Pokemon Journeys: Ash Catches His Craziest Pokemon Yet

Ash Ketchum just collected another Pokemon powerhouse in Pokemon Journeys, and this one is a real strange one. In the latest episode of Pokemon Journeys, Ash added a Dracovish to his team after creating it by combining two fossils from the Galar region. The Pokemon seems enthusiastic to join Ash’s squad, although its full strength isn’t known at the moment. This marks the first time Ash has had a Fossil Pokemon on his team, adding to the list of milestones seen in Pokemon Journeys. Additionally, Ash’s chief companion Goh picked up an Arctozolt during the same episode.

Dracovish and Arctozolt are bizarre Pokemon, in part because they’re both obvious amalgrams of wholly different Pokemon parts. Dracovish is formed by combining a Fossilized Fish and a Fossilized Drake, although the Pokemon is clearly a giant fish head grafted onto the tail of dragon-like creature. Meanwhile, Arctozolt has a skinny bird-like head and arms, combined with the body of a pleisosaur. Both Pokemon are gentle digs at the dinosaur display at the Crystal Palace Park in London, which incorrectly fused together dinosaur parts to create anatomically incorrect models.

While Dracovish seems like a joke Pokemon, it’s actually a surprising powerhouse. The Pokemon has the ability “Strong Jaw” which increases the power of any of its biting moves by 50%. Pokemon Sword and Shield players have discovered that this ability, coupled with Dracovish’s signature attack Fisheous Rend, can deal a ton of damage to opposing Pokemon. Because of this, Dracovish has quickly become one of the more popular Pokemon to appear in the competitive Pokemon Sword and Shield scene.

While it’s unclear whether Ash’s Dracovish will retain the powerful jaw attacks of its video game counterpart, Ash will likely need all his strength for the battles ahead. The new intro for Pokemon Journeys revealed that Gary Oak will make his long awaited return to the Pokemon anime after a decade-long absence. Although Ash and Gary have long since buried the hatchet and ended their storied rivalry, it seems certain that the two will have a massive showdown of some kind, especially as Ash and Gary both now work as research assistants for various Pokemon professors.