We’re back for the Normal-type reviews, and today we’re going to focus on Pidove, Tranquill and Unfezant, Unova’s early-game birds that are different from other early-game birds in several ways! If you are ready with this one, please proceed.
Selected Fan Art (Artist: tartarsauce)
Unova’s version of the early-game bird Pokémon is appropriate to its urban culture, since pigeons are one bird that is able to adapt to any environment, even cities. This family is also the first and currently only early-game bird to not be of a predatory nature compared to the previous birds, especially in regards to the final stage of its evolution. Even though pigeons and pheasants are different, there is a transition between Pidove and Unfezant because Tranquill looks like a blend of both.
Pigeons have the ability to return to a certain location when they remember it, even if they are found on another part of the earth. This is because they have what is known to be “GPS cells” in their brains that allow them to navigate easily. Similar to this, Tranquill is able to locate its trainer no matter where it’s found. If people have this ability, they too won’t get lost that easily, but then jobs for search squads and the invention of the GPS itself won’t be needed, and thus won’t exist.
The pigeon is able to adapt to most habitats, mainly because they are able to find a suitable place to settle down, usually when that place looks like a substitute for sea cliffs. Not only that, if the food in the area is good for them, then they won’t mind settling in that area. After all, cities could have some food, such as disposed ones in the trash or people feeding said birds. This makes pigeons one of the most common birds. Similarly, Pidove is the most commonly-encountered bird in this family, even in the Unova portion of the anime. It is possible that Pidove live in cities due to the same factors, therefore they are accustomed to people. In parks, they gather for the food that people would voluntarily provide for them, like real pigeons.
Pidove’s name is derived from the words “pigeon” and “dove”. Though named differently, pigeons and doves are the same species, so they could usually be used interchangeably, since both words describe the same bird in different languages. Usually though, “pigeon” is used for the larger variants while “dove” is used for the smaller variants, but the terms are not applied consistently. Compared to Pidgey, Pidove looks closer to an actual pigeon. This Pokémon family’s colouration is very similar to a feral rock pigeon, which is being grey all over its feathers and down. Even Unfezant, based on a pheasant, has this colouration instead of having a more colourful plumage, though it has a bit of colour on its underside.
One personality trait that Pidove has is being simple-minded and forgetful. It would do its best to listen to trainer commands, but if it is too complex, it would fail to understand. From what I gather, if you make your sentences too complex, it would not likely get it straight away. It would also be forgetful and might wait for new commands even it is already assigned one. Forgetfulness is usually attributed to short attention spans, which might be what Pidove has. In other words, the simplest way to describe Pidove is it is bird-brained.
Pheasants have a much different appearance from pigeons, such as being usually grounded (though it could fly if it needs to) and having sexual dimorphism between male and female. The male is the bigger and more colourful one, whereas the female has a duller colour and is smaller. The Pokémon version of this bird also has a drastic look between genders, mainly differentiated by the males having head plumage. Interestingly, pheasants could adapt to any climate, though they usually need to be introduced to that area since travelling on the ground is preferred, much like other land fowls. It is usually being hunted, so in a way, it is the opposite of what early-game birds normally do (even Swellow is quite predatory).
The male Unfezant must be quite proud of its more fashionable “mask” (must be why it’s the Proud Pokémon), and is able to use their plumage to threaten its opponents by swinging it around. Perhaps the quick-swinging is able to act like a whip, which would hurt. The females, while lacking on that plumage, makes up for it through its better flying abilities, possibly because its lack of plumage allows it to focus on its flying abilities better. They also won’t feel close to anyone other than their trainers, possibly out of pride or trust.
One theme that this family should have in common is peacefulness. After all, doves are usually the symbol of peace and pacifism, for various reasons, ranging for their loyalty in being mates for life to its association as such in religious writings. In terms of design, the family has a heart located on its body. Pidove has that symbol on its chest, while Tranquill and Unfezant have theirs over their face extending to the breast and neck respectively. Adding on to this, it is said that in where Tranquill lives, it is mentioned to be a peaceful place with no war, which is where its name comes into play. The theme of peacefulness is played out in their Egg Moves, such as Bestow, Wish, Lucky Chant and Hypnosis. Oddly, this family learns Taunt, a decidedly non-peaceful move. It would be nice if they also learn a signature move that stops Physical attacks from working, preferably two turns.
The stat distribution for this family is unusual. For a bird associated with peacefulness, its stats are similar to most other early-game bird Pokémon, having high Attack and good Speed, rather than having good defences that it should plausibly have. Even Unfezant’s increased stat is in Attack, not in one of the defences (though that’s not a bad thing). Because of this, it is usually outperformed as a battler because they do not learn the strongest Physical STAB in the form of Double-Edge or Brave Bird, though it gets Night Slash for coverage. It does help that it has Super Luck because it needs all the offensive abilities it could get based on its stats. It does have some unique moves though, such as Taunt, Wish and Hypnosis, though nothing stands out.
This family of birds could have been a different take on the battling potential of an early-game bird, but it only partially reaches that target. The idea of a more peaceful and less predatory bird is great. It could have been a Pokémon centred on a more peaceful approach in battling, but it is somewhat undermined by having similar battling abilities with the traditional early-game birds, which are predatory in nature. Overall, this family of Pokémon have a good idea, but it is not coherent enough.
+ Peace-themed
+ Varied gender differences
± Transition of species from pigeon to pheasant
– Peaceful theme is not coherent with battling abilities
Pidove’s TCG Card
Besides the nicely-coloured artwork, we also see two things that are known on Pidove while it’s nicely landing itself in its own flock: Pidove’s heart-like chest and the sociable nature of pigeons in general.
Tranquill’s TCG Card
In this card, Tranquill looks like it is flying across the world. This fits in perfectly with its ability to find its trainer from afar, as this card’s Pokémon description suggests.
Unfezant’s TCG Card
Because this Pokémon has different looks between both genders, two cards are elected for this Pokémon. For the left card, this is the only card with female Unfezant, so it is automatically chosen. Though it isn’t shown flying (something females are said to be better at), it does look somewhat like a pheasant. For the right card, we see a male flying over a city (Castelia, judging by the geography), which is also one of the places a pigeon (or pigeon-pheasant hybrids) like to flock to.
Facade
A façade is about giving someone else the impression that they are fine, which in this move’s case, is being fine even when the user is inflicted with one of the selected non-volatile status. The reason this move befits this family is more to do with them being one of the few that learns this move naturally, but it could also be how they are still fighters amidst their peaceful image.
Unlike most high-risk moves that powers up under a certain condition, Façade’s effect is easy to take advantage of. Just by using a Toxic Orb or Flame Orb, the user could double Façade’s power, and it’s more potent when the user has an ability that powers them up under status, namely Guts and Toxic Boost. This is the reason Normal-types with one of those abilities use Façade, such as Swellow, Ursaring and Zangoose. Having a powerful attack is what makes them so threatening in the first place.
Not every non-volatile status will activate Façade’s effect though. It only works with paralysis, poison and burn, so sleeping doesn’t make Façade powerful. Initially, burns will halve Façade’s power thanks to burn’s Attack drop, effectively neutralising its power, but in Generation 6, the designers discovered that it is better for Façade to actually take advantage of burn, so this move ignores burn’s power drop, so even a Pokémon without Guts won’t experience a power drop.
Overall, Façade is a well designed move because its effect is simple to activate and it is easy to fully take advantage of its full power.
That’s all for today’s article. I hope you enjoyed reading this as much as I have writing it.
Next Article: Porygon, Porygon2 & Porygon-Z
