Welcome to the fifth edition of Pokemon of the Week! This week, we will be focusing on the Mystic Pokemon. No, not Xatu; this week we will be talking about Flygon!

As a Dragon type, Flygon is blessed with one of the best offensive types that exist. However, there may be a reason that Flygon flaps its wings and creates a Sandstorm to hide in. With stiff competition from other Dragons such as Dragonite, Latios, Hydreigon, and Salamence, Flygon falls short in many aspects. Best known last generation as "The U-Turning Dragon", Flygon no longer has the honor of being the only Dragon with U-Turn, as Hydreigon now learns it as well. Those red covers over its eyes may shield them from sand, but they can't conceal the tears that Flygon sheds. It doesn't even get to dream, because it doesn't get a Dream World ability!

Flygon has flown down a tier from last generation, residing in UU, where the only other Dragon is Kingdra. Not being bothered by the more powerful Dragons, Flygon has regained its niche as Scarf U-Turning Dragon, and it does this very well, all the while threatening with its near-perfect dual STABs.

Flygon@ Choice Scarf Levitate Jolly nature (+Speed, -Sp. Attack) EVs: 252 Speed / 252 Attack / 4 Sp. Defense Earthquake Outrage U-Turn Fire Punch / Dragon Claw

Flygon's best use is holding a Choice Scarf, serving as an excellent scout. Since Flygon has two STABs that hit almost everything for at least neutral damage, and Earthquake has great Super Effective coverage, Flygon will force many switches. U-Turn is Flygon's primary move early in the game, scouting for what the opponent's answer to Flygon is, allowing you to bring in a Pokemon that can deal with their Flygon counter. Earthquake and Outrage provide Flygon with his best STAB moves, giving Flygon some good, powerful moves to use with Flygon's good base 100 Attack stat. With the given nature and EVs, Flygon will also outspeed and OHKO Choice Scarf Darmanitan with Earthquake. Fire Punch gives Flygon a way to OHKO Escavalier, as well as hurt Bronzong, which otherwise walls it. Dragon Claw is a good option to consider, however, for finishing off an opposing Pokemon without locking yourself into a risky Earthquake, given the amount of Pokemon immune to it, and also prevents locking yourself into Outrage for 2-3 turns. It's also a great way to finish off weakened Levitate Pokemon, such as Mismagius.

Due to Flygon causing switches, entry hazards are very important to making the most of Flygon on your team. Stealth Rock and Spikes can wear down the opponent's switch-ins quickly, allowing you to tear through the opposing team later on in the game with Outrage. Use Team Preview to your advantage to know when it's safe to Outrage, and when you should wait.

Flygon@ Choice Band / Life Orb Levitate Jolly nature (+Speed, -Sp. Attack) EVs: 252 Speed / 252 Attack / 4 Sp. Defense Outrage Earthquake U-Turn / Roost Dragon Claw / Fire Punch

Flygon's role as a scout can be forgone for a more offensive approach. Flygon has good Speed and Attack to utilize for a Choice Band set. Life Orb is an option if you'd rather not lock Flygon into one move, for the expense of a bit of power and 10% recoil damage, though it opens up an opportunity for Flygon to heal itself. Regardless of which you use, Outrage and Earthquake make up Flygon's main STAB moves, and with extra power backing them, few Pokemon will be able to switch into Flygon safely in the UU tier. U-Turn can be used with either item, and allows Flygon a powerful escape. If you're using Choice Band, it also allows you to bluff the more common Scarf set, if the opponent doesn't realize they're being hit harder. Roost allows Flygon to heal 50% of its health, and should only be used on the Life Orb set. While Flygon is not bulky, this can be used on more defensive Pokemon that attempt to wear Flygon down with weaker moves, only to have their attempts unsuccessful. Dragon Claw is the better option on this set, because the item allows Flygon to deal heavier damage with a STAB without a drawback, which is very important on a sweeper. Fire Punch can still be used to hit Steel types, but you'll be left without a reliable Dragon STAB move, which can put you in an unfavorable position at times.

Obtaining a Trapinch in-game can be a bit troublesome. It can be found in White Forest in White Version if Pokemon Ranger Eliza is in your White Forest. Aside from that, Trapinch can be found in the Rugged Mountain area of the Dream World. Regardless of which method you take to get one, Flygon's ability will always be Levitate, though Trapinch have different Dream World abilities than their in-game counterparts.

Raising Trapinch without TMs will be very, very slow. Trapinch caught in White Forest will only have Bite, while Dream World Trapinch will have Bite and Giga Drain, which runs off of Trapinch's low Sp. Attack. Trapinch won't learn any STAB attacks via level until level 41, at which point it learns Dig. Trapinch evolves into Vibrava at level 35; however, if you don't have TM26 to teach Earthquake, you have the option to hold off on evolving Trapinch until level 73 (though this lowers to level 55 in B2/W2), since neither Vibrava or Flygon learn Earthquake via level at all. Luckily for Trapinch, it has an insane base 100 Attack, which allows it to plow through competition of the same level very quickly. It is recommended that you teach it Earthquake via TM, however, since without it, you will be training Trapinch for a long time before it can evolve.

Once you've evolved your Trapinch into Flygon, a good moveset for it that can be obtained in-game would be:

Flygon Earthquake Dragon Claw Fire Blast / Flamethrower Rock Slide / Dragon Tail / U-Turn

Flygon has a lot of options in-game, and can almost do everything it can do competitively. Earthquake and Dragon Claw provide good, reliable STAB moves to use. Fire Blast is Flygon's best move to hit Skarmory, Levitate Bronzong, Forretress and Ferrothorn. Flamethrower works as an alternative, and is better in-game once Flygon has reached a high level. The last slot is a filler. Rock Slide hits Flying types for Super Effective damage, which is... something? It also OHKOs Volcarona, which is handy. Dragon Tail shuffles the opponent's team around, though this isn't very useful in-game, to be honest. Same deal with U-Turn; it provides Bug coverage to hit Psychic and Dark types, but switching in-game isn't nearly as useful.

Flygon is really awesome. I hope my negativity about it hasn't come across the wrong way; I absolutely LOVE Flygon. It's just... terribly outclassed in competitive battles. Flygon comes from my favorite generation of Pokemon, and is a shining example of why I love third gen. It has such a cool design, and it has the absolute BEST shiny colors of any Pokemon ever. Flygon has been sort of a dark horse... in Ruby and Sapphire, Salamence was the Dragon to use, and Altaria was easier to raise, due to the high levels at which Trapinch's evolution line evolves. In the next generation, we got Garchomp, which has overshadowed Flygon since it was introduced. Flygon has hidden itself away in its Sandstorm, and sings a sad song about the Trainers that have forgotten it in favor of stronger, faster Dragons. I still love you, Flygon... I still love you. ;-;

At first glance, it seems evident that Flygon's real-life counterpart is nothing more than a literal take on a "dragonfly," particularly members of the Progomphus genus who are referred to as "sanddragons". It and its prevolutions are in the Bug Egg group and learn a bunch of Bug moves, despite not actually being Bug type, its body has a slightly segmented look to it, and its eye "shields" resemble the coverings over a real dragonfly's eyes. Oddly enough, Flygon appears to have huge antennae, despite dragonflies only having teeny tiny ones (almost invisible).

And this is because Flygon isn't actually a pure dragonfly! It's a slightly more obscure creature called an antlion, or a "doodlebug". The adults of this species have a more Flygon-ish posture than dragonflies, have long antennae, and their eyes are separate rather than merged like in dragonflies.The resemblance is more obvious in Vibrava, with Flygon giving it a more dragonny twist. The larvae look a lot like Trapinch, too! They're funny little creatures with enormous jaws that dig pits in the sand and lie in wait at the bottom, waiting for ants to fall in - this behaviour is stated in every one of Trapinch's Dex entries, and referenced by its species (Ant Pit Pokémon) and ability (Arena Trap). They are also venomous, which is referenced by Vibrava's FrLg Dex entry saying it "melts the prey with acid."

You should all go Google antlions and look at baby Trapinches =3

Article written by Richard and Blaziken

Unearthed by Dragonpika

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