Pokemon Analysis: The Pidove Line!
From pigeons to quills to peacocks… the identity crisis Pokemon!
Last time, we covered the Lotad line, one of the more unique Pokemon species out there. This time though the RNG decided to give us a far more ‘normal’ species as far as Pokemon go in the Pidove line! This doesn’t mean, however, that there’s nothing interesting about 5th gen’s staple starting bird line by any means. There’s some details that set this Normal/Flying line apart from its brethren.
Facts you may not have known
Pidove, at 2.1 kg, weighs as much as
– 4200 average paper clips
– or 420 A4 size papers
And, at 0.3 m, is as tall as
– A ruler
– The maximum height of a competitive throwing dart
Tranquil, at 15.0 kg, weighs as much as
– one and a half gopher tortoises
– 2.07 maximum weight bowling balls
And, at 0.6 m, is as tall as
– A Wii U standing vertically
– A large poodle
Unfezant, at 29.0 kg, weighs as much as
– 28.01 litres of water…
– …which is the same weight as a Vaporeon
And, at 1.2 m, is as tall as
– 1.1 R2D2s
– Four Pidove stacked on each other, or two Tranquil
The Pidove line has an odd set of abilities. One of its main abilities is Super Luck, which doesn’t appear to be a very fitting ability for it. It doesn’t have much basis for being a particularly lucky Pokemon – pigeons are more known for their numbers, and doves are linked to the idea of peace in religion, rather than luck. Furthermore, only one move it learns enjoys a double benefit of the critical hit boost from the ability and its own side effect in Air Cutter. It feels somewhat of an odd choice, but luckily Air Cutter is an early level-up move, so people picking this Pokemon in the 5th gen games are likely to enjoy a number of critical hits to their advantage, provided they have the right ability.
The alternate regular ability that Pidove and its evolutions can get is Big Pecks, and this is just even stranger. It does make more sense if you look at the Japanese name for the ability (translating to ‘Pigeon Breast’), but for the English translation, none of its forms looks particularly muscular. But perhaps they work out in secret?
Pidove lifts. Do you, bro?
That said, the Dream World ability is one that makes a lot more sense for this line. It’s Rivalry, which boosts the attack stat if its opponent is of the same gender, and lowers it if it is fighting a member of the opposite gender. Birds tend to fight other rival males, but in the case of female birds, they tend to be more interested in courting them, not fighting. This is even more apparent in the gender-dependent designs of Unfezant, the Pokemon based on a game bird such as a pheasant. The females are rather plain looking, but the males are the ones with the colourful feathers, a neat usage of the gender differences in appearance introduced in the 4th gen games – after all, birds typically differ in this way in real life. Oddly however, Unfezant is the first regional bird that displays this gender-based dimorphism. On that note, the dex suggests that females fly better than males. Perhaps all those extra colourful plumage around its head somehow hinders the male Pokemon?
It doesn’t seem like the Pidove line really knows what it wants to be either. Pidove itself is a pigeon, while its evolution in Tranquil is closer to a dove or quail. This is rather unlike various other Normal/Flying Pokemon. Look at Pidgey, Hoothoot, Tailow and Starly. It’s clear from the beginning what they are based upon, and in evolution they mostly just get bigger. Pidove’s line however goes through three different species of bird in its lifespan. This isn’t an unusual aspect of the Pokemon line, to be fair, but for a bird Pokemon it’s certainly unique. Maybe it just has identity issues.
Being the first one in the line, Pidove is a regular Pokemon, with a rather simple name… at least in English. Alternatives such as the French name (Poichigeon, involving the words for chickpea) or the German name (Dusselgurr, or ‘bungling’ and ‘to coo’) seem more interesting, and go a bit beyond ‘Pigeon + Dove’ in meaning. Then again, that simple meaning does suit them – they are said to be rather simplistic and have trouble following commands at times, which suits the, ahem, bird-brained pigeon. One neat feature in its design is that its chest has a distinct heart shape to it.
And yet it doesn’t learn Heart Stamp…
Tranquill’s name is more reflective of its disposition – the dex entries suggest that it is not a fan of fighting and that it is believed to leave in a peaceful place with no war. Not only is it a play on the word quill, but this also reflects the dove’s background. The dove, as previously mentioned, is a representation of peace. Tranquill is also shortened verse for tranquillity. They also seem to be brighter – they are said to be able to return to their trainers no matter the distance separation between them, although this may be more just an instinctive nature of migratory birds coming into play.
And then there’s Unfezant. As stated before, the male is different in appearance to the female. It doesn’t lose the heart pattern it had as a Pidove at least – if you pay attention to the grey feathers around its neck and face, you’ll notice that same heart feature. It’s clearer in the female case, as it’s not obscured by the fancy ribbon-like decoration that males have.
This line has had its fair share of appearances, and that’s because a certain Ash Ketchum has a fascination with Normal/Flying types you can get early on. And like all the previous ones he had before releasing or storing them prior to his next gen adventure, he fully evolves the bird Pokemon of the generation too. His is of the female gender, and she was caught as a Pidove shortly after he starts his journey in Unova in the episode “Enter Iris and Axew!”. Ash’s Pidove stayed a Pidove for twenty-one episodes; coincidentally, twenty-one is the level that Pidove evolves. She was Ash’s first Pokemon to be sent to a lab other than Professor Oak’s (Ash sent Unfezant to Professor Juniper first) and Ash’s first Unova Pokemon to be sent to Professor Oak. Out of all of Ash’s bird Pokemon, Unfezant took the shortest amount of time to evolve to its final stage (in ‘only’ 66 episodes). Pidove was also the first Pokemon for the “Who’s that Pokemon?” segment for the best wishes series.
She also appears to be wearing shorts. They’re comfy and easy to wear.
Competitive Analysis
It seems that Unfezant has a good assortment of attack and speed to make unprecedented sudden springs and ‘sweep’, as we say. However, she stands outclassed by the more reliable and efficient (would you believe it?) bird Pokémon like Swellow and Dodrio. She has been stuffed into the ‘NeverUsed’ tier in Smogon’s competitive tiers and not for bad reason. The belief of a sturdy competition against Unfezant is shattered by glancing at the defensive side of the critter; a weak Special Defense to boot and not enough Defense to make the deals.
The next severe problem faced is lack of diverse offensive moves to counter who would otherwise be threatening Pokémon, especially Rock-types. The good point is that the part-normal type which she shares gives her a powerful Return for most attacks that deal well with Pokémon of many types. Then she has Roost, that can let her rest as well as ward of those Ice and Electric weaknesses she has.
Another special move that helps her a lot in breaking those gimmicky and defensive Pokémon is Taunt. This also renders useful to stop those hard-hitters from their much-needed Swords Dance/Dragon Dance. But it so happens that the move strategic Unfezant mostly relies on is Hypnosis, and that’s not a good sign at first, considering Hypnosis doesn’t have the spot-on accuracy desired. But it allows Unfezant to force the other person to switch out and that may be a good card to play up your sleeve if the opponent happens to be somebody who is a threat to your team in general.
The base stats are unique for the Pokemon line. Pidove for instance has a total of 264 base stats, Tranquill a total of 358, and Unfezant with 478. That is, until generation six, in which Unfezant gained an extra 10 base points in attack, which puts it on equal with Scrafty (assuming it too didn’t get any changes to its base stats, which was unknown at the time of writing). It remains to be seen what new tricks Unfezant gains in gen six, or indeed if this boost to attack will bring any greater usage for it in the world of competitive battling.
Do…
– Give Pidove a high five (just look at its art!)
– Give Tranquill a high five (they also seem fond of it)
– Wear a male Unfezant as a decorative hat (make it sit still with birdseed)
– Model your hairstyle after a male Unfezant
– Place Tranquill around your house for a calming effect
– Use Pidove’s line to deliver something if your email service is down
Don’t…
– Feed Pidove in a city
– Try to explain the theory of relativity to a Pidove
– Employ Tranquill as thugs or bringers of doom
– Get a female Unfezant. No plumage… =(
– Faze or excite a Tranquill
– Mistake its gender
– Wear fake plumage near Unfezant
Like before, we’ll follow up by asking for nicknames for these guys which’ll get rated, and then have an article on a collection of cool fanworks! If you have any to contribute, let us know here or join in on the forums.
Written and edited by An-chan, bobandbill, Hoenn, Musty, Slayr231 and Richard Fightmaster.
