8. Bisharp
Bisharp was introduced to the Pokemon world in the most recent games. Another dual type Pokemon, Bisharp offers a Steel/Dark combination. This unique combination (shared only by its pre-evolution 'Pawniard') offers Bisharp a huge number of type resistances and also renders both Poison
and Psychic attacks useless against it. Bisharp is an all out offensive Pokemon with a huge Attack stat. As such, most of the moves it learns naturally are physical ones and mostly involve cutting or slashing. Its Speed stat is quite average, but it can make up for this by learning several moves that grant the user the certainty of attacking first. Bisharp also learns a number of moves that dramatically boost these Attack and Speed stats meaning that, if used early enough, it can launch quick and lethal assault on your foe's team. Bisharp's abilities are Defiant and Inner Focus, and both are useful in competitive battling. Defiant will raise Bisharp's Attack stat if any of its other stats are lowered by a foe's move. Inner Focus prevents flinching and so moves that would usually prevent it from attacking that turn will not do so. Moves that have the secondary effect of lowering a stat or making another Pokemon flinch in battle are very often employed competitively and so any ability that can counteract this is one worth having. Bisharp is perfect for a team built around brute strength and a quick offence. If you like your battles to be over swiftly then a deadly attacker like Bisharp could be ideal.