Hello and welcome, once again, to Pokémon of the Week. This week I am focusing on a fan favorite since it was introduced, which also happens to be my best friend's favorite Pokémon. This week, we will take a look at Absol.

Absol was first introduced in Pokémon Ruby and Pokémon Sapphire. Absol is a pure Dark type, but learns a wide variety of different types of moves. Absol is known as the Disaster Pokémon, but as I'll cover later, this isn't entirely accurate. Absol has amazing Attack, where it's other stats are middling, but it is a very powerful and very dangerous threat in the NU tier.

As previously stated, Absol is at home in the NU tier, and here it is such a threat that building a team without an Absol check or counter is an almost guaranteed loss, should the opponent be using it. Absol's amazing base 130 Attack, backed by a STAB Sucker Punch poses a threat to a vast majority of the tier, and after a single Swords Dance, Absol is a nightmare to be up against.

Absol@ Life Orb Super Luck Adamant nature (+Attack, -Sp. Attack / Jolly nature (+Speed, -Sp. Attack) EVs: 252 Speed / 252 Attack / 4 HP Swords Dance Sucker Punch Superpower Night Slash / Psycho Cut

This is Absol's most effective and most terrifying moveset, and for a good reason. After a single Swords Dance, Absol is ready to sweep with a massive 788 or 718 Attack (Adamant or Jolly, respectively). Sucker Punch is Absol's most powerful move. The way this works is if an opponent uses an attack that deals damage in the same turn, this attack is successful. If they're not, this attack does nothing. This attack also has priority so it will go first, unless the opponent is faster and using a priority move, or they're using a move with higher priority than Sucker Punch, such as Extremespeed (which has a priority of 2, while Sucker Punch has a priority of 1). This means that using Absol requires a lot of prediction to be successful, and it can backfire on you if the opponent predicts the Sucker Punch, and sets up a Substitute. Superpower allows Absol to power through Steel and Dark types that resist Dark, and it allows Absol to dent Regirock as it switches in.

In the last slot, Night Slash is a good secondary STAB. There are many reasons for this. First, it isn't reliant on predicting whether or not the foe will attack you, making it a safer play than Sucker Punch. Secondly, it will hit a Pokemon that is switching in, thinking they'll switch in safely on a Sucker Punch. Third, it can finish off a weakened Pokemon that is attempting to heal with a move such as Recover or Wish. Psycho Cut, however, allows Absol to hit Sawk on the switch, and this is important. Sawk doesn't fear Absol very much, because it resists Dark, has Sturdy to avoid OHKOs, and is usually equipped with a Choice Scarf to outspeed and OHKO Absol with Close Combat. Psycho Cut also allows Absol to do significant damage to Amoonguss, who will be 2HKOd by Psycho Cut after a Swords Dance. Both are good options, and I would advise you consider your entire team before deciding. The choice of nature is also something to consider. Adamant is great for the extra power, especially considering Sucker Punch's priority, however it makes Absol's other moves slower. The biggest boon to Jolly nature is that you'll outspeed all Adamant Absol, and OHKO them with Superpower. At worst, you'll tie Speed with other Jolly Absol, giving you a fighting chance to beat them. This comes at a pretty noticable lack of power, however, even after Swords Dance. Entry hazards will help with this, and are recommended regardless of which nature you use.

Absol@ Life Orb Super Luck Adamant nature (+Attack, -Sp. Attack) / Jolly nature (+Speed, -Sp. Attack) EVs: 252 Speed / 252 Attack / 4 HP Sucker Punch Superpower Night Slash Pursuit

Absol can forego dancing to serve as the king of NU's mind games. This comes in the form of STAB Pursuit, severely limiting your opponent's options. Bring Absol in on something that fears it, and Pursuit on the switch. Once the opponent knows you're using this kind of Absol, the mind games begin. If they attack, they could be Sucker Punched. If they switch, they could be Pursuited. If they stay in and setup, they could be Night Slashed for heavy damage, as well as factoring in the 25% chance of Critical Hit on Night Slash, due to the high crit rate plus Super Luck. Superpower makes a return to smash Steel types like Probopass and Bastiodon.

Because of the limited coverage on this set, and the mind games this set presents, Toxic Spikes support is greatly appreciated. Stealth Rock and Spikes layers help greatly as well, but Toxic Spikes will force the opponent into attacking before they die, which makes prediction easier, allowing you to launch your heaviest attack with little risk as the opponent's health quickly dwindles. Again, Adamant nature gives your Attack a huge punch, which is especially important on a set that lacks the power given by Swords Dance, but Jolly is still an option for more Speed. Because this set lacks a way to get around Sawk, a Pokemon like Amoonguss or Musharna is recommended to deal with Sawk.

Acquiring an Absol in BW is the easiest Pokemon to obtain in any of the Pokemon of the Week articles so far. Absol can be found and captured on Route 13 and in Giant Chasm. The lowest level they can be found at is 48, with the highest level being 60. I recommend getting one at level 48 or 50, so that it will still know Sucker Punch without you needing to re-teach it via Heart Scale. Absol can also be found in the Rugged Mountain area of the Dream World at level 10. A good in-game moveset for Absol without breeding or BW2 tutors would be:

Absol Sucker Punch Night Slash Psycho Cut Fire Blast / X-Scissor / Superpower

Look pretty familiar? Yeah, Absol can do pretty much everything it does competitively, right in your own game. Sucker Punch is Absol's strongest STAB, and in-game Trainers rarely do anything but straight attack. Night Slash is a bit more reliable for a little less power, and once you've trained Absol a bit, it will be your main move. Psycho Cut provides coverage against Fighting types. In the last slot, Fire Blast does decent damage vs. Steel types, but runs off of Absol's low Sp. Attack stat. X-Scissor damages Dark types, something none of Absol's previous moves can do well, but still leaves Absol helpless against Steel types. Superpower is actually the best of the three recommended moves, and is only last because the only way to get it in the current generation (without transferring an Absol from gen IV) is through a Dream World. If you get an Absol from Dream World, keep Superpower, as it is by far the best coverage move Absol has access to, beating both Steel and Dark types.

Absol is one of the most popular Pokémon among fans, and for very good reason. Absol has a look of majesty as well as one of mystery. It has the sexy blade on its neck to make you aware that, while it is very pretty, it is not a creature to be challenged. Another thing worth noting is that Absol learns a vast majority of moves. In fact, only counting moves that do damage, and excluding Hidden Power, Absol learns 14 out of 17 of the types of moves, lacking only a Grass, Poison, and Dragon type attack. The fact that Absol is usually difficult to find adds to the enigmatic nature of this Pokémon. When you finally do capture one, the Pokedex will reveal to you why these are so rare:

"It appears when it senses an impending natural disaster. As a result, it was mistaken as a doom-bringer." (FireRed/LeafGreen Pokedex)

Absol is a victim of circumstance, as well as being too kind. People mistook it's warnings as it causing the disasters, and so it was targeted and fled. Truly a tragic story. Know what else is a tragic story? When ALEX KILLED DISASTER. I will never forgive him, and neither will Shroomish.

There are myths and legends throughout the world of animals appearing as omens of bad luck - perhaps two of the most significant, or at least relevant to Absol, are the Japanese myth of the kutabe and the English myth of the Barguest.

Sources differ on their descriptions of the kutabe, but a few things are relatively consistent: a white, furry body resembling either a mountain lion or a mountain sheep; multiple eyes and (usually black) horns along its body; a black, human-like face; and near-human intelligence. Note that the spot on Absol's head strongly resembles an eye, with the added resemblance of the whole head to the yin-yang symbol. The story goes that this creature appeared in the Toyama mountains and warned the townsfolk that a fatal disease would soon plague the town. The only way to bypass the disease was with the kutabe's own image.

The other story is that of the Barguest, aka Black Shuck, Gytrash, the Grim, Padfoot, or most famously the Hound of the Baskervilles (a couple of these names will be also familiar to readers of the Harry Potter series - yep, they're the same myth). Pretty much every region of the country has their own name and version of the story, but I am a Yorkshire girl and so I will refer to it in my mother tongue and call it the Barguest. In every version of the myth, the Barguest is a monstrous black dog that appears out on the moors at night. While there are a few versions in which it is benevolent, it is usually considered an omen of bad luck. Naturally, the obvious problem with this theory is that Absol is white, not black, I do think it's interesting to consider the duality theme Absol has going on with the yin-yang symbolism, and how it can be considered a bad omen or a good warning. It might also explain why Absol has enormous claws, when the kutabe is primarily described as having cloven hooves. I think the idea of Absol being pure Barguest is highly unlikely, but its influence would not surprise me.

It's also worth noting that Absol's black horns are probably visual allusions to the Grim Reaper's scythe.

Finally, Pokémon that are based on myths or unusual animals often have a couple of moves that strongly reference that myth - in Absol's case, two such examples are Future Sight (it foresees disasters) and Perish Song (putting a timer on people's lives / mourning those lost in the disasters). Absol's Hidden Ability is also Justified, referring to how it is unjustly considered the cause of the disasters - according to its Dex entries, "it became a target" because "it was mistaken as a doom-bringer."

Article written by Richard and Blaziken

Unearthed by Dragonpika

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