Pelipper
Attack
Defense
Stamina
Best Movesets
Analysis
Pelipper has an unfavorable stat spread and typing, making it unoptimal for most uses. Pelipper’s unique ability in the main series games is to make it rain, which it cannot do in GO (but would've been super cool).
Offense
- Water Gun is best paired with Weather Ball Water for maximizing STAB damage against types weak to Water.
- Wing Attack and Hurricane are best paired for STAB damage against types weak to Flying.
- Hydro Pump is a step down due to its less consistent performance as a 1-bar move.
- Blizzard is the worst of Pelipper’s three 1-bar charge moves due to lack of STAB.
Defense
- Wing Attack does slightly more damage than Water Gun.
- Weather Ball Water is the best charge move for defense due to its frequent use as a 3-bar move.
- Hydro Pump is powerful and hard to dodge, but Pelipper might faint before being able to use it.
- Blizzard has good coverage but is easier to dodge compared to Hurricane.
Wing Attack provides Flying-type coverage and is generally preferred over Water Gun due to its superior energy generation, though the latter offers stronger damage output and Water-type coverage.
Weather Ball is Pelipper's primary charge move due to its low energy cost and its efficient Damage Per Energy (DPE). Hurricane is generally chosen for its lesser energy cost compared to Blizzard, but the latter can be elected for its wide coverage.
Pelipper is a Water/Flying Pokemon that shares similarities with Mantine, being the less bulky of the two but offering superior Water-type coverage thanks to Weather Ball. A moveset consisting of Wing Attack and Weather Ball is the most popular in the meta, and allows more consistent Flying and Water-type coverage than what Mantine can provide. Access to the slower Hurricane or Blizzard instead of Mantine's Ice Beam results in cumbersome secondary coverage, and consequently Pelipper struggles against Pokemon like Altaria and Meganium that Mantine handles more comfortably. Overall a solid pick that counters certain popular meta teams, but tends to underperform notably against tanks. The omnipresence of Lanturn is Pelipper's greatest worry, as it resists everything Pelipper can throw at it and can easily farm down with Spark.
