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Pokemon Scarlet and Violet were released amidst some concerns about performance and technical issues that many players were experiencing even ahead of the day-one patch, with reviews highlighting these problems even before launch. Pokemon Scarlet and Violet are currently among the lowest-rated in the franchise as a result, but many positive reviews are showing up as more fans get their hands on Gen 9 games. Despite technical issues, in fact, Pokemon Scarlet and Violet are great games that have a lot to offer, especially for those players who enjoy taking their time exploring the region in the new open-world setting, catching new Pokemon in the meanwhile.
An interesting addition to Gen 9 is Gimmighoul, which has a Pokemon GO-exclusive form that can be interacted with but not caught in Paldea, and one that Pokemon Scarlet and Violet players can indeed catch. The Gimmighoul variant that can be battled is the so-called Chest Form, which appears on top of abandoned towers and ruins in the game, also leaving players with a plethora of Gimmighoul Coins after it's either caught or defeated. What makes this pocket monster so interesting is the fact that it has possibly one of the strongest Abilities ever released in the game as well as great stats and a powerful signature move, making Gimmighoul's evolution, Gholdengo, one of the best Pokemon ever made.
What Makes Pokemon Scarlet and Violet's Gholdengo OP
Gimmighoul has one of the most unique evolution methods in Pokemon Scarlet and Violet, as players need to collect 999 Gimmighoul Coins to evolve it into Gholdengo, but it's worth noting that those coins will be consumed once the evolution occurs. Still, players will be met with a Ghost/Steel Pokemon made of gold, and that type combination alone is enough to make Gholdengo a very powerful ally, as it has four weaknesses, but it has nine resistances, and it's immune to three different types.
Gholdengo's Ability is called Good as Gold, and it makes this Pokemon immune to other pocket monsters' status moves, both allies and foes. Status moves are all those actions that don't cause direct damage, and they generally serve the purpose of increasing or decreasing a given Pokemon's stats, inflicting status conditions on them, or generally manipulating for good or for worse the way they can be used. A basic example is Thunder Wave, which is a status move as it doesn't deal damage, and Gholdengo would be immune to it. Another example is any Fire-type damaging move that may cause Burn, and Gholdengo wouldn't be immune to either effect.
However, being completely immune to status moves is still an incredibly strong asset, as players can rule out several problematic effects that opposing Pokemon may try to use on their Gholdengo, including disrupting moves like Sleep Powder, Soak, or Parting Shot. Gholdengo's prowess doesn't end there, though. It's considered one of the most OP Pokemon in Pokemon Scarlet and Violet also due to its signature move, which has a base power of 120 and deals Steel-type damage at the cost of reducing the user's Special Attack stat.
Still, there is a silver lining to this in the form of the move acting as an even better Pay Day, as it award players with plenty of PokeDollars at the end of the match. Not only that, but Gholdengo also learns Nasty Plot to buff itself, which it can use to eventually sweep the enemy team. Gholdengo is far from being the only strong critter in Gen 9, and Pokemon Scarlet and Violet's Espathra is another good example due to its Speed Boost Ability. Still, Gimmighoul's evolution remains one of the best Pokemon ever made even considering its competition, which says a lot in and of itself.
Pokemon Scarlet and Violet are available now on Nintendo Switch.