- Joined
- Apr 17, 2010
- Messages
- 2,114
- Reaction score
- 1,080
In the World of Pokémon, there lives a vast number and variety of amazing creatures to befriend and collect. Every week, we will be focusing on a single one of these Pokémon or evolutionary line and talking about what makes it special. This week's Pokémon of choice are the Nincada family!
The Nincada family are a group of very interesting Bug-type Pokémon with a unique twist that were introduced in Generation III. The life cycle of this family heavily takes after its basis the cicada insect with the nymph Nincada burrowing out of the ground after years of feeding in order to shed from its skin and emerge as the adult Ninjask. Once it becomes a Ninjask this Pokémon is one of the fastest of all with a Speed stat of 160! Just like some types of cicadas Ninjask uses its speed as a way to evade enemies and predators which it would have trouble with considering its very poor defenses. While an effective trait against predators this isn’t the one that cicadas are most known for which is instead emerging in vast numbers in atypical cycles so that predators are unprepared and can only eat so many before becoming satiated. These cycles are usually along prime numbers, most famously 13 and 17 years, which is a rare sight in the animal kingdom therefore giving predators a hard time keeping track of cicada emergences with their own biorhythms.
Of course there is much more to the story of the cicada with a notable subject being the perfectly intact almost alive looking visage that is the hollow husk. Here enters Shedinja, the spooky shell of its speedy counterpart that mysteriously appears in your party if there is a vacant spot during Nincada’s evolution! Shedinja is primarily a reference to the ninja art of deploying a replica to evade threats utsusemi, which also happens to take its namesake from cicada shedding. This image likely goes back farther than traditional ninja history as the concept is also seen in the Chinese essay “Thirty-Six Stratagems” with the passage “to shed the golden cicada skin” which means using a decoy to fool enemies. Shedinja has the one-of-a-kind Wonder Guard ability that makes it invulnerable to all attacks that aren’t “Super Effective”. Naturally an incredibly busted ability like this one meant that Shedinja must have a very low Hit Point count, 1 to be exact, in order to compensate. Its minimal defensive stats could be seen a reflection of the fragility of the leftover cicada husk. To many cultures such as ancient Greece and China the cicada is a symbol of rebirth, immortality, and spiritual resurrection which are elements definitely present in Shedinja. The birth of new life into a discarded shell, the ever-living undead bestowed with “mysterious protection”, and even the idea of a spirit returned inhabiting a new vessel are all fascinating aspects embodied by Shedinja!
In battle Ninjask and Shedinja are very much one trick ponies. Ninjask’s most notable use is that of a Baton Passer using its Speed Boost ability and the move Swords Dance to quickly accumulate stat boost that can turn a fellow physical attacker into an imposing threat. Its naturally high speed isn’t much of a needed requirement for this strategy but it can be useful in edge cases where it may be facing one of the other top speed tier Pokemon. Shedinja is more often seen in gimmick teams where the objective is to transfer its amazing ability onto another Pokémon that has fewer weaknesses and at least decent staying power. Of note Wonder Guard is a very popular ability hackers have had fun attaching to Pokémon like Sableye and Spiritomb that had no weaknesses before the arrival of the Fairy-type. Though generally quite underwhelming there are edge cases where Shedinja can prove to be a very useful Pokémon as there are some pretty strong Pokémon that usually don’t have the tools needed to take on Shedinja. Chief among them the incredibly powerful Kyogre! So the next time you find yourself trying to catch the creator of the seas how about you consider giving ol’ Shedinja a spin? It’ll be fun!
Here are some questions to consider to get conversation rolling. You don't have to answer all of them or any of them in your post as long as you're staying on topic and within global forum rules.
-Do you like or dislike this Pokémon? Why?
-How is this Pokémon in-game?
-How is this Pokémon in competitive play? Are there any interesting strategies you like to use for them?
-Do you like this Pokémon's representation in the anime? Are there any moments or qualities in particular you enjoy/dislike?
-How do you think this Pokémon would interact with our world?
-If given the power to, would you change anything about this Pokémon and if so, what would you change?
-Nincada and Shedinja, barring forms, currently have unique type combos not other Pokémon possess. Would you like to see these types on new Pokémon and what would you imagine these new Pokémon to be like?
-In the Pokedex it is stated that anyone who peers into Shedinja’s hollow body from its back will have their spirit stolen. Do you believe this is something that could actually happen in the Pokémon world or perhaps is it just tall tales?
-Wonder Guard is considering an incredibly powerful ability while Shedinja is considered somewhat of an underperforming Pokémon. Could you see Wonder Guard ever given to a new Pokémon and could that Pokémon be designed differently from Shedinja?
If you have any suggestions for Pokémon you'd like to discuss in the future just leave your ideas at the bottom of your post. Make sure you give your thoughts about the current Pokémon first!
Thanks to @Rick and @Gengarzilla for suggesting this Pokémon of the Week!
Previous Pokémon of the Week:
The Nincada family are a group of very interesting Bug-type Pokémon with a unique twist that were introduced in Generation III. The life cycle of this family heavily takes after its basis the cicada insect with the nymph Nincada burrowing out of the ground after years of feeding in order to shed from its skin and emerge as the adult Ninjask. Once it becomes a Ninjask this Pokémon is one of the fastest of all with a Speed stat of 160! Just like some types of cicadas Ninjask uses its speed as a way to evade enemies and predators which it would have trouble with considering its very poor defenses. While an effective trait against predators this isn’t the one that cicadas are most known for which is instead emerging in vast numbers in atypical cycles so that predators are unprepared and can only eat so many before becoming satiated. These cycles are usually along prime numbers, most famously 13 and 17 years, which is a rare sight in the animal kingdom therefore giving predators a hard time keeping track of cicada emergences with their own biorhythms.
Of course there is much more to the story of the cicada with a notable subject being the perfectly intact almost alive looking visage that is the hollow husk. Here enters Shedinja, the spooky shell of its speedy counterpart that mysteriously appears in your party if there is a vacant spot during Nincada’s evolution! Shedinja is primarily a reference to the ninja art of deploying a replica to evade threats utsusemi, which also happens to take its namesake from cicada shedding. This image likely goes back farther than traditional ninja history as the concept is also seen in the Chinese essay “Thirty-Six Stratagems” with the passage “to shed the golden cicada skin” which means using a decoy to fool enemies. Shedinja has the one-of-a-kind Wonder Guard ability that makes it invulnerable to all attacks that aren’t “Super Effective”. Naturally an incredibly busted ability like this one meant that Shedinja must have a very low Hit Point count, 1 to be exact, in order to compensate. Its minimal defensive stats could be seen a reflection of the fragility of the leftover cicada husk. To many cultures such as ancient Greece and China the cicada is a symbol of rebirth, immortality, and spiritual resurrection which are elements definitely present in Shedinja. The birth of new life into a discarded shell, the ever-living undead bestowed with “mysterious protection”, and even the idea of a spirit returned inhabiting a new vessel are all fascinating aspects embodied by Shedinja!
In battle Ninjask and Shedinja are very much one trick ponies. Ninjask’s most notable use is that of a Baton Passer using its Speed Boost ability and the move Swords Dance to quickly accumulate stat boost that can turn a fellow physical attacker into an imposing threat. Its naturally high speed isn’t much of a needed requirement for this strategy but it can be useful in edge cases where it may be facing one of the other top speed tier Pokemon. Shedinja is more often seen in gimmick teams where the objective is to transfer its amazing ability onto another Pokémon that has fewer weaknesses and at least decent staying power. Of note Wonder Guard is a very popular ability hackers have had fun attaching to Pokémon like Sableye and Spiritomb that had no weaknesses before the arrival of the Fairy-type. Though generally quite underwhelming there are edge cases where Shedinja can prove to be a very useful Pokémon as there are some pretty strong Pokémon that usually don’t have the tools needed to take on Shedinja. Chief among them the incredibly powerful Kyogre! So the next time you find yourself trying to catch the creator of the seas how about you consider giving ol’ Shedinja a spin? It’ll be fun!
Here are some questions to consider to get conversation rolling. You don't have to answer all of them or any of them in your post as long as you're staying on topic and within global forum rules.
-Do you like or dislike this Pokémon? Why?
-How is this Pokémon in-game?
-How is this Pokémon in competitive play? Are there any interesting strategies you like to use for them?
-Do you like this Pokémon's representation in the anime? Are there any moments or qualities in particular you enjoy/dislike?
-How do you think this Pokémon would interact with our world?
-If given the power to, would you change anything about this Pokémon and if so, what would you change?
-Nincada and Shedinja, barring forms, currently have unique type combos not other Pokémon possess. Would you like to see these types on new Pokémon and what would you imagine these new Pokémon to be like?
-In the Pokedex it is stated that anyone who peers into Shedinja’s hollow body from its back will have their spirit stolen. Do you believe this is something that could actually happen in the Pokémon world or perhaps is it just tall tales?
-Wonder Guard is considering an incredibly powerful ability while Shedinja is considered somewhat of an underperforming Pokémon. Could you see Wonder Guard ever given to a new Pokémon and could that Pokémon be designed differently from Shedinja?
If you have any suggestions for Pokémon you'd like to discuss in the future just leave your ideas at the bottom of your post. Make sure you give your thoughts about the current Pokémon first!
Thanks to @Rick and @Gengarzilla for suggesting this Pokémon of the Week!
Previous Pokémon of the Week:
Pokémon of the Week #1: Bulbasaur, Ivysaur, & Venusaur
Pokémon of the Week #2: Scraggy & Scrafty
Pokémon of the Week #3: Gulpin & Swalot
Pokémon of the Week #4: Porygon, Porygon2, & Porygon-Z
Pokémon of the Week #5: Emolga
Pokémon of the Week #6: Rufflet & Braviary
Pokémon of the Week #7: Ditto
Pokémon of the Week #8: Wynaut & Wobbuffet
Pokémon of the Week #9: Sneasel & Weavile
Pokémon of the Week #10: Murkrow & Honchkrow
Pokémon of the Week #11: Houndour & Houndoom
Pokémon of the Week #12: Exeggcute & Exeggutor
Pokémon of the Week #13: Gastly, Haunter, & Gengar
Pokemon of the Week #14: Smoochum & Jynx
Pokémon of the Week #15: Beldum, Metang, & Metagross
Pokémon of the Week #16: Bidoof
Pokémon of the Week # 17: Deerling and Sawsbuck
Pokémon of the Week #18: Munchlax and Snorlax
Pokémon of the Week #19: Hoppip, Skiploom, and Jumpluff
Pokémon of the Week #2: Scraggy & Scrafty
Pokémon of the Week #3: Gulpin & Swalot
Pokémon of the Week #4: Porygon, Porygon2, & Porygon-Z
Pokémon of the Week #5: Emolga
Pokémon of the Week #6: Rufflet & Braviary
Pokémon of the Week #7: Ditto
Pokémon of the Week #8: Wynaut & Wobbuffet
Pokémon of the Week #9: Sneasel & Weavile
Pokémon of the Week #10: Murkrow & Honchkrow
Pokémon of the Week #11: Houndour & Houndoom
Pokémon of the Week #12: Exeggcute & Exeggutor
Pokémon of the Week #13: Gastly, Haunter, & Gengar
Pokemon of the Week #14: Smoochum & Jynx
Pokémon of the Week #15: Beldum, Metang, & Metagross
Pokémon of the Week #16: Bidoof
Pokémon of the Week # 17: Deerling and Sawsbuck
Pokémon of the Week #18: Munchlax and Snorlax
Pokémon of the Week #19: Hoppip, Skiploom, and Jumpluff