Baton Pass Team: Team Eeeveelution

[Derpinator]

TEAM EEVEELUTION

Hey guys, back again and this time I decided to try out Baton Pass teams. I normally see teams that lead to one or two sweepers, but I thought it would be cool to try a team that kept passing based on what was needed. I didn’t include a Team-Building Process this time as it was very random and I was going back and forth changing Pokemon. As you probably already noticed, this team has 3 Eevee evolutions, which always interested me since they all learned Baton Pass so I wanted to make a team focused around them.

Ninjask @ Leftovers
Trait: Speed Boost
EVs: 248 HP / 224 Def / 36 Spd
Impish Nature
- Protect
- X-Scissors
- Substitute
- Baton Pass

Ninjask will lead in most cases since I personally think that it is easier to keep this chain going if I am fast enough to outrun most opponents.Protect will start in most cases to scout for Taunt and status conditions. If either of these two come up, I will Baton Pass to Espeon who will use Magic Bounce to bounce the attacks back. Substitute will be used if I don’t run into the above mentioned problems. I will continue to use it until I get +4 to +6 Speed, which should be enough to make my team fast enough to outrun much of the competition. However, Speed Boost cannot save me from Prankster-users, most commonly Whimsicott in the case of a lead, so I threw in X-Scissors for it specially so that I can make it dangerous to keep Whimsicott in. It can also be used later on once I have boosted other stats.

Medicham @ White Herb
Trait: Pure Power
EVs: 252 HP / 168 Def / 88 SDef
Careful Nature
- Acupressure
- Drain Punch
- Substitute
- Baton Pass

Medicham is truly devastating once it gets Attack boosts that are doubled with Pure Power and incredibly hard to kill once it has also gotten some Defense and Special Defense boosts. Acupressure allows for some random stat boosts, including evasion and accuracy, which can be extremely useful for my team if enough are gathered. Drain Punch allows Medicham to increase its survivability by gaining health, and usually a lot after some Attack boosts. Substitute is usually just thrown out before I need to Baton Pass. I gave Medicham White Herb because Ghost Taunters, primarily Sableye with its Prankster, render Medicham useless as Drain Punch cannot hit it.

Scizor @ Leftovers
Trait: Technician
EVs: 248 HP / 88 Atk / 172 Spd
Adamant Nature
- Swords Dance
- Bullet Punch
- Roost
- Baton Pass

Scizor’s main purpose is to boost Attack for not only itself, but also Ninjask, Medicham and Umbreon. Swords Dance is the main reason that Scizor is in here because it can be devastating with a boosted, STAB and priority Bullet Punch. Bullet Punch is the only reason that Scizor doesn’t have a White Herb: it can hit anything since nothing is immune to Steel (Quick Guard can prove this wrong but it isn’t common in Singles). Roost increases the amount of time that Scizor can stay on the field. Scizor will primarily Baton Pass to Vaporeon as Fire-type moves can OHKO it without any Defensive boosts.

Espeon @ Leftovers
Trait: Magic Bounce
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature
- Calm Mind
- Stored Power
- Hidden Power [Fighting]
- Baton Pass

Espeon is a staple on any Baton Pass team, with its incredibly useful ability, Magic Bounce, it can spring onto an opposing Taunt-user, and bounce it right back. Calm Mind is the main thing that Espeon has to offer to the team. Although only Espeon appreciates Special Attack boosts, the whole team benefits from Special Defense boosts. Stored Power is Espeon’s primary attacking move and can allow it to function as a sweeper for the team, especially after significant stat boosts. Hidden Power Fighting is to hit Dark-types that are immune to Stored Power . Although Espeon cannot hit Sableye, it isn’t threatened by it either thanks to Magic Bounce. Most often, Espeon won’t Baton Pass to Umbreon or Medicham because they both share a weakness with Espeon.

Vaporeon @ White Herb
Trait: Water Absorb
EVs: 244 HP / 136 Def / 128 Spd
Bold Nature
- Acid Armor
- Aqua Ring
- Substitute
- Baton Pass

Vaporeon is the only Pokemon on my team that possesses no attacking move, so it has a White Herb so Taunt users don’t cripple it. Acid Armor is a move appreciated by my whole team as it can make most Pokemon on my team incredibly hard to kill. Aqua Ring is practically Leftovers for any Pokemon that gets the HP recovery and can further make Pokemon on my team harder to kill. Substitute is probably the best thing that Vaporeon can offer to my team, with its enormous HP, Substitutes are incredibly hard to kill, especially on Umbreon after boosts, even as small as +2, to each of its defenses. I will rarely Baton Pass to Ninjask as it may be killed by a Electric-type attack targeting Vaporeon.

Umbreon @ White Herb
Trait: Synchronize
EVs: 252 HP / 128 Def / 128 Spd
Impish Nature
- Heal Bell
- Sucker Punch
- Wish
- Baton Pass

Umbreon was initially Smeargle, however I decided that Umbreon would be much more useful to my team with its enormous Defense and Special Defense, the highest of any Pokemon with Baton Pass. After Defense and Special Defense boosts, Umbreon is insanely annoying and hard to kill, especially when hiding behind one of Vaporeon’s Substitutes. Heal Bell is incredibly important for my team as a status condition could destroy my chain. Wish increases not only Umbreon’s survivability, but also other Pokemon on my team, who I Baton Pass to. Sucker Punch is my only attacking move because many people will fire away attacks, hoping to break my Substitute, and that can prove to be fatal to them, especially after Attack boosts.​

 

[Derpinator]

Change Log:​

 

[Episode36]

Hi. The problem with teams like these are both sub+boosting sweepers such as Gyarados and Volcarona (which your team can basically do nothing against as they boost then sweep), taunt users you don't expect and thus can't get to Espeon, the speed with which the team takes to build up, which is a very slow speed, and of course critical hits, particularly when the pressure is on you and you can't get up subs. After something like 8 turns, the critical hit chance overall is something like 50%, if memory serves (I'm not good at math). Crits bypass boosts. Your chain is gone. Espeon is also rather frail, which means you generally want to get acid armor boosts to it asap, so that you aren't just roared away. This is harder said than done, as those boosting sweepers such as Volcarona, Gyarados, etc (there are many) will just boost as you boost, and as you have such limited offensive presence against Pokemon such as those, you're basically screwed. I'd like to see either some sort of Ingrain BP to help with phasing so your Espeon doesn't repeatedly get worn down, or a Pokemon with Battle or Shell Armor to prevent critical hits. Crawdaunt is a great recipient of BP, with great dual stab, good stats, and prevention of critical hits. Also, many teams like this use Mew, for its great base stats, and for Taunt, which shuts down the biggest threats to teh team which are boosting sweepers. You have no taunter. It's a rather unique BP team. Unfortunately, the strategy is on par with Gravity in terms of viability. Good luck.

 

[Colonel M]

Hello Mr. EeveeTrainer, aka Derpinator! This is the first time I've done an actual RMT in a while, so bear with me while I try to follow what needs to be said and done now.

For starters, Baton Pass teams are set to suicide without two pivotal Pokemon. The first, Espeon, you already have. That's the good news. The bad news, unfortunately, is that you lack a Pokemon that I feel is extremely crucial to Baton Pass teams - Mr. Mime. Now, I know you think I'm crazy, but think about it for a second. Right now, I can come into Vaporeon with my Politoed and proceed to simply use Perish Song. After I use Perish Song, your options are limited to the matter of 3 turns. That's not very good, and Mr. Mime can at least prevent that strategy from ruining your team. While Dragon Tail / Roar can also be intimidating, Substitute and Espeon can help that. Taunt at least eliminates Roar, too, so attempt to make use of it on as many Pokemon as possible.

I recommend this set for Mr. Mime:

Mr Mime

Mr. Mime @ Leftovers
Trait: Soundproof
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SpA / 252 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Baton Pass
- Calm Mind / Barrier
- Substitute / Psychic
- Taunt

You can also try out Encore if you feel that might be a little better with Mr. Mime. Also, if you really want to, you can forego passing Calm Minds and go for Barrier instead, which might be more helpful if Espeon is Calm Minding. I would recommend placing this over Medicham, which really is providing a way too random strategy on a team that needs precision in order to be successful.

Another huge problem with your team is that your strategy seems rather clunky. Unfortunately, Generation 5 doesn't have an article on Baton Pass, but Baton Pass teams that aren't SmashPass should have a clear goal:

- 1 Recipient
- 1 Espeon
- 1 Mr. Mime
- Highly recommend Smeargle for Ingrain passing / Spore
- Substitutes
- Taunt users
- Wish can also be good to pass

We'll consider that your end recipient is Espeon for a minute. We can either let it pretend to be part of the chain with Calm Mind + Baton Pass or be the end recipient with Baton Pass still there, but someone else setting up Calm Minds. Considering what we have in your team so far, we have someone who can:

- Pass Speed (Ninjask, Scizor)
- Pass Defense (Scizor, Vaporeon)
- Pass Aqua Ring (Vaporeon)
- Pass Wish (Vaporeon, Umbreon, Espeon)
- Pass Calm Mind (Medicham... though it's poor at this)

We definitely want +Defense passed alongside Calm Mind, and Speed is obviously a good idea. Aqua Ring isn't necessary when Ingrain is superior due to preventing phase out completely, thus making Espeon a little less reliable. If you don't want Smeargle providing Spore and Ingrain-passing, I would heavily recommend at least putting Mr Mime over Medicham, at worst. After that:

- Replace any White Herbs with Leftovers. White Herbs aren't really necessary since we aren't passing Shell Smash, and opponents aren't going to go for lowering stats in a Baton Pass team. Assuming you're smart with Substitute, stat drops should never be a problem.
- At least place Taunt on Umbreon somewhere. At this point, you have no one that can Taunt, which surprises me that you haven't been Perish Song'd much either.

I could provide a hell of a lot more on what to do possibly, but the problem is I would likely be tearing a lot of team members in the process. Thus far, Vaporeon and Espeon definitely are keepers, and Umbreon is a "maybe" since it can do a couple of things. Though, I would definitely at least start with Mr. Mime over Medicham and work from there.

On a final note, because Toxic Spikes could intimidate your team, and while Espeon can bounce the Toxic Spikes back, you can also enlist Poison-type Baton Passers if you feel they're necessary. Scolipede and Venemoth are definitely viable on Baton Pass teams.

 

[Derpinator]

Thanks for the help everyone, but I think I am just gonna have to leave this team and get a mod to lock it. On all the other forums I use, this team has been ripped apart, as it has here since I clearly didn't think it through enough. So, thanks for the help everyone, but this team can't be helped too much without making a whole new team so I will just have to work on a whole new team.

 

[King of Blades]

I believe the item you are looking for is "mental herb" not white herb.

 

[Episode36]

Thanks for the help everyone, but I think I am just gonna have to leave this team and get a mod to lock it. On all the other forums I use, this team has been ripped apart, as it has here since I clearly didn't think it through enough. So, thanks for the help everyone, but this team can't be helped too much without making a whole new team so I will just have to work on a whole new team.

It isn't a bad team. The other person is right, Perish Song also quickly ruins BP, so a Soundproof Pokemon like Mr. Mime is a good fit, and Mental Herb is probably the item you were thinking of for Medicham. It's a hard strategy because there are so many things that counter it, but if you get advice like you have here, think it through, and work at it, BP teams *can* work.