Community POTW #152

[Serebii]

Time fo the next Pokémon of the Week and we go to Galar as part of our annual spooky season

It's Hatterene!

Hatterene #858 - Serebii.net Pokédex

Hatterene Pokémon Serebii.net Pokédex providing all details on moves, stats, abilities, evolution data and locations for Pokémon Sword & Shield

www.serebii.net

 

[Divine Retribution]

Hatterene is a Pokemon that wishes it existed like 3 generations ago. It's got plenty of tools that should allow it to succeed; a good movepool, decent stats, and Magic Bounce, but in practice it fails to stand out compared to a myriad of other slow wallbreakers, and Magic Bounce only gets you so far when you're threatened by most hazard users. I'm convinced this Pokemon can still have a niche, even if I haven't found exactly what it is yet; Magic Bounce is still a really good ability and Hatterene is arguably the best user of it thanks to its secondary Fairy STAB and decent bulk.

Hatterene @ Choice Specs
Modest - Magic Bounce
200 HP, 252 Sp. Atk, 56 Speed
-Psyshock
-Dazzling Gleam
-Mystical Fire
-Healing Wish

This is the set that I feel like I've gotten the most value out of. With a Choice Specs attached, Hatterene can actually do some significant damage, and become surprisingly hard to switch in on. Psyshock punishes special walls like Blissey, while still hitting opponents like Toxapex, Galarian Slowbro, and Urshifu-RS. Dazzling Gleam hits Dark-types like Tyranitar, Umbreon, and Weavile hard, as well as being your best option against Dragons like Dragonite and Dragapult. Mystical Fire rounds out your coverage by toasting Steel-types like Ferrothorn, Scizor, and Corviknight. Finally, Healing Wish in your last slot lets you completely restore a teammate when Hatterene's usefulness has expired. The given EV spread outpaces 44 Speed Galarian Slowbro, also clearing Toxapex and Blissey in the process. Running a heftier Speed investment of 156 lets you outrun the most common Melmetal set, but some sets invest even more Speed so that's not a reliable benchmark, and even with Choice Specs you're not OHKOing it without some significant prior damage, while Double Iron Bash sends you into the next dimension.

There are some other moves you could consider carrying. Calm Mind (with Leftovers) is an option, usually with Draining Kiss over Dazzling Gleam, but I find that Calm Mind Hatterene underperforms significantly in the higher tiers. It's extremely slow and its physical bulk is only passable, so it's not a hard Pokemon to force out, and there are plenty of other sweepers that give it competition for a team slot. Shadow Ball and Giga Drain are other coverage options options in theory, but Shadow Ball hits very little that the 3 moves listed above don't hit. Giga Drain does notable damage against bulky Grounds and Waters while providing Hatterene with a bit of recovery, so it could be an option if you want to cover things like Hippowdon, Gastrodon, and Swampert, but those Pokemon are much rarer in the higher tiers than in Hatterene's native tier. Aromatherapy is another option for team support. Nuzzle can be used as filler for the last slot; it's kind of funny that the Hatterene line even gets this move (the only non-Electric types who do), and paralyzing certain Pokemon who might switch in on Hatterene can be valuable, but Hatterene usually prefers just straight up attacking them to get in a significant chunk of damage.​

 

[Mestorn]

Hatterene is fascinating from the standpoint of a Magic Bounce user. Unlike Espeon, Xatu and Mega Absol who are frail (and Mega Diancie/Mega Sableye which ate up your Mega Slot), Hatterene is bulky, enabling it to come in repeatedly on Entry Hazard setters and giving you room to breathe if you mispredict and eat an attack on the way in. It even has the tools to dispatch most Spikes users (who more often than not are weak to Mystical Fire), Toxic Spikes users (who are weak to Psychic) and the large majority of Stealth Rock setters have crud Special Defense.

Or at least that would be the case. Hatterene is also cripplingly slow, slower than most entry Hazard setters not named Ferrothorn, and will likely eat an attack from them. Hatterene's typing doesn't help either. Fairy Psychic is so awkward. You have a Psychic type that is weak to Poison moves, and a Fairy type that gets hit hard by Dark moves, worsening Hatterene's matchup against both types, while only possessing Resistances and Immunities to Psychic, Fighting and Dragon. Having a hard losing matchup against Excadrill, who in addition to the Steel STAB has Mold Breaker to invalidate Magic Bounce doesn't help matters either. Lack of Reliable recovery is another crippling flaw, having only Draining Kiss for recovery means that it is possible and probable to wear Hatterene down faster than it can recover. Hatterene can also do nothing about Entry Hazards already set -so having it as your only answer to them is ill advised as once it goes down, or you mispredict, you are going to be on the back foot for the rest of the battle.

Hatterene does have its benefits. A Trick Room setter immune to Taunt is always welcome and Hatterene can shutdown attempts to cripple by Status hard. 136 Special Attack is phenomenal, and Hatterene has a wide enough movepool for near perfect Neutral coverage.

 

[XaelOstigian]

One of my personal favorites from this generation. From party hat, to magical girl, to waifu witch.

Also Bede's ace, but no one cares about that because they are too focused on its killer ability Magic Bounce, excellent typing offensively that allows it to check many top threats, and a speed stat that feels custom made to abuse Trick Room. It has good coverage too, but it is still somewhat lacking in the defensive stats and is reliant on Trick Room when it isn't bouncing back anticipated status moves. Still, this magus maiden is a top threat if you do not keep your wits about you, not unlike the wiles of an actual witch.

Witch's Domain
Ability: Magic Bounce
Item: Life Orb
Nature: Quiet
EVs: (HP 252) (Def 4) (Sp. Attack 252)
IVs: (Speed 0)

Moves:
Trick Room
Psychic/Psyshock
Dazzling Gleam
Mystical Fire

Set Details:
Base 29 is basically a giant middle finger to base 30 Trick Room abusers who think they will dominate in Trick Room, when it truth Trick Room is basically Hatterene's vacation home. Set up Trick Room, sweep with Psychic or Psyshock (The latter of which is for Chansey and the like) and Dazzling Gleam, and counter the troublesome Steel types with Mystical Fire. Life Orb gives you added power, Magic Bounce allows you to safely switch into status moves and turn the momentum in your favor, and use a Quiet nature alongside 0 Speed IVs to ensure under Trick Room Hatterene can outspeed almost anything.