Judge a Pokémon Express: Edition Three

Codraroll

This form of Exeggutor really stands out, and it has already found its own little niche. It is, to my knowledge, the only Pokémon whose defining feature is its height. True, there are big Pokémon (e.g., Wailord), long Pokémon (e.g., Steelix) and heavy Pokémon (e.g., Metagross), but no Pokémon have so far been as vertically extended as Exeggutor. Even Pokémon's own giraffe, Girafarig, is only 1.5 metres tall.

Apart from its height, though, Alola Exeggutor doesn't really have much going for it. It's debateable whether a regional form difference should change that much about the original design, but with Exeggutor they've clearly been conservative. The heads have moved eight metres or so straight up and been connected to the body via a looooooong neck. The design is balanced out by the addition of a tail, however, with a fourth head on its end. That is a clever move, at least, and I actually think regular Exeggutor would have benefitted from such a tail as well. It would have made it less awkward looking, especially in 3D models. If you study Exeggutor sprites from the Gen 5 games, you will notice that the legs appear to move from Exeggutor's front to its back between the front and back sprites. Exeggutor's legs really only look good when the hips and knees are visible, and it suffered slightly in the transition to 3D, where no such tricks can be used to make it look less awkward from certain angles. The tail sorts out the mess with the legs, and the fourth head seems like a practical way for Alola Exeggutor to communicate with its trainer and sense threats among the undergrowth.

Also, I love that in official art, it seems like at least one of the heads really enjoys the view from so far up high. That look of sheer enjoyment has to be worthy of extra design points.

Codraroll

The pattern covering most of Sandshrew kind of looks like a brick wall. At some point, somebody must have had a look at an uncoloured picture of Sandshrew and remarked "you know, it sort of looks like an igloo..." within earshot of a designer. Cue some whitish blue colour in place of the regular sandy brown, and Ice Sandshrew is a reality.

Actually, there is more to it than that. For some reason, Sandshrew is also part Steel-type. The cynical side of me wonders if this is Game Freak's latest attempt to make an Ice Pokémon fit the typing's assigned stereotype of mighty glaciers, as a slow, defensive Pokémon. Previous attempts haven't yet succeeded despite overwhelming defensive stats, because the type chart seems to disagree with the creature designers. Or the Steel typing could just be an attempt to justify the padding Sandshrew seemingly got after emigrating to the Alolan mountains. This is most notable on Alola Sandshrew's head, which is igloo-shaped, with rounded ears looking like igloo entrances. Alola Sandshrew's back is also well padded, and its feet are slightly shorter and broader than those of its overseas brethren. Way to fluff that igloo likeness.

The overall result is a creature that looks remarkably like a recolored Sandshrew wearing a helmet. Is that a good or bad thing? Well, I think it looks fine enough. It might not be the most original idea ever, but Alola Sandshrew looks every bit as good as the original design did. Actually, if I had to pick a favorite, I'd choose the Alola design. Ground-type Sandshrew is a desert-dwelling Pokémon based on the real-life, desert-dwelling pangolin. Giving Sandshrew an Ice typing takes the pangolin out of its original environment and throws it into something completely different, which is a kind of design philosophy I really like.

Codraroll

It has to be acknowledged, Sandslash's original design is pretty kickass. But the re-typing still did it good. Sandslash is now covered in ice spikes. Its eyes are given what I can only describe as a "frosty glow". And its claws are now longer, sharper, and made of steel. Alola Sandslash could be the offensive Ice-type Pokémon we have all been waiting for, or at least it's a truly menacing-looking fellow.

Upon closer inspection, however, the first impression fades somewhat. The hands and claws now seems a little too oversized. Sandslash has really thin arms, it doesn't look like it could manage to lift those heavy steel claws, nevermind scratching a foe with them. The designers also made a cardinal mistake when they attached the arms to one of the spikes. What sense does that make? Are Sandslash's shoulders frozen inside its own ice? If so, how can it move the joint at all? Or is the ice flexible? Then what is the point of the fricking spikes? It does not look good on the artwork, and it does not look good in motion. The arms look like separate entities, clearly attached in such a way that Sandslash shouldn't be able to move them, and too heavy for it to move even if it could. The horn on Sandslash's forehead doesn't look very good either; originally it could be seen as part of its spiky cover, but when the spikes are transformed into ice the horn looks rather like a third ear.

So yes, the hands are too big, the arms poorly attached to the body, and the horn doesn't serve any purpose anymore. The first impression is still good, though. It seems like the designers had a good idea about what to do with Alola Sandslash, but they went a little overboard and forgot a few crucial details.

Codraroll

I had to compare Alola Vulpix and rest-of-the-world Vulpix side by side to see the differences between them. I mean, the color is obvious, but the two designs are drawn almost identically in official art. Same basic look, same features, identical pose. After laying the pictures on top of one another and switching back and forth, it can be concluded that Alola Vulpix has a slightly bigger head, slightly longer legs, a slightly slimmer neck, and softer tufts of hair. All of those differences could be attributed to a different drawing style, as if the artist has changed his style in the years since FireRed and LeafGreen. As far as re-typings go, I'm sorry to say that Vulpix's is too simple. It is recolored, re-typed, and submitted. That wouldn't even cut it in a Smeargle's Studio amateur contest.

Codraroll

Alola Sandshrew and Sandslash have one thing in common with ordinary Ninetales: they are Pokémon that are based on animals living in a distinct climate, but living in a different climate than the animal does, with a type change to boot. Alola Sandshrew and Sandslash are based on desert-dwelling creatures, reimagined as Ice-types. Ninetales closely resembles an Arctic fox, reimagined as a Fire-type. So it's surprising to see Ninetales return to the cold, snowy setting as an Ice-type Pokémon...

All right, I know Ninetales isn't based on a polar animal. But Alola Ninetales really does resemble one, and it looks perfectly comfortable with an Ice typing. Perhaps it got that typing because its shiny coloration has been bluish white since Gen 2? Whatever the reason, Ninetales looks at home in the new setting.

The cold seems to have messed up Ninetales's fur a little, though. The previously smooth lines of fur now go in every direction at once. It is harder to tell the nine tails apart now, or even to count them. The hair on its head and chest flows even wilder than before. To compensate, the hairless parts of the body are drawn with softer curves than before. Alola Ninetales is more slender and feminine than its overseas counterparts, trading bulk (of which it didn't have much to begin with) for grace (of which it already had plenty). The design is even more beauty-focused than it already was, which I actually think made Ninetales a little too generic. I'm not sure why, but Alola Ninetales gives off a "seen it before" vibe. Then again, it's not like fiery foxes is anything new and original either. I'm actually writing this using one.

Codraroll

So many first impressions upon seeing this. To keep this paragraph within a reasonable word count, I'm just going to list them:

• - Mini Yveltal with ear rings!
• - Shouldn't it be Oricorio Flamenco?
• - This looks like the only Oricorio form that is able to fly.
• - Does it have a curved beak and a round horn, or a curved horn and a round beak? Is it looking straight up or to the side?
• - Honestly, this form is good enough to carry the species. If it were the only form of Oricorio, I'd still call the Pokémon well designed. Good concept, good color scheme, and plenty of character conveyed by the design and pose alone.

Codraroll

This cheerful little fellow has a really impractical design, but it is still cheerful enough to make me overlook it. Okay, the pom-poms would probably be filled with dust and debris within minutes of Oricorio setting foot in a forest, but it's so cheerful. Okay, the pom-poms probably make the wings too heavy for flight, but it's so cheerful. Okay, that posture makes it really imbalanced, but it's so cheerful! Okay, it has a frickin' skirt in place of tail feathers, making flight impossible nonetheless, but it's so cheerful! It looks even better in motion. I can't wait to try it out in the games.

Codraroll

Pa'u Oricorio makes even less biological sense than Oricorio Pom-Pom, and it doesn't even have cheerfulness to fall back on. Instead, it looks sleepy or even drugged. That immediately flips my "biologic perspective" switch back towards realism. To start off, this Oricorio form mostly looks like a penguin, with that posture and largely featherless wings and all, but it retains the thin, spindly legs of the other forms. Hello imbalance. The skirt and head crest looks rather impractical too. I mean, it looks decent enough when Oricorio is standing there, dancing, but in any other situation they'd both be in the way. Eating? Nest building? Breeding? Moving around? Oricorio Pa'u is clearly designed with one and only one situation in mind: standing there, doing its dance. As soon as you begin to imagine it doing anything else, the elegance of the design immediately fades. At least it subverts the common cliché, in that it doesn't carry a lei.

Codraroll

Like the Baile style, Sensu style tends towards a more realistic design. I don't know anything about Eastern eastern dancing styles, but I guess there's something about fan dances that don't require as much deviation from an avian design base. Oricorio Sensu almost looks capable of flying, although the wing tip fans and head crest would probably hamper that ability. At least it has proper tail feathers.

Codraroll

I think Oricorio is a rather well-designed Pokémon, with four distinct formes that all incorporate dancing in their design with varying degrees of great success. I find the "one Pokémon, four typings" approach quite creative, with suitable color schemes to boot. While I think Oricorio will fully remain a Gen 7 design, I wouldn't mind seeing more formes of it in future games. As a Norwegian, I'd particularly enjoy Oricorio Halling—a little black-and-white bird specializing in kicking a hat off a stick. It's exactly as ridiculous as it sounds.

Codraroll

Oh, look, it's those guys from Super Mario Galaxy! OK, while its resemblance to a Luma or a Star Candy is superficial at best, Minior would have looked right at home in those games. It resembles a meteor and a piñata at the same time, since it comes in different colors, but you have to knock its HP down to see which color hides underneath. That's an original concept, at least!

Other than that, I don't really know what to say about Minior. It's a rock in its shielded form, a generic star creature when unshielded. Time will tell what other secrets the design may hide.

Codraroll

Oh, the jokes. If you thought Yungoos resembled a certain controversial politician, Gumshoos delivered a worthy follow-up. Actually, you can call it "just more of the same". You see, at its core, Gumshoos is like a bigger Yungoos. The same design that evokes the same jokes, only bigger and in a different pose. Put Yungoos and Gumshoos next to each other in the same pose, and the similarities would be rather glaring.

That being said, Gumshoos's design works well with its stock pose. While Yungoos is a fierce predator, patrolling an area to seek out prey, Gumshoos is more of a patient trapper. An old and experienced veteran that has learnt that prey will come to the right spot sooner or later. A good pose can tell a story by itself, and Gumshoos's definitely delivers, despite its design being functionally identical to that of Yungoos (though, to be fair, sporting a distinct goatee). Pokémon such as Garbodor and Bewear have a thing to learn from Gumshoos's nice posing work.

Codraroll

Seeing Fomantis for the first time, my initial thought was "wait, haven't I seen that before?" A mostly green, pure Grass-type standing upright, with a vaguely bulb-shaped head, a white face with red eyes but no nose or mouth, a three-leafed clover collar, and a disproportionally tiny body. Indeed, Fomantis has many things in common with Petilil. There are, however, enough differences to set the two apart. Fomantis has a more defined design below the neck, with a pair of arms (albeit probably useless—too thin and flat to have any muscles or dexterity) and a larger body with a hint of legs.

I'm pleasantly surprised by Fomantis's color scheme. The pink stands in nice contrast to the green, and the white keeps the two from clashing. While Fomantis doesn't resemble an orchid that much, it certainly evokes the image, and is a nice setup for its evolution's design.

Codraroll

Like its evolutionary little brother, Lurantis seems familiar at first glance. As stated above, I see a lot of Petilil in Fomantis, but Lurantis is harder to place. The head has hints of both Floette and Mesprit, but it doesn't really resemble either. Is that Leavanny I see in its pose? Nope, they look nothing alike. It shares the concept of claw arms and wings with Scyther, but it has none of the ferocity. Despite reminding me of a half-dozen other Pokémon, Lurantis doesn't really resemble any of them. Perhaps it only shares qualities with the designs we've grown to love over the years? Because I've found I actually like Lurantis already.

The design basis is elegant too. Lurantis is based on an orchid mantis, which, as the name implies, is a mantis camouflaging as an orchid. However, Lurantis goes the other way: it's an orchid camouflaging as a mantis. Or rather, an orchid camouflaging as a mantis camouflaging as an orchid. I'm not sure if that even makes sense, especially when you consider that Lurantis has many mantis-like qualities despite being an orchid, since it's a Pokémon and all, where flowers can move. Why not just be a mantis camouflaging as an orchid, then? Or perhaps it's Game Freak's first pure Grass-type bug-based Pokémon...

...you know what, screw the design basis, I've got a headache. Let's just conclude that Lurantis has nice pants and move on.

Codraroll

When I was asked to review Mudsdale at the last Judge A Pokémon Express panel, I concluded that it's a generic design made good by all the bells and whistles attached to it. Mudsdale is, at its core, rather identical with your common generic cartoon horse. However, it has a large, muddy mane, a muddy tail, and muddy hooves that together add enough padding to make the design unique and Pokémon-y. Mudbray, however, is a generic donkey—and that's it. Sans the extra padding, the generic animal underneath is exposed. It looks almost naked for a Pokémon, it has very little to differentiate it from its real-world counterpart.

That is, apart from its eyes. And my, are those eyes... something. Either, they are incredibly large, to a proportion only seen in deep-sea fish, or small, oval and totally black. Either way, they look creepy as heck, and I can't help but wonder if Mudbray is supposed to be blind.

Also, a generic design is rewarded with my generic complaint: the head is too large for the body. True, Mudbray is no Fennekin, but it still looks like it would have to devote a large portion of its muscle strength to keep itself from planting its muzzle in the mud every time it turns its head, or comes to a stop after a mild trot.