Pokemon GO: Best Moveset For Swalot

Gulpin and its evolution, Swalot, made their debut back in the Hoenn region/third generation of Pokemon. These Poison Bag Pokemon have been on the Pokemon GO roster since 2017. This means it's more than likely trainers have already caught more than a few of them. While there are arguably stronger Poison-types, Swalot can pull its own weight just like any other Pokemon.

Most of Swalot's learnset in the mainline Pokemon games are Poison and Normal-type. However, it would appear Swalot's Quick and Charge moves in Pokemon GO are a little more diverse. A Swalot with a good moveset can catch other trainers off guard. The following guide details Swalot's typing, moves/movesets, and how to obtain one.

How To Get Swalot In Pokemon GO

Swalot doesn't appear often on the overworld map, but it did have a higher spawn rate during the Greedy Gluttons Event 2022. Outside of events, Swalot can be obtained by catching its pre-evolved form, Gulpin. Unlike Swalot, this green Pokemon does spawn in the wild, especially during cloudy weather. To increase their chances of appearing, try using Daily Incense or regular Incense.

To evolve Gulpin into Swalot, Gulpin will need 50 Gulpin Candy. Gulpin Candy can be farmed by catching more Gulpin and using Pinap or Silver Pinap Berries. Alternatively, players can set Gulpin as their Buddy Pokemon, but this is a much slower way of getting Gulpin Candy.

Swalot: Typing & Moves

Pokemon Fan Makes Regional Variants for Gulpin and Swalot — Gulpin and Swalot Pokemon image

Both Gulpin and Swalot are pure Poison-type Pokemon. The following is a list of their type effectiveness:

May have Moves that are super effective against:	Grass, Fairy
Weak against:	Ground, Psychic
Resistant to:	Bug, Fairy, Grass, Poison, Fighting

Swalot's stats are all-around average, with its HP and Defense arguably being its strengths. An ideal Swalot will have high Defense and HP IVs. Thanks to this, it may serve better as a wall/defense than it would as a battler. In Pokemon GO, Swalot will have one of the following Quick and Charge Moves:

Quick Move	Charge Move
Rock Smash (Fighting-type) Infestation (Bug-type)	Gunk Shot (Poison-type) Sludge Bomb (Poison-type) Acid Spray (Poison-type) Ice Beam (Ice-type)

Best Moves For Swalot In Pokemon GO

When a Pokemon attacks with a Move that matches their Typing, they will deal 20% more damage. In Pokemon, this is referred to as Same Type Attack Bonus, or STAB for short. For example, a Swalot using a Poison-type move like Sludge Bomb will deal 20% more damage than a Steel/Psychic-type like Metagross' Sludge Bomb. In Pokemon GO, it's wise to have at least one of the Quick or Charge Moves as a STAB move for defending gyms. Players intending on using Swalot in trainer battles or in PVP will want to have more Type coverage instead.

The following are a list of suggested movesets players can have for Swalot:

	Quick Move	Charge Move	Pros & Cons
Moveset option #1	Infestation	Gunk Shot	Pros STAB from Charge Move. Infestation provides Coverage against Psychic-type Pokemon, which have a Type Advantage over Swalot. Gunk Shot is Swalot's best Charge Move in terms of damage output and DPS. Gunk Shot receives Weather Bonus damage. Infestation is boosted by Rainy weather. Cons No STAB from Quick Move. Gunk Shot uses a lot of EPS, and has the highest negative out of the other Charge Moves. Gunk Shot won't deal much damage to Steel-type Pokemon.
Moveset option #2	Rock Smash	Sludge Bomb	Pros STAB from Charge Move. Rock Smash deals more damage and has higher DPS than Infestation. Rock Smash is super effective against most Fighting, Normal, Rock, and Steel-type Pokemon. Cons No STAB from Quick Move. Rock Smash won't be very effective when used on Flying, Psychic, and Poison-type Pokemon. Charge Move won't deal much damage to most Steel-type Pokemon.
Moveset option #3	Infestation	Ice Beam	Pros Ice Beam provides coverage against most Flying, Dragon, and Grass-type Pokemon. Ice Beam has the lowest negative EPS out of Swalot's Charge Moves. Infestation has a higher EPS than Rock Smash, and is super effective against Dark and Psychic-type Pokemon. Infestation is boosted by Rainy weather. Cons No STAB from Quick or Charge Move. Infestation has less Damage and DPS than Rock Smash. Charge Move is not very effective against most Fire, Water, Ice, and Steel-type Pokemon.
Moveset option #4	Infestation	Sludge Bomb	Pros STAB from Charge Move. Infestation pairs well with Sludge Bomb thanks to its EPS and Sludge Bomb's negative EPS. Infestation is boosted by Rainy weather. Cons No STAB from Quick Move. Infestation has low DPS. In addition, it's not very effective against Flying, Fire, and Fighting-type Pokemon.

While Swalot's Charge Moves are decent, Acid Spray is arguably its worst Charge Move with a DPS of 8 and a Damage of 20. Players are better off with a Swalot that knows Gunk Shot, Sludge Bomb, or Ice Beam as the Charge Move. Alternatively, if a Swalot has Acid Spray, players can use a Charge TM to change its Charge Move. TMs are rare in Pokemon GO, so use them carefully. Swalot can learn a second Charge Move at the cost of 10,000 Stardust and 25 Gulpin Candy.