"Meet Sinnoh! :D (Part 3)"

#PokemonGO: Heya, TSR!It's a Christmas miracle--!Niantic has finally released moar Gen 4 'Mon from their arbitrary time-gate prison!You know what that means-- it's time for Part 3! :D.Here are the others in case you missed em and/or care. :]Part 1Part 1.5 - Halloween EditionPart 2.boilerplate/So, as I said at the outset of this endeavor, my wife and I recently completed our first playthroughs of Pokemon Platinum to familiarize ourselves with what's to come, and that's as far as I've been; I am clueless from Gen 5 onward.This guide is purposed to be an approachable introduction to the Pokemon of the Sinnoh region. (And for the curious, my analysis will be [mostly] bereft of meaningful insights into the world of Competitive, as I never did get into it, and am therefore not one to speak to that.)Therefore, it will likely impart little on hardcore Travelers who already know all there is to know about Gen 4 and the lore attendant to it. Instead, I hope to share the spirit of these new Pokemon with those who may not know all the things, and give even the greenest Travelers the knowledge to face the unown what lies ahead..As a quick aside: such undertakings are herculean by nature-- despite my best efforts, no words of mine can encapsulate fully what it is to truly know these Pokemon. It therefore remains my recommendation that if you've the time and the means to play it, you should give one of the Gen 4 games a go./boilerplate.So let's get to 'em!..---Some Familiar Faces---(Well, two familiar faces and another... less-familiar one.).#433 Chingling {CHING-ling} |Psychic|Gen 4 introduces the Baby forms of many Pokemon already familiar to us. An exception here, however, might be Chimecho's baby, Chingling. Because while most babies offer little by way of excitement for PoGo Trainers, even those who have been playing daily since their introduction haven't yet obtained a Chimecho. (I, myself, have seen a grand total of one, which I [improbably] hatched back in March.)Chingling owes its design to the Suzu bell (鈴) used at Shinto shrines.Unfortunately for fans, Chingling and its evolution offer little by way of utility in the MSG, and will likely offer the same in PoGo. As for the hope that obtaining a Chimecho may now be easier... I think it more likely that Niantic will merely pull Chimecho from the hatch pool and replace it with its new Baby. :/.#458 Mantyke {MAN-tike} |Water/Flying|As you have by now realized, I'm typically no fan of Baby Pokemon; maybe I'll do a[nother] separate write-up on their place in the Pokeverse, but for now I'll stick to the script. Because despite my general distaste for Babies, this is actually a fun one.Mantyke is Mantine's new baby, and it only evolves if you level it up [regardless of what level] while you have a Remoraid in your party. (If the correlation escapes you, quickly check out the Remora fish that Remoraid is based on. Fun, right? :)This evolution mechanic is the only one like it; no other line requires such a clever/neat/true-to-life pairing in order to evolve.Also unique to this little fella is its Sp.Def-- which is stupidly-high at 120 (the same as a handful of Legendaries...). Add to that its family's access to the Ability Water Absorb and you've got one interesting little critter.Just like its Gen 2 counterpart, Mantyke has a Water/Flying typing, making it x4 vulnerable to Electric-Type attacks. Though the MSG sees his double weakness blunted some by its impressive Sp.Def, the rest of its stats preclude any shot it had at viability. Not that PoGo's current Gym/Battle systems allow Babies to be useful anyway... but I digress..#446 Munchlax {MUNCH-laks} |Normal|Ah yes, Munchlax-- the Snorlax baby that's almost as difficult to find as... well...Actually, he's the most difficult critter to find in all of Sinnoh. (And no, that's not hyperbole.)If you want a Munchlax in the MSG, you'll need one of two things: 1.) near-infinite patience, or 2.) a small miracle..See, Generation 4 introduced Honey, and item that you can buy from a local apiary and spread on special "sweet-scented" trees scattered around Sinnoh. Slathering a tree in this manner will start a timer; after six hours [but before 24] you can return to the tree to find it rustling. If you then shake said tree, an encounter will begin with one of several wild Pokemon, among them Munchlax.But don't get too excited, cuz only four of the 21 trees you'll be shaking even have a chance of housing a Munchlax. What's more, those four are randomized for each account and are indistinguishable from the rest, so you'll be wasting your time on 17 of the trees and not even know it. But even if you did know which of the trees on your account housed this hungry little bear, you'd still only have a 1% chance of him showing-up with any given interaction. And forget about breeding-- if you do manage to find one, just 1 in 10 are female. (x__xAnd no, I didn't have a Munchlax. /saltJust as with Chimecho, Munchy here will likely replace Snorlax hatches in PoGo.Fun fact: At 135 base HP, not only does Munchlax have higher health than and 104 of its fellow Sinnoh 'Mon, he has more health than 98.5% of all Pokemon from all seven generations. And it's a baby!..---Meet the Christmas Tree [and Other Oddballs As Well!]---Finally, we're seeing some of the unique Gen 4 'Mon! Among them are some losers, sure. But there are some gems in the rough; let's take a look!.#436 Bronzor {BRON-zore} |Steel/Psychic|#437 Bronzong {bron-ZONG} |Steel/Psychic|Like others on this list, the Bronzor line stands-out to me not because of its utility, but because of its lore.The Pokedex explains that Bronzong was historically known to bring rains when petitioned. In-keeping with this fable, it is the only Pokemon that can naturally learn the move Rain Dance despite itself being unable to benefit in any way from its use.Beyond this, Bronzong's design is based on dōtaku (銅鐸)-- bells historically used in prayer for rain and good harvests. To top things off, Bronzong's face resembles that of Tlāloc-- the Aztec god of rain.I, for one, think these combined elements of its design make Bronzong one of the most fascinating Pokemon in Sinnoh.As far as battling goes, there isn't much to say other than that Bronzong is a largely inferior Metagross. In the MSGs, folks mostly like to leverage his incredible tankiness as a "Waller"--a Pokemon that can be switched-in to absorb hits while you heal-up the rest of your team. As he isn't a Legendary, Bronzong may yet prove a decent gym defender in PoGo..#451 Skorupi {sku-ROO-pee} |Poison/Bug|#452 Drapion {DRAH-pee-on} |Poison/Dark|/sigh ... I've lost count of how many Sinnoh species names I've been mispronouncing until now. I thought it was fairly obvious that this should be pronounced 'skor-ooh-pie', but who am I, right?You do you, Pokemon Co. >_>But I digress...This family is another interesting one. Skorupi is the only Pokemon to-date that loses its Bug typing by evolving. In so doing, Drapion joins the exclusive Poison/Dark club-- home only to Alolan Grimer/Muk and Stunky/Skuntank. Like these others, Drapion has only one weakness: Ground-Type attacks. But even this is blunted somewhat by its great Defense stat, making the "Ogre Scorpion" one durable foe.To the lore: Drapion is both prideful and pugnacious-- often looking for "unfair" fights where it can win despite being outnumbered. And because of the dexterity of its many limbs and the ability to rotate its head 180°--eliminating its blind spots--it does so quite capably. Though suited to deliver powerful poisons with its pincers, it prefers instead to use its great physical strength to overwhelm its foes. According to the 'Dex, these same claws are powerful enough to make scrap of cars.Drapion is popular in the MSG not only for its attitude and defensive abilities, however. Because while Poison attacks themselves have tragically-little utility (since they're only super-effective against Grass and Fairy types), the poison status condition, does not.As many of you probably know, one of the [many] ways the MSGs differ from PoGo is in "status conditions." As the name suggests, these are conditions that affect the status of the afflicted Pokemon. In most cases, these are imposed upon a Pokemon by its opponent via an attack. Since we're talking about Drapion, here, let's use Poison Sting--a common, low-level Poison attack--as an example. When used, the move deals 15 direct, physical damage to its target. That part is fairly straightforward and is where the move's effect ends in PoGo. In the MSGs, though, things are quite different.In addition to the damage it deals immediately, Poison Sting has a 30% chance to inflict the status condition "poisoned" on its target. When a Pokemon is poisoned in this manner, it loses a small, fixed amount of HP at the end of each turn (in the turn-based Pokemon games, this means once you and your opponent have each made a move) in addition to whatever other damage it receives during the turn. Typically, this status condition persists until either the afflicted Pokemon faints of you [use your whole turn to] administer an Antidote (or similar medicine). --You see how this can get tricky in a hurry.Well, Drapion adds a whole new level of complication to this mess. See, Drapion is the only Pokemon native to Sinnoh that can learn the move Toxic Spikes-- a nasty bit of trickery that surrounds its opponent with, well, toxic spikes. So long as these remain strewn about, every Pokemon that the opposing side sends into battle is automatically and immediately poisoned.But the misery doesn't end there.In addition to the "poisoned" status effect, the MSGs have a less-well-known effect whereby a Pokemon is "badly poisoned." When a Pokemon is thus stricken, it will lose an increasing amount of health with each passing turn. This stacking damage can be devastating indeed. Because of this, there are very few ways to badly poison an opponent.So, you remember how a layer of Toxic Spikes poisons every switched-in Pokemon? Well, if you lay two layers of Spikes, those Pokemon are instead badly poisoned. Should you find yourself on the receiving end of this insidiousness, there are a handful of ways to avoid a slaughter, but only if you're expecting it. For this reason, Drapion can spell huge trouble for the unprepared, and makes for a gnarly addition to one's lineup.Skorupi--like Carnivine before it--can only be found/caught in the Great Marsh-- a vast nature preserve accessed via Pastoria City. This area is Sinnoh's version of the previous generations' Safari Zones. Which, now that I think about it, is an element of Pokemon that's worth dissecting... but I've abused this space enough as it is. :SThough I may have just been inspired to post a separate piece about it....#453 Croagunk {KRO-gunk} |Poison/Fighting|#454 Toxicroak {TOKS-ih-kroke} |Poison/Fighting|Like a handful of others on this list, this particular family never made it onto my team in Platinum. For one, I'm not a huge fan of Croagunk's design; both its look and its cry are just a bit creepy imo.Its evolution is pretty neat lookin', though, I hear you saying. So what's the problem?Well, simply put: I didn't know it was worth the investment.I think I'm gonna publish a separate piece on the mystery of Pokemon because it's too much to go into here. But, in short--aside from a few telltale signs that veteran players have come to recognize--one cannot know whether the new Pokemon they found will land on their team. In fact, upon encountering a new 'Mon for the first time, you don't even know what Type(s) it is-- let alone whether it has a good movepool, good stats, a good evolution line...This was my experience with Croagunk. See, in the MSG's--generally speaking--you want a balanced team with maximum Type-coverage (defensive and offensive). And before I ever saw one in the wild, a bunch of opponents used Croagunk in battle against me. In these battles, they appeared to sport mostly Dark-Type moves-- something I had more than enough coverage for by then. So by the time I caught one of my own, I had more-or-less already resigned it to being 'Dex filler. And by the time I saw what it evolved into and found out its typing, I had already filled his niche in my lineup with Lucario./shrugAsk anyone-- this sort of thing is common in the Main Series; there just isn't enough time in the day to run trial and error on every Pokemon; inevitably, some gems fall through the cracks.And that's just what Toxicroak is, a gem.With more balanced, Lucario-esque stats and access to an impressively deep movepool, Toxicroak can capably fill just about any niche you need him to.I'm sure it goes without saying, but this family is based on the Poison [Dart] Frog. Besides their coloration, though, these Pokemon have only one characteristic in common with their real-life inspiration-- their skin. Specifically, these 'Mon bear an Ability called Poison Touch, whereby any physical interaction with an opponent may cause said opponent to become poisoned. Just so, real-life Poison Frogs do not use their toxins offensively; they have no means of utilizing it in such a way. Instead, they secrete their potent payload out of their pores, thereby poisoning whatever touches them. This toxic touch is where the similarities end, however-- and their unique Poison/Fighting typing is why.Unlike their mostly-passive, real-life counterparts, both Croagunk and Toxicroak are indeed infamous for their fighting. But unlike their Machamp or Hitmonchan cognates, they are without competitive bent; they have no interest in squaring-off in a ring against able foes, no. Instead, these Pokemon prefer to fight dirty-- foregoing pageantry in favor of quick and decisive low blows. To this end, these 'Mon will make every effort to close with their opponent and deliver venom so virulent that a mere scratch is often fatal. This lack of polish (perhaps ironically) makes them a popular choice as a mascot-- which they are for the whole city of Pastoria in Sinnoh.Appropriately, the rainy swampland around Pastoria is the only climate in Sinnoh suitable for these amphibious 'Mon, and the only place where one can find them in the wild.Should Niantic ever deliver on a battle system rework in PoGo--especially one that allows Poison to see its true (read: "correct") potential--Toxicroak may be one to watch out for. With a higher Attack stat than any other (non-Mega) Poison type, decent Speed and access to the best Poison-Type moves (not to mention STAB-boosted Gunk Shot-- the most powerful Poison-Type attack there is), it may just surprise us..#456 Finneon {FIN-ee-on} |Water|#457 Lumineon {lu-MIN-ee-on} |Water|The names of this line are fairly obvious derivatives that I won't insult your intelligence by spelling-out.And for those who perhaps don't know their way around a pet store, the physical design is a hybridization of the Neon Tetra fish and a butterfly. However, unlike either of their real-world inspirations--which only give the appearance of bioluminescence--these two actually have photophores-- organs capable of producing light organically. True to form, Lumineon is said to flash complex light displays across its fins for both luring-in prey and confusing would-be predators.Based-on info pulled from the 'Dex, these two likely live in the Bathypelagic depths, competing for turf with Chinchou and Lanturn.As fun as some might find these Pokemon's designs, however, their stats forbid them from ever being more than [slightly worse, believe-it-or-not] Goldeen/Seaking clones.Actually... I suppose it's technically possible that Lumineon could find some use in PoGo, but that rests solely on a heavily-modified battle system.In Gen 3 of the MSGs, "double battles" were introduced. In these, you could face two Pokemon opponents with [up to] two of your own. Finneon and Lumineon (as well as one other line that's yet to be released) have a neat Ability called Storm Drain, whereby single-target water attacks are automatically redirected toward them. This Ability then nullifies the damage of said attack and increases the target's Sp.Atk stat by one stage.Put into practice, this means that you could have a Lumineon "protect" an otherwise vulnerable-to-water teammate like, say, Rhydon which has a x4 weakness to Water-Type moves. Your opponent can try as they might to one-shot your Rhydon with Hydro Pump, but it will always be redirected to your Storm Drain-bearer, where its damage will be negated.As you can probably imagine, such a niche scenario--while neat--is not something necessarily worth holding one's breath for; first we'd need Abilities and then we'd need double battles. But even then there will almost always be better options than our glowy fish friends..#459 Snover {SNOW-ver} |Grass/Ice|#460 Abomasnow {ah-BOM-ah-snow} |Grass/Ice|Ah yes, the frost trees.Only ever appearing in snowy climes, these two can only be found in MSG while traversing the frozen wastes leading to Snowpoint City or on the perpetually-frozen summit of Mt. Coronet.Owing to their inspiration in snow-covered evergreens, these two are unique; they are the only Pokemon with their Grass/Ice typing. And although it certainly makes for an interesting mix, this particular hybridization seems to have more weaknesses than payoffs (being especially vulnerable (x4) to Fire). This, combined with truly average stats overall, make Abomasnow just that: truly average.And that's it. That's all there is to say here..Actually, I lied--These guys do have something else worth nothing-- Snow Warning.This Ability kicks-in when either of these two Pokemon enter battle, summoning the Hail weather effect (the Ice-Type equivalent to Sand Stream's Rock-Type Sandstorm (but we'll get to that whenever they deem fit to release Hippowdon).The ever-present whiteouts what surround them, and the fact that they only ever inhabit the most inhospitable colds, have led many to dismiss evidence of these Yetis' existence as mere urban legend. (Another Snorunt-esque "snow-exclusive" in PoGo, perhaps...? It'd probably be wise to stock-up on em while they're ubiquitous...)..And that's all of them! Did you catch any glaring mistakes? As ever, let me know! I don't want to be a source of misinformation!.But where's Cresselia? Where's Heatran?/sighI decided that I'll do a separate write-up for the Gen 4 Legendaries/Mythicals all in one shot [at a later time] simply because there are so dang many of them. And besides there being over 2 dozen of them, the encounters with these guys in Sinnoh are usually quite boring [or even tedious], making them even less fun to write about. :/So until such a time as I get all of their stories squared-away, I'll omit them from these releases..Until next time, I hope you enjoy Part 3 and have a merry Christmas, everyone!.-TheGodfatherGus via /r/TheSilphRoad https://ift.tt/2CmuTcf