Whimsicott, The Windveiled Pokémon. It rides on the wind and slips into people’s homes. After it has turned a room into a cotton- filled mess, it giggles to itself and takes off. This Pokémon appears, riding upon the wind. But if the wind gusts up, it’ll blow the cotton on this Pokémon’s head clean off.
Overview
This week our heroes from the Pokémon of the Week take a look at a 'mon that has certainly seen brighter days. Namely Whimsicott. It has a great typing in Grass / Fairy , and it's pretty fast too thanks to its Base 116 Speed tier. Unfortunately the rest of its stats are kinda meh, but it has a crazy amount of support moves to make up for that and this amazing ability called Prankster which increases the priority of all those wonderful support moves it has. You would think it has all the tools it needs to be successful in any format right? Well...then came the dark times. With the arrival of Sun and Moon came a nerf to its all star Prankster ability, and now it doesn't work on Dark Types anymore...and if that wasn't enough there's Tapu Lele and Psychic Terrain in general to consider which neutralizes all priority moves. Which is all to say that our friend Whimsicott has definitely seen better days, however it still remains just as effective as was in years past in lower formats.
Positives
+ High Base 116 Speed
+ Seemingly endless arsenal of support moves
+ Amazing ability in Prankster which gives said support moves increased priority
+ Grass / Fairy Typing gives it immunity to Dragon Type Moves and six resistances
Negatives
- While Whimsicott's Speed stat is fantastic the rest of its stats are rather average at best
- It's very weak to many common Steel and Fire threats not to mention it has a 4x weakness to Poison Type Moves which are becoming increasingly common in Sun & Moon
- Lack of reliable recovery move further limits its options
Abilities
Prankster: Status category moves have their Speed Priority increased by 1. Moves increased by this that are used on Dark-type opponents will fail. Whimsicott's purpose in life is to support the team, and thanks to Prankster + its awesome speed all of those awesome support moves it has access to will typically be going first. Unfortunately it was nerfed this gen and this won't work on Dark Types. Not to mention Tapu Lele and Psychic Terrain exist too.
Infiltrator: The protections and stat boosts caused by the moves Substitute, Reflect, Light Screen and Safeguard by the opponent are ignored. This could be useful on an offensive set I suppose, but it's rather niche at best.
Hidden Ability (Available):
Chlorophyll: When sunny, the Pokémon’s Speed doubles. However, Speed will not double on the turn weather becomes Strong Sunlight. Another niche alternate ability option, and it needs Prankster way more in almost every situation.
Movesets
Whimsical
- Taunt
- Tailwind
- Memento
- Moonblast
Item Attached: Darkinium Z
Ability: Prankster
EVs and Nature:
252 Def / 248 HP / 8 Spe
Bold Nature
Taunt is there to protect us from opposing taunters, and prevent your enemies from setting up on you. Tailwind provides some nice team support doubling the speed of Whimsicott and the rest of your squad for 4 turns. It's especially useful with Baton Pass teams or just with helping you turn the tide of the battle a crucial moment. Darkinium Z in conjunction with Memento will fully heal your squadmate that switches in after Whimsicott while crippling your enemy's mon. The last moveslot is up to you, but me personally I like to have at least one offensive move so I chose Moonblast for coverage against Dragon Types.
Other Options
- Giga Drain: An alternate coverage option for that last moveslot. It's a great Grass Stab, and provides some good recovery too
- Encore: Can be used to lock down boosting 'mons like Quiver Dance Volcarona
- U-Turn: an alternate pivot option if you don't want to sacrifice your Whimsicott with Z-Memento after setting up Tailwind.
- Stun Spore: If you opt for a different pivot in U-Turn you'll want to use Stun Spore for support with Moonblast and Encore and Leftovers
- Switcheroo: it's always fun to switch a Choice Item or Lagging Tail or something on a mon that's very item reliant like Alolan Marowak and Chansey.
VGC, Double, & Triple Battle Options
Whimsicott has always been a pest in VGC due to its fantastic ability, Prankster. With priority on all of its many support moves, the fairy has found a role on teams needing speed control or disruption. Whimsicott has some new tricks in VGC 2017, especially with Prankster-boosted Nature Power in any of the common terrains.
Supporting on a Whim
-Moonblast / Nature Power / Energy Ball
-Tailwind
-Encore / Taunt
-Endeavor / Taunt
Item Attached: Focus Sash
Ability: Prankster
EVs and Nature:
252 HP / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
Whimsicott's EV spread has a lot of wiggle room to adjust. The "common" spread of 252 HP and 252 Speed with a Timid nature is perfectly fine, though not necessarily optimal. It does survive a spread Blizzard from Timid Alolan Ninetales AND at least one turn of Hail damage, but the speed is often overkill, and the HP stat should be minimized should you want to run Endeavor. A spread of 4 HP / 76 Def / 4 SpA / 172 SpD / 252 Spe also lives that same Blizzard and one turn of Hail damage, but maximizes the value of using Endeavor. Max speed allows you to just outspeed Alolan Persian, which can be handy, but if running Nature Power (which will always have priority with Prankster), you can choose to run even less speed. Prankster is Whimsicott's main selling point, and Focus Sash can allow it to live any one attack, which can be useful for getting off one more support move.
Moonblast and Energy Ball are good choices for its primary STAB, and Nature Power is really nice for priority Thunderbolt, Psychic (though only on Pokemon above the ground), Energy Ball, or Moonblast, depending on the active terrain. Tailwind is amazing speed control since Whimsicott can almost always set it up. Encore and Taunt are great disruptive moves. Encore can lock an opponent into passive moves, while Taunt can disrupt Trick Room or other strategies. Endeavor works great to bring opponents (particularly bulky ones like Porygon2) down to low health, especially if Whimsicott is down to its Focus Sash. Protect can be considered as well on a support set, but is really only handy to avoid a double target from your opponent using Fake Out and another attack.
No one is safe from the priority fairy!
-Nature Power
-Tailwind
-Taunt / Encore
-Protect
Item Attached: Normalium Z
Ability: Prankster
EVs and Nature:
252 HP / 252 SpA / 4 SpD
Modest Nature
This Whimsicott is much more offensive, and can be a scary threat to go up against. As previously mentioned, Nature Power becomes a priority move for Whimsicott thanks to Prankster, even after changing into the move reflecting the active terrain. Normalium Z will turn this into a priority Z move that can pick up a surprise OHKO on many Pokemon that may not be expecting it. This becomes especially strong with STAB Twinkle Tackle or (terrain-boosted!) Bloom Doom. A Modest nature with maximum special attack puts as much power behind Nature Power as possible. Speed is generally not needed since every one of your moves will have priority, so unless you choose to run an attack like Moonblast or fear other Whimsicott and need to invest some speed, max HP will again allow you to survive Alolan Ninetales' spread Blizzard.
Nature Power is the featured move here, but Whimsicott can still support the team otherwise with Encore, Taunt, or Tailwind. Protect can keep Whimsicott safe from Fake Out or stick around for a turn until you get your own terrain in safely.
Other Options & Team Ideas
-Chlorophyll is a niche choice really only useful against Torkoal-Lilligant teams that also carry Tapu Lele. Although you can still use Tailwind regardless if you have Prankster, Chlorophyll will allow you to outspeed Lilligant in the sun and still be able to use moves like Taunt or Encore in Psychic Terrain.
-Sunny Day can really mess with rain teams, especially Swift Swim Golduck and Pelipper leads.
-Fake Tears lowers the target's Special Defense by 2, and can help teammates pick up surprise KOs. For example, Tapu Koko cannot typically OHKO a Garchomp with a spread Dazzling Gleam, but it is easily achieved with Fake Tears support.
-Trick Room is a surprise move to use, and can usually go up unless the opponent double targets Whimsicott. Prankster also ensures that Trick Room will have higher priority than Roar.
-Helping Hand can boost an ally's attack.
-Light Screen increases the team's bulk on the special side, and is great with Prankster.
-Toxic can wear down Porygon2 or Curse Snorlax over time.
-Swagger can increase your teammate's attack. Whimsicott learns Safeguard to ensure that its teammate will not be confused, but Misty Terrain from Tapu Fini is a better option to support this generally.
-Grass Whistle has very bad accuracy, but a priority sleep move is incredibly dangerous.
-Solarbeam (if on a sun team) and Grass Knot (especially for heavy Pokemon like Gigalith) are other grass STAB options, while Dazzling Gleam provides fairy-STAB spread damage.
-Hurricane, Psychic, and Shadow Ball are coverage options for Whimsicott.
-Memento sacrifices Whimsicott, but lowers an opponent's attack and special attack harshly to help a teammate set up.
-Beat Up is not as good in past years with Terrakion unavailable, but can still be used on Arcanine or Lucario to greatly increase their attack.
-Charm lowers an opponent's attack by two stages, while Tickle lowers attack and defense by one.
-Switcheroo can mess with items, but will not affect Z crystals.
-Worry Seed can change an opponent's ability, which can be useful to get rid of abilities like Lightning Rod or Storm Drain.
-Terrain control is very important for Whimsicott. Psychic Terrain can block many of its priority moves, and Nature Power will also change with the terrain.
-Pokemon with mid-tier speeds appreciate the Tailwind support.
Countering Whimsicott
Tapu Lele's Psychic Terrain neutralizes Prankster allowing its squadmates to switch in on Whimsicott without fear of reprisals. Not to mention Prankster no longer works on any Dark Types like Mega Gyardos which can use it as set up bait. Although they won't enjoy taking a Stab Moonblast depending on their spread. Strong priority attackers like Weavile and Mega Scizor can take it out as well without breaking a sweat as long as it's taken some damage prior to their encounter. It'll have some trouble with Fire and Steel types as well or Celesteala and Volcarona, or Heatran which is both. Although Celesteela won't enjoy being Taunted and Volcarona has to be careful trying to set up Quiver Dance because then it risks being locked in thanks to Encore. Oh and 4X WEAKNESS TO POISON TYPE MOVES.
Locations in Games
Red/Blue/Yellow:
Not in game
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:
Pinwheel Forest, Abundant Shrine, Lostlorn Forest (Black)
Evolve Cottonee (White)
Black 2/White 2:
Castelia City, Pinwheel Forest, Lostlorn Forest, Abundant Shrine, Victory Road (Black 2)
Evolve Cottonee (White 2)
X/Y:
Trade from Omega Ruby/Alpha Sapphire
Omega Ruby/Alpha Sapphire:
Evolve Cottonee
Sun/Moon:
Evolve Cottonee (Sun)
Trade from Sun (Moon)
Animé Appearences
