Mesprit

Mesprit, The Emotion Pokémon. This Pokémon is said to have endowed the human heart with emotions, such as sorrow and joy. When MESPRIT flew, people learned the joy and sadness of living. It was the birth of emotions. It sleeps at the bottom of a lake. Its spirit is said to leave its body to fly on the lake's surface.

Overview

Mesprit is one of the trio of Psychic Pokémon from D/P/Pt, the others being Azelf and Uxie. It's the middle of the road between the two; it has better defences than Azelf, and better offences than Uxie, although falls short of matching Azelf's offensive stats and Uxie's defensive stats. It defines the phrase “jack of all trades, master of none”. Mesprit doesn't stand out as an offensive threat (unless running the Calm Mind set in UU, but even then it's outclassed) or as a defensive wall. It's got a nice niche though that allows it to sit comfortably between the two.

Ability

Levitate: always a great ability. It gives Mesprit an immunity to Ground that it wouldn't have had before.

Move Sets

CMprit

- Psychic
- Ice Beam
- Hidden Power [Ground] / Hidden Power [Fighting]
- Calm Mind
Item Attached: Life Orb / Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs and Nature:
EVs: 252 SAtk / 4 SDef / 252 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)

Psychic will be your main attack here due to STAB and reliability. Ice Beam is a great partner to Psychic and is a great attack regardless. Hidden Power [Ground] or Hidden Power [Fighting] depends on whether you care about the 1 Speed point drop Hidden Power [Fighting] brings, as you need a 30 Speed IV to have it at max power. Really though, there isn't much difference between the two. They are there to hit Steels hard. Calm Mind is Mesprit's boosting move, and it boosts it both offensively and defensively, although you only really care about the upgraded offence.

Scarfprit

- Zen Headbutt
- Stealth Rock
- U-turn
- Trick
Item Attached: Choice Scarf
Ability: Levitate
EVs and Nature:
EVs: 52 HP / 204 Atk / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature (+Spd, -SAtk)

This Mesprit is used as a lead, funnily enough. Zen Headbutt is your main form of damage here, although damage is not your priority. It can flinch too, which is nice with Choice Scarf. Stealth Rock is the best residual damage dealer in the game, and it needs setting up as soon as possible. U-turn gets you out of harms way before or after you Trick away your Choice Scarf, as well as dealing a little damage. Speaking of Trick, that can really mess up any of the slow and bulky Pokémon in UU.

Specsprit

- Psychic
- Thunderbolt
- Ice Beam
- Trick / U-turn
Item Attached: Choice Specs
Ability: Levitate
EVs and Nature:
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Modest Nature (+SAtk, -Atk) / Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)

The point of this set is to hit hard and get out. Psychic hits very hard when you factor in STAB, and should be used a lot, just watch out for Steels and Darks. Thunderbolt is half of the infamous attack combo, the second attack being Ice Beam. When their powers combine, they summon Pokémon's greatest champion! Captain Pla-BoltBeam! Trick can wreck a Pokémon if used at the right time, whereas U-turn can scout and lead to the trapping of an enemy Pokémon.

Supporprit

- Psychic
- Thunder Wave / Reflect
- Stealth Rock
- Ice Beam / Thunderbolt / Knock Off
Item Attached: Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs and Nature:
EVs: 252 HP / 80 SAtk / 176 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)

Psychic is Mesprit's best attack, it'll be running it in 90% of its sets. Thunder Wave is an awesome status move. It has 100 accuracy which means it always paraylzes when it affects the opponent. Reflect supports the team and makes Mesprit very bulky on the physical side. Stealth Rock is Stealth Rock. Ice Beam, Thunderbolt or Knock Off really depends what you want Mesprit to do or hurt.

Bandprit

- Zen Headbutt
- U-turn / Trick
- Ice Punch / Trick
- Fire Punch / Trick
Item Attached: Choice Band
Ability: Levitate
EVs and Nature:
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk) / Jolly Nature (+Spd, -SAtk)

A very unexpected set that can hit surprisingly hard. Zen Headbutt is your go to move due to its nice base power, STAB, and chance to flinch. U-turn will be doing good damage with Choice Band, and it gets your Mesprit off of the field to safety. Ice Punch partners well with Zen Headbutt and hits a lot of Pokémon in UU for good damage, but Fire Punch can catch a Steel types switching in. Trick is always amazing with a Choice item, which is why it has been suggested as an option over any attack not called Zen Headbutt.

EVs and Nature:

CMprit
Max Special Attack and Speed for obvious reasons. Put the 4 leftover EVs into one of the defences, as with 0 investment into HP, Mesprit hits a Life Orb number.

Scarfprit
You want Mesprit as fast as it can be, so run max Speed. The Attack investment allows Mesprit to break Raikou's Substitute with U-turn. Remainder in HP.

Specsprit
Max Special Attack and Speed. You want to be hitting hard and fast.

Supporprit
Max HP for obvious reasons. The Speed investment means Mesprit outspeeds all base 70s that don't use Choice Scarf. Remainder in Special Attack so you can deal a little more damage.

Bandprit
Same deal as Specsprit, except you want to throw everything into Attack and Speed.

Other Options

Charm, Grass Knot, Imprison, Magic Coat, Trick Room
Charm can force switches and give Mesprit some temporary physical bulk.
Grass Knot deals with any Water and Ground types, but isn't as good as its other options.
Imprison is a great move on Mesprit thanks to its huge movepool. It can stop other Pokémon using Trick, Stealth Rock, BoltBeam, it's great..
Magic Coat can be useful to rebound status back at the opponent, but it isn't that great.
Trick Room is an awesome move on Mesprit. It is bulky enough to reliably set it up, and can benefit from it thanks to its average base 80 Speed.

Countering Mesprit

Chansey and Steel types like Registeel are the main switch ins to Mesprit, and for good reason. They take nothing from any of its special attacks and can ruin it with status or wear it down slowly but surely as Mesprit has no way of healing itself. However, they need to watch out for Trick and physical sets. Dark types like Houndoom can wall Mesprit all day and deal massive damage back. Just watch out for U-turn. Bulky Waters also do really well. Milotic and the Slow twins and the best examples. Psychic Pokémon do great against Mesprit, such as Uxie and even Mesprit itself. Mismagius can use Mesprit as set up bait, just be careful of Thunder Wave. Spiritomb is another great counter. As I said at the very top, mesprit is a jack of all trades. It can deal damage, but not scary damage. It takes hits, but not as many as you'd hope. It'll be taken down eventually regardless due to no recovery, and if you play smart it won't be hurting you too much.

Locations in Games

Ruby/Sapphire/Emerald

Not in Game

Colosseum/XD

Not in Game

Fire Red/Leaf Green

Not in Game

Diamond/Pearl/Platinum

Roamin Sinnoh

HeartGold/SoulSilver

Trade from DPt

Animé Appearences

Mesprit has had a few Animé Appearences. Most of its appearances were cameos based on Dawn's original encounter with it, but it later appeared getting captured by Team Galactic

Episode 469: Following A Maiden Voyage
Episode 472: Dawn of a New Era
Episode 504: The Secret Sphere of Influence
Episode 546: Pruning a Passel of Pals!
Episode 553: Fighting Fear With Fear!
Episode 564: Losing Its Lustrous
Pokémon Mystery Dungeon - Beyond Time & Darkness - Explorers of Sky
Episode 601: Uncrushing Defeat
Episode 618: Unlocking the Red Chain of Events!
Episode 619: The Needs of Three
Episode 620: The Battle Finale of Legend!