Beedrill2001 Presents : Let's Talk Pokémon

#279 - Pelipper

Everyone has that specific pokémon they always make room for on their team whenever playing through a certain game or region, and Pelipper just so happens to be that pokémon for me.

Whenever I feel like playing a Hoenn game, there's a really high chance that Pelipper's gonna be a part of my team, and for good reason.

In any game that has HMs, I feel that Pelipper is incredibly useful due to it being able to learn both Surf and Fly, thus freeing up a team slot that otherwise would've been taken up by a flying type or a water type.

Out of the few water/flying types there are currently, Pelipper is by far my favorite of the bunch.

(Sorry Gyarados, I like ya a lot, but Pelipper outranks you.)

Moving on to Pelipper's design, I love this pokémon so much!

I've always thought pelicans were a really cool type of seabird, so of course I'd find a pokémon that is based on one to be quite appealing.

Now I might be alone in thinking this, but since I was a kid, I've found Pelipper and it's pre-evolved form Wingull to be kinda cute.

As per Pelipper's base stats, it has 50 attack, 100 defense, 95 special attack, 70 special defense, and 65 speed.

Besides that terrible attack stat (which Pelipper doesn't really use anyway), it's a pretty well rounded pokémon.

Yeah, that 65 speed isn't all that great, but Pelipper has the bulk to make up for it.

While 70 base special defense is ok, that 100 defense is where Pelipper really shines, allowing it to take hits fairly well.

That 95 base special attack is also pretty good, and pairs well with those STAB flying and water attacks.

Pelipper's biggest drawback is its 4x weakness to electric, which means any electric attack will basically be the end of my beloved seabird.

(Keep in mind that just because a pokémon has a 4x weakness doesn't mean it's bad, it just means you've got to know what you're doing and be careful what you're having it battle against.)

Movewise, Pelipper gets the coverage you'd expect from a water/flying type like Ice Beam and U-Turn, but this cheeky Pelican also gets some more interesting moves like Gunk Shot, Seed Bomb, and Knock Off.

This old seabird pokémon learns some very useful status moves too like Roost, Agility, Stockpile, and Protect, the latter of which makes the gym battle against Norman extremely easier by using Protect on the turn his Slakings attack, and then dealing damage to them on their Truant turns.

For the longest time, Pelipper only had one natural ability, but that was changed in Generation 7.

Pelipper's first ability is Keen Eye, which prevents accuracy drops and ignores your opponent's evasion boosts.

Not having to worry about constantly missing due to moves like Sand-Attack and Double Team will always be useful to have, and Keen Eye was in fact the only ability Pelipper could get before the introduction of hidden abilities in gen 5 and that aforementioned second ability given to it in gen 7, but as good as Keen Eye can be, I think its other abilities suit Pelipper much better. 

In gen 7, Pelipper was given the ability Drizzle, which sets up rain as soon as it is sent out.

Rain not only powers up water type moves, but it also weakens fire attacks and makes Hurricane 100% accurate.

For any team that relies on weather, having a pokémon that can set it up without wasting a move slot is super important, and Pelipper's Drizzle is no exception.

I am much more positive about weather here than when I went over abilities that rely on Sandstorm in previous chapters because unlike Sandstorm, rain doesn't damage your other pokémon at the end of every turn.

Pelipper's hidden ability is Rain Dish, which restores 1/16th of its HP every turn as long as rain is in effect.

Since pokémon can't currently have two abilities at once (I say currently just in case Game Freak makes it possible to have multiple abilities on one pokémon in a future game, though I don't think it's very likely), you'll have to set up the rain through other means, the most likely scenario being teaching Pelipper Rain Dance.

Health recovery makes Pelipper's bulk even more impressive, and gives it increased staying power in a battle.

That being said, I think Drizzle is clearly the best out of Pelipper's three abilities, but Keen Eye and Raindish are by no means a bad choice if you want them.

Throughout my nearly two decades long career as a pokémon player, I have used Pelipper countless times and will continue to do so in the years to come.

I simply adore this beautiful pelican pokémon, and that will never change.