Oricorio #741: four dances, four types, a single bird

One bird, four dances, four types. Oricorio ("Plumeline" in French) is the Dancing Pokémon of the seventh generation, a small bird that changes style, and type, depending on the nectar it drinks. Baile, Pom-Pom, Pa'u or Sensu: it's always the same species.

Contents

• Who is Oricorio?
• The four styles: Baile, Pom-Pom, Pa'u and Sensu
• How nectar works
• Weaknesses, signature Ability and Revelation Dance
• Evolution: Oricorio has none
• Oricorio Fact Sheet
• Frequently Asked Questions

Who is Oricorio?

Listed as #741 in the National Pokédex, Oricorio is the "Dancing Pokémon" of Alola: sixty centimeters tall and weighing 3.4 kilos, with a light pink beak that curves toward the ground, thin legs with three talons in front and one behind, and big black eyes with white pupils.

It's modeled on a real bird—the ʻiʻiwi, or scarlet honeycreeper, a songbird endemic to Hawaii that sips flower nectar with its curved beak. Poképédia also points to Darwin's finches, whose beaks vary from one island to the next depending on the food available.

Its French name blends plume (feather) and ballerine (ballerina), and its dances are inspired by bird courtship displays. The species has three females for every male and makes a Pokémon plush that's simply irresistible.

The four styles: Baile, Pom-Pom, Pa'u and Sensu

First misconception to clear up: it's not the second type that changes, it's the first. Oricorio stays Flying as its secondary type in all four styles; only its primary type switches, and with it its entire plumage.

The Baile Style, the red-and-black flamenco dancer, comes from Ula'ula Island: Fire and Flying type. Passionate by nature, it sheds down as it dances, then sets it ablaze, and it burns with rage if its Trainer gives the wrong command.

The Pom-Pom Style, the pale-yellow cheerleader, comes from Melemele Island: Electric and Flying type. It charges its feathers with electricity as it dances, then uses that charge to attack — or to cheer up people it finds feeling down.

The Pa'u Style, the pink hula dancer, comes from Akala Island: Psychic and Flying type. Its slow hip sways awaken its psychic powers, sometimes sending it into a trance where it no longer hears commands. Its dance is said to be an offering to its island's guardian deity.

The Sensu Style, the purple dancer inspired by Japanese buyō, comes from Poni Island: Ghost and Flying type. Calm and reserved, it dances to summon the spirits around it and borrow their power, and its dance is reminiscent of Kanto's traditional dances.

The detail that ties it all together: in Hawaiian, melemele means yellow, ʻākala pink, ʻulaʻula red and poni purple. So each island bears the name of the color of the Oricorio that lives there.

How nectar works

You don't evolve Oricorio: you give it a drink. A sip of Red Nectar puts it in Baile Style, Yellow Nectar in Pom-Pom Style, Pink Nectar in Pa'u Style and Purple Nectar in Sensu Style, as many times as you like.

In Pokémon Sun and Moon, as in Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon, you collect them in Ula'ula Meadow, Melemele Meadow, Royal Avenue and Poni Meadow. In Scarlet and Violet, you can buy them at Delibird Presents shops once you have three badges.

What changes: its appearance, its primary type and its Pokédex entries. What stays the same: every single stat. All four styles share 75 HP, 70 Attack, 70 Defense, 98 Special Attack, 70 Special Defense and 93 Speed, for a total of 476 points.

✨ Want to get an Alola fan dancing? The little bird with four plumages and its whole crew are waiting for you in our Pokémon gift ideas.

Weaknesses, signature Ability and Revelation Dance

The National Pokédex's default form is Baile Style, a Fire and Flying type. Rock hits it four times as hard, Water and Electric twice as hard. It takes half damage from Fighting, Steel, Fire and Fairy, a quarter from Bug and Grass, and is completely immune to Ground.

The other three styles reshuffle the deck, except for the Ground immunity that the Flying type guarantees all four. Pom-Pom Style is the sturdiest: only two weaknesses, Rock and Ice. Pa'u and Sensu Styles have five, but Sensu Style adds two immunities, Normal and Fighting.

When it comes to Abilities, Oricorio is a special case: it has just one, Dancer, its signature Ability. No other Pokémon has it. So it has no second Ability and no Hidden Ability, and all four styles share this one Ability.

Dancer makes it instantly copy any dance move used in battle, even an opponent's. Its signature move, Revelation Dance, learned at level 40, is one of them: 90 power, Special category, and a type that matches the user's own — so it always gets STAB.

Evolution: Oricorio has none

The answer is clear-cut, and Poképédia puts it bluntly: Oricorio isn't evolved from any Pokémon and doesn't evolve into any. Changing style isn't an evolution but a form change, reversible and with no power boost.

No Mega Evolution either: the seventh generation only has five, for Crabominable, Golisopod, Drampa, Magearna and Zeraora. Yet Oricorio follows Crabominable in the Pokédex, the only one of the two that can Mega Evolve. No regional form or Gigantamax either.

One last bit of trivia, which you can check in the data: Oricorio is one of only four Pokémon found in all three Pokédexes of Scarlet and Violet, along with Tynamo, Eelektrik and Eelektross. Enough to earn it its very own Pokémon figure.

Oricorio Fact Sheet

Frequently Asked Questions

• What are Oricorio's four styles?
  Baile Style, Fire and Flying type, from Ula'ula Island; Pom-Pom Style, Electric and Flying type, from Melemele Island; Pa'u Style, Psychic and Flying type, from Akala Island; and Sensu Style, Ghost and Flying type, from Poni Island. Flying stays the secondary type in all four cases: it's the primary type that changes.
• How do you change Oricorio's style?
  By having it drink nectar. Red Nectar gives it Baile Style, Yellow Nectar Pom-Pom Style, Pink Nectar Pa'u Style and Purple Nectar Sensu Style. In Pokémon Sun and Moon, as well as in Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon, you pick them up in Ula'ula Meadow, Melemele Meadow, Royal Avenue and Poni Meadow. In Scarlet and Violet, you can buy them at Delibird Presents shops once you've earned three badges.
• Do Oricorio's stats change depending on its style?
  No, and it's a common misconception. All four styles have exactly the same values: 75 HP, 70 Attack, 70 Defense, 98 Special Attack, 70 Special Defense and 93 Speed, for a total of 476. Only the appearance, primary type, cry and Pokédex entries differ.
• What are Oricorio's weaknesses?
  They depend on the style. Baile Style, the default form, takes four times the damage from Rock and double from Water and Electric; it takes half damage from Fighting, Steel, Fire and Fairy, a quarter from Bug and Grass, and is completely immune to Ground. Pom-Pom Style is only weak to Rock and Ice. Pa'u and Sensu Styles are weak to Rock, Ghost, Electric, Ice and Dark. All four styles are immune to Ground thanks to the Flying type, and Sensu Style is also immune to Normal and Fighting.
• What are Oricorio's Abilities?
  It has only one, Dancer, which is its signature Ability. It has no second regular Ability and no Hidden Ability, and no other Pokémon has Dancer. This Ability lets it instantly copy any dance move used in battle, including one used by an opponent.
• Does Oricorio evolve or have a Mega Evolution?
  Neither. It isn't evolved from any Pokémon and has no evolution, and its style change doesn't count as one since it's reversible and has no effect on its stats. It doesn't have a Mega Evolution either: the seventh generation only has five, for Crabominable, Golisopod, Drampa, Magearna and Zeraora. No regional form or Gigantamax form either.

In short

Four dances, four types, one single species : Oricorio proves that a Pokémon doesn't need to evolve to reinvent itself. All it takes is a sip of Alolan nectar.