Let’s Talk About Pokemon - The Burmy Family
412: Burmy
Yeah, this generation's really weird with how it progresses. What with having the region's Fossil Pokemon of all things interrupt some of the game's early common types.
But Burmy is another instance of the series revisiting a fairly specific animal. Just as Pineco is a bagworm, so too is Burmy here. But Burmy's certainly a lot more obvious about it. It not only looks more like a bagworm, but it also acts quite a bit more like a bagworm as well. But about the design itself, Burmy's just plain cute. There's something so charming about seeing a tiny little bug all wrapped up in blankets made of different materials.
But that bit is part of Burmy's gimmick. Depending on the last area Burmy fought in, Burmy will change its form. By default and fighting in regular wild areas, Burmy will cloak itself in leaves and twigs. In the desert, Burmy covers itself in sand and pebbles. And after fighting in urban areas or indoors, Burmy is naughty and makes off with some insulation and metal wires. It's all a pretty neat idea in the end, and it has some interesting evolution paths to boot.
Personal Score: 7.5/10
Very cool!
413: Wormadam
Though by interesting I mostly mean it's a lot more scientifically accurate to real-life bagworms than Pineco or Forretress were. Where all Forretress remained in a non-winged “larval” state, only the female Burmy can become Wormadam. Which lines right up with how female bagworms never grow into moths unlike the males of the species.
But that's also where Burmy's different cloaks come it. Whenever the Burmy evolves, the form it's currently in will become permanent, and it'll adopt a secondary typing based on the cloak. The leaf cloak becoming Bug/Grass, the sand cloak becoming Bug/Ground, and the trash cloak becoming Bug/Steel. And it even gets some “arms” made of the material from whatever cloak it's wearing. They're all very nice, it's just a shame Wormadam is kinda nothing in terms of metagame. So much effort going into these bugs and it's just got very lackluster stats.
Personal Score: 7.5/10
Very neat!
414: Mothim
Mothim though, is the male evolution of a Burmy. And it's... sadly pretty underwhelming. I do like the design and I think the face is cool, but like. That's it? Just another Bug/Flying buttermoth? You could've easily given Mothim a few forms based on what Burmy cloak it evolved from. Because as it stands, there's not a lot to Mothim. The name isn't very good either. I can't say I got an answer to it, but something could've been done there.
Personal Score: 6/10
Him.
Overall:
A lot of cute thought when into these Pokemon. Though, Mothim could use a little work.
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