#84 + #85: Doduo and Dodrio

Ok, so the origin of these is pretty obvious, but do they deserve to be driven to extinction, or are they a hidden gem?

Oh, Doduo... Base 35 HP is not a good start, but 85 attack and 75 speed are a little more palatable, masking over the poor 45 defence and the disastrous 35 in both specials. Like several Pokemon families we have and will see, this is normal/flying, and it gets three abilities, including hidden. Sadly one of these abilities is run away, whilst it also gets early bird (halves the number of turns the Pokemon will sleep). The hidden ability is tangled feet, which boosts evasion by 20% when the Pokemon is confused. None of these are that great, in all reality, but I personally have a preference for early bird, making rest a better option.

Two heads are better than one?

The level list isn't the biggest we've seen, and 5 of the moves come after when you can evolve (level 31). You start out with peck as a fairly weak STAB move (base 35 flying physical), and growl (lowers the attack of the foe). You then get quick attack (priority, normal (thus STAB) physical with base 40) and then rage, which just sucks, in all truth. Fury attack is probably a better option than rage, which is shocking, but fury attack can add up to a decent 75 if all 5 hits land, and can act as a sash breaker with the first hit, and maybe landing the killing blow thereafter. Pursuit is an interesting move since it's dark physical with only base 40, but if the foe is switching out, it does double damage as priority before the switch.

Pluck offers a reasonable STAB flying move (physical, base 60 and will eat the berry carried by the foe). Double hit hits twice at base 35, and acupressure is both interesting (boosts a random stat on yourself or an ally by two stages, so great for a stored power team) and the last before you could evolve. The remaining moves are agility (boosts speed), drill peck (high power at base 80 physical and flying, so STAB), uproar (base 90 normal, but special, so don't use for damage, maybe for the added effect that it prevents Pokemon from sleeping when in effect), endeavour (survives an incoming attack) and thrash (very powerful for a couple of turns before making you confused).

Dipping into the TM waters and the usual suspects, but here, return or frustration (depending on if you're nice or a callous monster) is arguably one of your best options as they can be very powerful, are physical and they get STAB. Aerial ace and facade also both benefit from STAB (hey, take a toxic orb, maybe, and run facade!) and are physical, and even secret power is a viable option here. Fly is arguably your best choice of a move overall, and don't bother with things like hidden power. Steel wing offers coverage, rest and roost offer different healing options, double team offers evasion, protect offers some safety and there's very little else.

Assurance (double damage if the foe's already hurt as a dark physical with base 50), brave bird (base 120 physical flying with huge recoil) and feint attack (base 60 dark physical that hits despite evasion or accuracy modifiers) provide consistent damage, whilst flail gets better the more hurt you are. Haze offers team support by cancelling stat modifications on Pokemon in play (great for breaking a stored power or baton pass build). Mirror move uses the last move used on you, throwing it back at the original user. The only truly useful move the tutor will give you is knock off.

So you evolve and grow another head. What else do you get? Base 60 HP, 110 attack, 70 defence, 60 in both specials and a respectable 100 speed. Tragically, you don't get any better abilities, meaning that if you have run away, you'll need an ability capsule to trade it out for a mediocre ability rather than a downright useless one.

Sure it looks mean, but it struggles to choose lunch...

The big thing here is the introduction of tri-attack into the level up mix (as the only addition). This was a signature of Dodrio until it got passed around a bit more, and is fairly powerful, along with the chance to burn, freeze or paralyse the foe. The issue is, tri-attack is base 80 and special, which doesn't agree with the stats of this frustrating Pokemon. Hyper beam and giga impact come in as STAB moves on the TM list, with giga impact a much better choice, and sadly could be one for consideration here. Better yet, the tutor adds in sky attack, so this isn't hopeless.

All in all, I'd say that Doduo and Dodrio are two of the most pointless Pokemon we've seen yet. Sure they get decent attack and speed, but the movepool is embarrassingly bad, and the typing is far from great, all this made worse by the low quality abilities, and it all adds together to make a fairly forgettable Pokemon with a signature move that isn't right for it.

(All artwork presented by Ken Sugimori, taken from the Bulbapedia image archives)