Top 100 Pokemon #85: Luxray

Before Gen IV and the physical-special split, all Electric attacks were Special attacks, and likewise, Electric-types by and large leaned towards being specially-based. In fact, in the first three generations, the only Pokemon with an Attack stat greater than or equal to their Special Attack stat were, of all Pokemon, the Pikachu family; both Pichu and Pikachu had slightly higher Attack, while Raichu’s Attack and Special Attack stats were equal. Every other Electric-type had higher Special Attack, to make sure that their STAB moves hit harder.

Naturally, this meant that when the physical-special split occurred and physical Electric attacks started to exist, it was a perfect time to introduce a primarily physical Electric-type. And this is where a family of electrically-charged lions come roaring onto the scene…

Their bite is a lot more shocking than their bark.

#85: Shinx/Luxio/Luxray

Here is another of many Electric-types on my list. The Electric-type is my personal favorite type. There's something about their sparkly ways that just draws me to them... anyways. The Luxray family consists of a cool bunch of blue-and-black electric lions, starting with Shinx, a lion cub that has to be the single cutest Pokemon with the Intimidate ability.

The opponent's Attack lowered from sheer adorableness!

Luxio is a decent intermediary form, and Luxray is a sleek-looking electric lion that, true to his name, has x-ray vision to see through walls and objects.

Never play hide-n-seek with this guy.

As I previously mentioned, Luxray is the first Electric-type to be truly physically-oriented, with a Base 120 Attack. Not that Luxray is weak specially, as Base 95 Special Attack is still pretty good. Other stats are pretty average, and unlike many Electric-types, he's not particularly fast, with only Base 70 Speed.

Luxray's Rivalry ability isn't very good; it does boost your power against the same gender but it drops your power against the opposite gender, making it very unreliable in-game. If you play on simulators, it's better since most people don't change the gender from the default male, but even then, Luxray gets two much better abilities. Intimidate is always a very helpful ability and helps Luxray take attacks, and he also gets Guts from the Dream World, giving him a much more reliable way to boost the power of his attacks by inflicting status upon himself.

Unfortunately, in Gen IV, actual physical Electric attacks were pretty limited; Volt Tackle was still Pikachu-line-exclusive, and the next strongest, ThunderPunch, was out of the question for the somewhat fist-less Luxray, so that left Spark or Thunder Fang. Gen V fixed this by adding Wild Charge, giving Luxray a strong attack to use off his Base 120 Attack.

An electrical charge of a different sort.

Luxray also gets various other moves, including Crunch, Superpower, Ice Fang,  special Electric attacks, and Facade to go with Guts.

Unfortunately, there has yet to be a move that properly accounts for Luxray's x-ray vision. (He can't learn Foresight, which is the closest move in that regard, but not exactly x-ray vision...) Until Pokemon battles manage to incorporate battle environments with objects that Pokemon can hide behind, there aren't too many options... maybe give him an ability that lets him ignore Substitutes or something?

In any case, the Luxray family is definitely cool. Well, Luxio and Luxray are cool, while Shinx is just plain adorable.

Parental supervision is a lot easier when you can see through things. It makes peek-a-boo a lot more confusing, though.

Next time: The ghost that was not a Ghost-type.