Pokémon Scarlet & Violet: Why is everyone talking about Tinkaton?

TINKATON is one of the new Pokémon introduced in Generation 9, and fans have been instantly drawn to her.

Not only because she looks like Sonic’s Amy Rose, or because her hammer is made out of dead Corviknight, but because she’s so badass.

When you look at Tinkaton’s stats she’s rather middling, with nothing standing out.

Here’s why everyone is talking about Tinkaton from Pokémon Scarlet and Violet.

Pokémon Scarlet & Violet: How to catch Tinkaton

There is no way to catch Tinkaton in the wild, though it is possible to find them in five- and six-star raids.

The easiest way though is to catch Tinkatink or Tinkatuff and evolve them. 

Tinkatink is more common and can be found in East Province Area Two, West Province Area One, South Province Areas Two and Three, and in the Asado Desert.

It evolves into Tinkatuff at level 24, and then Tinkaton at level 38.

Pokémon Scarlet & Violet: What ability should Tinkaton have?

Tinkaton can have three different abilities, all of which have their own advantages.

Mold Breaker, stops secondary effects from moves, which can be helpful at preventing nasty status conditions such as burn, which drops attack by 50%, and also blocks other stat drops.

This is probably the best ability for casual players, and has its utility in competitive too.

Own Tempo, prevents confusion and stops Intimidate. In competitive, this is very important as Intimidate users are very common.

Usually you would want physical attackers like Tinkaton to avoid confusion at all costs, but her attack is actually relatively low at 75, and she has decent defences.

Finally, the ability Pickpocket steals an item on contact. As most of Tinkaton’s moves are contact, this one can be useful for alleviating opponents of their needed items.

This is another competitive strategy, as wilds and NPCs don’t have items, and it also prevents you from carrying your own bespoke item.

However, as Tinkaton also learns Knock Off, Pickpocket isn’t the best ability.

Pokémon Scarlet and Violet: Why are people using Tinkaton?

You wouldn’t think a physical attacker with a very underwhelming 75 attack stat would be that interesting, but Tinkaton is useful for a number of reasons.

Firstly, she has a great typing, as both Fairy- and Steel-type are the best two types in the game.

She is only threatened by Fire- and Ground-type attacks, while having a whopping nine resistances and two immunities.

Tinkaton also receives a number of amazing support moves aside from her decent bulk.

Baby-Doll Eyes, is a priority move that lowers attack, Fake Out prevents opponents from making the first move, and Knock Off removes their important items.

Other moves like Thunder Wave, Brick Break, Helping Hand, Protect, Reflect, Stealth Rocks and Light Screen can all be helpful in a supporting role.

If Tinkaton needs to attack, she has the perfect move for this – Gigaton Hammer.

This is her signature move, and it has a massive 160 base attack to make up for her poor offensive skills.

The only drawback is that it can’t be used twice in a row, which isn’t really a problem with so many other great moves.

Written by Georgina Young on behalf of GLHF.