Pokemon Analysis: The Seel Line!
Did its horn get smaller upon evolving…?
This time, we’re back to marine life, as well as our first Ice type of these Pokémon Analysis articles. And they’re pretty adorable looking Pokémon too! Seel and Dewgong are our focus this time around. They may not win any awards in the clever/unique naming scheme and ‘based on’ categories out of all the Pokémon, but they do have a certain charm to them all the same.
Facts you may not have known
Seel, at 90 kg, weighs as much as
– 1/151-ths of an average iceberg
– 1.3 times the weight of an average adult human male
And, at 1.1 m, is as tall as
– The average human step length
– The height of four average stairs/steps
You can legally seat 72 Seel on a London Routemaster bus, but they prefer to travel by train.
Dewgong, at 120 kg, weighs as much as
– Twice as much as a light adult
– The same as 32 US gallons of water
And, at 1.7 m, is as tall as
– About as tall as your average human being, if you laid one out head to tail next to a person!
– 18.18 New 3DS XLs. They can manage to play exactly zero 3DSs of any model.
Let’s just consider those sizes and weights by the way. Dewgong notably slims down – despite gaining a good 60 cm of length/height (so more than a 50% increase), it only gains 30 kilograms, or a third of the weight. Seel meanwhile is the same height as a primary school kid, and weighs 90 kilos. That’s one dense Seel!
Pictured: not a Seel.
These Pokémon are easy to point out what they are based on. Seel is… well, clearly based on a seal, more specifically a seal pup (baby seal), given its juvenile appearance. It also has a small horn there, which seems to have been thrown in. Be careful when petting this lil’ guy! It also has the same name in Spain and Italy, while its German name (Jurob) is a corruption of young and seal, so it is somewhat more imaginative (not that this is much of an achievement here). In Japanese it is called Pawou, the onomatopoeia of a seal bark in Japanese.
Sums it up!
Dewgong is more of a sea lion in appearance than the animal closer to its name, the dugong. It’s also referred to as the Sea Lion Pokémon in the anime. It certainly does not have a large sucker-esque mouth after all, and more looks like a mature seal (which fits Seel’s appearance). Its name has ‘dew’ as the corruption, although that’s not a most direct relation to water one could make. Other languages seem pretty intent on naming it based on dugongs however, or in Japan’s case the manatee (an animal closely related to dugongs).
Seel and Dewgong share the same set of abilities, with their two natural abilities being Hydration and Thick Fat. No surprises here, because Seel and Dewgong are aquatic animals and they have thick fur to protect them from cold. Their hidden ability is Ice Body, an ability that would give them the advantage during a hailstorm. But then again, due to the frigid conditions in which they live, they probably experience hail on a regular basis.
It does not, however, get the Levitate ability.
Even though Seel is a pure water-type, it lives in icy habitats and probably resembles what your average ice-type looks like. Because of this, it can be considered a pseudo ice-type. Seel and Dewgong are also nocturnal animals, who hunt during the night and sleep during the day. They use their little horn to break through icebergs for easy navigation. Because of these special qualities, they’re one of the most formidable predators in the icy regions.
The Dewgong line has been in a number of anime episodes. Misty’s gym in Cerulean Gym has several Seels and one of them evolved into Dewgong later in the series. In the episode The Misty Mermaid, Misty even took control one of them during a battle against Team Rocket. Neesha from the first Pokémon movie had one as well, which had the misfortune of being one of the Pokémon that was cloned by Mewtwo.
Pryce’s Dewgong has also made a couple appearances in the anime. First was Rage of Innocence, in which Pryce has his Dewgong use Ice Beam to stop a Red Gyarados coming to Mahogany Town. In the episode Nice Pryce Baby, he used his Dewgong against Ash in a gym battle and it lost to Ash’s Cyndaquil. It’s also appeared as filler Pokémon in a number of episodes.
Lorelei in the Pokémon Adventures manga used one too – for nefarious purposes. It was used to try and bury a protagonist and Bill in ice. That’s not very nice, Dewgong!
The cold eyes of a killer…
Caring for your Seel or Dewgong
If you have one of these Pokémon, it is appropriate to have some body of water near your residence for them to enjoy, and a cold climate is also ideal. The colder the better; both Seel and Dewgong live in very cold oceans and become more active the colder the temperature. These species are able to withstand freezing weather due to their thick fat and warm fur. They are also generally nocturnal creatures; they like to sleep during the day and hunt during the night. So make sure you have a nice place on land for them to rest on if you’d rather they live outside their Poke Balls.
They’ll move slowly on land. Seel are particularly clumsy and can provide many amusing home-recorded videos of them bumping into things and falling over. That said, they will happily slide around on sufficient snow or ice, and are remarkable agile swimmers.
They mostly eat fish (Pokémon or otherwise), and they eat A LOT. Seel and Dewgong usually consumed around 5 to 8 percent of their body weight in a single feeding. And considering a fully grown Dewgong can weigh in at 120 kilos and be as tall as a medium-sized adult, that’s a lot of fish! If you have a sufficient nearby food source however (such as an ocean) they will provide for themselves; just keep an eye out for any reports of Sharpedo sightings. Avoid letting these creatures – even Seel – to sit on your bed or chair, as they may not be able to support their weight. That goes for yourself too; don’t just try to pick one up lest you hurt your back.
These creatures are generally curious and well-meaning, and will get along fine with the rest of your family for the most part. Be warned however that come mating season, male Dewgong may become rather territorial and bark at your neighbour’s dog to no end. The same goes for any parents of newborn Seel. Avoid poking the Seel’s tongue as they will not like that at all; meanwhile, Dewgong can get protective of their flippers. Both will enjoy a pet or scratch around the neck and horn area – just don’t impale yourself.
Also don’t forget to feed it, or it’ll stare at you like this for ages.
Competitive Advice
Dewgong doesn’t really have much to boast about. With a decent offensive typing combination but defensive stats, it seems cursed to a life of sitting on the sidelines. However, there is one niche where your Dewgong can make an impact. With a special defence stat of ninety-five, and an HP stat of ninety, Dewgong can make a formidable special wall when coupled with the ability Thick Fat. The downfall, however, is the lack of recovery options. Leftovers is always there, but that’s pretty much it. Now, Dewgong can learn Aqua Ring, and has the Ice Body ability as its disposal, giving Dewgong the ability to recover 1/4 of its health a turn when the right conditions are met, but that’s going to be an impossible scenario to reach. Because of Dewgong’s less than desirable typing combination, there are a lot of counters out there. Just about any electric, fighting, or even some grass types are all game to take it out. And these types are very popular right now in the current meta, giving this seal some trouble.
Now, while you can’t throw Dewgong into any team and watch it obliterate its opponents, it doesn’t mean you can’t use it. It will take a more specific team to let it shine, but it is definitely possible. Thick Fat is preferred over Ice Body because of the lack of permanent weather, and the amount of switching you’re going to be doing. Thick Fat will keep the fire attacks at bay, and force the fire types to switch, which can be devastating when Stealth Rocks is on the field. Overall, you shouldn’t expect Dewgong to be some stand-alone sweeper, but rather as a special tank/utility. Dewgong can force Pokémon out that would otherwise be unaffected by status moves with the use of Perish Song. This is a great answer to tanks like Musharna, or Reuniclus, who would otherwise laugh at your pathetic attempts. Couple this with Toxic, and there aren’t many Pokémon that would be willing to switch in given how easily Dewgong can wear them down.
Overall, Dewgong is a great special tank/utility, but requires a lot of team support to be able to shine. Being weak to Stealth Rocks and the lack of recovery make this Pokémon a very risky choice, but one that can pay off in the right hands. If you’re looking for a special wall, there are a few options out there that will get the job done much better than Dewgong, but they just aren’t as cute. If you really want to use Dewgong, this is the set you’re going to be looking for:
Dewgong @ Leftovers
Ability: Thick Fat
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SpA / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
– Perish Song
– Toxic
– Ice Beam
– Safeguard/Surf/Protect
As for Double battles, Dewgong has a few options available. It has access to Surf and Blizzard, moves that are easily spammable if your opponent hasn’t got a way around weather control. Pairing it with an Abomasnow for instance will ensure Blizzard will always hit, while it gets healing from the Hail. Brine is also an option to use to help finish off Pokémon, and it can try some speed control with Icy Wind, a move it learns naturally.
You could also employ it as a supporter/annoyer; Perish Song is still viable with the likes of Mega Gengar as a team mate, while Safeguard, Encore and Disable can also assist as well. Unfortunately you may want to invest in its bulk, as otherwise it’s not going to last terribly long in a Doubles situation.
And once again – don’t forget, it does NOT have Levitate!
Do…
– Surprise your Seel or Dewgong with an ice cube bath on special occasions
– Take your Seel ice fishing
– Consider a Dewgong companion if you are a night owl (they are most active at night!)
– Remind everyone that your tiny Seel can take down dragons
– The Dew(gong).
– Have Dewgong cool your soup.
Don’t…
– Count on your Dewgong with Ice Body for a cuddle when you want to warm up
– Bring up their Thick Fat ability too often – they can be sensitive about it!
– Raise Seel or Dewgong if you don’t have water or a pool nearby
– Forget how well they can camouflage themselves in snowy conditions
– Train Dewgong to balance a ball on its head. *pop*
– Mention Global Warming near any Seel or Dewgong. Ever. Ever. Seriously, don’t do it.
– Ask Dewgong to open a jar for you. They have flippers, man. Don’t be mean. But if you do, post it on youtube because that’s gonna go viral.
Compiled and written by Bay Alexison, bobandbill, Camisado, Hoenn, Latios and Slayr231.
Tags: analysis, BBS Magazine, Dewgong, Featured Pokemon, ice, magazine, sea lion, seal, Seel, water, wynaut