Welcome to the twenty-fifth issue of 6th Generation's Pokemon of the Week! This week we'll be discussing a legendary Pokemon with a legendary influence in OU since its introduction. This week, we discuss Heatran.

Heatran dwells in volcanic caves. It uses its cross-shaped feet to dig into the ground, allowing it to crawl on ceilings and walls. Its blood boils like magma inside its body. Because of this, the steel that makes up its body is melted in places.

Base Stats: 91 HP / 90 Attack / 106 Defense / 130 Sp. Attack / 106 Sp. Defense / 77 Speed

Heatran is a unique and interesting Pokemon. Fire/Steel is a combination that Heatran alone possesses, and it's a very good one too. It grants Heatran nine resistances, and two immunities (with Flash Fire), while giving only three weaknesses, albeit one 4x weakness to Ground. Heatran's a diverse Pokemon that can fit on nearly any team. While it does have a few common weaknesses, the things that it can provide for a team make it an invaluable member that should be considered for any team and playstyle.

Heatran@ Leftovers Flash Fire Calm nature (+Sp. Defense, -Attack) EVs: 248 HP / 220 Sp. Defense / 40 Speed Lava Plume Protect Stealth Rock / Roar / Ancientpower / Taunt Toxic / Will-O-Wisp / Ancientpower

Specially defensive Heatran allows you to check many top OU threats, and is, in general, a wonderful team player, being one of the best members of defensive Grass/Fire/Water cores. Lava Plume is your best STAB attack, providing a 30% Burn rate while also dealing out good damage close to that of Flamethrower. Protect scouts opponents and allows Heatran to recover HP via Leftovers. Stealth Rock is a wonderful tool for any team, and Heatran can reliably set it up without much trouble. If you already have Stealth Rock, Roar is great for phazing, racking up Stealth Rock damage and stopping special attacking setup sweepers. Ancientpower OHKOs opposing Talonflame and deals hefty damage to Mega Charizard-Y. Taunt can be used to cripple walls like Chansey and Mandibuzz. In the last slot, Toxic is a great option here for breaking things down that Heatran can't deal with directly, such as Rotom-Wash. Will-O-Wisp can cripple many physical attackers that may switch into Heatran. The EVs are set to outspeed Mega Mawile, and giving it as much special bulk as possible.

Heatran's role on a team as a specially defensive tank is best utilized on bulky offense, balanced, or stall teams, and the partners on the team with him often dictates how well it performs. As I said, being part of a Grass/Fire/Water core is very helpful for it. Good defensive Grass types include Mega Venusaur, Ferrothorn, and Amoonguss. Mega Venusaur can also run Modest with 252 HP, 252 Sp. Attack to form a bulky powerful member of the GFW core. Good defensive Water types include Rotom-Wash, Vaporeon, and Quagsire. Keldeo and Azumarill make good offensive Water type partners as well, if you'd rather go that way with it.

As a note, while this set is standard, it's not what I use in the current metagame. Mine runs Lava Plume, Toxic, Roar, Ancientpower, but it's meant to serve a specific role on my team. Always consider these movesets as templates, and feel free to experiment with switching things around if it would better suit your team.

Heatran@ Choice Scarf Flash Fire Modest nature (+Sp. Attack, -Attack) EVs: 252 Sp. Attack / 4 Sp. Defense / 252 Speed Fire Blast / Overheat Flash Cannon Earth Power / Stone Edge / Ancientpower Hidden Power Ice / Flamethrower / Fire Blast

Equipped with a Choice Scarf, Heatran becomes a deadly revenge killer and late-game cleaner. Fire Blast is your main STAB attack, dealing out good damage with fairly reliable accuracy. Overheat deals out significantly more damage with better accuracy, but drops your Sp. Attack 2 stages, forcing Heatran to switch out after one use most of the time and giving the opportunity for opponents to setup. Flash Cannon is a secondary STAB attack, hitting Rock types and Fairy types, as well as hitting Dragons neutrally. Earth Power allows Heatran to deal with other Heatran, as well as other Fire types such as Infernape. Stone Edge can be used here to OHKO things like Talonflame, Charizard-Y, and Volcarona. Alternately, Ancientpower runs off Heatran's higher Sp. Attack, and has a chance to give a boost to every stat, though the real seller for this move is the perfect accuracy. In the last slot, Hidden Power Ice allows Heatran to KO things like Garchomp, and Dragonite after Multiscale has been broken. Alternately, you can use Flamethrower for a more reliable STAB if you're using Fire Blast in the first slot, or Fire Blast if you're using Overheat in the first slot.

This Heatran works best on more offensive teams. Pokemon like Keldeo, Latios and Landorus-T are great partners for it to break down opposing walls.

Choice Specs can be used on this set as well, turning Heatran into a powerful wall-breaker, dealing out tons of damage, especially if you opt for Overheat in the first slot.

Heatran@ Air Balloon Flash Fire Timid nature (+Speed, -Attack) / Modest nature (+Sp. Attack, -Attack) EVs: 252 Sp. Attack / 4 Sp. Defense / 252 Speed Fire Blast Earth Power Hidden Power Ice Ancientpower / Flash Cannon Stealth Rock

Offensive Heatran provides you with a powerful and bulky attacker, even with no real defensive investment. Fire Blast provides a powerful Fire STAB. Earth Power hits opposing Heatran, and Hidden Power Ice hits Dragons, while being immune to Earthquake until it's hit once, thanks to Air Balloon, allowing it to deal with Garchomp and Dragonite (after Multiscale is broken from Stealth Rock damage). The final slot's most reliable move is Ancientpower, for dealing with Talonflame and Mega Charizard-Y, but if those aren't a problem, Flash Cannon can be used as a secondary STAB, or Stealth Rock can be used for team support.

This kind of Heatran fits well on balanced or offensive teams that appreciate its unique typing, natural bulk, and neutrality to Stealth Rock.

Obtaining a Heatran in-game is... well, impossible without PokeTransfer. If you do send one over, though, and plan to use it-game for some reason, here's what I'd recommend:

Heatran Flamethrower / Lava Plume Flash Cannon Earth Power Ancientpower

This set utilizes all of Heatran's offensive moves into one set. Flamethrower is your strongest reliable STAB attack, but Lava Plume can be used for the 30% Burn rate. Flash Cannon provides a secondary STAB with good neutral coverage. Earth Power hits opposing Fire types, while Ancientpower hits Flying foes. Heatran doesn't really have many options outside of this, unless you want to run Sunny Day and Solar Beam, but you lose out on a little bit of coverage.

Heatran is known as the Lava Dome Pokémon. Lava domes are a variety of volcano characterized by their circular, dome shape and by the slow, viscous lava they extrude. While Heatran is based on this kind of volcano, it also seems to be based on the earth’s inner layers in general, given its typing. The earth’s inner core is made of solid metal, despite it being at heats higher than its melting point; the immense pressure created by the outer layers forces the molecules of the metal together, preventing them from moving and causing them to form solid metal, or more specifically iron, which is also the main metal component of steel. This is likely the reason for Heatran’s Steel typing.

Heatran’s dex entry mentions that parts of its body melted due to its own heat, and spots of what look like partly melted metal can be seen on its body, suggesting that it once had a metal shell, which in turn suggests that its design is based on a turtle. In mythology, several cultures, in particular Indian and Native North American cultures, state that a turtle carries the world on its back; in particular, in the tradition of the Kanien'kehá:ka or Mohawk people, it is thought that when the earth trembles or shakes (earthquakes), it is because the World Turtle is stretching beneath the weight of the world. Earthquakes are actually caused by the movement of continental plates being carried by convection currents in the magma beneath the earth’s crust. This is also the reason for much of the earth’s volcanic activity. Heatran could be seen as a representation of both the old mythological belief that a turtle carries the world, and the scientific theory that the world is made of many continental plates that are carried by the flow of magma beneath the surface, aka plate tectonics. This could also be the reason Heatran learns moves such as Lava Plume, Earth Power, and Magma Storm, naturally, and Earthquake through TM.

Heatran’s name, which is the same throughout every language I can find, seems to be a combination of the words ‘heat’ and ‘transfer’. Heat transfer is the exchange of thermal energy, between physical systems depending on the temperature and pressure, by dissipating heat. The ‘tran’ part of its name could also be derived from ‘transition metal’, a term used to refer to elements in the ‘d-block’ of the periodic table, which includes iron, nickel, manganese, chromium, and vanadium, all of which are or can be used to make steel.

Heatran's one of the cooler legendaries we've gotten. He's a walking volcano dinosaur that spews plumes of lava at the opponent. I really like the concept, and the design is pretty cool as well. I especially like the 3D model they've given it for X/Y - I had no idea how huge Heatran was! The Fire/Steel typing is also really cool, and with Fire being one of my favorite types, Heatran is one I've enjoyed using in competitive over the years. While I didn't enjoy D/P much at all, Heatran stands out as one of the only Pokemon I have enjoyed since it was released.

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