#179-181: Mareep, Flaaffy and Ampharos

Farmers' delight time, this is another farm animal in a hyper-state, this time a cute little sheep that operates the lighthouse.

Mareep is statistically a bit of a let-down: 65 special attack is the real standout, ahead of an ok 55HP, 45 special defence, 40 in each physical stat and a poor 35 speed (or great, if you want a trick room team, I guess). You get to be electric-type, which is generally ok, but the abilities of static for the regular and plus for the hidden are mediocre, I guess. Static can paralyse Pokemon that make contact with it, whilst plus can lead to a boost in special attack IF you have a teammate in a double/triple battle that has either plus or minus for an ability (look forward to Plusle and Minun). The 50% boost to special attack is nice, but the ally will most likely be electric-type or Klink and co., which means that ground will kill everything and your team will have minimal coverage, with Dedenne having fairy as a secondary typing.

So woolly!

Starting off strong with tackle and growl (seriously, this is a bit of a trend at the moment), we then move onto thunderwave to paralyse the foe, and then thundershock, a base 40 electric special move that can also paralyse the target. Cotton spore is a move that targets all adjacent foes and drops their speed by two stages, and charge comes in at level 15 (when you can evolve), boosting your special defence and the power of the next electric move. Purely because of evenness of distribution we shall continue this paragraph for a moment with take down, a base 90 normal physical move that causes recoil and really isn't worth it since, y'know, no physical prowess and the recoil. Electro ball is an odd choice here as an electric special move that hits harder the faster you are compared to the foe, between base 60 and 150.

We know that confuse ray will cause confusion on the opponent, whilst power gem is a base 80 rock special move which is then followed by the base 80 electric special move discharge which hits all adjacent Pokemon (not just foes) and has a 30% chance of paralysing those affected. Cotton guard is an interesting choice as it offers a three (yup 3) stage increase in defence, whilst signal beam is a base 75 bug special attack with a chance to confuse the foe. Last two moves now with light screen, which lasts 5 turns to double the special defence of the team, whilst thunder is a base 110 electric special move with only 70% accuracy, but will hit regularly in the rain.

The TM list looks a little predictable, with toxic being one that sticks out in the early numbers as a viable option, along with thunder/bolt and rain dance, whilst there is safeguard to prevent status afflictions. The TM list is rather short, but charge beam is a decent shout as it is a base 50 electric special move with a staggering 70% chance to grant a one stage boost to special attack on each use. There's also wild charge, which is basically an electric-type version of the previously visited take down.

Time to breed, and not for better wool or meat. After you causes a teammate to go next, which again only works in a trick room team, agility boosts speed, which is rather worthless, body slam offers a decent power for a normal physical move, eerie impulse can lower the foe's special attack by two stages, electric terrain can boost electric attacks as well as prevent anything from going to sleep and changing the wilderness into an electric haven, flatter boosts the target's special attack by a stage but leaves them confused (much like swagger), iron tail is a powerful steel physical move (base 100) but has very little accuracy with its decent 30% chance of lowering the target's defence. Tutor moves, you can then bag after you, signal beam and iron tail again, but you can get snore, shockwave and electroweb, heal bell and magnet rise, the latter lifting the user off the ground and making it immune to ground attacks.

Level 15 sees evolution from the little lamb into Flaaffy. In this situation you get a 15 point boost to all stats other than speed, which only goes up by 10, so 70HP, 55 in both physicals, 60 special defence and a decent 80 special attack. Same type, same abilities.

Sheering makes it stronger... Unlike Samson...

With an utter lack of change in the level list, thankfully the TM list comes good. Brick break allows you to break screens on the back end of a base 75 fighting physical move, rock smash and strength also allow other options, and volt switch is a great idea, hitting as a base 70 electric special that then allows you to swap out for another member of your party. Fire, focus and thunder punch all pop up on the tutor list.

With evolution into Ampharos comes more power (and less wool): 90 HP and special defence, 85 defence, 75 attack, still only 55 speed, but a nice 115 special attack. Same type and abilities, for now... (ominous fade)

The loss of wool and dignity has made it made and strong...

There are some additions to the level list, including zap cannon, a base 120, 50 accuracy electric special move that causes paralysis, ion deluge (all normal moves that turn become electric-type), dragon pulse (base 85 dragon special), thunder punch and fire punch. Hyper beam, giga impact and focus blast all jump into the TM list, and outrage appears in the tutor list. Outrage is a base 120 dragon physical move that hits for a few turns before leaving you confused.

The interesting thing with Ampharos is that it now has a mega evolution that adds on the dragon-type and the ability mold breaker, which negates the foe's ability. Weirdly, you lose 10 speed back down to 45, you keep the 90 HP, boost to a nearly useful 95 attack, a very nice 105 defence and 110 special defence, and then a rather frightening 165 special attack.

Since it lost its wool, it took the farmer's hair (and life) and became daftly majestic...

The sheer destructive potential of that special attack nearly makes this an instant wonder, but you do need to be careful with it due to the abysmal speed, so have it as part of a trick room team, or on the end of six speed boosts and you may be able to outspeed something slow. There are some good moves there, but not very much by way of coverage.

(All artwork presented by Ken Sugimori, taken from the Bulbapedia image archives)

#147-149: Dratini, Dragonair and Dragonite

So we've passed the first legendary trio, now we're to the first pseudo-legendary, that is a Pokemon with a base stat total of 600, which usually fits in between sets of legendaries in the Pokedex. Quite a lot of these have been dragons, and this is the first that sets the trend.

Ah Dratini. So cute, and so annoying to find in most games. Dratini itself is a little weak, with fairly balanced stats reading as 41HP, 64 attack, 45 defence, then 50 across the rest (both specials and speed). Little mediocre, but you get the ability shed skin as standard (30% chance at the end of each turn to cure status conditions) and marvel scale as the hidden ability (if you're inflicted with a status condition (not confusion/infatuation), your defence gets a 50% boost). If you forgot, this is a dragon-type.

Awww!

Little baby Dratinis will start with wrap (traps the opponent using a base 15 normal physical move that keeps the foe in play for a few turns, inflicting mild recurrent damage) and leer (decreases the foe's defence by a stage). Thunder wave comes in pretty early as a weak electric shock (so won't work on ground-type foes) that will paralyse the foe, whilst twister brings in the first STAB move as a base 40 dragon special move with a chance to flinch the enemy, hitting all adjacent foes, even those in the middle of fly, bounce and sky drop, these situations leading to double damage output. Dragon rage comes in to hit foes for 40HP damage (typing only plays a part on immunities, so it will not hurt fairies), and slam is a base 80 physical normal move with poor accuracy (75), which is then followed by agility, which allows you to boost your speed a bit. Dragon tail will knock the foe out of battle as a base 60 dragon physical move, which has a very low priority, pretty much guaranteeing it will hit last. Aqua tail is a different story, a base 90 water physical move.

Dragon rush is a base 100 dragon physical move with disappointing accuracy (75), a 20% chance to cause flinching, and is another move that ruins the idea of ever using minimize, hitting a minimized foe without fail and with double the power. Safeguard pops up to protect the team from status conditions, and dragon dance boosts attack and speed by a stage, which is actually rather awesome, with great utility on this line. Outrage is a dragon equivalent of flail, hitting very hard (base 120) as a dragon physical move for a few turns before leaving the user confused, which means you could already have swept through the opponent before you get the downside, whilst hyper beam pops up to end the list as the same worthless move it always is, a base 150 normal special move with 90 accuracy, a recharge turn and just generally being disappointing.

You get some nice things in the TM list, with the old standards like return, toxic, rest, sleep talk, swagger, double team, substitute etc... But then you get hail, blizzard and ice beam? Ok, I guess. You also get flamethrower and fire blast (as well as sunny day and rain dance) to cover the ice weakness, and light screen can buff up your bulk. Thunder pops up along with thunderbolt, incinerate and facade are also there, and dragon tail again makes an appearance.

This is a Pokemon that can breed, after three that were seemingly sterile. Aqua jet is basically a water version of quick attack, hitting as a base 40 physical move with priority. Dragon dance and dragon breath also appear, the latter being a base 60 dragon special move, which is succeeded by dragon pulse as a base 85 dragon special move that can target anyone in a triple battle. Dragon rush is there again, as well as extreme speed, which we will see later. The rest of the list is a little boring, with mist, haze, iron tail, water pulse, dragon pulse and supersonic. If you feel like visiting the tutor to see what they can give you, aqua tail comes up again, along with the previously visited water pulse, outrage and iron tail, alongside the old familiar snore, icy wind and also shockwave (base 60 electric special with no accuracy check other than against semi-invulnerable turns). Bind is basically wrap from the pre-level level list, and draco meteor is one of those high power moves (base 130) that kills your stats (2 stage drop to special attack) as a dragon special attack, so it hits less and less each time, but is amazing if your only going to use it once, or actually the best thing ever if you've got contrary.

You may well have evolved before dragon tail, with the chance to become Dragonair at level 30. You keep the old abilities, and you get a rather regular boost of 20 to all stats (61HP, 84 attack, 65 defence, and then everything else at 70). You remain mono-dragon, and the only real differences beyond the stats are the introductions of surf and waterfall as water moves to the HM slots (the former is base 90 special, the latter base 80 physical with a chance to flinch the foe).

What's with the tail beads and the Adam's apple?

Dragonair can then evolve at level 55 into Valoo from Windwaker Dragonite, the cuddly, dorky looking orange dragon, not sure why the colour change. You get an average of plus 30 to the stats, but that doesn't actually hold up, with 30 boosts to HP, defence, special attack and special defence (now 91, 95, 100 and 100 respectively), but attack goes up by 50 to 134 and speed edges up a little to a modest 80. You add flying to the typing, and you swap the abilities out: standard ability to inner focus, which prevents flinching (moderately helpful since most of the time you'll be going second, which is when flinches actually affect you), and the hidden ability goes to multiscale (damage taken when at full HP is halved, except moves that do fixed damage, like the aforementioned dragon rage).

"Hey!"

Fire and thunder punch come into the fold as base 75 physical moves (you can guess the types here) with chances to afflict their associated status issues. Wing attack also pops up to go with the newly sprouted wings, hitting as a base 60 flying physical attack with 35PP (which is amazing) and can hit anyone in a triple battle. Hurricane also appears, hitting as a base 110 flying special move with 70 accuracy, but in sunshine it gets worse accuracy and in the rain it skips the accuracy check. Hurricane even hits foes in the middle of a flying turn for more damage.

Hone claws (attack and accuracy up a stage), dragon claw (base 80 dragon physical), earthquake, brick break, sandstorm, rock tomb, aerial ace, steel wing, focus blast, sky drop, stone edge and fly all pop into the TM list. The tutor now offers the elemental punches, heat wave (see the legendary birds), iron head, tail wind and superpower (base 120 physical fighting that drops both your physical stats by a stage) along with focus punch. If you brought Dragonite from a previous generation you could have extreme speed here, which could then be bred onto the successors, but this option has disappeared.

All in all, this is pretty good. You lack speed, and priority has dried up a bit over the years, but there's power and bulk here, so not hitting first may not be awful, and hey, you can draco meteor your way out of trouble for a second or two, killing a foe and crippling another before you're finally downed. Fairy has made this a little worse, but still, this is so cute a line, and so iconic it's well worth considering, even if it's just to be your friend.

(All artwork presented by Ken Sugimori, taken from the Bulbapedia image archives)

#116+ #117 + #230: Horsea, Seadra and Kingdra

Another classic Pokemon that got a further evolution in the second generation, and water-type fans will be enjoying the next few blogs, but the question remains: is this family any good?

Horsea's kinda sweet, in a way. It's stats aren't, really, though. 30 HP, 40 attack, 25 special defence all seem a bit rubbish, but 60 speed, and 70 defence and special attack, which are actually rather promising. The high defence is cool, but would suggest another physical wall except the speed can pretty much allow for being a special sweeper kinda set: speed and special attack could be a good way to go. Despite being called 'dragon Pokemon', you're actually pure water-type at the moment. Your abilities are, err, ok I guess. Swift swim is arguably the best of the bunch since it doubles your speed in the rain and the rain will also make you hit harder (bonus, this is the most common ability in the game, owned by 38 Pokemon). Sniper is in no way bad, since it doubles the critical hit damage, whilst the hidden ability of damp is rather disappointing, preventing moves like self-destruct.

D'aww!

You actually get very little by level up. Bubble is a base 40 water special move that can lower the speed of the foe, and later on you can get bubble beam, which hits base 65 and has less PP, but is otherwise the same. Smokescreen lowers the target's accuracy, whilst leer drops the target's defence. Water gun is base 40 water special with no added effects and less PP than bubble and is thus vastly inferior since they have the same accuracy, too. Twister is a dragon special move that hits base 40 with a flinch chance and will hit Pokemon on the semi-invulnerable turns of bounce, fly and skydrop, hitting for double damage, which is rather nice. We've already talked about bubble beam, but here, if you have sniper, focus energy could be reasonable since it boosts critical chances. Brine is a base 65 water special attack which doubles in power when hitting a Pokemon that has less than 50% HP remaining. Agility is able to boost your speed, dragon dance raises attack (not your focus, so far at least) and speed, and dragon pulse is a base 85 dragon special move. The last move here is hydro pump, which is useless despite base 110 power as a water special because it lacks accuracy (80) and PP (5).

You get all the standard TMs, along with blizzard and ice bean, hidden power, scald (base 80 water special that can also cause a burn, and is one of my favourite moves), flash cannon (base 80 steel special that can lower the foe's special defence by a stage), surf, dive and waterfall.

You can breed in aurora beam as a special ice option, and clear smog can be chain bred in as a poison special that also resets all the target's stat changes. Muddy water is rather pointless, and so is dragon rage for most occasions but it will always hit for 40HP damage. Dragon breath hits with base 60 dragon special and has the chance to cause paralysis, and you can also take flail and outrage if you need. Octazooka is a decent water special move with 50% chance to lower the foe's accuracy, razor wind is a normal special with base 80 but needs a charging turn before hitting with a greater than average critical hit chance. Signal beam is one of the better bug-type moves in the game (base 65 special), you should all know water pulse, and you could also breed in splash if you want to be mocked. A trip to the tutor can give bounce, dragon pulse, water pulse, icy wind, outrage, signal beam and snore.

You can evolve into Seadra from level 32 for a nice set of stat increases: a 25 boost in all areas, leading to the interesting ones being base 95 for defence and special attack, and 85 for speed. You do, however, lose swift swim, it being replaced by poison point, where contact with you can result in being poisoned. The other abilities and typing remain the same.

Don't stroke this one...

Speaking of remaining the same: the level list. The TM list at least sees the arrival of hyper beam and giga impact, but no more. The tutor also contributes no more.

If you trade whilst holding a dragon scale, Seadra will become Kingdra. Kingdra gets a lot more balancing: HP is now 75, speed stays at 85, and everything else is 95, allowing it to be basically whatever it wants to be, which is rather odd, maybe even a little disappointing. To make up for this, you regain swift swim at the expense of poison point, and you also add dragon to your typing.

Not particularly regal...

That's not all you add, since you can also now learn yawn by level up and draco meteor (base 130 dragon special move that will lower the user's special attack by two stages). Yeah, not much new here either, is there.

All in all, this family is decent. Kingdra offers a fair few options and can be focused on speed with or without rain to outspeed some possible enemies. To be charitable, people may well have no idea what to expect and thus it is easy to catch them off guard, but no stats breaking the hundred base mark is a little depressing. Could be a bulky sweeper, could be a fairly hard hitting semi-tank. The choice is yours.

(All artwork presented by Ken Sugimori, taken from the Bulbapedia image archives)