http://www.smogon.com/dex/dp/pokemon/medicham/
[OVERVIEW]
Medicham is the best physical wallbreaker in NU, and arguably the hardest Pokemon in the tier to switch into. Its High Jump Kick is absurdly powerful thanks to Pure Power, and it has reliable secondary STAB attacks and coverage moves to back it up. Fighting- and Psychic-type attacks together cover many of the tier's best defensive Pokemon, and Thunder Punch covers Slowking, the most prominent exception. Poor bulk and middling Speed make Medicham fairly easy to revenge kill, and High Jump Kick is a risky move that's easily exploited, but these flaws aren't enough to stop Medicham from being one of NU's most dangerous Pokemon.
[SET]
name: Life Orb
move 1: High Jump Kick
move 2: Zen Headbutt
move 3: Thunder Punch
move 4: Fake Out / Ice Punch / Bullet Punch
item: Life Orb
ability: Pure Power
nature: Jolly
evs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
Life Orb Medicham is easily one of the best wallbreakers in NU. High Jump Kick 2HKOes everything that doesn't resist it, and Zen Headbutt demolishes many of the Pokemon that do. Thunder Punch covers Flying-types and, more importantly, Slowking, which is a very common switch-in to Medicham. Not needing to play around Slowking is one of the biggest perks of this set; if Slowking switches in on either of Medicham's STAB moves, Thunder Punch has a good chance to KO it on the next turn.
In the last slot, Fake Out does 30-40% to most offensive Pokemon, making it a solid option to help Medicham pull its weight against offensive teams, which comprise mostly of Pokemon that outspeed it. Ice Punch is an alternative that OHKOes Gligar, which otherwise walls Medicham. Bullet Punch is another option for a more flexible priority move than Fake Out. Although most of the common Pokemon that outspeed Medicham resist Bullet Punch, it still does a decent 15-20%, which can allow Medicham to pick off heavily damaged Pokemon and ones that switch in and barely survive one of its attacks. It also OHKOes Jynx and does around 60% to Haunter, both of which otherwise force Medicham out. If you choose Ice Punch in the last slot, Psycho Cut becomes an option over Zen Headbutt to give Medicham a 100% accurate STAB move to rely on. Using Psycho Cut together with either Fake Out or Bullet Punch is illegal, though.
[ADDITIONAL SET COMMENTS]
High Jump Kick's monstrous power is what enables Medicham to break through NU's toughest physical walls, but it's also one of the riskiest moves in the game. The threat of a Ghost-type switching in makes it dangerous to use High Jump Kick before you've scouted your opponent's team, and walls such as Lickilicky and Regirock can use Protect to force Medicham into a prediction game. Keep in mind that High Jump Kick's crash recoil is based on the damage the move would have done (or, against Ghost-types, the target's max HP), so a crash against a target with high HP, such as Lickilicky or Drifblim, can OHKO Medicham. If you want a safer Fighting-type STAB move that doesn't require as much prediction, Brick Break is a viable alternative. Of course, the loss of power means Medicham misses out on some important KOs; it will no longer be able to OHKO Skuntank and Whiscash or 2HKO Quagsire, and it will need Ice Punch to be able to 2HKO Meganium and Sandslash.
A Jolly nature is mandatory on this set; there are a lot of common Pokemon that sit at or slightly below Medicham's Speed tier, and the additional power that an Adamant nature would provide is overkill. This set can work as a passable attacking lead with Fake Out if your team doesn't have room for a true lead. Medicham matches up very well against slower entry hazard-setting leads, but most faster leads will force it out after it uses Fake Out.
Although this set has no trouble breaking through most of NU's walls, it struggles against pure Psychic-types, especially Hypno. This makes Skuntank an excellent teammate, as it has nothing to fear from Hypno and can reliably trap it with Pursuit. Gligar (if you forgo Ice Punch) and Dusclops are the only other walls that have a chance at stopping Medicham. Zen Headbutt has about a 50% chance to 2HKO them if they switch in on it and Stealth Rock is up, but if Medicham misses out on that initial 2HKO, it will need a Zen Headbutt flinch or critical hit in order to win. Charizard is a good partner that can switch in on Dusclops's Will-O-Wisp and Gligar's Earthquake for free and benefits from Medicham's ability to lure and KO Slowking.
[SET]
name: Choice Scarf
move 1: High Jump Kick
move 2: Psycho Cut
move 3: Thunder Punch
move 4: Trick
item: Choice Scarf
ability: Pure Power
nature: Adamant / Jolly
evs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
Choice Scarf Medicham is a solid revenge killer and a threatening late-game sweeper. Even without a damage-boosting item, High Jump Kick's power remains impressive; it hits about as hard as Choice Band Tauros's Return. Psycho Cut is a 100% accurate STAB move that's useful both early-game, when you haven't yet scouted your opponent's team for Ghost-types, and late-game, when the opponent's team is weakened and High Jump Kick's power is no longer needed. Thunder Punch 2HKOes Slowking and is also Medicham's best move against Flying-types such as Charizard and Drifblim. Trick cripples walls that Medicham can't beat by attacking, such as Hypno and Meganium. Alternatively, Ice Punch allows Medicham to get past Gligar without giving away its Choice Scarf.
[ADDITIONAL SET COMMENTS]
With an Adamant nature, Medicham always OHKOes Tauros and Magmortar from full HP as well as Skuntank after Stealth Rock damage and Charizard after one round of Life Orb recoil. A Jolly nature reduces all of those KOs to approximately 50% chances, but it allows Medicham to at least Speed tie with opposing Choice Scarf Medicham and Gardevoir and outspeed a few of NU's slower weather sweepers such as Modest Vileplume and Modest Gorebyss in their respective weathers. Either nature is viable, but Adamant is the more consistently useful choice for most teams.
All Medicham sets benefit from Pursuit support, but this set needs it the most. Thunder Punch can 2HKO Slowking if you predict it to switch in, but other bulky Psychic-types don't fear anything from Choice Scarf Medicham except Trick. Skuntank is the best Pursuit user in NU, and its support is invaluable in allowing Medicham to safely spam its STAB moves.
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
====================
Medicham can use Choice Band to beat the handful of walls that can stop its Life Orb set. The extra power allows Medicham to always 2HKO Gligar and Dusclops with Zen Headbutt, and Trick allows Medicham to cripple Hypno and any other wall that's likely to switch in. Choice Band requires more prediction than Life Orb does, though, and Medicham's priority moves don't fit well on a Choice Band set, making it helpless against anything faster than it.
Medicham forces a lot of switches, and many teams rely on revenge killing to beat it, so Substitute is a good option that can help Medicham grab an extra KO. However, it's only effective if Medicham can OHKO the switch-in, so it's better saved for later in the match when the opponent's walls have been weakened.
Drain Punch's 60 Base Power is too low for it to be useful as a primary STAB move, but it can work alongside High Jump Kick as an alternative Fighting-type STAB move to use in situations where High Jump Kick's power isn't needed. The only time Drain Punch is worth considering as Medicham's only Fighting-type attack is on a Bulk Up set, where the healing effect is more useful and the Attack boost helps make up for the low Base Power. For example, after a Bulk Up boost, Medicham can survive Choice Band Tauros's Double-Edge and respond with Drain Punch for an OHKO. However, Medicham is generally better off running all-out attacking sets and trying to do as much damage as possible each turn.
Rock Slide gives Medicham slightly different coverage than the elemental punches. It's most useful on the Choice Scarf set for a more reliable OHKO against Charizard, but it also hits Pinsir harder than Medicham's other moves while still covering other Flying-types such as Drifblim and Jumpluff.
Checks and Counters
====================
Hypno is the only viable Pokemon with reliable recovery that can safely switch in on all of Medicham's attacks; even the Choice Band set can't 2HKO it. The only thing Hypno fears from Medicham's arsenal is Trick. Its one flaw as a counter is its vulnerability to being trapped by Skuntank, which is a common teammate for Medicham, so it needs to be used cautiously. Gligar and Dusclops are the next best switch-ins, although Gligar loses if Medicham has Ice Punch, and Dusclops only barely avoids a 2HKO from Life Orb-boosted Zen Headbutt and is forced to rely on Pain Split or Rest for recovery. Physically defensive Grumpig can switch in on any set except Choice Band and force Medicham out at least once, but its lack of reliable recovery limits it to being a short-term answer. Sableye is the only other Pokemon that can switch in on all of Life Orb Medicham's moves, but it is extremely uncommon and not very good in general.
If you don't have any of the Pokemon listed above on your team, you'll need at least a little bit of prediction to counter Medicham. Against the Life Orb set, there are several offensive Pokemon that can switch in on a move they resist and force Medicham out with the threat of an OHKO; Flying- and Ghost-types such as Charizard and Haunter can switch in on High Jump Kick, and Dark-types such as Skuntank and Shiftry can switch in on Zen Headbutt. The Choice Scarf set, on the other hand, is countered by most defensive Psychic-types and other physically defensive walls that aren't weak to its STAB moves, although all of them hate Trick, and some, such as Slowking, will lose if they switch in on a super effective coverage move. Choice Scarf Medicham is pretty easy to counter after it's locked into a move, as common Pokemon resist or are immune to each of its moves. The problem, of course, is correctly guessing which move it's going to lock itself into.
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