Judge a Pokémon: Halloweeeen!
| « Previous Article | Home | Next Article » |
Introduction
skylight
It's Halloween. You're probably getting ready to go collect candy. You've already got the perfect costume, and you probably look pretty scary. You might see things out of the corner of your eye tonight. Maybe it's a fellow trick o' treater. Maybe it's just the breeze, right?
Tonight, we will analyze four of the scarier Halloween-based Pokémon. We'll make you wonder what that pumpkin carving could really be and why it's best to avoid that single scary tree on the hill near the house nobody wants to visit. Please welcome back some of our JAP writers: Aurora, Eevee General, and Tikitik. I'll be joining the team this issue as well.
Pumpkaboo
The pumpkin body is inhabited by a spirit trapped in this world. As the sun sets, it becomes restless and active. It is said to carry wandering spirits to the place where they belong so they can move on.
Aurora
Without so much as looking as Pumpkaboo, you can surmise right away that it's probably a cute Pokémon. This is because of the "-boo" suffix that comprises part of its name, which implies that it is absolutely adorable. When you finally realize that it's a more rewarding experience actually looking at something than making assumptions based on the nuances of the English language, Pumpkaboo doesn't disappoint. Coming in four different sizes, meaning quadruple the cute squash cultivar, Pumpkaboo's presence in Game Freak's cash cow ensures that the consumerist nature of Halloween is imparted in as child-friendly a way as possible. It has a heartwarming expression on its face, a lovely muted coloration that does not get in your face nor make you suspect you are developing colorblindness, and tiny little fangs that remind me a little bit of the incisors that reside in my own mouth. Unfortunately, this is all offset by its miserable Pokédex description, which implies that the black part of Pumpkaboo, far from being a chic hairdo, is actually a "spirit trapped in this world". Darn! Hopefully, your innocent, Pokémon-loving child cannot read, lest their captivation by Pumpkaboo's cuteness be shattered.
Eevee General
I'm not typically a fan of holiday-themed Pokémon (I'm looking at you, Delibird), but when Game Freak introduced the first pumpkin Pokémon in XY as an obvious nod to Halloween, I shuddered with anticipation. Pumpkaboo encapsulates the spirit of Halloween without going overboard. Take its curlicue hair that's shaped like a pumpkin stem: simple and adorable. Its jack-o'-lantern eyes and bat-like ears also drive home the theme without oversaturating the execution. The coloring is solid (though I would have preferred a stronger orange for the pumpkin) and its abilities are hilariously apropos. So is it a trick or a treat? Regardless, it's smashing good fun.
Tikitik
This little guy has probably one of my favorite designs out there; it brings the Halloween spirit without overdoing the theme. The ghost body cleverly forms a curled stem, and the carved pumpkin it lives in is an obvious reference; it's certainly a simple but effective concept. Just take a look at the guy: its facial expression makes you think that it just popped out of nowhere and doesn't know what's going on or what is it doing here, so it just continues wandering around, just like the spirits it's carrying within the pumpkin. It must be a real trickster during the Halloween time, though; it just sits there, giving the children an impression that it's just another carved pumpkin, and once they get close enough to admire how beautiful it is, it starts quickly flashing the lights from the pumpkin holes, scaring the kids off.
skylight
Pumpkaboo is my favorite Pokémon. You wouldn't think so with my avatar, signature, website, and IRC name based around Pumpkaboo. But now you know. As you now know that fact, you should also probably know that it is almost a rite of passage for people to draw their favorite Pokémon at least twenty times. In attempting to fulfill my duty to draw Pumpkaboo, I discovered that it would be easier to physically carve a jack-o'-lantern out of a pumpkin than to draw Pumpkaboo. Sure, the bottom half is easy to draw. I'm pretty sure my three-year-old nephew would be able to draw something resembling it (and he's not much of an artist—he's more the fireman type). But the top half? It is unnecessarily complicated. Why do you need to have three "arms"? Why not have just one? I have tried drawing it with just one and it turned out absolutely okay, so why the did the creators of Pumpkaboo insist that it needed three? Even so, no matter what Pumpkaboo looked like, I'd still probably love it. Probably. For now, I'm going let the artists stick to drawing, and I'll stick to worshiping Pumpkaboo for some insane reason.
Gourgeist
Singing in eerie voices, they wander town streets on the night of the new moon. It enwraps its prey in its hairlike arms. It sings joyfully as it observes the suffering of its prey. Anyone who hears their song is cursed.
Aurora
Hopefully, your innocent, Pokémon-loving child is also the only one out of their school friends that plays Pokémon; otherwise, they'd probably accidentally trade their Pumpkaboo and evolve it into this thing. Gourgeist is not what I'd call a pillar of respect. It might not look all bad, what with the smiling expression on its rather bland face, but that angry-looking pumpkin that forms Gourgeist's body is proof that it is not out to join you in your Halloween festivities. As a matter of fact, Gourgeist revels in the idea of you suffering. This is not confined to causing annoyance on the battlefield, where Gourgeist-XL can be a somewhat viable physical wall when playing the lower tiers of competitive Pokémon. According to the Pokédex, Gourgeist loves to sing. Unfortunately, this song curses whoever hears it, so before you go out on Halloween night in what is likely cringeworthy, half-assed garb, you should consider integrating earmuffs into your costume. Who would have thought that even fruits could show sadistic tendencies?
Eevee General
You'd think with its similar styling, Gourgeist would be a shoo-in for second-most-awesome-Halloween-design, but you'd be wrong. While it does capture the fun and flair of Halloween, it takes it to a weird anthropomorphic level that doesn't sit well with me. The candle coming out of the pumpkin is interesting, and the idea to make its hair out of melted wax is clever. However—and this is the smallest feature on all of Gourgeist—the swish of emo hair falling down over one eye turns the design from "cute and corny" to "party city reject." Leave this pumpkin in the patch and go pick another Pumpkaboo instead.
Tikitik
Looking at the evolved form of this festive Pokémon, I can't help but think that it takes away the charm Pumpkaboo used to have. Take a look at the contrasts. The appearance of Pumpkaboo's ghost body stuffed down inside the pumpkin with just its head peeking out is replaced with Gourgeist's long, smooth neck cleverly formed like a candle. It unexpectedly gains this massive amount of peach-colored hair that, at some point down the sides, forms actual limbs. With the changed color scheme, it brings a totally new atmosphere to the table—which is, of course, a good thing, but it's a change that makes me want to rather stick with my good old pumpkin overloaded with cuteness than switch for the long-haired monster.
skylight
Despite being the evolution of my favorite Pokémon, Pumpkaboo, Gourgeist is nothing special. Sure, it looks like a surfer, but what kind of surfer sees a new moon and says, "time for some victims to feel pain from my awful singing"? Other than probably the Beach Boys, no other surfer would bother. Those dudes have waves to catch, not prey. Gourgeist does have a better Pokémon TCG image than Pumpkaboo, though (as seen on the right). That's about all it has on Pumpkaboo, and that's fine, because who would want to trade Pumpkaboo away anyway?
Phantump
According to old tales, these Pokémon are stumps possessed by the spirits of children who died while lost in the forest. They prefer to live in abandoned forests.
Aurora
Phantump is the other cute, spooky plant gracing the sixth generation of Pokémon. Unfortunately, Phantump's backstory is equally as depressing as Pumpkaboo's, as it's apparently the spirit of a lost child that got trapped in a tree stump. When you get past this macabre element, though, Phantump really is an adorable Pokémon. Its big, red eyes and small mouth are hallmark elements of cute creatures, even if they do form a rather sad facial expression, and its tiny arms and lack of legs complete this, even if they do make Phantump look a little vulnerable. Phantump is also quite small, measuring up at a tiny 40 centimeters—even my abnormally small newborn self was larger than that, measuring up at 42 centimeters from head to toe. Out of Phantump and Pumpkaboo, I think Phantump edges out Pumpkaboo in cuteness (and, well, edginess).
Eevee General
If there's one thing we've learned over the years, it's that Pokémon are horrible to people. Maybe it's payback for all the times we made them battle when they didn't want to. Phantump is no different than the rest. It's deceptively cute, with its gnarled tree limb horns and surprised expression. And those harmless little nubs for arms surely couldn't hurt anyone. But no, this fiend leads people who enter its forest astray by mimicking the sound of children's voices. I want to like it, but I can't divorce that knowledge from its design, which, like its rotten stump exterior, is just a facade. Enjoy at your own risk or else curse all ye who enter this wood.
Tikitik
A spirit possessing a certain object. A classic combination for a ghost Pokémon that usually always makes for a great design. At first sight, it instantly gets a point for cuteness from the viewer, with the big oval eyes peeking through the tree stump and the ever-surprised expression. But, after actually thinking about its lore a little bit, who knows what's actually going on in its mind, behind the deceptive cute-ish tree mask? The whole existence of Phantump makes for a series of events that form a circle and keep happening over and over. Essentially, Phantump are spirits of little children who possessed the tree stumps once they passed away after being lost in the forest. Once the stumps are possessed, they begin luring others in the forest by imitating voices of lost kids, leading them into getting lost in the forest as well and at some point dying and having their spirit possess another tree stump. If I consider this sinister scheme Phantump has going on, I just can't think of it as simply a "cute ghostly tree".
skylight
Nothing about Phantump stands out more than its cry. In saying that, I couldn't really describe what it sounds like. I just remember it exists. That's more than I can say for the actual Pokémon. Most of the time, I can't remember its name, so to me Phantump is known as "Trevanant's pre-evo". The thing is, Phantump just works. There's nothing unappealing about it, nor anything really special about it. Given that last generation, Vanillite, Klink, and Trubbish didn't have the best feedback from fans, it's probably a good idea that Phantump is just... Phantump. Forest's Curse looks cool though!
Trevenant
Using its roots as a nervous system, it controls the trees in the forest. It will trap people who harm the forest so they can never leave. It's kind to the Pokémon that reside in its body.
Aurora
Trevenant is a rare example of a Ghost-type with good intentions. If you desecrate its habitat, you will be punished. That's an efficient deterrent. Furthermore, anything that lives in it is treated well. However, Trevenant just takes things way too far. The punishment for desecrating its habitat isn't a fine or a prison sentence. No. It's death. Forget about Smokey Bear—why not Trevenant Tree? All Smokey does is point a shovel at you and sternly rebuke you for screwing with the forest. Trevenant traps you in its habitat until you drop dead. I feel like that sends a much stronger message. Trevenant looks the part, too, with its long, gnarled arms, multiple mouths, and singular red eye acting as a stern warning to all arsonists and illegal loggers alike. Unfortunately, Trevenant is nowhere near as dangerous in battle. There's a reason why I ladder with joke teams under the alt 'Trevenant Fangirl': Trevenant is quite underwhelming in practice, with its full potential in RU being realized only when it holds a Choice Band. At least it looks cool and is considerate of its environment. I wonder if Tony Abbott should have picked up Pokémon while in office. Perhaps he'd have warmed up to Trevenant and adopted its environmental ethos. One can only wonder...
Eevee General
Besides having one of the most badass names in all of Pokémon, Trevenant takes the spooky tree theme planted by Phantump and grows on it to satisfying results. Is it just a tree? Or is it also a cyclops? What about a spider? Why, it's all three! From its pincer-like hands to its mouths formed from the cracks in its bark, every body part is used to good effect to strike terror into the hearts of battlers, Pokémon, and wayward hikers alike. Overall, it's an exemplary representation of a solid concept executed appropriately. "Let's make a haunted tree!" Well done, Game Freak. This tree is spooktacular.
Tikitik
If I was just told to imagine how a massive, haunted tree monster Pokémon would look like, I would probably be doubtful regarding how a concept like that would work well, not ending up as just another boring design. But looking at Trevenant, I would obviously be very, very wrong. This guy just screams awesomeness, and I'm already excited even before getting started to even explain all the cool things it has going on with both its design and personality in general. Just look at it: a big tree standing on six bent roots looking like spider legs, with pincer-like arms and a singular, dark red eye staring through the tree bark. All of these body features contribute to making Trevenant a terrifying creature to be afraid of. And this isn't even the end, seeing as it can even use the spider-like roots as a nervous system to control every other tree in the forest. So, you have a hauntingly scary creature in control of immense power, but despite all that, it still only uses the abilities it has purely for defending the beloved forest. Seeing as it's also surprisingly kind to anything that might nest within its body, you can safely say that Trevenant is a Pokémon with a big heart hidden behind that cold, dark appearance.
skylight
I remember when sketches of Trevenant first appeared. I was incredibly confused. It looked like something out of Harry Potter; how would it find its way to the Pokémon world? My best guess is by posing as Sudowoodo and slipping through the cracks that way. Sudowoodo, on the other hand, is perfect. It might just be the fact that Sudowoodo was rare, but it earned a place in my heart. Trevenant, on the other hand, has earned a place in the nightmares of children across the world. Seriously though, it looks almost too creepy to be a Pokémon. It's as if they forgot that Pokémon was supposed to be aimed at ten-year-olds and instead changed their target audience to the older generation of fans. Game Freak, I appreciate the thought, but no, Trevenant is not my cup of tea... not that I have tea anyway.
Conclusion
skylight
Now you've read Judge-A-Pokémon, it's time to go scare innocent old ladies with your costumes. Oh, you want a fright? Garchomp is going to be suspected next month (for committing the crime of being too popular). Happy Halloween from Smogon!
| « Previous Article | Home | Next Article » |