Minior is a bit weird. No, we are not messing with you, it is very odd. It is the first Pokémon to have seven forms plus the original one. It’s a very unique Rock/Flying Pokémon which we have not seen since the fan-loved Archeops. Minior is weak to Water, Electric, Ice, Rock, and Steel, but don’t let that turn you off. It still resists or nulls others, and it has a very unique ability that makes all of its stats flip when triggered. The ability is Shields Down, which causes the rock layer covering Minior to come off revealing one if its seven-colored cores once its HP is dropped below 50%. Before and after is the best way to think about it. Before Shields Down is triggered, it has a 100 base stat in both Defenses and a 60 across the board in everything else. After Shields Down, Attacks and Defenses swap and its Speed doubles to 120. This change makes it actually a very good mixed sweeper. For moves, there are lots of ways to take Minior. Let’s take a look at a few. It should be noted, too, that Shields Up Minior has a catch rate of 30 while the Core Form has one of 255. Before Minior is much more difficult to catch, so get those pokeballs ready.

While in the Before or Meteor form, Minior is served greatly by either Shell Smash, since you know what is coming, or Autotomize if you do not want to drop your defenses. You have another option, too, in Cosmic Power. Stealth Rock is Excellent to mess with your foes. After your Shields come down though, you need to be able to hit hard and fast. Acrobatics will give you STAB provided you are not holding anything. Stone Edge is another great option for you. Charge Beam can help with those Electric-types and while it can learn Solar Beam, a two turn attack might not be the best for Minior. However, the choice is yours!

Golem is next up on our list with its new look in Pokémon Sun & Moon! Golem comes to us in Alola now Electric/Rock-type and appears to be a rip-off of a dwarf with some sort of a cannon? Even the Pokedex entry points to it grabbing Geodude and firing them off its back. Golem is a bit… odd. It has reduced weaknesses to Water, Grass, and Steel, but it now has to be careful of a normal weakness to Fighting and a 4x weakness to Ground. Ability-wise though, it does get some help in Galvanize which takes all Normal-type moves, powers them up by 20% and then changes them to Electric-type. This helps it considering that it’s Electric movepool is rather lackluster.

While its form has changed, it still has all the same stats. 130 in Defense, 120 in Attack, 80 in HP, and Sp. Defense at 65. Forget the rest of the stats because they do not matter. If you have Galvanize, then you have a bit to work with. Due to how slow it is, an Explosion move is always a failsafe. If you want to forgo that, then Double-Edge will give you what you want. Stone Edge is for that STAB Rock while Heavy Slam gives you more coverage. You can teach it Volt Switch, while your Sp. Attack still sucks, to get out of bad situations. If not, Wild Charge is another option that you have. Sadly, with such bad speed and Sp. Defense, you will be relying on a prayer to get you through more often than not if you use this Alolan Pokémon.

Nihilego also makes its debut as an Ultra Beast on this list! Nihilego, like most of the Ultra Beasts, has a new sort of typing as it is Rock/Poison. You first meet Nihilego in Aether Paradise. With its typing, it has to be careful of its weaknesses; Water, Ground, Steel, and Psychic. It comes with Beast Boost as its ability which raises this jellyfish-looking creature’s highest stat when it knocks out a foe. It has an amazing Sp. Defense at 131, Sp. Attack at 127, HP at 109, and Speed at 103. The other stats are not worth mentioning. While Nihilego will be able to pack a punch, it really has a problem with its Speed post-game which leaves it in a bit of a tight spot. While it is decent at 103, there are still many Pokémon that can wreck it.

It does learn some decent moves such as Toxic Spikes, Stealth Rock, and Mirror Coat. You can nail that Water weakness with Charge Beam to boost your Special Attack while giving it Grass Knot too. As for those STAB moves, Sludge Wave and Power Gem would be the best bets. Nihilego is best as a suicide lead. Send it in, get up Thunder Wave to slow down your foe, something that will hurt your foe like Toxic Spikes or Stealth Rock. The only problem is that you may need to rely on a Choice Band to keep yourself alive. Nihilego can do some damage but it may be best suited on a team where it can really pack a punch!

Lycanroc is the evolution of Rockruff which has two forms depending on what game you are playing. In Sun, it evolves into Midday form and looks like a wolf, while in Moon, it evolves into Midnight form and looks like some crazy werewolf cousin. Midday form is the focus of this ranking and Midnight form, is rather dull when compared. Sand Rush is the preferred ability of Lycanroc Midday form as this allows its speed to double in Sandstorms. It is pure rock though so it needs to be wary of Fighting, Water, Grass, Ground, and Steel Pokémon. Uff. We have a lot to work with; or do we? Midday form has the better end of the deal with a 115 in Attack and a 112 in Speed. Defenses are not good at 65 each, but if you strike hard and fast enough, those may not even be an issue.

Midday form Lycanroc learns Accelrock at evolving, which is the Rock version of Bullet Punch, but you won’t need that with a 112 speed and/or Sandstorm to back you up. There is one problem, he does not learn Sandstorm. So you need someone to either trigger it, or give it Keen Eye OR if you can get it, the hidden Steadfast ability. Roar is great for getting rid of those types that you cannot take out fast or hard while it learns Crunch and Stone Edge and/or Rock Slide. Why you would teach it Rock Climb (which is now normal-type??) when you have the chance to do Brick Break. Sadly though, that is about where its movepool stops. Being mono-Rock-type really does limit what it can and cannot do. Don’t let that turn you off though as it is still a great Pokémon!