Absol
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Absol | |
|---|---|
 National Pokédex Chimecho - Absol (#359) - Wynaut Hoenn Pokédex Chimecho - Absol (#152) - Vulpix |
|
| Japanese name | Absol |
| Evolves from | None |
| Evolves into | None |
| Generation | Third |
| Species | Disaster Pokémon |
| Type | Dark |
| Height | 3 ft 11 in (1.2 m) |
| Weight | 103.6 lb (47 kg) |
| Ability | Pressure/Strong Luck(the latter from Pokémon Diamond and Pearl onwards) |
Absol (アブソル Abusoru?) are one of the fictional species of Pokémon creatures from the multi-billion-dollar[1] Pokémon media franchise—a collection of video games, anime, manga, books, trading cards, and other media created by Satoshi Tajiri. The purpose of Absol in the games, anime, and manga, as with all other Pokémon, is to battle both wild Pokémon—untamed creatures that characters encounter while embarking on various adventures— and tamed Pokémon creatures owned by Pokémon trainers.[2]
The name "Absol" might mean "absence" of "sol," or sunlight, which might refer to the fact that there is no sunlight (figuratively) or happiness (literally) in a natural disaster, why it is a Dark-type, and why it is a nocturnal Pokémon. It may also come from one of the words "absolve", "absorb", "absolute", or "absolution".
Its name is common to all the languages that have different Pokémon names (English, French, German, and Japanese).
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[edit] Biological characteristics
Absol has a dark blue face, tail, and scythe-like growth on the right side of its head. Some believe this to be an abnormal development of its right ear. Despite its appearance, this "scythe" is actually very soft to the touch, particularly whenever Absol is not tense or angry; when it does become so, the "scythe" lights up and becomes dangerously strong and sharp, though Absol will not use this to actually harm its instigator. Absol is a very good-natured Pokémon that warns people of up-coming disasters by appearing to them. When it is not warning people in nearby cities, it spends its time up in the mountains. They have a snowy-white coat that is very soft to the human touch.
Absol is widely believed to be based on the Barghest, a mythical nocturnal spectre-hound that lives in the mountains. However, it may also be based on the Egyptian Sphinx. Also worth noting is the design of the head: mostly white fur on the head with a small dark blue gem in the forehead, a dark blue face, and a scythe-like blade along its face. This design, and Absol itself, seems to be based on the symbol and principles of yin and yang. Also, it has some characteristics of the Maned Wolf.
Absol’s claim to fame (or infamy, depending on the observer) is that it appears whenever a natural disaster is about to happen. Absol uses its sharp senses to detect subtle changes in the sky and the land, and with its knowledge of natural balance it can predict oncoming natural disasters (it may also be able to use Future Sight technique in a similar way that Gardevoir or Espeon use to sense dangers to its trainer). It apparently carries a concern for the safety of humans because, once it detects the coming of a disaster, it goes off to the nearest human settlements to give warnings to the people. Absol is a popular pet in earthquake areas because it warns its owners when one is coming. In addition to Absol's personality, Absol's cry easily resembles a warning siren. Unfortunately, over time people have developed a misunderstood view of the Pokémon; they held a superstitious belief that Absol had a cause-and-effect relationship with disasters like earthquakes, gaining it a classic “bad luck” image. However, to the population of people who have come to understand the Pokémon, Absol is popular as a pet and as a Pokémon partner in areas prone to natural disasters because it can warn its owners of large-scale danger, making it a significantly valuable Pokémon for any trainer to have when facing the many dangers of the Pokémon world.
[edit] In the video games
[edit] Third generation
Absol can be captured on Route 120 between Fortree City and Lilycove City, and is rather rare. A level 48 Absol can also be caught in Pokémon Colosseum in Realgam Tower under the control of Rider Delan.
Absol's Attack statistic is very high, but its Defense and Special Defense are below-average. Its Special Attack is on the very borderline of good and bad, and its Speed is also average.
Its move pool includes moves such as Slash, Bite, Razor Wind and Future Sight. Although Bite is its only useful move that gets a same-type attack bonus, due to the fact that many Psychic-types have high Special Defense, but a low Defense stat, Absol can make very good use of its physically-based attacks.
Absol's has the Pressure ability, which is very rare among non-legendary Pokémon. When Absol is hit by a move, the opponent's PP is reduced by 2 rather than 1.
Absol's below-average defensive capabilities lower its usefulness.
Another downside of Absol is that faster opponents can confuse it before it can attack; with its high attack rate, Absol is capable of inflicting major damage onto itself. However, it can learn a wide variety of TMs, such as Ice Beam, Thunderbolt, and Flamethrower.
It can also learn the Dark-type move Faint Attack, the move Baton Pass (allowing it to be used as a Baton-Passer), the recoil-damage move Double-Edge, the move Substitute and the Psychic-type move Magic Coat as Egg Moves.
[edit] Fourth generation
Absol appears in swarms in Route 213.
Absol can learn Blade Test, a Dark-type move with a base power of 70, by leveling up. It can also learn Swords Dance to increase its Attack even more, as well as Aerial Ace, Return, and Giga Attack, also powerful physical moves. (Hyper Beam is Special in Diamond and Pearl - Giga Attack is the physical form.) Another attack it might have use of is Psycho Cutter, a Physical Psychic-type, and the Psychic-type equivalent of Slash (Psychic is Super Effective to Fighting, which is a major weakness of Absol.).
In the fourth generation, a second ability called Strong Luck is introduced to Absol and the Murkrow evolution line. Absol (and the Murkrow line) are able to score a higher amount of critical hits on other Pokémon .
[edit] Other games
In Pokémon Mystery Dungeon for the Nintendo DS and Game Boy Advance, an Absol calms down an enraged Articuno, whom was about to destroy the protagonist and his/her partner for trespassing in the Frosty Forest and trying to tell what Articuno believed were lies. This Absol at this point sensed the natural disasters happening in the world, and agrees to travel with the protagonist and the partner to help clear the former's name.
[edit] In the anime
Absol has appeared in the sixth movie "Pokémon: Jirachi Wishmaker." It acted as Jirachi's protector and had to help Ash & Co. get Jirachi to the place where it must return to its shell form on time. However, Butler stopped it and after being released it was consumed by the fake Groudon.
Absol also appears in an episode called "Absol-lute Disaster", where a village fears an Absol predicting it could flood them. Brock fights an Absol in the Pokémon contest he enters, too. Last but not least, it is revealed that Drew has an Absol when he enters the Kanto Grand Festival, who put up a tremendous fight against May's Squirtle and Combusken.
[edit] In the trading card game
The Pokémon Trading Card Game is a collectible card game similar in goal to a Pokémon battle in the video game series; players must use cards (with individual strengths and weaknesses) in an attempt to defeat their opponent by "knocking out" all of his cards. The game was first published in North America by Wizards of the Coast in 1999, until Nintendo USA started publishing the series in 2003.
Absol appears as a Basic Dark-type Pokémon on four cards:
- EX Team Magma vs. Team Aqua
- EX Hidden Legends
- EX Legend Maker
- EX Holon Phantoms
- EX Power Keepers (as Absol ex)
[edit] References
- Pokémon Red and Blue, Pokémon Yellow, Pokémon Stadium and Pokémon Stadium 2, Pokémon Gold, Silver, and Crystal, Pokémon Ruby, Sapphire, and Emerald, Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen, Pokémon Colosseum, Pokémon XD: Gale of Darkness
- Books
- Barbo, Maria. The Official Pokémon Handbook. Scholastic Publishing, 1999. ISBN 0-439-15404-9.
- Loe, Casey, ed. Pokémon Special Pikachu Edition Official Perfect Guide. Sunnydale, CA: Empire 21 Publishing, 1999. ISBN 1-930206-15-1.
- Nintendo Power. Official Nintendo Pokémon FireRed Version & Pokémon LeafGreen Version Player’s Guide. Nintendo of America Inc., August 2004. ISBN 1-930206-50-X
- Nintendo Power. Official Nintendo Pokémon Emerald Player’s Guide. Nintendo of America Inc., April 2005. ISBN 1-930206-58-5
[edit] External links
- Official Pokémon website
- Bulbapedia (a Pokémon-centric Wiki)’s article about Absol as a species.
- Absol’s fourth-generation Pokédex entry on Serebii.net
- Pokémon Dungeon Pokédex entry, full of statistics analysis
- PsyPoke Pokédex entry
- Smogon Pokédex entry
- WikiKnowledge.net’s entry for Absol Previously hosted by Wikibooks
