‘Bring the Storm!’ — Raihan s the Battle! (Moveset Concept)

Edit: thank you so much for the feature!

As always, comments and criticisms to help make these better is always appreciated!

Hello once again, ladies and gents! That Guy here, back again with another of my Possible Character Movesets for a new character to the Smash Bros Roster!

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Well… it sure has been awhile.

As I sit here, writing this Moveset in Google Docs while listening to the great Youtube smash hit known as ‘Into a Mystical Forest | Enchanted Celtic Music @432 Hz | Nature Sounds | Magical Forest Music’ on repeat at 5 in the morning, I’ve been coming to realize something as I ponder to myself.

I think I may be running out of motivation to do these movesets.

Believe me, I love doing them, and seeing all the positive responses to them (as well as the criticism and critiques) can really get me motivated to keep doing them. But, at the end of the day, it often takes a lot more time than I originally thought to make these. And, with finally being settled into college life, I have to ask myself.

Is it worth it?

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Ppsh, of course it is. I’m just lacking inspiration.

So, looking for more motivation for myself, I decided to do what was probably a very poor choice in retrospect, but in my eyes felt right.

After stocking up on Mountain Dew and random foods, and sleeping until 6pm, I decided to write out a moveset blog from sundown to sunrise, locking myself in one of the college’s bathroom (there’s multiple per floor, so I’m not locking anyone out of their needs) in order to do so. While it’s taken a few extra days to finish up and clean up properly, I hope you’ll be pleased with the results.

Now, as for the character I’m doing, I’m deciding to once more stick to First Party for this time around, as while making movesets for Fallout or Tekken are quite fun, I have to give some time to the more Nintendo properties as well. And, at the moment, there’s only one Nintendo series I always play the newest incarnation of.

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Ahh, Gen 8 of Pokémon. The Generation that, like many before it, has split the Poke-fans in half over whether it’s trash or not.

Personally, I like this Gen. Sure, removing a bunch of the Pokemon from the Dex was disappointing to see (soon, I’ll get you once again my sweet Floatzel and Bastiodon), but overall I absolutely adore the region and it’s…

Content.

I’ve covered Zacian in a moveset before, but now let’s turn to the more human aspect of the games, by going over a moveset for my favorite male character in the game.

Today, we’ll be looking over a possible Smash Bros moveset for Raihan, the final Gym Leader of the Galar Region, as well as the Pokemon that have helped bring him to the title of number 2 of the whole region.

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Table of Contents

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-Who is Raihan?

-Raihan‘s Playstyle/Frame Data

-Raihan‘s Specials

-Moveset Summary

-Raihan‘s Animations

-Raihan‘s Color Swaps

-Miscellaneous

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Who is Raihan?

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Raihan is the eighth, and final, Gym Challenge that challengers must face before going on to fight the Champion himself, Leon. He is widely regarded as the second best in the Galar region, the only one above him being the Champion himself. Raihan sees Leon as his main rival, and seeks out nothing more than to best him in battle. Many people believe that, if he moved to another region, that Raihan could become a Champion himself. However, he has his sights set on Leon instead, and while he’s never defeated the reigning Champion, he has been the one to come closest to it, knocking out more Pokemon on the Champion’s team then anybody ever has.

Until Little Mary/Gary Sue the Protagonist roll around, of course.

After all the gyms are defeated, Raihan is one of the opponents the player must fight in the Champion Tournament, the winner being the one who can challenge the Champion next. After the player trounces both him and the Champion (as well as completing both the DLCs), Raihan is also one of the fighters that takes part in the Galarian Star Tournament, a repeatable tournament where you can partner up with and/or fight many of the characters you meet across the journey through Galar.

Personality wise, Raihan is about as competitive as it gets, and on the Pokemon battlefield he has about as much bark as the bite his Pokemon dish out. However, when not in battle, he’s the rather laid back type. After all, nobody in their right mind would wear socks and sandals into a Pokémon battle if they weren’t Big Lebowski levels of laid back. Despite being competitive while in the arena itself, he’s never sore about his losses, and is not cocky about his skills. He does his best to give others confidence in their skills, such as telling Piers how much of a close fight it was, and asking for a battle one day without Dynamaxing (Raihan won due to Dynamaxing, as Piers is against using it). His main characteristic beside his laid-backness is the multitude of selfies and social media influence he has, being seen taking said selfies at just about any given opportunity, battles included.

As a side note, with evidence taken from being in the Pokemon community for a while, Raihan is the most simped after male character in Pokemon Sword/Shield. If I’m honest, I can see why.

No homo

Anyways, Raihan’s Pokemon Team focuses on Dragon Type Pokemon. However, interestingly enough, Raihan has more shcticks than just that. Unique for a Gym Leader, Raihan tends to focus on doing Double Battles more than anything else, his Gym Challenge consisting of a multitude of those. Additionally, he focuses on utilizing Weather Effects in his battles, a good portion of his Pokemon summoning different Weathers that can either aid his own Pokemon, or affect the opponent’s Pokemon negatively.

His main Pokemon is Duraludon, the Alloy Pokemon. Duraludon is a Dragon Steel Type Pokemon, seeming to resemble a mix of some sort of dinosaur, and a skyscraper. It also has a weird trash can mouth that I like the animations of. Despite it’s appearance, it is quicker than you think, and can decimate the Fairy Types often used against Dragons in the blink of an eye. Because it’s the main Pokemon of a Galar Gym Leader, it has a special Giganamax Form, seeming to almost look like Lumiose Tower from the Kalos Region, for whatever reason.

Raihan and his Duraludon are the powerful pair indeed. However, the question remains; how will the Draconic Duo fair inside the World of Smash?

Let’s find out.

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Raihan’s Playstyle

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Similar to the Pokemon Trainer we know and love, and despite Raihan looking like he’d be an expert in giving people a trouncing with that height of his, Raihan will not be doing any of the fighting himself. Instead, at the start of the battle, he will send out his Duraludon, who will be the one the player is controlling.

However, did you recall from before that Raihan’s strategy revolves around Double Battles? Well, we wouldn’t be faithful to his character if we didn’t incorporate that, now would we?

While the big trash can with legs will be doing plenty of the fighting himself, every so often you may catch a glimpse of one of the other ‘Mons that Raihan uses, lending their hand in the fight. Many of the moves utilize these different Pokemon, so be sure to keep a lookout for them. To keep it balanced, Duraludon will be unable to move or attack until the other Pokemon finish their animations, to keep it like others’ normal attacks.

Overall, Raihan is always sure to put on a show for the fans, letting out his energy and pizzazz on the Pokemon battlefield. After all, you gotta get a good picture for the Twitter feed. Raihan being it’s trainer, Duraludon must have been taught in similar ways, as a large portion of the moves it uses are made in order to be flashy, and pack quite a punch. While a bit slower move wise then many others on the roster, the other Pokemons’ results in plenty of disted hitboxes, as only Duraludon himself can be hurt by opponents. Duraludon’s combo opportunities are surprisingly decent, and it always has multiple ways to land the killing blow.

Duraludon does better when it’s in close proximity of it’s opponent, and it’s damn sure gonna try to get there. Some of it’s tools give Duraludon great coverage against people trying to camp it out, and despite being ehh in speed, it can have great rushdown game. Blitzing opponents for a Steel Beam can be a great header for Instagram after all.

However, of course, this comes with some problems. Duraludon being Duraludon, it’s not built for aerial combat like some of the other Pokemon on Raihan’s team, so it’s air game can be quite disappointing. Additionally, a good portion of it’s moves have noticeable amounts of startup, endlag, or both, meaning that timing is oftentimes key when it comes to combat. Being as ferocious on the battlefield as he is, and not worrying about such timing normally, maybe that’s why Raihan can never quite trump the Champion. Due to it’s poor air game and startups, Duraludon could also fall victim to quick combos and juggling if not careful.

Strengths:

-Packs a Hell of a Punch

-Surprising amount of combo potential

-Hype af to play or watch

-Longer range Falcon Punch

-You help Best Boy in battle

Weaknesses:

-Doo doo air game

-High end lag or startup on more important moves

-Can’t save any of Raihan’s selfies into Shared Content

-Pichu Mains’ wet dream.

Should have worded that differently

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Raihan (or rather, Duraludon)’s Frame Data

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-Weight: 116

-Height: Duraludon is slightly shorter than Ganondorf. Raihan is about a head taller than Red/Leaf (the Pokemon Trainers).

-Walk Speed/Run Speed: .885 (a bit less than Wario, Walk), 1.5 (just behind Ike, Run)

-Air Speed: .86 (same as Steve)

-Jump Height: 26 (same as Ryu/Ken)

-Amount of Jumps: 2

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Special Attacks

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Gimmick(s): Weather Effects

As mentioned before, one of Raihan’s main shticks for his Gym is his use of Weather Effects during the battle. Almost all of the Pokemon that he uses have either an ability or move that results in a certain Weather occurring on the Battlefield. This weather can have a multitude of effects, such as boosting the power of certain types of moves, dealing slow damage over time, or even to shorten the span some moves need in order to function.

Being such an integral part of his gameplan in Sword and Shield, it would be criminal of me to not include it in some way here. While I had to take some liberties with the functions in order to make it function properly here, I hope I at least did the system justice here.

During the battle, a good portion of Duraludon’s moves have an added chance of activating a Weather Effect upon use. During these weather effects, any opponent within a 2 Ivysaur length sized space around Duraludon will be affected by the Weather, and it’s effect. If 1 Weather Effect becomes active, the current one will disappear.

These Weather Effects follow Duraludon around, and last until they are either switched to different ones, or disappear automatically after 10 seconds. During the effects, the symbol for that weather effect from Sword/Shield will appear just above and to the right of Duraludon’s percent bar picture.

The Weather Effects that can occur are as followed:

-Sandstorm: A raging sandstorm ensues, coating the area around Duraludon in the sandstorm animations from Sw/Sh. An opponent being inside this storm results in a small DOT effect, as they are buffered by the sand. They take .8% every second they are caught in the sandstorm’s path. Obviously, it’s mostly used for extra chip damage, especially if catching opponents in grabs or keeping them in place via other methods. It has a 1 in 3 chance on occuring if successfully landing Down-Tilt, or a 25% chance to appear upon grabbing the opponent.

-Rain: A powerful storm appears, resulting in the rain effects from Sw/Sh to appear all around Duraludon. During this rain, the ground becomes slippery, having similar effects to the ice of the Ice Climbers map on the opponent. Additionally, the rain drenches the opponent, making it much more difficult in their attacks. Due to this, enemy attacks while in this rain take 30% slower to actually do. This option is a more defensive one, so try to fish for it if Duraludon is at higher percentages for a greater chance to escape combos and survive. Rain has a 1 in 3 chance of appearing upon using Down-Smash.

-Drought: The sunlight turns harsh around Duraludon, resulting in sun beams forming around it from above. During this Weather, Duraludon and it’s allies become empowered, resulting in having a 25% increase in damage and knockback of it’s attacks. Being a more aggressive form of weather, you should take the opportunity to use it while it’s in effect, to Ko opponents earlier than normal. This weather has a 1 in 3 chance of happening during Up-Smash.

Neutral Special: Steel Beam

Steel Beam is the most powerful Steel type move in Pokemon Sword/Shield, having a base power of 140, not including buffs or Stab bonuses. Almost every Steel type Pokemon can learn this move, including Duraludon. Now, normally Raihan’s Duraludon does not know Steel Beam, it’s main steel type move in game being Iron Head. However, I gave his Duraludon Steel Beam due to it fitting Raihan’s personality, as he’s all about showing off for the crowds around, while simultaneously giving displays of just how powerful he and his Pokemon are.

That and I couldn’t think of a good Neutral Special otherwise

In use, it’s a move similar to the likes of Falcon/Warlock Punch, giving off powerful damage and knockback (while also showing off a bit, Raihan style), but requiring quite a bit of charge up before it finally activates, giving enemies ample time to evade or counter-attack it.

It has just about the same animation as it does in Pokemon. Upon activation, Duraludon lowers onto all fours and opens it’s mouth wide (if in the air, it simply bends over in a similar pose). Soon after, a silvery energy begins to form inside of it’s mouth, letting the player(s) know that the charge up has begun. When it’s finished charging, a large silver beam erupts from it’s mouth, the beam reaching about 1 and a half Kirbys from the ground up in height, and going up to 2 and a half Bowsers in distance. When finished, Duraludon goes back to it’s normal stance, ready to fight again. Like a Falcon punch, you can angle it slightly up or downwards.

The move deals a whopping 30% in damage, KOing at around 60% and above. The whole chargeup period lasts for 56 frames, with the hitbox being active for 40 frames before dissipating. There’s 20 frames of end lag for Duraludon getting back up.

Obviously, this move is for similar uses as Falcon/Warlock punch, providing a devastating finishing blow to opponents, or simply to try to hype up a game, as Raihan would approve of. Due to it’s long active hitbox, it can punish those trying to spot-dodge it, and also takes off about half a shield per shot. While it has more range than either punches, which could also potentially aid against horizontal recoveries with angling, and has a longer active hitbox time-wise, it has more chargeup frames and end lag then either two, and can’t be turned around mid charge.

Side Special: Torkoal - Gyro Ball

Here’s the first instance of Raihan’s Double Battle training coming into play. This special utilizes Torkoal, a Pokemon Raihan doesn’t use in his normal Gym battle. Instead, he uses it during his fight in the Champion Tournament later in game. Gyro Ball is one of Torkoal’s moves that it knows in the Champion Tournament.

With Gyro Ball, the Pokemon begins spinning at a very rapid pace, before charging at the opponent to tackle them during the spin. Additionally, the slower the Pokemon that uses it is compared to the opponent, the greater Gyro Ball’s attack Pokemon is. Of course a Pokemon based on a tortoise would use it.

Upon use, a silver high speed rotating ball appears from behind the player’s view of Duraludon, being slightly larger than Jigglypuff in circumference, and travels forward in a straight line. This ball is, in actuality, Torkoal utilizing Gyro Ball. If Torkoal connects with the opponent, they get damage dealt to them, as well as getting a Paralysis effect similar to Pac-man’s thrown bell, before launching after a short bit of the paralysis. After connecting with an opponent, Torkoal stops the spin, landing in the ground before proceeding to roar it’s battle cry into the air (it’s in game ‘taunt’ plus it’s cry upon appearing) before disappearing. Torkoal cannot be interacted with after it ends Gyro Ball. If Gyro Ball does not hit anybody, it ends in a similar animation to before after Torkoal has travelled up to a Warlock Kick in length. Duraludon can still move while Gyro Ball is starting/in effect.

Deals 12% in damage on , KOing upwards of 200%. Hitbox activates after Frame 4, and lasts for the entire path forward, being slightly larger than the ball itself. Gyro Ball travels the same speed as the start of Arc-Thunder. Torkoal’s end animation lasts 45 frames, and Gyro Ball can’t be used again until after it disappears. Projectiles that hit Gyro Ball bounce off of it, flying off in a random direction away from Duraludon. Torkoal also cannot be reflected, however it can be countered, which will stop Torkoal in it’s tracks.

This move is fantastic for combo starters and extensions due to the paralysis effect, as the paralysis comes into effect hitting any part of Torkoal’s hitbox, meaning you can even throw enemies into it to gain extra combo potential. It keeps rushdowns in check due to it’s slow speed, and due to a combination of it’s hefty size and starting at Frame 4, it might even be able to stop Brawlers trying to hit Duraludon in their tracks. It’s also a great rushdown tool in itself, as keeping up with it results in both reflecting projectiles (or, in this case, refracting), as well as stopping brawlers from counter-attacking. However, if you go this path, Gyro Ball the counter could allow the opponent to hit Duraludon while stopping Torkoal. The opponent can easily jump Torkoal as well due to it’s slow moving speed, which may spell bad news for Duraludon if not careful.

Down Special: Turtonator - Shell Trap

Another of Raihan’s Championship Battle exclusive Pokemon, Turtonator was actually first used by one of Raihan’s trainees during his Gym Challenge. Here, Turtonator will use it’s signature move: Shell Trap. A setup trap-type move, Turtonator begins it’s turn by setting up it’s trap along it’s back. Afterwards, if a Pokemon lands a physical attack against Turtonator, Shell Trap will activate, dealing massive damage to the Pokemon that hit it. As a little piece of side trivia for myself, a shiny variant of Turtonator is one of my main online battle Pokemon in Sword/Shield. Taunting people into Shell Trap to allow my Belly Drum/Huge Power Azumarill to clean shop is funny to me.

Essentially, this will basically be Raihan’s version of a Counter, but in a flashy sort of way because it’s Raihan. Upon activation, Turtonator appears directly in front of Duraludon, appearing in it’s normal battle pose (staring back at the opponent while it’s back faces them, Akuma style), the Shell Trap symbol appearing along it’s back. You can guess what happens next.

If an opponent hits Turtonator during this part, Shell Trap activates, Turtonator’s shell detonating as many orange/red arrows jet out to counter-attack against the opponent. Now, because I’m not insane enough to do such a thing, the arrows won’t go as far as they do in the Pokemon series’ animation for it. Instead, they simply jet out like long spikes, hitting any opponents that attacked it. Afterwards, it does it’s normal appearance ‘taunt’/battlecry, before disappearing. If it fails to connect with any attack, Turtonator simply disappears afterwards.

Has about the same speeds as Marth’s counter dealing 1.5x any damage that would have been done to Duraludon. The Shell Trap counter-attack is about Dualudon’s level in height, and goes up to an Ivysaur in width. Has longer reach then most counters, while sacrificing some damage for it.

About as useful as any other counter in the game, really. I know it’s not as creative as some other parts, but dammit i was gonna include my boy Turtonator somewhere.

Up Special: Flygon - Fly

Flygon is one of Raihan’s pokemon that was first seen as part of his team during his Gym Challenge, it being the second to last one sent out against the player, just before Duraludon. While it won’t be using any of it’s known moves here, it was the only Up-Smash material in Raihan’s teams, as God knows the walking Eiffel Tower isn’t getting a triple jump by itself.

Upon activation, Flygon appears just above Duraludon, grabbing Duraludon’s shoulders while hooking it’s legs underneath Duraludon’s arms. Then, it proceeds to fly up into the air while holding onto the metal Pokemon.

Now, you may be asking yourself,

How in Eternatus is it carrying that giant metal thing?

Well, dear reader, during my research I actually discovered a few reasons as to why it’s entirely plausible.

In official Pokedex lore, Duraludons are around 88lbs in weight, or about 40 kilograms to those not living in Mcdonalds-Land ‘Merica like me.

88

Pounds.

To put that into perspective, I am relatively skinny for being my age, to the point that I’m technically classified as underweight by the BMI scale. And I still weigh close to 130 lbs.

A Flygon could easily carry toothpick me, so a Duraludon should be a cakewalk.

Additionally, Raihan’s Duraludon for a majority of the game has the Light Metal ability, meaning it’s weight during battle is exactly halved. That brings it down to 44lbs. I carried around 50lb barrels of pizza sauce during my time working at Little Caesars all day long with no ill effects. A giant dragonfly-lizard creature would have no trouble with it.

Anyways, back to the moveset.

This move is essentially a glorified version of Olimar’s Up-Special, although Duraludon is only carried up 2/3s as high up as Olimar. No understage flying to the opposite side for you, metal boy. Flygon can be very useful for recoveries anywhere, including high recoveries, due to the nature of the move. However, this Up-Special deals no damage to opponents, and Duraludon can be knocked out of Flygon’s grasp with knockback attacks (Flygon itself is immune to damage), meaning you’d have to be careful when using it.

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Moveset Summary

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Basic Attacks

Jab:

Duraludon releases a powerful punch, taking a small step to get the punch forward. While ehh in damage and knockback wise, it has good speed compared to other moves. It’s a great and fast way to knock opponents into Gyro Ball if they land in front of Duraludon, as well as a good combo starter/extender otherwise due to the so-so knockback.

Deals 10%, not KOing unless you’re like beyond 300%, so it’s not even worth it in that regard. About the same in speed and hitbox as Ganondorf’s Jab.

Dash Attack: Iron Head

Leaning heavily forward, the top of Duraludon’s head glows a bright silver as it headbutts through opponents in it’s path. This is Duraludon using Iron Head, one of the moves Raihan’s knows. It’s a powerful attack, Duraludon having super-armor during the initial hitbox due to it’s power. While packing a punch, it has quite a bit of end-lag, letting opponents who dodge it get a freebie counter-attack if it misses. A good follow up to Jab for some quick damage/knockback.

Deals 12%, KOing opponents around 140%. Hitbox is similar to Captain Falcon’s Dash Attack, and travels a bit farther. However, it’s about 2/3s the speed as CF’s.

Tilts

Up-Tilt: Breaking Swipe

Flygon once again makes an appearance, appearing just behind Duraludon’s head. After appearing, it flips in the air, lashing it’s tail above Duraludon’s head in an arc from front to back, with a large purple trail following the end of the tail. Flygon then disappears afterwards. Flygon is using Breaking Swipe here, a move Raihan’s knows during the gym challenge, and which in Double battles can hit both of the opponents at once, also lowering the Pokemon hits’ Attack. Raihan’s Duraludon knows Breaking Swipe as well, however I felt it would need some help reaching above itself with those stubby arms.

Here, Breaking Swipe offers a very fast Up-Tilt, providing coverage against opponents coming from above, as well as some decent combo-extending for certain scenarios, such as attacking an enemy paralyzed by Gyro Ball.

Deals 10%, KOing upwards of 200%. Similar hitbox to Little Mac’s Up-Tilt (also occurring just over Duraludon’s head instead of from ground), and is slightly slower than Mac’s.

Down-Tilt: Sand Spit

This attack makes use of another of Raihan’s Gym Pokemon. Upon use, Sandaconda appears from the ground just in front of Duraludon, half buried into it and facing diagonally upwards. After a very short bit, it spits Sand upwards in front of Duraludon, damaging opponents, before disappearing below ground. While Sand Spit is Sandaconda’s Ability instead of a move in-game (if it gets hit in battle, it summons a sandstorm), I found it a fitting way to bring another one of Raihan’s ‘Mons into the moveset. While having weak knockback, it is one of Raihan’s faster moves, allowing for a quick counter-attack to rushdowns, as well as being a good extender to combos. Additionally, as stated before, this attack has a 1 in 3 chance to activate the Sandstorm Weather upon hitting an opponent, at which point the ‘Sandaconda’s Sand Spit’ Ability activation from Sw/Sh will appear just next to Duraludon for a second as the Sandstorm activates.

Deals 8%, with next to no KO power on it’s own. Similar speed to Steve’s Down-Tilt, with an Ivysaur sized hitbox in front of Duraludon.

Side-Tilt: Breaking Swipe

Here, Duraludon gets to show off his own version of the move. Dualudon swipes forward horizontally in a left to right path with his arm, causing a similar but slightly wider purplish trail as Flygon’s to appear along the move’s path. It is a good move for covering in front of Duraludon due to the vast range, and has quite decent knockback. However, it can struggle against both aerial opponents, and those with low crouches like Kirby.

Deals 13%, KOing around 140% and above. Slightly longer hitbox to Ike’s, occurring slightly slower as well.

Grab, Pummel and Throws

Grab:

Another of Raihan’s Pokemon makes a special appearance, as Gigalith appears in front of Duraludon, trapping any opponent caught in the grab in the move Rock Tomb. Many boulders appear around the opponent, trapping them against the rocks in the grab animation. In games, Rock Tomb lowers the opponent’s Speed if the move connects, as they get caught in boulders like in this grab. The initial grab also has a 25% chance to cause a sandstorm as well, at which point the ‘Gigalith’s Sand Stream’ Ability activation from Sw/Sh will appear just next to Duraludon for a second as the Sandstorm activates

Grab range is similar to Olimar due to Gigalith’s size.

Pummel:

A boulder appears just above the opponents head, falling down onto them and raised back up to count as the pummel. Deals 1% every 1.5 seconds.

Up-Throw:

A large spear of rock juts out from beneath the opponent, sending them flying upwards. I suppose you can count this as Duraludon using Stone Edge, as Raihan’s Gigalith doesn’t know that move. Plus, it would fit in the narrative of Raihan’s double battling, with his Pokemon helping one another out. A good grab to kill at higher percentages, as it has the highest launching power of the grabs.

Deals 9%, and KOs at roughly 140% and above.

Down-Throw:

The boulders disappear as Gigalith raises one of it’s front legs as high into the air as it can go, before stomping on the opponent. During this, the model for the opponent actually flattens out for a short bit, similar to Kirby’s crouch, before they get popped off the ground. This is a reference to Gigalith using the move Body Press, which does a similar animation to the opposing Pokemon upon hitting them in Sword/Shield. Raihan’s Gigalith and Duraludon both know Body Press, and in Sw/Sh it does more damage the more defense the Pokemon has (including raised stats). Deals the most damage of the grabs, and the pop-up can give Duraludon some chances to attack if it’s quick enough.

Deals 14%, not KOing due to the pop-up.

Forward-Throw:

One of the boulders in front of the opponent raises up, and slams into them, sending them flying. This is Gigalith using the move Rock Blast, a move in Pokemon that can hit the opponent multiple times if it lands all of them. A healthy balance of damage and knockback.

Deals 11%, and KOs around 190%.

Back-Throw:

Fairly similar to Forward-Throw, only one of the boulders from behind the opponent rises up and slams into their back, sending them flying towards Duraludon. You may be able to land a move just after they’re launched from it if they’re at lower percentages, allowing for some great looking flashy combos that would make Raihan proud.

Deals 11%, and KOs around 190%.

Smash Attacks

Up-Smash: Lava Plume

Torkoal makes another appearance in the moveset, appearing just in front of the player’s view of Duraludon, and lowers itself to the ground as it charges the Smash Attack. Upon release, a large column of fire and magma launches upward, catching opponents in a multi-hit attack similar to Steve’s Magma Block. Torkoal disappears immediately when the move is finished. A fantastic way to catch opponents above Duraludon, as well as a good follower from Up-Tilt. Additionally, it has a 1 in 3 chance of activating the Drought Weather, at which point the ‘Torkoal’s Drought’’ Ability activation from Sw/Sh will appear just next to Duraludon for a second as the Drought activates

Deals 15% uncharged, and 26% fully charged, KOing at 170% and 110%, respectively. Hitbox is around the height of Bayo’s Up-Smash, but 2/3s the width, the hitbox being directly center of Duraludon.

Down-Smash: Muddy Water

This attack marks the first (and unfortunately only, due to moveset constraints) of Goodra, another of Raihan’s Pokemon. Upon activation, Goodra appears just beside Duraludon’s front, crouching down a bit as it charges. Upon release, it hops slightly into the air, and upon landing on the ground, a small tidal wave of brown water and small debris appears on either side of Duraludon, before Goodra disappears as the waves dissipate. This is Muddy Water, one of Raihan’s Goodra’s known moves. In Pokemon, it is one that can attack both opponents in Doubles, as well as having a chance to lower accuracy.

Here, it acts in a similar way to Robin’s having a larger hitbox in front then behind Duraludon, due to Goodra being off-center from Duraludon. A key feature of it for this moveset is launching opponents at, as Yung Burnt Toast himself Shofu called it, ‘The F*ck-Ass Angle’. In case you’re wondering, it’s the same angle Steve’s Down-Smash launches at, only both sides happen simultaneously instead of one at a time. It’s a useful edgeguarding tool due to this, as well as a good follow to Gyro Ball’s paralysis if the opponent is on the ground. Additionally, it has a 1 in 3 chance to activate the Rain Weather, at which point ‘Goodra Used Rain Dance’ move activation from Sw/Sh will appear just next to Duraludon for a second as the Rain activates.

Deals 13% uncharged, and 24% fully charged, KOing around 180% to 100%, respectfully. Hitbox is similar to (but slightly larger all around) to Robin’s along the ground, occurring slightly slower to Robin’s as well.

Side-Smash: Dragon Claw

During the chargeup, Duraludon takes a step back, reeling it’s arm back as if preparing to throw a powerful punch. Upon release, Duraludon launches a powerful strike forward, the path of it’s ‘fist’ having two long purple streaks follow it forward, before ending in a horizontal hook-like motion across. It goes so far as for Duraludon to move forward by a few steps at the end, showing just how much momentum was thrown into the attack.

This attack is Dragon Claw, a Dragon type move that replaces Breaking Swipe on Raihan’s Duraludon during the championship matches. It doesn’t have any extra effects in Pokemon, however it is still a useful move, especially if used for extra Stab damage by Dragon Type Pokemon. In Smash, it is a powerful Smash Attack, being the strongest damage wise of the three. The uncharged version can be a great ender to combos involving Gyro Ball and Jab, while the fully charged version can do massive damage to shields or have great KOing opportunity if baiting an opponent into it.

Deals 18% uncharged, and 35% fully charged, KOing around 140% to 70%, respectfully. It has a 30% slower speed than Wolf’s, but has 2 and a half times longer Hitbox horizontally.

Air Attacks

Neutral-Air:

During this move, Duraludon spins completely around in the air, raising it’s arms out straight so that both it’s arms and it’s tail-like extension would hit anybody that came into with either. It’s slower than most Neutral-Airs due to having to spin for it, but deals decent damage and knockback, and basically covers Dualudon from any attacks, as it the hitbox from it blocks projectiles, as well as Brawlers having a much worse time trying to hit it during this motion due to the hitbox. While F-Air/B-Air will most likely be used more for aerial finishers, Neutral Air is still a decent one in of itself.

Up-Air:

Duraludon opens it’s weird trash-can esque mouth, and fires a small white beam out from it above itself, damaging anything that gets caught in the beam. This can be seen as a small version of Flash Cannon, another move in Duraludon’s move pool, but not one that Raihan’s uses in the Pokemon games. In the games, it also has a chance of lowering the opponent’s Special Defense on impact. This move is great for covering above Duraludon, and would usually be seen ending any combo that results in the opponent going above Duraludon. Due to it’s long size, it’s especially useful against Down-Airs that result in the opponent going down at high speeds, or just those trying to recover from high up in general.

Deals 14%, Koing around 180% and above. Similar hitbox to Mii-Gunner’s U-Air above Duraludon, with some more startup frames, and only one hit instead of a multi-hit.

Down-Air:

Using one of it’s massive feet, Duraludon shovel kicks the air just below itself, launching opponents towards wherever it is facing in the air. At the end of the day, it’s one of Duraludon’s less exciting moves. However, it serves it’s purpose well, being a decent hitboxed move to deal with enemies that may try to juggle you. Swordfighters will fare a better chance against it then Brawlers.

Deals 17%, KOing around 170%. Slightly longer vertically than Samus’s Down-Air, but is somewhat slower.

Forward-Air:

Duraludon leans forward a bit as it circles both of it’s arms around in a bottom back to front circle, before ending the circling motion by slamming it’s arms in an overhead downward motion against the opponent. This move spikes opponents if it lands at the bottom of the arms, making it a useful killing move. Other than that, it has decent coverage due to the windup. However, it’s the longest aerial animation-wise, so you can be left open if not careful.

Deals 14% in damage (7% if hit by the motion instead of the bottom portion), Spiking opponents downwards at 30% and above (KOs above 300% if hitting sour spot). Slightly slimmer hitbox than Donkey Kong’s F-Air, but has 2/3s the starting frames, having a similar speed otherwise.

Back-Air:

Flygon once again shows it’s lensed face, appearing just behind Duraludon’s head to use another Breaking Swipe with it’s tail. However, this time it’s a vertical one downwards behind Duraludon, before Flygon turns into Fly-gone and disappears once again. It’s your normal B-Air that’s stronger than other aerials.

Deals 18%, KOing around 160%. Similar (but slightly longer to cover Duraludon’s height) to Steve’s B-Air, being slightly slower as well.

Final Smash: G-Max Depletion

If you’ve fought Raihan in Pokemon Sword/Shield, you knew that this would be coming. I mean, other than speeding it up a bit, it was perfect Final Smash material already with the cutscene.

Upon activation, Duraludon will bend over in a Steel Beam-esque animation, launching a white beam towards the opponent. Opponents hit by the beam will be transported into a cutscene.

During this cutscene, (a sped up for Smash version of) Raihan’s animation for when he activates Gigantamax occurs, him smiling for a selfie before hurling the large ball. It is then that Gigantamax Duraludon emerges from the ball.

It wastes next to no time, immediately blasting the opponent with it’s signature Giganta-Max move, G-Max Depletion. Now, normally, along with dealing massive damage to opponents, this move would also lower the target’s PP for their moves. However, here it would simply do damage to the opponent.

After the initial blast, the opponent is launched out of the cutscene, damage being done to them as they are launched quite far. It has the same uses as most other Final Smashes, being used for damage dealing and KOs above all else. However, it’s surprisingly fast, so you can quite possibly bait people into it via air dodges from them and other tactics.

The initial blast from Duraludon is about the length as Joker’s initial slash forward for his Final Smash, the blast being slightly taller than a Jigglypuff in height. It has the same startup speed as Terry’s, with 50 frames if end lag if it misses. Deals 45% in total, and starts KOing most opponents at 70% and above.

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Raihan‘s Animations

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Entrance:

Raihan (minus the beginning pose), does his normal beginning animation to his Pokemon battle against the protagonist, roaring into the camera (I think he might be a closet furry if I’m honest, I can’t say for certain) before throwing out his Ultra Ball, sending out Duraludon onto the field.

Up-Taunt:

Duraludon does it’s animation upon entering a battle from the wild, sticking it’s arms to the side as it roars into the air. Raihan, meanwhile, performs his animation that he does while yelling to the protagonist about bringing the storm.

Down-Taunt:

Duraludon lowers itself onto all fours, opening it’s mouth and seeming to ram it’s arms into the ground a couple times, before standing back up on it’s legs. A slight modification of his animation for Steel Beam, but what I thought would fit.

Raihan, meanwhile, strikes a pose incredibly similar to what he does when he loses the fight against the Protagonist, but only for a few seconds or so, before returning to his normal stance.

Side-Taunt:

This time, a few other of Raihan’s Pokemon make an appearance. Flygon, appearing just behind Duraludon’s back, flies in place for a bit and seems to peer around from behind Duraludon’s shoulder; Torkoal appears in front of the player’s view of Duraludon, letting out a yell into the air as it shoots a small stream of steam from it’s back; and Turtonator appears in front of Duraludn’s view, leaning over a bit as it peers towards the direction Duraludon is looking, and flexes it’s snout as if preparing to fire something from it. All three disappear afterwards.

Raihan, being one to always do it for the ‘Gram, does a series of two poses, all the while his Rotom Phone floats around him and snaps pictures of both of the poses. The first one is a double thumbs up towards the phone, while for the second one he puts both his hand into his pockets and leans back a bit. The first pose takes inspiration from the media that shows him holding thumbs ups (such as his League Card), while the second is very close to his picture pose while Dynamaxing Duraludon, minus the giant ass ball on his shoulder.

Idle 1:

Duraludon takes a tiny step as it’s mouth adjusts up and down a few times, this being a reference to it’s main idle animation during a Pokemon battle.

Raihan simply does a roar into the air, this being his main idle stance while fighting the Protagonist.

Idle 2:

Duraludon raises both a leg and arm into the air slowly, before stomping down as it swipes diagonally downward, this being it’s main melee animation in Pokemon Sword/Shield (Jab is pretty much a better version of this).

Raihan takes a moment to prop himself upright, posing with a smile and holding up a peace sign towards the Rotom Phone floating next to him, as if taking a selfie. After a few moments, he returns to his normal, battle ready stance.

Victory:

The camera is in the point of view of Raihan’s Rotom Phone (Rotom noises would be heard during portions of the Victory to confirm it). It first hovers at eye level with Duraludon, who slams it’s arms into the ground before roaring towards the sky (facing partially away from Rotom). It begins to circle Duraludon, before seeming to be grabbed by an unseen hand. Finally, it spins around quickly, to reveal that Raihan grabbed it out of the air. Holding it, he proceeds to (smoothly) end the spin around while performing a thumbs up towards the camera, Duraludon being seen behind Raihan as it roars towards the sky. Raihan will be in the exact pose that he is in his rare League Card.

Victory 2:

Raihan has his back to the camera, as all of the Pokemon in his moveset are behind him. Flygon is flying around above, Torkoal and Turtonator interact with one another to the left, Duraludon trying to reach up and pluck the Sandaconda sitting atop it’s head, and Goodra sitting off to the right, seeming to find humor in watching Duraludon’s struggle. The camera pans around it to start facing Raihan, who as the camera pans to find turns to it. Finally, the camera pans in time to catch Raihan‘s final pose, re-enacting his animation from when you first begin to battle him. All of his Pokemon can still be seen behind him as this occurs.

Victory 3:

The red glow returning to the Ultra Ball in his hand (most likely being Duraludon returning to it’s ball), Raihan bends down a bit, before springing up to re-enact the pose from his normal League Card.

I Still think he might be a closet furry.

Raihan‘s Color Swaps

-Default:

The default colors of both Raihan and all of his Pokemon.

-Alternate 2:

Raihan himself’s outfit becomes composed of a velvety purple, red, and blue. These colors represent Leon, the Galar Region’s Champion whom Raihan considers to be his main rival, and is always seeking to beat. All of Raihan’s Pokemon become their shiny variant for this one.

-Alternate 3:

Both Raihan’s outfit and his Pokemon gain a new color palette of a forest green, a darker green, and white. This is in reference to Milo, the Grass Type Gym leader that many trainers begin their journeys to stardom fighting against.

-Alternate 4

Both Raihan’s outfit and his Pokemon gain a new color palette of a sky blue, a darker navy blue, and orange. This is a homage to Nessa, the Water Type Gym Leader that the player fights after uprooting Milo.

-Alternate 5

Both Raihan’s outfit and his Pokemon gain a new color palette of a blood red, black, and white. These colors represent Kabu, the burning soul of a Fire-Type Gym leader, whom the player fights after washing Nessa away.

-Alternate 6

Both Raihan’s outfit and his Pokemon gain a new color palette of Black, Orange and Purple. This is a reference to two Gym Leaders: the Fighting Type Bea, and the Ghost Type Allister, as both of them have Gym number 4 in their respective games (Bea is in Sword, Allister is in Shield), and whom the player fights next after dousing Kabu’s flames.

-Alternate 7

Both Raihan’s outfit and his Pokemon gain a new color palette of a cotton-candy like blue and pink, with some navy blue mixed in. This is in reference to Opal, the Fairy Type Gym leader, and the one who takes over after she retires, [REDACTED].

-Alternate 8

Both Raihan’s outfit and his Pokemon gain a new color palette of Black and Magenta, the main color palettes of Marnie, one of the player’s rivals in their playthrough, as well as the Simps and Twitch Mods that follow her everywhere she goes, Team Yell. It also happens to be the palette of Gym Leader #7, the Dark Type Piers.

Map(s):

Now, interestingly enough for this portion, I had two ideas for what Gen 8’s map could be…

But, I managed to settle it down to just one.

Map: The Wild Area

The Wild Area, as you could guess by the name, is a nature-filled vast expanse of land that stretches across the middle of Galar. Here, Pokemon of all forms, sizes, and levels roam around, giving players a much coveted place to freely roam, complete with self turning camera angles, and dozens of areas to explore throughout it. A majority of your adventure will take place here, whether it be grinding for levels, using the Pokemon Daycare in the Bridge Field area to breed for shinies/good stats, or simply exploring to find all of the rare Pokemon you can get.

As one can imagine if we’re turning this place into a stage, this is the kind where the platform will be zooming all across a wide area that shows in the background. In this case, the platform will be zooming by all the areas of the Wild Area, in the order listed in the picture below.

Additionally, you will be able to catch sights of all the Roaming Pokemon that are normally in their locations, such as the Snorlax that roams next to the bridge by the BRidge Field, the flying Corviknights that populate the Dusty Bowl, etc.

After reaching and hovering over Hammerlocke Hills for a short bit, the stage zooms back off back to the Rolling Fields, to start the cycle over again. Battlefield and Omega stages stay situated at a more overhead angle of Rolling Fields, to get a glimpse of the whole expanse of the Wild Area below.

Music:

Now here’s where the party gets started.

If there’s one reason that I’m hoping Gen 8 of Pokemon gets into Smash in some way or fashion (besides me actually liking the Gen. Yea, I said it. Crucify me for having a different opinion than you), it’s for the music.

This

Stuff

Slaps

Now, I’ve managed to compile a list here of the music that I think will most likely be included or one way or another, based on either possibility, or just me liking these themes a lot.

Be sure to check them all out! They’re all bangers.

- Main Title Theme

- Battle! (Trainer Hop)(Maybe mixing it with his Final Battle Theme as well)

- Boutique

- Route 1

- Battle! (Gym Leader) (absolute banger)

- Wild Area (Both versions, probably into a medley or something)

- Battle! (Trainer Marnie) (Another absolute banger)

- Stow-On-Side

- Glimwood Tangle

- Battle! (Gym Leader Piers) (Yet again, slaps)

- Battle! (Oleana) (Also slaps)

- Battle! (Chairman Rose)

- Battle! (Eternatus) medley of all three parts of it)

- Battle! (Champion Leon)

- Battle Tower (Would be the second Toby Fox song in the game so why not)

-A medley of Klara and Avery’s theme due to them being game exclusives

- Battle! (Mustard)

- Battle! (Peony) sounds like it’s from persona 5)

-Medley of areas of the Crown Tundra because good God is CT’s background music beautiful

- Gen 8 Regi Theme

- Gen 8 Legendary Bird Trio Theme

- Battle! (Calyrex)

Additionally, I’ve also managed to find some more Pokemon tracks from previous games that didn’t make the cut before, but I personally felt they would work very well in Smash. So here goes these, as well.

- Boutique (Pokémon X/Y) (Criminal that it’s not in base Smash right now, it’s nostalgic for me)

- Battle! (Team Skull)

- Battle! (Ya Boi Guzma)

- Battle! (Hoenn Battle Frontier)

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Well folks, that’s all for now! I hope you guys enjoyed my newest moveset idea!

With that, I’ll be seeing you all next time!

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Couldn’t leave us well enough alone?

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Could you?

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Everything was going well

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Until you came along.

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Fine…

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Let’s settle this.

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Now.

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Calamity has awoken...