Pok?mon of the Day - Dratini (163/???) [being remade]

"In its territory, it leaves scratches on trees that bear delicious berries or fruits."

When you are a Bear of Very Little Brain, and you Think of Things, you find sometimes that a Thing which seemed very Thingish inside you is quite different when it gets out into the open and has other people looking at it. Today's Pokemon of the Day is Ursaring! Everyone, run for your lives! A bear of notoriously foul temperament, Ursaring seems to spend much of its time with an angry glare on its face, when it isn't doing what bears do best: wandering through forests, terrorizing little girls that eat its food, holding the occasional picnic, etc. Despite being portrayed as a Pokemon of significant strength in the anime - often being the powerhouse of less morally white characters such as Paul, when they're not wild - Ursaring has never been able to make much of a dent in the competitive battling scene, being consigned to the lower tiers, despite it's moderately impressive attack stat. Life is tough when you're an angry bear.

Share your opinion, memories, and experiences of Ursaring! As well as the general questions in the first post of this topic, here are some fun things to think about:

• What would YOU do if you were attacked on a Pokemon journey by an Ursaring?
• Given that Ursaring takes some inspiration for its design and name from the Ursa Major constellation, and its pre-evolution Teddiursa has a crescent moon on its head, would you like to see it feature in a meaningful role in Pokemon Sun & Moon? What do you imagine this role could be?

"It is said that when one runs at high speed, its wings create blades of wind that can fell nearby trees."

I am a nice shark, not a mindless eating machine. If I am to change this image, I must first change myself. Today's Pokemon of the Day is Garchomp! And the metagame trembled. Ridiculously overpowered since its introduction in Gen IV, and only getting worse in Gen VI thanks to its mega evolution, Garchomp is one of the few non-Legendary Pokemon that is exactly what it appears to be: a vicious, terrifying monster that will literally shred your team to pieces if you give it a chance to. Fairy types? Ha. It can do just about everything except rollerskate, with it's horrifyingly high base stats and painfully diverse movepool. It'll even kill most of its counters if it manages to acquire a boost beforehand...which it inevitably will. Be afraid. Be very afraid. Garchomp enjoys similar fame in the anime, being Cynthia's signature Pokemon...because, of course, the best regional Champion has to have the best non-Legendary Pokemon that region has to offer. It also recently appeared as a playable fighter in Pokken Tournament.

Share your opinion, memories, and experiences of Garchomp! As well as the general questions in the first post of this topic, here are some fun things to think about:

• How did you find Cynthia's Garchomp in DPPt?
• How would you rate Garchomp - both in terms of its usability and its design - in comparison to other pseudo-Legendary Pokemon of other generations?

"In its true form, it possess a huge amount of power. Legends of its avarice tell how it once carried off an entire castle to gain the treasure hidden within."

PHENOMENAL COSMIC POWER...itty bitty living space. Today's Pokemon of the Day is Hoopa! A mysterious Djinn Pokemon first introduced in the sixth generation, and one of those "secret" Legendaries that nobody was supposed to know about when the games were first released (but of course it was revealed months before time because this is the internet) Hoopa in its Unbound Form it's a teeny-tiny 0.5m cutie...whilst in its Unbound form its a 6.5m eldritch monstronsity with six floating arms and the power to bend dimensions and control and summon Legendary Pokemon. This being kind of a big deal, Hoopa received its own movie - creatively titled Hoopa and the Clash of Ages - where it served as the main antagonist, and caused merry hell by summoning a Legendary Pokemon free-for-all. The two also have their own signature moves - Hyperspace Hole for Confined, and Hyperspace Fury for Unbound. Unsurprisingly, it's another event-only Pokemon.

Share your opinion, memories, and experiences of Hoopa! As well as the general questions in the first post of this topic, here are some fun things to think about:

• If a Hoopa offered to send you anywhere using its rings, where would you go?
• In Hoopa's movie, Arceus only made a cameo appearance...but if it came down to it, do you think Hoopa Unbound would be able to control it? If the two battled, who do you think would win?

"Long ago, people imagined its eerie howls to be the call of the grim reaper."

Well they said you was high-classed, well that was just a lie~ Today's Pokemon of the Day is Houndoom! The closest that Pokemon is going to get to a demonic hellhound - and to be fair, it's pretty fierce-looking, especially it's Mega Evolution - Houndoom has the distinction of being the only Dark/Fire type Pokemon as of Generation VI, and of having the highest Special Attack of all non-Legendary dark-type Pokemon in its mega evolved state...although unfortunately normal Houndoom is not particularly useful in the metagame, even if it does look amazing. You might even say it's a bit of an underdog. In the anime Houndoom was used by out-of-nowhere Ash-beater Harrison in the Silver Conference, where it managed to take down Ash's Snorlax...but then lost to his Bayleef. Malva also used one that Mega Evolved in the Mega Evolution Special...that one lost too. It has also had several minor appearances, where it has done its best to look as menacing as possible.

Share your opinion, memories, and experiences of Houndoom! As well as the general questions in the first post of this topic, here are some fun things to think about:

• If you were allowed to have a dog-like Pokemon as a pet (excluding the Legendary Beasts) would you choose Houndoom, or something else?
• What do you think of Mega Houndoom?

"When storing thermal energy in its body, its temperature could soar to over 1600 degrees."

NO MOVES. Today's Pokemon of the Day is Flareon! One of the original Eeveelutions, and thus ridiculously popular because of it, Flareon is nonetheless notoriously useless for its lack of a movepool when compared to its kin...but at least it isn't ugly like Vaporeon, so there is that. It also has the highest Special Defense stat of all non-Legendary fire-type Pokemon...but as it lacks the moves to take advantage of this, this is a bit of a hollow victory. Flareon has appeared numerous times in the anime, although its appearances have been mostly forgettable, as it is often part of a much more impressive team, rather than the trainer's signature Pokemon. It was the Pokemon of choice of the amazingly camp Eevee Brother Pyro, and later one of the Kimono Sisters of Johto, however.

Share your opinion, memories, and experiences of Flareon! As well as the general questions in the first post of this topic, here are some fun things to think about:

• Flareon's lack of movepool makes it a pretty restricted Pokemon. What moves would you give it?
• What do you think of Flareon when compared to the other Eeveelutions?

"Although it possesses a violent temperament, it won't put up with bullying. It uses the leaf in its mouth to sense the movements of its enemies."

There is no charge for awesomeness...or attractiveness. Today's Pokemon of the Day is Pangoro! The Ursaring/Beartic of the Kalos Region of sorts, Pangoro is another angry bear Pokemon in a long line of angry bear Pokemon. However, unlike the previous angry bear Pokemon, Pangoro has its own signature move - Parting Shot - and a special evolution method, requiring a dark-type in the active battle party to evolve from the much cuter and more cuddly Pancham. With impressive Attack and mediocre Speed, Pangoro is a classic bruiser in the metagame, hitting hard and being hit hard by anything faster than it...and there is a lot that is faster than Pangoro. In the anime, Pangoro has only really appeared in a supporting role thus far, acting as a benevolent (albeit wrathful) guardian towards its pre-evolutionary form.

Share your opinion, memories, and experiences of Pangoro! As well as the general questions in the first post of this topic, here are some fun things to think about:

• Pangoro was designed by Hitoshi Ariga. However, its pre-evolution Pancham was designed by Megumi Mizutani. Do you think Pangoro would have turned out differently if designed by Mizutani? Do you think it would have been better, or worse?
• How do you think Pangoro manages to use the leaf in its mouth to sense enemy movements?