By Emily
Its cuteness is hard to deny, not to mention its impressive stats for being a base level Pokemon. But as Tepig evolves, its strength increases at the cost of its original cuteness. Such power and versatility makes Emboar a force to be recon with, and its pre-evolved form Tepig is conveniently enough one of the possible starter Pokemon you can choose.
Being both Fire and Fighting type, Emboar is weak to many different types of Pokemon. But all of its attacks, when used wisely, can defeat almost any Pokemon it comes up against. Hammer Arm and Gyro Ball make a perfect combo, with the Steel-type Gyro Ball increasing in strength every time Hammer Arm is used. Grass Knot and Scald may not seem like attacks a Fire type should be able to learn, but they come in very handy and can help to overcome some of this character’s weaknesses. For those who like daring attacks, Emboar can also learn Wild Charge and Stone Edge. These two moves deal a good amount of damage but are both a little risky to use. Stone Edge has reduced accuracy, which may be a liability for a Pokemon with such low defenses, but Flying types hardly stand a chance against it. Water types can easily be taken down by Wild Charge, but the recoil from a Super Effective attack may pose a risk to Emboar.
Tepig can learn a wide array of egg moves, some of which can be extremely useful. Curse may not appear useful as it takes away from the user’s Speed stat, but increasing an already high Attack stat may very well make the attack worthwhile. Thrash and Magnitude have some usefulness, though Thrash’s typing and Magnitude’s risk of dealing low damage may make these along the lines of novelty attacks.
As with every Pokemon, the strengths are balanced by the weaknesses. Despite the great HP and Attack of Emboar, Defense, Special Defense, and Speed suffer greatly. This character is meant to deal One Hit Knock Out attacks without getting hit itself. Even the ability of the evolutionary line is boring – just the usual Blaze ability all Fire type starters get.
The Dream World ability Thick Fat for Tepig and Pignite is rather boring and in all essence useless, as Fire and Ice type attacks aren’t effective against these Pokemon at all. However, Emboar is graced with the ability Reckless, which increases the strength of recoil attacks at the cost of increasing the recoil damage as well. This double-edged sword of an ability can come in very handy in a pinch since this Pokemon can learn so many recoiling attacks, but it requires a high HP so Emboar won’t faint after one attack. Taking into consideration the abilities of the other starter Pokemon, Emboar is, at the very least, somewhat lucky to have a semi-useful ability.
Since Tepig is one of the possible starter Pokemon, a large array of merchandise featuring it has been released. One of the most widely-available merchandise of Tepig is likely plush. Banpresto has produced many Tepig plush, from small plush straps to the large DX prize plush. The Pokemon Centers have also sold a lot of unique Tepig plush, most notably the Pokedoll and Life-size plush. Items featuring the rest of the evolutionary line are also being released steadily by toy producers, though the focus mostly lies on Tepig.
Combining its strength and attacks, Emboar can single-handedly defeat many of the Unova Pokemon. Such impressive power makes this character, along with both of its pre-evolved forms, a great asset to pretty much any team. Correct timing can lead to an easy victory, especially with Emboar. Even if Tepig is the only cute Pokemon of the three, trying these Pokemon out in test battles may be the most sure-fire way to make these characters some of your newest favorites from the Unova region.
Tags: Emboar, Generation V, Pignite, Tepig