Anonymous asks:

Are you more of a cat person or a dog person? Which cat and dog Pokémon are your favorites?

I’m definitely a cat person; no offence to dogs, but I like quieter, less bouncy pets. As for Pokémon… honestly I kinda think both cat and dog Pokémon are a *little* bit overdone at this point, and a lot of the cats are kind of dull… Glameow, Purrloin and Skitty are all pretty generic Pokémon… Litleo and Litten are amusing, I suppose… Espurr is fun; the whole “uncontrollable psychic fury” angle gives her something to stand out. I’m not sure whether Shinx is a cat or not, but he’s fine. Continue reading “Anonymous asks:” →

Anonymous asks:

Now that you’ve seen all the Alolan forms, I’ve a thought to share: the types they gave to the Alolan forms are all types that have either 0 or 1 representative among Gen I Pokémon. Think about it: Persian, Raticate, & Muk got Dark while Ninetales got Fairy (neither repped in Gen I), Sandslash & Dugtrio got Steel (only Magneton), Exeggutor got Dragon (only Dragonite), & Marowak got Ghost (only Gengar). The exceptions are Raichu (but Pikachu’s popular) & Golem, for which I got nothing. Thoughts?

There actually are Fairy-types in generation I: Jigglypuff, Clefairy and Mr. Mime (if Magneton counts, so do they). I don’t think this says anything interesting, other than maybe that Game Freak likes type diversity. Could be they want to give the first generation a bit more of the types that were introduced later.

Anonymous asks:

So today I learned that chimpanzees wage war on another. Like, legit ‘organize their social group to systematically kill another social group and take their territory and resources’ war. They also commit child infanticide. What. All of a sudden Primeape makes a lot more sense… and is infinitely more terrifying…

Yeahhhhh, us higher primates are dicks (bonobos, the other chimpanzee subspecies, are pretty chill though; they just have sex with everything instead of fighting). Dunno if Primape is specifically meant to be a chimp, though; he doesn’t seem to do the kind of complex social behaviours that characterise chimps. Bulbapedia reckons he’s actually meant to be a baboon, because of the piglike snout and species designation “Pig Monkey Pokémon” (and before someone mentions that Primeape loses his tail, yes, there are tailless monkeys), but then baboons are also highly social. I think Primeape probably stems from a general observation that “y’know what? Monkeys and apes are dicks.”

Anonymous asks:

You like mythical and folkloric inspiration for Pokémon, so how come you didn’t talk about or even mention Sun Wukong in Infernape’s entry? You mentioned the ‘world turtle’ myth in Torterra’s!

Well, I don’t strictly remember, on account of because I wrote it five years ago, but in the Disqus comments on that one I said “I am aware of this, but having not read Journey to the West myself there’s very little I can say about it,” which remains true, unfortunately.

Anonymous asks:

Are there any Pokémon that you think ought to be retyped?

Mmm… it would have been nice if Masquerain had kept Bug/Water instead of transitioning to Bug/Flying; it would have made him more unique (although I suppose we have Araquanid now, so… eh). Shinx, Luxio and Luxray would perhaps have been more interesting as Electric/Dark as well, and they have the aesthetic down. Oh, and definitely Rufflet and Braviary as Fighting/Flying; I think that would have made them much more competent and given them a point of difference from all the other Flying-types. I don’t think anything else particularly comes to mind… maybe Gothita, Gothorita and Gothitelle as Psychic/Dark but I’m not sure I’m wild about that one. Minior is… a problem, because it’s nothing like other Flying-types and much more closely resembles a lot of Levitate Pokémon like Lunatone and Solrock, but since it has a defining signature ability you can’t give it Levitate. Not sure what I would do with that one.

Anonymous asks:

here’s the big question: do you think phione is a mythical pokemon? on a side note, darkrai is listed as a mythical pokemon wherein cresselia, the other half of the lunar duo, isn’t. which for me is weird as their supposed to be a “set”, right? anyways, what do you think?

Well, as far as I can make out, “Mythical Pokémon” just designates Pokémon that aren’t (or at least, originally weren’t in their own generation) obtainable through normal gameplay – which is why Darkrai is one, but Cresselia isn’t. Phione is obtainable through normal gameplay, but only if you already have Manaphy, who definitely is “mythical,” and although Game Freak seem to have been a bit confused by this at times, most of the time their party line is that yes, Phione is “mythical,” they just get their wires crossed occasionally. Honestly I don’t think it’s a particularly interesting question, since the term doesn’t really have any in-universe significance as far as I can tell.

Anonymous asks:

The Pokemon literally called Psyduck isn’t a Psychic type. What?????

In fairness, its Japanese name (Kodakku – probably ko, child + duck) doesn’t have any reference to psychic ability, and nor does Golduck’s name, in any language. I’d suggest that the reason Psyduck isn’t a Psychic-type is because of his infamous lack of control over his psychic abilities, which only manifest when his headaches send him into a trance that he can’t remember once it’s over – true Psychic Pokémon have much greater focus. Then again, I’ve actually argued in the past that this was originally supposed to be a character trait of Misty’s Psyduck specifically, not Psyduck in general. The first Pokédex entry from Red and Blue says of Psyduck: “while lulling its enemies with its vacant look, this wily Pokémon will use psychokinetic powers,” which is a very different perspective than just about every later portrayal. It’s only in Yellow version, which is based on the anime, that we get “always tormented by headaches. It uses psychic powers, but it is not known if it intends to do so.” So what I’m saying now is actually contradicted by other things I’ve thought about Psyduck in the past; I’m probably wrong about one of these things, but I’m not sure which I like better.

Anonymous asks:

Mimikyu’s become the fan favorite breakout star of this batch of Pokemon and I just don’t know why. Also, are you aware it has an official rap? Just google “Mimikyu’s song.”

Mimikyu is also one of Jim the Editor’s favourite Pokémon, and he thinks it is adorable. I… confess the appeal of a horrifying undead Pikachu is a little lost on me, but I can appreciate the concept. Its true form is so viscerally hideous that, in the anime, Meowth literally dies when he catches a glimpse of it, so it dresses up as Pikachu, the most popular Pokémon, because it just wants to be loved, and you can give it that love. It’s a pretty compelling narrative!

Anonymous asks:

What’s your favorite Alolan form?

Tricky. I think I’ve met all of them now… Probably the Marowak. I’m not a huge fan of losing the original type completely, but Marowak does at least keep its Electric immunity through Lightning Rod, and the whole dark, mystic aesthetic is a really neat take on Marowak’s design. These Marowak are not f&£#ing around; they’ve straight-up jumped in the deep end of death worship.