#69 - #71: Bellsprout, Weepinbell & Victreebel

TCG art of Bellsprout.

I was going to make a joke about how Bellsprout's Pokédex number fits it perfectly, but on second thought I think that would have been highly inappropriate.

Shit, I did it, didn't I?

But all joking aside, Bellsprout's only distinctive trait is that it is based off of carnivorous pitcher plants, which is not an uninteresting thing to work with. To find anything interesting, however, we should take a look at its evolutions, Weepinbell and Victreebel, because all Bellsprout can do is prey on bugs and stick its root-like feet in the ground to absorb water and be stuck there. Even Weepinbell behaves much like a real-life pitcher plant does: it camouflages itself to await its prey, sprays pollen to paralyze them, and melts them with its internal acids, which it neutralizes to prevent its own acid fluids from melting its own body. When its victims don't fit in its gigantic mouth, it slices them up with the razor-sharp leaves it has for hands. That is kinda gross, but I'm starting to get a little disappointed there. It looks like Bellsprout and Weepinbell are just alternatives to Oddish and Gloom, and worse ones at that, too.

Dumb-looking Weepinbell

So, is Victreebel any better? A little. It is less clumsy than Weepinbell, who hangs from the stem of a tree while it is asleep, often letting itself fall and finding itself on the ground when it awakens. Good job there, Weepy. Victreebel's long vine (or whip, if you will) is used to mimic animals in order to attract prey, along with a sweet scent it produces, and an acid that has dissolved numerous victims and becomes even sweeter and more effective at attracting prey (mostly small birds and rodents, which Victreebel hoards). This acid even devours the hardest things it swallows. The most interesting thing is that groups of Victreebel often go out to collect Leaf Stones to help Weepinbell to become more Victreebel during nocturnal evolution rituals. The more Victreebel, the better, I assume.

Except for Pidgey and Rattata, that is.

So its classification as the 'Flycatcher Pokémon', which also applies to Weepinbell, is not strictly true. Real-life pitcher plants often lure just insects, though, so I'll let Game Freak have that one. What I'll also let them have is the misspelling of 'bell' in Victreebel, because the game script only allowed them to use a maximum of 10 characters for each name and item when the Pokémon franchise was just getting started. What I won't let them have, however, is Bellsprout's classification as the 'Flower Pokémon'. It's a bud, not a full-grown flower. Come to think of it, I don't even think I can consider Weepinbell and Victreebel flowers; I'd rather see them as plants. To make it simple, it would have been much more appropriate to make Bellsprout a flycatcher Pokémon as well, but why go the easy way when you can make it as difficult as possible? Right, Game Freak?

Fan art of a dangerous-looking Victreebel.

Well, off to a more pressing matter: how does Victreebel stand out as a battler? Honestly, it sucks. Or rather: I think it sucks. Okay, I'll admit it has some very good attacking stats, with its base attack being a little higher (105) than its base special attack (100). The thing is that Victreebel can't do anything with them for too long, because it is frail and relatively slow. Its ability Chlorophyll doubles its speed in harsh sunlight, so that is the situation you want it in. In the process of setting up the sun, though, it might well have to take a hit first and that is not what you want. Instead, let another Pokémon set up the sun and switch in to a Modest-natured Life Orb Victreebel when the time is right. Victreebel doesn't have many moves to sweep with while the sun is up, but Solar Beam is a good idea; that move normally requires a turn to charge up first, but not in the sun. Sludge Bomb is another STAB move for it, while Weather Ball (through breeding) has the effect to change types during certain weather conditions, changing into fire in harsh sunlight. Sleep Powder (do I need to explain what it does?) or Growth (raises the attack and special attack stats by two stages each while the sun is up; otherwise, this move just raises these stats by one stage each) might be a good idea, but pass on Synthesis; the moment Victreebel has healed up, it'll get an opponent's move in its face. If you're so adamant about having a healing move in its moveset, then drop Sludge Bomb for Giga Drain, which does a great amount of damage and heals 1/3 the damage dealt to the opponent.

This fan-art Victreebel looks more interesting than
the original, and it also looks more like a real-life
pitcher plant to me. The Venonat on the edge of
Victreebel's mouth is about to meet its maker, tho.

Also, the games fail to maintain Victreebel's flavor. Despite its huge whip, it can only learn Power Whip (which is its only good physical attacking move, mind you) and Acid Spray through breeding, while moves like Acid and Gastro Acid are only available through its pre-evolutions. Well, at least that is something, isn't it? It learns such few useful and available moves for a normal playthrough as well, in which setting up the sun is a bit unnecessary and thus it has to rely on some other status moves or perhaps more STAB moves instead. I feel like Game Freak could have done so much more with this whole pitcher plant thing, but Victreebel turns out to be a worse alternative to Vileplume altogether, who could pull off at least the poison part better than Victreebel. Even though Vileplume's ability Chlorophyll contradicts its flavor a little, as it is usually a nocturnal Pokémon, it is still better. It can fight and set up on its own and it is capable of taking a hit, while Victreebel is too frail to set up first and needs another teammate to summon the sun for it instead. It is such a shame I have to be so negative about Victreebel, because I really don't hate this thing; not by a long shot. Carnivorous plants are an original topic to work with, and its flavor text is actually quite interesting (well, more interesting than Bellsprout and Weepinbell's), but it's a pity the games don't really show that it can be a good Pokémon by changing its movepool around a little. For now, I won't use this Pokémon, but its design, characteristics and role in the anime series (who could forget James's Victreebel, who would try to swallow James out of affection for him every time it is sent out of its Poké Ball?) save it from getting a poor rating.

Rating: 3.5/5