This is our final review on the Grass-type PokĂ©mon, as we would have finished investigating them all by now. I must say, this took longer than I wanted it to last, even though we have so many Grass-types to cover, mainly because there were times before when I wasn’t able to submit these every week. However, I think I am satisfied with how this turn out, because I had finally gone through all of the Grass-types by now. If you are ready, we shall continue to cover the last three Grass-type families for now.
 
 
 

Foongus & Amoonguss
 

 
Like Generation 1 and 3, the 5th Generation introduced us with yet another mushroom Pokémon, and these Pokémon look more like actual mushrooms compared to Shroomish. They also have the added benefit of looking like Pokéballs with their oddly-shaped caps, which is good for fooling others, like what Voltorb and Electrode did in the Power Plant. The names Foongus and Amoongus make for a pun “Fungus Among us”, which is also a name of an album by Incubus. The naming convention of putting the whole phrase across an evolutionary line isn’t new, as Alakazam’s family does this too.
 
Mushrooms are decomposers, meaning their source of nutrition is from dead organic things. Speaking of that, these PokĂ©mon could learn both Synthesis and Solarbeam, which can be used if they can perform chlorophyll, but in real life, mushrooms can’t perform photosynthesis, making them an oddity, as they are not even green-coloured! Because mushrooms can reproduce very fast, it would be an interesting illusion if a field of PokĂ©balls is seen lying around on the field. (more…)

We continue on with the next batch of Generation 5’s Grass-types. Since I don’t have a witty or informative introduction to make, we might as well get on with it. If you are ready, let’s move on!
 
 
 

Sewaddle, Swadloon & Leavanny
 

 
The first Bug that was officially revealed was Sewaddle, who is loved by many when it first appeared because it is cute. Sewaddle’s appearance was combined with the announcement of Struggle Bug, a move that reduces the Special Attack of several opponents. Swadloon is the cocoon stage, but isn’t actually dormant because it is still actively dieting on leaves. Leavanny is the parental Pokémon, meaning it is naturally a caring Pokémon, especially to its kind, where it makes clothes for newly-hatched Sewaddle. That is adorable, in fact.
 
In terms of bugs with plants, we already have parasitic mushrooms taking over cicadas as well as bagworms with leafy coats. The next one on the list is bugs that are practically born with leafy bodies, and this family are based on them. There is a group of insects whose bodies look like leaves to fool the predators into thinking they are unimportant, which helps them survive in the wild, as they are not the kind that can be threatening and dangerous. They may even imitate the rustling of the leaves when walking to keep up with the disguise. Clever! As such, these PokĂ©mon have the ability to learn Camouflage too. I should also note that there are also insects that look like twigs to make them harder to spot. (more…)

And now we reach the latest Generation. This is the Generation that introduces the most Grass-types as of now, with a total of 20. It’s also the most PokĂ©mon introduced in this Generation based on type, although the honour goes to the Fighting-type when it comes to fully-evolved PokĂ©mon (11 compared to Grass’ 10, counting forms). With a diverse and interesting selection of PokĂ©mon, it’s no doubt that any Grass-type fan is happy because there are more favourites to choose from. Let’s dig into most of the pure Grass-types of Generation 5!
 
(Note: Hilbert’s height is treated as 1.65 metres)
 
 
 

Snivy, Servine & Serperior
 

 
Behold, the most popular starter this Generation: Snivy! When Generation 5’s starters were first revealed, Snivy caught the hearts of millions of fans because he has the best first impression of them all. Snivy’s best characteristic is its smile, which had caused the fan nickname “Smugleaf” to become hugely popular that a lot of fans wished that to be its real English name. The now-official name actually makes more sense because Tsutarja means “ivy snake”. Interestingly, Snivy was designed to be the cool starter, and as evidenced by the love it received, this is a success. I must admit that this is the best-looking starter among the Grass-types myself. (more…)

Okay, first up I’d like to apologize for the embarrassingly big hiatus; busy Velocities are forgetful ones. But because you’re all so nice, you’ll forget about it, right?

Anyway, this week I’m featuring a fanfiction called The Trials of an Ex-Pokemon Fan, by our very own back-from-the-dead Staff Member Professor Geoffrey. From what’s been posted so far, it appears to be something of a mystery wrapped in an adventure, with a little sprinkle of comedy to give it spice. (more…)

It’s time for another Poison-type review, and now we delve into Generation 4’s Pokémon. They are admittedly a more interesting cast than the previous two Generations, in which I can only recall Swalot’s family, Seviper and Crobat being the good ones. Now instead of dilly-dallying, we shall take a tour of this Generation’s Poison-types!
 
 
 

Budew & Roserade
 

 

I think Roselia is seen by the designers as special, because this Generation, we are introduced to a pre-evolution and an evolution of Roselia. Budew can be caught or bred if the Rose Incense is involved, while Roserade evolves by way of the Shiny Stone. Like practically every baby Pokémon, Budew evolves when it has a high happiness value, but only at daytime. Budew is the first of its kind (baby Pokémon) to be of the Poison-type, which I suppose makes it special. Interesting fact is that Roserade’s name is the same for all languages, and even the Chinese name is a transliteration.

 

Like Roselia, their poisonous characteristics aren’t immediately evident. Yet, they all have the ability Poison Point as one of their abilities. You cannot see any place where Spikes are protruding for Budew, and Budew never actually demonstrated any kind of poisonous traits, and looks rather harmless, implying that Budew isn’t as harmless as one thought. For Roserade, one had to guess that his/her head has the spikes that Roselia have. I imagine that like poison ivies, they have skin roughage that is poisonous and will have a similar effect of giving rashes if rubbed with.

(more…)

Firstly, I apologise for not getting this up sooner, because I was sick, so I can’t really do much about it. However, I hope you don’t mind me putting this up later than intended because of that. Here you go: the last of the Grass-types in Generation 4 that we will be going through now:
 
 
 

Tangrowth
 

 
Meet the larger and more primitive version of Tangela, Tangrowth! To evolve Tangela, you need it to learn AncientPower beforehand, which is a move that Tangela is able to learn from Generation 4 onwards. When Tangela evolves to Tangrowth, you can remove that move. It’s interesting that this evolution method is used, because the PokĂ©mon that evolves this way look more primitive as a result. This must have meant that Tangrowth is Tangela’s prehistorical relative, in which Tangela is a product of years of “evolution”, and in order to unlock the primitive look, Tangela needs to learn the powers of the ancient. Either this is an evolution or a reverse-evolution is up to the reader. While we have a mammoth and giant insect, Tangrowth is surprisingly based on primitive humans with a lot of body hair. As you may guess, Tangrowth can actually swing from branch to branch like a primate. (more…)

Hello! Velocity here, with a new weekly column in which the best fanfictions will be featured for all to see! For those of you who post their fics on other sites, fear not, for there will be weeks in which fanfictions from other Pokemon sites will be featured. Weekly Reading will ensure that you know exactly what the story is all about.

This week, I’m featuring The Retelling of Pokemon Colosseum, by bobandbill . It is under the genre of comedy, and pretty much nothing else. The Retelling of Pokemon Colosseum is about, well, Pokemon Colosseum.

The author writes from the perspective of Wes, the main character, detailing his thoughts, feelings, and statements as he proceeds through Colosseum’s goofy storyline. The author is not afraid of making things seem goofier than they ever were, creating huge laughs at every turn. The story also has a lot of action for those who love to watch those glorious Pokemon battles unfold in text on their computer screens.

For the grammar Nazis out there, the story pays attention to word variation and grammar correctness that is rarely seen among today’s young writers. The Retelling of Pokemon Colosseum is not for the serious-minded, but for anyone who would love a good laugh.

In other news, Weekly Reading is in need of someone to create images to go with these pages. If anyone reading this is of an artistic bent and can create simple, good-looking images to adorn the tops of these pages, please contact me (Velocity) or HKim, as an image to go with these fictions would make the pages look lovely and the hard-working writers very happy. Thanks in advance, and see you next Saturday!

We continue our Grass-type reviews with three more Grass-type families, and our Pokémon today are Cherrim and Cherubi, Carnivine, and Snover and Abomasnow. If you like any of these Pokémon, you should read this, but if you don’t necessarily like them, then you could read about them if you want to. If you’re ready, let’s go!
 
 
 

Cherubi & Cherrim
 

 
Cherubi naturally look like cherries, which are sweet fruit. What’s funny about Cherubi is that it has two heads, yet its evolution only has one head. The other head must be extra nutrition, but because we associate human values to Pokémon like them having a conscience, we don’t want to see the extra head go, but it has to go. Oh well, c’est la vie (French for “that’s life”)! Cherrim, on the other hand, looks like a cherry blossom when in the sun, and with those bright pink petals, it’s no doubt based on the flowers that Japan is known for, and when not under the sun, will look like a flower that’s not bloomed.
 
Cherubi’s extra head holds the nutrition for evolution, and because of how sweet it is, birds like Starly would like to have a meal out of the branching rations, as in having a bite of that cherry. Cherry-picking indeed! When Cherubi is ready to evolve, it will absorb the nutrients out of the extra head. This does mean that the other head is actually a dud because whatever happens to it after that will not be influential and will probably end up as a shrivelled and punctured head when it’s fully drained. The extra head could also be an extra life when Cherubi’s gone, which means the extra head will become alive as a result, but this is just my theory, and nothing else. Cherubs are a type of angel, and while I don’t see how Cherubi look like one, it is appropriately in the Fairy Egg Group (in addition to the Grass Egg Group, of course). (more…)

So we begin the 4th Generation of Grass Pokémon with 4 families. There are some greats in this Generation, although there are a few not-quite-great ones as well. We shall see who fall in one of these two categories as we go through these articles one-by-one.
 
 
 

Turtwig, Grotle & Torterra
 

 
You know, tortoises and turtles are cool animals, because they have very long lifespan and are overall seen as friendly because of their slowness, representing their easy-going nature. Ladies and gents, meet the tortoises of this Generation! These tortoises are likely to be inspired by the concept and myth of the World Turtle, where this turtle would carry the world on its back. Be sure to check out the Origin of Species article too; it’s an interesting read. Just a note: I insist on using the term tortoise to refer to them, because these PokĂ©mon are land based. Hope you can bear with me! (more…)

It’s the 3rd Generation, and there aren’t much Poison-types here either. In fact, when you look at the Hoenn Dex, you will see that there are more Poison-types that come from Generation 1 than the native region to fill the variety of Poison-types. Instead of the usual two or three families per entry, I decided that this time, there will be four families in this one as a treat for all you readers, not to mention that I don’t want to separate this Generation into two parts.
 
 
 
 

Dustox
 

 
Dustox is one of our early mature bugs of this Generation, who, following the footsteps of Beedrill, is a Bug/Poison type that can still be affected by Ground attacks, and besides evolving from a cocoon PokĂ©mon, are pretty much the only similarities it has with Beedrill. Dustox is actually one part of the split evolution, starting from a Wurmple. The evolution is actually random, since you do not know if it will evolved into a Cascoon, and subsequently a Dustox. Also, in Generation 3, in order to obtain Dustox, you need to evolve a Cascoon, which is easier if you just caught one (although it comes at a price of not being able to attack) because the random factor in evolution is actually based on Wurmple’s personality value. On a side note, Dustox seems to have its whole body seen on the sprite on the Generation 4 handheld games. (more…)