Top 100 Pokemon #99: Zangoose

Sometimes, the best way to deal with the poisonous things in your life is not to try to be immune to them, but to take them in and then attack back with 50% more power.

Actually, that is a horrible analogy for real life.  Pretend I said something like making lemons out of lemonade.

#99: Zangoose

Coming up at #99 in my list is one part of Hoenn's dynamic duo, the Cat Ferret Pokemon, Zangoose. Based on the mongoose, which can fight off venomous snakes, Zangoose's most notable conceptual aspect is its ongoing rivalry with Seviper, a Pokemon that... well, I never liked as much as I liked Zangoose, honestly. It might be because snakes have been done already a fair amount, while the mongoose, even now, is still pretty unique among Pokemon concepts.

It helps that Zangoose has an awesome design. That red looks like battle scars from years and years of Seviper fights. (Seviper isn't too bad, but I like Zangoose's better.) He also has an awesome name, but that's a given when your name starts with "Zan". There are varying theories as to where the "Zan" comes from, but the details don't matter that much because, well, Zan.

Zaaaaaaaaaaaaaaannnnnnnnn!!!!!

That said, Zangoose's feud with Seviper is so critical to its concept, it is practically inseparable from Zangoose himself. All of Zangoose's Pokedex entries mention Seviper (and vice versa), and even TVTropes's listing of Pokemon groups the two under the same sub-entry. Being so intricately linked, fandom has, of course, created as much fanart of the two as friends or lovers as they have of the two trying to tear each other to pieces. Not that those are mutually exclusive.

Zangoose used Pursuit! A critical hit!

To add to the Foe Yay potential, the two are in the same egg group, which has probably led to some of the most awkward moments in the Pokemon Day Care.

But that's enough about Zangoose's concept. Let's talk about Zangoose in battling Pokemon other than Seviper.

Zangoose has okay stats; his best stat is definitely Attack, sitting at a good Base 115. His Speed is decent at 90, moreso for the lower tiers. He has a good movepool that includes Swords Dance and powerful Normal type attacks, as well as great coverage moves in Close Combat and either Night Slash or Shadow Claw.

However, it is in Gen V's Dream World where Zangoose finally got something that allows it to be a dangerous threat. In the Dream World, Zangoose traded his Immunity to poison for Toxic Boost, which boosts his Attack by 50% when poisoned. Kind of like Guts, except it only works with poison, so it's not quite as good, but hey, it makes sense for Zangoose to have an ability that specifically works with poison. By holding and activating a Toxic Orb, Zangoose can boost his Attack extremely high; add in Facade, which attains a Base Power of 210 after STAB, and you have an attack that can pretty much knock out anything that isn't a Rock, Steel, or Ghost in one hit. Also available in Zangoose's movepool is Quick Attack, which can still do some major damage after Toxic Boost (and an optional Swords Dance boost). It's all very risky, as Zangoose is taking that Toxic damage the whole time, and his defensive stats are not very good, so it won't take much to take him out, but while he is alive, expect him to cause a lot of damage.

He's still in NU, but is considered one of the top threats in the tier. Metagame tierings aside, though, one thing I like about Zangoose is this transition he made, from just being immune to poison to taking that poison and using it against the opponent.

Zangoose looks cool, fights well, and has a solid, unique concept behind it, making it a good Pokemon to put in my #99 spot.

The feud between Zangoose and Seviper isn't the most interesting part about Zangoose, but it does provide for some interesting moments, like... what happens should one of the two sides... win?

The Antagonist In Mourning trope is fitting here.

Next time: A male-only Pokemon that can carry a car.