Well, got spoiled (maybe? Now people are saying their possibly fake? Well for the purpose of this post I'm going to treat them like they're real) so I guess there's no point in me not joining in with my thoughts. I'm going to skip commenting on previous posts as there's a lot of arguments going on and I just want to share my opinions on the "new" mons. So first posting a reference pic, thanks
CoolMan6001:
Shiny Galarian Birds: Colored them in their normal counterparts colors, very nice! Hey, GF, how about re-doing the normal Bird Trio's Shiny by coloring them like their Galarian counterparts, bring this all back around... no? *Sigh*
New Horses: (Glastrier & Spectrier)
Designs:
I like Glastrier's designs, if I was designing an Ice-type horse this is probably what I also would do: White body, frozen boot hooves, frozen tail, and a bridle mask of ice. It's simple but gets the points across.
Then there's Spectrier. Don't like it. Well, I like parts of it like the disconnected hooves (which I may have some trivia on below...) and the ghostly wisps. Well, at least the ones connected to its hind hooves and the tail, the braids don't look right, like they're supposed to also be flowing back but they look stiff. Also there's something about the face I don't like: it has one. No, I'm not saying its ugly, but with Glastrier having a mask I think they should have also done something with Spectrier's. And I think it shouldn't have a head, or at the very least it should be heavily obscured by a dark mist with only a vague silhouette and glowing eyes visible. Could have been a neat reference to the Dullahan.
Dex Entries:
Glastrier said:
"Glastrier emits intense cold from its hooves. It's also a belligerent Pokémon—anything it wants, it takes by force."
"Glastrier has tremendous physical strength, and the mask of ice covering its face is 100 times harder than diamond."
Belligerent and takes things it wants by force, so what you're saying is it's... cold hearted? *Face hit by a snowball*
Oh boy, I love Dex exaggerations. Its mask is 100 times harder than diamonds, huh. So Fighting-type and especially Rock-type moves should just bounce off, right (and Steel maybe just do neutral)?
Spectrier said:
"It probes its surroundings with all its senses save one—it doesn't use its sense of sight. Spectrier's kicks are said to separate soul from body."
"As it dashes through the night, Spectrier absorbs the life-force of sleeping creatures. It craves silence and solitude."
Why doesn't it use sight? It has eyes and they're open. Maybe if you went with a Dullahan design that would make more sense...
That said, geez. Kicks that separate the body and soul? Sucking the life-force out of helpless sleeping creatures? Are we sure Yveltal is the embodiment of
death destruction? Don't get me wrong, it's sounds metal, but it's almost to a degree that I kind of feel repulsed by it.
Reading these entries a few things crossed my mind, more for Spectrier than Glastrier. The first thing is the mythical
Mare, though originally an imp-like creature that sat on your chest and gave you nightmares, many modern day re-interpretations have turned it into a demonic horse-like creature (cause a female horse is called a "mare"). The second was the "
Wild Hunt", a mythical event where ghostly & other supernatural horse riders ride across the sky as if they're hunting something, to see one is usually a bad omen of incoming catastrophe.
Stat Lean & Sig Abilities:
Glastrier is Physical-focused with Spectrier the Special counterpart, both having Moxie-like Abilities that raises their preferred offense stat when they knock out an opponent. Really got nothing to say for Spectrier, even without a Signature Move it has plenty of Special Ghost-type moves to work with. But Glastrier, well first off good thing it has a Signature Move because the only other Physical Ice Move I can see it getting it Ice Shard and maybe Icicle Crash & Icicle Spear. And hopefully it'll also be fast and GF won't make it into another "mighty glacier"... *looks at Dex entry about being 100 times harder than diamond* Arceus darn it...
Calyrex "Fusions":
Designs:
Now at first I was disappointed, but I think it was
R_N who pointed out we weren't told they were going to be fusions, just that Calyrex "combined" with the horses. And thinking about it, this does make sense. Like, first off, how would a fusion of Calyrex and the horses work even before we knew anything more about the horses? I think had we actually took a minute to think about it I'm sure a few of us would probably come up with a "Calyrex riding on the horses" idea. So in that regard, I'm more accepting of these designs than I was when I first saw them. And, much like with the Galar Starters when they Gigantamax, Calyrex goes through some sublte changes like having its cape grow so there is a design change. That said. I maybe would have liked to see more of Calyrex's appearance to be applied to the horses. Like having its bud necklace appear around their neck (maybe showing the way Calyrex tames these "Wild Horses"), instead of riding bare back there was a saddle resembling its back wings, and the tassels being colored green as the blue stands out like a sore thumb. If they're going to become a king's steed they should look more "dignified".
But I think with this we see a major inspiration for the "Wild Horses" is them being a steed for Calyrex, a
Warhorse. Infact, the small Calyrex riding on the bigger horses brings to mind a famous painting of another leader riding their horse into battle:
Napoleon Bonaparte and his loyal steed,
Marengo. "Um, Napoleon was French and Kalos was 2 gens ago". Why yes, Napoleon was French, but this is about Marengo. After the Battle of Waterloo, Marengo was captured and brought back to the United Kingdom to be used as a stud. After dying, Marengo's skeleton was preserved and most of his skeleton is currently on display in the
National Army Museum in Chelsea, London. "Most of", because after dying four parts of Marengo was removed: it's hooves (All. Comes. Together). The museum only has two of the hooves while the other two are in private collections.
The above link to Warhorses has a whole bunch of others famous horses, some of course from the United Kingdom. I wouldn't be surprised if maybe one or more of them provided additional inspiration to the "Wild Horses".
Dex Entries:
Ice Rider said:
"According to lore, this Pokémon showed no mercy to those who got in its way, yet it would heal its opponents' wounds after battle."
"It's said that this Pokémon once moved a large forest—and all the Pokémon living there—to a new location overnight."
Don't really have anything to say about the first dex entry, aside it more sounding like Calyrex is trying to hide it accidentally ran someone over by healing them and saying they were the aggressor. "Why yes officer, that Skwovet showed us ill-contempt. Yes, I was riding off the path, less traffic and I had to be somewhere. No, it wasn't that Glastrier just wanted the berries Skwovet was collecting. I have complete control over Glastrier, I'm kind, I don't need a license".
It's the Shield dex entry that raises some questions. Like, why does combining its power with an Ice Horse does it gain the power to teleport a forest? Like that sounds like something it would gain by combining its power with Spectrier. Eitherway, I have a feeling this part of its entry is probably going to have some plot importance, like we're going to learn that the Frozen Tundra was moved from where it originally was for some reason. For what reason? Well...
Shadow Rider said:
"It's said that Calyrex and a Pokémon that had bonded with it ran all across the Galar region to bring green to the wastelands."
"Legend says that by using its power to see all events from past to future, this Pokémon saved the creatures of a forest from a meteorite strike."
Yeah, nice and all you're bringing green to the wastelands, but you did make sure Spectrier didn't suck the life out of all the Pokemon you passed, right?
But let's get to THE most important dex entry: it foresaw a meteor strike and saved all the Pokemon in the forest from it. By Saving them do you mean... teleporting the forest overnight? And by a meteorite strike do you mean... Eternatus who landed on Earth in a meteorite 20k years ago? Hmm, looks like things are piecing together...
Ability & Type Combing:
I'm going to guess the Ability combining does have to do with the Wild Horses Abilities more than Calyrex. Like when the Wild Horse are alone they just have the Moxie effect, but when mounted by Calyrex their effect change to be both the Moxie clone & Unnerve's effect. It's still a singular Ability, it's just now doing two things instead of one.
As for Calyrex Rider's Type, now that's a tougher subject. I have two theories:
- Theory 1: It's still Psychic/Grass. You're battling Calyrex, it's just riding on top of the Wild Horse. HOWEVER since it is riding them, in addition to gaining their Ability, they also gain access to their moves most notably their Signature Move (sure it won't get STAB, but neither did Kyurem when it fused and got Reshiram's/Zekrom's Signature Move).
- Theory 2: Just like how they combined its Abilities, it'll turn into the first official Triple Type. Ice Rider would be Psychic/Grass/Ice (4x Weak to Bug & Fire; 2x Weak to Flying, Poison, Ghost, Dark & Rock; Resistant to Ground, Water, Grass, Electric, & Psychic) and Shadow Rider is Psychic/Grass/Ghost (4x Weak to Ghost & Dark; 2x Weak to Flying, Fire & Ice; Resistant to Fighting, Ground, Water, Grass, Electric & Psychic; Immune to Normal & Fighting). That's actually not bad, no 8x weaknesses not 1/8 resistances (infact it doesn't even has any 1/4 resistances). So I think a Triple Type is perfectly reasonable in this case, which either shows GF did their homework or this isn't their plan and it just so happens to be a happy coincidence.
And that's all I have to say.