WIP WIP
Wally announced a Gen 9 update and potentially the addition of more tournaments and PvP events (Assuming this because of the recent PvP coordinator roles). I noticed a lot of people have never played past Gen 7, so here's a little prep for you all. All of this is just based on my experience of following competitive Pokemon since Gen 6 and what I personally think of what will happen with the release of Gen 9. Quick note on that, I may think a Pokemon's usage is top X, but that does not mean it's as viable as made to be. Usage rate does not equal viability.
I'm open to feedback I can edit in or change, just don't say dumb stuff like "Hey, X mon is better than how you described" then not explain why. This also isn't the thread to express your opinions on current bans.
I'll be updating this daily so i'll keep bumping this thread. Feel free to follow the thread if you want to be updated. This way it'll be less overwhelming to read on all the new Pokemon too.
I hope you guys can use this for future references or just to learn something new.
Format:
Pokemon - Typing
Abilities: Useful or recommended abilities will be in bold, hidden abilities will be in italics.
Stats (HP / Atk / Def / Sp.Atk / Sp.Def / Speed / Total
-Spoiler-Image-Spoiler-
Evolutions (x--Evolution method-->x)
Analysis and predictions
Rillaboom - Grass
Overgrow / Grassy Surge
100 / 125 / 90 / 60 / 70 / 85 / 530
Grookey--Level 16-->Thwackey--Level 35-->Rillaboom
Rillaboom is an amazing wallbreaker, best used on balanced and hyper offense teams. With access to Grassy Surge, setting up Grassy Terrain on switch-ins, Grassy Glide, a 70bp (55bp in gen 9) Grass type move that has +1 priority only while Grassy Terrain is active, Knock Off, Superpower, U-Turn, Wood Hammer, Swords Dance and Choice Band variants can deal massive damage to the opponent's team. Adamant is generally ran on this mon, however Jolly is also viable. Some Pokemon that check Rillaboom are Zapdos, Corviknight, Skarmory, Buzzwole. It'll probably be a top 50 used mon once Gen 9 is released.
Cinderace - Fire
Blaze / Libero
80 / 116 / 75 / 65 / 75 / 119 / 530
Scorbunny--Level 16-->Raboot--Level 35-->Cinderace
Cinderace was banned in gen 8 OU, along with gen 8 Magearna which was a solid check to Tapu Lele, Ash-Greninja, and itself, while still maintaining a pretty good offensive presence. It was considered to be too much for Gen 8 OU at the time partly because of its Speed tier, only being out sped by Dragapult and Zeraora at the time, generally forcing switches on defensive Pokemon like Ferrothorn, and Corviknight, and Libero, which is Cinderace's Protean, giving it STAB on every move it has. Gunk Shot, High Jump Kick , Pyro Ball (A 120 BP. 90%acc, 5-8PP Fire-type move), Zen Headbutt, Sucker Punch, U-Turn, Electro Ball. It can run Bulk Up sets to potentially sweep teams. Its other signature move, Court Change, allows it to swap every entry hazards and screens active on the field. If I had Stealth Rocks on my side and my opponent had Light Screen on their side of the field, after using this move, I would have Light Screen active and Rocks would be on their side. Jolly is almost always used on this Pokemon.
Cinderace is prediction and luck reliant though. Two of its best moves, Pyro Ball and Gunk Shot, both don't have 100% acc and low PP. U-Turn is bait for Rocky Helmet chip, and often times you find that it barely has enough power to secure KO's. This mon was then unbanned in Gen 9 OU. It'll probably be a top 25 used mon once Gen 9 is released.
Inteleon - Water
Torrent / Sniper
70 / 85 / 65 / 125 / 65 / 120 / 530
Sobble--Level 16-->Drizzile--Level 35-->Inteleon
Great Speed and Sp.Atk, that's it. Has access to U-Turn, Ice Beam, Dark Pulse, Hydro Pump, that's it. Everyone will forget this mon existed. Pokemon like Dragapult are so much better at fulfilling its role as a fast specially offensive attacker. Tapu Lele and Mega Alakazam both are better wallbreakers. Use it on a Rain team with Specs? Sure, but is that really worth sacrificing a slot for any other Swift Swimmer? It essentially has no coverage to hit other Water types, the type that usually defines a tier's defensive metagame. (Rotom-Wash, Dondozo, Primarina, Toxapex, Quagsire, Volcanion, Suicune, etc) Sniper, Focus Energy, Scope Lens? Way too difficult to get that set up with its paper defenses. If you need a specially offensive Water type, use Walking Wake, Greninja, Keldeo instead. Overall this Pokemon will be forgotten. It runs Timid though, for the collectors.
Greedent - Normal
Cheek Pouch / Gluttony
120 / 95 / 95 / 55 / 75 / 20 / 460
Skwovet--Level 24-->Greedent
Gen 8's Rattata. I used a picture from Pokemon Unite because it should only be used in Pokemon Unite. I'd say you can run Adamant or Brave in a Trick Room team since it gets Belly Drum, Facade, Earthquake, Bullet Seed, Gyro Ball, Thunder fang, Crunch, Swords Dance. There's some really weird Stuff Cheeks + Cheek Pouch stuff too but yeah run it for memes.
I'd say this overall this mon will be forgotten PvP-wise, but it's like the new Rattata on hunting maps.
Corviknight - Flying / Steel
Pressure / Unnerve / Mirror Armor
98 / 87 / 105 / 53 / 85 / 67 / 495
Rookidee--Level 18--> Corvisquire--Level 38--> Corviknight
Gen 8's regional bird. Gets Roost, Defog, U-Turn, Iron Defense, Body Press, Agility, Brave Bird, Bulk Up, Power Trip, Taunt. Does not get Spikes. Very good typing. A lot of people compare Corviknight with Skarmory, but they both have different roles on a team. Corviknight fits better on balanced teams (Although it can and will still be used on stall teams too) as a defensive pivot, it enables the sweepers and wallbreakers on the team, whereas Skarmory fits better on stall teams, being able to phaze opponents, set up entry hazards, toxic. Corviknight is an amazing check to many physical attackers, Roaring Moon (Careful of Knock Off), Weavile, Rillaboom, Mega Scizor, Mega Gyarados, Mega Swampert, Garchomp. Rocky Helmet, Shed Shell, Leftovers, are all great items to have it hold. Impish is the nature you want to use, although some variants run Careful to check Dragapult, Gengar, Walking Wake, Gholdengo. Relaxed is rarely used, but it gives you the slower U-Turn in Corviknight mirror matchups. I think Corviknight will be a top 25 used mon.
Orbeetle - Bug / Psychic
Swarm / Frisk / Telepathy
60 / 45 / 110 / 80 / 120 / 90 / 505
Blipbug--Level 10-->Dottler--Level 30-->Orbeetle
Gen 8's bug. It's a meme mon. Run Bold, Weakness Policy, Agility, Iron Defense, Body Press, Stored Power. It gets stuff like Calm Mind, Recover, Trick Room, U-Turn, Psychic Terrain, Shadow Ball, Sticky Webs. Bad defensive typing. You will forget this mon day 1.
Thievul - Dark
Run Away / Unburden / Stakeout
70 / 58 / 58 / 87 / 92 / 90 / 455
Nickit--Level 18-->Thievul
It's cool I guess. Dark Pulse, Psychic, Parting Shot, Knock Off, Nasty Plot, Grass Knot, U-Turn. Give it a Choice Specs or run it on terrain with the respective seed. You can use Modest in combination with Unburden, Timid with Stakeout, mix and match it's up to you and what you need. It's a meme mon. We'll forget about it in a day.
Eldegoss - Grass
Cotton Down / Regenerator / Effect Spore
60 / 50 / 90 / 80 / 120 / 60 / 460
Gossifleur--Level 20-->Eldegoss
Low base HP, bad defensive typing, and too passive. It has a niche in Rapid Spin, Regenerator, Sleep Powder, Aromatherapy, Leech Seed though. I've personally seen and used Cotton Guard + Eject Button sets into a strong wallbreaker, it's just average. Nothing special about this mon. If you really want to hunt this Pokemon, i'm assuming Bold for it, with the same reasoning you'd run Bold on a Chansey, or Calm if you really need the Sp.Def. This was my favorite mon in the Gen 8 trailer, sadly it couldn't do more.
Dubwool - Normal
Fluffy / Steadfast / Bulletproof
72 / 80 / 100 / 60 / 90 / 88 / 490
Wooloo--Level 24--Dubwool
If Rattata was a sheep, it'd be this. Run a defensive nature with Body Press and Cotton Guard I guess. Bold probably. Forgettable. Wooloo is cute though.
Drednaw - Water / Rock
Strong Jaw / Shell Armor / Swift Swim
90 / 115 / 90 / 48 / 68 / 74 / 485
Chewtle--Level 22-->Drednaw
You can use this as a Focus Sash lead to get rocks up or as a Swift swimmer with Life Orb. Some of its notable moves include Liquidation, Stone Edge, Swords Dance, Megahorn, Jaw Lock, Earthquake, Superpower. Adamant is usually used. This is just one of many Swift Swift mons you use to swag a bit, not really a reason to use this over Pokemon like Barraskewda or Mega Swampert. Cool for a little bit, people might use it here and there. It won't be a consistent OU Pokemon.
Boltund - Electric
Strong Jaw / Competitive
69 / 90 / 60 / 90 / 60 / 121 / 490
Yamper--Level 25-->Boltund
Base 90 Atk and Sp.Atk is just too underwhelming. There are multiple fast and offensive Electric-type Pokemon, so much so that there's always going to be competition for Boltund. Why use this as a fast pivot when instead you can use Jolteon to get stronger Volt Switches, or Magnezone, Rotom, who have way better defensive typings. Its coverage moves are bad. Collectors and hunters, just use a Jolly sync. Naive for a slightly stronger Volt Switch I guess, it wouldn't matter.
Coalossal - Rock / Fire
Steam Engine / Flame Body / Flash Fire
110 / 80 / 120 / 80 / 90 / 30 / 510
Rolycoly--Level 18-->Carkol--Level 34-->Coalossal
Coalossal has a few niches. It gets Spikes, Stealth Rocks, and Rapid Spin. Steam Engine is probably not going to activate in the entirety of the game unless it's from Randbats and even after activating, without a Weakness Policy, it has mediocre offensive stats, with average moves, Earthquake, Iron Head, Heat Crash, Flame Charge, Burn Up, Stealth Rocks, Earth Power, Flamethrower. It has a signature move, Tar Shot, which lowers the target's Speed by 1, and the effectiveness of Fire-type moves is doubled against it. Run Calm or Bold for the hazard setter set. Won't be seeing this Pokemon many times.
Flapple - Grass / Dragon
Ripen / Gluttony / Hustle
70 / 110 / 80 / 95 / 60 / 70 / 485
Applin--Tart Apple-->Flapple
It has a pretty cool movepool. Dragon Dance, Acrobatics, Sucker Punch, U-Turn, Grassy Glide, Outrage. Grav Apple. Hustle makes it way stronger but riskier to use. Some variants run a Choice Band, some Life Orb. Seems good but it's way too weak to set up reliably most of the time and it suffers from Hustle misses. Even after a Dragon Dance boost, Pokemon like Cinderace are faster, plus there's other more consistent Dragon dancers, Gyarados, Roaring Moon, etc. Hunt for Jolly or Adamant.
Appletun - Grass / Dragon
Ripen / Gluttony / Thick Fat
110 / 85 / 80 / 100 / 80 / 30 / 485
Applin--Sweet Apple-->Appletun
It's a defensive mon that has access to Leech Seed, Recover, Dragon Tail, Iron Defense, Body Press, Amnesia, Recycle. It has a signature move, Apple Acid, a 80 bp move that has a 100% chance to lower the target's Sp.Def by 1. You could run Modest with a Choice Specs, or run more defensive sets with Sassy or Calm, depends on what you need. It's actually bulky enough to counter Pokemon like Mega Swampert, Barraskewda and check things like Excadrill, Dracovish, Mega Gyarados, Ogerpon. The problem with this Pokemon is it barely has any offensive presence with its limited coverage. Defensive Pokemon like Ferrothorn and Corviknight will always get a free switch in. The biggest thing this Pokemon has going for it would be too check Dracovish imo, depending on the decision with Dracovish to have it banned or not in PRO's future. Having to bring a low tier Pokemon or a Gastrodon for Dracovish is already a bad sign. People might use this mon just for fun, but that's it.
Sandaconda - Ground
Sand Spit / Shed Skin / Sand Veil
72 / 107 / 125 / 65 / 70 / 71 / 510
Silicobra--Level 30-->Sandaconda
This sand setter has a unique kit. It has Stealth Rocks, Earthquake, Rock Blast, Glare, Coil, Scale Shot, Body Press. A lot of set utilize Coil, Rest, Shed Skin to boost up and sweep. You can run Impish for a more utility-based set, Glare, Stealth Rocks, Earthquake. Careful can be used for Coil Rest variants, or Jolly with Scale Shot. Niche set with Eject Pack Sand Spit (When hit by an attack, summons Sandstorm) is also a thing, but I don't see why anyone would use this to set sand instead of Tyranitar. It's mostly a low tier Pokemon.
Cramorant - Flying / Water
Gulp Missle
70 / 85 / 55 / 85 / 95 / 85 / 475
Single Stage
Notable moves: Defog, Hurricane, Scald, Ice Beam, Surf, Roost. The ability is what makes Cramorant unique. It changes forms when it hits an opponent with Surf or on the first turn of Dive. With more than 1/2 HP, it becomes Gulping Form, indicated by a Arrokuda in its mouth. With less than 1/2 HP, it becomes Gouging Form, with a Pikachu in its mouth. If Cramorant gets hit during these forms, it will spit the Pikachu or Arrokuda out and deal 1/4 damage to the attacker. Arrokuda lowers the target's Defense by 1, while Pikachu paralyzes the target, returning to normal only after spitting or switching out. You can run Bold or Calm to make it a defensive defogger or the fun set, which utilizes Surf, Endure, Custap or Heavy-Duty Boots. The idea is to get into its Gouging form and endure to survive a hit and paralyze the opponent. It's mostly a meme mon though so have fun with it.
Barraskewda - Water
Swift Swim / Propeller Tail
61 / 123 / 60 / 60 / 50 / 136 / 490
Arrokuda--Level 26-->Barraskewda
High Attack and Swift Swim outspeeds even a +1 Regieleki under rain with Jolly. Adamant is always used though since it still outspeeds stuff like boosted Iron Boulder, Deoxys-Speed, and Hawlucha. Its most notable moves are Liquidation, Flip Turn, Aqua Jet, Close Combat, Psychic Fangs, Crunch. Access to Flip Turn lets teammates like Kingdra or Mega Swampert get a free turn. Pairing it with Mega Swampert is important because it provides Electric immunity and threatens Toxapex. Barraskewda is definitely a strong wallbreaker and an amazing addition to Rain teams. Will it make Rain overwhelming in the future? Honestly I think no, it can struggle with some defensive cores without rain, and I think Rillaboom will be used enough in the metagame for it to be a threat to these teams, but Rain teams are for sure still extremely strong and easy to pilot. Imo, any rain team with Mega Swampert will be teamed up with Barraskewda, so its usage will probably fall around the same as Mega Swampert. Fun and terrifying mon.
Toxtricity - Electric / Poison
Punk Rock / [Plus:Amped--Minus:Low Key] / Technician
75 / 98 / 70 / 114 / 70 / 75 / 502
Toxel--Level 30 if Hardy, Brave, Adamant, Naughty, Docile, Impish, Lax, Hasty, Jolly, Naive, Rash, Sassy, or Quirky--> Amped Form Toxtricity. The Yellow one.
Toxel--Level 30 if any other nature--> Low Key Form Toxtricity. The Blue one.
Toxtricity's a pretty strong mon. Punk Rock makes this Pokemon take 1/2 damage from sound moves and have its own sound based moves have 1.3x power. It has access to 2 sound based moves in Overdrive, a 80 bp Electric-type move, and Boomburst. It also gets Volt Switch, Stored Power, Shift Gear, Taunt and Sludge Wave. It actually pretty slow though, and lacks reliable recovery. It has a slight niche in being able to punch holes in bulkier teams, but that's pretty much it. Run Modest or Timid. It's not going to be a top tier Pokemon.
Centiskorch - Fire / Bug
Flash Fire / White Smoke / Flame Body
100 / 115 / 65 / 90 / 90 / 65 / 525
Sizzlipede--Level 28-->Centiskorch
This Bug type has access to X-Scissor, Knock Off, Leech Life, Fire Lash, Coil, Power Whip, Scald, Thunder Fang, Will-O-Wisp. It's really nothing special, its typing forces it to always have to run Heavy-Duty Boots as an item. Use Adamant or Jolly. Overall this Pokemon is a one and done type of mon.
Grapploct - Fighting
Limber / Technician
80 / 118 / 90 / 70 / 80 / 42 / 480
Clobbopus--Level up Knowing Taunt-->Grapploct
Gains access to Waterfall, Draining Punch, Superpower, Sucker Punch, Close Combat, Ice Punch and Octolock, a move that traps the opponent and lowers its Defense and Sp.Defense by 1 each turn. Bad stats and nothing special about it overall. Run Adamant if you want. Forgettable mon.
Polteageist - Ghost
Weak Armor / Cursed Body
60 / 65 / 65 / 134 / 114 / 70 / 508
Sinistea--Give it a Cracked Pot or Chipped pot-->Poltegeist
Notable moves: Shell Smash, Giga Drain, Strength Sap, Shadow Ball, Will-O-Wisp, Stored Power, Psyshock, Giga Drain. Polteageist is an amazing Shell Smash user, placing itself comfortably on Psychic Terrain HO teams with Indeedee, Armarouge, Hawlucha, Mega Alakazam, Tapu Lele and other Psychic terrain abusers. Both its abilities are useful, the former further enabling a sweep, and the latter giving it more chances to set up. It has an amazing base 134 Sp.Attack. All this makes it a dangerous setup sweeper, however it does rely heavily on Terastallization in a Gen 9 setting, as Pokemon like Roaring Moon and Kingambit are able to wall it without a Tera and able to revenge kill it back, but this Pokemon will most likely be run with HP Fighting in PRO. It's extremely predictable, you know what it will do and what it does. Run either Timid or Modest. Timid lets it outspeed +1 Walking Wake, Deoxys-Speed, Adamant +2 Blaziken, Adamant +2 Dragonite. Polteageist is definitely going to be one of the more threatening set up sweepers in PRO's future. It'll probably be a top 100 used mon though.
Hatterene - Psychic / Fairy
Healer / Anticipation / Magic Bounce
57 / 90 / 95 / 136 / 103 / 29 / 510
Hatenna--Level 32--> Hattrem--Level 42--> Hatterene
A viable Magic Bouncer. Has access to moves like Nuzzle, Mystical Fire, Draining Kiss, Calm Mind, Healing Wish, Trick Room, Stored Power, Shadow Ball, Misty Explosion, Light Screen, Reflect, Gravity, Psychic. As you can see, it has an amazing support movepool. It beats hazard stack HO teams, Deoxys-Speed, Glimmora, etc, save for Hisuian Samurott. You can run items like Eject Button for offensive teams as a pivot, use its Calm Mind Stored Power Draining Kiss variant as a mid-late game sweeper, and a Trick Room setter. I would recommend running Bold on almost every set. Overall I think Hatterene's usage will be in the top 30's. Good typing, ability, support.
Grimmsnarl - Dark / Fairy
Prankster / Frisk / Pickpocket
95 / 120 / 65 / 95 / 75 / 60 / 510
Impidimp--Level 32--> Morgrem--Level 42-->Grimmsnarl
Solid dual screens setter for HO teams as it gets Prankster, Taunt, Parting Shot, Thunder Wave, Foul Play, Play Rough, Spirit Break, Trick. I think Alolan Ninetale's usage will marginally drop just because dual screens HO teams will have the option to run this instead of it. Each have their own pros. Running Bold is the way to go. I think Grimmsnarl will be top 80 used Pokemon.
Galarian Slowbro - Poison / Psychic
Quick Draw / Own Tempo / Regenerator
95 / 100 / 95 / 100 / 70 / 30 / 490
Galarian Slowpoke--*Galarica Cuff--> Galarian Slowbro
*Not available in PRO yet
Crazy vast move pool. Like really wide. It has any and all coverage it needs to hit any type it wants to for physical or special damage. Cool set up moves it can choose from too like Belly Drum, Iron Defense, Calm Mind, and Nasty Plot. Utility moves in
Slack Off, Block, and Thunder Wave. It also gets a signature move called Shell Side Arm, which is a 90 bp Poison-type move that has a 20% chance to poison the target and becomes a physical or special type move depending on which would do more damage, taking into account the target's Defense and Sp.Defense. Quick Draw is a unique ability for it as well, if ran with Quick Claw, it will let Galarian Slowbro fo first about 40% of the time. Alas, this version of Slowbro lacks the slightly better Defense it's Kantonian counterpart had, and is outclassed as a utility option by Galarian Slowking, which gets the moves Chilly Reception, Toxic Spikes, Future Sight. Quick Draw sets also lack reliability, only going first ~44% of the time. It's a niche, used for fun, Pokemon. Run Bold or Adamant.
Galarian Slowking - Poison / Psychic
Curious Medicine / Own Tempo / Regenerator
95 / 65 / 80 / 110 / 110 / 30 / 490
Galarian Slowpoke--Galarica Wreath-- Galarian Slowking
Galarian Slowking, one of the best pivots in the game. It lost Teleport going into Gen 9, but got Chilly Reception. Chilly Reception's in-game description: The user tells a chillingly bad joke before switching places with a party Pokémon in waiting. This summons a snowstorm lasting five turns. I just thought that was really funny, but it acts as a Teleport that summons the Snow weather condition for 5 turns. Having a great defensive typing and high special bulk lets it check high tier monsters like Volcarona and Iron Valiant while being able to threaten the latter back. Its utility moves, Thunder Wave, Toxic, Trick Room, Taunt, Toxic, Yawn, Slack Off, Psychic Noise, Light Screen, and of course Chilly Reception. It has the option to run Black Sludge, Rocky Helmet, and Assault Vest depending on what you need it to do. Coverage moves like Flamethrower and Ice Beam also help it out, and Future Sight + Chilly Reception being a deadly combination when paired with a teammate like Urshifu. Natures like Calm, Bold, Quiet will help this Pokemon a lot. I'm genuinely excited to use Galarian Slowking and expect it to be a top 30 Pokemon, though be careful because it is still forced out by a lot of physical threats like Chien-Pao, Hoopa-Unbound, Great Tusk, Urshifu, Ursaluna.
Obstagoon - Dark / Normal
Reckless / Guts / Defiant
93 / 90 / 101 / 60 / 81 / 95 / 520
Galarian Zigzagoon--Level 20--> Galarian Linoone--Level 35 at night-->Obstagoon
Facade, Fling, Ice Punch, Gunk Shot, Thunder Punch, Knock Off, Close Combat, Cross Poison, Mega Kick, Mega Punch, Bulk Up, Stomping Tantrum, Parting Shot, Seed Bomb, Trick, Obstruct, Taunt. It has an amazing movepool, great wallbreaking abilities in Guts and Defiant. It's a good wallbreaker, threatens a lot of defensive mons and forces switches. However, in terms of power, it's outclassed as a Guts user by Ursaluna and Conkeldurr, is weak to U-Turn, the combination of entry hazards and Flame Orb wear it down, and it's average speed lets many Pokemon like Volcarona, Urshifu, Keldeo outspeed it. It can still hold it's own, but I think it's just average. Run Jolly on it cause it needs all that Speed. It'll probably be top 200 used Pokemon.
Perrserker - Steel
Battle Armor / Tough Claws / Steely Spirit
70 / 110 / 100 / 50 / 60 / 50 / 440
Galarian Meowth--Level 28--Perrserker
Has the kit to become a good Choice Band Pokemon or a Swords Dance set up sweeper, U-Turn, Iron Head, Throat Chop, Trailblaze, Close Combat, Gunk Shot, Play Rough, Stealth Rocks (Gen 9) and 2 abilities that help it out offensively. It's way too slow even with Trailblaze though, has only above average base Attack; not being able to justify using it on Trick Room teams, and its Sp.Defense is bad. Adamant is its preferred nature, or Jolly if you're using it with Trailblaze. It's hard to find a spot for this Pokemon in higher tiers.
Cursola - Ghost
Weak Armor / Perish Body
60 / 95 / 50 / 145 / 130 / 30 / 510
Galarian Corsola--Trade-->Cursola
This is a pretty unique Pokemon, I love its design and the concept behind it. Its Sp.Attack is on par with Pokemon like Mega Sceptile, Thundurus-Therian, and Vikavolt. It gains access to Shadow Ball, Earth Power, Power Gem, Hex, Scald, Ice Beam, Iron Defense, Calm Mind, Destiny Bond, Whirlpool, Perish Song, Strength Sap, Stealth Rocks, Will-O-Wisp. It's just way too slow to properly utilize its high Sp.Attack, however it does have a few niches on possibly a Trick Room team with Perish Body. You can pair it up with Whirlpool and Perish Body to trap opponents and take them out. Another fun set is to use Weak Armor and have it hold Weakness Policy, bait a super-effective move, and Endure to get its Speed up. Run Modest or Quiet. You can also run its pre-evolution as a niche defensive Pokemon with Night Shade, Stealth Rocks, Will-O-Wisp and Eviolite with Bold or Calm. We might see this Pokemon on Trick Room teams a few times but there are many other better options to put on a Trick Room team.
Sirfetch'd - Fighting
Steadfast / Scrappy
62 / 135 / 95 / 68 / 82 / 65 / 507
Galarian Farfetch'd--Land 3 critical hits in a single battle--> Sirfetch'd
Crazy base Attack. Gets moves like First Impression, Close Combat, Poison Jab, Swords Dance, Leaf Blade, Brave Bird, Defog, Knock Off, Quick Attack, and also a 150bp physical Fighting-type Hyper Beam move, Meteor Assault. It has a great ability in Scrappy, and can be used on Trick Room teams. Outside of Trick Room, its Speed is horrible. It only has decent bulk. Sirfetch'd is a niche Fighting-type breaker, there are many other better options like Great Tusk, Urshifu, Hawlucha and Kommo-o. Run Adamant or Brave on it. It's not going to be seen much, even on Trick Room teams.
Mr. Rime - Ice / Psychic
Tangled Feet / Screen Cleaner / Ice Body
80 / 85 / 75 / 110 / 100 / 70 / 520
Mime Jr.--Level up knowing Mimic (Only Mime Jr. from Galar)--> Galarian Mr. Mime--Level 42--> Mr. Rime
This Pokemon gets Rapid Spin, Slack Off, Freeze-Dry, Calm Mind, Expanding Force, Focus Blast, Nasty Plot, Psychic, Thunderbolt, Taunt. Bad speed and bulk, its ability is just average, it just clears screens. You could run a Timid set with Rapid spin, Freeze-Dry, Nasty Plot, and one of its coverage moves but that's it. Niche mon. Forgettable.
Runerigus - Ground / Ghost
Wandering Spirit
58 / 95 / 145 / 50 / 105 / 30 / 483
Galarian Yamask--*Evolution method not available in PRO-->Runerigus
*In Gen 8, you need to pass under the rock arch in Dusty Bowl after taking at least 49 HP in damage from attacks without fainting.
You can use this Pokemon to set up Trick Room or Stealth Rocks and Toxic Spikes, spin block. It does not have a reliable recovery move being a defensive Pokemon. It does get interesting moves in Body Press, Earthquake, Poltergeist, Will-O-Wisp, but it's just not enough to justify using it as other Pokemon can do this better. Most commonly used with Impish.
Alcremie - Fairy
Sweet Veil / Aroma Veil
65 / 60 / 75 / 110 / 121 / 64 / 495
Milcery--*Evolution method not available in PRO--> Alcremie
*Have it hold a Sweet and strike a pose or get dizzy.
Niche set up sweeper. Recover, Dazzling Gleam, Aromatherapy, Mystical Fire, Acid Armor, Stored Power, Draining Kiss, Giga Drain. You want it to be as physically defensive as possible, so Bold is a must, with the same logic you'd use Bold on Chansey. Nothing special going for it. I guess just be aware of its boosting moves in Randbats. Forgettable.
Falinks - Fighting
Battle Armor / Defiant
65 / 100 / 100 / 70 / 60 / 75 / 470
Single stage
Good concept, weak Pokemon. No Retreat gives Falinks an omniboost but doesn't let it switch out. Close Combat, First Impression, Bulk Up, Throat Chop, Rock Slide, Zen Headbutt, Smart Strike, all this is not enough to justify using Falinks. It just does not have a place in higher tiers. Hunt for Adamant imo, or Jolly if you want.
Pincurchin - Electric
Lightning Rod / Electric Surge
48 / 101 / 95 / 91 / 85 / 15 / 435
Single stage
The only reason anyone would want to use Pincurchin is to activate Electric terrain, set up Spikes, maybe throw off a few Rising Voltage or Scalds, Memento, and enable your Quark Drive Pokemon. It gets Toxic Spikes too, but there's no reason to not use Tapu Koko. Unless Tapu Koko isn't released yet or is banned, this Pokemon will not see the light of day. Collectors hunt for Bold.
Frosmoth - Ice / Bug
Shield Dust / Ice Scales
70 / 65 / 60 / 125 / 90 / 65 / 475
Snom--Level up with high friendship at night-->Frosmoth
In Gen 8, this is like an Ice-type Volcarona, except it's not really. It doesn't have the immediate base 100 Speed Volcarona has. Ice is horrible defensively, making it harder to set up a Quiver Dance. It also lost Hidden Power so it had no way to deal with Steel types, with its best moves being Ice Beam, Bug Buzz, Giga Drain, Hurricane, Weather Ball. Come Gen 9, it became significantly better due to the introduction of Terastallization and the Snow weather 50% Defense boost to Ice types. Personally in PRO, I think Frosmoth will have a niche on HO teams utilizing Alolan Ninetales (Depending on how PRO decides to handle Hail and Snow) to set up screens, and it will run HP Ground for Pokemon that are able to check Frosmoth like Garganacl, Toxapex, Heatran, and Galarian Slowking. Teammates like Iron Valiant and Ceruledge pair well with it. Run Timid, it needs the Speed. Overall I still think this Pokemon will rarely be seen unfortunately, but it still has a niche.
Stonjourner - Rock
Power Spot
100 / 125 / 135 / 20 / 20 / 70 / 470
Single stage
I've never seen this Pokemon a day in my life. I guess you can run Stealth Rocks, Superpower, Earthquake, Stone Edge, Heat Crash, something like that with a Choice Band and Adamant. Please just use Garganacl.
Eiscue - Ice
Ice Face
Ice Face stats: 75 / 80 / 110 / 65 / 90 / 50 / 470
Noice Face Stats: 75 / 80 / 70 / 65 / 50 / 130 / 470
Single stage
Niche Pokemon that uses one setup set. Belly Drum, Substitute, Icicle Spear, Zen Headbutt, with a Salac Berry and Jolly nature. Its ability, Ice Face lets it take 0 damage from all physical attacks, and switches forms to its Noice Face. When Hail or Snow starts, it revert back to its Ice Face. There's also a Hail Stall set that utilizes Hail, Protect, Sub, and its ability to slowly KO the opponent.
Indeedee - Psychic
Inner Focus (Male) Own Temp (Female) / Synchronize / Psychic Surge
Male: 60 / 65 / 55 / 105 / 95 / 95 / 475
Female: 60 / 55 / 65 / 95 / 105 / 85 / 475
Single stage
If Tapu Lele isn't available or not released yet, Indeedee-M will be the only Psychic Terrain setter. It enables Pokemon like Armarouge and Hawlucha, and makes Polteageist and Mega Alakazam terrifying sweepers. Expanding Force's power is multiplied by 1.5 in Psychic Terrain, making Indeedee have an actual offensive presence when brought in on the field. This coupled with Dazzling Gleam, Encore, Healing Wish, Mystical Fire, Shadow Ball, Trick, all make Psyspam teams a great option. You can choose to use Choice Specs or Terrain Extender. The preferred nature for this Pokemon will be Timid. It'll be used but I don't think it'll be used much if Tapu Lele is available.
Morpeko - Electric / Dark
Hunger Switch
58 / 95 / 58 / 70 / 58 / 97 / 436
Single stage
Pikachu clone of Gen 8. Its ability lets it switch between Electric and Dark types each turn. Aura Wheel, a 110 BP physical Electric or Dark type (Depending on your current form) move that boosts your speed by 1 stage. It gets Knock Off, Parting Shot, Seed Bomb, Ice Fang, Fake Out, Stomping Tantrum, U-Turn, Thunder Punch. Run Jolly on this, or Adamant because you can get boosts from Aura Wheel. A once tried then done type of mon sadly.
Copperajah - Steel
Sheer Force / Heavy Metal
122 / 130 / 69 / 80 / 69 / 30 / 500
Cufant--Level 34--> Copperajah
Iron Head, Knock Off, Earthquake, Whirlwind, Stealth Rocks, Body Press, Stone Edge, Taunt, Supercell Slam, Heat Crash, Power Whip (Gen 8 only). Copperajah is slow and has no reliable recovery, so it gets worn down easily. You're better off using any other Steel type, Heatran, Corviknight, Archaludon, Iron Treads. Natures for Copperajah include Adamant and sometimes Careful.
Dracozolt - Electric / Dragon
Volt Absorb / Hustle / Sand Rush
90 / 100 / 90 / 80 / 70 / 75 / 505
Single stage
1 of 4 fossil Pokemon of the Galar region. The fossils got mixed and matched, hence why it looks like this. It most commonly uses its signature move Bolt Beak. Bolt Beak is a 85 bp physical move that doubles in damage if the user moves before the target, making it a 170 bp move. It also has access to Draco Meteor, Earthquake, Fire Blast, Fire Spin. It benefits the most by holding a Life Orb, though choiced sets are viable too. The problem with choiced sets is that it will have a limited amount of turns to benefit from it, which is one of its weaknesses. However as a whole, I think sand teams will drop in viability in general because there are so many high tier Pokemon that deal with Tyranitar and Excadrill. Ting-Lu, Corviknight, Great Tusk, Gliscor, Ogerpon-Wellspring, Zapdos, Dondozo, just to name a few. As a result of this, Dracozolt also suffers from the many Ground types that are used, adding to this Clodsire and Landorus-Therian. Dracozolt relies on the limited sand turns its given, and in turn has to sometimes rely on predictions to be able to break teams. Considering PRO will not have the ability to Terastallize further limits the options these sand teams have. Sand teams will rarely be used, and they'd be much harder to pilot because of these factors. You can run either Lonely or Naughty, or Jolly and Adamant if you prefer not to run Draco Meteor. Personally I think this will be a top 200 used Pokemon.
Arctozolt - Electric - Ice
Volt Absorb / Static / Slush Rush
90 / 100 / 90 / 90 / 80 / 55 / 505
Single stage
2 of 4 fossil Pokemon of the Galar region. The fossils got mixed and matched, hence why it looks like this. It gets a signature move called Bolt Beak. Bolt Beak is a 85 bp physical move that doubles in damage if the user moves before the target, making it a 170 bp move. It also gets access to Freeze-Dry, Low Kick, Blizzard, Rising Voltage, Iron Tail, Meteor Beam, Stomping Tantrum. It actually has amazing an amazing STAB combination. Use this Pokemon on Hail teams. It pairs well with Urshifu-Rapid Strike and Alolan Ninetales, as Alolan Ninetales provides the Hail and Urshifu-Rapid Strike, letting the latter pivot into bulky Water types. The problem is Arctozolt is easily revenged killed by common Choice Scarf users like Kartana and Victini. Mega Scizor and Ferrothorn can also take hits, but have to be careful of Low Kick and Bolt Beak respectively. Imo a Naive nature is needed. Overall it's hard to tell how Arctozolt and Alolan Ninetales will do in the future, and how the Hail and Snow weather will be implemented in PRO. While it's threatening, it suffers the same limited turns issue as Dracozolt. We'll just have to see.
Dracovish - Water / Dragon
Water Absorb / Strong Jaw / Sand Rush
90 / 90 / 100 / 70 / 80 / 75 / 505
Single stage
3 of 4 fossil Pokemon of the Galar region. Dracovish has been banned to Ubers in every metagame its been in. It has access to Fishous Rend, a 80 bp physical Water-type move that doubles in power when the user moves first, and is further boosted by Strong Jaw. Just to give an idea on how potent this Pokemon is for wallbreaking defensive Pokemon, these are some calcs on:
Giving it Choice Band makes it an extremely strong wallbreaker, and giving it a Choice Scarf makes having to deal with offensive teams much easier. The problem is Pokemon that resists the move and can threaten Dracovish out only switch into it once and get OHKOd if it's banded. It also has Psychic Fangs and Outrage for the bit of coverage it needs. Dracovish simply restricts teambuilding as it cannot be consistently checked. I think it will remain banned in PRO. It mostly runs Adamant to maximize its attacking stat.
Btw its head is supposed to be on the bottom, it's currently stuck on its supposed tail.
Arctovish - Water / Ice
Water Absorb / Ice Body / Slush Rush
90 / 90 / 100 / 80 / 90 / 55 / 505
Single stage
4 of 4 fossil Pokemon of the Galar region, and the weakest of the squad imo. It has coverage moves in Psychic Fangs, Iron Head, Crunch, but it rarely needs this because it gets Fishous Rend, a 80 bp physical Water-type move that doubles in power when the user moves first. Even running Adamant or Jolly or Naive with Freeze-Dry is not enough for this Pokemon, you're better off using something like Arctozolt on the hail team. I can see this Pokemon being barely used.
Btw its head is put on upside-down.
Duraludon - Steel / Dragon
Light Metal / Heavy Metal / Stalwart
70 / 95 / 115 / 120 / 50 / 85 / 535
Duraludon--Metal Alloy--> Archaludon
Duraludon isn't a Pokemon that wins games. Although it does have good coverage moves, getting Dragon Tail, Light Screen, Reflect, Thunder Wave, Draco Meteor, Flash Cannon, Body Press, Stealth Rocks, Thunderbolt, Swords Dance, Steel Beam, a 140 bp special move that deals 1/2 HP to the user. It can go mix, has good typing, has access to Stealth Rocks, and definitely seems like it would be a great Choice Specs user or Eviolite user. However, it has a bad Sp.Defense stat, its abilities are technically useless, and it's just outclassed by Ferrothorn really. There's a cool screens setter set with Steel Beam, but Dragapult just does that better. Maybe its evolution will do better. We'll see later. I recommend running Modest or Timid.
Dragapult - Dragon / Ghost
Clear Body / Infiltrator / Cursed Body
88 / 120 / 75 / 100 / 75 / 142 / 600
Dreepy--Level 50--> Drakloak--Level 60--> Dragapult
Dragapult is an extremely versataile Pokemon. It can be used as a pivot with its massive base Speed utilizing Will-o-Wisp, Thunder Wave, Hex, U-turn, make use of its special movepool with a Choice Specs and Hydro Pump, Flamethrower, Shadow Ball, Draco Meteor, Fire Blast, Thunderbolt, abuse Dragon Dance with Dragon Darts, a 50 bp physical Dragon-type move that hits twice, Phantom Force with Ghostium-Z. It can run dual screens and Curse to provide support for its teammates, Substitute + Disable, and even Infestation, Substitute, Night Shade for Garganacls thinking they can switch in for free. All of its abilities have a use. It does have to be careful because Pokemon like Roaring Moon and Kingambit threaten it out. I personally think without Terastallization, Dragapult will be a top tier Pokemon in PRO, only to be held back by Kingambit. Kingambit itself is way too strong with Terastallization, Knock Off, and Pursuit but without Tera it is more manageable. If in the future Kingambit is banned from ranked in PRO even without the ability to Tera, then Dragapult and Gholdengo (More on this) will also have to be looked at imo. Dragapult can run multiple natures depending on what you need it to do. Jolly, Timid, Hasty, Naive, Modest, Adamant.
Zacian - Fairy
Zacian-Crowned - Fairy / Steel
Intrepid Sword - Boosts the Pokemon's Attack stat by 1 stage when it enters the battle (Gen 8 ) or for the first time it enters battle (Gen 9 ).
Zacian:
Gen 8: 92 / 130 / 115 / 80 / 115 / 138 / 670
Gen 9: 92 / 120 / 115 / 80 / 115 / 138 / 660
Zacian-Crowned:
Gen 8: 92 / 170 / 115 / 80 / 115 / 148 / 720
Gen 9: 92 / 150 / 115 / 80 / 115 / 148 / 700
Single stage - Automatically changes forms when holding an item called the Rusted Sword.
It's a very potent revenge killer and has an expansive movepool to support its behemoth Attack stat, Play Rough, Close Combat, Crunch, Wild Charge, Solar Blade, Behemoth Blade, a 100 bp physical Steel-type move with 100% acc, Swords Dance, Fire Fang. Adamant or Jolly, run what you need. This Pokemon will be banned on release.
Zamazenta - Fighting
Zamazenta-Crowned - Fighting / Steel
Dauntless Shield - Boosts the Pokemon's Defense stat by 1 stage when it enters the battle (Gen 8 ) or for the first time it enters battle (Gen 9 ).
Zamazenta:
Gen 8: 92 / 130 / 115 / 80 / 115 / 138 / 670
Gen 9: 92 / 120 / 115 / 80 / 115 / 138 / 660
Zamazenta-Crowned:
Gen 8: 92 / 130 / 145 / 80 / 145 / 128 / 720
Gen 9: 92 / 120 / 140 / 80 / 140 / 128 / 700
Single stage - Automatically changes forms when holding an item called the Rusted Shield.
This Pokemon can run Choice Band with moves like Crunch, Stone Edge, Wild Charge, Psychic Fangs, Ice Fang, Close Combat, Heavy Slam, Fire Fang. In its Crowned form, it runs Iron Defense + Body Press, and gets a free +1 Defense boost on its first switch in. It has really good Speed for a Pokemon with 92/140/140 natural bulk. Originally it was unbanned from Gen 9 Ubers, but its movepool and typing has weaknesses that are manageable in the metagame. In Gen 9 NatDex however it was banned back to Ubers because Kingambit was banned, which in turn banned Dragapult and Gholdengo, and chained onto Zamazenta. Hard to say what PRO decides to do with this Pokemon, we'll just have to see. Run Jolly or Adamant.
Urshifu Single Strike - Fighting / Dark
Urshifu Rapid Strike - Fighting / Water
Unseen Fist - User's contact moves bypass Protect.
100 / 130 / 100 / 63 / 60 / 97 / 550
Kubfu--*Evolution method not available in PRO-->Urshifu
*Interact with Scroll of Darkness or Scroll of Waters
Both Urshifus are amazing wallbreakers. Both Urshifus gets Close Combat, U-Turn, Swords Dance (Gen 9), Trailblaze, a 50bp physical Grass-type move that boosts Speed by 1 stage(Gen 9), Drain Punch, Bulk Up, Fire Punch, Ice Punch, Poison Jab, Iron Head, Stone Edge, Thunder Punch. Urshifu-Single learns Sucker Punch and Wicked Blow, an 80 bp (75 bp in gen 9) physical Dark-type move that always deals a critical hit, and Urshifu-Rapid learns Aqua Jet and Surging Strikes, a 25 physical Water-type move that hits three times and always deals a critical hit on each hit, both of which are affected by the item Punching Glove, an item that multiplies the holder's punch-based attacks by 1.1x and make it so it does not make contact.
Starting with Urshifu-Single, both its STAB moves have almost perfect neutral coverage. They share a common resistance to Fairy, but its Wicked Blow can at least cover the Ghost and Psychic types that resist Close Combat. It consistently deals high damage, even to Pokemon like Tapu Fini and Clefable, who cannot come in multiple times into its Wicked Blow and risk a Poison Jab or Iron Head. Pairing Urshifu with Pokemon that can set up a Future Sight and Teleport like Slowbro means not many Pokemon are able to switch into the attack.
Urshifu-Rapid Strike is just as strong as Urshifu-Single albeit more manageable with the Pokemon available like Slowbro, Toxapex, Alomomola, but these Pokemon have to be careful of Thunder Punch. It threatens out tons of Pokemon like Gliscor, Garganacl, Great Tusk. Urshifu-Rapid still has to watch out for Zapdos, Rocky Helmet Clefable and Corviknight, Volcarona and Heatran because of their abilities and items. Punching Glove helps solve this problem but slightly loses power over a Choice Band.
Overall I think both Urshifus can have a place in PRO, Urshifu-Single slightly less than its Rapid form. Most sets use Adamant, but Jolly is also an option because with 97 base Speed it needs all the Speed it can get.
Zarude - Dark / Grass
Leaf Guard
105 / 120 / 105 / 70 / 95 / 105 / 600
Single stage
Zarude has access to Trailblaze, Power Whip, Knock Off, Swords Dance, Close Combat, Jungle Healing (Grass-type move that heals 1/4 of max HP and cures any status conditions), Acrobatics, Bulk Up, Rock Slide. It's a cool mon that can utilize Choice Scarf and its setup moves pretty well with its signature move, Jungle Healing. U-Turn lets it pivot out against Pokemon that would switch into it. Run Jolly or Adamant.
Regieleki - Electric
Transistor
80 / 100 / 50 / 100 / 50 / 200 / 580
Single stage
This is the fastest Pokemon ever. Its ability, Transistor, multiplies its offensive stats by 1.5 whenever using an Electric-type move. With that being said, it's coverage is close to zero. Your best bet to hitting Ground-types is by using Swift or Explosion. It does get some unique utility moves in Rapid Spin, Thunder Wave, Electric Terrain, Rain Dance, and it gets a signature move called Thunder Cage, which is just an Electric-type Fire Spin or Whirlpool. You can afford to run Modest and still be able to outspeed the majority of the Pokemon in the metagame, or Timid to guarantee you outspeed almost everything. It shouldn't be able to learn Hidden Power, so Hidden Power Ice is not possible. If you can manage to dispose of your opponent's Ground-types, Regieleki will have a field day.
Regidrago - Dragon
Dragon's Maw
200 / 100 / 50 / 100 / 50 / 80 / 580
Single stage
This Pokemon's ability, Dragon's Maw, multiplies its offensive stats by 1.5 whenever using a Dragon-type move. It also gets a special Dragon-type Water Spout. This paired with a Choice Specs blows a lot of Pokemon away, save from Steel and Fairies. It can also use its base Attack with Dragon Dance, Outrage, Thunder Fang, Hammer Arm, Scale Shot, Fire Fang, Earthquake, and also gets support moves like Reflect, and Light Screen. It doesn't really have anything to hit Fairy types though, so that's the major problem this Pokemon has. Overall this Pokemon's cool, it'll be used once or twice. Run Jolly, Adamant, Modest, or Timid.
Galarian Articuno - Psychic / Flying
Competitive
90 / 85 / 85 / 125 / 100 / 95 / 580
Single stage
The weakest of the Kanto trio birds new forms imo. Subpar Pokemon. Its most notable moves include U-turn, Hurricane, Air Slash, Shadow Ball, Calm Mind, Agility, Light Screen, Reflect, Stored Power, Future Sight, and Freezing Glare (A 90 bp Psychic-type move that has a 10% chance to freeze the target). It can try to run Choice Specs or a Calm Mind / Agility set with Recover with its reasonable 95 base Speed but it just doesn't have anything to cover Steel types like Corviknight, and has weaknesses to the common Ghost type. It's not going to be used much, and if you wanted to use a Flying-type set up Pokemon, check out the next 2 Pokemon. Running Timid imo gives the best mileage out of Galarian Articuno.
Galarian Zapdos - Fighting / Flying
Defiant
90 / 125 / 90 / 85 / 90 / 100 / 580
Single stage
Imagine Staraptor in a brawl, Galarian Zapdos walks in and says to Staraptor, "Take a break, i'll handle this." It truly is a better Staraptor. Its most notable moves are Brave Bird, U-turn, Stomping Tantrum, Thunderous Kick (A 90 bp Fighting-type move that has a 100% chance to lower the target's Defense by 1 stage), Bulk Up, Agility, Knock Off, Trailblaze, Throat Chop. It has the option to run Flyinium-Z, Choice Band or Choice Scarf and double dance sets with Agility + Bulk Up. People also have to watch out for its ability and think twice before clicking Defog. It's strong, yes, but often times it has to rely on first chipping the opponent with its STAB moves and U-turn before cleaning. It also has to choose between power or speed most of the time. If you decide to run Choice Band, it can lack the speed needed to outrun faster threats, whereas if you run Choice Scarf, it lacks to power to secure KO's, and both need the right move to be clicked on the turn. It's still amazing and fun to use on many teams, ho and balance particularly. Run Jolly or Adamant on it. I expect this Galarian Zapdos to be a top 75 Pokemon.
Galarian Moltres - Dark / Flying
Berserk - When the user has 1/2 of its max HP and takes damage from an attack bringing it to half, its Sp. Attack is raised by 1 stage.
90 / 85 / 90 / 100 / 125 / 90 / 580
Single stage
Galarian Moltres is the cheapest Pokemon you can use on a ho screens team and it's very one-dimensional, but it gets the job done. First, its most notable moves include Hurricane, Nasty Plot, Agility, Taunt, Shadow Ball, Fiery Wrath (A 90 bp Special Dark-type move that has a 20% chance to flinch), and U-turn. It has decent bulk and typing that lets it check Pokemon like Gholdengo and Meowscarada, and set up. With that being said, its reliance in being able to hit Hurricanes make this Pokemon lose points in becoming a high tier threat, and the same could be said for Fiery Wrath flinches. Don't get me wrong, unprepared teams will get ran over by Galarian Moltres, but well built teams will not struggle with it, especially because it lacks coverage and does not have reliable recovery outside of Rest, although Resto Chesto sets do exist, and Weakness Policy sets are especially dangerous. It will be a niche Pokemon. Run Modest or Timid.
Glastrier - Ice
Chilling Neigh - When the Pokemon knocks out a Pokemon, its Attack rises by 1 stage.
100 / 145 / 130 / 65 / 110 / 30 / 580
Single stage
A bulky physical wallbreaker that excels in Trick Room as well. It gets Swords Dance, Icicle Crash, Close Combat, Throat Chop, Trailblaze, Stomping Tantrum. This Pokemon has a niche to be used as a Trick Room abuser, however outside of it, it's just below average. It's supposed to be a bulky physical attacker, but most of the time, slow Ice types that want to be as bulky as possible just succumb to a lof of faster OU threats, Mega Charizard Y, Mega Scizor, Volcarona, etc. It's only strong physical Ice STAB, Icicle Crash, also has a chance to miss. Usually forced to run Heavy-Duty boots as well. Running Adamant or Brave will make the best use of this Pokemon. New toy syndrome will have people using this Pokemon a lot, but eventually the metagame will settle down and we'll just see this Pokemon exclusively on Trick Room teams.
Spectrier - Ghost
Grim Neigh - When the Pokemon knocks out a Pokemon, its Sp.Attack rises by 1 stage.
100 / 65 / 60 / 145 / 80 / 130 / 580
Single stage
Powerful special attacker with amazing Speed. After it was introduced and before it was banned to Ubers in Gen 8 OU, all teams were forced to use a Dark type like Mandibuzz or a Normal type like Blissey, and Blisseys were forced to run Shadow Ball. With that being said though, it lacked coverage moves in Gen 8. All it knew was Hex, Will-o-Wisp, Nasty Plot, Shadow Ball, Dark Pulse, Hyper Beam, Swift. Common sets would make use of its high Speed stat to use Substitute, burn opponents, and Hex Pokemon, or a Choice Specs Shadow Ball set. Come Gen 9. it got Draining Kiss, so no Dark-types are safe anymore. Timid is the way to go. Depending on how PRO's metagame fleshes out in the future, I personally think Spectrier will either be banned or suspect tested.
Calyrex - Psychic / Grass
Ice Rider Calyrex - Psychic / Ice
Shadow Rider Calyrex - Psychic / Ghost
Unnerve > As One (Only as Ice Rider / Shadow Rider Calyrex) - Combines the abilities, Unnerve and Chilling Neigh or Grim Neigh.
Calyrex: 100 / 80 / 80 / 80 / 80 / 80 / 500
Ice Rider Calyrex: 100 / 165 / 150 / 85 / 130 / 50 / 680
Shadow Rider Calyrex: 100 / 85 / 80 / 165 / 100 / 150 / 680
Single stage - Changes forms with the Reins of Unity item with either Glastrier or Spectrier.
Starting off, Calyrex by itself is a lesser form Celebi. It's bad and has horrible typing even though it gets cool moves like Calm Mind, Agility, Stored Power, Encore, Expanding Force, Leaf Storm, Light Screen, Trick Room, Reflect, Psychic. Trick. I'd probably run Modest just to run its Double Dance set.
Moving onto Ice Rider Calyrex. This Pokemon shares a movepool with Glastrier, this makes this Pokemon have a base 165 Attack with 50 base Speed, with 100 / 150 / 130 bulk and gets Trick Room. It gets a 120 bp, 100% acc Physical Ice-type move. It is definitely one of the most strongest breakers there is. With Brave or Adamant, I believe it's simply too strong not too be banned in the future.
Finally we got Shadow Rider Calyrex. Phenomenal Speed and superb Sp.Attack, on par with the likes of Mega Gardevoir and Mega Charizard Y. It has a 120 bp special Ghost-type move, Astral Barrage, to take advantage of this. On top of this, it gets Psychic, Nasty Plot, Psyshock, Encore, and Grass Knot from Calyrex, giving Spectrier's much needed coverage moves. It's a Pokemon that can run Choice Specs or Life Orb depending on what's needed. Timid definitely is needed to maximize its Speed. Shadow Rider Calyrex is ban material, it's way too strong.
Hisuian Arcanine - Fire / Rock
Intimidate / Flash Fire / Rock Head
95 / 115 / 80 / 95 / 80 / 90 / 555
Hisuian Growlithe--Fire Stone-->Hisuian Arcanine
It has worse base Speed and a worse defensive typing compared to its regular counterpart form, though it has a pretty vast move pool and powerful no-recoil Head Smashes. Some notable moves it gets is Psychic Fangs, Wild Charge, Close Combat, Morning Sun, Head Smash, Flare Blitz, Extreme Speed, Will-o-Wisp. The PROs of this Pokemon however don't outweigh its cons. Base 90 Speed is pretty average, it has a bad defensive typing also having it run Heavy-Duty Boots if not Choice Band because it is hazard weak, Great Tusk walls this, and Head Smash accuracy is only 80%. It's a strong move but missing will be devastating. Overall I think we'll see this mon used a few times or just for fun. Run Adamant or Jolly.
Hisuian Electrode - Electric / Grass
Soundproof / Static / Aftermath
60 / 50 / 70 / 80 / 80 / 150 / 490
Hisuian Voltorb--Leaf Stone-->Hisuian Electrode
One of my favorite Pokemon got a form, and it's just alright. Speed demon with base 150 Speed, Electric and Grass is a solid offensive typing. It gets pretty average to high base power moves like Thunderbolt, Giga Drain, Volt Switch, Energy Ball, Chloroblast (A 150 bp 95% acc special Grass-type move that results in the user losing 1/2 of its max HP). It can run a Subseed set too, and has cool support moves like Taunt, Thunder Wave, Rain Dance, and Reflect. That's all it has going for it unfortunately. 80 base Sp.Atk is still quite low, weakness to common moves like U-turn and common type coverage like Fire, and it doesn't really have any other coverage. Personally I liked the form, but I don't see people using this Pokemon often. If you do want to use it, hunt for a Timid one, Modest is also an option.
Hisuian Typhlosion - Fire / Ghost
Blaze / Frisk
73 / 84 / 78 / 119 / 85 / 95 / 534
Cyndaquil--Level 14--> Quilava--Level 36 in Hisui--> Hisuian Typhlosion
Notable moves it learns: Shadow Ball, Calm Mind, Eruption, Will-o-Wisp, Solar Beam, Lava Plume, Overheat, and Infernal Parade (A 60 bp special Ghost-type move that has a 30% chance to burn, and doubles damage on targets with a status condition). Honestly a pretty below average Pokemon. There are better offensive Fire-types like Ceruledge and Heatran, and having lost 5 base Speed from its regular form hurt it a lot. If you were to use it, a damage boosting item like Choice Specs will benefit it the most. Run Timid or Modest, depending on what you need. We won't see this Pokemon a lot.
Hisuian Samurott - Water / Dark
Torrent / Sharpness
90 / 108 / 80 / 100 / 65 / 85 / 528
Oshawott--Level 17--> Dewott--Level 36 in Hisui-->Hisuian Samurott
This Pokemon, in my honest opinion, will be one of the greatest Pokemon to be released in PRO history. Let me put you guys on. First, this Pokemon had a glow up for sure. They gave Hisuian Samurott an additional 15 base Speed from its Unova form, allowing it to outspeed stuff like Heatran, Mega Scizor and Gholdengo with its 85 base Speed. Keep in mind though, base 85 Speed is still lackluster in a Gen 9 natdex setting.
Second, Hisuian Samurott has an ability called Sharpness that benefits many of its moves. It gives a 50% boost in power to slicing moves. Just to name a few moves that get boosted that Hisuian Samurott also learns, Aerial Ace, Aqua Cutter, Ceaseless Edge (More on this move later), Sacred Sword, Leaf Blade, Razor Shell, and X-Scissor. Coming off of a decent 108 base Attack stat is pretty nice.
Next, this Pokemon learns the move Ceaseless Edge, easily one of the best moves in the game, only balanced by its accuracy. I recommend this move be put on every single set. Ceaseless Edge is Hisuian Samurott's signature move, it's a 65 bp 90% acc physical Dark-type slicing move, which means it is Sharpness boosted, effectively making the bp 97.5. Upon landing, 1 layer of Spikes is set in the opposing field. The move cannot be taunted, and the Spikes cannot be Magic Bounced. This makes Ceaseless Edge a very spammable move, clicking it is literally free.
Fourth, it has a good move pool for what it needs to do, adding to that, Water / Dark is great offensively. Notable moves include Knock Off, Drill Run, Aqua Cutter, Aqua Jet, Encore, Sucker Punch, Taunt, Razor Shell, Sacred Sword, Leaf Blade, Flip Turn, Swords Dance, Smart Strike, Grass Knot, Ice Beam and Hydro Pump. The aforementioned typing is also great defensively, switching into Kingambit, Gholdengo, Greninja, and Heatran.
Lastly, Hisuian Samurott can run multiple sets and items depending on what you need it to do. Blackglasses Swords Dance with Sucker Punch and Razor Shell, lead Sashed, Salac Berry Endure Swords Dance, specially defensive AV with Knock Off and Grass Knot / Hydro Pump, Choice Band 2 attacks + Ceaseless Edge, and my favorite of them all, Choice Scarf Razor Shell, Knock Off, Ceaseless Edge. With Scarf, it lets Hisuian Samurott take out the high tier hazard removers, Great Tusk and Cinderace, revenge kills a lot of Pokemon like Meowscarada, Iron Moth, Dragapult, etc, and matches up well against offensive and defensive teams, setting up Spikes for both, knocking off crucial items, and potentially fishing for Defense drops with Razor Shell.
Keep in mind though, its bulk is still just pretty average, especially on the special side, and 85 base Speed leaves a lot for improvement. Aqua Jet, Upper Hand, and Sucker Punch are options but it might not be able to fit it on. Another flaw Hisuian Samurott suffers from is Ceaseless Edge's 90% acc, which can turn a free turn into a momentum loss.
In conclusion, I believe Hisuian Samurott will be a Pokemon that will be seen on many offensive teams and paired up with Pokemon like Tapu Koko, Tapu Lele, Sneasler, Mega Lopunny, and Ferrothorn. I predict it will be a top 25 used Pokemon because of its versatility and Ceaseless Edge. Love this mon when it doesn't miss. Oh, almost always run Jolly btw, or Adamant and rarely Hasty for any mixed sets using Grass Knot and Hydro Pump.
Hisuian Lilligant - Grass / Fighting
Chlorophyll / Hustle / Leaf Guard
70 / 105 / 75 / 50 / 75 / 105 / 480
Petilil--Sun Stone in Hisui--> Hisuian Lilligant
Hisuian Lilligant is a pretty strong set up Pokemon. 105 base Speed is above average, it can be used on a team with a Sun setter, and has a cool new signature move called Victory Dance, which raises the user's Attack, Defense, and Speed by 1 stage. Notable moves it can use include Leaf Blade, Swords Dance, Trailblaze, Synthesis, Close Combat, Defog, Encore, Axe Kick, Acrobatics, Ice Spinner, Poison Jab, Sleep Powder. Hisuian Lilligant is definitely a decent Pokemon, but there are much better consistent Fighting types available, Sneasler, Great Tusk, Iron Valiant, Mega Lopunny, Galarian Zapdos. It's simply outclassed. It's quite weak defensively, and suffers from the presence of Zapdos, Moltres, and Gholdengo. Hustle is always a gamble to run, and it relies on the boost, even though Wide Lens is an option, but just run Chlorophyll Choice Band. Also running Sleep Powder on it limits its sweeping ability because it won't be able to fit moves it needs. Jolly and Adamant are definitely the go-to natures for this Pokemon. Overall, I can see this Pokemon being used on a few Sun teams, maybe even less outside of Sun. Too many Cons to be used more.
Hisuian Zoroark - Normal / Ghost
Illusion
55 / 100 / 60 / 125 / 60 / 110 / 510
Hisuian Zorua--Level 30-->Hisuian Zoroark
Regular Zoroark was average, and relied heavily on its ability to do anything. Getting a Hisuian form gave it a glow up. Normal / Ghost coverage nearly covers everything for neutral damage. It gains an automatic 3 type immunities in Normal, Fighting, and Ghost, and hits a base Speed of 110. Notable moves it gets is Hyper Voice, Shadow Ball, Flamethrower, Grass Knot, Nasty Plot, Knock Off, U-turn Focus Blast, Trick, Bitter Malice (A 75 bp Ghost-type move that has a 100% chance to drop the target's Attack by 1 stage. You want to try to bring this Pokemon from pivots via slow U-turns or predicts as it has practically no defenses. It's a niche Pokemon that can be a threat if not played around correctly. Run Timid on this.
Hisuian Braviary - Psychic / Flying
Keen Eye / Sheer Force / Tinted Lens
110 / 83 / 70 / 112 / 70 / 65 / 510
Rufflet--Level 54 in Hisui-->
Hisuian Braviary has a pretty wide move pool and 2 of its abilities help it offensively. Moves that it benefits from include Calm Mind, Shadow Ball, Dazzling Gleam, Stored Power, Hurricane, Air Slash, Psychic, Psyshock, Defog, U-turn, Agility, Roost, Esper Wing (A 80 bp Psychic-type move that boosts the user's Speed by 1 stage).
It's a niche set up mon, its base speed is very bad, and having a horrible typing and average defenses means its going to have a tough time in having a chance to set up. Natures you can run on this are Timid or Modest. One and done Pokemon, won't be used a lot.
Hisuian Goodra - Steel / Dragon
Sap Sipper / Shell Armor / Gooey
80 / 100 / 100 / 110 / 150 / 60 / 600
Goomy--Level 40 in Hisui--> Hisuian Sligoo--Level 40 during rain or fog--> Hisuian Goodra
Steel / Dragon typing is always amazing defensively, and it's bulky on both sides. 100 / 110 offenses means it's not a passive Pokemon either. However as a bulky Pokemon, it doesn't have any reliable means of recovering HP. It's very slow, having lost 20 base Speed from its regular form. It's average at best. Most notable moves this Pokemon gets is Heavy Slam, Draco Meteor, Fire Blast, Flamethrower, Dragon Tail, Curse, Body Press, Earthquake, Flash Cannon, Hydro Pump, Dragon Pulse, Shelter (Basicaly a Iron Defense with less HP), Focus Blast. This Pokemon will be forgotten, just like regular Goodra. Hunters use Impish, Bold, Relaxed, Calm, depending on what you need.
Hisuian Avalugg - Ice / Rock
Strong Jaw / Ice Body / Sturdy
95 / 127 / 184 / 34 / 36 / 38 / 514
Bergmire--Level 37 in Hisui--> Hisuian Avalugg
A defensive Pokemon blessed with Rapid Spin, Stealth Rocks, and Recover, but cursed with the worse typing a defensive Pokemon can have. Also don't let the 184 base Defense fool you, look at its 36 base Sp.Def. I guess if you were to encounter this in Randbats, watch out for moves like Iron Defense, Body Press, Avalanche, Aurora Veil, Crunch, Curse, Earthquake, Rock Blat, Stone Edge, Ice Fang, Iron Head, and Mountain Gale (A 100 bp 85% acc physical Ice-type move that has a 30% chance to flinch . Run Adamant or Impish. I don't think i'll ever see this Pokemon in a ranked ladder environment.
Hisuian Decidueye - Grass / Fighting
Overgrow / Scrappy
88 / 112 / 80 / 95 / 95 / 60 / 530
Rowlet--Level 17-> Dartrix--Level 36 in Hisui--> Hisuian Decudueye
Cool Pokemon with an array of support moves. Swords Dance, Leaf Blade, Knock Off, Shadow Sneak, Sucker Punch, U-turn, Roost, Defog, Triple Arrows (A 90 bp physical Fighting-type move that has a 50% chance to lower the target's Defense by 1 stage, a 30% chance to make it flinch, and has a higher critical hit chance), Taunt Close Combat and Brave Bird.
As I said earlier, it has amazing utility moves, great ability in Scrappy, and its signature move, Triple Arrows, is a move that opponents need to be careful of. It's a cool Pokemon, but I wish it had more Speed. Base 60 is just not enough to use this over any other Fighting type, like Hisuian Lilligant or Mega Lopunny. Adamant and Jolly will be its most common natures.
Wyrdeer - Normal / Psychic
Intimidate / Frisk / Sap Sipper
103 / 105 / 72 / 105 / 75 / 65 / 525
Stantler--*Evolution method not available in PRO-->Wyrdeer
*Use Psyshield Bash in the agile style 20 times in Hisui.
Its most notable moves are Agility, Calm Mind, Thunderbolt, Stored Power, Trick, Shadow Ball, Earth Power, Megahorn, Throat Chop, Trailblaze, Psychic, and Psyshield Bash, a 70 bp physical Psychic-type move that has a 100% chance to raise the user's Defense by 1 stage. It just has bad typing, and its ability to cover Grass coverage is almost useless, since nothing really has to run it and the Pokemon that do like Rillaboom and Ogerpon-Wellspring both have moves that hit it, Knock Off and Ivy Cudgel. It's Speed is also way too slow for it to take advantage. It doesn't have the best bulk either so setting up will definitely be harder than it is, which is why Intimidate can be run instead of Sap Sipper. Even so, it is still lackluster. I would go either Jolly to make use of its physical kit or Bold to make use of its Stored Power set. Looking like this will be an eventually forgotten Pokemon.
Kleavor - Bug / Rock
Swarm / Sheer Force / Sharpness
70 / 135 / 95 / 45 / 70 / 85 / 500
Scyther--*Black Augurite-->Kleavor
*Not available in PRO prior to the update
Kleavor is strong and has a niche in setting up Stealth Rocks with its signature move, Stone Axe, which is a 65bp physical Rock-type move that only has 90% acc. It gets access to Close Combat, U-turn, X-Scissor, Trailblaze, Swords Dance, Night Slash. Unfortunately, it has average Speed, nothing to boast about, and its typing is not the best. There are also better and more reliable Stealth Rock setters, especially considering the best Rapid Spinner in the higher tier is Great Tusk, and this mon is straight up weak to it. Use Jolly with this for sure. I could see this mon being used a few times, but not enough to make it a top used Pokemon.
Ursaluna - Ground / Normal
Guts / Bulletproof / Unnerve / Mind's Eye (Bloodmoon form only) - The Pokemon ignores the opponents' evasiveness, its accuracy can't be lowered, and essentially Scrappy on top of this.
Ursaluna: 130 / 140 / 105 / 45 / 80 / 50 / 550
Bloodmoon Ursaluna: 113 / 70 / 120 / 135 / 65 / 52 / 555
Teddiursa--Level 30--> Ursaring--*Use a Peat Block during a full moon in Hisui-->Ursaluna
Only able to catch 1 Bloodmoon Ursaluna. (In Pokemon SV)
*Item not available in PRO yet.
Ursaluna, powerful wallbreaker, amazing natural bulk (130 / 105 / 80), extensive movepool. It has access to Facade, Headlong Rush, Fire Punch, Close Combat, Heavy Slam, Ice Punch, Trailblaze, Thunder Punch , Sword Dance, Stone Edge, Shadow Claw, Seed Bomb, Gunk Shot. This Pokemon does come with cons however. It gets chipped from its own Flame Orb, and it has weaknesses to common types like Fighting and Water. Its very low Speed and lack of priority makes it an option to be used in Trick Room, outside of the room it's just as viable but it has to be more careful. Adamant or Brave will be the best natures to use.
Moving onto Bloodmoon Ursaluna. The two cannot be compared, and have entirely different kits. For starters, both are slow, so both are viable Trick Room abusers. Making the switch to becoming a Special attacker means Bloodmoon Ursaluna does not need to hold Flame Orb, giving it the option of holding Leftovers or Heavy-Duty Boots, boosting its longevity and can run Normalium Z to basically be able to use Bloodmoon, a 140 bp 100% acc special Normal-type move that can't be used consecutively, three times in a row. Its most notable set makes the use of Calm Mind, Moonlight, Earth Power, and Blood Moon. This set makes Bloodmoon Ursaluna a dangerous set up sweeper if not dealt with immediately. Its ability, Mind's Eye gives the move Bloodmoon no immunity. It also has the option to run Vacuum Wave, to deal with faster threats, also being benefitted by Mind's Eye. Initially though, comparing it with its Hisuian counterpart, it doesn't have the immediate power on the switch in, having to rely on setting up to dig holes in the opponent's team. Having lost the ability to Terastallization also hurts its setup potential, as usually it would Tera into a defensive type such as Fairy or Water, giving it more opportunities to set up but also helps it, as the offensive counterplay to this Pokemon often times makes use of a defensive Tera to threaten it out. Running Modest or Brave optimizes its stats. In my honest opinion, I think it will be slightly less overbearing to what it was in Gen 9 Natdex, but we'll have to see.
Basculegion - Water / Ghost
Swift Swim / Adaptability / Mold Breaker
Basculegion-M: 120 / 112 / 65 / 80 / 75 / 78 / 530
Basculegion-F: 120 / 92 / 65 / 100 / 75 / 78 / 530
Basculin White-Striped--Level up after losing at least 294 HP from recoil damage--> Basculegion
Basculegion-M has the higher Attack, while Basculegion-F has the higher Sp.Attack. It gets insane moves to help with both its offensive stats, Aqua Jet, Head Smash, Wave Crash (A Water-type Flare Blitz), Liquidation, Ice Fang, Psychic Fangs, Last Respects (A physical 50 bp Ghost-type move that increases by 50 whenever a teammate is knocked out or fainted), Hydro Pump, Shadow Ball, Ice Beam, Agility. 2 of 3 of its abilities let it either hit really hard or make it as fast as a lot of the Booster Energy Pokemon, like Iron Valiant or Roaring Moon. It however has a below average Speed of 78, though it has options to boot it via rain or Agility. Depending on how PRO decides to deal with the move Last Respects, that is to ban the move or the Pokemon, we can either see this Pokemon being banned entirely or seen as a niche pick on rain teams, there are many other better rain abusers. You can run Jolly or Adamant for its male counterpart, or Timid and Modest for its Female counterpart.
Sneasler - Fighting / Poison
Pressure / Unburden / Poison Touch
80 / 130 / 60 / 40 / 80 / 120 / 510
Hisuian Sneasel--Level up holding Razor Claw during the day-->Sneasler
Sneasler's notable moves, Close Combat, Gunk Shot, Swords Dance, Acrobatics, U-turn, Toxic Spikes, Fire Punch, Night Slash, Rock Slide, Bulk Up, Trailblaze, Fake Out, and Dire Claw (A physical 80 bp Poison-type move that has a 50% chance to cause the target to either fall asleep, become paralyzed, or become poisoned. With access to Dire Claw, which is a devastating move to switch into even resisting it, strong Attack and Speed boosted even further by Unburden which outspeed booster Iron Valiant and Swift Swim abusers, solid coverage and set up moves, this Pokemon is definitely a top tier threat. It is however weak to strong priority like Extreme Speed Dragonite, walled by Toxapex, and before Unburden, is outsped by Pokemon like Greninja, Dragapult, and Meowscarada. Running Adamant is recommended, however Jolly is viable as well, with Fake Out, U-turn, Heavy-Duty Boots and Poison Touch. I expect to see this Pokemon on a lot of HO teams, paired with Rillaboom and given a Grassy Seed. Overall I think Sneasler will be top 30 Pokemon used.
Overqwil - Dark / Poison
Poison Point / Swift Swim / Intimidate
85 / 115 / 95 / 65 / 65 / 85 / 510
Hisuian Qwilfish--Level up knowing Barb Barrage-->Overqwil
What a cool Swift Swimmer and evolution for Qwilfish. Has a basic rain abuser kit, Swords Dance, Liquidation, Crunch, Gunk Shot, Barb Barrage (A phyical 60 bp Poison-type move that deals double damage to poisoned targets, and has a 50% chance to inflict Poison). Pair it with Mega Swampert to pressure Toxapex. You also have the option to run a more defensive set with Spikes, Toxic Spikes, and Intimidate. Adamant or Jolly will be used for it's rain set, and Impish for the defensive set. A niche pick on Rain teams, expect to see it here and there.
Enamorus - Fairy / Flying
Cute Charm / Contrary / Overcoat (Therian form)
Incarnate: 74 / 115 / 70 / 135 / 80 / 106 / 580
Therian: 74 / 115 / 110 / 135 / 100 / 46 / 580
Single stage
In its Incarnate form, Enamorus is a strong specially offensive Fairy-type attacker with access the Mystical Fire, Moonblast, Earth Power, Calm Mind, Draining Kiss, Healing Wish, Springtide Storm (A 100 bp 80% acc special Fairy-type move that has a 30% chance to lower the target's Attack by 1 stage), Agility, and Weather Ball. Zamazenta, Meowscarada, Iron Valiant all succumb to a Moonblast from this Pokemon, however it lacks the Speed needed to outspeed those Pokemon, so a Choice Scarf is recommended as one of its better items. Timid as a result is a given. There is also the option of running Calm Mind with Cute Charm to break teams using a combination of Moonblast and Earth Power.
Its Therian form, however, is a more defensive Pokemon. Its best attribute is its bulk, which it can use to its advantage to set up and sweep with Agility, Calm Mind, and Draining Kiss. It is rather slow so it's initially hard to set up with, has a Stealth Rock weakness, forcing it to run Heavy-Duty Boots or have teammates who can keep them off, and relies on Terastallization to do decent. Modest, Timid, Calm, Bold all work for this Pokemon depending on what you want it to do on your team. Personally I think Enamorus will be the more used form, and Enamorus Therian will be used less.
Gen 9
Meowscarada - Grass / Dark
Overgrow / Protean
76 / 110 / 70 / 81 / 70 / 123 / 530
Sprigatito--Level 16--> Florgato--Level 36--> Meowscarada
Meowscarada, the fastest Pokemon with the ability Protean. It has bad defenses, but has great Speed and good Attack. Meowscarada fits well on balanced teams because it has high damage STAB in Knock Off, U-Turn, Triple Axel, Play Rough, and Flower Trick (A 70 bp physical Grass-type move that always results in a critical hit). The reliance of Heavy-Duty Boots on some teams lets Meowscarada's strong Knock Off excel. Although it has paper defenses, its typing lets it resist Ground, Water, and Dark type moves, letting it check Pokemon like Gliscor, Ting-Lu, Choice Specs locked Dragapult, Dondozo (Also ignoring Curse set up) and Ogerpon if needed to gain momentum. It also has Spikes and Toxic Spikes so these are options it can run. This mon pairs well with other pivots like Galarian Slowking, Landorus-Therian, Iron Crown. Protean, even after its nerf, is still an amazing ability to have on top of all this. It faces competition with Weavile however, an is still outpaced by faster threats such as Mega Lopunny, Iron Boulder, and Tapu Koko. Run Jolly to use this Pokemon in its fullest potential. Overall, I think Meowscarada will be a top 50 used Pokemon. It's pretty good.
Skeledirge - Fire / Ghost
Blaze / Unaware
104 / 75 / 100 / 110 / 75 / 66 / 530
Fuecoco--Level 16--> Crocalor--Level 36--> Skeledirge
Good Defense, access to Will-o-Wisp, Hex, Shadow Ball, Earth Power, Torch Song (A 80 bp special sound-based Fire-type move that has a 100% chance to raise the user's Sp. Attack by 1 stage), and Slack Off make this Pokemon a pretty unique defensive wallbreaker. However, it still suffers in being a defensive Fire-type having to rely on Heavy-Duty Boots to switch into attacks, being Fire / Ghost not helping it defensively, a mediocre 66 base Speed an 75 base Sp. Defense, and reliance on Torch Song initially to pose a threat. It is still a niche defensive option that prevents setup threats from sweeping, being able to check Pokemon like Dragonite, Zamazenta, and Mega Lopunny. It can fully invest in Sp. Defense to check Pokmeon like Volcarona and Iron Crown. Options for natures include Bold, Timid, Modest, and Calm. I expect this Pokemon to be used just enough so people won't entirely forget about it.
Quaquaval - Water / Fighting
Torrent / Moxie
85 / 120 / 80 / 85 / 75 / 85 / 530
Quaxly--Level 16--> Quaxwell--Level 36--> Quaquaval
Cool Water starter for Paldea imo. This was personally my starter. It gets strong STAB moves in Close Combat, Liquidation, and Wave Crash, set up moves in Sword Dance, Bulk Up, Aqua Step (A 80 bp physical Water-type move that has a 100% chance to boost the user's Speed by 1 stage), coverage moves in Ice Spinner, Aqua Jet, Brave Bird, U-turn, and utility moves in Roost, Rapid Spin, Taunt. However it is still undeniably average in its base stats, only workable stat being its Attack. I don't see it being a staple of high tier play, but could be used from time to time as a niche setup sweeper, running Jolly or Adamant on its sets and having it hold items like Leftovers, Expert Belt, Life Orb, Protective Pads or Assault Vest. It's still a fun, versatile, and dangerous set up sweeper against unprepared teams, and if anyone is into Draft Leagues, is a great Pokemon in it.
Oinkologne - Normal
Lingering Aroma (M) [Pokemon making contact with the user has its ability changed to Lingering Aroma] / Aroma Veil (F) / Gluttony / Thick Fat
Oinkologne-M: 110 / 100 / 75 / 59 / 80 / 65 / 489
Oinkologne-F: 115 / 90 / 70 / 59 / 90 / 65 / 489
Lechonk--Level 18--> Oinkologne
Curse, Body Press, High Horsepower, Stockpile, Stuff Cheeks, Super Fang, Yawn, Covet are cool moves I guess. It's Gen 9's Raticate. Nothing special. Adamant i'm assuming, i'm not sure honestly, but this nature feels like it would be the best for it.
Spidops - Bug
Insomnia / Stakeout
60 / 79 / 92 / 52 / 86 / 35 / 404
Tarountula--Level 15--> Spidops
Memento, Sticky Webs, First Impression, Circle Throw, Spikes, and Toxic Spikes are its most notable moves. Low tier Sticky Webs setter, bad Bug-type. The next one on this thread will be way better. Adamant for maximum potential.
Lokix - Bug / Dark
Swarm / Tinted Lens
71 / 102 / 78 / 52 / 55 / 92 / 450
Nymble--Level 24--> Lokix
Pretty strong offensive Bug-type Pokemon. Despite low defenses and average Speed, Base 102 Attack might not seem like a lot but with Tinted Lens it's powerful. It gets access to strong priority moves like First Impression and Sucker Punch, and boosting moves like Swords Dance, Agility, and Trailblaze. Notable coverage moves include Axe Kick (A 120 bp 90% acc physical Fighting-type move that has a 30% chance to confuse the target and deals 1/2 of the user's max HP if it misses), and that's it really. It doesn't need coverage with Tinted Lens. Expect sets with Life Orb or Choice Band with a combination of Sucker Punch, Knock Off, First Impression, U-turn, Leech Life, Throat Chop, and Axe Kick. Lokix does very well against more offensively oriented teams, so I expect it to be a top 60 Pokemon. It kinda reminds me of a faster, less defensive Scizor that pressures both offensive (Weavile, Latios, Serperior, Hoopa-Unbound) and defensive Pokemon via First Impression, Knock Off, and U-turn. Jolly and Adamant on Lokix are both viable abilities.
Pawmot - Electric / Fighting
Volt Absorb / Natural Cure / Iron Fist
70 / 115 / 70 / 70 / 60 / 105 / 490
Pawmi--Level 18--> Pawmo--*Level up whilst outside of its Poké Ball after walking 1,000 steps using the Let's Go! feature--> Pawmot
*Evolution method might not be available in PRO.
A niche Pokemon that happens to be a Pikachu clone. It's moves include Double Shock (A 120 bp physical Electric type move that changes the user's Electric type to Typeless, fails if the user is not an Electric type), Close Combat, Fire Punch, Ice Punch, Mach Punch, Volt Switch, Bulk Up, Rest, Sleep Talk, Encore, and Revival Blessing (A 1 PP move that revives a selected teammate with 1/2 of its max HP. Leppa Berry works and restores 1 PP). Pawmot seems good on paper, but in practice it's pretty mediocre. It's just outclassed by stuff like Iron Valiant, Zapdos, Urshifu. Its niche is Revival Blessing, but even then it's fragile so the only chance you get to click Revival Blessing is against a wall. You can run a wallbreaking set with Life Orb, Thunder Punch, Ice Punch, Mach Punch, Revival Blessing with this or to get a reliable Revival Blessing in, pair it with Choice Scarf, which in turn limits its ability to deal much damage. It's still a pretty fun Pokemon, I love using it don't get me wrong, but not consistent enough to be used in a high tier setting. Definitely run Jolly on this Pokemon.
Maushold - Normal
Friend Guard / Cheek Pouch / Technician
74 / 75 / 70 / 65 / 75 / 111 / 470
Tandemaus--Level 25--> Maushold
A Normal-type Pokemon that has all around bad stats besides its above average base 111 Speed. It gets a move that combines Dragon Dance and Defog in one called Tidy Up. Its signature move, Population Bomb is a 20 bp 90% acc physical Normal-type move that hits 10 times. It has other notable moves such as U-turn, Beat Up, Encore, Thunder Wave, Bullet Seed, Bite, Switcheroo, Trailblaze, and Taunt. Its ability to Population Bomb anything in its path is hindered by the fact that it has a horrible base 75 Attack stat, is frail physically and defensively making it hard to set up, Rocky Helmet or Rough Skin annihilates it, and it does not have any coverage for Steel-types like Corviknight. Wide Lens is useful as an item, boosting Population bomb's accuracy to 99%, and Protective Pads to keep it safe from Rocky Helmet. Overall Maushold is a pretty niche Pokemon. Run Jolly on this.
