THE SKELETON APPEARS

355: Duskull

Duskull is objectively perfect and we will hear nothing of it said otherwise. A skeleton is a Pokemon concept that is sadly missing to this very day, and it's likely to be a Pokemon never made, but the next best thing is the rather cartoonishly-faced Duskull, with a funny toothy skull that looks more like a mask but nonetheless has a neat look to it. It's also adorable that it's basically a chibified grim reaper, with its hood-like body, skull motif, and arms that look like the long, ragged sleeves of a robe. It's also apparently the subject of spooky stories told to children by their parents about misbehaving, said to prey on bad children. Which is extra scary since it's also stated to never give up the chase once it spots prey; at least not until sunrise.

But that's not even getting into the coolest part of Duskull's design. Duskull here only has a single eye, even assuming it IS an eye. The red floating ball of spectral sight-seeing floats WITHIN Duskull's face, usually rocking back and forth between the two empty eye sockets of the skull. Which is such a WICKED visual that makes Duskull the owner of one of the coolest faces in the whole series!!! That sounds like a nothing reward but just LOOK at this perfect specimen. Like we said, Duskull is just plain perfect.

Personal Score: 10/10

Prepare to meet Mr. Angry Eyes!

356: Dusclops

...Which admittedly and unfortunately gives Dusclops a hard act to follow, and we LIKE Dusclops just fine, but as an evolution to Duskull it's just hard to be as enthusiastic about it. Once again, a mummy is something still sorely missing from the Ghost type roster, Dusclops here being the next best thing. Though apparently, it's moreso based on some kind of yokai that's a lantern that emits darkness rather than light. A neat basis for a Ghost type, but it feels underutilized with Dusclops here.

And just... its face is nowhere near as charming. It doesn't really resemble a skull anymore, with the teeth only really looking like teeth by association. If we saw Dusclops before Duskull, we would probably think they're just awkward scales or something rather than skull teeth. And MAAAAAAN, guys, how could y'all take away the coolest feature?!? Where's the spectral ball eye?!?!?!?! We don't dislike Dusclops, but out of all the Gen 3 Pokemon where the pre-evolution is vastly superior to its evolution, this one hurts the most.