Mega Grafaiai
New Ability: Toxic Attitude (This pokemon's Poison-type attacks apply Taunt to the opponent until the end of the next turn.)
Type: Poison/Normal
New stats:
HP: 63
Attack: 120 (+35)
Defense: 95 (+30)
Special Attack: 80
Special Defense: 82 (+10)
Speed: 135 (+25)
(585 BST)
New moves: Fake Out, Poison Gas
Description:
Grafaiai: it's a pokemon not well known for its good attitude, that's for sure. Surely, something that is literally based around graffiti, a very much "punk"-like activity, would have quite the mischievous and scheming attitude, right? Hell to the yes! After all, the word "toxic" has two definitions: "poisonous", and then "unpleasant (or outright harmful) in a pervasive or insidious way" - Grafaiai embodies both of those. It's got poison which it uses (both to paint symbols and trap Bug-type pokemon), and it's very much a scheming trickster, both in battle (Prankster? Parting Shot? Knock Off? Encore? mischief bound to ensue, no?) and outside of it.
With Mega Evolution, Grafaiai's mischievous and scheming nature gets played up to 11, and so do the capabilities of its poison. It now uses it as a tool for all sorts of... shenaniganery, some of which may or may not be deadly. It still retains its mischievous personality from before, but now you must watch your back when around it, for you never know when its shenanigans will catch up to you.
Anyways, Grafaiai is back to its usual offensive support shenanigans, with its existing tools like Encore, Knock Off, Fake Out, and Parting Shot (or U-turn) lending it well to serving its team. However, now it has a new way of supporting the team: its Poison-type moves (no, not Toxic, sadly). Toxic Attitude gives its Poison STABs some new oomph, because now instead of fearing just a 30% change to get Poisoned you now also have to contend with being struck with Taunt for a turn, delaying a potential setup opportunity (or some other annoying status move). Combined with its blisteringly fast speed tier and decent enough attack stat, this mega can prove to be an annoyance for the opponent if not handled correctly.
This mega also has plenty of applications in VGC, where in addition to tools like Fake Out and Parting Shot coming into play, it also has its ability too. It notably punishes the use of Follow Me/Rage Powder. Your redirector can bait the attack, sure, but now what? In addition to not being able to redirect attacks again, Amoonguss can't use Spore, Indeedee can't use Helping Hand, and even hitting a pokemon that isn't using Rage Powder disables their ability to use Protect, a move that can (quite legitimately) flip games on its head.
Mega Pawmot
New Ability: Accelerator (If this pokemon switches out after using an Electric-type move, the next time this pokemon switches in it will get a +1 Speed boost that expires after 3 turns (the turn this pokemon switches in does not count against the duration of this boost).)
Type: Electric/Fighting
New stats:
HP: 70
Attack: 135 (+20)
Defense: 120 (+50)
Special Attack: 85 (+15)
Special Defense: 75 (+15)
Speed: 105
(590 BST)
New moves:
Description:
"Although Pawmot's reaction speed is normally low, it is able to strike opponents with fast movements when battling."
If there's one thing electricity is often heavily associated with, it's speed (and energy, lots of it at that). Electric-type pokemon are often known for their speed, which stems from the electrical energy that is coursing through them.
Looking at Pawmot's toolbox, it's definitely a very hit-and-run sort of pokemon. Its main Electric STAB, Double Shock, incentivises it to switch out after using it since it consumes your Electric typing (and that's not talking about its access to Volt Switch by default), something I've always admittedly found quite interesting. To this extent, Accelerator takes advantage of this by rewarding it for using Double Shock with a hefty +1 speed boost the next time it switches in. With that boost, it can outspeed a lot and make the best use of its good attack stat. However, you must be mindful with how you use that boost, because it expires after 3 turns - it becomes impractical to waste turns because that's a turn of that speed boost gone down the drain. This encourages a bit more skillful play - while the reward of using Double Shock is great, it doesn't last long so you have to make the most out of it while you still can (high risk, high reward).