Introduced in generation three, Absol is a dark-type Pokemon. Known as the Disaster Pokemon, it is said that viewing this Pokemon forewarns impending disasters. In the film, it first appeared in the Pokemon movie Pokemon: Jirachi: Wish Maker. While it is believed that Absol is the cause of disasters, it is just sensitive to the warning signs and often displays itself when disaster is coming. This white beast’s design has become a favorite among fans of the franchise. This guide will showcase Absol’s capabilities in battle, its appearances in film and the anime, as well as other general facts about Absol.
About Absol
Absol first appeared in generation three games, Pokemon Ruby and Sapphire. It also obtained a mega evolution when in the generation three remakes of Pokemon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire. Absol is a standalone Pokemon, meaning it does not evolve into or from any other Pokemon. It made its first appearance in film through the Pokemon movie Jirachi: Wish Maker, it also appeared in the main series in the Absol-ute Disaster episode of the Ruby and Sapphire Season. According to Pokedex, it is capable of sensing incoming disasters and will appear before people to warn them of the impending danger.
| First appearance in anime | Pokemon the Series Ruby and Sapphire Absol-ute Disaster and Pokemon the Movie: Jirachi: Wish Maker |
| First appearance in game | Pokemon Ruby and Sapphire |
| Region | Hoenn |
| Evolution | Not known to evolve into or from any Pokemon |
| 1st Evo level | N/A |
| 2nd Evo level | N/A |
| Pokedex Entry | Every time Absol appears before people, it is followed by a disaster such as an earthquake or a tidal wave. As a result, it came to be known as the disaster Pokémon. |
Absol Base Stats
| HP | 65 |
| ATTACK | 130 |
| DEFENCE | 60 |
| SP. ATTACK | 75 |
| SP. DEFENCE | 60 |
| SPEED | 75 |
| TOTAL | 465 |
Appearance of Absol
Absol is a quadrupedal feline Pokemon, it has white fur covering most of its body and a black face and crest. It has red eyes with white pupils and a black horn extending from the side of its head. Like cats in real life, it has a spike at the heel of its claws and it walks on four legs. At the base of its body, it has a short black tail. Sitting prominently in the middle of Absol’s head is a small black oval.
Behavior of Absol
Known to live in the mountains, it will rarely travel near civilization. Absol keeps to itself for the most part, but its sensitive horns can pick up the early signs of disaster. During this time, it will often appear before people and devastation will follow. It has become something of a bad omen to see an Absol as natural disasters will come after sighting an Absol. Despite this, Absol is a calm Pokemon that seems to be attempting to warn people of impending calamity. The Pokedex states that it is swift as the wind and can live up to 100 years old.
Strengths and Weaknesses
Absol does not excel in much other than physical attacks. Its physical attack stat is actually one of the highest base stats in non-legendary Pokemon, but unfortunately, this does not make for a solid Pokemon. Its health and defense stats are incredibly low and its speed makes it difficult to take advantage of its high attack. While its mega evolution helps combat these issues, it is a glass cannon Pokemon even with its 100 stat boost from mega evolution. Like most of the best physical dark moves that Absol can learn to require some nuance, it is difficult to justify a spot for Absol on your teams.
Mega Absol
Mega Absol is a sight to behold as its fur grows longer and it seems to sprout wings from the tufts of its fur. The spikes on the heels of its feet grow longer and Mega Absol’s tail becomes jagged like a saw. The stat boosts for Mega Absol go exactly where it needs to for its purely offensive statline, gaining boosts to speed, special attack, and physical attack. While Mega Absol gains a promising statline, it is difficult to keep Mega Absol alive in competitive battle. However, if you can connect with Mega Absol, there are not many Pokemon that can survive the hit.
Shiny Absol
Shiny Absol maintains most of its regular base look, with its white fur still prominently displayed. The biggest difference between regular Absol and Shiny Absol would be its body color, instead of a blue-ish black, it becomes red. The horn on Shiny Absol’s head becomes red, its face becomes red, the tail becomes red, and the spikes on its claws become red as well. Even the oval on Shiny Absol’s head becomes red. As regular Absol’s eyes are red, it makes sense that Shiny Absol’s change color to a teal. Along with every other shiny in the game, Shiny Absol will have a starry entrance upon entering battle.
Mega Shiny Absol
Mega Shiny Absol maintains most of Shiny Absol’s design with the mega evolution included. The wings and longer tufts of fur in Mega Shiny Absol remain white, but the additional horn, spikes, and oval retain the red of regular Shiny Absol. A notable difference between regular Shiny Absol and Mega Shiny Absol would be its eye color. The eyes of Mega Shiny Absol become distinctly blue. As many fans love the design of Mega Absol, getting a Mega Shiny Absol is very desirable and you can likely find many trades for and with Shiny Absol because of it.
Best Moveset for Absol
Throughout the different generations where you can use Absol on your team, its moveset stays relatively similar. Also if you are able to use Mega Absol there is almost no reason not to as the bonus in stats is exactly where you want them to be. If you are using Mega Absol you will have to use Absolute to enable the mega evolution. In brackets where you cannot use Mega Absol consider a choice band to further boost its incredible attack stat. For moves, you will want to consider Knock Off, Sucker Punch, Pursuit/Iron Tail, and Swords Dance for your general moveset. Knock Off can deal with problematic items while benefiting from STAB (Same Type Attack Bonus), Sucker Punch also benefits from STAB but can give you some outplay potential, Pursuit is much of the same story, and Swords Dance is one of the most powerful setup options.
| Knock Off | Sucker Punch |
| Pursuit/Iron Tail | Swords Dance |
How to Catch Absol in Pokemon Go
There are a few different ways you can catch an Absol in Pokemon Go. It is quite rare to encounter, so keep your eyes peeled and try not to think that any disasters are incoming. Absol are most likely to spawn in mountainous regions, so if you go hiking somewhere, you have a better chance to find an Absol. You can also participate in Pokemon Gym Raids where Absol can be a 4-star raid boss. Finally, you can hatch Absol from eggs. Unless there is a special event going on where you can find special Pokemon from lower km eggs, you will have to hatch 12 km eggs to have a chance at getting an Absol. Luckily, Absol is not known to evolve into or from any Pokemon so any Absol you catch can go straight into powering up your Absol of choice.
Video Guide
Trivia
- Absol’s natural spawns in the games are where disasters canonically occur in each of the games.
- Absol is likely to be based off of the Chinese Mythological beast Bai Ze. A guardian animal of sorts that warded away plagues and disease.
- Out of all the Pokemon available in the games, Mega Absol is the only Pokemon with 565 total base stats.
FAQs
Q. Why is Absol Banned?
Absol is not technically banned, instead it is borderline unusable in UU (Under Used) brackets, which means that it is not good enough in this particular bracket, but it is far too good for the bracket below it, RU (Rarely Used). So it is not a banned Pokemon, only too good for the RU bracket, but not particularly strong enough for the UU bracket.
Q. Is Absol a Legendary Pokemon?
While Absol does not evolve into or from any Pokemon, it is not a legendary Pokemon. You can simply catch Absol in the wild and you can breed Absol at the Pokemon daycare. It is not considered to be a legendary Pokemon in any capacity. It only clears one of the conditions to be a legendary, and Absol being a standalone Pokemon is not indicative of its status.
Q. Is Absol a Rare Pokemon?
Absol is mildly rare as it can typically only be caught in a specific area like most Pokemon. However, its spawn rate is much rarer than the common Pokemon found in its respective routes. As such, you will likely have to spend a decent chunk of time just trying to find one for yourself. A good indicator of whether Absol spawns nearby is if the area is mountainous and if there has been some sort of plot-related disaster that occurred nearby.
Conclusion
Congratulations, you now know just about everything regarding this “Disaster” Pokemon. While it is known to be a bad omen, it is mistakenly so. Absol is not the cause of disasters and instead, it appears to warn people of impending calamity. There are many Absol fans in the series given its striking design and misunderstood nature. In battle, it suffices as a powerful sweeper, given that you can keep it alive. Absol is a Pokemon with quite a bit of mystery behind it, hopefully, this guide managed to clear up some of these mysteries for you.
