Dr. Bug's guide to ADV PU
As a child, Tajiri enjoyed insect collecting as a hobby, which would be an inspiration for his later video game work. Other children called him "Dr. Bug", and he wanted to become an entomologist. As urban areas of Japan spread and more land was paved over, habitats for hunting bugs were lost. Tajiri wanted his games to allow children to have the feeling of catching and collecting creatures as he had.
-
Wikipedia, on Satoshi Tagiri, Pokemon's creator
Down in the peaceful quiet of adv pu's countryside, there's unique critters and creatures everywhere. But there's so much to-do over electric rabbits and purple cobras. What about the little creepy crawly fellows that sustain our flourishing ecosystem? Come along with me, Dr. Bug, and we'll see who we can find.
Sample Set:
Yanma @ Liechi Berry
Ability: Compound Eyes
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Substitute
- Reversal
- Hidden Power [Flying]
- Hypnosis
OU Comp: sub liechi aerodactlyl if it had sleep powder
This flitting fella is one of my new favorite leads for offense teams and inspired this bug catching adventure. Yanma has been all but erased from the metagame until recently, as speed boost sets were incredibly inconsistent and unable to really sweep vs most bulky teams. Before yanma gets in liechi berry range it just...doesn't do much damage. Compound Eyes Hypnosis remedies this by giving yanma one of the most forcing earlygame clicks in the game with a 78% accurate sleep move. Lead Yanma is enabled by a massive decrease in lead minun usage, as many don't want to use a lead that lets spdef pineco get 1 spike+do something else mean to you. Yanma is a guaranteed Hypnosis click turn 1 versus any other lead sans minun. Grovyle speed ties yanma, but can't ohko it and is forced out by an OHKO from HP flying. Even your typical sleep "absorbers" of adv pu such as dragonair and seviper are threatened with being reslept after shed skin procs. Shed Skin activates at the end of the turn, so Yanma still got to do something before that happens with no consequence. Lead hypnosis also is a great option for denying the very same lead pineco we're all so scared of with a spike, as hp fly is a 2hko on the common spdef lead.
The bad news: Yanma is still clicking a 78% accurate move, and dies in 1 hit to a few common leads. Its very possible to be down 1 mon for absolutely no gain on turn 1. It's likely better to switch out yanma vs leads like sealeo, seadra, and charmeleon that can ohko it even if you're faster, or at least scout the opponent with Subsitute. Yanma actually doesnt need its hp to be very high to do its job, as its never expected to take a single hit. In fact, its ideal that yanma gets closer to 1 hp reversal for the midgame so it can actually proc its liechi berry and do damage.
Cool bug facts: Yanma still compresses useful defensive roles for its team despite never taking a hit. Ground immunities are in high demand, to pivot into earthquakes from seviper, arbok and marshtomp aimed at Minun. Yanma also abuses choice band locked trapinch's EQ after it completes a trap, its a great momentum reverser for offensive teams, and gives its team another form of speed control outside of and very different from Minun. Once Yanma puts something to sleep however, it may need to get off the field or risk thudding into defensive walls like bulky arbok, shuckle, or duskull before its liechi activation.
As our bugcatching adventure continues, we'll need to stop, rest, and recuperate. Where better than under a great northern pine? But hark, we are not alone! From the treetops falls pineco, with a great thud. We mustn't observe long, as this fella doesn't like to stick around.
Sample Set:
Pineco @ Leftovers
Ability: Sturdy
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 Spe
Impish Nature
- Spikes
- Earthquake
- Rapid Spin
- Explosion
OU Comp: Forretress, not really but come on its kinda like forretress
Another bug that's so cute I just had to lead off with it. Or not. Maybe pineco doesn't feel like going first. Pineco can come into the game at any point, though it is quite forcing in the lead slot as not many mons can ohko it. This is the reason Mr. GSC NU has supplanted omanyte as the primary spiker of the tier. We all know what it does, but I warn you aspiring young entomologist, do not handicap your friendly cone. Pineco really doesnt need negative speed ivs or a speed lowering nature. In a mirror match vs other pineco (already rare enough as is) You could theoretically use slower pineco to clear all of the spikes on the field on the turn your opponent sets up more. I dont think this is all that useful, just ev to be the faster pineco and decide how many spikes your team wants and how many you're able to play with on your field, then you can explode and we can move on with our lives. You may even catch a slower opponent playing suboptimally and get the spikes advantage through forcing a boom on the right turn, and another pineco can no longer switch in and win the spikes war, as you get your spikes and are able to boom them without them getting the chance to do anything.
I made a bit of a different set, mainly using physically defensive pineco. Phys def still has its uses, being able to avoid a 2hko from banded trapinch that doesn't invest fully in attack, or just generally check arbok and seviper a lot better than spdef cone. Its also a bit unexpected right now which adds some surprise value.
Sample Set:
Shuckle @ Leftovers
Ability: Sturdy
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Spe
Careful Nature
- Earthquake
- Encore
- Toxic
- Rest
OU Comp: Blissey if it could only run toxic+flamethrower sets? Had no instant recovery or status protection aside from rest in exhange for encore? Also not weak to fighting. Yeah there's no comparison ok.
Anyone who says they haven't been on the receiving end of a "fuck, shuckle walls my entire team moment" hasn't been playing adv pu for long enough. Shuckle is extraordinary passive, but in exchange, it completely shuts down certain dangerous breakers in a 1v1. That's incredible utility and compression for any bulky team, on top of adding a coveted normal resist. It’s time the bugs fought back against the snakes, and shuckle will be their shield. It completely walls seviper and non CB rock slide arbok, while not taking particularly much from that either. It will be forced to rest however, which is when the other team will look to capitalize on its passivity. You'll need some other bulky pokemon to switch in and take hits while shuckle is saved in the back for the myriad of threats it walls. Spikes and Trapinch are 2 ways teams can overwhelm or remove shuckle, so your team needs a gameplan versus these strategies as well. I like pairing Shuckle with Seviper itself, as it’s usually quite afraid of furret, charmeleon, arbok, and faster seviper sets which shuckle sits on with ease. This is a textbook symbiotic relationship, the seviper receives protection from common predators, and seviper preys on the Dragonair that shuckle lures out into the open
My set doesn't use an adamant nature like the standard tank, and greeds a +defense nature. Ideally you want your nature to be in one of the highest raw stats, and no prizes for guessing which stats those are. Still, max attack makes a major difference for shuckle, allowing it to put real pressure on the snakes it walls with earthquake. Not using an adamant nature means shuckle can't break graveler's substitute, so make sure there's an alternative plan for graveler.
Sample Set:
Shedinja @ Lum Berry
Ability: Wonder Guard
Hidden Power: Fighting
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Swords Dance
- Shadow Ball
- Hidden Power [Fighting]
- Silver Wind
OU comp: God how ham-fisted are we going to get for this one? Yeah ok fuck it he's SD reversal heracross or something (dies to sand).
Another Pokémon any self respecting adv PU player has forfeited to with 5 mons still left alive on their team. It just walls so much random bullshit, forcing your opponent to expose those things that can kill it, until shedinja ideally outlasts them. Along with that defensive utility, its also insanely strong and faster than a lot of defensive pokemon. Oh hey you're also guaranteed to fight something that cannot kill shedinja in Minun.
I like silver wind on Shedinja, as its your strongest move to hit Tangela and also at least gives you hope for an omniboost, potentially winning the game.
The bad news? Shedinja's natural predator, Pineco, is on so many teams now. A Shed team needs a gameplan to deny spikes at any cost. There are varying degrees to this though. Some teams have found success simply leading with a pokemon that surprise OHKOs pineco, but the most consistent anti spikes measure for shedinja is probably wartortle. It's one of the spinners that is at least able to threaten spinblockers with surf, ohkoing gastly in torrent range and chipping away at duskull without taking too much in return. Wartortle isnt the only pokemon with rapid spin that can kill ghost types, so try looking for yourself. Maybe you'll help Shedinja meet its new best friend.
Potential bugs (cryptid zone)
In hushed tones, the whispers of the forest speak of other undiscovered and underutilized bugs. Here are some artistic renditions of what they might look like, should you be lucky enough to find one yourself. Will you discover ADV PU's Next Bug Thing?
This mon is rivals ADV UU Kanga in viability which is quite wild. As time went on I see why you couldnt build without it. It's an important element to the speed dynamic to the tier which also serves as an offensive or defensive pivot with the coverage to boot. Rightfully the only S tier and wont change ever I feel.
Trapping in this tier is kinda lame but when is it not. The more bulky sets can get great value. With paralysis being common it also enables the mon even to higher degree. 
I'm not a fan of this mon... I see the why it deserves high praise being one of the few ground immunes with reasonable bulk and free serene grace psychic clicks. I always saw my self wanting to use another sp def wall like nair/swalot or use abra for my psychic clicking needs. I will probably see the light in the future and build something where I enjoy it.
Super slept on. Psychic in lower tiers is always free. Paired with a great speed tier in the metagame it can go a long way. With only move you need being psychic you can explore with moves like Encore, Twave, Sub, Punches, HP water, CM etc.
