Pok�mon of the Week

Meloetta, The Melody Pok�mon. Many famous songs have been inspired by the melodies that Meloetta plays. Its melodies are sung with a special vocalization method that can control the feelings of those who hear it.

Meloetta is a weird Pokemon. It is one of only a few to make an in-battle transformation. It has similar stats to a slower, more powerful Latias. As Meloetta was only just recently released it is very hard to make sets for. Even with online battle simulators and hacking Meloetta was a fairly underused... Smogon doesn't even have a site analysis for it. In its Aria form Meloetta has amazing special stats along with great HP and decent speed (passable attack and defense as well). Using the move Relic Song transforms Meloetta into its Pirouette form, effectively switching its Special stats with its Speed and Attack. This turns Meloetta from a tanking specially offensive Pokemon into a lightning fast sweeper. Though Relic Song is somewhat weak and is required for the transformation, it does have a 20% chance of putting something to sleep which could potentially destroy a counter. It isn't all good for Meloetta. Psychic / Normal isn't very good typing. Though it lets it take on Gengar easily enough it leaves the Melody Pokemon at risk of being annihilated by Pursuit, and leaves it few useful resistances. It also lacks Recovery so its great bulk mostly goes to waste. While its Pirouette form has slightly less vulnerable Fighting / Normal typing it still isn't ideal defensively. These problems aside Meloetta is still certainly usable and even though it may not be top tier material it will likely find its way onto many teams. Probably the worst thing about Meloetta is the endless lame music puns that will follow.

Serene Grace: Doubles the chances of secondary effects happening. This includes things like Thunderbolt's chance to Paralyze and Shadow Ball's chance of Special Defense drops. A great ability but one which Meloetta can't really make too much use of. Sure Psychic gets a solid 20% chance of a Special Defense drop and Thunder in rain becomes extremely annoying, but it's nothing compared to Jirachi's Iron Head flinches or Shaymin Sky form's Special Defense shredding Seed Flares.

I didn't want my kids to listen to jazz or classical music, and risk being exposed to so much sax and violins.

- Relic Song
- Close Combat
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Thunder
Item Attached: Expert Belt
Ability: Serene Grace
EVs and Nature:
EVs: 56 Atk / 252 SAtk / 200 Spd
Hasty Nature (+Spd, -Def)

Though Meloetta hasn't been fully experimented with as much as other Pokemon like Salamence and Infernape there have been a few sets that have shown themselves to be usable. This set was developed by Shrang from Smogon. I would get his exact quote of the set but my current Smogon alt is banned and I'm too lazy to clear my cookies! The general idea is to get Spikes and Stealth Rocks down and spam Relic Song. Many Pokemon that can handle Meloetta's Aria form like Blissey and Chansey can not survive a Close Combat from its Pirouette form. Pokemon that survive Close Combat like Skarmory and Gliscor are demolished by Thunder or HP Ice from Aria. Relic Song will force switches and may put something to sleep. With the switch war it will cause you may nail a Gliscor with an HP Ice or Close Combat something in the confusion. Entry hazards will rack up more damage putting even more pressure on the opponent. This should be used in Rain as the sheer power Thunder brings with 60% Paralysis is pretty cool and the power boost lets Meloetta threaten Skarmory and Starmie even if it is in Pirouette form. Thunderbolt can be used if you're running this without Drizzle support. 192 Speed outruns Adamant Lucario in Aria form and Timid Tornadus-T in Pirouette form. Max Special Attack gives Thunder and HP Ice enough power to break anything they hit super effective while the Attack EVs help guarantee a OHKO on Blissey with Close Combat in Pirouette form.

- Substitute
- Calm Mind
- Psyshock / Psychic
- Thunder / Focus Blast
Item Attached: Leftovers
Ability: Serene Grace
EVs and Nature:
EVs: 252 HP / 72 SDef / 184 Spd
Calm Nature (+SDef, -Atk)

Anyhow, Meloetta has immense Special Attack and Special Defense. So much that besides Blissey and Chansey it is the most Specially Defensive Pokemon in standard play. This set shares a lot in common with standard Sub Calm Mind Jirachi. In fact, it runs the exact same moves. The main difference is typing and stats. This plays about the same as Jirachi... find something that can't significantly harm you, Calm Mind against it, then sweep. One difference is that Meloetta can run Focus Blast as a coverage move instead of Thunder. This gives Meloetta the ability to easily beat Tyranitar, Jirachi and Heatran, Pokemon Jirachi has a lot of trouble with. While Jirachi has clearly superior typing Meloetta has far better special stats giving it a much easier time Calm Minding in the face of even rain or sun boosted hits. It also has a LOT more Special Attack than Jirachi, allowing Meloetta to break through Blissey or even Tyranitar. The EVs are somewhat specific. 252 HP allows you to make 101 HP Substitutes, preventing Seismic Toss from breaking your Subs in a single hit. 184 Speed outpaces Dragonite, Breloom and Gyarados so you can destroy them before they touch you. While many of the reasons to use Jirachi as your Sub Calm Mind sweeper are obvious (better defense and speed, far superior typing, immunity to sandstorm and Toxic, Stealth Rock resistance etc) there are a lot of qualities Sub Calm Mind Meloetta has that Jirachi doesn't.

- Better Special Attack. So much better that Psyshock 2HKOs some Blissey after a single Calm Mind. It lets it OHKO Tyranitar with Focus Blast after a hit of Stealth Rocks without a single Calm Mind. It also allows Thunder / Focus Blast to get closer to a 2HKO on Scizor.
- Great Special Defense. Defensive Water Scalds in Rain will not break Meloetta's Substitutes after a Calm Mind. Jirachi needs two Calm Minds.
- Different typing. Meloetta handles ground moves better, letting it set up on Gastrodon and not fearing Landorus as much (though U-turn sucks). Meloetta also isn't complete dead weight against Sun teams and can even sweep through them.
- Focus Blast. While normally a crappy move this lets Meloetta rip apart Tyranitar, something Jirachi can never do.
- Unpredictability. When you see a Jirachi on Rain team you can usually guarantee it is Sub Calm Mind. Meloetta on the other hand may be less obvious, and lure in Gliscor, Reuniclus, Latios and others who can't really do much to Sub CM Meloetta.

- Relic Song
- Close Combat
- Return
- Ice Punch / Shadow Claw
Item Attached: Life Orb
Ability: Serene Grace
EVs and Nature:
EVs: 56 HP / 252 Atk / 200 Spd
Jolly Nature (+Spd, -SAtk)

On a high note, however Meloetta can run a set based fully off its Pirouette form. Something with solid 128 Attack and 128 Speed is not to be taken lightly, especially when its two STAB moves hit every single Pokemon in standard except two Ghosts neutral. Use Relic Song against something that isn't a huge threat, like Amoonguss or Alakazam (remember before you transform you resist or are immune to most of its moves) and transform. If you get the 20% sleep chance GREAT! If not, whatever, because you now have a monster with as much attack as Terrakion, more speed than Swellow and perfect neutral coverage against well over 95% of the standard metagame. Close Combat has intense power, shredding everything it hits Super Effective in one blow. Return is a secondary STAB move that paired with Close Combat, is only resisted by Ghosts. The final move is usually Ice Punch as this can KO Gliscor and Dragonite. Shadow Claw is an option to OHKO Gengar and 2HKO some Jellicent (OHKO with a Crit). Though the Pirouette form has less Special Defense than Aria, it still has solid 100 / 90 / 77 defenses so it can usually survive some Scizor Bullet Punches and Dragonite Extremespeeds. One problem with this set is that Ghost types can switch in on Relic Song and "block" your transformation. You can deal with this a number of ways, though Shadow Claw helps a little with Gengar. Max Attack and 200 speed gives Meloetta great sweeping potential. Speed outruns Tornadus T which is the fastest thing used in standard. 56 HP helps take those Focus Blasts as Aria and Bullet Punches as Pirouette.

- Calm Mind / Charge Beam
- Hyper Voice
- Psyshock
- Focus Blast
Item Attached: Life Orb / Leftovers
Ability: Serene Grace
EVs and Nature:
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)

Meloetta can try a full on Calm Mind sweeper set too. After a Calm Mind holding Life Orb Meloetta has almost 700 Special Attack, more than enough to break into defensive and specially offensive teams. Not something I would use in Standard, but most certainly dangerous in UU where Pokemon are overall slower and weaker. Hyper Voice has reasonable power and pairs well with Psyshock. Psyshock targets your opponents physical defense, giving you the edge against specially defensive tanks like Gastrodon. Focus Blast smashes the Steel types that try to wall your STABs. Calm Mind is the best boosting option but Charge Beam has a 100% chance of getting a Special Attack boost thanks to Serene Grace while doing some damage. Life Orb is good for the initial power, but Leftovers allows Meloetta to survive longer. This set is very vulnerable to faster physical sweepers especially Choice Scarf Landorus, or Mienshao if used in UU but has a great chance of extinguishing sun teams almost on its own.

- Psyshock
- Hyper Voice
- Focus Blast
- U-turn / Trick
Item Attached: Choice Specs
Ability: Serene Grace
EVs and Nature:
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Modest Nature (+SAtk, -Atk)

Well, while I wouldn't suggest using it over the other sets a Choice Specs Meloetta is usable. Never use it in standard as that is just asking for a Tyranitar or Scizor to slaughter you with Pursuit, or a Forretress / Ferrothron to Spike all over you. In UU it is somewhat more usable, smashing aside Umbreon and Snorlax with two Focus Blasts, Pokemon most special sweepers can't break through. Hyper Voice and Psyshock do considerable damage to anything that do not resist them. U-turn is the last move to help scout for and damage counters. This is especially helpful against players that run Spiritomb, otherwise you're just going to find yourself Pursuited to death before making a single hit. If U-turn isn't your thing you can also go for Trick as this can ruin walls and allow something else of yours to take advantage of your opponent being locked into some move. Modest is important here for the pure power. You can run Timid if you really need the speed, but there isn't much to outrun with 90 base.

- Heal Bell
- Thunder Wave
- Knock Off / U-turn / Perish Song
- Psychic
Item Attached: Leftovers
Ability: Serene Grace
EVs and Nature:
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SDef
Calm Nature (+SDef, -Atk)

Though normally looked upon as a tankish sweeper Meloetta can occasionally focus on its fantastic Special Defense. Again, like with the Specs set I do not suggest using this in Standard as Meloetta's bad typing and Pursuit weakness will probably overwhelm it before it does anything useful. In UU it faces much competition from Umbreon, who has only slightly less Special durability and a LOT more Physical defense as well as Wish. Meloetta however has no fighting weakness, Thunder Wave, and Knock Off to enjoy. It also has FAR superior offenses to Umbreon. Knock Off is a cool move as nothing enjoys losing its item, but U-turn can help with Pursuit Absol and Spiritomb as well as maintain pressure when you don't feel like Heal Belling or Thunder Waving. There is also Perish Song to stop Calm Minding Psychics and Ghosts, whom Meloetta has great typing to switch in on. Meloetta is so Specially Defensive that Life Orb Zapdos 4HKOs with Thunderbolt, Azelf ~6HKOs with Fire Blast, Roserade does about 38% with Leaf Storm, and Togekiss struggles to do more than 20% with any move.

Not many that weren't already mentioned. Sing, Quick Attack, Hone Claws, Energy Ball, Stone Edge, Drain Punch, Fire Punch, Thunderpunch, Work Up and Zen Headbutt.
Sing is not a great move because of the accuracy, but it does cause sleep and can be put to use on a defensive set.
Quick Attack gets STAB and can be used to get a KO against a damaged Mach Punch Breloom on the Pirouette set (over Return). Quick Attack only deals about 40% so it won't remove Breloom without a lot of prior damage. Return is usually better.
Hone Claws can be used on a Close Combat / Thunder / Stone Edge (or something similar) set that takes advantage of the power and accuracy boosts. Its still too slow to sweep much sadly.
Energy Ball smashes Water / Grounds like Gastrodon, but is useless otherwise.
Stone Edge beats Volcarona, Dragonite and Gyarados. The accuracy sucks and most sets hav ways around the afore mentioned Pokemon.
Though much weaker than Close Combat, Drain Punch can do solid damage and heal a lot of health from a Super-Effective hit. Pirouette form is strong, but lacks enough power to sweep with a weak 75 base power move sadly.
Fire Punch KOs Scizor and Forretress in one shot, but is weaker than Close Combat or Return against most other things.
If you hate Gyarados beyond reason Thunderpunch can OHKO it. But then again so can something like Return after Stealth Rocks.
While Work Up on a mixed set may sound good it shares the problem of Hone Claws in that it is too easily revenged. At least Calm Mind has some defense to work with.
Zen Headbutt can almost work on a Thunder Wave set to "para flinch". Meloetta's Aria form is too weak, and Pirouette lacks STAB. Worse, Zen Headbutt only has a 36% chance to flinch taking into account accuracy, which is very low compared to Jirachi's solid 60% flinch.

To be honest Meloetta isn't very good in Doubles / Triples. It has only a handful of multi-target moves, bad defensive and offensive typing and little use for Pirouette form in the high speed metagame. Worse, its banned from the Nintendo Video Game Championships. It DOES have one slight use though. Relic Song hits all opponents meaning with some luck you could sleep several opponents at once. Still this is a lot less reliable than just using Sleep Power.

Though not required, Meloetta does tend to enjoy the rain. Politoed brings unlimited rain allowing 100% accurate Thunders and safety from sandstorm damage. Toxic Spikes are also bad for Meloetta so running something like a Tentacruel, Amoonguss, or Starmie helps keep the ground clean. The Pirouette focused sets are utterly helpless against Jellicent, and to a lesser extent Gengar as the two ghosts are immune to Relic Song. Tyranitar can Pursuit those Pokemon, but brings on Sandstorm which severely damages Meloetta's survivability. Scizor can beat Gengar but doesn't last long against Jellicent. The afore mentioned Amoonguss beats Jellicent and gives Gengar SOME trouble. Spikes and Stealth Rocks greatly assist Meloetta's sweeping attempts, so Forretress, Skarmory, Ferrothron and Deoxys D are effective partners.

The big one is Spiritomb. Immune to Normal, Psychic and Fighting while owning Dark STAB moves including Pursuit and Sucker Punch. Spiritomb also blocks Relic Song preventing a form change or accidental sleep. The absolute worst Meloetta can do to Spiritomb Thunder which it easily has the bulk to survive. Sableye does well too, but can't handle multiple Thunders are doesn't have access to Pursuit (surprisingly). Choice Band Scizor may be the best standard counter, U-turning or Pursuiting Aria form and Superpowering Pirouette form. It takes a LOT of damage from Meloetta's attacks though and can easily be pushed into 2HKO range. Life Orb Calm Mind Meloetta can even OHKO Scizor with Focus Blast after Stealth Rocks! Jirachi can take on the Special Attackers easily, breaking its Substitutes with Iron Head while Body Slamming the Pirouette form into the ground. While Tyranitar can not safely switch into Meloetta safely a Choice Scarf set can at worst revenge kill the Calm Minder. It is completely useless against any Pirouette set. Meloetta isn't the most threatening Pokemon around so directly countering it should not be on your mind when formulating a team.

Locations in Games

Ruby/Sapphire/Emerald:
Not in game.

FireRed/LeafGreen:
Not in game.

Colosseum/XD:
Not in game

Diamond/Pearl/Platinum:
Not in game.

HeartGold/SoulSilver:
Not in game.

Black/White:
Requires event

Black 2/White 2:
Requires event