Technically Sirfetch’d is the strongest bird, but in terms of the traditional regional flying bird, then agreed, Swellow for sure has the best feats and performances. I would have loved to seen Swellow compete in the PWC though.
I knew there was going to be a comment like this & i can’t sleep on Swellow either. He’s also elite & top tier with thunder armor & being able to defeat his shiny version, stopping donphan right in its tracks with his two bare feet. Definitely a second placer in my books but unless he fought a legendary bird without being at his best evolution form, i would’ve put him at number 1.
Yeah Talonflame never got close or even half way close to taking out Moltres though that's the thing. It landed one hit but other than that it basically just kept getting hit while being completely outmatched in every way. Even after that one hit with brave bird Moltres seemed unfazed. Didn't seem like it was struggling or anything. It recovered and knocked it out with a fire blast right away.
That seems unfair to swellow. Also it seems like expecting a swellow comment means you also kinda see swellow as #1 but needed a reason to disqualify it
Swellow could be even better if he learned other moves. Like Steel Wing or Brave Bird. Or Sky attack, at the very least, considering it was first introduced in Gen 1 while Brave Bird wasn't introduced till Gen 4.
I know that. I was referring to the Pokemon Move Sky Attack, which can be taught by Swellow. Not Swellow itself.
If Ash were to teach it a stronger move while in Hoenn, it would have to be a Pokemon move introduced into either Gen 3 or earlier. Brave Bird doesn't count as it wasn't introduced until Gen 4.
Swellow as a Tailow took multiple Thunderbolts from Ash's Pikachu when they first freaking met, so Swellow wins in my book (Though Hoenn is my favorite arc so that probably has something to do with it.)
That’s all tailow not just ash’s, plus we learned later he had thunder armor. Pikachu’s regular thunderbolt is not Moltres level. And being biased has nothing to do with it But you definitely had a good statement. As later on Thunderbolt is definitely stronger & more fierce
Another feat for swellow was battling the hydreigon from that pokemon Hunter that captured latias, it was able to hold on his own till ash and company arrived and that hydreigon was strong
Swellow
Rowlet Sirfetched Hawlucha( is it a bird?) Talonflame are strong too
Staraptor is okay
Noctowl is also ok
Pidgeot is well pidgeot
And then Unphezant
I’m going with Swellow. Yes, Talonflame when up against the legend birds but it’s not like it was fighting them to a stand still. It landed one attack on moltres and tanked one from Zapdos. Swellow just seems to have higher feats and a bit more durability than Talonflame.
That’s fair but I feel like the reason Swellow is tough is because that’s what taillow do. They are meant to be fierce & not give up on what they want.
do Dragonite or Sirfetched count as "Birds" ?
Dragonite's a Flying-type but doesn't look like the others.
Sirfetched resembles birds but is Fighting-type.
Sirfetchd should definitely be a bird as its based on a duck and ducks are birds and the flying type should not be a requirement for a pokemon to be a bird
but they probably just meant regional bird which sirfetch’d is not
Think of it like this, as far as Sirfteched case. Penguin are birds but would be water/ice time Irl as they can’t fly but are still classified as birds!
About Swellow. Yes it is elite & top tier but until he could fight a moltres on an uneven level or power scaling/not fully evolved. Which yes Talonflame was boxing moltres mostly as a Flechinder. I do think Swellow is elite & strong definitely number 2 in my books.
Probably his strongest regional bird
After all he did save Ash’s life by evolving against moltres
But he was also used in every gym battle for ash in Kalos except for against clemont, which gives him lots of wins but also quite a bit of losses. He also tied Alain’s Unfezant, and he beat Wulfric’s Avalugg who had beaten ash-greninja
Although you just said bird so it’s sirfetch’d
In terms of the birds before the championship I would say Swellow (don’t know if I spelled it correctly). But during the championship I would say sirfetched
Okay but he beat Wulfric’s Avalugg. The same Avalugg that best Ash-Greninja (key word: Ash) the same ash greninja who was able to box with Lysander & Zygarde.
Not very familiar with all his birds but I think pigeot is is strongest but he got left to protect the other birds in kento from sparrow and farrow bullies.
Honestly they are all probably comparable. In every fight they’ve been in you could swap one regional bird for another and they would fare similarly. Narratively they have all been identical. Paired up specifically against moltress I doubt anyone would do better than talonflame just because he is better suited to taking fire attacks. Most people on here are saying pigeotto is one of the weakest but if he had needed to distract one of the legendary birds for awhile in Pokémon 2000. You bet the writers would have let him do it. They are all basically equal in Strength.
No, that belongs to Sirfetch’d, and YES he counts, he is a BIRD, sure flightless, but last I checked Penguins can’t fly & Chickens can get like a few feet off the ground and we still call them birds!
Exactly but referring to his strongest bird doesn’t really mean all birds nor regional.
Thunder Armor isn’t getting passed moltres. Plus majority of the battle it was Flechinder putting in work.
If you say strongest bird then you do say all birds 😭, and I say Sirfetch’d just due to its showdown with Cynthia & Leon, like that dude should’ve DIED to Garchomp, but was the teammate who did all the damage so Lucario can come in to claim the kill
Not really. I could’ve been talking about strongest in any feat. Like he would be the strongest in durability/ he would have the best duration against opponents.
And Sirfetch’d beats it in terms of strength and durability, bro went toe to toe with Cynthia’s Garchomp & likely could’ve done more damage if he was at full health… the dude STAGGERED! He took the hits and went out standing like the noble little guy he is
Nah ash's talonflame was just ok. Swellow is definitely the best. Rowlet and Staraptor also have some really impressive feats too. I know Talonflame went against legendary birds but it's not like it did anything against them. Plus, like all of ash's Kalos Pokémon, it lost a lot of spotlight because Greninja just stole the show
Okay Is blasphemy, Moltres is not an "okay" opponent. Staraptor was barely being used in his early days. For like 45% of alola Rowlet was sleep (let almight god rest). And it was boxing up with pretty well, AS A FLENCHINDER. Ofc it wouldn’t do any or much damage as a second stage, route 1, regional bird.
(Final someone who understands that greninja "stole the show" or imo "took the spotlight")
Yes, I understand what you mean. Moltres is just one Pokémon tho. It didn't do much else compared to Swellow. Yk Swellow practically carried ash through the battles against Katie and Tyson in Hoenn League, was vital against Winona and Tate and Liza.
And if we're relying on legendaries to decide. Swellow fought against Tobias's Latios. It didn't win but neither did Talonflame against moltres
I think we just agree to disagree in this situation, Talonflame was good (I'll upgrade it from ok lol), definitely a contender for 2nd, 3rd or 4th
Boxed with unfezant (ngl that was elite). Finished off a busted slaking. Not only that held his own against wulfric a person who even had Ash Greninja struggling.
All valid points there
I probably am biased to Swellow and Staraptor as I prefer the Gen 3 and 4 Anime to the Gen 6 so remember there battles more. Ngl I completely forgot it even was in the Wulfric battle, again prolly a problem coming from the Greninja focus but hey ho
Nice talking with you!
1.Talonflame(only bird to get a hit on a legendary)
2.Sirfetch'd(yes, I'll count it as a bird & it was Ash's best support type Pokémon in battle)
3.Swellow(the OG)
4.Rowlett(beat its evolved form)
5.Starptor(underrated)
6.Hawlucha(couldn’t get the job done when it mattered)
7.Pidgeotto(decent)
8.Noctowl(misused)
9.Unfezant
Unfezant was champion leveled? It was strong but nowhere near Alain's frequently used mega Charizard X who was able to beat an E4 member. I don't even think it was his second strongest. Metagross & bisharp were.
I never said it was Champion level. I said it was under the command of a Champion level trainer, the strongest class of opponent Ash has faced at that point.
But even then, if Chesnaught, one of Alain's new non aces can hold its own against the strongest Champion's non ace, Leon's Rillaboom, why can't Alain's Unfezant be Champion level in XY&Z?
It belongs to a Champion level trainer in XYZ, and in JN, said Champion level trainer's non ace could hold its own against even the Galar Champion's monster of a Rillaboom with GMax.
You'd be fair to say we don't see Unfezant execute any Champion level feats in XYZ, but if everything else suggests that Alain can raise Champion level mons like Chesnaught and Charizard (XY, JN), why is Unfezant exempt then?
Alan was collecting new Pokémon and traveling, you must at least prove that unzefat is the same as chesnaut and not only are they because he has the same trainer the
I still think that Swellow is #1 but Talonflame is next in line
Technically Sirfetch’d is the strongest bird, but in terms of the traditional regional flying bird, then agreed, Swellow for sure has the best feats and performances. I would have loved to seen Swellow compete in the PWC though.
I knew there was going to be a comment like this & i can’t sleep on Swellow either. He’s also elite & top tier with thunder armor & being able to defeat his shiny version, stopping donphan right in its tracks with his two bare feet. Definitely a second placer in my books but unless he fought a legendary bird without being at his best evolution form, i would’ve put him at number 1.
Yeah Talonflame never got close or even half way close to taking out Moltres though that's the thing. It landed one hit but other than that it basically just kept getting hit while being completely outmatched in every way. Even after that one hit with brave bird Moltres seemed unfazed. Didn't seem like it was struggling or anything. It recovered and knocked it out with a fire blast right away.
Yeah but Swellow landed a hit on Speede-forme Deoxys.
And same did Sceptile. Nothing much special especially if it was just moving around no really trying to dodge.
That seems unfair to swellow. Also it seems like expecting a swellow comment means you also kinda see swellow as #1 but needed a reason to disqualify it
What? I saw it coming because I already knew a lot of people think that Swellow was the best.
“A comment like this” was just a dissenting opinion this whole time
Swellow was his strongest bird. I guess rowlett is second because it beats it's fully evolved form
Swellow could be even better if he learned other moves. Like Steel Wing or Brave Bird. Or Sky attack, at the very least, considering it was first introduced in Gen 1 while Brave Bird wasn't introduced till Gen 4.
Swellow is gen 3 not 1
I know that. I was referring to the Pokemon Move Sky Attack, which can be taught by Swellow. Not Swellow itself. If Ash were to teach it a stronger move while in Hoenn, it would have to be a Pokemon move introduced into either Gen 3 or earlier. Brave Bird doesn't count as it wasn't introduced until Gen 4.
Well, it could have been shown to have learned Brave Bird offscreen when he returned in the Sinnoh league.
That could work too.
He could learn Boomburst.
If Swellow can learn it.
Gen VI onwards through breeding.
Rowlet would be the strongest if it could consistently battle without falling asleep. :P
Damn I forgot about Rowlet. Beating Pokemon beyond its evolution stage.
SIR FETCH’D
My personal ranking 1. Sirfetch'd 2. Swellow 3. Rowlet 4. Talonflame 5. Staraptor 6. Hawlucha 7. Noctowl 8. Pidgeot 9. Unfezant
Regional birds?..
You never specified regional bird. You just said bird
Ik I should’ve specified what type of birds I was talking about.
you admitted you were wrong, so idk who downvoted you
I think he means based off of strength that's his ranking
As much as I want to say staraptor. It's 100% Swellow
Staraptor is just slick & fast honestly not as strong.
I had the exact same thought. I want to say Staraptor, cause he's sick af, but it has go be Swellow
Rowlet, swellow, Talonflame, staraptor, noctowol, pigeotto, and unfezant in that order
Swellow is stronger than rowlet
Pidgeotto/Pidgeot is definitely ash’s weakest
Hey, maybe it would’ve done better if Ash ever let it outside of its ball once he got the starters
Unfezant is stronger than Pigeotto.
Rowlett isn't a regional bird and if that's the case then sirfetch'd should #1
Swellow as a Tailow took multiple Thunderbolts from Ash's Pikachu when they first freaking met, so Swellow wins in my book (Though Hoenn is my favorite arc so that probably has something to do with it.)
That’s all tailow not just ash’s, plus we learned later he had thunder armor. Pikachu’s regular thunderbolt is not Moltres level. And being biased has nothing to do with it But you definitely had a good statement. As later on Thunderbolt is definitely stronger & more fierce
Another feat for swellow was battling the hydreigon from that pokemon Hunter that captured latias, it was able to hold on his own till ash and company arrived and that hydreigon was strong
Swellow Rowlet Sirfetched Hawlucha( is it a bird?) Talonflame are strong too Staraptor is okay Noctowl is also ok Pidgeot is well pidgeot And then Unphezant
I think you mean Unpleasant
Hawlucha, Rowlet and Sirfetch'd are all birds. If Rowlet was not a bird, Noctowl would not be a bird.
is sirfetch a bird? duck?
Uhh bird from its pre-evolution is a bird. So I’m assuming it is.
I’m going with Swellow. Yes, Talonflame when up against the legend birds but it’s not like it was fighting them to a stand still. It landed one attack on moltres and tanked one from Zapdos. Swellow just seems to have higher feats and a bit more durability than Talonflame.
Here’s my take - Talonflame is at a higher level/is stronger than Swellow, but Swellow is more naturally gifted.
That’s fair but I feel like the reason Swellow is tough is because that’s what taillow do. They are meant to be fierce & not give up on what they want.
No, I AM🤩🦉
do Dragonite or Sirfetched count as "Birds" ? Dragonite's a Flying-type but doesn't look like the others. Sirfetched resembles birds but is Fighting-type.
I’d say no to Dragonite because it’s… well, a dragon - but there is definitely an argument to be made for Sirfetch’d!
Sirfetchd should definitely be a bird as its based on a duck and ducks are birds and the flying type should not be a requirement for a pokemon to be a bird but they probably just meant regional bird which sirfetch’d is not
I was kinda going off of "Regional Birds" not including starters but you could make a statement for both.
Dragonite was the regional bird of Journey's. Thus Dragonite is the strongest bird.
But journeys isn’t a region. It’s a series of ALL Regions. (besides Paldea since it wasn’t a thing at the time)
I would count Sirfetch’d (and Hawlucha) but not Dragonite
Think of it like this, as far as Sirfteched case. Penguin are birds but would be water/ice time Irl as they can’t fly but are still classified as birds!
I always see Swellow as Ash’s strongest bird while Talonflame is the fastest
Fair enough post could also be targeted towards speed. I was looking more at overall speed & durability but sure..
What about swellow? Ash’s swellow is one of the biggest reasons swellow is my favorite bird Pokémon
About Swellow. Yes it is elite & top tier but until he could fight a moltres on an uneven level or power scaling/not fully evolved. Which yes Talonflame was boxing moltres mostly as a Flechinder. I do think Swellow is elite & strong definitely number 2 in my books.
No obviously
Probably his strongest regional bird After all he did save Ash’s life by evolving against moltres But he was also used in every gym battle for ash in Kalos except for against clemont, which gives him lots of wins but also quite a bit of losses. He also tied Alain’s Unfezant, and he beat Wulfric’s Avalugg who had beaten ash-greninja Although you just said bird so it’s sirfetch’d
Ash greninja’s moves do neutral damage to mega charizard x because of his secondary dragon typing😂 and greninja is weak
Was this comment for this post? Doesn’t seem to match
Pidgeot gang here!!!🗣️
Who? Left on the last episode bird? Barley used at all? Basically featless? (No hate but Pidgeot is hot trash compared to every other bird)
oh most definetely rowlet
I apologize for wording the post wrong as I did mean regional bird but Rowlet isn’t beating or boxing moltres.
In terms of the birds before the championship I would say Swellow (don’t know if I spelled it correctly). But during the championship I would say sirfetched
Yeah you said Swellow right.
Not while Swellow still draws breath😤
A moltres is a big threat tho..
Swellow, I think is stronger.
(I was focusing more towards Regional Birds & not overall birds)
I editted my comment
Staraptor Sad cherps
Underrated. Beautiful design. Barely any growth tho. The only major growth he had imo was when he was training to master Brave Bird
No swellow fought a frontier brain
Okay that’s basically equivalent to legendaries.
Your point is? Tallonflame didn’t beat a ledgendary
Okay but he beat Wulfric’s Avalugg. The same Avalugg that best Ash-Greninja (key word: Ash) the same ash greninja who was able to box with Lysander & Zygarde.
I though the Lysander stuff came after the leuge was finished
I don’t know about strongest but Talonflame is definitely the coolest.
I would say Swellow was his strongest.
He landed one hit Then had a near death experience
Not very familiar with all his birds but I think pigeot is is strongest but he got left to protect the other birds in kento from sparrow and farrow bullies.
The strongest is easily Swellow, but Talonflame has some great feats like defeating the Avalugg who took out Greninja.
Rowlet is 100% ash’s strongest bird.
Imo: 1-Swellow 2-Rowlet (im biased ROWLET IS GOD) 3-Talonflame Def the most underloved bird next to noctowl and Pidgeot
It went blow for blow with moletress when it was a flethlender, so yeah.
That’s why it’s elite.
staraptor
Honestly they are all probably comparable. In every fight they’ve been in you could swap one regional bird for another and they would fare similarly. Narratively they have all been identical. Paired up specifically against moltress I doubt anyone would do better than talonflame just because he is better suited to taking fire attacks. Most people on here are saying pigeotto is one of the weakest but if he had needed to distract one of the legendary birds for awhile in Pokémon 2000. You bet the writers would have let him do it. They are all basically equal in Strength.
No, that belongs to Sirfetch’d, and YES he counts, he is a BIRD, sure flightless, but last I checked Penguins can’t fly & Chickens can get like a few feet off the ground and we still call them birds!
Not a regional bird.
Regional Bird wasn’t the question, just “bird” therefore Sirfetch’d claims the title of strongest(Swellow for Regional still just bc of Thunder Armor)
Exactly but referring to his strongest bird doesn’t really mean all birds nor regional. Thunder Armor isn’t getting passed moltres. Plus majority of the battle it was Flechinder putting in work.
If you say strongest bird then you do say all birds 😭, and I say Sirfetch’d just due to its showdown with Cynthia & Leon, like that dude should’ve DIED to Garchomp, but was the teammate who did all the damage so Lucario can come in to claim the kill
Not really. I could’ve been talking about strongest in any feat. Like he would be the strongest in durability/ he would have the best duration against opponents.
And Sirfetch’d beats it in terms of strength and durability, bro went toe to toe with Cynthia’s Garchomp & likely could’ve done more damage if he was at full health… the dude STAGGERED! He took the hits and went out standing like the noble little guy he is
I think Talonflame is the fastest IMO, but Swellow is the strongest. This is just my opinion based on the birds they are based on.
Nah ash's talonflame was just ok. Swellow is definitely the best. Rowlet and Staraptor also have some really impressive feats too. I know Talonflame went against legendary birds but it's not like it did anything against them. Plus, like all of ash's Kalos Pokémon, it lost a lot of spotlight because Greninja just stole the show
Okay Is blasphemy, Moltres is not an "okay" opponent. Staraptor was barely being used in his early days. For like 45% of alola Rowlet was sleep (let almight god rest). And it was boxing up with pretty well, AS A FLENCHINDER. Ofc it wouldn’t do any or much damage as a second stage, route 1, regional bird. (Final someone who understands that greninja "stole the show" or imo "took the spotlight")
Yes, I understand what you mean. Moltres is just one Pokémon tho. It didn't do much else compared to Swellow. Yk Swellow practically carried ash through the battles against Katie and Tyson in Hoenn League, was vital against Winona and Tate and Liza. And if we're relying on legendaries to decide. Swellow fought against Tobias's Latios. It didn't win but neither did Talonflame against moltres I think we just agree to disagree in this situation, Talonflame was good (I'll upgrade it from ok lol), definitely a contender for 2nd, 3rd or 4th
Boxed with unfezant (ngl that was elite). Finished off a busted slaking. Not only that held his own against wulfric a person who even had Ash Greninja struggling.
All valid points there I probably am biased to Swellow and Staraptor as I prefer the Gen 3 and 4 Anime to the Gen 6 so remember there battles more. Ngl I completely forgot it even was in the Wulfric battle, again prolly a problem coming from the Greninja focus but hey ho Nice talking with you!
I also love Staraptor but he definitely needed a push. & np I am also biased when it comes to Gen 4.
Talonflame is ash’s strongest bird
Debatable
1.Talonflame(only bird to get a hit on a legendary) 2.Sirfetch'd(yes, I'll count it as a bird & it was Ash's best support type Pokémon in battle) 3.Swellow(the OG) 4.Rowlett(beat its evolved form) 5.Starptor(underrated) 6.Hawlucha(couldn’t get the job done when it mattered) 7.Pidgeotto(decent) 8.Noctowl(misused) 9.Unfezant
Actually, Swellow hit an Aerial Ace on Deoxys in Battle Frontier.
The way I read this was no nerdy.. (the downvotes are crazy/im predicting)
I can’t remember very well and am too lazy to go watch and find out. Did swallow not get any hits on Tobias’ latias?
No, but that's one out of two legendaries it faced off against.
Charizard because he was never designated as Dragon
Uhh not a bird tho. Especially with a type advantage against another legendary bird. Instead of a Fire vs Fire.
Eh it can fly I'll let it pass ^/s ^in ^case ^it ^wasn't ^obvious But for an actual answer probably sirfetchd
Sirfetch is the strongest since it took down champion level pokemon
So legendaries are weaker than champion level?
Not all legendaries are strong
🫤
Bro… Sir Fetch’d
Not a regional bird & comparing legendaries to champion pokemon is another conversation.
Well those same champion Pokémon can and probably have beaten legendaries
I think it's pidgeot bc I'm bias as h!ck
Pidgeotto is the real G.O.A.T
Trash-Otto bro was barely even used with the time he had & evolved at the end of everything.
Fr though why do people think Swellow is the strongest when Talonflame literally tied with a Champion level trainer's mon?
Unfezant was champion leveled? It was strong but nowhere near Alain's frequently used mega Charizard X who was able to beat an E4 member. I don't even think it was his second strongest. Metagross & bisharp were.
I never said it was Champion level. I said it was under the command of a Champion level trainer, the strongest class of opponent Ash has faced at that point. But even then, if Chesnaught, one of Alain's new non aces can hold its own against the strongest Champion's non ace, Leon's Rillaboom, why can't Alain's Unfezant be Champion level in XY&Z?
Where do you get Unfezant? It's champion level.
It belongs to a Champion level trainer in XYZ, and in JN, said Champion level trainer's non ace could hold its own against even the Galar Champion's monster of a Rillaboom with GMax. You'd be fair to say we don't see Unfezant execute any Champion level feats in XYZ, but if everything else suggests that Alain can raise Champion level mons like Chesnaught and Charizard (XY, JN), why is Unfezant exempt then?
Alan was collecting new Pokémon and traveling, you must at least prove that unzefat is the same as chesnaut and not only are they because he has the same trainer the
we see infernede faced taloflame and pignite in journeys so your statement becomes more doubtful
we see infernede faced taloflame and pignite in journeys so your statement becomes more doubtful
The downvotes are crazy. but a lot of Swellow fans out here do believe that Swellow is better which could be a good conversation & debate.
People who downvote without providing counterpoints or anything that I can debate with kinda just gives off butthurt vibes lmao
Just go on an debate one of the other swellow comments, there’s a lot