Top 100 Pokemon #79: Golurk

Next up is a ghost giant-robot golem. I'm pretty sure that's one of those things that is just automatically awesome.

Awesomeness that goes beyond the impossible and pierces the heavens.

#79: Golett/Golurk

Golett and Golurk, according to the Pokedex, are Automaton Pokemon. There really aren't a whole lot of Pokemon with a cooler descriptor in the Pokedex than that. They were created by an ancient civilization for protection, so instead of being Steel-type, they are based on clay golems and are thus Ghost/Ground, which I think is much cooler than if they were just steel.

The Pokedex also apparently classifies them as "green" in color. I guess ancient civilizations, in addition to channeling Gundam somehow, also liked going green.

That's all for Golurk's concept and design; it's definitely awesome, but not much needs to be said about it. More needs to be said about its competitiveness.

Golurk has an excellent Base 124 Attack and solid defenses with Base 89 HP and Base 80 Defense and Special Defense. It is on the slow side, though, with only a Base 55 Speed. Its typing is interesting, and while it does come with some common weaknesses, it also provides key immunities to Normal, Fighting, and Electric, making it easy to switch in, as well as a good choice for a spinblocker (keeps the opponent from successfully using Rapid Spin to remove entry hazards).

Golurk's abilities contain two useful and one... not so useful. Ignoring Klutz, we have Iron Fist, which goes well with Golurk's huge assortment of punching moves (including Hammer Arm), and No Guard, making Golurk the other Pokemon that can use the No Guard + DynamicPunch combo.

Just to give the scope of Golurk's punching capabilities, it can learn the following Iron Fist-boosted moves: Drain Punch, DynamicPunch (though you should probably use No Guard with that), Fire Punch, Focus Punch, Hammer Arm, Ice Punch, Mega Punch, Shadow Punch, and ThunderPunch. That's not all, though; Golurk can also make good use of its Ground STAB with Earthquake. It can set up Stealth Rock without worrying about it being spun away while it's still on the field.

It can also learn Fly, which while not competitively interesting, allows you to fly around on a giant robot. That has to count for something.

Lost my hat? Totally worth it.

All in all, Golurk is a very interesting Pokemon. And yes, it learns Rollout. It can't learn Transform, though, so save that joke for Ditto.

Next time: Have you put away your Christmas tree yet?