pokemon spotlight: starting birds

The pokemon world is vast, with many many different pokemon to pick from, from strong to weak, many battles to a world that you as the player must save. We all start off our journeys small however, When you turn on that pokemon game for the first time, you are given a choice of thee starters, always fire, water, and grass. Then you are sent on your journey with a pokedex and balls to build your team up. It never fails though your first few grassy patches on your own you will encounter one of three guanteed types. a normal pokemon, a bug type and a bird. for the latter two you will likely out level there usefullness as you progress but the world is large and a reliable flyer will likely stay at your side for a long while. With this Spotlight instead of talking about one starting bird, i decided to do all of them, from pidgey to fletchling and all that fall in between. I have two rules that allow this flyer on this list, one it must start off as a bird, no bugs that evolve into flying. Two you must be able to catch them before you arrive at your first gym.

So who quailifies, i think most of you know, From gen 1, you have pidgey and spearow. From gen 2 we add in hoothoot, (pidgey and spearow appear again here. In gen 3 we add tallow and wingul to the mix. Gen 4 is starly, gen 5 we have pidove, and finally in gen 6 we have fletchling. I am going to try and not make this article two big but before we get to the ranks, maybe we should take a little stroll down discription lane first.

Pidgey’s family: Pidgey is probably the most famous out of all the birds on the list, well known to fans of the anime and gamers alike. Pidgey is the only bird in this group of starter birds that not only gets two evolutions (pidgeotto at 18 and pidgot at 36) but it also gets a mega evolution. That is high praise in deed, from both fans and the pokemon company to give one of the first bird types that most players run into a mega. The train doesn’t stop there either for pidgey, no this birds fan base grew even more when earlier this year Twitch played pokemon. A whole lore built around the game and Pidgey became so much more to people. it became bird jesus…the protector of the helix. I tell you out of all the starter birds here…pidgey’s fame beats all of them.

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Spearow: poor forgotten and neglected Spearow. This bird was released the same generation in the same areas as Pidgey, but this guy is often neglected and forgotten for one of two reasons. One likly reason, gen one is oozing with birds and it just gets worse after. two Pidgey has two evolutions Spearow just has the one fearow. dispite all this, fearow is a really decent flyer who learns one of my favorite flying moves drill peck. This is a ferce bird type that deserves just as much love as pidgey. Sadly though…i think pidgey got a better agent.

Hoothoot: I honestly don’t have much to say about this guy, all my playthoughs in gen 2 i rocked spearow all the way though. I really can’t think of single time i really played with this guy. i will say this though, i really like owls so i have always been a big fan of the design. Its kind of sad though that this is the only instance of owls in the game. I have used this bird to breed with snorlax though, Noctowl learns zen headbutt, one of my favorite psychic moves, breeding it with a snorlax (holding a full incense) you will get a little munchlax born that knows this move. It is a difficult process but to me makes this starter bird worth having around.

Wingull: Oh wingull so cute…so damn annoying. Its only when playing oras did i remeber how annoying this bird is, and how much fun it is to electrocute the crap out of it when i run into it. Most starting birds have it rough with electric, ice and rock out to get them, but add water to the mix, wingull can’t even look at an electric pokemon with out fainting. Do not even get me started on Pelipper, I just have never been a big fan of its evolution. Sure its nice the game gives you a water type, especially since the first gym you come across is a rock type, but no.

Taillow: this is another generation 3 starting bird and honestly the better of the two. Taillow has a little more durbility then wingull ever had, but i am afraid unlike wingull if it wasn’t for ruby and sapphire rerelease this might fall into to the forgotten bird catigory. like wingull and hoothoot this little one only has a single evolution. I honestly forgot this pokemon existed until i was trying to complete my dex in Y, that is really sad, because taillow was also featured in the anime as on of ash’s pokemon. the problem here i think is its move pool is very shallow and the first three gyms where starting birds can really shine. Hoenn is just not a good place for starter birds with shallow move pools and gyms that don’t really take advantage of thes starting critters, gen 3’s starter birds just get obscured. so while design wise taillow is one of my favorites, it never really makes into a party.

 Starly: in gen 2 and gen 2 the starting bird types have ranged from not choosen because there were better and more familer options there, to competly useless and forgetable. When Pearl and diamond rolled around i think many pokemon fans were looking for a change in this trend, and what we got was starly. For me at least this little bird impressed the heck out of me, staying on my team though the elite four (five). This was the first starter bird in a long while that had pretty unexpected natually learned moves. I mean it learns close combat, then it has a pretty nice arrary of teachable moves as well. Plus this little guy is tough, i played though gen 4 twice, and both times i had a starly at my side. This one is one of the few starter birds you can take to the elite four and know they will be right there till the end. This is the only one on this list, i want to have a mega evolution to.

Pidove: this derpy thing, I can’t blame its design, honestly unova is more of a city scape, and supposdily designed around good old NYC. You can’t go a block in nyc without running into a pigion, so to have one in the game espeically in gen 5 must have been a no brainer to the designers or unova. My complaint with this isn’t pidoves design even though i really hate the male design, but thats ok i primarily go female anyways. My complaint with this guy, is more to the fact given how awesome starly was in gen 4 pidove is kind of a let down. no where near as strong as its predecessors i think pidove is doomed that as the years drag on to be forgotten like little taillow and hoothoot. Unlike hoenn though, unova has a few more bird types later game, so if you havn’t ditched by then you likely will by the end of game. its design is great its just if your a player like me who has been there for every generation, to see how stater birds can excel then the following generation we return to mediocrity. poor little pidove.

Fletchling: Well we have seen it all with starting birds, from gods, to forgetable and everything in between, but until gen 6 we hadn’t seen a starting bird quite like this one. Until fletchling all starting birds were normal flying with wingull being the only exception, now we have this one that as it evolves gains fire typing. None of these birds had been featured in a story. this all changed with the latest entry into the pokemon universe. the game starts off with as i would call it a smart ass little fletchling waking up out character, and when the game closes out we see probably the same smart ass fletchling flying away, talk about a good agent, (must be using pidgys). For a starting bird fletchling is probably the most useful bird on this list, not only does it gain a fire typing, it gets flame body, making talonflame the perfect pokemon mother(or father) to what ever pokemon you might be trying to hatch. Example pick up five eggs from the breeder, fly to Luminous city to bike around in a circle, until the five hatch, (hatching faster due to flame body) then taking flying to the next city to check on your new babies potential, just to start the process over again.

So now you have met, or reintroduced yourselves to the starter birds how would i rank them.

1 Fletchling, for its ability to help with breeding and its decent combat skills.

2 Starly, decent move pool, access to fighting and some of flyings best move sets.

3 Spearow: Fogotten by many, but not by me. a decent all around bird with the potential to take you end game

4 Pidgey: while a star in its own right with being dubbed Bird Jesus and getting a mega stone. compared to the others pidgy is just average bird.

5 Hoothoot: learns some intresting moves, but overshadowed in its own game by two birds from the previous generation. great for breeding move zen headbutt into other pokemon

6 Pidove: doomed to be forgottened, just an average bird with nothing really special going for it besides having two forms based on gender.

7 Taillow: Forgotten warrior of hoenn, and taillow was in the anime. Just an average starting bird with nothing to really make her stand out

8 Qingull: falls way to easily in battle, while it might be able to beat fletchling in a fight due to typing, in the end wingulls frailitys just makes it the worst of the starting birds.

What do you guys think, am i being fair. How would you rank these guys an why? Anyways until next time.

Oh and on operation hoenn christmas day, this week i am going to start breeding turtwigs to send over, who will you choose/

Gen III Review

Pokèmon Ruby/ Sapphire and Emerald or known more as gen III is probably one of the most misunderstood of the generations. The first one to depart form the familiarity of the previous two and decided to explore a whole new world. Fan could argue either way but here is my take.

*Just a note: I only played Sapphire and Emerald in this generation. I picked Sapphire because well its my birthstone and i like blue.

They took a chance, a lot of players from the previous generations were starting to age out of the game, so pokèmon had to take a chance and try to get new players. By almost essentially starting over with Ruby and Sapphire they allowed new players to come into the game, and not feel lost. This generation implemented lots of changes and removed a few changes as well so let me get right into it.

Likes:

Hoenn: there is just so much to this region, oceans to explore, volcanoes run around. i can’t tell you how much fun i had playing in the ash covered leaves, i would run around in there just for fun some days. This region is beautiful and the enhanced capabilities of the advanced the graphics really helped showcase how pretty Pokèmon could be.

Dive: Yes this is an Hm move i really enjoyed and made sense to have it in game. Ruby Sapphire and Emerald are all about the battle of water and land. Dive gave players for the first time a chance to explore the underwater world of Pokèmon, its a move i really appropriated having and was a little sadden to see it removed in other gens. when it returned in Black and White it seemed more of an after thought then anything else. Dive’s power is essentially the same in mind as dive or fly. it takes the critter to safety for one turn then hits the following turn.

Villains: The battle between elements here is done very well, you essentially picking sides with the color you picked. it was nice to see a villain’s with a motivation besides money, and power, even if it is sort of a stupid reason.

Legendary: I am a big fan of almost all the legendaries in this game, (Except the regi’s) I really can’t say much about groudon only because i played sapphire, and emerald. but the others Kyogre, Rayquaza.

New Pokèmon: There are A Lot of good pokèmon in this game, some won’t make my top list but doesn’t mean i didn’t like them. in a way i think it was smart to make new and old players alike to start from scratch here, it really gives players a chance to get to know each one of these new guys, before going back to old favorites. there can be such a thing as too many choices some times and i think this game allowed players to slowly get to know and love the new guys…maybe as much if not more there old favorites.

Abilities: this is the first time abilities comes into play in this game, like the generation before which added held items, this one includes abilities. This makes a lot of sense for the first time taking ghost pokèmon that had been vulnerable to ground moves finally getting an ability to levitate.  abilities is something that was sorely needed and i glad was added.

Starting over: In  a lot of ways this was a starting over point or even the first time that people played pokèmon. While it always has been easy for the game to bring in new players, i think the fact that we are starting off in a new region, with new pokèmon gives players new to the franchise a chance to ease into the game who at this point had about 370 different creatures in it. Yes with Gen three we would eventually see a remake of green and red to appease the older fans and ruby and sapphire was to bring in newer fans. Also starting over gives players a fair chance to get to know the new guys.

Berries: I like the planting and growing of berries, i don’t know why i just do.

Dislikes.

Contest: i really dislike the contests dressing up your pokèmon making them food to make them pretty all of it seemed like a pointless waste of time to me. give me back my slot machines!

back sliding: Yes i did notice the loss of the day night system and the week day events. While i was happy to see the loss day specific events the lost of day and night made little sense and would return in gen VI.

Internal battery: Ok this is more of a hardware issue. this is the only game where i have to replace the batteries in the actual game! Granted its loss only really effects berries which really cant travel over to other gens, still i don’t want to have to take apart my game just to go back and play it. Especially if the repair requires super glue. i am terrified of the stuff, won’t touch it.

Two bikes: I am soooo glad this was only here because it was overly complicated to keep track of which bike did what, why and ug.

Secret Bases: While maybe now a cool idea with more and more player interaction all over the world, i found little reason to have this in this game. I think in this case its a good idea…wrong gen to implement it in. But imagine how fun it would be to have this now with the capabilities of X-Y and global links!

No link to the past: while i understand the upgrade to the games jumping from system to system was necessary doesn’t make it any less disheartening to loose your older pokèmon for ever when you jumped to this game. i think this is also something Nintendo and game freak have acknowledge because fans were pissed off about this. However in all future games there has been a way to bring your critters over to the next generation. Currently waiting in black and black 2 is my kyogre waiting for be transported into his new home in X-Y.

My Top 6 favorites and least favorites.

i will be cheating here a bit because there are so many guys i like in this game. so bere that in mind. We will start with this dislike group.

6: spinda: This isn’t bad i just completly forgot it was there up until recently. not a great sign.

5:Feebas: if you spent as much time catching this jerk as i did, you would hate it too.

4: Volbet and illumois: i just don’t understand, Why.

3Plusal and minum: No! No game no! Bad game. There was a good chance to give us goof electric pokèmon in this game, instead you gave us this? Why, why unleash these two upon the world?

2: Ludicolo: Words cannot even express the trouble this one gave my in pokèmon XD. I still loathe it as a result.

1The Regis. These three jerks, not a single one of them was easy to catch, i would have them down to 1 hp and paralyzed with there stats reduced to nothing and they still would not go into the freaking pokèball!! Dusk balls were not around yet so it was up to my timer balls, which honestly after 40+ turns would be about as effective as a master ball but nooooo. Recently while playing Black 2 i discovered i would once again get the privilege of catching them again. i refused they had been ported from sapphire and emerald i will not put myself though that unless absolutely necessary. Freaking pain in the ass pokèmon.

Fumes a little bit…

Ok now we got the guys who pissed me off to no end lets move on to the likes.

6: Torchic Family: This one changed a lot of me, first fire starter i have ever picked. To this day a choice i do not regret. This family is super powerful to this day and is super popular. I would dare say it is second behind charizard to most Pokèmon fans in terms of starters, and rightly deserved its mega evolution. (not pictured because its not part of gen III)

5: Gardevoir: Thanks To pokèmon X-Y i got reminded how good this pokèmon was…Is.

4: Metagross: This guy you get end of game and takes a while to level, but it is powerful and worth your time. I think now with the passing of time some people have forgotten this powerhouse, but i never have. He now waits for the transporter to rejoin me, and who knows maybe somewhere down the line he will see a mega form as well…i can think of nothing else that deserves it more.

3: Sharpedo and Wailord: i just can’t separate these two: Sharpedo water dark and a tough water Pokèmon to have on your team.  Then there is the Hm Knowing Wailord who can learn all water moves and strength just makes it too valuable not to have on your team. It was always hard to choose between them then, and still is today, so they can share number three.

2: All Dragons in this game: i know i know this is cheating but it is true, there isn’t a dragon they added this generation i did not come to like or adore. i used them all and to be honest would use them all again in a heart beat.

1:Kyogre: This is it, this is the water pokèmon who unseated Lapras for me. Its ability drizzle made it rain, allowing it to use thunder and not miss, and that’s not all. Like all legends it has an impressive move pool,  it is also so damn pretty. Years ago a friend of mine got me this guy as a stuffed critter, to this day i adore it. honestly if it wasn’t for lugia’s song it might be number one on my legends list too because i just like this guys so much.

All In All Gen III had its flaws, but certainly does not deserve the hatred it has received, yes it left a lot in the past, but you can also look at it this way. This was the start of Pokèmon’s march towards better quality games, games that not only relies on the catching them all aspect but helped develop in depth worlds were players could get lost in. In a way Kyogre my top pick for power and beauty seems appropriate because that is what Pokèmon marched to with the advanced generation. Beauty and power.

With all the hints dropped in X-Y one can only hope that Ruby and my birthstone sapphire will soon see a remake, because i can only imagine what they can do next .