I’m Luke Summerhayes and I love Tyrunt.
The first Pokemon games released in 1996, but they were in development for a long time. This means Game Freak, a team of young geeks, were making their monster game at the height of Jurassic Park’s popularity. We can see evidence in the game’s Fossil Pokemon mechanic, allowing prehistoric creatures to be revived on an island lab in modern day – Aerodactyl literally from a specimen of amber.
What’s impressive, though, is the restraint they show in their choice of prehistoric creatures. The first generation focuses on trilobytes and amonytes, the most ubiquitous fossils. The third generation goes back to the earliest explosion of life on Earth for creatures that fit the theme of land and sea. The fourth generation gave us our first dinosaur fossils, but went obscure and leaned heavily into the rock angle. Generation Five gave us a turtle and a bird that represented the connection between the world of the dinosaurs and today. Finally, in Generation Six, we got fossil Pokemon based on the most famous of the dinosaurs.
By reviving the Jaw Fossil in Kalos, we can encounter Tyrunt. Rock and dragon type, Tyrunt is a small theropod dinosaur pokemon with a disproportionately large head. It has a brownish color with orange spikes and a fluffy white ruff around its neck.
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Its immense jaws have enough destructive force that it can chew up an automobile. It lived 100 million years ago.

Science goes back and forth on whether the Tyrannosaurus Rex, possibly the most famous dinosaur, was a deadly predator or a scavenger, but we know whenever it did use it, it’s bite power was incredible. In films and media, of course, there is no subtelty, and it is portrayed as a monster, stomping and chomping gratuitously.
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This Pokémon was restored from a fossil. If something happens that it doesn't like, it throws a tantrum and runs wild.

The name Tyrunt combines Tyransosuarus Rex, the king of the dinosaurs, with runt, as this is still a small infant. The name Chigoras combines a word for baby with the saurus suffix of the dinosaur.
Tyrunt is a brownish color. Originally, it was a different shade but in a rare look behind the curtain, a leaked memo reveals that the color was changed to avoid this Pokemon being confused with orange and red dinosaur companions from the Digimon franchise. Tyrunt is allowed to take on its original red hue however when, at level 39, it evolves into Tyrantrum.
Tyrantrum is a big, fearsome red tyrannosaurus Pokemon with yellow horns and white ruff that give the impression of a king in cape and crown, along with a beard-like chin covering. It truly looks like the tyrant lizard king, and it acts like the most monstrous of examples from popular culture.
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Thanks to its gargantuan jaws, which could shred thick metal plates as if they were paper, it was invincible in the ancient world it once inhabited.
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Nothing could stop this Pokémon 100 million years ago, so it behaved like a king.

The rock typing of Fossil Pokemon comes from their fossilization, and it is implied that they were quite different in the forms which originally roamed the world of Pokemon long before. This is also used to explain why Tyrantrum looks like the popular, lizard-esque image of Tyransoaurus rather than having a downy coat as it is now understood the real animal possessed.
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Complete restoration is impossible, allowing room for theories that its entire body was once covered in a feather-like coat.

The Jurassic World movies also give a similar excuse.
The name Tyrantrum combines Tyranosaurus with tantrum, referring to the monster’s kaiju-like rampages. Gachigoras, the Japanese name, takes the name of the previous evolution and adds extra onomatopoeia for clanging teeth and stomping feet.
In the competitive world, Tyrantrum’s enormous attack stat and decent type coverage have seen it get some use, especially when taking advantage of the Rock Head hidden ability which lets it ignore the significant recoil damage of the powerful Head Smash move.
When I think of Tyrantrum, it isn’t any battle in the main series games but seeing it come charging across the screen in New Pokemon Snap that confirms it as a beast.
There are numerous Pokemon based on Tokusatsu-style Kaiju like Godzilla, but Tyrantrum comes from a different school of thought, from the kind of kids who geek out about real-life fossils and dinosaurs. Kids who went to the Natural History Museum every chance they got, from 3 years old to 33 years old. I was lucky enough to see Tyrunt and Tyrantrum’s skeletons on display alongside real tyrannosaurus at the Pokemon Fossil Expo in Aichi a few years ago. It was heartening to be reminded that Game Freak and the Pokemon Company are just like me, for real.
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 Amaura and Hawlucha, 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 Tyrunt. And remember, I love you too