Magnemite
Name: Magnemite has a really good name. It’s metallic-sounding, if that makes sense, is reflective of its nature, rolls off the tongue well, and it’s just cute enough without making it seem like it’s a pushover. The name is either a slight variation of magnetite, a magnetic mineral with a shiny silver look, or “Magnet” combined with “Mite” as in a small thing.
In Japan, it’s known as Coil, like an electromagnetic coil, and I find this to be very boring as a name.
Design: Magnemite has a pretty effective design. Yeah, you can just boil it down to two magnets connected to a ball, but it’s oddly kinda cute.
Sprite-wise, Crystal’s kinda cutely kooky.
Oh my god, someone used Emerald’s sprite as a bouncy ball.
Not much else to say about any of the others.
Shiny:
Shiny Magnemite is pretty boring. Gen II’s version is just a warmer gray, and every other version looks like Magnemite is just slightly rusting.
Dex Entries and Backstory: I can’t believe I didn’t notice while reviewing the episode, but Ash’s Pokedex notes “Its means of floating through the air are not understood.” The magnet Pokemon? You can’t figure out how a magnet Pokemon would be floating? Okay.
If its electricity supply is zero, it can no longer float.
It is attracted to electromagnetic waves, eats electricity, and will approach people using certain technologies like Pokegears.
The magnets on their sides are so strong that they can attract iron from over 300 feet away. The faster the magnets on the side rotate, the more powerful it is.
I’m just going to assume you can deduce what the inspiration was for Magnemite’s design, but the Wiki also mentions that it may have been based on UFOs (which partially explains Magnezone). This is supposedly because Magnemite can fly and, in Johto, they’re on Route 39 near the Moomoo Farm. If Magnezone didn’t exist, I’d say this was pretty flimsy.
Magneton
Name: Magneton’s name is pretty good. It’s tougher-sounding than Magnemite to reflect its evolution, and it’s pretty snappy. It’s either based on “Magneton” or “Magnetron” or both.
In Japan, it’s known as Rarecoil, which is like Coil but rare.
Alright, being fair, the “rare” part supposedly comes from rare-earth magnets, which are magnets that utilize rare-earth metals.
Rarecoil is a bit more interesting than Coil, but not by much.
Design: Another instance of “We’re calling three Pokemon smushed together an evolution.” However, in fairness, it does make a bit more sense with Magneton than Dugtrio. At least here there’s a viable reason why they’re stuck together. No real reason why that would make them an entirely different Pokemon barring maybe an increase in electric power, but still.
I do have to ask, though – if they lose their magnetization when they drain all of their electrical power, do they devolve if they run out of electricity?
Sprite-wise, there’s really nothing to mention except the seizure hazards that are Emerald, Diamond, and Platinum – and I don’t want to post those.
Oh except, in Gen II, they’re clearly not actually connected. There is space between all of those bodies.
Not really a super strong magnetic pull if they’re not even touching.
Shiny:
Second verse, same as the first!
Dex Entries and Backstory: Magneton are, obviously, three Magnemite linked together with a powerful magnetic force. They frequently appear when sunspots flare up, because of the incredibly powerful magnetic fields.
Magneton are so powerful, even without doing anything, that they can cause intense electromagnetic storms if too many are in the same place at once.
These magnetic forces are so strong that some towns have sirens to alert people when numerous Magneton are nearby to help protect their electronic devices. Although, what do you do to prepare for that? Additionally, since being near a Magneton is basically a death sentence for any electronic devices, Trainers are instructed to keep their Magneton inside their Pokeballs, which is kinda intriguing because….aren’t Pokeballs electronic devices?
Their magnetic fields cause earaches, an increase in temperature by 3.6F, and evaporation of moisture in nearby soil.
Sun notes that their three minds become one when they evolve, but they don’t get three times as intelligent.
Moon says their electrical power is three times that of a Magnemite….Noooo. You don’t say.
Design-wise, there’s really nothing more to say than what was already covered in Magnemite’s section.
Magnezone
Name: Magnezone’s name is…..okay. I’d expect something a bit more spacey or alieny for the Pokemon that looks like a UFO, but it’s fine.
Admittedly, Magenzone kinda sounds like someone made a Magnemite/Magneton-themed kids’ establishment. Like “Come to Magnezone for laser tag, over 100 arcade machines, go-karts, and PIZZA!”
In Japan, it’s Jibacoil, which is definitely the best of the bunch. “Jiba” means “Magnetic field.”
Design: Magnezone has always seemed like a weird Evolution to me. It’s not super different from the rest of the line – the Magnemite are now fused together is all – but there’s still something off about it. It’s just kinda creepy.
Sprite-wise, there’s nothing to really talk about.
Shiny:
Third verse, same as the first!
Admittedly, Magnezone’s shiny comes off more as a different gray than that rusty look for a couple Gens, but then Gen VI starts looking rusty and it never really changes back.
Dex Entries and Backstory: Magnezone evolved from Magneton via a special magnetic field.
Platinum and B/W note that some people tried to make Magnezone evolve, but it failed. That is quite possibly the most useless and random Dex entry I’ve come across so far. Also seems a little weird that they’d try to evolve a Pokemon that has evolved twice already.
Sometimes, Magnezone’s magnetic power is so strong it forces together other Magnezone to the point where they can’t break up or move. Way to make this Pokemon look impressive.
Some people mistakenly report Magnezone sightings as UFO sightings. While not a UFO, Magnezone does receive signals from space of unknown origin, and they also send signals back for some unknown reason. It’s theorized that Magnezone are actually controlled by some being in space.
Finally, it has radar capabilities for the sake of protecting its territory and will use Hyper Beam to attack all intruders.
Design-wise, it’s the same thing again just add ‘UFOs’ to that list.
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And that was the Magne line! About as boring as I figured it would be. I don’t really dislike the Magne line (barring Magnezone a tad) but it’s really just summed up as “Magnets….yup.” They try to make it more interesting by putting implications of a space connection in there, but without fleshing out that part of its lore, it mostly just remains boring.
Next time, we cover Farfetch’d!
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