Pok�mon of the Week

Delibird, The Delivery Pok�mon. It carries food rolled up in its tail. It has the habit of sharing food with people lost in mountains. It carries food all day long. There are tales about lost people who were saved by its stored food. It nests at the edge of sharp cliffs. It spends all day carrying food to its awaiting chicks. It carries food bundled up in its tail. There was a famous explorer who managed to scale Mt. Everest thanks to a Delibird sharing its food.

On the 12th day of Christmas, Gamefreak gave to me... Ice/Flying? What a typing... On the 11th day of Christmas, Gamefreak gave to me... a useless ability... On the 10th day of Christmas, Gamefreak gave to me... E... T... C... on the 5th day of Christmas, Gamefreak gave to me... FIVE USABLE MOVES. Well, that's an exaggeration, but it's pretty bad. On the 1st day of Christmas, Gamefreak gave to me... one absolutely useless birdie. Christmas day is here again, and to celebrate the fact, we'll be looking at the phenomenon that is Delibird. Delibird is in all honesty terrible. Awful stats, awful typing, lacklustre movepool... it all adds up to nothing, really. It does get Hustle,which is awesome. You gain 50% Attack, which really adds up when you have Choice Band equipped too. It also gets the same ability twice! Yeah, seriously, they really don't want anyone to like Delibird. It is the only Flying Pok�mon to get Rapid Spin (Cryogonal is levitating, not Flying!), which I guess is cool?

Vital Spirit: awesome! You're immune to sleep! Really handy for switching into common sleep moves like Spore.
Hustle: gain 50% Attack, lose 20% accuracy. It's a really cool ability in my opinion, but that accuracy drop can be frustrating.
Insomnia: really...? really? REALLY?! The same exact ability, REALLY??????? It's ridiculous how they really want to make Delibird as unappealing as possible.

- Ice Shard
- Focus Punch
- Aerial Ace
- Ice Punch / Seed Bomb
Item Attached: Choice Band / Life Orb
Ability: Hustle
EVs and Nature:
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SDef / 252 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk) / Jolly Nature (+Spd, -SAtk)

Ice Shard gets priority, which is actually quite dangerous on top of all the boosts to your Attack. Focus Punch so you actually deal good damage to Steels, unlike Brick Break, which is fairly weak. Aerial Ace ignores Hustle's 20% accuracy drop, so just hits hard with no risk of missing. Ice Punch is a strong finisher, whereas Seed Bomb can deal with stuff like Gastrodon and Quagsire.

- Blizzard / Ice Beam
- Water Pulse
- Signal Beam
- Hidden Power [Grass] / Hidden Power [Electric]
Item Attached: Choice Specs
Ability: Vital Spirit
EVs and Nature:
EVs: 252 SAtk / 4 SDef / 252 Spd
Modest Nature (+SAtk, -Atk) / Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)

Doesn't hit as hard due to no Hustle, but it doesn't have the 20% accuracy drop and can deal good damage in its own right, especially on a low tier hail team. Blizzard is a 120 base power 100% accurate move in hail, which is incredible. Ice Beam is way weaker, but has 100% accuracy outside of hail, compared to just 70%. Water Pulse pairs well with your Ice move, and despite being weak, can be handy with its confusion effect. Signal Beam hits the few bulky Psychics in the low tiers hard, especially Grumpig, who resists your Ice moves. Hidden Power [Grass] hits Gastrodon, Quagsire... Whiscash... Hidden Power [Electric] forms a sort of BoltBeam, and gives you some Water hunting powers.

- Sky Attack
- Focus Punch
- Ice Shard
- Rapid Spin
Item Attached: Power Herb
Ability: Hustle
EVs and Nature:
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SDef / 252 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk) / Jolly Nature (+Spd, -SAtk)

Sky Attack is probably Delibird's strongest move, and Power Herb allows you to skip the charge turn to straight out smash the opponent with a huge 140 base power attack. Focus Punch can be used for some mind games on predictable Steel switch ins to trick them into thinking you're running Choice Band, only for Power Herb Sky Attack to swoop out of nowhere. Ice Shard is a bit of priority for a bit of free damage. Rapid Spin can clear the field in a last ditch effort to have Delibird do something handy.

Delibird
You want an odd HP stat at all times so you can switch into Stealth Rock three times. Aside from that, max the offensive stat you are using and max your Speed. 4 in whatever, just not in HP.

Bestow, Brick Break, Counter, Fake Out, Quick Attack, Roost, Substitute, Toxic
Bestow is like a terrible version of Trick. If they don't have an item, you give them your own.
Brick Break is worse than Focus Punch... I guess if you aren't any good at predicting go for this.
Counter can be handy for a lead set with a priority move... I suppose. It can get a kill! Maybe...
Fake Out deals a little damage and always flinches, which is a great opener.
Quick Attack is an alternative priority move... yep...
Roost is one of the best healing moves in the game, and healing 50% is never a bad thing. If you want to use a defensive Delibird... it pained me to write that, it really did... Roost is practically needed.
Substitute can allow you to set up... wait, you have no boosting moves. It can allow you to SubPunch.
Toxic can deal constant damage and can allow you to break down or cripple some walls.

It's the only Pok�mon immune to Earthquake that learns Fake Out. I'd say that alone is worth something, but it really isn't. Delibird is pathetic in singles, don't even consider it for doubles and what not. It'd go down to one Surf, one... it loses to any move. Honestly, I could be COMPLETELY wrong about Delibird here. Please prove me wrong, but I cannot see a reason to use it. Blizzard in a doubles hail team I guess?

Oh God, you're really considering using it? Okay, you need Stealth Rock off the field, so run a spinner. Delibird itself doesn't count as a spinner, so make sure to use one. Also, get rid of common priority users. Mach Punchers, Bullet Punchers, it doesn't matter. Delibird is so weak, any priority move will smash it apart. Electric Pok�mon with absorbing abilities do well as they are resistant to Steel and abuse Electric attacks, both of which Delibird is weak to. Raichu, Manetric, Lanturn, that sort of company. They've been mentioned a lot, but the Water/Grounds such as Quasgire and Gastrodon block every single one of Delibird's weaknesses, whilst Delibird "defends" their Grass weakness. Screens can help you survive longer, and Abomasnow supplies you with hail. So does Snover, if you're going lower tiers (which you should be with Delibird. You should be aiming very, very low).

Countering Delibird... Stealth Rock, any wall worth a penny, any priority, most Steels... do I really need to get specific? Stealth Rock destroys the poor Santa Claus Bird by taking off 50% of its max health. That's INSANE, especially on an already frail Pok�mon. Considering how underwhelming Delibird is in terms of existence, any respectable wall that isn't weak to Ice or Flying should be pretty well at breaking Delibird down. Bulky Waters do very well, as long as they avoid the sort of powerful Seed Bomb. Delibird is so weak defensively that pretty much any priority attack will heavily damage Delibird to the point of KO, especially with Stealth Rock in play. Mach Punch, Bullet Punch, Aqua Jet, Ice Shard, it doesn't matter. They cancel out your... best... stat... which is your Speed at base 75, so priority really can damage your chance to do anything. Steels can take a Fighting move and your STAB moves easily. Klinklang, Mawile, Wormadam-S, it really doesn't matter in all honesty. Magneton... there's really no reason to make this section any longer. Basically, Delibird sucks. It really does suck. Well and truly. Like a dyson. Gamefreak know it sucks, hence why they mocked it so hard with Dream World. Sure, I could say �don't underestimate Delibird, because it could deal some good damage to your team in the lower tiers!�. This is sort of true. It gets 514 Attack if you run Adamant, Hustle, and Choice Band, which is pretty nice in NU. However, don't expect to do stupid well if you run Delibird. Sure it can MAYBE get a quick Ice Shard out and deal some damage, but that's once in a blue moon territory. There's very little reason to use Delibird outside of a gag. Even then, it isn't that funny. Give it a go if you want a Christmas themed team though. There's not much else that fits as perfectly.
Merry Christmas!

Locations in Games

Ruby/Sapphire/Emerald:
Trade from FireRed/Colosseum.

FireRed/LeafGreen:
Icefall Cave Floors 1 & Basement 1 (FireRed) Trade from FireRed/Colosseum (LeafGreen).

Colosseum/XD:

Snagged from Cipher Peon Arton in Realgam Tower's Dome(Colosseum)
Trade from FireRed/Colosseum (XD).

Diamond/Pearl/Platinum:
Route 216 (Diamond/Pearl)
Route 217 (Platinum).

HeartGold/SoulSilver:
Ice Path (SoulSilver)
Trade from Diamond/Pearl/Platinum/SoulSilver (HeartGold).

Black/White:
Giant Chasm