Who is better for PvP in Pokemon Scarlet and Violet?

Armarouge and Ceruledge are the evolved forms of Charcadet in Pokemon Scarlet and Violet, respectively. While the former evolves when the creature is given the Auspicious Armor, the latter needs the Malicious Armor to evolve.

There is a lot of debate in the community regarding which evolution is the better Pokemon. While a lot of fans lean towards Ceruledge in terms of design, their individual competitive prowess is still a hot contest.

Generation IX has had competitive PvP for quite some time now and fans continue to discover new strengths and combinations as time passes.

Given their type combinations and stats, both Armarouge and Ceruledge can shine. This article will dive deep into their move pools, ability sets, and items they can hold to unlock their full potential and figure out which of the two is more suited for the PvP scenario.

Pokemon Scarlet and Violet: Exploring Armarouge and Ceruledge's type combinations, movesets, and more

Who has the better typing?

Given its Fire/Ghost type, Ceruledge has the same number of weaknesses and resistances as its Fire/Psychic type counterpart in Pokemon Scarlet and Violet. However, one of these resistances, against Bug, is ¼ for the former. Additionally, Ceruledge also gets two immunities, against Normal and Fighting, owing to its secondary typing.

Both Pokemon have the same stats

Being divergent evolution forms of the same Pokemon, they have the same base stat total, but it's distributed differently. Ceruledge is slightly faster but has lower bulk while the opposite applies to Armarouge. The former's best stat is its 125 Attack, while its counterpart has 125 Special Attack.

Comparing their abilities and signature moves

The two Pokemon have identical primary and hidden abilities: Flash Fire and Weak Armor. respectively. Its signature move is what makes Ceruledge better than Armarouge.

The Fire/Psychic type’s Armor Cannon hits very hard at 120 base power, but it lowers the user’s Defense and Special Defense by one stage. The Fire/Ghost type, on the other hand, hits enemies with its 90 base power Bitter Blade, which has no repercussions — instead, it heals the user for half the damage dealt. This lets Ceruledge take advantage of an item like the Life Orb.

Ceruledge also gets a deeper, more self-sustaining move pool

Ceruledge also gets access to the STAB priority move, Shadow Sneak. In terms of cover techniques, it can use Close Combat, Solar Blade, Psycho Cutter, and X-Scissors to deal with its weaknesses.

Both these Pokemon greatly benefit from switching to Tera Grass. Adding STAB to the powerful Grass moves they get access to will make for an unpleasant surprise for any Water, Rock, or Ground type that opponents bring out. With Ceruledge, it is suggested that the player also has Sunny Day to make quick work of opponents using Solar Blade.

Taking these factors into consideration, Ceruledge and Armarouge seem fairly well-matched against one another.

However, being slightly faster, having a better type combination, and a strong attack move that also heals, Ceruledge seems like the more self-sufficient solo fighter. In competitive double battles, however, things look much brighter for Armarouge.

With some support, Armarouge begins to outshine Ceruledge

Expanding Force is the key to Armarouge’s success

If Armarouge has support from a Pokemon that helps it by setting up Psychic Terrain and Trick Room, its strong attack moves can deal immense amounts of damage by taking out enemies with single moves.

In a Trick Room setup, Armarouge, being quite slow, would go first. The availability of Psychic Terrain would prevent super-effective priority moves like Phantom Force from hitting their mark. In addition, moves like STAB Psyshock and Expanding Force would hit harder with the terrain boost. The latter also hits both the enemy targets.

Armarouge’s best Terastallization options

Pokefans on the internet have come up with several Terastallization ideas for Armarouge.

Tera Grass is one of the more popular types though. It can make great use of both of Armarouge’s abilities, especially Flash Fire, and turn a weakness into an advantage instead.

A movepool that lets Armarouge play multiple roles while having a niche

Armarouge also has a decent movepool. It has access to Aura Sphere, Energy Ball, and Flash Cannon to deal with its type disadvantages.

It also has access to Trick Room and Wide Guard, which are great support moves, with the former being quite useful to Armarouge itself.

These reasons give the Fire/Psychic type the advantage in PvPs that follow the double battle format. It is safe to say for now that, despite being the weaker Pokemon in general, Armarouge is the stronger of the two when it has the right support.

While playing with Ceruledge during a run-through of the game might feel stronger, Armarouge comes out on top when it comes to coordinated PvP so far in the Generation IX games.

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