Judge a Pokémon: The Cold Shoulder

In many ways, I find Avalugg to be a warped mirror image of last gen's Cryogonal. A pure-bred Ice-type, exceeding in one defensive stat, knowing both Recover and Rapid Spin, and a design which basically aims to give life-like attributes to ordinary ice structures. While playing Pokémon Y, I anticipated great things from Bergmite's final form, but as I later got to see it, my expectations was left unrewarded. I've seen plenty of homegrown Pokémon designs from various fans, and one textbook mistake is to simply take an object and then add limbs and head to it. This is why it pains me to see Game Freak in the same trap. That is not to say that I would have loved to see an iceberg design—it was in fact what I was hoping to see judging from Bergmite's appearance—but the way they handled this design makes me wonder if they had simply forgotten about Avalugg one day before deadline and quickly left their new intern to fill in the blanks. Contrary to what the design may tell you, its cracked body and gnarly head didn't fall as flat as its legs, as they don't share much similarities to the rest of its physique and instead appear to have been glued on for support. It's almost like I wish they could have pulled a Geodude and left its body floating free in air, but when you're a 1000-pound-iceberg gone rogue, I guess the same rules don't apply.

It is theorized by many that Aurorus carries the burden of wiping out the rest of its fellow kin, but whether it did so by bringing forth the Ice Age or by the virtue of its appearance has yet to be established. I, for one, welcome the addition of a Rock / Ice Pokémon, and was glad to see the concept among this new gen's fossil records. But judging by its flamboyant looks, I may be on the fence about it. One side of me argues that incorporating auroras into a clunky dinosaur wasn't the wisest of decisions, and that the small gems placed along its body feel forced as they only serve to emphasize the Ice typing further. My other side, however, advocates that it's a simple yet elegant design that also did a decent job combining sail dinosaurs with northern lights, and the light blue body pattern resembling snow crystals suits it well. With these two sides clashing against each other like two neighbors arguing about appropriate hedge measurements, I feel the need to compromise. As much as I love puns in Pokémon names, I'd rather have seen auroras in a different concept, but given the end product, they did a solid job. I look forward using it.

With several generations of Pokémon games having passed us by, it's inevitable that a large number of people choose to prefer the original 151 designs, as they are closest to the idea that spawned it all and thus considered most true to the ideal. Which is why I appreciate the existence of Jynx for the sole purpose of proving them all wrong. Granted, it's difficult to outline what can be a Pokémon and what cannot, as one cannot assume that everything needs to be either beasts and ghouls found in a typical fantasy game, but at least it should be safe to assume that your wild encounters shouldn't resemble humans to the point of mistaking them for one. Which brings us to Jynx. Grab a valkyrie from your local Opera house, draw her in a Pokémon-esque fashion, and the results would not be too far from what Jynx brings to the table. While the style itself may be sound, the concept itself has stumbled all the way down into the uncanny valley, which makes every trainer ask themselves whether they're raising a battle creature or becoming guilty of human slave labor. This is an idea that you'd expect to surface once all other areas has been mined for interesting Pokémon designs, and not something to appear within the first batch. As if Mr. Mime wasn't bad enough already.

Lapras is yet another dragon-like species that the first gen let loose in the Kanto region, but it's one that's easier to support. Much like Loch Ness, no player at that point had actually met a Lapras in the wild, as its existence was exclusively upheld by a Silph employee handing out free samples. And it wasn't particularly difficult to be intrigued by it. It was large, it had a cool shell, and the horn on its head almost made you feel like you'd been gifted by what mermaids would consider to be a sea unicorn. Given all of the various Pokémon designs up to this point, Lapras appears to be too simple, but at the same time, there's nothing I'd do to change it. This elusive ocean dweller is a perfect example of how to include enough details to make it interesting without overdoing it, which many have considered to be a key element to RBY's designs. Either that or nostalgia has made me unaware of the rose-colored glasses I'm wearing. I'm fine either way.