>Goal: to stay true to the base Pokémon's identity as much as possible while giving them realistic-where-possible changes. Other buffs, including moveset additions, are not mentioned unless very specific.

Dugtrio

The more the merrier. Dugtrio is a fast one to get through: it’s supposed to be this blazing fast physical attacker, and that’s what it’s going to be. You cannot give defenses to a being with 35 base HP, so might as well go all in. 

Anyway, TL;DR: you’re not escaping Dugtrio. It’s landing a hit no matter what, that’s its goal. Unless, you know, it’s hit by any sort of priority move. You know how it is. For that purpose, it’s preserving Arena Trap. Once in front of it, there’s little you can do other than pray. Might be going overboard, this is a Dugtrio after all.

Alolan Dugtrio

Dugtrio’s Alolan counterpart will be getting a different treatment despite the fact the base forms are so, so similar. Main reason being each Pokémon must find a reason why to exist. Not saying it’s an easy task.

So Alolan Dugtrio has a bit more Defense, is a tad slower, and gets the signature ability Tangling Hair, which is its main feature and we obviously want to preserve if possible. So maybe Kantonian Dugtrio is an immediate trap-and-kill ‘mon, while Alolan Dugtrio becomes a more passive wait-to-catch-prey-then-attack sort of being. 

That translates to a seemingly unnatural stat distribution that focuses on its defenses, neglecting its Speed (as, once Tangling Hair affects the foe, Mega Alolan Dugtrio will be likely to outspeed it regardless). 

But, as we discussed earlier, there’s no way a 35 Base HP ‘mon works defensively, right? Well, sure! But it’s what I’ve got, man, what do you want me to tell you.

In sum, Mega Alolan Dugtrio is our third Ground&Steel mega: a Defense higher than Excadrill’s but lower than Sandslash’s, a higher Special Defense, an Attack slightly below Sandslash’s, and a Speed a few points behind Excadrill’s. Not amazing by any means, but there’s only so much one can do for this guy.

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Would love to know what you think of these!

Salamence won for the Gen III Pokémon that most feels like a Gen VIII Pokémon! Congrats to u/NightKeo0 for having the most upvoted comment!

Day 67: which Gen 8 Pokémon's design looks like they are from Gen 3?

IMPORTANT: When suggesting a Pokémon, you MUST also mention why their DESIGN makes you think of another gen. No need for a long paragraph, just a short reason why (shape, color palette, design influences, resemblances..., literally whatever). A comment without a proper design reason will NOT be considered. No repeats allowed!

Most upvoted (valid) comment wins!

>Goal: to stay true to the base Pokémon's identity as much as possible while giving them realistic-where-possible changes. Other buffs, including moveset additions, are not mentioned unless very specific.

Parasect

I’ll admit I forgot I had to work out this fella too.

Parasect is infamous for sporting one of the worst type combos ever, alongside a stat spread that feels like a joke. A very slow, Trick Room prone Physical attacker, sure, but is it any of that, really? IS IT?

So yeah, this very much deserves a bump to its Attack so it can, once and for all, do something. Its defense stats are not awful, all things considered?, so I guess the investment that doesn’t go to the Attack can go there for a change, but its 60HP are gonna make the defense kind of hard to pull off, since the investment won’t be in any case huge.

As for other major changes, I feel like Parasect’s natural next stage is just straight up admitting death, and thus adopting Ghost type alongside the original Grass — the bug is officially just a carcass now, and so what’s left of it is the Ghost of it, not the bug itself. 

The ghost type also removes many weaknesses Parasect has and makes it possible for us to try and use those somewhat decent defensive stats? I do understand Parasect gets no Ghost type moves at all, so I’d give it the likes of Shadow Claw and Poltergeist to make it work for real.

Last but not least, the ability! I don’t know just how popular the decision might be, but this to me screams Perish Body. Just, you know — the parasite is looking for someone new to infect?, so it will leave Parasect’s body and infect the foe — thus, both faint. And you will say: well, that seems like throwing Parasect under a motherfucking bus!, but AGAIN, it’s WAY too good of a concept to scrap just because the gameplay isn’t 100% compliant. 

I’ll admit I’m somewhat afraid this doesn’t solve any of the existing issues with Parasect, but how much better can you make this? It’s not bulky, it’s not the strongest ‘mon in the world, but it’s Parasect!, what else could you ask for?

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Would love to know what you think of it!

Mr. Mime won for the Gen I Pokémon that most feels like a Gen VI Pokémon! Congrats to u/Blissfuladdict for having the most upvoted comment!

Day 63: which Gen 6 Pokémon's design looks like they are from Gen 1? Last Gen 6 Pokémon!

IMPORTANT: When suggesting a Pokémon, you MUST also mention why their DESIGN makes you think of another gen. No need for a long paragraph, just a short reason why (shape, color palette, design influences, resemblances..., literally whatever). A comment without a proper design reason will NOT be considered. No repeats allowed!

Most upvoted (valid) comment wins!

Baby-Doll Eyes was chosen as the quintessential Status Fairy type move! Congrats to u/Cquercia1994 for having the most upvoted comment!

Day 55: Tackle, Hyper Beam, or Protect? Which out of these 3 is the move that comes to mind when it comes to Normal type moves? Not the best, but the most important / memorable one to the best of your knowledge!

Most upvoted comment wins!

>Goal: to stay true to the base Pokémon's identity as much as possible while giving them realistic-where-possible changes. Other buffs, including moveset additions, are not mentioned unless very specific.

Bellossom

I had a vision with Bellossom’s ability, and I truly have no other name for it. We’ll get there, but first, let’s get the obvious out of the way and give it the Fairy type, God knows it would have gotten it had it come out in Gen 7 (where it belongs, may I say).

Now, stat-wise Bellossom is, I think, a more defensive take on Vileplume?, an odd one at that. I do think it is a particularly different Pokémon to its counterpart and thus doesn’t need to stay defensive if it doesn’t want to — and believe me, it doesn’t. 

Its mega is thus going to be the fast sweeper version of Vileplume, for sure weaker (its base form’s SpA is 20 points weaker) but able to dance through the opposing team. And that’s Bellossom’s main thing: dancing. Dancer is a more than appropriate ability, I get it’s an Oricorio thingy but it baffles me they didn’t give it to Bellossom too; but I think it could use some extra stuff. My revelation. Here comes.

Mega-Bellossom receives Solar Ritual, an ability that makes it so any dancing move used (by the player or the opponent) while it is in the battlefield will automatically summon harsh sunlight. Bellossom does not automatically benefit from the Sun since it is not a Fire type (wouldn’t that be busted), but it means Quiver Dance also activates fire-type, 100BP Weather Balls and 1-turn Solar Beams… besides some nasty synergies that, I assume, would grant Bellossom an interesting niche as a different sort of Sun-caster.

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Would love to know what you think of it!

>Goal: to stay true to the base Pokémon's identity as much as possible while giving them realistic-where-possible changes. Other buffs, including moveset additions, are not mentioned unless very specific.

Vileplume

There’s a huge handicap in the creation of Vileplume, and that’s the fact it’s supposed to be, to a certain extent, the counterpart to both Victreebel AND Bellossom. Oh, and it’s also inspired off of the same flower as Venusaur is. What an amazingly unique Pokémon, huh? Who doesn’t love Vileplume?

Vileplume’s Special Attack is the highest out of all the Pokémon mentioned thus far, so we’re going all in into making it a special demon. A very slow one, at that, since its 50 base speed is not something I can work with in a different manner. Vileplume has Chlorophyll as an ability, go figure!, but I truly hope no one is running it with this ability anyway.

Now, at one point I thought of making it extra slow and massively boost its defenses, but I don’t think it’d be quite fair. The main thing here is boosting its Special Attack all I can while making it reasonable. Vileplume is going to be usable. I don’t care anymore.

This screams “ultra big flower makes you immobile af”, so remember how this dude was slow?, well now it’s slower. Get the guy inside Trick Room and let him sweep. 

As for the ability… I don’t think Vileplume straight up NEEDS something crazy?, but I’m giving it something crazy nevertheless. How does Grassy Surge sound? Let’s give Rillaboom some opposition, ffs. Vileplume can be found in grassy plains, it releases clouds of pollen..., I'm not saying it's the best thematic fit, but I wanna give it smth real good for a change. Vileplume deserves some love.

Does any of this make sense? No! Or maybe it does!

I’ve barely started this exercise and I’ve already lost my mind.

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Would love to know what you think of it!

>Goal: to stay true to the base Pokémon's identity as much as possible while giving them realistic-where-possible changes. Other buffs, including moveset additions, are not mentioned unless very specific.

Wigglytuff

The moment has come for me to address this monstrosity of a creature. Crazy how cutesy-patootsie Jigglypuff turns into this, but that’s besides the point.

Wigglytuff’s whole thing, gameplay-wise, is its HP — meaning this is going full defense, ‘cos damn does this really have nothing else going for it. Identity wise, this line’s thing is its bouncy body and how cool it is to touch its fine layer of fur, which makes the choice for an ability beyond obvious, even if boring — Fur Coat. 

I was admittedly planning on giving it some sort of new ability that exploits its balloon properties, but I don’t want to be going around giving new abilities to everyone just for the sake of it. I also considered Fluffy, which I reckon would be even more fitting?, but damn does Wigglytuff need all the help it can get. 

I have seen some other people go down other routes — some have the balloon pop, some have it gain the Flying type (like Clefable does)..., but I don’t think that’s true to Wigglytuff’s idea. I do envision this as a ginormous balloon being, ngl, and it’s a shame I could not find a single design I quite love!, but alas, it is what it is. 

Stat-wise, as I said, full-on defensive profile (well, all that its existing stats can allow for), prioritizing Special Defense since Defense is already improved by Fur Coat. Just so that we can have enough stat points to make this work, we’re turning this into a full-on slowster, and we’re also taking quite a few points off of its Attack and giving them to its Special Attack so it can do something, even if not much.

Will Wigglytuff ever be useful? Well, it does have the moveset and a couple great immunities, so why not? I think this new extremely defensive profile gives it the chance it deserves.

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Would love to know what you think of it!

Minior won for the Gen VII Pokémon that most feels like a Gen III Pokémon! Congrats to u/SinisterFeelings567 for having the most upvoted comment!

Day 58: which Gen 4 Pokémon's design looks like they are from Gen 8?

IMPORTANT: When suggesting a Pokémon, you MUST also mention why their DESIGN makes you think of another gen. No need for a long paragraph, just a short reason why (shape, color palette, design influences, resemblances..., literally whatever). A comment without a proper design reason will NOT be considered. No repeats allowed!

Most upvoted (valid) comment wins!

>Goal: to stay true to the base Pokémon's identity as much as possible while giving them realistic-where-possible changes. Other buffs, including moveset additions, are not mentioned unless very specific.

The Ninetales duo is one I won’t devote much time to ‘cos the way forward is as plain as they get, sorry if you were looking for crazy ideas.

Just so you understand the base I’m starting off of: neither version can exist, at least in my mind, without its weather. And so, them both are keeping the weather-setting abilities, very much like Abomasnow does. Stats-wise, besides the fact that they need help in the damage department, the only difference is that the Alolan version is slightly faster, so we’re delving deeper into that there. No massive differences between the two of them, though, since they are pretty much intended to be the same Pokemon for 2 different weathers.

Ninetales

Now, Kantonian Ninetales has forever been meant to be a Fire/Ghost type, it’s beyond crazy it isn’t one already, so that’s the main change here.

And I do get this would likely be a pretty darn strong Pokémon, Nasty Plot is right there after all, but Zard Y has long been asking for some competition, hasn’t it? This one’s a tad weaker yet noticeably faster version of it.

Alolan Ninetales

And, as I said, the Alolan version originally is a tad faster, so let’s give it a little less bulk, and a little more speed, and be done with it. 

The issue lies in Mega Froslass, another Snow Warning mega, which is inherently inferior in all sense and purpose to what I came up with for Ninetales (oops). So ultimately, I figured, we could turn this into the ultimate Aurora Veiler. A bit weaker than Kantonian Ninetales, but with better defensive capabilities. And, importantly, a bit weaker than Mega Froslass too.

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Would love to know what you think of these!

I am currently working on giving a Mega-Evolution to every fully evolved 'mon missing one (I'm posting a few every week on my profile if you're interested!), trying to be realistic where possible while preserving the original 'mon's identity. This I'm posting was my favorite from this week's batch — would love to know what you think, how they'd fare, etc.

Raticate

Pokémon with regional variants provide an additional challenge in that making the two of them intrinsically different, even when the existing changes are mostly type-based, is beyond complicated. Both members of the Raticate pair need extreme help, and thus this is one of the tougher entries overall to make work.

Kantonian Raticate is the frailer, more offensive of the two, but falls extremely short with subpar stats across the board and just one relatively useful ability in Guts, which straight-up requires the use of the Flame Orb — something Mega Raticate cannot rely on. The most logical path to follow is to min-max it towards being a physical sweeper, but Raticate will never be able to compete on the highest level there either due to its frailty. Min-maxing here would be somewhat justified, but would it? Is Raticate really the ‘mon to give 140 Attack and 140 Speed to? It’s a rat, you know.

In addition, Raticate is beyond poor thematically, and thus there’s no path that fully satisfies me. When I say I’ve spent more time on it than I should have, I mean it.

The most interesting part of Raticate’s identity is that he bites through pretty much everything. And then, it struck me: what if he really did?

Introducing Gnaw Through, Mega Raticate’s ability: this pokemon’s biting moves will hit through anything — Protect, Substitute, you name it. It will still take the effects of the likes of Spiky Shield, Burning Bulwark or King’s Shield, but will hit the Pokémon behind. Besides adding the elemental fangs to its set and his already popular Hyper Fang, this would also now include Super Fang, which is weirdly not classed as a biting move now?, anyway.

Stat-wise, as I said, I’m not min-maxing… but you can assume there’s gonna be a significant increase to its base speed so that it can hit before dying (a couple points above Mega Lopunny), and it’s also getting that much deserved Attack boost without making it in any way broken. Lastly, I'm adding a bit of bulk, not much at all really, perhaps enough to live the ocassional neutral hit?, but is still a 55 base HP 'mon, so don't expect much — adding them for realism's sake, if anything.

Just put this guy inside Tailwind, is what I'm trying to say.

Alolan Raticate

Alolan Raticate is fairly more simple, even if it’s impossible to make it fully viable due to the abysmal base stats we’re working off of (its highest stat is 80, ffs). I happen to appreciate chubby designs and thus Thick Fat Alolan Raticate is my boy, but he’s gonna need some major changes — and, I’m sorry to say, I won’t be reinventing the wheel for it. 

I’ve seen some Dark/Poison ideas that utilise the fact they are a pest, but is that really enough to justify such boring type change? I’ve also seen some support versions — come on, this is essentially an indulgent boss commanding underlings, it cannot be a support ‘mon. Thematically, it should be the one being supported!

And that’s the thing. What I appreciate most about Alolan Raticate’s nature is how it commands Rattatas to go fetch him food, and he seems to be picky about the quality of the food he eats — this immediately screams defensive ‘mon, but just how defensive can you really make a Raticate?

The obvious first step is turning it into a slow ‘mon, ‘cos this guy is gonna be real chubby, and taking all the BST points we can and storing them into the defenses. And I say we can and not have available ‘cos this dude has 71 base attack, and we are really going nowhere with that now, are we?

The deal changer here is this weird, perhaps too lore-heavy and specific ability I came up with. Alolan Raticate is a commanding alpha that keeps storing food in its nest, right? So, in battle, it would make sense for this mega version to be taken to the extreme — actually command, and actually have the food always available to him. 

Introducing Nest Lord — every turn, Mega Alolan Raticate will gradually restore its HP, thus having a passive Leftovers incorporated. In addition to that, in double battles, in case its ally has more HP than Alolan Raticate, single-target, non-priority damaging moves aimed at Mega Alolan Raticate will instead target that ally (unless redirected for whatever reason). Now, the big doubt I have here is whether these attacks should bypass Protect or not — thematically it shouldn’t, but for game balancing purposes I do think it should, so maybe the attacks won’t be redirected either if the ally has used a Protect-like move? Take your pick.

This should hopefully compensate for the fact Alolan Raticate still has to sit at a measly 75HP — the ability, combined with its boosted defenses and now low speed, should make him a fairly dangerous foe in Trick Room teams.

Calm Mind was chosen as the quintessential Status Psychic type move! Congrats to u/ivycudgel for having the most upvoted comment! (revenge for not winning Physical Grass...?)

Day 51: what's the move that comes to mind when it comes to Physical Ice type moves? Not the best, but the most important / memorable one to the best of your knowledge!

Most upvoted comment wins!

Solrock and Lunatone won for the Gen III Pokémon that most feel like Gen VII Pokémon! I normally only accept 1 mon per entry but this was hard to ignore. Congrats to u/EternalVoidFall for having the most upvoted comment!

Day 57: which Gen 7 Pokémon's design looks like they are from Gen 3?

IMPORTANT: When suggesting a Pokémon, you MUST also mention why their DESIGN makes you think of another gen. No need for a long paragraph, just a short reason why (shape, color palette, design influences, resemblances..., literally whatever). A comment without a proper design reason will NOT be considered. No repeats allowed!

Most upvoted (valid) comment wins!

>Goal: to stay true to the base Pokémon's identity as much as possible while giving them realistic-where-possible changes. Other buffs, including moveset additions, are not mentioned unless very specific.

Nidoqueen

I’ll admit Nidoqueen has never been for me. Perhaps one of the most average ‘mons ever (her base stats range between 75 and 92), she definitely pales in comparison to… pretty much everyone else in every relevant aspect of fighting?, but at least she is visibly meant to be a defensive ‘mon. God, do I hate these motherly tropes. 

Both Nidos, when put against each other, feel like cheap copies of each other gameplay-wise — awful mixed attackers that end up requiring Life Orb + Sheer Force and always run a Special set. There’s no way you’ll tell them apart just by looking at their movesets, and GOD do I hate that. So you know damn well I’m subverting expectations and going Physical for one of the two… and since I usually associate femininity with magic (witches and the sort), and I really feel like going against my gut, Nidoqueen is going Physical. That, and the fact her Attack stats are low enough to the point I need as much of a head start as possible to make them work, and her Attack is by default 17 points higher already. Also, she looks Physical to me, I don’t know.

I still think Nidoqueen would never work as a purely offensive ‘mon, not without Life Orb + Sheer Force, and I’m well aware of her defensive identity, so I’m fully respecting that — the stat spread will try to turn it into an actual bulky bruiser of sorts.

And speaking of the matter, I think a defensive ability suits it right — I do wonder how popular can Solid Rock be for a Pokemon with no x4 weaknesses, but I feel like its design would be bulky and armoured enough to justify the choice. A way to compensate for its overall mediocre stat spread, even after mega evolving.

And I was about to give it that, and I’m fully onboard… ‘til I realized there’s a little ability called Queenly Majesty. Man, it’s in the name, I’m sorry. 

Nidoking

Please refer to Nidoqueen’s entry for my thoughts on the Nido pair. I will say, though: Nidoking might be the first Pokémon that comes to my mind when I think of mixed attackers, and so it would pain me to deviate from that. 

That poses a whole new problem — Nidoqueen I could take Sheer Force off of, ‘cos I was turning it into a bulkier ‘mon. Nidoking, though? There’s no stat boost I can give it that will ever make it worthwhile to use the Mega over Life Orb + Sheer Force. I would need to take his Special Attack up to 155 or so to match, without Sheer Force, the damage output he has with Sludge Wave in its normal form + Life Orb.

And then, I saw it. Let me get his stat identity out of the way first.

As promised, Nidoking will receive a massive boost to his Special Attack BUT will also see his Attack slightly increased, meaning Nidoqueen is going defensive with a small bump to its Attack, and Nidoking is going offensive with the smallest of bumps to its Defenses too. And I’m not certain anyone would ever use any of the Nido megas?, but it’s the way to differentiate them I find to be the most compelling.

Now, the matter of the ability. I could have kept Sheer Force, it kind of fits, but Nidoqueen got a change, + Sheer Force is his Hidden Ability anyway so it doesn’t feel entirely natural to make it his unitary one upon megaevolving. So I thought: what would Mega Nidoking look like? I’m imagining… well, a literal king. And what is a king, if not a leader. Same as Nidoqueen is her majesty, this… is the land’s lord. The Supreme Overlord, if you may. 

It’s not a +1 Special Attack boost (which would make ALL the difference in the world), but it’s also nothing to scoff at, while also enabling Nidoking to run a Physical set if he really wants to. And, of course… GOD is it fitting, and why would I care about game balance when I can have this cool storytelling to offer you instead?

Lastly, cherry on top if you may, and I do think it’s an interesting way to further differentiate them?, I’m giving Nidoking the Steel typing (and some more Steel coverage lmao, a Flash Cannon or smth!). Give the king an armor (and a more unique typing!) that makes him immune to his poisonous subordinates… but also makes him extremely weak to the ground of its female counterpart — a King only bows down to his Queen.
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Would love to know what you think of these!

p.s. soon as I posted, I realised the images got uploaded in the wrong order. not much i can do now lmao

Thunderbolt was chosen as the quintessential Special Electric type move! Congrats to u/SRole-4's pun for being the most upvoted comment!

Day 50: what's the move that comes to mind when it comes to Status Psychic type moves? Not the best, but the most important / memorable one to the best of your knowledge!

Most upvoted comment wins!

Goal: to stay true to the base Pokémon's identity as much as possible while giving them realistic-where-possible changes. Other buffs, including moveset additions, are not mentioned unless very specific.

Arbok

One of the more challenging bits of this exercise comes when addressing Pokemon whose basic appeal and identity have been iterated more than once, thus making their differentiation all the harder. Seviper is very much like Arbok, in the sense that it is another Poison snake that screams “give me the Dark type upon Mega-Evolving”, and how to avoid falling into that trap (and even worse, choosing which gets what) is one of the things that enticed me to make this whole series.

Arbok is a very poor Poison type with a subpar Attack as its only redeemable stat. It does get Intimidate, which is maybe its one and only selling point, and Coil, which informs us that this should stay a Physical attacker. So Intimidate and Coil, huh? You see where this is going.

Let’s address the typing issue first. Arbok sports a very characteristic design trait in its body patterns, which makes me think this would be the Mega’s main thing. And while I think Dark or Dragon are acceptable choices, I think its biology points otherwise — the aforementioned “frightening pattern”, the “eerie sounds” it makes, how it can regrow its body… 

Funnily enough, the main issue I encountered when giving Arbok its stats is called Mega-Dragalge, who is also a bulky Poison/Dragon ‘mon. Arbok being Dragon type and going down the route I assume it must would make it a Physical version of Dragalge, and sure it works, it would actually be better than Dragalge thanks to the base form’s Intimidate… but I’m trying to make each Pokémon unique, and this is not it. This is an issue we’ll encounter with other Pokémon, but I think Arbok might be the clearest example of the bunch.

The resulting Poison/Ghost isn’t an amazing defensive type by any means, but I’m certain this pair would give Arbok some sort of uniqueness. It’s definitely lacking in the moveset department, but this is not something that concerns us much as per the ruleset. Now the issue comes down to its stats, ‘cos there already is a Poison bulky physical attacker in Scolipede. However, I feel like Arbok asks for a more balanced profile than that, not necessarily an amazing damage dealer, even if that’s a turn off for some; but rather something that can live through a surprising amount of stuff. And yes, I know this is being said of a Pokémon with 60HP. It is what it is, what can I say.

Now, Arbok has a very fitting ability in Shed Skin which, by the way, would tie into our biology-heavy mega snake; but I don’t think either that or Intimidate are fully what we’re looking for here. God knows it could use Tinted Lens, or something to make sure it could deal some extra damage… but you know what 100% fits with this snake regrowing its limbs? Trust me on this one, please: Regenerator. And give it Shed Tail to do some nice combos! And sure this has awful HP and so it won’t be great?, but I like it enough conceptually to be happy with it.

Not every Mega needs to be unbalanced! And hey, who knows, maybe I'm missing out on something that would make this broken!

Arbok would in any case become a tad stronger, and definitely way bulkier version of its own self — hopefully enough to grant it some supporters.

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Would love to know what you think of it!

Ducklett won for the Gen V Pokémon that most feels like a Gen I Pokémon! Congrats to u/Glittering-Income-60 for having the most upvoted comment!

Day 54: which Gen 2 Pokémon's design looks like they are from Gen 6?

IMPORTANT: When suggesting a Pokémon, you MUST also mention why their DESIGN makes you think of another gen. No need for a long paragraph, just a short reason why (shape, color palette, design influences, resemblances..., literally whatever). A comment without a proper design reason will NOT be considered. No repeats allowed!

Most upvoted (valid) comment wins!

>Goal: to stay true to the base Pokémon's identity as much as possible while giving them realistic-where-possible changes. Other buffs, including moveset additions, are not mentioned unless very specific.

Fearow

Fearow is not an easy Mega to crack. It’s yet another one that feels like it should be min-maxed (its highest stats are already Attack and Speed), but then its abysmal learnset would just turn it into a worse Mega Beedrill. 

I have to tell you, I’m not 100% convinced of the path I took with Fearow here, but some ideas are just better than others. At first I thought of giving it a new ability to make use of U-Turn pivoting, but then again, should I really? Is Fearow really that far from working? Yes, yes it is. But I feel like an exclusive ability is a tad too much.

You know what isn’t too overtuned? Turning it into an actual predator. Make him edgy, and rough, and get rid of that disgusting Normal type he’s carrying. I’m fine with either Ground or Dark, more leaning towards the latter. Mega-evolving and gaining an immunity to Psychic (and thus to moves like Expanding Force) sounds pretty good to me, + he makes for a decent opposite of Staraptor, a Pokémon whose base form is, essentially, a better Fearow. And I know poor Fearow doesn’t quite have the moveset to support that (to support anything at all, to be fair), but then again, why doesn’t it have the likes of Night Slash available? Let’s give him that, Pursuit, another flying move in Brave Bird, and, I don’t know, some more usable stuff. Please, anything.

If the design is actually menacing, I feel like Intimidate would work wonders. It’s a naturally great ability, fits the idea of prey being scared of Fearow, and we delve deeper into the Staraptor comparison while already deviating enough from it. We expand upon this idea via its stats, making him a faster yet frailer Staraptor, more menacing in the short-term but somewhat easier to get rid of.

It might not be the most eloquent of ideas, but there really is not much one can do with it. Custom abilities would for sure give it a bigger identity, but I feel like, since my version of Honchkrow’s mega will naturally go in another direction, this physical Dark/Flying Intimidate  ‘mon could get a niche for itself in lower level formats.

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Would love to know what you think of it!

Will-o-Wisp was chosen as the quintessential Status Fire type move! Congrats to u/inreallife12001 for having the most upvoted comment!

Day 47: what's the move that comes to mind when it comes to Physical Water type moves? Not the best, but the most important / memorable one to the best of your knowledge!

Most upvoted comment wins!