Ok, we need to come up with a moveset for Pikachu, one for Eevee, and one for Jigglypuff. Unlike Squirtle, Ivysaur, and Charizard, here it is a bit harder to come up with a speedy/balanced/powerhouse kind of trio. So my general approach is as follows:
- Pikachu is the balanced member of the trio, but it is also the fastest one when it comes to movement speed. It would be the most rushdown Pokemon in this array and it would feel somewhat similar to his current Smash self, perhaps a teeny tiny slower and heavier but more powerful for balancing purposes.
- Eevee is actually the stronger one of the trio, although its strength is a very far cry from Bowser's or DK's. However, its speed would be much higher than these two heavyweights as well. All in all, Pokémon Trainer lacks a true powerhouse, as Eevee's damage output would be somewhat on the same level of Pit in OT Ultimate. So nothing to write home about, but not too poor either. It would also be the heaviest member in the trio and its running speed, while better than Jigglypuff's, would be below Pikachu's.
- Jigglypuff retains its tremendously polarized playstyle: overbearing in midair, but extremely poor on the ground. It would still be a very lightweight character and its general physics wouldn't change much.
Now, for character specific movesets:
PIKACHU
I am only listing the moves I'd change from OT
Ultimate Pikachu, for simplicity sake.
- Jab: Pikachu now has a three-hit combo jab: a one-two punch followed by a roundhouse kick. I think it does something similar in Pokkén Tournament, otherwise this is just me wishing to see Pikachu performing a roundhouse kick.
- Dash attack: It would remain kind of similar to its current dash attack, but it would also add some electricity to the mix. This in turn greatly changes its properties, since it now becomes a multi-hit attack with slightly higher damage output than its Ultimate counterpart.
- Forward Smash: The main concept remains the same, but now Pikachu stands on all four while performing the attack and it creates a visible arc in electricity. The overall use cases should not change much, but it now more faithfully resembles Pikachu performing special moves as seen in Pokémon games from X and Y onward, as well as Pikachu using Thunderbolt in the anime. Its range is expanded a bit: after all, in this trio, we only have small fighters, so I guess that, for variety sake, we could add one move with more range.
- Down Smash: Pikachu releases a single, powerful electric shockwave around its body that sends opponents far away. This new move is now inspired by the Pokémon move Discharge and it is a single hit rather than a multi-hit, trading off some damage output for KO power and reliability.
- Back aerial: Pikachu performs a powerful backward kick. If it sounds familiar, it is because it is Pikachu's back aerial from Smash 64.
- Down aerial: Remove the spike from this attack. I don't want to give Pikachu another aerial KOing tool (other than its new back aerial), not to overlap too heavily with Eevee and Jigglypuff.
- Neutral Special -- Thunder Wave: Picture the eponymous custom move from Smash 4. It deals low damage but it stuns opponents at high percentages (not at low percentages, though: stun could work like ice). This would emphasize Pikachu's status as a rushdown-type of fighter. Stunning opponents with their Neutral Specials is a common theme which I wanted to keep, with various degrees, with these three Pokémon.
- Side Special -- Volt Switch: Pikachu backflips in midair, jumping diagonally backwards, and launches an electric zap while doing so. A very unique attack, since it propels Pikachu in the opposite direction compared to the one it was facing. The electric zap is not too powerful, but it can disrupt enemy approaches. This attack is meant to be used like Volt Switch in the Pokémon games, as a positioning and retreating tool. After being used, Pikachu is left in midair and it can attack and move freely, but it cannot perform Volt Switch unless it lands on the ground. If it is used in midair, however, it will launch Pikachu mostly horizontally forward and Pikachu zaps where it was, making it a good recovery tool too.
- Up Special -- Spark: Pikachu dashes upwards covering itself in electricity. It is kind of similar to Fire Fox or Fire Bird, but it is much faster and it travels a greater distance. Much like these moves, it can be aimed. I don't necessarily think that all of Pikachu's moves should be electricity-themed, but at least his specials should, in my opinion.
After all, it is Pikachu's only unique attribute.
- Down Special -- Pokémon Switch: Switch out Pikachu for Eevee. Removing Thunder hurt, but I think that it is a bit better to have transformation moves being mapped to Down Special instead of, say, Shield Special because transformation characters, if done properly, are at a huge advantage compared to other fighters, so we should at least remove one of their attack to account for their added flexibility.
EEVEE
Unlike with Pikachu, for Eevee I had to make up all of the moveset from scratch.
GROUND ATTACKS
- Jab: Eevee hits forward with its left paw, then it spins and hits with the tail, and ends off with a double kick with its back legs.
- Side tilt: Eevee pivots on its front legs and sweeps its tail forward. A deceptively powerful attack, it can be aimed up or down and it KOs very early for its quite high speed.
- Up tilt: Eevee stands on its back legs and headbutts upwards.
- Down tilt: Eevee slides forward while crouching. It is also a pseudo-crawl attack!
- Dash attack: Eevee happily hops forward while hitting with its whole body. Again, a deceptively strong attack, especially if one takes into account its wholesome animation.
SMASH ATTACKS
For Eevee's Smash attacks, I wanted to reference the OG Eeveelutions: Vaporeon, Flareon, and Jolteon, using their inspired moves from
Pokémon Let's Go Eevee.
- Side Smash: Eevee cloaks itself in fire and dashes forward at a short distance (similar to Wario's Side Smash in Brawl, as a reference point). This attack is very powerful, especially coming from a small fighter like Eevee and, uniquely, the more the attack is charged the farther Eevee will dash. It is based on the move Sizzly Slide.
- Up Smash: Eevee summons a lightning, hitting above in a multi-hit attack at a short distance. Due to its multi-hit nature, it is a bit unreliable, but it can KO somewhat early. It is based on the move Buzzy Buzz.
- Down Smash: Eevee summons two water bubbles, one in front of it and the other behind, which immediately explode. It is based on the move Bouncy Bubble.
AERIAL ATTACKS
- Neutral aerial: Eevee curls up and spins 360˚. It is somewhat similar to Pikachu's neutral aerial from Melee to Smash 4, but Eevee takes a moment to start attacking and it deals much more knockback at the very beginning of the attack, essentially trading speed for power. I swear there was an attack with similar properties in Smash, but I can't seem to remember it right now.
- Forward aerial: Eevee sweeps its tail forward in a horizontal swing. Somewhat uniquely, this is Eevee's premiere KOing aerial tool instead of back aerial. This was meant to further differentiate Eevee from Pikachu and Jigglypuff, whose back aerial are actually stronger KOing tools.
- Back aerial: Eevee swings its tail in an upwards arc, covering a decent arc behind it.
- Up aerial: Eevee swings its tail in a wide arc above it, starting from behind.
- Down aerial: Eevee spins diagonally and hits below it using its tail. The sweetspot of the attack is a powerful spike, but it is overall a slow move.
GRAB AND THROWS
- Grab: Eevee grabs opponents by biting them and holding with its front paws.
- Pummel: Eevee chews the opponent.
- Forward throw: Eevee headbutts the opponent, launching them forward.
- Back throw: Eevee kicks the opponent back using its back legs, launching the opponent diagonally upwards.
- Up throw: Eevee lies on its back and tosses the opponent up using its four legs.
- Down throw: Eevee slams the opponent on the ground, launching them diagonally upwards.
SPECIAL MOVES
- Neutral Special -- Sand Attack: Eevee steps on the ground in front of it and launches a cloud of sand forward. This attack is quite short range and it deals almost no damage, but it stuns opponents, leaving them vulnerable to Eevee's attacks.
- Side Special -- Covet: Eevee dashes forward a short distance, hitting opponents and launching them upwards with almost fixed knockback. Despite its seemingly scarce use cases, this attack has a unique property: if it hits an opponent who's holding an item, then Eevee will snatch it.
- Up Special -- Last Resort: Eevee performs a very high jump upwards, then it is left helpless falling down (hence why I chose Last Resort). It is a very powerful vertical recovery tool, but it lacks flexibility otherwise. Its power is also quite underwhelming, except for the very beginning which deals high damage and knockback (picture Dr. Mario's Up Special as a reference).
- Down Special -- Pokémon Switch: Switch out Eevee for Jigglypuff.
JIGGLYPUFF
Yet again, for Jigglypuff I am only listing the moves I'd change from its OT
Smash Ultimate incarnation.
- Dash attack: Jigglypuff rolls on the ground, hitting opponents multiple times. It is based on the move Rollout which, predictably, I am removing from its moveset.
- Forward Smash: This is where I'd move Pound. Animation-wise, it is a hilarious move to throw here. I know that removing Pound from its Side Special is most likely a nerf but (quote) "it's a sacrifice I am willing to make".
- Neutral Special -- Sing: Yep, I moved Sing from Up to Neutral Special. It fits better both the move slot and the common theme of "stunning opponents with Neutral Special" this Trainer has going on.
- Side Special -- Play Rough: Jigglypuff pounces forward at a rather short distance. If this move connects with an opponent, then it creates a cartoon fighting dust cloud (come on you know the one), after which the opponent is launched away. It can also be used as a horizontal recovery tool, meaning that Pound's utility is not completely lost.
- Up Special -- Bounce: Jigglypuff curls in a ball and jumps upwards, before dropping down. Unlike most moves of this category, the descent for this one can be cancelled and, regardless, Jigglypuff can steer sideways quite smoothly even while falling. If opponents are hit by Jigglypuff as it falls, then they are launched sideways, but if they are hit at the very beginning of Jigglypuff's descent, they will be spiked instead. If this move lands on the ground, it creates a shockwave and Jigglypuff bounces back in midair, able to act, about at the same height of a full hop.
Final Smash -- Hyper Beam: For its Final Smash, Pokémon Trainer throws all their Poké Balls on stage. Pikachu, Eevee, and Jigglypuff appear, but among them towers a fourth, "secret" Pokémon, Dragonite. Dragonite is actually the one performing the move Hyper Beam, releasing a powerful, well, beam of energy forward, while Pikachu, Eevee, and Jigglypuff cheer on the side. Don't ask me why the Trainer doesn't use Dragonite in their normal moveset. Jokes aside, I just wanted to reference Gen 1 pseudo-legendary and one of its most iconic and powerful moves, Hyper Beam.
