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bruh rabbit
[Overview]
<p>At first glance, Lopunny seems as bland a Pokemon as her Normal typing suggests. Her stats, while by no means shabby, are not outstanding; her only saving grace is her excellent base 105 Speed. Dig a little deeper, though, and you'll find that there's more to this bunny. Her immense support movepool is a pleasant surprise: among the services she can provide to your team include Baton Passing both offensive and Speed boosts, a fast Encore, paralysis support, as well as cleric support. However, her best niche lies in her Klutz ability, which lets her handicap walls and sweepers alike with hindering items. While she is somewhat restricted in a defensive support role due to the lack of resistances from her Normal typing, she is unique and very effective in what she does.</p>
[SET]
name: Switcheroo
move 1: Switcheroo
move 2: Encore
move 3: Thunder Wave / Heal Bell
move 4: Return / Baton Pass
item: Choice Scarf / Flame Orb
ability: Klutz
nature: Jolly
evs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>Much has changed in the generation transition, but Lopunny's niche remains as it has always been. Though she is no longer the only Pokemon to receive the Klutz ability, Lopunny is still its best user. By preventing the use of any held item, Klutz grants Lopunny numerous ways to cripple foes—with Switcheroo, she can foist a wide variety of harmful items on them. Thanks to her fantastic base 105 Speed, she can also wreak havoc on set-up sweepers by locking them into their boosting move, and force walls to continually use weak attacks or recovery moves, giving her teammates free turns to set up and sweep. Thunder Wave lets Lopunny support slow, powerful teammates in pulling off a sweep, whereas Heal Bell allows her to cure her teammates of status conditions; either choice will likely be immensely useful to your team. In the final moveslot, Return, which gains a STAB boost, is Lopunny's strongest attack, and will come in handy when she needs to go on the offensive. Alternatively, Lopunny also receives the move Baton Pass, which in this case functions more as a non-damaging U-turn or Volt Switch, enabling Lopunny to scout, preserving momentum for your team.</p>
[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
<p>This set takes full advantage of Lopunny's best stat, her high Speed, by using a boosting nature with maximum EV investment; the remaining EVs give her the best bulk possible. Choice Scarf cripples walls by locking them into a single move; the Speed boost will often be of entirely no help to them, while using Choice Band or Choice Specs would risk boosting their offenses. On the other hand, Flame Orb neuters physical attackers by halving their damage output. While these are typically the most effective, Lopunny is not restricted to only Switcheroo-ing the listed items. Other items Lopunny can utilize well include the other Choice items, Lagging Tail, Ring Target, Toxic Orb, Sticky Barb, and Black Sludge. Note that Iron Ball still halves Lopunny's Speed; however, it can be used to support an Earthquake user, such as Choice Scarf Krookodile, and particularly cripples all the Rotom formes.</p>
<p>Alternative STAB attacks Lopunny can utilize instead of Return include Headbutt and Dizzy Punch; she is fast enough to capitalize on the flinch chance of the former, too. However, both are rather luck-dependent and significantly weaker than Return, whose consistency is therefore preferred. Substitute can be used in the third slot, especially if Lopunny also elects to run Baton Pass, to give a frail sweeper such as Sharpedo or Porygon-Z an easier time coming in and setting up. Magic Coat enables Lopunny to bounce back most support moves, such as status moves, hazard-setting moves, Taunt, and phazing moves, but Encore is the more reliable option, as it also enables Lopunny to hamper users of weak attacks, stat-up moves, and recovery moves. Lopunny is one of the few Pokemon to receive Healing Wish; given her high Speed, she can often manage to pull it off while at low health, and restore a teammate to mint condition at the cost of her own life.</p>
<p>Despite her fantastic support movepool, it should be noted that Lopunny really lacks the stats and the typing to be used on a fully defensive team. In terms of teammates, Qwilfish, Slowking, and Gligar resist her lone weakness and contribute other useful resistances. Porygon-Z becomes a tremendous threat when provided with Thunder Wave support, but it has poor type synergy with Lopunny. Gallade can both take advantage of his foes' reduced Speed to sweep more easily, and fish for full paralysis to set up a Substitute; as a bonus, he resists Fighting-type attacks as well. Water-types, including Kabutops and Feraligatr, can easily remove Fire-types, whom Lopunny cannot harm with Flame Orb. Slow boosting sweepers, such as Curse Quagsire and Bulk Up Poliwrath, also appreciate hard-hitting physical attackers being burnt, as this makes it much easier for these boosting sweepers to set up.</p>
[Other Options]
<p>As with most Normal-types, Lopunny has a ridiculously large special attacking movepool, which includes Thunderbolt, Ice Beam, Shadow Ball, Grass Knot, and Focus Blast. However, her base 54 Special Attack stat is not just poor, but also her lowest stat. She does receive Work Up and Curse, with which she can boost her Attack, but her physical movepool is limited to the rather weak elemental Punches and a wide variety of Fighting-type moves, most notably Drain Punch. She can Baton Pass these boosts, as well as those from Agility, but Volbeat is a better specially based passer, due to her Prankster ability, while Sawsbuck, Scyther, and Durant are better physical passers, as they can make good use of their boosts themselves. Other forms of offense Lopunny can attempt to pull off include SubPunch, which is better done by the myriad other Fighting-types in the tier, who gain a STAB boost on Focus Punch; Endure + Flail or Endeavor + Quick Attack, which is highly gimmicky and thwarted by hail anyways; and Fake Out + Quick Attack, but without Technician, it's not very effective. Lopunny also receives Toxic, Charm, Captivate, Fake Tears, and Sweet Kiss, but the listed support options have much more general utility. Finally, she also has access to both Rain Dance and Sunny Day, but as she is neither outstandingly bulky nor a particularly good weather abuser, there are better choices for weather supporters. Last of all, Lopunny's hidden ability, Limber, has been released; however, Klutz is not only far more useful, but also her only real niche.</p>
[Checks and Counters]
<p>Team Preview is a great weapon to have on your side when dealing with Lopunny. If you notice one on the opposing team, be wary of getting greedy with boosts. Instead, just hit hard right off the bat; especially after entry hazards, she will be 2-3HKOed by most strong STAB attacks. However, take note that due to her ability to cripple your sweepers with a Choice item or a burn, most Fighting-types should not switch directly into her; thanks to Guts, though, Hariyama is an exception. Special attackers such as Sceptile, as well as Fire-types such as Entei, don't mind being given a Flame Orb; conversely, Ground-types, such as Krookodile, Rhydon, Gligar, and Claydol, are immune to Thunder Wave. Finally, Taunt will hamper Lopunny greatly, but unless your Taunt user's name is Murkrow, don't expect it to come out unscathed.</p>
bruh rabbit
[Overview]
<p>At first glance, Lopunny seems as bland a Pokemon as her Normal typing suggests. Her stats, while by no means shabby, are not outstanding; her only saving grace is her excellent base 105 Speed. Dig a little deeper, though, and you'll find that there's more to this bunny. Her immense support movepool is a pleasant surprise: among the services she can provide to your team include Baton Passing both offensive and Speed boosts, a fast Encore, paralysis support, as well as cleric support. However, her best niche lies in her Klutz ability, which lets her handicap walls and sweepers alike with hindering items. While she is somewhat restricted in a defensive support role due to the lack of resistances from her Normal typing, she is unique and very effective in what she does.</p>
[SET]
name: Switcheroo
move 1: Switcheroo
move 2: Encore
move 3: Thunder Wave / Heal Bell
move 4: Return / Baton Pass
item: Choice Scarf / Flame Orb
ability: Klutz
nature: Jolly
evs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>Much has changed in the generation transition, but Lopunny's niche remains as it has always been. Though she is no longer the only Pokemon to receive the Klutz ability, Lopunny is still its best user. By preventing the use of any held item, Klutz grants Lopunny numerous ways to cripple foes—with Switcheroo, she can foist a wide variety of harmful items on them. Thanks to her fantastic base 105 Speed, she can also wreak havoc on set-up sweepers by locking them into their boosting move, and force walls to continually use weak attacks or recovery moves, giving her teammates free turns to set up and sweep. Thunder Wave lets Lopunny support slow, powerful teammates in pulling off a sweep, whereas Heal Bell allows her to cure her teammates of status conditions; either choice will likely be immensely useful to your team. In the final moveslot, Return, which gains a STAB boost, is Lopunny's strongest attack, and will come in handy when she needs to go on the offensive. Alternatively, Lopunny also receives the move Baton Pass, which in this case functions more as a non-damaging U-turn or Volt Switch, enabling Lopunny to scout, preserving momentum for your team.</p>
[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
<p>This set takes full advantage of Lopunny's best stat, her high Speed, by using a boosting nature with maximum EV investment; the remaining EVs give her the best bulk possible. Choice Scarf cripples walls by locking them into a single move; the Speed boost will often be of entirely no help to them, while using Choice Band or Choice Specs would risk boosting their offenses. On the other hand, Flame Orb neuters physical attackers by halving their damage output. While these are typically the most effective, Lopunny is not restricted to only Switcheroo-ing the listed items. Other items Lopunny can utilize well include the other Choice items, Lagging Tail, Ring Target, Toxic Orb, Sticky Barb, and Black Sludge. Note that Iron Ball still halves Lopunny's Speed; however, it can be used to support an Earthquake user, such as Choice Scarf Krookodile, and particularly cripples all the Rotom formes.</p>
<p>Alternative STAB attacks Lopunny can utilize instead of Return include Headbutt and Dizzy Punch; she is fast enough to capitalize on the flinch chance of the former, too. However, both are rather luck-dependent and significantly weaker than Return, whose consistency is therefore preferred. Substitute can be used in the third slot, especially if Lopunny also elects to run Baton Pass, to give a frail sweeper such as Sharpedo or Porygon-Z an easier time coming in and setting up. Magic Coat enables Lopunny to bounce back most support moves, such as status moves, hazard-setting moves, Taunt, and phazing moves, but Encore is the more reliable option, as it also enables Lopunny to hamper users of weak attacks, stat-up moves, and recovery moves. Lopunny is one of the few Pokemon to receive Healing Wish; given her high Speed, she can often manage to pull it off while at low health, and restore a teammate to mint condition at the cost of her own life.</p>
<p>Despite her fantastic support movepool, it should be noted that Lopunny really lacks the stats and the typing to be used on a fully defensive team. In terms of teammates, Qwilfish, Slowking, and Gligar resist her lone weakness and contribute other useful resistances. Porygon-Z becomes a tremendous threat when provided with Thunder Wave support, but it has poor type synergy with Lopunny. Gallade can both take advantage of his foes' reduced Speed to sweep more easily, and fish for full paralysis to set up a Substitute; as a bonus, he resists Fighting-type attacks as well. Water-types, including Kabutops and Feraligatr, can easily remove Fire-types, whom Lopunny cannot harm with Flame Orb. Slow boosting sweepers, such as Curse Quagsire and Bulk Up Poliwrath, also appreciate hard-hitting physical attackers being burnt, as this makes it much easier for these boosting sweepers to set up.</p>
[Other Options]
<p>As with most Normal-types, Lopunny has a ridiculously large special attacking movepool, which includes Thunderbolt, Ice Beam, Shadow Ball, Grass Knot, and Focus Blast. However, her base 54 Special Attack stat is not just poor, but also her lowest stat. She does receive Work Up and Curse, with which she can boost her Attack, but her physical movepool is limited to the rather weak elemental Punches and a wide variety of Fighting-type moves, most notably Drain Punch. She can Baton Pass these boosts, as well as those from Agility, but Volbeat is a better specially based passer, due to her Prankster ability, while Sawsbuck, Scyther, and Durant are better physical passers, as they can make good use of their boosts themselves. Other forms of offense Lopunny can attempt to pull off include SubPunch, which is better done by the myriad other Fighting-types in the tier, who gain a STAB boost on Focus Punch; Endure + Flail or Endeavor + Quick Attack, which is highly gimmicky and thwarted by hail anyways; and Fake Out + Quick Attack, but without Technician, it's not very effective. Lopunny also receives Toxic, Charm, Captivate, Fake Tears, and Sweet Kiss, but the listed support options have much more general utility. Finally, she also has access to both Rain Dance and Sunny Day, but as she is neither outstandingly bulky nor a particularly good weather abuser, there are better choices for weather supporters. Last of all, Lopunny's hidden ability, Limber, has been released; however, Klutz is not only far more useful, but also her only real niche.</p>
[Checks and Counters]
<p>Team Preview is a great weapon to have on your side when dealing with Lopunny. If you notice one on the opposing team, be wary of getting greedy with boosts. Instead, just hit hard right off the bat; especially after entry hazards, she will be 2-3HKOed by most strong STAB attacks. However, take note that due to her ability to cripple your sweepers with a Choice item or a burn, most Fighting-types should not switch directly into her; thanks to Guts, though, Hariyama is an exception. Special attackers such as Sceptile, as well as Fire-types such as Entei, don't mind being given a Flame Orb; conversely, Ground-types, such as Krookodile, Rhydon, Gligar, and Claydol, are immune to Thunder Wave. Finally, Taunt will hamper Lopunny greatly, but unless your Taunt user's name is Murkrow, don't expect it to come out unscathed.</p>