Dedicated Pokémon fans are getting a lot of rewards in 2018. They can claim a free legendary Pokémon once a month for the duration of the year. It was recently announced that anyone with a subscription to Pokémon Bank would be able to get their hands on the first ever Hidden Ability Alola starters. Now, as part of the promotional for the upcoming movie Pokémon the Movie: Everyone’s Story, they have released a limited edition Lugia.
First seen in Pokémon Gold and Silver, Lugia remains one of the franchise’s most popular legendaries. This makes it a common addition to a lot of teams.
But this version is going to be unique.
Its unusual moveset and rumours surrounding Everyone’s Story have led fans to affectionately nickname it the Wind Lugia.
How to get your Wind Lugia
Wind Lugia is a limited edition Pokemon that is only available for a brief period of time.
Between April 13th and July 12th 2018, anyone who pre-books a ticket to see Pokémon the Movie: Everyone’s Story will also receive a free Lugia code. You have until September 30th to redeem it.
Codes will be distributed with the pre-booked ticket and can be redeemed through the Mystery Gift functionality.
They can be downloaded onto any Generation VII game. This means that anyone with Pokemon Sun, Moon, Ultra Sun or Ultra Moon has a chance to get their hands on this exclusive Pokémon. Unlike the legendary Pokémon distributed throughout the year, it does not appear that Wind Lugia will be any different between the original Pokémon Sun and Moon and their Ultra counterparts.
Every Lugia will be distributed at level 100.
Stats
No information has been officially released about what trainers can expect from their Wind Lugia’s stats. However, there are tangible reasons to hope that you’ll end up with a truly powerful Pokémon.
For starters, Lugia has incredible base stats anyway. Totaling 680, its stats make it a wonderfully tanky Pokémon. Attack and Special Attack are its lowest, standing at a still respectable 90 each. It has solid Speed (110).
But its defences are where it really shines. With 130 base Defence and 154 Special Defence, Lugia is built to be able to withstand a blow. Its bulk gives it the kind of durability that many Pokémon can only dream of.
Since Generation IV, any Pokémon in the Undiscovered Egg Group has been guaranteed to have three IVs. Particularly valuable for legendary Pokémon, which can’t be bred at all, this means that you’ve got a decent shot at great stats without having to invest so much time into breeding them into your team.
This gives you an even better chance of a monstrously powerful Wind Lugia. Depending on which stats get this natural boost, this could shape the fighter your Wind Lugia will become. It could pull up its Attack and Special Attack Stats so that it can pack more of a punch. Or it could end up doing even more to barricade those already stunning defences.
Ability
This event Pokémon is equipped with its Hidden Ability Multiscale. Multiscale only ever appears in the game as a Hidden Ability, and only on two Pokémon – Lugia and Dragonite. It reduces damage taken from damage-dealing moves by half when the Pokémon with this Ability is at full health.
Lugia’s first ability, Pressure, is already pretty impressive. Most commonly found in legendary Pokémon, Pressure reduces the PP of any move targeted at the Pokémon with this Ability. This hurries your enemy through its move set and forces it to Struggle much sooner than usual. It can really make a dent in those low PP, high power moves that cause the most damage.
But Wind Lugia’s guaranteed Multiscale can be more valuable still.
It gives you an opportunity to make the most of Lugia’s already impressive defensive stats. You can go into battle knowing that Lugia will be all but untouched by the first move thrown at it. Or any move coming its way after a recovery. That gives you an opportunity to set up the situation you need to make the most out of your team.
It means you’re near guaranteed a turn or two that you can dedicate solely to tilting the scales in your favour.
Move set
Part of the origin of the nickname Wind Lugia, this legendary is distributed with exclusively Flying type moves. It comes equipped with Aeroblast, Defog, Tailwind and Hurricane.
Aeroblast makes a lot of sense, as Lugia’s signature move. It blasts a vortex of air directly at the foe. In Triple Battles, it can hit non-adjacent foes. It has base power of 100, with 95% accuracy, and a boosted chance of a critical hit. Aeroblast is the perfect attack for a move set built around the Flying type.
Defog is kind of move that can undo anyone’s carefully built boosts. It lowers the targets evasiveness by a stage and clears away any fog on the field. As well as fog, Defog will clear protective moves like Light Screen, Reflect and Safeguard. It also removes popular competitive moves like Spikes and Stealth Rock. This might seem like a detraction, but since Generation VI, Defog has been able to remove Spikes and the like from the user’s side of the field too. Defog is a beautiful move for competitive play.
While Defog focuses on dragging down on your opponent, Tailwind shares its advantage with your entire party. It doubles the Speed stat not only of the user, but of its entire party for three full turns. Given Lugia’s comfortable Speed already, this could make for some fierce fighting.
If used with Flyinium-Z, it also ups your critical hit rate by two stages. In conjunction with Aeroblast, this makes Wind Lugia a dangerous foe.
Hurricane has caught the attention of a lot of Wind Lugia’s fans, as it is not a move that Lugia can usually learn. With a base power of a whopping 110, it deals a ton of damage. It also has a 30% chance of causing confusion and can hit non-adjacent targets in Triple Battles.
The verdict
With this combination of moves, ability and pure base power, Wind Lugia makes a fearsome addition to any competitive team.
Although they’re not popular among competitive players, Wind Lugia looks like it’s ready to wipe the floor in Triple Battles. But generally in any format, it’s got the makings of the kind of Pokémon that you can depend on battle after battle after battle.
The moves it comes with complement each other beautifully. They cover all the bases for competitive battling. There’s something to boost not only Wind Lugia itself, but its entire team. It has something to tear down the defences of the enemy. There are two enormously powerful attacking moves that have the stats to back them up. There is even the not inconsiderable chance to confuse.
Wind Lugia combines a natural bulk with a move set that takes advantage of its typing. Although it doesn’t do anything to take advantage of Lugia’s Psychic side, it showcases the very best of what its Flying typing can do.
As well as being another treat for your Pokédex, Wind Lugia has the potential for some brutal competitive action.
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Images from Bulbapedia and Serebii.net