Meowth

Meowth is often regarded as the best lead in the LC metagame, and with good reason. With its convenient ability to boost its moves' power, which is particularly notable on moves such as Fake Out, Meowth will usually have the upper hand against its opponent. Meowth also hits 19 Speed, allowing it to outpace a majority of the metagame. Even with the advent of leads running Protect to deal with Meowth, it is still extremely effective inside and outside the lead slot since priority moves are ever-so-important in LC. Meowth is usually left untouched until the end of the match since it can spam Fake Out and U-turn to escape from the opponent, causing widespread damage. Overall, Meowth is an extremely valuable asset and should be considered as a lead to set the tempo for the match.