POTW Pokémon of the Week #37: Alomomola

SirOni · Mar 11, 2017

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 is Alomomola!

Debuting in Pokémon Black and White Alomomola is a single stage Water-type Pokémon known for its caring nature and defensive capabilities. Alomomola is based on the mola mola, a species of fish known for being the heaviest bony fish and also having a few other strange features. Colloquially these fish are known as sunfish because of their habit of basking along the ocean’s surface. In various languages mola mola are also called moonfish due to their rounded shape and gray coloring. Among the mola mola’s strange body features include the shortest spinal column of any known fish relative to its size, no swim bladder, no ribs, no scales, and an almost vestigial tail fin as it instead uses its dorsal and ventral fins to propel itself. This unique method of locomotion is expanded upon with Alomomola’s design where they are full-fledged hands capable of manipulating objects and embracing injured Pokémon. Speaking of embracing Pokémon Alomomola have strong maternal instincts that drive them to care for wounded Pokémon and seeing that they are brought back to good health. Alomomola produce a special mucus membrane with incredible restorative properties. These altruistic tendencies have translated to defensive and supportive playstyles for Alomomola with its impressive HP stat, Healer and Regenerator abilities, and moves such as Heal Pulse, Wish, and Helping Hand. Recently many players have seen just how well this Pokémon can perform its role whenever Totem Wishiwashi summons its Healer Alomomola ally. With Healer occasionally removing status conditions, Heal Pulse restoring its partner’s HP, and Helping Hand boosting Wishiwashi’s attacks that already come from some imposing offensive stats this Totem Battle was set up to be nothing but trouble for the ill prepared. Luckily Totem Wishiwashi’s attacking moves don’t have much base power. Alomomola provides some outstanding support that ally Wishiwashi can only ever dream of!

One topic of discussion that Alomomola is well known for is the idea that this Pokémon could have evolved from the other single stage pink fish Pokémon Luvdisc. Most of the arguments people bring up are just how similar Luvdisc and Alomomola are both being pink heart-shaped fish Pokémon that are based on tropical fish. Meanwhile the most well known explanation for why these two Pokémon aren’t related is because of Alomomola’s introduction in Black and White which had the selling points that no Pokémon from previous generations would appear during the main story and none of the new Pokémon were related to older Pokémon. Of course when discussing such a matter as why two Pokémon are or are not related it is important to not just look surface level details but also at core themes of their designs. Other than how these Pokémon were built for battle, one quick and frail while the other slower and tanky, both Luvdisc and Alomomola are designed around themes of love and caring for others though in different forms. While Luvdisc are themed around romantic love Alomomola is themed around parental love and compassion. This is very apparent even in its naming with “mom” being what connects the two “molas” that form its palindrome name. Changing Luvdisc’s theme upon evolution may be a reason why Gamefreak decided not to or did not think of connecting it with Alomomola. With that said though it isn’t too much of a stretch to see how these two Pokémon can be made into one line. After all, the stages of parenthood do tend to follow after experiences of romantic love as occasionally the latter can be the catalyst for the former. From its inception Alomomola brought to light new discussion topics for Pokémon design and what processes Gamefreak goes through when creating new creatures and games.

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?
-What do you think about the whole Luvdisc/Alomomola discussion?
-What do you think about Alomomola as a defensive supportive Pokémon?
-Before you first saw Alomomola did you know about the strange creature known as the mola mola?
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!

Previous Pokémon of the Week:

Esserise · Mar 11, 2017

I like Alomomola. It's a solid design with a fun name, and a wonderful cry. Never used one before, though. Maybe next time I replay Gen 5.

As far as the Luvdisc discussion goes, I'm on the side that doesn't think it should be an evolution of it. Why would it be? I get that they look related, but the point behind the Gen 5 Pokémon roster was that they were unconnected to any old Pokémon. They were supposed to be similar to old ones in order to inspire familiar feelings, while also being fundamentally unrelated to them.

That's not to say that Luvdisc shouldn't be improved, though.

Zexy · Mar 11, 2017

-Do you like or dislike this Pokémon? Why?
I like it. Nice name and design.
-How is this Pokémon in-game?
Never used it but I remember its HP being high, Soak being annoying and Wish being even more annoying.
-How is this Pokémon in competitive play? Are there any interesting strategies you like to use for them?
I guess it can make really good use of Wish and that's it.
-Do you like this Pokémon's representation in the anime? Are there any moments or qualities in particular you enjoy/dislike?
I liked its appearance in BW001.
-How do you think this Pokémon would interact with our world?
Some people would like it, others would think its name was funny.
-If given the power to, would you change anything about this Pokémon and if so, what would you change?
Better stats and Ability. Also if it weren't a Gen V Pokemon it could well be Luvdisc's evolution.
-What do you think about the whole Luvdisc/Alomomola discussion?
I liked the speculation around it and wish it were true.
-What do you think about Alomomola as a defensive supportive Pokémon?
Could be a bit better but it sure has its niche.
-Before you first saw Alomomola did you know about the strange creature known as the mola mola?
I didn't know about said species till just now.

Extra thing: I'd like to see Alomomola being more of a revered Pokemon in Alola, or even it getting a baby pre-evolution called Alola.
PS:

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Maniacal Engineer · Mar 12, 2017

I actually enjoyed the battle against Totem Wishiwashi. The Alomomola ally was a nice touch that made it more difficult to defeat Wishiwashi.
Heal Pulse recovered its HP, keeping the School form alive for longer.
Soak got rid of any STAB from super effective damage, causing Attacks to do less damage.

It was a perfect choice for ally Pokémon, in my opinion, and actually made me look at both Alomomola and the move Soak with a newfound appreciation.

Not that I had a difficult time with that battle, mind you, but I found it interesting. Definitely more than just your garden variety Gym Battle.

As far as Alomomola and Luvdisc, I feel like if Almomola was released in any generation aside from Gen V, it would have been an evolution to Luvdisc. However, since the original purpose of Unova was to only have completely new Pokémon, that didn't happen. Oh well. Luvdisc still needs to be buffed.

NMLewis · Mar 12, 2017

I am evidently a massive fan of Alomomola. For me, it's the Miltank of the sea. Except swapping some defense for far superior HP, and less speed. While I'm not great at competitive battles, I am known for frustrating opponents by making the battle go on and on. And Alomomola is a big part of that.

There are a few different sets of moves I like on it. I usually like to have Heal Pulse on it if it's gonna be a Double or Triple Battle (grr, Gen 7 taking away Triple Battles). If it sets up Aqua Ring, holds Leftovers and spams Double Team, it can be QUITE annoying for others to deal with. Especially when it also has Wish. Another good move for Alomomola if it has the time is Calm Mind. And I love to use Soak on things to take away their STAB. Soak is also great when I'm using Alomomola in combination with another wall, Meganium (usually with Heal Pulse as well, they heal each other in heat of battle).

I am always drawn to Pokemon that are all about caring for their allies. And Alomomola is actually the Caring Pokemon. I love it. Whenever there's a spot of rippling water in Unova... I usually immediately catch the Pokemon that appears. And oh how I love its cry!

Thank you for putting this often overlooked Pokemon in the spotlight!

PaulTheProtist · Mar 17, 2017

I don't really like this one. It just is abundantly similar to Luvdisc, my least favorite Pokémon, and there's nothing interesting about it to seperate it from the endless stream of water types that we have. Its stats aren't very good, and while I guess it could have a use in lower tiers there are still much better options. A slightly less bland Luvdisc is still incredibly bland, so this is probably in my bottom ten Pokémon.

Zeb · Mar 20, 2017

I hope they revisit another sunfish concept in the future, because Alomomola doesn't really do anything for me and they're so incredibly cool and weird-looking fish that I find myself a bit disappointed that this is Pokemon's representation of it. Probably doesn't help my feelings on Alo that it's just a pain in the ass to battle against with its bulk, Wish and Regenerator.

In regards to the Luvdisc situation, I admit that when it was first shown I immediately thought it was an evolution for it. I don't particularly care at this point since we're now 7 years later, but it would have been nice to give Luvdisc something at the time (and even now) because it's a bit of a joke. On a somewhat related note, I've never understood the Tauros-Bouffalant speculation because those two don't look related at all to me.

Guzma · Apr 15, 2017

I don't really have any strong feelings on Alomomola, but I like how its name is a palindrome.

Camille · May 10, 2018

Alomomola is an alright Pokemon. Not my favourite Generation V Water-type, but it is still better than Seismitoad, Basculin, and Simipour. I've never thought it should have been related to Luvdisc, since the former's theme is healing and the latter's one is love.
In-game, it gets lots of support moves in Wide Guard, Heal Pulse and Helping Hand, but attacking isn't its strong point, despite getting moves like Waterfall/Liquidation, Aqua Jet, Knock Off, and Wake-Up Slap.
In Black 2/White 2, I often level grind Pokemon with Dry Skin/Water Absorb against high-level Alomomola. Since they only have Brine as an attack move, they can't even scratch them, which makes grinding less tedious.

POTW Pokémon of the Week #37: Alomomola

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SirOni

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Esserise

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Zexy

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Maniacal Engineer

Mushy Emotionalist

NMLewis

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PaulTheProtist

¡Prepárate a morir!

Zeb

what is your spaghetti policy here?

Guzma

Actually Your Boy Guzma

Camille

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