Meloetta Aria

Using Meloetta Aria in a Playthrough

Meloetta begins battle in Aria Forme, a Normal/Psychic special attacker with base 128 Special Attack, 128 Special Defense, 100 HP, and 90 Speed. Psychic or Psyshock, Hyper Voice, Shadow Ball, Thunderbolt, Focus Blast, Calm Mind, and support moves give Aria Forme strong special flexibility, while its Normal typing grants a useful Ghost immunity. Using Relic Song changes Meloetta into Pirouette Forme during battle; Pirouette becomes Normal/Fighting and redistributes its stats to base 128 Attack, 128 Speed, and 90 Defense, favoring Close Combat, Return or other Normal STAB, Knock Off, U-turn, and physical coverage. Relic Song itself has a 10 percent chance to inflict sleep, doubled to 20 percent by Serene Grace. Pirouette Forme reverts to Aria Forme when Meloetta leaves battle or the battle ends, so it cannot simply be selected as a permanent physical form in ordinary main-series play. Timid or Modest suit Aria-focused sets, while Naive, Hasty, or other mixed natures can support deliberate form switching.

Meloetta Aria in Competitive Pokémon

Meloetta's competitive identity comes from the contrast between its two formes. Aria Forme combines base 128 Special Attack and Special Defense with 100 HP, giving it unusual special bulk for an offensive Psychic-type, while Calm Mind, Psychic, Thunderbolt, Focus Blast, Shadow Ball, and support options allow many conventional special sets. Relic Song creates a more unusual route by transforming Meloetta into Pirouette Forme, which has base 128 Attack and Speed and Normal/Fighting typing; this lets it pressure special walls such as Blissey with physical Close Combat after beginning the turn as a special attacker. Smogon has repeatedly noted that this form-changing can create valuable prediction pressure, but requiring Relic Song consumes a moveslot and usually prevents Pirouette from being as efficient as a dedicated physical attacker. In BW lower-tier play Meloetta was respected for versatility rather than being a dominant metagame centerpiece. Serene Grace adds another layer by doubling Relic Song's sleep chance and improving the secondary effects of several coverage moves.

Meloetta Aria in Nuzlockes

Meloetta is unusually flexible in a Nuzlocke because Aria Forme's 100 HP and base 128 Special Defense make it very safe against many special attackers while its Ghost immunity creates predictable switch opportunities. Psychic or Psyshock and reliable coverage generally provide the safest approach, and Calm Mind can turn favorable special matchups into controlled sweeps. Pirouette Forme is much faster and physically stronger, but reaching it requires using Relic Song first, meaning the player must spend a turn on a comparatively modest attack before gaining the new stat distribution. The form change also alters weaknesses: Aria is vulnerable to Dark and Bug, while Pirouette trades Psychic typing for Fighting and becomes weak to Fighting, Flying, Psychic, and later Fairy. Because Meloetta always returns to Aria outside battle, planning around the correct starting matchup is more important than treating the formes as two independent team members.

Aria Forme Meloetta is associated with song, melody, and emotional influence. Its unusual vocal technique can manipulate the feelings of humans and Pokemon, making listeners happy or sad, and Unovan artists credit its music with inspiring many famous songs and works of art. Meloetta can fly and has also been depicted temporarily turning invisible. Some legends connect its lost melodies to ancient ruins and imply that overwhelming sorrow in the world can cause it to forget the song tied to its dance.