[SET]
name: Bulk Up
move 1: Bulk Up
move 2: Spore
move 3: Seed Bomb
move 4: Drain Punch
item: Toxic Orb
ability: Poison Heal
nature: Careful
evs: 236 HP / 212 SDef / 60 Spd
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>Breloom can effectively use a Bulk Up set that hinders common physical walls such as Gliscor, Quagsire, and most stall teams. It should also be noted that this variant of Breloom can set up on a multitude of common threats, such as Tyranitar, Ferrothorn, Forretress, and Politoed, among others. Rotom-W, which usually causes most teams trouble, can't touch Breloom either, because its STABs are resisted and Will-O-Wisp won't have any effect if Toxic Orb has already activated.</p>
<p>Bulk Up is the crux of this set, boosting Breloom's already massive Attack and its mediocre Defense to high levels, which enables Breloom to survive moves like Choice Band Terrakion's Close Combat, Mamoswine's Ice Shard, and Scizor's Bullet Punch, preventing them from revenge killing the mushroom Pokemon. Spore is quite useful, especially with the mechanics in BW, and essentially disables one of your opponent's Pokemon. Seed Bomb is Breloom's most powerful Attack, and it hits bulky Water-types such as Rotom-W, Politoed, Quagsire, and Gastrodon extremely hard. Drain Punch, when used in conjunction with Poison Heal, recovers Breloom's health, making it even harder to take down, and still decimates threats such as Tyranitar, Blissey, and Ferrothorn. Additionally, the annoying 'Volt-Turn' combo utilized by Rotom-W and Scizor will also have trouble with this set; Breloom can set up on and destroy Rotom-W, and, with the Defense boost, Scizor will lose to Breloom as well.</p>
[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
<p>The spread might seem strange, but it does have its uses. 236 HP EVs will ensure that Breloom will have the highest HP number that is divisible by 8, meaning that it will recover the most HP from Poison Heal. 60 Speed EVs allow Breloom to reach 191 Speed, outspeeding minimum Speed Heatran and other bulky Pokemon such as Choice Band Tyranitar, Skarmory, and defensive Politoed; the rest is put into Special Defense in order to take hits such as Rotom-W's Hydro Pump much better, as well as surviving moves such as Defensive Reuniclus' Psychic and Celebi's Hidden Power Fire. Drain Punch is used for its higher Base Power and extra healing, but Mach Punch can also be used for priority; however, it is not recommended due to its poor Base Power. Stone Edge is also an option over Seed Bomb if you wish to hit Flying-types for heavy damage, but Seed Bomb hits bulky Water-types super effectively, and is one of Breloom's selling points.</p>
<p>This set works especially well against 'Volt-Turn' teams. As for our mushroom's partners, Latios gets a special mention, because he resists Breloom's Psychic- and Fire-type weakness, and can also OHKO troublesome Pokemon such as Acrobatics Gliscor and Skarmory. Meanwhile, Breloom can take out Pokemon Latios struggles with, such as Tyranitar and, if it has set up, Scizor. Drizzle teams might also enjoy Breloom's presence, as it's effective against both sandstorm teams and Rotom-W, and Breloom loves the rain Politoed brings, which greatly weakens attacks such as Heatran's Flamethrower and random Hidden Power Fires. Lastly, using another Fighting-type Pokemon is also a pretty good idea, as Breloom lures and severely weakens targets such as Gliscor and Reuniclus, clearing the way for another sweeper to clean up.</p>