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RTTP: The Pokemon. All 721 of them, and counting.
- Thread starter Watch Da Birdie
- Start date
NipplesAndToes23
Member
Yeah I was expecting that shit.
For all apparent effort they put into giving you route 1 pokemon that teach you the value of type advantage by failing miserably against Brock, I'm surprised they didn't also provide any wild pokemon that you can utilize to exploit type advantage. The only thing other than your starter that could do super effective damage against Brock was a Nidoran with Double Kick, and I think even then they only ever learn it at a realistic level in Pokemon Yellow. If you chose Charmander as your starter, as you damn well should, you just had to level up and muscle your way through Brock's gym.
Watch Da Birdie
I buy cakes for myself on my birthday it's not weird lots of people do it I bet
Doubt they'd do this, only because I think it'd open up a lot of potential legal issues. Digimon and such have done this, but Pokemon has a much more "stable" roster that I think they hesitate to use a design that they might possibly have to cut if the original creator wishes to sue for some reason. Honestly as much as I'd LOVE for this opportunity (I love thinking up ideas for Pokemon), I sort of don't want Game Freak to go this route. Perhaps a design a Gym Leader contest might be more of a realistic expectation?
I'm not convinced about this, honestly. I'll explain more about why I feel this way when I reach 'Moth.
Probably due to the huge number of Water-type Pokemon who use that coloring.
Although I recall Sinnoh was filled with quite a lot of Pokemon who were darkish-blue/purple in color which was sort of a negative point against that game since it made most of the new Pokemon feel a bit samey when viewed together. And if you reverse the katakana (su-pi-a -> a-pi-su), you get Apis, the genus name for bee. I think this is probably a coincidence though!
Well, in Gen 1 there were only three Bug-type moves that did damage---Leech Life, Twineedle, and Pin Missile. Beedrill was the only Pokemon who learned Twineedle, and the only Bug Pokemon with Pin Missile---the other was Jolteon. If he had a bit better stats, and wasn't part-Poison, perhaps Beedrill would've ended up as the unexpected Mewtwo Counter?
At least they can be Tutored some decent moves in Gen VI.
A poster for the XY&Z season seems to imply it'll be Mega Sceptile, although there's debate if it's his or a rival character who has the Treecko line. I think it's Ash's since it's with all of his Pokemon, the rival character isn't on the poster at all, and he has yet to catch his Regional Grass Pokemon.
Good point. I have no problem recognizing a Pokemon by name alone, but as I get into the newer ones, some folks might need a better visual reminder. Thus I've decided to use the Sugimori Art from henceforth.
Razmos said:
That's because it's based on a complete lie. The original claim says Gary asks you "what it's like to have a Pokemon die", when he actually says the extremely uncouth line “What are you doing here? Your Pokemon don’t look dead! I can at least make them faint! Let’s go, pal!”...I think given his characterization, whereas in the other mediums he often believed in only keeping strong Pokemon, he just boxed it.
Dandy Crocodile
Member
Mankey is very early in the game, at least in FR/LG. I vaguely remember catching one in the same place in Yellow but can't confirm right now and could very well be wrong.
Trash
Speaking of trash, Gary/Blue probably just released that shitty Raticate, because it was trash and Blue doesn't use trash.
I've always used Butterfree and spammed Confusion when I was a kid using Charmander/Pikachu (in Yellow).
Checking bulbapedia right now and it looks like Mankey does show up on Route 22 next to Viridian City, but only for Pokemon Yellow. No such luck for R/B/G.
Brock honestly isn't that bad with Charmander in Red and Blue. Neither Geodude nor Onix have any Rock type attacks to prey on Charmander's weakness, their only normal attacks do low damage, and their low special means Ember still does decent damage. A burn pretty much is an automatic win. And if the AI does Bide, as long as you have another Pokemon to switch to it's basically free hits. The worst thing that can happen is the AI spamming Bind, but the chances of that are low.
Brock's much harder in the 3rd gen remakes because he gets Rock Tomb and can actually take out large chunks of your health. Charmander does get supereffective Metal Claw, but it's not actually much more useful than Ember because it lacks STAB bonus and Onix and Geodude have very high defense.
The real hardest trainer in Red and Blue is Misty. Starmie has ridiculous stats for that point in the game.
You could turn this into an on-going thesis.
I've not only been a fan since the beginning, but I've also been entrenched in the Fandom for a very long time. Years at this point. This has to be, without a doubt, my number one franchise. The fact that we can count the series by generations is proof of it longevity, both now and into the future. I'll probably never stop being a fan, even if I wane occasionally.
Random thoughts while reading the synopsis:
- The next set of starters should bring back Stage 1 dual types ala Bulbasaur.
- The next regional bird should be Special Attack-based.
- Retconning news types on to older Pokemon is messy.
- Generation 5 has my favorite set of Pokemon.
- If there's one thing I defend till the end, it's the newer designs of Pokemon. Criticize the story, the pacing, the gameplay, the individual mechanics, the map layout--all of that is fair and good. But there's nothing more subjective than preferring the looks of a Pokemon.
EDIT: Also, I replayed my old Pokemon Red cartridge not too long ago (some time after Twitch Plays Pokemon), which I hadn't done since my actual first playthrough. I chose an all-Poison team theme, starting with Bulbasaur, into Beedrill, Zubat, Arbok, Nidoking, and others. I exploited the Wrap mechanics along with Toxic, which were overpowered.
I've not only been a fan since the beginning, but I've also been entrenched in the Fandom for a very long time. Years at this point. This has to be, without a doubt, my number one franchise. The fact that we can count the series by generations is proof of it longevity, both now and into the future. I'll probably never stop being a fan, even if I wane occasionally.
Random thoughts while reading the synopsis:
- The next set of starters should bring back Stage 1 dual types ala Bulbasaur.
- The next regional bird should be Special Attack-based.
- Retconning news types on to older Pokemon is messy.
- Generation 5 has my favorite set of Pokemon.
- If there's one thing I defend till the end, it's the newer designs of Pokemon. Criticize the story, the pacing, the gameplay, the individual mechanics, the map layout--all of that is fair and good. But there's nothing more subjective than preferring the looks of a Pokemon.
EDIT: Also, I replayed my old Pokemon Red cartridge not too long ago (some time after Twitch Plays Pokemon), which I hadn't done since my actual first playthrough. I chose an all-Poison team theme, starting with Bulbasaur, into Beedrill, Zubat, Arbok, Nidoking, and others. I exploited the Wrap mechanics along with Toxic, which were overpowered.
I'll just like to say that this is an amazing thread so thanks OP and also:
Blaziken is the greatest pokemon ever made, It's like if John Cena and Jesus combined to form a pokemon it would him.
The moment of happiness you feel when Combusken evolves into Blaziken is on the same level as when Leonardo DiCaprio finally wins his oscar.
Blaziken getting a Mega Evolution was the equivalent of marrying beyonce, polygamy becoming legal and then getting to marry Jennifer Lawrence too.
Blaziken is the IceCream Cake of Pokemon.
Blaziken is the greatest pokemon ever made, It's like if John Cena and Jesus combined to form a pokemon it would him.
The moment of happiness you feel when Combusken evolves into Blaziken is on the same level as when Leonardo DiCaprio finally wins his oscar.
Blaziken getting a Mega Evolution was the equivalent of marrying beyonce, polygamy becoming legal and then getting to marry Jennifer Lawrence too.
Blaziken is the IceCream Cake of Pokemon.
Yeah, it's not very hard to do. It's just that it's a weird mixed message to essentially say to the player "So now that you know how disadvantageous Not-Very-Effective moves can be... use one regardless because luckily these particular pokemon have a garbage Special stat."
Yes, it's much easier now to catch them all thanks to online trading; IIRC, every single Pokemon outside event Pokemon can be found with just sixth generation games (X, Y, Alpha Sapphire, Omega Ruby). Event Pokemon are still a bit of a pain, but they're not required to get the reward for completion.
Poison is da best, and you get tons of options for Poison types in RBY because for some reason they were the most common type in the original games.
I was hoping Zygarde would be a Poison/Ground legendary, but no, there had to be a legendary dragon again.
There will be a poison type legendary one day, and it will be cool. They have so much they could potentially base it on.
Have we ever even had a Scorpion pokemon? EDIT: ah wait, Scorupi.
There will be a poison type legendary one day, and it will be cool. They have so much they could potentially base it on.
Have we ever even had a Scorpion pokemon? EDIT: ah wait, Scorupi.
Watch Da Birdie
I buy cakes for myself on my birthday it's not weird lots of people do it I bet
021 - Spearow
Normal/Flying
While Pidgey is usually considered the main Early Bird Pokemon, some folks consider Spearow the other Kanto Early Bird---and indeed, the following two Early Bird Pokemon followed Spearow's 2-stage evolution pattern. It's gained a bit of a reputation as a hell---compared to Pidgey, it looks a little meaner (I've always thought its head sort of brought to mind Blue/Gary in a way) and its name sounds a bit more threatening, especially in Japan where it's known as Onisuzume..."Demon Sparrow". This reputation, however, seems to have been mainly pushed forward by the Anime which specifically made out Spearow to be a very unfriendly Pokemon who attacked other Pokemon and humans. In reality, its PokeDex entries paint it as a rather simple Pokemon who only really attacks those who enter its territory, and it's not particularly vicious otherwise.
Spearow is a sparrow Pokemon as the name suggests, but like Pidgey it doesn't necessarily look like the animal it's named after, and has traits associated with more ferocious bird species like hawks and such. Although this wasn't as noticeable before the physical-special split in Generation IV as all Normal and Flying attacks were categorized as physical, Pidgey's line focuses mainly on special attacks, while Spearow is a much more physical fighter.
As I mentioned before, the anime characterizes Spearow as a pretty nasty Pokemon---a group of them attacked Ash and Pikachu in the first episode, and since then were forever established as being nasty Pokemon. I'm pretty sure the only time Spearow have played a notable role in the show is when they flashback to the events of the first episode.
022 - Fearow
Normal/Flying
Like its pre-evolution, Fearow has garnered a negative reputation that is perhaps not deserved---its PokeDex entries also paint it as a rather normal Pokemon without any particular malice except for being a skilled hunter, similar to Pidgeot's entries. Yet thanks to the show, and its rather vicious looking appearance, it's often seen as a "bad" Pokemon. That's just how it goes sometimes, y'know?
Fearow moves away from the sparrow-hawk creature that Spearow was, and resembles a stork or heron thanks to its long neck with a bit of a vulture element to it as well. Even though Generation I's Pokemon are said to be the most realistic, I think it's interesting that it had some of the more hodgepodge Bird Pokemon whereas later Generations introduced Bird Pokemon that were much easier to recognize as real world species. Fearow is a very skilled flier---while Pidgeot is described as being a very fast flyer, Fearow is instead suggested to be built for endurance as it's said to be able to fly for long periods of time effortlessly. It also makes good use of its long neck and beak to hunt prey---which translates into the wide-array of beak-based moves it's capable of utilizing.
Fearow is statistically weaker overall than Pidgeot, and as a two-stage evolution as opposed to a three-stage evolution may appear less impressive, but in fact it's a bit better than Pidgeot. Surprisingly, until Generation VI it was actually faster than Pidgeot---even now, Pidgeot only has 1 point of speed on it. Fearow's biggest strength lies in its more impressive moveset, and the fact that Pidgeot attempts to go for a balanced spread, while Fearow sacrifices balance in order to favor Attack and Speed. Perhaps since Fearow was deemed as being the stronger of the two, perhaps that's why Pidgeot got the Mega Evolution? Still, you gotta feel sorry for Fearow getting knocked down by its rival a bit...
In the show, Fearow is mainly used as an antagonistic Pokemon, the Spearow from Episode 1 returning at the end of the Indigo League as a Fearow and attacking Ash and friends. Throughout the show's run, Fearow is often depicted as a bad Pokemon used by villainous characters, or just mean-spirited on their own. I do recall one Johto filler had it in a rare positive role. In the Electric Tale of Pikachu manga, Fearow appeared in an antagonistic role as the Pokemon who chased Ash and Pikachu, but in this canon it was actually caught---and became Ash's main flyer! In fact, his Pidgeotto in the manga actually disappeared during a fight leaving a note that he was off for some R&R---and never returned.
Fearow is a cool bird that sadly always suffered from the same problem as every other Normal/Flying Pokemon before Staraptor: Dodrio just plain outclassed it, moving faster and hitting harder. Dodrio even has most of the same
Still, Fearow was a better Pokemon than Pidgeot in the first few generations thanks to a powerful STAB Drill Peck and a better attack stat to use with its purely physical movelist. Plus, it looks way more badass.
Still, Fearow was a better Pokemon than Pidgeot in the first few generations thanks to a powerful STAB Drill Peck and a better attack stat to use with its purely physical movelist. Plus, it looks way more badass.
Watch Da Birdie
I buy cakes for myself on my birthday it's not weird lots of people do it I bet
023 - Ekans
Poison
Ekans backwards is...Snake!? Yes, it's one of the series' most notorious wordplays, but it's not actually the localization team's fault. Ekans' original name is trademarked as Arbo---while this sounds simply like a truncated version of Arbok, the way katakana works it's actually probably meant to be "boa" spelled backwards. Ekans, in my opinion, is actually a really good name, because I think sound-wise it perfectly fits the Pokemon---go ahead, say "Ekans" outloud. You probably hissed a bit on the ending "s", right? Some of the Pokemon names may be a bit stupid, or groan worthy, but I think how they sound is equally important, and Ekans' name really fits the creature.
Ekans introduces the idea of Version Exclusive Pokemon fully, as only Red Players will encounter it in the wild---Blue Players will instead find Sandshrew in its place. Version Exclusive Pokemon tend to be similar in some way, in this case both Pokemon are two-stage evolution lines and could be seen as "rival creatures" perhaps, and sometimes are usually right next to one another in the PokeDex to illustrate this fact. Ekans and Sandshrew have one of the more tenuous connections among Version Exclusive Pokemon, you could say. They don't really give off the idea of counterparts like some other Version Exclusive pairings do. Ekans is also unavailable in Pokemon Yellow, as that game didn't want you to use one of Team Rocket's trademark Pokemon.
Ekans is the first pure-Poison Pokemon, and symbolizes this by being a bright shade of purple. Most people seem to visualize poison as being a purplish color, and given that it's a creature known for being poisonous, most people will quickly figure out Ekans' type. Ekans also has bright yellow markings (originally it had additional yellow bands in the old Sugimori art, but this was dropped by the time it appeared in the show) to further illustrate the idea that it's a dangerous creature.
Ekans mixes together various elements of snakes---it is an egg-eating snake, preferring to eat the eggs of Pidgey and Spearow, and also has elements of a poisonous snake and a constrictor snake. In real life, perhaps you could say nature's way of gameplay balance, constrictor snakes more often than not aren't poisonous, but here since Ekans is the "Snake Pokemon", they gave him basically every snake ability there is. The snake Ekans resembles the most is the rattlesnake due to its rattle, yet thinking it over, has Ekans ever actually used its rattle in any appearance? The PokeDex doesn't mention anything about it using the rattle, and in fact talks about how it's a very stealthy Pokemon. It seems to just be for visual flair, really, and disappears upon evolving into Arbok.
Ekans served as Jessie's main Pokemon in the original series, and was a gift given to her---in Japan, it was a Chugen (a summer festival) gift but simply a birthday gift in the dub. Giving someone a poisonous snake seems like a poor gift, but as the anime later implied, Jessie was extremely poor as a child and thus the gift sort of takes on a new light---Ekans was probably the best gift she could expect. Ekans has basically no major appearances outside of hers (and the ones that Arbok went off to live with), perhaps out of respect for the original?
024 - Arbok
Poison
Arbok backwards is...Kobra?! Unlike Ekans, this was its original name. Arbok is another name that's pretty dumb when you realize what they did, but has a neat sound to it and feels like a suitable name for the Pokemon.
Arbok's most notable feature is the "face markings" on its chest, which it uses to intimidate foes---although it's already pretty intimidating without them! Arbok's chest changes depending on the region, and Yellow claims there are at least six confirmed variations. However the style seen in the art shown here is the style that Arbok uses in a majority of its appearances, such as the original sprites, the anime, and every game since Generation IV. Generation II and Ruby/Sapphire/Emerald are the only games they've actually bothered to change the design for. The design used in those games, interestingly enough, resembles the original design seen in the old Sugimori Art which wasn't used in the original games. However the Gen II and RS remakes went back to using the Kanto-style Arbok. It's unfortunate they couldn't have Arbok differ based upon which game it originated from in XY, since editing the model seems like it would be far easier. Arbok's original backsprite also had additional markings on the back of its hood, but these don't appear elsewhere. Pokemon Special, and some old promotional art, implied Arbok could manipulate its markings, but this hasn't been seen since the old days and perhaps was a dropped idea? Maybe for a Mega Evolution they could use that...
While Ekans was a rattlesnake, Arbok is based off one of the most popular snakes of them all, the cobra. Yet as with Ekans, while being poisonous, it also shares traits with the larger constrictor snakes, and is said to be able to crush oil drums by wrapping around them. Most Pokemon are measured by height, but Arbok is measured by length---this leads to the games with size charts making him appear absolutely humongous since his "height" is 11'6", but that'd only be if he stood on the tip of his tail. Although even when coiled up, Arbok is still one of the bigger Pokemon.
Jessie's Ekans evolved into Arbok alongside Koffing, and the show introduced an issue where it claimed Pokemon "lost their personalities" when they evolved. This was later exemplified by Charmeleon, but this idea of Pokemon undergoing massive personality shifts was one of the odder elements claimed by the anime, and an idea that really doesn't come up much---Pokemon rebelling when they evolve now seems to be simply like a teenager having trouble adjusting to their new body. It was all a moot point, as Arbok seemed to be basically the same as Ekans anyway, not that Ekans ever got to show much of a personality outside of that one time it got to talk. Arbok later left alongside Weezing in Hoenn to protect a bunch of Ekans who were captured, and has yet to return---like Ekans, the writers seem hesitant to introduce any major Arbok out of respect.
Not just Drill Peck - back in R/B, I quickly realized that Spearow was better to use than Pidgey early on because Pidgey's main attack for a while was Gust, which was bizarrely a Normal-type move back then, whereas Spearow started with Peck for that sweet, sweet STAB against all the Bugs early on.
Snakes have had it rough in Pokemon. In RBY Ekans and Arbok, while okay thanks to Wrap+Glare, were nowhere near the best Pokemon you could catch. GSC's Dunsparce was a complete joke. RSE's Seviper was an unimpressive counterpart to Zangoose despite its sweet as hell design. Even the snake starter line in BWB2W2 was complete garbage.
Thankfully Serperior has been incredibly buffed with the hidden ability Contrary, so that's one line of snakes now with using. Gen 6 also introduced a snake legendary in Zygarde that is pretty powerful, though very much outclassed by Garchomp.
Thankfully Serperior has been incredibly buffed with the hidden ability Contrary, so that's one line of snakes now with using. Gen 6 also introduced a snake legendary in Zygarde that is pretty powerful, though very much outclassed by Garchomp.
Watch Da Birdie
I buy cakes for myself on my birthday it's not weird lots of people do it I bet
Well, look at the Gen I Flying-type moves...Drill Peck, Fly, Mirror Move (called Parrot Mimicry originally), Peck, Sky Attack (called God Bird originally), and Wing Attack. All the original Flying-type moves were pretty much specifically bird-based, and seems to support the rumor that it was early on the Bird-type that MissingNo is listed as.
I'm guessing Gust didn't fit into this original categorization since Bird doesn't imply mastery of wing powers like Flying does, and they didn't get around to changing it to fit with the new Flying-type name till Gen 2.
I'm guessing Gust didn't fit into this original categorization since Bird doesn't imply mastery of wing powers like Flying does, and they didn't get around to changing it to fit with the new Flying-type name till Gen 2.
fredrancour
Member
Birdie, I'm in awe of the amount of effort you're putting in here.
Poison/Something manticore legendary as the mewtwo of gen 7 plz. They can take liberties with the human head part of it.
Poison/Something manticore legendary as the mewtwo of gen 7 plz. They can take liberties with the human head part of it.
The Shadow Knight
Member
In my Charmander runs of RB I always tended to just Ember through the Geodude and then Growl the Onix into oblivion before spamming Ember. Works every time I believe, if done with one Potion on hand.
NipplesAndToes23
Member
I don't use Sparrow or Fearow because they look like the pokemon for thugs and Fearow look like he on crack.
Unova designs are the lowpoint of the series for me. I like about 5 Pokemon from that region.
Loved most of the new Kalos Pokemon though.
Edit: I should clarify that I'm not saying the Unova designs are bad. I just don't like most of them for whatever reason, and dislike that many of them are conceptual redesigns of older Pokemon. Even designs that I think are brilliantly creative (such as Chandelure), aren't visually appealing to me.
Loved most of the new Kalos Pokemon though.
Edit: I should clarify that I'm not saying the Unova designs are bad. I just don't like most of them for whatever reason, and dislike that many of them are conceptual redesigns of older Pokemon. Even designs that I think are brilliantly creative (such as Chandelure), aren't visually appealing to me.
Chandelure line is incredible though. Probably my fave from that generation.
There some other stellar designs in Gen V too. Hydreigon, Scraggy, Golurk, crocodile line (forgot the name lol), Venipede... Plenty more but those come to mind quickly. There a few stinkers though, like that red-headed dragon (Druddigon?).
Regarding Ekans, I've always thought it's a damn cool Pokemon. Shame it isn't very good. A Poison/Dark mega evolution could work wonders for it.
There some other stellar designs in Gen V too. Hydreigon, Scraggy, Golurk, crocodile line (forgot the name lol), Venipede... Plenty more but those come to mind quickly. There a few stinkers though, like that red-headed dragon (Druddigon?).
Regarding Ekans, I've always thought it's a damn cool Pokemon. Shame it isn't very good. A Poison/Dark mega evolution could work wonders for it.
Watch Da Birdie
I buy cakes for myself on my birthday it's not weird lots of people do it I bet
025 - Pikachu
Electric
To be honest, I wasn't looking forward to covering Pikachu---what can I say about Pikachu that hasn't already been said? There's a lot of ground to cover, and you could easily write a book on Pikachu. Pretty sure someone already did? In case you've been living under a rock, Pikachu is Pokemon's mascot, and one of the most popular mascot characters in the world---some would say he resonates more with the average person nowadays than even Mickey Mouse! There's a bit of a memory lapse though involving Pikachu, where it's hard to recall when exactly his popularity took off. Was he always naturally popular, or did The Pokemon Company responsible for pushing his popularity till we all just accepted him as the mascot? When I was a teenager, I went through a phrase where I was too cool for Pikachu, but nowadays, I sort of have a new respect for him and generally enjoy him for the most part even though I've never actually used one.
Pikachu is the first Electric-type Pokemon, and naturally is colored yellow. Electric Pokemon have somewhat of an advantage early on as they are only weak to Ground-type attacks, which aren't too common early on---this was especially true in Generation 1, where you only had Dig and Earthquake as Ground moves you had to regularly worry about, as the only other Ground-type moves that caused damage were the Cubone/Marowak exclusive "Bone" moves, and Fissure, which didn't consider Type Advantage. Even today, most of the more powerful Ground-type moves tend to appear later on, so Electric-type Pokemon are somewhat advantageous at first.
Despite being massively popular, Pikachu was actually a rather rare Pokemon in the original games, only appearing in Viridian Forest (and way later the Power Plant), and infrequently. It's possible a player might venture through Viridian Forest without even meeting the Pokemon. As explained in the above paragraph, this was likely due to Electric having a bit of an advantage early on, thus the player isn't easily given an Electric-type Pokemon. They have to work for it. Of course, this isn't true in Pokemon Yellow, where Pikachu serves as the player's starter, and they are encouraged to use it, although they aren't forced to keep it in their party thankfully.
Although it doesn't quite resemble any real world creature, Pikachu is considered to be a "mouse Pokemon". Some claim it's based off the "pika", but this seems to be a coincidence as it doesn't look much like said creature, and the "pika" in its name is presumably meant to be from the japanese onomatopoeia "pikapika", sparkle. In its original appearance, Pikachu was quite round (and even had a white belly in some older art and sprites), and looked much more mouselike---over the years it has greatly thinned down, and now looks more like a rabbit to me. I actually sort of like the new Pikachu, but I can see the appeal of the old one. As the story goes, this slimming down was apparently due to it being easier to animate Pikachu as such, but it also may simply be a natural evolution that many mascot characters undergo. Just look at Bugs Bunny and Mickey Mouse! Sugimori nowadays also tends to draw Pikachu with a very ovular head as opposed to the square head the anime incarnation uses.
Pikachu began the "Electric Rodent" archetype, in which every Generation except for Gen II (although it could be seen as Pichu) has a similar Electric-type Rodent with an emphasis on its cheeks, which serve as the source of its electricity. These Electric Rodents tend to be somewhat weak, although they aren't completely worthless, but Pikachu perhaps has ended up being the strongest of them all thanks to the Light Ball introduced in Gen II, that doubles its Sp. Atk (and later Atk in Generation IV to take advantage of the physical-special split), making it more formidable, and allows it to pass on its signature move Volt Tackle to its child. Hey, it's the mascot after all, it's gotta be decent somewhat!
There have been a few "Pikachu" variants over the years, the most memorable being the Surfing Pikachu which is a Pikachu who knows Surf, and appeared in both the games and the anime. Recently, Cosplay Pikachu was introduced, which can change into various outfits in ORAS based on the five Contest Categories. Personally, I have a theory that we'll see a "Classic Pikachu", modeled after the original chubby Pikachu, appear in the new game that's probable next year as a nod to the 20th Anniversary, but we'll see about that...
I shouldn't have to tell you this, but Pikachu is the main Pokemon of Ash in the Pokemon Anime, and has appeared in every single main series episode since the beginning. Originally, Rachael Lillis dubbed over it a couple of times, but Pikachu's original voice actor, Ikue Ohtani, is now the voice of Pikachu worldwide, and has even lent her voice to Pikachu in Pokemon Yellow, and now, Pokemon X & Y. Some people have a rather violent reaction towards this, but let them hate---Pikachu's voice is absolutely iconic! Pikachu refuses to evolve, a point made clear throughout the show, and is said to be more powerful than the average Pikachu, especially when it comes to its speed which seems to be its main asset---and it could be said Ash traditionally specializes in speed-type strategies. Despite this, Pikachu's power has notoriously fluctuated much to the chagrin of fans where one episode it can go toe-to-toe with a Latios one episode, only to turn around and lose to a Snivy a few episodes later. Yes, I'm still salty about Best Wishes!
Pikachu has also played a major role in many other incarnations as being important to the Red-expy...Red in Pokemon Special, Red in Pocket Monsters (where he shares screentime with the Pokemon rumored to be the original mascot of the franchise), and probably quite a few other manga that never made it out of Japan. Interestingly, Pikachu's role in Pokemon Origins was surprisingly small and was a quick cameo, although perhaps this was meant to illustrate how Pikachu was so little important in the original Green and Red? But I'd say Ash's Pikachu is probably the one that's the most beloved (and most hated?), and probably the main reason Pikachu ended up so recognizable. Hate the anime if you wish, but by now I think I've illustrated it was rather important in shaping various elements of the franchise in terms of how the general public perceived them.
In Super Smash Bros., Pikachu has appeared as a playable character in every game since the original, where he was the youngest character---yet even then he had already become on-par with Mario and Link. Some people might even say he's Nintendo's mascot, not Mario, even though he could be called a "second party" character in reality. In the original Smash, Pikachu was also considered one of the strongest characters, but as of Smash 4 he's seem to have fallen back to the middle of the race. Pikachu is also a character in the newest fighting game, Pokken, where he is shockingly similar to Tekken's Heihachi. And now there's a second Pikachu, based on the Luchador Cosplay Pikachu, coming to Pokken as well. Beyond these appearances, there are multiple games featuring Pikachu in the lead role such as Hey You, Pikachu!, and the possibly vapor-ware Great Detective Pikachu said to be releasing in the future.
*deep breath*
026 - Raichu
Electric
Raichu is perhaps one of the most maligned Pokemon of them all, forever living in the shadow of Pikachu. Now, Raichu does have its fans---perhaps a lot of people like it specifically because it isn't Pikachu---but you wouldn't know this by how Game Freak treats it. In Pokemon Yellow, Pikachu was unable to evolve into Raichu (unless traded to another game first), and now thanks to the Light Ball, there's an actual incentive to not evolve PIkachu, leaving poor Raichu out in the cold. At this point, I think Raichu fans are desperately hoping for a Mega Evolution...
Raichu is the first Pokemon that doesn't evolve from its previous form by experience level, but rather through an Evolution Stone, in this case the Thunder Stone. Stone Pokemon have never been really explained---why some Pokemon need to use a stone to perform something most other Pokemon are capable of doing naturally---and tend to not look any different from naturally evolving Pokemon, thus the player probably won't know how to evolve the Pokemon unless they consult a guide, friends, or simply try all the Evolution Stones they have to see which Pokemon can use them. Perhaps this was an idea made to entice players to connect with others, one of the main goals of Pokemon. Stone Pokemon have their advantage in that they allow you to gain a powerful Pokemon instantly if you have the right item, but also have a disadvantage in that they typically have a much smaller set of learnable moves than their pre-evolution, or basically won't learn any moves at all. Thus, evolving a Pokemon too early with a Stone can serve as a mistake, and it's better to wait a bit and learn more moves first---or use TMs, of course. Raichu being a Stone Evolution could be seen as another way to help Pikachu's popularity. If Raichu was a natural evolution, the player would probably evolve Pikachu no questions asked---they'd have to stop Pikachu evolving every time it levels up otherwise, which might get on their nerves causing them to just give up and let it evolve, or would forget to stop the evolution accidentally. But since the player chooses when Pikachu evolves, there's a good chance they may leave it as a Pikachu because they recognize Pikachu as a popular Pokemon, and might want to keep it in its familiar form.
Design-wise, Raichu is larger than Pikachu, and seems to be based on the kangaroo mouse due to its large feet and long tail and does kind of bring to mind a kangaroo in a way. Interestingly, it actually keeps the white belly the old Pikachu was known for even today, the last remnant of a forgotten design. Raichu has slimmed down alongside Pikachu, although it's a bit less noticeable however. As Raichu didn't appear as much as Pikachu, and wasn't subject to being drawn over and over, there wasn't the same level of natural art evolution that had time to occur I suppose.
In the show, Raichu appeared in a "David and Goliath" situation during the Kanto series under the ownership of Lt. Surge, where it originally defeated Pikachu, leading to the famous scene where Pikachu refused to evolve. However, Pikachu later was able to overcome Raichu thanks to its higher speed (not true in the game, of course, but in terms of logic for the show, a smaller Pokemon being faster makes sense), and due to knowing Quick Attack and Agility, which Raichu didn't know as it had evolved too soon. Taking Red and Blue in account, this would mean Lt. Surge's Pikachu evolved before level 16. Raichu's appearances in the show following this often tended to be it being played up as a rival to Pikachu, sometimes a serious rival, other times a friendlier one, although in Diamond and Pearl there was an episode where Ash used a rental Raichu in a battle. Most of the other canons where the Red-expy has a Pikachu also seem to keep it from evolving, although the Pikachu in Pocket Monsters actually did, albeit temporarily. Of course, this even includes the original Game Red.
As far as I know, Raichu hasn't made a single appearance in Smash Brothers---not even as a sticker as far as I can tell. It also tends to have no appearances in the Pikachu-series games either if I remember correctly.
172 - Pichu
Electric
Although I'm going in Dex Order, Cross-Gen Pokemon will appear alongside the rest of their evolutionary family.
Pichu is one of the first Baby Pokemon introduced, which were one of the new additions in Generation II. As Pokemon could now be bred, Game Freak decided it'd be good to introduce Baby Pokemon that could be better pictured of coming out of Eggs. Of course, they mostly skipped over the Pokemon it'd make sense to have Baby Forms---dudes like Snorlax, Onix, Lapras, and such who were enormous seemed like the Pokemon who should've gotten smaller Pokemon that could be logically seen as emerging from an egg, at least for Snorlax they finally did this in Gen IV---and many of the Baby Pokemon end up simply being smaller versions of already small Pokemon. It's hard to not see Baby Pokemon like Pichu as merely a cynical attempt to sell merchandise by using a familiar, yet new, little critter, but they do have some purpose in that they learn unique moves that their evolution cannot, and also as of XY carry with them 3 IVs when found in the wild. Pichu for instance lets Pikachu gain Volt Tackle and Nasty Plot, although the 3 IV bonus has yet to apply as it cannot be caught in XY or ORAS.
Baby Pokemon are unable to breed until they evolve (their evolutions, however, can breed---and this was the only way to obtain Baby Pokemon for the most part originally), and they're typically introduced, except for two exceptions, a Generation after their evolved form appeared. Baby Pokemon in Generation II were implied to be completely normal Pokemon that existed for years, even though for example we saw Baby Pikachu in the show before that, but later Generations had the player use special incense to breed Baby Pokemon, perhaps implying they're not exactly natural creatures but a unique stage of life brought about through human intervention. Who knows?
Although we don't know how the design process necessarily works, it's assumed most Pokemon are designed from first form to final form, although apparently this was reversed with the Unova Starters. For Baby Pokemon like Pichu, their design process is a bit reversed, as rather than being created organically alongside the other members of its family, they're made a bit after the fact, and thus their is somewhat of a less organic feeling to them---Pichu is purposefully modeled after Pikachu and seeks to "cuten" the original design, by being even smaller and softer looking. I don't quite get why Pichu has the black tail (instead of brown, which would grow into the bottom portion of Pikachu's full tail) or the black neck marks that completely disappear upon evolution, but it accomplishes what it sets out to do as a design though. It's not too bad even if it's going for the "Muppet Babies" approach.
Like Pikachu, there are a few notable Pichu variants. The first is the Spiky-Eared Pichu, which literally makes me mad. It was a gimmick Pokemon (a Pichu with a spiky ear) introduced to hype up HGSS, and was shoved down our throats---it got an entire anime ending dedicated to it, and was hyped as being an important Pokemon in the Arceus Movie. It really didn't do anything special whatsoever, and was a pointless Special Pokemon in HGSS who couldn't evolve nor be traded outside the game. It had a buddy, Pikachu-colored Pichu, who was equally pointless. Pokemon Ranger 3 had an awesome Ukulele Pichu though, but it never got to appear in a game unfortunately enough even though it was far superior to Spiky-Eared Pichu. Ugh, fuck that noise.
In the show, Pichu appeared most memorably as the "Pichu Brothers" in the 3rd Pikachu Short, and had a few other specials dedicated to them such as the one included in Pokemon Channel. In the actual main series, they really haven't had too many important appearances besides a filler in Johto, and some cameo appearances here and there. And it's been years since we saw the Pichu Bros., come to think of it.
Pichu appeared alongside Pikachu in Smash Brothers Melee, and was one of the most notorious "clones" as it hurt itself whenever it attacked, a reference to its inability to fully control its electricity. I believe Sakurai once described Pichu as being the official joke character of Smash Brothers Melee? Most people weren't too miffed at Pichu's removal in Smash Brothers Brawl (Mewtwo's was far more of a sticking point), but it seems there's some demand for him to return in Smash 4 as DLC.
Pichu is a completely worthless and pointless Pokemon that deserves to burn in a fire for being nothing but a weaker version of an unevolved Pokemon that stops Raichu from getting a decent evolution. Oh, and for spiky-eared Pichu. What a waste of a Pokemon.
Glad to see you're taking a cross-gen approach for evolution lines, it allows you to focus all your thoughts on the evolution line at one time.
Glad to see you're taking a cross-gen approach for evolution lines, it allows you to focus all your thoughts on the evolution line at one time.
Pikachu is top tier in Smash 4. Super fast with great combos.
Baby Pokemon are this weird thing that adds almost nothing to the gameplay but instead fleshes out the PokeWorld. Having some Pokemon like Tauros and Scyther hatch from eggs feels so ridiculous that I'm actually glad babies exist and I'd add even more in newer games. However, that's not a popular opinion...
Baby Pokemon are this weird thing that adds almost nothing to the gameplay but instead fleshes out the PokeWorld. Having some Pokemon like Tauros and Scyther hatch from eggs feels so ridiculous that I'm actually glad babies exist and I'd add even more in newer games. However, that's not a popular opinion...
unknownstranger
Member
If I had to rank each gen by Pokemon, it'd be:
1. Gen 4 - Gen 4 has some of my favorite early route Pokemon in Staraptor and Luxray. I like the majority of evolutions they gave to older Pokemon and have used a lot of them in runs (Glaceon, Leafeon, Magnezone, Weavile, Mamoswine and probably others I'm missing). My only issue with these were with how many of them required and the few pre-evolutions they added (we'll get to gen 2). The main Pokemon gen 4 lacked was fire types which became painfully obvious in the elite 4.
2) Gen 3 - Gen 3 is the gen I've played the least, as I never owned any of the games, just borrowed them from friends. Gen 3 rounded out a lot of move types that gen 1 lacked and gen 2 didn't fix. It also added more Pokemon of types there there was only 1-2 evolution lines of until then, including my favorite Dragon (Flygon), Psychic (Gardevior) and Rock (Aggron) types.
3) Gen 5 - I wanted to put gen 5 higher because I love a lot of Pokemon from it, but there's a lot of bad/stupid early Pokemon in it that keeps it down here. I love every bug evolution line in it (and ran with 2 of them in my first playthrough), but it doesn't remove any of the Pokemon on the first few routes I hate (the monkeys, both normal evolutions, Liepard's line, etc)
4) Gen 1 - I don't quite have the nostalgia for gen 1 as most people, but I've been using more Pokemon from this gen in later ones and liking them (most recently Electrode in Alpha Sapphire).
5) Gen 6 - Gen 6 is the smallest gen, but outside of fairies i like most of them. It's just that unlike gen 2 where they went light with new type Pokemon, they went completely overboard with them in gen 6, especially with how many previous Pokemon got switched to fairy type.
6. Gen 2 - Gen 2 added the second fewest Pokemon of any gen, and many of them shouldn't have been there in the first place. I'm to an extent ok with Elekid, Magby and Smoochum and like the idea of Tyrogue, but with Pichu, Cleffa and Igglybuff, it took up way too much of this gen. Blissey seems completely unneeded as it basically has the same role as Chansey. They also put way too much emphasis on Normal Pokemon. I absolutely love Ampharos who's my favorite Pokemon, but there's so much unneeded filler in this gen that keeps it back for me.
1. Gen 4 - Gen 4 has some of my favorite early route Pokemon in Staraptor and Luxray. I like the majority of evolutions they gave to older Pokemon and have used a lot of them in runs (Glaceon, Leafeon, Magnezone, Weavile, Mamoswine and probably others I'm missing). My only issue with these were with how many of them required and the few pre-evolutions they added (we'll get to gen 2). The main Pokemon gen 4 lacked was fire types which became painfully obvious in the elite 4.
2) Gen 3 - Gen 3 is the gen I've played the least, as I never owned any of the games, just borrowed them from friends. Gen 3 rounded out a lot of move types that gen 1 lacked and gen 2 didn't fix. It also added more Pokemon of types there there was only 1-2 evolution lines of until then, including my favorite Dragon (Flygon), Psychic (Gardevior) and Rock (Aggron) types.
3) Gen 5 - I wanted to put gen 5 higher because I love a lot of Pokemon from it, but there's a lot of bad/stupid early Pokemon in it that keeps it down here. I love every bug evolution line in it (and ran with 2 of them in my first playthrough), but it doesn't remove any of the Pokemon on the first few routes I hate (the monkeys, both normal evolutions, Liepard's line, etc)
4) Gen 1 - I don't quite have the nostalgia for gen 1 as most people, but I've been using more Pokemon from this gen in later ones and liking them (most recently Electrode in Alpha Sapphire).
5) Gen 6 - Gen 6 is the smallest gen, but outside of fairies i like most of them. It's just that unlike gen 2 where they went light with new type Pokemon, they went completely overboard with them in gen 6, especially with how many previous Pokemon got switched to fairy type.
6. Gen 2 - Gen 2 added the second fewest Pokemon of any gen, and many of them shouldn't have been there in the first place. I'm to an extent ok with Elekid, Magby and Smoochum and like the idea of Tyrogue, but with Pichu, Cleffa and Igglybuff, it took up way too much of this gen. Blissey seems completely unneeded as it basically has the same role as Chansey. They also put way too much emphasis on Normal Pokemon. I absolutely love Ampharos who's my favorite Pokemon, but there's so much unneeded filler in this gen that keeps it back for me.
Watch Da Birdie
I buy cakes for myself on my birthday it's not weird lots of people do it I bet
027 - Sandshrew
Ground
While Ekans was the first Version Exclusive Pokemon encountered by Red Players, Blue Players instead got Sandshrew. I've always wondered if at one point, Sandshrew was intended to have more of a counterpart-relationship to Pikachu since they're right next to each other in the PokeDex, are both the Mouse Pokemon, have the same base stat total, and are polar opposites in terms of their Type. However, if such a relationship was planned, it's been forgotten as Pikachu's popularity has put it on a completely different level compared to the relatively forgettable Sandshrew.
Sandshrew is the first Ground-type Pokemon encountered, and its Ground-type characteristics are quite obvious due to its sandy-coloring, resembling an animal you'd expect to find in a desert locale, and its shell which resembles hardened clay of sorts. Ground-type Pokemon are a good introduction to the idea of Type Immunity, as they are immune to Electric-type attacks, yet Ground-type attacks are unable to hit Flying-type Pokemon. Yet in Generation I, Sandshrew and Sandslash couldn't naturally learn any Ground-type attacks, meaning they were perhaps a weak representative for the type in terms of gameplay.
Although most folks see Sandshrew and believe it to be an armadillo, it's supposedly meant to be a similar creature known as the "pangolin", which also is known to roll into a ball in order to escape danger. Pangolin are common to Asia, while Armadillo are common to the Americas, so perhaps what you see Sandshrew as depends on what part of the world you live in---Japanese players may be more familiar with Pangolin (even though I don't believe they live in Japan actually), while American players will be more familiar with armadillos. In the original sprites, Sandshrew's shell was much more scale-like in appearance, like a pangolin, but its official art and later sprites gave its shell a much smoother, brick-like pattern making it resemble an armadillo more so.
The "shrew" part of the name doesn't appear to be entirely coincidental either, even though it only appears in the English name, as Sandshrew and Sandslash are capable of using Poison-type attacks with their claws, which mimics how some shrews have poisonous claws. You could say, fairly, that Sandshrew perhaps is inspired by all three of these creatures? The Poison-type attacks may also reference the fact Pangolin are able to expel a similar odor compared to a skunk, who in the Pokemon Universe are considered Poison-type.
Sandshrew's lone memorable appearance in the show was under the command of A.J., one of the early Rivals Ash encountered who, despite being set-up as possible reoccurring characters, never made a single return appearance. This perhaps mimics Sandshrew itself, who really never played much of a presence in the show either since its debut episode.
028 - Sandslash
Ground
Sandslash looks far more akin to a pangolin than Sandshrew does, due to having a spiky shell that can be comparable to the keratin scales pangolin posses, and long, slender claws which are another trait of the pangolin. Furthermore, its original name is "Sandpan", and is presumably a combination of "sand" and "pangolin". But like Sandshrew, it resembles other animals that Western fans will be familiar with, such as a hedgehog (and its ability to roll into a ball will certainly bring a certain hedgehog to mind), or if you believe Sandshrew to be an armadillo, a take on the "hairy armadillo".
I'd love to say more about Sandslash, but this is honestly one of the first Pokemon I've encountered during this write-up where I think it's fair to say there's not much more to add. The issue mainly here is that like many Kanto Pokemon, the evolved forms are so similar to their pre-evolution that you exhaust most of the interesting talking points by the first form. Sandslash isn't that popular, especially compared to its counterpart Arbok who has more of a presence thanks to the show. If you take into account that at one point Pikachu and Sandshrew were meant to be counterparts of sort, than even Raichu has more of a presence than Sandslash.
And I can't say much about Sandslash in the expanded media, as I don't recall it ever playing a major role. The only important appearance of it in the show wasn't till Johto, where it belonged to a rather mean Trainer who attempted to capture Cyndaquil before Ash did, and later challenged Ash to a fight against his newly captured Cyndaquil in order to claim it. Sandslash and Cyndaquil are somewhat similar animals, so its appearance here was presumably a nod to that fact. Otherwise Sandslash has always been a background Pokemon, and looks to stay that way.
I've always liked Sandshrew and Sandslash, some of my favorite Ground types. Have you guys seen Sandslash's shiny form? The quills on its back become red, I almost want to get one and name it Knuckles hahaha
I wish the Sandshrew family had more popularity though, I find it a pretty cool design. Excadrill kinda out-plays it now... Sandslash could use another evolution or maybe even a mega.
I wish the Sandshrew family had more popularity though, I find it a pretty cool design. Excadrill kinda out-plays it now... Sandslash could use another evolution or maybe even a mega.
Watch Da Birdie
I buy cakes for myself on my birthday it's not weird lots of people do it I bet
For the Nidoran lines up next, I'll probably just do both families grouped together since that'd be the best way to talk about them.
I actually like the later Baby Pokemon far more than the ones introduced in Johto.
This goes for the cross-Gen evolutions as well---I found many of the ones introduced in Gen II to be somewhat wasteful or unneeded (why did we need Bellossom exactly?), but the Gen IV ones were cooler and tended to feel like they had more of a point overall. Of course there are some dubious evolutions there as well, but for the most part it seems Gen II was simply making popular Pokemon popular, but Gen IV gave some love to less loved Pokemon.
Ground/Poison would be pretty interesting for a Mega, since they have a Poison-type element to them. Like make its barbs tipped with purple or something simple, and maybe make it quadrupedal as its spikes make up the bulk of its body?
I actually like the later Baby Pokemon far more than the ones introduced in Johto.
This goes for the cross-Gen evolutions as well---I found many of the ones introduced in Gen II to be somewhat wasteful or unneeded (why did we need Bellossom exactly?), but the Gen IV ones were cooler and tended to feel like they had more of a point overall. Of course there are some dubious evolutions there as well, but for the most part it seems Gen II was simply making popular Pokemon popular, but Gen IV gave some love to less loved Pokemon.
Ground/Poison would be pretty interesting for a Mega, since they have a Poison-type element to them. Like make its barbs tipped with purple or something simple, and maybe make it quadrupedal as its spikes make up the bulk of its body?
Aaronrules380
Member
True to an extent, but Scizor is still amazing
-Pyromaniac-
Member
I was always surprised they never gave sandslash another evolution considering how adorbs sandshrew is. And I don't mean the abomination that is mega evolutions I just mean normal evolution.
NipplesAndToes23
Member
Sandslash was one of the homies. It was always on my team in every playthrough of Blue,
Don't like Hydreigon at all. I actually love Scraggy, but am not a fan of Scrafty. Same can be said for Smugleaf, Tepig, Purrloin, Archen, Zorua, Joltik and Cubchoo. Dislike all of their fully-evolved forms, and I never use Pokemon I don't intend to evolve, so I don't bother with any of these despite liking them.
Personally the only one of those that I'm a fan of is Krookodile. He or Reuniclus are probably my favourite from Unova in general tbh, but both are far from a favourite across all regions.And yet Kalos has several Pokemon that have become all-time favourites: Pangoro, Greninja, Noivern, Talonflame, Hawlucha, Aegislash, Trevenant, Malamar, Heliolisk, Tyrantrum. Yveltal, Xerneas and Zygarde are the only cover legends I've liked since Gen 3, and are among the best legendary designs period. So it's not a nostalgia-goggles thing.
Watch Da Birdie
I buy cakes for myself on my birthday it's not weird lots of people do it I bet
029 & 032 - Nidoran♀ & Nidoran♂
Poison
Nidoran are unique among the Kanto Pokemon as they're the only Pokemon in Generation I who were given genders, a feature which was fully implemented in Generation II. For most Pokemon, Gender is a somewhat aesthetic feature (although due to how it was calculated in Gen II through the use of the Attack IV, female Pokemon who didn't belong to all-female species actually had lower max Attack than their male counterparts), but for the Nidoran it is a gameplay element as well due to them having their own separate stats and learn-sets. Some people wondered why they didn't merge Nidoran into one Pokemon in Generation II, but I imagine that would've proven tricky for the programmers if the two were forced to share the same space. Furthermore, that would've messed up the numbering for all the Pokemon following them, such as Mew now becoming #150, unless they inserted a new Pokemon right before them to keep the numbers in-tact. Nidoran are fairly unique in that they're the only Pokemon other than Volbeat and Illumise who share an Egg---a Nidoran egg has a 50/50 chance of being either species regardless of what gender the dominant parent was.
The Nidoran line are perhaps the first Pokemon who you could say are "Pocket Monsters", as they don't quite resemble any real-world creature especially in their later forms. Personally, I've always seen them as rabbits due to their ears, and their genders were meant to be a clever nod to the idea of "breeding like rabbits", but others may see them as perhaps gerbils. The two Pokemon adhere to basic gender stereotypes, and the gender dimorphism displayed here is what you'd probably expect---the males are larger, faster, and more aggressive, while the females are smaller, slower, and more passive. On the other hand, Game Freak tossed a bit of a curveball here in that the male Nidoran line has colors typically associated with girls, while the female Nidoran has more traditional masculine colors. Personally, as a boy I always liked purple, and I think the Nidoran line played a bit part in that---and of course Donatello was my favorite Ninja Turtle.
Nidoran's bright colors indicate that they belong to the Poison Type, and they are the first pure Poison-type Pokemon some players will encounter due to Ekans being Version Exclusive. Actually, the Nidoran themselves are semi-exclusive, as the males are more common in Red, while the females are more common in Blue. Nidoran's main poisonous point are---well, the pointed horns on their body. Even though the male has more barbs than the female, in terms of gameplay both genders learn more or less the same amount of Poison-type moves. On the other hand, the male focuses on horn attacks, while the female tends to use her fangs and claws more so.
There was an Orange Islands episode that featured the two Nidoran in a Romeo & Juliet-type plot, but they're another example of Kanto Pokemon who have little presence in the show outside of their focus episode. As you might've guessed, they usually appear alongside one another when they make cameo appearances.
030 & 033 - Nidorina & Nidorino
Poison
At this point, the Nidoran start to show more pronounced gender differences, as they now have unique names, and their designs look more distinct than before. Interestingly, the Nidoran don't share the same base stats total as you'd expect from counterparts (they're two points off), but Nidorino and Nidorina do.
Let's talk about Nidorino first, as he's far more iconic. First off, Nidorino's appearance brings to mind a rhinoceros, and there were probably some folks who read his name as "Nido-rhino" when they first saw him. Beyond that, Nidorino looks similar to a creature who appeared in the earliest sketches of "Capsule Monsters", the proto-type Pokemon, battling a creature who resembled Gengar, and this likely served as the inspiration for the famous opening scene of Pokemon Red & Green (Blue replaced Nidorino with Jigglypuff, however) which was used as the opening to the anime as well. I imagine Nidorino, and by extension male Nidoran and Nidoking, were probably created first, and then at some point it was decided to give them explicitly female counterparts, although this is just speculation on my part.
Nidorina on the other hand has less importance to the franchise, but does have an interesting quirk---her and Nidoqueen are unable to breed, not even with Ditto. Why? Nobody's quite sure, but the theory is that it was probably some space issue in Generation II that Game Freak never got around to fixing. Nidorina's design has a very "pig-like" feel to it, especially in the 3D models, and while she's smaller than Nidorino, she's slightly heavier than him for some reason. I do remember there were animated GIFs featuring Nidorina that were popular among Pokemon Fans about a decade ago, but I can't say I've seen many fans who consider her their favorite Pokemon.
Nidorino's biggest appearance in the show was the re-creation of the Red & Green Opening seen in the first episode, but otherwise Nidorina and him haven't appeared much throughout the show except in the Nidoran focus episode mentioned above. Oddly enough, Whitney, the Normal-type Gym Leader, used a Nidorina in the anime. No clue why the writers did this when she never used one in the games, but I guess they wanted to give her one more Pokemon and they chose a girl Pokemon to fit her personality. The writers tended to play pretty loose with Gym Leader teams in the earlier seasons overall, though.
031 & 034 - Nidoqueen and Nidoking
Poison/Ground
In their final forms, the Nidoran become part-Ground. Honestly, while they're quite large and imposing, as many Ground-type Pokemon tend to be, I never really thought the Type really fit them. If anything, they look more like Rock-type Pokemon, or perhaps Fighting-types due to how aggressive they're depicted as. Another confusing, almost tacked-on element about them is that they evolve with the Moon Stone, otherwise the Evolution Stone of choice for Pokemon like Clefairy, Jigglypuff, and Skitty, all really cute, somewhat "magical" looking Pokemon. Nidoqueen and Nidoking really don't fit that group whatsoever, and I gotta wonder why they weren't simply regular Level-Up Evolutions, or perhaps since they were set up as semi-Version Exclusive counterparts, a Trade Evolution like Machamp and Golem.
Nidoking and Nidoqueen look like "Kaiju", and in fact Nidoking in particular looks remarkably similar to a minor Toho Monster known as Baragon---Pokemon has quite a few monsters that appear to be nods to such creatures, such as Tyranitar (and Mecha Tyranitar introduced later to hammer in the resemblance), so I imagine this was intentional. Their body-shape proved to be quite popular among Generation 1 Pokemon, as quite a few final forms like Rhydon have the same basic body structure. As I said before, these are perhaps the first Pokemon that really expressed the idea of "Pocket Monsters".
Anyway, as a kid, we all chuckled at the fact that Nidoqueen has rather visible boobs. Admit it, you did too! I'm actually sort of surprised no one as far as I know ever raised a fuss about that. One more oddity about Nidoqueen---the other members of the Nidoran have Shiny Forms that are colored like their counterpart, except for Nidoqueen, whose Shiny is puke-green. Yuck. This seems like an oversight in Gen II that simply never got fixed, and at this point it's too late to change it since that'd cause a "time paradox" when trading it from older games, or something like that.
Both Nidoqueen and Nidoking aren't the most powerful Pokemon, but still have a niche in competitive battling unlike some of their Generation I friends who became quickly outclassed---it helps that, out of all the Pokemon I've covered up to this point, they're still the only Pokemon with a unique Typing, and don't have any immediate counterparts. From my understanding, Nidoqueen seems to be slightly stronger than Nidoking due to her better bulk and versatility over Nidoking's more simplistic offensive approach, but this is just from a quick read-up on Smogon. I like when people respond with more trained competitive views on Pokemon to contrast my subjective analysis, because that's one part of the franchise where my knowledge isn't quite up to snuff.
Nidoking and Nidoqueen are both owned by Gary Oak in the show and were used against Giovanni (memorably featured in Mewtwo Strikes Back) and Ash respectively, but they're two Kanto Pokemon who never really got a focus episode to themselves until Hoenn featured them in an episode all about Tag Battling. I guess that one episode with a Pink Nidoking during Orange Islands might count as a focus episode for it, perhaps? Nidoqueen has one of the weirder appearances in the series though in Mewtwo Returns---as we see, oddly enough, a Baby Nidoqueen during one scene. It was given birth by a cloned Nidoqueen, so let's just say it was a bizarre genetic mutation or something.
One of the factors to the Nidoroyals'* continued success is their incredible move pool. They can learn
Combine this offensive versatility with their Sheer Force hidden ability that boosts damage on any move with a potential side effect (which includes a lot of the aforementioned moves), and they can hit much harder than their stats would suggest. And their support moves ain't half bad either with Taunt, Stealth Rock, and Toxic Spikes.
*Fan nickname for Nidoqueen and Nidoking
- Sludge Wave
- Poison Jab
- Toxic Spikes
- Earthquake
- Earth Power
- Fire Blast
- Thunderbolt
- Megahorn
- Surf
- Aqua Tail
- Superpower
- Focus Blast
- Shadow Claw
- Shadow Ball
- Stealth Rock
- Stone Edge
- Rock Slide
- Ice Beam
- Avalanche
- Taunt
- Sucker Punch
- Dragon Pulse
- Dragon Tail
- Super Fang
Combine this offensive versatility with their Sheer Force hidden ability that boosts damage on any move with a potential side effect (which includes a lot of the aforementioned moves), and they can hit much harder than their stats would suggest. And their support moves ain't half bad either with Taunt, Stealth Rock, and Toxic Spikes.
*Fan nickname for Nidoqueen and Nidoking
MasterSheen
Member
I don't even know how they managed to get such a diverse movepool among poison types
usually it's just poison and maybe some fire attacks but not much more than that
ColtraineGF
Member
Interesting fact about Nidorina and Nidoqueen - for some reason, despite being regular Pokemon, they are in the Undiscovered egg group (along with legendaries and other special Pokemon). Therefore, they can't be bred.
It's unknown why that is, but in my opinion I think it was caused by an error when they were programming gen 2 and assigning egg groups to everyone. Game Freak probably decided to keep it in from 3rd gen onwards for continuity's sake.
It's unknown why that is, but in my opinion I think it was caused by an error when they were programming gen 2 and assigning egg groups to everyone. Game Freak probably decided to keep it in from 3rd gen onwards for continuity's sake.
Baron von Loathsome
Member
I never noticed Nidoqueen's "boobs" until I saw them bouncing in one of the Orre games. Gross.
lol...wait what