Whoo I’m glad that some people out there are happy to support this dumb little blog project of mine. For the second time ever, I’ve received a lovely little piece of Pokemon art specifically to put up in this entry!
So please, go support CapnEctoplasm and thank him for this lovely piece of art. Click here to get to his page! Again, tremendous thanks to the man for showing his support, and reminder that if you’re an artist and want a picture of your favorite Pokemon on the blog drawn by yourself, I’m more than willing to use it!
Anyway, back to our regularly scheduled entry. Today’s Pokemon is Psyduck. Psyduck is a fat yellow duck who is also probably part platypus. Sort of. It’s hard to explain really, because Psyduck’s body shape and bill are clearly platypus-esque, but platypi are typically called “Duck-Billed Platypus”, so it’s not like the bill couldn’t be a duck either? I don’t know. Either way, Psyduck is a cute pink color, has three strands of black hair coming out the top of its head like Homer Simpson, and a short tail.
Psyduck’s a weird creature. It’s definitely cute, but I’m not sure why. Everything about it should be kinda weird, off-putting, or even ugly. But when it’s all together, it just works. Maybe pity has something to do with it.
Psyduck is an extremely pitiable Pokemon. In-game Pokedex entries basically talk about its rather extreme, chronic headaches and anyone who’s ever had a headache (See: Everyone) can relate to how bad that feels. Misty was given a Psyduck in the anime, and it was always treated as a nuisance, but again most people liked Psyduck because he was comic relief. If something needed to get headbutted, Psyduck was always there to absorb the blow. If someone needed to get bitten, Psyduck was there.
And Psyduck weathered it all. Through thick and thin it stood by Misty’s side, and, well, bothered the hell out of her. Let’s be honest here. Despite Psyduck’s cuteness factor and courage, it was, in the end, still a nuisance to Misty. I could use this as a commentary on how everyone should hate Misty, but I’d be misrepresenting the facts if I did. Psyduck deserved it.
But, when push came to shove, and everyone needed him most…
…Psyduck would man up, and become a powerful asset to Misty’s team!
Of course. He was still terrible most of the time.
DID YOU KNOW?
More Pokemon theories? More Pokemon theories.
This theory basically states that when Psyduck and its evolution, Golduck, were being translated, the names were mixed up! Psyduck as we know and love it was supposed to be Golduck, which is obvious given its golden color, and Golduck was supposed to be Psyduck, which makes sense because…. well, it looks Psychic-y. SO! Is it true?
Once again, nope, this isn’t true at all. I hope you’re starting to notice a pattern here, because all but one of the rumors I’ve brought up during this blog have been false. This one is easily disproven by going to their original, Japanese names. In Japan, Psyduck is named Koduck. Ko comes from, well, Ko, meaning Child, and Duck is, well you should know. Koduck is child duck, and what is Golduck’s name in Japanese?
Golduck. Yup. It’s as simple as that. Golduck’s name in Japanese is Golduck. And unlike Psyduck, there’s no way someone could have unintentionally switched Child Duck around, because Golduck is not a child. Golduck is evolved.
Golduck’s name is a bit weird to me, but apparently GameFreak just likes to associate Psychic powers with the color gold? Sabrina’s badge in Gen 1 is called the MarshBadge in English, but in Japanese it’s the Gold Badge. Also, in the Pokemon Mystery Dungeon series, you can find various color Gummi’s to eat as a Pokemon, and Gold Gummis are attuned to the Psychic type as well. It doesn’t make much sense to me, but it is logically sound. So, um. Yeah. The names are correct as is. The bigger problem in my opinion is that neither Psyduck nor Golduck has a secondary Psychic typing, which I didn’t know for a length of time far longer than I’m willing to admit.
USING PSYDUCK IN BATTLE Little Cup only!
Psyduck gets access to Swift Swim, but there is no Drizzle Pokemon allowed in Little Cup! If you want to set up rain yourself, basically give it a Life Orb, and use the same set below. If you’re not going to set up rain, then just go ahead and continue.
Choice Scarf! Psyduck gets access to a rare ability in Cloud Nine, which negates the effects of weather, but doesn’t remove the weather itself (Only Air Lock can do that.) This can be a bit confusing, so I’ll try and explain it far better than the games ever did.
Cloud Nine blocks anything that is affected by weather. Air Lock (A similar ability that only Rayquaza can get) is functionally identical to Cloud Nine. Really. They are. Solarbeam will take 2 turns to charge even in the Sun, Water type moves won’t be boosted by Rain, and abilities like Rain Dish, Swift Swim, and Dry Skin won’t activate with a Cloud Nine Pokemon on the field. If a Cloud Nine Pokemon leaves the field, then the effects of weather resume, of course. Air Lock, on the other hand, removes the weather entirely, so it has to be re-set up if Rayquaza leaves the field.
Sorry, I just had to do so much research on this because I’d never been completely sure of any differences before. Anyway, give Psyduck a Choice Scarf, and have it spam Hydro Pump. Ice Beam, Signal Beam, Psychic, Psyshock, or Hidden Power Fire / Grass are all good options for the rest of your moveset. You’ll want to be Modest and pump your Special Attack stat up in order to maximize your damage output. And. Well. That’s about it!
ARBITRARY SCORES
APPEARANCES: 5/5 I really like Psyduck’s look. It’s cute as a button, but it’s not even trying to. It’s dopey. I like dopey Pokemon.
DESIGN: 3/5 Psyduck’s cuteness also loses it some points. What Psyduck is supposed to be is kind of unclear? It’s like a yellow platypus, but then what’s with the three strands of hair on its head? It’s got no feathers, or wings, so how is it a duck? Just because it’s yellow, and has webbed feet? I don’t know. It all works in the end, but it’s terribly confusing.
BATTLE: 3/5 Eh. Psyduck’s not bad. It has to depend on Hidden Power for coverage though.
THIS ENTRY HAD: LOTS/OF IMAGES There were SO many good Psyduck pictures I HAD to use them all.
OVERALL: 3.6/5 I hope your headaches get better some day ;_;
