Gotta Review 'Em All, Part #37: Obstagoon to Runerigus (ft. Galarian/G-Max Forms)

Hoo boy, I wondered about how I was going to tackle this segment of the Pokedex, and I decided to just stuff every single Galarian form and new 'regional evolutions' in the same page. Because this generation kind of goes all wild on new forms. We've got new regional forms (which were relatively standalone and I reviewed in a single batch last generation), we've got new evolutions and alternate evolutions, all of which are associated with a Galarian form, and we also have a bunch of brand-new Gigantamax forms for old Pokemon -- I debated strongly if I would rather just put Gigantamax forms all in the same page, but then it'd be real weird if I talked about Orbeetle and Drednaw and Corviknight and the rest of the Gen VIII boys and basically wink-wink-hint-hint that there's going to be more to their evolution down the line when it's the same generation. With Mega Evolutions, Diancie's the only one who got it, which makes it a lot less headache-inducing to order. This generation's doing its dang best to throw any proper ordering of Pokemon reviews out of whack!

So whereas in Generation VI and VII I grouped both mega evolutions and regional forms into a batches, because Obstagoon, Cursola, Perrserker, Sirfetch'd, Mr. Rime and Runerigus all actually come in the pokedex at this point, I decide to talk about all of them and their regional form pre-evolutions, and then talk about the other Galarian forms below. We'll save the other non-Meowth Gigantamax forms later on after that.

Because I kind of need to say it again -- I shorten the names of "Gigantamax Pokemon" into "Giga Pokemon". Because Gigantamax is really long and annoying to write and G-Max is a bit irritating since I have to press the Shift key twice. I kinda like the far simpler and less tacky name of "Giga Charizard" over "G-Max Charizard". Basically I know what it's supposed to be via official means, but I'm going to use the terms interchangeably. 

Also, I'm probably going to include Slowpoke and the other DLC-associated Galarian and Gigantamax forms in a separate one.

Previously on:

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#263-264; 862: Galarian Zigzagoon, Linoone & Obstagoon

• Types: Dark/Normal [all three]
• Japanese name: Jiguzaguma, Massuguma, Tachiusaguma
• Category: Tiny Raccoon [Zigzagoon], Rushing [Linoone], Blocking [Obstagoon]

So good ol' humble Zigzagoon and Linoone from Hoenn apparently also exist in Galar, but here they aren't just raccoons that run weird, but are freaking glam rock fans. Galarian Zigzagoon keeps so much of the original Zigzagoon's design, only changing the brown to black, giving it a more frenzied face and swapping its bandit eye markings into star-shaped ones. It just looks so much more energetic with such a slight change in appearance. I kinda like this a lot more than regular Zigzaggon! This entire line has became Dark/Normal, which is not the best typing out there mechanically but a pretty neat one nonetheless. The pokedex notes just how aggressive this is, and apparently Galarian Zigzagoon is the 'oldest form of Zigzagoon', so the Zigzagoon we're more familiar with and we've seen in Hoenn and other regions are actually the regional variants? Like, they got imported everywhere outside of Galar, and they subsequently turn into the Hoennese Zigzagoon and Linoone we are more familiar with? Considering that Zigzagoon and Linoone were based on European Badgers, I guess that's true? 


Galarian Linoone also goes through the same changes that Galarian Zigzagoon does, looking a lot more energetic and feral, getting star-shaped eye tattoos and being black-and-white. I'm not sure why it gets these weird donuts around its forepaws, though. I love the detail that Galarian Linoone specifically uses its long tongue to taunt its opponents (totally a Gene Simmons nod, isn't it?), before charging them. Anyway, one that takes a relatively solid animal-based design and adds enough flair without changing too much. An all right one. 

Unlike Hoennian (Hoennese?) Zigzagoon and Linoone, Galarian Linoone is able to transform into a final form, Obstagoon, and... While I'm not usually a fan of just anthropomorphized animal-people as Pokemon, just like Pangoro before it Obstagoon gets a thumbs up from me for being just so over-the-top at portraying a specific style -- this time being glam rock or punk rock, with the light brown fur being a jacket, and Obstagoon's markings all making it look like a KISS fan. I do kinda wished that it was a wee bit more bestial, because jumping from Linoone to fur-suit badger man is a bit of a wild jump, but on the other than that, I honestly don't quite feel the same sort of "ehhh this is whatever" feel that I do when I see some of the other anthropomorphic-animal Pokemon? I dunno. I guess Obstagoon feels 'wild' enough that it still feels like an actual werewolf-style beast-man instead of ending up with the feeling of 'dude in a fursuit'. 

And if the KISS homage is intentional, apparently Gene Simmons approves of it -- hooray! Obstagoon's noted to be extremely loud, and its whole deal is that it's the 'blocking' pokemon with the signature move called 'Obstruct'. Unlike other protecting moves like Protect, King's Shield, Baneful Bunker or Spiky Shield, this isn't characterized as Obstagoon putting up a shield, but apparently it taking a threatening posture and shouting so loudly that the enemy stops in its track. Presumably it then proceeds to belt out a KISS solo. Anyway, not my sort of thing -- Obstagoon is one that I feel would've annoyed me a lot, but it's also so over-the-top that it loops around to me kinda liking it as some sort of were-badger rockstar. As a whole, though, the line's pretty neat enough and kind of an interesting take on the Zigzagoon line that I think they deserve a 4.

 4/6.

#052 & 863: Galarian Meowth, Perrserker and Giga-Meowth

• Types: Steel [both]; Normal [Gigantamax Meowth]
• Japanese name: Nyasu, Nyaikingu
• Category: Scratch Cat [Meowth], Viking [Perrserker]

Good ol' Meowth gets yet another regional variant, and that's not all it gets in this generation either! We'll talk about Galarian Meowth first, which goes on a completely different direction compared to the default Kantonian Meowth or last generation's Alolan Meowth. Galarian Meowth is absolutely bizarre when you first see it, looking like a huge chunky thing until you realize that the big bushy face is actually a massive bearded face, like a Viking or a Tolkien dwarf -- the 3D model makes it clear that Galarian Meowth's body structure is still identical to regular Meowth. Apparently, Galarian Meowth is bred by a savage, seafaring people, and has evolved into a pure-Steel type. It's a Viking Meowth, and Meowth is easily the last Pokemon I would think would be adapted into a Viking. It's even got a pair of curved horns near its coin. It's sort of a odd direction to take Meowth in, but okay? Apparently those black forehead-coins function sort of like trophies in battle, with Meowths that have harder coins earning more respect among the clan. 


Galarian Meowth doesn't evolve into a Galarian version of Persian, but rather into a whole new form called Perrserker! Someone at Nintendo's localization team had too much fun making up this name. And I've always felt like the stylized, cartoon-y Meowth loses something when it evolves into the just-a-cat Persian, and an alternate regional evolution (instead of just a regional variant evolution like Marowak or Exeggutor) is something that I've honestly never realized was a thing that could be possible, taking a Pokemon with a pre-established evolution into a completely different direction... which would be interesting! Perrserker is basically Galarian Meowth with its features a bit enhanced -- extra black fur to resemble Viking fur armour, a more helmet-like head, and... lazy-looking eyes? Why so unmotivated, Perrserker? I do love the little detail that Perrserker's able to combine its three cat-claws into a massive steel blade, that's pretty cool. 

Ultimately, I'm still not the biggest fan of these two, but they're pretty manic-looking crazy kitties, and I can respect that they look pretty different. 

 3/6 for Galarian Meowth and Perrserker.

Meowth doesn't just get a regional variant in this game! Regular Kantonian Meowth is one of the early-game exclusive downloadable content thing, and the special Meowth you get can't evolve into a Persian, but can Ggigantamax... into a long, stretched-out Meowth with no pupils, and.. it's based on the Long Cat meme, which originated in Japan. it's kind of a silly joke that I kinda hate, but at the same time the visual look of such a ridiculous stretched-out kitty is also so silly that I can't help but like it just a bit. There's a brief blurb about how the pattern scribbled on its coin is the key to the dynamax phenomenon, or something. Ultimately, though, it's kind of just there, neat for a laugh but otherwise a silly design. Giga Meowth, however, is particularly useful for one thing -- making money. Its Gigantamax form basically allows it to unleash the move Pay Day on steroids, making it actually a fun way to spam money once you get your Meowth to a high enough level to survive battles in dynamax dens. 

 2/6 for Longcat Meowth.

#222 & 864: Galarian Corsola & Cursola

• Types: Ghost
• Japanese name: Sanigo, Sanigon
• Category: Coral

Coral reefs are dying all over the world due to pollution and whatnot, and apparently this is also true in the Pokemon world, because Galarian Corsola is a sad sad coral ghost! It's probably not just pollution and climate change, but all those nasty Mareanies chomping on regular pink Corsola, too. Galarian Corsola is found in the Wild Area, a large expanse in the Galar region that was implied to be covered by the oceans in prehistoric times, and while the official art and sprites show Corsola as looking like a variation of regular Corsola, in-game you actually stumble onto them with all the ghostly appendages retracted, basically running into a small rocky fossil or sphere that turns out to be a ghost! Look at this bleached-white thing (a reference to bleached coral, which are half-dead coral who's lost their symbiotic algae), and I really love just how the little horns and even two of the arms are all ghostly and transparent. Sad little Galarian Corsola hates everything, and even after being dead, some random dude just happens to kick it? It's going to curse the shit out of anyone who kicks it, and will absorb the life-force of those who touch its branches.  


Galarian Corsola then evolves into Cursola, and... that's pretty much the perfect name, isn't it? Corsola, Curse-ola? The Japanese name is also pretty punny, going from "Sunny-go" to "Sunny-gone". It's hilarious! And apparently, the egg-like original body of Galarian Corsola's shattered, leaving only the bottom half, and the ghostly spirit is now rising up like a more malevolent-looking ghost with tree branches that point outwards, and I do really love the sad face with red eyes plastered to the middle of the ectoplasmic blob... and there's a second pair of eyes cut into the ghostly body. Is that hollow eyes the real face, and the Corsola face just the ripped-off face of the original Corsola body? Regardless, it's a pretty awesome look for a ghostly Corsola evolution, and apparently it's even got some interesting powers, like the ability to turn anyone it touches into stone. Or, well, basically dead coral, I guess? Its animations are very cool, too. When you send it into battle only the 'vase' and the 'head' shows up, and the spectral coral tree thing shows up much later. And in attack animations, the coral horns all fly off from its body. Very cool! 

Anyway, a creepy ghost critter that doesn't go too overboard, and has a pretty neat theme!

 6/6.

#083 & 865: Galarian Farfetch'd & Sirfetch'd

• Types: Fighting
• Japanese name: Kamonegi, Negiganaito
• Category: Wild Duck [both]

So Farfetch'd in Galar are apparently nastier motherfuckers, being darker-feathered with angry eyes... and they have far, far bigger leek-swords. Instead of being tiny hand-held swords, Galarian Farfetch'd go around with gigantic leeks that would make Kurosaki Ichigo proud. Galarian Farfetch'd also drops both of its original typing -- Normal and Flying -- in favour of being pure-Fighting. It's a decision I thought was absolutely bizarre, but I guess the wild ducks that Farfetch'd are based on aren't particularly good fliers, and this one certainly isn't going to be flying anywhere soon with that gigantic leek. It's interesting that one of the dex entries note that Farfetch'd adapted to the massive leeks, meaning that the change in their physical form and even their typing is simply because Galar had giant leeks. I'm not too impressed with Farfetch'd, although I find the giant leek hilarious.


Sirfetch'd, on the other hand... everyone has been asking Nintendo to take a look at poor, abandoned Farfetch'd, one of the few remaining Generation I Pokemon which had sub-par stats, no evolution, no mega evolution, no signature move, nothing other than the fun gag of being based on a Japanese proverb. But Farfetch'd in Galar, once they score three critical hits in a single battle (an evolution method that I tried to figure out myself and only bumbled into by dumb luck) become a massive duck-knight! Look at this thing. Sirfetch'd is a goddamn knight, wielding a massive lance made up of its leek, and also a shield made up of the chopped-up top half of said leek. It's so silly, it's so ridiculous, and it's also so awesome. A Sirfetch'd's life is apparently tied to the state of the leek, and if the leek withers it will retire from active combat. Another dex notes that the 'leek stalk is both weapon and food', so, uh, I guess it's possible for a Sirfetch'd to retire because it got a bit too hungry? 

And honestly, Sirfetch'd basically being a lance-wielding knight whose evolution focuses mostly on the leek is just such a fun concept, and a far, far cry from the samurai-based fan evolutions everyone thought Farfetch'd was going to get, or from 'Madame' from the beta Generation II games. I am certainly far more appreciative of Sirfetch'd for the simple reason that he's a goofy duck knight, and I like him so much that he's basically the reason I picked the Sword version. 

 6/6, very subjective. Could be 5/6.

#122 & 866: Galarian Mr. Mime & Mr. Rime

• Types: Ice/Psychic
• Japanese name: Bariyado, Barikoru
• Category: Dancing [Mr. Mime]; Comedian [Mr. Rime]

So instead of being a mime in Galar, Mr. Mimes are... tap-dancers? And Ice/Psychic types instead of Psychic/Fairy types? Okay? I'm not quite sure just what's going on, and why pantomiming is considered a 'Fairy' thing to do and tap-dancing is a 'ice' thing to do. Galarian Mr. Mime has particularly lanky limbs that look pretty unsettling in 3D, and I guess it means that the entire family is basically based on different sorts of dancing and entertainment methods? I dunno. I do like the weird ice-tipped boots that Galarian Mr. Mimes have, and the little ice crystal tie is spiffy. Instead of creating psychic walls with mimes, Galarian Mr. Mime creates ice floors by tap-dancing, which it proceeds to kick up to use as a barrier. Pretty neat, I guess, even if it's not my thing... I... I dunno. It looks like it's having a grand old time, and I'm not going to judge Mr. Mime for that. 

I can say, though, how appreciative I am about the amount of work given to make Galarian Mr. Mime's animation look great. It's just tap-dancing all the while, it has a fun little tap-dance walk animation, and the little clap it makes when it's spinning around when you start an encounter with him does a long way to make him a fair bit more charming. I also do appreciate how... different Galarian Mr Mime's anatomy looks, while also still recognizably looking as a Mr. Mime variant. From the proportion of the skinny limbs to his horns to how the size of the legs to even the proportions of the eyes and mouth, a lot of the features in Galarian Mr. Mime is changed, but it still looks recognizably as a design extrapolated from the original Mr. Mime. 


Galarian Mr. Mime evolves into Mr. Rime (still keeping the "Mr." title in the English despite still being a 50% male/50% female species), which gains a top-hat, a mustache, creepy Rinnegan eyes, a coat that vaguel resembles a clown face, Mickey Mouse boots and an ice cane. It's a bizarre ice-themed tap-dancing Charlie Chaplin. I think that face on its belly is meant to have blinking eyes, too? I'm not sure. It's certainly a direction to dake Galarian Mr. Mime towards. But for me, Mr. Rime is just kinda there. I don't think I'm a fan of either of these. They're kinda cute I guess, but if they weren't in the game I probably wouldn't really care all that much. If nothing else, both Mr. Mime and Mr. Rime have some neat 3D animations with how they tap-dance around as they walk, clap and caper around the world of Galar. They're neat, even if I don't like them. 

 2/6.

#562 & 867: Galarian Yamask & Runerigus

• Types: Ground/Ghost [both]
• Japanese name: Desumasu, Desuban
• Category: Spirit [Yamask], Grudge [Runerigus]

After being mostly left out of both the mega evolution and Alolan form party, Generation VIII finally allowed Unovan Pokemon to share in the spotlight! And one of my favourite Generation V Pokemon has always been creepy ol' Yamask, who are canonically the spirits of dead humans holding the masks of their past lives. Spooky, and perhaps one of the more unsettling pokedex entries. But Galarian Yamask takes that even further! Remember these cute little vaguely bird-like spirits that used to be human? Well, in Galar, instead of golden masks of their past human lives, they carry around a weird slab with the drawing of a tail. And it's also Ghost/Ground. Not sure why it's Ghost/Rock, but okay... and then you read the Pokedex entries. It's formed when "an ancient clay tablet was drawn to a vengeful spirit". So an angry Yamask joined together with some sort of cursed tablet? Okay, that's interesting. And then... "a clay slab with cursed engravings took possession of a Yamask. The slab is said to be absorbing the Yamask's dark power." Wait, what? So in search of vengeance, Galarian Yamask is now possessed by the plot device it's trying to use? And now the slab itself is stealing Yamask's inherent dark powers? That's so... that's kind of fucked up! Yamask itself is already a sad, crying human soul who didn't get to go to the afterlife, and now it gets consumed by a random cursed slab? What is that cursed slab, even? Is it a Pokemon? Created by a Pokemon? So many questions, but it doesn't look good for poor Yamask. 


Because just like poor old Paras, Galarian Yamask gets absolutely consumed by the parasitic cursed slab, being transformed not into a Cofagrigus (which could be read  as Yamask becoming stronger to take revenge on the people trying to rob its tomb), but into a brand-new evolution called Runerigus. Which is an awesomely-animated 3D model that constantly shifts around the runic markings, but Runerigus, in no uncertain means, is the cursed painting who has "absorbed the spirit of a Yamask", and presumably reformed the rest of its painting. What the fuck, poor Yamask. I'm not sure if that serpent-like drawing is supposed to reprsent a specific Pokemon (Eternatus?) or if it's just a generic representation of a cursed runic painting, but the fact that it's broken up and it's using those ragged-looking shadowy tendrils to operate other chunks of its stone slab body... yeah, the look of Runerigus is pretty dang creepy, and that's before you see it move around, rotating its pictures around with that creepy eye looking out of the socket. Of course, if you touch the picture on Runerigus, you get shown horrific imagery straight out of hell. And when you have it run around, you realize that when it runs around it just folds everything in and it's just this creepy-cute slab of coffin-like rock floating and following you around. It's already so creepy-cool, but even cooler when I see him moving with the 3D animation. 

The worst thing about Runerigus is the way how you evolve it in-game. You, the trainer, have to actively fuck Yamask up even further. Everyone joked about how Nintendo needs to make a Ghost-type evolution of like Eevee or someone who evolves after it faints in battle, and they kind of do it, in a way, for poor Galarian Yamask. You have to get Yamask to barely survive a battle, presumably representing the core Yamask spirit being weakened enough for the slab to take over. And then you take Yamask to a specific spot under a specific standing stone in the Wild Area, at which point the runes take over and Yamask gets consumed and gets turned into Runerigus. You, the trainer, have killed poor Yamask just to get an additional boost of power. 

Ultimately I think the visual look of Runerigus isn't  the most interesting way they could've done this. But I kinda think it works in the "this intentionally looks kind of fucked-up" way. Such an unexpectedly creepy concept and Pokemon. One of my unexpected favourites for sure, and I used Runerigus and Cursola a lot in the DLC for this game.

 6/6.

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And now, for the rest of the Galarian forms that don't come with a brand-new evolved form in the pokedex.

#077-078: Galarian Ponyta & Rapidash

• Types: Psychic [Ponyta], Psychic/Fairy [Rapidash]
• Japanese name: Ponita, Gyaroppu
• Category: Unique Horn [both]

Ponyta and Rapidash are among some of the Galarian forms who were revealed pretty early in the lead-up to Sword and Shield, and... and they're interesting. I've never quite realized just how oddly specific "unicorn on fire" was to Pokemon, considering that regular (or, well, "Kantonian") Ponyta and Rapidash has been around for a couple of decades. Galar's variant for Ponyta goes for a far, far more cutesy look, replacing Ponyta's fiery mane with what can only be described as cotton candy, which is oh-so-cute-and-adorable, and I do love the more prominent coloration of Galarian Ponyta's horn, really hammering home how these specific incarnations of Ponyta and Rapidash are emphasizing their unicorn inspirations -- Kantonian Ponyta doesn't even have a horn! Galarian Ponyta basically has a pretty basic unicorn set of powers. It's able to heal with its horn, and it can look and detect evil in someone's heart, escaping and hiding itself from those that are evil. You'd think that this very fairy-like unicorn is going to be pure-Fairy... but Galarian Ponyta is... Psychic? Yeah, that doesn't make that much sense. I guess it's the mind-reading powers that classify as psychic? Eh.


Galarian Rapidash is at least Psychic/Fairy, but honestly with both of these designs the "Fairy" part really gets hammered home a fair bit. I'm not that big of a fan of Galarian Rapidash, which looks less like a majestic unicorn with flowing locks of hair and more like an oddly-posed My Little Pony toy. It's still a relatively pleasant design, even if it's not really not my thing. Apparently Galarian Rapidash is noted to be especially notable for its psycho cut attack, able to 'punch a hole right through a metal sheet'. Rapidash doesn't actually gain an advantage to Steel-types, though! Rapidash's dex entries note that its speed is enhanced by the psychic power stored in the fur of its fetlocks, which is such an odd place to store your psychic organs, but I suppose that's what that trailing purple-pink things around Galarian Rapidash's legs are. 

They're cute and pretty solid designs, and over time I think I ended up liking them more than I would've thought I would.

 3/6.

#110: Galarian Weezing

• Types: Poison/Fairy
• Japanese name: Matadogasu
• Category: Poison Gas

We don't get a Galarian Koffing to come with this dude, but Galarian Weezing is a glorious Poison/Fairy and y'know what? I guess it kind of sort of makes sense maybe? Galarian Weezing is apparently an adaptation that Weezings in Galar go through, because industrialization is a theme that the Galar region is sort of trying to touch upon (and by touch upon, I mean 'mention once or twice in a cutscene and completely ignore'), Galarian Weezing is one of those species that's transformed by the changes in the environment of Galar. Instead of being more poisonous as you'd think this thing is, though, Galarian Weezing is actually an air filter. Instead of leaving toxic waste, it consumes the particles that contaminate the air, and expels clean air -- that white smoke is actually healthy for you! Just like Alolan Muk, it's a creature that traditionally spreads pollution, but now helps to clean it up. A very interesting direction to take Weezing in, and that's without taking in its appearance or typing...

Because, shit, Galarian Weezing's... it's almost like a joke, yeah? And for every 'serious' regional form it's clear that the design team is having a lot of fun making designs like Alolan Dugtrio, Alolan Exeggutor or Galarian Weezing. It keeps Weezing's basic look, but changes its colour from toxic purple to gray, gives it massive smoke-stacks that also look like top hats, and also it's got like-a-sir facial hair made out of green smog. Like, it's such a bizarre way to adapt a Victorian-era British gentleman, and honestly, the more I look at Galarian Weezing, the more I like it. I'm not sure how the sad expressions and the conjoined-tumour-twin look works, but Weezing wouldn't be Weezing without that, so yeah. I'm still not sure why it's Fairy-type though. Neither smokestacks, air purifiers or gentlemen are especially Fairy-esque! Again, it's not my favourite design, and I don't think it's quite as charming as, say, Alolan Exeggutor, but it's still a pretty neat form I don't mind. 

 3/6.

#554-555: Galarian Darumaka & Darmanitan

• Types: Ice [both], Ice/Fire [Darmanitan Zen]
• Japanese name: Darumakka, Hihidaruma
• Category: Zen Charm [Darumaka], Blazing [Darmanitan]

Okay, this one was unexpected! Good ol' Darumaka has always been a critter that I always thought was kinda neat, but ultimately not the most memorable Pokemon. Galarian Darumaka ends up apparently adapting to life on Galar's icy mountains, becoming an adorable little snowman (our first snowman Pokemon!), replacing all of Darumaka's golden Daruma-doll ornaments with ice crystals. Why a snowman, though? It's a pun that only really makes sense in Japanese, because the Japanese word for 'snowman' is 'Yuki-Daruma', or snow Daruma. It's noted that Darumaka's fire sac has 'cooled off and atrophied', which is a neat little detail explaining its utter type change, and it's replaced the fire sac with a cold-generating organ that makes Darumaka a lot more energetic if it's colder. Darumaka's noted to freeze their breath to make snowballs and they love pelting each other with snowballs! What's up with all the 'snow variant' regional variants, though? Like, it's pretty cool (ha) but why don't we also get like, variants adapted to other terrains?

If you think Darumaka looks sad, that's sort of intentional, because the expressions on both Galarian Darumaka and Darmanitan are the exact opposite of their regular Unovian looks. Where Unovian Darmanitan is grinning and angry, Galarian Darmanitan is a calm-looking dude, looking pretty... interesting with that huge snow mustache and that huge snow-bulb on its head. Galarian Darmanitan apparently stores food on that massive head-snowball -- it's not my favourite design, though it does look kind of awkward -- neat, but nothing too spectacular.


Where it gets interesting, is Galarian Darmanitan's Zen Mode! Instead of becoming calm, Galarian Darmanitan's Zen Mode turns into a crazy-looking bouncing snowman, complete with the original Darmanitan's manic, crazy-looking grin. It's certainly an interesting design with a secondary snowman-head that constantly shoots fire out of its nose, and the little tiny clapping hands, and Galarian Zen Darmanitan is our very first Ice/Fire creature! Not too 'Zen', but that's one of those things where the original name for 'Zen Mode' never actually referred to 'Zen' but simply calls it 'Daruma Mode'. To be fair, the Generation V team couldn't have predicted that they would make a regional variant that's constantly being crazy and shoots around fire and shit! 

Instead of being driven by calm emotions, Zen Galarian Darmanitan is super-duper angry, and this has re-ignited its atrophied flame sac, causing it to rampage and shoot flame everywhere even as its snow-based body starts to melt. I guess this is sort of a neat Poke-adaptation of atavism, where an ancestral trait reappears after being lost after evolutionary changes in previous generations? I certainly wouldn't expect the daruma doll Pokemon of all things to adapt this! All of it makes for a pretty interesting concept to what would otherwise be kind of a forgettable regional variant. I still don't like these guys as much, but they're neat, just not right up to my personal preferences.

 2/6.

#618: Galarian Stunfisk

• Types: Ground/Steel
• Japanese name: Maggyo
• Category: Trap

Our last Galarian variant (Galar's been good with updating Unovan Pokemon, huh?) is none other than good old Stunfisk, everyone's favourite derp-faced lightning-shooting mud flounder. Instead of being Ground/Electric, Galar's version of Stunfisk is now Ground/Steel. Because instead of just being an electric flounder hanging around in bogs and marshes, Galarian Stunfisk is... a bear trap. That's actually quite hilarious, and as you see from the shape of its new beak, Galarian Stunfisk's beak is also coloured in the shape of a Pokeball. Galarian Stunfisk has joined Voltorb and Foongus in the small group of Pokemon that mimic Pokeballs in order to trick trainers, except Stunfisk straight up springs up and tries to chomp on trainers with its bear-trap-like fins! That's actually kind of hilarious, someone in Galar probably lost a leg to this dumb-looking thing. I feel like having a bunch of fake green footprints on Stunfisk's body is perhaps a bit too much and I'd rather have it be a lot  more simplified, but that's a minor complaint. I do like the little reason that Stunfisk evolved into a steel-type because Galarian mud has a high iron content. I'm not certain if it's true for actual British soil, but okay!

Anyway, a metal land flounder that's also a bear trap and also uses mimicry to lure humans is kind of a ridiculous concept and I love it. 3/6 is a fair score, I think, all things considered. On its own it's more of a 2/6, but the fact that this is just such a clever alternate form, I'm giving an extra point. 

 3/6.

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Gigantamax forms for older Pokemon now! I know the term is technically, like, "Gigantamax Charizard" or "Charizard (Gigantamax Form)" but that's so long to write and "G-Max Charizard" or "Charizard-G" is pretty awkward-looking. Not a big fan of hyphens. Which is why I've been calling most of the Gigantamax forms just "Giga Charizard" within the body of the reviews or something along those lines.

#006: Gigantamax Charizard

So here we cover all of the other Gigantamax forms given to pre-Generation-VIII here, which actually isn't that many, something that I do appreciate compared to Mega Evolutions. Back in Generation VI, only a grand total of one Gen-VI Pokemon received a Mega Evolution, whereas every new Mega was give to mostly older-generation Pokemon. Here, the one that take the center stage for Gigantamax is a neat mixture of older and newer generations, and not all of them are Gen-I old fogies either! Although, of course, everyone's favourite money-making mascot Charizard gets one as Giga Charizard, a Pokemon that's obviously prominently featured in the promotional material and in the plot itself as the ace Pokemon of the regional champion Leon. At this point, it's basically obligatory, isn't it?

It's an... interesting direction to take Charizard to, in so much that we've already seen not one but two attempts at making a 'super saiyajin' Charizard form with its two Mega Evolutions in Generation VI. Giga Charizard goes for a completely different route, which I kind of dig -- Mega Charizard Y focuses more on the flying lizard aspect, while Mega Charizard X focuses more on just making it a souped-up super mode that changes. Giga Charizard, meanwhile, focuses on the 'fire' part of Charizard's typing, and his wings are on fire now! So are his horns, and everything is on fire, there's fire on his chest, his mouth is a pretty cool quasi-molten-rock thing going on... and I kinda wished that they could've gone a bit more over-the-top. Charizard's design does lend itself into looking like a kaiju, though, so yeah, it works well. Not my favourite thing to come out of this game, but I appreciate that they kept Charizard's iconic silhouette and pot-belly. I don't hate it, but we've had so much exposure and super forms for Charizard that I'm honestly mostly indifferent to this one. 

 3/6.

#012: Gigantamax Butterfree

Butterfree is among the early-Kanto Pokemon that surprisingly didn't get any sort of attention in Generation VI, and I was genuinely surprised that it ended after giving Butterfree's buddy Beedrill a Mega Evolution while Butterfree itself remained just sort of sub-par. Well, at least for this generation, Butterfree gets to go big and go full-on Gigantamax and become a titanic giant butterfly. Since the G-Max forms are all based on kaiju, that makes Butterfree our Mothra, I guess? And I do like that for the most part it's just the wings that expand into giant, glittering giant wings while the core body just gets a bit fatter but ultimately remains the same. Judging by that artwork, I think it's meant to be a massive wing made out of tiny individual scales or something? Giga Butterfree's dex entries all talk about how Butterfree's filled with poisonous, toxic scales. Despite the love they gave one of my original favourites, this is a form that I genuinely kind of felt is sort of just there. Part of me like that they didn't change too much from the basic Butterfree design, but comparing this to the change that Beedrill got when he got a mega-evolution (or any of the native Galar Pokemon that got Giga forms) Giga Butterfree's just there, with bigger wings and not much else. I like that it's not too threatening, but at the same time it's honestly just kinda there. 

It's especially evident in the game models, but all Gigantamax forms have this weird aura of red overlay around their forms as well as three puffy clouds that float around their heads. It sort of works for maybe one or two of the G-Max forms, but for the most part the aura do look ugly and tacked-on.

 3/6.

#025: Gigantamax Pikachu

These Gigatamax forms are also an excuse for Nintendo to just give us exclusive Pokemon in the same vein as old-school mythic legendaries or whatever, while also having the leeway of going "well it's just a form". Giga Pikachu here, by the way, is only available if you've got a save file of Pokemon Let's Go Pikachu in your Nintendo Switch, where you get a special Pikachu that'll never ever evolve and instead of turning into a Raichu it turns into an even bigger Pikachu. A big, fat, chunky Pikachu with a massive tail that zigzags like a long lightning rod as it points up. I do love the return to the original concept of Pikachu as a big chunky boy, and I guess making Pikachu stronger while ignoring its evolved form is inevitable considering how much more Nintendo loves to market Pikachu over Raichu. I'm just surprised it took eight generations. I wanted to give it a lower mark for not changing a whole ton, but chunky Pikachu is a neat callback and I like the deep PEEKA-PEEEHHH voice it makes when it enters the battlefield. 

 2/6. Would have been 1, but the PEEKA-PEEEEEEHHH won me over.

#068: Gigantamax Machamp

I remembered speculating that Machamp's 'burst form' super mode in the Pokken Tournament game where it glows red with steam and enters a state comparable to Mega Evolution for other Pokemon in that game is hint that Machamp's going to get a similar ability in the future. Giga Machamp's not quite that ability, but it's a neat update nonetheless. With its briefs turning into full-on gymnastic pants, Machamp has lost its pupils, swapped out its proportions a bit, and its arms have cracked and look like they're molten magma or something. Apparently that's because a Giga Machamp's punches are "like bombs" according to a dex entry. And... I dunno, it's kinda boring. Again, considering that a regular Machamp can already become a giant kaiju in the game, a minimal-change form like Giga Machamp feels pretty lackluster, and it's not like the bomb/lava knuckles actually add anything into the gameplay -- another reason why I feel a lot of the Gigantamax forms just feel like they're just there to me. A combination of Dynamax being available to everyone, and some of the Gigantamax form not really altering that much... you'd think that adding extra arms to Machamp would be obvious -- at least it'd be different, y'know?

On one hand, the concept of a giant, kaiju-sized bodybuilder wrestler with four arms is funny, but you don't even need to add a new form for that to happen, just dynamax your regular Machamp... and I think that's probably one of the failings that the G-Max vs. D-Max gimmick for me. Everyone can dynamax, so the ones with special forms really felt like they should really look different or do something different. On its own, Giga Machamp is an all right super form, I suppose. None of these forms impress me all that much, but they're mostly 'all right'. 

 2/6. Remember these scores for G-Max forms rate them as variants. 

#094: Gigantamax Gengar

Gengar's another one of the Pokemon fandom's darlings, and is the only other Gigantamax that has previously obtained a Mega Evolution. And I still prefer the sleeker, meaner and more sinister-looking Mega Gengar, but there's also something to be said about the sheer absurdity of Giga Gengar! Just... just look at this giant thing. It's Gengar's big fat body, half-submerged into the ground like Mega Gengar was, but instead of a sleek spiky ghost monster, this thing is a gigantic... how do you even describe this? It's a giant mountain. A doorway. A gigantic mouth leading to some vague vortex with Gengar's gigantic-ass tongue lolling out. And those two ineffective-looking nubby hands poking out also looks particularly ridiculous. This thing looks so dumb! I love it.

And leave it to Pokemon to give Gengar some of the spookier dex entries in this generation! Regular Gengar now has the lore as a ghost that has the modus operandi of straight up "stealing the lives of those who get lost in the mountains". Well I guess someone has to deal the killing blow so all those kids can become Phantumps. Giga Gengar, on the other hand, has actual lore about how the gigantic mouth doesn't lead into Gengar's body (how does a ghost body even work) but straight into the afterlife. This isn't just a huge grinning happy ghost blob, it's the goddamn doorway to hell. The Shield dex entry is even more spooky, noting that Gigantamax Gengar hopes to steal the lives of those it catches, and "if you stand in front of its mouth, you'll hear your loved ones' voices calling out to you." That's some pretty scary stuff and not the sort of lore I expected from something that looks like the Cave of Wonders from Aladdin. 

 4/6. 

#099: Gigantamax Kingler

Y'know, I absolutely love it anytime Pokemon takes a very under-appreciated creature and gives it either a new evolution or mega evolution or special form or whatever, but never in a million years would I think that Kingler of all people would be on the shortlist for older Pokemon that get a Gigantamax form, but I'm all for it. I guess this is our Ebirah or Ganimes homage? Instead of just being a chunky, mean-looking fiddler crab, Kingler's limbs have stretched out to be spindly and knobbly, an unmistakable reference to the massive long legs of deep-sea crabs like the Japanese Spider Crab or the Alaskan King Crab, and I'm all for those specific animal inspirations. Not content at just being a bigger crab, though, Kingler's used those frothy bubbles that crabs blow to make an absolutely smashing dapper mustache. Apparently, according to the dex, those bubbles are incredibly caustic and they will melt anything. Death by mustachioed crab spittle, that's got to suck. There's just enough here  to make Giga Kingler feel like a different, enhanced super form instead of just the same thing but bigger,k I feel. 

 5/6. I debated between 3/5 and 4/5 for the longest time here.

#131: Gigantamax Lapras

So as of Generation VIII, the club of "Generation I Pokemon that only has a single stage and Nintendo never bothered to do anything with" has shrunk down to exactly Tauros and Ditto, because now Lapras gets a Gigantamax form! Always one of the more imposing among the awkward single-stage Pokemon, I've always thought Lapras deserved to be a lot more badass than the rather sub-par stats and moves they gave it, but at the same time Lapras sort of looks 'complete' enough that giving it an evolution probably isn't the answer. Giga Lapras basically goes all out and turns Lapras's conch-shell backpack into... a fortress or a ferry or something, I don't know. It looks imposing, at least? Lapras's neck also gets super-long, and as someone pointed out, Lapras's prominence in Galar is probably based in part on the legend of Loch Ness. The little aura of ice crystals in the formation of something resembling a musical sheet is sort of a bit too much, but it actually works relatively well in the 3D model. Not really my favourite update or design, but I do appreciate that Giga Lapras looks a lot more imposing and impressive.

 2/6.

#133: Gigantamax Eevee

Like its Let's Go co-conspirator, Eevee also gets a Gigantamax form, and... I can't really get into this? Like Pikachu, Eevee just becomes big and chunky, but in Eevee's case it appears that it's her massive neck-floof that gets the biggest upgrade (apparently Giga Eevee uses the floof to 'capture and captivate' its opponents. Sure), and... and Giga Eevee just looks kind of like it's on the verge of toppling over, y'know? Like a dog with one of those collars of shame or whatever? There's the sheer hilarity of turning your little pet Eevee into a gigantic titan that delivers the most demonic-sounding cry of EEE-BOAAAHHHH as it crashes onto the battlefield, and to quote Giga Eevee's dex entry: "having gotten even friendlier and more innocent, Eevee tries to play with anyone around, only to end up crushing them with its immense body." What the fuck, Nintendo, seriously, what the utter fuck.

 3/6. Would have been 2/6, you get that bonus one ball for flavour text. 

#143: Gigantamax Snorlax

In older generations, Snorlax blocks the route. NOW SNORLAX IS THE ROUTE! Anyway, yeah, Snorlax's big-ass belly ends up becoming a route as it lays back down. It's a bit of an odd thing since Gigantamax forms are meant to be temporary power-up forms, because if this was a regular Snorlax evolution you could have the flavour of a Snorlax that has slept for so long that plants have started growing on its belly and someone went through the trouble to even carve out a path through Snorlax's belly-vegetation, but as a random Gigantamax form it just feels bizarre. Apparently, the Gigantamax energy flows not into Snorlax, but into the "seeds and pebbles" on Snorlax's fur, but that doesn't really explain the neatly-trimmed grass and whatnot on Snorlax's belly. I dunno. It's funny as a one-off gag or whatever, but I'm not super enthused about this one, and it's nowhere as funny as big fat chunky Pikapi. 

 1/6.

#569: Gigantamax Garbodor

Wait, was that all of the non-Galar Gigantamax forms? Is good ol' Garbodor here one of the handful of Pokemon outside of Generation I and VIII to get a Gigantamax form? I'm surprised they didn't go for Muk or something as the obligatory Hedorah reference, but Garbodor got a fair bit of love here and... and Giga Garbodor is always how I sort of wished Garbodor would actually be in the first place. I've never had problems with Garbodor as a concept and even liked some parts of its design, but the execution of him as a formless blob with vague little details doesn't really communicate that Garbodor is a giant walking pile of sentient refuse and trash particularly well. 

Well, Giga Garbodor certainly fixes that, growing into an absolutely massive form and instead of random formless blobs, we get to see just the sort of trash that makes it! At a glance, the kaiju-sized Giga-Garbodor looks like it's absorbed a bunch of boats, cars, planes an buildings into its massive trash heap form and that's badass and all, but a closer inspection reveals that these are actually the toys that form Garbodor's garbage-pile body! That's a Lego building, a wind-up boat, and we even get a fish-bone sticking out of Garbodor's side. And that's a Poke Doll and the Substitute Doll as a neat little easter egg among Giga Garbodor's form! I'm a bit sad that they kept the weird pom-pom Mickey Mouse ears that still doesn't work for me, but I do love how they nixed Garbodor's visible legs and just have him presumably just goop around like a slug in this new form, and I love just how much more dead-and-mindless that expression looks with the simple change of eyes from white to pink. This is how you do a badass giant junkheap titan, and a surprisingly pretty cool monster. Yes, I unironically call Garbodor 'cool', because when you actually go all-in with the trash-monster concept, he does look pretty neat!

A bit of a spoiler for the games' storyline, but one of the characters you meet in Sword/Shield is a prim-and-proper lady called Oleana whose team is comprised of all traditionally 'pretty' and 'graceful' Pokemon like Milotic and Froslass, but her ace, her most powerful Pokemon that she chooses to dynamax and she even has a loving pat on the ball, and dialogue tells us that apparently Garbodor is a Pokemon from before Oleana "changed her image"... but despite revamping herself to be a sharp dresser and getting a team of pretty creatures, she refuses to part with this pile of junk because she just loves it that much. That's a great story, and with Garbodor being the fandom's punching bag for "worst Pokemon", I do love that the game designers and in-universe characters certainly don't think so, bringing Garbodor back even in a generation where they take out 60% of the roster.

 4/6. Also another one that I debated between 3 and 4 a lot. 

#804: Gigantamax Melmetal

I'm honestly surprised that Sword and Shield doesn't even have Meltan and Melmetal as part of its roster considering how everyone and their mother took Meltan as the herald for the next generation, but it's just got a huge role in Go, a neat bit role in Let's Go, and sort of petered out. Remember how everyone saw the screenshot of the geoglyph and thought that has something to do with Melmetal?

Gigantamax Melmetal is... it's there. Mostly it gives Melmetal a pair of longer legs and a more prominent 'cyclops' look (I do like that the liquid metal wraps around the hex nut head), the arms get chunkier, and the end result really ends up looking a lot like Giga Melmetal could show up and menace Ultraman or something. It's not my favourite design, and I honestly kind of like the bulkier, more unconventional "liquid-based creature trying to approximate a humanoid form" that the original Melmetal has, but Giga Melmetal is cool. I do like the pokedex entry noting that Giga Melmetal apparently inspired legends of a giant cyclopean monster in some distant land or whatever. He's kinda boring. So boring that I was utterly unmotivated to pick him up during the event where they gave him out.

 2/6. 

And... I dunno. A lot of the actual designs for the G-max forms are all right. But at the same time, I still think that they really should've made Gigantamax feel more of a huge thing in-battle, because of that whole 'if everyone is super, no one is' syndrome. A lot of them are fine, and I might be praising them if they were pitched as Mega Evolutions or regional variants, but the sheer oddity of the dynamax/gigantamax stuff does make me feel kind of cold about a lot of these. I've gone back and revised them since for the most part I do feel kind of neutral (which is 3/5) to a lot of them and I was very salty in my first iteration of this article.