Using Pokemon in seemingly unfavourable weather conditions

shrang

shrang

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Using Pokemon in seemingly unfavourable weather conditions

Hi all. Since weather is huge part of BW OU, I've been doing a lot of fiddling around with lots of different Pokemon to try and tap into their potential in different weather conditions and the like. Some of things I was able to come up with were interesting, and I thought I'd share some of that with all of you now. While playing around with these weather teams, I was able to test out some Pokemon who excelled in another weather teams and try to make it fit onto a team that uses weather that it isn't well known for. The common thing that happened was me running Fire-types on rain teams, or stuff like Swift Swimmers on sun teams, and so on. There were many different kind of results, but it has been brought to my attention that some Pokemon are actually versatile enough to fit onto weather conditions where some people think is not their forte. I mostly got the idea from back in DPP Ubers, where it was found that Choice Scarf Palkia could be fit onto any weather condition, when its typing and common movesets at the time suggested that it best operated under rain. Another example that is prominent is bulky Excadrill in BW Ubers, who functions extremely well in the rain.

Before I continue though, these Pokemon that I've experimented with (and I hope you guys can come up with more) are not merely a Pokemon stick on the end of a weather team solely in hopes of trashing specific weather teams. For example, I'm not going to allow stuff like Swift Swim Floatzel on a sun team solely for the purpose of "sweeping rain teams". That shows a total lack of vision, in my opinion. The most important thing about these Pokemon is that they need to be able to synergise with the team that they are put in, whether it offers key resistances or deals with certain threats that the team has trouble with. So, my criteria for these Pokemon are:

- (Compulsory) Ability to cover weaknesses in the weather team that they are being put in.
- (Optional) Is able to abuse your own weather condition in some way.
- (Compulsory) Punishes the weather condition that they prefer to be in.

Without further ado, here are the ones I came up with:

RAIN:

Rain Volcarona:

Spr_5b_637.png

Volcarona @ Leftovers / Life Orb
Ability: Flame Body
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Nature: Modest
- Quiver Dance
- Bug Buzz
- Hurricane
- Fire Blast

This is probably my most successful example, in my opinion, with it getting an analysis and all. Everyone should know what Rain Volc does by now. Its typing and move coverage allows it to deal with many threats that give rain teams trouble, such as Celebi, Toxicroak, Virizion and Ferrothorn. It also gives a very nice 4x Grass resist, that a lot of rain teams have problem with. In the rain, it can now use the very powerful coverage move in Hurricane, allowing it to muscle past previous checks like Terrakion and Dragonite reasonably easily. With Quiver Dance and Fire Blast, it can still nuke sun teams for a lot of damage. I still remember when people were calling me crazy for using Volcarona in the rain, heh.

So, according to our criteria, is Rain Volcarona able to:
- (Compulsory) Ability to cover weaknesses in the weather team that they are being put in. - Yes, it takes on many problem Pokemon that rain teams encounter and beats most of them.
- (Optional) Is able to abuse your own weather condition in some way. - Hurricane is an excellent coverage which hits most of its common counters for 120 BP neutral damage, which is pretty good.
- (Compulsory) Punishes the weather condition that they prefer to be in. - Hell yes, with Quiver Dance and Fire Blast (as well as Bug Buzz), Volcarona can still function normally in the sun.


Kyurem:

Spr_5b_646.png


Kyurem @ Choice Scarf / Choice Specs
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Nature: Timid / Modest
- Draco Meteor
- Blizzard
- Ice Beam / Dragon Pulse
- Focus Blast

and

Kyurem @ Leftovers
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 56 HP / 236 SpA / 216 Spe
Nature: Modest
- Substitute
- Blizzard
- Dragon Pulse
- Focus Blast

Kyurem is really a Pokemon that not enough people appreciate. While normally seen on Hail teams, it can fit very well onto rain teams due to its resistances to Water, Grass and Electric, coupled together with its excellent bulk. Another thing that's important is that rain teams absolutely detest Hail teams, since Abomasnow resists both Water and Electric, the two main abusing types, while getting rid of the rain ridiculously easily because of it. Due to this, Kyurem is an excellent weapon to use to counter Hail teams in general, since its powerful Blizzards become 100% accurate there, where admittedly, people seem to overlook the Ice-typing when building a hail team.

Again, is Kyurem able to:
- (Compulsory) Ability to cover weaknesses in the weather team that they are being put in. - Yes, it offers resistances to Water, Electric and Grass, which all rain teams do not like taking.
- (Optional) Is able to abuse your own weather condition in some way. - Not really, although it officially resists Fire now.
- (Compulsory) Punishes the weather condition that they prefer to be in. - Yes, BlizzSpamming is always fun, and Kyurem is one of the best abusers.


SUN:

Kingdra:

Spr_5b_230.png


Kingdra @ Chesto Berry
Ability: Swift Swim
EVs: 144 HP / 152 Atk / 40 SpD / 172 Spe
Nature: Adamant
- Dragon Dance
- Rest
- Outrage
- Waterfall

and

Kingdra @ Leftovers / Lum Berry
Ability: Swift Swim
EVs: 40 HP / 252 Atk / 216 Spe
Nature: Adamant
- Substitute
- Dragon Dance
- Outrage
- Waterfall

Now here's something a bit more weird. Why would you run Kingdra on a sun team, you ask? You can't use Swift Swim, and Waterfall is nerfed in the sun. However, the most important thing about Kingdra is his excellent typing. It boasts two excellent 4x resistances in Fire and Water. The first 4x resistance is to something that a lot of sun teams are weak to, since it gets powered up in the sun, while the second makes Kingdra a fantastic switch-in to any Water-typed attacker on a rain team. While it can't abuse the sun in anyway, Kingdra still offers that solid typing, as well as severely punishing rain teams with Ferrothorn gone. Since most sun teams don't give a crap about Ferrothorn at all, your opponent would be wondering which Pokemon to sacrifice if the situation arose. Do you sac Ferrothorn since it can't do much to most sun team abusers, or do you keep it because that Kingdra is looking ridiculously dangerous and ready to sweep whenever it dies?

Again, according to our criteria, is Kingdra able to:
- (Compulsory) Ability to cover weaknesses in the weather team that they are being put in. - Yes, it is able to offer excellent resistances that sun teams need, namely Fire and Water.
- (Optional) Is able to abuse your own weather condition in some way. - Unfortunately, no, but Kingdra has Dragon-type STAB, which is excellent in itself.
- (Compulsory) Punishes the weather condition that they prefer to be in. - Definitely. Swift Swim allows Kingdra to outspeed pretty much everything in the rain while getting Waterfall boosted.


Hippowdon:

Spr_5b_450_m.png

Hippowdon @ Leftovers
Ability: Sand Force
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Nature: Impish
- Earthquake
- Slack Off
- Stone Edge
- Roar / Ice Fang

While Hippowdon is normally a Sand Streamer, its ability Sand Force allows it to fit onto sun teams without disrupting Ninetales. This Hippowdon is not limited to just sun teams (it can fit onto rain and hail teams as well), but it works best in an OU sun team, since it checks the most threats for sun teams, namely Terrakion. Since stuff like Terrakion and Dragonite are both huge problems for sun teams, Hippowdon's massive physical defense allows it to take them on really well, as well as completely cockblocking Tyranitar. Just a note that Stealth Rock is illegal with Sand Force (I think).

Again, according to our criteria, is Hippowdon able to:
- (Compulsory) Ability to cover weaknesses in the weather team that they are being put in. - Yes, it is able wall Sandstorm sweepers, namely Terrakion, Landorus and Tyranitar, but also does well against other physical attackers like Dragonite.
- (Optional) Is able to abuse your own weather condition in some way. - No
- (Compulsory) Punishes the weather condition that they prefer to be in. - An interesting case, since without investment, Hippowdon isn't all that powerful, but in the sandstorm, it still gets to use 130 BP Earthquakes and Stone Edges, even though they're not that strong. Of course, it stops many, many Sandstorm sweepers by itself.

This Pokemon can also fit onto hail and rain teams if you wish.


From IcyMan28:

Kabutops:
141.png


Kabutops @ Life Orb
Ability: Swift Swim
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Nature: Adamant
- Swords Dance
- Stone Edge
- Rapid Spin
- Waterfall / Superpower

IcyMan28 said:
Normally seen in rain, Kabutops brings a few things to the table for sun. While 65/105/70 seems average, the 4x resistance to fire attacks it brings and the additional resistance to water it gains under the sun can come in handy. But what really lets it shine is that it has some offensive weight via its great attack and STAB combo, as well as Rapid Spin.

Thanks to Swords Dance, Kabutops can actually do significant damage with Stone Edge, averaging about 75% to physically defensive Skarmory. With this offensive presence, Kabutops is capable of OHKOing Jellicent, spinning freely should it need to, which is its main goal.

Kabutops also functions well against other weather teams. While sun doesn't need too much help against the ice-filled Hail archetype, Sand teams may present issues, particularly with Tyranitar or Hippowdon. Kabutops can readily take on these ground-types, either setting up as they switch or spinning. We all know what Kabutops can do in Rain, with only Ferrothorn and Gastrodon impeding its sweep. Fortunately, these two have 4x weaknesses to pokemon commonly seen on Drought teams.

Like I said, I haven't tested it, but it seems viable if only for the fact that it can spin without being otherwise useless like Forretress. The added pressure it adds against Rain teams is merely a bonus.
Click to expand...

Criteria:
- (Compulsory) Ability to cover weaknesses in the weather team that they are being put in. - Yes, it carries a nice 4x resistance to Fire, while being able to use Rapid Spin quite easily due to its ability to kill spin-blockers
- (Optional) Is able to abuse your own weather condition in some way. - No
- (Compulsory) Punishes the weather condition that they prefer to be in. - Swift Swim allows it to outspeed heaps of things in the rain and sweep quite easily with a Swords Dance up.


SAND:


HAIL:

From AJC and Jimera0:

243.png


Raikou @ Life Orb
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Nature: Rash
- Thunderbolt
- Weather Ball
- Aura Sphere
- Hidden Power Grass / Hidden Power Ice / Calm Mind

Anyway, this could have fitted on sun as well, but since I have Pokemon in the sun and none in Hail so far, I'll put it in Hail.

Of course, fairing well in its normal weather isn't enough for this topic; Raikou also functions well in Sun and Hail. Why? Well for one, as I mentioned it's great at luring in and demolishing Tyrantiar with Aura Sphere, which is a massive boon for both Sun and Hail. Secondly, in both weathers Weather Ball turns into a move that provides very useful coverage alongside Aura Sphere and Thunderbolt. A Psuedo STAB 100BP Fire type move is great for dealing with grass types that usually don't mind Raikou. In hail it essentially gets STAB Ice Beam with no freeze chance and 5 more BP, and I don't really need to explain to you the merits of a Bolt-Beam combo. Raikou is also a nightmare for Rain to deal with, thanks to its powerful electric type attacks and great speed, which again helps sun and hail out a lot. So while Raikou may be most commonly seen as a rain abuser in OU, it also is seriously dangerous on Sun and Hail too.
Click to expand...

Criteria:
- (Compulsory) Ability to cover weaknesses in the weather team that they are being put in. - Sort of, it resists Bullet Punch (which is pretty important in Hail teams) and can switch into bulky Waters like Tentacruel without much trouble at all and fire off powerful attacks. It also lures in Tyranitar and does a stack to it with Aura Sphere
- (Optional) Is able to abuse your own weather condition in some way. - 100 BP Ice move Weather Ball along with Thunderbolt is probably some of the best coverage ever.
- (Compulsory) Punishes the weather condition that they prefer to be in. - Rain teams hate taking Thunderbolts to the face, while in the rain, Weather Ball is like a 100 BP STAB move in itself (Water also provides great coverage), which is really good.

This Pokemon can also fit onto sun teams if you wish.


======

These are the Pokemon that I tested, but I know there are many more out there that other people I've used. I hope people can add more to the list, I'm really looking for participation from everyone here. If I like what I see, then I'll put your set into the OP as well.

Have fun!
 
Yeah I've used Kyurem a lot in rain, it works ridiculously well. Hydreigon is pretty similar of course. The only other example I can think of off the top of my head is Forretress on Sun teams, providing Rapid Spin and a switchin / check to the physical attackers who normally give Sun problems.
 
There are some pretty cool ideas here, but why on earth would you use Blizzard on Kyurem without Hail. That's just deliberately disadvantaging yourself in 95% of battles. I don't even think that Kyurem performs that strongly against Hail anyway. Also, on rain, you can't even threaten to use Hidden Power Fire, one of Kyurem's best coverage moves, letting it be obviously walled by a number of things.

Still, I think Kyurem is a viable Pokemon in any weather. Its stats are just that monstrous.
 
You can just about fit Terrakion on any team, as even without the Special Defense boost, Snunch was quite successful with Terrakion in rain (my rain team for SPL did have Focus Sash on my Rak.) during ST#8 finals and Stone_Cold eclipsed what sun had been needing all this time with his RMT showcasing Choice Band's enormous power.

Sun usually doesn't scream "Coverage Champion" which is why Terrakion is a fine addition to the team. In fact, does it not make true sense for a Pokemon to lure in Scizor, but making them think twice before locking themselves into a Choice-Bullet Punch because sun will capitalize on that immediately?
 
I would suggest weather ball raikou since it can fit on most weather teams on sun teams it can gives a check to rain teams and since weather ball not only becomes 100 BP during a weather it also becomes boosted by the weather if it's rain/sun allowing it to benefit from the weather and one could run thunder in a rain team and aura sphere gives t-tar something to think about.
 
AJC said:
I would suggest weather ball raikou since it can fit on most weather teams on sun teams it can gives a check to rain teams and since weather ball not only becomes 100 BP during a weather it also becomes boosted by the weather if it's rain/sun allowing it to benefit from the weather and one could run thunder in a rain team and aura sphere gives t-tar something to think about.
Click to expand...
but that's not exactly an unfavorable weather, this is supposed to be about using pokemon that see use on one type of weather team but can be effective on another
 
I think sand force hippowdon should be added as pokemon that works not only on Sun teams but on Hail too. It walls usually troublesome pokemon for hail teams like lucario, terrakion or scizor, and it has a nifty rock resistance too.
 
A question on the Sun Kingdra set but why wouldn't you simply opt for a LO/Specdra instead? Realistically he lacks quite a bit of power to be trying to brute force through a disadvantaged environment which Draco Meteor/Hydro Pump might make up slightly for.

Anyway this kind of discussion can't really go anywhere without a mention of Dragonite, that fat blob fits near perfectly into Rain/Hail/Sun teams with near no disadvantages.
 
AJC said:
I would suggest weather ball raikou since it can fit on most weather teams on sun teams it can gives a check to rain teams and since weather ball not only becomes 100 BP during a weather it also becomes boosted by the weather if it's rain/sun allowing it to benefit from the weather and one could run thunder in a rain team and aura sphere gives t-tar something to think about.
Click to expand...

Raikou generally has no problems in Sun or Hail, aside from not quite being able to use Thunder - again, Weather Ball is a good boon to Raikou sets dedicated to specific weather conditions. It is Sand that it must worry about, because of residual damage and the common Sand Streamers having attacks that OHKO Raikou in a heartbeat. Furthermore, what does Weather Ball turn to in Sand? Something that gets resisted by Hippowdon and something that Tyranitar can shrug off.
 
/B/utterfree said:
Raikou generally has no problems in Sun or Hail, aside from not quite being able to use Thunder - again, Weather Ball is a good boon to Raikou sets dedicated to specific weather conditions. It is Sand that it must worry about, because of residual damage and the common Sand Streamers having attacks that OHKO Raikou in a heartbeat. Furthermore, what does Weather Ball turn to in Sand? Something that gets resisted by Hippowdon and something that Tyranitar can shrug off.
Click to expand...

That's why if you're running Raikou with Weather Ball you run it with Aura Sphere too. If you're already being forced to run Rash thanks to Weather Ball, you might as well take advantage of that other really nice coverage move it gives you. I know Raikou functions very, very well on Rain from experience, and that the reason for this is partially because of how well it deals with opposing weather starters (well not so much Ninetails admitedly, but sand and hail just get wasted).

Of course, fairing well in its normal weather isn't enough for this topic; Raikou also functions well in Sun and Hail. Why? Well for one, as I mentioned it's great at luring in and demolishing Tyrantiar with Aura Sphere, which is a massive boon for both Sun and Hail. Secondly, in both weathers Weather Ball turns into a move that provides very useful coverage alongside Aura Sphere and Thunderbolt. A Psuedo STAB 100BP Fire type move is great for dealing with grass types that usually don't mind Raikou. In hail it essentially gets STAB Ice Beam with no freeze chance and 5 more BP, and I don't really need to explain to you the merits of a Bolt-Beam combo. Raikou is also a nightmare for Rain to deal with, thanks to its powerful electric type attacks and great speed, which again helps sun and hail out a lot. So while Raikou may be most commonly seen as a rain abuser in OU, it also is seriously dangerous on Sun and Hail too.

Here's the basic set.

Raikou @ Life Orb
Ability: Pressure
Nature: Rash
EVs: 252 SpA / 252 Spe / 4 HP
-Thunderbolt
-Weather Ball
-Aura Sphere
-Hidden Power Ice/Grass (Depending on weather being played) or even if you like, Calm Mind for some real shenanigans.
 
Okay, I'm going to put the Weather Ball Raikou up there, since I like the looks of it, and I might also put Terrakion in there as well, although if you see my next paragraph, it may be skirting on Pokemon that can "fit into any weather condition". EDIT: Actually, I've decided Terrakion IS one of those Pokemon who can run in all weather conditions, and the SpD boost on sand teams isn't really that huge of an attraction anyway.

Just about Dragonite and Forretress, they are more like Pokemon that can fit onto any weather condition. What I'm trying to compile in the OP are Pokemon which you'd normally associate the use with one weather condition only, like Kingdra and rain teams. Using them "out" of that weather condition kind of "puts them out of their comfort zone", if you will. Stuff like Dragonite and Forretress are comfortable in any weather condition, although I guess you could say Forretress gets like an 8x Fire weakness which is to say the least, redundant anyway.
 
this isnt regarding weather persay, but it does have to do with a field effect. trick room.

trick room is a team dedicated to slow bulky mon. however, i have one pokemon that i always have on my trick room teams..

and that is.. Sharpedo.

the mixed sharpedo can wreak havoc on a trick room team. there are times where a trick room team just canot set up tr, and they promptly get sweeped by a hard hitting wall breaker. sharpedo is great in this aspect in that it can make holes in teams or late game sweep even without the aid of trick room. also. sharpedo has protect to stall those leftover trick room turns and that makes sharpedo perfect on trick room teams.

(you can also use it on a sun team with hp fire for the lulz)
 
Starmie is usually associated with rain teams, but it is also pretty good in sun teams. Outspeeding and KOing Terrakion is pretty big when facing a sand team. It also has Ice Beam and can outspeed and KO the (unboosted) dragons that most Chlorophyll sweepers can't get past. Rapid Spin is obviously great on a sun team when using Volcarona and suchlike. It thrives against opposing rain teams as it can use Thunderbolt and possibly Hydro Pump if you can deal with it normally being weakened by the sun. There are probably more ways it helps sun teams but I can't remember anymore at this point.
Starmie doesn't particularly benefit from the sun, but it does enjoy Ferrothorn, Jirachi and Scizor being put under pressure from boosted Fire type moves, as they usually beat Starmie. It could also use HP Fire and deal with them itself.
 
Hmm, shrang, this is a cool idea! Have you considered turning this into a ladder challenge as well (e.g. using said Pokemon in unfavorable weather conditions to get as high as possible, stuff like that)? Also about Starmie, it helps sun teams combat rain as well, as it provides a spinner with an ever-important Water-type resistance, and considering that the only Pokemon on sun teams that conventionally resist Water-type moves are Dragons and Chlorophyll sweepers, it's fairly useful. Also, Dragons rampage against sun teams so long as they can get a single boost off, and Starmie can do a number to them with Ice Beam, so it is a considerable partner in the sun even if it has its primary STAB weakened by sun.
 
Jimera, if I'm not mistaken, your assertion that weather ball would act essentially as a STAB Ice Beam is incorrect, seeing as hail does not boost the power of Ice-type moves. Am I missing something?
 
This is really old, but back towards the beginnings of B/W I used a Vaporeon on my Sun team. The reasoning was similar to the reasoning for Kingdra, a Fire resist and well as a Water immunity and ability to check rain teams was very nice. But to add to that, Vaporeon can learn Sunny Day through Eevee, and became a backup source of the weather to insure victory in weather wars. I'm not sure if it would still work well, but I'm interested to try it out again.
 
Fizz said:
Jimera, if I'm not mistaken, your assertion that weather ball would act essentially as a STAB Ice Beam is incorrect, seeing as hail does not boost the power of Ice-type moves. Am I missing something?
Click to expand...

WOOPS you're correct. I guess it functions the same as NON stab Ice beam. My mistake, I did write that when I was rather tired. If Harsha could remove the "STAB" from my quoted post that should fix it.
 
Slowbro is pretty neat on more balanced Sun teams. It doesn't actually need its water STAB and can instead benefit from a powerful Fire Blast / Flamethrower to roast pesky Ferrothorn, and it can still dispatch Terrakion (a Pokemon Sun teams have problems switching into) with Psyshock. Thunder Wave gives the Sun teams paralysis support to help the Flare Blitz spammers tear apart faster Pokemon more easily, and also allows the Chlorophyll sweepers to continue to somewhat function should Ninetales be KOed.

80.png

Slowbro @ Leftovers
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpA
Nature: Bold
- Thunder Wave / Toxic
- Slack Off
- Psyshock
- Flamethrower / Fire Blast

However, I would like to note that Slowbro loses Sun teams a bit of momentum, which is pretty important for Sun teams. (Thunder Wave helps, however.) This is also true for Hippowdon -- I've tried it on Sun teams before, but often I found myself replacing it because it lost too much momentum. Roar helps prevent it from being setup bait, however.
 
Jimera0 said:
That's why if you're running Raikou with Weather Ball you run it with Aura Sphere too. If you're already being forced to run Rash thanks to Weather Ball, you might as well take advantage of that other really nice coverage move it gives you. I know Raikou functions very, very well on Rain from experience, and that the reason for this is partially because of how well it deals with opposing weather starters (well not so much Ninetails admitedly, but sand and hail just get wasted).

Of course, fairing well in its normal weather isn't enough for this topic; Raikou also functions well in Sun and Hail. Why? Well for one, as I mentioned it's great at luring in and demolishing Tyrantiar with Aura Sphere, which is a massive boon for both Sun and Hail. Secondly, in both weathers Weather Ball turns into a move that provides very useful coverage alongside Aura Sphere and Thunderbolt. A Psuedo STAB 100BP Fire type move is great for dealing with grass types that usually don't mind Raikou. In hail it essentially gets STAB Ice Beam with no freeze chance and 5 more BP, and I don't really need to explain to you the merits of a Bolt-Beam combo. Raikou is also a nightmare for Rain to deal with, thanks to its powerful electric type attacks and great speed, which again helps sun and hail out a lot. So while Raikou may be most commonly seen as a rain abuser in OU, it also is seriously dangerous on Sun and Hail too.

Here's the basic set.

Raikou @ Life Orb
Ability: Pressure
Nature: Rash
EVs: 252 SpA / 252 Spe / 4 HP
-Thunderbolt
-Weather Ball
-Aura Sphere
-Hidden Power Ice/Grass (Depending on weather being played) or even if you like, Calm Mind for some real shenanigans.
Click to expand...

I've been using this set on my sun team; it's absolutely amazing. Even without a +Spe nature, you still outspeed anything with base speed 100 or less, and your Cholorophyll guys can take care of the faster things. Great coverage and, as Jimera0 said, takes out a lot of big threats to sun teams.
 
In my opinion a good choice can be celebi in sun teams, can deal very well against sand and rain teams, or also landorus in rain teams can help against sun teams and sand teams.

An original solution to stop sun and rain teams can be haxorus DD/SD taunt is a really amazing pokemon paired with paraspam and mold breaker.

Victini can be useful in hail teams to get a stronger v-create from the sun and lure heatran with brick break.

But a pokemon that really can be in every team is terrakion who has an amazing power, in the scarf version is an amazing revenge killer who can stop volcarona for the hail teams.

Ferrothorn is good for sand teams, to help against hail and rain teams, especially because sand has upper hand against sun especially if use hippodown and ferrothorn can easily ohko politoed and abomasnow.
 
Woodchuck said:
Slowbro is pretty neat on more balanced Sun teams. It doesn't actually need its STAB and can instead benefit from a powerful Fire Blast / Flamethrower to roast pesky Ferrothorn, and it can still dispatch Terrakion (a Pokemon Sun teams have problems switching into) with Psyshock. Thunder Wave gives the Sun teams paralysis support to help the Flare Blitz spammers tear apart faster Pokemon more easily, and also allows the Chlorophyll sweepers to continue to somewhat function should Ninetales be KOed.

80.png

Slowbro @ Leftovers
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpA
Nature: Bold
- Thunder Wave / Toxic
- Slack Off
- Psyshock
- Flamethrower / Fire Blast

However, I would like to note that Slowbro loses Sun teams a bit of momentum, which is pretty important for Sun teams. (Thunder Wave helps, however.) This is also true for Hippowdon -- I've tried it on Sun teams before, but often I found myself replacing it because it lost too much momentum. Roar helps prevent it from being setup bait, however.
Click to expand...
Talking about Slowbro, which is definitely a great poke to use in sun,i find Slowking to fit better in sun teams, mainly because it can tank hits from rain abusers such as SpecsToed and Starmie, while also being able to tank many hits from special dragons that trouble sun teams, and finally tank an Energy Ball from an opposing Venusuar if the need arises and ohko back with Psyshock. Slowking can still wall Scarf Terrakion, which is one of the biggest threats to Sun teams, as it avoids the 2hko from SE with SR up. It can also wall CB Terrakion locked in CC, but generally CB Terrakion is not as big of a problem for sun teams, as they usually carry Focus Sash Dugtrio.

Here is the set i am talking about:

Slowking @ Lefties
Trait: Regenerator
evs: 252 HP / 216 Def / 40 SpD
Nature: Calm
- Psyshock
- Fire Blast / Flamethrower
- T-Wave / D-Tail
- Slack Off

The evs are enough to always survive 2 SE from Scarf Terra with SR in play and the rest are put to SpD, with a Calm nature, to achieve special bulk that Slowbro can't, allowing it to take special hits much better.
 
I haven't used/tested it, but what are people's thoughts on using an offensive Rapid Spin Kabutops on Sun Teams?

Kabutops@Life Orb
Adamant; 6 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe

Rapid Spin
Stone Edge
Waterfall
Swords Dance

Normally seen in rain, Kabutops brings a few things to the table for sun. While 65/105/70 seems average, the 4x resistance to fire attacks it brings and the additional resistance to water it gains under the sun can come in handy. But what really lets it shine is that it has some offensive weight via its great attack and STAB combo, as well as Rapid Spin.

Thanks to Swords Dance, Kabutops can actually do significant damage with Stone Edge, averaging about 75% to physically defensive Skarmory. With this offensive presence, Kabutops is capable of OHKOing Jellicent, spinning freely should it need to, which is its main goal.

Kabutops also functions well against other weather teams. While sun doesn't need too much help against the ice-filled Hail archetype, Sand teams may present issues, particularly with Tyranitar or Hippowdon. Kabutops can readily take on these ground-types, either setting up as they switch or spinning. We all know what Kabutops can do in Rain, with only Ferrothorn and Gastrodon impeding its sweep. Fortunately, these two have 4x weaknesses to pokemon commonly seen on Drought teams.

Like I said, I haven't tested it, but it seems viable if only for the fact that it can spin without being otherwise useless like Forretress. The added pressure it adds against Rain teams is merely a bonus.
 
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