Should I keep my hoothoot?

[PancaKe]

It's really bothering me. But boyfriend Soong has a Pidgey, and so I don't want to have the same flying pokemon as him.

Should I persevere with Hoothoot, although it's really hard to train, or should I ditch it while I still can? If I ditch it, what should I catch as part of my team?

[Blademaster]

Hoothoot can be tutored to learn Heat Wave.

KEEP THAT SHIT.

[MeLoVeGhOsTs]

Noctowl is a pokemon with good HP and Sp.Def, so he can take some hits. Its's got Reflect to boost its Defense, Roost to heal and Hypnosis to annoy. It's special attack is its best offensive stat, but only 76, so mediocre at best. Still, it means that ingame you should give it Air Slash for offense.

As you can see its offense is its biggest weakness, but Night Shade is a nice way to make up for that.

A very defensive bird.

[Knight of Time]

When it comes to training certain Pokemon, there is at least one good nature that Smogon recommends for them in their final form, for example, with Noctowl, the nature of choice is Calm, and the ability of choice there is Insomnia. 252 HP, 252 Special Defense, and 4 Speed EVs are good.

[Jeff]

I wouldn't worry too much about natures and EVs in game though, unless you were training it for the Battle Frontier.

[ShinyHunter]

I have never used a hoothoot, but whenever I play a pokemon game I always use a zubat. It is really hard to train, due to its sucky moves, but once it learns wing attack it gets pretty ok.

[barclay]

I wouldn't worry too much about natures and EVs in game though, unless you are here training it for the Battle Frontier.

My thoughs exactly!

[Knight of Time]

Yeah, training a Pokemon with a specific nature, ability, and moveset is very important for the Battle Frontier, but that's also good for competitive battling, too bad I only have Windows 7 on my laptop, which doesn't seem to work for Wi-Fi, thus meaning I can't reach anyone yet.

[Jeff]

Crobat's one of my favorites to use in game. Its speed along with some of its moves make it pretty handy.

[Ultimate Charizard]

I loved Crobat. Its a good annoyer with a fairly decent attack pool. I had one on Platinum that was an absolute beast. It took out Gyms all by itself.

Im currently using an Aerodactyl too since theyre pretty powerfull however if its an actual 'Bird' pokemon you want rather than a flying type then im guessing ur pretty limited.

If its just 'i want a flying type' remember there are things like Salamence, Gyarados, Gliscor and Charizard that fall under flying types.

[PancaKe]

I'm just no good at things like move sets, and stats and EV training is just beyond me. So really, I want a bird pokemon/flying type/something I can keep as part of my team. And I didn't want a Pidgey because I want a different yet strong team to beat soong

It's coming along quite nicely as a Noctowl now, less frustrating, and it looks hilarious when it follows me so that's a bonus

But, recommended moveset for Noctowl?

[Blademaster]

Roost, Psychic, Air Slash, and Shadow Ball is what I would use.

[MeLoVeGhOsTs]

My Noctowl would have Roost, Night Shade, Hypnosis and Whirlwind. Noctowl has poor offensive stats, but Night Shade ignores that. Roost for recovery (and it has good HP and Sp.Def for tanking capabilities), Hypnosis for sleep and Whirlwind if your opponent tries stat-ups (Calm mind etc.); or if you have a Spiker. You can also put opponent to sleep and then Whirlwind their entire team to sleep it it's not claused (ordinary linkbattles allow everything IIRC).

Ofcourse ingame you'd probably need Air Slash/Psychic/Shadowball to train and get through the game.

Still, it's an alternative set.

[Blademaster]

^Cool copy-pasted-from-Smogon moveset, bro.

[MeLoVeGhOsTs]

I'm guessing every site has the same set.. What else can Noctowl do?

[Blademaster]

...Roost, Air Slash, Heat Wave, Hyper Beam?

[MeLoVeGhOsTs]

OFFENSIVE NOCTOWL IS BURNING MY EYES!

[PancaKe]

yay i will have best noctowl ever.
is it bad to have an offensive noctowl?

[MeLoVeGhOsTs]

No, Noctowl has really sucky attack; sp.atk is better (76), but still not awesome. However, Airslash and the likes is the best go for an offensive set. You're just not using Noctowl to its fullest potential then, but that shouldn't be to big of a problem ingame.

[DarkestLight]

I should try for an offensive Noctowl to murder you with.

See what I can finagle... :O

[Blademaster]

31 IV Sp. Attack 252 EV Sp. Attack Noctowl is coming for your soul.

[MeLoVeGhOsTs]

Go for Chatot if you want offensive.

[Blademaster]

In every sense of the word.

[firepokemon]

Yes keep your fucking hoothoot

[Drago]

It's settled, then.

[Lady Vulpix]

Is Tara even checking this anymore? For all we know, she made the decision years ago.

[Drago]

This does not make barclay's thoughs any less valid.