Palossand, the Sand Castle Pokémon. Palossand is known as the Beach Nightmare. It pulls its prey down into the sand by controlling the sand itself, and then it sucks out their souls. This Pokémon lives on beaches, but it hates water. Palossand can't maintain its castle-like shape if it gets drenched by a heavy rain.

Overview

Palossand was an interesting addition in the 7th generation thanks to its rare typing, fantastic signature move in Shore Up and unique ability in Water Compaction. These factors synergize well with Palossand’s stats for a well-rounded defensive Pokémon. The addition of Scorching Sands in the Isle of Armor was a great boon, giving Palossand its own STAB burn move, further aiding in its walling efforts.

However, Palossand’s many shortcomings prevent it from seeing widespread use. Ghost Ground has many common weaknesses including the very common Knock Off thanks to the removal of Mega Evolutions and Z Crystals. Additionally, while Water Compaction is great against physical water types, but does nothing against the many specially oriented Water types targeting Palossand’s weaker defense. Finally it falls into the same morass as many other defensive Pokémon, being relatively slow and forced to take extra hits which make walling difficult and lack of immediate threat which can give your opponent time to setup and runaway with the battle. Extremely potent competition with Hippowdon, Swampert, Seismitoad, Quagsire, etc. who all perform a similar role but with superior ability, typings, and stats make Palossand hard to justify.
Positives
Shore Up is a fantastic move, acting as Recover or even better in Sandstorm
Good physical bulk and a solid set of resistances and immunities to take advantage of that
Average Base 100 Special Attack and a wide Special Movepool gives Palossand moves for most occasions
Negatives
Numerous common weaknesses and below average Special Defense prevent Palossand from walling as effectively as it could
Low speed forces Palossand to take a hit before doing anything
Stiff competition from many other defensive Ground types

Movesets

Wall-o-Sand

-Stealth Rock
-Shore Up
-Scorching Sands
-Shadow Ball
Item Attached: Kolbur Berry
Ability: Water Compaction
EVs and Nature:
252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SDef
Bold Nature

Palossand makes for an excellent Stealth Rock setter and physical wall. Its many immunities and resistances provide ample opportunities to switch in and setup Stealth Rock or to tank attacks in general. Shore Up is just as vital to this set as Stealth Rocks, keeping Palossand healthy, and enabling it to tank and re-establish Stealth Rock over the course of the battle. Scorching Sands is STAB of choice, making Palossand even more unbreakable on the Physical side and can punish switch ins with passive damage. Shadow Ball rounds out the set as a reliable Secondary STAB.

DYNAMAX:
Not recommended. Defensive sets rely on their moves to function, not stalling with Max Guard. While the Special Defense boost from Max Quake is tempting, the inability to heal and limited coverage prevent this set from being a reliable Dynamax option.

EVs and Items:
EVs are to Maximize physical bulk, making Palossand as effective physical tank as possible. While Special Defense investment is tempting to make a more well rounded tank, Palossand's numerous Special inclined weaknesses prevent this from being ideal. Kolbur Berry is insurance against Knock Off, which is many Pokémon's best coverage move against Palossand, preventing it from taking too much damage and widening the number of Pokémon it can wall. If Knock Off isn't a concern, then Leftovers is fantastic for repeated healing..

Partners:
Gigalith and Tyranitar are fantastic partners for Palossand, being reliable answers to most Flying Defoggers which Palossand struggles against and setting up Sandstorm, further piling on the chip damage and buffing Shore Up to truly impressive levels of healing. Fairy types make decent partners for Palossand, able to absorb Dark moves and enjoying Palossand's ability to deal with the Poison, Steel and Fire types that otherwise trouble them. Florges stands out for its massive Special Defense complimenting Palossand's physical Defense. Rotom Frost deserves mention for its ability to handle Palossand's Water, Grass, Flying and Ice weaknesses while also providing a slow pivot in Volt Switch.

Other Options:
Earth Power -much Stronger Ground STAB, but lacks the utility of Scorching Sands.
Hypnosis - Inaccurate, but Sleep is still incredibly powerful as a status condition.

Sand Siege Machine

-Earth Power
-Shadow Ball
-Giga Drain
-Ancient Power
Item Attached: Weakness Policy
Ability: Water Compaction
EVs and Nature:
252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SAtk
Modest Nature

Offensive Palossand meant to eat a super effective attack to boost up with Weakness Policy and threaten to blow holes in the opposing team as a bulky attacker. Weakness Policy also synergizes well with Water Compaction, making Palossand nigh unbreakable from the physical side. Earth Power and Shadow are STABs of choice -they’re reliable, powerful and can lower Special Defensive making further assaults harder to tank. Giga Drain provides valuable coverage and recovery, enabling Palossand to tank a water attack for Water Compaction while also punishing the Water type that tried. Ancient Power rounds out the set, giving Palossand coverage against Flying and Ice types.

DYNAMAX:
This set loves Dynamaxing, all the better to tank the super effective hit with. Max Quake and Max Overgrowth help further increase Palossand’s bulk, enabling it to spiral out of control defensively. Max Rockfall may be weak, but setting up Sand is always useful for Palossand, especially if running Shore Up.

EVs and Items:
Maximize HP to tank the super effective attack and Special Attack to deal as much damage as possible. Weakness Policy is the crux of this set, though if looking for a more reliable way to boost your Special Attack, Choice Specs can be considered.

Partners:
Trick Room setters work well with this set, enabling Palossand to sweep under ideal conditions. Porygon2 stands out for not sharing any weaknesses and able to check bulkier Flying, Water and Grass types thanks to access to the Bolt Beam combination. Tyranitar and Gigalith again stand out if running Shore Up, providing Physical Offense to Palossand’s Special, setting up the ever important Sandstorm and checking Flying types that Palossand struggles against.

Other Options:
Shore Up -More reliable recovery than Giga Drain and helps offset the super effective hit Palossand needs to setup.
Energy Ball -stronger Grass coverage option.
Trick -only good with Choice Specs, a classic strategy but Palossand’s poor speed makes it difficult to execute.

Countering Palossand

Flying based Defoggers are the bane of defensive Palossand, able to easily switch into its Ground STAB and undo all its work with Defog. Mandibuzz, and Braviary excel at this role, resisting Palossand’s Ghost STAB as well, while Mantine has super Effective STAB and titanic Special Defensive to compensate.

Many of the faster special attackers that can prey on Palossand’s common weaknesses also check it fairly well, forcing it to feel or be KOd. Grass types like Sceptile and Shiftry excel thanks to their resistance to Palossand’s Ground STAB and ability to recover any damage with STAB Giga Drain. Water types like Suicune, Milotic and Vaporeon also do well, being faster and having massive bulk to take Palossand’s STABs though they must be careful of Giga Drain/Energy Ball.

Anime Appearences

Palossand has made an appearance in the anime. In it, it evolved from Sandygast and grew to massive levels, consuming Ash in the process. # -English Episode Name- -Jp. Episode Name- Pics 965 A Shivering Shovel Search! Beware of Shovels!! Pics 989 Deceiving Appearances! C'mon, Search for the Transformed Ditto! Pics