Victory Road - Week 3: Meganium

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(2/27/10) Finally, I get a chance to write this sucker today.
What's up Pokenerds. This is Jack with your Generation Shift Update.
First of all, I just want to say I FINALLY got my Pikachu to learn Surf on Pokémon Stadium. Let me tell you, this was no easy feat. Sure, the Battle Revolution one is easy to get, but the rules are different on the Stadium games.

So yeah, eat your Luvdisc out.

Anyways, now onto this week's Pokémon of the Week.

I've already said I would be doing the starters for Johto these next two weeks since the games are coming out soon, so this should be helpful for those that want to get a good idea on what moves to use to progress through the game.

Today, I cover a less popular starter in the franchise. This guy sees little to no playtime in wi-fi battles and is much harder to train compared to other starters. However, people have used him as a surprise when it's appropriate.

I am of course referring to the flower Pokémon that could, Meganium.

To start things off, this seemed appropriate for what I'll be talking about:

Meganium

http://www.pokemonfaceoff.com/users/...54meganium.jpg

To be blunt, a lot of people were turned off by Meganium in the early days of Gold and Silver. You had two starters with better stats and moves and both could take on the gym leaders pretty well. This guy usually can't battle the gym leaders in Johto until well into the game.

That doesn't mean he's a bad Pokémon per-se. He just hasn't seen all that many improvements like other starters did over the years. They're there but small overall.

He'll always be overshadowed by its closest rival, Venusaur, or Johto superior, Hopip, and will remain a strange grass type.

There are advantages though to consider.

Consistent Strategy

Meganium will never be a typical grass type. It lacks a full list of "powder" moves to bug its opponents with like other grass types.

He does however have very round and relatively high stats. Its stats resemble weaker versions of Mew, Celebi, and Jirachi, only without much focus for offense.

Meganium is perfect for stalling and healing. He has a lot of weaknesses, but with proper training, you can take a few hits with him. He's an "annoyer" at heart, but a little confused on who he's suppose to battle. When he fights someone he should fight, he can "out-wall" the best of them.

Johto

Meganium was…okay in the region of Johto.

…Okay, I can't say that with a straight face. He SUFFERED in Johto.

The is the "challenge" Pokémon for players to train. The first four gyms are near impossible to fight with him in unless you're somewhat lucky. Even later gyms are a little weird for him to fight in. For the adventure part of the game, let's face it, he sucks.

And then you have Typhlosion and Feraligatr, two Pokémon that can stand up for themselves without too much support from the rest of the party. They are sweeper material and have no real problems facing any of the gym leaders.

But enough hating on this flower power. Let's get to how to play with him in Gold and Silver.

Meganium can make good use of Toxic. He'll get hit first most of the time, but pop one out and your opponent will be sorry.

Your other important move is Body Slam. Now, I know this seems silly that I'm saying this is an "important" move, but think about it: you don't have any way to paralyze your opponent outside of this move. This is the only way you can expand your "status" abilities to really bother your opponent and give your team the upper hand. It's also a reliable attack damage-wise.

Earthquake covers almost all of his weaknesses, a blessing in disguise because he would get thrown around a lot more if he didn't have it.

You can get Leach Seed by breeding. It's very useful if you want a full-fledged wall to do its job. Just expect a little work to get him to be that way.

Sunny Day has unexpected advantages. Solar Beam and Synthesis become awesome moves then.

Then you have your typical walls (Reflect and Light Screen) that he learns naturally (which isn't a bad thing at all). This is good for when he either is just starting a match or to give some last minute support.

Safeguard is good to prevent becoming burned, paralyzed, or sleepy.

You got a few other options like Protect or Ancient Power, but AP is pretty hard to get in the old days.

You know, looking at him now, he's not half-bad. He suffers in the adventure mode, but he's alright competitively. He just takes so long to be useful back then.

He's not as good as Venusaur though to me. Venusaur seems more suited to the role Meganium tries to accomplish.

Could Hoenn be his saving grace?

Hoenn

Um…not exactly.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but he just didn't change really. I'm looking at his Pokedex on Serebii and he didn't see much of an improvement. Things changed, but now Skeptile was the top grass type. Poor flower Pokémon.

Colosseum gave you the ability to use one, but again, a story Meganium is usually pretty bad for the most part. Sure, it can take a Shadow Rush, but it won't bring anyone down any differently from back in the Johto days.

Blah, let's move onto Sinnoh.

Sinnoh

…Um, still pretty much the same but different at the same time.

The P/S split gave him different types of grass attacks and other useful moves (to mess with your opponent), but nothing notable was a game changer for him like in other games.

Magical Leaf is a decent attack (for when you're forced to attack because of Taunt). Same goes for Petal Dance, but…it's a bit risky in the long run.

Energy Ball is alright too and works similar to Magical Leaf with a little added power.

Aromatherapy is really good for when Meganium is just straight up support. You're opponent will absolutely hate you after he has put your Lucario to sleep, paralyzed your Magnezon, and burned your Tyranitar. And because Meganium can take a hit, this is a great way to recover in a losing battle.

Substitute ensures you will not become a victim of your own demise. Paired with Synthesis, you'll survive longer.

For fun, you could use Outrage for dragons and other neutral coverage. Just treat it like Petal Dance though: use at your own risk.

Other than that, again, he hasn't changed all that much.

Summary

Okay, so this is the first Pokémon I've done that really hasn't seen many improvements, but at least you guys will see how best to use him.

Here's a quick summary of the moves that work best for him realistically for each generation:

Johto

Body Slam/Solar Beam/Earthquake
Synthesis
Toxic/Light Screen/Reflect/Safeguard/Protect
Leech Seed/Sunny Day

Hoenn

Synthesis
Toxic/Light Screen/Reflect/Safeguard/Protect
Body Slam/Solar Beam/Earthquake
Leech Seed/Sunny Day/Substitute

Sinnoh

Body Slam/Magical Leaf/Energy Ball/Petal Dance/Outrage/Earthquake
Aromatherapy/Synthesis
Leech Seed/Sunny Day/Substitute
Toxic/Light Screen/Reflect/Safeguard/Protect

Meganium is usable. Don't get me wrong, it has gotten better with each generation and works well in the right teams. He just takes longer to be useful and is very situational.

If you think you can handle training him in Heartgold and Soulsilver, you deserve props. This is a tough starter to use without outside help from other games like Diamond and Pearl. If you manage to beat Red with this Pokémon, I will give you a Magikarp for free (that's a 500 Pokedollar value)!

He may be the cutest grass type, but boy that cuteness needs to go a looong way until the Pokémon itself is useful.

So yeah, post comments. I know this wasn't the most interesting analysis, but hey, you didn't have go digging around yourself for it, so enjoy and look forward to better ones in the weeks to come.