Dragon of the Month
Gather around the fire my fellow dragon tamers, it's time for Dragon of the month!
The weather is changing, here in the northern hemisphere where I live it is turning cold outside, it's peaceful and quiet, the kids are all back in school for the fall. Lately I think of the dragon pokemon Drampa, who lives up high in the cool mountains thousands of feet above us. It is a gentle spirit known as the placid pokemon, who descends from the mountain top at dawn to protect the children of townsfolk if they are in danger and play with them and eat berries that grow in low altitudes. He seems like a good symbol for autumn!
Your thoughts on Drampa?
I like this dragon. I adore it's design. It's a silly, whimsical dragon with a long giraffe neck yet it's coily like a snake. I am tickled by the curious smile, soft color scheme, fluffy fur and big brightly-colored eyes.
Appearance-wise this Pokemon reminds me a bit of the luck dragon from The Neverending Story. See below.
I also like the concept of this Pokemon as a friendly giant who likes everybody and is there to rescue a child in need. Drampa isn't a pushover though! It goes after bullies, and is said to burn the house down of anyone who harms one it's playmates, according to Pokemon ultra sun's Dex entry. I see him as a fanciful creature with the temperament of a protective guard/herd dog.
I ended up choosing Pokemon Sun over Moon on the basis of the cover legendary Solageo. However, one thing I envied Moon players for was having Drampa in their games, and one of the first trades I made in gen 7 was with a friend who had Moon so I could have a Drampa of my own.
It's a good Pokemon with decent bulk and great 135 special attack-- which can be raised with calm mind (along with it's special defense) or by it's exclusive ability berserk that activates when it's below half health. Because beserk raises the special attack every time the Pokemon reaches half health that means if Drampa's health is halved, but recovers over the half mark with a move like roost and/or an item like leftovers or sitrus berry Drampa and later falls below the half point again then it would get additional special attack boosts through beserk!
While I think Beserk is it's most interesting ability, all of it's abilities are useful as well. The ability Cloud Nine can shut down a weather team. While sap sipper can be a surprise for your opponent in certain situations, giving you an immunity to grass attacks, and making you virtually immune to sleep as well since most sleep-inducing moves are gras type attacks like spore, sleep powder and grasswhistle
Drampa's extremely slow-moving, yet I have heard plenty of tales of Drampa sweeps when used used strategically like on a trick room team. Despite it's cute looks you should be careful switching in on this guy because it has the coverage to hit anything. Will it throw Dragon Pulse? Thunderbolt? Flamethrower? Ice Beam? Hurricane? Energy Ball? Who knows? Drampa also has his support options like glare.
I think Drampa's normal typing is a curious choice for a duo typing though, normal isn't the first thing I would think of when looking at this Pokemon and I don't think it adds much to it. It can learn hyper voice, so it has access to a very good move stab move, but since normal isn't super-effectve against anything and Drampa has lots of strong coverage options already you could easily put another attack in that slot that would enable you to hit a greater number of foes, for instance a fire type move like heat wave or fire blast to check steel Pokemon that resist normal and drago. While the normal typing gives it a ghost immunity that could come into use in certain situations, since it wasn't weak to this type and even learns moves that hit ghost super-effectively like shadow ball, I think Drampa might as well have stayed a pure dragon type Pokemon, and lose the normal combo and fighting weakness...unless it was the evolution for Dunsparce like some fans made theories and memes about, then it's a perfect fit!
Did you catch Drampa's debut in Tasting Berries with the Bitter Sweet? In this episode of Pokemon Sun & Moon Drampa appeared to Mallow and Lana as lost children to guide them out of the forest, and was given the name Grandfather Forest.
While I am not a big fan of the SM anime, this episode was a treat, and a charming way to introduce the loveable Drampa. I think it could have also been cool to have a side quest in the Alola games where Drampa could appear to the player as a helper in a challenging dungeon as a nod the it's back story. In general I would like to Drampa represented more in the franchise especially the anime and manga.
Ever dynamaxed Drampa or used it on a team in anyway?
