Pokémon’s third generation of games brought along some of the most popular creatures in the entire series and many fans still hold these Pokémon in a special place in their hearts. One of the most recognizable Pokémon from Ruby & Sapphire is Gardevoir for its unique humanoid form, striking colors, general design, and powerful battle prowess.

Gardevoir really took off during the sixth generation with the introduction of Mega Evolution, as its Mega Form landed it as a solid high-tier battler. Now that Sword & Shield have brought along new moves, strategies, and Dynamaxing, we’re here to simplify Gardevoir’s movesets choices for competitive Pokémon battles.

10 GREAT: Choice Specs

This moveset is taken from Smogon’s Gardevoir strategy page and is likely one of the best possible movesets for the Pokémon. Choice Specs are a held item that increases the holder’s Special Attack by 1.5x in exchange for only being able to use one move.

In Gardevoir’s case, pairing a Choice Specs with Moonblast, Psyshock, Mystical Fire, and Trick or Psychic creates a powerful special sweeper that is able to down most Pokémon in a single hit or two. Its Special Attack stat was already extremely high, but maximizing EVs in Sp. Atk and Speed ensure a decently fast heavy hitter. Along with Trace to copy the enemy’s useful abilities, this moveset can become quite scary.

9 AWFUL: Physical Attacker

There’s a reason that Kirlia evolves into two different forms, after all. Gallade is meant to be the physical attacker, while Gardevoir has a focus on special attacks, so giving Gardevoir a physical moveset will lead to just about nowhere.

Its physical attacks include Body Slam, Zen Headbutt, the elemental Punches, and a few other common ones. The only exception to using physical attacks with Gardevoir would be the use of Shadow Sneak, as it’s a priority move that usually goes first regardless of Speed stats, and can sometimes be used to clutch out a KO.

8 GREAT: Choice Scarf

This moveset is, again, taken from Smogon University’s website, and is one of the best options for Gardevoir. Another Choice item is seen here, but now shifts Gardevoir’s focus to out-speeding opponents rather than hitting them as hard as possible.

In exchange for only being able to use the first move selected, Choice Scarfs boost Speed by 1.5x. Its attacks are Psychic, Moonblast, Trick or Mystical Fire, and Healing Wish. This moveset gives a lot of utility with both powerful attacking moves and Trick to gain control of the battle flow, or Healing Wish to patch up a more important Pokémon.

7 AWFUL: Status Infliction

Gardevoir has access to status inflicting moves such as Toxic, Will-O-Wisp, and Thunder Wave. Status moves are indeed some of the most important aspects of a Pokémon battle, but other Pokémon are far better suited for it than Gardevoir is.

To get the most out of these moves, Gardevoir would have to be holding something like a Choice Scarf in order to not get out-sped and wiped out from its poor defenses. As was mentioned before, there are just so many better options to be paired with a choice scarf and loads of other party members that handle status effects much better.

6 GREAT: Calm Mind

Calm Mind is a deadly tool in the hands of Special Attack specialists like Gardevoir, and when effectively used in the middle of a battle, it can create an absolute powerhouse. Calm Mind raises both the user’s Sp. Atk and Sp. Def, which are the two highest stats that Gardevoir has.

If the opponent doesn’t have immediate access to physical attacks to take down Gardevoir, she turns into a Specially Defensive tank and sweeper with attacks like Psychic and Moonblast. To aid the need to spend a turn using Calm Mind, a defensive item like a Kasib Berry or Babiri Berry can help Gardevoir survive.

5 AWFUL: Trick Room

When looking at Gardevoir’s stat spread, it may seem like a good idea to have it focus on Trick Room, as its base speed is below average compared to most other Special Attackers. However, especially in Sword & Shield, there are far better Pokémon that are just simply better at using Trick Room.

In order for Gardevoir to be good with it, she’ll need a speed-lowering item that may or may not make it slower than the opponent. A Pokémon like Hatterene has far less Speed and basically has the same Special Attack, so there’s no reason to give it to Gardevoir instead. Gardevoir’s counters also consist of a lot of Steel-Types, which already tend to be slower than it in the first place.

4 GREAT: Doubles Moveset

Gardevoir seems like it was built to be used in doubles battles, and it works well with a ton of other Pokémon. The most obvious choice for an ability, in this case, would be Telepathy, as it allows it to take no damage from the adjacent party member.

In this case, moves like Surf and Earthquake can be safely used without worrying about needing an item like an Air Balloon or Absorb Bulb on Gardevoir. Aside from Telepathy, just about any moveset can be used for doubles, but ones that include Screens, Trick, or Magic Coat do well in double battles.

3 AWFUL: Taunt

Giving Gardevoir Taunt is like having a shield made of glass; it doesn’t work. Sure, Gardevoir can make use of it, but it entirely defeats the purpose of a lot of its general gameplan. First, the ability Synchronize inflicts the same status onto the opponent that is inflicted onto Gardevoir, which is usually the better option anyways.

Taunt users are also usually faster Pokémon, and wasting a Choice Scarf on a Taunt is a lot of missed potential. Also, given Gardevoir’s poor Defense, forcing the opponent to only use attacking moves can heavily backfire and essentially make Gardevoir shoot itself in the foot.

2 GREAT: Mega Gardevoir

If you can’t get over the riddance of Megas from Sword & Shield, here’s a great moveset for Mega Gardevoir. Mega Gardevoir is the definition of a Special Attacking powerhouse, as its Sp. Atk stat is boosted to an astonishing base 165, with a great boost to Sp. Def and Speed as well.

Its new ability, Pixilate, turns Normal-type moves into Fairy ones while boosting their power by 1.2x, making attacks like Hyper Voice become a real threat. Any other of Gardevoir’s STAB attacks are a great choice here, and the boost in Speed actually allows for previously sub-par moves like Taunt to become viable options.

1 AWFUL: Wonder Room

Like with Trick Room, Gardevoir just isn’t really cut out for a terrain-based moveset. Wonder Room switches the Defense and Sp. Def stats of all Pokémon on the battlefield. This sounds great and all, being able to patch-up Gardevoir’s horrendous Defense, but it also greatly hinders its offensive potential.

Gardevoir does best against opponents with a low Sp. Def, meaning that switching the defenses around will often leave Gardevoir at a deficit when trying to attack. This move is better suited for Pokémon with good stats in both Attack and Sp. Atk, which Gardevoir just isn’t built for.

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