| | Farfetch'd may be weak, but he's a pretty cool guy. He hits things with a leek and doesn't afraid of anything. Farfetch'd are very protective of that leek, treating it as a swordsman would a prized blade. Their personality is overall very knightlike, in fact, and they are perhaps the most chivalrous of pokémon.
They are more than just honorable leek-weilders, however. Farfetch'd holds an interesting significance in Japanese culture by being an illustration of an idom: A duck bearing onions. This is a phrase to describe a serendipitous event—green onions being the second most important ingredient for a duck stew (the first should be obvious). This coincides with the rarity of Farfetch'd in-game, who was originally a one-time trade offer by an NPC in Red and Blue and who has ever since been tricky to obtain. Click here for the full article, which also goes into a second meaning of the phrase.
I found the Smogon write up for Farfetch'd humorous, and I don't think I can say it any better:
In Generation V, many monsters rely on cowardly tactics—hit-and-run maneuvers with Choice items, unfairly exploiting their foes' typings to set up, or using despicable entry hazards to violate the sanctity of Focus Sash. Some simply use sheer brute force to crush those foes who are less fortunate, or a favorable typing and natural defensive power to wall their foes. Farfetch'd is a simpler kind of Pokémon. An honorable Pokémon. A decent Pokémon. Using Farfetch'd isn't just picking a team member—it's standing up for the restoration of knightly virtue to Pokémon battles. Farfetch'd can't use Choice items; it doesn't have a STAB combo that leaves many Pokémon no choice but to flee. Nor does it wield those entry hazards, or any other such trickery. And of course it is humble, statistically. Farfetch'd is a Pokémon which desires a duel; in a situation where its foes grant it the chance it needs to show its abilities, it cannot be beat.
While this set is superficially similar to such brutes as Terrakion, or even the violent god Arceus, Farfetch'd functions entirely differently from them. Those Pokémon get their opportunity to set up by treacherous means—threatening premature violence against unprepared foes chief among these. Farfetch'd instead believes in its foe's honor—a three-turn preparation period is agreed to, during which Farfetch'd and its foe ready themselves.
Farfetch'd dances with its blade, and at the end of the three turns its Attack stat is 1004. Perhaps its foe will have made similar efforts, or perhaps it will have changed places with a comrade better equipped to fight Farfetch'd. Either way, Farfetch'd will then unleash its full power. With Return, Farfetch'd's blade shall cleave many foes in two, but some survive. Fear not! Against these greater enemies, Farfetch'd spreads its wings and unleashes Brave Bird. Foes as great as the mighty elephant Donphan will be broken.
Steel-type Pokémon, with armored hides and iron fangs, can survive Farfetch'd's attacks. However, if they have any honor at all they will not take these traits without offering their offensive capabilities in trade; Farfetch'd's Revenge gives it a chance, however slim, against these.
Even with all your setup, many foes will still outrun Farfetch'd and kill it before it has a chance to strike—for example, Terrakion. Or Dragonite. Or Haxorus. Or Salamence. Or Scizor. Or Gyarados. Or Lucario. Or Metagross—these are but a scant few of the members of this list. There's no shame in dying with honor, though. As long as Farfetch'd stays and fights to the end, that's enough; better a noble death than a cheap victory. Ladder ratings may fall, but your spirit shall soar.
Farfetch'd has some extent of less honorable fare, such as Toxic and Knock Off, with which to attempt a support set. Nonetheless, it's a disgraceful path for Farfetch'd to go down, and one in which it is entirely outclassed by Archeops. Or Archen. | |
Topic: LOC 57: Top 50 Pokemon {Now counting down!} (Read 46670 times)
