It’s hard to think about improving on Salamence, but Game Freak managed to do it with Roaring Moon. Now, instead of enormous Attack and a decent Speed stat, Roaring Moon get enormous Attack and Speed. If it manages to get one Dragon Dance in safely, there aren’t too many answers to Roaring Moon.

Best build for Roaring Moon in Pokemon Scarlet & Violet

  • Dragon Dance Dragon Claw Crunch Earthquake

There are only three Pokémon that could possibly outspeed Roaring Moon after a Dragon Dance: Scarf Meowscarada, Scarf Dragapult, and Scarf Chien Pao. Fortunately, those Pokémon don’t run Choice Scarf too often, which allows Roaring Moon to mow through many matchups.

Crunch is the best move to spam on this set, since it can get Defense drops on walls like Corviknight and Great Tusk. Dragon Claw is another easily spammable move. Earthquake is there for Fairies who resist Dark and Dragon.

Some people may wonder why not put Iron Head, since it hits Fairy for Super Effective damage. Well, most of the Fairies in usage get KO’ed by a +1 Earthquake anyways (Iron Valiant, Tinkaton, Hatterene, etc.). The one exception to this, Azumarill, doesn’t get KO’ed from Iron Head anyways.

As for item, Roaring Moon is very flexible. Leftovers gives it recovery for damage it takes while Dragon Dancing. Lum Berry lets it recover from burns from the likes of Torkoal and Rotom-Wash. Dragon Fang grants it a really powerful Dragon Claw, and Yache Berry can help it live Ice Fangs from Chien Pao.

What are the best counters to Roaring Moon in Pokemon Scarlet & Violet?

Since it’s so fast after a Dragon Dance, there isn’t too much sense in offensively checking Roaring Moon. The best tool for this role would be Scarf Chein Pao, which is viable, but not too common. It’s more likely that trainers would check Roaring Moon defensively. In that case, they should look to use one of these walls:

  • Great Tusk Corviknight Physical Defensive Scream Tail Amoonguss Gastrodon

Want more Pokémon Scarlet & Violet guides? Check out Best movesets for Gholdengo in Pokémon Scarlet & Violet here at Pro Game Guides!