LogFAQs > #979789356

StealThisSheen posted...

To be fair, we had stuff like the anime to go by, too. Hoothoot literally looks nothing like an actual owl until it becomes Noctowl, so it's not necessarily as clear as it appears, so assuming "Oh, it's an owl, so it's Hoot-hoot" isn't necessarily as obvious as it seems. I don't know if I would have known it was Hoot-hoot as a child or not, because the first time I ever saw the thing was literally when the "Who's that Pokemon?!" revealed it and said the name. If I had seen it in-game first, I might have plausibly been unsure, since it doesn't look like an owl, and nothing says it's an owl, initially.

EDIT: I guess the Pokedex does call Hoothoot the "owl Pokemon," but then again, it also calls Sandshrew the "mouse Pokemon," so...

Hard disagree. Hoothoot is the poster child for "chonky baby owl". That was clear in the game (which also gave the sound effect), and even more clear in the show.