Alakazam is kind of a weird Pokémon; it is like a mini-Chansey that also happens to be a sweeper. Generally its main job is to spread paralysis. He is extremely good at this, as its main attack, Psychic, aside from being a STAB 90 power special attack running off the highest non-Uber Special in the game, has the awesome attribute of a 30% chance of lowering the target's Special. This forces people to switch, allowing you to paralyze more. Even the monster special sponge Chansey will struggle to survive against an Alakazam after a Special fall or a couple of critical hits. However, looking at his stats, one thing becomes obvious: Alakazam's is weak physically. Its 313 HP is low, and that 188 Defense is lower. On the other hand, most physical attackers don't like getting hit with a Psychic. It sometimes 2HKOs Rhydon, and with absolute max damage, Psychic will 2HKO Tauros. However, when you consider the CH rate and the 30% chance of Special fall, switching in a physical attacker into Alakazam will always be a huge gamble. Though Alakazam's Defense is low, it has about a 1-in-3 chance of surviving a Tauros Body Slam (factoring in a critical hit) and can survive a standard Hyper Beam from Snorlax roughly 80% of the time. You can use Reflect to temporarily boost Alakazam's Defense. The problem with Reflect, however, is that it exposes another weakness of Alakazam. Psychic only has 16 PP, and with the amount of Pokémon running around with resistance to it (as well as Chansey who is more resistant to Psychic than most Psychic-types are), it can be easily wasted by switching out of the Special falls. This is obviously the reasoning behind the inclusion of Seismic Toss. It won't really outpower Psychic against anything, but it will protect you from running out of PP and still allow Alakazam to deal consistent damage. Kinesis is just a useful move for dealing with Chansey. It prevents her from trying for a freeze (to a degree), and can make a switch in for a physical attacker easier. It can also be useful first turn move against an opponent trying to put Alakazam to sleep. Kinesis shines when your opponent is down to their final Pokémon. Other OptionsCounter can be used to surprise Normal-types, while Mimic can be nice if you get stuff like Thunderbolt, Sleep Powder or Ice Beam. OpinionAlakazam is one of the most feared Pokémon in all of RBY as not many things like switching in on its Psychic and having to take another one before they can move. He can even take other Psychics due to his Speed (and thus high critical hit rate), Special falls, and the highest non-Uber Special in the whole game. Alakazam is an option you can safely consider for any given team. CountersChansey and Snorlax are fairly good counters considering their large amount of HP. The former can be especially problematic with her high Special stat and reliable recovery in Softboiled. Paralysis and switching to Rhydon or another strong physical attacker are a good ways to handle Alakazam. If you can get a heavy hitter switched in safely against a paralyzed Alakazam, then you are in a great position. Slowbro can be a counter as well, since it resists Alakazam's Psychics and can Thunder Wave it (not so much against the Kinesis version, but Slowbro can still wall it decently, save for critical hits or Special falls). Most Normal-types using good physical STAB moves such as Slash, Body Slam, and Hyper Beam can also take him on if you sacrifice a Pokémon and Alakazam is paralyzed, or if you get lucky and it gets fully paralyzed on the switch. |
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