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Name of Pokemon: Solgaleo
Typing: Steel / Psychic
Stats: 84 / 115 / 130 / 95 / 65 / 100
Abilities: Clear Body / Blaze
Notable Moves:
Phys: Meteor Mash, Earthquake, Superpower, Endeavor
Spec: Psychic, Flamethrower, Fire Blast, Knock Off
Stat: Calm Mind, Agility, Sunny Day, Thunder Wave, Toxic, Roar, Endure
Removed Moves: Rock Slide, Thunder, Thunderbolt
Why It Should Be Picked: Solgaleo is kind of a midground between Metagross and Jirachi. It's CB set has a few tools to set it apart from meta despite the lack of boom, mainly superpower and base 100 speed. Superpower let's it chunk skarm semi-making up for it's less power and base 100 speed means you outrun or speed tie a lot more of the meta like Claydol, Mence, and Molt However CB sets need a lot more predictions to work due to it's lesser power ( meaning it can't just mash on skarm and pert with spikes down) and lack of boom. Mixed sets are ok but also suffer from a lack of power and boom as well as lacking rock slide meaning it has to chose between HP rock for Zap and Molt or HP grass for Pert. CM sets have Jirachis Speed and higher phy bulk but much lower spec bulk and a bit less power however it does have to big benefit of mash even with low atk ev's doing a lot to Ttar and forcing a Bliss heal which Jirachi can't do
Name of Pokemon: Golem-Alola
Typing: Rock/Electric
Stats: 80/110/120/85/75/45 (515 BST)
Abilities: Magnet Pull/Galvanize
Notable Moves: Double-Edge, Earthquake, Explosion, Fire Blast, Focus Punch, Roar, Rock Slide, Thunderbolt
New Moves: Ice Punch, Rapid Spin
Why It Should Be Picked: At the moment, Jellicent pretty much completely stops any spinning attempt due to not having anything to fear from the format's spinners. However, Alolan-Golem brings a form of spinning that can't be blocked by ghost types thanks to Galvanize. Its spin can be blocked by ground types, but Alolem's Ice Punches and Hidden Power Grass means pokemon like Flygon, Gliscor or Swampert could get crippled if trying to switch-into it and block the spin. It can also run Magnet Pull to trap steel types and hit them hard with its powerful Earthquakes and Fire Blasts. Trapping a passive steel type also means it can pull a spin off easily before taking them out. However, it has a lot more trouble defensively due to crippling weaknesses to Ground and Water so it will often have to find its way in against more passive pokemon or need heavy bulk investment to do so safely.
Edit: Can't believe I forgot about Explosion while making this. Yeah, Explosion is great, especially on a pokemon like Alolem that doesn't have great longevity.
Name of Pokemon: Slowbro-Galar
Typing: Poison/Psychic
Stats: 95/100/95/100/70/30 (490 BST)
Abilities: Own Tempo
Notable Moves: Brick Break, Calm Mind, Curse, Earthquake, Fire Blast, Flamethrower, Hydro Pump, Ice Beam, Psychic, Shadow Ball, Shell Side Arm, Slack Off, Sludge Bomb, Surf
Why It Should Be Picked: Galarian-Slowbro is a versatile bulky attacker that can boost up and attack from both sides of the attacking spectrum. Its signature move, Shell Side Arm, is a physical move that would become special if it were to deal more damage to the target. This moves makes it quite difficult to wall, as a huge defense stat won't save you. It also has a decent 20% poison chance which could ruin switch-ins. It can run setup sets with Curse or Calm Mind that work especially thanks to its solid bulk, reliable recovery and Toxic immunity. All-out attacking mixed sets could also be run to try and hit most of the meta with its powerful mixed coverage. Overall, Galarbro could have an interesting niche in the metagame thanks to its versatility.
Stats: 83/106/65/86/65/85 Abilities: Inner Focus/ Water Absorb Notable Moves:
Sludge Bomb, Brick Break, Earthquake, Rock Slide, Focus Punch, Shadow Ball, Super Fang, Ice Punch, Cross Chop
Hidden Power Grass, Ice Punch, Thunder Punch, Knock Off
Swords Dance, Substitute, Encore, Baton Pass, Toxic, Taunt Why It Should Be Picked: Toxicroak has a ton of really good things going for it. A shockingly devastating type combo, hitting TTar, Blissey, Celebi, Breloom, Snorlax, and Porygon2, plus absolutely insane coverage that lets it get past Skarmory (Focus Punch), Salamence (Ice Punch), Metagross (EQ), Zapdos (Rock Slide), and Claydol (Shadow Ball), especially if it nets a Swords Dance boost. Plus, its 85 Speed tier is actually decent in this gen, outpacing the likes of TTar, Metagross, and Breloom. However, it has one big flaw in that it gets trapped by Dugtrio, plus its Speed tier is still low enough to force some predictive gameplay, since it has to catch stuff like Salamence on a switch. It's kinda like a better version of Nidoking in this regard. Oh, it also checks Suicune, which is cool.
Toxicroak @ Lum Berry
Ability: Water Absorb
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Sludge Bomb
- Cross Chop / Focus Punch
- Shadow Ball / Rock Slide / Baton Pass
- Swords Dance
Brick Break, Focus Punch, High Jump Kick, Low Kick, Revenge, Rock Slide, Sludge Bomb, Shadow Ball, Fake Out, Super Fang
Knock Off, Crunch, Ice Punch, Beat Up
Dragon Dance, Substitute, Rest, Iron Defense, Roar, Taunt, Toxic, Bulk Up Why It Should Be Picked: Something that Gen 3 lacks, and really every gen before Gen 5, is a bulky Fighting-type. The closest we have is the much less than stellar Hitmontop, who does have Rapid Spin and Intimidate, but after that, it has nothing. Scrafty loses Rapid Spin but adds on a ton of utility that Hitmontop would die for. Its unique Dark/Fighting-typing allows it to check or even counter most variants of Tyranitar, which hardly anything can do, check Jellicent, which hardly any physical attackers can do, and has enough good defensive qualities like two amazing abilities in Shed Skin and Intimidate and great bulk to check or at least annoy Snorlax, Blissey, Celebi, Claydol, and Flygon. It's kinda like Hariyama, but a little worse at what Hariyama does with a ton of utility in return. Banded, Dragon Dance + Shed Skin, Bulk Up + Shed Skin, RestTalk + Intimidate, Scrafty can do a lot and should be an interesting addition to the metagame
Scrafty @ Leftovers
Ability: Shed Skin
EVs: 252 HP / 200 SpD / 56 Spe
Careful Nature
- Brick Break
- Shadow Ball
- Rest
- Bulk Up
Surf, Ice Beam, Hidden Power Grass, Knock Off, Whirlpool
Tail Glow, Heal Bell, Toxic, Rest, Sleep Talk, Acid Armor, Rain Dance Why It Should Be Picked: Phione has one thing over any other Water in the game and that thing is Tail Glow. Even if it's only a Nasty Plot in Gen 3, Tail Glow by itself gives Phione a huge niche as a special sweeper and wallbreaker that's able to amass boosts faster than any Suicune ever could. Thus, if left unchecked, it can become a real problem real fast. It obviously has flaws, most notably its only okay 80 Speed that leaves it open to being revenge killed by the likes of Dugtrio, basically every relevant Electric-type, Heracross, and more, but anything slower must learn to fear Phione. Who knew one change could make the worst mythical Pokemon worth something?
Oh, and I guess Knock Off is unique for a Water-type, too
Fire Blast, Flamethrower, Overheat, Hidden Power Grass, Dragon Claw, Hidden Power Ice, Knock Off, Beat Up
Dragon Dance, Toxic, Will-O-Wisp, Thunder Wave, Taunt, Substitute, Encore, Disable Why It Should Be Picked: You need status? Salazzle's got status to go around. Thanks to its blistering speed, Salazzle can very effectively spread Toxic, burns, and even paralysis (why does this learn TWave?) effectively, shutting down the opponent before they even get a chance to counterattack. But, Salazzle isn't a one trick pony, as it has Charizard's great Fire/Dragon coverage with an even higher Special Attack and Speed stat, making it one of the few Fire-types that can take on Swampert and Dragons at the same time, thus giving Salazzle very few free switch-ins offensively, not even considering how hard it is to switch into Toxic or Will-O-Wisp. Speaking of Toxic and Will-O-Wisp, thanks to Salazzle's typing and a new ability in Limber, Salazzle is immune to all non-volatile status conditions except for the ultra rare freeze if one of its teammates is asleep, giving this very frail mon more opportunities to switch-in. Yeah, it gets trapped by Dugtrio (unless you spend a moveslot on Dragon Dance or manage to stay behind a Substitute) and, thanks to their typings and Natural Cure, Starmie and Blissey perfectly counter it, but Salazzle should be an asset for any teams that rely on status damage.
Stats: 75/80/70/95/50/130 (Noice stats, +30 SpA) Abilities: Rock Head / Damp Notable Moves:
Reversal, Return, Double-Edge, Rock Slide, Steel Wing, Hidden Power Fighting
Ice Beam, Hydro Pump, Surf, Hidden Power Fire, Hidden Power Grass, Psychic
Substitute, Protect, Toxic, Endure, Belly Drum, Reflect, Iron Defense, Encore, Calm Mind Why It Should Be Picked: Eiscue is fast. I mean what else do you need? Okay, well, if all you needed was speed, then Electrode would be a good Pokemon, but it isn't. Jolteon has Thunder Wave, Roar, 110 SpA, and Baton Pass while Aerodactyl has Banded sets, good coverage, and the Flying-typing. For Eiscue, it has 4 big things: Ice-typing, Encore, Calm Mind, and Damp. Eiscue's Ice-typing by itself gives it great offensive coverage with STAB Ice Beam, coverage that is almost perfectly rounded out with Hydro Pump and your choice of Hidden Power Fire for Forretress or Grass for Water-types. It's by far the weakest out of the 130 Speed club, but its coverage can at least partially make up for it. The best trait it has, though, is by far Encore. Eiscue has the fast Encore in the tier, being faster than Alakazam and Jumpluff, which can put walls like Skarmory, Blissey, or Jellicent in really awkward situations, letting Eiscue force switches, and either get in a teammate for free or let Eiscue set up Calm Minds to help it sweep with its good coverage. Lastly, Damp is very niche, but it lets Eiscue switch into a predicted boom and click Encore, which puts the opponent in a lose-lose situation, which is really funny. Also, don't use Belly Drum, I promise it's not worth it
Eiscue @ Leftovers
Ability: Damp
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Ice Beam
- Hydro Pump / Hidden Power Grass / Substitute
- Calm Mind / Toxic
- Encore
Brick Break, Earthquake, Body Slam, Sludge Bomb, Rock Slide
Dragon Claw, Crunch, Knock Off, Flamethrower, Fire Blast, Heat Wave (why does this learn Heat Wave), Hidden Power Grass, Shock Wave
Substitute, Protect, Toxic, Iron Defense, Rest, Sleep Talk, Stockpile Why It Should Be Picked: Guzzlord is fat, very fat. With this fat, Guzzlord is able to tank hits all day and fire back with its pretty great offensive coverage in STAB Crunch, STAB Dragon Claw, Fire Blast, Shock Wave, Hidden Power, Earthquake, Brick Break, Sludge Bomb, Rock Slide, and more. With its great typing, enough bulk to take one or two hits from basically anything and all those options, depending on the set, virtually every good Pokemon in the meta for maybe Gliscor has to exercise caution around Guzzlord until its set is revealed. Guzzlord does have flaws, like being stupid slow meaning that it has to take a hit, it has a bunch of common weaknesses, and it has one of the worst cases of 4MSS I've ever seen, but if you need a versatile tank, Guzzlord is THE tank
Mienshao
Typing: Fighting
Stats: 65 / 125 / 60 / 105 / 60 / 105 (520)
Abilities: Inner Focus, Own Tempo
Notable Moves: Blaze kick, Superpower (NEW MOVE), HP Dark, Pursuit (NEW MOVE), Rock slide, Calm mind. Why it should be picked: With TTAR dominance and the abundance of defensive pokemon, Mienshao fits right in. Being a mixed attacker really helps exploit defensive mons because alot thrive in one depart but lack in another. While its 105 special attack is plausible and can be used properly, its 125 attack isn’t something to brush off. The lack of life orb hurts it but it gives it the oppurtunity to scare the opponent with something like black glasses/belt. Overall a great mon to use with little counters.
CALCS:
252 Atk Mienshao Superpower vs. 44 HP / 252+ Def Blissey: 693-816 (104.6 - 123.2%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252 Atk Mienshao Rock Slide vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Zapdos: 183-216 (56.8 - 67%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
252 SpA Mienshao Blaze Kick vs. 128 HP / 0 SpD Metagross: 176-208 (52.8 - 62.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
Mienshao @ Black Glasses
Ability: Inner Focus
EVs: 252 Attack/ 252 Special Attack / 4 Speed
Hasty Nature
- Blaze Kick
- Superpower
- HP Dark
- Rock Slide
Mienshao @ Choice Band
Ability: Inner Focus
EVs: 252 Attack/ 4 SpDef / 252 Speed
Adamant Nature
- Superpower
- Rock Slide
- HP Bug
- ?/Return
Aromatisse
Typing: Psychic
Stats: 101 / 72 / 92 / 100 / 109 / 29 (493)
Abilities: Magic Guard
Notable Moves: Sleep powder, Psychic, Reflect, Light Screen, Giga Drain (NEW MOVE), HP Fighting, Toxic, Substitute, Baton Pass (NEW MOVE) Why it should be picked: A bulky psychic type is already appealing and with magic guard it can really mess you up. Reflect and lightscreen fit on to this mon’s moveset as a semi bulk/support mon and toxic just fits in too. Not to mention its a great wish passer with its low speed and access to baton pass/nasty plot.
CALCS:
252+ Atk Heracross Megahorn vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Aromatisse through Reflect: 163-192 (40.1 - 47.2%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Leftovers recovery
252+ Atk Heracross Megahorn vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Abra: 321-378 (79 - 93.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
252 SpA Tyranitar Crunch vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Abra: 198-234 (48.7 - 57.6%) -- 96.1% chance to 2HKO after sandstorm damage and Leftovers recovery
252 Atk Tyranitar Hidden Power Bug vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Abra: 120-142 (29.5 - 34.9%) -- 13.7% chance to 3HKO after sandstorm damage and Leftovers recovery
Pokemon: Infernape Typing: Fire / Fighting Ability: Blaze Stats: 76 / 104 / 71 / 104 / 71 / 108 Notable Movepool: Brick Break, Bulk Up, Calm Mind, Earthquake, Fire Blast, Rock Slide, Slack Off, Superpower, Swords Dance, Thunder Punch (Close Combat, Flare Blitz, Grass Knot, Nasty Plot, Stone Edge, U-turn) Why it should be picked: Messes with the bulky Steels of the tier along with Tyranitar and Blissey, so it makes for a nice anti-meta pick, especially since Hail is now a viable weather archetype. Although its STABs are now categorically split, it still has the physical and special coverage to cover its weaknesses. Also lmao e-tier blaziken
Pokemon: Marowak-Alola Typing: Fire / Ghost Ability: Volt Absorb / Rock Head Stats: 60 / 80 / 110 / 50 / 80 / 45 Notable Movepool: Brick Break, Double-Edge, Earthquake, Shadow Ball, Stone Edge, Swords Dance, Will-O-Wisp (Focus Blast, Poltergeist, Stealth Rock) Why it should be picked: ADV doesn't have a good physical Ghost-type, so here's a cool one. It loses out on its Fire STAB, but it has enough physical coverage to get by. Thick Club exists thanks to its Kantonian brother, so it still gets the funny attack boost. Also, since Lightning Rod doesn't actually provide an immunity this generation, I gave it the slightly more useful version of the ability.
...And of course, like two days after I typed my last comment in here, my best computer for using PS basically died. Gods, why is it always something?
Anyway, for this slate, I think I'll convert two mons for once. Despite intending them both to be "anti-meta" mons, I'm going to leave their somewhat underwhelming stats unchanged, in part because I haven't actually touched the meta (and now definitely can't for a while longer yet); yes, the irony is thicker than Blissey's stupid butt:
Name of Pokemon: Crabominable Typing:
/
Stats: 097 HP / 132 Atk / 077 Def / 062 SpA / 067 SpD / 043 Spe (BST: 478 - No changes from official stats.) Abilities: Overcoat (replaces Hyper Cutter) / Ice Body (since neither of the underwhelming abilities of Iron Fist or Anger Point exist anyway) Notable Moves: (beyond the nigh-universal ones like Hidden Power, Protect, Rest, Toxic, etc.)
Amnesia, Block, Bulk Up, Hail, Iron Defense, Rain Dance, Sunny Day Why It Should Be Picked: Come on, just look at that goofy face & terrible haircut and have pity on it, won't you? ...What? You won't? Ugh. Fine then.
Since its introduction in Alola and Gen 7, Crabominable has been an immense disappointment despite its unique typing, its actually rather good move pool, and its access to a unique move that is still the strongest, one-turn physical Ice move that non-Uber mons can access without Z-Stones or Dynamax. Granted, said typing is part of what holds it back in the first place since Ice types are terrible defensively, and Crabominable is slow as [insert slow thing here], but then insult got added injury when it was Snapped out of existence with Dexit. So this is my attempt to have some pity on it even if pity alone shouldn't convince anyone else.
The one of two chiefest things to fix with Crabominable for this pet mod, if one is to leave its stats alone (for now), are to give it far better abilities, at least for this meta. Hyper Cutter was its only decent ability, but even that pales before Ice Body and Overcoat, which are far more valuable in Gen III despite Intimidate still being around and relevant. The second of the two changes is to give it something (within reason) to combat its abysmal Speed, and Mach Punch seems the most obvious choice even before the anti-meta applications of blowing up Dugtrio, Tyranitar, and doubtless other mons. It actually would have the strongest Mach Punch by sheer Attack power if chosen, though in reality it would be second strongest since Technician is a hell of a drug & Breloom remains one of the most well-designed mons that Game Freak has ever made despite Spore being such a pain. [/Shroomish bias]
Besides that, I just wanted to try to get a third new Ice Body mon in the mod after there ended up being only two entrants for that ability last slate, and I figured that Crabominable would be a better fit than the dreaded Stallrein and actually kill you quickly (with Focus Punch) unlike that mon. Despite not really getting to use its Ice typing in this mod (to point that Ice Punch hilariously isn't notable), its Fighting typing somewhat salvages that defensively, at least as a check to the aforementioned Dugtrio and Tyranitar since even when it lacks Mach Punch Crabominable isn't actually weak to Rock, resists Pursuit, and has decent overall bulk.
I just think Crabominable would actually fit decently in this pet mod and likely wouldn't be broken despite its quite strong Mach Punch since despite having Toxic to get past Jellicent and Earthquake to maul Gengar, Dusclops at least should wall it--Hidden Power [Ghost] aside--and all the other Ghost types likely still give it issues since they're all faster. Crabominable also still has five weaknesses, though it's not like Steel is that common in this Gen, and is still rather slow, so anything that Mach Punch doesn't murder can revenge it reasonably easily. Shrug. Just seems like if it's to ever get any "love" anywhere, here is the best bet.
Name of Pokemon: Heliolisk Typing:
/
Stats: 062 HP / 055 Atk / 052 Def / 109 SpA / 094 SpD / 109 Spe (BST: 481 - No changes from official stats.) Abilities: Galvanize (since neither Dry Skin nor Solar Power won in Slate 2) / Sand Veil Notable Moves: (beyond the nigh-universal ones like Hidden Power, Protect, Rest, Toxic, etc.)
Fire Punch, Solar Beam, Surf, Thunder, Thunderbolt
Agility, Glare (would be affected by Galvanize...ironically making it an inferior Thunder Wave with that ability on), Psych Up, Rain Dance, Sandstorm, Sunny Day, Thunder Wave Why It Should Be Picked: Given that Jellicent is apparently and somewhat predictably a monster, having more Rapid Spinners that can actually take deal with it and even take advantage of it to actually do their job in "Spikes: the Meta" seems like the next "obvious" step for this pet mod. As with Mossy Sandwich's Golem-Alola entry this slate, this version of Heliolisk would attempt to do that via Galvanize. Unlike Golem-Alola, however, Heliolisk is neutral to Water and outright immune to Ghost in addition to being naturally faster than Jellicent (and the majority of other mons) and naturally having more Special Attack than Golem-Alola. Heliolisk can also still force out Jellicent without having to rely on Galvanize to do so.
Still, I would rather not continue implying that the two are in direct competition with each other since, despite having similar goals, they want to accomplish the same thing in different enough ways. Additionally, Golem-Alola is probably the safer choice of the two, at least in the sense that Heliolisk could easily be a lot more powerful in this pet mod than I had originally realized just due to its natural coverage, what with it getting Surf to basically maul most of Ground types that would attempt to block its STAB. Sure, Dugtrio still murders it in revenge and Blissey still laughs it, but it generally can deal super-effectively with a lot of mons between Surf, Hidden Power [Grass], and having Low Kick to blow up both Tyranitar and Snorlax despite Galvanize making it have effectively only one STAB. Turns out that's not actually a drawback when one of your STABs would otherwise be unusable anyway due to the hard typing-category split.
As it is, due to only realizing this potentially overpowered aspect as I type this part, I will still submit it despite my newfound hesitance, but I will have to think about it more. As it stands, I have already decided to retract the intended addition of Dragon Claw from this entry so that Dragons had an easier time trying to deal with Heliolisk even if it could just use Hidden Power [Ice] for them, though at least then it would have to pick between HP Grass and HP Ice.
Finally, Heliolisk would also be another Sand Veil mon if anyone actually particularly cared about that, though it only really benefits from that on its Special Defense side and in the sense of becoming immune to Sandstorm. Oh well.
*New moves on that mon.
**New move to this mod due to not being in Gen III.
***Only notable with Galvanize.
Type: Ice; Category: Special (in Gen III); BP: 100; Accuracy: 90%; Additional Effect: drops user's Speed by -1 (though that could possibly be done away with).
It's basically a "better" Blizzard in this mod, at least in the sense that it's always more accurate given that Blizzard doesn't get the accuracy bonus from Hail in Gen III (unless that was changed in this pet mod, in which case, ignore both this comment and potentially this move).
Name of Pokemon: Staraptor Typing: Normal/Flying Stats: 85/120/70/50/60/100 Abilities: Intimidate Notable Moves: Physical: Aerial Ace, Return, Double-Edge, Steel Wing, *Superpower, Quick Attack, Hidden Power Special: Pursuit, Heat Wave Status: Whirlwind, Toxic, Endeavor, Substitute
*Added Moves Why It Should Be Picked: A fast, powerful Flying-type that’s strong right off the bat without having to boost beforehand. Despite Staraptor’s limited coverage, it really only needs its STABs + Superpower to cause some serious damage. It can also lure in Skarm and blow it back with Heat Wave, if that’s your thing. Intimidate is also nice to have to let it soften some blows, although with Staraptor’s frailty, it won’t help very much, but it could be neat on some sort of Flying spam team with Mence. While it does face heavy competition with Mence for a slot on a team, Superpower & priority in the form of Quick Attack gives it a solid niche.
Staraptor @ Choice Band
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Aerial Ace
- Return / Double-Edge
- Superpower
- Hidden Power [Ground]
Name of Pokemon: Duraludon Typing: Steel/Dragon Stats: 70/95/115/120/50/85 Abilities: Clear Body Notable Moves: Physical: Body Slam, Brick Break, Rock Slide, *Earthquake, *Iron Tail Special: Dragon Claw, Outrage, Thunder, Thunderbolt, *Hidden Power, *Fire Punch Status: *Toxic, Swords Dance, Substitute, Thunder Wave Why It Should Be Picked: Cool anti-meta mon (there’s a lot of that going around this slate, huh?) that can compress roles for a team. It checks Choice-locked Metagross, Snorlax, unboosted Ttar, Blissey w/ Brick Break, and many more. Duraludon also sports a hefty 120 SpAtk stat, and while it doesn't have much in the way of coverage, it’s enough for Dura to cover a large amount of threats. Base 85 speed also means that Duraludon outspeeds both Magneton & Metagross, allowing it to smack both of them with either EQ or Fire Punch. And as a nice bonus, it’s also immune to Sandstorm by virtue of its Steel-typing, which should say as much for a meta that’s dominated by Sand. On the flipside, Dura takes a chunk from even resisted attacks due to its low SpDef and is vulnerable to Spikes thanks to not having access to any recovery moves. And once again, it faces competition from Gross due to the latter’s ability to go boom and its higher defensive stats.
Duraludon @ Lum Berry / Leftovers
Ability: Clear Body
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Hidden Power [Steel]
- Earthquake
- Rock Slide / Brick Break
Duraludon @ Leftovers
Ability: Clear Body
EVs: 252 HP / 188 Def / 68 Spe
Impish Nature
- Hidden Power [Steel]
- Toxic
- Protect
- Earthquake
Duraludon @ Leftovers
Ability: Clear Body
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 2 Atk
- Dragon Claw
- Thunderbolt
- Fire Punch
- Hidden Power [Grass]
Name of Pokemon: Rhyperior
Typing: Ground/Rock
Stats: 115/125/135/55/55/40 (525 BST)
Abilities: Lightning Rod/Rock Head
Notable Movepool: Curse, Earthquake, Rock Slide, Megahorn, Hidden Power(Flying), Brick Break, Body Slam, Swords Dance, Toxic, (removed useful moves: Stone Edge, Stealth Rock, Shadow Claw,)
Why It Should Be Picked: offensive Curse, offensive Swords dance, defensive with Toxic, however sadly it lost stealth rock and stone edge ): aside from that, it stil has utility as a slow attacker that hards extremely hard but dies if a super effective special hit lands on it (specially hidden power grass). Ice Punch, Earthquake, Rock Slide and Curse is already a great set in of itself, however sadly OTR(Offensive Trick Room) is no more so it doesnt shine as much as before. as said before it still dos chunks to pokemon like Salamence, Ttar, Metagross, Snorlax, Porygon2, Gyarados, Zapdos and Moltres. (if it gets a read that is, else it probably dies to Hidden Power(Grass) from Salamence, Porygon2, Zapdos and Moltres.)
252+ Atk Rhyperior Rock Slide vs. 248 HP / 200+ Def Moltres: 460-544 (120.1 - 142%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252+ Atk Rhyperior Brick Break vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Blissey: 316-374 (44.2 - 52.3%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Leftovers recovery (not an OHKO but still alot)
252+ Atk Rhyperior Earthquake vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Metagross: 278-330 (92 - 109.2%) -- 56.3% chance to OHKO
Name of Pokemon: Dracozolt
Typing: Dragon/Electric
Stats: 90/100/80/100/70/80 (520 BST)
Abilities: Volt Absorb/Sand Veil
Notable Movepool: Earthquake, Rock Slide, Fire Blast, Iron Tail, Outrage, Thunder Punch, Thunderbolt, Flamethrower, Thunder Wave, Taunt (removed useful moves: Stone Edge, Wild Charge, Bolt Beak, Low Kick)
Why It Should Be Picked: instead of beeing a niche sand rush user, its now a meh mixed attacker with its main moves beeing Earthquake, Outrage, Iron Tail and Thunderbolt. Fire Blast and Rock Slide is pretty nice coverage too, and Twave and taunt can also be really useful. its specially powerful as a mixed attacker with a choice band. with its newfound speed it can certainly be a threat. specially to Heracross, Metagross (fire blast) and Moltres (all of its electric STAB and Rock Slide)
252+ SpA Dracozolt Fire Blast vs. 4 HP / 4 SpD Metagross: 238-282 (78.8 - 93.3%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252+ SpA Dracozolt Thunderbolt vs. 248 HP / 28 SpD Moltres: 300-354 (78.3 - 92.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252+ SpA Dracozolt Fire Blast vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Heracross: 230-272 (76.4 - 90.3%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
Name of Pokemon: Lycanroc-Midnight
Typing: Rock/Dark
Stats: 85/115/90/55/73/102 (520 BST)
Abilities: Keen Eye/Overcoat
Notable Movepool: Earthquake, Rock Slide, Superpower, Brick Break, Hidden Power, Bulk Up, Swords Dance, Toxic, Substitute, Taunt, Focus Punch (removed useful moves: Stone Edge, Iron Head, Psychic Fangs, Zen Headbutt)
Why It Should Be Picked: went from slow attacker to fast attacker with meh coverage. it has superpower to deal with ttar, alternatively you could possibly use sub-punch Lycanroc-Midnight too. overcoat is quite useful in some situations, specially for avoiding Hail and Spore. altho its not completely useless, its not as useful either. Superpower, Earthquake and Rock Slide are all great coverage tho. and altho it has a bad defensive typing, its typing is great as an offensive typing. however there are pokemon it cant really beat, for example Heracross.
252 Atk Lycanroc-Midnight Superpower vs. 252 HP / 252 Def Tyranitar: 356-420 (88.1 - 103.9%) -- 25% chance to OHKO
252+ Atk Lycanroc-Midnight Earthquake vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Metagross: 176-208 (48.3 - 57.1%) -- 91.8% chance to 2HKO
+2 252+ Atk Lycanroc-Midnight Earthquake vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Metagross: 350-412 (96.1 - 113.1%) -- 75% chance to OHKO
252+ Atk Lycanroc-Midnight Superpower vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Regice: 262-310 (87 - 102.9%) -- 18.8% chance to OHKO
Hyper Voice, Brick Break, Return, Shadow Ball, Signal Beam
Psychic, Thunderbolt, Ice Punch, Fire Punch, Knock Off
Calm Mind, Thunder Wave, Teeter Dance, Sing, Heal Bell Why It Should Be Picked: Meloetta could prove to be a really interesting mon depending on how it's implemented. I was thinking that with the absence of Relic Song, which causes it to change form, either Aria or Pirouette Forme could be chosen in the teambuilder, and it wouldn't change form during battle. Alternatively, we could scrap Pirouette Forme altogether and just allow Aria Forme. Either way, it can be useful as a special attacker with good special bulk and support, with pretty good coverage to boot. Pirouette Forme could make use of some good coverage too, and it additionally has the speed to be a good revenge killer. If Relic Song was introduced for this mon, it could potentially run a hybrid set that could be specially bulky with some support, with the ability to switch into attacking mode as the situation calls for it, although a set like that might be a little too situational to see use.
Thunder Wave, Recover, Curse, Spikes, *Toxic* Why It Should Be Picked: Despite its appearance, pincurchin is a surprisingly alright mon. Although here it loses its best set with Electric Surge + Rising Voltage, it still has decent bulk and it can be a good mixed attacker. Both of its new abilities could serve it well, with volt absorb giving it additionally recovery and rough skin helping it dish out additional chip damage that could help it be a decent, if niche, spike setter.
Superpower, Brick Break, Earthquake, Rock Slide, Sludge Bomb**
Flamethrower, Fire Blast, Thunder Punch
Curse, Bulk Up, Will o Wisp, Roar, Yawn, Rest Why It Should Be Picked: Here Emboar finally gets the decent defenses it needs to compliment its HP to be a tank, even if it comes at the cost of some of its offensive potential. Despite its loss of some silly coverage moves it gets in future gens like scald and grass knot, Emboar still has decent coverage and can use it to its advantage. It does still lean towards the physical side on both offense and defense, with sand veil, bulk up, and hustle (which probably won't see much use), and can wall physical attackers with will o wisp while making good use of set up + resto chesto. It sets itself apart from Blaziken in that regard, being more bulky with utility, especially due to having roar to end baton pass chains.
Megahorn, Sludge Bomb, Double Edge, Rock Slide, Earthquake, Superpower
Nope
Swords Dance, Spikes, Iron Defense, *No Baton Pass* Why It Should Be Picked: Scolipede has huge sweeping potential, with speed boost + swords dance, but can easily be shut down with its lackluster defenses paired with the fact that it takes a turn or two to get going. It has good physical coverage, and can potentially go for a set with bulk by using Iron Defense, which could be useful paired with its immunity to toxic. I decided to remove baton pass from it for obvious reasons, as a swords-dancing-iron-defensing-speed-boosting baton pass set would make this a monster.
Swords Dance, Bulk Up, Calm Mind, Agility, Roar, Endure Why It Should Be Picked: Lucario has a lot of versatility with its decent speed, good attacking stats, insane coverage, and its several options for set-up. Its sandstorm and toxic immunity allow it to run wild, giving it the potential to sweep entire teams if it's allowed to set up. Its low defenses keep it from being too much of a threat though, so it can have trouble doing this a lot of the time. It could run endure + salac berry + reversal, which could give it an edge on certain mons that would outspeed and OHKO it otherwise., and greatly increase its sweeping potential. It could potentially run a banded set too, but it would largely get outclassed by Metagross with its bulk, and Dugtrio / Aerodactyl with their high speed and Dugtrio's Arena Trap. Overall though, this would be a good offensive mon that could be physical, special, or mixed depending on what a team needs.
**Pincurchin / Emboar don't get sludge bomb normally, this is to replace poison jab, which they get in modern gens.
Voting begins now, you can vote for your 6 favortie Pokémon to come back.
Also after the Winners of this slate are implemented, we'll do a tour next weekend (29th and 30th May).
Further informations will come soon!
I might as well do my votes now--yay, insomnia and weird sleep schedules. Won't be able to help test for reasons already explained, so I hope it goes well. These are probably my final votes despite it being difficult to decide, but I will make it clear if I edit anything.
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