Pokémon Sword & Shield Surprise Trade Week 26: Popplio

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Meta375

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Published on July 5, 2020 9:00:06 PM ● Video Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jufSA2unWdY

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Pokémon Sword and Shield (2019)

Duration: 20:47

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Next Pokémon for Surprise Trade is not one in the updated Isle of Armor Pokédex, but a Pokémon that is not in any Pokédex and was only available through transfer from Pokémon HOME. The Pokémon I will be Surprise Trading is Popplio, the Water-type starter Pokémon from the Alola Region.
At least I will be trading away a starter Pokémon for this one, and as usual, I breed for at least 4-5 perfect IVs (Individual Values), and some Egg Moves, and these Popplio have a Modest Nature, as it is a Pokémon that prefers to use Special Attacks, and there are sets that use Bold or Quiet depending on the format.
For Egg Moves, Popplio can get Aqua Ring, Life Dew, and Perish Song, I will list which parents from the Field and Water 1 Egg Group that can get those moves.
Aqua Ring: Vaporeon, Marill, Azumarill, Corsola, Mantine, Milotic, Tympole, Palpitoad, Seismitoad, Dewpider, Araquanid
Life Dew: Lapras, Corsola, Milotic, Lucario
Perish Song: Lapras, Politoed, Cursola

While they are some decent Egg Moves, they can be good for passing down to other Pokémon in Popplio's Egg Group. For its Ability, some Popplio have Liquid Voice, and some have Torrent, I will explain more about them when going over competitive battling.
Then onto its level up moves, Popplio can get Water Gun and Disarming Voice early on, and it can learn Aqua Jet, Baby-Doll Eyes, Icy Wind, Sing, Bubble Beam, Hyper Voice, Moonblast, and Hydro Pump. It evolves into Brionne at Level 17, and into Primarina at Level 34, it will learn Sparkling Aria when evolved from Brionne, while it was Primarina's signature move in Gen 7, it can be bred onto Lapras in this game.
Then for its TM and TR movepool, for TMs, it can get Whirlpool, Brine, Weather Ball, Light Screen, Reflect, Charm, Draining Kiss, Acrobatics, and Wonder Room, and for TRs, it can get Surf, Ice Beam, Blizzard, Psychic, Energy Ball, Amnesia, Shadow Ball, Calm Mind, Scald, Dazzling Gleam, Stored Power, and a few other moves, so Primarina has all the moves to make it a good Special Attacker.
It can learn three Tutor moves, Flip Turn is a Water-type U-turn, but it is Physical, so I don't recommend using Primarina as a Physical Attacker, well other than Aqua Jet for priority, Misty Explosion is very powerful in Misty Terrain, but the user faints when using it, and Triple Axel is an Ice-type Triple Kick, but should never be used on Primarina, the only Pokémon that I can think of that has any reason to use Triple Axel is Cinccino.
Then for Primarina in the competitive scene, or online battles, it has a high Special Attack stat, and good Special Defense, but it is a bit on the slow side. While it has the same type as Azumarill, it is more of a Special Attacker, its main moves are Sparkling Aria and Moonblast, while Hydro Pump, Surf, and Scald are alternatives for a Water-type move, Psychic and Energy Ball are good choices for coverage options, and Calm Mind is there to boost its Special stats, or you can use Aqua Jet for finishing off weakened foes. Primarina is a good user of the Assault Vest, which can be good on defensive sets with Scald, Torrent is the preferred Ability for Single Battles.
In Double Battles, Primarina can use its Hidden Ability of Liquid Voice to its advantage, so Hyper Voice becomes a Water-type move, but when Dynamaxed, it will use Max Strike instead of Max Geyser, so having a Water-type move would be good to have, and out of all the moves, Hydro Cannon sees use in Double Battles on Primarina. It can use Blizzard when it has Hail support from Vanilluxe or Alolan Ninetales, or if its teammate uses Max Hailstorm, and Dazzling Gleam can be an alternative over Moonblast for targeting both opponents in a Double Battle. Primarina can be a decent Pokémon in Trick Room with a Quiet Nature, and with Hyper Voice, it is one of few Pokémon that can make use of the Throat Spray held item, so it can be good when it has Liquid Voice for its Ability.
I do remember the message boards back in the Sun & Moon days where players would reset for a female Popplio, or even go as far as to get rid of any male Popplio received just to get a female one, I hate those message boards, because this is discrimination towards Pokémon, and just because a Pokémon has a feminine appearance does not mean you should not use the males of that Pokémon.

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