And I still love how Bidoof is one of the most liked Pokemon ever.Speaking of Bidoof Day, they released a very important announcement...
Yep, you just got rickrolled by the official Pokémon YouTube channel.
It's adorable and a fantastic slave in the generation where you need ten million HMs to get around. It was basically guaranteed to be extremely popular.And I still love how Bidoof is one of the most liked Pokemon ever.
Well, being Bidoof Day, maybe it's worth taking a close look at the Plump Mouse Pokemon (no idea why that is it's species name, especially when Bibarel is called the "Beaver Pokemon" (both in English and Japanese). Japanese species name is "Round Mouse" and from what I looked up it's not like it's a nickname the Japanese have for beavers ).And I still love how Bidoof is one of the most liked Pokemon ever.
TIL I have been pronouncing Bidoof wrong. I think this is a more pokemon-related song than any of the #pokemon25 songs so far, though ironically they even have a Bidoof version of that graphic and background.Speaking of Bidoof Day, they released a very important announcement...
Yep, you just got rickrolled by the official Pokémon YouTube channel.
Aside from the fact that Bidoof and Bibarel are basically the most reliable HM users in Sinnoh (and mind you, Sinnoh is extremely HM heavy), it's important to remember that it's the early route regional mammal, a la Rattata. It was not necessarily meant to be great in the long term and is designed to be one of those Pokémon who will evolve early and be a fairly strong pick early on especially when some of your other mons aren't all that strong, but you will probably drop it at some point as your available Pokémon increase and the opponents get stronger, just like with Raticate in Kanto. It's not a Pokémon you will bring with you on your team to the end of the story or to competitive necessarily. This is in contrast to Staraptor who is designed as a quasi starter and a mon you will probably keep in the long term on your Sinnoh journey, whereas Bibarel will fall off eventually (but finds its use as an HM Slave later on, which as I said is incredibly desirable and important in the most HM heavy region of all time).Well, being Bidoof Day, maybe it's worth taking a close look at the Plump Mouse Pokemon (no idea why that is it's species name, especially when Bibarel is called the "Beaver Pokemon" (both in English and Japanese). Japanese species name is "Round Mouse" and from what I looked up it's not like it's a nickname the Japanese have for beavers ).
- Normal-type is neither bad nor good, it's just, well, normal. The upside is that it means it can learn a lot of coverage Moves and so usually can hit something for neutral effectiveness, though the bad thing is it's STAB not hitting anything for super effective damage.
- It's the Gen Rodent so don't expect impressive stats (BST is 250). Highest stat is HP (59) with second in Attack (45). It had "bulk" with 40 in each defense stat, and that's all she wrote. For a Basic Pokemon I suppose 35 is workable in Special Attack, though Speed is still low at 31 (guess would make good use of Trick Room).
- Abilities is a hodgepodge. It's best Ability is its Hidden Ability, Moody, which randomly increases one stat by +2 but decreases another by 1. It's pure & chaos whether Bidoof gets the right stat increases to make it a monster. Of its normal Abilities Simple is the best, especially since Bidoof can learn Curse so that's a +2 to both Attack and Defense in return for lowering it's already low Speed (which could be helpful on a Trick Room team); in addition it learns other buffing moves like Defense Curl, Amnesia, Double Team, and later one Work Up and Swords Dance. Unaware may not be the best but it's certainly not least, allowing Bidoof to ignore opponent's stat changes when it attacks or is attacked, so if Bidoof can get an early build on maybe it defenses the opponent will have a harder time knocking it out. Overall, while Bidoof may not be able to make the most of them, it doesn't have a bad Ability and it can make use for whichever one it gets.
- Moves we'll focus just on what it got in Gen IV and VII. In Gen IV, surprisingly Bidoof's Level-Up Movepool ain't so bad. While plenty of Pokemon some of the new Moves they learn are niche and easily passed on, generally any Move Bidoof learns from a Level-Up you may want to teach it. Before reaching its evolution Level of 15 (which is another good thing about Bidoof, it can evolve pretty early), it'll have Tackle, Growl, Defense Curl, and Rollout (the last two notable as using Defense Curl before Rollout gives it a rather dangerous coverage move, obviously it took notes from Whitney's Miltank). If you choose not to evolve it your next moves are Headbutt & Hyper Fang, which are rather good moves to learn early on compared to what other Pokemon may have at the time. Next is Yawn which is a helpful sleep afflicter. Amnesia is after which is nice especially depending on what Ability Bidoof has. Next is Take Down is a bit of a downgrade, sure higher power but has recoil. Then it learns the rodent Pokemon Signature Move, Super Fang, which could be helpful if you lack coverage and up against a more bulky opponent; just cut their HP right in half. Then suddenly it gets Superpower, which I wouldn't recommend for Simple but could be usable with its other Abilities (especially if it also knows some Special Moves for backup). Finally gets Curse in Platinum to work with Simple, and Gen VII added Crunch and Swords Dance for more coverage & Ability syngergy.
- But let's not overlook TMs, Tutors, & Egg Moves. Right off the bat I noticed it can learn quite a few Ice-type and oddly Electric-type moves (Ice Beam, Blizzard, Thunderbolt, Thunder). Also gets Shadow Ball & Grass Knot for more special coverage. Physical is kind of limited to the usual Normal- and Dark-type suspects, though there are some notables ones like Iron Tail, Pluck, & Aqua Tail (there's also Dig). Nothing else much after that except the usual, I guess Stealth Rock is notable.
That's as much as I'm willing to dive into Bidoof, though I gotta say Bidoof actually doesn't look too bad on paper. Sure, stats aren't great, but at the same time if you add a Bidoof on the team, and accept it's likely going to move last, I don't think it'll do you any wrong. It seems made to sponge hits long enough for you to either give it stat boosts & set-up so it can get going.
Bidoof was my favourite part of PMD2 by golly.I feel like getting a noticable, if admittedly not plot-critical, NPC role in one of the most well-liked spinoffs also helped Bidoof's standing in the fandom.
Anyone remember all the times Bidoofs showed up in Pokemon Ranger: Shadows of Almia?Bidoof was my favourite part of PMD2 by golly.
I'm quite late to this discussion, but wanted to respond anyway. I can see where you are coming from, but I think this line of reasoning isn't doing the games any favours. While it may be tempting for the designers to make the legendary signature moves really cool-looking and flashy, the early-game moves should not be skimped on.Exactly. Screw anyone who thinks the games are bad because of Double Kick's animation. You only have to see it in the early game before replacing it with stronger moves that have better animations because they're the moves players are seeing the most in endgame. Bolt Strike is my favorite due to looking like a straight up cinematic with the widescreen effect and Zekrom flying back into position.
I'm just waiting for the canada goose mon to be based off staraptor or something instead of swanna.As a Canadian, I'm not sure whether to hate that our "mascot" Pokemon is way less cool than the one for down south (Braviary), or love how meme-able it is.
Yup yup, Wheeler was such as useless character it was hilarious. Coincidentally (?) PMD Sky and Shadows of Almia are my two favourite sidegames.Anyone remember all the times Bidoofs showed up in Pokemon Ranger: Shadows of Almia?
While never really used for any serious moments, infact they were often used as a joke during serious moments notably by Wheeler, it's still a memorable part of the game.
- First is all the times Bidoof was used at the Pokemon School.
- Second during a raid on the Ranger HQ you have a quick face off against Wheeler, main antagonist Blake Hall's assistant, who sends out 8 Bidoof... which each capture in one circle (and you can potentially get all of them in one circle at the very start if I recall). This particular moment was even given an illustration which I think is also the only official image of Wheeler aside from his in-game sprite:
- Finally, Wheeler is the penultimate boss of the main story... where he sends out one Bidoof (one circle). He's about to send out another one before Blake Hall mocks him and summons Darkrai.
This is actually not THAT bad in recent generations, with the notable exception of Gen 7. Gen 5 had several non-standard 3-stage lines (Lillipup, Roggenrola, Timburr, Tympole, Sewaddle/Venipede (whichever one you do not count as the regional bug), Sandile, Gothita, Solosis, Vanillite, Klink, Tynamo, Litwick, Axew). Gen 6 only had the Flabébé and Honedge lines, but was a very small gen anyways. Gen 7 is pretty lacking, with only Bounsweet (and Cosmog, which is special being a legendary). Gen 8 has Rolycoly, Hatenna and Impidimp, which is also not that bad. Especially when you are comparing it to gen 2, which not only only had Mareep and Hoppip, but also did not feature 3-stage lines for its regional bird and bug.A three-stage, part Flying family of Grass-types. Yeah, once upon a time the regional dexes contained multiple three-stage families that weren't starters, regional bugs, regional birds, or pseudo-legendaries. Johto gave us Hoppip, Skiploom, and Jumpluff.
I'd actually say recent generations are pretty terrible in this regard. Gen V had tons of three-stage lines and it was glorious, but the 3D era has been a real letdown.This is actually not THAT bad in recent generations, with the notable exception of Gen 7. Gen 5 had several non-standard 3-stage lines (Lillipup, Roggenrola, Timburr, Tympole, Sewaddle/Venipede (whichever one you do not count as the regional bug), Sandile, Gothita, Solosis, Vanillite, Klink, Tynamo, Litwick, Axew). Gen 6 only had the Flabébé and Honedge lines, but was a very small gen anyways. Gen 7 is pretty lacking, with only Bounsweet (and Cosmog, which is special being a legendary). Gen 8 has Rolycoly, Hatenna and Impidimp, which is also not that bad. Especially when you are comparing it to gen 2, which not only only had Mareep and Hoppip, but also did not feature 3-stage lines for its regional bird and bug.
The new generations are too small to have room for many families with third members when all the other boxes are ticked. When all the archetypes are present and every typing has a minimum of representation, that's it for the new gen rosters. The old gen rosters still had plenty of Pokédex slots left over to add a third Pokémon to a family or two, possibly by way of cross-generation evolution. But nowadays, with Game Freak's insistence on both shrinking the regional dexes yet reserving the same number of slots for archetypes, there's only a little room to be creative beyond the minimum. I believe I've posted this chart before, but it bears posting again to illustrate the conundrum:but was a very small gen anyways
The problem is not so much the archetypes themselves. It's rather the fact that they insist on keeping nearly all of them in every generation, even as the total number of Pokémon shrinks. That leaves way less room for non-archetype representation of certain types, and it makes three-stage families extremely rare, apart from the somewhat repetitive archetypes. I mean, when was the last time we saw a three-stage Flying-type family that wasn't a bird encountered on the first two Routes of the game and didn't evolve twice by level-up, around levels 14-20 and 30-36? Actually, let me look that up ...Aside from "Mythical 1, 2, 3" I don't see a problem with the Archetypes. I mean I guess the Pikclone is probably next, but recent ones tend to follow another Archetype (Standalone Flying, Fairy, Steel, Dark) (Emolga, Dedenne, Togedemaru, Morpeko respectively)