Despite his low Attack, his 115 base Speed allows him to outspeed most of the UU metagame. There's also Switcheroo, which allows you to swap your Choice Band onto a Pokémon that could be wearing Choice Specs or just to cripple a set-up sweeper. Otherwise, Return is your main attack. Night Slash will hit Ghost-types that would otherwise wall you. Hypnosis works well with the set after you swap off your Choice Band, but U-turn can be used to not only make better use of the Choice Band, but also to escape freely from Pokémon like Golem and still possibly damage other Pokémon in the process. Limber also gives Persian some freedom to switch in, since he can come in on Thunder Wave and Glare with few worries.
Looks like this classy cat has gone conservative! *Gasp*. There are only three Pokemon that use Fake Out and U-Turn well: Persian, Purugly, and Ambipom. Each has its own advantages. Persian and Ambipom have Technician to work with, while Purugly and Persian have Hypnosis to add onto their movesets. So basically, mix Ambipom and Purugly together and reduce the Attack slightly, and you get something like this. The set is actually nice for the beginning of UU battles. Basically, the goal is to Fake Out and then proceed with U-turn. If you feel bored and want to incapacitate something, there's the idea of using Hypnosis after Fake Out. There's Bite to hit Ghosts, and Bite has a decent flinch rate. Add Technician and slap on Life Orb or Silk Scarf, and you have something that will annoy your opponent all day.
I bet I know what you're thinking right now: since when can Persian go on the special spectrum again? This isn't RBY, is it? Thanks to Nasty Plot, he can accomplish it easily. STAB Swift and Technician make this set somewhat powerful, and STAB Swift's never missing makes evasion-boosting or accuracy-reducing tactics useless. The idea is to use Hypnosis and then Nasty Plot on the switch. In other words, it almost guarantees a free Nasty Plot unless your opponent has something that is faster than Persian, which is unlikely in many cases. Water Pulse adds toward the set for a great combination of Normal and Water, which hits everything in UU neutrally except Shedinja. Though it's not mentioned, the IVs are in case you wish to use Hidden Power Fighting. The IVs will give you a base of 59, and becomes roughly 88.5 with the Technician boost. It also allows some extra Speed that would have been lost if you chose a base power of 60.
Persian is the fastest user of both Hypnosis and Rain Dance together, meaning you can put a Pokemon to sleep with Hypnosis, giving you an opportunity to Rain Dance. These factors allow Persian to set up Rain Dance without taking any initial damage. Fake Out is the primary option as it can quickly eliminate Pokemon who rely on Focus Sash. If you feel Fake Out is not required, Taunt makes a great alternative, stopping any Pokemon with Sleep Talk, or an immunity to sleep. Taunt also deals with any slower leads trying to throw status at Persian. U-Turn is to make a quick exit and send in the sweepers you have waiting to benefit from Rain Dance. Focus Sash can be used in place of Damp Rock for extra protection, however eight turns of Rain is extremely helpful in UU. If you are worried about opposing priority leads, Focus Sash may be the item you are looking for. Additionally, use Limber when using Taunt over Fake Out, otherwise use Technician.
Like any set that heavily relies on Focus Sash, this is a rather risky option but can have excellent pay offs. If a Swords Dancer, Dragon Dancer or Reversal user is threatening to sweep your team, send in Persian. Psych Up their boosts as Focus Sash allows you to survive the hit and Flail them into submission. Hypnosis can send a counter to sleep, or you can U-turn out and send in Persian later to sweep with a full powered Flail. Other OptionsOn the physical side, Iron Tail stands out, as it would hit pure Rock-types like Golem pretty hard, but it is still ineffective against Aggron, Probopass, and Bastiodon. Fury Swipes can work with the Choice Band set and can break Substitutes, but you suffer two problems. The first problem is that the Pokémon that would use Substitute commonly resist Normal, such as Aggron, which 4x resists it. The second would be that it takes four Fury Swipes to do more damage than Return. You can also consider Double-Edge, but despite its offering more power, the recoil can be a huge disadvantage, and if you get a Life Orb from Switcheroo, it will do nothing more than bring you toward your death even faster. Aerial Ace gets a Technician boost and hits harder than Return on Fighting-types and Grass-types. Payback gets a Technician boost, or can have 100 base power if you move last, though that would probably only happen if your opponent is using a Choice Scarf or if your opponent is switching. And of course, there is also Punishment, which can "punish" Pokémon that like to spam moves like Calm Mind or Swords Dance. Believe it or not, there are some other special moves that weren't listed in the Special Sweeper set. Dark Pulse and Shadow Ball hit Ghost-types that would otherwise wall your Swifts. Shadow Ball gets the added advantage of hitting Toxicroak, but Dark Pulse has the nifty chance to flinch. Thunderbolt and Thunder are also decent options, hitting bulky Waters in the process, especially Mantine. Icy Wind is great against Altaria and pairs well with Thunderbolt, and gains the benefit of a Technician boost and a chance of a Speed drop, keeping Altaria from outspeeding you if he dares to start Dragon Dancing. Power Gem may not look like a move to choose, but it hits many Pokemon in the UU environment super effectively, including Altaria, Mantine, Scyther, Froslass, Drifblim, Shedinja, Walrein, etc. Assist, Snatch, and Psych Up are somewhat gimmicky, but work decently on Persian. You never know when you could steal (or gain in Assist's case) a free Swords Dance or even Dragon Dance, so it's not a bad thing to try. Charm can soften physical attacks directed at Persian. A set focused around Last Resort is gimmicky, but could occasionally work in the endgame. It can use just Fake Out for its auxiliary slot and Life Orb for its item, or add Hypnosis and Substitute as well and use Liechi Berry. EVsMax Speed with a boosting nature and max out whichever attacking stat you will be using. OpinionPersian's rather poor attacking stats are what lets him down most. Still, his excellent Speed and access to Hypnosis are very much in his favor. The speedy feline is not quite up to scratch in the higher tiers of the game, but in UU he can provide some useful sleep support and can even be a surprisingly effective special sweeper. CountersSteels and Rocks are both great counters for the physical sets, with the exception of Aggron who can be 2HKOed with Hidden Power Fighting. Bastiodon, Probopass, Mawile, Golem, Omastar and Relicanth can all beat him pretty easily. The special set is a little harder to counter and beating it depends on which attacks Persian carries. If he lacks Dark Pulse, then Grumpig and Hypno can both defeat him, without Thunderbolt Persian can be taken down by Mantine. Probopass and Bastiodon can handle Water Pulse well enough, but neither will enjoy HP Fighting. |
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