POTW Pokémon of the Week #70: Farfetch'd

Enzap · Nov 26, 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. Because many American users just celebrated Thanksgiving, this week's Pokémon of choice is ~~the delicious~~ Farfetch'd!

Nearly every generation we have gotten at least one Pokémon people call gimmicky or even a joke. They range from having very low stats and limited movepools (such as Delibird) to being quite exceptional in some areas but incredibly niche in use (like Pyukumuku), but they all tend to be difficult to find, have no evolutionary relatives, and require more complex strategy to use in battle. Farfetch'd is the Pokémon that set the trend. It originated all the way back in Generation I, where it was only accessible through and in-game trade. Though it was more powerful than unevolved bird Pokémon of the same type, at that time it was outmatched by the fully evolved Pidgeot, Fearow, and Dodrio, which meant it was fairly difficult to use for being so hard to obtain.

But ignoring its battle abilities for now, Farfetch'd is noteworthy for having an exceptionally odd appearance, even for a Pokémon. They very closely resemble a real-life wild duck, but they are always found carrying a green leek which it is able to wield as a sword-like weapon or eat in cases of limited food. This may seem like an odd combination, but looking at Farfetch'd's (that's a mouthful) Japanese name "Kamonegi" reveals that it is a reference to a Japanese phrase that roughly translates to "a duck comes with a green onion." It means something that is surprising but also convenient since you would not expect a tasty duck to arrive holding a perfect side dish. Just like its real-life counterpart and namesake, Farfetch'd is also known for being hunted almost to extinction in the Pokémon world, making it one of the few Pokémon known to be eaten by humans.

Fortunately for our frail feathered friend, it has received multiple buffs over the years. Farfetch'd is still quite weak in all of its stats, but in Generation VI its Attack was increased a full 25 points from 65 to 90. While that is not a spectacular score, it does allow it to make better use of its surprisingly diverse physical movepool. Since Generation I it has gained access to moves with high power, coverage, and utility such as Night Slash, Poison Jab, Leaf Blade, Knock Off, Acrobatics, and Brave Bird. Very recently in Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon it gained access to the powerful priority move First Impression, which was originally exclusive to Golisopod. It has a few ways of increasing its average Attack stat such as with the move Swords Dance or its Hidden Ability Defiant. Finally, Farfetch'd was given a signature item, the Stick, which increases its critical hit rate by two stages. If held when using moves with an already high critical hit chance such as Slash, Night Slash, and Leaf Blade, Farfetch'd will always deal extra damage to its target.

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?
What do you generally think of "joke" Pokémon? Do you have a favorite one?
Do you think its wrong for the games to include lore about eating Pokémon or is fine since it's a normal part of our world?
Does Farfetch'd deserve the buffs it has received or should it have stayed even more useless? Should it receive any more buffs or changes in the future?

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 · Nov 26, 2017

Do you like or dislike this Pokémon? Why?
I like it enough to have it as my current avatar

There are several reasons about why I like it which involve both the main series games and GO. Having its unique item (Stick) makes it stand out too.
How is this Pokémon in-game?
It's extremely useful in early XY when you can get it as an in-game trade just before Viola and sweep the Gym with it; you should just use it on the early team and eventually rotate it out for something else, you should be getting an early team of 6 in the new games under the Exp Share anyway.
There's also another thing I liked a lot about it in FRLG, although it's not about actually using it in battles; but there was another in-game trade for it which was pretty convenient for getting a free +1 in your caught Pokedex species, which was important as you needed to get 60 to unlock the National Pokedex and pretty much all the cool post-game content.
How is this Pokémon in competitive play? Are there any interesting strategies you like to use for them?
Never used it and don't plan to, to be honest...
Do you like this Pokémon's representation in the anime? Are there any moments or qualities in particular you enjoy/dislike?
I liked "So Near, Yet So Farfetch'd" enough to have it as my current status

What I dislike is that it doesn't get much showcase otherwise and it's kinda underwhelming in battles and it shows in the anime too... but that's not too much of a surprise

How do you think this Pokémon would interact with our world?
In a sense, what's currently happening in GO is a pretty important interaction it has with "the world"

In-universe, people would just think of it as yet another exotic bird.
If given the power to, would you change anything about this Pokémon and if so, what would you change?
Better stats and Ability, make it a better physically offensive frail speedster with the Stick niche, so perhaps buff the Stick item a bit too.
What do you generally think of "joke" Pokémon? Do you have a favorite one?
I don't dislike them, and perhaps I find reasons to like some of them. Can't say I had too much of a favourite for a long while, but after what just happened in GO Farfetch'd is starting to grow on me a lot.
Do you think its wrong for the games to include lore about eating Pokémon or is fine since it's a normal part of our world?
I just don't really trust a lot of Pokedex entries at this point that say strange stuff, this is one of them. I headcanon a world where Pokémon just aren't edible.
Does Farfetch'd deserve the buffs it has received or should it have stayed even more useless? Should it receive any more buffs or changes in the future?
It certainly deserves them... but it needs more.

ocelotlrama jaguar · Nov 27, 2017

It's... alright. It's not a badly designed Pokemon by any stretch, but its probably one of the few Pokemon that desperately needs an evolution, at least in my book. True, they beefed up the attack stat a bit, but it doesn't appear in the wild in Gen VII (at least that I know of as of USUM) so it's moot to compare how it does in-game. I remember using it in-game years ago in Red. I also remember dumping it in the PC box as soon as I could. I guess a very skilled player may know how to use Farfetch'd competitively. I am not that person.

Anime Farfetch'd I did like. I loved it in its debut episode and almost all the episodes it appeared in. It has charm.

Farfetch'd would probably be highly endangered because they would be overhunted. If they are endangered in the Pokemon world, they would, without a doubt, be endangered in our world.

If I could, I'd give it a Mega Evolution or at least beef up the Speed stat a bit.

On the subject of joke Pokemon, I actually would find it hilarious if they actually gave Farfetch'd a Mega Evolution only for it to be a gimmicky joke, as well. Watch all its stats decrease instead of increase. But on point, I really don't consider Farfetch'd a "joke" Pokemon. I consider it just a rare gimmick that you couldn't capture at first and only obtain through trade, then you find out it's not that great to use in-game. Unown... now there's an unfunny joke trying to be more important than it really is.

I don't have too much of an issue with people eating them in the games. The Pokemon are treated more like animals in the games than they are in the anime, where they seem to be more sentient and understand humans speech. If it was the anime, yeah, it would make me a bit uncomfortable.

Farfetch'd is not a disliked Pokemon. I've seen a few fans of this guy who would love to see it beefed up a bit. I would like for it to be better and used more because I am sick to death of dragons and Ultra Beasts dominating the competitive scene, but still, if Game Freak decided to be mean about it and actually make it worse with a Mega Evolution, I'd laugh my ass off at that.

Stratelier · Nov 30, 2017

Farfetch'd is cute.

It's also of those Pokemon that fans want to see an evolution for, but most of the attempts to design one range from, shall we say, outright mallarky to merely unleekly.

Fan of Jarrus · Dec 1, 2017

I do like Farfetch'd. But have not used one.

Got a POTW suggestion, how about Absol?

Maniacal Engineer · Dec 4, 2017

Farfetch'd desperately needs more buffs. It should get a Fighting/Flying evolution that expounds on the stick and makes it a kendo fighter, or something. That'd be pretty neat, actually.

Camille · May 5, 2018

Farfetch'd has always been an odd Pokemon. It looks kind of cool and has a good movepool with moves like Brave Bird, Knock Off, Return, and even Leaf Blade and First Impression, but its stats are very disappointing, even with the Generation VII buff. It definitely needs a Mega Evolution, maybe even with an Ability similiar to Huge Power. I don't like "joke" Pokemon (like Unown and Delibird) in general, but the closest to a favourite of mine is Dunsparce.

Revenge of the Boyega · May 11, 2018

Farfetch'd is royal. Sure, he's weak, but the Pokemon franchise can be excessively easy if you're just stocking up on powerhouses. I'd happily take him on in my team.

POTW Pokémon of the Week #70: Farfetch'd

More options

Enzap

No thoughts, head empty

Zexy

Quaxly Boy

ocelotlrama jaguar

Fluffy with 80% more spots!

Stratelier

Well-Known Member

Fan of Jarrus

Kanan Jarrus is a Noble Jedi

Maniacal Engineer

Mushy Emotionalist

Camille

Call of Fate

Revenge of the Boyega

Dancing With Myself

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