Gotta Review 'Em All - Moves [Generation III], Part 1

The third generation! Probably the generation most significant to me personally even counting the first one, because the third generation was when I started really paying attention to the mechanics of the game. Weather moves, how certain moves like Rain Dance + Thunder or Sunny Day + Solarbeam interacted, properly memorizing the type matchups, learning about priority moves and whatnot... Generation III also gave us a bit more complexity with abilities and the like, which, short of the physical/special split we'll have in Generation IV, is probably one of the biggest changes to the Pokemon battle system. 

As always, we'll talk more about the flavour of these moves as we go. Originally I had intended to include abilities in this one, but I severely underestimated the amount of abilities introduced in Generation III. Or the new moves in Generation III, which... when I consider that this is when the GBC technology gave way to the much more powerful GBA, it kinda shouldn't be that much of a surprise?

We'll do the Normal type and the four 'base' elements of Grass, Water, Fire and Electric in this article, and do the rest in a separate article!

_______________________________________

Normal-type Moves:

Again, we're going to divide the many, many Normal-type moves by rough category of what they do. I think Generation III is the last big bastion of huge influxes of Normal-type moves? I might be wrong, though. 

• Fake Out (Nekodamashi/Cat Deception) Fake Out has always been one of my favourite moves. The idea is that it's a sumo maneuver or something where they do a loud clap to unnerve and force the opponent to blink. And there's a cat pun there too, which is why cat Pokemon can do it. In practice, Fake Out goes first, does a little bit of damage, and stuns the opponent... but you can only do it during the first turn your Pokemon is in the battlefield, otherwise it fails. I do like the idea that the 'faking out' doesn't work after the enemy has seen your Pokemon do it. I still think that with the explanation it really should be a Dark-type or Fighting-type move, but I think that's basically a pretty common sentiment I have towards so many Normal-type moves.
• Facade (Karengeki/Bravado) Facade means "a deceptive outward appearance", which... isn't exactly what the move does. The damage is boosted if your Pokemon is under a status effect, but that's hardly a 'facade' of strength, is it? The animation for Facade always looks kind of generic as well, and other than this move being given as a TM by papa Norman, I don't really have much to say here. 
• Odor Sleuth (Kagiwakeru/Find Scent) Odor Sleuth is basically Foresight, reskinned so that the flavour and animation can fit mammalian Pokemon much better. I think this move has found itself into the learnsets of... practically every non-rodent, non-cat mammal out there? Not too much to say, the dog or pig or bat sure does use smell to hunt down its prey.
• Endeavor (Gamushara/Daredevil) Endeavor is an interesting move that basically sets the enemy's health to be equal with your own... but only if your HP is lower than the enemy's. The 'daredevil' part of it is that you probably have to take a certain amount of damage to force your enemy down, which in itself is an 'endeavor'. Practically useless in regular gameplay, but in competitive there are a lot of funny things that you can do with weak Pokemon that have a Focus Band followed up with a priority attack, otherwise known in the community as the F.E.A.R. technique.
• Uproar (Sawagu/Clamour) Building up to a bunch more sound or crying-based move is Uproar, which I particularly associate with the Whismur line. It's a move that goes on for anywhere between 2-5 turns
• Hyper Voice (Hapia Boisu/Hyper Voice) A move that... I honestly don't remember existing? It's a basic 'screaming' voice that hits both enemies in double battle. Which in Generation III might be a quaint little effect, but nowadays such a move isn't really something that's particularly desirable over other moves. 

• Nature Power (Shizen no Chikara/Nature Power) A bunch of interesting moves here, and "Nature Power" is a move that I felt was far, far more interesting but is reduced to what's basically a one-off, underwhelming gimmick. Sort of like Porygon's Conversion moves! Nature Power basically takes stock of the physical, in-game terrain that you are at, and changes depending on it. So in tall grass, it transforms into Stun Spore, in pond water it becomes Bubblebeam, in the ocean it becomes Surf... extremely cool, and it does play into the fantasy of channeling the power of nature! Except it never was really highlighted, didn't get updated too much across generations, and it was completely useless in 'meta' battles since it defaults to the not-very-impressive Swift. Kind of a shame that the anime and comics didn't quite make as much use of this as I would've expected, too. 
• Secret Power (Himitsu no Chikara/Secret Power) The other 'Power' move, Secret Power's in-battle effects are also affected by the terrain, but only the animation and a secondary effect that it will cause (poison, sleep, a debuff on stats) but the real usage here is that it can be used on certain trees, rocks or giant bushes to essentially hollow out the innards and allow the trainer to be able to engage in the 'secret base' minigame... the first of many, many genuinely interesting gimmicks that won't be taken forwards across generations. Which, unlike not taking the actual Pokemon across generations, is something I completely understand! Gimmicks are hard to maintain, and some of them like the stupid underground just doesn't work out! But it does make Secret Power a move you use exactly once in Ruby/Sapphire, and basically kind of a forgettale move otherwise. 

• Helping Hand (Tedasuke/Help) Anyone who plays through the Generation III games can totally remember how double battles are introduced in this generation, and how so many of the trainer double battles feature this move. Helping Hand is completely useless in single battles, but it boosts the attack of its ally. By clapping!  You're literally weaponizing cheerleading!
• Follow Me (Konoyubitomare/Stay With This Finger) Another non-damaging move, Follow Me is similar to 'taunting' in MMORPG games. Again, only really useful in double battles and I think the designers were just tossing out what might be useful in multiple-Pokemon battles. Follow Me redirects all damage done by the enemy team to a single Pokemon, but those that can learn it aren't especially super-tanky ones. 
• Howl (Toboe/Howl) An interesting move! Your Pokemon howls, and it'll increase its attack stat... and also all its allies! The idea is like a wolf howling to energize its pack, I guess? It's mostly learned by canine Pokemon, but also the noise-based Whismur line. 

• Yawn (Akubi/Yawning) Damn, I hated this move! Yawn will ensure that your Pokemon goes to sleep, unlike previous low-accuracy sleep-inducing moves we've had before (Hypnosis, Sleep Powder). It just takes a full turn for the Sleep effect to occur. Extremely memorable, and basically the reason for me to carry at least a couple of Full Heals when playing through Hoenn. 
• Wish (Negaigoto/Wish) I'm actually surprised this move isn't exclusive to Jirachi -- or that it wasn't retconned into being Fairy-type in Gen VI. A handful of 'healing'-style Pokemon like Natu, Illumise, Togepi and Latias have access to Wish, and it's basically delayed healing. I like the flavour, where you wish upon a star and it takes time for the healing to be answered. 
• Recycle (Risaikuru/Recycle) Bit of a weird move, and initially only learnable by Porygon2 and Mr. Mime, Recycle has you basically recycle a consumed held item, mostly a berry. I get the Porygon2 joke! The Recycle Bin! The other Pokemon that would be able to naturally learn Recycle extend to natural scavengers (Munchlax, elemental monkeys) and creatures partially made of trash-looking items (Garbodor, Klefki, Flapple). Kind of a niche ability to give up one of your four slots for, but pretty flavourful!
• Refresh (Rifuresshu/Refresh) Another healing move, this one basically heals your Pokemon from three status conditions -- Paralysis, Poison and Burn. It really is kind of a forgettable move; whether in terms of actual usability in-game or in flavour, the franchise has a lot more interesting healing moves. 

• Tickle (Kusuguru/Tickle) Ah, this one is kinda funny! A Pokemon tickles its opponent, causing it to lose its attack and defense stats. Hey, if you're writhing on the ground giggling, you probably can't fight as effectively! Rather interestingly (or disturbingly), those that can initially leran tickle are those with, um, tentacles. Aipom, sure, but also Tangela, the Omanyte line and... Whiscash. With his mustache. Okay. 
• Block (Tosenbo/Block) An interesting move -- this is basically Mean Look (prevents a Pokemon from switching out or running away) flavoured in a different way. By physically blocking the enemy's path. The original joke, of course, is that two of the three Pokemon that learns this move -- Snorlax and Sudowoodo -- were overworld pathway-blockers themselves in their respective debut games!
• Covet (Hoshigaru/Covet) Another move I'm surprised didn't get Fairy-ized, this move is basically Thief. Only instead of pickpocketing or burgling the enemy, the description states that the Pokemon 'cutely begs' for the opponent's held item. Later on, the description gets changed to 'cutely approaches the enemy, then steals the target the enemy is holding', which I guess explains the damaging part of the attack. But I kinda like the original mental image of Covet dealing EMOTIONAL DAMAGE from the betrayal. 

• Stockpile (Takuwaeru/Stockpile), Swallow (Nomikomu/Swallow) and Spit Up (Hakidasu/Spit Up) These three moves have to be talked about together, because they're part of a gimmick move. It's normally used by Pokemon that has a huge mouth or belly -- Pelipper, Swalot, Guzzlord, Snorlax, Victreebel, Greedent... and the idea is that they keep stockpiling... food, I assume, in their big mouth. After several turns of using Stockpile, they can then either use Swallow (to heal themselves) or Spit Up (to deal damage), with both Swallow and Spit Up having greater effects depending on how much the Pokemon had Stockpiled. Except... you kind of burn multiple turns doing nothing with Stockpile. Later generations gave Stockpile the bonus of buffing up your defensive stats, but still, I've always found these moves a bit too gimmicky. Charmingly gimmicky. Oh, and I'm going to have to note that these moves are the butt of way too many 'haha, swallow or spit out' oral sex jokes.

And we'll close this off with a bunch of signature moves! We already had a bunch of these in the first two generations, but I feel like Generation III and IV are when we start really going ham with signature moves. The idea of each species having its own 'secret art' is very cool and makes them all unique, although only for a while... because later generations would make some of them available to other Pokemon. I've always thought that it's kind of a shame, but I guess some moves and Pokemon aer so obscure that they want some mileage out of the moves they programmed into the games?

• Weather Ball (Weza Boru/Weather Ball) A fun example of a signature move that is associated with an already gimmicky Pokemon, Castform, is Weather Ball -- in addition to Castform's own transformation abilities, Weather Ball deals elemental damage depending on the weather condition -- Fire in Sunny Day, Ice in Hail, and so on. The actual usefulness of this is kinda debatable, but the flavour is definitely pretty cool!
• Crush Claw (Bureiku Kuro/Break Claw) A simple damaging move with the potential additional effect of lowering defense, this is Zangoose's signature move. Later on, it's given to some other Pokemon with mean-looking claws like Sandslash.
• Camouflage (Hogoshoku/Camouflage) You can totally tell that the designers were really proud of the 'we can detect what terrain the battle is taking place on', becuase Camouflage changes the user's type to match whatever the terrain is. It becomes Fire in volcanoes, Rock in caves, Ground in deserts, Grass in, well, grass... and it definitely feels like a move that a Pokemon would actually naturally learn through the process of evolution, right? And who do you think this is the signature move of? Kecleon, surely... no, it's not actually Kecleon's, though he does learn this move in future generations. No, Camouflage is a move exclusive to Staryu, which is surprising that out of all the choices among the 365 Pokemon available at the time, they decide Staryu's the one that shold have Camouflage. Okay! I'm not mad, it's kinda cool, actually! 
• Smelling Salts (Kitsuke/Resuscitate) This is the signature move of Makuhita and Hariyama. Which... they don't have a Fighting-type signature move? Okay? Also, this game is where I learned about 'Smelling Salts for the first time. Despite the real-world Smelling Salts waking you up from unconsciousness (which you'd think Sleep) Smelling Salts deals more damage to a paralyzed target, but also cures it of paralysis. Which is kind of flavourful but also extremely niche.
• Teeter Dance (Furafura Dansu/Dizzy-Dizzy Dance) Spinda's signature move, and... it's kind of interesting? It confuses everyone around Spinda. Including Spinda's ally. And it definitely fits good ol' Spinda and everything around this spiral-confusing dancing panda! It probably gets my vote for most well-flavoured signature move in this generation. And you're meant to pair this up with Pokemon whose abilities prevent them from being confused! 
• Assist (Neko no Te/Cat's Paw) Skitty's signature move, and one whose English translated name is kinda bland. The actual Japanese name is 'Cat's Paw', stemming from a Japanese proverb/saying of 'I would even accept help from a cat's paw'. The idea is that you're so desperate for help that you'd take it from unconventional places, and in Skitty's case, this means that Skitty will randomly borrow one of her teammates' moves. The anime made Assist much cooler than it actually is, for sure, and in subsequent generations of course only cat Pokemon can learn Assist. 
• Slack Off (Namakeru/Slacking Off) Originally the signature move of Slakoth and Slaking (not Vigoroth, who can't learn this in its regular moveset), Slack Off is just... you laze off, and you recover HP. It's a far more efficient Rest because Slakoth and Slaking are just so... lazy? And... they're so good at resting that they rest... less? Don't think too hard about it. 

___________________________________

Fire-type Moves:

Finally, we're done with Normal-type moves! It is kinda telling just how much Pokemon moves default into shoving a lot of their moves into the Normal type since basically every other type had, like, six or less moves each added in this generation. I think a good part of it is because Pokemon didn't quite have the niche needed before the Physical/Special split per move was done in Generation IV, and... honestly, there's only really so much you could do with fire, right?

• Heat Wave (Neppu/Hot Wind) Heat Wave is a very cool attack, though, really selling the fantasy of a wave of superheated desert wind coming onto you. It's an unmistakably Fire-type move that isn't just shooting fire in different shapes, and it even works to Generation III's double battle gimmick by, very logically, burning both opponents!
• Will-O-Wisp (Onibi/Will-O-Wisp) Another interestingly-flavoured Fire-type move, Will-O-Wisp takes its flavour from those ghostly fireballs (hitodama) often seen in Japanese media, and the English translation of Will-O-Wisp perfectly captures the spooky-light vibe going on here. It just inflicts the target with a burn, but it's probably the first move that can be reliably done to do so -- finally giving the Fire-type a guaranteed access to its signature status ailment. Except... other than Vulpix, the original users of Will-O-Wisp in Generation III are all the Ghost-types! The Duskull and Shuppet line! Later generations would include this in TM form and give us spookier Fire-types (Litwick line, Fennekin line, Alolan Marowak) but it is still pretty cool that this Fire-type move that deals a fire-flavoured effect is far more associated with ghosts.  
• Overheat (Obahito/Overheat) I do really like the idea of Overheat! It deals even more damage than Fire Blast, but it kind of screws your Pokemon for the rest of the battle since it debuffs the user's Special Attack. The flavour here, of course, is something that many anime characters do -- often hot-blooded fire-wielding types, natch -- where they go for an all-or-nothing attack that would exhaust and conk them out. It's not quite as self-destructive as, well, Selfdestruct, but pretty neat regardless.

• Eruption (Funka/Eruption) One of the more powerful Fire-type moves, Eruption deals maximum damage the more HP the Pokemon has. It's always one of the moves that the 3D games go all-in for in animating, and, of course, it's yet another move that hits both enemies. This move is almost exclusive, with only Camerupt (who is a volcano camel) and the legendary Groudon (who is a volcano kaiju) being able to learn it initially.
• Blaze Kick (Bureizu Kikku/Blaze Kick) All the starter Pokemon in Generation III get signature moves, making them extra cool, and it's going to be a running theme for... well, most of the starters that don't come from Johto or Sinnoh, anyway! Blaze Kick is pretty much perfect for Blaziken, though, who is a fiery kung-fu chicken whose powerful pillar-like legs are already pretty emphasized in its design. Adding it really does make Blaziken feel much more unique compared to just another animal that spews fire. It kicks you with fire while making Bruce Lee noises. 
• Blast Burn (Burasuto Ban/Blast Burn) Not to be outdone, when Generation III released FireRed/LeafGreen, only the three Kanto starters are able to learn these 'ultimate' moves in the Sevii Islands, taught by a mysterious hermit. They're basically Hyper Beam in practice, but Hyper Beam's badass, so I'm not complaining! The Pokemon Adventures manga made these special moves feel particularly badass, too, making it a whole quest for many of the Pokedex holders to go and get these abilities. In the very next generation, all starters are eligible for these ultimate moves, but for just a single generation, Blast Burn is Charizard's. It's normally depicted particularly in the anime as them slamming down onto the ground and causing the mother of all fiery explosions. 

___________________________________

Grass-type Moves:

Unlike Fire, though, the Grass-type can afford to be a bit more creative with what it's doing by just how interesting the Grass type itself can be. Anything that plants (or fungi) can do is fair game, after all! And, again, just like the Fire-type, all the redundant 'deal damage' moves does get a bit more interesting when the Physical/Special split classifies all these moves as different -- Razor Leaf becomes physical while Magical Leaf becomes special, and the like. 

• Bullet Seed (Tane Mashingan/Seed Machinegun) And we start off with one of the TM's given to you in the Hoenn region, and this multi-hit move Bullet Seed has such a badass name for what is basically... what kids do when they eat watermelons, and that's to spit out the seed. The anime in particular had a great mileage out of Bullet Seed by having Ash's Treecko abuse this like a damn machinegun. Interestingly, while most Generation III players would associate this with the TM, by natural learnset, Bullet Seed was originally exclusive to Sunflora of all Pokemon! Actually, I guess sunflowers do have a lot of seed in their flowers!
• Magical Leaf (Majikaru Rifu/Magical Leaf) A variant of Razor Leaf, except that the Magical Leaf glows in rainbow colours. The gimmick is that this is an unavoidable attack, though it's a bit weaker and doesn't hit both enemies. Not too much to say here, if we're being honest, although one of the weirder things in Generation III is that the Psychic-type Kirlia can learn this through move tutor. Only Kirlia. Not its pre-evolution or its evolution. I don't know if this is a mistake or not, but Nintendo would commit and let Kirlia have the ability to shoot weaponized magic leaves at people.
• Ingrain (Ne O Haru/Extend Roots) Oh, I hated this move, thanks to a traumatic experience with one of the Ace Trainers with a Cacturne at the end of Hoenn's Victory Road. But Ingrain is actually a very cool name and a very cool flavour -- it uses a different part of the plant anatomy, this time being the roots! The Pokemon will continue to heal itself with nutrition from the soil, but since it's rooted in place, it can't be switched out! Very cool and flavourful, and I love that with a couple of legendary exceptions, every single user of Ingrain is a Grass-type Pokemon of the 'sentient walking plant' flavour instead of the 'animal with plant parts' flavour. Very neat attention to detail, and, yes, Fomantis is part of that group!
• Aromatherapy (Aromaserapi/Aromatherapy) An interesting move -- we've got a couple extra non-damaging moves for the Grass-type, which ties in well with the 'Aroma Lady' trainer class, I feel! Aromatherapy in particular just heals every single Pokemon on your side of the field of status moves. Now I'm doubtful that real-life aromatherapy can cure you from being poisioned or burned, but this is nice scents from a rose-pixie monster, so clearly it's more effective than, like, peppermint and lavender.

• Grass Whistle (Kusabue/Grass Flute) We have a couple of signature moves now. Grass Whistle (or Grasswhistle as it was originally formatted as) is Roselia's signature move. I never knew that! But it basically puts yourself to sleep, and it is a cute little nod to how so many people, especially in movies, are able to make these soothing melodies with a blade of grass. Now I'm not sure about giving it to a rose bouquet Pokemon as a signature move, but eh. 
• Needle Arm (Nidoru Amu/Needle Arm) The signature move of the Cacnea line until we get fellow cactus Pokemon Maractus and spiky-nut Pokemon Chesnaught, Needle Arm is a pretty cool one! Very cool animation in the GBA engine with the needles stabbing in a concentric circle around the opponent, and can cause the opponent to flinch. I mean, you would, too, if a cactus-man just punched you with needles jutting out of his fist. 
• Leaf Blade (Rifu Bureido/Leaf Blade) Oh, this is a cool move right here! One of the straight-up best animations to come out of the GBA engine, and amazingly portrayed in the anime with Grovyle or Sceptile extending those leaves on their forearms into fucking glowing lightsaber blades of doom. It's a relatively simple trope, yes, extending part of your body into a glowing blade. I don't care -- it's something that works amazingly well with the design of Grovyle and Sceptile (and later on, other users of Leaf Blade like Leavanny or Shiftry or Kartana). 
• Frenzy Plant (Hado Puranto/Hard Plant) The ultimate starter move for Venusaur and later other fully-evolved Grass-types, I absolutely agree with the English translation that the name Frenzy Plant is so, so much cooler than 'Hard Plant'. The depiction of Frenzy Plant has differed from media to media. Its original Generation III video game version had a swarm of encroaching roots slamming into the enemy. The anime has shown it being depicted as a cluster of thorny vines bursting out of the ground, or gigantic serpentine logs not too dissimilar to that one demon from Jujutsu Kaisen, and the manga gives each different starter a unique 'Frenzy Plant', with Venusaur having a cluster of vines from its plant, Meganium shooting a Solarbeam-esque attack, and Sceptile just unleashing havoc with its back-seed-fruit-things. 

___________________________________

Water-type Moves:

• Dive (Daibingu/Diving) Hoenn's huge environmental gimmick (and a personal favourite of mine, actually -- I'm disappointed future regions didn't give us more diving locations) is diving, which allows you to, instead of just riding a Pokemon, also dive deep with them. In the manga in particular it's depicted as a shroud of... well, I guess oxygen around the trainer. In combat, Dive basically is just Water-type Dig, except it's way more ridiculous since you can use Dive in places without water. 
• Water Pulse (Mizu no Hado/Water Pulse) Unlike Ice, Fire or Electric, the Water-type didn't really have much in terms of 'middling' Water-type moves before you go straight to Surf and Hydro Pump. I'm not sure why the games didn't push Bubblebeam a bit more, but they eventually settled on Water Pulse, introduced in this generation, as the default 'anyone that can shoot water will learn this around level 20 or so'. And... it's pretty neat? Originally described as an ultrasonic pulse of water before just being, well, a pulsing blast of water, Water Pulse comes with the additional effect of confusion. Pretty neat and kinda distinctive, actually. 
• Water Sport (Mizu Asobi/Water Game) The 'Sport' moves are... kinda worthless? I kind of get the flavour. The Pokemon using Water Sport spreads out so much water as it splashes around that the power of Fire-type moves used by everyone gets cut down... but it's not particularly useful. I think this is basically the basis for the 'Terrain' moves introduced much later in Generation VI.
• Water Spout (Shiofuki/Water Spout) Water Spout is basically Water-type Eruption, dealing insanely high damage the higher the HP of the user is. I thought this move was exclusive to Wailord, but fellow whale-based Kyogre was also able to use it in Generation III. Very fun-looking animation, and it fits the very common visual image of whales shooting gigantic geysers out of their blowholes. 

• Muddy Water (Daku Ryu/Muddy River) The actual signature move is Muddy Water, which in Generation III takes the form of a recoloured version of Surf's animation. Instead of a wave of seawater, Swampert will douse you with a gigantic tsunami of icky, muddy water! That's just disgusting! In Generation III it's just a cooler variant of Surf, but later on Surf loses the property of not hitting your other ally... while Muddy Water will still damage only the enemy. Since then, a lot of the 'swampy' Water-type Pokemon have been able to learn Muddy Water.
• Hydro Cannon (Haidoro Kanon/Hydro Cannon) And we close this off with the ultimate Water-type starter move, Hydro Cannon. And... its name is probably the one that's the most tied to Blastoise, isn't it? He's got cannons! Whereas 'Blast Burn' and 'Frenzy Plant' doesn't exclusively tie itself to Charizard and Venusaur. Anyway, it sure is a much more devastating version of Hydro Pump. I'm just kinda happy that the starters get a bit more of an attention, even if it's just a couple of signature moves. 

___________________________________

Electric-type Moves:

• Shock Wave (Dengeki-ha/Electric Shockwave) Shock Wave is just a very fucking cool attack name to say, yeah? SHOCKWAVE! Just say that and make your voice around two octaves deeper when you say it. Go on, we won't judge. Anyway, Shock Wave kind of bridges the gap between the laughably weak Thundershock and the end-game duo of Thunder and Thunderbolt. Its little gimmick is that Shock Wave can't miss. Later generations would make it a bit more clear that this is a concentric explosion of electricity instead of a lancing bolt like many other Electric-type attacks. 
• Charge (Juden/Charging) Yeah, this move used to be kinda useless. You 'charge up' for one turn, and if you use an Electric-type attack for your next move, it deals double damage. I do get the flavour, but... it's kind of telegraphing your attack. Similar to Stockpile, later generations added the bonus of Charge also increasing your special defense stat. 
• Volt Tackle (Borutekka/Volteccer) In Emerald, the Pikachu line gains a very interestingly hidden secret way to get the signature move. I learned about this from a fucking video game magazine. Those existed at the time! But you need to breed with a female Pikachu holding the Light Ball (itself being Pikachu's signature item) and the baby Pichu will have Volt Tackle. It is kind of surprising because I've always thought that the Pikachu line was more Special Attack oriented... but turns out that they're more or less balanced in the physical and special offensive side. Okay, then. Volt Tackle basically has Pikachu wreath itself in an aura of lightning before charging and slamming onto the enemy... but also taking recoil. The result is basically a reskinned Double-Edge. It's kind of an interesting signature move, and while it was a cute little easter egg, Volt Tackle has basically found itself to everywhere Pikachu shows up in. The anime, the manga, Smash Bros, the Ryan Reynolds movie... it's nice. It's really nice that our little mascot rodent gets something to call its own!

__________________________________

Anyway, there are a lot of Normal-type moves introduced, huh? We'll be picking up on the rest of the moves in a separate 'part 2' article soon!

One Piece 1082 Review: Surprise Death!

One Piece, Chapter 1082: Let's Go and Claim It!

A death!

Holy shit, a death!

I mean, it is a relatively minor character, all things considered. Vice Admiral (formerly Rear Admiral, last we saw him) T-Bone, otherwise known as that guy Zoro beat when the Sea-Train was on the way to Enies' Lobby, gets killed off in a pretty unambiguous manner. He was killed offscreen, and he's killed by civilians trying to turn in a bounty to Cross Guild. 

...And I really have to applaud the decision to pick T-Bone. I don't think anyone would really care if it was Vice Admiral... oh, Yamakaji or Strawberry or Dalmatian that died; I'm pretty sure 90% of the fandom don't even know they existed! But it's different from killing someone major like, oh, Smoker or Sengoku. But choosing T-Bone to kill off? T-Bone has always been one of my favourite minor characters in One Piece due to the sheer juxtaposition of his horrendously ugly skull-face... and the fact that he's the kindest guy ever. He was ripping off parts of his cape to bind his subordinates' wounds, his sole motivation in fighting the Straw Hats was to defend his men and enact justice, and unlike CP9 or Nero or any of the other antagonists in that arc, you really do get the idea that T-Bone is a really kind and nice dude who believes in the cause he's fighting for. He's not a jackass like oh, Ratel, who attacked Sphinx Island or whatever.

And now he's dead.  

And I love that this is the power of a well-built world, where I actually do feel a bit for T-Bone dying. It's obviously not going to be as 'huge' as if someone major like Garp or Law dying, but the finality of this minor character, and the sad thing that one of the few genuinely good Marines in the world got caught in the cross-fire of the Cross Guild's schemes, is pretty sad.

We mostly see Sengoku and Tsuru discussing this, talking about the grand machinations of Buggy the Clown (hee hee) and how the civilians they're supposed to be protecting are stabbing them in the back. Tsuru -- and the narrative, later on -- show that the people killing T-Bone are genuinely very desperate people from a place called Pepe Island, where everyone is starving and dying. Poor T-Bone is a nice guy, but hunger and desperation and a need to help family is going to triumph over that. 

That scene ends with Hina telling them very casually that Garp has gone off with SWORD elsewhere, and Sengoku and Tsuru get absolutely shocked that Garp might potentially be knocking on Hachinosu's door. Oh dear!

We get to see Karai-bari Island, where we see the guy who killed T-Bone get the compensation from Buggy, and... you really do feel for him. He's just a random poor guy, who just doesn't want his family to die, and now he's a wanted man for killing a Vice Admiral, and he's dragged into this mess with Buggy's many rowdy and evil goons.

...and then we get to some expected Cross Guild comedy. Buggy's fanboys have created the ship for the Cross Guild... and its figurehead is a giant clown head. We get a perfect showcase of Buggy's shocked and crying face as Crocodile and Mihawk walk up behind them all gloomy and shit. We cut to Buggy's detached head being strung up on a hook while Crocodile and Mihawk talk about the Marine and their ultimate plan to make an 'utopia' and a 'strong military state'. 

And while hanging on that hook, all beaten up to hell, we get an interesting look into Buggy's mind. He knows he's talking up to two people much more powerful than him, but then he interrupts their meeting about how 'wealth and power' isn't just it. Buggy then talks about how he used to be on the Pirate King's crew with Shanks, how they never arrived to Laugh Tale... and how Buggy had let go of his original dream because he knew Shanks was always going to be that guy. We get a flashback, complete with Buggy's inner thoughts, about how disappointed he is that Shanks isn't going for the One Piece and to follow in Roger's footsteps. He deflects with the excuse of Shanks causing him to lose the treasure map, and runs off, but I think at some point Buggy ends up believing in his bullshit excuse...

And now, years later, Buggy is pissed off that he now actually is on 'equal footing' with Shanks, and he yells out, all beaten up and teary-eyed and snot-nosed, that he, too, wants to be the King of Pirates. He wants to claim it all, while Crocodile and Mihawk are clearly a lot more skeptical since they're going to do all the heavy lifting and they want to kind of avoid conflict. But Buggy rolls off his hook, talks next to a Den-Den Mushi, and does the big, bombastic declaration that the Cross Guild would now claim the One Piece.

And he's pathetic and all, but I really do think that what makes Buggy a bit more likable this time around is that he's actually aware that he's outclassed by Crocodile and Mihawk, let alone Shanks, but damn, he's got a crew now, he's got the means, and he's going to try. 

And we cut again to Kamabakka Kingdom, where we see a quartet of weird-ass Revolutionaries, all subordinates of the four Revolutionary commanders. Ushiano is some kind of Mink or Zoan that's a long-legged cow-creature. Ahiru, who we've seen before, is a cute girl with a robot arm. Gyamble is basically Humpty-Dumpty, and his personality is that he likes to gamble. And Jiron seems to have some kind of eating Devil Fruit, because he keeps eating telescopes and goggles and stuff. Turns out Sabo is back, everyone is all happy, we get a cute moment with Koala (which is basically what's expected) and the handwave that Sabo isn't even in Lulusia and he used some kind of a three-beat-code signal. I guess Sabo didn't really realize the sheer scope of what the World Government was going to do to Lulsia, huh? 

And we cut away to the final page, where Dragon and Ivankov are the only ones that are allowed to hear Sabo's report, becuase he doesn't want any of the captains hearing it since even hearing it puts them at risk... so I guess he saw Im!

Anyway, nowhere as epic as the last... three or four chapters, but it can't be all high-energy, high-tension all the time. I'm not the most excited about Cross Guild or the Revolutionaries compared to former Admirals, Monkey D. Garp, the Blackbeard Pirates, or Red-Haired Shanks... but it's about time that they get to do something after they're built up so much. Admittedly, Sabo's survival was never in question in my head that it slipped my notice that this was even supposed to be a 'reveal', and... I'm just waiting to see if the Revolutionaries will do anything at all, y'know? They've been in the background for so much and I've honestly had all my hype about Dragon die down... I really do want to be excited about them, and this seems to be a pretty good setup to them finally doing something!

Random Notes:

• For the longest time, I thought T-Bone's newspaper was folded when Sengoku and Tsuru were reading it, because there was a huge line right across the middle of the photograph. Turns out that it's just his mustache! Get it? Because T-Bone despises anything crooked, and he won't do curved sword slashes, and before he died his facial hair is also rigid and completely straight?
• It is interesting that Mihawk doesn't really want to face off against Shanks or Blackbeard just yet. There's a lot of debate on just how strong Mihawk is, and I don't doubt he's super strong, but I don't quite think he's at the level of a Yonko like Shanks just yet. 
• Ahiru actually made a bunch of background appearances in previous chapters!

One Piece Anime: Wano Arc, Episodes 1051-1055

Even more Wano! I'm not sure if I'll continue commentating (or watching) the anime after Wano ends, considering how terrible my schedule slips have been. I think a good portion of my reluctance is also because I kind of already know what's going to happen, and Wano is also an arc that really needed a fair bit of expansion in its earlier stages. Not sure if I would really have as much to say about the Egghead arc. I was considering just doing the Bleach filler arcs, the way I originally did the One Piece filler arcs at the beginning of my One Piece anime reviewing segments. 

Alternatively, I wouldn't say no to (re)watching something like Jujutsu Kaisen or Demon Slayer. 

Episode 1051:

• Never been the biggest fan of Momonosuke, but that shot of him coiling up into the sky after Luffy's "is there anything left in this world that could scare you" line is pretty badass. 
• Again, still YMMV on how justified Luffy recovering after eating the Caribou-food is, but the shots of the Straw Hats, Tama and even Big Mom reacting to Luffy's massive declaration of beating Kaidou is pretty badass and well-executed. 
• I think this segment is anime-original? I don't remember it from the manga. But there's a shot after all the Straw Hats had their say, and Sanji and Zoro land back-to-back, facing off against King and Queen, and do a badass slow-motion flame-covered boast about how it's their captain that's going to be the goddamn King of Pirates. 
• Holy shit, Kaidou launching himself into the sky, combining with a purple lightning and then doing all this Dragon Ball Z zipping around shit in his hybrid mode? Badass. 
• There's also a badass samurai-facing-each-other shot as Luffy just launches a casual blast of Ryu'o at the surrounding rocks, while Kaidou just crackles with lightning. Followed by the quiet, soundless clash as we go black and white, alternate between the two combatants, and then huge giant Conqueror's Haki explosion. 
• Damn, that clash of lightnings, though.
• 'The Heavens cracked open', as Yamato flashbacks to the ink-drawn clash between Whitebeard and Oden, is pretty badass!
• Oh yeah. Inuarashi and Nekomamushi's return to Sulong form bathed in the white-blue light of the Moon is badass as all hell. 
• ...and Momonosuke gets reduced to silly height-fearing tomfoolery in the second half of the episode. I do 100% agree with the 'people don't change that easily' line, though. 
• Oh, that shot of Momosuke rising through the flame clouds is cool. 
• Damn, the animation for Neko and Inu taking down Perospero and Jack are way too good. Especially Neko and Perospero! I do really like just how different the portrayal of the two are, with Perospero panicking and waving his stupid candy axe randomly, while there's still a quiet warrior's dignity when jack gets taken down. 
• We do get a bit of an extended scene with Nekomamushi and the other lesser Minks reminiscing about Pedro, and Inuarashi scoffing at Jack, talking about the rage of all Minks. 

Episode 1052:

• 
  Yeah, okay, between the multiple flashbacks to the past two episodes, as well as Momonosuke and Yamato avoiding falling rocks, I guess this is our 'filler quota' episode. The rocks just keep going on and on, yeah? I get it's to showcase the fact that Kaido's grip on Onigashima is weakening, but I really don't have much to say here. 
• Oh yeah, the showcase of those drummers in the Flower Capital is definitely reused. I definitely have seen that specific series of animations a couple of times now. 
• At least the second half of the episode gave us a rather fun extension of the Zoro/King and Sanji/Queen fights, with laser beams and the surroundings being cubed and everything. Once all the episodes are out, I really wouldn't mind seeing a 'Zoro and Sanji supercut' of Wano. 
• Queen gets to do some wacky Queen things again! Power. Speed. AND! POWER! 
• Queen does a bit more with his hair-braid and tail claws which he sells as some kind of 'secret attack' being activated. This leads to the whole 'Sanji thinks some bones are broken' sequence, which is extended out to Sanji feeling some bone break, but he's not sure which bone. 
• There are some pretty fun, JoJo-esque scenes whenever Sanji realizes something is feeling off, with the colours being desaturated, as his exoskeleton or whatever is being activated. 
  
• King got so pissed when Zoro sliced off one of his BDSM suit spikes with a 360 Pound Phoenix. He is really attached to that suit. 
• That's also a badass transformation from a winged devil-man into a pteranodon-man, with an image of a fiery pteranodon in King's eyes before he summons flames to wrap around him. 
• "Damn, is that a dinosaur's power?"
  
• A scene that's definitely added in the anime -- Queen mocks King for being so uptight, before one of King's many air blades stabs Queen right in his big brachio-butt. The anime really did realize they have a bit of a goldmine with Queen's voice actor and added a bunch of fun moments with him. 
• I also love the short Franky and Zoro scene. Franky going "do you need my help", with an inflection that makes it rather clear that Franky's only really doing so out of courtesy because you know the answer's going to be a resounding no. 
• FUNK!
• Was it really necessary for the corridor that Zoro and King are facing off in to suddenly have all the walls light up? No, but it's cool as all hell for sure. Particularly when you realize it's meant to be a backdrop so the pteranodon and tiger could shine brightly in the background. 
  
• The pun on Zoro's "Clear Lance" attack is a pun on the English word "Clearance". ...they can't all be winners like Oni Giri, I suppose. 

Episode 1053:

• They really could've foreshadowed the random 'bombs in onigashima' revelation here a bit earlier, couldn't they? 
• Oh yeah, Guernica (I can call them by names now!) you can't pick up the phone immediately because of a 'series of unexpected events'. yeah. I mean, it's not like you guys are doing anything more pressing than sitting around in the Go-board room all day long...
• I do like the little bit of sass from Maha about how the World Government wanting to seize Wano by force makes them no better than pirates. 
• Robin is just so supportive at just slinging around praise to her friends like Sanji and Brook. Considering her whole Devil Child upbringing, it's pretty heartwarming to think of the reason why. 
• Okay, Jean Bart and all you Heart Pirates... you literally are just standing there doing nothing, huh?
  
• Diable Jambe: Bien Cut Grill Shot!
  
• The build-up to Queen and Sanji facing off against each other, Queen's trash-talk about the power that has ruled the Earth for thousands of years, the cutaway from each other's intense faces... then the comical 'boing' as the Brachio-snake-us gets shot at Sanji... and we immediately cut to Marco and Izo going EEEEEEEEH.
  
• Great cartoony representation of the sequence too. 
• So the body of the brachiosaurus has some kind of metallic tunnel-thing to allow the 'snake' to get shot out, huh?
• "BRACHIO LAUNCHER!" God, Queen is a moron. This sequence was done pretty well! Queen's god a fun voice actor and they used him pretty damn hilariously!
• Okay, Sanji 'cracking' back his broken limbs into regular shape is done with him beating it like a metal plate, not the obvious, painful way of 'cracking' it with a chiropractor noise. 

Episode 1054:

• The Hawkins/Killer fight isn't the most important fight here, but I do enjoy seeing the two of them fighting in the burning corridors. 
• I didn't know Hawkins' Straw Sword could coil around like that and stab people from behind!
• We get an extra explanation of Hawkins gloating about the abilities of his voodoo doll to Killer and some other random Kid Pirate crewmates that show up to help. 
• I didn't realize Killer's mask got cracked by Hawkins! I'm not sure if this blow is shown in the manga, but we do get the explicit strike that cracked his Jason Voorhes mask. 
• Man, Law really does feel so much more impressive than Kid, I'm sorry. It's not that Kid is putting up a bad show. Not at all! He's being pretty impressive, clashing with Big Mom like this. But Law just keeps saving him with Room!
• I've always found it hilarious that Big Mom's main utilization of Prometheus and the 'Heavenly Fire' is to grab the sun and literally bash the ball of fire against her enemies.
• Oh, that Counter Shock by Law, followed by Stolen Fire by Prometheus, is pretty damn badass. 
• MAMARAID! Okay, it's a bit more clear that Big Mom's lightning strike didn't really hit Law and Kid full-on, but the shockwaves are the ones that tossed the two Supernovas around. 
• Ah yes, Hawkins. Just keep bashing your head against a pillar. Honestly, I guess the only reason he doesn't immediately kill Kid's doll off is to have protection against Killer. I really do wish we did get more of an explanation on Basil Hawkins' abilities. What if he makes the voodoo dolls of like, all the main enemies and just shoots himself in the head as many times?
• The flashbacks to Kid and the rest of the crew being nice to Killer is definitely much-needed here. 
• You really do get the impression that Hawkins is working off some of his own frustrations over not being able to 'fight the Yonko and become the King of Pirates', huh?
• Oh shit, the clash between Killer and Hawkins, as the two of them zip around the burning corridor while Killer says the (admittedly very obvious) solution of cutting the arm that corresponds to Kid's metal arm is pretty badass! 
  
• In the anime, we actually do get to see Kid's metal arm getting sliced off with no damage to Kid. 
• Damn, they even show the droplets of blood gushing out of the wound! After the earlier parts of Wano quasi-censored blood by turning them into sakura petals, it's kind of starkly different!
• Also, the shot of Hawkins getting the final Gin Sonic attack shows a gigantic splurt of blood gushing out of his jugular. 
• It is very convenient that Hawkins put Kid's voodoo doll in the left arm, huh.
• Oh, Zanshu Claw gets one of those badass kanji words in a samurai movie thing!
• I actually forgot Hawkins summoned the Straw Man death-god thing and it got one-shot by Killer.

Episode 1055:

• Yeah, the anime giving flashbacks of the Germa's worst moments is obvious padding, but it is also pretty consistent with showing just how confused Sanji is and how he's basically having a panic attack at the moment. 
• Oh, right. Apoo and the first three Numbers trying to lure Drake to join their alliance. That's kinda something that happened. 
• Fuck, Kin'emon's ass. Yeah. The anime's revelation of Kin'emon's survival is still as terrible as ever. Easily the one big black mark in this arc, honestly. 
• Yeah, the showcase of Kaidou stabbing down at Kin'emon... it still doesn't look like it's slicing him neatly in half, no. 
• Usopp just sticks Kin'emon's lower body onto Hamlet's side. That's... that sure is something that happens. Hmm. 
• Okay, while I'm not a big fan of Kin'emon's survival, Kanjurou surviving and having a delirious near-death fever dream as Orochi paints this amazing picture of a theater all applauding for him, and how he needs to do an encore for their vengeful ancestors is pretty well done. The whole 'Kurozumi Suicide' thing also makes Kanjurou's death at the end of summoning Kazenbo a lot more explicit. 
• It is very appropriate, now that I'm looking back at this in retrospect, that Orochi's final gambit with the Kazenbo is basically a "everyone dies, I don't give a fuck" mentality, which was Orochi's grand plan with the country of Wano in general. 
• That is a wonderful Boro Breath vs. Red Hawk at the end of the episode. 

Reviewing Monsters: Persona 5, Part 9

Another entry into my review of Persona 5 monsters. Didn't really do too much plot-wise this time around, since it's another one of those lulls between the end of the Kaneshiro Palace and the start of the next one, which would be Futaba? I have vague knowledge of the events of the base Persona 5 game, but obviously they have introduced a whole lot of brand-new additions into the Royal version. 

Not much for me to honestly say this time around, but I do enjoy knocking out these shorter monster review segments. Helps to give me a bit of a more steady stream of content into the blog, as well as not make these monster review articles too too long. I've always had a bit of 'content anxiety' where I'm really not sure what the right amount of content for a monster review segment is. Too short and it'll look like I'm just rushing these out, too long and it takes so long to write. I think I can afford shorter-content Persona monster reviews, though, considering how long it takes for me IRL to go from dungeon to dungeon, as well as the sheer amount of research sometimes needed for me to write up a single monster article. 

Anyway, I also flip-flop a lot on whether I want to use the Confidants for the opening paragraph artwork or if I was going to use the 'civilian' outfits for the Phantom Thieves. I decided on the latter. We got Makoto's civilian outfit last review, since those two parts were written concurrently as I was doing Kaneshiro's arc. This one has Joker. We'll see if this series runs long enough for me to use all the other Phantom Thieves. 

___________________________________________________

Naga

• Monster Name: Cavern Snakeman
• Arcana: Hermit

Now we get a very familiar name that has shown up a lot in video games and general fiction as a name for a snake demon. Dungeons & Dragons, Harry Potter, World of Warcraft, even the DC comics had a whole terrorist organization themed on the Naga. The Naga are actually a bit more complex than that, originating primarily from Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism, but the widespread use of the word 'Naga' all over Asia has led to them being depicted as various different draconic or serpentine mythological creatures. 

Like many other Hindu-Buddhist-originating deities we've seen, the Naga are, again, a race of beings. They are depicted as being half-human, half-serpent; and can take human form. Naga are principally depicted as having three forms -- entirely human with snakes on their heads and necks; as common serpents; or as commonly depicted in media (including this game), as half-snake, half-human beings. 

These Naga live in a region in the underworld filled with gems and other treasures called Nagaloka or Patalaloka, and the Naga are also associated with bodies of waters. Being part-snake (naga literally means cobra) means that the Naga have powerful venomous abilities. Their eternal foe is the bird deity Garuda. However, despite their fearsome powers, they are often actually portrayed as beneficial beings on the side of good in Hindu mythology. For example, the deity Vishnu is often portrayed sheltered by Sheshanaga, a primordial cosmic Nagaraja (King Naga). In Buddhism, the Naga are followers of Virupaksa, one of the Four Heavenly Kings of the West (more on them later), protecting Mount Sumeru from the Asuras. 

Anyway, Persona 5's Naga goes for a rather 'simple' take on the design, though it's not a bad depiction! I do appreciate that he's coloured pale blue-purple instead of the obvious greens or browns associated with snakes. It gives the Naga a bit more of a supernatural-leaning oomph. He has a spear and a shield, and just enough accessories to not be boring without really marking him as being particularly impressive. 

Jikokuten

• Monster Name: N/A
• Arcana: Temperance

Here is our first Four Heavenly Kings, which is a group of four great generals of the heavens that each guard a cardinal direction. Jikokuten, known as Dhṛtarāṣṭra in Sanskrit and Chíguó Tiān in Mandarin, he governs the Eastern side of Buddha's realm. His name means 'upholding the nation', and leads over other celestial beings known as Gandharvas (a group of celestial musicians and messengers) and Pishachas (a group of flesh-eating demons).

The depiction of Dhṛtarāṣṭra is a bit different in Chinese and Japanese iconographies. In Chinese myths, Chíguó Tiān is depicted as a god of music, holding a pipa in his hands and uses music to convert people to Buddhism. However, the Japanese depiction of Jikokuten is a bit more warlike, shown with a stern, fierce expression, clad in armour and wielding either a trident or a sword. Statues of him also often show a ring with fireballs behind his head. Statues of Jikokuten often show him trampling over a jaki, a type of demon. 

It is rather interesting, then, that Persona's Jikokuten went for a... very subtle and honestly rather underwhelming take on both the primary depictions of the deity. Gone is the 'fierce expression' and the ring of fire, and while Jikokuten does have an interesting hue of golden skin and a smashing mustache, he looks like just a rather generic warrior dude. 

Neko Shogun

• Monster Name: Calamitous Cat God
• Arcana: Star

This one is cute! I was a bit bamboozled when I saw 'Neko Shogun' amongst the 'special summons'. Like Flauros and Tam Lin a while back, Neko Shogun is one of the few Persona in this game that you need to summon only by fusing three specific Personas -- namely, Anzu, Kodama and Sudama. And it sure is an adorable chibi anime cat in regular shogun regalia. He's got one of those Chinese general fans stylized like a cat's head, and a bunch of cat symbols on the flags on his back. 

Now the description notes that the Neko Shogun is a 'prophetic taoist god', and due to a linguistic mistranslation involving the word for cat, his name is changed into the 'Neko Shogun'. The word for cat is indeed mao (貓) in Chinese, and the fan-wiki talks about a Chinese general who conquered Vietnam, Mao Shangshu, being venerated as a deity and due to a mistranslation of his family name Mao, they used the character for cat instead, turning him into a cat general. 

That story does seem specific enough and believable enough, except... I really can't find any such reference to either the 'Cat Shogun', 'Neko Shogun' or Mao Shangshu, the Wiki claims to be the inspiration for the Neko Shogun. Every single reference and hit I get ends up bringing back either Persona or Shin Megami Tensei references. Which is to say, I spent way too long trying to look for anything resembling this myth of the kitty general and found absolutely jack zip. Anyway, he sure is a cute cat general guy! 

Clotho

• Monster Name: N/A
• Arcana: Wheel of Fortune

We're going to the Greek mythology now, and I think anyone who's seen any kind of fiction would've stumbled onto the Moirae Sisters, the three sisters that represent fate. Her other two sisters Atropos and Lachesis will show up later in this game, but basically the three sisters of fate are a trio of ladies representing the fates of mortals and even gods all the way from their birth to their death. They are themed around literally weaving the threads and fabrics of fate. 

Clotho is the youngest sister, and she spins the thread of fate. This gives Clotho power over major decisions and primarily associated with birth and giving life. Being beings of fate, they were born of the primordial beings Erebus (darkness) and Nyx (night), and are a representation of basically an inescapable part of how the world works. While never the specific focus of any one myht, the Three Fates appear a lot in various Greek stories, with mortal heroes and even the gods seeking their aid to decipher fate.

Persona's Clotho is... interesting? There are a lot of these gods and demons I could call 'Stand-like', referring to JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, but Clotho is one that really does feel like a Stand. Her full-body white suit that looks like something modern, and her chain-link metal skirt around her pants, her golden statue face, that fancy bun-hair and holding a thread spool are all pretty neat. Ultimately I don't have too much to say about her design, but the combination of fashion cues and an expressionless face does really scream 'Stand' to me. 

Mithras

• Monster Name: Dark Sun
• Arcana: Sun

Oh, this guy is interesting. Mithras is a Roman deity, but not actually part of the formal Roman pantheon and religion. Rather, the worship of Mithras was done by members of the Imperial Roman Army in an almost cult-like fashion in what is called a 'mystery religion'. People are initiated to the cult through a complex seven-system initiation, congregate in underground temples and greet each other with secret handshakes. The worship of Mithras would be completely wiped out by early Christianity and no actual literature of what the religion is all about has survived. All that's left are some iconography showing Mithras being born from a rock, slaughtering a bull and sharing a meal with the sun-god Sol. 

Mithras is also somewhat associated with the Zoroastrian god Mithra, though apparently the connection between the two are disputed and unlikely. Persona's Mithras seem to combine aspects of both, though primarily the 'mystery religion' Roman god, what with him being born out of a literal rock adorned with the symbols of the 12 Zodiacs. He's also holding the giant sacrificial knife associated with him killing the bull. The overall effect is pretty striking, with this Greek god-like figure popping up halfway from an almost meteor-like rock, with the crevasse on the rock glowing with light. I don't know, there's just such a fancy style to how this guy looks and his design just screams that there's some story being told. 

A lot of these Arcana assignments are kind of random, but I appreciate that Mithras, who is likely to be some form of a sun god, is classified as a Sun Arcana persona. 

Reaper

• Arcana: Death

Oh, yeah, let's talk about this guy too. I encountered the Reaper a while back, but because he's an optional boss that you encounter after doing something rather out of the way -- stay still for a couple of minutes while exploring Mementos -- I didn't really bother fighting or trying to fight him until around before the Kaneshiro arc where I did a lot of grinding in Mementos and forgot to pause the game when I went to eat some cake. The Reaper will show up with the jangling of his chains after you stand around in Mementos for a while. Mementos itself, thanks to its soundtrack and ambience, always has the feel of something ominous just beneath the surface... and it's this guy. 

The Reaper shows up all decked out in chains, and he's apparently been a recurring bonus boss in the 'infinite dungeons' ever since Persona 3. Very fun that they ditched the traditional Western depiction of a Grim Reaper -- the cloaked skeleton holding a scythe -- and went for something a bit more metal. It's a simple enough design in monster terms, but what a style. Ragged clothes, a face that's almost featureless save for a single eye peeking out of what seems to be a burlap sack, chains wrapped around his torso like an orbitting ring, and wielding two big-ass giant revolver guns like it ain't a thing. You could totally see this guy being a character in an edgy, over-the-top 90's comic book, can't you? 

The Reaper is noted to act like some kind of a 'security system', getting wind and stalking our party's bus if we stay too long in a single area. Again, a very fun way to add the otherworldliness of Mementos and make us feel unwelcome, like intruders, in this strange eldritch location. 

Anyway, not a whole ton to otherwise say about him design-wise. In-game, he is just very powerful and I assume I'll have to wait until close to the end of the game before being able to actually contend with him. 

One Piece 1081 Review: Ice Ice Baby

One Piece, Chapter 1081: Kuzan, 10th Captain of the Blackbeard Pirates

What a chapter, huh? All these recent chapters have been hype-train banger after hype-train banger! We get to see the aftermath of Garp's Galaxy Impact, which blew up the whole town square, and there's a great shot of Garp looking positively demonic with his fist crackling with Haki. Prince Grus uses his Glorp-Glorp Fruit's ability to soften the ground so Garp's goofy-ass dog-headed ship can make a soft landing, which is another badass shot. 

And, of course, just as the fandom have been talking about, Garp notes how he's 'out of his prime', and he's lost his touch with the results of this attack... which means that instead of a small town, he probably could've wiped out a much larger town with one punch. we get the reactions from some of the other newer Marine characters. Prince Grus is a bit of a Cavendish-esque 'grr grr this other guy is the new future of the Marines' quasi-rival... and then in the midst of them just talking to each other HIBARI GETS FROZEN SOLID!

That's such a great shot, by the way, and I can't wait to see this animated on the small screen with the smash-cut to Hibari's shocked, frozen face. 

Of course, this heralds the arrival of Kuzan, the former Admiral Aokiji, and... yeah. The manga has been really good at keeping Kuzan out of the spotlight ever since the timeskip and the revelation that he's joined the Blackbeard Pirates, and everyone's kind of really on the same page -- that Kuzan is part of SWORD, that he's infiltrating Blackbeard, or that there's something fishy going on. And while I personally still feel that Kuzan is still a good guy, this chapter does give us the showcase of Kuzan joining the Blackbeard Pirates... and it really does make it feel like Kuzan's really pissed off with the Marines and is down and out and depressed and really looking for something to fill in that void in his heart that would let him achieve whatever goals or beliefs he has. 

And we get to see Kuzan after losing his duel with Akainu... with the giant San Juan Wolf frozen in the background. Blackbeard arrives to see Kuzan all emo and sad and stuff... and we smash cut to Kuzan and Blackbeard's entire crew (everyone's there!) drinking booze and just listening to Kuzan regaling them about his fight against Akainu. Including a hilarious bit where Kuzan makes fun of a line that Akainu said about his blood boiling. "That'd be the magma!" We also finally have the reveal that Kuzan lost a leg permanently in that fight, and he has to constantly re-craft it with ice. Something the fandom discovered basically a decade or more ago with Film: Z when Kuzan made a non-canon appearance there, but only really shown in the manga now. 

Devon and Burgess then talks about the Red Poneglyphs, and they discuss about the enigmatic 'Man Marked by Flames'. This leads to a hilarious bit about Kuzan being confused, thinking that he is the Man Marked by Flames, to which Vasco Shot gets one of those exaggerated anime eye-bugged-out reactions because Kuzan clearly just got that scar recently. Does that take Saul off of consideration, too? Laffite talks about how the Flame Guy is on a pitch-black ship and anyone who tries to follow him gets drowned by whirlpools that manifest spontaneously. Is this Dragon, then? Shiryu also posits a fun theory about how the Government might be playing keepaway with one of the Poneglyphs, which would make it near-impossible for Pirates to ever find the One Piece. 

Kuzan gives a pretty cool narration about how the Poneglyphs hold only bitter memories for him, about Saul and Robin. And as he's waxing poetry with the fate of Ohara, Laffite starts talking to Blackbeard, suggesting that they attack Kuzan and steal his Hie Hie no Mi, and Kuzan is right there. He can hear them, and he flash-freezes Burgess, Pizarro and a bunch of other Blackbeard Captains until Blackbeard himself goes "hold on, my pal's being an idiot". Blackbeard offers Kuzan an offer to join his crew, something that Kuzan gets pissed off about since all they did was share some drinks. 

Interestingly, Blackbeard talks about how he has as different kind of 'justice', and how pirates don't gather around because they are chums but because they have a certain goal. Now I think it's the statement of that goal that won Kuzan over -- if he really was won over and it's not just a super-long infiltration game. 

We cut back to the present day, where Garp demands that Kuzan unfreeze Hibari and return to wearing a uniform. We get a badass Oda Box re-introducing Kuzan as the Tenth Captain of the Blackbeard Captains. Kuzan gives a speech about how he's going to live life on his own terms, unleashing an Ice Ball attack on Garp, and talking about how Garp might be forced to kill his old pupil to save his new one. Garp grabs Kuzan and bashes him through the ground with an attack called Blue Hole, yelling that 'only weaklings lose their way', which is, again, very consistent with Garp's on view on life. 

Very interesting. While I don't doubt that Kuzan will be an ally to the good guys at the end of the day, this chapter does do a lot in making me doubt what Kuzan's real goal is, and whether he's merely infiltrating the Blackbeard Pirates or if he's actually abandoned the Marines in search for a different answer. 

...But we cut over to Winner Island, where we see the shot of the Polar Tang, Law's ship, sinking into the ocean after being shattered. It's a fair bit more tragic than Kid because Law's been with us a lot longer. We get to see Blackbeard and his crewmembers standing over the defeated Law and his crew. Blackbeard gloats about how the pirates of the Rocky Port that Law attacked are still there on Hachinosu, and he gloats about how he's considering forcing Law to do the Immortal Surgery on him... which confirms that Blackbeard hasn't actually stolen Law's Fruit powers yet. 

While all of this is going on, we get a brief shot of Bepo munching on something, while remembering a conversation with Chopper. This is either a Rumble Ball or something similar, but Bepo transforms into a monstrous Sulong form. A surprise but not entirely unexpected combination of several different long-running theories about how the Rumble Ball relates to Sulong or Zoan Awakenings. 

Bepo's rampage manages to distract the Blackbeard Pirates enough to grab Law and escape via sea, but despite Law's begging Bepo explicitly does leave the rest of the Heart Pirates behind. We get the same 'the Heart Pirates are annihilated' message that we got for the Kid Pirates a while back.

Man, what a chapter, huh? I'm honestly, again, far more interested in all that's happening in non-Egghead-related locations. Very interested to see what Oda's going to do with Blackbeard, honestly, and see how he's going to interact with everyone else. 

Random Notes:

• A lot of people probably died off-screen from Garp's Galaxy Impact.
• Interestingly, and it's something that I missed in my first read-through, Koby explicitly identifies Tashigi as a non-SWORD member. Interesting! Everyone always considers Tashigi and Smoker as a package deal, so I'm sure this means Smoker isn't part of SWORD either, but... hmm. I'm not sure why. Smoker is also conspicuously absent from all shots of Garp's crew, which makes me think he's gone off to Egghead. 
• By way of elimination, the ship heading to Egghead contains the infiltration duo of Laffitte and Catarina Devon. 
• Apologies for the slow update schedule recently. Lots of IRL stuff over this month and the previous one, which means that I end up just focusing a lot on the pre-planned articles like the Pokemon and Persona monster reviews and not much else .

Gotta Review 'Em All, Part #48: Frigibax to Miraidon

And so we reach the final segment of our review of the Paldean Pokemon introduced in the base game of Scarlet and Violet, though at this point we've already confirmed that at least two DLC's are coming. It is a rather momentous occasion, though, since we've hit the four-digit number with this generation. And if we count every single alternate form, Mega Evolution and Regional Variant, we would've reached far more beyond that number already. 

And I wish I had anything poignant to say here, but... let me just link you guys to this video posted by the official Pokemon YouTube channel. And I do appreciate moments when I look back at all the Pokemon that the past nine generations of games have created. There are some that I like over others, some I love, some I dislike, some that I 'don't get'... but I do really appreciate that this franchise has been managing to go strong for so long, with so many new designs and many that appeal to such a diverse group of fans.

And with this generation in particular, it really does surprise me how pleasantly fun the Paradox Pokemon are, and it's so fun that with close to 30 years of the franchise, we could still get designs as creative and fresh as Gimmighoul or Dondozo/Tatsugiri or Wo-Chien or Skeledirge or Spidops or Arboliva or Scovillain. And as we close off this last handful of Pokemon in the original Paldean Pokedex. Rock on, Pokemon. Rock on! 

Anyway, we've got a bunch of interesting Pokedex arrangement this time around, with the pseudo-legendary placed behind a pair of Pokemon that really isn't that much rarer or more impressive than the others (but their placement is important!), then a bunch of 'set' legendaries, two Paradox Pokemon (which aren't anywhere as limited as legendaries or Ultra Beasts) before the two mascot legendaries... before we continue with some DLC.  Pokemon has never followed any sort of logic for its numbering system, but these are particularly weird!

At the moment of writing, Iron Leaves and Walking Wake have been released, but since there's absolutely no dex entries about them and I'm already having trouble reviewing the Paradox Pokemon, we'll leave them until the DLC comes out!

Click here for the previous part.

Click here for the next part. 

Click here for the index.

___________________________________________________

#996-998: Frigibax, Arctibax & Baxcalibur

• Types: Dragon/Ice [all]
• Japanese names: Sebie, Segoru, Segureibu
• Categories: Ice Fin [Frigibax, Arctibax], Ice Dragon [Baxcalibur]

The base form of our pseudo-legendary is this weird, uh... yeah, I'm just not a fan of Frigibax, I'm sorry. I get that it's just the baby stage or whatever, but while I like its evolved forms reasonably well, little Frigibax just looks so... so weird. It looks like a weird mutant owl, I think, is the closest thing I can say about it, with stubby little dinosaur legs, arms, and a little spike on the back. It's a waddling head, and while it sure does look unique, I just don't really like its appearance. I'm not sure. Maybe it's that little piece of frozen... spit? Under his lip? Maybe that's what bothers me? 

Frigibax and its evolutions are our first non-legendary ice dragons, and I think it's rather appropriate that the typing and the trope does, at least for now, remain in either legendary or pseudo-legendary status, with how Pokemon builds up ice as the nemesis of dragon-types. Frigibax and its evolutions does have something more going on for it than just being ice dragons, though. Frigibax and its evolutions can absorb heat through its dorsal fin, and can convert the heat into ice energy, and... again, a surprisingly fun explanation of its ice manipulation powers. This is further elaborated with its signature ability, Thermal Exchange, which causes the Frigibax line to get an Attack boost when hit with Fire-type moves. 

All of this is a roundabout way of saying that the Frigibax line is based on the dinosaur Concavenator corcovatus, whose fossils are first discovered in Spain -- one of the locations that Paldea is based off. The Concavenator, in addition to having the most badass-sounding Latin names of all dinosaurs, also has traits that the Frigibax line showcase well, namely a back crest and quills on its forelimbs -- of which actually only Frigibax has them in a 'proper' way where it trails around like feathers. They kind of become Wolverine claws in the evolutions! While the features of dinosaurs are always debated, one of the earlier theories about the Concavenator's 

 1/6 for Frigibax only. 

Arctibax has a more realistic theropodal body structure after it evolves, and Arctibax is a lot more conventionally 'cool'. And... I'm sorry, Frigibax, I just really can't bring myself to like you! Your evolved forms are really cool, though. Arctibax looks like a regular stylized dinosaur, and the hump on its back have evolved into a full-on ice-encrusted sail (not too unlike a Spinosaurus). Those floppy quill-feathers that Frigibax had also turned into two forwards-pointing claws that look like they belong on someone like Wolverine. Pretty cool, too, is Arctibax's ice-encrusted fanged mouth. Arctibax's dex entries note that it freezes the air around it, and that's the reason for its 'ice mask' and 'ice blade dorsal fin'.

Interestingly, Arctibax's way of attacking isn't what you thought it would be -- he doesn't attack with his jaws or those X-23 claws, no. He kicks off the ground with his powerful legs, and then stabs people with the frozen dorsal fin. Awesome. Stupid, but delightfully awesome. 

I don't really have too much to say about Arctibax other than how I really do find him cool -- a lot of the stuff about the Thermal Exchange ability or the basis on the Concavenator have been covered in Frigibax's entry up above. 

Now, I do think that Tyranitar has been the big kaiju/Godzilla reference... but for obvious reasons, it can't really copy everything about Big G. Almost two decades later, Baxcalibur is a 'truer to text' adaptation of Godzilla, except it's an ice dragon instead of a nuclear-breath dragon! I absolutely love, by the way, that the evolution from Arctibax to Baxcalibur transforms the line from a paleontology-accurate theropodal stance to the mistaken 'upright' dinosaur kaiju stance that Godzilla or Grimlock or like several hundred other tokusatsu dinosaur monsters are based on. I love that in the Pokemon world, both stances actually exist in a single evolutionary line. (And, of course, in tokusatsu terms, because they need to fit a suit actor inside, most dinosaurs use the wrong orientation anyway) 

In addition to a colour scheme that fits Godzilla more, the evolutionary line's back dorsal fin have evolved into a shape not too dissimilar to Godzilla's iconic splayed-out spines. Oh, Baxcalibur also evolves at level 53, a reference to the very first Godzilla movie releasing in 1954. The general vibe of Baxcalibur is pretty simple and neat -- I really do like how the ice mask head ends up, as well as those arm-feather-claws sprouting a third blade. 

But, of course, as Baxcalibur's signature move Glaive Rush shows, "it launches itself into battle by flipping upside down and spewing frigid air from its mouth. It finishes opponents off with its dorsal blade." Such a bizarre, hilarious attack where you use your own ice breath as a propulsion device to impale the enemy with the ice blade on your back. Which, as commentator MegaZardX2 noted in my Violet playthrough, is a reference to how Godzilla flies in the older movies. 

Honestly, I do think that Baxcalibur is a rather subdued pseudo-legendary, but that's definitely not a complaint against it. An ice-dinosaur mosnter that lives quietly in the mountains, with the additional gimmick of adapting something ridiculous from the Godzilla franchise wholeheartedly? Pretty great, honestly. 

 5/6.

#999-1000: Gimmighoul & Gholdengo

• Types: Ghost [Gimmighoul], Steel/Ghost [Gholdengo]
• Japanese names: Korekure, Safugo
• Categories: Coin Chest [Gimmighoul], Coin Entity [Gholdengo]

Now normally at the end of a regional dex (discounting DLC's and subsequent-released games) are just a bunch of legendaries, mythicals and maybe the pseudo-legendary. But Paldea's dex has something special, because, as mentioned above, we're reaching the big 1000. From the original 151, we have reached 1008 at the time of Scarlet and Violet's release. And the Pokemon that held the coveted spots of 999 and 1000? It's Gimmighoul, which is a weirdly appropriately-named Pokemon. It is a 'gimmick' creature!

For the entirety of the franchise's run, the role of a 'mimic' -- those chest creatures that look like treasure chests but are actually monsters, based on the iconic D&D enemy -- has been taken by the Voltorb line, and later the Foongus line and Galarian Stunfisk, owing to the fact that the 'treasure chest' equivalents in the Pokemon world take the form of Pokeballs. But this generation gave us a proper 'mimic' Pokemon that takes the form of an adorable treasure chest, and it's a delightful one! The obvious way would to make the chest the monster, as usual, or maybe the coins within are the monster... but Gimmighoul is actually a tiny, silvery coin-eyed and antennae'd little gremlin that hides within the treasure! It's implied that Gimmighoul does go around collecting these treasure coins, perhaps driven by a bit of a desire to 'be' whole?

Let's talk about the 'Roaming Form' Gimmighoul first, which is its inner silvery body. This Ghost-type Pokemon is currently only available if you do some interconnectivity thing with Pokemon Go, but you can find individual Roaming Gimmighouls everywhere in Paldea, and interacting with them will give you Gimmighoul Coins. More on those later. The dex entries note that Gimmighoul was 'born from passion that seeped into a coin', and it wanders around to seek to return to the treasure chest it once inhabited, lugging around a coin with it. Humans that try to pick up that coin ended up getting their life-forces drained, which is pretty typical with what I expect from a Ghost-type nowadays. 

Its Chest Form, almost exclusively found in ruins and abandoned towers, however, are fully battle-able Pokemon that you can catch, though it does suffer a bit from the 'Magikarp syndrome' of not being particularly useful. I do really like the design, though, with the little core body hiding within the chest, and the black metal strap that ties around the chest even resembles the Mimic's iconic tongue in many of its depictions. Notably, Chest Form Gimmighoul notes that 'the Pokemon was born inside a treasure chest 1500 years ago'... which, coincidentally, is only a couple hundred years after the ancient king of Paldea investigated the Great Crater of Paldea.

Anyway, Gimmighoul's neat, but that's not all it's about! See, ever since Pokemon: Legends Arceus, and honestly Pokemon Go, we've had this little gimmick of collecting species-specific loot after you beat or capture a representative of the species, which I think is a brilliant in-game mechanic that incentivizes players to not just ignore a Pokemon after capturing them. With Gimmighoul, meeting either one of its forms would give you Gimmighoul Coins... and you need a whopping 999 of them. And upon evolution...

Gimmighoul evolves into the Steel/Ghost Gholdengo, whose body is made up of 1000 coins. The final coin, presumably, is the one that the Roaming Form Gimmighoul holds on its own. And this is a Pokemon that completely bamboozled me when I first saw it, because it had nothing in common with what I thought Gimmighoul would evolve into. It's a weird-ass palm tree man!

...and then I walk around with Gholdengo behind me, and I understand what this thing is all about. Gholdengo's entire body is comprised with stacked coins, with the core Gimmighoul finally merging with a thousand other coins to become the treasure hoard. You even see Gimmighoul's original treasure chest and the band around it tied around Gholdengo as a belt! Gholdengo doesn't walk, he actually creates a surfboard out of his coins that he follows you around on, and there's some great animation work as the coins move from the rear of the surfboard to the front. 

Gholdengo is also note to be a guy that gets along with others, and... you can just see it from his face, yeah? He's a radical cowabunga kinda dude. In combat, Gholdengo is noted to overwhelm its enemies by rapid-firing coins at them, represented by its signature move, 'Make it Rain', which is basically a jacked-up version of classic ol' Pay Day. 

Admittedly, I can't say that I'm not a little bit disappointed that Gimmighoul's evolution isn't a larger mimic, but I appreciate just how absolutely radical this guy feels. The Pokemon company clearly loves Gimmighoul and Gholdengo, too, making them held the prized #1000 slot just because of the joke about a thousand coins being needed for their evolution, using Gimmighoul rather extensively in the promotional material, but also making them the crux of interconnectivity between Go and the Switch games.

 4/6 for me, but could be a 5/6 in a good day. 

#1001: Wo-Chien

• Types: Dark/Grass
• Japanese names: Chionjen 
• Categories: Ruinous

And here we go with the most unexpected addition to a region based on the Iberian Peninsula... Chinese-themed legendary Pokemon! Mmm, okay? We don't even get the justification that it's a separate island as with what happens with Urshifu, which is a bit interesting. Does Nintendo just not want to do (or not allowed to do?) a China-based region? But the four Pokemon called the 'Treasures of Ruin' have a very great storyline that goes through Scarlet and Violet. One of the big weaknesses of the Generation V and VIII games is that all its non-cover legendaries just... show up. They do a reasonable story for the cover legendaries like Zekrom, Zacian and Calyrex, but how cool was it when you played through the other games and learn about how the three legendary beasts of Johto were created, or tried to translate the Braille to learn the creepiness of the Regis in Hoenn, or actually traveled to meet all the four Tapus? The Treasures of Ruin aren't part of the main plot, but you do learn about them from your history teacher, Raifort, who gives the context to the mysterious sealed doors and the ruinous stakes spread all over Paldea... which, if you notice, at least three of the four sealed ruins are around areas that look like they were 'blighted' somehow. 

See, the Treasures of Ruin were a set of four items -- wooden tablets, a sword, a vessel and a set of beads that were brought from eastern merchants to the ancient king of Paldea. However, the negative human emotions of the Paldean king caused the four treasures to awaken into Pokemon, and driving the four legendary Pokemon so berserk that they destroyed the kingdom, before they were sealed. That's such a surprisingly darker backstory compared to your average legendaries!

And we start off with my favourite of the four, Wo-Chien. Wo-Chien takes his name from 蜗 wō (snail) and 简 jiǎn (bamboo slips), and it's a bit hard to tell initially because they kept referring to Wo-Chien as the 'tablets' of ruin. But the titular tablets are actually a long, wooden scroll that now forms the conical structure of Wo-Chien's snail shell. You can see, can't you? That spiraling wooden material? That's the scroll (or, more appropriately, a book made up of bamboo strips) filled with the forbidden knowledge that the Ancient King was so excited about. There's even a Chinese phrase, "罄竹难书" qìng zhú nán shū, which means that someone's sins are so innumerable that all the bamboo in the world would not make enough books to record them. 

Wo-Chien is a snail, but its body isn't comprised of regular gastropod flesh. No, instead it's actually a mass of rotten leaves and detritus, and I absolutely love that Wo-Chien's angry eyes are made up of weird vines. Its attack animations also has it extend two extra vines from underneath its 'mustache'. Really love the creativity of having this force of decay take the form of a sentient mass of rotting leaves. Finally, Wo-Chien is thought to be also specifically based on the Decollate Snail, Rumina decollata, which is a predatory snail native to the Mediterranean region which is notorious for decimating gastropod and annelid populations wherever it is introduced.

Wo-Chien's dex entries note that the 'grudge of a person punished for writing the king's evil deeds upon wooden tablets' have formed this Dark/Grass Pokemon, while Raifort's story seems to imply that the tablets already had writing on them, and the knowledge within was what tempted the ancient king. I like this contradiction, because that's what a lot of archaeology is, right? Trying to guess what the motivations of people in the past are. Wo-Chien himself drains the life-force from vegetation, and causes nearby forests to wither and fields to turn barren... and while the area around where Wo-Chien is sealed is regular grassy terrain, there is a marshland slightly north of the Grasswither Shrine. Was Wo-Chien defeated there by the ancient Paldean knights before his sealing?

Anyway, one of the coolest (if unconventional) Pokemon out there. 

 6/6.

#1002: Chien-Pao

• Types: Dark/Ice
• Japanese names: Paojian 
• Categories: Ruinous

Our second Treasure of Ruin is the 'Sword of Ruin', Chien-Pao. A pun on 宝剑 bǎojiàn (treasured sword) and 豹 bào (leopard), Chien-Pao is... well, a broken cursed sword who uses the snow around it to create a long leopard body. This is going to be a running theme with all four Treasures of Ruin, where you can see that it's the titular 'treasure' that has taken some natural material to create its body. 

I find the swords to look rather awkward, but I do think that it's meant to look weird, with one of Chien-Pao's sabre-toothed cat fangs being made up of the hild and the other by the tip of the blade. Both ends are tipped with pointy icicles, though, so Chien-Pao doesn't have a pommel for one of his fangs. Chien-Pao is described as 'the hatred of those who perished by the sword long ago has clad itself in snow and became a Pokemon', which sounds like something you'd use to describe a Dark Souls or World of Warcraft boss instead of a legendary Pokemon!

...and then its other dex entry describes how after using 100 tons of fallen snow to create avalanches, Chien-Pao will "play around innocently by leaping in and out of them". Cats are gonna cat, I guess? I actually do like that Chien-Pao isn't proportioned like most cats, looking more like a weasel than anything at first glance, because that snow isn't really an organic body and just a bunch of snow that the sword is using to create its physical form. Not the biggest fan of the weird ice crystals all over its body, but I guess that's how you get the 'leopard' part of it?

Not a big fan of him visually, to be honest, though I respect what they were going for here. At this point in time, I guess I'll just talk about some of the common themes of the four Treasures of Ruin. All four learn the move 'Ruination', a Dark-type move that halves the health of the opponent. And all four have a variation of the same ability -- Chien-Pao's "Sword of Ruin" lowers the Defense stat of all Pokemon other than itself. Its three siblings do the same for other stats -- Wo-Chien lowers Attack, Ting-Lu lowers Special Attack and Chi-Yu lowers Special Defense. 

 2/6.

#1003: Ting-Lu

• Types: Dark/Ground
• Japanese names: Dinru
• Categories: Ruinous

Our third member of the Four Treasures of Ruin is Ting-Lu, 鼎 dǐng (a type of ancient Chinese cauldron) and 鹿 lù (deer). Note that for all the English names of the Treasures of Ruin, they use the Wade-Giles romanization system that's used by the Anglosphere, whereas most Chinese people tend to use pinyun now. Anyway, Ting-Lu's design with the giant cracked jade ding vessel is what initially got everyone -- myself included -- thinking that the Treasures of Ruin are based on the Four Perils, a set of four malevolent beings in Chinese mythology and the opposite number to the Four Benevolent Beasts (which would be more familiar to anyone who watches anime, and are in fact the basis of the Therian forms of the Forces of Nature). The design of the ding cauldrons are often associated with the Taotie -- perhaps familiar to the Western world as the antagonists in the terrible 2016 movie Great Wall (who can't even pronounce the creature's name properly!). However, while the Chien-Pao might be considered analogous with the Qiongqi, one of the more well-known member is the Hundun -- a creature recently featured in Marvel's Shang-Chi movie I am pretty sure that if the Treasures were indeed based on the Four Perils, the Hundun would be one of the designs used to make a monster. 

Instead, Ting-Lu is just a ding vessel... cracked down the middle. The pokedex identifies the negative emotion that awakens Ting-Lu as 'fear', which has caused this ancient ritual vessel to clad itself in rocks and dirt. Again, Raifort does bring up alternate theories, particularly what the 'eyes of the deity' that Ting-Lu's vessel is meant to represent. Similar arguments also come with the Taotie murals done on ding vessels, though I would also like to note that while the Taotie are usually associated with gluttony, no such association is made with Ting-Lu. 

And I do like the shape of Ting-Lu. We've see this "soil creature made up of sedimentation layers" with Crustle and Garganacl, but Ting-Lu is an interesting usage of it. The end result does look very stiff and if we're being honest not the most nicest-looking ungulate... but I guess that's intentional. Ting-Lu doesn't look like a proper deer because he's not a proper deer, he's a vessel that reanimates a bunch of soil to behave like a deer's body. 

I do like that the ding being cracked down the middle does kind of represent two horns of a deer. The ding is used in real life for many purposes, including more mundane usages like cooking and storage, but they're also used as a symbol of imperial authority over the land... which I guess might be the reason why the Ting-Lu is associated with the Ground type? 

 3/6.

#1004: Chi-Yu

• Types: Dark/Fire
• Japanese names: Iyui
• Categories: Ruinous

So we've had a snail monster created out of decaying detritus, a savage saber-toothed leopard made out of an avalanche, and an earthquake-deer made out of the land itself. And our final member of the Treasures of Ruin is... a baby goldfish! Ha! I also had the fortune to meet Chi-Yu last out of the four, and while at the point that I was doing the end-game I was somewhat spoiled about the existence of a legendary fire goldfish, nothing could prepare me to the sheer adorableness and ridiculousness of Chi-Yu. His name is a pun on 鲫魚 jìyú (goldfish) and 玉 yù (jade), and the "Beads of Ruin" are actually based on a specific Japanese beat -- the magatama, a type of jewelry that has ceremonial and religious functions.

Don't see it? The jade magatama are the 'eyelids' of Chi-Yu, surrounding its eyes. Actually a pretty interesting way to do it, because it did take me a while to realize what's going on here. Chi-Yu's main body is basically a fireball in the shape of a goldfish, and I absolutely love just how the colours blend into each other. It's just a very pleasant gradation from the light orange to the deep dark red at the end of Chi-Yu's fins. 

I also think that Chi-Yu is specifically based on certain breeds of goldfishes like the telescope, the bubble-eye or the celestial-eye, which are goldfishes with even larger eyes than usual. 

Chi-Yu's interestingly described as controlling flames burning at 5,400 F, and the reason it's a fish is because it just passively melts rock and sand and can swim through it. Very cool, normally these fire or magma creatures just swim through lava! The idea that this creature chose a fish-like hydrodynamic form to swim through the substances it melts is fun! The specific emotion associated with the beads is 'envy', and apparently the beads that became Chi-Yu would eventually spark so much envy that it comes to life. Raifort, our teacher, speculates on the exact function of these beads, since it would've made more sense that it came in a set of two or three, not four. 

...and, all the while, Chi-Yu just looks like an adorable tiny goldfish. I love this thing. I love that this thing has basically equal stats to the leaf snail of decay or the cursed bowl earthquake deer. Chi-Yu is hardly our first 'cute' legendary Pokemon, but I think it's the first one that's part of a set of badasses that follow a theme, and I love it the more for it. 

 6/6.

#1005: Roaring Moon

• Types: Dragon/Dark
• Japanese names: Todorokutsuki
• Categories: Paradox

So we have the last two Paradox Pokemon in the base game, and the thing that really makes Roaring Moon and Iron Valiant a bit more 'special' is that they are located in a specific, rather out-of-the-way hidden cave in Area Zero. It's not even a 'based on a pseudo-legendary' thing either, but I guess it's just because the design team really liked Salamence and Gallade/Gardevoir.

Roaring Moon is interestingly not just a Paradox version of Salamence, but rather of Mega Salamence. Both the Occulture book and the Violet dex entry note that Roaring Moon has 'some connection to a phenomenon that occurs in another region', which refers to Mega Evolution in all but name. And the design does really look like a more 'primal', more 'animalistic' version of Mega Salamence, particularly the crescent moon shape of the wings... except Roaring Moon has feathers on the edges of his wings, making it look far more organic than the airplane look of the original Mega Salamence. 

It's not just Mega Salamence that fit into the design, though. I find that Roaring Moon to be like a distilled, primal version of all four phases of the Bagon line... particularly the fact that it actually has Bagon's shell head on top of a Salamence-based head. Lots more red, too, particularly in the underbelly and around the eyes. A couple splashes of yellow in the base of the wings and the underbelly make it a fair bit more neater. Most striking other than the wings and the giant black-coloured 'cape' from Roaring Moon's back is the fact that he's got giant, monstrous forelimbs. Presumably this is for Roaring Moon to actually catch prey, since I don't think Mega Salamence would be able to do that. Heck, in fact Mega Salamence would tuck in its forelimbs and make them almost invisible to sight. 

Interestingly, Roaring Moon is Dragon/Dark, eliminating the Flying-type entirely that was the whole point of Bagon's "story" as it evolves into a stronger and stronger flying dragon. In contrast to Mega Salamence being all about the Flying-type, I suppose Roaring Moon emphasizes the Dragon type? It does look far more like a primal draconic beast compared to the airplane-based Mega Salamence. It does lead me to wonder just how the Ground-type moves hurt it, though, since it's clearly flying... but if it's not a 'true' Flying type, I guess that's the genesis of Roaring Moon eventually losing a lot of its features to become the Bagon/Shelgon/Salamence evolutionary line. Actually, might the Mega Evolution be awakening Roaring Moon's dormant DNA within the Bagon line, then? Interesting questions that I am sure we'll never get answers to! 

 5/6. Didn't like it all that much initially, grew into it. 

#1006: Iron Valiant

• Types: Fairy/Fighting
• Japanese names: Tetsunobujin
• Categories: Paradox

And our final non-legendary Paradox Pokemon in the base game is Iron Valiant, which is a combination of Gardevoir and Gallade, the two final forms of the Ralts line. The Occulture and the dexes, as usual, give a weird sci-fi reason to Iron Valiant's existence... the product of a mad scientist's efforts to create the most powerful psychic Pokemon of all. Which is ironic, since out of the two Pokemon it's supposed to emulate (the Psychic/Fairy Gardevoir and the Psychic/Fighting Gallade), Iron Valiant ends up with the two 'spare' typings, becoming Fairy/Fighting. I like that bit -- that this robot ends up not reaching the ambitions of its creator, but is still formidable nonetheless. 

Iron Valiant is probably the least 'normal' looking of the robotic Future Paradoxes, but that's probably because it's kinda humanoid! It basically combines a bunch of features from its base forms. It's got a head mostly based on Gardevoir, the glowing pink horn has become a glowing Iron Man style heart, it's got Mega Gardevoir's segmented skirt (the green inner-sides look much better than Mega Gardevoir), it's got Gallade's weird donut-shaped waist and pillar legs... which, by the way, looks much better on a robot than on a supposedly-organic being like Gallade. I've never liked Gallade thanks to the waist and legs, but Iron Valiant here manages to make everything work. 

The coolest feature, of course, is the dual-ended blade that Iron Valiant has, which just looks so badass. I mean, it's probably impractical in real life, but Iron Valiant is a fairy robot with martial art skills. Even cooler, though, that weapon actually deploys from Valiant's forearms. Normally, they are just wing-like extensions on either side of its wrists, and you can actually see the recesses that the two blades slot into. Very cool!

And... honestly, I don't have much insightful things to say. There's really not a whole on of lore about the Paradox Pokemon, and these guys are clearly selected for being based on super-cool, popular Pokemon. And... well, these guys do appeal to the eight-year-old within me, so good job on that, I guess!

 5/6.

#1007: Koraidon

• Types: Fighting/Dragon
• Japanese names: Koraidon
• Categories: Paradox

And we end off the original Paldean Pokedex (yes, I know, I know, DLC Pokemon...) with the two box legendaries, Koraidon and Miraidon. A lot of what I say about one will apply to the other, since they cover the same role as being your all-purpose traveling companion (you "raidon", or "ride on" them, get it?), and they're both bike-lizard-dragons that have multiple modes. It's just that Koraidon is styled as an Ancient Paradox version of Cyclizar (korai = past in Japanese) and Miraidon is a Future Paradox version of Cyclizar (mirai = future). 

And... I know it's been a while since we discussed Cyclizar, who itself is kind of not really given too much focus on other than being in the background of so many city scenes... but Koraidon is basically a Fighting/Dragon 'ancient' version of it. And in this case, 'ancient' basically means a whole ton of feathers. Dinosaurs have feathers, I guess! It really does speak to just how well the variety in this generation is, because I have seen so many people like Miraidon and hate Koraidon and vice versa. I will say that I'm completely in the Miraidon camp, solely for the fact that I really do feel like Koraidon has one too many colours, and I just can't get over that tire lodged in his neck. 

Now my opinion of the "Winged King" Koraidon has lessened a lot after seeing him in-game. The neck-wheel is actually recessed most of the time, and when it does get inflated it doesn't actually rotate like I assumed it would -- it's just a neck sack that coincidentally resembles a bicycle's front wheel, similar to Cyclizar. It's just that the appearance bothers me a bit, and that's enough to kinda make me not like him as much. 

Now, the Koraidon we get to see in battle as well as on the cover of the game is "Apex Build" Koraidon, when it has unleashed its full force after being powered up with the power of friendship (or your mom's sandwich) but as mentioned before, Koraidon serves as your transportation 'vehicle' throughout the game of Pokemon Scarlet, and as such, for the most part of the game, this is what Koraidon looks like:

And I like Limited Build Koraidon much, much more than Apex Build Koraidon, which just feels messy with everything that's going on. The fact that his neck-pouch and all the colourful feathers are recessed and flush against Koraidon's body makes it a lot easier to see him as a much more cohesive dinosaur design -- the two long hair-horns and the shoulder armour pieces are just enough detailing to make him look impressive enough. Though I suppose part of the Apex Build is the equivalent of the fan-throated lizard or the frill-necked lizard spreading everything to intimidate their enemies. 

Nintendo also identifies a 'Sprinting Build', but that's just basically Koraidon running. It does inflate both its neck-sack and its tail into structures resembling a bicycle's wheels, something that Cyclizar also does... At first I'm not sure what the function of this, in-universe, is for, other than to go 'look, a bike', but someone pointed out that they might be holding extra air so Koraidon can sprint indefinitely. That's cool! 

Koraidon is also a lot more creative when you see him in his other terrain-exploration modes, like 'Swimming Build' here, where the wheels/neck pouches are explicitly turned into flotation devices while Koraidon dog-paddles you around. 

And then there is 'Gliding Build', where his horn-antennae-thing explode out into a gigantic winged glider. Out of all of Koraidon's forms, this one raises some questions for me... but yeah, sure, why not? 

Koraidon is Fighting/Dragon, and, again, I guess that's just because ancient cultures are a bit more 'savage', and the feathers on Koraidon's body can represent generic tribal feather decorations as much as they do dinosaurs. Koraidon's signature Ability is Orichalcum Pulse, which basically activates sunlight and the effects of the other Ancient Paradoxes' Protosynthesis without having to first hold an item. Koraidon's signature move, Collision Course, transforms him into a giant wheel and slams onto the ground to create a 'prehistoric explosion'. Okay!

And... my opinion about Koraidon has improved a lot, dramatically, since I first saw his promotional images. And I really do appreciate all the hard work that they did making the trio of Cyclizar, Miraidon and Koraidon. It's just that despite everything, I still don't really like Koraidon all that much? This isn't a knock towards Koraidon's fans, for sure, but there's also the fact that, well...

 3/6.

#1008: Miraidon

• Types: Electric/Dragon
• Japanese names: Miraidon
• Categories: Paradox

...Miraidon exists. And everything that Koraidon does, all the transformation and wheel stuff and gliding stuff and swimming stuff... Miraidon can also do, except with Miraidon it feels so much more "natural" because it isn't a natural animal. The "Iron Serpent" Miraidon is Electric/Dragon, yes, but he's also clearly a robot, and I really do feel like the 'bike dinosaur' aesthetic works so much better when an inherently robotic design has a wheel lodged in its throat. And even on Miraidon's Ultimate Mode here, the wheel looks a bit more intergrated with the rest of his neck, doesn't it?

I also like Miraidon's colours a lot better. Sure, dark blue, neon light blue, silver and yellow aer probably some of the easiest colours you could slap onto a futuristic robot... but I don't know. i just feel like Miraidon's overall design is much more cohesive. It could also be that instead of Koraidon's gigantic display of plumage, the thunderbolt-horns on Miraidon do basically the same effect but in a subdued manner?

I also find it interesting that Miraidon's hind-legs basically tuck in and turn into propulsion engines that presumably keep Miraidon afloat. Mind you, I wasn't super-sold on Miraidon when I first saw the promotional artworks for the two legendaries either, but I definitely found this robot dragon a whole lot more interesting and pleasant to look than its counterpart. Sorry, Koraidon. Hell, I would even say that Miraidon's a much more pleasant-looking 'robot animal monster' than some of the other futuristic Paradoxes!

Low-Power Mode Miraidon is even more pleasant-looking than Koraidon, with all the neon lights switched off and those lightning-horns turning into a neat set of robotic spikes. I find that they did a surprisingly good job and got a fair bit of mileage animating Miraidon's eyes through a mass of LED lights, which I didn't think would work anywhere as well as it did. 

Drive Mode Miraidon is far cooler than Koraidon just running around with its wheels inflated, though, because Miraidon's legs tuck in and its neck-pouch and tail transform into Tron bike wheels. And... again, I am very pleased that thankfully Koraidon doesn't do a whole 'organic buzzsaw wheel' thing and just runs around, but... well, this is what a bike lizard should look like, yeah? Even Miraidon's head looks like the front end of a motorbike. I realize that it's a bit of an aspect of the past/future dichotomy. 

Of course the future Pokemon would be able to resemble a motorbike, the result of technology, better than the past Pokemon. It's hardly fair, but them's the breaks. Miraidon just ends up being more cohesive because his theme and his visual designs are more cohesive inherently, just like the future professor works better with the 'A.I. Clone' plotline than the past professor. 

Miraidon's swimming mode, Aquatic Mode, is his regular Drive Mode in the water, but with the afterburners acting as propellers. Glide Mode really surprised me when I first saw it, though, with Miraidon making two gigantic purple-yellow glider wings from the sides of his head... and in this case, yeah, I get that it's a 'robot' thing to do, but this is the one mode that I feel Miraidon loses over its past brother. 

Miraidon basically has a similar signature ability with Koraidon, Hadron Engine, which activates Electric Terrain and gains the boost from it similar to the other futuristic Paradoxes. Meanwhile, its signature move, Electro Drift, turns it into a lightning wheel that slams into the enemy.

Both Koraidon and Miraidon are interesting, too, on how they are showcased to us -- I talk about them a lot in my let's play, but I do really find it an interesting solution to making the cover legendaries show up a lot as an actual character and companion for the majority of the journey, but also limit their game-breaking acquisition until the endgame. If nothing else, it really made me warm up to their designs and get attached to these giant buddies a lot more. 

Anyway, Miraidon is sure a pretty cool sandwich-eating transforming robot, and even the idea of Miraidon having functions 'locked' fits a robot more! I really didn't care all that much for either Koraidon or Miraidon the first time I saw them, but travelling with them throughout Paldea and experiencing their different forms definitely have caused me to appreciate them a lot more than I would've had. 

 5/6.

___________________________________________________

And, with that... we've covered all the Paldean Pokemon that were released in the original release of Generation IX! I know at the time of writing Walking Wake and Iron Leaves are out, but without anything to go off of other than their designs and typings, I'll wait and hold them off until the rest of the Scarlet/Violet DLC comes out. I do have some Pokemon material that I do plan to pump out over the next couple of months, which I've been doing in the background since last year but ended up putting on the backburner thanks to the release of Generation IX!