The sixth generation is a special generation to me. After binging through the fourth and fifth generation games in one go, I returned to the franchise just in time for the slow drip of information and revelations about what the sixth generation of games is going to be. Depending on who you ask, the sixth generation was apparently made concurrently alongside the fifth and there's a huge, huge change from using sprite-based 2D pictures to represent pokemon to having full, animated 3D models for every single pokemon old and new. While I did express my displeasure at some of said 3D models, by and by this was a much-needed shot in the arm for the franchise as a whole. Pokemon X & Y itself wasn't content on just making visual improvements, because it brought along perhaps the most changes and updates since the second generation....
And ever since the second generation, no new types have been introduced until the sixth, which brought to us Fairy type -- which was strong to the then-all-too-common Dragon typing that ran rampant over all the Wi-Fi battles and competitive scene. Instead of introducing 50 new Fairy types, the sixth generation just retconned a lot of the older Pokemon into having Fairy types, something that I'm definitely thankful about. Hell, if there's a problem for me is that they didn't change enough and that there are some better candidates to be Fairy or part-Fairy.
Also in addition to Fairy-types, we've got these new alternate forms -- Mega Evolutions, a temporary Super Saiyan style power-up that you can only activate for one pokemon in your party per battle, severely increasing their stats and abilities when they transform. These Mega Evolutions don't actually get a slot in the pokedex and are treated as alternate forms because they're temporary changes in forms, much like Castform and Cherrim before them. While initially met with derision and Digimon jokes from fans, as a whole the fandom have embraced or tolerated mega evolutions as part of the franchise. It does end up striking a neat little medium that allowed the franchise to introduce a lot of new designs, but at the same time not overbloat the region with too many new creatures.
We'll talk about the mega evolutions in detail after we cover the Kalos pokedex entries.
Also the second series of games in the generation (Omega Ruby / Alpha Sapphire, remakes of the third-generation games) ended up introducing a whole new batch of mega evolutions, and amazing little bending of the unspoken rule of "no new Pokemon in-between generations!" Overall, XY breathed new life to the franchise with massive callbacks to two of the most well received of the earlier generations -- the first and the third -- while at the same time adding new lore and doing their own thing. As a side effect of the massive undertaking in converting 3D models and the 20+ new mega evolutions, though, the actual pokemon native to the Kalos region is the least of any region, only giving us around 70.
Click here for the previous part.
Click here for the next part.
Click here for the index.
_______________________________________________________________
#650-652: Chespin, Quilladin & Chesnaught
- Types: Grass [Chespin/Quilladin], Grass/Fighting [Chesnaught]
- Japanese names: Harimaron, Haribogu, Burigaron
- Categories: Spiny Nut [Chespin], Spiny Armor [Quilladin/Chesnaught]
Our new grass starter breaks the trend of the previous five grass starters being partially based on extinct reptiles, and instead we get a happy little mammal! Chespin is a little baby rodent that the designers claim to be a combination of a hedgehog and a chestnut shoot... but I wouldn't have figured it out by looking at it. It doesn't particularly look any more like a hedgehog than, say, a squirrel or a cute rat. It's a pleasant creature, though, with a reasonably cute face and a weird hoodie thing going on, and those sharp-looking feet. Kind of honestly reminds me of Oshawott, except instead of a baby pouch thing, Chespin's got a hoodie. Chespin's only real hedgehog-y-ness comes from the spikes on his head, which it can turn erect and sharp enough to pierce rock. There's... there's really not much for me to say about Chespin. It's pleasant looking, and while never going to be my favourite starter, it's neat.
Not so much for Quilladin, though, who's turned into a weird balloon with a tail and limbs sticking out of it. I've been a pretty big Quilladin detractor from the day I first saw him, although I've mellowed out somewhat. I guess I can get where they're going -- the chesnut parts of Chespin has enveloped his entire body, or something, turning his entire body into a chestnut shell or something along those lines? Quilladin's a silly, awkward middle stage design that I still am not the biggest fan of.
Thankfully, its final stage, Chesnaught, is pretty damn awesome. Starting off from its name -- a chestnut juggernaut -- Chesnaught has surprisingly evolved into Grass/Fighting, honestly a hilarious subversion at everyone who were clamouring for "no more Fire/Fighting!" Chesnaught's chesnut armour has grown into a pleasant looking set of white spiky armour, and his long arms and legs really gives the impression of a powerful brawler. Add that to that short-trimmed viking mustache, and Chesnaught ends up being a very satisfying end to this line. Chesnaught's modeled after some a heavily-armoured knight, with his shell looking more like an elaborate set of cape armour, which will play into how Delphox and Greninja both embody a form of mage and rogue, making Chesnaught fill the warrior trope so that the three of them end up being a set of the three most common 'basic' RPG classes.
And true to that theme, Chesnaught is a bulky-looking motherfucker, and his signature move, Spiky Shield, has a unique animation where he slams his two arms together and the green parts of his arms transforms and elongates into an actual spiky shield. It's a unique animation that only shows up if Chesnaught uses that specific move, which I thought was a nice touch. Also, while it's not evident, people ended up catching on to the fact that Chesnaught's armadillo-like shell is likely a reference to the giant Glyptodonts, ancient, giant armadillos that lived during the Miocene to the Pleistocene era, so you have that little theme going on if that makes you happy. Ultimately, while not my favourite line among the starters, Chesnaught is at least a pretty neat little payoff. Not my favourite starter line by any means, but I don't hate them.
3/6.#653-655: Fennekin, Braixen & Delphox
- Types: Fire [Fennekin/Braixen], Fire/Psychic [Delphox]
- Japanese names: Fokko, Teruna, Mafokushi
- Categories: Fox [all three]
Fennekin was my original starter for the sixth generation, although I ended up using my Venusaur and event Blaziken a fair bit more than I used him. Sorry, Fennekin! Fennekin's actually one of the neater designs, and definitely a pleasant-looking little baby fire fox. Fennekin is specifically based on the fennec fox, well-known for their distinctive large ears. Real-life fennec foxes use them to dissipate heat, and Fennekin does the same thing... but on extreme, venting out air hotter than 200 degrees Celsius. The neat little bunches of fur that pop out of Fennekin's ears are also honestly a neat little bit of detail that resembles flame without setting another animal on fire. Ultimately his design ends up being rather distinct from Pokemon's previous fire foxes, Vulpix and Flareon. It also likes to munch on twigs as a snack, and twigs will prove important to Fennekin because it evolves into...
5/6. Fennekin is a cute fox!
Braixen, who ends up standing on two feet, and has that twig stuffed on his tail. Braixen also gains a somewhat more feminine disposition, with that fur splayed out like a dress, his feet gaining black-coloured "stockings" and that white patch of fur on his chest looking like the crest of the stereotypical Japanese school uniform (I say 'his', by the way, because all my Delphoxes have been male throughout the couple of times I played through the sixth-generation games). Thanks to the animation in the 3D games, however, any time Braixen attacks, he pulls out that stick, lights it on fire like a matchstick and shoots out fireballs. Just like a wizard, which is where this line ends up going. Apparently the twig is turned into a burning match due to the friction from the fur in his tail, which I thought is a neat little detail. Braixen has never been my favourite, and I think I might like him less than Quilladin. Pokken Tournament includes a Braixen instead of a Delphox, painting her as someone who fights like a character from Sailor Moon, which is neat! Now if only the creepy hentai community hasn't latched on to poor Braixen as much as they had done to Gardevoir... Thankfully, he sheds all the weird fetish-fuel nonsense when he evolves into...
Delphox! And here, Delphox just exaggerates all of the features that Braixen has, but has a far more cooler looking traditional witch/wizard robe formed out of red fur, making him look honestly quite majestic. It's holding a burning twig 24/7, and I really like how the ear-furs have blazed all out like a gigantic explosion. Oh, and since Delphox is a wizard (or witch, depending on the gender of your Delphox), he's a Fire/Psychic, which is actually honestly quite cool. When I first saw Fennekin I kinda expected him to evolve into some gigantic nine-tailed demon fox thing, but I guess that's just going to be a rehash of Ninetales, and I appreciate that they went through a whole other set of tropes to give us Delphox.
And Delphox's dex descriptions are indeed cool, where apparently he uses psychic powers to boost the movements of his flames, manipulating them into powerful whirlwinds to sweep his foes away. This is reflected by Delphox's signature move, Mystical Fire, where Delphox spins that stick around in a certain way to unleash flames that burn and debuff the opponent. Ultimately, Delphox has sort of fallen off my favourite Kalos pokemon list, and honestly probably the first time I've felt disappointed with a starter final evolution.
And Delphox's dex descriptions are indeed cool, where apparently he uses psychic powers to boost the movements of his flames, manipulating them into powerful whirlwinds to sweep his foes away. This is reflected by Delphox's signature move, Mystical Fire, where Delphox spins that stick around in a certain way to unleash flames that burn and debuff the opponent. Ultimately, Delphox has sort of fallen off my favourite Kalos pokemon list, and honestly probably the first time I've felt disappointed with a starter final evolution.
3/5.#656-658: Froakie, Frogadier & Greninja
And honestly, I'm not sure why I didn't pick Froakie for my first playthrough of Y, when Froakie is honestly a starter that's the only non-mammalian. It's a cute little baby frog, and it evolves into a ninja! I guess I was trying to just use a fire-type starter because I haven't used one since the second generation? Eh. Whatever the case, Froakie's pretty adorable. He's a little baby frog with adorably gigantic yellow eyes -- and when Froakie closes his eyes, the pupils turn into hilarious little slits which I've always found to be a particularly adorable part of them. While briefly seeming somewhat generic, a blue-and-white frog, closer inspection of his dex entry tells us that the little cloud-like puff that surrounds his neck and stretches out into a little cape-lump on his back is actually made out of bubbles it produces, a reference to how frogs like the Tungara frog or the foam-nest tree frog will create foams to make protective nests over their eggs. Froakie's design also resembles an innocent version of the classical depiction of robbers in Japanese culture, which tend to have a little bag slung around their necks with the loot stashed inside their backs -- like the Burglars from the first generation. Anyway, Froakie is adorable.
It evolves into the cooler-looking Frogadier, who just looks so goddamn sleek. The dark blue accentuates Frogadier's sleeker, thin form so well, and the burglar bag has turned into a cool froth shawl. And I really like the incorporation of a horned frog's head-horns into these cool back-swept structures, too. Frogadier and Froakie are both able to use their froth bubbles to augment their attacks, either to use them as some sort of mousse to blind enemies, or to throw bubble-covered pebbles like sniper shots. This property is something seen in both manga and anime, but tragically not represented in any way in the games. It's cool looking, and then Frogadier (who, by the way, has one of the best names ever) evolves into Greninja.
And oh boy, Greninja is a badass motherfucker. He's Water/Dark, because he has evolved into a proper ninja, and has ditched all of the light blue that Froakie and Frogadier has. The horns on his heads are more prominent, the sleekness of Frogadier is emphasized, and instead of bubbles, Greninja's tongue now wraps around his neck like a scarf, something that I found to be actually ingenious usage of a pokemon's animal-like anatomy. Greninja's got those badass anime eyes, but when you just hang out with Greninja and feed him macarons, he's got laid-back slit froggy eyes which I absolutely adore. Greninja's gotten a fair amount of love from both the fandom and GameFreak, with Greninja showing up in the Super Smash Bros game, and essentially taking on the role of Charizard as Ash's "badass ace" of the Kalos arc of the anime. Hell, unprecedented by none, Greninja even ended up getting a silly upgraded form in the anime! It's a cool ninja frog with lots of great ninja moves, and the game even gives Greninja two exclusive moves (both with unique animations!) -- Water Shuriken, where Greninja produces, well, shurikens made out of water to launch it at the enemy, as well as Mat Block, which is apparently based on a trope in ninja works where slamming down hard enough onto a tatami will cause it to be launched into the air and take an attack for you.
This ninja frog's natural moveset is even filled with lots of fancy tricky attacks appropriate for a ninja! Shadow Sneak, Spikes, Substitute, Haze, Smokescreen, Feint Attack... and to make Greninja even more badass, this fucker's hidden ability is the absolutely broken Protean, which will allow Greninja to wily-nily transform its type to match the move it is using, guaranteeing a STAB bonus. It's the sort of shit that gimmicky pokemon like Kecleon and Porygon wished they could do. Greninja's popularity is honestly well-deserved, and while I kinda wished that the designers gave Chesnaught and Delphox at least some degree of the same treatment, Greninja ends up just being pretty cool in the standard sense of what 'cool' is accepted... while still being a goofy frog with huge webbed hands and a tongue-scarf. I love this thing. It appeals to my love for quirky animals while still being traditionally cool, and he's got such a great, great bunch of action sequences in the anime. Definitely one of the better designs in this generation, honestly.
6/6, actual favourite starter from this generation. #659-660: Bunnelby & Diggersby
Ah, the early-game rodent of this region! Seems like it's been a while since I last talked about one of these. Bunnelby is a cute enough bunny with poofy butt-cheeks, and is definitely a more rodent-like rabbit compared to previous bunny efforts like Plusle or Buneary. Bunnelby's a different sort of cute, and it's fine for what it is. Bunnelby's whole things is that they like to make undeground burrows like real rabbits, but use their giant shovel-like ears to do it, explaining why they are so mud-stained.
Regrettably, this thing evolves into the far-uglier Diggersby, which I just... I just find unpleasant-looking. I guess that's what they are going for? To make the rabbit as chunky and weird-looking as possible? This Normal/Ground Pokemon has far, far larger ears that act like excavators, and they're fat with their mouths entirely brown. It's apparently meant to kind of represent a construction worker... but I'm really not a big fan of that haramaki sash with the random chunk of yellow, or the fact that his front paws end in weird white gloves. Diggerby's not my favourite design, and I don't particularly have much to say about him. I don't like him, but I don't hate him. Diggersby just looks too happy and friendly for me to throw profanities at it. I don't want to spoil his day.
2/6.#661-663: Fletchling, Fletchinder & Talonflame
Our new songbird of the region is the Normal/Flying Fletchling, which is honestly the most adorable little lovable cartoon robin bird. Between those unblinking bird eyes, the nice little shade of orange, the thin legs, tiny beak and tiny wings, and the little arrow-feather tail, Fletchling is probably the cutest out of the early route birds. I absolutely adore how Fletchling actually acts more like Spearows than most of the other friendlier birds, being described as "merciless" to anyone that intrudes into his territory. Newer dex entries also note that its body temperature increases significantly when it battles, something that will hint towards Fletchling's eventual evolution.
Fletchling then evolves into Fletchinder, who becomes Fire/Flying, the first of the early-route birds to actually lose Normal-typing and gain a secondary type after evolution. They're clearly trying to do something with Fletchling and Bunnelby to separate them from the five sets of early rodent/early bird that have came before them, and this secondary typing is certainly neat. Fletchinder's essentialyl a bigger, angrier Fletchling, just like most other early route birds. It's deccent for what it is, adding more yellow, a more raptor-esque head design, and I really like how its tail has got a second streak of white. I do love the dex entries describing Fletchinder's hunting habits, by spitting out fire and burning up grass, and then waiting for little bugs to pop out of the grass before pecking down. Also, Fletchinder and his evolution, Talonflame possess the insanely powerful hidden ability, Gale Wings, allowing them to strike first regardless of speed if they're using any Flying-type moves, causing Talonflame to be an insane bane in the competitive battle scene in the sixth generation so much that Gale Wings ended up being nerfed in the seventh to only grant that bonus if they have full health.
Talonflame, the final stage, sadly drops the arrow naming theme for a rather lazy (if admittedly still cool-sounding) two-words-stuck-together name. Talonflame drops all pretenses of being a robin, and looks a lot more like a peregrine falcon, one of the more famous birds of prey in popular media. I love the way the wings have a bit of a flame motif with the reds and blacks, and how his face just looks so badass. The yellow from Fletchinder's wings have modes to his tail, now with three stripes, and this angry fire bird is described to be super-fast, and it likes to snack on Pikipek and Wingull, apparently. Talonflame's really cool-looking, and honestly after Unfezant from the previous season was honestly pretty disappointing, it's neat to have another cool-looking murder-bird again. I have one of these through my playthrough of Y, and one of my earlier attempts of trying to breed a competitive team. A lot of people don't like Talonflame for competitive stuff... but since I only dabble in those, I still think Talonflame's pretty cool.
4/6.#664-666: Scatterbug, Spewpa & Vivillon
- Types: Bug [Scatterbug/Spewpa], Bug/Flying [Vivillon]
- Japanese names: Kofukimushi, Kofurai, Bibiyon
- Categories: Scatterdust [Scatterbug/Spewpa], Scale [Vivillon]
Another region, another early-route bug. You'd think I would gush over the Scatterbug line just because they're bugs and I really love bugs, but the Scatterbug line has honestly been... mostly underwhelming. Everyone loves Scatterbug and I respect that, but I've honestly never really managed to muster much excitement for Scatterbug beyond 'eh'. Taken in isolation, the little square pupils, the little neck collar, the bucktooth and the three-stranded hairdo are all adorable features, but put together Scatterbug just ends up feeling somewhat off and a wee bit cluttered to me. Eh. Scatterbug apparently has a lot of powder around its body that it uses as its Stun Spore attacks, and it also regulates its temperature to allow it to live in any climate. Scatterbug's neat. It's just not my favourite.
Spewpa, on the other hand, is actually pretty adorable. Sure, it looks like no pupa I've ever seen, but the weird little mouthless bug head looks so natural an evolution from Scatterbug while looking a lot more buggy, and the cocoon covering the rest of his body is a neat take on the same deal that Swadloon did in the previous generation. I thought the weird little colourful chunks that drop off of Spewpa was weird, like some sort of disembodied necklace, but in animation, Spewpa mostly just stands still, and only shakes those little chunks loose in attack animations. Spewpa seems to be based on some caterpillar types that leave their head exposed to feed while covering the rest of their body in a bagworm-esque bag of fibers and hairs, and I'm totally fine with them incorporating larval stage gimmickry into the pupal stage. Spewpa's nice.
And then Spewpa evolves into Vivillon and... and honestly? I can really feel the "it's just another butterfly" complaints. Vivillon's a great, adorable butterfly design, but it doesn't really add much to anything that other cute butterflies like Beautifly and Butterfree already did before, and unlike most other repeated themes, Vivillon isn't even adapting and neat-looking or commonly-known animal. There's definitely a lot to enjoy about Vivillon's design, from his happy smile to that cool-looking eyes.
But Vivillon's one gimmick is that the pattern on Vivillon's wings differ depending on the real-world region that you catch the Vivillon in (it uses the 3DS' registered country), and there's no way to encounter any of the Vivillon patterns outside the one keyed into your geographical region otherwise. It's... it's a neat concept to promote the brand-new Wi-Fi Global Trading System deal, which is neat, but otherwise turns Vivillon to nothing but a cosmetic catch-em-all. I really shouldn't e that hard since it's actually a neat little gimmick... I just really would've preferred the form changes to happen depending on the actual in-universe region and not some "look at this new 3DS function we will promote with just one Pokemon!" silliness. I do really like a lot of the Vivillon forms, mind you. The elegant pattern is really nice-looking, the meadow, modern, monsoon and polar Vivillons look positively colourful, while the savanna one looks refreshing. Ocean and sun Vivillons are the more complex ones, and they look really neat. Overall, though, Vivillon's just neat and not much else. I don't mind him, but as the sixth generation's one sole new Bug-type, Vivillon is honestly kind of just there, kind of a basic and honestly expected butterfly critter that doesn't really do much outside of that. A pretty set of butterflies, though!
Here are all the Vivillons:
Man, kinda wished some older Pokemon like Arbok or Burmy or Shellos/Gastrodon got this sort of treatment, huh? You don't even have to go the regional variant route; just go with some cosmetic variants! Arbok in particular felt egregious because it's actually canon in the first through third Generations that the Arboks in different regions have slightly different patterns, and it's even a plot point in the Adventures manga! Oh well. I'm trying to think what else could be benefited from this sort of palette-swap style variants.
Out of these, I feel like my favourite Vivvilon are the Ocean, Monsoon, Meadow and Elegant variants. Ultimately they still all get 4/6 as a whole, although it's a neat showcase of how theoretically the 3D Pokemon games can fit in a whole more cosmetic variations with palette-swapping.
4/6.#667-668: Litleo & Pyroar
These are the 'elemental' mammals in the vein of Poochyena and Shinx before them. And... not going to lie, Litleo and Pyroar are honestly pretty disappointing for me. Like, the fandom has been clamouring for a 'proper' lion pokemon, but I've always found the stylized ones that embellish what a lion is like Arcanine and Entei to actually be far more interesting... but I suppose we are overdue for a lion pokemon that looks like a proper lion. Litleo's neat enough, a cute little cub that has a darker mane (which is actually a variation in real-life lions and not all of them are brother-killing assholes like Disney's Scar) with a little tuft of fire on his head. Litleo's Normal/Fire, one of the many part-Normal part-elemental pokemon that I just really don't see the justification of. It's like they're just trying to check off a type combination off the list. Litleo's whole deal is that he's a lion cub. They're kicked out of their Prides once they're old enough to fight.
And then they evolve into Pyroar, which is... honestly? Underwhelming. They're just lions with funny-looking manes. They definitely get a cool looking gender difference deal going on here, and thankfully follow in the fifth generation's footsteps at actually making the gender differences distinct. Male Pyroar's mane is shaped in the character 火, meaning fire in Chinese and Japanese (which is also the shape that Fire Blast always takes in all these games), while female Pyroar has a little slick ponytail moving backwards. Male Pyroar looks ridiculously awkward more than majestic -- and honestly, Team Flare leader Lysandre rocks that hairdo better than Pyroar did. There's really not much to go on about Pyroar other than their gender differences, and the fact that they're lions that breathe fire. Add that to the random spiky tufts that fail to really be distinct on Pyroar's legs and tail, and I dunno. It's just a design that doesn't do it for me. I really hope I don't come down on Pyroar just because it's popular (I love lions too!) but it's just kinda bland. I respect it for its simplicity -- it's a lion pokemon that just wants to be a fire-breathing lion and nothing else. S'neat, not every Pokemon has to be, like, some unique creature with a unique ability, but it does make me really not have much to say about the line.
3/6, bordering on 2/6.#669-671: Flabébé, Floette & Florges
Technically, Flabebe has accented e's, but I can't figure out how to properly format those in blogspot and it gets tiresome, so just pretend Flabebe has little lines on top of the e's. The sixth generation introduced the brand-new Fairy type, retconning 23 previous pokemon to either be Fairy-types or part-Fairy. It's the first generation to introduce a brand-new type since Dark and Steel in the second generation, and while initially everyone went "WTF" at the decidedly non-elemental typing of Fairy, it's honestly a pretty neat group to put Pokemon into, considering how these fair folk both helpful and mischievous has honestly been a running theme throughout the past five generations that after the initial shock wore off, I whole-heartedly embraced our new Fairy overlords. The fact that they brought competitive balance to beat up uber-popular pokemon and are weak to the oh-so-neglected poison and steel ends up being just a sweetener. Honestly, my beef is that how they could've gone a bit further in trying to retcon other pokemon into fairy-types. We'll hopefully talk about this later on when we review typings, but I've made my stance about how some pokemon should by rights be fairies pretty clear.
Flabebe is a tiny 10-cm little buddy that ends up even giving Joltik a run for his money as the world's smallest Pokemon, quite literally being a tiny little sprite with a halo of pollen puffs and ear-wings, clutching onto a flower's pistil, and just hovering along that flower. Flabebes bond to their flower, and once they find one that they like, they'll hang on to it for the rest of their lives. The X dex entry notes that Flabebe's flower is "most likely part of its body", while the Ultra Sun dex notes that Flabebe hunts down a flower it likes, so it's probably a process before Flabebe ends up undergoing some symbiosis with her preferred flower. I really like how Flabebe is described as being able to draw out the power of her flowers and unleash a crapton of Grass-type moves (more than Fairy-type moves, really) but not being a grass-type herself.
Also, Flabebe also has form differences that's pretty cute -- its flower colour is either red, blue, yellow, orange or white, depending on the colour of the patch of flowers you encounter the Flabebe in. It's another one of those pointless form differences, but this one is at least relatively simple. Flabebe evolves into Floette, who's got a more developed body than Flabebe, and holds the flower like a parasol. Floette's also reasonably cute, with those bug-antenna eyebrows, the sideways-hair-wings, and that tiny mermaidesque body.
Floette is honestly slightly forgettable if not for a Floette kickstarting the backstory of the plot of XY, being the partner of the ancient immortal king AZ. That Floette died with absolutely no ambiguity, killed during a war that took place in Kalos, causing AZ to activate the Ultimate Weapon -- powered with either the legendary pokemon Xerneas or Yveltal, turning every other combatant in the war into stone to resurrect his buddy Floette... who was so disgusted with AZ she flutters off. This Floette had a unique model, holding an unique flower and having blue highlights, and is known as the 'Eternal Flower Floette' -- supposedly saved for a distribution event that I don't think actually happened yet at the time of writing. It's all nice and good as AZ sort-of assists us in stopping the catastrophe a second time, causing Floette to return to him.
Floette evolves when exposed to the Shiny Stone, apparently fusing with the flower and becoming Florges. Florges has grown a lot larger than Flabebe and Floette, and seems to have taken the flower's properties into herself. She's got this neck-wreath of flowers, she's got two wing-like leaves that sprout from the tip of her mermaid-esque feet... and yes, there could be an argument that Florges's plants are just her 'clothing', but I genuinely find it really weird that Florges is still pure-Fairy and not Fairy/Grass. Hell, even her moveset and her two abilities are all moves that support Grass-types! It's strange, but I guess Florges is just playing up the fact that she's a fairy that lives with and alongside plants, without being a proper plant itself? It's weird.
Florges's design has never struck me as being as likable as Flabebe and Floette, in no small part due to how utterly busy the head portion looks and the weird scoliosis posture she has, but I do like how they're trying to have Florges's legs be the 'roots' of a plant, her body be a stalk and her head-wreath being the flower. Instead of carrying a flower, Florges has became a flower, in appearance if not in typing. Neat! Tying into the whole 'kings and rulers' theme of Kalos, Florges is stated to be used by old owners of castles to maintain and create beautiful flower gardens in castle grounds, and anyone who fucks with the gardens will get a good dose of flower power. Overall I've never quite appreciated how neat Florges looks, with her body structure resembling both an actual flower and a mermaid. I like Flabebe and Floette a lot more, but Florges is pretty neat.
3/6.#672-673: Skiddo & Gogoat
- Types: Grass [both]
- Japanese names: Mekuru, Gogoto
- Categories: Mount [both]
Skiddo and Gogoat are pure Grass-types based on, well, goats. What makes Gogoat pure-Grass, while Litleo and Sawsbuck are part-Normal? Consistency, Pokemon, is it too much to ask for? Skiddo and Gogoat's whole deal is that they're goats, but they have plants growing on their fur. They're also the first 'rideable' pokemon, although XY only allowed you to ride them in specific areas. Skiddo's pretty cure and his horns resemble like a smaller scooter or small motorcycle, while Gogoat's longer horns brings to mind one of those Harley-Davidson huge bikes, although for the longest part I've never quite got this and thought that Gogoat's curved horns are just due to it being based on an ibex or bharal or one of those mountain goats with curved horns.
They're both decently drawn pokemon, but I genuinely can't think of anything interesting about them. There's a Skiddo farm in Kalos, and you can ride Gogoats in Lumiose City as their equivalent of taxis (which you will ignore when actual taxis take you in front of your intended location instantly). The gym leader Ramos also uses a Gogoat, if I recall? Ramos's gym was one hell of a pushover, though, and I can't really remember that gym particularly well. Overall, they're neat additions... just kind of more boring than most Pokemon. Really could've done more, but for what they are, they aren't bad. They're just the sort of pokemon that, like Litleo, feels like they could've done more than check an "animal we haven't done" off the list (also, holy shit, I didn't realize we never had a goat pokemon) while slapping a typing on them.
2/6.#674-675: Pancham & Pangoro
- Types: Fighting [Pancham], Fighting/Dark [Pangoro]
- Japanese names: Yanchamu, Goronda
- Categories: Playful [Pancham], Daunting [Pangoro]
And this is how you really do an adaptation of an animal that hasn't been made into a Pokemon yet. Pancham and Pangoro are the long-awaited panda pokemon that the fandom so desperately wants -- poor Spinda! Well, Pancham actually does look like a panda instead of a bunny with spots, and look at this charming little baby panda! It's not just a panda drawn funny, it's got personality. It's got a cheeky grin and those mischievous eyes, and he's chomping down on a piece of leaf, trying to look tough and all. He's adorable! Pancham's dex entry even states that "it does its best to be taken seriously by its enemies, but its glare is not sufficiently intimidating", because it's actually a happy panda baby and grins and is all happy if someone pats it on its head. Awww. It's another way to make a panda cute without going to the now tired trope of big fat sleepy eating pandas that we often see in World of Warcraft and Kung-Fu Panda. Pancham is still a Fighting-type, and still cute, but a different kind of cute. Also because the sixth generation means that the game makers have to actually manually make the shiny models instead of relying on a code, shiny Pancham (and Pangoro) are a nice shade of dark brown that resembles a subspecies of panda, the Qinling Panda. Neat!
Pancham evolves in a really neat way, too. Pancham's just a scrappy naughty boy, but evolve him with some bad influence in your party -- i.e. a Dark-type -- and Pancham evolves into Pangoro, a Fighting/Dark type. That's so awesome! Pangoro borrows from the Bancho delinquents that are often seen in many mangas, but even then without knowledge of Japanese culture, it's enough for Pangoro to look badass. That angry face! That badass (bamboo!) stalk on its mouth! That trenchcoat-esque cape of fur that extends down from his shoulders! Those black fists! Pangoro is a straight-up badass looking panda that looks unmistakably unique, but at the same time still looks like a panda. This makes me look at lazier designs like Beartric and Gogoat and shake my head.
It's such a glorious way to evolve, for your Pancham to get taught the ways to be a bully and a mafia scrapper by your Honchkrow or Scrafty, and apparently it's still got a soft side -- like many 'noble demon' manga stereotypes, Pangoro is violent but hates anyone who bullies the weak. Apparently only its trainer is exempt from this, because if you train a Pangoro, you "have no choice but to converse with your fists". So yeah, I really think Pangoro embodies the Fighting/Dark combo very well. It's a street thug that fights dirty, but it also has the nobility associated with Fighting-types when its allies are concerned. Overall, pretty damn awesome. I love these street thug pandas.
5/6.#676: Furfrou
- Type: Normal
- Japanese name: Torimian
- Category: Poodle
I've stated time and time again that I'm a dog person, but Furfrou is honestly just a doggie that I constantly forget about. It's a cartoon poodle and a Normal-type with a wacky 'thick fur' ability that halves all physical damage, but there's... there's quite literally not much going on with Furfrou. It's just a funnily-drawn cartoon poodle. It's pleasant for what it is, but it's entire deal is to ramp up a new gimmick -- salons. See, the sixth generation boasted a completely new gimmick of customizing your character whenever you want, and that includes salons that can magically turn someone's bald head into full golden locks. And because they need pokemon to highlight features, you have to bring your Furfrou to the salon every day if you want to unlock Furfrou's other poodle-esque forms that will allow you to turn your Furfrou into one of nine possible 'trims'. It's extremely befitting with the theme, and while I'm not a fan of the random splotches of colour given to Furfrou, I guess it's fitting? Definitely love the dandy, debutante and pharaoh trims. I like the flavour behind customizing Furfrou for the simple purpose of making it look like the poodle of your choice -- and I do like the little detail that Furfrou's hair reverts back to its default state five days after trimming, but Furfrou mostly just ends up being forgettable to me as 'that hair salon poodle'.
3/6.#677-678: Espurr & Meowstic
- Types: Psychic [both]
- Japanese names: Nyasupa, Nyaonikusu
- Categories: Restraint [Espurr], Constraint [Meowstic]
...Especially when you come off of Furfrou to these amazingly designed cats. Each cat pokemon successfully adapts a particular trope associated with cats, which is that some of them are really fucking creepy. Espurr and Meowstic, as you can probably tell by their deliciously pun-tastic names, are pure-Psychic types. I don't think I took to Espurr as much as the rest of the fandom did, who squee'd over how adorable he is... but I don't particularly care all that much for Espurr's general design. It's a neat-looking humanoid Scottish Fold cat, but the face? The face I can get behind. That thin line of a mouth, that big forehead, tufts of fur... and best of all? Those dead, glassy eyes. It is equal parts adorable and unnerving, essentially all the qualities that makes little kittens so darling. Best of all? Espurr is one of the pokemon designed with a 3D model in mind, so it constantly moves in battle animations or if you play with it on the 'Pokemon Amie' feature, and half of its animation has it lift up its ears... to reveal a second pair of eyes. Or rather, the organs that emits its psychic powers. Espurr, you see, has intense amounts of energy, enough to destroy "everything within 300 feet" and it has no control over its powers, other than his huge ears, which Espurr tries his best to keep the power from leaking out. It's not called the Restraint Pokemon for nothing!
So yeah, Espurr is adorably cute, and has a cool backstory to work with! No wonder he quickly shot up as one of the darlings of this generation, and I can count myself among the legions of Espurr fans. Espurr's essentially one of those creepy kids hiding immense powers, a common trope in both anime and horror films.
Espurr eventually evolves into Meowstic, which has different designs between the male and female forms. Normally we'd chalk this up to extreme gender differences like Jellicent, Hippopotas, Pyroar and Unfezant... but Meowstic's two forms actually have different hidden abilities and movesets (the male one has a larger focus on Psychic moves and wacky status moves, the female one learns moves from a lot of other types), so far the only gender difference to have differing in-game mechanics but not separated into two dex entries in vein of Volbeat and Illumise, or the Nidos. Eh. I'll give myself an aneurysm trying to list all the ways the Pokemon franchise is sometimes horribly inconsistent, so let's acknowledge it and go on.
Meowstic is... definitely a lot less creepy and cute than Espurr, which is unfortunate. The male one (the mainly-blue one on the left) has always been my favourite due to how stylish the blue stripes end up being, as well as how creepy those glass green eyes are, but the female one (mainly-white one on the right) isn't bad, either. Like Espurr, their bent ears still cover up their psychic organs, and in typical pokedex fashion Meowstic is able to unleash enough psychokinetic power to "grind a 10-ton truck to dust". The game animations even has them roll back their eyes, while the ears unfurl to reveal the eye-like organs, which is just glorious. Meowstic also has a tail that's split into two, which is a reference to the Nekomata, a two-tailed cat yokai, which, in some versions of the legend, are said to be household cats of a certain age that transformed and gained mystical powers. I've never really thought a lot about this evolutionary line before doing this review, and I realize now that, you know what? I do like them.
4/6.
No comments:
Post a Comment