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[OVERVIEW]
* Palkia excels as a wallbreaker thanks to its mighty base 150 Special Attack and abundance of powerful STAB and coverage options. Very few defensive Pokemon can stand up to its powerful blows.
* Base 100 Speed places Palkia just ahead of many common Pokemon such as Primal Groudon, Xerneas, and Yveltal.
* Defensively, Palkia's typing and decent bulk enable it to check Primal Kyogre effectively. They also enable it to switch somewhat decently into Steel-types such as Celesteela and Necrozma-DM.
* However, a general lack of resistances means that Palkia's defensive utility is extremely limited outside of handling a few specific Pokemon.
* Because both of its STAB moves are blocked by very threatening Pokemon such as Primal Groudon and Xerneas, Palkia can be a hit-or-miss Pokemon in battle, as it depends very much on its attacks finding the correct mark.
* Palkia's lack of Speed-boosting options makes it extremely limited against offensive teams.
[SET]
name: All-out Attacker
move 1: Hydro Pump
move 2: Spacial Rend / Draco Meteor
move 3: Thunder
move 4: Focus Punch / Fire Blast
item: Life Orb
ability: Pressure
nature: Hasty / Mild
evs: 4 Atk / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
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* Hydro Pump is Palkia's most powerful option for a Water-type STAB move and is strong enough to cleanly OHKO offensive Ho-Oh and 2HKO Geomancy Xerneas. Furthermore, Hydro Pump threatens a 2HKO on most bulky Steel-types that may try to switch in on a Dragon-type move.
* Spacial Rend is the preferred option for a Dragon-type STAB move due to a good mix of power and consistency, destroying any opposing Dragon-type it touches. Even specially defensive Primal Groudon is 2HKOed after Stealth Rock damage.
* Draco Meteor, on the other hand, provides more burst damage for certain targets. It notably has a decent chance to OHKO offensive Primal Groudon after Stealth Rock damage.
* Thunder allows Palkia to reliably 2HKO Primal Kyogre and OHKO Celesteela after Stealth Rock damage. Thunder's paralysis chance also makes it a useful tool for Palkia to deal with Lugia.
* Focus Punch cleanly OHKOes Blissey, which can otherwise switch into Palkia with impunity. Focus Punch will also leave Ferrothorn in critical-enough health to be taken out by Hydro Pump next turn.
* Fire Blast can be used instead to cleanly OHKO Ferrothorn and do more damage to Steel-types in general. However, Palkia cannot beat Blissey without Focus Punch, highly limiting its effectiveness against most stall teams. Furthermore, Fire Blast does not outdamage Hydro Pump against Necrozma-DM, one of the most common Steel-types in the metagame, thanks to Prism Armor.
Set Details
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* Palkia's Special Attack is maximized to optimize damage output.
* Maximum Speed with a Hasty nature allows Palkia to outspeed all non-Choice Scarf variants of Xerneas and Yveltal and below without weakening Focus Punch.
* A Mild nature gives Palkia more power while still retaining the ability to outspeed Xerneas and Yveltal if they do not run a Speed-increasing nature themselves.
* If not using Focus Punch, a Timid or Modest nature can be used instead to leave Palkia's bulk intact.
* A Naive or Rash nature may also be used to help Palkia switch more comfortably into physical variants of Primal Kyogre and Sunsteel Strike from Necrozma-DM.
* Life Orb maximizes Palkia's offensive strength while retaining flexibility in move choice.
Usage Tips
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* Although Palkia can be switched directly into a Pokemon it checks, such as Primal Kyogre or Necrozma-DM, it is generally better brought into battle when it doesn't need to take a hit, such as after a teammate is KOed, on a double switch, or through the use of U-turn or Volt Switch. This helps conserve Palkia's HP, as it lacks many resistances to exploit.
* Scouting for certain threats such as Choice Scarf Xerneas or Arceus-Fairy can be helpful to ensure Palkia's attacks are not wasted.
* Switching into Palkia is a daunting prospect for the foe, but choosing which move it should use can be a bit tricky, as both Hydro Pump and Spacial Rend have common immunities. One can make a more informed choice by taking into consideration Palkia's teammates. For example, if Palkia has Xerneas as a teammate, the opponent may be more willing to risk their Fairy-type against Palkia instead of Primal Groudon, allowing you to act accordingly.
* Focus Punch is best saved for an anticipated switch to Blissey. Bear in mind that the opponent can scout for Focus Punch if Palkia tries to use it when Blissey is already on the field.
* Try not to let Palkia get statused, as it may cut its longevity too short to be truly effective against a defensive team.
Team Options
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* Primal Groudon and Necrozma-DM cover Palkia against Fairy-types and provide Stealth Rock support to help get targets such as Lugia into Palkia's KO range. Both are also effective at softening up support Arceus formes through Toxic or powerful attacks.
* Because Palkia excels against defensive teams but falters against offense, it appreciates teammates that help cover it against the latter matchup. Marshadow and Choice Scarf users such as Xerneas and Yveltal are excellent anti-offense Pokemon. Yveltal is also an adept user of U-turn, granting extra switch-in potential. Rock Polish Primal Groudon and Double Dance Necrozma-DM are sweepers that can easily dismantle offensive teams as well.
* Mega Scizor and Magearna cover Palkia's weaknesses to Dragon- and Fairy-type attacks, and they can use U-turn or Volt Switch to help get Palkia into the fray.
* Swords Dance Arceus-Ground checks Primal Groudon and is a good choice to clean up once Palkia has dismantled the enemy's defensive core. It also appreciates Palkia's ability to switch into Primal Kyogre.
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
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* Palkia can use Psychium Z in conjunction with Heal Block to grant it a one-time +2 boost to its Special Attack. While this can be devastating against certain defensive cores, Palkia will lose the boosts if forced out, which makes the consistent power of Life Orb a better choice most of the time.
* Substitute eases prediction and combines well with Focus Punch, but it forces Palkia to give up a valuable coverage move.
* Lustrous Orb gives Palkia a consistent boost to its STAB moves without incurring Life Orb recoil. However, Palkia will lose the ability to OHKO Blissey and will become less effective at damaging specific important targets such as Lugia and Primal Kyogre.
* Trick Room allows Palkia to turn the tables on offensive teams by gaining this Speed advantage at the tradeoff of greatly worsening its performance against defensive teams by sacrificing both a coverage move and its raw Speed stat.
Checks and Counters
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**Arceus-Fairy**: Arceus-Fairy is the best general answer to Palkia, boasting an immunity to Dragon-type attacks and the bulk to shrug off Palkia's other moves with Recover. It naturally outspeeds Palkia and can swiftly KO with Judgment.
**Fairy-types**: Other Fairy-types such as Xerneas, Mega Diancie, and Magearna can switch in on Palkia's Dragon-type attacks and KO it with their own STAB moves, but most are threatened by Hydro Pump.
**Faster Pokemon**: Strong Pokemon that are faster than Palkia can usually KO it before it can act thanks to its lack of resistances. Mega Salamence, Marshadow, Mega Lucario, Deoxys-A, Naganadel, and Ultra Necrozma are a few examples, though none of them can switch directly into Palkia.
**Primal Groudon**: Primal Groudon is immune to Water-type moves and not bothered by most of Palkia's coverage, KOing it in return with Precipice Blades. However, Dragon-type attacks will inflict heavy damage onto Primal Groudon, so it can't switch into Palkia without some risk.
**Blissey and Chansey**: If Palkia lacks Focus Punch, Blissey and Chansey can switch into it without fear and stall it out with Toxic.
**Lugia**: Lugia can take Palkia's attacks with the help of Multiscale, recovering until Life Orb or Toxic damage take their toll. However, Lugia cannot switch directly into Palkia if Stealth Rock is up.
**Status**: Palkia is greatly hampered by most status conditions: paralysis ruins its Speed, Toxic puts it on a timer, and burn prevents it from effectively using Focus Punch against Blissey. Any of these will make Palkia easier to handle.
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