Indeedee, The Emotion Pokémon. It uses the horns on its head to sense the emotions of others. Males will act as valets for those they serve, looking after their every need. Through its horns, it can pick up on the emotions of creatures around it. Positive emotions are the source of its strength. These intelligent Pokémon touch horns with each other to share information between them. They diligently serve people and Pokémon so they can gather feelings of gratitude. The females are particularly good at babysitting.
Overview
Indeedee is one of the 4 lucky Pokemon that were blessed with a terrain ability in Sword and Shield to sort of replace the Island Guardians in those roles, making it fairly unique before Crown Tundra releases. Normal/Psychic isn't exactly a typing that hasn't been done before, but on a Pokemon like Indeedee it's fairly interesting since Psychic Terrain is a very useful ability. Both genders of Indeedee also have slight stat variations in addition to different move access, which adds another interesting layer to the Pokemon in contrast to Meowstic which only differs in move access. As a result, Male Indeedee is strictly better than female for offensive sets which makes it the ideal for Singles. However, the supportive move options on female Indeedee makes it strictly better than male in Doubles, where it is one of the better redirectors currently in the game. Indeedee isn't exactly making a huge impact in Singles, but overall Indeedee is a fairly interesting Pokemon. Aside from the part where it's banned from Battle Stadium metagames for Series 6, but we can pretend that's not a thing.
Positives
Male Indeedee has a fairly competent base 105 Special Attack and base 95 Speed, giving it a workable offensive stat spread. This is strictly better than female Indeedee's offensive stat spread so for simplicity the singles sets will strictly refer to Male Indeedee.
Expanding Force is what really makes Indeedee worth using, since Psychic Surge means that it will always get the 1.5x power boost on top of the Psychic Terrain boost, unless a foe can change the terrain.
Psychic/Normal typing doesn't have a ton of resistances or anything, but it does trade a Fighting resistance for a Ghost immunity which is useful for avoiding Shadow Sneaks if Psychic Terrain isn't active.
Negatives
While Indeedee has a Normal-type secondary STAB, its damage output with anything other than Expanding Force is fairly lacking, and it doesn't necessarily benefit from Hyper Voice anyway.
Indeedee is very dependent on a choice item to really threaten foes, which is awkward when its most dangerous move has very problematic resistances and an immunity to deal with.
Tapu Lele is returning in Crown Tundra, which will basically eliminate most reasons to use Indeedee in Singles since it boasts the same Speed stat and much more Special Attack.
Movesets
Expanding Force: The Pokemon
- Expanding Force
- Mystical Fire
- Dazzling Gleam
- Trick
Item Attached: Choice Scarf / Choice Specs
Gender: Male
Ability: Psychic Surge
EVs and Nature:
252 SpA / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Timid / Modest Nature
Male Indeedee is strictly better than the female counterpart in Singles, due to its higher Special Attack and Speed. Expanding Force is the entire reason Indeedee is actually somewhat competent, but it does a very good job of allowing it to pack a punch thanks to Psychic Surge allowing to become a very powerful reliable STAB. Mystical Fire is a very useful coverage move though so that Indeedee has some way to hurt Steel-types such as Ferrothorn, but it's not very powerful if not utilizing a Choice Specs. Dazzling Gleam is another useful coverage option that allows Indeedee to threaten Dark-types, which are otherwise very eager to switch into Indeedee. Trick is also another useful tool it can use to shut down defensive and more passive foes that rely on being able to switch moves.
DYNAMAX
Indeedee is typically not going to be a great user of Dynamax due to its reliance on Choice items, and because Psychic Terrain Expanding Force is comparable in power to Max Mindstorm anyway. Unless you need Indeedee to be able to live a hit to win a matchup, using the Dynamax on it will generally not be the right play.
EV and Items
Indeedee only cares about its offensive since it wants all the power and Speed it can get. A Timid nature allows Indeedee to outspeed as many foes as possible which is useful in the base 95 range, though Modest nature is also useful to boost damage output as much as possible. Choice Specs turns Indeedee into a wallbreaker while Choice Scarf allows it to function as a revenge killer, so the item choice is really dependent on the role you need it to fill.
Partners
Indeedee appreciates teammates that can threaten Dark-types since it can't do that very well on its own. Fighting-types such as Urshifu are good teammates in either form, as well as Fairy-types such as Primarina and Azumarill. Fire-types such as Volcarona, Cinderace, and Rotom-Heat are good teammates as well for dealing with Steel-types better as well, since Mystical Fire is not going to be enough for bulkier Steel-types that aren't 4x weak to it such as Corviknight.
Psychic Surge can also provide useful support for teammates such as Dracozolt, Dracovish, and Galarian Darmanitan, who are otherwise fairly vulnerable to priority moves since the former two have their damage output nerfed and the latter is weak to Mach Punch and Accelerock. However, these teammates often use Choice Scarf as well so this tends to assume that Indeedee isn't using Choice Scarf itself.
Other Options
Trick Room with a Focus Sash is a useful tech to set up a sweep for something like Rhyperior, since it's tough to take it out without a strong multi-hit move from something like Rapid Strike Urshifu. Hyper Voice does provide a secondary STAB for Indeedee, though it doesn't have fantastic utility beyond being a STAB that Dark-types aren't immune to.
VGC & Double Battle Options
It is definitely not intentional that Indeedee is the second Pokemon in a row being discussed that is banned in Battle Stadium during Series 6, but here we are. Unlike in Singles, Female Indeedee is strictly better than the male counterpart in Doubles due to better bulk and superior support options. Namely, female Indeedee has access to Follow Me which automatically makes it better than male Indeedee. However, female Indeedee benefits from Expanding Force just as much as male does, because Expanding Force also happens to be a spread move. This means that despite being slightly weaker offensively, Indeedee is actually capable of providing actual damage output rather than strictly supporting, which makes it quite a bit better. Other than that, Indeedee is a pretty straightforward support Pokemon and a fairly unique one due to its redirection utility. The fact that it has Psychic Surge is a big plus too, enough of one that it is banned for the duration of Series 6 due to its high usage.
Warding Mist
- Expanding Force
- Follow Me
- Helping Hand
- Protect / Safeguard
Item Attached: Focus Sash / Psychic Seed / Safety Goggles
Gender: Female
Ability: Psychic Surge
EVs and Nature:
4 HP / 252 SpAtk / 252 Spe
Timid / Modest Nature
Expanding Force alone makes an offensive support set a strong option for Indeedee, since it a relatively powerful spread move if Psychic Terrain is active. However, Follow Me is what really makes Indeedee a strong support Pokemon, since redirection is such a powerful tool and even more so in a Dynamax metagame where the heaviest hitters are forced into single-target moves while Dynamaxed. Helping Hand is another tool that can help Indeedee's own Dyanamaxed teammate as well, giving them a stronger Max Move right before going down itself. Protect is always useful on a redirector to punish foes that try to double target directly into Indeedee, and is generally useful for keeping your redirector safe. However, Safeguard has additional utility that can be considered to prevent status ailments which is especially useful to prevent Yawn or Spore from messing with its teammates Dynamax sweep. This is a particularly useful tech against Amoonguss who is otherwise a major annoyance for teams attempting to set up Trick Room.
Indeedee has a lot of different ways you can invest in it, though an offensive set is the simplest way to make use of its actually existent offensive presence with Expanding Force. Timid nature allows it to outspeed as many foes as possible, while Modest nature lets it bump up its damage output. Focus Sash is best on this offensive spread since Indeedee is unlikely to be able to take many hits while redirecting this way, though even on bulkier sets Indeedee is going to struggle to take heavier hits from Max Moves anyway. Psychic Seed is useful on bulkier spreads to bump up Indeedee's bulk as much as possible in combination with a physically defensive spread, though Safety Goggles is another option for counterplay against Spore.
Other Options & Team Ideas
- Indeedee is not legal in Series 6 so if you want a redirector you'll need to use Amoonguss or Clefairy instead. There is no substitute to the Psychic Surge niche that Indeedee provided, but you can't have everything.
- Ignoring the Series 6 conditions, Indeedee pairs well with Hatterene to help it set up Trick Room and also powers up its Psychic-type attacks, namely Expanding Force.
- Trick Room setters in general appreciate Indeedee since Psychic Surge prevents priority from messing with their setup easily unless Rillaboom comes in to ruin things. Dusclops and Porygon2 are other relevant Trick Room setters for this role, and likewise Trick Room abusers like Torkoal will appreciate this.
- As noted previously, Rillaboom is an annoyance for Indeedee because it's a terrain setter and thus can remove Psychic Terrain when it switches in. Cinderace, Incineorar, Venusaur, and Arcanine are good teammates for threatening Rillaboom here, and Venusaur can notable use that Grassy Terrain against it as well. Keep in mind that Incineroar does have awkward synergy with Psychic Surge though since it prevents Fake Out from working against grounded foes, but against Rillaboom it's a solid pick.
Countering Indeedee
Indeedee depends heavily on its Psychic Surge ability to make Expanding Force powerful, so if you can deal with that then you've effectively taken care of Indeedee. The simplest way to nerf its damage output is to change the terrain, which is very easy to do if you have a Rillaboom at the moment and will become even easier when the Tapus return in Crown Tundra. However, switching into a Choice Specs Expanding Force is not always ideal even if the terrain is removed. While Indeedee does have Fairy- and Fire-type coverage, it will often be locked into Expanding Force which makes Steel- and Dark-types good answers to Indeedee. Single Strike Urshifu, Incineroar, Hydreigon, and Grimmsnarl are all Dark-types that can shut down Indeedee locked into Expanding Force, though Urshifu and Hydreigon do need to be very mindful of Dazzling Gleam. Likewise with Steel-types, Ferrothorn, Corvknight, Aegislash, Scizor, Magnezone, and Excadrill can handle everything except Mystical Fire, though only Ferrothorn and Scizor are completely shut down by Mystical Fire.
Locations in Games
Red/Blue/Yellow:
Not in game
Gold/Silver/Crystal:
Not in game
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:
Not in game
Omega Ruby/Alpha Sapphire:
Not in game
Sun/Moon:
Not in game
Ultra Sun/Ultra Moon:
Not in game
Let's Go, Pikachu!/Let's Go, Eevee!:
Not in game
Sword/Shield:
Glimwood Tangle, Lake of Outrage
Max Raid Battles: Bridge Field, East Lake Axewell, Hammerlocke Hills, Motostoke Riverbank, Rolling Fields, Stony Wilderness, Soothing Wetlands, Challenge Beach, Training Lowlands, Stepping-Stone Sea
Anime Appearences
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Indeedee has made a few appearances in the anime. Most notably, Nurse Joy uses them to help in the Pokémon Centers in Galar
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