Rowlet, Dartrix, Decidueye (SM)

Rowlet is a grass owl with a bowtie that evolves into Dartrix, a bigger grass owl with a bowtie and a fake, badass hair, that evolves into Decidueye, a more badass archer grass owl that ditches the bowtie (too hipster) and replaces it with a cape and a hoodie. It's one of the starters in Pokémon Sun and Moon, along with Litten and Popplio.

Don't spell it like Rowlett, or I'm gonna send a hitman your way.

Stats, Evolutions
Rowlet's stats are balanced and close together, save for that meaty HP and low speed. However, he has no trouble outspeeding slower Pokémon, of which there are a lot in Alola.

All of his stats increase when he evolves into Dartrix at level 17, but FOUR of his stats finally catch up to his HP. Dartrix is still slow, though. But if you get the Eviolite (found in Konikoni City) and have him hold it, it's even better. Then you will have a Pokémon with impossibly high defenses (for this part of the game, anyway) that will still have respectable attacking stats.

When evolving into Decidueye at level 34, his defense and HP don't increase, which is a shame, (especially considering that he gets no boost to his defense with the Eviolite since he's fully evolved) but both of his attacking stats are still as strong as ever, and his special defense is still great. He's still rather slow, though.

Moveset, Abilities, Typing
The only way for these owl guys to get special moves is to get TMs. What a waste of a great special attack stat. The most notable move that Rowlet starts with is Leafage, which is a grass type Tackle. Peck at level 8 is also good, since it gets STAB from Rowlet. The last worthwhile move Rowlet gets before evolving is Razor Leaf at 15, a strong move with a high chance of a critical hit.

Dartrix gets Foresight about as soon as it evolves, but it can hit ghosts very hard anyway. It later gets Pluck, which will be a very useful move against the on-coming Totem Lurantis, since it's a strong flying move that also has the user eat the opponent's berry if it has one. At level 28, it gets Synthesis, a move that has him restore half his HP if the weather is good. It's even better if it holds an Eviolite. Watch opponents despair upon a very bulky Pokémon using a decent recovery move. Avoid getting it Fury Attack a level before evolving, since it's a bad multi-hit move that doesn't even get STAB.

Decidueye gets Spirit Shackle upon promoting from the Dartrix class, and it's a good Ghost-type move that traps the opponent upon use. Good if you want to corner an opponent with a type disadvantage. Later it gets Sucker Punch, which is good against most Pokémon that will exploit Decidueye's weaknesses since it allows 'Dueye to hit first as long as the opponent attacks. Level 44 gives us Leaf Blade, a powerful Grass-type move with a high chance of a critical hit. 49: Feather Dance, a move that significantly lowers the opponent's Attack stat. It's useful because of 'Dueye's mediocre Defense stat not allowing the poor guy to take physical hits that well. Finally, it gets Brave Bird at level 55, which is a powerful flying move that has a recoil effect on the user if it hits. Not that much though. It can also learn U-Turn with the move reminder, but you get it too late to be useful. (Most of the Elite Four's Pokémon resist bug type moves)

I wouldn't teach this hooting guy many TM moves since he gets a lot of good moves on leveling up, but you may want to teach it some special moves to make use of its high Special Attack. Energy Ball, Shadow Ball, Grass Knot... This is how its special attack stat shines. If you can afford it all, you can teach it the Sunny Day + Solar Beam combo. False Swipe, combined with the Foresight move it can get naturally, is good if you want to catch ghost-types, or just Pokémon in general without Foresight. You can also teach it Acrobatics, which has its power doubled when the user is not holding an item. It also gets Steel Wing for steel-type coverage, but it's not necessary because fairies are not very prominent and they already have ways to deal with rock types anyway. You can look at its learnset and look at many of its other moves, because this hoot has a lot of other great moves, but a few of them can be learned by most other Pokémon anyway.

For abilities, it gets Overgrow, which boosts its grass attacks in a pinch. It's not bad at all, but it's easy to take for granted, although it does very well if it has maximum affection and in a pinch.

Its typing is meh. It's a Grass/Flying type, so it has 5 weaknesses, but they don't appear until later in the game, and two of them are uncommon. It resists three types, including a 1/4 resistance to grass, and it's immune to Ground-type attacks. Decidueye trades his Flying type for a Ghost type when evolving, and his new Grass/Ghost typing is better. It still has 5 weaknesses, but none of them are too bad, and it has more immunities and resistances.

Important Battles
Since Rowlet, Dartrix and Decidueye naturally have access to moves of at least three STAB types, it's no surprise that they'd do somewhat well in the in-game battles.
 * 1st trial (Gumshoos): Gumshoos has a lot of attack and outspeeds Rowlet (by a tiny difference, so you can sort this out by leveling Rowlet up a level or two). Plus, Gumshoos got a boost to his defense. You should only send Rowlet in to defeat the Yungoos helpers, but if you have a Fighting-type Pokémon, they can do a better job at that.
 * 1st trial (Raticate): Raticate has some defense and outspeeds Rowlet by a large difference and the aforementioned boost to its defense applies, but Raticate's attack is not as high as Gumshoos's. Still, this battle is mostly meant for Fighting types due to Raticate having a 4x weakness to fighting moves. Use it if you want.
 * Hala: Rowlet/Dartrix is at a clear advantage here due to their Flying-type. It's better if it's evolved, because then the opponents won't stand a chance against a Pokémon that's 3 levels higher and completely superior when it comes to stats. Shame on those who didn't pick Rowlet or don't have a Flying-type Pokémon for this fight.
 * 2nd trial (Wishiwashi): Definitely an option. Wishiwashi is superior when it comes to stats, and Alomomola is a fearsome support Pokémon, but Dartrix has a move that hits multiple targets and has a high crit ratio, and a move to boost its crit ratio (Z-Foresight). Oh, and Soak is a thing and they use it. School form Wishiwashi is not as scary when it has no reliable way of attacking its opponent. Wishiwashi has a Sitrus Berry, but you can always grind to have Dartrix learn Pluck.
 * 3rd trial (Salazzle): Don't.
 * 4th trial (Lurantis): Consider it. It can resist Lurantis's Solar Blade by 1/4x, and most of its other moves too. However, Trumbeak and Castform can hit Dartrix super-effectively. It's rather risky, really.
 * Olivia: Dartrix can completely own Nosepass and Boldore, but Lycanroc outspeeds Dartrix and can use the Z-move Continental Crush. Since Lycanroc has a lot of attack, it will hurt... It's better if you use another Pokémon to weaken Lycanroc and to use it as bait for the one-time use Continental Crush.
 * 5th trial (Vikavolt): It's scary that the thing has all of its stats boosted... But it's not bad if you have Pluck. Holding the Eviolite is an option too (if unevolved). Charjabug is a terrifying support too, capable of paralyzing.
 * 6th trial (Mimikyu): You should only send it in when it's been weakened by other Pokémon. Mimikyu's disguise, fast supports that induce sleep with Hypnosis... To be fair, this battle is a lot of trouble no matter what you use.
 * Nanu: I wouldn't recommend using it. Nanu's Pokémon have the type advantage and all but one of his Pokémon outspeed Decidueye. You can always use it against Krokorok, though. However, Persian is a cause for concern, since it can use the Dark-type Z-Move and outspeed Decidueye.
 * Hapu: Of course. Alolan Dugtrio and Flygon take normal damage from Leaf Blade, but Decidueye is still good at killing the things. They both outspeed Decidueye, but there's nothing to worry about.
 * 7th trial (Kommo-o): Kommo-o is very powerful, but as long as you have a Flying-type move like Acrobatics you'll be fine. The supports are terrible too.
 * Hala (Elite Four): The same still applies. Make sure you don't get hit super effectively by Crabominable, as it has a high Attack stat.
 * Olivia (Elite Four): Still mostly the same, complete with the same worries and concerns.
 * Acerola (Elite Four): It's rather risky. While Decidueye can hit all of her Pokémon super effectively, they can, too. Froslass is also capable of using Blizzard and Ice Shard. Use him if you want to.
 * Kahili: I see you're a risk-taker! But seriously, there's no good reason to use Decidueye there.
 * Kukui: I wouldn't recommend using him there. There are many Pokémon that are at a type advantage against him. Maybe you can use it against Lycanroc, but still.

Conclusion
Rowlet/Dartrix/Decidueye is a very decent Pokémon, unsurprising for a starter. Bulky, strong, with a good movepool, but with disadvantages against over some of the important trainers in the game... To be fair, the starters in this generation are all pretty strong. If you want a starter that isn't hooting around, you can bet your last feather on Robin Hoot-- I mean Decidueye. This arrow-shooting guy is not a hoot to play, but definitely not terrible. It's slow and lacking in defense, though, but when you are wearing a hootie-- er, a hoodie and a badass cape you don't want them to get dirty.

Rating: 73%