Pokémon Ultra Sun Review – Part 2: Akala Island

So last time we looked at the events of Melemele Island, the good, and the bad.  However, the island ended off on a good note on one of the game’s most unique new additions, the Mantine Surf minigame.

 

On Akala Island I found some good parts, some bad parts and some really samey copy/pasted parts. It was on this island that my team for the game began to take shape and I had decided to try all new Pokémon at this point. I’d gone from a Rowlet to an interesting mish-mash of Pokémon I’d never even considered using before – even if some of those were sneakily transferred over from Pokémon Sun via PokéBank. My justification of this was the game was already being samey enough I may as well throw a curveball and shake up the game a bit.

My team at the start of Akala Island

So, much like last time I will list my good points and my bad points of this island and try to explain my reasoning of each part.  I will be comparing this game to Pokémon Sun because it is a retelling of the story and like all interpretations should stand up to the original or even improve upon it.

 

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Good Points:

1. Mallow’s Trial

   

   Trial Captain Mallow

In Sun & Moon I wasn’t a huge fan of Mallow’s Grass type Island Trial in the Lush Jungle.  In Ultra Sun I found myself quite liking it.  It felt like the Lush Jungle was bursting at the seems with wild and interesting Pokémon and having a chance to interact with them in a game of chance added a slight hint of tension to it.  If you picked the wrong item that a wild Pokémon had its eye on, it would come and fight you for it just before the Totem arrived so the pressure was on to get them right.  I got one right and had to fight two Fomantis before the Totem Lurantis came.

 

2. Totem Lurantis

It was a beast in Pokémon Sun, it was a monster in Pokémon Ultra Sun.  I actually lost to this thing the first time I fought it.  It’s the only time I lost to a Totem Pokémon in Sun, Moon and Ultra Sun up to that point and it brought back that drive to progress in this game and take it down. That difficulty spike I mentioned in part 1? It reared its head again here, and it was very welcome.

 

3. Kaiwe’s Trial

   

   Trial Captain Kaiwe

While this happens before Mallow’s Trial I have it after that in my notes, so I’ll go with that.  In Sun, Kaiwe’s Trial was a light-hearted pain in the back end.  The dancing Alolan Marowak always seemed to jumble around for me and I could never get the right differences between them.  In Ultra Sun I got all of them right first try and it made me feel more accomplished, that I’d grown more observant since last time.  The Trial itself was very samey though.  Totem Marowak provided some challenge though.

 

4. Ultra Recon Squad

As I said last time, when this game tries to be its own thing and not just copy/pasting Sun & Moon, it’s actually really good.  Better than Sun & Moon in some accounts – it’s just a shame this is the 3rd time I’ve sat through it this year. When we encounter the Ultra Recon Squad on Akala Island they battle us with a Pokémon from their world – a Piopole.  In the lead up to these games this new Pokémon had gone completely over my head so I had no idea it existed.  I freaked out a little with glee. That was the most fun moment of the game at that point.

 

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Bad Points:

1. Character Development

One thing I was sad about missing out on in this game was the boat ride to Akala Island with Hau & Lillie. In Pokémon Sun there was an exciting cutscene showing their journey and setting up the characters you’d be going through the game with a bit more.  It was a nice little cinematic that established a friendship between you, Hau & Lillie.  It was cut from this game in favour of introducing the Mantine Surf but I won’t complain about it too much because it’s only a small detail that was replaced with a fun and exciting new minigame.

 

2. The Zygarde Cell Quest – Or Lack Of

When we arrive in HeaHea City we’re approached by Dexio and… *Googles* Sina who challenge us to a battle.  At this point in Sun & Moon they give us a Zygarde Cube and tell us to collect the Zygon Cells to give us a side-quest that goes on for most of the game. This time, however, the entire Zygarde Cell collection side-quest is taken out of the game and replaced with a Totem Sticker quest, which just made their appearance in this time a bit pointless.  Furthermore it makes the Zygarde Cell quest in Sun & Moon seem unnecessary and redundant.

 

3. Lana’s Trial

   

   Trial Captain Lana

Tried to be different, was slightly different, didn’t work as well as in Sun & Moon.  Still interesting though. Totem Aquaranid didn’t fit the scene as much as Totem Wishiwashi.  Of all the Totem changes in these games this was the most unfitting.

 

4. Too Much Exposition

When you’ve beaten Mallow’s Trial you are required to return to HeaHea City for the biggest exposition dump of the game.  In Sun it was interesting and I enjoyed reading it.  In Moon it dragged on a bit but I was still engaged enough to be reminded of everything that had happened so far.  In Ultra Sun I spammed the A button until I stopped seeing text screens and was allowed to leave the building.  There was nothing different to the other two games and it seemed never ending.

 

5. Olivia’s “Grand” Trial

   

   Kahuna Olivia

Imagine this, you’re the top of the leader board in your home town.  Everyone who comes there to win a challenge has to go through you to proceed on their journey.  What do you bring with you to have in your team? If you said a Lilleep, an Anorith and a Lycanroc get out. Lycanroc, fair enough, it’s a good showcase Pokémon for the 7th Generation… But Lilleep and Anorith? Really? In a Grand Trial? Talk about a disappointment. I JUST defeated a hard-as-nails Lurantis and now I have to take on a Lilleep and an Anorith. That’s progressive.

 

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So on that rather disappointing note Akala is mostly exactly the same in both tellings of the Alolan story.  There are a few new differences but nothing big enough or different enough for me to justify saying that it felt like I was playing an intentionally different game.

 

By the time I defeated Totem Lurantis and knew I then had to go to HeaHea City and sit through a load of exposition for the rest of the Island I kind of game up on the game for a couple of weeks.  If I played it, it was only for a few minutes and then had to stop again.  I knew I had to get through it to proceed with the game for this review but I wasn’t looking forward to it whatsoever.  I eventually forced myself to sit through it and meekly trailed off to the Aether paradise to sit through that mountain of exposition which was exactly the same as Sun & Moon’s mountain, even down to setting Lusamine up as the villain and battling Nihilego before meekly being dragged along to Ula’Ula Island.

 

I include to visit to the Aether Paradise here because there would be no point whatsoever in making a review part for that and that alone so there it is.

My team by the end of the Aether Foundation visit

Pokémon Ultra Sun – Part 2: Akala Island gets another 4/10.

 

Until next time when we take on Ula’Ula Island,

The Spectacled Observer.

Pokémon Ultra Sun Review – Part 1: Melemele Island

The cover of Pokémon Ultra Sun

So on November 17th 2017 the newest main series Pokémon games were released.  Pokémon Ultra Sun and Pokémon Ultra Moon.  The 2nd additions to the 7th generation of Pokémon main series media.  These titles had something different in store though.  In a similar vein to Generations 2, 3 and 4, Generation 7’s latter games were “Perfected versions” of the games prior.  Generation 3 had Ruby, Sapphire and then perfected the story of those two with Emerald, for example.  Ultra Sun & Ultra Moon are the “Perfected versions” of Pokémon Sun & Pokémon Moon released in 2016.  Nearly 8 years after the last time we had a “Perfected version” game in Generation 4’s Pokémon Platinum.  It was once the tradition of the main series of Pokémon games to have the third version of the story but in the most recent games, Ultra Sun & Ultra Moon acted as the 3rd & 4th versions of the Sun & Moon storyline.

If that made sense, well done, it’s a strange one to explain.  Anyway, when Pokémon Ultra Sun & Pokémon Ultra Moon were announced at the beginning of last year I was excited.  I hoped they’d follow the example of Generation 5 and have them be direct sequels to Pokémon Sun & Pokémon Moon (Just like Generation 5’s Black/White & Black2/White2) but it was revealed shortly after that the new games would be an “Alternate telling” of the events of Pokémon Sun & Moon.  I freely admit I was slightly disappointed by this as when main series Pokémon games do direct sequels they tend to be fan favourites (example: Gold/Silver/Crystal) but I was willing to give these new game’s the benefit of the doubt.  It was entirely possible that an “alternate telling” could be radically different enough to feel like a brand new game and now just another version of Sun & Moon.

When release day came I awaited patiently for the post to arrive and then it happened.  I tore the packaging open and there it was, Pokémon Ultra Sun in all its glory.  I booted it up and began playing.  My heart sinking slowly as I progressed through the exact same story points that Sun & Moon had began with. Being the optimist I went on believing the game would diverge from the Sun/Moon themed railroad and move on to be its own thing. 

I decided to begin taking notes of things I liked and disliked in order to make a review for this blog but as I progressed I decided this would be better as a miniseries of reviews.  Each part focusing on the events of each of the four (technically five, or even 6) islands of the Alola region. So, this is part one of however many parts that I require for this review – Melemele Island.

Aside from a few differences Melemele Island of US/UM is very similar to the Melemele Island of S/M.  From here I will list my good points, then my bad points and try to explain my feelings toward them as best I can.

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Good Points:

 

1. The Ultra Recon Squad:

As I was playing I was getting more and more nervous that this was just Sun & Moon again with new things thrown on at the end and then the Ultra Recon Squad showed up.  It was nice to have something at least a bit different at that point as I’d already played the events of the game twice already in completely different titles. They weren’t in it for long though, which disheartened me and enforced my hypothesis that all the new stuff would just be crammed on at the end.

 

2. Totem Gumshoos:

I don’t know why, but I found the Totem Gumshoos really hard and only won by the very marginal amount of HP I had left on my last party member.  It was nice to have a challenge in a Pokémon game again – though it may have just been because I was under-levelled from trying to get through Melemele Island as fast as possible.

 

3. Difficulty Harder Than Sun & Moon(?)

I’m not sure of the truth of this, but in the early game it felt as if it were harder than Sun & Moon, akin to the difficulty spike of Generation 5’s Black 2/White 2 sequels.  It made me remember when effort was put into a sequel to a main series Pokémon game.

 

4: Rotom Dex:

Early in the game the Rotom PokéDex seemed to interact with you.  It’d ask you questions and seem like a travelling companion you’d share your journey with.  It was something a bit different and interesting but it seemed to fizzle out after Melemele Island.  Fun while it lasted, I guess.

 

5. Mantine Surf

Finally, something substantial that is also new! At the very end of Melemele Island you seem to be given the illusion of a choice: Take the boat to Akala Island with Lillie and Professor Kukui, or partake in a Mantine Surf contest against Hau to reach Akala Island that way.  An illusion of a choice because it seemed obvious to me whether I picked the Mantine Surf or not I’d end up being railroaded into it.  So I hopped on my Mantine and surfed through the crashing waves of the Alola region doing flips and tricks the entire way.  It was a fun little minigame that fit very well with Alola’s Hawaiian/tropical theme and I loved seeing the distant Akala Island grow closer and closer with each stunt.  An approaching view that offered me hope I’d find something new on the next leg of my third time around the Alola Region in less than a year.

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Bad Points:

1. The Characters

I can kind of understand this one because Kukui, Hau & Lillie’s stories are the same as Sun & Moon to this point and have yet to diverge from the Sun & Moon version of events, but if this is an alternate version of the characters they COULD be different.  Hau could be less happy-go-lucky, Lillie could be a trainer in some way, etc.  Just small things that could have made the game at least FEEL different from the get-go.  They didn’t even have different designs.  I think this cemented the feeling of “This is exactly the same” for me more than anything else. Especially when your character had a different style than in Sun & Moon.

 

2. Your Character:

One of the things I disliked most about the original Sun & Moon was my character.  I’ve seen this complaint a lot so I won’t linger on it.  You show no emotion whatsoever no matter what happens outside of a goofy grin.  No matter the circumstances going on around you, you just smile blindly and it’s really, REALLY distracting.

 

3. The Trial:

It was exactly the same and it was at this point I was certain the only changes I’d find for the first half of the game would be menial and barely worth noting down.

 

4. Customization:

Blocking off certain customizable options on which version of the game you have and how far you’ve progressed through the game is a unique idea on paper but it’s rarely appreciated in practise.  Generation 6’s Pokémon X and Y had full customization and wasn’t severely hindered like it was in Generation 7. I don’t understand why wine red hair can only be unlocked in the post-game. It was annoying in Sun & Moon and it was even more annoying they didn’t do anything different in Ultra Sun & Ultra Moon.  I also found the hair styles you began with to be the best options available.

 

5. The Grand Trial

The difficulty spike I had suspected in the early half of this island was shattered when I reached the Island’s Grand Trial against Hala. With a party consisting of three Flying type Pokémon against his Fighting type Pokémon the battle was over with before I could let out a sign of dissatisfaction. And the difficulty spike was never seen or heard from again. It was also the exact same as Pokémon Sun & Moon’s.

 

6. The Pokémon/Trainer Photo Club Minigame

   

   Pokémon Photo Club

After the Grand Trial, or before, I can’t recall, I was railroaded to the new Pokémon Photo Club.  It was alright.  Killed the pacing and extended my stay on this island a little longer.  Not exactly the innovative new feature that was promised though. I found myself never returning to continue playing this minigame, unlike Mantine Surf.  Shame really as this minigame showed at least some potential in the lead up to the game’s release.

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Ultimately I was a little underwhelmed by Melemele Island in Pokémon Ultra Sun.  I understand it is a retelling, but it is because of it is a retelling I compare it to their predecessors.  You may think it’s unfair to compare Pokémon Ultra Sun to Pokémon Sun but this was the angle Nintendo were aiming for when they announced they would be retellings so I see no reason why NOT to compare the two.

 

Melemele Island in Pokémon Sun was a fantastic way to introduce us to the Alola region and its unique customs and scenery.  It had colourful characters and an interesting set up as you learned the new rules and meet all the newly introduced Pokémon, as well as encountering some old favourites along the way.

 

Melemele Island in Pokémon Ultra Sun is exactly the same.  And that’s the problem with it. It plays it safe.  Too safe.  Pokémon Ultra Sun came out just under a year after Pokémon Sun and Pokémon Moon, so there hasn’t been enough time for the dust of those games to settle or to forget some of the more unique aspects of those games. When Ultra Sun is trying to be its own thing with the Mantine Surf & the different way to encounter your starter – moments that visually took effort to make and weren’t just copied and pasted were excellent and I really enjoyed them.  It’s just a shame those new things only amounted to about 33% of the first act of the game.

 

Pokémon Ultra Sun – Part One: Melemele Island gets a 4/10.

 

I intend to do these reviews for each of the other three islands of the Alola region, and then perhaps one for the Aether Foundation and another for the post-game when battling Team Rainbow Rocket. As for release times of these review parts, I have no idea.  One a month perhaps? Or whenever I get time? Or every week? Who knows, stay tuned though, because next time we’re off to Akala Island.

 

Until next time,

The Spectacled Observer. 🙂

My Cinema Trips of 2017

Hello and welcome to 2018! Hope you had a fun week doing whatever it is you’ve been doing but it’s back to the usual routine now, I suppose.  Don’t be sad, it’ll be Christmas again in 356 days.

 

2017 was an interesting year for film, so I was wondering, if I could sum up my thoughts on each film I’d seen in the cinema that year, it might do for a blog entry, don’t you think?

 

I’ll go in chronological order of when I saw them and I may as well date it too, ey? So, let’s get started!

 

1. A Monster Calls – 7th January

A deep exploration of a young boy’s mind in turmoil.  It was interesting to see the way the story panned out over the duration of the film and the acting from every one involved was simply top notch.  Even if it did lose itself a bit in its own narrative toward the end

Rating then: 9/10

Rating now: 8/10

 

2. The Lego Batman Movie – 18th February

Fun, Lego action with everyone’s favourite overrated mental patient, Batman.  A good story in its own right, as its own thing and still gets quite a few laughs out of me but I feel the very climax of the film was a bit of a let down.  Hold hands to stop Gotham tearing in half? Really? It’s fine, it’s fine! It’s a kid’s film after all and there is a level of suspension of disbelief to take into consideration.

Rating then: 10/10

Rating now: 8/10

 

3. Logan – 2nd March

Hugh Jackman’s swansong (Maybe) Wolverine escapade.  A dark, gritty and realistic portrayal of the final days of the mutants.  Logan is one of those films that people will be talking about for a long time – and it earned that recognition.  Some say it’s bad, some say it’s a masterpiece.  I’m in the middle.  It’s a really well made film, but it was too drastic a change from the X-Men franchise.  Personal opinion, don’t torture me.  Seeing the Charles Xavier in the silo  having gone mad at the start hurt my childhood though.

Rating then: 9/10

Rating now: 7/10

 

4. The Great Wall – 7th March

One of those whitewashed films that was doomed to fail.  It was alright I guess.  Nothing to write home about, but fun enough to watch if you just want to switch off for a couple of hours and watch some urban historic fantasy.

Rating then: 6/10

Rating now: 6/10

 

5. Guardians of the Galaxy: Vol 2 – 29th April

The Guardians of the Galaxy return in my most anticipated sequel of the year, and proved to be ever so slightly disappointing.  It was great and I loved it, but the first one is still my preferred venture.  I think splitting the team up for so long is to blame for my preference of the first, but I enjoyed the two intertwining stories told throughout and Ego is by far easily one of the best villains of the Marvel Cinematic Universe so far.  Can’t wait for Infinity War though.

Rating then: 8/10

Rating now: 8/10

 

6. Wonder Woman – 11th June

With the advent of the Justice League monstricity, Wonder Woman stands as a beaming light of what a DC film could be.  By no means the best film of the year but definitely earned a spot in the top 5 of a lot of fans’ lists.  The trench scene alone perfectly captures Wonder Woman and showed an audience how little modern superhero films focus on actually actively going out of the way to save people.

Rating then: 9/10

Rating now: 8/10

 

7. Spider-Man: Homecoming – 8th July & 11th July

Saw this film twice, actually.  Easily the nest of the three MCU films to be released in 2017 as it once again focused on the littler stories.  No world-ending disaster plot or subjugation for all mankind. First time I went to see it the cinema ticket cut of “Spi” and “Home” so on the ticket it looked like I was going to see Der-Man Coming.  It has been referred to by that name ever since.

Rating then: 8/10

Rating now: 8/10

 

8. Kingsman: The Golden Circle – 23rd September

Elton John.  Enough said.  What a great adventure from start to finish.  It was funny, sad and engaging all at the same time.  Though the start was a little too trigger happy with established characters in order to shoehorn in the American version. Elton John though.

Rating then: 8/10

Rating now: Not out on DVD yet so would be unfair to judge *Sad face*

 

9. Thor: Ragnarok – 28th October

The weakest of the three MCU films this year, for me.  It was great fun and I enjoyed every minute of it… But as a trilogy the tone and pacing of this one doesn’t match Thor or Thor: The Dark World in any way whatsoever.  I get it was trying to be its own thing but at the expense of everything to happen prior to Ragnarok?

Rating then: 8/10

Rating now: *Patiently awaits DVD release whilst listening to Led Zeppelin*

 

10. Pokémon the Movie: I Choose You – 6th November

Pure untainted nostalgia and a treat for the soul.  After 14 years of not being in the cinema Ash & Pikachu exploded back onto the silver screen in marvellous fashion.  I already did a review of this film which I’ll attempt to link in here but yeah, I really loved this one.

Rating then: 7/10

Rating now: I keep checking Amazon every week for a DVD release date but it never has one. This makes me sad.

 

11. Justice League – 19th November

From sheer nostalgic beauty to tainted nostalgic dread. This is another film I reviewed at the time of release but I will never stop hating this filth.  As a film, it was stupid, as a comic book story, it was badly done, as a superhero film it was insulting and there are no redeeming qualities in this thing whatsoever.  Avoid at all costs.  Linking the review in if possible here.

Rating then: 2/10

Rating now: Negative 2/10.  Not wasting any more time or money on it.

 

12. The Disaster Artist – 9th December

Oh hi Mark.  An interesting look into the filming process of one of cinemas greatest duds – The Room.  It was light and entertaining, silly and serious, and had the ever loveable Tommy Wiseau in the end credits.  It makes me so happy, and I love Lisa so much.

Rating then: 8/10

Rating now: It’s bullshit, I don’t have it yet. It’s bullshit.  It is not! Oh hi Mark.

 

13. Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle – 9th December

So what happens if you put Jack Black, Dwayne Johnson, Karen Gillan and Kevin Hart in a game of Jumanji? A lot of controversy and needless hate.  I liked this film.  It wasn’t perfect but give me it over a lot of other films *Cough*JusticeLeague*Cough* any day.  While not every joke hit the mark it got a few laughs out of myself and the people I was seeing it with (One a die-hard cynic of the thing) and all in all it was a bit of harmless fun.

Rating then: 7/10

Rating now: You know the drill by this point.

 

14. Star Wars Episode VIII: The Last Jedi – 16th December

Following on from the Force Awakens a lot was expected to be revealed in this installment of the Star Wars saga.  In the end not a lot was actually revealed and the film suffered from existing in the Star Wars universe.  Had it been its own one-off film, yeah, it could have worked, but as Episode VIII of a 9-part saga… It left a lot to be desired.  It wasn’t all bad though.  Mark Hamill gave the performance of his career and it was interesting to see Rey & Kylo Ren’s relationship grow throughout the film.

Rating then: 8/10

Rating now: Blu-Ray.  Surprise! Nah, I’ll be getting the DVD… Whenever that comes out.

 

Caught up in the now.  It’s interesting looking back at the films you saw over the space of a year.  Almost all of them [NOT YOU JUSTICE LEAGUE] were good and I don’t regret seeing any of them.  Barring the black sheep of the universe. There were of course some films I had wanted to see but never had the opportunity for one reason or another – Murder on the Orient Express, Blade Runner 2049, It, War for the Planet of the Apes  etc but nothing to be done about that now.

 

As for 2018 there are a few films I’m looking forward to seeing.  Avengers: Infinity War, The Incredibles 2, Black Panther to name a few but others I’m slightly dubious about… Looking at you Solo: A Star Wars Story.   I suppose there’s one way to find out though, ey?

 

Thank you for following my posts in 2017, next year will continue on as usual, posting on Wednesdays with reviews, look-backs, top 10s or whatever takes my fancy during the week. Should probably get around to finishing my reviews of the David Tennant Doctor Who Big Finish audio stories though.

 

Hoping you had a Qwark-tastic new year and are settling into the first year with an 8 in it since 2008.

 

Spectacled Observer. 🙂

My Top 5 Dark Type Pokémon

Image found here: https://aminoapps.com/page/pokemon/6823794/top-10-dark-type-pokemon

So it’s November, the nights are getting darker faster and there’s a distinct chill in the air.  We’re rapidly approaching the holidays and it’s time for another Top 5 of my favourite Pokémon from a particular type. This month we’ll be covering Dark type, to coincide with the darker nights.  Symmetry.

Like Ghost, Dark is a type I’ve never really put a lot of effort into using properly.  Though the ones I have used have usually left me with a good impression of the type, so with that said, let’s dive right in.

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5. HOUNDOOM

Every now and then a friend and I challenge one another to complete the story of a main series Pokémon game using a starter one chooses for the other.  In my run through of Pokémon Moon earlier this year the challenge was brought forth again.  I gave him a newly hatched Hoppip and in return he gave me a freshly hatched Houndour as I’d never used one before.

The little Houndour quickly became a staple of the team and was helpful through a lot of the game.  I recall it evolving into Houndoom mere moments before going on to challenge Mallow’s Grass type Trial and you can probably guess how well that turned out.

It was because of Houndoom’s effectiveness I decided to dump every Pokémon on the team at that point (Bar Houndoom) into the Box and strive to use Pokémon from every generation available that I’d never used before and it proved to be an amazingly diverse team that could take on any challenge with relative ease (and some of those Pokémon will be in future lists).  My only gripe with Houndoom by the end of it was that it became rather outshined by the other members of the party in later game.

So despite never using its Mega Evolution, which I’m told is rather lack-luster, Houndoom really earned its 5th spot on my Top 5 Favourite Dark Type Pokémon (As of Gen VII)

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4. ALOLAN PERSIAN

A lot of people hated Alolan Persian when it was announced and personally I wasn’t really too fussed over it either way.  Since I knew the poor feline would never be used by the majority of the fandom when I came across an Alolan Meowth at the start of my play of Pokémon Sun I decided “Why not?”

So Alolan Meowth became a pretty prominent member of my team and was there from beginning to end.  Though not the most frequently useful member of the party Alolan Meowth gained the most powerful thing a Pokémon could have  – sentimental attachment.  Then, when it evolved into Alolan Persian at level 12 I was confused so looked it up and learned it evolved through happiness.  That was it, it was there to stay for the rest of the game.

Alolan Persian had the role in my team of being my first choice to pummel the opponent with hard-hitting moves like Power Gem & stalling moves like Fake Out with a Rockium-Z thrown into the mix for when it was better to be rid of something quickly and efficiently.

Though not the strongest Pokémon, it was an appreciated addition to the team and deserves its spot in this top 5.

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3. MIGHTYENA

I know, I’m surprised too.  Remember that Poochyena you catch at the start of Omega Ruby/Alpha Sapphire that knows the elemental “Fang” move? Yeah, that one.  In my play of Omega Ruby I decided to try out this shaggy-looking pooch and made it a permanent addition to my team pretty quickly.

She could take pretty much any hit and shake it off before delivering a hard-hitting Fire Fang/Crunch.  Surprisingly, the move Sand Attack made it into the moveset up to and throughout the Elite 4 as I found it to be a really helpful move to have in Omega Ruby in particular.

I have good memories of Mightyena travelling through Hoenn with me as the first Pokémon I caught in the game, facing off in as many battles as it did and winning every time with it’s sneaky tactics and its enjoyable interactions on Pokémon Amie and I was really surprised at just how much of a best friend this dog proved to be.

Sentimentality for the win.

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2. SABLEYE

In my younger years I played Pokémon Red/Blue/Yellow religiously, then when Gold/Silver came out I could never got a version of the game so my love of the franchise kind of died off when the hype calmed down in the early 2000s.

Though it didn’t last for long, as only four years later I was looking through a bookshelf in Waterstones and saw a Pokémon book showing off all the new “Generation III” Pokémon and on the cover was this devious looking little mite with gem-eyes and a wicked smirk.

It was love at first sight and I knew then and there I wanted to get back into the series and use this thing.  I was 12 at the time so I convinced my mother to get me a Gameboy Advance with Pokémon Sapphire to boot.  I was thrilled when I got to Dewford Island and caught my first Sableye and made sure I used it whenever possible.  For a long time it was my favourite Pokémon in general and it never let me down.

Sableye will always have a special place in my heart for being one of the few things that managed to rekindle my adoration of the franchise and every time I see one in the game I think back to the little Sableye that could residing peacefully in Pokémon Sun at the time of this writing.

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1. KROOKODILE

Sableye was great, but Krookodile was an utter beast.  When Black/White came out I passed Sandile off as I already had teams planned for each of those games but when I got my hands on a copy of Black 2 I shrugged in a non-committed way and decided to give it a try.  Did not regret.

Krookodile is pretty much Unova’s worst nightmare.  I dominated every challenge I put Krookodile up against and found myself trying no to use him to make the game a little more of a challenge,  However, when I did let Krookodile loose in gym battles/Elite 4 battles I’m pretty sure there were a few fatalities on the opposing side.

Design wise I was never too keen on them, but over time it has grown on me.  It’s still not my all time favourite design but it does the job and does it well enough to earn Krookodile the #1 spot on my top 5 Dark types.

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As I said at the start, Dark is one of those types I’ve never really looked into very thoroughly and honestly I struggled to think of a couple of these entries.  I have nothing particularly against Dark type but I find myself to be more of a offensive battler than a defensive one which is why I’m still surprised to this day I allowed Mightyena to keep Sand Attack through to the end of the game. Dark is such a defensive and tricky type, I suppose I’ve just never really adapted properly on how to use them to their full effect. Maybe in Ultra Sun/Ultra Moon I’ll give another Dark type a try and possibly make this list null and void.  Who knows, ey?

Do you agree with any of my choices? Do you disagree? Feel free to tell me in the comments!

A new Top 5 Pokémon of [BLANK] Type will be back next month and since it’s December, it’s going to get a little chilly here. 😉

 

Spectacled Observer, out.