Welcome to Pokemon of the Week! This week is kinda special, since it's the first time I'm doing one that was requested, rather than deciding completely arbitrarily! It's also the first time I'm covering a legendary Pokemon. This week, we focus on Meloetta!

Meloetta is sort of... the forgotten secret legend of 5th generation. Everything else was released before it, and it was only just recently released. I completely forgot to get one as well, so I guess there's that event missed. But worry not, dear reader, I know how Meloetta works, and I can assure you that she is one of the most unique Pokemon ever created, and well worth a try. Using Meloetta does, however, require more practice than any other Pokemon to master if you intend on utilizing her signature move, Relic Song.

Meloetta's impact on the metagame has been hardly noticable. Though she has fairly unique typing (shared with Girafarig... who is... not noteworthy for being able to do literally anything ever), and her pirouette form has completely unique typing, as well as the highest Speed of any Fighting type, she requires you to play smarter than most Pokemon require, just to keep yourself on top. What I mean by this is that switching between her two forms is absolutely necessary in OU to keep yourself from being absolutely countered or outclassed by something else. This has sent Meloetta to UU, but in this article, I will outline how to use her in both UU and in OU.

Meloetta@ Life Orb / Leftovers Serene Grace Timid nature (+Speed, -Attack) EVs: 252 Speed / 252 Sp. Attack / 4 HP Calm Mind Psychic / Psyshock Shadow Ball Focus Blast / Thunderbolt / Grass Knot

Except that she's horrible and should not be allowed to sing. Anyway, Meloetta makes a good offensive Calm Mind user in UU. Psychic is your main STAB here, dealing good , solid damage on most opponents. Psyshock is an alternative to consider, however, for beating opposing Calm Mind Pokemon, as well as Snorlax. Shadow Ball is your main coverage move to damage Pokemon like Mew and Azelf, two big threats in UU.

The final move slot has a few different options. Focus Blast gives Meloetta perfect coverage, and allows it to deal with Dark types who would otherwise be able to switch into Meloetta with complete impunity and Pursuit trap her. Pokemon like Krookodile and Weavile will need to beware of switching directly into Meloetta. Thunderbolt is an alternative, though, for dealing with Honchkrow, who is also a big threat to Meloetta. It leaves her vulnerable to Krookodile, though, since none of her moves would be able to damage Krookodile except Shadow Ball, which is Not Very Effective. Finally, Grass Knot is a more accurate move to hurt Krookodile, as well as killing Swampert and Rhyperior, though it leaves you vulnerable to Honchkrow, so the decision is a difficult one to make, and should be considered along with your team.

Meloetta@ Choice Specs Serene Grace Timid nature (+Speed, -Attack) EVs: 252 Speed / 252 Sp. Attack / 4 HP Psychic / Psyshock Focus Blast Shadow Ball / Thunderbolt U-Turn / Trick

Choice Specs gives Meloetta immediate power without taking time to setup. Psychic or Psyshock are your STAB options, with the former being more powerful while the latter allows you to beat more physically weaker Pokemon. Focus Blast is far more necessary on this set, as nailing Dark types with Focus Blast as they switch-in can remove Meloetta's main counters entirely, as well as allowing Meloetta a way to deal with Steel types. Shadow Ball lets Meloetta get rid of opposing Psychic types (except, ironically, opposing Meloetta), but Thunderbolt can kill Suicune before it has the chance to setup too many Calm Minds, whereas it would be free to do so if you didn't run Thunderbolt. Finally, U-Turn is a wonderful move to give Meloetta a chance to scout the opponent's move: if they switch in a Dark type, you can escape to a counter and deal with it immediately. This is obviously more helpful with entry hazards setup on their side of the field. Trick is, however, a good option for crippling defensive Pokemon that attempt to wall you.

Meloetta@ Leftovers Serene Grace Modest nature (+Sp. Attack, -Attack) EVs: 172 HP / 232 Sp. Attack / 104 Speed Substitute Calm Mind Psychic / Psyshock Hyper Voice / Thunderbolt / Focus Blast

A SubCM set for Meloetta allows it to boost while protecting itself from harmful status, and with enough boosts, even protecting itself from damage. As said, ??? is your main form of protection here that allows you to begin boosting with Calm Mind, bringing your already high Sp. Attack and Sp. Defense even higher. Your choice of Psychic and Psyshock is the same as the previous two sets. Finally, Hyper Voice is an option for your last move slot, providing an extra STAB with good coverage, but it leaves you open to Steel types. Thunderbolt provides good neutral coverage, and allows you to setup alongside CroCune and beat it. Finally, Focus Blast is an option for dealing with Steel and Dark types, but the low PP and shaky accuracy can be off-putting for a Pokemon who has spent the time to setup, only to miss, so consider this carefully.

Meloetta@ Life Orb Serene Grace Naive nature (+Speed, -Sp. Defense) EVs: 252 Speed / 200 Attack / 56 Attack Relic Song Close Combat Psychic / Hidden Power Ice Thunder / Thunderbolt

Here it is, Meloetta's signature form changing moveset, and the best set you'll get for OU. Relic Song changes Meloetta's form and also has a 10% chance to put the opponent to Sleep, which is boosted to 20%, courtesy of Serene Grace, which also does damage to the opponent. The key to this set is knowing when to switch between forms, and this should be done multiple times against most teams. One really good example is SkarmBliss cores, which are still popular to this day (that is, Skarmory and Blissey on the same team; Skarmory takes physical damage easily, while Blissey soaks up special attacks). Skarmory ferars the Thunder from Aria Meloetta greatly, but Blissey doesn't fear anything Aria Meloetta can do, and is a likely switch-in if they don't know you're a form-switching variant. Using Relic Song as Blissey switches in will force her right back out, as Pirouette Meloetta easily OHKOs any Blissey with Close Combat.

Onto the set itself, Close Combat is your main STAB for Pirouette Form, being launched from a very powerful base 128 Attack. Psychic is an option to give Aria form a powerful STAB attack, but it doesn't find too much Super Effective use in OU, other than Tentacruel and Toxicroak. Hidden Power Ice, however, allows Meloetta to slay Dragon types such as Dragonite after Stealth Rock damage, and Gliscor.

The last slot's main attack is Thunder. Rain is common in the OU tier, thanks to Drizzle Politoed, and having a 100% accurate Electric attack with a 30% Paralysis rate that is boosted to 60% with Serene Grace makes Meloetta absolutely dangerous to switch into. Using your own Drizzle Politoed is a good idea, but it's not mandatory. However, if the fear of the opponent using Tyranitar or Drought Ninetales worries you, you can use Thunderbolt, though there is a significant loss in power and ability to Paralyze (Thunderbolt has 10% boosted to 20%, a noticeable drop from 60%).

This Meloetta does require practice to get good with competitively, and keeping the opponent's team in mind is crucial to it's success. Entry hazards help it greatly because of the switches it forces, and again, Politoed may be a good idea. Keep practicing with it and you'll get the hang of it. Both forms are very powerful in very different ways, so learn to utilize their strengths.

Meloetta is available from an event that has just passed (though I think it's still going in the UK at the moment of this article's publishing?), and through no other current means can it be obtained, as is the case with most event legendary Pokemon. For an in-game moveset, I'd suggest using a mixed set, since that's Meloetta's claim to fame and is just generally fun to play with, however I'll list three sets to consider:

Meloetta Relic Song Psychic Close Combat Hyper Voice / Return / Shadow Ball

Here's a basic mixed set, focusing on both forms that allows you to swap between the two. Psychic is STAB for Aria, Close Combat for Pirouette. The last slot provides a secondary STAB, but Hyper Voice works with Aria form, while Return is for Pirouette form. Use whatever works best for you. Shadow Ball is another option to be able to damage Ghost types and to be able to hit Sableye and Spiritomb, who otherwise wall this set.

Meloetta Psychic Hyper Voice Focus Blast Shadow Ball

Here's a basic set for utilizing solely the Aria form, turning Meloetta into a dedicated special attacker. I guess Calm Mind really could be slashed in here over Hyper Voice, but for in-game, boosting isn't really necessary once you're high-leveled, and a secondary STAB is nice for things that resist Psychic.

Meloetta Relic Song Close Combat Return Shadow Claw

And finally, here's a set to use if you want Meloetta to be physically oriented, always switching to her Pirouette form. I have to say, as cool as it is that Pirouette Meloetta is the fastest Fighting type, having to waste a turn switching forms is what makes this set impractical. Nevertheless, after switching, she has Close Combat and Return to deal heavy damage to anything that isn't a Ghost type, and Shadow Claw fills that void, though it's a bit weak.

Whew... this was a lot to write. I'm a day or two late posting this because there was so much! Anyway, Meloetta is a really cool and interesting Pokemon if nothing else. Some may call it a gimmick, or a failed experiment, but I really like this Pokemon. She's a powerful special attacker that can tank special hits all day while singing a beautiful song, or she can break into a blindingly fast dance, knocking you out before you know what hit you, but either way, she is very cool, and I urge more people to give her a chance.

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