Competitive Pokemon History - The Porygon Trio Quiz

Answer: Sharpen

Sharpen is a poor boosting move that simply raises the user's Attack by one stage upon use. Porygon's stats were all bad. Combined with the need to boost numerous times to sweep, Porygon sweeps were quite clearly very, very rare. With their more immediate power, far greater Speed or vastly superior bulk, Tauros, Snorlax and Chansey outclassed Porygon just about completely in whatever it tried to do.

Answer: Reliable, instant recovery

Access to Recover is notable, as Snorlax is often forced to expend two moveslots on Rest and Sleep Talk. This enables Porygon2 to always have room for a second coverage move in tandem with Return or Double Edge. Good options included Thunderbolt to smack Skarmory, Suicune and Cloyster with, Ice Beam to beat up Dragonite, Psychic to maim Gengar, Machamp and Heracross, or some form of Hidden Power if auxiliary coverage was desired for any specific threat.

While this set was still rather outclassed by Snorlax, the advantage to running it was freeing an allied Snorlax up to run a different non-Curse set, usually a Belly Drum sweeping variant.

Answer: Trace

Trace instantly copies the opposing Pokémon's ability when the user hits the field. This ability had utility, enabling Porygon2 to equip Ice Beam, switch into Dugtrio and counter-trap it. It could do similarly with Hidden Power Fire to Magneton. It could also be a status absorber to some extent, switching in to Blissey's Toxic, copying its Natural Cure ability, and then switching back out to remove the status. Of course, copying a Claydol's Levitate and then becoming immune to its Earthquakes could be rather funny as well. Additionally, copying Salamence's Intimidate, lowering its Attack, and threatening an OHKO with Ice Beam made Porygon2 a great Salamence answer, which was great for any team to have.

As such, it became quite decent, coming into its own uncontested tandard play niche, thanks to its newlyfound ability.

Answer: Porygon2 has higher defenses, Porygon-Z has higher offenses

Porygon-Z's monstrous Base 135 Special Attack is the same value as that of Darkrai's, to offer some perspective. It also gained access to Nasty Plot and a nice boost to Speed, going from Porygon2's Base 60 to a much more respectable Base 90. Unfortunately, Porygon-Z's bulk was inflicted by malware, boasting the same HP stat as Porygon2 but dropping twenty points in physical Defense and twenty-five in Special Defense. Thus, a player who preferred a much more stable, reliable hard drive might still prefer Porygon2. On the other hand, players with busy hands, brains and a need to browse the internet and access certain documents quickly would definitely be better suited with the newer model.

Answer: Gives Porygon-Z +1 to either Attack or Special Attack

This takes place immediately as Porygon-Z hits the field. If the target's physical Defense is lower than their Special Defense, Porygon-Z receives a boost to its Attack, and vice versa. The ability was inconsistent, as Porygon-Z could only make particular use of Special Attack boosts.

This is an embodiment of being diligent with information you find on the internet - you can't believe everything you read, after all, and your sources won't always be reliable and reputable.

Answer: Adaptability

Adaptability gives Porygon-Z an immediate +1 to all Normal type attacks it uses. Unlike Download, Adaptability does nothing for Porygon-Z's coverage moves. However, Download also can give Porygon-Z a meaningless boost to its Attack, rendering the ability useless. Adaptability gives Porygon-Z a reliable boost, and one it can put to use with its immensely strong Tri Attacks. Where Download can sometimes be clickbait articles and fake outrage videos that trick the user into wasting their time, Adaptability represents the good ol' to-the-point news that one might experience from a source such as the New York Times or Washington Post.

It's less exciting, but you know what you're getting and you will never be led astray.

Answer: Poor stats except for Special Attack

That Special Attack stat is quite high, but the rest of Porygon-Z's stats could use a patch or perhaps a hard drive replacement of some kind. Its bulk was quite low, with 85 Base HP and 70/70 in its defenses, not unlike that of Lucario. Like Lucario, Porygon-Z's Speed left something to be desired at a Base 90, meaning Porygon-Z could be revenge killed rather easily.

However, unlike Lucario, Porygon-Z is a Normal type, lacking in relevant resistances. Because of this, anything faster than Porygon-Z and having some degree of offensive firepower, or anything with a priority move, can probably check it rather easily in standard play.

Answer: Trick Room

Porygon2's significantly lower Speed compared to Porygon-Z made it far more adept at handling Trick Room's speed inversion mechanic. From there, it could make use of its respectable Base 105 Special Attack to punch holes in the sixth generation UU meta.

Answer: Boosts all stats by one stage

In theory, this set would've made Porygon-Z deadly in standard play. While it actually did serve to make it too powerful to remain in UnderUsed, this set was thoroughly mediocre in seventh generation standard play. It was checked by way too much of the meta, despite Porygon-Z's massive Special Attack stat getting a boost, and it could only be used one time due to the Z-crystal being consumed, so it lacked any sort of mid-game presence as well. The lack of priority meant Porygon-Z could still be revenge killed by priority moves. The fact that Tapu Lele's existence meant Choice Scarfers who outsped Porygon-Z even after a boost became common also didn't help matters.

Porygon2 fortunately made for a potent user of this setup in UU, however.

Answer: No

Porygon had its eyes set for Little Cup, and was clearly not making any sort of impact alongside fully evolved Pokémon. Porygon2 fell down to RarelyUsed, its defensive capabilities outclassed by Chansey and Snorlax in standard play, Blissey in UnderUsed, and its offensive talents not making any sort of impact in either of those tiers. Porygon-Z's age-old problems followed it to the eighth generation. Thankfully, the lack of Z-moves meant Porygon-Z was no longer problematic for UU play, where it settled in and became a respectably good Pokémon once again.