ManyPokemonfans are hoping thatPokemonScarlet and VioletfollowPokemon Sword and Shield’s example and give players DLC that takes them to new locations and brings back all the olderPokemonfrom previous generations. What many of the game’s more casual fans might not know is that the idea of a limited selection ofPokemonis actually very appealing to some fans, particularly those in the competitive scene.
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SomePokemonare just better than others, this isn’t an idea that’s super fun to think about but it’s true. Whether it be their type, stats, move pool, or abilities, somePokemonperform better than others in a competitive environment. Sometimes,GamefreakcreatesPokemonthat are too good in competitive play, and thesePokemonend up dominating the meta or are just flat-out not fun to play against.
10Incineroar
Incineroaris a fire dark typePokemon. It is one of the threeGeneration 7starters and it is definitely the strongest of theAlolanstarter trio. There are a number of reasons fans don’t wantIncineroarto come back inScarlet and Violet. One of those reasons is its powerful hidden ability,Intimidate.Intimidatelowers the opposingPokemons' ATK stat by one stage each time thePokemonwith this ability switches into battle.
Another thing that makes Incineroar such a goodPokemonis its access to the moveFake-outvia breeding, which will move first and cause the opponent to flinch. Couple these two traits withIncineroar’s high base 115 ATK stat and respectable 90 DEF and SP.DEF. It’s no wonder it can fill the role of both support and attacker at the same time.
9Kyogre
Kyogreis one of the legendaryPokemonfromGeneration 3. It is awater-typePokemonthat possess a Sp.ATK stat of 150. There are really two things that makeKyogreso powerful, its abilityDrizzleand its water typing.Drizzlecauses the rain weather condition every time the user switches into battle.
Rain increases the power of water-type moves and decreases the power of fire-type moves. Combining this withKyogre’s naturally high SP. ATK stat and the STAB boost onKyogre’s water moves meansKyogrecan one to two-shot lots ofPokemonthat don’t have a resistance to water. The water typing is also pretty good as a defensive typing inScarlet and VioletsoKyogrewould likely perform very well inGeneration 9’s metagame.
8Groudon
Groudonis a really scary competitivePokemonfor similar reasons toKyogre.Groudonhas the abilityDrought, which causes the sunny weather condition whenever thePokemonswitches into battle.Groudondoesn’t actually benefit much from the sunny weather condition likeKyogredoes from rain. This is becauseGroudonisa ground-type, not a fire-type, and even if it was a fire type it wouldn’t be able to make the best use of its 150 base ATK stat since most of the best fire moves are special attacking moves.
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Still,Groudonis slightly more frustrating to deal with, largely because fire types are more common than water types in competitive play. There is also the fact thatScarlet and Violet’s metagame centers around defensively terastallizingPokemoninto steel types, which both fire and ground are super effective against. IfGroudonwas brought back inScarlet and Violet, it would likely turn the entire meta game on its head overnight.
7Whimsicott
Whimsicottis aPokemonthat many people might overlook as just a cute grass fairy-typePokemon, but in truth,Whimsicottis a very scaryPokemonto see on the enemy team.Whimsicottis boasting a respectable 116 base speed stat, which allows it to outspeed many otherPokemon. Pairing that speed stat with moves likeGiga Drain, andMoon Blastgives players aPokemonthat can dish out some pretty good damage and keep itself alive during the fight.
Whimsicottalso has the abilityPrankster, which allows the user to have priority on status moves, meaning they will almost always go first in battle.Whimsicottalso gets the moveTailwind, which doubles the speed stat of allPokemonon the user’s team for three turns.Whimsicottbasically allows any team to have access to priorityTailwind.Whimsicottalso has plenty of other great status moves likeEncore,Taunt,Stun Spore, andHelping Hand.
6Shedinja
Shedinjais probably one of the most uniquePokemonever created. The thing that makes it so unique is its signature ability,Wonder Guard.Wonder Guardprotects thePokemonusing it from all damaging moves except those that are super effective. This ability does not protect the user from damage caused by status conditions like weather or poison.
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What makesShedinjaaPokemonto be worried aboutinScarlet and Violetis the ability to terastallizeShedinjainto any type, an example being pure ghost-type or fairy type since both these types only have two weaknesses and their weaknesses are fairly uncommon.
5Smeargle
Smeargleis disliked by many competitive players for two main reasons. First is itshidden ability,Moody, which randomly increases a single stat of its user by two stages. This ability used to have a chance to increase aPokemon’s accuracy or evasion, but this was changed inGeneration 8.
The second reasonSmeargleisn’t very fun to play against is its ability to learn almost any move in the game with the moveSketch.Sketchallows its user to copy the last move it saw used in battle. A big part of competitivePokemonis learning what moves the opponent’sPokemonmight have and making plays based on that information, it’s pretty much impossible to do this withSmeargle.
4Jirachi
WhileJirachimay have a base stat total of 600 this isn’t really what makes thePokemona nightmare to fight against. What makesJirachisuch a terrifying opponentis its abilitySerene Graceand its large move pool. The abilitySerene Graceincreases the chances of additional effects from moves to activate.
When this is paired withJirachi’s access to moves likeZen Headbutt,Iron Head, andBody Slam,players get aPokemonthat can effectively flinch and or paralyze the opponent’sPokemonmultiple times in a battle.
3Zygarde-Complete
Zygarde’s complete form has one of thelargest base health statsout of anyPokemonin the entire series. Clocking in at 216 HP and packing a base stat total of 708 this monster of aPokemoncan absolutely take a hit. But it’s not just about taking hits with thisPokemon,Zygarde-Completehas very respectable ATK and SP. ATK stats and a powerful move pool to back those stats up.
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It has access to setup moves likeDragon Danceand multi-targeting moves likeBreaking SweepandEarthquake. The only downside to this tank of aPokemonis its relatively low-speed stat compared to many otherPokemonin its base stat bracket.
2Xerneas
Xerneashas proven to be an absolutely terrifyingPokemonto face off against in the competitive scene. This mostly comes down to the interaction between one of thisPokemon’s signature movesGeomancyand thePower Herbheld item.
Geomancyincreases the user’s SP.ATK, SP.DEF, and Speed stats by two stages, but it takes two turns to use. If theXerneasis holding thePower Herb, this effect will activate after only one turn, making the 680 base stat fairy-type legendaryPokemonateam-sweeping machine.
1Calyrex-Shadow Rider
Calyrexis crazy scary, many would say it’s scarier than any otherPokemonin the competitive meta. It has a fantastic SP.ATK stat of 165 and an insane speed stat of 150. Its psychic ghost typing allows it to hit its opponents with powerful stab moves likeAstral Barrage.
Calyrexcan set up withmoves likeNasty Plotor hit its opponent with game-changing status moves likeDisable. It can also keep itself alive with moves likeSubstitute,Giga Drain, andLeach Seed. If fans had to pick onePokemonto notreturn inGeneration 9there is a fairly high chance they’d pickCalyrex.
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