Whatever happened to Beedrill?

 

 

Way back when Psychic types were more oppressive than Fairy and Dragon, there were only three moves in the entire game that were super effective against them. One of them was the 20 base power Lick. For the two that actually mattered, only Beedrill had both. As a kid I felt like Giovanni himself busting out my incredibly over-leveled Beedrill to Twineedle a Hypno to death. Did Beedrill get knocked over by a gust of wind? Naturally. Was it actually weak to the Psychic types it ostensibly countered? Of course. Did it crash in flames if your level was even somewhat close to the enemy Pokemon? Yes, geeze, I was there. You don't have to remind me. And it never really got better after that for poor Beedrill. Abilities popped up and while Butterfree got 97% accuracy status moves with Compound Eyes, Beedrill got...Swarm. In Gen 5 when Butterfree got Tinted Lens as a hidden ability and the godly Quiver Dance, Beedrill got...Sniper. In Gen 6 it got Fell Stinger? And a Mega Evolution, that was pretty cool at least. Too bad they never gave it more than 40 base Defense.

The really sad part is that Beedrill is very obviously based on the absolutely terrifying and nightmare inducing Japanese Giant Hornet, the biggest hornet in the entire world. While their venom isn't the most toxic thing out there, they can pump so much into you with each sting that they account for as many as 50 fatalities a year in Japan. Wasps scare the bajeebies out of me and just looking at a picture of these things makes me want to die (so no, I'm not putting a pic here, go look at one yourself). How on earth did they manage to make Beedrill so pathetic in comparison? I ask that, but it's pretty obvious: bad stats, bad abilities, and bad moves. Let's break down what we can do to fix each problem here.

1. Bad Stats

I've detailed in a previous post how I'm not giving ridonculous stat boosts to the classic early game Bug types. That being said, there's still a lot we can do with Beedrill in the stats department. First off, in honor of its min-maxed Mega that I'm not allowing it to have in this hack, I have given Beedrill alone the power to dip its Sp. Attack into the toilet. It needs the help it can get, and this gives us plenty of room to play around with the predetermined base stat total of 434. Small buffs to defense, and larger buffs to Attack and Speed, and suddenly we're seeing the outline of a pretty scary Pokemon.

2. Bad Abilities

Even with some modest buffs to survivability, Beedrill is just not going to be getting into the HP range that will proc Swarm. It's got to go. Instead, we set Technician as our first option. Beedrill has plenty of weak and/or multi-hit moves that can take advantage of the power boost here. We'll probably have to move Twineedle a bit later in the moveset to compensate, but I think the power boost will be well worth it. 

Next, we're adding a secondary ability too. Beedrill had nothing available here, so instead we'll give it Defiant to emphasize its territorial nature. You do NOT provoke Beedrill, and asking it to calm down with stat reduction move is just gonna piss it off even more. As of this post, I only have one other obtainable mon in the game with this ability and you won't be getting that one until near the final Gym. This makes Beedrill a very good answer for the majority of the game against foes that rely too heavily on Intimidate or similar strategies.

Finally, we're scrapping Sniper. Beedrill does not have the time nor staying power to set up things like Focus Energy once you start taking on Gym Leaders, and the critical hit damage nerf certainly isn't helping either. No, we're going to take advantage of Beedrill's famous temper with...what? Did you say Anger Point? Did we not JUST go over Beedrill's survivability? Sit down! No, we're making a brand new ability here: Short Fuse (we'll see about the name, I'm not married to it). With Short Fuse, Beedrill is constantly in a state of Rage. Any time it takes damage, it gets an attack boost. Better keep those multi-hit moves to yourself because a single Double-Slap on the biggest hornet in the game is gonna immediately lose you the game. This ability also gives a lot more reward to switching Beedrill in when before it was all risk because of its poor defenses. While you may be able to get a Swords Dance TM at some point, Beedrill does not learn any boosting moves naturally (unless you count Fell Stinger, I guess?) and this ability can certainly help the damage rack up.

3. Bad Moves

Dear Lord, this mon doesn't even get X-Scissor through leveling up. We're making a lot of changes here. First, with Technician now an option and the addition of Loaded Dice as a hold item, we're throwing in one more multi-hit move with Spike Cannon. I know Beedrill isn't really shooting off its Spikes like rockets, but it is definitely goring you quickly enough to get up to five good stabs in with one attack. Loaded Dice, Technician, Pin Missile, and Spike Cannon is looking pretty nasty for anything that doesn't resist it. 

I don't want to add Drill Run into the level-up movepool, but it will definitely be available somewhere in the game via either TM or Move Tutor. To get an option for a big, chunky attack, I'm adding Gunk Shot as a level 50+ move. Did you know Asian Giant Hornets can reportedly shoot their venom at you? Why is real life so much scarier than this three foot long fantasy wasp? Beedrill no longer has to physically stab you to smack you with that horrible poison. We're also throwing X-Scissor into that range. Depending on the ability it is running, X-Scissor may not even be the strongest Bug move available, but it certainly is appreciated the rest of the time. Last, we'll add First Impression as an option because if this thing is not making an IMPRESSION on you when it switches in, you are dead to the world.

Finally we're buffing some classic moves. Twineedle is getting pushed to 35 base power per hit, easily carrying you from mid game until you can get access to X-Scissor. Fell Stinger will also be pushed to 60 base power, to make it a little easier to actually use consistently. With all of these changes, Beedrill will have some actual good options that it needs to choose between in a final set.

And there we have it. Our baby boy is back and feeling feisty again after so long. Does this all reek a little bit of favoritism? I thought I told you to stop asking me questions. Join me again as we finish up the last couple starter Bugs.