Pokemon of the Day: Blissey (#242)

Each and every day we'll be taking a close and personal look at one of these unique creatures called Pokémon. Here you'll find all the moves you could ever want (learned, hereditary and all compatible TMs/HMs from G/S/C and R/B/Y, if applicable), breeding chains for hereditary moves, Pokédex entries, general descriptions, max stats, in-game locations, weaknesses and resistances, gameplay tips and one or more suggested movesets (SUGGESTED, people; I'm not telling you what to do) to get the most bang for your Pokébuck.

===============================INTRODUCTION==============================

Today's Pokemon is Blissey, that happy pink blob of...err...happiness. Or pinkness; take your pick. If I was surprised at the popularity of the oddball Chansey in RBY, I'm positively flabbergasted by THIS thing's rapid ascent in GSC. Come on people, it has cinnamon buns for hair! And that look on its face is so stupid...eh; I suppose I'm not going to win many fans by ripping on Blissey's appearance alone (even though she IS a total ugmo...*sulks*).

In battle, Blissey is actually a pretty solid contender; she may have the single most jacked stats of any Pokemon ever, but at least she knows how to use them and has plenty of unique and interesting move options at her disposal. Oh yeah, and did I mention she's ugly?
 

AVAILIBLE IN: Gold, Silver, Crystal

LOCATION: There's no such thing as a wild Blissey, but you can evolve one yourself from the Chansey that are found on Routes 13-15 in GSC. If you'd rather import a Chansey from RBY, you'll find them in Fuchsia City's famed Safari Zone and the mysterious Unknown Dungeon located on the outskirts of Cerulean City.

==================================MOVES==================================

Metronome: Breed with male Clefairy/Clefable or Togetic.

Present: Breed a male Delibird with Marill/Azumarill, Pikachu/Raichu or Snubbull/Granbull. Breed male offspring with Present to female Chansey/Blissey.

Flamethrower: Blissey can also learn Flamethrower via the Move Tutor in Goldenrod City (Crystal only).

Thunderbolt: Move Tutor in Crystal

Ice Beam: Move Tutor in Crystal

===============================IN BATTLE================================
Max stats at level 100
HP: 713
Attack: 118
Defense: 118
Special (RBY): none
Special Attack (GCS): 248
Special Defense (GSC): 368
Speed: 208
Effective against: none
Not effective against: Rock, Steel, Ghost (can't hit)
Resistant to: Ghost (immune)
Weak against: Fighting
Suggested moveset
Held Item (GSC): MiracleBerry
Counter
Thunderwave
Softboiled
Ice Beam

Before we get down to business, I'd just like to note that the RBY moves listed are for Chansey (since Blissey obviously didn't exist in RBY). Much like Steelix, many of Blissey's best move options are in the form of RBY TMs and even though her particular evolution wasn't introduced back then, there's nothing stopping anyone from sending Chansey back for some and evolving it at a later date.

Alrighty then...to my knowledge there are essentially two types of Blissey out there: Countering Blissey and Heal Belling Blissey. As of yet you can't get both Counter AND Heal Bell on Blissey as Counter is an RBY TM whereas Heal Bell is a GSC-exclusive hereditary move, so choose wisely. Me, I just went with a Countering Blissey because most of the people I know in "real life" aren't exactly famous for using Pokemon with a bunch of status-altering effects...I've said it before and I'll say it again; while Heal Bell is an insanely popular and useful move, I personally don't find it useful at all under my particular circumstances. In other words, know that the move is available and will likely kick some serious butt on your Pokemon, but don't tear my head off simply because I don't have it on mine.

Now, as far as I'm concerned Blissey is THE single best Pokemon in any of the games to use Counter in conjunction with. Her ridiculously high HP coupled with her unbelievably bad Defense should ensure that any physical attack will send her reeling but won't actually KO her. Let's just say that anything hit by a Blissey's Counter is going to die...considering Blissey's HP is fully double that of the average Pokemon, she can feasibly KO many opponents even by Countering a move that took out a mere 1/4 of her own HP (though with that piddly 118 Defense you can rest assured any physical attacker Blissey meets up with will deplete her HP by more than that per turn).

I like Thunderwave on Blissey because, let's face it, she's one slow Pokemon (then again, when have we ever known a humongous pink tub of goo to be particularly fleet of foot?). I would recommend saving Thunderwave for when Blissey is brought in mid-battle, particularly if you introduce her to something like Alakazam or Jolteon (read: exclusively elemental attackers who are likely to cut and run upon sight of a Blissey). Getting the jump on an opponent's next Pokemon by paralyzing them is always a plus, and if they do decide to leave their elemental attacker in it will at least be slowed down considerably. I wouldn't recommend using Thunderwave against most of the bigger physical powerhouses in the game, though; you likely won't have time to both paralyze and Counter them given Blissey's poor Defense and the fact that Counter always goes second in battle regardless of Pokemon speed.

Softboiled is rather an "iffy" move for Blissey. If you're fighting something like Machamp or Scizor, odds are they'll actually be taking off MORE than half of Blissey's HP in a single hit, making Softboiled entirely unworth the time it takes to employ it. On the other hand, if you have the incredible fortune to be fighting primarily special types then Softboiled should drive them absolutely nuts, what with Blissey's colossal 368 Special Defense in addition to her monstrous HP (if you wanted to be REALLY evil you could also spring for Light Screen, but I prefer not to take up a spot with that). Well, many people like Recover on Alakazam and that thing is just as fragile as Blissey (higher Defense but lower HP; it tends to even out more or less), so I've every right to suggest the move. It should be noted that Softboiled has a different use outside of battle, but its effect on the field is so lame it's scarcely worth mentioning.

I recommend Ice Beam as the last move because...well...I've seen a lot of Ice Beaming Blissey out there. Not that I'm generally swayed by public opinion (as evidenced by some of my exceedingly unpopular movesets), but I'll admit I was beginning to run out of ideas. You'll want some sort of flat-out attack in case you run into an opponent with no physical moves for Blissey to Counter, and even if your opponent happens to be resistant to Ice type moves they at least won't be totally immune to them...and that 10% chance of freezing an enemy solid is always welcome. The move only becomes all the more attractive when you consider its effectiveness against several of the Rock types that Normal types are weak against offensively (not that Rock types themselves are weak to Ice, but considering the fact that the most common Rock types are currently Rock/Ground and Rock/Flying...you get the idea), as well as the many Pokemon who sport a compounded quad weakness to it. Their number will only continue to climb in the future, by the way.

I recommend MiracleBerry for this Blissey solely because Toxic is such a huge concern. If you want to go with a Heal Belling Blissey you can use Leftovers to exploit that insane HP, but a Blissey without Heal Bell shouldn't (IMHO) be holding ANYTHING but MiracleBerry (or at least PsncureBerry, should you be unable to find a MiracleBerry). Come to think of it, if you do happen to run into a Pokemon with Toxic I would recommend just getting Blissey the heck outta there without stopping to ask questions.

Okay, you've all be clamoring incessantly for Heal Bell, so here it is. Heading up the alternate move options list is the infamous Heal Bell, here both for your viewing and battling pleasure. As I said, I personally have little use for Heal Bellers, but should you have occasion to use one you likely won't find a single better Heal Beller in the game than Blissey. Other moves to consider might be a different class of elemental attack(s), be it a different type move with a power and accuracy similar to Ice Beam or something different altogether (something kooky like Sunny Day/Solarbeam/Fire Blast comes to mind). IGN's own Peer Schneider suggests the move Seismic Toss for Chansey in RBY, and while the newfound Leftovers, Synthesis, Cross Chop, etc. of GSC tend to horribly date such set-damage moves, it is at least something to keep in the back of one's mind.

So, there you have it. I'm getting a vision of all those people who requested Blissey in recent weeks staring at their monitors going "That's IT?!?"...I never claimed to be an expert, guys. I don't hate Blissey, but I don't particularly like it either. I haven't bothered to spend much time with Blissey as I don't need a Heal Beller OR a Counterer at this point in time, so if my moveset and explanation smack of newbishness please feel free to send me livid emails and set me straight in time for Chansey's article. Heh. I will say that Blissey definitely has its place in the Pokemon world and that anyone who wants to give this most unique beast a test run is more than welcome to. Hey, from what I've heard, if you can manage to get over her extreme freakiness Blissey is actually a beneficial Pokemon to have in your team. Here's hopin'; there's gotta be SOMETHING to make up for that mug.

Y'all have fun trying to prod this pleasant and portly pastel pudgemeister into action, and don't forget to check back tomorrow for another decidedly original Pokemon of the Day!

Please email any questions or comments to [email protected], or drop me a line if you just wanna say hello! I'm always up for a rousing Pokémon chat. And, as always, feel free to visit us on IGN's dedicated Pokémon Board. See you there!