Pokémon of the Week: Mega-Alakazam deserves its high rank

By: Noah Forker

Alakazam, the final evolution of the Abra line, is a powerful special-attacking Pokémon. Its main form of attacking is hitting hard and fast. It can take hits, but not many, if any at all. Alakazam is in the OU tier, which means it is “over used.”

There are three sets that people may use to set up an Alakazam for wi-fi battles (not recommended for in-game playing). The first set, and my personal favorite, is the Mega-Alakazam. The recommended move set is psychic, focus blast, shadow ball and encore/substitute.

This set makes your Alakazam very powerful and increases most of his stats. With this set, your Alakazam can hit faster and harder, but if it gets hit by a ghost or bug move, you’re basically done. I would highly recommend this set, as I’ve used a Mega-Alakzam, and it is OP (over-powered).

In my eye, the other sets are for serious battlers, while this is for someone who wants to have fun. Its ability would be trace in this form, which isn’t the best, but it allows you to copy your opponent’s ability the first time your Alakazam is sent in.

The second set recommended is the life orb set. The move set for this set is psychic, focus blast, shadow ball, HP (hidden power) and ice/encore. The only dramatic difference in the moves in HP ice would be help in hitting flying types and dragon types. While neither are a major threat to Alakazam, they could be a threat to your other Pokémon.

As for its item, the life orb, this item can be very good or can screw you over. This is because it does increase your attack by 30 percent, but it takes 10 percent of its HP (hit/health points) each time it attacks. This makes it a lot more powerful; however, the more you use it, you’re actually hurting yourself a decent amount.

The ability for this set is magic guard. It prevents in-direct damage like from a move like toxic, which poisons its target. This ability goes nicely with life orb because then it can be not be damaged by a poison/burn plus its life orb. Unfortunately, this still means it can be paralyzed and put to sleep, which could cause problems if you’re not prepared.

The final set is the revenge killer set. First, the item for this set is the focus sash. Second,the moves for this set are psychic, focus blast, HP (hidden power), fire/Ice or grass knot, and thunder wave. This move is interesting, considering I can not think of a time Alakazam really deals with a Pokémon that it needs HP fire for.

I also have a hard time thinking of a time to use grass knot, since heavy Pokémon are very bulky and Alakazam is not good with dealing with bulky Pokémon.

As for the item, focus sash isn’t that good unless, as the name of the set implies, you need some quick revenge. The focus sash allows the holder to live one attack with one HP (hit points).

This item is kind of a two-sided sword. I say this because it can be good if you need some easy damage to finish a battle; however, if you get hit, the item is used up and can’t be used again. The item is good, but only if you know how to use it.

Alakazam is my No. 1, favorite Pokémon, and so when Mega-Alakazam was announced, I had to use it. It can take hits pretty well but is not meant to be a tank in any sense. Alakazam is meant to be a fast sweeper, no matter what you put on him.

While he’s my favorite Pokémon, I will say he has his cons. A con of Alakazam is he can NOT take hits from a super-effective attack very well. If he’s hit by a bug, dark or ghost type, he’s basically done. However, he can also be built to take these hits.

Alakazam in no sense is supposed to be a switch-in to take a hit. If you’re going to send him in,  wait until your current Pokémon faints. I highly recommend Alakazam to be your either third or final Pokémon.