinplup believes that it's the most important, and thus it buggers off to live its own life. It's not bad-looking, just... eh.
Empoleon ends up becoming Water/Steel, which is a bit of a surprise for me when I first saw it. It's far more pleasant looking than Prinplup, being mainly black, but I do feel that it's definitely got one too many things going on for it. From the weird intricate white markings supposed to resemble posh clothing to the trident-shaped horns on its head (though said trident-horn-beak deal is cool) to the blade-like arms, Empoleon really feels like it needed a couple extra revisions. It's not all bad and it might just be the fact that penguins are inherently awkward-looking, so it's actually a neat feat to make Empleon look regal and deadly with those blade-arms and trident face whilst keeping the core of a penguin's posture still relatively intact.
I like it for what it is, and Empoleon is easily my favourite of this evolutionary line, but I've honestly never paid Empoleon much of a heed until I played with him in Pokken, where I appreciated just how cool a penguin with swords for arms could be. I've also gained a new appreciation for the cute little claw-fingers Empoleon has under those blade-like arms, which in nature it apparently uses to slice up giant icebergs. It's a regal design and a neat pun on the Emperor Penguin species, but not exactly my thing. I understand why Piplup's line is pretty popular out there, though.
4/6.#396-398: Starly, Staravia & Staraptor
- Types: Normal/Flying [all three]
- Japanese names: Mukkuru, Mukubado, Mukuhoku
- Categories: Starling [Starly/Staravia], Predator [Staraptor]
The early-route bird this time around is Starly, based on the starling bird. I've never seen or heard of a starling bird before due to where I live. Now I know! It's a tradition for each generation to have a Normal/Flying Pokemon, but whereas the second and third generations had Hoothoot and Taillow that merely evolved once, the fourth generation will return to the three-stage evolution for their early bird. Starly's pretty cute and adorable, being distinct enough from most other basic Flying-types before it. I don't think they have much in lieu of uniqueness that sets them apart from the likes of Pidgey and Taillow, though, beyond their design. It's neat, but at the same time kind of lacks any real personality beyond being 'cute'. Not much that sets him, design, behaviour or moveset-wise compared to the other starter birds. This is the point where I genuinely struggle to find what to say here, because from Generation IV onwards the Pokedex entries are abruptly cut short into a single line or two, and that's really unfortunate, especially when describing Pokemon without any real interesting backstory elements and is "just a bird" like poor Starly here.
The second stage of this evolutionary line, Staravia, is also pretty underwhelming, as it's... just a bird. It's everything Starly is, only bigger. Bigger talons, bigger wings, a more upright position, longer tail, longer weird hair-slick thing... Staravia's okay, but nothing really to talk about. Their dex entries are even nearly identical to Starly, talking about how they like to swarm because they're weak. There's a brief joke going around about how Staravia gets the Intimidate ability -- something that tends to be reserved for really scary creatures -- despite its face looking dopey. Staravia looks... decent, but ultimately it's one that I genuinely forget all the time and is utterly eclipsed by his previous and subsequent forms -- even moreso than most middle forms are.
Then we get the Emo-Bird! I used to really dislike Staraptor due to just being a bird with a stupid-looking hairdo that looks like someone went to the barbershop and just tried to be super-edgy, but I've grown to appreciate it a bit more. Sure, it looks like an angry emo-bird with that bleached pompadour, and hilariously described in the pokedex "fusses over the shape of its comb", but I feel that gives it some sort of personality compared to the likes of Swellow or Unfezant. Staraptor at least has got something going for it, even if it's his hairdo. If we're being honest, it's the same thing that sets Pidgeot apart from other birds, and everyone loves Pidgeot. In contrast to my complaints about Empoleon, Staraptor is a pokemon that I sort of wished they had given slightly more details to make it more distinctive, but eh. Could've been worse. As a whole, the line's pretty average. I actually expected myself to give this evolutionary line far lower marks, but they at least look pleasant, and is far from being the most boring among the early-route birds.
3/6,#399-400: Bidoof & Bibarel
- Types: Normal [Bidoof], Normal/Water [Bibarel]
- Japanese names: Bippa, Bidaru
- Categories: Plump Mouse [Bidoof], Beaver [Bibarel]
Bidoof gets a huge, huge hatedom in the fourth generation and I... don't really get why? It's just a derpier version of a Zigzagoon, except based on a beaver. It's not the best-looking pokemon out there, and as the early-game rodent I suppose there's a fair bit of it wandering around Sinnoh, but for the life of me I don't understand why Bidoof gets so much hate. Surely it's Patrat that's the ugly rodent? Bidoof's name is actually endearingly doofy, and while it could've used a couple less lumps on its cheek and tail, it's fine. I don't particularly like it, but I get that they're going for a cute beaver, and Bidoof's probably as cute as a beaver can get while still having that 'rodent' feel.
I don't know. A lot of people really do meme on Bidoof, but even as a 'meme' design I really did feel like Pokemon has a lot of funnier ones like Stunfisk, Scraggy, Croagunk, Espurr or whatever. I don't dislike Bidoof, though!
Again, there's sadly not much to talk about Bidoof (or Bibarel, really) beyond "lives near water" and "makes dams", which all beavers already do. It's a hint towards Bidoof's evolution, though, because Bibarel is Normal/Water, and back then it's a bit of a rarity for Normal to be paired with anything other than Flying-type, with Girafarig back then being one of the few to get a free pass due to its "split into two" gimmick. Bibarel is, I suppose... 'animal' enough to still have the Normal typing? Eh. Bibarel is a whole lot dumber-looking than Bidoof, with the weird way those light-brown details work on its chest and its mask-like face, and Bibarel loses the cute goofiness of Bidoof by replacing the cute little beady eyes with... that... expression.
I don't think I hate Bibarel, but I definitely don't like him due to his rather irritating in-game cry. I've mellowed out a little, mostly because Bibarel's a very useful HM Slave. It's certainly my least favourite early-game rodent, but that's simply by default and not because I hate it. I'm just kind of indifferent about it.
Again, there's sadly not much to talk about Bidoof (or Bibarel, really) beyond "lives near water" and "makes dams", which all beavers already do. It's a hint towards Bidoof's evolution, though, because Bibarel is Normal/Water, and back then it's a bit of a rarity for Normal to be paired with anything other than Flying-type, with Girafarig back then being one of the few to get a free pass due to its "split into two" gimmick. Bibarel is, I suppose... 'animal' enough to still have the Normal typing? Eh. Bibarel is a whole lot dumber-looking than Bidoof, with the weird way those light-brown details work on its chest and its mask-like face, and Bibarel loses the cute goofiness of Bidoof by replacing the cute little beady eyes with... that... expression.
I don't think I hate Bibarel, but I definitely don't like him due to his rather irritating in-game cry. I've mellowed out a little, mostly because Bibarel's a very useful HM Slave. It's certainly my least favourite early-game rodent, but that's simply by default and not because I hate it. I'm just kind of indifferent about it.
2/6.#401-402: Kricketot & Kricketune
- Types: Bug [both]
- Japanese names: Koroboshi, Korotokku
- Categories: Cricket [both]
The fourth generation's early-game bug isn't a butterfly or a moth, and I kind of appreciate them for it! The second generation had a ladybug and a spider, and I've honestly wished that more early-game bugs would be more... different. It's not like the early-game birds where they're kind of locked into a specific body type, after all -- there are many more wacky bugs out there. Sinnoh's own personal bug is the adorable little pure Bug-type Kricketot, who is an adorable little beetle-man who has a definite music-conductor vibe thanks to its markings and the little neck-thing it has. Its antennae is cutely designed to resemble a xylophone, apparently, which is why its cry sounds like this. Kricketot and Kricketune's in-game cries are two of the best usage of the fourth generation's improved engine, and I love them for that. Kricketot also moves in a wobbly way, something I really appreciated -- particularly nice to see in the Pokemon Ranger and Pokemon Mystery Dungeon spinoff games. While ostensibly called the 'cricket' pokemon, beyond making musical noises, Kricketot and Kricketune don't really have much in common with crickets.
Kricketune's most memorable feature is definitely its equally awesome violin-inspired cry of "deleleleleWHOOOOP". It's got the most epic-looking posh mustache you'll ever see on a bug, and its arms are these long blade-like structures that, when in battle, are less blade-y versions of Scyther, but they're clearly meant to resemble the bow of a violin or a cello, fitting in with the whole musician motif. Hell, even Kricketune's wings resemble that of a fancy music conductor's cape! I've always liked Kricketune, finding the design both wacky and cool at the same time. Kricketune's entire existence and its cello-shaped body is probably a wholesale reference to the violin beetle, beetles of the genus Mormolyce whose body resembles a tiny violin. With Kricketune's markings and his whole musical conductor motif, you, too, can have a literal violin beetle. I love this dude, who apparently crosses his arms in front of his chest and makes sound echo in the hollow of his body, its blade-like arms, its amazing mustache.... but mostly because of deleleleleWHOOOOOP.
I've liked Kricketune so much that I've tried -- and oh, how I've tried -- to get Kricketune to survive in Nuzlocke runs of the fourth generation, but this damn violin bug is just so fragile and doesn't really have a lot of moves. Perhaps that's my mistake. Kricketune clearly isn't a fighter. He just wants to play his music!
6/6.#403-405: Shinx, Luxio & Luxray
- Types: Electric [all three]
- Japanese names: Korinku, Rukushio, Rentora
- Categories: Flash [Shinx], Spark [Luxio], Gleam Eyes [Luxray]
In the third generation, I said that each subsequent generation will have an early game Normal-type rodent, and an early game elemental-typed mammal. Following in the footsteps (pawprints?) of Poochyena is the Electric-type Shinx, who is a weird cute little kitty. Or a lynx cub, based on its name. Shinx is cute enough, but I really wish that the colour scheme was a bit more cohesive. Why is the entirety of its rear half all black? Why does it have yellow rings on its front paws but not its rear? It's cute enough at a glance, but looking at it too long gets me frowning at how weird the colour scheme is. I do like its weird ear-holes and its eyes, though, once more, it's dex entries is woefully bland, just describing generic cat things, oh and sometimes it does electrical things.
Shiny Shinx, Luxio and Luxray are mainly bright yellow, which is a pretty damn cool colour, but at the same time I do appreciate how they didn't go the obvious route and uses blue as the main colour instead... it's just a shame that the end result isn't as cohesive as it could've been I'm not sure if I prefer yellow Luxray or blue Luxray, but they're both neat.
Shinx evolves into Luxio, and honestly this is a far more pleasing aesthetic, with the tips of the rear paw getting a bit of a blue, and the mane around its face being black (with the blue ears peeking out). While I'm still weirded out by the black-pants aesthetic, it's at least a better integration of the main colours of blue and black across Luxio's palette. It's not my thing and I've always felt that Luxio's weird mane being done up in the style of human hair to look somewhat silly, but it's not bad. Luxio's dex entries actually tell us about its behaviour and abilities, as apparently they are pack hunters that communicate by electrical pulses through its claws,
Luxray is actually pretty cool, although I've always personally felt that it's got a detail or two too much. A couple of revisions to de-clutter the design would probably work better, although it does still end up looking neat with a lot of fans due to its electric shaggy lynx-lion look. It's got a really cool set of eyes, though, which I appreciate... eyes, that according to the pokedex, has X-ray vision which it uses to track down prey and 'seek its lost young'. It's a neat little detail that is communicated well by its design. Also, I've always wondered why Luxray and Luxio aren't part-Dark, but eh, I guess they're noble cats? I dunno. I really want to like them, because they're at least pretty cool, but the general messiness around them ends up causing me to feel a bit underwhelmed when I sit down and actually think about how I feel about them. They're still cool, they're just not my thing.
4/6.#406-407: Budew & Roserade
So Roselia from the third generation is our first recipient of a new form. And Roselia is the only pokemon to receive a pre-evolution and an evolution in the same generation. Roselia gets a baby in Budew, meaning that we get yet another incense (Rose Incense) to explain why Roselias bred Roselias back in the previous generation. Budew herself is a cute little flower but with legs and the most adorable little face, with her flower-bud-arms curled up on top of her head. Budew is also pretty prevalent in the early routes of Sinnoh, and it took me by utter surprise when mine evolved into Roselia... because I didn't connect the fact that Budew is Roselia's pre-evolution until that point. There's literally nothing that communicates that Budew is a baby Roselia beyond being a plant, and at that point you could say that Budew is a baby Cottonnee or baby Sunkern and I'll buy it. It's also Grass/Poison, which... I dunno. Shouldn't it just be pure grass? It doesn't have thorns or anything that looks venomous. It's neat, but I don't really care for it all that much.
Roselia's final form, Roserade, is achieved by exposure to one of the many new stones introduced this generation, the Shiny Stone. I really feel like the change from Roselia's realistic roses into Roserade's... whatever the fuck those are supposed to be, ends up looking like crap. Why not put some effort and actually draw a bouquet of roses? Like, I kinda get that Roserade's arms are supposed to end in roses with mini thorn-shooting turrets or whatever, but the result looks rather lazy. Which is a shame, because Roserade's concept is pretty neat. It's a superhero! From the rose-shaped hairdo to the masquerade mask to the cape, Roserade is a dancing, rose-themed superhero that uses thorny whips, sweet scent and poisonous barbs to beat up the enemy.
Overall, Roserade's a neat concept and could've been so much better, but really feels like it's somewhat lazily designed. Turn the arm-blobs into actual flowers, and give her a better-looking mask, and I feel like Roserade would look so much more appealing to me personally.
3/6.#408-409: Cranidos & Rampardos
The fossils in the fourth generation are finally based on dinosaurs, which... I try to be neutral about, but I honestly feel like it sort of loses some of the funky magic that Lileep, Omanyte, Kabuto and Anorith have. See, what made the first-generation and third-generation fossils so bizarre is that they genuinely feel different owing to being based on far more obscure prehistoric animals. Dinosaurs and dinosaur-like Pokemon are still around in the present day, so what makes Cranidos so much more special compared to, say, Charmeleon or Tropius? Cranidos here is resurrected from the Skull Fossil and is exclusive to Diamond, being found as part of the wacky underground-excavation minigame. Cranidos is based on a Pachycephalosaurus, a dinosaur known for headbutting each other with their hard craniums, and Cranidos is a reasonably cute-but-scrappy rendition of one. Cranidos actually looks decent in this official artwork, but its actual appearance in the anime with its head right up often gives the impression of a sleepy derp, and the way that its hard crown cuts off into a jagged beak is very awkward. Cranidos is still... m'kay, I guess? He's still somewhat cool.
3/6 for Cranidos. 
Cranidos' evolution, Rampardos, is actually pretty fucking ugly. It is so many random sharp edges, spikes slapped on the knees and neck, and the way the blue dome juts out of a flat head looks so messy. Rampardos is just a huge, huge mass of jagged spikes and angles, and unlike Luxray, it doesn't even look remotely cool. The jump from sprites to 3D models makes him look even worse and awkward. Like, the pacycephalosaurus is a pretty cool animal, but the transition into this messy creature is just kind of poorly done in my opinion. Both Cranidos and Rampardos are pure Rock-type, and apparently fossils of its skull are used as helmets? It has one of the most ridiculously high attack stats, too, I think. Eh. I never paid much attention to it, and now that I do, I find that I really don't like it, and the execution of its design is just so weird.
1/6 for Rampardos. #410-411: Shieldon & Bastiodon
Yeah, what is it with this generation and underwhelming fossils? Revived from the Armor Fossil, the resulting Shieldon's pretty cute, actually, being a little baby ceratopsian dinosaur with absolutely no horns, and just a crest that translates into a metal shield. It's Rock/Steel, and it's super-defensive as a counterpart to Rampardos and Cranidos being all attack. Shieldon's neat and cute, even if it feels a bit underwhelming compared to the likes of Aron and Rhyhorn. I kinda like it because it reminds me of the Helmasaur from Legend of Zelda. Which is neat. All and all, Shieldon's okay!
Shieldon evolves into the mighty Bastiodon, which caused me to do a double-take when I first saw it. The gym leader Byron uses one, I think? It's a design I really disliked when I first saw it, but I ended up mellowing out. I've appreciated its huge armour chunks on its lower legs, down its spine, and most of all its gigantic tower shield of a face. Between its huge underbite, the wacky teeth and the turret-like details on its crest, Bastiodon's whole shield-ceratops thing does end up working out pretty well, far better than the cluttered awkwardness of Rampardos. Bastiodon definitely could've used a fair amount of redesigns, but it's a design I don't really mind. Apparently, like actual Ceratopsian dinosaurs are thought to do, Bastiodons would line up their shield-faces to protect their young from predators or from angry Rampardoses, which is a neat visual.
I kinda wish that Bastiodon's face was made more coherent, mind you. Maybe make the weird window-markings a bit more pretty, or remove that weird sideways-horns thing, or even give it some extra horns to make a spiky shield. Bastiodon's not a bad concept and honestly not the worst way the design could be executed, but it's definitely a could-be-better scenario.
3/6.
3/6. #412-414: Burmy, Wormadam & Mothim
Bagworms are cool and some of the more bizarre insects. In fact, we already had a bagworm pokemon in Pineco and Forretress. But the thing is, a cool animal doesn't automatically make a cool pokemon. And honestly, the whole concept between Burmy and its two final forms, Wormadam and Mothim, ends up feeling rather scattered, ending in a concept that isn't particularly satisfying visually or mechanically. Burmy is a far more faithful adaptation of a bagworm moth. Where Pineco treats the insect and its shell as a single entity, Burmy will actually swap out its 'shell' depending on where you battled with it last. (This is what the inner worm looks like, although you can't actually see one in-game.) And it's actually a pretty neat concept. Fight with it in grass, and Burmy gains a cloak of leaves. Fight it on a cave or a sandy environment, and it gains the "Sandy Cloak", which are lumps of sand and rocks cobbled together. Fight with it in a building and it becomes the weird pink-coloured "Trash Cloak" which... is... some sort of... um... well, two out of three obvious designs aren't bad.
Burmy's a neat pokemon conceptually, a Bug-type that can transform its appearance depending on where it is. It works well with the concept of a bagworm moth larva, and the pokedex lampshades this by telling us that it will always have a cloak even if there's nothing nearby. The artwork doesn't really communicate that this thing is a bagworm pupa really well, though -- I'm not sure why it has a beak, or a weird little swirly head-thing. I get that it's an appendage to stick onto trees, but it looks rather weird, honestly.
Burmy's evolution depends entirely on its gender, which... which is actually very much accurate to real-life bagworm moths. Some species, anyway -- female ones will remain larviform, while the male ones will become the winged adult moth stage. And with Burmy, that rings true. Female Burmies will evolve into Wormadam, and male ones will evolve into Mothim.
And... and as much as I appreciate the biological accuracy, I just never got into the spirit of Wormadam and Mothim. Burmy's honestly the coolest of the evolution line due to its constantly changing appearance, but when you evolve her into Wormadam, you 'lock in' the appearance of the Burmy. I suppose it's cool that the resulting Wormadam actually gains the traits of Burmy's cloak and evolves to apparently fuse with it. But the resulting design honestly feels somewhat underwhelming, looking more like weird fruit than communicating that this is an armoured grub. I'm not sure why. Maybe I'm spoiled by the unique pinecone-grenade shape of Pineco, but a combination of Wormadam's weird Pinocchio nose and its rather bland movepool and stats makes it relatively forgettable despite the coolness of its whole bagworm moth gimmick. I do like that at least the Plant Cloak Wormadam gets some cute little flowers and leaf-arms, but both Sandy and Trash Wormadam just look awkward.
I think I would like Wormadam more if its design was a little bit more odd, or that its movepool was actually affected by its multiple forms. Again, while the concept is cool, the actual execution -- not just as an in-game chess piece, but also as a lore character -- ends up being pretty underwhelming. Also, I always felt that it's weird that Flareon/Vaporeon/Jolteon are considered different species, while the three Wormadam subtypes are considered the same, despite all of them having differing types, stats and movepools. It's weird. And not that any of them are honestly all that cool, either.
Male Burmys will instead evolve into the Bug/Flying Mothim and it's... neat. Like, I'm not sure why I never quite took onto Mothim the way I did Venomoth and Dustox. I guess it's how the wings weirdly taper off into weird finger-like things? Mothim's face has an adorable wide-eyed expression like it just saw something horrifying, which I always love. It's not particularly outstanding and honestly the most forgettable of all the lepidoptera-based pokemon. I do like the detail that male Mothim apparently go off to steal honey from Combee, the bastard. Still, I'm kind of disappointed that the pokedexes don't really tie in Mothim and Wormadam's lore together.
Overall, the concept's really nice on paper, but on execution the general looks of Burmy and Wormadam are a bit too underwhelming when they could've made the rock and trash versions a lot cooler. A definite A-for-effort for adapting the sexual dimorphism of the species and the adaptation of the bagworm moth's nest to fit its surroundings, but the execution -- both visually and mechanically in the game -- leaves much to be desired. Comparing Burmy and Wormadam to other pokemon with alternate forms, and you get why the line is so underwhelming. It's not bad, but when a bagworm moth pokemon with such an interesting gimmick is actually forgettable to a strong proponent of wacky bugs and you know there's something seriously wrong. I can't believe I'm giving the bagworm Pokemon a 2/5, but yeah, they're pretty uninteresting.
2/6 for the set, but one of the balls is an effort mark for the biology.
2/6 for the set, but one of the balls is an effort mark for the biology.
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