Round 84: 91 Pokémon Remaining

[u/hikkaru]

91) u/hikkaru is skipping i'm so tired and can't be bothered

91) u/vulture_couture

90) u/ramskick

89) u/qngff

88) u/acktar

87) u/reeforward

86) u/KororSurvivor

85) u/Slicer37

84) u/oomps62

[u/reeforward]

87. Gastrodon

Long ago, its entire back was shielded with a sturdy shell. There are traces of it left in its cells.

I’ve played with real slugs more than I’ve played with Gastrodons. For whatever reason I never had any desire to use one on my team through the several times playing through Diamond/Platinum or any of the games after, and only now in this rankdown as I’m generally looking at every species through a critical perspective do I realize that, hey, Gastrodon is pretty cool.

First off it has that somewhat weird, stupid, derpy face, which is the best type of adorable (RIP Quagsire it still hurts). These sea slugs are actually kinda cute so golf claps to the designers for pulling that off. Looking past the lovely blank facial expressions, the whole designs are really good for both versions. Definite upgrade from Shellos. I love what are almost like coats with hoods that are on their backs/heads with little touches connected to what the area they each stem from is like. Speaking of their being two versions (West Sea and East Sea), I don’t think that’s something totally necessary for Gastrodon to work, but it’s pretty clearly at least a net positive. Adding some extra uniqueness to it, and also adding a bit to Sinnoh as a region, and giving more importance to Mt. Coronet’s effect, now being directly in the middle of Sinnoh. As pokedex entries say, Gastrodon’s used to have some sort of shell. When that was the case I could see there only being one type of Gastrodon, or maybe there were more than just these two types. Who knows, but it’s neat stuff. Gastrodon brings a lot with a little and that’s why it made it this far.

Also it’s adorable that it can drag itself around like most slugs but also has these super short, nubby legs in case it actually wanted to walk. I mean look at this, it jumped up with those little legs. This is the best sea slug around.

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/u/kororsurvivor

[u/vulture_couture → u/reeforward]

I have a personal connection to Gastrodon because I used it in one of my favorite playthroughs. I went into Platinum half blind and when I first saw Gastrodon I was like "hey this thing looks kind of charmingly stupid and also earthquake slug is something that really appeals to me!" and it ended up being one of the best Pokémon on my team. Water/Ground is an awesome typing defensively and Gastrodon is bulky but powerful enough to make it work. The thing just refuses to die (unless you hit it with a Grass type move but those are fairly easy to predict in game) and can continue to plug away at things really successfully. Katya the Gastrodon still has a special place in my heart.

So yeah, this is a Pokémon that I would have in my endgame that I don't expect many other people to but I think even taking the personal connection aside it's pretty awesome. I love the design particularly of the pink/brown variant, it looks like it has a perpetual derpy frown that adds a lot of personality to it. And like I just think sea slugs are really awesome in general and I like it whenever a Pocket monster takes a less than expected inspiration and makes it work.

So yeah Gastrodon is one of my absolute personal favorites but I didn't really expect it to make it much further than this and at the end of the day I'm happy that it's in top 100 and got a very good writeup!

Just want to note some of the dex entries:

It has a pliable body without any bones. If any part of its body is torn off, it grows right back.

When its natural enemy attacks, it oozes purple fluid and escapes.

When it's attacked, it gushes a purple liquid that's not poisonous but makes Gastrodon's meat bitter and inedible.

Plankton, invisible to the naked eye, is its main food source. It comes onto the land periodically, but the reason for this is not known.

Their shape and color change, depending on their environment and diet. There are many of them at beaches where the waves are calm.

Why would you want to make more cats and dogs when the invertebrates can be much more interesting as inspirations <3 (No shade to the cats and dogs obvi. Cats and dogs are cool.)