Here’s the next catchup round of the Pokémon Origins Game! In these special edition posts, I’m guessing the choices behind the Ability sets given to the Pokémon from the first two rounds. Let us continue.
pokemondb.net
- Torchic
Type: Fire
Ability: Blaze, Speed Boost (hidden)
Torchic is a Fire starter, so it gets Blaze by default. This Ability raises the power of Torchic’s Fire-type attacks after it reaches 1/3 health. As for Speed Boost…have you ever tried to catch a chicken?
spuf.org
- Rotom
Type: Electric/Ghost (Normal Rotom), Electric/Fire (Heat), Electric/Water (Wash), Electric/Grass (Mow), Electric/Flying (Fan), Electric/Ice (Frost)
Ability: Levitate
Imagine doing your chores with this impish malfunction. Rotom has a penchant for possessing household appliances, which stop working properly under its control (Rotom is Motor spelled backwards). Given this tiny form’s constant migrations from object to object, Rotom makes a good contender for a Pokémon that floats. This train of thought led to Levitate, which prevents the bearer from being damaged by Ground moves.
Bulbapedia
- Eevee
Type: Normal
Ability: Run Away, Adaptability, Anticipation (hidden)
This little fox has big potential—no wonder its Abilities stay on the safe side! Before Eevee reaches its full power as one of seven known evolutions, it’s a vulnerable Pokémon that needs support. Run Away lets Eevee escape from any wild battle, even if by all accounts it should be trapped. Decent Ability for a little Normal pup that’s still growing. Adaptability doubles the power of moves that are the same type as the bearer. Given Eevee’s vastly reactive DNA, it is only fitting that it would have an edge in attacks of its own field. Its final Ability, Anticipation, makes the bearer shudder if its first opponent has a move it’s weak to. Run Away, unevolved Eevee, Run Away!
ign.com
- Nincada
Type: Bug/Ground
Ability: Compound Eyes, Run Away (hidden)
A Bug-type trainee of covert mercenary ways…that’s Nincada for you. This entire evolutionary line has Abilities that fit both their species and class origins. Real cicadas have five eyes, two of which are bulbous compound eyes. The Pokémon version of Compound Eyes raises the bearer’s accuracy stat. Not a bad gift for the observant ninja-to-be. Run Away is a good hidden Ability because Nincada is still a nymph. It must be able to flee from danger! Also, ninjas totally have the theatrics going on when they make exits from a scene. However they do it, it’ll probably involve obscuring the witness’s vision. There should be some way for Nincada to learn Smokescreen or something. Well, I suppose Double Team works.
ign.com
- Ninjask
Type: Bug/Flying
Ability: Speed Boost, Infiltrator (hidden)
Buddy, it even looks like a ninja. This masked marvel boasts one of the biggest base Speeds throughout the Pokédex. It clocks in at a walloping 160, and only gets faster with Speed Boost, which increases that stat after each turn in battle. That’s one way to make this vulnerable Pokémon stand out. Speed Boost takes the most of Ninjask’s origins, letting the insect fly with increasing swiftness as it embraces its ninja discipline. Infiltrator leans more heavily on the latter. This Ability bypasses a handful of barrier and substitute moves, allowing the bearer to strike unimpeded. Weirdly enough, it can’t bypass Barrier itself.
This line has three stages of evolution. Now, the only one left is…
Bulbapedia
- Torterra
Faked you out! I’m writing about Torterra instead.
Type: Grass/Ground
Ability: Overgrow, Shell Armor (hidden)
It’s not every day you get to begin a journey alongside The Turtle With the World On Its Back. As a starter, Torterra shares Overgrow with all the other leafy picks from the professors’ labs. Overgrow has the same effect as Blaze and Torrent, but type-specific. The reasoning of Torterra’s hidden Ability is obvious. This turtle is a gargantuan Continent Pokemon inspired by ancient reptiles, terrapin legends, towering trees, and the wicked dangerous snapping turtle. Its Ground typing also gives it a connection to the earth. Any turtle that can carry an entire land on its back would have rugged Shell Armor impenetrable to critical hits.
ign.com
- Shedinja
Type: Bug/Ghost
Ability: Wonder Guard
Returning to the cicada trio, we have Shedinja. This unique Pokémon came into being as the possessed shell of a Shedinja’s Shed Skin. It exists on a precarious level, only having 1 HP and barely passable stats for a Pokémon that’s fully evolved. Such a hazard is tipped into balance with Shedinja’s unique Ability, Wonder Guard. Wonder Guard prevents this Pokémon from being damaged by any attack it is not weak to. Not at all unfitting for a ghostly creature that was reanimated from a leftover shell.
Well, that’s round two down. One more and I can return to the usual game. Hang in for the third and final round of The Pokémon Origins Game Catchup!
