Gyarados - Dragon Pulse - any use?
I have a 97.8% Gary (just short on attack) that has the legacy move Dragon Pulse. Quick move is Bite, and level is 32.5.
Is there any conceivable use for DP, or shall I just spend a charge TM on it, and if so what would you recommend? It's not my only Gary, but none match the IVs or levels of it. I live in a water biome so candies are not a problem, and I have more than enough TMs of both variety.
I'm thinking a Bite/Crunch one would be useful with Mewtwo around the corner.
Answers
Right now Dragon Pulse is just a weaker Outrage but it could be that move stats get altered again so that Dragon Pulse has it's own niche, so that might be a reason to keep it if you're in it for the long haul.
Though it's not guaranteed and who knows how long we'll all be playing Pokemon Go for. So if you've got enough TMs to try and go for Crunch, it wouldn't be a completely unjustified idea. Not everyone has the luxury of always having enough people at raids.
If you are set on TMing this Gyarados though, I think at least wait until Mewtwo comes out. Odds are extremely low but you might find a wild Gyarados with that moveset or evolve a good IV Magikarp, while still keeping a legacy moveset.
I'm not dead set on TMing, so I might just keep it. As it stands, I guess it's not completely useless; actually used it in Lugia raid earlier today and that's part of what prompted the question - we had to battle it 3 times and the first 2 attempts were very close. Only by drafting an additional person were we successful. Don't normally have a problem finding enough people, but today was on the edge. If my Gary had Crunch, that could have made the difference.
I checked my roster and it turns out I do already have a Bite/Crunch one, at 88.9% IVs and level 23. Must have been a good Magikarp evolve as I don't recall powering this one up,
What are the exact IVs of the Gyarados with Bite + Crunch? Distribution is just as important if not more so than overall total.
With 15 attack IV, Bite goes up in damage at level 31. If it's lower, then it'll require more power ups. 1 power up per attack IV missing.
Even with the worse distribution possible (10a/15d/15s) it's still worth powering in my opinion, it just means it'll cost you a bit more candies and dust which you've said aren't an issue.
