SPOILERS! Pokemon Legends: Arceus *Leak Thread*

[Ironmage]

Evaluating them outside of standard:

In Monotype there aren't any Dark types with access to Spikes. Overqwil having Spikes + Intimidate gives it an immediate niche as an alternate to Drapion in the Dark balance core (Mandibuzz, Drapion, Tyranitar) and I can easily see it competing for a slot with Drapion in that metagame at least. It not having physical Dark STAB is not that much of a concern as secondary STAB is far more valuable in Mono team composition. Poison will retain Drapion or even Skuntank, however.

H-Zoroark would invariably see play on Normal teams due to the utility of the Fighting immunity and it being a relatively fast special attacker in general. On Ghost it is a bit more niche though it will be phenomenal in the mirror not merely due to immunity but due to how powerful it is to be able to bluff Mimikyu. Even if we assume H-Zoroark gets Focus Blast at some point down the line (regular Zoroark has always gotten it) Gengar has a better movepool and STAB combo and while Flamethrower is neat that's a job better done by Blacephalon, which hits far harder and has no need for setup.

And generally:

The lack of Ground coverage and Cross Poison on Kleavor is a bit disappointing and it doesn't seem to have very much in the way of Sheer Force moves to work with. OTOH Sheer Force Rock Slide + Close Combat is incredibly strong between those two moves alone and opens up the door for it to run Swords Dance along with X-Scissor or function in an offensive rocker role with access to Stealth Rock.

Very interesting to see that Enamorus has no immediate way to take advantage of Contrary, most notably in the lack of Hammer Arm which was stripped from all the genies' learnsets.

Worth noting that Overqwil may not be the best Dark spikes setter since it also needs to compete with Eviolite Qwilfish-H.

 

[R_N]

I believe HP is Unown exclusive in this game

it also got nerfed to 50 BP

 

[Cuddly]

it also got nerfed to 50 BP

Overall its BP is effectively 100-200 BP because of the new mechanic of Hidden Power always changing to be super effective

Hide

like how the legend plate works without STAB and Judgement having 300-600 BP

.
Granted it’s exclusive to Unown, but overall it’s a buff, and if the change remains like that in next games, National Dex is gonna be completely different with nearly everything having this busted move.

 

[Nokocchi]

Overall its BP is effectively 100-200 BP because of the new mechanic of Hidden Power always changing to be super effective

Hide

like how the legend plate works without STAB and Judgement having 300-600 BP

.
Granted it’s exclusive to Unown, but overall it’s a buff, and if the change remains like that in next games, National Dex is gonna be completely different with nearly everything having this busted move.

If they did keep this change, I would not be surprised if they pull a Dark Void and make it so only Unown can use it. So not only National Dex, but even formats like balanced hackmons would be safe, since it would fail if used by any other species.

 

[Imperial Magala]

https://www.reddit.com/r/PokeLeaks/comments/sb7pm6 Cool detail with the Creation Trio. Dialga definitely looks the best when using Roar of Time.

 

[Cuddly]

If they did keep this change, I would not be surprised if they pull a Dark Void and make it so only Unown can use it. So not only National Dex, but even formats like balanced hackmons would be safe, since it would fail if used by any other species.

Yeah, but that also massively affects National Dex too, as Hidden Power is lost again on most Pokemon. So the options are to completely change how viable a Special Attacker is as ones that have the best utility movepools, change tons of Special Attackers like Magnezone who rely heavily on Hidden Power, or keep it the same.

 

[Dragapult]

Worth noting that Overqwil may not be the best Dark spikes setter since it also needs to compete with Eviolite Qwilfish-H.

This is fair and is something I considered given Qwilfish them having the same speed stat. Overqwil not having Knock Off specifically is what really hurts it. My concern with Qwilfish-H though is lack of recovery on a mon that wants to set Spikes and does not have a Rapid Spinner on its team. (Yes, Mandi is one of the best Defoggers in the tier but it's a completely different ask when your hazard control gets rid of your own hazards too. This is why Steel runs Scarf Excadrill.)

 

[BlitheFenics]

Do moves like nasty plot still raise by 2 stages? They got rid of the 'sharply' wording and that makes the buffs that do both offense and defense seem way better. I also assume the offensive is both att and spa defensive is both def spd.

 

[mattgcn]

This is fair and is something I considered given Qwilfish them having the same speed stat. Overqwil not having Knock Off specifically is what really hurts it. My concern with Qwilfish-H though is lack of recovery on a mon that wants to set Spikes and does not have a Rapid Spinner on its team. (Yes, Mandi is one of the best Defoggers in the tier but it's a completely different ask when your hazard control gets rid of your own hazards too. This is why Steel runs Scarf Excadrill.)

I can see it getting Knock Off in a game where the move exists, at least

 

[AmbientDinosaur]

The removal of Earthquake in PLA really shows how entrenched it has become in the games. I don't mean just competitively, but also move design-wise. It has been the go-to physical Ground-type move since Gen I, and there have been few moves stronger than it since then, or close to it in power. A lot of them have been signature moves, or moves made for pokémon with specific features. High Horsepower and Drill Run were made foremost for pokémon with burly bodies and pokémon with horns, respectively, while Earthquake was made as a generic Ground-type move that pretty much every Ground-type can learn.

This is why the removal of Earthquake in this game becomes a problem, since High Horsepower can't really be a full substitute for it. Some Ground-type pokémon simply don't fit with it, so they got left out from having a strong Ground-type STAB.

I think Headlong Rush could've been a good substitute for Earthquake, since it is more generic in design and would seem to fit more pokémon flavour-wise.

 

[Imperial Magala]

https://www.reddit.com/r/PokeLeaks/comments/sb27pw Found an Alpha worth bringing up. Perfect height to bite people's heads off.
https://www.reddit.com/r/PokeLeaks/comments/sb3xdc Another connection between Agatha and Bertha. Did anyone already post about the Thief Trio yet?
https://www.reddit.com/r/PokeLeaks/comments/savddh Send Off Spring is in the game. Several Hisui locations have recognizable names or features. One comment mentions Ramanas Island.

 

[DrPumpkinz]

https://www.reddit.com/r/PokeLeaks/comments/sb27pw Found an Alpha worth bringing up. Perfect height to bite people's heads off.

It looks like it's caressing the player's head.

 

[R_N]

Ramanas Island is cute. I'm honestly shocked there wound up being any connection between LA & BDSP (excepting the save data bonus, of course...), small as they kind of are.

 

[Nokocchi]

Yeah, but that also massively affects National Dex too, as Hidden Power is lost again on most Pokemon. So the options are to completely change how viable a Special Attacker is as ones that have the best utility movepools, change tons of Special Attackers like Magnezone who rely heavily on Hidden Power, or keep it the same.

I doubt that Game Freak would care about an western-centric unofficial fan-made format that cannot be played on any actual official software, even as an afterthought. Not to mention we already have seen a Hidden Power-less metagame with Sword and Shield.

 

[Serp IV]

If they did keep this change, I would not be surprised if they pull a Dark Void and make it so only Unown can use it. So not only National Dex, but even formats like balanced hackmons would be safe, since it would fail if used by any other species.

"You will use Raichu for its coverage and you will like it" - t. GameFreak

 

[Cuddly]

I doubt that Game Freak would care about an western-centric unofficial fan-made format that cannot be played on any actual official software, even as an afterthought. Not to mention we already have seen a Hidden Power-less metagame with Sword and Shield.

Well obviously they don’t with Pokemon like Blastoise getting Shell Smash, but maybe the term “possibilities” would be better than “options”, as GameFreak has infinite options for their games.

 

[golurk2343]

enormous looks odd without hammer arm or superpower.MAYBE WE GET MOVES WHILE WE TRANSFER??

 

[LordHelix]

I know we are all writing off powershift as a meme but l legit think it might have some use on swift swim mantine later. It has no set up moves + has a beefy 140 spdef stat

It can go from 284 spa to a bonkers 416 spa lol. Life orb swift swim mantine here i come


New mons are really neat so i cant wait to use them on showdown, altho I really hope H-zoroark just gets any normal moves soon. It has to be an oversight no way does gamefreak want me to use swift

 

[ProNooob]

Gardevoir got BoltBeam coverage for giggles now. It really makes no sense. Shame its stats aren't exactly great, this mon has a ridiculous movepool.

Natdex is quaking. bolt beam hyper voice mystical fire mgard

 

[Sonikku A]

Wonder if they did anything to Golduck...

 

[DetectiveTogekiss]

It seems like Togekiss lost access to Nasty Plot, but it gained Calm Mind instead

 

[Yung Dramps]

Natdex is quaking. bolt beam hyper voice mystical fire mgard

if anything, recover is probably the thing that could actually give mega gardevoir a solid niche over tapu lele

 

[ProNooob]

if anything, recover is probably the thing that could actually give mega gardevoir a solid niche over tapu lele

Oh yeah definetly. Actually, i can imagine lele ALOGNSIDE gard for a strong psyspam core. But I digress. Is there a thread for PLA casual teams? Id love to share my (theoretical) team

 

[LordHelix]

Im pretty happy to see that theyre giving old pokemon recovery and utility moves again. Iirc swsh didnt add any buffs to old pokemon wheres my recover lanturn

Some changes that caught my eye:
New spikes users: Gliscor, H-Decidueye, Overqwil

Comment

Gliscor absolutely did not need that buff. Not excited to see gliscor mirrors just setting up spikes to infinity, itll be worse than ferrothorn mirrors good god

Decidueye has alot of competition with chesnaught since ches has a better stat spread, moves, ability. Gamefreak really did owl dirty, maybe he could find use as a defogger that resists ground/rock?

Overqwil sounds amazing for monotype, a dark poison intimidate with knock off? Sign me up.

New roost users: Mantyke, lumineon (!!!), empoleon
New recover users: Mesprit, Gardevoir, Cresselia, Lilligant, Vespiquen, Shaymin

comment

Im glad mantyke and happiny match their evolutions now. Mantyke might even get some ZU use cause hes a thic mon

Im SO excited abt the fish its one of my favourite pokemon. It already has defog and uturn now thanks to roost it can be a legitimate defensive pivot like i always wanted

We all know Empoleon is gonna be easy OU so i wont comment. Water steel rock-setting penguin is good

Mesprit is actually gonna terrorize lower tiers so much. It was already such a reliable rocker and pivot already, and calm mind sets were scary to face but at least u could chip it

Gardevoir is interesting. It gets boltbeam + mystical fire + strong stabs. It also had wilowisp and cm sets, now it can heal and use bulky setup? All its missing is rocks and itll be more versatile than clef lol

Cresselia isnt limited to 8pp on its recovery now so thats great, it was one of its biggest problems

Lilligant will still prefer strength sap on its quiver dance sets but its still a nice addition

Shaymin and vespiquen is w/e

 

[DrPumpkinz]

It makes absolutely no sense that Happiny learns Softboiled. It very specifically doesn't have an egg. Like its entire thing is that its "egg" is actually a rock.