Flutter Mane, the Paradox Pokémon. This Pokémon has characteristics similar to those of Flutter Mane, a creature mentioned in a certain book. It has similar features to a ghostly pterosaur that was covered in a paranormal magazine, but the two have little else in common.

Overview

Flutter Mane has quickly made a name for itself as one of the most terrifying Pokémon ever made. Base 135 Special Attack tends to do that, pushing the envelope of power, but it goes beyond that. While there are no lack of Pokémon with such power, Flutter Mane stands out from the Crowd with its typing. STAB Shadow Balls from Pokémon with that much Special Attack are terrifying, having few safe switch ins. That number drops to near zero when taking account Flutter Mane’s secondary Fairy STAB, exorcising the Dark types that would normally be safe switch-ins and the relative dearth of viable Normal types. However, what truly pushes Flutter Mane beyond the pale is its speed. Base 135 Speed is incredible, leaving scarce few options that tie with Flutter Mane, let alone outspeed it. Protosynthesis further warps the equation, giving a hefty bonus to either Special Attack or Speed for very little investment. All of this could be fine if Flutter Mane was frail, but its Base 135 Special Defense and the superb Ghost-Fairy typing offers Flutter Mane many points of entry and can be difficult to remove for many Pokémon given its rare weaknesses bar the mutually weak Ghost types that Flutter Mane often threaten out thanks to its near peerless speed and power. That Ghost typing is particularly invaluable into opposing Extreme Speed users like Dragonite and Arceus, prevent the most common form of priority from efficiently dealing with Flutter Mane.

Not to say Flutter Mane isn’t frail. Its excellent Special Defense and typing are let down by a paltry 55 HP, greatly limiting the number of special attacks it can take. Its equally pathetic Defense makes taking even neutral physical attacks a dire risk to Flutter Mane, with even modestly powerful physical attackers able to knock out an uninvested Flutter Mane. Protosynthesis, while one of Flutter Mane’s greatest strengths, is rather exploitable in either its one and done nature with Booster Energy or being on a time limit with Sun Support, with Flutter Mane being relatively more manageable when not active. Flutter Mane’s frailty does come back to haunt it, forcing it to get OHKOs lest it receive the same in turn, but often can only remedy either its Speed or power, not both, a serious issue with faster threats like Deoxys and Calyrex-Shadow Rider who do natively outspeed it force it into such decisions. The fact that this cryptid is spoken in the same breath as such legends speaks volumes for Flutter Mane’s power, and like these legends possesses many of the tools that can turn around a bad matchup and make one believe in its myth.
Positives
135 Special Attack is amazing and Flutter Mane can easily boost it with Calm Mind and Protosynthesis.
135 Speed is absurd, outspeeding most Pokémon already and Flutter Mane can easily go further with Protosynthesis.
Fantastic movepool with plenty of coverage and disruption.
Ghost Fairy is one of the best type combinations in the game, offering several immunities and near perfect coverage from STABs alone.
135 Special Defense is incredible, allowing Flutter Mane to tank a special hit or two.

Negatives
Poor 55 HP greatly limits any hits Flutter Mane can take.
Paltry 55 Defense in conjunction with said HP means any physical attacker leaves Flutter Mane quite vulnerable to physical attacks.
Protosynthesis is situational and can only bolster Flutter Mane’s power or speed, not both.

Movesets

Flutter Bane

-Calm Mind
-Shadow Ball
-Moonblast
-Thunderbolt
Ability: Protosynthesis
Item: Life Orb
EVs and Nature:
4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spe
Timid Nature

Calm Mind Flutter Mane does its best to resolve the conundrum between the answer of speed or power with Calm Mind addressing power and Sun support bolstering Speed when needed. With this conundrum answered, Flutter Mane becomes a fierce attacker, able to threaten most of the competition with STABs alone. This set takes advantage of Flutter Mane's immense Special Defense and insane speed to setup in the face of Special Attackers with Calm Mind allowing Flutter Mane to survive even Kyogre's Origin Pulse. At +1 Flutter Mane's offense becomes very hard to resist, breaking through prominent walls. Shadow Ball boasts incredible neutral coverage, while hitting important Ghost and Psychic targets like Necrozma Dusk Mane, Lunala, Calyrex-Shadow Rider and opposing Flutter Mane. Moonblast handles many Dragon and Dark types including Koraidon, Chien-Pao, Giratina, Ting-Lu, Dragonite, and more, allowing Flutter Mane to threaten the centerpieces of most teams. Thunderbolt rounds out the set as coverage for Ho-oh and Kyogre two sponges that normally can tank Flutter Mane's STABs and threaten it back.

Tera Types:
Ghost Fairy is an incredible typing that offers Flutter Mane plenty of defensive benefits and Flutter Mane is more than capable of excelling without it. As such, most Tera Types for Flutter Mane are offensive in nature, allowing it to knock out opponents normally out of reach. This is taken to a logical conclusion with Tera Stellar, giving Flutter Mane a one-time boost on all its attacks while maintaining its great base typing. With Tera Stellar, Life Orb and a Calm Mind, Flutter Mane can OHKO bulky Kyogre and offensive Ho-oh with Thunderbolt, while the stacked boosts enable a OHKO on offensive Eternatus with Moonblast or an unlikely one with Shadow Ball. These stacking boosts also allow Flutter Mane to OHKO Max HP Arceus on slightly less than a coin flip after a single layer of Spikes. Otherwise, Tera Fairy is a solid option for bolstering Moonblast and giving Flutter Mane a true resistance to Dark to better survive Chien-Pao's and Kingambit's Sucker Punches. Tera Ghost is a good consistency pick given the wide neutral coverage of Shadow Ball while still packing the needed extra punch for Necrozma Dusk Mane.

EVs and Items:
Standard sweeper investment of Max Speed and Special Attack are recommended as Flutter Mane's niche revolves around its incredible speed and power. Speaking of speed, Timid Nature is heavily recommended so that Flutter Mane receives the Speed boost from Protosynthesis since Calm Mind gives Flutter Mane the power it needs. Even out of the Sun, base 135 is a very crowded speed tier with other Flutter Mane, Chien-Pao, Koraidon and Miraidon all boasting the same speed and capable of one shotting Flutter Mane if it loses the speed war, making Timid near vital. Life Orb is the preferred item as the universal power boost with move flexibility is required to get the most out of Flutter Mane and is indeed required for Flutter Mane to pick up important Knock Outs against bulky Arceus, Eternatus, Kyogre, Necrozma Dusk Mane and more.

Partners:
: As with any Protosynthesis Pokémon, Sun setters are highly recommended for the activation of the ability. Even moreso for Calm Mind Flutter Mane who uses the boost to reliably outspeed its fellow base 135s as well as faster threats in Deoxys and Calyrex-Shadow Rider. Koraidon is by far the most prominent, its physical Fighting STAB fantastic at smashing Blissey, while Flutter Mane is great at threatening the Psychic and Ghost types that absorb Koraidon's Fighting STAB. Groudon can also work, offering the famed Fairy Ground coverage combination while Flutter Mane boasts the tools to threaten its rival Kyogre.

Other Options:
Power Gem is essentially for Ho-oh, OHKOing even defense variants with only a Calm Mind or Tera Stellar boost but has limited utility otherwise. Psyshock handily deals with defensive Eternatus, Clodsire and Blissey, who otherwise boast enough bulk to outlast Flutter Mane. Mystical Fire is Flutter Mane's best option into Zacian-Crowned. Thunder Wave can be a great alternative to Calm Mind, allowing Flutter Mane to make faster threats more manageable for its partners.

Ghost with Glasses

-Moonblast
-Shadow Ball
-Power Gem
-Perish Song
Ability: Protosynthesis
Item: Choice Specs
EVs and Nature:
4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spe
Timid Nature

Specs Flutter Mane trades the flexibility of move choice for instant power, blasting holes in walls like Ting-Lu, Alolan Muk, Calyrex-Ice Rider, and more, leaving an opponent scrambling to answer and opening the way for Flutter Mane’s teammates to seal the deal. Moonblast is the favored STAB attack, between its phenomenal power and wide coverage, it is a fantastic attack to spam out repeatedly. Shadow Ball is secondary STAB, vital for hitting many of the Psychic and Ghost restricted Pokémon like Calyrex, Necrozma Dusk Mane, opposing Flutter Mane, Lunala and more while boasting incredible neutral coverage. Power Gem is largely for opposing Fire types, especially Ho-oh, but does well into Chi-Yu, Tera Fire Koraidon, Tera Fire Calyrex-Ice Rider, and Hearthflame Ogerpon. Perish Song is an odd choice on a Choice Specs set, but it is a powerful pseudo-Hazing tool in best of three formats, forcing an opponent to switch out or lose their boosted sweeper and punishing Baton Pass strategies, while giving Flutter Mane an instant win condition if its trainer is ahead on Pokémon when their opponent is down to their last.

Tera Types:
Ghost Fairy is an incredible typing that offers Flutter Mane plenty of defensive benefits and Flutter Mane is more than capable of excelling without it. As such, most Tera Types for Flutter Mane are offensive in nature, allowing it to knock out opponents normally out of reach. This is taken to a logical conclusion with Tera Stellar, giving Flutter Mane a one-time boost on all its attacks while maintaining its great base typing, while Tera Stellar Tera Blast can be used to punish Pokémon trying to Terastalize out of their weakness to Flutter Mane’s STABs like the Raidons, Calyrex, opposing Flutter Mane and more. Tera Fairy is a solid option for bolstering Moonblast and giving Flutter Mane a true resistance to Dark to better survive Chien-Pao’s and Kingambit’s Sucker Punches as well as the persistent boost to Moonblast. Tera Normal is a defensive option worth considering, allowing Flutter Mane to bait out and destroy opposing Calyrex-Shadow Riser and Flutter Mane looking to exploit its Ghost weakness.

EVs and Items:
As with most sweepers, Max Special Attack and Speed are the way to go, allowing Flutter Mane to outspeed and maim as many Pokémon as possible. Some bulk investment can be justified; with 108 Defense EVs, Flutter Mane avoids the one hit knockout from unboosted Jolly Chien-Pao’s Sucker Punch as well as heavily favored to survive the blow from Adamant Chien-Pao. Regardless, given Flutter Mane’s crowded Speed tier, it is hard to recommend anything other than maxing out Speed EVs with Timid Nature given the game of rocket tag Flutter Mane finds itself in with the other Base 135s. This also ensures Flutter Mane’s speed is higher and thus gets the boost from Protosynthesis giving Flutter Mane a pseudo special Dragon Dance with both it and Choice Specs. Choice Specs is the namesake of the set, giving Flutter Mane the instant power it needs to threaten huge damage from the word go.

Partners:
: Protosynthesis love Sun setters for good reason and Flutter Mane is no exception, outspeeding even absurdly fast threats like Calyrex Shadow Rider with ease. As such Koraidon or Groudon make for strong picks for Flutter Mane, enabling it while their STABs and Fire coverage answer the Steel types like Zacian Crowned and Scizor that Flutter Mane can struggle against.

Other Options:
Psyshock handily deals with defensive Eternatus, Clodsire and Blissey, who otherwise boast enough bulk to outlast Flutter Mane. Mystical Fire is Flutter Mane’s best option into Zacian-Crowned and Scizor.

Doubles and VGC Options

Ever since Paradox Pokémon were allowed in Regulation B, Flutter Mane has warped the VGC landscape around it. Its insane speed and power allowed with superb coverage from its typing along allowed Flutter Mane to ravage teams unchecked. Flutter Mane’s Ghost typing is particularly invaluable, invalidating Fake Out as an option from dealing with it. Flutter Mane’s frailty mattered far less when it outmatched everything to the point that it could forgo investing in its offenses for bulk and still overwhelm everything in sight. Flutter Mane was so dominant it all but forced other Ghost types into obscurity since it outclassed them that badly, with only Gholdengo and Annihilape truly bucking the trend, boasting utility that Flutter Mane could not replicate. With the reintroduction of restricted Pokémon, especially Calyrex-Shadow Rider, Flutter Mane is no longer the metagame warping force it once was, now that it is contending with Pokémon in its actual weight class. Indeed, Flutter Mane excels as an offensive support Pokémon threatening both obscene damage and valuable utility in Taunt, Icy Wind, Thunder Wave, Fake Tears, and Trick Room. Flutter Mane owes this utility thanks to its Fake Out immunity and incredible speed, especially with Protosynthesis, allowing it to threaten or cripple fast threats that would run over teams like Miraidon and Calyrex-Shadow Rider. However, with the increased power levels, Flutter Mane's pitiful Defense and poor HP are much more apparent and using it can be a tightrope act, where a misplay can lead to Flutter Mane's exorcism, but the payoff is well worth the risk.

Chilling Banshee

-Taunt
-Icy Wind
-Moonblast
-Protect
Ability: Protosynthesis
Item: Focus Sash
Tera Type: Fairy/Normal
EVs and Nature:
4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spe
Timid Nature

A Flutter Mane set that shows its supportive prowess. Base 135 Speed that is potentially coupled with Protosynthesis makes Flutter Mane one of the fastest Pokémon in the game, giving one of the fastest non-Prankster Taunts, allowing Flutter Mane to shut down all sorts of setup and disruption from Trick Room, Incineroar's Parting Shot and Will-O-Wisp, Amoonguss' Spore, to future uses of Protect, Wide Guard, and Follow Me, the list of moves that Flutter Mane shuts down is incredible. That insane speed also lends well to speed control in Icy Wind, making it easier for Flutter Mane and its teammates to handle threats that rely on their speed, such as Calyrex-Shadow Rider, Koraidon, Miradon, Chien-Pao, etc. while dealing chip damage that breaks Focus Sash, though the imperfect accuracy is unfortunate. Moonblast is the preferred Fairy STAB, especially with the popularity of Wide Guard from all of the other spread attacking restricted Pokémon. Moonblast is preferred for its great coverage, especially against the Raidons who must Terastalize, Flee or be KO'd especially when Flutter Mane seals the speed with Protosynthesis. Threatening the Protect breaking Urshifus, Raging Bolt, Chien-Pao, Iron Hands, Brute Bonnet, Grimmsnarl, and more is why Moonblast is preferred. Protect is one of the best moves in Doubles allowing Flutter Mane to stall out opposing field conditions, stall for allied setup, scout for Terastalizations, punish doubling up, the utility of Protect in Doubles cannot be understated to the point that lacking it presents a significant drop in durability.

EVs are so that Flutter Mane gets a Speed Boost from Electric Terrain instead of an Attack boost, while having as much Attack as possible. Flutter Mane getting a Speed boost allows it to threaten normally much faster threats like Flutter Mane and Koraidon that could remove it in turn otherwise. Everything else must go to bulk as a result, alleviating some of Flutter Mane' defensive woes. Tera Normal is recommended against Flutter Mane and Calyrex-Shadow Rider, blanking the Ghost STABs sent Flutter Mane' way, while it is unlikely for an opponent to click a Fighting move into the Psychic Flutter Mane.

Preferred Partners:
Sun setters are important for this set, the speed boost from Protosynthesis giving Flutter Mane much of its utility in the first place. As such Koraidon and Groudon are mainstays when using Flutter Mane, their physical offense nicely complimenting Flutter Mane's special and loving the speed control and anti-Trick Room services it provides. Both being able to smash Steel types and Ground offering the famed Fairy-Ground coverage combination go a long way in covering Flutter Mane's weaknesses. Ironically, Flutter Mane excelling in the Sun while not directly needing it also makes it a great Anti-Sun Pokémon, threatening opposing Koraidon with its own Speed control and Fairy STAB, a fact that Kyogre greatly appreciates. The fact that Flutter Mane can also setup knockouts with Fake Tears makes it a strong pick for Kyogre teams in general. Shadow Ball is Flutter Mane's other STAB with good neutral coverage, but invaluable into opposing Calyrex, Lunala and Flutter Manes. Fake Tears allows Flutter Mane to give both itself and any special attacking partners an insane power boost. Thunder Wave is more permanent speed control that isn't wiped upon switching out and the lost turns are amazing when they occur, but it does nothing into Miraidon. Power Gem obliterates Incineroar as well as theatening opposing Ho-oh and Tera Fire Koraidon and Groudon who can stomach Flutter Mane's Fairy STABs well. .

Countering Flutter Mane

Flutter Mane’s lopsided stats give it immense speed and offensive prowess but rather pitiable defenses that can make it easy to take down if one can survive the assault.

Special Sponges help a lot in handling Flutter Mane, able to stomach its attacks while rendering its insane speed moot, though Flutter Mane does have the tools to handle them. Ho-oh is the gold standard for sponges, resisting Fairy STAB and obliterating Flutter Mane with its physical attacks, though Power Gem and boosted Thunderbolts can hurt a lot. Perennial sponge Blissey can stomach everything except Psyshock and can outright cripple Flutter Mane with Thunder Wave, though it struggles to do damage otherwise and Calm Mind Flutter Mane can attempt to use it as setup fodder. Clodsire too fears Psyshock, but otherwise leverages its excellent base Special Bulk to stomach Specs Shadow Balls while 2HKOing with Earthquake. Bulky Arceus Forms, especially Arceus Steel can stomach a STAB attack or two and outpace Flutter Mane with Calm Mind or cripple it with Thunder Wave. Zamazenta-Crowned does well against unboosted Flutter Mane and easily threatens an OHKO with Heavy Slam. Assault Vest Iron Hands also has the requisite special bulk to stomach Flutter Mane, provided it Terastalizes out of its Fairy weak Fighting type.

Outspeeding Flutter Mane can render its potent offense moot. If not boosted by Protosynthesis, there are several options that can outspeed Flutter Mane naturally. Zacian-Crowned easily outspeeds and OHKOs, while having enough bulk to tank a Specs Shadow Ball on the switch in. Calyrex-Shadow Rider cannot switch in for fear of Shadow Ball, but also handily one shots Flutter Mane with its Astral Barrage. If willing to gamble, Specs or Life Orb Miraidon can OHKO with Electro Drift but cannot tank a Moonblast without Terastalizing, which is unfortunate given that they speed tie.

Priority is a great way to bypass Flutter Mane’s Speed especially with its pitiful defense, though its Ghost typing does preclude Extreme Speed users like Arceus, Rayquaza and Dragonite unless Flutter Mane Terastalizes out of its Ghost typing. Chien-Pao can OHKO with Sucker Punch, though it is prediction reliant. Its Ice Shard does fail to OHKO Flutter Mane even with Choice Band, but will do over half at the least, if not of 80 % of Flutter Mane’s health at the least if Choice Banded. Rillaboom’s Grassy Glide also deals catastrophic damage and can OHKO if it is an offensive Rillaboom running Miracle Seed. Scizor is a dire threat to Flutter Mane given how easily its Bullet Punch can OHKO, without even requiring max investment. Do note that Flutter Mane’s invested in bulk can push these knockouts out of reach, so one must exercise caution.

Anime Appearences

Flutter Mane has yet to make any appearances in the anime # -English Episode Name- -Jp. Episode Name- Pics