Competitive Pokemon History - Gardevoir Quiz

Answer: 68 and 65

This deficiency was very problematic in a predominantly physically offensive standard play metagame, especially when Gardevoir usually had to take a hit first due to its middling Speed stat.

Answer: Trace

Trace automatically copies the opposing Pokemon's ability once the user reaches the field. If Gardevoir switched in on a Claydol with the Levitate ability as it used Earthquake, Gardevoir would use Claydol's ability to be immune to its own attack. Likewise, Gardevoir could counter-trap Magneton and sometimes Dugtrio by copying their abilities, preventing them from switching, and then beating them one-on-one.

Answer: No

Nothing could counter Gardevoir reliably because its movepool was humongous, packed with options which could theoretically take out or heavily cripple anything that tried to perform this deed. Fire Punch and Will-O-Wisp kept Metagross at bay, the latter also did the same to Tyranitar. Blissey could take hits from Gardevoir, but it struggled to do much in return, especially against Gardevoir's less common defensive sets.

In general, Gardevoir had access to a particular move, or was simply strong enough, to thwart attempts to outright counter it. However, due to its poor physical Defense and iffy Speed, it was quite easy to check.

Answer: Heal Bell

In no particular order, apart from just attacking or boosting with Calm Mind, Gardevoir also had access to Memento, Wish/Protect, Healing Wish, Reflect, Light Screen, it could Trick away a Choiced item and cripple potential defensive answers, Taunt, Will-O-Wisp, Encore, and more.

It was the ultimate mixed bag for an offensive utility Pokemon, and it had more than enough unique options to secure a niche on teams.

Answer: NeverUsed

Gardevoir, previously on UU's Banned List in its debut generation, would actually fall quite a bit to NU in the fourth generation. Its great movepool and sizable Special Attack sadly cannot make up for its poor physical bulk and low Speed for an offensive Pokemon. Thus, it was not viable for standard play, but it had such a gigantic movepool and was not passive to the point where a bid for viability in UU was certainly successful.

There, Gardevoir faced competition from Alakazam, who was stronger and faster, and Uxie, who also had a wide movepool and was a lot bulkier. Gardevoir was a middle ground option between the two; a jack of all trades, master of none dynamic.

This would explain why it didn't get enough usage to be natively UU, though it was at least undoubtedly viable for the tier.

Answer: Telepathy

Telepathy prevents the user from being hit by its teammates' attacks, such as Earthquake or Discharge. Of course, this only had any sort of use in doubles, where Gardevoir was thoroughly mediocre. In singles, the ability did literally nothing, causing Trace and even Synchronize to far outclass it.

Answer: Mandibuzz

Shiftry and Cacturne can easily defeat Gardevoir, but they cannot switch in lest they risk taking a 4x effective Signal Beam and getting wiped from existence by it. Drapion can take any couple of hits from Gardevoir, but it would be heavily neutered by a Will-O-Wisp, and also runs the risk of getting taken out by Destiny Bond if it tries and muscles through Gardevoir, to avoid getting burned.

Meanwhile, Mandibuzz has reliable recovery in Roost, isn't too hindered by Will-O-Wisp, and is a defensive Pokemon who frequently ran Toxic, meaning it could bypass Destiny Bond. Gardevoir could only try to hit it if running Thunderbolt. However, Thunderbolt failed to even 3HKO unless it was a gimmicky Choice Specs Gardevoir, and doing this would dramatically ruin its performance against the rest of the tier. Standard Gardevoir had to have Psychic and Signal Beam, the former for general performance against the meta, and the latter to hit Dark types with. Will-O-Wisp was also heavily recommended. Destiny Bond was also incredibly useful, and none of the four moves were a good idea to run without. The fact that even a Thunderbolt Gardevoir doesn't seriously threaten Mandibuzz made it into a definite counter.

Answer: Fairy

The added Fairy typing bolstered Gardevoir's viability considerably. Offensively, it could now destroy Dark types which had plagued it since its inception. It could also offensively check Dragon types and have a much easier time against Fighting types. Defensively, it now was immune to Dragon, had a 4x resistance to Fighting and was no longer weak to Bug or Dark.

This did come at the expense of becoming weak to Steel and Poison, but those are pretty terrible offensive typings anyway, and Gardevoir could still deal with the latter with its old Psychic type moves anyway, with the former could still be beaten down with Focus Blast.

Answer: Pixilate

Pixilate converts Normal type moves into Fairy type moves, and grants them a 30% damage boost on top of the STAB buff. Mega Gardevoir's access to Hyper Voice let it thoroughly abuse this ability, alongside Fairy's great coverage. It could finally put the rest of its wide movepool to use on the standard play scene as well.

It wasn't top tier, as its Speed and poor physical bulk were still problematic. It also faced competition from various other Mega evolutions, Mega Scizor and Mega Metagross to name a couple. However, it was a fearful wallbreaker with plenty of offensive utility that finally ascended to legitimate viability in standard play.

Answer: Tapu Lele

Tapu Lele and Mega Gardevoir shared the same typing. Tapu Lele's Psychic Terrain allowed it to be a lot stronger than Mega Gardevoir, enabling it to passively support its team as well. It also was free to use any item it wanted, namely Choice Specs to amplify its power advantages, while Mega Gardevoir was confined to its Mega stone. Most importantly, Tapu Lele did not take up a team's Mega slot, meaning one could run it in tandem with a myriad of other popular Megas, such as Mega Scizor or Mega Alakazam.

This ultimately caused Mega Gardevoir to be left in the dust, and it was subsequently no longer viable in standard play.