Pokemon of the Day: Scyther (#123)
| Pokemon have taken a new evolution withPokemon:Ruby/Sapphire Versions. The Pokemon of the Day Chick has helpfullyshifted her attentions to Ruby and Sapphire, so you can rest assured thatshe has your trainer's corner covered. As before, the Pokemon Chick will be taking a personal and detailedlook at a Pokemon. You'll find a list of all the moves you will want, anda choice list of recommended moves you want to keep for your prize pet. You'll also find breeding chains, Pokedex entries, stats, descriptions,locations, resistances, gameplay tips and a suggested move set for thoseof you who can't seem to make up their mind about what to saddle theirPokemon with! ===============================INTRODUCTION============================== Today's Pokemon is Scyther! Be honest, who DOESN'T love Scyther?He may have a lot of painfully common weaknesses and yet be so popularit's sickening but, gosh darnit, how can you not love a neon green insectthat's nearly five feet tall and has gigantic scimitars for arms? As longas it's on YOUR side, that is; I'll take on an Uzi-wielding maniac overthis thing any day. Of course, you have to assume a Pokemon this cool isno picnic to catch...why is he only available in situations where you haveto use those stupid event balls? Everyone knows Safari Balls and Park Ballssuck! Gimme a Scyther on an ordinary route and I'll Ultra Ball that suckerright into my pants! Okay, okay, so they actually go on your belt...closeenough to pants for me. I'll bet my editor is enjoying all this talk ofpants and balls, which is why I do it. *COUGH* Damn, this is a long intro...so uh...my advice would be to justsave your money and buy a Scyther in Celadon City if you're playing Redor Yellow; you won't have to sacrifice nearly as much sanity. Anyway, let'sjust get on with the main analysis before my mouth (figuratively speaking...ordo I actually type with my mouth?) digs me into an even deeper pit... | |||||
| NAME: Scyther TYPE: Mantis (Bug/Flying) HEIGHT: 4'11 WEIGHT: 123 lbs. | |||||
EVOLUTION: evolves into Scizor when traded to another Pokemoncartridge while holding the Metal Coat item CHARACTERISTIC(S): Swarm (when this Pokemon's HP sinks below1/3 of the max, the power of its Bug type attacks increases by 50%) AVAILABILITY: Red, Yellow, Gold, Silver, Crystal LOCATION: If you're playing Pokemon Blue and have no oneto trade with then you're outta luck; Scyther doesn't appear in your versionof the game. Red and Yellow owners, on the other hand, have a choice ofeither hunting for Scyther in the Safari Zone or purchasing one at theCeladon City coin exchange. Those of you playing GSC will find Scytherin the National Park (just north of Goldenrod City) during the Bug CatchingContest, where he is not only a great roster addition but also a practicallyguaranteed win. ============================MOVES & MACHINES============================= | |||||
Learned Moves: | Compatible TMs: | ||||
Quick Attack - Basic | TM03 - Swords Dance | ||||
Quick Attack - Basic | TM02 - Headbutt | ||||
Quick Attack - Basic | TM06 - Toxic | ||||
Hereditary Moves: | |||||
Baton Pass: Breed a female Scyther with a male Ledyba/Ledian. Counter: Breed with a male Heracross. Endure: Breed with a male Heracross. Light Screen: Breed with a male Ledyba/Ledian. Razor Wind: Teach R/B/Y TM02 (Razor Wind) to Butterfree orVenomoth. Transfer to G/S and, if male, breed with a female Scyther/Scizor.In RuSa...uh...Nuzleaf and Absol are the only Pokemon that learn RazorWind naturally yet neither of them can get the move to Scyther throughbreeding. Guess this is one of those GSC only things...and hey, even ifit isn't, it's not like anyone in their right mind would use Razor Windin the first place. Reversal: Breed with a male Heracross. Safeguard: Breed with a male Butterfree, Ledyba/Ledian orShuckle. Silver Wind: Breed with a male Butterfree, Venomoth, Masquerainor Beautifly. ==============================BATTLE SHEET=============================== Max stats at Level 100
Suggested moveset Held Item: Lum Berry Agility Does anyone else feel the sudden revolting yet strangely beguilingurge to kiss Heracross right about now? I'm not the biggest fan of thething, but if it wasn't for him our Scyther wouldn't kick nearly as muchass as he in fact does. Counter! Endure! Reversal! Such a wealth of awesomemoves Heracross has the power to bestow upon our humble Scyther! Okay,so he's being kinda selfish with the whole Megahorn thing, but since Scytherdoesn't have any horns I guess that's a pretty weak argument. Ahem. Anyway,Scyther finds himself in possession of some pretty wicked stats and theability to learn a whole slew of moves that can make the most use of them...andall this from an unevolved Pokemon! To heck with Scizor, I say; Scytherdidn't need your help to kick ass in RBY and he doesn't need it now! Maybeif you got rid of the stupid lobster claws and readopted the swords you'dbe cooler. It's been a long time since I've analyzed a moveset that meldedtogether so fluidly, thus I'm having trouble trying to figure out how tochop it up into separate paragraphs for each move. Y'all won't think I'mcheap if I just wax philosophical about the whole mess (paragraph structurebe damned), will ya? The great thing about this is that this is MY column,so I can just go ahead and do it anyway without waiting for an answer,bwahahahahaa. Yeah, so I've always found the Agility/Endure/Reversal combomost intriguing, yet you don't see it very often because the vast majorityof Pokemon out there either don't learn all of the requisite moves or elsecan't use them effectively (usually due to stats). Being the awesome hunkof awesomeness that he is, Scyther is one of the VERY few that *can*. Hisstats are laid out perfectly for this combo (where Attack and Speed areparamount), and the fact that defenses aren't too much of an issue in sucha set makes the fact that Scyther IS unevolved largely forgivable. For those who need a refresher course, the concept of the Agility/Endure/Reversalcombo is to ensure your Pokemon has the initiative in battle with Agility(since once they're at 1HP, ANY preemptive strike will take 'em out), useEndure to get them to 1HP without dying and then unleash much delightfulcarnage with Reversal's phenomenal 200 base power (when the user is infact at 1HP, natch). I prefer this combo to the similar Agility/Endure/Flailcombo simply because the Fighting type move Reversal actually has an advantageagainst several types, unlike Normal type moves. Now, the beauty thingabout Scyther is that he also learns Swords Dance...who cares if you'renot going to completely load him down with physical attacks, right? Theway I see it, the Agility/Endure/Reversal combo is all well and good...untilyou run into something Reversal can't kill in one hit and it takes Scyther'slast hit point on the rebound (before he has another chance to use Endure).Swords Dance should help out with this immensely; even ONE Swords Dancewill take Scyther's Attack over 600...you won't find many Pokemon thatcan survive a 200 base power coming from a 600+ Attack regardless of stats(and it certainly doesn't hurt than two of the greatest physically-defendingtypes in the game, Rock and Steel, are weak to Fighting type moves). Plusyou just can't tell me you aren't going to put Swords Dance on a Pokemonthat has swords for limbs; that's communist talk. Use Swords Dance early(preferably when you have a chance to bring Scyther in against somethingthat can't really hurt it and your opponent isn't doing much damage, whetherit's because they're busy switching out or because the attacks they'reusing just suck) and Scyther should be sittin' pretty when it comes timeto bust out the Reversals. I like Lum Berry on Scyther because he absolutely cannot affordto be paralyzed, confused, poisoned or even burnt (freeze and sleep ALWAYSsuck; I'm just thinking about status afflictions that will screw over thisone strategy in particular) when utilizing a moveset that depends on Speedand the ability to ride that 1HP line between life and death above allelse. He doesn't really need Quick Claw even WITHOUT Agility (he's thatfast, people), Leftovers are kinda pointless since you WANT Scyther's HPto be as low as possible in this instance, and Bright Powder isn't advisablesince you'll be depending on opponents to hit you so you can time yourEndure and Reversal correctly (though I guess Focus Band, which I oftenuse interchangeably with Bright Powder, could help in a pinch if you reallysuck at timing that initial Endure). Scyther's characteristic in this caseis useless as I've opted out of giving him any Bug type attacks, thoughhe does finally learn a good one... ...and that is of course Fury Cutter! Man, and here I was wastingmy TM49 on Scyther (because you know there are just SO MANY other Pokemonwho can use that move effectively) in GSC when I coulda just waited forRuSa and watched him learn it naturally! All these other RBYGSC Pokemonare learning cool new moves in RuSa to supplement their level moves section(read: make it seem not quite as dated), but Scyther has 'em all beat withhis mighty Fury Cutter!! *sarcasm meter explodes* Okay, so I was actually talking about Silver Wind. Scyther sortagot hosed in the new moves department, but I don't really care since the"old" moves he can learn through breeding are so incredibly useful andplentiful. The one new move he DOES learn that's worth anything is SilverWind, and Scyther is one of the very few Bugs who can use it effectivelythanks to that mammoth Attack. If my Scyther isn't your cup of tea (hedoes tend to have a problem with Ghosts and annoyers, after all), you cango all-out on the offensive with the STABed Silver Wind and Wing Attack/AerialAce, as well as brother Scizor's beloved Steel Wing (a decent last resortagainst Rock types at least, if you're not going with Reversal). Thosetrainers playing RBYGSC can go back to RBY for the amazing Double-EdgeTM, and if you're still actively battling in RBY you might consider Slashfor its ridiculously high Critical Hit ratio. Counter is another greatchoice; with his average Defense and HP Scyther can expect to survive mostphysical hits yet take enough damage from them to make Counter worthwhile.His ability to inherit Light Screen and Safeguard makes Scyther one heckuvapseudo-passer, though those in a passive mood will likely prefer to skipthe middleman and go right for Baton Pass. Scyther has been revered asa Baton Passer as a result of his learning both Swords Dance and Agilitynaturally, and if you don't feel like utilizing these moves on Scytherhimself it might behoove you to look into getting them to the REST of yourparty (provided you are confident in your ability to dispatch your opponent'sHazer early on, that is). You can try for a Double Teaming Scyther (madepopular by the Pokemon anime...go figure), but I personally don't feelhe has the defenses to adequately set it up (though you can try and boostScyther's survivability somewhat with the ever-popular Rest and Substitute).Finally, though you'd never use it in a trainer battle, False Swipe makesScyther an excellent in-game catcher Pokemon...his high Speed and Attackshould allow him to bring your target Pokemon directly to 1HP with no hassle. ...does anyone else find it weird that Scyther has seven *reallyawesome* hereditary moves and one *really horrible* one? Not that thathas anything to do with anything; it just stuck out in my mind since mostof the Pokemon I review inherit a few moderately decent moves and a fewmoderately nondescript ones. Aaaaaand...there's Scyther for ya, folks. I really love this thing,lemme tell ya; his type weaknesses and defenses are pretty lame but he'sfortunate enough to learn several moves that can completely disregard thatfact, leaving us free to bask in the knowledge that we are in command ofan enormous scaly bug that can decapitate people at will. My advice wouldbe to dump Scizor and give Scyther a whirl; in this instance evolutiondoes not a great Pokemon make (and the stat rearrangement sucks...if youwant something with awesome Attack and Defense yet no Speed or SpecialDefense I say train a Sandslash). Scyther is old-school cool and no onecan take that away from him, so what are you waiting for? With the abilityto be darn near anything save an outright annoyer, surely Scyther can finda role to fill on ANY team! Plus he has swords for arms...I like swords. (Welcome to Corneria!) Alrighty people, I'm out for the long weekend. You can use LaborDay to better familiarize yourself with this intensely intimidating airborneinsect, and I'll see y'all on Tuesday with the start of another new weekof Pokemon of the Day! Questions? Comments? Want to argue with the Pokemon of the Day Chick? Please e-mail your inquiriespokemonofthedaychick@ign.com,or drop me a line if you just wanna say hello! I'm always up for a heatedPokemon chat. As always, come visit everyone on IGN's freePokémonBoard. See you there! | |||||
