Remoraid

Using Remoraid in a Playthrough

The Remoraid line is unusual because its unevolved and evolved forms look almost unrelated, but both are built around ranged attacks and broad offensive coverage. Remoraid evolves into Octillery at level 25, after which both Attack and Special Attack reach base 105, allowing physical, special, or mixed sets depending on the generation and available moves. Octillery is particularly notable for special coverage far beyond that of most Water-types, with combinations such as Surf or Hydro Pump, Ice Beam, Fire Blast, Energy Ball, Psychic, and other options letting it target many common Water answers. Its major limitation is base 45 Speed and merely average 75/75/75 bulk, so Octillery often has to take a hit before using that excellent coverage and can be overwhelmed by stronger or faster attackers. Suction Cups prevents forced switching, Sniper can strengthen critical hits, and Moody can produce extreme stat swings in games where it is available, but ordinary playthroughs usually benefit more from Octillery's straightforward offensive movepool than from building around unreliable random boosts.

Remoraid in Competitive Pokémon

Octillery has rarely escaped low competitive tiers despite possessing excellent mixed offenses and one of the broadest special coverage movepools among Water-types. Base 105 Attack and Special Attack let it threaten would-be counters with moves such as Hydro Pump, Fire Blast, Ice Beam, Energy Ball, and Gunk Shot, while Sniper can support critical-hit-focused sets and Suction Cups prevents opposing phazing moves from forcing it out. The problem is base 45 Speed combined with only average bulk, which means faster attackers often remove Octillery before it can exploit its coverage and bulkier Water-types can usually perform defensive or offensive roles more efficiently. Its Hidden Ability Moody has historically been banned or heavily restricted in many standard singles environments because the automatic random stat changes can create uncompetitive snowballing, so competitive Octillery is generally evaluated without relying on it. The result is a Pokemon with genuinely threatening move selection but insufficient Speed and durability to convert that versatility into consistent high-level success.

Remoraid in Nuzlockes

Remoraid can become useful quickly in a Nuzlocke because it evolves into Octillery at level 25 and does not require a stone, trade, or friendship condition. Octillery's pure Water typing leaves only Grass and Electric weaknesses, while equal base 105 offenses and enormous coverage let it adapt its moveset to whatever gaps the rest of the team has. Its main weakness is tempo: base 45 Speed means it will often take a hit before acting, and base 75 defenses are not high enough to make repeated strong neutral attacks comfortable in a permadeath run. Because Octillery can attack from either side, it can exploit opponents with lopsided defenses more easily than many Water-types, but the player should still avoid asking it to absorb unknown Electric or Grass coverage. It is a flexible and often underrated team member when encountered, but it is safer as a deliberate coverage attacker than as a universal defensive Water-type.

Remoraid is an exceptionally accurate aquatic hunter capable of firing concentrated jets of water from its mouth at moving targets more than 300 feet, or roughly 100 meters, away. It generates the pressure with powerful abdominal muscles and uses the technique to knock flying prey such as Burmy out of the air, earning the species the nickname 'sniper of the seas.' The same water jets can be fired in reverse to propel Remoraid backward when it needs to escape danger. Its dorsal fin functions like a suction pad, allowing Remoraid to attach beneath Mantine, eat scraps left behind by its host, travel with it, and even help defend it against attackers. Remoraid also gather in schools of their own kind and may move downstream from rivers toward the sea as evolution approaches.