Elekid, Electabuzz, Electivire (SM)

Hey, did you know that Electivire's tails are meant to be wires? The more you know!

First Location: Route 12.

## Stats, Evolutions

Elekid is not too bad for a baby Pokémon. None of its stats are particularly great at this point of the game, but it's fast. Don't worry too much for Elekid, because it will evolve into 'buzz very soon, at...

...level 30. All of its stats increase, it's still as fast as ever, combined with a pretty good Special Attack stat. Its Attack stat is average. Its Special Defense is just a bit higher than its Attack. All of its other stats are bad. Electabuzz can benefit from the Eviolite, which makes its Defense decent and its Special Defense great. You may not have Electabuzz for long, because...

...you can get the Electirizer right away! There's a 5% chance that a wild Elekid (even the SOS encounter Electabuzz!) can hold the Electirizer. Teach Thief to a Pokémon, and if you see an Elekid with an item (I think the battle interface in SM can tell you if the opponent is holding an item. Not sure of that.) snatch it away with Thief and give it to Electabuzz and trade it back and forth between two Gen 7 games. For those who don't have a friend to trade with, or don't have a spare 3DS and a spare Gen 7 game, Electabuzz is still good enough to justify its existence. But for those who do, Electivire is a beast. It has lots of Attack, while most of its other stats have just increased a bit. Its speed has decreased, however. I suppose you can't be fast if you're a bulky lightning gorilla... thing. It's still pretty fast. If you don't want to waste that much time on getting that item, you can always wait until the Seafolk Village, where you can obtain the Electirizer.

## Movepool, Abilities, Typing.

If you get an Elekid under level 29, it will have Shock Wave (can paralyze), Thunder Wave (paralyzes the opponent), Electro Ball (power depends on how fast it is compared to the opponent), and Light Screen (reduces special damage). If you get it at level 29, it will have Thunder Punch instead of Shock Wave, which is better if you want it to evolve into Electivire right away due to its brutal attack stat.

Electabuzz only gets four more moves upon evolving from Elekid, Discharge at 36, Screech (lowers defense) at 42, Thunderbolt (GAW ELECTABAS! DANDEBOLT NAW! ELEBLBLBLBL!) at 49, and finally, Thunder at 55. All of those moves are great, but Screech is a better fit for Electivire because of its high attack stat.

Electivire gets the exact same moves as Electabuzz, at the exact same levels, except for Giga Impact at 62 and Electric Terrain at 65. Electric Terrain has many other properties, but most importantly it boosts Electric type attacks (shame that you get it in the post-game)

For TMs, it gets... Psychic, for some reason. Consider it at least. Brick Break is a move that Electivire appreciates better than Electabuzz. Charge Beam has a 70% of boosting its special attack. Low Sweep is appreciated by Electivire. Volt Switch makes it switch after attacking with this move. Wild Charge is one of the better moves for Electivire, being powerful, getting STAB, and being a physical attack. It does recoil, but it will hurt when used by Electivire. Giga Impact is less than essential, but Electabuzz can learn it by TM even if it doesn't evolve. Electivire gets some cool TM moves that Electabuzz doesn't get, like Earthquake, Bulldoze, Rock Slide, Flamethrower... Your choice of the TM moves depends on whether you want a physical or special attacker.

For abilities, the kid and the buzz have Static. Basically this: if you touch them, they'll paralyze you. The wire has Motor Drive, which boosts its speed when an electric attack is used on it. It's not as useful of an ability as Static, because you won't find many electric type mons in this part of the game.

Its typing, pure Electric, is decent, but it does not have much of a way of fighting ground-types, which is disappointing.

## Important Battles

ELEBLBLBLBLBLBLBLBL!!!

* Totem Mimikyu: Use Thunder Wave. I don't know if Totem Pokémon can call when they're paralyzed or asleep, but try it out. With Electabuzz, it's better because it can outspeed Haunter and Paralyzed Mimikyu.
* Nanu: Electivire can do a lot of damage with its high attack stat and has a chance to survive against the Black Hole Eclipse of Persian, but it's walled by Krokorok unless it has Low Sweep or Brick Break. Decent enough.
* Hapu: https://youtu.be/1eh9gLRFfe8
* Totem Kommo-o: Don't use it unless Electabuzz/vire has Psychic.
* Hala: Good enough, but it's better if you have Psychic.
* Olivia: Not bad, it can absolutely wreck Relicanth, but it's better as a whole if Electivire knows Brick Break.
* Acerola: Bad against Palossand and Dhelmise, and not good for Froslass. Use it against Drifblim or Sableye, otherwise don't.
* Kahili: Electivire used Thunder Punch! It's supereffective! Be wary of Mandibuzz and Bone Rush, though. Electabuzz is not much worse here.
* Kukui: Electivire can pull his own weight here, but it's better if it knows a fighting move. Then it can hit 4 of his Pokémon supereffectively. If Electivire knows Fire Punch via the relearner, and you have picked Litten as your starter, then it can singlehandedly sweep his whole team! Electabuzz can't learn fire moves, but most of the same still applies.

## Conclusion

Electivire is a Pokémon with enough good stats, but also a gigantic attack stat. The problem is that it doesn't take physical hits too well, and it lacks a bit of diversity on level up moves (Fire Punch needs relearner), but his attack stat, combined with moves like Thunder Punch and Wild Charge, will kick butt unless it's ground type butt. Electabuzz is kind of the same as its evolution, but the only aspect in which it's better is its ability. If you want an electric-type Pokémon, neither will disappoint.

Electivire rating: 81%.

Electabuzz rating: 70%.