In Meowth and Persian's review I already mentioned that I absolutely adore cats (kittens in particular), and that was not a lie, because cats are - and always will be - my favorite animals. My love for these fluffy creatures even carries over to Pokémon, as some feline Pokémon in the franchise are very high on of my all-time favorites list; Luxray has been my absolute favorite Pokémon since 2007, and Persian and the entire Litten family could easily be top-10 material. Heck, even Mew is feline to some extent, and I love that Pokémon.
The only exceptions are Skitty and Delcatty.
Now, I don't hate Skitty and Delcatty, but they're so... bland. Many people suggest that you could also say that about Persian, especially when it comes to its design, but that Pokémon at least had a little bit of personality to it. What's more, Persian isn't entirely useless in battle, because the Technician/Nasty Plot combo proved to be very effective during my ORAS cat playthrough. There is a reason I didn't include Delcatty in my team, though: it's a terrible battler. while Gen. VII made Delcatty faster, it didn't make it stronger, having a base special attack of only 55 and no moves to reliably boost that stat whatsoever. Nor does it have access to a move to boost its attack stat (base 65), for that matter. Delcatty may have a wide movepool of both physical and special attacks, but its ability Normalize changes all of its moves - including status moves such as Thunder Wave and Toxic - into normal-type moves, which is bad. I cannot fathom why on earth anybody would be okay with excellent type coverage being changed into what is perhaps the most boring and least effective type in the Pokémon universe. Sure, you could opt for Cute Charm instead, but that doesn't solve the problem of Delcatty's attacking stats being terrible to the max - with no ways to boost them significantly. Well, Work Up is the best it gets, raising both its attack and special attack by one stage each, but it just doesn't compare to the two-stage special attack boost Nasty Plot provides. Unortunately, Delcatty does not have access to that move, so it's better to shy away from this Pokémon entirely.
And it's not like Skitty and Delcatty's Pokédex entries are any better. Skitty behaves pretty much like a pet kitten, being fascinated by anything that moves and having the tendency to pursue them. It even chases its own tail until it becomes dizzy from it. Delcatty is more mature, being a real pacifist and avoiding conflicts wherever possible; when it is disturbed, it just moves to another area rather than starting a fight. Additionally, it likes to do everything at its own pace, so its daily routine is random. The Pokédex entries claim that both Skitty and Delcatty are more popular among female Trainers - Skitty for its adorable looks and Delcatty for its sublime fur - but this is not an accurate representation of real life: a trillion cat memes and videos that you can find on the Internet suggest that the popularity of cat is more gender-neutral.
In short, there is nothing overly remarkable about Skitty and Delcatty; for the most part, they behave like normal cats do. But whereas it's is fine when a normal cat behaves like a normal cat, it comes across as bland when it's the characteristic of what's supposed to be an occult creature with excessive powers. I mean, I get that not every Pokémon is as strong or interesting, but it's another thing entirely to come up with features that are so bland the whole Pokémon ends up being uninteresting. It's a shame, because I really like Delcatty's design (except for the awkward feet) and I think this Pokémon could've been so much more, both competitively and characteristically.
You'd think that after all this 'trash talk' I would give Delcatty a bad rating, but that couldn't have been any further from the truth. As I said before, I actually quite like its design, and that counts for something, too. I like the random pincushion parts of its design; and while Bulbapedia states these parts are actually based on foxtail grass and Skitty and Delcatty's Japanese names of Eneco (エネコ) and Enekororo (エネコロロ) seem to support that, as enokorogusa means 'foxtail grass', I really don't see it. Ah, whatevs. Skitty and Delcatty are cute enough for a decent rating of 3.5 stars, even though it's a shame they're awful battlers, even in-game.
P.S.: Eneco is actually the name of a Dutch electricity supplier, so I actually laughed my ass off when I saw Skitty's Japanese name. Heh.
Rating: 3.5/5
The only exceptions are Skitty and Delcatty.
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| Fan art of a bunch of Skitty playing with a reluctant Spheal. |
Now, I don't hate Skitty and Delcatty, but they're so... bland. Many people suggest that you could also say that about Persian, especially when it comes to its design, but that Pokémon at least had a little bit of personality to it. What's more, Persian isn't entirely useless in battle, because the Technician/Nasty Plot combo proved to be very effective during my ORAS cat playthrough. There is a reason I didn't include Delcatty in my team, though: it's a terrible battler. while Gen. VII made Delcatty faster, it didn't make it stronger, having a base special attack of only 55 and no moves to reliably boost that stat whatsoever. Nor does it have access to a move to boost its attack stat (base 65), for that matter. Delcatty may have a wide movepool of both physical and special attacks, but its ability Normalize changes all of its moves - including status moves such as Thunder Wave and Toxic - into normal-type moves, which is bad. I cannot fathom why on earth anybody would be okay with excellent type coverage being changed into what is perhaps the most boring and least effective type in the Pokémon universe. Sure, you could opt for Cute Charm instead, but that doesn't solve the problem of Delcatty's attacking stats being terrible to the max - with no ways to boost them significantly. Well, Work Up is the best it gets, raising both its attack and special attack by one stage each, but it just doesn't compare to the two-stage special attack boost Nasty Plot provides. Unortunately, Delcatty does not have access to that move, so it's better to shy away from this Pokémon entirely.
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| Pretty cool 3D art of Delcatty. |
And it's not like Skitty and Delcatty's Pokédex entries are any better. Skitty behaves pretty much like a pet kitten, being fascinated by anything that moves and having the tendency to pursue them. It even chases its own tail until it becomes dizzy from it. Delcatty is more mature, being a real pacifist and avoiding conflicts wherever possible; when it is disturbed, it just moves to another area rather than starting a fight. Additionally, it likes to do everything at its own pace, so its daily routine is random. The Pokédex entries claim that both Skitty and Delcatty are more popular among female Trainers - Skitty for its adorable looks and Delcatty for its sublime fur - but this is not an accurate representation of real life: a trillion cat memes and videos that you can find on the Internet suggest that the popularity of cat is more gender-neutral.
In short, there is nothing overly remarkable about Skitty and Delcatty; for the most part, they behave like normal cats do. But whereas it's is fine when a normal cat behaves like a normal cat, it comes across as bland when it's the characteristic of what's supposed to be an occult creature with excessive powers. I mean, I get that not every Pokémon is as strong or interesting, but it's another thing entirely to come up with features that are so bland the whole Pokémon ends up being uninteresting. It's a shame, because I really like Delcatty's design (except for the awkward feet) and I think this Pokémon could've been so much more, both competitively and characteristically.
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| Little Skitty by the water, as seen on a TCG card. |
You'd think that after all this 'trash talk' I would give Delcatty a bad rating, but that couldn't have been any further from the truth. As I said before, I actually quite like its design, and that counts for something, too. I like the random pincushion parts of its design; and while Bulbapedia states these parts are actually based on foxtail grass and Skitty and Delcatty's Japanese names of Eneco (エネコ) and Enekororo (エネコロロ) seem to support that, as enokorogusa means 'foxtail grass', I really don't see it. Ah, whatevs. Skitty and Delcatty are cute enough for a decent rating of 3.5 stars, even though it's a shame they're awful battlers, even in-game.
P.S.: Eneco is actually the name of a Dutch electricity supplier, so I actually laughed my ass off when I saw Skitty's Japanese name. Heh.
Rating: 3.5/5
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