Last time we looked at the Gloopy Dragon, Goodra, and now we now turn our eyes to…food? More specifically, one of the new Fairy-type Pokémon introduced in this new generation, the Meringue Pokémon, Slurpuff. But what, I hear you say, will this strange looking fairy be able to do in battling?

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Slurpuff

When Swirlix was first announced the Pokémon fans didn’t quite know how to take it. On face value the new fairy Pokémon wasn’t that bad looking, despite the over use of pink in its design, but everyone cited other food Pokémon (such as the Vanillite evolution line) as a reasoning as to why Swirlix would be terrible. This opinion grew after its initial ability (Sweet Veil) and evolution method were revealed. Of course it can only evolve only if you trade it holding a Whipped Dream, what else could it have been?

The question remains then, why are we even discussing the Meringue Pokémon? Well regardless of popular opinion, Slurpuff can actually function well in specific teams and can hold its own in battles if you know how to use it right. It can even beat almost any Pokémon one-on-one if you train it right, but let’s not get ahead of ourselves just yet and check out the best viable sets to use with this sweet Pokémon.

Calpol Cleric

Item: Leftovers

Ability: Sweet Veil

EVs: 252 HP / 252 Sp,Atk / 4 Sp.Def

Modest Nature

– Draining Kiss / Dazzling Gleam

– Wish

– Aromatherapy / Toxic / Protect

– Flamethrower / Psychic

Slurpuff can actually function as a cleric due to its decent move pool. Using Draining Kiss to heal itself and dish out some damage in combination with Wish means that this Pokémon will be around for a while and in top condition. If you want to hit harder then you can use Dazzling Gleam but don’t expect to live as long. Aromatherapy can be used if you want to go full cleric but Toxic is good for dealing more damage over time. Protect is better in combination with Wish for extra self healing if you chose to use Dazzling Gleam over Draining Kiss.

The last two moves depend on what Pokémon type you fear more. Scared of bulky Fire-types? Pack Flamethrower, otherwise, use Psychic since it covers Poison and Fighting-types. Lastly make sure Slurpuff has a Modest nature so its special attacks can hit as hard as they can.

With this set-up, as long as you get a safe switch in, can really help a team out by dealing with specific threats or by healing Pokémon that cannot normally heal themselves. However, this Pokémon will not be doing major damage any time soon and cannot take a Super Effective hit at all.

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Floss “sLaughter” Knight

Item: Sitrus Berry

Ability: Unburden

EVs: 4 HP / 176 Sp.Def / 252 Atk / 76 Sp.Atk

Naughty Nature

– Play Rough

– Belly Drum

– Thief

– Flamethrower

You want power? Then this set is for you. Slurpuff is the ONLY Pokémon in the game that has access to Unburden and Belly Drum. Confused? Unburden’s effect activates after the Pokémon uses it held item and max’s its speed stat. When you combine this with Belly Drum; which when used, cuts the Pokémons HP in half (but max’s its Attack stat), at half HP Slurpuff will eat its Sitrus berry (healing it for 25% of its HP) thus activating Unburden.

This means that (at level 100), after getting off the Belly Drum, Slurpuffs Attack would be 1136 and its Speed would become 896, which are both ridiculously high. With these stats and speed, you can now one shot almost every Pokémon in the game with the STAB Play Rough.

Thief is used to hit Pokémon that resist Play Rough and take specific items of off Pokémon that can usually wall you like Leftovers. This is much preferred over Return as Thief can hit Aegislash and various Ghost/Poison-types a lot better. Flamethrower is the only viable option to take out bulky Steel types they can take a super powered Play Rough and easily revenge you with a STAB Steel move.

While this set seems to have all the answers it does have a few flaws. Any damage prior to the Unburden/Belly Drum Combo leaves you open to be knocked out when you try to set up Belly Drum or by priority moves like Aqua Jet, Quick Attack and the dreaded Super Effective Bullet Punch. Other than this, the main threats are bulky Steal and Poison-types, for example, Scizor; who can take a Play Rough and then Bullet Punch you, and Heatran; who 4x’s resists Play Rough and will take a Thief and be able to revenge kill with pretty much any of his moves.

The EV’s on this Pokémon are extremely important, the 4 in HP makes Slurpuff have an even valve on its total HP meaning a Belly Drum will ALWAYS activate the berry and the 76 into Special Attack is vital so you can hit some more vulnerable Steal Pokémon, such as Ferrathorn and Forretress, harder with Flamethrower. The 252 into Attack is a given and then, naturally, everything else should go into speed to allow Slurpuff to be as fast as possible.

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Slurpuff may not be the strongest Pokémon out there at first and both its sets may take a while to get going but when they do, you better watch out, or you may find this sweet Pokémon will punch a huge hole in your team that you will not be able to recover from!

(Thanks to Smogon Forums for the basis for these sets)