Big ships sink faster

382: Kyogre

Now onto the two box legendaries, where we have the choice between a Pokemon that controls the land and raises continents, or Kyogre, a Pokemon controlling the ocean. Somehow, an orca whale, despite not being a creature of myth, feels fitting for a big Legendary Pokemon that allegedly created the seas. And Kyogre captures the coolness of orcas fairly well, with a stoic expression that hides a nasty-looking row of teeth, and being big and blue with white spots.

It's not ALL orca, though, as it also adds in humongous arm-like fins, which is a cool touch of uniquely monstrous to make it a little more than just a fictional version of a real animal. The tail "fin" is also fun and flowy, if not very practical looking.

It also has a series of line-shapes in its body as well, glowing a bright red, and it's just not-gharish enough to not have the bright blue vs bright red be an eyesore. In fact, it actually looks pretty cool. Kyogre all around is just a pretty solid design, only really feeling like it's missing a dorsal fin, looking kinda naked without one. It also manages to be one of the more restrained legendaries in terms of design, since at this point forward a LOT of legendaries kinda go overboard on the details.

Kyogre after 1 Baja Blast

Primal Kyogre:

Instead of Megas, these two get "Primal" forms, apparently reverting them back to their "Primal" state, whatever that means in this context. They're still functionally identical to Megas but whatever. And, sure. It's cool. The darker blue suits Kyogre better, and the glowey effect is neat. Not an outstanding redefinition, but cool.

Personal Score: 8.5/10

Groudon c'mon you're gonna get chronic back pain

383: Groudon

Then there's the more cartoon dinosaur-esque Groudon, a pure Ground type that rules over landmasses and is a rival to Kyogre. Not a very good one, considering the surface of the planet is 71% water. Gotta cheer for an underdog, we guess.

For our money though, Groudon is less interesting. It's a little less obviously anything in particular, but it's nonetheless a fairly generic creature with a ridiculously segmented body that makes it a nightmare to draw. Groudon's probably up there as one of the hardest Pokemon to draw well, let alone consistently.

The way its segmented COULD be seen as it having tectonic plates for skin, but hmm. We feel like you could've done more with that idea, assuming that IS indeed the case.

I'M SO MAD

Primal Groudon:

Groudon's Primal form is actually a decent improvement, with there being "magma" underneath its skin, adding a cool bit of menace. It also picks up Fire in its typing, making the Fire/Ground typing everyone figured it had anyway. But yeah, it doesn't change Groudon much, but enough.