Shadow Zebstrika
Attack
Defense
Stamina
Best Movesets
Analysis
Shadow Zebstrika just doesn't have the raw power needed to excel. It's a great looking Pokemon, especially with the Shadow aura and red eyes, but it's just not worth the cost.
Offense
- Spark benefits from STAB and is the superior fast move.
- Low Kick doesn't have much use.
- Wild Charge is the best Electric-type charge move, and also gets STAB.
- Discharge isn't too far behind, and it being a 3-bar move makes it more accessible.
- Flame Charge is a bad move in general, TM this.
Defense
- Spark and Low Kick are both poor moves for defense, but the former gets STAB which makes it the better choice.
- Discharge is the best charge move for defense due to it being a 3-bar move, and can be spammed frequently.
- Wild Charge hits harder, but being a 2-bar move means it's used less often.
- Flame Charge is horrible for defense.
Spark is the preferred fast move due to its higher energy gains and benefiting from STAB. Low Kick is a very poor move for PvP.
Discharge costs the least amount of energy among Zebstrika's charge moves, which makes it more accessible. Wild Charge only costs 5 more energy, but deals significantly more damage if unshielded. Flame Charge isn't a great move in PvP due to its poor damage for its energy cost (1.4 DPE), but does offer some niche coverage which could be useful in certain formats.
Zebstrika looks like it's ready to shock the PvP scene with its stripes shaped like thunderbolts, but unfortunately there's not much that's shocking about it. A relatively high ATK stat results in poor bulk, and its moveset isn't anything special from some Pokemon that we already have. That doesn't mean Zebstrika can't fulfill an Electric-type role, it's just that there's plenty of better options out there. Access to a Fire-type coverage move may give it some very niche uses in certain PvP formats, but this most likely won't be meta-defining in any significant way.
