I’m Luke Summerhayes and I love Noibat.
Bats are real animals, and mostly harmless ones. Sure they come out at night, and there are the blood-consuming variety we call Vampire Bats, but nonetheless I don’t feel too bad that these remarkable creatures are not being spoken about on a Halloween episode.
On the other hand, Vlad Dracula was real but absolutely horrifying. Also known as Vlad the Impaler, Vlad III, King of Wallachia was a mighty warrior but also a bloodthirsty tyrant. When British author Bram Stoker wanted to tie his fictional undead vampire to a historical figure 400 years after Vlad’s death, there was still a terrible legacy tied to Dracula- a name which comes from the Order of the Dragon.
Noibat is a pink and purple Flying and Dragon type Pokemon that resembles a large-eared bat with dark hair on its legs and body. Though it is a dragon type, Noibat is much more of a harmless fruit bat than a terrible vampire.
Ultra Sun
Fruits are its favorite foods. This gourmet carefully picks out just the ripe ones using its sonar.
Ultra Moon
It flies around in search of fruit to eat. It uses ultrasonic waves to detect which fruits are ripe.

Another common misconception about bats is that they are blind. While it’s true that they use incredible supersonic navigation, this isn’t because their eyesight is especially bad, but because they operate in dark places like caves, or primarily at night. Still, this sonar ability is impressive, and is exaggerated in this Pokemon.
X
They live in pitch-black caves. Their enormous ears can emit ultrasonic waves of 200,000 hertz.
Y
Even a robust wrestler will become dizzy and unable to stand when exposed to its 200,000-hertz ultrasonic waves.

This power results in the pokemon’s name; combine noise and bat, and you get noibat. Similarly the Japanese name is Onbat, combining on, or sound, and the English bat, while almost being a pun on onpa, or soundwave.
Noibat is a cute, adorable critter and the statistically weakest of all dragon Pokemon – a true representation of the harmless majority of bats in the real world. At level 48, however, it begins to lean closer to Vlad Dracula when it evolves into Noivern.
Noivern is a large, draconic bat which resembles a gargoyle one might see adorning a gothic church wall. Its darker in color than its predecessor, with red claws and a white ruff around its neck as sported by Dracula, particularly in the castlevania videogame series.
Sword
Aggressive and cruel, this Pokémon will ruthlessly torment enemies that are helpless in the dark.

Violet
In the dark, even Hydreigon are terrified of this Pokémon. But in the light, Noivern is the one that avoids battle.
The name Noivern keeps the noise part but now combines it with the suffix from Wyvern, leading harder in the dragon typing. The Japanese name Onvern takes the same route.
Noivern has a great speed stat, and decent special attack, tied to the useful typings of dragon and flying. On top of this, its ability infiltrator let it ignore moves like substitute. It found some roles in competitive play here and there, but alas the dragon type is full of outrageously powerful monsters which it ultimately can’t quite match,
Competitive
Y
The ultrasonic waves it emits from its ears can reduce a large boulder to pebbles. It swoops out of the dark to attack.

Ultra Sun
Although it has a violent disposition, if you give it a nice ripe fruit that it loves, Noivern will suddenly become tame.

One trainer who did tame a Noivern was Ash Ketchum. In the anime, Ash hatched a Noibat from an egg and raised it into a powerful Noivern. The crybaby Noibat became a fan favorite as a kind of disciple of Ash’s Hawlucha.
Noivern combines real animal biology with a classic horror icon and a technological metaphor, plenty to make me love it. On top of that, it’s also the favourite pokemon of a close friend of mine. Shout out to Amelia, the best Pokemon player I actually know.
Music for Luke Loves Pokemon is by Jonathan Cromie. Artwork for the show is by Katie Groves. If you enjoy the podcast, find out about my other shows at podcastiopodcastius.org, get in touch on bluesky @podcastpodcast, or support the show at patreon.com/podcastiopodcastius.
I love hearing from Listeners! Up next are Xerneas and Yveltal, so hit me up about those or any other Pokemon. Even if you don’t feel like doing any of that, thank you so much for listening.
I love Noibat. And remember, I love you too