Beedrill2001 Presents : Let's Talk Pokémon

#065 - Alakazam

For those of you who have played the Generation 1 games, I do not need to tell you how much of a monster Alakazam is.

Back in the days of Red and Blue, the psychic type reigned supreme over all other pokémon, with Alakazam being at the top of the totem pole (I mean, besides Mewtwo, but legendaries don't count).

In gen one, psychic types basically had no weaknesses because bug type offense was practically nonexistent, and ghost was actually an immunity for psychic because of a programming glitch (plus the only ghost type evolutionary line was part poison, making them weak to psychic).

Due to no type besides itself resisting psychic, and critical hit rates were based on the speed stat, Alakazam with its base 120 speed could easily wipe out your entire team if you weren't prepared.

Enough about Generation 1 though, and let's move on to how Alakazam has fared since then.

Despite the numerous changes made over the past two decades, Alakazam is still an amazing pokémon.

With a monstrous 135 base special attack stat and that previously mentioned 120 base speed, Alakazam is an amazing special sweeper.

It can also tank special attacks fairly well with its 95 base special defense.

On the physical side though....is where Alakazam falls off.

While it doesn't care at all about its puny base 50 attack stat, Alakazam's horrendous base 45 defense is its Achilles heel.

Seriously, basically any non-resisted strong physical attack will bring Alakazam down.

As for moves, Alakazam gets tons of good coverage like Energy Ball, Focus Blast, Shadow Ball, Charge Beam, Dazzling Gleam, and Grass Knot.

Unfortunately, Alakazam's only unresisted move to deal with steel types (before steel got nerfed in Generation 6) is the super effective Focus Blast, so you better pray to Arceus that you actually get it to land.

Remember, if it's not 100% accurate, it's 50% accurate.

Alakazam's two regular abilities are Synchronize and Inner Focus.

I already went over Synchronize when I talked about Xatu's abilities, so I'll just say it's a good ability, but it won't activate that often because of certain status mechanics made in Generation 5 and onward.

Inner Focus keeps Alakazam from flinching.

This ability is alright I suppose, but is pretty situational due to relying on your opponent's pokémon having a move that causes flinching in the first place.

Of these two, I'd probably say Synchronize is better despite not working a lot of the time, but feel free to disagree.

Alakazam's hidden ability is Magic Guard, which prevents all damage except from attacking moves.

Toxic? Does nothing to Alakazam.

Sandstorm and Hail? Alakazam is unaffected.

Life Orb? No damage taken.

If you can't tell by now, Magic Guard is an absolutely amazing ability that makes Alakazam even better than it already is.

Just like with fellow gen 1 pokémon Golem, Alakazam is a trade evolution.

That being said, if you have no means of trading it to evolve, I feel Kadabra is perfectly fine to use on its own through whatever game your playing because it's basically just a slightly weaker Alakazam.

I'll also briefly mention how annoying it is to catch an Abra, because it only knows the move Teleport and will escape battle the first chance it gets.

(To anyone who has tried to shiny hunt an Abra, I salute you.)

Before I move on to going over Alakazam's Mega Evolution, I'll take a moment to go over the controversy involving Kadabra, because I find it really interesting.

Back in the day, there was a guy named Uri Geller who was known for all kinds of psychic stuff, including being able to bend spoons with his mind.

He sued Nintendo in 2000 because he claimed Kadabra was ripping off his identity (Kadabra's japanese name is Yungerer, which he claimed was too close to his name and thus was based on him).

This guy also stated that the two red lines on Kadabra's stomach were a reference to the SS of Nazi Germany, along with the red star on its head being satanic symbolism.

Because of this, Kadabra hadn't appeared in the card game or the anime for nearly two decades before Geller apologized and dropped the lawsuit back in 2020, marking Kadabra's return to the TCG.

With that interesting bit of history out of the way, on to Mega Alakazam!

Everything good about normal Alakazam is significantly better upon mega evolving.

175 base special attack and 150 base speed makes Alakazam even more effective of being a special sweeper.

It also got a +20 in defense....causing it to from going from absolutely terrible to just plain mediocre, which is an improvement I suppose.

Design wise, Alakazam now has a rockin' beard along with no longer needing to stand up due to its immense psychic power, allowing it to float while doing a meditation pose like a true psychic master.

Plus, Mega Alakazam has more spoons. More spoons is good.

Mega Alakazam has the ability Trace, allowing it to copy the ability of the pokémon's it's fighting (or being a random pokémon on the field if it's a double or triple battle).

How good Trace is completely depends on what ability the other pokémon has, thus making it a wild card in terms of usefulness.

Man, I miss Magic Guard.....

No matter the game or generation, Alakazam and its mighty spoons is an undoubtedly great pokémon with an even greater Mega Evolution (Trace not withstanding), just be sure to have the patience to find an Abra and train it up. Also beware of physical attacks and the requirement of trading in order to get the OP psychic type fully evolved.