#441: Chatot

I kinda have a love-hate relationship with gimmicky Pokémon revolving around a certain aspect that makes them unique. For example, I love Unown because there's a whole lot of mystery surrounding this Pokémon and I actually really like its design, but I dislike Castform because it's a head with testicles whose only shtick is to change into another form corresponding to the current weather condition (yes, I am aware it's based on the teru teru bōzu; and no, I do not care). On the other hand, there are some gimmicky Pokémon that I am somewhat indifferent towards, like Smeargle and today's subject, Chatot.

Chatot enjoying some petting. 

Chatot's gimmick is its signature move Chatter. Chatter was a field move (moves that can be used outside of battle) in Gen. IV and Gen. V and could be used to record and temporarily alter the battle cry of Chatot. The volume of the recording determined the chance of confusing the foe, but the base power of Chatter remained 60 no matter what. From X and Y onward, it is a 65-power move that always confuses the foe and unfortunately can't be used in the overworld to record Chatot's battle cry. If anything, it's a fun gimmick, and I think it's kind of a shame Game Freak got rid of it, but the complications caused by this move in Gen. V made them abandon the field move function altogether. You'd think that a 65-power move that always confuses the foe would be overpowered, but Chatot isn't very strong or fast to begin with: its base 92 special attack and 91 speed are decent, but it can either hold the Choice Specs at the expense of being relatively quick or it can hold a Choice Scarf at the expense of sheer power. And like burn, confusion got nerfed in Sun and Moon - instead of a 50% chance of hurting themselves, Pokémon now have a 33% chance of doing so. However, Chatot does have access to STAB Boomburst, a 140-power normal-type move that deals massive damage to anything that doesn't resist it. Therefore, people often run Boomburst in combination with Heat Wave and a fighting-type Hidden Power, in order to deal with steel and rock types more effectively, while U-Turn can be used to gain momentum.

Chatot in TCG. 

A Nasty Plot set with Boomburst, Chatter and either Heat Wave or Substitute isn't uncommon, either: Chatot can create a substitute and hide behind it, only to set up with Nasty Plot - which raises its special attack by two stages - and fire away with its STAB moves. Of course, in this case the Leftovers are recommended, as the Choice Specs and Choice Scarf force Chatot to use a single move consecutively until it switches out. At least it should have a Timid nature at all times, as well as the Tangled Feet ability; should Chatot get confused itself, moves used against it will have their accuracy halved. Keen Eye only prevents accuracy loss on Chatot, while its hidden ability Big Pecks prevents its defense from being lowered, which is... unhelpful. Chatot's not taking hits anytime soon with those terrible defenses anyway, so Big Pecks isn't gonna help it one bit.

But what about Chatot's origins? Are they anything special?

Chatot looks chronically suspicious in its official art. I wonder
what exactly its problem is. 

Well, no... not exactly. Chatot is based on a parakeet, or even other parrot species like the masked lovebird, blue-and-yellow macaw and even the rose-ringed parakeet in reference to its feathered collar (although it's kind of a stretch). Parrots are often known for imitating human sounds, and that is exactly what Chatot is all about: its tongue is similar to a human's, allowing it to imitate human speech. It is also able to cleverly mimic the cries of other Pokémon, which it uses as a defense mechanism. Chatot remembers the sounds it learns and arranges them into its own melody while keeping rhythm by flicking its tail, which is why its head looks like an eighth note and its tail resembles a metronome. That's basically everything worth mentioning about this thing, though; if it looks like a parrot and acts like a parrot, it is a parrot. However, I really like Chatot as a whole: it's cute, and the eighth-note shape of its head and the metronome tail are nice little additions to its design and mesh well with its flavor text, making it an exceptionally musical Pokémon. I do feel like an evolution would have been no luxury, as it's quite weak and very frail, but above all I would have loved to see the music aspect of its design be elaborated upon and the eighth-note head change into something like a treble clef (don't let Meghan Trainor hear that). All in all, Chatot is a moderately interesting Pokémon, and I am going to give it four stars out of five. I acknowledge Chatot is not a very popular Pokémon, but at least you'll have to admit it's a lovable Pokémon only because of its design.

P.S.: Chatot's Japanese name Perap (ペラップ) is pretty clever, as perapera can mean 'blah blah blah' or 'yada yada yada' - referring to how incessantly some parrots will talk and chatter - as well as 'fluent in languages'. Neat.

Rating: 4/5