Alakazam or Malamar?

Question

I’m trying to decide on a good psychic type Pokémon for Ultra Sun and I’ve narrowed it down to either alakazam or malamar. Now, alakazam, if I do choose it, won’t be my Mega. I’m actually saving that for a different Pokémon that honestly needs it.

So. Alakazam has one of the highest speed and special attack stats in the game, even if neither of them are the best. Unfortunately, he can’t take any amount of hits.

Malamar, on the other hand, is a strong physical attacker and I would plan to use its Topsy-Turvy as an anti-sweeper instead of a sweeper itself. Let me know which one I should pick.

Answer 1

Honestly, I would choose Alakazam over Malamar, because Alakazam has higher stats, and has less weaknesses. Well, kinda. And yes, it is speedy and a very powerful Special Attacker. Malamar is 4x weak against bug moves, and the fact that most bug types can out speed Malamar is horrifying. Here's a moveset for Alakazam

Alakazam @Life Orb
Ability-Magic Guard
EVS: 252 Sp. Att/252 Spe./4 Sp. Def
Timid Nature (-Attack, +Speed)
-Psychic
-Shadow Ball
-Calm Mind
-Energy Ball

NOTE: In-game Alakazam
(Not for competitive)

Hope this helped you made your decision :)

Comments

um. can it NOT have Hidden Power? Abra is a very early Pokemon and I don't wanna risk taking one throughout the whole game just to realize it learns the wrong type of HP. So with this in mind, is there a substitute for hidden power?

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replace Hidden Power for focus blast, or energy ball

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wouldn't dazzling gleam be a more reliable dark-counter than focus-miss? Sorry if Im bothering...

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it's ok, and yes, however it's only good in double battes, and energy ball has 90 power. I can see your point about dazzling gleam against dark types, however it has an okay power. It's your decision. I prefer energy ball

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Alakazam is good, however, I got through my UM play-through with Malamar just fine. Both are viable options in my opinion. Btw, unless you can trade, you might not be able to get Alakazam, and you won't have mega stones (or a mega ring) until completing the story-line.

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the needing of a dark type depends on your rest team though...