The best moveset for Gastrodon in Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl

Gastrodon can provide a solid defensive backbone for any team in Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl.

Perhaps the best thing about Gastrodon is that it only has one type weakness: Grass. The type combination of Water and Ground also gives it a lot of key resistances to common types like Fire and Electric. Unfortunately, it lost access to Toxic in Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl, but this Pokemon can still work well with the right moveset.

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Which moves work best with this Sinnoh Pokemon?

• Scald
• Ice Beam
• Earth Power
• Recover

Gastrodon has a relatively high base Special Defense (82), Where it struggles a bit, though, is with Physical Defense (68). This is why Scald is a big tool in Gastrodon’s kit. If it gets the burn, it will cut the opponent’s Attack stat in half and become close to an unkillable wall.

Ice Beam gives Gastrodon some highly needed coverage, specifically against Grass-types. Since they are so strong against Gastrodon, many trainers will switch in their Grass-types against this Pokemon. A smart player, though, could catch the Grass-type on the switch and at least get some solid damage, and at most, pick up a K.O. with Ice Beam.

Earth Power not only lets Gastrodon deal with Electric-types, but it also gives solid coverage against many other Pokemon. If it only ran Scald and Ice Beam, it would be walled by opposing Water-types. Earth Power gives Gastrodon a strong option against Water-type Pokemon, that also has a 10% chance of lowering Special Defense.

Gastrodon's Storm Drain ability makes it immune to Water attacks (Image via The Pokemon Company)

Finally, Recover gives it that lovely health regeneration. Of course, in-game trainers can simply use Potions to keep Gastrodon healthy. Trainers run out of Potions occasionally, though. Some players also might pick up Gastrodon in a hardcore nuzlocke with no healing items, or want to bring Gastrodon to Wi-Fi battles.

While this moveset gives Gastrodon some strong coverage, the strategy becomes 10x stronger if the Pokemon has the Storm Drain ability, which would raise Gastrodon’s Special Attack by a stage if it gets hit with a Water-type move.

A big brain strategy for any trainers with a Storm Drain Gastrodon is to pair it with a Pokemon that is weak to Water. That trainer can then lead with their Infernape, Rhyperior or similar Pokemon, bait the enemy into using a Surf or Hydro Pump, and switch into Gastrodon to give it a buff at the beginning of the match.