Characters 1-on-1: Metroid vs. Like Like

WELCOME TO THE BRAND NEW SERIES ON CULLINATION!  INTRODUCING: CHARACTERS 1-ON-1!  THE SERIES WHERE WE TAKE TWO CHARACTERS IN THE VIDEO GAME WORLD THAT ARE SIMILAR BUT AT THE SAME TIME VERY DIFFERENT AND SEE WHAT WOULD HAPPEN IF THESE CHARACTERS FOUGHT AND SEE WHO WOULD WIN!

METROID                                  VS.                            LIKE LIKE

LETS TAKE A LOOK AT THESE CHARACTERS

METROID:

A Metroid is a mutated jellyfish with a jelly top and a brain with three red balls connected to each other.  In addition to that, Metroid's have claws on their bottom, which they use to latch on to their enemy's head.  While they are attached to their prey, they suck their life!  CRICKEY!

Metroid's appear in Samus Aran games, such as Metoid Prime.  In their games, not only do they try to suck Samus' life, they can also go through walls!  I have to say, I would not want this creature living in my basement!

LIKE LIKE:


Don't let the name fool you.  Instead, their name should be Hate Hate.  These guys are so annoying!  They resemble a slinky that got messed up in the manufacturing process.  Unlike Metroid's, Like Like's don't just latch onto you, they try to engulf you whole!  If you take too long to defeat them, they even destroy some of you equipment.  They are such meanie heads!

Like Likes's have been in Zelda games for a long time.  Most Zelda fans are very familiar with Like Like's.  if those fans are anything like me, they too hate Like Like's.

CHARACTERS: TOE-2-TOE

The first fact being that Metroid's can float is a huge disadvantage for a Like Like.  Like Like would have difficulty reaching a Metroid.  If Like Like does catch the Metroid, the Metroid could easily just pass through the Like Like and attach to the Like Like's side.  While on his side, the Metroid would suck the Like Like's life dry while leaving the Like Like to a shriveled up slinky of nothingness.  I think this match up is easily won by a Metroid!

SO, WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THE NEW SERIES?  LET US KNOW IN THE COMMENT BOX BELOW OR SEND ME AN EMAIL AT SHAWN@CULLINATION.NET.

CHARACTERS 1-ON-1 WAS CREATED BY PAT (CULLINATION JR.) AND THIS ARTICLE WAS WRITTEN BY SHAWN.

Cullination Royalty: Mystery Part 3

It's finally time to reveal the mystery character!  Here are the clues:

1.  He or She plays the guitar

2.  With their environment, how can they play the guitar?

3.  They are from a very popular game and only appear once!

Figure it out yet?....

 

MIKAU

Mikau is from the game Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask.  Obviously, he is from the Zora people, living in the Zora Hall.  Mikau is also from the Zora band The Indigo-Go's!  

In Majora's Mask, Mikau gets wounded by Gerudo Pirates when he is trying to save some eggs.  These eggs are believed to be his with his love interest, Lulu.  After he gets attacked by these Gerudo Pirates, Mikau is found at the Great Bay by Link.  Link listens to Mikau's "final message" and he gets the Zora Mask!  The mask allows Link to transform into a Zora, which makes him a better swimmer.  Link can also play the guitar!  

Now that we got that cleared up....part 3: A suggested story/game to make him more popular.

The Story

This game is a prequel of Majora's Mask.  In the game Mikau's Rock, the player takes control of Mikau (obviously).  As Mikau you explore the lands of the Zora's.  That's right...lands!  You start at the Zora Hall before it was in Majora's Mask and you journey off to other Zora's homelands to find a safer location for his clan of Zora's.  The reason it is not safe is because of a war.  A war between the River Zora's and the Sea Zora's.  The River Zora's are the hostile race of the Zora's that shoot energy balls at their enemies.  This war between the species started when the River Zora's assumed that the Sea Zora's thought they were better than them.  So the River Zora's set out to destroy the Sea Zora's and conquer their land!  While Mikau travels on land, his enemies are the Gerudo Pirates!  In the end, Mikau defeats the River Zora's leader to end the war.  Mikau uses his guitar to fight and can also do kicks.  As the game progresses, Mikau can enhance his guitar to have powers, such as stopping time momentarily.    

So, what did you think about this week's Royalty?  Were you shocked to see the mystery character?  Sound off in the comment section below to let us know!  At Cullination, we love feed back!

WE ARE...

CULLINATION!

By: Shawn

A NEW SERIES IS COMING TO CULLINATION

COMING SOON...

Super Smash Strategies #6: Donkey Kong

DONKEY KONG

GAMES FROM

Donkey Kong Series

HOW TO UNLOCK

Starting Character

BIO

This version of Donkey Kong first appeared in the game Donkey Kong Jr. in 1982.  Since then, DK has become a household name.  DK's face and his signature neck tie is well known by almost everyone on planet earth.  He has become very popular.  DK also appeared in many other games including the Mario sports games.  Donkey Kong has been featured in all three of the Super Smash Bros. games.  In Brawl, DK is used as a massive powerhouse.  After using his wind up punch move, you usually watch his enemy go flying off of the screen!  


MOVE SETS

Standard Attacks

Smash Attacks

Air Attacks (all of which are applied while in the air)

Throws (all of which are applied while you're grabbing someone)

Special Attacks

STATISTICS

PROS AND CONS

PROS:

Donkey Kong is extremely powerful and has long range attacks.

For being a big guy, he is fast for his size.

He can easily move and jump while carrying an item like a crate.

Has a quick grab.

DK is a great fighter in the air.

Great specials like his K.O. punch.

CONS:

DK has no projectiles.

Because of his size, he is a big and easy target.

STRENGTHS AND WEAKNESSES

Strengths:

Kirby and Jigglypuff are extreme lightweights.  Because of this, they would go flying after getting hit by DK.  Though Kirby and Jigglypuff are great jumpers, they can't fight in the air too well either.

Though Marth has long range attacks like DK does, he is not as powerful as DK and he is a bit slower too.  Marth also isn't a fighter in the air while DK is.

DK is a huge strength over his little buddy, Diddy.  Diddy is a lightweight so he will go flying if hit by Donkey Kong. 

Peach and Olimar are the most annoying characters in the game!  They would also get destroyed by DK with up close combat and in the air.

The only thing that gives Donkey Kong an advantage over Ganondorf is air attacks and speed.

Ice Climbers are also very lightweights so they would fly off the screen if hit by DK.

Though Sonic is quicker than DK, he doesn't have very good moves.  Getting hit by DK would send him all the way back to SEGA!  Even in the air, DK shines over Sonic.

Weaknesses:

Mario is quicker and better up close than DK is.  Donkey Kong also doesn't have any projectiles while Mario has two.  That is a huge factor.  When fighting Mario, get him in the air or when he isn't expecting it, hit him with a power move.  Mario is light weight so getting hit by DK will cause him to go flying.

Link and Toon Link could easily avoid DK's attacks.  Plus, they won't go as far as some others would when getting hit by a power move.

TIPS

Like I said before, DK is great in the air.  You can easily spam your opponents with his arm spin attack and his head bash move is also an almost instant kill.  Try to fight most people in the air because the chances that DK will have an advantage over them is high.

Because of him being an ape, DK has long arms.  This gives him a very long range when attacking.  So because DK isn't very good at ground attacks, you can use his long arms to swat away at enemies that are fighting you on the ground.

DK is very powerful!  Use his strength wisely.  But, even if you don't hit your opponents right on the "sweet spot" you will still knock them back pretty far with almost any power move that DK has.

Cullination Royalty: Mystery Part 2

Out of the guesses that I have seen so far, it seems that no one knows yet to who the mystery character is!  Presenting....part 2 of said Mystery Character!


Part 2: Why should you love him?


There are many very successful series' that Nintendo has to offer.  There is Mario, Starfox, Metroid, Legend of Zelda, Kirby, and Donkey Kong.  This mystery character is in one of these very successful series'.  In fact, most will probably say that this character was in the most popular franchise Nintendo has!  

What you could really love about this mystery character is that he was in a very successful game and he was only a character featured once.  In that short time, he or she left a huge impression!  Players almost instantly fell in love with this character!  It is almost a crime to see this character not used as often as he or she should be!

You should love this character because of their abilities.  This character is part of a race that is very popular in this very respected game.  Though this race isn't in every game, they are in most.  Though, every time they are a sight to behold!

Know who it is yet?  Let us know in the comment section below and come back on Friday when the mystery character will be revealed!


Have a suggestion for royalty?  Email me at shawn@cullination.net

A Guzzing Endorsement!

Greetings from Cullination!

In an effort to offer our support to a special fan of our walkthroughs, we at Cullination are proud to endorse Guzzinator484! If you are unfamiliar with his work, you can search his name on Youtube or click here

Guzz (as we affectionately call him) does walkthroughs on all sorts of games, and is just about to finish one of Final Fantasy! He is looking for some feedback and suggestions for another game to do, so we want to officially open a vote for him to help him out. All you have to do is send him a message or comment on this post! Simple right? Keep in mind that he does not own an Xbox 360 or a PSP when voting.

On behalf of everyone at Cullination, we would like to extend our thanks to Guzzinator for his continued support of what we do here. We wish you the best of luck in all of your future endeavors!

Don't forget to vote everyone!

Cullination Royalty: Mystery Part 1

Welcome to this special edition of Cullination Royalty!  We are celebrating our tenth inductee into the Cullination Royalty family!  Thank you to all of the fans that kept this series going!  

Now, to celebrate this milestone we have a mystery character.  Each part (today and on Tuesday) will give a few clues hinting at this mystery character.  The character will be revealed on Friday!

First of all, that guitar in the picture is not the guitar that he or she uses, but it is the instrument that they use.  Giving the actual guitar that they use might give it away.  Well, that narrows it down, doesn't it?  It could possibly be a guitarist like Kirk Hammet from Metallica or maybe even George Harrison of the Beatles.  I mean, both of those bands are featured in the popular game Guitar Hero.  Or maybe it could be Jack Black in the game Brutal Legend.  Okay, that's getting a bit carried away.  

If you think about it though, you wonder how does this character play guitar?  It seems impossible with his circumstances.  I guess that's why he is in a video game.  A lot of stuff doesn't make sense in the world of video games. Like for instance, how does a plumber break bricks but dies when he touches a turtle?  How does a hedgehog (a blue one I might add) run really really fast?  How does that same hedgehog run faster than a fox?  And what kind of creature is a Noki exactly?  These are the questions that keep me up at night.

Have you figured out who the mystery King or Queen this week is?  Let us know who you think in the comments below!  Also, come back on Tuesday when another clue will be revealed!

WE ARE...

CULLINATION

POKE-FOCUS #15: ROSERADE

Introduction
Roserade was a much-needed evolution to Roselia. With much-improved stats and an expansive movepool, Roserade can wreak havoc in many different ways. It's difficult to find a better sweeping Grass-type, and there have been few Pokemon to improve so much between Generations 3 and 4 like the Roselia line.



Capture/Training

There are a couple ways to get either a Budew or a Roselia.

What was the punchline, again?

Budew is fairly easy to get: use the Sinnoh Sound in Ilex Forest or Viridian Forest. Budew evolves by happiness during daylight hours, and due to its inability to learn significant moves on its own, it is recommended to do so as quickly as possible. Roselia can be caught at the Safari Zone, if 25 forest blocks are used in the Marshland and 20 days are waited out.

Either way, Roselia evolves into Roserade when a Shiny Stone is used. Roserade cannot learn new attacks, so make sure any important attacks like Toxic Spikes (Lv. 28) or Aromatherapy (Lv. 43) are learned first.

Stats

60 HP, 70 Atk, 55 Def, 125 Sp. Atk, 105 Sp. Def, 90 Spd
Great Special Attack, good Special Defense, decent Speed. Terrible defensive stats, but in retrospect, they aren't especially needed.

Abilities

Poison Point is okay, but it pales in comparison to Natural Cure, which cures Roserade of status simply by switching. A hugely-handy ability to have.

Moves

Special attacking is the name of Roserade's game. Energy Ball, Grass Knot, and Leaf Storm represents the core of Roserade's Grass offensive, whether it be reliable damage, situationally-powerful damage, or lunacy-inducing single-strike power. Solarbeam can be used on a Sunny Day set. Roserade also gets Sludge Bomb for Poison STAB.

Check out Shadow Ball and Extrasensory (egg move on Budew) for additional Special Attacks. Weather Ball can be used to great effect on a weather-based set. Hidden Power might work out, too.

Toxic Spikes is a fun move to play around with, and can really make it hard for some Pokemon to switch in. Roserade also has access to regular Spikes as an egg move. Beware, as Spikes cannot co-exist with some of Roserade's other Egg Moves, like Sleep Powder and Leaf Storm.

Sleep Powder is great for shutting down a Pokemon, but if breeding limitations prevent you from having the move, GrassWhistle is okay as a substitute. Roserade can also throw out Stun Spore to paralyze foes. Toxic is a more direct way to inflict poison damage, and Leech Seed rounds out the package. Aromatherapy cures your own team of status, which can be extremely helpful. Synthesis is a good way to heal HP. If inclimate weather is getting in your way, though, you can consider using Rest, then switching out to let Natural Cure wake it up.

Substitute works well with Leech Seed for the infamous SubSeeding strategy. Roserade can offer Sunny Day and Rain Dance support. The former goes well with Synthesis and Solarbeam, while both also work well with Weather Ball. Roserade can use Growth for a SpA boost. It can also Swords Dance, if you want a novelty physical attacking set.

Effective Movesets

1. Toxic Spikes

- Toxic Spikes
- Sleep Powder
- Leaf Storm/Grass Knot/Energy Ball
- Shadow Ball/Weather Ball

2. Spikes
- Spikes
- Energy Ball/Grass Knot
- Shadow Ball/Weather Ball
- Stun Spore/Synthesis/Rest

Note: This Roserade is to be played more defensively, if possible.

3. Choice
- Leaf Storm
- Sludge Bomb
- Shadow Ball/Weather Ball
- Sleep Powder

Item: Choice Specs/Choice Scarf

Note: Try having a Speed-boosting nature with Specs, and a SpA boosting nature for Scarf. Use Sleep Powder and switch if you absolutely cannot hurt something.

4. SubSeed
- Leech Seed
- Substitute
- Sludge Bomb
- Spikes

Note: Sludge Bomb is great here for hitting Grass-types immune to Leech Seed. Spikes punish foes trying to switch out of Leech Seed.

5. Sunny Day Support
- Sunny Day
- Solarbeam
- Weather Ball
- Synthesis

Item: Heat Rock

Note: This variation plays more defensively than the Lead variant below.

6. Sunny Day Lead
- Sunny Day
- Solarbeam
- Weather Ball
- Sleep Powder

Item: Heat Rock

Note: This set works best as a lead. Separate from the above because Sleep Powder cannot be re-taught once forgotten, so the two sets are not interchangeable.

7. Rain Dance
- Rain Dance
- Energy Ball/Grass Knot/Leaf Storm
- Weather Ball
- Sleep Powder

Item: Damp Rock

8. Aromatherapy Support
- Aromatherapy
- Leaf Storm
- Sleep Powder
- Rest

Note: The strategy here is a bit unusual. Put a Pokemon to Sleep, use Aromatherapy, hit someone hard with Leaf Storm, Rest off any damage taken, then switch to cure sleep.


9. Toxic Spikes Variant
- Toxic Spikes
- Energy Ball/Grass Knot/Leaf Storm
- Extrasensory
- Synthesis/GrassWhistle

Note: The key here is to hit any Poison-types trying to switch in to absorb Toxic Spikes with a super-effective Extrasensory. As this set is more defensive, Energy Ball and Synthesis are preferable.

10. Double Status
- Sleep Powder
- Stun Spore
- Energy Ball/Grass Knot/Leaf Storm
- Sludge Bomb

Note: Works best on human opponents, who tend to switch after getting put to sleep.

11. Growth
- Growth
- Sleep Powder
- Energy Ball
- Sludge Bomb/Shadow Ball


CONCLUSION

The addition of Roserade into the mix in Generation 4 has changed the field for Grass-types and taken a mediocre evolution line and turned it into something extraordinary. Roserade is a top-notch special attacker and can even cover quite a few of his weaknesses, which puts him in an elite category of Pokemon alongside the likes of Alakazam, Espeon, Typhlosion, and Jolteon.




WE ARE...CULLINATION!

Cullination Royalty: Jor-El Part 3

Part 3: A suggested story to make him more popular.

Like I've been saying in the last two parts of Jor-El's royalty.  Jor-El is just about the coolest father around!

THE STORY

Kal-El decides to try to prevent the death of his family living on Krypton. To do this, Superman flies around the Earth fast enough so he goes back in time. He then flies all the way up to Krypton. When he is on the planet, he meets younger versions of his parents. Jor-El and Lara are very excited to see him and they are also very proud of his accomplishments on Earth.

Kal-El and Jor-El go on a quest to find where the planet is created radioactivity that will eventually cause Krypton to explode. They find the reactor. From that moment on, both of them use science to try to come up with a solution. They eventually find a solution. However, Brainiac tries to thwart their plans! Brainiac steals their formula and kidnaps Superman. Jor-El finds Superman and Brainiac on the planet, Bryak. Jor-El fights Brainiac and even eventually frees Kal-El from his prison that Brainiac kept him in.

Unfortunately, Braniac destroys the formula that they made to help their planet. This makes Jor-El very upset and he attacks Brainiac with all of his might and power! But, the ultimate end happens! With Superman being helpless, Brainiac kills Jor-El! Superman gets very angry and attacks Brainiac with all of his fury! Superman ends up killing Brainiac.. for now.

Kal-El goes back home to his mother, Lara. He tells her what happened and he reveals to her part of Jor-El's cape that he was wearing. The two of them look over at his cape and cry in grief. The people of Krypton then build a statue of Jor-El in his honor.


How did you like this edition of Royalty? Sound off on the comment section to let us know...let your voice be heard!

This Sunday, marks the tenth edition of Cullination Royalty!  To celebrate this milestone, we have a very special edition of Royalty headed your way!  Don't miss it!

PlanetPoke Partnership

Greetings from Cullination!

Today we have some very exciting news to share with all of you. In light of our successes over the past few months, we have accepted an offer for partnership with PlanetPoke, an affiliate of Fullscreen Inc.

While we will be getting paid for our contributions henceforth, there will be no change in our content. As viewers, readers, and fans, you can expect to see the same quality of work, if not better. We will continue to improve as much as we can to provide the best possible content, as always.

For those of you who are not familiar with PlanetPoke, they are a Youtube channel dedicated to all things Pokemon. They have content related to games, walkthroughs, the trading card game, and more. If you like Pokemon, you will find something you can enjoy there.

As a result of this partnership, we are hoping to extend our reach and increase our viewership, our fanbase, and our quality of work. We are very excited and proud to bring the Cullination experience to PlanetPoke, and hope all of you that have followed us up until this point will continue to enjoy what we do. We owe all of you a sincere thank you for all of your support and can't wait to give back and make you all proud!

In other news around Cullination, Poke-Focus Fan Choice voting remains open, and Royalty for Jor-El will be continuing throughout the week. On Youtube, we have started a new walkthrough series...Pokemon LeafGreen! Pokemon Colosseum and HeartGold will be wrapping up over the summer, and another game will be added into the mix. And lastly, we will be reaching the 50,000 view milestone on Youtube in about a week!


WE ARE...CULLINATION!

Cullination Royalty: Jor-El Part 2

Part 2: Why should you love him?

Oh, boy.  What isn't there to love about Jor-El?  I mean, he is the father of Kal-El (a.k.a. Superman).  Jor-El was a brilliant scientist on his planet Krypton.  He was also the person to discover that the planet was going to explode and he tried to warn people.  Unfortunately, the people of Krypton did not believe him.

Jor-El just so happens to be the best father ever!  He gets the father of the year award!  I know that my father is pretty awesome and I like to think that my father is Superman, but Kal-El's father risked his life to save his infant son.  Jor-El and his wife, Lara, placed Kal-El in a small pod and shipped him to another planet.  Though there was a little miscalculation with sending their son to an unknown planet.  This is because Jor-El and Lara had no idea what would happen to their son and the people of his new planet.  They didn't know if they were going to attack him or if they were going to greet their son with open arms.  Fortunately, Kal-El was found by a caring couple and they took him in as their own.

The bottom line here is that Jor-El is the "bee's knees".  Jor-El is just about one of the coolest fathers you could have!  He also deserves a lot more than he is given!

Come back on Friday when Jor-El's Cullination Royalty continues.. 


Have a suggestion for Royalty?  Email me at shawn@cullination.net

Cullination Royalty: Jor-El Part 1

THIS ONE GOES OUT TO ALL OF THE FATHERS OUT THERE ON FATHER'S DAY!

Jor-El

Introducing the biological father of "the man of steel", Jor-El!  Jor-El is not seen very often in Superman stories but he should be.  This is because without Jor-El, there would be no Superman.  Not only did Jor-El help give birth to Superman, but he also saved him!

Jor-El, being a scientist, thought it was weird for Krypton to experience earthquakes that it was having.  Because of this, he investigated.  Jor-El discovered that Krypton's core was extremely unstable and radioactive.  In addition to that, it would eventually reach the planet's core, causing it to blow up along with the people that lived there.

Jor-El then went to the Science Body to try to convince them that his theories were correct about their planet's core.   However, the members of the Science Body did not believe Jor-El so they ignored him.

Jor-El constructed a small ship in case he was correct.  As it turned out, he was correct.  As the planet was being destroyed, Jor-El and his wife Lara sent their son, Kal-El, into the ship and sent him away from Krypton.  The ship lands on a planet called Earth.  Kal-El grows up and becomes The Man Of Steel, Superman!

As you can see, Jor-El saved his son so he could live a great life.  Because of this Jor-El deserves this week's royalty in honor of great super hero fathers everywhere!

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY!


Have an idea for Royalty?  Email me at shawn@cullination.net

Cullination Royalty: Krystal Part 3

Part 3: A suggested game/story to get her more popular.

STORY

Krystal gets a distress call from an old friend that she thought died along with her other friends and family from her home land of Cerinia.  Krystal decides to go on her own to answer the distress call.  Fox, however, doesn't want her to do this since she is the weakest of the StarFox Team.  Since Krystal does not agree to let the whole team go, Fox tells her no.  That night, Krystal grabs her staff and sneaks out of their ship!   She hops into a pod and ships out of there to answer the distress call!  Krystal ends up finding her old friend, whom she thought was dead, and saves her from some bad guys!  Her friend tells her that they started a new living on this new planet outside of the Lylat System called Apartis.  Her friend takes her to their village where she meets most of her old friends and family!  Krystal is very happy until she finds out that her parents vanished a few years ago and were never seen again.  That's when Andross returns!  He terrorizes their village and tries to capture Krystal!  But Krystal ends up getting away, so Andross takes her friend!  That's when the plot begins!  Krystal now goes to different regions on Apartis in search of Andross and her friend!  When Krystal finally finds defeats Andross using her magical staff, she also finds her parents!  Apparently,  Andross created this planet so he knew where the people of Cerinia were!  He wanted to harness the power of Krystal's family powers!  Unfortunately, he couldn't do so without Krystal so he lured Krystal there with a fake distress call!  That sneaky monkey...thing.

GAMEPLAY

The game is a free roaming game much like Starfox Adventures was.  Krystal also goes through a few missions given to her either by herself or by someone else.  One of these missions would be to sneak out of Team Starfox's ship.  She would have to sneak around without making much noise and avoid lights and security cameras.  The missions are just a small part of the game.  Like I said, gameplay and fighting style will be a lot like Starfox Adventures!

So what did you think of this game?  Sound off on the comment section below to let us know.  Then, come back on Sunday to see who the next character is that will get one week of royalty.

WE ARE....CULLINATION!  

FAN CHOICE: POKE-FOCUS #14: ALAKAZAM

Introduction

The fans have spoken! Alakazam won by a comfortable two votes after the last Fan Choice Poke-Focus, and will be honored in style! Tropius came in second place, with a few others rounding out the remainder of the voting. Nonetheless, we at last will be featuring a Psychic-type!






Alakazam is perhaps the most powerful special attacker in the world of non-legendary Pokemon. Very few Pokemon can compete with his sheer firepower and sweeping abilities. Even with a somewhat shallow movepool, Alakazam has always been able to sweep most teams, and the addition of the special-based Focus Blast in Generation 4 removed one of Alakazam's true difficulties: fighting Dark and Steel-types.

Despite a few setbacks, Alakazam has the tools to cover them with finesse nearly unrivaled in any Pokemon.

Capture/Training

Abra is available in many of the early routes of Pokemon games, almost always after the city containing the second gym badge. In games with settings in Kanto, Kadabra can also be found in the wild in the Cerulean Cave. Abra can be a pain to capture, as the only move known is Teleport, which will be used to escape from battle and evade capture. An effective strategy to combat this is to afflict a sleep condition, or use Quick Balls.

Abra evolves into Kadabra at level 16 and gains the move Confusion, the first attack move officially learned by the evolution line. Kadabra evolves into Alakazam via trade, so it's best to trade with someone who will be willing to trade it back to you!

Statistics

55 Hp, 50 Att, 45 Def, 135 SpAtt, 85 SpDef, 120 Spd

The two immediate standouts are Special Attack and Speed, both with monstrous numbers. These immense stats allow Alakazam to attack first and attack with immense power, often knocking out several Pokemon before the opponent even has a chance to make a move.

Moves

As a whole, Alakazam doesn't have a very large or diverse movepool. Generation 4 expanded upon his move selection a little bit, but not enough to affect the way players use him.

The main improvement for Alakazam stems from the physical/special split. Shadow Ball has become a special move, which allows Alakazam to finally have a useful secondary move AND a way to cover his weakness to Ghost-types. The Fighting-type Focus Blast also has become a must-have, as it delivers massive special damage and covers Alakazam's weakness to Dark-types. Energy Ball is more of a novelty addition, but at the very least provides some much needed type coverage.

Psychic is without a doubt Alakazam's main attacking move. With Alakazam's awesome Special Attack stat, Psychic is capable of decimating teams that don't have Dark-types or quick physical attackers. Recover is almost unnecessary with Alakazam's terrible HP and defensive stats, though Reflect and Light Screen are almost imperative for the same reasons.

One final change from earlier generations allows the practical use of Hyper Beam, although Alakazam can hardly afford a turn of inactivity. Hidden Power can also be effective if given a type with a lot coverage, like Ice.

As for non-attack moves, Calm Mind is perhaps the best choice. Upping both Special stats can prove to be an invaluable asset for any Alakazam-user. Skill Swap can be used for switching abilities, which is a particularly difficult strategy to employ.

Effective Movesets

1. Hidden Powerkazam

- Hidden Power (Ice, Water, Fire)

- Psychic

- Reflect

- Calm Mind/Light Screen

2. Extra Coverage

- Psychic

- Energy Ball

- Shadow Ball

- Focus Blast

3. Protectakazam

- Reflect

- Light Screen

- Protect

- Psychic

Notes: Mainly used as a setup or lead. Can immediately setup both Light Screen and Reflect, Protect against Earthquakes and Explosions, and can attack if needed with a S.T.A.B. Psychic.


Conclusion

Alakazam is one of the fastest and most powerful special attackers in all of Pokemon, and as such has been a staple as a sweeper on teams since Generation 1. He has a few ways to work around his lack of HP and defenses, and even has some setup potential.

Overall, it's hard to find a better attacking Psychic-type, or any type for that matter.





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WE ARE...CULLINATION!

Why Bowser is the Most Successful Video Game Character...EVER

The Mario cast changes less than the laws of gravity. They're the most popular video game characters of all time and remain the reason 99 percent of all defeated video game enemies have footprints instead of haircuts.

As a consequence, Bowser and Mario have been going at it for 25 years, longer than most real wars last. Figuring it was probably time somebody honored their eternal antagonism by checking the scoreboard, we dug in for the long, pedantic process of picking a winner in a fictional conflict. What we got instead was the story of the most depressingly one-sided rivalry in the history of not just video games, but possibly the world.

What we’ve come up with are 4 reasons why Bowser is CLEARLY the most successful video game character of all time.

#4. Job Satisfaction

The plot of Super Mario Bros. is essentially the tale of one long real estate struggle, as Bowser attempts to take over the Mushroom Kingdom and Mario shows up way too late to prevent him from doing so. Despite forming the kingdom's entire defense force, Mario rarely hears about an invasion until after Bowser has had enough time to build a series of castles. Archaeologists have responded to invasions faster.

If he has time to build THIS, you're too slow.

While Mario is always in crisis mode, Bowser's motives seem to oscillate between good old-fashioned land lust and not having anything better to do on a Sunday. One of the few times Mario arrives early enough to see Bowser make off with the Princess (Super Mario Galaxy 2) was when it was such an incredibly minor part of the plan. Bowser was clearly doing it just to piss Mario off. And when you can mount a planetary assault just to shout "Screw You!," you're winning so hard the scoreboard turns into a diamond.

The instant Bowser wants the kingdom, he has it -- his life is what the God of the Old Testament would wish for if he was given a magic lantern from the spirit of Alexander the Great. He just sits back on his throne of fire and watches Mario scamper through the obstacle course that he designed. Hell, some of the time, he probably stages an invasion just because there's nothing good on TV.

#3. Personal Life

Mario's the most recognizable family-friendly hero this side of Mickey Mouse, yet he's fighting to defend his home against a villain who is better at that as well. Bowser has a bigger family than Catholic sumo wrestlers, while the most famous hero in gaming is a 40-something bachelor, presumably still living knee-deep in mushroom pizza boxes, since we know he doesn't own more than one set of clothes. There are college students more mature than him -- at least they don't have to gather coins on their way to meet their girlfriends.

One big happy, evil family!

We know Bowser's home life has to be good, because even in the most annoying embodiments of the "rebellious teenager phase" possible, Bowser Jr. and the Koopalings still hang out with their father, learning the family trade. We never see his wife...Bowser keeps the woman he loves safe from harm and out of the games.

The closest thing that Mario has to a stable relationship is the perpetually kidnapped Peach. While the game presents her prolonged disappearances as something between a shell game and a hostage situation, she's never as thankful as you'd hope when you rescue her.

Meanwhile, she's perfectly happy to race Go-Karts against Bowser. Their continual kidnapping/getting rescued game of cat-and-mouse seems more flirtatious than anything. In the real world, after the third time a woman disappears with the same man, either common sense or the police usually tell you to stop filing missing-person reports, let alone smash up his place trying to get her back.

So Bowser's got Mario's girl and a Mrs. Bowser somewhere tending a beautiful three-bedroom castle. Mario has the worst job in the world, and in his downtime, he's a lonely plumber.

#2. Learning From Mistakes

STOP STEPPING ON MY FREAKING MUSHROOMS!! What a dick...

You can't blame Mario for having less natural talent than Bowser. He's just a tiny plumber in a magical world where both flora and fauna are deadly to the touch. Bowser, on the other hand, is made of spikes and flame in a world where those are the most unavoidable causes of death. He's also apparently the master of industrial-level technology, while Mario relies on druid-level flowers and mushrooms for weaponry.

When you've got that much going against you, the only way to even the odds is to adapt on the fly and innovate new strategies in the face of defeat. The good guys in the Mario Bros. universe aren't the best at adapting. They're so bad at learning important lessons from their mistakes that they make the bad guys from G.I. Joe look like the good guys from G.I. Joe. Defending the Mushroom Kingdom should not be hard: It's a magical kingdom of unlimited fantasy where stars are cute, flowers grant magical abilities and everything with a shell is trying to kill you.

All they would have to do is station guards at every entrance and give them very simple instructions: If someone trying to enter the mushroom kingdom has a shell, he's not allowed in. Just stop him, turn him around and get ready to do it again in 30 seconds when he bounces off something else and comes back. That's not racial profiling; that's common sense. And besides, Mario could never be accused of racial profiling...he comes from Japan, looks like a Mexican and has an Italian accent. If that's not diverse, I don't know what is.

Seriously though, how many times does Bowser have to invade, conquer, kidnap, and kill people before they stop inviting him to golf tournaments and race go-karts on the weekends? You might as well just ask Bowser if he could come invade for a little.

Bowser, meanwhile, has learned every lesson the games have to give him -- and those lessons are all "Have a party, buddy!"

Yep, he has a logo too

#1. A Fate Worse Than Death

If a sports analyst wants to use math to say Team A is much better than Team B, he'll often say, "If they played 10 times on a neutral field, Team A would win nine times out of 10." If Team A is the Miami Heat and everyone on Team B is in a wheelchair, he might say they'd win 999 out of 1,000. Well, we don't have to use hypothetical scenarios for the matchup between Bowser and Mario.

They've played on a neutral field billions of times and, whether you choose to believe that there's a Mario cloning machine just off screen at the beginning of each game or use quantum physics' notion of multiple universes, the fact is that Mario has set out on a quest to defeat Bowser billions of times, and his winning percentage has to be somewhere well below .001 percent.

Mario has died millions, maybe billions of pointless, futile deaths. His incredibly mortal coil is repeatedly flung into everything from medieval spiked pits to relativistic black holes -- everything human technology has ever achieved has been used to kill Mario.

Now granted, most video game characters are slightly more expendable than shotgun ammunition in Texas, but Mario has it worse, because he's the family-friendly one. He's the My First Character for everyone introduced to video games to try controlling. And since he was the character that launched the NES and popularized home gaming in the first place, most of the people who have ever controlled him had no idea what they were doing at first. He's died more often at the hands of children than ants, and was steered clumsily off more cliffs in the 80s alone than the entire history of cars in Ireland.

Add the fact that most casual Marionizers never beaten the game, and you've got an endless expanse of parallel worlds where Bowser is not just winning, but winning with ease. In any coherent universe in which Bowser exists, the odds are extremely likely that Mario is either a minor blip on his security radar that went away within 15 seconds, or an army of clones he entertains himself by killing over and over again.

In the end, Mario vs Bowser might be the most unhealthy rivalry the world of fiction has seen to date. It's hard to wrap your mind around just how one-sided this little feud is, but Bowser has got it all figured out. He loses occasionally, but after winning around 10 BILLION times, I think it's understandable why he always comes back for more.

WE ARE....CULLINATION!