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The Dream World is arguably the biggest addition to the Pokémon world in the 5th generation, at least on a competitive side of things that is.

For those that don’t know the Dream World is a feature of Pokémon Black and White that allows for players to send a Pokémon onto the internet (via the Pokémon Global Link website) where they can then obtain items and meet other Pokémon.

While the casual player probably won’t find that much extensive use of it, those who participate in competitive battles are relishing the moment that the Dream World goes properly live (IIRC at the moment it’s delayed due to natural disasters in Japan). Why? Because a lot of Pokémon are going to be given ‘Hidden Abilities’, meaning that on competitively they may seem a more viable option and this article will look into are arguably the top five Pokémon might just be saved competitively.

PICTURE – Blaziken

Maybe saved isn’t the right word for this Pokémon, considering the recent banning it’s received from Smogon, but that certainly makes it the biggest Pokémon to benefit from the Dream World ability. The ability it received – Speed Boost.

This ability means the user gains a level in Speed at the end of every turn. Coupling this with Swords Dance and Baton Pass* has led to Blaziken jumping from Under Used (UU) to Ubers – meaning he’s banned from normal competitive play by Smogon rules. While this is a heavily debateable action – it certainly shows the effect that Dream World abilities can have.

PICTURE – Politoed and Ninetales

These two Pokémon are listed together for a reason. The reason being they’ve been given Drizzle and Drought respectively. What these abilities do is that they active Rain and Sun automatically, ridding teams for the need of a Pokémon with Rain Dance or Sunny Day.

While Politoed’s usage may have dropped a little since the Drizzle + Swift Swim ban, they’ve both shot up from Never Used (NU) to the top of Over Used (OU) with some even saying they should be Ubers due to their effect on the metagame. These two Pokémon have totally been saved by their Dream World ability – otherwise they’d be likely to slip further down in the NU tier.

PICTURE – Espeon

Espeon is another Pokémon who before this generation was lumbering around in the NU tier, constantly denied from being any higher due to the superior Alakazam. It had no niche and no real reason for use. Now that’s all changed thanks to Magic Bounce.

Magic Bounce works like Magic Coat in that in bounces back entry hazards, Taunts, stat reducing moves and status ailment moves like Toxic and Thunder Wave but it does this automatically. Which means if you run a Pokémon like Skarmory – Espeon is now a legit counter to it with its ability and its Special Attack power. Also, with the new move Psyshock, Espeon also checks Blissey; truly it’s reached its potential.

Diehard Espeon users will cherish Gen V.

PICTURE – Ditto

The little blob that never could… until Generation V. Up until this point, Ditto was one of the worst Pokémon in the competitive, you could pull off a sweep with a Caterpie or Magikarp before you could think of pulling off a sweep with this thing, other than being used to Pokémon reproduction, this Pokémon sucked… then in the Dream World it discovered something…

The ability – Imposter. Imposter lets Ditto immediately transform into the opposition Pokémon, letting it copy all the moves and EVs (except HP) of the other Pokémon. It also copies ANY stat changes meaning that if you use a Choice Scarf, another Pokémon can be +6 setup and you bring in Ditto to destroy the rest of their team.

Now it’s gone from looking like a cousin of the Chu-Chu to being the little blob that can…

That finishes off the top five Pokémon that I think will benefit greatly from the introduction of the Dream World but I would like to give an honourable mention to Exeggutor (Harvest) and Venusaur (Chlorophyll) who the latter is now usually seen teaming up with the previously mentioned Ninetales.

Anyway, that’s just my thoughts on this matter. Which Pokémon do you think will/have been boosted by the introduction of these new abilities? Either leave a comment below or join the forums where we have a vibrant Pokémon battling community and enjoy such discussions.

Thanks for reading.

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