Vileplume

The petals covering its head are, according to every Pokédex entry, the largest in the world, and the text itself admits the problem: they weigh so much that it struggles to keep its head upright. Beneath them is a bipedal body with barely sketched-out hands and feet carrying the flower like someone hauling a piece of furniture.

The reference is Rafflesia arnoldii, the Sumatran plant that produces the largest individual flower known and attracts insects by smelling of rotting meat. The trick is kept intact here, only translated into pollen: the larger the petals, the more toxic what they release, and that pollen isn't used defensively. One entry explains that it uses the flower to attract prey, covers them in toxic spores until they are immobilised, and then eats them. Another warns of the severe allergic reactions the pollen causes in people, and recommends staying away from any wildflower, no matter how pretty it is. Yet another says that shaking the petals to spread it produces a deafening roar.

It is 1.2 m tall, weighs 18.6 kg, and its official category is Flower Pokémon. It closes one of the two branches that split from Oddish: Gloom can end up as a giant flower or as Bellossom, and only the first path keeps the Poison typing.

The spread is that of a wall with one standout stat: 110 Special Attack, followed by 90 Special Defense, 85 Defense, 80 Attack, 75 HP and 50 Speed, for a total of 490. With that Speed, it moves last against almost anything, so the 110 rarely help it sweep and are mainly useful for hitting back from a defensive position.

Chlorophyll, its standard Ability, doubles its Speed in harsh sunlight and turns that 50 into something usable, although it means setting up Sunny Day or bringing something that can do it. Its Hidden Ability is the one that has given it real work in Smogon lists: Effect Spore can put to sleep, poison or paralyse anything that hits it with contact, making every exchange with a physical attacker awkward. With it, Vileplume has been a recurring physical wall in NU.

Its moves fit the job. Giga Drain (75) and Sludge Bomb (90) are its two same-type attacks, and the latter is mainly there to punish Fairy types, which take Grass-type moves well. Strength Sap, obtained through breeding, lowers the opponent's Attack and restores HP based on that Attack: it is what lets Vileplume stay in front of a physical attacker for more turns than seems reasonable. Sleep Powder is available from level 1 for anyone who prefers to make a mess of the battle.

What holds it back are its four weaknesses, three of which—Fire, Ice and Psychic—usually hit on the special side, where 75 HP and 90 Special Defense don't go very far. Petal Dance, with 120 power from level 1, locks it in for two or three turns and leaves it confused afterwards: power in exchange for losing control of the battle.

One Egg Group, Grass, and an even gender split: 50% female. Its 20 incubation cycles work out at roughly 5355 steps.

Two things from the egg are worth the detour. Strength Sap is the recovery that supports its defensive sets, and Leech Seed deals more cumulative damage in a slow battle than any of its direct attacks. After those come Ingrain, Synthesis, Razor Leaf, Tickle and Teeter Dance, which are mostly filler.

Evolution doesn't care about level. Gloom appears when Oddish reaches level 21, and from there all you need to do is use a Leaf Stone on it: no friendship, no time of day, no held item. There's no rush to do it, because it knows everything at level 1 and Petal Blizzard is added at the exact moment of the change, so evolving late doesn't cost it any moves.

Its habitat is grassland, and its catch rate, 45, puts it in the difficult bracket: the kind of Pokémon that require weakening and then waiting through several Poké Balls. Wild specimens sometimes carry an Absorb Bulb. Defeating it gives 3 Special Attack EVs and 221 base experience, with a medium-slow growth rate and an initial friendship of 70.