Pecharunt, the Subjugation Pokémon. It feeds others toxic mochi that draw out desires and capabilities. Those who eat the mochi fall under Pecharunt's control, chained to its will. Its peach-shaped shell serves as storage for a potent poison. It makes poisonous mochi and serves them to people and Pokémon.

Overview

The master of the Loyal Three, Pecharunt has finally arrived after tons of foreshadowing from the Teal Mask DLC and threatens to be a physical wall par excellence. 160 Defense is the 6th best in the game, and unlike every other Pokémon with higher Defense, Pecharunt has overall better HP, typing and recovery, leaving some people to call Pecharunt a physical Blissey. Which shows with Pecharunt surviving even super effective Physical attacks like Great Tusk’s Headlong Rush and Hisuian Samurott’s Ceaseless Edge without issue. Pecharunt makes good use of its bulk too, being an incredibly efficient Toxic Staller thanks to its Poison Puppeteer ability and access to Recover, greatly facilitating the task. 88 Speed is shockingly fast for a defensive Pokémon too, outspeeding threats like Great Tusk and Gholdengo, which can make all the difference in being able to stall them out or being forced out. Parting Shot is another amazing move in Pecharunt’s tool kit, making it a reliable facilitator for allied setup sweepers. Even offensively, Pecharunt shows promise, with Nasty Plot boosting its usable Special Attack up to terrifying levels while its signature Malignant chains outright defies conventional walling thanks to its high badly Poison rate, leaving few safe switch ins.

Pecharunt’s efficacy remains contentious. While Poison Ghost does offer important Fighting Immunity, common Dark and Ground weaknesses make it far less reliable at checking the physical attackers Pecharunt is tasked to handle. Its Special Defense, while not bad, is nothing special and a noticeable weakpoint on what is otherwise such a tanky Pokémon. Pecharunt’s movepool is also shockingly shallow, with no viable coverage options outside of Foul Play leaving it walled by Steel and Poison types that can tank its Ghost STABs. Poison Puppeteer is rather inconsistent with Confusion’s low activation chance and only triggers when Pecharunt poisons the target, making it difficult to reestablish. Finally, there are other excellent Poison and Ghost walls like Skeledirge, Galarian Slowking and Toxapex that can make it difficult to justify Pecharunt over. Pecharunt’s ability to cause strife is not one to be underestimated, and with its bulk and ability, it is a potent enabler for both offensive and defensive Pokémon alike.
Positives
160 Defense is one of the highest in the game, guaranteeing Pecharunt can endure physical hits well no matter what.
Access to Recover grants oh so important reliable recovery that enables Pecharunt to repeatedly endure physical assaults.
Good disruptive movepool with access to Poison Puppeteer boosted Toxic and Malignant Chains as well as the rare Parting Shot.

Negatives
88 Special Defense is average at best and makes staying in against Special and mixed attackers a risky affair.
Common Dark and Ground weaknesses make Pecharunt less reliable against the physical attackser it is supposed to check.
Pecharunt’s shallow movepool gives it almost no direct answers for Ghost resistant Steel and Poison types.

Movesets

M-ochi?

-Parting Shot
-Malignant Chain
-Shadow Ball
-Recover
Ability: Poison Puppeteer
Item: Heavy Duty Boots
EVs and Nature:
248 HP / 8 Def / 252 Spe
Timid Nature

This is a supportive Pecharunt set, aiming to take advantage of its great bulk to pivot in and then enable setup for a sweeper by pivoting out with Parting Shot, making the most out of Pecharunt’s unique traits, and with Pecharunt’s good bulk and speed it isn’t pressured to Parting Shot right away. Malignant Chain is another disruptive tool that greatly facilitates sweeping, as the high chance of Toxic and Confusion on top of the decent damage leaves only Poison and Steel types as safe switch ins (and to a lesser extent, Toxic Heal Gliscor). Shadow Ball is recommended for dealing with Gholdengo, the one Pokémon that blocks Parting Shot and doesn’t mind Malignant Chains, being a reliable 2HKO. Recover is important for this set, as the recovery it provides enables Pecharunt to pivot in and out multiple times as well as stall badly poisoned foes out in late game scenarios. This Pecharunt set slots nicely on hyper offense teams, with multiple teammates that can take advantage of Pecharunt’s pivoting to attempt a sweep, though balance teams can also appreciate Pecharunt as part of their backbone.

Tera Types:
Pivoting Pecharunt rarely needs Terastalization, as it will ideally be pivoting out whenever a potential check comes in, leaving Terastalization for its more offensively inclined teammates. If you must Terastalize, Tera Flying is an excellent option. Many popular physical attackers that could break through Pecharunt such as Great Tusk, Gliscor, and Excadrill are Ground type, and thus struggle to handle Pecharunt with their coverage post Terastalization, while still covering the physical Fighting and Grass types Pecharunt is expected to handle. Other excellent defense Terastalization options include Fairy for giving a valuable Dark resistance and Dark for both Dark and Ghost resistances.

EVs and Items:
Max Speed is recommended for getting the jump on non Scarf Great Tusk, Hisuian Samurott and Gholdengo as well as slower variants of Landorus-Therian, with almost everything else going into HP for as much general bulk as possible. Some investment in Special Defense can be useful for surviving Special Attacks. 232 HP and 24 Special Defense is sufficient to survive a Modest Gholdengo’s Shadow Ball (248 HP handles Timid Gholdengo just fine). If looking to endure more special attacks, one may consider a Calm Nature, but given how Pecharunt barely outspeeds Great Tusk, you run the risk of Pecharunt taking a heavy hit by faster sets, making it difficult to pivot again in the future. Heavy Duty Boots protects Pecharunt from hazards, imperative given the amount of pivoting it performs and can make all the difference between barely surviving an attack and being OHKOd. Sitrus Berry makes a good back up option for burst healing. Colbur Berry is also good as it blunts boosted Knock Offs (the most common Dark coverage move), and makes subsequent Knock Offs much easier to endure.

Partners:
Setup Sweepers love allies with Parting Shot for facilitating sweeps and Pecharunt especially so given its bulk enables one to do so repeatedly. Setup sweepers that do well into the Poison and Steel types Pecharunt draws are especially apt. Quiver Dance Volcarona, is a prime example, able to obliterate most Steel types with Fire STAB and potentially Psychic coverage. Swords Dance Iron Boulder also works well thanks to its Psychic STAB and access to Ground/Fighting coverage. Iron Valiant is particularly nightmarish, given its mixed nature makes safely pivoting in before knowing the set particularly difficult

Other Options:
Toxic is an option over Malignant Chain that provides guaranteed Badly Poisoning and Confusion, over Malignant Chain’s 50%, but leaves can be more heavily punished by Poison type switch ins. Hex is alternative Ghost STAB that synergizes wonderfully with Malignant Chain, but fails to 2HKO Gholdengo who can hard stop Parting Shot otherwise and threatens with Super Effective Ghost STAB itself.

Toxic Offensive

-Nasty Plot
-Shadow Ball
-Malignant Chain
-Tera Blast
Ability: Poison Puppeteer
Item: Leftovers
EVs and Nature:
4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spe
Timid Nature

Nasty Plot Pecharunt is a cruel surprise for opponents expecting defensive sets, as Nasty Plot boosted Shadow Ball tears through Steel and Poison types like Corviknight, Galarian Slowking, Glimmora, Iron Moth, Assault Vest Archaludon, and honorary poison type Poison Heal Gliscor all of whom can tank an uninvested Shadow Ball quite readily. Being able to beat all those Poison immune Pokémon is important, as Malignant Chain is what makes Nasty Plot Pecharunt so difficult to wall. The Toxic and Confuse effect from Malignant Chain is brutal, crippling many would be sponges that could otherwise soak up Pecharunt’s attacks all day. Tera Blast is highly recommended as Pecharant’s coverage is otherwise non-existent and can help cover the few things it can’t deal with otherwise. Pecharunt takes advantage of its typing and absurd natural Defense to grab the necessary boosts to sweep. As such, its bulky nature makes it better regulated for bulky offense and balance teams, that are better able to stall out for errant Toxic and take advantage of Pecharunt’s defensive utility.

Tera Types:
As noted, Pecharunt’s coverage is abysmal, so it really enjoys Terastalizing to cover for the blind spots in its STABs. Tera Ground and Tera Fighting are both highly recommended for their ability to cover Steel types, though what you feel like you need to cover is the deciding factor. Tera Ground hits Poison types hard and is Nasty Plot Pecharunt’s best answer into Unaware Clodsire who otherwise completely walls the set, though it is very poor into floating Steel types. Tera Fighting gives both an offensive and defensive answer into Dark types, which can otherwise threaten large damage onto Pecharunt, and completely messes up Kingambit, one of the few hard answers into Pecharunt.

EVs and Items:
Standard Sweeper set of Max Special Attack and Speed. Pecharunt gets a lot of value for being slightly faster than utilitarian threats like Great Tusk, Gholdengo and Hisuian Samurott, all of which threaten large damage on Pecharunt, but struggle to endure boosted STABs in turn. Max Special Attack is to get the most out of Nasty Plot, enabling Pecharunt to apply pressure quickly and is vital in muscling past Unaware walls like Skeledirge and Dondozo as well as getting the guaranteed 2HKO on Iron Moth and Archaludon. Investing in HP over Special Attack or Speed for the added bulk can be a hard sell. With a neutral nature, Pecharunt needs Max Special Attack to have a chance of 2HKOing Specially Bulky Skeledirge from full with Shadow Ball, while Skeledirge is favored to 2HKO back with Torch Song and Hex and will OHKO if there is no HP investment. On the other hand, HP investment can be vital for surviving otherwise lethal attacks like Galarian Slowking’s Future Sight, and Roaring Moon’s Knock Off. For the item, Leftovers provides consistent passive recovery, great for setting up or continuing the sweep, while Colbur Berry remains a great fallback option against Knock Off.

Partners:
Slowking is a standout partner. While the shared Ghost and Dark weaknesses are far from ideal, Future Sight is great at dissuading opposing Poison types from coming in and applies pressure while Pecharunt is setting up. Its phenomenal Special bulk also compliments Pecharunt’s physical Defense quite well and makes for a great slow pivot in getting Pecharunt in safely. Pecharunt utterly stuffing the many Grass types that give Slowking headaches is just gravy. Great Tusk makes for a great dedicated answer to both Clodsire and Kingambit thanks to its phenomenal physical bulk and natural typing matching well into them. Pecharunt in turn provides answers to Grass types like Rillaboom and Ogerpon, as well as Fairies like Azumarill. Archaludon also makes for a decent Kingambit check thanks to its phenomenal physical bulk, Stamina, and Body Press. Partners that can threaten/soften Ground types are greatly appreciated. Rillaboom is a fantastic example, its Grass STAB doing wonders against the likes of Great Tusk, while Grassy surge provides extra passive recovery and protection against the common Earthquake. Gliscor is another Pokémon famed for dealing with Ground attacks and who’s Spikes are great for enabling sweeps

Other Options:
Recover is great if going for a bulkier set, able to keep itself healthy and provide more of a defensive role alongside its offensive one. Hex deserves mention for being able to overwhelm Unaware walls like Dondozo and Skeledirge if they get Poisoned by Malignant Chain, enabling easy 2HKOs, though the power drop against other Steel and Poison types is noticeable. Dual Ghost STAB is worth considering if you have strong answers for Kingambit and Clodsire.

Countering Pecharunt

Pecharunt is a tough pit to crack thanks to its absurdly high Defense and access to Recover, while its natural Poison typing precludes Toxic from being an option to wear it down. Malignant Chains and Parting Shot further complicate matters, hindering most switch ins.

There are a few hard answers. Competitive Empoleon and Defiant Kingambit completely no sell Pecharunt’s tricks, gaining massive buffs from Parting Shot while being Immune to Malignant Chains, but they are niche. Unaware Clodsire is also notable, as it completely walls the Nasty Plot set, and does not mind the Attack drop from Parting Shot too much.

Pivot sets are hard to stop, as the only Pokémon that completely no sells Parting Shot, Gholdengo, does not like switching into a predicted Shadow Ball, and can struggle against max Speed sets unless running Choice Scarf.

Poison and Steel types tend to be safer switch ins in general, thanks to their immunity to Poison and thus Poison Puppeteers, though this can vary depending on the set. Galarian Slowking does well against defensive Pecharunt thanks to its Special Defense offsetting the Ghost weakness, but Nasty Plot sets will eat Galarian Slowking alive. Iron Moth is another great example, with its Fiery Dance counteracting Parting Shot and able to reliably 2HKO with Fiery Dance. Assault Archaludon 2HKOs through Electro Shot + STAB while taking pittance from unboosted attacks, though it is 2HKO’d by boosted Shadow Ball in turn.

Offensive sets tend to be far easier to handle given Pecharunt’s only decent speed and much lower Special Defense being easy to prey on. Darkrai, Specs Kyurem, Specs Dragapult, Latios, and Iron Crown all easily outspeed and OHKO all but the most specially bulky Pecharunt. Non Steel and Poison typed Physical attackers should be a last resort, given Pecharunt’s insane defense, and Poison Puppeteer’s Confusion affecting them so much worse. Banded Roaring Moon’s Knock Off can OHKO, while Banded Meowscarada’s and Banded Weavile’s Knock Offs can do so if Pecharunt is under 3/4s. Great Tusk, Landorus-Therian and Ting-Lu all can deal heavy damage with Earthquake, though none of them can OHKO and eating a Toxic can be ruinous.

Anime Appearences

Pecharunt has yet to make an appearance in the anime # -English Episode Name- -Jp. Episode Name- Pics