Yes, that's one of the oldest synergies that's been working since 2015 :p
Cool.
While Nasty Plot (and Sword Dance) are better, this combo is super deadly.
Zeraora @ Magnet/Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Volt Absorb
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Charge
- Rising Voltage
- Grass Knot
- Focus Blast/Volt Switch
Tapu Koko @ Heavy-Duty Boots/Terrain Extender
Ability: Electric Surge
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Roost
- U-turn
- Thunderbolt
- Dazzling Gleam
After some testing, and while Pincurchin was a bit disappoint due to coverage issues and Trick Room, I think it’s actually worth it to have Terrain Support from Tapu Koko for Zeraora.
Charged Rising Voltage with the conditions met is untold amounts of power. So much so that it can do well over half to Blissey.
252 SpA Magnet Zeraora Rising Voltage (280 BP) vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Blissey in Electric Terrain: 463-546 (64.8 - 76.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252 SpA Zeraora Rising Voltage (280 BP) vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Blissey in Electric Terrain: 385-454 (53.9 - 63.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
You know you’re dealing with something special when a Pokemon can 2HKO Blissey targetting its Special Defense. It basically OHKOs everything aside from Electric Immunes and fringe cases like Goodra, Dragonite, Blissey, or something that just changed your terrain like Rillaboom.
With all the bonuses from Charge, Electric Terrain, Magnet, and the target being grounded, Rising Voltage becomes essentially stronger than Dracovish’s Fishious Rend.
252+ Atk Choice Band Strong Jaw Dracovish Fishious Rend (170 BP) vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Mew: 532-627 (156 - 183.8%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252 SpA Magnet Zeraora Rising Voltage (280 BP) vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Mew in Electric Terrain: 603-709 (176.8 - 207.9%) -- guaranteed OHKO
Grass Knot and Focus Blast are for most common of Electric Immunes Zeraora has coverage for, since Zeraora can deal with everything else with just Rising Voltage. Focus Blast specifically being for Excadrill.
Alternatively, you can go mixed with Plasma Fist and Close Combat, which won’t need Terrain Support. However, 200 BP (260 BP in Electric Terrain) is a farcry from 364 BP, Zeraora will be a bit frailer, Grass Knot/Volt Switch won’t be as strong, many common Pokemon it could have KOed like weakened Landorus-T force it out, and Zeraora becomes dead weight if it gets Burned. It really depends on your team since Electric Terrain isn’t 100% reliable either. Rising Voltage still gets a Terrain Boost, but won’t double in power if the target is airborne (which usually isn’t a problem but many Dragons are airborne like Dragonite, Hydregion, and Salamance, who will be neutral or resist Rising Voltage).
Between the other users of this combo, Zeraora is the best one due to how fast it is and the coverage it has. Thundurus has Nasty Plot which is an upgrade from Charge, but initially is actually pretty weak since it doesn’t get the 1.3x boost from Terrains.
+2 252 SpA Thundurus Rising Voltage (140 BP) vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Blissey: 342-403 (47.8 - 56.4%) -- 86.7% chance to 2HKO
+2 252 SpA Magnet Thundurus Rising Voltage (140 BP) vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Blissey: 409-483 (57.2 - 67.6%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
But more imporantly, it’s slower by several miles. You may have more power since Thundurus can use Nasty Plot multiple times or Nasty Plot in Slot 3/4 into Charge+Rising Voltage, but now Weavile a Dragapult are threats to you instead. Plus there is the whole Stealth Rock weakness too and how Terrain doesn’t last forever.
Pincurchin should be avoided despite setting its own Terrain because it’s so slow and only a few Water moves to beat Ground types with. It also basically requires Trick Room support, which is awful when its claim to fame is Electric Spam that gets ruined due to any marginally bulky Ground type.
Xurkitree can also do this combo, but while being the strongest one to the point where it will OHKO Chansey after Stealth Rock as seen here;
252+ SpA Magnet Xurkitree Rising Voltage (280 BP) vs. 248 HP / 8 SpD Eviolite Chansey in Electric Terrain: 616-726 (87.6 - 103.2%) -- guaranteed OHKO after Stealth Rock
Xurkitree is too slow, being basically only fast enought to outspeed walls and slower Wallbreakers, as well and only has Grass Knot for coverage, but at least has Dazzling Gleam for Dragons (which only matters for Hydregion and that’s full health on. Rising Voltage is so strong it will do 80%-95% to Hydregion despite Levitate). That much power is also way too much overkill for what you sacrifice and the effort to set Xurkitree up.
As for Tapu Koko, it’s very underrated. Two huge threats in the tier are Weavile and Dragon Dance Dragapult. The former is simply outsped, and the latter, while still being able to Dragon Dance, typically uses Dragon Darts for its Linked move, which Tapu Koko is immune too. Tapu Koko of course threatens both with Dazzling Gleam. In fact, this set is the standard set but with Roost > U-turn as its linked moves. I have seen [Recovery] > [Pivot] links before, but they usually were not as effective as it meant the Pokemon couldn’t wall something when their recovery would remove them from the field. Tapu Koko uses this combination better as it is just bulky enough to take a hit from most sources and use the combination of power+speed to threaten the opponent.
Of course, Tapu Koko’s main purpose here is to support its team with Electric Terrain, namely making Zeraora (or which ever Rising Voltage Pokemon you want to you) into Special Dracozolt on Ketamine, but also can screw over your opponent’s sleep strategies and still provide a small boost to Electric coverage on your team. Unfortunately Alolan Raichu (by extention of its ability) is banned and Hawlucha is effectively banned as well, which limits the things an Electric Terrain team can do.
Do keep in mind this core is also pretty weak against Ground types so when a Landorus-T or Hippowdon is on the field, treat it like the floor is lava (or floor in this case) and have some good Flying types to switch into.
