Pokémon player designs crafty item to boost Scarlet and Violet weather abilities

Pokémon Scarlet and Violet players have come up with another set of interesting held items to boost some of the weaker or underused Pokémon—with one of the items a potential game-changer for Pokémon with abilities triggered by weather.

In a June 29 post on Reddit, a player made a proposal for a new held item called “Cloud in a Bottle” which would automatically activate a Pokémon’s ability if it’s normally triggered by certain weather conditions. For example, if Lilligant is sent into battle holding this item, its Chlorophyll ability will immediately activate and double its speed even if the sun isn’t up.

This is very similar to the Booster Energy item that will trigger Protosynthesis or Quark Drive for Paradox Pokémon outside of sunny conditions or Electric terrain. Given how popular and effective Booster Energy is in a competitive setting, this new item would also help define the meta.

With Cloud in a Bottle, plenty of Pokémon would suddenly become viable outside of weather-specific teams. Lilligant and Jumpluff wouldn’t be limited to pairing with the sun-setting Torkoal, and Cetitan’s Slush Rush could become relevant despite how uncommon snow teams are in Pokemon’s VGC.

And because many of the best weather abilities boost speed, this item would have a direct impact on speed tiers—suddenly, Flutter Mane or Iron Bundle might not be the fastest Pokémon on the field. Players would be forced to account for even more speedsters than before.

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Players were quick to theorize strategies or specific Pokémon this would suit, like Beatric or Arctozolt, with many believing the held item would really diversify the pool of viable Pokémon. Others believe the held item would be borderline broken when used with certain combinations of Pokémon.

In addition to Cloud in a Bottle, the player shared two other items: Fairy Dust to boost Fairy-type attacks and All-Terrain Boots to ignore the effects of terrain. Fairy Dust would work just like other type-boosting items such as the Sharp Beak and Black Glasses. The All-Terrain Boots item is a neat concept in theory, but other players point out it would be tricky to implement its effects with how terrains work. Still, the idea has potential just like Cloud in a Bottle.