RandomNPC – Video Game RPG Reviews, Editorials, and Features

Today’s Pokemon reminds me of one of my favorite things about Pokemon games – the sheer weirdness of it all. In what other game could you find a psychic coconut tree? Or for that matter, a steel penguin? And not just one, but two animate blobs of poisonous slime? I never get tired of the knowledge that, should the desire strike, I could pit a small blue lungfish against a pink bulldog in a dress in a battle for domination. And so in the spirit of the bizarre, we look at the ambulatory egg-sprouting coconut tree that is Exeggutor.

Exeggutor
Grass / Psychic
HP: 95 Atk: 95 Def: 85 Sp Atk: 125 Sp Def: 65 Spd: 55
Ability: Chlorophyll: This Pokemon’s speed doubles under strong sunlight.

Exeggutor is a perfect example of this weirdness not just because it’s a giant clumsy coconut tree that sprouts eggs rather than nuts, but also because it’s a Psychic type with lousy defense against special attacks. One of only two Grass/Psychics in the game, Exeggutor is a bit outclassed by Celebi, but its giant special attack goes a long way towards giving it the edge in offensive battles. Exeggutor’s biggest strengths lie in its ability to effectively use some of the best annoying and support moves available to both Grass and Psychic, two types which tend to specialize in support. Exeggutor can incapacitate a foe with Leech Seed and Sleep Powder, and hit them hard with Leaf Storm, Psychic, or a number of other powerful attacks. It also gets a number of moves that are unusual for Pokemon like Exeggutor, like Explosion and Curse, giving Eggy a nice bit of flexibility.

Exeggutor’s resistances are a bit of a double-edged sword. On the one hand, it resists a number of the most powerful and ubiquitous attacks in the game, like Earthquake, Close Combat, Surf, and Thunderbolt. On the other hand, though, it’s weak to moves that are generally paired with these attacks, like Flare Blitz, Megahorn, Ice Beam, and Shadow Ball. Getting Eggy into play can be a real challenge, especially if your opponent manages to outpredict you. Aside from that, Exeggutor’s defenses are good, but not great – its HP is solid, but its defense is decidedly average, and its special defense leaves a lot to be desired. For this reason, unlike most Psychic-types in the game, Exeggutor is a better physical tank than special.

On the whole, Exeggutor has never really recovered from the splitting of the Special stat that G/S/C introduced. Using it can be a genuine challenge at times, but Eggy definitely has the potential to be a threat if played well.

Sunny Side Up
Exeggutor @Heat Rock / Leftovers / Life Orb
Modest (+Sp Atk, -Atk) nature
Chlorophyll ability
252 Sp Atk, 252 Spd, 6 HP
-Solarbeam
-Hidden Power Fire / Psychic
-Sleep Powder / Explosion
-Sunny Day
What Exeggutor has over other Grass-types with Chlorophyll is, first and foremost, that great Sp Atk stat, and secondly, the ability to Explode. This set’s real strength, though, lies in Exeggutor’s ability to make life difficult for Pokemon who think they can counter him. Even Tyranitar and Abomasnow, whose weather abilities completely screw this strategy up, can’t be certain that Exeggutor won’t use Sleep Powder on the switch and proceed to restart the sunlight.

This Exeggutor also works well in Ubers, paired with Groudon. In that situation, you can drop not only Sunny Day, but also Solarbeam. Sunny Day gets the boot for fairly obvious reasons — you won’t need it if Groudon is setting up the sun for you — but Solarbeam is replaced for a different reason. In Ubers, every Pokemon you meet except Manaphy is heavy enough to hit the top of Grass Knot’s damage calculation, which is equal to a base power of 150, easily outdamaging Solarbeam without any nasty side-effects. It’s even more useful when you consider that the obvious switch-in to a sunlight-abusing monster like Exeggutor is Kyogre, whose entrance will automatically shut Solarbeam down. But if you’re using Grass Knot, Kyogre gets nailed with a STABbed-up 150 base power Grass attack, allowing you to sink the killer orca like a Pokemon Lusitania.

Scrambled
Exeggutor @Choice Specs
Modest (+Sp Atk, -Atk) nature
Chlorophyll ability
252 Sp Atk, 252 Spd, 6 HP
-Leaf Storm
-Psychic
-Hidden Power Ice / Hidden Power Fire / Sludge Bomb
-Explosion
This set works best with someone else providing the sunlight (meaning it also works fairly well in Ubers), but it makes much more direct use of Exeggutor’s impressive special attack. Exeggutor’s offensive movepool isn’t very good at all, though, so Hidden Power is pretty important. All three of the moves listed for the third slot cover Grass types, but HP Ice also provides coverage against Dragons, and HP Fire covers Steels. Both of these types would be hard for Exeggutor to hit otherwise. Sludge Bomb is an inferior choice, but it’s better than nothing.

Over Easy
Exeggutor @Leftovers
Relaxed (+Def, -Sp Atk) nature
Chlorophyll ability
252 HP, 252 Def, 6 HP
-Grass Knot / Energy Ball
-Psychic
-Trick Room
-Explosion / Sleep Powder
Exeggutor makes a solid user of Trick Room, given its low Spd and high Sp Atk. Explosion isn’t a bad move to follow up Trick Room with, since it’ll let the next Pokemon come in without having to waste a turn switching, and there’s a good chance Exeggutor will take its foe down with it. Sleep Powder is a useful move under Trick Room, but it’s far more risky; missing while Trick Room is up could be a serious problem.

Eggy’s high Sp Atk means you can modify this set to operate more offensively by replacing the Relaxed nature with Quiet, and shifting 252 EVs from defense into special attack. This may present problems for Exeggutor’s durability, as it’s got a number of unpleasant weaknesses and really requres a bit of a push to be sturdy.