But I can't not talk about Pokemon Flux. Link here, if you decide to be interested in picking it up.
And one thing that made me jump into attention with Pokemon Flux? It was created by the makers behind the epic fan-project Pokemon Uranium. I did a review of Uranium's pokedex, and a full-on screenshot-based playthrough, all of which you can find on the Pokemon page on the right side of the blog.
But Uranium was shut down with a C&D from Nintendo, which left a lot of its endgame content uncompleted. The creators end up ultimately creating a brand-new fan game this year, however, called Pokemon Flux -- which takes place in the region of Altera, and features a combination of a new region, a much improved gameplay experience, new mechanics ('Flux Energy', which grants certain Pokemon access to Flux moves), a new subtype of Pokemon ('Alter Pokemon', not too dissimilar to Uranium's Nuclear Pokemon) and, of course, new fan-made Pokemon.
And in the way, we also get to see a bunch of familiar faces both from official material (Trubbish made it into this game!) as well as a smattering of old fan-made Pokemon from Uranium! The Minyan, Lunapup, Selkid, Comite, Flager, Jerbolta and Tanscoon lines make the jump from the Tandor region to Altera, and I find it so nice that these creators found a new way to tie in their old fan-project with this one.
Interestingly, Pokemon Flux is released in a staggered fashion, with the current (as of the time of writing) plan being 1/3rd of the game released with each "episode". Which is actually kind of good for me since that helps to keep the monsters for me to review in a fun, smaller format. There's also an interesting 'live-service' vibe to this as well, since there are clear spots in the Pokedex of evolutions for certain lines that aren't available just yet.
Anyway, I unfortunately don't have a lot of free time this year to play games (let alone do another screenshot playthrough) but I do definitely have the time to talk about monster designs. I always have time to talk about monster designs.
https://pkmnflux.miraheze.org/wiki/Altera_Dex
Mozz, Mosseer, Daemoth
- Types: Grass/Bug (Mozz); Grass/Psychic (Mosseer, Daemoth)
- Categories: Leaf Moth (Mozz), Seer (Mosseer), Omen (Daemoth)
This takes me back to a different fan-made Pokemon game, Quarantine Crystal, which also had a caterpillar as its starter! Mozz here is a leaf moth, and there are way too many different real-world moth species that this species could draw inspiration from. I like Mozz's design as being primarily a caterpillar, but with some grass-type fuzz and moth wings sprouting out of his back. Interestingly, the dex entry notes a peculiar origin to the grass typing -- Mozz munches on so much leaves that it gains the ability to photosynthesize, which is similar to some species of sea slugs and their ability to steal and utilize poisonous cnidocytes from the jellyfishes they prey on.
Interestingly, the Grass-typing is clearly here to stay, since Mozz actually loses its Bug-typing as it evolves into the Grass-Psychic Mosseer. Pretty standard middle-stage evolution, I feel, just a lot of Mozz's features but a bit less cute and more exaggerated. As its name implies, Mosseer is able to see a bit into the future. There are eye-shaped markings on Mosseer, which is a nice indicator of its Psychic-typing and probably based on many moths and butterflies with eyeball mimicry that they use to surprise predators. It's not the most special feature...
At least, until Mosseer then evolves into Daemoth, which goes all spooky with a bipedal body layout, with a spread-open 'cape' of wings filled with creepy red eyes. I really like this design in that it really does feel at home with the Pokemon aesthetic, looking pretty creepy with the mass of red eyeballs... but not too creepy. It's particularly telling with the official artwork (I'm using the artwork in the Wiki instead of the in-game sprites) where Daemoth's main head actually has a relatively cute set of peepers. I'm also a fan that this isn't just another Mothman. I like Mothman, but not every game needs a Mothman, y'know? Just like the ever-popular Absol, Daemoth is actually more or less a benign creature who just happens to be creepy, and actively hides away from people to protect them from the visions it sees.
Chiklit, Burnychus, Pyropteryx
- Types: Fire (Chiklit, Burnychus); Fire/Flying (Pyropterys)
- Categories: Chick (Chiklit), Raptor (Burnychus, Pyropteryx)
We've got dinosaurs! Not the first time around, since Uranium also had a dinosaur for its Fire-starter (and I used good ol' Raptorch for quite a bit) but the inspiration for Chicklit is pretty obvious. The concept of the entire line is simple -- feathered flying dinosaurs like the Archaeopteryx, except that it's on fire. I don't find it quite as creatively-done as the Mozz or the Findolf lines, but I also find it the unambiguously the coolest out of the three.
Chiklit is just a cute little birb baby, and it's got a couple of cute tiny claws that most modern reconstructions of the Archaeopteryx have. It can't fly yet, and it just bounces around and fends off predators with its flames. Its middle stage evolution, Burnychus (from Deinonychus!) is very awkward-looking, and... yeah, I'm not the biggest fan of it. It is a middle stage, though, trapped between the cute Chiklit and the cool Pyropteryx.
And Pyropteryx is pretty damn cool. It's basically a feathered dinosaur-bird on fire, and I really do like the colours they used for him here. This really feels like it's like if Archaeops actually properly evolved into a body shape that allows it to properly fly, with powerful-looking wings and a much more aerodynamic set of legs. Pretty neat.
I think since I have the least to talk about Chiklit, it's worth noting that you get two starters in this game -- in addition to the typical Grass/Fire/Water starter, depending on your protagonist model, you get one of three Uranium alumni -- Minyan, Lunapup or Selkid!
Findolf, Delfender, Hydrocean
- Types: Water (Findolf, Delfender); Water/Ice (Hydrocean)
- Categories: Dolphin (Findolf), Rescuer (Delfender), Firefighter (Hydrocean)
I don't know if work on Pokemon Flux was done before or after the release of Pokemon Scarlet/Violet, which graced the world with the ever-anticipated dolphin Pokemon... but Findolf's line is a bit more in tune with what the fandom wanted, I think. Findolf himself is just a cute little land dolphin... which isn't too weird of a concept, actually, since prehistoric dolphin ancestors are actually four-legged terrestrial mammals! They probably don't look like the 'weird puppy' that is Findolf here, but eh!
Flux also goes for a slightly goofy interpretation of dolphins as Pokemon, just like Nintendo did with Palafin. Delfender ends up looking like a character from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles or something, gaining a darker skin and having anthropomorphized arms and legs. It's also got a Buizel-style floatation device around its torso, which can be filled with either water or air. I guess they're going full-in with the reputation of dolphins rescuing people, except Delfender also does it on land instead of just the water.
It then evolves into Hydrocean, which gains Water/Ice typing... which isn't the most apparent from the design. The idea is that those chunky arms with little cannon-holes now shoot ice, which I suppose allows it to instantly douse flames from a burning building -- something that its category, the 'Firefighter Pokemon', alludes to. It's an interesting concept for sure, but just like Electruxo before it it's just not really my style.
Cavamie, Capymigo
- Types: Normal (both)
- Categories: Heart Nose (Cavamie), Friendly (Capymigo)
The capybara craze has hit Pokemon! Or, well, fan-made pokemon. Honestly, with how popular the fuzzy big aquatic rats have been in recent years, I wouldn't put it past Pokemon to introduce a capybara Pokemon in the next one or two generations! And Cavamie is a very adorable little capybara, though it really looks more like a big guinea pig than a proper capybara. It's got a bunch of pink hearts replacing its ears, its feet and its nose, and... it's just there being adorable and stuff.
Its evolution, Capymigo, is a bit less adorable but a fair bit more regal-looking. It still keeps the heart-shaped nose (do real capybaras even have those?) and goes for a calmer look than its pre-evolved brethren. It has an aura of calm and can't-be-bothered-by-your-shit that real capybaras seem to have. I don't have much to say here, they're pretty nice 'cute' adaptations of an animal into a fan-Pokemon, and honestly I'm a bit surprised they didn't add a secondary typing like Fairy or Water into the mix.
Humborb, Navibri
- Types: Normal/Flying (both)
- Categories: Nectar (Humborb), Navigator (Navibri)
Where we have the regional rodent in the capybara, now we have the regional bird... and it's a hummingbird! Hell, it's frankly rather surprising that Pokemon hasn't used the hummingbird as an inspiration for any of its designs -- I even used a hummingbird as the basis of my own fan-made region I did a couple of years back. Humborb follows its Uranium predecessor Birby in looking super adorable as a big round bird with big eyes, tiny wings and just looking all-around adorable. Humborbs fly around and gather nectar all day in its big round bodies, and will even share their nectar reserves with the rest of their flock. It's a behaviour weirdly similar to some insects like bees and honeypot ants.
Interestingly, we seem to be heading for a 'jet pilot' theme here with the descriptions of Humborb utilizing the nectar as fuel. Its first evolution Navibri turns into a much simpler-looking bird doing a salute, and it's got a pair of orange goggles now. I... I like this a lot less than Humborb, but Humborb is like super-duper adorable, so that's not really a slight against Navibri.
And Navibri isn't the end of this evolutionary line yet, because there is an empty spot in the Pokedex and corresponds to 'Turbolibri', which will be released in a future update of Pokemon Flux. This makes the line incomplete for the moment, and it's something that definitely is an interesting usage of the fan-game's staggered release schedule. I'm nto the most impressed with Navibri, but we'll see if my opinion changes whenever Flux episode 2 gets released!
Ledian (Alteran Form)
- Types: Bug/Fighting
- Category: Sentai
And here we go with regional forms! Pokemon Uranium added a bunch of evolutions and mega-evolutions to existing Pokemon, but it was a game released before regional forms were a thing. Now that they do, though, it's a fun little exercise for a lot of fan-creators to create these fan regional forms that tries to 'fix' the problems with the original Pokemon design. And Ledian is notorious for being one of the worst Pokemon from a generation that itself is notorious for having statistically terrible Pokemon.
Alteran Ledian, like most regional forms, actually doesn't try to fix it by changing the stats. In fact, Alteran Ledian still has the same stat total as regular Johto Ledian -- 390! The stats are distributed a lot better, however, and Alteran Ledian has a much better typing in Bug/Fighting, with a much more flattering ability and moveset to match. But I'm not here to talk about the viability of Ledian, but rather the themes! Alteran Ledian is identified as the sentai Pokemon. We love our super sentai here, and Alteran Ledian really plays in on the Power Rangers theme that the original Ledian only very subtly hints at. The bright yellow and blue highlights are perfectly nice, and it's honestly a very nice little update towards Ledian in general. I like this one a lot!
Squrmy, Durtwurm
- Types: Bug/Ground (both)
- Category: Worm (Squrmy), Dirt Clod (Durtwurm)
We've got a subterranean-worm fan-mon in Uranium in Grozard and Terlard, but they were more subterranean wyrms than worms, you know what I mean? Squrmy here is just a cartoon earthworm who just happens to have a ring of dirt and rock around its neck, probably stuck onto it as it burrows through the ground. Perfectly cute, and if we're being honest I actually do like Squrmy more than the actual canonical earthworm Pokemon we got recently in Scarlet/Violet, Orthworm. Or rather, I think I would've liked Orthworm a lot more if it evolved from a more mundane little earthworm bugger like this guy.
Squrmy's dex entry notes how he dreams big, so big, but it's constantly underestimated. Squrmy evolves into the slightly more impressive Durtwurm, which is a bit bigger and a bit angrier. Durtwurm's dirt mass (or 'dirt clod', as the game insists on calling it) has moved down to the midsection of its body, and Durtwurm now specifically makes it grow and grow larger and larger. In a hilarious description, it's noted that Durtwurm uses the dirt clod to roll around like a goddamn wheel. Okay, that's not what I expected from a burrowing worm, but it sure is a fun one! Both Squrmy and Durtwurm have the 'Magikarp syndrome' where their movepool is extremely limited, making them basically impractical to use. However...
Like Humborb above, Squrmy's final form isn't revealed just yet, but we do know that it exists and it's called Wurmiterra... which sounds impressive, doesn't it? Will the earthworm finally get the sheer power it needs to fight back against everyone that bullied it? Tune in next time in Pokemon Flux!
Owten, Eshouten (Alteran Forms)
- Types: Fairy/Flying (both)
- Categories: Sweet Song (both)
God bless these guys. See, we've got a lot of returning fan-mon from Uranium. Right around this space in the Pokedex we've also got Tancoon (renamed Tanupy in this game) and Tanscure... and two of the best designs from Uranium has always been Owten and Eshouten, the cat-owl fusion Pokemon. They've always been simple but effective in their design, and it's no surprise that the design team decided to import them into Flux...
Except instead of just importing Owten and Eshouten as they are, they decided to have fun and turn them into a regional form. So we have the glorious white/pink/blue Fairy-type Owten and Eshouten, and... it feels honestly pretty appropriate that the cute cat-bird gets such a bubblegum and colourful-looking regional variant. There's not a whole ton of new lore or abilities they gave these guys, other than the titular 'sweet song' that they can make. Hilariously, apparently Eshouten is pissed off at the sheer amount of groupies that its songs are gathering!
Sluchuu
- Types: Electric/Water
- Category: Sea Slug
AAAAAAAA! Okay, yeah, this one is adorable. The requisite Pika-clone from Uranium, Jerbolta, actually also makes an appearance in this game, but Sluchuu here is so, so much more novel and adorable! It's a very colourful sea-slug, in bright yellow with Pikachu's black-ears acting as the spines on a sea slug's back, and a bunch of neon bright blue highlights all over its body. The Pokedex makes it clear that Sluchuu is a mollusc, it doesn't appreciate being bothered, and it will shock you if you bother it.
And Sluchuu isn't even just something that the designers made up on the spot -- it's based on the Thecacera pacifica, a yellow sea slug with black and bright blue highlights on its spines... which has earned T. pacifica the nickname of the "Pikachu Nudibranch". Flux's Sluchuu obviously takes a bit more liberties in making it feel more like a Pokemon, giving it a cute rodent face and two tiny white nub-hands, and making the Pikachu-ears a bit more prominent... but ultimately it's such an adorable design. I love this, guys.
Gullitt, Garbagull
- Types: Poison/Flying (Gullitt), Poison/Steel (Garbagull)
- Categories: Trash Gull (Gullitt), Garburator (Garbagull)
Oh, I like these two, too. On paper, they're just seagulls made up of trash and toxic sludge, which already makes me really like them from a design concept aspect alone. but Gullitt here is made up of some very interesting design choices. Its 'beak' is actually a plastic bottle split lengthways, and its necklace is one of those twisty-ties that pollute our ocean so. I am actually a bit surprised that Pokemon hasn't really done too much pollution-themed Pokemon. Was the Weezing regional variant our last one? Don't throw your plastic trash in the sea, guys.
Gullitt's purple colouration is very pleasant for a toxic bird, though, and that smile is pretty dang cheerful. Again, this reminds me a lot of designs for Pokemon like Koffing, where they might be manifestations of pollution but they're still happy to exist and be pals with you! Apparently Gullitts prey on garbage, and gets more and more toxic that it ends up not having any natural predators.
Gullitt's evolution, Garbagull, gets even cooler with its poison trash bird design. Its wings are glorious goopy toxic sludge with random pieces of fish bone and fish nets stuck in them. Its head now contains a whole-ass... what is that? An iron? It's some sort of machine piece, anyway, probably a carburator based on Garbagull's species name. And they also gave him a discarded umbrella as a bird's tail. I like how threatening Garbagull's new metal beak is, and apparently that's enough metal in Garbagull's body that it's turned into a Poison/Steel Pokemon that specifically goes around preying on Trubbish and Garbodor!
Very cool design. I really like these two!
Nidoran, Nidorime, Nidoregina, Nidoregus
- Types: Ice (Winter Coat); Ground (Summer Coat), Ground/Ice (Nidoregina/Nidoregus)
- Categories: Tailored Coat (Nidoran, Nidorime), Regalia (Nidoreina, Nidoregus)
I think Flux's designers might also have the same pet peeve I have towards the first generation's classification of Nidoran into "Nidoran Male" and "Nidoran Female" when subsequent generations would roll gender differences into the same species. So instead, they designed two different variations of the Nidoran line... but separates them into different alternate forms and gives them two different end-forms. I do like the creativity here!
The two 'coats' are actually non-changeable, and the Nidorans are just stuck in their respective coats all the way to their final form. It's somewhat similar to variants like Shellos, or Spinda, or regional variants in general. The two are split into the 'Winter Coat', which I find to be the cooler looking (the pun wasn't intentional but there you go) and is loosely based on the female Nidoran from the canon games, or the 'Summer Coat', which is muddy and brown. In both coats, though, you could see the alternate coat peeking out from the beneath the fur! I like that Summer Nidoran has a horn of ice, and Winter Nidoran has a horn of stone.
The dex notes that Alteran Nidorans are an old offshoot of Nidorans where there isn't much in terms of gender dimorphism, but are instead separated depending on their coats. The general design of the Nidorans are a nice mix of the canon male and female Nidorans.
I'm not the biggest fan of either version of the Nidorimes, but I think that's because I don't really like the splotchy coats on either one of them, which just looks kinda dirty and mud-splattered. Which I suppose isn't wrong to expect from a wild animal. I do like that they chose Nidorina's beak to highlight with the two, and Summer Nidorime is even standing up like old sprite art of Nidorina. Interestingly, both dex entries note how both versions of Nidorime would actually travel out of the habitats they're adapted to in search of resources. Perhaps in a nod to their ultimately convergent evolution in terms of type, Winter Nidorime learns Bulldoze and Summer Nidorime learns Icy Wind upon evolution.
Evolving with the ice stone, Winter Nidorime turns into Nidoregina, which is a big, furry Nidoqueen! The two final forms are not gender-locked, though, despite their Kantonian inspiration. Nidoreginas live in giant palaces of snow and will fight against their rivals, Nidoregus... which is the form inspired by Nidoking, and just looks pretty badass with the sharp angles on its forehead spike and its lower arms. Apparently the two leaders of the summer and winter coat Nidos would fight over territory. I like Nidoregina's colours better, but Nidoregus's design better.
Ultimately it's a very interesting take on a classic Pokemon species that Nintendo has frankly kind of ignored for a bit too long. I'm not sure if I like the mud/ice idea the best, but it's definitely a creative one!
Roadillo, Armarauder
- Types: Normal (Roadillo), Normal/Steel (Armarauder)
- Categories: Blacktop (Roadillo); Road Hog (Armarauder)
These next two evolutionary lines are the two 'unrelated evolutionary lines that evolve with each other', similar to what Karrablast and Shelmet are supposed to be. Being in the realm of fan-games, however, we're allowed to be a bit more graphic... but Flux does do so with some restraint. I'm not the biggest fan of the concept they've picked here, which is roadkill... but I do respect the creativity that goes into the design of these fan-mons.
Roadillo is the first stage of the evolution, a simple armadillo that rolls up into a wheel. I like the patterns on its back having road markings. Its evolution, the Normal/Steel Armarauder, rolls up into a much more 'heavy-duty' wheel, and has gained a bunch of extra steel armour platings. The end result does resemble some kind of a Mega Man boss, I feel. Not much else that I want to say about these two, they're kind of the less-interesting half of the duo.
Pouchelet, Grimmposs
- Types: Normal (Pouchelet), Normal/Ghost (Grimmposs)
- Categories: Possum (Pouchelet), Postmortem (Grimmposs)
Appearing at night in the same locations that Roadillo shows up in is Pouchelet, which is based on a possum. Pouchelet itself is a relatively simple purple rodent with some extra markings, not the most interesting. The dex entry notes that Pouchelet has the unfortunate habit of 'playing dead, even in the middle of the road'. It's a rather morbid take on real-life possums and their tendency to play dead, and turns it into a dark joke.
See, because Pouchelet evolves into the part-Ghost Grimmposs after it 'faints to fatal damage' dealt by Roadillo or Armarauder. The possum dies and becomes a ghost possum after a wheel runs it over. There is a bit of a nice refuge in audacity with how ridiculous it is, and... hey, at least they actually do acknowledge the 'rivalry' aspect. I've always thought that it was weird that you trade Karrablast and Shelmet instead of having them fight each other.
Grimmposs himself isn't the most exciting design, other than the novelty at how it evolves. It's a mangier possum with some exposed ribcage and a ghostly tail. I like the pairing of purple and green, which looks very nice. Grimmposs no longer fears collisions, apparently, since it can pass through solid surfaces. Interestingly the game gives it Cursola's hidden ability 'Perish Body', which I felt is pretty appropriate for it. These two lines aren't my favourite fan-mon from Flux, but I respect them trying to take the concept and trying to adapt it in 'as Pokemon' a way as humanly possible.
Wishiwashi (Deep Form)
- Types: Water/Dark
- Category: Deep Fry
The next Alderan form belongs to Wishiwashi, who has a 'deep form'. The core form of Alteran Wishiwashi looks more or less the same as regular Wishiwashi, just with black and purple body and bright yellow lights... but the schooling form turns into a monstrous kraken! I love this. This is extremely creative, and I'm frankly surprised we haven't seen more of these alternate Wishiwashi forms. A lot of my comments on regular Wishiwashi would fit here -- the great usage of the artist in using fishy shapes in constructing the big kraken silhouette is amazing, and a giant squid is a great, distinct design that the Wishiwashi could take if they ever decide to mimic another larger creature! I actually do think that it's extra-appropriate that they pick a cephalopod, which in real life actually do have bioluminescent parts, so having the tiny Wishiwashi's glowing yellow eyes be arrayed across the 'squid's' body even makes sense!
I love this. I think out of all the designs on this page, Alteran Wishiwashi might be my favourite. I wonder if they plan on making more alternate forms that Wishiwashi could take? A giant anglerfish? A giant clam? A giant eel?
Salmini, Salmosault
- Types: Water (both)
- Categories: River Fish (Salmini), Migratory (Salmosault)
We go from a very impressive-looking fish to a slightly less impressive fish. The Salmini line is based on the salmon fish's reproductive habits, where they would migrate from freshwater rivers to the sea and back to freshwater rivers to brood. It's very cool that they decide to capitalize on this weird biological behaviour, and this really does feel like something that Nintendo or Gamefreak themselves would do. The method of Salmini evolving into one of the two Salmosault forms is pretty awesome -- it depends on which body of water you're nearest to, and whether it's salt or fresh water. That's so awesomely creative, and it even makes sense! The colours are even somewhat accurate to how real-life salmon change colours as they move from the ocean to the sea, though they change a grayish-white to red. Flux interprets the gray colours as pink, which is a bit more colourful, which is nicely acceptable.
That said... the design of the Salmini and two Salmosault forms does feel a bit underwhelming. Salmini is a simple fish and I can expect that from being the unevolved form, but the two forms are just fish with some extra instruments. I like the colour difference in the freshwater form, and the distinctive hooked mouth of spawning adult salmons, but it's just a fish that holds stones. It does get a couple of Rock-type moves that seawater Salmosault doesn't get, but otherwise the only real differences are physical-oriented stats. Meanwhile, seawater Salmosault is just a fish with a shell trumpet. I like the idea that they pick up things from fresh or seawater which helps them to evolve, but I really kinda wish that they had gotten something more, y'know?
If it looks like I'm unimpressed with this line... I'm not! I actually find this really really clever, even more clever than the roadkill evolution above. Maybe it's because I find the freshwater/saltwater thing really clever that I'm a bit more disappointed in how otherwise rather mundane these fishies look!
Taroot, Daikongus
- Types: Grass (Taroot), Grass/Fighting (Daikongus)
- Categories: Root (Taroot), Thick Root (Daikongus)
We get a simple two-stage evolution based on the daikon. The Taroot is an adorable baby root that is hunted down for its nutrition, and it evolves into the super-big Daikongus that gains the Fighting-type, and it does sumo stomps to create tremors and scare off the predators hunting for its Taroot children.
I don't really have much to say here, it's a neat enough concept and a plant that hasn't been represented in canon Pokemon. The design is neat enough, but I don't find it anywhere as memorable as any of the other fan designs in this game.
Shroomish, Breloom (Alteran Form)
- Types: Grass/Poison (both)
- Categories: Mushroom (both)
Another Alteran duo! We get a variation of Shroomish and Breloom which goes for a lumpier, fuzzier orange mushroom as a basis for the two of them. I'm not sure if these are based on a specific mushroom, but it does resemble a slightly more orange version of the infamous spotted red caps of fungi from the genus Amanita. Alteran Shroomish looks like a particularly happy Goomba in this image, apparently finding life a fair bit more pleasant than regular Hoennian Shroomish.
Both lines are Grass/Poison, which dips and focuses into the stereotype of fungi being poisonous, something that the original Shroomish line actually was novel for avoiding. It is, I suppose, interesting to do as a regional variant to see what would happen if Shroomish had been designed with the more obvious design idea in mind. Alteran Breloom is the far stronger design of the two, and I think partof it is the very stylish cap that hides Breloom's eyes. The dinosaur body layout of Breloom is also a bit more pronounced in this design, and I'm particularly a fan of just how fuzzy Breloom's torso is, and I wonder if this was specifically meant to be a reference to a redcap mushroom's annulus. The dex notes that Alteran Breloom has less force between its punches (having lost the Fighting type) but makes up with it by hitting you with deadly spores within each punch.
There is apparently data in the game that hints at 'Brontoloom', a third-stage evolution, but since we don't know anything else about it, we'll have to wait for one of the future episodes to see the final form of this line.
Magief, Corsuave
- Types: Dark/Flying (both)
- Categories: Cunning (both)
These two are magpie Pokemon and... I really don't have much to say about them. Magief isn't quite as cute as Humborb, and so the two just have the impression of being smug-looking birds with fancy suave hair. At least they're not just a bird, but I felt like they maybe could've done a bit more? Magief's dex entry notes that they hoard treasures for the leaders of their flock, while Corsuaves use cunning tactics and are difficult to work with.
The dex also has an empty slot after Corsuave and apparently they'll have a final evolution called 'Raverogue'. But I dunno. I just feel like these two less-evolved members of the evolutionary line is lacking that je ne sais quoi to feel like 'proper' Pokemon, you know?
Zorua (Alteran Form), Zorotsune
- Types: Ghost (both)
- Categories: Tricky Fox (Zorua), Pipe Fox (Zorotsune)
I'm not sure whether development of this fan-game was made before or after the release of Legends Arceus, but we get another take on a ghostly Zorua as a regional variant! Alteran Zorua feels like a mix of its two canon designs, only with wispy blue flames instead of the reds of its Unovan and Hisuian counterparts. There is actually a backstory, too, where these Alteran Zoruas are allegedly born from an ancestor that was cloaked in so many illusions that it turned into an illusion itself. Spooky!
Instead of a regional Zoroark, however, Alteran Zorua evolves into a Zorotsune, which is based on the kuda-gitsune, a fox spirit yokai that is able to magically fit inside a pipe or a bamboo tube. Zorotsune here clearly uses the pipe inspiration, and the Digimon called Kudamon is also a similar idea, a long fox spirit that fits in a bamboo tube.
I do really like this design, where the wispy trails of Zorotsune's fur also fits with how ephemeral it is and how it's able to burst in and out of its 'lair', the pipe. It's a nice little alternate evolution that looks very distinctively different from either Zoroarks. Most myths about the kuda-gitsune specify powers more in the realm of clairvoyance or great luck, but Zorotsune borrows more from Zoroark in the regard that it uses the smoke of the pipe to waft around and create illusion, itself a pretty fun take on the whole pipe vessel concept.
Nursa
- Types: Normal/Electric
- Category: Caring Bear
I guess this guy is the game's answer to the Chansey or Audino of the region? Nursa is a nice pun between 'nurse' and 'ursa', and it's patterened after a defibrillator in a way that's a lot more prominent than the canonical Pawmot. I'm not sure whether I like the cross or ECG symbols on Nursa's square-shaped lower arms, but I do find the rest of the design pretty goofily charming. Nursa is noted to straight-up heal with the shocks from its paws, not just use them to revive the fallen. Not my favourite design in this page, but I do appreciate it.
Cuspide, Tarandible
- Types: Bug/Dark (both)
- Categories: Tooth (Cuspide), Skull (Tarandible)
Oh! OH! This is a Bug/Dark duo, and you know I'm going to like this. It's a literal Skulltula! And trying to adapt a skull-abdomen'd spider as a Pokemon isn't super novel, but the evolutionary line really makes me like them even more. Cuspide is a cute baby spider whose abdomen is an upside-down tooth. There's still some skull eye-holes at the back, so you can imagine the upside-down tooth as also being an upside-down skull (without a lower jaw and with the tooth-roots as fangs) but it's just such a fun, creative idea! The fact that a 'tooth' evolves into a 'skull' is both cute, morbid and creative all in the same breath. I really like this design!
Love the little detail in the dex where apparently Cuspide actually does have a composition similar to tooth enamel, and trainers need to brush it twice a day.
And Tarandible could've gone the easy, simple way and just be a spider with a skull on its back. And what a cool-looking skull it is, being a goat skull! Love the fuzzy legs and the spider head with glowing orange eyes... and then I start looking for other legs, and then I realize that the two split-apart lower mandibles of the goat skull are actually Tarandible's rear set of legs! Its rear legs are actually the jaws of the goat skull! That's super cool.
The dex talks about how the Tarandible will fold up and lie still in the day, disguising itself as a skull, and it rattles around at night hunting for prey. You can just imagine the front end of the body just folding under that giant goat skull, right? Nature is weird and there are a lot of spiders that have adapted to really bizarre camouflage forms. Not just the typical leaves or flowers, but there are also spiders that have adapted to look like bird droppings, ants, broken twigs or even wrap around branches.
Gunafix, Fixinit
- Types: Fighting (both)
- Categories: Tinkerer (Gunafix), Fixer (Fixinit)
We've got... a gremlin-guy? I suppose this is a humanoid Fighting-type not too dissimilar from the Machop line, only it's themed after construction workers. I do like the description about how Gunafix used to reside in deep mines underground to feed on ores until it got 'urbanized' by human factories.
Gunafix evolves into Fixnit, with its wrench-tail having transformed into a pipe-wrench-tail. It's an all right design, I suppose, though It's not really my thing per se. Not the biggest fan of the orange 'growths', which admittedly does exist in a lot of Generation V Pokemon like Conkeldurr. It doesn't make me like it any more than I like them on Conekldurr, though. Fixinit can fix stuff, but it prefers taking them apart. Okay then. Apparently there's an alternate evolution that's still not released, Artifixt.
Spelotl, Salamancer
- Types: Psychic/Water (both)
- Categories: Axolotl (Spelotl), Sightless (Salamancer)
OH! This guy is cute! It's not hard making a cute axolotl Pokemon -- or rather, another cute axolotl Pokemon, since we have Wooper, and arguably Mudkip. Making Spelotl pink and giving it a more quadrupedal body layout does work in making it very cute. And the main gimmick here is that Spelotl is a Water/Psychic Pokemon that uses a bubble as a crystal lens! That's quite cute and interesting, but the dex also gives us a proper reason for Spelotl to do this -- it uses the psychic powers to navigate the dark caves!
Which, of course... leads to the very fun evolution into Salamancer. Which, in addition to the very awesome and punny name, is a nice take on the troglodytic blind cave salamanders, whose eyes have regressed away after evolution. Salamancer, being a psychic Pokemon, doesn't only lose its eyes, but also its lower limbs since it's got Psychic powers to help it cover. It uses its tail to hold up the bubble it has on Spelotl and a stalactite rod, creating a fancy wizard or witch's wand, and Salamancer uses it to manipulate watery barriers to keep its lair secluded from the outside world.
Very, very clever. I find this to be one of my favourite designs in Pokemon Flux, integrating both the themes of the typing, the animal inspiration, the 'human job' inspiration... very, very cool. I'm not sure if I like the Wishiwashi more or this one more, actually.
Ledlite, Insulatex, Negawatt
- Types: Electric (Ledlite, Insulatex), Electric/Dark (Negawatt)
- Categories: Lightbulb (Ledlite, Insulatex), Electrovore (Negawatt)
Oooh, fun. We get another artificial Pokemon line, and we start off with the pure-Electric Ledlite, who's a cute little lightbulb sprite with a smily face and a cord for a tail. I could almost see this guy as a mascot in a Pixar movie or something! Ledlite feeds and draws electric current through its tail-cord, causing its head to start glowing, and what a cute head it is! It's also apparently very efficient, being able to stay lit for a whole month just after charging for an hour.
Ledlite turns into a humanoid robot as Insulatex. The main head is still a lightbulb, but it's got all sorts of different international plugs as its horns, its fingers, and it's got two tails now. It kinda resembles like a old-school cartoon alien or something. I like it! Insulatex's body acts like a very efficient battery, but it's also able to overcharge and can go into a wild frenzy. Unfortunately (or perhaps fortunately), unlike Pouchelet up above, this dex entry is just flavour and you don't have to torture your Insulatex for it to evolve even further...
....into Negawatt, who's Electric/Dark and swapped out the gray-black appliance colour scheme for purples and grays. The flavour does note that Negawatt's head is ruptured, which is why it's constantly berserking and rages around attacking power plants to consume energy because it's constantly leaking it and can't hold in what it consumes. If we're applying proper sci-fi logic to Negawatt, it'd be a destructive part of a species' life-cycle that probably won't last long in real life... but of course, this is a Pokemon-based game so Negawatt can just hang around in your party with no problem.
Pretty neat design, it's a monstrous 'demon wolf' take on the anatomy parts that Insulatex has. I like that the now three-cord tail seems to be bunched up and tied. I like the head and the horns, and I like that the exploding lightning bolts around its body is actually portrayed as a bad thing since it shows how much power poor Negawatt is leaking instead of 'look at how much power I have'.
Sputya
- Types: Flying/Psychic
- Category: Spaceship
Okay, so we've got Sputya, who is based on the iconic Sputnik satellite... which itself already looks like a funky alien space-probe, come to think of it, being a simple sphere with four 'tails'. Flux's Sputya does a bit of a Digimon-style look to this guy, giving it an eye and two adorable tiny hands that from a distance looks like a pair of ant's mandibles.
Apparently, Sputya was created to assist in space exploration, being able to convert sunlight into psychic energy. How one goes around creating a Pokemon is not exactly answered in the dex, and maybe there is something about this in the story? Sputya's Flying/Psychic, so it's not even an artificial metal Pokemon or anything. Sputya's going to have two evolutions in future episodes, so hopefully those evolutions will help give this guy a bit more context!
Karmilarie
- Types: Bug/Electric
- Category: Vampiric
Oooh, I really like this. Love the loud colours of green and yellow on this one, love the lanky limbs, the chunky tail, the noen-green mohawk, the red 'eyelashes', and the two random yellow bug-wings on this lizard rockstar. Karmilarie here really has that punk look from all aspects of his design that arguably Toxtricity doesn't quite hit all the boxes of. Interestingly, Karmilarie is a Bug/Electric Pokemon, so it's not exactly a lizard like I originally thought, but some kind of insect? Okay! Karmalarie apparently 'feeds on life energy', but can eat electricity as a substitute?
I'm honestly not sure about what inspiration this guy takes, but I do know that I like it!
_______________________________________________________________________
Anyway, that's all I have for you today! There are actually a couple of extra Pokemon that has been released or revealed either on the game creators' Twitter, or released 'early' as part of a distribution, but I'm not quite planning for being super-exhaustive especially since we're going to have multiple future parts to this game. But I do really like some of the artwork that I've seen, particularly for the Alteran regional variants for Ekans/Arbok, as well as Alteran versions of Uranium's Hagoop and Chimical.
We'll be back whenever Flux releases its second episode, and who knows? Maybe I'll have the time to do another screenshot playthrough at some point in the future!
No comments:
Post a Comment