Dipplin, the Candy Apple Pokémon. Dipplin is two creatures in one Pokémon. Its evolution was triggered by a special apple grown only in one place. The head sticking out belongs to the fore-wyrm, while the tail belongs to the core-wyrm. The two share one apple and help each other out.

Overview

While Applin getting another evolution was unexpected, it being a candy apple fits the festival theme of Kitakami. And Dipplin is fascinating not with the least of being its ability to use Eviolite, bolstering its good Defense and average Special Defense to impressive levels, coupled with Dipplin's numerous resistances and access to Recover turns Dipplin into quite the resilient wall, especially against the popular Ground, Grass and Water types. Uniquely for an Eviolite abuser, Dipplin has access to Sticky Hold, preventing item disruption like Knock Off from being a viable answer for it. Dipplin's Syrup Bomb is an interesting signature move, with a unique speed sapping effect, leaving faster sweepers exposed to slower targets and preventing setup from counteracting the effects, making Dipplin a unique enabler for some Pokémon.

Sadly, that is where this candy apple stops being sweet and starts turning tart. Only average offenses make it difficult for Dipplin to do anything with its bulk without exploiting weaknesses, and it lacks the explosive boosting and support moves to make up for that, with only Dragon Tail and Syrup Bomb preventing Dipplin from being setup fodder. Syrup Bomb is also surprisingly unreliable, its 85% accuracy clearly meant to be used with Supersweet Syrup, but bizarrely that was made a once per battle ability and Dipplin has few other moves that benefit from it. Poor Speed is another sticking point, forcing Dipplin to take hits before it does anything, and making its good bulk less impressive. A quadruple ice weakness tops Dipplin's woes, giving an easy way to bypass its great defenses. And worst of all Dipplin is effectively outclassed by many other defensive Grass types, including Appletun who boasts a similar defensive profile, Dipplin has its strong points, but for most, it would be best to leave this apple at the fair.
Positives
Solid Base 80/110/80 defenses further bolstered by Eviolite and Recover make Dipplin incredibly durable.
Grass Dragon offers a host of resistances, further increasing Dipplin's bulk and making it easy to switch in.
Sticky Hold synergizes amazingly with Eviolite, making sure Dipplin's defenses can't be sapped by Knock Off or Trick
Great disruptive tools in Syrup Bomb and Dragon Tail

Negatives
Average 80/95 offenses and no boosting outside of Growth leave Dipplin somewhat passive.
Quadruple Ice weakness undermines otherwise good defenses
Horrendously low base 40 Speed all but ensures Dipplin takes a hit before acting.
Supersweet Syrup only activates once per battle and Syrup Bomb only has 85 Accuracy, making both unreliable.

Movesets

Infested Apple

-Infestation
-Syrup Bomb
-Recover
-Dragon Tail
Ability: Sticky Hold
Item: Eviolite
EVs and Nature:
252 HP / 252 Def /4 SDef
Bold Nature

Dipplin acts as an annoyer and enabler for its teammates with this set. Dipplin takes advantage of its great defenses and resistances to pivot in against Ground, Electric, Grass or Water attackers. The trapping them in with Infestation and pivoting to a teammate that can use the trapped opponent as setup fodder. Infestation also pulls double duty as Dipplin's main win condition, providing chip to reach KOs. Syrup Bomb can be used to further worsen the trapped target's situation and circumvent any speed boosting setup they may try. Recover is necessary to keep Dipplin around, able to pivot in and repeatedly trap Pokémon. Dragon Tail may seem counter intuitive for this set, but it does punish targets that don't mind Infestation and/or Syrup Bomb's speed sapping effect like Curse Dondozo, or Stored Power Bronzong.

Tera Types:
Dipplin is largely a defensive Pokémon and relies on its defenses to excel. Grass Dragon does offer several valuable resistances, so consider whether to Terastalize Dipplin if it will open holes in your team's defensive profile. That being said, Dipplin loves Tera Steel and Tera Poison. Both provide immunity to Toxic which otherwise ruins Dipplin's bulk but at the cost of a Ground weakness. Tera Steel offers invaluable resistances to Ice, Bug, Poison and Fairy attacks on top of the immunity to Poison, while Tera Poison only resists Poison, Bug, and Fairy of Dipplin's weaknesses, but has fewer weaknesses to exploit in turn.

EVs and Items:
Max HP and Defense are recommended. Dipplin will most often be called in to deal with physical attackers like Gliscor, Leafeon, Brute Bonnet, Hippowdon, etc. and needs as much defense as possible to compensate. Special Defense investment is worth consideration for a more well-rounded wall, relying on Dipplin's much higher Defense to do the lifting there. Eviolite is mandatory, as that is largely what gives Dipplin its famed bulk.

Partners:
Attackers love Dipplin, especially those that can easily pivot in to whatever Dipplin traps. Fire and Water attackers like Quaquaval, Hisuian Arcanine and Chandelure appreciate the Speed sapping effect of Syrup Bomb, enabling them to get the jump on targets that their speed just barely misses out on. In turn, all of them can pivot into Ice Attacks while H-Arcanine and Chandelure can pivot into Fairy, Bug, Poison and in the case of the former, Flying attacks, while love having Dipplin as a pivot for Ground and Water attacks. Quaquaval likes the extra damage piled on by Infestation making it easier to reach a KO and start Moxie boosting for a sweep.

If running Dragon Tail, hazard setters are paramount, getting extra chip damage on whatever comes in is paramount for Dipplin to generate as much momentum as it can. Both varieties of Qwilfish and Muk love Dipplin for its ability to pivot into Ground moves and opposing Water types that may be awkward for them, while setting up Spikes and Toxic Spikes that place Infestation trapped opponents on a very short timer.

Other Options:
Dragon Pulse/Draco Meteor -Outside of the utility of Dragon Tail, Dipplin can make use of its Dragon STAB for decent neutral coverage.
Giga Drain -while not a replacement for Recover, having Recovery on STAB enables Dipplin to apply pressure while keeping itself healthy.
Dragonbreath -Yes you read that right. A STAB option but mainly used for fishing for Paralysis for a more persistent Speed sapping effect.
Growth -Dipplin's lone boosting move and it has the defenses to accrue multiple boosts, but it will need several to compensate for its low offenses and investing in offense markedly decreases Dipplin's bulk.

Doubles and VGC Options

Dipplin has much more merit in Doubles as opposed to singles. Supersweet Syrup is amazing for Doubles given the large number of popular moves that have less than perfect accuracy that the Evasion drop fixes up, enabling Dipplin as a consistency tool. It is not until you get to attacks like Hurricane and Focus Blast where Supersweet Syrup doesn't guarantee the hit, making staple tools like Icy Wind, Heat Wave and Rock Slide incredibly reliable. Syrup Bomb is incredible too, the persistent Speed drop effect and prevalence of Protect not only help negate boosts from effects like Tailwind and Swift Swim, but also make it far easier to stall out the turns to do so. However, Dipplin is still held in place by itself. It struggles to provide offensive presence to the field, and Supersweet Syrup being once per battle greatly limits the benefit it provides. Additionally, one can argue how beneficial Supersweet Syrup is, considering these moves must already be reliable to be considered for use in the first place. This can leave the opportunity cost of using Dipplin far too high for the benefit it provides.

Party Apple

-Syrup Bomb
-Pollen Puff
-Protect
-Recover
Ability: Supersweet Syrup
Item: Eviolite
Tera Type: Steel
EVs and Nature:
252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SDef
Bold Nature

Dipplin takes on a dedicated support roll in Doubles, using Supersweet Syrup to guarantee its Syrup Bomb and allies' moves land, becoming a unique consistency tool. Syrup Bomb is an amazing attack, dropping an opponents speed for several turns and making it difficult for them to maintain a speed advantage without switching out, generating more momentum for your team. Pollen Puff pulls double duty as coverage against opposing Grass types and healing for Dipplin's teammates so they can keep applying pressure. Protect is the best move in Doubles for good reason, stalling out for Syrup Bomb's speed drop, preventing opponents from getting free damage with Fake Out, and help run out the clock on opposing weather, terrain, Tailwind and Trick Room. Recover helps Dipplin stay in longer so it can keep providing support.

EVs and Eviolite are for as much bulk as possible so Dipplin can live to perform its duties. Tera Steel is highly recommended for turning all of Dipplin's weaknesses into resistances and having a broad defensive profile in general.

Other Options & Partners:
Draco Meteor -Dipplin's best method of dealing damage and preventing it from being completely passive.
Fezandipiti -an excellent partner that loves the support from Dipplin, ensuring that Icy Wind and Heat Wave land for not only damage, but extra chances for Toxic Chain to activate and enjoys the speed Control that Syrup Bomb provides against other Tailwind setters.
Iron Bundle loves Supersweet Syrup patching up Hydro Pump and Icy Wind's accuracy issues.

Countering Dipplin

Dipplin is so slow and passive it does invite free-switch ins for many checks and counters. However, recklessly switching into a Syrup Bomb or Infestation can place yourself in a dire strait against Dipplin's teammates. Ghost types do well with Infestation, taking pitiful damage and able to switch out at any time, though the Speed drop from Syrup Bomb can be worrisome. Skeledirge tends to excel in this regard, being slow, resisting Dipplin's Grass STAB and can use it to setup Torch Songs for attacking. Trevenaunt, and Hoopa can also fit this role well.

Defiant and Competitive users also heavily punish Syrup Bomb, maxing out on their offensive stat if they stay in for the full duration. Milotic, Empoleon and Galarian Articuno can all tank defensive sets Syrup Boms and OHKO back with a boosted Ice Beam/Hurricane, while Bisharp can handily tank anything Dipplin throws at it and Passimian can threaten with a boosted U-Turn and/or Acrobatics.

Toxic and Toxic Spikes are ruinous for Dipplin since it is so dependent on its defenses to function that turning its own strategy on it will spell its doom. The fact that most users of these moves can threaten with Poison STAB is just winds down the clock that much faster.

Otherwise, slow bulky attackers that don't care about Syrup Bomb's Speed drop or Dipplin's STABs make for reliable switch ins. Abomasnow, Orthworm, Galarian Slowbro, and Muk all excel at this role. Sap Sipper Assault Vest Goodra also stands out, able to tank Draco Meteors without flinching, threaten back with its own or Sludge Bomb and immune to Syrup Bomb thanks to Sap Sipper.

Anime Appearences

Dipplin has yet to make an appearance in the anime # -English Episode Name- -Jp. Episode Name- Pics 69 TBC I'm a Pokémon and You're Me?! Pics