PokéBase - Pokémon Q&A
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Pros and cons of each ability, along with which you recommend.

Thanks!

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What do you want to do with this Meowth?
I specifically didn't state what I wish to do with the Meowth so I can get opinions on both sides.

2 Answers

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Best answer

Technician:

Pros:

  • With STAB and Technician, Meowth's Fake Out (90 Power) is the strongest Fake Out in LC.
  • It raises up the power of Meowth's Aerial Ace to 90, it greatly benefits Meowth. So Meowth can KO Mienfoo, Timburr, and Snivy.
  • With Life Orb, Technician boosted moves are super strong.
  • Meowth is a excellent revenge killer with Technician boosted Fake Out + Feint.
    -Nasty Plot + Water Pulse + Round + Icy Wind set hits hard with Technician.

Cons:

  • Can't steal opponent's item like Pickup.
  • Although it has Technician, its offensive stats are too weak, only 45 and 40.

Pickup:

Pros:

  • After its item is used, it can steal Berry Juice to fully heal itself.
  • It can steal items from opponent, so it doesn't need Knock Off.

Cons:

  • It can't run Life Orb anymore, and Meowth's attack is too low without Life Orb.
  • Pickup Meowth can't defeat Mienfoo and Onix.
  • It may steal some items it doesn't want, for example Choice items.

Meowth is not a great Pokemon to use, since its offensive stats aren't very good, so I recommend Technician.

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edited by
I don't think that Pickup allows your Pokemon to steal items from the opponent. It just allows the Pokemon to receive the item the opponent has after they have consumed it, assuming that the item is consumable.
What is Fake Powe?
2 votes

If you're using this for in-game, then it depends on the game. Pickup is the best option in FRLG because it's the only option. In HGSS, a technician Meowth will evolve into a technician Persian, and a pickup Meowth will evolve into a limber Persian. A technician Persian can use a technician-boosted faint attack whenever you want, and a limber Persian can only use its ability when the opponent happens to have a paralyzing move, so technician is more useful in HGSS. In SMUSM, a pickup Meowth will evolve into a fur coat Persian, and fur coat and technician are both good abilities, so I tried asking for help on Smogon.

I'd say it depends on whether you want extra bulk or to have more power. Technician is obviously the most useful ability before evolving, as you don't even have access to Fur coat then and a Technician boosted STAB Bite is very powerful early on. But it won't take long until technician bite is underpowered thanks to Alolan Meowth and persians low attack stats, so if you wanna use Alolan persian in the late game, I'd recommend putting Fur coat on it, so it can better use some more utility moves before going down.
Keep in mind that Persian doesn't get access to many good special moves until very late into the game, like it doesn't get Dark Pulse until level 55, and that's only if you keep meowth unevolved until then. You can get the TM for Dark Pulse on Poni coast, but that's far into the post game.

So this is why pickup is the better ability in SMUSM. Also, pickups are lighter and easier to drive than regular trucks.

If you already beat the main storyline and now you want to do some item farming, then you should use pickup because technician doesn't give you items.

Okay, now this part is about competitive battling. This is one of the very, very rare situations where a team building problem is easier to solve when it's in a competitive context. Pickup is situational. Technician is not situational. Therefore pickup is bad and technician is good.

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edited by
.....?
You said you wanted opinions on both sides...
That is not really what I meant by both sides, but thank you for your opinion.