OMotM/LCotM Spotlight: Pokébilities and Cross Evolution

By in the hills. Released: 2023/04/12.
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Art by anundeadboy

Art by anundeadboy.

What is an OMotM/LCotM?

The OMotM, or Other Metagame of the Month, is the metagame that is voted by the players to have a ladder for a specific month. The LCotM, or Leader's Choice of the Month, is a second ladder that is chosen specifically by OM Forum Mods. For the most part, the LCotM is a metagame that needs more love, as it may not be able to compete with the metagames that get nominated for the OMotM voting.

For April 2023, the OM of the Month is Pokébilities, while Leader's Choice is Cross Evolution.

Introduction to Pokébilities

Pokébilities is a metagame where Pokémon have all of their abilities active at the same time. This doesn't always heavily effect Pokémon, but Pokémon with multiple viable abilities now get a chance to shine. Azumarill and Clodsire now get a chance to utilize powerful immunity abilities that they otherwise wouldn't normally use, while some like Dragapult get to benefit from 3 mediocre abilities. Plenty of Pokémon have often overlooked abilities, so learning what niche abilities Pokémon have and the funny ways they are applied is a huge draw to the metagame. Even Pokémon with only one ability like Gholdengo can still be powerful, so be sure to keep your options open when building.

Threats in Pokébilities

Azumarill

Azumarill is now much more difficult to handle in Pokébilities thanks to Sap Sipper and Thick Fat, which help it against Pokémon like Breloom and Baxcalibur tremendously. Otherwise, it still is able to utilize Huge Power to become a powerful Belly Drum sweeper and chunk through opposing teams.

Kingambit

Kingambit is even more threatening in Pokébilities now that it doesn't have to choose between Defiant and Supreme Overlord. The abundancy of Intimidate also benefits it and dissuades many common physical attackers from coming in on it. Tera Flying catches switch-ins like Great Tusk and Corviknight off guard and enables its sweep better.

Corviknight

Corviknight can now utilize both Pressure and Mirror Armor to maximize its defensive capabilities and still get Defog off against entry hazard setters reliably. Mirror Armor is another ability that benefits heavily from the abundance of Intimidate, especially considering most Intimidate users like Gyarados and Salamence are physical attackers, and can reflect Defense and Special Defense drops from various moves like Dragapult’s Shadow Ball.

Introduction to Cross Evolution

Cross Evolution is a metagame where not fully evolved Pokémon can "cross evolve" by nicknaming them, which means they gain the stat, ability, and type changes of an evolution, as well as up to 2 moves from the Pokémon they are evolving into. There is also a limit on which Pokémon you can evolve into; a Stage 1 Pokémon must evolve into a Stage 2 Pokémon and a Stage 2 Pokémon must evolve into a Stage 3 Pokémon. For example, a Chansey can cross evolve with Hatterene to gain its stat boosts, Magic Bounce, and a secondary Fairy typing, but it cannot cross evolve with Toxapex. Pokémon can also have their primary typing changed when cross evolving, such as evolving into Vaporeon to add a primary Water typing, and in rare cases both types can change. Cross Evolution is arguably the OM with the most possibilities, as there's a near endless number of Pokémon that you can cross evolve into. However, the metagame is very powerful due to high BST receivers and evolutions, and even Uber Pokémon can sometimes struggle to keep up. To see the stats of a cross evolved Pokémon or just the stats given from an evolution, use the /ce and /showevo commands respectively.

Threats in Cross Evolution

Corviknight

Choice Specs Gastly utilizes the added primary Electric typing and stat boosts from Jolteon to become an insanely potent cleaner that outspeeds most of the metagame. Tera Water or Energy Ball can help get past Ground-types, which otherwise are incredibly annoying for it to deal with, while Trick can punish fat switch-ins like Toedscool and Shelgon. While Gastly is very fast and strong, it is incredibly frail and especially weak to priority, so be sure to pair it with Pokémon that can take a hit.

chansey

Chansey is a very potent special wall that takes advantage of passive entry hazard setters that are rather common in the metagame. Unfortunately, this set is significantly worse this generation with the lack of Teleport in Chansey's kit, but it is still very potent. The added secondary Fairy typing and bulk is a godsend for it, as there are very few physical Steel- and Poison-types in the metagame.

Bisharp

Bisharp utilizes Tinkaton's evolution to gain everything it could have ever wanted. Getting Knock Off back is a godsend for it, not to mention the amazing 160 Base Power STAB move in Gigaton Hammer. While its stats are somewhat mediocre for Cross Evolution, it more than makes up for it with the powerful STAB combination and wallbreaking potential with Gigaton Hammer.

Conclusion

Pokébilities and Cross Evolution are both metagames that introduce viable Pokémon that are typically bad and offer unique experiences for anyone to enjoy. Enjoy these metagames this April and check out the Other Metas room on PS! to discuss them.

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