Challenge Pokemon Violet Monotype Run (Psychic)

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Since Mr. Snacksworth wants me to do group quests, I need to form a group before doing tasks. By group, I mean Leif is the only person who can help me.

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Leif showed me his Pokemon in a picnic, and this one right here really looks like Raisin, except without as much iron.

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I told Leif I've beaten Kieran and obtained the Champion rank here, too. He told me all we need is La Primera's approval now.

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Group quests are a little more complicated that regular BBQs. This one requires me to take photos with Leif.

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And our next quest requires us to catch a specific Pokemon by studying the hints. Well, I've already registered Tyrogue on my Pokedex, so I know what it's like.

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The last one is the one that requires the most exercising, since I need to run around the Savanna Biome to find some Ditto Blocks.

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Thanks to Leif's assistance, I can now obtain special treats from Mr. Snacksworth. Oh, and he told me to study these special snacks Pokemon, too.

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This next Legendary Pokemon we're looking at is Necrozma, which doesn't exactly hang by seas, but it's still near water bodies.

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Which means I'll need to find a waterfall to meet Necrozma, which will apparently welcome me with the ugliest glare.

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It has been a while since we last visited the Socarrat Trail. Let's celebrate with tomatoes, a lot of tomatoes.

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What even is this thing, and where are its eyes? For that matter, why is it hiding on such a small mountain hill?

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Don't mind that. Necrozma is now with us, since it is a Psychic-type Pokemon that bends light with its brain power.

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Huh, Necrozma? You got something you wanna buy? I still need to see if Mr. Snacksworth has any more snacks to offer.

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It seems like Necrozma wants something from the auction market. Oh, silly you.

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Well, bidding against kids wasn't too difficult. I got myself an N-Solarizer and an N-Lunarizer. Whatever the heck they are.

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WHAT? The N-Lunarizer fuses Necrozma with Lunala. Are they one Pokemon or two Pokemon now?

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If Necrozma now has two heads, does that make it twice as smart? Are we sure this is safe for Lunala?

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I wanted to ask Mr. Snacksworth more questions, but all he does is put treats in my bag. I mean, sure, ok.

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Except Mr. Snacksworth just gave me another serving of the Latias Treat ... wait, no. This one is called the LatiOs treat.

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Our meeting with Latias was quite successful, so I hope we can also find Latios easily, assuming they are similar to each other.

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I think this is the right way, unless this is the place where un-ironed Iron Crown waits for its trainer.

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This lake seems like the perfect picnic spot, so let's see if Latios likes peppers!

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Well, Latias brought us to another psychic dragon. This one is basically just blue Latias.

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Whether you are a psychic or a dragon, Lotty will hypnotize you and eat your dreams nonetheless.

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Latios is now reunited with Latias! I now have two amazing dragons on the team.

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Ok, I think I've been having too many snacks, and I should stop eating them after this one. This is the final one, I promise!

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Solgaleo? Where have I heard of that name before? Maybe on the television or something that talks about urban legends.

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I don't know what Mr. Snacksworth was doing around the Paldea League, but that is where we'll be heading next.

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It's time to let my Kitakami and Blueberry Pokemon check out the Paldea League, but not before we take on a Potato Tortilla special.

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The sun is awfully bright today. In fact, I feel like its sunrays are burning right next to me.

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Solgaleo is actually a psychic lion coated with metal. I think it can be friends with Rustiche.

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Oh, that's right. I've seen Solgaleo's name on the N-Solarizer instruction booklet. Only one thing to do next.

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Necrozma has now taken over Solgaleo's body and gives the metal lion an adorable smile. Yay!
 
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One day I was hanging out in the League Clubroom, and Ms. Geeta paid us a surprise visit! Just the person I wanna see!

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Ms. Geeta was actually here to recruit Drayton as the next Paldea League members. Woah!

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Since Ms. Geeta is quite busy, I can't quite ask her about the Monotype Association, but that would be a great way to scout for young talents, if you ask me.

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Ms. Geeta promises to talk to me next time, but first, she thinks I should ask Nemona's opinion. I guess I really haven't talked to her in ages. Sure.

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But before that, let's grab some sandwich ingredients at Peachy's. Their stuffs are just perfect for a friend gathering picnic.

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I told Nemona to meet me at my home, but I wasn't expecting even more guests.

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I didn't quite invite Penny or Arven to this, but they are always so welcome. As long as I get to ask Nemona about the association, that's fine.

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We had a great lunch cooked by my mom, but isn't it a little too dull to only have a meal at my home.

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I suppose we can play Mario Kart on my Switch too, but I'm selling that thing soon, 'cause I need to buy the new Mario Kart.

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Hey, mom, you know the answer to "Anyone want dessert?" is always a yes from me. In fact, I think the four of us might need a serving of eight.

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Of course I know a Kieran. I wasn't expecting a letter from him though. Let me see what he wants to tell me.

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Kieran gave me an update, since I haven't seen him in the academy for so long. I think it'll be better for us to talk in person though.

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Oops, I forgot that Arven hasn't met Kieran before. Oh, I'll need Arven's help if I want to treat Kieran some great food.

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And Nemona's excited for her own reason. Cool, whatever makes her happy.

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Hey, Macaroni, I'll bring you to this Kitakami trip, but you can't cause any troubles. No stealing mochis and no beating ogres.

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Oh, silly Nemona. I always load up on travel snacks, even if I'm just going to Poco Path for a walk.

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Ooh, I've been to Kitakami so many times, but this time I have my buddies with me. This is so exciting!

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Once we reached Kitakami, we are welcomed by the Caretaker. He is a hard-working man and is in charge of all types of trips.

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I couldn't quite call Kieran, since he doesn't have a smartphone, but he should be waiting for us at his place.

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Uh-oh. I thought Kieran has always reverted back to his cheerful side. Why is he so gloomy now? Did Drayton steal his snacks again?

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I didn't even get a chance to ask Kieran how he's doing, and Nemona is already asking for battles. She needs to calm down for like a second.

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Well, Nemona really should join the Blueberry exchange program too, but she can have a first taste by battling Kieran right now.

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Nemona is a Champion-ranked trainer after all, so it shouldn't be too surprising she beat Kieran. I'm just glad he is taking defeats well now.

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I was wondering where Carmine is. Hey, how's it going? She's probably enjoying her sweet home vacation.

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I am indeed in the mood of some mochis, but why is Carmine screaming that? She didn't even say any other words.

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Kieran told us not to worry about Carmine's odd actions, but clearly, something is wrong with her. She might've been poisoned by ergots.

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Apparently, the townfolks are saying this is a curse. Uh-oh, you know I don't like creepy ghost stories.

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After we settled Carmine down, we moved on to a welcome party at the community center. Well, if Arven's here to cook, we are in for a great treat.

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WHAT? We haven't even started the feast yet, and Nemona has already eaten some snacks. How dare she!

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Since we don't really want to watch the tourist video over and over, we had a search for the TV remote.

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However, after the search party, Nemona completely disappeared. Maybe she's outside?

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We didn't quite see Nemona outside, but we did run into somebody else. Let's see if they have seen our friend.
 
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Oh no, the villagers couldn't answer our questions, because they too are doing the mochi dance!

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It's even worse, actually, since they also attack us with their Pokemon. I hope Ariados isn't going to bite us and make us do the dance too.

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I wasn't prepared for a sudden battle, so I hope Macaroni will be able to handle this. At least Kieran has his Poliwrath help us out.

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No, Poliwrath! Please don't get poisoned and start dancing! This town really might be getting cursed!

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I'm glad Macaroni isn't afraid of fighting spiders and just knocked out Ariados with one Psychic. Good job!

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Well, Poliwrath is actually still doing fine, and it soaked Salazzle up with a cool Liquidation. Maybe we can beat the curse with our powers.

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Victreebel is our next foe, but it is just yet another victim to Macaroni's brutal Psychic.

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I was worried Poliwrath won't be able to do much to Noctowl, but it turns out Close Combat is all it needs.

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We don't really know why these two villagers were so aggressive, so I think the curse might be real. NOOOOO!

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Wait! I think that is Nemona running to the Kitakami Hall. Hey, come back! We've already found the remote.

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On our way to the hall, we ran into Kieran's grandparents, who are out here for some noodles. Count me in, please!

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I suppose having some mochis before you cook your noodles is a Kitakami tradition, but I have a bad feeling about this ...

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OH NO! Kieran's grandparents were normal just a second ago, and now they are also doing the mochi dance. WHAT!

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I definitely wasn't expecting to fight Kieran's grandparents tonight. Let's see how Stringozzi handle this situation this time.

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Good! I think liquidizing Chandelure is a great idea, but Chandelure actually took the hit quite well. Darn it.

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Stringozzi is not here to sing lullabies. She's putting her foes to eternal slumber with her powerful Psychic.

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The village is already creepy enough, and we don't need a haunted chandelier blowing Heat Wave at our faces.

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Don't worry. Kieran's Poliwrath is here to put out Chandelure's flames with Liquidation. I think we're doing well as a tag team.

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Weezing tries to poison us with its smelly poisonous gas, but Stringozzi took care of that with another swift Psychic.

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Oh boy, Mamoswine is not an easy foe though, especially if it's making icicle rains.

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Well, Stringozzi is here to sing its high notes again. Too bad one Hyper Voice is not enough to make mammoths go extinct.

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Darn it. Mamoswine lashed out with an Earthquake shaking the entire Oni Mountain. Of course, Stringozzi's tiny body won't be able to take that.

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I send in Pappardelle next, and she takes an incoming Ice Shard pretty well thanks to her gorgeous dress.

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And then she just blasts Mamoswine with an Energy Ball. Phew. Another crisis averted.

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Oh no, Kieran is losing his mind after seeing his grandparents cursed. Please stay calm, otherwise no one would be able to help me.

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Wait, he's right. His grandpa only became crazy after eating those mochi. Do you think the mochis are poisoned?

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Uh-oh, to make matters worse, Penny and Arven also got themselves in trouble. This is not how I hope the trip turns out.

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Penny found a little round weird thing, and there is. A purple spirit who just threw some round objects at us.

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Arven and Penny were standing at the front, so they couldn't quite dodge the hits. At least they caught something with their mouths.

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I saw my friends got hit, so I quickly avoided the projectile. Kieran, well, also dodged with his own way.

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Wait. The things thrown at us are small purple sweet things ... Oh no, are they the poison mochis?

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Of course they are! Penny and Arven just ate the poison mochis, 'cause we couldn't warn them in time. Darn it!

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Hey, give me my friends back, and don't hide inside your shell. Just try making some healthy and normal mochis, and I'll eat them, cheerfully.
 
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We found the problem that started the mochi curse, but the purple drome is using my friends as shield, and we can't shoot the drome.

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We have no choices but to face Arven and Penny in a Double Battle. Maybe they will go back to normal once they are defeated?

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Kieran's Poliwrath has been so helpful this entire time, and Stringozzi is here to revert the crazy curse!

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Unsurprisingly, Penny's Umbreon is here to use Baby Dolls Eyes. I'm just glad it isn't devouring everyone with darkness.

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Because of Poliwrath's weak spot to baby doll eyes, its Close Combat waas not enough to send Greedent home! Darn it!

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HAHAHA! Luckily, Stringozzi finished the dirty job with a Psychic. No more pocketing berries for you, greedy squirrel.

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Aww, I can't fight Arven's Mabosstiff knowing that it still has weak knees, even if it's trying to intimidate us with a scary look on its face.

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Oh, okay, maybe Mabosstiff really has fully recovered after all, since its Crunch hurts like heck and almost knocked Stringozzi out!

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Poliwrath continues to do all the hard work by Close Combating on Umbreon this time. I'm just worried about its lowered defenses.

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Stringozzi showed off its angelic voice by using Alluring Voice on Mabosstiff. It honestly didn't do as much as I hoped.

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Well, Stringozzi was not going to like getting double teamed. No more sweet lullabies for this cursed creepy town now.

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Macaroni came in next and poisoned Mabosstiff with his chained-up Sludge Bomb. Well, I'm glad Arven isn't conscious enough to see this.

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Mabosstiff took revenge by crunching on Macaroni and lowered his Defense. We're even now.

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Poliwrath is still fighting for our lives. Unfortunately, its Close Combat is still not enough to knock Umbreon out. That thing is just beefy.

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Oops. Mabosstiff succumbed to its bad poison. No mysterious herbs can save him this time.

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Umbreon was hanging out tough, but not after Macaroni threw the dirtiest Sludge Bomb at its face. Umbreon was definitely not toxic enough for this.

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Arven's final Pokemon is his Cloyster, which used its spiky shell to take Poliwrath's Close Combat.

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Oh, come on. Whose idea is it to keep bullying my Pokemon? Arven or the purple drome? Anyways, Macaroni is the next one to bite the dust.

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Yikes. At this point, Poliwrath's muscles aren't going to be of much help, since it has been severely weakened.

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Liquidation didn't even do much on Sylveon, and Poliwrath decided to fall in love. Sounds like a crazy romance story.

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It's time for Tagliolini to unpoison everyone, and the first step is to slice everything in vicinity down with Tachyon Cutter.

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Cursed Arven is still attacking my Pokemon. This time, he tried to rust Tagliolini's iron crown with Liquidation.

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Oh, come on. Sylveon blasted a Shadow Ball on Tagliolini's bright iron body for a super effective hit and a nasty Special Defense drop.

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Poliwrath completely gave up on its workout routine and is now blinded by love.

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Tagliolini tried its signature Tachyon Cutter again and successfully chopped Sylveon's ribbons. Oh, finally.

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I'm sorry Kieran needs to do all the work, since my Pokemon just keep getting knocked out. What the heck!

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Don't worry. I still have Pappardelle on the team, and she just quickly discarded Cloyster's shell with an Energy Ball. Arven's out now.

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Penny has her Leafeon out as a last resort, and it finally ended Poliwrath's suffering with a Leaf Blade.

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I fought against Kieran's Incineroar once, and it is quite a mean tiger. I'm glad it is by my side this time, and I feel sorry for poor Leafeon.

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Pappardelle first shot her lumina beam on Leafeon and did some big damage. Does it really matter though?

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As a last-ditch effort, Leafeon used X-Scissor to chop Incineroar. If I were you, I would not make the angry tiger even angrier.

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Boom. Incineroar cloaked itself with flames and just slammed into Leafeon. That could probably burn an entire forest. Yikes.
 
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We beat Arven and Penny, but they didn't go back to normal. Now I feel like a jerk for battling them while they are zombified.

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The purple drome even took that opening to run away. I guess we'll be chasing it down through the Apple Hill.

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We didn't quite catch the purple drome, but we ended up running into Nemona in Loyalty Plaza. Is she paying respects to the Loyal beasts?

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NOOOOO! I was hoping Nemona would be able to help us, but it turns out she has also been poisoned by the darn mochis!

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I was thinking maybe I shouldn't fight Nemona seeing what happened to Arven and Penny, but Nemona really insists on a mochi match.

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Wait, everyone in town has been poisoned, and they are all chasing after us. At this point, maybe I should just swallow one of those things as well.

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The purple drome is now hiding behind Nemona, so maybe defeating her will make the drome spit out more mochis, wait no we don't want that.

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Anyways, I'll try battling Nemona, since her being poisoned is the only way I would even stand a chance against her.

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Seems like Lycanroc also got some mochi poison in its eyes, since it missed Drill Run on Farfalle.

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Farfalle is here to show how things are done, as he swiftly slices the rocky doggo with a Sacred Sword. Nice hit.

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Nemona's next Pokemon is her Pawmot, which immediately fires off a Double Shock on Farfalle. Where's the second shock now?

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I'm so glad Farfalle hanged on with 1HP, 'cause that gave him time to eat his Salac Berry. He feels so energized now!

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Wait, how does Pawmot use up all its electricity? Then it shouldn't be able to continue battling, right?

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It doesn't really matter if Pawmot still has electricity running in its cheeks. A Psycho Cut would be enough regardless.

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Nemona then sent out her Kommo-o? I didn't she has one of these. Well, that won't stop Farfalle from using Psycho Cut.

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Farfalle then fell to a Thunder Punch from Kommo-o. To be fair, the tiniest push would've done the job anyways.

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If Kommo-o loves punching so much, then it would probably not mind eating Orecchiette's Ice Punch. But I guess not.

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Since when did Nemona fish up a Milotic? Did she visit the Crystal Pond too? Well, when in doubt, High Jump Kick it.

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Orecchiette prefers practicing yoga than surfing on waves, but he is still hanging tough. He is always ready for a bigger fish.

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Before that, let's give Orecchiette a break and let him eat his Sitrus Berry. It tastes even fresher after being washed by the waves.

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I don't want to stress Orecchiette's legs too much, so he will be switching to Zen Headbutt this time. A whole-body workout.

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I'm not sure if kicking a gooey dragon is a good idea, but I'm doing it anyways. That should soften the blow.

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Goodra struck back with a critical Dragon Pulse hit. Well, he already fought well, and he deserves a rest.

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Farfalline is the next one in line to fight Goodra. Suddenly, she is in the mood of some Caesar's Salad.

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Let's just cast a Moonblast and end our suffering. I really want this night to go by quickly.

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Oh wait, Nemona still has her final Pokemon. Naturally, she is going all-out by Terastallizing her evil cat and makes it even more evil.

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I've been scratched by cats before, but it has never hurt so much! Meowscarada's Shadow Claw almost knocked Farfalline out in one hit!

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Calm down, and it's time to act smart. Farfalline has her Wiki Berry ready, and this is the perfect time to feast.

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Boom. Meowscarada might be a powerful cat, but it isn't very good at taking hits. Definitely not a fully charged up Moonblast from Farfalline.

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With Meowscarada out of the way, Nemona has been successfully defeated. Too bad she still shows no signs of sanity. What should I do now?
 
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Nemona calmed down a little bit after that battle. This is our only time to sneak up on the purple drome.

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I've been doing so many battles and still nothing has changed. Maybe this will the final one that actually cures the curse.

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If this thing really is the culprit behind the curse, it's probably a creepy ghost. Let's send out Ravioli, someone who doesn't believe in ghost stories.

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Uh-oh. The mochi spirit, which is actually named Pecharunt, came up with a sinister plan. If it's feeding me toxic mochi, the plan is probably going to work.

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The only way I can beat the temptation of eating mochis is to use Ravioli's psychic powers, which work surprisingly well. Keep that up.

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Hmm, Pecharunt is using Nasty Plot again. I wonder what it's scheming. Hmm, Pecha berries, yes ...

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At least Ravioli can keep using Psychic without worries when Pecharunt is busy thinking about evil plans.

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Kieran has been defending us from the cursed townsfolk, but I'm worried he won't be able to fight for that long. We need to speed this up!

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NO! Don't eat that, Ravioli! Oh, wait, it was just Pecharunt pouring toxic pecha juice on Ravioli. That thing has probably gone bad.

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Wait, what the heck! The pecha juice was ultra poisoned, which made Ravioli confused. I'm confused, too! What puppeteer is this thing?

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Darn it. Ravioli hurt herself in confusion. I hope she doesn't cry "mochi mochi" out next.

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Not even the craziest confusion can stop Ravioli from eating her Leftovers. In fact, eating some fruits should stop her hallucinations.

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I'll admit, poisoning Ravioli and turning her into a puppet is quite a nasty plot. Maybe you can stop using that move, since you've pulled the plot off already.

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Seems like Ravioli was angered by that confusion! She just landed a mega big hit with her Psychic and ended the fight. Well, that was anticlimatic.

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The town is still not normal after Pecharunt has been defeated. I suppose the only thing left for us to try is to actually catch that thing.

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There we go. I got myself a poisonous ghost that disguises as a peach. Honestly, this might as well be the way I go.

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Pecharunt caused so much trouble with its mochis, and naturally, it should just be named Mochi.

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YES! Catching Mochi is actually how we snap everyone out of the mochi curse. Now, I'll be having all the mochis by myself!

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Nemona woke up from her mochi karma and didn't remember a thing from that battle. Well, let's run before she challenges me again.

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We can finally greet Carmine now that she's back to normal. And we enjoy the rest of our Kitakami trip with actually non-poisoned mochis.

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(We'll be having our grand finale updates next time, which should hopefully hit around weekend. See ya!:boi:)
 
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Since Nemona won't stop bugging Kieran and Carmine for more Pokemon battles, Kieran decided to give Nemona free access to the League Club room.

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Which is perfect, since I need Nemona to vouge for me about being Leif's vice-chairperson.

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Ms. Geeta is a hard-working League chairperson. I don't think I can ever reach her status, but at least I'll try my best to scout talents for her.

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Ms. Geeta has seen so many strong trainers across the two academies that only train one type of Pokemon, so she should know very well these trainers deserve so much respect.

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YES! Ms. Geeta is convinced that I can do well helping Leif out in the association, but I'll need to prove my worth for one final time.

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Well, I'll be challenging Ms. Geeta for yet another fight, and this is the one battle I can't afford to lose!

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Uh-oh, Ms. Geeta made some changes to her team. This time, she's starting the battle with her signature Glimmora, which used Light Screen to protect their team.

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Darn it. Ravioli's Psychic did good, but it would've done so much more if it weren't for that Light Screen.

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On the other hand, we couldn't do much against Glimmora's dirty wave of sludge. Let's just hope Ravioli won't accidentally swallow any of those toxins.

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Ravioli needs to switch to using Earthquake in order to work around Light Screen. It was enough to shatter Glimmora into a bunch of toxic spikes.

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Phew. Somehow Ms. Geeta managed to get even stronger. I'll need to make sure to stay alert.

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With Glimmora out of the way, at least Ravioli had some time to eat her Leftovers. Don't worry, I'll make her a jumbo sandwich afterwards.

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Woah. Ms. Geeta is also using new Pokemon now. Where does this Dragapult come from? Is it going to shoot planes at us?

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HAHAHA! It seems like Ms. Geeta made the same mistake as Kieran. Ravioli does not care about sucker punches.

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Light Screen is still on their side, so Ravioli's Shadow Ball didn't do that much, but I'll take it. This is like a free turn for us.

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Um, excuse me, Ms. Geeta? Didn't we just see Sucker Punch fail? No matter how many times you try, Ravioli's tail head will make sure you can't catch her with a surprise.

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In the meantime, Ravioli got to strike Dragapult with two Earthquakes without need to worry about Sucker Punch at all.

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Enough time has passed, which allows Ravioli to finish the job with an all-out Shadow Ball. I guess Dragapult is not so scary after all.

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Do you think Ms. Geeta had Dragapult keep using Sucker Punch, because she wants me to win? Well, I'll take that.

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Ms. Geeta sent in her Avalugg next, which took a lot of damage from Ravioli's Psychic.

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Avalugg then crushed Ravioli with Body Slam. That's my worst nightmare, getting squished by my icy picnic table.

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Ravioli's Hyper Voice was so loud she managed to shatter the ice table. Good job, but don't use that next to my bottle of milk.

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Hey! I was wondering if Ms. Geeta still has her Psychic-type Pokemon on the team, and there it is, her Espathra!

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Well, I know what Espathra is capable of doing, and honestly, I'm not too worried about its Dazzling Gleam.

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I also happen to know very well that Espathra is weak to Shadow Ball. Ravioli even targeted its weak spot for a Special Defense drop.

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I'm not sure what Ms. Geeta is planning with Espathra using Protect, but that actually gave Ravioli more bites on her Leftovers.

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Really? I didn't know Ms. Geeta is the kind of trainer to use Protect twice in a row.

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Anyways, Ravioli managed to recover most of her health by keep eating Leftovers, which means she can still another Dazzling Gleam.

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There we go! Ravioli's Shadow Ball landed a critical hit this time, which is not necessary but a great thing to see nonetheless.
 
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Ms. Geeta has another brand new Pokemon, Chesnaught, on the team. Does that mean she donated BPs to the Terarium Club too?

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Ravioli fought for her life, but handling four Pokemon in a row was already more than enough. It's about time she goes down with a Drain Punch.

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I almost forgot that there are poison spikes on our side, and I'm glad Macaroni cleaned things up for us.

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Macaroni was so ready to bind Chesnaught with his Toxic Chain, but Chesnaught hid behind its Spiky Shield instead. What's up with Ms. Geeta using these protection moves?

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It didn't really matter for us, since Macaroni just needed to wait for one turn before he can blast Chesnaught with Psychic.

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What in the fuckerroni is this! I forgot about Ms. Geeta's Kingambit, and that thing is now looking at me with its fallen teammates in its eyes!

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Ms. Geeta only has her Kingambit left, which means she is going all-out with a Terastallization. This is looking BAD.

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HAHAHA! Kingambit ate a Sludge Bomb from Macaroni and was badly poisoned. That's something you don't see every day.

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Ouch. Kingambit is mad for revenge, and there's no way Macaroni would be able to take a furious Kowtow Cleave.

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Until I pull out my UNO reverse card! Farfalline copied Supreme Overlord and gained strength from her fallen friends!

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Supreme Overlord gave Farfalline's Thunderbolt a power boost and is now enough to zap through Kingambit's balloons.

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YES! I managed to beat Ms. Geeta, the Top Champion, for a second time. Wow, I never would've imagined that one year ago.

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Ms. Geeta was impressed by my Pokemon, and she agrees that a team having only Psychic-type Pokemon can still be quite strong.

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She made the final decision to allow me work as Leif's vice-chairperson! We just need to scout for new members and nurture for them now!

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Naturally, I think most rookie trainers would be hanging around the academy at the start of their Treasure Hunt.

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Hang on! I think I just received another email from Leif. Let's see what missions I receive now, as the Monotype Association vice-chairperson!
 
Just like last time, I'll be ending this thread with some personal thoughts of Psychic-type Pokemon in Scarlet/Violet. First, we'll go through some overviews:

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The Psychic-type has always occupied a special place in the Pokemon series. It can be considered one of the faces of the franchise, showcasing the magical abilities these little creatures possess. Mysterious and powerful in nature, Psychic-type Pokemon are uncommon but not rare. With around 19 families of Pokemon, Psychic-type Pokemon can practically be found at every corner in Paldea. Other than familiar veterans such as Gardevoir and Espeon returning, Pokemon Scarlet/Violet games also bring 6 new Psychic-type Pokemon to the table. Espathra and Scream Tail are some of the fastest Pokemon around, which allows them to pull all sorts of tricks in battle. Armarouge and Rabsca are slow powerhouses with interesting typings, while Farigiraf has a relatively dull primary type but is reliably strong as well. Veluza is the only new addition to focus on the physical stats and can be quite threatening under the right situations. In addition, through connecting to Pokemon Legends: Arceus, Wyrdeer and Braviary-H will both prove to be all-rounded Pokemon that make great use of their assets. Overall, Psychic-type didn’t get too much attention in terms of new species, but the newcomers are all fun in their own way, warranting a potential spot on a trainer’s team.

Psychic-type debuted in Gen I as the overly powerful type that broke the entire game and was probably why the type chart needed to be reworked immediately in the following generation. Unfortunately, the nerf stayed for decades and Psychic-type is not nearly as broken as it once was. Offensively speaking, the Psychic-type is only strong against Fighting-type and Poison-type Pokemon. This means that Psychic-type Pokemon pair well with the plethora of Fighting-weak Pokemon as well as Fairy-type Pokemon that needs answers to Poison. Unfortunately, these strengths can be replaced by other Pokemon that are strong against Fighting or Poison, and Psychic-type is far away from a must-have on teams. Its biggest problem is a resisted hit on Steel-type, a common problem shared by many Pokemon, and a zero effect on Dark-type Pokemon. Working around these issues are not too difficult, and having a diverse matchup against different types is naturally a charm of the Pokemon type chart, but having troubles hitting Steel-type or Dark-type can make Psychic-type Pokemon difficult to fit on certain teams. Defensively speaking, Psychic-type Pokemon arguably have it worse. It is weak to Ghost and Dark, with the latter being an extremely common coverage type for Normal-type Pokemon. Along with a pesky weakness to Bug, Psychic-type Pokemon are often threatened by super effective moves left and right. As a tradeoff, Psychic-type Pokemon have a useful resistance against Fighting and other Psychic-type Pokemon. Psychic-type Pokemon provide next to no defensive values unless they are paired with Pokemon that are severely weak to Fighting. To make matters worse, Psychic-type Pokemon are often defensively inferior to Ghost-type Pokemon which have similar weaknesses and resistances. With all that being said, Psychic-type Pokemon will likely prove to be useful to Paldean adventurers, as important trainers specializing Bug and Dark are rather weak in terms of levels. Their only real issue is a nasty weakness to the Ghost-type trainer, who is already quite strong to begin with. However, having an edge over Fighting-type Pokemon means Psychic-type Pokemon will have an easy time in the latter part of Operation Starfall, which is a huge advantage that easily overshadows their other flaws. While they are going to struggle defensively against the secret big boss of the main game, their unique set of strength will also come in handy in those fights.

Psychic was, and perhaps is, the face of special attacks, which is further supported by the wide selection of good special moves available in game. Psychic-type special attackers never run out of moves to use, thanks to Psybeam, Stored Power and Psychic itself being TM moves. They also have an edge over other special attackers by access to Psyshock, which is a great way to work around specially bulky Pokemon. Just like many other special moves, Psychic-type special moves tend to lack explosive power, which mean they often only manage to secure 2HKOs. On the physical end of the spectrum, Psycho Cut, Zen Headbutt and Psychic Fangs are the only non-signature moves available. While they are not terrible options, they also have disappointing powers and are likely why trainers may prefer to use physical attackers of other types. In general, the Psychic-type only received three new moves in this game, which are all signature moves, leaving other Psychic-type Pokemon with no major moveset buffs. Over the year, the Psychic-type hasn’t been nearly as strong offensively, but it has picked up new roles as the core of several battle archetypes, such as Trick Room or Psychic Terrain teams. In fact, there are tons of Psychic-type moves that aim at providing support instead of focusing on the offense. As aforementioned, Trick Room and Psychic Terrain are crucial for certain types of teams to work. Dual screens are standard ways of providing defensive buffs. Agility, Stored Power and Calm Mind are some of the better setup moves around. Overall, the Psychic-type appreciates having a wide selection of moves, which at least offsets the many unfortunate issues brought by type effectivness.


One of the more prominent types featured in the Teal Mask expansion is the Poison-type, which naturally means that Psychic-type Pokemon have an easy time fighting boss Pokemon found in the wild Kitakami. The Loyal Three aren’t all weak to Psychic, and having a Psychic-type Pokemon on the team is not going to be an instant win against them, but Psychic-type moves are guaranteed to be good hits in those battles. Speaking of the Loyal Three, the Psychic-type sees one new addition introduced in the entire DLC with Munkidori, a Legendary Pokemon fulfilling the classic fast special attacker role. Unfortunately, Munkidori is locked behind the main story of the Teal Mask, which limits its battling potential. Other than that, the Psychic-type only gains one returning Pokemon, Chimecho, which basically means the type gains nothing in terms of availability. In terms of moves, Gravity is the only new Psychic-type TM, but it isn’t going to be too useful. With the increased difficulty towards the end of this DLC wave, Psychic-type Pokemon will start to struggle a lot with their unwanted weaknesses. This issue is the most noticeable against some of the clan members, in particular their boss, as their Pokemon tend to run annoying coverage moves that Psychic-type Pokemon hate. Overall, the Teal Mask expansion is not too tough for Psychic-type Pokemon, but their problems become harder to work around with, which will persist through the next wave as well.

The Indigo Disk brought many changes to the Pokemon Scarlet/Violet games, with the most obvious one being a shift of focus to Double Battles. Previously, Psychic-type Pokemon are let down by their weaknesses to Ghost and Dark, which are not that common around Blueberry Academy and lack multi-target attacks. In fact, Struggle Bug is the only AOE moves strong against Psychic. This allows Psychic-type Pokemon to provide great support for their allies thanks to their wide array of status moves. Speaking of support moves, Psychic Noise is a brand-new Psychic-type TM that comes with the effect of heal blocking, just in time as more trainers use hold items now. Other than that, Future Sight and Expanding Force regain teachable status, both improving the offensive aspect of Psychic-type Pokemon, especially under Psychic Terrain boost. The biggest boost the Psychic-type received in this wave is perhaps their availability, as 17 fully-evolved Psychic-type Pokemon were brought back or introduced to the roster. Newcomers Iron Boulder and Iron Crown are both fantastic with their firepower and an ability to set up easily, making them easy additions to team. Bear in mind that the two new futuristic Pokemon and several returning Legendary Pokemon are going to appear late in a Blueberry adventure, which mostly means that these Pokemon are merely trophies for Pokemon collectors and not suitable companions for the new Unova journey. While the Indigo Disk seems to treat Psychic-type Pokemon nicely, it should also be noted that there are no important battles in the BBA advantageous to them. In fact, Psychic-type Pokemon has a fairly bad matchup against the Steel-type trainer and the strongest trainer in the academy. They will also have a rough time during the Area Zero revisit, as the boss Pokemon has a resistance against Psychic in its toughest phase, making it difficult for Tera-Psychic Pokemon to break its barriers. At least there are plenty of opportunities for Psychic-type Pokemon to shine in the Epilogue, due to Poison-type Pokemon being more common and the toughest trainer battle features a few Fighting-type Pokemon as well. All things considered, Psychic-type Pokemon may not have a good enough matchup most of the time in the Indigo Disk, but their solid attributes can still prove to be helpful for trainers who are looking for Pokemon that are great in both offense and support, which is more or less what Psychic-type Pokemon are up to ever since the brutal nerf in Generation II.

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In a Monotype challenge setting, trainers need to form teams that can cover for their shared weaknesses. Mono-Psychic teams benefit a lot from having so many dual Psychic-type Pokemon that are already good to begin with and are thus incredibly easy to build. Gardevoir, Gallade, Medicham, Hatterene and Scream Tail are all great Pokemon that cover up weaknesses to Bug and Dark defensively. The many Normal/Psychic-type Pokemon, such as the new Farigiraf, are all bulky attackers that do not mind facing Ghost-type Pokemon, until Malamar joins the roster in the DLC. Rabsca and Armarouge are notable special attackers that hit Psychic and Steel for super effective damage respectively, with the latter being crucial against the impenetrable Scizor. Thanks to the Bug-type and Dark-type specialist being pretty weak in levels, a mono-Psychic team would only face difficulties against the Ghost-type trainer. Other than that, mono-Psychic teams are likely to run into issues against Water or Electric, due to a lack of super effective STAB moves or useful resistances against these types. Problems against Water are at least mitigated by the fact that many Psychic-type Pokemon learn Eletric or Grass coverage and that the BBA-exclusive Exeggutor is a great counter to them. Ground-type coverage moves are, on the other hand, harder to pack on teams and may not be strong enough without STAB. In fact, insufficient coverage options seem to be common problem shared by many Psychic-type Pokemon, since most of them only learn Shadow Ball, either Thunderbolt or Energy Ball, occasionally Dazzling Gleam as the only coverage moves. While these moves are all neat, it often feels redundant to put them on every Psychic-type Pokemon on the team. With all being said, struggling to put coverage moves is one of the biggest charms of Monotype runs, and the Psychic-type is still an easy type to do Monotype runs on in Paldea.

In terms of stat distributions, Psychic-type Pokemon have historically excelled in special stats. Indeed, most offensive Psychic-type Pokemon found in Scarlet/Violet tend to be special attackers. Thanks to physical powerhouses, such as Gallade and Bruxish, as well as the commonly learned Psyshock, special walls are not going to be major issues. Psychic-type teams can even further power up their offenses by Indeedee’s Psychic Surge, which would probably be one of the best uses of Ability Patches unlocked after beating the base game. Offense has never been an issue for Psychic-type Pokemon, but their defenses are another story. Opposing special attackers are nothing to worry about, since most Psychic-type Pokemon have naturally good Special Defense and accesses to Calm Mind for a reliable boost. On the other hand, there are only 3 Psychic-type Pokemon with over 100 Defense in the entire Paldea region. Along with the fact that Dark-type offenses usually come from the physical side, building a team that doesn’t fall to powerful physical attackers like Roaring Moon is the difficult part. Support moves like Reflect will be crucial, and they are learned by many Psychic-type Pokemon. Luckily, the three physical bulky options, Bronzong, Armarouge and Slowbro, all synergize well with their Psychic-type teammates and will prove themselves to be valuable additions to Psychic-type teams.

The Teal Mask expansion is pretty dull for a mono-Psychic team, as the only new additions are Chimecho and Munkidori, which are not bad but have their own issues. Your main rivals in Kitakami also become competitive quite quickly, which make their Bug or Dark-type Pokemon big threats in the late stage of Wave 1. Hence, building defenses against Bug and Dark becomes a much more important assignment for a Psychic-type team. Comes the Indigo Disk expansion, Psychic-type teams gain important Pokemon, like Metagross and Galarian Slowtwins. Luckily, the shift to Double Battles works out quite well for Psychic-type Pokemon, as their screens, terrains and Trick Room tactics are all more effective in Double Battles. It is unfortunate Psychic-type Pokemon don’t really benefit from weather effects, but certain individual Pokemon can work well under sun or rain, which will prove to be helpful against the strong trainers found in the Blueberry Academy.

After nine generations of ups and downs, Psychic-type Pokemon still hold a strong place in the Pokemon series, evident in the fact that building a mono-Psychic team doesn’t really feel like a handicap. With strong Pokemon available in Scarlet/Violet games and their fruitful movepools ranging from attacks to support moves, Psychic-type Pokemon can prove their strengths by working together to overcome their fears.

After this, I'll be going through my thoughts on individual Psychic-type Pokemon. I haven't been writing too many of them, so expect them to be updated in a rather slow pace. Thank you and I'll see you next time!:blobwizard:
 
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Ralts, the Feeling Pokemon
“A Pokemon that feeds on positive emotions from humans around it. It will run out of energy quickly if it detects hostility.”

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Kirlia, the Emotion Pokemon
“Wild Kirlia gather in groups to generate happy emotions by dancing around together. If it becomes unhappy, it will use its horns to create alternate dimensions.”

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Gardevoir, the Embrace Pokemon
“Gardevoir is willing to sacrifice its life just to gather food for its trainer. In certain regions, it is believed that a well-cared-for Gardevoir can unlock an even stronger psychic power.”

At this point, the Ralts family has perhaps overtaken the Abra family as the face of Psychic-type Pokemon, considering Ralts has been available as an early-game option in every game since the Dexit incident. In the Paldea region, Ralts is one of the earliest Psychic or Fairy-type Pokemon found, available before trainers can even reach their schools. Ralts will start off quite weak thanks to its poor stats, but they suffice for an early adventure since the Feeling Pokemon will keep learning useful attacks of its types. For those who do not want to be stuck with Ralts until Level 20, Kirlia can be found around Level 20-40 in other provinces. While Kirlia caught later will miss out on EVs from early game, they are also better equipped for Pokemon battles thanks to Kirlia’s actually usable Special Attack. For trainers who wish to use Pokemon with non-standard Tera-types, a Kirlia with Tera-Fire can be caught at Level 28 in East Provicne Area Three, which should be just in time before Kirlia unlocks full potential and enters its final stage. All Kirlia can evolve into Gardevoir by levelling up to Level 30, a pretty simple requirement considering how strong Gardevoir is, or else trainers would need to find wild Gardevoir residing in the Glaseado Mountain. Male Kirlia can go another pathway by using Dawn Stones picked up at East Province Area Three to evolve into the Psychic/Fighting Gallade, which is also earlier than most of its competitors.

As one of the most well-known Pokemon on the Internet, Gardevoir is perhaps one of the most used Pokemon in the entire Paldea. Naturally, Gardevoir delivers by being a promising special attacker. Gardevoir’s most notable attribute, aside from its bewitchingly humanoid body shape, is its impressive base 125 Special Attack. Gardevoir’s gorgeous Psychic/Fairy-typing means its STAB moves cover pretty much everything besides Steel-type Pokemon, which can be taken advantage of due to their generally low Special Defense. Even better, Paldea has a lack of special attackers, and Gardevoir easily stands out among its competitors. For Psychic-type, it only loses to the single-typed Espeon and the slow Hatterene, which cannot possibly catch up to Gardevoir’s good base 80 Speed. In the Fairy-type competition, there are several powerful special attackers available once Area Zero opens up, but Gardevoir is still one of the best early to mid-game options. In fact, Gardevoir being so good is a major reason why other Psychic or Fairy-type Pokemon aren’t considered to be used. Outside of its reliable offensive output, Gardevoir also has a decent 68/115 special bulk that goes along well with the defensive niches brought by its Fairy-typing. Gardevoir isn’t a solid wall, but it matches well against most special attackers, especially Dragon-type Pokemon. Its base 65 Defense is downright unfortunate, as its weaknesses to Poison, Ghost and Steel often come from the physical side of the spectrum. Gardevoir mostly has a bad time against the Ghost-type Gym Leader and the Steel-type Elite Four but is at least decent in pretty much everything else. With how good Gardevoir’s types go together, it doesn’t always want to shred its dual typing with Terastallization. However, both Tera-Psychic and Tera-Fairy give Gardevoir a wonderful offense boost, further strengthening it to a higher power level. Tera-Fairy is particularly helpful when Gardevoir needs to get out of bad Ghost or Dark-type matchups and is generally a better defensive typing. As previously mentioned, Gardevoir can come with Tera-Fire, which is mostly useful when fighting Steel-type and Bug-type Pokemon. It is a shame Gardevoir’s abilities are not overpoweredly strong, but they are not bad either. Trace is largely matchup dependent, but copying an immunity ability or simply Intimidate can both be incredibly helpful in patching up Gardevoir’s poor Defense. Synchronize has an even more limited use, since most status conditions come from Pokemon that are immune to them. Do not even consider Telepathy as an option, since Gardevoir wants nothing from the only Double Battles found in Paldea. Overall, Gardevoir is shaping to be a simple special attacker with a good STAB combo, which is only half of its strength.

Game Freak really went out of their way to make sure Gardevoir will be useful enough in single-player adventures. Gardevoir starts off with the simple Confusion and Disarming Voice as a Ralts but will then keep upgrading its STAB moves through levelling up. While it has a noticeable gap during Level 20-30s, Gardevoir will have Psychic and Moonblast by Level 49, allowing it to wreak havoc during the late game. During the generation shift, many Pokemon lost access to Mystical Fire, while Gardevoir doesn’t only keep the move but even manages to add that move to the Move Reminder list. These three moves are enough to hit everything not named Armarouge for at least neutral damage, which frees Gardevoir’s fourth slot for any support options it wants. Hypnosis induces the powerful sleep condition and makes use of Gardevoir’s Trace while catching Pokemon. Charm is another effective way to weaken foes, while Calm Mind goes well with Gardevoir’s naturally high Special stats. Later down the line, Dream Eater and Future Sight are both powerful Psychic-type moves that can be a little difficult to utilize at times. When Gardevoir has such a sufficient level-up movepool, it doesn’t really need TMs, but there are still plenty of good moves there. Psyshock is Gardevoir’s best way to damage special walls and will be especially helpful when grinding against Blissey or Chansey. Focus Blast and Aura Sphere cover Gardevoir’s issues against Steel-type Pokemon. Shadow Ball grants Gardevoir the perfect coverage thanks to it hitting opposing Psychic-type Pokemon, like Armarouge. Thunderbolt and Energy Ball can work well as a secondary coverage option, since they are effective against bulky Water-type Pokemon, such as the final Titan. Gardevoir continues to expand its support options with TMs, with dual screens and Thunder Wave both being helpful against tough foes. Will-O-Wisp is an incredible option to wear down foes and buff Gardevoir’s Defense at the same time. Gardevoir doesn’t have the widest movepool in the world, but it very much has all the tools it can possibly need. The fact that its dual STABs work so well with Mystical Fire should be enough to justify a place on teams. In fact, it feels like Game Freak intended players to choose Gardevoir for Psychic or Fairy options, since everything lines up perfectly for it, pathing a successful journey in the Paldea journey.


Gardevoir’s secondary Fairy-typing has been a huge advantage over other Psychic-type Pokemon thanks to it taking neutral damage from Bug and Dark-type moves. In Kitakami, Gardevoir starts out promising, as it fight well against your main rivals, even facing dangerous Pokemon like Yanmega or Shiftry. However, once the story moves to the Titan battles against the Loyal Three, Gardevoir’s weakness to Poison becomes its one Archille’s heels. While Psychic will be a powerful attack against Fezandipiti and especially Okidogi, Gardevoir is unlikely to knock out these titans in one hit and would not be able to take any physical hits from them in return. It struggles even more against the specially bulky Munkidori who isn’t even weak to Psychic. Gardevoir will then have a suboptimal fight against Ogerpon as well, since the fierce ogre excels in physical attacks. At least Gardevoir is decent in clearing the Ogre Clan fights, since none of the clan members focus on Poison or Steel-type offenses. Gardevoir mostly has a forgettable trip in Kitakami, as it doesn’t even gain any new good moves, but we can rest assured that it cannot be any worse than this.

Gardevoir itself didn’t change much upon arriving the Blueberry Academy. It regained Expanding Force, a Psychic-type move that outpowers Psychic in Psychic Terrain. The newly added Alluring Voice and Psychic Noise are both neat options with their own support uses, but that’s pretty much it. The biggest change in the Indigo Disk expansion is, of course, a shift to Double Battles. Gardevoir can now run Dazzling Gleam as its Fairy-STAB to hit both of its opponents at the same time. On the other hand, Gardevoir itself is not weak to any widespread moves and is pretty good at taking them thanks to a good Special Defense. Naturally, Gardevoir proves to be the most useful against the Dragon-type user in the academy, whose Pokemon struggle to take Gardevoir’s brutal Moonblast. However, the Blueberry Academy also introduces a hefty level of powercreep, which means Gardevoir’s bulk is not as impressive as before. Its base 80 Speed is now also falling behind, which means Gardevoir doesn’t get to outspeed that many dangerous Pokemon. Gardevoir particularly has a hard time in the fight against the Steel-type trainer and many other random physical threats. To make things worse, Gardevoir’s Trace is harder to utilize in Double Battles, which is why it may want to switch to Telepathy for pairing up with Earthquake users. Adapting to the harsh environment around it, Gardevoir finds a new supporting role using Icy Wind and dual screens to help its teammates, being the guard its Pokedex entries describe it to be. It continues to struggle in the Area Zero expedition, since the big boss Pokemon barely outspeeds Gardevoir. During the Epilogue, Gardevoir still does not want to face Poison-type Pokemon but does well in the fights against your friends. While Gardevoir is definitely not as good as it is in the base game, Gardevoir’s great attributes still hold and solidify its spot as one of the better Psychic or Fairy-type Pokemon to be used in the Pokemon Scarlet/Violet games.

Honourable Mentions
Special: Tera Blast, Hyper Beam
Status: Misty Terrain, Healing Wish, Wish, Substitute, Encore, Taunt, Psychic Terrain, Trick Room


A team of only Psychic-type Pokemon will likely struggle against Dark-type Pokemon, which is why Gardevoir is an essential component in a mono-Psychic run. In one team slot, Gardevoir provides an offensive solution to Dark, a defensive answer to Bug and Dark, as well as coverage options to handle Psychic and Steel. Gardevoir is already a great Pokemon to use on its own, and there are not many reasons why trainers would not want to use it in a mono-Psychic team. It does need to compete with fellow Fairy-type Pokemon, Hatterene and Scream Tail, but Gardevoir is the easiest one to use with a great balance between offensive power and speed. Gardevoir synergizes well with most of its teammates, since it doesn’t stack too many weaknesses with them. It works particularly well with the Ghost-immune Farigiraf and Wyrdeer, forming a powerful defensive core with the latter’s Intimidate. Just like in a regular playthrough, Gardevoir’s stellar performance will drop a bit in the DLC areas, but it is still a solid Pokemon for a mono-Psychic team nonetheless.
 
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“It can predict where its foes are moving and land its blade precisely. There are numerous tales of Gallade helping those in need.”

Gallade is potentially the Pokemon that received the most buffs in Generation IX, to the point it feels like a completely different Pokemon to use. First and foremost, Gallade gained the new Sharpness ability, which gives its blade moves an incredible 50% power boost. Gallade has always been a promising physical attacker with its base 125 Attack, but over the years, its power has become less impressive after generations of powercreep. Sharpness is the perfect gift Gallade could’ve asked for, since its slicing moves are already pretty strong to begin with. As a Psychic/Fighting-type Pokemon, Gallade makes great use of its STAB combination to slice through most Pokemon in Paldea. Being a Psychic-type Pokemon that can threaten Steel-type Pokemon and a Fighting-type Pokemon that does not worry about Poison, Gallade finds itself plenty of targets to hit with. Offensively, Gallade mostly struggles against fellow Psychic-type, but it is an easy problem to solve. Gallade’s defensive profile is a little bit of a mixed bag. On the plus side, Gallade has an impressive 68/115 special bulk built for tanking special hits. Having only three weaknesses, Gallade’s base 65 Defense isn’t too unreliable either, giving it the ability to take hits on both fronts. Unfortunately, its weakness to physical Flying-type Pokemon can be difficult to work with against the plethora of bird Pokemon flying around. While Gallade has two useful resistances to Fighting and Rock, it is also more likely forced to eat neutral hits, further limiting its longevity especially on the physical side. Furthermore, as previously mentioned, Gallade’s go-to ability is Sharpness, which has zero defensive uses. It would not want to stick with Steadfast or Justified, as those abilities are rather situational. At the end, as expected, Gallade will be going full offensive despite having an alright defensive capability. Finally, it should be noted that Gallade enjoys the introduction of Terastallization. Its only STAB Tera-type is Psychic, which further pumps up the power of its Psychic-type moves while maintaining strong Fighting-type moves to use on Psychic-immune Pokemon. Interestingly, Gallade can keep Tera-Fairy from its pre-evolutions. Due to a lack of compatible moves, Tera-Fairy is mostly used for gaining an all-round defensive typing. At the very least, Gallade’s natural STAB moves are super effective on Poison and Steel, synergizing well with its Fairy Tera-type. Similarly, catching the wild Tera Kirlia gives Gallade an option for Tera-Fire, which is just helpful as an additional defensive choice. Overall, thanks to its promising offenses and a workable bulk, Gallade will have an easy time in most of the Treasue Hunt other than the Ghost, Psychic, Fairy and Flying trainers.

As if having a brand-new ability is not enough of a boost, Gallade received even more buffs in terms of moves. Upon evolution, which can be as early as Level 20, Gallade would have access to Sacred Sword, Night Slash, Leaf Blade, Aqua Cutter, Aerial Ace, Slash and Fury Cutter, which are all boosted by Sharpness. The most notable one is, of course, the newly gained Sacred Sword, which is effectively a base 135 power move in addition to STAB. This one singular move is going to be enough for every enemy that is not Ghost-type until at least level forty-something. The only issue Gallade suffers is that it won’t have good Psychic-type moves to use until Psycho Cut at Level 42. A small price to pay considering how good Gallade will be after that level, but a pity it won’t be useful against the Poison-type trainer. After picking up the X-Scissor TM, Gallade would be able to upgrade its Bug-type coverage to a much stronger move and round off its perfect Psychic/Fighting/Bug coverage. Alternatively, Gallade can run Night Slash instead as the third move. While it is slightly weaker in base power, it finds more super effective targets against Ghost or Psychic and has a better chance of landing critical hits. Since Gallade only needs three moves for effective coverage, its final moveslot is free to run anything it wants. Leaf Blade is useful for finding extra super effective targets. Sharpness is such a good ability that Earthquake and Stone Edge are second-tier choices, but they are still effective thanks to their naturally high power. Swords Dance at Level 35 is obviously good for a physical attacker, even though Gallade does not really need the Attack boosts. False Swipe is useless in trainer battles but fantastic in catching Pokemon. Gallade absolutely enjoys its Paldean journey, as it is able to fit on teams easily with its new buffs. From fighting time-travelling Pokemon to recruiting local Pokemon, there is almost nothing Gallade cannot do, making it an immensely successful generation shift for the Blade Pokemon.


Nothing much changed for Gallade when it moves to the Kitakami region. Its only notable move gain is Solar Blade, which is much stronger than Leaf Blade but mostly requires sun support. In terms of matchups, it is a Psychic-type Pokemon that does not worry about the multiple Dark-type Pokemon from the local siblings, but Kieran’s Flying-type Pokemon can prove to be quite troublesome. In theory, Gallade is an amazing offensive answer to all of the Loyal Pokemon, but it is likely going to underspeed the trio and is forced to eat their nasty poison-inducing attacks. Gallade’s low Defense means that it won’t be too useful against Ogerpon, except a super effective hit in its third phase. Its poor physical bulk and mediocre speed will become more of an issue for trainers who want to defeat the Ogre Clan members. Things are not really looking great for Gallade, but Kitakami is a rough region for many Pokemon, so it should’t be too surprising.

Gallade’s great traits still stand in the Indigo Disk expansion, while it gains several new ones as well. It has always been able to learn Knock Off, but the move can finally be fully utilized since trainers in the Blueberry Academy may run held items. Similarly, Quick Guard and Wide Guard were previously rather niche but became some of the best moves in the Double Battle setting. Unfortunately, Gallade isn’t too well-built for Double Battles other than these buffs. Thanks to its lack of resistances, it is often tasked to tank too many big hits. Its special bulk struggles to handle consecutive widespread moves like Blizzard or Discharge spams. It does have Wide Guard to defend against these moves, but it does not always want to click that as it is, after all, focused on strong offense. Gallade hates the increased bulk around the Blueberry Academy, but its incredibly sharp blades will still be very powerful. Sacred Sword and Psycho Cut for the most part will suffice as main attacks, but Gallade’s coverage options start to dim a little bit. Gallade itself also does not get to utilize widespread moves, which makes it even slower as an attacker on top of the fact that its base 80 Speed is now below standard. That being said, Gallade will do fine in the Canyon and the Polar Biomes, with the former featuring a boss battle that Gallade excels in. The Fairy-type Elite Four, on the other hand, is a trainer Gallade wants to avoid at all costs. Its dual STAB options will be useful against the Blueberry Champion, but that battle is pretty tough in general. Gallade will continue to struggle in the Area Zero revisit, as it just happens to be a tad bit slower than the big boss Pokemon and lacks natural Tera-types to do meaningful damage. At least Gallade can return to comfort in the Epilogue, since there are multiple battles where its STAB moves will prove to be incredible including but not limited to your final rival match. Gallade’s performance certainly dropped in the Scarlet/Violet DLC, but that naturally happens when you set the bar high in the base game. Gallade is very much still a good Pokemon to use and brings fresh experience even for veteran trainers who have used this Pokemon before. Sometimes, little buffs can completely change a Pokemon, and Gallade is perhaps the living proof of that.


A mono-Psychic team needs answers to Dark-type and Steel-type, which is why Gallade’s Fighting-typing is so desirable for such a team. Offensively speaking, Gallade’s Sacred Sword and X-Scissor/Night Slash can cover up everything that resists Psychic, all in one teamslot. Gallade can even be tasked to take Bug and Dark-type moves, though it isn’t too good at either of those. Since many other Psychic-type Pokemon are special attackers, Gallade’s ability to deal physical damage is also crucial to break special walls. The main issue with Gallade is that it needs to compete with Medicham, who shares many of Gallade’s good traits, but the two psychic fighters can sometimes even go together for maximum coverage. Gallade fits on teams easily, simply thanks to its strong Sacred Sword working so well with other Psychic-type Pokemon. Occasionally, Gallade will miss out on key battles that it struggles with, but otherwise, it will often serve as an all-around physical attacker if no other Pokemon can fit the bill. Overall, Gallade’s interesting typing has led to a fruitful experience in the Pokemon Scarlet/Violet games, and it finds similar success in a Psychic Monotype setting as well.

Honourable Mentions
Physical: Tera Blast (With Tera Fairy or Fire), Giga Impact, Shadow Claw, Ice Punch, Thunder Punch, Fire Punch, Shadow Sneak, Bulldoze, Triple Axel (ID), Upper Hand (ID)
Status: Hypnosis, Will-O-Wisp, Thunder Wave, Reflect, Light Screen, Substitute
 
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“Drowzee comes out at night to devour dreams. If it finds a tasty dream to eat, it will sometimes leave berries for its dream-eaten victim."

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“Hypno uses its pendulum to hypnotize people and eat their dreams. Sometimes, if it is feeling angry, it may show its victim horrifying nightmares.”

There are two Psychic-type Pokemon available before trainers get to their academies. For trainers who are looking for something creepier and more disturbing than Ralts, Drowzee can be found in the ruins area. Drowzee starts off promising, having one of the best Special Defense among all of the available Pokemon in the area. Its offense is not amazing, but that won’t be a big issue when everything around is so weak. Besides, Drowzee will keep learning useful attacks like Headbutt and Psybeam. The best attribute of Drowzee is probably its access to Hypnosis and Poison Gas, two useful ways of inducing status conditions. Drowzee is not too bad to use, but it is overall quite passive and is useful for tanking hits only. Drowzee’s big upgrade will come at Level 26, which is not too late for such an early defensive Pokemon. With a solid beginning, Drowzee’s evolution, Hypno, needs a lot to meet up to expectations.

If you are expecting Hypno to be good, you are in a rude awakening. Hypno’s best attribute lies in its amazing base 115 Special Defense. Coupled with the good base 85 HP, Hypno can easily sponge special hits left and right without taking that much damage. While its base 70 Defense is not as impressive, Hypno isn’t too physically frail either, which means it suffices as a well-rounded wall. Hypno can often take several super effective hits from the special side while still having enough bulk to take an emergency physical blow. Hypno’s mono-Psychic typing works fine defensively, thanks to the Bug-type and the Dark-type trainer having low-levelled Pokemon in their initial matches. Hypno’s only issue in the Treasure Hunt is the Ghost-type trainer whose ace Pokemon is a special attacker with weak moves. Hypno works well as a general wall, but it does not seem to do much other than that. With horrible base 73 offenses, Hypno is a massive momentum sink that does no damage even if it happens to run into super effective targets. Its mono-typing does not help either, since Hypno’s STAB moves are only good on Poison-type and Fighting-type Pokemon. As a wall, Hypno also does not stand out too much from its competitors. Its base 67 Speed is uninteresting, to say the least, and often leads to Hypno taking multiple hits before it makes progress on the opposing team. When many other defensive Pokemon get to abuse their abilities, Hypno is stuck with Insomnia, Forewarn and Inner Focus. Insomnia is passable for fighting Yawn or Effect Spore users, while Forewarn can be helpful in a Nuzlocke setting, but overall, these three abilities leave Hypno with no niches over other Pokemon. Full defensive teams would prefer having Pokemon with more tools like Regenerator or a typing with more resistances. Balanced teams can choose Pokemon having worse defense in exchange for better offensive output. There are indeed not many reasons why anyone would specifically want to run Hypno on the team. Even though it has an overall good matchup in the Treasure Hunt, it still won’t do great against strong opponents like those seen in Area Zero. Finally, it should be noted that Hypno is not a good Tera-user, since Tera-Psychic has no defensive utility and still would not fix Hypno’s terrible offenses. Hypno is a Pokemon that started off mediocre in Gen I and has gone even further down throughout generations, which is just a proof of how cruel powercreep can be.

As a Pokemon revolving around the concept of dream-eating, Hypno is built for using the move Dream Eater. However, before looking into Hypno’s full moveset, trainers should be aware of the fact that Hypno cannot learn Dream Eater despite the move existing in the game. Losing access to its strongest and most signature move, Hypno is left with less desirable but still decent choices. First of all, the only thing holding Hypno’s defensive niches together is its access to status conditions, when so many other walls lost key moves like Toxic. Hypno’s main weapons are still Hypnosis and Poison Gas. The former can potentially put dangerous foes to a complete stop, while the latter compensates for Hypno’s lack of offenses by providing passive damage. It is a shame these two conditions cannot go together, but running both moves allows Hypno to make flexible choices. For a second layer of annoyance, Hypno can add Disable and Swagger to further disrupt its targets, though relying on the RNG-based Swagger is most definitely not ideal. Hypno is still going to need some attacking moves to fill out its slots. Psychic or Zen Headbutt will be its main STAB choices, depending which attack category it wants to focus on. Hex works well with Hypno’s status moves. Foul Play in theory works but often falls short since opponents do not run Attack investments. Drain Punch is the only form of recovery bar Rest, but its healing capacity is severely limited by Hypno’s poor Attack. Offensively speaking, Hypno is one of the few lucky Pokemon that learns Nasty Plot from levelling-up and does not require completing a long quest to learn that move. However, boosting Hypno is slow and ineffective. Finally, Hypno can support its teammates with standard Psychic-type options, namely dual screens and Trick Room. Hypno’s moveset is actually not too bad, with it having moves that other Pokemon desire for. However, Hypno simply does not have what it takes to utilize these moves, and others can usually make things work despite having a slightly narrower movepool. To put it mildly, Hypno is not recommended to be used in any serious Paldean Treasure Hunts, as pretty much every other Psychic-type Pokemon would do its job better. Hypno dreams of being good in adventures, but Game Freak just decides to cruelly devour its dream.


Most Pokemon end up being worse in Kitakami than in Paldea, and Hypno has no ways out to escape from this horrible fate. Your rivals become faster and more aggressive throughout your visit, which means Hypno’s bulk is going to be less impressive, not to mention the fact that their Pokemon often run moves good against Psychic. The Loyal Three are immune to Poison Gas, use Hypno as a setup fodder, and ruin Hypno’s defensive capability with their Toxic Chain. The fearsome ogre is a physical attacker and completely destroys Hypno before it can swing its pendulum. At least Hypno gains Haze and Toxic, which are useful in stalling out setup opponents, but again, Hypno does not accomplish much other than that. To the surprise of absolutely nobody, Hypno is pretty darn bad in the Teal Mask expansion.

At this point, trainers either have boxed Hypno forever or will be keeping one until Generation XV drops. For stubborn trainers who fall into the latter category, Hypno is at least somewhat justifiable in the Indigo Disk expansion. It adores Double Battles, since Poison Gas and screens are now doubly effective. It is also now slow enough to be a good Trick Room setter and abuser, with Inner Focus blocking Fake Out attempts. Do not be fooled by these "upgrades" as there are no good matchups for Hypno in Blueberry Academy, Deeper Area Zero and Kitakami combined, leaving even fewer reasons to use Hypno over its competitors. Hypno needs strong buffs, and Scarlet/Violet are simply not the games to let the Hypnosis Pokemon shine.


As a mono-Psychic Pokemon, Hypno offers nothing to a team of other Psychic-type Pokemon. Its status conditions are still interesting but not enough to justify a teamslot. When there are so many other good Psychic-type Pokemon to use, choosing Hypno is just making the challenge run even more challenging. Unnecessary.

Honourable Mentions that are not even that honourable
Special: Focus Blast, Shadow Ball, Psychic Noise (ID)
Physical: Elemental Punches
Status: Thunder Wave, Taunt, Encore, Curse (ID)
 
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Oricorio, the Dancing Pokemon, Pa’u Style
“This form of Oricorio can turn pink nectar into psychic energy. Its slow and relaxing steps have inspired many meditation trainers around the world.”

The Paldea region is based on Spain, a place well known for its passionate dances. Hence, it should not be too surprising to find the Dancing Pokemon, Oricorio, inhabiting the Paldea region. Oricorio can rarely be found as early as Level 5 in its Pom-Pom Style before the Mesagoza Gate. Trainers can also wait until they reach Artazon for a better chance to find Baile Oricorio that are also higher levelled. Regardless, for players who specifically want Oricorio in the Pa’u Style, the Pink Nectar is only available to trainers with at least 3 Gym Badges. Thus, Oricorio-Pa’u is available around Level 20s, which is acceptable as an early mid-game option.

Oricorio is well known for having rare and interesting typings as a Flying-type Pokemon. In the case of the Pa’u Style, it is actually the only Psychic/Flying-type Pokemon in the entire Scarlet/Violet games without the use of Pokemon Home. Unfortunately, uniqueness doesn’t prevent said typing from being overshadowed by other Oricorio typings. In single-player adventures, having too many weaknesses is not a good sign, and Oricorio-Pa’u has five, the highest number among all Oricorio forms. In addition to regular Flying-type weaknesses, Oricorio-Pa’u is also weak to Ghost and Dark, which result in the pink dancing bird taking super effective hits from common coverage moves. Oricorio-Pa’u’s defensive profile isn’t horrible per se, but it is entirely outclassed by its siblings, who all have better sets of resistances. The competition isn’t much better in terms of offensive uses either. Due to an overlap of super effective targets, Oricorio-Pa’u only hits four types for super effective damage. The only type Pa’u can hit that its siblings cannot is Poison, which is neat but obscure. Yet again, the other Oricorio forms simply have better synergies between their primary and secondary typings, making them superior in almost every fight. At the end of the day, Oricorio-Pa’u has alright matchups in most important battles but is chosen over in favour of other Oricorio forms which offer superior coverage. Since Oricorio-Pa’u cannot hope to compete with its family members, it instead fights for a slot with other Psychic-type Pokemon. Oricorio is a mediocre special attacker with base 98 Special Attack and a promising base 93 Speed, but it is nothing too special when compared to strong Psychic-type Pokemon like Espeon or even Espathra. The fact that none of its stats hit 100 means Oricorio-Pa’u is most likely looked over and does not justify a position on most teams. The Dancer ability is neat and fun but also too unreliable most of the time. Finally, while Oricorio-Pa’u has an interesting selection of Tera-Electric, Fire and Flying naturally, it still isn’t the best Tera-user among its forms. Overall, Oricorio-Pa’u is just a living proof that Psychic and Flying do not go too well together, and the negatives do not even end here.

While Oricorio has an incredibly interesting gimmick of transforming between its forms, its ever-changing typing also causes a major issue in its moveset. Oricorio will be learning many Flying-type moves, one singular primary-STAB attack and less than five coverage moves. On the plus side, Oricorio will never run out of Flying-type moves, with Air Cutter, Air Slash and eventually Hurricane all learned through levelling-up or TMs. On the other hand, Oricorio-Pa’u will have only one Psychic-type attack, Revelation Dance, learned at Level 40, which means it completely misses the one occasion where you want to have a Psychic-type Oricorio, the Poison-type boss fight. While Revelation Dance is a strong move, it is no stronger than Psychic, the go-to special STAB move used by most other Psychic-type Pokemon. To make matters worse, Oricorio-Pa’u has only two usable coverage moves: the weak Icy Wind with a cool Speed drop effect and the non-Tera Tera Blast for Normal-type damage. The poor offensive movepool is such a shame, since Oricorio gains the incredible Quiver Dance through the use of Mirror Herb in this generation. However, with an average bulk and subpar offensive coverage, Oricorio-Pa’u is not a good user of this move, and it would be better to be equipped on other Oricorio forms for a superior use of the stat boosts. Because of that, Oricorio-Pa’u is forced to focus on support options, which it has plenty of. Baton Pass is a great way to transfer your boosts since Pa’u isn’t going to be abuse Quive Dance itself. Setting up Tailwind for the team can be helpful for slower teammates, as Oricorio gets U-turn for a swift return as well. It can even be a decent Rain Dance user, since it can take advantage of the rain for a perfectly accurate Hurricane. To put it mildly, Oricorio-Pa’u has a messy movepool, with its offense and support options going nowhere useful. It feels like Game Freak carefully plans the other three Oricorio forms to be neat and helpful but completely sh*ts on Pa’u by giving it a suboptimal typing. While Oricorio is an alright Pokemon to use for Treasue Hunts in Paldea, trainers are advised not to feed their birds with Pink Nectar, for good reasons.


Oricorio-Pa’u is inherently inferior to its other forms, and this is unlikely to change when it comes to other regions. Upon arrival at the Kitakami village, trainers will be facing many Ghost, Dark and Bug-type Pokemon or users of their moves. As a result, Oricorio-Pa’u is yet again the worst Oricorio to use in these trainer battles, offering next to zero good matchups. The good thing is, the toxic Loyal Three share a Poison-typing, something Oricorio-Pa’u likes to see. At the very least, Oricorio-Pa’u is a great choice against Okidogi and Fezandipiti, striking super effective Revelation Dance on the both of them. However, its advantage over other Oricorio is quite minor, since all of them can hit Okidogi with a powerful Hurricane, and Oricorio-Sensu even has a resistance to Poison, something that Pa’u cannot achieve. Oricorio-Pa’u still ends up quite forgettable in the land of Kitakami, with it unable to do much against Ogerpon and gaining no exciting moves. The Loyal Three battles are where Pa’u will ever peak, and they will serve as consolation prizes for the poor hula dancing bird.

Oricorio adores Double Battles, as it seems to have so many tools designed to be utilized in Doubles. First of all, the previously situational Dancer can now be abused by pairing Oricorio with a dancing teammate. If Oricorio and its teammate both use Quiver Dance, then Oricorio would achieve +2 in Special Attack, Special Defense and Speed in one turn. Even better yet, pairing two Oricorio together is extremely effective in both boosting stats and dealing damage with Revelation Dance. Even if it’s not paired with another Oricorio, Oricorio still appreciates teammtes that set up rain or simply provide defensive support. Speaking of support, Oricorio itself is also a decent user of Tailwind thanks to its good damage output. Oricorio certainly does not enjoy the powercreep and the defensecreep found in the Blueberry Academy, but it is often just fast enough to pull of whatever tricks inside its pockets. However, Oricorio-Pa’u, in particular, still has one major flaw, which is that it is still entirely outclassed by its siblings. Even though all Oricorio enjoy the same buffs, there are almost no reasons to choose Pa’u over the other forms, since the other forms of Oricorio are just better at utilizing their gifts. Even worse, Oricorio-Pa’u has no good type matchups in important battles, and Pom Pom is usually the preferred form against random trainers. The same problem persists in the Area Zero expedition trip, as Sensu and Pom Pom can both use their primary STAB to threaten the big boss Pokemon in one of the phases. Things are slightly better in the Epilogue, as Pa’u has Psychic-type moves to hit the plenty Poison-type Pokemon around. Still, it is often a better idea to keep Oricorio in other forms for an all-around defensive capability. It is a shame Oricorio-Pa’u will probably stay outclassed in every game, as it is unlikely to appear without its siblings alongside. However, Pa’u is far away from unusable, which is a lot better than some of the other Pokemon found in the Scarlet/Violet games or its DLC.


The Psychic-type is well known for its focus on special moves. Naturally, a mono-Psychic team is going to be full of special attackers. Unfortunately for Oricorio-Pa’u, its passable Special Attack is nothing special when there are so many other powerful attackers available. While having Quiver Dance is awesome, pretty every much other special attackers has Calm Mind, which isn’t that much worse than Quiver Dance when used on something with a better natural offensive power. Since Oricorio has no useful coverage moves, it mostly uses Flying-typing moves for hitting Bug-type and Grass-type Pokemon, both are accomplished by the amazing Armarouge’s Fire-type attacks. Defensive speaking, having a Ground-immunity is nice, but Levitate Bronzong makes sure Oricorio won’t have the slightest defensive niche. Even if trainers really want a Flying-type Pokemon, connecting to Hisui for Braviary-H will end up being a better move. It is really unfortunate that Oricorio-Pa’u escapes from its dancing siblings and still struggles to compete for a team slot, which tells us a lot how Psychic and Flying do not go well together.

Honourable Mentions
Status: Charm, Taunt, Sunny Day, Attract, Safeguard
 
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Spoink, the Bounce Pokemon
“A Spoink with a larger pearl on its head has stronger psychic powers. Sightings of this Pokemon around high-class restaurants are rare.”

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“If a Grumpig starts to dance in odd steps in front of you, it is trying to manipulate you to get it some food. At night, its pearls sometimes glow white.”

Whenever trainers talk about finding pigs in Paldea, most would immediately think of Lechonk, a Pokemon readily available at the start of every trainer’s journey. For those who are looking for a different kind of bacon pig companion, they can head east to find wild Spoink hanging by the cliffs. Recruited at around Level 10-17, Spoink will overtake Ralts as the strongest Psychic-type available for now thanks to its solid base Special stats and a good Speed. At this point of the game, Spoink has more than enough power and bulk to face most of the foes, even against some of the fully-evolved Pokemon around. With moves like Psybeam and Confuse Ray learned early on, Spoink does not need to worry about being too passive. Naturally, NFEs will eventually fall behind, so trainers should wait until Spoink hit Level 32 to evolve into Grumpig. It isn’t exactly an early evolution, but bringing Spoink up to that level shouldn’t be too difficult either, making Grumpig a viable long-term team member.

Grumpig is based on the Bible quote of casting ye pearls before swines, which is perhaps why the Manipulate Pokemon is chuck full of wisdom. Just like its pre-evolution, Grumpig excels at special stats with an even stronger focus on Special Defense. Grumpig makes for a solid special tank with its 80/110 special bulk that can sponge up pretty much all special hits you will face. While nowhere as impressive as its Special Defense, Grumpig’s base 65 Defense can still take a big physical hit if needed. What makes Grumpig stand out from other special walls is its interesting set of resistances brought by Thick Fat. Grumpig has a total of four resistances, useful for fighting Fire, Fighting, Ice or Psychic-type Pokemon, making it a helpful ally for Steel-type Pokemon. Grumpig’s defensive utility is far away from being unique, as other defensive Pokemon like Slowking or Armarouge share the same resistances. There are two main advantages for choosing Grumpig. First, Grumpig’s relative lack of weaknesses means it is easier to stuff on teams without needing to worry about stacking weaknesses. Second, since Thick Fat is not revealed to opponents, AIs can often be baited into using the not super effective Ice or Fire-type moves on Grumpig. As AIs are fully aware of the type chart and choose attacking moves with better effectiveness, Slowking or Amarouge’s type resistances cannot be abused this way. Thanks to that, Grumpig finds good niches at the end of the Treasure Hunt, having wonderful matchups against both the final Gym Leader and the final Team Star boss. It isn’t a top-tier pick for the Elite Four battles, but it is a decent choice yet again thanks to its hidden resistances to Ice and Fire. Grumpig isn’t just going to be a wall though, as its base 90 Special Attack is very much usable. It won’t be a special powerhouse, but its steady Psychic-type damage will make sure no offensive momentum is lost and often proves to be crucial for stalling out foes. Grumpig isn’t the fastest mon around with a base 80 Speed, but it should be more than enough to outspeed most regular foes. Grumpig is not the flashiest toy around Paldea, as it isn’t that great of a Tera-Psychic user, gaining basically nothing from it. Its main utility comes from Thick Fat, since Own Tempo and Gluttony are both inferior defensively. Overall, Grumpig isn’t the best pick for most trainers, but it will certainly fulfill its role as a Psychic-type special wall.

When it comes to movepool, Grumpig is full of options that are quirky but sufficient. As aforementioned, Spoink learns Psybeam early on, which will actually be Grumpig’s main STAB for a while. Psyshock at Level 42 and Psychic at Level 52 are unfortunately too late to wait for, unless trainers speed things up by using TMs for these moves. Otherwise, Grumpig might want to learn Extrasensory through the use of Mirror Herb. Grumpig’s Psychic-type moves are nothing non-ordinary, but its weirdness kicks in when it comes to non-STAB moves. Its access to Power Gem and Flash Cannon stands out among its competitor, especially since a TM for the latter can be found before trainers even reach the Stony Titan and these two moves pair well with Grumpig’s Thick Fat resistances to fight Ice or Fire-type Pokemon. Standard coverage moves like Focus Blast, Earth Power, Dazzling Gleam, Energy Ball and Shadow Ball are all still available, further expanding Gumpig’s offensive coverage by covering for Pokemon that resist Psychic. Belch requires a berry to be eaten first, but it shouldn’t be difficult to achieve once Sitrus Berries are unlocked or if used with Rest and Chesto Berry. Thanks to setup moves like Calm Mind and Nasty Plot, Grumpig can easily make use of its good bulk to boost itself into a special attacking menace. If Grumpig doesn’t feel like going offensive, its support movepool is equally wide. Confuse Ray and Teeter Dance come naturally for inflicting confusion, though they are always luck-reliant. Snarl and Light Screen strengthen Grumpig’s great special bulk, while Chilling Water and Reflect can be used to patch up Grumpig’s mediocre Defense. Last but not least, Icy Wind and Thunder Wave should be enough to slow down blazingly fast foes. It is surprising how Grumpig has one of the widest movepool in the games, which makes it highly customizable when it comes to important battles based on different types. It is a shame many of its moves are quite weak in base power and thus not the strongest attacks to use in most cases. However, make no mistakes, as Grumpig is more than enough to be a good special wall that functions well as a Psychic-type special attacker with a wide range of weapons to choose from, narrowly avoiding the cruel fate of being stuffed into a BLT sandwich.


Grumpig made its average-looking stats work in the Paldea region, but things are looking tough in the Kitakami region unlocked in the Teal Mask expansion. Firstly, your main rivals use several Pokemon that are good against Psychic and will become significantly stronger the deeper you progress into the story. Grumpig’s offense becomes much less impressive and starts to slow the team down. While its Psychic-typing seems good against the Loyal Three, it also does not have enough power to threaten them and can easily be overwhelmed by their juiced-up attacks. The ogre fight isn’t much better, since the masked heroine is physically oriented, aiming directly at Grumpig’s weak point. Similarly, the ogre clan battles feature strong Pokemon with wide coverage and isn’t something Grumpig likes to see. While everything around Grumpig becomes much stronger, the poor manipulative pig barely receives any new tools in this trip, gaining the physical Lunge as an alternative to buff its own Defense. Overall, Grumpig dislikes the Teal Mask experience, being mostly forgotten and overshadowed by its competitors.

The Indigo Disk introduces the Blueberry Academy and an even worse power level. At this point, Grumpig has no business using its special offense and will likely be outsped by most Pokemon. Somehow, Grumpig manages to manipulate its way and become a decent support Pokemon. The Blueberry Academy focus heavily on Double Battles, and it just so happens that Blizzard and Heat Wave are two of the strongest widespread moves in Double Battles. Combining Thick Fat and Grumpig’s mighty Special Defense, it is one of the best Pokemon to soak up multitarget special moves. Its movepool also assembles for an effective support set, with Snarl, Icy Wind and dual screens being wonderful moves to cover for Grumpig’s teammates. If Grumpig wants to power up its teammates, it can just run Helping Hand for a direct damage boost. Grumpig shines the brightest in the Fire-type elite battle and most of Polar Biome trainer battles. Even outside of these fights, there aren’t too many situations where Grumpig would be detrimental to put on teams, though it should always be aware of strong physical attackers. Grumpig’s fruitful utility comes to an end once trainers leave for the Area Zero expedition trip, since it is too slow and weak to threaten the boss Pokemon. Its support capability is also not needed in the Epilogue, since it won’t be able to synergize with your partner that well. Grumpig might have weak base stats that resemble a middle-stage Pokemon, but the stats go well together. It will likely never be the best choice for adventures, but it is a reliable special wall for those who decide to put the psychic pig on the team, a fate better than most.


Single-typed Pokemon struggle to find niches in monotype adventures, and Grumpig is no exception when it comes to mono-Psychic runs. Grumpig is still a neat pick thanks to its rare coverage options. Its Flash Cannon is one of the few moves that can threaten Fairy-type Pokemon, while Earth Power is always helpful for hitting Steel-type Pokemon that resist Psychic. Thick Fat also allows Grumpig to form defensive core with Levitate Bronzong, probably one of the best defensive Psychic-type Pokemon around. However, once more options open up, Grumpig struggles to justify a team slot when other Psychic-type Pokemon provide much more useful niches. Notably, the two Slowking forms are both specially bulky Pokemon with good coverage moves that do not need to worry about stacking weaknesses with other Psychic-type Pokemon. Yet again, Grumpig is not bad, but there aren’t too many reasons to put one on mono-Psychic teams when most Psychic-type Pokemon excel at Special Defense anyways. Unfortunate but that’s how the Pokemon world works.

Honourable Mentions:
Special: Mirror Coat, Stored Power, Grass Knot, Hyper Beam, Expanding Force (ID), Psychic Noise (ID)
Status: Taunt, Encore, Psychic Terrain
 
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