Generation 6 Moves Update: PvP Winners

December 1, 2020

Contents

Generation 6 (Kalos) movesets have finally been revealed, and ladies and gentlemen, the future is looking very bright for PvP!!! Many Kalos Pokémon received movesets that are strong in Trainer Battles, so now we’re going to take a look at those Pokémon and movesets and see how they will shake up the PvP meta.

Note: Although these stats and movesets are currently in the Game Master, they can change before these Pokémon get released. Aegislash’s stats are currently not in the Game Master. The stats and Max CP mentioned for it are based on the Shield Form’s main series stats. Yveltal’s stats in the Game Master currently do not have the 9% stat debuff applied, but since it’s very unlikely that it will be released that way, we featured only the debuffed stats here.

Chesnaught

Max CP at level 40: 2954
Chesnaught FightingGrass
ATK 201	DEF 204		HP 204
Weak to		Strong Against
Flying Psychic Poison Ice Fairy Fire		Water Dark Rock Ground Steel Ice
FAST MOVES		CHARGE MOVES
Low Kick, Smack Down, Vine Whip		Energy Ball, Superpower, Solar Beam, Gyro Ball

Best Moveset: Vine Whip + Energy Ball & Superpower

With this moveset, Chesnaught will be the new best Pokémon that can break the ultimate core in Great League: Azumarill + Galarian Stunfisk. Meganium currently does a really good job of breaking that core, but what would make Chesnaught much better is it’s one of the very few Pokémon that resists both Rock and Ground, which means it will be able to counter Galarian Stunfisk much easier. It can even beat Azumarill at a shield disadvantage since it’s bulky enough to tank an Ice Beam.

This key Rock resistance will also give it much better matchups than Meganium against Deoxys-Defense without Psycho Boost, Melmetal and Bastiodon. Chesnaught’s sub-Fighting typing also gives it a key Dark type resistance, which means it will be a strong counter to big Great League threats such as Shiftry and Umbreon.

Diggersby

Max CP at level 40: 1509
Diggersby NormalGround
ATK 112	DEF 155		HP 198
Weak to		Strong Against
Water Fighting Ice Grass		Steel Rock Electric Fire Poison
FAST MOVES		CHARGE MOVES
Mud Shot, Quick Attack		Earthquake, Hyper Beam, Fire Punch, Dig

Best Moveset: Mud Shot + Earthquake & Fire Punch or Hyper Beam

Although Normal/Ground isn’t a very good defensive typing, Diggersby is going to be a beast in Great League. It has insanely high bulk not too far off of Azumarill (but loses to it pretty hard) and has good moves to compliment that bulk very well.

STAB Earthquake hits hard against anything that doesn’t resist it. Fire Punch is fast and covers Skarmory and Grass types, but it unfortunately still loses to most Grass types with it and leaves Diggersby completely walled by Altaria.

This is where Hyper Beam comes into play. Although it is quite slow even with Mud Shot’s energy gains, it hits Altaria very hard and makes Diggersby quite a scary closer. The only viable Great League Pokémon that resist both Ground and Normal are Skarmory and Drifblim.

Gogoat

Max CP at level 40: 2798
Gogoat Grass
ATK 196	DEF 146		HP 265
Weak to		Strong Against
Flying Bug Ice Poison Fire		Water Rock Ground
FAST MOVES		CHARGE MOVES
Zen Headbutt, Rock Smash, Vine Whip		Leaf Blade, Rock Slide, Brick Break, Seed Bomb

Best Moveset: Vine Whip + Leaf Blade & Rock Slide

Gogoat received the best moves it could have possibly gotten. Vine Whip + Leaf Blade is very deadly, since it only takes 5 Vine Whips to reach it. Rock Slide has amazing coverage with Leaf Blade, hitting most of the Fire types, Ice types and Flying types that Gogoat is weak to super effectively.

This moveset is so good that it will give Gogoat viability in both Great League and Ultra League Premier, despite not having the best defensive stats. In Great League, it will do a very good job at breaking the almighty Azumarill + Galarian Stunfisk core. In Ultra League Premier, it is basically a better Tangrowth.

Pangoro

Max CP at level 40: 2902
Pangoro FightingDark
ATK 226	DEF 146		HP 216
Weak to		Strong Against
Fairy Fighting Flying		Steel Dark Psychic Rock Ice Ghost
FAST MOVES		CHARGE MOVES
Snarl, Bullet Punch, Low Kick		Close Combat, Night Slash, Iron Head, Rock Slide

Best Moveset: Snarl + Night Slash & Close Combat

Pangoro will be a monster in Ultra League with this moveset. It’s very similar to Zangoose’s current moveset, but the big difference is Pangoro has STAB on both Night Slash & Close Combat. This gives it much more consistency against huge Ultra League threats such as Giratina, Lapras, Charizard, Gyarados, Snorlax, Swampert, Articuno and Registeel.

Unfortunately, the Registeel matchup is still really close since Pangoro is weak to Focus Blast. Pangoro’s resistance to Psychic and double resistance to Dark also gives it much better matchups than Zangoose against Armored Mewtwo and Alolan Muk. However, its typing also gives it a double weakness to Charm and Cresselia’s Moonblast.

Aegislash

Max CP at level 40: 1595
Aegislash (Shield) SteelGhost
ATK 97	DEF 291		HP 155
Weak to		Strong Against
Ghost Fire Dark		Fairy Ghost Ice Rock Psychic
FAST MOVES		CHARGE MOVES
Psycho Cut, Fury Cutter		Flash Cannon, Gyro Ball, Shadow Ball

Best Moveset: Psycho Cut + Shadow Ball & Flash Cannon

Aegislash-Shield form is going to become one of the strongest Pokémon in Great League with this moveset. STAB Shadow Ball is powerful and is only resisted by Normal types and Dark types. Flash Cannon has fantastic coverage with Shadow Ball and also has STAB. It hits most Dark types and Normal types neutrally. Psycho Cut is rather weak and lacks STAB, but generates energy insanely quickly. Shadow Ball takes 7 turns to reach the first time and 6 the second time. Flash Cannon always takes 8 turns.

On top of all of this, Aegislash-Shield has bulk on the level of Bastiodon and a very unique defensive typing that makes it the only Steel type in existence that resists Fighting. Aegislash isn’t invincible though, it still loses to Ground types such as Galarian Stunfisk pretty harshly. Even with Flash Cannon, Dark types beat it pretty easily.

Hawlucha

Max CP at level 40: 2410
Hawlucha FightingFlying
ATK 195	DEF 134		HP 186
Weak to		Strong Against
Fairy Psychic Flying Ice Electric		Grass Ice Rock Steel Dark Fighting Bug
FAST MOVES		CHARGE MOVES
Wing Attack, Poison Jab, Low Kick		Flying Press, Sky Attack, X-Scissor, Power-Up Punch

Best Moveset: Wing Attack + Flying Press & Sky Attack

Although Hawlucha has rather poor defensive stats, it has a fantastic offensive typing and moveset that will make it a menace in Great League, Ultra League and Ultra Premier. Flying Press is the strongest Fighting type move in PvP, packing 90 damage for only 40 energy. This is the equivalent to Hydro Cannon with 10 more power.

STAB Sky Attack is powerful and has excellent coverage with Flying Press, hitting most Pokémon that resist Fighting at least neutrally. These moves combined make Hawlucha a Flying type that can counter most Steel types and Rock types rather than being weak to them. Unfortunately, it doesn’t learn Counter, but Wing Attack is still good enough to make Hawlucha a beast in PvP.

Dedenne

Max CP at level 40: 1841
Dedenne ElectricFairy
ATK 164	DEF 134		HP 167
Weak to		Strong Against
Ground Poison		Fighting Water Flying Dark Dragon
FAST MOVES		CHARGE MOVES
Thunder Shock, Tackle		Discharge, Play Rough, Parabolic Charge

Best Moveset: Thunder Shock + Discharge & Play Rough

Don’t let Dedenne’s cute appearance fool you, it has a typing and moveset that threatens a huge chunk of the Great League meta. Altaria, Azumarill, Umbreon, Zweilous, Mandibuzz, Skarmory, Scrafty, Mantine, Dewgong and Medicham are all Pokémon that lose to Dedenne.

Trevenant

Max CP at level 40: 2559
Trevenant GhostGrass
ATK 201	DEF 154		HP 198
Weak to		Strong Against
Ghost Fire Flying Dark Ice		Water Ghost Psychic Rock Ground
FAST MOVES		CHARGE MOVES
Shadow Claw, Sucker Punch		Shadow Ball, Seed Bomb, Foul Play

Best Moveset: Shadow Claw + Shadow Ball & Seed Bomb

Trevenant has a fantastic offensive typing for Great League and Ultra League. The only relevant Pokémon in Great League that resist both Grass and Ghost are Zweilous, Mandibuzz and Shiftry, which aren’t too common. In Ultra League, Alolan Muk is the only common threat that resists both.

With this moveset, Trevenant will have good matchups in Great League against Azumarill (2 shield & no shield if Ice Beam, no Ice Beam = easy win), Toxicroak (can’t afford to tank a Sludge Bomb though), Galarian Stunfisk (2 shield & no shield), Meganium, Venusaur, Hypno, Shadow Machamp, Deoxys-Defense, Swampert, Whiscash, Sirfetch’d without Night Slash, Cresselia, Lanturn, Medicham, Ferrothorn, Vigoroth and Registeel.

In Ultra League, Trevenant will be able to handle Swampert, Cresselia, Armored Mewtwo, Escavalier, Machamp, Magnezone, Venusaur, Gallade, Toxicroak, Sirfetch’d and Empoleon, as well as go toe-to-toe with Giratina, Registeel, Lucario and Lapras.

Yveltal

Max CP at level 40: 3781
Yveltal DarkFlying
ATK 250	DEF 185		HP 246
Weak to		Strong Against
Electric Ice Fairy Rock		Fighting Ghost Psychic Grass Bug
FAST MOVES		CHARGE MOVES
Snarl, Gust, Sucker Punch		Dark Pulse, Hurricane, Focus Blast, Hyper Beam, Psychic

Best Moveset: Snarl + Dark Pulse & Hurricane or Focus Blast

Yveltal is going to be an absolute beast in Master League. Dark Pulse & Hurricane have almost perfect coverage together. Snarl allows Yveltal to reach Dark Pulse in only 4 turns and Hurricane in 5 turns. Furthermore, its sub-Flying typing would make it a Dark type that takes neutral damage from Fighting type attacks, meaning it would be able to counter Focus Blast Mewtwo very effectively. Yveltal also shuts down Groudon, both Giratina forms and keeps Lugia on its toes.

Combine this with the fact that not very many Pokémon in Master League resist Dark or Flying, and you got yourself the strongest Dark type in the format. Focus Blast is a very viable option instead of Hurricane, since it would provide extra coverage for the very problematic Steel types Melmetal and Dialga. However, Yveltal still struggles with them, since those matchups are bait dependent.

Curious to see which generation 6 Pokémon will be viable in PvE? Stay tuned as that guide is in the works!