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Swift Swim
- Speed doubles in rain.
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Water Veil
- Prevents burn.
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Lightningrod
- When hit with an Electric-type move, Special Attack is boosted by one stage. All Electric-type attacks are drawn to this Pokemon.
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Level 50 Statistics (see level 5, 50, 100)
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Min- |
Min |
Max |
Max+ |
| HP |
80
|
- |
155 |
187 |
- |
| Atk |
92
|
100 |
112 |
144 |
158 |
| Def |
65
|
76 |
85 |
117 |
128 |
| SpA |
65
|
76 |
85 |
117 |
128 |
| SpD |
80
|
90 |
100 |
132 |
145 |
| Spe |
68
|
79 |
88 |
120 |
132 |
Overview
This generation, Seaking was gifted with the ability of Lightningrod, which not only draws in Electric-type attacks, but also gives Seaking an immunity to them. Thanks to Lightningrod, Seaking is only hit super effectively by Grass-type attacks, but with its frail defenses, neutral hits still do good damage. Seaking has a very small movepool to work with, but it still makes due with what it has.
Waterfall is the main STAB move on the set. With STAB and a potential boost from rain, it hits pretty hard against those who take merely neutral damage from it. Aqua Tail can be used for more power, but at the cost of accuracy. Megahorn gives coverage over Psychic-, Grass-, and Dark-types such as Cresselia, Ludicolo, and Abomasnow. However, its accuracy isn't reliable, so be warned. Horn Drill is pretty cool to take out bulky threats such as Cresselia. Soak can be used to change your partner's typing to Water, to possibly get rid of its other weaknesses. Protect is standard on nearly every single Pokemon in VGC. It can help stall, prevent Fake Out damage, or just keep Seaking protected for a turn, while something else happens to get rid of the possible threats on the field.
Team Options & Additional Comments >>>
A Life Orb helps Seaking deal out as much damage as possible; this is especially needed with its base 92 Attack stat. An Adamant nature and 252 Attack EVs allow Seaking to hit as hard as possible with its main Water-type STAB and Megahorn. Seaking is in an awkward Speed tier; even with maximum Speed and a boosting nature it doesn't outspeed many threats or common Pokemon you'd want gone, so HP EVs are added for extra bulk. Finally, Lightningrod is what grants Seaking its unique niche, the most important feature of which is the immunity to Electric-type attacks it grants everyone on the field.
Rain support strengthens Seaking's main STAB option, be it Waterfall or Aqua Tail. As Seaking can protect its fellow Water-types from Electric-type attacks, Politoed specifically makes a good partner due to its ability to automatically provide permanent rain. Vice versa, Seaking gives it protection from threats such as Thundurus and Zapdos, who can OHKO with STAB Thunder. Pokemon such as Ludicolo, Ferrothorn, and Breloom can be problematic with strong Grass-type moves, so pairing it with a partner with access to Flying or Fire-type moves helps deal with these threats more easily. Tornadus can also be a good partner as he is able to set up rain and Tailwind, and he can abuse rain himself with Hurricane. Discharge users pair well with Seaking as they can use Discharge freely, without the fear of Seaking getting hurt.
Scald is the recommended STAB move due to its burn chance. Hydro Pump is another option as it is stronger, but its imperfect accuracy can be a letdown. Ice Beam grants Seaking coverage on Dragon-, Grass-, and Flying-types, such as Garchomp, Venusaur, and Thundurus. Hidden Power Grass hits other Water-types, but does not provide much added coverage on top of this. Soak can be used to change your partner's typing to Water, to possibly get rid of other unwanted weaknesses. Protect is standard on nearly every single Pokemon in VGC, as it has many uses in VGC battles, including stalling, preventing Fake Out, and keeping Seaking safe from potential KOs for a turn.
Team Options & Additional Comments >>>
A Life Orb can power up Seaking's moves, allowing it to hit incredibly hard after one or two Lightningrod Special Attack boosts, even though Seaking only has a base 65 Special Attack to start with. As said before, Lightningrod does so many things for Seaking; most notably, it grants Seaking and its partner an immunity to Electric-type attacks. In addition to this immunity, it also gives Seaking a Special Attack boost for each turn it draws in an Electric-type attack. A Modest nature gets the most power out of Seaking's base 65 Special Attack. In VGC 2012, you won't find Seaking outspeeding many threats in the metagame even with max Speed investment and a positive nature. This lets Seaking use the EVs it would normally invested into the Speed stat, and invest more in HP to increase bulk and survivability.
Pokemon who can keep rain up are excellent partners for Seaking as the rain boosts Seaking's STAB move. Politoed is preferred for this as he summons automatic rain upon entering the field. Pokemon with Prankster Rain Dance, such as Tornadus and Thundurus, are also good picks. Thundurus is an especially good partner because it can set rain up with Rain Dance and give boosts to Seaking with Thunder Wave and Discharge. Other Discharge users include Zapdos, the Rotom formes, and Zebstrika. Grass-types such as Ferrothorn, Breloom, and Ludicolo, are problematic as they can hit Seaking super effectively and OHKO; this makes Tornadus and Crobat, who are great checks/counters to said Grass-types, good teammates.
Other Options
Seaking could run the physical set with Swift Swim and maximum Speed investment, but the likes of Kingdra and Ludicolo are better in the role of a Swift Swim sweeper. Poison Jab is about one of the only other powerful physical attacks that Seaking gets; however, its coverage overlaps with Megahorn's. Seaking has a few Normal-type moves, namely Return and Body Slam, that serve some small use, and offer decent neutral coverage. On a special attacking set, Seaking could run Hidden Power Flying or Hidden Power Fire, the latter if used outside of rain, to fend off opposing Grass-types.
Checks and Counters
Grass-types—both fast and bulky ones—are problematic for Seaking; examples include Ludicolo under rain, Venusaur under sun, Ferrothorn, and Breloom. They can either outspeed or tank a hit and proceed to KO with a strong Grass-type attack, such as Giga Drain or Power Whip. Metagross and Scizor take neutral damage from any of Seaking's hits and can easily 2HKO with their own STAB moves. Sun teams can be troublesome for Seaking to handle, as many Pokemon commonly found on them, such as Venasaur and Tangrowth, can tank neutral hits from Seaking and retaliate with a KO.
