I’m Luke Summerhayes and I love Skrelp.
Sometimes Pokémon designs are accused of just being animals. Particularly in the first generation there were monsters that are just a bird, just a crab or just a seal. When the animal is strange enough, though, it doesn’t take much to make them feel like Pokémon.
Seadragons are a small group of animals related to seahorses and pipefish. Among them are the leafy seadragon and reedy seadragon, camouflaged as sea vegetation so accurately that even after one spots the animal, it still looks like it’s made of plants. Thanks to their large leaflike fins, they actually struggle to swim effectively, mostly drifting on the currents and hoping not to be noticed.
Skrelp is a water and poison type Pokémon which looks like a seahorse with some leafy decorations. It actually looks more like a real animal than the real-life leafy sea dragon does! It is attempting camouflage.
X
Camouflaged as rotten kelp, they spray liquid poison on prey that approaches unawares and then finish it off.

Sword
It drifts in the ocean, blending in with floating seaweed. When other Pokémon come to feast on the seaweed, Skrelp feasts on them instead.
Shield
Skrelp looks like a piece of rotten seaweed, so it can blend in with seaweed drifting on the ocean and avoid being detected by enemies.

Like real sea dragons, Skrelp are not good swimmers.
Ultra Moon
It's not good at swimming, so it clings to the seaweed. In the Alola region, it's often found near Dhelmise.

Violet
This Pokémon is a poor swimmer. If it's caught in a fierce storm, it will sometimes get washed far away and become unable to return to its home.

The Japanese name for this Pokemon is Kuzumo, an abbreviation of the Japanese word for artificial grass but also an anagram for the Japanese word for seaweed scraps. The name Skrelp combines kelp, the large brown seaweed it resembles, and scrawny or scrap, referring to its weak position and scavenging lifestyle. This is one of those weak Pokémon that just tries to stay alive long enough to evolve.
Y
It looks just like rotten kelp. It hides from foes while storing up power for its evolution.
Skrelp has to wait a long time, but at level 48 it finally evolves into Dragalge.
Dragalge has spread its leaf-like fins into wings and embraced the namesake of the sea dragon, becoming the first ever Dragon and Poison type Pokemon. This is interesting as a lot of historical dragon stories featured much more poison than fire-breathing, a more reasonable challenge for a medieval knight to do battle with.
Shield
Dragalge generates dragon energy by sticking the plume on its head out above the ocean's surface and bathing it in sunlight.
Despite its new draconic powers, Dragalge still relies on stealth and camouflage to deal with foes.
Violet
Since Finizen is the better swimmer, Dragalge will approach it under the cover of seaweed, then immobilize it with a poisonous attack.

The English name combines Dragon and Algae, appropriately enough, as does the Japanese name Dramidoro. This is a sea dragon in the old school, here be dragons sense, a proper sea monster.
X
Their poison is strong enough to eat through the hull of a tanker, and they spit it indiscriminately at anything that enters their territory.
Y
Tales are told of ships that wander into seas where Dragalge live, never to return.

In actual competitive terms, Dragalge has a unique typing and the useful ability Adaptability which boosts same-type attack bonus to 2x instead of 1.5x, but it just isn’t quite statistically strong enough to be a major presence.
Sea dragons are cool and unique animals with a name that makes you imagine something even more cool and unique. Skrelp and Dragalge take that concept and turn it, quite naturally, into a very cool pair of pokemon.

Music for Luke Loves Pokemon is by Jonathan Cromie. Artwork for the show is by Katie Groves. If you enjoy the podcast, find out about my other shows at podcastiopodcastius.org, get in touch on bluesky @podcastpodcast, or support the show at patreon.com/podcastiopodcastius.
I love hearing from Listeners! Up next are Clauncher and Helioptile, so hit me up about those or any other Pokemon. Even if you don’t feel like doing any of that, thank you so much for listening.
I love Skrelp. And remember, I love you too