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Pet Mod Item Factory [THE MOD IS DEAD, DO NOT REVIVE]
- Thread starter Revenge of Depressed Gay
- Start date
Item Name: Room Service
Old Effect: Lowers users Speed by 1 when Trick Room activates
New Effect: Lowers users Speed by 1 and restores 1/6 HP
Flavor (optional): Room Service usually means food. It allows Pokemon that use recoil to attack once, then heal back up to full when Trick Room begins
Old Effect: Lowers users Speed by 1 when Trick Room activates
New Effect: Lowers users Speed by 1 and restores 1/6 HP
Flavor (optional): Room Service usually means food. It allows Pokemon that use recoil to attack once, then heal back up to full when Trick Room begins
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You have 24 hours to get those subs in!
Item Name: Brittle Mirror
Item Effect: If this item gets removed by a foe, the one who removed this item will also have their own item removed
Flavor (optional): A mystic fragile mirror. Be careful, breaking these bring bad luck!
Item Effect: If this item gets removed by a foe, the one who removed this item will also have their own item removed
Flavor (optional): A mystic fragile mirror. Be careful, breaking these bring bad luck!
Stopwatch
Augmented Lens
Shell Bell
Brittle Mirror
Shady Hood
Trying to avoid Sylve item clones is hard.
Augmented Lens
Shell Bell
Brittle Mirror
Shady Hood
Trying to avoid Sylve item clones is hard.
Phoenix_Alchemist's Shady Hood
Phoenix_Alchemist's Twisted Spoon
Mossy Sandwich's Entrance Armor
Tapler's Augmented Lens
My Eviospite
My Retro Rulebook
Iph's Shell Bell
Gravity Monkey's Joker
Gravity Monkey's Blood Amulet
Aiziak's Power Gel
Phoenix_Alchemist's Twisted Spoon
Mossy Sandwich's Entrance Armor
Tapler's Augmented Lens
My Eviospite
My Retro Rulebook
Iph's Shell Bell
Gravity Monkey's Joker
Gravity Monkey's Blood Amulet
Aiziak's Power Gel
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Votes:
- Power Gel (Self-Vote)
- Joker by Gravity Monkey
- Pointy Lens by Kakaks (ChoiceScarfed)
- Glossy Band by Kakaks (ChoiceScarfed)
- Augmented Lens by Tapler
WIP: I had to go -- read the other spoiler though!
I'm going to pull out the bold words for emphasis here, just to make it easy to track when I'm stating the point that I want to be remembered.
- Stopwatch - I very strongly believe that this item will cause problems -- in fact, I submitted a watered-down version of it during the last slate, but decided to withdraw my submission after I though about it some more. My first and more forgivable problem with it is that it has too broad and/or vague of a function to implement well. What does it put a freeze on? The effect as written says, "Affects Weathers, Terrains, Rooms, Sports, and Gravity.". Firstly, this either leaves out odd exceptions or creates inconsistencies -- for example, it leaves out Lucky Chant (overlooked?) and screens (Because that would be busted). These inconsistencies make the item harder to learn, and -- assuming that this pet mod carries into the future -- begs more questions as new "field effects" are introduced in future generations. For this reason, it would be better to create individual items that address well-defined effects instead of lumping together a diverse category of mechanics via an inconsistent standard. Secondly, the Stopwatch would decrease the variety of items on a given team because the team archetypes that the Stopwatch fits on are mechanically encouraged to run 2-4 Pokemon with Stopwatch. Let's take a rain team, for example. The weather setter can't run Stopwatch, and the 1-2 sweepers might choose boosting items over Stopwatch. But what happens if all of the other Pokemon run Stopwatch? If you run a lot of stopwatch, the opposing team is no longer able to stall out weather -- all of your Pokemon either set the weather, protect the weather, or abuse the weather. This is a huge advantage, and so it makes very little sense to not run 2-4 Stopwatch mons. This was exactly the problem that I ran into with Weather Balloon -- except this item multiplies the problem. Not only does this become the dominant item for all variations of weather, but it also becomes the dominant item on Trick Room, Psychic Terrain / Expanding Force, and Electric Terrain / Rising Voltage. This is a problem because the identity of this pet mod is in item variety, and this item discourages it. You may argue that variety isn't something that needs to be protected, but I strongly disagree. If this pet mod can't increase the item variety in the game, then we aren't really "adding" to how items work -- we are merely replacing. Thus, it is important not to vote for Stopwatch.
- Brittle Mirror - Everyone is itching for a way to play around knock off -- I have a submission of my own for that prepared for the next slate -- but this is the wrong way to do it. The problem with Knock Off in this metagame is that Knock Off waters down the defining aspect of this pet mod by removing items. Brittle Mirror's solution is to punish Knock Off... by removing items. This has a number of problems. Firstly, it is the least effective way to discourage items being removed. Items are still removed (Brittle Mirror can only be used once), and Knock Off's power isn't even reduced -- arguably, an item that does nothing but not get knocked off would be just as good, even before you consider attaching additional effects. We should choose an anti-knockoff measure that is stronger and doesn't involve collateral damage to other items. Voting for this item wastes a spot on the slate and may prevent better anti-knockoff items from getting in because "we already have one".
Just gonna defend both of these.
Stopwatch - First of all, it doesn’t affect screens because that would be busted, and for the sake of consistency with that I only had it affect field-wide conditions rather than those that only affect one side of the field like Pledge effects and
Brittle Mirror - Honestly, I just like this one because it’s a nice “fuck you” to Knock Off spam. You don’t want people to mess around with their fancy new items? You don’t get to either. It might be petty, but it’s a nice option for dealing with Choice/Sled users in particular. I don’t think it should be our ONLY anti-Knock item (no single anti-Knock item is going to be enough for this mod), but I do think it’s a fine addition to the meta.
Here's my votes:
- My Joy Buzzer
- My Molding Clay
- My Shady Hood
- Aizaik's Power Gel
- Mossy Sandwich's Room Service
- Gravity Monkey's Joker
- Tapler's Augmented Lens
- PMD's Retro Rulebook
I have to agree with Aizaik on both of these items.
Stopwatch actively removes counterplay against weathers/terrains and encourages you to run at least a couple of them, which just makes the teams less interesting. Especially in a pet mod in which we can give these teams new items to cater to a specific niche (as was done with Slippery Sled), it doesn't make sense to make a single item that dominates choices for every weather/terrain team. That'll just decrease variety down the road.
As for Brittle Mirror, I don't think it really deters Knock Off in the way one would hope. Prior to Brittle Mirror breaking, the opponent has no clue whether it is present on a team or not, so it doesn't really prevent the opponent from clicking Knock Off. And once it's broken, that's it. The opponent already lost their item, so they have no reason to not continue using Knock Off - you can't lose your item twice. So while it does punish Knock Off, it doesn't deter Knock Off. All Brittle Mirror leads to is a metagame in which Knock Off users will be more likely to be built to not care so much about losing their items, which seems really antithetical for an item based format. IMO, whatever item we pick to keep Knock Off in check should be repeatable to make clicking Knock Off risky while still offering counterplay so that Knock Off isn't worthless in the face of it, and I think Brittle Mirror fits neither of those categories.
- My Joy Buzzer
- My Molding Clay
- My Shady Hood
- Aizaik's Power Gel
- Mossy Sandwich's Room Service
- Gravity Monkey's Joker
- Tapler's Augmented Lens
- PMD's Retro Rulebook
I have to agree with Aizaik on both of these items.
Stopwatch actively removes counterplay against weathers/terrains and encourages you to run at least a couple of them, which just makes the teams less interesting. Especially in a pet mod in which we can give these teams new items to cater to a specific niche (as was done with Slippery Sled), it doesn't make sense to make a single item that dominates choices for every weather/terrain team. That'll just decrease variety down the road.
As for Brittle Mirror, I don't think it really deters Knock Off in the way one would hope. Prior to Brittle Mirror breaking, the opponent has no clue whether it is present on a team or not, so it doesn't really prevent the opponent from clicking Knock Off. And once it's broken, that's it. The opponent already lost their item, so they have no reason to not continue using Knock Off - you can't lose your item twice. So while it does punish Knock Off, it doesn't deter Knock Off. All Brittle Mirror leads to is a metagame in which Knock Off users will be more likely to be built to not care so much about losing their items, which seems really antithetical for an item based format. IMO, whatever item we pick to keep Knock Off in check should be repeatable to make clicking Knock Off risky while still offering counterplay so that Knock Off isn't worthless in the face of it, and I think Brittle Mirror fits neither of those categories.
Room service (Mossy Sandwich)
Contrary Berry
Entrance Armor
Joy Buzzer
Molding Clay
Shady Hood
Power Gel
Joker
Eviospite
Augmented Lens
I have to say stopwatch sounds broken because it nullifies the best form of counterplay against trick room and weather. Say you're trying to play around a super dangerous Trick Room mon like Swords Dance Glastrier. Usually you can avoid a lot of damage and KOs by switching around and forcing 50/50s until Trick Room runs out. If that Glastrier is holding stopwatch, counterplay suddenly becomes very limited. There's not much that can take it on too well and even the best counters will be left severely weakened after beating it. Even if you do take out that glastrier, Trick Room will still be there for another 2-3 turns during which another teammate can come in and get kills. This doesn't just apply to Trick Room btw. Stuff like Swords Dance Excadrill or Growth Venusaur can absolutely destroy entire teams given infinite turns under their weather. Just as a reminder that sand rush drill was banned in gen 5 when rain and sun were at their strongest simply because of how hard it was to stop with infinite sand.
As for brittle mirror it's a bit weak honestly. I think the Joy Buzzer does a better job at annoying Knock Off users especially when used on an hazard stacking team.
Also some people have submitted changes to the type boosting items such as miracle seed. I am against these changes because, first of all, there are nearly 20 items that accomplish the same goal except for a different type. If changes are made to one of these items, then all the others should logically be changed as well and I think it's pretty clear why this would be a problem. Second of all, these type boosting items are actually quite viable. Bulk Up Urshifu and most Bisharps use Black Glasses for instance. Most plates aren't available in gen 8 so we'd be losing on niche but viable items.
Also, I'd rather not add an item that just mimics an ability exactly without upsides or downsides. It almost feels like you're trading away your item for a second ability and I don't feel like that's the point of the mod. Items like PokemonMasterDebater's Crash Helmet and Boxing Gloves just seem like abilities. If an item has a similar effect to an ability or move, I think it'd be more interesting if it had an extra restriction or upside depending on how strong that effect is.
Also criticism involving single items.
Choice lens doesn't feel worth it. Yeah 1.5x accuracy is cool but the drawback is too harsh and usually doesn't amount to much. Zap Cannon and Inferno are still left at an unreliable 75% accuracy and fully accurate Focus Blast is the same as Specs Aura Sphere. There's not much more to say other than damage boosting items with fully accurate moves will usually be stronger.
Heavy Armor is obviously a physical Assault Vest and we'll probably get that at one point and this is based on my personal opinion a lot but physical and special attackers are very different and you also have different ways to wall them. While physical attackers have to deal with burns and intimidate, special attackers have to deal with an item that makes walling them easier: the Assault Vest. Introducing Heavy Armor would just make the physical side far easier to wall because you have access to more ways to deal with it. At the very least, if an item like Heavy Armor were to be introduced, I'd like the restriction to be different from Assault Vest to keep both items unique unlike Choice Band and Choice Specs which I feel are just the same items.
For Max Marigold, it just feels like a z move with an extra side effect such as setting a weather or terrain. I also think it doesn't make sense to put in the game: Why would you have an item that is a weaker version of a mechanic available in every online battle. I know dmax is banned from OU but having a weaker version of it when the game developers intended for it to be available doesn't make sense.
Shell Bell honestly doesn't feel worth running. The recovery is unreliable and the pokemons who would make the best use of it prefer damage boosting items like Life Orb. The pokemons that actually want recovery are defensive mons that don't hit hard enough to outheal leftovers. The few pokemons that would want it such as Tapu Bulu would probably prefer leftovers since they don't rely on the pokemon hitting hard every turn to get the recovery.
Casteliacone is realistically almost never going to activate since bite moves aren't very common and freeze isn't a fun mechanic at all. Freeze is RNG and we shouldn't base items around RNG. I think Quick Claw and Bright Powder are bad items because they rely on RNG and Casteliacone putting your opponent in a situation where they have to roll a 20% chance to be allowed to play the game is also not a good thing.
Honey and Reinforcements just won't be worth running. The situations where you need a double protect to win happen like once every 10 game and a 20% boost to accuracy isn't worth losing 20% evasion either. I would never run these items over leftovers or a life orb.
I don't like Wonder Charm because it goes against game mechanics. Having your opponent's weaknesses suddenly becoming resistances is contrary to what we learn throughout our pokemon journey. When a normal type suddenly resists a fighting move without warning, it's confusing to the player. Inverting the type chart outside of a inverse battles isn't a good thing in my opinion because it becomes a lot harder for the player to handle their type matchups. I think making the item reveal itself on switch-in would be a step in the right direction but inverting the type chart doesn't sound like a good idea.
Finally, TheUltraFinder's Room Service feels kind of counterintuitive. Pokemons that will use Room Service are pokemons like Chandelure that hit hard but are a bit too fast to function outside of Trick Room. However, this item does not fix the item's main issue which is that the pokemons that use Room Service the best deal less damage than other Trick Room abusers with a damage boosting item. You could use Room Service Chandelure but what's the point if Alolan Marowak hits harder? The healing effect also only really works if you're the one setting Trick Room. Your Trick Room setters usually aren't good at abusing Trick Room so they switch out to a pokemon that can do that better after they set it up. If they switch out to a pokemon with Room Service, that pokemon should not have been hit yet since it wasn't sent into battle earlier. The healing is useless.
I should probably have done criticism earlier but oh well. Keep in mind none of these critics are personnal or meant to offend anyone. I just think they're important in order to make our next submissions more balanced, unique and fun.
Contrary Berry
Entrance Armor
Joy Buzzer
Molding Clay
Shady Hood
Power Gel
Joker
Eviospite
Augmented Lens
I have to say stopwatch sounds broken because it nullifies the best form of counterplay against trick room and weather. Say you're trying to play around a super dangerous Trick Room mon like Swords Dance Glastrier. Usually you can avoid a lot of damage and KOs by switching around and forcing 50/50s until Trick Room runs out. If that Glastrier is holding stopwatch, counterplay suddenly becomes very limited. There's not much that can take it on too well and even the best counters will be left severely weakened after beating it. Even if you do take out that glastrier, Trick Room will still be there for another 2-3 turns during which another teammate can come in and get kills. This doesn't just apply to Trick Room btw. Stuff like Swords Dance Excadrill or Growth Venusaur can absolutely destroy entire teams given infinite turns under their weather. Just as a reminder that sand rush drill was banned in gen 5 when rain and sun were at their strongest simply because of how hard it was to stop with infinite sand.
As for brittle mirror it's a bit weak honestly. I think the Joy Buzzer does a better job at annoying Knock Off users especially when used on an hazard stacking team.
Also some people have submitted changes to the type boosting items such as miracle seed. I am against these changes because, first of all, there are nearly 20 items that accomplish the same goal except for a different type. If changes are made to one of these items, then all the others should logically be changed as well and I think it's pretty clear why this would be a problem. Second of all, these type boosting items are actually quite viable. Bulk Up Urshifu and most Bisharps use Black Glasses for instance. Most plates aren't available in gen 8 so we'd be losing on niche but viable items.
Also, I'd rather not add an item that just mimics an ability exactly without upsides or downsides. It almost feels like you're trading away your item for a second ability and I don't feel like that's the point of the mod. Items like PokemonMasterDebater's Crash Helmet and Boxing Gloves just seem like abilities. If an item has a similar effect to an ability or move, I think it'd be more interesting if it had an extra restriction or upside depending on how strong that effect is.
Also criticism involving single items.
Choice lens doesn't feel worth it. Yeah 1.5x accuracy is cool but the drawback is too harsh and usually doesn't amount to much. Zap Cannon and Inferno are still left at an unreliable 75% accuracy and fully accurate Focus Blast is the same as Specs Aura Sphere. There's not much more to say other than damage boosting items with fully accurate moves will usually be stronger.
Heavy Armor is obviously a physical Assault Vest and we'll probably get that at one point and this is based on my personal opinion a lot but physical and special attackers are very different and you also have different ways to wall them. While physical attackers have to deal with burns and intimidate, special attackers have to deal with an item that makes walling them easier: the Assault Vest. Introducing Heavy Armor would just make the physical side far easier to wall because you have access to more ways to deal with it. At the very least, if an item like Heavy Armor were to be introduced, I'd like the restriction to be different from Assault Vest to keep both items unique unlike Choice Band and Choice Specs which I feel are just the same items.
For Max Marigold, it just feels like a z move with an extra side effect such as setting a weather or terrain. I also think it doesn't make sense to put in the game: Why would you have an item that is a weaker version of a mechanic available in every online battle. I know dmax is banned from OU but having a weaker version of it when the game developers intended for it to be available doesn't make sense.
Shell Bell honestly doesn't feel worth running. The recovery is unreliable and the pokemons who would make the best use of it prefer damage boosting items like Life Orb. The pokemons that actually want recovery are defensive mons that don't hit hard enough to outheal leftovers. The few pokemons that would want it such as Tapu Bulu would probably prefer leftovers since they don't rely on the pokemon hitting hard every turn to get the recovery.
Casteliacone is realistically almost never going to activate since bite moves aren't very common and freeze isn't a fun mechanic at all. Freeze is RNG and we shouldn't base items around RNG. I think Quick Claw and Bright Powder are bad items because they rely on RNG and Casteliacone putting your opponent in a situation where they have to roll a 20% chance to be allowed to play the game is also not a good thing.
Honey and Reinforcements just won't be worth running. The situations where you need a double protect to win happen like once every 10 game and a 20% boost to accuracy isn't worth losing 20% evasion either. I would never run these items over leftovers or a life orb.
I don't like Wonder Charm because it goes against game mechanics. Having your opponent's weaknesses suddenly becoming resistances is contrary to what we learn throughout our pokemon journey. When a normal type suddenly resists a fighting move without warning, it's confusing to the player. Inverting the type chart outside of a inverse battles isn't a good thing in my opinion because it becomes a lot harder for the player to handle their type matchups. I think making the item reveal itself on switch-in would be a step in the right direction but inverting the type chart doesn't sound like a good idea.
Finally, TheUltraFinder's Room Service feels kind of counterintuitive. Pokemons that will use Room Service are pokemons like Chandelure that hit hard but are a bit too fast to function outside of Trick Room. However, this item does not fix the item's main issue which is that the pokemons that use Room Service the best deal less damage than other Trick Room abusers with a damage boosting item. You could use Room Service Chandelure but what's the point if Alolan Marowak hits harder? The healing effect also only really works if you're the one setting Trick Room. Your Trick Room setters usually aren't good at abusing Trick Room so they switch out to a pokemon that can do that better after they set it up. If they switch out to a pokemon with Room Service, that pokemon should not have been hit yet since it wasn't sent into battle earlier. The healing is useless.
I should probably have done criticism earlier but oh well. Keep in mind none of these critics are personnal or meant to offend anyone. I just think they're important in order to make our next submissions more balanced, unique and fun.
Apparently I’m not the only one who thinks like this, but the only two this round (unless I’m overlooking something) are Heavy Armor (Assault Shield) and Power Gel (Macho Brace), which is less than I thought at a glance. A few others are fairly similar, like Contrary Berry (better Blue Herb) and Detective Lens (Ring Target but single-use so it’s not stupidly overpowered), but they’re different enough to stand on their own imo.
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You have 24 hours remaining for voting!
Room service (Mine)
Contrary Berry
Entrance Armor
Joy Buzzer
Molding Clay
Shady Hood
Power Gel
Joker
Eviospite
Augmented Lens
Contrary Berry
Entrance Armor
Joy Buzzer
Molding Clay
Shady Hood
Power Gel
Joker
Eviospite
Augmented Lens
Congratulations to our winners!
Anyway let's go into the discussion phase.
Here's an example set and analysis for each item:
Augmented Lens:
This item really wants powerful moves to abuse, such as Zap Cannon, Inferno, and Dynamic Punch, but these moves have serious problems even while bypassing accuracy. Firstly, they aren't particularly competitive damage wise -- while they often have higher base power than the alternative moves, Augmented Lens means that boosting items like Life Orb can't be run, gimping much of their damage advantage while disadvantaging the user's other high-accuracy moves. These moves also aren't widely distributed enough to make it easy to find Pokemon that can run more than one of them. I don't expect this item to see a ton of use -- I myself couldn't find a good set for it -- but it is definitively the best accuracy-boosting item.
Joker and Power Gel:
Both of these are Life Orb with alternative disadvantages. Based off of the research that I did when writing the justification for Power Gel, I fully expect it to see a lot of usage on slow attackers. Joker has the advantage of not halving speed, but it doesn't boost the user's STAB attacks -- which immediately makes it a lot more niche. Practically every attacking Pokemon that runs a boosting item runs a STAB attack, and so Life Orb or Power Gel are almost always going to be the preferred alternatives. The exception will only be for Pokemon that value both their speed and their bulk but can live without boosting their STAB moves, and these aren't common. My best guess right now is Mew; here is an example set that is pure coverage:
Mew @ Joker
Ability: Synchronize
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Brave Bird
- Close Combat
- Power Whip
- Flare Blitz
Shady Hood:
This will probably see the second most amount of play after Power Gel, as it has a lot of set potential and is definitely appreciated by Parting Shot users. Right now, my bet is on Alolan Persian as its best user.
Persian-Alola @ Shady Hood
Ability: Fur Coat
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Parting Shot
- Taunt
- Foul Play
- Knock Off
This set could definitely open up a lot of set up opportunities, but I'm hard pressed to find alternative Parting Shot users -- most of them are either Stealth Rock weak or built to be attackers, and will miss alternative items in both cases.
Going forward, I would like to encourage those of us submitting items to focus more on justifying our submissions. Here are some criteria that I'll personally be using to determine which items are justified:
Augmented Lens:
This item really wants powerful moves to abuse, such as Zap Cannon, Inferno, and Dynamic Punch, but these moves have serious problems even while bypassing accuracy. Firstly, they aren't particularly competitive damage wise -- while they often have higher base power than the alternative moves, Augmented Lens means that boosting items like Life Orb can't be run, gimping much of their damage advantage while disadvantaging the user's other high-accuracy moves. These moves also aren't widely distributed enough to make it easy to find Pokemon that can run more than one of them. I don't expect this item to see a ton of use -- I myself couldn't find a good set for it -- but it is definitively the best accuracy-boosting item.
Joker and Power Gel:
Both of these are Life Orb with alternative disadvantages. Based off of the research that I did when writing the justification for Power Gel, I fully expect it to see a lot of usage on slow attackers. Joker has the advantage of not halving speed, but it doesn't boost the user's STAB attacks -- which immediately makes it a lot more niche. Practically every attacking Pokemon that runs a boosting item runs a STAB attack, and so Life Orb or Power Gel are almost always going to be the preferred alternatives. The exception will only be for Pokemon that value both their speed and their bulk but can live without boosting their STAB moves, and these aren't common. My best guess right now is Mew; here is an example set that is pure coverage:
Mew @ Joker
Ability: Synchronize
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Brave Bird
- Close Combat
- Power Whip
- Flare Blitz
Shady Hood:
This will probably see the second most amount of play after Power Gel, as it has a lot of set potential and is definitely appreciated by Parting Shot users. Right now, my bet is on Alolan Persian as its best user.
Persian-Alola @ Shady Hood
Ability: Fur Coat
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Parting Shot
- Taunt
- Foul Play
- Knock Off
This set could definitely open up a lot of set up opportunities, but I'm hard pressed to find alternative Parting Shot users -- most of them are either Stealth Rock weak or built to be attackers, and will miss alternative items in both cases.
Justifying Your Item Submissions
Going forward, I would like to encourage those of us submitting items to focus more on justifying our submissions. Here are some criteria that I'll personally be using to determine which items are justified:
- Examples: Items submissions should be able to cite example sets that show that the item will have effective users. The set should show how the item effects the Pokemon, and why the Pokemon might choose the item over alternatives -- if the item won't ever see use, it isn't worth voting for. You can also use example sets to help advocate for your item's results.
- Execution: Your submission should make it clear that your item is no worse than any comparable alternatives. If you are submitting one of the many anti-knockoff items, for example, why should your item be created in addition to or instead of existing or theoretical competition?
- Results: The design of the item should suggest that the results that it will produce will be positive. Here are some examples of trends that items can positively or negatively impact:
- Item Variety: While it is important for items to be useful enough to see play, items that are significantly better than their alternatives decrease item variety. Item variety is more interesting than a lack thereof because item variety increases the number of team styles and gameplay scenarios.
- Pokemon Variety: Items can increase or decrease the number of competitively relevant Pokemon, usually by disproportionately benefiting or harming Pokemon that aren't currently relevant. Increasing Pokemon variety is very similar to increasing item variety; it increases the number of team styles and gameplay scenarios, which makes the game more interesting.
- Metagame Health: Items can address or exacerbate specific problems that plague the metagame. Items that increase the importance of luck, for example, might be argued to harm metagame health. Items that mitigate problems with the metagame (*cough* knockoff *cough*), meanwhile, are desirable.
Augmented Lens
Zapdos @ Augmented Lens
Ability: Static
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Hurricane
- Thunder
- Volt Switch
- Roost
This pokemon is usually terrifying under rain because of its powerful attack that can also spread paralysis and confusion. With augmented lens, it has access to these moves at all time. The best part is that they usually have 16pp meaning you aren't limited to 4pp like other low accuracy move, you're limited to 8. It can also use some other annoying moves such as fully accurate heat wave or Zap Cannon.
Shady Hood
Blissey (F) @ Shady Hood
Ability: Serene Grace
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 Def
Relaxed Nature
- Mud-Slap
- Body Slam
- Soft-Boiled
- Curse
Is this set viable? No. Does it have Shady Hood+Mud-Slap? Yes. This set is evil.
Power Gel
Rillaboom @ Power Gel
Ability: Grassy Surge
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Swords Dance
- Grassy Glide
- Knock Off
- Superpower
Slow pokemons like Power Gel but the same applies for pokemons that just spam priority such as Rillaboom, Bisharp and Scizor.
I don't have much to say about Joker that Aizaik hasn't said so I'll leave this post here.
Zapdos @ Augmented Lens
Ability: Static
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Hurricane
- Thunder
- Volt Switch
- Roost
This pokemon is usually terrifying under rain because of its powerful attack that can also spread paralysis and confusion. With augmented lens, it has access to these moves at all time. The best part is that they usually have 16pp meaning you aren't limited to 4pp like other low accuracy move, you're limited to 8. It can also use some other annoying moves such as fully accurate heat wave or Zap Cannon.
Shady Hood
Blissey (F) @ Shady Hood
Ability: Serene Grace
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 Def
Relaxed Nature
- Mud-Slap
- Body Slam
- Soft-Boiled
- Curse
Is this set viable? No. Does it have Shady Hood+Mud-Slap? Yes. This set is evil.
Power Gel
Rillaboom @ Power Gel
Ability: Grassy Surge
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Swords Dance
- Grassy Glide
- Knock Off
- Superpower
Slow pokemons like Power Gel but the same applies for pokemons that just spam priority such as Rillaboom, Bisharp and Scizor.
I don't have much to say about Joker that Aizaik hasn't said so I'll leave this post here.
SUBMISSIONS ARE OPEN
However this time I want to do things a bit differently because I feel as though there are some pokemon that just need some extra help right now. Hence why this slate will be creating signature items for the following pokemon!
Now again you cannot revamp z-crystals or mega stones, but I am interested to see in how you can help these four pokemon. This slate is going to be a bit different as well having a one item per pokemon limit, and voting will be done different, however I will discuss that when it comes time for voting.
Item Name: Pink Cloak
Item Effect: Raises Zarude’s Defense and Speed by 50% when held
Flavor (optional): Made after the Dada cloak that certain Zarude wear.
Item Name: Pocket Boiler
Item Effect: Water and Fire typed moves deal 1.3 times Damage when held by Volcanion. (Stab also has its effect)
Flavor (optional): A pocket boiler that Volcanion uses to increase the strength of its boiled water.
Item Name: Ilex Berry
Item Effect: If held by a Celebi and it reaches below 33% health, provide an boost to all main stats except HP.
Flavor (optional): A berry tainted by Celebi’s wooded embrace.
Item Name: Crystal Shard
Item Effect: When held by Diancie, apply a Serene Grace effect.
Flavor (optional): A magical crystal that Diancie uses to heighten her powers.
Item Effect: Raises Zarude’s Defense and Speed by 50% when held
Flavor (optional): Made after the Dada cloak that certain Zarude wear.
Item Name: Pocket Boiler
Item Effect: Water and Fire typed moves deal 1.3 times Damage when held by Volcanion. (Stab also has its effect)
Flavor (optional): A pocket boiler that Volcanion uses to increase the strength of its boiled water.
Item Name: Ilex Berry
Item Effect: If held by a Celebi and it reaches below 33% health, provide an boost to all main stats except HP.
Flavor (optional): A berry tainted by Celebi’s wooded embrace.
Item Name: Crystal Shard
Item Effect: When held by Diancie, apply a Serene Grace effect.
Flavor (optional): A magical crystal that Diancie uses to heighten her powers.
Item Name: Faulty Sprinkler
Item Effect: If held by a Volcanion, causes it to follow any damaging move (besides the one caused by Sprinkler) with a 30bp Special Water-type attack that targets every Pokemon on the field, including itself. This item cannot be removed from Volcanion in any way.
Loosely inspired by KeeganSkymin444’s Water Vellumental from Crossover Chaos, Faulty Sprinkler provides Volcanion with a number of benefits. The most obvious one is the 22bp (not 30 because of split damage) damage bonus on each attack, which provides some nice chip and deals with Sturdy/Sash. It also makes it harder to switch into its coverage thanks to it effectively attacking with two types at once. The biggest benefit of this item comes from it targeting the user, activating Water Absorb and healing Volcanion for 1/4 of its health (unless NG is active, in which case you just hit yourself) whenever it attacks. This would make for an incredible bulky attacker, especially when combined with its solid defensive typing. The final benefit is that it can’t be removed, which not only allows Volcanion to switch in easily on Knock Off, but actively deters the opponent from clicking it because, if you see Volcanion in team preview, you know it’s holding this. All of this combined would make Volcanion very strong, but not broken. Its recovery doesn’t come on the turn it switches in, meaning that if you hard read the switch or click a pivoting move to go into something that scares it out, it doesn’t get any recovery from the sequence. The weakness to Stealth Rock without being able to run Boots also helps to offset this recovery. Volcanion would also still be walled by Bulky Waters, and they all run Toxic, which is the last thing you want hitting a mon that wants to stay in for several turns and regenerate its health. Finally, the Water-type chip can be capitalized on by the opponent if they have something with Water Absorb or Weakness Policy, for example.
Item Name: Warped Diadem
Item Effect: If held by a Diancie, grants the effects of Persistent. This item cannot be removed from Diancie in any way.
Diancie is only really seen on Trick Room, so I decided to lean into that and do the same thing I did with Megamax Hatterene by taking that to its logical extreme and making Diancie the premier Trick Room setter in the meta. As has been demonstrated in both CAP and Megamax, one mon with extended TR is single-handedly enough to make it a legitimately good archetype. Diancie may not have the utility of Fidgit or the raw power of Mega Hatt, but it still has Stealth Rock and (Misty) Explosion for suicide lead sets, Encore to aid setup, Heal Bell and extended Safeguard for team support, and Draining Kiss for longevity, all helping it to fill this niche. A combinaiton of Warped Diadem and Power Gel would be than enough to allow Trick Room teams to compete with all of the Weather in the mod. Diancie also gets Gravity and Wonder Room, which aren’t too practical, but are pretty damn fun. Similarly to Faulty Sprinkler, this is an active deterrent for Knock Off, because if you see a Diancie in team preview you already know what it’s holding.
Item Name: Heart of Oak
Item Effect: If held by a Zarude, Jungle Healing affects every Pokemon on its team besides itself and heals for 15%. This item cannot be removed from Zarude in any way.
I have no idea why we’re giving Zarude a signature item for “extra help”. It’s already good in OU, just got even better with the Phero ban, and is about to see a surge in usage once Urshifu’s banned. For that reason, rather than unnecessarily buffing up its potent stallbreaker set, Heart of Oak completely changes its role, making for an incredible cleric. Because of its abysmal defensive typing, you need to be very careful of bringing Zarude in, ideally capitalizing on something like Spectrier or a Knock Off spammer. Once you do get this thing in, though, Jungle Healing provides a stupidly high amount of support to your team. Not affecting Zarude itself is a steep penalty, as you can’t really hybridize with the stallbreaker set and if you want recovery on your cleric, you either need Synthesis or Rest, neither of which are particularly good. That said, the dichotomy between its stallbreaker and cleric sets would be a big buff to both, as they need to be played around differently, and until you click Jungle Healing or Knock Off fails, the opponent has to be prepared for two completely sets.
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Item Name: Mystical Mist
Effect: If holder is a Volcanion, when switching in, sets Mist, Aqua Ring and Life Dew; cannot be knocked off when held by Volcanion.
Gives Volcanion a very unique utility niche. I went with this direction because lore-wise, Volcanion guarded a certain ancient village by keeping it hidden behind mists. Protects the team from stat drops and makes up for not having another item slot by having sudo-leftovers in Aqua Ring.
This might be a bit much, hopefully not. Volcanion currently isn't the most useful mon out there and being able to give it unique utility definetly would increase its viability
This might be a bit much, hopefully not. Volcanion currently isn't the most useful mon out there and being able to give it unique utility definetly would increase its viability
Item Name: Crystal Heart
Effect: When held by Diancie, cannot be Knocked Off and will make the User's moves run off of Defense instead of their respective offensive stats.
Simple one this time around, makes for some gimmicky use of Diamond Storm. I don't think anything we can do to diancie would realistically make her OU unless it was a super broken item, so I think trying to lean more on a gimicky sort of thing works better. This also allows diancie to run mixed sets quite effectively, since they will both run off of physical defense but mantain their categories when hitting the opponent.
Item Name: Sacred Sundial
Effect: Upon switching in, when held by Celebi, restores all lost items from its allies. Cannot be removed when held by Celebi
Lore: Celebi goes back in time to recover the lost items
Do I even have to? In a metagame so centered around items, and with a huge concern about Knock Off, having a pokémon that saves any lost items for your team is just amazing. This is however held back by the fact it's still Celebi. It's got very common weaknesses and it's an anti-Knock mon weak to Knock itself. Overall pretty integral to the overall metagame but still should be hopefully balanced
Edited my post for more clarity on Sundial's effect and a nerf to Volcanion's item
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Replaced my submission for Volcanion as of 1/2/2021
Name: Metal Augment
Effect: When held by Volcanion, the user gains the Steel type, and the power of the user's STAB attacks is increased by 30%. Effects that grant Pokemon an additional type replace Volcanion's Steel type. This item cannot be removed from Volcanion.
Flavor: An augment of metal boilers and pumps that fastens securely to Volcanion.
Name: Metal Augment
Effect: When held by Volcanion, the user gains the Steel type, and the power of the user's STAB attacks is increased by 30%. Effects that grant Pokemon an additional type replace Volcanion's Steel type. This item cannot be removed from Volcanion.
Flavor: An augment of metal boilers and pumps that fastens securely to Volcanion.
Overview:
Volcanion is the only Pokemon that still doesn't have an item submission that I'm satisfied with, so I'm completing Volcanion for my only submission this slate. The most important question that our signature items should be answering is "Why use this Pokemon?", and the other submissions for Volcanion answer that question by offering utility. I feel the need to offer an alternative, however, because both of these forms of utility are arguably unhealthy -- but I'll save those thoughts for the feedback section. Beyond that, however, defensive utility items just aren't a good fit for Volcanion; as a SR weak Pokemon without reliable recovery that also wants a boosting item for its offensive presence, utility items get put into the awkward position of having to offset Heavy-Duty Boots even before they can even start improving the Pokemon. I've decided to double down on what Volcanion's stats naturally prepare it for -- being a powerful attacker that can take hits or switch in using its unique typing. Because the premise of our item submissions is to improve the Pokemon, I've based this item off of Life Orb, as Volcanion prefers running offensive items in OU.
Effect:
This item makes Volcanion a Fire/Water/Steel type. Effects that give Pokemon third types have precedent -- see the Gen6 moves Forest's Curse and Trick-or-Treat.
Gaining the Steel type is very advantageous for Volcanion; firstly, it dramatically increases Volcanion's longevity simply by mitigating its Stealth Rock weakness, though it would also enjoy immunities to sandstorm and poison. Secondly, Steel typing improves a lot of matchups, especially with Dragons and Fairies. The only important matchups that get worse are against fighting types -- steel's other weakness either already existed or are nullified by double-resistance. Volcanion gains access to steel's slew of resistances and can withstand knock off, allowing it more switch in opportunities.
Signature Item Specific Justification:
Because they are locked to specific Pokemon, signature items are our only opportunity to create items with effects that would otherwise be over-the-top if they could be used by any Pokemon. In this case, this is an opportunity where it makes sense to create a type-changing item -- both from a flavor and gameplay perspective. Type changing items generally aren't something that should be made available to all Pokemon -- but when making signature items, we have a controlled enough environment to use such experimental mechanics. This is also mostly a straight upgrade to Life Orb, which shouldn't be made for all Pokemon -- but this slate assumes that we should be buffing the Pokemon in question, and so decreasing item diversity for that specific Pokemon to increase Pokemon diversity has already been agreed to.
Example Set:
Volcanion @ Metal Augment
Ability: Water Absorb
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Steam Eruption
- Overheat / Fire Blast / Flamethrower
- Flash Cannon / Toxic
- Earth Power / Defog
Volcanion is the only Pokemon that still doesn't have an item submission that I'm satisfied with, so I'm completing Volcanion for my only submission this slate. The most important question that our signature items should be answering is "Why use this Pokemon?", and the other submissions for Volcanion answer that question by offering utility. I feel the need to offer an alternative, however, because both of these forms of utility are arguably unhealthy -- but I'll save those thoughts for the feedback section. Beyond that, however, defensive utility items just aren't a good fit for Volcanion; as a SR weak Pokemon without reliable recovery that also wants a boosting item for its offensive presence, utility items get put into the awkward position of having to offset Heavy-Duty Boots even before they can even start improving the Pokemon. I've decided to double down on what Volcanion's stats naturally prepare it for -- being a powerful attacker that can take hits or switch in using its unique typing. Because the premise of our item submissions is to improve the Pokemon, I've based this item off of Life Orb, as Volcanion prefers running offensive items in OU.
Effect:
This item makes Volcanion a Fire/Water/Steel type. Effects that give Pokemon third types have precedent -- see the Gen6 moves Forest's Curse and Trick-or-Treat.
Gaining the Steel type is very advantageous for Volcanion; firstly, it dramatically increases Volcanion's longevity simply by mitigating its Stealth Rock weakness, though it would also enjoy immunities to sandstorm and poison. Secondly, Steel typing improves a lot of matchups, especially with Dragons and Fairies. The only important matchups that get worse are against fighting types -- steel's other weakness either already existed or are nullified by double-resistance. Volcanion gains access to steel's slew of resistances and can withstand knock off, allowing it more switch in opportunities.
Signature Item Specific Justification:
Because they are locked to specific Pokemon, signature items are our only opportunity to create items with effects that would otherwise be over-the-top if they could be used by any Pokemon. In this case, this is an opportunity where it makes sense to create a type-changing item -- both from a flavor and gameplay perspective. Type changing items generally aren't something that should be made available to all Pokemon -- but when making signature items, we have a controlled enough environment to use such experimental mechanics. This is also mostly a straight upgrade to Life Orb, which shouldn't be made for all Pokemon -- but this slate assumes that we should be buffing the Pokemon in question, and so decreasing item diversity for that specific Pokemon to increase Pokemon diversity has already been agreed to.
Example Set:
Volcanion @ Metal Augment
Ability: Water Absorb
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Steam Eruption
- Overheat / Fire Blast / Flamethrower
- Flash Cannon / Toxic
- Earth Power / Defog
Between Tapler, AquaticPanic, and myself, there seems to be consensus that signature items should be immovable; this makes a lot of sense, as signature items tend to be a crutch for Pokemon that desperately need them (see Marowak). I would just advise that, in future slates, we be careful not to make items that might be overbearing immovable, as I do see some value in item-interacting moves for counterplay. Here are some specific submissions that I want to comment on:
Because these 3 Pokemon have such good items already, I decided that I should focus on the one Pokemon that wasn't quite where I was hoping yet. I'll just make a quick point about why I'm not into the alternatives.
Assuming that each Pokemon gets one item, this is my ideal outcome for the upcoming vote -- barring any really good late entries:
These two from Tapler are my respective frontrunners for Diancie and Zarude, as both items answer the question "Why should I use this Pokemon?" in a way that gives them a purpose. My only recommendation for Warped Diadem would be to make the item effect specific to the options that Diancie has access to instead of referencing CAP's Persistent.
Item Name: Warped Diadem
Item Effect: If held by a Diancie, grants the effects of Persistent. This item cannot be removed from Diancie in any way.
Item Name: Heart of Oak
Item Effect: If held by a Zarude, Jungle Healing affects every Pokemon on its team besides itself and heals for 15%. This item cannot be removed from Zarude in any way.
This is my frontrunner for Celebi. While I'm not a fan of how the effect is worded, the premise has multiple implications and is entirely unique to Celebi, which could open the door for new styles of teams that would give Celebi a niche. I would like to see this submission revised, however; there is some flavor text in the effect that would be better off in a "Flavor:" row, and the actual effect could stand to be made more clear and specific. Perhaps something along the lines of "If held by Celebi, all items Pokemon on the user's team that don't have an item regain any items that they had that were lost or consumed when the user switches in. This item cannot be removed from Celebi.".
Item Name: Sacred Sundial
Effect: Allows the user, Celebi, to go back in time and restore lost items from any allies (activates upon switching-in). Cannot be removed when held by Celebi
Because these 3 Pokemon have such good items already, I decided that I should focus on the one Pokemon that wasn't quite where I was hoping yet. I'll just make a quick point about why I'm not into the alternatives.
This item is a Life Orb without recoil that doesn't boost Volcanion's coverage -- and that definitely isn't enough to put Volcanion on the map.
While I am a fan of how this item gets a lot of mileage out of one specific effect, I've got some problems with it. Firstly, I'm philosophically opposed to damaging attacks that take effect upon switchin; I give it a lot more leeway because it is a signature item, but being able to essentially use a priority move no matter which Pokemon you have on the field as long as you have Volcanion in the back breaks a lot of the structure of the game in a way that I don't think is constructive, even if it isn't oppressive. More importantly, however, I don't see this item as giving Volcanion what it needs to succeed; the Water Absorb activation is mostly a consolation for missing Heavy Duty Boots, and doesn't give Volcanion the significant defensive utility or offensive power that it would need to find a niche in the meta.
I object to this for similar reasons that I object to Faulty Sprinkler; while this is defensively even more of an upgrade to Heavy-Duty Boots, it also adds priority Haze that can be used regardless of which of your Pokemon is currently active as long as Volcanion is in the back. While this would definitely guarantee Volcanion a niche, it breaks the structure of the game in a way that is oppressive, not constructive; this basically becomes stall's answer to all pressure from stat-boosting breakers. The existing counterplay that stall has (unaware and normal Haze) is about as sufficient as the counterplay can be pushed without making stall unhealthy.
Assuming that each Pokemon gets one item, this is my ideal outcome for the upcoming vote -- barring any really good late entries:
- Tapler's Heart of Oak, for Zarude
- Tapler's Warped Diadem, for Diancie
- AquaticPanic's Sacred Sundial, for Celebi
- My Metal Augment, for Volcanion
Item Name: Auxiliary Boiler
Item Effect: If held by Volcanion, increases the power of the user's Fire type and Water type attacks by the percentage of the remaining PP of the attack. When the user uses a Fire type or Water type attack, the PP of the all of the user's Fire and Water type attacks is additionally reduced by 4. This item cannot be removed from Volcanion.
Description: A boiler that fastens securely onto Volcanion, powering up its Fire and Water type attacks until it runs out of steam.
Effect:
The power of Volcanion's fire and water type attacks are increased by the percentage of the remaining PP of the attack; for example, a Steam Eruption with 8/8 PP grants a 100% boost, causing Steam Eruption to have 220 base power. A steam eruption with 5/8 PP has 178.75 base power; A steam eruption with 2/8 PP has 137.5 base power. Because the item reduces PP by 3 instead of 1, Volcanion's strongest moves can only be used 3 times each -- though if you've used them all, you've probably knocked out a lot of Pokemon. All this comes together to make a Pokemon with pure firepower that must remain vigilant to avoid running out of steam.
For some perspective, here is how an unused Overheat compares to a Fishious Rend:
252+ SpA Volcanion Overheat vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Eviolite Type: Null: 324-382 (82.2 - 96.9%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252+ Atk Choice Band Strong Jaw Dracovish Fishious Rend (170 BP) vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Eviolite Type: Null: 372-438 (94.4 - 111.1%) -- 62.5% chance to OHKO
Obviously, invoking the name of Dracovish is a scary prospect; I'm quite confident that Volcanion isn't the next Dracovish, however; between being item locked, slower, stealth rock weak, and being PP-restricted, Volcanion won't be able to surprise opponents, keep up with as many Pokemon, hit the field freely, or spam one move over and over again.
Signature Item Specific Justification:
Because they are locked to specific Pokemon, signature items are our only opportunity to create items with effects that would otherwise be over-the-top if they could be used by any Pokemon. In this case, this is one of the few opportunities where it makes sense to make a steeply powerful boosting item. This also means that this is one of the only opportunities to implement this item's gameplay mechanic -- power boosting based off of remaining PP -- because items of this type are naturally powerful unless you make the item unduly complicated by adding parts to the damage boosting equation. This is also the most enjoyable opportunity to implement a signature item of this function, as creating a mechanic that loses steam as more 'pressure' is released is perfectly appropriate for Volcanion.
Results:
With the strongest immediate power in the metagame, Volcanion would immediately have a niche. It wouldn't be without obstacles, however -- most water and dragon types will resist its STAB moves, stealth rock and poor speed will keep it in check, and its PP-based 'steam power' will be appropriately vulnerable to interactions from Pressure and other sources. You should use this Pokemon if you are looking for the immediate power to blast through even the fattest teams.
Example Set:
Volcanion @ Auxiliary Boiler
Ability: Water Absorb
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Steam Eruption
- Overheat
- Flamethrower
- Scald / Earth Power
(Dracovish! Dracovish! Dracovish! Dracovish! Be revived and ruin OU!)
Item Effect: If held by Volcanion, increases the power of the user's Fire type and Water type attacks by the percentage of the remaining PP of the attack. When the user uses a Fire type or Water type attack, the PP of the all of the user's Fire and Water type attacks is additionally reduced by 4. This item cannot be removed from Volcanion.
Description: A boiler that fastens securely onto Volcanion, powering up its Fire and Water type attacks until it runs out of steam.
Effect:
The power of Volcanion's fire and water type attacks are increased by the percentage of the remaining PP of the attack; for example, a Steam Eruption with 8/8 PP grants a 100% boost, causing Steam Eruption to have 220 base power. A steam eruption with 5/8 PP has 178.75 base power; A steam eruption with 2/8 PP has 137.5 base power. Because the item reduces PP by 3 instead of 1, Volcanion's strongest moves can only be used 3 times each -- though if you've used them all, you've probably knocked out a lot of Pokemon. All this comes together to make a Pokemon with pure firepower that must remain vigilant to avoid running out of steam.
For some perspective, here is how an unused Overheat compares to a Fishious Rend:
252+ SpA Volcanion Overheat vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Eviolite Type: Null: 324-382 (82.2 - 96.9%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252+ Atk Choice Band Strong Jaw Dracovish Fishious Rend (170 BP) vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Eviolite Type: Null: 372-438 (94.4 - 111.1%) -- 62.5% chance to OHKO
Obviously, invoking the name of Dracovish is a scary prospect; I'm quite confident that Volcanion isn't the next Dracovish, however; between being item locked, slower, stealth rock weak, and being PP-restricted, Volcanion won't be able to surprise opponents, keep up with as many Pokemon, hit the field freely, or spam one move over and over again.
Signature Item Specific Justification:
Because they are locked to specific Pokemon, signature items are our only opportunity to create items with effects that would otherwise be over-the-top if they could be used by any Pokemon. In this case, this is one of the few opportunities where it makes sense to make a steeply powerful boosting item. This also means that this is one of the only opportunities to implement this item's gameplay mechanic -- power boosting based off of remaining PP -- because items of this type are naturally powerful unless you make the item unduly complicated by adding parts to the damage boosting equation. This is also the most enjoyable opportunity to implement a signature item of this function, as creating a mechanic that loses steam as more 'pressure' is released is perfectly appropriate for Volcanion.
Results:
With the strongest immediate power in the metagame, Volcanion would immediately have a niche. It wouldn't be without obstacles, however -- most water and dragon types will resist its STAB moves, stealth rock and poor speed will keep it in check, and its PP-based 'steam power' will be appropriately vulnerable to interactions from Pressure and other sources. You should use this Pokemon if you are looking for the immediate power to blast through even the fattest teams.
Example Set:
Volcanion @ Auxiliary Boiler
Ability: Water Absorb
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Steam Eruption
- Overheat
- Flamethrower
- Scald / Earth Power
(Dracovish! Dracovish! Dracovish! Dracovish! Be revived and ruin OU!)
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Alright 24 Hour warning