Part two of my coverage of Pokemon Insurgence, a fan-game featuring a lot of Delta Pokemon! I tried to fit all the rest of the Delta Pokemon designs here, but turns out I'll probably need a part three for this series. I try to mostly go from the game's own pokedex number, but I did swap some around a bit.
Delta Scyther line
I think the dex order is also the order in which these designs are added to the game, and it's kind of interesting to see the progress as the Insurgence team get far more creative later on... but honestly, none of their work are bad at all. Even the simple ones, like Delta Scyther here, whose entire line gets turned into Ice/Fighting, looks pretty cool. (Pun not intended) I don't think the 'Fighting' part is communicated particularly well, but that's also something that some dual-type official Pokemon don't communicate well either. A pretty simple change, but a pretty well-executed one. The giant ice-sickles for Scyther, the sharper, sleeker wings and especially the change in the shape of Mega Delta Scizor's claw shapes really make the design work. I honestly think that the sharp, triangular toyetic shapes for Mega Scizor works a lot better with the idea that it's an ice-based creature, actually!
Also, one thing that I didn't mention before is that the dex entry for every single Delta Pokemon's first form mentions who 'discovered' the species, which I'm going to assume is an acknowledgement to the real-life artist or at least person who conceptualized the design. Cool!
Delta Sunkern line
So Delta Sunkern's line is Fire/Poison, and it's... kind of interesting? The leaf and flower petals of the original design turn into flames, while the rest of Delta Sunkern and Delta Sunflora's body gets turned into purple goop that drips off their body. It's kind of interesting of a concept. So I kind of guess that the purple goop feeds the flame or something? Poor Mega-Delta Sunflora looks like it's really in pain as the flames on his head is burning wildly, though. Not my favourite design, mostly due to how in-pain the two Sunflora designs look, but an interesting take on a Sunflora variant or on a Fire/Poison dual typing in general.
Delta Bergmite line
So instead of ice, the Delta Bergmite line are rock-crystal monsters, with Delta Bergmite being a pure-Rock and Delta Avalugg being Rock/Dragon. I do kind of like how the legs of Delta Avalugg looks, and how instead of a completely flat iceberg it's now a dragon with a back filled with spines. Not my favourite Delta on this page, though, and I find it kind of underwhelming.
Delta Scraggy line
An honestly pretty simple concept, instead of being punk lizards, Delta Scraggy and Scrafty swap their discarded skin-pants for leaf pants. They're pure Grass. Okay, sure, that's kinda neat, I guess, but I kinda wished they had more to them.
Delta Combee line
Whaaaat the fuck, hahaha, that's very cool! Delta Combee and Vespiqueen are like, bee murder-robots now, and they're Fire/Steel! Absolutely love the little nuclear sign replacing one of the Combee's faces, the little jet rockets that the honeycombs have became, and the little emotionless, robotic face that Combee now has. Delta Vespiquen is even cooler! The black-and-gray colouration with orange accents is really awesome, and the fact that her honeycomb skirt is now basically a giant rocket exhaust vent is pretty awesome. Reminds me a lot of my favourite obscure Digimon, Cannonbeemon! A pretty cool looking Delta all around.
Delta Purrloin line
I don't think the Delta Purrloin line is meant to be evoking any sort of specific mythical creature beyond making it this fun little Hot-Topic-punk-look as possible. It's now Ghost/Fairy, and... it's kinda cool? I kinda wished that I know a bit more what the main theme of this cool kitty is supposed to be, but I have a strong feeling that there simply isn't any huge theme, it's just a cool cat with a furry body, pink eye-shadow and a green tail holding a giant red sword. I can respect that.
Delta Phantump line
Oh, cool, Phantump gets reimagined as a Sakura-themed pure-Fairy creature that's a full-on spirit guardian of the forest! This is probably one of the more drastic changes, with Phantump losing the stump it has for its body and gaining a cute little fairy body that dangles down from its head, but still. Delta Travenant is also pretty cool, too. I like the kendo mask the two of them have going on, and that really informs me that Delta Trevenant is probably just holding two giant wooden swords for arms instead of two big-ass rifles. It's Fairy/Fighting anyway, so that's almost certainly what it's meant to be. A cool sakura tree!
Delta Grimer line
Ooh, I like this one. Instead of being a slime monster, the Delta Grimer line are now sand monsters, like Zelda's Geldman! Very neat! Grimer and Muk's design already lend well into translating into any 'elemental' monster anyway, but turning them into sand-beasts is pretty cool. Muk's sprite is my favourite, just this giant maw with sand dripping down from its upper jaw, with its massive arms in the midst of manifesting. I love how the Pokedex notes that it's "hard to care for indoors". Hey, at least it just leaves sand everywhere, I'd reckon regular Muk leaves far, far worse things behind. Actually low-key one of my favourite Delta species.
Delta Shinx line
Oooh, okay, I can dig this. Delta Shinx gets super goth. It's Steel/Poison instead of being part-Dark, which surprises me. There's also a general punk vibe going on, our favourite weird lightning kitty is now a goddamn punk with a neck-brace and a pompadour! Honestly, Delta Luxray's pompadour is easily my favourite part of this whole line. It's also got saber-tooth fangs going on, which also doubles as snake-esque poison fangs. It's a pretty interesting take on Shinx, Luxio and Luxray! I was originally indifferent about this line, but when I sit down to do this review to actually look at them, I actually find them pretty cool.
Delta Noibat line
These bats are now Grass/Steel. Okay, they're robot bats with plants growing around them? And they kinda look like they are wearing Christmas sweaters? I kinda love the spriting of Noibat's ears here, and apparently Delta Noibat uses blades of grass to create the sonic booms and whatnot. And apparently despite being bats, they are completely terrestrial because they're metal and can't fly? A bit more confusing compared to some of the other Deltas here, I feel.
Delta Roselia line
I really love the Delta Budew and Roselia here. These are a trio of Dark/Fairy Pokemon, and I absolutely love the idea of these gothic-masquerade rose monsters! Look at Delta Budew, hiding under her little cloak with glowing eyes! It's like a badass Swadloon that's just as likely to cut you in your sleep instead of just lazing around all day. And I really like Delta Roselia, how it manages to communicate a very similar silhouette with regular Roselia while changing so much. The thorned head, the single eye, the still-present if withered flowers... sure, the skirt is a bit of a departure, but it's still very cool. Delta Roserade I don't like quite as much, but I get where they're going for with her design.
Delta Wooper line
LOOK AT THAT HAPPY SPOOPY WOOP WOOP. Okay, what? Delta Wooper is a Fire/Grass jack-o-lantern pumpkin creature? Look at that second smiling face in Delta Wooper's belly. He's so spoopy and he's so happy to be spoopy, look at that happy pumpkin baby. Delta Wooper likes to surprise people on Halloween, too, but it's a nice surprise, Wooper throws candy at you!
As with regular Wooper and Quagsire, I definitely like Wooper more than Quagsire... but I do very much appreciate that Delta Quagsire actually keeps the general Wooper body structure instead of changing into a different-looking salamander monster. He's even got the cute little Wooper axolotl head-gills! I really love the :3 face on the pumpkin head while the body's head is screaming like a devil out of hell, but Delta Quagsire is still a friend. I like this one.
Delta Misdreavus line
I'm going to assume that some of these fanmade Pokemon were simply just released to coincide with holiday seasons, because Delta Misdreavus and Mismagius are just, well, Ice/Fairy Santa-ghost Pokemon. I certainly wouldn't have thought of it! Delta Mismagius is kind of obvious, her regular witch hat becomes a santa hat, but you got to love the little itty-bitty Santa hats that each lock of Misdreavus's hair has attached to them.
Delta Munchlax
It's kind of interesting, I guess? Munchlax and Snorlax are now 'knoll' Pokemon, and they're basically the same designs as their regular ones, just coloured like pesto pasta and with little fronds growing out of their shoulders. I can kinda see it, that these guys that don't move around much end up evolving the ability to photosynthesize.
Delta Cyndaquil line
And now we have a bunch of Delta starters! Not all of the Starters got a Delta form, and I think it's like, one from each generation? Except for Hoenn, because everyone loves Hoenn. Johto's representative is Cyndaquil, which is my personal favourite Johto starter, and he's an Electric rodent? Okay, regular Deltaquil is pretty cool. I think it's the colours that make it really work for me, but the cute little lightning bolt is neat, too. They swapped the little flame that the Cyndaquil line produces with little electrical sparks. Delta Quilava and Typhlosion become part-Steel, and the dex entries specifically note that their DNA reconstruct their body to become more and more machine and they become more dependent on electricity. Delta Typhlosion has a completely different mega evolution in this game, with it creating a storm-cloud that basically boosts its power even more in the rain.
Delta Treecko line
Do you like mudkipz? Apparently the Insurgence team didn't, because Mudkip's the only one to not get a Delta species. They've re-imagined Treecko as a karate lizard, going from a Normal/Fighting until Delta Sceptile is a Dragon/Fighting. The colour palette is very pleasing, and I kind of like swapping Sceptile's arm-blades for black belts, but I dunno. I understand them thematically removing the giant leaf tail that Treecko and Sceptile has, but it also makes the design look kind of barren.
Delta Torchic line
Meanwhile Delta Torchic goes for a completely different looking vibe, being a Psychic Egypt-themed bird that eventually evolves into a Psychic-Flying Horus cosplayer. I like that adorable Delta Torchic with its little pin eyes and its posture. Again, I've never really liked super-duper humanoid Pokemon and giving Combusken and Blaziken actual human clothing as ornamentation is kind of treading the line about how it doesn't really fit in the Pokemon aesthetic. For what it's worth, though, it's a very cool concept and variation for Torchic, and this is a fan-game so I'm not going to be too much of an ass about it. If nothing else, Delta Combusken is vastly improved compared to regular Combusken, it no longer looks like a certain part of the male anatomy anymore.
Delta Snivy line
We covered Sinnoh's representative, Delta Turtwig, before. Unova's representative is Snivy, who is also water-themed. A water snake, in fact! Interestingly Insurgence doesn't go for the more iconic striped sea krait colours, but instead goes for a marbled look... which doesn't really scream 'sea snake' to me. But I guess having triangular tails and those fins is pretty neat? Delta Serperior is easily the best-looking one out of the three, with the spotted pattern looking majestic on its full body, the little orbs dangling from its collar, and the little fins as ears. Naturally, Delta Serperior is Water/Dragon.
Delta Froakie line
And the final Delta starter is Kalos's representative, Froakie! And pretty obviously, it turns into a tree frog, swapping the bubble collar of regular Kalos with a collar of leaves. And it's got a leaf mustache, which is hilariously cute! A tree frog jumping from tree to tree is a pretty cool ninja thing anyway, and Delta Froakie borrows regular Sceptile's 'leaf-blade' gimmick by changing its shuriken from water to leaves. Apparently as it evolves into Frogadier and Greninja, it gains this brown armour that I thought was bark or coconut shell, but apparently it's just straight-up armour because Delta Greninja is a full-on Grass/Fire guardian spirit with a wreath of flames around it. It's a cool visual, but I'm not 100% sure why a leaf-shuriken ninja frog becomes an armoured flaming frog guardian deity.
Delta Diglett line
So Delta Diglett and Dugtrio now... looks like opossums or something? It's kinda neat, even if the idea of three more realistic rat heads bursting out of the ground is kinda creepy. I guess that's why they used stylistic whack-a-mole moles for the real Diglett? Not the biggest fan, but a neat one.
Delta Growlithe line
Mmm, it's basically a Growlithe and Arcanine if they looked more like a real Shisa statue instead of 'what a Shisa would be if it's got real animal anatomy'. I don't have a whole ton to say here, but it's definitely a great and pretty natural concept to give to a Growlithe and Arcanine variant. They become Normal/Dragon, which... isn't what I would associate with Chinese guardian lions, but okay, fine, I suppose.
Delta Geodude line
Oh oh oh, this one is very cool. So the Psychic/Rock Delta Geodude line is like these cool rock-golem magi-tech creature overgrown with plants and whatnot after disuse. Very Breath of the Wild-esque, I approve. And honestly, Delta Geodude here has a far, far better continuity in its evolution because it keeps the same Cylon-single-eye face throuhgout all three forms instead of canon Geodude, who changes the shape of its face three times as it evolves. I really do like the fact that Delta Golem keeps the second pair of arms it gains as a Graveler, something that's always been odd to me for the canon Graveler and Golem. Again, they're basically just guardians for an ancient civilization, and while the positioning of the crystal might be a little snicker-worthy, I respect what they're doing here.
Delta Doduo lineYooo, this is cool. Regular Doduo and Dodrio are just weird kiwi-ostriches with extra heads, and that's all right for a weirdo animal, but Delta Doduo and Dodrio has a very pleasant pink-and-maroon colour scheme, and they are pure psychic types whose heads are floating and connected to the body with psychic powers. Very neat, but apparently these Delta variants fight over control, with one brain trying to usurp control from its siblings. Pretty cool! Love those lavender legs on Delta Dodrio, too. Are those supposed to be psychic projections?
Delta DittoDelta Ditto is a square instead of an amorphous blob. Still very jelly-like, still a transformer, but apparently it can sometimes accidentally become a different type instead? Basically Delta Ditto's here because only Delta Ditto can breed with the Delta species. Okay, sure!
Delta Kabuto lineKabuto is always based on a prehistoric horseshoe crab (or a trilobite, depending on who you ask) but a lot of people who are not as well-versed in biology just consider it a weirdo beetle. So Delta Kabuto's a purple beetle with wings, which... looks absolutely creepy in all the best ways. It's Bug/Dark now. Delta Kabutops goes full ham with the bug theme by simply adding some antennae, some bug mandibles and bug wings. Very cool, honestly. As much as it's a wee bit of a pet peeve that it's not a prehistoric crab anymore, it's still a very cool design.
Delta Dratini lineOoh, that's nice. The blue-and-yellow colour combo is very cool on Dratini, and while I do love the sleek, minimalistic canon Dratini and Dragonair, the addition of fins on Delta Dratini and Dragonair does make them look pretty majestic. These guys are now Electric/Water, becoming sea serpents instead of dragons. The fact that all three members of the line share the same colour scheme does make the evolutionary progression feel a fair bit smoother, and Delta Dragonite not having the wings of its canon counterpart and having a bunch of features from Delta Dragonair (the face horn, the wing-ears, the trident tail) is another aspect that make me actually like this evolutionary line a whole lot.
Delta Chinchou lineOooo shit this is one hell of a cool one. Sure, regular Chinchou and Lanturn are just anglerfishes, but these guys took the 'lantern' part and went for a spooky, ghostly, creepy lantern will-o-wisp angle and Delta Chinchou and Delta Lanturn are now Ghost/Fire spooky spirits! That works not just with the lantern theme, but even with the fish-shaped theme. Delta Chinchou trailing its ghost tail behind it while its eyes glow like some sort of demon is amazing, but Delta Lanturn being a tattered fish that trails off into the distance is also very awesome. Heck, even Delta Lanturn's little angler-lanterns have fizzled off! It's apparently one of those misunderstood ghost-types, with people mistaking them for being the gate of hell.
Delta Pikachu lineDelta Pikapi becomes Fairy/Flying and... I'm not really feeling it, to be honest. Delta Pichu is adorable, looking like a baby Emolga, but I'm not really feeling the random goggles they gain when they become Pikachu, and I don't really like the spinning, hovering rotor tails. Not a terrible concept, just one that I felt is underwhelming compared to the standard that Insurgence has.
Delta Yanma line
Oooooh shit that's a cool. Do we really never have a Bug/Grass Pokemon with wings made out of leaves? I mean, sure, Leavanny has arms made out of leaves, but Delta Yanma here looks amazing with every part of its dragonfly anatomy being made out of plant matter. The tail being made out of vines, the legs, antennae, tail and wings all being made out of leaves, and even the head's got some plant-like veins on it. Yanmega is a bit more monstrous, but adds even more vine-like qualities to its body and I absolutely love the little head-whip it's got. Apparently these two Grass/Flying creatures are ambush predators sort of like the real-life orchid mantis, pretending to be foliage and then consuming them. Very cool, another favourite.
Delta GirafarigDelta Girafarig is Steel/Poison, and apparently...it's sort of a wordplay? The tail head insults ('insult' is sometimes parsed as 'toxic words' in many languages) the main head, which in turn tempers the main head's iron will, making it Steel-type. Kind of an interseting concept and the spriting is sure cool. Mega Girafarig, naturally, also gets the giant tail large only instead of a chain chomp, this is some sort of poison-spitting goat skull from hell. Not my favourite Delta, but a neat one.
Delta DunsparceA simple but fun one. Instead of being based on a Tsuchinoko, Delta Dunsparce gets to become a Water/Bug pond-skater. Kind of an interesting concept to pick for Dunsparce but one that, I feel, visually gets communicated pretty well. I'm a fan.
Delta Shuckle
Fighting/Steel? Okay? Apparently Delta Shuckle is a punching bag, and every blow it takes causes the toy-like crank on its side to turn, and when its 'limit' is reached, the head will punch back. It's an interesting twist to take on the defensive Shuckle, but I admit I don't really know what's going on with the tendrils from its base beyond 'regular Shuckle also has legs'. Or the little metal 'leaves' that sprout from Shuckle's neck. Kind of a weirdo.
Delta Remoraid lineA lava-themed variant is honestly kind of as obvious as an ice-themed variant, but as I mentioned earlier in the Insurgence reviews, Pokemon actually has a bit of a dearth on lava-dwelling creatures. And a lot of fantasy fiction often equate lava creatures with aquatic creatures (but with lava parts), so turning Remoraid and Octillery into pure-Fire types with molten rock is neat. Apparently they have to live in pools of lava, otherwise their body hardens into rock... but neither one of them actually have any sort of ability or gimmick involving Rock-type. I do like the smoke that gets emitted out of Octillery, even if admittedly the design seems to be taking the Magcargo skin and attaching it to Remoraid and Octillery.
Space Mew
This one isn't actually a Delta Pokemon, or even a proper 'variant'. It's more of an Easter Egg skin given to your partner Mew if you somehow try to Wonder Trade the Mew. It'll return as this digital screen faced cyborg Mew. Not much to say here; it's pretty cute!
And that's it for today, stay tuned for part three where we wrap up the delta Pokemans.
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