I initially wasn't planning to play the Tree until Pokémon Bank was released, with the ability to use all Pokémon and import RNG'd Dittos - but after SRing a few legendaries I got a bad idea of playing a team composed solely of nonbreedables I'd acquire prior to Bank. Effectively, this means that only Tapus and Ultra Beasts are available. Can you build a team for Tree Doubles that can break 200 using only these Pokémon?
Battle video uploading failed for both battle #200 and the loss, but a prior loss using the same variant of the team worked:
#192 - NAFG-WWWW-WWW3-AEXD vs.
Mone Mone (
Pheromosa) @ Focus Sash
Ability: Beast Boost
EVs: 252 Atk / 12 SpA / 244 Spe
IVs: 8-9/31/8-9/31/8-9/31
Lonely Nature
- Low Kick
- Lunge
- Poison Jab
- Protect
Bait Pheromosa. When I first saw Pheromosa's stats, I thought of Sharpedo and using it in Doubles with low defensive IVs as an alternative to the shark. Due to the 3 guaranteed 31s, soft-resetting for this Pheromosa was not fun - only 1/20 of forced 31IV combinations allow for all three defensive stats to be imperfect, which on top of 1/2 chance of Synchronize working, makes 1/40 Pheromosas checkable for low IVs. I got rather lucky and caught this relatively low-bulk Pheromosa in just a few hours of soft resetting. It's still far from perfectly flawed, but SRing was quite frustrating so I settled for this.
Low Kick is Pheromosa's best reliable Fighting STAB. Lunge and U-Turn are the options for the other STAB; I picked Lunge for its Attack-decreasing property, and for the team's lacking switch synergy making U-Turn difficult to utilize. I originally ran Ice Beam as the third move, but after losing to Whimsicott4 setting up Tailwind on Turn 2 after using its Z-Move on Turn 1, I switched to Poison Jab to OHKO it as Ice Beam didn't end up being too important for the team's success in practice.
To give Download users an Attack boost, I opted for a Lonely nature instead of a Naughty one. In theory Pheromosa should be around as lacking in bulk as Sharpedo, but the AI in the Tree seems a little different from the Maison AI, and significantly more willing to attack Pheromosa's partner for less damage over going for the OHKO. The Protect bait strategy still seems to have decent success, but I've no idea how big possible AI targeting differences will be for various teams. Being Lonely also allows Pheromosa to gain Attack boosts from Beast Boost, where a Speed-boosting nature would boost its Speed. I didn't find the 202-221 Speed tiers worth outspeeding compared to the extra power and Beast Boost potential of Lonely.
The 12 Special Attack EVs are a leftover from using Ice Beam - I cut Speed to 202, since there is nothing on that exact Speed number in the Tree. The missing point of Speed makes no difference, so I didn't adjust Pheromosa's EVs after switching to Poison Jab.
Shutterpike (
Tapu Lele) @ Psychium-Z
Ability: Psychic Surge
EVs: 252 HP / 180 Def / 4 SpA / 4 SpD / 68 Spe
Modest Nature
- Psychic
- Moonblast
- Substitute
- Protect
When looking for a legendary to partner with bait Pheromosa, Lele stood out instantly with solid typing and great damage output. In addition, Psychic Terrain prevents priority moves from working, which Pheromosa appreciates - it also helps Lele against Scizor Bullet Punch.
I EV'd Lele primarily for bulk, relying on Psychic Terrain and Shattered Psyche to deliver damage and investing enough Speed to outrun Tyrantrum4. Since Lele can't support its partner actively like Mega Kangaskhan can with Fake Out, it needs to be more self-reliant and the bulk lets it survive most neutral attacks, reducing the AI's likelihood of targeting it over Pheromosa.
Shattered Psyche powered by Psychium-Z is hilariously strong. Even with no Special Attack investment save for a Modest nature, it OHKOs most neutral targets. For the third moveslot, I picked Substitute since I forgot to SR for Hidden Power - it's good against slower status moves that might target either lead, and to secure an advantage against the AI 3rd or 4th Pokémon when there is room to use it freely.
The Kokko-o (
Tapu Koko) @ Choice Specs
Ability: Electric Surge
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Thunderbolt
- Dazzling Gleam
- Volt Switch
- Grass Knot
The Pherolele lead combination was surprisingly good, but the rest of the team options weren't looking so good with the UB/Tapu only restriction. The Koko is very, very strong - I expect it to be one of the best Pokémon in Tree Doubles bar none, the power and speed are unmatched (Specs Koko Thunderbolt hits harder than Timid ZardY Flamethrower, for instance). However, on this team its synergy with Tapu Lele isn't great, and using two different Terrains can make the Tapus sabotage each other, which must be maneuvered around. Its bulk is also lacking as a switch option, so I only very rarely switch it in directly.
I also tried Life Orb as an item on Koko, but found that the power and lack of recoil from Specs was too advantageous to pass up on.
Steele Yurec (
Celesteela) @ Leftovers
Ability: Beast Boost
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 100 Def / 148 SpD / 4 Spe
Careful Nature
- Heavy Slam
- Wide Guard
- Leech Seed
- Protect
Originally I ran Scarf Xurkitree as the 4th Pokémon, intent on overpowering what the leads couldn't handle with Electric Terrain-boosted attacks. However, this left the team hugely vulnerable to Trick Room, and I lost to Carbink3 of all things on two occasions; I needed glue that could serve as a real switch option and handle Trick Room conditions, and Celesteela was the closest thing on an answer from Alola's legendary lineup.
Celesteela isn't that great in the Tree. Leech Seed lacks accuracy, and using it as a win condition is generally a very, very dicy proposition compared to more straightforward offensive sets. Howewer, it covers Tapu Lele's weaknesses, can stand its ground under Trick Room and stall out the turns even if its offensive presence is minimal, and secures wins against some bad match-ups such as Mega Mawile and Mega Metagross in a pinch. Instead of Substitute, I picked Wide Guard since Leech Seed is a very unreliable win condition already, and Wide Guard lets it shield Koko from Earthquake and provide some support for the team in the many cases where it has no offensive presence at all.
I had no idea how to EV Celesteela, so I pulled a mixed bulk Careful spread out of thin air. Its bulk is adequate, but the Pokémon itself just doesn't seem like a good pick in the Tree.
On the first attempt on this final version of the team, I made it to 191 wins - this streak was the second attempt, ended by Colress in battle 220. The battle video is unpublishable right now due to the glitch discussed earlier - his team was Electrode/Muk-Alola/Magnezone4/Metagross4. Pheromosa was KO'd by the leads, and once Mega Metagross came in I was in a very bad position - and when Magnezone showed up afterwards to shut down Celesteela, nothing could prevent Lele/Koko/Celesteela from losing to the duo save for an act of God. Previous versions of the team (with Life Orb on Tapu Koko and Ice Beam on Pheromosa) made it to 186 wins on their best run; it's likely that this team lacks the potential to go much further than 200 wins. If you're looking for a team to go for Starf Berry with in Doubles, I'd recommend waiting for Bank; this team has some reliability problems and an overwhelming weakness to Mega Metagross, and the back-ups synergize rather poorly with the leads. But I think the Tapus & UBs only restriction made for a pretty interesting effort nonetheless.
As a last aside, Tree Doubles seems quite a lot tougher than its Maison counterpart. The full lineup of Mega Evolutions should deliver major threats for virtually any team.