Day 32: Drapion

Me: (To the tune of Smash Mouth's All Star) Somebody once told me about a Poison-Dark type, that evolved from a Great Marsh Bug-Type. He's 135 lbs, evolves at level 40, only weak to Ground types, and immune to Psychic.

Lyra: Dude why are you singing some half-assed, bootleg version of Smash Mouth's 'All Star'.

Me: Because Drapion is next, and he's the Ogre Scorp Pokemon.

Lyra: And the connection between Drapion and Smash Mouth's 'All Star' is what exactly?

Me: All Star is pretty much Shrek's theme song, and Shrek is an ogre, so anything ogre related needs to have Smash Mouth's 'All Star' accompanying it, that's the rule.

Lyra: I have never once heard about that rule.

Me: It's the hidden eleventh commandment; Thou shall sing 'All Star' when something Shrek or ogre related comes into conversation! Don't you read your bible!?

Lyra: Who reads the bible anymore? (Leaves) Freaking insane!

Me: These truly are godless times…so yeah, we're talking about Drapion today.

(Insert Drapion cry here)

(BGM: Battle! Team Galactic Commander from Diamond/Pearl/Platinum)

Ah, Drapion, one of Sinnoh's most fearsome non-legendary Pokemon and the proud father of Draperade…someday I'll get back to writing that story.

Much like Mienshao, I wasn't interested in Drapion for the longest time since it's pre-evolved form, Skorupi, was pretty weak in every stat but Physical Defense and you had to wait until Level 40 to get one. But one day I decided to bite the bullet and give it a try, and the verdict is…I freaking love Drapion so much!

First, we need to go over its typing, Poison-Dark, an amazing type combination. With it, Drapion is immune to Psychic types, and Fighting and Bug moves do neutral damage, leaving the only thing that can really hurt Drapion being Ground type moves. And even then it has a good answer for Ground-types in the form of Ice Fang.

The next thing I love about Drapion is his design. It has nice, eye-catching shades of purple that tells you that Drapion is one of the more lethal Poison-types out there. You can also tell that he was inspired by scorpions thanks to his long tail and claws, and that constant angry look on his face just tells you that this is a Pocket Monster that means business and he's not afraid to mess you up.

Drapion's abilities are also something to be feared and respected as well. Drapion can have either Battle Armor, which prevents getting hit by critical hits, Sniper, which increases the power of Drapion's own critical hits, and his hidden ability is Keen Eye, which prevents loss of accuracy. All three of these abilities are super useful, but if you were to ask me which one I think is the most helpful I would have to say Battle Armor. Getting hit by a critical hit sucks, especially if it depletes all of your health, so having immunity to that act of RNGesus is always welcome.

As for stats, Drapion is pretty balanced with a 70 in HP, 90 in Physical Attack, 110 in Physical Defense, 60 in Special Attack, 75 in Special Defense, and 95 in Speed, all totalling up to a BST of 500. Not bad if you ask me; Drapion can take a few hits while also dishing out a few nasty hits of his own.

But it's clear that you're teaching Drapion Physical Attacks when it comes to attacking moves, and lucky for us Drapion can learn quite the wide variety of attacks.

Naturally, Drapion can learn the Elemental Fangs, X-Scissor, Night Slash, Cross Poison, Crunch, Poison Fang, and even status moves like Scary Face, Toxic, and Toxic Spikes. As for moves it can learn through tutors, egg moves, or TMs, Drapion can learn Poison Tail, Slash, Confuse Ray, Iron Tail, Aerial Ace, Earthquake, Dig, Brick Break, Leech Life, Throat Chop, Poison Jab, Rock Slide, and Swords Dance.

Like I said, Drapion isn't afraid of messing stuff up.

If you were like me and thought that raising a Skorupi up to Level 40 to get a Drapion was too taxing, I implore you to do what I did and throw caution to the wind. Go for it! Drapion is easily one of my favorite Sinnoh Pokemon and one that doesn't deserve to be overlooked.

Now if you'll excuse me, I've got more Smash Mouth to listen to.