Introduction
Exeggutor was the only Pokemon from the Big Six that came from the first generation. It was good in many ways, but it was also very difficult to use for several reasons. First of all, its typing gave it several weakness, particularly the Poison-type that its Psychic-typing was supposed to counter. It also did not help that it had low Special Defense, meaning that Fire and Ice would hurt it particularly well. Second, it was slow. Very slow. Third, it really did not have a good Grass-type attack; Giga Drain was rather weak, and Solarbeam, while it worked well with Sunny Day, suffered from speed problems.
Generation 3 helped fix those problems. The bad-typing problem remained, but as for the Speed problem as well as the grass-type attack problem, Exeggutor got a useful ability in Chlorophyll, which would double its speed in sunlight. This meant, among other things, that Exeggutor can throw up a Sunny Day and actually outrun enemies, Solarbeaming them in the process.
The recent generation, however, was a mixed bag. Exeggutor's 4x-weakness to Bug only got worse with the large increase of Bug-type attacks and the increase in their users. The Physical/Special split meant that there were other types of special attacks besides Fire and Ice that could really cripple it. On the flip side, it gained access to a number of other nice moves. Still, it makes Exeggutor a little harder to use again.
For better or for worse, Exeggutor is a member of our Big Six, and will be an important member of some of our teams.
Capture/Training
Start Headbutting those trees, because that's where you'll find those Exeggcute!
Training these guys can be a tough choice. It learns a number of level-up moves as Exeggcute that it can't learn as Exeggutor, as is typical for those who evolve by a Stone. At the most extreme, you'll be waiting until level 47 to learn Psychic, which admittedly is available as a replenishable TM but could save the time to get the 10,000 coins needed... If you decide not to worry about that, evolving it at level 23 where it learns Sleep Powder is a good benchmark.
Statistics
95 HP, 95 Atk, 85 Def, 125 Sp. Atk, 65 Sp. Def, 55 Spd
All things considered, those are pretty good stats. 95 HP is nothing to scoff at, Defense is okay, and while that Special Attack is clearly the highlight of this set, a base 95 Attack is respectable too and gives Exeggutor other options. Speed is mostly a non-issue if you're using Sunny Day, though EVs will be needed or else even a doubled-Speed might not be quite enough to outrun the fastest of its enemies. Special Defense is its weakest point, so keep that in mind.
Natures will definitely vary. Special Attack should be left untouched, but Exeggutor does have certain physical attacks (namely Explosion) that would warrant not messing with Attack if not necessary. If you get stuck with a Speed-hindering nature, Exeggutor could potentially use a certain move called Trick Room that actually takes advantage of that.
EV-refocusing will depend on the moveset.
Movesets
Only Chlorophyll as the ability, so no point focusing on that.
Primary Grass-type special attack: Solarbeam is the one that works with Sunny Day, obviously. If you know who you're going up against, Grass Knot is an acceptable substitute, requiring no setup and hitting just as hard against certain enemies. (Of course, against other enemies, not so much.) Energy Ball is there as a reliable option. Leaf Storm is also an option, much more powerful but much less reliable and will require some switching-out. And then, there's the option of Psychic as a primary Psychic-type special attack, though apparently, it is not strictly necessary. Still, it's good for taking down certain Poison-types.
Exeggutor does get physical options for its STAB moves. On the Grass side, you have the reliable Seed Bomb and the less-reliable but super-powerful Wood Hammer. On the Psychic side, you have Zen Headbutt, which, with some Sun support, gets some chance to make foes flinch.
Secondary attacks, you ask? What secondary attacks? You have all of a Sludge Bomb to knock out other Grass-types, Ancientpower to smack around Fire-Flying and Bug-Flying types, and of course, the numerous options offered by Hidden Power, which usually boil down to Fire to take advantage of that bright sun and all, though Ice and Ground are also usable. Other than that, there's... well...
Explosion. Seriously, though, considering how easily Exeggutor can get knocked out by its many weaknesses, if you absolutely must do something to counter them, just blow up in their face and take them down with you. Base 95 Attack, plus a couple EVs here to boost that, will help you in that cause.
So, that's really it for attacks. Thankfully, Exeggutor can do so much more than just attacking. Let's look at Exeggutor's fairly-large list of supportive moves.
First up is, of course, Sunny Day. While plenty good on its own, there is now a new item called the Heat Rock which extends the length of the sunlight, giving you (or your team) three more turns to abuse its powers. Want a more unconventional way of supporting your team and making Exeggutor move first, though? Trick Room. The nice thing about this move is that if your Exeggutor got stuck on the low end of IV/Nature distribution of Speed, Trick Room can help you turn that liability to an ability. It's a cool new trick Exeggutor has, and it can help out other slow teammates as well.
No Grass-type is complete without a handful of disruptive attacks, and Exeggutor certainly delivers. Stun Spore and Sleep Powder are just classics in the incapacitation department. If health-sapping is your thing instead, there's the good ol' Leech Seed at your disposal. (Add Protection to really cripple an opponent.) An oddball disruptive move to put on Exeggutor, useful in certain battling circles involving legendaries, is Thief. Not an intuitive choice at all, but useful with some of the heavy item reliance in that circle.
With every Sunny Day comes a way to heal with Sunny Day. And that way is, of course, Synthesis. Though Moonlight works pretty much the same way, assuming the whole time-of-day affecting healing thing no longer applies. Just choose whichever one is handy on your breeder of choice, as both are Egg Moves.
Swords Dance is an option if you want to go for a physical Exeggutor. The slow speed is an issue, so some prior sunlight or Trick Room support is recommended.
Finally, as additional ways to help out the team, you have Reflect and Light Screen. Of course, both moves will help Exeggutor itself out, particularly Light Screen, which is an added bonus.
There are a couple of more esoteric options for Exeggutor. Some might be able to fit Curse onto a Trick Room set. Nature Power might turn up with a neat attack in some environments, though I suppose the standard Tri Attack is hardly a horrible choice on its own. Ingrain is an oddball option, good if you think the opponent might try to phaze you out.
Anyways, movesets.
Moveset 1: Sunny Day/Trick Room
- Sunny Day/Trick Room
- Solarbeam/(primary special Grass attack)
- (secondary attack)/(disruptive attack)/Explosion
- (secondary attack)/(disruptive attack)/Explosion
Obvioiusly, Solarbeam should only be used with Sunny Day.
The last two are a "pick two of three" deal. Secondary attacks can include Psychic or a Hidden Power of choice. The disruptive attack of choice is usually Sleep Powder since Exeggutor should be outrunning most foes anyways. If you want, a Synthesis or Moonlight can take one of those last two places, too.
Stats and EVs depend on what exactly the role of this Exeggutor is. If it is providing sunlight support to teammates, rather than filling Special Attack to the brim, some Attack EVs can be used to make sure an Explosion takes down a foe. Speed is important for a Sunny Day set, as without it, even a double-speed Exeggutor might not be able to quite outrun some of the fastest foes out there. On the contrary, on a Trick Room set, Speed is the very last thing you need: a speed-hindering nature actually helps it here. Instead, some defensive EVs could be considered.
A note on item use: a supportive Exeggutor setting up a Sunny Day or a Trick Room can lead off a battle and use a Focus Sash to make sure that it gets its move out, as any hit that would OHKO it will be survived. Then, when Exeggutor goes first next round, it can just blow up and take an enemy down. Of course, priority moves can mess with this, but even then, you've just set up sunlight or a Trick Room, so not all is lost. If Exeggutor is not leading off, beware of entry hazards and adverse weather when using this strategy.
Moveset 2: Choice Specs
- Leaf Storm/(primary special Grass attack)
- Psychic
- Hidden Power/Sludge Bomb/Ancientpower/Nature Power
- Explosion
Not exactly the most exciting Choice Specs set, but it could work. Obviously, getting a good Hidden Power is not easy in-game, hence the other options.
Moveset 3: Swords Dance
- Swords Dance
- Wood Hammer/Seed Bomb
- Zen Headbutt
- (disruptive attack)/(healing move)/Explosion
If you want to go the physical route. This moveset requires outside Sunlight support (or Trick Room support), as Exeggutor is too slow to pull it off on its own. Oh, and a Swords-Danced Explosion will likely kill anything that's not a Ghost-type...
General Moveset
- (primary Grass-type attack)
- (buffing move)
- (secondary attack)/(disruptive attack)/Explosion
- (secondary attack)/(disruptive attack)/Explosion
Let's face it. With Exeggutor so prone to dying as it is, it pretty much needs Explosion to make sure it wasn't used in vain.
Effective Movesets
1. Sunny Day Ver. 1
- Sunny Day
- Solarbeam
- Psychic
- Explosion
2. Sunny Day Ver. 2
- Sunny Day
- Solarbeam
- Psychic
- Synthesis
3. Sunny Day Ver. 3
- Sunny Day
- Solarbeam
- Psychic
- Sleep Powder
4. Sunny Day Ver. 4
- Sunny Day
- Solarbeam
- Sleep Powder
- Explosion
5. Choice Specs
- Leaf Storm
- Psychic
- Nature Power
- Explosion
6. Swords Dance
- Swords Dance
- Wood Hammer
- Zen Headbutt
- Sleep Powder
7. SleepSeed
- Sleep Powder
- Leech Seed
- Seed Bomb
- Explosion
8*. Trick Room
- Trick Room
- Sleep Powder
- Explosion
- Leaf Storm
Note: Remember that Trick Room is a one-time, non-replenishable TM.
Postscript: Breeding
The big move for Exeggutor, arguably, is Explosion. However, Explosion is a non-replenishable TM. So, can it be bred?
Luckily, the answer is yes. Seedot is the benefactor. As a bonus, Seedot and its family has access to a number of other moves Exeggutor will like: Sunny Day, Synthesis, and Nature Power as Seedot, and Leaf Storm as Shiftry.
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