We love us some Pokémon here at Entertainment Hangover! And to kick off the weeks till the release of Pokémon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire, we'll be bringing you Pokémon blogs every week!! To start, we're going to take a look into the past... the past being one year ago to the release of Pokémon X and Y that introduced us to the 6th Generation of Pokémon. Most of the community thought that the remakes of Ruby and Sapphire would come in this generation, but Game Freak pulled the wool over our eyes and dropped X and Y. But hey, we get the 3rd Generation games in 3D now! Half Life 3 confirmed! Anywho, we're going to go through my 10 favorite Kalos Pokémon. There are NO Mega Evolutions on this list for a reason, as Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire are introducing more Megas. We'll wait till after their release to look at the Top 10 Mega Evolutions.
10. Diggersby
The Digging Pokémon - #660
Type: Normal/Ground
Diggersby is surprisingly a really cool Pokémon. The evolution of the Kalos region's staring rodent Bunnelby (along the lines to Rattata and Bidoof), Diggerby is my favorite out of all the bunches. His unique Normal and Ground typing is cool and lets him do weird things. Diggersby also has access to the Huge Power ability, which is pretty popular as it doubles the Attack stat. Diggersby design is pretty cool too. It's stated they work at construction sites because their large ears are powerful digging tools. They are The Digging Pokémon you know. Diggersby do have that gruff construction worker look to them and as someone whose spent a lot of time around construction as a kid, it helps Diggersby's design appeal. It's ears can also LIFT MORE THAN A TON!! Side note.
9. Florges
The Garden Pokémon - #671
Type: Fairy
Say hello the the first Fairy you'll meet in Pokémon X and Y: Florges. It's pre-evolution, Flabebe, is the first Fairy type you'll encounter in the game and evolves from its evolution of Floette into the beautiful Florges via a Shiny Stone. To me, Fairy type truly embodies what a Fairy is: a magical (or in Pokémon's case, a Special) creature using odd moves to beat down foes. Florges is very useful with its high Special Attack stat and massive Special Defense. Florges truly shines in Double and Triple Battles, where its variety of support moves keep allies alive and hinder the opposing team. That plus its simple yet creative design net it this spot.
8. Chesnaught
The Spiny Armor Pokémon - #652
Type: Grass/Fighting
Who wouldn't want a juggernaut on their team?! A good amount of people were upset about Chesnaught's design at first, since so much speculation had already gone into what the 3 starters' final evolutions would become. Chesnaught has always been awesome to me, both through design and playability. Chesnaught plays opposite Florges, since it has bulk in Defense and standard Attack and HP. Although outclassed by some, Chesnaught holds pretty fair in competitive play as well. Despite his 6 weaknesses, Chesnaught has the stats and the moves to last in a battle and in our hearts.
7. Hawlucha
The Wrestling Pokémon - #701
Type: Fighting/Flying
Hawlucha gets points right off the bat for being a combination of Fighting and Flying types. I'm not saying every Pokémon type combination will be good, but there's something about this that just works. His design reflects his type too, taking nods from Native American culture and the Luchador Mexican wrestling style. Because of this, Hawlucha has a more versatile movepool compared to other Fighting types. Hawlucha is also the only Pokémon so far with access to the move Flying Press, which is the only dual type attack in the franchise. Flying Press is a Fighting and Flying type move, same as Hawlucha, and makes using it very interesting as the mix of types in an attack is somewhat cloudy to judge. That's Hawlucha and that's just awesome.
6. Malamar
The Overturning Pokémon - #687
Type: Dark/Psychic
Malamar is the another new dual type Pokémon introduced in X and Y. Malamar and its pre-evolution, Inkay, are the only Dark/Psychic Pokémon and it creates a weird combination that can be even weirder to work around. It only has two weakness, but oddly enough it has no resistances and an immunity. As creepy as Malamar is; Inkay steals my heart for its own but Malamar is much more useful. They are exceptional cool thanks to an Ability called Contrary and a signature move they both learn called Topsy-Turvy.
Topsy-Turvy is an awesome Dark-Type move that reverses the target's stat changes. Say your opponent raised their attack with a Swords Dance and then you use this move, their Attack is now weakened instead of being increased. The ability Contrary is what gets me though. Similar to Topsy-Turvy, it reverses stat changes that are done to itself. Your opponent tries to lower one of your stats with a move like Screech or Growl? Thanks to Contrary, they just raised that stat. Malamar also learns Superpower as its final move. A powerful move that lowers Attack and Defense after being used... NOT WITH CONTRARY. Contrary existed in the previous Generation 5, but was a Hidden Ability and hard to achieve. Inkay and Malamar have made Contrary accessible and deserve this spot. You also have to hold your 3DS upside once Inkay hits Level 30 to evolve it... So precious.
5. Talonflame
The Scorching Pokémon - #663
Type: Fire/Flying
How many of you reading this wouldn't want a hawk that can generate fire?! Talonflame is a very interesting choice, as the Kalo region's 'fodder bird' (like Pidgey, Hoothoot and Pidove). It ranks really high with me and is the only one of these early birds to make it into the useful competitive tier. It's a real breath of fresh air with this one. Let's quickly breakdown the regional birds: Pidgeot is alright and only really gets nostalgia points. Noctowl has pretty useful and pretty bulky. Swellow is just terribly fragile. Staraptor is actually very offense heavy. Unfezant was just... interesting. But Talonflame is awesome. It's also the only regional bird to lose its Normal/Flying typing.
Talonflame broke shrugged off it's stereotypes and began blazing a trail! It has an impressive Attack and even better Special Attack. Up until now, Noctowl was the only one of these birds with decent Sp Atk, and that was because of it had access to Psychic-Type attacks. With Gust as a first Flying move and the now impressive Hurricane as well (both being Special Attacks), Talonflame simply excelled past it's brethren. It also has the best Ability with Gale Wings, an Ability that gives it's Flying-Type moves priority over the opponent.
4. Goodra
The Dragon Pokémon - #706
Type: Dragon
Goodra is possibly the cutest Pseudo Legendary Pokémon yet, just beating out Dragonite! A Pseudo Legendary is a creature with a base stat total of 600 and part of a three stage evolutionary line. The others consist of: Dragonite, Tyranitar, Salamence, Metagross, Garchomp and Hydreigon. Goodra was very surprising as a Pseudo. You could catch it's basic form, Goomy, halfway through your journey when you usually have to wait until close to the end to catch a Pokémon from a Pseudo line. Goodra breaks the trend and is super cute while it does it. Goodra is a well rounded Pokémon, just like Dragonite, but it can also take many a hit and deal massive damage. Sold.
3. Klefki
The Key Ring Pokémon - #707
Type: Steel/Fairy
Klefki is such a hit or miss with people. I find Klefki's design really intriguing and its moveset cool too. If you've read my past blogs, you'll know I love and know how to use a Sableye and Klefki plays very similar. Compared to its Prankster brother, Klefki is more skilled in stalling the opponent and buffing its own team whereas Sableye eats at away at any enemy. This is the scariest key ring you'll every come across.
2. Greninja
The Ninja Pokémon - #658
Type: Water/Dark
Greninja is my angel of darkness. As a person who always (and I mean ALWAYS) picks the Fire-Type starter no matter what, Froakie and Frogadier and Greninja were just too good to pass up. Greninja has great stats, a wide movepool and an awesome design. That's what makes a good Pokémon.
1. Aegislash
The Royal Sword Pokémon - #681
Type: Steel/Ghost
I defined what makes a Pokémon good with Greninja and Aegislash does it all, but just a little bit better. Hence why it sits at the top of this list. Aegislash is so good and so diverse that it has been banned to the Ubers tier in competitive. It sits in the same tier as Mewtwo and other Legendary Pokémon. It's just that good.
Aegislash's unique typing has only a few holes it can cover quite easily. It also has two forms: Sword Form and Shield Form. It'll start off in Shield Form and will stay that way if you use Status/Support moves. Shield Form boasts a lot of bulk in both Defense and Special Defense with little attack, which is unusable actually. Once it uses an attack, it'll switch into Sword Form where it's attack and defense stats flip around. The only way for Sword Form to switch into Shield is to use Aegislash's signature move called King's Shield. It'll switch and protect itself and also drop the Attack stat of a Pokémon that hits it. There's a good reason Aegislash has been banned to Ubers and there's a good reason that it's won the hearts of so many trainers.
We love us some Pokémon here at Entertainment Hangover! And to kick off the weeks till the release of Pokémon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire, we'll be bringing you Pokémon blogs every week!! To start, we're going to take a look into the past... the past being one year ago to the release of Pokémon X and Y that introduced us to the 6th Generation of Pokémon. Most of the community thought that the remakes of Ruby and Sapphire would come in this generation, but Game Freak pulled the wool over our eyes and dropped X and Y. But hey, we get the 3rd Generation games in 3D now! Half Life 3 confirmed! Anywho, we're going to go through my 10 favorite Kalos Pokémon. There are NO Mega Evolutions on this list for a reason, as Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire are introducing more Megas. We'll wait till after their release to look at the Top 10 Mega Evolutions.
10. Diggersby
The Digging Pokémon - #660
Type: Normal/Ground
Diggersby is surprisingly a really cool Pokémon. The evolution of the Kalos region's staring rodent Bunnelby (along the lines to Rattata and Bidoof), Diggerby is my favorite out of all the bunches. His unique Normal and Ground typing is cool and lets him do weird things. Diggersby also has access to the Huge Power ability, which is pretty popular as it doubles the Attack stat. Diggersby design is pretty cool too. It's stated they work at construction sites because their large ears are powerful digging tools. They are The Digging Pokémon you know. Diggersby do have that gruff construction worker look to them and as someone whose spent a lot of time around construction as a kid, it helps Diggersby's design appeal. It's ears can also LIFT MORE THAN A TON!! Side note.
The Garden Pokémon - #671
Type: Fairy
Say hello the the first Fairy you'll meet in Pokémon X and Y: Florges. It's pre-evolution, Flabebe, is the first Fairy type you'll encounter in the game and evolves from its evolution of Floette into the beautiful Florges via a Shiny Stone. To me, Fairy type truly embodies what a Fairy is: a magical (or in Pokémon's case, a Special) creature using odd moves to beat down foes. Florges is very useful with its high Special Attack stat and massive Special Defense. Florges truly shines in Double and Triple Battles, where its variety of support moves keep allies alive and hinder the opposing team. That plus its simple yet creative design net it this spot.
The Spiny Armor Pokémon - #652
Type: Grass/Fighting
Who wouldn't want a juggernaut on their team?! A good amount of people were upset about Chesnaught's design at first, since so much speculation had already gone into what the 3 starters' final evolutions would become. Chesnaught has always been awesome to me, both through design and playability. Chesnaught plays opposite Florges, since it has bulk in Defense and standard Attack and HP. Although outclassed by some, Chesnaught holds pretty fair in competitive play as well. Despite his 6 weaknesses, Chesnaught has the stats and the moves to last in a battle and in our hearts.
The Wrestling Pokémon - #701
Type: Fighting/Flying
Hawlucha gets points right off the bat for being a combination of Fighting and Flying types. I'm not saying every Pokémon type combination will be good, but there's something about this that just works. His design reflects his type too, taking nods from Native American culture and the Luchador Mexican wrestling style. Because of this, Hawlucha has a more versatile movepool compared to other Fighting types. Hawlucha is also the only Pokémon so far with access to the move Flying Press, which is the only dual type attack in the franchise. Flying Press is a Fighting and Flying type move, same as Hawlucha, and makes using it very interesting as the mix of types in an attack is somewhat cloudy to judge. That's Hawlucha and that's just awesome.
The Overturning Pokémon - #687
Type: Dark/Psychic
Malamar is the another new dual type Pokémon introduced in X and Y. Malamar and its pre-evolution, Inkay, are the only Dark/Psychic Pokémon and it creates a weird combination that can be even weirder to work around. It only has two weakness, but oddly enough it has no resistances and an immunity. As creepy as Malamar is; Inkay steals my heart for its own but Malamar is much more useful. They are exceptional cool thanks to an Ability called Contrary and a signature move they both learn called Topsy-Turvy.
Topsy-Turvy is an awesome Dark-Type move that reverses the target's stat changes. Say your opponent raised their attack with a Swords Dance and then you use this move, their Attack is now weakened instead of being increased. The ability Contrary is what gets me though. Similar to Topsy-Turvy, it reverses stat changes that are done to itself. Your opponent tries to lower one of your stats with a move like Screech or Growl? Thanks to Contrary, they just raised that stat. Malamar also learns Superpower as its final move. A powerful move that lowers Attack and Defense after being used... NOT WITH CONTRARY. Contrary existed in the previous Generation 5, but was a Hidden Ability and hard to achieve. Inkay and Malamar have made Contrary accessible and deserve this spot. You also have to hold your 3DS upside once Inkay hits Level 30 to evolve it... So precious.
The Scorching Pokémon - #663
Type: Fire/Flying
How many of you reading this wouldn't want a hawk that can generate fire?! Talonflame is a very interesting choice, as the Kalo region's 'fodder bird' (like Pidgey, Hoothoot and Pidove). It ranks really high with me and is the only one of these early birds to make it into the useful competitive tier. It's a real breath of fresh air with this one. Let's quickly breakdown the regional birds: Pidgeot is alright and only really gets nostalgia points. Noctowl has pretty useful and pretty bulky. Swellow is just terribly fragile. Staraptor is actually very offense heavy. Unfezant was just... interesting. But Talonflame is awesome. It's also the only regional bird to lose its Normal/Flying typing.
Talonflame broke shrugged off it's stereotypes and began blazing a trail! It has an impressive Attack and even better Special Attack. Up until now, Noctowl was the only one of these birds with decent Sp Atk, and that was because of it had access to Psychic-Type attacks. With Gust as a first Flying move and the now impressive Hurricane as well (both being Special Attacks), Talonflame simply excelled past it's brethren. It also has the best Ability with Gale Wings, an Ability that gives it's Flying-Type moves priority over the opponent.
The Dragon Pokémon - #706
Type: Dragon
Goodra is possibly the cutest Pseudo Legendary Pokémon yet, just beating out Dragonite! A Pseudo Legendary is a creature with a base stat total of 600 and part of a three stage evolutionary line. The others consist of: Dragonite, Tyranitar, Salamence, Metagross, Garchomp and Hydreigon. Goodra was very surprising as a Pseudo. You could catch it's basic form, Goomy, halfway through your journey when you usually have to wait until close to the end to catch a Pokémon from a Pseudo line. Goodra breaks the trend and is super cute while it does it. Goodra is a well rounded Pokémon, just like Dragonite, but it can also take many a hit and deal massive damage. Sold.
The Key Ring Pokémon - #707
Type: Steel/Fairy
Klefki is such a hit or miss with people. I find Klefki's design really intriguing and its moveset cool too. If you've read my past blogs, you'll know I love and know how to use a Sableye and Klefki plays very similar. Compared to its Prankster brother, Klefki is more skilled in stalling the opponent and buffing its own team whereas Sableye eats at away at any enemy. This is the scariest key ring you'll every come across.
The Ninja Pokémon - #658
Type: Water/Dark
Greninja is my angel of darkness. As a person who always (and I mean ALWAYS) picks the Fire-Type starter no matter what, Froakie and Frogadier and Greninja were just too good to pass up. Greninja has great stats, a wide movepool and an awesome design. That's what makes a good Pokémon.
The Royal Sword Pokémon - #681
Type: Steel/Ghost
I defined what makes a Pokémon good with Greninja and Aegislash does it all, but just a little bit better. Hence why it sits at the top of this list. Aegislash is so good and so diverse that it has been banned to the Ubers tier in competitive. It sits in the same tier as Mewtwo and other Legendary Pokémon. It's just that good.
Aegislash's unique typing has only a few holes it can cover quite easily. It also has two forms: Sword Form and Shield Form. It'll start off in Shield Form and will stay that way if you use Status/Support moves. Shield Form boasts a lot of bulk in both Defense and Special Defense with little attack, which is unusable actually. Once it uses an attack, it'll switch into Sword Form where it's attack and defense stats flip around. The only way for Sword Form to switch into Shield is to use Aegislash's signature move called King's Shield. It'll switch and protect itself and also drop the Attack stat of a Pokémon that hits it. There's a good reason Aegislash has been banned to Ubers and there's a good reason that it's won the hearts of so many trainers.
