There’s been kind of a change of plans for this week’s Interesting Specimen post. This is mainly due to the delay created by Dragon Week, and because I’m a creature of whim sometimes. So for this week I’ll be covering two of the most mysterious Water Pokemon in the franchise, Staryu, and its evolved form, Starmie.
“Staryu, Starmie…. Star it for always…. That’s the way it should be….”
Sorry, I couldn’t resist putting in that Lionel Richie song based pun. Actually that’s a pretty cool song. Anyway, I think many of us recognize Staryu and Starmie the two Pokemon used by that legendary water queen, Misty. Misty used these two Pokemon to try and bring down many challengers in the Generation One games and their remakes. And in my experience if you picked Charmander or were playing the Yellow version they were hard to take out. Staryu and Starmie were also both used by Misty in the early episodes of the anime. Though later in the series she started using them less and less it seemed.
Anyway, Staryu and Starmie and a pretty interesting pair of starfish. They of course have the ability to regenerate severed limbs like their real world counterparts. And in the games this is shown as using the move, Recover. Then of course there’s that cool gemstone that both Staryu and Starmie have in the center of their body, which is used as a form of communication. These cores might also be the reason why Staryu and Starmie can use moves like Thunder Bolt and Thunder, but I’ll get to that in a bit.
In the Games: Back in the first generation games, the best place to find Staryu was in the Seafoam Islands. In Red and Blue, Staryu could be found by walking through the cave, which before I found a bit strange. But then when one considers that Staryu was seen “walking” on land in the anime, it makes sense. In Yellow though, Staryu is only found in the Seafoam Islands by surfing or fishing. Anyway, other places where Staryu can be found in Generation One are the shores of Cinnabar Island and Pallet Town.
In Generation Two, Staryu could only be found at night by fishing on the shores of Olivine City, Cianwood City, Cherrygrove City, and Cerulean City, not to mention a few routes. In Ruby, Sapphire, and Emerald, the only place to find Staryu was off the shores of Lilycove City. While in the Gen. One remakes, Staryu can be found in Vermilion City, a couple of the Sevii Islands, and I think a few of their original Gen. One locations, but only in LeafGreen. Staryu are quite rare in Diamond, Pearl, and Platinum, and can only be found at Sunyshore City, Canalave City, and I think one of the routes. Finally, in Generation Five, Staryu can be found in the waters of Unova Route 13, and in Black 2 and White 2, Undella Town and Humilau City. As for Starmie, the only way to get it is to evolve Staryu, which is easy enough to do. But in rare cases, Starmie can be found in the wild by fishing in certain spots in Unova Route 13.
Evolution: As mentioned before, it’s a simple matter to evolve Staryu into Starmie. All it takes is to use the Water Stone, so it can be done at pretty much any time. But it’s best to wait until Staryu knows all the moves you want it to have as Starmie. Anyway, upon evolution into Starmie it gains a second star growing out their backside and the gem in their core becomes finely cut. One other thing I should mention is that Starmie become dual Water and Psychic-type Pokemon after evolution.
Stars From Space: Starmie’s title as the Mysterious Pokemon is very well earned. Earlier I mentioned that the crystal core of both Staryu and Starmie is used for communication. And it seems that said communication is very far reaching, like to another planet. Apparently, the core is capable of sending electrical waves into space in the form of odd radio signals. Now the fact that the core can produce electrical energy is probably why Staryu and Starmie can use Electric attacks, but I digress. Anyway, at night, Staryu are known to float to the surface of the water en mass and shine their cores at the night sky in alignment with the stars. So the implication here is that Staryu and Starmie are from space, and at night they communicate with their own kind out in space. I for one find that a bit creepy. Still, they seem friendly… I think.
That covers it for this week. Next week I’ll be going back to my original plans and cover a Pokemon that was the first in a concept. So until then, stay tuned. And keep watching the skies. Also, since I used the song for a pun, here's Say You, Say Me, by Lionel Richie.
