By Jo
Litwick is my favorite fifth generation Pokemon. It’s cute, tiny, and has a bit of an eerie appearance. Which would be weird, if it weren’t coming from the Pokemon creators. No other Pokemon shares the same type combination as Litwick and its evolutions.
Litwick is a small white candle with a purple flame. The wax surrounding its flame appears to have dripped over one of its yellow eyes. The dripping wax on its sides are often depicted as being its arms. Litwick is tied with Torcoal and Sluga for having the lowest speed stat of all fire-type Pokemon. According to its pokedex entries, Litwick shines a light that absorbs the life energy of people and Pokemon. Apparently their souls become the fuel that it burns. It will also act as a guiding light to lost travelers, and instead lead them even father astray from their destination. Litwick is probably based off from an interpretation of the Will-‘o-the-wisp, a ghostly light said to appear at night. Its name seems to be a combination of the words ‘lit’, ‘wick’, and ‘little’.
Once Litwick reaches level 41, it then evolves into Lampent. Lampent’s design seems to be based off from old fashioned oil street lights. Like Litwick, it has yellow eyes. Its official artwork shows its flame being a combination of a light shade of blue running into purple. Lampent is the only Pokemon that wasn’t introduced in the second generation to evolve when exposed to the Dusk Stone. The pokedex states that Lampent is quite feared because it is so ominous. It wanders through cities, looking for spirits of the fallen. When a person is on the brink of death, it will appear and steal the spirit from its body. Like Litwick, Lampent seems to be an interpretation of the Will-‘o-the-wisp, as it has been depicted as a flickering lamp on more than one occasion. Its name seems to come from the words ‘lamp’, ‘lambent’ (which means softly glowing in an otherworldly manner), ‘repent’, and perhaps ‘rampant’.
Lampent is then able to evolve one last time into the evolutionary line’s final form, Chandelure, once it’s exposed to a dusk stone. Like its name suggests, Chandelure is based off from a chandelier. Its face resembles a Jack ‘o Lantern quite a bit, its head being spherical and separated into sections like a pumpkin. Its flame and ‘light bulbs’ are a mixture of blue running into purple in its official artwork. However, like its pre-evolutions, its flame is the same shade of purple as Litwick’s. Chandelure has the highest Special Attack of all non legendary Pokemon, and all ghost-type Pokemon. According to its pokedex entries, it absorbs a spirit, which it then burns. By waving the flames on its arms, it puts its foes into a hypnotic trance. Ironically, Chandelure is unable to learn Hypnosis. The pokedex also says that if a being is consumed by Chandelure’s flame, the fire will consume the spirit and leave behind the body. Chandelure’s name comes from the words ‘chandelier’ and ‘lure’.
Tags: Chandelure, Lampent, Litwick