Alolan Meowth Movesets & Competitive Sets

Moves Nasty Plot is used to set up in order to sweep an enemy team when counters are gone. STAB Dark Pulse OHKOes Slowpoke after Stealth Rock at +2 Special Attack. Technician-boosted Hidden Power Fighting hits Pawniard especially hard, as well as other Dark-types like Scraggy and Carvanha. Thunderbolt is Alolan Meowth's best third coverage option, hitting Fairy-types like Spritzee neutrally and having a nifty, though extremely unreliable, paralysis chance. Thunderbolt also hits Vullaby as well as bulky Water-types like Mareanie. Parting Shot allows Alolan Meowth to pivot when it's in danger and weakens the foe's offenses, but it makes it harder to sweep. Set Details 19 HP IVs allow Alolan Meowth to take only 1 HP of damage from Life Orb recoil. Maximum Speed is needed to outspeed threatening wallbreakers like Doduo and Gastly. Technician powers up Hidden Power Fighting, and Life Orb raises Alolan Meowth's offensive presence. 40 Special Defense EVs make Alolan Meowth less vulnerable to Croagunk's Vacuum Wave and resisted special attacks. Usage Tips Alolan Meowth's Dark Pulse and coverage moves can be used early-game to weaken switch-ins and its own checks. Hidden Power Fighting should be used to hit Dark- and Steel-types hard. As Pawniard gains +3 Attack from switching into Parting Shot, try to use Hidden Power Fighting on its switch in to avoid catastrophe. Nasty Plot should be used on forced switches, such as against Gastly and Pumpkaboo-XL, to try and sweep. It can also be used against setup bait like Slowpoke. Try not to switch Alolan Meowth directly into attacks, as it is quite frail. Instead, try to get it in safely with a slow pivot teammate. Team Options Poison Jab Timburr helps lure in and weaken Spritzee and Cottonee, which Alolan Meowth struggles with. VoltTurn users like Mienfoo and Chinchou can be used to keep up momentum and get Alolan Meowth in play. Croagunk and Foongus also beat Timburr, Mienfoo, and Spritzee, which wall Alolan Meowth. Cottonee handles most Fighting-types well enough and can use Memento for setup opportunities. Diglett with Groundium Z can pick off unsuspecting Timburr; Diglett is also able to trap and remove Cottonee with Sludge Bomb and has access to Memento for even more support.

Moves Parting Shot allows Alolan Meowth to pivot around, keeping up momentum and lowering the foe's offensive stats, while Z-Parting Shot can be used to fully heal a crucial teammate. Dark Pulse is Alolan Meowth's strongest STAB attack, OHKOing Gastly and 2HKOing Slowpoke, and Hidden Power Fighting provides decent coverage alongside Dark Pulse, hitting Dark-types super effectively and Fighting-types neutrally. Hidden Power Fighting also gets a nice boost in power from Technician. Taunt allows Alolan Meowth to prevent the use of status moves, stopping the likes of Dwebble and Surskit from setting up entry hazards and Pokemon that may use Alolan Meowth as setup bait, such as Timburr and Vullaby. Thunderbolt allows Alolan Meowth to have some offensive presence in the face of most Fairy-types and bulky Water-types like Mareanie, and it hits Vullaby as well. Set Details 200 Speed EVs and a Timid nature allow Alolan Meowth to hit its maximum Speed, outspeeding Pokemon like Doduo and Gastly. 200 Special Attack EVs give Alolan Meowth usable offensive presence, and Technician brings Hidden Power Fighting to a Base Power of 90. Darkinium Z gives access to Z-Parting Shot. The leftover EVs are invested into HP and Special Defense to make Alolan Meowth slightly bulkier. Usage Tips Alolan Meowth should be played in a hit-and-run manner, using Parting Shot when it can to keep up momentum. Z-Parting Shot should be used when a crucial teammate, such as a setup sweeper, needs its HP recovered. Parting Shot's ability to drop the foe's stats can give room for a teammate like Shellder or Scraggy to set up and sweep. If no teammates particularly need Z-Parting Shot but Alolan Meowth is about to faint, Dark Pulse can be turned into Black Hole Eclipse, which can be used as a last resort due to its damage output. Note that Z-Parting Shot only fully recovers HP and does not heal status conditions or restore PP. Z-Parting Shot also gives the opportunity for a teammate to wallbreak early-game, then come back to clean up after a heal. Be sure to use Taunt on a predicted status move, like Spore from Foongus or Stealth Rock from Onix. Since Alolan Meowth is frail, get it in with a slow U-turn or Volt Switch instead of switching it directly into attacks. Team Options Sturdy Fighting-type checks are necessary. Snubbull is a good example, as it is able to keep up offensive momentum while benefiting from Z-Parting Shot. Shellder and Tirtouga can utilize Parting Shot to set up Shell Smash. Poison Jab Timburr can lure in and remove Fairy-types for Alolan Meowth, and it can also take advantage of Parting Shot's momentum and Z-Parting Shot's recovery. Fairy-type checks such as Foongus and Pawniard can ward off the Fairy-types that Alolan Meowth is vulnerable to with their Poison- and Steel-type STAB attacks.