Palkia

Using Palkia in a Playthrough

Palkia is a single-stage Water/Dragon Legendary centered on special offense, with base 150 Special Attack, 120 Attack, 120 Special Defense, and base 100 Speed in its standard form. In Generations IV and V, Water/Dragon has only one weakness—Dragon—while strongly resisting both Fire and Water and resisting Steel; Fairy adds a second weakness from Generation VI onward. Spacial Rend is one of the safest legendary signature moves because it combines high power with a high critical-hit ratio and no recharge turn, while Surf or Hydro Pump, Thunder, Fire Blast, Aura Sphere, Earth Power, Ice coverage, and Draco Meteor let Palkia attack nearly anything effectively. Pressure can deplete dangerous low-PP moves in longer fights, while the Hidden Ability Telepathy is mainly relevant in multi-Pokemon battles because it avoids damage from allies. Origin Forme, accessed through the Lustrous Globe in modern games, shifts 20 points from Attack into Speed, raising Palkia from base 100 to 120 Speed without reducing its base 150 Special Attack; Timid becomes especially attractive in that form, while Modest emphasizes raw special damage.

Palkia in Competitive Pokémon

Palkia was an elite DPP Ubers Pokemon and one of the metagame's defining answers to Kyogre. Its Water/Dragon typing gave it a quadruple resistance to Water in Generation IV, allowing it to survive attacks such as Choice Specs Water Spout that many other Ubers could not safely absorb, while Kyogre's rain simultaneously strengthened Palkia's own Surf or Aqua Tail and made Thunder perfectly accurate. Base 100 Speed was unusually important because it naturally outran major threats such as Groudon, Kyogre, Ho-Oh, Dialga, Giratina-Origin, and many Rayquaza sets, while Choice Scarf made Palkia an excellent revenge killer and mixed or Lustrous Orb sets were notoriously difficult to wall. Spacial Rend, Surf or Hydro Pump, Thunder, Fire Blast, Aqua Tail, Outrage, and even Trick Room supported an unusually broad offensive repertoire. Fairy-types and faster modern restricted Pokemon created additional counterplay in later generations, but Origin Forme restored a major Speed advantage by increasing Speed to 120 while keeping 150 Special Attack, and modern Smogon still classifies Palkia-Origin in Ubers as a powerful Water/Dragon wallbreaker. Its long-term identity is therefore remarkably consistent: very strong special offense backed by a rare defensive resistance profile and enough physical Attack to punish walls that prepare only for special moves.

Palkia in Nuzlockes

If legendary Pokemon are allowed, Palkia is especially safe in Generations IV and V because Water/Dragon has only a Dragon weakness and its 90/100/120 bulk is excellent for an offensive Pokemon. Fairy becomes an additional weakness from Generation VI onward, but Palkia still resists Fire and Water extremely strongly and can exploit many predictable elemental attacks without taking serious damage. Spacial Rend is much safer than signature moves that impose a recharge turn, although its less-than-perfect accuracy means Dragon Pulse can still be preferable when guaranteed damage is sufficient; similarly, Surf is usually safer than Hydro Pump when the extra power is unnecessary. Base 100 Speed already reduces incoming damage by allowing Palkia to move first against many opponents, and Origin Forme's base 120 Speed improves that safety significantly without lowering Special Attack. Timid is especially useful for preserving those Speed thresholds, but as with Dialga, many Nuzlocke rulesets ban cover legendaries and the encounter is therefore only relevant when the rules explicitly permit their use.

Palkia is the legendary embodiment of space and, according to Sinnoh mythology, hatched alongside Dialga and Giratina from eggs created by Arceus at the beginning of existence. It later withdrew into a private dimension beyond ordinary observation, and legends claim that the stability and extent of space itself are tied to Palkia's existence, with space becoming more stable each time it breathes. Palkia can warp space, cross enormous distances instantly, travel between dimensions and parallel timelines, open portals to alternate universes, and literally rend both a target and the surrounding space with its signature Spacial Rend. It is powerful enough to create or destroy an entire universe alone or with Dialga. The ancient Pearl Clan worshipped Palkia as 'almighty Sinnoh,' mistaking it for Arceus, and Palkia can communicate telepathically through humans such as Irida.