The Word About Birding
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Introduction
Welcome to the birding report. Today's article will concentrate on what are commonly known as the regional birds, those which are widely available near the beginning of each game and are typically Normal / Flying types, from Pidgeot to Talonflame. My analyses for them will be split into five categories: physical appearance, competitive viability, name, previous evolutionary stages, and other notes, for my ramblings and observations which don't belong in any of the other sections. I hope everybirdy's ready; without further ado, let's get started.
File #1a: Pidgeot
Appearance
Pidgeot's most iconic feature in the visual department is, by far, its extraordinary, flowing bird hair. It's pink, yellow, and fabulous all over, and thanks to it, Pidgeot had graced many L'Oréal commercials before Mega Ampharos eventually came along and stole the spotlight. 8/10
Viability
The good news is Pidgeot has a few noteworthy things in its arsenal, such as a great STAB move in Brave Bird, U-turn, and decent Speed. The bad news is that's all it has, relegating it to somewhere within NU. Although a Mega Evolution for Pidgeot has been confirmed, I'm afraid I can't give this bird a great review until ORAS arrives. 4/10
Name
It's anybody's guess where the last "eot" part comes from, but the "Pidge" in Pidgeot, Pidgey, and Pidgeotto brings to mind a pigeon. This is sort of odd, as Pidgeot and its pre-evolutions don't really resemble pigeons all that much, especially after they've given us Pidove. It's possible that, as these are the first birds in the Pokédex, pigeons were the most generic birds that Game Freak (or Nintendo of America, I'm not sure) could brainstorm. It's understandable enough, knowing that pigeons are ubiquitous in a lot of cities and urban centres, bobbing their heads and littering their doodoo all over the sidewalk. Nevertheless, "Pidgeot" as a name is still relatively cool-sounding. 7/10
Previous stage(s)
I liked Pidgey quite a lot as a little girl. It was cute and had a dash of pink in its design, which qualified it as a top-tier 'mon in my three-year-old psyche. As the years have gone by, I now admit that Pidgey might be a little lame. If the show and Sky Battles are any indication, it apparently can't fly yet despite its Flying type, making it easy, delicious prey for any predators who want barbecued Pidgey for lunch. Its next stage, Pidgeotto, is decidedly cooler, having now gained the capability of flight and being notable amongst fans for its lengthy tenure as a staple on Ash's team in the first season of the anime. Luckily, awkward childhoods don't last forever. 6/10
Other notes
Pidgeot gets a shoutout for being the very first obligatory early-game regional bird. Oh yeah, and let's not forget about Twitch Plays Pokémon, which featured an overleveled Pidgeot who curbstomped everything, earning it the affectionate nickname "Bird Jesus" among fans.
File #1b: Fearow
Appearance
While the other birds all have relatively compact designs, Fearow has an awkwardly long neck, resembling a crane. Additional features include a red mohawk and large wingspan, reflected in most of its in-game sprites. Fearow may not be the most proportionate or visually pleasing bird, but it succeeds in looking like a believable apex predator, which was probably Game Freak's intention. 4/10
Viability
Fearow has slightly higher Attack than its Kanto counterpart, Pidgeot, but poorer bulk. Unlike Pidgeot, Fearow lacks Brave Bird and must rely on Drill Peck as a Flying-type STAB move. On the bright side, Fearow's movepool includes Drill Run, a Ground-type move with a high critical hit ratio, which gives it useful coverage and has synergy with its hidden ability, Sniper. 4/10
Name
Fearow's name is ostensibly a combination of the words "fear" and "sparrow". While Fearow doesn't have much in common with sparrows, I, too, would freak out if a big bird equipped with a long beak and fearsome-looking eyes swooped down at me to attack. 6/10
Previous stage(s)
Spearow is both cute and cool, with pink wings but also a spiky brown hairdo. With regards to the latter, I always thought that it gave Spearow a striking resemblance to the RBY rival, Gary/Blue/Green/what's-his-face, who is clearly the best rival. Therefore, 10/10 points go to Spearow's hairdresser. 7/10
Other notes
Kanto holds the distinction of being the only region with two early-game birds that fit this category. Also, Fearow has a really cool cry.
File #2: Noctowl
Appearance
While it's easy to knock simplicity, Noctowl's understated design more or less reflects real-life horned owls, with elements such as a trident-shaped head crest and naturalistic chest markings, a motif we'll see again later. On the flip side, being entirely neutral-colored makes it hard for Noctowl to stand out visually: a fowl design choice on Game Freak's part. 5/10
Viability
Have you ever heard of Noctowl on a serious competitive team? Neither have I, but watch out: if Hypnosis manages to miss, it can still put you to sleep with how non-threatening it is. The only thing Noctowl can seemingly try to accomplish in NU is Toxic stall, which speaks for itself. 2/10
Name
Noctowl's name is composed of the words "nocturnal" and "owl". Nocturnal refers to creatures which are active during nighttime, the opposite of diurnal, and we know this about most owls anyway. Department of redundancy department aside, "Noctowl" rolls off the tongue well and sounds pretty darn sweet, as long as you're not thinking about towels. 8/10
Previous stage(s)
Hoothoot resembles a basketball with oversized red eyes, and its onomatopoeic name is lame. For the most part, it shows up only at night, and since staring at glowing screens when it's dark supposedly isn't good for your eyes, I'm not really sure how many people do this. I guess if you want a basketball on your team, grab a coffee first or something. 3/10
Other notes
Ash had one in the show, which might make Noctowl cool (if you really consider being on Ash's team cool).
File #3: Swellow
Appearance
Swellow's design isn't all that outlandish compared to its likely inspiration, the real-life barn swallow, which has a dark back, white underside, red face, and a signature forked tail. Game Freak's version of this also has squinty, serious-looking eyes, and hair that's sort of slicked back, which seems to be a recurring theme. Overall, Swellow is just cool enough in its appearance, but there's nothing really outstanding about it either. 6/10
Viability
From DPP to BW, Swellow had exactly one job, and everybody knew what it was: Flame Orb Guts Facade (or Toxic Orb, pick your poison). Facade is a move that doubles in power when the user is afflicted by a status condition, while the ability Guts buffs physical attacks under the same circumstance and negates the typical burn nerf. The aforementioned Flame Orb and Toxic Orb are hold items which automatically inflict the bearer with burn or poison status, respectively. Putting it all together, Flame/Toxic Orb Guts Facade Swellow could do a whole lot of damage. This all sounds dandy, except for how predictable it is as Swellow has never been able to pull off much of anything else (until now, see "other notes"). Regardless, its blistering base 125 Speed deserves an honorable mention. 6/10
Name
If you're one of those people who appreciates bad puns, then I've got news for you. Swellow is a swallow, and the word "swell" colloquially just means cool or great. Well, Swellow itself may arguably be cool, but its moniker leaves a lot to be desired. 2/10
Previous stage(s)
Taillow has a better name than Swellow, and it's also pretty cute. In its Gen III debut, it was available in only a handful of locations in the early game, including Petalburg Woods. For a change, this meant it was uncommon enough to not be annoying, but it was there if you wanted one. Competitively, it kicks a reasonable amount of butt in Little Cup, doing the exact same thing as Swellow and with the same limitations. Still, it's the most noteworthy Little Cup bird we've covered in this list (so far, at least). 8/10
Other notes
Swellow is among the few Pokémon with access to Boomburst, a powerful Normal-type attack introduced in XY, in this case as an egg move. Interestingly, Choice Specs Swellow appears to be on the rise this generation thanks to Boomburst, in spite of Swellow's low base Special Attack.
File #4: Staraptor
Appearance
Staraptor's hair isn't slicked backwards: it's slicked in front, and dipped in pink hair dye. That gives it a hint of hilarity, but its body is still robust and formidable. Judging by the vicious glare in its DPP sprite, it's safe to say that it will mess you up if you make fun of it. Take caution. 7/10
Viability
Finally, we're getting somewhere. For whatever reason, probably due to the evident ferociousness of its design, Staraptor gets access to Close Combat, a powerful Fighting-type move. Also, it's likely that Game Freak finally got the cue that fans were tired of useless birds. Close Combat allows Staraptor to have an edge over its previous counterparts by giving it a way to hit Rock- and Steel-types, which would otherwise be unfazed by Brave Bird. Since its introduction in Gen IV, Staraptor has resided comfortably in BL for three generations so far, and also kicks a fair amount of butt in-game. 8/10
Name
Staraptor's name isn't exactly ingenious. Obviously, its evolutionary family is based on the starling, though Staraptor itself gets additional inspiration from birds of prey such as hawks, and we also refer to these as "raptors". It sounds pretty cool, so that's a bonus. 5/10
Previous stage(s)
Starly is small and round, and still cute despite its spacey eyes. On the other hand, Staravia is an awful middle evolution. The blank facial expression and curly hairdo look awkward, rather than as cuddly as Starly or as hardcore as Staraptor. Also, the fact that its ability is Intimidate is hardly fitting and only makes it more outrageous, as Staravia is more silly than scary. 4/10
Other notes
In XY OU, Staraptor can combine with another marvelous bird further down on this list to form a strategy called "birdspam," where one bird weakens the opponent's team while the other cleans up afterwards. Thanks to the annoyingness of birdspam, some players are highly displeased that this idea took flight.
File #5: Unfezant
Appearance
Unfezant is technically the first species in the Pokédex to have significant gender differences, otherwise known as sexual dimorphism. Unfortunately, this doesn't make much of a difference, because Unfezant is an unsightly excuse for a regional bird whether it's male or female. Female Unfezant have the fortune of being comparatively less showy, meaning that people will be less likely to notice it and start laughing. The males don't get this privilege. 2/10
Viability
Even in NU, it's unclear what Unfezant is handy for. One of those things may be Tailwind support, with U-turn to help teammates switch in and Hypnosis to have a chance of incapacitating something. 3/10
Name
It's a pheasant, and it sounds like the word "unpleasant". At the very least, it's mildly clever. 4/10
Previous stage(s)
If you ask me, Pidove is a bundle of avian cuteness. It's so lovably squishy-looking, and the heart-shaped chest pattern is a nice touch. Sadly, it undergoes an inverse ugly duckling and loses that charm once it reaches its next stage, Tranquill. The only thing worse than Tranquill's looks is its name, which is another sickness-inducing and meaningless pun. 5/10
Other notes
It seems that Game Freak encountered some species confusion when designing the Unfezant family, seeing as pigeons and gamebirds come from totally different orders and are pretty much unrelated. I think they should take some time to brush up on their genius—err, genus.
File #6: Talonflame
Appearance
Thank you based Game Freak, for taking the fastest animal on the planet—the Peregrine falcon—and gaving it a flaming hot-rod look, combining two really awesome things: fire and super speed. Of course, fire makes everything cooler, figuratively speaking. At worst, Talonflame's look might remind you of Hot Wheels, and at best, it's striking without being overdone. The flame elements may seem cartoony to some, but other details such as the speckle pattern on its chest and the coloring of the bill are faithful to the original falcon idea, and look natural and organic. Maybe I'm biased because the Peregrine falcon is my favorite animal of all time, but I can't help it! 9/10
Viability
This generation, Talonflame has been nicknamed "the best revenge killer of OU" for a good reason. I'm no expert on the competitive scene, but even I know that Talonflame kicks ass and does so with its unique and potent hidden ability, Gale Wings, which offers +1 priority to all Flying-type moves. Prepare for +1 Brave Bird spam and +1 Roost, as well as other tricks such as U-turn and Swords Dance. Talonflame isn't invincible, but compared to almost everything we've discussed so far, it's still really, really good. For the first time, the early-game bird isn't just some kind of nuisance: it's a force to be reckoned with. 10/10
Name
"Talon" and "flame" individually may be nifty-sounding words, but splicing them together haphazardly just isn't very creative. Where Game Freak succeeded with Talonflame's looks and competitive impact, they really skimped on making its moniker something not obviously lazy. Maybe they thought it had too much going for it and wanted to give it some kind of design flaw. It's too bad, really. 1/10
Previous stage(s)
At last, Game Freak gave us a bonafide songbird in Fletchling. Its Pokédex entries speak of its awesome singing voice, which makes it a 'mon after my own heart, as well as its supposed "mercilessness". Surely enough, this passerine is an S-Rank contender in Little Cup which you can expect to priority Acrobatics your team to shreds, sometimes with a side of Overheat. It's close enough to being the LC equivalent of its fully-evolved counterpart, making it the most viable LC bird in this report. Unfortunately, Fletchinder doesn't have much to make it stand out between the baby and the mother hen, except for having an eleven-letter name. Also, I hear it's sweet stuff in RarelyUsed. 7/10
Other notes
Talonflame is the only regional bird so far whose typing has been something other than Normal / Flying, which shakes things up pretty nicely. Of course, just don't let it near any rocks. As a side note, the Peregrine falcon can dive at over 200 mph, which was more than likely the basis for this thing's base 126 Speed.
Conclusion
Let's face it: while a lot of players might opt for catching these birds towards the start of the game, many frequently end up leaving them behind in the PC once something better comes along. I, for one, am a highly loyal bird fan; through my Pokémon-playing career thus far, I've ushered four out of seven of these birds all the way through to the Pokémon League (you guess which few I never bothered to catch in the first place, based on my reviews).
Whether or not you appreciate birds as much as I do, I bet there are no complaints about having a Fly slave on hand through your entire playthrough. And, on that note, I think we'd all say that these guys are pretty fly.
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