Pokemon Focus: #249 - Lugia

Introduction

Our first true Uber Pokemon, Lugia is the star legendary of Silver, including SoulSilver. It is one of our favorite "ultimate legendaries", with a fairly unique typing and access to one of the coolest moves ever, Aeroblast. It is also probably the best defensive Pokemon ever, with such ridiculously high defensive stats that it is near impossible to take it down.

Capture/Training

A change has been made to the Lugia quest in SoulSilver. First, it now requires the help of the Kimono Girls, whom you fight after getting the eighth badge. Second, it is no longer an optional quest; for some reason or another, Lugia must be fought down in Whirl Islands.

It will be at Level 45, ready to take all the hits you can throw at it and Aeroblast your team to shreds... well, until it runs out of PP for that move, that is. For an extra challenge, we will likely attempt to capture it with only either a Friend Ball or a Luxury Ball, which is much like trying to capture Lugia with only a Poke Ball. (With only a 2% success rate at most, that should be fun...)

Don't even bother soft-resetting for a good nature.

Stats

106 HP, 90 Atk, 130 Def, 90 Sp. Atk, 154 Sp. Def, 110 Spd.

Ridiculous defensive stats here. Use them well.

HP and Speed are the best places for some stat distribution, though they can go elsewhere as well.

Abilities

Pressure is a great ability on a defensive Pokemon, and Lugia is pretty much the epitome of a defensive Pokemon.

Moves

In-game Lugia vs. competitive Lugia are entirely different beasts. What would be a solid competitive set tends to lack something in-game, whereas an in-game set would likely not work so well competitively. Since Lugia is forbidden in the Battle Frontier, its use will solely be in the realms of the world it is in.

As far as primary attacks go, it's hard to imagine Lugia without Aeroblast. It is its signature move, and even if its Special Attack isn't quite so good due to a bad nature, it can still hurt thanks to its high critical-hit ratio. While Extrasensory is available to tide your Psychic-type needs, Psychic is the preferred option in this regard. Lugia's Attack is the same as its Special Attack, so if Lugia hates special attacks for whatever reason, Fly and Zen Headbutt are acceptable alternatives for in-game battling. Sky Attack might work out now and then in-game, but with its two-turn charge, it really relies on its critical-hit and flinch rates to make up for that lost turn.

Lugia gets a bunch of secondary attacks. We'll first cover the special side. Being the King of the Sea, it makes sense that Lugia gets Water attacks, and both Surf and Hydro Pump are in its repertoire. It also has Ice Beam and Thunderbolt for the infamous BoltBeam combination, as well as their less-accurate variants Blizzard and Thunder for use in the weather conditions under which they hit without fail. Speaking of weather, Weather Ball is a quirky but effective move that ensures Lugia has a move for any weather. Shadow Ball, Charge Beam, Dragon Pulse, Ominous Wind, Ancientpower, Earth Power, Signal Beam, and of course Hidden Power make up the rest of its notable Special movepool.

On the Physical side, Lugia completes its Water-move coverage with Waterfall. Earthquake remains a staple move. Punishment is an interesting move, as it hurts stat-boosters really badly. Combining Waterfall with Return is an option. Avalanche isn't a horrible attack, as Lugia definitely can take hits. Finally, Iron Head is probably most notable for its flinch-rate.

Lugia has an amazing set of support moves as well. A defensive wall like Lugia only becomes harder to take down when recovery moves come into play. Roost would be preferable, except it is learned by a one-time-use TM, so the level-up move Recover might be preferable in-game. Lugia can also Rest-Sleep Talk if it so desires.

Whirlwind is a fun level-up move in Lugia's repertoire. Use it against stat-boosters to force out their stat changes, or use it along with entry hazards to rack up passive damage while Lugia takes hits.

Lugia gets the full set of protective screens. Reflect nicely complements its high Special Defense and truly makes Lugia tough to take down. Light Screen just makes Lugia impossible to defeat with special attacks. Safeguard keeps Lugia safe from status problems. All three can also be used to help the team.

Calm Mind is a way to make Lugia an offensive powerhouse, while at the same time increasing its ability to take special hits.

Thunder Wave and Toxic are both ways Lugia can cripple opponents, either making them easier to take down or draining their health while they try to attack you.

Trick can be used on competitive Choice sets to mess up an enemy. However, unless you have lots of spare Choice Bands/Specs, it is inadvisable to use it in-game.

General Moveset: In-Game
- Aeroblast
- Calm Mind/Reflect
- (secondary attack)
- (support move)

Just a sort of general blueprint for Lugia's attacks in-game.

Items

Leftovers works best, healing Lugia constantly and making it even harder to break through.