Contest Noctowl vs Swellow

[Envoy]

Noctowl vs Swellow

VS

Both are early bird Pokemon, both are Normal/Flying. Both only have one evolutionary chain. Noctowl is defensive, Swellow is offensive. Fearow's not involved here at all. Without that third wheel (who really should just be compared to Dodrio), who will win?

Which is your favorite?

Which is more useful?

Who would win in a battle?

As much as I love Noctowl, Swellow is probably my favorite starting bird to date, so I'm abliged to pick him.

 

[Ivysaur]

Swellow is really cool, but Noctowl gets points for being unique. I'm going with Swellow just because I prefer offense over defense, but Noctowl's still a pretty cool Pokemon.

 

[Rakarei]

I once trained a Noctowl in Pearl. To put it plainly, it sucked balls. Noctowl isn't useable ingame, and sucks competitively as well. Swellow all the way.

 

[IslandWalker]

Swellow. Another older thread compared these two, but including Fearow.

EDIT: Here it is. However, you started this thing so it doesn't matter much.

 

[Ino-Chan]

Swellow Swellow Swellow Swellow Swellow!

I love the Swellow. Best UU lead imo, and is just plain win.

Noctowl is cool too, but is weaker and doesn't have Toxic Orb Guts Facade.

 

[Envoy]

Swellow. Another older thread compared these two, but including Fearow.

EDIT: Here it is. However, you started this thing so it doesn't matter much.

I know about that thread, but frankly, I thought that Fearow was out of place and tacked on in this matchup. Dodrio is a much better partner for it in a thread, so I made this one to find out what people think of Swellow and Noctowl now sans Fearow.

 

[Zwampert]

Swellow. I love its speed and it looks awesome.

 

[SoleniumX]

Swellow 'cause I totally love all my Sapphire pokemons to death.

 

[Marik]

Johto pride! Noctowl.

 

[Ranger Jack Walker]

Cool looking sweeper vs. weak even in-game.

Yeah, Swellow wins.

 

[ManmadeWalnut]

Noctowl is badass as a Pokemon, but it's been said multiple times: he sucks in battle. Swellow is still cool, and was an awesome beginning Pokemon for R/S/E, so I vote Swellow. They need to make a better owl Pokemon - Maybe an extra evolution for Noctowl? I mean, I'm sick of all the add-ons to old Pokemon, but I think Noctowl deserves one.

 

[Magnagarde]

Swellow, easily.

 

[brickwork]

Noctowl.

 

[Envoy]

I dunno. Competitively, my Noctowl survived an LO Starmie Ice Beam with more than half it's HP, then proceeded to put it to sleep with Hypnosis and Roosted away the damage, earning me the momentum required to win the match.

I wouldn't exactly say Noctowl sucks, it just plays a lot differently than the other starting birds.

That said, Swellow's still better. It was the star of one of my teams and won me several battles on Wi Fi.

 

[Ranger Jack Walker]

It was great to see a early route pokemon who could pullits own weight and be awesome right till the end.

Though technically, Wingull was the first route bird pokemon in RS.

Taillow was available only after helping Wally catch Ralts.

 

[Outcast]

Noctowl, he can learn hypnosis, a helpful move, and has an unique typing.

 

[Ivysaur]

and has an unique typing.

...

Normal and Flying?

 

[Outcast]

...

Normal and Flying?

Oh... thanks for pointing that out, all my life I thought he was phsycic/flying... I still pick him though.

 

[Envoy]

Oh... thanks for pointing that out, all my life I thought he was phsycic/flying... I still pick him though.

It still wouldn't be unique. Natu/Xatu and Lugia are all Psychic/Flying.

 

[Orion-Sama]

I never used Noctowl too much, though I've tried. Unfortunately, it isn't very usable before the 4th Generation. Then, despite Air Slash, it takes too long to make it useful compared to pretty much every other early bird, besides maybe Pidgeot, who at least got Stats in the places they count for its level-up Moves. No such luck for Noctowl, who gets an attack that runs off its decent Special Attack until Level 21 as a Hoothoot (Meaning you have to postpone evolution for one level), and Air Slash at Level 29 (If a Hoothoot). Psychic TM comes too late to be useful, so you're basically resorting to trading it to a game where you have the TM already, or try raising it with its awful physical attacks and stats.

Swellow was the first "quickly powerful" early bird of the series, and I really loved its design and capabilities since the 3rd Generation. I got one for most of my Ruby and Emerald playthroughs, which speaks for itself in how much I like it. Swellow can be a serious beast in Double Battles, or even Single Battle since 4th Generation. Guts + STAB Facade running off such a huge Speed is truly a force to be reckoned with. It can rip through so many things it isn't funny.

I love all early birds myself, but in this case, Swellow wins. I wouldn't discount EV Training a Noctowl, though. Sadly, its in-game performance is downright poor, but after that's over, I think it can be much more useful. However, my pick is Swellow, as I always preferred it, being my second favorite early bird. Noctowl's the 3rd.