This Gen 1 Pokemon is Dominating Pokemon Champions, and It's Basically a Legendary

Pokemon Champions finds itself in a strange meta where everything is game, despite a limited Pokedex and only a few of the series’ held items being available. This is because, with so few options, more combos and Pokemon that would normally be outclassed can enjoy some time in the limelight, and perhaps even win tournaments and get to Champion Rank. For example, while Archaludon is a great pick for rain teams in Pokemon Champions, World Champion Wolfe Glick showcased it with an entirely different set, using Sturdy as its ability in place of Stamina, and with no bulk, but max Speed and Special Attack. The possibilities are endless in Pokemon Champions, but especially if you use a specific Gen 1 Pokemon or have very good counters for it.

Gen 1 saw its typical favoritism in Pokemon Champions, with many Pokemon available even though the overall Pokedex includes only 186 critters (not counting regional forms and variants). Pokemon like Mega Charizard Y and Venusaur are dominating the game with the powerful sun team combo of Chlorophyll Sleep Powder and Heat Wave for devastating damage, and Mega Gengar also sees a lot of play, either as a Shadow Tag Perish Song user or a powerful and speedy attacker. However, the star of the show is undeniably Aerodactyl.

The Best Pokemon Champions Team Core is Already Clear

Pokemon Champions is officially releasing in just under 10 days, and the best Pokemon to use are already clear even without the full roster.

Why You Should Use Aerodactyl in Pokemon Champions

The seventh most used Pokemon in tournaments according to pokebase.app, likely with even more actual usage numbers across the board, Aerodactyl is simply one of the best critters in the game. This is due to multiple reasons:

Excluding Mega Evolutions, Aerodactyl is the third in line for fastest Pokemon (130 base Speed) in the game after Dragapult and Jolteon, with the former being used sporadically and the latter very rarely.
Aerodactyl has access to Tailwind to control speed on the field, making its team faster for four turns.
While there are good Tailwind setters, the only one that’s faster than Aerodactyl is Whimsicott with Prankster. Whimsicott is one of the best Grass-type Pokemon ever, but its arsenal is arguably less useful than Aerodactyl’s overall.
Aerodactyl typically uses Focus Sash to stay alive longer and more safely set up Tailwind. In the case of going up against Whimsicott, Aerodactyl will always survive the turn with a Focus Sash, even if its Tailwind goes second. The only scenario where this doesn’t happen is if Aerodactyl is taken to 1 HP with an attack that also burns or poisons it.
Aerodactyl can use Rock Slide to deal massive STAB spread damage while also having a chance to flinch all Pokemon hit, which are most likely slower than Aerodactyl itself and may thus miss their turn.
It has the Unnerve ability, which prevents opposing Pokemon from eating Berries. Considering that Pokemon Champions‘ held items are very limited, the game is very much in a Berry-driven meta, meaning that Aerodactyl blocks this just by being on the field.
There are no other good Unnerve Pokemon in the game, as they are Tyranitar (which only ever uses Sand Stream), Corviknight (which is particularly good for its Mirror Armor ability to counter Incineroar’s Intimidate and Icy Wind), Arbok (which sees no play and would be better with Intimidate, if anything), and Houndoom (which also sees no play).
Aerodactyl is typically paired with another broken Pokemon, Sneasler. It can Fake Out opposing Pokemon to make them miss their first turn while Aerodactyl sets up Tailwind, and it can become the fastest Pokemon in the game with Unburden and White Herb. It also counters Pokemon Champions‘ Mega Floette with its powerful and speedy Dire Claw.

You can get Aerodactyl by using the Recruit Pokemon feature in Pokemon Champions or by transferring it from Pokemon Home. In that case, you can get one easily in Pokemon Legends: Z-A by purchasing an Amber Fossil and reviving it.

Aerodactyl is Basically Gen 9’s Tornadus All Over Again

All these reasons create the perfect storm for Aerodactyl to be one of the best Pokemon in Pokemon Champions by a huge margin. Having such a powerful and fast attacker with Tailwind support is incredibly strong, and it makes teambuilding much easier: just use naturally fast Pokemon, and they’ll go first after Tailwind is up.

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Easy (15s)Medium (10s)Hard (5s)Permadeath (5s)

Aerodactyl is so powerful that it resembles Tornadus in Pokemon Scarlet and Violet‘s competitive meta, as Twitter/X user @miraisthebestfr pointed out. Prankster Tailwind Tornadus with Bleakwind Storm was an absolute menace in Gen 9 VGC, and while it was often paired with Rapid-Strikes Urshifu to break Focus Sash and still hit through Protect with its (now nerfed in Pokemon Champions) Unseen Fist ability, Aerodactyl even has an ace up its sleeve to beat that. In fact, it learns Dual Wingbeat, which OHKOs any non-bulky Sneasler in the game by hitting twice, meaning Focus Sash is then useless.

As such, if you’re having trouble building good Pokemon Champions teams for double battles, try Aerodactyl out. I used it in a Mega Delphox team, and it was a game-changer. That’s how good it is. And yes, Unnerve is indeed a major reason why this Gen 1 Pokemon is so good now, as strange as it may sound.