POTW Pokémon of the Week #43: Wingull and Pelipper

SirOni · Apr 23, 2017

In the World of Pokémon, there lives a vast number and variety of amazing creatures to befriend and collect. Every week, we will be focusing on a single one of these Pokémon or evolutionary line and talking about what makes it special. This week's Pokémon of choice is the Pelipper line!

Soaring in from Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire Wingull and Pelipper are Water/Flying-type Pokémon that are based on various water birds. They are widespread Pokémon living in many regions of the Pokémon world with huge populations inhabiting the island regions of Hoenn, Sinnoh, and Alola. They make their homes at the edge of the sea usually on cliffsides where they can nest in relative safety. Wingull are built to ride the winds by catching updrafts rising from the sea making use of their long narrow wings and hollow bones. This allows them to stay in the air for long periods of time scanning for prey in the water. Pelipper will often stay closer to the surface of the water either by skimming the wave tops during flight or bobbing on the waves. They will dip their large bills in the water to scoop up food and swallows everything in one big gulp. Pelipper beaks are very spacious and have been known to carry a variety of things like eggs and small Pokémon, particularly their young. Their beaks are even large enough to fit a small child inside! While the main purpose of their beaks is to catch food Pelipper have also used them as vessels for ferrying Pokémon and objects across the water or transporting them through the air. Mainly based on the sea gull and pelican respectively Wingull and Pelipper also show a few behavioral traits present in other birds. Wingull’s method for staying aloft for long periods of time is something much more associated with the albatross, a large species of seabird with huge wingspans. Although gulls and albatrosses share many similarities they are actually pretty separated within the bird kingdom classifications. Pelipper’s reputation as a transporter, especially its role in the Mystery Dungeon games, brings to mind the real life application of passenger pigeons which could carry mail over long distances.

Though very common and at times considered to be pests by players these Pokémon have proven to be very beneficial to all kinds of Pokémon players, primarily through Pelipper. While technically Dragonite is the first non-Legendary Pokémon to learn both Surf and Fly Pelipper is the first common and best accessible Pokémon that can make use of these moves for the player’s convenience. Before the arrival of Ride Pokémon Pelipper had amazing utility as an HM user that not many other Pokémon could have ever offered. Being able to use the two moves most needed for traveling a region actually made its wide and sometimes annoying availability a blessing in disguise! In Pokémon OmegaRuby and AlphaSapphire Pelipper gained another level of usefulness to players with the inclusion of Lucky Eggs to its held item pool. This along with the change to the Exp. Share that generation and use of Blissey Bases made ORAS the best games to quickly and efficiently level up Pokémon. It’s a real shame that wild Pelipper no longer hold Lucky Eggs in Pokémon Sun and Moon. That said though SuMo did provide Pelipper with its best tool when it comes to battling, Drizzle! With Drizzle Pelipper has seen some major usage in general and has eclipsed the old rain-setter Politoed. Pelipper has just the right arsenal when it comes to setting up rain: a great Defense stat to take hits, U-turn to keep momentum, Water-type STAB, Flying-type STAB to make good use of Hurricane, and Defog to remove objects from the field just to name a few. Compared to Politoed which has Drizzle as its Hidden Ability and needs to be traded with an item to evolve Pelipper is the clear winner of this weather war.

Here are some questions to consider to get conversation rolling. You don't have to answer all of them or any of them in your post as long as you're staying on topic and within global forum rules.
-Do you like or dislike this Pokémon? Why?
-How is this Pokémon in-game?
-How is this Pokémon in competitive play? Are there any interesting strategies you like to use for them?
-Do you like this Pokémon's representation in the anime? Are there any moments or qualities in particular you enjoy/dislike?
-How do you think this Pokémon would interact with our world?
-If given the power to, would you change anything about this Pokémon and if so, what would you change?
-Did you like wild Pelipper holding Lucky Eggs, and if so would you like to see it again?
-Related to the previous question, do you think it’s a good idea for common wild Pokémon to hold items that are considered very useful and/or highly desired?
-What do you think of Pelipper’s new ability to make it rain? Do you think it’s a good ability for it, is it a good fit, and have you made use of it yourself?
-What do you think of its greatly expanded role as mail carriers in the Mystery Dungeon series?
-Which is Hoenn's true regional bird: Taillow or Wingull?
If you have any suggestions for Pokémon you'd like to discuss in the future just leave your ideas at the bottom of your post. Make sure you give your thoughts about the current Pokémon first!

Previous Pokémon of the Week:

Zexy · Apr 23, 2017

-Do you like or dislike this Pokémon? Why?
I do. Nice typing, availability early in Hoenn, it got Drizzle too now!
-How is this Pokémon in-game?
Very good in RSE and ORAS! Viable in-game as your sole Water and Flying type or as part of a rain team (one of the few weather teams that are extremely viable in-game at least for these games imo). Can also learn Surf and Fly 2-in-1.
-How is this Pokémon in competitive play? Are there any interesting strategies you like to use for them?
Drizzle, enough said. Better than Politoed at it, so glad it got it!
-Do you like this Pokémon's representation in the anime? Are there any moments or qualities in particular you enjoy/dislike?
The episode with Mr. Briney and Peeko was nice.
-How do you think this Pokémon would interact with our world?
It would be seen in abundance around water and would be nice to watch fly around or catch and play with. People would generally like it.
-If given the power to, would you change anything about this Pokémon and if so, what would you change?
Better stats. Typing and Ability are already great.
-Did you like wild Pelipper holding Lucky Eggs, and if so would you like to see it again?
Of course, it's a nice little detail that makes some sense and also makes this extremely useful item more easily obtainable.
-Related to the previous question, do you think it’s a good idea for common wild Pokémon to hold items that are considered very useful and/or highly desired?
Definitely although them just being handed to us is better. Lucky Egg being handed out and thus a major part of your in-game efficient run one of the reasons I loved all of the Gen V games.
-What do you think of Pelipper’s new ability to make it rain? Do you think it’s a good ability for it, is it a good fit, and have you made use of it yourself?
It's great, makes it much more competitively viable. Haven't made use yet as I haven't attempted Gen VII competitive yet, though.
-What do you think of its greatly expanded role as mail carriers in the Mystery Dungeon series?
That's also nice. I don't follow the series much but it's always nice to see Pokemon being given expanded roles and having this kind of everyday life emphasis.

Rainami · Apr 23, 2017

as of this gen, I'm more interested in it, since it gets drizzle now. As a water-type fangirl, I've naturally considered making a rain team, but was always turned off by the fact that politoed is stupid. Pelipper isn't the epitome of good design, but it's okay, with an amusingly exaggerated pelican beak, a nice color scheme, and a hint of derp, among other things. It's also way better than politoed as far as supporting its team with rain goes. Politoed is mostly limited to just kind of...sitting there, it doesn't really do much apart from hit fairly hard with rain-boosted attacks and miss with hypnosis. Encore is sorta cool but that's it. Meanwhile, pelipper has roost to keep itself healthy, a slow u-turn to help get its teammates in, stab hurricane, defog, and more. I haven't gotten around to training one yet, but I certainly intend to.

Zeb · Apr 23, 2017

Wingull is one of my favourite pre-evolutions. No matter how common it is, I don't think I'll ever get tired of seeing it. It's just a cute, simple design in a Pokemon-ized way. Pelipper I'm not so big on, it looks a bit clumsy, which may be part of its appeal to some. I haven't used a Pelipper on a team since back in the Gen 3 days, but I'll probably breed one at some point now it has Drizzle, since it can make better use of it than Politoed thanks to Hurricane. Roost and U-turn are neat pros over the frog too.

I'd say I consider Taillow the true regional bird just because it starts as a Normal-type, which is the trend in every gen so far. But we can consider it an honorary regional bird anyway, kinda like Spearow in Gen 1 - the Wingull line is no doubt closer in people's association with Hoenn than Taillow's ever is and we can thank the massive "too much water" for that.

Sakuraa · Apr 25, 2017

Do you like or dislike this Pokémon? Why?
I like Wingull; it's cute. Pelipper is okay.

How is this Pokémon in-game?
Never used either.

Do you like this Pokémon's representation in the anime? Are there any moments or qualities in particular you enjoy/dislike?
Sure, Peeko was adorable and Pelipper's voice is hilarious.

How do you think this Pokémon would interact with our world?
Like a normal seagull. Fishing in water and making annoying noise on docks.

If given the power to, would you change anything about this Pokémon and if so, what would you change?
Not really a fan of Pelipper's design and how its mouth is literally most of its body. I'd probably just change that.

Did you like wild Pelipper holding Lucky Eggs, and if so would you like to see it again?
I don't even remember that being a thing, lol. Guess it would nice to have it back, though I'd probably never take advantage of it.

Related to the previous question, do you think it’s a good idea for common wild Pokémon to hold items that are considered very useful and/or highly desired?
Sure. It's certainly better than buying them.

What do you think of Pelipper’s new ability to make it rain? Do you think it’s a good ability for it, is it a good fit, and have you made use of it yourself?
Of course it's good. What could be better than a water-type starting up rain and boosting it's moves right as it hits the field?

What do you think of its greatly expanded role as mail carriers in the Mystery Dungeon series?
I wouldn't say greatly expanded. Outside of the openings and a few cut scenes here and there, the Post Office Pelipper were never really focused on:/ But I guess it was nice.

Which is Hoenn's true regional bird: Taillow or Wingull?
I say Taillow mainly because that's the general consensus among Pokemon fans and its the one Ash caught in the anime.

Maniacal Engineer · May 2, 2017

Drizzle is an infinitely better ability for Pelipper than Keen Eye is, so I do like that it now has that.
It can definitely take advantage of the rain with 100% accurate STAB Hurricanes and boosted STAB water moves.
It also does have that handy self healing move, Roost, which Politoed does not, and Scald helps out by potentially burning the opponent, reducing their Attack stat.
On the other hand, Pelipper is hurt by Drizzle due to Thunder being 100% accurate. On the other hand, the question is does Pelipper's quad weakness, in comparison to Politoed's regular weakness, even matter at that point?
There probably are some KO's that can be achieved on Pelipper that wouldn't KO Politoed, but those seem fairly situational.

Either way, Gen VII was kind to this family, and I am glad, since it's been overlooked for so long.

Camille · May 5, 2018

I like this line. Wingull is pretty cute and Pelipper is derpy, I also like the fact it actually becomes slower upon evolving, since Pelipper is nowhere near as sleek as its pre-evolution. The fact they can learn Shock Wave is also pretty cool. Drizzle is an amazing ability on Pelipper, since it makes the powerful Hurricane a surefire move, in addition to strengthening its Watr attacks. I used it even in Generation IV games, holding off evolution until it had picked up Air Slash(as a Wingull).
In the wild, they tend to be annoying thanks to Supersonic and Wingull's high Speed and Pelipper's Protect, Roost, and Stockpile, although a single Electric attack is enough to take them out.
I remember Winona using a Pelipper against Ash in a Gym Battle. I didn't like it using Steel Wing to counter Electric attacks, it was sort of cheap, but then again, the entire episode was disappointing to me.

POTW Pokémon of the Week #43: Wingull and Pelipper

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