Medicham PvP IV Deep-Dive

Medicham has historically been one of the top most threats in Pokemon GO Great League PvP. Considering it is one of the most common Pokemon to top cut in the 2022 Play Pokemon Championships, it hasn’t fallen off either. Given that Meditite spawns are going to be boosted during Pokemon GO Fest 2022’s Tundra Habitat Hours, this could be a good opportunity to catch a Premium PvP IV Medicham. To help players build their best possible Medicham, we put together the Medicham PvP IV Deep Dive, cataloging and highlighting Medicham’s most relevant Breakpoints and stat checks for Great League PvP. 

This guide discusses the hidden true stats of Pokemon in Pokemon GO. In order to see these true stats you need to use an IV checking app (CalcyIV, Pokegenie) or an IV checking website (GOStadium, PvPIVs.com, or PvPoke itself). To make things simple, the guide also features PvP IV tables. 

If you’re not familiar with PvP IVs, check out this PvP IVs Simplified video.

Before we get into the IVs, let’s go over some basics for Medicham in Great League PvP. 

Psycho Cut vs Counter

Counter is the most overpowered Fast Move in Pokemon GO for PvP. While Psycho Cut does offer greater Energy gains per turn, Counter’s imbalanced Damage:Energy ratio makes it too good to pass up. To put it another way, precisely 0 Psycho Cut Medicham have top cut at Regionals.

Psychic, Ice Punch, Power-Up Punch, and Dynamic Punch

In general, Medicham should run a combination of Psychic and either Ice Punch or Power-Up Punch. Psychic is important for its massive damage, enabling Medicham to overcome most Ghost-type matchups (not named Sableye). Ice Punch is generally preferred over Power-Up Punch for its higher upfront damage and super effective coverage on Dragon, Flying, Grass, and Ground-type Pokemon. Power-Up Punch however, is a better bait move (5 less energy) and can ramp up Medicham’s Counter and Psychic damage. Which move is better comes down to your team and what you expect to see from your opponents. 

Power-Up Punch + Ice Punch is a particularly spicy combination that can catch opponents off guard, but generally Psychic offers too much damage to pass up. Dynamic Punch is also useful for higher, upfront Fighting-type damage, but Power-Up Punch usually confers the same matchup advantages while also boosting your Atk stat. Usually Dynamic Punch comes up in more limited Cup formats, where that immediate Fighting-type damage is appreciated.

The tables below feature the IV spreads that meet some of the more important stat checks highlighted in the article. It’s important to review their respective sections to make sure you’re getting what you want out of your Medicham. For example, a higher Atk weight may be more valuable than extra Def or HP. 

• The Good (105.38 Atk, 138.6 Def, 140 HP)
  • Premium Cut (only pareto efficient stats)
• The few worthwhile Best Buddies
  • Not outright better or worse than non-Best Buddies
• The Mirror Slayers
  • Note: The drop in Bulk may cause trouble in other matchups. Simply going for CMP (Charge Move Priority) may be better.

Cloudy and Windy Weather

You may have noticed that all optimal Medicham Atk IVs are 4 or greater. This means your odds of catching a good/optimal PvP IV Medicham are significantly higher in Cloudy and Windy Weather, as the weather boosted IV floor is 4. Basically, when it isn’t Cloudy or Windy outside, Meditite will have 2368 more IV variations, 100% of which are completely useless. With the weather bonus, your odds of getting a good IV increases by ~58%! In short, 63-361 catches instead of 149-856 catches to have a 50-90% probability to obtain one.

Why is 4+ Atk IV better than 0? Unlike most Great League Pokemon, Medicham hits its max Stat Product at level 50 with 5/15/15 as its IVs (4/15/15 at level 50.5, if Best Buddied). 0/15/15 would only reach 1456 CP at level 51. If you catch a 0 Atk IV Meditite, don’t toss it too quickly, as it could be useful for a Mega Medicham in the Ultra League, should Mega Evolutions be allowed in Ultra League PvP in the future. 

Medicham Breakpoints

Most Great League Medicham will want at least 138.6 Def and 140 HP. In general, these stats will enable Medicham to have a performance that’s consistent with the Rank 1 (5/15/15) Medicham. To get specific, this level of Def will help protect Medicham in the mirror match, enable the Drapion 1-2 shield scenario (you spend 1 shield, they spend 2 shields), and enable the Cofagrigus 2-1 shield scenario. The HP helps the Swampert 0-0, Charm Alolan Ninetales 1-1, Azumarill 1-1 (Psychic Only), and potentially the Registeel 0-0.

If you’re looking for specific Def Breakpoints: 

• 136.24+, Trevenant no notable matchup changes
• 136.42+, Drapion 1-1 and 1-2 potential
• 137.23-139.46 , Cofagrigus 2-1 potential
  • 139.46 based on Atk weight from the Cofagrigus PvP IV Deep Dive
• 137.64, Mirror Breakpoint protection from Rank 1
  • 139.48 protects against most slight Atk weight Medicham
• 140.27, Talonflame no notable matchup changes

If you’re looking for specific HP checks: 

• 138-139, Swampert 0-0 and Charm Alolan Ninetales 1-1 potential
  • Altaria potential too if running Power-Up Punch
• 140, Azumarill 1-1 consistency and Registeel 0-0 potential
• 142, Registeel 0-0 consistency

As far as Medicham’s Atk is concerned, most high Rank, non-Best Buddy Medicham will have enough of an Atk weight to meet most Breakpoints. Having a slightly higher Atk than 105.87 can help keep a match flipping Breakpoint on Def weighted Azumarill (1-1), give Medicham CMP in the mirror, and may also give a match flipping Breakpoint in the mirror. Overall, the Def/HP appears to be more important than the gains an Atk weight may offer, so it’s best not to roll deeper than 107.55 Atk unless you have some specific goals.

If you’re looking for specific Atk Breakpoints: 

• 105.06+, Azumarill 1-1 Psychic only 
  • 105.38 and 106.02 are notable cut offs for Def weighted Azumarill
• 105.66, Shadow Walrein consistency and possible 0-2 win
  • 0-2 could also be fully farmed to 91+ energy
• 105.82, Swampert no notable matchup changes
• 105.35-106.29+, Whiscash consistency
  • 106.29 based on a Def weighted Whiscash
• 107.35, Umbreon 0-1 and 1-2
  • Only significant for Ice Punch+Psychic Medicham
• 107.95, Mirror Breakpoint vs Rank 1 Def (140.3)
  • 106.71 is high enough for most high Rank Medicham
• 108.22, Skarmory 2-2

As you can see, the Rank 1, non-Best Buddy Medicham does fine for most Atk Breakpoints, having a 105.87 Atk stat. A Best Buddy Medicham may struggle though, if it has a low enough Atk stat. This, coupled with the minor bulk gains Medicham can get from Best Buddying, suggests that Medicham may not be worth the Best Buddy slot. If you do roll a Best Buddy Medicham, try to have at least 105.66 Atk (so the BB Rank 2 4/14/15 instead of the BB Rank 1 4/15/15).

Umbreon and the Mirror present an incentive to roll even higher on Atk than the Rank 1, but may sacrifice too much bulk in other matchups. For the mirror, it may be best to have a slight Atk weight for CMP and not worry about the Breakpoint. This situation paints the Rank 3 (7/14/15) and Rank 4 (7/15/14) Medicham in a more appealing light than the Rank 1 and 2, as they avoid most mirror Breakpoints while potentiating their own mirror Breakpoints, while also potentiating CMP.

Given that Medicham has multiple Charge Move combinations and slight matchup variations with different stat weights, it could be more useful to build 2-3 XL Medicham, rather than to stick with just 1. For example, you could have a bulk focused Medicham and a mirror focused one. While Medicham only has 11-19 optimal IV spreads, it helps that the IV combinations benefit from Weather and Trade IV floors. In this sense, you are arguably more likely to get 2 good Medicham than you are to get an optimal IV spread of another species. Season 11’s guaranteed XL Candy from Trading eases up the burden of building multiple Medicham even further. Happy hunting!