Rare Article: 3 Alternative VGC Strategies
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VGC season is in full swing, as Spring Regionals approach. Perhaps the most common team to see is what has been dubbed in years passed as a "goodstuffs" team. In other words, a team that is made up of the best Pokémon in the metagame, as opposed to a team that subscribes to any particular strategy. Sure, weather is fairly common, but it seems that Zapdos, Hitmontop, Scizor, and Garchomp are on every team.But what if you want to do something at least a tad gimmicky, if only for the element of surprise? Well, I've got you covered. Here are three VGC strategies that won't be expected, and therefore, hopefully won't be prepared for by your opponent.
Concept Corner: Yokai (Or "Oh Jesus I'll never look at Golduck the same way again")
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Yokai. Oooooohhhhhhhh boy...With that out of the way, let's begin. Yokai are a class of supernatural beings in Japanese mythology, ranging across a huge number of creatures from the commonly-known Ogre to lesser-known ones such as the Yuki-Onna, which those of you who read my mythology article from a while ago may remember as the basis for Froslass. Yokai are powerful creatures, usually bearing great supernatural abilities. Yokai often posess objects or bear animal-like appearences to conceal themselves from humans, making them an excellent leaping-off point for a surprisingly large number of Pokemon. Today we talk about some of those Yokai, as well as touching upon the Pokemon created from them.
Before I begin, let me give some words of warning. While I work hard to keep these articles G or at least PG, the nature of Yokai mythology is a bit gruesome. If you are easily disgusted or offended, this may not be the best choice of reading material. Extremely violent tendencies are very common in Yokai, and I feel I would be leaving interesting material oiut by not including this. Anyway, with that, it's time to suspend some disbelief and jump in!Concept Corner: Under the influence...OF HUMANITY :O
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Hmmmmmmyessssssss.Ladies and gentlemen, the interactions between Pokemon and humans is a broad topic, which was touched apon previously in teh topic of man-made Pokemon. Today, we're doing something very similar. There have always been those who wish to tamper with teh natural order of the Pokemon world, be it an evil orginization or a wayward scientist. Like this gentleman beside this text, the people who tamper with nature's little spawn tend to be portrayed in a negative light, as evil beings who take sick pleasure in messing with the way things work.
We honestly don't see too much evidence of direct human interference creating and altering Pokemon species, but there is much evidence in the detail and framework, between the worlds of the games and anime. And this is what we're going to examine a little today, finishing off by completing the discussion on Mewtwo from last article, including how his personality changed due to humanity's involvement, summing up a sort of positive/negative series of effects. So, into the science-mobile!