Dragonite, The Dragon Pokémon. It’s a kindhearted Pokémon. If it spots a drowning person or Pokémon, Dragonite simply must help them. This Pokémon is known as the Sea Incarnate. Figureheads that resemble Dragonite decorate the bows of many ships.
Overview
Lance couldn't held his head high after suffering the humiliation of losing to Leon in the anime and decided to seclude himself along with his Hyper Beaming dragons on the icy mountains of the Crown Tundra until Game Freak finally gave players access to the area. The biggest change Dragonite has received on this generation is Dynamax as it makes it an even more threatening sweeper than what it was on previous generations. Thanks to Multiscale and its great bulk, Dragonite can easily exploit Dynamax and sweep the opponent which makes it possible thanks to the boosts it can receive from its Max moves. While Dragonite seems at first an unstoppable force of nature, it also has its weaknesses. Without Multiscale, Dragonite takes much more damage from other moves and its x4 weakness to Ice makes it very prone to be revenge killed by threats such as Mamoswine or Weavile. In addition to this, its sub-par Speed makes it difficult to sweep without a Speed boost as it makes it easy for Pokemon like Dragapult to revenge kill it. In addition to this, opponents can simply avoid activating items such as Weakness Policy and instead do chip damage which breaks Multiscale anyways and due to its over-reliance on it, it makes it difficult for Dragonite to switch-in without taking different forms of indirect damage such as status or weather.
Positives
Multiscale is the main reason why you want to use Dragonite over any other Dragon type as when it is at full health, it reduces the damage of any attack by half which grants it plenty of opportunities to set up and sweep the opponent.
Dragonite makes the best out of its great 134 base Attack along with its expansive moveset that grants it several options such as Fire Punch, Extreme Speed and Earthquake.
It has great bulk which makes it very easy for Dragonite to exploit Multiscale appropriately with its 91/95/100 defenses, specially when Dynamaxed which makes it hard for the opponent to take down Dragonite even with super-effective hits.
Negatives
Dragonite suffers from serious four move slot syndrome as it cannot fit everything in one set which may leave it walled either by Pokemon like Corviknight and Skarmory without Fire Punch or Heatran in case Dragonite lacks Earthquake.
Multiscale makes Dragonite to be overreliant on it as it has to find ways to switch-in without taking any kind of direct or indirect damage which makes it hard for Dragonite to find opportunities due to weather and status.
Movesets
DRAGON STORIES
- Dual Wingbeat / Outrage
- Fire Punch / Earthquake
- Outrage / Extreme Speed / Roost
- Dragon Dance
Item Attached: Weakness Policy / Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Multiscale
EVs and Nature:
252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
Thanks to its incredible bulk and Multiscale, Dragonite can turn a match tanking even super-effective hits allowing it to sweep the opponent's team once its checks and counters are fainted or weak. Dual Wingbeat is the preferred STAB move as it allows Dragonite to harm Fairy types like Tapu Fini and Togekiss without the fear of losing momentum due to an expected Dragon move. Once Dynamaxed, Max Airstream will allow Dragonite to further increase its Speed allowing it to outpace even more offensive threats like Dragapult. Earthquake complements its Flying STAB by destroying Steel types like Metagross and Heatran while hitting Melmetal very hard. Fire Punch is also an excellent option that allows Dragonite to hit Corviknight, Celesteela and Skarmory very hard. Extreme Speed gives Dragonite a priority move allowing it to pick up on weakened faster opponents like Weavile and Cinderace, however, this move is only recommended on 6v6 as they are more Pokemon that can outspeed Dragonite even at +1. On 6v6 Roost is also worth considering as it allows Dragonite to exploit Multiscale more than once and it complements extremely well with Heavy-Duty Boots thanks to the immunity it provides to hazards. If you're using Dragonite on 3v3, you can forfeit Dragon Dance for an extra coverage move like Iron Head or Thunder Punch to nail Pokemon like Togekiss or Tapu Fini even harder.
DYNAMAX
Dragonite is one of the most dangerous Pokemon to face on Dynamax specially if it keeps its Multiscale intact as it is almost guaranteed to survive any super-effective attack aimed at it and with a Weakness Policy, it will easily gain its boosts and set up. Max Airstream is the most important move since it allows Dragonite to gain a Speed boost while dealing an incredible deal of damage from one of its STABs. Max Flare power ups its Fire attacks on the long run while Max Quake increases its Special Defense even further which may actually be crucial for Dragonite to avoid being revenge killed by Pokemon like Dragapult. Max Wyrmind allows Dragonite to decrease the opponent's attack which overall makes it harder to take down.
EV and Items
Dragonite wants max Attack and Speed along with an Adamant nature to make the most out of its huge Attack stat. The item of choice really depends on the format you plan to use Dragonite in. On 3v3, Weakness Policy is the preferred item as it grants Dragonite more chances of activating it due to the offensive pressure it puts on the opponent once it grabs a Dragon Dance boost which may force it to soon or later use a super-effective move on it. In 6v6 due to the prominence of hazards such as Stealth Rock, Heavy-Duty Boots is the preferred item since it is what will allow Dragonite to avoid hazard damage and keep its Multiscale intact.
Partners
If Dragonite is not running Fire Punch, it will appreciate having partners that can deal with Corviknight or Celesteela as otherwise it will be walled by these two. Heatran does a fantastic job as not only it can provide Stealth Rock support but also defeat these Pokemon with its Fire moves. On a similar vein, Excadrill provides its STAB Earthquake of service to hit Melmetal and Metagross hard if Dragonite decides not to run Earthquake.
Dragonite appreciates having partners that can also provide it with switch-in opportunities allowing it to keep its Multiscale intact. Pokemon like Clefable, Swamper and Landorus-Therian can all provide momentum with Teleport, Flip Turn or U-turn respectively.
Pokemon like Cinderace and Mimikyu can massively help Dragonite on breaking down physical walls together. Additionally, Pokemon like Bisharp has the added benefit of being able to deal with physical Dragapult. Regieleki is worth mentioning as not only it can create momentum for Dragonite with Volt Switch but can set up screens to even increase Dragonite's chances of sweeping and surviving attacks.
Other Options
Thanks to the spin-off Gales of Darkness and Ability Patch, Dragonite can now use Heal Bell and Dragon Dance along with Multiscale which can make an interesting cleric set to use. However, it would require Defog support without Heavy-Duty Boots and it's only possible to use it outside Ranked Battles.
Thunder Punch is an option to hit Togekiss, Azumarill and Tapu Fini super-effectively while hitting Corviknight and Skarmory hard.
Dragonite could also use a Choice Band set and hit extremely hard off the bat, but unfortunately, this set would require a lot of support to make it worthwhile due to hazards which may constrain team building.
Countering Dragonite
Heatran does well on checking Dragonite sets that lack Earthquake and it can even threaten them with burns from Lava Plume or Will-o-Wisp. However, take into account that Outrage or Max Wyrmind will easily overwhelm Heatran if Dragonite has activated its Weakness Policy previously.
Clefable does extremely well on walling Dragonite thanks to Unaware nullifying its boosts which makes it a very good candidate on stalling its Dynamax turns and eventually beat it 1-v-1. Porygon2 is a decent check since it can trace Multiscale, stall it and even paralyze or poison Dragonite which are two status conditions that it completely hates. It's worth mentioning that Dragapult outspeeds Dragonite event at +1 and it can Draco Meteor it to death as long as Multiscale is not active.
Without Outrage and more commonly on 6v6, Zapdos, Rotom-Wash and Rotom-Heat make for two excellent checks for Dragonite. Zapdos' Static can easily threaten to paralyze it and thanks to its resistance to Dual Wingbeat and immunity to Earthquake it does well on dealing with it. Rotom-Wash and Rotom-Heat threatens Dragonite greatly with Will-o-Wisp.
Locations in Games
Red/Blue/Yellow:
Evolve Dragonair
Gold/Silver/Crystal:
Evolve Dragonair
Ruby/Sapphire/Emerald:
Trade from FireRed/LeafGreen
FireRed/LeafGreen:
Evolve Dragonair
Colosseum/XD:
Snagged from Wanderer Miror B in Gateon Port (XD)
Diamond/Pearl/Platinum:
Evolve Dragonair
HeartGold/SoulSilver:
Evolve Dragonair
Black/White:
Dragonspiral Tower
Black 2/White 2:
Dragonspiral Tower
X/Y:
Evolve Dragonair
Omega Ruby/Alpha Sapphire:
Trade from X & Y
Sun/Moon:
Poni Gauntlet
Ultra Sun/Ultra Moon:
Poni Gauntlet
Let's Go, Pikachu!/Let's Go, Eevee!:
Route 1, Route 2, Route 3, Route 4, Route 6,, Route 7, Route 8, Route 10, Route 11, Route 12, Route 13, Route 14, Route 15, Route 16, Route 17, Route 18, Route 19, Route 21, Route 22, Route 23, Route 24, Route 25
Sword/Shield:
Ballimere Lake
Max Raid Battles: Giant's Bed, Path to the Peak, Frigid Sea, Three-Point Pass, Ballimere Lake
Anime Appearences
