Masquerain

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Masquerain
Masquerain
National Pokédex
Surskit - Masquerain (#284) - Shroomish

Hoenn Pokédex
Surskit - Masquerain (#033) - Shroomish
Japanese name Amemoth
Evolves from Surskit
Evolves into None
Generation Third
Species Eyeball Pokémon
Type Bug / Flying
Height 2 ft 7 in (0.80 m)
Weight 7.9 lb (3.6 kg)
Ability Intimidate

Masquerain (アメモース Amemōsu?, Amemoth in original Japanese language versions) is a fictional character from the Pokémon franchise. It is a Bug/Flying dual-type Pokémon and is #284 in the National Pokédex.

Its name derives from "masquerade", meaning a disguise, which most likely refers to its technique of using its two giant antennae and face to deceive opponents by appearing as something else entirely; and "rain", which refers to an old legend stated in the Pokédex that it has the power to detect rainstorms. It is worth noting that Arbok, Scizor, Stantler, Armaldo, Anorith, Kabuto, Lileep, and Cradily also use the same "fake-eye" trick as Masquerain. In its Japanese name, アメ(ame) is the Japanese word for rain, and モース(mosu) is the Japanese pronunciation for the English word, moth. Therefore, its name literally means "Rain Moth."

Contents

[edit] Biological characteristics

On a first impression, Masquerain appears to be a very scary-looking Pokémon. Masquerain deceives and intimidates enemies by appearing to have a large, scary face. The "eyes" of this face are actually Masquerain's antennae. And the "mouth" and "teeth" of the face are actually Masquerain's face and eyes.

It might appear to the casual observer that Masquerain's antennae are its wings. The 4 parallelogram-shaped appendages at the lower end of its body are actually its wings. These wings are very small, beating very fast. This gives Masquerain the ability to hover and fly in any direction like a helicopter, sideways and even backwards. This further helps Masquerain to intimidate enemies by hovering towards its enemies and "gazing" into them with its "eyes".

While its antenna-patterns may look like angry eyes, sometimes the antennae will droop, making them appear as sad eyes. This is said to be a sign of heavy rainfall going to occur soon. This would also help alert Masquerain that it must find shelter, as Masquerain can't fly in rain, so it therefore shelters itself under large trees and leaves.

[edit] In the video games

Masquerain can only be obtained by evolving Surskit at level 22. Surskit is available in Pokémon Ruby & Sapphire, as well as the Oasis Pokespot in Pokémon XD: Gale of Darkness. However, Masquerain is not obtainable in Emerald.

True to its character design, Masquerain's ability is Intimidate, which lowers the attack of the opposing Pokémon as soon as it appears. Aside from that, Masquerain is not considered very good: it's Special Defense statistic is above average, but the rest of it's stats are average (Special Attack) or below average. It can learn several special attacks.

Masquerain is largely unused in competitive battles.

[edit] In the Pokémon anime

Masquerain is owned by May's rival Drew and knows the attacks: Hidden Power, Ice Beam, Bubble and Silver Wind. In an appeal, Masquerain uses Bubbles to fill the entire stadium up with bubbles, then a beautiful combination with Silver Wind to release and blow them away, allowing even the audience to touch them in appreciation of the appeal- this is considered a good combo for Anime Style Contests since it has earned Drew 100 points- a perfect score. In battle, he has shown effective use of Hidden Power to make white orbs appear on the top of some stages, then Ice Beam to freeze the balls and make them crash down in a blue hail raining- a beautiful and powerful combination. He used it in a Pokémon contest. Masquerain defeated a Lairon and won the competition and also in the Grand Festival. Masquerain also had a short appearance in the Pokémon 7th movie, Destiny Deoxys. It was owned by one of the twins.

[edit] In other media

Masquerain has made only three appearances in the Trading Card Game thus far, and all are stage-1 Grass-types:

  • EX Hidden Legends
  • EX Deoxys
  • EX Holon Phantoms

[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

In other languages