 |
| Really lives up to being the "Jubilee Pokemon" |
Introduction
Togekiss is Togetic's new evolution from 4th-generation. It represents a
major jump in stats, which allow the Jubilee Pokemon to fulfill the various
roles its pre-evolution could not. Serene Grace is absolutely ridiculous on
Togekiss; it has many ways of abusing the ability. It also has many
other tricks up its sleeve, making it quite fun to battle with this
Pokemon.
With the introduction of Togekiss in Gen IV, the Togepi family went instantly from a complete joke to a serious threat.
With the introduction of Togekiss in Gen IV, the Togepi family went instantly from a complete joke to a serious threat.
Capture/Training
 |
| Egg to birdy thing. Now it makes a little sense. |
However, there's a possible alternative available: import a
Togepi from Pokemon XD. The main advantage of this is that this Togepi will have
the awesome Tri Attack. Getting multiple of these Togepi is somewhat
troublesome, though. Also, due to some weird glitch, Togepi actually switches
ability once transferred and evolved, which means if you want Serene Grace Tri
Attack Togekiss, you're going to have to live with Hustle Togepi for a bit, if
that's okay with you.
Evolve Togepi via friendship to Togetic as soon as possible. Togekiss
learns none of Togetic's moves, so make sure Togetic knows whatever moves you
want it to know before using the Shiny Stone. Possible benchmarks include Encore
at Lv. 19, Wish at Lv. 28, and Baton Pass at Lv. 42.
Stats
85 HP, 50 Atk, 95 Def, 120 SpA, 115 SpD, 80 Spe
Great stats. 120 Special Attack makes it a great attacker, while 85/95/115
defenses are very solid for taking hits. All these combine to make a very solid
special attacker. Despite the low Attack, physical attacks aren't completely out
of the question due to Hustle, although they are more novelty than
anything.
Abilities
As mentioned briefly before, Hustle is an option, albeit a novelty one.
There's no point using it without an attacking-boosting nature, as the boost is
too low, but at the same time there's no point putting Aura Sphere and a high
Special Attack to waste, either, so go mixed if using this strategy. Aerial Ace
helps alleviate the 80% accuracy woes, while ExtremeSpeed remains the physical
move of choice for getting the jump on opponents.
Serene Grace, though, is the real winner here. With access to STAB Air
Slash, Togekiss has a 60% chance of flinching an opponent, which works
incredibly well with paralysis. It also has all sorts of other moves that
benefit, including various standard moves whose normal 10% effect chances double
to a respectable 20%.
 |
| Put your ass away. No one wants to see that except maybe Piplup. Yeah definitely Piplup. |
Air Slash is Togekiss's most well-known move. Decent power boosted by STAB, a relatively reliable 95% accuracy, and most importantly, a 60% flinch rate designed to annoy opponents to no end all make it Togekiss's most common and useful attack, and can be found on almost every competitive Togekiss in existence.
As it stands, there are extremely few special Normal attacks, with the only really notable one being the aforementioned Tri Attack. It won't be seen much due to how hard it is to obtain, as well as not being strictly necessary on its own; it also gets STAB, and its secondary effect, which is cool as it is, becomes truly awesome with Serene Grace making the opponent suffer some kind of debilitating status 40% of the time.
Physical moves, as mentioned before, are not out of the question. That said, there are two kinds of physical moves: those to be used with Hustle and those to be used with Serene Grace solely for their secondary effects. Of the former, the best bets are ExtremeSpeed for that first strike and Aerial Ace to take advantage of its perfect accuracy. Of the latter, the most notable moves are those that cause paralysis, as they have an advantage over Thunder Wave in being able to hit Ground-types and Volt Absorbers.
The ideal choice is Body Slam; however, that is a 3rd-gen move tutor move and isn't readily available. The alternative, Secret Power, is plenty good on its own, with a 60% chance of all sorts of secondary effects, paralysis being the most common.
Togekiss has an absolutely humongous secondary attack movepool. The most
notable move is Aura Sphere. It combines extremely well with Air Slash,
as the two together are unresisted by all Pokemon not named Zapdos or Rotom. The
fact that it always hits makes it invaluable in-game, as well as on Hustle
Togekiss.
Water Pulse has a 40% chance of confusion, which means, if you
can pull it off, you could potentially have a paralyzed and confused Pokemon, at
which point Air Slash means it will be attacking a grand total of 15% of the
time. Ouch. Somewhat impractical, but fun if you can pull it off.
 |
| Magical Leaf we're guessing? |
Grass Knot might not have any cool secondary effects to go with it, but it is unrivaled in its ability to take down heavyweights. Togekiss is one of the few Pokemon to have access to all three "stat-super-boost" moves: Ancientpower, Silver Wind, and Ominous Wind. With Serene Grace, it has a 20% chance of all its stats getting boosted, which is nothing to scoff at.
One other move worth consideration is Snore. Normally not suggested due to its low power, it does have worth on Togekiss with its 60% flinch rate, meaning there's a decent chance the opponent won't be able to do anything to Togekiss while it's resting, and even if it does, STAB and 120 base Special Attack means it will still leave a dent.
Thunder Wave will likely be the status of choice for Togekiss, as Paraflinch is as effective of a strategy as ever. Yawn is more for switch-forcing. Encore is yet another fun way to wreak havoc on opponents.
Healing is appreciated on a Pokemon like Togekiss, who can take a few attacks. Ideally, Roost would be used for its instant healing and the ability to temporarily shed Flying-type weaknesses. However, obtaining Roost can be difficult since it's a one-time TM and can't be bred onto Togepi. Wish is an acceptable alternative in this case. Wish can also be used for team support. Speaking of such, it can also use Heal Bell for similar clerical support.
With some Egg Move support, Togekiss can go down the dark road of Nasty Plotting. Even better, it can then Baton Pass those plots to a teammate.
Light Screen, Reflect, and Safeguard are all available for additional team support. It can even set up Sunny Day and Rain Dance.
Of course, Substitute is always an option.
1. Paraflinch
- Thunder Wave
- Air Slash
- Aura Sphere
- Secret Power
Note: A few moves can go in the last slot; I went with a move that can
paralyze Ground-types and other Thunder Wave-immune folks. After paralyzing, go
to town with Air Slash. Should be fun, albeit annoying if used against humans.
You know, for the other human. Computer characters won't care.
2. Nasty Plot Sweeper
- Nasty Plot
- Air Slash
- Aura Sphere
- Shadow Ball
 |
| Togekiss shooting a ball thing. |
3. Nasty Plot Baton Passer
- Nasty Plot
- Air Slash
- Encore
- Baton Pass
4. Choice
- Air Slash
- Aura Sphere
- Tri Attack
- Flamethrower
5. Encore Wish Support
- Encore
- Wish
- Air Slash
- Thunder Wave
6. Ancientpower SubPasser
- Ancientpower
- Baton Pass
- Encore
- Substitute
Note: A variant on Baton Passing. Set up a Sub, encore a harmless move, and
start using Ancientpower in the hopes you get a full stat boost. Once you get
it, pass it off to a teammate. Any teammate. Potentially deadly.
 |
| Togekiss shooting another ball thing. AT A DIFFERENT ANGLE |
7. Mixed Sweeper
- ExtremeSpeed
- Aerial Ace
- Aura Sphere
- Shadow Ball
Ability: Hustle
Note: The rare Hustle Togekiss. Sort of a gimmick, but it could work.
8. ...
- (a move)
- (another move)
- (a move that works well with one of the above two moves)
- (a good move of any sort)
Note: ...and that pretty much describes Togekiss. So many moves, so many
options, just pick some and go.
Conclusion
Togekiss is a real step up from Togetic. Being able to run so many
effective sets is no joke. It's one of the most fun Pokemon to play as, for
sure, and you're sure to enjoy the ride on the Jubilee Pokemon.