By Matt
Here’s the trend I’ve seen with Pokemon for each region: There’s always some sort of adorable, mouse Pokemon that draws many people’s attention. Kanto featured Pikachu, the character that started it all, and now is a household name. Johto had Pichu, which was figured out as the pre-evolution of Pikachu. Hoenn, the third region, had Plusle and Minun, the electric duo that would assist the other in battle (abilities are Plus and Minus, which both raise the power of the other’s moves). Sinnoh had Pachirisu, the Electric Squirrel Pokemon, which many found cute and lovable. Now, we’re at Unova, with Emolga, the flying Squirrel! When I first saw Emolga, I thought it was like a flying Pikachu.
The whole concept was strange to me, especially its name. Maybe it’s because of generalizations, but Emolga either reminds me of an opera or a Russian name. But it’s still lovable, and when I showed it to my friends, they thought it was pretty cute too. Emolga’s only ability is Static, which is an ability that might paralyze the Pokemon that lands a physical attack on it. You can find Emolga in many places in Unova, but I’ve yet to catch one, even though I spent my Poke dollars on 100 Ultra Balls.
Emolga’s best stat is its Speed, which is the only three-digit base stat it has. The next highest stat is 75, which is Attack and Special Attack. These stats can actually be used to plan a great battle strategy, especially with the moves it learns. Wait a minute, I forgot to mention that it’s part Flying-type, too, but since I mentioned that it was a Flying Squirrel Pokemon, I would have assumed you figured.
This means that it can learn some Flying-type moves from TMs as well, even though the only Flying-type move it will learn naturally is Acrobatics. A strategy that you could use is to have an ally Pokemon use Tailwind, which increases the Speed of all Pokemon on your side. Electro Ball is an Electric-type move which does more damage based on Emolga’s Speed. Actually, the damage is computed on the Speed comparison, judging Emolga’s Speed (plus any stat changes) and the target (plus any stat changes).
In Nimbasa City, the Gym Leader, Elesa, uses two Emolga and a Zebstrika. The strategy she implemented was to use Thunder Wave, then Volt Switch, which would do seventy power in damage, then switch out with a random Pokemon in her party (either the other Emolga or the Zebstrika). And since all gym leaders have Hyper Potions (unlike those careless trainers you would find on random routes), it will be more of a challenge defeating her team.
Emolga is currently being featured in the Japanese TV shows. An episode I saw on Serebii’s side panel was titled: “Beware of Cute Faces! Emolga Paralyzes!”. The pictures were of Bianca hugging an Emolga she found, and Emolga holding an apple cutely. This makes me want to watch the TV series now, but with all the busy events in my life, I don’t think I will have time to watch for quite a while. All in all, Emolga is lovable, just like I’ve mentioned a couple times before, and Pokemon is all about making friendships and bonds with Pokemon.
Tags: Emolga, Unova Region