SwSh New Pokemon Species Discussion

[Leaf_Ranger]

This should be okay because the DLC has released, right?

Spoiler: Crown Tundra Spoilers

This morning I was browsing images of Calyrex for one reason or another, and I stumbled across this image in particular:

And I thought to myself, that can't be real.


Oh, but it was.

It was.

I had known that Calyrex had a fusion of sorts with two horse Pokemon from the few spoilers I read a while ago, but I didn't think it would turn out......

like this.

Thanks.

I hate it.




Okay, all jokes aside I have to say these fusions are genuinely one of my most disliked Pokemon, and they came out in the same generation where someone snuck their fursona into the game. It opens the door for some awful, awful ideas in later games in my opinion.

Calyrex just looks so goofy and uncanny riding Glastrier and Spectrier. While it's skinny arms and legs might have made sense when it was just a floating psychic thistle-bunny, they look so awkward seeing it adopt a human-like pose as it rides around on these ponies. Calyrex is meant to be this cool and regal monarch, right? Instead, in my opinion, it looks like a gag character from a cartoon when atop its mounts.

And neither horse really fits with Calyrex design wise, Spectrier especially with its purple and black color scheme. Not even the reins (where did they even come from?) were made so that they fit the horses, instead being this jarring electric blue. I think this is partly why these so-called fusions look like Fakemon to me. They just don't look cohesive.

Not only that, Calyrex riding around on these horses looks and feels... wrong. It's far too human-like for my tastes, to the point where it crosses the uncanny valley. While Pokemon riding on other Pokemon isn't new to the series, it just looks more natural, like something a real-world wild animal would do, on other Pokemon. Mantine and Remoraid mimic the actual behavior of remoras, for example. Dreepy riding on Drakloak looks like what some animals do to carry their young. Calyrex riding bowlegged like a human on the horses, reins included, just looks weird, silly, and odd. I've always liked the idea of Pokemon essentially being magical (non-human) animals, and this is directly counter to that. I've heard that Calyrex actually talks to you (which is a whole 'nother can of worms) and, if this is true, just makes this all the worse. It also brings up some awkward questions like who is taking orders in battle, and is it even right to order around a Pokemon intelligent enough to ride a pony like a human.

While the idea behind these fusions is, in my opinion, more creative because it's something very different from the previous fusions, from an actual design standpoint it strikes me as lazy because it's just Calyrex placed onto its horse with an extended cape and some blue ropes. I'm not keen on Black/White Kyurem and the Necrozema fusions, but I think I would have preferred a more traditional fusion than Calyrex riding these horses. Both ponies are simplistic enough design-wise that I feel they'd avoid the ugly, overdesigned issues of previous fusions.

Now, on to the actual horses.

Nightmare Moon Spectrier is alright. I think it's a little on the plain side, and is need of few purple spots on its body. Though, I think its ghostly hooves look neat, and its Pokedex entries are interesting.

Like Spectrier, I find Glastrier somewhat plain, and I think some icicle spikes on its shoulders or hips would remedy this. That being said, I dig the ice mask and mane. I think Glastrier is my preferred of the two horses.

AAAAAAAAALL of this that was said! I subscribe every word of it. I was going to make a new thread just to discuss this abomination of "Pokémon". Now I can see why Calyrex has those lazy leg designs: it's because it would be harder to design it when mounting and so thet just gave it two "sleeves" that are easy to draw.
How can these

Spoiler

three

"legendary" be acceptable? I could go with Pkmn mounting other in the anime for better transportation but this...oh god, what would N say about this? This ilustrates and is the culmination of everyhting wrong with Pkmn look more and more human-like! I'm not a fan of Galarian Rapidash and Ponyta but these

Spoiler

two steed

are just the worst, just bland animals that can fit Digimon, God of War, My Little Pony and many other places but not Pkmn.
It's not just nostalgia when I say that I'm replaying LeafGreen and I'm still stunned that the only hint at the legendary birds were the Articuno in a gate, some Bird Keeper that I believe mentions them and a report in one of the computers in Cinnabar's lab and that these are the way to make something interesting and mysterious instead of shoving, reuse and rewrite old legendaries while making a fuss on how they've got "new" content. Screw you GF!

PS: I'm just going to drop here a link to a video that I just found amusing about how Gen. VIII was done. I hope you enjoy as much as I:
Ex-GameFreak Employee Tells the TRUTH about Pokemon Sword and Shield

 

[tomb of spirits]

Spoiler

Really loved the design of Spectrier's detached hooves.

 

[BlueWaves]

Spoiler: Spoiler

I think the way Regieleki hops to walk is adorable.

 

[Chidamari Sketch]

Spoiler: Encompasses Crown Tundra spoilers

I'm surprised that I like most of the new Legendaries in the Crown Tundra at all; Calyrex's story and character even made me grow on it to the point that I consider it okay now.
Sayin' this I don't even usually care about Legendaries and their supposed 'mystique'.

Regidrago in particular's like my fourth favorite Dragon type; beaten by the likes of Dracovish, Guzzlord n' Hydreigon.

 

[Esserise]

I didn't like Rainbow Rocket, and yes, it was a barely coherent mess. But at least there were a bunch of reasonably difficult battles and puzzles, with multiple NPCs rather than a talking legendary and two minions (I'm only counting one horse).

Spoiler

It is certainly true that Rainbow Rocket had better puzzles and battle challenges, although in that regard, I think that's just a matter of it and the Sovereign and Steed story trying to do different things. The Crown Tundra expansion as a whole is already going to get those sort of things by virtue of navigating a new and unfamiliar landscape and through Dynamax Adventures, respectively. Meanwhile, Episode RR is a nostalgia tour isolated from everything else in the game, and so needs something to sustain it for an hour and a half. By its very nature, I also don't think it is as ripe for lore dumps as a storyline that involves Legendary Pokémon is. They definitely could have done a better job with Giovanni and Lusamine's parts in the RR story, but aside from that, I don't think there's a lot you can really wring out from "Cyrus, except he won in another world." S'like, okay, sucks to be that world I guess.

Delta probably would be the better point of comparison for the Calyrex story, and as far as that goes... I still think Calyrex is better. You can call it a series of fetch quests, but at least here they come packaged with an entirely new landscape, whereas Delta has you exclusively retreading places you've already been to. That's something I've liked about both of the SwSh expansions, is how their respective storylines encourage you to explore and become familiar with the new location. Plus, I find the Calyrex story to be paced a lot better than the Delta Episode, which for the most part throws hordes of measly villain grunts at you and then screeches to a halt at the climax so you can receive the longest lore dump in Pokémon history, before being given a Lv70 Rayquaza that effortlessly sweeps the final boss and can one-shot the cool Deoxys that you probably were wanting to catch. The level curve of the Calyrex story is broken if you try to do it before beating the game or if you've juiced your team up to Lv100 in the months since November; if you approach it having just wrapped up the Zacian/Zamazenta storyline, though, then it works out fairly well.

 

[swiftgallade46]

Kind of disappointed that

Spoiler

none of the new legendaries received G-Max Forms.

 

[Esserise]

Kind of disappointed that

Spoiler

none of the new legendaries received G-Max Forms.

As a consolation prize,

Spoiler

Caly has a unique blue Dynamax aura

That said, I can see why neither Calyrex nor the horses have a G-Max form, but I suppose it would have been a cool way to make the two new Regis stand out. I was actually a little surprised that they kept to the same 580 statline as the original trio. I figured they'd be more like the slightly more powerful officer class of the Regi hierarchy or something, given how they already have the benefit of signature moves and Abilities.

 

[Esserise]

Was talking about spelling in another thread soooooooo

Spoiler: Tundra

I'm really struggling to pronounce Glastrier in what I presume is the correct way (with a long a sound, akin to "glacier"). My brain reads it more with a short a, like "glass" or "Glasgow" (the fact that it's in a Scottish setting only reinforces this).

Glaistrier, or Glacstrier, or Glacestier would have read more naturally with a long a in my mind. And while technically yes, "Glaistrier" would actually cut against the similarity to "glacier" in terms of spelling, the placement of the i isn't really the problem for me so much as the change from a c to an s. And, it would have looped around and folded in a similarity to "glaive," a sort of polearm weapon used on horseback, and considering that Ice Rider Caly is the physical attacker with a huge ice lance, that seems especially like a good fit to me.

 

[BigBadButterfree]

Was talking about spelling in another thread soooooooo

Spoiler: Tundra

I'm really struggling to pronounce Glastrier in what I presume is the correct way (with a long a sound, akin to "glacier"). My brain reads it more with a short a, like "glass" or "Glasgow" (the fact that it's in a Scottish setting only reinforces this).

Glaistrier, or Glacstrier, or Glacestier would have read more naturally with a long a in my mind. And while technically yes, "Glaistrier" would actually cut against the similarity to "glacier" in terms of spelling, the placement of the i isn't really the problem for me so much as the change from a c to an s. And, it would have looped around and folded in a similarity to "glaive," a sort of polearm weapon used on horseback, and considering that Ice Rider Caly is the physical attacker with a huge ice lance, that seems especially like a good fit to me.

Think of it this way:

Spoiler

The name is from "glace" and "destrier." The A sound is coming from glace, so it's a long A. The S is part of destrier, as the C in glace (which makes the same sound) would imply a different sound when put next to the T. I get looking at the word without that context, it is confusing and I'd probably pronounce it like you. But knowing its components, it makes sense to me.

Idk, pokemon names are hard sometimes. I STILL don't really know how I'm supposed to pronounce Bouffalant.

 

[Esserise]

Think of it this way:

Spoiler

The name is from "glace" and "destrier." The A sound is coming from glace, so it's a long A. The S is part of destrier, as the C in glace (which makes the same sound) would imply a different sound when put next to the T. I get looking at the word without that context, it is confusing and I'd probably pronounce it like you. But knowing its components, it makes sense to me.

Idk, pokemon names are hard sometimes. I STILL don't really know how I'm supposed to pronounce Bouffalant.

Thanks, this does help.

I'm sure I'll acclimate to it eventually - if I can come around on saying "Ray-kway-zah," I can do anything. Really, there are only a couple of official pronunciations that I refuse out-of-hand; for instance, Masmagius. (It should make you think of a spellcasting mage, not the youngest Simpson child!)

As for Bouffalant, Pokédex 3D Pro says it as "Boof-uh-lawnt" which makes sense to me, since it stems from the word bouffant.

 

[BackSet]

Speaking of pronunciations: how the heck do you pronounce Arceus?

I pronounce it Arseus but I've heard others pronounce it Arkeus.

 

[Esserise]

Speaking of pronunciations: how the heck do you pronounce Arceus?

I pronounce it Arseus but I've heard others pronounce it Arkeus.

Officially, the English pronunciation uses the hard c (or k) sound. That's not very popular though, as fans generally seem to prefer the soft c (or s) version, which I will agree is visually more intuitive (and I think it is closer to how the Japanese pronunciation sounds, as well). But personally I use the hard c version because to me, the soft c makes it sound like an ass god. Plus, as Bulbapedia's etymology section suggests, you can think of its name along the lines of arch (highest ranking) + deus (deity), as well as in the sense of a curved arc, like the shapes on Arceus's golden body ring.

 

[Rainfall]

Officially, the English pronunciation uses the hard c (or k) sound. That's not very popular though, as fans generally seem to prefer the soft c (or s) version, which I will agree is visually more intuitive (and I think it is closer to how the Japanese pronunciation sounds, as well). But personally I use the hard c version because to me, the soft c makes it sound like an ass god. Plus, as Bulbapedia's etymology section suggests, you can think of its name along the lines of arch (highest ranking) + deus (deity), as well as in the sense of a curved arc, like the shapes on Arceus's golden body ring.

I see this and say the same! The official romanization for the Japanese name, and the rest of the names (excluding the Chinese ones) is with "c".
unrepentantAuthor convinced me that the English pronunciation ought to be hard-c. The Japanese pronunciation is with soft-c "equivalent".

In general, Pokemon naming and themes are pretty intricate, really! From the effort put into the names of legendaries/mythicals (usually with multiple etymological-mythological/cultural references), the town names, the player character name themes, and even the flower theme in major Galarian NPCs.
___

Back to Arceus: I agree that "arch(on)" and "deus", giving the sense of "highest deity", is the simplest direct meaning. The other possible references in the Bulbapedia etymology sections you mentioned are also a delight! I rather like "arkhē" [romanized] for "beginning"!

Quoting Bulbapedia page below. The name in all languages are the same, except in the Chinese ones, for which they're cognates, and portmanteaus of "Alpha" and "Zeus" (with added benefit in romanized Mandarin of retaining the A and the Z!).

Name origin
Arceus may be a combination of arch- (most extreme, highest), archon (a Greek word that means "ruler" or "lord"), arcanus (Latin for secret, mystery), archaic (ancient), αρχή arkhē (Greek for beginning), or archetypus (Latin for original), and deus (Latin for god). It may also derive from aureus (golden, in reference to its hooves and wheel), arc (round or ring), arcessere (Latin for to summon), or Archeus (an aspect of the astral plane). It may also be a reference to Arcesius, the king of Ithaca mentioned in the Odyssey that was a son of Zeus.

Name meaning, for Japanese (and most other languages)

From a combination of arch, archon, arcanus (Latin for secret/sacred mystery), archaic (ancient), αρχή arkhē (Greek for beginning), or archetypus (Latin for original), and deus (Latin for god). May also derive from aureus (golden), arc (round or ring), or Archeus (an aspect of the astral plane).