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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 Axew.
There are certain patterns of Pokémon which repeat generation after generation – early game mammals and birds, bugs with a chrysalis middle stage, trios of legendaries and so on. One common group is called by fans the Pseudo-Legendaries. Often dragon types, these are three-stage evolutionary families which evolve at high levels but, if a player puts the effort into training them, can be incredibly powerful.
As an unofficial classification, there can be a lot of debate about what counts. Metagross and Tyranitar seem to fit, but are not dragon-type Pokémon. In Japan, the group are called the 600 club, referring to their stats totaling 600. This lead to some debate online around the Pokémon Archaludon recently, a dragon type with a stat total of 600 but only a second evolution. Before that were other Pokémon who fit most of the bill but lacked the stats – Flygon, Aggron and Haxorus.
Axew is a cute little dinosaur-like Dragon-type Pokémon with a head crest like Parasaurolophus and two teeth poking out the side of its mouth giving the appearance that the monster is wielding a little blade.
Black
They use their tusks to crush the berries they eat. Repeated regrowth makes their tusks strong and sharp.
White
They mark their territory by leaving gashes in trees with their tusks. If a tusk breaks, a new one grows in quickly.
Axew’s tusks somewhat resemble piercings as worn by Aztec warriors, or other cultures throughout human history, and often depicted in problematic imagery of “savages.” As a member of the fifth generation, the first set in the Americas, a reference to the Aztecs or other ancient peoples wouldn’t be inappropriate.
Scarlet
This Pokémon lives in nests that are made in the ground. People in ancient times used its tusks as cooking knives.
The name Axew combines axe, referring to the blades it has, with perhaps “chew” because the axe is in its mouth. Its Japanese name is Kibago, from the Japanese for fang and jaw.
Axew was for a long time the mascot partner Pokémon for the anime version of Iris, the Gym leader-cum-Champion of Unova who joined Ash for the Unova seasons. It was a scrappy little fighter, even going toe-to-toe with Cynthia’s Garchomp.
At level 38, which is quite high but not outrageous compared to other generation five Pokémon or the pseudo legendaries, Axew will evolve into Fraxure.
With longer, even more bladelike tusks, and an armour-like carapace with a hood behind the head, Fraxure resembles a Krogan warrior from the Mass Effect series.
Shield
Its skin is as hard as a suit of armor. Fraxure's favorite strategy is to tackle its opponents, stabbing them with its tusks at the same time.
White
Their tusks can shatter rocks. Territory battles between Fraxure can be intensely violent.
Unlike Axew, whose tusks grew back quickly, Fraxure must take care of its tusks like a samurai’s prized blades.
Black
Since a broken tusk will not grow back, they diligently sharpen their tusks on river rocks after they've been fighting.
The name Fraxure takes the axe from the previous form and incorporates it into the fractures it will cause in rock and bones. The Japanese name is Onondo, from the Japanese for axe, Ono.
After only ten levels, we can say goodby to Fraxure when at level 48 it evolves into Haxorus.
In an interview, series director Junichi Masuda and long-serving Pokémon lead artist Ken Sugimori revealed that Haxorus was the first Generation Five Pokémon designed, having originally been drawn as part of the interview for a new artist.
Now covered-head-to-toe in golden armor, Haxorus has a full curved axe blade on its head and a slender, dragon-like body.
Black
They are kind but can be relentless when defending territory. They challenge foes with tusks that can cut steel.
White
Their sturdy tusks will stay sharp even if used to cut steel beams. These Pokémon are covered in hard armor.
Jay did well to have this Pokémon on his team. Despite not quite having the stats to be a Pseudo-Legendary, it had excellent physical attack and decent speed, alongside the Mold Breaker ability which let it attack through other Pokémon’s abilities. Throw in Dragon Dance or Swords Dance and you have a real dragon on your hands.
Interestingly, it also saw competitive use with its other ability, Rivalry. This ability boosts stats against opponents of the same gender but halves it against opponents of the opposite gender. This might seem like a roll of the dice, but when the scene was dominated by the all-male Genie Pokémon, a male Haxorus could go a long way.
The name Haxorus takes axe and hack, with the suffix saurus, as many dinosaurs have. The Japanese name, Ononokus, also takes a dinosaur suffix, onychus.
Haxorus was a key Pokémon in Gen V’s elite four and gyms, either under Iris or Drayden, depending on which version one was playing. In the anime, when iris returned for Pokémon Journeys, her Axew had evolved into a Haxorus.
This is a cool family of dragons well worth evolving all the way. A slightly too low stat total might exclude it from the made-up 600 club, but to me it still deserves a place among the greats. Perhaps it’s a pseudo pseudo legendary.
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 Cubchoo and Cryoganol, 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 Axew. And remember, I love you too.