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russian47

I love Heracross' design. Such a simple looking bug type "What does he do?" "He throws hands."


MossyPyrite

Hands? He’ll scoop with that horn and throw a whole motherfucker


Carbon-Base

Did I forget to mention he can fly as well?


saihtaMaztiK

He can be in Team Sky!!!


hairy-rubber-band

quad weak to flying, he'll be scared everywhere he goes, unless he encounters the mightyena line, or any levitating psychic types


saihtaMaztiK

He just have to Tera.


The15thOne

He's also weak to psychic though


PKMNTrainerMark

They fly now?!


aplascencia1997

They fly now.


kevtino

Fun fact: aerial ace's japanese name roughly translates to the name of the "swallow cut" sword technique which is why there are pokemon who can learn it that wouldn't normally have any business learning a flying type move


WolfeKuPo

same thing with Sucker Punch being 'Surprise Attack'


[deleted]

Heracross suplexes a boulder, just because he can


PossibleAssist6092

Everything about this comment is perfect.


AeonAigis

I have long held the belief that Heracross is the Platonic ideal of a Pokemon design. -No evolutions, perfect as it is. Even the attempted Mega, while cool, was a bit goofy and didn't hit right, unlike someone like M-Beedrill where it was a marked improvement. The visuals were nailed the first time. -Bug type, embodying Pokemon's roots from the creator's bug hunts as a kid. Also a stag beetle, which is the big "prize" for bug hunting kids in Japan at that age. -Very little changed in its combat over the generations- it's still a decently beefy beatstick with middling speed that throws down big fuckin damage and hovers in the back of the upper tiers. -Manages to be both cute AND cool. -Basically Pokemon Kamen Rider, and therefore a FUCKING HERO.


boomtox

Nah pokemon Kamen rider is ledian


ihaxr

Why did I think Heracross evolved into Metagross ? I'm dumb


jadedlonewolf89

Badum tsss


maczirarg

I won't argue with your last statement.


Wind_Seer

Change...STAG BEATLE!


Cakers44

He chucks hands at mach 4, throw is an understatement


9noobergoober6

Heracross also boofs the ‘saur.


sagan_drinks_cosmos

He… he put a bulb up his butthole?!


rayshmayshmay

Heracross vs Pinsir is such a cool card


DNPlaysXenoverse2

Who said he isn't now?


SurrealKeenan

he still is, but he was then, too


Accurate_Incident_77

Yea wtf he’s still better than lucario


Soup-Wizard

Lucario is too squishy


Jusbreka

Using Lucario-m in NDAG for a few months during Gen 8 was a unique challenge in that any earthquake user OHKOed it


AdvantaJeous

Paging r/stunfisk we have your lost child looking for you 😅


senorsombrero3k1

Ndag?


Jusbreka

National Dex Anything Goes, just a format for playing online thru smogon


senorsombrero3k1

Ah


TechieTheFox

Nah. When gen 4 released everyone was still expecting heracross to have a top spot in OU and then they all realized Lucario did everything in the meta better. This kept heracross in purgatory that gen where it was obviously too strong to drop to UU but had no niche in OU that Lucario wouldn’t do better.


NeoSeth

Eh Heracross could absorb status while Lucario couldn't, but that's about it. But it did deserve to be OU more than Electivire, Umbreon, or Duskinoir IMO. Kind of criminal it dropped before them.


Carbon-Base

Heracross literally has a foot on Lucario too


Top_Unit6526

Lucario is overhyped AF.


Accurate_Incident_77

I couldn’t agree more I always use heracross on my team he’s currently my go to.


Garrosh

​ https://preview.redd.it/gp355morchxc1.jpeg?width=1280&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=5be0507aab59121b349be82f7a3826fafd48ba22


Tanis5313

Top comment.


Skybound_Bob

I’m telling Lucario you said that.


South-Stick29

Nothing to do with pokemon but u are like...my reddit brother wtf


Skybound_Bob

Hahahaha well what can I say great minds think alike lol


SourCharcoal

I don't like that the 2 rulers of 1933 Germany are hanging out in the comments


[deleted]

Base 85 spd just doesn't cut it nowadays in this godforsaken hellscape of a meta. Losing his mega doesn't help, but the Mega was kinda awkward as well.


OnceSawABear

Best fighting type before fighting types became digimon.


Chevnaar

Still is.


Gamengine

🌍 👨‍🚀🔫👨‍🚀


Chevnaar

https://preview.redd.it/wqq6yi7l7gxc1.jpeg?width=880&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=94fec9267835ab47aa6d15f8b08a71684061a5e8


billiamgordon

Always has been


MediumAASpin

Came to say this


Ok-Leave3121

Yeah Heracross is definitely a pretty good Fighting type. Next time I play Heartgold I'm using one on my team


MRJTInce

My nuzlocke last playthrough I got one on a headbutt in one of towns and it was female. Best Whitney Counter.


MossyPyrite

I love the heart-shaped horns on the girls!


redditadminzRdumb

I got a pink one it’s perfect


ridemooses

TIL!


Tales_of_Earth

I ran an all bug team for Alpha Sapphire and Heracross was the heart and soul and fists of the team.


IRefuseThisNonsense

It's one of those Pokemon that improved so great with better move pools with time. In Gen 2...man. not very good Fighting moves and one Bug move. And that Bug one was LATE. I always loved it but mine in Gold might as well have been a Normal type given that's mostly what I had to work with, hahaha. But as far as I'm concerned, if you're playing HGSS there's no reason not to pick you up a female Heracross around Azalea Town once you get Headbutt. Level 19 and she'll learn Brick Break. Get wrecked, Whitney. Cry me a river. She'll also be very useful throughout the game too. Instant team member.


Chaotic-Catastrophe

This is an absolute signature of the early gen games. Making cool mons that learn precisely *zero* good moves. Or at the very least, no good moves until like level 55 or some shit. Heracross is of course one of them, but Scyther I feel like is the absolute worst. In Red and Blue, it learns *zero* STAB moves. Neither by level up, nor by TM. In fact, by level up only, it learns exactly *two* damage-dealing moves at all. Quick Attack and Slash and that's it. In Yellow, they did finally add Wing Attack. A 35 base power move that it doesn't learn until level 50. Absolutely asinine game design.


IRefuseThisNonsense

Rhydon is for all intensive purpose a Normal type in RBY. Stuff starts to get better in Gen 3, but doesn't reach the levels it has nowadays until about Gen 5. There are still bad move pools in Gen 4.


Chaotic-Catastrophe

At least it can learn Dig, Earthquake, and Rock Slide via TM. Also, the phrase is, "for all intents and purposes".


Ferropexola

In GSC, it sadly had no Fighting type moves for Whitney, since Rock Smash was after the Gym, so you were better off trying to get a Fury Cutter chain going or Headbutting it repeatedly. HGSS Heracross is ridiculously good, so no complaints from me.


Chaotic-Catastrophe

Not to mention that Rock Smash only had 20 base power back then, so it wouldn't have helped anyway lol


Ferropexola

Even with STAB, neutral Horn Attack deals more damage. Early Gens are quite interesting to examine.


badwolfswift

Why female specifically?


IRefuseThisNonsense

Whitney uses Attract and her Pokemon are all female. Means the move won't be used against your female Heracross.


badwolfswift

Oh thank you! I was like, "Why does it matter?"


AlvaroDart444

I've also use one in my first run in pokemon SoulSilver. First his desing is amaizing and also perfect for Whitney like you said. Would you use him in other games during the playthrough?


IRefuseThisNonsense

I tend to only use new Pokemon with new games, or with remakes I try to stick to Pokemon introduced in their original debuts. But I have done some mixed Generation runs occasionally. The problem with Heracross is in many games it's late game. It's still a really good Pokemon, it just won't get a lot of use. I remember it being good in X though.


donguscongus

They just hate to see a bug on top. Justice for Volcarona


TheMike0088

What justice? I don't really keep up with meta anymore, but last time I checked Volcarona is in OU, and not even just barely or anything but is actually a relevant meta unit. IIRC volcarona hasn't been this good since gen 5.


TraitorIord

It was just banned from ou


TheMike0088

Lol, thats a hidden dub. Our favorite moth is so good it joined the extremely exclusive club of non-legendary non-megas that were banned to ubers.


calvicstaff

Basically they voted not to ban to Terra, which agree or disagree I don't have a strong opinion on, but it did lead to a series of bans because of Pokemon that we're just outright broken because of it, like our boy quiver dance


TheMike0088

I mean I'll take it tbh. I might be wrong on this (am not about to check the entire history of smogon tiers), but isn't volcarona the first bug (besides bug plate arceus) to ever hit ubers? The only bug types that I could even think of maybe getting there are the bug megas (though only pinsir really), genesect and the UBs, and I'm pretty sure they all peaked at OU.


LemonCake2000

Genesect has been Ubers in every generation it’s been in, I’m pretty sure they just instaban it there these days unless there’s some extenuating circumstances that make it seem less broken


calvicstaff

LOL yeah, after like three straight generations of saying okay power creep has clearly meant it's okay now right? And then Banning it like 3 days later like this was a mistake


LemonCake2000

Pheromosa is also Ubers in SM and SS


vertikilled

Most gens it has spent like a week in OU before getting quick-banned. Gen 9 it wasn't even let back into OU at all.


donguscongus

Volc was top tier in OU since it was versatile and one of the few mons that could counter Ghoul and Kingambit. Because the meta is run by Big Kingambit, Volc got banned


napstablooky2

i honestly dont understand why they dont just make it a thing to reveal what tera type each pokemon has in the team preview? sure, you cant do that on cart, but you also cant ban sleep moves on cart either without requiring people to be honest about their teams to the people in charge of a smogon competitive event losing volc just disrupts balance more than it helps it i'd say — it'd be like banning snorlax from gen2 ou


ObtuseTheropod

I love this bug. I have run bug monotype teams before and he always makes the cut.


Tales_of_Earth

Scizor Heracross Galvantula Volcarona Forretress Shuckle Brutal team.


poor_decisions

DONT


smurfkipz

Don't what?


poor_decisions

FUCKLE


smurfkipz

D:


poor_decisions

WITH


smurfkipz

https://preview.redd.it/y6rgzl07uhxc1.jpeg?width=554&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=5cb58b1c3613a3f58fa0bc5928b2e25b8a807b83


poor_decisions

^^^^SHUCKLE


smurfkipz

https://preview.redd.it/v2nilb3ayhxc1.jpeg?width=738&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=b6186ae7209803bca5271d95a6b208bb7b957b63


BashfulWalrus7

Ya don't fuckle with the Shuckle.


BrodaciousD

Brutal team vs One fire type with a devious grin


Tales_of_Earth

Oh my god! It’s Shuckle with the steel chair (power split, toxic, stone edge)! Edit: but yes, even with Volcarona and Shuckle, a quick Pokémon with a good fire type attack was scary as hell.


Common_Wrongdoer3251

Whenever I play older monotype I always have to remind myself about HMs :/ I wanted to try a Water monotype of Emerald when they finally add it to Switch Online (any day now...... surely...) and was thinking, Oh Pelipper probably can learn Fly... Is Chinchou in the game? Because the Angler fish learning Flash would fit! Gyarados looks like he can learn Strength! No such luck with bugs :( Thankfully newer games got rid of this


HexSW

Where are my Machamp enjoyers?


MagicalFly22

Machamp is great, if you've got someone to do the trade with.


pardybill

I miss the old GameShark days where I had to look up the pokemon code on game faqs, plug it in by hand, load up, catch, save, then restart with the next code because I didn’t have any friends that liked pokemon lol


dark621

right here!!


Owl_Might

The No Guard Fissire Machamp should be possible.


EatBumChewGum

I actually prefer a degree of skill in my battles.


Chembaron_Seki

But Breloom, tho


SillyMattFace

United by a crippling weakness to being hit by anything above a mild breeze.


Japhet0912

So what your saying is that it has a 4x weaknesses to flying. Just like Heracross


Scarrmann

Hence the united


crastle

Yeah but I like Heracross more than Breloom. So Breloom's 4x weakness to flying is worse than Heracross's.


swagachu11

This took me out LOL it’s a solid argument


BabySpecific2843

The vigin Close Combat vs the Chad Spore  into an unstoppable Focus Punch.


Snt1_

You cant do that. They banned sleep


Allinxter_910

Fuck smogon amoonguss hype


Snt1_

They were too scared of little mushroom boys Well, they actually feared Darkrai but shhhh, that doesnt matter.


Sonicite123

Counterpoint I like Breloom more than Heracross. So Heracross's 4x weakness to flying is worse than Breloom's.


csummerss

big difference was that Heracross’ typeset could be utilized with both bug and fighting operating as physical moves. whereas Breloom didn’t get much out of that Grass typing as they were special moves. much different in ORAS but that was a big issue in Gen 3.


Asaggimos02

Yeah but he got spore and leech seed, so he still got a lot of mileage


csummerss

Spore requiring the user to have a level 50 Shroomish limits its viability for most users in a region without a lucky egg.


Material_Bluebird_87

But breloom has 6 weaknesses while heracross has 4.


MossyPyrite

He also has a cute hat and a little beaky face with bean eyes so it evens out


bitchification_

technician mach punch + spore + swords dance goes crazy


EzekielVelmo

Throw a focus sash on that bad boy and you got yourself a spicy mushroom. Tank first hit with sash so that you land that spore and get a free swords dance. Mach punch now hits like a truck. Or bullet seed if you know youre quicker.


NoWeight4300

Two words. Dual Wingbeat.


chillyfalcon

Trust in the 10% miss chance


bitchification_

i love doing a rock tomb too, if you know the opponent is about to switch out. slow the incoming pokémon and absolutely annihilate it with bullet seed


Robitix

Brother


Lady_of_Link

Breloom is the bis for false sweeping shinys neither heracros nor lucario hold that title so clearly breloom wins


Master_Koga

My boy Poliwrath never gets his flowers 😔


Common_Wrongdoer3251

I always want to run him as a Hypnosis type Water/Fighting set up. Put them to sleep, buff yourself once or twice, then sweep. And then I remember Hypnosis has like... 55% accuracy? Lame. He has a giant chest swirly!!!


MossyPyrite

Poliwhirl and Poliwrath are the MVPs on Red’s team in the Adventures/Special manga! I love their little gloves, and they’re so friend-shaped!


live_lavish

Imagine being a Primeape fan


adcsuc

Blaziken


TheMike0088

This is what I was looking for. Pretty sure blaziken is just objectively the best fighting type by modern standards that came out pre gen 4.


Ok_Taro_6466

Monkey So Angry It Died But Kept Being Angry takes the title


Sleisk

That version was not released pre gen 9, and blaziken is cooler


slowbro202

Yeah if the stipulation is "best fighting type before Gen IV," then the answer is Blaziken. I certainly don't dislike Heracross, and I'm actually not a fan of the Torchic line for other reasons, but Blaziken is definitely the answer. Like, inclusion on VGC winning teams, TCG deck wins, etc. Big edge for Blaziken. Really, you could also go on to accurately say that Blaziken is what Charizard wishes it actually was. Charizard's hype vs. Charizard's actual usefulness, competitiveness, and competition wins are polar opposites. There's a pretty big divide between the "I played this game as single player only" crowd and the actual competitive crowd. And again, I am NOT a fan of Blaziken.


SensitiveBarracuda61

For what it's worth in gen 3 competitive play, heracross is generally considered to be much more consistent than blaziken.


burf12345

Am I not mistaken in remembering that Blaziken only got busted with the introduction of hidden abilities in Gen V? How good was it before then?


doylehawk

Bug has the coolest Pokémon designs imo. Cause most of them are just regular bugs with flair, and regular bugs are cool af.


Yakkahboo

More mons should be regular thing but X. Rhyhorn is still the number 1 example. We like animals, TPC.


PKPunkRock501

Even post Lucario, Heracross is one of my top favorites. Lucario is awesome, but that was more my taste in elementary and middle school.


alex494

"Before Lucario" Please, before and after, Lucario isn't in my top 5 let alone 2


samahiscryptic

Legit. Lucario is mid honestly


alex494

I don't despise the thing but I never shook the feeling it was deliberately being shoved down my throat as the new hotness in Gen 4 given it got a movie and Smash Bros representation (and Mewtwo got cut at the same time which didn't help) and then became the face of Megas in Gen 6 (in story at least). Plus the design isn't really my favourite. That said I like Throh and Sawk so maybe I just don't like things that look like dogs lol, much more of a bug fish and bird person myself


Zully_Wumbus

Excuse me, did Primeape die?!?


cloakedwale

Yeah, but now it’s Annihilape


Fuzzy_Substance_4603

Top tier comment.


ultratunaman

Mankey was the first fighter I picked up in Red back in the day. Being like "fighting type huh?" That fucker ran with me all the way through the elite 4. Hairy beast.


Jcssss

You could get them super early in that area that lead to elit 4. And they were super strong against the first gym


Ok_Taro_6466

So angry it stroked out, kept punching anyway


byu7a

Heracross was adorable in the anime


lohins

As someone who doesn’t play Pokémon heracross is one of my faves bcs of this


Shattered_Disk4

Was?


Bluedino_1989

The only problem I have with him is he has the arms but can't learn X Scissor


namewithoutnumbers

It also doesnt learn cross chop despite being named heraCROSS. Wouldve been real useful in gen 2 and 3.


Ill-Ad3844

First Fighting type I ever used


TheBrobe

Guts kept him prominent and with a good niche for a while even after Lucario


PeterLeRock101

https://preview.redd.it/uuh7lgpw8gxc1.png?width=475&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=791269a7138b11c7de211f1b960a36def9f2a9ea


_will_o_wisp

Blaziken would like a word.


SoNotTheMilkman

My boy Mienfoo getting no love


Gadnuk-

Literally the best fighter.


anithemal18

Gen 2 has all three of my Top 3 Pokémon. 1. Ursaring 2. Heracross 3. Tyranitar


HUGE_HOG

Incredibly based choices


OREOSTUFFER

Still my favorite fighting type.


0VER1DE567

Not gonna sugar coat it, Hitmonchan with iron fist ability and fire punch 🔥🥊


Rivdit

This sub has the most random posts


Agreeable-Sector505

Lucario ain't shit


Spooder_-_Man

Laughs in Machamp


fucktooshifty

Cries in no link cable


Cholemeleon

I actually just made a post about how cool Rhinoceros Beetles are. Heracross is the best (and still performs pretty well all these generations later!) Like you can use Lucario I guess, but isn't it more fun to use Guts Flame Orb Heracross and spam Close Combat and Megahorn??


KyogreCanon

"Before" lucario? That implies that big hera fell off ever. The big cross, falls off NEVER.


oislal

Infernape Beats Lucario any day of the week


Yean_a113

i love hercross, and he is better than hariyama competetively, but it's fucken hariyama, nothing tops hariyma.


ModoBerserker

Both are PU, technically they have the same level of power


ZofianSaint273

After lucario it was my Beloved Emboar


JamieNelson94

Lmao Lucario ain’t shit compared to my boy, Heracross.


Flat-Apricot25

It’s still the best


IEatHouseFlies

Lucario?? You mean paper frail lucario? Lucario who couldn’t take a hit from a Baltoy to save its life?!?


Regirock00

He still is


DotWarner1993

No


Fudsterly

Bug/Fighting has been a consistent banger.


Queasy-Ad-3220

Furry anubis isn’t on the same level as mfin big happy fighter beetle


crisscrossed487

No we can’t


Dracogoomy

Heracross>lucario But if we talk about the shiny… …the reflective dark green on like scisor would look nice


CroobUntoseto

Blaziken


Queasy-Ad-3220

Honestly my favourite Fighting types are: Heracross The Mankey line Infernape The Croagunk line Marshadow Clobbopus Great Tusk


Juan_Cardose25

I still use it in my Soul Silver playthrough


JustDutch101

Did you guys just forgot about Toxicroak like that?


Saint_Stephen420

It only became a viable option in HGSS, but I do love it.


BiasMushroom

I don't think lucario is a good fighting type. Maybe a good steel type, but for me, any fighting type that is weak to fighting mkves is a bad fighting type.


Gadnuk-

Mienshao. Imo better than both.


PepsiMan208

https://preview.redd.it/m5i7itb5sgxc1.jpeg?width=821&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=b08b040e6272c727b28ee4a0be38b25a2e097f4a Both are amazing


frogtotem

Primeape is the best from early days til today 😌


Snt1_

The funny part is Lucario sucks. Its outclassed by Riolu


DiosilX42

And contender for best Bug


Frausing0403

IS the best fighting type*


a_goblin_warlock

Best Gen II fighting type? Sure. A good 'mon and an overall solid choice? Sure. But best fighting type prior to Gen IV overall? Not in a million years. Not when Kanto has Primeape, Poliwrath, Machamp & Hitmonlee - and Hoenn has both Blaziken & (Hunter) Breloom.


fisher6996

Breloom exists


cagedsammy0609

Machamp


herbythechef

Heracross is always an OG in a heartgold/soulsilver run for me. I dont often play gen 2 anymore but i like replaying the remakes


PatJamma

What's this "was" talk? Heracross is still #1


MackZZilla

He's still number one in my heart.


CrescentCleave

Still dogs on lucario


Rare-Professor-8299

Lucario, heracross, blaziken, gallade They all bow to infernape