Introduction
Inteleon is one of, if not THE most versatile pokemon this month, despite its shallow movepool. At 120 base speed, it is the fourth fastest pokemon in the tier, only outclassed by Ribombee, Swellow, and public enemy number 1: Barraskewda. Inteleon works best in a glass cannon role, using its 125 base special attack to tear through opposing pokemon before they have the chance to hit back. Its bulk leaves much to be desired. Pure water-typing isn’t great, as it hits only 6 pokemon for super effective damage, but it gets boosted by rain, which is popular this month.
Abilities
They are…. mediocre at best. Let’s go over them The first one is Torrent, the standard ability for every water starter. This boosts the power of water-type attacks by 1.5 times when Inteleon’s health goes below 33%, which could result in an additional KO, and it does boost the +1 priority Aqua Jet, but it puts itself in risk of dying to an opposing priority move. The second, “Hidden” ability is Sniper, which boosts the Critical Hits power by an additional 1.5 times (which results in Critical Hits dealing 2.25X damage). Since Critical hits have only 1/24 chance to happen, Sniper isn’t applied much, except for some specific sets, which we shall talk about later. Both abilities are underwhelming at best, but the choice of them is in the user's hand.
Items
Choice Specs are a great option, as the downside of being locked into a move isn’t as crippling given Inteleon’s shallow movepool. Choice Band is good for catching opposing players off-guard in order to KO important specially defensive walls, like Goodra. Choice Scarf allows Inteleon to outspeed typical Swellow and Ribombee sets as well as the commonly-seen Choice Scarf Mienshao. Life Orb is another great way to increase the Lizard’s (Inteleon) damage output, and it doesn’t miss out on many damage thresholds that choice items have, however losing 1/10 of it’s health after every attack leaves it vulnerable to priority, mainly Sucker Punch Inteleon sometimes utilizes the Scope Lens on Sniper sets, making critical hits land more reliably. Loaded Dice allows Icicle Spear to always 2HKO Nidoking, Venusaur, and specially defensive Goodras. Sets that use Loaded Dice can often spare an attack slot for Ice Beam, which always 2HKOs a Physically defensive tangrowth, even with Adamant/Jolly nature. Leftovers, while seemingly underwhelming, have been used successfully in high-ladder play.
Moves
Inteleon’s movepool may appear shallow, but what little it does get is just enough to be viable in the current metagame. Inteleon is also blessed with great pivot options, those being Flip Turn and U-turn. Flip Turn is better for overall damage into most targets, but can be blocked by Water Absorb Politoed and deals less damage against common defensive switch ins such as Tangrowth and Venusaur. Acrobatics and Scale Shot are niche options for punishing Knock Off users and boosting speed respectively. Facade can be used to prevent burns (typically from Cofagrigus) from fully crippling the lizard, and there are three(!) priority options it can use: Sucker Punch, Ice Shard, and Aqua Jet. Fell Stinger is a surprisingly good way to boost one’s attack but requires setup, typically in the form of prior chip damage or entry hazards.On the Special Side, the lizard has its signature move, Snipe Shot, an 80 Base Power move with a high critical ratio (1/8). If gambling for a critical hit isn’t desired, Hydro Pump, Surf and Scald are good alternatives for special STAB. If Inteleon is used on a rain team, it may be a good idea to use Weather Ball for the increased base power compared to Surf or increased accuracy compared to Hydro Pump. . For coverage, Ice Beam can be used to hit grass and dragon resists, Dark Pulse or Shadow Ball if Cofagrigus is causing problems, and Air Slash for the few bugs we have (however, Air Cutter can be used for it’s high critical hit ratio on scope lens sets). The lizard also gets Vacuum wave as a form of special priority. Inteleon also gets a couple of good status moves, like Agility and Swords Dance to boost itself, however use of those isn’t generally recommended given how frail Inteleon is. Substitute and Protect have been used by the player Tresza in conjunction with Leftovers to help Inteleon’s longevity. Reflect and Light Screen can be used to help other pokemon set up, and Taunt can be used to prevent opposing setup. The only option to boost the lizards special attack is Work Up, which while not great, is worth mentioning. But where it truly gets interesting is Focus Energy, which boosts the critical hit chance by 2 stages, meaning now the chance for a critical hit is immediately boosted to 50%. That chance also stacks with other critical hit chance boosts, like Scope Lens or a move with high crit ratio, resulting in a 100% crit rate. And while Inteleon can’t abuse that crit rate as well as last month’s Kingdra, it still packs quite a punch because of the ability Sniper, and could be considered the Lizard’s best set.
Noteworthy Opponents
There are a couple of pokemon that Inteleon cannot break through by itself. On the special side, that includes: Goodra, which is incredibly tanky, and has access to rest, which downside can be negated by using rain. It can also threaten Inteleon with Thunder/Thunderbolt/Draco Meteor. Empoleon, which cannot be broken by standard Inteleon sets, and still causes problems even if the set can muscle through it. It also causes problems for the physical set Hitmontop with Assault Vest, which threatens OHKO with Close Combat. Inteleon needs flying coverage on the crit set to be able to deal with it, which isn’t common. Frosmoth, similar to Hitmontop, walls Inteleon except for the crit set with Flying coverage, however Frosmoth is barely used as the meta favors physical attackers. Pokemon that cause problems to Inteleon on the physical side include: Tangrowth, which is incredibly tanky, has Giga Drain to OHKO the Lizard, Knock Off to hinder it and Regenerator to leave the interaction unscathed. Cofagrigus, which will survive every attack you have, take away your ability, and 2HKO with Body Press. Skarmory, it will heal off every attack you hit it with, set up 3 layers of spikes, and once again, 2HKO you with Body Press. An Honorary mention goes to Drednaw, as it’s the only pokemon with the ability Shell Armor, which partially shuts down the “Critteleon” set. It is also worth mentioning Barraskewda, Swellow, and Ribombee, which can easily outspeed and OHKO the lizard with Close Combat, Boomburst, and Moonblast respectively, as well as Lokix with First Impression.
Noteworthy Teammates
For how much trouble it causes, Goodra can help with getting rid of opposing walls, whether by Electric moves or STAB Draco Meteor. Heatmor has a similar use, it can spam Choice Specs boosted Overheat to get rid of opposing Steel and Grass types. Raichu can help in a similar way as Goodra, getting rid of water types and Skarmory, with the additional bonus of helping Inteleon get into position with Volt Switch. Similarly, Claydol can use teleport as a slow pivot, as well as set up Stealth Rock to chip opposing pokemon down, which can help Inteleon clean up or get a KO with Fell Stinger. Other pokemon that can help by stacking hazards are Skarmory and even Carbink by setting up Spikes, however the latter faces problems from similar mons as Inteleon. And lastly, Politoed is a great teammate, boosting the power of the Lizards water mover by an additional 50% with Drizzle summoning rain.
Written by Aryecki
Quality Checked by Typhon
Grammar Posed by Typhon & Belle