>>57657090Shellder survived both dexcuts because of Slowpoke and probably because they needed a bivalve Pokemon somewhere. Shellder alone is a very solid bivalve monster design, nice references and is mentioned being preyed on by multiple Pokemon throughout various gens so it's important to the ecosystem. It's like a reliable background character they keep using
They tried with Clamperl for another bivalve with a different aesthetic, a more elegant feel and with more focus on the pearls but the bivalve aesthetic don't stay. a more evolved, tough looking bivalve Pokemon design peaked at Cloyster and they never made another
neat that Clamperl uses Shellder as a reference point though
>Clamperl's pearls are exceedingly precious. They can be more than 10 times as costly as Shellder's pearls.because they only make one pearl during their lifetime while Shellder's pearls are grains of sand accumulated inside their shell that they spit out because it gets in the way. very cute
I just remembered Spoink uses Clamperl's pearls for some reason so both Shellder and Clamperl have weird relationship with other psychic fat fucks
