Judge A Pokémon: Mega Cool or Mega Drool

While Gengar remains as one of the most popular Ghosts from the early days, I may be one of the few who believes the evolution line should have capped at Haunter. Going from a rugged shadow with spectral claws into a round poltergeist with chubby limbs is, for me, an anti-climax, although its jeering smile serves as its saving grace. But compared to other Ghost-types, Gengar is surprisingly simple for a final evolution, and while one may argue that the first generation had a large number of simple designs, Gengar's rotund build and cheesy grin makes it easy to remember and connect with, which might be why this purple blob has managed to amass so many people into its haunted fanclub.

With that said, little of that is preserved within its Mega Evolution. Much like the Dragonball universe, Game Freak have decided to measure its power by the size of its hair, and then spread said growth to its arms and tail alike, thus allowing it to disguise itself as tall grass wherever it wants. Its eyes and smile were also emphasized further, as they're now duplicating the look of an ecstatic serial killer or a vengeful clown, where either option is enough to make the opponent more than just uncomfortable. And to top it all off, we have yet another eye which never stops blinking, never stops judging, and refuses to acknowledge the color scheme its eyes had to begin with. So instead of improving upon Gengar's design, it appears that they instead chose to amplify everything about it, thus creating a monster which not only looks distressed but also off-the-charts insane.

Throughout all Pokémon versions, Tyranitar appears to be the only dinosaur-like Pokémon that was too persistent to go extinct, where its sluggish exterior has always been backed up by a stern demeanor and brute force. It is, however, somewhat counter-productive to have glaring holes in its armor, not to mention that the exposed blue abs and its peeled banana tail make for some peculiar details as well. Nonetheless, the fact remains that it's the Pokémon world's equivalent to Godzilla, thus rendering any criticism null and void.

When you look upon Mega Tyranitar, the first thing you'll notice is its large protruding spikes. The second thing you'll notice is that beneath all those jagged shapes lies something that looks like a Tyranitar. Since its chest has been granted some glaring eyes of its own, you get the impression that its centerpiece is now under the influence of a malicious spirit, which would explain why its spikes have grown out of control. Besides its haunted vest, Mega Tyranitar sets itself apart further from its lesser self by sporting a wicked mohawk along with two hazardous knee-caps, completing the look of a rebellious teenager who desperately yearns for the world's attention. I do acknowledge the direction they took with their design, but Game Freak ultimately overdid it when it came to its rocky spires. At least every move is a STAB move now.

Absol may appear to be one of those Pokémon that was designed with little thought put behind it. Take a dog, add scythes to it, and then call it a day as you move on to a new subject. But since Pokémon have plenty of roots in Eastern culture, Absol's origins can be traced to one such legend, which unfortunately leaves the western populations unaware of its meaning. With that said, Absol is a surprisingly simple Pokémon despite its Gen III debut, where its sleek body and thorny paws makes for an elegant appearance, albeit somewhat forgettable.

And on the topic of simple designs, Mega Absol is not one. While I have no inside info regarding its new exterior, I can only conclude that the people tasked with the assignment had little to work with. That, or they accidentally designed a new character for Kingdom Hearts. With its scythe now reduced to a short blade, the rest of Mega Absol's appearance can essentially be attributed to additional hair tufts, where its 'wings' grab the most attention while giving it a more divine look in the process. On one hand, I find this change to be suitable for Absol, while on the other hand, this sudden grooming could just as well be given to a good number of other Pokémon with the same results (see: Ampharos).

While Charizard has swayed the hearts of many young trainers as the Fire starter of choice, Blaziken is arguably one of its first successors that managed to reach the same bar, or perhaps even raise it. They set out to combine eagles, kickboxing, fire, and mullets, and thankfully they succeeded, because Blaziken is now entering its fourth generation and is still rocking the look, even with two other firefighters competing for a teamslot. Its lack of visible feet may be my only quibble with its design, but it's one I can easily gloss over given that its other features flow together to create one stunning cockfighter.

Granted, with so little to improve upon, Blaziken's Mega Evolution is virtually the same, apart from its mullet sacrificing some of its girth to improve upon the vest below. Most Fire starters also have a live flame incorporated somewhere in their design to fully emphasize how they are, indeed, a Fire-type, and not just creatures with flamboyant color schemes. For the longest time, Blaziken has been a noteworthy exception in this regard, but with its new Mega forme, its flaming scarves will surely clear any doubts about its typing. And if that wasn't enough, its new feather mail with matching flame decals should hopefully eradicate any leftover suspicions. Quite frankly, I'm surprised they didn't set its hair on fire too.