Boltbeam and your Glaceon article got me thinking and I wanted your opinion on a concept. So this Pokemon is based off of a Tardigrade, a miniscule creature that frequents snowy hotsprings. The typing is Bug/Ice, but there’s an interesting catch: Because of hotspring environment and the need to repel predators, it developed the ability to use fire type attacks. Not only that, but it’s ability is Flash Fire, giving it a way to boost those attacks without STAB and covers the x2 weakness. Thoughts?

Hmm.  Well, the idea is cool, but the thing is, I kinda think there’s already a tardigrade Pokémon.  I first learned about the little buggers earlier this year (anyone who isn’t familiar with them should look them up, because they are awesome) – and my first thought was

“Oh, so THAT’S what Reuniclus is!”

It makes sense when you realise that one of the trivial names for tardigrades is ‘water-bears’, which finally explains Reuniclus’ teddy bear-like appearance.  It’s why one of Reuniclus’ abilities is Overcoat, which grants immunity to all damage from weather effects, it’s why an important part of Solosis’ flavour is its incredible resilience to a wide variety of environmental conditions, and it’s why the damn things ARE SO IMPOSSIBLE TO KILL.

In short, although it’s not a bad idea, tardigrades have actually been done.  Not to say you couldn’t try coming at Bug/Ice + Fire powers from a slightly different angle, because that is also an interesting starting point…