#036 Clefable
Japanese Name: ピクシー (Pixy)
Type: Normal
Classification: Fairy Pokémon
Height: 4’3″
Weight: 88.2 lbs
Gender Ratios: Male 25% – Female 75%
Base Stats: HP 95 / Atk 70 / Def 73 / SpAtk 85 / SpDef 90 / Spd 60
In the RU/UU tiers, Clefable has almost unrivaled flexibility in what she can accomplish. With solid base stats across the board and a widely diverse movepool, Clefable can become an invaluable team cleric, a surprise special sweeper, or a very capable mixed wall. For a bipedal, squishy, pink Pokémon, Clefable truly is a force to be reckoned with in lower tiers. Outclassed by the sheer bulk of Blissey in the OU tier, Clefable even manages to one-up her comonplace pudge-cousin with access to a moveset that completely dwarfs Blissey’s.
Before you begin breeding your Clefable, you’re going to have to make the difficult choice between her three paths. While it would be awesome of Clefable could do all three things, she is going to shine best if you choose one area for her to focus in. It’s up to you to choose which type of Clefable is going to suit your team best. I’ll do a brief outline of each path’s movesets here.
Cleric Clefable is a marvel. Leveling up, Clefairy will learn Light Screen at 46 to help boost the survivability of your other, more fragile team members. Healing Wish at lvl 49 gives you the chance to completely heal another party member when Clefable has reached the end of her rope. Egg Moves give Clefable the ever-important Aromatherapy for healing away party status effects and the one move that pushes her abilities as a cleric above that of Blissey – Wish. While Blissey does a lot of things very well, she will never have access to Wish, which allows Clefable to edge in on the title of ultimate-Pokécleric. TMs also give Clefable access to Toxic, Safeguard, Reflect, and Thunderwave to give your Cleric not only the ability to help cure status afflictions on your own team, but spread them to your opponents.
Cleric as a wall also has a lot of potential. With Reflect and Light Screen up, there’s no saying Clefable needs to switch out to allow other members of the team to benefit from them. On top of that, Clefable can learn Cosmic Power, which ups both her Special Defense and her Defense. She also has access to Substitute via TM to make her walling stretch a bit further. Alternatively, she can learn Amnesia as an Egg Move if you wish to focus her more as a Special Wall than a Mixed Wall. Lucky Chant to stop any critical hits might also come in handy.
Perhaps Clefable’s most interesting use is as a special sweeper. Leveling up, she doesn’t get a whole lot to work with in that respect, but even a cursory glance at what she can learn via TM is astounding. Psyshock, Ice Beam, Blizzard, Hidden Power, Solarbeam, Thunder, Thunderbolt, Psychic, Shadowball, Flamethrower, Fire Blast, Focus Blast, and Grass Knot are all available to her! That’s some serious options for type coverage! On top of that, she can learn Calm Mind through TM to push her Special Attack up even higher, making her a real threat on the battlefield. I wouldn’t advise taking this build to the OU tiers, as Clefable’s base speed is just not there. But in lower tiers where the hits she’ll be taking are a bit easier to soak, she can certainly dish out a little pain herself!
Natures are going to be tied to the path you choose for your Clefable. A wall or cleric Clefable could get use out of a Bold or Calm nature, whereas a special sweeping Clefable might want to try for Modest. EVs are also going to be subjective based on your focus. Make sure you make good use of Clefable’s base stats – that beefy HP stat is going to be a GREAT friend to you! I’d avoid sinking too much into Speed – Clefable just isn’t going to be able to outspeed much of anything. It’s better to ensure she’s able to take a few hits than push her so hard to be able to outspeed a handful of opponents.
As far as Clefable’s abilities are concerned, she has only one in my opinion. Unaware and Cute Charm are a complete joke when compared with Magic Guard. Immunity to poison damage, burn damage, leech seed damage, recoil damage, and Life Orb damage is something that should never be passed up! And since this isn’t even Clefable’s DreamWorld ability, there is no reason not to breed for it!
So while Clefable will never fully step out of Blissey’s rather large shadow, she certainly has the ability to carve out her own place in the Pokémon world. She’s a wonderfully sweet Pokémon with the power to back up her fluffy exterior. With so many options, she’s arguably one of the most versatile players in lower tiers. My Clefable, Titania (named for the fairy queen in A Midsummer Night’s Dream), could be any one of these three build options. I’m certainly not going to tell you! After all, part of Clefable’s charm is the surprise guaranteed to happen when she bursts forth from her Pokéball!
[…] Remember to check out this week’s Pokemon Spotlight entry on The Pokedex Project! […]