Let’s Talk About Pokemon - Combee and Vespiquen
415: Combee
Oh man, just look at this thing. It's equal parts ridiculous and adorable! So ridiculous, when I first saw it way back in the day, I could've sworn it was fake. The series's second shot at a bee-esque monster is Combee here, and boy is it ever a departure from the Beedrill family before it. It's just absolutely precious how these bees are the individual honeycomb cells that make up their hive. It's also interesting to think about the evolutionary logic behind these things. A lone Combee cell is absolutely daft, having only one wing and one antennae. Or even worse-off if you're the bottom one with no wings. But because they're a hive-based species, they naturally combine themselves to become a more physically complete creature. That's just such a neat idea for a hive monster.
Personal Score: 8/10
Just plain great.
416: Vespiquen
But alas, even if it's three Pokemon in one, Combee is a pathetically weak Pokemon. Unless of course, you have the right one to evolve. If your Combee is male, it just outright never evolves. Ever. It's just one of the hive's drones after all! But if the center Combee is the rare female with a visible red crest on its forehead, it'll evolve into Vespiquen here. Which is cool as Gen 4's take on the “pathetic Pokemon into huge, powerful beast” type of evolution we've seen with Magikarp and Feebas. Though as a side note, Vespiquen is tragically the weakest of these so far, and probably still the weakest one to date. It's stats aren't very good, it doesn't have a great ability, and the Bug/Flying typing opens it up to a lot of common weaknesses. Including a x4 weakness to Rock. Which basically means you're doomed as far as Metagame is concerned. Which is sad because I adore Vespiquen.
If you like bees about as much as I do, Vespiquen is about the sweetest treat you could possibly ask for, and if ever another bee Pokemon is made, it's got some tough competition here. As if it wasn't obvious, we got a queen bee on our hands, with a big and imposing silhouette and a hive that it uses for a dress. It also appears to be wearing a huge, fancy head dress or some kind of fancy hairdo. This is all just a recipe for a pure Badass Battle Queen. It's tickling fancies that I won't say are specific to me but they're plenty of fancies I have nonetheless. Bees, a huge insect hive, the queen of said hive, just generally being cool looking. I know the hivemind insect monster queen is done to death by now but that won't stop me from appreciating things like the Aparoid Queen or Phazon or even Vespiquen here. Hot damn.
Not only that but it's the rare gender-specific Pokemon that, while it is clearly a form based around gender stereotypes, it's also got biological bases around it. And I mean. C'mon. This ain't no Lilligant or Tsareena. This is a badass looking bee queen that'll unleash a swarm of Combee on you. Or. At least that's what the fantasy of this thing should be. God dangit why didn't Vespiquen get a Mega Form.
Personal Score: 10/10
Queenly perfection.
Overall:
Vespiquen deserves so much more. A Mega. A stat buff. (Ya give those to Masquerain but not VESPIQUEN?!) A changed Ability. Anything.
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