So last Saturday I went out to lunch with my aunt, after which we went to the nearby nature reserve to see the geese, eagles, ducks, and pelicans that were passing through on the path of their migration. It was quite the sight seeing all those birds. And after that little trip I got the idea for a new series of posts that covers the various Bird Pokemon in the games. Not as good as actual bird watching, but it should be a fun series. Just to be clear, this series is going to be covering Pokemon with bird-like characteristics. This includes the Piplup evolution line. It might cover the Torchic evolution line too, but I’m not a hundred percent sure since Blaziken is more humanoid than bird. Anyway, let’s get this show on the road.
Generation Two was when Bird Pokemon started to become a little more diverse. Back in the first generation of the games all birds were of the Normal type, with of course the notable exception of Kanto’s Legendary Bird Trio. But when the original Gold and Silver came out we started seeing Pokemon of the Flying/Steel and Flying/Psychic variety. So for this first post I’ll be covering two of the game’s first Psychic-type birds, Natu and its evolved form, Xatu.
Admittedly, I don’t think I ever really used Natu and Xatu much in the games. But they are a couple of my favorite Generation Two Pokemon. Natu is probably one of the smallest Pokemon in the game, standing at a height of only eight inches, earning it the classification of Little Bird Pokemon. Due to the size of its wings, Natu is unable to fly. But it is able to hop from tree branch to tree branch. Not to mention teleport itself, but more on that in a moment.
In the Games: Natu’s home in the Johto Region can be found in the Ruins of Alph. Though in HeartGold and SoulSilver the little bird can also be found Route 28 and by headbutting the trees at Mt. Silver. In Kanto, Natu are only found in the Ruin Valley located in the Sevii Islands, while in the Hoenn Region the only place to find Natu is in the Safari Zone. As for Sinnoh and Unova, Natu can be found on Route 224, while in Black 2 and White 2 the little birds can be found on Unova’s Route 5. As for Xatu, the only way to obtain that Pokemon is to evolve Natu. Though Xatu can be found in the Hoenn Region’s Safari Zone.
Through my personal experience, Natu are probably one of the harder non-Legendary Pokemon to capture. The reason is because of one of the moves that Natu learns, Teleport. Teleport is actually an old favorite of mine as far as attacks go. Sure it’s useless in competitive battles, but in a pinch it can be used to flee from wild Pokemon. Plus being able to go back to the last Pokemon Center that was used is kinda cool. Not to mention useful early in the game. But when facing a wild Pokemon that knows Teleport, trying to capture it can be a pain. My best suggestions are to either use a move like Hypnosis or just start throwing Pokeballs and hope you get lucky.
Evolution: At level twenty-five, Natu evolves into Xatu. The little bird grows to a height of four foot eleven and gains an actual torso. I’ve always been a fan of the way Xatu looks. While folded, Xatu’s wings make it look like the bird is wearing a robe, as seen in the above image. It also uses these wings to communicate through a form of semaphore (flag signals). Xatu’s psychic abilities also increase upon evolution, one of the reasons why it’s known as the Mystic Pokemon.
Prophetic: One of Xatu’s most notable abilities is its power to see into the past and future. Which is why it can learn the move, Future Sight. Natu has this ability as well, which seems to be one of the reasons why it’s so skittish. But it’s prophetic abilities do not seem to be as powerful as that of its evolved form. According to one legend, Xatu is able to see the past with its left eye and the future with its right. One theory is that Xatu constantly sees visions of the past and future (almost like a Time Lord), which is why it usually stays frozen in one spot. The theory also states that Xatu doesn’t move out of fear that by doing so its visions will come true. But it seems to me that if one is constantly seeing the past and future at once, it’s kinda hard to concentrate on anything else.
Well, I think that about covers it for the first Pokemon Bird Watch post. I’ll most likely be back next week with another one of these posts. So until then, stay tuned.
