New to Battles

Hey all,

I would like to take battling to the next level. Currently I feel I have only one battle ready Pokemon. :( Which is a 6iv shiny Pinsir (with Mega-evo.) He has max att/speed EV's and the rest health.

What Pokemon work well with Pinsir? What move set should I teach him? Is he even good as a competitive Pokemon?

Mega Pinsir is a very straightforward Pokemon:
-Swords Dance
-Return
-Close Combat/Earthquake
-Quick Attack
Nature: Jolly
EVs: 252 Atk/4 Def/252 Spe
Item: Pinsirite
Ability: Hyper Cutter/Mold Breaker

Mega Pinsir's biggest niche is in Aerilate Quick Attacks. While it's not as threatening as Talonflame in priority Flying moves, this is still useful for revenge killing purposes. Pinsir also pairs well with other Flying Pokemon, mainly Talonflame and Staraptor, for wearing down each other's checks and counters:

Talonflame:
-Swords Dance
-Flare Blitz
-Brave Bird/Acrobatics
-Roost
Nature: Jolly/Adamant
EVs: 252 Atk/4 Def/252 Spe
Item: Sharp Beak/Sky Plate/none
Ability: Gale Wings

or
-Swords Dance
-Brave Bird/Acrobatics
-Taunt/Will-o-Wisp
-Roost
Nature: Adamant
EVs: 248 HP/252 Atk/8 Spe
Item: Leftovers/none
Ability: Gale Wings

or
-Flare Blitz
-Brave Bird
-U-turn
-Steel Wing/Tailwind
Nature: Adamant
EVs: 252 Atk/4 Def/252 Spe
Item: Choice Band
Ability: Gale Wings

Staraptor:
-Double-Edge
-Brave Bird
-U-turn
-Close Combat/Final Gambit/Quick Attack
Nature: Jolly/Adamant
EVs: 252 Atk/4 Def/252 Spe
Item: Choice Scarf/Choice Band
Ability: Reckless

As all three of the above Pokemon are weak to Stealth Rock, Starmie makes a nice Rapid Spin user to clear off said hazard:
-Hydro Pump
-Psyshock/Thunderbolt
-Ice Beam/Hidden Power (Fire)
-Rapid Spin
Nature: Timid
EVs: 252 SAtk/4 SDef/252 Spe
Item: Life Orb
Ability: Natural Cure/Analytic

or
-Scald
-Psyshock/Reflect Type
-Rapid Spin
-Recover
Nature: Timid
EVs: 252 HP/4 SAtk/252 Spe
Item: Leftovers
Ability: Natural Cure

Therian Landorus is a good teammate for the above to get each member in safely with a slow U-turn and set up Stealth Rock:
-Stealth Rock
-Earthquake
-Stone Edge/Toxic
-U-turn/Swords Dance
Nature: Impish
EVs: 248 HP/244 Def/8 SDef/8 Spe
Item: Leftovers/Rocky Helmet

Ok so my Mega Pinsir has Moxie as it's ability. Other than that it is jolly and pretty much matches your EV training set.

You mentioned swords dance in there, as Pinsir is so squishy is there a specific time you would use that? Or as I have moxie would I be able to take something else?

Also I love the second Starmie so will deffo be adding that in. Thanks :)

Tiernanze said:

Ok so my Mega Pinsir has Moxie as it's ability. Other than that it is jolly and pretty much matches your EV training set.

You mentioned swords dance in there, as Pinsir is so squishy is there a specific time you would use that? Or as I have moxie would I be able to take something else?

Also I love the second Starmie so will deffo be adding that in. Thanks :)

Click to expand...

You set up Swords Dance on a predicted switch. Pinsir's regular abilities are better as a pre-Mega ability because Hyper Cutter can block an Intimidate, while Mold Breaker lets Pinsir hit Levitate Pokemon with Earthquake (Wash Rotom being a prime example) before Pinsir Mega Evolves.

Just to like add on to PlatinumDude, SD is an option you should use over other options primarily because normally using M-Pinsir means your team is offensively oriented. Why that's important is offensive teams need to be more inclined to make predictions in order to gain the upper hand, unlike balance and defensive teams that don't need as much predicting. As such, SDing on a predicted switch can essentially make Pinsir a wincon in many situations.