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Fridge Brilliance
New mons
- The Gen VI starters' final evolved forms happens when they reach level 36, the perfect square of the number 6, as in this generation.
- Why is Chesnaught so radically different in color compared to Chespin and Quilladin? Because they were unripened chestnuts! Chesnaught's armor has fully hardened to be more like an actual nut's shell, even with coloring, while Chespin and Quilladin were based on the casing that would cover the chestnut as it ripened.
- One of the new starters for the sixth generation games is a Fire-type fennec fox called Fennekin, with flames coming out of its ears. You know, the massive ears that fennec foxes evolved in order to radiate heat so they can keep cool in the desert!
- Why is Pokémon number 666 Vivillon? Because, nobody ever suspects the butterfly! MWAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! Plus, its "international coat" mechanic is a source of Greed, Envy, Wrath, and potentially Pride among trainers. A mon with the Number of the Beast linked to at least Four of the Seven Deadly Sins. Well-played, guys.
- There is also the "Butterfly Effect": A complex mathematical theory that is summarized as "A butterfly flaps its wings in California, causing a hurricane in Mexico through a snowball-like chain of events." Said butterfly is called The butterfly of Chaos. In this case, Pokemon #666 is the Butterfly of Kalos.
- Here's another one regarding Vivillon: its official artwork shows it having the Meadow Pattern on its wings, which is the Pattern that can be found by players whose default 3DS region is France (and Catalonia). Vivillon and its pre-evolutions are native to the Kalos region, which is the Pokémon World's version of France.
- Gogoat learns Milk Drink. Goat's milk in real life is consumable. As Squicky as the idea of a male Gogoat having Milk Drink is, well, it's a Grass-type, which often consists of Pokémon based off of plants, and plants can be asexual, i.e. flowers can have a pistil (female) as well as a stamen (male). Also, male goats are known to lactate.
- Pancham evolves into Pangoro when a Dark-type Pokémon is in the party. If a naughty kid mixes with bad company, they'll often grow up to become a bad guy themselves.
- The Espurr line doesn't have as much base Special Attack as it should, considering their Pokédex entry, but then their classification (the "Restraint" and "Constraint" Pokemon) made it clear. They're still holding back their power. If they went full-power in all of the battles they went through, they may be a Mon of Mass Destruction. Too much destruction.
- The Honedge family:
- Both Pokémon have "No Guard" as their Ability because there's no shield to go along with the sword. Doublade evolves into Aegislash and trades away one sword for a shield. Looks like it realized that it needed some defense. This is also reflected in its ability changing from "No Guard" into "Stance Change". Becomes ironic considering Doublade has a massive defense stat — equal to Shield Forme Aegislash, in factnote . Presumably, Doublade is parrying attacks with the swords. So you still hit it every time (explaining "No Guard"), but it moves in such a way that the attack deals the least amount of damage possible (high Defense). Doublade's Special Defense, however, is terrible.
- Also, why can this line learn Iron Head and Head Smash, despite obviously not having heads? The hilt, specifically the pommel, is the obvious choice for these abilities. Now guess where the English word "pummel" came from? It was originally used to describe the action of knights whacking enemies over the head with the pommels of their swords.
- One may find it odd that the line can learn "Round" (a sound-based attack in which the user sings) from a TM, despite being inanimate objects with no mouths. HOWEVER! This would make it a reference to the Singing Sword of Prince Valiant, which would sing when held in the hands of a just, pure-hearted individual, or something along those lines...
- It's implied that the line's soul-sucking abilities are reflexive in nature — they only activate when some hapless person tries grasping the creatures' hilts. Consequentially, to keep itself under control, Aegislash seems to exhibit some form of aposematism — an animal's use of signals to telegraph the unprofitability of attacking, eating, or in this case, wielding it. To wit, Aegislash's hilt is broad and triangular, which would make it difficult to form a tight grip around it. The species most likely developed this shape to discourage the royalty they worked with so closely from hurting themselves.
- Why can Slurpuff learn Flamethrower and Wish? It's a meringue cake, which can be used as a birthday cake. We put candles on the cake (hence Flamethrower) and make a wish before blowing them out (hence Wish).
- Meringue frosting is also known for being toasted, hence the Flamethrower.
- The cute, innocent-looking Inkay turns into the malicious, evil-looking Malamar when leveled up while the Nintendo 3DS is held upside-down. Not only did its body do a complete 180° reversal, its mind and morality also went as well.
- This may also be reference to an old April Fools prank: Nintendo Power had a fake article in a 1999 issue saying that if you flipped your Game Boy upside down when evolving your Lickitung, it would evolve into Luigi. With Inkay, you do exactly that in order to evolve it into Malamar.
- Why do Helioptile and Heliolisk learn Surf? Heliolisk's name suggests that the line is not only based on a frilled lizard, but also a basilisk (the real-life basilisk lizard, not the mythological kind), an animal that's known for running on water. And you can breed Glare onto them. The Japanese name for Glare translates to "Serpent Gaze". The name doesn't refer just to the real-life basilisk, but also the mythical one.
- Tyrunt and Amaura have poor defensive typings. They have also gone extinct.
- Why does Tyrunt only evolve during the day? Well, one Pokémon that can easily defeat it, Aurorus, is nocturnal. So of course Tyrunts wouldn't do much at night... that is when even the royal heir Pokémon can be brought down.
- Amaura evolves into Aurorus at night. Auroras are lights that dance across the night sky.
- Hawlucha's typing is weird. Sure, the Fighting type makes sense because it's a luchador-based Pokémon. But Hawlucha's typing is representative of the Fight or Flight response. The Flying-type could also be due to the fact that Lucha Libre is generally considered to be a high-flying wrestling style.
- Why can't Hawlucha participate in Sky battles? Because Hawlucha can't actually fly like a bird. The Flying type is just because it can jump really high, and Fly is just Hawlucha jumping even higher than it normally can. "Hawlucha, use Fly!"
- Why can't Hawlucha participate in Sky battles? Because Hawlucha can't actually fly like a bird. The Flying type is just because it can jump really high, and Fly is just Hawlucha jumping even higher than it normally can. "Hawlucha, use Fly!"
- Goomy line:
- Why is the Goomy line based off a slug/snail despite being a dragon? The Kalos region is based off of France, and it so happens that one French mythical creature is the Lou Carcolh, a beast that was described as both a mollusk and a serpent at the same time.
- Another possible reason: Medieval tapestries often showed armored knights fighting snails and nobody knows why. Knights fight snails! Knights fight dragons, too! So obviously, a dragon snail was needed!
- Why is the Goomy line based off a slug/snail despite being a dragon? The Kalos region is based off of France, and it so happens that one French mythical creature is the Lou Carcolh
- An incredibly minor example, yet it's remarkably subtle: Gourgeist's colors are the reverse of Pumpkaboo's. While Pumpkaboo had a orange pumpkin body and a brown ghost body, Gourgeist has a brown pumpkin body and orange ghostly arms.
- Yveltal, the embodiment of death, being Dark-type makes sense when you remember that Dark is strong against Psychic and Ghost, two types who can defy death. Psychic can use things like clairvoyance to avoid their impending death, while Ghosts are supposed to be dead but linger in the world of the living. As the embodiment of death, Dark-type Yveltal makes sure that these miscreants are Deader than Dead.
Mega Evolutions/Primal Reversions
- Mega Charizard X embodies all three members of the Tao trio: it has Reshiram's typing, Zekrom's color scheme, and base stats similar to normal Kyurem.
- Ampharos's Mega Evolution making it part Dragon-type doesn't seem as random if you consider its Japanese name is Denryuu, and that Ampharos has been capable of learning the Dragon-type move Outrage since the release of Generation 4's Pokémon Platinum.
- Why does Mega Mawile have "Huge Power"? That ability doubles the Pokémon's Attack, and Mega Mawile has two jaws now.
- Why does Mega Absol have "Magic Bounce"? Absol are always trying to warn people about disasters, to no avail. With this ability, it can finally stop those disasters from happening. The wings also give it the impression of an angel.
- Mega Kangaskhan is identical to normal Kangaskhan, except that the baby leaves the pouch and gains visible armor plating and red eyes. Kangaskhan doesn't Mega Evolve, the baby does.
- Mega Mewtwo:
- Mega Mewtwo Y's Ability is "Insomnia". Also a reference to Awakened Mewtwo in Pokémon: Genesect and the Legend Awakened.
- Why is it that Mega Mewtwo Y is suddenly smaller (and slightly cuter) than its regular form? Considering that Mewtwo is an enhanced clone of Mew, a Mega Evolution form bearing a closer resemblance to Mew makes much more sense. Its Y Mega Evolution allows it to become closer to its parent Pokémon. As for its X Mega Evolution, it goes the other way; Mewtwo gains the ability to evolve like other Pokémon (albeit temporarily), its Mega Mewtwo X form bearing the hallmark changes of an evolved Pokémon.
- Mewtwo's ability to Mega Evolve actually drives home the moral of The Power of Friendship even more than any other. Mewtwo was intended to be the world's most powerful Pokémon, but the cruel DNA engineering that created it rendered it savage, vicious and compassion-less. However, by base stat total, normal Mewtwo isn't the most powerful Pokémon. Along comes the player, who treats it with love and kindness to the point where their bond is strong enough to allow for Mega Evolution, making Mewtwo's base stat total go up to 780… which is a full sixty points higher than ARCEUS. A kid using The Power of Friendship did what a genius scientist could not. In short, those scientists dreamed of creating the world's strongest Pokémon… and they failed.
- Why does Mega Aggron have "Filter"? Its armor plating has covered up the gaping faults of its normal form. This may also explain why it has become a pure Steel-type, as opposed to Steel/Rock.
- Mega Aerodactyl gains the ability "Tough Claws". Take a quick look at its hands. And the big old spikes that look pretty tough where its claws would be.
- Mega Pinsir gains the Flying type and the "Aerilate" ability, which turns Normal-type moves into Flying ones. Flying is super effective on Bug and Fighting. Heracross is a Pokémon of both types and is often considered the rival of Pinsir. Its Mega form allows it to gain an advantage over it. This also causes both of Heracross's STABs to be even less potent. Considering this, why does M-Heracross gain "Skill Link"? This ability powers up moves like Rock Blast, which is 4x effective against Pinsir's new type.
- Why doesn't Mega Gengar have "Levitate" any more? Because it's coming up from the ground, and is therefore attached to it. As for why its ability is now "Shadow Tag"… take a good look at the animation for Mean Look, an attack that prevents Pokémon from escaping. It's a yellow colored eye. Now take a look at Mega Gengar. It has a yellow eye. It's constantly giving you Mean Look, so you can't escape.
- Mega Gardevoir:
- When it Mega Evolves, it gains a Fairytale Wedding Dress. Remember how they are said to love their Trainer with Undying Loyalty? And it has a wedding dress now? It loves you so much that it wants to be your wife! Or your cross-dressing husband! That is both sweet and disturbing at the same time.
- Mega Evolution is triggered by the player using the Mega Ring.
- That red horn on Gardevoir's chest? That's its heart, and on Mega Gardevoir, the horn has two pieces. By opening up its heart to you, it has become one of the most powerful Pokémon in existence. In contrast, Shiny Mega Gardevoir is decked out in all black, a color usually associated with mourning. In that case, the two-piece horn could represent a broken heart… Of course, if you want to make it badass without the sadness, one can say it is wearing a dress… to your funeral.
- Mega Blastoise gains the ability "Mega Launcher", which causes Pulse and Aura based moves to be powered up. This could just be a simple case of them giving an ability to it… until one realizes that the only other Pokémon who has this ability, Clawitzer, and Mega Blastoise have one thing in common: a giant gun-like part of their body that they fire their Pulse and Aura based attacks out of.
- Balancing reasons aside, why does Garchomp lose speed when it Mega Evolves? The fins on its forearms are supposed to be analogous to airplane wings, but since they have now become big bulky scythes, Mega Garchomp is less aerodynamic.
- Banette being granted a Mega Evolution makes more sense when one remembers that the Duskull and Shuppet lines can be perceived as counterparts. While Dusclops received the evolution of Dusknoir (beginning with Pokémon Diamond and Pearl), Banette was left out. Come Generation 6, Banette receives a boon in the form of Mega Banette, allowing it to fare better when pitted against the likes of Dusknoir.
- Mega Gyarados gains Dark type upon Mega Evolving. While people have been complaining as to why it's not a Dragon type, its dark typing makes a lot more sense when you realize all of the destruction Gyarados purportedly cause in their legendary rampages.note
- Mega Heracross has an attack stat of 185, the second highest after Mega Mewtwo X. Rhinoceros beetles are known for being the strongest animals in proportion to their weight.
- Mega Blaziken was in Pokémon X and Y, while the other Mega Evolved Hoenn starters had to wait until Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire. A literal Early-Bird Cameo.
- Interestingly, the same can also be said of the anime, where, over 10 years ago, Blaziken was the first form of any Hoenn starter shown.
- Blaziken's ability ("Speed Boost") also makes sense when you think about this.
- Mega Swampert having "Swift Swim" seems pretty random at first considering how bulky it is, but a closer look at its design shows that it's actually a perfect fit for its ability. Its overall design is more streamlined than before, its wider frame means it gains more lift as it swims, and its arm muscles are much stronger, making Mega Swampert a very good swimmer. Not only that, but those orange bumps on Swampert's arms can hold and eject water at high speeds, making it move faster. Swift Swim increases speed while it's raining.
- Why does Mega Sceptile have "Lightning Rod"? Its tail looks like an evergreen tree and the tip of its tail looks like a lightning rod. A common way to protect trees from lightning strikes is to put lightning rods on them to absorb the electricity.
- Both Mega Swampert and Mega Sceptile's abilities are particularly useful in double battles. Fitting, given the original games were the first to introduce them.
- Some people might think that it's a little odd that the Dragon-type Altaria had the Fairy-type Moonblast added to its movepool in X and Y given the relationship between the two. Come ORAS, and Altaria was given a Mega Evolution that renders it Dragon/Fairy. It's also no wonder why it lost its secondary Flying-type — calling it a living cloud doesn't even begin to describe the sheer amount of plumage it has.
- While Mega Salamence's design at first can seem quite hilarious (and many have found one or another reason to pick at it), it actually makes quite a lot of sense, design-wise. Ever since Salamence was a Bagon, all it wanted to do was Fly. Now its Mega Evolution makes it heavily resemble Latios and Latias, who are often compared to jets, showing that not only can it fly, but it speeds through the skies at the same time. Bringing out Salamence's true power only helps further realize its dreams.
- Similarly, the fandom loved Salamence for being a badass western dragon whose secondary flying-type was overshadowed at best, and considered a liability at worst, even before power creep set in. Its Mega Evolution makes it incredibly dangerous not by making it a better dragon, but by making it a better flier.
- Back in Generation III, Dragon was Special and Flying was Physical, so Salamence was used not for strong Dragon Type moves, but to use Dragon Dance, and then use Flying Attacks to hit most enemies for at least neutral damage. Generations IV and V changed this by making new Physical moves and giving it a strong Outrage, which filled the same role of a strong attack that nothing was immune to. But then X and Y introduced Fairies, which would take no damage from these moves. So what could be done to make Salamence strong again? Go back to using powerful Flying attacks, thanks to its ability "Aerilate". Salamence's Mega is really just a return to its roots, doing what it always wanted to do. And now, even with so many powerful fairies and Steel Types, Mega Salamence's ability means that it was banned not because it was too good of a Dragon, but because it was too good of a Flier.
- Mega Slowbro gains the ability "Shell Armor" — its shell becomes its armor.
- Its Defense is equal to a Cloyster's. It's covered by a Shellder, Cloyster's pre-evolved form. The Shellder basically evolved (for the battle).
- Mega Diancie has a drop in Defense and Special Defense after it Mega Evolves from Diancie. Mega Diancie has lost all of its impurities and became pure diamond. Diamonds may be one of the hardest substances, but they're so brittle that if small enough, they can be shattered with a hammer.
- Mega Metagross looks like they added a Metang and two Beldums onto a normal Metagross. Each evolutionary stage of the Beldum line is said to be composed of two members of the previous stage. Metang is two Beldum, and Metagross is two Metang, four Beldum, or one Metang and two Beldum. Mega Metagross is still technically two normal Metagross combined.
- Mega Audino resembles Audino's equivalent of Blissey. This doesn't make sense, until you remember Mega Banette. Mega Banette could have easily been a regular evolution to its line like Dusknoir was, but it would not make a good foil if it was. Mega Audino is Audino's answer to Blissey, while at the same time giving a difference between the two Pokémon, so that the two make good foils for one another.
- As stated in X and Y, Mega Gardevoir's chest plate (its heart) is in two pieces, representing it opening its heart to its trainer. When Gallade Mega Evolves, similar plates appear on its arms, meaning that Mega Gallade literally wears its heart on its sleeve.
- Mega Latias and Mega Latios are confirmed to look exactly the same as they do in X and Y's hidden data. In other words, they're difficult to tell apart. Not only does this make sense given that they're alternate gender counterparts to each other, it also makes sense from a developer's viewpoint due to the fact that it allows the developers to represent both using one overworld model when you use the Eon Flute to fly on them in real time (instead of instantaneous like using the Fly HM move).
- The energy that is related to Mega Evoution is called Infinity Energy, right? While Groudon and Kyogre had Primal Reversions, Rayquaza has a Mega Evolution instead. If you look at Rayquaza, the Tron Lines/Streamer patterns incorporate Lemniscates, or sideways 8s. What is a Lemniscate the symbol of? Infinity.
- Valerie from X and Y mentions that she's fascinated with the concept of becoming a Pokémon and that her fashion style has been influenced by that. Her winged dress didn't exactly resemble any Fairy-type Pokémon… until these games introduced the Normal/Fairy Mega Audino, who sports similar wing-like frills that are nearly located in the same places on its body as are those on Valerie's outfit.
- How does Rayquaza Mega Evolve without a Mega Stone? It doesn't. It ate the Meteorite, which has the Mega Evolution symbol on it. Its Mega Stone is internal.
- The theme for the Primal Legendaries contains snippets of the original GBA song from the original games. In other words, the song is reverting itself.
- Continuing on with the Omega/Alpha theme, Primal Groudon has the ability "Desolate Land" ("Land of Endings" in Japanese), which sounds like a place where life would end (hence Omega). Primal Kyogre has the ability "Primordial Sea" ("Sea of Beginnings"), which sounds like a place where life would begin (hence Alpha). Furthermore, their signature moves Precipice Blades (Precipice refers to the sharp drop at the end of a cliff) and Origin Pulse (Origin and beginning) also reflect this.
- Their abilities also reflect the goals of the villainous teams trying to use them. "Desolate Land" for Magma, and "Primordial Sea" for Aqua.
- Kyogre is about 15ft tall and its appearance heavily resembles a killer whale. In its Primal Form, it grows to about 32ft tall. The largest male killer whale on record was 32ft tall.
- The sea covers about 70% of the earth, which makes it more than twice the size of the land. Primal Groudon is about 16ft tall. Half of Primal Kyogre's size.
Fridge Horror
New mons
- Espurr seem a lot more distant and freaked out than their evolved counterpart, Meowstic, when normally it's the other way around for Pokémon who undergo personality changes with evolution. A quick glance at the Pokedex reveals why — unlike Meowstic, an Espurr has no ability to control its formidable powers. It stares like that because it's scared as all hell. This also explains why Meowstic are so standoffish — after the hell of their pre-evolved form, literally nothing can compare. And it explains why Espurr only emotes when you touch its ears. It's getting angry because it's telling you to back off or it'll accidentally kill you. And if you rub its ears, instead of acting aggressively like most Pokémon do when you touch their least favorite spots, it backs off, scared. That also helps explain why Honedge gives you a glare when you touch its tassel. "I'm throwing everything I've got at not reflexively draining you!" But only if it likes you enough; a newly caught or bred one has no problem with slowly turning you into a desiccated husk…
- Mixed with Fridge Brilliance: Espurr, according to the 'Dex, keeps its ears pressed against the sides of its head to help block its psychic powers from inflicting generalized mayhem on anything unfortunate enough to be in the vicinity. So, logically enough, when you're playing with it in Pokémon Amie, it'll get grumpy and try to stop you from messing with its ears. But it only gets mad about this if it already likes you. This means that someone specifically programmed the game so that as far as Espurr is concerned, anyone who it doesn't know who's dumb enough to try that deserves what's coming to them.
- Something similar applies to the sword Pokémon Honedge, which uses its tassels to drain the life out of people and has no problem with you handling them unless it likes you.
- Speaking of Honedge, Aegislash's dex entry in Y says that it can detect the qualities of leadership. In X, it says that generations of past kings used it to brainwash people. Putting those dex entries together, they imply that it wants to put masses of people under its control. Don't try to think about this too hard if your Aegislash has maximum affection.
- For more Pokédex cheerfulness, remember how Phantump is the soul of a dead child in a stump? As if capturing it and making it do your bidding wasn't horrifying enough, they're perfectly capable of breeding. Yeah…
- According to the Pokédex, Dragalge's acid can melt the hull of steel ships (even though Steel-type Pokémon in-game are still immune to its poison). Think about what acid this potent would do if it hit a human or a Pokémon.
- Possibly nothing, as there are acids that dissolve metal but have no effect on organic matter.
- Why does Litleo have a 25% chance of being male? Because most of the males in lion prides get killed. Adult male lions are notorious for killing cubs so they can sire more of their own. This probably explains the Rivalry ability in both the Shinx and Litleo lines — the males are fighting over their current offspring as well as their mating prospects, and are most likely fighting for their lives as well!
Mega Evolutions/Primal Regressions
- The defining characteristic of Mega Slowbro is that its Shellder is now covering most of its body. In terms of gameplay, its base Defense gets increased to an impressive 180, and its ability becomes Shell Armor. Now consider the fact Cloyster has the same base Defense and can have Shell Armor as its ability. In some way or form, Shellder evolves when Slowbro Mega Evolves.
- How could Mewtwo have any Mega Stones when the Kalosian War occurred millennia before it was even created? We might have to thank Maxie/Archie for that. That skyward burst of Infinity Energy that came from the Cave of Origin when Groudon/Kyogre was taken care of happened to create a new batch of Mega Stones when the leftover energy rained back down, and the Hoenn and Kanto games take place around the same time.
