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Pokémon has a new meta competitor in town, and it’s… a cute family of mice? Right. In addition to having unsettling in-game implications, such as how parents hatch from a single egg, the Tandemaus line is also incredibly powerful – its signature move can surpass the base power of attacks like Hyper Beam and Explosion. Tandemaus and Maushold got it competitive players shaking in their boots.
Tandemaus is a Normal-type Pokémon that resembles a pair of mice who live together as a family unit. When they evolve into Maushold, they can get one or two mice. Yes, Pokémon breed with or without your approval. And the reason you’re only hearing about them now is because these Pokémon were introduced in the recent release Scarlet and Violet.
The only thing that saves us from always being beaten to death by a family of rats is that its effectiveness depends on RNG. That signature move, Population Bomb, is a multi-hit move like Bullet Seed and Double Slap, and it hits one to ten times. Each shot does a base damage of 20, and each shot has a base accuracy of 90. If you miss even one shot, the entire move ends. Apparently, the pair of mice have raised a family of quitters.
But wait, there’s more! If you get a Tandemaus with the hidden ability “Technician”, further increases each hit by 50%. This is in addition to the 50% bonus on the same type of attack (STAB). So the real power of Population Bomb is 45-450 if you get the correct Tandem. Assuming RNG favors you for ten consecutive hits, this move may be the most powerful Normal-type move in the game. If you really think about it, do you need all 10 hits? Just landing four attacks will give you 180 points of base damage. And it doesn’t even have the typical drawbacks of missing a turn or taking massive recoil damage. You can also further enhance Tandemaus with held items like the Wide Lens, which brings Population Bomb’s accuracy to 100 percent.
To get the Technician skill for these terrifying types, you need to get the Skill patches as a rare drop in Tera Battles. I know I know. The battles of Tera are some of the worst raids i ever played. But think about the earnings! Think about crushing your enemies with the cutest Pokémon in the game. If you have more patient friends, you can also ask them to raise you a Tandemaus with the hidden ability.
For the rest of us, fear not: there’s a reliable counterweight to the Tandemaus Technician’s tyrannical reign: the rock helmet. This held item reduces an opponent’s health bar by one-sixth each time they use a move that makes contact. So, assuming Tandemaus is at full health, you only need to survive six hits or 270 base damage. The Mudbray line also seems like a good counter: his Stamina ability increases his Defense with each hit. Or you could just run a Ghost-type Pokémon.
This family is here to rock competitive Pokémon and they take no prisoners. And you know what? Good for them.
