Hm, so it seems like Pupitar has to use Dragon Dance 6 times and then screech once before using Earthquake to get the one-shot, as otherwise Tatsumi's reactive evolution will activate and he'll be immune to stat reduction? Since Pupitar has the speed advantage here this is possible, but is Pupitar intelligent enough to do so?
Intelligence: Below Average normally (Capable of coherent speech between other Pokémon, a degree of understanding of commands and social situations, and can solve minor puzzles, though still mostly driven by instinct), Above Average in battle as Larvitar and Pupitar (Pokémon are hard-wired for battle and even in the wild can master many moves and fight the likes of
Machop which train in all martial arts), Gifted in battle as Tyranitar (Should be superior to 1st and 2nd stage Pokémon and are able to consistently fight the likes of
Machamp which have mastered all martial arts, as well as
Alakazam)
As for what the Pokedex says about it:
Larvitar, the pre-evolution of Pupitar, has its Pokedex entries all about how, as soon as it's born, & underground at that, it has to eat all of the surrounding soil to get to the surface where its parents are. Larvitar eats a mountain, or a mountain's weight in dirt so it can go to sleep & grow/evolve, becoming a pupa: Pupitar.
Pupitar itself?
| Silver | Even sealed in its shell, it can move freely. Hard and fast, it has outstanding destructive power. |
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| Crystal | It will not stay still, even while it's a pupa. It already has arms and legs under its solid shell. |
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| Ruby | Pupitar creates a gas inside its body that it compresses and forcefully ejects to propel itself like a jet. The body is very durable - it avoids damage even if it hits solid steel. |
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| Ultra Sun | This troublesome Pokémon can't wait to evolve, so it relieves its stress by wildly propelling itself around using compressed gas. |
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| Ultra Moon | This dangerous pupa thrashes about. Its shell is as hard as bedrock, containing its gradually forming new body within. |
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| Scarlet | This pupa flies around wildly by venting with great force the gas pressurized inside its body. |
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TL;DR - What little of its behaviour is described calls it "troublesome" & mentions it can move freely, thrashes about, won't stay still, & explicitly can't wait to evolve.
Sadly, Pupitar's appearances in other media like the anime & manga are very sparse, with few major appearances, & most of them being trainers' Pupitar.
I could maybe see Pupitar doing Scary Face early on, given its descriptions like:
"A horrific look that scares the victim, sharply reducing the target's Speed." &
"The user frightens the target with a scary face to harshly lower its Speed stat." & such.
But frankly, given Pupitar being stated to be eager to evolve, dangerous, being stated to thrash about, I doubt it'd sit about glaring at Tatsumi very long. It explicitly can't stay still. 'course, that probably does mean Dragon Dance is in character, being that it's described as a
"The user vigorously performs a mystic, powerful dance that raises its Attack and Speed stats.", since Pupitar explicitly can't stay still, so it'd probably readily do something vigorous.
Screeching might also be similarly in-character, since it does seem like the sort to express itself so... intensely.
Earthquake might be in-character, especially since Tyranitar casually does them & Pupitar explicitly can topple a mountain with its thrashing, but more in-character moves would likely be Thrash. Hyper Beam might also be in-character, but especially Stomping Tantrum.
Notably, the latter says:
"Driven by frustration, the user attacks the target. If the user's previous move has failed, the power of this move doubles."
Stomping Tantrum's power doubling even happens if the previous move simply missed, rather than failing to affect.
1 of Pupitar's move with a similar effect is Payback:
"The user stores power, then attacks. This move's power is doubled if the user moves after the target."
Hopefully that's helpful & informative, even if it doesn't paint Pupitar in the most positive portrayal possible, presently.
