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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 Crabrawler.
As a recovering arachnophobe, crabs are a little bit difficult for me. Sometimes, they can be cute little things with their eyes and their bubbly mouths. Collecting little crabs in a bucket or seeing one unexpectedly in a stream is kind of fun.
Other times, their proximity to spiders makes them a little creepy for me. The infamous, long-legged Japanese sea crabs, on display dead at London’s Natural History Museum or alive at Osaka Aquarium, are like something from War of the Worlds. Fortunately, they live deep underwater. But then there’s the Coconut Crab – enormous, spiderlike and found climbing trees on islands throughout the Pacific.
Pokemon’s Coconut Crab is Crabrawler.
Ultra Moon
Crabrawler has been known to mistake Exeggutor for a coconut tree and climb it. The enraged Exeggutor shakes it off and stomps it.
Crabrawler ia a fighting type Pokemon that resembles a bulky crab with club-like hands rather than snapping pincers, as found in some crustaceans like the mantis shrimp. Crabrawler takes this and mixes it with the swollen eye and swaying walk of a boxer. The twin protrusions on its head also kind of resemble the haircut of famous bocxing anime star Tomorrow’s Joe.
Sun
While guarding its weak points with its pincers, it looks for an opening and unleashes punches. When it loses, it foams at the mouth and faints.
Ultra Sun
Its hard pincers are well suited to both offense and defense. Fights between two Crabrawler are like boxing matches.
This combination of crab and brawler of course explains Crabrawler’s English name. The Japanese name is Mekankani. Kani is crab, but Mekanki refers to a kind of fighting spirit.
As well as finding their spider-like traits a little unsettling I’m also not a big fan of sea food, so I don’t even appreciate crabs a s a delicacy. For those who are so inclined, this is one of those weird instances where the pokedex acknowledges people eating Pokemon.
Moon
It punches so much, its pincers often come off from overuse, but they grow back quickly. What little meat they contain is rich and delicious.
A person could maybe eat a crabrawler arm, but it does get a little bigger. When levelled up at mount Lanikala, or in games outside Alola when an Ice Stone is used, Crabrawler grows into Crabominable.
. Crabominable is a big, hairy white yeti of a crab, now a fighting and ice type Pokemon.
Sun
It aimed for the top but got lost and ended up on a snowy mountain. Being forced to endure the cold, this Pokémon evolved and grew fur.
The name Crabominable combines crab with abominable, the abominable snowman being another name for the Yeti. The Japanese name, Kenkenkani, follows from the previous form and also incorporates kegani, the Horsehair crab. While Coconut Crabs are found on warm, pacific islands, the cold island of Hokkaido in the north of Japan has the insulated Horsehair Crab
Like Crabrawler, the Pokedex often talks about Crabominable’s fighting prowess, now with an ice element.
Ultra Sun
It stores coldness in its pincers and pummels its foes. It can even smash thick walls of ice to bits!
Ultra Moon
Before it stops to think, it just starts pummeling. There are records of its turning back avalanches with a flurry of punches.
Some entries also suggest a certain moxie appropriate to these brawlers.
Moon
It just throws punches indiscriminately. In times of desperation, it can lop off its own pincers and fire them like rockets.
This, in turn, leads to further talk of eating the Pokemon.
Scarlet
The detached pincers of these Pokémon are delicious. Some Trainers bring Lechonk into the mountains just to search for them.
Alas, delicious as these crabs may be, they haven’t eaten well on the competitive scene. Crabominable is one of that unfortunately long list of monsters with promising attacking power but neither the speed nor the bulk to take advantage of it. It can perform on a trick room team, and more recently gained a mega evolution. We’re still waiting to see the abilities and stats of these megas in the mainline game competitive scene, so watch this space for a future special episode.
For now, Crabominable is as mysterious as the abominable snowman itself.
Music for Luke Loves Pokemon was composed by Jonathan Cromie. Artwork for the show is by Katie Groves. Funding is by supporters at patreon.com/podcastiopodcastius.
I love hearing from listeners! Get in touch on youtube, social media or email and let me know about your favorite monsters. Coming up next are Oricorio and Cutiefly, so let me know your thoughts about those or any other monsters.
Even if you don’t feel like doing any of that, thank you so much for listening.
I love Crabrawler. And remember, I