Looking back now, something strikes me as odd about that particular episode, when Misty's sisters said they had no Pokemon but a weak Goldeen that couldn't do anything but Horn Attack. Not ONCE did they even think about using Seel in battle. It seemed to be more like Daisy's pet, as it held the Cerulean Badge (on its tongue, which was cute ^.^) and probably served as the Gym's mascot because Dewgong could be found on display on the roof of the Gym. I guess it was just the first sign that the Dewgong evolution line was quite neglected as a whole. I didn't know anyone else who liked Seel or Dewgong in real life (I think my mom thought Seel was pretty cute, because I showed it to her every chance I got) and very few trainers in the game (other than Lorelei herself) actually used one. You can bet how surprised I was in "The Misty Mermaid," when the Cerulean sisters' Seel evolved.
Ah yes, "The Misty Mermaid," one of my overall favorite episodes of the Anime. Seel had a fairly big role in the episode, mostly serving as Misty's dancing partner. What was really cool was how Team Rocket busted in while the narration still told an appropriate story of what was going on underwater. Jesse's Arbok was totally kicking ass in the underwater ballet, holding it's own against Ash's Squirtle, Misty's Horsea and Starmie, and a random bunch of Goldeens and Seakings, all while Weezing acted like a beach ball and floated to the surface. All seemed lost for the good guys until Seel bravely stood up the devious looking cobra. Misty's sisters were surprised and didn't seem to think Seel could do anything against Team Rocket, and James and Meowth themselves referred to Seel as a "weenie baby," and a "powdahpuff." Under Misty's guidance, Seel kicked Arbok's ass using Headbutts and Aurora Beams, evolving in the process; this was Dewgong's first anime appearance.
I couldn't believe how awful Dewgong's voice was in the dub. I've never heard the call of Jugon in the original, but I'd bet money for sure that it wasn't as terrible as this was. Seel's voice was perfect for the Pokemon; a playful, deep-sounding voice that suited a Pokemon that acted exactly like a seal. I have no idea what was wrong with Dewgong's voice or how the English producers thought it was appropriate for the cute little sea lion; it was basically some Indian guy, that didn't sound too much unlike Professor Oak, harshly screeching "DEW GONG-GONG-GONG," so badly that you wanted to smack Dewgong in the head with an actual gong just to shut it up. Dewgong deserved another playful seal-like voice like it's pre-evolution, or a light cheerful voice to suit its name and appearance. Dewgong also had an appearance in Mewtwo Strikes Back, and was used by Pryce in the Johto League, proving this voice was indeed not a joke. Despite being my favorite Pokemon, Dewgong has one of the WORST Pokemon voices in the entire dub! *cries*
As far as the Pokemon Game Boy games went, I couldn't help but feel Dewy got equally as screwed over as its voice in Pokemon Red and Blue. Let's face it, Lapras completely murders Dewgong stat-wise except speed, where Dewgong has a whopping 20 point advantage on the loch ness wannabe. Unfortunately, Dewgong is still a slow Pokemon despite the fact that the Pokedex makes a huge deal over the fact Dewgong can swim eight knots in water. Guess what? Goldeen can swim at five knots. Is Dewgong almost twice as fast as Goldeen? Nope. Is the Pokedex stupid and misleading? You got it! Not helping the poor marine mammal, Lapras also held an advantage in move versatility as Lapras learned a wide array of special moves, while Dewgong is stuck with a shallow move pool of STAB and normal moves.
Dewgong is often seen as inferior to Lapras in every way (so much that I developed a rabid hatred against Lapras a couple years ago), but Dewgong also ends up with the short end of the stick against Red, Blue and Yellow's other Ice-type candidates. Against Cloyster, Dewgong lacked a whopping defense stat and a kamikaze ability. Against Jynx, Dewgong was missing the accurate sleep attack and a swift speed. Articuno and Dewgong are not even comparable because of Articuno's legendary status. Still, Dewgong wasn't such a bad choice for battle in Red, Blue, Yellow, and Stadium (where it had an adorable flip and cry before attacking; and isn't Dewgong using its horn for beam attacks awesome?); it was a nice backup to Lapras and it had very well rounded stats, enabling it to do well with its limted STAB moves...
Until Pokemon Gold and Silver. I can understand the Special Split on Nintendo or GameFreak's part; Red, Blue and Yellow were very unbalanced as far as being a strategy game went. Many changes occured in Gold and Silver to even the scales, and the most famous change was splitting the Special stat into two stats, similar to Attack and Defense; Special Attack and Special Defense. Where I get lost in this whole tale is the part where Nintendo decided to hinder Dewgong even further. I have absolutely no idea why Nintendo did what they did, but Dewgong's Special Attack was squashed by 50 points because of the Special split. It SO didn't deserve that! Dewgong really only had Ice Beam and Surf to live off of, and Nintendo went and crushed it's only attacking capabilities. The sad thing about it was that Dewgong's Special Attack was now equal to Seel's Special in Red/Blue; meaning that Dewgong gained the Special attacking ability of its pre-evolution in Gold and Silver.
So now Dewgong had to attempt at being defensive; unfortunately, Lapras and Cloyster once again shunned it to hell. Despite Cloyster's newly destroyed Special D, it's Defense stat was still massive, and Lapras was still a bitchy tank. Breeding wise, Dewgong learns a whole bunch of useless techniques like Lick or Peck, and although Safeguard and Encore are somewhat interesting, Lapras also picked up the ability to Safeguard. There was even a special New York Pokemon Center move Seel could learn. What was it? Yeah, it was Flail. How fucking useful. So once again in Gold and Silver, Dewgong still lacked a large move pool, only now it didn't even have the offensive stats to need a large move pool, and after all this, it still held an inferiority complex to the other seven Ice-types, except to the equally or more sucky Sneasel and Delibird. Thanks to Gold and Silver and the Special Split that destroyed so many decent Red and Blue Pokemon (hellooooo Tangela), Dewgong became lost in the shuffle and everyone pretty much forgot about him outside of an underused team appearance, and even that was pretty rare.
So now Ruby/Sapphire have been released here, and Dewgong is sadly, the same as it always was. Cloyster and Lapras continued to gain new, better moves (Spikes Cloyster anyone?), but after all this time, Dewgong still can't pull off anything but STAB and normal moves, plus a Signal Beam (thanks to Fire Red/Leaf Green) that has no Attack stat to run off of. Even worse, a new sea lion evolution line was introduced among the new batch of Pokemon in Ruby and Sapphire; Spheal, Sealeo, and Walrein, whom I admit to also taking a liking to. With Dewgong entirely unavailable for capture in Ru/Sa and Walrein boasting much more powerful stats and more move versatility than Dewgong could hope to shake a paw at, it seems we can sadly forget the idea of Dewgong ever becoming a formidable fighter in Pokemon.
Still, my love of Dewgong will stay with me forever. Dewgong is a sea lion, and I have a particular fondness for marine animals, particularly marine mammals, and particularly otters and sea lions. I love little Dewgong so much, that in my Technology class in 8th grade, I made a Dewgong car for my car project. Even though it got a C- at the time (the lowest grade that the teacher was allowed to give was a C+... *snarl*) and it looks so fucking lame now, I've kept it all these years because I adore Dewgong that much. Even if it can't hold up to stronger Pokemon, it still packs a punch against in-game trainers and it's still one of the cutest Pokemon in existence. How can you not love a Pokemon like Dewgong that's always smiling, even when it's knocked out?! I typically use Dewgong as a Minty Rester or a Sleep Talker due to it's decent defenses and natural Resting ability, and Dewgong can commonly be found on my favorites, neglected or Ice Pokemon teams.
