Right, so, more of the early-game trash we have to get through before being allowed to find anything interesting.  Well, I guess that was inevitable.  So, what are we being offered this time?

Oh.  Oh, that’s… well, okay, that’s actually kind of cute.  Dogs have been done before, but I guess if I let Purrloin live I should give Lillipup a chance too.  No promises though.

Lillipup, I say with little fear of contradiction, is extremely cute, while his adult form, Herdier, has more of a “loyal sheepdog” vibe.  The final evolution, Stoutland… well, I thought Stoutland looked a little silly at first, but I have to admit he’s grown on me.  That moustache is nothing short of magnificent.  Now, like I said, dog Pokémon  have been done to death, but they haven’t exactly been all the same.  Houndoom from Gold and Silver is probably my favourite, and he had an interesting devil dog theme (as well as a type combination, Fire/Dark, that remains unique to this day, which is something I’m very obvious about liking).  Ruby and Sapphire gave us Mightyena, who’s just about the closest thing we have so far to a wolf Pokémon – come to think of it, why isn’t there a wolf Pokémon?  Eh.  The point is that he’s a savage little thing with good cooperative hunting skills.  And I guess there’s also Manectric, but Manectric’s whole background pretty much boils down to “woo, look at me, I have electrical powers,” (yeah, great, get in line) so I’m going to ignore Manectric.  He is silly.  Continue reading “Lillipup, Herdier and Stoutland” →