TAPU KOKO STRATEGY IN COMPETITIVE POKÉMON

In the seventh generation, Competitive Pokémon received four legendaries that would determine the metagame: The Tapu. These Pokémon, inspired by Hawaiian culture, changed the way the field works in Competitive thanks to their abilities. Also, being Legendary Pokémon and all having a great combination of types, we are looking at great Pokémon to include in any team.

Today we bring you the competitive guide of the excellent Electric Pokémon Tapu Koko , a beast that will be great for your teams thanks to its versatility and great offensive power.

? TAPU KOKO STATS

His stats add up to a total of 570 points , a bit low for a legendary (as is often the case with minor legendaries), although the cast is very good:

• Health: 70.
• Attack: 115.
• Defense: 85.
• Special Attack: 95.
• Special Defense: 75.
• Speed: 130.

Tapu Koko’s best stat is its Speed, which allows it to attack before many Pokémon. Both of its Attack stats are very good, allowing us to use both of them on viable sets. However, his 70 Health is somewhat low and his Defenses, despite not being very low, do not cover this weakness enough, something that we must take into account.

TYPE, RESISTANCES AND WEAKNESSES

Tapu Koko is an Electric Fairy type , which gives it the following weaknesses and resistances:

• He is immune to Dragon.
• It is resistant to Electric, Fighting, Flying, Bug and Dark.
• It is weak to Poison and Earth.

Its excellent typing gives it 5 resistances and one immunity. Especially important are those resistances to other Electric and Dark Types.

Against Dragons the safe change that immunity gives us is fantastic and then we will be faster almost always.

And now we go with its weaknesses:

• Earth : If we do not carry the Acardo Berry (below we explain its operation better) it is the most common type of cover that can harm us. Special attention to Garchomp .
• Poison : Even being a rare type, we must be careful, especially due to its presence in coverage movements. Special watch out for Venusaur .

TAPU KOKO’S ABILITIES

Let’s now see his abilities and which ones could become interesting:

ELECTROGENESIS

This is Tapu Koko’s best ability and the one we will always use. When entering the field, it generates an Electric Field for 5 turns (if we carry ground covers as an object, it will be 8). This field affects all Pokémon except Flying-type Pokémon that have the ability Levitate or have the Helium Balloon equipped. All Pokémon affected by the field will have their Electric moves boosted by 50% and cannot be put to sleep.

TELEPATHY

This ability makes the Pokémon immune to attacks caused by allied Pokémon in double and triple battles.

IVS, EVS AND NATURE

The perfect Iv’s, and we will see that for the EV’s we will vary depending on their function

For the more defensive or support version :

• EV’s : We will boost his life and speed to the maximum, placing the remaining 5 points in one of his defenses.
• Nature : Fearful will be the perfect nature to improve his Speed, lowering his Attack (statistic that we will not use if we go support).

For a more offensive version :

• EV’s : The already standard 252 in Attack that we use (Attack or Special Attack), 252 in Speed ​​and 4 in Health.
• Nature : We will carry Fearful Nature (+Speed. -Attack) in the Special Attack set and Happy Nature (+Speed, -Special Attack) in the Physical Attack set.

RECOMMENDED ITEM

These are the items we recommend for Tapu Koko:

• Choice Glasses : Increases Special Attack by 50% in exchange for forcing us to only be able to use one move. (Only for a Special Attack set.)
• Acardo Berry : It will halve the damage of the first Earth-type attack we receive, especially important against Pokémon like Garchomp, Heatran and Gastrodon.
• Lifesphere : Increases the damage produced by 30% and damages our Pokémon for 10% of its life. A great alternative to still have high damage and retain versatility.
• Reflection : Increases the duration of Screen of Light, Reflection, and Aurora Veil from 5 to 8 turns. For the support set it is a great option.
• Election Scarf : Increases the Pokémon’s Speed ​​by 50%, but forces us to use only one movement. Although Tapu Koko is a very fast Pokémon, we will use this item to surprise Pokémon that carry this same item or are faster, such as Dragapult or Togekiss .

BEST MOVES FOR TAPU KOKO

The movements that I recommend the most for Tapu Koko:

• Lightning : STAB Electric, Special, 90 power and 95% accuracy, with a 10% chance to paralyze the target and that will be boosted by our electric field. Very effective against Water and Flying, a threat to Pokemon like Primarina and Corviknight .
• Magical Sheen : Fairy’s STAB, Special, 80 power, 100% accuracy, and hits both opponents in doubles. He is very effective against Dragon, Fighting, and Dark, so he will be great against Pokemon like Dragonite , Infernape , and Umbreon .
• Volt Switch : STAB Electric, 70 power and 100%. After hitting, return the Pokémon to the Pokéball. With this movement we will pivot our Tapu Koko against rivals that can threaten us and we will hit very hard thanks to the electric field.
• Ice Hidden Power : Movement that will have a type depending on our IV’s and we will take it in Ice type, Special, with 60 power and 100% accuracy. Very effective against Dragon, Grass, Ground and Flying. We’re bringing this move around so we can hit Ground-Types when they think they’re safe. Great Pokemon like Landorus.
• Light Screen : Psychic, Status, for 5 turns reduces the damage of Special Attacks to half in Singles and 1/3 in doubles.
• Reflex : Psychic, Status, for 5 turns reduces Physical Attack damage by half on Singles and 1/3 on Doubles.
• Electroweb : STAB from Electric, Special, 55 power and 95% accuracy. Lowers the opponent’s Speed ​​by 1 and affects both opponents in doubles.
• Round Trip : Bug, Physical, 70 power and 100% accuracy. The Pokémon returns to the Pokéball after attacking. It is an alternative to Volt Switch for physical sets.
• Cruel Volt : STAB Electric, Physical, 90 power and 100% accuracy. Deals 1/4 of the damage dealt to our Tapu Koko. It is the STAB used for physical sets.
• Taunt : Dark, Status, 100% Accuracy. Makes the enemy Pokemon only able to use combat moves, so if it uses status moves it will fail. That Weird Space that bothers so much will not be a problem.
• Lasso Herb : Grass, 100% accuracy. Very effective against Water, Rock and Earth. Power depends on the Target Pokémon’s Weight. Pokémon like Gastrodon and Swampert will go down in one hit without expecting it.
  • From 0.1 to 9.9 kg 20 of power.
  • From 10 to 24.9 kg 40 power.
  • From 25 to 49.9 kg 60 of power.
  • From 50 to 99.9 kg 80 of power.
  • From 100 to 199.9 kg 100 power.
  • More than 200 kg 120 of power.

TAPU KOKO STRATEGIES

With great skill, good stats, and the right item, Tapu Koko can deal massive damage or disrupt opponent’s strategies. Let’s see how you can get the most out of this great Pokémon:

TAPU KOKO SPECIAL ATTACKER – SINGLES

• IVs: Perfect.
• EVs: 252 Special Attack, 4 Defense, 252 Speed
• Nature: Fearful.
• Object: Choice Glasses.
• Ability: Electrogenesis.
• Movements:
  • Ray.
  • Magic shine.
  • Volt Switch.
  • Hidden Power Ice.

A very easy to use set where with our great Speed ​​we will be able to hit almost everything before. If we recognize the rival threats well, our Tapu Koko will be able to weaken many Pokémon thanks to the Choice Glasses and Electrogenesis . The damage of Lightning and Volt Switch will be very high, the other two moves only use them when it is very effective damage.

With this damage we can weaken almost any Water and Flying type Pokémon in one hit or leave them very touched. We can OHKO (One Hit KO) Charizard .

TAPU KOKO PHYSICAL – SINGLES

• IVs: Perfect.
• EVs: 252 Attack, 252 Speed, 4 Health.
• Nature: Cheerful.
• Item: Lifesphere.
• Ability: Electrogenesis.
• Movements:
  • Cruel Volt.
  • Hidden Power Ice.
  • Round trip.
  • Mockery.

This set seeks to surprise the opponent with its physical damage . Many opponents will use Pokémon with high Special Defense and even Assault Vest against our Tapu Koko, Pokémon like Hippowdon , to take our damage hoping it will be Special.

With Ida y Vuelta we can hit and make a change saving our Tapu Koko from losing Health.

And thanks to Mofa we can prevent the opponent from using power-up Moves like Sword Dance or Scheming. In addition to the aforementioned Rare Space.

TAPU KOKO SUPPORT – DOUBLES VGC

• IVs: Perfect.
• EVs: 252 Health, 4 Defense and 252 Speed.
• Nature: Fearful.
• Object: Reflection.
• Ability: Electrogenesis.
• Movements:
  • Light screen.
  • Reflection.
  • electrofabric.
  • Grass tie.

Tapu Koko is a great support Pokémon in VGC   , and this is a perfect set for this role. Thanks to the Reflectlight our screens will last 8 turns, which will cover us from a lot of damage.

Placing electric field with our Electrogenesis ability will protect our Pokémon from falling asleep and boost our Electric-Type damage, making Electrotela hit harder than expected and give us speed control by reducing the opponent’s speed.

Lastly, we brought Lasso Grass to hit those pesky Ground-type Pokemon like Groudon and Excadrill .

HOW TO DEFEAT TAPU KOKO AND COUNTERS

Although Tapu Koko has several viable sets, depending on Single or Doubles we can know what we are looking to counter from the 8th gen Pokémon:

• The Ground Type : Immunity to electric hits is very useful against Tapu Koko, especially if we predict that it will use Volt Switch. The Attack will miss and leave him exposed, especially if he is wearing Choice Glasses.
• Demolition : This move destroys opposing screens, Light Screen, and Reflect, rendering the 2 turns Tapu Koko uses to place these screens useless. I recommend Weavile , Aegislash , and Krookodile to use this move.
• Other fields : If we place a Pokémon that changes Tapu Koko’s electric field we can break its protection against the Sleep state, as well as reduce its electric damage. Pokemon like Tapu Lele, Tapu Fini, and Rillaboom are very good options.