Also known as Mega Emcaliboar.

Fire/Ice

(No Pokemon review requests in the inbox currently; send them if you have 'em, esp. for the remaining Z-A megas.)

This might be a hot take (honestly not sure, I've heard different opinions), but I think Mega Emboar is the best out of the three mega starters. Meganium's is good but kind of by-the-numbers, and Feraligatr's is...well, Feraligatr's.

Mega Emboar, however, actually progresses its theme in a meaningful way. Emboar is based off of the character Zhang Fei from Romance of the Three Kingdoms, so Mega Emboar just leans into that more. It gains Zhang Fei's weapon (a serpent spear) and generally leans into the ancient Chinese warlord look a bit more by having a topknot and a bit more of a flowing robe look. Even if you don't know the exact things being referenced, the overall look still makes sense for Emboar.

There's also a good sense of progression in general. The flames around the neck (possibly a Journey to the West reference) are now a flaming collar, the single red/gold bands around its arms and legs are now doubled for more symmetry, it has two tusks, the swirls now have symmetry, and the red lower body and tail are now much furrier.

However, while I think this is a good design, I do think it has issues. Mostly I think it's just a little too busy for its own good; the most notable area is the red fur around its lower body, which awkwardly cuts into the golden swirls above it and also covers the leg bands. I think if the fur was black down there and it didn't have a clearly defined top, it would've looked a lot cleaner. Sure, Emboar has red on its lower body, but its not like megas can't change things. Likewise, the collar cuts into the jaws and swirls a bit too much, and in general it feels like the swirl motif could've been integrated elsewhere, such as the topknot, collar flames, arm fur, etc.

What the actual hell is this f*cking garbage!?

Meganium and Feraligatr get knew new ass abilities. Emboar getting freaking Moldbreaker that it can't make great use of.

Mold Breaker and Pressure are some of the laziest abilities you can give a Pokémon when you can't come up with something creative, which is why so many Legendaries are stuck with Pressure.

The speed? Still bad.

The bulk? Still bad*.

The ability? Honestly, might be worse.

Like, Mold Breaker can be good on certain Pokémon, but what is Emboar using it for? Hitting through Flash Fire with resisted fire moves? At least Reckless made it hit harder if it managed to attack.

Someone at GameFreak hates this pig.

Please reblog for larger sample size and discuss below :)