What it does
Screen Cleaner removes Reflect, Light Screen, and Aurora Veil from both sides of the field the moment the holder switches in. All three, simultaneously, with no move required. Just entering the field is enough.
Important: 'both sides' means your screens too. If your team has an active screen up when you switch in the Screen Cleaner user, it goes with the opponent's. In practice you just don't switch this Pokémon in while your own screens are active.
What screens actually do: Reflect cuts physical damage by half (two-thirds in doubles), Light Screen cuts special damage the same way, Aurora Veil provides both protections during snow. A team that gets both screens up is taking roughly 50-65% of normal damage from everything — moves that would KO suddenly don't. Screen Cleaner removes all of that in one switch-in, making every turn your opponent spent setting up screens count for nothing.
Who runs it
Mr. Rime is the main Screen Cleaner user in Champions (49% usage). It brings its own offensive threat alongside the screen-clearing utility — Expanding Force increases from 80 to 130 base power under Psychic Terrain (and hits all opponents as a spread move), Psyshock hits Physical Defense despite being a special move. Switching in Mr. Rime both clears the screens and immediately presents a real damage threat, which makes it hard to just ignore.
Mr. Rime doesn't set up its own screens. It's a reactive tool — bring it specifically to beat screen teams, not as general support.
How to use it
The clearest use case: the opponent just finished setting up both screens with something like Grimmsnarl using Reflect and Light Screen in back-to-back turns. You switch in Mr. Rime, both screens drop immediately. Their investment of two turns and potentially a Light Clay is gone, and your attackers deal full damage starting this turn.
Timing matters. Screens last five turns normally, eight with Light Clay. The earlier you clear them, the more turns of protection you deny the opponent. Ideally you switch in right after screens go up to waste as much of their value as possible. Late clears still help but give back some of the turns.
In doubles, watch for Fake Out. Fake Out can flinch Mr. Rime after it switches in, but Screen Cleaner already fires on entry before Fake Out resolves — the screens are cleared regardless.
Tips & strategy
Screen Cleaner is a meta call, not a universal tool. In a field where screen setters are rare, it does almost nothing. In a season where Grimmsnarl and dual-screen leads are everywhere, one Screen Cleaner Pokémon can decide multiple games.
Screen Cleaner fires once per switch-in. If the opponent's screen setter is still alive, they can rebuild the screens after you clear them. Removing the screen setter itself is the long-term solution — Screen Cleaner buys you one clean window; your team needs to use that window efficiently.
Experienced opponents who see Mr. Rime on your team will often delay screens or skip them entirely — the risk of getting them cleared immediately changes how they play. That pressure exists even if Screen Cleaner never triggers.