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Rhyhorn/Rhydon
Type: Ground/Rock
Ability(s): Rock Head/Lightningrod
Rhyhorn is like Geodude if he hit harder and had more HP, but joined right before the ocean.
Found only in the northwestern quarter of the game reserve, Rhyhorn is yet another ground type you can add to your ever growing collection, if you need a ground type at a point in the game where the typing sucks defensively. Unevolved, he has 80 HP/85 atk/95 def, which is quite good for a first form, and as a side bonus, is at worst 2 levels away from STAB Rock Blast, which I would normally say is good performance overall. However, his special defense is quite bad for this point in the game, and not to mention he's as slow as Dusclops... Did I mention ocean yet?
Because I'm going to be perfectly fucking honest with you: Rhyhorn has possibly one of the worst joining situations in the entire damn game. It's bad enough that most enemy trainers from this point onwards use special attacks when his special defense sucks balls, but having a 4x weakness to water at a point in the game where the only unexplored areas left are ocean is just putting salt on an already infected wound, and that's saying a whole fucking hell of a lot. Not to mention that rock/ground already has a cocktail of weaknesses including ones to ice, fighting, and ground.
And just to put butter on an already serious second degree burn, Rhyhorn evolves really late at the high, high level of 42. To give out an idea on how late this is, only Sealeo, Vibrava, Metang, and Shelgon evolve later than this (Snorunt and Lairon tie with him). Granted, the evolution is greatly appreciated, giving Rhydon 105 HP/130 atk/120 def to his name and slightly buffing his special defense and speed.
Once you look past that awesome Lv29 Rock Blast, you will find that Rhyhorn learns his best moves way too fucking late, most notably Earthquake which is learned at Lv58. Yeah, you heard that right. Even if you were to postpone evolution until he got Earthquake, he still gets it at Lv52. Basically, what I'm trying to say is that while he gets it through level, it's gotten so late that you may as well use the TM. Megahorn is acquired even later, gotten at Lv66, so you will never see that attack ever. As for anything else, he really doesn't get a whole hell of a lot through TM, mostly special moves that he has absolutely no fucking business using considering he has a terrible 45 SpA.
Also, here's a quote from Sho. M when we collaborated on I.P. chat:
hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahano
1.5/10
Phanpy/Donphan
Type: Ground
Ability(s): Pickup (Phanpy), Sturdy (Donphan)
Another thing you can find in the Safari game, this time searching in the Acro Bike area, Phanpy can be best summarized as Sandshrew with more power and bulk, but less speed and a more constricted movepool. Joining at Lv27-29, Phanpy only needs to gain one level to evolve into Donphan, a major improvement over what Rhyhorn has to go through. Once there, Donphan is pretty much on easy street statwise, with a very respectable 120 attack stat, as well as 90/120 physical bulk, making this thing like an army tank in that regard. However, like an army tank, Donphan is slow. Very slow. Add to the fact his special defense isn't great and the only unexplored areas at this point are water infested...
Like Rhyhorn, Donphan has some pretty bad movepool issues early on, especially considering Earthquake isn't gotten until Lv49 (or you teach the TM to him, whichever comes first), and he doesn't get a move like Rock Blast to mitigate this issue. Still, Strength will do good damage to most things that don't resist it, and while it's not the best move in the world, Rollout can be used to dismantle ice and flying types. Still, it would've been more convenient if Donphan got Magnitude to tide him over until he learns Earthquake. And unfortunately, he gets like nothing that I didn't already mention through TM.
Donphan's weakness to water isn't as utterly fucking crippling as, say, Rhydon's, but with only 60 SpD, it's bad enough. Do not use him against the water kings unless you want a very dead elephant, and he probably should avoid Glacia too (lest he becomes frozen like those mammoths scientists find in the icy north). However, he can do some very good damage to Sidney and Phoebe. Drake is a twat, though, considering three of his Pokemon are immune to Earthquake.
Let's just say this: Donphan would've been amazing in GSC's endgame if it weren't for his flaws there. Here, ground types fall under 'not fucking worth it' lategame and Donphan is no exception to this golden rule.
2/10
Heracross
Type: Bug/Fighting
Ability(s): Swarm/Guts
Heracross x Bulbasaur is my new OTP.
One of the two safari exclusive bugs, Heracross is one of those things that would've been absolutely amazing to have early on, but still manages to be a good Pokemon despite the late availability. While he is quite a bitch to actually snag (being in the safari zone with a 5% encounter rate does that for you), Hera still manages to impress early on, coming at Lv29 and with STAB Brick Break coming off 125 base attack and potential for Guts, so obviously this thing hits hard. Even at a level disadvantage, it's hard not to appreciate Hera's bases, with 85 speed enabling him to outspeed the majority of threats and is specially bulky with 80 HP/95 SpD to his name, good qualities to have considering the lategame is filled with strong special attackers.
Like a lot of Pokemon, Hera suffers from the condition known as "Learns Good Moves Late (LGML) syndrome", which while it doesn't necessarily apply to his fighting STAB (he has Brick Break right off the bat for fuck's sake), applies very badly to Megahorn, which is learned at Lv53, probably learned while you go through the elites at absolute best. The only other alternative is Fury Cutter, which does absolutely pathetic damage until you use it multiple times. His coverage can be best described as "good", getting access to Rock Tomb and Earthquake, and even having access to Bulk Up to boost his already high attack stat even further.
Like with Dodrio, Hera really suffers from being outclassed by the other fighting types you can obtain at this point. For starters, Makuhita has been available since the early stages, ditto with Breloom if you've evolved Shroomish, and while Machop joins midgame, he's still available for a full 3 gyms more than Hera is and all three of them are, very importantly, available for the fight against Norman and hit just as hard, if not outright harder, than Hera. Still, he does have the advantage of being a lot faster than they are, and getting a strong secondary STAB (however late Hera gets it...) is something that the other fighting types besides Blaziken can't boast.
In a nutshell, Heracross would've been amazing if he joined earlier than the fucking Safari Game, but as it stands, he's basically an inferior version of whatever fighting type you might have at this point.
6/10
Pinsir
Type: Bug
Ability(s): Hyper Cutter
Pinsir is like Heracross if he lacked Fighting typing or proper Bug STAB.
Heracross's long lost brother from the Kanto region, Pinsir is the second safari exclusive bug type and the last overall entry in the safari zone. Compared to Hera, he has the same attack and speed stats as his counterpart, but lacks Hera's offensively beneficial fighting typing. So for all purposes and intents, Pinsir has the exact same offensive parameters as Hera unless they are using fighting type moves, in which case Hera is doing 50% more damage per attack.
Barring the Fury Cutter tutor, Pinsir finds himself in the unfortunate situation of not ever getting a STAB move, neither getting one through level up nor through breeding. Granted, his coverage doesn't suck nearly as much as it did back in the day, and natural Brick Break is still pretty damn awesome (though he learns it 8 levels later than Hera), but it is one disadvantage that he has to deal with. As for the coverage itself, it is basically the same as Hera's (EQ, Rock Tomb, and assorted normal moves), though unlike Hera, Pinsir gets access to Swords Dance. Granted, this move is learned quite late at Lv49, but it allows Pinsir to do absurd damage to the Elites.
Pinsir has 25 less SpD and 15 less HP than Heracross, but has 25 more defense and a lack of a psychic or double flying weakness, making his pure bug typing defensively beneficial against the likes of Tate and Liza, and also allows him to tank hits from Sidney (despite being a dark user, most of his Mons use physical moves) and Phoebe better, though he still wants nothing to do with Drake due to his huge special bias.
Like Heracross, Pinsir is one of those things that would really like better availability. Unlike Hera, Pinsir doesn't even have the benefit of fighting typing, and is pretty much left in the dust as a result. At least he is better than all the other bug types obtainable in this game before this point, which is saying a lot as most bugs in this game are a bigger joke than the Detroit Lions.
5/10
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