Trevenant, The Elder Tree Pokémon. It can control trees at will. It will trap people who harm the forest, so they can never leave. Using its roots as a nervous system, it controls the trees in the forest. It's kind to the Pokémon that reside in its body.
Overview
Trevenant is one of the Pokémon that exists that has an amazing design and concept, but unfortunately misses the mark on so many levels. It's very unfortunate, but it's just outclassed in every possible role that it can have. It just can't quite carve out its own niche and that's just so sad. I want to use this Pokémon and see others use it, but there's just not that much to justify using it. That said, it can be good in various lower tiers if you play them.
Positives
+ Trevenant has a pretty High Attack stat. It sports a Base 110. That's not shabby at all
+ Its bulk is decent enough, but could be a lot better.
+ It has surprisingly good recovery options in both moves and its Harvest ability.
+ It has a wide movepool
Negatives
- It is too slow for its bulk and too fast to be of much use in a Trick Room team.
- Anything it can do, others can do better.
-5 Weaknesses, most of them common, is not idea.
Abilities
Natural Cure: The Pokémon’s status (BURN, PARALYZE, SLEEP, POISON, FREEZE) is healed when withdrawn from battle. - This is always a handy ability, especially with the first three statuses being so commonplace. It's a great ability
Frisk: Reveals the foe’s held item. - This is only really useful for scouting, but can inform you of your opponent's strategy. But, with the two other abilities, it is not the optimal choice.
Hidden Ability (Available):
Harvest: The Pokémon has a 50% chance of restoring a consumed berry. During sunshine, this chance increases to 100% - This is a very handy thing, but it's just not reliable to work unless you're teamed with say a Primal Groudon in doubles. It's not the best option by far, especially since Knock Off completely ruins it
Movesets
Treebeard
- Wood Hammer
- Shadow Claw
- Earthquake
- Horn Leech / Rock Slide
Item Attached: Choice Band / Sitrus Berry
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs and Nature:
252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant or Jolly
Nature
This set may seem unusual, but it can make Trevenant a lot more functional. Wood Hammer gets some decent STAB, but it does damage Trevenant so you need to be careful when using it. Shadow Claw is another decent move with STAB. Earthquake has fantastic coverage and the final move is either Rock Slide in an attempt to get flinches in (if you are inexplicably faster than your opponent), as well as coverage, or Horn Leech which will do damage but also heal you. Item options are stanard. Choice Band will allow Trevenant to hit a lot harder, while Sitrus Berry will give it a health boost. Alternatively, you could go Life Orb and get more damage just without being locked in.
Other Options
- Destiny Bond. Let's face it, Trevenant is going to faint. If you can get the Destiny Bond off before the finishing blow, you can at least take your opponent out with you
- Forest's Curse is insanely gimmicky, but can be a lot of fun with the right teammates. Changing your opponent to also be part Grass-type may not be as open as Gourgeist's Trick-or-Treat, but it can make things a bit easier for you to get in some Fire, Ice, Flying etc. moves on your opponent with another Pokémon
- Will-o-Wisp is always a good move to use. Inflicting a Burn on an opponent often ruins many strategies.
VGC, Double, & Triple Battle Options
Like so many other Pokemon, Trevenant has unfortunately not made any sort of impact on the VGC 2016 season. While its fellow Ghost/Grass type Gourgeist has had moderate success, Trevenant's poorer bulk puts it at a disadvantage to use. Even in formats where the restricted legendaries are not permitted, Trevenant struggles outside of specific matchups or gimmicky sets.
Zombie Maku Tree
-Wood Hammer
-Will-O-Wisp
-Trick Room
-Protect / Phantom Force / Shadow Claw
Item Attached: Mental Herb / Lum Berry
Ability: Frisk
EVs and Nature:
244 HP / 36 Atk / 180 Def / 44 SpD / 4 Spe
Adamant Nature
A defensive spread of 244 HP, 180 Defense, and 44 Special Defense allows Trevenant to survive an Ice Beam from Modest Primal Kyogre, Knock Off from Jolly Weavile (non Life Orb), Shadow Ball from non-mega Gengar, Hyper Voice from max special attack neutral-nature Mega Salamence, or even a +2 Dazzling Gleam from Xerneas. The hope is that the ghostly tree can survive a turn to set up Trick Room for the rest of the team. Due to its ghost typing, Trevenant is immune to every common Fake Out in VGC 2016, unlike Pokemon like Bronzong and Cresselia. Just be aware that it doesn't appreciate taking a fire attack from Primal Groudon, any un-Intimidated attack from Talonflame, or pretty much any attack from Yveltal. 36 EVs in Attack with an Adamant nature allows Trevenant to OHKO non-bulky Kyogre with Wood Hammer, and can still do massive damage to the bulky ones. Frisk is more reliable than Harvest, especially in the fast-paced battles in VGC this year. Frisk can at least identify items on Pokemon like Smeargle or Thundurus, and can be very useful in best of 3 matches. Mental Herb will ignore Taunts from Thundurus or Gengar to allow Trick Room to go up, while Lum Berry will save Trevenant from one Dark Void from Smeargle.
Wood Hammer, as previously mentioned, is mainly for Primal Kyogre, but it is also Trevenant's strongest STAB move. Will-O-Wisp allows it to beat Mega Kangaskhan 1v1, and can also cripple other physical attackers who aren't immune. Trick Room supports the team by allowing slower Pokemon to attack first, and works well with Trevenant's low speed stat. The 4th move is probably best as another support move like Safeguard or one of the moves that can change abilities (which are talked about further in detail below) in VGC 16, but Protect or a Ghost STAB move are still good options, especially in other doubles formats. Phantom Force is stronger than Shadow Claw (and will also hit through Protect), but it does take two turns, meaning your opponent can potentially predict who you will attack and bring in an immunity like Kangaskhan or Smeargle.
Other Options
-Harvest is much more gimmicky than Frisk, but can work very well with a Lum or Sitrus Berry. Unfortunately, like in singles, Knock Off renders Harvest useless, but it can be fun to try on sun teams. Trevenant does also get Sunny Day to activate it (ONLY in formats without the Primals though). Natural Cure isn't completely useless, as curing burns, paralysis, or sleep is useful, but generally isn't as good as the other abilities.
-Horn Leech is weaker than Wood Hammer, but won't deal recoil to Trevenant, and will instead heal it. Trevenant will generally want the extra power in VGC 16, but Horn Leech can be an option in other formats.
-Safeguard prevents any status moves, and is especially useful to shut down sleep moves like Dark Void or Spore after you set up Trick Room, though there are better options to set up Trick Room and then Safeguard.
-Magic Coat is another way to deal with Taunt or Dark Void by bouncing these moves back, but just be aware that it will not protect your teammate from Dark Void.
-Leech Seed can be used to help Trevenant stall out opposing Pokemon. It isn't a very good option in VGC 16, but in other formats Trevenant can pull off a lessor version of Ferrothorn's Leech Seed set, especially if you stack it with Will-O-Wisp damage and recovery from Horn Leech and a Sitrus Berry combined with Harvest.
-Destiny Bond is a cheeky way to pick up a KO on a restricted legendary or another threat, especially if Trevenant already did its job or is already at long HP.
-Role Play, Worry Seed, and Skill Swap are all ways to control the weather or otherwise mess with abilities. Role Play will copy the target's ability, and can be very useful to reset your own weather or gain another Intimidate. Worry Seed will give the target the Insomnia ability, which can also be useful in weather wars (like nullifying Groudon's Desolate Land), or to simply ignore moves that induce sleep. Skill Swap also can mess with abilities like the other options, and can potentially get off another Frisk or give your teammate Natural Cure to heal off a status condition.
-Forest's Curse is very, very gimmicky, but it's a cool move that adds a Grass typing to a target and can work well in tandem with moves like Primal Groudon's Eruption.
-Imprison would mostly be useful for preventing your opponent from using Trick Room, but there are other good possibilities.
-Earthquake, Rock Slide, X-Scissor, and Poison Jab are all strong coverage options, especially in non-VGC 16 formats, but Trevenant typically will want to stick to its STAB and support moves.
Countering Trevenant
Trevenant is unfortunately a very frail Pokémon that is very slow with a myriad of weaknesses. This means that sefeating it would be a piece of cake. Go in for the Fire, Ice, Flying, Dark or Ghost-type moves and Trevenant will fall very fast. Be sure to go physical where possible as that's Trevenant's weakest stat. Various things can check it such as switching in Fire-types. While Heatran isn't resistant to the Ghost-type moves anymore, it is a bulky Fire-type that can switch in and destroy Trevenant with ease.
Locations in Games
Ruby/Sapphire/Emerald:
Not in game
FireRed/LeafGreen:
Not in game
Colosseum/XD:
Not in game
Diamond/Pearl/Platinum:
Not in game
HeartGold/SoulSilver:
Not in game
Black/White:
Not in game
Black 2/White 2:
Not in game
X/Y:
Route 20
Omega Ruby/Alpha Sapphire:
Evolve Phantump
Animé Appearences
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Trevenant has made a few appearances in the anime. In the most notable one, it kidnapped Ash. |
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