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

"It dwells in volcanic caves. It digs in with its cross-shaped feet to crawl on ceilings and walls."

Your eyes were like landing lights, they used to be the clearest blue. Now you don't see so well, the future's gonna land on you~ Today's Pokemon of the Day is Heatran! First introduced in Generation IV, Heatran has received very little attention in the anime - being reduced to a mere servant in Arceus and the Jewel of Life - or in the video games - being Team Galactic's backup plan in Platinum after their first plan backfires and they lose their leader. In the swarm of Legendary Pokemon introduced in Generation IV, Heatran was buried under the mountain, so to speak. However, it exploded in fiery glory in the metagame, with its ridiculous amount of double resistances - five, which is more than any other Pokemon to date! - excellent stats, and wonderfully diverse movepool. An unsung hero in the media, Heatran has nonetheless brought a warm glow - or burning hot agony - to players for many years, and shows no signs of being any less useful...or any more noticeable.

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

• What did you think of Heatran's sub-plot in Pokemon Platinum? Would you have liked to have seen it develop into something a little more substantial, or was it simply a waste of postgame which might have been better spent on a more appealing Legendary Pokemon?
• What do you think happens if Heatran melts the steel plates on its body? Is it even possible? What would it look like without them, assuming it could survive the experience?

"Its fangs rip through sheet iron. It swims at 75 mph and is known as "The Bully of the Sea.""

Duunnn dunnn... duuuunnnn duun... duuunnnnnnnn dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dunnnnnnnnnnn dunnnn Today's Pokemon of the Day is Sharpedo! A Pokemon widely feared for its ability to fart itself through the water at top speeds over short distances, Sharpedo was lucky enough to receive its own overworld model in the recent Ruby and Sapphire remakes, and went significantly faster than any other Pokemon you could surf on, too! However, you can't fish when surfing on a Sharpedo...but then, any fish stupid enough to be around a shark wouldn't be worth catching, surely? It also received a Mega Evolution in the same generation, making it hit even harder. In the anime a small group of Sharpedo attacked Ash and company whilst they were travelling in filler episodes in the Hoenn arc, and have appeared since in similar antagonist roles.

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

• Did you use speed-surfing in ORAS? Is this a mechanic you'd like to see in future titles?
• Whilst Sharpedo is known as the Bully of the Sea, Tentacruel is known as the Gangster of the Sea. Which of the two do you think would win in a turf war?

"Barbaracle's legs and hands have minds of their own, and they will move independently. But they usually follow the head's orders."

The training of these poor creatures to turn themselves into fighting machines is simply barbaric. Barbaric. Barbaric! Today's Pokemon of the Day is Barbaracle! A Machamp's worst undersea nightmare, Barbaracle is the evolved form of Binacle. Somehow, two Binacle become seven when evolving into Barbaracle, flying in the face of conventional mathematics. Despite having access to Shell Smash and moderately passable offensive stats, Barbaracle has never made much of a splash in the metagame, and seems to be another of those more wacky Pokemon consigned to the lower tiers and forgotten in the eyes of the fans. It has had one appearance in the anime thus far, under the control of Saizo, where it battled against Ash's Froakie and Sanpei's Greninja. The results were as you would expect.

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

• Where do you think the other three Binacle come from when two become Barbaracle?
• Do you think Barbaracle deserves to be one of the more forgotten Pokemon of Gen VI? Would you ever consider using one if it had improved stats, an evolution, or a mega evolution?

His Mom and Dad met in the usual way, the song became love, and love became the egg. Today's Pokemon of the Day is Empoleon! The rather dapper-looking final form of Generation IV starter Piplup, Empoleon is a surprisingly useful Pokemon: with ten-type resistances (more than any other starter to date!), the ability to learn more HMs than any other starter (although why you'd use a starter as an HM Slave when there are perfectly good Bidoof scattered around I do not know), and a special defensive niche in the current OU metagame, Empoleon has definitely made a splash since its introduction. Did I mention it's a penguin, and penguins are great? As a fun fact, it's also roughly the same height as its namesake, Napoleon Bonaparte. Unfortunately for Empoleon, its anime appearances are its Waterloo, as it was used by two rather mediocre trainers - Barry and Kenny - and had little in the way of a proper appearance otherwise, appearing only briefly in the movies as a cameo.

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

• Were you in any way influenced to choose Piplup as your starter in DPPt because of Empoleon, or were you drawn to another of the starters instead?
• What do you imagine Mega Empoleon will look like, assuming the Gen IV starters get megas in the future?