Bellsprout, Weepinbell, Victreebel (SM)

A sassy flower.

Location: Route 5 (Island Scan on Friday)

## Stats, Evolutions

Bellsprout has attacking stats on both sides to spare, but a gentle pat on the head and it keels over. It's not fast either, so it's easy to defeat.

It evolves into Weepinbell at level 21, just five levels after you get it. It still has the same stat distribution. Ugh.

Weepinbell evolves into Victreebel when you expose it to a Leaf Stone, which you can get in Konikoni City. Its 70 speed is actually decent in Alola, and with its 80 base HP, it can stand hits as long as they are not powerful or super effective. It hits hard, but it has mediocre defenses.

## Movepool, Abilities, Typing

Its unique move is Acid Spray. It has very little power, but it always decreases the enemy's special defense by two stages, which makes it a very spammable move. Shame that Bellsprout can't really take advantage of it because it's slow and rather frail. The only other move worth of note is Sleep Powder. If Sprout somehow survives a hit, he can follow up with Sleep Powder and then spam Acid Spray, but it's very risky. A level later, it gets Stun Spore, which you can also use with Acid Spray spam.

After evolving, the only worthy move it gets is Knock Off at 29, which gets a boost in power if the opponent is holding an item and disables it. Even then, I'd say that Machamp is the better Knock Off user. You have two choices, either you hold it off until you get Knock Off, or just evolve it right away.

If you take that approach, you won't be disappointed at all. Upon evolving, it gets Leaf Tornado of all things. It gets Leaf Storm at level 32 as a Victreebel, an attack with a staggering 130 power, but it has 90% accuracy and lowers the user's special attack. Combines really well with an use of Acid Spray. The last move it gets is Leaf Blade at 44, which has high power and a high chance of a critical.

TMs? Quite the options. Toxic + Venoshock, Sunny Day (which also boosts its speed thanks to its ability Chlorophyll) + Solar Beam, Sludge Bomb, Poison Jab and Grass Knot. Problem? It doesn't get many coverage moves.

Chlorophyll doubles its speed under the sun. It can get Sunny Day, but it's a buyable, expensive TM move. Victreebel needs that speed boost though.

Its type is Grass/Poison. It has four weaknesses but five resistances, it's not the best typing on either side of the line but it's decent either way.

## Important Battles

Evolve it for Wishiwashi. Weepinbell outspeeds Wishiwashi (but not Alomomola) and resists Water Gun. Spam Acid Spray. Also works well against Lurantis￼, make sure that Weepinbell gets a chance to use Acid Spray at least twice. Rely on raw power to beat Olivia the first time. Vikavolt and Mimikyu are no, everything is good for Nanu, Hapu's Flygon and Dugtrio outspeed Victreebel (good for Gastrodon tho), Kommo-o destroys it, and against the Elite Four it's good for Hala and Olivia only.

## Conclusion

The best thing about mixed attackers (with both attacking stats at a high rate) is that you can slap any attack on them without much worry, since they specialize in both attacking stats and therefore can put any attack to good use. The problem? They often leave little room for other stats, making them slow and frail. For example: Victreebel. While Victreebel and its bell guys have quite the advantage against slow Pokémon (especially those with a type disadvantage), they struggle against most other things, as they're a bit slow and lacking in defenses. While Alola is full of slow Pokémon, 70 speed is still a mediocre speed stat. Its movepool almost saves it, it starts off with many helpful (if inaccurate) status moves, as well as immediate access to Acid Spray, a potentially devastating move, and later on it gets Knock Off, a very valuable attack on totem battles, and if you evolve into Victreebel early you have access to Leaf Storm and Leaf Blade later on. And its TM movepool is not the most varied nor the widest but it has a lot of nice options. It's a shame that it's slow and fragile. Redistribute some of its Base Points to its speed, and this thing is viable. Yes it can boost speed under the sun with Chlorophyll but Sunny Day is a expensive TM move and it's risky.

Rating: 49%