Mountains of Power Event

The Season of Heritage is chugging along, and it's hit its second projected milestone, the "second lock" to the door, as the narrative of of the game goes. This time around, we've got Rock and Steel Type Pokemon as our focus. From general bonuses to a brand new Mega Evolution, we've got a bit to look forward to here.

• 1/2 buddy walking distance for hearts
• A timed research line will be available
• A special selection of Pokemon will be available during the event, including the introduction of the Shiny Slugma line.

• A special selection of Pokemon will be available via Raids, including the introduction of Mega Aerodactyl.

• A special selection of Pokemon will be available via Field Research Tasks

Arguably, the most exciting part of this event has to be the introduction of a Rock Type Mega Evolution at last, Mega Aerodactyl. And while this monster can be used in general PvP, its exclusion from the Go Battle League means that this review will focus strictly on its PvE performance.

All-in-all, most players have been waiting on Mega Tyranitar, not Mega Aerodactyl, as the great Mega King of Rock Types. Mega Aerodactyl is just the big stop-gap on the way to our monolithic monarch, right? Well, yes and no...

While Mega Tyranitar does indeed have a solid lead on Mega Aerodactyl in terms of TDO, Mega Aerodactyl pulls ahead just slightly in terms of DPS. But this difference is so tiny that it shouldn't matter, right? Right... except for the fact that Mega Aerodactyl's Flying sub-type can give it a TDO advantage over Mega Tyranitar in specific scenarios (though the opposite is also true), and that the use of Rock Slide over Stone Edge equates to more reliable average performance. Because of these factors, the playing field is pretty level. And while the field of play it is tilted towards Mega Tyranitar's favor a fair bit, the fact of the matter is that Mega Aerodactyl will have raids where it out-performs Mega Tyranitar.

....and no, we're not going to talk about Mega Diancie. Who knows then that monster will show up.

Okay, so we've gotten the theoreticals out of the way, how about right now? Well, Rock Type is generally a highly sought-after type for its effectiveness against a number of Tier-5 raid bosses. It's very pervasive and powerful, and the ability to provide Mega Evolution boosts to other common Rock Type attackers will definitely be important. However, the immediate utility of raising a Mega Aerodactyl is a bit dubious. The only confirmed upcoming Tier-5/Mega raid boss that's weak to Rock are Regice, Mega Abomasnow... and itself, ironically. Though using something with a Flying sub-type against Regice or Mega Abomasnow is likely to be a bit of a rocky time, pun intended. 

When all is said and done, is Mega Aerodactyl worth the stardust investment? Yes, definitely. It will likely have utility long-term, and will provide great dividends whenever its skills are called for. However, it would probably be best to hold onto your stardust and only raise it when its skills are actually needed.