I must admit that tiering Pokemon in these games is much harder. Playing without Experience Share seems extremely annoying. On the other hand, using it allows me to steamroll through everything (except for a few later battles I guess). In my recent playthrough, I used 6 Pokemon with Exp. Share being turned on from Lana to the credits.
Litten - a really reliable Pokemon. It can deal with Totem Gumshoos even without Brick Break. Fire Fang on 14th level lets it hit quite hard on Akala. Not good against Lana but quite handy against Kiawe and Mallow. It can learn Leech Life and Bulk Up before Aether as well as Swords Dance after Aether. Lack of Brick Break and secondary STAB before Incineroar is a little disappointing but not that game-changing. After fully evolving, Litten can run a great selection of moves and destroy most of the enemies in Ula'ula. Its four weaknesses are not that noticeable until you get to E4 where Hala and Olivia pose a threat. A rank seems fair.
Grubbin - evolves too late into Charjabug and I had to rely on accuracy RNG from Mud Slap on Melemele. Thankfully, it gets better after evolving and getting good coverage (Bug Bite, Spark, Acrobatics and Bite is unresisted in-game). Charjabug's typing is great - only two weaknesses (rock and fire) which are not that common but make Akala a little harder. On Ula'ula, its neutral damage starts becoming insufficient rather quick (but its good coverage makes up for it a little). Its bulk is surprisingly good for a long period of time (especially with Eviolite). Vikavolt hits like a truck but you use it for one location and a few boss fights so it comes too late. D tier from me since Charjabug period is not as bad as it looks on paper but it turns some battles into slapfests.
Rockruff - disappointing at first. Being available after clearing Melemele is bad since you have to spend some time on getting Rockruff on a proper level. Only after that, it starts contributing to the team (yet not that much in early Akala). After evolving, it becomes monstrous - late Akala and early Ula'ula is where it shines. Great damage, good combination of STAB + Brick Break + Bulk Up/Swords Dance and advantageous typing against Sophocles. After that... it just exists. Lycanroc outspeeds everything and deals alright damage but relying on Rock Slide/Stone Edge is always irritating and you may not always survive buffing in boss battles. It's a perfect mid tier Pokemon with clear weaknesses (typing, movepool) and strengths (sweeping capabilities) so C tier.
Fomantis - this one is funny to me. It has some great utilities and possible strategies but so many of its crippling disadvantages make it bad. On Akala, the combination of Scope Lens and Razor Leaf (later Leaf Blade) gives it 50% chance to crit (100% with affection bonus) so it actually deals a good damage when it is not resisted. Sadly, its typing, lack of coverage and late evolution make it underpowered on the second island. On Ula'ula, Lurantis is bulky enough to run Synthesis, Swords Dance, Leaf Blade and coverage (Leech Life for example) with some success. I had like ~7 level advantage here due to Exp. Share so it pretty much had zero problems with clearing everything (even in bad match-ups). I imagine it may be hellish to use it without Exp. Share. Nothing changes later on. Guzma is a threat, Lusamine not as much. Type advantage against Olivia and type disadvantage against Kahili. Similar to Grubbin overall - D tier. Inefficient because the combination of bad typing and lack of speed makes it necessary to use Synthesis a lot. Still, it gets a job done a lot of the times. Bonus points for being A+ tier Pokemon catcher (False Swipe, Synthesis and Swords Dance).
Zygarde - comes late and a little underleveled (relatively to your team if you use Exp. Share) but starts with great IVs and amazing moves. Running Thousand Arrows, Rock Slide and Dragon Dance is enough to beat opponents. I've exclusively used 10% form for most of late Ula'ula and it had good damage. Bulk was tolerable but visibly lacking. It requires setting up to have a chance against Guzma. In lategame, Zygarde (still 10% btw) proves to be okay. Typing helps a lot since not that many opponents use fairy, dragon or ice moves (sadly, seventh trial and Lusamine do). Honestly, I didn't feel like I was using a legendary Pokemon. 50% would probably change it. Especially considering you can teach it Coil, Sleep Talk, Rest and Thousand Arrows to plow through Elite Four (except for Hala's Crabominable and Acerola's Froslass). I see that 10% form is placed in B tier. It's fine but I can see why someone would place it in C too. Comes late and is relatively frail.
Two side notes. Firstly, it is possible to get 50% form before Ula'ula Meadow but it requires backtracking. Secondly, steel/flying, electric/flying, fire/flying and poison/flying Pokemon are not hit super effectively by Thousand Arrows until the target is grounded. I wasn't aware of this until I slapped Skarmory for neutral damage.
Solgaleo - Nebby chews on enemies but those are not common after you acquire it. Great movepool and stats, underwhelming typing. Steel+Psychic is horrid offensively but, thankfully, half of Elite Four is weak to it. The other half can be dealt with after you teach it proper attacks. B tier. Would be higher but the game is borderline over when you get it.
Litten - a really reliable Pokemon. It can deal with Totem Gumshoos even without Brick Break. Fire Fang on 14th level lets it hit quite hard on Akala. Not good against Lana but quite handy against Kiawe and Mallow. It can learn Leech Life and Bulk Up before Aether as well as Swords Dance after Aether. Lack of Brick Break and secondary STAB before Incineroar is a little disappointing but not that game-changing. After fully evolving, Litten can run a great selection of moves and destroy most of the enemies in Ula'ula. Its four weaknesses are not that noticeable until you get to E4 where Hala and Olivia pose a threat. A rank seems fair.
Grubbin - evolves too late into Charjabug and I had to rely on accuracy RNG from Mud Slap on Melemele. Thankfully, it gets better after evolving and getting good coverage (Bug Bite, Spark, Acrobatics and Bite is unresisted in-game). Charjabug's typing is great - only two weaknesses (rock and fire) which are not that common but make Akala a little harder. On Ula'ula, its neutral damage starts becoming insufficient rather quick (but its good coverage makes up for it a little). Its bulk is surprisingly good for a long period of time (especially with Eviolite). Vikavolt hits like a truck but you use it for one location and a few boss fights so it comes too late. D tier from me since Charjabug period is not as bad as it looks on paper but it turns some battles into slapfests.
Rockruff - disappointing at first. Being available after clearing Melemele is bad since you have to spend some time on getting Rockruff on a proper level. Only after that, it starts contributing to the team (yet not that much in early Akala). After evolving, it becomes monstrous - late Akala and early Ula'ula is where it shines. Great damage, good combination of STAB + Brick Break + Bulk Up/Swords Dance and advantageous typing against Sophocles. After that... it just exists. Lycanroc outspeeds everything and deals alright damage but relying on Rock Slide/Stone Edge is always irritating and you may not always survive buffing in boss battles. It's a perfect mid tier Pokemon with clear weaknesses (typing, movepool) and strengths (sweeping capabilities) so C tier.
Fomantis - this one is funny to me. It has some great utilities and possible strategies but so many of its crippling disadvantages make it bad. On Akala, the combination of Scope Lens and Razor Leaf (later Leaf Blade) gives it 50% chance to crit (100% with affection bonus) so it actually deals a good damage when it is not resisted. Sadly, its typing, lack of coverage and late evolution make it underpowered on the second island. On Ula'ula, Lurantis is bulky enough to run Synthesis, Swords Dance, Leaf Blade and coverage (Leech Life for example) with some success. I had like ~7 level advantage here due to Exp. Share so it pretty much had zero problems with clearing everything (even in bad match-ups). I imagine it may be hellish to use it without Exp. Share. Nothing changes later on. Guzma is a threat, Lusamine not as much. Type advantage against Olivia and type disadvantage against Kahili. Similar to Grubbin overall - D tier. Inefficient because the combination of bad typing and lack of speed makes it necessary to use Synthesis a lot. Still, it gets a job done a lot of the times. Bonus points for being A+ tier Pokemon catcher (False Swipe, Synthesis and Swords Dance).
Zygarde - comes late and a little underleveled (relatively to your team if you use Exp. Share) but starts with great IVs and amazing moves. Running Thousand Arrows, Rock Slide and Dragon Dance is enough to beat opponents. I've exclusively used 10% form for most of late Ula'ula and it had good damage. Bulk was tolerable but visibly lacking. It requires setting up to have a chance against Guzma. In lategame, Zygarde (still 10% btw) proves to be okay. Typing helps a lot since not that many opponents use fairy, dragon or ice moves (sadly, seventh trial and Lusamine do). Honestly, I didn't feel like I was using a legendary Pokemon. 50% would probably change it. Especially considering you can teach it Coil, Sleep Talk, Rest and Thousand Arrows to plow through Elite Four (except for Hala's Crabominable and Acerola's Froslass). I see that 10% form is placed in B tier. It's fine but I can see why someone would place it in C too. Comes late and is relatively frail.
Two side notes. Firstly, it is possible to get 50% form before Ula'ula Meadow but it requires backtracking. Secondly, steel/flying, electric/flying, fire/flying and poison/flying Pokemon are not hit super effectively by Thousand Arrows until the target is grounded. I wasn't aware of this until I slapped Skarmory for neutral damage.
Solgaleo - Nebby chews on enemies but those are not common after you acquire it. Great movepool and stats, underwhelming typing. Steel+Psychic is horrid offensively but, thankfully, half of Elite Four is weak to it. The other half can be dealt with after you teach it proper attacks. B tier. Would be higher but the game is borderline over when you get it.
Last edited: