Annihilape
Attack
Defense
Stamina
Best Movesets
Analysis
Pokemon is all about love and partnership with our Pokemon; growing and learning together while going on an adventure. It's the beautiful story of forging bonds, working together, and getting a wild and highly aggressive pig-ape so angry that it literally dies.When evolving, Primeape becomes Annihilape and gains one of the absolute best offensive dual-typing in the game; Fighting and Ghost. This is a typing that can hit everything in Pokemon Go for at least neutral damage, and has the same record in the main series minus a handful of Pokemon that use shenanigans to escape this horrible fate. However, perfect neutral STAB coverage doesn't really help much when you lack a move that reflects one of your two types, and it also falls behind given the fact that Annihilape doesn't have a great Attack stat, and also doesn't have a single good move to its name minus Counter. Honestly, at this point Annihilape's only hope for the future is that it gets a Ghost Type Fast Move, like Shadow Claw (which it can learn in the main series). That scenario aside, it's probably best to let Annihilape rest in peace... angry, angry peace.
Offense
- Counter and Close Combat is easily the best moveset that Shadow Annihilape can use on offense.
- Shadow Ball is a great move, but Shadow Annihilape has no Fast Move to capitalize on it.
- Rage Fist is identical to Shadow Ball in raids.
- Low Kick, Low Sweep, Night Slash and Ice Punch are all pretty bad for Shadow Annihilape.... and objectively mediocre at best.
Defense
- Counter is outright better than Low Kick once again.
- Close Combat takes far too long to use and makes Shadow Annihilape easy to wall by anything that resists Fighting Type moves.
- Low Sweep comes out frequently, but it's another move that can leave Shadow Annihilape easy to wall.
- Night Slash has counter-coverage some of against Shadow Annihilape's counters and comes out frequently, making it a prime choice for defense.
- Ice Punch has a chance to fire once against Rayquaza and Mega Rayquaza, hardly even view Shadow Annihilape as a speed-bump. It's also got good coverage against a number of common gym-cleaners.
- Shadow Ball and Rage Fist are fairly easy to dodge, but they also boast perfect neutral coverage alongside Counter, making them very much worth considering.
Counter remains a solid Fast Move in Pokemon Go PvP, hitting hard and generating decent energy.
Rage Fist, Annihilape's Community Day move, is one of the best Charged Attacks in the game. It provides nearly unresisted damage when combined with Counter, and its low cost, decent DPE, and attack boosts make Annihilape a frightening sweeper. Close Combat is generally preferred for raw power, as Rage Fist already provides coverage. Ice Punch can be used to cover for certain threats. Shadow Ball is an option to provide even more deadly Ghost-type coverage, but Rage Fist + Shadow Ball does make Annihilape entirely reliant on Counter to get past Normal- and Dark-type Pokemon. Night Slash is a good move, but is outclassed entirely by Rage Fist.
Despite being fairly glassy, Annihilape has a tremendous offensive presence backed up by a STAB combo that no Pokemon in the game can resist. It hits hard, hits often, and can beat down most opponents in short order.
When Counter was nerfed at the beginning of Pokemon GO: Max Out, Annihilape fell from being a top meta Pokemon to being barely used at all. However, its Community Day move, Rage Fist, soon returned it into the spotlight, allowing it to terrorize Great League like it once did. It does have some competition with its pre-evolution, Primeape, as Primeape has access to Karate Chop and also has access to Rage Fist. However, Annihilape's slightly higher bulk, STAB on Rage Fist, and natural ability to counter all other Fighting-type Pokemon all set it apart.
