We’re back for the Normal-type reviews, and today we’re going to focus on Fletchling, an early-game bird that eventually becomes a Fire-type! If you are ready with this one, please proceed.




“As an early-route bird, Fletchling and its family gets the job done. It’s a shame that Gale Wings Fletchling cannot be found normally in the main story, but even so its family’s move pool, while not spectacular, does more than enough to prove the Tiny Robin Pokémon’s worth on any team. Design-wise Fletchling finds a nice balance between portraying characteristics of a Normal- and Flying-type Pokémon, while also showing hints of its eventual type change to a Fire-type Pokémon when it evolves; its red coloring is strong, but not overbearing, which allows Fletchling to have a physical connection to its evolutionary brethren while displaying its elemental uniqueness in the family.” ~ Fairy Ice Ricky


Selected Fan Art (Artist: Reganismyfirstname)

Unlike the other early-game bird Pokémon in other Generations, Fletchling is the only Pokémon in the line we will be touching on. This is because its evolutions are Fire-types, losing Fletchling’s Normal-type in the process. This is a first for an early-game bird, in which a type change occur after evolution. It wasn’t known that Fletchling will have Fire-type evolutions when it was first revealed, but it was hinted at when Fletchling used a Fire attack. This already made Fletchling’s family unique, but it has another neat trick: their unique ability.
Fletchling is one example of how there will always be at least one Pokémon inspired by something Japanese, even when it was introduced in a region inspired by France, much like how the Kami trio and Darmanitan are Japanese influences, found in Unova (a New York-inspired region). Fletchling looks very similar to a Japanese Robin in both form and colouration, making it a straightforward design. Even its behaviour could plausibly be done by birds, with its song-like chirps, showing friendliness to its kind, using tail-feathers to communicate, and being merciless to intruders. Since Fletchling is the youngest in its family, having a straightforward design is not much of an issue since this is not the most-used form. Besides, the divergence from the real thing is clearer after evolving, making any similarities between reality and fiction barely noticeable.
Being that Fletchling is the first Pokémon to be based on a robin, already are the references to Batman featuring Fletchling as the “Robin” and Crobat as the “Batman”. Generally, any Pokémon similar to real pop-culture icons will be represented as such, including Braviary as Captain America and one of the spider Pokémon as Spider-man. The adaptability of the Pokémon species to other characters is similar to how animals are adaptable to other characters. This is one of the great things about this franchise.
In a bid to make early-game Pokémon useful in battling, some of them gained very useful abilities, such as Greninja’s Protean and Diggersby’s Huge Power. Similarly, Fletchling and its evolutions gained Gale Wings, which grants Flying moves a priority boost. If Flying moves were not quite useful, this would’ve been a minor boost, but the truth is, Flying is a great offensive type and it has a few wonderful moves in which to use it with. For Fletchling, it didn’t mean much except getting a boost on Acrobatics, Roost and Tailwind, but its final evolution receives the most benefits from this ability, as though the designers are going all-out to make Talonflame the best early-game bird ever.
I admit that I didn’t like the idea that Fletchling will have Fire evolutions before Talonflame was revealed, because of the double Rock weakness. By now, I am OK with this because this makes Fletchling different from the traditional model of a Normal/Flying bird. This is basically what is special about Fletchling: it transcends the norm of a tradition into something extraordinary.


+ Different from the traditional early-game bird
+ Straightforward depiction of a Japanese robin
– Type is inconsistent among members
– Somewhat ordinary for a Pokémon



TCG Card

In a bright morning sky, Fletchling looks down and readies to swoop on an unsuspecting insect Pokémon to catch (at least, that’s what it looks like). Although Fletchling is a small bird, it’s surprising that it’s able to see from very far, judging from how tall all those mountains are and how low the trees are.




Me First

For a fast Pokémon like Fletchling (and its evolutions), Me First is the representative Normal-type move.
This move emphasises gumption from the user by making them a volunteer in using an attack the opponent is going to use. Perhaps they do a better job with it since their attack is more powerful than if they were to use that attack normally. Obviously, if the user’s attack is low, the power is likewise not quite high.
Despite being one of the users, Fletchling is not the most optimal user since it didn’t achieve the necessary Speed to get this move out first. It’s also humorous that some slow Pokémon also learn this attack, which will fail if they don’t use it first.
Generally, the best users are ones that are fast and preferably powerful, because this move only works if it the user moves before their target. If that Pokémon has Prankster, they will even have the potential in using the opponent’s priority attack to out-prioritise their attack. If going against an opponent weak to their own attack, that is better because there is a chance the opponent will have a STAB attack that can be used to retaliate. Assuming the opponent doesn’t know what’s coming, they will be in for a rude surprise.
Overall, Me First works best when the opponent doesn’t expect what’s coming, so it is best used when you are sure it will KO an opponent.




That’s all for today’s article. I hope you enjoyed reading this as much as I have writing it.
Thanks for reading.

Next Article: Furfrou
The post Normal-type Reviews: Fletchling appeared first on Pokémon Crossroads.


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