Introduction
Ah, Porygon. This Pokemon has had a large amount of history behind it, and an even larger movepool. Yet, one move in particular has been closely linked to it: Tri-Attack. This quirky move has had other users, mostly Pokemon who come in "threes", like Dodrio, Dugtrio, and Magneton. At first, the move was just a regular ol' Normal-type move that looked kinda cool but otherwise was indistinguishable from Strength, really. Generation II introduced a quirk to it that made it somewhat interesting: it had a 20% chance of either paralyzing, burning, or freezing the enemy. Any one of those three could shut down an opponent, and the fact that the exact effect was random added a bit of unpredictable fun to it. That said, Tri Attack was still an inferior Normal-type move to Return. The same problem existed in third generation.
Then came fourth generation and the Physical/Special split. This split was somewhat of a double-edged sword for the move. On one hand, the fact that the move now drew upon Special Attack meant that two/three of its users, Dodrio and Dugtrio (and Fearow), had zero use for the move completely. On the other hand, said split was the only way the move was ever going to get any distinction from Return, and the split allowed Magneton (or rather, Magnezone) to take full advantage of the move.
And yet, no Pokemon puts the move to better use than a certain new evolution of Porygon, thus returning the move back to its signature owner, really.
So why am I spending so much time talking about Tri Attack when this article is supposed to be about a Pokemon? Because, aside from it being my favorite move, it is a key part of the Pokemon featured here, Porygon-Z. This new evolution of Porygon2 is distinguished by a massive Special Attack stat, tied with Alakazam for highest Special Attack of any non-legendary. This alone would allow it to make Tri Attack a ridiculously powerful attack, especially in the absence of any other reliable special-type Normal attack. However, it got one other neat boost, with Porygon-Z's ability, Adaptability. This move increases the STAB bonus from 1.5x to 2x (essentially a 33% power boost), presumably to work with the Conversion moves. In practice, it just makes Tri Attack ridiculously powerful, capable of one-shotting many foes and having a good chance of leaving those it can't finish off with a crippling status of some sort. Add in the possibility of Nasty Plot, and...
Of course, Porygon-Z is far from limited to Tri Attack. That's just the coolest attack it has, its most powerful yet reliable, and arguably the main reason we'd like to have it on our team.
About the Pokemon
Porygon. The story of Frankenstein, with virtual-reality programming of a Pokemon. At first, Porygon was a neat little experiment: a Pokemon that was fully functional in battle and can move freely through cyberspace. Then its creators wanted to fully explore the realms of virtual-reality artificial intelligence, particularly to see if a Pokemon that can fly into space can be created. Thus, Porygon2 was formed. It had the ability to learn new gestures and emotions on its own, and of course, power-wise was stronger than Porygon. However, it still could not fly, nor travel into space. Furthermore, scientists noticed that it started exhibiting behavior completely beyond what was programmed into it, even its abilities to learn the aforementioned gestures and emotions. Was this a bug? A virus? The development of a "soul"?
At any rate, some rogue programmers decided to try to upgrade Porygon once more, this time to travel across dimensions. This third, rather dubious upgrade led to the creation of Porygon-Z. Despite major improvements in battle and artificial intelligence abilities, the Pokemon still could not travel as they had wanted it to, and exhibited even odder behaviors.
Still, Porygon remains a popular Pokemon for collectors, and has been a staple "top prize" for Game Corners across the Pokemon world.
Height: 2'11"; Weight: 75 lbs.
Capture/Training
Well, here's the deal. Once again, Porygon can be bought at the Celadon Game Corner. And once again, it costs 9999 coins.
The difference? That Psychic TM? Or that Ice Beam TM from Goldenrod? Costs 10000 coins.
Clearly, what has happened here is that, like Diamond and Pearl, it is *much* easier to win coins from playing the slots. While the mechanics aren't the same as in D/P, the slot machines are still designed to help you out if you haven't won anything in a while, as well as allowing you to play Bonus Rounds for extra coinage. (Though these Bonus Rounds are much more skill-based.) In the end, it's not all that hard to amass 9999 coins.
Evolution requires the trading of this Porygon while holding an Up-Grade and a Dubious Disc, in that order. There's no real need to delay this evolution any bit as the level-up moves are learned at the same levels, and the moves exclusive to the unevolved forms aren't that good, save for possibly Sharpen (which is a starting move anyways).
Like all Pokemon obtainable as a "gift", soft-resetting to get desired IVs, Nature, and ability is acceptable.
Statistics
85 HP, 80 Atk, 70 Def, 135 Sp. Atk, 75 Sp. Def, 90 Spd
Yeah, that is some killer Special Attack right there. Tied with Alakazam for highest amongst non-legendaries. The other stats are okay, but it's that Special Attack that is the highlight.
Nature- and IV-wise, obviously we want to avoid those detrimental to Special Attack. Other than that, Speed is the other stat that could do with some help. Attack is probably the stat that is most expendable. This can be taken into account during EV refocusing as well.
Movesets
Abilities, first: Adaptability, as previously mentioned, increases the STAB bonus from 1.5x to 2x. It's very good for powering up Tri Attack and, if you want to use it, Hyper Beam. Download works best if you can send Porygon-Z out against a Pokemon with low Special Defense, as Porygon-Z will get a nice boost there. It's also generally usable on a "mixed sweeper", though you might still want that 2x Adaptability STAB for physical Normal attacks.
So, let's kick this attack list off, then, shall we?
Tri Attack.
I said enough about it in the introduction. All I'm going to add here is that this is your primary special attack.
Now, for a nice long list of secondary special attacks.
Dark Pulse is probably the best one here, as it hits the Ghosts that would otherwise dodge Tri Attack, plus hits Psychics for nice damage. Of course, Shadow Ball works the same way, but could run into trouble against other Normal-types if it's predicted. That, and Dark Pulse's side effect of flinching is arguably better than a Special Defense drop that is kind of superfluous on a Pokemon that is going to one- or two-hit KO most enemies anyways. (All that, and it's more easily accessible.) Ice Beam is always good for its wide range of type-trumping goodness, especially against Dragons. Thunderbolt hits hard on a number of types, most notably assorted Steel-types. (Fans of the BoltBeam combo can combine the two.) If you just want to have some fun with assorted special attacks: Signal Beam could take down some odd-types. Psychic will give Fighting-types a nice scare. And, of course, Hidden Power gives an assortment of other types to play around with. Hint: Types strong against Steel are preferable.
Some specialized special attacks are available, too. Hyper Beam gets the Adaptability bonus and hits extremely hard, making it a viable option in Porygon-Z's case. Meanwhile, Swift also gets Adaptability bonus and serves as a move for hitting super-evasive enemies.
While not conventional, a Physical attack is an option. Return gets a nice Adaptability bonus, after all.
Porygon-Z does have some other options, though due to its build as a sweeper, they are mainly buffing options that help it sweep. Namely, Nasty Plot to kick its Special Attack to ridiculous heights, and Agility if it needs help outrunning faster opponents (its Speed isn't bad, but it's not the best). Both moves are good for compensating in a stat that was not boosted by its Nature or whatnot. Sharpen is an oddball option to be used in conjunction with Return.
Substitute is always an option, if you want to block a crippling status.
Porygon-Z does have some options for supportive attacks, like Recover if it needs to heal, and Magic Coat to mess around with enemies trying to use crippling non-damaging attacks. However, Porygon2 is usable on its own and has less of a Sweeper build and more of a supportive build, so such moves would probably work better on it.
General Moveset
- Tri Attack
- (secondary attack)
- (secondary attack)
- (secondary attack)/(buffing move)
Really, pretty much any moveset will fall under this build. Dark Pulse (or Shadow Ball) is recommended for at least one of the secondary attacks. One of the secondary attacks can be Return if you want to pursue a physical option, or one of the specialized Normal attacks. Buffing move can be Nasty Plot, Agility, or Substitute. If you use four attacks, Choice Specs or Choice Scarf can obviously come into play.
Effective Movesets
1. Choice
- Tri Attack
- Dark Pulse
- Ice Beam
- Thunderbolt
Item: Choice Scarf/Choice Specs
2. Nasty Plot
- Tri Attack
- Nasty Plot
- Dark Pulse
- Ice Beam/Thunderbolt/Psychic
3. Agility
- Agility
- Tri Attack
- Dark Pulse
- Ice Beam/Thunderbolt/Psychic
4. SubPlot
- Substitute
- Nasty Plot
- Tri Attack
- Dark Pulse
Item: Salac Berry (Battle Tower only)
5. Mixed
- Tri Attack
- Return
- Dark Pulse/Ice Beam/Thunderbolt
- Sharpen
6. Anti-Evasive Striker (In-Game)
- Nasty Plot
- Swift
- Tri Attack
- Dark Pulse
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