Dragon Dance Mega Charizard Y MOTW

Pokémon Moveset Of The Week

"Sunlight Conqueror"
Pokemon: Charizard > Mega Charizard Y
Nature: Hasty
Ability: Blaze > Drought
Item: Charizardite Y
EV Spread: 188 Atk, 68 SpA, 252 Spe

- Dragon Dance
- Flare Blitz
- Earthquake
- Solar Beam

Guten Tag, everyone! MG's back with yet another Moveset of the Week. This time, we'll be going over a strong and common Pokémon, Mega Charizard Y. The fire dragon is known for its immense power thanks to the harsh sunlight it brings with its Drought Ability, but this set goes a different way that Charizard Y normally goes.

Yes, I know, Charizard X is the Mega Evolution that uses Dragon Dance. However, this Charizard set is one I came up with one night while trying to think of new ways to use Charizard. I've always liked Dragon Dance Charizard Y, but always thought it was missing something (that being a solid third move for its physical side). Because of this, I started to think of ways for it to hit Water- and Ground-type walls, as Thunder Punch only goes so far. My solution was a mixed set that uses its Drought to fire off a handy Solar Beam.

Hasty nature and 252 Speed EVs are a must in order for this Charizard to work properly. Hasty, while decreasing your Defense, increases your Speed and doesn't hinder your ability to use both physical and special attacks, and at 100 base Speed, you need all of the help you can get. 188 Attack EVs let you 2HKO max HP Tyranitar 100% of the time with EQ (unless it has Leftovers) and OHKO specially defensive Heatran around 30% of the time. It also adds a bit of damage to Charizard's Flare Blitz's power. 68 Special Attack were the leftover EVs and are there to bump up Solar Beam a bit.

Dragon Dance is Charizard's choice boosting move, allowing it to raise both its Attack and Speed stats by one stage. This pairs nicely with Charizard's Flare Blitz, a strong STAB move boosted further by the harsh sunlight of Drought, and Earthquake, an overall great coverage move. Solar Beam, while not being boosted by Dragon Dance, allows Charizard to obliterate Gastrodon, Quagsire, and Swampert, while giving it a way to hit Tapu Fini and other Water-type pests. Thunder Punch could do the latter and get boosted by Dragon Dance, but it then leaves Charizard vulnerable to Pokémon like Gastrodon, who are immune to Electric-type attacks.

Good Pokémon to pair this Charizard with include fast allies able to remove faster Electric-type foes to allow Charizard to set up without fear of being shocked out of the sky. Ironically, this Charizard appreciates a teammate that can take out Ferrothorn, as Flare Blitz paired with Ferrothorn's ability to dish out heavy contact recoil drop this Pokémon's HP a lot. Of course, being 4x weak to Rock-type moves, Charizard NEEDS hazard removal. Pokémon like Scizor, Tapu Fini, etc. can use Defog (or Starmie, Tentacruel, etc. Rapid Spin) to remove Stealth Rock from your side of the field to give Charizard a much easier time switching in. Lastly, this Charizard is especially weak to priority with the lessened Defense stat, so it appreciates having opponent Pokémon with priority moves taken care of before setting up.

As a note, this Charizard is able to trick the opponent into thinking it's the X variant. If you Dragon Dance before Mega Evolving, the opponent will likely think you're Mega Charizard X and send in something like Landorus. You can use this to get another Dragon Dance when it Earthquakes or U-turns or to fire off a sun-boosted Flare Blitz, which, even at neutral Attack after Intimidate, still dishes out a punch. Likewise, if your opponent knows that you are Mega Charizard Y and sends out Heatran or Tyranitar, they're in for a surprise when an Earthquake rumbles beneath their feet.

That's everything for this particular Charizard set. I'll see you around!

Written by: Mega Grievous