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RTTP: The Pokemon. All 721 of them, and counting.
- Thread starter Watch Da Birdie
- Start date
It had some pretty strong moves, especially in later levels but it was weak to the most major types.
balladofwindfishes
Member
Speaking of Steelix, how come they fixed the garbage single Pokemon from Red/Blue, but haven't touched Farfetch'd?
Onix: Evolution
Lickitung: Evolution
Tangela: Evolution
Porygon: Evolution
Ditto: Core to breeding
Onix: Evolution
Lickitung: Evolution
Tangela: Evolution
Porygon: Evolution
Ditto: Core to breeding
Curry-Hakase
Member
Farfetch'd is just food, we don't need food to fight back.
Aaronrules380
Member
because a stronger version of Farfetch'd sounds a little far fetched, don't you agree?
It doesn't make much sense in English, but Farfetch'd is based on a common Japanese saying - Kamo ga negi wo shotte kuru. "A duck arrives bearing green onions". Farfetch'd's Japanese name is Kamonegi. The phrase means a fortuitous occasion in that the duck is carrying its garnish for you, and also that the duck is kind of an idiot for naively walking into a situation that'll end in a soup bowl. It's a joke that Japanese players would instantly get, and those in other parts of the world don't.
To have it evolve would kill the joke, so I doubt it will ever happen.
To have it evolve would kill the joke, so I doubt it will ever happen.
balladofwindfishes
Member
The anime made him look like the best bird in Kanto.
Boss Doggie
all my loli wolf companions are so moe
Though Farfetch'd got the gist of it right. After all it is "too good to be true to see a duck carrying an onion".
fredrancour
Member
But Mega Farfetch'd can be his normal design decked out with an unfeasibly large arsenal of other vegetables! All-in-one stew-making kit, the pokemon.
You're forgetting trash like Mr. Mime and Jynx, though both did get babies.
Because Farfetch'd is a joke Pokémon that is hunted for food and the fact it carries a leek doesn't help either.
Giving it an evolution would break that joke.
I dunno Mr. Mime being part fairy makes him brutal, then again I did keep forgetting that it was part fairy.
unknownstranger
Member
My Jynx in Silver wrecked everything. Carried me through Lance and was my highest level when I beat Red. Her, Ampharos and Typhlosion were my core 3 in Silver.
Jynx was top-tier in RBY.
Watch Da Birdie
I buy cakes for myself on my birthday it's not weird lots of people do it I bet
#077 - Ponyta
Fire
If you think about it, the Ponyta-line is basically the only universally available Fire-type in all of Gen I (excluding Yellow), the Fire-type that every player has equal access to. Only one-third of players will choose Charmander as their Starter, there's only one Eevee available to evolve into Flareon, and thus once more only one-third of players will use the Fire Stone, and Vulpix, Growlithe, and Magmar are all Version-exclusive. There's Moltres, but as a Legendary Pokemon I don't necessarily consider it in the same league as the others and the player might screw up catching it, thus never having another chance again. Ponyta later played this role again in Diamond and Pearl, where outside of Chimchar it was the only Fire-type Pokemon present in the Sinnoh Dex---thankfully Platinum fixed this a bit by adding in Houndour and Magby. Even though Ponyta is a bit more "common" than the other Fire-type Pokemon, I feel like most folks probably skipped it over, preferring to go with Growlithe/Vulpix depending on the version, or simply using Charmander. I never realized this till I checked, but Ponyta doesn't even pop up till Cinnabar Island---quite odd as I swear I remember it appearing more frequently. You really didn't need a Fire-type Pokemon in Generation I though, as the Grass-type Gym could be taken down with decent Flying and Psychic-type Pokemon, and using them against the "Ice" Elite Four member Lorelei would prove a bad idea due to the fact that a majority of her Pokemon were also part-Water.
So, what do I actually think about Ponyta? I'll be honest---I think it's the dullest Pokemon in all of Generation I personally, and have no interest in it whatsoever. It's not that Ponyta is forgettable, as I definitely remember it exists, nor is it a bad design, as it's drawn perfectly well, especially compared to a few later quadruped Pokemon introduced in future Generations who I think look quite patched-together in comparison, but it just doesn't appeal to me whatsoever. As I said in Machoke's entry, just because a Pokemon is objectively well-designed, doesn't mean it's necessarily a likable or interesting Pokemon---a lot of my favorites happen to be some of the uglier, odder dudes in fact, and I like when Game Freak takes risks on designs instead of always going the safe-route with a recognizable animal. Ponyta is the definition of safe: everyone will instantly recognize a pony, and it's a creature almost everyone loves, so selling one as a Pokemon requires no real effort. In particular, the biggest problem with Ponyta for me are the eyes, which as I've said can often make-or-break a Pokemon for me---Ponyta's eyes are quite plain and inexpressive, and it's a Pokemon I consider quite hard to read in terms of personality. Most Pokemon have somewhat of a "human" characteristic to them where you can tell they're probably a bit more individualistic and intelligent than normal animals, but Ponyta feels more animal-like than a majority of them, even among the original 151 where Pokemon were perhaps at their most feral.
I can't blame Game Freak entirely for this, as making an interesting Fire-type Pokemon seems like it's a bit more of a difficult task than, say, creating Water or Grass-type Pokemon due to lack of real-world inspiration---many of the other Fire-type Pokemon in Generation I get around this by adding in a secondary motif based around a mythological creature (dragon, kitsune, shisa), but for Ponyta they basically just realized that a horse's mane could easily be turned into fire, and just went with that. Now, as Bulbapedia points out, there are plenty of "fire horses" throughout the world's mythologies, but I don't think Ponyta was created with that in mind, as it lacks a lot of the "mythical" flavor text that the Vulpix and Growlithe-lines have which explicitly links them with their mythological base. I think Game Freak simply wanted a horse with a fiery mane, and just did that. Now, basing Pokemon around simple motifs isn't bad, as there are plenty of Pokemon who are simple like that who I do enjoy, I just find Ponyta's design dull, and that has a lot to do with the fact I've never been big on horses. But perhaps there's a lot of people who feel otherwise, although personally I do feel a majority of Pokemon fans I've interacted with do find the Ponyta-line to be rather unremarkable. Except for the "Shiny Ponyta" dude, of course.
I guess someone realized during development that Ponyta was a bit on the dull side, because whoever wrote the PokeDex absolutely went bonkers trying to make Ponyta sound more impressive with some of the feats it claims Ponyta is capable of. The first is that Ponyta's hooves are ten times harder than diamond, which seems a bit overboard---you'd think simply the hooves being as hard as diamonds would be good enough, but Game Freak had to one-up nature. I also think Game Freak might be mistaken when it comes to what "hardness" means, as they seem to imply that Ponyta's hooves are capable of basically crushing anything beneath them, when in fact the "hardness" they're using just means in terms of being scratch resistant, so I think they should've gone with "toughness", and compared Ponyta's hooves to jade, a mineral known for its particularly high toughness rating. But whatever, they just wanted a cool way to imply Ponyta's hooves are super powerful. Ponyta is also known for its incredible jumping prowess---according to Stadium, and depending on which version you're playing, Ponyta can clear Tokyo Tower (Japanese version, 1,092 feet) or the Eiffel Tower (Western version, 986 feet---although presumably that'd now be the Prism Tower) in a single leap, but there's an even crazier claim in the Fire Red entry (Japanese R/G too), which claims Ponyta can leap Ayers Rock which is 1,142 feet high and stretches 2.2 miles! Take it down a notch Game Freak, who are you trying to impress here?
For a Pokemon who is based on a creature known as a popular riding animal, there's an obvious issue with Pontya---how do you sit on it without getting burned? Well, in its anime debut, it was explained that if Ponyta trusts its rider, they won't even feel the flames. Yeah, it's kind of a weird and ambiguous claim, and none of the games have ever directly supported that claim, but presumably people do ride Ponyta, and that explanation works good enough I suppose. That's easier to believe than Ponyta being able to clear Ayers Rock, certainly. Anyway, Ponyta had a rather memorable focus episode in which Ash rode one in a race, and it's a very exciting episode for such a dull Pokemon, so much so that I think perhaps that might be the only reason anyone really remembers the Pokemon. Otherwise, Ponyta in the show often is given roles that are what you'd expect for a horse Pokemon, such as appearing on farms, or drawing carriages. I don't think we've ever seen it involved in an actual battle scene.
#078 - Rapidash
Fire
Rapidash is the evolved form of Ponyta, and a pretty late-game Pokemon---in Generation I, you couldn't catch Ponyta till Cinnabar Island, and Ponyta then doesn't evolve till Level 40---the third highest evolutionary level in Generation I tied with the Fossil Pokemon, and only behind Rhyhorn and Dragonair. And perhaps there wasn't a pressing need to evolve Ponyta either, because at that point you've probably picked up another Fire-type Pokemon, or don't even need one because there's just a Jynx and Venusaur/Exeggutor left in terms of Pokemon owned by major trainers who are weak to Fire-type Pokemon. So, yeah, I imagine very few people actually used Rapidash in their team during Generation I, and I doubt it saw much use in later games because most people probably went with their old favorites (such as in Gen II), or wanted to try out the New Pokemon. Rapidash doesn't seem particularly blessed in competitive battling either despite its speed, probably because as a pure-Fire type Pokemon it typically lacks versatility.
Anyway, Ponyta never really caught my interest, and Rapidash doesn't do much for me either, although I will admit it's had some pretty cool sprites over the years especially its Red and Blue sprite. There's not much to say in terms of visuals, though, as Rapidash doesn't change much from Ponyta except evolving from a small pony into a full-grown horse, and also growing a horn. The horn is meant to resemble a unicorn's, of course, but the horn isn't really a big part of Rapidash's design and is sort of just placed there to help it look a bit more interesting---nothing in Rapidash's PokeDex mentions any purpose of the horn, and Rapidash doesn't have any traits typically associated with unicorns, but on the other hand, the horn isn't distracting nor does it ruin the design, so I can't complain. Originally, Rapidash only learned one move that took advantage of the horn, Horn Drill via TM in Generation I, but it's picked up some interesting moves over the years that utilize it, such as Poison Jab, and Megahorn, quite an odd attack to see on a Fire-type Pokemon, and probably not that useful overall to a pure-Fire type. Rapidash's eyes look slightly more expressive, but like Ponyta it's a Pokemon I feel lacks that "quality" that make other Pokemon so endearing.
Rapidash's PokeDex is actually somewhat tame in comparison to Ponyta, it's main amazing feat being its amazing speed, 140 mph, which it's capable of reaching within ten steps. Yeah, a horse being able to run at the same speed as a bullet train is ridiculous, and I imagine Rapidash's body would probably just break apart due to the force, but it sounds a bit more logical than the jumps Ponyta is said to be able to make, so hey, we're all good. Such a fast Pokemon obviously doesn't like to just sit around and peacefully graze, and Rapidash is a natural-born racer who loves competition, chasing after cars and trains to prove its speed. Imagine going for a drive one day when all of a sudden this flaming horse slams into your car at 140 miles-per-hour, causing your car to explode in a fiery explosion killing you and your family instantly, yeah, surely the Pokemon World has to take precautions to ensure that Rapidash don't recklessly impede traffic. Despite being such a fast Pokemon, it's only the twelfth fastest Generation I Pokemon, falling behind Persian of all things, and it's naturally dropped quite a bit in the rankings as more and more Pokemon have managed to outclass it. But that's what happens to a lot of Generation I Pokemon who at one time could claim to be the "best" at something.
There were a lot of rumors and myths about Pokemon as a kid that I remember, but one rumor that seemed popular among my group of friends and that I recall seeing online was that Rapidash had an evolution where it became a flaming pegasus. I swear it was called "Charcolt", but apparently that was the "PokeGod" said to evolve from Charizard---even though it's got the whole horse-pun going on. The reason I say this is because if Rapidash ever gets a Mega Evolution, I feel like making it a flaming pegasus is the obvious choice, and one I hope comes true---I might even consider using Rapidash if that happens. Fire/Flying is the Type I would've expected years ago, and what I recall the rumor said, but now it seems like Fire/Fairy would be more appropriate and cooler, plus more beneficial since it wouldn't have a 4X weakness to Rock. Damn you Stealth Rock for destroying the competitive viability of my childhood dreams! Maybe by the time we get the Diamond and Pearl remakes, where Rapidash is part of the Regional Dex, this might come true.
The Flame Pokemon-athon, the episode I brought up in Ponyta's entry, is also pretty much Rapidash's lone focus-episode in the series, evolving at the very tail-end of the race to bring Ash to victory! Maybe that could be considered sort of a cheap win, but I'm not gonna lie, I don't care about Rapidash whatsoever, but that was a pretty hype moment. Rapidash also has the distinction of winning the Johto League under the command of "Jon Dickson"---this was back when the guy who beat Ash didn't end up winning the Tournament, and it was just some nobody with a stupid name and lame Pokemon. Rapidash won by beating a Rhyhorn, which is actually perhaps quite fitting---it's believed that one of the animals mistaken for a unicorn was the rhinoceros, something that Marco Polo did in fact during his trip to Java. But I doubt the writers intended this and just picked two unremarkable Pokemon to have battle it out for the championship. Otherwise, like Ponyta, Rapidash usually has parts that'd be filled in by a normal horse if one existed in the show.
Completely agree. The Ponyta line is extremely boring for the reasons you outlined above. There's nothing special about it, nothing silly or outrageous that people can love/hate about it. It's just there for my water types to gain XP in Cinnabar Island and an annoyance in G/S on the way to Mt. Silver.
At least it has a nice Shiny.
At least it has a nice Shiny.
papertoonz
Member
sadly i wish that was the case when it come to Gen 1 starters, no
anyway flame horse it was always to bland in my eyes nothing about it really stood out and man pointing out the lack of fire types in Gen made me remember out spread out the types were in Gen 1
Benzychenz
Member
Yeah, as much as I generally like the more grounded Pokemon designs, Ponyta took it too far in literally just being a horse with fire for a mane.
unknownstranger
Member
Ponyta showed how pathetically few fire types there were in gen 4. The first time through the elite 4 in Diamond/Pearl the Fire trainer only had a Rapidash and Infernape for fire types.
SenorArdilla
Member
Rapidash (only Fire type avaliable in the wild pre-National Dex), Infernape (a starter), Steelix (complete with Sunny Day and Fire Fang), Drifblim (Will-o-Wisp), and Lopunny (Fire Punch).
Volkner was just as bad: Raichu, Ambipom, Octillery, and Luxray. But I guess that's why they're friends.
Watch Da Birdie
I buy cakes for myself on my birthday it's not weird lots of people do it I bet
You gotta wonder how the development of the games is like where the person who makes the Regional Dex and the person who chooses the Gym Leaders/Elite Four couldn't co-ordinate better.
I kind of liked that only for having a more diverse team. On the other hand, it shows Gamefreak's laziness pretty badly too.
Benzychenz
Member
Not even that, just that the person that makes the regional dex can't seem to actually make sure there's enough Pokemon of each type.
papertoonz
Member
one of the best part of X&Y, over 450 Pokemon in the regional dex
balladofwindfishes
Member
Extremely boring Pokemon.
Not even badly designed. Just boring. It's a horse, except its hair is replaced with fire.
Gamefreak doesn't seem to really know what to do with mundane elemental horses
Zebstrika is just a Zebra, but his hair is replaced with electric looking hair.
Basically the same concept, but this time with electricity and more or less as mundane and boring as Rapidash.
Not even badly designed. Just boring. It's a horse, except its hair is replaced with fire.
Gamefreak doesn't seem to really know what to do with mundane elemental horses
Zebstrika is just a Zebra, but his hair is replaced with electric looking hair.
Basically the same concept, but this time with electricity and more or less as mundane and boring as Rapidash.
balladofwindfishes
Member
clay_ghost
Member
At the rate Op is going and the replies to every Pokemon he posted , there will be at least another thread before we reaches all 721. How big can a thread gets any way?
Watch Da Birdie
I buy cakes for myself on my birthday it's not weird lots of people do it I bet
Yup, it was a mixed blessing---the Diamond and Pearl teams were actually pretty cool because of that, but the Type Distribution and only 150 Pokemon pre-National Dex (and a weird selection of them) was a misstep.
Part of me has mixed feeling about that. I liked having more selection, but I was the Pokemon they chose fit more---it seems like they tossed everything into Kalos, and it just felt off having like every Regional Rodent and Regional Bird appear. I think a smaller number like 300 would've been preferrable, and more thought put into which Pokemon fit Kalos.
Extremely boring Pokemon.
Not even badly designed. Just boring. It's a horse, except its hair is replaced with fire.
Gamefreak doesn't seem to really know what to do with mundane elemental horses
Zebstrika is just a Zebra, but his hair is replaced with electric looking hair.
Basically the same concept, but this time with electricity and more or less as mundane and boring as Rapidash.
That's actually one of the quadrupedal Pokemon that bother me because of the way it's drawn, always thought it looked kind of awkward. But I was really thinking of Cobalion---I don't know what happened to that guy's legs, but they've always bothered me. He actually looks cool in XY, and the anime version looks fine, but Sugimori's art and most depictions of him from the side shows how awkward his legs are...the front ones look like they're disconnected.
I like Cobalion otherwise and think he's a cool Pokemon, he's just one I've always felt was aesthetically a bit unpleasing.
Yeah, that's true, I don't think Rapidash shouldn't exist, but it's a Pokemon I just don't care for.
NipplesAndToes23
Member
I was tempted to catch a Rapidash in Storm Silver because of its sprite, but I was like nah, I ain't got time to level that shit up.
It's a fire type and unless they're extremely good, most of them are utterly useless in a meta dominated by that dumb broken entry hazard move. I hate singles so much now.
Just look at all this stuff:
I guess you could call them a gift horse then.
NipplesAndToes23
Member
Watch Da Birdie earleir you said something about how you'd imagine Tentacool to be drawn realistically, well there's a bomb ass artist on deviantart that draws a lot of pokemon realistically. Here's the page.
http://arvalis.deviantart.com/gallery/39915677/Realistic-Pokemon
http://arvalis.deviantart.com/gallery/39915677/Realistic-Pokemon
Watch Da Birdie
I buy cakes for myself on my birthday it's not weird lots of people do it I bet
#079 - Slowpoke
Water/Psychic
Slowpoke is a Water/Psychic Pokemon, and is a pretty late-game Pokemon in Generation I, so it's another Pokemon I wonder how many people actually used during their original Pokemon adventure. Although it was available in both versions, the Gen III remakes made it exclusive to Leaf Green, opposite the Psyduck-line in Fire Red---in addition, another Pokemon who Slowpoke has a relationship with, Shellder, was also made exclusive to Fire Red. Slowpoke being part-Psychic sort of confuses me, the same reason Psyduck not being part-Psychic is a bit baffling. While Psyduck's PokeDex constantly mentions its psychic abilities, Slowpoke's PokeDex, on the other hands, makes no mention of it having any heightened mental senses, or really, any mental senses at all, so it's strange Game Freak chose it to make the Water/Psychic Pokemon. Honestly, until it got a new evolution in Generation II, Slowpoke's line had nothing explicitly Psychic about it outside of simply the moves it could learn.
Like our previous Psychic Pokemon Abra, Slowpoke is a strange creature who doesn't necessarily resemble any real-world animal---popular theories range from a pygmy hippopotamus, what I remember people saying it was supposed to be as a kid, even though it really doesn't look like one, and even a giant salamander, oddly enough, as Bulbapedia mentions. However, I think looking things over it's actually supposed to be a rather loose take on an otter, especially the sea otter. Nowadays, we have actual otter Pokemon that resemble the animal far better, but Slowpoke does have the basic body shape of one, and some of its traits bring to mind an otter---in particular, its ability to fish with its tail isn't based on anything an otter can actually do, but it means that Slowpoke is a Pokemon who's capable of using "tools", just like the sea otter is notable for its ability to use a rock to smash open shellfish. And of course the relationship between Slowpoke and shellfish seems to parody the relationship between otter and shellfish---the animal eats shellfish, the Pokemon is eaten by shellfish. It's really quite poetic if you think about it.
Slowpoke's most notable trait, as its name suggests, is that it's incredibly slow both physically and mentally. Unlike all the Gen I Pokemon we've seen who brag to be the fastest, yet don't live up to the hype, Slowpoke really was the slowest Generation I Pokemon, and even nowadays it's still one of the slowest only beaten out by a handful of Pokemon. Perhaps that's nothing to brag about, unless Trick Room comes into play and then Slowpoke is suddenly capable of moving at the speed of light. Most Psychic-type Pokemon are known to have quick and powerful brains, but Slowpoke is rather dull, so much so that it takes quite awhile for it to even register pain. Although perhaps Slowpoke isn't actually stupid, but just preoccupied---its powerful Psychic-abilities may suggest perhaps its lackadaisical life style is merely how it hones its mind's abilities to a level beyond human comprehension. One episode in the show went with this idea, in fact, with Slowpoke serving as the Pokemon-version of Buddha.
Its tail is Slowpoke's "charm point", and serves as a useful function as a makeshift fishing rod. The tail is said to have a very sweet scent and taste, perhaps a reference to how certain species of otter such as smooth-coated otter have special scent glands located at the base of their tail. Slowpoke's tasty tail is a mixed blessing, as why it does help it attract fish, it also makes their tails extremely tasty to passing-by Shellder (and we know what happens then...), and as shown in Generation II, humans, as slowpoke tail is considered a rare and expensive delicacy. This is another small element of Slowpoke that seems to be slightly based on otters---as far as I know people don't eat otters, but otters fur is considered a valuable commodity, and there's been a long history of otter poaching that has led to near extinction in some areas. Honestly, considering how cute Slowpoke, Buizel, Oshawott, and even USApyon are, the fact that someone would be cruel-hearted enough to kill a real otter for profit boggles the mind.
Slowpoke's first appearance in the show was rather silly and off-beat, playing a small part in the beloved "Island of the Giant Pokemon". Its role in the original Japanese version was slightly larger, as a cut scene has it running an oden stand where the Pokemon get, well, wasted. Doesn't surprise me they cut this since seeing Pikachu basically "drunk" seems like something that would scar impressionable American kids for life. Slowpoke has also had various focus-episodes throughout the show focusing on its unique evolution methods---I'm glad the show actually went through and tackled the weirdness of Slowpoke's evolution instead of just glossing over it and just having Slowpoke evolve like normal with the shell suddenly appearing. Fun fact: the episode Enlighten Up, featuring Slowpoke, was the final episode the original anime head writer Takeshi Shudo ever wrote---and the last one he ever will now unfortunately since his passing.
Oh, and The Pokemon Company recently declared August 10th Yadon (Slowpoke) day, as "8-10" can be read as "Yadon", I believe. This came complete with a bizarre reggae-style song celebrating one of Pokemon's cult-classic mascots.
#080 - Slowbro
Water/Psychic
Slowbro is the evolution of Slowpoke, and one of the most interesting Pokemon evolutions in the game---well, in terms of lore. In terms of gameplay, Slowpoke merely evolves into Slowbro by level, but its back-story states that Slowpoke evolves into Slowbro when Shellder bites down on its tail, and if you happen to remove the Shellder, it'll actually revert to a Slowpoke. This unique relationship between the two offers up a lot of questions, but unfortunately, or fortunately depending on your point of view, the games straight up ignore this and you don't actually need a Shellder for Slowbro to evolve. The big questions remains, though---will the unique evolution of Shellder seen on Slowbro ever become an actual Pokemon in its own right? I think it ties with Baby Kangaskhan for being the most requested "pseudo-Pokemon" to be made into a real Pokemon, and the former technically sort of happened in Generation VI, but not in the way that everyone wanted. Slowpoke's evolution gets ever weirder though in later Generations, as you'll soon see...
Although it is still basically an otter-like creature, Slowbro is known as the "Hermit Crab Pokemon", and unlike Blastoise being known as the "Shell Fish Pokemon", this isn't actually a localization error---its Japanese species is "Yadokari", which means hermit crab, although the Japanese word is a bit less specific than the American equivalent as it apparently can also mean "renting a house" or "tenant", so there's a word-play that's lost in the English's more literal meaning. While Slowbro isn't a crab, "hermit crab" is a pretty good equivalent though so I don't feel the species name is too out of place, although we of course later got a much more fitting hermit crab Pokemon in Generation V. The shell Shellder becomes is meant to resemble the shell of turban snail, which ties Slowbro together with a Japanese yokai known as the "Sazae-Oni", a monstrous mermaid-like creature known for having a giant turban shell (or "sazae") on its back, although the two really don't share much beyond the slight visual resemblance. For one thing, the Sazae-Oni is said to steal men's testicles in exchange for gold which, thankfully, Slowbro does not do.
Slowbro's actual body looks fairly similar to Slowpoke, except being larger and now having a striped belly, although that last part was originally seen on Slowpoke on some older art and sprites, but has since disappeared. I imagine because Slowpoke was usually depicted lying on its belly and thus obscuring the stripes, many folks didn't even realize it had said stripes, and Game Freak eventually just got rid of them altogether since they were a rather underutilized element of the design. As you can tell by its looks, Slowbro is just as dull as its pre-evolution, and because of Shellder's bite, is no longer able to feel pain. That's sort of sad, isn't it? However, it's also said that if the Shellder bites down hard enough, Slowbro briefly experiences a flash of inspirations---perhaps this is similar to how Psyduck's powers are heightened when its head is clamped?
The relationship between Shellder and Slowbro is parasitic, although not as disturbing as Parasect as Shellder doesn't seem to actually control Slowbro, and in fact Slowbro looks like it usually enjoys its new roommate. However, the relationship is extremely one-sided, as Slowbro is no longer able to use its tail for fishing and instead actually has to exert effort to catch food while Shelder enjoys eating the scraps without putting in any work on its own. Perhaps though if Shellder contributed a bit more, both of them would benefit by being able to catch more prey easily? At the very least, the two are able to assist one another in battle, although going by its moveset it seems that Slowbro still does most of the work, but Shellder should just be thankful Slowbro has never been able to learn Shell Smash...
Slowbro's first appearance in the show was a small cameo at the end of Island of the Giant Pokemon, which showcased its unique evolution method, and later on in Kanto it got an entire episode dedicated to it which focused on the mystery of its evolution, and introduced a conundrum---if a Slowpoke and a Shellder are owned by two Trainers, and they happen to come into contact with one another and evolve, who owns the resulting Slowbro? This episode seems to suggest it'd be the owner of Slowpoke since it's the "base Pokemon". We don't see the owner of Shellder argue because, well, she gets blasted off, but I wonder what would happen if you simultaneously recalled both Pokemon into their Pokeballs? Would Slowbro come apart? This episode also argues that Slowbro is a symbiotic relationship, allowing Slowbro to stand and thus use Mega Punch, and allows Shellder the ability to move on land, although I don't know why Slowbro would find Mega Punch particularly useful, and it's never been able to learn in naturally anyway, only learning it in Generation I through a TM and in the Generation III remakes through a Move Tutor.
#M080 - Mega Slowbro
Water/Psychic
Well, here it is...Mega Slowbro. Depending on how you feel about Mega Evolutions, Mega Slowbro is a ridiculous waste-of-space that goes to show how pointless a concept "Mega Evolution" is, or a cute idea that shows Game Freak isn't against having a bit of fun when it comes to designing Mega Evolutions. Me, personally, like most Mega Pokemon I don't really have strong feelings either way, although I was a bit disappointed in it because Kanto already had so many Mega Evolutions, giving it yet another one in ORAS that's somewhat of a joke as opposed to using that space to give a more deserving Pokemon a Mega feels pretty cheap. But Mega Slowbro certainly isn't a joke, though, as it takes an already powerful Pokemon and makes it better, and I believe it currently is a high-ranking OU Pokemon within the Meta-Game. But then again most Mega Pokemon seem to work well from a competitive point of view, although perhaps too well, it's just their implementation in the single-player campaign, and the overall lore, still feels a bit lacking and shoddily put together.
Perhaps it'd be better to call Mega Slowbro "Mega Slowpoke", because it basically is a Slowpoke being devoured by a Shellder. Or perhaps maybe you should call it "Mega Shellder", as the Mega Stone appears to specifically react to that part of Slowbro. As the story goes, which mind you isn't mentioned in the game since Mega Pokemon unfortunately lack a PokeDex, but instead comes from secondary sources such as the show and the official Pokemon ORAS website who may be considered slightly dubious, somehow Shellder ends up absorbing the energy given off by the Mega Stone flowing through Slowbro's body, and ends up growing massive and becoming extremely hard, seen by the Ability Shell Armor. Slowbro kind of just sits helplessly inside of Shellder now, but its tail is the one part ironically that's no longer covered by the shell, and acts like a spring or the point of a top and allows Slowbro to have slight control over its movement. I'm not sure what kind of relationship the two of them have now.
Mega Slowbro has only made a small cameo in the show during one of the Mega Evolution Specials. When I covered Mega Alakazam, I stated that the newest season of XY, XY&Z, would likely begin to incorporate Mega Evolutions more and more into the main series and this seems to be the case, as recently it's been revealed we'll have an episode focused on Mega Audino, and I imagine more Mega Evolution focus episodes are sure to come. Who knows, maybe the Kalos League will be filled with Mega Evolution Pokemon to really raise the stakes for once?
#199 - Slowking
Water/Psychic
You'd think given its name and appearance, Slowking would be the evolution of Slowbro, yet it's actually a branch-evolution of Slowpoke and the counterpart to Slowbro, a fact I myself have forgotten at times. Slowking evolves the same way as Politoed does, through the King's Rock, and thus how Shellder is involved is somewhat unexplained, although the show suggests that wearing the King's Rock somehow entices a Shellder to bite down on Slowpoke's head instead of its tail. It's unknown how having to trade Slowpoke with the King's Rock works into this, but hey, don't worry about it. Slowbro and Slowking are pretty close in terms of stats, Slowking trading some of Slowbro's Defense for Special Defense, but Slowbro has since jumped ahead thanks to its Mega Evolution---from my understanding Slowbro has always been slightly ahead of Slowking in the metagame, but even without a Mega, Slowking still has its niche. And hey, maybe it'll get a Mega Evolution next? Like Bellossom and Politoed, though, I can't say I really felt Slowking was needed or necessary, and it seems like giving Shellder the Branch Evolution would make more sense and having it resemble the "Turban Snail Shellder" would be the obvious route, but it's Game Freak's game.
Visually, Slowking has a much more regal look to it, wearing the Shellder as a crown (who also has grown to look a bit more like royalty with a gem embedded in its body), and seems to be in control now with the Shellder being the one serving it. It's said that when Shellder bites down into Slowpoke's head, a "switch" is hit, and Slowking's latent intellect suddenly bubbles to the surface. The more Shellder bites and injects poison into Slowking, the smarter it's said to become, but should Shellder ever fall off, Slowking will instantly revert to its previously dull Slowpoke self. Makes you wonder if it's really Slowpoke who is gaining the knowledge, or if Shellder's actually the genius and somehow is injecting its knowledge into Slowking's brain. Perhaps it's more of a mind-control parasitic relationship than it first appears, Shellder only tricking Slowking into thinking it's the one in control as it uses the Pokemon to further its knowledge in its bid to ultimately conquer the world? Who knows, but Slowking is said to be seriously smart, on the level of "award-winning scientists" and constantly searches to answer the mysteries of the universe. Unlike Slowpoke and Slowbro, who never struck me as Psychic-type Pokemon, Slowking is the first member of the line I think who truly lives up to its Type. Makes me wonder if the idea for Slowking was designed as far back as Generation I, and Slowpoke was always a Psychic-type Pokemon just to ultimately lead up to this evolution.
Slowking's first appearance was in the 2nd Pokemon Movie as a somewhat mystical character who was able to talk (in the same way Meowth can, as opposed to the usual "telepathy" most Legendary Pokemon are capable of) and knew a lot about the mythology behind the Legendary Birds. His character really wasn't explained, and it's interesting to note that only in the dub does Ash notice he's a talking Pokemon---I wouldn't be surprised if the intent of the original is that due to his appearance, Satoshi just figured he was some old wiseman living on the island and not a Pokemon at all! Did you know this Slowking actually had his own episode, although it never aired outside of Japan due to being only three-minutes long, that sheds a bit more light on his character? Despite being a Pokemon said to pursue the mysteries of life on a daily basis, Slowking's day-to-day activities are surprisingly mundane and simple suggesting that no matter how intelligent it becomes, it's still ultimately a Slowpoke. Slowking later had a focus episode in Johto showing how Slowpoke's evolution into it works, where it was shown to be a Sword-In-The-Stone situation, where only the bravest Slowpoke could become a Slowking as the rest of them were bitten in the tail by Shellder before they could reach the King Rock, turning into Slowbro. Here's another fun fact about this episode---it was the last traditionally animated episode as the show switched over to digital animation. I like many folks tend to prefer the older style, but I can't blame the animators because at this point basically every show on Earth had moved over to this style and Pokemon felt rather archaic when it was airing alongside shows such as Digimon and Yu-Gi-Oh who had embraced the new style.
Nocturnowl
Member
The entire Slowpoke line is great, why don't I ever use them?