The Beldum Family
Together with the Bagon line, the Beldum bunch are basically a second set of "pseudo legendaries" in the third generation, the non-legendary but quite powerful pokemon lines that traditionally appear before the legendaries proper.
To this day, nothing in that role has been quite as peculiar as this little steel/psychic type, which is really little more than an eye and a clawed hand. It always made me think of some sort of alien surveillance camera, and that's almost how it works, since it even clings to walls or ceilings at rest. Its overall theme is magnetism, somehow even using "magnetic force" as blood if the pokedex is to be believed.
As a pokemon design, Beldum is alright I guess. It has that "natural" imperfect cragginess I really like to see in rock and steel types, with one of the more alien shapes in the series.
To this day, nothing in that role has been quite as peculiar as this little steel/psychic type, which is really little more than an eye and a clawed hand. It always made me think of some sort of alien surveillance camera, and that's almost how it works, since it even clings to walls or ceilings at rest. Its overall theme is magnetism, somehow even using "magnetic force" as blood if the pokedex is to be believed.
As a pokemon design, Beldum is alright I guess. It has that "natural" imperfect cragginess I really like to see in rock and steel types, with one of the more alien shapes in the series.
Beldum's first evolution, Metang, loses some of that abstract quality by having two distinct arms, two eyes and even a nose, basically like a big floating robot head with a goofy underbite. Certainly interesting, with some personality to it. I'm kinda reminded of the classic giant mecha, Gigantor. It's actually supposed to be the fusion of two beldum, and it even has two brains working in tandem through a "magnetic nervous system." I don't know how far we would have to stretch scientific laws to explain how all this magnetic biology works, but it sounds neat regardless.
Finally, we get Metagross, and if you're just into big, mean-looking, brutal monstrosities, Metagross is likely pretty high up on your list of favorite pokemon. I definitely appreciate its overall crab-like anatomy, and it really has the feel of some military robot that grew out of natural materials. According to the dex, it uses its huge legs to pin things down and then just eats them alive with a fanged mouth on its underside. Yikes! The perfect, metal "X" on its face is also kinda neat, I suppose. It definitely gives it a unique visual hook.
As undeniably "cool" as this thing is, though, it's just never grabbed me personally. I can appreciate the idea and look of a rocky, magnetic mechabug, but I actually forget about it quite a bit, and when I look at Metagross, I can kinda see what some people mean when they say that a lot of the third generation designs "didn't feel like pokemon." Something about Metagross just seems a little off to me personally, but I've got nothing against that.
As undeniably "cool" as this thing is, though, it's just never grabbed me personally. I can appreciate the idea and look of a rocky, magnetic mechabug, but I actually forget about it quite a bit, and when I look at Metagross, I can kinda see what some people mean when they say that a lot of the third generation designs "didn't feel like pokemon." Something about Metagross just seems a little off to me personally, but I've got nothing against that.
I have to say though, I appreciate how the mega form actually combines Metagross with Metang. That's neat! The "nose" is now where Metagross usually has a mouth, so is that now the mouth? Or is the mouth part of what look like extra eye sockets just above it? I kinda wish there were really a second set of eyes in there, multi-eyed Mega-gross would be pretty sweet.
Not a personal favorite, but I can see why it's a favorite of many.
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