Pet Mod VGC 20XX [2.2 - Version Exclusives]

[Sugarbear]

Approved by Yoshiblaze

VGC 20XX
​

Welcome to VGC 20XX, a pet mod based around Pokemon's official competitive format. In this mod, we will be focused on creating a new generation of Pokemon to do battle with, though old ones will be returning as well. This generation, we're going back to basics! No megas, no Z moves, no Dynamax and no Tera. As well as creating new Pokemon, moves, items and abilities, we will also be having weekly discussions about other topics (e.g. should Frostbite replace Freeze, should the Bug type be buffed and if so how?). You can also suggest miscellaneous new stuff (moves, items, abilities etc.), and if they're not broken / pointless I'll add them.

If you're new to playing VGC

VGC matches are double battles where you and your opponent make a team of 6 Pokemon and then bring 4 to the battle. Because it doesn't follow Smogon's banlist, things like Evasion boosting moves, Baton Pass and Sleep are legal (though the former two aren't very good in this format). Owing to the much shorter match length, strategies like Trick Room and Tailwind are much more effective here. Protect or one of its variants is ubiquitous, entry hazards are non existent since switching is much riskier and therefore rarer, and EV spreads tend to be much more complex (a lot of players run enough bulk to survive a particular move, or outrun a particular Pokemon after a boost for example). Personally I would say it's harder than 6v6 singles, but I still enjoy it more, as it frees up a lot of strategies impossible in singles. And stall is virtually non-existent, which is always a plus.

Rules:
All Pokemon will be auto-levelled to 50.
Item clause
Species clause
Open team sheets
All mythical Pokemon are banned

Use this format for your submissions

Bold = compulsory.

Name: Pokemon's name
Type: Type combination
Abilities: Hidden ability in Italics. They are always available. If you create a new one, say what it does.
Base stats: List in order of HP, Attack, Defense, Special Attack, Special Defense, Speed
Useful moves
Physical:
Special:
Status: You don't have to list entire movepool, just the stuff you think it would actually run. Everything gets Protect. If you create a new move for it, say what it does.
Weight: Needed for Low Kick, Heavy Slam etc. calcs. Give in kilos. Google has a weight converter if you're unfamiliar.
Gender: Needed for Cute Charm, Rivalry etc. Just say both, none, (fe)male only.
Competitive use: Talk about what role(s) you think your Pokemon will play in battle.
Is it broken?: Talk about what flaw(s) your Pokemon has that keep it balanced.
Size: Give in Metres.
Egg group:
Appearance: Describe it, or use one of those fusion sprite generators, your call
Pokedex:

Questions and Answers

Is it playable?
Yes! You can play it here: http://191.101.232.116/ . It takes a while to load, but don't worry.

Can my Pokemon be a regional forme, convergent evolution, regular evolution or paradox version of a pre existing Pokemon?
Yes to the first three, no to paradoxes.

Will we be creating new types?
No.

Will there be new weather or terrains?
Yes, for the first few slates I'm sticking with Pokemon, but down the line I do plan to introduce those.

Why open teamsheets?
Everyone I've spoken to says they prefer it, as it promotes a more skill based meta as opposed to random cheese designed to catch opponents out.

Can I change my submitted Pokemon?
Sure, just edit your original post before the deadline.

Will we get a restricted format?
Eventually, if this one picks up enough steam.

 

[Sugarbear]

Resources

Vaibility ranking

Hide

TBA

List of new Pokemon, abilities, moves and items

Returning old Pokemon and changes to older stuff

New Pokemon Analyses

Hide

Muaycacque

Returning Pokemon Analyses

Hide

Snorlax

Sample Teams (? Unown sprite represents new Pokemon)
TBA

 

[Sugarbear]

OK everyone, it's time to start the very first slate! And we begin with...the Starters! 3 Pokemon, their primary types must be Grass, Fire and Water (secondary type is up to you), their main abilities must be Overgrow, Blaze and Torrent (Hidden abilities are up to you). Base stat total limit is 530. You can give them signature moves if you wish. The slate will run until Saturday the 17th of August.

This week's discussion topic: Should the Bug-type be buffed, and if so how?
Bug is largely considered the worst type in the meta. Ice used to have this title, but in Gen 8 and especially 9, they have climbed off the junk pile (Wolfe Glick explains how here). Can Bug be rescued too?

Here are my creations:

Name: Newfamberland
Type: Grass / Rock
Ability: Overgrow / Guard Dog
Base stats: 75 / 110 / 120 / 60 / 70 / 95 (530 BST)
Useful Moves:
Physical: Rock Slide, Rock Blast, Leaf Blade, Power Whip, Grassy Glide, Close Combat, Body Press, Boulder Bash (80 BP, Rock, targets 1 opponent, 16 PP, always reduces opponent's defence by 1 stage).
Special: None (SpA is too low)
Status: Spiky Shield, Howl, Helping Hand, Taunt, Floral Healing, Bulk Up
Weight: 61.2
Gender: Both
Competitive use: It's designed to be a support mon that can still dish out solid damage.
Is it broken?: It doesn't get any moves that are too bonkers, and while its speed is above average it's not amazing.

Name: Kelvohm
Type: Fire / Electric
Ability: Blaze / Galvanize
Base Stats: 58 / 92 / 61 / 129 / 80 / 90
Useful Moves:
Physical: Flame Charge, Nuzzle, Fake Out
Special: Flamethrower, Heat Wave, Overheat, Fire Blast, Thunderbolt, Volt Switch, Discharge, Focus Blast, Hyper Voice
Status: Thunder Wave, Will-o-Wisp, Step Up (Charges for a turn, then next turn boosts its Attack, Special Attack and Speed by 2 stages. Electric, 8 PP, self target.)
Weight: 12.7
Gender: Both
Competitive use: It can either be an all out attacker or a set up sweeper.
Is it broken?: That bulk is pretty dismal and its typing leaves it with easily exploitable weaknesses. Its speed isn't great either.

Name: Tundrorca
Type: Water / Ice
Ability: Torrent / Strong Jaw
Base Stats: 140 / 130 / 60 / 80 / 65 / 55
Useful Moves:
Physical: Wave Crash, Aqua Jet, Flip Turn, Icicle Spear, Icicle Crash, Ice Fang, Earthquake, Superpower, Whale Bite (85 BP, Water-type, 16 PP, 1 target, 100% accuracy, destroys the target's held item.)
Special: Freeze-Dry, Icy Wind
Status: Perish Song
Weight: 1360
Gender: Both
Competitive use: It's a Trick Room sweeper, though with Aqua Jet it can still put in work once the dimensions have been returned to normal.
Is it broken?: Without Trick Room it doesn't outrun very much, its massive HP is undercut by low defence stats, and unless you can fit Freeze-Dry it struggles against opposing Water types.

Should Bug types be buffed (and if so how)?

Yes. I propose that we change the item Honey from being pointless to having a special effect when held by a Bug-type. When held by a Bug-type or a Pokemon with the ability Honey Gather, Honey grants a +1 boost to the holder's highest stat at the end of the first turn they're sent out. But it's consumed after use. Think of it like a cross between Flame Orb and Booster Energy. This could give sweepers like Volcarona and Speed Boost Yanmega devastating power, or you use it on Accelgor to trigger Unburden and give yourself a +1 Special Attack boost.

Misc new stuff

Move name: Mighty Blow. Type: Normal. BP: 60. Max PP: 8. Physical. Makes contact. Base power doubles if the user has a higher Attack stat than the target. I think this'll give physical Normal types a nice STAB to use again. Its great power is balanced out by the fact that Intimidate is common in VGC. Normal type attacks apart from Fake Out are also rare without STAB. I imagine this move going to big burly Pokemon, or mons known for their aggressive behaviour.

 

[Ubertrainer2000]

Unifying Theme of the Starters: Each starter is named after a great unifier of Japan, and has design inspirations from a different video game company (As they are in the Video Game Championships: Nobunallen is supposed to be based off Nintendo Characters, Glitztoyo draws inspiration from Capcom's Mega Man, and Chimtoku is supposed to resemble something SEGA's Sonic the Hedgehog would face)

Name: Nobunallen (Nobunaga + Allen's Hummingbird)
Type:
Ability: Overgrow / Clear Body
Base stats: 65/85/90/90/80/120 (530)
Useful Moves:
Physical: Leaf Blade, Brave Bird, Frenzy Plant, Trailblaze, Drill Peck, Acrobatics, X-Scissor, Lunge
Special: Giga Drain, Air Slash, Zephyr Screech (30 BP, Flying-type, 16 PP, 1 target, 100% accuracy, +1 Priority, the user sets up Tailwind.)
Status: Swords Dance, Nasty Plot, Synthesis, Endure, Roost, Agility, Tailwind
Weight: 54.0 lbs.
Gender: Both
Competitive use: This Allen's Hummingbird Pokémon that conveys pure wind energy across it's long wings serves as a Risky Setup Sweeper with it's ability to boost both of it's attacking stats and set up Tailwind with it's signature move. Keep this bird away from Ice-type moves, and watch the enemies fly...literally!
Is it broken?: (Weakness) Very, very vulnerable to Ice-type moves. It also doesn't have that much HP or good Special Coverage...

Name: Glitztoyo (Glitz + Toyotomi)
Type:
Ability: Blaze / Prankster
Base stats: 70/70/84/116/82/108 (530)
Useful Moves:
Physical: Extreme Speed, Flame Charge, Flare Blitz, Play Rough, Explosion, Axe Kick, Foul Play
Special: Blast Burn, Flamethrower, Fire Blast, Shadow Ball, Dazzling Gleam, Strange Steam, Sludge Bomb
Status: Agility, Helping Hand, Nasty Plot, Toxic, Confuse Ray, Substitute, Graffiti Bomb (Plants a bomb on the target. If the target tries to use a Status move, the bomb explodes on them first, taking 25% of their HP away. It has no effect on Fire-type Pokémon. Fire, 8 PP, 1 target.)
Weight: 114.6 lbs.
Gender: Both
Competitive use: This playful little fellow is armed with a pair of spray cans laced with explosive paint, that it uses to demolish buildings that it thinks are no fun for it's rollerskates. In VGC 20XX, however, it serves as a Fast Prankster Sweeper, using it's signature move to make opponents think twice about using status moves....or anything in particular, really!
Is it broken?: (Weakness) Of course, Prankster has no effect on Dark-types, and it is balanced all around.

Name: Chimtoku (Chimaera, AKA the Ghost Shark + Tokugawa)
Type:
Ability: Torrent / Cursed Body
Base stats: 120/106/64/102/58/80 (530)
Useful Moves:
Physical: Wave Crash, Liquidation, Crunch, Poltergeist, Double-Edge, Keelhaul (90 BP, Ghost-type, 16 PP, 1 target, 100% accuracy, the user sets up Grudge.)
Special: Hydro Cannon, Surf, Shadow Ball, Ice Beam, Blizzard, Dark Pulse, Sludge Wave, Sludge Bomb
Status: Destiny Bond, Wide Guard, Disable, Spite, Rain Dance, Aqua Ring
Weight: 195.8 lbs.
Gender: Both
Competitive use: Inspired by the Chimaera, this giant ghostly shark has often been seen dragging down ships that it thinks are delivering items related to speed, as it wants nothing to be faster than it's deadly jaws which can snap an oil tanker in two. It's primary role is a Suicide Lead, using it's signature move Keelhaul to make sure that one of it's opponent's moves is going down with it...oh, and did we mention it gets Destiny Bond too? If it's going down first, it's taking an enemy with it!
Is it broken?: (Weakness) Has paper thin defenses, and it may get knocked out before it can use it's attacks.

 

[Yoshiblaze]

The general theme here was just to use secondary typings that no other non-Mega Starter Pokemon have ever had (Normal, Bug, Dragon, Electric, Ice, Rock)

Name: Deermint (Deer + Spearmint)
Type:

Abilities: Overgrow / Slush Rush
Base stats: 102 / 80 / 81 / 103 / 70 / 94
Useful moves:

Horn Leech, Seed Bomb, Petal Blizzard, Bullet Seed, Icicle Spear, Icicle Crash, Ice Shard, Earthquake, Body Press, Megahorn, Brick Break, High Horsepower, Grassy Glide

Blizzard, Ice Beam, Leaf Storm, Giga Drain, Energy Ball, Water Pulse, Grass Pledge, Frenzy Plant, Hyper Voice, Icy Wind, Grass Knot, Minty Breath*, Solar Beam, Weather Ball

Aurora Veil, Snowscape, Leech Seed, Swords Dance, Grassy Terrain, Worry Seed, Helping Hand, Synthesis, Haze, Rain Dance
(Universal Moves: Protect, Endure, Sleep Talk, Rest, Substitute, Facade, Take Down, Hyper Beam, Giga Impact)

Minty Breath

Name: Minty Breath
Type:

Category:

Base Points: 30
Power Points: 15 (24 max)
Accuracy: 100%
Flags: Protect, Mirror, Metronome
Effect: Usually moves first (+1 priority). Ignores redirection and makes its target the center of attention for the rest of the turn if it hits.

Weight: 180 kg
Gender: Both (87.5% Male, 12.5% Female)
Competitive use: Game Freak has been very careful to make every Slush Rush user primarily a physical attacker, since the getting spam to Blizzards at doubled Speed is inherently a very scary prospect. They dared to give Arctozolt a usable 90 SpA and it started tearing through things in singles with Blizzard, for example. right here looks to push that boundary, sporting a good 103 SpA and great 102/81 physical bulk in Snow, even uninvested. Its typical plan will always be to just spam Blizzard in Snow, with its main other positive trait being its signature move Minty Breath providing some counterplay to redirection by both ignoring itself to net chip damage and letting your opponent bypass it as well.
Is it broken?: Deermint is heavily reliant on Snow to be effective, since all of its stats are pretty average and Grass/Ice is an awful defensive typing in spite of its pretty good bulk. Additionally, Deermint is pretty helpless against Fire and Steel-types since it lacks any Special coverage for them, making it fairly easy to wall, especially since for at least one turn it'll need to be next to another Ice-type to activate Slush Rush, which can put its side of field in an awkward bind against them.
Size: 1.8 m
Egg Group: Field

Name: Scinchilla (Scintilla (spark in Latin) + Chinchilla)
Type:

Abilities: Blaze / Electric Surge
Base stats: 81 / 101 / 72 / 84 / 76 / 116
Useful moves:

Wild Charge, Supercell Slam, Flare Blitz, Fire Fang, Stomping Tantrum, Brick Break, Thunder Fang, Knock Off, Quick Attack, Upper Hand, Temper Flare, Feint, Crunch, Psychic Fangs, U-Turn, Gunk Shot, Super Fang, Chewing Wire*

Volt Switch, Electroweb, Heat Wave, Fire Pledge, Flamethrower, Fire Blast, Focus Blast, Thunderbolt, Thunder, Electro Ball, Solar Beam, Overheat, Blast Burn

Will-O-Wisp, Thunder Wave, Taunt, Electric Terrain, Light Screen, Encore, Eerie Impulse, Work Up, Sunny Day
(Universal Moves: Protect, Endure, Sleep Talk, Rest, Substitute, Facade, Take Down, Hyper Beam, Giga Impact)

Chewing Wire

Name: Chewing Wire
Type:

Category:

Base Points: 80
Power Points: 15 (24 max)
Accuracy: 100%
Flags: Protect, Mirror, Metronome, Bite
Effect: 30% chance to either paralyze or burn the foe.

Weight: 8 kg
Gender: Both (87.5% Male, 12.5% Female)
Competitive use: Fairly simple fast attacking Fire-type that can threaten Waters with STAB Terrain-boosted Chewing Wires, while naturally providing utility in Electric Terrain blocking Sleep. Also comes packed with a lot of good utility, including Electroweb for Speed control, TWave and Wisp for status, pivoting in U-Turn, the underrated Super Fang, the always good fast Taunt and Encore, and the niche Feint.
Is it broken?: 81/72/76 isn't the absolute worst bulk in the world, but still low enough that this thing will be lucky to survive a turn without a Focus Sash, and if you do have Focus Sash then you can't run Flare Blitz. Plus, while massively helped by terrain, 101 Attack isn't very hard, so it's not the strongest offensive Pokemon ever. Plus, while its typing giving it both a burn and paralysis immunity is great, Fire/Electric is pretty bad defensively, making its meh bulk even worse. Also has serious 4MSS since it has so many utility moves it might want to use but can only fit 1-2 alongside its STABs.
Size: 0.5 m
Egg Group: Field

Name: Delphynan (Delphinidae (Dolphin) + Synanceia (Stonefish); This is a dolphin with a pet rock on its head, but it's a mind controlling Stonefish)
Type:

Abilities: Torrent / Poison Point
Base stats: 91 / 70 / 70 / 123 / 100 / 76
Useful moves:

Flip Turn, Liquidation, Waterfall, Stone Edge, Rock Slide, Poison Jab, Avalanche, Aqua Tail, Ice Spinner, Zen Headbutt, Body Press, Whirlpool, Rock Tomb

Hydro Pump, Surf, Muddy Water, Weather Ball, Meteor Beam, Power Gem, Sludge Bomb, Sludge Wave, Psychic, Extrasensory, Psyshock, Ice Beam, Blizzard, Icy Wind, Water Pledge, Hydro Cannon, Venoshock, Stored Power, Ancient Power

Hidden Wall*, Rock Polish, Wide Guard, Rain Dance, Snowscape, Sandstorm, Recover, Toxic, Toxic Spikes, Stealth Rock, Iron Defense, Amnesia, Yawn
(Universal Moves: Protect, Endure, Sleep Talk, Rest, Substitute, Facade, Take Down, Hyper Beam, Giga Impact)

Hidden Wall

Name: Hidden Wall
Type:

Category:

Base Points: --
Power Points: 10 (16 max)
Accuracy: --
Flags: N/A
Effect: Protect clone. Foes that make contact have their Special Defense lowered by 1 stage.

Weight: 90 kg
Gender: Both (87.5% Male, 12.5% Female)
Competitive use: Click Meteor Beam in Tailwind or Trick Room and then get as many KOes as you can before you die, very simple. Water/Rock is a great offensive typing, backed by Sludge Bomb or Ice Beam for Grass-types, making Delphynan a scary wallbreaker with its great 123 Special Attack and high powered STABs. Not too much else to it, though utility in Wide Guard is nice.
Is it broken?: Water/Rock isn't a great defensive typing and 91/70/100 bulk is pretty mid, so it'll be pretty hard for Delphynan to contribute sometimes as it's not the hardest thing to get off the field quickly, even with the threat of SpD drops from Hidden Wall. Plus, its Speed tier does allow it to function in both Trick Room and Tailwind, but it's not the best at either, putting it in a pretty awkward position sometimes.
Size: 1.5 m
Egg Group: Field, Water 2


Should Bug-types be buffed?
I'm definitely not opposed to buffing the Bug-type as a whole, but I do think it might be more effective to make stronger Bug-types and/or directly buff specific past gen Bug-types. Bug is definitely the worst type in the game, but its situation isn't quite as dire in VGC as it is in singles since hazards don't matter, so Bug's poor defensive profile matters a bit less and they actually get an item slot, with its main flaws being its Rock Slide and Heat Wave weaknesses. Bug also sucks offensively, but the existence of U-turn makes buffing the type offensively something I'm weary of, even with the move being weaker in doubles. Thus, I think would likely be easier and more effective to make stronger Bug-types rather than buffing the type itself, since the vast majority of Bug-types having awful stats really holds back their potential and, even with Snow being a fairly major buff, the biggest buff Gen 9 gave to Ice-types was making good Ice-types like Chien-Pao and Iron Bundle (and Glastrier and Calyrex-Ice in Gen 8).

If we do buff Bug-types as a whole however, my suggestion, based on one of the suggestions in Moxie Boosted's video on Bug-types, would be to make Bug-types immune to powder moves like Grass-types are. In the video, Moxie suggests making Bug-types immune to all kinds of redirection, which would work but might be a bit too strong, while making them immune to powder moves still provides counterplay to Rage Powder while giving Bugs that coveted Spore immunity that Grass-types enjoy so much, while also fitting flavor pretty well.

 

[PalpitoadChamp]

Grass-type

Name: Heavinon (Tree of Heaven + Phenominon)

Type: Grass/Poison
Abilities: Overgrow // Poison Point
Base Stats: 87/93/96/63/72/119 (BST: 530)

Movepool: Toxic Spikes, Synthesis, Growth, Wood Hammer, Gunk Shot, Poison Jab, Seed Bomb, Follow Me, Giga Drain, Energy Ball, Sludge Bomb, Sludge Wave, Superpower, Poison Gas, Iron Defense, Body Press (Full movepool will be made if this wins)

Acid Rain - Poison / Special / 20 bp / 100% acc / 15 (24) pp / Hits both opponents. If the target is poisoned, lowers their SpA, Spe, and Eva by 1.

Weight: 120 kg
Gender: 87.5% male, 12.5% female
Design: Boiled One Phenominon but in tree form + more humanoid and Pokemon in design

Competitive: Heavinon is a potent poison spreader through various methods with Poison Point, Toxic Spikes, and Poison Gas. On top of that, it possesses 93/119 offensive power with strong stabs. However, it is also capable of leveraging its 96 defense stat for Iron Defense Body Press for solid coverage. It also has recovery in Synthesis and utility in Follow Me that provides lots of power in being an IronPress user, poison spreader, and a rather fast mon. Shoutouts to XtheGAMEmaster for the original idea.

Fire-type

Name: Almgid (Ram + Algid)

Type: Fire/Ice
Abilities: Blaze // Ice Body
Base Stats: 123/46/111/79/112/59 (BST: 530)

Movepool: Fire Blast, Flamethrower, Lava Plume, Ice Beam, Blizzard, Weather Ball, Will-O-Wisp, Iron Defense, Calm Mind, Magic Coat, Taunt

Refreeze - Ice / Status / - bp / - acc / 5 (8) pp / Heals the user by 50% of their max hp. If the user last, summons Snow for 5 turns.

Weight: 64 kg
Gender: 87.5% male, 12.5% female
Design: Icy and Fiery Goat man

Competitive: Almgid is a relatively potent wall with 123/111/112 defenses comboed with 79 SpA Calm Mind shenanigans for a terrifying offensive presense. Almgid also packs recovery that can allow for even more passive recovery with its ability Ice Body allowing for a strong CM mon with lots og longevity. Almgid has several key weaknesses however, such as a weak defensive typing meaning those potent defensive stats have a harder time pulling through. Almgid is also rather slow at 59, making TR support a rather important aspect if you want Almgid to outspeed any threats.

Water-type

Name: Dolosseum (Dolomedes + Colosseum)

Type: Water/Bug
Abilities: Torrent // Intimidate
Base Stats: 89/117/58/73/81/112 (BST: 530)

Movepool: Lunge, Leech Life, Liquidation, Aqua Jet, Sticky Web, Infestation, Jaw Lock, Bulldoze, Sand Tomb, Acrobatics, Swords Dance, Whirlpool

Hunter Fangs - Bug / Physical / 70 bp / 100 acc / 10 (16) pp / Has 2x bp if the target is trapped. [Biting, Contact]

Weight: 230 kg
Gender: 87.5% male, 12.5% female
Design: Massive spider with gladiator aspects

Competitive: Dolosseum comes in swinging with powerful 127/112 offenses with SD to boot. With a trapping move or trapping support, Dolosseum can blast out insanely large Hunter Fangs to blow holes in opponents. However, Dolosseum is rather squishy allowing for it to get teamed up on easily. It also packs some utility options if you want to go wild.

Bug Buffs?

Make Bugs immune to Powder moves and Confusion.

 

[zxgzxg]

Theme: Rock-Paper-Scissors Relics, Funny Protect Clones

Pokemon: Nemorald
Type:

Ability: Overgrow / Telepathy
Stats: 76 / 107 / 60 / 107 / 70 / 115
Movepool:

Physical: Earthquake, Lunge, Megahorn, Power Whip, Rock Slide, Rock Tomb, Shadow Claw, Skitter Smack, Stone Edge, U-turn, Wood Hammer, X-Scissor​

Special: Bug Buzz, Dazzling Gleam, Earth Power, Energy Ball, Focus Blast, Giga Drain, Grass Pledge, Leaf Storm, Meteor Beam, Petal Blizzard, Power Gem, Psychic, Psyshock, Shadow Ball​

Status: Beguilling Bane, Calm Mind, Curse, Destiny Bond, Entrainment, Follow Me, Helping Hand, Rage Powder, Leech Seed, Life Dew, Stealth Rock, Synthesis, Taunt, Trick, Trick Room, Wide Guard, Worry Seed​

+Universal TMs​

​

Beguilling Bane |

| Protect clone. Pokemon attacking the user with a physical attack lose -1 Attack and gain this Pokemon's ability.​

​

Competitive: Professional Focus Sash user. Fast support with a ton of utility but shitass bulk and typing. Also comes with ability disruption heheheha.
Flavor: (Rock) A mantis-like creature adorned with green stones and leaves. It is most plentiful in remote forests and has a strong attraction to nature. It emits a strange frequency that inspires other Pokemon to become loyal towards it.

Pokemon: Abyscript
Type:

Ability: Torrent / Analytic
Stats: 52 / 75 / 112 / 115 / 132 / 39
Movepool:

Physical: Aqua Jet, Earthquake, Knock Off, Liquidation, Rock Slide, Rock Tomb, Shadow Claw, Shadow Sneak, Stone Edge, Wave Crash​

Special: Blizzard, Dark Pulse, Earth Power, Focus Blast, Giga Drain, Hydro Pump, Ice Beam, Icy Wind, Shadow Ball, Sludge Bomb, Sludge Wave, Surf, Water Pledge​

Status: Ally Switch, Belligerent Bane, Destiny Bond, Follow Me, Helping Hand, Instruct, Life Dew, Pain Split, Stealth Rock, Trick Room​

+Universal TMs​

​

Belligerent Bane |

| Protect clone. Pokemon attacking the user with a physical attack lose -1 Attack and use their attack again, once.​

Competitive: Bulky AoE. Good typing and wide Analytic-boosted coverage held back by low speed. You could click TR but then no boost RIP
Flavor: (Paper) A conch snail with a shell resembling and unfurled scroll. Some believe the text on the shell to be messages from the gods, and their meaning has been argued over for centuries.

Pokemon: Bersatyr
Type:

Ability: Blaze / Supreme Overlord
Stats: 98 / 140 / 82 / 50 / 72 / 77

Physical: Body Press, Close Combat, Drain Punch, Earthquake, Explosion, Fake Out, Flare Blitz, Fire Punch, Gyro Ball, Heavy Slam, Horn Leech, Iron Head, Outrage, Knock Off, Megahorn, Night Slash, Sacred Sword, Shadow Claw, Smart Strike, Wild Charge​

Special: Dark Pulse, Fire Blast, Flash Cannon, Giga Drain, Overheat, Thunderbolt, Steel Beam​

Status: Bloodshed Bane, Destiny Bond, Follow Me, Helping Hand, Hone Claws, Iron Defense, Nasty Plot, Parting Shot, Stealth Rock, Swords Dance, Thunder Wave, Will-O-Wisp​

+Universal TMs​

​

Bloodshed Bane |

| Protect clone. Pokemon attacking the user with a physical attack lose -1 Attack and gain a critical hit boost.​

​

Competitive: Professional AV user. Hustle either lets you hit absurdly strong or free up EVs for bulk. Recover with Horn Leech and Drain Punch lol!
Flavor: (Scissors) A red, armored got whose horns appear to be swords piercing its head. It is said to carry the sins put on sacrificed Scaffoal (the LC)

 

[BlueRay]

The uniyfing theme of the starter trio is spirituality from different cultures: native american (Sioux), chinese, and vietnamese. Each of the starter Pokémon fills a strong niche to ensure they will likely be used on a team. What's more, the typings of each of the starter Pokémon underlines the defensive and offensive synergy between them, making it possible to run two or all three of them on a team. This is in line with GF's usual design approach. Just look at the Alolan starters or the Paldean starters for reference.

Grass Starter: Matokoda

Name: Matokoda

Ability: Overgrow // Friend Guard

Type: Grass | Ghost

Stats:
HP: 105
Attack: 65
Defense: 85
Special Attack: 125
Special Defense: 75
Speed: 75
BST: 530

Height: 2.0 m
Weight: 500.0 kg
Gender Ratio: male (87.5%), female (12.5%)

New Move:

Grass Starter: Matokoda

Anguish Cry
- (Ghost, special, 55 BP, 10 PP)
- effect: If user's HP is at 50% or below, this Sound move deals double damage.)

Physical Moves	Special Moves	Status Moves
Body Press, Bullet Seed, Facade, Focus Punch, Play Rough, Seed Bomb, Superpower, Trailblaze, Wood Hammer	Anguish Cry, Earth Power, Energy Ball, Frenzy Plant, Giga Drain, Grass Pledge, Grass Knot, Hyper Beam, Hyper Voice, Snore, Solar Beam	Baby-Doll Eyes, Bulk Up, Charm, Curse, Destiny Bond, Grassy Terrain, Growl, Jungle Healing, Leech Seed, Pain Split, Protect, Rage Powder, Rest, Roar, Scary Face, Sleep Talk, Substitute, Synthesis

Description:
1) Concept
- Matokoda basically translates to friend / companion bear. Bears are often associated with nature, nurturing, and strength in spiritualism, hence the dual Grass and Ghost type. The latter is further underlined by a bear's conceptual protectiveness among the Sioux people, even extending to the beyond.

2) Competitive
- unique redirector and Friend Guard user immune to Fake Out, thereby guaranteeing better item flexibility
- as a Friend Guard user, Matokoda also isn't passive at all due to base 125 SpA. Thanks to the Ghost type--which is great offensively--, Matokoda is free to run several Status moves rather than being limited to just one or two!
- speaking of Status moves, Matokoda has several to make itself resilient, such as Baby-Doll Eyes, Leech Seed or Jungle Healing
- while Jungle Healing is Zarude's signature move, it actually isn't meant to be restricted to it according to an interview where the developers said they wanted to distribute it more in the future. Fwiw, all my starter Pokémon have a unique healing variation of Life Dew to distinguish themselves from each other and making sure they're highly valued on a team.
- Matokoda can optionally run Overgrow, which synergizes with its tendency to tank and redirect hits with Rage Powder. This also pairs well with its signature move Anguish Cry for a higher damage output. Curse can also enable Overgrow or Anguish Cry. This signature move may appear quite strong but bear in mind you have counterplay in Normal, Soundproof, Snarl, and Throat Chop. Moreover, to get the full damage output of this move, Matokoda has to be a 50% HP or below. So, it shouldn't be too hard to take it out from that range, especially when it's relatively slow!

Fire Starter: Piahchi

Name: Piahchi

Ability: Blaze // Curious Medicine

Type: Fire | Fairy

Stats:
HP: 95
Attack: 55
Defense: 70
Special Attack: 103
Special Defense: 125
Speed: 82
BST: 530

Height: 1.0 m
Weight: 6.0 kg
Gender Ratio: male (87.5%), female (12.5%)

New Move:

Fire Starter: Piahchi

Sun Bathing
- (Fire, status, 10 PP)
- effect: User and ally heal 25% of their HP and have their negative stats removed.)

Physical Moves	Special Moves	Status Moves
Facade, Flame Charge, Pluck, U-turn	Air Slash, Alluring Voice, Blast Burn, Burning Jealousy, Dazzling Gleam, Draining Kiss, Heat Wave, Hurricane, Fire Blast, Fire Pledge, Flamethrower, Hyper Beam, Misty Explosion, Mystical Fire, Overheat, Snarl, Snore, Solar Beam	Calm Mind, Camouflage, Charm, Feather Dance, Growl, Helping Hand, Light Screen, Magic Coat, Misty Terrain, Protect, Reflect Type, Rest, Safeguard, Sleep Talk, Substitute, Sun Bathing, Sunny Day, Tailwind, Whirlwind, Wide Guard, Will-O-Wisp

Description:
1) Concept
- Piahchi basically encompasses peacock and the concept of qi, associated with positive energy and medicine, hence the Fire and Fairy dualtype and the competitive aspect of it, like Sun Bathing or Curious Medicine
- Peacocks are known for their vibrant colours and often associated with fire and renewal in spiritualism, further underlining Piahchi's flavour.

2) Competitive
- I've always been wondering what Curious Medicine could have been like on a more efficient Pokémon. Now, thanks to the dual Fire and Fairy type, Piahchi resists common stat lowering moves, such as Icy Wind, Snarl, or Struggle Bug. Moreover, Fighting, Grass, and Dragon Pokémon often have moves lowering their own stats, like Close Combat, Superpower, Leaf Storm, and Draco Meteor. This is important to note because Fighting and Dragon Pokémon tend to be weak to Fairy while Grass Pokémon are susceptible to Bug and Ice. So, Piahchi can comfortably switch into these types, especially if we're dealing with spread moves like Dazzling Gleam or Blizzard, and reset the negative stats on the user's side, making sure the ally can use stat lowering moves at their full power again, for instance. With Sun Bathing, Piahchi can further support the team and also benefit from itself because of its own access to Overheat!
- Piahchi has other valuable tools to support the team, such as Helping Hand, Light Screen, Safeguard, Tailwind, and Wide Guard. The list also extends to status infliction and stat punishment, like Will-O-Wisp, Snarl, or Burning Jealousy, underlining the disruptive potential this Pokémon has.
- Low physical bulk, a middling speed tier, and a common weakness to Earthquake and Rock Slide should keep this Pokémon well in check.

Water Starter: Zantui

Name: Zantui

Ability: Torrent // Intimidate

Type: Water | Normal

Stats:
HP: 85
Attack: 125
Defense: 81
Special Attack: 56
Special Defense: 81
Speed: 102
BST: 530

Water Starter: Zantui

Height: 1.2 m
Weight: 150.0 kg
Gender Ratio: male (87.5%), female (12.5%)

New Move:

Water Starter: Zantui

Unicorn Dance
- (Water, status, 10 PP)
- effect: User and ally heal 25% of their HP. This Dance move makes the user switch out afterwards.)

Physical Moves	Special Moves	Status Moves
Aqua Jet, Aqua Tail, Body Slam, Crunch, Dive, Double-Edge, Facade, Flip Turn, Giga Impact, Ice Fang, Knock Off, Liquidation, Play Rough, Power Trip, Psychic Fangs, Quick Attack, Superpower, Throat Chop, Trailblaze, Waterfall, U-turn, Wave Crash	Hydro Cannon, Scald, Snarl, Snore, Surf, Water Pledge, Whirlpool	Agility, Bulk Up, Calm Mind, Disable, Growl, Heal Pulse, Healing Wish, Helping Hand, Howl, Moonlight, Noble Roar, Protect, Quick Guard, Rain Dance, Reflect, Refresh, Rest, Roar, Safeguard, Scary Face, Sleep Talk, Substitute, Taunt, Unicorn Dance, Wish

Description:
1) Concept
- Zantui basically refers to the Water Tiger horoscope and embodies power, protection, and leadership, perfectly fitting such an intimidating Pokémon; it commands respect. It's meant to protect you from evil spirits, aka Ghost Pokémon. This explains the Normal type. With Facade, Zantui can get around Will-O-Wisp. Water tigers are also known for their healing qualities, which explains why Zantui has many healing moves to support the team.
- Unicorn Dance is a cultural reference and alludes to the potential confusion around its own dance, the lion dance, and tiger dance as they share similar, yet distinct qualities. Fwiw, the Unicorn Dance is not necessarily based on the westernized unicorn but is more aligned with a mythical creature called K`y Lân that has a horse's body, a lion's head, and may have a horn sometimes to represent intelligence, auspiciousness, and goodness. Unicorn is thus meant to just capture these unique characteristics.

2) Competitive
- If you don't want to rely on Intimidate for whatever reasons, Torrent is perfectly fine, greatly synergizing with the strength a dual Water and Normal type can offer: Wave Crash and Double-Edge.
- Now, the main draw of this Pokémon is the nice blend of offensive pressure, Intimidate, and a neat support movepool. As far as I know, there are no Intimidate users in the game that offer the same healing qualities that Zantui has, therefore emphasizing the unique role this starter fills, especially with regard to Heal Pulse, Healing Wish, and Unicorn Dance. Healing Wish is super unexplored and synergizes with recoil damage as you are more likely to click this move at some point. With Unicorn Dance, on the other hand, Zantui can keep its ally and itself healthier throughout the game and retrigger Intimidate when it enters the field again. Something you can do with Intimidate is supporting the ally with Howl as you are more likely to set-up multiple times throughout the game.
- While Zantui's Fighting weakness can hurt, most Fighting moves are physical. So, Intimidate can mitigate this. With Ghost's rise to power, an immunity to this type can be a god send. What's more, Zantui can rely on its other starter partners to redirect moves or manipulate damage. Matokoda and Piahchi also happen to be immune and resistant to Fighting moves respectively, greatly underlining the intended synergy with this starter trio!
- That said, Zantui has rather modest bulk and its strongest moves come with a recoil effect, effectively keeping it well-balanced, imo!

For some reason, the movepool table causes some weird editing issues. I don't know how to solve them. But at the very least, all information are there and don't clutter this post...

On Bug buffs

I honestly think we just need good Bug Pokémon and the right metagame for this type to thrive. GF has this tendency of giving certain types a spotlight in each modern generation and analysing how they are supposed to interact with each other. So, we could just follow their philosophy and have a slate where all of us try to come up with viable Bug Pokémon. Perhaps, it could even be a sublegendary slate focusing on the Bug-type?

What's more, to ensure Bug's viability, we need to be mindful of the types and the Pokémon we introduce in general. If, say, the metagame is full of certain types that are very much viable, like Fire or Flying, this could negatively impact the Bug-type. This doesn't mean we need to be strict with types like Fire or Flying, just that we, as participants, may not want to spam submissions full of these types every week.

Another thing to consider is promoting other types that support the Bug-type defensively and / or offensively. Water or Rock naturally pair well enough with Bug due to the offensive and defensive profile they offer each other. Against this background, it might be useful to introduce slates where Bug is featured alongside another type, where the two or three submissions of a slate have a clear purpose, a clear synergy with each other. After all, you often consider a Pokémon in relation to others, not as a standalone individual, from a competitive point of view.

Furthermore, you can also encourage the presence of Dark and / or Psychic Pokémon, giving value to Bug as an offensive type to handle these types. Or what about Ground and Fighting Pokémon--types that Bug resists? With the right secondary type, a Bug Pokémon can not only just resist these types but also threaten them.

 

[Gaboswampert]

Pokemon: Potathor
Type: Grass/Electric
Abilities: Overgrow | Electric Surge
Stats: 100/121/75/75/75/84
Movepool:
Physical:
Fake Out, Wood Hammer, Double Shock, Volt Tackle, Zing Zap, Power Whip, Knock Off.
Special:
Leaf Storm, Rising Voltage.
Status:
Thunder Wave, Protect, Leech Seed, Encore, Eerie Impulse.

Flavor

Fake Out, Wood Hammer, Double Shock, Volt Tackle, Zing Zap, Power Whip, Leaf Storm, Rising Voltage, Thunder Wave, Leech Seed, Encore, Eerie Impulse, Giga Drain, Energy Ball, Thunderbolt, Thunder, Mud Shot, Absorb, Mega Drain, Thundershock, Charge, Double-Edge, Sludge Bomb, Sludge Wave, Body Slam, Facade, Rest, Sleep Talk, Snore, Tackle, Leer, Supercell Slam, Hyper Beam, Electric Terrain, Grassy Terrain, Frenzy Plant, Grass Pledge.

Weight: 5kg
Competitive: We lack a good ETerrain setter on the meta, and this one works perfectly, it has a good selection of STABs to choose from, decent utility with Fake Out, Leech Seed, Encore, Knock Off, Eerie Impulse, and speed control with Thunder Wave. Its got a nice physical attacking stat, decent bulk, and its speed, while it looks mostly awkward, it lets it always be able to underspeed Indeedee-F, so it is able to override Psychic Terrain on its first turn out.
Flavor: potato battery thor

-

Pokemon: Flamirage
Type: Fire/Ground
Abilities: Blaze | Guiding Torch
Stats: 110/125/75/70/75/75 (530)
Movepool:
Physical:
Flare Blitz, Earthquake, High Horsepower, Stone Edge, Rock Slide, Crunch, Zen Headbutt, Bulldoze, U-Turn.
Special:
Sandsear Storm, Heat Wave, Overheat, Icy Wind.
Status:
Protect, Quick Guard, Haze, Morning Sun.

Flavor

Flare Blitz, Earthquake, High Horsepower, Stone Edge, Rock Slide, Zen Headbutt, Sand Tomb, U-Turn, Sandsear Storm, Heat Wave, Overheat, Fire Spin, Icy Wind, Protect, Haze, Morning Sun, Body Press, Rest, Sleep Talk, Snore, Facade, Leer, Stealth Rock, Spikes, Rapid Spin, Sand Attack, Ember, Flamethrower, Fire Blast, Fire Pledge, Blast Burn, Tackle, Temper Flare, Sunny Day, Sandstorm, Quick Attack, Headbutt, Reversal, Endure, Giga Impact, Bite, Crunch, Hyper Beam, Thrash, Quick Guard, Earth Power, Bulldoze, Misty Terrain.

Weight: 20kg
Competitive: Offensive support with a niche that no other Pokemon on the meta has due to its ability to enable it and its ally to ignore redirection from moves like Follow Me or Rage Powder, its defensive type is decent, being neutral to most types on the game, but exploitable by Water types or Ground-types. Its movepool is decent too, with good STAB moves, and a decent selection of support options, though none are outstanding aside from Quick Guard, which few Pokemon get.
Flavor: Desert mirage doggo, made mostly out of sand.

Guiding Torch

This Pokemon and its ally are inmune to redirection from moves or abilities.

-

Name: Gleamgler
Type: Water/Dark
Abilities: Torrent | Illuminate
Stats: 85/70/70/135/100/75 (530)
Movepool:
Physical:
Wave Crash, Crunch, Flip Turn, Gunk Shot, Knock Off, Aqua Jet.
Special:
Angler Light, Dark Pulse, Hydro Pump, Surf, Scald, Chilling Water, Sludge Bomb, Dazzling Gleam, Snarl, Focus Blast.
Status:
Protect, Taunt, Thunder Wave, Healing Wish, Pain Split.

Flavor

Wave Crash, Crunch, Flip Turn, Gunk Shot, Knock Off, Aqua Jet, Protect, Taunt, Thunder Wave, Healing Wish, Pain Split, Angler Light, Dark Pulse, Hydro Pump, Surf, Scald, Chilling Water, Sludge Bomb, Dazzling Gleam, Snarl, Focus Blast, Water Gun, Waterfall, Liquidation, Bite, Night Slash, Supercell Slam, Hard Press, Leer, Hydro Cannon, Water Pledge, Water Pulse, Rain Dance, Snowscape, Thief, Swift, Giga Impact, Hyper Beam, Body Slam, Rest, Sleep Talk, Snore, Facade, Gyro Ball, Smart Strike, Scale Shot, Endure, Brine, Flail, Misty Terrain.

Weight: 100kg
Competitive: Strong water-type special atacker, which is something the meta doesnt seem to have, while also packing great utility in Angler Light lowering Evasion, which helps its allies in using lower-accuracy moves like Rock-type moves, Heat Wave, Fire Blast, Hydro Pump, Thunder Wave, Will-o-Wisp, Muddy Water, etc, with greater ease, this strategy is not uncounterable however, as strategies used to shut down Intimidate work similarly well against Angler Light, like Clear Amulet, or Defiant/Competitive mons, it also has a very weird speed tier that doesnt make it very fast, nor slow enough to be viable on Trick Room, it compensates in part with its decently high special defense, but its physical defense is kind of lacking.
Flavor: Very big and evil angler fish that likes shiny things

Angler Light

95BP | 16PP | 100% Acc | Dark | Special | Hits both opponents. Lowers the Evasion of the targets hit by 1 stage.

 

[Sugarbear]

OK everyone, it is voting time! Great job with the creations everyone, can't wait to see what else you come up with. Vote for 1 Pokemon in each category. You may not vote for any of your own Pokemon. Whoever's Pokemon receives the most votes overall gets to choose 1 category for the next slate. Voting closes on Monday the 20th of August.

Name: Newfamberland
Type: Grass / Rock
Ability: Overgrow / Guard Dog
Base stats: 75 / 110 / 120 / 60 / 70 / 95 (530 BST)
Useful Moves:
Physical: Rock Slide, Rock Blast, Leaf Blade, Power Whip, Grassy Glide, Close Combat, Body Press, Boulder Bash (80 BP, Rock, targets 1 opponent, 16 PP, always reduces opponent's defence by 1 stage).
Special: None (SpA is too low)
Status: Spiky Shield, Howl, Helping Hand, Taunt, Floral Healing, Bulk Up
Weight: 61.2
Gender: Both
Competitive use: It's designed to be a support mon that can still dish out solid damage.
Is it broken?: It doesn't get any moves that are too bonkers, and while its speed is above average it's not amazing.

Name: Kelvohm
Type: Fire / Electric
Ability: Blaze / Galvanize
Base Stats: 58 / 92 / 61 / 129 / 80 / 90
Useful Moves:
Physical: Flame Charge, Nuzzle, Fake Out
Special: Flamethrower, Heat Wave, Overheat, Fire Blast, Thunderbolt, Volt Switch, Discharge, Focus Blast, Hyper Voice
Status: Thunder Wave, Will-o-Wisp, Step Up (Charges for a turn, then next turn boosts its Attack, Special Attack and Speed by 2 stages. Electric, 8 PP, self target.)
Weight: 12.7
Gender: Both
Competitive use: It can either be an all out attacker or a set up sweeper.
Is it broken?: That bulk is pretty dismal and its typing leaves it with easily exploitable weaknesses. Its speed isn't great either.

Name: Tundrorca
Type: Water / Ice
Ability: Torrent / Strong Jaw
Base Stats: 140 / 130 / 60 / 80 / 65 / 55
Useful Moves:
Physical: Wave Crash, Aqua Jet, Flip Turn, Icicle Spear, Icicle Crash, Ice Fang, Earthquake, Superpower, Whale Bite (85 BP, Water-type, 16 PP, 1 target, 100% accuracy, destroys the target's held item.)
Special: Freeze-Dry, Icy Wind
Status: Perish Song
Weight: 1360
Gender: Both
Competitive use: It's a Trick Room sweeper, though with Aqua Jet it can still put in work once the dimensions have been returned to normal.
Is it broken?: Without Trick Room it doesn't outrun very much, its massive HP is undercut by low defence stats, and unless you can fit Freeze-Dry it struggles against opposing Water types.

Name: Nobunallen (Nobunaga + Allen's Hummingbird)
Type:
Ability: Overgrow / Clear Body
Base stats: 65/85/90/90/80/120 (530)
Useful Moves:
Physical: Leaf Blade, Brave Bird, Frenzy Plant, Trailblaze, Drill Peck, Acrobatics, X-Scissor, Lunge
Special: Giga Drain, Air Slash, Zephyr Screech (30 BP, Flying-type, 16 PP, 1 target, 100% accuracy, +1 Priority, the user sets up Tailwind.)
Status: Swords Dance, Nasty Plot, Synthesis, Endure, Roost, Agility, Tailwind
Weight: 54.0 lbs.
Gender: Both
Competitive use: This Allen's Hummingbird Pokémon that conveys pure wind energy across it's long wings serves as a Risky Setup Sweeper with it's ability to boost both of it's attacking stats and set up Tailwind with it's signature move. Keep this bird away from Ice-type moves, and watch the enemies fly...literally!
Is it broken?: (Weakness) Very, very vulnerable to Ice-type moves. It also doesn't have that much HP or good Special Coverage...

Name: Glitztoyo (Glitz + Toyotomi)
Type:
Ability: Blaze / Prankster
Base stats: 70/70/84/116/82/108 (530)
Useful Moves:
Physical: Extreme Speed, Flame Charge, Flare Blitz, Play Rough, Explosion, Axe Kick, Foul Play
Special: Blast Burn, Flamethrower, Fire Blast, Shadow Ball, Dazzling Gleam, Strange Steam, Sludge Bomb
Status: Agility, Helping Hand, Nasty Plot, Toxic, Confuse Ray, Substitute, Graffiti Bomb (Plants a bomb on the target. If the target tries to use a Status move, the bomb explodes on them first, taking 25% of their HP away. It has no effect on Fire-type Pokémon. Fire, 8 PP, 1 target.)
Weight: 114.6 lbs.
Gender: Both
Competitive use: This playful little fellow is armed with a pair of spray cans laced with explosive paint, that it uses to demolish buildings that it thinks are no fun for it's rollerskates. In VGC 20XX, however, it serves as a Fast Prankster Sweeper, using it's signature move to make opponents think twice about using status moves....or anything in particular, really!
Is it broken?: (Weakness) Of course, Prankster has no effect on Dark-types, and it is balanced all around.

Name: Chimtoku (Chimaera, AKA the Ghost Shark + Tokugawa)
Type:
Ability: Torrent / Cursed Body
Base stats: 120/106/64/102/58/80 (530)
Useful Moves:
Physical: Wave Crash, Liquidation, Crunch, Poltergeist, Double-Edge, Keelhaul (90 BP, Ghost-type, 16 PP, 1 target, 100% accuracy, the user sets up Grudge.)
Special: Hydro Cannon, Surf, Shadow Ball, Ice Beam, Blizzard, Dark Pulse, Sludge Wave, Sludge Bomb
Status: Destiny Bond, Wide Guard, Disable, Spite, Rain Dance, Aqua Ring
Weight: 195.8 lbs.
Gender: Both
Competitive use: Inspired by the Chimaera, this giant ghostly shark has often been seen dragging down ships that it thinks are delivering items related to speed, as it wants nothing to be faster than it's deadly jaws which can snap an oil tanker in two. It's primary role is a Suicide Lead, using it's signature move Keelhaul to make sure that one of it's opponent's moves is going down with it...oh, and did we mention it gets Destiny Bond too? If it's going down first, it's taking an enemy with it!
Is it broken?: (Weakness) Has paper thin defenses, and it may get knocked out before it can use it's attacks.

Name: Deermint (Deer + Spearmint)
Type:

Abilities: Overgrow / Slush Rush
Base stats: 102 / 80 / 81 / 103 / 70 / 94
Useful moves:

Horn Leech, Seed Bomb, Petal Blizzard, Bullet Seed, Icicle Spear, Icicle Crash, Ice Shard, Earthquake, Body Press, Megahorn, Brick Break, High Horsepower, Grassy Glide

Blizzard, Ice Beam, Leaf Storm, Giga Drain, Energy Ball, Water Pulse, Grass Pledge, Frenzy Plant, Hyper Voice, Icy Wind, Grass Knot, Minty Breath*, Solar Beam, Weather Ball

Aurora Veil, Snowscape, Leech Seed, Swords Dance, Grassy Terrain, Worry Seed, Helping Hand, Synthesis, Haze, Rain Dance
(Universal Moves: Protect, Endure, Sleep Talk, Rest, Substitute, Facade, Take Down, Hyper Beam, Giga Impact)

Minty Breath

Name: Minty Breath
Type:

Category:

Base Points: 30
Power Points: 15 (24 max)
Accuracy: 100%
Flags: Protect, Mirror, Metronome
Effect: Usually moves first (+1 priority). Ignores redirection and makes its target the center of attention for the rest of the turn if it hits.

Weight: 180 kg
Gender: Both (87.5% Male, 12.5% Female)
Competitive use: Game Freak has been very careful to make every Slush Rush user primarily a physical attacker, since the getting spam to Blizzards at doubled Speed is inherently a very scary prospect. They dared to give Arctozolt a usable 90 SpA and it started tearing through things in singles with Blizzard, for example. right here looks to push that boundary, sporting a good 103 SpA and great 102/81 physical bulk in Snow, even uninvested. Its typical plan will always be to just spam Blizzard in Snow, with its main other positive trait being its signature move Minty Breath providing some counterplay to redirection by both ignoring itself to net chip damage and letting your opponent bypass it as well.
Is it broken?: Deermint is heavily reliant on Snow to be effective, since all of its stats are pretty average and Grass/Ice is an awful defensive typing in spite of its pretty good bulk. Additionally, Deermint is pretty helpless against Fire and Steel-types since it lacks any Special coverage for them, making it fairly easy to wall, especially since for at least one turn it'll need to be next to another Ice-type to activate Slush Rush, which can put its side of field in an awkward bind against them.
Size: 1.8 m
Egg Group: Field

Name: Scinchilla (Scintilla (spark in Latin) + Chinchilla)
Type:

Abilities: Blaze / Electric Surge
Base stats: 81 / 101 / 72 / 84 / 76 / 116
Useful moves:

Wild Charge, Supercell Slam, Flare Blitz, Fire Fang, Stomping Tantrum, Brick Break, Thunder Fang, Knock Off, Quick Attack, Upper Hand, Temper Flare, Feint, Crunch, Psychic Fangs, U-Turn, Gunk Shot, Super Fang, Chewing Wire*

Volt Switch, Electroweb, Heat Wave, Fire Pledge, Flamethrower, Fire Blast, Focus Blast, Thunderbolt, Thunder, Electro Ball, Solar Beam, Overheat, Blast Burn

Will-O-Wisp, Thunder Wave, Taunt, Electric Terrain, Light Screen, Encore, Eerie Impulse, Work Up, Sunny Day
(Universal Moves: Protect, Endure, Sleep Talk, Rest, Substitute, Facade, Take Down, Hyper Beam, Giga Impact)

Chewing Wire

Name: Chewing Wire
Type:

Category:

Base Points: 80
Power Points: 15 (24 max)
Accuracy: 100%
Flags: Protect, Mirror, Metronome, Bite
Effect: 30% chance to either paralyze or burn the foe.

Weight: 8 kg
Gender: Both (87.5% Male, 12.5% Female)
Competitive use: Fairly simple fast attacking Fire-type that can threaten Waters with STAB Terrain-boosted Chewing Wires, while naturally providing utility in Electric Terrain blocking Sleep. Also comes packed with a lot of good utility, including Electroweb for Speed control, TWave and Wisp for status, pivoting in U-Turn, the underrated Super Fang, the always good fast Taunt and Encore, and the niche Feint.
Is it broken?: 81/72/76 isn't the absolute worst bulk in the world, but still low enough that this thing will be lucky to survive a turn without a Focus Sash, and if you do have Focus Sash then you can't run Flare Blitz. Plus, while massively helped by terrain, 101 Attack isn't very hard, so it's not the strongest offensive Pokemon ever. Plus, while its typing giving it both a burn and paralysis immunity is great, Fire/Electric is pretty bad defensively, making its meh bulk even worse. Also has serious 4MSS since it has so many utility moves it might want to use but can only fit 1-2 alongside its STABs.
Size: 0.5 m
Egg Group: Field

Name: Delphynan (Delphinidae (Dolphin) + Synanceia (Stonefish); This is a dolphin with a pet rock on its head, but it's a mind controlling Stonefish)
Type:

Abilities: Torrent / Poison Point
Base stats: 91 / 70 / 70 / 123 / 100 / 76
Useful moves:

Flip Turn, Liquidation, Waterfall, Stone Edge, Rock Slide, Poison Jab, Avalanche, Aqua Tail, Ice Spinner, Zen Headbutt, Body Press, Whirlpool, Rock Tomb

Hydro Pump, Surf, Muddy Water, Weather Ball, Meteor Beam, Power Gem, Sludge Bomb, Sludge Wave, Psychic, Extrasensory, Psyshock, Ice Beam, Blizzard, Icy Wind, Water Pledge, Hydro Cannon, Venoshock, Stored Power, Ancient Power

Hidden Wall*, Rock Polish, Wide Guard, Rain Dance, Snowscape, Sandstorm, Recover, Toxic, Toxic Spikes, Stealth Rock, Iron Defense, Amnesia, Yawn
(Universal Moves: Protect, Endure, Sleep Talk, Rest, Substitute, Facade, Take Down, Hyper Beam, Giga Impact)

Hidden Wall

Name: Hidden Wall
Type:

Category:

Base Points: --
Power Points: 10 (16 max)
Accuracy: --
Flags: N/A
Effect: Protect clone. Foes that make contact have their Special Defense lowered by 1 stage.

Weight: 90 kg
Gender: Both (87.5% Male, 12.5% Female)
Competitive use: Click Meteor Beam in Tailwind or Trick Room and then get as many KOes as you can before you die, very simple. Water/Rock is a great offensive typing, backed by Sludge Bomb or Ice Beam for Grass-types, making Delphynan a scary wallbreaker with its great 123 Special Attack and high powered STABs. Not too much else to it, though utility in Wide Guard is nice.
Is it broken?: Water/Rock isn't a great defensive typing and 91/70/100 bulk is pretty mid, so it'll be pretty hard for Delphynan to contribute sometimes as it's not the hardest thing to get off the field quickly, even with the threat of SpD drops from Hidden Wall. Plus, its Speed tier does allow it to function in both Trick Room and Tailwind, but it's not the best at either, putting it in a pretty awkward position sometimes.
Size: 1.5 m
Egg Group: Field, Water 2

Grass-type

Name: Heavinon (Tree of Heaven + Phenominon)

Type: Grass/Poison
Abilities: Overgrow // Poison Point
Base Stats: 87/93/96/63/72/119 (BST: 530)

Movepool: Toxic Spikes, Synthesis, Growth, Wood Hammer, Gunk Shot, Poison Jab, Seed Bomb, Follow Me, Giga Drain, Energy Ball, Sludge Bomb, Sludge Wave, Superpower, Poison Gas, Iron Defense, Body Press (Full movepool will be made if this wins)

Acid Rain - Poison / Special / 20 bp / 100% acc / 15 (24) pp / Hits both opponents. If the target is poisoned, lowers their SpA, Spe, and Eva by 1.

Weight: 120 kg
Gender: 87.5% male, 12.5% female
Design: Boiled One Phenominon but in tree form + more humanoid and Pokemon in design

Competitive: Heavinon is a potent poison spreader through various methods with Poison Point, Toxic Spikes, and Poison Gas. On top of that, it possesses 93/119 offensive power with strong stabs. However, it is also capable of leveraging its 96 defense stat for Iron Defense Body Press for solid coverage. It also has recovery in Synthesis and utility in Follow Me that provides lots of power in being an IronPress user, poison spreader, and a rather fast mon. Shoutouts to XtheGAMEmaster for the original idea.

Fire-type

Name: Almgid (Ram + Algid)

Type: Fire/Ice
Abilities: Blaze // Ice Body
Base Stats: 123/46/111/79/112/59 (BST: 530)

Movepool: Fire Blast, Flamethrower, Lava Plume, Ice Beam, Blizzard, Weather Ball, Will-O-Wisp, Iron Defense, Calm Mind, Magic Coat, Taunt

Refreeze - Ice / Status / - bp / - acc / 5 (8) pp / Heals the user by 50% of their max hp. If the user last, summons Snow for 5 turns.

Weight: 64 kg
Gender: 87.5% male, 12.5% female
Design: Icy and Fiery Goat man

Competitive: Almgid is a relatively potent wall with 123/111/112 defenses comboed with 79 SpA Calm Mind shenanigans for a terrifying offensive presense. Almgid also packs recovery that can allow for even more passive recovery with its ability Ice Body allowing for a strong CM mon with lots og longevity. Almgid has several key weaknesses however, such as a weak defensive typing meaning those potent defensive stats have a harder time pulling through. Almgid is also rather slow at 59, making TR support a rather important aspect if you want Almgid to outspeed any threats.

Water-type

Name: Dolosseum (Dolomedes + Colosseum)

Type: Water/Bug
Abilities: Torrent // Intimidate
Base Stats: 89/117/58/73/81/112 (BST: 530)

Movepool: Lunge, Leech Life, Liquidation, Aqua Jet, Sticky Web, Infestation, Jaw Lock, Bulldoze, Sand Tomb, Acrobatics, Swords Dance, Whirlpool

Hunter Fangs - Bug / Physical / 70 bp / 100 acc / 10 (16) pp / Has 2x bp if the target is trapped. [Biting, Contact]

Weight: 230 kg
Gender: 87.5% male, 12.5% female
Design: Massive spider with gladiator aspects

Competitive: Dolosseum comes in swinging with powerful 127/112 offenses with SD to boot. With a trapping move or trapping support, Dolosseum can blast out insanely large Hunter Fangs to blow holes in opponents. However, Dolosseum is rather squishy allowing for it to get teamed up on easily. It also packs some utility options if you want to go wild.

Pokemon: Nemorald
Type:

Ability: Overgrow / Telepathy
Stats: 76 / 107 / 60 / 107 / 70 / 115
Movepool:

Physical: Earthquake, Lunge, Megahorn, Power Whip, Rock Slide, Rock Tomb, Shadow Claw, Skitter Smack, Stone Edge, U-turn, Wood Hammer, X-Scissor​

Special: Bug Buzz, Dazzling Gleam, Earth Power, Energy Ball, Focus Blast, Giga Drain, Grass Pledge, Leaf Storm, Meteor Beam, Petal Blizzard, Power Gem, Psychic, Psyshock, Shadow Ball​

Status: Beguilling Bane, Calm Mind, Curse, Destiny Bond, Entrainment, Follow Me, Helping Hand, Rage Powder, Leech Seed, Life Dew, Stealth Rock, Synthesis, Taunt, Trick, Trick Room, Wide Guard, Worry Seed​

+Universal TMs​

​

Beguilling Bane |

| Protect clone. Pokemon attacking the user with a physical attack lose -1 Attack and gain this Pokemon's ability.​

​

Competitive: Professional Focus Sash user. Fast support with a ton of utility but shitass bulk and typing. Also comes with ability disruption heheheha.
Flavor: (Rock) A mantis-like creature adorned with green stones and leaves. It is most plentiful in remote forests and has a strong attraction to nature. It emits a strange frequency that inspires other Pokemon to become loyal towards it.

Pokemon: Abyscript
Type:

Ability: Torrent / Analytic
Stats: 52 / 75 / 112 / 115 / 132 / 39
Movepool:

Physical: Aqua Jet, Earthquake, Knock Off, Liquidation, Rock Slide, Rock Tomb, Shadow Claw, Shadow Sneak, Stone Edge, Wave Crash​

Special: Blizzard, Dark Pulse, Earth Power, Focus Blast, Giga Drain, Hydro Pump, Ice Beam, Icy Wind, Shadow Ball, Sludge Bomb, Sludge Wave, Surf, Water Pledge​

Status: Ally Switch, Belligerent Bane, Destiny Bond, Follow Me, Helping Hand, Instruct, Life Dew, Pain Split, Stealth Rock, Trick Room​

+Universal TMs​

​

Belligerent Bane |

| Protect clone. Pokemon attacking the user with a physical attack lose -1 Attack and use their attack again, once.​

Competitive: Bulky AoE. Good typing and wide Analytic-boosted coverage held back by low speed. You could click TR but then no boost RIP
Flavor: (Paper) A conch snail with a shell resembling and unfurled scroll. Some believe the text on the shell to be messages from the gods, and their meaning has been argued over for centuries.

Pokemon: Bersatyr
Type:

Ability: Blaze / Supreme Overlord
Stats: 98 / 140 / 82 / 50 / 72 / 77

Physical: Body Press, Close Combat, Drain Punch, Earthquake, Explosion, Fake Out, Flare Blitz, Fire Punch, Gyro Ball, Heavy Slam, Horn Leech, Iron Head, Outrage, Knock Off, Megahorn, Night Slash, Sacred Sword, Shadow Claw, Smart Strike, Wild Charge​

Special: Dark Pulse, Fire Blast, Flash Cannon, Giga Drain, Overheat, Thunderbolt, Steel Beam​

Status: Bloodshed Bane, Destiny Bond, Follow Me, Helping Hand, Hone Claws, Iron Defense, Nasty Plot, Parting Shot, Stealth Rock, Swords Dance, Thunder Wave, Will-O-Wisp​

+Universal TMs​

​

Bloodshed Bane |

| Protect clone. Pokemon attacking the user with a physical attack lose -1 Attack and gain a critical hit boost.​

​

Competitive: Professional AV user. Hustle either lets you hit absurdly strong or free up EVs for bulk. Recover with Horn Leech and Drain Punch lol!
Flavor: (Scissors) A red, armored got whose horns appear to be swords piercing its head. It is said to carry the sins put on sacrificed Scaffoal (the LC)

Grass Starter: Matokoda

Name: Matokoda

Ability: Overgrow // Friend Guard

Type: Grass | Ghost

Stats:
HP: 105
Attack: 65
Defense: 85
Special Attack: 125
Special Defense: 75
Speed: 75
BST: 530

Height: 2.0 m
Weight: 500.0 kg
Gender Ratio: male (87.5%), female (12.5%)

New Move:

Grass Starter: Matokoda

Anguish Cry
- (Ghost, special, 55 BP, 10 PP)
- effect: If user's HP is at 50% or below, this Sound move deals double damage.)

Physical Moves	Special Moves	Status Moves
Body Press, Bullet Seed, Facade, Focus Punch, Play Rough, Seed Bomb, Superpower, Trailblaze, Wood Hammer	Anguish Cry, Earth Power, Energy Ball, Frenzy Plant, Giga Drain, Grass Pledge, Grass Knot, Hyper Beam, Hyper Voice, Snore, Solar Beam	Baby-Doll Eyes, Bulk Up, Charm, Curse, Destiny Bond, Grassy Terrain, Growl, Jungle Healing, Leech Seed, Pain Split, Protect, Rage Powder, Rest, Roar, Scary Face, Sleep Talk, Substitute, Synthesis

Description:
1) Concept
- Matokoda basically translates to friend / companion bear. Bears are often associated with nature, nurturing, and strength in spiritualism, hence the dual Grass and Ghost type. The latter is further underlined by a bear's conceptual protectiveness among the Sioux people, even extending to the beyond.

2) Competitive
- unique redirector and Friend Guard user immune to Fake Out, thereby guaranteeing better item flexibility
- as a Friend Guard user, Matokoda also isn't passive at all due to base 125 SpA. Thanks to the Ghost type--which is great offensively--, Matokoda is free to run several Status moves rather than being limited to just one or two!
- speaking of Status moves, Matokoda has several to make itself resilient, such as Baby-Doll Eyes, Leech Seed or Jungle Healing
- while Jungle Healing is Zarude's signature move, it actually isn't meant to be restricted to it according to an interview where the developers said they wanted to distribute it more in the future. Fwiw, all my starter Pokémon have a unique healing variation of Life Dew to distinguish themselves from each other and making sure they're highly valued on a team.
- Matokoda can optionally run Overgrow, which synergizes with its tendency to tank and redirect hits with Rage Powder. This also pairs well with its signature move Anguish Cry for a higher damage output. Curse can also enable Overgrow or Anguish Cry. This signature move may appear quite strong but bear in mind you have counterplay in Normal, Soundproof, Snarl, and Throat Chop. Moreover, to get the full damage output of this move, Matokoda has to be a 50% HP or below. So, it shouldn't be too hard to take it out from that range, especially when it's relatively slow!

Fire Starter: Piahchi

Name: Piahchi

Ability: Blaze // Curious Medicine

Type: Fire | Fairy

Stats:
HP: 95
Attack: 55
Defense: 70
Special Attack: 103
Special Defense: 125
Speed: 82
BST: 530

Height: 1.0 m
Weight: 6.0 kg
Gender Ratio: male (87.5%), female (12.5%)

New Move:

Fire Starter: Piahchi

Sun Bathing
- (Fire, status, 10 PP)
- effect: User and ally heal 25% of their HP and have their negative stats removed.)

Physical Moves	Special Moves	Status Moves
Facade, Flame Charge, Pluck, U-turn	Air Slash, Alluring Voice, Blast Burn, Burning Jealousy, Dazzling Gleam, Draining Kiss, Heat Wave, Hurricane, Fire Blast, Fire Pledge, Flamethrower, Hyper Beam, Misty Explosion, Mystical Fire, Overheat, Snarl, Snore, Solar Beam	Calm Mind, Camouflage, Charm, Feather Dance, Growl, Helping Hand, Light Screen, Magic Coat, Misty Terrain, Protect, Reflect Type, Rest, Safeguard, Sleep Talk, Substitute, Sun Bathing, Sunny Day, Tailwind, Whirlwind, Wide Guard, Will-O-Wisp

Description:
1) Concept
- Piahchi basically encompasses peacock and the concept of qi, associated with positive energy and medicine, hence the Fire and Fairy dualtype and the competitive aspect of it, like Sun Bathing or Curious Medicine
- Peacocks are known for their vibrant colours and often associated with fire and renewal in spiritualism, further underlining Piahchi's flavour.

2) Competitive
- I've always been wondering what Curious Medicine could have been like on a more efficient Pokémon. Now, thanks to the dual Fire and Fairy type, Piahchi resists common stat lowering moves, such as Icy Wind, Snarl, or Struggle Bug. Moreover, Fighting, Grass, and Dragon Pokémon often have moves lowering their own stats, like Close Combat, Superpower, Leaf Storm, and Draco Meteor. This is important to note because Fighting and Dragon Pokémon tend to be weak to Fairy while Grass Pokémon are susceptible to Bug and Ice. So, Piahchi can comfortably switch into these types, especially if we're dealing with spread moves like Dazzling Gleam or Blizzard, and reset the negative stats on the user's side, making sure the ally can use stat lowering moves at their full power again, for instance. With Sun Bathing, Piahchi can further support the team and also benefit from itself because of its own access to Overheat!
- Piahchi has other valuable tools to support the team, such as Helping Hand, Light Screen, Safeguard, Tailwind, and Wide Guard. The list also extends to status infliction and stat punishment, like Will-O-Wisp, Snarl, or Burning Jealousy, underlining the disruptive potential this Pokémon has.
- Low physical bulk, a middling speed tier, and a common weakness to Earthquake and Rock Slide should keep this Pokémon well in check.

Water Starter: Zantui

Name: Zantui

Ability: Torrent // Intimidate

Type: Water | Normal

Stats:
HP: 85
Attack: 125
Defense: 81
Special Attack: 56
Special Defense: 81
Speed: 102
BST: 530

Water Starter: Zantui

Height: 1.2 m
Weight: 150.0 kg
Gender Ratio: male (87.5%), female (12.5%)

New Move:

Water Starter: Zantui

Unicorn Dance
- (Water, status, 10 PP)
- effect: User and ally heal 25% of their HP. This Dance move makes the user switch out afterwards.)

Physical Moves	Special Moves	Status Moves
Aqua Jet, Aqua Tail, Body Slam, Crunch, Dive, Double-Edge, Facade, Flip Turn, Giga Impact, Ice Fang, Knock Off, Liquidation, Play Rough, Power Trip, Psychic Fangs, Quick Attack, Superpower, Throat Chop, Trailblaze, Waterfall, U-turn, Wave Crash	Hydro Cannon, Scald, Snarl, Snore, Surf, Water Pledge, Whirlpool	Agility, Bulk Up, Calm Mind, Disable, Growl, Heal Pulse, Healing Wish, Helping Hand, Howl, Moonlight, Noble Roar, Protect, Quick Guard, Rain Dance, Reflect, Refresh, Rest, Roar, Safeguard, Scary Face, Sleep Talk, Substitute, Taunt, Unicorn Dance, Wish

Description:
1) Concept
- Zantui basically refers to the Water Tiger horoscope and embodies power, protection, and leadership, perfectly fitting such an intimidating Pokémon; it commands respect. It's meant to protect you from evil spirits, aka Ghost Pokémon. This explains the Normal type. With Facade, Zantui can get around Will-O-Wisp. Water tigers are also known for their healing qualities, which explains why Zantui has many healing moves to support the team.
- Unicorn Dance is a cultural reference and alludes to the potential confusion around its own dance, the lion dance, and tiger dance as they share similar, yet distinct qualities. Fwiw, the Unicorn Dance is not necessarily based on the westernized unicorn but is more aligned with a mythical creature called K`y Lân that has a horse's body, a lion's head, and may have a horn sometimes to represent intelligence, auspiciousness, and goodness. Unicorn is thus meant to just capture these unique characteristics.

2) Competitive
- If you don't want to rely on Intimidate for whatever reasons, Torrent is perfectly fine, greatly synergizing with the strength a dual Water and Normal type can offer: Wave Crash and Double-Edge.
- Now, the main draw of this Pokémon is the nice blend of offensive pressure, Intimidate, and a neat support movepool. As far as I know, there are no Intimidate users in the game that offer the same healing qualities that Zantui has, therefore emphasizing the unique role this starter fills, especially with regard to Heal Pulse, Healing Wish, and Unicorn Dance. Healing Wish is super unexplored and synergizes with recoil damage as you are more likely to click this move at some point. With Unicorn Dance, on the other hand, Zantui can keep its ally and itself healthier throughout the game and retrigger Intimidate when it enters the field again. Something you can do with Intimidate is supporting the ally with Howl as you are more likely to set-up multiple times throughout the game.
- While Zantui's Fighting weakness can hurt, most Fighting moves are physical. So, Intimidate can mitigate this. With Ghost's rise to power, an immunity to this type can be a god send. What's more, Zantui can rely on its other starter partners to redirect moves or manipulate damage. Matokoda and Piahchi also happen to be immune and resistant to Fighting moves respectively, greatly underlining the intended synergy with this starter trio!
- That said, Zantui has rather modest bulk and its strongest moves come with a recoil effect, effectively keeping it well-balanced, imo!

Pokemon: Potathor
Type: Grass/Electric
Abilities: Overgrow | Electric Surge
Stats: 100/121/75/75/75/84
Movepool:
Physical:
Fake Out, Wood Hammer, Double Shock, Volt Tackle, Zing Zap, Power Whip, Knock Off.
Special:
Leaf Storm, Rising Voltage.
Status:
Thunder Wave, Protect, Leech Seed, Encore, Eerie Impulse.

Flavor

Fake Out, Wood Hammer, Double Shock, Volt Tackle, Zing Zap, Power Whip, Leaf Storm, Rising Voltage, Thunder Wave, Leech Seed, Encore, Eerie Impulse, Giga Drain, Energy Ball, Thunderbolt, Thunder, Mud Shot, Absorb, Mega Drain, Thundershock, Charge, Double-Edge, Sludge Bomb, Sludge Wave, Body Slam, Facade, Rest, Sleep Talk, Snore, Tackle, Leer, Supercell Slam, Hyper Beam, Electric Terrain, Grassy Terrain, Frenzy Plant, Grass Pledge.

Weight: 5kg
Competitive: We lack a good ETerrain setter on the meta, and this one works perfectly, it has a good selection of STABs to choose from, decent utility with Fake Out, Leech Seed, Encore, Knock Off, Eerie Impulse, and speed control with Thunder Wave. Its got a nice physical attacking stat, decent bulk, and its speed, while it looks mostly awkward, it lets it always be able to underspeed Indeedee-F, so it is able to override Psychic Terrain on its first turn out.
Flavor: potato battery thor

-

Pokemon: Flamirage
Type: Fire/Ground
Abilities: Blaze | Guiding Torch
Stats: 110/125/75/70/75/75 (530)
Movepool:
Physical:
Flare Blitz, Earthquake, High Horsepower, Stone Edge, Rock Slide, Crunch, Zen Headbutt, Bulldoze, U-Turn.
Special:
Sandsear Storm, Heat Wave, Overheat, Icy Wind.
Status:
Protect, Quick Guard, Haze, Morning Sun.

Flavor

Flare Blitz, Earthquake, High Horsepower, Stone Edge, Rock Slide, Zen Headbutt, Sand Tomb, U-Turn, Sandsear Storm, Heat Wave, Overheat, Fire Spin, Icy Wind, Protect, Haze, Morning Sun, Body Press, Rest, Sleep Talk, Snore, Facade, Leer, Stealth Rock, Spikes, Rapid Spin, Sand Attack, Ember, Flamethrower, Fire Blast, Fire Pledge, Blast Burn, Tackle, Temper Flare, Sunny Day, Sandstorm, Quick Attack, Headbutt, Reversal, Endure, Giga Impact, Bite, Crunch, Hyper Beam, Thrash, Quick Guard, Earth Power, Bulldoze, Misty Terrain.

Weight: 20kg
Competitive: Offensive support with a niche that no other Pokemon on the meta has due to its ability to enable it and its ally to ignore redirection from moves like Follow Me or Rage Powder, its defensive type is decent, being neutral to most types on the game, but exploitable by Water types or Ground-types. Its movepool is decent too, with good STAB moves, and a decent selection of support options, though none are outstanding aside from Quick Guard, which few Pokemon get.
Flavor: Desert mirage doggo, made mostly out of sand.

Guiding Torch

This Pokemon and its ally are inmune to redirection from moves or abilities.

-

Name: Gleamgler
Type: Water/Dark
Abilities: Torrent | Illuminate
Stats: 85/70/70/135/100/75 (530)
Movepool:
Physical:
Wave Crash, Crunch, Flip Turn, Gunk Shot, Knock Off, Aqua Jet.
Special:
Angler Light, Dark Pulse, Hydro Pump, Surf, Scald, Chilling Water, Sludge Bomb, Dazzling Gleam, Snarl, Focus Blast.
Status:
Protect, Taunt, Thunder Wave, Healing Wish, Pain Split.

Flavor

Wave Crash, Crunch, Flip Turn, Gunk Shot, Knock Off, Aqua Jet, Protect, Taunt, Thunder Wave, Healing Wish, Pain Split, Angler Light, Dark Pulse, Hydro Pump, Surf, Scald, Chilling Water, Sludge Bomb, Dazzling Gleam, Snarl, Focus Blast, Water Gun, Waterfall, Liquidation, Bite, Night Slash, Supercell Slam, Hard Press, Leer, Hydro Cannon, Water Pledge, Water Pulse, Rain Dance, Snowscape, Thief, Swift, Giga Impact, Hyper Beam, Body Slam, Rest, Sleep Talk, Snore, Facade, Gyro Ball, Smart Strike, Scale Shot, Endure, Brine, Flail, Misty Terrain.

Weight: 100kg
Competitive: Strong water-type special atacker, which is something the meta doesnt seem to have, while also packing great utility in Angler Light lowering Evasion, which helps its allies in using lower-accuracy moves like Rock-type moves, Heat Wave, Fire Blast, Hydro Pump, Thunder Wave, Will-o-Wisp, Muddy Water, etc, with greater ease, this strategy is not uncounterable however, as strategies used to shut down Intimidate work similarly well against Angler Light, like Clear Amulet, or Defiant/Competitive mons, it also has a very weird speed tier that doesnt make it very fast, nor slow enough to be viable on Trick Room, it compensates in part with its decently high special defense, but its physical defense is kind of lacking.
Flavor: Very big and evil angler fish that likes shiny things

Angler Light

95BP | 16PP | 100% Acc | Dark | Special | Hits both opponents. Lowers the Evasion of the targets hit by 1 stage.

Bug type buffs
Change Honey into a one time boost item that grants a +1 boost to a Bug-type's highest stat at the end of the first turn in
Bug types are immune to Confusion
Bug types are immune to Powder moves

Say which of the buffs (if any) you agree with.

You can also bring back an older Pokemon, and suggest minor buffs for it too (e.g. Snorlax + Slack Off). I reserve the right to reject your buffs if they would make the Pokemon OP (e.g. Huge Power Lucario). Blacklist: Gen 7 starters, all legendary Pokemon.

 

[zxgzxg]

Is there a reason were voting for individual starters over starter sets? Also, I’m confused why were doing drop suggestions during voting for another slate. Seems confusing.

 

[Gaboswampert]

Grass:
Deermint

Fire:
Scinchilla

Water:
Abyscript
Bug-type buffs:
All mentioned.

Mons that would be good to bring back imo are Gyarados, Arcanine, and Rotom, all without changes.

 

[Sugarbear]

Is there a reason were voting for individual starters over starter sets? Also, I’m confused why were doing drop suggestions during voting for another slate. Seems confusing.

Wanted to open up the field a bit, I thought limiting people to picking sets would make it feel too restricted. I meant to include the returning Pokemon earlier but forgot, that was my b.

I dunno if there's a limit to this, but some mons that would be good to bring back imo are Gyarados, Arcanine, H-Arcanine, Indeedee, Farigiraf, Whimsicott, Dusknoir (mainly just for Dusclops), Iron Hands, Pelipper, Torkoal, Ninetales-Alola, Tyranitar, Tapu Bulu, Dragonite, Heatran, Volcarona, Cresselia, Politoed, Gastrodon, Porygon-Z (mainly for Pory2), and Rotom, all without changes, maybe a lot less if we want the format to evolve more on its own instead of already having a backbone for the meta.

No limit per se, but please cool it a bit. Also no legendaries or paradoxes (I want to keep the power level somewhat low for now), so no Cress, Hands, Bulu or Heatran. I'd say pick the 3 out of those you like best (their evolutionary relatives will come back by default).

Anyway, my votes

Grass: Matakoda
Fire: Glitztoyo
Water: Delphynan

Bug buff
Honey & confusion immunity

Returning Pokemon
Snorlax + Poison Heal (replace Immunity) and Slack Off.
Hariyama + Purifying Salt (replace Sheer Force). Sumo wrestlers traditionally throw salt around the ring to purify it.
Azumarill no changes

 

[Yoshiblaze]

Grass: Matokoda
Fire: Pianchi
Water: Dolosseum

Bug Buffs: Honey buff, Powder immunity

Returning Pokemon:
Tangrowth + String Shot & Weather Ball - If we don't bring back Amoonguss, Tangrowth (or Tangela, even) can fill its niche quite nicely, definitely being worse but having some interesting tools that Amoong doesn't, like its much better offenses and offensive movepool and Speed control in the added String Shot
Weavile + Inner Focus - Chien-Pao at home. Weavile getting Inner Focus makes it a lot easier to use as a glass cannon with an extra option in Fake Out, plus Sneasler is cool in VGC
Ninetales - If Deermint wins, it needs a Snow setter and Snow in general needs Ninetales-A to be viable

Question: For adding moves to returning Pokemon, what movepool do we base it off of, regional dex or NatDex? My additions assumed their latest movepools, so for Tangrowth it would be whatever was legal on it in Gen 8 VGC for example

 

[Sugarbear]

Question: For adding moves to returning Pokemon, what movepool do we base it off of, regional dex or NatDex? My additions assumed their latest movepools, so for Tangrowth it would be whatever was legal on it in Gen 8 VGC for example

Yeah go with regional dex.

 

[BlueRay]

Grass: zxgzxg's Nemorald

Reasoning

Is that Iron Valiant / Meowscarada? :eyes:
Jokes aside, while Telepathy may look redundant given Nemorald's natural resistance to an ally's spread move--such as Earthquake, Discharge, or Surf--, I still think it's a great choice. After all, Nemorald isn't exactly bulky and has some aweful weaknesses. So, it may want to run Focus Sash. Moreover, Bug/Grass naturally synergizes with Ground, Electric, and Water since it pressures types that resist one of the aforementioned types. As an addendum, this also applies to Lava Plume from Fire Pokémon. Meteor Beam is a neat option to cover Flying-types. Cool sub. Would have loved to see Struggle Bug being added, though, as it leans more into Nemorald's utility potential. The only criticism I have is Follow Me and Rage Powder. Follow Me is carefully limited to a select few Pokémon. So, I would prefer if we were careful with that and allow certain Pokémon this exclusivity, like, idk, Maushold or Mr.Mime. If Follow Me were to remain on Nemorald, Rage Powder would be very redundant because Follow Me is superior.

Fire: PalpitoadChamp's Almgid

Reasoning

This is a very interesting, unique, and fascinating sub. A very bulky Pokémon with some horrible weaknesses and low offensive stats. Reminds me of Coalossal. I would strongly recommend adding Wide Guard to ensure Almgid can contribute to a game and get around its weaknesses. I think if you want to rely on Calm Mind, its signature move needs to deal damage and heal, otherwise, there's little room for other moves like Protect. And the last thing you want to run is a set with one offensive STAB, Calm Mind, Protect, and a non damaging healing move. After all, what's the point of an offensive dualtype combo if you can only rely on one and when one of the types doesn't offer any valuable resistances to compensate for it? That said, fwiw, I have the feeling this Pokémon is a prime Weakness Policy abuser and may naturally synergize with Snow teams due to increased physical bulk in Snow and due to Aurora Veil. Ice also hates facing Steel, and Almgid can be a blessing. In that case, I would update its movepool to include stuff like Heat Wave and Freeze-Dry to make it less easier to handle. It's still quite slow and needs to make as much progress as possible.

Water: Yoshiblaze's Delphynan

Reasoning

Since I'm already in favour of zxgzxg's Nemorald, it only feels natural to include Yoshiblaze's Delphynan which has the best defensive and offensive synergy with it. Moreover, Nemorald's presence also encourages Delphynan's Poison Point because types like Fire are usually physically inclined and make contact. That said, I'm very curious about the Poison flavour. If you read this Yoshiblaze, I wouldn't mind learning more about it from you in a private message.

Bug Type Buffs:

Explanation

- I wanna be honest and mean no offense. I don't like the Honey change. Offensively, it's likely going to emphasize the secondary type of a Bug Pokémon--a type that's likely better offensively and misses out on Bug's identity as a type. Moreover, it favours special attackers as physical ones will likely prefer Clear Amulet or other items to get around Intimidate, among others. What's more, more utility oriented Bug Pokémon do not necessarily need the speed boost from the item because there are other ways to even the field, like Speed Boost, Unburden or Prankster. Soo, no to the Honey buff.
- Instead, I'll go with Powder immunity because that's a powerful niche and benefits all Bug Pokémon.

Returning Pokémon:

Explanation

I will provide my own ideas and comment on some ideas of other people.
- Rotom is an excellent choice. Perfect for a low power level and very customizable. Yes.
- This might come as a surprise but, as much as I like Arcanine, I do not necessarily want to see it. We all know it's the king of regional formats. Imo, part of having a new project is to experiment with stuff. I would rather give undervalued Pokémon like Hitmontop, Scrafty or Krookodile a new chance to shine. I would be more in favour of Scrafty or Krookodile if it has to be included because Bug Pokémon can handle it much better than Arcanine. Bug resists Fighting, and Fighting/Dark is neutral to Bug. Bug resists Ground, and Ground/Dark is weak to Bug. Arcanine, on the other hand, may make life much harder for Bug Pokémon, unless we all start to create Bug Pokémon that can get around it in some ways, such as special attackers not minding Intimidate or adding a secondary type that can take on the Fire type. Bug and Grass Pokémon work in Alola VGC because GF carefully examined the interactions among the different types and made sure Bug and Grass--as a type--have sufficient tools to deal with them on paper. For instance, Tsareena blocks Fake Out and has access to Fighting moves to pressure Incineroar. Lurantis has Contrary and Superpower. Araquanid is basically resistant to Fire moves and immune to Burn and naturally force a lot of offensive pressure. These are just some of many examples that exist. If we really want Arcanine, we likely have to create our potential Bug Pokémon with this Pokémon's presence in mind. Which doesn't have to be a bad thing at all, but I merely want to emphasize the consequences of our choices!
- Purifying Salt is cool on Hariyama, but I think it's too early to include that since we have no ideas which Ghost Pokémon will come back.
- I don't mind Azumarill but I would rather wait and see which Water starter will win. Last thing we want is to to have a returning Pokémon overshadowing it.
- I like Alolan-Ninetales and Weavile; they provide neat and distinct Utility.
- on a more personal side, I'd love to include Volbeat / Illumise as your go-to Prankster Tailwind setter. They also have neat utility options in Rain Dance, Thunder Wave, and Encore to support the team. As a Bug-type, they can also conveniently chip Dark Pokémon, which are naturally immune to Prankster. I believe as far as Bug Pokémon go, Volbeat and Illumise could carve a strong niche in the format. Next, I would suggest Escavalier and Accelgor, the former has a fantastic type and speed tier for Trick Room while the latter has lots of utility potential, enabling special attackers with fast Acid Spray or generally being annoying between Encore and Final Gambit. Moreover, terrain setters may love to have Accelgor as a partner. In the case of Escavalier, I could see Defiant, Contrary, or Inner Focus replacing Swarm to really ensure its place on Trick Room and especially when Overcoat may become more redundant on it if Bug's Powder immunity gets accepted.

 

[Sugarbear]

snip

I think Defiant would make the most sense flavour wise

 

[Samtendo09]

Grass: Deermint
Fire: Almigid
Water: Delphynan

Bug buff
Powder & confusion immunity
(and more strong Bug-type but that’s our discretion)

Returning Pokemon
Scyther line
Girafarig line

 

[BlueRay]

Okay, I take back what I said about the potential return of Ninetales in the format. If Yoshiblaze's Grass starter wins, I believe Aurorus (which also knows Snow Warning) would be a much better pairing because of its better defensive and offensive synergy. After all, Aurorus does have access to Meteor Beam and Earth Power to handle Fire and Steel Pokémon and also benefits from the starter's Icy Wind to likely attack before an opposing Pokémon does! Might be sth to consider over Ninetales-Alola. Especially when Ninetales-Alola works much better with other Slush Rush abusers due to their secondary typings, like Steel, Water or Electric increasing a wider pool of Pokémon you can hit. With both Ninetales-Alola and the Grass/Ice starter on the field, the opponent can easily take advantage of that lead with either Fire or Steel Pokémon. The same is not true if the lead were Aurorus and the Grass/Ice starter.

 

[Sugarbear]

OK, votes are in, thank you all of you for your input. And the winners are...

Grass type: Matokoda by BlueRay . This was a tie between it and Deermint, and they were both great Pokemon, however I was more intrigued by Matokoda - a Friend Guard mon that still hits hard is very interesting, and Ogerpon has shown us how good an offensive redirector can be.
Fire type: Almgid by PalpitoadChamp . 2 votes to 1 on all others.
Water type: Delphynan by Yoshiblaze with 3 votes.

See the votes here. Also, didn't hear any objections to my move Mighty Blow, so that's now a thing.

Bug type buffs.
With 3-2 in favour, Honey will be buffed
With 3-2 in favour, Bug type Pokemon are now immune to confusion
With 4-1 in favour, Bug type Pokemon are now immune to powder moves

Special congratulations to Yoshiblaze , your Pokemon had the highest number of votes overall! That means you get to choose either this week's discussion topic, or a Pokemon on the slate (e.g. Bug/Ice type with 500 bst limit, or something more abstract like slow and fragile). PM me or leave a comment on my profile with your choice.

 

[Sugarbear]

Slate 2
​

Pokemon 1: Bug type
One of the most common suggestions in last week's discussion topic was that we need better Bug types, so here's your chance. I haven't set a BST limit, but don't go crazy. Secondary typing (if any) is up to you.

Pokemon 2: Low stats, good Pokemon
420 BST limit. No individual stat is allowed to exceed base 90. Huge Power, Pure Power, Fur Coat, Ice Scales or a copy that boost Special Attack or Speed are banned.

By all means, give your Pokemon new moves or abilities, but they will not be signature.

Discussion Topic: Are there any old abilities hat could be buffed to be more appropriate in a VGC format?

You can also nominate 2 older Pokemon to return, and give them some minor buffs (movepool additions, minor stat changes, new abilities). No legendary Pokemon, Ultra Beasts, Paradoxes or gen 7 starters. Submission phase ends on Tuesday 27th August. Good luck everyone!

 

[Samtendo09]

Slate 2
​

Pokemon 1: Bug type
One of the most common suggestions in last week's discussion topic was that we need better Bug types, so here's your chance. I haven't set a BST limit, but don't go crazy. Secondary typing (if any) is up to you.

Pokemon 2: Low stats, good Pokemon
420 BST limit. No individual stat is allowed to exceed base 90. Huge Power and Pure Power are banned.

By all means, give your Pokemon new moves or abilities, but they will not be signature.

You can also nominate 2 older Pokemon to return, and give them some minor buffs (movepool additions or new abilities). No legendary Pokemon, Ultra Beasts, Paradoxes or gen 7 starters. Good luck everyone!

I’ll think of submissions for either 1 or 2, or both, but I got things to tell you first and foremost.

1. You’d want to also ban custom SpA counterpart of Huge Power + Pure Power to avoid a sneaky loophole.
2. Your spreadsheets requires permission, so you should check for the option to turn it sharable to public without permission required. (To save you from complications, here is how to do it.)

 

[Sugarbear]

I’ll think of submissions for either 1 or 2, or both, but I got things to tell you first and foremost.

1. You’d want to also ban custom SpA counterpart of Huge Power + Pure Power to avoid a sneaky loophole.
2. Your spreadsheets requires permission, so you should check for the option to turn it sharable to public without permission required. (To save you from complications, here is how to do it.)

Thanks very much, have fixed. Haven't used Google sheets for a while.

 

[Ubertrainer2000]

Why go for one insect...when you can make two?
Big Insect:

Name: Phlocules (Phloeodes + Hercules)
Type:

Ability: Solid Rock / Sheer Force / Steadfast
Base stats: 103/108/110/63/89/70 (543)
Useful Moves:
Physical: Rock Slide, Stone Edge, Lunge, Fire Punch, Ice Punch, Thunder Punch, Earthquake, Brick Break, Skitter Smack, Heavy Slam, Superpower, Strength, Stomping Tantrum
Special: Meteor Beam, Earth Power, Bug Buzz
Status: Iron Defense, Rage Powder, Taunt, Torment, Rock Polish, Stealth Rock, Wide Guard, Sunny Day, Sandstorm, Bulk Up
Weight: 2812.51 lbs.
Gender: Both
Competitive use: This Pokémon is based off the Diabolical ironclad beetle, one of the most durable beetles in the world, and serves as a demolition worker, helping people demolish buildings: It has no worry of demolishing them from the inside due to it's supreme durability. In VGC 20XX, however, this Pokémon serves as a Rage Powder Defender, using the move to draw other attacks towards it, while the other Pokémon can attack unharmed. Once the opponent grows weary, this Pokémon can destroy them with it's wide variety of Physical moves, including it's Heavy Slam, which will almost always have maximum power due to it's heavy weight!
Is it broken?: (Weakness) Not the fastest Pokémon in the world, and it doesn't have any way to boost it's attacking stats beyond Bulk Up.

Good Pokémon with Bad Stats:

Name: Cybee (Cyber + Bee)
Type:

Ability: Regenerator / Speed Boost / Mold Breaker
Base stats: 66/80/51/80/52/90 (420)
Useful Moves:
Physical: X-Scissor, Wild Charge, Supercell Slam, Heavy Slam, Iron Head, Night Slash, Shadow Claw, Zen Headbutt, Brick Break, Counter
Special: Bug Buzz, Thunderbolt, Thunder, Volt Switch, Steel Beam, Flash Cannon, Psychic, Psyshock, Expanding Force, Dark Pulse, Shadow Ball, Mirror Coat, Syrup Bomb, Giga Drain, Energy Ball, Power Gem, Aura Sphere, Focus Blast
Status: Minimize, Iron Defense, Swords Dance, Nasty Plot, Conversion, Rain Dance, Reflect, Light Screen, Thunder Wave, Quick Guard, Toxic, Autotomize
Weight: 23.2 lbs.
Gender: Genderless
Competitive use: Originally created by Silph Co to serve as a honey gathering robot Pokémon, especially from small places due to it's ability to Minimize, here this Pokémon serves as a Minimize Setup Sweeper. The goal is to Minimize a lot, then set up and strike into the opponent's weak spots!
Is it broken?: (Weakness) Very, very vulnerable to Fire-type moves, and has paper thin defences.

Bringing the old bugs back with a few good nominations....or, should I say, BEEEEEEEEESSSSSSS!!!!!: (Vespiquen gets back Heal Order, gains Poison Jab, gains Intimidate as a secondary ability, (While Combee gets Cute Charm as a secondary ability) and gets +30 to Speed, which was what was holding it back)

 

[BlueRay]

Here are my submissions for the new slate!

Pokémon 1: Bug Type

Name: Intestinorm

Ability: Poison Heal // Electric Surge
Type: Bug | Ground

Stats:
HP: 70
Attack: 42
Defense: 133
Special Attack: 126
Special Defense: 63
Speed: 91
BST: 525

Height: 4.2 m
Weight: 398.0 kg
Gender Ratio: -

Pokémon 1: Bug Type

Physical Moves	Special Moves	Status Moves
Body Press, Bulldoze, Dig, Earthquake, Mortal Spin, Rock Slide, Rock Tomb, Sand Tomb, Stone Edge	Acid Spray, Ancient Power, Discharge, Earth Power, Electroweb, Energy Ball, Giga Drain, Hyper Beam, Infestation, Mud Shot, Parabolic Charge, Scorching Sands, Sludge Bomb, Sludge Wave, Snore, Struggle Bug, Terrain Pulse, Venoshock	Eerie Impulse, Electric Terrain, Gastro Acid, Iron Defense, Life Dew, Protect, Rest, Rock Polish, Sandstorm, Screech, Shed Tail, Sleep Talk, Spikes, Stealth Rock, Stockpile, Substitute, Thunder Wave, Toxic, Toxic Spikes, Venom Drench

Description:
1) Concept
- Intestinorm is based on a cryptid known as the Mongolian Death Worm. It's said to live in the most desolate parts of a desert. What makes it extremely dangerous is its poison as well as its electrical discharge. These information explain the ability choices.
- If you want to have a better idea how the worm may look like, here's an artistic interpretation from wikipedia: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b6/Allghoikhorkhoi.jpg
- On an unrelated note: All of Intestinorm's stats, including BST, are divisible by 7, a number meant to allude to the mysterious nature of a cryptid, such as the aforementioned Mongolian Death Worm. Base 70 HP references Orthworm's HP (which is also based on a worm) and it's generally a number many "good" Bug Pokémon gravitate towards to, like Scizor or Araquanid; it's a theme thing, you could say. The rest of the stats as well as BST are close to Golisopod's ones while staying true to the "divisible by 7" theme; some of the stats are also rearranged to better fit Intestinorm's competitive design, like taking advantage of its own special attack and moves like Electroweb for comfortable EV flexibility.

2) Competitive
- As far as Electric Terrain setters go, Intestinorm is pretty unique in that it's unlikely to share a type with an Electric-type ally due to its dual Bug and Ground type. Thus, there's less risk of an opponent exploring a shared weakness! After all, as a Bug-type Pokémon, Intestinorm resists Ground moves and can pressure Grass and Ground Pokémon with Bug moves and coverage moves respectively. This is important to note because, given their resistance profile, Grass and Ground Pokémon tend to switch into an Electric Pokémon. So, Intestinorm can take advantage of this interaction to ease the burden on its Electric-type ally. In turn, this Electric-type ally can threaten Water and Flying Pokémon to keep the pressure away from Intestinorm; after all, the latter is weak to these two types.
- Another aspect highlighting Intestinorm's difference from other Electric Terrain setters is its great supportive movepool. Thanks to its dual Bug and Ground type, Intestinorm naturally has access to many disruptive moves from these types, lowering stats (as in the case of Struggle Bug and Electroweb), inflicting status via Scorching Sands, or trapping Pokémon with Infestation or Sand Tomb. Moreover, with Life Dew (which is a Dune reference, btw), Intestinorm can keep its ally and itself healthier throughout the game. Furthermore, it can safely bring in an Electric Terrain abuser via Shed Tail if you want to explore this option. These two qualities are what sets Intestinorm completely apart from Tapu Koko and Pincurchin; it shows that each of these Electric Terrain setters has its own identity that doesn't overlap with each other too much. Intestinorm can further support the team with Poison moves, such as Acid Spray, Toxic Spikes, and Mortal Spin.
- While Intestinorm may look like a good supporter for Electric Pokémon, it can also benefit from its own terrain to pressure Water and Flying Pokémon, especially Flying Pokémon, which are naturally resistant to Bug moves and immune to Ground moves.
- Alternatively, if you are not looking for a terrain setter, there's always Poison Heal, which allows Intestinorm to become more resilient and continously spam stat lowering moves throughout a match, such as Electroweb or Struggle Bug, or inflict Paralysis and Poison. This choice of ability underlines the disruptive potential a Bug Pokémon always had; they know so many stat lowering moves… What's more, there's currently no other Poison Heal user that can pull off this quality well enough. Breloom is too frail while Gliscor is too passive.
- EV wise, Intestinorm's stats are relatively generous and allow for good customization, which is arguably a good quality to have in VGC due to benefits like set variety, resource management, and ease of teambuilding, among others.
- That said, Intestinorm's stats aren't unreasonable given its rather mediocre SpD. So, strong special attackers can keep it in check. Moreover, its offensive output is somewhat limited. For instance, its Electric moves are essentially just Pseudo STAB in Electric Terrain and rather disruptive or conditional in nature instead of being ungabunga.

Pokémon 2: Low Stats, Good Pokémon

Name: Illophyr

Ability: Compound Eyes // Ill Wind (Sets Tailwind when replacing a fainted Pokémon on the user's side.)
Type: Bug | Ghost

Stats:
HP: 50
Attack: 85
Defense: 90
Special Attack: 35
Special Defense: 90
Speed: 70
BST: 420

Height: 1.2 m
Weight: 19.0 kg
Gender Ratio: male (50.0%), female (50.0%)

Physical Moves	Special Moves	Status Moves
Aqua Jet, Bug Bite, Facade, Giga Impact, Leech Life, Lunge, Phantom Force, Poltergeist, Pounce, Shadow Sneak, Skitter Smack, U-turn	Bug Buzz, Electroweb, Hex, Night Shade, Psychic Noise, Shadow Ball, Struggle Bug	Block, Curse, Destiny Bond, Disable, Helping Hand, Haze, Hypnosis, Light Screen, Life Dew, Nightmare, Pain Split, Protect, Rain Dance, Sleep Talk, Substitute, Tailwind, Whirlwind, Will-O-Wisp

Description:
1) Concept
- Illophyr is based on a dragonfly; in some cultures, it's seen as bad omen and associated with water and wind. Thus, the new ability Ill Wind alludes to these aspects.
- The name is composed of ill (which means sick), illo (latin: this / that), lo (shortened from location), and phyr (shortened from the species's name zephyr). Phyr also happens to be a word play to reference fear. So, Illophyr and its secondary Ghost type references the beyond, a place where the dead rest, and its presence invokes fear among anyone encountering it. This is further underlined by Ill Wind, which brings misfortune to the unlucky ones.

2) Competitive
- In generation 9, GameFreak introduced some comeback features, such as Rage Fist, Last Respect or Supreme Overlord. Thus, Illophyr's Ill Wind expands on this feature by turning a battle more into your favour as long as it switches in after a Pokémon fainted on your side!
- With a free Tailwind, Illophyr can use this opportunity to further support the team with status moves, such as Will-O-Wisp, Disable, Curse, Pain Split, Helping Hand, Light Screen, etc.
- While the ability is incredibly potent, bear in mind you need to have a fainted Pokémon first to trigger this effect. Moreover, Illophyr isn't exactly a strong offensive Pokémon. So, its ally has to make up for it. What's more, if you run into Trick Room, this could spell doom for your team.
- If, for some reason, you don't want to rely on Ill Wind, there's always Compound Eyes, which gives you more accurate Will-O-Wisp, Hypnosis, and Poltergeist.

Returning Pokémon

- Golisopod: As much as I like Araquanid, I believe it's high time we give Golisopod a chance to shine. Modify its ability to ensure it only switches out after it has attacked (assuming it's HP falls to 50% or below) and add Upper Hand and Wave Crash. Alternatively, if we do not modify Emergency Exit, you could still add these moves to Golisopod and turn it into the "Urshifu" of the format but much more reasonable to deal with given its atrocious speed. Give it a new ability that almost works the same as Unseen Fist but if a Pokémon tries to protect itself from an attack through moves like Protect, it only receives 25% of the original damage of the attacker with this ability. This balanced approach mirrors Z-Move and Dynamax moves. Furthermore, this allows Golisopod to spam priority moves much better, notably its original signature move First Impression! Being a Pokémon that can hit through stall moves (Protet, Detect, etc.), this ought to give Golisopod some huge value on a team, but its dualtype is nowwhere near as potent as Water/Fighting or Dark/Fighting, making it therefore much more balanced.