Sun / Moon In-Game Tier List

Has someone reserved Petilil yet? If not, then I will.

Name: Petilil
Availability: Can be found immediately after the first trial in Moon version.
Stats: When it starts out as a Petilil, its starts are pretty mediocre outside of its Special Attack. But Lilligant has a very good speed stat for Alola and very high special attack.
Typing: Grass is a solid typing for taking out the Rock, Ground, and Water types throughout the game. However, Poison, Flying, and Bug types are rather common, so it's chances of staying in are limited.
Movepool: Very very shallow. Offensively, it only gets access to Grass-type moves, Normal-type moves, Hidden Power, and Dream Eater. Support wise, however, it gets all that it really needs to. Sleep Powder in particular is great for getting free turns, especially as a Lilligant. Sadly, though, Quiver Dance is at level 28, which is hampered by the Sun Stone not being available till the third island. X-Items can somewhat go pass this, however. Petal Dance and Giga Drain can be enough to suffice though due to their sheer power, especially when it has evolved.
Major Battles: Gets hit too hard to be of much use against Hala, though it can potentially cripple a Pokemon or two. Cakewalks Totem Wishiwashi, but falls very flat against Salazzle, Mimikyuu, and Lurantis. Vikavolt is pretty iffy, as while it resists Electric it can't do much back. Kommo-O hits very hard against it, but Lilligant outspeeds it and puts it to sleep, potentially utilizing Dream Eater as well. Gladion is a toss-up, as it handles Water-type Silvally and Type:Null decently but fails against anything else. Guzma is a no-go. Lusamine is a pretty OK matchup outside of Mismagius' Mystical Fire. Against the Elite Four, it does pretty okay against Hala as it can use Hariyama as sleep and set-up fodder (though Ice Hammer from Crabominable OHKO's you). Olivia is a easy win (though Probopass can be annoying with Thunder Wave and its great special bulk), and Acerola is OK outside of Drifblim and Froslass. Don't even try using it against Kahili though. Kukui is a very iffy matchup. It easily KOs Lycanroc and does well against Primarina, but struggles against everything else. Hau is a good matchup, though it should be careful around his Fire-types and Rowlett/Datrix/Decidueye.
Additional Comments: Own Tempo is the preferred ability to cooperate with Petal Dance, its main selling point. The late availability of the Sun Stone really hampers its viability, as well as its weak movepool and defensive typing. However, its incredibly fast and strong, and Sleep Powder is a huge niche over its Grass-type competition.
 
Reserving Cutiefly, Oricorio, and Grubbin (whoopee, no Rock-types this time around)

dropped Grubbin, anyone who wants it can take it. Doing Misdreavus instead.
(tagging Conni. Also its 596 por favor :[ )
I can actually do Magnemite right now as I used it in my first playthrough
Magnemite

Availability:
Early, in the grass on Route 1 and Hau'oli City. Can also be found at Malie City in the Outer Cape grass.
Stats: Magnemite has great Special Attack and Defense in all of its forms. Magnezone suffers a speed drop when it evolves, which slightly weakens its Electro Ball.
Typing: Electric/Steel is phenomenal defensively, granting Magnemite and its evolutions plenty of resistances and a nice immunity to Poison and paralysis. Offensively, Electric hits common Water- and Flying-types super effectively and has good coverage.
Movepool: Limited but useful. Magnemite comes with Thunder Shock and Magnet Bomb right away, enabling it to hit on both sides of its STAB. SonicBoom hits hard in the early game and comes only a few levels after capture. Mirror Shot and Flash Cannon are available via level-up to bolster Magnemite's Steel STAB, while Electro Ball and Discharge will come later. Magnemite's TM movepool is barren, but Charge Beam is an option to boost Special Attack while Volt Switch is a decent alternative to ThunderShock
Major Battles: Magnemite's resistance enables it to handle the Verdant Cavern trials, although Gumshoos' Super Fang and Bite are dangerous. It suffers against Hala's Fighting-types. Against Wishiwashi its Electric STAB is useful, although rain-boosted Water Gun can be painful. Magnemite should avoid Salazzle but it can take on Lurantis. Olivia is also a good matchup. Magneton is unable to heavily damage Totem Vikavolt, but it can handle Molayne's Steel-types. Mimikyu is also a good matchup thanks to STAB Flash Cannon. Nanu is a difficult matchup because of Krokorok, although Magneton can take on his other Pokemon. Magnezone struggles against Totem Kommo-o and Hapu due to their strong super-effective moves. Guzma and most of Team Skull are easy matchups due to Magnezone's resistances, while Lusamine is also a good matchup barring Bewear. Against the Elite Four, Magnezone beats Kaihili most of Olivia's team and is a solid choice against Acerola. However, it has a horrible matchup against Hala. Magnezone can beat Kukui's Lycanroc, Primarina, Braviary and Alolan Ninetales, but it fails to damage his Magnezone and loses to Incineroar and Snorlax.
Other Notes: Sturdy is the preferred ability as switching is not common against AI and Magnemite appreciates the pseudo-Focus Sash. Thanks to its bulk and typing, Magnemite can come in safely against a majority of opponents and do damage. It can evolve into Magnezone at Vast Poni Canyon, but Magneton is strong enough to not need evolution until then.


Misdreavus

Availability:
Early, in Hau'oli Cemetery at night only
Stats: Misdreavus' 85 Special Attack and Speed are passable in-game, and when it evolves Mismagius caps at a great 105 Special Attack and Speed. However, its Defense is poor.
Typing: Ghost provides useful immunities to Normal and Fighting, as well as Ground thanks to Levitate. Dark-type moves are everywhere, however.
Movepool: Deep. Misdreavus' level-up movepool is a bit dry, with Psywave being the major damage-dealing option until Hex at level 23. Shadow Ball will replace it, but the TM is obtained before Misdreavus learns it by level-up. Mismagius learns Mystical Fire via move relearner if Fire coverage is desired. Will-O-Wisp is a nice option to boost Hex, while Calm Mind, Thunderbolt, Psychic and Dazzling Gleam via TM helps Misdreavus sweep. Be warned that most of these moves are obtained late on in the game.
Major Battles: Misdreavus does not stand out against any boss due to its middling attacking stats. Illima is actually not a good matchup due to Alolan Raticate and Bite Gumshoos. Misdreavus walls Hala's Pokemon, but beware of Crabrawler who will attempt to Pursuit trap you. Misdreavus should avoid Akala Islands' trials and kahuna due to its low bulk and lack of power. Sophocles and Molayne are neutral matchups, but Misdreavus loses to Acerola's Mimikyu and Nanu. Mismagius can dodge Hapu's Ground attacks with Levitate and boost up. Totem Kommo-o is a good matchup as Mismagius can use Calm Mind and its Special Defense to absorb Clanging Scales while the ally Hakamo-o cannot touch it. Guzma is a fairly easy matchup. Mismagius can't beat Lusamine without a boost, however. Against the Elite Four, Mismagius loses to Acerola but can beat Hala and Kaihili barring. Mismagius can beat Kukui's Ninetales, Braviary, and Decidueye but loses to almost everything else, especially Snorlax.
Other Notes: Unless you get lucky with Poke Pelago, the only Dusk Stone in the game comes at Poni Island, which significantly hampers Misdreavus' viability. Its good defensive typing means that it is not a complete lightweight, however.


Cutiefly

Availability:
Early on Route 3 in the grass. Slightly rarer but shouldn't need too much time to find
Stats: Cutiefly and Ribombee have good Special Attack and amazing Speed. However, they have fragile defenses which makes taking even neutral hits a problem.
Typing: Bug/Fairy has nice resistances to Fighting and Grass, but suffers from weaknesses to common Fire, Flying, and Poison-type moves. Cutiefly also suffers from poor offensive coverage as it cannot hit many things super effectively.
Movepool: Good. Fairy Wind and Silver Wind are good early STAB moves. Draining Kiss helps Cutiefly with its bulk. Pollen Puff or Bug Buzz have good power and are obtained early. Dazzling Gleam is learned later, but is Ribombee's strongest Fairy STAB. Quiver Dance is another noteworthy move, but it arrives very late. Ribombee has access to moves like U-turn, Energy Ball, Psychic and Calm Mind via TM.
Major Battles: Cutiefly's frailty and poor typing matchup means it will not be of much use in the early trials, although with Fairy Wind it can beat Hala. Ribombee takes negligible damage from Lurantis and KOes easily, although the ally Trumbeak can be problematic. Ribombee struggles vs. Olivia and cannot damage Vikavolt or Mimikyu effectively, but it beats Nanu easily. Once Dugtrio is dealt with, Hapu is a fairly easy matchup although Ribombee might need a boost to sweep. Totem Kommo-o is also a good matchup, although Ribombee should be careful of Flash Cannon and Scizor. Ribombee can sweep Lusamine if it gets boosts vs. Clefable or an opponent that can't damage it. Against the Elite Four, Ribombee matches up well vs. Hala and neutrally vs. Acerola but loses to Olivia and Kaihili. Its frailty means it will struggle against Kukui's Pokemon.


Oricorio

Availability:
Early in Melemele Meadow in Pom-pom form. Pa'u Style can be found at Route 6 on Akala Island, and Baile Style can be found in Ula'ula Meadow on Ula'ula Island. Sensu Style and the Purple Nectar is post-game exclusive.
Stats: Oricorio has good Special Attack and Speed, but everything else is mediocre
Typing: Flying is a decent defensive typing. Pom-pom and Baile Style have the most useful offensive options, while Pa'u Style's Psychic attacks can prove useful.
Movepool: On the shallow side. Oricorio gets an early Air Cutter that can safely see it through the early game. Utility options like Feather Dance and Teeter Dance can help teammates or aid captures. Air Slash comes right as Air Cutter's usefulness drops in the mid-game. Revelation Dance comes a little later but provides good alternative STAB for each of its available forms. U-turn, Calm Mind and Roost are all TM options worth considering. Oricorio does not get any other STAB options besides Revelation Dance for its forms.
Major Battles: Oricorio is a good choice vs. Hala as it resists his STAB Z-Move and KOes with Air Cutter. Wishiwashi and Salazzle are difficult due to their power, but Lurantis is trivialized. Oricorio loses to Olivia and Vikavolt but can beat Acerola if it is not in Pa'u Style. Nanu is a neutral matchup, unless Oricorio is in Pa'u Style in which case it loses. Hapu is a good matchup as Oricorio is immune to Ground, but be wary of Gastrodon if in Baile Style. Kommo-o is a positive matchup although Clanging Scales is very powerful. Baile Style is useful to beat the ally Scizor Against the Elite Four, Oricorio loses to Olivia but can beat Hala, Acerola, and Kaihili in Pom-Pom Style. Against Kukui, Oricorio loses Lycanroc and Snorlax no matter what, but can beat certain Pokemon depending on which form it is in. Baile Style can handle Magnezone, Ninetales, and Decidueye while Pom-Pom Style can beat Braviary and Primarina.
Additional Notes: As Revelation Dance comes late, Oricorio's forms should mainly be selected on the basis of which defensive typing helps the most. Remember that Baile Style is immune to burn while Pom-Pom Style cannot be paralyzed, although status is not a major concern in these games. Pa'u Style is arguably the poorest defensively of the three available. All three form-changing nectars can be found during the daytime in their respective meadows.


re-tagging Conni and Colonel M, these are complete. Any feedback is appreciated
 
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churine

lunatic+
is a Smogon Discord Contributor Alumnusis a Contributor Alumnus
guess ill reserve bonsly, archen, and phantump (trade).

Name: Bonsly
Availability: Available right after beating Island Kahuna Hala on the first island and getting Tauros to break the rocks on Route 1. Can also be found on Route 5 from the Route 8 entrance which is near Lush Jungle, which has also has Bonsly in the area.
Stats: Sudowoodo has a high Defense stat of 115 as well as a good Attack stat of 100, allowing it to tank physical hits and dish some damage back. However it has low Special Defense and terrible Speed, meaning it will take a hit before moving, and big damage if its a special attack.
Typing: Rock is not a very good defensive typing, as it leaves Sudowoodo with five weaknesses to Grass, Water, Fighting, Ground, and Steel. It does however, let Sudowoodo beat Flying- and Fire-types, and grants resistances to Normal and Poison making it useful against regular trainers and Team Skull and Aether Foundation grunts.
Movepool: Bonsly starts off with Low Kick and Rock Throw if it is caught at Level 12. It must have Mimic to evolve into Sudowoodo, which it learns at Level 15. After that, Sudowoodo gets access to some nice moves, it can learn Rock Tomb as a TM, and learn Rock Slide by leveling up. Leveling up, Sucker Punch bypasses its low Speed stat by being a priority attack, though it has low PP, while Hammer Arm can be used to nail Steel-types as the Speed drop doesn't matter. Counter is an interesting option to deal heavy damage to physical threats Bonsly would otherwise have trouble with. Lastly, Wood Hammer can be learnt via Move Relearner, to hit any Rock- and Water-types in the Elite Four.
Major Battles: Bonsly does pretty well against Totem Salazzle cause of its typing, Low Kick helps against Olivia's Rock-types, can hit Totem Vikavolt super effectively, and can slow down Totem Mimikyu with Rock Tomb for its teammates. It however struggles against Totem Wishiwashi, Totem Lurantis, Totem Kommo-o, and Hapu cause of its typing. Sudowoodo can take on Guzma bar Golisopod but is pretty deadweight against Lusamine. Against the Elite Four, it does pretty well against Kahili bar Skarmory, can put work against Acerola's Drifblim and Froslass, especially with Sucker Punch, can fight Olivia with Hammer Arm and/or Wood Hammer, though Olivia's Pokemon carry a lot of Ground-type moves, and should avoid facing Hala. Sudowoodo performs well against Kukui, as it boasts a great matchup against his Ninetales and Braviary, and can take care of Lycanroc, though his other Pokemon carry super effective moves.
Additional Comments: Sturdy is generally the better ability, as it ensures that Bonsly will live a hit if it full health and retaliate back, especially if Bonsly decides to run Counter to take out an unsuspecting threat. Rock Head is useful for moves such as Head Smash and Wood Hammer to prevent recoil but those moves come very late in the game.


Name: Archen
Availability: Available in Moon version only, at the mid-game once you reach Konikoni City. Go talk to the woman in Olivia's shop and buy the Plume Fossil, then go to Route 8 to talk to a man to revive the fossil.
Stats: Archen has an amazingly high Attack stat of 112 and a respectable Speed stat of 70 for a pre-evolved Pokemon. When it evolves into Archeops, It will boast one of the best Attack stats in the game in 140 along with a very solid Speed stat at 110. However, Archen is frail making it easy to activate their ability, Defeatist, lowering its offensive power.
Typing: Rock/Flying is a nice offensive typing, with the combination only being resisted by Steel. However while Archen is immune to Ground, it packs five weaknesses to relatively common types in Electric, Water, Rock, Steel, and Ice, which can give it trouble.
Movepool: Archen has a wide movepool, with Pluck upon revival. It later learns Acrobatics which will have 110 Base Power if no item is held, though Acrobatics can be taught earlier if the TM is picked up at Ten Carat Hill. It is also able to learn Rock Tomb via TM as soon as it is revived, and Rock Slide by both level up and TM, giving it a secondary STAB option. It is also able to learn coverage moves such as Dragon Claw and Crunch to deal with Dragon or Ghost-types.
Major Battles: Archen will not be useful against Olivia as it faces a type disadvantage. It is weak to Totem Vikavolt's Spark but can do nice damage against it with super effective Rock Tomb. It can slow down Totem Mimikyu and Nanu with Rock Tomb for its teammates to handle, can deal super effective damage against Totem Kommo-o with Acrobatics, but despite the immunity to Ground, it will struggle against Hapu due to the coverage move her Pokemon carry. Archeops does well versus Guzma but should not take on Golisopod, and it can take on Lusamine's Lilligant and Bewear, though it should try to OHKO. Against the Elite Four, Archeops will do pretty good against Hala and Kahili, but should be careful of Hala's Poliwrath and Crabominable and shouldn't take on Kahili's Skarmory. It can also take on Acerola if it knows Crunch, and should avoid Olivia. It doesn't do too well against Kukui but it can take on his Braviary and potentially his Alolan Ninetales.
Additional Comments: Always keep Archen healthy and above half health, since Defeatist will activate otherwise and lower Archen's offensive output. This means that Archen should always try to outspeed and KO a Pokemon on the first turn to not risk Defeatist to activate. Archen will likely be underleveled when you obtain it, so you need to feed it EXP to get it on par with the rest of your team. Sitrus Berries are also a good way of keeping Archeop's HP above 50%, and are gone after consumption giving Acrobatics full power.


Name: Phantump (Trade)
Availability: Available during the mid-game right outside of Konikoni City, in the grass on Memorial Hill.
Stats: Upon evolving into Trevenant, it will have nice-rounded bulk and a good 110 Attack stat. It is however pretty slow, leaving it outsped by many common Pokemon.
Typing: Unfortunately, Phantump's typing leaves it weak to many common types such as Fire, Ghost, Dark, Flying, and Ice, with Dark and Ice being common types in the late-game. It does allow Phantump to deal with Psychic, Water, and Ground-types.
Movepool: Off the bat, Phantump will have access to a strong Ghost-type STAB move in Shadow Claw, whether by trade evolution or by the TM shop in Konikoni City. Phantump also learns a couple of useful utility moves by level-up such as Leech Seed and Will-O-Wisp. However, Phantump doesn't get access to a physical Grass-type move until Level 49 in Wood Hammer, which at that time it is likely you will already be at the Pokemon League where the Move Relearner resides, so you will have to stick use the Grass Knot TM found at the Lush Jungle for a Grass-type move until then. Phantump has access to good coverage moves via TM such as Rock Slide and Bulldoze, which can make up for its lack of physical Grass-type move.
Major Battles: Despite being a Grass-type, Phantump has no Grass-type moves to take on Olivia so it can't do much. It can't do much to Totem Vikavolt either unless it's leveled up high enough to learn Will-O-Wisp to try cripple its physical attacks. Totem Mimikyu easily disposes of Trevenant without team support and Nanu's Dark-types eat it alive. Trevenant however does very well against Hapu, especially against her Gastrodon and Mudsdale but can only do as much as to burn Totem Kommo-o. Trevenant performs well against Lusamine, especially Milotic and even Clefable, though it struggles against Guzma. Against the Elite Four, Trevenant can only safely go against Olivia, though it can also take on Acerola as it can normally outspeed Acerola's Palossand and Dhelmise, though this is a very volatile matchup. Trevenant can take care of Hala's Poliwrath but the rest of his team has coverage against it, and Trevenant has no chance against Kahili's Flying-types. Trevenant does not perform well against Kukui, as nearly all of his Pokemon have super effective coverage, and can only take on Primarina safely if Litten was your starter.
Additional Comments: Natural Cure is a far superior ability compared to Frisk, as ingame trainers generally don't hold items while the ability to remove status conditions after switching is very useful. Phantump should also be evolved as soon as possible, as Trevenant still learns the same moves Phantump does at the same level.
 
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Name: Cranidos
Availability: Mid-game. Buy from the lady in the Konikoni city's rock store
Stats: Cranidos is the definition of glass cannon. 58 speed is slow to start with, plus low defenses, means misery for Cranidos. a massive offensive attack stat reaching 165 means things die fast if it lands a hit.
Typing: Pure rock. Offensively, this is solid but defensively, it makes Cranidos's life miserable.
Movepool: Starts off with Pursuit and Take Down for offensive options. Rock Tomb can be given to it immediately for STAB, and Bulldoze later on. Rock Tomb can be replaced later on for Rock Slide or Stone Edge, and Zen Headbutt can be taught to deal with fighting types
Major Battles: Cranidos suffers against almost all of the major boss fights in the game unless you overgrind it. Olivia and Nanu prey on its fragile slow state, and while Totem Vikavolt folds to its rock attacks, Totem Mimikyu eats it alive, as does Totem Kommo-o. Guzma's Golisopod can be taken down, but beware the faster bugs. Lusamine's Clefable can also be broken past, but everything else should be avoided. In the Elite 4, only Kahili is a safe option for Cranidos to take on, and even there, Mandibuzz, Skarmory, and Toucannon can easily destroy it. Against Kukui, only Ninetales and Braviary are safe to fight against, and arguably Lycanroc.
Additional Comments: Cranidos starts off at lv. 15, which is behind the rest of your team. As such, you need to baby it for a good while, as otherwise, everything outspeeds and one-shots it. Even when caught up, Cranidos needs to pick its fights very carefully, as anything that outspeeds it can rip large chunks of health off.

Also, reserving Turtonator and Honedge
 
btw you forgot to include the typing section for sandile

also for your growlithe typing line I think you can do better than just stating that its a Fire-type.

Thanks, I added the typing section to Sandile's writeup and also added a few lines to Growlithe's typing. I hope it's better now :D
 
Reserving Salandit

Salandit
Availability:
Early at Wela Volcano Park. However, only female Salandit can evolve and they are rare.
Stats: Salandit and Salazzle have great Speed and Special Attack. However, their defenses are fragile and their Attack is mediocre.
Typing: Poison/Fire hits most of the game for at least neutral damage. Defensively, Salandit has good resistances to Fighting, Fire, Grass and Bug, but has a crippling weakness to Ground and Water.
Movepool: Decent. Salandit comes with Smog and Ember; however, Venoshock can be bought as an upgrade on Smog in Konikoni City. Sludge Bomb is available on Ula'ula Island in Po Town and Sludge Wave can be bought in Seafolk Town. Salandit will have to make do with Flame Burst for most of the game as its best Fire-type level-up move comes late in the form of Flamethrower. However, Fire Blast can be bought as a replacement. Salazzle also gets Nasty Plot, Dragon Rage and Dragon Pulse via level-up to aid its coverage. Firium Z can be used to boost Flame Burst's power.
Major Battles: Salandit can be used almost immediately vs. Totem Lurantis and the ally Castform's sun will boost its moves. Salandit loses to Olivia but can beat Totem Vikavolt and Mimikyu. Nanu is a neutral matchup due to his Krokorok. Salazzle loses to Hapu and struggles to damage Totem Kommo-o without a boost. Salazzle fears Lusamine's Milotic but can beat the rest of her Pokemon. Guzma's Golisopod can be threatening if it gets off an attack, but the rest of his team are fodder for Salazzle. Against the Elite Four, Salazzle loses to Olivia and Hala's Poliwrath and matches up neutrally against the rest. Salazzle can beat Kukui's Ninetales, Decidueye, and Magnezone but loses to everything else.
Additional Notes: Although this is slightly inefficient, using a male Pokemon with Cute Charm, such as Igglybuff from Route 4, can aid in finding female Salandit. Be ready for a slight drop in power after Akala Island as neither of its STAB moves are strong, but Sludge Bomb will remedy this.
 
Name: Turtonator
Availability: Mid-late game. 10% encounter in the grass of Blush Mountain. Sun exclusive
Stats: Turtonator's best stat is defense at 135, and Special Attack in second place at 91. The rest of the stats range from average to atrocious, with its speed at 36 meaning Turtonator outspeeds very little in the game.
Typing: Fire/Dragon is great offensively, since very little resists both attacks in the game, but defensively, Turtonator faces plenty of rock and ground moves to be hit by, and while rarer, beware of dragon attacks as well. Quad resisting grass and fire is nice, however.
Movepool: From the start, Turtonator comes with Flamethrower, or is very close to getting it depending on the level you obtain it. Charge beam can be given to it for slight coverage, but it's Poni Island where Turtonator's movepool expands, including Solar Beam, Focus Blast, and Draco Meteor. Shell Trap is a great move to secure a kill on bulkier targets that will attack you.
Major Battles: While Turtonator can take a few hits from Totem Mimikyu, it struggles to break through before being put down. Keep it away from Nanu, Hapu, and Totem Kommo, as they all either prey on Turtonator's weaknesses or on its lower special defense. Guzma is doable, but beware the Masquerain in the final fight. Lusamine's Lilligant and Clefable aren't too troublesome, but the rest of her mons should be avoided. In the Elite 4, Kahili and Hala can be fought to an extent, but Turtonator needs help, and keep it away from Olivia and Acerola. Against Kukui, Ninetales and Magnezone and Decidueye are preferred targets, and arguably Braviary
Additional Comments: Turtonator is hampered by two things in particular: It's availability and its speed. Arriving after the two Totems it would love to fight really hurts it, and being so slow means Turtonator requires plenty of potions to keep healthy. combined with how plentiful rock and ground coverage is, and Turtonator will drain your healing items before you realize it.
 

Conni

katharsis
Reserving Cutiefly, Oricorio, and Grubbin (whoopee, no Rock-types this time around)

dropped Grubbin, anyone who wants it can take it. Doing Misdreavus instead.
(tagging Conni. Also its 596 por favor :[ )
I can actually do Magnemite right now as I used it in my first playthrough
Magnemite

Availability:
Early, in the grass on Route 1 and Hau'oli City
Stats: Magnemite has great Special Attack and Defense in all of its forms. Magnezone suffers a speed drop when it evolves, which slightly weakens its Electro Ball.
Typing: Electric/Steel is phenomenal defensively, granting Magnemite and its evolutions plenty of resistances and a nice immunity to Poison and paralysis. Offensively, Electric hits common Water- and Flying-types super effectively and has good coverage.
Movepool: Limited but useful. Magnemite comes with Thunder Shock and Magnet Bomb right away, enabling it to hit on both sides of its STAB. SonicBoom hits hard in the early game and comes only a few levels after capture. Mirror Shot and Flash Cannon are available via level-up to bolster Magnemite's Steel STAB, while Electro Ball and Discharge will come later. Magnemite's TM movepool is barren, but Charge Beam is an option to boost Special Attack while Volt Switch is a decent alternative to ThunderShock
Major Battles: Magnemite's resistance enables it to handle the Verdant Cavern trials, although Gumshoos' Super Fang and Bite are dangerous. It suffers against Hala's Fighting-types. Against Wishiwashi its Electric STAB is useful, although rain-boosted Water Gun can be painful. Magnemite should avoid Salazzle but it can take on Lurantis. Olivia is also a good matchup. Magneton is unable to heavily damage Totem Vikavolt, but it can handle Molayne's Steel-types. Mimikyu is also a good matchup thanks to STAB Flash Cannon. Nanu is a difficult matchup because of Krokorok, although Magneton can take on his other Pokemon. Magnezone struggles against Totem Kommo-o and Hapu due to their strong super-effective moves. Guzma and most of Team Skull are easy matchups due to Magnezone's resistances, while Lusamine is also a good matchup barring Bewear. Against the Elite Four, Magnezone beats Kaihili most of Olivia's team and is a solid choice against Acerola. However, it has a horrible matchup against Hala. Magnezone can beat Kukui's Lycanroc, Primarina, Braviary and Alolan Ninetales, but it fails to damage his Magnezone and loses to Incineroar and Snorlax.
Other Notes: Sturdy is the preferred ability as switching is not common against AI and Magnemite appreciates the pseudo-Focus Sash. Thanks to its bulk and typing, Magnemite can come in safely against a majority of opponents and do damage. It can evolve into Magnezone at Vast Poni Canyon, but Magneton is strong enough to not need evolution until then.


Misdreavus

Availability:
Early, in Hau'oli Cemetery at night only
Stats: Misdreavus' 85 Special Attack and Speed are passable in-game, and when it evolves Mismagius caps at a great 105 Special Attack and Speed. However, its Defense is poor.
Typing: Ghost provides useful immunities to Normal and Fighting, as well as Ground thanks to Levitate. Dark-type moves are everywhere, however.
Movepool: Deep. Misdreavus' level-up movepool is a bit dry, with Psywave being the major damage-dealing option until Hex at level 23. Shadow Ball will replace it, but the TM is obtained before Misdreavus learns it by level-up. Mismagius learns Mystical Fire via move relearner if Fire coverage is desired. Will-O-Wisp is a nice option to boost Hex, while Calm Mind, Thunderbolt, Psychic and Dazzling Gleam via TM helps Misdreavus sweep. Be warned that most of these moves are obtained late on in the game.
Major Battles: Misdreavus does not stand out against any boss due to its middling attacking stats. Illima is actually not a good matchup due to Alolan Raticate and Bite Gumshoos. Misdreavus walls Hala's Pokemon, but beware of Crabrawler who will attempt to Pursuit trap you. Misdreavus should avoid Akala Islands' trials and kahuna due to its low bulk and lack of power. Sophocles and Molayne are neutral matchups, but Misdreavus loses to Acerola's Mimikyu and Nanu. Mismagius can dodge Hapu's Ground attacks with Levitate and boost up. Totem Kommo-o is a good matchup as Mismagius can use Calm Mind and its Special Defense to absorb Clanging Scales while the ally Hakamo-o cannot touch it. Guzma is a fairly easy matchup. Mismagius can't beat Lusamine without a boost, however. Against the Elite Four, Mismagius loses to Acerola but can beat Hala and Kaihili barring. Mismagius can beat Kukui's Ninetales, Braviary, and Decidueye but loses to almost everything else, especially Snorlax.
Other Notes: Unless you get lucky with Poke Pelago, the only Dusk Stone in the game comes at Poni Island, which significantly hampers Misdreavus' viability. Its good defensive typing means that it is not a complete lightweight, however.


Cutiefly

Availability:
Early on Route 3 in the grass. Slightly rarer but shouldn't need too much time to find
Stats: Cutiefly and Ribombee have good Special Attack and amazing Speed. However, they have fragile defenses which makes taking even neutral hits a problem.
Typing: Bug/Fairy has nice resistances to Fighting and Grass, but suffers from weaknesses to common Fire, Flying, and Poison-type moves.
Movepool: Good. Fairy Wind and Silver Wind are good early STAB moves. Draining Kiss helps Cutiefly with its bulk. Pollen Puff or Bug Buzz have good power and are obtained early. Dazzling Gleam is learned later, but is Ribombee's strongest Fairy STAB. Quiver Dance is another noteworthy move, but it arrives very late. Ribombee has access to moves like U-turn, Energy Ball, Psychic and Calm Mind via TM.
Major Battles: Cutiefly's frailty and poor typing matchup means it will not be of much use in the early trials, although with Fairy Wind it can beat Hala. Ribombee takes negligible damage from Lurantis and KOes easily, although the ally Trumbeak can be problematic. Ribombee struggles vs. Olivia and cannot damage Vikavolt or Mimikyu effectively, but it beats Nanu easily. Once Dugtrio is dealt with, Hapu is a fairly easy matchup although Ribombee might need a boost to sweep. Totem Kommo-o is also a good matchup, although Ribombee should be careful of Flash Cannon and Scizor. Ribombee can sweep Lusamine if it gets boosts vs. Clefable or an opponent that can't damage it. Against the Elite Four, Ribombee matches up well vs. Hala and neutrally vs. Acerola but loses to Olivia and Kaihili. Its frailty means it will struggle against Kukui's Pokemon.


Oricorio

Availability:
Early in Melemele Meadow in Pom-pom form
Stats: Oricorio has good Special Attack and Speed, but everything else is mediocre
Typing: Flying is a decent defensive typing. Pom-pom and Baile Style have the most useful offensive options, while Pa'u Style's Psychic attacks can prove useful. Sensu Style is post-game exclusive.
Movepool: On the shallow side. Oricorio gets an early Air Cutter that can safely see it through the early game. Utility options like Feather Dance and Teeter Dance can help teammates or aid captures. Air Slash comes right as Air Cutter's usefulness drops in the mid-game. Revelation Dance comes a little later but provides good alternative STAB for each of its available forms. U-turn, Calm Mind and Roost are all TM options worth considering. Oricorio does not get any other STAB options besides Revelation Dance for its forms.
Major Battles: Oricorio is a good choice vs. Hala as it resists his STAB Z-Move and KOes with Air Cutter. Wishiwashi and Salazzle are difficult due to their power, but Lurantis is trivialized. Oricorio loses to Olivia and Vikavolt but can beat Acerola if it is not in Pa'u Style. Nanu is a neutral matchup, unless Oricorio is in Pa'u Style in which case it loses. Hapu is a good matchup as Oricorio is immune to Ground, but be wary of Gastrodon if in Baile Style. Kommo-o is a positive matchup although Clanging Scales is very powerful. Baile Style is useful to beat the ally Scizor Against the Elite Four, Oricorio loses to Olivia but can beat Hala, Acerola, and Kaihili in Pom-Pom Style. Against Kukui, Oricorio loses Lycanroc and Snorlax no matter what, but can beat certain Pokemon depending on which form it is in. Baile Style can handle Magnezone, Ninetales, and Decidueye while Pom-Pom Style can beat Braviary and Primarina.
Additional Notes: As Revelation Dance comes late, Oricorio's forms should mainly be selected on the basis of which defensive typing helps the most. Remember that Baile Style is immune to burn while Pom-Pom Style cannot be paralyzed, although status is not a major concern in these games. Pa'u Style is arguably the poorest defensively of the three available.


re-tagging Conni and Colonel M, these are complete. Any feedback is appreciated
sorry bout the numbers :[

I've also done Magnemite already, a long time ago in fact but two analyses are ok I guess, I'll leave it up to whoever uploads these to choose which one.
As for feedback, everything looks well written but I have a few nitpicks just for clarification's sake but very well covered.
  • For Magnemite, you can also mention you can find it again at Malie City
  • Same case with the above but mention the other meadows of Oricorio and say how each island has a meadow of each Oricorio form, that can sum a lot for newcomers since each island having a meadow home to a specific Oricorio form is pretty important
  • Mention Cutiefly's mediocre offensive typing (can't hit a lot of things super effectively)


also while we're at it, I've updated the list as usual!
 
sorry bout the numbers :[

I've also done Magnemite already, a long time ago in fact but two analyses are ok I guess, I'll leave it up to whoever uploads these to choose which one.
As for feedback, everything looks well written but I have a few nitpicks just for clarification's sake but very well covered.
  • For Magnemite, you can also mention you can find it again at Malie City
  • Same case with the above but mention the other meadows of Oricorio and say how each island has a meadow of each Oricorio form, that can sum a lot for newcomers since each island having a meadow home to a specific Oricorio form is pretty important
  • Mention Cutiefly's mediocre offensive typing (can't hit a lot of things super effectively)


also while we're at it, I've updated the list as usual!
Fixed, thanks.
 

Conni

katharsis
done Gastly

Name: Gastly
Availability: Gastly can be found early in the game at Hau'Oli Cemetery and later at Memorial Hill, it has a 50% encounter rate at both places.
Stats: Gastly has a very high Special Attack and Speed stat which it can abuse to become a fast special sweeper which is a good addition to your team early in the game, although all its other stats are not above 40 and are poor making it rather frail.
Typing: Gastly has moderate defensive typing as it can resist Poison, Fairy, Grass, and Bug, and is immune to Fighting and Normal which is good early game but it is weak to Dark, Ghost, and Psychic which are important types but aren't as common. Gastly also has adequate offensive typing as it is able to hit Grass- and other Ghost-types super effectively, the former being a common type.
Movepool: Gastly has a wide array of STAB moves and status moves that it can use to cripple and attack opponents, some of these moves include Shadow Ball, Will-O-Wisp, and Hex; it also has good coverage moves that it can utilize with and without TMs such as Dark Pulse and Energy Ball. Overall Gastly has a very wide movepool consisting of all types of useful STAB, status, and coverage moves.
Major Battles: Gastly is effective at the Normal- (Sun only) and Fighting-type trial as it is immune to most of the opposing foe's moves, although most of them carry Pursuit and Bite which can hit Gastly super effectively, so it needs to be careful of that. Gastly is of neutral help throughout the other grand trials and should absolutely not be used against Nanu. It can be used on the Ghost-type trial if it is faster than the opposing Gastly, Haunter, and Gengar as it can all take them out if faster, but should not be used against Mimikyu as it can destroy Gastly with Disguise and Shadow Claw. Gastly can be effective against Acerola's Elite Four match if it is faster than all of her Ghost-types but generally be careful because even as Gengar it is still quite frail but it packs a good punch. It can still be used against Hala in the Elite Four but it needs to be careful of coverage moves and strong neutral moves. Against Kukui, if you picked Primarina and you are faster than his Decidueye, you can take it out with STAB moves but beware of Sucker Punch. Overall Gastly and its evolutions doesn't really help against most of the trials.
Additional Comments: Gengar may not be able to help in terms of super effectiveness on most in-game situations but it is an excellent special attacking sweeper that is always useful to have by your side in case of situations where Gengar can excell.


ed: I'm aware Gengar is already done but this is more focused on its ability as an evolution line (start --> finish).
 
I've just finished my third and last run on SuMo (Wanted to play 3 times for each starter), and I've never given my opinion !

First run :
Rowlet : B-rank ! Really good for half of the game (until the end end of Akala), after he becomes worst and worst due to ghost type associated with Grass type ! He was bulky enough to tank one hit or two but didn't do enough damage
Pichu : B-rank ! Raichu is fast and powerful like all Psychic and Electric type, but oh god he's weak in Pichu and Pikachu stage .... He feinted too much time to random Crit / Z moves !
Diglett : B-rank again : Nice typing and move pool, but paper thin defenses ... Die every time ... Everybody has a Water, Fighting, Ground, Fire moves it seems ! And even random resisted moves hurt a lot (Raichu Psychic from rival for example)
Oricorio : A-rank : Sure the lack of Electric (or Fire, the best forms) for the 3 first islands hurts, but he's so damn powerful with interesting Flying stab + high stats ! Definitively very useful
Crawbrawler : D-rank : Why do you evolve so late ? Great in the first island, useful for the second island, dead weight after ...
Wimpod : B-rank : I'm biased because I love the model : comes quite late in 2nd island, needs a babying and after that ..... A monster with First Impression + Ability : he wishes a better water attack before Liquidation !

Second run :
Litten : S-rank for me ! The true MVP of my team ... Learns everything fast : I end up with Flame Charge, Flamethrower, Flare Blitz + Darkest Lariat : 3 useful fire attacks + another Stab (+Z moves). He never disappointed me.
Bewear (a trade for me so boosted experience) : A-rank ! Strong, powerful, can tank, he was useful for every part of the game !
Dewpider : A-rank : Uber ability ... Nice stats and move pool, useful as soon as you can catch it .... Becomes less useful at the end of the game
Morelull : C-rank : A bit weak but so much tank ! Spore + Strength Sap enables me to catch every U-B very easily. Lack of early and good fairy STAB reduces his effectiveness
Sandygast : C-rank : Comes a bit late (needs backtracking), too slow, Special Stab moves comes too late, and a Ghost typing is not worth it in this generation.
Golem : B-rank : Interesting in game trade : doesn't need baby sitting : he will stomp everything after you have it with strong Rock Electric and Ground attacks. Have a bad time against Ground and Dragon trial

Third run :
Popplio : S-rank. No weakness : strong, bulky, quite fast for Alola standard. MVP of my team. Nice move pool !
Grubbin : A-rank : Second MVP of the team for the first 2 islands, lack some power at the end of 3rd islands, shines after evolution. Late Bug Buzz is a bit disappointing.
Bounsweet (in game trade) : A-rank. She wishes to have a second stab because until Tsareena, she lacks power but Exp Boosted helped a lot. Grass/Fighting moves have a nice game even if there are plenty of Poison, Flying and Bug types. Without in game trade is C-rank ! Adamant + Nice IV is very welcomed and necessary !
Rockruff : B-rank : I love this guy, but it was my biggest disappointment : Having nice speed and attack seems exciting, but lack of second stab and bases moves not perfect (accuracy or power) with a bad bulk : he wasn't useful enough except some rare Z-rock move. Bug, Ice and Fire Pokemon are quite rare TBH (except Guzma ... ?)
Mudbray : S-rank : Stamina is worth it. Good stats, good attacks, usefull everytime ... It's your answer against every physical threat and your anti fairy Pokemon with Heavy Slam
Marowak : B-rank. I don't know how to rank it really .... I caught one with +Att/-SpDef ... Nice physical buff, good power, but always dies to Sp Att. It took 10 min to find his Bone with a Compound Eyes + Thief ... Shadow Bone came too late, Flare Blitz also ... So his only stab was Flame Charge and decent coverage (Brick Break & Ground attacks) and once again : GHOST TYPE SUCKS ! He wishes he was Ground/Fire .... At the end for all the Elite 4 + post game, he's now the MVP : just one or two flame charges and he OHKO everything !
 
Going to reserve Goomy!

EDIT: Torkoal, Grimer-A,
and Snorlax as well!

EDIT THE 2ND: And done!

Name: Alolan Muk
Location: Hau'oli City. It can be found in the city proper or the patches of grass on the west side of the Trainer's School.
Stats: Grimer starts off with an excellent base 80 HP and Attack, making it fairly powerful and bulk for the beginning of the game. When it evolves, its Special Defense also get a boost. Both Grimer and Muk are on the slow side.
Typing: Alolan Muk is Poison/Dark, giving it a single weakness to Ground-type attacks, an immunity to Psychic-type attacks, and resistance to Ghost-, Grass-, Poison-, and Dark-type attacks, making it an excellent choice against several of the Kahunas and Totem Pokemon.
Movepool: Small, but it gets what it needs. Grimer starts off with Bite when you catch it, and coming off a base 80 Attack makes it hurt a lot. It doesn't get much after that until it learns Crunch and Poison Jab around Po Town. Muk also gains access to Stone Edge and Brick Break via TM when it levels up to round out its coverage. Its special movepool is much wider than its physical, but Muk's disappointed base 65 Special Attack makes them next to useless.
Major Battles: If you caught a Grimer with Poison Touch, it can help out in most of the Totem Battles by poisoning the enemy, with the exception of Hapu. It particularly stands out against Totem Lurantis (watch out for X-Scissor), Totem Mimikyu, and Acerola.
Additonal Comments: Poison Touch and Eviolite are key to Grimer's early success, as it drops off hard from level 20 until it evolves at 38. Grimer also has a 50/50 chance of holding Black Sludge, which further adds to its tankiness.

----

Name: Snorlax
Location: Route 1 as Muchlax after beating Hala and getting Tauros at a 5% encounter rate. A fully evolved Snorlax can also appear via SOS battles with Munchlax.
Stats: High HP, Attack, and Special Defense make Snorlax difficult to take down with Special Attacks. Its Defense and Special Attack are lacking, and its Speed is practically nonexistent.
Typing: Snorlax is purely Normal type, giving it a weakness to Fighting-types and an immunity to Ghost-types. If you catch one with Thick Fat, it also gains resistances to Fire- and Ice-type attacks.
Movepool: After learning Body Slam at level 25, Snorlax's level up movepool is utterly barren until it learns Crunch, Heavy Slam, and High Horsepower at level 49+ ( both High Horsepower and Heavy Slam can be learned via Move Relearner once you reach the Elite Four). Its wide TM movepool helps pick up the slack, with moves like Brick Break, Bulldoze, and Rock Tomb/Rock Slide. Its special movepool, while wide, is useless with Snorlax's base 65 Special Attack stat.
Major Battles: Munchlax/Snorlax stands out against Totem Wishiwashi, Salazzle, and Vikavolt due to its high HP and Special Defense. It performs much worse against the Elite Four, due to its typing and low Defense, save for Acerola and Kukui's Ninetales and Magnezone.
Additional Comments: Munchlax will always be holding Leftovers, which adds to its innate tankiness. It also requries max Happiness to evolve into Snorlax.

----

Name: Goomy
Location: Lush Jungle after beating Lurantis, as an SOS battle (10% for any Pokemon), but only when its raining or Rain Dance is in effect.
Stats: Goomy is utterly useless until it evolves into Sligoo, and even then it requries Eviolite to take any hits. As Goodra, all of its stats save for Defense are excellent, and its base 80 Speed is high for Alola. Its Special Defense is especially huge.
Typing: Pure Dragon gives Goodra resistances to Fire-, Water-, Grass-, and Electric-type attacks and weaknesses to Ice-, Fairy-, and Dragon-types.
Movepool: Save for Muddy Water and Dragon Pulse in the mid game, Goomy and Sligoo learn abosolutely nothing of note. After it evolves into Goodra, it learns both Aqua Tail and Power Whip, and gains access to several excellent TMs, which include Sludge Bomb/Sludge Wave, Flamethrower/Fire Blast, Ice Beam, and Rock Slide.
Major Battles: If Sligoo has Eviolite, it can take on Lusamine's Milotic and Liligant comfortably. Otherwise, it needs to stay out of most major battles until it evolves at level 50, meaning that Goodra only really participates against the Elite Four in any meaningful way. Other than Hala and Olivia, it handles them all beautifully.
Additional Comments: To evolve Sligoo into Goodra, you'll need to go to Po Town and use a rare candy, since it's always raining there. While Goodra is powerful, its rarity and uselessness until it evolves make it a poor choice for efficient runs.

----

Name: Torkoal
Location: Route 12, at about 20% encounter rate
Stats: Torkoal has 85/85 offenses backed up by decent 70/140 physical defense, making it a fairly hard hitting tank. Its Special Defense is so-so and its Speed is awful.
Typing: Pure Fire gives Torkoal resistances to Bug-, Fire-, Grass-, and Fairy-type attacks while making it weak to Water-, Ground-, and Rock-type attacks.
Movepool: Torkoal learns several great Fire type attacks like Flamethrower and Heat Wave naturally, as well as Shell Smash for sweeping, though it's still not very fast even after a boost. It can also learn Solar Beam, Stone Edge, Sludge Bomb, and Hidden Power to round out its coverage. Something to note is that Torkoal is the only Pokemon in the base game (QR codes notwithstanding) that learns Inferno, which turns Inferno Overdrive into a base 200 Special move. Boosted by Drought, there's not a whole lot that can take a hit from it.
Major Battles: Torkoal is surprisingly effective against the latter half of the game, provided that you keep it away from its weaknesses and special attacks. It does particularly well against Guzma, Totem Mimikyu, Kahili, Hala (watch out for Crabominable's Z-move), and Kukui's Ninetales, Braviary, and Incineroar/Decidueye.
Additional Comments: Drought is the preferred ability for Torkoal to boost its Fire-type attacks, soften the blows of Water-type attacks, and utilize Solar Beam without charging first. Torkoal is reasonably powerful and tanky, but its common weaknesses and abysmal Speed hold it back.
 
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I'm gonna make a case for a pokemon I feel deserves slightly higher than F. No higher than D however. Probably makes it to E.


Name: Ledyba -> Ledian
Availability: Cannot be better. Available in the first area of Route 1; 20% encounter rate during Day. Notably; the part before the 2nd Hau fight is set to Afternoon regardless of version; so Ledyba is easily available even in Moon.
Stats: Very low; topping out at 390 once evolved. All stats are raher bad; except for Speed [85 is acceptable in the generally slow Alola] and Sp.Def [An impressive 115]
Typing: Ledyba and Ledian are both Bug/Flying type pokemon. This means don't put them anywhere near rock-types; especially with their awful physical defense and HP.
Movepool: Ledyba's movepool is it's greatest selling point. At Lv12; it gains access to Duel Screens and Safeguard. The former two are surprisingly useful utility against most boss fights in Sun and Moon; which are often purely physical or special. In addittion; it has access to two of the most powerful; earlygame TM's in Brick Break and Acrobatics.
Major Battles:
Totem Raticate:
Ledyba actually is capable of outspeeding and 2HKO'ing Totem Raticate, even with it's awful attack stat, with the x4 effective Brick Break.
Totem Gumshoos: Ledyba's Brick Break won't cut it here, but Ledyba can be sent out as a suicide lead to set up Reflect to make he fight easier for the pokemon you are using to deal damage; while getting some acceptable damage in itself.
Hala: Despite Quad resistance; Ledyba quickly gets taken down by Hala's coverage moves. However; it is absolutely capable of raising Reflect.
Dexio/Senia: Ledyba can beat Dexio's Glaceon with use of Light Screen and All-Out Pummelling. Espeon cannot be defeated the same way; but Ledyba can still raise a Light Screen.
Totem Wishiwashi: Wishiwashi is a purely special attacking fight; so Ledyba/Ledian can put up a Light Screen to weaken Wishiwashi's assault. Ledyba/Ledian will struggle to deal notable damage; but can be switched out or just get what damage it can off after setting up Screen.
Totem Salazzle: Due to Ledian's high Sp.Def; it may be able to raise a Light Screen before fainting here.
Totem Laurantis: Ledian is capable of winning this battle handily. It quad-resists Laurantis' entire moveset; however; Laurantis' adds are capable of hitting Ledian SE. Reflect makes Laurantis a non-issue and helps against Trumbeak, while Castform is more tricky due to needing Light Screen to mitigate. Due to this; Ledian should Acrobatics Turn 1 and then raise the appropriate screen to mitigate the add's damage; before wailing on Laurantis with STAB Acrobatics.
Olivia: Suicide lead and set up a Reflect
Hau: Set up a Light Screen to help against Alolan Raichu.
Totem Vikavolt: Light Screen
Totem Mimikyu: Reflect
Guzma: Guzma is a Bug-type trainer; and such; STAB Acrobatics is actually useful.
Lusamine: Lusamine is one of the few Alolan bosses who come at you from both sides of the spectrum. It's also one of the few fights likly to outlast your screens anyway. A Light Screen helps against her team most.
Totem Kommo-o: The Totem itself is mixed; but the adds are purely physical; so Reflect first. Ledian should survive long enough to raise both. Kommo-o is also weak to Acrobatics; but at this point you won't be doing much.
Beyond this point: You're basically 'raise appropriate screen and die'.
Additional Comments: As you can probobly tell from above; the #1 reason to use Ledian is as a Screener to help mitigate the damage output in Totem fights. However; Ledian also has some worthwhile use; notably in the earlygame; where it's bad statline hasn't caught up with it's access to both Brick Break [And All-Out Pummelling] and Acrobatics. Still; this utility probobly makes Ledian deserve to raise to at least E-Tier; as between it's decent speed and Sp.Def; it can survive in most fights long enough to at least raise the appropriate screen.

Ledian isn't going to win the fights by itself; but it makes things noticeably easier for the pokemon you ARE using to win.
 
I hope Kommo-o was found a little earlier, I really like him... but found it at the last part of the game is... disapointing.
 
Not sure if it's reserved but I wanted to participate. Hopefully everybody who writes these has actually used the Pokemon in question instead of looking at the serebii page and making a judgment of their in game performance from there. I've used Alolan Dugtrio myself so this is based on that:

Name:
Alolan Diglett
Availability: Early game, and very widespread arcoss the islands, from the cave to Ten Karat Hill to Vast Poni Canyon (as a wild Dugtrio)
Stats: Middling, going for an offensive approach. It is a speed based Pokemon, which is particularly helpful on teams that use primarily Gen 7 Pokemon. Alolan Dugtrio's Speed is also accompanied by a decent base 100 Attack. However, it has pathetic defenses, which become harder and harder to deal with as the game progresses, due to Sun and Moon's late-game NPC levels spiking up fast. Its base 100 Attack ends up becoming quite weaker against higher level NPCs, and if it can't get an OHKO, sometimes it ends up getting KO'd in one swift move. Sucker Punch can somewhat help this, but only so much.
Typing: Ground/Steel, has good offensive coverage against the numerous Fairy types in the game. Ground beats Rock (so does Steel), Electric, Poison, opposing Steel, and Fire types. Pretty good coverage overall. Defensive value is good too, but Alolan Dugtrio has such low defenses that it doesn't always quite come into play.
Movepool: Alolan Dugtrio gets respective STAB moves, with Magnitude and Metal Claw as a Diglett. Earthquake and Iron Head are what you use in the later stages. Iron head is good, but isn't overwhelmingly powerful, so don't overestimate it. Sucker Punch helps to pick off anything that might have any tricks up their sleeve against Dugtrio before falling. He can use Rock type coverage too, which is a given but always useful. Bulldoze is a good coverage move upon leveling up, and you can try your luck with fissure too. Aerial Ace could be used to hit Fighting and Grass types, but it's pretty weak and you really shouldnt have dugtrio out on a fighting type. Overall, it has the moves it needs.
Major Battles: Diglett/Dugtrio has a type advantage against Olivia, Salazzle, technically Vikavolt, Mimikyu, Mina's team, and can use coverage moves like Rock Slide for Kahili as an example. As you start to get toward Lusamine and head on from there it gets harder and harder to use Dugtrio due to the level increase. Dugtrio has to deal as much damage as quickly as it can because it doesn't take much for it to faint. Coverage moves or even strong STAB moves can deal with it. Pokemon like Salazzle where it appears to have an advantage can make its life difficult by outspeeding it and ohkoing with a fire type move. Olivia has Ground type coverage, Mimikyu has Disguise and gets a free turn to peck away at Dugtrio's low defenses, and late game bosses have an easier time taking it out. It's also dead weight against such battles as Hala or Kommo-o. That said, play him intelligently enough and he can get through opponents he has a type advantage against, or opponents that don't have the means of defeating it. He's more useful for going through regular trainers' teams, and even then, you got to keep in mind how frail Dugtrio is. I repeat myself a lot here but it's something that you seriously have to be careful about when using Dugtrio and Diglett.
Additional Comments: Alolan Dugtrio is fun to use simply for controlling three heads with surfer hair. Watch out for Dugtrio's susceptibility to taking hits, and be careful not to overestimate it. Its access to priority/good Speed is its strength, along with a good offensive typing and the right moves to attack with. It evolves decently early as well. A good team choice, but one with some flaws.
 

Conni

katharsis
Write-ups right now in this thread is pretty dead but I have some things to say about it if there are still people willing to do these.

First of all I think that one evolutionary line should deserve one write-up unless there are any significant exceptions because in the write ups written so far this is done with all members of the evolutionary line talking about. (eg. write-ups talking about where to catch alolan diglett, and its uses in the different aspects: typing, movepool, battles, and then dugtrio and its uses in the different aspects after it evolves and its aspects should be in relevance to when in the story it should / normally evolves). This is because you can't have a pre-evolutionary Pokemon forever unless you personally want it not to evolve and that having a write up for an evolutionary line should just make it a bit bigger by a little bit because Pokemon that are from the same evolutionary line shouldn't be that different because most in the same evolutionary line have mostly the same purposes in-game.

Of course the different members of the evolutionary lines should be in relevance to where in the point they usually evolve or the fastest time possible they can evolve (excluding hardcore training starters in route 1 so they evolve right of the bat of the game). For example to show what I mean, if I were to write up a write-up of Pikipek I'd of course write about Pikipek itself first, (availability, typing, movepool, and major battles), then its evolution Trumbeak, and then I write about the same four things, but this time it should be only in the context of the period of time you'd use trumbeak in game, which would be around the second / third island of the game and this goes for all Pokemon starting from where they are caught and evolve if they can and so on, then toucannon and the four things I need to write about it but since it's the final evolution the part about it would be significantly longer since now you have toucannon for the rest of the game.

This all could be merged into one write up, although it may seem like a lot, some examples in the above write-ups include the alolan diglett one above this post, where it talks about general battles where alolan diglett/dugtrio could be useful in and why although it would be more specified upon the battles where you'd have the battles alolan diglett will be able to take part in and the battles alolan dugtrio will take part in after it has evolved from diglett.

Of course I am not to decide anything because I don't moderate this thread or this forum but it is just a suggestion to make things more clear, as I have also experienced a problem this has created (accidentally writing a Gastly analyses when one on Gengar exists), so calling the write-up the first evolutionary Pokemon or something like this (Gastly -> Haunter -> Gengar) could make the write-up more understandable as you'd first start with Gastly and so on.

This may all be redundant fluff so I apologize if that is the case which is why if you have anything to ask about what I suggested please feel free to ask me and I will be very happy to answer your queries. I hope this suggestion helps and that people are still interested in in-game write ups, I'll start working on some more as well when I get the time. I've also updated the reservation index so reserve away.

Also Elec. your Bonsley and Archen write-ups seem done but are marked as WIP, also your phantump isn't completed as you've reserved this for quite a long time now, are you going to continue working on these or should I remove these Pokemon from the reserved list?

For people looking for feedback on their write-ups I'm always here to help so please don't hesitate to tag me once you're done, although other people can be willing to help as well to all improve each other's work.

Thank you for reading all of this and I hope we all revive and improve in-game write-ups not only in this thread, but in other in-game tiering threads as well that need it.
 

Conni

katharsis
o shit i completely forgot about all of this, i decided to finish them now, as ive edited my original post
No problem, thanks for completing it. Here's some suggestions for your write-ups so implement them if you'd like. Good job!
The reservation index is now updated.

Name: Bonsly
Availability: Available right after beating Island Kahuna Hala on the first island and getting Tauros to break the rocks on Route 1. Can also be found on Route 5 from the Route 8 entrance. also mention that the Route 8 entrance connects to the Lush Jungle, where Bonsly is also found.
Stats:
Sudowoodo has a high Defense stat of 115 as well as a good Attack stat of 100, allowing it to tank physical hits and dish some damage back. However it has low Special Defense and terrible Speed, meaning it will take a hit before moving, and big damage if its a special attack.
Typing: Rock is not a very good defensive typing, as it leaves Sudowoodo with five weaknesses to Grass, Water, Fighting, Ground, and Steel. It does however, let Sudowoodo beat Flying- and Fire-types, and grants resistances to Normal and Poison making it useful against regular trainers especially the skull / aether grunts, which is notable (they use an adequate amount of these types that sudowoodo resists).
Movepool: Bonsly starts off with Low Kick and Rock Throw if it is caught at Level 12. It must have Mimic while leveling up to evolve into Sudowoodo, which it learns at Level 15. After that, Sudowoodo gets access to some nice moves, it can learn Rock Tomb as a TM, learn Rock Slide by leveling up. Leveling up, Sucker Punch allows Sudowoodo to bypass its low Speed stat Sucker Punch allows Sudowoodo to have access to priority (better wording imo), though it has low PP, while Hammer Arm can be used to nail Steel-types note that the Speed drop doesn't really matter either . Counter is an interesting option to deal heavy damage to physical threats Bonsly would otherwise have trouble with. Lastly, Wood Hammer can be learnt via Move Relearner, to hit any Rock- and Water-types in the Elite Four.
Major Battles: Bonsly does pretty well against Totem Salazzle cause of its typing, Low Kick and its typing helps against Olivia's Rock-types, can hit Totem Vikavolt super effectively, and can slow down Totem Mimikyu with Rock Tomb for its teammates. It however struggles against Totem Wishiwashi, Totem Lurantis, Totem Kommo-o, and Hapu cause of its typing. Sudowoodo can take on Guzma bar Golisopod but is pretty deadweight against Lusamine. Against the Elite Four, it does pretty well against Kahili bar Skarmory, can put work against Acerola's Drifblim and Froslass, especially with Sucker Punch, can fight Olivia with Hammer Arm and/or Wood Hammer but is threatened by the many ground-type coverage her mons have, but should avoid facing Hala. Sudowoodo performs well against Kukui, as it boasts a great matchup against his Alolan Ninetales and Braviary, and can take care of Lycanroc, though his other Pokemon carry super effective moves.
Additional Comments: Sturdy is generally the better ability, as it ensures that Bonsly will live a hit if it full health and retaliate back, especially if Bonsly decides to run Counter to take out an unsuspecting threat. Rock Head is useful for moves such as Head Smash and Wood Hammer to prevent recoil but those moves come very late in the game.


Name: Archen
Availability: Available in Moon version only, once you reach Konikoni City. Go talk to the woman in Olivia's shop and buy the Plume Fossil, then go to Route 8 to talk to a man to revive the fossil note that this is around late early-game or early mid-game (it's not mid game yet because that's Ula Ula)
Stats:
Archen has an amazingly high Attack stat of 112 and a respectable Speed stat of 70 for a pre-evolved Pokemon. When it evolves into Archeops, It will boast one of the best Attack stats in the game in 140 along with a very solid Speed stat at 110. However, Archen is frail making it easy to activate their ability, Defeatist, lowering its offensive power.
Typing: Rock/Flying is a nice offensive typing, with the combination only being resisted by Steel. However while Archen is immune to Ground, it packs five weaknesses to Electric, Water, Rock, Steel, and Ice, which can give it trouble. especially since these types are more common late-game, notably the last two
Movepool:
Archen has a wide movepool, with Pluck upon revival. It later learns Acrobatics, which when lacking an item, has 110 Base Power Say Acrobatics is very good for in-game runs because most people ignore items during most canon gameplay. It is also able to learn Rock Tomb via TM as soon as it is revived, and Rock Slide by both level up and TM, giving it a secondary STAB option. It is also able to learn coverage moves such as Dragon Claw and Crunch to deal with Dragon or Ghost-types.
Major Battles: Archen will not be useful against Olivia as it faces a type disadvantage. It is weak to Totem Vikavolt's Spark but can do nice damage against it with super effective Rock Tomb. It can slow down Totem Mimikyu and Nanu with Rock Tomb for its teammates to handle, can deal super effective damage against Totem Kommo-o with Acrobatics, but despite the immunity to Ground, it will struggle against Hapu due to the coverage move her Pokemon carry. Archeops does well versus Guzma but should not take on Golisopod, and it can take on Lusamine's Lilligant and Bewear Lilligant's Stun Spore and Petal Dance and Bewear's Hammer Arm could pose a potential problem if Archeops doesn't KO. Against the Elite Four, Archeops will do pretty good against Hala and Kahili, but should be careful of Hala's Poliwrath and Crabominable and shouldn't take on Kahili's Skarmory. It can also take on Acerola if it knows Crunch, and should ultimately avoid Olivia. It doesn't do too well against Kukui but it can take on his Braviary and potentially his Alolan Ninetales.
Additional Comments: Always keep Archen healthy and above half health, since Defeatist will activate otherwise and lower Archen's offensive output Sitrus berries could be used in this case as after they are consumed Archeops's ability will not be in effect and Acrobatics will be powered up, although you might not want to use the berry in the first place if the KO is direly needed. This means that Archen should always try to outspeed and KO a Pokemon on the first turn to not risk Defeatist to activate. Archen will likely be underleveled when you obtain it, so you need to feed it KOs to get it on par with the rest of your team. (or if u want to be scrubby u cud use the exp share) EXP is a great, almost mandatory way of getting Archen up with your team so definitely say you should use it, it really helps jokes aside.


Name: Phantump (Trade)
Availability: Available in the during mid-game right outside of Konikoni City, in the grass on Memorial Hill.
Stats: Upon evolving into Trevenant, it will have nice-rounded bulk and a good 110 Attack stat. It is however pretty slow, leaving it outsped by many common Pokemon.
Typing: Unfortunately, Phantump's typing leaves it weak to many common types such as Fire, Ghost, Dark, Flying, and Ice Dark and Ice are quite common late-game which is worth adding, also add Poison-types as its really common especially with grunts. It does allow Phantump to deal with Psychic, Water, and Ground-types.
Movepool: Off the bat, Phantump will have access to a strong Ghost-type STAB move in Shadow Claw, whether by trade evolution or by the TM shop in Konikoni City. Phantump also learns a couple of useful utility moves by level-up such as Leech Seed and Will-O-Wisp. However, Phantump doesn't get access to a physical Grass-type move until Level 49 in Wood Hammer, which at that time it is likely you will already be at the Pokemon League where the Move Relearner resides, so you will have to stick use the Grass Knot TM found at the Lush Jungle for a Grass-type move until then. Phantump has access to good coverage moves via TM such as Rock Slide and Bulldoze, which can make up for its lack of physical Grass-type move.
Major Battles: Despite being a Grass-type, Phantump has no Grass-type moves to take on Olivia so it can't do much. It can't do much to Totem Vikavolt either unless it's leveled up high enough to learn Will-O-Wisp to try cripple its physical attacks. Totem Mimikyu easily disposes of Trevenant without team support and Nanu's Dark-types eat it alive. Trevenant however does very well against Hapu, especially against her Gastrodon and Mudsdale but can only do as much as to burn Totem Kommo-o. Trevenant performs well against Lusamine, especially Milotic and even Clefable, though it struggles against Guzma. Against the Elite Four, Trevenant can only safely go against Olivia, though it can also take on Acerola as it can normally outspeed Acerola's Palossand and Dhelmise, though this is a very volatile matchup. Trevenant can take care of Hala's Poliwrath but the rest of his team has coverage against it, and Trevenant has no chance against Kahili's Flying-types. Trevenant does not perform well against Kukui, as nearly all of his Pokemon have super effective coverage, and can only take on Primarina safely if Litten was your starter.
Additional Comments: Natural Cure is a far superior ability compared to Frisk, as ingame trainers generally don't hold items while the ability to remove status conditions after switching is very useful. Phantump should also be evolved as soon as possible, as Trevenant still learns the same moves Phantump does at the same level.
 
Woah, what a day for this thread to come back to life; I just finished my Moon run.

I was using Incineroar, Muk, Wishiwashi, Aegislash, Minior and Exeggutor. I won't comment on Incineroar, Muk or Minior since I feel their placements are fairly accurate - though I will say I had so much fun with Minior, once you get Shell Smash it's ridiculously fun seeing it blow through bosses like Lusamine who are usually fairly hard - and since this doesn't seem to include placements for Island Scan Pokémon I won't comment on Aegislash until there is a placement for it. But the other two...

I'm gonna say Wishiwashi deserves S. Very controversial and given I'm one experience against a ton of others I'll accept it staying in A, but the main argument against it being in S is that it's slow and needs constant healing... which I honestly didn't find to be a real detriment at all. Even discounting all the forced healing spots littered throughout the game, Wishiwashi's defences are honestly so tight that I didn't find I had to heal it any more than anything else outside of a handful of extremely hard-hitting opponents. It steamrolled through everything and had no trouble surviving during that time; I really didn't find myself burning through healing items or taking a lot of trips back to the Pokémon Center. If this is the only argument against it being in S, I have to say I really disagree with it and hence it should be S.

Exeggutor for E. It's not exactly a Luvdisc so I'm not gonna say it's F rank, but that's honest to god the only reason why. This is absolute trash and one of the worst experiences I've ever had with an in-game Pokémon. Coming late and hence without access to a lot of EVs is only the cherry on top as despite what its stats may tell you, it takes hits like a wet paper bag -- almost without fail, my experience was that I would send this Pokémon out, I would get outsped with an attack that would 2HKO me, and in return I could not OHKO back. This isn't even against a handful of opponents or like it wasn't getting a lot of exp either; I'd heard this had gone largely untested so I used it at every opportunity I got and against everything that it could possibly have a good matchup against and it consistently let me down. This was the Pokémon that made me burn through my healing items. I said I used it against everything it had a good matchup against but that's really not many; even Hapu provided trouble thanks to her Flygon's Dragonbreath - yes, Dragonbreath - and her Dugtrio. It provided absolutely no advantage to my team and only managed to be useful against a few Pokémon it had an advantage against like Kukui's Lycanroc and was pitifully slow and frail for the entire time I had it.
Once again though, it's not Luvdisc, so I can't condemn it to F. I will also say that it does make decent use of Draco Meteor and it isn't hard to get; just make sure you're farming those friendship-raising berries throughout the game if you plan to use this. But it's horrifically slow, it can't take hits, it's not especially powerful even with high-powered STABs, it comes very late in the game and it has next to no good matchups. even D is far too high for this Pokémon, so E is the best place for it.
 
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Karxrida

Death to the Undying Savage
is a Community Contributor Alumnus
I'm against raising Wishiwashi. I ran it when I first played Moon and was thoroughly unimpressed with it, to the point that I stopped using it at all around the game's halfway point. The Speed is a major detriment when combined with its extremely low HP, which comprises the otherwise strong defensive stats. Wishiwashi is definitely good early on because its stats are crazy when you're in the 20s, but it gets less and less effective as you progress through the game and things start hitting harder.
 

Conni

katharsis
I've used Wishiwashi through my Moon run and I too agree with it being at S.

I've caught mine at the Water-type trial, and I've used it until the end of the game, I never discarded my Wishiwashi at all. Surprisingly enough my Wishiwashi seemed to be adequately bulky as I didn't need to heal it up too much as with less bulkier Pokemon but its defenses and HP seemed to be alright while also attacking pretty great as well. Of course I totally agree that Wishiwashi is best as soon as it can activate its ability as its a monster during that time like most Pokemon that can't evolve as most tend to be overpowered for a certain time although I've had no problems with Wishiwashi throughout my run as I was able to kick-ass with it during the Elite Four especially with Olivia, Wishiwashi tanked those Rock-type moves really well and I was impressed as well as I thought that it would be not as good as it was more earlier in the game, which it indeed was, but it wasn't as bad as I thought.

The only drawbacks are just that Wishiwashi can't tank a super effective move, which really you don't really do in the first place, and that it wasn't as fast, which was ok because most times I use Wishiwashi it can KO with its powerful movepool such as Hydro Pump. It's not that its bulk is bad because it isn't but its not perfect, you just need to use Wishiwashi to take out mons the rest of your team can't and then it's good to then just keep it at bay.

I'm open to any arguments otherwise in favor of Wishiwashi staying A or going up to S if I missed anything. My overall saying on Wishiwashi is that it's pretty stellar, but just use it to take care of Pokemon the rest of your mons can't, otherwise let your teammates do the tanking.
 
I've been using a Ribombee in Sun so I'll do this one.
Cutiefly
Availability:
Routes 2 and 3, Melemele Meadow for Cutiefly. Ribombee can also be found at Ula'ula Meadow and Poni Meadow.
Stats: Cutiefly has good special stats with 55 SpA and 84 Speed, but the real benefit comes after it evolves. Ribombee has 95 Special Attack and an amazing 124 speed, meaning that it can outrun almost anything and hit hard.
Typing: Bug/Fairy is a unique type combination, but unfortunately it doesn't cancel out each others' weaknesses that well. Ribombee has five common weaknesses, but luckily also five resistances (including one double resistance) and one immunity.
Movepool: The Ribombee line has an amazing movepool gifted to it after evolution. You will most likely have two 90-power moves from leveling up by the time you reach Ula'ula Island in Pollen Puff and Bug Buzz. Ribombee can also learn great TMs like Dazzling Gleam (which it also gets through leveling up), Psychic, Energy Ball, and Solar Beam. Unfortunately, its movepool prior to evolution isn't very good, with Draining Kiss being your best shot at damage.
Major Battles: Due to its weak movepool, Cutiefly isn't terribly useful on the first two islands. However, if you've managed to evolve it to Ribombee by the time you reach Mallow, it can hold its own against Totem Lurantis with Pollen Puff. It proceeds to be mediocre against the next two trials, but can carve up the Dragon trial on Poni Island. Ribombee can be very useful against Hala in the Elite Four, but isn't very useful against anyone else in the
Additional Comments: Try to get one with Shield Dust, a pretty useful ability that blocks the added effects of attacks, rather than Honey Gather, which doesn't do anything.
 
Know what? Screw it. Might as well so no-one else has to use this thing.

Exeggcute - E Rank
Availability:
10% encounter on Poni Wilds as soon as you step out of Seafolk Village. Can also rarely be found evolved on Exeggutor Island, though there is not much of a point in getting it later -- either way, this leaves Alolan Exeggutor a very late-game option.
Stats: 95/85/75 defences, 105 attack and 125 special attack seem extremely appealing on the surface; but without EVs to back them up Alolan Exeggutor's stats simply fall short of tanking any hits or delivering any KOs on a neutral target. 45 speed also means that it is outsped by all but the very slowest of Alola's end-game and means it will almost always be taking a hit.
Typing: Grass/Dragon seems fairly interesting on the surface, but as it turns out it is horrid for late-game Alola. There are many Fairy, Flying, Poison and even the occasional Dragon-type who will take advantage of this, and you have very few super-effective targets or useful resistances. Grass-typing does thankfully land you with a number of opponents you can target down offensively, however.
Movepool: Beyond its STAB, Alolan Exeggutor has a wealth of coverage options in Sludge Bomb, Earthquake, Flamethrower, Brick Break and Psyshock/Psychic to choose from. With no STAB boost however, all of these fall extremely short on power. Dragon Hammer and Energy Ball are reliable STABs, while Leaf Storm and Draco Meteor provide the best nuking potential you have. Hypnosis is also an option if you're desperate for status inducers, but Alolan Exeggutor is generally better off as an all-out attacker.
Major Battles: Thanks to the aforementioned issues, Alolan Exeggutor does not have a chance to shine in the few remaining major battles of the game. Kommo-O and Kahili have a huge advantage over you while Kukui, Acerola, Hala and Hapu are mostly able to outspeed and overwhelm you with high-powered attacks; even when you seem to have a type advantage against the latter. Beyond a handful of individual Pokémon such as Kukui's Lycanroc and Hala's Poliwrath, Alolan Exeggutor's only significant contribution to a major battle would be against Olivia, but even then her Lycanroc and Carbink can cause issues.
Additional Comments: Getting Draco Meteor does require max friendship to learn which seems daunting, but if you plan on using Alolan Exeggutor; it is not quite a difficult task. Simply make sure you farm Friendship-raising berries before getting to Poni Island, catch Exeggcute in a Luxury Ball, and use other smaller methods available to you like the massage vendor on Akala Island and any stat-raising vitamins you may still have.
 
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Conni

katharsis
Hi! Here are my qc comments for your respective write-ups, they're in bold, implement them if you'd like!
Great job!

I've been using a Ribombee in Sun so I'll do this one.
Cutiefly
Availability:
Routes 2 and 3, Melemele Meadow for Cutiefly. Ribombee can also be found at Ula'ula Meadow and Poni Meadow.
Stats: Cutiefly has good special stats with 55 SpA and 84 Speed, but the real benefit comes after it evolves. Ribombee has 95 Special Attack and an amazing 124 speed, meaning that it can outrun almost anything and hit hard specially. It's defenses are rather moderate so you should probably mention that and also add that this means that Ribombee can take most moves it resists, but should stay out of powerful neutral moves or along those lines
Typing:
Bug/Fairy is a unique type combination, but unfortunately it doesn't cancel out each others' weaknesses that well. Ribombee has five common weaknesses, but luckily also five resistances (including one double resistance) and one immunity. its offensive typing means its good late-game as the mons it can take on (dark-, dragon-, psychic-,) appear later in the game which make rimbombee a good call for that portion of the game, you could also mentioned that cutiefly may not be as good early-game because this time the types that check bug / fairy are more common early-game like alolan grimer, trumbeak, the fire-type trial and such.
Movepool:
The Ribombee line has an amazing movepool gifted to it after evolution. You will most likely have two 90-power moves from leveling up by the time you reach Ula'ula Island in Pollen Puff and Bug Buzz. Ribombee can also learn great TMs like Dazzling Gleam (which it also gets through leveling up), Psychic, Energy Ball, and Solar Beam. Unfortunately, its movepool prior to evolution isn't very good, with Draining Kiss being your best shot at damage. you could also give a brief mention of two good utility moves in stun spore and aromatherapy and quiver dance to set up (cutiefly gets stun spore early-game which can be useful when taking on particularly hard opponents you don't have efficient answers for)
Major Battles:
Due to its weak movepool bar stun spore, Cutiefly isn't terribly useful on the first two islands. However, if you've managed to evolve it to Ribombee by the time you reach Mallow, it can hold its own against Totem Lurantis with Pollen Puff. It proceeds to be mediocre against the next two trials, but can carve up the Dragon trial on Poni Island. Ribombee can be very useful against Hala in the Elite Four, but it isn't very useful against anyone else in the elite four. Rimbombee does poorly or well against some grunts as they mostly either carry poison-types or dark-types, does bad against guzma and kukui and does ok against lusamine (it can deal with lilligant and bewear although the former carries two status moves that can paralyze or confuse while bewear hits relatively hard with STAB Take Down)
Additional Comments:
Try to get one with Shield Dust, a pretty useful ability that blocks the added effects of attacks, rather than Honey Gather, which doesn't do anything.
Know what? Screw it. Might as well so no-one else has to use this thing.

Exeggcute - E Rank
Availability:
10% encounter on Poni Plains its Poni Wilds, Pony Plains is post-game as soon as you step out of Seafolk Village. Can also rarely be found evolved on Exeggutor Island, though there is not much of a point in getting it later. Say something like "meaning that it is found pretty late in the game" at the end of this section to sum it up
Stats:
95/85/75 defences, 105 attack and 125 special attack seem extremely appealing on the surface; but without EVs to back them up Alolan Exeggutor's stats simply fall short of tanking any hits or delivering any KOs on a neutral target. 45 speed also means that it is outsped by all but the very slowest of Alola's end-game and means it will almost always be taking a hit.
Typing: Grass/Dragon seems fairly interesting on the surface, but as it turns out it is horrid for late-game Alola. There are many Fairy, Flying Poison is significant and even the occasional Dragon-type who will take advantage of this, and you have very few super-effective targets or useful resistances. offensive typing is decent however, takes out late-game ground-, water-, and rock-types like hapu's and olivia's mons (don't mention that its theirs but list late-game mons of these types)
Movepool:
Beyond its STAB, Alolan Exeggutor has a wealth of coverage options in Sludge Bomb, Earthquake, Flamethrower, Brick Break and Psyshock/Psychic to choose from. With no STAB boost however, all of these fall extremely short on power. Dragon Hammer and Energy Ball are reliable STABs, while Leaf Storm and Draco Meteor provide the best nuking potential you have.
Major Battles: Thanks to the aforementioned issues, Alolan Exeggutor does not have a chance to shine in the few remaining major battles of the game. Kommo-O and Kahili have a huge advantage over you while Kukui, Acerola, Hala and Hapu are mostly able to outspeed and overwhelm you with high-powered attacks; even when you seem to have a type advantage against the latter. Beyond a handful of individual Pokémon such as Kukui's Lycanroc and Hala's Poliwrath, Alolan Exeggutor's only significant contribution to a major battle would be against Olivia, but even then her Lycanroc and Carbink can cause issues. hypnosis is notable if you need status inducers but then also mention that alolan eggy is better off as an all out attacker, but hypnosis can still be used as an alternative option
Additional Comments:
Getting Draco Meteor does require max friendship to learn which seems daunting, but if you plan on using Alolan Exeggutor; it is not quite a difficult task. Simply make sure you farm Friendship-raising berries before getting to Poni Island, catch Exeggcute in a Luxury Ball, and use other smaller methods available to you like the massage vendor on Akala Island and any stat-raising vitamins you may still have.
 
I just finished my third run of SuMo and I'll add my thoughts on the Rowlet line's performance in the late-game:

Rowlet - C Rank
Availability:
Starter
Stats: 78/75/100 defenses are well below average. Decidueye is the frailest of the three starters. Its physical bulk is especially bad, being unable to survive against many neutral hits as seen in the E4 battle against Olivia despite a theoretical type advantage. An offensive spread of 107/100/70 is incredibly underwhelming when considering his mediocre bulk. He may be able to run a mixed set, but he'll have trouble securing KOs and likely be KO'd himself thanks to his middling bulk and speed. Generally, a frailer 'mon should be hitting very hard and fast; Decidueye is neither.
Typing: Poor. It seems like everyone and their grandmother is running Ghost or Dark-type coverage moves in the late-game. Weak flying moves like Aerial Ace are not uncommon either. I shouldn't have to explain why Grass is such a terrible STAB in-game, as Poison-, Bug-, and Flying-types are so common. The signature Ghost-type STAB move helps, but I still found it being unable to secure many OHKOs thanks to Decidueye's middling offensive stats.
Movepool: Very little in the way of coverage, considering that his learnset consists purely of STAB moves besides U-Turn. Losing the STAB on Flying also hurts. TMs provide a bunch of redundant support moves and his only boosting move, Work Up. His only coverage consists of Smack Down (lol), Low Sweep, and Steel Wing. Only Smack Down and Low Sweep are useful, as Steel-type coverage is unnecessary when Rock-, Ice-, and Fairy-types don't resist his STAB anyway.
Major Battles: Decidueye is mostly dead weight in the fights against Nanu, Guzma, Kahili, Acerola, Gladion, and especially Kukui. It even meets some nasty surprises in the form of Sucker Punch from Hapu's Dugtrio and a crap ton of Dark-type coverage from Hala's team. Decidueye even struggles against Olivia due to its low physical bulk despite a type advantage. Kukui absolutely destroys Decidueye; Snorlax and Lycanroc are the only two non-disadvantageous matchups and even they have Crunch, nullifying any utility Decidueye might have against the Champion.
 

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