HYPAH VOIIIIICE
[Overview]
<p>With a base 91 Special Attack and access to a wide variety of special moves, Exploud holds a niche in NU as the only viable pure Normal-type Pokemon that can launch powerful special attacks. Exploud can also use physical moves well due to its stellar base 91 Attack stat, and it can take a few hits due to its beefy base 104 HP. As a bonus, Exploud's Soundproof ability means that it cannot be phazed by Roar or Perish Song. All of these qualities combine to make it a fantastic wallbreaker.</p>
<p>Unfortunately, no Pokemon is perfect, and Exploud has quite a few flaws. First of all, Exploud is extremely slow, and its great HP stat is undermined by its abysmal defenses. Exploud's mono-Normal typing also means that it has no resistances whatsoever. In addition, Exploud has trouble taking on Ghost-type Pokemon—at least until Game Freak is kind enough to release its Dream World ability, Scrappy. Luckily, though, these flaws are easy to remedy. Exploud's lack of defenses can be covered by bulky teammates, and there are plenty of Pokemon that can scare away Ghost-types, such as Absol and Skuntank. If you have such Pokemon on your team, then Exploud can easily huff, puff, and blow your opponent's team away.</p>
[SET]
name: Wallbreaker
move 1: Hyper Voice
move 2: Surf
move 3: Fire Blast
move 4: Hammer Arm / Ice Beam
item: Life Orb / Choice Specs
nature: Quiet / Modest
evs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 SpA
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>While Exploud is a slow Pokemon, it more than makes up for this with its killer Special Attack stat and expansive movepool. Hyper Voice is a reliable STAB attack to use as it has a solid 90 Base Power and no drawbacks. In addition, the only Pokemon that resist Hyper Voice are Rock- and Steel-types; Exploud can drown the former with Surf and incinerate the latter with Fire Blast. These two moves are also important because they provide Exploud with some much-needed super effective coverage. In the last moveslot, Exploud can use either Hammer Arm or Ice Beam to deal with a few threats. Hammer Arm might seem a bit weird because this Exploud is largely specially based, but even with the listed EV spread and nature, Hammer Arm 2HKOes Cryogonal, Lapras, physically defensive Regice, and Miltank after Stealth Rock damage; these four Pokemon are are very specially bulky and can easily absorb Exploud's other attacks. Ice Beam deals with Altaria, which a threat as it resists Surf and Fire Blast and can shrug off Hyper Voice.</p>
[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
<p>As a wallbreaker, Exploud needs all the power it can get, so maximizing its Special Attack should be your first priority. The rest of the EVs go into HP to give Exploud more bulk. If you decide to use Hammer Arm in the fourth moveslot, place the remaining EVs into Attack and use a Quiet nature; otherwise, put the remaining EVs in Defense and go with a Modest nature. Exploud should almost always use either Life Orb or Choice Specs, as these two items give it the power it needs to break through walls. Expert Belt is also worth considering as it lacks significant drawbacks and can fool opponents into thinking that Exploud is carrying Choice Specs. However, Expert Belt only powers up super effective hits, and although Exploud can indeed hit many Pokemon for super effective damage, Expert Belt will never boost Hyper Voice, and Life Orb and Choice Specs are generally more reliable.</p>
<p>While Exploud's base 91 Special Attack is decent, it sometimes narrowly misses certain KOs, such as on defensive Rotom-S (if using Hammer Arm over Ice Beam); it therefore loves entry hazard support. Mesprit, Miltank, and Regirock are good choices to set up Stealth Rock mainly because of their excellent bulk. Exploud is great at breaking walls, so its offensive teammates should ideally aim to exploit this. Powerhouses and late-game sweepers, such as Absol and Swellow, respectively, hence pair well with Exploud. Dark-type Pokemon are also great teammates because Exploud is helpless against Ghost-types, most notably Frillish and Misdreavus; Absol and Stuntank in particular can trap those Pokemon with Pursuit. Finally, it should be noted that Exploud is an amazing recipient of Baton Pass boosts as Soundproof prevents it from being phazed by Roar, Yawn, or Perish Song. In particular, Exploud appreciates passed Quiver Dance boosts from Masquerain or Tail Glow boosts from Volbeat.</p>
[Other Options]
<p>Exploud has plenty of other moves to use, such as Thunderbolt, Focus Blast, Shadow Ball, and SolarBeam, but these are inferior to the listed options: Hyper Voice is a given due to STAB, Surf and Fire Blast are necessary to nail Rock- and Steel-type Pokemon that try to switch into Hyper Voice, and either Hammer Arm or Ice Beam is required to deal with specific counters. Shadow Ball deserves a mention, though, as it is Exploud's best option against Ghost-type Pokemon. Exploud could use Circle Throw over Hammer Arm to phaze the foe away while dealing some damage, but the significant drop in power means that Exploud will have a tough time breaking through Miltank and the aforementioned specially defensive Ice-types. Work Up sounds interesting as both Exploud's offensive stats are excellent, but it is a bit too slow to pull this off effectively. Said low Speed can become a great boon in Trick Room, however. Many Trick Room teams have trouble with walls, which can often stall until Trick Room runs out; fortunately, Exploud is a fantastic wallbreaker, and it will definitely be appreciated on such teams.</p>
[Checks and Counters]
<p>Exploud's greatest flaws are its low Speed and miserable defenses. Therefore, any Pokemon that is faster than it and that carries a Fighting-type move, such as Sawk, Absol, and Braviary, will quickly defeat Exploud. Haunter, Misdreavus, and other Ghost-type Pokemon love to switch into Hyper Voice or Hammer Arm and cripple it. Frillish is probably the best Exploud counter out there, as it is immune to Hyper Voice, Hammer Arm, and Surf, and resists the rest of Exploud's attacks. Exploud's choice of move in the fourth moveslot will also determine which defensive Pokemon can counter it. If it decides to use Hammer Arm, then Altaria and Drifblim can easily switch into it and proceed to set up. Conversely, if Exploud elects to run Ice Beam, it will be unable to break through Miltank, Lickilicky, and specially defensive Ice-types, namely Lapras, Cryogonal, and Regice.</p>
[Unreleased]
<p>Scrappy will be a great boon to Exploud as it will be able to hit Ghost-type Pokemon with Hyper Voice (and Hammer Arm, if the need arises). Soundproof's ability to block out Roar is sweet, but Scrappy will likely be a better choice as it reduces the number of safe switch-ins to Exploud.</p>
