Fastest Pokemon Guide

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Jesus Cruz, Lifelong Pokémon Fan

It all started in 2010 when Jesus was 10 years old. His dad gifted him a Nintendo DS and let him choose a game for it. A weird, enormous, and grey serpent caught my attention on the box art for Pokémon Platinum, and since that moment he's been hooked! He can only thank his 10 years old self for choosing the game that he loves the most in the series

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Sometimes, the competitive Pokémon world is complicated. When battling, there are many things to consider: the objects your Pokémon have, the Abilities of your rival’s Pokémon, etc. But you don’t have to forget about the base stats. 

The base stats (Health Points, Attack, Defense, Special Attack, Special Defense, and Speed) define how much will your Pokémon do on the battlefield. And in my personal opinion, the most important stat is the Speed. 

In a battle, the Pokémon with the highest Speed will attack first. Attacking first will let you create many different strategies, like setting Entry Hazards, poisoning the rival’s Pokémon with Toxic, or simply sweeping the foe without letting it attack. 

Basically, if you attack first, you’ll have the upper hand in a battle, but you have to know how to make the most of this advantage. That’s why I made a top of the fastest Pokémon in the actual meta, showing some cool strategies you can do with them and talking a bit about them so you can know them better. 

I will also discuss the competitive tiers and where these Pokémon can compete depending on their stats and strategies. 

Side note: I skipped all those Pokémon that aren’t playable in Sword & Shield or on official competitive matches in Pokémon Showdown. The idea behind this guide is to give you options for your competitive teams!

Let’s go! 

15. Pokémon with a base Speed of 125

Let’s kick this list off with three Pokémon with a base Speed of 125; Marshadow, Swellow, and Weavile. 

Marshadow

Marshadow is a wonderful Ghost/Fighting-type Pokémon (a unique type combination) based on the Nightmarchers, the ghosts of the ancient Hawaiian warriors in the Hawaiian mythology. 

Marshadow is a Legendary Pokémon with strong stats, so it’s a usual suspect in Uber, the highest tier of the competitive system. There, Marshadow is a wonderful Physical Sweeper. You’ll see it with Spectral Thief, Low Kick, and any coverage move as you wish! 

I really like Marshadow; it has a wide movepool and several utilities and is my common Sweeper in Uber alongside Yveltal; it won’t let you down!

Swellow 

It is obvious some of the fastest Pokémon will be birds and Swellow, a Flying/Normal-type Pokémon based on swallows, isn’t an exception. I love Swellow’s design because it’s classic and simple; it takes direct inspiration from an animal and doesn’t need anything else to make a good-looking Pokémon.

I know this list won’t include Pokémon that aren’t in Sword and Shield, but I made an exception with Swellow because I love this Pokémon and because it is playable in Pokémon Showdown through a tier named National Dex, where all non-mythical or legendary Pokémon excluded from SS can play. 

Swellow is very common in National Dex because of its attacking versatility; it can perform many roles like working as a Pivot, as a Defog user, or as a revenge killer because of its Special Attack. 

Swellow has a very useful Ability named Scrappy, which lets it hit Ghost-type Pokémon with Normal-type attacks, being a counter for many Ghost-type Sweepers and Tanks. In my opinion, Swellow performs the best as a Pivot, with U-turn, Boomburst, Air Slash, and a healing move like Roost. 

Weavile 

Weavile’s design is inspired by Kamaitachi, a Yokai (or a spirit in Japanese folklore) with incredible speed and sharp claws. This Yokai is traditionally evil, hence Weavile Dark/Ice-type. 

Hear me out; if you are looking for a classic Physical Sweeper, Weavile has to be your option. It has everything; the capacity to revenge kill its teammates, tremendous damage to sweep any pivot, Pressure as its Ability to chip wall Pokémon down, and a great movepool and access to Knock Off, which can let you disable any strategy your rival has. 

In my experience, Weavile won’t work without Heavy-Duty Boots; as soon as it steps on Stealth Rocks, it will faint. Also, I love to use it with Swords Dance, Knock Off, and the strongest Ice-type move you like! 

14. Talonflame

Talonflame is the next Pokémon in the fastest list with a base Speed of 126. It is a Fire/Flying-type Pokémon, which looks like a good combination but has several weaknesses, making Talonflame lag behind other Pokémon with the same perks. 

Having a short Movepool and poor Defenses doesn’t help it either, so you won’t see it on the highest tiers. Its usual field of play is on NU (Never Used) and RU (Rarely Used). If you want to use Talonflame, you can build it Swellow but with Physical moves. It has access to Defog and U-turn, so you can use it like a Defogger Pivot with Brave Bird and Will-O-Wisp or Flare Blitz. 

Don’t use this Pokémon without Heavy-Duty Boots, as it won’t handle the Stealth Rocks.

13. Crowned Shield Zamazenta

The thirteenth spot in this list is for Crowned Shield Zamazenta, with a base Speed of 128 and a dual Fighting/Steel-type. Zacian and Zamazenta are the two legendaries of Sword & Shield, based on wolves and English Coats of Arms. 

Zamazenta has everything you can ask for; it can work as a Wall, a Sweeper, or a Pivot. You can play it as a Late-game Sweeper with Howl or as a Wallbreaker with Behemoth Bash and Close Combat, or you can even use it as a Screen Setter as it has access to Reflect and Light Screen! 

If you want my opinion, you can use Crowned Shield Zamazenta as a Late-game Sweeper; it is the role that fits Zamazenta better. 

12. Pokémon with a base Speed of 130

In this spot, we will find a lot of Pokémon with a base Speed of 130; Aerodactyl, Crobat, Eiscue, Eternatus, Jolteon, Mewtwo, Spectrier, and Tapu Koko. I’ll split these Pokémon according to their best role. 

Sweepers 

There are three wonderful Sweepers on this list; Aerodactyl, Eiscue, and Mewtwo. 

Aerodactyl 

Aerodactyl is one of those Fossil Pokémon that everyone loves. Its simple yet effective design and wonderful Attack and Speed stats made it win the love of the community! I picture Aerodactyl as the perfect Late-Game Sweeper for NU and RU; It is very fast and bulky (thanks to its Rock/Flying-type), so it can withstand on the battlefield enough to use Swords Dance and then attack. 

Nonetheless, it can perform other roles, like being an Entry Hazard Setter because it has access to Stealth Rocks, or even as a kind of Wall as it can learn Roost. Aerodactyl has a large movepool, so it’s a matter of choosing what you like the most! 

Eiscue 

It’s really sad that Eiscue received poor stats as it is wonderful, and its concept is really great! Eiscue is an Ice-type Pokémon based on penguins. But it has something very special; an ability named Ice Face. Thanks to Ice Face, Eiscue will have an ice block in its head whenever it gets to the field. So in this forme, Eiscue’s Defenses are really high while its Speed is rather low. 

But the ice block has a function; it protects Eiscue from the damage of the first Physical move it receives. Afterward, its ice block will break, showing its real face. When the ice block breaks, its defenses will reduce considerably, but its Speed will increase greatly.  

Its Ability is wonderful, but its stats aren’t; that’s why it needs some help with its Attack, and that’s why I love to play Eiscue with Belly Drum. 

Belly Drum increases the user’s Attack to the max but reduces their HP to a half. If used alongside Substitute, Eiscue will perform strong attacks while protecting with the Substitute, making Eiscue a good Late-Game Sweeper. 

Sadly, Eiscue isn’t famous, and its stats are poor, so it won’t make it out of PU, the last competitive tier. 

Mewtwo 

We all know what Mewtwo is capable of. Having a long movepool and terrific stats makes Mewtwo one of the most dangerous threats in Uber. It has problems against Dark-types like Yveltal, but it can sweep most of the Pokémon in Uber, like Marshadow, Eternatus, Zygarde, Zarude, Ho-Oh, and many more. 

If you want to destroy the Uber tier with Mewtwo, you can use it with Psystrike, Shadow Ball, Focus Blast, and any other move you like. 

Pivots 

Now let’s talk about the Pivots; Crobat, Jolteon, and Tapu Koko. 

Crobat 

The first is Crobat, a Poison/Flying-type Pokémon based on bats. Crobat has two features that make it very useful in any tier, especially in OU;

• It has access to Defog.
• Its Ability, Infiltrator, which ignores any Screen, like Light Screen, Reflect, etc. 

But Crobat has to be careful, as it has an x4 weakness to Rock-type, so it has to use Heavy-Duty Boots to avoid Stealth Rocks. I recommend it to have Defog, U-Turn, an offensive move, and an HP heal move, like Roost.

Jolteon 

Jolteon is the classic Electric-type Pokémon that we all remember from Gen 1 because it was the fastest Pokémon back then. But right now, Jolteon fell apart because of many reasons. It is weak, its movepool is rather short, and it’s worth evolving Eevee to other options like Sylveon or Espeon because of their excellent Special Attack. 

That’s why Jolteon fell to PU, like Eiscue. At least it has access to Toxic, so it’s a great option as a Toxic Setter, with Volt Switch and Shadow Ball. 

Tapu Koko 

Lastly, Tapu Koko, one of the four Tapus which protect Alola. It is an Electric/Fairy-type Pokémon, and its design is inspired by Ku, the Hawaiian God of War. 

I love Tapu Koko as an offensive Pivot in OU because people don’t know to play against it. It has everything; Strong attacking moves like Thunderbolt and Dazzling Gleam, pivot-like moves like U-turn, and recovering moves like Roost. 

Tapu Koko also has access to Grass Knot, which is great to counter the usual walls in OU like Swampert and can learn Toxic, making Tapu Koko an annoying threat. 

I strongly recommend Tapu Koko as one of your pivots; you won’t regret it! 

Alternative Strategies 

Eternatus and Spectrier are two usual suspects of Uber. Personally, I feel like one of them works perfectly while the other one is hard to use. So let’s dive into them.

Eternatus 

Eternatus is the usual threat in Uber because it is very hard to get rid of it. It has a dual Poison/Dragon-type, which makes it ultra defensive, and it has access to a crazy amount of moves, making it perfect for various roles.  But the main reason behind Eternatus being extremely useful in Uber is because it has the third highest total base stat points, only behind Crowned Zacian and Zamazenta. 

Resuming, Eternatus can be used for anything you want. I use it to sweep all of those Pivots and Defog Users like Ho-Oh, and Yveltal and those Walls like Ferrothorn and Blissey. I recommend using Meteor Beam + Power Herb as its item to get rid of those annoying Pokémon. 

Spectrier 

Sadly, Spectrier is the complete opposite of Eternatus. It is a Ghost-type Pokémon, which doesn’t help it against usual threats like Eternatus or Yveltal. Also, it can’t do much against sweepers like Marshadow or Mewtwo. Its movepool is very poor, but at least it is one of the few users of Will-O-Wisp + Hex, which is a great move combination. 

Spectrier only has good usage when it’s combined with Calyrex. 

11. Galarian Darmanitan

The next Pokémon on the fastest list is Galarian Darmanitan, an Ice-type Pokémon based on the Yeti. But, Galarian Darmanitan isn’t fast by itself; it needs help from its hidden Ability, Zen Mode. 

Zen Mode makes Galarian Darmanitan change form when its HP is below half. When Galarian Darmanitan changes form, it changes its type from Ice-type to Ice/Fire-type, and its base Speed gets raised to 135. Considering that Galarian Darmanitan’s base Attack is 140, we are talking about a serious threat in the Uber tier. 

With Zen Mode, Galarian Darmanitan gets a similar usage than Eiscue, with Belly Drum and Substitute, as we need to exploit its Ability. As soon as Darmanitan gets in its Zen Mode, it can sweep any Pokémon with powerful attacks. I recommend using any Ice or Fire-type Physical Move. 

10. Barraskewda

The next Pokémon on the list is Barraskewda, a Water-type Pokémon based on torpedos and barracudas, with a base Speed of 136.  If I’m looking for an example of a classical Sweeper, Barraskewda comes to my mind. Its Attack and Speed are wonderful, but as soon as it gets hit, it’ll faint because its defenses are null. 

Somehow, it is very common in a high tier like OU, but I don’t feel like it suits there; I feel like it lacks a good movepool. Nonetheless, you can build it with Liquidation, Close Combat, and any other offensive move while using Choice Band to increase its Attack to the max.  

9. Hero of Many Battles Zacian & Zamazenta

The next Pokémon in the fastest guide are Zacian and Zamazenta, with a base Speed of 138. I want to point out that Zacian and Zamazenta have one of the highest total base points of the complete meta and are beasts. So basically, there’s not much to explain; both work as Wallbreakers. 

Zacian is the best Physical Fairy-type attacker of the meta, while Zamazenta is unstoppable when having Close Combat. Both can protect themselves by learning moves like Crunch, Ice Fang, etc. And both will work perfectly with Choice Band or Choice Scarf to boost the

8. Dragapult

Let’s continue with this list. In the eighth spot, we will find Dragapult, with a crazy base Speed of 142. This Pokémon is based on the Northrop Grumman B-2 Spirit, a strategic bomber aircraft with stealth technology (hence Dragapult’s Ghost-type) capable of infiltrating heavy aircraft defenses. 

Dragapult is one of the fan favorites of OU because of its adaptability to any team. Do you need a Special Sweeper? Dragapult can learn a lot of handful moves like Shadow Ball or Thunder. Do you need a Wallbreaker? Dragapult has Infiltrator as its Ability, which makes it ignore Reflects and Light Screens. Do you need an offensive Pivot? Don’t worry, because Dragapult can learn U-turn. 

My favorite role for Dragapult is as an Offensive Pivot, with U-turn, Shadow Ball, and Thunder. Imagine it as if it was a Ghost-type Tapu Koko, but way better.  

7. Zeraora

Zeraora takes the seventh spot in the list thanks to its base Speed of 143. In addition, its design is inspired by Kanehekili, the Hawaiian God of Thunder. Its concept also draws inspiration from tigers. Zeraora is a perfect counter for any Electric and Normal-type Pokémon in OU thanks to its Ability, Volt Absorb, and its move, Plasma Fists, which changes any Normal-type attack into an Electric-type in one turn.

I often see Zeraora as a Pivot, but I like it more as a Late-Game Sweeper because its defenses are actually decent. In addition, it has access to Bulk Up, allowing it to survive on the battlefield for a long time. Lastly, I recommend using it with Heavy-Duty Boots. The Entry Hazards are the best counter for Zeraora, so you must be careful with them. 

6. Accelgor

The next Pokémon on this list is Accelgor, a Bug-type Pokémon with a base Speed of 145. Accelgor is, indeed, very fast, and it won’t be outsped by most of the Pokémon of the meta. Still, it is very weak, and its offensive stats aren’t good either. Furthermore, it hardly works in PU and is untiered in Smogon, so it’s not used in competitive matches. 

I haven’t used Accelgor on a match, but I see it can learn Spikes and U-turn, so why not give it a try as an Entry Hazard Setter? I’m sure it will perform greatly on PU! 

5. Crowned Sword Zacian

It was obvious that Crowned Sword Zacian was getting into this list. It has a base Speed of 148 and pretty much the same usage as Crowned Shield Zamazenta in Uber but with Fairy-type moves, like Play Rough. It was obvious that Crowned Sword Zacian was getting into the fastest Pokémon list, with a base Speed of 148. 

Crowned Sword Zacian, alongside its brother, Crowned Shield Zamazenta, are the strongest Pokémon of the meta, and both work as Wallbreakers. Zacian’s usage is very straightforward; You only need Behemoth Blade, Play Rough, and Swords Dance. 

4. Calyrex-Shadow

Getting near the top 3, we can see Calyrex-Shadow, the combination between Calyrex and Spectrier, with a base Speed of 150 and a dual Psychic/Ghost-type. Calyrex-Shadow is one of the strongest Pokémon of Uber because it has a tremendous Special Attack and access to many interesting utility moves, like Trick, Leech Seed, Draining Kiss, Nasty Plot, Light Screen, you name it. 

Calyrex-Shadow can also learn Astral Barrage, the strongest Ghost-type Attack, making it a great Wallbreaker overall. I can’t recommend a build for Calyrex-Shadow as it works with everything. Instead, I recommend creating a team around Calyrex. You’ll need Astral Barrage and Nasty Plot; the rest is up to you. 

3. Pheromosa

The bronze medal is for Pheromosa, with a base Speed of 151. This Pokémon is an Ultra Beast, and its design is based on the Copepods. Remember when I talked about Barraskewda’s classic Sweeper condition? Well, Pheromosa is just like that. Most Pokémon in this tier can OHKO it with any effective move as it has only a base Defense and Special Defense of 37. 

But Pheromosa has an advantage against Barraskewda, a great Bug/Fighting-type combination, and access to U-turn, making it a great option for an Offensive Pivot in Uber. If you want to give Pheromosa a chance, I recommend using it with Close Combat, Throat Chop, U-turn, and the last move is up to you, but I like Drill Run to have some coverage against Fire-types. 

2. Ninjask

The second fastest Pokémon is Ninjask, with a base Speed of 160. This one is a bug-type Pokémon based on ninjas and Cicadas. 

Don’t get confused by its excellent Speed; Ninjask is very weak and only has a spot in PU. The rest of its stats are below average and need a lot of help against Walls. However, it has access to U-turn, so it can work as a Pivot. Yet, I picture it more as a Late-Game Sweeper as I like to give some usage to Speed Boost, its Ability, which will increase Ninjask’s Speed on every turn. 

If you want to use Ninjask, I recommend giving it some help through an Entry Hazard Setter, or else, It’ll have a bad time against other Sweepers and Walls. 

1. Regieleki

The fastest Pokémon in the meta is Regieleki, with a base Speed of 200. This Pokémon is one of the six Regis; each represents an element, and Regieleki represents electricity. Furthermore, Regieleki’s design looks a lot like a light bulb. 

Regieleki has the same problem as Ninjask but in OU. Its Speed is wonderful, but the rest of its stats are average. Its Defenses are null, and its Attacks are decent, but its movepool is poor even for a legendary Pokémon. 

At least, Regieleki has an interesting usage as it has access to Reflect and Light Screen, so it can work as a wonderful Screen Setter. However, if you want to play Regieleki like this, I recommend using Light Clay as its object, as it’ll increment the duration of the Screen from five to eight turns. 

But suppose you want to give it a different usage. In that case, Regieleki can also work as a Rapid Spin user, but only if you use Heavy-Duty Boots as its item. It won’t handle the damage of the Spikes or the Stealth Rocks.

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