Pokémon Nicknames: Sword and Shield (anticipation) — Corviknight

Quoth the Raven: “No way man”.

We still have a long way to go until November 15, but I will still speculate about the upcoming Sword and Shield Pokémon and think of some more nicknames, assuming we will still have the 12-charcater limit.

From Bulbapedia: Corviknight (in Japanese: アーマーガア  “Āmāgā”) is a dual-type Flying/Steel Pokémon introduced in the Galar Region (Generation VIII). As of this writing, it is not known to evolve into or from any other Pokémon.

This black bird is called the “Raven Pokémon”. Its abilities are said to be Pressure and Unnerve.  Coviknight looks like a crow, and (according to Bulbapedia) may be based on the European Jackdaw, another member of the crow family Corvidae. This family includes the crows, ravens, rooks, jackdaws, jays, and magpies. Collectively, this group of birds are called cordovans, hence that part of Corviknight’s name. The “knight” part is for the “Black Knight” I suppose.

I think that a great name for this black flying steel bird would be “SR-71” after Lockheed’s famous “Blackbird” supersonic stealthy spy plane. Additionally, “Lockheed” might be a good aviation name for Corviknight.  According to Sw&Sh leaks, Corviknight is supposed to be the “fly” Pokémon which will take the player form one point to another.

The SR-71’s official speed record of 2,193.13 mph (Mach 3.2) has stood for nearly 40 years. It could fly from New York to London in less than two hours. Unova to Galar.

Guess where the Blackbird was first flight tested? (Denny coughs) Area 51. That secret American air force base that has been hot on social media these past weeks. Thus, “Stealth”, “Intrigue” and “Enigma” may also be interesting Corviknight names. “Black Truth” – is the opposite of “White Lies”. Can you handle the truth? Galar’s steel blacbird knigth might be well armored, but it will probably not be super fast. There has ben some speculation that Corviknight may be related to Pokémon’s other flying-steel type Skarmory.

Of course, if Corviknight is a Raven, then you have to give one names based on Edgar Allan Poe’s famous poem. I think I will name one “Nevermore”. “Lenore” – perhaps for a female form, again as an Edgar Allan Poe reference.

Other names: “Baltimore” because the Raven’s NFL Team plays there. You have to wonder why the name “ravens” was chosen for a football team. Of course, Edgar Allan Poe lived (and drank) in Baltimore, but no one has ever confused the NFL with literacy. The Raven’s cheer squad is striking however:

Of course there is the Ravens logo on these uniforms. You may have to explore.

Aside from the Raven Cheerleaders, Baltimore is actually a terrible city. There is a lot of crime, a lot of drugs and it is poorly administrated. Baltimore’s crime is actually a lot more scary than any of Edgar Allan’s poems. But I digress … Perhaps you could name Corviknight about a decayed postindustrial city similar to Baltimore in the British (Galar) region? You would likely want a more heroic name.

How about “Switchblade” after all the knife attacks in British cities these days.

“Dead Knight” as a take on the phrase “dead of night”. Take these broken wings and learn to fly …

“HeckleJeckle” after the famous magpie cartoon duo (old chum).

There is not a lot of Coviknight cosplay yet, so we will have to make due with these raven and crow costumes. Did you know that a flock of crows is called “a murder of crows“?

Recycled Names: I used to use names like “Caw Caw Caw“, “Edgar Allan” or “4 -AND-20” for Murkrow and Honchkrow. Four-and-Twenty was for the nursery rhyme about the four and twenty blackbirds baked in a pie. I used to name a Murkrow “Eat-My-Pie” then wonder-trade it.

What is the name for your steel blackbird? Please Comment!

 

Pokémon Nicknames: Pyukumuku

“you can’t beat death  but you can beat death in life, sometimes.”

“Alola cousins!” Have you seen that new Pokémon on the beach?

Pyukumuku (in Japanese: ナマコブシ  “Namakobushi” ) is a Water-type Pokémon of the Alola Region. It has no known evolution. (The Bulbapedia reference page for Pyukumuku is linked here).

Pyukumuku’s name already sounds somewhat Japanese, or even Hawaiian. This new Pokémon is based on real-life “sea cucumbers” a type of echinoderm (which are sea animals related to starfish).

The sound (or “cry”) it makes is “Puke … Muke”.

This is appropriate because one of Pyukumuku’s abilities is “Innards Out”. When Pyukumuku faints in battle, it expels its inner organs. This move will deal damage to the opponent “equal to the amount of HP it had left before last being hit.” (from Bulbapedia)

This defensive strategy is very similar to real sea cucumbers, which when disturbed by a predator, will “spill its guts” out. Now how this would be is an evolutionary adaptation for the echinoderm, I do not quite understand. However, these creatures do have an extreme capacity to regenerate injured or missing parts. It is probably not a big deal for the sea cucumber to (literally) blow guts.  It will just grow more. The expelled filaments are said to be sticky and toxic, so I guess any predator would just get disgusted and leave. See video link here.

One time while out on a college marine biology field trip, our group happened upon a sea cucumber trapped in a rocky inter-tidal pool. This one chick ran over and squealed “I want to do it” … but too late, the Prof had already squeezed it first. She was disappointed and angry that she was not able to squeeze the life juices out of a pulsating cucumber. Looking back, I have to wonder about that chick, and what type of psycho-sexual urges she had … and yes, I see that I digress once again.

Maybe “Joy Explosion” for female Pyukumuku?

Some players might nickname Pyukumuku “puke” type names. I can’t say that  I have many suggestions that would fit this echinoderm. Perhaps “Air Lunch”, “Wolf Cookie”  or “Blow Chuck” are representative examples. How could you not name one “Ralph“? I didn’t think too hard about this, as these are all euphemisms for … well … you know … which reminds me again of my drunken college Biology-majoring years.

Now if we could consider a completely different phylum of animal, you might name a Pyukumuku “Afterbirth” or “Born Again”. When Pyukumuku expels its own innards it does remind us of the afterbirth which comes out of all female mammals after birthing their young. Thus, “Placenta” might be another name on this theme.  

Sometimes a Christian friend of mine would say that they became “Born Again” when they accepted their religion. I always would reply “Wow, you must have left a really big afterbirth!” (You see, I was a very sarcastic …  and troubled young college student.)

Human placenta from just after birth with the umbilical cord in place. “Ye will be born again …”

Ladies … Ahem … something else to consider; all mammals eat their own placenta after giving birth. The afterbirth contains a lot of nutrients which are needed by the young ones, and these minerals and antibodies will be transferred trough your milk of human kindness.  (Cough.) Just sayin’ … who am I to argue with millions of years of mammalian evolutionary adaptation … and yes, I digress once again.

You could try various “Squishy” names. A good name might be “Squanchy” or “Squanching” after the Rick and Morty character and act.

My FAVORITE nickname for Pyukumuku is “Bukowski” after the famous American poet Charles Bukowski.  When asked how to pronounce his name, the late writer would reply “ It is BUKE –owski … it rhymes with PUKE …”.  See time 1:45 on this YT video linked here. 

The late Mr. Bukowski (1920 – 1994) was popular with the American “counterculture” of the 1970s and beyond. He was published in The New Yorker magazine. He was published in Hustler magazine.

From Wikipedia: “Bukowski wrote thousands of poems, hundreds of short stories and six novels, eventually publishing over 60 books. The FBI kept a file on him as a result of his column, Notes of a Dirty Old Man, in the LA underground newspaper Open City”.

His semi-fictional autobiography “Barfly” was made into a movie starring Mickey Rourke (the trailer is linked here.)

Ahem. (Denny get uncharacteristically serious for a moment): 

Dear friends, I would like to share some of Charles Bukowski’s poetry posted on YouTube linked here … as long as these things might last before being taken down for some reason.  My FAVORITE Bukowski poem is “The Laughing Heart”.  Just to be sure the words last, in case the video is blocked, let me post the original Bukowski-typed page. Just for you, dear heart.

You might also enjoy this version read by singer Tom Waits (linked here).

“Innards Out” my friends … my innards are now out.