The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly: AAA Edition!
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Art by bro torterra.
Introduction
Welcome to the Wild Wild West, where the good, the bad, and even the ugly are all an integral part of what shapes an Other Metagame! In normal play, a Pokémon's ability is an integral part of a lot of said Pokémon and its viability. However, this is not a problem, as any Pokémon has access to (almost) any ability, and therefore, it is all about the stats, moves, and typing that they bring to the table. This standoff features some of these outlaws and how some of them have made a name for themselves, how some of them are nothing but tumbleweeds lost in the wind, and how some were wanted, and therefore are in jail! Let's round up all these Pokémon and take a look at what makes, or breaks, them within the context of the OM that is Almost Any Ability!
The Good
Swampert @ Assault Vest- Ability: Regenerator
- EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
- IVs: 0 Spe
- Sassy Nature
- - Flip Turn
- - Earthquake
- - Knock Off
- - Stone Edge / Mirror Coat
This cowpoke seems like it can't handle the excessive power creep that has occurred this generation due to underwhelming bulk, lack of recovery, and not too many key resistances to take advantage of. Luckily for this buckaroo, AAA gives Swampert a new lease on life with access to the coveted RegenVest combo to complement its slow Flip Turn. Both of these work together to augment Swampert's special bulk to above average levels that can handle the barrage of special attacks aimed at its teammates. With some exceptions like Psyshock Latios and mixed Deoxys-S, most special attackers struggle to get past Swampert, especially when it can keep itself healthy by just pivoting in and out. With access to great utility moves like Flip Turn, Knock Off, and Mirror Coat, Swampert can facilitate momentum for its team, get rid of opposing foes' items, and fire back at special attackers aiming to overwhelm it, all while keeping itself healthy enough to continue throughout the entirety of a duel.
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Scream Tail @ Leftovers
This cowpoke enjoys being able to shed its sole ability in AAA for more lucrative options such as Pixilate and Unaware thanks to its incredible utility moveset, great bulk and defensive typing, high Speed stat, and access to the outstanding combination of Pixilate + Boomburst. With this new combination, Scream Tail is able to cause all kinds of ruckus throughout the town, letting it 2HKO other hooligans like Kingambit, Zapdos, and offensive Primarina. Scream Tail's utility moveset is another important part of its viability, as it has access to Wish, Stealth Rock, and Psychic Noise. Wish grants it valuable longevity; Stealth Rock gives incredible role compression; and Psychic Noise prevents Boomburst switch-ins like Corviknight, Pecharunt, and Iron Moth from using their healing moves while also hitting the latter two for decent damage. Scream Tail's solid bulk and defensive typing are also quite helpful, letting it switch in on common threats like Iron Hands, Latios, and most Zamazenta. Scream Tail's high Speed stat is also very helpful, as it lets it outspeed maximum Speed Great Tusk, Zapdos, Latios, and the Ogerpon formes. That being said, Scream Tail does struggle to really break past Pokémon such as Gholdengo, Iron Treads, and Heatran and has a total reliance on Wish + Protect for recovery on its non-Choice-locked sets, but it manages to thrive despite these flaws.
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Deoxys-S has solid viability due to its wide variety of abilities that it can use. It can use Psychic Surge along with Expanding Force to 2HKO Skarmory and physically defensive RegenVest Manaphy. Deoxys-S can also utilize Sheer Force + Life Orb to boost its plentiful coverage moves to threaten nearly every Pokémon in the metagame. Particularly, Shadow Ball allows Deoxys-S to have an easier time getting past Gholdengo and Scream Tail, while Energy Ball allows it to nail any and all Swampert. While Sheer Force allows Deoxys-S to take advantage of its wide coverage, Hadron Engine sharply increases the power of Thunderbolt while also making Psycho Boost a more threatening option. Nasty Plot complements all the strictly special sets that Deoxys-S can run. Lastly, Protean turns Deoxys-S into a mixed attacker, as its decent Attack stat along with strong moves like Superpower, Low Kick, and Knock Off lets it threaten common metagame staples like Roaring Moon or provide a way to break past RegenVest Pokémon. Essentially, this versatile bandit is extremely viable thanks to it being able to shed Pressure and run a plethora of options, even going so far as to viably use Prankster + dual screens, albeit not all at once, leaving Deoxys-S on the cusp of being good, but not ugly.
The Bad
In standard play, Galarian Slowking looks like a Pokémon that would be outdrawing every sheriff that crosses its path. Unfortunately for this pink-bellied Pokémon, that isn't the case in AAA. Due to the rationing of only one ability per team out here in the wAAAsteland, it can't really justify the ability to run Regenerator, and Galarian Slowking is hard-pressed to find a gang it belongs to. Being able to run RegenVest would be a solid niche for Galarian Slowking... if it didn't only have Chilly Reception to pivot. While it has some options such as Vessel of Ruin to help it tank hits a bit better, Galarian Slowking still has to deal with strong Ground-types such as Great Tusk and Landorus-T, as well as overpowered Dark-types such as Roaring Moon and Chien-Pao that can easily take it out. Therefore, it gets stuck sitting on a barstool in the saloon while the rest of these lowlifes are taking over the Wild Wild West!
While Clefable has the looks of a crook that should be marked down in history thanks to its solid utility movepool, good typing, and two great options for abilities in Magic Guard and Unaware, it's one for the history books... in all the wrong ways. Clefable's low bulk is quite unsatisfactory when everything has access to damage-amplifying abilities like Sword of Ruin, Hadron Engine, and Desolate Land, leaving it 2HKOed by nearly every offensive Pokémon. Most importantly, when everything gains access to Magic Guard and Unaware, Clefable is much less unique as a defensive tool for teams that may need it. Pokémon such as Mandibuzz, Scream Tail, and Deoxys-D provide better utility and all-around bulk, while Clefable fails to keep up.
This desperado has the unfortunate problem of being ability-locked, as Zero to Hero is the only way to become the ringleader that is Palafin-H. With not being able to really be as versatile out here in the wild, Palafin-H struggles to keep up with the power level that AAA presents due to not having access to the powerful offensive abilities such as Primordial Sea and Sword of Ruin; however, if it were to have those tools, it would probably be wanted by the AAA council. Palafin also struggles with the ubiquity of Desolate Land and Fluffy users such as Heatran, Iron Moth, and Corviknight that run rampant out here in this wAAAsteland. All that said, Palafin can still function under the right circumstances and with a ton of support, utilizing fantastic options such as Substitute + Bulk Up and Taunt as well as the powerful priority of Jet Punch.
You would think that as often as Rillaboom is monkeying around in standard play, you would see it thrive in a world where it can gain access to almost any ability. Unfortunately, that isn't the case. Not only does Rillaboom not have a monopoly on Grassy Surge anymore, finding itself outclassed by the already niche Zarude, Grassy Surge itself is not the greatest choice when Pokémon have much more enticing options to power up their moves or keep themselves healthy, including the incredibly common Hadron Engine and Psychic Surge. Furthermore, Rillaboom itself has nothing to really make itself stand out, as base 125 Attack can only carry it so far, but a meh mono-Grass typing coupled with not-so-great bulk as well as a mediocre Speed stat puts Rillaboom's player in very precarious situations against the opponent that no one wants to willingly put themselves in.
The Ugly
Raging Bolt @ Choice Specs- Ability: Hadron Engine
- Tera Type: Electric
- EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
- Modest Nature
- IVs: 20 Atk
- - Thunderclap
- - Rising Voltage
- - Volt Switch
- - Draco Meteor
While Raging Bolt is already pretty strong in standard play, it gained a massive new tool it could make use of in AAA, Hadron Engine. Along with a massive base 137 Special Attack stat, Choice Specs, a Modest nature, and, most importantly, Rising Voltage, no Pokémon could be safe from it. Standard Pokémon like Heatran are easily OHKOed by Rising Voltage. Even the rare Chansey is comfortably 2HKOed. Ground-types like Great Tusk and Garchomp were easily destroyed by Draco Meteor, while even bulky Ground-types like Swampert couldn't even reliably switch in on it, as Draco Meteor usually still 2HKOed them. Electric immunity ability Pokémon like Corviknight and Gholdengo also weren't even safe, since Draco Meteor could still 2HKO them with slight chip damage. The only Ground-type that had a chance against Raging Bolt was RegenVest Iron Treads, which showed just how volatile this creature truly was. Just picture a slow Miraidon but with Rising Voltage, and we all know how overbearing it was in Ubers. Thus, Raging Bolt was quickbanned almost immediately.
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Noivern @ Heavy-Duty BootsAs mentioned earlier, Scream Tail has access to Pixilate + Boomburst, which made it quite strong; yet, it is held back by a measly base 65 Special Attack. However, what if something had access to Boomburst and an -ate ability with a much higher Special Attack stat? This creature had access to Boomburst and Aerilate, and instead of having base 65 Special Attack, Noivern had a solid base 97 Special Attack stat, making it plenty stronger than Scream Tail. Noivern also had quite a solid offensive moveset; Draco Meteor was a really strong STAB option, Flamethrower hit Steel-types that resist both Boomburst and Draco Meteor like Corviknight and Iron Treads, Super Fang heavily chipped potential switch-ins like Swampert, Heatran, and Hisuian Goodra, and U-turn granted Noivern the ability to pivot and provide its team with momentum. Noivern could make use of Choice Specs, letting it 2HKO physically defensive RegenVest Manaphy and potentially 2HKO RegenVest Swampert, and outspeed most of the outlaws you see in AAA, allowing it to just bulldoze its way to victory. However, when running a set like Taunt + Super Fang, Noivern could easily get rid of any checks or counters that would stand in the way of the great spectacle that is Choice Specs Noivern, leaving no stone unturned for this menace.
Slaking @ Toxic Orb- Ability: Poison Heal
- Tera Type: Normal
- EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
- Jolly Nature
- - Facade
- - Earthquake
- - Knock Off
- - Bulk Up / Slack Off
Meet the biggest outlaw since Billy the Kid, Slaking. What makes Slaking so unusable in modern times is its ability, as only being able to move every other turn takes all the fun out of its ginormous Attack and gargantuan bulk. Unfortunately, out here in the pastures of the AAA frontier, Slaking is able to shed its awful ability for literally anything else, and by doing so, it has had an absolute rampage around town. The AAA County Sheriffs gave it a chance day one to not cause any ruckus, but they eventually had to put out a wanted poster with a hefty reward for anyone that helped them bring this outlaw to justice, as its access to any other ability beyond Truant, alongside key moves like Slack Off, Bulk Up, and Facade thanks to Poison Heal being free day one as well, was just too much for this ole town to handle. Luckily, it didn't take too long to make sure this gorilla was under lock and key, withering away behind bars.
Conclusion
While most Pokémon in standard play have to adapt to the hand they are naturally dealt, AAA allows some buckaroos to shed a less-than-ideal ability for some of the more lucrative options such as Regenerator and Hadron Engine. Unfortunately, this coin comes with two sides, as some of the desperados that inherently have these advantageous abilities are left out in the dust when they no longer have a monopoly on said abilities. Therefore, these Pokémon have to rely purely on their combination of stats, movepool, and typing when it comes to showcasing their skill in Almost Any Ability. So, if you have always been curious on how your favorite cowpoke would fare if they could only shed their less-than-ideal ability, then these wild plains of the OM that is AAA may be just the place for you! Make sure to check out the thread or the OM room on PS! to further engage with the wonderful community!
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