Pokémon X and Y/Species Strategies (Generation III Families)

This page contains information on every Pokémon family first introduced in Generation III, including stats, recommended movesets and evolutionary lines. All evolutionary lines are put together, even if an evolution or pre-evolution was not introduced in the same Generation as other members of its evolutionary family.

Treecko, Grovyle and Sceptile
Sceptile is a departure from the usual Grass-types, playing more like a glass cannon than a typical bulky attacker or support. It has good mixed attacking stats and speed, as well as a very useful ability in Unburden to make it a fast and frail fighter. With this generation, Sceptile gained a handy Mega Evolution to augment its offensive prowess. Both of its attacking stats are increased significantly and it now has blazing fast speed. It also gets a secondary Dragon-type, gaining three double resistances to Grass, Electric and Water in the process. Its Lightningrod ability negates Electric moves entirely, and can power Mega Sceptile up dangerously if it switches in on a predicted Electric move, not to mention a godsend of an immunity to Thunder Wave. In spite of its offensive buffs, Mega Sceptile's bulk is not much better than its normal form. The Dragon-type also gives Sceptile some additional weaknesses like Fairy and Dragon, and it is still vulnerable to Ice and Flying priority moves that ignore its Speed.

For its Grass-type STAB, Sceptile can choose between Leaf Storm, Energy Ball and Giga Drain. Leaf Storm is the strongest but halves Sceptile's Special Attack afterward, Giga Drain heals Sceptile at the cost of power, while Energy Ball has no special features with good base power. Dragon Pulse is a great secondary STAB move for Mega Sceptile with wide neutral coverage, and is quite effective against opposing Dragons since Mega Sceptile outspeeds them all if their Speed is not boosted. Earthquake and Focus Blast lets it break through Steel-types that can resist both of its STAB moves. If using a more traditional Unburden Sceptile, it can equip a Sitrus Berry and use Substitute to bring its health down so it can consume the berry. Unburden Sceptile usually run a more physical moveset instead, since Acrobatics becomes very powerful without an item. It has Swords Dance to boost its Attack stat, and Leaf Blase for a physical STAB move as well.

Torchic, Combusken and Blaziken
The Torchic line is probably the only line of starters since the original three to make a lasting impression among much of the series' fans, and it isn't hard to see why. With its good attacking stats and the amazing Speed Boost ability, Blaziken is a terrifying force in battles. Its two STABs give it a lot of coverage, and it certainly has the movepool to make use of it. Hi-Jump Kick and Flare Blitz is the ideal combination, letting it tear through opponents that don't resist its STAB moves, and it gets Swords Dance and Baton Pass to take advantage of its Speed Boost ability. Finally, in this new generation, it also gains a Mega Evolution, raising all of its best stats to deadly levels, turning it into one of the most dangerous threats in the game.

Blaziken's greatest strength is arguably its hidden ability Speed Boost, which sets it apart from other Fire-type starters. Speed Boost lets it gain Speed for every turn it survives, turning its Speed from average to unrivaled, and it can learn Protect or Substitute to guarantee it gets a boost. Opportunistic players can even make use of free turns, such as when an opposing foe switches out, to get a Swords Dance boost and make Blaziken an even greater threat. With enough boosts, Blaziken can become potentially unstoppable, being both difficult to wall due to its power, and impossible to outspeed with several turns of Speed Boost. Even when Blaziken does meet its match, it has access to Baton Pass, which can let it pass on all of its accumulated boosts to another offensive Pokémon, indirectly continuing its reign of destruction.

Even an unstoppable force like Blaziken still has its weaknesses, although they are difficult to take advantage of. It takes a bit of time to reach its peak due to its middling 80 base Speed, during which one can still attempt to take it out, though this is mitigated when it mega evolves. Its defenses are also pretty poor, so one can still take out an opposing Pokémon if it is hit by a sufficiently strong attack before it accumulates too many boosts. Priority attacks also ignore Blaziken's Speed no matter how high it becomes, with Aqua Jet and Water Shuriken in particular being great choices due to being super effective on Blaziken.

Mudkip, Marshtomp and Swampert
Swampert is a fairly strong Pokemon that combines great survivability with power. It has good defensive stats and an excellent ability in Water/Ground, which gives it an immunity to Electric and a double weakness to Grass, a fairly uncommon coverage move. It also hits fairly hard with good Attack, useful STAB combination and sufficient coverage moves. Swampert also gets a Mega Evolution, which buffs up its Attack and make it even bulkier. It gains the Swift Swim ability to make Mega Swampert a deadly sweeper in the rain, and it is notably the only Swift Swim user that can't be paralyzed with Thunder Wave. However, for all of its bulk, Swampert lacks a good recovery move to stay healthy. Both forms of Swampert are also rather slow outside of rain, which hampers its effectiveness offensively.

Waterfall is Swampert's main STAB move, being a strong physical Water attack. It's also boosted by rain, and Mega Swampert's Swift Swim lets it make use of the move's flinch chance. Alternatively, Scald can be used for more defensive Swampert for its high burn chance. Earthquake has some coverage overlap with Waterfall, but it hits more Pokemon super-effectively and is stronger than Waterfall outside of rain. Ice Punch completes Swampert's coverage marvelously, extremely useful for taking down Grass, Flying and Dragon types that resist one or both of its STAB moves. Swampert's bulk and typing makes it a nice hazard setter, and it can rack up entry hazard damage with Roar. Mega Swampert can also use Rain Dance to trigger Swift Swim by itself if it lacks rain support from teammates.

Poochyena and Mightyena
Mightyena is a fairly mediocre Pokemon, due to a poor stat spread. It has middling Attack, poor bulk and poor Speed, so while it is best played offensively, it has trouble making an impact. Mightyena is blessed with two useful abilities: Intimidate and Moxie. The Attack-lowering effect of Intimidate helps Mightyena take hits due to its poor Defense, but Moxie fits an offensive playstyle more by letting Mightyena pick up momentum, and it could end a game for you if the opposing team has all been weakened. Despite its poor Speed, Mightyena gets STAB on Sucker Punch to get the jump on faster attackers. Alas, all of these traits aren't terribly useful with Mightyena's bad stats. It also faces a lot of trouble against faster Fighting-types, as they don't fear Sucker Punch and can retaliate with a likely lethal attack.

Sucker Punch is really the highlight of Moxie Mightyena. It is pretty slow, so Sucker Punch lets it strike first against faster offensive Pokemon. Crunch hits exactly as hard as Sucker Punch, but while it lacks priority it doesn't fail if the enemy doesn't use an attacking move. Play Rough is a great coverage attack, as it deals with Fighting and fellow Dark-types nicely. Iron Tail lets it take down Fairy-types instead. Addtionally, Mightyena can learn the three elemental fangs for extra coverage. Finally, Mightyena can use Taunt and Toxic to have a better chance against strong walls, but it has to sacrifice a coverage move that Mightyena desperately needs to do so.

Zigzagoon and Linoone
Linoone would be an unremarkable early-game Normal-type, if not for its exclusive access to a combination of Belly Drum and Extreme Speed, though the latter move must be obtained from an event. Usually Belly Drum is a risky boosting move, since sacrificing so much health makes the user easy to KO if the foe outspeeds or has priority. Using Extreme Speed eliminates this problem completely, as it ensures Linoone will practically always get the first hit. Unfortunately, this strong tactic can't salvage a Pokemon with terrible stats, as even full boost off of a base 70 Attack can only do so much. Linoone is also extremely frail for a Belly Drum user, so it has issues getting a boost and surviving in the first place. Linoone also lacks good coverage moves, so its sweep can be quickly stopped by anything that resists Extreme Speed.

The aforementioned Belly Drum and Extreme Speed combo is a must-have for Linoone, and is pretty much the only reason to use this Pokemon in serious battling. Linoone defenses are very poor and its moveset is predictable to any reasonably experienced trainers, so team support is necessary to give Linoone the space to use Belly Drum. After that, it's simply a matter of spamming Extreme Speed and hoping the foe falls. Shadow Claw is a nice coverage move for Linoone when up against Normal-immune Ghost-types. Seed Bomb helps against Rock-types, but Linoone has no good options against Steel-types, either having to use the impractical Dig or the very weak Rock Smash.

Wurmple, Silcoon, Cascoon, Beautifly and Dustox
Beautifly suffers from the curse of all early-game Bug-types, being a generally weak Pokemon when compared to many other fully-evolved Pokemon. Like many of its peers, Beautifly at least has a saving grace with Quiver Dance, but even then it is one of the worst users of the move. Beautifly's stand-out trait is its relatively high Special Attack, but its bulk is abysmal and its Speed is poor even after a boost. Its abilities are vastly worse than other Quiver Dance users as well. While it has a decent range of special attacks like Bug Buzz, Energy Ball, Psychic and Shadow Ball, they don't offer a lot of coverage, forcing Beautifly to use Hidden Power Ground for most of its Bug resists. It also lacks Sleep Powder, a crucial move for some other weak Quiver Dancers to help themselves boost. All of these weaknesses coupled with a hard time switching in due to a double weakness to Stealth Rock makes Beautifly a terrible Pokemon to use in general.

Although it has much better bulk and a usable defensive typing, Dustox isn't a very good user of Quiver Dance either. Having actually decent bulk forces it to sacrifice its offenses, so Dustox actually needs Quiver Dance to hit as hard as the average utility Pokemon, keeping it from pulling off sweeps. Like Beautifly, it similarly lacks good coverage moves or Sleep Powder. With decent defenses and the Shield Dust ability, Dustox can be played as a defensive Quiver Dance user that shrugs off status. Since it's not going to KO a lot of Pokemon anyway, it could stick to an STAB combination of Bug Buzz and Sludge Bomb, replacing a coverage move with Roost, Substitute or even Iron Defense. Ultimately, having horribly low power even with Quiver Dance boosts makes this Pokemon a rather pointless to a team.

Lotad, Lombre and Ludicolo
The Ludicolo line is the only Pokemon that has the unique Water/Grass typing, a decent defensive combination due to many of either types' resistances and weaknesses canceling each other out. Ludicolo's STAB combination also gives it impressive neutral coverage with just some extra attacks. Ludicolo's decent Speed and Swift Swim makes it a good Pokemon to use in rain teams, since its typing isn't weak to the usual answers to rain-abusing Pokemon. Unfortunately, Ludicolo's stats are pretty mediocre overall, and it needs rain to give it the Speed and power to function well. It's also weak to common Bug and Flying types, and has trouble with priority moves that ignore the Swift Swim boost and hit its weaker Defense stat.

Hydro Pump is very powerful when used in the rain, but Surf is a great alternative for a STAB move due its higher accuracy and spread. Scald's burn chance is pretty helpful as well, but it's more suited for a supportive set which is less useful due to rain's limited duration. Energy Ball and Giga Drain are both good options for a secondary STAB. Energy Ball has more power, but Giga Drain provides additional utility by keeping Ludicolo healthy. Ice Beam provides great coverage especially against Grass and Dragon types that do not fear either of Ludicolo's STAB moves, and lets Ludicolo hit practically any Pokemon at least neutrally in conjunction with its STAB attacks. Lastly, Focus Blast helps Ludicolo hit Steel-types harder, which resist both Grass and Ice while taking only neutral damage from Water.

Seedot, Nuzleaf and Shiftry
Shiftry is a pretty good mixed attacker, having nice offensive stats, decent Speed, and an amazing offensive typing. It also has the movepool to make use of its offensive prowess, with a wealth of attacks both physical and special, as well as two boosting moves for focusing on either of its attacking stats. Shiftry is also a good candidate for sun teams, as it is incredibly speedy when boosted by Chlorophyll. However, Shiftry's defenses are very poor, and its Speed is underwhelming outside of the sun, so it is easy to wear down and take out. Its typing is also a mixed bag, giving it useful resistances against Psychic, Dark, Ghost, Electric and Ground but also weaknesses to common Fire, Flying, Fighting, Ice, Fairy and Bug attacks.

Shiftry's main STAB move is, unusually, Knock Off, since it's the most reliable physical Dark-type move Shiftry can use, and its ability to remove items is much appreciated as well. Sucker Punch is also often run for its higher power and vital priority to deal with offensive opponents, especially because Shiftry's Speed isn't that great. Seed Bomb and Bullet Seed are nice choices for a secondary STAB move, the former providing consistency while the other having better potential damage and capable of breaking Substitutes, Sturdy and Focus Sashes. Rock Slide flinches and takes out Fire and Flying Pokemon, while it can also go out spectacularly with an Explosion. On the special side, Shiftry can flinch with Dark Pulse or deal massive damage with Leaf Storm, with Extrasensory as a great coverage move against Fighting-types. It has both Swords Dance and Nasty Plot to boost the move of choice. Lastly, it has access to Tailwind and Defog, useful support options undermined by Shiftry's terrible bulk.

Taillow and Swellow
Swellow is just another early Normal/Flying type, but it really stands out with its blazing Speed and Guts. When equipped with a Flame or Toxic Orb, Swellow's mediocre Attack becomes pretty respectable, which has the added advantage of giving an invulnerability to other status moves. Swellow is also one of the very few Pokemon with STAB Facade, so it can use both Guts and Facade to hit very hard. Swellow's bulk is incredibly poor, and with weaknesses to common coverage moves and Stealth Rock, it can be difficult to bring Swellow in or keep it alive. Swellow also lacks decent coverage moves, having no good way of dealing with Rock and Steel types. Finally, having to rely on status to boost its attacks puts a timer on Swellow, as it will inevitably fall to its own chip damage.

Facade is Swellow's main STAB move. As one of two lines that has access to Guts and STAB Facade, Swellow can equip a Flame or Toxic Orb to really boost its power at the cost of chip damage, but a Toxic Orb is more advisable since Swellow won't likely stay on the field very long. Brave Bird is Swellow's secondary STAB with good coverage by itself, but beware of its recoil damage, which is going to rack up with the status damage. Pursuit is a nice coverage move against Ghost-types especially considering Swellow's immunity to Ghost. Quick Attack gives Swellow a chance to strike back against faster attackers, but they'd have to be heavily wounded already since Quick Attack is so weak. U-Turn is a great utility move that lets Swellow switch out, escaping from disadvantageous type matchups and resetting the damage increment of toxic poison. Oddly, Swellow gets the incredibly powerful Boomburst, but since its special attack stat is so poor it cannot use it very well.

Wingull and Pelipper
Pelipper is one of the very few Pokemon with a type combination of Water and Flying, and while its stats are comparatively poor, it makes it up with a couple of useful utility moves. Pelipper's typing gives it a slew of nice resistances including Water, Fire, Fighting and Bug, while its high Defense means it could be used as a defensive or utility Pokemon. Pelipper's access to Rain Dish and Hurricane lets it benefit a lot from the rain, but there's generally better Pokemon to run on rain teams. Pelipper's Special Defense is pretty poor, so sufficiently strong special attackers can bring it down with ease. Pelipper's typing only has two weaknesses, but both of them are to common coverage moves, including a double weakness to Electric and a weakness to Stealth Rock.

Scald is Pelipper's primary STAB move, since it does good damage and supports its team by spreading burns, and Pelipper's high Defense lets it threaten physical attackers with burns more effectively. Hurricane gives Pelipper great neutral coverage and is pretty strong overall, but it has poor accuracy, and Pelipper's stats don't exactly suggest its a potent special attacker. Air Slash is much more accurate, but again Pelipper lacks power, and it doesn't have the Speed to make use of the flinch chance. U-Turn barely does any damage, but lets Pelipper switch out from a bad position while safely bring in a teammate due to its slow Speed. Pelipper can learn Defog and act as an entry hazard remover, though its weakness to Stealth Rock is troublesome. Roost is another good move as it keeps Pelipper healthy.

Ralts, Kirlia, Gardevoir and Gallade
Gardevoir was a somewhat forgettable Psychic-type known more for its humanoid looks than its fighting ability, but it has found new use thanks to gaining a Fairy sub-type. Gardevoir also got itself a Mega Evolution, which greatly boosts its Special Attack and underwhelming Speed. Gardevoir has a very rare and unique ability in Trace, which lets it copy the opponent's ability that can occasionally be very handy, usually if it copies an attack absorbing move like Water Absorb or Lightning Rod. Mega Gardevoir's specialty is its sheer power, being one of the deadliest Fairy-type attackers in the game. The male-only Gallade received a similar treatment, gaining physical Attack and Speed in his Mega Evolution. Normal Gallade isn't bad either, with a tricky movepool and Justified to boost his Attack when switching into Dark moves.

Since Fairy and Psychic has similar type coverage, Gardevoir prefers using Fairy moves as its primary STAB. Moonblast is the best STAB move for normal Gardevoir, while Mega Gardevoir can use Pixilate Hyper Voice, which hits harder and penetrates Substitutes. Psyshock is a good secondary attack for striking Poison-types and hitting the weaker stat of special walls. Since Steel-types resist both Fairy and Psychic, Focus Blast is used to cover them nicely. Shadow Ball gives Gardevoir perfect neutral coverage. Fire Blast is more effective against popular Steel-types neutral to Focus Blast, though Will-O-Wisp is generally a good move against common answers against Gardevoir, who are usually physical attackers. Calm Mind is a strong boosting move that improves Gardevoir's best stats, while Taunt lets Gardevoir stop very bulky supports. While Mega Gardevoir has decent Speed, it's pretty easy to outspeed or outprioritize, so priority or fast physical attackers are its worst enemies.

With an uncommon type combination of Psychic and Fighting and a nice movepool, Gallade is a fairly flexible Pokemon. Close Combat is his main STAB move, having immense power without any Attack drops. Drain Punch is a weaker alternative that works well with Mega Gallade's decent bulk. Zen Headbutt is a good secondary STAB move that deals with Poison nicely as well as hitting most Pokemon that resist Fighting neutrally, and its flinch chance is quite helpful with Mega Gallade's improved Speed. Knock Off gives Gallade perfect neutral coverage and is an amazing utility move in general. Mega Gallade is also one of the better users of Swords Dance, letting him potentially become a potent sweeper. Bulk Up can be used instead for more bulky Mega Gallade builds. Mega Gallade also has access to several utility moves, such as Will-O-Wisp, Encore and Taunt. As a physical attacker, Mega Gallade hates paralysis and burns, and he's weak to common Flying and Fairy moves. Mega Gallade also faces competition with Mega Medicham, who shares a typing with him but hits harder with Huge Power.

Surskit and Masquerain
Masquerain is another terrible Pokemon made usable by Quiver Dance. However, among the weaker spectrum of Quiver Dance users, Masquerain stands out due to its Intimidate ability, which actually gives it passable bulk for boosting. Masquerain is also one of two Pokemon capable of passing its Quiver Dance boosts to its teammates using Baton Pass. Unfortunately, all of Masquerain's stats are still pretty bad, with poor Speed and mediocre defenses keeping it from setting up a boost. A low base 80 Special Attack means it has trouble taking down foes even after a boost. Finally, Masquerain's Bug/Flying typing makes it weak to a lot of common attacks, particularly Stealth Rock.

Quiver Dance is really the only reason to even use Masquerain, improving three of its stats at once. Baton Pass is another recommended move on Masquerain, since it is one of the few Pokemon that gets this combination in the first place, and there are a lot more Pokemon that can make use of the boosts better than Masquerain. Bug Buzz and Air Slash are its STAB moves of choice, with Bug Buzz boasting more power while Air Slash having better coverage. Shadow Ball, Ice Beam and Hydro Pump are all nice coverage moves, but Masquerain is severely starved for moves. Lastly, Masquerain is notable for being one of the few Pokemon to learn Sticky Web, though it is far from the best user of it.

Shroomish and Breloom
Breloom is a heavily specialized Pokemon, with only one outstanding stat, its Attack, and a mixed bag of a defensive typing. However, its useful abilities and access to excellent moves make Breloom a top contender. Breloom has two amazing abilities, Poison Heal, which lets Toxic Orb provide better recovery than Leftovers and grants it immunity to other status, and Technician, which gives it a pretty powerful priority attack in Mach Punch. Breloom is also notable for being one of the very few Pokemon that learns Spore, a highly accurate Sleep move. While Breloom has hard-hitting attacks and crippling status, its other stats are poor. It lacks bulk and is weak to several common attacking types, including a debilitating double weakness to Flying. Breloom's Speed is also pretty poor, so many fast Pokemon that don't fear Mach Punch would be able to bring it down with ease.

Spore is one of Breloom's main selling points, and this dangerous status move is backed up with Breloom's power. Technician is usually the preferred ability since it boosts the power of Breloom's Mach Punch, an STAB attack that bypass's Breloom's poor Speed. Superpower is the stronger Fighting move, but the Attack drop is very undesirable. Bullet Seed is another STAB attack boosted by Technician, and it can deal a ton of damage if it gets 4 or 5 hits. Rock Tomb is a great coverage move against Fire and Flying types, being boosted by Technician and causing a guaranteed Speed drop, which can give Breloom the offensive advantage if it hits a predicted switch. Swords Dance is a pretty good boosting move, but Breloom's bulk and Speed are underwhelming, so it relies heavily on Mach Punch to sweep. When using Toxic Heal, Drain Punch is a good STAB move to provide extra healing, while Facade hits harder due to Toxic status. Breloom can also use a traditional Substitute and Focus Punch combo to dish out major damage.

Slakoth, Vigoroth and Slaking
Slaking has an incredible stat spread, having an Attack stat that rivals Mega Evolutions, good physical bulk, a varied movepool and great Speed as well. However, all of its qualities are ruined by its Truant ability, which forces Slaking to attack every other turn. Due to this fact, it is very easy to play around Slaking, and something as simple as using Protect on the turn it attacks can stop it completely. Opponents can take advantage of Slaking's loafing turns to build up boosts, so using Slaking actively sabotages your victory. While there have been several strategies to remove and replace Slaking's ability, these are all cumbersome and predictable due to Slaking's mere presence on the team. Its pre-evolution Vigoroth is a passable option since its Speed and Attack are decent, but it's outclassed as a Normal-type attacker as well.

Return is a very powerful STAB move that doesn't inflict any drawbacks on Slaking. Slaking is one of the few Pokemon to have a reason to use Giga Impact, since it's going to spend a turn doing nothing anyways, but be warned that it can't switch out during Giga Impact's resting turn. Earthquake is an excellent coverage move with Return, breaking down the Rock and Steel types that resist Normal. For Ghosts, Night Slash deals with them quite nicely and is also effective against the occasional Psychic-type. Slaking is a deadly revenge killer as well with Retaliate, as you can use a fallen teammates to get Slaking on to the field. Slaking's Special Attack ain't bad either, so it's able to use other coverage moves like Thunderbolt, Fire Blast and Ice Beam. Finally, Encore can lock Pokemon in a bad move, letting teammates switch into ineffective attacks.

Nincada, Ninjask and Shedinja
Ninjask is a Pokemon all about Speed. It has an absurd base 160 Speed, which is backed up by Speed Boost, an ability that increases its Speed every turn, which practically guarantees Ninjask will be faster than its opponent. Ninjask also makes good use of this Speed offensively, with a decent 90 Attack stat and a potential Infiltrator ability, which lets its attack hit Pokemon behind Substitutes. However, Ninjask is extremely frail and doesn't hit very hard either, so it is easy to wear down with decently bulky Pokemon, and despises priority attacks. Ninjask is also weak to common attacking types like Fire, Ice, Flying and Rock. Lastly, while Ninjask can pass its Speed Boosts to a teammate, it is upstaged by Scolipede in this generation, which is much better at taking hits.

Since Ninjask's bulk is so poor, it is usually built to survive as many turns as it can for Speed Boost to build up before passing it to a teammate. In this case, Baton Pass, Protect and Substitute are staple moves to protect Ninjask and stall for more turns before passing. Swords Dance is a nice boosting move to pair with Speed Boost if Ninjask finds the chance to use it, as it lets Ninjask pass a more varied selection of boosts on. X-Scissor is usually Ninjask's only attack, but it may use Toxic instead to wear down bulky Pokemon and suits Ninjask's stalling playstyle. While its stats also suggest it could be built as a frail attacker, Ninjask's movepool is devoid of any strong attacks that don't have debilitating drawbacks, though some notable moves are Aerial Ace for Flying STAB, U-Turn for pivoting and Night Slash as the only decent coverage move Ninjask has.

Shedinja is a very gimmicky Pokemon that could either be completely invincible or dead weight depending on the opponent's team, though the latter is much more common. Shedinja only ever has 1 HP and thus will fall to the weakest hits, but it's protected by the best defensive ability in the game, Wonder Guard, which gives Shedinja an immunity to everything except super effective hits. Unfortunately, Shedinja's Bug/Ghost typing gives it some common weaknesses to Dark, Fire, Flying, Ghost and Rock, so foes will likely have a coverage move to take it down. The Wonder Guard ability also offers no protection against residual damage, so status, weather and entry hazards are death sentences. Despite all of these traits, Shedinja can potentially wall even the strongest legendaries, but its extremely situational effectiveness makes it a poor Pokemon overall.

Shedinja is one of the few Pokemon that benefits from Protect in single battles, since deadly coverage moves and chip damage are practically everywhere, which Protect can scout out. When it comes to attacks, Shedinja has it better than its non-ethereal cousin. X-Scissor is again its best STAB move, while Shadow Claw is a strong secondary STAB. Shadow Sneak and Sucker Punch provide priority to overcome Shedinja's horrible Speed. While Sucker Punch is stronger, a successful activation means that Shedinja will likely faint if it doesn't KO the enemy first, and makes Shedinja more vulnerable to status. Dig and Phantom Force renders Shedinja completely invulnerable for one turn due to Wonder Guard, but effectively invites the Pokemon Shedinja is weak to to switch in. Shedinja can take advantage of the switches it forces in various ways. It can use Swords Dance to boost its Attack, Toxic and Will-O-Wisp to status incoming foes, or Baton Pass to bring in an answer to the Pokemon the foe switches in.

Whismur, Loudred and Exploud
With the new generation, Exploud gained a new attack practically tailor-made for itself: Boomburst. This attack hits almost as hard as Hyper Beam, ignores Substitutes and lacks any drawbacks whatsoever. Therefore, even though Exploud has the stats and movepool to play as a physical attacker, it is commonly seen being a special attacker instead due to the ridiculous power Boomburst offers. While Exploud's special movepool is limited, it gives all the coverage Exploud needs, since it has the awesome Scrappy ability to hit Ghost-types. Exploud's terrible bulk and Speed limits its usefulness, since it is pretty easy to revenge kill. It also has a lot of trouble with special walls that can sponge its Boombursts and wear it down.

As stated above, Boomburst is Exploud's signature attack despite being a late addition to its moveset, letting Exploud hit just about everything that doesn't resist Normal very hard. Focus Blast is a great coverage move for Rock and Steel types, while Shadow Ball brings down Ghosts if Exploud lacks Scrappy, though there's not much of a reason to use Soundproof. Flamethrower, Fire Blast or Overheat can be used to deal with Pokemon with Fighting-neutral Steel type combinations, while Surf is more accurate for hitting Rock-types than Focus Blast.

Makuhita and Hariyama
With an incredible 144 base HP, great 120 Attack and two wonderful abilities, Hariyama is a powerful bulky Fighting-type. Thick Fat gives Hariyama two extra resistances, making it an awesome answer to Fire and Ice types. Meanwhile, Guts lets Hariyama sponge status for its team while increasing its Attack. Hariyama also has a nice varied movepool with several useful coverage and utility moves. Unfortunately, terrible defensive stats nullify the perks of Hariyama's high HP and its Speed is terrible for an offensive Pokemon, though it turns Hariyama into a deadly threat on Trick Room teams. Hariyama's typing also makes it weak to common Flying, Psychic and Fairy attacks, which it has trouble wearing down as well.

Close Combat is Hariyama's main STAB move that deals a ton of damage, but the drop in defenses makes Hariyama easier to revenge kill. Bullet Punch is an important priority move that bypasses Hariyama's terrible Speed, while also hitting Fairy-types harder. Knock Off is a good answer to Psychic and Ghost types and provides a lot of utility by removing the foe's items. Stone Edge and Ice Punch are good options against Flying-types, while Earthquake crushes Poison-types but has redundant coverage otherwise. Fake Out and Wide Guard are useful support moves in double battles, with Rock Slide being an awesome coverage move when paired with a Trick Room user.

Nosepass and Probopass
Probopass is built for sheer bulk, with incredible defensive stats at the cost of an offensive presence. Probopass is one of two fully-evolved Pokemon with Magnet Pull, but while Probopass lacks Magnezone's power, it has superior bulk. Probopass also has an strong Rock/Steel typing, which gives it an impressive 8 resistances, including a double resistance to Normal and Flying. Probopass also has nice coverage with its small range of attacks, as well as a slew of utility moves. Unfortunately, Probopass's bulk is undermined by its low HP, as well as its double weakness to Fighting and Ground, both common attacking types. For a defensive Pokemon, Probopass doesn't have any way to recover its health outside of Rest, so it can be worn down by repeated attacks. It is also sorely lacking in power, as base 75 Special Attack isn't going to do a lot.

Power Gem and Earth Power form the special equivalent of the Stone Edge and Earthquake combo, giving Probopass impressive coverage. Flash Cannon gives Probopass perfect neutral coverage in conjunction with the combo and has the bonus of hitting Fairies hard. Volt Switch lets Probopass function as a pivot, switching out after it's done attacking or supporting. Since it's so slow, it can usually take a hit from the foe before switching out to a teammate, bringing them in unharmed. Probopass is a decent setter of Stealth Rock due to its bulk, though it's poor at challenging enemy Rapid Spinners and Defoggers due to its low power. Probopass can also use its bulk to spread status using Thunder Wave or Toxic, with the latter also helping it wear down opposing walls.

Skitty and Delcatty
Delcatty is a pretty bad Pokemon with few redeeming qualities. When it comes to offense, neither of Delcatty's attack stats are decent, and its Speed is pretty poor as well. Its bulk is very poor as well, with low defensive stats and a mediocre defensive typing. Whether its as an attacker or a utility Pokemon, there are always Pokemon better at doing what Delcatty can do. Being a Normal-type, Delcatty does get a lot of moves, and it is also one of the few Pokemon with Wonder Skin, which gives it protection from status ailments. Despite these few perks, Delcatty is still way too bad to be considered for serious use.

Delcatty is best used passing Calm Mind boosts with Baton Pass, and while it is far from the ideal choice for this purpose, at least it won't have to worry about opposing support moves due to Wonder Skin. Substitute is a definite must to help Delcatty set up with Calm Mind, since its bulk is too poor otherwise. Hyper Voice is Delcatty's preferred STAB move since it is boosted by Calm Mind, though it is only to be used as a last resort, since it's not going to do a lot of damage. Delcatty also has the Wish and Heal Bell combination to heal its team, but it lacks the typing and the bulk to do it well. One last thing about Delcatty is that it can use Normalize to paralyze Ground-types with Thunder Wave, but that's about the only perk of Normalize, and it's way worse than using Wonder Skin anyway.

Sableye
With an amazing typing that only gives it one weakness and the coveted Prankster ability, Sableye is a pretty decent support Pokemon held back by its terrible stats. However, a new Mega Evolution thrust it into the spotlight as one of the best utility Mega Evolutions in the game. Mega Sableye has better offenses and greatly improved bulk at the cost of Speed. While its stat spread isn't particularly impressive, it gains the amazing Magic Bounce ability, which not only gives it total immunity to status, but also indirectly protects its teammates from status moves just by the threat of it switching in. Mega Sableye's movepool is perfect for a support Pokemon, with a plethora of status moves and a reliable healing move, making it a very versatile team member. While its Speed is poor in either forme, Sableye can hold off Mega Evolving to make use of its Prankster ability, giving its status moves priority.

Mega Sableye's main STAB move is Knock Off. Since its attacking stats aren't very high, it doesn't need any high-powered attacks, and Knock Off's item removal effect is always a boon. However, Foul Play is always an option against physical attackers, and is especially helpful against setup sweepers attempting to boost their Attack. Mega Sableye's main way to support its team is by spreading status moves, using either Will-O-Wisp or Toxic or a combination of the two. Swagger is a risky but powerful move that works well with Foul Play, but could backfire if the foe gets to attack, and doesn't work well with Will-O-Wisp. Taunt would be an awesome support move for regular Sableye, but is somewhat redundant with Magic Bounce. Recover makes Mega Sableye much more bulky by healing off damage. Calm Mind can be used to make Mega Sableye even more specially bulky while letting it hit hard with Shadow Ball or Dark Pulse, but it lacks the movepool to play as a dedicated special attacker.

Mega Sableye is pretty tricky to play against, since Magic Bounce removes all the common ways of dealing with support Pokemon. This incredible ability protects against Taunt, damaging status like Toxic as well as entry hazard damage. The best way to deal with Mega Sableye is to bring it down with sheer power. Mega Sableye's defensive stats aren't much higher than the typical bulky Pokemon, so it can be worn down with repeated, heavy hits. Special attackers are preferred, since Will-O-Wisp neuters most physical attackers that try to challenge Sableye. Fairy-types are particularly good at doing so, most having bulk, resisting Sableye's main attacks and capable of hitting back hard with their special moves. Ironically, one of Mega Sableye's biggest enemies is itself, since opposing Mega Sableye doesn't fear its status moves or its attacks, and generally performs well against the Pokemon usually teamed with itself.

Mawile
Mawile was one of many single stage evolutions introduced throughout the generations, and its below average stats and awkward typing kept it from ever being a significant threat. Even with the added Fairy typing, it wouldn't be very popular if not for its Mega Evolution. When Mega Evolved, Mawile gains much better Attack and defensive stats, but most importantly, it gets Huge Power, giving it the highest effective Attack in the game. This makes Mawile a significant offensive threat, being able to punch through even the toughest of walls. It's increased defenses lets it better take advantage of its great Steel/Fairy type. Unfortunately, Mega Mawile is still saddled with a poor 50 Speed, although it can circumvent this problem with priority attacks.

Although you should only use Mawile in its Mega form, you can still utilize its Intimidate ability before mega-evolving to weaken opposing physical attackers. Play Rough is its main STAB, giving it good coverage against a fair amount of Pokémon. Iron Head is a nice secondary STAB, able to hit other Fairies as well as maybe flinching threats. Sucker Punch is another great attack, ignoring Mawile's Speed and defeating offensive threats that might try to stop its sweep. Finally, Swords Dance is an amazing boosting move, shooting Mawile's Attack to the stratosphere, letting it pull off a deadly sweep.

Aron, Lairon and Aggron
Aggron is a powerful bulky attacker, most notable for its sizable amount of resistances and a brutal combination of Rock Head and Head Smash to dish out immense damage. However, Aggron's poor Speed, Special Defense and a terrible double weakness to Fighting and Ground greatly undermines its sheer bulk and stayability. Mega Aggron on the other hand is built to take hits, having the highest Defense stat in the game, an improved Special Defense, a better pure Steel typing and a great ability in Filter. Mega Aggron also gains a boost in Attack, letting it soak up physical hits and retaliate hard. Unfortunately, Mega Aggron lacks a way to heal itself outside of Rest, so it can be worn down by repeated assault. Mega Aggron's Special Defense is also not too great, so special attackers can do a lot of damage to it.

Heavy Slam is Mega Aggron's STAB move of choice, as Mega Aggron will almost always be significantly heavier than its foe, though Iron Tail and Iron Head deal more consistent damage at the cost of lower potential power. Stone Edge or Rock Slide are good choices for a secondary STAB move, though Head Smash is the best option when using regular Aggron due to Rock Head's recoil-negating effects. Earthquake has great coverage with Aggron's Rock moves, particularly for crushing Steel-types, while Fire Punch hits the Steels that are neutral to Earthquake harder. Metal Burst and Avalanche are useful attacks due to Mega Aggron's incredible Defense and poor Speed, letting it counter an opponent's hit hard. Lastly, Mega Aggron can use its sheer bulk to set up Stealth Rock, or spread Thunder Wave among its opponents to cut their Speed.

Meditite and Medicham
Medicham is a rather forgettable Pokemon best known for its unique typing, but with its Mega Evolution, it becomes one of the hardest hitting physical attackers in the game. Mega Medicham's Attack doesn't look impressive, but it is blessed with Pure Power to double its Attack stat, making all of its physical hits deal overwhelming amounts of damage. For a Pokemon that hits so hard, Mega Medicham also has good Speed. Medicham's typing makes it vulnerable to common attacks like Flying and Fairy, while its STAB attacks don't give it the best coverage. Its bulk is subpar, so it can be revenge killed by faster Pokemon. Mega Medicham also faces competition with Mega Mawile, another Pokemon with doubled Attack, which has a better typing, more power and bulk at the cost of Speed.

High Jump Kick is the deadliest attack Mega Medicham has, dealing humongous damage to anything that doesn't resist it, but the recoil damage will be sizable if you miss. Drain Punch is much weaker, but makes Mega Medicham slightly more bulky with its healing. Zen Headbutt is a nice secondary coverage move that hits most Pokemon who resist Fighting hard. Poison Jab and Bullet Punch targets Fairies, Rock Slide destroys Bug and Flying types, while Ice Punch hits Flying types and is an all-around excellent coverage move. Thunder and Fire Punch can also provide additional coverage. Fake Out is a good source of free chip damage due to Mega Medicham's pure strength. Lastly, Mega Medicham can increase its power with Bulk Up, while being able to pass its boosts or just maintain momentum with Baton Pass.

Electrike and Manectric
Manectric is a pretty conventional Electric-type, being a fast and frail special attacker notable for being able draw Electric moves with Lightning Rod. Mega Manectric simply amplifies its best stats while patching up its defenses, making it a straightforward special attacker. However, Mega Manectric has several useful traits to seperate it from other special attacking Megas. It has incredible Speed and narrow but strong coverage moves, but more importantly, it has immense utility from Intimidate. Combined with Volt Switch, Manectric makes an excellent pivot that can hit hard while providing support. Mega Manectric works best against offensive teams, though it's not strong enough to break down bulky walls. Its small movepool grants it great coverage, but also makes it easy to wall since it has few coverage options to choose from. Its bulk it also pretty poor, so it has to beware of bulky attackers and fast revenge killers.

Thunderbolt is Manectric's most reliable STAB move, dealing nice damage while having great accuracy. However, Volt Switch is an extremely popular move on Mega Manectric as well, since it can function as a pivot with its amazing Intimidate ability and great Speed. Manectric is one of few Electric-types that gets Fire moves, so it can choose between using Overheat and Flamethrower to deal with Grass-types and for general neutral coverage. The special drop from Overheat is more tolerable with Manectric, since it can simply exit the battle with Volt Switch. Against Ground-types, Manectric can use Hidden Power Ice or Grass to deal super effective damage, with Hidden Power Ice being the preferred move due to its superior coverage.

Plusle
Plusle and Minun were created to highlight the double battle mechanics first introduced 3 generations ago, and they've never been really good in any battle format even until now. Of the duo of polarized mice, Plusle is relatively more offensive, though its offensive stats are really poor. Its bulk is abysmal, especially physically, so even resisted attacks can take down Plusle pretty quickly. While it has an impressive support movepool, its poor bulk once again keeps it from being able to help out much, and it's starved for decent attacking moves. While both of its abilities are useful in double and triple battles, they are also possessed by better Pokemon, leaving even less of a reason to use Plusle.

Given how weak its attacks are, the best thing Plusle can really do is use its decent Speed and wide movepool to support its team. It learns both Agility and Nasty Plot as well as Baton Pass, so it can pass boosts to a better teammate, if it even gets the chance to set up. It can spread status with Thunder Wave and Toxic, but so can a whole host of speedier or bulkier Pokemon. Nuzzle is another option to paralyze a foe when taunted, and has the bonus of taking a sliver of health off the target. Plusle can also use Encore to disrupt the opponent, or use Helping Hand to buff up its teammates' moves. Finally, if the opponent decides to Taunt Plusle instead of simply removing it with an attack, Thunderbolt is a reliable way to deal a bit of damage back.

Minun
Plusle and Minun were created to highlight the double battle mechanics first introduced 3 generations ago, and they've never been really good in any battle format even until now. Of the duo of polarized mice, Minun is the more defensively-focused one. This means that Minun is actually slightly better than Plusle, as both of them are usually played as support Pokemon, when they're used at all. Despite its superior bulk, Minun is still really weak and easy to faint from even resisted attacks. Minun's hidden Volt Absorb ability lets it switch into Electric moves safely, as well as heal itself if the foe accidentally selects the wrong move.

Like Plusle, Minun is really only any good at being a support Pokemon. It too can Baton Pass boosts it gets from Nasty Plot or Agility, and its marginally better bulk gives it a better chance of getting a boost off. It can also status its opponents with Thunder Wave, Nuzzle or Toxic. Similarly, it can lock its opponent into an undesirable move using Encore, or power up its allies' attacks with Helping Hand. The only thing Minun can do that is inferior to Plusle is being forced to attack, as its Thunderbolt is slightly weaker..

Volbeat
Volbeat and Illumise have a similar relationship with Plusle and Minun, being meant to be paired in a double battle but having poor synergy with each other and pretty terrible Pokémon themselves. Within the duo, Volbeat specializes in physical attacks. Volbeat's stats are pretty terrible, with subpar Attack, poor defenses and mediocre Speed. However, he is one of two Pokémon that learns Tail Glow, which raises his Special Attack by 3 stages. While Volbeat's Special Attack stat is absolutely abysmal to make use of it, he can also get Baton Pass as an egg move, letting him Baton Pass the effects of one of the best boosting moves in the game to a special attacker that can make good use of it. Volbeat's hidden ability, Prankster, also helps it immensely in this role, guaranteeing it can pass a Tail Glow boost at least once if it can survive one attack, which it usually can with Focus Sash.

If you want to use Volbeat, Tail Glow and Baton Pass are necessary moves, as Volbeat is simply too weak and too frail to do anything else. Prankster and Focus Sash is also a necessity on Volbeat, since it will ensure that Volbeat can pass a boost at least once, provided that he has not taken damage prior to using Tail Glow. His remaining two moves can be anything you like, but be forewarned that you likely won't get the chance to use them ever. Double Edge, Return or U-Turn are probably Volbeat's most damaging attacks, as its physical movepool is horribly barren. Encore is interesting if you can catch someone using a status move, giving you some more turns to set up boosts. For other support options, you can look into using Toxic, Thunder Wave, Light Screen, Swagger and Trick, all of which are affected by Prankster, but note that there are better Prankster users of these moves.

Illumise
Volbeat and Illumise are similar to Plusle and Minun, being meant to be paired up in double battles but having poor synergy and being pretty terrible Pokémon themselves. In this duo, Illumise is better at special attacking. Like Volbeat, Illumise has pretty poor stats, with her strongest attack stat being quite low, pitiful defenses and mediocre Speed. Even worst, Illumise lacks Tail Glow, meaning that there is even less reason to use her over her male counterpart. Illumise still gets Prankster for priority status moves, but she has to compete with all other Prankster Pokémon, including Volbeat.

There really isn't mush Illumise can do that other Pokémon can't. Its best feature is Prankster, so be sure to take advantage of it as much as you can. Encore, Light Screen, Swagger, Thunder Wave, Toxic and Tailwind are all fairly good status moves you can use. Additionally, it can get a unique combination of Baton Pass and Growth through breeding, and can also learn Sunny Day to double Growth's effect, but it is still inferior to the huge boost that Tail Glow Volbeat provides. In terms of attacks, Bug Buzz is Illumise's strongest STAB attack, though U-Turn is more useful for switching out after she has set up her status moves.

Budew, Roselia and Roserade
Roserade is a thorny Pokemon that packs both power and utility. It has a great defensive typing, high Special Defense and Natural Cure to let it take status ailments for the team. It has an impressive supportive movepool, consisting of a variety status spreaders, entry hazards and healing moves. It is also uniquely a special attacker that gets Technician, giving Roserade a stronger Hidden Power. Roserade's Speed is wonderful for a support Pokemon, but poor for an offensive one, so it is easy to outspeed and take down. Roserade's typing also makes it weak to several common types, and it has poor Defense that makes it easy to faint.

Roserade has plenty of status moves to help out its team. It is great at setting up entry hazards due to its dangerous offensive presence, with both Spikes and Toxic Spikes to choose from. Roserade is also a good Pokemon for inflicting Sleep status with Sleep Powder due to its decent Speed. It also gets Leech Seed to slowly drain the opponent's health, though Roserade doesn't quite have the bulk to make good use of the move. Synthesis is a great healing move, while Aromatherapy helps both Roserade and its team by removing status ailments. When it comes to attacks, Giga Drain and Sludge Bomb are the standard STAB moves. Extrasensory threatens Poison-types, while Dazzling Gleam provides extra coverage. Due to Technician, Roserade gets more out of Hidden Power. Hidden Power Ground and Fire are usually the preferred types, as they let it take on Steel-types that resist both of its STABs.

Gulpin and Swalot
Swalot is a rather unremarkable Pokemon. Its stats lean toward a defensive playstyle, but it is outclassed as a bulky Poison-type. What Swalot has going for it is a rare ability in Sticky Hold, which lets it hold on to its item despite the ubiquity of Knock Off. Swalot's typing also gives it useful resistances to Fairy and Fighting moves, though a weakness to Ground is offputting. It has a surprisingly wide movepool, but its offenses are too poor to really make use of them. Swalot's stats are pretty weak, and while its HP is quite good, its subpar defenses make it easy to wear down, especially since Swalot lacks a quick healing move.

Swalot doesn't have a lot in terms of support options. Being a Poison-type, it boasts a perfectly accurate Toxic, but is greatly outshined by tons of other status spreaders. It also has Encore and Yawn, which disrupt the opponent's strategy and tends to force switches. Pain Split is Swalot's only method of recovery outside of the unwieldy Rest. In terms of attacks, Sludge Bomb is undoubtedly Swalot's best STAB move, as it has both power and a decently high chance of poisoning the target. Ice Beam lets it get rid of Ground-types, while Giga Drain provides extra coverage while healing Swalot. Shadow Ball may also be used for Psychic-types. Physically, Swalot has great coverage with the three elemental punches. It also has Earthquake to deal with opposing Poison and Rock-types and for general coverage. It also has Explosion as a final measure. A great variety of moves, just a pity Swalot lacks the stats to use them.

Carvahna and Sharpedo
Sharpedo is a monstrous glass cannon, with excellent offenses and the coveted Speed Boost ability, but nearly nonexistant bulk. Mega Sharpedo amps up its power and patches up its defenses, making Sharpedo an even better late-game sweeper. With a base 140 Attack and an STAB move boosted by Strong Jaw, Mega Sharpedo hits overwhelmingly hard, and accumulated Speed Boosts can make it tricky to stop. However, Mega Sharpedo's abysmal defenses mean that it must bring down its foe as quickly as possible, so it has trouble with bulky Pokemon that can take a hit and retaliate. Mega Sharpedo also cannot afford to move second, so it hates faster Pokemon and those with priority attacks, particularly Mach Punch and Vacuum Wave.

Protect is pretty much mandatory for Sharpedo, as it lets it get off at least one Speed Boost before Mega Evolving, and Mega Sharpedo needs all the speed it can get. Crunch is Mega Sharpedo's main STAB move, being very powerful when boosted by Strong Jaw. Waterfall covers most Pokemon that resist Crunch, and has a useful flinch chance. Mega Sharpedo can also make use of its good Special Attack stat with Hydro Pump to bypass physical walls instead. Aqua Jet is useful against revenge killers, but it's usually inadvisable to sweep with Sharpedo before all faster Pokemon are down anyway. Ice Fang deals respectable damage with Strong Jaw and gives Sharpedo useful coverage, particularly against Grass and Dragon types. Poison Jab is effective against Grass-types as well, but also targets Fairies.

Wailmer and Wailord
Wailord is more known for its sheer size rather than its combat ability. It is one of the few Pokemon that learns Water Spout, and has the Special Attack stat to use it well. It also has a massive HP stat that lets it soak up attacks. Unfortunately, this high HP is compromised by Wailord's horrendous defenses, which makes it easy to wear it down due to its lack of quick recovery. As an offensive Pokemon, Wailord's Speed is really bad, and it is sorely lacking in coverage moves. Wailord also faces competition with a slew of better Water-types, being outmatched both in terms of bulk and power. Overall, Wailord's flaws mean it will barely see use on any team.

Water Spout is one of Wailord's few notable perks, and it hits very hard at full health, making it a good STAB move. However, Wailord's poor Speed and bulk means it tends to get hit first and lose quite a bit of HP, so it's difficult to make use of the moves' full power. Surf or Hydro Pump may be safer choices as they deal consistent damage independant of Wailord's health. Scald is another option for a more defensive Wailord for spreading burns. Ice Beam provides great coverage, particularly against Grass-types. For opposing Water-types, Wailord can only resort to Hidden Power Grass to bring them down. Lastly, Self-Destruct is a powerful final attack for dealing sizable damage once Wailord is too worn down to live much longer.

Numel and Camerupt
Camerupt is yet another Pokemon with excellent mixed offensive stats, but doomed by its frailty and poor Speed. Its Fire/Ground typing is unique and has nice type coverage with each other. Gaining a Mega Evolution, Mega Camerupt has further improved offenses boosted by Sheer Force, and much better bulk, but becomes one of the slowest Pokemon in the game. Mega Camerupt's stat spread let it function as a bulky attacker, sponging hits and retaliating with powerful bursts of damage. Speed remains Mega Camerupts main issue, as it practically causes Mega Camerupt to move last every turn, though it conversely makes Mega Camerupt a fearsome threat in Trick Room. Its Fire/Ground typing gives it only two weaknesses, but both Water and Ground are very common attacks.

Since most Fire moves have a small chance to burn, Mega Camerupt will likely get a Sheer Force boost with whatever STAB move it chooses. Fire Blast has brutal power, Flamethrower has perfect accuracy, while Heat Wave is a spread attack. Earth Power is a great secondary STAB move that provides great coverage, and receives the boost from Sheer Force as well. The normally weak Ancient Power also does respectable damage with Sheer Force, and lets Camerupt hit every Pokemon at least neutrally when combined with its STAB moves. Mega Camerupt can also sacrifice itself with Explosion, and it has the Attack stat to make a mark. Will-O-Wisp can weaken offensive answers to Mega Camerupt, while Toxic threatens the special walls that like to sponge its attacks. Lastly, Mega Camerupt can set Stealth Rock, though this is a task best relegated to a more dedicated supporter.

Torkoal
Torkoal is built as a defensive and support Pokemon, though with some pretty major flaws. Torkoal's has an incredible Defense stat, complemented with a great support movepool, being able to spread status, set up entry hazards and clear them as well. One of its notable traits is that it is the only Shell Smash user that is neither a Water-type or a Rock-type. It also has the rare White Smoke ability, which protects Torkoal from enemy stat drops, but unfortunately not from its own Shell Smash. A big drawback with using Torkoal is its abysmal Speed, which forces it to tank hits from the enemy before it can do anything. Torkoal's Special Defense is another glaring weakness, and without a quick recovery move, Torkoal can be quickly worn down before it can do much.

Since Torkoal's offenses are subpar, it can usually make do with just Lava Plume as its attack, since the move has a high chance of causing burns. Toxic is another good status spreader that helps Torkoal wear down other bulky walls. Torkoal can learn Stealth Rock, and it certainly has the bulk to set it up. It can use Rapid Spin to clear away hazards on its own side as well, although it is less suited for this role due to a weakness to Stealth Rock and no immunity against other entry hazards. Alternatively, Torkoal can also play a more offensive support role, by using Shell Smash to boost its offense. If doing so, Fire Blast is the superior STAB since Torkoal has the power to use them after a boost, and it has great coverage together with Earth Power. Unfortunately, even with Shell Smash's boost it is still extremely slow, and lowered Defenses make it even easier to faint now.

Spoink and Grumpig
Grumpig is a rather generic Psychic-type with a common stat spread for a special attacker: good special stats with passable Speed but poor physical stats. One unique feature it has is Thick Fat, which gives it some useful additional resistances. Aside from that, Grumpig plays like most other Psychic-types, using several special moves that have good coverage together or using its bulk and its sizable array of support moves to play a utility role. Grumpig's flaws are also pretty standard, having to watch out for physical attackers and being stopped cold by special walls. Overall, Grumpig's a decent Pokemon, but it is simply outclassed by many other Psychic-types that have similar but stronger stat spreads.

Psychic is obviously Grumpig's best STAB move, though Psyshock is an option for overcoming special walls. Focus Blast and Shadow Ball complete the trinity of Psychic coverage moves, with Focus Blast hitting Dark and Steel types while Shadow Ball targeting Ghosts and other Psychic-types. Grumpig also has several great support options that it can make use of with its nice special bulk and Thick Fat. Taunt shuts down opposing walls, and even though Grumpig's Speed isn't that good, it's more than enough to outspeed many other support Pokemon. Grumpig can also spread status with either Thunder Wave or Toxic, with Thunder Wave being more effective against offensive teams and Toxic being better against defensive ones. Heal Bell does the opposite, letting Grumpig heal its team of status instead. Lastly, Grumpig can use Whirlwind to shuffle Pokemon and rack up entry hazard damage.

Spinda
Spinda has a balanced range of stats, and every single one of them sucks. There is really no reason to use Spinda over any other Normal-type Pokemon, as there are much better Normal-types when it comes to offensive, defensive or support roles. Spinda has a rich selection of support moves, but once again it lacks both the bulk and the speed to use it to any semblence of effectiveness. However, Spinda is notable for being the only Pokemon with Contrary that learns Skill Swap, so at least it can find a place on gimmicky doubles teams by Skill Swapping Contrary on to better teammates.

Skill Swap is the sole trait for using Spinda in a serious battles, for a loose definition of the term "serious". Therefore, Skill Swap is an absolutely necessary move on it. Outside of that, all Spinda really does is to annoy the foe with status moves, although it is more advisable to switch Spinda out so that it could Skill Swap again. Swagger is a potent confusion spreader, though Teeter Dance is a safer and more accurate alternative. Toxic is also a good choice for wearing down the opponent. It can buff up its teammate with Helping Hand, or maybe Trick an unhelpful item. Another alternative is using Spinda with Own Tempo, which lets it use STAB Thrash without any drawbacks and access a wider range of support options, but as mentioned before, Spinda's terrible stats prevent it from doing anything well outside of Contrary.

Trapinch, Vibrava and Flygon
Flygon is a pretty standard, if not often overshadowed, Dragon-type. A Ground/Dragon typing combined with Levitate gives it a decent amount of resistances and few weaknesses, while giving it excellent neutral coverage with its STAB moves alone. Flygon's stats are also very balanced all around, with passable bulk and great Attack and Speed. It is also notable for being one of the very few users of Defog with a resistance to Stealth Rock. Unfortunately, Flygon's somewhat middling Attack means it has trouble taking down foes fast enough, and it is vulnerable to popular Dragon, Fairy and Ice moves. However, the ultimate issue with Flygon is that it can't compete with Garchomp, another Dragon and Ground type that has better stats, better offensive movepool and a Mega Evolution.

Flygon's STAB are pretty standard. Earthquake is the best STAB move for any Ground-type, while Outrage has the sheer power to tear through foes. Dragon Claw is the next best alternative to Outrage that doesn't let Fairy-types switch in for free, but the loss in power is very significant. Draco Meteor is another option for hitting physical walls, and Flygon's Special Attack is decent enough for it. Fire Blast provides coverage against the Steel-types that aren't weak to Earthquake, and Iron Tail is effective for smashing Fairies. Stone Edge is another option for great super effective coverage with Earthquake, while U-Turn lets Flygon maintain offensive momentum. Lastly, Flygon is a great Defogger due to an immunity to most entry hazards with Levitate, and an important resistance to Stealth Rock, making it well-suited for hazard removal.

Cacnea and Cacturne
Cacturne has an uncommon Grass/Dark typing and the stats to make it a powerful mixed attacker. A Dark subtype combined with Water Absorb gives it two immunities, which gives it opportunities to switch in despite its poor bulk. Its STAB combination has pretty good coverage by themselves, and it has a nice selection of both physical and special moves to choose from. It can also learn several useful status moves as well, letting it provide some extra utility to its team. While it had respectable strength, Cacturne is terrible defensively, with seven weaknesses of varying popularity and very poor defensive stats. The final spiky nail in Cacturne's coffin is its poor Speed, which makes it very easy to take down by faster Pokemon.

On the special side, Cacturne's main STAB moves are Dark Pulse and Giga Drain. Dark Pulse has good neutral coverage and is the most reliable Dark STAB move Cacturne has. Giga Drain provides some extra utility by healing Cacturne, though Energy Ball can be used instead for sheer power. Focus Blast is also an option to take on opposing Dark-types and Steel-types. For physical attacks, Cacturne relies on Sucker Punch and Seed Bomb instead. Sucker Punch in particular is a vital move no matter which attack stat Cacturne leans toward due to its priority, which is crucial for Cacturne to survive encounters against faster offensive Pokemon. Drain Punch is a notable coverage move as it provides the life leeching on more physical sets. Cacturne also gets both Nasty Plot and Swords Dance to boost its offensive stat of choice, though Substitute should be use to give Cacturne room to set up. Cacturne can also serve as an offensive Spikes setter. Spiky Shield is a decent Protect clone for scouting out the enemy's moves. Lastly, Destiny Bond can be used to bring the opponent down with Cacturne, but its poor Speed makes it difficult to set up.

Swablu and Altaria
Altaria was one of the more unimpressive Dragon-types in the game, sporting decent bulk and Natural Cure, but having poor stats otherwise and sharing a typing with much better Dragons. However, it has now received a Mega Evolution, which raises its offenses up to par with its bulk, giving it a more balanced range of stats. Mega Altaria also changes its typing to the unique Dragon/Fairy, an amazing typing with few common weaknesses and a lot of resistances, as well as granting it Pixilate, giving it some very powerful Fairy moves. Mega Altaria also has an excellent movepool, letting it be either a physical or special threat with useful support options to boot. Mega Altaria's Speed is a big flaw, but it is actually quite hard to revenge kill a healthy one due to Altaria's bulk. It also has trouble against fellow Fairy-types, and needs to beware of Steel-types as well.

Mega Altaria is a top user of Dragon Dance, due to having great bulk to set up and benefiting immensely from the Attack and Speed boost it provides. Since Dragon has redundant and poorer coverage compared to Fairy, Mega Altaria usually just run a single Fairy STAB instead. Return is Mega Altaria's main STAB move, sporting a lot of power at max happiness. Hyper Voice is a good alternative for specially-inclined or bulkier playstyles, since it isn't boosted by Dragon Dance but can hit through Substitutes. Earthquake is used to defeat Steel-types that resist Fairy, while Fire Blast targets part-Steels neutral to Ground. Roost bolsters Mega Altaria's health, while Heal Bell protects Mega Altaria from status as well as let it provide team support. Substitute is another nice defensive move usually used with Dragon Dance to give Mega Altaria space to set up and avoid status.

Zangoose
Zangoose is a straightforward Normal-type bruiser that trades health for big damage. It has the exclusive Toxic Boost ability, which powers up Zangoose's Attack when poisoned, and it gets STAB Facade to further make use of this status. It is also fairly fast for a self-inflicted status user, which gives it an offensive edge compared to the mainly slow and bulky Guts users. Zangoose's attacking movepool is small but effective, giving it perfect neutral coverage. Unfortunately, Zangoose is forced to use a Toxic Orb unlike Guts users, since its ability only activates on poison status. Zangoose is also very frail, which is compounded by the poison damage it inevitably takes for the Attack boost. Lastly, Zangoose's Speed is pretty average offensively, which makes it easy to revenge kill by faster attackers.

Facade is without a doubt Zangoose's main STAB move. This move hits nearly as hard as Giga Impact when Zangoose is poisoned and lacks any negative secondary effects. It also works well with Zangoose's reliance on Toxic Boost, since it will always have doubled base power as long as Zangoose is poisoned. Quick Attack is a good secondary STAB move that provides important priority, letting Zangoose take on faster, weakened foes. Close Combat is a great coverage move for crushing Rock and Steel types that resist Facade, and the defense drop isn't a big problem considering Zangoose's already paper thin defenses. Knock Off rounds out Zangoose's coverage by hitting Ghost-types, and has additional utility by removing the foe's items.

Seviper
Seviper is an offensive Poison-type, with above average attacking stats for a Poison-type Pokemon, and the only pure Poison that can play as a mixed attacker somewhat effectively. Shed Skin lets Seviper brush off harmful status ailments, though Infiltrator is also useful for hitting through enemy Substitutes. Seviper also has a pretty wide attacking movepool to make use of both offensive stats and give it well-rounded coverage. However, Seviper has terrible bulk, which undermines its good defensive typing. It also has horrible Speed as well, which makes it very vulnerable to most offensive Pokemon in the game, many of which can simply faint it before it can do anything in return.

Sludge Wave is Seviper's strongest STAB move, while Poison Jab is a usable physical alternative with a higher chance of poisoning foes. Sludge Bomb combines the best of both world by having near equivalent power to Sludge Wave and a high poison chance. Sucker Punch gives Seviper a form of priority, which is extremely important due to its horrible Speed, so that is has a better chance against offensive teams. Earthquake is an excellent coverage move that threatens Rocks, Steels and fellow Poison-types that resist its STAB. Flamethrower is a good alternative answer to Steel-types, especially the ones neutral to Ground. Giga Drain provides healing and works well against Rock and Ground types, while Aqua Tail provide similar coverage and more power but no secondary effects.

Lunatone
Lunatone and Solrock are obvious duos being both Rock/Psychic types with Levitate, with Lunatone being the more specially-inclined of the two. Lunatone has a variety of support moves to function as a utility Pokemon, but it has many things holding it back. Its bulk is rather lackluster, especially physically, and its unique typing gives it many undesirable weaknesses. Offensively, Lunatone's Special Attack stat is pretty mediocre and it is easily stopped by special walls. While its STAB + Ground combination of attacks have unresisted coverage, its attacking movepool is pretty lacking. Finally, Lunatone's Speed is quite poor as well, which makes it easy pickings for many offensive Pokemon.

Psychic is Lunatone's main STAB move, being its strongest attack without any drawbacks or unwieldy mechanics. Unfortunately, Lunatone has to settle with Ancient Power for its Rock-type STAB, since all of its other Rock attacks make use of its vastly inferior physical Attack stat, and the occasional mass boost can be handy at least. Earth Power hits exactly as hard as STAB Ancient Power, and the two attacks have excellent coverage among themselves. Lunatone can also set up Stealth Rock, has Moonlight to heal itself, both Reflect and Light Screen for team support, and good boosting moves in Calm Mind and Rock Polish. Although it is rather frail for a setup sweeper, it can use Baton Pass instead to pass these boosts, as well as the rare Ancient Power boost, along to a teammate.

Solrock
Lunatone and Solrock are obvious duos being both Rock/Psychic types with Levitate, with Solrock having the better physical stats of the two. Among the two, Solrock's traits make it more well-off in battles. For starters, Solrock has a much better attacking movepool to make good use of its physical Attack. Furthermore, Solrock's higher Defense also lets it wall Normal, Flying and Fire moves better, as these types are commonly physical. Other than that, Solrock isn't much different from Lunatone, having good support moves and passable offenses. Also like Lunatone, Solrock's typing gives it several common weaknesses, and its bulk and Speed leaves much to be desired.

Solrock's best STAB move is Stone Edge, being quite strong and hitting a good number of Pokemon super effectively. Rock Slide is a good alternative due to its accuracy, spread and flinch, but has noticeably lower power. Zen Headbutt is a decent secondary STAB, particularly effective for taking down Fighting-types that resist Rock. Earthquake rounds out Solrock's coverage, and is particularly good against Steel-types that resist both of Solrock's STAB moves. Solrock can also use Explosion to deal serious damage as a last ditch effort. For utility moves, Solrock can set up Stealth Rock, Reflect or Light Screen as field effects. It can heal itself using Morning Sun and weaken physical attackers with Will-O-Wisp. Like Lunatone, Solrock can also Baton Pass Rock Polish boosts to its allies.

Barboach and Whiscash
Whiscash is one of the few Pokemon with the rare Water/Ground typing, a combination that leaves it with only one fairly uncommon Grass weakness. It has a really balanced range of stats, but unfortunately this means that Whiscash isn't particularly effective at anything, since it lacks both offensive presence, significant bulk or good Speed. Whiscash is notable for being one of the few non-Dragons that gets Dragon Dance. Unfortunately, with such poor stats to start with, it doesn't take much to take Whiscash down, even without a Grass-type move. When it comes to Water/Ground types or Dragon Dance users, there are plenty of better candidates out there.

Whiscash has access to a range of both physical and special moves, and both of its offensive stats are about the same. However, Whiscash usually prefers to use physical attacks due to Dragon Dance being one of its more notable features. Earthquake is the obvious primary STAB move, capable of hitting a wide range of Pokemon super effectively. Waterfall is a great secondary STAB, as while it has some coverage overlap with Earthquake, its flinch chance is useful once Whiscash has boosted its Speed. Stone Edge provides excellent coverage in conjunction with Earthquake. Alternatively, Whiscash can use a more specially-oriented moveset, but it's significantly weaker due to the lack of a boosting move. However, it does have the advantage of a strong Ice Beam, which deals with Grass-types effectively. Earth Power combined with Hydro Pump, Surf or Scald are the special STAB moves of choice.

Corphish and Crawdaunt
As a Water-type Pokemon, Crawdaunt boasts some of the strongest physical Water attacks in the game, owing to its high Attack stat and amazing ability in Adaptability. With Adaptability, Crawdaunt's STAB gets boosted to frightening levels, and it can heavily dent any Pokemon that doesn't resist its respectable type combination of Water and Dark. Notably, Crawdaunt is the only Adaptability user that gets STAB Knock Off, making it a fearsome user of that move. As with many offensive Pokemon, Crawdaunt has middling to poor bulk, especially with its terrible Special Defense and weakness to Electric, Fighting and Fairy moves. Crawdaunt is also held back by its poor speed, and while it can play around it with priority attacks, it makes Crawdaunt vulnerable to getting revenge killed.

Crabhammer is, without a doubt, Crawdaunt's best STAB move. This uncommon and powerful physical Water attack is the strongest STAB move Crawdaunt has, and it only gets stronger after a boost from Adaptability. Aqua Jet gives Crawdaunt much appreciated priority to get around its poor Speed, and can potentially let it sweep late in the match against a team of weakened foes. Knock Off is an excellent secondary STAB move that not only has incredible power with Adaptability, but also the helpful ability to remove opponents' items, ensuring anything that survives a hit is left much worse for wear. Superpower and X-Scissor gives Crawdaunt some extra coverage against the very few Pokemon that resists both of its Adaptability moves. Lastly, Swords Dance and Dragon Dance can be used to bolster Crawdaunt's offensive power, provided it can find an opportunity to set up.

Baltoy and Claydol
Claydol is a pretty conventional support Pokemon with great defensive stats, but underwhelming offenses and Speed. It is a notable entry hazard remover, as it can learn Rapid Spin, is immune to most hazards due to Levitate, and most importantly resists Stealth Rock. Claydol also has an impressive movepool of support moves, boosting moves and a variety of strong attacks covering multiple types. Unfortunately, Claydol's Ground/Psychic combination is more of a curse than a blessing, giving it six weaknesses, with Dark, Ice and Water being particularly problematic due to their popularity. Claydol's weak attacks also make it prime setup bait for any decently bulky sweepers. Finally, Claydol lacks a recovery move outside of Rest, so it can still be worn down with repeated hits despite its great bulk.

Rapid Spin is one of Claydol's highlights, being able to remove annoying entry hazards, though Claydol can also lay entry hazards of its own with Stealth Rock. When it comes to STAB moves, Claydol can use a combination of Earthquake and Zen Headbutt physically or Earth Power and Psychic or Psychock for special attacks. Rock Slide, Dazzling Gleam, Ice Beam and Shadow Ball can provide more coverage, but Claydol's offenses are pretty poor. Outside of Rapid Spin, Claydol has a myriad of support tools, though none of them are particularly notable. It can set up Reflect and Light Screen, activate Trick Room, spread Toxic status, Trick Choice items or buff up with Calm Mind. Last but not least, Claydol can learn Explosion, but it's unwise to sacrifice a utility Pokemon just for damage, especially considering its rather poor Attack stat.

Lileep and Cradily
Cradily is a unique fossil Pokemon most notable for its exclusive Rock/Grass typing, which cancel out many of each other's weaknesses. Cradily is designed to be a defensive Pokemon, with a focus on sponging special attacks, as it has nice bulk but lackluster offensive power. To further complement its typing, it gets the Storm Drain ability, giving it a useful Water immunity and a potential boost to its strength. Unfortunately, for all the weaknesses its type combination cancels out, it still leaves Cradily weak to very common Fighting and Ice moves, while leaving it with few resistances in return. With poor Speed and offenses, Cradily is rather passive, making it vulnerable to setup Pokemon and a decently fast Taunt.

Cradily's STAB moves are usually Giga Drain and Rock Slide, though it doesn't rely on them very much due to its defensive nature. Giga Drain would be Cradily's main STAB move with a helpful ability to leech health from the enemy. Rock Slide's flinch chance is wasted due to Cradily's poor Speed, but it does lots of damage to Fire, Bug and Flying types that can comfortably sponge Grass moves. Stone Edge does more damage, but Rock Slide's superior accuracy is more beneficial to a support Pokemon. Cradily can support its team by setting up Stealth Rock, a great entry hazard as always, or it can spread Toxic status to wear down opposing Pokemon. It also gets Synthesis and Recover as healing moves, with Recover healing a consistent amount while Synthesis's effectiveness varies with weather. While very uncommon, Cradily can also put Curse to good use, due to its poor Speed and good bulk to start with.

Anorith and Armaldo
Armaldo is an odd Pokemon with passable bulk and high Attack, but its very uncommon typing is its main feature. Its good physical strength lets it play the role of a conventional physical attacker, though it can also help remove entry hazards with Rapid Spin. It also has a nice offensive movepool to make use of, including several boosting moves and a form of priority, and becomes fairly threatening in rain due to Swift Swim. However, while Armaldo's Rock/Bug typing is certainly unique, it doesn't provide many resistances, and its weaknesses to Water, Rock and Steel are very common. Armaldo is also extremely slow, which holds it back offensively and usually forces it to sponge hits before making a move. Finally, it is poorly suited for hazard removal, given that it is affected by every grounded hazard and weak to Stealth Rock.

Stone Edge is Armaldo's strongest Rock-type attack, and thus is its main STAB move, though Rock Slide and Rock Blast are nice alternatives. Earthquake is an excellent coverage move in conjunction with Stone Edge. X-Scissor is a nice secondary STAB, though it doesn't provide a lot of useful coverage outside of targeting Grass, Dark and Psychic types. Aqua Tail is another usable coverage move that works well with Swift Swim due to its power boost in rain. Aqua Jet on the other hand provides vital priority to help Armaldo retaliate against faster attackers. Stealth Rock lets Armaldo set up entry hazards, while Rapid Spin removes the enemy's hazards. Knock Off is an amazing utility move in general, but synergizes greatly with Rapid Spin by warding off Ghost-types immune to it. Swords Dance greatly improves Armaldo's power, while Rock Polish can patch up its horrendous Speed.

Feebas and Milotic
With good HP and excellent Special Defense, Milotic is a pretty orthodox bulky Water-type. What seperates it from other Water-types is its Marvel Scale ability, which boosts its Defense when afflicted by a status ailment, and its above average Speed for its bulk. It also has a decent Special Attack stat, letting it still deal respectable damage, as well as instant recovery in Recover to improve longevity. Milotic has a pretty poor Defense stat, which limits its capability to sponge hits from physical attackers. While it has Marvel Scale, Milotic still dislikes status ailments that can gradually wear it down. Due to its middling Special Attack, it has major trouble against special walls, which can easily inflict the aforementioned status. Finally, Milotic also faces competition from a myriad of other bulky Water-types, the most populous typing in the game.

For any bulky Water-type, Scald is the most obvious STAB move. This attack not only deals decent damage, but also has a high chance to burn, crippling many physical attackers and making up for Milotic's lackluster Defense. Ice Beam is a great complement, giving Milotic a fighting chance against opposing Grass and Dragon types that resist its Water moves. Recover lets Milotic heal up a big chunk of its health back to better wall foes, while Rest fully heals, cures status and activates Marvel Scale at the cost of leaving Milotic a sitting duck or reliant on Sleep Talk for a few turns. Haze or Dragon Tail keeps Milotic from becoming setup bait by removing accumulated stat changes or forcing the target out. Lastly, Toxic is a straightforward status in addition to Scald burns to wear opposing bulky Pokemon down.

Castform
With completely balanced and completely mediocre stats all around, Castform is a terrible Pokemon for battling, known more for its weather switching gimmick. Its unique Forecast ability lets it change its type depending on weather, while it can use the uncommon Weather Ball that also have different effects in different weather. Unfortunately, this limited adaptability doesn't save Castform from its bad stat spread, being a poor weather setter due to its low Speed, poor attacker due to its low offenses and poor tanker due to its low bulk. At the very least, Castform has a massive movepool of special attacks spanning a variety of types, but against anything it doesn't hit super effectively, it's always at a disadvantage.

Given that Castform is a Pokemon created entirely for weather, using it on a weather team is probably the most useful it will ever be, and Castform learns every weather inducing move available. In intense sunlight, Weather Ball functions like a stronger Flamethrower or a more accurate Fire Blast. Solar Beam provides coverage for Water-types, though Energy Ball also works outside of sun. In heavy rain, Weather Ball becomes a stronger Surf instead, and it can use an always accurate Thunder and Hurricane. Weather Ball is unfortunately useless in hail since Blizzard is a straight upgrade with hail's accuracy boost. Meanwhile, sandstorms make Weather Ball an uncommon Rock-type special move, but since Castform doesn't have a form for Sandstorm, it's an unappealing option since it can still take chip damage from the weather. Lastly, Castform can simply use its great movepool as a conventional special attacker, with moves like Hydro Pump, Scald, Thunderbolt, Ice Beam, and Shadow Ball in addition to the moves previously mentioned.

Kecleon
Kecleon used to be another Pokemon doomed by a silly gimmick in Color Change, which altered its type at the whims of the opponent. However, with the introduction of Greninja, it has gained a much better type changing ability in Protean, which lets it actively control its own type and gives it STAB on all attacks. Its stats are not too shabby either, with a good Attack stat and great special bulk. Kecleon also has an appreciable movepool to take advantage of Protean or to provide general utility and coverage. Unfortunately, Kecleon's poor Defense makes it vulnerable to physical attackers, while its terrible Speed prevents Kecleon from being able to quickly change its type to adapt to its opponent. Lastly, Kecleon cannot compete with Greninja as a Protean user, with the latter having superior Speed, offenses and a wider movepool.

Knock Off is a nice attack to start off for any Pokemon, as it deals lots of damage to any target holding an item and makes them lose said item as well. Drain Punch provides awesome coverage with Knock Off and saps the opponent's health, while having different type matchups between the two types to play around opponents with its Protean. Sucker Punch and Shadow Sneak provide important priority to let it circumvent its abysmal Speed stat, the former providing more power while the latter triggering more reliably and having extra utility with Protean. For extra coverage and Protean mindgames, Kecleon learns the three elemental punches, as well as Aqua Tail, Iron Tail and Rock Slide. Additionally, Kecleon gets a variety of utility moves like Thunder Wave, Trick Room, Fake Out, Stealth Rock and Recover, but these moves are better left to more dedicated support Pokemon.

Shuppet and Banette
Banette has always been a rather forgettable Ghost-type Pokemon, having excellent physical Attack but terrible stats everywhere else. Unfortunately, its new Mega Evolution is no different, giving it one of the highest Attack stats of any Pokemon but still leaving the rest of its stats barely improved. However, Mega Banette also gets the Prankster ability, and is the only Prankster user that has Destiny Bond, so it can be a suicidal stop to any strong offensive threats, while its poor Speed actually helps it get an attack in if it lives to a second turn, since Destiny Bond doesn't wear off until it performs another move. Despite its powerful gimmick, Mega Banette is pretty limited considering it takes up a Mega slot, and unlike Mega Gengar it can't guarantee Destiny Bond will trigger on the desired target.

As stated before, Destiny Bond is Mega Banette's selling point, as it ensures it can get off a Destiny Bond before the opponent makes a move, barring fast priority users. Mega Banette also has a plethora of other status moves it can abuse with Prankster, such as Taunt, Swagger, Will-O-Wisp, Toxic, Thunder Wave and Disable. Note that since Prankster doesn't come into effect on the turn Banette Mega Evolves, Protect is a prudent choice to ensure it lives long enough to make use of its ability. Shadow Claw is Mega Banette's main STAB move, being a strong and straghtforward physical Ghost move. Phantom Force is slightly stronger, but it can be played around due to being a two-turn attack. Knock Off has less power and redundant coverage, but provides a lot more utility by removing the opponents' items. Lastly, Shadow Sneak is a priority attack to get around Mega Banette's poor Speed.

Duskull, Dusclops and Dusknoir
Dusknoir is a very flawed Ghost-type Pokemon. Its stats are spread out like a bulky attacker, boasting impressive defenses on both fronts and a respectable Attack stat, but poor Speed. Unfortunately, Dusknoir's abysmal HP stat undermines its high defense stats, and it lacks a quick recovery move outside of Pain Split, which makes it susceptible to getting worn down from chip damage. Furthermore, it is outclassed defensively by its own pre-evolution Dusclops, whose overall base defensive stats are only 5 points lower than Dusknoir and has the ability to hold an Eviolite to shoot its bulk skyward. On offense, Dusknoir has a nice selection of coverage moves, but its STAB attacks have pitiable power. All in all, both Dusclops and Dusknoir have major issues holding them back, with Dusclops being slightly more successful due to its sheer bulk.

As mentioned before, Dusknoir doesn't have any decently powerful STAB move, being stuck with the disappointing Shadow Punch. Meanwhile, both of Dusclops offenses are so poor it could deal more damage in many cases using Night Shade. Shadow Sneak lets Dusknoir move first, bypassing its horrendous Speed. Toxic is another way to wear down bulky foes, and Curse can be used to deal heavy indirect damage at the cost of Dusknoir or Dusclops health. For Dusknoir's attacks, it has Brick Break for Normal-types, the three elemental punches, as well as Rock Slide and Earthquake for great coverage. For status moves, Will-O-Wisp cripples physical attackers, while Trick Room turns Dusclops and Dusknoir into one of the fastest Pokemon in the game. Destiny Bond, Disable and Trick are other choices that can mess with the opponent's strategy. Pain Split can be used for quick healing, while you could try to tough things out with Rest.

Tropius
Tropius is not a very notable Pokemon, with its main traits being its uncommon Grass/Flying type combination as well as its ability to use Harvest to recycle its held berries. None of Tropius's stats are particularly outstanding, though it is slightly better at sponging attacks than dishing them out. Hence, when Tropius is used at all, it is usually played to maximize its longevity while wearing down the foe bit by bit. It has an impressive movepool consisting of a variety of attacks, boosting moves and utility moves, but it's simply held back by its overall mediocre stats. Tropius's Grass/Flying typing doesn't do it any favors, as it provides few useful resistances but plenty of weaknesses, including a terrible double weakness to Ice.

Tropius is most often seen using a combination of Substitute and Leech Seed, setting up a Substitute to protect from attacks and status, then using Leech Seed to wear down the opponent. This is often used in conjunction with Harvest and a Sitrus Berry for extra sources of healing so that Tropius stays alive as long as it can. Giga Drain and Energy Ball are fairly strong STAB attacks, while Air Slash has a high flinch chance if Tropius is ever faster than its foe. Toxic is an extra source of chip damage on top of Leech Seed, while Protect can be used to stall for turns. Roost and Synthesis let it recover even more health at the cost of making it more passive. Outside of these few moves, Tropius has plenty of options that it simply can't use effectively due to the myriad of better Pokemon that learn them. For attacks, there's Leaf Blade, Leaf Storm, Earthquake, Dragon Pulse and Outrage. For status moves, it has Tailwind, Whirlwind, Defog, Swagger, Safeguard, Growth, Swords Dance and Dragon Dance.

Chingling and Chimecho
Chimecho is a pretty forgettable Pokemon, being a conventional if not mediocre Psychic type with Levitate. None of its stats are particularly amazing, though its Special Attack is decent and its bulk is passable. Chimecho's main selling point is its incredible support movepool, with a ridiculous number of ways to assist its teammates, either by directly healing them or by disrupting the opponent. Unfortunately, Chimecho's terrible stats really hold it back no matter what moves it runs, and it is outclassed in the support role by Pokemon that simply have better stats, even among fellow Psychic-types. Even without its competition, Chimecho still makes a poor supporter, as it is easily stopped by special walls and Taunt, and has a rather poor defensive typing in pure Psychic.

One of Chimecho's highlights is the multitude of ways it can help out its teammates. Wish lets it pass massive chunks of HP to teammates, being the most useful in singles, while Heal Pulse directly heals allies in double or triple battles. Heal Bell is another excellent healing move, this time specifically removing lingering status effects from its whole team. It is also one of the few Pokemon that can perform the ultimate sacrifice with Healing Wish, fainting itself to completely restore a weakened teammate. Chimecho can also use plenty of other popular support moves, such as Safeguard, Reflect, Light Screen, Swagger, Toxic, Thunder Wave, Taunt, Trick Room and Helping Hand. It can also keep itself alive with Recover. In terms of attacks, Chimecho doesn't have a lot of options, nor does it have much space for them with only 4 moveslots, so Psychic is usually the sole damaging move it has or needs.

Absol
Absol is notable for having a massive Attack stat, but poor Speed and paper-thin defenses meant it rarely has the chance to showcase its physical power. With its Mega Evolution, Absol has a very usable Special Attack stat, excellent Speed and an even more frighteningly strong Attack stat. While its bulk is unaltered, Mega Absol also gains one of the best defensive and utility abilities in the game in Magic Bounce, which bounces back any status and hazard setting moves back at the opponent. This incredible ability lets Mega Absol shut down many utility and defensive Pokemon, after which it can start ripping into the enemy team. Mega Absol's main weakness is still its terrible bulk, so it fears just about anything that can move before it, especially with its Mach Punch weakness. Absol also struggles to find a chance to Mega Evolve at all, having trouble switching in with its weak defenses and being stuck with bad Speed on the turn it Mega Evolves.

One of Absol's most important tools is Sucker Punch, as it lets it defend itself with priority on the turn it Mega Evolves while still being able to threaten faster attackers as Mega Absol. Knock Off is Mega Absol's main STAB move, dealing ridiculous damage on anything holding an item, while having the extremely useful effect of discarding the target's held item. Pursuit is also an option that lets Mega Absol trap its target. Play Rough is an excellent coverage move that is particularly effective for crushing opposing Dark and Fighting-types. Iron Tail on the other hand deals with Fairies. It has several good special moves to use as well, such as Flamethrower, Ice Beam, and Thunderbolt. Swords Dance raises Mega Absol's attack through the roof, and it can choose to Baton Pass its Attack boosts to teammates if it wishes. A fast Swagger and Taunt are also useful support options, though Mega Absol usually prefers to go fully offensive.

Snorunt, Glalie and Froslass
Totally balanced stats caused Glalie to be a pretty unpopular Pokemon in the past, since there wasn't really much it could do better than other Pokemon. Indeed, Froslass was usually the more popular Snorunt evolution, due to her incredible Speed, unique typing and excellent array of support moves. However, with a brand new Mega Evolution, Mega Glalie is making a name for itself with buffed offenses and Speed, as well as an incredible ability in Refrigerate. Formerly the signature feature of Aurorus, Refrigerate powers up Glalie's Normal-type moves while turning them into Ice-type, giving it a wider and more powerful array of STAB moves than most Ice-types. Unfortunately, Mega Glalie is still hindered by rather average stats for a Mega Evolution, so it has minor trouble both surviving hits with its poor bulk and typing as well as dealing damage with its relatively middling offensive stats.

Due to Refrigerate and a usable physical Attack stat, Mega Glalie has access to several interesting STAB moves. Return and Double-Edge are the most straightforward STAB attacks, being straightforward physical damaging moves with good Base Power. Super Fang still deals fixed damage but isn't stopped by Ghosts, and can wear down walls just enough for Mega Glalie to ensure a kill, while Body Slam could be used to spread paralysis. Refrigerate also gives Glalie an Ice-type Hyper Beam, Giga Impact and Explosion, with Explosion being one of the deadliest moves in the game, capable of KOing just about anything that doesn't resist Ice in one fell swoop. Freeze-Dry deals with Water-types nicely, while Ice Shard gives Glalie priority, handy against faster attackers. Lastly, Earthquake rounds out Mega Glalie's coverage, taking down Fire, Rock and Steel types.

Despite Glalie's renewed usage, Froslass is still a very interesting Pokemon by herself. A Ghost sub-type gives her a great immunity to Fighting moves, and she gets a variety of utility moves with all the right features to use them, particularly when it comes to setting Spikes. She has a naturally high Speed for preemptively stopping opposing Taunts, Normal immunity to block Rapid Spin and Ice STAB for scaring off most Defoggers. Her frailty means she usually gets only one chance to set up Spikes, however, and anything faster or with priority can put a stop to her support early. As a support Pokemon, Taunt is vital for stopping enemy Taunts, ensuring Froslass gets to layer Spikes while stopping opposing utility Pokemon. Ice Beam is a nice STAB move with great coverage on its own, though Icy Wind's guaranteed Speed drop could prove more valuable despite its low power. Finally, Froslass can try to bring down her foe with Destiny Bond once she has expended her usefulness.

Spheal, Sealeo and Walrein
Walrein is an Ice/Water type, and plays pretty similarly to the most of the few Pokemon that share its typing, that is being a wall or bulky attacker. Walrein has a great ability in Thick Fat, which makes it excellent for sponging incoming Ice and Fire moves. While it has great mixed bulk, its poor offensive presence makes it effectively a sitting duck against any decently bulky setup sweeper or special wall. Walrein's typing is also rather middling defensively, having only two resistances without Thick Fat but weaknesses to common Electric, Fighting and Rock moves. Terrible Speed and lack of reliable recovery further undermines Walrein's bulk, so it's one of the more rarely seen Ice-types in the game.

Walrein doesn't have much in way of attacks, given its middling Special Attack. Ice Beam provides the most coverage on its own, though Surf is also a decent choice. Since Walrein's offense is so poor, Toxic and Super Fang are also options to look into to deal more consistent damage. Substitute and Protect are good moves to stall out Toxic turns, with the former having the extra benefit of blocking status and sponging attacks. Sheer Cold can also be used along with Substitute for the thin chance of instantly KOing the foe. Roar can be used to shuffle Pokemon around, especially if there's entry hazards on the field. Encore on the other hand can force foes out if Walrein catches a foe using an ineffective attack or status move, and can give teammates opportunities to switch in. Finally, Walrein can boost up with Curse to make use of its physical movepool, having good coverage in Waterfall, Avalanche and Earthquake.

Clamperl, Huntail and Gorebyss
Being the evolutions of Clamperl, Huntail and Gorebyss are mostly known for one tactic: Shell Smash Baton Pass. Both Pokemon share the same defenses and Speed, so the only difference between them is how their offensive stats are distributed as well as different Hidden Abilities, though the lack of permanent rain makes neither ability particularly useful. Huntail's strongest offensive stat is lower than Gorebyss, but results in more balanced set of offenses, letting it benefit from both attack boosts of Shell Smash. Meanwhile, Gorebyss's higher Special Attack stat lets it hit harder with focused special moves. Due to their poor Special Defense and average Speed after a boost, they're rarely kept as a setup sweeper, instead usually passing their boosts on to a more solid teammate.

As mentioned before, the combination of Shell Smash and Baton Pass are the main reasons to use Huntail and Gorebyss. Shell Smash doubles either Pokemon's Speed and offenses in exchange from a drop in bulk, which can be negated with a White Herb, which is useful for both personal use and for Baton Passing to others. For attacks, Huntail can use Aqua Ring for strong physical STAB, Ice Beam for great coverage and Sucker Punch for priority. Return or Double-Edge also provides extra neutral coverage. For Gorebyss, it can choose from either power with Hydro Pump or utility with Scald. Ice Beam remains a good coverage move, though it can also make use of Shadow Ball, Signal Beam or even Hidden Power Grass to hit a wider range of targets.

Kyogre
Kyogre has always been one of the strongest Pokemon in the game, but with the additions of Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire, its counterpart Groudon is starting to get the upper hand. Kyogre itself gained a nice Primal Reversion that inflates its special stats even further, as well as bolstering its Attack. The boost by Primordial Sea further augments the power of its new Origin Pulse, and its pure Water-typing and massive Special Defense lets it sponge special moves comfortably. However, Kyogre's Defense is relatively low among legendaries, and there are several threatening Pokemon that can target this weak spot. Most of all, it fears its counterpart Primal Groudon, whose Desolate Land ability vaporizes Kyogre's water moves and whose physical Precipice Blades tears through its Defense.

Kyogre has a pretty decent movepool that provides it with enough power and coverage to make it a huge threat. Its STAB move of choice is usually Origin Pulse, although Surf is a weaker but accurate alternative. It is also one of the few Pokémon that gets Water Spout, a highly accurate STAB attack that does immense damage as long as Kyogre remains healthy. Scald can also be used for a more defensive Kyogre, which can inflict burns to weaken any physical attackers trying to target its lower Defense. Thunder is an excellent coverage option, gaining perfect accuracy from the rain while striking fellow Water-types that might try to sponge its STAB attacks. Ice Beam is another wonderful coverage attack, letting it hit Dragon-types that manage to resist both its STAB and Thunder. Earthquake is an option for surprising Primal Groudon, and it is quite powerful coming off Primal Kyogre's 150 base Attack. Other than these common moves, Kyogre can also learn Calm Mind to boost two of its best stats, as well as Rest, Sleep Talk or even Aqua Ring for defensive sets.

Groudon
Groudon is a hard-hitting physical attacker that benefits greatly from Primal Reversion. While Primal Groudon gains a secondary Fire-type, it also gets Desolate Land, a longer-lasting Drought that crucially neutralizes any Water moves your opponent tries to use. Its new Precipice Blades is humongously powerful and isn't blocked by its counterpart Primal Kyogre's Primordial Sea. The combination of Ground and Fire makes it immune to burn and paralysis, two status moves that usually cripple physical attackers. It also has a humongous Defense stat to tank hits and make use of its support moves, while its Fire/Ground typing gives it several useful resistances. Its has poor Special Defense, a problematic issue since some of the hardest-hitting attackers in the game are special. It also has to watch out for Primal Kyogre, as it can remove Groudon's defense against water by switching in later and changing the weather to Primordial Sea. Nevertheless, Primal Groudon is still one of the best physical attackers in the game that can still support its team while wreaking havoc.

Groudon's main STAB is a choice between Precipice Blades and Earthquake. Precipice Blades is stronger and doesn't hit Groudon's partners, but Earthquake is more accurate. Unfortunately, Groudon's best fire STAB moves are all special, but it at least has a powerful 150 Special Attack stat and the sunlight to use them. Fire Blast is humongously powerful, while Lava Plume has a high burn chance to weaken opposing physical attackers. Alternatively, Fire Punch is the strongest physical Fire move Groudon gets. Dragon Claw is great coverage to hit Dragon-types that resist Fire, especially those immune to Ground. Stone Edge also punctures Flying-types, particularly Ho-oh, while Rock Slide is better in doubles. Groudon can also use either Rock Polish or Swords Dance, the former patching up its poor Speed while the latter making it obscenely powerful. It has the Defense to set up Stealth Rock which also has the benefit of deterring Flying and Fire types from switching in. Lastly, it can use Thunder Wave to neuter faster Pokemon if your team doesn't have another supporter to do so.

Rayquaza
Of the weather trio, Rayquaza has always been the glass cannon, overwhelming its foes with brute strength. The changes in ORAS turns it into one of the most threatening Pokemon hands down. With the addition of Dragon Ascent, it now has a powerful physical Flying-type STAB move, but more importantly, it also gains the best Mega Evolution in the game. Mega Rayquaza gets every one of its stats except HP boosted, particularly its offensive stats, so it is better than ever at ripping through opponents, and its higher Speed means it is less vulnerable to other offensive Pokemon that can outspeed and shatter its relatively poor defenses. Speaking of defense, Mega Rayquaza's Delta Stream negates all Flying-type weaknesses while it is in the battle, so it no longer fears Rock and Ice-type attacks as much. Lastly, Mega Rayquaza does not need to hold a Mega Stone, so it can further augment its obscene power with other items like Life Orb. Mega Rayquaza's weaknesses are still its comparatively low defensive stats, so it can be worn down by a combined effort, but its sheer power and increased survivability means that it can severely tear through enemy teams before finally being taken down.

While both of Rayquaza's attacking stats are the same, it tends to prefer physical moves due to its movepool and because they can be boosted by both Swords Dance and Dragon Dance. Dragon Ascent is a staple move on Rayquaza, not just because of its power but also because it lets Rayquaza Mega Evolve. While Rayquaza has several powerful Dragon STAB moves lie Outrage, Draco Meteor and Dragon Claw, they are not usually used as they don't provide a lot of coverage with Dragon Ascent. However, Draco Meteor is sometimes seen to nuke physically defensive walls trying to sponge its attacks. Earthquake is commonly used as a coverage move, being highly effective against the Rock and Steel types that resist Dragon Ascent. Rayquaza can learn V-Create through event which also helps against Steel-types, but it hits as hard as STAB Dragon Ascent for a bigger drawback, so it's not seen often. Extreme Speed is an excellent priority move, letting Mega Rayquaza get an upper hand against faster foes trying to finish it off.

Deoxys
Deoxys is an interesting legendary Pokémon in that there are four different forms it can take, which it can freely switch between by checking the meteorites in Ambrette Town's fossil research center. By default, Deoxys is a simple glass cannon, boasting high attack stats and high Speed but poor defenses. Attack Forme Deoxys emphasizes these traits even further, letting Deoxys hit very hard but gives it the toughness of a Rattata. Defense Forme Deoxys inverts these stats, turning it into a defensive behemoth, but leaving it with below average attacking stats and Speed. Finally, Speed Forme Deoxys gives it a pretty balanced set of stats, but boasts the highest Speed of any Pokémon in the game.

Due to the sheer difference of stats between formes, it is obvious that every Deoxys forme has a different playstyle. Normal Deoxys is mostly outclassed by Attack Deoxys as they're both built as glass cannons, with Attack Deoxys being stronger in this regard, though Normal Deoxys has the advantage of actually being able to survive some attacks. Defense Deoxys is obviously made to tank attacks and wear down the opponent, but its high defenses also lets it support its team by setting up entry hazards or spreading status ailments while shrugging off attacks. Speed Deoxys is purely supportive, using its unrivaled speed to use as many entry hazards and status effects as possible before it goes down. However, the popularity of priority attacks really hinder it from doing this role effectively, so it struggles a bit to compete with Defense Deoxys in this role.

Deoxys's movepool is not shabby at all, with plenty of good moves that are usable for every one of its formes. Deoxys has a different level up movepool depending on its forme, but since it can switch between them any time it wants, you can actually get moves learned by one forme to be used by the other. For Normal and Attack Formes, there are tons of attacks it can choose to cover a wide range of types, including access to the strongest Psychic-type attack in the game, Psycho Boost, as well as Extreme Speed to guarantee that it hits first against priority attackers. A stalling Defense Forme Deoxys can utilize Toxic and Recover very well. Support moves for both Defense and Speed Formes include Taunt, Knock Off, Reflect, Light Screen, Spikes, Stealth Rock and Thunder Wave, all of which are reasonably effective on either forme.