Now reading...
Ice-type Reviews – Generation 5 (Part 1)

And now, we reach Generation 5’s Ice-types. Designs among them are varied, with one humorous family, a creepy one, an animalistic pair and a majestic legendary waiting to be reviewed, so they’re a fairly interesting group. Winter is also introduced this Generation, so the regular ones are more common when coldness takes over, because Ice-types obviously thrive when it’s cold. Being the latest Generation for now, we are almost done with the Ice-type Pokémon! With that said, let’s finish this, shall we?

Vanillite, Vanillish & Vanilluxe
 

We start things off with these Pokémon that resemble ice cream cones. It’s easy to identify them as Ice-types because they obviously are, from their ice bodies and snow-covered heads. The idea is original, but it’s something that’s taken for granted, because being based on ice cream cones, they are subjected to much ridicule for being based on a more commonly seen object, therefore they are viewed as unoriginal. Because of this, these Pokémon are often straw men to those citing Generation 5’s designs as lame (the other is Trubbish). For me, I quite like them because Pokémon like them are what gives Pokémon a wildly diverse cast. After all, I am a fan of the quirkier (and often underappreciated) side of anything.

Because of their snow-covered heads, this family of Pokémon resembles ice-cream cones. In fact, the Castelia Cone looks very much like a Vanillite (or is it the other way round?). Their snow-covered heads are often mistaken as an essential part of the body, and as such, it is commonly portrayed that they feel pain when something licks them. In actuality, the snow they have is more like their clothes, and it is possible that they get naked, exposing their bald heads. Vanillite is another Pokémon that is theorised to come alive from a non-living object, like Grimer and Trubbish. Unlike those two, Vanillite is cleaner, for it is being formed from icicles bathed in the morning sun’s energy.

Their limbs, which function as hands, are limited in movement. Vanillite’s limbs are easy to discern, but not for Vanillish and Vanilluxe. Basically the larger crystals on the face could move like limbs, which could easily be seen in Vanilluxe’s battle animation. It may not look like they could walk when they have icicle bottoms, but as with certain mineral-based Pokémon that doesn’t have legs, they float around. Of course, it prefers to live in snowy areas, so it will often be found where there is ice or snow, such as during the winter.

We also have another case of Pokémon with added heads when it evolves in the form of Vanillite. It’s been some time since we had these. Adding heads for an evolution enhances the appeal of the design if it is done right, which is something Hydreigon managed to accomplish, but not for Magneton. I would say Vanilluxe is more on the appealing side, since having several scoops of ice cream is often a wonderful treat to an all-time favourite dessert.

The Vanillite family’s prime ability is to churn out snow crystals and cold air. The chills have various purposes, such as camouflage and just freezing foes. Vanillite’s breath is said to be -50 degrees Celsius, which is quite cold even though the number doesn’t seem impressive. I can imagine that its evolutions would have a colder breath than that. The way Vanilluxe creates blizzards is interesting. It swallows a large amount of water, and then it dispenses it through its blowhole (that resembles a straw) in the form of violent blizzards. The effect is stronger is they are angry that everything will be buried in snow as a result, so it’s not a good idea to mess with them, despite their dopey look! To a lesser extent, Vanillish does this too (without the blowhole part), so it could be assumed that Vanillite does it too.

In the anime, Vanillite made its first appearance when Ash had his first battle with Trip, which is also the first time we witness Iris’ fear for Ice-types (this ties to Dragon-type’s weakness to Ice, and Iris is a Dragon Master). Vanillish’s spotlight appearances are in the Accelguard episode (essentially a Kamen Rider tribute episode), used by Cryogonal Man and in Brycen’s Gym Battle with Ash. Vanilluxe made its only appearance in the Ferroseed episode, which is owned by Georgia, Iris’ rival who has another Ice-type (Beartic). Here, Iris needed the cooperation of that Vanilluxe to veer off the mossy epidemic caused by Ferroseed. That’s not a bad run for the icy Pokémon, because they have shown to do something useful.

Despite having the highest Base Stat total among non-legendary Ice-types, Vanilluxe isn’t easy to use. It’s the curse of the Ice-type, mostly for being weak to four types while resisting only its own type. It is a good Hail Pokémon thanks to its Ice Body ability, allowing it to heal more HP per turn. Its Ice STAB is made better in Hail, as it could use its good Special Attack to blast off a powerful Blizzard. Beyond that, when Hail isn’t around, the best it could do is to attempt a sweep with Autotomise to boost its Speed, using Ice Beam and a Hidden Power. Pretty much its other Special attacks are Signal Beam and Flash Cannon, which aren’t enough to cover a lot, especially Steel-types. This is another curse with Ice-types in general: not enough coverage. Therefore, it’s not expected that Vanilluxe could see use, unless it obtains some very good moves such as Shell Smash or Earth Power or Earthquake.

The Vanillite family is certainly one of the more interesting and daring Ice-types. This bold idea is brought to you by James Turner, the first and (so far only) Western Pokémon designer. This same guy also brought fan-favourite Golurk and well-made game Harmoknight, so this guy has merit. I can imagine how boring Pokémon would be if it’s just monsters through and through, so it’s nice to see comical Pokémon like these to provide a nice balance.

Vanillite: 10 Crystals out of 10!
Vanillish: 10 Shards out of 10!
Vanilluxe: 10 Straws out of 10!

Cubchoo & Beartic
 

The next Pokémon we shall be looking at are Cubchoo and Beartic. Cubchoo, the polar bear cub, has its signature continuously dangling mucus to take advantage of the feature of battle animations in the games, which is a source of disgust to certain people because of the mucus’ sliminess and dirtiness. Beartic, on the other hand, is an imposing polar bear with an icicle beard (with a bit of mucus overflow under its nose).

The snot that is always running in Cubchoo’s nose may be a disgusting sight to some and not too bad for others, but its snot allows one to tell Cubchoo’s health. If you’re disgusted with Cubchoo’s snot, maybe it’s best to skip this paragraph. Anyway, Cubchoo’s nose is always running, so you might be lucky is there is a time where the nose is not flowing with mucus for more than a second (there was never a moment where Cubchoo didn’t show its snot). If a Cubchoo is healthy, that snot will be sticky, which will in turn, make its Ice moves more powerful (it’s referred to as “moves” in the PokéDex, not attacks, so that could include status moves too). Conversely, whcn Cubchoo is not feeling well, the snot will be watery, and its Ice moves would experience a decrease in power. More interestingly, it will inhale its mucus back inside its nose in order to launch its attacks.

Cubchoo also has a blue face that extends all the way to the neck area. Usually, a sick character would have a coloured face to indicate as such, so Cubchoo gives off this appearance. It’s especially odd on its Shiny colour, where it is purple instead. Beartic’s Shiny colour is quite different from Cubchoo’s because in addition to not having any purple, its fur is all dark blue, while Cubchoo’s is white.

Beartic’s most interesting technique thus far is also one of the coolest. Where there’s water in their way, they will use their frosty breath to freeze a path to cross the waters. Normally, ice would be slippery, but polar bears have feet that allow them to walk on ice properly, thanks to the large and rough paws and short, sharp and stubby claws. It might not even need to do this, because it is an able swimmer, able to catch prey (most likely seals, judging from the polar bear’s diet) that lurks in the sea. Not only does Beartic use its icy breath to create paths, it could also use its breath to make ice fangs and claws for offence. Since Beartic already have fangs and claws, it could mean that it makes a weapon out of the ice instead of substituting the ice for a body part.

At an average height of 2.6 metres, Beartic is the largest mammal-based Pokémon behind Wailord, which is quite amazing, even though height isn’t normally something to brag about in Pokémon. The record height even beats Mamoswine, who had that honour of being the tallest Ice-type. In real life, polar bears are one of the largest terrestrial carnivores, at an average 2.4 metres and around 300 kg between male and female (Beartic has an average weight of 260 kg), so this is not so different from its real-life counterpart. Still, Kyurem is the tallest Ice-type (taller than Arceus in another Forme, I might add), but legendaries are special, so they can be as big as they want.

Since Unova’s only got three Ice-types (excluding Kyurem), it’s guaranteed that Brycen will have Beartic. More importantly, Beartic is Brycen’s main Pokémon, because as with any other Gym Leader’s Pokémon, it has the highest level. It will have Icicle Crash as one of its moves, so anything weak to Ice needs to watch out. In the anime, Beartic is also Brycen’s trump card, so it gave Ash a run for his money (though he did defeat it with Krokorok later). Another of Beartic’s notable appearance is when Georgia used it to battle Iris, which was also the first time Beartic appeared in the anime. Because Georgia is a self-proclaimed Dragon Buster, Ice-types are a super-effective choice.

Cubchoo’s appearances are tied with Beartic, since there isn’t any episode in which Beartic didn’t appear. In “Beartic Mountain Feud!”, for example, a member of a group of Cubchoo was injured, so it was nursed back to health and was returned to a group of Beartic. Another thing I need to mention is that those Beartic are wild, and it’s not a cold time, so there is no regard to parallel habitats in the anime. In the episode “The Mystery of the Missing Cubchoo!”, a Beartic was thought to be a trainer’s lost Cubchoo, but it was not the case when that Beartic can’t be recalled (the actual Cubchoo was found with a Larvitar). What makes that Beartic especially strange is its dangling snot.

Beartic is a decently powerful Physical attacker, especially since it has the powerful Icicle Crash. To add to the coverage, Superpower or Low Kick will help it deal with Steel-types, Stone Edge for Fire-types and recently, Aqua Jet for the first strike. Bulk Up or Swords Dance helps when looking to boost the Attack further. One ability Beartic got that would help it be more threatening is Swift Swim, for the Speed boost and the ability to take care of Grass-, Flying- and Dragon-type with its main STAB move, especially after it is boosted, while reducing the impact of Fire-type attacks. To make it easier to set up, Encore could be used to gain an advantage. It may be true that Beartic’s defences are decent, but its mono Ice-type and lack of Speed are its main downsides. If there is a type combination I wished Beartic had, it’s Ice/Fighting, because it’s a very offensive combination that would help Beartic a lot.

Polar bears are generally fascinating animals, because they live in an area with a lot of ice and are built differently from most bears. I must say, I do appreciate these Pokémon for representing the polar bear in Pokémon, but they’re not my favourite compared to the other Ice-types. Still, I like them for the way they are, because there’s something endearing with polar bears despite being dangerous animals, in addition to their vulnerable status.

Cubchoo: 8 Snots out of 10!
Beartic: 9 Beards out of 10!

Next time, we will be reviewing more Ice-types in Generation 5. I hope you enjoyed reading this article as much as I have writing it.