After the last wave of news, I thought that there were going to introduce more variants of Pokemon, most likely ones from Kanto. I was correct, as they introduced three new Alolan variants of three Kanto Pokemon. Last time, they technically did five, but they were only three different families of Pokemon. Before I get to the new Alolan variants, though, let me get to the new Alolan Pokemon released.
In addition to three new Alolan variants, they also introduced three new Alolan Pokemon. The first one is called Wishiwashi, the Little Fish Pokemon. It’s a pure Water type with the new ability Schooling. I’m not entirely sure how this ability works, but it changes Wishiwashi from solo form to school form. Wishiwashi has to be a certain level for this ability to activate, however.
The second Pokemon is called Pyukumuku, the Sea Cucumber Pokemon. It is a pure Water type with the new ability Innards Out. This ability is similar to Rough Skin or Iron Barbs as it inflicts damage on the opponent. However, for those abilities, it only activities if the opposing Pokemon uses a contact move against you. Innards Out works only when you faint. It seems like a rather useless ability, but I suppose it could be helpful in a pinch.
The last Pokemon is called Morelull, the Illuminating Pokemon. It’s a Grass/Fairy type, just like Cottonee and Whimsicott. It can either have Illuminate or Effect Spore. Effect Spore might be better if you plan to use this competitively, while Illuminate is better if you want to be more likely to encounter Pokemon. Illuminate has no battle effect, but Effect Spore does. You have a 30% chance of either poisoning, paralyzing, or putting the opponent to sleep each time it uses a contact against you. If you’re going to be using this on your team, don’t use it against any Poison types…
If you have played any main series Pokemon game, you’ll know that each game has at least one team of bad guys that you repeatedly have to stop at certain points in your adventure. Generation 1 gave us Team Rocket with Giovanni as its leader. Giovanni then disbands the team but a loyal admin named Archer revives the team without him in Generation 2. Along with him are other loyal admins Ariana (not Grande), Petrel, and Proton. They then disband again and two new teams arise in Generation 3 known as Team Aqua and Team Magma, who are trying to decrease the land mass and increase the land mass, respectively. In Generation 4, you are introduced to Team Galactic, who are trying to either control time or space (or both, in Platinum). Generation 5 introduces Team Plasma, a group of people who are trying to get people to release their Pokemon. Team Flare is introduced in Generation 6, and they are trying to either make everyone immortal or kill everyone. Today, we learned about the bad guy team for Generation 7: Team Skull (and no, not the one from Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Time, Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Darkness, and Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Sky). From the video, it seems like the grunts just use Zubat early on in the game, but they will probably start using Golbat later in on the game. One of the admins is named Plumeria, and the boss is named Guzma. We don’t have any more information about the team, but we’ll most likely be getting more information later on, as we still don’t know what their goals are.
All right, now let’s talk about the new variants. Alolan Meowth is a Dark type. That’s the only noticeable change, as it still has the same abilities as before. This variant is basically what Purrloin would have been had it been released in Generation 1 instead of Generation 5.
Alolan Marowak is a Ghost/Fire type. It can still have Lightningrod, which could be nice if you are in a double or triple battle and you have a Pokemon weak to Electric. However, instead of Rock Head, it can now have Cursed Body. I don’t know if Alolan Marowak has the same learnset as regular Marowak, but you now will not be able to use Double-Edge or any other recoil move without taking damage anymore. However, you might be able to disable an opponent’s moves for two turns without having to use Disable (Marowak can’t learn that move anyway). I personally like regular Marowak better, but its new typing can prove useful.
Alolan Raichu is a Electric/Psychic type. It has a new ability called Surge Surfer, which doubles Raichu’s speed when Electric Terrain is activate. Raichu is has a base speed of 110, meaning this Pokemon can have a speed of 220 for five turns. Unfortunately, Raichu cannot learn Electric Terrain, so unless you or your opponent have a Pokemon that can, this ability is useless. Also, none of the Pokemon that can learn Electric Terrain have been confirmed to be in Alola. However, if you have either the Nintendo 3DS Virtual Console Red version, Blue version, or Yellow Version, you can catch a Magneton (found in the Power Plant or Cerulean Cave in Red and Blue, only in the Power Plant in Yellow) or catch a Magnemite (found in the Power Plant or Rotue 10 in Yellow, only in the Power Plant in Red and Blue) and evolve it into a Magneton at level 30. Once you have done either of these (or perhaps you already have) you can transfer your Magneton to Sun or Moon, and have it learn Electric Terrain from the move relearner (it’s not confirmed if there is one in Sun and Moon, but there has been one in every generation thus far, so…). If you don’t want to do that or if you don’t have either the Nintendo 3DS Virtual Console Red version, Blue version, or Yellow version, you can watch out for these other Pokemon in Alola, as they can learn Electric Terrain:
- Manetric
- Luxray
- Electivire
Of course, these are all evolved forms of other Pokemon, and finding them in the wild is impossible (except for Manetric, possibly). However, you can look out for Elekid, Electabuzz, Electrike, Shinx, or Luxio, as those have been available in the wild in at least one main series Pokemon game.
Which new variant do you like best?
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