Dear PoJo,
  Love the site!  In just a few days Fossil, which
shipped the 28th, should arrive for all of those who
preordered it...at least in theory.
  Well, why reading my outdated Scyre, I did a little
research on what I bought.  Being a hard core Rain
Dance junky being forced to play a Haymaker in the
recent tournies in my area, I was elated to see that
finally Rain Dance would start to make a come back.  I
also unfortunately saw that most of the new Water
types were just plain crap....

Articuno- Not much I can say here....he's Gyarados and
Scyther rapped into one!  Basic with 70 HP, 30 damage
for 3 waters and Blizzard doing 50 for 4 waters, he
packs a punch.  Also, the nifty feature of bench
destruction with Blizzard.  Add in no weakness and a
resistence to fighting, you have the king of Fossil's
water types.

Lapras- For those who want to pursue another basic or
you just love the big lug, Lapras is for you.  Water
Gun being able to deal up to 30 damage for 3 waters,
and Confuse Ray for 2 Waters and doing 10 with the
chance of confusion, he's a stalling alternative with
Confuse Ray and beefy 80 HP.

Psyduck/Golduck: It's the attack of Daffies!  Oh maybe
its just the show's comic relief.  Expect some
surprises out the lame Psyduck, his Headache attacks
effect of not being able to play trainers is
interesting.  Fury Swipes though is just like that of
Nidoran F's.  Flip 3 coins and 10x the damage.  After
going into the shop and moving up to Golduck, you get
a nice bonus.  Want to play serious energy denial but
Poliwrath, SER, and Dragonair just too rare for you? 
Golduck's Light of Destruction attack does 20, for
just 2 Waters and 1 Colorless, and has the same effect
of Hyper Beam or Whirlpool.  The best thing though? 
Golduck is an uncommon.

Omanyte/Omastar- This set is the most interesting new
water set but is also very vulnerable.  Evolving from
the 10 HP Fossil trainer is risky business.  Omanyte's
Water Gun, exactly like that of Poliwag's, is a
moderate attack.  Although 40 HP for a Stage 1 sucks. 
Omastar, with Water Gun capable of doing 40, and Spike
Cannon, in which you flip 2 coins and it does 30x the
number of heads, is very risky.  Omastar also bares
the problem of crap HP, toping the scales at a trim 70
HP for a Stage 2.

Horsea/Seadra- We've reached the mediocre bunch. 
Horsea is interesting with Smokescreen doing 10 for
one Water, and like Sandshrew's Sand Attack, you flip
a coin to see if your opponent's next attack works or
fails.  Add in zero retreat cost and Horsea is OK. 
Seadra has the typical Water Gun attack, and a new one
for water.   The new one is Agility, dealing 20 for 2
waters and 1 colorless.  Although Seadra's 60 HP
doesn't make him the most appealing choice for a Stage
1.

Krabby/Kingler- The first of three wasted evolutionary
chains.  Krabby having a nice Search Engine capability
and 50 HP is very good.  Kingler on the other hand,
with only 60 HP, a hefty retreat cost of 3, and costly
attacks and a damage counter based attack like Rage,
makes him drag this duo down to the bottom.

Tentacool/Tentacruel- Sheesh...this just keeps getting
worse.  All right, the jellies are really frail. 
Tentacool has 30 HP And Tentacruel has 60 HP.  Add in
very weird but pointless Pokemon Power on Tentacool
and the ability to deal a max of 10 damage makes the
set pretty useless.  The only good thing about them is
that they both have no retreat cost.

Shelldar/Cloyster- That's it...we've reached the top
of the bottom!  Nothing can stop the unbeatable
Shelldar and Cloyster.  Shelldar with last many a turn
with it's wopping 30 HP!  Look at him destroy
Charizard with Supersonic, having the chance to
confuse the enemy, and Withdraw, having a chance to
prevent all damage!  Now on to the invicible Cloyster!
 Even more endurant than Shelldar, with his 50 HP! 
Aww at his Clamp attack, doing 30 but flipping a coin,
if heads the opponent is paralyzed and if tails than
the attack fails!  Also packing Spike Cannon, which is
as safe as a burning building!  All right....end
sacrcasim mode.  Damn, these guys suck.  The only
thing they're good for is kindling.  Goldeen/Seaking
is really starting to look good now.  Everyone that
burned their Goldeens and Seakings better try to piece
them back together...toss these chumps on as better
replacements.

All right...sorry this was so long, BUT I needed to
vent about how sucky everything from Krabby/Kingler
down is.  Hope I didn't offend anyone.

-CJ
pokefreakazoid@yahoo.com
The Ash and Misty Archive is now up!
http://members.tripod.com/chris-velez/chris-velez/index.htm
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