[Guide] Skill Swappers Guide and who to use them on.

What are Skill Swappers?

Similar to the Ability Capsule introduced in Pokemon XY, Skill Swappers are an item that allows certain Pokemon to change their abilities. When given to a Pokemon, a menu pops up showing the possible abilities a Pokemon can have. When Swapping a skill, the Skill Level and current experience of the new Skill will be reset to 1, although when changed back, the original level of the skill will avert to it's level prior to having it's skill swapped. This allows you to switch between skills when needed while not having to worry about losing valuable skill levels. See more on Skill Levels here. Skill Swappers give new life to previously unviable Pokemon, giving some an extraordinary ability, while not so useful to some. As of June 28, 2016, there are currently 26 Pokemon that can have their Skills changed and 2 Pokemon what have multiple options for Possible Skills.

How do we get Skill Swappers?

If you login anytime between June 28 - July 5, 2016, you will receive a free Skill Swapper. Another Skill Swapper can be found by completing Mission Card 9. Moreover, Skill Swappers can be found in future escalation stages and possibly prizes for competitive stages in the future!

Which Pokemon can use Skill Swappers?

Below are the current list of Pokemon that can have their Skill Swapped:

Pokemon	Base Power	Max Power	Max Level	Current Ability	Possible Abilities
Raikou	70	110	15	Power of 5	Barrier Bash+
Entei	70	110	15	Power of 5	Rock Break+
Suicune	70	110	15	Power of 5	Block Smash+
Rotom	60	105	15	Paralyze	Mega Boost+
Druddigon	60	105	15	Power of 4	Risk-Taker
Dedenne	60	105	15	Mega Boost	Shock Attack
Jolteon	50	100	15	Mega Boost	Eject+
Farfetch’d	50	100	15	Quirky	Power of 4+
Mew	50	100	15	Power of 5	Block Smash+/ Eject+/ Barrier Bash+/ Power of 4+
Phanphy	50	100	15	Opportunist	Power of 4+
Ho-Oh	80	100	10	Power of 5+	Pyre
Celebi	50	100	15	Stabilize	Cheer
Sableye	50	100	15	Risk-Taker	Swap+
Leafeon	50	100	15	Mega Boost	Eject+
Zoroark	70	99	13	Sinister Power	Hitting Streak
Donphan	60	92	13	Quake	Ground Forces
Eevee	40	90	15	Mega Boost	Eject+
Gengar	70	90	10	Power of 5	Spookify
Ampharos	70	90	10	Dancing Dragons	Mega Boost/ Paralysis Combo
Regirock	70	90	10	Last-Ditch Effort	Rock Break+
Tangrowth	70	90	10	Cloud Clear	Sleep Combo
Cubone	50	85	13	Rock Break	Mega Boost+
Tangela	50	85	13	Stabilize	Constrict
Pachirisu	50	85	13	Mega Boost	Cheer
Chespin	50	85	13	Damage Streak	Rock Break+
Chandelure	60	80	10	Mega Boost	Power of 4+

Which Pokemon should I use my Skill Swappers on?

Here is the list in which you should use your Skill Swappers on, these are arguable and can be subject to change:

S Rank: These Pokemon should be the first candidates for your Skill Swappers. A Pokemon in S rank should be unique and fill a niche that no other Pokemon can do, while also being extremely versatile and high base power.

Pokemon	Reason
Raikou	Currently the only Barrier Bash+ that is SE against Water, 110 Max Power on par with Arceus and Zygarde-100%. If you’re not on Stage 351-400 yet, definitely use your Skill Swap on him.
Suicune	Only Water Block Smash+ Pokemon, considering a huge amount of Rocks/ Grounds spawn blocks, Suicune will be used in a lot of your teams regardless of where you are in the game.
Mew - Block Smash+	With the advent of repeat main stages, Mew certainly has more utility as a Block Smash+ Pokemon to take care of Fighting and Poison types. Going off 100 Max Power, it is easily on par with Victini and Deoxys.

A Rank: These Pokemon are either extremely effective with their new abilities or fills a unique niche that can be useful more often than not.

Pokemon	Reason
Ho-Oh	Strong Ability in Pyre, only 10 Base Power over Delphox, not too necessary.
Mew - Eject+	Gives Mew a more utilized role. Allows you to run M-Mewtwo team on Fightings with additional support (Previously best with Lugia/ Sky Blast Team) and Poisons.
Ampharos - Mega Boost	Turns Ampharos into a Mega Medicham, helps it’s slow evolving rate.
Phanpy	Strong Ability coupled with 100 Base Power outclasses Landorus-I.
Donphan	Unique ability Ground Forces gives ground teams a combo starter, but only 1.2x with a 20/60/80 activation rate makes it useful in specific situations such as 3 Pokemon stages or Timed stages.
Jolteon	Jolteon now potentially has more utility than Leafeon now, with Poliwrath covering Rock and Ground. With Jolteon being able to cover Flying, it will be able to have better coverage than Leafeon.

B Rank: These Pokemon have great potential but are oftentimes situational or only useful in specific teams, the value they bring towards those teams can be argued.

Pokemon	Reason
Gengar	Great Ability, but will only activate once or none at all assuming it’s Mega.
Entei	Unique Fire Rock Break+ on a 110 Base Power, but it is Rock Break+…
Farfetch’d	Great ability, but just a stronger version of Shaymin-S (+10 Max Power)
Mew - Power of 4+	Strong Ability in general. Nice boost to Psychics, but Psychics already have many options in terms of abilities. Not too necessary.
Ampharos - Paralysis Combo	Best if you’re using Ampharos as a non-mega. Not too necessary.
Rotom	Great Ability, but only 2 candidates of it’s use (Ampharos and Manetric). Good 105 Max Power too.
Leafeon	With the release of Poliwrath, Rock, and Ground types have Eject+ covered, thus making Leafeon a lot more redundant. Jolteon now covers Water as well as Flying so it has slightly better coverage now. However, Mega Sceptile teams have a lot to benefit from getting rid of additional support, thus giving Leafeon a niche in those teams.
Cubone	Great Ability, but once again only 2 candidates (Garchomp and Camerupt (Unreleased)).
Tangela	Can’t say much about this ability yet. But DD for 2 turns at a 20/50/90 rate sounds good, although Shaymin acts as a DD anyways. It's main use would be against Rock types, where Shaymin can't put it to sleep.
Tangrowth	To be used in tandem with Shaymin, boosts the capabilities of Mega-Sceptile teams. May look great on paper, but oftentimes there's not enough space to use it over the standard Shaymin/ Zekrom/ Raikou team.

C Rank: These Pokemon fill a niche but is often outclassed or on par with another Pokemon, they can be useful very occasionally but not worth spending your Skill Swappers on.

Pokemon	Reason
Dedenne	So how is Shock Attack different from Paralyze again?
Regirock	Can be useful although other Pokemon can cover it’s effectiveness. (Walrein for Flying, Flygon for Fire)
Chespin	Grass Rock Break+, not too useful.
Mew - Barrier Bash+	Copy of Cresselia, just without the 5 Raise Max Levels.

D Rank: These are the worst possible option for your Skill Swappers. They either get an ability that is worse that they already have, so situational that you’d never use it, or is completely outclassed by another Pokemon.

Pokemon	Reason
Zoroark	No.
Celebi	Although Celebi is not a bad Pokemon in itself (with RMLs), a meager 5% activation increase from Cheer's effect makes it not so appealing as an ability. You might as well match a Pokemon in both turns over using Cheer and still have a higher chance of it activating.
Pachirisu	Similar deal with Celebi. Can be coupled with Angry Pikachu but 5% increase only makes it's probability 15%/ 25%/ 55%. Thus not worth activating Cheer over.
Eevee	We already have Exploud if you ever happen to need a Normal Eject+
Chandelure	Weaker version of Giratina (-20 Power), maybe if it got some RMLs.
Druddigon	Risk-Taker without Boosters AND Dragon? Situational.
Sableye	Copy of Hydreigon, without the 5 Raise Max Levels. Risk-Taker itself is not a bad ability and it'll only get so much usage before it mega evolves.

Possible new team combinations with the New Abilities:

M-Sceptile | Tangrowth | Shaymin | Tangela/ Leafeon

With Tangrowth’s new ability, Mega Sceptile teams can now almost be on par with Pyre M-Blaziken teams. The basic combo of Sleep Charm - Sleep Combo - Mega Sceptile board wipe allows it to put out the same damage output as Pyre/ Burn M-Blaziken board wipes. Tangela and Leafeon’s new abilities also give grass great utility in the form of Constrict and Eject+.

M-Gengar/ Garchomp/ Ray | Donphan | Landorus-T | Phanpy

Ground types have become even more powerful with the release of Ground Forces Donphan. The ability to go for a high powered Risk-Taker (Assuming Skill level 5), Power of 4+ (far more useful than Landorus-I’s Power of 5+) or to go for a high combo with Ground Forces gives ground teams the edge over many other types.

M-Ampharos | Rotom | Magnezone | Zekrom/ Raikou/ Jolteon

Mega Boost breathes new life into M-Ampharos. Previously overlooked by Manetric and even Gengar as the mega of choice for Water and Flying types, Mega Boost speeds up Ampharos's evolving rate similarly to Medicham and Banette. Mega Boost+ Rotom also gives a big boost to Ampharos's evolving rate and Raikou and Jolteon's new ability now gives Electric the coverage they need to handle all forms of disruption.

Ranking system debatable, please contribute to the ranking system to make it as accurate as possible! Also, if you know of a great new team combination, feel free to post it below!

Changelog:

28/06/16

Changes made thanks to u/Its_A_Random

Added suggestions made by u/Golden_Owl and u/rissa39

29/06/16

Donphan moved from S to A from multiple suggestions

01/07/16

Mew (Block Smash+) moved from S to A due to reason above. (Thanks u/LauernderBernd)

Mew (Power of 4+) moved from A to B

09/07/16

Celebi moved from B to D due to information about Cheer's mechanics (5% increase only)

Pachirisu moved from C to D

02/08/18

Mew (Block Smash+) moved back from A to S.

Tangrowth moved from A to B

Entei moved from A to B. (Thanks u/james2c19v)

Leafeon and Jolteon switched between A and B due to reasons above