Introduction
Pretty much wherever you look, fairy types are good. No matter what tier, what gen (after 6), the inherent value the type brings is priceless. But in this meta, there’s only one way to use a fairy type, and it’s a 431 BST Pikaclone. And yet, against all odds, the usefulness of the type is enough that Dedenne has a completely unique and valuable niche in this month’s 35 Pokes.
Abilities
Dedenne is famous among its connoisseurs for being a ‘mon with no ability, since a lot of its abilities don’t have an application in most games. But the one that can be useful, albeit only with specific items, is Cheek Pouch. Berries are a good subset of items with a variety of uses, and Cheek Pouch allows Dedenne to, in addition to whatever use a Berry may have, gain a small burst of longevity. While 25% may not seem like much, it can allow for being much more comfortable taking on some of the weaker priority users, like Sucker Punch Bombirdier, Sucker Punch or Shadow Sneak Dusknoir, or Sucker Punch Raticate. Also, despite what the description of the Ability says, when Dedenne uses a resist berry (like Chilan, Shuca, Kebia), the 25% healing comes before the halved damage, allowing you to take on certain threats even with a little bit of rock chip.
Items
Choice Specs is almost universally agreed to be the best item, due to its ability to turn an admittedly mediocre 81 Special Attack into a force to be reckoned with thanks to a good STAB combo and speed tier. However, just because it’s the best set doesn’t mean it's the only good set. Salacc or Petaya Berry are both offensive Berry options that allow Dedenne to make use of its ability while still packing a punch, with Salacc in particular being able to afford Modest due to outspeeding Dragon Dance Kingdra at +1. For similar reasons, Choice Scarf is another useful pick, due to needing no setup to have that speed tier. Getting into more niche territory, Chilan Berry is specific but a fantastic way to patch up an offensive Cyclizar weakness when you don’t want the Choice Scarf lock, and the 25% healing coming first makes that even more consistent for that purpose. Life Orb and Expert Belt are probably the least viable of the usable options, but they have their use in helping hit a little harder without getting low or locking into one move.
Moves
No matter what set you’re running, if your Dedenne doesn’t have Dazzling Gleam, you’re doing something wrong. But in terms of other options, it has a surprising amount of versatility. Grass Knot is the other semi-mandatory move, because even on sets that can hit Donphan hard with Dazzling Gleam, the ability to hit grounds with a powerful super effective move cannot be understated. On choice sets, you absolutely want either Volt Switch or U-Turn, depending on whether you have a reliable switchin to ground types that would come in on Volt. Thunderbolt/Discharge/Rising Voltage are also a huge part of choice sets, allowing you to pressure Tentacruel, Arcanine, and even the likes of Dusknoir and Type Null with Rising Voltage. But non choiced sets, while they still enjoy these moves, can make use of a move that is quite rare to see on most pokemon: Charge Beam. This allows Salacc sets to make up for their lack of power, Petaya sets to become even more powerful, and just generally gives Dedenne a setup option that can snowball relatively quickly. Draining Kiss is another low BP move these sets enjoy running, due to providing even more longevity, and the combination of the two can more than make up for the low power of both, although they are still paired with Dazzling Gleam if needed. Dedenne does have a nice utility movepool, with Nuzzle, Super Fang, and even Recycle if you’re feeling funny, but the opportunity cost of not being able to use offensive Dedenne, or even losing moves on it, is usually not worth it.
Teams/Teammates
Solar Blade Crustle is a phenomenal pairing with choiced or really any Dedenne, as it baits and removes the ground types that, even with Grass Knot, certainly annoy Dedenne to no end. Raticate is another good pairing with it, as it can break the pokemon like Type Null and Dusknoir that most Dedenne admittedly struggle with. On structures that utilize a lot of pivot moves as well as Electric Terrain teams, a good switchin to Gastrodon and Donphan is essential, a role that Dipplin fills extremely well, but which can also be fulfilled by pokemon like Chimecho or even your own physdef Gastrodon. Any knock user to remove boots and, most importantly, remove Type Null’s Eviolite, is much appreciated, with Tentacruel being a great pick as it Knocks Off, removes hazards to let Dedenne come in easier, and even comes in on full health Exploud trying to be cheeky since it lives any one hit from Dedenne. And of course, Pincurchin is a very useful pairing, because Electric Terrain allows Rising Voltage spam, which makes Dedenne go from strong to nuclear.
Summary
Dedenne is a fantastic fast attacker this meta, with admittedly subpar bulk, but it finds its strength in speedily firing off strong stab moves and pivoting.
All of the possible sets, from real to… less so
Written by Quacklord