We’re back for the Normal-type reviews, and today we’re going to focus on Lickitung and Lickilicky, pink Pokémon with big and long tongues! If you are ready with this one, please proceed.
Selected Fan Art (Artist: tyrantpossum)
Lickitung is a Pokémon known for its long tongue that has some interesting uses, but it is mainly for eating. I didn’t think this Pokémon look like an animal, but it was suggested that Lickitung could be based on a reptile since some of them have long tongues like chameleons and lizards. That makes sense given what the Pokémon could do. This vaguely-reptile Pokémon could finally evolve into Lickilicky in Generation 4 through a simple knowledge of Rollout, something it could potentially do before this (but won’t initiate evolution).
The first thing you will immediately notice about Lickitung and Lickilicky are their long tongues, because they stick them out of their mouth. The tongues are said to be 2 metres, which is longer than their heights, and that is quite long indeed. Normally, if the tongue is left out in the air, they will dry out, but it seems that these Pokémon could leave them out for a long time without any sort of side-effects, probably because it is covered in mucous that prevent dry outs. Interestingly, if Lickitung’s tongue were to be stretched, its tail would quiver, so there is a possibility they’re connected. If I were to imagine, I think the tail would be shorter the longer the tongue stretches out, as if they’re one long string. Lickilicky’s tongue is not as long as Lickitung, so its tail might not quiver as much.
Since their tongue is the dominant part of the Pokémon’s body, then tasting comes right next to it. With sensitive tasting, they would want to use it to taste anything to get a feel of things. Because they memorises the taste of anything they lick, they could decide what’s good and what’s not. In particular, sour things are one of the things they dislike. There are things to watch out for when they lick, and one of them is their saliva. Since it is sticky, it is best to prevent the drool before the situation gets sticky. The licks could also induce paralysis, possibly from that sticky saliva with a side-effect of numbness. With saliva that could decompose anything, Lickilicky’s saliva is more potent, so it stores some up to be weaponised when it needs to. Despite this, it couldn’t learn Gastro Acid.
There are various ways the Pokémon could utilise that tongues. One such way is to catch prey with it, similar to a lizard. It’s not known how fast they can whip them out, but it’s safe to say that the draw of the tongue must be quick for the capture to be effective. With some well-developed nerves in the tongue, it could even be deftly manipulated through some clever manoeuvring, in case its target is the tricky type. So that its prey won’t be quick to escape, its tongue’s adhesiveness comes in handy. It’s entirely within the realm of the Pokémon to latch on things to swing around, like monkeys swinging on vines. After all, the tongue is strong enough to lift people, so why not itself?
The Pokémon themselves look somewhat plump especially Lickilicky, which might be attributed to their eating habits. Even Lickilicky looks somewhat like a diner with a napkin-like pattern under its mouth. Now, it’s not stated that they are big eaters in the same way Snorlax and Munchlax eats, but it’s not out of the realm of possibility either. To expound on the reason that they are not big eaters, they don’t learn the Stockpile-related moves. Therefore, a possibility that they look bulbous is their bulk. Since they don’t look like fast Pokémon, they need to be bulky to make up for their slowness when it comes to wrestling with their catch or to survive in the wild.
Their bulkiness is carried over in a battle, where their best stats are HP and defences. Though Normal is lacking in resistances, they could survive a good deal of attacks, especially Lickilicky. Having Wish and Heal Bell is one way to take advantage of the defences, but keep in mind that both moves are from an event (back in Generation 3), so a genuine one is not available. The abilities are also geared towards defence, including status immunity from confusion (Own Tempo), infatuation and taunt (Oblivious) and weather effects (Cloud Nine).
Interestingly, Lickitung slightly edges out on Attack, whereas Lickilicky slightly edges out in Special Attack instead. In any case, Lickilicky has at least decent offences to provide a fighting chance, and it’s even possible to boost its Attack with Swords Dance or Curse. It also has enough Attack to use Knock Off reasonably fine, since offensive and defensive Pokémon are equally likely to be Lickilicky’s opponent, while it awaits the opportunity to snipe their item off. The best reason to boost Attack is to take advantage of STAB Explosion, which is the only Normal-type to actually learn it. It would have been the strongest Explosion available, until Mega Glalie took that title with Refrigerate-boosted Explosion.
These Pokémon’s quirky tongue-based abilities are sure to be a source of squeamishness for some people, but at the same time, it might as well be a superpower because of the special feats it could do with it, something that would amaze some people. Another trait that could be admired or abhorred is their huge appetite, either because it reminds us of them or because they will take all our food. The somewhat simple design is part of their charm. Overall, they’re a Pokémon that you either love or hate.
+ Round designs are cute
– Long tongue could incite dirty thoughts
Lickitung’s TCG Card
I don’t know about you, but Lickitung’s appearance doesn’t give the impression that it behaves like a reptile, particularly the lizard, so to see Lickitung behave like one of the arboreal reptiles is unusual in a sense that it is rare. Also included are some bonus Pokémon, because the theme of this set is based around an island’s ecosystem, where each Pokémon in that set is part of one part of a scene. In that scene, there are some unseen Pokémon as well, including Primeape, Vileplume and Caterpie.
Lickilicky’s TCG Card
This is a nice scenic picture of Lickilicky making use of its specialty, its tongue, to battle its opponent. At first glance, it looked like Lickilicky is snatching a snack thanks to the colourful “things” that are partially obscured, but that “thing” is actually Scrafty, based on the colours.
Wring Out
Introduced in Generation 4, Wring Out is a move that allows one to wrap the opponent to hurt them. It could either be through hugging them or using a long body part to wrap them, such as Lickitung and Lickilicky’s long tongues. Because of this, Wring Out best represents both these Pokémon.
Wring Out’s power is dependent on how healthy the opponent is. The healthier they are, they more damage it does, but if they took severe damage, this attack will not be powerful. Because of the way this move’s power is calculated, this move is best used once per opponent provided the first hit is done while they have high HP, since you need to use this attack a lot to KO if this is your only offensive attack, and it has low PP. This move would have been more useful if it has a higher constant power, because that way you can still do respectable damage even when the opponent’s HP is low.
Overall, this move is not one to use alone, because it is always disadvantageous to do so. It is, however, a good opener for an attack.
That’s all for today’s article. I hope you enjoyed reading this as much as I have writing it.
Next Article: Lillipup, Herdier & Stoutland
