Mega Lopunny was a much needed upgrade on a somewhat forgettable Pokémon. It took a pretty run-of-the-mill early game Normal type and brought it back into the conversation. It now sports a respectable Attack stat that allows it to dish out some pretty solid damage, paired with solid movesets for both of its typings. Let’s see where Mega Lopunny fits into the Pokémon GO PVE meta!

Mega Lopunny is one of the cases where a Pokémon’s typing changes after Mega Evolving. In this case, Mega Lopunny adds the Fighting type on to its existing Normal type. While this may seem like an odd combination in Pokémon GO, this made Mega Lopunny a threat in the main series thanks to its Ability, Scrappy. This let it hit Ghost types with its strong Normal and Fighting moves while being immune to their Ghost moves in return, and it could hit any Steel or Rock types that resisted it with its new Fighting STAB. But how does this translate to Pokémon GO?

Mega Lopunny is a top tier attacker for Normal types and is a solid yet contested pick for Fighting. For Normal types, its Mega Evolved competition includes Mega Kangaskhan and Mega Audino, as well as Regigigas and Shadow Regigigas for non-Mega Evolved Normal attackers. For Fighting types, its Mega Evolved competition includes Mega Blaziken, Mega Heracross, Mega Medicham, Mega Lucario, and Mega Gallade, as well as the future Mega Mewtwo X, Mega Chesnaught, and Mega Hawlucha, plus a plethora non-Mega Evolved Fighting attackers including Terrakion, both Urshifu, Keldeo, and several Shadow Pokémon. There is definitely some steep competition, so let’s see how Mega Lopunny measures up.

Normal type attackers are not largely sought after in Pokémon GO, unfortunately for Mega Lopunny. However, if you are looking for some solid neutral damage, it isn’t a bad choice. With Pound and Hyper Beam, Mega Lopunny falls at number 3 in the rankings, only falling behind Regigigas and its Shadow form. It easily outclasses fellow Normal type Mega Evolutions in Mega Kangaskhan and Mega Audino, with Mega Kangaskhan lacking in moveset and Mega Audino lacking in stats. In terms of cost-effectiveness, Lopunny is far more accessible than either Regigigas forms, with the only more difficult resource being Lopunny’s Mega Energy. As mentioned, however, Normal damage isn’t usually too sought after. Mega Lopunny having extra usage as a Fighting type, along with much better accessibility, makes it a much more worthwhile investment than Regigigas. As a Normal type attacker, it isn’t super sought after, but the same can be said for every other Normal attacker, and in the cases where you do want one, Mega Lopunny is one of the best!

As a Fighting type, it is a bit of a different story. Mega Lopunny faces some pretty steep competition here, both from other Fighting type Mega Evolutions as well as some non-Mega Evolved alternatives. It currently sits 13th on the list of top Fighting type attackers. Definitely not a bad Pokémon, but not particularly notable either. It falls behind Mega Evolutions of Blaziken, Heracross, Lucario, and Gallade, Shadow forms of Conkeldurr, Machamp, and Hariyama, and Legendary/Mythical Pokémon Terrakion, Keldeo, and both Urshifu forms, as well as regular Lucario. To be fair, some of these are pretty steep investments. I would count it as a solid alternative to the Legendary/Mythical options as well as the Shadows due to its accessibility and the limited accessibility of those options. However, that still leaves 4 other Fighting Mega Evolution options, as well as regular Lucario.

Mega Lopunny unfortunately doesn’t do much to carve out a niche for itself with its typing either. Adding the Normal type doesn’t cover any of Mega Lopunny’s weaknesses as a Fighting type. It does add a double resistance to Ghost moves at the cost of a weakness to Fighting moves. However, this Ghost resistance doesn’t do much outside of a few rare cases of coverage moves. As mentioned previously, Mega Lopunny was much more effective with the mechanics of the main series Pokémon games, able to take advantage of its type immunity by being able to hit the Ghosts back. If anything, this typing actually hurts it, just adding one more weakness to a common attacking type in Fighting. Compare this to Mega Lucario, Mega Blaziken, Mega Heracross, and Mega Gallade, which all have secondary typings that all add varying degrees of viability, and Mega Lopunny struggles even more. Again, it is far from a bad Pokémon, but it is unfortunately outclassed by its direct peers, as well as a good amount of other options.

Mega Lopunny matches up uniquely well against opponents weak to Fighting that are using Ghost type coverage moves. This list is pretty slim, but many Normal and Dark types carry Shadow Ball as a coverage option, which puts Mega Lopunny over its peers in these niche situations. It also has strong matchups against powerful Pokémon from later installments such as Chien-Pao, Terapagos, and Roaring Moon. While it may not top the list, Mega Lopunny is definitely worth adding to your roster.

Overall Mega Lopunny is a very solid option for an attacker. There is nothing bad about it, but there are other similar options that have slightly higher performance. There are niche scenarios where it will outperform its peers, albeit rare. However, Mega Lopunny is far from a bad investment!