Day 43: Meowscarada

(BGM: Naranja Academy from Scarlet & Violet)

Lyra: Yo, WildCard.

Me: What's up?

Lyra: You really haven't talked about a Pokemon from Paldea in a while.

Me: By a while I'm sure you mean at least a couple of days. I mean, I'm sure I must've dedicated a day to a Paldean Pokemon about two, three, maybe five days ago?

Lyra: Try twenty.

Me: Vaulting Veluza! It's been that long?!

Lyra: Uh, yeah!

Me: I'm going to find me a Paldean Pokemon right now. (Leaves)

Lyra: Yeah, you do that.

So, it's been a while since we talked about a Pokemon from Paldea, hasn't it? Bet you all thought I was done singing Generation 9's praises when it comes to their Pokemon roster, eh? Well, guess again, because I'm just getting started! In these remaining eight entries to this marathon, there will be two more Paldea Pokemon making an appearance. And the first of these two happens to be not only Paldea's Grass-type starter, but also my favorite Grass-type starter overall.

Hope those of you reading are a fan of magic, because it's time to talk about Meowscarada!

(Insert Meowscarada cry here)

(BGM: Nemona's Battle Theme from Scarlet & Violet)

I remember all of the memes about Sprigatito when he was announced, and how everyone was hoping that his final evolved form involved him staying on his four legs. On that note, it is kind of weird how most cat/catlike Pokemon evolve into two-legged creatures. But hey, I'm not complaining, most of those Pokemon are awesome, and Meowscarada is no exception.

Somebody at Game Freak must've been playing all nighters of Persona 5 while designing this thing. Seriously, look at him! He's like if Ren/Joker became a furry and somehow kicked even more ass!

Me: And something's telling me I've ruined Persona 5 for a lot of people by saying that.

Lyra: Assuming you didn't ruin Persona 5 already with your surprisingly large collection of fanfics. Also, you make a Persona 5 comparison…and you don't compare this catlike Pokemon to Morgana.

Me: Low hanging fruit.

So, I'm already sold on Meowscarada based on his mysterious, magician-like appearance alone. But here's the rub; he's a Grass-Dark, meaning that while he's immune to Psychic types he's weak to a total of seven other types, that being Fire, Fairy, Bug (which Meowscarada is quadruple weak to), Poison, Fighting, Ice, and Flying.

By all accounts, this should be a huge turn off for me and it should get Meowscarada to at least Top 30. So, why is Meowscarada so high up? Well, other than looking fabulously badass, Meowscarada's stats and movepool work around these weaknesses.

Meowscarada might not be the most defensive Pokemon, but his Speed stat totals at 123, and his Physical Attack stat totals at 110, meaning that he can move fast and hit hard, likely knocking out most opponents with a well placed move.

As for Meowscarada's moves, he can learn Fighting moves like Brick Break, Aura Sphere, and Low Sweep to deal with Ice Types

Thunder Punch for dealing with Flying types

Aerial Ace and Acrobatics to fight Bug and Fighting types

And even though Meowscarada's Special Attack stat isn't anything too special, you have the option of teaching him Power Gem or Chilling Water to deal with Fire types.

With all of this in mind, Meowscarada really only has to worry about fighting any Poison or Fairy types.

And while the moves I just mentioned are great, I have yet to bring up some of Mewoscarada's other moves like Shadow Ball, U-Turn, Night Slash, Seed Bomb, Play Rough, Shadow Claw, Dark Pulse, Magical Leaf, and Leaf Storm.

But they all pale in comparison to Meowscarada's signature move, Flower Trick. This Physical Grass move that has 70 power, never misses, and always manages to land a critical hit! Easily Meowscarada's best move and probably my favorite Grass-type move in the whole series.

And finally, we come to Meowscarada's abilities. By now we should know that Grass starters have Overgrow, making it so Meowscarada's grass type moves gain more power the less health he has, but then there's his hidden ability which he rips straight from Greninja. I'm of course talking about Protean, which changed Meowscarada's type based on the last move he used; a very mystifying ability for a magician Pokemon if I do say so myself. Not only that, but Protean is another reason why Meowscarada's 'meh' defenses and large number of weaknesses don't bother me that much; you can change his type to your liking.

Believe it or not, this was actually going to be a shared entry with the other two Paldea starters. But, to be honest, as time went on I found myself gravitating towards Meowscarada more, and at the end of it all I can confidently say that Meowscarada is Paldea's best starter Pokemon and the best Grass-type starter we have so far.

Come what may with the Generation 10 starters, I'm just calling it right now, the grass starter for that generation isn't going to be anywhere near as awesome as this.