A treatise on the Magnemite Line
So I'm writing this up because I literally can't sleep and I have work in a couple hours so I'm just going to type this up then do work.
This is going to be a dive into the Magnemite line and the potential therein. I'll be splitting my thoughts into sections and providing the main points in a spoiled header. my comments and breakdown/justification for what I am proposing will go underneath the spoiler in the interest of room and readability.
The sections are going to be split between canon and non-canon, essentially what we know/have seen/have evidence for (movepools, items, anime/manga stuff) and stuff that we're proposing could be used for our evolution paths. Regardless of presence in established Pokémon media QM obviously has the last say on any of this.
Speaking of evolution path I'm not going to try to make that much of a difference between The Magician and Baffle Them with Bullsh*t (Flip the Table) because in the end what Mal really does is come up with crazy stuff by flipping the table and then refining it into a coherent strategy with the magician afterwards.
Sparkplug is our beloved starter so I'm starting here. I'll start off talking about sparkplug first.
The Magnemite line in general are a group of decently bulky special attackers with poor speed,
Sparkplug does not initially vary from this estimation but there are three(ish) talents that Mal has found/encouraged with sparkplug that provide avenues for further exploration.
- Hidden ability Analytic. As we've seen in the story this ability is quite rare, functionally however on top of the normal effect of Analytic (Boosts move power when the Pokémon moves last, literally analyzing the opponent for weak points while fighting). When sparkplug eventually evolves into Magnezone this might represent itself as an intelligence boost. Even if not this ability contributes greatly to a standard lock on/zap cannon strategy (if we were so banal).
- Audiokinesis: Sparkplug has proven to be a deft screw at the sound based moves it has learned thus far. There are a lot of different strategies that can be opened up by this, from moves like swagger to attempting to drown out the other trainers commands with ambient sounds.
- Magnetism As a strong electrical generator sparkplug has been shown to be able to magnetize itself and nearby metal. This is not surprising but this is very encouraging for the development of new magnetism related moves and strategies.
- Magneton in particular have been shown to have several interesting abilities related to magnetism such as splitting apart temporarily (XY009) and forming barriers (Pokémon adventures)
What the Magnemite line CAN learn naturally from Levels and TMs
In this section I will discuss moves that the Magnemite line has available in it's movepool or learnable by TM. In particular I'm going to highlight moves that the Magnemite line could potentially learn by progressing an already known move.
- i.e. Supersonic ->Sonic Boom->Metal Sound
- i.e. Tackle -> Take down-> Double Edge
Note that the TMs usable on Magnemite have changed substantially over the generations so some of these might be a little outlandish.
These are a series of normal type sound based moves. The idea is to move from creating the boom from sonic boom to noise with screech, And refining the sound generation until you can produced different effects. All of these moves listed are normal type so there should be some overlap with the Normal TE
Externalization of Steel TE into another expression of external Steel TE as a shot of energy. From there sustain the energy in a prolonged beam. Then switch from Steel TE to Electric TE.
Externalization of Steel TE -> Spinning Defense creates the baseline for Gyro Ball. From there switching the externalization steel TE in an energy ball to electric TE
These are all normal type moves. While tackle and bide do not have overlap (and it would be easier to start from a Bide TM) in theory utilizing Normal TE defensively could emulate the usage of bide.
flooding the body with Steel TE and would probably move nicely into reinforcing the body with Iron Defense
Magnemite has several TMs that were/are usable and while I cannot think of a way to learn them without the usage of a TM there are several notable highlights.
- Electric Moves such as Volt Switch and Shock Wave
- Weather creating moves such as Rain Dance, Sunny Day, and Sandstorm
- Status moves such as Toxic and Confuse Ray
- Buffing moves such as Iron Defense and Curse
- Normal type Moves such as Recycle, Rest, Protect, Facade, Explosion, and Hyper Beam.
While Magnemite does not learn how to create barriers until it evolves into a Magnezone, with the presence of Mayor Maynot I would recommend attempting to learn how to create barrier and light screen. Magnemite can also learn gravity. Magnemite was able to learn teleport via a TM in generation 1.
What the Magnemite line SHOULD BE able to learn naturally from Levels and TMs
There are several moves that the Magnemite line should be able to know but are unavailable to them. With Mel's ability to make the impossible possible these are some simple suggestions for moves that could be learned.
Supercell slam should be a simple move to learn because sparkplug has effectively DONE IT BEFORE. Supercell slam is described as The user electrifies its body and drops onto the target to inflict damage. If this move misses, the user takes damage instead. In the fight against the Raticate the following happened
Sparkplug aligns themself in the air for their coming fall to deal the most damage to their opponent.
The Raticate leaps.
Sparkplug falls.
And right after the Raticate impacts skull first against gravity-backed metal with the speed of a miniature missile, Sparkplug lets loose a fully powered Thunder Shock in point blank range.
This is also a move that can be learned by the ancient predecessor/alternative timeline version of magneton, Sandy Shocks.
Unlike the last move Spikes is a ground type move, however it is a ground type move used by several steel type Pokémon such as Skarmory, Ferrothorn, and Sandy Shocks. As we can see from the below picture Sandy Shocks appears to be utilizing magnetism to manipulate a metal powder to move around. It likely also uses this powder to create Spikes. We just so happen to have a hold item that is a bag of particularly metal-rich iron sand. with time and training Sparkplug could potentially learn to use this held item to create spikes to compliment his Magne-Mines.
The final move that I put forward that the Magnemite line (or at least Magnezone) should be able to learn is Block. Block very simply
Blocks the foe's way to prevent escape. This is nothing new to the Magnemite line as one of their abilities is Magnet Pull, which functions as block for steel type Pokémon. Why do I then proport that the Magnemite line should be able to use this as well? Because the Nosepass Line and Bronzor Line can. I postulate that the Nosepass line use their magnetic nature to prevent Pokémon from being recalled to their pokeballs and that the magneton line (with sufficient practice) should be able to do the same.
What the Magnemite line SHOULD NOT be able to learn naturally but we should teach them anyway
There are several different wonderful moves that we should be able to teach Sparkplug but there are other people that are far more rested that can contribute on that front. However there are two moves that I am absolutely insistent that we teach Sparkplug.
Ice Beam
and
Flamethrower
Now you might be wondering, Evertime. What are you talking about, are you sleep deprived.
While the answer to that question is yes the method to my madness is clear.
Tri Attack
Tri Attack is normally a terrible move in the Pokémon games, but here there is immense potential. While a normal type move on paper the move consists of three different beams that may freeze, paralyze, or burn. That sounds like Ice, Fire, and Electric TE to me.
Flamethrower and Ice Beam are just Zap Cannon/Thunderbolt with Fire and Ice TE. If you are still not convinced that the Magnemite line wouldn't be able to do this in one of the earlier sections I mentioned that the Magnemite line can learn Sunny Day and Rain Dance. While I admit that Water TE isn't exactly Ice TE I think that with the help of Coro we could move from Rain Dance to Hail, giving us incredible flip the board coverage.
I don't think I covered everything, not even close, but I do think this will make for decent discussions.
If this goes over well I'll get some rest then see about making something for Mayor Maynot. Spoiler, It will involve Recycle and Held Items
