OK, I've got a L34, 98%, no-dust-spent Gardevoir. It is my only Gardevoir.
It has Confusion/Shadow Ball, which isn't supposedly it's best moveset, but I'm using it in Alakazam and MewTwo raids, where that moveset does well.
If I TM it to it's optimal moveset (Dazzling Gleam), then what is it good for?
I'm not going to use it to kill dragonites, because I don't know if a defending dragonite will use dragon moves - frequently, they don't. I'm going to use Cloyster (and soon Kygore) for that...
I already have a good team for Machamp solos. Although Gardevoir would be good, it's week to Machamp's steel moves, and my current set of Ho-Oh, Dragonite, MewTwo, and a few Espeons/Alakazams are more than adequate.
It would make a good defender, but I have lots of good defenders. It's main job is to force the attacker to switch away from Dragonite or Machamp, and even with shadow ball, it'll do that, since the attacker doesn't know it has Shadow Ball.
Is there another compelling reason to TM this one?
There is no compelling reason to use a CTM on a Gardevoir.
That said, I'm going to when I get another CTM, I'm going to try again. I have a good Gardevoir (not as good as yours, dammit) that had Shadow Ball, and when I CTM'ed it I got Psychic. ARGH! So I have no compelling reason to do it, but I'm gonna do it anyway.
Not particularly, but I would definitely TM it unless you have an upcoming EX-Raid.
Shadow Ball isn't too far behind Dazzling Gleam since, while lacking STAB, it has great coverage and it 0.5seconds faster.
Gardevoir's strength is in its ability to double-resist its Fighting and Dragon targets while also getting STAB on a good charged move. It is also a decent move for neutralling Psychic types since it gets STAB but resists them too. Shadow Ball would be slightly better in this role since Super Effective>STAB.
Still, I prefer my Gardevoir knowing Dazzling Gleam, since fairy-type offense (even if only on the Charged Move) is essentially unrivaled right now and I find Gardevoir a really unique and potion-efficient Pokemon.
It isn't the matter of Dragonites. It's a matter when almost all of the upcoming legendary pokemon are dragons.
Also more Dragons like Salamence and Garchomp will be encountered in gyms regardless if they have trash heap movesets or not (And i am pretty sure some can defeat ice types with super effective coverage) so you could tm it if you have surplus tms.
C/SB isn't that good against Alakazam or Mewtwo as they resist Confusion, and Confusion has low energy gain which makes Charge Beam the better move in those situations - which is saying something because that move is rather mediocre.
You've already covered what a C/DG Gardevoir would be good for (Machamps and dragon-types), and the fact that you already have Pokemon that fulfill those niches, so you don't need to TM this Gardevoir as you're probably not going to use it.
In the future there might be a case where a fairy quick move is added, and Dazzling Gleam becomes legacy, but even so there are alternative fairy types, Togekiss is in gen 4, gen 6 has Florges and Sylveon, and could add mega evolutions, so don't worry about not having the best fairy type currently, you're not missing out on much right now.
Kyogre doesn't learn Dragon Tail and thus is not a good Dragon type counter unless it's raining. Discount that entirely. Articuno will stay the top Dragon counter until gen 4.
Gardevoir's optimal moveset is useful for defending between two normal types or attacking in Machamp raids. It's the best anti-Machamp/Dragonite defender in the game currently and a better Exeggutor in Machamp raids that have fighting moves. Also better than Ho-Oh against any non-Heavy Slam Machamp.
It all comes down to how many CTM you have. 98% is stupidly good IVs, I don't expect to _ever_ get a Gardevoir that good at any level unless it becomes a raid boss.
