winstein's Blogs

Yesterday, I posted an article at PE2K to close the Poison-type reviews I did there. The difference between that article and the first one was very, very long (the first one was published at 23rd August 2011). I don't want the BMGF guys to miss out on this, so I will put out around half of the list here since there is a 20 image limit in blogs (that would make it less than 20, but I am sure you could check the original article out, right?). If you want to see the full version click this link: Poison-type Award Ceremony.

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Friendliest
Bulbasaur



When I missed out on mentioning Bulbasaur or its family as an award winner in my Grass-type Award Ceremony, I received a few comments about how it’s a shame that Bulbasaur (or its evolutions) weren’t winners. Well, to all of you who lamented about this, I have some good news for all of you: this category is unrivalled for our friendly and cute Bulbasaur! Bulbasaur certainly looks cute, and unlike most of the Poison-types, isn’t known for being harmful or willing to be on the offensive. It is also the mascot of the Bulba sites, so the folks there have a degree of respect for this little plant dinosaur. In fact, Bulbagarden is one of the friendlier sites you will find out there! So yep, Bulbasaur is the friendliest of the Poison-types, and rather iconic too, considering how popular Bulbapedia is among the Pokémon websites.



Cutest
Koffing



When asked my personal opinion on the Cutest Poison-type, this won’t be my first choice (Budew would be, but it was chosen as cutest in the Grass-type Award Ceremony). However, I chose Koffing because I heard various people endorsing Koffing’s cuteness, not to mention being a choice Pokémon for a mascot as far as fansites go (Smogon and Dogasu’s Backpack are the main ones). I can see why certain people find Koffing cute and charming too. In fact, I heard of an opinion that even though Koffing is composed of a bunch of noxious gases, it is happy because it acknowledges its existence as one. Now that’s a brilliant one!

Runner-ups: Trubbish, Budew



Best Concept
Gulpin & Swalot



New Poison-types are a rarity these days. However, when they are introduced, they are often unique. The one that struck me as the best concept are these Pokémon. Gulpin and Swalot are based around the idea of digestion, like how our stomach turn our food into nutrition, which involves acids and enzymes and stuff to aid the breaking down of the food. Similarly, these Pokémon have deadly acids to dissolve literally anything they eat, even metal (I guess). Not only do they eat big, they also discharge fluids out of their gigantic mouths. The association between Poison-types and digestion is an ingenious one to say the least.

Runner-ups: Grimer and Koffing families (Pollution counterparts), Trubbish and Garbodor (Garbage)



Coolest
Beedrill



Of all the awards, choosing the coolest is probably the hardest, simply because what is cool is certainly a subjective matter. After some consideration, I decided to go for something that is not always appreciated, Beedrill! It’s one thing to collect insects to battle, but if this insect is a deadly bee weapon with stinging spears on its limbs, it certainly is unconventional enough that it’s a “cool” Pokémon. In fact, Beedrill’s movepool are a bit skewered to cool, if the moves from Generation 4 is taken into account. While Beedrill may be weak compared to most others, it is dangerous in swarms, so it’s not wise to underestimate one (especially if it’s one swarm!).

Runner-ups: Scolipede, Gengar, Toxicroak, Arbok



Smartest
Gengar



For this one, I am casting my vote on Gengar, simply because as a ghost, Gengar has a lot of tricks up its sleeve. For example, it has the ability to hide in shadows, by virtue of being a ghost. However, it will literally give that person the chills should it be near. Still, Gengar’s tricks. Among these tricks include scaring people with scary faces, putting a life-draining curse on its opponent, making other sleep and disabling moves. Maybe it’s not the absolute best choice, but it’s the only one that is smart enough for me to consider the smartest of Poison-types.



Toughest
Nidoking



Between Nidoking and Drapion, this is a tricky pick. Both of them have their own degree of toughness and brutality. In the end, I decided that Nidoking is the better choice. While both of them are contenders, Nidoking wins due to its strength. Its PokéDex entries mentions not only its powerful tail, but also its strong hide and powerful horn. The reason Nidoking has an edge over Drapion is its versatility. It may have a lot of powerful physical techniques, but it also could pull off some special moves, such as breathing fire and surfing. Because of its formidable appearance and the different ways Nidoking could cause destruction, Nidoking ultimately wins out as the toughest Poison-type.

Runner-ups: Drapion, Scolipede, Muk



Most Beautiful
Roserade



Poison-types are not exactly renowned for their beauty, so this is kind of a sparse category. For this one, I put Roserade as the most beautiful because it is the most colourful of them all, and flowers are lovely. Its powers of fragrance is one of the benefits of being a flower, so there’s that too.

Runner-ups: Vileplume, Nidorina, Venomoth



Humorous
Croagunk



There is something about Croagunk that makes it popular. It probably has to do with its appearance. It looks like it is planning something evil based on its sinister smile and the way its eyes look. This is one of the things that makes it a fan-favourite. Perhaps its claim to fame is its anime appearance. In the anime, ever since Brock got hold of Croagunk, it will take every opportunity to stab him with a stinging Poison Jab whenever Brock got too flirty. That is some comedy potential right there. These two factors are enough to make Croagunk a standout as funniest.

Runner-ups: Qwilfish, Amoonguss



Most Useful in Real Life
Garbodor



In terms of usefulness in real life, Garbodor takes the cake here. The main reason is that it absorbs any kind of poison it walks on, like those dreaded Toxic Spikes trap and perhaps a hazardous sludge. They are also rubbish eaters, making them quite ideal for clearing trash. It’s little wonder that this Pokémon (as well as Trubbish) is a janitor’s premier choice!

Runner-ups: Crobat, Roselia



VG Competition
Tentacruel



Poison-types are generally deceptively useful, because they have characteristics that give them good defensive utility. Being immune to Poison is one thing, but resistances is where we’re at. Being part-Water, Tentacruel also resists some important types, in addition to not being weak to Grass (because Poison neutralises it). Tentacruel is oddly fast for a defensive Pokémon, and this has its advantages. For starters, it learns Toxic Spikes and Rapid Spin. It also benefits in Rain, since Rain Dish gives it more recovery. Along with Scald to burn things (and thus somewhat mitigating its lower Defence), it is a great Poison-type to use. Back in Generation 1, Wrap disables the opponent’s action, which complements Tentacruel’s good Speed well. While Gengar is in general a great Pokémon for its great Speed and Special Attack, it is not chosen because most of its success lies in its Ghost-type rather than its Poison-type.

Runner-ups: Gengar, Crobat, Venusaur, Drapion, Scolipede



Best Move
Toxic



There is no other move that beats the flexibility of Toxic. It’s a great move to stall out any Pokémon (if they stay in), whether it is an attacker or a defender. More importantly, however, is the fact that this move could be learned by practically any Pokémon, through a Technical Machine! It’s said by Koga that Toxic is the oldest-known move, which could be the reason every Pokémon learns this move: their DNA is encoded in such a way that they are able to learn this move.



Least Original
Grimer & Muk



Grimer and Muk struck me as the least original Poison-type in recent memory. It certainly is an obvious concept, since a pile of moving sludge is one of the first things to come to mind when it comes to designing a Poison-type (at least, that’s my speculation). Generation 1 contains several evolutions that are very similar to the original, back when times were simple. This pair is among one of them. Interestingly, there is no weight change after evolution. To their credit, though, at least there is the concept of density, in which Muk is more liquid than Grimer since it is bigger.



Most Original
Croagunk & Toxicroak



This is another challenging category to pick, because it’s hard to pinpoint the most original Poison-type. The final decision ultimately goes to Croagunk and Toxicroak. Asides their signature type combination, their fighting style is rather unique, preferring to fight things their way, to put it lightly. They also look like those African tribal fighters, adding to their originality. Perhaps the most striking part of their originality is how the Poison-type is integrated. The final part of the integration of ideas is to apply a frog texture on them, because there is such a thing as poisonous frogs (and their are colourful too). It should be noted that while they look like frogs, they generally don’t behave like them, so you could say they’re frog people.




Remember, this is not every award I assigned, so if you want to see the whole thing, click the link that is above the article, or if you are lazy to scroll up, here's the link: Poison-type Award Ceremony. Some awards that are not included here include Best Name and Scariest. I hope you enjoyed the original article (and this too) as much as I made it.

Thanks for reading.