Welcome to the twenty-ninth issue of 6th Generation's Pokemon of the Week! This week we'll be focusing on the Pokemon who has the second highest Attack stat in the game with their Mega Evolution. This week, we'll be discussing Medicham.

Meditite eats just one berry a day. By enduring hunger, its spirit is tempered and made sharper. It always trains in the mountains, focusing on heightening its spiritual power through meditation. It levitates once it has achieved a state of pure meditation. Through the intense training it did as a Meditite, Medicham gained the power to predict its foes next move. It uses this power to elegantly avoid attacks with dance-like steps, then strike with devastating force in the same motion.

Base Stats: 60 HP / 60 Attack / 75 Defense / 60 Sp. Attack / 75 Sp. Defense / 80 Speed

Medicham has always been a niche Pokemon, sporting an insane Attack score when factoring Pure Power, with middling Speed often relegating it to the role of Choice Scarf revenge-killer. While it now has a Mega Evolution that somewhat remedies these problems, we'll focus on normal Medicham first.

Medicham@ Choice Scarf Pure Power Jolly nature (+Speed, -Sp. Attack) / Adamant nature (+Attack, -Sp. Attack) EVs: 252 Attack / 4 Defense / 252 Speed Hi Jump Kick Psycho Cut / Zen Headbutt Ice Punch Thunderpunch / Trick

Giving Medicham a Choice Scarf patches up the low base 80 Speed and allows it to perform excellently as a revenge-killer and late-game sweeper. Hi Jump Kick is the STAB move of choice, inflicting massive damage to anything not immune or resistant, but be careful about using it too early, especially if the opponent has a Ghost type, as losing half your HP makes Medicham an easy target for priority. Be wary of common Protect users as well. Psycho Cut provides a safe, reliable STAB attack for dealing with Pokemon like Mega Venusaur, Conkeldurr and non-Scarf Keldeo. Zen Headbutt is a stronger alternative, but having two STABs that can miss can be frustrating, and the boost in power for this move is fairly insignificant in comparison to Psycho Cut. Ice Punch allows Medicham to deal huge damage to Landorus-Therian, Gliscor, and revenge-kill Dragons, while Thunderpunch gives it a tool to hit bulky Water types on the switch. Trick is an option over ThunderPunch for crippling walls like Slowbro that would otherwise switch in with impunity, and given how popular it's becoming as a counter to Mega Medicham, this is an appealing option.

I feel I should mention that Choice Band is viable on this exact set, but is outclassed by Medichamite, so the only reason to consider it would be if you want to bluff it as your mega while using another Mega. Even then, you have to really consider that there are more reliable options.

Base Stats: 60 HP / 100 Attack / 85 Defense / 80 Sp. Attack / 85 Sp. Defense / 100 Speed

Mega Medicham has the second highest Attack in the game, but unlike Mawile, it also has base 100 Speed to utilize it, which means that it doesn't need to rely on priority moves to beat many common threats, though it still has the option. Mega Medicham is... hard to deal with. It has no real OU counters, and it can even beat Slowbro with Thunderpunch if it hits it on the switch. I don't generally make assumptions or predictions in this part of the article, but this thing cannot remain OU for it to be healthy. Base 100 Speed is a very competitive Speed tier for it to be in, allowing it to, at worst, tie with many top threats, and outspeed many of them as well, and the insane Attack stat allows nothing in OU to switch in on any given move without being 1-2HKO'd. Some things like Cresselia hard-wall Medicham, but Cresselia is also awful in OU, and more of a weight on your team than anything else. Mega Medicham has a lot of things that can check it, but without any solid counters, I think this is one Mega we'll be sending to Ubers.

Medicham@ Medichamite Pure Power [Pure Power] Jolly nature (+Speed, -Sp. Attack) / Adamant nature (+Attack, -Sp. Attack) EVs: 252 Attack / 4 Defense / 252 Speed Hi Jump Kick / Drain Punch Zen Headbutt / Psycho Cut Ice Punch / Thunderpunch Fake Out / Substitute / Thunderpunch

Mega Medicham is so insanely powerful, it threatens to 1-2HKO OU. Hi Jump Kick is the main reason for this, sporting a ridiculous base 130 power. Drain Punch is a usable alternative here ; though the drop in power is significant, Drain Punch can allow you to restore HP from weak attacks and from Substitute, and it's the most powerful option it has after High Jump Kick. Zen Headbutt is the best Psychic STAB on this set, since it's able to OHKO 252/0 Defense Mega Venusaur even when Medicham is running Jolly nature. Psycho Cut is a very usable option though, since it's hardly weaker than Zen Headbutt, and still OHKO's said Mega Venusaur after Stealth Rock damage. Ice Punch is the optimal move for the third slot, disposing of Landorus-Therian and has great coverage in general. Thunderpunch deals the most damage to Slowbro, with Adamant nature bringing it in range to 2HKO Slowbro with Stealth Rock.

Fake Out is a great option for a few reasons. It allows Medicham to gain the Speed boost on the turn it Mega Evolves while dealing some free chip damage. It also allows you to wear down boosting sweepers every time it switches in, which it doesn't mind doing, given the resistance to Stealth Rock. Substitute is another good option in this slot, allowing you to scout your opponent, ease prediction, and blocks status. Finally, you can just use Thunderpunch in combination with Ice Punch to provide excellent coverage.

Meditite is a great Pokemon to get in-game. It's available very early in the game in Connecting Cave, and Pure Power allows you to power through most opposition. Here's what I would recommend for an in-game Medicham:

Medicham Hi Jump Kick / Brick Break Zen Headbutt Ice Punch Thunderpunch / Poison Jab

Yeah, it's basically just the competitive sets. Hi Jump Kick is your strongest STAB, but if the miss chance bothers you, Brick Break is a decent alternative. Zen Headbutt provides a Psychic STAB, and is your best choice since Psycho Cut is an egg move. Ice Punch kills Dragons, and Thunderpunch rounds out coverage. Poison Jab is an alternative here for killing the many Fairy types in X/Y.

Medicham's design is kinda meh. I don't hate it, it's kind of cool, especially when you consider what it's based on, but it's also kind of boring. It is really strong though, and Mega Medicham has floating... arm ribbons, and that's just... something. I like Mega Medicham a bit more than Medicham. I sure can't wait for it to be banned though!

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