Celebi, The Time Travel Pokémon. This Pokémon has the ability to move through time. Records describing it as a forest deity can be found from many different eras. This Pokémon traveled through time to come from the future. It bolsters grass and trees with its own strength, and it can heal wounds, too.
Overview
The punisher of fake rumours and leaks is back to lead the charge in a new generation. While Celebi has not changed a lot throughout various generations, Sword and Shield added some interesting toys on its moveset. With Aura Sphere, Celebi is finally able to force out Tyranitar and Bisharp. The removal of Pursuit has also been beneficial for Celebi on this generation as it allows it to gain more opportunities to set up with Nasty Plot thanks to its decent bulk. Unfortunately, Celebi's typing burdens it with as many common weaknesses as useful resistances, leaving it susceptible to top tier threats such as Cinderace, Hydreigon and particularly Scizor due to its x4 weakness to Bug and the loss of Hidden Power to hit it hard. Despite its flaws, Celebi can still prove to be a decent stallbreaker capable of breaking through teams with the right support although due to its weaknesses, it might find a hard time to contribute against more offensive teams.
Positives
Balanced 100 stats across the board makes Celebi a versatile Pokemon that can adapt itself to any role either as a wall, cleric or sweeper.
Celebi has excellent support and utility options like Baton Pass, Stealth Rock, Recover, U-turn and boosting moves like Swords Dance and Nasty Plot. Its offensive movepool is quite varied, much more from its special side thanks to Leaf Storm, Giga Drain, Psychic, Earth Power and Aura Sphere.
It's Grass/Psychic typing grants a good amount of useful resistances against Water, Electric, Ground, Fight, Psychic and Grass giving it decent chances to switch into Pokemon like Keldeo, Urshifu-RS, Kartana and Slowbro.
Natural Care is a useful ability which removes status effects upon switching.
Negatives
A nasty x4 weakness to Bug is Celebi's major flaw as any Pokemon that carries U-turn will be able to pressure Celebi. With the loss of Hidden Power, Scizor will remain as Celebi's biggest nightmare as it fails to significantly hurt it even with boosted Earth Powers and Aura Spheres
Base 100 offenses are not strong enough for Celebi to pick KOs even after a Nasty Plot boost which means that many bulky Pokemon that wall it can still damage it badly.
While its typing grants it plenty of resistances, it also makes Celebi weak to Dark, Ghost, Poison, Ice, Fire and Flying, which hurts its viability as Pokemon like Gengar, Cinderace, Hydreigon, Weavile, Jirachi and Dragapult can all KO it.
Movesets
A NASTY PLOT OF INTERNET RUMORS
- Nasty Plot
- Giga Drain
- Psychic
- Aura Sphere / Earth Power
Item Attached: Leftovers
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs and Nature:
80 HP / 252 SpA / 176 Spe
Timid Nature
With its great bulk and access to Nasty Plot, Celebi becomes a bulky sweeper capable not only of forcing out Pokemon like Swampert, Barraskewda and Tapu Fini but also turn into an immediate threat. Nasty Plot is what allows this set to shine as Celebi obtains respectable power after a boost. Giga Drain is Celebi's main STAB which allows it to deal decent damage but also recover lost health in the process. Psychic sends Toxapex into the egg it came from while keeping STAB coverage against Buzzwole. For the last move, Aura Sphere is the recommended move as not only it allows Celebi to smack Tyranitar extremely hard but it allows it to demolish Ferrothorn and retain coverage against Heatran. Earth Power is another option in case you prefer to aim for the OHKO on Heatran.
Max Special Attack and Speed is what allows Celebi to be as fast as possible while being able to maximize its power. The rest is dumped on HP to increase its overall bulk. Leftovers is the preferred item as it grants Celebi a good amount of durability along with Giga Drain but you can also use other options such as Life Orb to increase its overall power.
Partners
Celebi appreciates having partners that are able to cover most of its weakness, specially to bulk. Heatran is possibly the best partner Celebi could ask for. Infamously known in Generation 4 as CeleTran, both Pokemon resist each others weaknesses with Heatran being capable of toasting Pokemon like Scizor while covering its Fire weakness. In return, Celebi is able to deal with the Water types and Ground types that cause Heatran issues. Swampert is an excellent partner that complements this core incredibly well, providing a Fire/Water/Grass core within your own team while gaining momentum with Flip Turn allowing Celebi to switch in safely and set up. Celebi's typing and offensive presence also allow it to function well on sandstorm teams, as it can easily switch into Fighting-, Water-, and Grass-type attacks aimed at typical sandstorm-based Pokemon and then retaliate with an attack. This makes Pokemon like Tyranitar and Excadrill as ideal partners for Celebi.
IT IS CONFIRMED NEWS
- U-turn
- Recover
- Psychic / Giga Drain
- Thunder Wave / Heal Bell
Item Attached: Leftovers
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs and Nature:
252 HP / 176 Def / 80 Spe
Bold Nature
Celebi is also a decent support Pokemon capable of providing its team with great utility thanks to its wide movepool. U-turn allows Celebi to regain momentum from unfavorable match-ups while allowing for other partner to switch-in safely. Recover keeps Celebi consistently healthy throughout the match allowing it to recover its lost health. Psychic is the preferred STAB on this set as it prevents Celebi from becoming complete setup fodder for Toxapex. Finally, Celebi can choose between various support moves on its last slot depending on what its team needs: Thunder Wave allows Celebi to hinder Pokemon like Dragapult or Volcarona attempting to switch into it. Heal Bell allows Celebi to heal any status ailments for its teammates. Stealth Rock can also be used on this slot in case your team does not have a user of the move.
80 Spe allows Celebi to outspeed neutral max Speed Heatran, Bisharp and Tapu Bulu while max HP is used in order to increase Celebi's bulk. The rest is dumped in Defense to increase Celebi's physical bulk. Once again, Leftovers is the item of choice to use on this set providing Celebi a passive way to recover its lost health.
Partners
Moltres deserves a mention as Flame Body makes U-turn abusers think twice while it burns and roasts Scizor to a crisp. Similarly Heatran will also complement Celebi extremely well due to each other covering their weaknesses. Swampert once again deserves a mention forming a solid FWG core with Celebi and Heatran. Tyranitar and Excadrill appreciate Celebi's support allowing it to fit pretty nicely on Sandstorm based teams. Landorus-Therian is a solid partner capable of checking troublesome Pokemon like Melmetal. Garchomp deserves a mention as well for being able to deal with Pokemon that wall Celebi like Hydreigon and destroy opposing Heatran.
.
LEAKS AND DOUBTS
- Substitute
- Recover
- Leech Seed
- Psychic / Aura Sphere
Item Attached: Leftovers
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs and Nature:
252 HP / 148 Def / 108 Spe
Timid Nature
Celebi can also take a different approach by using a Sub Leech Seed set not only to annoy its opposition but also to wear it down. The idea is simple: switch in on a Pokemon that can't threaten Celebi, set up a Substitute, and then Leech Seed away. Recover allows Celebi to recover its lost health while Substitute allows Celebi to scout its potential switch-ins. Leech Seed allows Celebi to wear down its opponent while recovering health making it very annoying to hit on the long run. Psychic is the last move as it allows it to hit Rillaboom for decent damage. However, Aura Sphere can be used to hit Ferrothorn as otherwise it is immune to Leech Seed and resists anything else.
Max Speed and HP is what allows Celebi to be as fast as possible and Substitute before most of its opponents. Max HP prevents Celebi's Substitute from being broken by Blissey's Seismic Toss making this set easily capable of taking into Blissey.
Partners
Celebi appreciates Magnezone's support since it can switch into Ferrothorn and remove it using Substitute + Body Press as it is the only Pokemon that can wall this set. Heatran is also a decent partner that can lay Stealth Rock and protect Celebi from Fire and Bug attacks aimed at it. Moltres deserves a shout-out as Flame Body can potentially burn and hinder Scizor while also resisting Bug. Garchomp is a great partner as it appreciates Celebi wearing down some of its potential checks with Leech Seed and it can set up on Pokemon that troubles it like Hydreigon or Heatran allowing it to sweep. Hydreigon fits incredibly well as it is one of the few Pokemon that can check Spectrier and threaten it out with its STAB Dark attacks.
Other Options & Team Ideas
Calm Mind is also an option that not only allows Celebi to increase its Special Attack but also increase its special bulk, however, considering how Celebi is easily forced out by faster U-turn users like Scarfed Landorus-Therian, Greninja and Tapu Koko, it is too passive to be a game changer for Celebi.
Dazzling Gleam is an option that grants Celebi coverage against Dark types like Umbreon and Dragon types like the Lati@s. It is an inferior option to Hidden Power Fire or Earth Power though considering what the latter moves can hit.
Choice items can always be taken into consideration, but due to Celebi's average offensive stats, it is heavily outclassed by other Grass types such as Serperior or Tapu Bulu who have greater power.
Countering Celebi
Bulky Steel types are able to stop Celebi depending on the coverage move it chooses. Scizor is the best counter for Celebi thanks to its STAB Bug attacks which hit Celebi's x4 weakness and thanks to its typing, it cannot be hit super-effectively by either Aura Sphere or Earth Power allowing it to prey Celebi to death. Corviknight deserves a mention since it has access to STAB Flying attacks to hit it hard while not being hit by any of Celebi's coverage moves.
Fire types are pretty dangerous for Celebi to deal with. Cinderace finds a lot of opportunities on switching into Celebi as long as it avoids Earth Power as it can easily force it out with its Libero STAB U-turn or Pyro Ball. Moltres is also capable of switching into Celebi unscathed and burn it into cinders with its STAB Fire or Flying attacks.
Additionally, any Pokemon that has a super-effective STAB move to use against Celebi like Naganadel, Tornadus-Therian, Weavile, Spectrier, Pheromosa and Dragonite will be able to cut through Celebi. Due to its x4 weakness to Bug, anything with U-turn will be able to damage Celebi for a good chunk of HP.
Special walls like Chansey and Blissey do a good job on being able to wall Celebi, although Leech Seed will annoy them a lot. The Lati@s deserve a mention as due to their resistance to Celebi's offensive moves, they can set up on it.
Locations in Games
Red/Blue/Yellow:
Not in game
Gold/Silver/Crystal:
Ilex Forest (Crystal)
Event (Gold/Silver)
Ruby/Sapphire/Emerald:
Event
FireRed/LeafGreen:
Event
Colosseum/XD:
Event
Diamond/Pearl/Platinum:
Event
HeartGold/SoulSilver:
Event
Black/White:
Event
Black 2/White 2:
Event
X/Y:
Event
Omega Ruby/Alpha Sapphire:
Event
Sun/Moon:
Event
Ultra Sun/Ultra Moon:
Event
Let's Go, Pikachu!/Let's Go, Eevee!:
Not in game
Sword/Shield:
Event
Anime Appearences
|
Celebi has made multiple appearances in the anime. Most notably it causes people to travel through time |
|