-Poseidon-
The God of the Sea? That fits Gyarados pretty well.
I was never a fan of stall , yet i am in love with some bulk and offense. Recently , i am been trying out a Bulky Offense but the teams i made was not working well.
So, i decided to browse through the RMT Archive for some inspiration.
So , i went into the thread ' We Are The Machampions' by Obi.
So, i decided to browse through the RMT Archive for some inspiration.
So , i went into the thread ' We Are The Machampions' by Obi.
I browsed through it quickly and something caught my eye.
Restalk Gyarados with Adamant nature and a lot of Attack EVs ? Thats something new ( for me )
Restalk Gyarados with Adamant nature and a lot of Attack EVs ? Thats something new ( for me )
I then decided to make a team around Restalk Gyarados.
Team at a glance
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Swampert (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Torrent
EVs: 252 HP/228 Def/4 Spd/24 SAtk
Relaxed nature (+Def, -Spd)
- Earthquake
- Ice Beam
- Protect/Toxic/Roar
- Stealth Rock
Swampert is only the first out of my three Bulky Waters used in this team.
Swampert sets up Stealth Rocks which well , every team needs.
I am very reliant on Swampert to counter many potential threats like Salamence so, i can't afford to let it die early.
Usually, after setting up Stealth Rocks , i keep Swampert in until a threat switches in.
For some reasons , i've been seeing less and less Metagross/Heatran leads ,which could give me a reason to use Toxic over Protect.

Rotom-h @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 8 HP/248 Spd/252 SAtk
Timid nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Overheat
- Thunderbolt
- Shadow Ball
- Trick
A Tricker! Just exactly what i need to open up for Gyarados to sweep.
Stall Teams usually stop Gyarados from sweeping so i need something that is able to cripple Stall Teams.Other than a wall breaker , a Tricker is obviously the best.
Also this is my Gyarados revenge killer.
As my Gyarados has only 1 Attacking move which can allow other Gyarados to set up on me. So, i need a reliable revenge killer.
Overheat allows me to kill SD Lucario who can trouble my team a lot after Gyarados has fainted.
Shadow Ball is there for Psychics and other Ghost whom i might outrun with or without Scarf.
The Star of the Show!

Poseidon (Gyarados) (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 HP/176 Atk/24 Def/32 Spd/24 SDef
Adamant nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Dragon Dance
- Waterfall
- Rest
- Sleep Talk
The Star of the Show! Gyarados !
Offensive and yet at the same time Bulky!
Yes , i took the EVs from Obi's thread ' We are the Machampions ' and twisted a little ( Credits to Obi )
Maximum Hit Points to make Gyarados more sturdy.
176 Attack EVs with Adamant nature gives 2 points more than 172.
32 Speed EVs is there to outrun Positive nature base 90 Pokemon after a Dragon Dance.
The remaining EVs are divided between the defenses to ensure more survivability.
After a couple of Dragon Dances , this thing is almost unstoppable unless a Water Absorb (BAN ME PLEASE) or something that resist Water comes in.

Starmie @ Leftovers
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 172 HP/120 Def/216 Spd
Timid nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Thunderbolt
- Surf
- Rapid Spin
- Recover
How can Gyarados sweep or wall something if its already half dead ?!
Starmie is my Rapid Spinner and yet another Gyarados counter.
It also functions as my MixApe counter which could severely damage my team if it has Thunderpunch/ Grass Knot / Close Combat / Fire Blast.
172 HP EVs is there to hit the Leftovers Point which could be helpful because that 1 HP might be just what i need.
120 Def EVs is there to maximise physical defense so i can effectively not get KO-ed by a +1 Bounce or Stone Edge from Gyarados after Stealth Rock.
216 Speed is to outrun positive nature base 110 Pokemons like Gengar in which i can kill with Surf it Gengar is weakened.

Tyranitar (M) @ Choice Band
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 252 HP/168 Atk/88 SDef
Adamant nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Crunch
- Pursuit
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge
Tyranitar is a vital team member in this team. I need it to kill the common counters of Gyarados eg ; Celebi , Rotom.
Pursuit is definitely a must on CB Tyranitar to effectively kill what it is supposed to kill.
Tyranitar is the glue of my team.
Without it , my team would'nt function and get walled badly by many many things.
Why 168 Attack and not 252 Attack ? Well , 168 Attack guarantees that 252Hp/200 Def Bold Rotom is 2HKOed by Pursuit IF it doesn't switch out.
The rest of the EVs are pumped into HP and Special Defense to allow Tyranitar to absorb more hits.

Jirachi @ Leftovers
Ability: Serene Grace
EVs: 252 HP/184 Spd/72 SAtk
Timid nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Calm Mind
- Substitute
- Thunderbolt
- Flash Cannon
Jirachi is there to fix the various problems that my teams can face like Vaporeon also , it functions as a Special Sweeper very well.
I've gotten more sweeps with this thing than I've got with Gyarados.
Many people pack counter for Gyarados but not Jirachi what a shame D:
Its bulk could be useful at times when i need it to absorb an attack.
Max HP is there so Blissey couldn't break my Substitute in a hit allowing me to set up easily.
184 Speed is there so i can outrun Positive nature base 90 Pokemons and those running 1 or 2 more points to outrun them.
The remaining EVs are pumped into Special Attack so Jirachi could hit harder.
However , replacing Scizor for Jirachi has gave me a lack of priority which could be problematic.
Previous Team Members

Scizor (M) @ Choice Band
Ability: Technician
EVs: 168 HP/164 Atk/176 SDef
Adamant nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- U-turn
- Pursuit
- Bullet Punch
- Superpower
Scizor is here to spam U-turn early game to scout for what kind of counters my opponent has for Scizor as many Scizor's counter can also effectively counter Gyarados.
At late game , it can spam Bullet Punch and get a chance to sweep through teams.
Superpower is there to net a kill on Heatran,Magnezone,Blissey etc. who can not be OHKOed by any moves except Superpower.
It is also my backup pursuiter incase Tyranitar dies.
I don't really have a reason for using these EVs , other than Scizor being able to pack a punch and take some hits.
Scizor , is my most interchangable team member as i want to get a Strong Fighting type pokemon to kill Curse Tyranitar and Porygon2 who can cause my team problems.Any Suggestions?
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Team Building Process
I was inspired by Obi's team ' We are the Machampions ' to use Restalk Gyarados. So , the first pokemon on my team without a doubt is Gyarados.

Celebi , Rotom , Starmie , Vaporeon , Slowbro , Zapdos and Porygon2 are the most common counters i can think of for Gyarados.
They can be stopped by a strong pursuiter.
Tyranitar and Scizor instantly sprang up in my mind . But then , i decided to only add Tyranitar at the moment.



So by now , i know i need a Stealth Rocker.
Infernape , Swampert , Heatran , Azelf , Aerodactyl , Hippowdon and Metagross was what i thought of.
I decided i needed a Salamence counter so , only Hippowdon and Swampert fit in.
I really had no idea why i used Swampert over Hippowdon.
Hippowdon has a recovery move which Swampert doesn't have.
Hippowdon counters Salamence better.
Hippowdon counters Lucario.
What Swampert has is only a fire resistant and being not weak to water.
So , i am considering Hippowdon suggestions needed! Should i or should i not use Hippowdon over Swampert?However , i can't deal with Kingdra effectively without Swampert.
Okay so now , i have a Stealth Rocker , a Bulky Sweeper , and a Bulky and Hard Hitting Pursuiter.
By now , something came up in my mind.
Gyarados is weak to Stealth Rocks! Weakening it by 25% each time it switches in isn't good!
So , i needed a Rapid Spinner.
The best OU Rapid Spinner i could think of is Forretress and Starmie.
I wanted Starmie because it can be used against opposing Gyarados and has a recovery move.
So now , my team currently has :




I pondered over stall teams awhile and decided they would give my team problems.
So , i decided i needed a Tricker.
There are many Trickers i also wanted a Spin Blocker since Stealth Rock would kill opposing pokemons faster.
So, i decided to use Rotom.





I noticed , i had 3 Grass weak Pokemon and only 1 Resist and now , i decided , i want a Grass resist and then i thought about Grass types for awhile and the most common one is Celebi.
Scizor instantly sprang up my mind since well , unless Celebi invests heavily in Special Attack , HP- Fire could'nt kill Scizor so , it makes a perfect addition to my team . ( Well thats what i thought )






However , Vaporeon proved to be more of a problem and i wanted something that could resist Grass and Set up on it.
Jirachi came up as an idea and i decided to use it.






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Threat List :



Tyranitar can damage it badly with Crunch and Rotom can damage it too with Shadow Ball .
If Celebi doesn't have HP - Fire , Calm Mind and Perish Song , Jirachi can easily set up on it.



Also , Gyarados can deal with it pretty well , ( when it doesn't have Petaya or Torrent boost or HP-Electric )





Same goes for the Sub Variants.



If its Sub CM Jirachi with Flash Cannon / Thunderbolt then Swampert can deal with it.
If its Psychic / Thunderbolt then Tyranitar can deal with it.If its Superachi , Tyranitar can still deal with it.




If Rotom still have Scarf , i can hit it with STAB-ed Thunderbolt. I can also go to Gyarados , lure it to outrage then go to Jirachi and hit it hard with a Thunderbolt.


Scarf-ed Variants are mostly set up fodder for Gyarados.



Starmie and Gyarados can outrun and it with STAB-ed Water attacks unless its a Rock Polish variant.


However , Will-o-Wisp could cripple Tyranitar.Also , if it isn't the Leaf Storm Rotom , Swampert could toxic it.





Also Rotom can hit it hard with STAB-ed Thunderbolt even after +1.
A combination of Life Orb Recoil , Stealth Rock damage and Sandstorm damage and Thunderbolts from Rotom and Starmie would kill it.
Crocune could be problematic as my only Solution is tricking a Scarf onto it.



Rotom could take Air Slash or Bug Buzz and hit it with Thunderbolt or Overheat.



Scizor can hit it with Bullet Punch or Superpower.