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Pokémon Sword and Shield (2019)

Duration: 21:05

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Here is our next Surprise Trade, and it will be Sandygast, a Ghost/Ground-type Pokémon introduced in Gen 7 which is a heap of sand with a shovel on its head. That is a really nice concept of a Pokémon that is from the Alola region, as the region is a bunch of islands, and Sandygast being a Pokémon that you would find on a beach in Alola is a good concept for a Pokémon.
Like I usually do every Surprise Trade, I breed for 31 IVs in at least 4 or 5 stats, and I went with Quiet for the Nature with Sandygast, as it has good Defense and Special Attack, but it is very slow. I gave it some Egg Moves, and the ones I chose are Ancient Power, Curse, Destiny Bond, and Stockpile, I didn't bother with Swallow and Spit Up, because you are never going to be using those moves for online battles, I will list which parents in the Amorphous Egg Group that can learn those moves.
Ancient Power: Shellos, Gastrodon
Curse: Gastly, Haunter, Gengar, Duskull, Dusclops, Spiritomb, Dusknoir, Yamask, G-Yamask, Cofagrigus, Litwick, Lampent, Chandelure, Phantump, Trevenant, Runerigus, Pincurchin
Destiny Bond: Gastly, Haunter, Gengar, Koffing, Weezing, G-Weezing, Wobbuffet, Drifloon, Drifblim, Yamask, G-Yamask, Cofagrigus, Frillish, Jellicent, Phantump, Trevenant, Runerigus
Spit Up: Drifloon, Drifblim
Stockpile: Drifloon, Drifblim
Swallow: Drifloon, Drifblim

I can see how good these moves can be for breeding, Curse and Destiny Bond seem to be common moves for Pokémon in Sandygast's Egg Group, and Stockpile is a nice move to have. While Sandygast can be a decent Pokémon to use, it isn't until Level 42 that it will evolve into Palossand, and I didn't go with the Hidden Ability, because Water Compaction is better than the Hidden Ability of Sand Veil.
Going over Sandygast's level up moves, it can get Absorb, Harden, Astonish, Sand Tomb, Mega Drain, Sand Attack, Bulldoze, Hypnosis, Giga Drain, Iron Defense, Shadow Ball, Earth Power, Shore Up, and Sandstorm. Shore Up is the signature move of Sandygast and its evolved form, it is a recovery move that heals even more when Sandstorm is active.
The next thing is its TM and TR moves, I will mainly go over Palossand's moves, because there might be some it cannot learn as a Sandygast. For TMs, it can learn Rock Slide, Mud Shot, Brine, Rock Tomb, and a few others, that is not that many moves through TMs, but for TRs, it can learn Earthquake, Psychic, Amnesia, Sludge Bomb, Trick, Skill Swap, Energy Ball, Stone Edge, and Stealth Rock, and it can get Poltergeist, Terrain Pulse, and Scorching Sands for Tutor moves.
Palossand can be a tricky Pokémon to use in online battles, but it is a decent user of the Weakness Policy, which pairs up well with Water Compaction, giving it not only a boost to Attack and Special Attack, but also a boost to its Defense. Palossand is tough to use in Single Battles, but it is much better in Double Battles, you can have Accelgor for its teammate use Water Shuriken to get some Defense boosts on Palossand through Water Compaction, and it can also activate the Weakness Policy. It can be a good user of Terrain Pulse if you pair it up with Rillaboom and Indeedee, its main moves will be Earth Power and Shadow Ball, and Shore Up can be good for a healing move.
Alternatively, you can give an Absorb Bulb to Palossand so that its Special Attack will be boosted if hit by a Water-type move, or a Luminous Moss to boost its Special Defense, also when hit by a Water-type move. With its low Speed, it can work well in Trick Room if partnered up with a Pokémon that can set up the move, like Hatterene or Porygon2.
With the right amount of set-up, Palossand can be a very good Pokémon if you can put it to good use in a Double Battle, but it is harder to utilize in Single Battles as there are better Pokémon out there. There are some Pokémon that aren't too good in Single Battles, but they are great in Double Battles, and Palossand is one of those Pokémon if it has the right teammates, like Accelgor for setting up the Weakness Policy and Water Compaction, or a Pokémon with Trick Room so that it can get in some attacks off.
While I do like the concept of Sandygast and its evolved form Palossand, I know there are people out there that hate Pokémon based on inanimate objects, Gen 5 is a big example with Trubbish and Vanillite, and even go as far to say that Gen 1 had better designs, even though Gen 1 also had Pokémon based on inanimate objects, like Grimer, Koffing, Magnemite, and a few others, but aside from that, Palossand is a really interesting Pokémon, it has a unique Ability that makes it really good, and while it is better in Double Battles, it can be very useful if you have to right teammates and put them to good use.

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