GP Check 2/2
Nice work.[Overview]
<p>At first glance, Vileplume seems to be absolutely inferior to Venusaur. She shares the same great typing yet loses out on a multitude of movepool options (Power Whip, Leaf Storm, Earthquake, and Roar) and possesses poorer base stats (barring Defense, every base stat is less than or equal to Venusaur's). However, the little rafflesia still has a few things over Venusaur - most notably, Aromatherapy. Aromatherapy differentiates Vileplume from Venusaur and gives her the ability to function as a sturdy cleric with some special bulk. Like Venusaur, Vileplume also gets the valuable Sleep Powder and somewhat reliable recovery in Moonlight.</p>
<p>Vileplume's main problem is that she is easily walled by Pokemon with a decent amount of special bulk. While such Pokemon do not stop Vileplume from accomplishing her main job as a cleric, they can simply set up against her while she struggles to do damage to them. In addition, Vileplume has an extremely shallow offensive movepool, as the only special moves she has are Grass- and Poison-type moves.</p>
[SET]
name: Cleric
move 1: Aromatherapy
move 2: Energy Ball
move 3: Sludge Bomb
move 4: Moonlight / Leech Seed / Sleep Powder
item: Leftovers
nature: Calm
evs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
[Set Comments]
<p>Vileplume's main purpose is to heal her teammates of status by using Aromatherapy and then promptly switch out. While it first appears Meganium would be a better candidate for the job due to her superior defenses and access to Reflect and Light Screen, Vileplume avoids being outclassed due to her secondary Poison-typing and access to Sleep Powder. Energy Ball allows Vileplume to take a chunk of health from bulky Water- and Ground-types, while Sludge Bomb aids Vileplume in defeating Sceptile (who could otherwise set up Swords Dances or Substitutes) and Venusaur (who takes pitiful damage from Energy Ball). The last moveslot is up to personal choice. [reordered descriptions to reflect order moves are listed in]Moonlight is Vileplume's only instant recovery move, but it is troubled by poor PP in comparison to moves like Recover and Roost. In addition, its recovery has the unfortunate side effect of being halved under rain, hail, or sandstorm. Leech Seed is an alternate form of recovery that enables Vileplume to serve as an acceptable annoyer. Sleep Powder allows Vileplume to essentially remove one of the opponent's Pokemon from play if it does not have Sleep Talk, Natural Cure, or the rare Insomnia.</p>
[Additional Comments]
<p>The given EVs are used to ensure that Vileplume has as much special bulk as possible. Alternatively, a spread of 252 HP / 184 SpD / 72 Spe can be used in order to outspeed LO Moltres in the Sun and put it to sleep if Sunny Day teams are a major problem for a team. In addition, such a spread allows Vileplume to outspeed base 55s and 50s like Donphan, Registeel, and Omastar that do not invest EVs in Speed.</p>
<p>While many of Vileplume's counters do not stop her from healing her teammates, their super effective STAB moves usually pose a threat to her. Fire-types like Moltres, Arcanine, and Blaziken all have little trouble defeating Vileplume. In the same vein as Arcanine, Swellow also has little trouble KOing the little rafflesia and also boasts immunity to status after his Toxic or Burn Orb comes into effect. Arcanine herself is a great check to all of these Pokemon, as she possesses Flash Fire to absorb Fire-type attacks aimed at Vileplume and can also threaten Swellow with Extremespeed, forcing him to either switch (and take Stealth Rock damage on the next switch in) or take a hefty chunk of damage from Extremespeed. Bulky Water-types like Slowbro and Milotic also take very little from Fire-type moves and can hit back hard with a STAB Surf.</p>
<p>Calm Mind Mismagius, Calm Mind Spiritomb, and Curse Registeel are also solid counters to Vileplume, mostly due to the fact that they do not fear either of Vileplume's STAB moves and can set up with impunity. Again, Arcanine proves to be a good teammate due to her ability to defeat Registeel, Mismagius, and Spiritomb by hitting them with Flare Blitz. Dugtrio is also very good at removing Registeel, as he traps it and 2HKOes it with STAB Earthquake.</p>
[Team Options]
<p>The most optimal Pokemon to pair with Vileplume are those that can take care of her weaknesses to Fire- and Flying-type moves and her problems with Pokemon that can set up on her. Thus, Arcanine works well with Vileplume, as she is able use Fire-type attacks aimed at Vileplume to her advantage and can take care of Swellow with Extremespeed. In addition, Arcanine is also able to defeat Registeel, Mismagius, and Spiritomb. If Arcanine is used, bulky Water-types like Milotic and Slowbro pair well with it, taking the [don't know if this is what you meant, but Fire didn't make sense unless you were referring to Vileplume]Water-type attacks for her while also forming a sturdy Fire + Water + Grass core. These same Pokemon also appreciate being cleansed of status, as Milotic and Slowbro are prime targets for Toxic.</p>
<p>As with virtually every single Pokemon, Vileplume appreciates entry hazard support. Spikes or Stealth Rock are incredibly useful due to the amount of switches Leech Seed and Sleep Powder will cause. Stealth Rock also has the added benefit of deterring Fire- and Flying- types from switching in due to the toll it takes on their health.</p>
[Optional Changes]
<p>Vileplume has a few interesting moves in her very limited arsenal. Stun Spore and Teeter Dance could be used to run a parafusion set that hinders the opponent's ability to fight back. However, such a set is better in the hands of Lanturn, who can do the same but with Thunder Wave, which is 100% accurate. Toxic aids Vileplume in combating Milotic, although Energy Ball already does sufficient damage to her. Charm can be used to lower the Attack of physical sweepers, but has limited usefulness due to Vileplume's low Speed.</p>
<p>Vileplume's offensive options are extremely few in number. Grass Knot is an interesting option, doing more damage to Rhyperior, Milotic, Donphan, and Regirock. However, it loses much of its power against lighter threats like Omastar and Azumarill. Vileplume can choose to run a physical set (with Body Slam and Seed Bomb as her attacking options), but it lacks much power and has poor coverage.</p>
[Counters]
<p>Most of Vileplume's counters do not take away her ability to heal her teammates, but instead force her out with their STAB moves. However, these Pokemon must all watch out and be careful not to switch into Leech Seed or Sleep Powder. Vileplume also has problems with Pokemon that enjoy setting up on weak attackers. Calm Mind Mismagius and mono-attacking Registeel and Spiritomb take little damage from Vileplume's attacks and can bypass Sleep Powder by using Substitute and Sleep Talk, respectively. However, these Pokemon also do not enjoy being struck by Leech Seed.</p>
