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Ice-type Reviews – Generation 6

With Generation 6 around for already a year, the Ice-types have expanded its family! This time around, we have quite a few, as with most types, due to the lower amount of Pokémon introduced in this Generation. It’s not too hot that there are few of them, but we will have to make do with what we have. If you are ready, let’s move on.

Amaura & Aurorus
 

Our first Ice-types of Generation 6 were introduced during pre-release, as one of the two fossil Pokémon (the other is part-Dragon). This makes them our first Rock/Ice-types. It’s a straightforward idea when it comes to fossils, but it’s interesting because dinosaurs are unable to cope with the colder climate, leading to their extinction.

Amaura requires the Sail Fossil to be revived, in which it could be revived. In order to evolve Amaura, you need to reach Level 39 and it must be night time when you are strong enough. This actually contrasts its counterpart, who requires the same level, but only evolves during the day. It is possible that the two of them are a sort of majestic dinosaur duo, because their evolutions are meant to have a royal appearance.

These dinosaurs are based on the Amargasaurus, a rather large dinosaur with a distinct row of spines along its neck, giving it an appearance of a sail. This is translated to the sails found on both Amaura and Aurorus head and neck, which have the bonus of looking like a frilly aurora. In addition to the frills, they have crystals found on their bodies, probably because they need something to represent their Ice-type. Even then, Power Gem isn’t something they could learn, for now at least.

Dinosaurs are often portrayed as ruthless and fierce creatures, especially if you are talking about evolutions. That is because they are portrayed as prey, as Amaura’s ‘Dex entry mentioned it being a prey to Tyrantrum. That is reasonable, since the dinosaur that Amaura and Aurorus are based on is a herbivore, therefore, they are not natural attackers. Since dinosaurs are not known for their cold resistance, it suits these Pokémon well for they would usually be weak to them (Rock beats Ice).

Aurorus is different in that respect since it doesn’t have any sort of scowl or show any assault positions. Aurorus’ ‘Dex entries mention surrounding its enemies with ice or even blocking them, so it seems that they prefer to be on the defensive, although it’s not out of the question for them to use freezing as a form of offence.

When it comes to a potential future introduction in the anime, I could see Amaura being introduced in an episode where the fossil revival centre took place in the games, since that seems to be how fossil Pokémon were introduced in the past, with a bit of liberty from the setup in the games.

Aurorus was introduced with a new attack called Freeze Dry. This move doesn’t have a particularly high power (70), but it makes up for that with a great secondary effect: it is a super-effective attack against Water-types. This essentially gives this attack a strong coverage of five types, with only three types resisting it. Yes, even Ludicolo, Gyarados and Kingdra take heavy damage due to their other type being Ice-weak.

In terms of its other moves, there are quite a few options. Aurorus is blessed with Electric coverage, which is good if you don’t want to just resort to Freeze Dry for Water-types, although the latter is useful for any Water/Ground-types. You could attempt to boost by Calm Mind if you want. Otherwise, it is more of a supportive Pokémon, having good support moves such as Reflect and Light Screen, Thunder Wave, Encore, Dragon Tail and Roar.

The most interesting thing about Amaura and Aurorus is its abilities. One of them is its exclusive ability Refrigerate, turning a Normal attack into an Ice one. This is a good ability for a Physical attacker, although they are more of Special attackers. Still, Nature Power turns to Tri Attack, so there’s some use for it. The other ability is interesting because before then, only one other Pokémon family possessed it. With Snow Warning, Blizzard is a viable option, and it could team up with Snover or Abomasnow for more Hail. You still have to remember that Rock/Ice is a type combination with six weaknesses (two of them are double) with only four resistances, though.

While I may be OK with dinosaurs, they are not my favourite type of animals. I do have a soft spot for those that are herbivores, since it’s the violent aspect of dinosaurs that I am not a big fan of. It’s hard to say if that’s how they are commonly portrayed, but most are portrayed that way. It’s often that battlers see type combinations with a lot of weaknesses as a sign of contempt, since that makes them difficult to use. Still, there are some special traits found in these Pokémon that make them quite special indeed.

Amaura: 9 Crystals out of 10!
Aurorus: 9 Auroras out of 10!

Bergmite & Avalugg
 

The second pair of Ice-types introduced in Generation 6 is also pure Ice-types. They are not seen until the Mountain portion of the game, which equates to late-game. We are introduced to more ice-based creatures, ever since we had Glalie, Vanillite and Cryogonal.

Bergmite looks like a creature with an ice stalagmite armour. It has a pointy spike in front of its main thorn, which could either act as its tusk or it could be used for climbing. Otherwise, it might as well travel across water (ice is less dense than water), since it is known as an iceberg (it is called “Berg”-mite, after all).

Its evolution Avalugg, on the other hand, is more of an iceberg. If you look at the top of its body, you could see that it has a few creases on its flat top. Maybe that gives it the appearance of an aircraft carrier, since the ‘Dex mentioned it as well. It also mentions that several Bergmite could be on its back. Since Bergmite doesn’t seem to be able to climb, that is something to wonder. Maybe it can walk on surfaces like as if it’s an insect? After all, Avalugg has claws underneath its feet to prevent slipping, so it’s a valid suggestion.

Another of Avalugg’s qualities is how hard and heavy it is. Indeed, it weighs over 500kg, and one of an Ice-type’s main qualities is that their icy exterior cannot easily be broken down. Bergmite doesn’t have that kind of exterior, but at least it could repair them with its icy breath. That same cold breath could also be used for freezing opponents solid.

Based on Bergmite’s entry, they are herd travellers. It could also apply to Avalugg too, since they could act like adults for the young Bergmite by being protectors and carriers. This reminds me of how elephant herds are since elephants are heavy and big, where the elephants have their own community. It wouldn’t surprise me if they perform the same rituals as elephants, except those that involve tails and trunks.

In battling, one of Bergmite and Avalugg’s main qualities is their ability to use Rapid Spin. Not only do they have the ability to use Rapid Spin, they can also Recover, an important aspect of being a wall. Combine both of these qualities and you have a Pokémon with a purpose, as Cryogonal had proven. When comparing Avalugg and Cryogonal, you can say they are opposites, because while Cryogonal has high Special Attack and Special Defence, Avalugg has high Attack and Defence. Also, Avalugg is slow while Crygonal is fast.

When looking at Avalugg, besides having Rapid Spin and Recover, the stat that stands out the most is its Defence. It is unrivalled as the highest among Ice-types, so it will be difficult to take it down on the Physical side without some strong attacks. It also has some great Physical attacks (including Earthquake and Crunch), as well as Curse. Because of Avalugg’s Speed, you don’t need to worry about Curse’s side-effect, which also helps make Gyro Ball a powerful attack, despite not having STAB. If there’s one thing you need to watch out, it’s Special attacks, due to Avalugg’s very low Special Defence.

The concept of a moveable ice creature is not new, but there is something fresh about Bergmite and Avalugg that makes them different from its previous kin. It has to do with how they actually resemble animals made of ice rather than non-animated objects. Praise goes to the designers for creating something new out of an established type. It would be nice if they have a secondary type, though.

Bergmite: 10 Icicles out of 10!
Avalugg: 10 Icebergs out of 10!

We are done with all the Ice-types that we have for now, so next time, we will be going into some TCG art for the Generation 6 Pokémon. I hope you enjoyed reading this as much as I have writing it.