The Dex! Arcanine! Episode 21

*The Dex! Episode 21*

**The Dex! Arcanine! Episode 21** is the twenty-first episode of The Dex! Trivia and Battle Strategy Series. It's hosted by Mystical Man Alex and Pokekellz and it covers the Legendary Pokémon, Arcanine! It aired on June 18th, 2013 and can be viewed here.

"*Every week on The Dex, Alex and PokeKellz present battle strategy and trivia for a different Pokemon! This week, it's Arcanine, the Legendary Pokemon!*" - YouTube description

## Intro Trivia

* Despite its species name, Arcanine isn't a legendary Pokémon.
* They are often used as police dogs in the Pokémon world due to their bravery and how easy they are to train.
* The Pokédex states that they can run 6,200 miles in 24 hours, working out to over 250 miles per hour.
* It also says that they originated in the real-world location of China, a reference to their actual origin, being the Chinese guardians known as "Fu Dogs".
* These beasts are said to ward off evil and protect people. Because of this, they are often depicted in statues.
* These statues are often depicted in pairs, one with its mouth open, and the other with its mouth shut. The closed mouth keeps good spirits in, while the closed one intimidates bad spirits.
* These could be why Arcanine gets Intimidate as an Ability.
* These creatures originated back when Chinese traders returned from Africa with lion pelts. Lions don't exist in China, so they became a legendary creature to many.
* These depictions spread to other nearby countries, and some real-world dogs were bred to resemble these creatures.
* Arcanine's beta name was "Blaze". Its final name is a mix of "Arcane" and "Canine".

## PokeBusters

* The second episode of the anime shows Arcanine being depicted on a stone tablet alongside the three legendary birds: Articuno, Zapdos, and Moltres.
* One theory is that Arcanine was intended as a legendary protector of the three birds, before the existence of Ho-Oh. However, Ho-Oh already existed, as it was seen in the first episode of the anime.
* Another theory states that Arcanine was originally replaced by Moltres, but was scrapped, to keep the legendaries consistent with each other. However it seems unlikely that they'd make a trio of two birds and a dog in the first place.
* The last theory states that Arcanine was replaced by Mewtwo as the final legendary in the game, but was scrapped to avoid having two Fire-type legendaries. This cannot be proven false.
* The most likely scenario is that the writers didn't want to use Mewtwo, as it was to have a dedicated movie, and Mew was technically undiscovered at that point. Since there were no other legendaries at the time, Arcanine was used as it best fit the role.

## Battle Strategy

### **Sun-Team Special Attacker**

* **Item**: Life Orb
* **Ability**: Intimidate
* **Nature**: Modest (+Sp. Attack, -Attack)
* **EVs**: Unspecified
* **Moves**:
	+ Sunny Day
	+ Flamethrower/Fire Blast
	+ Morning Sun
	+ SolarBeam

* Starting off with Intimidate will give him so pseudo-bulk to start off with.
* Sunny Day is great to start off with, as it benefits all three of Arcanine's other moves.
* Morning Sun allows it to recover 2/3 of its HP while in the sun.
* Flamethrower and Fire Blast both get a power increase in the sun, it boils down to power vs. accuracy.
* SolarBeam is a great coverage move for opposing Water, Rock, and Ground types, and doesn't have any drawbacks in the sun.

### **Random Thoughts**

* Physically Offensive Arcanine with Crunch, Flare Blitz, ExtremeSpeed and Close Combat is very powerful.
* Crunch is a good option for coverage, but is very expected.
* Arcanine can make use of Leftovers, but is kind of redundant with Morning Sun.
* Justified is a decent option to boost your stats.