The Best Pokemon Returning In Scarlet & Violet’s Indigo Disk DLC

Pokemon Scarlet & Violet’s two-part Hidden Treasure of Area Zero DLC concluded with The Indigo Disk. Not unlike The Crown Tundra DLC did for Pokemon Sword & Shield, The Indigo Disk ports plenty of legendary Pokemon into Scarlet & Violet.

Not just uber-tier giants, either – quite a few powerful Pokemon eligible for Scarlet & Violet’s ‘Regulation F’ phase from January through April 2024 have made their triumphant return (and while we can’t predict the future, we suspect the vast majority will remain eligible thereafter). Excluding the banned Pokemon, quite a few of which are new to Generation 9 via The Indigo Disk, here are our picks for the eight strongest freshly-added competitive Pokemon.

7 Latios

Latios might not be the biggest new threat to the VGC, but make no mistake, it’s a threat. With a mighty 130 Special Attack stat, backed by a 110 Speed, it hits hard and fast with Psychic. It can provide some pretty decent type coverage, too, with the ever-reliable Ice Beam as an obvious choice – but don’t discount the similar Grass-type Energy Ball, or Thunderbolt, or even Aura Sphere.

Levitate (usually) checks Earthquake, Calm Mind accentuates its power, and Recover can keep it hale and healthy when necessary. All told, Latios is pretty rad.

6 Latias

Latias needs little explanation beyond what we’ve said about Latios. The key difference is in its stats spread; Latias emphasizes its Special Defense over its Special Attack, and its Attack is slimmed down slightly in favor of a small boost to Defense. Put plainly, Latias is capable of taking a hit better than its best friend while excelling just a tad less at striking. We’d rank it ever so slightly higher in the meta, but a little lower if you’re just messing around in the in-game world.

5 Hitmontop

While it’s incapable of full-on physical tanking despite impressive Defense and Special Defense stats, and handing it a Special Attack move is about as practical as giving Ash’s Pikachu a Thunder Stone, Hitmontop remains a real contender in the meta thanks in large part to Technician. This rather strange and highly situational ability ramps up the power of all moves with 60 power or less by an additional 50 percent, meaning its signature move, Triple Kick – which begins at 20 base power, but increases first to 30, and then to 40 – goes from 30 to 45 to 60 instead.

You can turn Hitmontop into a Special Defense beast despite its low HP with an Assault Vest. The Assault Vest will increase that 110 Special Defense to 165 but requires the wearer to use only damaging moves. That’s hardly a problem for Hitmontop, whose moveset should probably include only damaging moves to begin with.

4 Primarina

Slow and steady Primarina’s Water/Fairy typing continues its streak of intrigue in The Indigo Disk. Hydro Pump and Moonblast tap into its STAB (Same Type Attack Bonus) with 110 Power and 95 Power, respectively. Moonblast’s roughly one-in-three shot of lowering the target’s Special Attack stat by one stage shouldn’t be overlooked, as in the competitive scene, there are more than enough damage-dealing, Special-based, monsters for it to come in handy when it triggers.

Stick with Torrent over Primarina’s hidden ability, Liquid Voice. None of its best moves are sound-based. Apologies, Sparkling Aura. You’re cool, but not cool enough.

3 Entei

Pardon the truly dreadful pun, but Fire types are hot right now in Pokemon’s competitive scene. Entei’s just one of the best returning glory hounds in Scarlet & Violet’s Indigo Disk. Sacred Fire’s 50 percent chance to inflict Burn status is outstanding, not just for the turn-by-turn damage, but especially for its significant reduction to the target’s Attack-based damage output. Entei itself is all about that Attack stat, and if you’re up against something even speedier, Extreme Speed can often come in handy.

Stone Edge and Crunch can surprise your foe, while Sunny Day can serve as setup for other team members. Much like its legendary trio companion Suicune, go for its hidden ability, Inner Focus, to prevent your opponent from causing Entei to flinch.

2 Suicune

A Suicune with Calm Mind is a Suicune with far fewer problems in its life. Using a turn to raise its Special Attack and Special Defense by one stage each might sound risky, given how every turn competitively counts for ten in the single-player side of Pokemon games, but consider how frequently players are compelled to switch out upon seeing what their rival has brought to the table.

Further boosting Suicune’s survival are Protect and Substitute. Really, Suicune is just built to tank, but you’ll want to hit with it eventually, and that’s where Scald tends to come into play. But there are plenty of other, more alarming, options to bring with you, and you can reasonably double up on damaging moves by eliminating either Protect or Substitute. Shadow Ball and Extrasensory are fine choices if you require either a Ghost-type or Psychic-type move in your toolkit, respectively.

1 Incineroar

What are they feeding those starters out in Alola, right? Must be all the malasada. Decidueye is very solid, Primarina is fantastic, and Incineroar rules. Even without access to two of its best moves (Parting Shot and Fake Out), Incineroar can still dominate with the proper setup. Flare Blitz is a must. Knock Off is a better pick than signature move Darkest Lariat, as it’s virtually guaranteed your opponent’s Pokemon will hold an item, pushing an ordinary 65 Base Power up to nearly 100. There, that’s your Fire and Dark STAB!

Taunt checks tons of clever threats to Incineroar by preventing the target from using status effect moves for three turns. Safety Goggles prevents powder-based moves in particular, but more importantly, it stops Sandstorm and Hail from mattering in the least. Boost your Defense at the cost of the Special Attack stat you’re never even going to be thinking about by relying upon an Incineroar with an Impish nature. Besides, look at that Pokemon. It’s totally impish.