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A weekly Pokédex Podcast from Bald Man in Japan Luke Summerhayes. A different Pokémon family every week.
I’m Luke Summerhayes and I love Pikipek.
Woodpeckers are common birds all over the world, landing on trees and using their sturdy beaks to chisel their way into the bark and hollow out a nest. They’re small and timid, so not necessarily often seen, but they can be heard from some distance and their handiwork easily identified in tree trunks.
Although they are part of the same order, the Piciforms, Toucans are in many ways the opposite of woodpeckers. Rather than small, compact beaks with incredible strength, they have large, showy beaks which are actually brittle. Rather than being hidden from view, toucan are proud to display themselves. And rather than working hard to dig a nest, they muscle their way in after little woodpeckers have finished working.
Pikipek is our classic normal-and-flying type early-game bird Pokemon, a black and white woodpecker with a red highlight that very closely resembles the real-world Pileated Woodpecker. It was one of the first 7th Generation Pokemon we saw, albeit in wireframe form, when we saw our first glimpse of Game Freak hard at work on Pokemon Sun and Moon.
Some Pokedex entries are almost like real facts about woodpeckers.
Sun
It can peck at a rate of 16 times a second to drill holes in trees. It uses the holes for food storage and for nesting.
In fact, some real woodpeckers are even faster, pecking at around 20 times a second. Of course, Pokemon are a little different to real animals and some behavior is anthropomorphized.
Ultra Sun
It pecks at trees with its hard beak. You can get some idea of its mood or condition from the rhythm of its pecking.
The Japanese name Tsutsukera swaps around the real world Keratsutsuki, or Woodpecker. Similarly, the English name combines the Latin Picus with the English Peck – both meaning woodpecker. That said, Pikipek does have one ability quite uncommon in real woodpeckers.
Moon
This Pokémon feeds on berries, whose leftover seeds become the ammunition for the attacks it fires off from its mouth.
At level 14, this firepower develops when Pikipek evolves into Trumbeak.
Trumbeak is taller and more aerodynamic, with a long beak and sharp quills. Trumbeak uses its beak like a trumpet, hence the name.
Moon
By bending its beak, it can produce a variety of calls and brand itself a noisy nuisance for its neighbors.
The Japanese name, Kerappa, also adds the Japanese for Trumpet into the previous name. It doesn’t just use its beak as a trumpet, though, but also as a weapon.
Sun
It eats berries and stores their seeds in its beak. When it encounters enemies or prey, it fires off all the seeds in a burst.
Ultra Moon
From its mouth, it fires the seeds of berries it has eaten. The scattered seeds give rise to new plants.
Real woodpeckers and Toucans are, despite making holes in trees, often symbiotically very useful for spreading seeds.
Trumbeak spitting seeds seems like something a believable bird would do, but it will goextreme when, at level 28, it evoves into Toucannon.
Toucannon is a normal and flying type still, but it has developed into a toucan with an enormous beak almost as long as its whole body. It has a stern look, but its color scheme is in keeping with its predecessors – not as outlandish as some species of Toucan, and the proportions are not nearly as outlandish as they might have been.
Toucannon takes Trumbeak’s seed-spitting habit and turns it up to eleven.
Moon
Within its beak, its internal gas ignites, explosively launching seeds with enough power to pulverize boulders.
Ultra Sun
They smack beaks with others of their kind to communicate. The strength and number of hits tell each other how they feel.
Real toucans beaks are actually not especially strong, existing mainly for intimidation and also regulating the bird’s body temperature.
Sun
When it battles, its beak heats up. The temperature can easily exceed 212 degrees Fahrenheit, causing severe burns when it hits.
Real-world toucans are infamous of bullying their way into the homes dug by smaller birds, but they are only doing what they must for their own young.
Ultra Moon
Known for forming harmonious couples, this Pokémon is brought to wedding ceremonies as a good luck charm.
Violet
Pairs of Toucannon are considered symbols of companionship, as these Pokémon will raise the temperature of their beaks to warm each other.
The name Toucannon simply combines toucan, the bird, with cannon, the weapon. The Japanese name, Dodekabashi, just means large toucan. Toucannon is a big cannon of a Toucan, with a very high attack stat, the unique move beak blast and the ability skill link that lets it take advantage of multi-hit moves.
After the fire-type Talonflame, and with steel and electic birds in the next two generations, toucannon’s normal and flying combo can feel a little disappointing. It has serious power, though, and it’s a colorful example of a cool bird.