XY LC Little Cup Team

[darkmario777]

I decided to nickname these Pokemon using puns, so please pardon that...

Aipalm (Aipom) (M) @ Eviolite
Ability: Skill Link
EVs: 76 HP / 196 Atk / 236 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Fury Swipes
- Knock Off
- Brick Break
- Fake Out

I decided to make this set my lead because I wanted a faster leading Pokemon, and I also was unsure of what to choose for the first slot in my team. However, when it mentioned Spritzee as a good partner in the beta Dex (which is what I used to make my OU team and this team), I put Aipom in the first slot, wanting a Spritzee on my team anyways.

Spritz (Spritzee) (M) @ Eviolite
Ability: Aroma Veil
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 212 HP / 196 Def / 12 SpA / 76 SpD / 12 Spe
Bold Nature
- Aromatherapy
- Wish
- Protect
- Moonblast

I went for the support set for Spritzee, because of the fact that I had an attacker, and was about to add two more attackers to the team, Timburr and Vullaby. As with many support sets, it had Wish, and also had Aromatherapy, which was of big use in a tier where status effects could spell your doom. Moonblast was also a good Fairy move if Spritzee got stuck in a bad situation.

Timber (Timburr) (M) @ Eviolite
Ability: Guts
EVs: 76 HP / 196 Atk / 76 Def / 156 SpD
Impish Nature
- Drain Punch
- Knock Off
- Mach Punch
- Bulk Up

Timburr is a big attacker, and also has moves to boost it's attack. Drain Punch keeps it in play for longer, and Knock Off is always a good move against Misdreavus. It also supports the previous two team members, and it's sturdy attacking style makes it one of the girders holding up the team.

Vulbaby (Vullaby) @ Eviolite
Ability: Overcoat
EVs: 116 HP / 236 Def / 76 SpD / 36 Spe
Impish Nature
- Defog
- Roost
- Knock Off
- Brave Bird

Vullaby has a number of good moves that help it stand out on the team: Defog to deal with Archen, Roost to not sacrifice or weaken my Spritzee, Knock Off to weaken everything and seriously cripple any ghost type, and Brave Bird, which is hard for Timburr or Mienfoo to face. It's dark-flying type combo keeps it from having a hard time with Timburr, Mienfoo, or Misdreavus.

Archenoid (Archen) (M) @ Berry Juice
Ability: Defeatist
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 SpD
Careful Nature
- Roost
- U-turn
- Stealth Rock
- Stone Edge

Speaking of Archen, I have one on the team to help Aipom and deal with bird spam teams. With Roost, it can heal itself quick, and U-turn helps Aipom switch in on weakened Pokemon. Stealth Rock, Stone Edge, and rock typing help deal with Fletchling, Vullaby, Doduo, and practically any flying type. It's ability is wretched, but only kicks in at half health, which is why I put Berry Juice on it.

Trubbish @ Berry Juice
Ability: Sticky Hold
EVs: 116 HP / 36 Atk / 100 Def / 20 SpD / 236 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Spikes
- Recycle
- Gunk Shot
- Drain Punch

Trubbish loves to set up status, and that is the main reason It's on the team, because Archen isn't enough on it's own. It can auto full heal at any moment in time, helping it poison and set up spikes, and even if Berry Juice gets knocked off, Drain punch works as a back up to help Trubbish keep going.

Now go to the poll or comment to rate!

 

[skies]

Hello! You're using a suboptimal EV spread on Archen, so make it 76 HP / 156 Def / 76 SpD / 196 Spe. Also, Jolly is the preferred nature. I'd consider redoing some of these sets, for example, going back to Archen you look at its moveset and I have to ask: What does it do, really? It walls Fletchling and Aipom, along with Flying-types, but it doesn't provide anything against other threats. For this reason, I'd like to consider changing Archen's moveset to Stealth Rock / Stone Edge / Acrobatics / Earthquake. This set allows you to break through Magnemite after Stealth Rock, a Pokemon that threatens your team and it gains a lot more coverage by using this moveset. U-turn can be used over Acrobatics, but Berry Juice + Acrobatics is really strong and enables you to further deal with Flying-types. Roost is helpful, but you have cleric support as it is to aim to keep Archen alive and healthy. The next change I would make is changing Trubbish to Chinchou. Trubbish does provide you with some nice resistances and it provides a solid Spiker, but if you're Defogging, it's my belief that you really don't need to have more than one hazard setter on your team. Chinchou synergizes extremely well with both Archen and Vullaby, along with aiding in getting a safe switch to things like Aipom or Timburr, for example. I feel that it provides you with a lot more support then you would otherwise get with Trubbish.

Summary:

• 
  Current EV Spread ---> 76 HP / 156 Def / 76 SpD / 196 Spe
  
• 
  Careful Nature ---> Jolly Nature
  
• 
  --->
  

Sets:

Chinchou @ Eviolite
Ability: Volt Absorb
Level: 5
EVs: 76 HP / 212 Def / 152 SpA / 60 Spe
Bold Nature
- Scald
- Volt Switch
- Thunder Wave / Soak
- Hidden Power [Ground] / Thunderbolt

 

[Corporal Levi]

Hi darkmario777
Unfixable's suggestion for Archen is good; his given EV spread allows Archen to better check threats such as Fletchling and Aipom, while giving it the speed it needs to set up Stealth Rock in time. In addition, Roost tends not to mesh well with Berry Juice, because without Eviolite, Archen will usually be too frail to utilize Roost to its fullest extent; as such, a coverage move would likely be a better fit.
Archen @ Berry Juice
Ability: Defeatist
Level: 5
EVs: 76 HP / 156 Def / 76 SpD / 196 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Rock Slide / Stone Edge
- Earthquake
- Knock Off / Acrobatics
Earthquake is necessary to hit Pawniard on the switch, while Rock Slide and Stone Edge are both good options for your STAB move, depending on whether you prefer accuracy and a flinch chance or power. For your last move, Knock Off is a good option to cripple a variety of switch-ins and hit Misdreavus in particular hard, but Acrobatics will be your most powerful option once Berry Juice gets used up, and is your best bet against fighting-types.
Another option is to replace Archen with an Eviolite variant. In this case, the EVs used should be a much bulkier 236 HP / 156 Def / 76 SpD / 36 Spe with an Impish nature.
Archen @ Eviolite
Ability: Defeatist
Level: 5
EVs: 236 HP / 156 Def / 76 SpD / 36 Spe
Impish Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Rock Slide
- Earthquake / Knock Off
- Roost
This grants Archen significantly more survivability, allowing it to set up Stealth Rock throughout the match, which is quite useful when you have a Defogger on your team; it also allows Archen to check birdspam more easily. In this case, Roost should be kept because with 25/21/18 bulk after Eviolite, Archen really appreciates the longevity it grants. Rock Slide becomes the primary STAB option because Stone Edge's low PP is unappealing for more drawn-out games.

I also agree with his suggestion for Chinchou. Between Spritzee, Vullaby, and, to a lesser extent, Archen, I think Fighting-types are covered quite well. However, your only check to Fletchling, Archen, can be worn down due to its weakness to Stealth Rock, and you have absolutely no switch-ins to Magnemite; in addition, if the opponent has as Zigzagoon, you'll need another check to Fletchling, since you can't afford to weaken Archen in such a scenario. Chinchou is able to cover all of these, while also providing another check to Carvanha and Ponyta.

I could see Sun archetypes really threatening your team; Vulpix is able to burn Archen and hit everything else except Chinchou hard with Fire-type attacks, and Vullaby is your only switch-in to Bellsprout, which is an issue because it comes close to being 2HKOed by Sludge Bomb after being poisoned, and Weather Ball is a clean 2HKO after Stealth Rock. One thing I could see being done to help alleviate this problem, among others, is replacing Aipom with Porygon. Porygon's immense bulk allows it to stomach a huge number of neutral attacks with ease, allowing it to avoid the 2HKO from Heat Rock Vulpix and Eviolite Bellsprout; more offensive variants of either Pokemon tend to be much more easily worn down through other means. Porygon also provides you with a back-up check to a variety of potent special attackers, including Misdreavus and Abra, which Vullaby might struggle to cover all on its own, and gives you a switch-in to Chinchou.
Porygon @ Eviolite
Ability: Trace
Level: 5
EVs: 236 HP / 116 Def / 156 SpD
Bold Nature
- Thunder Wave
- Tri Attack
- Shadow Ball / Ice Beam / Psychic
- Recover
The given EVs allow Porygon to reach 26/24/24 bulk after Eviolite, rendering it incredibly difficult to break through, both physically and specially. Thunder Wave cripples a variety of offensive Pokemon, making them significantly easier to deal with for both Porygon and the rest of the team; be careful of paralyzing Timburr, though, as this will activate Guts. Tri Attack is Porygon's mandatory STAB move, dealing decent damage to those that don't resist it, and having a useful secondary effect. For your coverage option, Shadow Ball is the most popular to hit Misdreavus, but Ice Beam is another good option to deal heavy damage to Fletchling and Archen in particular, while Psychic hits Fighting-type switch-ins hard. Recover is necessary to allow Porygon to stick around (and occasionally to stall for Thunder Wave paralysis turns).

That's it for now. Good luck!

 

[Superpowerdude]

Firstly I definitely agree with the more offensive Archen with Acrobatics. Acrobatics gives Archen a very powerful move to use when Berry Juice is used up. Porygon is also something worth trying since you need help vs sun teams + Abra and Missy carrying Dazzling Gleam can break past Timburr and Vullaby and they look very hard to deal with bar the speed tie with Aipom. The only problem I see with Porygon>Aipom is it takes away some offensive presence from your team that I think would be appreciated but thats what my suggestion will try and cover up.

To me I feel like Trubbish is sort of out of place on this team, sure Spikes support is always cool but as long as you have got Stealth Rock you are at least breaking Sturdy and Focus Sashes on Pokemon, Fighting types are already handled nicely by Bulk Up Timburr, Vullaby, Spritzee and Archen if you decide to use Acrobatics. The only real important thing I see that Trubbish does for your team is be cute check Pawnaird a long with Timburr. I would much rather see a revenge killer put in place on this team because as your team stands now, only Timburr's Mach Punch gives you a way of revenge killing sweepers and your only other method of dealing with them is to wall them. I would use a Choice Scarf Mienfoo>Trubbish so that your team has a revenge killer and a late game cleaner too since High Jump Kick Spam late game is always cool. With Choice Scarf Mienfoo you can revenge kill things like Scarf Pawnaird, +1 Scraggy, weakened Nasty Plot Misdreavus, Abra on it's Focus Sash, etc. Mienfoo has 17 speed with this set, so you can outspeed any Choice Scarfer below that speed so things like (Magnemite, Scraggy, Pawnaird) as well as suprise Misdreavus and Abra with your speed. High Jump Kick / Knock Off / Drain Punch / U-turn is the prefered set, Knock Off is of course very useful for revenge killing weakened Missy and removing items of Pokemon, U-turn is needed to grab momentum, Drain Punch gives extra recovery and is useful for situations where you can't afford a High Jump Kick miss, (perhaps against pawnaird?) however that slot can be changed if you want to try something else like Stone Edge or whatever.

Now on Timburr, you could use Poison Jab>Bulk Up so you can dish damage out to Spritzee that want to wall you which will give Mienfoo an easier time sweeping with High Jump Kick late game but this is more of an optional change. If it gets is Eviolite removed, Poison Jab should be pretty threatning to Spritzee.

other than that this team doesn't seem to bad

Sets

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Mienfoo @ Choice Scarf | Regenerator
Jolly Nature | 236 Atk / 36 Def / 236 Spe
High Jump Kick | Knock Off | Drain Punch | U-turn

Timburr
Poison Jab> Bulk Up

~SPD

 

[darkmario777]

Ok, thanks! I'm pretty new to PS and Smogon, but I do know some basic things from the Smog, the Smogon Dex, and some other main site articles.