PokéBase - Pokémon Q&A
0 votes
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I've looked at his BST and it really doesn't impress me. Even his mega doesn't reach the big 500.
I just want to know how people use him for ingame teams.

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No one uses him for in game, only comp
It's an okay HM slave in some games.

2 Answers

2 votes

No, Sableye is not a viable option for an in-game playthrough. Its BST is a measly 380, which is lower than all the starters in their middle evolution stage. It’s almost always going to move last because of its low base speed of 50, and it’s mediocre attacking stats of 75/65 don’t help. It also doesn’t have a normal evolution, meaning you’re stuck with it until the very end of the game.

The only reason people use Sableye is for its mega evolution, which is equally bad as normal Sableye in-game because of its low speed and underwhelming offensive presense. It is viable in competitive battling thanks to its good supportive movepool, and fits well on stall teams (which isn’t really helpful in-game).

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Not to mention that most games it is obtainable in, it only appears late/post game. :P
idk about that
1 vote

Not entirely true, X-Scizor.

In a select few games, Sableye is a good temporary choice for your team.

In Sapphire, Emerald, and Alpha Sapphire (you can't find it in Ruby or Omega Ruby, you get Mawile instead), Sableye can be found in Granite Cave. Now, granted, its base stats are no higher than 75, but at around level 10-12 when you catch it, that's super nice. It comes with Night Shade, which at point of capture will do more damage than most (if not all) of your team's other attacks.

But that's not what makes it so sought after - it's immune to everything in Brawly's Fighting-type Gym in Dewford Town. That's what makes you able to so easily walk over him and not break a single drop of sweat in that part of the game. Also, a lot of the moves in the early part of the game are just Normal-type, which it's immune to. Even up to Lavaridge Town, all you have to do is run Flannery's damn Torkoal out of Overheats and you can wall it to death because the only other move it gets is Body Slam. (This doesn't work in AS, I think it knows Flame Burst or something.)

As you get past the fifth gym (Petalburg City, which has an easier time beating Sableye than you might expect), Sableye's ingame viability starts to wane and I start to look for other options, mostly because of reasons X-Scizor already explained.

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I don't know about AS, but in S and E the Torkoal has a white herb and can use overheat twice at regular power. It's usually easier to use a fire resist and tank the overheats than to sacrifice a bunch of teammates in order to use Sableye.
No, trust me, it is definitely not easier. Torkoal says "that tickles" to Combusken's double kick boasting that 140 base defense, and it also knows Sunny Day. Its Overheat will do an astonishing amount of damage to it, while Combusken's barely scratches that tortoise shell.

The only other fire options you get to that point are Slugma and Numel. Slugma is absolutely garbage and has no chance of standing up to Torkoal. Numel can put a dent in it, but it doesn't last very long - iirc a Sunny Day Overheat typically OHKOs it, and if not, a couple Body Slams will do you in pretty quickly before you can do any meaningful amount of damage.
You do realize that more than 3 Pokemon resist fire, right?

0 SpA [level 29] Torkoal Overheat vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD [level 29] Marshtomp: 28-33 (31.8 - 37.5%) -- 86.8% chance to 3HKO
0 Atk [level 29] Marshtomp Mud Shot vs. 0 HP / 0 Def [level 29] Torkoal: 25-30 (28.4 - 34%) -- 1.1% chance to 3HKO
You shouldn't assume that Mudkip was the starter chosen. You also said "fire resist", which can mean multiple things.
“Fire resist” means a Pokemon that resists fire. So water, fire, rock, etc.
0 SpA [level 29] Torkoal Overheat vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD [level 29] Azumarill: 26-31 (25.7 - 30.6%) -- guaranteed 4HKO
0 SpA [level 29] Azumarill Bubble Beam vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD [level 29] Torkoal: 32-38 (36.3 - 43.1%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
Sure, that's a good one.

But with Sableye, you can avoid the risk of paralysis bull$#*! from Body Slam, because you're immune to it.

I've never owned something that could tank overheats in this game, evidently. Because even Geodude would get bodied when I used him.
I did, i got my friend to trade me over a tympole near the start. The palpitoad took the overheats.
@sumwun-I actually chose treeko