POKE-FOCUS #7: SWALOT

Introduction

This is a bit of an eccentric entry, admittedly. Swalot isn't more than your everyday not-so-good Poison type Pokemon, in many respects. Despite this, though, we have received a request to feature Swalot here on Poke-Focus, and that's exactly what we're going to do!

As for Swalot himself...he's a big purple blob thingy! He eats things and people and he looks like Pacman infused with genetically mutated Barney DNA. And that's not all, he also is pretty bad! Being a pure poison type, Swalot really only has the advantage over Grass-types, and is weak to both Ground and Psychic attackers. However, despite all of our half-witted jokes, Swalot actually CAN be useful if put to the right use. The question isn't IF he can be successful in battle, it is HOW do we use this purple blobby guy to win? Read on...

Capture/Training

Swalot is probably best known for its place in the Hoenn region, and as such, is easiest to capture (as a Gulpin) outside of Mauville City among Elektrikes, Plusles, and Minuns. Gulpin evolves into Swalot at level 26 and immediately, should you choose to evolve him at this point, learns Body Slam. Neither Gulpin nor Swalot is terribly difficult to level up, and the somewhat early evolution only makes things either. While Swalot doesn't enjoy a particularly exciting increase in attack power or speed, it is more than made up for in the sharp boost in both defensive categories and especially HP. Which, funny enough (or not really), brings us to...

Stats

100 HP, 73 Atk, 83 Def,  73 SpA, 83 SpD, 55 Spe

Not wonderful stats, but not entirely useless either. If you're looking for a sweeper, you are going to need to employ some serious agility and swords dancing/nasty plotting baton passers to crank up Swalot's mediocre stats. First and foremost, Swalot has above average HP, with the next two being the two defense stats, which are tied.  The attack stats are average at best and Swalot also carries the burden of an atrocious speed stat. Generally speaking, Swalot is the Hoenn reincarnation of Muk.

Abilities

Swalot has two abilities to pull from in Liquid Ooze and Sticky Hold. The latter prevents Swalot's held item from being taken via Thief, Covet, Trick, and similar item thieving moves. Liquid Ooze, albeit an average ability overall, is probably the better choice. In battle it stops moves that would drain its health, like Leech Seed, and instead inflicts damage upon the user. Not particularly useful, but potentially effective for a wall like Swalot.


Moves

Surprisingly enough, Swalot possesses quite the large movepool. As the base Special Attack and Attack stat are identical, Swalot can attack from both sides of the spectrum. The moves given to Swalot can very easily be based upon the individual nature, and whether it favors one side or the other. Despite having an intriguingly diverse moveset to choose from, it is almost always in the trainer's best interest to make Swalot defensive-based. Now, we say "almost always" because there are ways to make Swalot an offensive threat (enter Swords Dance + Baton Pass).

From a priliminary standpoint, Swalot has access to primary Poison STAB attacks through its natural level-up moves. For example, Swalot gains Sludge Bomb at level 45 and Gunk Shot at 66. These are the two most powerful poison moves in the special and physical categories respectively.

In addition, Swalot learns Wring Out to deal heavy damage on high-HP foes like Wailord and Blissey, Toxic to inflict the badly poisoned status, Body Slam upon evolving for a potential paralysis hit, and Stockpile/Amnesia for defense boosters. Gastro Acid is seemingly a novelty move, but when used correctly can unleash disastrous results on opponents, which will be covered just a little bit later.

Moving on to the T.M. category, Swalot is well represented here. Surely what is lacking in power is made up in the diversity of moves Swalot can learn. Much to our surprise, Swalot can change the weather via both Rain Dance and Sunny Day. Water Pulse is a good choice to bring along in any set including Rain Dance, or when being partnered with an Electric-type (both are weak to Ground and will be susceptible to a powered up Water Pulse). If you're lucky, you might get the added confusion bonus. But, if your luck is like ours, consider it to be a 1% chance rather than a 20% chance. As for Sunny Day uses, Swalot can learn Fire Punch via Move Tutor, and SolarBeam through T.M (which is another useful way to remove pesky Ground-types).

Shock Wave and Giga Drain are great surprise tactics...especially with Giga Drain being a huge slap in the face if an opposition previously attempted a Leech Seed against Swalot's Liquid Ooze ability. Substitute can all but assure your victory if employed with Amnesia or Stockpile, thus making it near impossible to break the Sub. Pair that with Swallow to regain your health, and you'll have a Swalot capable of taking 5 plus hits before a Sub break, packing the ability to create an infinite amount of replacements. Your attack stat could be 1 and you could win that way.

Yawn and Dream Eater are always a good combo, though many times the Yawn will force a switch if playing against human foes. Explosion, Earthquake, Giga Impact, and Hyper Beam are all extremely powerful moves, but more than likely to suffer in power due to Swalot's poor attack and special attack stats. Use with caution, as Swalot has many better uses than spamming less than powerful Hyper Beams only to waste a turn of what could be a game-breaking Toxic on an unsuspecting (or suspecting) opponent.

Protect works well with Toxic (as it always has), and Shadow Ball is the perfect way for a special-oriented Swalot to stick it to Psychic types. And, if you just get freaking sick of this piece of trash (literally, he's a piece of...oh never mind), you can always blow him the f**k up with Explosion. Who cares if everyone else on the field is a Ghost-type? Ding dong the Swalot's dead.

So, how exactly do we turn all this into winning combinations? Let's give it a go.

Effective Movesets

1. Yawnsalot

- Yawn

- Dream Eater

- Sludge Bomb

- Stockpile

Note: Stockpile while the foe is asleep or switching to increase your defenses to exorbitant levels. Yawn and continue spamming Dream Eater to recover health and Sludge Bomb for STAB power. and come out of battle without a scratch. EV train in Special Attack.

2. Toxicalot

- Protect

- Toxic

- Stockpile

-Rest

Held Item: Chesto Berry

Note: This Swalot has no need for attacks with its ability to badly poison the foe and then wait it out until they are out of commission.

3. Cursealot

- Gunk Shot

- Body Slam/Earthquake

- Seed Bomb/Fire Punch

-Curse

Note: This set is best used with a Baton Passer that can up Swalot's physical attack power via Swords Dance. The last two moves are learned via Move Tutor. Fire Punch is essential for dispatching Steel-types that will be immune to Gunk Shot, and resistant to Body Slam and Seed Bomb. Seed Bomb can remove Ground types before they cause too much trouble. And let's be honest here, the speed loss from Curse can't hurt, Swalot wasn't really faster than anything anyway.

4. Special Attacking Swalot

- Shadow Ball

- Sludge Bomb

- Giga Drain/SolarBeam

- Ice Beam

Note: This Swalot is dangerous in terms of type coverage. Try implementing a Baton Pass with a teammate that can Nasty Plot or gain the boost from Charge Beam.

5. Beast Tamer...alot

- Protect

- Swagger

- Gastro Acid

- Gunk Shot/Sludge Bomb

Note: This set has the potential to be devastating. Partner with a Slaking holding a Persim Berry. Immediately use Gastro Acid on Slaking to remove the Truant ability and allow him to attack every turn. Follow that up with a Swagger on Slaking to increase his attack (his confusion will be cured by the Persim). Protect if Slaking uses Earthquake, Gunk Shot or Sludge Bomb otherwise. Chances are, the Slaking will kill anything in one hit and never have to rest.


Final Notes

While Swalot will NEVER be anything more than a decent (at best) Poison-type, he can have his uses, and can be tailored to survive even difficult competition. His defenses are his BFF for sure, and he needs to hold onto it with one slimy hand and his move diversity with the other. But when all is said and done, we still think Swalot's best asset is his mustache. I mean, seriously.