As the title says this is a team I've put together and played about 50 games with on Pokemon Showdown. I would like the advice of others on how I could improve my team. I've already resigned myself to not winning against Trick Room; Perish Traps also give me trouble. But the main idea for this team was to have Charizard Y then build around countering the more commonly used Pokemon in the VGC/Battle Spot Special Season 2 metagame. Thank you for your time.
Charizard @ Charizardite Y
Ability: Blaze
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 SAtk / 4 HP
Timid Nature
- Solar Beam
- Heat Wave
- Air Slash
- Protect
I lilke Charizard and I wanted to make a team. So this team pretty much started with my just wanting to have Charizard on the team. And since Y is so good (mostly because I own Y for my 3DS) why not use it? Also because I really don't like Rotom-W so I figured Charizard would be a good a counter as any for that annoying Rotom form along with other bulky Waters. Heat Wave takes care of Klefki, Aegislash, Scizor, Mega Mawile, and pretty much any other steels along with hitting both of the opponent's Pokemon. Air Slash is for STAB flying coverage against anything the other attacks aren't able to hit super effectively. Standard EVs and Nature for a Special Sweeper.
Rotom-Mow @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 SDef / 252 HP / 4 SAtk
Calm Nature
- Leaf Storm
- Thunderbolt
- Will-O-Wisp
- Protect
Rotom-C is my back-up counter to Rotom-W/bulky Waters. Aside from that I also use it for the WoW burn on opposing Physical attackers such as Gyarados, Mega Kangaskhan/Mawile, Garchomp, etc. I opted for Thunderbolt over Discharge and Volt Switch mostly for the higher BP. Discharge hits all Pokemon on the field except for the user and that would be a terrible idea on my part given that 3 members of my team are weak to Electric. Volt Switch I decided wasn't really worth the decrease in power when I could just manually switch out anyways into Charizard for the incoming Fire/Ice/Bug attacks. Rotom-C doesn't get much use in practice and mostly only comes out when I see I'm against a Physically heavy opponent to drop WoW on. Wasn't sure a good Nature/EV spread so went with the recommended Specially Defensive set from the simulator.
Cloyster @ King's Rock
Ability: Skill Link
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 Atk / 4 HP
Jolly Nature
- Icicle Spear
- Rock Blast
- Shell Smash
- Spike Cannon
This guy is supposed to be my Dragon and Talonflame counter. With Skill Link and a King's Rock he can put the hurt on Dragons such as Garchomp. Flinching doesn't matter much against Talonflame since it is so much faster than Cloyster but due to his Defensive bulk he can easily take one Brave Bird and then hit back for the KO with Rock Blast. Spike Cannon is there just because it's the only other attack that he learns that triggers Skill Link. Went with a Jolly nature since I think Cloyster needs all the speed he can get when I'm not running any priority attacks and because this was what was recommended.
Talonflame @ Choice Band
Ability: Gale Wings
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 Atk / 4 HP
Adamant Nature
IVs: 0 Spd
- Brave Bird
- Flare Blitz
- U-turn
- Protect
Good old Talonflame. Too good not to use and I actually like its design. Sure it means I now have another Electric + double Rock weakness but it hasn't really let me down yet with the right partner. Originally I ran a more support Talonflame that used Tailwind but that didn't work out very well for me. So decided to just do a Choice Band set for it. More often than not I end up using priority Brave Bird which allows me to 2HKO Rotom-W easily. Flare Blitz is for STAB coverage and U-Turn is for the rare occasions when it seems too dangerous to stay in. Makes an excellent Physical sweeper.
Medicham @ Medichamite
Ability: Pure Power
EVs: 252 Atk / 252 HP / 4 SDef
Adamant Nature
- Bullet Punch
- Psycho Cut
- Rock Slide
- Drain Punch
After Mega Evolving Medicham's rises to 100 base that is then doubled due to Pure Power to a whopping 200 base. Sure Mega Mawile has higher attack and better typing but it is much more common and more people are ready for it than Mega Medicham. Medicham brings to the table much needed priority attacks outside of Gale Wings Brave Bird. At first I opted for Fake Out in the set but switching in and out all the time isn't exactly common practice in Doubles/VGC unless someone is taking advantage of Intimidate. Unfortunately Medicham doesn't learn Mach Punch so I had to go with Bullet Punch which helps deals with Fairy types. Rock Slide is for coverage against Flying types such as enemy Talonflame, Charizard, Salamence, Dragonite. Whereas Psycho Cut and Drain Punch take advantage of Medicham's double typing for dual STAB. I suppose I could've gone with Mega Kangaskhan instead but I don't think too many people would give Medicham a second look compared to seeing a Kangaskhan in the team preview. Went with a Bulky Physical Sweeper spread.
Meowstic (M) @ Light Clay
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 HP / 4 Atk
Hasty Nature
- Quick Guard
- Light Screen
- Reflect
- Psychic
Last but not least I would like to say that Meowstic (M) is the unsung hero of my team most of the time but it's pretty obvious when it is due to the utility this cat brings that battles are won. Originally I used to run a Safeguard/Swagger/Thunder Wave/Psychic setup on him to provide the +2 Attack to my Physical sweepers but after a few battles vs Fake Out users and running up against Quick Guard users myself, I decided to give him Quick Guard. This one attack has saved me many times, especially against enemy Talonflame, Prankster users, and Taunt users. Especially helpful against the rarely seen Liepard which is slightly faster than Meowstic. When faced with opponents lacking priority attacks I instead choose to set up dual screens then add in extra damage with Psychic. I've noticed that once I get screens up most people tend to ignore Meowstic after that usually not expecting a damaging attack which has helped to secure some KOs that would not have happened otherwise. He uses a Bulky Fast Support spread.
Charizard @ Charizardite Y
Ability: Blaze
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 SAtk / 4 HP
Timid Nature
- Solar Beam
- Heat Wave
- Air Slash
- Protect
I lilke Charizard and I wanted to make a team. So this team pretty much started with my just wanting to have Charizard on the team. And since Y is so good (mostly because I own Y for my 3DS) why not use it? Also because I really don't like Rotom-W so I figured Charizard would be a good a counter as any for that annoying Rotom form along with other bulky Waters. Heat Wave takes care of Klefki, Aegislash, Scizor, Mega Mawile, and pretty much any other steels along with hitting both of the opponent's Pokemon. Air Slash is for STAB flying coverage against anything the other attacks aren't able to hit super effectively. Standard EVs and Nature for a Special Sweeper.
Rotom-Mow @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 SDef / 252 HP / 4 SAtk
Calm Nature
- Leaf Storm
- Thunderbolt
- Will-O-Wisp
- Protect
Rotom-C is my back-up counter to Rotom-W/bulky Waters. Aside from that I also use it for the WoW burn on opposing Physical attackers such as Gyarados, Mega Kangaskhan/Mawile, Garchomp, etc. I opted for Thunderbolt over Discharge and Volt Switch mostly for the higher BP. Discharge hits all Pokemon on the field except for the user and that would be a terrible idea on my part given that 3 members of my team are weak to Electric. Volt Switch I decided wasn't really worth the decrease in power when I could just manually switch out anyways into Charizard for the incoming Fire/Ice/Bug attacks. Rotom-C doesn't get much use in practice and mostly only comes out when I see I'm against a Physically heavy opponent to drop WoW on. Wasn't sure a good Nature/EV spread so went with the recommended Specially Defensive set from the simulator.
Cloyster @ King's Rock
Ability: Skill Link
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 Atk / 4 HP
Jolly Nature
- Icicle Spear
- Rock Blast
- Shell Smash
- Spike Cannon
This guy is supposed to be my Dragon and Talonflame counter. With Skill Link and a King's Rock he can put the hurt on Dragons such as Garchomp. Flinching doesn't matter much against Talonflame since it is so much faster than Cloyster but due to his Defensive bulk he can easily take one Brave Bird and then hit back for the KO with Rock Blast. Spike Cannon is there just because it's the only other attack that he learns that triggers Skill Link. Went with a Jolly nature since I think Cloyster needs all the speed he can get when I'm not running any priority attacks and because this was what was recommended.
Talonflame @ Choice Band
Ability: Gale Wings
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 Atk / 4 HP
Adamant Nature
IVs: 0 Spd
- Brave Bird
- Flare Blitz
- U-turn
- Protect
Good old Talonflame. Too good not to use and I actually like its design. Sure it means I now have another Electric + double Rock weakness but it hasn't really let me down yet with the right partner. Originally I ran a more support Talonflame that used Tailwind but that didn't work out very well for me. So decided to just do a Choice Band set for it. More often than not I end up using priority Brave Bird which allows me to 2HKO Rotom-W easily. Flare Blitz is for STAB coverage and U-Turn is for the rare occasions when it seems too dangerous to stay in. Makes an excellent Physical sweeper.
Medicham @ Medichamite
Ability: Pure Power
EVs: 252 Atk / 252 HP / 4 SDef
Adamant Nature
- Bullet Punch
- Psycho Cut
- Rock Slide
- Drain Punch
After Mega Evolving Medicham's rises to 100 base that is then doubled due to Pure Power to a whopping 200 base. Sure Mega Mawile has higher attack and better typing but it is much more common and more people are ready for it than Mega Medicham. Medicham brings to the table much needed priority attacks outside of Gale Wings Brave Bird. At first I opted for Fake Out in the set but switching in and out all the time isn't exactly common practice in Doubles/VGC unless someone is taking advantage of Intimidate. Unfortunately Medicham doesn't learn Mach Punch so I had to go with Bullet Punch which helps deals with Fairy types. Rock Slide is for coverage against Flying types such as enemy Talonflame, Charizard, Salamence, Dragonite. Whereas Psycho Cut and Drain Punch take advantage of Medicham's double typing for dual STAB. I suppose I could've gone with Mega Kangaskhan instead but I don't think too many people would give Medicham a second look compared to seeing a Kangaskhan in the team preview. Went with a Bulky Physical Sweeper spread.
Meowstic (M) @ Light Clay
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 HP / 4 Atk
Hasty Nature
- Quick Guard
- Light Screen
- Reflect
- Psychic
Last but not least I would like to say that Meowstic (M) is the unsung hero of my team most of the time but it's pretty obvious when it is due to the utility this cat brings that battles are won. Originally I used to run a Safeguard/Swagger/Thunder Wave/Psychic setup on him to provide the +2 Attack to my Physical sweepers but after a few battles vs Fake Out users and running up against Quick Guard users myself, I decided to give him Quick Guard. This one attack has saved me many times, especially against enemy Talonflame, Prankster users, and Taunt users. Especially helpful against the rarely seen Liepard which is slightly faster than Meowstic. When faced with opponents lacking priority attacks I instead choose to set up dual screens then add in extra damage with Psychic. I've noticed that once I get screens up most people tend to ignore Meowstic after that usually not expecting a damaging attack which has helped to secure some KOs that would not have happened otherwise. He uses a Bulky Fast Support spread.