Judge a Pokémon Express: Pikipek, Yungoos, and Grubbin
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Introduction
Welcome to another installment of Judge a Pokémon Express (affectionately known as JAPE). This issue we're covering the brand new Alola Pokémon: Yungoos, Grubbin, and Pikipek! We've also got a new Facebook reviewer as well, Shane! If you'd love to be a guest Facebook reviewer, then all you need to do is write a mini analysis (in reply to the Facebook post announcing this issue of JAPE) on any of these Pokémon. After replying, please make sure to check your "Others" folder—I might have sent you a message asking if you'd be interested in joining the panel! However, keep in mind this isn't guaranteed, but feel free to try your luck!
| skylight | DHR-107 | Codraroll | ||||
| GatoDelFuego | Empress | brightobject | Shane | |||
| Click on the images to read their thoughts! | ||||||
Pikipek
skylight
I don't have high hopes for Pikipek. Its name is cute, yes, and it looks fairly cute... but that's the problem. Starly was cute. Pidove was cute. Yeah, Staraptor is okay but it just got lucky. Statistically most final evolution birds are pretty bad. Talonflame of course being the exception. Then there's Unfezant... possibly one of the most annoying birds (thanks to Detect) in the Unova region, BUT competitively? It's just boring. And that unfortunately is what will happen to Pikipek. You'll all love it now, but give it 20 levels and you'll be wanting to send it back.
Yungoos
skylight
Good news, democrats! You have been given a reprieve—if Trump wins the US Election, you'll be able to make the president your slave only 10 days later. Oh, wait, that's against the law. No problem! Yungoos will gladly fill that role for you. The Trump look-alike is making waves all over the Internet, much like his real-life counterpart. If you don't have an opinion on Trump, that's ok! Yungoos will also gladly double as Justin Bieber for all you teenage Pokémon fans out there. If you haven't heard of either of Yungoos's look-alikes, then that might just be a sign you play too much Pokémon.
Grubbin
skylight
I keep reading Grubbin as Grubbo, and that can't be a good sign. I make it no secret that I find Barbaracle the single ugliest Pokémon of all time. Now, for some reason we're only just meeting its fellow ugly cousin. I may be harsh, but when you compare Grubbin to Caterpie and Venipede (the former evolves into like the best butterfly Pokémon ever, and the latter evolves into a steamrolling machine) you don't have much hope for Grubbin. Maybe he turns into a caterpillar and evolves into a beautiful electric butterfly (just TRY to beat Vivillon, Butterfree, and Beautifly). If not, I'm sure you could probably eat it. It's grub, isn't it? :')
Pikipek
DHR-107
Hey look! It's the wireframe we saw in the first announcement trailer! We all thought it would be a cute little woodpecker, and here it is. It is very small and cute, and we can only expect it to get larger and more stylized as we go. We also saw in the E3 TreeHouse footage that it evolves twice, which gives them lots of scope to really make it something worth remembering. Let's hope it follows the Staraptor or Talonflame lines in that it stays powerful throughout the game. Comparing it with some of the other starter birds, it definitely fits the mold. The splash of red on its head is a nice touch to an otherwise rather two-tonal design.
Pikipek is interesting, however, in that it gets access to Skill Link as one of its abilities. Other Pokémon with this ability (like Cloyster, Cincinno, and Mega Heracross) are all threatening attackers, so I hope Pikipek can be too. Reading between the lines on the Pokémon official website allows us to bet it will get probably access to Bullet Seed, and more than likely, Fury Attack. Both of these become frighteningly powerful in the early game thanks to Skill Link. Add on STAB for Fury Attack, and you're toting a move with over 100 Base Power possibly before the first gym. It will definitely be a go-to for teams who don't start with Rowlet.
Yungoos
DHR-107
Yungoos is an interesting little Pokémon. Traditionally our early-route rodents have reasonable Attack and decent Speed, and this seems no exception to that. It has a bright and cheerful color, sided with that terrifying set of teeth. It's stated that it is not native to Alola, which is similar to some animals that were brought to Hawaii by settlers from elsewhere to deal with other pests. It also gives us the idea that there is at least one other nation in the Pokémon world that we do not know about. It's long slender body reminds me of a ferret or mongoose, which is likely where the name comes from.
Those enormous teeth give it access to the ability Strong Jaw, which we have only previously seen on Tyrunt and Mega Sharpedo, both Pokémon known for their huge jaws. This gives us evidence that it will likely gain access to Bite and Crunch, giving it pseudo-STAB on those moves (assuming it has a Normal typing) and the other Fang attacks. I hope there is a new move that benefits from Strong Jaw too, as most of them are fairly weak. Stakeout has the potential to be a game-changing ability. In-game it will likely be worthless, as its effect is not helpful (since the AI tends to not switch); competitively, though, it could be a secret blessing. Punishing switches in the reverse manner as Pursuit, pinning things in battle against you, or take a big hit on the switch in. It has the potential (with a decent Attack stat of around 80 behind it) to 2HKO Landorus-T with Return on the switch in, even after the Indimidate drop.
Could we see an OU rodent matching Talonflame from Gen VI?
Grubbin
DHR-107
Not a lot has been said about Grubbin in the official media. Its small grub-like body has enormous jaws that I presume allow it to defend itself from attacks. Those jaws could turn into something akin to Pinsir during its metamorphosis stage. It is said that it will be able to spin web and "swing like an actor on suspension wires," which means it will likely have access to String Shot and potentially Sticky Web. I would have thought it was going to be very similar to the other early-game Bug-types, but I would prefer it being along the lines of Sewaddle or Scatterbug as opposed to Caterpie or Spinarak. The former pair is strong and effective throughout their games.
It is also said Grubbin likes to burrow around near power plants for electricity. This could lead to its evolutions having a secondary Ground or Electric typing. Either would be beneficial to a raw Bug-type; Galvantula uses its dual STAB effectively, while the other pairing only has Nincada and Wormadam-G for comparison. Swarm is a little generic, but if it gains access to decent Bug moves (let's hope for X-Scissor with those jaws!) it should be fairly usable.
Pikipek
Codraroll
Alola returns to the tradition of early-route birds, bringing Pikipek to the table. Once again, the design is based on the sort of bird you might find in your backyard, this time a woodpecker. Early-route birds have tended to be a little hit or miss, but Pikipek appears to have great potential upon evolution. The design draws the observer's gaze to Pikipek's eye, a blue splotch in an otherwise black, white, and red design. From its eye you then look at the long, pointy beak, with which Pikipek will probably demonstrate the Flying type's effectiveness against Grass-types. Already in its first stage, Pikipek looks like something a Trevenant would run away from as quickly as its roots can carry it.
Pikipek fails the "head test", though. Its head looks roughly twice as heavy as the rest of the body put together, which would make Pikipek really unstable in real life. It would topple over if placed on the ground, unable to get up because its head is too heavy. That big head would give its pecks a lot of punch, though—similarly to a large hammerhead—provided that the neck muscles are capable of accelerating it fast to create quick jabs. But Pikipek's neck has roughly the same diameter as a drinking straw. Not only is it too weak to keep the head up, it's also so small that Pikipek can't possibly eat anything larger than a grain of sand without rupturing its ridiculously tiny esophagus (keep in mind that that neck would also include major blood vessels, a spine, and a windpipe). I know the inherent quirks of the Pokémon franchise require me to suspend my belief regarding a lot of things about Pikipek—for instance, its ability to carry its trainer across the entire region using Fly or creating rain by dancing—but it still irks me whenever a Pokémon design does not make anatomical sense.
Also, if you cover its beak and talons, Pikipek looks a lot like a miscolored Celebi.
Yungoos
Codraroll
Yungoos is Alola's early-route rodent, or at least rodent-like, Pokémon. Real-life mongooses aren't actually rodents, but the rules for Pokémon biology might be different, so the old tradition could still be held up. Personally, I like Yungoos best from the neck down. A long, sleek body, an easily recognizable flat tail, and legs that make anatomical sense. The colors are a bit of an eyesore, though, since brown and yellow do not match very well. On the other hand, those colors are found on regular mongooses as well, so I shouldn't complain.
Its head is where my issues begin, though. It feels a little large for its body, and it is too round to make sense for Yungoos, which is a quick and agile predator. Being so flat, its face looks almost human, which is not good when the rest of the creature is so clearly animal-like.
Yungoos's most defining feature has to be its mouth. It is big, full of pointy teeth, and... looks like it was painted on its face. Sorry, but neither the official artwork nor its in-game model manages to suspend disbelief far enough to make me believe that mouth. It has no lips, no lower jawbone, and no gums to anchor the teeth to. A permanent sneer like that would also be really unhygienical, considering that its face stays so close to the ground at all times.
Instead of writing a specific Trump joke, I urge my readers to mentally add "like Trump" at the end of every sentence in this post upon re-reading. It may be lazy, but it could also get some laughs out of people, like Trump.
Grubbin
Codraroll
We've seen the mandatory early-game bird and the mandatory early-game rodent, so now it's time for the mandatory early-game bug, Grubbin. And I must say... I'm not quite sure what I'm looking at. Grubbin is a strange hodgepodge of parts that only seem to fit sort of together: a rear that is either an extremely short larva body or a little pupa, a very large head with eyes that are nothing like a bug's, a forehead shell, and a pair of massive mandibles. It's like its front section adheres to a different color scheme than its back, but the back is so small it can't balance out the front. Whether Grubbin is emerging from a pupa or that rear really is a pair of caterpillar segments, the head seems overly large compared to the rest of its body. The result is a creature that seems to be mostly head, with a small sac supposedly containing the rest of its anatomy. In short, Grubbin appears to me as if it is missing half its body.
Pikipek
GatoDelFuego
Looking at Pikipek in a vacuum, I'm... indifferent. It's a bird Pokémon, it's black and white with a tuft of hair, it has a beak, it has feet. It looks very much like real woodpeckers do, which is a success I suppose for making a Pokémon look "realistic?" But it just doesn't look like a Pokémon to me. However, when I'm comparing it to other early-region three-stage bird Pokémon, I'd have to say it's certainly above average. With the exception of the... exciting Unfezant, bird Pokémon evolutions have been fairly well designed ever since Generation IV, and Talonflame and Staraptor are excellent in-game teammates. I think Skill Link is a really underutilized ability in the Pokémon world, so putting it on such an early Pokémon likely earmarks Pikipek's evolutionary line for a bright future in competitive play—or at least as a speedrunner's dream companion. Bullet Seed at level 10, please? That would be awesome. If it seems to you like I'm only talking about OTHER bird Pokémon I like and what I hope for from Pikipek's evolution, and not Pikipek itself, you're right! That's because I can't think of a showcased Pokémon design I've been less excited about, ever. This thing is just too average. Woodpeckers are kind of cool, though.
Yungoos
GatoDelFuego
Rawr! It's me, the incredibly angry Yungoos! Feed me or I'll be hungry, and when I'm hungry I get mad! And did I mention that I'm ALWAYS hungry? Feed me or I'll devour YOU instead!
Yungoos is objectively the cutest Pokémon of Alola, and possibly even the entire Pokémon universe. Its giant jaw gives it an uncanny resemblance to the :grimacing: emoji and is obviously the focal point of the entire Pokémon, given its access to the rare ability Strong Jaw. What makes Yungoos so cute is that it's trying so hard to appear threatening, but in reality it is only just above a foot (.4m) tall! Everybody remember that corgi that liked to devour cabbage? That's what Yungoos is. It's just a slippery lil' weasel with a voracious appetite. Yungoos's ears also remind me of a teddy bear. Who doesn't think THOSE are cute?
Yungoos became my favorite Alola Pokémon from the moment I saw it. It's got great looks, interesting flavor (as an invasive species), personality, and, most of all, very good abilities for a "boring Normal-type." That's actually my favorite thing about Yungoos and its (likely) evolution: proof that each region's "standard Pokémon" (in this case the Normal-type rodent) is being much better designed than their predecessors. Diggersby had this too, but since when did anybody give a second thought to Furret, Linoone, or Watchog? Yungoos has a sure spot on my first team, but I'm happy that future Normal-types of each generation have the potential to be as cool as this one.
Grubbin
GatoDelFuego
Rounding out our showcased Pokémon selection, like every game in the past, is the region's Bug-type. Larva, pupa, and adult, always faithful to tradition. I'm never a fan of each region's Very Generic Bug Pokémon trio, in all honesty; I think the formula has just gotten stale and the middle evolution is always a throwaway cocoon thing. It's tough to make something appear to grow strong when it has to evolve fully at level 10; it's not like you can gift the final evolution amazing stats that early! Though, the concept of bug collecting is what inspired Satoshi Tajiri to create Pokémon in the first place, so it has my admiration.
Being the first stage of the line, there isn't much to look at with Grubbin. Its color scheme is at least fresh—more white base coloring is good! The pincers on the front remind me of a stag beetle... or perhaps a centipede's mandibles? Unfortunately, both of these Pokémon have been explored as concepts before, so Grubbin's evolutionary line will probably end up compared to past Pokémon in the end. I really can't pass any final judgement on Grubbin based on what I've seen. I don't think the line has a high chance of overtaking Pinsir and Scolipede for "cool Bug Pokémon" anytime soon without some very unique traits. Hang on a minute..."Grubbin loves electricity, which is why it can be found near power plants and substations..."
Could it be?
The next....Electric Bug?
I've changed my mind. Best Pokémon of all time, coming up!
Pikipek
Empress
First impression: what a shame; it's another generic-looking early-game bird, as you can tell from Pikipek's Normal typing and access to Keen Eye. Second impression: hm, will its final form be fearsome like Swellow, Staraptor, and Talonflame, or will it be lame like (non-Mega) Pidgeot, Noctowl, and Unfezant? Despite Pikipek being another addition to a horribly overdone concept line, I see potential in this one. It definitely fits in with the realm of cutemons, what with its staggering head:body ratio and innocent-looking eyes. And then the bait-and-switch—16 beak strikes per second? Yeesh, this little guy is a master of deception. You don't normally associate non-predatory birds with fear, especially baby ones. I can imagine an unsuspecting trainer looking at Pikipek and trying to bring it in close to physically show it affection, as we real-life humans are very, very guilty of doing. After that, I sure hope the trainer knows how to treat puncture wounds. Skill Link and inevitable access to Bullet Seed only sweeten the deal further. How could something so adorable cause Rock-types, the bane of Flying-types everywhere, to tremble in fear? Well, in the game of Pokémon, a lot of things don't make sense. All in all, Pikipek is a two-faced little mastermind that has the potential to show us that early-game birds aren't ready to be scrapped yet. If nothing else, I expect to enjoy using it on the battlefield. It's been a long time since I played Little Cup, but shaking off the rust should be no issue. Just don't let one get near my house, please. It's been a victim of a real woodpecker attack before, and there is no way in hell I'm gonna shell out more cash in case of another one.
Yungoos
Empress
When I first saw Yungoos, I didn't even realize the resemblance to Donald Trump until our very own skylight pointed it out. But yeah, upon closer inspection, it really does encapsulate the Donald in what absolutely cannot be a coincidence. The ability to take down even the strongest obstructions and an aggressive appearance complement Mr. Trump's remarkable run to the Republican nomination and extremely outspoken nature. The tan spot right above the eyes is just the icing on the cake—even more so if it turns out to be bulbous. I'd touch it to see for myself, but getting fangs embedded into my hand is not ideal.
That aside, though, I have high hopes for Yungoos. It truly breaks the mold among all of the early-game rodents except Rattata, as Game Freak appeared to design them with cuteness in mind. But not this motherfucker—an unrelenting gaze and cartoony (but still terrifying) bared teeth combine to form something you wouldn't want to touch with a ten-foot pole. Maybe Yungoos is overcompensating for its small stature like Grubbin, but over the past year, I've learned the hard way to never underestimate the power of something I don't understand, if you catch my drift. Reading the data for Stakeout was also a jaw-dropper. Any way you slice it, the ability to absolutely annihilate switch-ins more than Analytic could ever help with should make Yungoos a fearsome threat in LC. That is, unless Game Freak decided to troll us by giving it shitty stats, but judging by how Diggersby ended up, it appears the creators have learned their lesson. By picking up where Diggersby left off, our trans-oceanic neighbors are ready to make early-game rodents great again! Not that they were ever great before, though.
Grubbin
Empress
It's a larva. And it has Swarm as its only ability. Looks like we have another early-game Bug-type on our hands. Every game has one, but the unviable insect gig can only be done so many times before it gets old. Even so, on design alone, I have faith that whatever Grubbin's final evolution is won't be shitty. As a larva, though, you could say the little guy is trying too hard. It's true that mandibles are to be feared in the Pokémon world, as Pinsir, Durant, and Haxorus can attest to. However, Grubbin clearly has a size disadvantage compared to those three, so I'm not too scared of it. Look at those angry eyes, too. Intimidating, right? Again, not so much when it's not big enough to frighten much. Perhaps most importantly, early-game Bug-types can't even learn TM moves until their final stage and never learn anything good before that. What good do all of those features do for Grubbin when it can't even put them to good use? Grubbin is the embodiment of a Smogon tryhard—it has a lot going on but isn't good at using it yet. Moreover, it has a serious Napoleon complex problem, but can you blame it? This stubby-limbed little fella is doing the best it can and is still immature, so give it a break. Besides, if Vivillon is any indication, early-game Bug-types can be plenty usable in NU, RU, or perhaps even UU. Once Grubbin reaches its adult stage, I can imagine it'll happily use its fully-grown mandibles to bisect me as an act of revenge for calling it a tryhard. Not to mention that it's been revealed that it can create sticky threads. If it gets Sticky Web, regardless of whether or not it must wait until evolution, we truly have a god amongst bugs. (Sorry, Shuckle.) At that point, I'll apologize to Grubbin, but looking at how angry it is now, I'm not sure if that'll do much...
Pikipek
brightobject
I'm just gonna put it out there: the official art for Pikipek looks pretty stupid. The head looks flattened, the neck appears scrawny and unstable, and the whole pose seems strained due to the unrealistic anatomy of the 'mon. Luckily, its in-game model looks a whole lot better, with the head retaining a more comfortable shape and the pose being a bit more... stable. Umber-and-white feathers are complemented by bright blue eyes and a red crest, which add splashes of color to this bird and give its design a lot of oomph. Surpassed any expectations I had from seeing the wireframe back when the first teaser was announced, for sure.
Yungoos
brightobject
Ha ha ha, it looks like Trump, haha lol!!!!1!11! Yeah... whatever, dude, I get it, you're "funny" and like connecting Pokémon to current events to demonstrate your intelligence, it's fucking hilarious. My opinions on Trump memes aside, Yungoos is pretty damn appealing for what many are supposing to be Alola's regional rodent. It has a really distinctive face, filled with its signature chompers and a cute button nose you don't see in many other 'mons (possibly none, I can't really recall). Apart from the face, the design is a tad bland and reminiscent of Linoone, but its different head shape and stubby paws set it apart enough for the similarity to be tolerable. Anyways, it has a lot of design potential and I'm excited to see what Game Freak has planned for this little bugger in the future.
Grubbin
brightobject
A relatively standard design that hasn't been done to death, mixed and mashed with unique body forms... gives us the godliest 'mon of all time... Grubbin, Devourer of Thunder and Nibbler of Worlds. Never mind its fleshy white butt—the action is all centered around those enormous lightning-crunching mandibles and the imposing, spade-like carapace (the muddy color of the earth stained by the blood of its enemies, offset by a sleek racing stripe of shimmering, electrifying yellow). Its eyes belie its ferocity in battle. Get out of the way, Pinsir... and all hail the King of Claws.
Pikipek
Guest Facebook Reviewer: Shane
A sneak peek at Pikipek, Yungoos, and Grubbin was expected to give us something to look forward to in regards to Pokémon Sun and Moon. Pikipek, the inevitable Pidgey clone of the Alola region, is by far a total loss in my estimation. The typing, abilities, and limited use it will receive beyond a few Gyms is just sad. With regards to the typing, I understand you can't capture the lightning in a bottle again after the major success that Talonflame has become, but how hard is it to give Pikipek something a little more unique like a Water / Flying or even a Psychic / Flying typing? I'm perfectly ok with a Pidgey knockoff every so often, but it would have been nice to not see one in this generation. The Alola region is a mock-up of Hawaii, so make all Flying-types EXOTIC, with an adequate for exotic Pokémon. Skill Link offers coverage to what I am sure will be a movepool filled with multi-hit moves, but that's of very little help, since they rarely do any kind of decent damage. As for Keen Eye, that ability is overused on Flying-types, but I'm not sure what else could have been given to Pikipek, given the limited abilites that Flying-types usually have. Pikipek’s design is gorgeous; I love the color scheme, but I just wish Game Freak would made Pikipek's prospects look so much better than I expect them to be.
Yungoos
Guest Facebook Reviewer: Shane
I'm intrigued by some of what I saw of the new Pokémon, but there were some things that kind of irked me. Let's look at Yungoos. Being a Normal-type Pokémon, I can understand that there are some body types that will eventually be used multiple times as the games and series carry on, but come on, it looks like an odd-colored, angry, demonic Furret with a change of scenery. I also get that Normal-types come with a limited movepool, but surely this Pokémon can learn something other than what appeared to be Tackle or Headbutt. I'm all for keeping things close to the vest and not wanting to give too much away, but it's a Normal-type Pokémon, so its use beyond the first few Gyms is likely limited. I do have to admit that there may be great potential for the abilities that Yungoos has in Stakeout and Strong Jaw. With a slightly optimistic outlook on what Strong Jaw may mean for Yungoos, I also have to pray and hope that his biggest assets are not in fact Bite or Crunch alone, otherwise I'm likely to consider Yungoos a major bust and disappointment on that alone without a deeper moveset to balance him out. But I have to say that I GREATLY approve of the Stakeout ability, specifically because of how it can change the game with an increased number of Gym leaders using Volt Switch, Baton Pass, or U-turn. Stakeout will also give Yungoos a greater usability than some other Normal-types in competitive play, and seeing a Normal-type crop up in usage is always a good thing.
Grubbin
Guest Facebook Reviewer: Shane
Grubbin, the new Bug-type we got to take a look at, interests me for a few reasons. While I wish they had used an attack other than String Shot for his demonstration, I love the design and potential for this Pokémon in general. From a design standpoint, the horns or barbs at the front of the body seem to make me think that Grubbin could easily have potential as a physical attacker, along with the ability to inflict status with Poison-types moves, which Bug-types often have access to. Swarm does help Grubbin stand on its own, but I hope there is more than meets the eye with Grubbin so that it can be better than Shuckle. Don't get me wrong, Shuckle has decent niches, but I'd like Grubbin's evolutionary stages to be capable of fighting in at least UU and higher without having to be played there by getting banned from lower tiers, because from what I recall and know, we only have four offensive Bug-types in OU. I sincerely hope the skies look bright for Grubbin, and they may have been bright for sure if he had a standout secondary typing, but I digress.
Conclusion
That's it for this issue of JAPE! Join us soon for some new Pokémon. Don't forget to write a mini analysis on any of these Pokémon for the chance to be a guest reviewer!
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