Armarouge, the Fire Warrior Pokémon. Armarouge evolved through the use of a set of armor that belonged to a distinguished warrior. This Pokémon is incredibly loyal. This Pokémon clads itself in armor that has been fortified by psychic and fire energy, and it shoots blazing fireballs.

Overview

The other of the pseudo version exclusive Megaman Duo, Armarouge has found as much, if not more success than its Violet counterpart. That is in large part thanks to its fantastic Base 125 Special Attack and wide coverage pool, giving Armarouge an answer for almost every situation. Add in the amazing signature move Armor Shot and the effectively signature move Expanding Force and you find Armarouge not wanting for power. And with access to Calm Mind and Weak Armor, Armarouge can quickly boost up to obscene levels with little warning to sweep entire teams.

However, Armarouge is plagued by issues. Its good defenses are belied by a typing laden with common weaknesses. Weak Armor and Armor Cannon further exasperate matters making Armarouge much frailer than it first appears. Armarouge’s speed is also awkward, falling short of many offensive threats without Weak Armor, making Armarouge relatively easy to revenge KO and exposed to priority regardless. Additionally, Scarlet and Violet introduced many fantastic Fire Pokémon including Skeledirge, Chi-Yu and Iron Moth, all of whom compete with Armarouge for a team slot. But none of them can claim to match Armarouge in coverage, leaving Armarouge a versatile threat nonetheless.
Positives
Base 125 Special Attack packs a wallop even uninvested, and Calm Mind pushes that even higher.
Incredible special movepool with an amazingly powerful signature Move and coverage including Energy Ball, Dark Pulse, Aura Sphere, etc.
Weak Armor pushes Armarouge’s Speed from decent to amazing, outstripping all unboosted threats and even some boosted ones.

Negatives
Fire Psychic has plenty of common weaknesses including Water, Ground and Dark alongside exposure to all entry hazards bely Armarouge’s otherwise decent defense
Armor Shot and Weak Armor quickly drain Armarouge’s good Defense, exasperating its frailty issues.
Speed before Weak Armor is unimpressive, leaving Armarouge vulnerable to many offensive threats.

Movesets

Red Bomber

-Calm Mind
-Armor Shot
-Psyshock
-Energy Ball
Ability: Weak Armor
Item: Life Orb
EVs and Nature:
4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spe
Timid Nature

Calm Mind Armarouge is a brutal setup sweeper, punching holes or cleaning up a team after setup. Take advantage of a free switch or into a weak physical attacker to trigger Weak Armor, setup Calm Mind and wreak havoc. Armor Shot is amazing powerful, being a Special Fire Close Combat clone, enabling Armarouge to melt through targets like Amoongus, Great Tusk, Landorus-Therian before a Calm Mind, let alone after where anything not overly specially bulky or resisting is going to get huge chunks torn out of its health. Psyshock is secondary STAB and compliments Armor Shot quite nicely, hitting most Specially Defensive Pokémon like Chansey, Blissey and Galarian Slowking on their much weaker Defense. Energy Ball rounds out the set hitting targets like Garganacl, Dondozo, Ting-Lu, Alomomola, Quagsire, etc. that otherwise wall Armarouge’s primary STABs.

Tera Types:
Tera Grass is excellent for Armarouge, turning many of its weaknesses into resistances while giving STAB to Energy Ball to flip the script on Water, Rock and Ground types. Tera Psychic and Tera Fire are good standbys, as buffing Armarouge’s STABs and reducing its weaknesses in turn reduces counter play your opponent can muster. All in all, while this set likes Terastalizing to guarantee setting up or securing the sweep, it is not necessary to the sets functioning either.

EVs and Items:
Max Speed and Special Attack to ensure Armarouge is an effective sweeper as possible. Max Speed is mandatory as Weak Armor is reliant on your opponent’s actions and team composition and as such is not easily controlled so pumping as much speed as possible to ensure Armarouge has utility before Weak Armor is heavily recommended. Life Orb is for more power. Armarouge is already on a short clock with Weak Armor and Armor Shot, and the extra damage from Life Orb can be instrumental in reaching KOs. Otherwise, Heavy Duty Boots is good for getting Armarouge in safely despite hazards, while Focus Sash can be used for a one time guarantee of Weak Armor + Calm Mind, but requires a free switch and good hazard control.

Partners:
Indeedee -fantastic if Armarouge is running Expanding Force, and just good in general, as once Weak Armor has been triggered, Armarouge is very exposed to priority and Psychic Terrain does protect from that weakness. Having Encore and Healing Wish for to get Armarouge in safely and potentially for a second sweep attempt is just the cherry on top. Sneasler is another fantastic partner for Armarouge, crippling many targets with Dire Claw -a timely sleep or Paralysis can be exactly what is needed for Armarouge to setup and sweep. Sneasler covers Dark types and Heatran that give Aramrouge trouble and Armarouge in turn can check Psychic types that terrify Sneasler. Both also greatly benefit from Psychic Terrain both for the protection and abuse of it with Expanding Force and Unburden. Breloom makes for an excellent partner with Armarouge, having extremely complimentary typings forming a Grass-Fire core and Fighting-Psychic core, complimentary offenses with Breloom having priority to clean up or eliminate foes that prove problematic to Aramarouge and even enables setup thanks to Spore. Meowscarada works for similar reasons, but is a more reliable pivot with U-Turn and cripples with Taunt, Thunder Wave and/or Spikes instead.

Other Options:
Expanding Force -if running Indeedee, go with this move, as dual Base 120 STAB attacks are very difficult to switch into. Dark Pulse/Shadow Ball -answers Ghosts and opposing Psychics like Skeledirge, Ceruledge, opposing Armarouge, and Slowking, who can prove to be difficult walls otherwise. Aura Sphere -destroys Dark types like Kingambit, Hydreigon, Roaring Moon and Tyranitar while checking Garganacl and Heatran as well. Endure + Weakness Policy -another combination to guarantee Weak Armor going off and potent when combined with Weakness Policy for a pseudo Shell Smash to enable Armarouge.

Doubles and VGC Options

Despite its short time existing, Armarouge has already built up quite the resume in the doubles scene. It is easy to see why, as the sole recipient of Expanding Force in the 9th Generation, Armarouge finds itself a mainstay on any team looking to exploit Psychic Terrain, which has been more invaluable than ever. And that is far from Armarouge’s only trick, having access to Trick Room and Wide Guard adds further utility on what is already an offensive powerhouse. Sadly, despite early domination when the generation, the steady introduction of more Pokémon, from potent Paradoxes like Iron Bundle and Flutter Mane to the Dark Treasures of ruin have made the surrounding meta game much more hostile to Armarouge. The Home update could have swung matters back into Armarouge’s favor with potent Trick Room abusers like Ursaluna and Enamorus-Therian joining the fray, Armarouge’s preferred play style is strong and should be accounted for when planning a team.

Event Horizon

-Trick Room
-Expanding Force
-Armor Cannon
-Protect
Ability: Flash Fire
Item: Life Orb
Tera Type: Psychic
EVs and Nature:
252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SAtk
Quiet Nature

Armarouge acts as a bulky Trick Room setter and abuser with this set. Open with Armarouge and Indeedee, have Indeedee redirect attacks with Follow Me to ensure Armarouge sets up Trick Room and then press the advantage. Tera Psychic Expanding Force is a horrifically powerful spread attack, able to accrue damage quickly, with even targets as bulky as Max HP Heatran taking 40%. Armor Cannon is a fantastic fallback STAB for incinerating Dark types that otherwise no sell Expanding Force. Protect rounds out the set as the best move in doubles. Stalling out opponent’s setup, scout, wait for a teammate to setup Trick Room, Protect does so much.

EV spread and Nature is to ensure Armarouge outslows everyone in Trick Room. Flash Fire is preferred for giving a valuable immunity that persists through Terastalization.

Other Options & Partners:
Wide Guard -blocks Armarouge and its partner from Earthquake, Rock Slide, Dazzling Gleam, Bleakwind Storm, Icy Wind, the list goes on and on
Aura Sphere/Dark Pulse/Energy Ball -Armarouge’s coverage options are excellent in covering Pokémon that otherwise wall it, but it is hard to fit in.
Twisted Spoon -the boost is slightly lower than Life Orb, but Armarouge doesn’t tear itself apart as quickly.
Indeedee -as the only available Pokémon with Psychic Surge, it is invaluable in enabling Armarouge. Adding in the ability keep Armarouge alive with Follow Me and Screens, setup its own Trick Room, Indeedee does so much.
Torkoal -like any Fire type, Armarouge likes the Sun Torkoal brings and Torkoal likes the Trick Room Armarouge sets up/enables.
Ursaluna -a fellow Trick Room abuser who is fantastic at destroying opposing Assault Vest users that give Armarouge trouble and enjoys Armarouge threatening opposing Ice and Grass types.

Countering Armarouge

Armarouge as terrifying as it can be is a Pokémon wracked with issues. 4 moveslot syndrome strikes Armarouge hard always leaving gaps in its coverage based on what it is missing. If Armarouge lacks Grass coverage, it misses the OHKO on targets like Quagsire, Dondozo, Gastrodon, and Basculegion who threaten back with their STABs. Armarouge lacking Aura Sphere are stopped by Chi-Yu, Heatran, Hydreigon, Roaring Moon and Tyranitar. Armarouge lacking Shadow Ball or Dark Pulse struggle against opposing Armarouge, Skeledirge and Slowking/Slowbro (if lacking Energy Ball as well). Armarouge lacking Psyshock often struggle against dedicated sponges like Chansey and Blissey as well.

Armarouge’s poor speed also leaves it rather exposed. Numerous offensive threats can outspeed and OHKO Armarouge. Hydreigon, Iron Jugulis, Greninja, Galarian Moltres, and Hisuian Zoroark are but a few examples of this, all of whom avoid triggering Weak Armor but they do require good prediction to get in safely.

If Armarouge gets a Weak Armor boost, its troubles are not over, as the defense drops from Weak Armor and Armor Shot leave Armarouge incredibly exposed to priority. Sucker Punch from Kingambit, Chien-Pao, Lokix, Aqua Jet from Floatzel, Basculegion, Barraskewda, Azumarill, Extreme Speed from Dragonite all can attend with a Weak Armor boosted Armarouge. And even then Armarouge’s Speed is not peerless after a Weak Armor boost. Base 117 and higher Choice Scarf users like Greninja, Cinderace, Dragapult, Meowscarada all outspeed while Scarf Iron Valiant Speed ties.

Anime Appearences

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