In DP, Light Ball doubles Pikachu's Attack as well as its Special Attack, making a physical set viable on him. This particular Pikachu is NOT walled by the likes of Blissey and Snorlax; in fact, he does a significant number against the two with Brick Break. Volt Tackle is made even more potent by the fact that Pikachu has a slightly higher Attack than Special Attack, but the recoil along with Substitute could kill him very quickly considering his meager HP, even without his opponent's help.
This set gives good coverage against most big threats, including Rhyperior, Swampert, Garchomp, and Tyranitar, not to mention numerous other Water-types. Blissey and Snorlax wall it too easily, though, and hence the mixed set tends to be better.
This set is probably the easiest to set up for a sweep. If you're ballsy with your prediction, you can switch Pikachu in on a setup move and then Encore it, rendering the opponent defenseless and leaving you free to Substitute. Then you get a free turn to cause electric mayhem. Other OptionsThe reason no Nasty Plot set is listed above is that Pikachu is like a UU Deoxys-A. It doesn't have time to set up and attack. It needs to get started attacking right away, or else it's going to go down on the next hit. Encore and Substitute are the two exceptions that can keep Pikachu alive and shocking. Surf sounds really cool, and with the 20th Anniversary Nintendo Power event that was held back on Sept. 13, 2008 we are no longer limited to legitimate crappy Hardy natured Surfing Pikachus from Pokémon Battle Revolution. Grass Knot is more powerful against the likes of Tyranitar and Rhyperior anyway. However, Surf hits the likes of Camerupt and Steelix much harder, but those Pokemon are uncommon. Focus Punch can be an excellent option over Brick Break on the physical set. If Pikachu gets a Sub up on the switch, it can OHKO an incoming Blissey/Snorlax. You might be contemplating an Adamant/Modest nature for the extra attack power. Don’t. Pikachu needs all the Speed it can get, especially when that extra Speed can help it outspeed other UU Pokemon in the base 90 to 100 Speed brackets, containing some of the biggest threats available. Quick Attack or Fake Out can stop things like Reversal/Flail users. EVsPikachu should ALWAYS max Special Attack and Speed on a special set. The reason that the remaining 6 EVs were put into Defense instead of HP is because with those 6 EVs in HP, Pikachu's HP total becomes 212, which is divisible by four. This means Pikachu will only be able to Substitute three times instead of four. This is assuming that Pikachu has a 31 HP IV, but chances are your Pikachu—if it's in-game—doesn't have it. You will need to calculate your Pikachu's HP and then determine whether it should have those 6 EVs in HP or not. Ideally, Pikachu should have an odd-numbered HP—this also rounds down damage from Stealth Rock or Spikes. OpinionIf you’re a trainer with some serious balls, Pikachu is the rat for you. He can be hard to switch into battle carefully, but the payoff can be huge. A Pikachu sweep is amazing to behold. CountersBlissey and Snorlax can take any hit a purely special Pikachu can dish out, although Snorlax will eventually fall with Spikes support. Actually, the Pikachu trainer should be watching out for things like Weavile and Dugtrio, who will make sure Pikachu doesn’t survive to 'bolt again. The smart Pikachu trainer should always try to keep a Substitute up as a safeguard against this. |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
