Togepi

The habitat records place it in the forest, and yet almost nobody runs into one among the trees: you receive Togepi inside an egg, from someone else. And it only partly emerges from it. The 30 centimetres and kilo and a half listed in the Pokédex include the shell, which isn't a wrapper it sheds as it grows but part of its body, with red and blue spikes painted on top and two short legs poking out underneath.

The five Pokédex entries insist on the same thing from different angles, and the idea is strange for a bestiary: the shell is full of joy, and anyone who wakes a sleeping Togepi will attain happiness. The most detailed one explains the mechanism — it gathers the feelings of compassion and joy given off by the people and Pokémon around it, stores them inside and then shares them out. The others treat it directly as a good-luck charm: it brings good fortune if treated with affection. The official category, Spike Ball Pokémon, sticks to its shape and doesn't say a word about any of this.

It starts a three-stage line. With enough friendship it evolves into Togetic, which gains wings and leaves the shell behind, and the final stage is Togekiss, which needs a Shiny Stone. In the games' internal classification it counts as a baby, the label reserved for pre-evolutions that can't breed.

Its 245 base stat points are among the lowest in existence, and the distribution clashes with what its abilities offer on top of that. Defense 65 and Special Defense 65 are the two respectable figures, although 35 HP leaves them with no buffer behind. Attack 20 and Speed 20 are literal baby numbers. Special Attack 40 doesn't save anything.

Hustle raises Attack at the cost of accuracy on physical moves, and with 20 Attack, and Tackle as the only physical hit in its repertoire, that boost leads nowhere. Serene Grace is the ability that matters, except it doesn't matter here: it doubles the chance of secondary effects, and there is very little to double on Togepi. Psychic, at level 34, can make the opponent flinch; Moonblast, at 43, can lower its Special Defense. They arrive late and come out with 40 Special Attack pushing them along. Super Luck, the hidden ability, raises the frequency of critical hits on an Attack stat of 20.

The Fairy typing gives it the usual defensive package: immunity to Dragon, resistance to Fighting, Bug and Dark, and weaknesses to Poison and Steel. On the attacking side it gets Fairy Wind at level 6 and Draining Kiss at 11, with 40 and 50 power respectively — the latter at least gives some health back.

In a normal playthrough, its role is to last for exactly the right number of levels. Calm Mind, at 18, raises both Special stats and is the closest thing it has to a plan, but with 20 Speed every turn spent setting up is a turn spent taking hits. The practical approach is to bring it out at the start of a battle you've already won, switch it out immediately and let its friendship grow. It yields 1 Special Defense effort point and gives 49 base experience when defeated, which is another way of saying the same thing.

It belongs to the Undiscovered Egg Group, which is how the games write “this doesn't breed”. Its evolutions lay the eggs: Togetic and Togekiss do have Egg Groups assigned to them, and the baby comes from there. The gender ratio complicates matters — only 12.5% of the line are female, so either a female Togetic has to appear or you need a Ditto.

Its 10 incubation cycles work out at about 2805 steps, among the shortest times in the game, and it then grows at the Fast rate, so the first levels rack up quickly. It has no recorded Egg Moves.

Evolution depends on friendship: gaining a level with the counter at 160 or higher. It starts at 70, so there are 90 points to gain by walking, battling and avoiding letting it faint. It's the same requirement shared by almost all the baby Pokémon from the second generation.

Its catch rate, 190, is one of the high ones, although it's almost a decorative statistic for a species you don't look for on routes. The games have made a habit of giving it away: Professor Elm's aide hands over the egg in Goldenrod City in Gold, Silver and Crystal, and repeats the gesture in HeartGold and SoulSilver; in FireRed and LeafGreen an old man in the Water Labyrinth gives it to you; in Platinum, Cynthia does so in Eterna City; in Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire, an old woman in Lavaridge Town gives it to you once the National Pokédex has been obtained.