Spinda
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Spinda | |
|---|---|
 National Grumpig - Spinda (#327) - Trapinch Hoenn Sandslash - Spinda (#114) - Skarmory |
|
| Japanese name | Patcheel |
| Stage | Basic |
| Evolves from | None |
| Evolves to | None |
| Generation | Third |
| Species | Spot Panda Pokémon |
| Type | Normal |
| Height | 3ft 7in (1.1 m) |
| Weight | 11 lb (5.0 kg) |
| Ability | Own Tempo |
Spinda (パッチール Patcheel?) is a fictional character from the Pokémon franchise.
Spinda's name is a portmanteau of the words "Spin" and "Panda".
Contents |
[edit] Biological Characteristics
Spinda's shape is vaguely ursine. It can be said to resemble a panda which walks on two legs. Its white fur has up to four red spots, and it is also red at its paws and waist area. Its eyes and ear markings are spiral shaped. Spinda's appearance is quite similar to that of Teddiursa, but due to its dizzy eyes, it appears less cuddly and naturalistic.
Spinda's appearance is more diverse than that of other Pokémon. The pattern of spots on its fur are different for every single Spinda, making each unique in appearance.
Spinda's main means of defense seems to lie in its skill to incapacitate its enemies by driving them dizzy. Besides its headache-inducing appearance, Spinda walks in a strange manner, as if stumbling from dizziness or dancing a peculiar dance. In reality, Spinda is not confused at all (as displayed in its "Own Tempo" ability). Rather, its lurching locomotion aims to disorient enemies, break their focus and make them lose their aim.
[edit] In the Pokémon video games
In Pokémon Ruby, Sapphire and Emerald, Spinda can be found in abundance in Route 113. An intriguing contrast of sorts occurs here: This route is also home to one of the most popular battle choices for Pokémon of all time, Skarmory, whereas Spinda is one of the least popular.Spinda also appears as a weary traveler in Pokemon Mystery Dungeon, where he is searching for a mirage Pokemon. Contrary to his appearance, he seems to be quite serious.
The novelty selling feature of Spinda is the visual spot placement on its head. The array of spots depends on a variable called the "personality value", which is randomly determined upon encountering a Pokémon and usually just determines its gender and nature. In Spinda's case, each personality value also corresponds to a certain spot variation. Since there are 4,294,967,296 possible personality values, the claim that each Spinda looks different from every other seems convincing. (Non-RPG games, however, generally do not produce different spot placements; for example, in Pokémon Trozei, all Spindas look exactly the same.)
As a battler, though, Spinda is widely considered useless. Its stats are all the same: 60, a rather low score. It learns a wide range of moves, some of which are powerful offensive attacks, while others are aimed at confusing its opponents, but it seems as if the Pokémon exists more for novelty value, thanks to its spots, rather than battling. Of course, some of its moves could be used for breeding, and the Pokémon could be fit more for Pokémon contests. Spinda has an unusual egg-group combination the, Human-like/Field egg group which can help one teach Human-like egg moves like Smellingsalt (learned by Makuhita & Hariyama) to Field egg-types like Snubbull.
Spinda does, however, have a chance to be holding a Chesto Berry when encountered in the wild. Like Luvdisc with its near-uselessness in battle but use as a natural supply of Heart Scales, Spinda can be treated as an infinite source of berries that can cure sleep, and one uses the Thief move to attack Spindas that may hold these berries. However, Chesto Berries can also be found on Wild Whismur and Loudred, so this particular use is not limited to Spinda.
[edit] In the Pokémon anime
Spinda was featured more prominently in episode #333 (Going for a Spinda), where Ash and friends helped a girl named Clare catch a Spinda with a heart-shaped spot on its head (no such Spinda can be found in the games, however, as all spots are oval-shaped). It has also made various cameos in Pokémon contests.
[edit] In the trading card game
Like in the normal games, Spinda seems to exist merely for novelty value in the card game as well. It has made two appearances as Basic Colorless Pokémon:
- EX Hidden Legends
- EX Legend Maker
The Hidden Legends version is comparatively effective to Spinda in the normal video game. In addition to carrying a Poke-Body that can cause an opponent's attack to fail on tails of a coin flip, Spinda has an additional move that can potentially cause the player to draw many cards, two cards at a time. This makes this Spinda a nice colorless addition to any deck.
[edit] References
- The following games and their instruction manuals: Pokémon Red, Green, and Blue; Pokémon Yellow; Pokémon Stadium and Pokémon Stadium 2; Pokémon Gold, Silver, and Crystal; Pokémon Ruby, Sapphire, and Emerald; Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen; Pokémon Colosseum and Pokémon XD: Gale of Darkness
- 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
- Official Pokémon website
- Bulbapedia (a Pokémon-centric Wiki)’s article about Spinda as a species
- Serebii.net’s 4th Gen Pokédex entry for Spinda
- Pokémon Dungeon Pokédex entry, full of statistics analysis
- PsyPoke - Spinda Pokédex entry and Usage Overview
- Smogon.com - Spinda Tactical Data
- WikiKnowledge.net’s entry for Spinda Previously hosted by Wikibooks
