By LUDWIG VON KOOPA - Hi Sirfetch'd. I'm Ludwig. Are you okay in the head?
Earlier this week, The Pokémon Company International (TPCI) was hacked by a Rotom. Here's what their website looked like while the hack was going on. It appears Rotom went into the Cascading Style Sheets (CSS—used to make websites stylish) and added a “data-scramble” element. While data breaches should sink any company's reputation and invite a class-action lawsuit, The Pokémon Company International dismissed the concern and went on to reveal a new Pokémon exclusive to Pokémon Sword.
...Seriously, they didn't even say if anyone's information got taken. What kind of transparency is that? Unacceptable. The CSS element has since been removed from the .css file, which I guess means they really did purge Rotom completely. ...Oh, right, reveal:
Meet Sirfetch'd, the evolved form of Farfetch'd that reside in the Galar region—no Galarian-specific look to Farfetch'd has been identified. That video thumbnail is as smug as TPCI's reaction to being hacked. Sirfetch'd is all about surviving many battles, being an honourable and noble knight, and using its leek as a lance. ...Which isn't a sword.
Standard Farfetch'd in general reminds me a lot of Waluigi. A worthless, weak meme that is highly treasured by a few aficionados, but is rare (nearly extinct) to actually see in the wild due to being hunted down. Waluigi fans hope to see him “evolve” into roles outside of being Wario's sporting buddy, like a Super Smash Bros. playable appearance, for nearly two decades. Farfetch'd fans, when they're not hunting him down, have been wanting him to be relevant and have an evolution for about two decades. Waluigi uses his lank to his advantage. Sirfetch'd uses his leek to his advantage.
...Pardon the male pronouns in that paragraph. It's unknown if all Sirfetch'd have to be male. There might be a small percentage that will insist that they are MA'AMfetch'd. (Language warning from the MA'AMfetch'd on that video link... I certainly wouldn't want to meet that thing at the new GameStop.)
 |
| “*kicks a stand down* I NEED YOUR CORPORATE NUMBER!” |
As for the shield component, Wood Man has clearly demonstrated that having a leaf as a shield is actually pretty effective, so I have no worries on Sirfetch'd's viability on that front.
 |
| Even Wood Man is surprised, though. (...Wood MA'AM?) |
...But since Sirfetch'd has both a leek and a shield, why is it exclusive to Pokémon Sword? And will the Stick item still raise its critical hit ratio? Lots of questions, but this is about all we know, besides Sirfetch'd having its own version of Giga Impact called Meteor Assault that won't ever see use.
If you get the feeling that Ludwig didn't do Sirfetch'd justice in this article, it's because he doesn't care about it or Farfetch'd. It's basically an inferior Gallade anyway, but at least Gallade has no problems with being called a sir. Ludwig cares far more about pokemon.com being hacked since he has log-in information associated with The Pokémon Company International, but he can't access it since he's permanently banned from Trading Card Game Online (TCGO).
Galar has already demonstrated that Pokémon originally found in other regions can have new evolutions!
You can see what Ludwig really cares about with Pokémon in last week's article about Pokémon Sword.
The counterpart to Sirfetch'd being exclusive to Pokémon Sword is Galarian Ponyta for Pokémon Shield.
Sirfetch'd has its moment years later when it's revealed to be Jewish.
In the Gold/Silver beta we would have gotten the more feminine name Madame instead (https://tcrf.net/Proto:Pok%C3%A9mon_Gold_and_Silver/Pok%C3%A9mon Number 228 on the list).
ReplyDeleteNothing had stopped Pokémon names from having a masculine or feminine word in their portmanteau names from being the other gender. See Mr. Mime, Sawsbuck, Braixen and some others for example. While we did have Gallade as a male only evolution, Kirlia was still allowed to evolve when female when we had no male Combee or Salandit ever being able to evolve. What are the chances of only male Farfetch'd being allowed to evolved without some sort of backlash because double standards?
...I wonder then... Is Sirfetch'd really Madame trying to pass as a SIR? And it'll get triggered if you use female pronouns?
DeleteThere might be backlash, but they'll be in the wrong! These people deny biology and that's not truth!
(...Though so do I in the many articles where I say biologically incorrect things or general ignorance.)
Also there are women who are okay with being called "sir" both real life in the military if they are high ranking and even in video games. See Colin calling Rachel "Sir" in Advance Wars: Dual Strike.
DeleteAlso there are women who do object to being called "Ma'am." Palutena really did not like it when Phosphora called her that. Apparently they do not like being reminded of their age or something. I was called "ma'am" in my teens so not sure the objection.
Detective Gumshoe refers to Franziska von Karma as sir, though she's never seen requesting it. (Of course, they've known one another before Phoenix ever sees them together.)
DeleteI was always pretty surprised at Lady Palutena's objection to being called ma'am.