Day 40: Kommo-o

(BGM: Vast Poni Canyon from Sun & Moon)

It took us until Day 40 to get here, but we're finally going to use this opportunity to talk about Pseudo-Legendaries, honestly one of the Pokemon I look forward to encountering the most in any Pokemon game. The thing with Pseudo-Legendaries is that their base stat total always reaches the even number of 600, more than any other non-legendary, and more often than not, Pseudo-Legendaries are part Dragon-Type. The latter notion makes sense as most legendaries are Dragon-types, but pseudo-legendaries are nowhere near as powerful or mystifying as them.

Having said that, I freaking love Pseudo-Legendaries. Salamence and Goodra were honorable mentions for this marathon, and even though I didn't mention them in my honorable mentions, I hold great respect for the likes of Dragonite, Hydreigon, and Dragapult.

But enough about that, let's talk about my third favorite Pseudo-Legendary, my second favorite Alola Pokemon, my third favorite Dragon type, and my second favorite fighting type. With all of these clues, you can only guess that I'm talking about…

Kommo-o!

(Insert Kommo-o cry here)

(BGM: Battle! Elite Four from Sun & Moon)

Gotta say, Dragon-Fighting is not a type I imagined for a Pseudo-Legendary. Then again I'm sure everyone said the same thing when Tyranitar and his Rock-Dark type ass hit the scene back in 1999. Anyway, given that Kommo-o was based on a Komodo Dragon, you know one of the most venomous creatures in the world, that he'd be a Dragon-Poison Pseudo Legendary. But going into the real reason why Kommo-o is part Fighting actually makes more sense.

In real life, komodo dragons have strong, almost chainmail-like, scales. Game Freak took this little fact and decided to roll with it, giving us this badass looking dragon boi. The scales on his body look like large pieces of chainmail and it gives Kommo-o the appearance of a fierce warrior ready to take on any opponent that comes his way. And with an HP of 75, Physical Attack of 110, Physical Defense of 125, Special Attack of 100, Special Defense of 105, and Speed of 85, I think it's a safe bet that very few Pokemon have faced Kommo-o and lived to tell the tale.

As you can tell based on his stats, Kommo-o is the whole package. Not only can he hit hard with both physical and special moves, but he can take some abuse too, and his speed isn't that bad, especially when compared to most of Alola's other Pokemon.

…

Seriously why are so many Alola Pokemon so slow?

Dragon-Fighting, while unique, isn't exactly the best type to have defensively as he's weak to Ice, Flying, Psychic, and Dragon moves while also having a quadruple weakness to Fairy moves. But on the plus side he has a pretty good resistance to Fire, Water, Electric, Grass, Bug, Rock, and Dark types, and Kommo-o at least has his strong defenses to back him up.

Unfortunately his abilities aren't too great as they're all situational at best. Bulletproof protects Kommo-o from 'Ball and Bomb' moves, while Soundproof protects Kommo-o from 'Sound Based' moves, and Overcoat prevents weather damage. Like I said, they're very situational and I personally haven't found a good use for them.

I know right now, based on his typing and abilities, it sounds like I'm putting Kommo-o down, but he really is an awesome Pokemon. And if you want proof of that, look no further than his movepool.

First off, Kommo-o has a signature move when he evolves; Clanging Scales. It's a 110 Power 100 Accuracy move that deals Special Damage at the cost of losing one stage of Kommo-o's Physical Defense. Honestly a pretty good trade off, especially since, if Kommo-o has his Kommonium Z equipped, Clanging Scales becomes Clangorous Soulblaze, where Kommo-o unleasehs powerful sound waves from his scales that deals 185 damage to his opponents!

On the subject of trade-offs, Kommo-o gets another signature move in the form of Clangorous Soul, which raises all of Kommo-o's stats at the cost of some of his HP. It's a high risk-high reward move that can be really good for folks who like to play strategically.

Beyond that, Kommo-o can also learn Dragon Claw, Close Combat, Boomburst, Outrage, Dragon Dance, Bulk Up, Earthquake, the Elemental Punches, Shadow Claw, Brick Break, Rock Slide, Poison Jab, Swords Dance, Aura Sphere, X-Scissor, Aerial Ace, and Drain Punch.

Freaking amazing!

So, with an awesome appearance and great moves, Kommo-o has definitely earned a spot this high on my marathon. Unfortunately, because of his typing and situational abilities, he barely misses the Top 10.

As for the Pokemon that made it into the Top 10? Well, you're just going to have to wait and see.