Finally throwing my hat into the (mega) ring with my Mega Parasect concept amongst the Z-A hype. I packed this design with references to Mushroom Clouds (get it), expanded upon the Cordyceps fungus that Paras/ect is based on, playing into nuclear fallout and zombie apocalypses, mould/fungus spores, with aspects of Paras’ design that I wanted to reincorporate. I always liked how ambiguous Paras’ insect design is, yes it’s obvious to some that it’s inspired by Cicadas, but many fans often confuse the Paras line for a crab/hermit crab, so I thought I’d lean into it all, as Gen 1 also mashes a lot of species together in their designs, focussing on the visual of the mushroom bursting out of Parasect’s carapace. I thought it was a nice coincidence that Parasect’s claws drawn in that position resemble an ant’s head and mandibles, since Cordyceps mainly infect ants. In real life, they would climb high and bite down with their mandibles, but since Parasect specialises in slicing moves, his legs would burrow into the ground (yes he should learn Ingrain). I made a Gigantamax as well, in case some people thought it wasn’t mega enough for a mega, OR he could just work as a regular evolution too, in that case I’d name him Caraparapocordycepsect (jk). I think a mega works well since mega stone energy is a kind of radiation that mutates the Pokémon, much like actual nuclear radiation in a harsher sense. The shiny colouring amplifies the skull motifs, toxic spores, and a little nod to the Death Cap mushroom. The last slide was my first design, with a nod to Paras’ mouthpiece and longer eye stalks but I decided against them. I’d imagine the typing would be Bug/Ghost (cos Shedinja is cool) or Ghost/Grass (cos the Bug literally dies) but that would make it the first Mega to gain the Ghost type which wouldn’t totally make sense but hey, this is just fanart. I’m not a competitive player but it’d be dope if M-Parasect has the ability Seed Sower or smth like that. Suggestions?
by ConnorGotchi