RandomNPC – Video Game RPG Reviews, Editorials, and Features

This week, we’ll be taking a look at one of the big legendaries of the first generation, part of the elemental trio that forms R/B/Y‘s big triumverate, and one of my favorite stall critters ever. This birdie is surprisingly flexible, able to play defensive roles while still packing quite a punch. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you Zapdos.

Zapdos
Flying / Electric
HP: 90 Atk: 90 Def: 85 Sp Atk: 125 Sp Def: 90 Spd: 100
Ability: Pressure: Attacks used by enemy Pokemon against this Pokemon use 2 PP instead of 1.

The three legendary birds of the first gen tend to be a little screwed when it comes to their movepool, which is almost always pretty poor. Zapdos, however, managed to get good moves where it counts. Zapdos’s greatest strength may be its flexibility, which is much more impressive than one would expect for a Pokemon with such a small number of moves to choose from. Coupled with good base stats in every category, especially speed and special attack, and excellent elemental resistances, Zapdos is a wonderfully useful and threatening Pokemon.

Zapdos’s very small movepool does cause it some problems, of course. For a start, Hidden Power is more or less a requirement. Without it, the electric birdy learns almost exclusively Electric and Flying-type attacks, giving it some pretty poor coverage, though the fact that it now gets Heat Wave through tutors on Pokemon Platinum is a pretty big boost. Its support movepool is a bit better, but most of that is restricted to moves just about every Pokemon gets – Toxic, Rain Dance, that sort of thing. Zapdos has gotten some nice additions to its movepool over the course of the series, but getting some of these moves, such as Baton Pass and Metal Sound from Pokemon XD, can be a real pain.

On the whole, Zapdos can fill a wide variety of roles on any team, so finding a specific counter for it can be difficult to say the least. Use this to your advantage, and Zapdos will really shine.

Sheet Lightning
Zapdos @Leftovers
Timid (+Spd, -Atk) nature
Pressure ability
248 HP, 184 Sp Def, 76 Spd
-Thunderbolt
-Roar / Baton Pass / Toxic
-Roost
-Substitute
When it comes to this electric bird, this is my favorite set. Zapdos’s defensive stats are actually pretty solid, and combined with a solid Spd, Zapdos can use the Roost / Sub combo to stall like no one else. This set is really good at countering Zapdos’s supposed counters – Pokemon like Celebi and Blissey will have trouble keeping up with Zapdos if they don’t have a way to remove Toxic, while Swampert is more or less screwed if he gets poisoned.

This set works best when combined with Toxic Spikes, since Zapdos himself may be hard pressed to find time to use Toxic. However, given that Baton Pass is only available through Pokemon XD, Toxic is definitely an option. Roar is probably the best choice overall for the second slot, since it counters Pokemon who may try to use Zapdos as set-up bait, and works wonderfully with Toxic Spikes. Hidden Power Fighting or Ice are also solid choices for this set. HP Fighting will let you hit Magnezone and Heatran, both of whom would otherwise cause this set problems, while Hidden Power Ice will work wonders against Gliscor and Celebi. Heat Wave is probably your best bet if you go for an offensive move, as it hits most of those Pokemon for at least neutral damage. The only real problem is the omnipresent Heatran. Curse you, Heatraaaaaan!

Forked Lightning
Zapdos @Petaya Berry
Modest (+Sp Atk, -Atk) or Timid (+Spd, -Atk) nature
Pressure ability
252 Sp Atk, 252 Spd, 6 HP
-Substitute
-Agility
-Thunderbolt
-Heat Wave / Hidden Power Ice / Hidden Power Grass
This Zapdos bears a strong resemblance to a set used by Empoleon, and the principle is essentially the same. Get a Substitute set up, and use Agility. As the foe breaks your Subs, set new ones up, until the Petaya Berry activates, boosting your Sp Atk. From there, you should be able to zap just about anything that gets in your way, with a few notable exceptions.

This set has a lot more problems with traditional Zapdos counters than the previous one, mainly because Zapdos has a pretty serious case of Four Move Syndrome. Covering everything that would give Zapdos issues is really difficult with only four move slots — it wants five or six. Using Hidden Power Ice, Swampert and Blissey wall it pretty well. If it uses Hidden Power Grass, Magnezone flips it the bird. And if it tries Heat Wave, there’s Heatran sniggering in the corner. For this reason, it’s really best to wait until late in the game to bring this Zapdos out, so that you can be sure your foe doesn’t have any nasty surprises waiting for you.

Rolling Thunder
Zapdos @Life Orb
Modest (+Sp Atk, -Atk) or Timid (+Spd, -Atk) nature
Pressure ability
252 Sp Atk, 252 Spd, 6 HP
-Thunderbolt
-Heat Wave / Hidden Power Ice
-Metal Sound
-Roost
Now, generally speaking, I’m not a big fan of stat reducing moves like Metal Sound. I don’t like using a move whose effects are so easy to remove; simply switching out can negate turns of setup. They also don’t carry the same possibility of a sweep that stat increasing moves do, since you’ll have to re-apply the move to each new Pokemon that comes into play. That said, Zapdos makes a great user of Metal Sound. Zapdos’s solid defenses and resistances give it the time it needs to set up, while Roost gives it the ability to avoid being worn down by the foe’s constant attacks.