POTW Pokémon of the Week #56: Sableye

Maniacal Engineer · Aug 12, 2017

In the World of Pokémon, there lives a vast number and variety of amazing creatures to befriend and collect. Every week, we will be focusing on a single one of these Pokémon or evolutionary line and talking about what makes it special. This week, in honor of the upcoming anniversary of the Kelly-Hopkinsville Encounter, we will be looking at the Pokémon Sableye.

Based on the artist's rendition of the so-called Hopkinsville Goblin, Sableye is a ghoulish looking creature with giant glowing eyes that prefers to lurk in dark caves and enjoys pulling pranks on unsuspecting passersby. Debuting in Gen III, it should come as no surprise that the gemstones on Sableye's body are a ruby, a sapphire, and an emerald, even though it was not available in Ruby or its remake Omega Ruby.

First appearing in the Advanced Generation episode Ready, Willing, and Sableye, this crafty critter lived up to its reputation as a prankster, as it repeatedly startling and pulling practical joke both on Ash and Co. and Team Rocket. Another Team Rocket member, Cassidy, is revealed to own a Sableye in the episode Oaknapped, and multiple Sableye appeared in Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Sky - Beyond Time & Darkness attempting to stop Team Poképals from boarding the Rainbow Stoneship. Sableye's most recent major appearance was in the episode Cloudy Fate, Bright Future! where Carrie used it to battle Ash, but Sableye has been popping up regularly in the Sun & Moon anime.

Sableye has appeared a few times in the Pokémon Adventures Manga, most notable attacking Wally in the Sky Pillar and later under the ownership of Galactic Commander Jupiter, who sends it out along with her Gastrodon and Tangrowth to attack Platinum, Candice, and Maylene when they arrive at Lake Acuity. In the Pokémon Ruby-Sapphire Manga, it appears under the ownership of Brawly, and is his only known Pokémon. While this makes sense geographically, since Sableye is found on Dewford Island, it does not make sense type-wise, since Brawly is a Fighting type specialist, and Sableye is a Dark/Ghost type, notably immune to Fighting type moves.

In the games, Sableye can be found fairly early on in the Granite Cave on Dewford Island in Sapphire, Emerald, and Alpha Sapphire, though it can also be found later on in the Cave of Origin and the Sky Pillar. In Sapphire and Emerald, it can be used against Brawly with complete immunity to all of his attacking moves. It also appears with the Sapphire cartridge as a dongle on Iron Island in Diamond, Pearl, and Platinum, and it appears in the Challenger's Cave in Black and White. It can be found in the Reflection Cave in X and Y, and Ten Carat Hill and in the Vast Poni Canyon in Sun and Moon, the latter of which is in SOS Battles with Carbink. In those SOS battles, it will attack Carbink, attempting to steal the gems from it. These locations all reflect Sableye's love of dark places and/or its appreciation for jewels and gemstones. Starting in Gen V, it also has priority Mean Look, for dealing with Roaming Legendaries.

Sableye is certainly an interesting Pokémon competitively. Although its 380 base stat total doesn't seem very impressive, it gained the Hidden Ability Prankster in Gen V, allowing it to gain priority when using moves like Will-O-Wisp, Taunt, or Calm Mind. Gen VI blessed Sableye with a Mega Evolution which, though slow with only 20 base Speed, its defensive stats go ridiculously high and it gains the ability Magic Bounce. Although it loses out on priority Will-O-Wisp, it has a high longevity thanks to moves like Calm Mind and Recover. Its offensive stats also receive a much needed boost, though even so moves like Shadow Ball, Dark Pulse, Brick Break, Zen Headbutt, and Knock Off won't be doing a ridiculously large amount of damage. Sableye is meant to be a stalling Pokémon that uses its high defenses, immunity to all indirect forms of damage, and access to recovery and stat inflicting moves to whittle down its opponents. Helping out its immense bulk is the fact that Sableye only has one weakness, Fairy types. Prior to Gen VI, Sableye had no weaknesses, leading to a very common form of Hackémon being a Sableye with the Wonder Guard ability. This Hackémon, known as Wondereye, was effectively invincible since Wonder Guard blocks out all non-super effective moves and Sableye has no weaknesses.

Here are some questions to consider to get conversation rolling. You don't have to answer all of them or any of them in your post as long as you're staying on topic and within global forum rules.

Do you like or dislike this Pokémon? Why?
How is this Pokémon in-game?
How is this Pokémon in competitive play? Are there any interesting strategies you like to use for them?
Do you like this Pokémon's representation in the anime? Are there any moments or qualities in particular you enjoy/dislike?
How do you think this Pokémon would interact with our world?
If given the power to, would you change anything about this Pokémon and if so, what would you change?
How does Sableye compare to Spritomb, the other Dark/Ghost type?
How do you feel about Pokémon with no weaknesses?
How does Sableye compare to Mawile, its game exclusive counterpart?
Should Sableye receive a regular evolution?
What do you think about Pokémon with no evolutionary relatives?

Thanks to @Neosquid for suggesting this Pokémon of the Week!

Previous Pokémon of the Week:

Rainami · Aug 12, 2017

sabae is literally my favorite pokemon and I don't know what I'd do without it. It's based on such a cool alien encounter and is a ghost-type, tied with water for my favorite pokemon type. Dark, Psychic, and Rock types are cool too. It also has such personality, and I miss its animations from colosseum/XD/PBR. I also tend to love anything related to crystals. Starmie and m-diancie are both lovely, and gigalith is okay too. I really like my shiny gigalith. Diamonds are a girl's best friend, you could say.

I slightly prefer base form to mega nowadays, but mega is still great. Though I think I like m-sharpedo more...ah well. I'm happy the mega is a very useful pokemon in competitive, and the base form is still usable with the right team support.

fuck the burn and prankster nerf

Cilantro · Aug 12, 2017

Do you like or dislike this Pokémon? Why?

Every one of you know just how much I love this baby.

How is this Pokémon in-game?

Playthrough-wise, it isn't the best, although it is incredible in online competitive

How is this Pokémon in competitive play? Are there any interesting strategies you like to use for them?

In competitive, Sableye is an absolute nuisance. It's high defensive stats, wide movepool, and ability contributed to it being ranked in Ubers towards the end of gen VI

Do you like this Pokémon's representation in the anime? Are there any moments or qualities in particular you enjoy/dislike?

I've rarely seen Sableye in the anime, but I appreciate the attention towards it's prankster personality.

How do you think this Pokémon would interact with our world?

It would be seen as a cryptid or urban legend.

If given the power to, would you change anything about this Pokémon and if so, what would you change?

SABLEYE IS PERFECT AND I WOULD NEVER CHANGE MY BABY

How does Sableye compare to Spritomb, the other Dark/Ghost type?

While Spiritomb is another interesting pokemon, Sableye takes the cake for greatest Dark/Ghost

How do you feel about Pokémon with no weaknesses?

I think an absence of weaknesses gave a bit of individuality to Sableye, which was otherwise a filler pokemon

How does Sableye compare to Mawile, its game exclusive counterpart?

Mawile's cool but i like the rock demon better.

Should Sableye receive a regular evolution?

No.

What do you think about Pokémon with no evolutionary relatives?

They're usually pretty cool and complete, and when they seemed unfinished GameFreak usually gives them a mega

Zexy · Aug 12, 2017

Do you like or dislike this Pokémon? Why?
Like. Nice concept and design for regular and Mega, no weaknesses before Fairy-type was introduced.
How is this Pokémon in-game?
Very good in Sapphire/Emerald, you get it just in time for it to completely counter Brawly and it can also do so with Norman. It has no weaknesses for the entire game, the only problem is it may start falling behind later because it cannot evolve. It took quite a nerf in AS since you can't get it before Brawly and it now does have a Fairy weakness, but at least it's still good against Norman and there aren't too many Fairy-types around.
How is this Pokémon in competitive play? Are there any interesting strategies you like to use for them?
Mega Sableye is great to use yourself but a pain to deal with, I really dislike playing against stall and it is like the epitome of stall. Magic Bounce is a really annoying ability by itself, and Prankster sheaningans/Taunt etc. isn't helping.
Do you like this Pokémon's representation in the anime? Are there any moments or qualities in particular you enjoy/dislike?
I don't remember any appearance of it. Which is rare for me to not remember a single one.
How do you think this Pokémon would interact with our world?
People would be afraid of it, a few would be fascinated by how it had no weaknesses for a while though.
If given the power to, would you change anything about this Pokémon and if so, what would you change?
Better defensive stats, typing and abilities are great, moveset is OK.
How does Sableye compare to Spritomb, the other Dark/Ghost type?
In-game Spiritomb feels stronger. But in competitive, even if you use a Prankster non-Mega variant, Sableye is better than Spiritomb in any way I can think of.
How do you feel about Pokémon with no weaknesses?
It was really cool while it lasted. Hey, at least we still have the Tynamo line ~~please make it a PotW sometime~~
How does Sableye compare to Mawile, its game exclusive counterpart?
Up until Gen 6 I always thought Sableye was better, even though Mawile was the first pure Steel-type at the time. It was also yet another reason I preferred Sapphire over Ruby, and the two never really felt like counterparts to me, they were just too different.
But then Gen 6 hit us; Sableye got one weakness, the Fairy-type. And Mawile got that exact type retconned into it, then they both got a really great Mega each. So now we have Mega Mawile the hard hitter VS Mega Sableye the great defender, with abilities that reflect that quite nicely and Mawile's typing was now matching to be strong against Sableye's in what made me think of another Zangoose/Seviper analogy but done much better.
Should Sableye receive a regular evolution?
It received a Mega now so that shouldn't ever happen.
What do you think about Pokémon with no evolutionary relatives?
Some of them I do like, others I don't. Sableye falls in the first category, and Mega Evolution kinda remedied the problem.

Nicolas721 · Aug 12, 2017

What I like about Sableye it's how unique he is. Even without his type, he's a shadow goblin that has an affinity for gems and shiny things, so much that they are literally his eyes! His Mega is OK, I was expecting something bigger, but the idea of a small-sized Mega is good and the idea of a mirror shield is awesome.

I'm not mad that he's used in many in-game caves, as it's a nice break from Zubat.

noworry · Aug 13, 2017

Do you like or dislike this Pokémon? Why?
I like this pokémon a lot. I think ghosts are cool, and it has gems as eyes. It's just.. a solid design.

How is this Pokémon in-game?
I used one in Alpha Sapphire, and while it didn't sweep too much, it still managed to hold its own in battle.

How is this Pokémon in competitive play? Are there any interesting strategies you like to use for them?
It's better in competetive, because of all the stalling you're able to do. Especially with the mega. I don't use it to much myself though.

Do you like this Pokémon's representation in the anime? Are there any moments or qualities in particular you enjoy/dislike?
I can't think of any episodes I've seen with Sableye, actually.

How do you think this Pokémon would interact with our world?
Considering its .. well, inspiration, which is goblins, I don't think I want to find out, because I find those things.. creepy.

If given the power to, would you change anything about this Pokémon and if so, what would you change?
Can't think of anything I'd change, really.

How does Sableye compare to Spritomb, the other Dark/Ghost type?
I don't really like Spiritomb that much, and they're both slow pokémon you'd use for stall. I feel like Sableye fills this role better, as it gets Prankster and Magic Bounce, as well as Recover.

How do you feel about Pokémon with no weaknesses?
Depends on what pokémon it is. Elektross isn't too bulky, so you don't really have any problems with taking it down anyway. Sableye and Spiritomb now have Fairy. If a really bulky one got no weaknesses, I would be somewhat bitter, I think.

How does Sableye compare to Mawile, its game exclusive counterpart?
I like both Sableye and Mawile, but I've actually used Mawile more competitivly. Mawile is more offensive, and I'm not a fan of stalling.

Should Sableye receive a regular evolution?
No, I don't see why it should. It works pretty well both mega-evolved and alone.

What do you think about Pokémon with no evolutionary relatives?
I've heard that it makes them more forgetable, but I think think so. A lot of my favourites fall into that category.

ocelotlrama jaguar · Aug 13, 2017

Sableye is awesome. I love him because he reminds me of a gem-eyed Stitch. His unique type-combination at the time made him one of the most unique Pokemon until Spiritomb came along. Sableye >>>> Spiritomb. In-game, it's a lot of fun to use, especially back when it had no weaknesses. Thanks to the Fairy-type, it is no longer invulnerable to Super Effective damage, but hey, it's more than what I could say for something Uber like the Dragon-type, which has a ton of weaknesses. Competitively, even without the Mega form, it still has a few tricks up its sleave that can cause frustration on the opponents side. Prankster Sableye is nothing to mess around with, despite that stupid and unnecessary nerf. I actually prefer it over Mega Sableye, even with those massive defenses. If only Mega Sableye had Prankster...

Unfortunately, I never saw any episodes in the anime that featured Sableye.

Sableye would be a prankish little imp in the real world. People would fear it, but I doubt it would be anything worse than that- a prankster. Also, I see jewelry store owners hating this thing.

There isn't much I would change. Despite my previous complaint, I think giving Mega Sableye the Prankster ability would break it a bit, even with the Gen VII nerfing. Maybe allow it to learn Trick Room? That would be a nice change.

As mentioned before, I prefer Sableye to Spiritomb. I hate Spiritomb because of its design (though the shiny is pretty) and while it is more useful stats-wise than Sableye, I'd go with Mega Sableye to make use of better defense stats before I'd ever used Spiritomb.

Pokemon with no weaknesses was a nice gimmick, but Spiritomb was a pain in the ass when it came to this. Sableye was fun and fairly balanced to make the lack of weaknesses counted where it did. Sableye was a gimmick, but a fun gimmick.

Both Sableye and Mawile were really nothing too special back in the Generation III days due to their mediocre stats (they became a lot more useful once Hidden Abilities became a thing), but Mawile became a lot more useful with its Mega Evolution compared to Sableye thanks to fucking Huge Power. That thing in a Trick Room environment spells trouble. Even before it Mega Evolves, it has access to Intimidate, which is excellent. Sableye has Keen Eye and Stall, nothing special compared to Prankster.

I would love to see Mawile get a regular evolution that looks cool. There was an image I saw not too long ago of a fanmon regular evolution for Sableye that made it look like a werewolf/goblin. What I would give to have that come to reality. Regardless, Sableye is cute on its own and as a Mega Evolution. If he doesn't get a regular evolution, that's no loss.

Pokemon with no evolutionary relatives are fine by me. Sometimes they give Pokemon an evolution that's not only unnecessary but friging ugly, like Lickilicky. I can't STAND that thing and I would hate to gamble with a Pokemon that's awesome-looking and made into something ugly. Of course something cool can come out from this, like the fanmon I mentioned, but I don't trust Game Freak with that job if someone out there created something like Lickilicky and Tangrowth. Sometimes things are better left untouched.

Sablaireau · Aug 15, 2017

Ah Sableye, the (former) backbone of stall. Banned in late ORAS due to how dominant stall was, although most would tell you Dugtrio was the true problem with stall. Anyway, Mega Sableye is a bit lackluster nowadays. It lets in Zard Y for free, is demolished by Specs Lele, and gives SubToxic Heatran free subs. It has gotten to the point where the best stall team and one most often spammed, ilikepinkmons stall, doesn't even use Sableye. This thing was pretty annoying when hazard removal was trash and good offensive fairies were few and far between, but it has not adapted well at all to the new meta.

As for noncompetitive stuff, it's a pretty neat mon, though I prefer Spiritomb myself. Its low stats make it not very useful ingame, though. Mawile is probably the better of the two counterparts, in my opinion.

Also, thank Arceus for the prankster nerf. Swagplay shall never come back again.

Zeb · May 6, 2018

Sableye is such an endearing little critter. From its trance-like movements and twitchy responses, to its obsession with gems (poor Carbink), it's characterized incredibly and uniquely well in a series that has over 800 different creatures. Even its Mega does similarly, with it not just being Sableye itself that changes (see: every single fake Mega Sableye out there), but also the gem itself becoming the main focus of its design, and having Sableye peer around it. It's unique and memorable. While I've always prefered Mawile over it, that's no slight on Sableye, both are top tier in my eyes, and, similar to Glalie, show how monster designs are great.

Prankster nerf is a shame, since before that happened Sableye was huge proof that stats weren't the only factor in how useful a Pokemon could be, its BST is almost as low as the likes of Beedrill, Ledian, etc, yet it was perfectly usable thanks to combination of typing, ability and movepool. Sadly, the Prankster nerf this generation hit it pretty hard, since it's less equipped to deal with Dark-types switching in on it, thanks to it being a Ghost/Dark type itself, and also means it can't at least just burn everything since it will fail on Dark-types. Also I just really like when tiny things are strong, it has the whole "don't underestimate it" angle - it's one reason why I really like Kartana, it's so strong but at the same time it's absolutely tiny. So it's a shame we've kinda lost another of the "tiny but strong" gang.

I haven't used it in a playthrough since I was a younger playing Gen 3 - I had one called Hugo, and I remember it being pretty decent until the late parts of the game where it dropped off. I've been meaning to use one again in a playthrough, especially with DexNav or SOS battles, since Prankster is available (DexNav also gets you Recover if you're lucky), so maybe I will replay ORAS and use one again.

Camille · May 7, 2018

I quite like Sableye, both for its movepool and Prankster. It is much cooler-looking than Spiritomb, although I like it, too. In the Generation III games, they tended to be annoying to face in the wild, thanks to moves like Detect, Confuse Ray, and Fake Out. I also like the Mega, even if it still doesn't hit that hard and becomes even slower. It is pretty amazing Sableye actually has the gemstones that correspond the game titles of its debut generation on its body. I guess Stall is kind of an odd ability for it, but I don't know it needs any actual changes.

POTW Pokémon of the Week #56: Sableye

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Maniacal Engineer

Mushy Emotionalist

Rainami

beseech the stars

Cilantro

Well-Known Member

Zexy

Quaxly Boy

Nicolas721

Well-Known Member

noworry

⋆⋅☆SᴛᴀR☆⋅⋆

ocelotlrama jaguar

Fluffy with 80% more spots!

Sablaireau

New User?

Zeb

what is your spaghetti policy here?

Camille

Call of Fate

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