Centiskorch #851: the 800 °C centipede that becomes a 75-meter colossus

Three meters of centipede heated to 800 °C. Centiskorch (Scolocendre in French) is Galar's Radiator Pokémon: 120 kilograms, enormous fangs, a downright aggressive temperament — and a Gigantamax form that makes it the largest Pokémon a player can put on the field.

Contents

• Who is Centiskorch?
• Fire and Bug: a quadruple weakness to Rock
• Evolution: from Sizzlipede at level 28
• The Gigantamax form: 75 meters and a hundred legs
• The Ōmukade, Kabu and the war with Scolipede
• Centiskorch Fact Sheet
• Frequently Asked Questions

Who is Centiskorch?

Listed as #851 in the National Pokédex, Centiskorch stretches a flat, reddish-orange body over three meters, with brown segments along the top. Its belly is decorated with orange and yellow circles that serve as its heating organs, and its small, pointed legs propel it along the ground.

Four X-shaped jets of flame burn on its face and its rear end. The fuel comes from its own digestion: it ferments its food to produce a flammable gas, which it then channels to power its heating organs.

The Pokémon Sword Pokédex sets the scale: "When it heats up, its body temperature reaches about 800 °C. It lashes its body like a whip and launches itself at enemies." Pokémon Shield adds that this "excessively hostile Pokémon" also has "large and very sharp fangs."

Fire and Bug: a quadruple weakness to Rock

Like its pre-evolution, Centiskorch combines the Fire and Bug types, a pairing that's unforgiving against Rock: since Rock is super effective against both Fire and Bug, the damage it takes from Rock is quadruple.

Water and Flying deal double damage, and nothing else goes beyond normal damage. On the other hand, it takes half damage from Steel, Fighting, Fairy, Ice and Bug, and only a quarter from Grass: six resistances, but no immunity.

A handy quirk: Fire only deals normal damage to it, because the resistance from its Fire type is canceled out by its Bug type's weakness. Unless it has Flash Fire, which then makes it completely immune to Fire-type moves and powers up its own as soon as it absorbs one.

Its second regular Ability, White Smoke, prevents opponents from lowering its stats. Its hidden Ability, Flame Body, can burn attackers that make contact with it and speeds up the hatching of Eggs in the party.

Evolution: from Sizzlipede at level 28

Centiskorch evolves from Sizzlipede at level 28, simply by leveling up: no item, no trade, and no friendship, time-of-day or location requirement. It completes the line, which has only two Pokémon.

Its size explodes along the way, from 0.7 to 3 meters and from 1 to 120 kilograms, and its base stat total jumps from 305 to 525 points, including 115 in Attack. There's no Mega Evolution or regional form, however: the only Mega of the eighth generation belongs toFalinks, with the Falinksite.

The Gigantamax form: 75 meters and a hundred legs

Some Centiskorch can take on a Gigantamax form in battle, for three turns. It then reaches at least 75 meters: no other Gigantamax form stands that tall, with the runner-up, Duraludon, listed at 43 meters.

Its body gains dozens of segments, and the official artwork gives it a hundred legs, which lets it zip along despite its size. The entire lower part of its body becomes incandescent.

The Pokédex puts numbers on the result. Pokémon Sword: "Gigantamax energy has evoked a rise in its body temperature, now reaching over 1,000 °C. Its heat waves incinerate its enemies." Pokémon Shield notes that this heat "sometimes disrupts air currents to the point of triggering storms ».

In this form, it gains access to its signature G-Max Move, G-Max Centiferno, a Fire-type move: it deals damage, then traps the target and its allies in a vortex of flames that burns them for four to five turns. It replaces any of its offensive Fire-type moves and belongs to it alone.

To get the Gigantamax Factor, there are two ways: Max Raid Battles, in several dens across Galar and the Crown Tundra as well as in the Max Lair, or Max Soup from The Isle of Armor, made in exchange for three Max Mushrooms.

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The Ōmukade, Kabu and the war with Scolipede

Behind Centiskorch lies theŌmukade, the giant centipede of Japanese folklore, crossed with the same radiator that inspired its pre-evolution. Its French name, Scolocendre, blends scolopendre, a kind of centipede, with the French word for ash, cendre.

In Motostoke, it's the final ace of Kabu, the Fire-type Gym Leader: his Centiskorch Gigantamaxes to close out the battle. Plenty of inspiration for any shelf of Pokémon figures.

Then there's an official feud, written into Scolipede's Pokédex entry: "Scolipede engage in fierce territorial battles with Centiskorch. At the end of each battle, the winner makes a meal of the loser." Yet Scolipede belongs to an entirely different family, Bug and Poison, from Unova — two centipedes you're under no obligation to keep side by side, not even among Pokémon plushies.

Centiskorch Fact Sheet

Frequently Asked Questions

• How do you get Centiskorch?
  By evolving Sizzlipede at level 28, simply by leveling up, with no item or trade. It can also be caught directly in The Crown Tundra expansion for Pokémon Sword and Shield, at the Giant's Foot, where it appears in the tall grass between levels 60 and 65 and among the wandering Pokémon at level 67, as well as in several Max Raid Battles.
• What is Centiskorch's G-Max Move?
  G-Max Centiferno, a Fire-type G-Max Move that only a Gigantamax Centiskorch can use. It replaces any of its offensive Fire-type moves: it first deals damage, then traps the target and its allies in a vortex of flames that keeps hurting them for four to five turns, much like Fire Spin. Its category, physical or special, depends on the Fire-type move it replaces.
• How big is Gigantamax Centiskorch?
  At least 75 meters, compared with 3 meters for its normal form, which makes it the largest of all Gigantamax forms, far ahead of Duraludon and its 43 meters. Its weight in this form is undefined. Only Eternamax Eternatus, an end-of-story appearance the player can't use, exceeds that size in the entire series.
• How do you make Centiskorch Gigantamax?
  You need one that has the Gigantamax Factor, which not every Centiskorch has. There are two ways to get one: Max Raid Battles, in several dens across Galar and the Crown Tundra as well as in the Max Lair, or Max Soup, made by a dojo student in The Isle of Armor expansion in exchange for three Max Mushrooms. The Gigantamax form lasts only three turns of battle.
• What are Centiskorch's weaknesses?
  As a Fire- and Bug-type, it takes four times the damage from Rock, which is super effective against both of its types, and double damage from Water and Flying. It halves damage from Steel, Fighting, Fairy, Ice and Bug, and takes only a quarter of the damage from Grass, for a total of six resistances. The remaining nine types, including Fire and Ground, deal normal damage to it, and it has no immunity.
• Does Centiskorch have a Mega Evolution?
  No, and neither does its pre-evolution Sizzlipede; it has no regional form either. Across the entire eighth generation, the only Mega Evolution that exists belongs to Falinks, triggered by the Falinksite. Centiskorch has just two appearances: its normal form and its Gigantamax form.

In short

A living radiator turned blazing whip, then a 75-meter colossus with a hundred legs: Centiskorch takes the idea of a burning centipede as far as it can go. No other Gigantamax form stands as tall.