#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)

#177-178: Natu and Xatu

I've made too much of a habit disappearing for a while, haven't I? Well, I took some time off for birthday and related hijinks, and then when I came back I was unwell and very busy at work, so yeah, can you really complain? Yes, I guess you can, but then that makes you the bad guy so nerr!

I kinda see some influences from central/south American culture infiltrating on these next two Pokemon, and they certainly have some mystery from the Ruins of Alph where the Unown first spring up...

Natu is a bit like a cutdown form of Xatu, not just in what it is and does, but also in how it looks... 40 HP is underwhelming, 45 in both defences also don't fill you with hope, 50 physical attack means that the good physical flying moves don't really do anything, and 70 special attack and speed aren't the best things but they aren't awful. You get to be flying/psychic in type, so at least you can use the special attack for psychic moves, synchronize and early bird are the standard abilities (the former means that if you get a status affliction the foe gets it too, and the latter means you wake up faster), but a better choice is the hidden ability of magic bounce, which bounces things like stat reducers and entry hazards back at the foe.

Why is this either a sentient garden pea or a decapitated Xatu?

Standard flying start with peck and leer, which I don't think you really need to be reminded of. Night shade inflicts damage based on your level on the foe, teleport is hated from the Abra spam in that it takes you out of battle (and in the overworld can take you back to a Pokemon centre), whilst lucky chant boosts critical hit chances. In ORAS, stored power comes in at 17 (39 in XY), which is a base 20 psychic move, but the base damage rises with each stat boost applied to the team, so you can make it horrifyingly powerful by boosting the 7 available stats (attack, defence, special attack, special defence, speed, accuracy and evasiveness), and in particular a boost to special attack is a good way to go as it is a special move, and so you can basically wipe anything out on the end of a baton pass team. Ominous wind is a base 60 ghost special move and carries a 10% chance of boosting all stats by a stage, like ancient power (this is level 20 in ORAS, 44 in XY), confuse ray confuses the target coming in at level 23 in both gen 6 sets, and in XY you can also take miracle eye before evolving, this move removing a dark-type's immunity to psychic attacks. Me first also pops up in XY before evolution which uses the foe's move against them before they can attack.

We already have a few moves we've seen dependent on the game that would be in after the chance to evolve at level 25, but there are a few more. Wish is a decent one as it can be cast, switch the Pokemon and then the incoming one will be healed by it, or just heal yourself after a pause. Psychic is a very obvious choice as a base 90 psychic special move, so everything that aligns with the Pokemon. Future sight packs a bit more punch as a base 120 psychic special move, but suffers from being overly telegraphed, hitting a couple of turns later, so the opponent can switch to an immune Pokemon, or you could have been defeated before then anyway. Psychoshift will move your status affliction from you to the target, which doesn't really work with synchronize, and Noctowl is arguably a better choice to use it with. Power and guard swap come together, and they switch the changes to stats (power for attacks and guard for the defences) with the opponent, so you can hand off losses or gain boosts, say.

In addition to the standard TM lists, you can take psyshock and calm mind, the former being a psychic special move that hits the physical defence, and the latter being a one stage boost to both special categories, thus being useful for boosting up a stored power as well. You can get sunny day and solar beam, for some reason, and you can also get roost as a healing option, which temporarily sheds the thus far useless flying-type. Shadow ball offers a base 80 ghost special coverage option, and aerial ace is a good move, but your physical attack is just too weak, the same being the issue for steel wing. Thunderwave is another good move to allow build-up, along with confuse ray, dream eater is great if the foe is put to sleep, grass knot works well with how light Natu is, U-turn is always a decent option for an escape route, and dazzling gleam is a base 80 fairy special move.

Breeding time (if you can be bothered), and drill peck offers something for the flying-STAB, but sadly physical attack. Feint attack is a reliable way to score damage (not much since, y'know, physical) as a base 60 dark move, but feather dance can slow a foe's physical charge by lowering their physical attack two stages. Haze gives a welcome niche to this Pokemon as a way to remove all in play issues, quick attack is just quick attack, simple beam is a nice idea to cripple a foe that relies on a great ability (like a Protean Greninja, say), and skill swap does a similar job except you don't just swap their ability out for Simple (stat changes are twice as effective if you have simple), you swap your ability for theirs, so you could dump early bird for something really rocking (maybe something like Protean, or simple if you've already put it on them and you have a cunning plan). Synchronoise is a poor move in some ways in that you can only hit Pokemon of the same type as you, but this is where the nearly worthless flying-typing comes in, so you can hit all flying foes (unless they are dark) with a base 120 psychic special move! Zen headbutt is a little wasted here, but sucker punch can still do a small job. The tutor offers some ok moves like giga drain, heat wave, sky attack (arguably), signal beam, pain split (sorta), magic coat, magic room, trick, tailwind and snore, along with skill swap and zen headbutt.

Evolution time! C'mon, grab your birds! Yes, Xatu is a lot bigger, and a fair way better in stats: a boost of 25 to everything gives still mediocre bulk and physical attack, but 95 in speed and special attack isn't awful with the chance for some buffing. You stay as flying/psychic, you seem to become a Native American-themed Pokemon, and you keep the same abilities...

I kinda like the 'New World' vibe about it, but why does it have eyes for nipples?

Keeping pretty much the same level set, the big change (other than levels) is the addition of air slash, a much needed base 75 flying special move with a decent flinch chance and the ability to target anyone on the field. Giga impact and hyper beam kinda suck still, and pretty much the only other move that comes in is fly, which is worth a little less than air slash. Foul play is the only addition to the tutor list, so that was nice and brief. Foul play, by the way, is a base 95 dark physical move, and is therefore basically wasted here.

You don't really get much by the way of anything here, but the inclusion of stored power is a very nice thing, with the chance to stick that on the end of a baton pass chain, maybe add some more with calm mind and then go to town, but I feel there are better candidates, and as such, this is a fairly forgettable Pokemon that can barely get by on nostalgia.

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

Bonus post: 25th Birthday favourites

Ok, so the 6th of May 2015 is my 25th birthday... Yeah, get the old jokes at the ready. But hey, as one of the masters' students said: that's halfway to thirty... I don't know how they got that far...

I thought, as a special treat, I'd share with you some of my favourite Pokemon (I was going for top 10 but it was too hard to pick, and also this can then be used for a Pokemon football or cricket team), sort of like how I did the end of Generation One list, but this time it's purely on personal preference, not whether they are any good, which is why we start with:

11: Hoppip
Yeah, this Pokemon is utterly useless, and that's why it finds its way here. I remember as a child playing through Crystal and seeing these pop up all the time and them using splash, which does legitimately nothing (yet could still possibly defeat Yamcha). I remember my Typhlosion roasting them, leaving them utterly obliterated, and I actually felt rather guilty. I kinda like the silly design here, and I like them much more than the later evolutions, so that's why it's Hoppip, and not the other ones like most of these entries will be.

FLY-TIME! SPLASH!

10: Crobat
Zubat and Golbat are really annoying, but I don't really care, since you can very easily grind for some experience since there's like a 90% chance one of those two will pop up in a cave, meaning you just need one attack to clear everywhere, and also you can get some EV training done on them. The thing is, if you bother to raise them, they become really pretty good: Crobat is pretty kickass in design, type, moves and stats, and infiltrator is a fine ability.

Who needs feet?

9: Garchomp
Ok, this one is boosted a little in my estimation by my replay of Platinum where my team was overwhelmingly lopsided heading towards the league, where I had something like a level 70 Infernape and then nothing else. I tracked back and power leveled to around 50 for a Garchomp that just destroyed everything. Added to this I rather like the typing (yes, Flygon has it, too, but I just don't like that as much as some people, say Lizzie's little brother Matthew), and I like the sort of sharky design. I think it has some nice moves, good stats, and a slightly disappointing Mega Evolution...

Start humming the Jaws theme NOW!

8: Infernape
Ok, this is one of the premier starting Pokemon in terms of capability, but its here because I think it's cool. It's basically a burning embodiment of Sun-Wukong, or Goku from Dragon Ball if you prefer. It's a powerful, speedy mixed attacker and it has twice carried me through generation four. In addition to this, I love the way you could get it to follow you around in the park. This is pretty cool to have an oriental legend follow you around and slaughter your foes.

Really needs a pole...

7: Giratina
Ok, another fourth generation Pokemon, but this is the last. Giratina is pretty much the embodiment of evil and chaos, which as an angsty teenager, this kinda held me. It's a pain to catch in the game, but the distortion world was fantastic as something different, and this being the reason and the prize at the end makes it really stand out to me.

The withered wing-things make it like a ghostly pirate bird ship thing... That created its own evil dimension...

6: Absol
I don't know why, but when I played Sapphire, two Pokemon really leapt out at me, and they were Tropius and Absol due to their appearances. Tropius was pretty cool on first sight, but looked a bit odd after. Absol, however, remained cool and elegant, though the design for the mega looked a bit weird. The disaster stuff also makes it pretty awesome in a way.

It's like a really sinister house cat... So a house cat...

5: Lucario
I lied, didn't I? Well, it's my birthday and I'll lie if I want to! Lucario is another mixed attacker, and eventually I dragged this up on my second playthrough of Platinum (it got there rather early in the first but I neglected everything a little in the second play). Lucario and Riolu look just like Anubis, which is cool, the same as Nassus in League of Legends, who I played for a while because of this design and got quite good with for a short while. Lucario's mega also looks cool, and is one of the few characters I find interesting in Smash Bros.

He's here for your soul!

4: Shuckle
First up, I'm going to go with the stats, which make this a rather amazing tank in that I've had mine hit by a super-effective move and only take 6 damage from a foe at the same level (not like it was hit by something weak, this was a flare-blitz on a Talonflame, and yes, I had nerfed its attack). The thing is, you can be one-shotted by something pathetic with a move like Night Shade as your max HP may well be sub-100. Now back to the real reasons why I like it: the design is adorable, the shiny is pretty cool (like home and away kits, it's just a small change), it's a bug-type that actually is pretty awesome and it's so adorable again!

It's just so sweet!

3: Mewtwo
Ok, here's where it gets REALLY close between the top three, and really they could be in any order. Mewtwo gets stuck here because it was the last of them I got and the hardest to get (arguably, depending on how many Pokemon-playing friends you have). Mewtwo has the attitude, mystique and cool design to make it appealing. It has words of wisdom that people often inaccurately attribute to famous twentieth century legends like Ghandi and MLK, but no, quite often that quote was Pokemon #151!

I see now that the circumstances of one's birth are irrelevant. It is what you do with the gift of life that determines what you are. - Mewtwo, not MLK or Ghandi or any philosopher...

2: Gengar
Again going in the reverse order of when I got them we have Gengar. This has been favoured more in recent years, partly because of my nephew calling my dad Gengar rather than granddad and the gimmick team that I was running on Pokemon Y multiplayer. It's sinister, cool, purple, looks like it wants a hug and all that jazz.

Hi friends!

1: Typhlosion
My first Pokemon was Cyndaquil (unless you count something I found in a pack of crisps, in which case it was my 12th favourite Pokemon, Sandshrew, which misses the top 10 because I liked it because of that freeby and an episode of the anime). Typhlosion has a cool design, is a fire-type (which is always a nice plus), was my first ever Pokemon, utterly destroys things, has a cool cry and the following around in HGSS was nice.

See? It looks calm, measured and loving!

I'd like to give a special mention to Suicune, Zoroark, Reshiram (thanks to an elite four sweep in White 2 when I was actually lower levelled than the league and I would have got the solo badge if an egg hadn't hatched right at the last few steps around), Terrakion, Uxie and Azelf (for not being Mesprit), Pikachu (for the attitude in the anime), and Dragonite for being adorably idiotic looking!

#175-176, #468: Togepi, Togetic and Togekiss

You probably remember receiving Togepi at some point on your adventures through the games, but what you didn't know was that, with the introduction of Togekiss and eviolite, this actually gives two pretty decent Pokemon...

Togepi in itself has some pretty lacklustre stats, with 35 HP, 20 attack and speed, 40 special attack and 65 in both defences, which would be OK-ish if the HP wasn't so crummy... This adorable little fairy-type comes with two standard abilities as well as a hidden one. On the standard side of things, you can get hustle (physical attack power goes up 50% in power, but accuracy drops by 20%) and super luck (doubles the chance of added effects on moves, so a 10% chance of burn/freeze or whatever goes up to 20% and so forth). Moving to the hidden one, you can pick up super luck, which buffs the chance of critical hits.

Ah! So adorable! But why does Misty seem to breastfeed it?

Growl and charm are not really a good start since it stops you from actually attacking anything, instead lowering attack of the foe from both of them, which is really odd: why offer basically the same move twice, with the only differences being that charm is more effective (2 stages) yet has half the PP? Metronome is the first chance for possible damage, but that isn't really that encouraging, since it can do anything, like self-destruct, splash or flatter instead of that flamethrower you really, really need. Sweet kiss has 75 accuracy but when it connects then it will confuse the foe. Yawn will make the foe drowsy and slightly down the line it will put them to sleep, but it could take long enough for you to die in the meantime. Encore will make the foe use the same move again for three turns and can make the foe struggle. Follow me has two stages of priority and diverts incoming moves towards the user rather than the intended targets.

Bestow is an interesting move as it allows you to hand off an item onto the target (so long as they aren't holding anything), which can handicap them by potentially locking them into a choice item and getting stuck on a worthless move, or sticking them with a flame orb or something, or just ruining unburden and acrobatics. Wish is an interesting choice, which heals the Pokemon in play when it comes into effect by half the caster's HP, with it coming into effect at the end of the next turn, allowing swapping to heal an injured team mate, maybe by using volt switch or U-turn. Ancient power is the first guaranteed damaging move as a base 60 rock special that can boost all stats (works even better with serene grace), whilst safeguard prevents the team from getting affected by status conditions. Baton pass will swap out the user for a teammate, passing on all stat changes, whilst double edge and last resort are normal physical moves (base 120 and 140 respectively) that cause recoil damage, with the latter only being usable when all other moves are depleted of PP. Finally we get after you, which makes the target move next, which means you have to be faster than everything for this to be of any use.

Despite a fairly damage-lacking level set, there are a lot of options in the TM list. Forgoing describing the really common ones, we see psyshock, solar beam, psychic, shadow ball, flamethrower/fire blast, incinerate, dream eater, thunder wave, grass knot, rock smash and dazzling gleam, which are all pretty decent. Breeding can also give extrasensory, foresight (which can help overcome the accuracy loss of hustle), future sight (beware that you may die before this lands, it also allows the foe to switch out, but it is very powerful), lucky chant (boosts critical rates), mirror move allows you to bounce attacks back after they've been fired at you (and with more power), morning sun allows healing in the sunshine, nasty plot allows a two stage boost to special attack, peck is a weak flying move, present is a disaster of a move (wait for Delibird!), psycho shift allows you to dump your status problem on the foe, and stored power is ripe for abuse: stored power is a base 20 psychic move that is made stronger by every stat boost you have, including speed, attack, evasion and accuracy, not just special attack, which of course takes even more advantage due to it being a special move, so it can have massive base power with the addition of heavy special attack to back it up. Lastly, the tutor can give a lot of moves: after you, covet, endeavour, heal bell, hyper voice, last resort, magic coat, shockwave, signal beam, snore, trick, uproar, water pulse and zen headbutt, all of which we've seen a few times before.

You evolve by friendliness into Togetic, which got made a lot better with eviolite, which shores up the defences 50% each, which is good since they are pretty good, with 85 physical and 105 special, with the 55HP (which is still a bit lacking), 80 special attack is pretty decent, but 40 speed is still rather disastrous. You also get to add on the flying-type to the pre-existing fairy, but you keep the same abilities, which is pretty good, really, since serene grace is brilliant.

Why has it absorbed the egg shell into its body?

The level set adds in a few moves, with an early one being magical leaf, which is like a grass-type version of swift in that it is a base 60 special attack with no accuracy check. Fairy wind is the other move that pops up, a base 40 fairy special with no added effects. Brick break, aerial ace, hyper beam, steel wing, retaliate and giga impact, along with fly all come in on the TM side of life. The enormous list of tutor moves also gets padded with drain punch, focus punch, heat wave and tail wind.

Finally, if you get exposed to a shiny stone then you can evolve again into the newer Togekiss. 85HP is pretty nice now, with the decent defences (95 physical and 115 special), and now there's some speed (80) that can be supplemented if you get up tail wind, 50 attack remains poor, but 120 special attack is really good. Still fairy/flying with the same abilities, which is good, really. The issue is that there are virtually no new moves available when you evolve: from evolving you can grab after you, extreme speed (base 80 normal physical with a few stages of priority), sky attack (two turns, base 140 flying physical), aura sphere (a good shout, base 80 fighting special) and air slash (base 75 flying special that has a decent flinch chance). No new TMs and not much more added to the tutor that is worth considering.

Like a stealth bomber of light...

Togepi is adorable but a bit pathetic, yet both evolutions are worthwhile for using for one reason or another. This is a line that really got big boosts from Generations 4 onwards, including the switch to fairy-type, which is pretty awesome.

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

#174: Igglybuff

Yet another one covered before... I've given you a few hours here rather than just piling them all on at 2 minute intervals on the 5th, so this one is coming up 10 hours later, still meaning 4 posts on the day. Yeah, just go back and see Jigglypuff if you want...

#173: Cleffa

Again another one previously covered, and I can't really just copy paste the same apology since it will then be appearing three times in a row, so yeah, this was already covered for Clefairy here!

Still hate it, by the way...

#172: Pichu

Ok, this was covered before with the previous evolutions, so to visit that, go here!

This is going to happen a few times from here on out, so these posts will happen again, but they won't really count towards the total. Thanks!