Looking at Pokemon: Absol
March 20, 2008
Absol, the disaster Pokemon, was introduced in the Ruby and Sapphire series of GBA games. Absol is a single type Pokemon (Dark) and does not evolve. Absol sits at the 359th spot on the National Pokedex.
Absol has a very good Attack score (Max 394 which puts it in the top 10 if you ignore legendary Pokemon, spot 13 if you don’t) and above average Special Attack and Speed. Its other three scores are only average. This Pokemon comes in both genders and has either the ability Pressure (When this Pokémon is hit by a move, the opponent’s PP lowers by 2 rather than 1/ If the Pokémon is in the lead spot, chance of encountering wild Pokemon increases) or Super Luck (Raises the critical-hit ratio of moves; allows simultaneous use of Dire Hit and Focus Energy) .Both abilities can prove very helpful in battle.
Absol is able to use a wide variety of TMs and HMs. Its egg moves are mostly of the Dark type. None of which fall in the Special category. Its level up moves are heavy on Normal (9) and Dark (5). There is also one Fighting move on the list and two Psychic moves.
Absol is catchable in both Diamond and Pearl games (Mass Outbreaks on route 213) as well as being transferable from the previous GBA games via the Pal Park.
Now that the basics are out of the way I’m going to tell you a little bit about how to effectively use this Pokemon in your game. Right off the bat you are probably thinking that the only use you will ever have for this Pokemon is in the arena of battling, this is not so. It is quite possible to have someone trade an Absol to you when you first begin your Pokemon journey. Due to the wonders of Wi-Fi it is very easy to avoid the built-in Pokemon restrictions of Diamond and Pearl.
One of the problems with adventuring in Sinnoh is the lack of certain types of Pokemon until you defeat the Elite Four and complete your Sinnoh Pokedex. When it comes to Dark Pokemon you will be limited to Murkrow, Stunky, Spiritomb, Drapion and Sneasel.
Murkrow can be encountered early on but Stunky only appears in Diamond. Spiritomb is near impossible to get unless you have a lot of friends. Drapion requires evolving its earlier form and Sneasel does not appear until you have acquired several badges and head towards Snowpoint. Having access to a strong Dark-type Pokemon early in the game can change the single-player game experience for you.
Adventure Mode Absol
If you get a freshly hatched Absol with no special breeding you can expect it to only know the move Scratch. This is a rather weak Physical move but it is on par with what you will encounter in the early part of the game. At level 12 it will learn the much better move Quick Attack. This move is just as effective as Scratch but it is faster.
The first damage-inducing Dark move Absol learns is Pursuit at level 20. Pursuit gives you a STAB attack with the added benefit that it can damage a foe when they try to switch out. Because of its low power you will be replacing it with bite upon attaining level 28.
Sucker Punch is also a Dark-type attack that Absol can learn upon reaching level 44. Even though Sucker Punch has a higher power rating than Bite it only works if your foe uses a Physical Attack against you. This is a nice back-up move but you need to keep Bite as your main Dark-type attack.
You will continue on with Bite until Absol gets the chance to learn Night Slash at level 52. Odds are you will have already defeated the Elite Four by this point and unless your Absol has the Super Luck ability I would have to advise that you stick with Bite.
What about the non-Dark moves in Absol’s level-up move pool? Most of them are Status moves. I generally avoid Special Attack moves on an Absol due to their high Attack score. Still, having a Special Attack waiting in the wings can prove beneficial. Future Sight and Razor Wind are the only Special Attacks that Absol learns while leveling up.
Razor Wind pops up at level 17 and should be learned. Even though Razor Wind is a two-turn move it will hit both opponents in a Double Battle. Its Base Power of 80 makes it the most powerful Attack you will learn until Sucker Punch at level 44. Future Sight is also a Power 80 Attack but it hits several turns later and is not 100% accurate the way Razor Wind is.
In the Status department Absol has several good moves for the adventure mode of the game. Between Swords Dance and Double Team you can either knock out your foes faster or make yourself last longer in battle.
My preferred order of moves in adventure mode are as follows:
Move 1: Scratch -> Razor Wind
Move 2: Leer -> Swords Dance
Move 3: Taunt -> Pursuit -> Bite
move 4: Quick Attack -> Slash
After this point I have usually defeated the Elite Four, transferred my Pokemon out of the game and reset the game for a new go with a new team.
Battle Mode Absol
Using Absol in adventure mode is far different from breeding an Absol for competitive battling. When battling competitively Absol falls in the Under Used Tier. This grouping is based off of Absol’s Base Points (465) and Move Pool. Some tournaments also exist where you will be forced to only use Pokemon of a certain evolutionary type. In Absol’s case it fits in the “non-evolving category”.
Even though Absol falls into the Under Used tier the only other Pokemon with a Base Attack of 130 are Kingler and Flareon, both of which are “evolving” Pokemon. This means Absol has the highest Attack score for the non-evolving Under Used tier Pokemon. When it comes to Speed, Absol is just about in the middle with a Base Speed of 75.
Absol 1: Baton Passer
Some people over look Absol as a Baton Passer because it does not have an ability that leads to passing on heightened stats. Absol is not one of the best Baton Passers out there but it can learn the move and if it has Pressure it can lay some hurt on the opponent’s Pokemon if they use high Power low Power Point moves.
IVs: HP:252, Def:8, Spd:252
Nature: Jolly (Spd+/SpA-)
Move 1: Baton Pass (Egg Move)
Move 2: Double Team
Move 3: Psych Up (TM)
Move 4: Swords Dance / Calm Mind (TM)
The choice between Swords Dance and Calm Mind depends on what Pokemon you are setting up for. If the next Pokemon is a Physical Attacker go with Swords Dance. If they are a Special Attacker go with Calm Mind.
Absol is far from the best Baton Passer around but when a tournament restricts the better Baton Passers it is good to know that an Absol is an option.
Absol 2: Speed Kills
Absol has a very nice Attack score and its Speed is not that far behind. Absol is faster than many Pokemon in its class and with the Super Luck ability you can make short work of your opponent’s Pokemon by landing a few Critical Hits before they even get a chance to attack you.
IVs: Atk: 252, Def:8, Spd:252
Nature: Adamant (Atk+/SpA-), Jolly (Spd+/SpA-)
Move 1: Stone Edge (TM)
Move 2: Night Slash
Move 3: Assurance (TM)
Move 4: Psycho Cut Thanks Jhamin!
Yes, I know some of these moves are not very powerful and others are not 100% accurate. What they all have in common is that they are Physical moves. They will all use Absol’s high Attack score to their advantage.
Absol is weak against Fighting and Bug-type moves. Psycho Cut (Psychic 70/100) is a good hedge against those pesky Fighting-type Pokemon. Stone Edge (Rock 100/80) is effective against the Bug-type Pokemon you will face.
Other Absol Uses
There are many other uses for an Absol in your party. For one thing the Ability Pressure causes wild Pokemon to appear more often. Couple this with teaching Absol False Swipe and you can do some Pokemon hunting.
You can also teach an Absol Perish Song, Baton Pass, Substitute and Mean Look. Start with Mean Look, drop a Perish Song down and Substitute until you need to pull off a Baton Pass to get your Absol out of danger. This tactic can be very deadly in a Double Battle situation.
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this is a good guide. i was thinking about training an absol and this gives me even more ideas
wow this is awesome.
definitly going to breed one
Very nice. I was unaware of how high Absol ranked in it’s attack.
The only quibble I might have is with your reccomendation of Shadow Claw. Psycho Cut is a psychic type move (also effective agains fighting, has identical stats, and is a level up move (lvl 60). So you can cover most of the same bases and not burn a tech machine.
Another move that merits investigation is Me First. It is a bit of a gamble, but if you are faster that the opponent you use it against you copy the move they are about to use and throw it back at them and double power. If you are slower, or they don’t attack, the move fails.
When coupled with Absol’s attack and special attack values, this can be a game winner, especially against pokemon that are weak to their own attacks (like Dragons)
Because of where Absol’s Speed falls in the Under Used Tier I would not want to use a move that requires being the faster Pokemon to pull off. As for the Psychic Move, part of me just does not believe in giving a Psychic move to a Dark Pokemon!
As for Special Attack, Absol’s Special Attack is significantly lower than its Attack so I would focus on Absol’s Physical moves and probably not use a Special move at all.
As for burning a TM, with proper breeding you can avoid burning a TM.
He never said to teach Absol a Special move… o.O He said how Me First can be good for any because of how decent it is. Ghost isn’t Super effective against Fighting, so why would anyone use Shadow Claw? Me First comes in handy. Earthquaking a foes Rhyperior, and a bunch of Steel/Rock types. Even taking down Dialga and Palkia players because of thier own moves being extremely effective against themselves.
Something against teaching Dark types a Phychic move? Then you might as well never teach a Normal type a Phychic move, any non-Ghost Confuse Ray, or any Grass type Earthquake.
Seriously, I’d like to call your Absol ideas 3rd rate in the least, but I really don’t see a low Hp/Def Poke like Absol living using ANY tactics you made. Did you even try when thinking this crap up?
Serebii.net
Go there, get educated, rethink your Absol. Trust me, try to win a match on PBR and you’ll lose before you could setup stats for a Baton Pass.
I invite you to try your hand in the Gym battles in the forums and the Breeder’s Cup Challenges we run monthly. We don’t use the typical tier system you find on other sites.
This is awesome. I’ve loved Absol since it first appeared in R/S. I’m amazed that it hasn’t gathered more fans than it has though, because of it’s through-the-roof attack points.
Absol is my current farming project.
I am working on the one like version 2 above.
Adamant with Super Luck.
Watch for it next week.
-FatherGoblin
Absol has a high attack stat?? and a good speed too? I never knew it was such a good pokemon!
Wow! I think I’ll start training my Absols right away!
Great write up.
@ Wayne : Can’t wait to see it. =D
Yes, I’m so glad that others are now seeing the wonderfulness of Absol.
Really good info. on Absol Steve.
@Wayne: You better save me an adorable little girl. ;)
I’ve always been a fan, but now I’m a huge fan :)
Could somebody give me a absol plz and if you can meet me today in between 8:00 and 9:00 ‘o’ clock.
FC:4596 9124 8361
Name:DAWN
I was thinking sucker punch with super luck and scope lens, it has worked 4 me in the past, and i can say its excellent, just don’t get too predictable with it.
As an Absol collector I know that Absol’s attack power is what to focus on. It’s Super Luck and it holding a Razor claw can be a deadly combination.
Side note: Also, I’ve breed about 3-4 boxes full of Absol, when I was trying to get the right natures. and I succeded! I’d be happy if people would take the rest off my hands before I release the unwanted ones. I’ve got all the natures you can imagine.
FC: 4553 9477 2417
Name: Ooi
152…pokefarm is just as good as serebii.You try making a complete guide out of 1 pokemon!
I’ve always loved Absols! Their highly ranked and their moves are incredibly useful. I train and breed them mainly for contests. Though when I first got Pearl I traded for one immediately then continued to breed Absols for Gym Battles. They helped me a lot and Absol doesn’t get the credit it truly deserves!
If anyone wants one from the Diamond/Pearl Version, E-mail me at wisegrashopper1@aol.com
Also, do any of you have some tips for an Absol in a contest? I recently bred one which will excel in Beauty because of it’s favorite poffin. Any ideas for move combos?
what level does absol learn psycho cut?
a very good composition of data on absol.
absol is my number one favorite pokemon.
i have a few. the main ones knowing:
sucker punch
superpower (move tutor)
substitute
swords dance (TM)
and
swords dance
detect
night slash
sucker punch
one combo i would suggest would be taunt-sucker punch
This, is god when used with a baton passer. For a killer combo use Scizzor(evo of sycther) for its good DEF, get baton pass and use moves like sword dance and agility(maybe put in taunt or another stat booster) and then baton pass to absol. You will then have killer damage and nice speed, especially if land a crit! I reccomend that absol should know Taunt so that if your opponent tries to use haze you have the chance to counter it ^^. Absol is definetly one of the best pokes to use.
(another alternitave for Scizzor is Glicsor)
I am currently training a level 44 Absol in route 222.
It’s a good spot for level 40’s to train, and it’s current moveset is: Future Sight, Swords Dance, Slash and Bite.
I always start the match with future sight, then use swords dance to boost my attack and pass a turn for future sight, then if the opponent is strong, like a electabuzz or floatzel, I use bite (S.T.A.B) or if not, slash, (Critical chance).
Also, I have two Absols, one male with Pressure abilitly, and the other female with Super luck.
Should hopefully make for some interesting breeding…
if absol is 13 i say number 1
my absol is lvl 74
his ability is super luck
moves are as followed:
bite
psycho cut
night slash
ice beam
might i add that an absol that knows psycho cut and night slash are great when his ability is super luck. and just like my lvl 100 zangoose im training my absol in the mt. silver area, perfect for getting fast experience =]
and here is my whole team.
absol lvl 74
lucario lvl 100
mew lvl 100
zangoose lvl 100
salamance lvl 70
and scyther currently lvl 35