BST:
60/95/80/60/80/30
QC: Solace, Huy
NOTE: Edited title to spur this along. Not sure what else I need to do for the skeleton. Comments and criticisms more than appreciated.
[Overview]
<p>Parasect is one of the golden few blessed with access to Spore. Despite possessing worse bulk than Amoonguss and being unable to hold a candle to Breloom in terms of offense, Parasect has its own unique niche in the form of Dry Skin. Not only does this ability grant it surprising bulk in rain, Dry Skin also provides Parasect with recovery when hit by Water-type moves, a feature it can abuse with Rage Powder and a teammate's Surf. Unfortunately, Parasect's numerous weaknesses to common attack types in VGC make it difficult for this bug to pull off the goods. Nonetheless, it is capable of performing a very specialized supporting role, and is a worthy consideration for any rain team.</p>
[SET]
name: Rain Support
move 1: Spore
move 2: Rage Powder
move 3: Seed Bomb / X-Scissor
move 4: Protect
item: Leftovers
nature: Sassy
ability: Dry Skin
evs: 196 HP / 60 Def / 252 SpD
ivs: 0 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>Dry Skin gives Parasect the ability to recover a grand total of 18.75% of it's maximum HP every turn in the rain and with leftovers, giving him formidable bulk compared to other Spore and Rage Powder users. Parasect can also make use of Rage Powder alongside Dry Skin; partnering him with a Surf user in rain increases his recovery while also enabling him to redirect attacks away from your main attacker. Yes, you read that correctly; That's 43.75% HP recovery every turn, while your other Pokemon is protected and can fire away rain-boosted Surfs. Be cautious however, as Parasect's abysmal Speed calls for Trick Room support. While not entirely necessary for Rage Powder, which has a priority of +3, it is essential to allow him to use Spore effectively. Seed Bomb can be used to demolish Pokemon 4x weak to Grass-type attacks, such as Ground / Water or Rock / Water Pokemon, while X-Scissor is useful for hitting Latias and Latios, but will never OHKO them. Protect, a staple move of the doubles metagame, also helps Parasect gain an extra turn of HP recovery.</p>
[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
<p>The EVs and nature are as such because Parasect is mostly going to be sponging specially based attacks such as Heat Wave, Ice Beam, and Blizzard. A Sassy nature and 252 Special Defence EVs helps maximize Parasect's chances of surviving these special attacks. 196 HP EVs provides Parasect with the greatest possible Leftovers number, and also gives him a little bulk on the physical side, which may come in handy. Furthermore, his resistances to Fighting- and Ground-type moves help him tank many physically based assaults in VGC. Leech Seed can further contribute to Parasect's bulk, and can replace it's attacking move. However, doing so would leave Parasect completely helpless against a Taunt user, so one should be careful when considering this option. Toxic could be used as well, to get past other bulky Water-types.</p>
<p>Parasect is a pure support Pokemon, and thus requires a competent attacker to support; good choices to fill this role include Hydreigon, Dragonite, and Latios. Rage Powder can be useful, allowing your attacking Pokemon to safely set up a Swords Dance or use another boosting move, sacrificing Parasect to allow a teammate a free switch in. Another thing to take note of is Parasect's 4x resistance to Ground-type moves, which enable it to sponge most Ground-type attacks. Coupled with its immense recovery, Parasect makes an interesting and viable teammate to Earthquake users, such as Garchomp, Dragonite and Latios. Furthermore, in a clutch situation, it can serve as a guarantee that your attacking Pokemon will be able to finish off the foe.</p>
[SET]
name: Physical Attacker
move 1: Spore
move 2: X-Scissor
move 3: Seed Bomb / Rage Powder
move 4: Protect
item: Focus Sash
nature: Brave
ability: Dry Skin/ Effect Spore
evs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SpD
ivs: 0 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>Parasect can be a pretty mean Sandman, thanks to its relatively respectable base 95 Attack stat. This Parasect plays fairly differently from the previous set as its goal isn't to tank attacks for its teammate, but rather take advantage of Trick Room with spore and its STAB attacks. Rage Powder is an alternative to Seed Bomb, however, as Parasect's dual STABs, Bug and Grass, have pretty terrible coverage. As this Parasect is more offensive in nature and prefers Trick Room support, it isn't as reliant on rain's Dry Skin recovery. As such, Effect Spore may be the better option to hope for hax, as Parasect won't be investing much into defences.</p>
[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
<p>The EVs make Parasect as strong and as slow as possible. The 252 HP EVs are in fact somewhat inconsequential, but if you did choose to use Dry Skin with this Parasect, it would at least allow Parasect maximum Surf recovery. One of Parasect's biggest strengths in this metagame is being a great Trick Room counter thanks to its abysmal Speed coupled with Spore, as well as its ability to 0HKO Latios and Latias with max Attack investment 100% of the time.</p>
<p>Using a Focus Sash carries its own risks. Abomasnow, Tyranitar, and Hippowdon all break Parasect's sash with their respective weathers, making Parasect a poor choice against such teams. Multi-hit moves and Fake Out also break Parasect's sash, often leaving him without the opportunity to do much at all. Furthermore, faster spore users will shut Parasect down before Trick Room has a chance to go up if you don't predict properly with Protect.</p>
[Other Options]
<p>If you elect to use Effect Spore, Endure is an option over protect for the chance of Effect Spore hax. This isn't recommended for the Rain Support set, however, as the main use of Protect there is to recover HP. Substitute could also be used to give Parasect an additional buffer against attacks; this is particularly useful when coupled with a Surf user to aid recovery. However, the opportunity to pull this off will be rare. Parasect really requires X-Scissor to effectively damage Latios and Latias, so if you don't use X-Scissor, be sure that your team has a counter. Parasect can play similar to an Amoonguss or Tangrowth using Rage Powder and a sleep inducing move, but those two perform better with their superior bulk.</p>
[Checks and Counters]
<p>Thanks to its atrocious typing, mediocre offenses and poor Speed, it may be easier to describe what won't counter Parasect. With a 4x weakness to Fire- and Flying-Type attacks, as well as weaknesses to Rock-, Ice-, Poison-, and Bug-type moves, it's a good bet that at least one of the opponents will be able to hit Parasect super effectively. However, Parasect does have surprisingly good bulk, and in rain, the only attacks one really needs to watch out for are Flying-type moves from Pokemon such as Tornadus and other Acrobatics users. Faster Taunts from Pokemon such as Tornadus and Whimsicott, as well as faster Spores from Smeargle, Amoonguss, and Breloom also shut down Parasect, meaning Trick Room support is vital.</p>
[Dream World]
<p>Parasect didn't get much from the Dream World. Competitively, Damp won't do much in VGC. It could be a surprise if you see a user of Explosion or Selfdestruct on your opponent's team such as Gigalith or Snorlax, though simply predicting and using protect will typically suffice. Parasect is also much better off running Dry Skin.</p>
