Swellow
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Swellow | |
|---|---|
 National Taillow - Swellow (#277) - Wingull Hoenn Taillow - Swellow (#026) - Wingull |
|
| Japanese name | オオスバメ (Oosubame) |
| Stage | Stage 1 |
| Evolves from | Taillow |
| Evolves to | None |
| Generation | Third |
| Species | Swallow Pokémon |
| Type | Normal / Flying |
| Height | 2 ft 4 in (0.70 m) |
| Weight | 43.7 lb (19.8 kg) |
| Ability | Guts |
Swellow (オオスバメ Oosubame in Japanese, Schwalboss in German and Heledelle in French) is a fictional character from the Pokémon Franchise.
Its name is derived from the words swallow and swell.
Ironically, its name is pronounced like the Spanish word "suelo," meaning "floor."
Contents |
[edit] Biology
Swellow is a moderately large bird with dark-blue plumage, a largely white underbelly with a red geometrically-patterned top section, and two prominent tail feathers (remnants from its pre-evolution, Taillow). These tail feathers are apparently an indication of Swellow’s overall health; if they are standing at attention, Swellow is in ideal shape.
Swellow is an avian Pokémon with acute natural talents among other birds. It consistently flies elegantly at high altitudes, oftentimes performing graceful arcs in the sky. It lives as a migratory bird of prey; it constantly flies towards warmer climates in a migratory fashion, and the moment it spots its prey Swellow dives down at a steep angle and snatches the hapless victim tightly with its talons. It never misses its targets in this respect.
Swellow is quite fastidious with its own body, especially its wings. When it is not cleaning its wings and tail feathers regularly, two Swellow are gathered together and unhesitantly take it upon themselves to clean each other’s wings.
[edit] In the Pokemon Games
Swellow has very good speed. Its speed is in the top 2% of all Pokémon meaning it nearly always gets the first hit. Unfortunately, once you get past its speed, Swellow becomes mediocre very quickly. Like most Normal/Flying birds, Swellow's defense and specials are paltry. These low defenses and special attack constrict its options into physical attacking and although 85 base attack seems decent, it's rather mediocre (if not blatantly subpar) for a physical attacker. Its saving grace is probably its incredible speed and Guts trait. In the games, it is similar to Pidgeotto, Pidgeot, and Fearow relatively speaking.
Competitively speaking, Swellow is generally employed as a Choice Bander. Its rigid movepool hurts its versatility and constricting stats prevent it from doing much else. It has been known to use Endeavor on odd occasions. It is one of a few Pokemon that can learn Aerial Ace by leveling-up. It can also learn Sky Attack as an egg move.
[edit] In the Pokémon anime
In the anime episode "That's Just Swellow", Ash's Taillow evolves into Swellow but the first time we saw it was when Vito Winstrate had one and secretly used it to protect his family in the episode "Candid Camerupt". After that, Winona had a Shiny Swellow and used it in battle against Ash's Grovyle and Swellow in "A Sky High Gym Battle".
Swellow later (and is currently) fulfills the same duties as Pidgeotto and Noctowl (Ash's Stage 1 Flying-types before Swellow). However, unlike his former flying pokémon, Swellow has been given actual character development, rather than simply popping Team Rocket's balloons, for Ash has used Swellow in every Hoenn Gym Battle since its evolution, all his 6 vs 6 matches in the Hoenn League, and two of his Battle Frontier matches. Ash's Swellow is known for surviving attacks, especially electric attacks, that would have knocked it out. Additionally, although a trait of its species, Swellow has displayed exceptional persistence in battles.
After completing the Battle Frontier challenge, Ash leaves Swellow (as well as Corphish, Sceptile, and Donphan) at Professor Oak's lab before heading off to Sinnoh.
[edit] In the trading card game
Swellow has a comparatively healthy showing in card format. It has made the following stage-1 Colorless appearances. It also appeared in EX Dragon Frontiers as Swellow δ:
- EX Ruby and Sapphire
- EX Sandstorm
- EX Deoxys
- EX Emerald
- EX Delta Species
- EX Dragon Frontiers (as Swellow δ, Fire type)
[edit] References
- The following games and their instruction manuals: Pokémon Red, Green, and Blue; Pokémon Yellow; Pokémon Stadium and Pokémon Stadium 2; Pokémon Gold, Silver, and Crystal; Pokémon Ruby, Sapphire, and Emerald; Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen; Pokémon Colosseum and Pokémon XD: Gale of Darkness
- Publications
- Barbo, Maria. The Official Pokémon Handbook. Scholastic Publishing, 1999. ISBN 0-439-15404-9.
- Loe, Casey, ed. Pokémon Special Pikachu Edition Official Perfect Guide. Sunnydale, CA: Empire 21 Publishing, 1999. ISBN 1-930206-15-1.
- Nintendo Power. Official Nintendo Pokémon FireRed & Pokémon LeafGreen Player’s Guide. Nintendo of America Inc., August 2004. ISBN 1-930206-50-X
- Mylonas, Eric. Pokémon Pokédex Collector’s Edition: Prima’s Official Pokémon Guide. Prima Games, September 21 2004. ISBN 0-7615-4761-4
- Nintendo Power. Official Nintendo Pokémon Emerald Version Player’s Guide. Nintendo of America Inc., April 2005. ISBN 1-930206-58-5
[edit] External links
- Official Pokémon website
- Bulbapedia (a Pokémon-centric Wiki) ’s article about Swellow as a species
- Serebii.net’s 4th Gen Pokédex entry for Swellow
- Pokémon Dungeon Pokédex entry, full of statistics analysis
- PsyPoke - Swellow Pokédex entry and Usage Overview
- Smogon.com - Swellow Tactical Data
- WikiKnowledge.net’s entry for Swellow Previously hosted by Wikibooks
