#mega zeraora

Mega Zeraora's initial appearance.

It's a starter from Kalos and a Mythical from Alola! Which region wins this match up?

A steadfast warrior who will withstand any blow, Mega Chesnaught has become a pillar of defensive prowess! With fur growing long and thick, creating a cloak to shrug off blows with, and its shell thickening and incorporating shoulder armour- it's definitely worthy of the 172 Defense stat its been blessed with! This gives it the highest Defense of any Grass or Fighting type Pokémon, and the highest stat of any kind out of all Starter Pokémon! Its 44 Speed does also mean it has the reverse distinction as well though- no Starter Pokémon has a stat lower than that. But who needs Speed when you can defend against any attack and come out the other side ready to strike! Mega Chesnaught is able to use its shell extensions on its shoulders as weapons, ones that grow spikes and Mega Chesnaught wields like a heavy axe! So heavy, in fact, that even such a tanky Pokémon like itself needs to use both arms to wield it with the necessary precision to wipe out foes. Bulletproof really feels like an accurate description here, so the ability Mega Chesnaught retains is apt. So can it withstand the blows undoubtedly coming in hard and fast from its opponent here?

Mega Zeraora ex

Unreleased, Abyss Eye 026/081

Reminder: Only the overall poll winner will be put back in the tournament

It's another type mirror match, with two fierce Electric type fighters in each corner!

For a long time, it felt like Raichu was overshadowed by its more famous pre-evolution. But now with two new Megas, Raichu will be firmly placed in the spotlight! Mega Raichu X is the physical of the two Mega Raichu, with a strong 135 Attack and enhanced defenses, it's ready to brawl. As of writing, it was only just announced that Mega Raichu X is also capable of creating Electric Terrain just by entering battle! This boosts the strength of Raichu's already powerful Electric moves by 30%, making it a force to be reckoned with. In fact, its twin tails can generate enough electrical power to float, and propel Mega Raichu X through the air- generating 50 million volts from its tails and ears as it does so. Can this beloved Pokémon take its new form through to another Round?

Mega Zeraora...exists. It's not a bad pick for a mega, as Zeraora was always a pretty forgettable mythical Pokemon due to a general lack of characterization or any sort of design influence beyond "cool electric tiger".

Unfortunately, Mega Zeraora does nothing to improve these issues, mostly because it barely changes the original design. Color aside, these are all the changes made:

It has two ponytails now

It has an extra V on its stomach, and the blue part of the mane is more prominent

The blue head spike is now erect, as are the spikes on its hands (these are areas where the electricity is concentrated)

The only other difference is obviously the color palette, which is now primarily black/dark gray with blue as the secondary color and yellow as the tertiary (as opposed to regular Zeraora, which is primarily yellow and black with blue as the tertiary). I don't inherently mind the change, but it feels like they did it solely to hide the fact that the mega is so bland and changes so little; they did something very similar with Charizard X with equally underwhelming results.

Admittedly, it's hard to do anything interesting when the original Pokemon is kind of bland, but I think they could've mixed it up more. Maybe it does something unique and becomes a quadruped when mega evolved (occasionally standing briefly for key attacks) to lean into the tiger thing. Or maybe it could gain fighting-type and the fur around its paws could become like boxing gloves, with it becoming bulkier. It also could make the ponytails into a scarf of sorts to invoke a raijin or something. I'm just spitballing obviously, but the point is that GameFreak could've been more creative instead of playing it safe.