The Pokemon leak suggests that Mega Staraptor is becoming the opposite

A few days ago, the list of abilities that the new Mega Pokémon introduced in Legends: ZA has was leaked online. It's possible that this leak could be fake, but its reliability was recently boosted significantly after a Pokémon Home dataminer verified some of the abilities associated with certain Pokémon on the list.

Why does it matter? Well, unfortunately, many of these Mega Pokemon will likely be very viable in competition and could potentially shake up the competitive scene in a big way once Pokemon Champions comes out later this month. There are several Pokemon on the list with abilities that would make them absolute monsters, one of the most fearsome being Mega Staraptor.

Everyone is scared of the Mega Staraptor and you should be too

Trainer posed with Mega Staraptor in Pokemon Legends: ZA.

According to the leaked listing, the Mega Staraptor will come with a Contrary, and if you're a big fight buff, you'll know exactly how absolutely terrifying it is. For those who aren't, Contrary is a very powerful ability that negates the effects of stat-dropping moves. For example, if a Pokémon with the opposite used something like Swords Dance, it would significantly lower their attack instead of increasing it.

While this isn't particularly scary on its own, combined with extremely powerful moves that usually throw off your attack or defense when used, it makes these Pokemon even more deadly instead. Mega Staraptor is one such Pokémon as it will have access to Melee, a move that hits really hard but drops your Defense and Special Defense as a result. With Contrary, Mega Staraptor could use an extremely hard move and then increase its Defense and Special Defense in the same turn.

Pokemon Champions is not for the average Pokemon fan

If you're not into fierce competition, Pokémon Champions may not be for you.

Add to that the fact that the Mega Staraptor gains a fighting type – making melee a STAB move – as well as the fact that the basic Staraptor has the Intimidate ability. Basically, you could switch to Staraptor, discard your opponent's attack with Intimidate, have them Mega Evolve, and then use Close Combat. It would hit like a truck in a single turn and be pretty massive.

Mega Staraptor also has Brave Bird and Double Edge, two other powerful attacks, and it's also pretty fast, meaning it'll likely move ahead of most Pokemon it's switched into. It seems quite likely that Pokemon could turn into a competitive monster, and almost every fan who focuses on battles is suddenly very scared.

We don't even know if Staraptor is getting Contrary yet and you already have fans calling the pokemon “g”reatest regional bird we've ever seen”, so there's little idea of how exactly this could shape the meta in the future if true. I'd really struggle to see Mega Staraptor at any tier other than OU if it got Contrary, but we'll have to see if the list is legit before we all get excited.