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What are Pokemon that succeeded as single-stage and why?
- Thread starter khlaylav
- Start date
Skarmory still relevant despite all the changes and relatively low stats all these years later.
I think there's really no question Heracross is an all round fantastic Pokemon even though it's a single stage Pokemon. Strong, unique typing, good movepool and stats plus great abilities to make it an excellent battler, and it has an awesome and memorable design to boot. It's usable off the bat with a bit of grinding in HGSS and is a consistent powerhouse throughout the whole game and dependable ally. Even in the likes of BW2 and XY it can show up and is always, always an excellent Pokemon to use on a team, even if its Mega is post game in XY. Just an all round great Pokemon in every aspect, plus its design is amazing for a Bug type.
Sawk/Throh:
1. Good typing
2. Come at a reasonable time frame in their initial game
3. Just have generally good stats, such that they're great early game and still solid later in the game
4. While their level up move pool is relatively shallow they do get the occasional TM throughout the game as needed
Sawk in particular has Sturdy to compliment its low defenses, which is nice.
1. Good typing
2. Come at a reasonable time frame in their initial game
3. Just have generally good stats, such that they're great early game and still solid later in the game
4. While their level up move pool is relatively shallow they do get the occasional TM throughout the game as needed
Sawk in particular has Sturdy to compliment its low defenses, which is nice.
I really like Throh despite his flaws. Sawk is nice too especially for the Sturdy fun.
In all seriousness, my honest & slightly more left-field pick is:
Even after the disguise nerf, mimikyu is just... a really solid mon. They leaned into the pika clone joke but actually did it well. It's got a solid moveset that its ability and typing allows it to take full advantage of, and its stats aren't through the roof broken but let it pack a real punch. I admit to marginal bias because eldritch horror is my jam, but I also think that as a *concept* the whole thing is just well-developed. I actually think this little guy is slept on somewhat, because it gets an absurd amount of support tech - trick, destiny bond, twave, trick room, will-o-wisp, screens, attract, and *more,* and its ability means it can at the very least cripple whatever comes in on it by getting a free hit.
It's a later-game mon in SM/USUM, but by level up it learns everything it needs to shine as an attacker for playthroughs. In UM this thing *carried me* during the ultra necrozma fight. That level spike is brutal, and disguise gives you a window to heal something else that got hurt. Between mimikyu and miltank I was able to go in blind and double digits underleveled for the fight and come out in one try. In gen VIII it's available earlier than before, and I've had incredible success with one not just in the main game but also in post, where its ability and movepool make it a strong contender in both restricted sparring and the tower. I just rly think they did well with this one lol.
This funky fella hits just all the right notes for a good single-stage Pokemon. It's found relatively early on in all of the games its available in (on average just after the second/third gym) its stats are actually solid, its abilities are great (it has Magic Guard for fucks sake) and its movepool is solid if you can get your hands on the right TMs. Nothing much more to say really, it's just solid.
The Mind Electric
Calming if you look at it right.
Bit of a personal pick, but I'm using this little dude in Sun right now and it's great fun. It just sits there, takes 3 damage from everything, puts up Stealth Rock, and spams Rock Tomb to lower the speed of things that it can't stall to death. I haven't gotten Toxic yet, but this thing is already good without it. Plus, it's cute.
QuentinQuonce
formerly green_typhlosion
Ironically, it was one of the very best Pokemon in the game right up until the point it stopped being a single-stage Pokemon. Snorlax was a monster in Gen I but became an absolute titan in Gen II thanks to the Special split giving it an impressive Special Defence and acquiring Curse. Every serious competitive team either ran it or had a counter for it. It has a stat spread many Pokemon would kill for, a massive movepool and a great typing to go with it. For the first three gens, Snorlax was more or less the best single-staged Pokemon.
Okay, so that's too easy. Let's have another go, then.
Another Normal-type from Gen I, but one that succeeded for different reasons. Tauros is fast and powerful and deservedly hard to find and capture.
Very few Pokemon in Gen I had expansive movesets but Tauros was one of those few, and was able to handle Rock and Ground types thanks to learning Blizzard and Surf as well as Earthquake. In Gen I the Speed stat was tied to the critical hit rate, so Tauros was able to fully exploit this. It's stayed more or less the same as the game has changed but the passage of time has given it some decent new tricks: Gen III gave it a useful ability in Intimidate while Gen IV gave it a handful of powerful physical moves like Stone Edge and Zen Headbutt to fill out its moveset properly and finally stop it having to rely on special moves; Gen V gave it Sheer Force which synergises well with several of the moves it learns. Tauros has been left behind a little but it's still a wickedly powerful Pokemon and steadfastly decent, unlike other legacy Pokemon such as Alakazam which have often needed help keeping up.
Okay, one more. And not from Gen I this time.
Comes at just the right point in the game to be useful, but it's also good enough not to fall behind later on. Has a stellar movepool which gives it several ways to quickly boost its stats if needed and three useful abilities; Unburden in particular can make it a menace. Excellent offensive typing with the stats to match. Especially useful in USUM where it comes as an early in-game trade. Just an all-round very decent mon.
Some of my faves:
Ditto. Gimmick mon, yes, but unique enough to stand out, can generally show up to good effect in side games and other media, and eventually got a competitive niche in it's HA, after several generations of being useful for breeding and glitches.
Rotom. Again, a gimmick, but great stats and whatever typing you need, all available either in-game or competitive, is a godsend. Only issue is that it usually arrives late due to the aforementioned great stats, and that they keep pushing the damn RotomDex at us.
Wishiwashi. Interesting, since it's form change basically functions as an evolution, but it's a cool reference to a real-world phenomenon, it's great in-game, and the nature of the form change means you definitely need to think in tough fights.
Honorable mentions I'll leave for someone else: Klefki, Sableye, the UBs, the Gen VIII fossils
Ditto. Gimmick mon, yes, but unique enough to stand out, can generally show up to good effect in side games and other media, and eventually got a competitive niche in it's HA, after several generations of being useful for breeding and glitches.
Rotom. Again, a gimmick, but great stats and whatever typing you need, all available either in-game or competitive, is a godsend. Only issue is that it usually arrives late due to the aforementioned great stats, and that they keep pushing the damn RotomDex at us.
Wishiwashi. Interesting, since it's form change basically functions as an evolution, but it's a cool reference to a real-world phenomenon, it's great in-game, and the nature of the form change means you definitely need to think in tough fights.
Honorable mentions I'll leave for someone else: Klefki, Sableye, the UBs, the Gen VIII fossils
Ooh, let me nominate a Gen VII Pokémon!
Oricorio looks like another gimmicky single-staged Pokémon, but despite a lack of competitive presence, they are a great choice for in-game playthroughs in the Sun and Moon games, and especially Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon games.
Their Special Attack and Speed are high enough to be viable the moment it got captured, and is a real powerhouse early game, especially thanks to their relatively good bulk in comparison to other early game Pokémon. Revelation Dance allows them to always have STAB, and Dancer allows them to copy Dragon Dance and especially Quiver Dance!
While C-ranked in SM, there‘s a reason why they are ranked A, if not close to S, in USUM, especially thanks to early game Flyingium-Z!
Oricorio looks like another gimmicky single-staged Pokémon, but despite a lack of competitive presence, they are a great choice for in-game playthroughs in the Sun and Moon games, and especially Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon games.
Their Special Attack and Speed are high enough to be viable the moment it got captured, and is a real powerhouse early game, especially thanks to their relatively good bulk in comparison to other early game Pokémon. Revelation Dance allows them to always have STAB, and Dancer allows them to copy Dragon Dance and especially Quiver Dance!
While C-ranked in SM, there‘s a reason why they are ranked A, if not close to S, in USUM, especially thanks to early game Flyingium-Z!
Flying-Types as a whole appreciated the removal of the Machamp Shove requirement for obtaining the Flyinium Z item. Hawlucha is especially notable in USUM, having access to both STAB Z-Moves as soon as after the first Grand Trial against Hala, which is great since Hawlucha scores a perfect 3-0 record against Melemele Island's important battles (Ilima, Totem Gumshoos/Raticate, and Hala).Ooh, let me nominate a Gen VII Pokémon!
Oricorio looks like another gimmicky single-staged Pokémon, but despite a lack of competitive presence, they are a great choice for in-game playthroughs in the Sun and Moon games, and especially Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon games.
Their Special Attack and Speed are high enough to be viable the moment it got captured, and is a real powerhouse early game, especially thanks to their relatively good bulk in comparison to other early game Pokémon. Revelation Dance allows them to always have STAB, and Dancer allows them to copy Dragon Dance and especially Quiver Dance!
While C-ranked in SM, there‘s a reason why they are ranked A, if not close to S, in USUM, especially thanks to early game Flyingium-Z!
Gen 7 introduced many single-stage Pokémon. Even better, it introduced many good single-stage Pokémon. Mimikyu, Wishiwashi and Oricorio have already been mentioned, and I agree that those are fantastic. But I want to nominate two others which I think are great as well.
The "real" Pikaclone of Gen 7 might not look like anything special at first, but it has a lot of things going for it. First of all, it is really cute! It also lucked out and got the National Dex number #777. But it can be solid in battle as well. It has a great typing with Electric/Steel which gives it 11 resistances and 1 immunity, but only2 3 weaknesses! Its type combination also makes it immune to both Poison and Paralysis. It doesn't have the greatest stats in the world, but its Attack and Speed are good enough for it to function as a Physical attacker. It really lucked out in the Ability department as it has three really great Abilities which can all be useful depending on what role you want Togedemaru to play. It has Lightning Rod to redirect and absorb Electric-type moves, Iron Barbs to damage opponents who use moves that make contact, or Sturdy to survive any hit at full HP. All of them are great.
It also has a cool and good (now former) signature move in Zing Zap. While it had an okay movepool with some fun options in S/M, it was a little lacking. Thankfully, US/UM gave it some great new moves, the two most notable being Iron Head and Endeavor. The former gives it a solid secondary STAB move while the latter made it beat Aron as the new best FEAR Pokémon in Battle Facilities. A level 1 Togedemaru with Sturdy and Fake Out + Endeavor is something that many Battle Facility players have used to great success, myself included. I think the most notable user of this strategy is Eppie, who got to 2220 wins with a FEAR Togedemaru on his team at the Battle Tree. But Togedemaru can be great if you use a "real" version of it as well. The most notable user here is turskain who had great success with Togedemaru at the Battle Tree with Mahler's Flight (and the variations of it), his best streak ending at 2074 wins. On the whole, I think Togedemaru is a great and underrated Pokémon.
Another great Pokémon from Gen 7. As a disclaimer, I have not used Drampa yet (sadly), but it is high up on my list of Pokémon that I want to use at some point in the future. Design-wise, it feels very unique. It looks friendly, quirky and jolly in a good way. I love it's Pokédex entries and how it is described as compassionate and friendly towards children, it will protect them but burn down bullies and destroy everything if it gets angry. Battle-wise, it has a unique Type combination which is cool. It also has a very colorful movepool with many great options. Stat-wise, it has high Sp.att which allows it to be a powerful Special attacker. It has okay bulk, which can potentially be combined with Berserk to give it a nice Sp.att boost, making it hit even harder! It also has Sap Sipper as an alternative to give it an immunity to Grass. What do you mean that low Speed is a problem? I'd say it isn't, because it allows Drampa to shine on Trick Room teams. Notably, ReptoAbysmal used a Trick Room team with Drampa at the Battle Tree and got to 1845 wins with it. So yeah, Drampa rocks. It is also a thousand times better than its counterpart Turtonator which is utter garbage and a complete failure in every possible way.
Edit: Togedemaru has 3 weaknesses, not 2. Fixed that.
The "real" Pikaclone of Gen 7 might not look like anything special at first, but it has a lot of things going for it. First of all, it is really cute! It also lucked out and got the National Dex number #777. But it can be solid in battle as well. It has a great typing with Electric/Steel which gives it 11 resistances and 1 immunity, but only
It also has a cool and good (now former) signature move in Zing Zap. While it had an okay movepool with some fun options in S/M, it was a little lacking. Thankfully, US/UM gave it some great new moves, the two most notable being Iron Head and Endeavor. The former gives it a solid secondary STAB move while the latter made it beat Aron as the new best FEAR Pokémon in Battle Facilities. A level 1 Togedemaru with Sturdy and Fake Out + Endeavor is something that many Battle Facility players have used to great success, myself included. I think the most notable user of this strategy is Eppie, who got to 2220 wins with a FEAR Togedemaru on his team at the Battle Tree. But Togedemaru can be great if you use a "real" version of it as well. The most notable user here is turskain who had great success with Togedemaru at the Battle Tree with Mahler's Flight (and the variations of it), his best streak ending at 2074 wins. On the whole, I think Togedemaru is a great and underrated Pokémon.
Another great Pokémon from Gen 7. As a disclaimer, I have not used Drampa yet (sadly), but it is high up on my list of Pokémon that I want to use at some point in the future. Design-wise, it feels very unique. It looks friendly, quirky and jolly in a good way. I love it's Pokédex entries and how it is described as compassionate and friendly towards children, it will protect them but burn down bullies and destroy everything if it gets angry. Battle-wise, it has a unique Type combination which is cool. It also has a very colorful movepool with many great options. Stat-wise, it has high Sp.att which allows it to be a powerful Special attacker. It has okay bulk, which can potentially be combined with Berserk to give it a nice Sp.att boost, making it hit even harder! It also has Sap Sipper as an alternative to give it an immunity to Grass. What do you mean that low Speed is a problem? I'd say it isn't, because it allows Drampa to shine on Trick Room teams. Notably, ReptoAbysmal used a Trick Room team with Drampa at the Battle Tree and got to 1845 wins with it. So yeah, Drampa rocks. It is also a thousand times better than its counterpart Turtonator which is utter garbage and a complete failure in every possible way.
Edit: Togedemaru has 3 weaknesses, not 2. Fixed that.
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QuentinQuonce
formerly green_typhlosion
Drampa's (TM, tutor, and breeding) movepool is seriously incredible. Not about to check but I'm reasonably sure it can learn moves of all 18 types (and of course it gets Natural Gift too). It even learns Fly for some reason. But it makes total sense; Normal and Dragon Pokemon both typically learn a very wide array of moves, so it stands to reason Drampa would have one of the best movepools in the game.
Another great Pokémon from Gen 7. As a disclaimer, I have not used Drampa yet (sadly), but it is high up on my list of Pokémon that I want to use at some point in the future. Design-wise, it feels very unique. It looks friendly, quirky and jolly in a good way. I love it's Pokédex entries and how it is described as compassionate and friendly towards children, it will protect them but burn down bullies and destroy everything if it gets angry. Battle-wise, it has a unique Type combination which is cool. It also has a very colorful movepool with many great options. Stat-wise, it has high Sp.att which allows it to be a powerful Special attacker. It has okay bulk, which can potentially be combined with Berserk to give it a nice Sp.att boost, making it hit even harder! It also has Sap Sipper as an alternative to give it an immunity to Grass. What do you mean that low Speed is a problem? I'd say it isn't, because it allows Drampa to shine on Trick Room teams. Notably, ReptoAbysmal used a Trick Room team with Drampa at the Battle Tree and got to 1845 wins with it. So yeah, Drampa rocks. It is also a thousand times better than its counterpart Turtonator which is utter garbage and a complete failure in every possible way.
I agree. Love Drampa.
Was already covered in the opening but
How tf did this get past testing lmao, like the contrast between Durant and its effective counterpart Heatmor is only matched, barely, by the Crowned forms of Zacian and Zamazenta. This Pokemon is so strong for absolutely no reason, even without Hustle it has a fantastic Speed tier and a serviceable Attack stat, unreasonably good coverage, and one of the best defensive typings in the game coupled with surprisingly high Defense. Hustle makes it a tad awkward but it's a massive power boost that can be fixed with Hone Claws or an Item.
In its debut gen you get it right before the E4 which is normally kinda gross, but Durant wrecks shop in some of the E4 fights and beypnd so it's not even a bad pick this late in the game. Like seriously if you're running 5 mons + an HM user just get one of these and swap it in after.
Durant would then go on to be a mid-tier menace in Singles to the present day, and even broke out this Gen in VGC due to Dynamax allowing the Hustle boost but ignoring its accuracy drop.
Just when you think it can't get any more ridiculous, the cheeky inclusion of Truant as a Hidden Ability literally breaks some Battle Facilities as you can Entrainment something and bring in setup users with Protect to run through unopposed. They gave Durant one of the worst Abilities in the game and it got even stronger than before.
Hopefully they do Heatmor some justice like they've been doing in Legends Arceus for a lot of other mons so that these two actually have a real rivalry going on.
Other mons (some already mentioned)
It took getting Drought to fully come into its own but Torkoal is legit. Eruption hits insanely hard provided support, Lava Plume is an excellent move not many things get, has good coverage, and being able to set Sun up has a ton of applications for team structure.
Big Anchor has been in my top 10 since first seeing it. Like why the hell is this thing legal to own. I always think of some novice trainer challenging someone to a Pokemon battle with their cool new starter and the guy sicks an entire fucking haunted shipwreck on them. Beyond aesthetics it's just really fun to use, hits hard, has a lot of good moves, Anchor Shot is better Spirit Shackle, worst things I have to say about it is it should have had less Special Attack for more Defenses and Grass/Ghost is pretty tired at this point, but at least it does the typing well.
This is one good Flying-type move away from being an absolute terror. Tinted Lens is fantastic and should it ever get a move that's like a normal base power with normal accuracy it would be a ferocious breaker. Unfortunately all it has is Air Slash. Also gets Magic Guard somehow because it needed another broken Ability. One of my favorite designs as well, its manages to look like its source material while also showing just how alien the Nazca lines can get in such a hilarious yet horrifying way.
Like yeah it's probably just a stylized bird, but imagine finding out the hard way that this shit's real.
Sorta cheating but by technicality this fits the bill. Base Rotom is cool if lackluster, however the forms are awesome and some have held up super well over time. I will never not dread facing Rotom-Wash unprepared. Shame that they're only allowed one STAB move for their forms and most of them are annoying to use.
How tf did this get past testing lmao, like the contrast between Durant and its effective counterpart Heatmor is only matched, barely, by the Crowned forms of Zacian and Zamazenta. This Pokemon is so strong for absolutely no reason, even without Hustle it has a fantastic Speed tier and a serviceable Attack stat, unreasonably good coverage, and one of the best defensive typings in the game coupled with surprisingly high Defense. Hustle makes it a tad awkward but it's a massive power boost that can be fixed with Hone Claws or an Item.
In its debut gen you get it right before the E4 which is normally kinda gross, but Durant wrecks shop in some of the E4 fights and beypnd so it's not even a bad pick this late in the game. Like seriously if you're running 5 mons + an HM user just get one of these and swap it in after.
Durant would then go on to be a mid-tier menace in Singles to the present day, and even broke out this Gen in VGC due to Dynamax allowing the Hustle boost but ignoring its accuracy drop.
Just when you think it can't get any more ridiculous, the cheeky inclusion of Truant as a Hidden Ability literally breaks some Battle Facilities as you can Entrainment something and bring in setup users with Protect to run through unopposed. They gave Durant one of the worst Abilities in the game and it got even stronger than before.
Hopefully they do Heatmor some justice like they've been doing in Legends Arceus for a lot of other mons so that these two actually have a real rivalry going on.
Other mons (some already mentioned)
It took getting Drought to fully come into its own but Torkoal is legit. Eruption hits insanely hard provided support, Lava Plume is an excellent move not many things get, has good coverage, and being able to set Sun up has a ton of applications for team structure. Big Anchor has been in my top 10 since first seeing it. Like why the hell is this thing legal to own. I always think of some novice trainer challenging someone to a Pokemon battle with their cool new starter and the guy sicks an entire fucking haunted shipwreck on them. Beyond aesthetics it's just really fun to use, hits hard, has a lot of good moves, Anchor Shot is better Spirit Shackle, worst things I have to say about it is it should have had less Special Attack for more Defenses and Grass/Ghost is pretty tired at this point, but at least it does the typing well. This is one good Flying-type move away from being an absolute terror. Tinted Lens is fantastic and should it ever get a move that's like a normal base power with normal accuracy it would be a ferocious breaker. Unfortunately all it has is Air Slash. Also gets Magic Guard somehow because it needed another broken Ability. One of my favorite designs as well, its manages to look like its source material while also showing just how alien the Nazca lines can get in such a hilarious yet horrifying way.Like yeah it's probably just a stylized bird, but imagine finding out the hard way that this shit's real.
Sorta cheating but by technicality this fits the bill. Base Rotom is cool if lackluster, however the forms are awesome and some have held up super well over time. I will never not dread facing Rotom-Wash unprepared. Shame that they're only allowed one STAB move for their forms and most of them are annoying to use.Here's one that I'm surprised nobody has brought up yet:
This design to me is just the perfect one for a single-stage mon. It strikes the perfect balance between cute and cool. It fits the Loch Ness inspiration perfectly while still keeping the kaiju-esque animal mishmash aspect that a lot of good Gen 1 designs have. In-game, it's usually a gift Pokemon, so it's relatively accessible, and it has great stats and movepool for an in-game playthrough, especially in Gen 1 and its remakes. Pity that it's fallen off competitively, but hey, that's power creep for you
This design to me is just the perfect one for a single-stage mon. It strikes the perfect balance between cute and cool. It fits the Loch Ness inspiration perfectly while still keeping the kaiju-esque animal mishmash aspect that a lot of good Gen 1 designs have. In-game, it's usually a gift Pokemon, so it's relatively accessible, and it has great stats and movepool for an in-game playthrough, especially in Gen 1 and its remakes. Pity that it's fallen off competitively, but hey, that's power creep for you
Gen 1 Pokemon got it rough with power creep, being the first Generation ever and all. The only Pokemon I can think of at the moment that are in the upper tiers and doing well are Dragonite (based), Mew, and Zapdos. Mewtwo is in Ubers but it's pretty dismal there without it's Megas...and Calyrex-S being a thing, which results in Yveltal being a thing as well. Gengar is UUBL but also not doing well because of Dragapult's existence (I hope Gamefreak gives it Poltergeist in BDSP so it gets banned to Ubers and Gengar can have fun again).
The saddest examples are Snorlax, Tauros, and Lapras for sure. The former two were OU staples in their first Gen and now they're stuck in NUBL and NU, and Lapras went from OU to Untiered (but it does have strats in AG because it gets the most OHKO moves lmao)
Anyway I got ahead of myself, power creep sucks in terms of competitive. For me knowing a Pokemon is good enough in a playthrough is enough for me, so Lapras is cool. Weird how it never got a prevo or an evolution, it's a relatively popular Pokemon.
Drampa is really cool and doesn't get enough love. It's Untiered, but really strong in PU. Cool design and lore, and it's also just kinda cute in a way.
I've also realized I haven't used any single stage Pokemon in my playthroughs...unless Eternatus counts
The saddest examples are Snorlax, Tauros, and Lapras for sure. The former two were OU staples in their first Gen and now they're stuck in NUBL and NU, and Lapras went from OU to Untiered (but it does have strats in AG because it gets the most OHKO moves lmao)
Anyway I got ahead of myself, power creep sucks in terms of competitive. For me knowing a Pokemon is good enough in a playthrough is enough for me, so Lapras is cool. Weird how it never got a prevo or an evolution, it's a relatively popular Pokemon.
Drampa is really cool and doesn't get enough love. It's Untiered, but really strong in PU. Cool design and lore, and it's also just kinda cute in a way.
I've also realized I haven't used any single stage Pokemon in my playthroughs...unless Eternatus counts
Lapras is really perfect in Gen I. Not in terms of being the actual best, but it was introduced at a specific time with a specific goal that it does well, and then proceeds to be a reasonable member of your team for the remainder of the game. You can't ask for more than that. In later gens, it's been a good niche mon in various ways, and I dream of someday making a Blizzard/HPump/Thunder Zoom Lens set viable, but for Kanto, it does exactly what it's supposed to, which is a rarity in those games.Here's one that I'm surprised nobody has brought up yet:
This design to me is just the perfect one for a single-stage mon. It strikes the perfect balance between cute and cool. It fits the Loch Ness inspiration perfectly while still keeping the kaiju-esque animal mishmash aspect that a lot of good Gen 1 designs have. In-game, it's usually a gift Pokemon, so it's relatively accessible, and it has great stats and movepool for an in-game playthrough, especially in Gen 1 and its remakes. Pity that it's fallen off competitively, but hey, that's power creep for you
I haven’t been keeping track, but has anyone mentioned Heracross yet?
In my opinion, nothing on this list besides maybe Lapras even comes close to Heracross’s success as a single stage Pokémon. Like every other Pokémon ever made, it’s suffered from power creep over the years but in its prime, it was a crucial OU level threat capable of running several good sets with three excellent Ability choices in total. Heracross also gained an underrated Mega Evolution that was one the strongest Baton Pass abusers in Pokémon history before the move’s bans.
So what about in-game success? Well, outside of early access to many Bug-Type moves, Heracross has been amazing, assuming you can find it. It’s one of two Fighting-Types available before the infamous Whitney in its debut region, even if raising it up could take some time. It returns in Sinnoh to take advantage of an insanely good matchup spread, and is considered one of the best Pokémon in Black & White 2, albeit as a version exclusive.
In my opinion, nothing on this list besides maybe Lapras even comes close to Heracross’s success as a single stage Pokémon. Like every other Pokémon ever made, it’s suffered from power creep over the years but in its prime, it was a crucial OU level threat capable of running several good sets with three excellent Ability choices in total. Heracross also gained an underrated Mega Evolution that was one the strongest Baton Pass abusers in Pokémon history before the move’s bans.
So what about in-game success? Well, outside of early access to many Bug-Type moves, Heracross has been amazing, assuming you can find it. It’s one of two Fighting-Types available before the infamous Whitney in its debut region, even if raising it up could take some time. It returns in Sinnoh to take advantage of an insanely good matchup spread, and is considered one of the best Pokémon in Black & White 2, albeit as a version exclusive.