Hey, Trainers! Welcome to another Community Day Spotlight. This month the event is focusing on the Fire Croc Pokemon, Fuecoco! This pepper themed pal is the Fire Starter from Generation 9 and honestly? My absolute favorite.
Saturday the 8th of March is the date, 2:00 pm till 5:00 pm is the time.
Bonuses are:
Spotlight on Fuecoco
So, one interesting thing about Fuecoco is that it definitively shot the Chinese Zodiac fan theory out of the water. (Lava?) For those unfamiliar, it’s long been postulated that each Fire Type Starter corresponds to a different animal in the Chinese zodiac. Some of these connections are a bit tenuous – Cyndaquil doesn’t seem very rat-like to me and foxes are only sort of related to dogs, but many are spot on; Charmander is a good Dragon despite not getting the type, Tepig is a boar, Scorbunny is the rabbit, Chimchar is the monkey. You get the idea. By the time Generation 9 rolled around we had only four viable zodiac based options left – snake, ram, horse and ox. As Fuecoco is none of these….? Yeah. Theory busted!
But despite all that, as mentioned in the start of this Spotlight, this is a fairly recent addition to the ol’ National Dex and as such, we don’t have a lot of official data to go on. The only things we know for certain are that it has a small, leaky flame sac somewhere in its head. The stem shaped hair atop its chubby form is actually fire leaked from a porous dent on top of its cranium. It gathers energy for this flame sac by basking on hot rocks all day.
Oh! One interesting fact, though! If you’re lucky enough to attract and snag this little guy in Pokemon Sleep, you’ll see that it sleeps with one eye open! Far from being a Metallica fan (…it’s an Enter Sandman reference. Yes, I’m old.) this just means it has that in common with real world crocodilians, many of whom also sleep with one un-lidded eye to alert it of potential danger or food.
Let’s just get it out of the way. Crocalor is…. awkward. It takes the sort of chunky middle stage approach as championed by Quiladin and Pignite and turns it up to eleven with a weird hat and the goofiest no-thoughts-present look on its face. Now, the hat is actually a nest of flames that pays off later but still. I wasn’t a fan upon playing Scarlet version and was very worried I’d picked incorrectly at the start of the game.
The Pokedex informs us that there’s a close connection to its flame sac and its ability to make noise. Real world crocodiles are pretty vocal for reptiles so this is an interesting fact! However, any worries I might have had in regards to having picked the wrong starter were nuked when I saw Skeledirge. I generally pick the Fire Type Starter in my first playthrough in any new region and I have so many that I love… but Skeledirge sits in a comfy, cozy number two spot right under Charizard for me. From the nest on the head of its prior form hatching into a ghostly firebird mimicking real life crocodilians and the relationships they have with parasite eating birds, to the Dia De Los Muertos inspired face mask to the colorful flames rolling from the sides of its mouth? Perfection. Each element of its design is meaningful and comes together to make an outstanding creature.
The Pokedex informs us that this is a creature of duality. It can use its voice to soothe and it can use its flames to destroy. Far from being just an affectation or visual flourish, the firebnird has an actual soul. Yep! This Pokemon is made up of two creatures!
But can it double-team its enemies in Pokemon GO?
Spotlight on Skeledirge
With a Max CP of 3422, 207 Attack, Defense of 178 and a Stamina of 232 it’s pretty good as Fire Starters go. That Attack and Stamina kind of make up for the weak-sauce Defense stat. It’s going to take some hits, but not too many so I don’t see it upsetting the overall meta too much! Still. Like most of those first partner Pokemon, you’re using it because it’s a favorite – not because it can incinerate worlds. It’s a Fire and Ghost Type so it’s weak to Dark, Ghost, Ground, Rock, and Water-type moves, and offers Resistance to Fairy, Fire, Grass, Ice, Poison and Steel and with special resistance to Bug, Fighting, and Normal-type moves.
In terms of Fast Attacks, you have Bite and Incinerate with Incinerate being Stab. For Charged Attacks you get Flamethrower, Shadow Ball, Disarming Voice, and Crunch with Shadow Ball and Flamethrower being Stab. The Community Day option of Blast Burn is a Charged Attack and also Stab and, if you’re using this monster in PVP… yeah. It’s a great option.
Shiny Fuecoco is noticeable due to it’s trade out of it’s red torso, for a more Burgundy body color. Nice and easy!
Thanks for checking in, Trainers! As always, I wish you the absolute best of luck out there! Stay safe, be kind to one another and do your best to catch ’em all!
Facebook Comments