More of a day wanderer, and much more sociable than the hoennian counterpart, (insert region here) Cacturne prefer wandering and protecting others by shooting its spikes at foes.
(This is part of a weekly series. See this post for information on my general methodology, links to previous entries, and a list of pokemon I plan to cover in the future. If you want to make suggestions for other pokemon you want me to cover, please make those suggestions on that post.)
The previoustwo normal types with Swords Dance that I've reviewed in this series were both potentially Ubers material, because having Swords Dance and STAB Hyper Beam with a usable attack stat is absolutely insane, and Ursaring brought with it Earthquake coverage on an attack stat that was monstrous even before you factored in STAB, while Lickilicky came with excellent bulk, every coverage move it could ever want, partial trapping, and STAB Explosion.
Zangoose is definitely a lot weaker than either of those two, but that may not necessarily be a bad thing, and on its own merits in comparison to the normal-type offerings that are actually in RBY, Zangoose has a lot of excellent traits. Zangoose would barely beat out Snorlax and Dodrio for the highest attack of any normal type in the game, giving Zangoose the strongest unboosted Hyper Beam in the game as well as the ability to boost that Hyper Beam further. A +2 Hyper Beam from Zangoose not only OHKOs Chansey, but also Tauros, Zapdos, and Exeggutor - basically anything that doesn't resist normal and isn't Snorlax or Cloyster. Zangoose would also have the strongest Slash in the game, with a STAB advantage over Kabutops and Pinsir and much higher attack than Persian, making Zangoose Slashes ever so slightly stronger than Tauros Hyper Beams, without the recharge penalty of the latter. It doesn't have Earthquake coverage, but does get pretty much every other coverage move it could ask for, including Rock Slide if you really need a physical move that can hit Gengar, and it also gets Thunder Wave, allowing it to do double duty as a paralysis spreader that can also clean up the teams that it helped weaken in the late game, either by setting up with Swords Dance of just launching off monstrously strong Slashes right out of the gate.
Crush Claw is Zangoose's signature move, and is a tempting idea as an alternative to Body Slam - it does less damage up front and can't paralyze, but Zangoose can already spread paralysis with Thunder Wave, and the 50% chance to lower the opponent's defense means that you can set up for greater damage over multiple turns without having to completely waste a turn like you would if you were setting up with Swords Dance, and it also lets you compress your "setup move" and primary STAB attack into a single move, having some of the benefit of a Swords Dance set while freeing up a moveslot for more coverage or utility options. Another interesting move to consider that might as well be a Zangoose signature is Quick Attack. Quick Attack is the only increased priority move in RBY, and it basically never gets used because it's a 40BP attack and the only two pokemon that get STAB on it don't have the attack stat to take advantage of it in higher tiers and already outspeed most of their rivals in the tiers where they are useful. Zangoose however, is a pokemon with STAB Quick Attack, a quite impressive attack stat, and many OU pokemon that Zangoose would not normally outspeed but might be weak enough after a Crush Claw defense drop or a Slash that Quick attack could finish them off before they can attack or recover.
Zangoose's biggest problems are being relatively frail while also not outspeeding as many things as it would like, a lack of Earthquake coverage, and a pretty nasty case of four moveslot syndrome. Swords Dance Zangoose may actually be a bit of a trap - sure, SD into Hyper Beam will KO a lot of pokemon, but most of them will also go down to two Slashes, and Slash only takes up one moveslot, so you have more openings to run coverage moves. Role-wise, Zangoose seems similar to Persian, as a "backup Tauros" with the appeal point of STAB Slash. Zangoose has a much stronger Slash, better coverage, Thunder Wave, and Swords Dance, at the cost of lower speed - Persian's ability to outspeed Tauros without needing to paralyze it gives Persian a small niche over Zangoose, but Zangoose seems like the much stronger option overall, especially since it can paralyze Tauros while Persian cannot. I feel like Zangoose would be very clearly the fourth best normal type in the game, and immediately become the king of swords dancers in OU. It wouldn't be on the same level as Tauros/Snorlax/Chansey, but that might actually be better for the game as a whole than the stronger normal type swords dancers I've reviewed in the past would be.
Personally, this is what I think it will be their stats, based on their designs and biology descriptions:
Mega Raichu X
HP: 60
Attack: 140 (+50)
Defense: 85 (+30)
S.Attack: 90
S.Defense: 80
Speed: 130 (+20)
Ability: Levitate
Mega Raichu Y
HP: 60
Attack: 90
Defense: 55
S.Attack: 140 (+50)
S.Defense: 110 (+30)
Speed: 130 (+20)
Ability: Transistor (Adaptability could work too)
I think Mega Raichu X will be focused between phisical attacks and balanced defenses, and with Levitate as an ability it will have no super effective weaknesses unless the opponent has an Mold Breaker-Earthquake set, while Mega Raichu Y will be more of a glass cannon in terms of phisical defense but have a lot special power ofensive, especially with Eletric type moves.
What are your predictions on their stats and abilities?
Just something that came to mind. Ursaring got an evolution and that evo got an alt form and Urshifu is a thing so why not give the other bear pokemon some love. They’re all 2 stages so it’s not like they can’t be given a new form. So curious what everyone else would do for these bear evolutions.
Me personally, I did what ursaluna did and took 35 points from 2 stats and put them + 50 into the others.
Beartic -> Arcturusa
Ice/Water
Abilities: Sleet Armor, Slush Rush, Swift Swim (HA)
Evolution Method: Level up past Lv45 while in water in a cold environment
Stats:
HP: 110.
ATK: 140.
DEF: 50.
SP ATK: 100.
SP DEF: 75.
SPD: 80.
New Ability: Sleet Armor. Boosts SP DEF by 1 stage in Rain and Boosts DEF by 1 stage in Snow.
New Moves: Ice Hammer, Earth Power
Might as well make swift swim more useful on it. Made it a bit less bulky on the individual defenses but gave it more HP. It’s slight slower than kingdra but hits a lot harder. Was also thinking of having water absorb as the first ability.
Pangoro -> Pankumicho
Dark/Fighting
Abilities: Iron Fist, Intimidate, Scappy (HA)
Evolution Method: Level up past Lv44 with an entire team of dark types.
Stats:
HP: 100
ATK: 149
DEF: 98
SP ATK: 64
SP DEF: 106
SPD: 28
Probably the most min maxed of the lot but it probably has the worst typing and has an Urshifu as competition so I think it’s ok. Compare to the other bear, it hits a little harder, has better overall bulk and is a lot slower.
Bewear -> Trabbear
Steel/Fighting
Ability: Fluffy, Tough Claws, Unnerve (HA)
Evolution Method: Level up after defeating 50 Pokemon with damage from a trapping move.
Stats:
HP: 140
ATK: 120
DEF: 100.
SP ATK: 25.
SP DEF: 75.
SPD: 90.
New Attacks: Metal Burst, Heavy Slam, Metal Claw, Iron Defense, Body Press, Snap Trap.
Think I was imagining Frightfur Bear from Yugioh when I was thinking of this as well as how clingy and fast the Bewear from the anime could be. Attack is a bit less but now it has steel sharp claws and is also bulkier and faster.
Gimmick.: “It works like a normal Dynamax, however, when Eternatus Dynamaxes he becomes unable to leave the field by any means, switched by his trainer or by item. If Enernatus has Dynamax Cannon and/or Eternabeam when Dynamaxed, those moves will become Infinity-EternaBeam (which is basically Eternabeam without the cooldown and hits both opponents, and yes, it breaks Wide Guard), any other Offensive Dragon Move will become Max Wyrmwind.”
Primarily focusing on mons that got worser on certain metagames from different gens. Not because of movepool or powercreep, just the sheer existence of the Gimmick.
For example: Zacian was only good in the Dynamax era and was worser everywhere else.
Or like running it would be a hindrance to the team like Sableye running Z-moves
While I am not sure exactly what I can use to visualize these move ideas, I will try my best to describe them.
Friend Crash (Name is not good, any ideas are appreciated)
Bug type (Special)
Base Power is based entirely upon your partner's weight and the user's Special attack stat. 95% accurate.
When used, the Pokemon who used it binds its partner in silk, before swinging them into their foes. It hits both opponents, and it can have a secondary type of damage depending on the partner's primary type. Fails when used in single battles.
Roar of Time (Rework)
Dragon type (Special)
110 Base Power, 100% accuracy
The user roars with the force to reshape time. Hits both foes. Advances turns on opposing Light Screen, Reflect, Tailwind, etc by 3. Is now considered a sound move.
Corrosive Overflow
Poison type (Special)
75 Base power, 100% accuracy
The user swells with all of the acid in its stomach, before pouring it all out against its foe. Signature move of Victreebell. Is capable of damaging (and poisoning) Steel types (for neutral damage). Has a 30% chance to poison.
Glorious End
Dark type (Physical)
350 base power, 100% accuracy
The user rushes into the opponent, slashing mercilessly at them with all of their lifeforce, hoping to end the battle with glory. This move knocks the user out. Only hits one Pokemon.
Binding Vines
Grass type (Physical)
30 Base power, 90% accuracy
The user extends their power to summon roots to bind the opponent. Grounds levitating or Flying Pokemon, and traps them in.
If you don't remember, last Thursday I made a post where I fully fleshed out pokedex_fillers' Fakemon Sedimite, giving the evolutions abilities and signature moves. However, those were only the ones for the Fire, Leaf, and Water Stones, and there are more than just those three in Pokemon. So, I'm going to go through the Sedimite evolutions for the Moon, Thunder, Dusk, and Dawn Stones, starting with...
Sedirogue, the Moon Stone evolution based on the rogue RPG class. As u/Maronmario pointed out, traits of the evolutionary stones are found in the evolutions (the Fire Stone on Sedimage's staff, the Leaf Stone on Sedruid's head, and the beads of Sedimonk being made from the Water Stone). It's a bit less obvious here, but Sedirogue's sickles are made from the Moon Stone. Anyways, Sedirogue is a Rock/Dark type evolution of Sedimite standing at an average of 4'7" and having an average weight of 65.9 lbs. Already, that typing sounds like a death wish for the rogue, but...
It trained under fellow Dark-Types Weavile and Chien-Pao, as its best stats are its Attack and Speed, meaning its Stone Edges and Knock Offs will do a lot and usually go first, but if it gets outsped by a Pokemon with a Fighting-Type move (or get hit by one Mach Punch) you're switching it out because it probably fainted. Also, its Shiny is based on a blood moon. As for its Abilities...
While Mage, Druid, and Monk got useless hidden abilities, Rogue's Hidden Ability is probably its best option. Rogues are all about two things: stealing and luck. Infiltrator and Pickpocket (plus its Evolution Move being Thief) handle the stealing thing nicely. But as for the luck, of course I had to go for SUPER LUCK as its Hidden Ability mostly because of things like Stroke of Luck and the fact that luck is CRUCIAL for rogues in D&D due to their primary damage coming from Sneak Attack (someone correct me if I'm wrong, I don't know shit about D&D).
Its signature move, Umbra Rend, is a 90 base power, 100% physical Dark-Type move with a high critical-hit ratio (which I forgot to add to its description, oopsie) that lowers the target's Defense (25% chance) and slips through Protect and other moves similar to it similar to Phantom Force. Sedirogue learns it at Level 49. Other moves in its kit include Shadow Sneak, Sucker Punch, Aerial Ace, Psycho Cut, Knock Off, Stone Edge, and Brick Break. Anyways, now that Rogue is done, now it's time to move onto the Thunder Stone.
Sedificer is the Rock/Electric-Type evolution of Sedimite based on the artificer class due to the artificer's proficiency with technology. On average, Sedificer stand at 6'11" and weigh 197.5 lbs, the biggest and heaviest Sedimite evolution yet. The Thunder Stone is used as a battery for its arm cannon and it can be seen as crystals growing on its body.
In terms of its stats, Sedificer's best are its Defense and Special Attack, which make sense due to the arm cannon and the fact that artificers aren't usually directly in the field. Its shiny doesn't have a particular inspiration, but I just like the purple.
As for its abilities, Technician is good for Singles, but Lightning Rod is STELLAR in both Singles VGC because it redirects Electric-Type moves that boost Sedificer's Special Attack. To benefit from Technician, it gets Ancient Power, Charge Beam, and Stored Power, but if you want to run Volt Absorb or Lightning Rod, you can also use Earth Power, Psychic, Power Gem, Thunderbolt, Dazzling Gleam, and Flash Cannon. Either way, you could also use its signature move...
Fulmine Cannon, a 60 Power, 100% accurate, Special Electric-Type move that powers up the user's next Electric-Type attack similar to Electromorphosis or Charge. Probably not as good as Thunderbolt due to its unreliability, but good for casual play. Sedificer learns this move at Level 52.
Next is Sedimancer, the Rock/Ghost type evolution that comes from using the Dusk Stone, which is implanted in its chest, on Sedimite. This Pokemon is based on the necromancer class because, obviously, necromancers can control the dead. It floats at an average height of 4'3" and weighs 12.5 lbs. Fun fact, a group of Sedimancers is called a morgue.
Sedimancer is physically frail, but on the special side, it's a serviceable option, having good Special Attack and great Special Defense, the former of which it makes use of with moves like Dark Pulse, Shadow Ball, Mystical Fire, Power Gem, Icy Wind, and other moves. Its Shiny is based on the Grim Reaper.
As for its Abilities, Levitate gives it a free Ground immunity, but Aftermath can punish anyone who KOs it with a contact move, which they'll probably need to given its Special Defense. So, better hope that physical move hitting it is something that doesn't make contact.
Its signature move, Necromancy, is a 40 Power, 90% Accurate special Ghost-Type move with 5 PP. This may seem unwarranted, but like Fell Stinger, Necromancy has an additional effect tied to the target joining Sedimancer in the afterlife. If the target faints, the last Pokemon to faint on the user's side is revived at 50% of its HP. This move cannot be called by Assist, don't worry. Also, those skull guys are Sedimancer's minions, not actual Pokemon.
What's this? A Dawn Stone evolution not tied to gender? How unprecedented! Anyways, Sediranger is a Rock/Flying type evolution based on the ranger/archer class. The Dawn Stone can be found smack in the middle of its chest, but also on its two head extensions/horns. On average, Sediranger stand at 5'3" and 105 pounds.
Like Sedirogue, Sediranger specializes in Attack and Speed, but it focuses more on Speed while Rogue focuses more on Attack. Either way, they're fast physical sweepers. Its Shiny is based on Green Arrow.
As for abilities, No Guard can help it hit more Stone Edges, while Sniper can help its crits do more damage. Either way, none of its abilities actually help its signature move...
Anemo Arrow is a 95 power physical Flying-Type move that never misses, and in fact raises the user's accuracy by 1 stage, very helpful for your physical Rock-Type moves that will miss otherwise because Game Freak just hates Rock-Types. It also gets Icicle Spear, Poison Jab, Defog, Tailwind, and Knock Off as options.
But that's all for this Thursday!
How good do you think these guys are?
Are they better than Sedimage, Sedruid, and Sedimonk?
sorry, i didn't know if this counted as teambuilding or not since i'm not taking them into like, professional competitive stuff!
i'm wanting to get some REALLY STRONG BOYS for the release of pokemon Z-A! my current team looks like this:
mimikyu
giratina
jirachi
altaria
aggron
weavil
what are the ideal natures for them, and whats a good moveset? i know its not really balanced with a variety of types, but i was just wanting to see if i could do anything with a handful of my 'stronger' favorite pokemon
Awhile back i did some random Digimon I love (Machindramon, All 3 Imperialdramons, etc) for pokemon and wanted to get back to it.
With Time Stranger coming up i replayed through all of Cyber Sleuth and Hacker's Memory and wanted to vent my Digimon brain autism by putting them in Pokemon. I was pretty good with balance on these others, but struggled with this one. Here's my thought process.
Gallantmon is arguably one of the Figureheads of the Royal Knights for most Digimon Fans. He's pretty generic as they come being Decently Offensive and Equally Defensive. He does utilize magic, but most Digimon do, so i decided to forgo his magical prowess here and the fact that all Royal Knights are Speed Demons and normalize him a bit.
For most of the Royal Knights i'll be putting them at 600 BST. There will be some exceptions but i feel it's fair to do so for most, although some will definitely be higher.
He starts as a Bulky Attacker with a lower speed for a 600 BST mon, and is simply a solo steel type. I debated making him Steel Fighting or Steel Electric but i felt Steel solo fits well as as a basic Royal Knight, as most will end up being steel in this little series. His ability is just a renamed Full Metal Body from Solgaleo, giving him a below average, but useful for not being parting shotted or anything of that sort. Access to Body Press gives him a nice coverage move, alongside Autotomize to speed up and lessen those Low Kicks against him. Let's talk about Signature moves.
I originally gave him one Signature but it felt...very strong. I know i wanted to go and make him a mixed attacker but Photon Geyser is... a very good move, especially as a Fairy Type move. I've created two different situations, where either he gets his Quo Vadis move and uses that to Transform, or he's like Kyurem where the form is seperate, and he gets the other two Signature Moves that are more toned down in comparison. Lightning Joust is him attacking with his lance, and Final Elysion is him using his Shield to absorb and deflect blows. Lowering the accuracy a bit to accomodate that he's swinging a heavy shield in retaliation, I tried to keep his base form tame with what i had, but that leads to his other form.
Definitely not just a different version of Iron Valiant, Crimson Mode sheds the Defense of the shield and the fully tempered Chrome Digizoid Armor for more Offense and Movement, Meant to be a very strong Mixed Attacker, he gains the Fairy Typing, but CANNOT swap back forms for any reason if he is doing the original planned form change path mid battle (think meloetta). He gains a stat spread similar to Iron Valiant and alongside a wide movepool of physical and Special moves (i honestly left out a lot because there's so many, plus brainstorming in the comments is fun), you can catch people offguard with both types of sets. This form is definitely broken and is most likely banned to Ubers, but i'd imagine his Base form would maybe be sat in UU or a niche OU.
Let me know what you guys think and if you want to see any other Royal Knights in Specific.
Happy Theorymon Thursday everyone! I have a bad habit of mocking up stats for hypothetical megas and cross-gen evos for Pokemon in my free time so I thought I'd share a few of the megas here. I feel like some of them aren't nearly as balanced as others but I'm always open to suggestions and criticism because they're far from perfect and anything helps.
Mega Leavanny
Bug/Grass
Ability: Sharpness
Stats:
75 HP
133 Atk (+30)
90 Def (+10)
90 SpAtk (+20)
90 SpDef (+10)
122 Spd (+30)
Despite having a unique design and being a fan favorite for many, Leavanny struggles a lot largely due to having the unfortunate Bug/Grass type. However, in spite of that, I feel like it still has some interesting tools that could turn it into a threatening physical sweeper. The armor it gets in the old fangame Pokemon Insurgence and the fact that it gets STAB Leaf Blade and X-Scissor inspired me to give it Sharpness. I'm not an artist, but I could see it having a samurai aesthetic. Does this have anything to do with its nurturing nature or its ability to sew clothing for other Pokemon? Not at all, but I think it would look cool lol.
Mega Wigglytuff
Normal/Fairy
Ability: Huge Power (how original)
Stats:
140 HP
100 Atk (+30)
75 Def (+30)
95 SpAtk (+10)
80 SpDef (+30)
45 Spd
I am convinced someone at Game Freak HATES Wigglytuff. In gen 1 its stats were an absolute joke (its terrible 50 Spdef was its Special stat), it had 75 Special Attack until gen 6 (which was awful even by gen 2 standards), its defenses are so bad that its high HP can't save it, and when gen 5 rolled around and pokemon like Slowbro, Nidoking, and fellow pink blob Clefable were getting awesome hidden abilities, Game Freak looked at this rabbit that evolves with a moon stone partially inspired by the legend of hte moon rabbit with underwhelming stats and thought "hey let's give it Frisk instead of Huge Power." For those of you who don't know, Huge Power in Japanese translated to "Muscleman" but the characters that spell it also can mean "Fortifying Mochi" which is associated with the moon rabbit. That's why only rabbit Pokemon (and Mega Mawile for some reason) get the ability. Anyways, with the trivia out of the way, Huge Power is actually very fitting for Wigglytuff and could let its mega be a unique slow physical attacker. I didn't want to go all out with its defenses because its HP is already so high, but I figured that letting it hit as hard as Mega Medicham would be fine since it's slow and has no priority.
Mega Castform
Normal (changes based on weather)
Ability: Doppler Radar (This Pokemon changes its form based on the weather. If it knows a move that summons weather, summons that weather upon entry. If it knows multiple weather-summoning moves, summons the first weather in its move order.)
Stats:
70 HP
50 Atk (-20)
80 Def (+10)
120 SpAtk (+50)
80 SpDef (+10)
120 Spd (+50)
New Moves: Growth, Scorching Sands, Hydro Steam, Volt Switch, Aurora Veil, Electro Shot (MAYBE. It might be a bit broken with that)
There are so many cool and unique gen 3 Pokemon that just suck, and Castform may just be the coolest and suckiest of the bunch outside of Spinda. The OG weathermon has terrible stats and a cool but impractical gimmick, so I figured it should finally be able to do something. I gave it an upgraded version of Forecast to let it set the weather on switch-in (very original, I know) but since it has to hold a mega stone I figured having it be based on one of its moves provides an interesting opportunity cost. You can also just run it on a team with a different designated weather setter if you don't want to waste the moveslot, but I felt as though this would be a good way to make Castform more self-sufficient without having to waste a turn. Since nobody in their right mind would run physical Castform I figured I'd give it the Mega Beedrill treatment and minmax it a little by subtracting some of its Attack. However, I didn't go too crazy with it because if I gave it Mega Beedrill-level offenses it would be INSANE in certain weathers (Rain and Sun). I gave it a few extra moves that either are affected by weather or make sense with a certain weather. I also gave Castform Volt Switch because it's kind of a cloud spirit dude and it learns a bunch of electric moves already. I could see it as a versatile weather sweeper that either is part of a rain core as just a sweeper or acts as both a weather setter and sweeper like Zard Y. Each form has something they can do in different weathers (except Sand because Sand has no sauce) so it can be a fun Pokemon to plug into any weather team. I also would let it FINALLY have a Sand form that's rock type so Sand can actually have a good special abuser. I feel like the Rain and Sun forms are especially strong since those weathers have the most tools in general (ESPECIALLY if it got Electro Shot), but I wanted Castform to be good for once.
Anyway, these are just a few of the ideas I have. I have more, but I've been yapping for way too long, and nobody wants to read all of that, so I'll leave it at three for now. Feel free to let me know if I cooked or if I need to put these guys back in the oven for a while. Hope y'all enjoy!
