He gets a lot of hate because of Dragon-type and Moxie, but he's still one of my biggest and best bros.
Back when I was a young fool playing R/S/E, I hated Intimidate with a passion, and thought it was ridiculously OP. Stupid, I know, but that's what brought me to Salamence (over other Intimidate users because his design got me). I fell in love with him the moment my Shelgon evolved, and I've used him ever since.
Come Diamond/Pearl, my training starts to intensify now that I know about EVs/IVs/Natures, and with the physical/special split Dragon Claw is now more useful on him. As I transfer to Diamond/Pearl, I realize my bro won't cut it (Impish nature with random EVs). I decide to bring him to the daycare and breed out a decent one.. Landed a Jolly Bagon with 29/31 in Attack/Speed respectively, and trained that one up. I had to work hard to build him up with the moveset I had in mind - Dragon Claw, Dragon Dance (obtained through breeding by accident, actually), Earthquake, Stone Edge (this was all before I knew this was a standard competitive set). I had to challenge the Battle Tower countless times to get those TMs for EQ and SE.
You know what? It was all worth it. My Salamence completely demolished my real-life friends' teams almost single-handedly, and still continues to do so to this day. They fear it every time I send it out, and it makes me feel very powerful - the fact that I worked so hard to bring it up and it's now paying off made me feel accomplished. No other Pokemon I have has ever done this to me, and I am forever proud of my Salamence.
And the best part? Mine's female. ;)
