RandomNPC – Video Game RPG Reviews, Editorials, and Features

This week, we’ll be looking at one of my favorite Pokemon, the perennially disappointing Parasect. Despite being the slowest user of Spore and one of the slowest Pokemon overall, Parasect has always occupied a special place in my heart simply for being unusually creepy.

Parasect
Grass / Bug
HP: 60 Atk: 90 Def: 80 Sp Atk: 60 Sp Def: 80 Spd: 30
Ability: Dry Skin: Increases this Pokemon’s weakness to Fire by x2, but grants an immunity to Water. If this Pokemon is struck by a Water-type attack, it will restore 25% of this Pokemon’s HP. This Pokemon will be healed by 12.5% of its max HP every turn under heavy rain, and will lose 12.5% of its max HP every turn under bright sunlight.
Effect Spore: If this Pokemon is struck by a contact move, the attacking Pokemon has a 30% chance of being inflicted with Paralyze, Sleep. or Poison.

I really like the idea of a Pokemon based on the rainforest fungus that actually takes over the minds of insects. Seriously, they’re called Entomopathogenic fungus. Unfortunately, just being associated with bizarre mind-control fungi isn’t enough to round out Parasect’s movepool, which is seriously lacking. On top of this, its bedrock-level Spd and poor defenses make it incredibly hard to use, despite being one of only three Pokemon in the game with access to a 100% accurate sleep move. Parasect did improve a great degree in the current generation, though. Whereas Spore had been its only real claim to fame in the GBA games, Parasect now has access to X-Scissor, Pursuit, Seed Bomb, and a variety of other moves. Its new ability, Dry Skin, gives it a very useful elemental absorb, making it a bit easier for Parasect to come into play and allowing it to stall fairly well as long as the rain keeps going. Parasect’s unusual type combination and ability even lets it work better against the likes of Kyogre and Lugia than would be expected, allowing the creepy bug to come in on Surf, absorb the hit, and counter back with Spore and Seed Bomb. With a bit of care, Parasect can be quite a dangerous customer despite its lackluster base stats.

Unfortunately, to use Parasect as anything other than a rather specific counter for Kyogre, we’re going to have to work around a lot of its weaknesses. For a start, though it does have a solid Atk, none of its other base stats are really all that good. Parasect’s biggest problem is the combination of below-average defenses and atrocious Spd, which makes it an easy target for anything using one of its many weaknesses. Although Dry Skin definitely helps by giving the bug the ability to absorb Water, its Fire-intensifying side effect makes Parasect the only Pokemon in the game with an 8x weakness to anything.

In the end, though Parasect has some very intriguing new options in D/P/P, it’ll still take a lot of work to make it really viable. To this end, we have some suggestions as to how to use your very own mind-control fungus.

Trick Bug
Parasect @Life Orb / Choice Band
Brave nature (-Spd, +Atk)
Dry Skin ability
252 Atk, 252 HP, 6 Spd
-X-Scissor
-Seed Bomb
-Brick Break
-Spore
This Parasect makes a great addition to a Trick Room team, where Spore will be the fastest, most accurate sleep move available to you. Choice Band fixes up Parasect’s less than spectacular Atk rather nicely, but Life Orb is preferred. Although it provides a lower level of power, Life Orb will let you switch moves after lulling one foe to sleep, which is a critical ability when you’re operating under a support move that, for all effects and purposes, lasts only three turns.

Parasect actually gets fairly solid coverage, as you’ll be able to hit just about everyone for neutral damage with X-Scissor, Brick Break and Seed Bomb. Feel free to throw in Cross Poison or Pursuit over Seed Bomb if it strikes your fancy, though, since they’re both fine moves. Cross Poison’s coverage isn’t that great, but the high chance of a critical and ability to Posion a foe is very welcome.

Stalling Bug
Parasect @Leftovers
Impish nature (-Sp Atk, +Def)
Dry Skin ability
252 HP, 252 Def, 6 Atk
-Protect
-Substitute
-Toxic / Rain Dance
-X-Scissor / Brick Break
An attempt at a defensively-oriented set, Parasect can use Dry Skin and Leftovers to recover HP rather easily, giving it the ability to use Substitute every other turn. With Protect keeping you safe on the off turns, Parasect should be able to stall for quite a while. This set does have a number of issues, not the least of which is Parasect’s low Spd, but that can be solved by bluffing; use the threat of Spore to force a switch, and you’ll be able to set up a Sub while your foe runs screaming from the threat of Sleep.

This Pokemon does require the right kind of support to work at its fullest, though. “The right support” in this case is either a Pokemon who can set up Toxic Spikes, or a Pokemon who can set up Rain Dance. Obviously, the kind of support you go for determines which move you’ll be using in slot number three. Personally, I prefer a support Pokemon who can use Rain Dance, because it’s easier for an ally to set up, and having Toxic on Parasect will let you hit Flying Pokemon who evade Toxic Spikes. Being able to restart the rain on its own is a pretty good ability for Parasect to have, though, since it’ll extend the amount of time you can stall for. In the last slot, X-Scissor is a very solid all-around attack, but Brick Break is a good idea for coverage on Rock and Steel Pokemon. If you don’t mind being vulnerable to Taunting Pokemon, you could also put Rain Dance in the final slot and attempt to use Parasect a’capella, but it’ll be a rough ride.

The EV spread for this set is pretty malleable. Parasect’s defenses aren’t quite good enough to make it worthwhile to try to keep them both above water, but you could use a Careful nature and dump 252 EVs in Sp Def rather than Def if you’d prefer to defend against special attacks. It’s recommended that you stick to Def, though, because physical Fire attacks are less common than special ones, and it makes Parasect easier to bring in on the ever-popular Earthquake.

Offense Bug
Parasect @Leftovers / Quick Claw
Adamant nature (-Sp Atk, +Atk)
Dry Skin ability
252 HP, 252 Atk, 6 Def
-Swords Dance
-Spore
-X-Scissor
-Brick Break / Seed Bomb
The idea here is pretty simple; use Spore to drop your foe off in dreamland, then Swords Dance up and start smashing things. It’s not as easy as it sounds, again due to Parasect’s stupidly low Spd, but a lot of people underestimate Parasect’s ability to make life hard for foes.

Most of the options for this set are pretty much set in stone. Parasect isn’t fast enough to make boosting its Spd worthwhile, and Swords Dance and X-Scissor are more or less essential for making the set actually work. If you have access to Pokemon Emerald, though, Parasect can use the game’s move tutors to learn Body Slam, whose 30% chance of Paralysis could give Parasect a much-needed boost to its Spd. You will, however, have to give up Brick Break, meaning you’ll be more or less unable to hit Steel-types. Another option would be to use Stun Spore over Spore, but it’s a pretty risky move given Stun Spore’s poor accuracy and Parasect’s fragility.

Next week we’ll be giving Pokemon a bit of a rest to talk about the finer points of Devil Summoner 2: Raidou Kuzunoha vs. King Abbadon. Our first stop will be the basics of Fusion! Until then, try not to get possessed by creepy fungus.