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I love how Pokémon can be an endless game by only changing up your team a little bit. Let me tell you: you’ll have totally different adventures in the same game only by switching a couple of Mons from your team.
This happened to me last time I was playing Pokémon HeartGold. I just got tired of repeating the same team over and over again, so I decided to build a Psychic-type-thematic team.
The adventure was getting difficult because the powerful Psychic-types can’t be found until the late stages of the game, and I got to the point where I needed a Surf user. Finally, after thinking for a while, the realization came to me; Slowpoke, a Water/Psychic-type Pokémon.
I’ve never used Galarian Slowpoke in my teams, so I didn’t know what to expect from it. I caught and started training a cute little Slowpoke, but suddenly, I stumbled upon a big issue.
Slowpoke can evolve into two different Pokémon, Slowbro and Slowking! Slowpoke will evolve into Slowbro by leveling it up to Level 37 or into Slowking by trading it while having a King’s Rock as its item.
Questions came to my head: which Slow-volution will be better to use? which one will fit into my team?
I would only get an answer by getting these two Pokémon, training them, and then seeing their performance.
This is how I created the most exciting deathmatch my boredom would allow me: Slowbro vs Slowking, compared. Yes, this is how I like to spend my free time; I love Pokémon.
My Verdict, Up Front: Who’s Better?
It’s obvious Slowbro vs Slowking are very similar in gameplay terms, mostly because they are evolutions from the same Pokémon, yet, there are certain differences when comparing them, which makes Slowbro slightly better than Slowking.
Slowbro is easier to get in the adventures and works better in competitive matches because it can learn many moves that give it an advantage. Of course, if Slowbro is a great Pokémon, and Slowking is very similar to it, then Slowking is also a wonderful Pokémon to use! It’ll excel when you need a chunky Pokémon to deal with very offensive Pokémon.
Main Differences Between Slowbro vs Slowking
The main differences between Slowbro vs Slowking are:
- Slowbro is clumsy and dumb, and it’s hard to communicate with it, whereas Slowking is clever, knows to solve intricate problems, and can even understand the human language.
- According to the Pokémon anime, Slowbro has a Shellder on its tail (which doesn’t look like a Shellder at all), which is constantly poisoning it, making it lost in its thoughts; whereas Slowking has a Shellder in its head, constantly injecting poison into Slowking’s brain, making it sharp.
- Slowbro is easy to get as you only need to level Slowpoke up, whereas Slowking is very difficult to get because you need the King’s Rock (which, in most games, is a hard item to get), and then you need to trade it (which can be even harder).
- Lastly, Slowbro has a Mega-Evolution, whereas Slowking doesn’t.
Comparison Criteria
Now that I decided to compare two virtual monsters instead of doing things outside my house, I have to establish the key points I’ll use to put Slowbro vs Slowking head to head. I’ll go with the most basic and measurable aspects of the two Pokémon, like their strength and usage in a usual Pokéadventure.
So, Slowbro and Slowking will contest under the following criteria:
- Stats, Moves, and Abilities
- Adventure usage
- Competitive usage
- Individual features
The first thing I’ll study is their Stats, Moves, and Abilities, based on their base stats and the moves they can learn. Right away, this will tell us if one of them is stronger than the other!
After seeing their Stats, I’ll study the performance of both Slow-volutions when facing a typical adventure and when they are in a cruel competitive match. If you don’t know about competitive matches, don’t worry! I’ll explain everything for you to understand!
Lastly, we’ll look at all the individual features of each Pokémon to see if there’s a little detail that makes one Slow-volution better than the other one!
Slowbro and Slowking, Head to Head
Stats, Moves, and Abilities
As soon as I had these clumsy boys in my hands, the first thing I checked out was their Base Stats. The Base Stats are very important as they determine how strong, fast, or bulky a Pokémon will be. Thanks to the Base Stats, we can know what will be the perfect role for a Pokémon!
How Do The Stats Work?
Every Pokémon has six different Base Stats, on which they’ll have a certain amount of points. These points are known as Base Stat Points; the higher the number of points, the better the Pokémon will be.
These are the six Base Stats we have to check when seeing if a Pokémon is great or not.
- HP: The HP, or Health Points, is the amount of health a Pokémon has.
- Attack: The Attack stat will determine the damage a Physical move will inflict.
- Special Attack: The Special Attack stat works exactly like the Attack, but instead of determining the damage of a Physical move, it’ll work to calculate the damage of a Special move.
- Defense: The Defense stat will determine the capability of a Pokémon to resist a Physical move.
- Special Defense: Of course, the Special Defense will determine how well a Pokémon will handle a Special move.
- Speed: Lastly, the Speed stat will determine how fast a Pokémon will be. Under normal circumstances, the game compares the Speed stat of both Pokémon in the field, and the Pokémon with the highest Speed stat will always attack first.
Sidenote: You can see whether a move is Special, Physical, or Status if you check on any Pokémon’s moves. These are known as the Move Categories!
Slowbro and Slowking’s Stats
With that in mind, I checked both Slow-volutions’ stats to see which one is better, but both had a total of 490 Base Stat Points, meaning they are equally strong!
The only difference between Slowbro and Slowking was the distribution of these Base Stat Points. So let’s check it out:
Slowbro Stats
| HP | Attack | Defense | Sp. Atk | Sp. Def | Speed | |
| Base Stats | 95 | 75 | 110 | 100 | 80 | 30 |
| Favorable Nature | 394 | 273 | 350 | 328 | 284 | 174 |
Slowking Stats
| HP | Attack | Defense | Sp. Atk | Sp. Def | Speed | |
| Base Stats | 95 | 75 | 80 | 100 | 110 | 30 |
| Favorable Nature | 394 | 273 | 284 | 328 | 350 | 174 |
As you can see, Slowbro has 110 Base Stat Points in its Defense Stat, meaning it is more of a Physical Defensive Pokémon. In comparison, Slowking has 110 Base Stat Points in its Special Defense, meaning it is more of a Special Defensive Pokémon.
This is very common on Pokémon with two (or more) different evolutions! The most known example besides Slowpoke and its Slow-volutions is Poliwhirl, which can evolve into Poliwrath, a Physical Attacker, or Politoed, a Special Attacker.
Moves
A Pokémon with good stats can be useless if it can’t learn good moves; that’s why it is very important to know which moves a Pokémon can learn. After checking around every generation’s list of moves of Slowbro and Slowking, I realized something; they can learn the same moves!
By only seeing the list of moves, we can determine the real usage of a Pokémon. So, both Slow-volutions, even if they seem like Defensive Pokémon, can deal a lot of damage and can learn very interesting moves, like Flamethrower, Psychic, and Future Sight.
Abilities
Again, Slowbro and Slowking can have the same Abilities. I’m starting to think there’s no point in creating Slowking if it does the same as Slowbro, right?
These are the three Abilities Slowbro and Slowking can have:
- Oblivious: This Ability prevents Slowbro and Slowking from falling in love. If a Pokémon falls in love, it will not be able to make a damaging move. It is said that you can’t hurt the ones you love, so it makes sense.
- Own Tempo: This Ability prevents Slowbro and Slowking from getting confused. Personally, I think this is one of the best abilities you can have when going through an adventure.
- Regenerator (Hidden Ability): With this Ability, Slowbro and Slowking will heal upon getting switched out of the battlefield. This Ability is what makes Slowbro and Slowking great competitive Pokémon!
Adventure Usage
I’m always in favor of saying you can beat any Pokémon game with any kind of Pokémon you want, even with the weakest ones; you only have to train your Pokémon enough and give them the best moves to succeed. In this case, no matter the game, Slowbro and Slowking are great Pokémon.
As you might think by seeing their Stats and Moves, these two Pokémon do exactly the same thing. They can deal a lot of damage through Special moves. But, there’s a certain point I want to address; both Slow-volutions are essentially the same, but Slowbro is better for regular Pokémon adventures because it’s way easier to get than Slowking.
To get Slowking, you need to trade Slowpoke while it has a King’s Rock as its item. Getting the King’s Rock can be complicated, and trading in old games is almost impossible unless you have two consoles with copies of the same Pokémon game.
So it’s obvious Slowbro is a better option, as you only need to level Slowpoke up to level 37. Finally, a great difference between both Slow-volutions! This is a point for our favorite Slow-bro!
Competitive Usage
But what about the competitive meta? I know there are a lot of players who came here to know which Slow-volution is better in the competitive system.
Well, Slowbro is a beast in the competitive tiers, being a constant Pokémon in the second-highest tier, OU (which means Over-Used); there, it is known as a fantastic Defensive Pivot.
What On Earth is a Pivot?
For those who haven’t stepped into the competitive matches and don’t know what a Pivot is, it’s really simple. As its name suggests, a Pivot is a Pokémon whose job is to get on the battlefield, inflict damage or help its teammates by defending them, and then leave.
The fantastic thing about our homie Slowbro is its great Defense Stat and Hidden Ability, Regenerator, which heals it every time it jumps out of the battlefield.
On the other hand, Slowking has the same Pivot role but is slightly different because, as I said, our favorite king is a Special Defender.
The problem with Slowking is that there are way better Special Defensive Pokémon that can make it as a Pivot, like Toxapex or Tapu Bulu, which makes our king fall off the throne directly to the third-highest competitive tier, UU (which means Under-Used).
Slowbro is one of the best Defensive Pivots of the competitive meta, while Slowking is a decent Special Defense Pivot, but there are way better options.
Another point for our Slow-bro!
Individual Features
Again, Slowbro is the clear victor when it comes to individual features, if only because of a single reason: It has a Mega-Evolution. I know Mega-Evolutions are mostly an old thing for Pokémon nowadays (Please, Mega-Evolutions, come back!). Still, it’s a good thing to have if you are going to play X & Y or Omega Ruby & Alpha Sapphire.
Also, if you are a classic Pokémon player, you might know about Pokémon Showdown. There, you can find several game modes where you can use Mega-Evolutions! On the other hand, Slowking doesn’t have any feature that makes it stand out; it is sad because its Slow-brother got all the attention, and Slowking feels more like an unnecessary Pokémon.
FAQ
Question: Which evolution is better for Slowpoke?
Answer: You can use both, as they are very similar. However, if you are going through a Pokémon game and need it for your adventure, I recommend Slowbro because it is way easier to get than Slowking.
Question: What makes Slowbro a great Pokémon?
Answer: Slowbro is such a wonderful Pokémon in the competitive system and in regular adventures because of its bulkiness and capacity to learn a lot of dangerous moves. In addition, Slowbro is very practical as it can even learn Fire-type moves, and it’ll be almost impossible to defeat if you equip it with Leftovers!
Question: Is Slowking a good Pokémon?
Answer: Yes, it is! Suppose you are going through a Pokémon adventure. In that case, Slowking can work as your Psychic-type attacker because it is very strong and capable of successfully resisting any sort of Special move!
If you are thinking of using it in competitive matches, it can perfectly work as a Pivot that will jump in and out of the field constantly with Teleport.
Pokemon Slowbro vs Slowking at a Glance Summary
My arduous investigation finally got to a point; Slowbro is the slightly better Pokémon. Don’t get me wrong, Slowking is a great Pokémon; It can work as an excellent Pivot, and it can be your Psychic-type user in any of your Pokéadventures, but overall, Slowbro is better.
Slowbro is more convenient and easy to get and offers more than its counterpart. I don’t understand why Game Freak created Slowking to make it very similar to Slowbro; it feels unnecessary, and it would be great if Slowpoke had another variant.
I can think of a Slow-volution with a Shellder on its arms that uses it to attack, making it able to use Physical moves, or a Slow-volution with a Shellder as its complete armor, making it a completely Defensive Pokémon. There were a lot of options; why pick the most inconvenient one?
Read More: All Pokemon Mega Evolutions Ranked
