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Run Away
- Increases chances of successfully escaping a random battle.
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Flash Fire
- Grants immunity to Fire-type moves and increases the power of Fire-type moves by 50% when hit by a Fire-type move.
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Flame Body
- 30% chance to burn when struck by a contact move. Halves the number of steps required to hatch Eggs.
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Level 5 Statistics (see level 5, 50, 100)
|
Min- |
Min |
Max |
Max+ |
| HP |
50
|
- |
21 |
24 |
- |
| Atk |
85
|
13 |
15 |
18 |
19 |
| Def |
55
|
10 |
12 |
15 |
16 |
| SpA |
65
|
11 |
13 |
16 |
17 |
| SpD |
65
|
11 |
13 |
16 |
17 |
| Spe |
90
|
13 |
15 |
18 |
19 |
Overview
With the second highest base stat total in all of Little Cup, Ponyta immediately stands out as both an offensive and defensive threat. Ponyta reaches the vaunted 19 Speed, which, when combined with its great Attack stat, gives this pony immense sweeping potential. Although Ponyta is capable of dishing out incredible damage, it really shines as a bulky pivot capable of taking hits, spreading status, and hitting back hard. Through the Dream World, Ponyta gains Flame Body, which helps it check many of the metagame's prominent physical attackers. Despite all of these positives, Ponyta has difficulty doing enough damage to the opponent; it will either kill itself through Flare Blitz and Life Orb recoil or not hit hard enough to run through the opponent's team.
Bulky Ponyta is one of the greatest pivots in LC. Above-average defensive stats combined with Eviolite give it great overall bulk. This is accentuated further by Flame Body, which gives Ponyta a good chance to burn opposing physical attackers, such as Mienfoo and Murkrow. Sunny Day is a great move to boost the power of Ponyta's Flare Blitz, temper weak Water-type attacks from Pokemon such as Chinchou, improve Morning Sun's recovery, and remove the opponent's sandstorm. Ponyta is a great check to weather teams, as it can come in and immediately threaten Snover, while also being able to set up Sunny Day easily against most members of a standard sand team. Will-O-Wisp is a great alternative to Sunny Day because it gives Ponyta a much more reliable way of burning opponents and handling common physical threats. Wild Charge supplies much-needed coverage against Staryu and other Water-types, although Return can be used over Wild Charge for more rounded coverage.
Team Options & Additional Comments >>>
The given EV spread gives Ponyta balanced defensive stat totals of 21 / 19 / 21 after the boost from Eviolite, as well as 19 Speed. A more physically bulky spread of 36 HP / 156 Def / 76 SpD / 196 Spe with a Jolly nature is useful to check common physical threats, such as Mienfoo. Toxic is an option over either Wild Charge or Sunny Day as it allows Ponyta to severely cripple many of its checks, such as Slowpoke, Hippopotas, and Porygon.
As Ponyta will be taking a lot of passive damage from Stealth Rock and Flare Blitz, and cannot always rely on Morning Sun, Rapid Spin support from Staryu and Wish support from Lickitung are both incredibly useful. Due to Ponyta's anti-weather nature, it is a great addition to any balanced or offensive team needing a secondary check to Drilbur. It is also one of the greatest Snover counters, making Ponyta a great teammate to Pokemon that enjoy Snover's removal, such as Axew or Murkrow. Although Ponyta has great coverage in two moves, Chinchou is nearly a complete stop to Ponyta, making your own Chinchou and Shroomish great teammates for Ponyta. Chlorophyll sweepers such as Petilil and Oddish are capable teammates for Ponyta, as their Speed is doubled in the sun.
With a Life Orb equipped, Ponyta is one of the strongest Pokemon in all of LC. It is a great late-game sweeper due to the immense offensive firepower it enjoys from its 18 Attack and 19 Speed. Flare Blitz is a great STAB move that has high Base Power, and is Ponyta's main attacking option. With Wild Charge, Ponyta can hit Water-types such as Staryu and Frillish. Return is Ponyta's best option against Chinchou, who resists Flare Blitz and is immune to Wild Charge. Flame Charge is used in the last slot as it gives Ponyta a chance at outspeeding Choice Scarf users, thwarting revenge killing attempts. It is also useful to pick off weakened threats without the massive recoil from Flare Blitz. Flash Fire is the preferred ability as it can potentially boost the power of Ponyta's Flare Blitz to menacing levels; with a boost, it can even 2HKO RestTalk Chinchou.
Team Options & Additional Comments >>>
As Life Orb Ponyta will be taking massive amounts of recoil damage, both Rapid Spin support and Wish support are appreciated; great partners in this regard include Staryu and Lickitung. Unlike the Eviolite set, which is adept at beating Snover, Life Orb Ponyta is only capable of switching in once against Snover, so a more dedicated check is useful. Although Life Orb Ponyta is incredibly powerful, it fails to OHKO many bulky threats such as Mienfoo, Misdreavus, and Scraggy, while they can all do massive damage back; because of this, a revenge killer such as Choice Scarf Murkrow is a great partner. Chinchou and Snover are also great partners for their ability to check and beat the many Water-types in the tier.
Other Options
Ponyta can run a competent Choice Scarf set, but this is best left to Pokemon such as Murkrow or Mienfoo, who can hit many fast threats super effectively. Quick Attack gains an honorable mention for being a priority move, but incompatibility with Flare Blitz and lack of STAB make it unappealing. A mixed set can be used, with Fire Blast minimizing, but splitting offensive EVs will make Ponyta too weak to gain any OHKOs. Double-Edge can replace Return to hit Chinchou harder, but the extra recoil is not appreciated at all. Agility can be used over Flame Charge, but +2 Speed is unnecessary, while Flame Charge allows Ponyta to pick off weakened threats as well. Ponyta can also learn Hypnosis, but Will-O-Wisp is better and Hypnosis is incredibly inaccurate.
Checks and Counters
Chinchou is by far the best counter to Ponyta; the ability to come in on any of its moves and at worst 2HKO with Hydro Pump makes Chinchou an immediate threat. Staryu is also a great check to Ponyta, as it is able to Speed-tie with Ponyta and OHKO with Hydro Pump, but it must be wary of switching in as Wild Charge easily 2HKOes. Porygon can beat Flash Fire Ponyta comfortably, as Trace makes it immune to Ponyta's STAB. It can then effectively cripple Ponyta with Thunder Wave, or slowly kill it with Tri Attack. As Ponyta deals so much damage to itself by recoil, both Stealth Rock and Spikes from Pokemon such as Dwebble and Ferroseed are great to wear it down even more quickly.
Outside of defensive Pokemon, there are many other checks to Ponyta. Diglett can come in on Wild Charge or revenge kill Ponyta with ease, trapping and OHKOing it with Earthquake. Misdreavus can win the Speed tie or take a Life Orb Flare Blitz and OHKO back after factoring in Flare Blitz recoil. Scraggy can always take Flare Blitz, set up Dragon Dance, and then regain all of its health back with Drain Punch; it also does not fear a burn due to Shed Skin. Although both Murkrow and Mienfoo fear being burnt by either Will-O-Wisp or Flame Body, they are both capable of taking a hit and dealing massive damage back to Ponyta. Croagunk can easily revenge kill weakened Ponyta with its various priority attacks. Tirtouga threatens Ponyta with both of its STABs and can set up a Shell Smash without fear of Wild Charge due to its good physical bulk and Sturdy, although it must be wary of Will-O-Wisp. If sandstorm is active, Drilbur will outspeed and OHKO Ponyta with Earthquake.
