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[Xenoboy]

The Koffing line is probably my favorite poison types.
I've never really like Lickitung, but I do like Lickilicky, I actually almost all of the Gen IV evos.

 

[woopWOOP]

Tangrowth is one of the gen1->4 evolutions that's actually alright in my book. He's mostly just a bigger version, but it keeps the same concept of a mystery monster peeking through his tentacle cover.

Lickilicky seems smaller than his previous form, with it's shorter tongue and tail. I'm sure his tongue actually reaches further when attacking now or whatever, but his regular stance just looks odd to me.

Meanwhile Rhyperior just totally fucks up Rhyhorn's cool design. Not a fan.

While we're at it, Electivire's dome head weirds me out and Magmortar looks like a Megaman boss (I kinda like it).

 

[balladofwindfishes]

The outlet on Electivire's back ties the entire design together for me. It just fits so well with Elekid that it brings the trio together into one cohesive design.

 

[Macka]

Electivire is one of the best Gen IV evolutions imo.

The Good
Gliscor, Electivire, Weavile, Togekiss, Mamoswine, Porygon-Z, Mismagius, Honchkrow, Magnezone, Gallade, Yanmega

The Meh
Leafeon, Dusknoir, Glaceon, Froslass, Roserade

The Bad
Magmortar, Tangrowth

The Ugly
Rhyperior, Lickilicky, Ambipom, Probopass

 

[balladofwindfishes]

What's wrong with Probopass? I think he's actually a pretty well designed evolution to a previously well designed Pokemon.

 

[Seil]

I always loved Lickitung's design, but I can't stand Lickilicky. Lickitung feels more "natural" to me.

As for needing incense for newer babies, it's got both pros and cons. But one of those pros is that if I don't want a baby exclusive move, I don't have to evolve babies over and over again for breeding purposes. Of course, if you do want a baby exclusive move, you're in for an exceptionally bad time with incense. They could just give incense the everstone's nature passing trait and fix that though haha. But I doubt they would.

 

[Macka]

What's wrong with Probopass? I think he's actually a pretty well designed evolution to a previously well designed Pokemon.

I just think it's very...ugly.

I thought Nosepass was terribly unappealing too.

 

[balladofwindfishes]

I just think it's very...ugly.

I thought Nosepass was terribly unappealing too.

I like Moai statues, so I think the two of them are cool because they're basically just Moai statues mixed with compasses.

Both of them very much feel like they could have been Gen I Pokemon as well in how simple their design is.

 

[TriggerShy]

Since the Rhyhorn family is up next, I always thought Rhyperior was cool, but it should be more gray now that I think about. If you look at Rhyperior's shiny form, it looks much better in my eyes. Although, the dark colors might be because of the miner inspired design to it.

 

[Berordn]

The only Gen IV evolution I dislike is Rhyperior. He seems entirely pointless, Rhydon wasn't a bad Pokemon at all and Rhyperior looks terrible. It's fine for a Pokemon that didn't really need an evolution to get one if it's like Electivire or Dusknoir and it looks great. But Rhyperior is pretty ugly. He looks like he's wearing an old fashioned judge wig. And has weird arms, and a belt and a strange shaped body. And is off color to the rest of his line.

On the plus side, Rhyperior existing made Rhydon better in Gen V with the eviolite.

 

[mfaex]

Lickitung not learning lick in gen 1 was such a bad and hilarious oversight, magnified a great deal by its presence in the show.

Weezing makes me think of budding (reproduction).

Enjoying the thread a great deal Watch Da Birdie. Urge to replay (agaaaain) rising.

 

[Inquisitive_Ghost]

I've always kinda liked the weird handful of Gen I Pokemon that were simplistic and pink. I feel like they all sort of fit together. Lickitung, Jigglypuff, Clefable, etc. I really ought to run through a game with a team of them someday.

 

[balladofwindfishes]

Charizard couldn't learn Fly until Yellow version.

Kababra and Alakazam couldn't learn Kinesis (a move exclusive to them) until Yellow.

Some RB move sets were strange. Even the TMs were seemingly random (why was a move only one Pokemon could learn a TM? It also learned it by level lol)

 

[Watch Da Birdie]

I've always kinda liked the weird handful of Gen I Pokemon that were simplistic and pink. I feel like they all sort of fit together. Lickitung, Jigglypuff, Clefable, etc. I really ought to run through a game with a team of them someday.

I forgot to mention, but I sort of wanted Lickitung/Lickilicky to become Fairy-type since they were always pretty weird and magical-like.

 

[V-Faction]

Aw, c'mon, post it!

D O G A R S

 

[Crayolan]

I've always thought Lickitung was just weird. It's one of my least favorite gen 1 designs.

Lickilicky is taking an already awkward design and making it even more weird. Don't like it at all, definitely the worst gen 4 new evolution.

Yeah and Hitmontop still spins during his attacks animations. It's just like Cyndaquil line where their fire only shows up when they attack. There's absolutely nothing wrong with his idle capoeira dance when he's based on that. The beauty of 3D models over sprites is that they're able to showcase Pokemon in more ways than one.

But then again people love nitpicking the smallest detail in Pokemon games. The fact that there's people that think Eelektross looks better in BW because it looks like he has little "feet" and is jumping like an idiot makes me weep sometimes.

People who think tiny details don't matter make me weep.

Tiny details add a lot IMO, so things like Eelektross's depiction in XY do bother me. In BW it looks like a giant eel monster, in XY it just looks like a regular old eel, but it can fly. Maybe that's how it was always meant to be, but that's certainly a lot less interesting than what it originally looked like. Plus it was always funny to me that Eelektross had levitate despite clearly standing on the ground.

 

[brinstar]

I love Weezing, one of my favorite Pokemon to draw and really exaggerate:

 

[Azuran]

People who think tiny details don't matter make me weep.

Tiny details add a lot IMO, so things like Eelektross's depiction in XY do bother me. In BW it looks like a giant eel monster, in XY it just looks like a regular old eel, but it can fly. Maybe that's how it was always meant to be, but that's certainly a lot less interesting than what it originally looked like. Plus it was always funny to me that Eelektross had levitate despite clearly standing on the ground.

What annoys me is when people complain about details that have always been part of the series since day 1. Eelektross was always meant to be represented as a flying lamprey with their mouths being a defining characteristic which means his original sprite was always "wrong" since it didn't feature any of that. It's just funny when XY rolled around and most people were surprised at the depictions of some Pokemon like Archeops hardly being able to fly, Purrloin being able to stand on two feet, Spiritomb actually residing inside the keystone, and Silcoon/Cascoon not having their spikes unless they attack. It goes to show how little people know about details and background information of the various species.

The poor Cyndaquil line got the worst of it just because they didn't have their fire out at all times, even tho Pokedex entries and the anime showed since the beginning of time that wasn't the case.

 

[Toxi]

Comparing the Eelektross sprites, I prefer the Gen 5 one just because it has a more distinctive profile from its previous evolution. I would have preferred if it still had the S-shaped pose while keeping the fluidity of the current Gen 6 animation.

 

[TriggerShy]

Comparing the Eelektross sprites, I prefer the Gen 5 one just because it has a more distinctive profile from its previous evolution. I would have preferred if it still had the S-shaped pose while keeping the fluidity of the current Gen 6 animation.

To me, the 3d model makes Eelektross look faster than it actually is. While the sprite supports its Dex entry mentioning how it used to live in water and just adapted to land, but it can't be taught Surf though...

 

[balladofwindfishes]

Ugh...

all for a stupid gimmick battle system

Electross suffered from Flying Battles as well. It couldn't be shown on the ground because of them.

 

[Watch Da Birdie]

Silcoon/Cascoon not having their spikes

They didn't in the show either way back in Hoenn, but I'm pretty sure they're not actually spikes, I think they're meant to represent the threads of the cocoon that allow them to suspend themselves from trees.

 

[Mr-Joker]

Aw, c'mon, post it!

D O G A R S

Soooo good, shame that they took it out when they localized it.

Should have left it in.

I love Weezing, one of my favorite Pokemon to draw and really exaggerate:

That's how I am feeling right out, I got ze sniffle so I have mucus in my throat which is causing me to

Ugh...

all for a stupid gimmick battle system

Yeah, some of the flying types model just look awful.

 

[Toxi]

Yeah, some of the flying types model just look awful.

I'd say Skarmory had it worst.

 

[Azuran]

Ugh...

all for a stupid gimmick battle system

Electross suffered from Flying Battles as well. It couldn't be shown on the ground because of them.

While I like some of them, I can never bring myself to defend them. Swellow looks awesome thought.

 

[Firemind]

I'd say Skarmory had it worst.

hahahaha that's hilarious

reminds me of mega salamence

 

[balladofwindfishes]

The thing about those Pokemon flying is that they weren't designed for that angle in mind. They were designed for a ground view of them.

Pokemon like Skarmorey and Xatu have details on their body that are completely lost when they're flying.

Since Gen 7 will pretty much guarantee to trash air battles (Game Freak keeping a gimmick more than two gens, lol not likely), hopefully they go and fix most of the flying Pokemon they ruined.

 

[Mr-Joker]

I'd say Skarmory had it worst.

Skarmory is the one that I have a problem with, it's just gliding still in one spot.

While I like some of them, I can never bring myself to defend them. Swellow looks awesome thought.

I say Swellow looks better when it flaps it wings, which it does during the idle animation.

 

[CassSept]

Yeah I agree Skarmory is the worst but Xatu is pretty terrible too. They are 3D models, it's not that hard to give them a slightly different idle stance.

 

[Nocturnowl]

It just ain't quite right I tells ya, well at least it's flapping.

although he has a bit of a sea element too looking like an aquatic-mine, once was a coal-pit but now it's a water ride.

Makes me want to dive into the mellow.

I've always been okay with Lickylicky. Tangrowth is the one that bugs me. Did anyone care about Tangela? And even if they did, was an evolution that's literally just a bigger one with arms really satisfying?

I don't care for Tangela but oddly the evolution being a bigger prehistoric version makes me like it a lot more, looks goofy as heck yet I can't help but imagine that vine monstrosity catching its prey and sloooowly reeling it in to its doom, while still wearing the same wide eyed expression.

Spoiler

lol Magmortar

Somehow Magmortar went from being "look at that stupid fat thing!" to one of my favourite fire type pokemon, primarily because it's a stupid looking fat thing (with blaster hands).

 

[balladofwindfishes]

Moves incredibly quickly and shreds its enemy with its razor-sharp scythes. On rare occasions, it flies with its wings.

It tears and shreds prey with its wickedly sharp scythes. It very rarely spreads its wings to fly.

GAMEFREEEEEAAAKKK

 

[Watch Da Birdie]

#111 - Rhyhorn
Ground/Rock

Rhyhorn is one of the signature Pokemon of the Safari Zone, and for a Pokemon who was always the first in an evolutionary line, is quite powerful. Now, its base stats overall aren't exactly the highest, but it focuses what it does have on relatively high HP, Defense, and Attack, making it surprisingly potent. Yeah, there's no reason to not evolve it, but considering it doesn't evolve till Level 42, the second highest in Generation 1 behind Dragonair, it's nice that it's able to hold its own somewhat through the adventure. Safari Zone Pokemon are a bit tedious to catch, and Rhyhorn is a Pokemon who doesn't really offer immediate results and you'll need to work with it a bit first before you can really integrate it into your team, so it's yet another Generation I Pokemon that was given out way too late for its own good. By the way, on a personal note, I just caught a Shiny Rhydon in Y this week!

Rhyhorn's design is surprisingly elaborate for a Generation I Pokemon, one of the hardest among the original Pokemon to draw, although its design does have rhyme and reason behind it, being perfectly symmetrical, and I love the way the individual plates of its body are put together. I'm tempted to say that Rhyhorn is probably one of the most "beautiful" Pokemon just because every time I look at it I notice a new element of its design, but it never feels out-of-place or tacked-on. It's very good, and it's kind of a shame I think its evolutions ruin how it looks a bit, although it seems Rhyhorn may have been created after his evolution was, so perhaps "ruins" isn't the right word, but visually I think its evolutions are far less interesting to look at. Rhyhorn is of course based around a rhinoceros, specifically it seems to draw from the Indian rhinoceroses, known for having thick folds of fat covering their body that brings to mind armor---in Rhyhorn's case, this is made into rock-hard armor covering its body, and thus it looks a lot like the exaggerated drawings of rhinoceroses from the past where they were drawn in a way where it actually looked like they were wearing armor like a knight. It also has elements of various quadrupedal dinosaurs, such as a flat-shaped head bringing to mind various ceratopsids, and a spiky plate like a stegosaurus.

Rhyhorn shows a major issue among many Pokemon, in that they're hilariously underweight compared to their real-life counterpart, even when this doesn't make sense. The average rhinoceros will weight at least 1,000 pounds, and while Rhyhorn is much smaller than they are in terms of height, it's covered in rock-hard armor, and its bones are said to be 1,000 times harder than a human's, yet it only weighs 253 pounds. I guess they wanted to stress the "Pocket Monster" element a bit by making Pokemon on average pretty small, but in Generation I they already tossed this out the window with Pokemon like Gyrados and Onix. Would it really be any weirder if Rhyhorn was a much more suitable 1,000 pounds or so? Outside of this oddity, Rhyhorn is pretty much akin to a normal rhinoceros, although exaggerating its ability to charge as it's said to be capable of destroying skyscrapers! To make matters worse, Rhyhorn isn't particularly too bright, and will often begin charging for no real reason, or forgets the reason, and basically won't stop till it falls asleep or hits something that it can't charge true. I particularly love how the PokeDex drops any pretense of being an objective, scientific source and straight up calls it "stupid" in the Emerald entry. Who are you to judge, Dexter? Remember when the PokeDex was vaguely humanoid for like the first couple episodes of the show and then never again?

Rhyhorn got a surprising amount of focus in XY, although a bit of a tease, as one of the Pokemon players could ride on in the game, although the segment where you do so is rather slow and clunky and frankly, not very fun. It doesn't help you're constantly interrupted by random encounter which prolong an already tedious segment. Your mother in the game also owns a Rhyhorn, and is said to be a "Rhyhorn Racer", an element that is mentioned throughout the game a few times, including one route said to include a racetrack which actually isn't even visible, but it ultimately goes nowhere and it's another example of a disappointing plot thread in XY that ultimately never goes anywhere. Still, a lot of folks are hopeful "Z" will integrate riding Pokemon more so, and perhaps we may actually get to partake in these "Rhyhorn Races"?

It actually wasn't till XY that Rhyhorn actually got some decent focus as a species, with a couple episodes built around "Rhyhorn Racing", and serving as a plot point for Serena. Since Serena's mother in the show owns a Rhyhorn, the same one the player character's mother owns in the game since they're basically the same character, I actually was kind of hoping they would give it to Serena eventually and have it become a member of the central cast, but sadly that never happened and probably won't since there's no advertising potential for the Pokemon otherwise. A shame, because I always wanted to see a Rhyhorn play a big role in the show. The only Rhyhorn I remember from Kanto was owned by that random lumberjack dude at the beginning of "Bulbasaur's Mysterious Garden" who despite appearing for like, a minute, was included in the opening of Orange Islands alongside Ash's more notable rivals like Ritchie and Gary. Sure, they included a few other minor characters like A.J. and Giselle, but they actually had names and were the central focus of their episode, not a nameless side character.

#112 - Rhydon
Ground/Rock

The evolved form of Rhyhorn at Level 42, Rhydon is an intimidating and powerful Pokemon who played a big role in Generation I, serving as the strongest Pokemon of Giovanni's as well as being owned by Blue in your final encounter in the Pokemon League. While some Pokemon often don't match up with how the story treats them, I mean Blue also uses a Pidgeot to fight you who sucks---seriously, I just used one in an XY Nuzlocke and it cannot kill like anything---Rhydon actually is a Pokemon fitting a champion, and was quite powerful in the old days, and still is, just to a slightly less extent.

You've probably heard this before, but Rhydon was the first Pokemon ever created---sort of. Technically in the interview with Sugimori that mentions this, which I posted back in Clefairy's entry, he simply says Rhydon, Clefairy, and Lapras were the first Pokemon created, but doesn't specify exactly in what order. Some people point to Rhydon being the first Pokemon in the game's index in Generation 1 as proving it was him, but I don't think the index order actually indicates the order Pokemon were created in, because I kind of doubt Victreebel was the last Pokemon created. That being said, in the early "Capsule Monster" prototype drawings, a Pokemon that looks to be Rhydon can be seen, but the Rhydon we know looks different, so I think it's a bit misleading to say he was the first Pokemon, rather he was the first "Capsule Monster" it seems, and he was changed up quite a bit. But I guess I'm getting into semantics here. Ultimately, Rhydon can be seen as having a big influence on multiple elements of Generation I---his body-shape is quite popular, quite a few Pokemon like Nidoking, Nidoqueen, and Kangaskhan seem to be modeled after it, Game Freak had a big thing about giving Generation I Pokemon horns, looking at just the ones with a single horn like Rhydon, and excluding Rhyhorn, there's seventeen by my count, and inspired the party sprite used for "Monster" Pokemon as well as the classic Gym Statues. Oh, and when using Substitute, or when importing MissingNo, in Pokemon Stadium, it takes the shape of a baby Rhydon. It's pretty surprising though when you realize this about Rhydon because he never struck me as a particularly interesting or noteworthy Pokemon outside of being strong, and he's never really played a big part of the franchise either. I guess you can consider him the unsung hero of Pokemon?

With all this in mind, I think it's interesting to note Rhydon looks far simpler than his pre-evolution, when usually it's the opposite case, and actually looks a bit weaker without the cool armor, having a somewhat cuter, more rounder design. I actually don't really like Rhydon's design, and even before...that evolution...happened in Generation IV, I thought the line got worse looking as it evolved. I think the head bugs me the most, Rhyhorn looks really intimidating and tough, but Rhydon has an odd cuteness to him, and the ridges on his face always make me think he kind of looks like a weird cat with whiskers. He's far from the worst looking Pokemon, certainly, but he just lacks the style Rhyhorn has in spades. Like Rhyhorn, Rhydon is inspired by a rhinoceros, once more he has the folds of fat that Indian rhinoceroses are know for, but his is a lot more simplistic than Rhyhorn's and resembles how they look on an actual rhino more so. He has traits of a dinosaur as well, but looking slightly more like a bipedal carnivore instead, although nothing seems to suggest he's a particularly carnivorous Pokemon.

As the PokeDex explains, as Rhydon learned how to stand on its hind-legs, its brain also evolved, making it more intelligent and in control of his actions, although apparently not by much as it's quite forgetful. Even though it has a less armored appearance compared to Rhyhorn, its body is extremely strong and durable, able to withstand heats of 3,600 degrees in case it accidentally runs into lava when using its horn to dig through the Earth. Oh, and according to the PokeDex, its tougher hide and resistance to pain makes it "insensitive", although I don't see why that really matters much when it comes to a giant rhinoceros. I got to say, Rhydon's kind of an uninteresting Pokemon when it comes to "lore" despite being the first, although I guess that might be expected---I imagine it was an even simpler creature back during the "Capsule Monster" days. Although I wonder, when Rhydon was presumably a single-stage Pokemon and didn't have an actual pre-evolution, I wonder if the stuff about it evolving into a smarter, bipedal creature was meant to serve as the origin for Pokemon in general, and Rhydon was the evolution of a real-world rhinoceros which "awakened" as a Pokemon and became as sentient and intelligent as they're usually depicted as? That Pokemon are the evolution of the terrestrial animals they resemble, perhaps as a result of living alongside humans and needing to better integrate themselves in human society to avoid extinction? Yeah, I could see that being the original idea, but in the current "canon", Pokemon have basically always existed on Earth it seems even before humans did.

Aim for the horn! Seriously though, it always bugged me how folks made such a big deal out of that---Lightning Rod as an ability hadn't been established, and Pokemon was always a show that didn't adhere to the strict rules the game had to follow, so what exactly was the problem with Ash getting creative and using an element of a Pokemon as a weakpoint? I never really got this meme, and the fact some people seem to get seriously mad when the show violates "logic" (if you could call it that) always bugged me, because of all the problems the show has with plot, pacing, character development, twisting the rules of a stat-based, turn-based RPG is the least of its worries. I've even seen people express anger that the Pokemon can dodge attacks in the show as a command, instead of just sitting there. I know Rhydon has a relation to lava as his PokeDex states, but it was kind of weird Blaine was using one in the first place, especially since right after comes Giovanni with a Rhydon of his own. In Johto there was an episode all about a "Surfing Rhydon", pretty random, but it's actually a reference to a somewhat obscure plot point in Gold and Silver where the dude who gives you Surf owns a Rhydon---there was a nod to this perhaps in Diamond and Pearl as well, where a Rhydon is seen using Surf during a tournament.

#464 - Rhyperior
Ground/Rock

Rhyperior is the evolution of Rhydon introduced in Generation IV, evolving from Rhydon when the latter is traded equipped with a "Protector". Rhydon was once a powerful Pokemon, but it started running into a bit of problems as stronger and stronger Pokemon were introduced, so Game Freak decided to up-the-ante a bit by giving it an evolution. Was it needed? Probably not, but it's actually kind of tame looking back on it in a post-Mega world. I say this now, but watch Game Freak give it a Mega next. Rhyperior has a decent increase in all of its stats, but only by 50 overall, which I believe is quite low compared to most evolutions---every Mega Evolution but Alakazam's jump up by 100 in comparison. Rhyperior "replaced" Rhydon, but the creation of an Eviolite helped get the original back in the game, and if you're the type who puts more stock into appearance over statistics, it's still perfectly viable to use unless you're involved in serious, high-level competitions.

There's a lot of things to dislike about Rhyperior. First off, I'm not a fan of its evolution method---Generation IV introduced some cool ideas, like Move-based and Location-based, but it also went back to having Pokemon evolve by giving them new, otherwise pointless items, and requiring a trade. NOBODY LIKES THIS GAME FREAK! Generation II at the very least was smart, making the Metal Coat and King's Rock usable by two Pokemon each so they weren't too obnoxious, but all the new stuff in Generation IV is used by one Pokemon, and nothing else. They also tend to be somewhat of a pain to find in many instances, and when I'm playing through the main game, I really don't wanna stop and trade a Pokemon to evolve it, so most folks probably don't bother with these Pokemon during the main games. I've never quite figured out what the Protector is meant to be---it's said to be some sort of protective gear, but I can't help but see it as looking like Rhyperior is wearing one of those suicide vests covered with dynamite and is ready to blow itself up. Second, remember when I listed my three qualities I look for in a Pokemon name? Well, Rhyperior certainly I think describes the Pokemon well enough, but I don't like how it's written out nor how it's pronounced, it's a really clunky "pun", and the name just doesn't flow well for me whatsoever. Gen V goes and names another Pokemon off of "superior", but in a much better and fitting way.

Now, I actually don't really dislike Rhyperior's appearance that much, although this is perhaps I didn't care much for Rhydon, and feel neither lives up to Rhyhorn in the first place. I've never quite been able to nail its theme, it's possibly meant to be some sort of construction-worker/tank creature, and possibly its "Protector" is really meant to be dynamite to tie into this. This isn't too much of a stretch from Rhydon either, since it was described as being somewhat a similar construction-themed Pokemon due to its rotating, machine-like horn, so conceptually I think it fits quite well as an evolution. Visually, though, I think the biggest issue is definitely the head-area---the Protector wrapped around its shoulders and waist looks fine, but it doesn't look too good covering up the top of its head like that, and I think the lack of ears make it look kind of like a "muppet" almost. The eyebrows are also a poor choice. A lot of people criticize it for being overdesigned and too elaborate, a fair point, but I think its design is actually simpler than Rhyhorn when you really get down to it who has an equally large amount of "pointless" adorments you could probably shave off---however, I think the bigger issue isn't the complexity, it's what you do with it. Rhyhorn is complex, but is put together quite masterfully, whereas Rhyperior on the other hand just isn't able to pull off the same level of cohesion. A simple Pokemon can look bad, and an overdesigned Pokemon can look good, I think it's important to pay attention to the overall form. I've grown to like Rhyperior a fair bit, and I guess I can say I'm glad he exists---I'm honestly glad most Pokemon exist because I don't really see the downside of having more of them to allow more favorites for all the different tastes out there---but I can understand how he's the first choice many people use when demonstrating issues plaguing the Gen IV evolutions.

Oh, and around this point in time, Game Freak suddenly realized they loved mecha, as we started to see more Pokemon with elements that look like they were pulled straight from a Japanese super-robot---I actually think Game Freak can pull off these designs rather well, as a few Pokemon in Generation VI prove in my opinion, but doing it with an otherwise "regular animal" Pokemon probably wasn't the best choice. But for whatever reason, they gave Rhyperior an arm-cannon. Another Generation IV Pokemon does this as well, but I actually think in that case it's more sensible and doesn't seem too out-there compared to the Pokemon it evolved from, but with Rhyperior it does seem like an element they just tossed in near the end after they figured out the rest of the concept. Rhyperior can shoot rocks like missiles out of his arm cannon, as well as Geodude on occasion---sadly I don't think we've ever seen him use one of those in the game, show, or manga, and I honestly wanna see that. Why does Rhyperior need to do this? Who knows, I think Game Freak just thought it sounded cool, and they were partially right, that is pretty cool, but it probably would've been better implemented on a brand-new Pokemon built specifically to do that as opposed to giving it to a family who were never capable of doing anything like that beforehand.

In the show, Rhyperior is owned by Brock's brother Forrest, which makes you wonder...Brock's Onix didn't evolve till it was under Forrest, and he already has a fully-evolved Pokemon capable of going toe-to-toe with Latias. Seems like we know who inherited the battling skills in the family. Oh, yeah, there were two specials produced during Best Wishes that focused on what Brock and Dawn did after Diamond and Pearl that were never dubbed, so fans outside of Japan or who don't follow the subs don't know what I'm talking about. PUSA dropped the ball later and didn't dub two more specials focusing on Cilan and Iris post-Best Wishes, which is kind of lame, and I don't expect we'll ever see these now since there's no reason to dub them at this point. Of course, I've exclusively watched the sub since like mid-Hoenn, so no big deal to me, but for those who like the dub, and for kids who don't have a choice, it's a shame PUSA left the fates of Ash's friends up in the air. In the actual show, the only major Rhyperior appearance was in Diamond and Pearl under the ownership of the Tower Tycoon Palmer.

 

[Crayolan]

Ugh...

all for a stupid gimmick battle system

Electross suffered from Flying Battles as well. It couldn't be shown on the ground because of them.

I have no idea why they didn't handle it like in Colosseum/XD, where pokemon which can learn Fly and aren't in the air to begin with have separate idle animations for on the ground and in the air.

 

[SenorArdilla]

GAMEFREEEEEAAAKKK

It can fly. Can't learn Fly.

 

[Wichu]

I was at work when people were posting shinies, but I still want to show my collection off. This is only the shinies I've personally caught/hatched in X and Omega Ruby (it doesn't include shinies I've traded for or from past generations, or all the Friend Safari/chain fishing shinies I traded away).

11 October 2013
Found this guy on launch day. ...A shiny's a shiny.

20 October 2013
I bred a few Eevees while waiting for my friends to catch up in the story, and a shiny one popped out!

25 October 2013
Wanted to try out this 'chain fishing' thing.

30 October 2013
My first attempt at a competitive shiny. A resounding success!

11 November 2013
The name sums it up. Randomly rolled a 0 Attack IV despite both its parents being 31/31/31/x/31/31. At least the poor guy is immortalised as a model for the Serebii.net Pokédex.

25 December 2013
Pokémon Bank had just been released in Japan, and I bred a few things to GTS away for my Pokédex. Managed to get a random shiny!

2 January 2014
Found this guy randomly while on the train back from a job interview. Thanks to JoeM86 for helping me evolve it

3 January 2014
A very fast breed to complete the Kalos starter trio.

10 January 2014
Probably my coolest shiny so far (30/31/30/31/31/31 IVs for Hidden Power Ice; shiny Iron Fist Infernape is exclusive to gen 6 so can't be RNG abused for). Fun fact: he was a x/x/0/0/0/31 shiny Dedenne in a (very brief) past life. The joys of accidentally saving right as the day care is about to produce a shiny egg and switching out the parents to get exactly what I want

28 January 2014
ALL GLORY TO THE HYPNOCAT

28 February 2014 and 2 March 2014
Got these while breeding my GAF Gym League team. Fun times.

19 May 2014
Found her in a horde while EV training.

27 October 2014
Got it while breeding a spooky pumpkinmon for Halloween!

22 November 2014
Found this guy in Omega Ruby. He makes a good friend for my shiny Plusle.

8 March 2015
A friend came over, we played some Pokémon, I found a shiny. Ironically I was trying to catch a shiny Zigzagoon in my other game at the time (still haven't got it yet).

Maybe I should go back to breeding. Those months in late 2013/early 2014 were a very productive time.

 

[Zyrox]

Rhyhorn and Rhydon never did anything for me, despite me liking real life rhinos. I love Rhyperior though. It looks somewhat like a walking tank, with the "arm cannons", the two horns and overall bulky and armored appearance. One of my favorite Gen IV evos next to Dusknoir and Mamoswine.
Kinda bums me out that the poor thing gets so much hate. But to each their own.

 

[brinstar]

I used Rhyperior in my HeartGold playthrough and it wrecked everything. I also used Rhydon in my AlphaSapphire playthough... it's weird cause I never cared about this line until remakes apparently.

Rhyperior is an example of there just being too much shit going on with its design. If they just took off the headplates and cannons I think I'd appreciate its design more.

Also, what is with the number of Pokemon with things drawing attention to their crotches? lol

 

[balladofwindfishes]

Rhydon got robbed when they changed Subsistute to just be a generic doll and not a Rhydon doll.

 

[WarAdept]

I'm also grateful that Rhydon got an evo. But like most people, I think Rhyperior is butt ugly. Doesn't stop me from using it though.

Double weakness to Water and Grass is balls though. At least it's not Marcargo.

 

[Berordn]

I'm also grateful that Rhydon got an evo. But like most people, I think Rhyperior is butt ugly. Doesn't stop me from using it though.

Double weakness to Water and Grass is balls though. At least it's not Marcargo.

I'd say "at least there's solid rock" but that doesn't really amount to much in practice...

 

[Boogiepop]

Man, screw all you guys hating on him, love me some Rhyperior. Solid Rock was nice back when he was introduced but yeah, not quite as easy for him to just tank hits quite as well anymore. Still can do well on a TR team and I've had success there. Also, always saw the belly area as a belly band thing ala what Diggersby did later down the line, which may be the thing that makes me like him so much.

Also, no mention of the pink Rhyhorn?

Edit: I'd love to see a Mega Rhyperior, both because he's probably dipped enough in usability where he could use the boost, and because I feel like he'd end up with a crazy completely over the top design...

 

[Nocturnowl]

Always liked Rhyhorn but not the evos, a shame really, less dino, more rhino....
or dino rhino.

 

[Ultratech]

I always had to laugh at Rhydon being able to learn stuff like Ice Beam, Flamethrower, Thunderbolt and Surf, despite not even remotely having a good Special stat to use them properly.

 

[Weebos]

I always had to laugh at Rhydon being able to learn stuff like Ice Beam, Flamethrower, Thunderbolt and Surf, despite not even remotely having a good Special stat to use them properly.

A lot of Gen 1 Pokemon have ridiculous movepools, Nidoking is one of the few that actually benefits from it.

 

[balladofwindfishes]

I always had to laugh at Rhydon being able to learn stuff like Ice Beam, Flamethrower, Thunderbolt and Surf, despite not even remotely having a good Special stat to use them properly.

Ratatta with Bubblebeam!

Why was Bubblebeam a TM lol

Most of the TMs in the first gen were bizarre. Water Gun? Bubblebeam? Egg Bomb? Softboiled? Explosion AND Self Destruct?

 

[SalvaPot]

I've always been okay with Lickylicky. Tangrowth is the one that bugs me. Did anyone care about Tangela? And even if they did, was an evolution that's literally just a bigger one with arms really satisfying?

I fucking Love Tangrowth, he looks like an algae monster.

 

[Mr-Joker]

I once used a Rhyhorn as my reserve in Pokémon Y, she was sooooooo slow that I just dropped her.

Ratatta with Bubblebeam!

Why was Bubblebeam a TM lol

Most of the TMs in the first gen were bizarre. Water Gun? Bubblebeam? Egg Bomb? Softboiled? Explosion AND Self Destruct?

Bubblebeam is actually a decent water move at that point of the game, it's better than Bubble or Water Gun.

 

[Aaronrules380]

I always had to laugh at Rhydon being able to learn stuff like Ice Beam, Flamethrower, Thunderbolt and Surf, despite not even remotely having a good Special stat to use them properly.

My favorite wtf moves are surf on Gogoat and fly on Golurk

 

[jnWake]

My favorite wtf moves are surf on Gogoat and fly on Golurk

Haha I used a flying Golurk in X/Y. Also a surfing Heliolisk. It's great when unexpected mons learn cool moves.

 

[Aaronrules380]

Haha I used a flying Golurk in X/Y. Also a surfing Heliolisk. It's great when unexpected mons learn cool moves.

I mean, I get the idea behind Golurk flying since it's basically a golem mixed with a mecha. But still, I don't think most people would guess it can learn fly. Awesome idea though