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RTTP: The Pokemon. All 721 of them, and counting.
- Thread starter Watch Da Birdie
- Start date
Piplup is adorable. I wasn't watching the anime when it was a main character, but these gifs are great. Prinplup is definitely awkward middle-stage material though imo.
As for Empoleon...I'm conflicted on his design. I LOVE his face - the idea of an Anchor Crown that is also part of his beak is very cool. I'm not a fan of the general body shape though, and really don't like the 'penguin suit tuxedo' markings on his chest.
As for Empoleon...I'm conflicted on his design. I LOVE his face - the idea of an Anchor Crown that is also part of his beak is very cool. I'm not a fan of the general body shape though, and really don't like the 'penguin suit tuxedo' markings on his chest.
papertoonz
Member
man people keep posting gifs but they are not posting the best one
Speaking of Meloetta I really like Mitte Mitte ☆ Kochichi ending from Best Wish.
Daw Oshawott is so cute.
Nothing will ever beat Oshawatt crying rivers during Meloetta's goodbye.
Daw Oshawott is so cute.
RomanticHeroX
Member
Maaaaaan, I may have to watch the show again.
I would watch the fuck out of this, a Mystery Dungeon anime would be the shit. The Humans have always been the least interesting part of the show, actually scratch that, Humans have always been the least interesting part of the ENTIRE FRANCHISE, so absolutely nothing of value would be lost.
balladofwindfishes
Member
They've done mysterious dungeon animes before
Oh my.man people keep posting gifs but they are not posting the best one
Watch Da Birdie
I buy cakes for myself on my birthday it's not weird lots of people do it I bet
Don't let the gifs fool you, Best Wishes will break your heart.
Iris was the best girl though.
Blackleg-sanji1
Banned
Best wishes is best forgotten!(except oshawott!) although I will say ash's team was pretty cool..well his reserves anyway.
And that's not how you spell May
Oh I forgot to bring this up, but I love how the gen IV starter triangle goes in both direction
Infernape > Torterra > Empoleon
Pretty simple, right? But it goes the other way too.
Infernape < Torterra < Empoleon
Since Torterra is quad weak to Ice, Infernape is weak to Ground and Empoleon is weak to Fighting
Infernape > Torterra > Empoleon
Pretty simple, right? But it goes the other way too.
Infernape < Torterra < Empoleon
Since Torterra is quad weak to Ice, Infernape is weak to Ground and Empoleon is weak to Fighting
Poor Ice has been reduced to a mere support move for Water types lol. Game Freak pls
Watch Da Birdie
I buy cakes for myself on my birthday it's not weird lots of people do it I bet
#396 - Starly
Normal/Flying
Though Hoothoot and Taillow have often been referred to as "Pidgey Clones", due to the fact they serve the same role as Pidgey in Generation I as the early-game birds, Starly was the first Pokemon one could say legitimately took after Pidgey due to the fact it was a three-stage line while the other two were simply two-stagers, and thus more in the vein of Spearow. Thankfully, unlike Pidgey, Starly is a legitimately good Pokemon who becomes quite awesome by the time it reaches its final form, and even in its first-stage you can already see how Game Freak designed it a bit smarter by focusing on Attack and Speed, really what the early bird should be focusing on, instead of putting points in the other stats it really doesn't even need. Also it learns the powerful Wing Attack, 60 BP STAB, at Level 9 which is just amazing considering Pidgey doesn't pick that up till Pidgeot, leaving it basically with Gust. I picked Starly as my Flying-type in my first run through Sinnoh in Pearl, though I ended up using another Pokemon as my HM Fly user, and I was not disappointed as it proved itself to be a long-lived member of my team who just never quit. Best. In-Game. Regional. Bird. Ever.
On the other hand, visually Starly doesn't blow you away, though perhaps that's the point---I mean, it is a garden-variety Pokemon after all. But you'll recall in Generation I Pidgey and Spearow were rather "monstrous" all things considered, but overtime it seems Game Freak decided to dial back the first-form Early Bird and basically make it a 1:1: counterpart to the real thing, in this case the white-cheeked starling. It's a very common and popular bird in Asia, such as Japan, known for its loud and somewhat annoying cry. By Generation IV, the hardware Pokemon was on had evolved enough to be capable of producing rather realistic cries instead of weird, garbled computer noises and Starly basically sounds like the real thing more or less, which is pretty neat. In terms of temperament Starly are rather weak individually, but strong in groups and in the opening of Diamond and Pearl even attack the player character and Barry for basically no reason, forcing them to utilize Professor Rowan's Starter Pokemon.
As you might have guessed, Ash caught Starly in Diamond and Pearl as his regional bird. It was one of Ash's more pragmatic captures, as after his Aipom angered it he realized capturing it would be useful since at the moment he was currently searching for Pikachu. There's not much to say about Starly though as it evolved very quickly when it helped fellow Flying-types escape from a Team Rocket trap, pretty neat though the early bird got a focus episode like that when usually that doesn't happen ofent. One interesting thing is there's an "error" in the original Japanese version where Starly knows Gust, despite being incapable of using it in the games---personally, this doesn't bother me at all. I mean, all Gust is is kicking up dust with wings, why wouldn't Starly be capable of using that? Regardless, the dub actually caught this error and eventually ended up dubbing the attack as "Whirlwind" consistently, a move Starly actually learns. I don't really think that was necessary, of all the game rules the anime violates that's very minor, but some nitpicky fans might appreciate it regardless.
#397 - Staravia
Normal/Flying
At Level 14 Starly evolves into Staravia. While Starly was really great for the first form Regional Bird, things slow down a bit for Staravia. The only new tool, besides a moderate increase in Attack and Speed, is Intimidate which is pretty useful. Otherwise, he's sort of starved for good new moves here though Wing Attack should serve you well enough and can be replaced at Level 28 for Aerial Ace to ensure the extra accuracy, but he might start to run into trouble when facing Pokemon who aren't weak to Flying, or are resistant to it. Don't give up on him, though, because he's totally worth it when he evolves.
Staravia is basically a larger starling, though with a little head bob that resembles that of the northern lapwing. Like Starly it's still described as being a rather timid Pokemon who recognizes its own weakness and thus stays in flocks for protection, and one really has to wonder why it gained Intimidate at this stage when it's probably one of the least threatening looking Pokemon ever. One will notice that the feathers on its chest form an "M", which might be intentional as its original name is the rather odd-sounding "Mukubird". Back when it was first revealed, I remember it enjoyed some memetic popularity because of its uninspired Japanese name with people referencing it as Muku.BIRD or something like that, looking back it was somewhat cringeworthy but nevertheless as a young Pokemon fan the various in-jokes developed around Diamond and Pearl were totally part of the experience, and continues today with modern fans thinking of their own cute little nicknames for newly revealed Pokemon such as the infamous "Smugleaf" in Generation V.
Ash's Starly evolved only like eleven episodes after its debut, before Ash even took part in his first Sinnoh Gym Battle, leading to speculation over its ultimate fate---you'll recall typically his bird had stayed in its second-stage basically for the entire duration: Pidgeotto never evolved till it left, Noctowl was caught in its second and last stage, and Taillow evolved into Swellow but couldn't evolve any further. Starly was the first time we had his bird evolve early on like that and still have another form left, and many fans were wondering if it'd go all the way or be stuck in its middle form like the others to keep up the pattern. Anyway, Staravia began to see more use in battles---though memorably it was passed over by Ash in his first Gym Battle, leading to a funny little scene where it suffered an existential crisis when it realized the archetype it fell into---and did rather well for itself, though it never really had any major victories against anyone's ace, though it did prove useful in the Grass and especially the Fighting-type gyms, the latter managing to take down two Pokemon and master Brave Bird. And, like always, it still did the usual scouting job though I recall it being a bit more livelier than past bird Pokemon, and getting more screen time simply hanging out with the group when Pokemon like Pidgeotto and Noctowl always seemed to get left out of casual interactions with the group's Pokemon.
#398 - Staraptor
Normal/Flying
At Level 34 Staravia evolves into Staraptor and learns the one move that really sets him apart from other bird Pokemon---Close Combat. Most Normal/Flying Pokemon have absolutely no way to counter Rock and Steel-type Pokemon, but Staraptor is equipped with a 120 BP Fighting-type move to do just that and the Attack and Speed to put it to great use. It also receives the 120 BP Flying-type move Brave Bird as well, the strongest Flying-type STAB basically available at the time. Staraptor's all about going on the offensive and basically kamikazing your opponent, as basically every attack it has worth using has either a recoil effect, such as Brave Bird and Take Down, boosted by its Hidden Ability Reckless, or has a serious drawback such as Close Combat lowering its defenses and Final Gambit straight up killing it. But man, this guy can hit hard, and you'll probably easily be able to score at least one K.O. against your opponent. As you can imagine in the main game, where you can get around some of those drawbacks thanks to the switch mechanic, Staraptor is an absolute monster and is probably the first Early Bird Pokemon to legitimately be worthy of taking on the Elite Four as opposed to being reduced to your Fly Slave.
One look at Staraptor and you know it's not the type to fuck around, it's finally become proud of its power and took off on its own, never backing down from a fight no matter how much it's injured. Dude looks intimidating as hell and like every other final form regional bird incorporates elements of larger birds of prey, in particular its trademark fringe---earning it the nickname "Emobird"---resembles that of the long-crested eagle. Go look at this bird's Wikipedia page, it seriously looks like the type of animal who really would kill you with Brave Bird in real-life, it's so intense looking. Its Japanese name is "Mukuhawk", by the way, though of course the localization spiced things up with the word "raptor", the coolest sounding word to every ten-year old on earth, and all in all Staraptor is easily the coolest final form regional bird. Honestly I can't say anything bad about this bird---I wouldn't survive if I did probably---nor have I ever seen a single insult hurled his way by fans. It's such a shame then that after legitimately capturing lightning-in-a-bottle, so to speak, Game Freak went and fucked things up with the Generation V regional bird...
Ash's Staravia basically ripped off Taillow's evolution into Swellow, evolving in a PokeRinger Contest just like Taillow did in Advanced Generation. Like, the moment we saw that there was going to be another PokeRinger episode everyone in the fandom guessed Staravia would be evolving, and they totally hit the nail on the head. Though his evolution was a bit cooler, as he engaged in an awesome battle with Paul's Honchkrow showing off the powerful Close Combat and earning Ash his first major victory against Paul if I remember correctly, as otherwise Paul had curb-stomped him every time otherwise. Looking back, though, Staraptor's performance after that was somewhat sub-par, not as bad as Torterra though, but it wasn't as much of a powerhouse honestly as Swellow even though it was pretty cool...like it took down a couple minor Pokemon, but never won any major battle for Ash. I really hope the Diamond and Pearl Pokemon get a chance to shine again in the Kalos League, they really deserve some more awesome fights considering they were basically Ash's coolest team overall.
Reduced? It's always been that!
Gen IV tried really hard to change that with Weavile, Mamoswine, and Abomasnow but sadly it turns out it wasn't enough :/
TriggerShy
Member
SatelliteOfLove
Member
That is one mon surgically-built to do one thing and one thing only: kill itself murdering.
If it lost any of those tools, (brave bird, close combat, reckless, ATK or SPD under 90), it would be UU at best but man.
If it lost any of those tools, (brave bird, close combat, reckless, ATK or SPD under 90), it would be UU at best but man.
Staravia is something much scarier than G-dos or Arbok; a good first route bird pokémon!
Staraptor is one of those cases where you can tell GF went the extra mile to make it good. It doesn't have a ton of tools like say, Infernape, but it does not waste anything it has. Great power, decent speed, very powerful STAB moves, unexpected coverage and two very nice abilities. You'd think that would be the peak of the regional birds. Well, I guess it is in-game.
MetroidPrimeRib
Banned
Birds are very intimidating. Fast with razor sharp talons? If they all turned on us humanity would be doomed. Hitchcock was right.
TriggerShy
Member
Lmao it's kinda funny cuz Wolfric even makes fun of the type lmao.
They need to stop treating it as this upper tier type. It's always found late game and has very high league representation even though it's trash.
I'm still salty Grass hasn't had an Elite Four clearly.
NipplesAndToes23
Member
I used the Star line in Black 2, but I don't think I used it against the Elite 4. I think I dropped him after the Earth gym,
unknownstranger
Member
Staraptor is fantastic but it having Close Combat still doesn't make much sense to me.
SenorArdilla
Member
Staraptor was the best regional bird ever before Talonflame showed up with its broken-as-hell Gale Wings.
Live fast and die young.
Live fast and die young.
So with Empoleon I complained about how it's unsatisfying to use, but Staraptor is the exact opposite. Staraptor is basically power trip:the pokemon; if you use it in a main-game playthrough it absolutely destroys everything in its path. And getting Return and Fly early in gen 4 only helps to expedite its transition from cute little bird to deadly monster.
I used the line in my original Diamond playthrough (and many playthroughs after) and I still remember the feeling of seeing a bird want to learn Close Combat, I was completely blown away by that. I had never even seen Close Combat before that so I thought it was a signature move at first. And then it learned Brave Bird and I was amazed all over again.
Design-wise the whole family is pretty great too, Starly is cute, Staravia while not amazing stands out on its own IMO, and Staraptor just looks badass. Seriously that thing looks like it's out for blood in every battle.
Best route 1 bird, best Sinnoh-original pokemon, and easily a contender for best flying type.
Amazing.
I used the line in my original Diamond playthrough (and many playthroughs after) and I still remember the feeling of seeing a bird want to learn Close Combat, I was completely blown away by that. I had never even seen Close Combat before that so I thought it was a signature move at first. And then it learned Brave Bird and I was amazed all over again.
Design-wise the whole family is pretty great too, Starly is cute, Staravia while not amazing stands out on its own IMO, and Staraptor just looks badass. Seriously that thing looks like it's out for blood in every battle.
Best route 1 bird, best Sinnoh-original pokemon, and easily a contender for best flying type.
Man I still love that rivalry to this day
Amazing.
So true. Just look at this freaking monster:
We should be thankful they haven't evolved for advance intelligence yet.
Staraptor is fucking brutal. Pokemon Diamond, Pearl, and Platinum Nuzlockes basically become "Staraptor and friends" because it destroys everything in-game. I love it. Talonflame might be the new best bird on the block and Pidgeot might have gotten a nice boost with its mega, but Staraptor doesn't care. Staraptor doesn't need some gimmick like Gale Wings or mega evolution to blast craters in its foes.
NipplesAndToes23
Member
Yeah, I think so too, but maybe it's supposed to be one of those cartoon fighting birds.
Thank god we should all be long dead by the time they're ready to take over the world.
Dr. Feel Good
Banned
Man I just have no connection with Generation IV Pokemon. Such an awful group of creatures.
I used to think that too until I saw these gifs:
He's not even using his talons. And here I was thinking Staraptor couldn't get even more badass.
TriggerShy
Member
I kept my Staravia as it was a little while because of Close Combat making it weaker and I wanted my Staravia to be the cool pre-evolved member of my team, but I eventually evolved it anyway, because whatever.
Watch Da Birdie
I buy cakes for myself on my birthday it's not weird lots of people do it I bet
Loved this episode.
NotDreamcast
Member
As I blew away the early game with Wing Attack, and smashed through the late game with Close Combat and Brave Bird, I began to ponder:
"Is the regional bird supposed to be the MVP* on my team?"
Like, Pidgeot was passable, Noctowl wasn't too great, and I skipped out on Swellow, but Staraptor was on a different plane of usefulness compared to all the others at the time.
Talonflame may be parading around with Gale Wings in these recent times, but Staraptor will remain the original brave bird.
---
(*most valuable pokemon)
"Is the regional bird supposed to be the MVP* on my team?"
Like, Pidgeot was passable, Noctowl wasn't too great, and I skipped out on Swellow, but Staraptor was on a different plane of usefulness compared to all the others at the time.
Talonflame may be parading around with Gale Wings in these recent times, but Staraptor will remain the original brave bird.
---
(*most valuable pokemon)
Exterminieren
Banned
I would never recommend that anyone watch the Best Wishes anime.
However, if I did, it would be for Oshawott, and Oshawott alone.
However, if I did, it would be for Oshawott, and Oshawott alone.
Crimsonlink
Member
Staraptor was my Infernape's bro. Always coming in to take care of those fighting types when I didn't feel like letting Infernape sweep the opposing team.
Boss Doggie
all my loli wolf companions are so moe
Man, I'm so used not seeing "ATTACK LINES" anymore :/
XY spoiled me so much
Hell no. I don't care about what people think about female characters, but if your character solely exists on being a cunt, you can never ever be a "best" at something.
XY spoiled me so much
Hell no. I don't care about what people think about female characters, but if your character solely exists on being a cunt, you can never ever be a "best" at something.