Sun / Moon In-Game Tier List

[Colonel M]

IN-GAME TIER LIST
​

Hello, my name is Colonel M. One of the things I try to not finish do at Smogon is to create In-Game Tier Lists. I know there's a lot that has happened with this game, so without further ado let's begin.

As a fair warning there are a lot of Spoilers in this thread - hence the Spoilers tag. If you don't want to be spoiled - I suggest not looking any further.

(Lazily copied from GSC In-game Tier List. If you'd like I would appreciate help with write-ups with that as well if anyone is willing). Sprites are to come later; however, if you would like to help contribute to adding to a tier with sprites it would be greatly appreciated.

What is an in-game tier list?
In-game tier lists rank Pokemon based on effectiveness and usefulness throughout an entire playthrough. An entire playthrough, in the case of Sun and Moon, is classified from the very start of the game until you defeat the Elite Four and Champion. In-game tier lists rank Pokemon from an efficient playthrough based off of real-time.

What are the tiers?
Current tiers are as follows and are subject to change:
S, or Top, which signifies a Pokemon with the fewest of flaws in a playthrough.
A, or High, which signifies a Pokemon with some flaws but very appealing tools to utilize.
B, or Upper Mid, which signifies a Pokemon with flaws with some appealing tools to utilize.
C, or Mid, which signifies a Pokemon with flaws and some appealing tools to utilize.
D, or Lower Mid, which signifies a Pokemon with a lot of flaws with some appealing tools to utilize.
E, or Low, which signifies a Pokemon with a lot of flaws and few appealing tools to utilize.
F, or Bottom, which signifies a Pokemon with a lot of flaws and no appealing tools to utilize.
Not Available, a Limbo Tier that signifies a Pokemon that cannot be caught or obtained until Post-game.

The tier list is alphabetized for ease of reading. The higher tier a Pokemon is the more it contributes within an efficient playthrough.

Why is a Pokémon in a certain tier?
Pokemon are ranked under the following 5 criteria:

Availability - Based on how early and probability that the Pokemon is found in the game. Does it require backtracking or other specific requirements such as constant searching? A Pokemon found earlier and with little effort is often better than those found later in the game.

Typing - A Pokemon's typing can be critical for an efficiency playthrough. How does the typing match-up work against the entire game? If a Pokemon has better typing it is often considered a higher rank.

Stats - A Pokemon's stat distribution is important for a Pokemon's success. Does the Pokemon have a stat distribution that compliments the Pokemon's movepool and typing? If a Pokemon has a stat distribution that favors its typing and movepool it will often be higher on the tier list. In general a Pokemon that is often slower than it is faster will be ranked lower on a tier list.

Movepool - A Pokemon's movepool (both Level-up and TMs) are crucial for a Pokemon. What moves does the Pokemon naturally get and can possibly obtain?

Major Battles - Major battles consist of Totem Pokemon, Kahunas, Team Skull, Aether Paradise, Rival encounters, and the Elite 4. How does the Pokemon contribute to major battles? A Pokemon that contributes to many major battles will often be seen higher than those that do not.

What tools are allowed for the player to use?
The player is allowed to use any legitimate means within the cartridge for completing the game efficiently. The player is only allowed to trade to evolve Pokemon and not to receive outside help otherwise. The player is allowed to use items such as Z-Crystals, X Items, Potions, TMs, and Berries. Bear in mind that items have opportunity costs associated with them and can still contribute to a Pokemon negatively if it requires a multitude of items.

Note that Pokemon are not penalized for being outclassed by something in a much higher tier. For example, Cyndaquil does not penalize Growlithe in a Growlithe vs Oddish comparison.

Finally, due to the course of this game Exp. Share is tentatively allowed. As there are no Pokemon that need to be used for HMs this means a potential party of 6 is possible. Still, bear in mind that a smaller team will usually be a better team in terms of levels.

S Tier:

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- Magikarp

- Magnemite

- Popplio

- Wingull

A Tier:

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- Abra

- Archen

- Cutiefly

- Dewpider

- Gastly (Gengar)

- Grimer

- Growlithe

- Litten

- Magby (Magmortar)

- Makuhita

- Mankey

- Mudbray

- Munchlax

- Salandit

- Staryu

- Stufful

- Wishiwashi

- Zubat

- Zygarde (50% Form)

B Mid:

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- Bounsweet
https://www.serebii.net/sunmoon/pokemon/764.png[/img]
- Comfey

- Diglett
- Drifloon
- Eevee (Espeon)
- Eevee (Vaporeon)
- Elekid (Electivire)
- Elekid (No Trade)

- Fletchling
- Geodude (Golem)
- Kangaskhan

- Lunala
- Machop (Trade)
- Magby (No Trade)
- Miltank
- Mimikyu
- Minior
- Misdreavous

- Pichu
- Pancham
- Passimian
- Pikipek
- Pinsir

- Poliwag (Poliwrath)

- Psyduck
- Rowlett
- Sandile
- Sandshrew
- Skarmory

- Solgaleo
- Tauros

- Tentacool
- Torkoal
- Turtonator
- Zygarde (10% Form)

C Tier:

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- Aerodactyl
- Bonsly
- Chinchou
- Drowzee
- Eevee (Flareon)
- Eevee (Jolteon)
- Eevee (Sylveon)
- Eevee (Umbreon)
- Gastly (No Trade)
- Klefki
- Komala
- Lapras
- Lillipup
- Machop (No Trade)
- Meowth
- Oranguru
- Oricorio
- Paras
- Petilil
- Phantump (Trade)

- Poliwag (Politoed)
- Rockruff
- Sandygast
- Slowpoke (Slowbro)
- Slowpoke (Slowking)
- Spearow
- Surskit
- Tirtouga
- Togedemaru
- Trapinch
- Vulpix
- Wimpod

D Tier:

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- Absol
- Bagon
- Barboach
- Beldum
- Cranidos
- Cubone
- Dhelmise
- Drampa
- Eevee (Leafeon)
- Exeggcute
- Gabite
- Granbull
- Grubbin
- Jangmo-o
- Morelull
- Murkrow
- Rattata
- Sableye
- Sharpedo
- Shellder
- Shieldon

E Tier:

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- Alomomola
- Boldore
- Bruxish
- Carbink
- Castform
- Cleffa
- Corsola
- Cottonee
- Crabrawler
- Dratini
- Finneon
- Fomantis
- Gastrodon
- Goldeen
- Goomy
- Igglybuff
- Mareanie
- Nosepass
- Phantump (No Trade)
- Relicanth
- Rufflet
- Sneasel
- Snorunt
- Spinarak
- Trubbish
- Vanillite
- Vullaby
- Wailmer
- Yungoos

F Tier:

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- Delibird
- Ditto
- Eevee (Glaceon)
- Feebas
- Happiny
- Ledyba
- Luvdisc
- Pyukumuku
- Smeargle
- Spinda

Not Available:

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- Buzzwole
- Celesteela
- Emolga
- Guzzlord
- Kartana
- Magearna
- Necrozma
- Nihilego
- Pheromosa
- Porygon
- Riolu
- Scyther
- Scyther
- Snorunt (Froslass)
- Tapu Bulu
- Tapu Fini
- Tapu Koko
- Tapu Lele
- Type: Null
- Xurkitree

Write-Ups
As custom for tier lists we eventually write up a small segment for each Pokemon and then upload the tier list to our database on Smogon's website. Write-ups should look like this:

[IMG]<Sun / Moon URL>[/IMG]
[B]Name
Availability:[/B] When does this Pokémon become available? Is it easy or hard to encounter?
[B]Stats:[/B] Describe how a Pokémon's stats make it excel. Is it a deadly sweeper or a strong wall? Discuss why you would use this Pokemon thank to its stats.
[B]Typing:[/B] Discuss this Pokémon's typing in a sentence or two. Is its STAB efficient or not, does it have any great resistances or glaring weaknesses?
[B]Movepool:[/B] Describe this Pokémon's movepool in a few sentences. Does it have many effective movepool options through level up? Is it over reliant on TM's to function?
[B]Major Battles:[/B] Describe how the Pokémon handles the major opponents throughout the game.
[B]Additional Comments:[/B] Discuss any miscellaneous information not covered in other sections here. Factors such as experience growth, abilities, and other lesser characteristics can be discussed here. The entry can be wrapped up here as well.

 

[Colonel M]

Reserved for tier changes

Abra - High -> Upper Mid

Basic argument - Kinesis. Need I say more?

Pichu - Top -> Upper Mid

Basic argument - Too frail to effectively do some things and also plagued with a mediocre movepool for some time. Alola Raichu faces some issues later in the game.

Meowth Mid -> Upper Mid

Basic argument - STAB Technician Bite is pretty good. Not... sure how it stacks up lategame. Need more on this maybe.

Grubbin Low -> Lower Mid

Basic argument - While its late evolution is bad its STABs mid-game are good (Spark and Bug Bite).

Caterpie Lower Mid -> Mid

Basic argument - Good STABs come early enough and can self-sustain for a little while. Can get problematic later on, though Quiver Dance helps.

Salandit Top -> High

Basic argument - While strong (especially as Salazzle) and access to Dragon Rage bypasses some of its issues it is a Pokemon that lacks really good STAB until Flame Burst and Venoshock, which are a little bit later. It's also just a smidgeon too frail.

Archen Mid -> Upper Mid

Oriochiro Lower Mid -> Mid

Bounsweet Mid -> Upper Mid

Litten Upper Mid -> High

Tentacool High -> Upper Mid

Politoed High -> Mid

Poliwrath High -> Upper Mid

Slowpoke Upper Mid -> Mid

Cranidos Mid -> Lower Mid

Psyduck High -> Upper Mid

Vulpix Upper Mid -> Mid

Yungoos Lower Mid -> Low

Gabite Mid -> Lower Mid

 

[Colonel M]

- Please check this post: http://www.smogon.com/forums/threads/sun-moon-in-game-tier-list.3587886/page-21#post-7347590 for information on what has been reserved! -​

Reserved for write-ups

 

[Colonel M]

You may now post

 

[Gabidou99]

IMO I think Grubbin should be higher. While you only get Vikavolt at late-game, Charjabug is actually pretty strong on its own. Its typing is very good, Bug Bite/Spark are decent reliable STABs, and its bulk is alright. Learning Thunderbolt as Vikavolt without needing a TM is also another plus. It's also very good against Totem Wishiwashi & Lurantis and against Hala and Nanu I guess. Its NFE stats drags it back a bit at the later part of the game, but that's when you're near to gettin Vikavolt. I really like Wishiwashi and it's definitely strong, but from my experience I'd drop it a bit lower because it need healing so often and it has bad level up moves outside of Aqua Tail.

 

[CTNC]

Are island Scan Pokemon getting ranked? You can the ones from the first three islands before the Elite Four so I don't see why not.

 

[Melons-N-Soda]

Don't see how Salandit could be in the highest tier when getting one that isn't completely worthless (IE: A female one) is a tough endeavor. (12.5 percent chance to be exact)

On a side note, since I'm using it myself, whats the best level to evolve Growlithe? Flare Blitz is fairly late into the game after all. I am fine just evolving it when it learns Flamethrower or something?

 

[Stellar]

Pichu/Pikachu/Raichu was honestly the worst experience I've ever had playing Pokémon. Pichu is ass-tier terrible and evolves via hapiness, Pikachu is also ass-tier terrible due to the lack of Light Ball, and Raichu is frail (thanks to tons of common weakness in-game) and frankly not that strong. I would honestly put it near the bottom of mid-tier...

 

[Karxrida]

Totally agree with Magnemite at Top. It has a ton of good matchups for important fights (e.g. cheeses Totem Mimikyu with Corkscrew Crash), is available super early, and carries its weight for the entire game.

Top seems to be overselling Wingull a bit. It doesn't become a monster until it evolves into Pelipper if it got Drizzle. Still good and all, but it either needs babying or you wait to catch one later.

 

[R_N]

Totally agree with Magnemite at Top. It has a ton of good matchups for important fights (e.g. cheeses Totem Mimikyu with Corkscrew Crash), is available super early, and carrys its weight for the entire game.

Top seems to be overselling Wingull a bit. It doesn't become a monster until it evolves into Pelipper if it got Drizzle. Still good and all, but it either needs babying or you wait to catch one later.

Wingull evolves at a decent level 25, around the point in the game where you're still transitioning to an evolved team. I think that's reasonable time frame


Also I just want to say that Decidueye, as fun as those decent stats and ghost typing are, just doesnt really..work well. A lto of the time I found myself not really able to use it for a lot of things because it felt like its weaknesses were everywhere and the pokemon it has type advantage on, some water types aside, have stuff that beats it pretty handidly. It's also possibly the worst possible ghost counter? Every ghost I've fought has outsped me and then killed me, usually in one hit. Special note to the ghost type trial (though I had a dartrix there since I was without EXP share) and that one mismagius. You know the one.

I don't know, it was never lacking in levels but I feel like I used it more for things other than "oh i have a grass/ghost, its perfect here!" which seems not great for a tier ranking


e: Rowlett also has a bad time in the early game. Technician Ember Smeargle is terrible news not just for Rowlett, but for the rest of your team that is probably also a bug type or magnemite. Bug types resist your stab (though thankfully the flying type neutralizes that weakness). Have to be weary of poison.

 

[Colonel M]

IMO I think Grubbin should be higher. While you only get Vikavolt at late-game, Charjabug is actually pretty strong on its own. Its typing is very good, Bug Bite/Spark are decent reliable STABs, and its bulk is alright. Learning Thunderbolt as Vikavolt without needing a TM is also another plus. It's also very good against Totem Wishiwashi & Lurantis and against Hala and Nanu I guess. Its NFE stats drags it back a bit at the later part of the game, but that's when you're near to gettin Vikavolt. I really like Wishiwashi and it's definitely strong, but from my experience I'd drop it a bit lower because it need healing so often and it has bad level up moves outside of Aqua Tail.

I can agree with raising Grubbin.

Wishiwashi I think needs a little more to discuss. There is Scald (which means it hits on the Special spectrum) and you have Bulldoze / U-Turn as well. There is also Return later on.

Probably could afford to drop, but at least when it hits it hits hard.

Are island Scan Pokemon getting ranked? You can the ones from the first three islands before the Elite Four so I don't see why not.

It takes 10 QR scans IIRC to get it, and it's only good for one hour and the like.

I guess we can look at it considering it is within the game to some extents and it would not hurt to tier, but I would like someone who has more knowledge on how this works to describe how long it takes to accomplish these and how random the mon is.

Don't see how Salandit could be in the highest tier when getting one that isn't completely worthless (IE: A female one) is a tough endeavor. (12.5 percent chance to be exact)

On a side note, since I'm using it myself, whats the best level to evolve Growlithe? Flare Blitz is fairly late into the game after all. I am fine just evolving it when it learns Flamethrower or something?

Salandit's chance of Female is low, that is true. Still, the player has opportunities to find one (it's not like finding a Bagon then scumming for a Salamence rare). I will say if you're willing to invest a little extra time to find it, it is damn worth it.

As for Growlithe - yeah around Flamethrower I would say. I didn't use it personally (that one I had to theorymon), but Flamethrower IMO is a good stopping point. You can use (Z) Sunny Day too to help bolster it.

Pichu/Pikachu/Raichu was honestly the worst experience I've ever had playing Pokémon. Pichu is ass-tier terrible and evolves via hapiness, Pikachu is also ass-tier terrible due to the lack of Light Ball, and Raichu is frail (thanks to tons of common weakness in-game) and frankly not that strong. I would honestly put it near the bottom of mid-tier...

I did that one at random, but considering that my experiences with Decidueye were about as ass as R_N's was (seriously I fucking hated Decidueye) I would not oppose to dropping it. I kind of assumed Pikachu being caught, though I did re-think Pichu only due to Plot.

Totally agree with Magnemite at Top. It has a ton of good matchups for important fights (e.g. cheeses Totem Mimikyu with Corkscrew Crash), is available super early, and carries its weight for the entire game.

Top seems to be overselling Wingull a bit. It doesn't become a monster until it evolves into Pelipper if it got Drizzle. Still good and all, but it either needs babying or you wait to catch one later.

See RN's post on Wingull. Furthermore, Wingull has decent utility against Hala and still holds its own against a lot of the totem mons.

I -will- say that it is dicey to use against Olivia.

Recreant PMed me via Discord - apparently we can have moving sprites here too.

http://www.pkparaiso.com/sol-luna/sprites_pokemon.php?cid=0#group0

Feel free to help out :)

 

[IOS]

I haven't played yet, but I'm pretty sure Pikipek is top tier due to high attack, good STABs throughout the game (Beak Blast!), and passable speed/bulk. Plus you get it early. I know some people here hate when I bring up speedruns, but I know some players are speculating it could be used in a solo which is a good indicator of overall performance in a standard run.

EDIT: Litten too, who's also currently in Upper Mid. Those two are the contenders.

 

[Afti]

Pichu is definitely too high, from my experience.

A-Raichu is pretty great, but the problem is you're near the end of island 2 before you get the Thunder Stone. Until then, you're using Pichu/Pikachu, and both of them are pretty awful.

Pichu dies to everything, gets further from evolution with each death, and hits like a damp noodle. Pikachu is... marginally better?

But the lack of a decent Electric STAB really hurts the pair of them. Nasty Plot is neat but only really practical for bosses - Pikachu just can't do much of anything against route trash. Thunder Wave is neat utility, at least, I guess?

But, like: there's not really any scenario where Pikachu is worth using until the Thunder Stone comes.

I wouldn't put A-Raichu too low, even with all this in mind, because it's pretty great once it finally does evolve! Psychic is pretty nasty, and Nasty Plot is a lot of fun. But even after it evolves, Raichu doesn't actually have a workable Electric attack until goddamn Seafolk Village and the Thunder TM. And you need Psychic and Raichu's non-trash stats as soon as possible, so you can't exactly wait for Discharge or Thunderbolt to evolve Pikachu. Even once it gets good, Raichu still isn't really top-tier material; it has a bad habit of missing kills that you really, really need it to make. It's reasonably powerful, and it outruns just about everything... but it's definitely not a top-tier mon. From my ingame party, Grimer, Mudbray, and Wishiwashi were all better mons overall.

Speaking of which: I'd definitely argue Wishiwashi for Top.

It just comes way too early to have the stats it has. 140 SpA Scald should not be available at that point in the game. It scores OHKO's on everything for the bulk of the game and generally just takes scratch damage in trade. It starts completely obscene, and while it's not completely broken anymore by endgame, even at the Elite Four this fish does work.

Schooling's downside doesn't actually matter at all ingame, as long as you aren't in the habit of leaving Wishiwashi in on things it obviously shouldn't be fighting. I think I recall the school breaking exactly once, and I U-turned out of it for some chip damage and a free switchin, so even then Wishiwashi did its job, lol.

It makes a great Z-move nuke, but it doesn't need the Z-crystal to do its job - actually, Wishiwashi probably really wants a Leftovers or the Shell Bell more, to recover off chip damage.

But, like: Wishiwashi is easily obtained, available fairly early in the game, and has a lot of immediate power. It also boasts the Fast experience curve, which is just great - by endgame, you're gonna have a decent level advantage on just about anything else you'd been using the same amount. Its resource demands are generally negligible. It wants a few of the early Rare Candies to skip to 20 as soon as you get it so you don't have to put up with pre-Schooling Wishiwashi... but that's about it. You don't need to heal it in battles, you don't need to feed it X Items to make kills happen, and you can take chip damage off between battles with nothing more than a stack of cheap Potions thanks to the garbo HP/inhuman defenses model its bulk works on. And nothing else you have at this point in the game is going to get more out of those candies than Wishiwashi does!

Its movepool outside of that thermonuclear Scald isn't great, but tbh Scald is all you need to solo 90% of the game. And Wishiwashi's movepool is shallow, but it does still get just about everything it'd want to supplement Scald - Bulldoze, Blizzard, (and Ice Beam, though that's way late in the game) and a slow U-turn.

I generally run with Exp. Share off/no wild encounter grinding/Set battle style, so efficiency matters. And Wishiwashi is just a ruthlessly efficient pick. It more than carries its weight from the moment you pick it up, and it doesn't really want anything in return that you can't afford to give it. You literally catch a fish, teach it Scald, candy it to 20, and then it starts soloing things, starting with its own trial site.

(No, really: Wishiwashi solos Totem Wishiwashi, honest. You have Scald, it doesn't, so spam that and you win.)

 

[Karxrida]

Haven't touched Pichu but Electric STAB shouldn't be much of a problem. You get Charge Beam relatively early and for free (it's lying around somewhere on island 2, I think before the Wishiwashi Totem?) and Volt Switch is found near the observatory. Not the best choices but they are passable.

 

[Colonel M]

I haven't played yet, but I'm pretty sure Pikipek is top tier due to high attack, good STABs throughout the game (Beak Blast!), and passable speed/bulk. Plus you get it early. I know some people here hate when I bring up speedruns, but I know some players are speculating it could be used in a solo which is a good indicator of overall performance in a standard run.

EDIT: Litten too, who's also currently in Upper Mid. Those two are the contenders.

Beak Blast has a nasty drawback of forcing you to take a hit. Outside of that, I did consider it higher and I will tilt it a bit higher too. You know I'm not opposed of the speedrun portion of it and will gladly take some of the suggestions provided by it. If it proves to be useful in that environment I will gladly consider it higher.

Litten... yeah. At least lategame I can imagine it being better. It thrashes some of the nastier matchups that was plaguing my Decidueye and it's at least neutral to Fairy (mildly important for Lusamine). Considering the success I had with Salazzle I would not oppose Litten higher. I just didn't use it, so I kind of had to theorymon that one too.

 

[hypno28]

Top, which signifies a Pokemon with the least amount of flaws in a playthrough.

It's "fewest" (and "least amount" is redundant). And it's Lunala, not "Lumanala."

I would argue that Caterpie belongs higher. The early evolution to Butterfree makes it very useful for a good portion of the game, and Compound Eyes + Sleep Powder is very helpful for catching things, especially with the call-for-help mechanic in the games. The addition of Air Slash also makes its movepool pretty great IMO.

I think it's also worth considering whether Cubone should be higher. The issue with it is that Marowak can't get Shadow Bone because of when it evolves. I actually traded mine over to my other (completed) game and re-learned the move, and I've barely used that move and basically used Marowak as if it were a Ground/Fire type, with Bonemerang and Flame Charge (the lack of a Fire move before Flare Blitz is the other issue, but you're guaranteed the TM for Flame Charge). I also have a Thick Club for it and my team happens to make the Ghost move redundant, but it's been probably the best thing on my current team (Decidueye/Persian-A/Butterfree/Araquanid/Ninetales-A/Marowak-A).

 

[Afti]

Haven't touched Pichu but Electric STAB shouldn't be much of a problem. You get Charge Beam relatively early and for free (it's lying around somewhere on island 2, I think before the Wishiwashi Totem?)

I used Charge Beam. It is trash. 55 base damage, SpA boosts when you don't need them, and a bad habit of missing at the worst possible time.

Volt Switch would probably be better, although it does basically force you to give Raichu the Electrium if you want it to take out multiple mons.

 

[Led Zeppelin]

I would argue Wimpod should be higher. Yes it's useless until it evolves, but so is Magikarp and it's top tier. Sure Magikarp is a bit easier to get and evolves a little earlier, but Golisopod is still obtainable relatively early in the game (around the start of the 3rd island) and absoloutely wrecks the game.

 

[Giratina93]

Popplio for A Tier

Availability: Popplio is one of the three starters for Gen 7, so you are guaranteed to have a shot of getting it, if you want to use it.

Stats: Popplio is a little on the slow side, but considering the rest of Alola, that's not too big of an issue. It features solid early game bulk, especially once it fully evolves. Once it turns into Primarina, it boasts the highest special attack of any non legendary water type, which it can put to great use.

Typing: Water/Fairy is a very good defensive typing. As Popplio and Brionne, it's pure water, which still works defensively and offensively. As a Water/Fairy, it boasts a wide variety of resistences and even a solid immunity to dragon, which alas won't see much use in-game. Offensively, it gives Popplio an easy time against its fair share of challenges and fights, and makes a handful of them more difficult than they should be.

Movepool: This is where Popplio truly shines, especially compared to the other two starters. As a water type, it is blessed with an amazing movepool to help it hit all the targets it needs to as hard as possible. Disarming Voice early on gives it an early Fairy move against fighting and dark types. Scald as early as the second trial is broken, and Waterium Z is icing on the cake. It can also learn Energy Ball as a TM, get Dazzling Gleam for a stronger Fairy STAB, and Moonblast just in time for the final trial and Elite 4.

Major Battles:

Ilima: Yungoos is easy to take down, but the Smeargle is going to require some backup. It hits you super hard, but not vice versa.
Totem Normal: If Moon, it has a SLIGHT chance against Raticate by hitting it with Disarming Voice, but otherwise, it still needs backup.
Hala: No. If you are a Brionne, then you got a chance of soloing him, but otherwise, you need to heal alot, and you're not killing his mons in one hit.
Hau: Doesn't matter what fight against Hau you're doing, you only got a solid chance against his Litten/evo. Pikachu/Raichu hits hard with Electroball, and the eventual Leafeon is a bitch as well. Gonna need backup for this one.
Gladion: Zubat dies, but Type Null is going to need some solid backup. Seeing a pattern here? Later on, his Sneasel can't do much to you, but the Lucario can really dent you with its Z-move.
Totem Wishiwahi: This is where Popplio finally starts to shine, thanks to Scald being right before this fight. You're going to need some healing, but you can land a burn and easily boost up on it with X attack items.
Totem Salazzle: Wait, there's a boss here? Granted, you're getting hit first, but it still dead.
Totem Lurantis: Yeah... NO. Don't even try.
Plumeria: Zubat and Salandit can't do much to you, but you'll still take damage.
Olivia: Nuke the Nosepass so it doesn't paralyze you. Lycanroc outspeeds you and hits hard with its Z-move, and Boldore is a non-issue
UB-01: Uhhh, Hydro Vortex FTW?
Molayne: You do okay here, especially if you're a Primarina at this point despite the neutralities. Dugtrio will outspeed and be annoying, but it drops to one Scald.
Totem Vikavolt: AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA- NO. Keep Brionne/Primarina as FAR away from this fight as possible.
Guzma: round 1, if you're still a Brionne, you're in for a bad time. You're doing squat to Golisopod, and it's ripping holes in you even with a resisted Razor Shell. Rounds 2 and 3, it's a bit easier with Primarina with Dazzling Gleam, and it can't hit you for neutral , but watch out for the Masquerain. it can, and WILL, try to flinch hax you to death.
Totem Mimikyu: This is where your low speed is going to bite you the hardest. Just pray the Hypnosis from Haunter and Gengar miss, and try to hose Mimikyu down as fast as possible.
Team Skull: They might outspeed you and get some hits in on you, but everything that doesn't die to Hydro Vortex (which is very little) dies to Dazzling Gleam and Psychic
Nanu: Dazzling Gleam for days.
Team Aether: there are several electric and grass types being used, so just be careful and tread cautiously. This is a mixed bag for Primarina
Lusamine: Save your Primarina for Bewear, since Dazzling Gleam/Moonblast is an easy kill on it/crippler. You CAN try to go toe to toe with the Mismagius and the Milotic if you have Shadow Ball/Energy Ball, but it's best to come out only for the Bewear. Same goes for round 2.
Hapu: You got Blizzard at this point, so there should be few problems. Again, Dugtrio is a nusiance, but dies in one hit.
Totem Kommo-o: Moonblast, anyone?
Elite 4: Primarina has the best all-around performance against the Elite 4, depending on what moves you taught it. With Ice Beam, it does well against Kahili, with Energy Ball and Scald it hoses down Olivia's team, Shadow Ball helps against Acerola, but isn't recommended because her mons can take a hit and dish it back hard, and you do pretty well against Hala regardless
Professor Kukui: Lycanroc dies, Snorlax walls you to oblivion, Ninetails is neutral, braviary hits you hard before dying to Ice Beam, Magnezone is NO, and Decidueye outspeeds and nukes you, so no there as well.

Additional Comments: As seen above, Popplio mostly struggles in the early game until it gets access to Scald , then it becomes a walking nuke. It loves having some help during that early phase, so pairing it with mons that do well from the start, like Crabrawler, helps it out a lot.

 

[R_N]

It takes 10 QR scans IIRC to get it, and it's only good for one hour and the like.

I guess we can look at it considering it is within the game to some extents and it would not hurt to tier, but I would like someone who has more knowledge on how this works to describe how long it takes to accomplish these and how random the mon is.

It's utterly trivial.

QR codes are readily available and literally any code works. I have a zip file of ones that scriesM generated when they cracked it and just go through that. I've also scanned a QR code off a can of coke. It takes like i dont know...20 seconds between scanning the code, it going through all its analysis and giving you the points.
When you reach 100, you can initiate the scan any time. The island it chooses is not random, its based on the island you currently are on when you initiate the scan. Island scan takes like 5 seconds.
The pokemon you get out of the scan is not random. It is dependent on the day and island. If I scan on Melemele on Monday, I will always find a level 12 Totodile on one of the routes. The route, to my knowledge, is random but can be soft reset for so long as you save before doing the scan (someone else can confirm). I believe they also always have their egg move.

The only caveat is that it's effectively once a day. It takes 2 hours to regenerate a single scan. It should be noted there are supposed to be special QR codes that when scanned give 20 points instead of 10, but I don't believe those have been cracked or made readily available online; if so then you can easily get 2 island scans a day if you wish.

e: Also so far as I can tell the pokemon isn't set to a rare encounter. I've found the ones I searched for pretty quickly.

To put it another way, i've taken longer to find a 5% or even 10% encounter than the entire time between scanning codes, doing an island scan, going to the route and catching the island scan pokemon.

 

[TheMantyke]

I'd like to comment on some stuff I used In game:

Gabite should be Low or at least Low/Mid. It's an SOS battle summon which can takes ages to show up depending on how lucky you get. In the mean time you have Dugtrio attacking, Sandile swaggering and mud slapping... the easiest you can get it is by finding the 10% encounter rate Trapinch which will just crunch, dig, and earth power. There's also the constant Sandstorm which will wear down your Pokemon even faster. After a while, I resorted to using a Skarmory I had to sit down and stomach hits while I waited for Gabite.

After that though, you've still only got a Gabite. Bulldoze is your only STAB for now which is passable, but very underwhelming. Dual Chop and Dragon Claw by level up later on is nice though. Getting through the Gabite stage to get to Garchomp was an absolute pain and the thing was constantly fainting whole I trained it throughout Route 16 and Po Town. Its only saving grace is that Garchomp is very nice for the Elite 4. Swords Dance can clean out Olivia and Kahili. Lyranroc's SR turn makes the champion set up bait. Still, catching and raising it is extraordinarily inefficient and something I wouldn't recommend to anyone.

Also, Castform has very similar catching methods and is just terrible. I don't think anyone will oppose Castform for Bottom tier.

Retracted

Beldum on the other hand I think should rise to Mid.] It's a 10% encounter rate which isn't the best, but unlike Gabite you don't need to wade through SOS nonsense to get it. The big problem with Beldum is that it's hard to catch, but there are a few factors that make catching it very possible:

• You have access to the Thunder Wave TM by that point in the game.
• If you picked Rowlet as your starter, by around this point in the game, you'll likely have Decidueyes. Decidueyes can False Swipe Beldum down to 1 HP and catch it without Beldum killing itself due to recoil. Other starters don't have this luxury, so a ghost type (gastly from the melemele graveyard) or something will be needed.
• Timer Balls reach their maximum capture strength faster thanks to a change in their formula.

Once its caught and once it's gotten a single level from the EXP share, Metang is a team player from the moment it evolves. You have the Psychic TM by that point and even with Metangs lower Special Attack, it's excellent when you're a steal-type that walls most things and their coverage options. Metagross is obviously fantastic and creams some of the more troubling fairy-types in the game (Lusamine's Clefable). The only real thing preventing this from being on par with something like Magnemite is the catching part, really. I'm going to tag DTC if he wants to offer any input since I know he used one too.

Salandit does not deserve top tier. Salazzle is great. Salandit isn't. It can get the job done, but it's often too frail and not powerful enough. Finding a female is a little annoying as well. It's not striking home runs right off the bat like other top tiers, so I'd suggest moving it down to high.

 

[Afti]

Actually, occurs to me that I may as well do a breakdown for my hobby horse (well, fish) here.

Wishiwashi for Broken-Ass Tier

Availability: Brooklet Hill, with a guaranteed encounter. It's early and you have to fight it, so you may as well catch it.

Stats: Incredible offenses and defenses, crappy HP, and I swear to god I looked at the Speed stat on its summary and it just said "moves second," like, the jury is admittedly still out on whether or not this thing has an observable Speed stat.

Typing: Mono-Water. Boring but practical - weaknesses aren't a problem and your STAB is good and spammable.

Movepool: Adequate. Level-up moves suck, but Scald is all you really need for the bulk of the game anyway, and your TM options (Bulldoze, Blizzard, etc.) provide you with just the set of tools you need. Note that U-turn is actually really good on this thing - it pairs amazingly with Schooling, and lets you get out of dodge and bring something else in for free even in the rare case that the school would be broken. Don't think of Schooling as "you turn into a crappy fish at 25% HP," think of it as letting you U-turn out after you "die" and then throw a Hyper Potion at Wishiwashi to get it back in the game then and there.

Major Battles:
Totem Wishiwashi: Hit Scald until you win.
Totem Salazzle: ditto
Totem Lurantis: no
Plumeria: she can't do shit and nothing takes Scald well
UB-01: congratulations
Molayne: you win
Totem Vikavolt: no
Guzma: you can smack Golisopod hard enough to proc Emergency Exit and it's the only thing that's actually a threat here - you win if you have Lefties/Shell Bell
Totem Mimikyu: you're slow as hell, you're gonna get slept, don't do it
Skulls: fishfood
Nanu: dead
Aether: avoid Electrics/Grasses
Lusamine: This is the first big Trainer in the game that Wishiwashi really, really doesn't want to fight.
Hapu: you're fine if you have lefties/Shell Bell
Totem Kommo-O: you win, but Blizzard accuracy is ass
Gladion: you're fine as long as Silvally isn't Grass-type
Kahili: Ice Beam some motherfuckers
Olivia: goes down exactly the same way the last time did
Hala: you can take down a couple mons, but he hits hard enough that you probably will need to switch out or heal, unfortunately
Acerola: you almost solo her but Dhelmise is a motherfucker - Pallosand's Giga Drain is weak enough that you're OK if you have a decent amount of health left, though
Kukui: Magnezone and Decidueye are mean, but the rest go down easy.

Additional Comments: Leftovers or the Shell Bell really do make a huge difference in Wishiwashi's survivability by wiping away the chip damage it accumulates throughout a battle. You should aim to give it one of the two by the start of island 3.

 

[R_N]

Beldum on the other hand I think should rise to Mid. It's a 10% encounter rate which isn't the best, but unlike Gabite you don't need to wade through SOS nonsense to get it. The big problem with Beldum is that it's hard to catch, but there are a few factors that make catching it very possible:

• You have access to the Thunder Wave TM by that point in the game.
• If you picked Rowlet as your starter, by around this point in the game, you'll likely have Decidueyes. Decidueyes can False Swipe Beldum down to 1 HP and catch it without Beldum killing itself due to recoil. Other starters don't have this luxury, so a ghost type (gastly from the melemele graveyard) or something will be needed.
• Timer Balls reach their maximum capture strength faster thanks to a change in their formula.

I don't agree with this. You're still on a 20 turn time limit with beldum because every use of take down still uses pp. I had a beldum at 1 HP and paralyzed and wasted a lot of dusk balls on it before it struggled, killing itself. And I was using Dusk Balls at night, so its not even like i was being suboptimal here.

 

[TheMantyke]

I don't agree with this. You're still on a 20 turn time limit with beldum because every use of take down still uses pp. I had a beldum at 1 HP and paralyzed and wasted a lot of dusk balls on it before it struggled, killing itself. And I was using Dusk Balls at night, so its not even like i was being suboptimal here.

Speaking with some others on Discord, the sentiment on Beldum is more mixed than I thought to the point where lower mid seems more appropriate. I'll retract my support of Beldum to rise, but I'll stand by the rest of what I posted.

 

[Giratina93]

Wishiwashi for Broken-Ass Tier

I'm sorry, but I don't see Wishiwashi being in the broken tier. Yes, it can cheese a lot of fights with Scald/Hydro Votex, but there's the glaring issue of its speed. it is slower than 90% of the game, and it WILL be taking hits, and lots of them, through its adventure. You're going to have to heal it a lot with potions after each fight to keep its Schooling Form intact even with lefties, and that is going to be a massive money drain/ time drain on your resources by going to the Pokemon center, healing back up, or buying even more potions to keep it healthy. This detracts from how efficient it is, and drops it from borked rank to high tier/upper middle. It's an amazing pokemon, but it's need for healing after every fight screws it over.

As for Salandit, drop that thing NOW to Upper Mid, or even lower. Salandit comes RIGHT before Dragon Rage stops being useful, and even against the one fight it SHOULD do well against on paper (Lurantis), it struggles against because the Castforms it summons are absolute assholes. Vikavolt wrecks Salandit as well, and even as a Salazzle, it just doesn't hit hard enough, and is always scared of being OHKO'd by a neutral or SE move. When I was using mine, it kept failing to do enough damage, and was always in danger of getting crippled or killed after a fight, requiring even more healing and time spent getting it back up.