The creatures known as Falinks is a Fighting-type Pokémon introduced in Game Freak’s latest addition to the Pokémon franchise - Pokémon Sword and Shield. With its yellow armour, spikey helmet and adorable roundness, this Pokémon was instantly elevated to meme-status upon its reveal. It was one of the Pokémon to be leaked alongside the Galar Pokédex two weeks prior to the game’s launch, but it only served to increase the hype for Generation 8.
It’s easy to see why. Falinks is made up of six near-identical sentient balls that walk in formation, leading to some incredible fan art and memes. One might think Falinks are just another Galarian Pokémon, but there’s a lot one should know about this fearsome Fighting-type.
10 The Tallest Fighting-Type
Fighting-type Pokémon are renowned for their upper body strength and powerful Physical move sets. A lot of Fighting-type Pokémon have a human-like body, representing famous martial artists in the real world. With this in mind, you might think the tallest Fighting-type Pokémon would be something like Machamp or Hitmonlee.
Falinks is made up of six individuals that live together. There are five troopers and a brass who leads at the front. But the Pokedex still classes them as a single Pokémon. Altogether, Falinks stands at 9'10", or 3.0 meters. This makes Falinks the longest Fighting-type Pokémon as of Generation 8.
9 Falinks Has A Signature Move
No Retreat is a stat-boosting move that raises the user’s Attack and Defense, as well as their Special Attack and Special Defense plus Speed by one stage each. It can also be used to stop the user being forced to flee a battle or being switched out.
As of Pokémon Sword and Shield, there isn’t another Pokémon who can learn this very handy move. A common strategy in online competitive play is to train a Falinks who knows No Retreat as bait their opponent into being unable to escape using a move like Mean Look. No Retreat can then be used to stack multiple boosts, which can prove deadly in a close battle.
8 Falinks References Another Nintendo Creature
Pokémon Sword and Shield and Nintendo fans across the world have noticed the similarity between Falinks’ cutesy round appearance and the resemblance to foes found in cartoon and anime, as well as NES platformers such as Kirby.
This likeness has led to a number of pieces of fan art that reference this. Twitter user @aloud_creative posted this amazing artwork (seen above) of Kirby dressing up in a Falinks’ helmet. This gained over 170 likes and 80 retweets. This wouldn’t be the first time Nintendo has referenced other franchises in their games. The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening has multiple Nintendo references and Mario has popped up in a number of games where he doesn’t belong.
7 Falinks Is Likely Based Off Ancient Greek Battle Strategies
Some ancient history fans have speculated on the origins of Falinks’ etymology. It’s been suggested that the name ‘Falinks’ was inspired by the Ancient Greek phalanx battle formation. This is where units of soldiers line up and cover all sides with their shields to protect themselves. Falinks’ yellow armour and shield-like limbs would suggest that this theory is correct.
It would also fit in with the game’s themes - Pokémon Sword and Shield’s titles suggest a thematic link to battling and defence. Whilst there has been no official confirmation it’s very likely this Pokémon was inspired by Ancient Greece.
6 Weird EV Distribution
Falinks looks like a very defensive Pokémon with its shield-like limbs and yellow armour. However, Special Defence is actually its lowest stat. As a Fighting-type Pokémon, it’s not uncommon for its Special Defence stats to be low, especially considering the type weakness to Psychic Pokémon.
Despite this, Falinks awards Special Defence EVs when it is defeated. So if you’re looking to boost the Special Defence of your Pokémon, this Fighting-type might be a good way to go about doing that. You can find it marching along the Galar Route 8.
5 Spartan Helmet Style
A single Falinks is made up of six individuals, working together in a fluid formation to attack. It consists of five troopers and "the brass". The brass is the leader of the group and the brass's orders are ‘considered absolute’ by the troopers.
The individual units each have a golden, armored shell topped with a red crest that can be used to attack. This looks very similar to the Spartan helmet in Ancient Greece. This would also support the theory that the name ‘Falinks’ is derived from Ancient Greek battle formations.
4 Falinks Has No Gender
Genderless Pokémon aren’t new to Generation 8. Legendary Pokémon, such as Pokémon Sword and Shield’s mascot Pokémon Zacian and Zamazenta, are usually genderless. Falinks joins a handful of non-Legendary Pokémon without a gender.
Genderless Pokémon are tough to breed for IVs, which means if you want a perfect Falinks, you better learn more about chain catching. Pokémon without gender are also unaffected by the moves Attract and Captivate, which can make them invaluable in battle. The benefits don’t stop there - if you face a Trainer who has a creature with the abilities known as the Rivalry and Cute Charm, they will have absolutely no effect if either Pokémon is without gender.
3 Real-World Inspiration
Pokémon often take inspiration from real-life animals for their designs. Pikachu, the famous mascot of Pokémon, is famously based off a mouse. This is no different from Pokémon Sword and Shield, which feature many great new designs based off real-world inspiration.
Some fans have speculated that Falinks is one such Pokémon. It has many similarities shared with an admiral caterpillar. With Falinks’ yellow armour and pointy spines, as well as its record-breaking length, it’s easy to see why some people can see the similarity between this Pokémon and the creepy-crawly.
2 Combination name
Many Pokémon have names that are a combination of defining features. Combee is a combination of ‘combine’ and ‘bee’, referring the trio of sentient honeycombs. Charmander can be broken down into ‘char’ and ‘salamander’, which is quite apt for the fire-lizard Pokémon. Treecko is named after ‘gecko’, the real-life animal it is based off, and tree, referencing its Grass-type classification.
Similarly, Falinks may be a combination of the phalanx, an Ancient Greek battle formation mentioned before, and link, referencing the chain-link formation of the six individuals.
1 Japanese Name
Game Freak, Nintendo and The Pokémon Company are all Japanese companies. Pokémon is the biggest franchise in the world, which means that each Pokémon has a separate name for the Japanese audience. Falinks is called Tairetsu in these versions.
This can be translated to mean 隊列, which refers to the rank or formation of troops. This matches the Pokémon’s English reference to the phalanx, as well as supporting the idea that the design is based off Ancient Greek helmets. This is a fitting name for such a fearsome Pokémon in Galar.