Delibird, The Delivery Pokémon. Delibird carries its food bundled up in its tail. There once was a famous explorer who managed to reach the peak of the world's highest mountain, thanks to one of these Pokémon sharing its food. It has the habit of sharing food with people lost in mountains. It nests at the edge of sharp cliffs. It spends all day carrying food to its awaiting chicks.
Overview
Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukah, and all that good stuff, guys!
Today we have the most festive Pokemon to ever grace the skies.
Sadly, Delibird was doomed to be a gimmick from the beginning
Since they forgot to give it the stats, abilities, and typing for, you know, winning.
Yeah, sadly, Game Freak basically just made Delibird because
They wanted to say they made a Pokemon version of Santa Claus.
For whatever reason, they never gave it many buffs like they could.
Even its signature move, Present, makes Roar of Time seem good.
When Dream World came, Delibird had a chance for something more,
But all it got was a clone of an ability it already had before.
However, while Delibird went many years without getting too much love,
The dawn of X and Y gave it a couple gifts from above:
Two new egg moves, Destiny Bond and Spikes, both of which
Give little Delibird just enough to carve a tiny niche.
So as you're building teams and sets to play with, just remember
To give Delibird some love, and Happy Holidays this December!
Positives
+Vital Spirit and Insomnia are handy, but it's kinda lame
That Game Freak gave it two abilities that are the exact same.
+Spikes, Destiny Bond, and Rapid Spin offer great utility
And at least protect Delibird from complete futility.
+A base 75 Speed stat works decently enough
For Delibird to outspeed slower foes and do its stuff.
+No matter where you look, you probably won't find
A more Christmas-y Pokemon that was ever designed!
Negatives
-45/45/45 bulk, on a 0 to 10 scale,
Would score an 11 in terms of how frail.
-55/65 offenses aren't exactly up to par.
Even when using Hustle, you'll only get so far.
-Ice/Flying typing is, simply put, terrible.
Specifically, it makes Stealth Rock pretty unbearable.
-Despite the few perks Delibird may have to its name,
Its flaws are too huge for it to be great in this game./p>
Abilities
Vital Spirit: The Pokemon cannot be Asleep while having this ability.
Vital Spirit gives lead sets a little room to breathe
Against opposing leads with sleep moves up their sleeves.
Hustle: Damage from physical attacks is increased by 50%, but average accuracy is only 80%.
Choice Band sets with Hustle are neat little tricks,
But they're mostly just gimmicks. Lead sets are better picks.
Hidden Ability (Available):
Insomnia: The Pokemon cannot be put to Sleep while having this ability.
The fact that this is its Hidden Ability is such a shame;
It's pretty much just Vital Spirit by a different name.
Movesets
Claus-trophobia
-Spikes
-Destiny Bond
-Rapid Spin
-Ice Beam / Freeze Dry
Item Attached: Focus Sash
Ability: Vital Spirit / Insomnia
EVs and Nature:
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
With its two new egg moves, Delibird has all that it needs
To find a small niche among lower-tier leads.
With Focus Sash equipped, you'll take at least one hit
And get up Spikes at least once thanks to it.
If Delibird is low on health and can't do much more,
You can take the foe down with you and even up the score.
The Spikes/Destiny Bond combo means that without much doubt
You'll probably get a layer of hazards and at least one knockout.
Rapid Spin seems odd for a Pokemon who's Flying and Ice
But as a lead, it won't have to deal with Stealth Rock, which is nice.
If your opponent's lead sets Stealth Rock or anything like that,
You can spin it away and watch their strategy fall flat.
The last slot is ultimately up to the player to choose.
Ice Beam is the stronger choice. Simple, easy to use.
Freeze Dry is a little weaker, if you decide to make the swap,
But the way it handles Water-types makes it worth the power drop.
Vital Spirit and Insomnia are both basically the same,
So I guess just pick the one with the cooler-sounding name.
Regardless, Delibird can't be put to sleep anymore,
Protecting it from leads with sleep moves, like Spore.
Timid nature is chosen to give Delibird enough Speed
To better do its job as a suicide Spikes lead.
Snow more puns, please!
-Ice Punch
-Aerial Ace
-Ice Shard
-Focus Punch
Item Attached: Choice Band
Ability: Hustle
EVs and Nature:
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
With Hustle and Choice Band, Delibird's Attack rises to decent amounts.
It's not extremely powerful, but I suppose it still counts.
It has slightly more Attack than an item-less Deoxys-A,
Which ain't as great as it sounds, but still pretty okay.
Ice Punch is the best STAB Delibird has access to.
It wishes it had Icicle Crash, but what can you do?
Aerial Ace's low base power may make it seem less viable,
But overwriting Hustle's accuracy drop makes it pretty reliable.
Ice Shard is a good choice because priority is always nice,
For checking weakened sweepers or anything that is weak to Ice.
Focus Punch is powerful coverage, especially against Steel,
But you'll have to play carefully with it, which makes it less ideal.
Hustle's the best ability here for the boost to Attack;
Otherwise, you hit about as hard as a wet paper sack.
Delibird hits a good bit harder with Adamant than without,
Because honestly, with Delibird, you might as well go all-out.
Still, while leads set have a small niche, this one mostly does not.
But hey, if you're ever bored, why don't you give it a shot!
Other Options
Fake Out, Icy Wind, Gunk Shot, Seed Bomb, Brick Break, Sky Attack, Defog, Special sets, Present
Fake Out's decent enough on lead sets to keep from being trash,
But it won't do much besides breaking Sturdy and Focus Sash.
Icy Wind is weaker than other STAB moves Delibird might select,
But the guaranteed Speed drop is a pretty useful effect.
Gunk Shot is another strong physical move, but alas,
It won't offer much coverage outside of Fairy and Grass.
Like Focus Punch, Seed Bomb hits Rock-types that resist Aerial Ace,
And it also gives Water-types a huge punch to the face.
Brick Break is another usable Fighting-type move,
But Focus Punch's greater power makes it hard to remove.
Sky Attack stands out since it's ridiculously strong,
But a 2-turn charge move? I doubt Delibird will last that long.
Defog won't do much that Rapid Spin can't do,
And you don't want to risk removing your own Spikes, do you?
Special sets may seem nice since the base stat is higher,
But at base 65 with a low movepool, it leaves a lot to desire.
Present is Delibird's signature move, but please don't use it.
Its effect is too random and unreliable to really abuse it.
Double & Triple Battle Options
Twas the night before Christmas, Trainer's playing ORAS on cartridge
Even not knowing base stats, Delibird is considered garbage.
Why use it in battle? There is no pride,
Holding the Charti Berry, it still can't take a Rock Slide.
Its signature attack can heal the opponent,
Turning a 3KO into a heartbreaking moment
You're curious to know what set I had in queue?
I wouldn't expect victories with these, don't say I didn't warn you
Delibird @ Master Ball
Jolly
252 Speed
Vital Spirit
-Bestow
It is the holidays, is it not?
Give the opponent your Master Ball, maybe it wasn't victory they sought.
'Tis The Season
-Fake Out
- Icy Wind
- Destiny Bond
- Protect
Item Attached: Focus Sash
Ability: Insomnia
EVs and Nature:
EVs: 252 Speed, 252 SAtk, 4Atk
Timid Natutre
This set is supportive and disruptive, that's all we can hope for.
Icy Wind to slow them down, Destiny Bond to even the score.
The best partners for Delibird, I feel I must stress
Must resist Rock, so Lighting Rod Rhyperior may be the best.
Having a BST of 330 was this bird's downfall.
Ice Type and given Insomnia, the gall!
That wraps it up for Delibird, hope that pun was alright.
Happy Holidays to all, and to all a good night!
Countering Delibird
If it isn't leading, Stealth Rock will be your best friend
To ensure the Delivery Pokemon meets a much quicker end.
Lead sets aren't huge threats themselves, but Taunt should do the trick.
That'll stop Destiny Bond and keep Delibird from laying Spikes too thick.
Multi-hit moves that work past Focus Sash can work pretty swell,
But if it uses Destiny Bond, you might lose your lead as well.
Steel-types are good since they eat Delibird's STABs for lunch.
Just be sure you don't switch into a Choice Band Focus Punch.
Bulky Water-types can tank its Ice moves quite nicely,
But they can't handle Freeze Dry, so be sure to play wisely.
Fire-types have STAB moves that hit really hard,
And they don't mind an Ice Beam, Freeze Dry, or Ice Shard.
Thankfully, Delibird has extremely low bulk,
And it's not exactly hitting as hard as The Hulk.
Those not hit super effectively with decent defenses
Can probably take a hit and fire back with their own offenses.
It hates Fire, Electric, Rock, and Steel-type attacks, too.
Any strong move of these types and Delibird is through.
You may not even need super effective moves to make it break;
It's so frail, it'll lose to most moves not named "Earthquake!"
Locations in Games
Ruby/Sapphire/Emerald:
Trade from FireRed/Colosseum
FireRed/LeafGreen:
Icefall Cave (FireRed)
Trade from FireRed/Colosseum (LeafGreen)
Colosseum/XD:
Snagged from Cipher Peon Arton in Realgam Tower's Dome (Colosseum)
Trade from FireRed (XD)
Diamond/Pearl/Platinum:
Route 216 (Diamond/Pearl)
Route 217 (Platinum)
HeartGold/SoulSilver:
Ice Path (SoulSilver)
Trade from Diamond, Pearl, Platinum or SoulSilver (HeartGold)
Black/White:
Giant Chasm
Black 2/White 2:
Route 22, Giant Chasm
X/Y:
Route 17
Friend Safari
Omega Ruby/Alpha Sapphire:
Shoal Cave
Animé Appearences
