The best moveset for Gastrodon in Pokemon GO

With Pokemon GO's Ultra Unlock event featuring both East and West Sea variants of Shellos, players are naturally eyeing what its evolution Gastrodon can do in battle.

While Gastrodon is far from a force of nature in PvE and PvP play, a fine-tuning of its moveset can show that it can be serviceable in a difficult situation where its use is necessary. When serving a purely Ground-type attack role, Gastrodon can perform a decent counter role against Electric-, Fire-, Poison-, Rock-, and Steel-type Pokemon.

Although Gastrodon is likely to buckle against Pokemon GO's more established cast in battle, its stats can allow it to take on certain Pokemon that don't have overwhelming CP or stat advantages.

Pokemon GO: Top movesets for Gastrodon in PvE and PvP

Whether players decide to use Gastrodon in PvE situations such as Team GO Rocket battles or PvP ones like attacking/defending gyms or battling in GO Battle League, they'll want to bring the right moveset into the fight. This Pokemon's moveset will differ slightly depending on what role it is intended for, though most trainers will likely keep it out of PvP for the most part due to its underwhelming maximum stats.

Before diving into Gastrodon's movesets, it's important to recall what moves Gastrodon can learn in Pokemon GO:

Fast Moves

Hidden Power (Normal-type)
Mud Slap (Ground-type)

Charge Moves

Earth Power (Ground-type)
Body Slam (Normal-type)
Water Pulse (Water-type)

With six total moves, Gastrodon has an average size move collection in Pokemon GO. This is to be expected, as this Pokemon is far from a Mythic or Legendary Pokemon. Regardless, the top picks for movesets in each role for Gastrodon are as follows:

PvE

Mud Slap + Earth Power (9.73 damage per second, 394.31 total damage overall, seven seconds until first activation of charge move)
Hidden Power + Earth Power (9.02 damage per second, 365.4 total damage overall, six seconds until first activation of charge move)

By fulfilling a Ground-type move role, Gastrodon can be used to counter quite a few opponents in Pokemon GO when necessary. Hidden power can also provide some decent type coverage since it is resisted by many fewer Pokemon types. Water Pulse and Body Slam don't provide the stopping power that Mud Slap does, and are generally unfavorable for Gastrodon.

PvP

Hidden Power + Body Slam and Earth Power
Mud Slap + Body Slam and Earth Power

Hidden Power and Mud Slap shake out evenly in PvP battles, but Hidden Power receives the edge here for its type coverage. However, Mud Slap is no slouch, as it receives a Same Type Attribute Bonus (STAB) to its damage when used by Gastrodon, which can help in some respects. Body Slam, while not dealing effective damage like Earth Power, can be used to bait shields due to its relatively quick charging time. Once an opponent's shields are out of the way, Pokemon GO trainers can slam targets with Earth Power for significantly more damage.