[CENTER]
[/CENTER]
Greetings everybody! Today, there shall be a new series about Mega Evolutions. Instead of rating them like some people would do, I want to create my own. “How will this work?”, you might ask. Well, it’s quite simple. In an [URL=”http://raim2005.blog18.fc2.com/blog-entry-1097.html”]interview[/URL] regarding the games, this [URL=”http://bmgf.bulbagarden.net/f693/mechanic-changes-155907/”]point[/URL] is mentioned: “The standard selection process for Pokémon to be Mega-Evolvable is based on three points: [B]visual looks[/B], [B]popularity[/B] and [B]game balance[/B].”
What I am about to do is to list the Pokémon that could feasibly receive a Mega Evolution based on each of the three criteria, each with their own article. I will even add three more sections for good measure, but I will tell you what those are in another time. There should be a break between the first three and the next three, since breaks are nice to have once in a while. For now, here are twelve candidates that could fit the “popularity” category, so enjoy the read!
Nidoqueen & Nidoking
[B]Type:[/B] Poison/Ground [I](Both)[/I]
[B]Ability:[/B] Serene Grace [I](Nidoqueen)[/I], Sheer Force [I](Nidoking)[/I]
[B]Stat Increases [I](Nidoqueen)[/I]:[/B] Atk +10, Def +30, SpAtk +10, SpDef +30, Speed +20
[B]Stat Increases [I](Nidoking)[/I]:[/B] Atk +40, SpAtk +40, Speed +20
The Nidos are fairly popular Pokemon, especially Nidoking. Their popularity is likely because they are monsters that look intimidating and strong, even if their size doesn’t suggest that. However, Mega Evolution makes it possible for them to achieve a bigger size. For variation, both of them will have different stat boosts, as well as differen abilities to differentiate them.
Nidoking will have a more offensive boost, possessing more Speed and a lot more Attack and Special Attack. The Special Attack is now the equivalent of having a Life Orb at Max Special Attack, as with Attack if it is maxed out. It does have the benefit of not being able to be tricked too. The extra Speed makes Nidoking a lot more dangerous. Nidoqueen doesn’t have the same power increase as Nidoking, but it has extra defences to make full use of its decent defensive type. Serene Grace allows Nidoqueen to inflict some status more often, including Sludge Bomb, Ice Beam (Freeze is deadly) and Rock Slide, giving it some use.
Flareon
[B]Type:[/B] Fire
[B]Ability:[/B] Speed Boost
[B]Stat Increases:[/B] Atk +30, Def +10, SpAtk +20, Speed +40
If you have experienced some of the fan circles of Pokémon, you would know that the Eeveelutions are some of the most popular Pokémon out there. Although I am not a fan of Eeveelutions myself, I think this is a valid suggestion. In honour of this, I will choose only one Eeveelution. Of them all, I chose Flareon because it is popular in an unpopular sort of way. It is considered the worst of the Eeveelutions since its movepool and stats do not complement each other in a meaningful way (it is really slow for an attacker, while its defences doesn’t lend to support too well thanks to low HP). Since Eeveelutions are always mono-type, so would Mega Flareon.
To remedy this, Flareon will have acquired Speed Boost to make it faster every time, because it is a “booster” (it’s in the name, if you get the reference). The Speed makes it slightly faster than Mega Blaziken, despite having slightly less power due to only Fire STAB and lower Special Attack. It would be another Baton Pass user that’s worth consideration, so that’s not a bad thing to have. It could perform support too, since that Speed means you can use Will-O-Wisp and Wish more easily.
Snorlax
[B]Type:[/B] Normal
[B]Ability:[/B] Early Bird
[B]Stat Increases:[/B] Atk +30, Def +30, SpAtk +10, SpDef +30
Snorlax is popular because it is one of the earliest examples of being a road block, as well as being a popular choice for any Kanto trainer (Red, Ash and the Red in the Origins anime are happy Snorlax owners). Currently, only one Normal-type Mega Evolution exists, so another could potentially be interesting.
Snorlax is most known as a Curse set up attacker, so Mega Snorlax needs something to make it easier to set up. After some time, I decided on Early Bird because it makes Rest less of a hassle, taking only one turn of sleep before proceeding to set up further. The extra defences make Sleep Talk not as needed, although it will still be useful. Alternatively, Power-up Punch could be used to boost the Attack. You may be wondering why a bit of stats go into Special Attack. That’s because some Mega Evolutions have bonuses in stats they don’t need to use, such as Pinsir. I know everyone wants perfection in everything and no wasting is allowed, bu I think Snorlax is already a great Pokemon, so there’s no need to make it even more perfect.
Dragonite
[B]Type:[/B] Dragon/Fairy
[B]Ability:[/B] Multiscale
[B]Stat Increases:[/B] Def +40, SpAtk +20, SpDef +40
Dragonite is one of the most popular Pokemon, being a pseudo-legendary and for other reasons I don’t quite understand. I guess it’s because Dragonite is unique in terms of evolution, having a chubby look and looks mystical (or all of the above). Personally, I dislike Dragons, so it’s a bit hard to write this, but as this is speculating likely Mega Evolutions based on this criteria, this is a given. I saw some people wanting Dratini and Dragonair adopt a Fairy-type, so I thought I should add a Fairy-type to Dragonite, since it looks most like a fairy, making it one to be immune to Dragon, which gives it some use.
The ability remains the same, so Dragonite would still be used as a bulky set-up attacker. For stats, I made Dragonite bulkier by emphasising in bulk even more, because Fairies with high Defence are not a common thing (and Dragonite is a viable supporter too, which helps). Currently, Dragonite doesn’t learn Dazzling Gleam, but if Dragonite has this Mega Evolution, it would need to, otherwise the lack of Fairy STAB would be embarrasing. I decided Speed won’t increase since bulk is the target for the Mega Evolution, so it would need to watch out for powerful attackers that could set up on it, or worse, status.
Dunsparce
[B]Type:[/B] Normal/Poison
[B]Ability:[/B] Simple
[B]Stat Increases:[/B] Atk +30, Def +30, SpAtk +20, SpDef +20
Dunsparce is not exactly a popular Pokemon, but it is a Pokemon that often comes to mind when the subject is about Pokemon you often forget about. It’s like Dunsparce is so rare and unpopular that it becomes popular again due to the reputation it held.
The extra Poison-type on Dunsparce is to give it some defensive type. It’s also because Dunsparce is kind of a snake, which has a history of Poison-types variants. For my ability of choice, I decided to go with Simple, due to Dunsparce’s access to Coil and Calm Mind. Its offensive moves are quite plentiful, and it has recovery, so there is no shortage of moves you could choose on Dunsparce. The problem is to fit everything you want to do with four moves, but that adds to Dunsparce’s unpredictability.
Originally, I wanted a Fur Coat equivalent as an ability, but after some thought, Simple might be the best since Dunsparce is one of the few with Coil, and Calm Mind is there for an alternative set up move. Besides, if I apply the same stat boost on a Pokemon with access to recovery and a wide movepool, I am not sure if that would make Dunsparce too good. The idea was that Dunsparce is already a Pokemon with a low Base Stat total, so there will be an ability that compensates for one of its low stats (that’s what Mawile received, just so you know).
Sceptile
[B]Type:[/B] Grass/Dragon
[B]Ability:[/B] Tough Claws
[B]Stat Increases:[/B] Atk +40, Def +10, SpAtk +20, SpDef +10, Speed +20
Starters are mandatory for a list containing fan popularity Pokemon, because they are popular for being the first Pokemon of any new trainer for any region. Why else would Blaziken be popular? Anyway, when it comes to the starters, I opt for Sceptile, because I felt that of all the starters, Sceptile is the next most popular, if you don’t take the Kanto starters into account. This would technically leave Swampert out unfortunately, but constraints don’t allow for too many to be picked.
The type combination should be what fans believe Sceptile should’ve been: a part Dragon-type. This new type combination is sure to make Sceptile a lot more powerful, because Dragon STAB is really good. Yes, there are more weaknesses, but it makes Sceptile able to take attacks it resists more easily.
Now for the ability and stats. For this, I chose Tough Claws because Sceptile’s Physical movepool is the most desirable one, and many of them are contact attacks. Leaf Blade and Dragon Claw in particular stood out, with Drain Punch and Pursuit being alternatives. Certain coverage moves don’t make contact (Rock Slide, Earthquake), but that’s OK because you can still use Swords Dance to boost them. A tiny bit of extra Defence doesn’t sound like much, but would help take priority attacks a bit better, although Ice Shard will always be a problem.
Wailord
[B]Type:[/B] Water/Steel
[B]Ability:[/B] Heavy Metal
[B]Stat Increases:[/B] Atk +30, Def +50, SpAtk +10, SpDef +30, Speed -20
“Such an odd choice for a popular Pokemon!” You might think. What I see as popular might not be popular after all, but I figured that because Wailord is the biggest Pokemon in existence, it had to be popular. Wailord is not that heavy for its size, so I decided that if it were to be big, let’s give it more weight, exceeding 1 ton.
You may be wondering why I chose Heave Metal, an ability that doesn’t seem to imply usefulness. Well you see, Wailord learns Heavy Slam, and would look to be a fine user of that move if I added Steel-type. It has the side effect of giving it more resistances (and Magnezone bait). If Wailord had 2 tons (extrapolated from Heavy Metal) or more, then it will almost always hit for maximum damage, since the heaviest is Groudon, but if you don’t count that, Avalugg and Metagross are the heaviest. Guess what? Both take around 100 BP – 120 BP of damage. It’s possible that Wailmer could inherit Heat Crash from Tepig and gang, to make use of a powerful Fire attack that almost always hit for max damage.
I decided to go for Abomasnow’s approach for stats, where Speed is reduced while increasing the others. Attack is increased more than Special Attack to make those weight-based attacks hit harder. Wailord’s high HP ensures that giving more defences will make it very tough, increasing it to around 50% the original. It makes for a great Rest + Sleep Talk set because Wailord’s defences meant that it would be broken too easily. Maybe that’s too much, but I am sure there are people who would be able to break through this.
Metagross
[B]Type:[/B] Steel/Psychic
[B]Ability:[/B] Iron Fist
[B]Stat Increases:[/B] Atk +50, Def +20, SpDef +20, Speed +10
This here is another pseudo-legendary, and it’s another popular one because it looks like a robot. It’s not all dogs and cats fans, you know. Robots have their fans too, as evidenced by Transformers, so there are definitely Pokemon fans who like robots or all sorts of inorganic Pokemon.
Since Metagross already has a set of punching moves, it should get Iron Fist to take advantage of them. If there’s one punching attack I would add in Metagross’ movepool with this ability being added, it would be Shadow Punch. For stats, I put a substantial amount to Attack because that’s what you will be using the most. Defences are raised by a decent amount too, to take more hits.
Metagross should be OK with that ability. I decided not to add Tough Claws even though Metagross has claws and that is a better ability, because I felt that Tough Claws would be too good for a pseudo-legendary, so the next best thing is Iron Fist.
Rayquaza
[B]Type:[/B] Dragon/Flying
[B]Ability:[/B] Filter
[B]Stat Increases:[/B] Atk +40, SpAtk +40, Speed +20
Next to Arceus, Rayquaza seems to be one of the most popular legendaries, based on the poll in which legendaries on the game Box could be chosen. There is a precedent in where a strong legendary got a Mega Evolution (Mewtwo), so it’s a plausible possibility. I could go with Arceus, but that one would be easy (I would give it +20 in all stats except HP, and give it Protean). As much as I detest Dragon-types and their extreme power, I am going to give this one a try.
Reducing the impact of certain attacks through Filter would help a bit, I am sure, but the biggest changes are the Speed and attacks. I initially wanted to reduce Defences for more Speed, but I decided against it because then, there won’t be a point with putting Filter on it, which is supposed to reduce the impact of any weakness.
Luxray
[B]Type:[/B] Electric
[B]Ability:[/B] Strong Jaw
[B]Stat Increases:[/B] Atk +40, Def +10, SpAtk +10, SpDef +10, Speed +30
Luxray seems to be another popular candidate, having a considerable number of votes on Bulbagarden’s “Favourite Pokemon” board. I also noticed that I lacked a Generation 4 Pokemon after making the draft, so it’s only appropriate that I added one from that Generation.
Luxray seems to have been a bit lacklustre since its Physical attacks aren’t quite strong enough, due to the Electric monotype. To remedy this, Strong Jaw is added to Luxray’s arsenal of moves. Thanks to Strong Jaw, it can use the elemental Fangs, Bite and Crunch properly. Thanks to Electric’s paralysis immunity, Luxray won’t be slowed down any time soon.
Stat gains are similar to Kangaskhan’s, where Attack get the biggest upgrade, with Special Attack getting a bit of upgrade. Defences are to make Luxray take hits a bit better, and Speed is another big upgrade to get the jump against several Pokemon. Essentially, the stats are geared to make Luxray a better sweeper that could even attack on the Special side well.
Zoroark
[B]Type:[/B] Dark/Ghost
[B]Ability:[/B] Adaptability
[B]Stat Increases:[/B] Atk +35, Def +20, SpAtk +25, Speed +20
Zoroark is kind of like Lucario, who was introduced earlier than Generation 5’s beginning to promote a movie. While Zoroark won’t be as popular as Lucario, there are definitely some fans of Zoroark to make a Mega Evolution plausible.
The type is changed to Dark/Ghost because it was suggested on Smogon that if Zoroark is this type, it would be easier to do its job as a masquerade. Additionally, if the opponent is about to unleash a Fighting attack, one could execute this Mega Evolution to render yourself immune to them. Instead of retaining Illusion (which itself would give the Illusion away), I gave it the next best thing: Adaptability, because keeping illusions require the user to adapt to the foe, but this time you don’t get to keep that illusion.
The stat increases are similar to Lucario, where it received substantial upgrades in Attack and Special Attack, a bit of Defence and some Speed. This would help Zoroark set up Swords Dance or Nasty Plot more easily. If the opponent doesn’t resist Dark, then Sucker Punch will keep them on their toes. Its newfound Ghost STAB give it another option for STAB, meaning it doesn’t need to use its Dark STAB if it doesn’t want it. Rounding things up are Focus Blast and Low Kick, so coverage is covered. Since Zoroark is still somewhat frail, it will need to watch out for priority it isn’t immune to.
Chandelure
[B]Type:[/B] Ghost/Fire
[B]Ability:[/B] Magic Guard
[B]Stat Increases:[/B] Def +20, SpAtk +30, SpDef +20, Speed +30
Chandelure is mentioned due to a poll in a reliable magazine Corocoro ranking Chandelure as the most popular of Generation 5 (I think). Because of this, a Mega Evolution for Chandelure isn’t such a bad idea. As most of the Mega Evolutions retain the same type of the original, Chandelure would be the same.
The ability is a tricky one to decide. I had three choices, which are Shadow Tag, Infiltrator and Magic Guard. Shadow Tag isn’t chosen because Gengar already has it, while Infiltrator isn’t chosen since it would be at odds with its normal form. Besides, it isn’t as useful as the next best thing. Magic Guard could be useful for Chandelure since it will negate Stealth Rock damage, making it able to set up on several walls.
Stat increases is tricky also. Chandelure already has a nice stat distribution, which could use some improvements. In the end, I decided to increase the defences by a modest amount, with Speed and Special Attack having the most increase since Mega Evolutions tend to have the best stat increase the most, while some have stats that caught up with their best stat (Venusaur’s Defence). I am not entirely sure about the perfect Speed, but I put it to 110 to make it decently fast, while not being too troublesome to outspeed.
Essentially, the role of Mega Chandelure is to take advantage of Fire being a defensive type (with its nine resistances) while mainting the offensive pressure Fire-types are known for.
That’s all for the Pokémon that could get a Mega Evolution due to popularity. Perhaps my perspective on what’s popular may not line up with what’s actually popular, or that if they are popular, they didn’t get mentioned for some reason (starters would dominate this list otherwise!). You could list down in the comments on what is popular.
Next time, I will be looking another batch of Pokémon that could receive a Mega Evolution based on the criteria of “visual looks”. If you have an idea on what would best fit that criteria, I am open. Do keep in mind that I had the list planned, so you might need to convince me. I hope you enjoyed reading this as much as I have writing it.
[CENTER][I]Thanks for reading.[/I][/CENTER]
