Okay, I’m seeing about seven different concepts for Water/Fire dual-types coalescing here (there may be more floating around in those comments but some of them blur together a little bit at the edges). I was going to throw in my two cents in the comments thread, but then again, that would get messy, and also it’s nice to have something still happening on the front page, and give the ideas themselves a bit of visibility, no? Here are my thoughts on each idea that I can distinguish, then (labelled with the names of people who suggested them or developed them in some way).
1. Oil fires (- Graygriffin and Andrewq). Basically, a Pokémon that is either based on an oil slick or something, or somehow uses flaming oil as a power source. It has powers over liquid and water, but also produces fire that won’t be put out by water. Might be interesting for something like this to have an ability like Water Absorb or Storm Drain, to result in a Fire-type with immunity to Water? I quite like this; it’s a fun way of mixing the elements that’s quite different to my initial take on the combination.
2. Fire extinguisher (- Andrewq). A Pokémon dedicated to fighting fire. I’m not sure about using an actual fire extinguisher as a base, because that sounds like it’s pushing into Steel-type territory, but it would be interesting to look at a Pokémon that developed powers over Fire in order to protect itself (and others) since Fire Pokémon are normally all about aggression and destruction.
3. Furnace or boiler (- Jack and Thatswhatbradsaid). A Pokémon that is in some way modeled after a boiler or some such, but indirectly, the way Heatmor is based on a blast furnace – most of its body is actually organic, but it has little resemblances in shape, temperament, and so on. Personally, I always thought it was odd that Heatmor isn’t Fire/Steel, but if this thing comes out with both Water and Fire powers, that’ll be much more innocuous. This concept would focus on steam, and the technological influences could potentially allow us to reference the massive importance of steam power to… well… everything since the industrial revolution.
4. Polar Pokemon (- DBurningham). A Pokémon from a tundra or glacial environment that gets water for its attacks by melting ice. I wasn’t sure about this at first because my initial thought was that it should be an Ice-type, but actually, this could be interesting. I don’t think I agree with D’s suggestion of Snow Warning as an ability since something like this wouldn’t necessarily have cold powers (which brings up another interesting point, actually – whatever we wind up creating might well be the first ever Water-type without Ice attacks!).
5. Paradox (LeonardoRegulus). A Pokémon that just plain flouts reality by taking in water, turning it into fire, and blowing it out again. I’m honestly not sure what I would do with this, though I think it might work best with a more abstract or overtly magical design. It could well be combined with a number of the other concepts. More thoughts on this from other readers would be much appreciated.
6. Deep sea creature (- CultHouse, MaltbysFalcon, Chewiana Jones, Jack, Wearat and Adam Dreifus). I’m seeing a lot of support and some quite varied discussion for some manner of deep ocean Pokémon. I’m not wild on the idea of bioluminescence, because then there’s a danger of getting into “Chinchou and Lanturn, only with fire instead of electricity,” although I suppose there’s a lot of room there for aesthetically very different ideas. This could be something that uses fire to keep itself warm in the deep ocean and is forced to release it explosively on the surface to keep itself from overheating, or something that lives in or around deep ocean vents or undersea volcanoes; Adam suggested, for instance, giant tube worms, a Cloverfield-style behemoth, or a whirlpool Pokémon that influences ocean currents by controlling water temperature. I always like deep ocean Pokémon, we could certainly do with more of them, and I’m seeing a lot of interesting ideas in this vein. I don’t think there’s much I need to add to this.
7. Hydrogen/Oxygen fusion (- Wearat). This is… outside the box, to say the least. Two Fire/Ghost Pokémon, one representing oxygen, the other representing hydrogen, which, when traded with each other (a la Shelmet and Karrablast) both evolve into the same Water/Fire Pokémon (referencing the creation of water by the combustion of hydrogen). I’m not sure about Fire/Ghost for the two juvenile forms, since Ghost has a lot of weird connotations that don’t necessarily fit here (I’d almost prefer Fire/Flying or even Fire/Psychic, actually), and I really don’t know what to think of the idea of a… what would I even call that? A conjoint evolution? If nothing else, it’s certainly unique, and unique is always fun…
8. Lava and water (- Crazedgamer111). A Pokémon that’s literally half-and-half – split at the waist (or even down the middle?) between a fiery, lava-influenced appearance and a watery, aquatic appearance, maybe with a ‘belt’ of stone where the two meet and the water causes the lava to solidify. This works with the whole ‘mingling of opposites’ idea, though in a very different way to what I had in mind, and potentially suggests some interesting flavour.
So, yes. Carry on. I’m not sure whether to decide this with another poll or what. If I do, I’ll certainly be sure to make clear in the post that there is supposed to be a poll, and that if you can’t see it something’s wrong. Any suggestions on how to run this are welcome, while you’re thinking.
Pokémaniacal 