Pokémon Sword & Shield Surprise Trade Week 39: Staryu
4Before starting the Surprise Trades, I show that a new Mystery Gift code is now live, and it is for the Hoenn Cap Pikachu, it will be live until November 30th.
Then for the Surprise Trades, and I will be trading Staryu for this week. While Staryu's evolved form Starmie has been a top tier Pokémon throughout the games, it has fallen in use because of better Water-type Pokémon being added and used more in competitive battling.
As usual, I breed for 31 IVs in at least 4 or 5 stats, or in rare cases, 6 stats, as I do have a Starmie with 31 IVs in all 6 stats and a foreign Shiny Ditto that also has 31 IVs in all 6 stats, which I couldn't bring myself to get rid of it, even if it might seem hacked, a flawless Ditto is the most valuable Pokémon ever, this makes breeding for competitive Pokémon easier, so I don't want to get rid of it completely.
I didn't bother with the Hidden Ability, because Analytic boosts the power of moves by 30% if the user is last to attack, and as Staryu and its evolved form Starmie have a high Speed stat, Analytic is a terrible Ability for it, and Starmie doesn't even have that good for Abilities, it has Natural Cure and Illuminate, Natural Cure is the best it can go with, the only Pokémon that ever benefits from Analytic is Beheeyem, and that doesn't see much use in the competitive scene.
These Staryu have a Timid Nature, as it is the best for it, Modest is decent enough, but Timid is the best you can go. Staryu is a Genderless Pokémon, so it can't get any Egg Moves, there was data in Gold & Silver where Staryu had Egg Moves, like Aurora Beam, Barrier, and Supersonic, but it is unable to learn them, because it can only breed with a Ditto.
For level up moves, you can just evolve Staryu into Starmie with the use of a Water Stone and it can learn about every level up move it would learn as a Staryu, I like that change in Sword & Shield, because in previous games, if you evolved a Pokémon sooner, it would miss out on a lot of moves. It can get Water Gun, Confuse Ray, Rapid Spin, Minimize, Swift, Psybeam, Brine, Light Screen, Power Gem, Psychic, Surf, Recover, Cosmic Power, and Hydro Pump.
Then for TMs and TRs, it can get Thunder Wave, Reflect, Icy Wind, Rain Dance, Trick Room, Wonder Room, and a few others, and for TRs, it can get Surf, Ice Beam, Blizzard, Thunderbolt, Thunder, Agility, Tri Attack, Psyshock, Trick, Flash Cannon, Grass Knot, Dazzling Gleam, Scald, and a few other moves. It does get some nice Tutor moves, like Expanding Force, Flip Turn, and Meteor Beam.
Then for online battles, Starmie has been in the OU tier in Gen 1 and has remained in that tier until Gen 7, it is outclassed by better Water-types like Wash Rotom and Greninja, and in this game, it is outclassed by Inteleon as a fast Water-type Special Attacker. Starmie isn't that bad of a Pokémon, it has some moves that make it stand out, it has access to Rapid Spin to remove entry hazards, and Recover is a nice move on defensive Starmie sets that use Cosmic Power.
Starmie is more preferred as a Special Attacker, and it can use the new Meteor Beam to boost its Special Attack, and with a Power Herb, Starmie can fire Meteor Beam right away without the need to charge, and it has a wide Special movepool, it can use Hydro Pump, Psychic, Thunderbolt, Ice Beam, Dazzling Gleam, and Flash Cannon for some nice moves. Alternatively, it can use Expanding Force after setting up Psychic Terrain through Max Mindstorm when Dynamaxed, and the rain from Max Geyser will make its Water-type moves more devastating.
Starmie doesn't see as much use in Double Battles compared to Single Battles, but it can utilize many different moves, like Expanding Force in Psychic Terrain, and it can use Scald or Hydro Pump for its main Water-type move, and in Hail teams, Starmie can use Blizzard for a powerful Ice-type move. It can use some good status moves like Light Screen and Reflect to support its team, and Ally Switch to swap places with its teammate. There are better Water-type options in Double Battles, like Primarina, Lapras, Gastrodon, Inteleon, and a few other Pokémon, and for Psychic-type Pokémon, Hatterene, Gothitelle, and Alakazam are good options in Double Battles.
While I do like Starmie as a Pokémon, it has stood out throughout the generations of Pokémon as a fast Water-type with good Special Attack and access to a wide variety of moves, while it isn't much as of now, the addition of Meteor Beam has made Starmie a noteworthy user of that move.
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