On March 6th, 2021 (11 AM - 5 PM local time) Fletchling, the Tiny Robin Pokémon will be appearing more in the wild & will be available as a shiny Pokémon for the first time! Talonflame, the Scorching Pokémon, will learn the Fast Attack Incinerate when evolved during the Community Day period and up to 2 hours afterwards. The event bonus will be 3x catch experience alongside incense lasting for three hours.

 

 

 
 
 
 

Remember - since Fletchling is a Normal and Flying-type Pokémon, you can Mega-Evolve a Mega Charizard Y or Mega Pidgeot to earn an extra Fletchling Candy on each catch!

 

 

 
 
 

Incinerate is a bit of a unique move only recently added to Pokémon GO, so let’s take a deep dive into how this impacts Talonflame in both Great League and Ultra League!

 

 

 

— Terms —

 

Note that 0/1/2S refers to the even-shield scenarios in simulations from PvPoke. All wins or losses mentioned are even-shield scenarios with zero starting energy unless otherwise stated. Stat Product (SP) and IVs are occasionally referenced. Exclusive moves (*) cannot be acquired by regular TMs and are either legacy or obtained through previous events, purification, or use of an Elite TM.

 

— Great League (GL) —

 

If you played in the most recent Love Cup of GO Battle League, you likely saw some Talonflame in battle already!

 

 

 

With Incinerate, Talonflame becomes even more potent, picking up additional wins in all even shielding scenarios over its current Fire Spin variant.

 

 

 

This powerful fast move combined with the attack-boosting Flame Charge makes for an exceedingly potent Talonflame when 2 shields are invested - able to defeat over 60% of the GL meta with only Incinerate and Flame Charge! With the powerful Brave Bird thrown into the mix, Talonflame keeps the threat up for Pokémon that resist Fire-type damage AND offers a powerful closing move when there are no shields in play. This is a fiery bird you do not want to underestimate!

 

 

 
 
 
 

It is worth noting that it performs best overall at its maximum Stat Product (SP) which is achieved for GL at a 0 Attack, 13 Defense, and 15 HP spread of IVs. Look for the following when appraising your Fletchling on Community Day to hopefully find a great target to evolve into Talonflame:

 

 

 
 
 

To give a quick comparison of similar Pokémon

 

Talonflame is the most bulk-weighted Fire/Flying-type in GL:

 

It is significantly bulkier than Charizard and Moltres

 

It is slightly bulkier than the pre-evolution Fletchinder and Ho-Oh

 
 
 

Talonflame will also be the most bulk-weighted Incinerate user in GL:

 

It is far more bulkier than Darmanitan and Chandelure

 

It is significantly bulkier than Rapidash and Typhlosion

 

It is slightly bulkier than Ho-Oh

 
 
 

In GL, its stat distribution is comparable to these following Pokémon you may have seen before:

 

Venusaur

 

Cherrim

 

Marshtomp

 

Melmetal

 

Froslass

 
 
 

Its closest comparison is Ho-Oh - the only other Fire and Flying-type Pokémon that learns Incinerate. Talonflame with Incinerate looks like it will perform better than Ho-Oh in GL.

 
 
 

(I*+FC+BB on Talonflame and I+E*+BB on Ho-Oh)

 

 

— Ultra League (UL) —

 

Talonflame has previously been slightly more rare in UL. Only hitting a ceiling of 2493 CP at level 50, a grind for that amount of Fletchling Candy and Candy XL is significant and location-dependent.

 

 

 

Hopefully with 6 hours of Community Day, many battlers that can go play the whole event will be able to achieve those 296 precious Candy XL to take their Talonflame to UL size. My apologies in advance to any battlers not yet at trainer level 40, as they will be unable to acquire any Candy XL to take their Talonflame to its maximum UL potential. Hopefully Fletchling will be included as a Pokémon in the wild in the next season - starting March 1st - so that anybody in lockdown or who otherwise cannot acquire the necessary Candy XL may finish that pile off at a later point. This focus on accessibility is mainly because again, Talonflame looks to be a vast improvement over its Fire Spin variant and an improvement over Ho-Oh.

 

 

 

The majority of those GL comparisons still hold true:

 

Talonflame is the 2nd-most bulk-weighted Fire/Flying-type, as Ho-Oh is able to narrowly surpass it at maximized stats.

 

Similarly, Talonflame is the 2nd-most bulk-weighted Incinerate user in UL, again behind Ho-Oh.

 

 

 

In UL, its stat distribution is comparable to these following Pokémon you may have seen before:

 

Ampharos

 

Kingdra

 

Empoleon

 

Swampert

 

Venusaur

 

 

 

Its closest comparison is again, Ho-Oh - the only other Fire and Flying-type Pokémon that learns Incinerate. Talonflame with Incinerate looks like it will perform better than Ho-Oh in UL.

 
 
 

(I*+FC+BB on Talonflame and I+E*+BB on Ho-Oh)

 
 
 
 

Notably different from Ho-Oh, Talonflame is able to participate in the UL Premier Cup. Here, too, it performs much better than its previous Fire Spin variant. You’ll want to find a very high-IV Fletchling during this Community Day to use for UL! Look for either a perfect 15/15/15 IV Fletchinder to evolve or a 13/15/15 IV Fletchinder if you plan to Best Buddy your bird!

 

 

 

I am personally excited to take this avian to new heights in both Great and UL and to scorch down my opponents with strength that Incinerate adds!

 

 

 

I sincerely hope you found this Community Day article helpful, and thank you for taking the time to read. May you all find shiny 0/13/15 Fletchling and a “shundo” to boot!

 
 
 

Much love to our community and please remember to stay safe on your Community Day grind!

 
 
 

Please share the post if you found it useful and good luck battling out there!