Dartrix

Like Rowlet, Dartrix calls an owl to mind, but its appearance already points towards a bird that turns its plumage into a weapon. The leaves around its face evoke the facial disc of some owls, and the feathers on its wings end in sharp points, making them suitable for throwing at prey and enemies. It also has a vain side: it grooms itself whenever it can, refuses to battle if it fears getting dirty, and may disobey when it does not receive enough attention during grooming.

Its perception stands out as much as its accuracy. It detects presences behind it and targets vital points with feathers it throws like knives. The Grass and Flying combination suits its appearance as a bird covered in leaves, while its Blade Quill Pokémon category sums up its way of attacking.

It occupies the middle stage of its evolutionary line. Rowlet evolves into Dartrix upon reaching level 17, then reaches Decidueye at level 34 in the usual evolution. It is 0.7 m tall, weighs 16 kg and yields 2 HP EVs when defeated.

Dartrix has no place in open formats against fully evolved species. Its 78 HP, 75 Attack, 75 Defense, 70 Special Attack, 70 Special Defense and 52 Speed form a sturdy but slow profile with limited power. In battles that restrict evolutions, Eviolite lets it make better use of its defenses and act as either a physical attacker or defensive support.

Overgrow boosts Grass-type moves when its HP gets dangerously low, so Leaf Blade, Seed Bomb or Trailblaze gain value at that point. Its Hidden Ability, Long Reach, prevents its moves from making contact with the opponent; this is useful with physical moves such as Knock Off or Brave Bird for avoiding effects associated with contact. Swords Dance can turn a free turn into a physical threat, while Sucker Punch partly makes up for its 52 Speed if the opponent tries to attack.

Grass and Flying give it an immunity to Ground and resistances to Water, Grass and Fighting, but also leave it with a quadruple weakness to Ice. Fire, Electric, Flying, Poison and Rock hit it super effectively. That Ice weakness, vulnerability to Stealth Rock and low Speed greatly limit its opportunities to switch in; in a normal playthrough, it is mainly useful during the story, when its balance of bulk and access to physical moves still covers several matchups.

It belongs to the Flying Egg Group. Its gender ratio leaves it with 12.5% females, so breeding normally starts with a male specimen. Incubation requires 15 cycles, equivalent to approximately 4080 steps. Its catch rate is 45: obtaining it is not trivial, so it is worth saving suitable Poké Balls or weakening it carefully.

Its notable Egg Moves include Roost, which provides recovery, Defog, useful for removing hazards, and Confuse Ray, which can hinder physical attackers. Knock Off also deserves attention because it removes the target's item and is already part of its offensive options.

The initial evolution is exact: Rowlet becomes Dartrix upon reaching level 17. Afterwards, Dartrix evolves upon reaching level 34 in the usual line; the Hisui route uses level 36 for its later evolution. Its growth rate is Medium Slow, and it belongs only to the Flying Egg Group.