Battle Tree Discussion and Records

[PikaAbuser]

I finally got access to the Ultra Moon Battle tree. It appears that there are some new sets. Here is me taking a crack at it with a Super Doubles streak of 124, losing to a Cresselia Trick Room set that I wasn't aware of.

Mega Man and Friends:

Originally I opened with Mega Man over Gyarados. Him and Tapu Koko would sweet many battles in 2 to 3 turns. Switching out to Gyarados when I sense Ground moves. But with that setup, Gyarados is usually underpowered with little opportunity to setup. I think I ran into some problems around round 30 something. So I decided to retool the order and open with Gyarados, who can either immediately setup or be used as a bait for Mega Man's switch'd in Lightning Rod. This setup helped me to the current streak.


Gyarados /w Life Orb
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 4 Hp / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly nature
- Aqua Tail
- Crunch
- Dragon Dance
- Protect

AKA Lightning Rod bait. With Gyarados as starter, it gets a better chance to use Dragon Dance while Tapu Koko takes care of whatever might threaten it. Being super strong against Ground types that threaten two of my team members is just icing on the cake.


Tapu Koko /w Electrium-Z
Ability: Electric Surge
EVs: 4 Hp / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Thunderbolt
- Dazzling Gleam
- Grass Knot
- Protect

Yes, it's that shiny event Tapu Koko. Gigavolt Havoc on Electric Terrain destroys 80% of stuff that doesn't resist it, which helps Gyarados setup. He's here because he makes the Mega of the team, Mega Man, that much stronger.


Kartana /w Focus Sash
Ability: Beast Boost
EVs: 4 Hp/ 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Naughty Nature (which is the same as Adamant for Kartana, lol, but probably should be Jolly)
- Leaf Blade
- Smart Strike
- Sacred Sword
- Protect

I tried out a lot of Ground resistant/immune Pokemon for this spot, but ended up just going with power instead. Kartana may not resist Ground, but why worry about that when it can just cut them dead fast? (Cut Man?) As you can see from the replay, it's usually the last one in as the revenge killer finisher, but it does that job very well.


Mega Man-nectric /w Manectite
Abillity: Lightning Rod --> Intimidate
EVs: 4 Hp / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
- Thunderbolt
- Flamethrower
- Volt Switch
- Protect

Despite not being a starter, it is the star. Mega Man lays in wait for the opportunate electric attack aiming at Gyarados, then comes out to eat it and absorbs the Electric Terrain to charge up its Mega Blaster! Then he just blows stuff away. Volt Switch is just a remnant of testing phase where it started alongside Tapu Koko. Then I didn't know what to replace it with since its movepool is pretty limited. The options were Signal Beam, Thunder Wave, and Snarl. But I doubt any of those will see much use. It might as well just have 3 moves.


General Strategy:
Against most neutral opponents, the standard move is Gigavolt Havoc on the more dangerous foe while Gyarados uses Dragon Dance.
Against Ground moves using foes, the standard move is Tapu Koko Protect while Gyarados Aqua Tail
Against any incoming electricity, either Tapu Koko will use Dazzling Gleam while Gyarados switching out to Mega Man, or Gyarados does whatever and Tapu Koko switching out, then Mega Man could stay un-Mega (just Man?) to protect Gyarados.
Finally, spam electricity until opponents get wiped out.


Dangers:
- Trick Room teams: All my guys are fast and not very special bulky, so Trick Room is bad news. I eventually lost to a Trick Room Cresselia, which caught me by surprise because I don't think I've ever faced one before back in Pokemon Sun.
- Ground moves users: Gyarados and Kartana do alright against most of them, but not all of them. Garchomp is especially threatening. I think I was going to lose around Round 90s when it was down to my damaged Kartana against a healthy Mega Garchomp, then Crit Hit happened and I moved on.
- Opposing Lightning Rod Electric Pokemon: Yeah they counter everything I am trying to do.
- Foes faster than Tapu Koko: "I was supposed to kill you with Gigavolt Havoc, not you killing me first, Mega Zam/Mr. Scarf!"


Videos:
I don't have the losing battle video, but I seem to recall a Mesprit surviving Gigavolt Havoc and Cresselia using Trick Room.

Battle 90:
65DW- WWWW-WWWK-82AJ

Legendary spanking:
UKEW-WWWW-WWWK-B2HP

Smell ya later:
7XDW-WWWW-WWWK-B2MF

 

[Worldie]

The cresselia TR set isn't new though, it's the Iron Ball version already present before :)
Specifically it's Cresselia-4

The only "new" sets on tree in USUM are actually some updated ones.
You can find the details here
https://pastebin.com/jt9TQEdP

 

[Smuckem]

Gyarados /w Life Orb
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 4 Hp / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly nature
- Aqua Tail
- Crunch
- Dragon Dance
- Protect

So you weren't screwed over by the 90% accuracy at any point? Yeah, it's slightly more powerful than Waterfall, but the latter is more accurate and part of Dragon Dance's job is to negate the difference in power. Also, once you speed up the flinch chance is a sweet bonus.

Good man tho, joining the "let's use the shiny Koko just because" party.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Reporting a completed streak of 138 wins in Sun Super Doubles.

Team Writeup

- Battle #50, vs. Blue (Arcanine/Pidgeot/Exeggutor2/Aerodactyl3) -- SBKW-WWWW-WWWK-FURK (Blue Battle)
- Battle #60, vs. Kiawe (Arcanine/Talonflame3/Kangaskhan4/A-Marowak2) -- G5SW-WWWW-WWWK-FUVQ (an example of how this team generally handles Kiawe and his priority spam horseshit)
- Battle #73, vs. Benji (Gigalith4/Hippowdon/Tyranitar2 or 3/Dugtrio2) -- D37W-WWWW-WWWK-FVWS (a sample of how to deal with the sand teams that generally give this team headaches, with a little luck involved. I also choose to believe that all three of the potential setters actually had Sand Stream on this occasion, which would normally fuck over any weather team that challenges it, on top of the fast manual setter in Dugtrio2. In other words, my team is better here than all of the weather teams above me on the leaderboard would be in this situation. I win, twice!)
- Battle #86, vs. Niara (Blaziken4/Venusaur/Delphox/Feraligatr) -- 7ATG-WWWW-WWWK-FV9M (the moment this team really 'clicked' for me in terms of how to play it; also features Koko surviving Venusaur's Sludge Bomb with 5 HP, which makes me think it was Set 4 un-Mega-ed)
- Battle #130, vs. Cynthia (Spiritomb3/Lucario3/Milotic3/Garchomp3) -- KUTG-WWWW-WWWK-FVBB (my first encounter with backup Garchomp3, the same day after discussing how much of a danger it could present to this team. Also, an example of a personal weakness I have had for pretty much my entire tenure as a Smogonite, as Spiritomb3 throws the Swaggers around and makes things tricky)
- Battle #139, vs. Gracie (Heatran2/Kommo-O2/Uxie/Moltres) -- R7GW-WWWW-WWWK-FVDU (my need to hone in on Heatran at all costs...well, costs me here, as Kommo-O2 gets the Dragon Dance off and proceeds to wreak havoc. By the time Kommo gets taken down, it's already too late. This was also a lesson as to the limits of what Mega Evolving can provide, as I figured that MegaPunny could outspeed +1 Kommo and save the day, which was proven to be false. If you see Kommo, since none of the sets have Protect, just hit the fools hard and fast...please)

Also saved but not shared (unless upon request) are Battle #93--featuring lead Reuniclus4 and an opportunity to study its Trick behavior under various circumstances--and Battle #106, my latest encounter with our favorite brain-dead flower, Florges2.

Nothing to get broken up about; as stated before, this gives me an opportunity to put Encore on MegaPunny and retry the team with a slight twist (although if it has gotten Josh as much as it has, maybe it can be a bigger twist). This also frees me up to work on a far more horrific project in the future...

 

[PikaAbuser]

Yes, Aqua Tail does have a tendency to miss at an inopportunate moment, but the team is resilient enough to live thru any misses. I usually use Waterfall in singles and Aqua Tail in doubles, because there are less opportunities to setup Dragon Dance in doubles and that little bit of immediate power is valued. For this team, its role is to make sure all Ground users are off the field ASAP so it can die and let the real power players come in.

 

[Torqan]

I’m not sure if this is appropriate to post here but I thought this was the most relevant area. Anyone currently online that is high level (45+) at the Battle Agency? I’m at level 48 and am trying to hit 50 today.

 

[PikaAbuser]

I’m not sure if this is appropriate to post here but I thought this was the most relevant area. Anyone currently online that is high level (45+) at the Battle Agency? I’m at level 48 and am trying to hit 50 today.

I will be on in an hour or so, and leave it on until the battery runs out.
FC. see pm

 

[ReptoAbysmal]

Mega Man-nectric /w Manectite
Abillity: Lightning Rod --> Intimidate
EVs: 4 Hp / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
- Thunderbolt
- Flamethrower
- Volt Switch
- Protect

Was very mildly disappointed you didn’t jokingly rename all of his moves to MM equivalents/similarities, even if renaming Volt Switch required a big creative liberty. At least “Thunder Bolt” is already a thing. ;)

 

[Danae]

I’m not sure if this is the area to post this but I need someone high level for the Battle Agency. I’m rank 47 and would love someone close to that.

Hi I have 2 games with Rank 50 at Battle Agency.
My info is:
DS FC#: 4897-7339-4480, DS name: janet, IGN: Cameo.
DS FC#: 4442-4391-4230. DS name danae, IGN Danae
I am thinking you probably finished by now but if anyone would like me to add their FC just send me a text.
There is also an excellent group at gamefaqs that provides many Rank 50 options if you are willing to add a number of FC for about a week before deleting: https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/boards/210930-pokemon-ultra-sun/76263049?jumpto=460#460
Janet

 

[PikaAbuser]

Was very mildly disappointed you didn’t jokingly rename all of his moves to MM equivalents/similarities, even if renaming Volt Switch required a big creative liberty. At least “Thunder Bolt” is already a thing. ;)

Lol, I thought about naming Tapu Koko Spark Man, Gyarados, Bubble Man, and Kartana Cut Man.

Thinking back, Kartana should definitely be named Cut Man.

 

[Zee Grib]

Hey all, I'm new and in search of good teammates for Battle Agency, I'm at level 41 and have no vips that are anywhere close. Does anyone that's 41 or above want to trade friend codes?

 

[iammax]

My team for super singles:
Lead:
- Dragonite @ Lum Berry
Adamant 252 Attack 196 Speed the rest in HP
- Dragon Dance
- Outrage
- Earthquake
- Fire Punch

- Scizor @ Scizorite
Adamant 252 atk 252 speed 4 def
- Bullet Punch
- Bug Bite
- Swords Dance
- Roost

Who do you think is a better 3rd pokemon?

- Greninja @ Life Orb/Expert Belt
Protean
Timid 252 speed 252 spatk 4 HP
- Surf
- Ice Beam
- Grass Knot
- Dark Pulse

or...

- Tapu Fini @ Leftovers
Timid 252 Speed 252 spatk 4 HP
- Scald
- Moonblast
- Calm Mind
- Grass Knot

I'm testing out this team, so I'm not really sure what big threats are... the last two pokemon that ended my streaks were an audino that surprisingly knew flamethrower, and primarina who just outbulked me (and killed scizor with a Z-move). Any other suggestions welcome.

 

[Smuckem]

My team for super singles:
Lead:
- Dragonite @ Lum Berry
Adamant 252 Attack 196 Speed the rest in HP
- Dragon Dance
- Outrage
- Earthquake
- Fire Punch

- Scizor @ Scizorite
Adamant 252 atk 252 speed 4 def
- Bullet Punch
- Bug Bite
- Swords Dance
- Roost

Who do you think is a better 3rd pokemon?

- Greninja @ Life Orb/Expert Belt
Protean
Timid 252 speed 252 spatk 4 HP
- Surf
- Ice Beam
- Grass Knot
- Dark Pulse

or...

- Tapu Fini @ Leftovers
Timid 252 Speed 252 spatk 4 HP
- Scald
- Moonblast
- Calm Mind
- Grass Knot

I'm testing out this team, so I'm not really sure what big threats are... the last two pokemon that ended my streaks were an audino that surprisingly knew flamethrower, and primarina who just outbulked me (and killed scizor with a Z-move). Any other suggestions welcome.

- Fini no question, with no Substitute on the team and only one Lum to 'share', you will need all the status protection for Scizor you can get. Also, bulk is usually favored over immediate power in Singles, and Fini definitely has that over Greninja.

Good to see you back on the saddle, btw.

 

[PikaCuber]

Reporting a streak of 107 in Super Doubles on Ultra Moon.

Team:

Gengar @ Gengarite
Ability: Cursed Body
Level: 50
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 10 Atk
- Shadow Ball
- Sludge Bomb
- Icy Wind
- Protect

Stats

Non-Mega: 135/67/81/182/95/178
Mega: 135/67/101/222/115/200

One half of the lead pair on this team. Sludge Bomb and Shadow Ball are basic STAB moves that are easily spammable and are the main attacks that Gengar uses. Icy Wind is nice for coverage as well as the Speed drop, creating opportunities for Kommo-o to set up or to just make it easier for someone else to deal with the opponents. Protect is pretty generic, but with someone as frail as Gengar, it's really nice to help bait attacks or just to stall the turn.

The EV spread is incredibly basic, just to maximize Gengar's Speed and max out their Special Attack. Shadow Tag itself isn't that useful, since the AI doesn't switch or anything, but the power and bulk boost is really nice to help Gengar to KO a few more things or survive an extra attack.

Gengar is the Fairy killer and Trick Room stopper for this team. With Battery, Sludge Bomb, and Shadow Ball, almost all Trick Room setters are OHKO'd by Gengar Turn 1, making opposing Trick Room incredibly hard to get put up.

Charjabug @ Eviolite
Ability: Battery
Level: 50
EVs: 244 HP / 4 Atk / 124 Def / 132 SpD / 4 Spe
Impish Nature
IVs: 28 SpA
- String Shot
- Substitute
- X-Scissor
- Protect

Stats

163/103/144/66/112/57

The power bank (literally) of the team and the other half of the lead pair. String Shot is insanely useful for slowing down opponents to open up opportunities for Kommo-o to set up or to have Gengar be able to safely attack an opponent. Substitute is nice for blocking status effects, allowing Charjabug to survive at least one attack, and just opening up opportunities for Charjabug to put up a shield. X-Scissor is the attack of choice for this team, just so Charjabug isn't Taunt bait. Protect is pretty generic, to allow Charjabug to survive the turn through baiting or just blocking attacks.

The EV spread is to maximize bulk for surviving as many attacks as possible. Near max HP is pretty generic, with an odd HP value for a Substitute number, and the Defense and Special Defense investment is to survive various attacks from other Pokemon. The remaining EVs are just to avoid any Speed ties with other Pokemon and to not waste EVs.

Charjabug is primarily the crippler for this team. String Shot slows down almost the entire Tree to a speed where Kommo-o can outspeed them to safely set up. With this alongside Battery, Charjabug helps boost the attacks of Gengar and Kommo-o, opening up OHKOs that are otherwise not possible.

Kommo-o @ Kommonium Z
Ability: Bulletproof
Level: 50
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 30 Atk
- Clanging Scales
- Close Combat
- Flamethrower
- Protect

Stats

151/117/145/167/125/137

The heavy hitter of this team, as well as the Z-Move user of this team. Clanging Scales is a spammable spread move that works alongside Battery and upgrades to Clangorous Soulblaze with Kommonium Z. Clangorous Soulblaze is a strong one time nuke that also boosts up Kommo-o to allow him to sweep. Close Combat is a secondary STAB move that gives Kommo-o a way to hit bulky Special walls as well as a good single target move. Flamethrower is for coverage, mainly for Steel types like Mawile and Metagross. Protect is good for baiting out moves, primarily Fairy type ones, to keep Kommo-o alive.

Max Special Attack and max Speed allow Kommo-o to hit as hard as possible, as fast as possible. Inspired by Eisenherz, Close Combat has enough power at +1 that a negative nature doesn't greatly impact any important damage rolls. Plus, when boosted, Kommo-o has relatively great bulk, and a negative nature is detrimental to it. Bulletproof is mainly to have Kommo-o be able to safely switch into moves that would otherwise threaten other members of the team.

Kommo-o acts as the main sweeper of the team as well as a large part of the bulk of the team. However, it needs to have the time to get set up, whether it be through String Shot, Fake Out, or just greatly weakened opponents.

Incineroar @ Assault Vest
Ability: Intimidate
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SpD
Adamant Nature
IVs: 20 SpA
- Fake Out
- Flare Blitz
- Darkest Lariat
- Low Kick

Stats

202/183/110/84/111/80

The other bulky switch in and supporter for the team. Fake Out is really nice to stall out an opponent for the turn, making it easier for the rest of the team to do it's job. Flare Blitz is a strong, solid STAB move, and Darkest Lariat is a good secondary STAB move without recoil, but also a good way to hit any opponents that set up defensively. For around 80 battles, Low Kick used to be U-Turn, which was chosen to allow Incineroar to be cycled out to reset Intimidate and Fake Out. However, a hard switch does the same job and Incineroar is often too slow to survive the turn to use it successfully, so I switched it to Low Kick, which gives Incineroar a solid way to hit heavy Normal, Rock, and Steel types.

The EV spread is pretty generic, max Attack to do the most damage possible and max HP to get good overall bulk. Assault Vest gives Incineroar good Special bulk, and Intimidate cripples opponents and makes Incineroar's overall bulk even better.

Incineroar helps support the team through Fake Out and Intimidate, opening up opportunities for it's teammates to do what they do best.

General Play:

The main idea for this team is to clear out a way for Kommo-o to set up and sweep. That, or just have Gengar run through the opponents with Charjabug support.

Threats:

Carbink3: By itself, it isn't too threatening. However, it's one of the only Trick Room setters that can't get KO'd by a combination of Charjabug and Gengar, which means Trick Room gets put up, something that my team can't deal with too well. In this run, I haven't seen Trick Room set up once though, so I don't know exactly how well the team deals with it.

Primarina34: I haven't faced it too much, but without Gengar, I imagine this being an absolute terror to face. Though, I'd think that Kommo-o can bait it enough to where Incineroar can chip it down to where Kommo-o, assuming boosted, can take it out.

Thunder Wave: Paralysis can greatly cripple this team, with how fast it generally moves. It puts Gengar in danger of being targeted, slows down Komno-o's sweep, and can prevent attacks I otherwise need.

Mawile34: Sucker Punch OHKO's Gengar, and Kommo-o can't safely set up in front of it, nor can it do a lot of damage to it unboosted. Incineroar is the only thing that can really do anything to it, but it needs to get in safely. Once it does though, Incineroar should be able to take it out.

Braviary34: Strong Flying types already hit this team pretty hard, having no resists to them, but I usually deal with them by weakening them or slowing them down to have other members deal with them. However, both of these are stopped with Defiant, making Braviary hurt even more if I try to slow it down. Braviary3 outspeeds my whole team, and Braviary4 opens up the threat of Tailwind. It doesn't help that Gengar doesn't have a guaranteed OHKO on it, so Tailwind can't always be stopped and Gengar can just be OHKO'd by Brave Bird. By themselves, they are alright, but if an opposing team can have both of them, troubles can occur with how to deal with them.

Xio: She's the only trainer, to my knowledge, that has all Fairy types, which means Kommo-o isn't able to set up. Plus, she carries many Pokemon that can threaten the team. Like Primarina with coverage, Mawile with Sucker Punch, and Whimsicott with Tailwind, among other things. She needs heavy reliance on Gengar and Incineroar in order to deal with, as Kommo-o can do nothing but bait attacks.

Team Problems:

Having Charjabug and Incineroar out at the same time is incredibly passive, since Fake Out does little to help out Charjabug and Battery doesn't help Incineroar out in any way. Generally, if Gengar gets taken out early, Kommo-o almost always has to swap in it's place, regardless of the opponents, just because of how little the pair can do.

Gengar is also incredibly frail for what job it needs to do, which makes it difficult to do it's job at the same time. Plus, Icy Wind, if it ever happens, can miss at the worst times possible, and it's usually only used when absolutely needed, so if it misses it could spell disaster.

Battles:

Battle 70: 3DZG-WWWW-WWWK-N2PY
Pokemon Trainer Dexio (Passimian4/Braviary4/Whimsicott34/Ninetales-A2)

Analysis

God, a terrifying battle. I spent maybe 20 minutes just thinking of how Turn 1 could work out for me. Braviary34 is scary enough as it is, having double Defiant leads, as well as the threat of one of them having a Choice Scarf. Braviary34 easily OHKOs Gengar with Brave Bird, but ignoring it can mean Tailwind comes up. I decide to have Gengar use Protect as Charjabug attacks Braviary, putting it in range of a Sludge Bomb next turn. However, Passimian ends up flinching Charjabug, and Braviary attacks into Protect, which, based on speeds, reveals the pair to both be Set 4. Without the chip damage, I don't have a guaranteed OHKO on Braviary to stop Tailwind, but I end up going for it out of hope, as Passimian4 is not a major threat to the team, while String Shot covers any potential Tailwind. I miss the OHKO and Braviary sets Tailwind, and Gengar gets taken out by a Passimian4 Fling, but thanks to String Shot (which also activated Defiant from both targets), Kommo-o is able to take both out at once with a Battery Clangorous Soulblaze. Tailwind is still up and the two things that can threaten Kommo-o come up, Whimsicott34 and Ninetales-A2. Thankfully, neither Z-Move from them can KO Kommo-o through Protect, so String Shot can come out and neuter Tailwind that was still up. From this point, it's an easy Flamethrower while a single one of them can't threaten Kommo-o too badly, plus I still have Incineroar in the back.

Odd to note that a Ninetales-A2 spread Dazzling Gleam does more to Kommo-o than a single target Z-Extrasensory. The battle itself wasn't too bad once Braviary went down, but the flinch was unfortunate, as it would have made the battle a bit easier due to Tailwind not going up at all. This battle revealed the threat of Braviary34 to this team, and I even joked on Discord that I may actually have a team that does not like Dexio one bit, which honestly could be true.

Battle 75: N7DG-WWWW-WWWK-N2ZT
Veteran Xio (Mawile4/Florges2/Togekiss34/Aromatisee4)

Analysis

I feel like I only won because Florges2 was next to Mawile, just because anything else could potentially be a big problem to have Gengar deal with the team. Thankfully, Fake Out and Shadow Ball is enough to chip Mawile down enough to where another attack can take it out. Kommo-o, with nothing better to do, is the one that takes out Mawile, but goes down to a surprise attack from Florges2, something I honestly should have expected. However, with Florges2 doning nothing otherwise, I am able to focus on the other side with Battery powered Sludge Bombs to take the rest of the team down.

Xio is likely this team's worst matchup, if not one of its worst, needing heavy reliance on Gengar to do it's job and Kommo-o being completely unable to do anything due to being unable to boost up.

Battle 98: 52JG-WWWW-WWWK-N2ZN
Golfer Patrick (Charizard3/Flygon34/Salamence3/Staraptor34)

Analysis

A relatively clean battle, demonstrating how the team generally plays as well as how it deals with Charizard34, but especially Charizard4. This battle also shows how valuable Icy Wind can be, as well as the surprising bulk of Gengar, surviving a Charizard3 Heat Wave in the sun while Charjabug couldn't.

Battle 108: XF4G-WWWW-WWWK-N2ZF
Rising Star Dolly (Swampert3/Suicune3/Politoed234/Electrode4)

Analysis

I don't think I should have lost this battle, I got more unlucky than anything. My aim was to stall out the opponents long enough, to the point where Kommo-o can come in and boost up on the two leads. In hindsight, I should have just sacrificed either Gengar or Charjabug to the leads, so Kommo-o can get in safely, but I end up switching Gengar out for Kommo-o into a Blizzard, doing far too much damage and freezing it on top of everything else. Kommo-o ends up going down doing absolutely nothing, and Incineroar can't do anything against a Rain team, ending my streak.

I don't think I played wrong, exactly, but more like I didn't play safe enough. Like I mentioned, I should have just let Gengar go down to have Kommo-o come in at full health and be able to safely boost up in front of the two leads, but I played too recklessly and opened up an opportunity.

Final Notes:

I personally love how this team worked out, and the team definitely has potential to go higher on the leaderboard. I've considered Modest Gengar over Timid, since I've been in several battles where I just have Gengar use Protect while Charjabug slows down the opponents. However, the higher speed that Gengar provides seems more important as I've gone through battles. I've also considered going with HP Ice over Icy Wind, but the extra utility that Icy Wind provides is almost too good to pass up on. Plus, with Battery, Icy Wind does get some notable KOs, the only issue with it being its accuracy.

There's also probably a better EV spread I could use for Incineroar and Kommo-o, but I like the power that this Kommo-o has and I don't know what kind of bulk I exactly need for it. As for Incineroar, there's likely some physical attacks I could aim to survive for, but I haven't seen anything too scary as of right now.

 

[Scythes]

Nice team, PikaCuber. Very original.
I'm not quite as creative - the streak I'm reporting is based off Level 51's excellent PheroLele QR Team. Still, I'm satisfied, as I got my longest streak this generation- reporting a streak of 392 wins in Ultra Sun Super Doubles.

Proof photo (click to enlarge)-

Level's 51's PheroLele team
Link to QR Team

There is not so much to say that hasn't already been said. PheroLele is amazing and relatively easy to play. It's funny, Level 51 himself put it as "Click buttons. Try not to lose to Zapdos2." I eventually lost to a Trick Room team, not Zapdos2, but trust me, every time I saw a Zapdos I nuked the hell out of it just in case.
About the "click buttons" part. The team is indeed pretty easy and straightforward to play - that's why I picked it, as I wanted an ideal team to get my starf berry with. However, there are still some key threats that need to be played carefully around.
This team is pretty unique in that Tapu Lele isn't scarfed. Instead, it's a bulky variant and is holding the Psychium Z. Even with no sp attack, investment, shattered psyche in the terrain is a real nuke. It ohko's pretty much any neutrally hit targets that aren't packing serious sp def investment.
But yeah, because Lele isn't scarfed, threats like Mega Beedrill, Salazzle and Mega Gengar become a lot more dangerous. With Mega Beedrill, I switch out immediately to Aegislash, who walls it. It's important not to overestimate this Lele's bulk, despite the significant investment. The whole time, I thought I would lose to either Sina or Plumeria. Sina simply because of the hax, and Plumeria because of her fast poisons like Salazzle and Mega Gengar that outspeed Lele and who Pheromosa can't really touch. Instead, I lost to a random scientist in Trick Room.

Anyway, here are some videos-
9TYW-WWWW-WWWK-ZVYJ - No.159, A battle against a trick room team that I almost lost thanks to a significant amount of flinchhax as well as me neglecting to use wide guard to prevent Bronzong's annoying rock slide flinch strategy from working. At the end I needed a double protect to ensure victory.

YBAG-WWWW-WWWK-ZVD6 - No. 230, A close battle vs Sina, made closer by my neglecting to nuke the hell out of the Glaceon right away. To punish me, it used Blizzard and scored a DOUBLE FREEZE on Phero and Lele, much to my horror. I barely escaped this battle as a result.

2Z7G-WWWW-WWWK-ZV47 - No. 393, The loss. I got spooked by Steelix and switched out Lele, fearing the Mega. Turns out I should've stayed in and nuked Cofragrigus, as it set trick room and made the match much harder for me to win. But the play that really sunk me was allowing Salamence to get burned by the ghost, as this completely neutered Salamence. I ended up losing a 1v1 with Lele versus Amnesia Slowbro. I desperately needed a crit to bypass amnesia boosts but never got it.

This was a fun team and a pretty easy one to get my starf berry with, so I recommend it for others to try.

 

[turskain]

I realized that this thread did not yet have a trainer look-up cheatsheet, like there used to be in the past. Let's fix that!

Following traditions I try to summarize the roster of every trainer that appears past battle 40. As an added bit of information, I've marked duplicate rosters between trainers by underlining the first character of the trainer class and putting duplicate trainers on adjacent lines - if the descriptions for two adjacent trainers are the same, but not underlined then their rosters are not identical. This is not a replacement for looking up full rosters, but rather a cheatsheet for quick checks and learning overall trainer patterns.

Note that I didn't double check everything, if there's anything wrong or additional brief words could better describe a particular trainer's roster I'm all ears. Also I broke the whole post pasting it in and out of my text editor lol. Arbitrary spacing intentional, for grouping together "related" trainers within a trainer class and separating archetypes within them.

Edit: new details and corrections added with input from Smuckem, paperquagsire and ReptoAbysmal, much appreciated! Also a new edit, the relations and (lack of) overlap between the various speedmon trainers were figured out. April 10 2018: Possibly the last edit for now, adding descriptions for a few more trainers and fixing minor errors. September 2018: a set of corrections and additions. December 2018: New details thanks to HeadsILoseTailsYouWin. January 2019: New details & trainer list reordered and categorized by general trainer types: type specialists, Weather, legendaries, neutral, etc






True Neutral: trainers with no bias towards a specific type or theme, note that all of these are primarily Set4 only.

These seven have some things in common: none of them run a single Trick Room setter. Most non-legendary species in Tree are among these seven's rosters, but the Pokémon on the Scientist Cal/Robyn roster are absent. Further investigation is being done on what exactly defines these rosters, which are the largest and most varied in the Tree.

Police Officer Rendor - Set4 - large roster, Set34 Electivire + Rotom-Wash
Dancer Carrie - Set4 - large roster
Black Belt Chucky - Set4 - large roster, Set34 Lickilicky + Magmortar + Rotom-Fan + Probopass

Aether Foundation ♀ Haley - Set4 - large roster, Set34 Magmortar + Rotom-Wash + Probopass
Aether Foundation ♀ Heidi - Set4 - large roster, Set34 Lickilicky + Rotom-Wash + Electivire
Aether Foundation ♂ Harvey - Set4 - large roster, Set34 Lickilicky + Rotom-Frost + Electivire
Aether Foundation ♂ Luke - Set4 - large roster, Set34 Magmortar + Rotom-Frost + Probopass

---

Type Specialists: various levels of preference into particular types of Pokémon

Ace Trainer ♀ Bette - BST500+ Set34 mons, Fighting/Poison/Ghost preference + Rotom-Wash, Magmortar - large roster
Ace Trainer ♀ Poppy - BST500+ Set34 mons, Flying/Dark/Steel preference + Kommo-12, Rotom-Fan - large roster
Ace Trainer ♀ Tamah - BST500+ Set34 mons, Normal/Ground/Fairy preference + Rotom-Fan - large roster

Ace Trainer ♂ Hashim - BST500+ Set34 mons, Water/Bug/Rock preference + Kommo-o12, Rotom-Fan - large roster
Ace Trainer ♂ Levi - BST500+ Set34 mons, Fire/Psychic preference + Mamoswine, Rotom-Wash, Starmie, Walrein, Exeggutor (both Formes)
Ace Trainer ♂ Munin - BST500+ Set34 mons, Electric/Grass/Dragon preference - large roster

Bellhop Donna - Set34, soft Fighting & physical attacker preference with plenty of other types and some special attackers - large roster
Bellhop Gilroy - Set34, soft Fighting & physical attacker preference with plenty of other types and some special attackers - large roster

Cook ♂ Larry - Set34 mons, soft Fire/Water/Grass/Ice preference - large roster
Cook ♂ Tony - Set34 mons, soft Fire/Water/Grass/Ice preference - large roster

Firefighter Calder - Set34, soft Water-type preference with slight amounts of other types - large roster
Firefighter Presta - Set34, soft Water-type preference with slight amounts of other types - large roster

Janitor Paulo - Set34 Poison + Water/Rock/Ghost/Ground soft preference, Janitor themed - large roster
Janitor Sika - Set34 Poison + Water/Rock/Ghost/Ground soft preference, Janitor themed - large roster

Office Worker ♀ Darrel - Set34, soft Fairy/Normal preference with slight amounts of other types, Set3 Pidgeot & Toucannon - large roster, no overlap with the Punk Girl roster (opposite archetypes)
Office Worker ♀ Jana - Set34, soft Fairy/Normal preference with slight amounts of other types, Set3 Pidgeot & Toucannon - large roster, no overlap with the Punk Girl roster (opposite archetypes)

Punk Girl Edda - Set34, soft Poison/Dark preference with slight amounts of other types - large roster, no overlap with the Office Worker ♀ roster (opposite archetypes)
Punk Girl Zed - Set34, soft Poison/Dark preference with slight amounts of other types - large roster, no overlap with the Office Worker ♀ roster (opposite archetypes)

Office Worker ♂ Harding - Set34, Steel/Electric/Psychic preference + Druddigon3, Abomasnow3, Porygon2&Z, Shuckle - large roster - same as Savir minus Mawile
Office Worker ♂ Savir - Set34, Steel/Electric/Psychic preference + Druddigon3, Abomasnow3, Porygon2&Z, Shuckle - large roster - same as Harding plus Mawile

Worker Dan - Set34, Rock/Ground/Steel/Electric exclusively - large roster
Worker Omar - Set34, Rock/Ground/Steel/Electric exclusively - large roster

Pokémon Center Lady Perri - Set234, Normal/Fairy/Psychics that are Pink or White + Togedemaru, Lilligant, focused roster

The Terrain Quartet: 4 veterans which specialize in a particular Terrain move, and by extension its associated type and have legendaries of that type

Veteran ♂ Kikujiro - Set34, Electric exclusively + Set12 Electric Legendaries, Togedemaru2 (only set2!) - small roster
Veteran ♀ Aino - Set34, Psychic preference + Rotom-Wash, Uxie12, Oranguru2 (only Set2!) - small roster
Veteran ♀ Xio - Set34, Fairy exclusively + Florges234 + Sylveon134 - small roster
Veteran ♂ Xenophon - Set34, Grass preference + Virizion12, Comfey3, Florges2

---

Themed Trainers: Eeveelutions, Starters, Specific Stats, "trainer archetypes that aren't Type Specialty"

Golfer ♀ Bruce - Set34 Eeveelutions, excluding Sylveon
Golfer ♂ Moe - Set34 Eeveelutions, excluding Sylveon

Preschooler ♀ Reina - Set34 Starters (all 7 generations)
Preschooler ♂ Niara - Set34 Starters (all 7 generations)

Punk Guy Dustin - Set34, Intimidate users + Rotom-Fan34 - small roster
Punk Guy Etta - Set34, Intimidate users + Rotom-Fan34 - small roster

Collector Dennis - Set34, Collector-themed species: think in-game Collector trainers, fossils, horned Pokémon, Safari Zone regulars, pseudo-legendaries, one-off/hard to catch Pokémon - large roster
Collector Sam - Set34, Collector-themed species: think in-game Collector trainers, fossils, horned Pokémon, Safari Zone regulars, pseudo-legendaries, one-off/hard to catch Pokémon - large roster

Sightseer ♂ Alice - Set34, 140+ Base Atk Pokémon + Regigigas1234
Sightseer ♂ Chen - Set34, 140+ Base Atk Pokémon + Regigigas1234

Sightseer ♀ Christian - Set34, 130+ Base SpA Pokémon + Latios1234, Heatran1234
Sightseer ♀ Ezra - Set34, 130+ Base SpA Pokémon + Latios1234, Heatran1234

Golfer ♀ Susanna - Set1234 Zapdos, Regigigas & Entei + Set34 100 Base Speed mons, Ninetales-Alola (no Comfey)
Golfer ♂ Patrick - Set1234 Zapdos, Regigigas & Entei + Set34 100 Base Speed mons, Ninetales-Alola + Comfey

Youth Athlete ♂ Buddy - Set34, 122+ Base Speed mons - small roster
Youth Athlete ♂ Leena - Set34, 122+ Base Speed mons - small roster

Ace Trainer ♂ Granville - Set34, 120+ Base Speed mons - a superset of Buddy/Leena with Sceptile, Alakazam, Rotom-Heat4, Dugtrio2 (both formes) added
Ace Trainer ♂ Raz - Set34, 120+ Base Speed mons - a superset of Buddy/Leena with Sceptile, Alakazam, Rotom-Heat4, Dugtrio2 (both formes) added

Youth Athlete ♀ Hilario - Set34, 112-122 Base Speed mons + Raikou1234 - overlaps Sceptile/Alakazam/Greninja with Granville/Raz, includes slower (down to base 112) Pokémon
Youth Athlete ♀ Thamina - Set34, 112-122 Base Speed mons + Raikou1234 - overlaps Sceptile/Alakazam/Greninja with Granville/Raz, includes slower (down to base 112) Pokémon

---

Weather trainers - 4 for each of Sand/Sun/Rain, two soft Hail users

Hiker ♂ Stellan - Steel/Rock/Ground preference, Gigalith234 + Tyranitar234, Terrakion1234 + Regirock1234 + Cresselia4, TR setters running only the set with TR - large roster - Garchomp4, Excadrill3, Steelix4 Landorus3 notable Sand-boosted threats
Hiker ♂ Vivek - Steel/Rock/Ground preference, Gigalith234 + Tyranitar234, Terrakion1234 + Regirock1234 + Cresselia4, TR setters running only the set with TR - large roster - Garchomp4, Excadrill3, Steelix4, Landorus3 notable Sand-boosted threats

Police Officer Benji - Sand specialist, all sets of Sand Stream mons, rest either 1 or 2 possible sets, focused roster - Garchomp34, Excadrill34, Steelix4 notable Sand-boosted threats
Police Officer Lou - Sand specialist, all sets of Sand Stream mons, rest either 1 or 2 possible sets, focused roster - Garchomp34, Excadrill34, Steelix4 notable Sand-boosted threats

Dancer Atalanta - Rain specialist, focused roster with Swift Swim/Rain Dance/Drizzle, all sets of Pelipper and Politoed
Dancer Variel - Rain specialist, focused roster with Swift Swim/Rain Dance/Drizzle, all sets of Pelipper and Politoed

Rising Star ♀ Joaquin - Rain specialist, Set34 Swift Swim users, Set234 Politoed + Pelipper, Suicune1234, Tornadus4, Zapdos3, Magmortar34 - of Pokémon with Rain Dance, only the set with Rain Dance is included
Rising Star ♂ Dolly - Rain specialist, Set34 Swift Swim users, Set234 Politoed + Pelipper, Suicune1234, Tornadus4, Zapdos3, Magmortar34 - of Pokémon with Rain Dance, only the set with Rain Dance is included

Ace Trainer ♀ Lea - Set34, Sun specialist with large roster, Chlorophyll users, Ninetales12, Charizard34, Houndoom4, Arcanine3, Lurantis4, Darmanitan4, Typhlosion4
Ace Trainer ♀ Sylvia - Set34, Sun specialist with large roster, Chlorophyll users, Ninetales12, Charizard34, Houndoom4, Arcanine3, Lurantis4, Darmanitan4, Typhlosion4

Rising Star ♀ Marianne - Sun specialist with focused roster, Set34 Chlorophyll users, Ninetales12, Charizard3, Moltres1234, Heatran123, Houndoom4, Arcanine3, Lurantis4, Delphox3, Darmanitan34, Rotom-Heat34
Rising Star ♂ Erix - Sun specialist with focused roster, Set34 Chlorophyll users, Ninetales12, Charizard3, Moltres1234, Heatran123, Houndoom4, Arcanine3, Lurantis4, Delphox3, Darmanitan34, Rotom-Heat34

Black Belt Arnold - Set4 - large roster, Set24 Snow Cloak & Snow Warning species + Rotom-Fan34, Beartic2
Black Belt Iniko - Set4 - large roster, Set24 Snow Cloak & Snow Warning species + Rotom-Fan34, Beartic2


---

Slow Pokémon: exclusively species with low base Speed, often with Trick Room setters

Scientist Robyn - Set34 + Set4 Slow Pokémon, around 50/50 Set34/Set4 split across species
Scientist Tivon - Set34 + Set4 Slow Pokémon, around 50/50 Set34/Set4 split across species
Scientist Cal - Set34 + Set4 Slow Pokémon, around 50/50 Set34/Set4 split across his species - similar to Robyn and Tivon, but missing Lickilicky

Scientist Stein - Set34 + Set4 Slow Pokémon, around 50/50 Set34/Set4 split across species, TR setter species ONLY run the set with TR excluding Bronzong34, rest of them Set34
Scientist Cadel - Set34 + Set4 Slow Pokémon, around 50/50 Set34/Set4 split across species, TR setter species ONLY run the set with TR excluding Bronzong34, rest of them Set34

Pokémon Breeder ♀ Izel - Set34, Slow Pokémon, incl. Drampa - only 1 TR setter, Bronzong34
Pokémon Breeder ♀ Danby - Set34, Slow Pokémon, incl. Drampa - only 1 TR setter, Bronzong34

Pokémon Breeder ♂ Lori - Set34, Slow Pokémon, incl. Amoonguss and Shiinotic, multiple TR setters
Pokémon Breeder ♂ Colby - Set34, Slow Pokémon, incl. Amoonguss and Shiinotic, multiple TR setters

---

Legendary Pokémon trainers: rosters with many Legendary Pokémon, and sometimes pseudo-legendaries and other high-BST species. Split by which sets of legendaries they run.


Set12 Legendaries

Veteran ♀ Priya - Set12 Legendaries - small roster - both Cresselia12 and Zapdos12, the most common trainer to bring either
Veteran ♂ Placido - Set12 Legendaries - small roster
Lass Inez - Set12 Legendaries - large roster
Backpacker ♀ Gwenny - Set12 Legendaries, includes Cresselia12 - small roster - same roster as Youngster Brady
Youngster ♂ Brady - Set12 Legendaries, includes Cresselia2 - small roster - same roster as Backpacker Gwenny
Youngster ♂ Napoleon - Set12 Legendaries, includes Zapdos2 - large roster

Black Belt Boris - Set34 BST530+ Black Belt pool + Set12 Musketeers, Regigigas, Heatran - large roster
Black Belt Bryson - Set34 BST530+ Black Belt pool + Set12 Genies & Regi Trio - large roster

Dancer Jo - Set34 BST530+ Dancer Pool + Set12 Kanto birds, Lati@s, Uxie - large roster
Dancer Tasanee - Set34 BST530+ Dancer Pool + Set12 Johto dogs, Cresselia, Mesprit - large roster

Boris, Bryson, Jo, and Tasanee have a unique connection - they run regular species with BST equal or greater than 530, divided into two sets, and the two pools though similarly BST-themed have no overlap between them. The full lists of Pokémon this encompasses are as follows:

BST530+ Black Belt Pool = Aggron, Blastoise, Blaziken, Charizard, Chesnaught, Delphox, Empoleon, Feraligatr, Florges, Gogoat, Greninja, Haxorus, Hydreigon, Infernape, Kingdra, Magmortar, Mamoswine, Noivern, Rhyperior, Rotom (Heat Rotom), Sceptile, Slaking, Swampert, Tangrowth, Togekiss, Typhlosion, Tyranitar, Volcarona, Walrein
BST530+ Dancer pool = Arcanine, Archeops, Blissey, Crobat, Decidueye, Dragonite, Exeggutor (Alola Form), Exeggutor, Garchomp, Golisopod, Goodra, Gyarados, Incineroar, Lapras, Magnezone, Metagross, Milotic, Porygon-Z, Primarina, Rotom (Mow Rotom), Salamence, Snorlax, Vanilluxe, Wishiwashi (School Form)


Set34 Legendaries

Backpacker ♀ Fernanda - Set34 Legendaries - small roster
Veteran ♀ Candy - Set34 Legendaries + Kommo-o34 - small roster
Veteran ♂ Ignacio - Set34 Legendaries + Kommo-o34 - small roster
Veteran ♀ Demiathena - Set34 Legendaries - small roster
Lass Samantha - Set34 Legendaries - smaller roster

Veteran ♂ Dooley - Set34 Legendaries + Set34 pseudo-legendaries, strong Megas, and the odd Sylveon - large roster
Preschooler ♀ Naya - Set34 Pseudo-Legendaries + Set34 Legendaries + Kommo-o1234
Preschooler ♂ Victor - Set34 Pseudo-Legendaries + Set34 Legendaries + Kommo-o1234


Set1234 Legendaries

Gentleman Mechabob - Set1234 Musketeers, Genies, Johto Dogs & Regis incl. Gigas + Electivire
Gentleman Abel - Set1234 Musketeers, Genies, Johto Dogs & Regis incl. Gigas + Electivire

Madame Donny - Set1234 Kanto birds, Lake trio, Cresselia, Heatran & Latis + Kommo-o
Madame Gracie - Set1234 Kanto birds, Lake trio, Cresselia, Heatran & Latis + Kommo-o

Ace Trainer ♂ Horace - Set1234 Regi Trio (NOT Regigigas) & Lake Trio + Kommo-o1234 - small roster

---

Special Trainers: the story characters who appear every 10 battles

Pokémon Trainer Anabel - Set34 Lucario, Snorlax, Alakazam + Set1234 Entei, Latios, Raikou
Pokémon Trainer Cynthia - Set34 Garchomp, Togekiss, Lucario, Milotic, Spiritomb
Pokémon Trainer Grimsley - Set34 Absol, Bisharp, Drapion, Houndoom, Liepard, Scrafty, Sharpedo, Tyranitar + Honchkrow3 (Set3 only)
Pokémon Trainer Wally - Set34 Altaria, Gallade, Garchomp, Magnezone

(Only in USUM)
Pokémon Trainer Kukui - Set34 Decidueye, Incineroar, Primarina, Braviary, Magnezone, Snorlax + Ninetales-Alola12, both Lycanroc2-Midday and Midnight

(Only in Sun/US)
Pokémon Trainer Kiawe - Set34 Arcanine, Kangaskhan, Salazzle, Talonflame + Marowak-Alola2
Pokémon Trainer Plumeria - Set34 Crobat, Gengar, Lurantis, Salazzle, Toxapex
Pokémon Trainer Sina - Set34 Abomasnow, Drampa, Glaceon, Lilligant, Mandibuzz, Oranguru, Sandslash-Alola2

(Only in Moon/UM)
Pokémon Trainer Dexio - Set34 Braviary, Espeon, Passimian, Slowbro, Turtonator, Whimsicott + Ninetales-Alola2
Pokémon Trainer Guzma - Set34 Bisharp, Golisopod, Honchkrow, Liepard, Pinsir, Toxapex, Toxicroak
Pokémon Trainer Mallow - Set34 Sceptile, Toucannon, Talonflame, Tsareena, Trevenant, Comfey, Lurantis

 

[Shura Prinny]

I’ve been having the best and worst luck in the Tree lately. I bred myself some new Pokemon to use and they seemed to be doing well up until the last minute when everything came crashing down. At 86 wins. So close...

The first 2 Pokémon are pretty much the same as last time while the other 2 are brand new.

The team

Details on Primarina and Cacturne here.

Primarina (フィローネ Firone (Faron), M) @ Primarium-Z
Nature: Modest
Ability: Torrent
IVs: 31/0/31/31/31/17(HT)
EVs: 252 HP, 252 Sp. Attack, 6 Speed
Moves:
- Perish Song
- Ice Beam
- Moon Blast
- Sparkling Aria (Oceanic Operetta)

Cacturne (ハーリー Harley, M) @ Focus Sash
Nature: Adamant
Ability: Water Absorb
IVs: 31/31/31/X/31/31
EVs: 252 HP, 252 Attack, 6 Defence
Moves:
- Sucker Punch
- Brick Break
- Spiky Shield
- Seed Bomb

Cacturne now has Brick Break instead of Drain Punch. Other than that he hasn’t changed.

Garchomp (ニルバリーズ Nirvalieze, F) @ Groundium-Z
Nature: Jolly
Ability: Rough Skin
IVs: 31/31/31/X/31/31
EVs: 252 Attack, 6 Defence, 252 Speed
Moves:
- Protect
- Earthquake (Tectonic Rage)
- Iron Head
- Dragon Claw

The first of the 2 newcomers. After Primarina took too many electric moves to the face I decided I needed a ground type and chose Garchomp because it’s one of the best in the game. Protect should be obvious, Earthquake and Dragon Claw for STAB and Iron Head to hit both Fairy and Ice types for super effective damage. I chose Dragon Claw over Outrage so I’m not locked into the move and so I have control over which Pokémon I hit. 2 Z-Moves might not seem like a good idea but I’ve had several battles where Primarina goes down without using his, I need to hit something with a physical Z-Nuke or I need to hit something with Earthquake but don’t have a safe switch for Pidgeot or Protect available. Nicknamed after this enemy from Phantasy Star Online 2. I really couldn’t think of anything else.

Garchomp’s namesake

Its full name is Nirvalieze Drago (ニルバリーズ・ドラゴ) or at least that’s what the fan translation is. PSO2 doesn’t have an official English release.

Pidgeot (リーバル Ribaru (Revali), M) @ Pidgeotite
Nature: Timid
Ability: Big Pecks > No Guard
IVs: 31/1/31/HT/HT/31
EVs: 252 Special Attack, 6 Defence, 252 Speed
Moves:
- Heat Wave
- Protect
- Hurricane
- Hidden Power (Ground)

The other replacement. I wanted to use a Mega and needed something that was immune to Earthquake but also resisted Bug type moves to switch in to save Cacturne. At least that was the original idea. Heat Wave and HP Ground for coverage and Hurricane as it’s Pidgeot’s strongest STAB move. I chose HP Ground so Pidgeot wouldn’t end up walled by Heatran and other Pokémon that resist both other moves. Nicknamed after Revali, the Rito Champion from Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild.

This streak was my SIXTH attempt at trying to get Cacturne on the leaderboard. It’s the closest I’ve gotten and losing so close is really unfortunate but I’m determined to reach 90 wins. Been a rough ride with this team anyway.

My previous fails

Attempt 1: 37. Lost because of 3 Will-O-Wisp misses in a row. Can’t remember who the trainer was.

Attempt 2: 39 Kukui. Lost because of my Primarina being faster than his resulting in Perish Song KOing mine first.

Attempt 3: 79 Colress. Lost due to misplays on my part.

Attempt 4: 69 Cynthia. Scarf-Chomp. The bane of my existence. I’m still pissed at this loss purely because it’s Scarf-Chomp. Had it been Mega-Chomp, I wouldn’t have been so annoyed.

Attempt 5: 25. Some random trainer with (lol) Dig Excadrill. Don’t know how I screwed up this badly but I did. It was admittedly pretty hilarious and also when I realised my team needed an overhaul.

And finally...

The most recent attempt

Attempt 6. Lost to another Preschooler. I lost my 110 streak to a Preschooler (Naya) so losing to another one (Reina this time) is pretty annoying. And probably avoidable if I actually started looking up sets.

She leads with Mega Sceptile and Delphox and had DD Feraligatr and Incineroar in the back. I Spiky Shield with Cacturne hoping for an X-Scissor from Sceptile but instead Sceptile OHKOs Primarina while Delphox uses Psychic clearly targeting him too. Pidgeot finishes Sceptile and Cacturne finishes Delphox and they’re replaced by Feraligatr and Incineroar. I double Protect fearing Fake Out which I think was my downfall as Feraligatr gets a free DD. It gets up a second DD and its Liechi Berry boost as Hurricane fails to KO (but does confuse it) while Cacturne goes down to Incineroar. Feraligatr then breaks through the confusion and OHKOs Garchomp before going down to a second Hurricane while Incineroar knocks Pidgeot down to 2 HP, sponges the next Hurricane and finally KOs Pidgeot.

Team Progress

This Team has gone through a lot of changes since I first made it. Primarina hasn’t changed but Cacturne had Low Kick then Drain Punch and now Brick Break so he’s changed a bit. Sableye and Mega Lopunny were on the team for the first 2 streaks after which Sableye was replaced with Tapu Koko until my latest attempt where both it and Mega Lopunny were replaced with Garchomp and Mega Pidgeot.

I took a long break after losing to Dig Excadrill (who loses to this, seriously) but was playing around with some alternatives in my head on what to replace Koko and Lopunny with. Needing a ground type because of all the electric types that like to ruin my day I picked Garchomp because it’s one of the better ground types. It took awhile to pick an item to give her, even considering Scarfing my own, but I settled for Groundium-Z for a powerful single target Ground move which cane in handy a lot more than I thought it would. After picking Chomp I looked for a Mega immune to Ground moves and settled on Pidgeot as I’d never used one before (or any Pidgeot for that matter).

Not gonna lie, this team works better on paper than in practice as neither Garchomp or Pidgeot hit as hard as I initially thought they would nor can they take the hits I wanted them to. Still, they get the job done.

Threats

Ice Types. All of them. 3 of my team are weak to ice. I was aware of this when I made the team but didn’t think they’d be as much of a problem as I thought both Pidgeot and Garchomp would hit harder than they do. Honestly anything with an Ice Type move is threatening to this team especially if Primarina is down. Suicune is the biggest one as I can’t OHKO it at all.

Trick Room teams. I had 2 battles either back to back or with one battle between them where I faced off against Trick Room teams. One of them I definitely only won because of AI stupidity (having Aromatisse Moon Blasting into my Protecting Pidgeot instead of my unprotected Garchomp on the final turn of TR). Garchomp and Pidgeot are obviously crippled by TR while Primarina and Cacturne are better equipped to deal with it but are still faster than some of the TR threats because of their 31 Speed IVs and speed neutral natures.

Lead Whimsicott. Cacturne can’t even hit it for neutral damage while Primarina can only 2HKO it at best with Ice Beam. Pidgeot on the other hand can rip it apart which makes it less threatening.

The other threats from my previous post still apply for the most part.

Hopefully seventh time’s the charm with this team. I can’t help but feel like my recent loss could have been avoided if I’d looked up the sets. I looked them up during this write-up and Mega Sceptile does not have X-Scissor and neither of Reina’s Incineroar sets carry Fake Out. Had I known that at the time I would have played the battle much differently. I’ll need to make sure I pay attention to the sets from now on but on the plus side I’m learning some of the trainers’ Japanese names which is a plus for me as I haven’t been able to find them anywhere else.

Despite 6 failed attempts I refuse to give up. I don’t care if it takes 10 or 100 tries, I will get Cacturne on the leaderboard. But whether it happens in this generation or the next, I have no idea.

On an unrelated note I honestly have to question the name choices for some of the trainers in both English and Japanese. I was watching PikaCuber’s recent loss video to a Rising Star named Dolly and was pretty confused to see that this trainer was actually male. I would never have said he was male with that name. Turskain’s list above highlighted a few more silly ones I didn’t know about like Madame Donny and (female) Golfer Bruce. I swear those are men’s names, they definitely are where I live. The Japanese names aren’t as bad but there are some that I question like Ace Trainer プープー (Pupu or Poopoo, yes this is a thing). My favourite one though is a collector named デッドマン (Deadman) in Japanese. I can’t help but giggle whenever he shows up.

 

[iammax]

Scizor-Mega @ Scizorite
Ability: Technician
Level: 50
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Atk / 8 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Bullet Punch
- Roost
- Bug Bite
- Swords Dance

Toxapex @ Black Sludge
Ability: Regenerator
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 248 Def / 8 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Haze
- Recover
- Scald
- Toxic

Bill (Dragonite) @ Lum Berry
Ability: Multiscale
Level: 50
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Outrage
- Dragon Dance
- Roost
- Earthquake

I need to know if there are any additional threats for this team, with Bill leading in the front.

(Correct me if I am wrong about the following)
Some things I do get are
-Mega Scizor probably should run something that isn't Bug Bite, like Superpower or Brutal Swing.
-Toxapex is not the best Pokemon to use
-Tapu Fini is a much better bulky Water-type
-Toxapex should not even be here in general

So. yeah.
Just something I need help with.

I run a pretty similar team (see a few posts up). I found it to be very helpful to raise Dragonite's HP a bit. I think my spread is 196 speed and the rest in HP. Also, I haven't found Roost on Dragonite to be that useful, surprisingly. I use Fire Punch for coverage.

Conversely I used to use a bulky scizor like yours but I found that letting him outspeed things was more useful, so now I run 252 speed 252+ attack, same moveset.

 

[Worldie]

I'm just wondering, do you really need Sparkling aria, have you considered using HA Hyper voice or in general HA primarina (note that your Cacturne will be immune to its Perish Song)?

 

[paperquagsire]

I'm just wondering, do you really need Sparkling aria, have you considered using HA Hyper voice or in general HA primarina (note that your Cacturne will be immune to its Perish Song)?

You can't power hyper voice up into a STAB z-move though.

 

[ReptoAbysmal]

On an unrelated note I honestly have to question the name choices for some of the trainers in both English and Japanese. I was watching PikaCuber’s recent loss video to a Rising Star named Dolly and was pretty confused to see that this trainer was actually male. I would never have said he was male with that name. Turskain’s list above highlighted a few more silly ones I didn’t know about like Madame Donny and (female) Golfer Bruce. I swear those are men’s names, they definitely are where I live. The Japanese names aren’t as bad but there are some that I question like Ace Trainer プープー (Pupu or Poopoo, yes this is a thing). My favourite one though is a collector named デッドマン (Deadman) in Japanese. I can’t help but giggle whenever he shows up.

There's also Sightseers Alice and Christian, a male and female, respectively. I don't know more than a couple people named Christian, but I do know a lot of Alices, and all are girls.

At least they're actual names and not the kind of silly drivel we got from the GC games, like "Kleef" and "Furgy." Very few of those characters have actual names, and not every main character has a name that appears deliberate and not randomly conjured.

 

[Shura Prinny]

I'm just wondering, do you really need Sparkling aria, have you considered using HA Hyper voice or in general HA primarina (note that your Cacturne will be immune to its Perish Song)?

I did not know Liquid Voice Perish Song wouldn’t affect Cacturne which is something I can look into but, as paperquagsire said, I’d lose my STAB Z-Move. Cacturne rarely lasts long enough for Perish Song to KO him anyway so he doesn’t really need immunity to it and Sparkling Aria has the same BP and ability to hit through Subs as HV but can also benefit from Torrent. It does mean I need to use Protect to prevent my other 2 Pokémon bring hit but it’s a small price to pay for the Z-Nuke and free healing on Cacturne which has saved him on several occasions.

There's also Sightseers Alice and Christian, a male and female, respectively. I don't know more than a couple people named Christian, but I do know a lot of Alices, and all are girls.

At least they're actual names and not the kind of silly drivel we got from the GC games, like "Kleef" and "Furgy." Very few of those characters have actual names, and not every main character has a name that appears deliberate and not randomly conjured.

The GC games had the best names purely because most of them were so stupid. “Weeg” was my personal favourite. The developers must have had the time of their lives coming up with some of those names.

 

[Anna says hi]

My best explanation for the weird names is what i call the "Vietnamese crystal move theory". You see, in the bootleg vietnamese Pokemon Crystal, somewhere in there they must have missed a name, throwing off the index numbers of names compared to moves, leading to weird stuff like Growl having Bite's name, which had Leer's name(Stare), which had Pin Missile's name (S-Pin), and so on. Later, the names were thrown off by two, which meant Surf had Water Gun's name, which had Flamethrower's name.

My guess is that something similar happened with trainer names for battle tree. Somewhere in there, they skipped an index number, throwing everything off by one.

 

[Coeur7]

EXCISED

 

[ReptoAbysmal]

There are a handful of streaks still yet to be posted, including my own; I figure Cheese will appear sooner or later. Busy with school IIRC

 

[Coeur7]

EXCISED