Gyarados

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Gyarados
Image:Art-Gyarados.png
National
Magikarp - Gyarados (#130) - Lapras
Johto
Magikarp - Gyarados (#077) - Goldeen
Hoenn
Magikarp - Gyarados (#053) - Azurill
Sinnoh
Magikarp - Gyarados (#024) - Subomie
Japanese name Gyarados
Stage Stage 1
Evolves from Magikarp
Evolves to None
Generation First
Species Atrocious Pokémon
Type Water / Flying
Height 21 ft 4 in (6.5 m)
Weight 518.0 lb (235.0 kg)
Ability Intimidate

Gyarados (ギャラドス Gyaradosu?) is a fictional sea monster in the Pokémon series of games. This Pokémon is the fictional evolved form of the Water-type Pokémon known as Magikarp. In the animated Pokémon series it is a fierce, sea-dwelling Pokémon which is never submissive in battle. Although Gyarados is part flying-type, it does not learn any flying-type moves.

Gyarados is derived from the Chinese legend of the Dragon Gate waterfall, which holds that carp who leap over it will become dragons. It is said that less than one in ten thousand carp manage this feat. Magikarp have been shown using waterfalls to evolve in Pokémon Snap and the Pokémon Trading Card Game.

Gyarados's name may be derived from a combination of 虐殺 gyakusatsu massacre/slaughter, and 逆境 gyakkyō, hardship/adversity. Both words relate to the creature's violent nature and the hardship it experienced before evolving. The dos may just indicate that it's the second in its evolutionary line. It could also be a reference to the Japanese ドスdosu, the sound of stabbing or biting. This would certainly fit in with Gyarados's violent nature and sharp fangs. In the beta version of the games, it was called Skullkraken (a reference to the legendary Kraken, which ruined sailors in a similar way to Gyarados).

Contents

[edit] Biology

Gyarados is a big change from Magikarp, the Pokémon from which it evolves. Unlike Magikarp, whose most powerful move is Flail or Tackle, Gyarados can learn some very powerful attacks, such as Hydro Pump and Hyper Beam. In appearance, Gyarados is basically a cross between a dragon and a fish, thus it could be called a "Dragonfish". It has a long serpentine body, fins on the sides of its head, two whiskerlike feelers and a constant scowl on its face. Its mouth is almost always open.

Gyarados tend to be very aggressive, and are powerful enough to destroy entire cities. They have a reputation for appearing where there is conflict, and shrivelling everything up with its Hyper Beam. Rampages like this have been known to last upwards of an entire month, and will not end until everything around them has been destroyed. Its big change in behavior is said to be attributed to a structural change occurring in its brain while evolving from Magikarp. Some people say its rage can last until its death.[citation needed]

[edit] Red Gyarados

Red Gyarados are a particularly unique variety of Gyarados. While Gyarados are normally blue in color, thare are some rare red scaled Gyarados, also known as Shiny Gyarados. Shiny Pokémon are Pokemon with a different color from the common form. Shiny Pokemon are very hard to come by. Though no more powerful than their more common blue counterparts, red Gyarados are valued for their rarity and individuality.

In the GSC continuity, Team Rocket attempted to broadcast a transmission that would make every Magikarp in the nearby Lake of Rage evolve, thus upsetting the lake's balance and making wild Gyarados rampage. The player and Lance foil their plans by knocking out the transmitter's power source: Electrodes. Some speculate the red Gyarados in the lake was the result of a Team Rocket experiment. The same red Gyarados from Gold, Silver, and Crystal is mentioned in Pokémon Diamond and Pearl for the Nintendo DS. The player's rival sees a television report about the red Gyarados in a distant lake, and is therefore led to believe that that Gyarados is in a lake in Sinnoh, the Trust Lake. [1]

The reason for the radio frequency forcing the Gyarados to evolve is most likely because it incites vast untapped feelings of rage. This may indicate that Magikarp evolve into Gyarados when they learn to tap into this area of rage. It also indicates that Gyarados are genetically predisposed to anger, which explains their seemingly insatiable desire to destroy.

There is, however, the question of why golden Magikarp evolve into red Gyarados in the video games. This is not due to any premature evolution, so it is safe to assume that in this case red color is to be expected.

As far as anatomy and physiology are concerned, red Gyarados are practically identical to their blue brethren. The main difference is the red pigment in their scales. According to the anime, this is because when Magikarp are forced to evolve prematurely, they do not undergo the conversion from red to blue scale pigment. Thus, they retain the same color they had as a Magikarp.

In the video games, a red Gyarados will evolve from an alternate-color (pale gold) Magikarp.

[edit] In the Pokémon video games

Gyarados has high attack power, as well as decent speed and special defense. However, despite a wide movepool of both physical and special moves, Gyarados' special attack is in fact, its worst stat, making special moves less useful. In theory, a Gyarados would be more than able to hold its own in combat. However, once in battle, Gyarados is not much more than a big target for any Pokémon with an electric attack because Gyarados is a Flying/Water dual-type like Mantine and Pelipper, making it quadrupally succeptible to electric attacks.

In Pokémon Gold, Pokémon Silver, and Pokémon Crystal, there is always a lone red Gyarados in the Lake of Rage. It is visible on the overworld map, and if you approach it, you can fight it with a chance to capture it. This red Gyarados is the only Pokémon in any of the Pokémon videogames that is guaranteed to be shiny when it's fought. The other way to get a red Gyarados is to catch a golden Magikarp and evolve it. Like all other shiny Pokémon, there is a 1/8192 chance of finding a shiny Magikarp.

The red Gyarados isn't obtainable in Pokémon Red, Pokémon Blue, and Pokémon Yellow because the games did not support shiny Pokémon (the game was monochromatic, so differently colored Pokémon was impossible). In Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire, Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen and Pokémon Emerald, the red colored Gyarados sprite is replaced by one with a pinkish tone. It has been stated that one of the beginning events of Diamond and Pearl start out with a Red Gyarados sighting in the news. However, it is unknown if it is obtainable or not. The changes made to the Attack system actually serves to make Gyarados far more powerful, as it learns attacks of the water type (getting STAB on these moves) that are physical, serving to make a DD-ing Gyarados more flexible and deadly. However, in the new versions, Gyarados can learn powerful physical attacks such as the new Ice Fang and Aqua Tail moves. Also, Gyarados can learn through a new TM, the physical version of Hyper Beam, the Giga Attack.

In Pokémon Snap for the Nintendo 64, finding a Gyarados becomes a very hard task, since you have to do something special to get it. In the Rapids Level, right as you begin, throw Pester Balls towards the end of the bank where a Mankey is, do not actually hit the Mankey, and with luck you will hit a Magikarp that flails over to Mankey and is quickly kicked away. Continuing on to an area with a large waterfall, if done correctly the Magikarp from before will be seen flailing on a side of the river. Hit it with a pester ball and watch it skip across the river and into the waterfall where it will evolve into a Gyarados and welcome you with a Roar and a Bubble Beam.

[edit] In the manga

In Chapter 4, Gyarados appears to be Misty's Pokémon, which was controlled by Team Rocket, Misty tries to calm it down but totally lost control and attacked Misty and Staryu (Misty's Pokémon). Red came to the rescue, as he sent out bulbasaur, Gyarados used Water Gun but it's not effective to bulbasaur's element, it was no match for it, Bulbasaur successfully planted a seed (leech seed) on it body, to bind Gyarados' body.

In Chapter 25, Misty traded her Gyarados for Red's Krabby, Gyarados became Red's new and sixth Pokémon partner as they go in search for a legendary Articuno. It seems that it falls in love with the beauty of Articuno.

[edit] Anime appearances

Although Misty likes all Water Pokémon, Gyarados are an exception. This was a result of a bad experience as a baby when she crawled into a Gyarados' mouth, and nearly got eaten. She later had to overcome her fears in order to take control of the Cerulean City Gym. It then joined her team when she visited Ash in Hoenn. Misty's Gyarados is capable of using Flamethrower in addition to its Water-type attacks. Misty often shows it a sign of affection by kissing its pokéball upon release.

When the S.S. Anne sank, James used the Magikarp he had bought earlier from a salesman to escape, but when he later discovered he was conned since the Magikarp was weak and inedible, he kicked it into the sea, and it evolved into a Gyarados and attacked everyone with its Dragon Rage attack (also calling forth more Gyarados to do so). A Nurse Joy in the Orange Islands also had a large Magikarp that evolved, but this one was much friendlier to the person who had cared for it for so long.

The Red Gyarados made an appearance in the animé in a story close to the plot of Gold, Silver and Crystal. The red Gyarados was captured from the Lake of Rage by an unknown organization. It was later found that this organization intends to use the radio frequency that induces evolution in the first red Gyarados to evolve all the Magikarp in the lake. Ash Ketchum, teamed up with Lance the dragon trainer, were able to stop them. Lance managed to capture it, and later used it during the battle between Groudon and Kyogre.

Team Rocket also used a Gyarados-shaped submarine in early episodes, but for unknown reasons soon traded it for a Magikarp-shaped submarine, perhaps reflecting the changing perception the writers had of them.

Another instance with a Gyarados involved May, Max, and Professor Oak finding one asleep inside an underground lake that Team Rocket had turned into their fortress. While the three escaped quietly, Team Rocket's bickering a bit later on woke the Gyarados up, and the three were quickly punished by the angry serpent.

[edit] In the trading card game

Gyrados in the Pokémon base card set.
Enlarge
Gyrados in the Pokémon base card set.

Gyarados is a popular Water-type Pokémon in the card game because it has made many stage-1 appearances with strong attacks since the game’s beginning. The following list shows all of the sets it appears in:

  • Base Set
  • Team Rocket (as Dark Gyarados)
  • Gym Challenge (as Misty’s Gyarados)
  • Gym Challenge (as Giovanni’s Gyarados)
  • Neo Revelation (Basic, as Shining Gyarados)
  • Skyridge
  • EX FireRed / LeafGreen (as Gyarados EX)
  • EX Team Rocket Returns (Dark/Water dual type, as Dark Gyarados)
  • EX Deoxys
  • EX Holon Phantoms (Steel/Lightning dual-type)
  • EX Holon Phantoms (as Gyarados* (Red Gyarados))

[edit] References

Publications
  • Barbo, Maria. The Official Pokémon Handbook. Scholastic Publishing, 1999. ISBN 0-439-15404-9.
  • Loe, Casey, ed. Pokémon Special Pikachu Edition Official Perfect Guide. Sunnydale, CA: Empire 21 Publishing, 1999. ISBN 1-930206-15-1.
  • Nintendo Power. Official Nintendo Pokémon FireRed & Pokémon LeafGreen Player’s Guide. Nintendo of America Inc., August 2004. ISBN 1-930206-50-X
  • Mylonas, Eric. Pokémon Pokédex Collector’s Edition: Prima’s Official Pokémon Guide. Prima Games, September 21 2004. ISBN 0-7615-4761-4
  • Nintendo Power. Official Nintendo Pokémon Emerald Version Player’s Guide. Nintendo of America Inc., April 2005. ISBN 1-930206-58-5

[edit] External links

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