10 of My Favourite Pokémon

Okay, so I’ve been kinda planning to do this for a long time, but for some reason or another I haven’t really gotten to it. So today I decided “Well, the IXA spotlight was actually something I’d been working on and off of for months now, so I really wanna get a brand new post up today”, so what the hell. Here are 10 of my favourite Pokémon of all time, so let’s go ahead and get the most obvious one out of the way first…

#061 Poliwhirl

C’mon, you knew this was coming. What’s funny about this though is that not only is he my favourite, he’s Satoshi Tajiri‘s favourite, AND we both have Asperger’s Syndrome. So yeah, kinda surreal. But yeah, there’s just something about the design that’s so cute, and of course the one you see on my show, while possessing something of an attitude, is super cute and cuddly…just so long as you don’t think too much about the swirly pattern being his intestines.

Favourite moves: Surf, Ice Punch, Body Slam, Scald, Waterfall, Psychic, Ice Beam, Belly Drum, Rain Dance, Dig, Earthquake

#587 Emolga

I’ve mentioned before that this little guy is just ADORABLE to me. It’s also a speedy bugger, and while it’s not the fastest of all time, it is one of the fastest non-Legendary Pokémon to never evolve. Hell, it’s faster than Raichu and Volcarona. Its biggest issue, as I’ve brought up before, is dealing with Ice and Rock type Pokémon, but if you can find a way around that, Emolga can be really great.

Favourite moves: Acrobatics, Thunder Wave, Flash, Hidden Power (Fighting or Steel), Electro Ball, Thunder, Rain Dance, Charm

#609 Chandelure

I can’t believe I need to give a reason for this, but here it is: Chandelure has the best damned Special Attack stat of any non-Legendary Pokémon, bar none. And as a side-note, my Chandelure in my Pokémon Black game has a nature that further encourages Special Attack growth. Cha-CHING! XD Also, it has a creepy/awesome design, and a unique typing. And with Shadow Tag, opponents can’t even flee in terror. Highly recommended for almost any team.

Favourite moves: Flamethrower, Hex, Energy Ball, Sunny Day, Solar Beam, Confuse Ray, Psychic, Shadow Ball, Heat Wave, Toxic, Calm Mind, Will-O-Wisp, Hidden Power (Bug or Fighting)

#025 Pikachu

Yeah, you knew I couldn’t do a list like this without adding arguably the most popular Pokémon of all time, right? Here’s the thing though, while no Pikachu in the games will be as big of a badass as the one in the show, not even Red’s, it can still be pretty flipping awesome. You don’t wanna put it against Legendaries or even pseudo-Legendaries, but otherwise it can likely hold its own fine. The worst mistake you can make though is to expect it to be awesome just because it’s Pikachu. You need to be careful and tactical or it will go down easy.

Favourite moves: ExtremeSpeed, Volt Tackle, Thunderbolt, Brick Break, Grass Knot, Dig, Thunder, Rain Dance, Fake Out, Thunder Wave, Electro Ball, Charm, Wish, Tickle, Signal Beam, Magnet Rise

#546 Cottonee

This little guy is so deceptively deadly, it’s insane. With Prankster as its ability, status attacks get priority, and if it holds Eviolite, its defences surpass its evolved form’s defences. Now even with that improvement, it will likely go down with a well-enough placed hit, but the opponent will be feeling the damage it lands for a long time. This is a true story, I took on an opponent with 5 Legendaries and a Serperior in a Triple Battle and my lead Pokémon were Cottonee, Emolga, and Tyranitar. Because Emolga and Cottonee were fast enough to get in some really good status moves, and with Tyranitar backing them up, even though they eventually fell, the battle was already mine due to the damage I’d done. And the day I figure out how to get that video online, I can’t wait to show it off to everybody.

Favourite moves: Toxic, Leech Seed, Charm, Substitute, Cotton Guard, Attract, Swagger, Tailwind, Tickle

#392 Infernape

Son Wukong as a Pokémon, you better believe this is an ass-kicker. If you need to know why Infernape is such a badass, watch Ash vs Paul at the Sinnoh League (or my three-part review of it). Now of course that’s the anime. In the game…it’s still a badass. Of all three Starter Pokémon to evolve into Fire/Fighting types, this is the best in my opinion. If you asked me “Of all the starter Pokémon, which would you choose to begin your journey with?”, it’d likely be either this one or the next in my list.

Favourite moves: Flamethrower, Mach Punch, Fire Punch, ThunderPunch, Shadow Claw, Blast Burn, Stealth Rock, Dual Chop, Fake Out, Grass Knot

#260 Swampert

The fully-evolved Starter Pokémon with the highest base stats of all others, Swampert is a fucking tank. It absorbs damage like a sponge, and isn’t exactly a slouch when it comes to dishing some out in rebuttal. The only things it really needs to worry about are Grass type Pokémon and Pokémon that are just a lot faster than it that can use good status moves. So, probably don’t wanna put it against Cottonee.

Favourite moves: Surf, Muddy Water, Earthquake, Stealth Rock, Earth Power, Ice Beam, Ice Punch, Superpower, Mirror Coat, Counter, Avalanche, Protect, Scald, Waterfall

#303 Mawile

This is another one that found herself on my 10 Pokémon That Got The Shaft list, but I wanted to include Mawile here too because I really do love her design. It’s so cute and so menacing at the same time, it’s amazing. I hope that if/when Game Freak gives Mawile an evolved form, that it keeps that motif.

Favourite moves: Iron Head, Fire Fang, Brick Break, Stone Edge, Ice Fang, Thunder Fang, ThunderPunch, Ice Punch, Magnet Rise

#468 Togekiss

Togekiss is just awesome. Probably the best Normal/Flying type, or at least one of them. It has an awesome attack that takes out two of its three weaknesses. Otherwise, has an awesome movepool to take on a vast array of opponents, and has really good HP, special attack, and special defence. The only thing it kinda sucks at is physical attack, but it knows some high powered physical moves, so that kinda balances that out, but for the love of crap, don’t get a Togekiss with Hustle if you can help it. The negative far outweighs the positive in my opinion, and the other two abilities are way better.

Favourite moves: Aura Sphere, Air Slash, Yawn, Dream Eater, Thunder Wave, Shadow Ball, Future Sight, Psyshock, Hidden Power (Ground), Hyper Beam, Flamethrower, Hyper Voice

#530 Excadrill

This is another tank, and one that is kinda cheap in its awesometasticness. It has great typing, it runs with just about any kind of Sandstorm team, and it has an awesome physical sweeper moveset. Here’s a question though: Why the flying fuck would you EVER teach it Focus Blast?! The one thing it should NEVER do is try to be a special sweeper, and Focus Blast only hits once in a blue moon anyway! Seriously Iris, YOU FAIL!

Favourite moves: Drill Run, Sandstorm, Stone Edge, Iron Head, Metal Claw, Stealth Rock, Aerial Ace, Earthquake, Swords Dance, Brick Break, X-Scissor, Shadow Claw

And those are 10 of my favourite Pokémon. I may do another 10 someday, but for now, feel free to discuss your own favourites. Ja ne!

Kamen Rider Spotlight: Kamen Rider IXA

Well, time for another instalment of the Kamen Rider Spotlight, and for our second Rider, I’m taking a look at one of my all-time favourites, Kamen Rider IXA. Also, I noted that in the past, I hadn’t spent a lot of time covering the additional weapons and vehicles of Kamen Riders, so I will attempt to make up for that in this and future Spotlights.

“Fangaia… Sono inochi, Kami ni kaeshinasai!”

IXA was the secondary Rider from Kamen Rider Kiva‘s season. Unlike most Riders, a number of people have become IXA over time, including the Wolfen Jiro, Kiva’s father Otoya, Fangire Hunter Yuri Aso, the Lion Fangire Rook, the Spider Fangire Ryo Itoya, Yuri’s daughter Megumi, and Fangire Hunter Kengo Eritate. However, the primary user of the IXA System throughout the show was Keisuke Nago, who at first battles against Kiva until learning his true identity and seeing him as an ally in protecting humanity.

“RED-DI-I! FIS-SU-TO ON-N!”

The IXA System is operated with the IXA Belt and IXA Knuckle. By first pressing the Knuckle to another part of their body (Nago typically pressed it in the palm of his other hand) and then sliding it into place on the Belt, a projection of the armour appears in front of the user’s body and then overlaps it, materializing over them.

http://nagoixa.deviantart.com/art/Nago-Keisuke-Henshin-IXA-164482176

IXA only has three forms that are seen. The basic, original form is known as Save Mode. Back when IXA was still in the prototype stages, Save Mode was all it had, and it kinda blew. Steam would burst out for no reason, the thing constantly beeped, and it could actually harm the user. These problems would later be fixed as the system underwent upgrades over the years to the point that it also received it’s next form, Burst Mode. Like Kiva, it comes with a Fuestle that unlocks additional power. The Knuckle Fuestle allows IXA to use his primary finishing move with the IXA Knuckle called the Broken Fang.

Burst Mode is so named because it sends of a wave of intense heat that damages everything in the immediate area. It also gives slight upgrades to all areas that Save Mode usually gives increases to. He’s also armed with several more Fuestles, some of which actually allow him to borrow or even outright steal Kiva’s weapons. He also comes equipped with the IXA Calibur, a high powered gun that turns into a sword, because as we all know, guns that turn into swords and vice versa are frigging awesome. His finisher is a high-powered slash called the IXA Judgement.

As is the case with nearly every other Rider in existence, IXA has his own motorcycle. The IXAlion is modified from a Honda CBR1000RR and possesses a max speed of 753 km/h. But if you’re more the type that likes combat vehicles, IXA doesn’t leave you disappointed there either.

Anybody ever played the crane game?

The Powerd Ixer is a massive dragon-like crane on wheels. It was originally designed to combat the massive Sabbats or Kiva’s Castle Doran, but has since proven to be a helpful ally to Castle Doran in combat. It flings enemies around, can toss massive orbs at targets, or can even lob IXA himself at opponents for a high-powered Rider Kick.

RI-U-SIN-GU I-KU-SA!

But when all else fails, IXA has one final trick hidden up his sleeve, or rather his mouth-plate: The IXA Riser, a cellphone that turns into a gun and can also transform IXA into his final form, Rising IXA. This pumps IXA up to maximum strength, able to stand up to the strongest of opponents. Before the end of the series, IXA received a final upgrade that allowed him to bypass his other forms and go straight to Rising IXA, as the enemies were growing too numerous and too powerful for his weaker forms. The IXA Riser grants him his new finisher, a massive shot of energy called the Final Rising Blast. The only downside is that the finisher has one hell of a recoil, knocking IXA on his ass and cancelling out the transformation. IXA later managed to brace himself properly, but until then learned to vault himself off a nearby wall and follow the blast up with a Rider Kick.

As mentioned before, IXA is not locked down to a single chosen user and can technically be used by anyone. Because of that, it means that the one using it has to be stronger, faster, smarter, wiser, and more humane than any other in order to prove he is the one best suited for it, the one true Kamen Rider IXA.

Well, that’s all for this edition of Kamen Rider Spotlight, and I’ll see y’all next time. Ja ne!