Pokemon of the Week #11: Grimer (See post #150)

[Celestavian]

Approved by Aerrow. Props to blarajan for helping me out with some ideas this week!

Hi folks! I am Hawkstar, and I shall be running Pokemon of the Week in LC. You've seen this in other tiers, and it works in the same exact way. Each week, I'll feature a Pokemon that is good in the metagame, but isn't getting quite the attention it deserves. With behemoths such as Murkrow, Mienfoo, and Misdreavus in the tier, it isn't hard for them to overshadow other similar Pokemon. Our first featured Pokemon of the Week had just that problem before user blarajan began to popularize it. I am, of course, talking about the fearsome Riolu!

Riolu
Fighting-type
40 HP / 70 Atk / 40 Def / 35 SpA / 40 SDef / 60 Spe
Abilities: Steadfast / Inner Focus / Prankster​

Taking a quick look at it, Riolu seems unimpressive. Mienfoo stat's are literally higher than all of Riolu's, and it gets the fabled Regenerator, which makes it such a powerful pivot. Of course, Riolu gets some other moves, like Bulk Up, that Mienfoo does not, but Timburr is far and away better with Bulk Up, who has higher Attack, more bulk, Mach Punch and the Guts ability. Scraggy is also better at boosting than Riolu, since it can boost its Speed as well and doesn't fear Misdreavus. With all these other Fighting-types outclassing it at all these roles, why is Riolu even worth using? Riolu is the only Pokemon in the entire game to have all of Prankster, Copycat, and Roar, which turns Riolu from a gimmick into a fearsome speed shuffler. Copycat, however, has excellent utility on its own, perhaps even more than Roar. It allows you to revenge kill threats like Misdreavus, Drilbur, and Dragon-types who take a lot of damage from their own STAB moves. It also allows you to copy hazards, status moves, and Volt Switch and U-turn, which makes setting up on Riolu a bad idea.

So, let's hear from everyone else about their experiences with Riolu. Please feel free to post good sets and explain them!

Ray Jay's Edit that was Commisioned by blarajan

Starting now, we're turning this into a little competition (geddit, little?). Using the Pokemon of the Week, take a new alt account from scratch to the top 3 of the ladder! The stipulation is that you must build the team around the Pokemon of the Week. Anyone who succeeds and posts their findings here on teammates, strategy, and etc. will be working their way towards that Community Contributor badge, as they are both succeeding and technically imparting their knowledge on the community through Pokemon of the week. Thanks~

 

[apt-get]

I'm not too fond of Riolu. Too frail, and the shuffler is countered too easily. Maybe it can be useful for a stall team, but eh, stall in LC...

 

[Gengan]

Tried it once. Was going fine until I realized that Roar has -6 priority even with Prankster. Got paralyzed, phazed twice, got fully paralyzed, opposing Chinchou used Hydro Pump, accidently copycatted Hydro Pump, missed, died.

Bad experiences, not too bad but not too good. If you like trying new things it's okay but otherwise I wouldn't use it.

 

[Rowan]

I can't say I've used it, but have played against it a few times; most of the time it's just noobs spamming copycat roar which isn't hard to stop. However in the hands of a good player it can be lethal. It's a very solid revenge killer-I remember I got thrown off guard when one revenged my scarfkrow with copycat Brave Bird.
It reminds me a bit of Porygon who can adapt to many situations thanks to its unique trace ability to counter many different pokemon in many different ways-Riolu does the same with copycat and if you think outside the box copycat can be used for pretty much anything.

 

[Good_Luck!]

Please feel free to post good sets and explain them!

Can we also post teammates?

I haven't played with Riolu but I have played against it. Not very experienced players but for the sake of knowledge Copycat has only 20pp. One would say that's enough but if you have a regenerator core (Foongus(and/or)Mienfoo(and/or)Slowpoke) you just have to wait until Copycat is out of PP. Anyway it will take at least one pokemon if you have one rock weakness. Not to say that keeping Hazards up means you HAVE to use Missy... or Frillish, I guess.

I mean, Riolu is by no means bad but for it to truly shine, you really need skill. As I said in another thread, the smart player can foresee the priority coming and then play accordingly.

I don't know how good will it be against other pranksters like Murkrow or Cottonee. Against Murkrow I can see good mind games; will Murkrow use Sucker Punch or Brave Bird? Should I Copycat or just Roar to keep the momentum? Against Cottonee I think it will win as Cottonee's standard spread is one point below Riolu in Spe... Idk, this thread encourages me to play with Riolu, now.

Riolu is not supposed to just enter and Spam Copycat, he's meant to be played carefully as it's potentially the best revenge killer in LC. Copycat+Roar is just the peak of the iceberg.

 

[Ray Jay]

Riolu is, as GL said, the definition of a skill-based Pokemon in LC. You need to know when to bring it in and how to use it when hazards aren't up.

The first issue is one I see people constantly messing up. People think Riolu is frail because they're switching it into STABed neutral attacks for like, no reason. Hi folks and welcome to LC, a place where we honestly have enough resistances and immunities that you should never have to switch-in to a neutral attack from an opposing sweeper. The best things are obviously defensive mons that are obviously on a turn of set up (examples being Lileep when its known it won't use Toxic, Chinchou prepping to use Rest, Mienfoo when it will Fake Out, or, most importantly.... when something on your team dies).

The latter is that people are too dependent on shuffling. The shuffling aspect is for hyper late game (or technically mid game, if you have something such as ScarfKrow that wrecks weakened teams). Riolu can do so much cool stuff (such as whats in the op) but people just haven't really experimented with it yet.

 

[blarajan]

Woah woah guys I think we're doing a ton of underestimating here! Riolu is actually kind of a monster, that I really recommend we all try out a bit more! As you all know, I have a bit of a Riolu fetish, but don't consider that as bias for this post! The purpose of Riolu is NOT to just spam Roar then Copycat. In fact, from my extensive use of it...I hardly even use Roar! I use Copycat the most, Drain Punch the second most, Roar the third, and Crunch last. The set I use is:

Riolu (M) @ Eviolite Trait: Prankster
EVs: 196 HP / 196 Def / 116 SDef
Impish Nature (+Def, -SAtk)
- Copycat
- Drain Punch
- Roar
- Crunch

Honestly, Prankster Copycat is so much fun. The reason I think Riolu is so good is because Copycat provides it so much diversity in helping you through normal battle conditions. Your opponent used Stealth Rock? Copycat that! Spikes? Copycat that! Scraggy is really scary? Live a +1 Drain Punch, use Drain Punch, and then Copycat that! Drilbur? Live a Life Orb Earthquake, use Drain Punch, and then Copycat that! Dratini? Live a +1 Outrage and COPYCAT THAT. Riolu lets you revenge stuff, be really useful in general, COPYCAT everything, maintain momentum with Volt Switch / U-Turn, and, of course, PRIORITY ROAR.

I think the problem is people are trying to use Roar and win from the get-go with Riolu. That's not how it works, in my opinion. I think you should be spamming Copycat in the beginning, and then Roar in the end game if it's necessary. Roar / Copycat is still a very very very valuable strategy. It's just not one that works right away.

How do you guys use Riolu? Have you found any sets other than the one I posted that work? Have you found them effective? I really encourage all of you to use Riolu because it's such a fun Pokemon. Tell us how you liked using it! Post your findings! Ladder with it for the ladder challenge and tell us how it worked! There's a ton you can do with Riolu...it's all about finding it for yourself!

/end fetish

 

[michael]

I'm running the same set as blara is and it's more or less my favourite Pokemon in LC as well, now, probably tied with SubRoost Murkrow. The general utility it has really patches up a lot of holes in my team, helping to check Double Rush teams in conjunction with Choice Scarf Porygon (who I gave a Modest nature fsr because I'm a derp - now Timid after I failed to outspeed important 14 Speed stuff) really helps, as well as Dragon Dance Scraggy at +1, as it really helps to not need to run a dedicated counter to it (either Copycat HJK for the KO, or Drain Punch it twice).

A problem that my Riolu has been suffering is the residual damage towards late-game, where entry hazards (although I do have Mold Breaker Drilbur, I often don't have opportunity to spin) and sandstorm/hail damage really start to rack up as you start Roar shuffling instead. I'm considering using Wish Natu (as weird as that is) just to provide some healing to it, a bit of a safeguard against entry hazards, and pretty decent type synergy.

EDIT: I've been thinking about it, and Wish Natu is kinda making me laugh a little. Recovery from Drain Punch is probably going to be enough for most situations but cleric support would be lovely, healing Toxic (switching into Lileep) and burns (Misdreavus, etc.).

 

[Ray Jay]

And now user: Ray Jay with a fun twist..... check the op

Or, if you're too lazy:

Ray Jay's Edit that was Commisioned by blarajan

Starting now, we're turning this into a little competition (geddit, little?). Using the Pokemon of the Week, take a new alt account from scratch to the top 3 of the ladder! The stipulation is that you must build the team around the Pokemon of the Week. Anyone who succeeds and posts their findings here on teammates, strategy, and etc. will be working their way towards that Community Contributor badge, as they are both succeeding and technically imparting their knowledge on the community through Pokemon of the week. Thanks~

 

[Superpowerdude]

Riolu is a very awesome pokemon. One could even say it is the most unique pokemon in all of Little Cup! This is because while some pokemon fall under categories like Sweeper, Revenge Killer, Hazard Setter. Its almost as if Riolu is in its own category since it plays different then pretty much any pokemon you can use. Prankster Copycat is an absolute godsend to Riolu and is the only thing that gives it some sort of edge against rival fighting-types in the tier e.g Mienfoo, Timburr, Scraggy. Copycat is so cool not only to abuse priority Roar to shuffle around your opponents but to also revenge kill a lot of important and common Little Cup pokemon. Such as copying Scraggys Drain Punch, Murkrow's Brave Bird and Misdreavus's Shadow Ball as any Little Cup player probally knows these three pokemon are quite common in Little Cup so potential to shut one of them down with Riolu is absolutely huge in a battle.

As Good_Luck! and Ray Jay have touched upon their is a lot of thinking involved in using Riolu smarter. Unlike Miefoo who pretty much just needs to use Fake Out then Fighting-type stab or U-turn Riolu is often hard to get on the field because of its lack of resistances so trying to even getting him on the field takes a degree of skill. Also deciding when to use Copycat is also tricky because even if you are in on a Misdreavus it may have Will-o-Wisp or if you are in on a Murkrow it may have Sucker Punch instead of them using Shadow Ball and Brave Bird respectively. Obviously entry hazard support is quite good to go with Riolu to help abuse the priority Roar. Fortunatly for Riolu Little Cup is invested with good hazard setters having pokemon like Bronzor, Tirtouga, Lileep, Dwebble and Ferroseed to set up Stealth Rocks while Dwebble, Ferroseed and Shelmet are all good users of Spikes.

Riolu has gotten a lot of hype recently but it is by no means impossible to beat. Little Cup is a tier filled with the move Fake Out. While some people use lesser pokemon like Meowth, Aipom and pretty much every one uses Mienfoo being able to Fake Out Riolu is great to end the Copycat chain. Sucker Punch also works in a very similar way and is quite common to being used on Murkrow and Stunky. Featherdance Natu looks like it can be annoying for Riolu to face because with Magic Bounce it can interupt a Roar chain and Natu can use Feather Dance to soften the impact of Riolu's Crunch. Sandstorm and Hail damage are also taxing on Riolu in the long run.

tbh i think the set that Blarajan posted is the only viable Riolu set because it can abuse the niche of Prankster, Copycat and Roar. Little Cup is a tier with many strong Fighting-types that can outclass Riolu in what ever it does. A Bulk Up set? Timburr does it better a Life Orb attacker? Sorry Mienfoo and even Scraggy smash it.

In short Riolu is an awesome pokemon but it may take a few battles to get used to it given how unusual the pokemon is. A great pokemon to start off this project so good work for hosting it Hawkstar! I have really been anticipating for someone to do an LC pokemon of the week and now we finally have it up and running!

 

[Nozzle]

I kinda got into him due to blara. And i have no regrets. I had problems with that riolu cant beat mienfoo 1 vs 1. And I love copycatting the opponents hazard moves. And it allows me to beat frail strong scarfers that would otherwise wreck my team. BB right back at ya murkrow!

 

[Celestavian]

I've been trying it out recently on a non-hazard team, and replaced Roar with Protect. It works wonders! With Protect, you can beat sleep inducers like Bronzor and Foongus without sacrificing something to sleep, scout opposing Pokemon's movesets, and most importantly, use their move without taking damage from it.

Also, I love the idea of adding a ladder challenge to this. Top 3 sounds like a pretty strict requirement though, especially with my regular alt in the top 3 keeping everyone else out.

 

[JacobNinja]

I have found standard porygon to be a god with this challenge, having thrown a riolu on my team to benchwarmer, and I'm currently undefeated. With so much prankster flying around it is easy to abuse recover and twave.

 

[Delver]

Hawkstar has the right idea with replacing Roar, imo. While, yeah P-phazing is something only done by riolu and is increadbily hard to stop when done well and set up right, it's *still* just as gimmicky as it is in OU or UU. Over half your team is dedicated to setting and keeping up hazards, leaving you with maybe 2-3 mons to deal with the entire metagame. Protect on the other hand gives riolu some breathing room, removing some of the pin point accurate prediction game that comes along with playing him. Another option, though this is theorymoning as I havent tried it yet, would be Swords Dance. I've found - especially with the given, on site EV's, riolu is much weaker than I expect. Swords dance could plausibly allow him to keep his needed bulk investment while still managing to be a VERY strong priority-drainpunch sweeping threat. I'll post more on that when i try it out.

Edit: I feel like i should explain why I find P-Phazing to be a gimmicky strategy. Besides the fore mentioned "half your team is set up mons." Priority is everywhere in LC. Like it doesnt even need to hit, it just needs to go first. This is played around through great prediction, but there is a lot more priority in LC (where those moves are arguably stronger) than in the older teirs. Additionally, regenerator is *everywhere* in LC. Mienfoo will litterally *not* take damage from p-phazing thanks to its resistance to rock. Mienfoo will also beat Riolu 1v1 in a last mon situation. Basically this means you'll also need 2 layers of Toxic Spikes adding more time to the set up and probably another slot on your team. Foongus absorbs Toxicspikes btw and also has Regenerator. Both those mons are common enough (especially mienfoo) to effectively throw a wrench in the phazing strategy. Can it work? yes of course, and when it does it will work *hard*. getting it to work though is just more effort than should truly be necessary. I know theres some appeal in that, but that's basically what a gimmick is. Something that can work if things go your way.

Also since we wre told to discuss good partners: I've had much success with Mixkrow, as the two's offensive pressense really pushes on a team; and Scraggy who can set up on the ghost types riolu likes to bring in. With scraggy, you should note, you need a way to deal with Krow, whether its ice punch, or a chinchou

Edit at below: I didnt want a post a whole nother post saying "yeah i still think the same thing" but i wanted to expand a bit and Hawkstar's post sort of gave me the word / comparison i was looking for. I think Riolu's role should be as a revenge killer, simlar to ditto in OU for those who play it. Essentially it comes in and it will *always* outspeed to do those last little bits of damage. I still say it wants some attack investment though.

 

[Celestavian]

I had been campaigning against the top 3 requirement since I thought it was too high, but I guess I proved myself wrong :/

Hide

Riolu actually performed a lot better than I expected. Copycat is a lot of fun to use, and since I have no hazards otherwise it is my sole source of Stealth Rock. I led with it often, and used it to mess up the opponent's early-game strategy. It also works as a decent Drilbur check, since LO Drilbur takes 45% from Riolu's Copycat EQ even with no investment in Attack.

Protect, I feel, was vital to my success. Had I have had Roar there, Riolu would have been dead weight. I'm aware that Roar isn't just for priority phazing, since Riolu is bulky enough in its own right to phaze things normally. However, I used Riolu as a utility check, so having Protect to scout and then reflect the opponent's move back at them was really important. Also, since I had no hazards of my own, priority phazing had no use anyway.

I'd like to echo Delver's thoughts that priority phazing is kinda lame with all the priority attacks going around, and Mienfoo of course. I'd like the on-site analysis to reflect this and have Protect slashed in with Roar since I think that had far more use than Roar did.

 

[JacobNinja]

I've been using riolu to team with my mienfoo, with mienfoo u-turning out and then riolu u-turning back in, it has been very effective at keeping my bulky mienfoo healthy while still constantly damaging.

edit: tired of this team, http://puu.sh/1lqVq Also, nominating foongus for next week- Has worked incredibly well for me, formed an amazing core with chinchou and mienfoo.

 

[blarajan]

Honestly, I'm a little amazed by the utility of Riolu's other options. I didn't think we could take off Roar, or even Crunch, but discovered through Hawkstar that the other options were in fact valuable. Protect is fantastic, and saves Riolu some damage, while Toxic gives it some utility. Unfortunately, I still don't think boosting sets with Riolu are any good at all, but I'd love for someone to prove me wrong.

What kind of teams have you guys been using Riolu in? Where has it been most effective? Least effective? What's surprised you about using it?

 

[Superpowerdude]

Protect does seem absolutely amazing and congrats on the peak Hawkstar! Looking at it Protect it seems absolutely amazing! Stopping Fake Out is a big advantage in Little Cup with pokemon like Mienfoo and Croagunk infesting the tier and Riolu's low bulk (40/40/40) he wouldnt want to take to much Life Orb Fake Outs. As Hawkstar mentioned the ability to scout your opponents move with Protect and then use it against them with Copycat is huge! It also eases prediction A lot say you are in on a Misdreavus and you and you want to Copycat Shadow Ball you can Protect to make sure it won't use Will-o-Wisp or Destiny Bond and if it uses Shadow Ball then Copycat next turn. I know it isnt the greatest example because Misdreavus could go for Nasty Plot or even Substitute but you get the idea. Come to think of it Substitute looks quite good in theory. Sure it doesn't block Fake Out and you lose some health but it also lets Riolu scout like Protect and has a few benefits. Little Cup has a lot of status move users Shroomish, Foongus, Lileep, etc. The ability to get up a free Substitute is quite good because it gives Riolu another chance to attack! It also helps a lot against boosting sweepers say you are in on a Misdreavus. You are not sure if it is going to Nasty Plot, Will-o-Wisp or Shadow Ball. You can Substitute and it doesn't matter what move Misdreavus goes for now you win. If Misdreavus went for Will-o-Wisp then thats great free Substitute. If Misdreavus went for Shadow Ball then Copycat and Ko. Or if Misdreavus was a Nasty Plot set you can get a Substitute up and you can use Crunch until it goes for an attacking move that breaks your Substitute then you can Copycat and Ko. As Delver mentioned a Swords Dance set seems quite appealing but i don't think Riolu has the bulk to set up a Swords Dance and then try to sweep factoring in all the priority moves in Little Cup. Also not to mention Scraggy and Timburr just outclass it as Fighting-type sweepers.

For the sake of it i compiled a list of status moves that Riolu can learn and i put in bold the only ones worth using.

Hide

Agility-Not a good idea Riolu has Prankster letting it move first often and Riolu doesnt have the initial power to sweep after an Agility. Also with Life Orb, setting up an Agility and priority moves in Little Cup Riolu won't last long.
Attract- has pretty much no competitive value
Copycat- Every one knows the use of this move so i am not going to go in depth about it.
Counter- Always moves last and it sucks arse if you Copycat it so it can go first. A poor move for Riolu.
Detect- The same as Protect amazing for scouting opponents moves to Copycat against them. Also good for blocking Fake Outs and such.
Double Team- Illegal
Endure- always moves
Iron Defense- A poor move shit on a frail pokemon like Mienfoo anyway especially since it will get beat by one strong special attack.
ForeSight-no competitive value
Mind Reader-No comptetitive Value
Nasty Plot- Rioul is to frail to pull of a sweep.
Protect- See Detect
Rain Dance- While not to good may be alright for one of those rain dance teams.
Rest-Sucks means Riolu has to run Chesto Berry is it wants Rest to work. That means with no Evolite it will probally be ohko'd by a Fake Out haha.
Roar- After you Copycat Roar Riolu has priority phazing which is nice.
Screech- bad move your opponent can just switch out.
Substitute- Sort of like Protect and Detect except you lose health and you cant block Fake Out. However it can block status and ease prediction a bit more.
Sunny Day- same with Rain Dance except for a sun team.
Swagger- Not to good if your opponent breaks confusion a +2 attack will probally ohko Riolu.
Swords Dance-To frail to set up and sweep.
Toxic- Priority Toxic is useful to wear down fast pokemon like Misdreavus i guess.
Work Up-to frail to set up and sweep.

As you can see most of Riolu's moves are either poor competitive choices or Riolu doesnt have the bulk to pull them off succesfully. To answer Blarajans question i always have hazards support to help Riolus priority phazing.

 

[Delver]

I can vouch that SD is a terrible idea. It'll work when it works, but so does everything else. Compared to the utility of protect, or hell even roar, SD just isnt up to snuff.

 

[Good_Luck!]

Come to think of it Substitute looks quite good in theory. Sure it doesn't block Fake Out and you lose some health but it also lets Riolu scout like Protect and has a few benefits.

I have been toying around with Substitute in lieu of Protect and I have to say it's AMAZING; not only it lets you scout like Protect does but it does something useful if the opponent switches out; the opponent is forced to attack you meaning you can copycat the moves, like Shadow Ball on Missy and others; it completly stops status meaning that you can freely choose your next move and Pokemon like Porygon who think they can survive a Drain Punch and paralyze are just neutered. I mean, sure, you loose 25% of health but you have Drain Punch to heal back. I really can tell that Riolu can fit a lot of teams, as a revenge killer, annoyer or bulky attacker.

It really is frail but with Drain Punch, it requires a lot of skill to be stopped. I used it with roar and I can tell that was a one-trick pony, easy to be played around. Now I'm in love with Riolu...

As for teammates, I use Cottonee for a double prankster team and they work really well together; Cottonee forces many switches meaning you can easily bring Riolu in without a scratch. They have been really annoying and I really love that.

There you go, now I'm obsessed with the little annoying thing ¬¬.

 

[Woodchuck]

using alt legend on the ryze for the challenge.

 

[Woodchuck]

Honestly, I'm a little amazed by the utility of Riolu's other options. I didn't think we could take off Roar, or even Crunch, but discovered through Hawkstar that the other options were in fact valuable. Protect is fantastic, and saves Riolu some damage, while Toxic gives it some utility. Unfortunately, I still don't think boosting sets with Riolu are any good at all, but I'd love for someone to prove me wrong.

What kind of teams have you guys been using Riolu in? Where has it been most effective? Least effective? What's surprised you about using it?

I know this is a double post but my other post obviously has no substance in it and it's been a day.

Riolu gets Magnet Rise.
Yes, Riolu isn't listed as learning Magnet Rise in Smogon's dex, but that's an error. This makes Riolu one of the most hilarious Drilbur checks ever. I've been testing it over Crunch and it's decent; if Natu comes in you should be switching out anyway.

So far, though, I've been abusing priority Roar. I have to disagree with other posters in this thread:

While, yeah P-phazing is something only done by riolu and is increadbily hard to stop when done well and set up right, it's *still* just as gimmicky as it is in OU or UU.

Priority roar Riolu is only gimmicky in OU and UU because Riolu's stats are terrible in those tiers. It's liable at any time to be ohkoed before it can even get off a single Roar.

In LC, Riolu actually has decent defenses. It can easily survive attack and begin a Roar chain, and as for dedicating parts of your team to keep up hazards... that's worthwhile for more than just Riolu. Right now, my team consists of getting up hazards quickly with Dwebble and then either Roar spamming with Riolu or smashing things with Scarf Murkrow. Murkrow already benefits greatly from hazards, and Riolu weakening things is only going to make the opposing team more weak to Murkrow's Brave Birds. Couple that with Riolu's ability to have utility outside of Roar and I still think that Roar is valuable and worth a moveslot.

 

[Celestavian]

Tomorrow ends the first Pokemon of the Week challenge! For anyone out there trying to get the ladder peak, time is running short!

This week was a lot more successful than I had imagined, and it turned around everyone's perception of Riolu, including my own. Between Protect, Toxic, Substitute, and even Magnet Rise, Riolu has been revealed as more than what most people thought was just a mediocre speed shuffler. Keep up the good work guys!

 

[JacobNinja]

Tomorrow ends the first Pokemon of the Week challenge! For anyone out there trying to get the ladder peak, time is running short!

This week was a lot more successful than I had imagined, and it turned around everyone's perception of Riolu, including my own. Between Protect, Toxic, Substitute, and even Magnet Rise, Riolu has been revealed as more than what most people thought was just a mediocre speed shuffler. Keep up the good work guys!

I gave up on it before I qualified, peaking at 7, but I'd still like to nominate foongus for next week.

 

[Celestavian]

Alright, it's now time for our next Pokemon of the Week! This Pokemon is usually seen as an excellent defensive Pokemon that can also pack a punch. However, I feel it has a few options that aren't explored as much as they should be since the defensive set is used so often. I'm talking about Porygon, of course!

Porygon
Normal-type
65 HP / 60 Atk / 70 Def / 85 SAtk / 75 SDef / 40 Spe
Abilities: Download / Trace / Analytic (illegal)​

Also, one more thing before I forget: Download Porygon with Tri Attack is illegal. The Pokemon Showdown! teambuilder might let you do it since it doesn't have some move illegalities programmed in it. This also applies to any other genderless Pokemon using an ability not legal in Gen 3 or any Pokemon introduced after Gen 3, along with a level-up move gained after level 5, such as Golett and Shadow Punch. Unfortunately, the mods can't enforce unimplemented illegalities, so if you see someone using this, spread the word to help cut down on it!

Much of the same as the first week, making the top 3 with a team built around Porygon wins you the challenge and gets you ever closer to that shiny Community Contributor badge! Let's see what you guys have this week for Porygon!