Article #6: Bellossom d (HP)

[Raikou Trainer]

This was originally written in mid 2006, so combos, ratings, etc. will be outdated.

Name: Bellossom (Delta Species)

Type: Water

HP: 100

Stage 2 (evolves from Gloom)

Poke-Body: Fellowship
Bellossom can use the attacks of all Oddish, Gloom, Vileplume, Vileplume ex, or other Bellossom you have in play as its own. (You still need the necessary Energy to use each attack.)

(W)(C) Aqua Flower 40
During your opponent's next turn, Bellossom has no Weakness.

Weakness: Fire

Resistance: Water

Retreat Cost: One


Analysis

HP: 100 is pretty good for a Stage 2 Pokemon. Use healing cards like Heal Powder, Potion, and Sitrus Berry to stretch out its HP a little longer.

Weakness: Fire may be picking up steam, so Bellossom should be careful when facing them. Or if you use Aqua Flower a lot, then Weakness shouldn't be a problem.

Resistance: Bellossom can resist other Bellossom (d) and other major Water types like Blastoise ex.

Retreat: One is very good for a Stage 2 Pokemon. I would recommend that you pay the cost, though.

Evolves from Gloom: There are a total of 8 Oddish cards available (Jungle, TR, Neo1, E1, E2, HL, UF, and HP) while there are 7 Gloom cards available (Jungle, Neo1, E1, E2, HL, UF, and HP). In Modified, I'd recommend both Oddish and Gloom from Holon Phantoms. Oddish is also a Water type and has really good attacks, and while Gloom is a Psychic type, it only needs one Psychic Energy, which can be covered by a single Delta Rainbow Energy.

Poke-Body: This Poke-Body opens up lots of different attack options for Bellossom. However, most of the Bellossom line is usually Grass type and uses Grass Energy. Delta Rainbow Energy can help ease the costs of those attacks. One thing to remember is that Bellossom is still a Water type even if it uses an attack from one of its Grass type versions.

Aqua Flower: This attack is really nice. It deals 40 damage for two Energy, and eliminates Bellossom's Weakness for one turn. And since Fire types are usually weak to Water, Bellossom can actually knock them out really fast with this attack while protecting itself.

Combos

Oddish, Gloom, Vileplume, Vileplume ex, other Bellossom: This one's a given. This Bellossom was made to work with its own kind, so take advantage of that.

Delta Rainbow Energy: This card can really help out Bellossom in paying the attack costs of the other members of the Bellossom line.

Rainbow Energy: This card does the same thing as Delta Rainbow Energy, but it places a damage counter on Bellossom, so use it only if you don't have any Delta Rainbow Energy available.

Ratings

Unlimited: Bellossom's only real threat in this format is Magmar (Fossil), but Bellossom can OHKO it, so there shouldn't be any other problems. 7/10

Modified: Fire type Pokemon are hardly ever used here, so Bellossom's Aqua Flower may not be as helpful as in Unlimited. 6/10

Limited: Stage 2's aren't very useful in this format, but since Rare Candy is in the set, it will help out. 9/10

Conclusion

This Bellossom works best if you have many different versions of the Bellossom line. Otherwise, its own attack works just as well.