(2/13/10)
Hey everyone. This is Justjack91 (but you can call me Jack), and I'm posting this as a new continuous series on Victory Road.
With all the excitement over the future 5th generation of Pokémon, I began to reminisce about the older days of Pokémon. I looked at my old files for Yellow, Crystal, and Ruby, and realized that Pokémon has changed a lot since the good old days of the Game Boy.
Therefore (with Cat's permission), I'm going to be creating a series that talks about individual Pokémon and their changes from their Game Boy days to their current DS forms.
Every Sunday (or late Saturday, depending on my schedule), I will post a new entry about a Pokémon and how it's changed.
This is more of a fun thing for fanatics of Pokémon to read. You won't really learn about how to dominate with a given Pokémon, but you will learn how others have used it before to its best potential.
I will discuss all the generation shifts (Kanto, Johto, Hoenn, and Sinnoh) and how they affected the Pokémon (if they did).
So, without further ado, I bring you our first Pokémon for this series, Gyarados.
Gyarados
Aw, a game favorite and a good start for the series of Pokémon to analyze. Gyarados has always been known for its "vicious" nature and destroying places with its "rage."
Back in the Red and Blue days, when we played through not knowing everything about Pokémon evolutions, we thought that the dumb salesman who sold us a Magikarp was a cheapskate who charged us $500 for a lousy fish who didn't even know how to tackle. Little did we know that, with a little persistence, something amazing would be gained from this annoying little carp.
Consistent Strategy
Obviously, Gyarados's high attack stat, no matter what game, is the real attraction to this Pokemon. It has a decent speed and defense as well and can take an attack from even some of the strongest hitters. Its electric weakness is a huge drawback at times, but battle a team without an electric move or powerful rock move and you will reign supreme. Using a strong physical move is very key to winning with Gyarados.
Kanto
Right at the bat in the first generation, Gyarados was a force to be reckoned with. As I stated before, his attack stat is absolutely amazing when you first evolve/catch him.
The one thing that differentiates this generation Gyarados from future ones is its special stat.
Way back then, special was only one stat and special defense and special attack didn't exist.
Gyarados had a high special stat that guaranteed he could take a Thunderbolt and (ironically) send out one of its own.
No other part of the series gave Gyarados such a chance. You could teach him
Surf, Ice Beam, and
Thunderbolt as main moves and they would really dent a Pokemon if not destroy it.
You were limited on physical attacks (mostly normal attacks like
Strength, Body Slam, or Hyper Beam), but hey, a good special stat balanced this.
Johto
Gyarados loses some of its raw power in Johto.
The Special stat split takes effect in Gold and Silver which leads to Gyarados having an impressive Sp. Defense but a lousy Sp. Attack. So much for overpowering Pokémon with Surf or Ice Beam.
The only move that is given to Gyarados to justify this loss is
Return. Sure, it's a powerful attack (beating
Double-Edge in terms of cost and benefits), but you've lost your versatility. You could
Rain Dance and get some power that way, but what's the point besides helping other water Pokémon on your team?
Oh, and he can use
Fire Blast now. Woo-hoo.
It wasn't all that great using Gyarados in Johto.
Trade it back to Kanto with Fire Blast though and you'll have a secret weapon.
Hoenn
"Gamefreak" realized how they disrespected Gyarados and decided to improve him into a behemoth once again.
The stats remained the same (awesome Attack, great Sp. Defense, lousy Sp. Attack), but the moves didn't. Suddenly, you could make good use of this Pokémon again.
The big change was not only the addition of moves like
Thrash and
Dragon Dance, but the addition of one of the best physical attacks that can be learned:
Earthquake. No longer can fire types laugh in your face about your wimpy water attacks due to your lousy special attack. You pop out an Earthquake and it's over.
Another thing to note is the addition of abilities. "Intimidate" played very well for Gyarados. Now even rock types couldn't OHKO you in one hit with moves like Rock Slide.
And the final big change: double battles. I know we like to neglect double battles most of the time competitively, but pair this sucker with a Rhydon and you're a match in heaven. "Lightningrod" (another handy new ability) is useless for Rhydon alone, but alongside Gyarados, it can be a game changer.
No longer does Gyarados have to fear its weaknesses in the Ruby and Sapphire games. Sure, it needs to be careful in single battles, but when battling with Rhydon, a high special defense, and "Intimidate," it's usually hard to defeat this duo.
Yep, things couldn't possibly get better…
Sinnoh
Oh wait, I was wrong. Things
could get better.
Not only did you have everything you liked from Hoenn in Sinnoh, but you also get the most appreciated "physical and special move split."
This means water attacks that actually do damage!!! Oh my Arceus!
Yep,
Aqua Tail and
Waterfall are incredibly reliable moves both in-game and competitively. Aerodactyl, beware of this force. We can't hit you with "Earthquake," true, true. So we'll go with something better.
Also,
Ice Fang and
Avalanche prove powerful moves to take out pesky grass and dragon types (more important against the latter).
It even gets
Stone Edge! This has a limited amount of uses, but even wimpy, baby bugs can't stop you if you really need to get them out of your way!
Finally, here is the scariest new move of them all!
Those of you with weak constitutions may want to leave your computers and hug your Pikachu plushies while we laugh at your behind your back.
In Platinum, the third game of the Sinnoh series, Gyarados, through the move tutor, can learn the move "Bounce."
I do not kid you.
For those that knew, you remember what you thought when you first saw that it was true.
For those that didn't know, look it up, go try and teach the move to it, find it. It's true, I promise.
This means that Gyarados can learn its first flying attack, a big deal for a Pokémon that is part "flying" in the first place!
Summary
Gyarados has gone through several changes over the lifetime of Pokémon and is an excellent first choice for this series I want to start. It went from an all-around offensive monster, to a confused giant fish, and finally to a physical master. We all appreciate Gyrados for its strengths and flaws. For many, it is the first truly powerful Pokémon for a team and will continue to hold this position for generations to come.
For right now, Gyarados holds its best position in the Sinnoh series and will remain an amazing partner to Rhydon so long as people play double battles.
Alright, that's my first entry. Feel free to post comments or suggestions and I'll make sure to post it next Saturday if you're lucky.