It can do more, actually--I was inspired by this team and its quirkiness, so I went out and copied it, for the most part. Now it has just hit 111 wins!
Buncha Favorites, Dood
As stated before, I really like the team as initially designed and figured it would be something fun to try, since I don't have any real inkling that I'll ever 200+ again in Tree. The thing was, in the process of assembling the team, I also created an Imperfect copy of Salazzle 3 & 4, something that could be easily configured to be either of those sets at any time, due to both sets carrying Fake Out. I then realized that, with Lopunny capable of picking that move up too, and with the initial design featuring very little Protect despite being composed entirely of frail Pokémon, this team could actually have some structure and purpose to it. Thus, the team has been converted from a tribute to an experiment, in order to see how far a completely un-Protected team can be carried in Tree Doubles. This also doubles as my first real foray into trying out a double Fake Out team, a strategy that has been used from time to time at least as far back as the Gen IV Frontier thread. The latter was heavily influenced by
darkseeker4's 59-win Castle Doubles streak and
Mega Gardevoir with Triple Fake Out.
Kongou (Salazzle) (F) (Lvl.53) @ Focus Sash
Nature: Timid
Ability: Corrosion
IVs: 31/18-19/31/31/16-17/31
EVs: 6/0/0/252/0/252
Moves:
- Toxic
- Sludge Bomb
- Flamethrower
- Fake Out
The major difference between my team and Shura's is right here, as by having a primary Fake Out user on the frontlines I give Tapu Koko more flexibility as to its first couple of moves. She can also be a one-turn stop to opposing Fake Out, Trick Room, and Scarfed Earthquake users, all of which screw Koko over. Otherwise, she functions much like Shura's Salazzle does: Sashed bait, something to Toxic pesky walls 'n' stalls early, a fairly powerful special attacker in her own right. Finally, my designated Ferrothorn Killer, as the rest of the team struggles against it. The nickname was suggested by someone on the Battle Tree Discord, don't really know what it means.
"VoltaicFlute" (Tapu Koko) (Lvl.100) @ Choice Specs
Nature: Timid
Ability: Electric Surge
IVs: 31/19/HT/31/31/HT
EVs: 0/6/0/252/0/252
Moves:
- Grass Knot
- Thunderbolt
- Dazzling Gleam
- Volt Switch
Specs Koko, you've probably seen this shit hundreds of times by now if you play Pokémon at all. I often find that resisted T-Bolts are still good enough to two-shot some things or nick some others enough for Salazzle to finish off, so that's the good-to move. I actually find myself using Volt Switch the least out of its moves, as with such a frail backline finding a good switch-in is usually difficult. I get some use out of Grass Knot and Dazzling Gleam, due to encountering plenty of heavy 'mons in the case of the former and running into Grimsley from time to time in the case of the latter. Despite the misplaced leftover EVs, it has survived a few attacks here and there that I thought would one-shot it, so it's very slightly hardier than I have given it credit for. "Nicknamed" after the Final Fantasy Type-0 weapon.
Mimikyu (M) (Lvl.50) @ Fairium Z
Nature: Jolly
Ability: Disguise
IVs: 31/31/31/22-23/31/31
EVs: 6/252/0/0/0/252
Moves:
- Shadow Sneak
- Play Rough (Twinkle Tackle)
- Shadow Claw
- Hone Claws
"JessBlack" (Lopunny) (F) (Lvl.50) @ Lopunnite
Nature: Jolly
Ability: Limber > Scrappy
IVs: 31/31/31/31/31/31
EVs: 6/252/0/0/0/252
Moves:
- Return
- Low Kick
- Ice Punch
- Fake Out
This is where the team pretty much falls in line with Shura's, nothing to note in terms of differences other than I was lucky enough to roll a 6IV Lopunny while preparing this team, and receive this Mimikyu via GTS from China. As Shura explains:
The Mimikyu has a nickname, it's just composed of two Chinese characters and a Q; MegaPunny is nicknamed after the Far Cry 5 character.
Problems so far have been sand teams (where neither lead can do all that much damage, at times), Heatran (who has been a constant presence and demands my full attention until it falls due to most sets carrying Earth Power), and Crobat (an uncommon presence but also demands my full attention due to having most of the team covered offensively); Rough Skin Garchomp3 can be controlled in a vacuum but is dangerous when paired with the right partners. Cynthia and Wally should be more of an issue due to having Garchomp3 potential but I've been able to reign them both in so far.
This is Part I of a two-part experiment. Josh C. has expressed dissatisfaction with extra offensive coverage on MegaPunny and, as one can see from this thread, has achieved a lot going with the alternative of Encore for Doubles. Since I have bred Encore onto mine as well, once this attempt falls I will try it again with Ice Punch replaced and see how that changes things. I will say right now that the preponderance of Grass-types and 4x Ice-weak Dragons I've encountered so far makes sticking with Ice Punch for this run a choice I'm happy with.
Complete side note, this team is choice if for no other reason than it can compete with Kiawe's roster capably and throw all of his priority spam horseshit back at him. Something to think about, fellow Sun and Ultra Sun players...
So yeah, Double Fake Out is cool, try that sometime. Triple Fake Out might be cooler here or in some other format, maybe?
