Top 5 Fighting Pokemon in Sun and Moon

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Fighting types are trying to make a comeback this generation! Since everyone had fallen in love with Machop and Machoke from the first generation and then subsequently frustrated when they had to go search out someone who they could trade with in order to get Machamp. Thankfully, wifi connections and the GTS have made that a lot easier. Fighting types are known for their absurdly high attack power but maybe not all that great defense. Plenty of new Fighting-types have made their debut in Pokemon Sun & Moon. Some are cute, some are terrifying, and others are pretty dang useful! Let’s take a look at the top five newest fighting-type Pokémon of generation seven!


5. Crabominable

  • National Pokedex: 740

Crabominable is a rather unique pokemon in this game due to its typing of Fighting and Ice. Sun & Moon have really been pushing this dual type matchup hard this generation and Crabominable is the shining example of it. Looking like that creepy uncle you have that has not shaved in months, but wants a long hug when he shows up at a family reunion, it evolves from Crabrawler when you level it up at Icy Rock. It’s kinda creepy looking to be honest. Due to that unique typing it has, it comes with a whopping six weaknesses in Fire, Fighting, Flying, Psychic, Steel, and Fairy while resisting Ice, Bug, and Dark. It is a grab bag of tricks so let’s take a look under the hood.

Crabominable boasts an astounding 132 in Attack but only has a 43 in Speed. No big deal right? Cash in on the defenses and go for the followup knockout punch. Well… it has a nice 97 in HP but its Defense and Sp. Defense are only 77 and 67 respectively. It is best set up either boosting its defenses and then hitting for pure power, or using everyone’s more aggravating setup of Trick Room. Do you want it to sponge hits or dish out the pain fast? With a Bulk Up or two, it becomes hard to kill Crabominable. It becomes even harder if you drop some EVs in Defense and Sp. Defense rather than Speed. Keep the other ones for a full 252 in Attack and you will have problems taking this out. Close Combat will wreck most anything with its attack while Ice Hammer gives it its other STAB move and Earthquake is there for everything else. Leftovers are ideal since it cannot heal itself. If you are using Trick Room, it has to rely on someone else to set it up (hint: doubles) and then CC, Ice Hammer, Earthquake, and Power-up Punch/Crabhammer give it it’s best bet. If you go this route, something that boosts its Attack like Life Orb is probably best.


4. Bewear

  • National Pokedex: 760

Bewear is the Strong Arm or fluffy teddy bear Pokémon. Introduced in this generation, Bewear is another Normal/Fighting-type with a bit of a unique setup. While you may want to hug it, don’t because it might just crush you. For its weaknesses, it has to beware of Fighting, Flying, Psychic and Fairy while nulling Ghost. It does not really make sense why a Fighting-type Pokémon is weak to Fighting, but okay, Game Freak. We know the Normal-typing is also present, but just why? Bewear looks like a slow attacker with a whopping 125 in attack and a 120 in HP. However its unique, or rather somewhat good, point is its ability Fluffy. While it can come with Klutz and can have Unnerve as its hidden ability, don’t do it. Stay with Fluffy. Fluffy reduces all contact moves by 50% while doubling that of Fire-type moves only. Fire is not common in OU and UU, which is where this Pokémon will most likely fall, so it is a good idea for you. This then turns it’s 80 in Defense to essentially a 160 against all physical moves. Good move.

While it may excel there, you will definitely want to max out it’s Attack EVs while splitting the rest between HP and it’s horrible 60 in Sp. Defense. While you could put some in it’s equally bad Speed (60), there is no need since Bewear is designed to sponge up hits. An Assault Vest will go a very long way with this mon. Max out it’s happiness to cash in on Return and then give it either Superpower or Hammer Arm. It is up to you how you want to take the debuff. It will often go last anyways due to its speed. Ice Punch is excellent coverage while either Shadow Claw will protect it from Ghosts or Earthquake will save you. You do run the risk though of getting a foe with Levitate, so bewear. Get it? Anyone? No?



3. Buzzwole

  • National Pokedex: 794

Yup. It is time yet again for Buzzwole to appear on our lists. Buzzwole is an Ultra Beast and oddly is not banned from the Battle Tree due to its massive power. After you catch it or two of it from the portals that open up in Alola, you can quickly add Buzzwole to your team or go and kick some butt with it. Buzzwole is genderless and comes with the Ultra Beast Ability Beast Boost which kicks up its highest stat a stage when it knocks out a Pokémon. It has an astounding 139 in Attack and Defense meaning that it can be deadly if used right. It does have a mediocre 79 in Speed which is not bad, but does not afford it much life in OU with a Sp. Defense at 53. It will fall too fast if the opponent is too powerful and especially if the attack is Special based. The good thing for Buzzwole is that in its Bug/Fighting typing, It does only have to worried about Fire, Psychic, and Fairy. It does need to be really careful though around Flying-types (4x weak) which may outspeed it.

Buzzwole will definitely fall into the OU tier for online battling as it does have substantial power with to keep it here. However, it will not rise to Uber status for a number of reasons unlike its counterpart. Buzzwole has a great and diverse moveset. It really has to cash in on its HP though so while it can get Leech Life as a nice STAB move, it gets Roost which allows it to heal for more almost every time. Also unlike the previous mons on this list, Speed is an absolutely necessary investment for EVs since it needs to be able to outspeed as much as it can as possible. It makes an excellent stall breaker if you give it Roost and Bulk Up. This will then make its frightening Attack and Defense even higher while giving it Leech Life/Lunge will give Buzzwole a Bug STAB move, and Superpower is the Fighting one. Bulk Up can cancel out any negative effects. Another suggestion would be to go for an all-out attack stance with Roost, Superpower, Earthquake and Ice Punch/Poison Jab. At this point, it will sweep… as fast as it can that is.


2. Kommo-o

  • National Pokedex: 784

Kommo-o is the pseudo-legendary of Generation VII and with it, comes a rather unique typing of Dragon/Fighting. You encounter Jangmo-o late in the game, true, but considering it’s usually around 44 when you meet it, two levels later, you will have a Kommo-o which is fantastic news for players! If you have not already invested in a Bagon from Route 3… Anyway! Kommo-o can come with either Bulletproof or Soundproof as its abilities while Overcoat, which protects the pokemon from weather effects and powder moves, is also quite useful and is it’s hidden ability. Kommo-o have quite a few weaknesses to watch out for as well with Ice, Flying, Psychic, and Dragon normal weaknesses with a 4x weakness to Fairy. Don’t let that intimidate you though as there are plenty of benefits to this bulky monster. While its HP is meh at best with a 75, its Speed is 85 and it keeps on going up after that. A 100 in Sp. Attack, 105 in Sp. Defense, 110 in Attack and 125 in Defense are what it has to work with.

While the base stats are fairly standard for your pseudo-legendary at 600, its movepool is incredibly diverse and actually gives you either the option of a physical or special monster because its defenses will allow it to soak up some hits too! Most people will push Kommo-o towards a physical set, which is perfectly fine. Either Bulletproof or Overcoat will give you what you need while dropping EVs in Speed and Attack and you just need to Swords Dance and sweep. Dragon Claw if you would like or Outrage if you do not mind the confusion afterwards, Sky Uppercut for more STAB and then either Earthquake or Poison Jab will give you max coverage. You will also be able to easily take down those who may wall Kommo-o. However do not feel like you have to make Kommo-o physical as its Sp, Attack is only a few points behind its Attack stat. You absolutely want Choice Specs on it though because you want to use Focus Blast for STAB. Then either its signature move Clanging Scales or Draco Meteor, Flamethrower and Flash Cannon, and then you will no longer have much to worry about. Another unique move it gets is Automize which is good for you if you want it to sweep. The only thing is that Kommo-o cannot learn both Flamethrower and Flash Cannon. Fairy or Ice will pose a problem for you unfortunately. While you can handle most Ice types with Fighting, you do not have a 100% reliable method and you have to be careful of pokes like Frostlass whom you cannot hit.


1. Pheromosa

  • National Pokedex: 795

Pheromosa is to Moon what Buzzwole is to Sun. It is the Moon-only Ultra Beast that you can catch four of which will help those players get Kartana and Buzzwole. But why would you want to do that with a Pokémon that is essentially Deoxys-lite? No literally sans the bad defense, Pheromosa is essentially another Deoxys. This mon however is a double edged sword as it poses a threat to itself and others. Pheromosa gets Beast Boost as well which is going to boost its Speed, or Attack or Sp. Attack even higher pending on where you invest your EVs. We will get to stats later. Much like Buzzwole, Pheromosa is Bug/Fighting-type and carries all of the same weaknesses. Let’s just get into the teams.

Pheromosa has an amazing 151 in Speed. This alone allows it to outspeed almost every monster in the game, almost all pokemon with a +1 speed and even then at +2, she tends to outspeed most. Pheromosa also has a whopping 137 in both Attack & Sp. Attack stats. This means that you can make it a mixed sweeper or dedicate it to just killing things fast. Pheromosa is proving itself to be so powerful that it will definitely be in the Uber tier. Its only weakness is its pitiful 37 in both Defenses. However a 137 in Attack with a 151 in Speed means that it really only needs to land one solid hit to be safe. It is also critical to note at this time that it is PERFECT for the Battle Tree. This setup is Lunge/Bug Buzz (depending on your EVs) Jump Kick or High Jump Kick (it really depends on if you want to take that risk in the drop in accuracy), another hard hitting move for late in battle like Giga Impact, and then Ice Beam for some more coverage. While you can split EVs, dropping them into Attack is your safest bet.

In normal battles where you do not need to keep on winning back to back, STAB High Jump Kick is a good start. This is good when paired with U-turn for Bug STAB. The reason we select U-turn is that Pheromosa does have a difficult time with Water and Poison-type pokemon. It does not learn good moves either to effectively help it sweep these types. This means that there will be some times in the Uber tier where it will need to bounce out. Thankfully, unless you are switching into some sort of baton pass hell, it will always go first. Ice Beam will help it check Dragons. For its final move though, something either like Poison Jab, to get rid of Fairies, or Lunge is another move if you want a second STAB move. However Poison Jab will give you the most coverage. Either way, Pheromosa will be banned to Uber and it will faint all the pokemon it wants there.


Final Thoughts

Fighting pokemon in this generation oddly do not suck. They have a wide variety of uses and come across overall as a solid and good choice in this game. If anything, most have a lacking speed, but this is something that can be overcome by using other stats or Speed-boosting moves. Fighting pokemon, a lot like Bug pokemon are making a comeback this game with other Poison and Grass-types. It surely will be easy to find a spot on your teams for a good Fighting-type if you desire. Who are you running on your teams? Be sure to let us know in the comments below!

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Editor/Translator

Author: Nagareboshi

American by birth; international by choice. I am trying to bring attention to one of my favorite causes; me. I translate by day and write by night. Aspiring polyglot. My dream would be to be the personal translator for Amuro Namie. Other than that, my hobbies include languages, weightlifting, sleeping, karaoke, GOOD coffee and music. When I’m not doing any of the above, I am most likely laughing hysterically at Willam Belli videos or EV farming. I ain’t gunna Rupologize for it neither. Waifu are Shirai Kuroko & Euaerin.

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