- Pokemon ROWE Guide – Explore Hoenn as You Wish! - October 27, 2023
- Pokemon Parallax Guide – James Bond Meets Pokémon - September 10, 2023
- The New Squirtle Funko POP Is Making A Splash - August 30, 2023
Nessa is a Gym Leader introduced in Sword and Shield, which is the Gen 8. She is a Water-type master trainer and is in charge of the Hulbury’s Gym in Hulbury. She is the second Gym Leader you have to face in the Galarian Gym Challenge.
It is said that Nessa has two different personalities; one when she is training and the other one when she is modelling.
Nessa is a strong, motivated, competitive, and serious woman in charge of her Gym; Nessa doesn’t like to lose. But when it comes to modelling and her personal life, she is rather calm and cautious and quite cheerful and committed to her work as a model.
Nessa is also related to the Water-type Pokémon because she is the daughter of a fisher. Nessa is also Sonia’s best friend.
Nessa Summary of Appearances in Pokémon Versions and Media (Games, Anime, Movies)
Nessa was introduced in Gen 8, which means that in the games she only appears in Sword and Shield. You can find her in Hulbury’s Gym. She also participated in the Champion Tournament and in the Galarian Star Tournament.
Nessa can have the following teams:
As the Hulbury’s Gym Leader:
| Pokémon | Types | Moveset | Ability |
|---|---|---|---|
| Goldeen, Lv. 22 | Water | Water Pulse, Whirlpool, Horn Attack, Agility | Swift Swim |
| Arrokuda, Lv. 23 | Water | Aqua Jet, Bite, Whirlpool, Fury Attack | Swift Swim |
| Dreadnaw (Dynamax), Lv. 24 | Water/Rock | Razor Shell, Water Gun, Bite, Headbutt | Swift Swim |
In her second battle:
| Pokémon | Types | Moveset | Ability |
|---|---|---|---|
| Golisopod, Lv. 52 | Bug/Water | First Impression, Liquidation, Swords Dance, Shadow Claw | Emergency Exit |
| Pelipper, Lv. 52 | Water/Flying | Roost, Air Slash, Water Pulse, Tailwind | Drizzle |
| Barraskewda, Lv. 53 | Water | Liquidation, Throat Chop, Ice Fang, Drill Run | Swift Swim |
| Seaking, Lv. 53 | Water | Smart Strike, Megahorn, Aqua Ring, Waterfall | Swift Swim |
| Dreadnaw (Gigantamax), Lv. 54 | Water/Rock | Liquidation, Jaw Lock, Rock Tomb, Crunch | Shell Armor |
In Champions Cup:
| Pokémon | Types | Moveset | Ability |
|---|---|---|---|
| Golisopod, Lv. 60/72 | Bug/Water | First Impression, Liquidation, Swords Dance, Shadow Claw | Emergency Exit |
| Pelipper, Lv. 60/72 | Water/Flying | Roost, Air Slash, Water Pulse, Tailwind | Drizzle |
| Quagsire, Lv. 61/73 | Water/Ground | Earthquake, Scald, Ice Punch, Toxic | Damp |
| Toxapex, Lv. 61/73 | Poison/Water | Baneful Bunker, Recover, Venoshock, Liquidation | Merciless |
| Dreadnaw (Gigantamax), Lv. 62/74 | Water/Rock | Liquidation, Jaw Lock, Rock Tomb, Crunch | Shell Armor |
In the Galarian Star Tournament:
| Pokémon | Types | Moveset | Ability |
|---|---|---|---|
| Golisopod, Lv. 72 | Bug/Water | First Impression, Liquidation, Swords Dance, Shadow Claw | Emergency Exit |
| Toxapex, Lv. 73 | Poison/Water | Baneful Bunker, Recover, Venoshock, Liquidation | Merciless |
| Dreadnaw (Gigantamax), Lv.74 | Water/Rock | Liquidation, Jaw Lock, Rock Tomb, Crunch | Shell Armor |
In the Anime, Nessa has only appeared in Pokémon: Twilight Wings. Her debut was a short cameo in Letter and later on Buddy. Her first important appearance was in Early-Evening Wings, where she lost against Milo in the Champions Cup. In this episode, we discover that she has many problems carrying her both careers; as a model and as a Gym Leader. Later on in the episode, she had an argument with Sonia about her problem.
Lastly, she went to a photoshoot where she finds the Feebas, her friend, now evolved into Milotic; this reunion made Nessa decide that she will carry her both careers. We also discover that she is the daughter of a fisher, that’s why she is related to Water-types.
After that, she appeared in The Gathering of Stars, where she was in a photo shoot when she received an invitation to the Galarian Star tournament. Later on in the episode, we can see her in the field for the tournament’s opening.
Her only known Pokémon in the anime is Dreadnaw.
In the manga, she appeared for the first time in PASS03, along with other Gym Leaders. Later, she battled against Sudo and Shirudomiria, losing both battles. Nessa, Milo, and Nabu congratulated Sudo, Shirudomiria, and Hop for getting the first three badges.
In the TCG, Nessa has a support card in the Vivid Voltage expansion; this card has three different versions, an Uncommon, a Rare Ultra, and a Secret Rare.
Nessa Strengths
We will review all of her Pokémon to talk about her strengths and weaknesses. Nessa is a Water-type trainer who tries her best to cover the most weaknesses she can have. Golisopod can work as the perfect counter to those Grass-types, which are the Water-type’s main weakness and Pelipper with their Flying-type attacks.
Quagsire is perfect to use against Electric-types since it is immune to them and can learn Earthquake. Barraskewda and Seaking are her main aggressive Water-types, with strong attacks and some other interesting options like Drill Run or Throat Chop on Barraskewda and Megahorn (which is perfect to counter the Grass-type) on Seaking.
Toxapex is her wall, mostly because of its signature move; Baneful Bunker will poison every foe that hits it while protecting it from every damage source. It can also do a great combo with Venoshock, which has a power of 130 if the foe is poisoned.
Lastly, Dreadnaw has everything: it can handle several attacks while inflicting a lot of damage. In addition, its signature move, Jaw Lock, is perfect for keeping a Pokémon into the field, denying the foe to switch Pokémon.
Nessa Weaknesses
If we review her Pokémon, we can clearly see that she doesn’t protect her Pokémon perfectly against Grass and Electric-types, which are her main weaknesses.
Golisopod is such a cool Pokémon, and it is perfect to use as a sweeper, but it has Emergency Exit as its ability, which makes it run away from the field when it gets to half of its HP. Also, its defenses are really bad, so it won’t handle more than two turns. After that, it can fall easily with a strong Rock-type attack.
Pelipper has an x4 weakness against Electric-types, and it can’t cover it, so a single Thunderbolt will make it fall. Quagsire and Dreadnaw suffer from the same problem, but with the Grass-type. To compensate for this weakness, they have Ice-type attacks, but the problem is that they are really slow, so trying to handle a single attack isn’t an option for them.
Barraskewda and Seaking are probably her weakest Pokémon; that’s why she changed them in her Champions Cup team. Any weakness can be exploited with them; Grass or Electric can be enough. Barraskewda at least has Drill Run, and it can be fast enough to hit anyone, but this is easy to counter; use a Pokémon which can learn a Grass-type attack, but it isn’t a Grass-type, a great example are Bug-types since they can learn a lot of Grass-type attacks.
Toxapex is the biggest problem in Nessa’s team because it can use Baneful Bunker and mess with you with the poison. The best thing you can use is a Steel-type because they are immune to Poison-type attacks and can commonly learn Earthquake, which is a Ground-type attack, and it comes perfect for getting Toxapex down quickly.
Nessa in a video
In this video, we can see which Pokémon are perfect to face against Nessa; you’ll need a Grass and an Electric-type Pokémon to defeat her.
Nessa Pokemon Guide: FAQs
Question: How old is Nessa?
Answer: Official Pokémon information says that she is 21 years old.
Question: Are Sonia and Nessa friends?
Answer: Yes, they are. In fact, they are friends from childhood and they maintain this friendship meeting constantly; Nessa gives Sonia seafood from Hulbury every time they meet.
Question: What defeats Nessa?
Answer: Well-trained Grass and Electric-types Pokémon are enough to get rid of all Nessa’s Pokémon. Dreadnaw has a lot of weaknesses, like Grass, Fighting, and Ground-type attacks, and Toxapex is weak against Ground-types.
