Part 3
Delta Scizor
Attack: 130 - 150 (+20)
Defense: 100 - 140 (+40)
Special Attack: 55 - 65 (+10)
Special Defense: 80 - 100 (+20)
Speed: 65 - 75 (+10)
Delta Scizor is an Ice and Fighting type, the only one of it’s kind aside from Delta Scyther and Crabominabal (which is a Generation VII Pokemon and therefore has nothing to do with Pokemon Insurgence). As well as it’s rare type combination, Delta Scizor also has a rare Ability called Ice Cleats, which is very useful in Hail because it boosts it’s Speed. Fear not if it’s not Hailing though because Delta Scizor can utilise STAB Ice Shard or Vacuum Wave (though it’s wiser to use the former since the latter is a Special Attack) to make up for the fact that it’s much slower than Delta Scyther. It should also be noted that Delta Scizor is much more vulnerable than regular Scizor because although it has the same stats, it has 6 type weaknesses whereas normal Scizor only has 1, although none of Delta Scizor’s type weaknesses hurt it as much as Fire hurts regular Scizor.
Mega Delta Scizor loses Ice Cleats but gains an Ability that is arguably even better; Adaptability. This increases the power of all it’s STAB moves and with powerful attacks like Icicle Crash and Close Combat, it enables it to really bring the pain to its opponents. While it still has more type weaknesses than regular Scizor, it gains it’s counterpart’s great Attack and Defense and in addition to having access to Roost, it can also heal itself with an Adaptability boosted STAB Drain Punch.
Heracross
Attack: 125 - 185 (+60)
Defense: 75 - 115 (+40)
Special Attack: 40
Special Defense: 95 - 105 (+10)
Speed: 85 - 75 (-10)
Aside from its average Speed and 4× weakness to Flying, Heracross is a very potent Bug type Pokemon. Megahorn and Close Combat give it a pair of very powerful STAB options while Brick Break can smash Reflect and Light Screen. It also has some nice coverage moves including Earthquake, Stone Edge, Rock Slide, Aerial Ace and Night Slash. Heracross is also notable for being one of the few Pokemon that can be better than it’s Mega Evolution in certain situations. For one thing, it’s faster than Mega Heracross and for another, it can use Guts to increase the power of Physical Attacks if it’s suffering from a status condition. This is especially useful if it receives a burn, either from an opponent or from its own Flame Orb, as this would usually weaken a Physical Attacker but instead makes Heracross more powerful.
Mega Heracross loses Guts upon Mega Evolving as well as 10 points of its Speed, so in certain situations, especially against opponents who like inflicting status conditions, it would be wiser not to Mega Evolve it at all. However, this doesn’t make Mega Heracross useless by any means. On the contrary, its massive 185 Attack stat, which exceeds the Attack power of Mega Rayquaza, Primal Groudon and Attack Form Deoxys and is surpassed only by Mega Mewtwo X and Mega Shadow Mewtwo, makes Mega Heracross a formidable Pokemon in it’s own way and although it works differently from regular Heracross, it can be devastating in situations where it benefits from Mega Evolving. Mega Heracross is a bit slower than regular Heracross but also more durable and makes up for the loss of Guts with Skill Link, which ensures that Pin Missile, Arm Thrust, Rock Blast and Bullet Seed will strike 5 times. This also makes Substitutes and Sturdy completely useless against it. Mega Heracross could almost be considered a separate Pokemon from regular Heracross due to the differences in their fighting styles but both of them have the ability to pound their opponents into the ground when used correctly.
Magcargo
Attack: 50 - 70 (+20)
Defense: 120 - 10 (-110)
Special Attack: 80 - 150 (+70)
Special Defense: 80 - 100 (+20)
Speed: 30 - 50 (+20)
Magcargo is slow, can be obliterated by Ground or Water type moves and its high Defense isn’t much use against moves like Earthquake or Waterfall. It may get a lucky burn with Flame Body but that Ability activates at random when hit by a Physical Attack and I don’t trust luck. Fortunately, Magcargo has plenty of useful status moves, including Shell Smash, Sunny Day, Sandstorm, Yawn, Will-O-Wisp, Wildfire, Rock Polish, Stealth Rock, Pain Split, Iron Defense, Amnesia, Recover and both Reflect and Light Screen. On the offensive side, Magcargo’s STAB options include Flamethrower, Fire Blast, Lava Plume, Overheat, Stone Edge, Rock Slide, Smack Down and Ancient Power (for its Rock type move, I’d go for Ancient Power as Magcargo’s Special Attack is higher than its Attack). It can also use Body Slam, Earth Power, Earthquake, Bulldoze, Clear Smog, Gyro Ball, Solar Beam and Explosion.
Mega Magcargo is an interesting Pokemon. By shedding its shell, it becomes a bit faster and loses its Rock typing, on top of gaining a massive 70 points to its Special Attack. However, despite an excellent Ability called Vaporisation, which not only makes it immune to Water type moves but actually hurts any Water type that faces it, Mega Magcargo still struggles due to losing a whopping 110 points in its Defense. This would be fine if they put those 110 points into it’s other stats - imagine a lightning fast sweeper with high Special Defense for example (though 100 base Special Defense lets it take a hit or two from the Special side) - but instead, they only use 30 of those extra stat points which means that sacrificing such a massive part of its endurance was completely pointless. Although Vaporisation protects it from Water type moves, almost any other Physical Attack can crush it and it’s still too slow to ensure that it can hit its opponent before getting pounded into the ground.
Mega Magcargo still gets the traditional 100 point stat increase but it’s stat total is only 20 points higher than that of regular Magcargo due to the fact that it only uses 30 of the 110 points it could be using from it’s lowered Defense. Overall, this is a pretty frustrating Mega Evolution when you compare how powerful it could have been to how powerful it actually is.
Houndoom
Attack: 90
Defense: 50 - 90 (+40)
Special Attack: 110 - 140 (+30)
Special Defense: 80 - 90 (+10)
Speed: 95 - 115 (+20)
Houndoom has always been a pretty damn cool Pokemon in terms of design and typing but despite having a decent Special Attack stat, it’s held back by it’s low Defense and shallow movepool. It can use Counter to turn it’s weak Defense into an asset but unless it has a Focus Sash, this strategy is likely to fail more often than not. Will-O-Wisp is another way of dealing with it’s low Defense but even when burned, Fighting, Ground, Water and/or Rock types can usually pound it into the ground, if not from the Physical side then from the Special side. It could try a Rest and Sleep Talk/Snore set combined with Early Bird and a STAB Fire and Dark type move, but Houndoom’s too frail to be able to rely on this set. Unnerve prevents opponents from eating berries, but then again so does Incinerate. Flash Fire enables Houndoom to switch in on Fire type moves and gain a boost to it’s own Fire type attacks but the boost gets cancelled if it Mega Evolves.
Mega Houndoom gains 40 more points to it’s Defense, so it can now use Counter without needing a Focus Sash, although it still struggles to take super effective hits. It also becomes as fast as Mega Rayquaza and Mega Absol and gains a generous Special Attack boost, which can be boosted even further with Nasty Plot and/or Sunny Day due to the latter move activating Solar Power. Unfortunately, although Solar Power boosts Mega Houndoom’s Special Attack in sunlight, it also causes it to take damage as long as the sun is out. Mega Houndoom is bulkier than regular Houndoom but it’s only recovery options are Rest and Dream Eater (and of course, the opponent has to be asleep in order for the latter to work), so you have to ask yourself whether the boosted Special Attack power and ability to launch Solar Beam instantly is worth the loss of HP.
Donphan
Attack: 120 - 150 (+30)
Defense: 120 - 150 (+30)
Special Attack: 60
Special Defense: 60 - 100 (+40)
Speed: 50
Donphan is a pretty straightforward Pokemon that’s designed to tank hits and strike hard. Thanks to strong Attack and Defense, it’s pretty good at this and even it’s low Speed isn’t too much of a problem because it can be used to Donphan’s advantage with Gyro Ball or overcome with Ice Shard. It’s Speed only really becomes a problem if it doesn’t have Ice Shard (which it can only learn through breeding) or is facing fellow priority users or Pokemon that can shrug off Ice and/or Steel type moves. Sturdy also ensures that Donphan will always take at least one hit, unless it’s Ability is disabled, replaced or the opponent has Mold Breaker. Since Donphan has ways of dealing with it’s low Speed, it’s biggest weakness is it’s Special Defense but it’s Mega Evolution makes up for that.
Losing Sturdy can be a bit of a hindrance but aside from that, Mega Donphan does everything regular Donphan does except better. And it’s not like it’s replacement Ability is useless. On the contrary, Irrelephant allows Mega Donphan to hit Flying types with STAB Earthquake, although Ground type moves still don’t work on Pokemon with Levitate. On top of having generous boosts to its Attack and Defense, Mega Donphan’s Special Defense is boosted by 40 points, which means it no longer needs to rely on Sturdy to endure Special Attacks.
Miltank
Attack: 80 - 125 (+45)
Defense: 105 - 145 (+40)
Special Attack: 40
Special Defense: 70 - 115 (+45)
Speed: 100 - 70 (-30)
Miltank has always been a decent Pokemon with surprisingly good Speed, reliable recovery thanks to Milk Drink, good Defense and 3 useful Abilities. A Sap Sipper Miltank can switch in on Grass type moves and gain an Attack boost whilst also being immune to the move, a Thick Fat Miltank can tank Ice and Fire type moves whilst wearing down her opponent, and a Scrappy Miltank can hit Ghost types with Normal and Fighting type moves which allows her to hit all Pokemon, barring Shedinja, for at least neutral damage using only one STAB move along with Brick Break or Hammer Arm. Miltank also has the advantage of being faster than her Mega Evolution.
Mega Miltank loses 30 points of her Speed but is also much more resilient and has a much higher Attack stat which is complemented by her Pendulum Ability. Pendulum causes repeated use of the same move to get more powerful with each hit, which is especially useful with Rollout but also applies to moves like Body Slam and Earthquake. However, while losing Thick Fat is no great loss, Sap Sipper and Scrappy can be more useful than Pendulum in certain situations, plus Mega Miltank is much slower than regular Miltank.
Tyranitar
Armored Tyranitar
Attack: 134
Defense: 110 - 143 (+33)
Special Attack: 95
Special Defense: 100 - 130 (+30)
Speed: 61
Mega Tyranitar
Attack: 134 - 164 (+30)
Defense: 110 - 150 (+40)
Special Attack: 95
Special Defense: 100 - 120 (+20)
Speed: 61 - 71 (+10)
Tyranitar’s a Pseudo-Legendary, one of those rare Pokemon that sits on the border between Legendary and Non-Legendary due to its base stat total reaching 600 points. It also has plenty of useful and/or powerful attacks including Rock Slide, Stone Edge, Crunch, Payback, Earthquake, Thunder Fang, Fire Fang, Ice Fang, Outrage, Dragon Claw, Aqua Tail, Iron Tail, Iron Head, Superpower, Brick Break, Power Up Punch, Retaliate, Chip Away, Giga Impact and even Aerial Ace (though I have no idea how such a large Pokemon can use a move that is said to require quick movement in order to be executed, especially since Speed isn’t Tyranitar’s forte anyway). It’s Special Attack isn’t too shabby either; base 95 is respectable and it can use Snarl, Dark Pulse, Dark Matter, Ancient Power, Earth Power, Dragon Pulse, Flamethrower, Ice Beam, Thunderbolt, Surf, Hyper Beam and more. Even defensively it can be pretty good, especially when wearing the Tyranitar Armour to increase its Defense and Special Defense, able to set up Stealth Rock and/or Permafrost and Roar away its opponent or increase its stats with Iron Defense, Dragon Dance or/and Rock Polish. With mostly good stats and versatility to back them up, you’d think that Tyranitar wouldn’t need a Mega Evolution. However, one must take into account the fact that it despises Fighting type moves due to being both a Rock and Dark type. It’s also a rather slow Pokemon, although it can use Draco Jet, Rock Polish and Dragon Dance to make up for it’s low Speed.
Mega Tyranitar still has Sand Stream, which you might think is pointless considering it uses it as regular Tyranitar anyway (unless it has its Hidden Ability but Unnerve is rarely useful). However, if you use regular Tyranitar for 5 turns, a risky strategy because it might get knocked out in that time but Tyranitar’s not a Pseudo-Legendary for nothing, and then Mega Evolve it once the first Sand Stream wears off, you’re fighting with the free advantages provided by a 10 turn long Sandstorm. Another strategy is that if Mega Tyranitar needs to switch out, you can just wait for the first Sand Stream to wear off while your next Pokemon deals with the opposition and then switch Mega Tyranitar back in to summon another one. It’s also interesting to note that Mega Tyranitar actually has a higher Defense stat than Armoured Tyranitar, though it’s Special Defense is lower. Combined with its base 164 Attack, this gives it a better chance against Fighting types.
Sceptile
Attack: 85 - 110 (+25)
Defense: 65 - 75 (+10)
Special Attack: 105 - 145 (+40)
Special Defense: 85
Speed: 120 - 145 (+25)
Sceptile is the fastest Grass type Pokemon, apart from Sky Form Shaymin, and this gives it a niche. However, unlike Shaymin, it suffers from low Defense and it’s Special Defense leaves much to be desired. Sceptile is also noted for its Physical Attacks, including Leaf Blade, Night Slash, Crunch, Dragon Claw, Earthquake, Brick Break, Drain Punch, Thunder Punch, Aerial Ace, Acrobatics, Rock Slide and X-Scissor, all of which can be powered up by Swords Dance. Unfortunately, it’s Attack stat is actually 20 points lower than it’s Special Attack. On the Special side of the attacking spectrum it’s options include Leaf Storm, Frenzy Plant, Giga Drain, Dragon Pulse and Focus Blast, which is backed up by a 105 Special Attack stat. This would make it a decent Special Sweeper if not for the fact that it’s Special movepool is frustratingly shallow, especially when compared to how many Physical Attacks it can learn.
With a Speed boost that reaches a whopping 145, Mega Sceptile not only surpasses Sky Form Shaymin as the fastest Grass type but is now one of the top 10 fastest Pokemon period. It also becomes a Dragon type which enables it to blast opponents with STAB Dragon Pulses backed up by a 145 Special Attack stat. Mega Sceptile’s Attack is also boosted by 25 points, which means it can be a fairly potent Physical Sweeper without having to rely too heavily on Swords Dance. Unfortunately becoming a Dragon might actually be more of a hindrance than an advantage, considering it’s now weak against Fairy and Dragon types and has a 4× weakness to Ice but on the bright side, it actually has a fighting chance against Fire types. Mega Sceptile is also notable for having Lightning Rod which seems completely pointless at first glance, because a Grass and Dragon type is barely bothered by Electric attacks anyway. However, Lightning Rod does have one crucial use; it protects Mega Sceptile from Thunder Wave and the paralysing side effects of other Electric attacks. On top of it’s immunity to Electric attacks, Mega Sceptile is also immune to Stun Spore and because of this, it rarely needs to worry about paralysis after Mega Evolving.
Blaziken
Attack: 120 - 160 (+40)
Defense: 70 - 80 (+10)
Special Attack: 110 - 130 (+20)
Special Defense: 70 - 80 (+10)
Speed: 80 - 100 (+20)
Thanks to Speed Boost, Blaziken managed to break through into the top tiers of competitive battling even without it’s Mega Evolution. Protect and Substitute give it time to increase its Speed while Bulk Up and Swords Dance can boost it’s other stats and then it can Baton Pass to another Pokemon. In addition to being a good Baton Passer, Blaziken is also good on the offensive side, with a 120 Attack stat and 110 Special Attack stat backed up with moves like Blaze Kick, Fire Punch, Flare Blitz, Flamethrower, Overheat, Blast Burn, High Jump Kick, Sky Uppercut, Brick Break, Focus Blast, Thunder Punch, Brave Bird, Aerial Ace, Acrobatics, Stone Edge, Earthquake, Shadow Claw and the Sunny Day and Solar Beam combination. Although Blaziken has a lot going for it, it’s hindered by its somewhat low defensive stats and although Bulk Up can boost it’s Defense, it has nothing to boost it’s Special Defense and therefore can be overwhelmed by Special Attacks.
Blaziken never needed a Mega Evolution but it got one anyway. Mega Blaziken is still pretty frail, with only 10 points added to it’s Defense and Special Defense respectively, but it’s faster, more powerful and still has Speed Boost. Like regular Blaziken, it can be a potent Baton Passer but why bother Mega Evolving it if you’re just going to switch it out anyway? This is one of the most, if not the most, pointless Mega Evolutions since regular Blaziken can already do everything Mega Blaziken can do without a Mega Stone, as long as it has it’s Hidden Ability. If you are using Mega Blaziken though, you should just go straight for the throat with it’s considerable offensive prowess. If nothing else, you can at least finish the battle more quickly.
Swampert
Attack: 110 - 150 (+40)
Defense: 90 - 110 (+20)
Special Attack: 85 - 95 (+10)
Special Defense: 90 - 110 (+20)
Speed: 60 - 70 (+10)
Being a Water and Ground type means that Swampert only has one type weakness; Grass. Granted, it’s a 4× weakness and therefore, Swampert will probably be knocked out before it can strike back, especially since it’s slow, but it can hit them super effectively with Ice Beam, Avalanche or Ice Punch. There’s little point in using regular Swampert once you have it’s Mega Stone because Torrent only activates when it’s weak and Damp is almost completely useless.
Mega Swampert on the other hand not only maintains the Water and Ground typing, which is usually a strength and only becomes a weakness if it’s hit with Grass type moves, but also becomes bulkier, considerably more powerful when applying it’s base 150 Attack, and is excellent in Rain Dance thanks to Swift Swim doubling it’s Speed. If it’s not raining, Mega Swampert is still pretty slow but it’s Speed is raised from 70 to 140 once Swift Swim is activated, making it a potentially lethal sweeper. It’s still likely to lose a fight with Mega Sceptile, who is not only a Grass type but is slightly faster even in rain, but Mega Swampert can smash through most other threats with Rain Dance boosted STAB Waterfalls (or it could if that damn move was available via TM or Move Tutor) or Aqua Tails, STAB Earthquake and coverage moves like Ice Punch, Brick Break, Superpower, Stone Edge, Rock Slide or even Outrage. Hammer Arm is also an option but it lowers the users Speed and you want Mega Swampert to be as fast as possible in order to make full use of Swift Swim. Don’t use Avalanche because that will always be used after your opponent, even in Rain Dance.
Shiftry
Attack: 100 - 135 (+35)
Defense: 60 - 70 (+10)
Special Attack: 90 - 125 (+35)
Special Defense: 60
Speed: 80 - 100 (+20)
Shiftry can be obliterated by Bug types due to its 4× weakness and low endurance. Sunny Day allows it to fire an instant Solar Beam and restore 2/3 of its health with Synthesis, in addition to activating Chlorophyll and boosting its Speed. However, Sunny Day also makes it even more vulnerable to Fire type moves. Shiftry can learn Rock Slide to hit Bug, Fire, Ice and Flying types super effectively as well as kamikaze itself with Explosion in the hopes of taking its opponent down with it, but relies heavily on its Mega Evolution to stand a chance against higher tier Pokemon.
Mega Shiftry is faster and can hit a lot harder with both Physical and Special Attacks but only has 10 points added to its Defense and nothing added to its Special Defense so it’s still very frail. However, it can become a lethal sweeper in New Moon, which not only allows it to fire Lunar Cannon instantly but increases its Speed by activating its Shadow Dance ability. Under New Moon, Mega Shiftry can outspeed anything outside of Trick Room, unless very fast Pokemon like Ninjask or Speed Form Deoxys have managed to use Speed Boost or Agility. For these rare circumstances, Mega Shiftry can use Sucker Punch and Quick Attack. However, it hates priority moves being used against it and relies heavily on its ability to defeat its opponents before they can strike back.
Gardevoir
Attack: 65 - 85 (+20)
Defense: 65
Special Attack: 125 - 165 (+40)
Special Defense: 115 - 135 (+20)
Speed: 80 - 100 (+20)
Gardevoir has strong Special Attack which is backed up by a fairly good variety of Special moves including Psychic, Psyshock, Moonblast, Dazzling Gleam, Thunderbolt, Charge Beam, Shadow Ball, Magical Leaf, Energy Ball, Grass Knot, Focus Blast, Signal Beam, Icy Wind and Hyper Voice (which is especially beneficial for it’s Mega Evolution). It’s Special Defense is pretty good too and Calm Mind boosts both of it’s strongest stats at once. Gardevoir also has some surprising options that you would expect to find on a Ghost type such as Will-O-Wisp and Destiny Bond. It has low Defense but burning the opponent with Will-O-Wisp and/or setting Reflect can provide it with some protection. Gardevour’s most consistent Ability is Synchronise, which causes the opponent to become burned, poisoned or paralysed if they use these status conditions on it, unless they are immune to said conditions. However, Trace can be more useful in certain situations. For example, if you send Gardevoir out against a Pokemon with Intimidate, most of which are Physical Attackers, Trace will allow it to use Intimidate and then Gardevoir can set up Reflect or burn the opponent with Will-O-Wisp to make up for its low Defense. However, Trace can also be useless or a downright hindrance, depending on what Ability it copies. Fortunately, Gardevoir’s ability to Mega Evolve means that even if it copies Truant, Defeatist, Slow Start etc, the Ability will be replaced with Pixilate as soon as it transforms.
Mega Gardevoir becomes a very powerful Special Attacker and it’s Pixilate Ability turns it’s Normal type moves into Fairy type moves whilst also giving them a 30% boost. Because of this, Mega Gardevoir’s Hyper Voice is more powerful than Moonblast. It also becomes a bit faster and gains a higher Special Defense stat. Unfortunately, nothing has been added to Mega Gardevoir’s Defense and since it’s primarily a Special Attacker the 20 points that were added to its Attack are useless.
Delta Gardevoir
Attack: 65 - 85 (+20)
Defense: 65
Special Attack: 125 - 165 (+40)
Special Defense: 115 - 135 (+20)
Speed: 80 - 100 (+20)
Delta Gardevoir is an Electric and Ice type which makes it a perfect candidate for the popular Bolt Beam combo, allowing it to hit almost any Pokemon for at least neutral damage using only Thunderbolt and Ice Beam (exceptions include Shedinja, opposing Delta Gardevoirs and Delta Gallade). Being an Electric and Ice type also allows it to set up the entry hazards Livewire or Permafrost which can cause paralysis or freezing when a Pokemon switches in, although these entry hazards can be avoided fairly easily. Clear Body makes Delta Gardevoir immune to stat loss prior to Mega Evolving.
Mega Delta Gardevoir has Lightning Rod, which it can also have in it’s regular form but there’s no point in having it in that form if you’re going to Mega Evolve it anyway. If the opponent attacks with an Electric type move, not only will Mega Delta Gardevoir be immune to it, but it will gain a free Special Attack boost. It’s a powerful Special Attacker with a solid Special Defense stat, but suffers from low Defense. Reflect can give it some protection but unlike regular Gardevoir, Delta Gardevoir can’t learn Will-O-Wisp or Trace Intimidate so trying to wall Physical Attackers probably won’t work.
Gallade
Attack: 125 - 165 (+40)
Defense: 65 - 95 (+30)
Special Attack: 65
Special Defense: 115
Speed: 80 - 110 (+30)
Gallade is the male only counterpart of Gardevoir and unlike his “sister” (okay, technically Gardevoir can be male but come on, it looks like a female) he specialises in Physical Attacks. Psycho Cut, Close Combat, Drain Punch, Leaf Blade, Night Slash, Stone Edge, Rock Slide, Earthquake, X-Scissor, Poison Jab and Aerial Ace provide Gallade with plenty of options and all can be powered up by Swords Dance or Bulk Up. I would personally go for Bulk Up because it raises Gallade’s low Defense as well as his Attack but then again, Swords Dance raises his Attack by two levels instead of just one. Gallade is also excellent as a lead against Pokemon who use Fake Out because by activating Steadfast, it gives him a speed boost and makes it easier to sweep.
Speaking of sweeping, Mega Gallade is designed to do just that. He’s faster than Mega Gardevoir and his Attack rivals his counterpart’s Special Attack which makes him a deadly Physical Attacker. Unlike Mega Gardevoir, Mega Gallade also received a Defense boost so he doesn’t have to rely too heavily on Bulk Up, Reflect or Will-O-Wisp to take Physical Attacks. One disadvantage Mega Gallade has is that Inner Focus is rarely of any use, especially if Steadfast has already been activated prior to Mega Evolving. It only really comes in handy against Para-Flinching Pokemon like Togekiss and Jirachi.
Delta Gallade
Attack: 125 - 165 (+40)
Defense: 65 - 95 (+30)
Special Attack: 65
Special Defense: 115
Speed: 80 - 110 (+30)
Like Delta Gardevoir, Delta Gallade is an Ice and Electric type. Unlike Delta Gardevoir, he can’t do much with the Bolt Beam combination because his Special Attack is so low. Fortunately, he has Ice Punch, Icicle Crash, Thunder Punch and Wild Charge to make up for this on top of all of regular Gallade’s coverage moves, apart from Close Combat.
Mega Delta Gallade is faster and stronger with higher Defense but unlike Delta Gardevoir, who can have Clear Body before Mega Evolving and Lightning Rod after it, Delta Gallade’s Special Ability remains the same both before and after his transformation. This isn’t a bad thing because Volt Absorb enables him to switch in on Electric attacks and be healed in the process, which can be pretty useful, especially when combined with Drain Punch. It just means that there’s no point in keeping Delta Gallade in his regular form and part of the fun with Mega Evolution is deciding when it’s most appropriate to transform.
Sableye
Attack: 75 - 85 (+10)
Defense: 75 - 125 (+50)
Special Attack: 65 - 85 (+20)
Special Defense: 65 - 115 (+50)
Speed: 50 - 20 (-30)
For 3 Generations, Sableye was one of the very few Pokemon who had no type weaknesses. Then Fairy types came along and Sableye cowered in the face of their super effective moves. Another weakness is that it’s stats don’t back up its great typing. It was granted a great Hidden Ability in the form of Prankster, allowing it to always use Toxic, Will-O-Wisp, Confuse Ray, Swagger, Taunt, Torment, Trick, Substitute, Psych Up, Double Team, Attract, Calm Mind, Pain Split and Recover before it’s opponents but since most Pokemon can simply beat it into the ground with raw power, this wasn’t enough for Sableye to hold its own in the higher tiers of Pokemon battling.
Fortunately, Mega Sableye turned the tables, skyrocketing Sableye from a rather weak Pokemon with a couple of great assets into one of the strongest defensive Pokemon in the game. Not only was it granted a huge 50 points to both it’s Defense and Special Defense, but it’s Special Ability is just as good, if not better, than Prankster. Magic Bounce deflects all status moves back at it’s opponents (although the Insurgence developers forgot to apply this to entry hazards, which should also be rebounded), forcing them to attack the very durable Mega Sableye directly instead of trying to wait it out. Mega Sableye on the other hand is designed to wait its opponents out. By healing off damage with Recover, Mega Sableye can lounge behind it’s massive red gem, waiting for its opponents to succumb to Toxic or Will-O-Wisp. However, although Mega Sableye’s an excellent defensive Pokemon, it isn’t so potent on the offensive side. It’s as slow as Mega Camerupt due to it’s Speed being decreased by 30 points in order to boost it’s Attack and Special Attack and although it has Fake Out, Sucker Punch and Shadow Sneak to make up for its low Speed, these moves still won’t hit very hard.
Delta Sableye
Attack: 75 - 85 (+10)
Defense: 75 - 125 (+50)
Special Attack: 65 - 85 (+20)
Special Defense: 65 - 115 (+50)
Speed: 50 - 20 (-30)
You know how people in Pokemon Insurgence claim that Delta Pokemon are better than regular Pokemon? They lied. Delta Sableye is a Fire and Rock type and can therefore be destroyed by Water or Ground type moves. Solid Rock won’t be enough to stop them and unlike regular Sableye, it has no special niches before Mega Evolving.
Mega Delta Sableye has strong endurance in terms of stats, but since it’s still a Water and Rock type, it can still be obliterated by a Water or Ground type move. Furthermore, unlike regular Sableye, it has no way of healing outside of Rest and it’s only priority move is Fake Out, which only works on the first turn so it won’t make up for its low Speed, though Gyro Ball can be of some use considering almost all of its opponents will be faster. Even Mega Delta Sableye’s Ability isn’t that great compared to Magic Bounce. Bulletproof protects it from a select few moves, namely Acid Spray, Aura Sphere, Barrage, Bullet Seed, Egg Bomb, Electro Ball, Energy Ball, Focus Blast, Gyro Ball, Ice Ball, Magnet Bomb, Mist Ball, Mud Bomb, Octazooka, Rock Blast, Rock Wrecker, Searing Shot, Seed Bomb, Shadow Ball, Sludge Bomb, Weather Ball and Zap Cannon but isn’t enough to make up for its lousy typing.
Continues Below In Part 4