Pokemon Focus: #380 - Latias

Introduction

Our first legendary Pokemon covered, Latias is a defensive powerhouse. A legendary from Gen III, she represents the cuter half of the Lati@s twins. She's no slouch, and especially with her signature item, Soul Dew, equipped, she can easily take down many foes. There's a reason why Soul Dew Latias is considered an Uber. Without Soul Dew, though, Latias is actually subdued enough to compete in Standard battles... where she'll still wreak much havoc.

Capture/Training

The bad news is, Latias is not available to us normally in SoulSilver. Her twin brother Latios can be found roaming the Kanto region, but Latias is nowhere to be found...

...until a special Nintendo event unlocks her.

The good news is, this means Latias will be much easier to catch; it won't run away, it can be re-challenged upon defeat, soft-resetting to get one with a good nature and IV-build is not out of the question, and we'll get a free Soul Dew out of the whole thing, too! When the event in question gives you some enigmatic crystal, bring it to Pewter City's fossil museum, and Steven Stone will identify it as the Soul Dew... upon which cues Latias! It'll be at Level 40, so be ready for it.

Statistics

80 HP, 80 Atk, 90 Def, 110 Sp. Atk, 130 Sp. Def, 110 Spd

Definitely stats fit for a Legendary. With high Special Defense as well as Special Attack and Speed, it's set to strike fast and strike hard, while opponents can't strike that well back. In addition, its Defense isn't that bad, either.

In general, Special Attack and Speed are the stats to be focused on, while defensive stats might want to look at helping its HP stat. Attack is generally not needed as Latias runs a great Special Attacking game.

Movesets

Levitate is its only ability, and gives it a nice Ground immunity.

The notable primary (Special) attack Latias has is Dragon Pulse. It hits at least neutral against all but Steel-types, and is nice and reliable. If Latias wants to pack more punch, Draco Meteor can be used, possibly even with Dragon Pulse. Meanwhile, Psychic is its primary Psychic attack, with its signature Mist Ball an inferior but fun alternative. However, with Dragon Pulse's nice type coverage, a Psychic attack is really more of an afterthought than anything.

Latias has a number of nice secondary attacks, too. On top of the list is Surf, hitting most Steel-types that could give it trouble. If a Hidden Power can be managed, a Fire-attack is best. Grass Knot takes down all sorts of troublesome heavyweight foes (while the more consistent Energy Ball is also an option). If in the company of Ubers, Thunder is very viable as an always-hit attack in the presence of rain. Lesser options include: Ice Beam as a harder hit against some Dragons as well as an overall good offensive move, Thunderbolt for an Electric move when rain isn't around, and Shadow Ball for eliminating Psychics and Ghosts.

However, Latias hardly has to stop there. Her huge number of support options are part of what makes her an attractive option.

What really helps Latias succeed as a defensive Pokemon is its ability to heal. Recover fulfills this role very nicely. Wish is a team-supporting option, a little less reliable in healing Latias herself but could help out one of her teammates. Also, Latias can Refresh if it's hit with a status, which is nice. If you really want to, though, Latias has Psycho Shift, which has the fun effect of throwing said status condition onto her opponent. It doesn't always work, though; it has 90% accuracy and it won't work if the opponent already has a status condition.

If a teammate desperately needs full healing, Latias can sacrifice itself with Healing Wish and help said teammate out. Less suicidal ways of supporting the team are Safeguard and the duo of Reflect and Light Screen, the former of which will help Latias herself quite a bit.

As far as disruptive attacks go, Latias is a great user of Thunder Wave. Toxic is, of course, also an option. For some options that don't involve status, Roar can mess up enemy attempts to power up, and works especially well if entry hazards are in play. Trick is a fun way to mess an enemy up, especially if you're holding a Choice item.

Calm Mind is a classic way to power up, and Latias pulls it off well.

Protect and Substitute are classic ways to help shield Latias and see what the enemy is throwing at you.

Moveset 1: Calm Mind
- Calm Mind
- Dragon Pulse
- Recover/(secondary attack)
- (secondary attack)/(defensive move)

Depends on whether you want to follow the offensive or defensive side of Calm Mind boosts. Defensive moves of choice would be Refresh or Reflect, primarily.

Moveset 2: Choice
- Draco Meteor
- Surf
- Dragon Pulse/(secondary attack)
- (secondary attack)/Trick

Why both Draco Meteor and Dragon Pulse? Well, Draco Meteor will hit hard, especially with Specs, and since Latias will likely be switching out afterwards, the stat drop isn't as big of a deal. Still, with Dragon Pulse hitting for at least neutral on most Pokemon, sometimes having such a consistent move to just repeat is worth it.

General Moveset
- (primary Dragon attack)/(support move)
- (recovery move)/(secondary attack)
- (secondary attack)/(support move)
- (support move)/(secondary attack)

With so many Latias movesets possible, the best way to approach Latias is to consider the needs of your team, and form up Latias as needed.

Items

Latias with her signature Soul Dew is simply overpowered. As such, the item is banned in competitive play except in the Uber tier. That's of course not to say Latias doesn't have other options for items. Leftovers works really well with Latias's defensive build. Choice Specs and Choice Scarf go with the Choice set, obviously. Another source of power is the Life Orb. Use Recover to help mitigate the recoil damage and you're good to go. Expert Belt can be used to "fake" a Choice item. Finally, one option for Latias is to set up dual screens of Reflect and Light Screen for its teammates; in this case, Light Clay extends how long those screens stay up.

Effective Movesets

Note: Since only one Latias is normally available to us, the movesets have to be designed such that, in order to switch between movesets, they can be easily modified via replenishable TMs, Heart Scales, or Move Tutors.

1. Calm Mind
- Calm Mind
- Dragon Pulse
- Surf
- Recover
Item: Soul Dew/Leftovers/Life Orb

2. Choice
- Draco Meteor
- Surf
- Thunderbolt
- Psychic/Trick (Battle Frontier only)
Item: Choice Specs/Choice Scarf

3. Life Orb
- Draco Meteor
- Surf
- Thunderbolt
- Recover
Item: Life Orb

4. Dual Screen
- Reflect
- Light Screen
- Wish
- Dragon Pulse
Item: Light Clay

5. Support
- Dragon Pulse
- Psychic
- Wish
- Thunder Wave
Item: Soul Dew/Leftovers

6. Substitute
- Substitute
- Calm Mind
- Dragon Pulse
- Recover
Item: Leftovers/Soul Dew

7. Suicidal Dual Screen
- Reflect
- Light Screen
- Healing Wish
- Dragon Pulse
Item: Light Clay

8. Defensive Calm Mind
- Calm Mind
- Recover
- Refresh/Psycho Shift
- Dragon Pulse
Item: Leftovers