B+UP 9

Written by: Fusion
Editor: Terradude
Illustrated by: Diddgery

Pokémon Pick: Roserade



Generation IV introduced a ton of new evolutions for old Pokémon. Some went from "used a lot" to "used even more", such as Electivire and Dusknoir, some evolutions combined with gameplay changes to become breakout hits such as Weavile, while others were met with a resounding "meh" like Probopass. Roselia happened to get both an evolution and a pre-evolution this generation, and that evolution is pretty impressive.

Typing: Grass/Poison isn't breaking any new ground. However, since Psychics got their heads bashed in with the nerfbat ages ago and the only monotype Psychic used in standard competition is a legendary, that ground's a lot safer to walk on now.

Stats: Look at those Special stats, hot damn. 125 Special Attack and 105 Special Defense? Nice. 90 Speed's also fairly impressive. Unfortunately, its HP and physical stats aren't so hot; a good physical hit will put it out of commission.

Moves: Roserade's movepool is fairly interesting. It gets Weather Ball, which can become a slightly more powerful version of Flamethrower in sun (or Surf in the rain). If you've going to go this route and fight in the sun, pair it with Solarbeam. Otherwise, use Energy Ball or Grass Knot. Sludge Bomb is also available for STAB, but don't expect super-effectives with it. If you want another special move, you also have Hidden Power, Shadow Ball, Extrasensory and Leaf Storm.

Roserade also has a lot of additional moves to support teammates and shut down the opponent. It can set down Spikes or Toxic Spikes to punish switching, and inflict suffering with Sleep Powder, Stun Spore, Toxic, and Leech Seed. Roserade can heal itself with Synthesis while the opponent switches, or use Aromatherapy to clear its team of status.

Ability: I will once again reiterate that I don't like Poison Point; it doesn't do anything that you couldn't do more reliably with Toxic. In Roserade's case, it's more of a liability than usual, as it's weak against physical hits and things with an advantage against it such as Heracross and Swellow can get a boost from Guts. Natural Cure's fairly reliable, allowing you to take Roserade out of harm's way if your opponent attempts to hit you with status.

Additional Comments: Between resistance to Water, high Special Defense, and Sunny Day's weakening of Water moves, Roserade will take little damage from switching in on an opponent using Surf. However, if an opponent predicts this, they may use Ice Beam instead. Switch in on special-attacking Waters with caution.

Summary: Roserade's an excellent Grass-type in rain or shine, and makes an excellent partner for your team.



Fail of the Week: Shiftry



I usually talk about first-generation Pokémon being outperformed in their niche by ones in later generations. Not this time. Shiftry has the dubious honor of being a bad substitute for Exeggutor (which itself has lost a lot of its relevance, although it's awesome if you have a Groudon around). Sometimes I really regret buying Ruby...

Typing: Grass/Dark is slightly better than Grass/Psychic, but not by much. You have one less weakness and gain an immunity to Psychic moves, but you're still stuck with that 4x Bug weakness and a lack of 1/4 resistances.

Stats: Shiftry's stats are merely average. Its highest stat is its Physical Attack of 100, followed up by its Special Attack and HP of 90. It would have been helpful if Shiftry dropped one of its attack stats and put into defense, but there's only so much you can do.

Moves: Shiftry at the least has the advantage of being able to use both physical and special attacks. On the physical side, you have Seed Bomb, Sucker Punch, Payback, X-Scissor, Aerial Ace, and Return. Shiftry can also explode if you're so inclined. On the special side, you have Grass Knot or Energy Ball as well as Dark Pulse, in addition to Focus Blast, Shadow Ball, and Extrasensory.

Shiftry can also boost either of its attacking capabilities with Swords Dance or Nasty Plot, and force switches on the opponent using Whirlwind.

Ability: Chlorophyll doubles your speed in sun, which runs okay off of 80 base speed. Early Bird reduces the time Shiftry is asleep for, although it's a bit too situational to be of any use.

Additional Comments: Shiftry is actually surprisingly effective around legendaries. The presence of Groudon causes Chlorophyll to kick in, while Grass Knot can do heavy damage to an enemy Groudon or Kyogre.

Summary: Shiftry sucks. If you're so masochistic as to want to suffer constant defeat using a tengu, go play Shoot the Bullet instead (which very vaguely leads into my next subject, actually...)



GameFreak: Why the Hell Have We Never Recieved a Pokémon Snap Sequel?

Pokémon Snap was great. It was unique; a Pokémon game that wasn't focused on battling and instead based on exploring parts of the Pokémon world and seeing Pokémon in the wild. Sadly, that concept hasn't been revisited since, apart from a Virtual Console rerelease.

Several other Pokémon spinoff series has recieved at least one sequel. Stadium recieved a sequel (two if you count the Japanese-only Stadium game that was never released here as the original Stadium), Ranger's recieved a sequel and another is on its way, Mystery Dungeon's recieved a sequel on DS and one on WiiWare (although it hasn't left Japan yet)...

Don't say "it's been too long". Several other series and franchises have gotten sequels after just as much time. Metroid got a sequel after eight years. The original Mega Man series got a sequel after twelve years. Hell, it's been sixteen years and we're FINALLY getting a Sonic 4 (by the way, Sega, if you screw this up, I hope hell contains that barrel)

Hopefully GameFreak goes back to the Snap concept soon. We have 342 more Pokémon to work with now, plus however many Black and White are adding.



Next week, I look at the dragons time forgot.

Just seen this.

How the fuck did I miss this one?