Purple is my favorite DRINK!

088: Grimer

Slimes are a pretty obligatory creature in a fantasy-themed game, and Pokemon's no exception with its spin on the trope: a sentient pile of toxic waste. While I'm personally more a fan of gelatin-type slimes, Grimer's got a lot to love as well. As overdone as the trope tends to be, Grimer not only adds its own spin to it, but also feels distinguished from the entire rest of the trope to where I can't say there's really any other slime creature quite like it, which is pretty damn impressive.

Grimer itself is still pretty simple though, with it being little more than a pile of sludge with arms and a big goofy face, including a gaping mouth to give the impression eating is a big thing for it. And what better diet than more toxic waste? I already had an appreciation for Grimer before, but over the years I've started to warm up to it even more, which its Alolan form certainly helped with.

Girugamesh!

089: Muk

Muk is another evolution that doesn't change a ton about it, other than it's an even bigger pile of sludge. And while that is a valid criticism, I do think they've managed to get a lot of milage out of such a non-drastic change. Muk's almost completely different in terms of feel and body language. Looking at Grimer, you get the sense the thing's happy and carefree. But look at Muk, and it looks a lot more dour and serious with it not being able to stand as upright as Grimer and having a much more upset looking face. I agree that they could've done more; my suggestion is that it looks a bit like it's desperately trying to stand upright but just *can't* no matter how hard it tries, perhaps by making it a little more lop-sided. But it's far from just being a bigger Grimer.

These two together with later Pokemon, Koffing and Weezing (Along with a few more Pokemon beyond Gen 1) also apply a good deal of set-dressing for the world of Pokemon itself. Pokemon is riddled with environmental themes, which of course makes sense for a game so focused on its own universe's nature and animals. In more modern games they tend to get referenced directly, with themes of climate change in Ruby and Sapphire, our relationship with the Pokemon themselves in Black and White, the energy crisis in Sword and Shield, and the dangers of invasive species in Sun and Moon. Back then it was a bit more subtle, with Pokemon like Grimer and Muk here showing that Pokemon's not a perfect world with no pollution, in fact being so polluted that the Pokemon themselves evolved to survive the more polluted environments.