What do you think of Clampearl/Huntail/Gorebyss? Beyond the weirdness of an oyster evolving into two fish…
I talked with Jim the Editor about the evolution thing, and he thinks Clamperl is actually an egg, of sorts, surrounded by an elaborate protective shell – Huntail and Gorebyss ‘hatch’ out of it. Also, weirdly, while it looks like Clamperl’s face is in its pearl, its Pokédex entries suggest that the pearl – the one pearl that it makes over the course of its life – is left behind when it evolves, so I’m not really sure what’s going on there.
Anyway. I don’t think either of them are spectacular. Huntail, I always felt, was somewhat lacking in personality, but I like the stark contrast between Gorebyss’ beautiful, elegant appearance and savage behaviour. I suppose if I have a problem with them, it’s that they’re not nearly as weird as they could be. Considering some of the bizarre stuff that lives in the deep ocean, a couple of eel-like Pokémon with mostly generic Water-type powers is… something of a let-down, to be honest.
Pokémaniacal 