her royal highness, princess of lesbians 👑

As we get close to the end of Round 1, the Rock types just keep coming!

The evolved creature to come from the Claw Fossil, Armaldo hails from Hoenn, and is covered in tough armour! A sturdy predator, it's based on the Anomalocaris, an apex predator in itself that once dwelled in ancient oceans. Unlike its real life counterpart though, Armaldo generally lived on land, only going to the water to hunt. This perhaps makes sense then, that Armaldo and its pre-evolution are the only Pokémon with the ability Swift Swim to also be weak to water! With its fiercesome claws, you wouldn't want to be on the wrong end of this one!

And our next match features two unevolved Pokémon from adjacent Generations!

Lileep, the strange sea-dwelling fossil from Hoenn that isn't actually a Water type! It's based on Crinoids, a type of marine life, also called sea lillies, that do still exist- though their fossils are abundant. The nickname of sea lillies is likely where Lileep gets part of its name, and the tentacles that make up much of Lileep's body are the spitting image of real Crinoids. Lileep and its evolution are the only Grass type Pokémon to be in the Water 3 egg group, another oddity for an odd pair of creatures! Will its strangeness win over some fans?

A question that's possibly surprising that we haven't asked before! Every Pokémon fan has to start somewhere, and let's find out where most voters started.

We're looking only at the main series here, so if you started with a spin off, pick the Generation with your first main series game instead. And let us know which specific game it was!

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These fossil Pokémon may share the same first three letters, but that's about where the similarities end!

Archeops is said to be the ancestor of all bird Pokémon, with all of them having evolved from this colourful bird with a defeatism problem! This status as the first bird is mirrored by its inspiration, the Archeopteryx, which was once believed to be the earliest bird as well. That aside, Archeops has many interesting distinctions that make it unique in terms of fossil Pokémon, and Pokémon more generally. Both Archeops and its pre-evolution are the only Pokémon to have their specific egg group combination, the only Flying types in the Water 3 egg group, and they're the only fossil Pokémon without hidden abilities. But Archeops specifically has multiple pieces of trivia around its Pokédex number! Its number, 567, is the same as its base stat total- the only Pokémon where the two numbers match- and it also closely matches the Dewey Decimal System number that represents feathered dinosaurs, 567.9! So there's nothing to be defeatist about- there's plenty of interesting information to know and appreciate. Can Archeops achieve a win or will its ability bring it down again?

In this battle of Pokémon you wouldn't want to meet alone at night, Gen 6 and Gen 1 go head to head!

It's almost surprising that it took 6 generations for a fossil Pokémon based on the Tyrannosaurus! The Despot Pokémon, Tyrantrum, was the king of the ancient world, and is it any surprise when it looks like that? Alongside its pre-evolution, Tyrantrum is the only Pokémon to be a Rock and Dragon type, referencing the popular association of dinosaurs and dragons in the real world. Interestingly, only in the Pokédex entry for Ultra Sun, its suggested that because full restoration of Tyrantrum is impossible, that there are theories that it could have been completely covered in feathers. Not only does this reference the developing understanding of dinosaurs as having feathers in the real world, but it also tells us that the fossil Pokémon we know now aren't exactly how they looked when they roamed the world in times past. It sparks many questions, but right now there's only one that matters- does Tyrantrum get your vote?