Am I a stoned fish or...?
Current Stage: Finished
QC: Ray Jay, elevator_music, blarajan
GP: GatoDelFuego, melvni
[Overview]
<p>From the cold, dark depths of the great Johto sea comes a fish that strikes fear into the hearts of Electric-types everywhere. Chinchou is the only Water / Electric type in Little Cup, which lets it check Electric-types while damaging opposing Water-types like Staryu. Chinchou's ability to deal with Electric-types is further improved by its wonderful ability, Volt Absorb. Not only does it give Chinchou an immunity to Electric attacks, but it also heals Chinchou each time it activates; this makes even Water / Ground types jealous of Chinchou's ability to switch into Electric-type attacks. Chinchou's typing and ability are backed by a fabulous base 75 HP stat and a decent base 67 Speed stat. Finally, the best thing ever given to this floppy fish is Volt Switch, which gives Chinchou a brand new role as a scout. Even Ground-types fear Chinchou because it can blast them with a Hydro Pump and continue on its way. It also has a movepool as deep as the sea it came from, with both offensive and defensive options at its disposal, including the coveted Heal Bell.</p>
<p>With so many amazing qualities, you might wonder why Chinchou isn't on every Little Cup team in existence. However, despite being a versatile Pokemon overall, Chinchou is held back by its other, less impressive attributes. It has very pitiful Defense, making the Fighting-types common throughout Little Cup a major threat to it. Chinchou also has subpar Special Attack, which means any attempt at being an offensive threat will be a rather weak one. Its Special Defense isn't good either, so Chinchou won't be taking hits if it isn't equipped with an Eviolite. Its Speed is also average, causing it to be outsped by fast attackers. However, despite all of its shortcomings, Chinchou manages to be a threat in LC; if you're not careful, Chinchou will drag you down to the deepest trench in the ocean and make you its prey.</p>
[SET]
name: Eviolite Offensive
move 1: Hydro Pump
move 2: Volt Switch / Thunderbolt
move 3: Hidden Power Grass
move 4: Heal Bell
item: Eviolite
ability: Volt Absorb
nature: Modest
evs: 52 Def / 232 SAtk / 224 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>This is Chinchou's most versatile set. With it, Chinchou can be a great special attacker while also supporting its team with Heal Bell. Hydro Pump is a must, as Chinchou needs it to ensure the highest damage output possible. Volt Switch is a great scouting move, and it deals good damage with STAB and the given EVs. However, as using Volt Switch forces Chinchou to switch out, Thunderbolt can be used as a more reliable attack at the expense of losing opportunities to gain momentum. Hidden Power Grass is used for opposing Chinchou, which can take both Hydro Pump and Volt Switch or Thunderbolt with ease. Heal Bell is the icing on the cake; with it, Chinchou can relieve itself and its teammates from any status conditions at the cost of a single turn. With the combination of Volt Absorb and Heal Bell, Chinchou fills the role of a cleric nicely.</p>
[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
<p>With the given EV spread and Eviolite, Chinchou has 24 / 15 / 18 defenses, 16 Special Attack, and 16 Speed. This means Chinchou will match up well with almost anything in the tier so long as it's not Grass-typed. Drilbur in sand, however, is also troubling to Chinchou. Despite being able to hit it with Hydro Pump, Chinchou can't outspeed in sand, and its Electric typing means that Drilbur can easily OHKO it with Earthquake. Snover or Scarf Porygon make excellent teammates to deal with Drilbur. Another troubling opponent is Lileep, which blocks Hydro Pump with Storm Drain, takes little damage from anything else, and can KO Chinchou with Giga Drain. Mienfoo and Timburr can easily dispatch Lileep, and Mienfoo enjoys having any burns inflicted to it healed away by Chinchou's Heal Bell. Misdreavus, with her high Special Defense, can handle all of Chinchou's attacks with ease and start wreaking havoc. Scraggy and Murkrow can both get rid of Misdreavus, and both of them receive aid in return; with Heal Bell support, Scraggy can use Moxie instead of Shed Skin and have an easier time sweeping teams. In Murkrow's case, Chinchou can take pesky Thunderbolts and Thunder Waves for it due to Volt Absorb, while Murkrow can help remove Grass-types for Chinchou.</p>
[SET]
name: RestTalk
move 1: Scald
move 2: Heal Bell / Discharge
move 3: Rest
move 4: Sleep Talk
item: Eviolite
ability: Volt Absorb
nature: Bold
evs: 76 HP / 132 Def / 228 SDef / 60 Spd
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>Say hello to the number one Murkrow counter to ever exist in Little Cup: RestTalk Chinchou. Most Murkrow are strong enough to harm offensive Chinchou even with resisted Brave Bird and then finish it off with Sucker Punch. With this set, however, the case is different. This Chinchou takes very little from Brave Bird and can avoid Sucker Punch with Rest and Sleep Talk. Poor old Murkrow now has no choice but to flee the scene and is forever embarrassed by the fact that it is now a bird that can't beat a fish. Scald is preferred over Surf or Hydro Pump because it can spread burns despite being very weak. Heal Bell is again used to remove status, and it works well in conjunction with RestTalk because it can wake up Chinchou early. However, Discharge can help spread paralysis and OHKO Murkrow. It's also useful in stopping Croagunk, who otherwise walls this set to hell and back thanks to Dry Skin.</p>
[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
<p>With Eviolite and the given spread, Chinchou reaches a sturdy 18 Defense and 24 Special Defense, which makes dealing damage to it difficult. However, as Chinchou is relying on two attacks or even just one to deal damage to the opposing team, it's going to be walled by many more Pokemon than its other sets. If Chinchou is not running Discharge, Water-types such as Tirtouga or Omanyte can set up in its face and put its team in a tough spot. Opposing Chinchou with Hidden Power Grass are even more threatening, walling this Chinchou thoroughly no matter what attacks it carries. Lileep can effortlessly stop all three of these Pokemon thanks to Storm Drain. Croagunk, using its Dry Skin ability, can easily scare out Chinchou; therefore, Pokemon that can take advantage of Croagunk's Poison typing such as Abra and Drilbur and Fire-types to exploit Dry Skin such as Ponyta and Houndour make for good teammates.</p>
[SET]
name: Choice Scarf
move 1: Hydro Pump / Surf
move 2: Thunderbolt
move 3: Ice Beam
move 4: Volt Switch
item: Choice Scarf
ability: Volt Absorb
nature: Modest
evs: 232 SpA / 52 Def / 224 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>Chinchou has a decent Speed stat that is more than good enough to make a Choice Scarf set viable. With a Scarf, Chinchou hits 24 Speed, which outspeeds every unboosted Pokemon in the tier and even outspeeds Dragon Dance Scaggy. Hydro Pump is used for more power, while Surf is an option for better accuracy. Thunderbolt is Chinchou's main way of using its Electric STAB, but due to the problems of locking itself into Thunderbolt, Volt Switch is a good move to use when one is wary of an Electric resist switching in. Ice Beam is for the pesky Grass-types such as Lileep that tend to switch into Chinchou. Ice Beam also offers additional coverage to widen the pool of Pokemon that Chinchou can revenge kill.</p>
[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
<p>Without an Eviolite, Chinchou will not be taking hits. That means anything that can outspeed it will have a good chance to KO it. Chinchou's frailty is made worse by the fact that Chinchou has to switch out to change moves, which can make it setup fodder for many threats. Mienfoo can help Chinchou deal with this to an extent by forming a VoltTurn core with it, which helps the two check each other's counters by Volt Switching and U-Turning back and forth.</p>
[SET]
name: Agility
move 1: Agility
move 2: Hydro Pump / Surf
move 3: Thunderbolt
move 4: Hidden Power Grass / Ice Beam
item: Life Orb
ability: Volt Absorb
nature: Modest
evs: 232 SpA / 52 SpD / 224 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>What used to be a threatening force is now the equivalent of a war veteran; although it did well in its time (the previous generation), this set now needs tons of support to work in the same way. With a single boost, Agility Chinchou hits 32 Speed, outspeeding everything in Little Cup. This would be great if Chinchou had stellar defenses to back it up, but it must use Life Orb instead of Eviolite in order to deal a sufficient amount of damage. These weak defenses make setting up much harder. This issue is compounded by Chinchou's four-moveslot syndrome; whatever attacking moves it carries, there will always be Pokemon that wall it. Choosing between Hidden Power Grass and Ice Beam depends on what you need to hit. The former gets rid of opposing Chinchou, but leaves you helpless against Grass-types; the latter is the exact opposite. Hidden Power Grass is recommended because the only thing Ice Beam hits that Hydro Pump or Surf and Thunderbolt don't hit is Grass-types, and opposing Chinchou with Eviolite can actually beat this set one on one should it not carry Hidden Power Grass.</p>
[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
<p>Depending on the fourth move you chose, the teammates you need will change drastically. If you opt for Hidden Power Grass, then Grass-types become a major problem. Therefore, Fire-types such as Houndour and Larvesta can help deal with them. Murkrow can also be helpful. If you go with Ice Beam, then Chinchou are problematic. Lileep, Snover, and even Foongus can help out with this.</p>
[Other Options]
<p>Chinchou has a movepool that ranges from the ocean floor it lives on to the clouds it often gets carried away to by its predators. It has so many options that tons of sets instantly come to mind. Sadly, not all of them are good. Water Absorb is Chinchou's Dream World Ability, and while it sounds good on a sand team, Lileep uses an immunity to Water-type attacks (Storm Drain) much better. Chinchou has many physical moves at its disposal, but due to its low Attack stat, it is unable to use them effectively. Rain Dance seems like a fun way to power up Hydro Pump and utilize Thunder, but rain is generally unviable in Little Cup and Chinchou doesn't have a moveslot for it. If you have Snover on your team, you can run Blizzard over Ice Beam, but it's really situational and Ice Beam is almost always better due to the presence of Sand in Little Cup. Chinchou also has access to Confuse Ray and Screech, but these usually amount to no more than gimmicks and shouldn't be run over the listed sets without a very specific purpose in mind. Psybeam can be used to get a surprise hit on Croagunk, but doing so will force Chinchou to lose precious coverage. Toxic can be used on the RestTalk set to help beat Lileep in a stall war, but it does not fit with the purpose of the RestTalk set and would require nearly an entirely different set to work properly. Substitute might sound good with Chinchou's high HP stat, but Heal Bell completely outclasses it in status blocking, and Chinchou isn't meant to take hits. Hidden Power Fire might be useful for hitting Snover as well as stopping Steel-types such as Bronzor and especially Ferroseed, which walls Chinchou horribly, but it's best to leave those pests to Fire-types. Bronzor isn't 2HKOed by Hidden Power Fire and is hit harder by Surf anyway.</p>
[Checks and Counters]
<p>If you're hungry, you can chop up Chinchou into sushi, which is exactly what Munchlax does to this poor fish. Nothing Chinchou can do will hurt Munchlax, which can just use Earthquake to shake up a little fishy stir-fry. Lileep has Storm Drain and Giga Drain to easily dispose of Chinchou. Misdreavus can easily KO thanks to her good Speed and unusually high Special Defense. Timburr and Shed Skin Scraggy can counter the RestTalk set without fear of Scald burns and set up. Foongus, Shroomish, and even Cacnea can threaten Chinchou with their Grass STABs, but they fear Ice Beam. Drilbur can OHKO with Earthquake, and Snover and Ferroseed wall Chinchou to hell and back while only fearing the rare Hidden Power Fire. Diglett can trap Chinchou and OHKO it if it gets a free switch. Murkrow can severely damage non-RestTalk Chinchou with Sucker Punch. Almost all faster threats with physical moves can easily prey on Chinchou and make it their dinner.</p>
