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A weekly Pokédex Podcast from Bald Man in Japan Luke Summerhayes. A different Pokémon family every week.
I’m Luke Summerhayes, and I love Karrablast.
As fans of the game Pentiment will know, before the arrival of the printing press, books and manuscripts were painstakingly copied out by hand. Every Bible, every epic poem and every royal decree was written out by a scribe or monk who, naturally, was bored and had artistic aspirations to do something else. This lead to the rise of Marginalia, the colorful decorations and illustrations which filled the margins of text documents.
Among these were obvious recurring motifs, like flowers and dragons, and some more esoteric illustrations. One meme, for want of a better word, was the joke of drawing a knight battling an oversized snail. Speculation as to why this was – to mock heavily armored and slow-moving warriors, to represent the common man or maybe even to call out specific social groups or religions. The meaning has been lost to time, but somewhere around the 12th and 13th centuries, it was the funniest thing ever.
Karrablast is a bug-type Pokémon which is neither a snail nor a knight, for now at least, though it does hunt snails. Karrablast is a round blue beetle, and like many ground beetles it’s a predator.
White
When they feel threatened, they spit an acidic liquid to drive attackers away. This Pokémon targets Shelmet.
Shield
It spits a liquid from its mouth to melt through Shelmet's shell. Karrablast doesn't eat the shell— it eats only the contents.
The name Karrablast, and the similar Japanese name Caburumo, combines the carra from Carrabus, the family of beetles from which most predatory ground-dwelling species hail, and blast, perhaps referring to the damage it does to Shelmets.
That other Pokémon, as you may already have noticed, is closely tied to Karrablast.
Black
These mysterious Pokémon evolve when they receive electrical stimulation while they are in the same place as Shelmet.
What this is referring to is the unique method by which these two Pokémon evolve. A Karrablast will only evolve when traded for a Shelmet, and vice versa. When those conditions are met, Karrablast will evolve into Escavalier.
Karrablast’s familiar face now peeks out from under a large-crestle medieval helmet, with lances for arms and an unmistakable curling shell holding the body.
Black
They fly around at high speed, striking with their pointed spears. Even when in trouble, they face opponents bravely.
White
These Pokémon evolve by wearing the shell covering of a Shelmet. The steel armor protects their whole body.
Escavalier is a knight now, having battled a snail just like all those illustrations depicted. It is odd that this knightly Pokémon first appeared in Unova, the region based on New York, when two of the following regions were based on France and Britain, famous for knightly heraldry. The Sword and Shield Pokédexes even mention this, along with a sly nod to the Pokémon’s origin in artworks.
Sword
They use shells they've stolen from Shelmet to arm and protect themselves. They're very popular Pokémon in the Galar region.
Shield
It charges its enemies, lances at the ready. An image of one of its duels is captured in a famous painting of Escavalier clashing with Sirfetch'd.
The name Escavalier remains on-brand, combining escargot, the French for snail, with chevalier, the French word for a knight. The Japanese name Chevargo comes from the same origins.
In evolving, Escavalier gains an additional steel typing, along with tremendous attack and defense stats. It does all of this at the expense of its speed, which is now comically slow, but so long as it avoids fire type attacks, the Pokémon is more than ready to hold its own even against opponents who are inevitably moving faster.
Escavalier seems like a bit of a mean Pokémon, especially to anyone who happens to like Shelmet. That said, nature is full of predators and prey, it’s the natural order, and Escavalier is a strong force of nature. To this day, it is the only bug type Pokémon which has been on a World Championship winning team. That deserves to be on the main page, not stuffed into the margins.
Original music for Luke Loves Pokémon is by Jonathan Cromie. Artwork is by Katie Groves. Funding is provided by listeners at Patreon.com/PodcastioPodcastius. For just a dollar a month, supporters can listen to episodes a week early and also help cover hosting and fees, making it possible for me to keep making episodes every week.
I love hearing from listeners! Get in touch about upcoming Pokémon on twitter or facebook at LukeLovesPKMN. Drop a comment if you’re watching the video, or a review on apple podcasts or spotify. Coming up are Foongus and Frillish, so please get in touch about those or any other monsters.
Even if you don’t feel like doing any of that, thank you so much just for listening.
I love Karrablast. And remember, I love you too.