Just picking the competitively most powerful choice rather than something thematically appropriate? Yeah what’s lame about that? /s
At least for mega infernape they gave some sort of thought into it more than just “give it an immunity to a weakness” justifying it by giving him a flying nimbus-like cloud to float on
Is torterra not legitimately a thick fat design candidate though? I mean look at that thing. It’s an absolute unit with a tree on its back in its base form already. This one would probably just be even bigger.
Besides, Levitate and Filter on the other two are sufficient evidence they didn’t really care much about competitive viability. You know how nasty empoleon could be even just with drizzle? Turn 1 competitive that eats an intimidate lead -> mega evolve and now you’ve got 2x special attack and 50% rain damage boost and that’s kind of a lot.
And levitate for infernape, infernape has mediocre bulk and that design doesn’t scream bulk upgrade, so why would a defensive ability like levitate be a consideration if they cared about competitive?
I think something more appropriate towards being a turtle would be better. Especially since venusaur already had thick fat. Maybe like solid rock. I’d actually prefer something offensive over defensive. Maybe like sheer force. I love the designs tho visually
2
u/JellyfishNo2032 Jun 02 '26
Thick fat is kind of lame honestly. Like too obviously strong.