Pokémon X Vs Y Which Version Has The Better Legendary Pokémon

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Pokémon X Vs Y Which Version Has The Better Legendary Pokémon

Pokémon X and Y may not have brought a lot of new legendary Pokémon to the table, but one game definitely did it better. The sixth generation represented a wild time for fans. Powerhouses like Mega Kangaskhan were tearing up the competitive scene and claiming more souls than a Kangaskhan ever had any right to, the fresh new Fairy typing had landed… what a time to be alive. Pokémon X and Y didn’t bring very much to the table when it came to Legendary Pokémon, though. Both titles featured Zygarde, Mewtwo and the Legendary bird trio (Articuno, Zapdos and Moltres). The question of which title had the best Legendaries, then, comes down to a contest between Xerneas and Yveltal, the only ones that are version-specific. Let’s compare both in a range of different categories, then! THEGAMER VIDEO OF THE DAY

Typing Pokémon X

As we’ve already mentioned, the Fairy type was one of the biggest new additions to the series in Generation VI (intended to curb the dominance of ). Some One of the all-new Fairy Pokémon was Xerneas, which introduced many players to the typing and how much potential it had. Yveltal’s Dark/Flying typing is certainly solid, but it isn’t nearly as unique and rendered it weak to Fairy (and so to its ‘rival’).

Ability Tie

As tends to be the case with the ‘Mascot Legendaries’ of the series, Xerneas and Yveltal’s Abilities mirror each other. Xerneas’ Ability is Fairy Aura, which give a one-third boost to the power of any Fairy move used (by opponents as well as itself and its allies) while it’s on the field. Yveltal’s Dark Aura, meanwhile, has the same effect on Dark-type moves. Which Ability is more potent? Well, that’s entirely dependent on the situation. Both are equally good for boosting their and their allies’ attacks, and both are potentially equally bad when accidentally making their opponents more powerful. We’ll call this one a tie.

Stats Tie

Another common trend with the mascots of each version of a given game is that they’re very similar stat-wise. Xerneas and Yveltal, in fact, have the exact same base stats across the board: their offenses are both 131 apiece, they both have a high 126 base HP, their defences and speed fall just shy of base 100. There are many other factors that come into play when it comes to deciding how powerful they are, but objectively, this one’s a perfect tie.

Versatility Pokémon Y

As both Pokémon hit equally hard physically and specially and have interesting movepools, they both have a range of options available to them. Xerneas can even rock Aromatherapy to heal your team of status effects if it wanted. Having said that, though, Xerneas tends to only go one route: all-out offense. It doesn’t boast the priority that Yveltal does (one of the strongest priority moves in the series to date, in fact, in the form of Dark Aura-boosted Sucker Punch), or the healing capacity. This makes the great deathly bird a death a little more unpredictable overall.

Power Tie

So, we’ve seen a little of what each of the Legendary Pokémon can do, but how does that translate into their raw power? It’s another category that’s just too close to call. Their abilities, as we know, buff both of their STAB moves (though not Yveltal’s , obviously) to monstrous levels. Whether Xerneas is cutting a swath through opponents with boosted Moonblast or Yveltal’s effortlessly checking faster Pokémon with the threat of its Sucker Punch, they’re both powerhouses that you do not want to mess with. Different, but equal.

Sweeping Ability Pokémon X

The two Pokémon may be essentially equal in terms of raw strength, but there’s one area in which Xerneas seems to win out quite handily: the ability to cut a vengeful-Godzilla-in-a-big-city path of destruction and sweep an enemy team. If you played much competitive Pokémon in the Gen VI days, you’ll surely have fallen foul of the Power Herb and Geomancy set. The crux of it is that Xerneas uses Geomancy (which usually takes a turn to charge and gives it a +2 in Special Attack, Special Defense and Speed), immediately gets the boost thanks to the Power Herb, then obliterates its opponents into sad little flecks of failure and disappointment. The excellent neutral coverage of Fairy moves made this far too easy to pull off.

Popularity Pokémon X

When it comes to competitive Pokémon, players don’t tend to enjoy taking risks. Pokémon is a game of freeze turns, unfortunate misses, untimely flinches and all kinds of other shenanigans. To win more consistently, you want to mitigate that sort of thing and ensure you’re using the very best Pokémon and sets for the job at hand. At times, then, high-level play can get very samey. During this era of Pokémon, teams featuring Mega Kangaskhan, Xerneas, Primal Groudon and co. were absolutely everywhere. Yveltal certainly made its presence felt in that meta too, but Xerneas was a much more common pick.

Canon Power Pokémon Y

Let’s not get too wrapped up in the competitive aspects of the game, though. Not everybody is about that life, after all. For many players (especially younger ones venturing into online battles with teams full of Legendary Pokemon), the only important factor that goes into a Legendary being great is this one: how darn scary is it? If that’s the criteria we’re looking at, Yveltal is definitely the winner. Xerneas is the goodly Life Pokémon, while Yveltal is classified as the Destruction Pokémon. Just look at its Pokédex entries: “When this legendary Pokémon's wings and tail feathers spread wide and glow red, it absorbs the life force of living creatures,”Pokémon X reports. Pokémon Y, clearly not thinking Yveltal was terrifying enough already, adds, “when its life comes to an end, it absorbs the life energy of every living thing and turns into a cocoon once more.”

Design Pokémon Y

So, yes. It’s hard to deny that Yveltal is the more frightening of the two from a conceptual standpoint. This also comes into play in its design, of course, which reflects its malevolent nature. It’s half dragon, half bird, all prone to the sorts of mood swings that could wipe out entire galaxies. They wanted it to look menacing, and mission accomplished. Meanwhile, Xerneas looks the part as the antithesis of everything Yveltal represents. As subjective as it is, though, there’s a case to be made that it just doesn’t have quite the same impact. It looks more like a sort of Mega Stantler than its own, powerful entity.

Overall Pokémon X

All in all, this is quite a tough one to judge. Both games’ mascot Legendary Pokémon are super strong and have caused devastation in countless competitive matches to prove it. With all of this in mind, though, Xerneas’ popularity and the sheer terror its Power Herb set can inspire gives it the edge. Yveltal was never quite as quick and easy to use. Yeltal talks the talk but Xerneas walks the walk, as it were.