Electrode in depth
A ball named after a mine
マルマイン (Marumine) combines maru, “round”, with the English word mine: the kind of mine that is buried and explodes when someone steps on it. The Japanese name says exactly what the creature is, without beating around the bush. Electrode is built around the electrical term “electrode” and lets explode be heard underneath it. The German Lektrobal keeps the ball, while the French Électrode copies the English name, so of the four names only the Japanese one mentions the danger.
The design reverses a Poké Ball’s colours. It is a joke that only works inside the game itself: out of context there is nothing to recognise, while in context it forces the player to look twice at the item lying on the gym floor. The games have exploited that confusion from the start, with rooms full of fake Poké Balls that turn out to be the Pokémon.
Speed as its only argument
During the first six generations it was slower than it is today, and even then nothing in Generation I was faster than it: not Jolteon, nor any Legendary Pokémon. Generation VII raised its Speed to the current 150 and its total to 490, one of those tweaks intended to rescue older species that had fallen behind.
The problem is that the rest of the stat sheet never caught up. One outstanding stat and five mediocre ones describe a Pokémon that only serves one purpose per battle, and that purpose usually ends with it being taken out. At level 22 it learns Electro Ball, whose power depends on how much HP it has left: it hits hard when it comes in and less and less as the turn goes on. At level 36 it gets Magnet Rise, which lifts it off the ground and removes its only weakness for five turns. At level 58, Mirror Coat reflects the special damage it has taken, although with 60 HP it rarely survives long enough to use it.
Wood and roots in Hisui
The Hisuian form, introduced in Pokémon Legends: Arceus, is the one that has given it something new to talk about in twenty-five years. It is Electric- and Grass-type, with a wooden upper half showing visible grain and a glossy dark red lower half, imitating the handcrafted Poké Balls of that era. It learns an exclusive move that no other Pokémon knows, and in the game's story it holds the role of a Noble Pokémon, worshipped by the region's inhabitants.
The type change adds weaknesses, but it also removes its usual problem: no longer being pure Electric gives it something to do against Ground types. To get it, you need a Hisuian Voltorb and a Leaf Stone.
Advice for something that breaks
Sending Electrode out to trade blows is throwing it away. It works in two specific situations. The first is at the start of the battle: it comes in, sets Electric Terrain or Light Screen—which it learns at level 29—and leaves the field ready for the next Pokémon. The second is as an answer to something you cannot take down any other way, spending Explosion and accepting a one-for-one trade. If it has Aftermath, that trade sometimes turns into one for two.
In a normal playthrough it is useful for more boring reasons. With 150 Speed it almost always moves first, making Thunder Wave a reliable opener against fast opponents, while Screech, learned at level 13, lowers the opponent's Defense so someone else can take advantage. None of this is brilliant, but it works without setup.