I always thought that the reason all the evil teams used zubat is because they are easy to catch and everywhere. It sorta implies that catching and evolving pokemon is hard and the grunts aren't very good at being trainers
Would explain they have pokemon like rattata, poochyena, and patrat Another reason for zubat is that they’re very annoying to fight with their confusion tactics, perfect for an opponent meant to antagonize players and provide obstacles to their journey
Guzma being a bug specialist, while his team prefers dark types makes sense. He plays the big scary guy, who crushes all opposition, so if a grunt rebels against him, he has an easy time to put them in their place. I know the big tough guy persona is mostly a facade, but it still fits thematically.
It also fits with it being a facade. He's not really out to do a bunch of evil, just to annoy people to make sure everyone is more aware of the issues that created his team. You know, to BUG people. Poe town is also basically just a giant nest or hive for these communal pests. The themes are really on point, for most of the region (honestly, with a bit more time devoted to the story and either optimising it or putting it on better hardware, Alola would be up there with Gens 1-5)
Btw, i think that a pokemon evil team that forces pokemons to evolve past their last stage just to make them stronger (especially the weak ones) would be cool, itd be a great chance to introduce 4th stage evos to pre-existing pokemons like gen 1-2 mons, like, maybe they have a device which affects the forest mons meaning you could perfectly catch a wild pokemon and make it evolve to their 4th stage if you wanted to.
@@dylanzlol7293 while not exactly what you said, mega evolution comes pretty close to this. I wish Team Flare (NPCs in general) used mega evolution more
Personally, as a Dragon-type specialist with a massive thing for villains, I'm just waiting for the day the grunts can get some dragons to work with, and I think GameFreak has started to lean that route lately with two-stage Dragons like Applin and Noibat
Two ways I could see this going is either a dragon type gym leader or elite four member has a fanbase or maybe even a death squad that uses dragon types, or one of the gym leaders or elite four or the champion is secretly evil and is the leader of the dragon team
I would actually argue that Maschiff and Mabosstiff were actually designed to be the *anti*-evil team mon. You think that it would be used by the evil team, being a Dark-type and based on a mafia boss at all, but instead it's not only the ace Pokemon of one of your rivals, but said rival's story revolves around his bond with his Mabosstiff and his desire to nurse it back to health. I think it's a really nice and cute subversal :3 There is a very obvious evil team mon in Gen 9 that you missed, though, and that's the Varoom line. It was very clearly designed primarily with the Starmobiles in mind, and as such, is technically the ace Pokemon of all five Team Star bosses. And if we want to get *real* spoilery, you could also argue that the Paradox mons were also meant to be mons designed for villains, as Sada and Turo's goals before getting fucking murdered were to fill Paldea with Pokemon from the past (Sada) and future (Turo) respectively. Roaring Moon and Iron Valiant especially feel tailor made to be AI Sada and AI Turo's aces respectively - they even have slightly higher BSTs *and* are placed after the other Paradox mons in the dex to highlight that they are more important. Also I really like Levestress and its evos! I particularly like its evo methods - not only do they fit perfectly with the inspiration, but it also explains why the evil team grunts that use them never evolve them - they *can't* evolve them, because while they do always participate in battles, they never win them! So they're not fighting or flying! It's brilliant!
Same. I was also thinking Revavroom was Team Star’s main Pokemon, though less in a grunt way and more in a boss way. The point about Mabosstiff is something I never thought about before and very true. I think it’s also important to mention that SV was much less focused on its evil teams when compared to any previous game in the series besides GSC, so there wasn’t as much of a focus on them in the Pokédex, especially since they acted as pseudo-Gyms with each captain having a different type they specialized in, meaning they couldn’t use generic Poochyena or Purrloin for the grunts (which hardly got any battles anyways, only like 7).
Your idea about Mabosstiff being an 'anti-villain' mon is spot on. It's design as a doggy-mafia boss plays into tropes from both source materials. One is the 'benevolent' mafia boss trope. Kind of like how Yakuza were seen as a kind of 'defenders of the people' in Japan for some time. (They're largely shunned and vilified now.) A kind of anti-hero. The other inspiration for it's design comes from Mastiff breed's history as guardian dogs. They're the largest, most powerful breeds of dog, yet are known as amongst the most peaceful. They are sweet, lazy piles of muscle when amongst family, but instantly switch into fierce defender mode when something threatens their family. They're the perfect 'anti-evil' mon. To the uninitiated they may appear intimidating and evil, but in reality they use this reputation to defend the innocent against real evils. Sorry about the essay, mastiffs are my favourite breed of dog irl, and Mabosstiff is one of my favourite Pokemon design wise. His design inspirations are subtle but really well done.
Redundancy aside, poison and dark actually have pretty good synergy with each other defensively, -poison is weak to psychic, but resists fighting, fairy and bug -dark is weak to fighting, fairy and bug, but is immune to and strong against psychic, -the mixed-in flying types cover in the ground weakness of poison
I remember trying to search for Team Galactic’s Pokémon in Platinum only to never find them. Murkrow, Misdreavus, Glameow, and Skunky were all not available in that game so when I picture unique “evil team” mons, I always picture those 4
The aether foundation is varied on purpose, after all their whole place is bassicly a zoo with many different pokemon they help restore to the wild...well allegedly want to restore to the wild anyways, but still, place with varied mons? Varied grunt mon choices, makes sence
I still think it's interesting that Cyrus out of all people has Crobat, a pokémon that evolves with high friendship. EDIT: I have my own theories. I'm just making a blanket statement. I know the most likely reason why.
@Voltbit I'd argue that if you don't have affection for your friends, that's probably a very poor relationship to have. Friendship is also defined via the move Return (or rather, Return Favor) in multiple ways (the more the pokémon likes its user, loyalty, and a pokémon being tame), none of which inherently revolve around respect.
There's this game Cassette Beasts that definitely had villian / early route villian mon. Their designs are less "magical pets" and more "cereal mascots" as one npc in game says it The mon is called Springheel it looks like a little vampire and it's based off spring heeled Jack, a nigh legendary Victorian stalker. It has a branched evolution. It can become a trickster and later a vampire, or into an assassin and then (my favorite) a Jack the Ripper beast. The evil team later uses another villian looking mon which is a chess pawn that evolves into a bishop and finally gets a branch of either a queen or a king
The Springheel -> Ripterra line is great. Although I'm not sure what that NPC is talking about. Some Beasts sure, but I can't see a bunch of annoying road crabs or giant lilypad-faced frogs being mascots of anything.
Dark also isn‘t really „evil“ type in Japan like most of us would understand „evil“, it is more underhanded, unfair as well. Edit: japanese people pls correct, of I am wrong
In german, dark type is known as "Unlicht" literally translated "Un-light/not-light" even though there is a word for dark in german. Always thought that to be quite a weird choice
It's likened to a heel fighter, a dirty character not like bad evil, you can be a good person but when you go to play with others do bullshit or even cheat because you are just a weirdo or something.
Coming from Japan myself, the concept of "evil" is different from the west. From a japanese cultural viewpoint, moral binary of good and evil is somewhat alien to us. Rarely would anyone be thought of as pure evil. The more accurate translation of "aku" in English would be dishonorable or impolite. But that is less a judgment of one's moral goodness and more a judgment of one's commitment to being honorable and polite (even when it is not convenient). For example, me going home early from my office would be dishonorable, but no one would think me to be an evil person for doing so. Circling back, "aku" or dark pokemon are then implied to be scummy, dishonorable, or impolite. Of note, this implies they consciously decide to behave this way; not just animals acting like animals. So, for example, Houndour are dark type because they fight in a dishonorable way; ganging up on a single opponent and using fear tactics. They are likely meant to be thought of as behaving like delinquent gangs.
I created a list of types names based around some of the names you already created: Bug - Ento (Entomology) Dark - Scoto (Scotobiology) Electric - Electro Fairy - Mytho Fighting - Hoplo (Hoplolgy) Fire - Pyro Flying - Aero Ghost - Ecto (Ectoplasm) Grass - Dendro Ground - Geo Ice - Cryo Normal - Anthro (Anthropology) Psychic - Neuro Poison - Toxo (Toxicology) Steel - Allo (Alloy) Water - Hydro They all end with -o to create a sort of theme and some are more abstract or lazy than others but I just wanted to share a fun idea! :D
Hilariously I never encountered an evil grunt that uses Scraggy and Scrafty. Despite being dark/fighting. Team yell doesn't count. They're football hooligans not an evil team.
@@barrybend7189 Black/White one had a couple of grunts in Chargestone Cave, Relic Castle and Dragonspiral Tower that use Scraggy or Scrafty. In Black/White 2, there's a grunt in the sewers that uses Scraggy, and some in the Plazma Frigate that use Scrafty.
The funny thing about team star is that, the four star grunts you actually get to fight use a Shroodle, yungoos, murkrow and houndour. Poison, normal and dark types are all here.
Iirc, poison type in generation one is so terrible because it was initially designed to be this "villain" type. They didn't take type balance too much into account. Oh yeah. Gen 1 only has three ghost types but also has a big focus on said type. (what)
Gardevoir and Glaceon would actually work for an evil mastermind. A deceptively beautiful plant lady that controls minds/puts people to sleep and a small Lap-dog type of animal that literally puts any unnecessary witnesses on ice. And Glaceon kinda reminds me of Blofeld's lap cat.
I think Gardevoir are supposed to have a sense of justice which is why it's never been used on an evil team despite the fact that both gen 7 and gen 8 had "villains" whose team was based on beautiful Pokémon.
@@TheDoomsdayzoner There haven't been a villain like that in Pokémon yet. But maybe someday. Edit: Now that I think about it Volo might qualify as a villain fighting for his own twisted version of Justice and he does have a Lucario. Another Pokémon known to have a strong sense of justice. Too bad he didn't have a Gardevoir or Gallade.
Zoroark/Zorua would also work REALLY well, since their illusions can imitate whatever they want, perfect for a thieving organization, or just a shadowy organization in general. It would also work well as a gameplay opportunity. Imagine you beat a trainer in a base, and suddenly the entire layout of the room, or even the whole building, shifts, as their Zoroark's illusion fades.
I like how you include fight, flight, and freeze. I do think "fawn" would probably be a hard one to design, as one who is... stuck constantly fawning with my stress responses. So i can't really picture something other than some smarmy classic starscream looking piece of shit.
Fawn is tough since it usually is through domestic relationships rather than other kinds of perceived threats, but it's interesting to think about! (As someone who has fawn traits and whose mom unfortunately had a lot of fawn trauma responses, I get it.)
I’m not sure if you’ve covered it before but I think it’d be cool to do a line or lines that are based on model organisms. My idea I came up with in my lab would be something like “Cellagen” which is a portmanteau of C. Elegans. Maybe it could have regenerating moves or something… i just love my little wormies
Love your designs! My theory on why gen 6 had such few new pokemon, and how the evil team/gym leaders mostly use old Pokémon, is that when gen 5 came out, there was a HUGE outcry from fans because of the limited dex. The Pokémon company wanted to make their newer games for a wider audience, which means including more Pokémon and sort of focusing on those old ones to be able to get more people interested in the games
@@socialistrepublicofvietnam1500 I remember being a massive gen 5 fan in early 2012, and the amount of hate I got back then on forums basically closed me off the Pokemon fandom until very recently. Seeing the current Gen 5 love is absolutely weird to me.
I still get hate for being a Gen 5 fan. I’ve seen people who like absolutely HATE Gen 5 because they can’t use old Pokémon. Like the kinda hate reserved for someone who like killed your family.
Kinda also explains a few more things too: 1. Why Megas are sooo biased towards the first four generations. Out of ALL the mega Pokémon, only one is from Gen 5, and only one is from Gen 6, the game where the mechanic was introduced. Heck, two fan favorites of Gen 1 got TWO forms. And Mega Audino and Diancie weren’t even introduced in X and Y. 2. Why Gigantamaxing is so biased to Gen 1 and 8. The only non gen 1 or 8 Pokémon to be able to do it is Garbodor. 3. Why we are just barely seeing any love to Gen 5. Like, growing up, I didn’t see ANY acknowledgement of Gen 5 from Pokémon. Only when it was the newest gen
The only time Gen 5 was really referenced was in Galar, and that is mostly because in a world that has Pokémon New York but mythical, you cannot possibly ignore the history it has when you have Pokémon England. And Gen 8 pretty much had one good game and that is Legends Arceus. There is no way Gen 5 will get any attention ever again. Maybe it will feature as most of a future lineup of Pokémon used with Team grunts as a self-conscious gesture.
as someone with cptsd i would love to see 2 more additions: fawn and freeze. fawn could be like “encore” and “cheer” and freeze could be paralyzed or smth. idk it would be fun to see ur take on those
I’m extremely excited for the launch of this game with all the scientific knowledge and breakdowns you do just in the videos talking about Pokémon it has me extremely hyped for what you are cooking.
I wish they added Light types Also i assume Galactic uses the wurmple line because of the symbolism how they want to create a new universe and evolve so to say and the wurmple also becomes something new when it evolves into a butterfly/moth
I like the psychology based mon at the end, It reminds me of how I always thought of Freud's superego, ego and id theory to be like kyogre rayquaza and groudon.
I've always had a concept for a pokemon game where you play as the evil team and the region isn't based on any one real place and the pokemon have a theme of good versus evil tropes mad scientist, robot soldiers, damsel in distresses, knights vs dragons ect. And some of the pokemon mentioned here would be in my region.
talks about having mental health while simultaneously putting the CALCULUS mon on screen but for real I've been watching through this whole STEMA playlist so far and I am very, very excited to see what comes of it :D
What's really interesting is that even in B2W2, Ghetsis is one of the first bosses that doesn't use Crobat. His ace is a Hydreigon with Frustration, a move that's more powerful if the pokemon hates its trainer
If Levestress is the main line for grunts, then I think a mon based on the amygdala would be cool for the admins and/or leader. Amygdala has a whole range of functions, but its most well known one is creating emotional responses, especially fear, anxiety, and aggression. It'd be a cute thematic detail that the line based on the acute stress response takes orders from the line based on the fear centre. Its evolutions could incorporate other elements of the limbic system, like the hypothalamus
I never saw the dark type as evil. It was more like a "night type" for me. Dark type always was one of my favourite types. Umbreon evolves from friendship and Absol just want to warn others of katastophies. Dark type is just great and just fits with the dark themes of the evil teams.
The dark type is more of a "dishonor" kinda thing..mons that apply to this typing always either: fight unfairly, are rude/dishonorable, night themed ig in some cases (literal darkness), or they cause a lot of destruction (such as absol, it's dark type because it tends to be around during disasters..it's not causing harm but others view it as dishonorable for the damage "it brings"). It's what the dark type usually refers to in other languages..
I think that the Aether grunts don´t have a theme because many of them are just random employees at the Aether Paradise, who are just doing a normal, non-evil 9 to 5 job there. My headcanon is that, when you arrive, Faba tells them that you´ve come to rob the place or something, so everyone just grabs the stongest Pokemon they can find and prepare to defend.
The ather foundation having many different mons fits with the fact they are supposed to be like a wild life org like the WWA that is corrupted so they are using offspring of mons they have captured for their "own protection" (experiments) or pokemon they have just experimented on directly or just captured for researched when they had to get info to make type: null and sivally.
hah! i rmember that being an archetype, with zubat, koffing, ekans, for team rocket, poochyena, and carvana for aqua, numel for magma, glameow, stunky, and croagung for galactic, and patrat plus purrloin, for plasma (honestly last game i played)!
I really like crowbat's design, even more after finding out they evolve through friendship They looks mean and tough but are really your best bud and you get to know what's good about them behind that rough exterior
Playing pokemon shield rn, previously i played Pokemon black, your video reminded me of the mental breakdown i ve been having about purrloin walking on 2 legs now instead of 4
Idk if anyone else has said something similar but what I love about Levestress’ concept is it not only represents fight or flight, but it also can represent freeze (staying in one place), or faun (having big dilated pupils to seem helpless)
As a Purrloin and Liepard user and dark type lover of all, im all in favor of videos like this. I also love the fact that you covered this topic, its a interesting one
I think an interesting reason Zubat is so widely used is because there are so many of them they are easily accessible. If you've ever gone into a cave in pokemon you know exactly what I mean
Its backwards based on match up, but "fun" idea that grunts can have flight form while admins/leader have fight form. If left at 2 it could be made that while having the type advantage, flight has lower BST than fight. A defensive "freeze" member to this line could fit nicely, would either need strong abilities or to become ferro/metal not cryo.
Fangames Pokemon Reborn and Rejuvenation have their antagionist teams use all sorts of Pokemon, not just the Dark and Poison type architypes. I would definitely like to see that aspect used in the official games soon
the massive representation of kanto in the alola games makes sense if you consider gen 7 were anniversary games. that's also why (i suspect) all the mons who got alolan forms were from gen 1, whereas galar and paldean forms are more spread out.
6:09 I think they use that type of Pokémon to show how they think their universe and ours would look like or it is just foreshadowing sirus going into the dark dimension
Zubat is considered the Evil Team Pokémon for several reasons. 1- Zubats are FAMOUSLY common. Very easy mons to be given to new grunts because they're just everywhere. 2- Zubats are Poison type. Before the Dark type was added, Poison was the closest thing to an evil type-hence why Ekans and Koffing were used as well. Not to mention Poison was the most common Kanto type. 3- Once the Dark type _was_ introduced, Poison served as an excellent coverage type, pairing well with Dark. (Poison is strong against Fairy and weak to Psychic, Dark is weak to Fairy is immune to Psychic.) 4- Zubat has a gimmick of being annoying. Leech Life and Supersonic are its first two moves and it later gets Haze as a Golbat. Great for an antagonist Pokémon, hence why Patrat gets similar moves in Gen 5. 5- Golbat evolves into Crobat with high friendship, which works great ot help tell a story with team leaders, showing that they have or develop a softer side. If Zubat were in Black & White, I like to imagine Ghetsis would have a Golbat-not a Crobat.
I always thought that the reason all the evil teams used zubat is because they are easy to catch and everywhere. It sorta implies that catching and evolving pokemon is hard and the grunts aren't very good at being trainers
Would explain they have pokemon like rattata, poochyena, and patrat
Another reason for zubat is that they’re very annoying to fight with their confusion tactics, perfect for an opponent meant to antagonize players and provide obstacles to their journey
True
Guzma being a bug specialist, while his team prefers dark types makes sense.
He plays the big scary guy, who crushes all opposition, so if a grunt rebels against him, he has an easy time to put them in their place.
I know the big tough guy persona is mostly a facade, but it still fits thematically.
It also fits with it being a facade. He's not really out to do a bunch of evil, just to annoy people to make sure everyone is more aware of the issues that created his team. You know, to BUG people.
Poe town is also basically just a giant nest or hive for these communal pests.
The themes are really on point, for most of the region (honestly, with a bit more time devoted to the story and either optimising it or putting it on better hardware, Alola would be up there with Gens 1-5)
I’ve actually heard some people suggesting that’s why Giovanni specializes in ground type, because most of his grunts use poison
@@garg4531 Makes sense, especially before steel was introduced.
A good idea for a pokemon the evil team uses is a line based on experiments with a history of unethical testing on animals
Btw, i think that a pokemon evil team that forces pokemons to evolve past their last stage just to make them stronger (especially the weak ones) would be cool, itd be a great chance to introduce 4th stage evos to pre-existing pokemons like gen 1-2 mons, like, maybe they have a device which affects the forest mons meaning you could perfectly catch a wild pokemon and make it evolve to their 4th stage if you wanted to.
@@dylanzlol7293 while not exactly what you said, mega evolution comes pretty close to this. I wish Team Flare (NPCs in general) used mega evolution more
Or a Polytron pokemon.
That turns other pokemon into soup-like homogenates.
Or just some Pokémon super common and "easy" to catch
@@kingofturtles6343 yeah, like a forced mega evo, maybe it makes them look angry like in pokemon arcues with red eyes
Personally, as a Dragon-type specialist with a massive thing for villains, I'm just waiting for the day the grunts can get some dragons to work with, and I think GameFreak has started to lean that route lately with two-stage Dragons like Applin and Noibat
The villains in Pokémon are so fine
@@Flizz0me when I see Sabrina 🤤 (she’s 21 iirc)
@@Cat-nr2jm yeah she is, or somewhere around there
go for who you wanna go as long as they’re not children or literal Pokémon 🔥🔥🔥
finally, sane pokemon fans 💀
Two ways I could see this going is either a dragon type gym leader or elite four member has a fanbase or maybe even a death squad that uses dragon types, or one of the gym leaders or elite four or the champion is secretly evil and is the leader of the dragon team
I love the little animation showing the Run Away ability lol
Peace out
✌😐
I would actually argue that Maschiff and Mabosstiff were actually designed to be the *anti*-evil team mon. You think that it would be used by the evil team, being a Dark-type and based on a mafia boss at all, but instead it's not only the ace Pokemon of one of your rivals, but said rival's story revolves around his bond with his Mabosstiff and his desire to nurse it back to health. I think it's a really nice and cute subversal :3
There is a very obvious evil team mon in Gen 9 that you missed, though, and that's the Varoom line. It was very clearly designed primarily with the Starmobiles in mind, and as such, is technically the ace Pokemon of all five Team Star bosses. And if we want to get *real* spoilery, you could also argue that the Paradox mons were also meant to be mons designed for villains, as Sada and Turo's goals before getting fucking murdered were to fill Paldea with Pokemon from the past (Sada) and future (Turo) respectively. Roaring Moon and Iron Valiant especially feel tailor made to be AI Sada and AI Turo's aces respectively - they even have slightly higher BSTs *and* are placed after the other Paradox mons in the dex to highlight that they are more important.
Also I really like Levestress and its evos! I particularly like its evo methods - not only do they fit perfectly with the inspiration, but it also explains why the evil team grunts that use them never evolve them - they *can't* evolve them, because while they do always participate in battles, they never win them! So they're not fighting or flying! It's brilliant!
Mabosstiff is also a guard dog (which is good or at least neutral)
Same. I was also thinking Revavroom was Team Star’s main Pokemon, though less in a grunt way and more in a boss way. The point about Mabosstiff is something I never thought about before and very true. I think it’s also important to mention that SV was much less focused on its evil teams when compared to any previous game in the series besides GSC, so there wasn’t as much of a focus on them in the Pokédex, especially since they acted as pseudo-Gyms with each captain having a different type they specialized in, meaning they couldn’t use generic Poochyena or Purrloin for the grunts (which hardly got any battles anyways, only like 7).
Does this mean the AI is an admin?
Mabosstiff is just a little guy. Love them so much
Your idea about Mabosstiff being an 'anti-villain' mon is spot on. It's design as a doggy-mafia boss plays into tropes from both source materials.
One is the 'benevolent' mafia boss trope. Kind of like how Yakuza were seen as a kind of 'defenders of the people' in Japan for some time. (They're largely shunned and vilified now.) A kind of anti-hero.
The other inspiration for it's design comes from Mastiff breed's history as guardian dogs. They're the largest, most powerful breeds of dog, yet are known as amongst the most peaceful. They are sweet, lazy piles of muscle when amongst family, but instantly switch into fierce defender mode when something threatens their family.
They're the perfect 'anti-evil' mon. To the uninitiated they may appear intimidating and evil, but in reality they use this reputation to defend the innocent against real evils.
Sorry about the essay, mastiffs are my favourite breed of dog irl, and Mabosstiff is one of my favourite Pokemon design wise. His design inspirations are subtle but really well done.
Villain Pokémon usually have really cool designs!
They often have some of my favorite designs.
And sometimes it's edgy
@@twistedmyth5860same🤔
So true, agreed! ^^
No there not lol
I feel like levelstress is gonna be like abra of the stema region you either get it in your first ball or you need to find another one
Shit! I want that bunny rabbit!!!!
Redundancy aside, poison and dark actually have pretty good synergy with each other defensively,
-poison is weak to psychic, but resists fighting, fairy and bug
-dark is weak to fighting, fairy and bug, but is immune to and strong against psychic,
-the mixed-in flying types cover in the ground weakness of poison
I think the reason all of team flare have past Gen mons is related to their goal of "preserving beauty" and so their team picks are stuck in the past
My evil is bubbling
Mine too
my evil is evil
My bubble is evil
My bubble is bubbling
My evil is eviling
I really like how the runaway ability flashes a peace sign
I remember trying to search for Team Galactic’s Pokémon in Platinum only to never find them. Murkrow, Misdreavus, Glameow, and Skunky were all not available in that game so when I picture unique “evil team” mons, I always picture those 4
You can get Stunky in Diamond, so that's just kinda weird. I used one in my first team. It's a good mon.
The aether foundation is varied on purpose, after all their whole place is bassicly a zoo with many different pokemon they help restore to the wild...well allegedly want to restore to the wild anyways, but still, place with varied mons? Varied grunt mon choices, makes sence
The sympathetic nervous system is responsjble for the four 'F's of animal behaviour: Fighting, Fleeing, Freezing, and Mating
Lmao
I still think it's interesting that Cyrus out of all people has Crobat, a pokémon that evolves with high friendship.
EDIT: I have my own theories. I'm just making a blanket statement. I know the most likely reason why.
Friends means yall respect eachother. Affection is actually caring
@Voltbit I'd argue that if you don't have affection for your friends, that's probably a very poor relationship to have. Friendship is also defined via the move Return (or rather, Return Favor) in multiple ways (the more the pokémon likes its user, loyalty, and a pokémon being tame), none of which inherently revolve around respect.
I think it’s really cool subtle storytelling
I am not sure if its just cause it looks cool for him or if its suppossed to be characterization
He could’ve forced it to evolve
There's this game Cassette Beasts that definitely had villian / early route villian mon. Their designs are less "magical pets" and more "cereal mascots" as one npc in game says it
The mon is called Springheel it looks like a little vampire and it's based off spring heeled Jack, a nigh legendary Victorian stalker.
It has a branched evolution. It can become a trickster and later a vampire, or into an assassin and then (my favorite) a Jack the Ripper beast.
The evil team later uses another villian looking mon which is a chess pawn that evolves into a bishop and finally gets a branch of either a queen or a king
The Springheel -> Ripterra line is great. Although I'm not sure what that NPC is talking about. Some Beasts sure, but I can't see a bunch of annoying road crabs or giant lilypad-faced frogs being mascots of anything.
@@SpookyShadyGemlin most of the vampire bases had the Springheel line iirc. That or I'm misremembering because I feel they're fitting
@@marcoasturias8520 What does that have to do with Cassette Beasts being "cereal mascots"?
@@SpookyShadyGemlin the thing is their design philosophy is different and can be seen as odd compared to other mon games.
A future design based on the parasympathetic nervous system could be inspired on Snorlax, with its relaxed appearance, and also tying it to digestion
Dark also isn‘t really „evil“ type in Japan like most of us would understand „evil“, it is more underhanded, unfair as well.
Edit: japanese people pls correct, of I am wrong
In german, dark type is known as "Unlicht" literally translated "Un-light/not-light" even though there is a word for dark in german. Always thought that to be quite a weird choice
It's likened to a heel fighter, a dirty character not like bad evil, you can be a good person but when you go to play with others do bullshit or even cheat because you are just a weirdo or something.
I think it's more like the "malice" type instead of straight up evil but that's my interpretation
Coming from Japan myself, the concept of "evil" is different from the west. From a japanese cultural viewpoint, moral binary of good and evil is somewhat alien to us. Rarely would anyone be thought of as pure evil.
The more accurate translation of "aku" in English would be dishonorable or impolite. But that is less a judgment of one's moral goodness and more a judgment of one's commitment to being honorable and polite (even when it is not convenient). For example, me going home early from my office would be dishonorable, but no one would think me to be an evil person for doing so.
Circling back, "aku" or dark pokemon are then implied to be scummy, dishonorable, or impolite. Of note, this implies they consciously decide to behave this way; not just animals acting like animals. So, for example, Houndour are dark type because they fight in a dishonorable way; ganging up on a single opponent and using fear tactics. They are likely meant to be thought of as behaving like delinquent gangs.
@@RealLifeIronMan I like this more. The Aku type should now be translated as the Dishonor type
Wow, so impressed with your mon. Can’t believe I’ve never put together “fight or flight” and fighting/flying types
Kind of begs for an ice type freeze too
I created a list of types names based around some of the names you already created:
Bug - Ento (Entomology)
Dark - Scoto (Scotobiology)
Electric - Electro
Fairy - Mytho
Fighting - Hoplo (Hoplolgy)
Fire - Pyro
Flying - Aero
Ghost - Ecto (Ectoplasm)
Grass - Dendro
Ground - Geo
Ice - Cryo
Normal - Anthro (Anthropology)
Psychic - Neuro
Poison - Toxo (Toxicology)
Steel - Allo (Alloy)
Water - Hydro
They all end with -o to create a sort of theme and some are more abstract or lazy than others but I just wanted to share a fun idea! :D
Hilariously I never encountered an evil grunt that uses Scraggy and Scrafty. Despite being dark/fighting. Team yell doesn't count. They're football hooligans not an evil team.
Plasma definitely uses them, and i think flare has a couple
@@hhannahh7835 I don't know if mine glitched but none of the plasma grunts had Scraggy and Scrafty in their rosters.
@@barrybend7189 Black/White one had a couple of grunts in Chargestone Cave, Relic Castle and Dragonspiral Tower that use Scraggy or Scrafty.
In Black/White 2, there's a grunt in the sewers that uses Scraggy, and some in the Plazma Frigate that use Scrafty.
Anybody who has seen real football hooligans would probably classify them as an evil team
Doesn't Team Skull uses them as well?
Villain pokemon are some of my favorites. I've done a lot of evil themed teams when replaying pokemon haha
The funny thing about team star is that, the four star grunts you actually get to fight use a Shroodle, yungoos, murkrow and houndour. Poison, normal and dark types are all here.
The fact that Brock owns both a Zubat and a Croagunk 🤨
I would argue both Fire and Fairy types would be fitting the theme of Team Flare
Iirc, poison type in generation one is so terrible because it was initially designed to be this "villain" type. They didn't take type balance too much into account. Oh yeah. Gen 1 only has three ghost types but also has a big focus on said type. (what)
the 'Run Away' animation at 15:19 is hilarious! but i loved the line and the explination of all the teams so far. Another great video!
Gardevoir and Glaceon would actually work for an evil mastermind. A deceptively beautiful plant lady that controls minds/puts people to sleep and a small Lap-dog type of animal that literally puts any unnecessary witnesses on ice. And Glaceon kinda reminds me of Blofeld's lap cat.
Florges:
I think Gardevoir are supposed to have a sense of justice which is why it's never been used on an evil team despite the fact that both gen 7 and gen 8 had "villains" whose team was based on beautiful Pokémon.
@@wintersong2266 How many villains fighting for "justice" are out there? In real life even? Way too many.
@@TheDoomsdayzoner There haven't been a villain like that in Pokémon yet. But maybe someday.
Edit: Now that I think about it Volo might qualify as a villain fighting for his own twisted version of Justice and he does have a Lucario. Another Pokémon known to have a strong sense of justice. Too bad he didn't have a Gardevoir or Gallade.
Zoroark/Zorua would also work REALLY well, since their illusions can imitate whatever they want, perfect for a thieving organization, or just a shadowy organization in general. It would also work well as a gameplay opportunity. Imagine you beat a trainer in a base, and suddenly the entire layout of the room, or even the whole building, shifts, as their Zoroark's illusion fades.
I like how you include fight, flight, and freeze. I do think "fawn" would probably be a hard one to design, as one who is... stuck constantly fawning with my stress responses. So i can't really picture something other than some smarmy classic starscream looking piece of shit.
Fawn is tough since it usually is through domestic relationships rather than other kinds of perceived threats, but it's interesting to think about! (As someone who has fawn traits and whose mom unfortunately had a lot of fawn trauma responses, I get it.)
Fawns are baby deer, so it might be an amusing pun to make its fawn form a jackalope.
When the world needed him most, he returned with a banger.
I’m not sure if you’ve covered it before but I think it’d be cool to do a line or lines that are based on model organisms. My idea I came up with in my lab would be something like “Cellagen” which is a portmanteau of C. Elegans. Maybe it could have regenerating moves or something… i just love my little wormies
Love your designs! My theory on why gen 6 had such few new pokemon, and how the evil team/gym leaders mostly use old Pokémon, is that when gen 5 came out, there was a HUGE outcry from fans because of the limited dex. The Pokémon company wanted to make their newer games for a wider audience, which means including more Pokémon and sort of focusing on those old ones to be able to get more people interested in the games
Still so weird remembering the Gen 5 backlash now that the Gen 5 renaissance has been well underway for a while
@@socialistrepublicofvietnam1500 I remember being a massive gen 5 fan in early 2012, and the amount of hate I got back then on forums basically closed me off the Pokemon fandom until very recently.
Seeing the current Gen 5 love is absolutely weird to me.
I still get hate for being a Gen 5 fan. I’ve seen people who like absolutely HATE Gen 5 because they can’t use old Pokémon. Like the kinda hate reserved for someone who like killed your family.
Kinda also explains a few more things too:
1. Why Megas are sooo biased towards the first four generations. Out of ALL the mega Pokémon, only one is from Gen 5, and only one is from Gen 6, the game where the mechanic was introduced. Heck, two fan favorites of Gen 1 got TWO forms. And Mega Audino and Diancie weren’t even introduced in X and Y.
2. Why Gigantamaxing is so biased to Gen 1 and 8. The only non gen 1 or 8 Pokémon to be able to do it is Garbodor.
3. Why we are just barely seeing any love to Gen 5. Like, growing up, I didn’t see ANY acknowledgement of Gen 5 from Pokémon. Only when it was the newest gen
The only time Gen 5 was really referenced was in Galar, and that is mostly because in a world that has Pokémon New York but mythical, you cannot possibly ignore the history it has when you have Pokémon England. And Gen 8 pretty much had one good game and that is Legends Arceus. There is no way Gen 5 will get any attention ever again. Maybe it will feature as most of a future lineup of Pokémon used with Team grunts as a self-conscious gesture.
As a person with a freeze response, I hope they do add more types to the fright/fear/stress response
as someone with cptsd i would love to see 2 more additions: fawn and freeze. fawn could be like “encore” and “cheer” and freeze could be paralyzed or smth. idk it would be fun to see ur take on those
I love Flight Lagomight. I love monster designs/real animals that go really fast, and especially one that can also fly.
I’m extremely excited for the launch of this game with all the scientific knowledge and breakdowns you do just in the videos talking about Pokémon it has me extremely hyped for what you are cooking.
Let him cook!
I wish they added Light types
Also i assume Galactic uses the wurmple line because of the symbolism how they want to create a new universe and evolve so to say and the wurmple also becomes something new when it evolves into a butterfly/moth
I like the psychology based mon at the end, It reminds me of how I always thought of Freud's superego, ego and id theory to be like kyogre rayquaza and groudon.
I love the literal take on the fight or flight response, the designs are so cool I want to try them
I discover this channel two days ago and I love it. Good luck on making that game. I will play it for sure. Love from France.
It would be cool if u made an evolution based on hiding that was dark/rock type
I love this idea! Your science concept choices always make such solid designs!
YOU CRAZY SON OF A BISHARP YOU DID IT! YOU MADE SCRAGGY ART IN YOUR STYLE
Where’s my son?
The Wailmer on Mt.Pyre and Baltoy in Magma Hideout will always stay in my memory for how unique they seemed
I've always had a concept for a pokemon game where you play as the evil team and the region isn't based on any one real place and the pokemon have a theme of good versus evil tropes mad scientist, robot soldiers, damsel in distresses, knights vs dragons ect. And some of the pokemon mentioned here would be in my region.
talks about having mental health while simultaneously putting the CALCULUS mon on screen
but for real I've been watching through this whole STEMA playlist so far and I am very, very excited to see what comes of it :D
Your art style is so cute, it adds such a nice feel to your videos c:
15:56 I love this concept. It stays on all fours if its flight form because its too scared to *stand up* to its opponent.
What's really interesting is that even in B2W2, Ghetsis is one of the first bosses that doesn't use Crobat. His ace is a Hydreigon with Frustration, a move that's more powerful if the pokemon hates its trainer
OHMYGOD!!! This is one of my favorite concepts in pokemon ever!!!!! I love your videos so much 💖💖 ^^
your style is so cool, great vid, i actually love when dark type are used cuz they feel taylored for enemy teams
If Levestress is the main line for grunts, then I think a mon based on the amygdala would be cool for the admins and/or leader. Amygdala has a whole range of functions, but its most well known one is creating emotional responses, especially fear, anxiety, and aggression. It'd be a cute thematic detail that the line based on the acute stress response takes orders from the line based on the fear centre. Its evolutions could incorporate other elements of the limbic system, like the hypothalamus
I never saw the dark type as evil. It was more like a "night type" for me. Dark type always was one of my favourite types. Umbreon evolves from friendship and Absol just want to warn others of katastophies. Dark type is just great and just fits with the dark themes of the evil teams.
The dark type is more of a "dishonor" kinda thing..mons that apply to this typing always either: fight unfairly, are rude/dishonorable, night themed ig in some cases (literal darkness), or they cause a lot of destruction (such as absol, it's dark type because it tends to be around during disasters..it's not causing harm but others view it as dishonorable for the damage "it brings").
It's what the dark type usually refers to in other languages..
I always found it ironic that Hissuian Zoura(rk) is transformed malice but only weak to dark, while regular Zoura(rk) is the dark type,
scraggy is my absolute favorite pokemon. so glad to see the little guy finally get some rep in a thumbnail
Oh my god, someone just like me who feels the same love for Scraggy???
@@kross_draws scraggy is so cute and its evolution is so cool :D
In the anime scraggy has a cute and funny personality lol
@@kross_draws scraggy singlehandedly dictated my fashion taste for big pant energy
gen 5 is an underrated gen and Scraggy is among the best imo
Liepard and Purrloin are my favorite, so I'm also happy to get some rep
I think that the Aether grunts don´t have a theme because many of them are just random employees at the Aether Paradise, who are just doing a normal, non-evil 9 to 5 job there. My headcanon is that, when you arrive, Faba tells them that you´ve come to rob the place or something, so everyone just grabs the stongest Pokemon they can find and prepare to defend.
A good portion of the Aether Foundation employees are evil in Masters EX,
as they get bored from Lusamine's redemption and join Team Rocket to rebell
The ather foundation having many different mons fits with the fact they are supposed to be like a wild life org like the WWA that is corrupted so they are using offspring of mons they have captured for their "own protection" (experiments) or pokemon they have just experimented on directly or just captured for researched when they had to get info to make type: null and sivally.
hah! i rmember that being an archetype, with zubat, koffing, ekans, for team rocket, poochyena, and carvana for aqua, numel for magma, glameow, stunky, and croagung for galactic, and patrat plus purrloin, for plasma (honestly last game i played)!
I really like the small little images of each Pokémon. They’re charming.
I really like crowbat's design, even more after finding out they evolve through friendship
They looks mean and tough but are really your best bud and you get to know what's good about them behind that rough exterior
Really love your art style and the editing on this video 😍🫶🏽
Prewatch: viruses as dark type?
I wonder if he is going to do a story video series for his fakemon/creature collector game later down the line?
this is art my homie
Playing pokemon shield rn, previously i played Pokemon black, your video reminded me of the mental breakdown i ve been having about purrloin walking on 2 legs now instead of 4
Scraggy is the Burt dude from yoshi that drops his pants
I love your design at the end, such a cool evolution idea
Team Sky uses any mons that soars through the skies
what is that lovely music used in the beginning? anybody know?
15:23 Perfect animation for Run Away, thank you
Idk if anyone else has said something similar but what I love about Levestress’ concept is it not only represents fight or flight, but it also can represent freeze (staying in one place), or faun (having big dilated pupils to seem helpless)
With such an extensive explanation, it kinda feels like a lockstin&gnoggin video
Yep just need better editing n mic
As a Purrloin and Liepard user and dark type lover of all, im all in favor of videos like this. I also love the fact that you covered this topic, its a interesting one
I like how the dark type based on fight or flight response literally gain the fighting or flying type.
Missed opportunity to call it a Darketype
I think an interesting reason Zubat is so widely used is because there are so many of them they are easily accessible. If you've ever gone into a cave in pokemon you know exactly what I mean
Its backwards based on match up, but "fun" idea that grunts can have flight form while admins/leader have fight form. If left at 2 it could be made that while having the type advantage, flight has lower BST than fight. A defensive "freeze" member to this line could fit nicely, would either need strong abilities or to become ferro/metal not cryo.
I think it’s also important to mention revaroom because all of the team star bosses use it in their boss battle.
Fangames Pokemon Reborn and Rejuvenation have their antagionist teams use all sorts of Pokemon, not just the Dark and Poison type architypes. I would definitely like to see that aspect used in the official games soon
Nortist's cute voice makes this not evil
Can't wait to see the other three fs, friend and foe being two i think I remembe from college
the massive representation of kanto in the alola games makes sense if you consider gen 7 were anniversary games. that's also why (i suspect) all the mons who got alolan forms were from gen 1, whereas galar and paldean forms are more spread out.
Dark type variants of Sandshrew and Ekans would be an awesome and fun throwback
Yeah, but I swear theres already too many dark type regional variants, especially of gen 1 mons.
Lagomite, Freeze Form: Win five encounters without using an attack (higher DEF/spDef, lower speed)
Lagomite, Faint Form: Lose five encounters
My favorite "evil" Pokémon is Yyvetal as it is literally the geim reaper of the Pokémon world.
6:09 I think they use that type of Pokémon to show how they think their universe and ours would look like or it is just foreshadowing sirus going into the dark dimension
later on in Sword/Shield, Team Yell does use evolutions (Linoone and Liepard,) but Piers is the only one to use Obstagoon
Poochyena/Mightyena are my favourite pokemon ever, i love my "evil" little guys
That Pokemón draw design is so beautifull 😍
My man Nort always coming out with absolute banger designs
Ill always believe that umbreon would fit team rocket.
I love the graphics you used. It looks so nice
Zubat is considered the Evil Team Pokémon for several reasons.
1- Zubats are FAMOUSLY common. Very easy mons to be given to new grunts because they're just everywhere.
2- Zubats are Poison type. Before the Dark type was added, Poison was the closest thing to an evil type-hence why Ekans and Koffing were used as well. Not to mention Poison was the most common Kanto type.
3- Once the Dark type _was_ introduced, Poison served as an excellent coverage type, pairing well with Dark. (Poison is strong against Fairy and weak to Psychic, Dark is weak to Fairy is immune to Psychic.)
4- Zubat has a gimmick of being annoying. Leech Life and Supersonic are its first two moves and it later gets Haze as a Golbat. Great for an antagonist Pokémon, hence why Patrat gets similar moves in Gen 5.
5- Golbat evolves into Crobat with high friendship, which works great ot help tell a story with team leaders, showing that they have or develop a softer side. If Zubat were in Black & White, I like to imagine Ghetsis would have a Golbat-not a Crobat.
The noir entrance is chefs kiss
I love your oc! I really like your hat! ❤️
And your videos are amazing!
I think the theme of team aether is strong and smart pokemon. Pokemon like porygon2, alakazam, bisharp and conkeldurr
this guys art style is so cute
I LOVE crobat and find it ironic that an evil-based Pokémon evolves through friendship. Like, they’re evil, but they still love their Pokémon.
that thumbnail is actually perfect oh my gosh
Purrloin and Liepard are so cool and elegant, dont even need to be evil to like them