#785
Tapu Koko
Land Spirit Pokémon
ElectricFairy
This guardian deity of Melemele is brimming with curiosity. It summons thunderclouds and stores their lightning inside its body.
Base Stats
HP 70
Attack 115
Defense 85
Sp. Atk 95
Sp. Def 75
Speed 130
Total 570
Type Effectiveness
Resistant to
Immune to
Abilities
Electric Surge Telepathy (Hidden)
Evolution Chain
Moves
Locations
Details
Category Land Spirit Pokémon
Height 1.8 m
Weight 20.5 kg
Base Exp 257
Growth Rate Slow
Capture Rate 3
Base Happiness 70
Gender Genderless
Habitat —
Egg Groups No Eggs
Legendary Pokémon
Sprites
Front
Back
Front Shiny
Back Shiny
Official Art
Official Art (Shiny)Competitive
Dual Screens
Item
Light Clay
Nature
Jolly
EVs
HP 248
Def 8
Spe 252
Offensive Utility
Item
Electrium Z
Nature
Timid
EVs
Def 8
SpA 248
Spe 252
Strategy Overview
- Despite its low base stats, Tapu Koko secures its place on some teams with a number of unique utility options thanks to its typing, movepool, and ability.
- Tapu Koko's Electric / Fairy typing enables it to pivot into Yveltal and offensively check it. While more prominent Fairy-types like Xerneas and Magearna can do the same, Xerneas needs to run Choice Scarf and lock itself into a move to effectively check Yveltal, while Magearna struggles to maintain momentum afterward due to Ground-types blocking Volt Switch. Unlike the aforementioned Fairy-types, Tapu Koko can cause further disturbance by using U-turn and generating momentum on forced switches, hindering switch-ins with Nature's Madness and potentially Taunt.
- This typing also enables Tapu Koko to completely anti-lead Smeargle, preventing it from setting any entry hazards and using other utility options, as Smeargle commonly uses Nuzzle as a countermeasure against Taunt users. This contributes to Tapu Koko's viability to a degree, as said trait strongly improves Tapu Koko's team's matchup against specialized offensive archetypes and enables it to justify running a dedicated lead set using dual screens.
- Electric Surge is another unique trait that proves to be handy in many situations. Apart from making Tapu Koko's Electric-type attacks stronger, the Terrain preventing sleep can prove to be a serious annoyance for defensive teams, where some crucial Pokemon like Giratina are reliant on Rest for recovery. Boosting Electric-type moves is also relevant for Xerneas, helping it bypass Necrozma-DM and Ho-Oh with a boosted Thunder.
- There is a considerable amount of opportunity cost from using Tapu Koko even accounting for its utilities, however, as even when it is running an offensive set, Tapu Koko struggles to do much damage. While a combination of a Z-Move, Nature's Madness, Taunt, and U-turn can theoretically annoy most of the tier, all of these moves require flawless predictions to be effective. As common teams that Tapu Koko fits on cannot afford to lose momentum, Tapu Koko is also forced to use suboptimal moves like U-turn even in favorable matchups to evade chances it gets taken advantage of by potential switch-ins.
Most Used Moves
Common Teammates
Competitive data from Smogon University via data.pkmn.cc