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One of the reasons why Pokemon Scarlet and Violet's open-world setting works so well for the game is that Gen 9 features a decent chunk of completely new pocket monsters, and even though the Pokedex is more on the small side counting returning species, it feels fresh nonetheless. This is likely due to Pokemon Scarlet and Violet's Pokedex being filled with interesting concepts and designs, and even though some like Paradox Pokemon or the so-called "regional fakes" may not be for everyone, they still offer a different spin on existing evolution lines. Yet, one of the pleasures of playing a new generation of Pokemon games is catching and training entirely new species that have something unique about them.
Pokemon Scarlet and Violet's starter evolutions are a great example of this logic because their types may be similar to those of Pokemon Legends: Arceus, but they also bring something new to the table in many ways. An interesting pocket monster from Gen 9 is called Espathra, and it is an ostrich Pokemon presumably inspired by Cleopatra, and while it's a pure Psychic-type, its base stats are good and so are the moves it learns throughout the game. Even more interesting is Espathra's Hidden Ability, Speed Boost, which makes this Pokemon a lot similar to Blaziken during its golden age, all the way back in Gen 6.
Pokemon Scarlet and Violet's Espathra Could be Similar to Speed Boost Blaziken
Speed Boost Blaziken was one of the most dreaded pocket monsters in competitive Pokemon battles for a while, and that's because its Hidden Ability allowed it to efficiently stack Speed every turn while buffing itself further through means like Swords Dance. Then, players could simply sweep through enemy teams in many cases, with Speed Boost Blaziken simply shredding even the OU tier (OverUsed, that is) of critters, sometimes even regardless of Mega Evolutions.
As such, it may seem weird to reinstate Speed Boost in Pokemon Scarlet and Violet, especially so on a critter that already has a rather high base Speed and decent Special Attack, making it a force to be reckoned with. On top of that, Espathra also has access to moves like Calm Mind, which raises the user's Special Attack and Special Defense by one stage each, and Baton Pass, which allows the Pokemon to switch to any other allied pocket monster in the trainer's party and obtain all stat boosts the user had. This was a common strategy for Speed Boost Blaziken as well, with Baton Pass becoming useful when the Fire/Fighting critter was up against its counters.
In the case of Espathra in Pokemon Scarlet and Violet, this ostrich pocket monster's signature move comes when its base form finally evolves, and it's called Lumina Crash. Lumina Crash is particularly powerful because it scales off of Espathra's Special Attack stat, it has a base power of 80 and 100 accuracy, it deals Psychic damage and thus benefits from STAB, and also decreases the target's Special Defense by two stages. What this means is that even Pokemon Scarlet and Violet's Paradox Pokemon, which are among Gen 9's best critters, could easily be defeated by a Speed Boost Espathra with increased Special Attack.
Even if Espathra's targets survive for a turn, unless they one-shot this pocket monster, hitting them with Lumina Crash will reduce their Special Defense to a point where it's likely they will be defeated immediately after. Furthermore, Espathra can easily make use of Pokemon Scarlet and Violet's Terastallization to change its type and become resistant to damage that would otherwise be supereffective, or even double-dip on Psychic STAB damage with a Psychic Tera type. Overall, Espathra has a good chance of being one of the best critters in Gen 9, and more builds for it could come over time.
Pokemon Scarlet and Violet are available now on Nintendo Switch.