• Ever thought it'd be cool to have your art, writing, or challenge runs featured on PokéCommunity? Click here for info - we'd love to spotlight your work!
  • It's time to vote for your favorite Pokémon Battle Revolution protagonist in our new weekly protagonist poll! Click here to cast your vote and let us know which PBR protagonist you like most.
  • Welcome to PokéCommunity! Register now and join one of the best fan communities on the 'net to talk Pokémon and more! We are not affiliated with The Pokémon Company or Nintendo.

Battledex Advanced

Frostweaver

Ancient + Prehistoric
  • 8,246
    Posts
    21
    Years
    (In order to search for a certain Pokemon entry within this thread, use the "search" function to search with keywords within this thread. Instead of using Pokemon names though, use their 3 digit Pokedex number according to the National-Pokedex. Example: To look for Venusaur, search with the keyword as "003")

    Note: Battledex advance always assume 386 realm, with access to all 3rd generation Pokemon games


    Legend- how does the new Battledex Advanced works

    (national-pokedex 3 digit number)- (name)- type

    Common roles: what role this Pokemon can take in competitive battling

    Why?: why use this Pokemon?

    Classification: Ubar, OU, BL, UU or NU?

    Signature move: famous move for this particular Pokemon (note: signature move is usually useless, but it's there for fun factor)

    Overshadowed by: what better Pokemon can possibly replace this Pokemon in competitive battling?

    Important Stats: what stats are worth noticing about this Pokemon?

    Common item: what are the common attached items for this Pokemon?

    Moves: what are the good moves for this Pokemon? (note: this is NOT a moveset, just a list of moves for YOU to choose from.)

    Strategy: some general guidelines on how to use this Pokemon in battle, along with some basic information about the Pokemon in terms of battling

    Friends: what Pokemon works best with this particular Pokemon? Or what type of Pokemon?

    Enemies: what Pokemon has a special edge against this Pokemon? (note: this doesn't mean that it will list every single Pokemon that can defeat this Pokemon, just the ones worth noticing about)

    Sample moveset: a moveset created... Note that the sample moveset is clearly not the best nor is it the most efficient, but only the most user friendly moveset. Sample moveset will also include a suggested nature, ability and EV setting (but the exact distribution of EVs will not be suggested.) None of the sample movesets are necessarily the best, but just the easiest to use


    So there's your format... as you've noticed, it got more info than the old Battledex as well. This time, due to popular request, every Pokemon will be mentioned instead of just the OU ones. This means that there will be an awful lot of entries... so bear with me if you're waiting for the Deoxys entry as I'll write that 386 days afterward from now, assuming no delays in between XD

    All Pokemon included are fully evolved, with the exception of Pikachu, Clamperl, Vigoroth and Scyther.






    003- Venusaur- Grass/Poison


    Common Roles: physical sweeper, annoyer, tanker, with minor special sweeping ability, pseudohazer

    Classifications: BL or UU

    Why?: I personally regard Venusaur as the best anti-tankers out there, but some others use it for its ability to sweep and have decent defenses as well

    Signature move: Frenzy Plant

    Overshadowed by: none. Vensuaur is irreplacible. No other grass/poison types can do what Venusaur can do.

    Important stats:
    -base 80 hp
    -base 82 attack (surprisingly high isn't it)
    -base 83 def
    -base 80 speed (again, surprisingly fast)
    -base 100 sp.atk and sp.def

    Common items: leftovers, chesto berry (chesto rest), salac berry (rare)

    Moves:

    Body Slam
    -your physical move if you want Venusaur to be capable of paralyzing the opponents. The damage isn't bad either.

    Curse/Swords Dance
    -Venusaur's bulk up... and who cares about speed if you can tank majorly after 2 bulk ups or so? Swords Dance has a weaker defensive ability but the attack power just goes up so much faster

    Earthquake/Slugdebomb/Return/HP physical, preferably Ghost or Rock
    -Vensuaur's physical attacks, which is actually more in variety compare to Venusaur's special attacks

    Giga Drain/Magical Leaf/HP special

    -Venusaur's special attacks... very limited just like most grass types

    Growth
    -the only way to boost special attack for Venusaur without baton pass...

    Roar
    -obviously, pseudohazing ability... but this contradicts with leech seed quite a bit. However, you can pair this up with toxic for toxicshuffling instead.

    Toxic
    -a move many tankers have, and toxic is always expected from all annoyers/tankers really

    Leech Seed
    -possibly the best grass move, as it deals good damage along with healing. Very annoying move to face up to.

    Rest/Synthesis
    -your healing moves if Venusaur is to be an annoyer/tanker. Rest does have the 2 turn sleep punishment, but it can remove will o wisp and any other nasty status. Synthesis is used more often due to the instant healing nature, but 5 PP is definitely a drawback

    Light Screen
    -a nice psuedo-pass for Venusaur that further buffs its powerful special defense.

    Sleep Powder
    -definitely usable, and definitely annoying... during the time your opponent is sleeping, you can really do a lot... you can setup leech seed, roar, or buff up to be prepared to sweep.

    Protect
    -a nice stalling move, and the turn using protect will result in leech seed and leftovers together healing a whole ton lot.

    Mimic
    -not a popular or common move, but if you think that you know common movesets very well, you can gain plenty out of it

    Endure
    -with emerald, this new move tutor can help Venusaur activate the salac berry to give it some speed to sweep.


    Strategy:

    Venusaur finally got some more moves so that it can be used. With the addition to earthquake and sludgebomb, Venusaur can finally gain some much needed offensive moves. This can finally add some variety for this grass Pokemon.

    Start out with sleep powder if you're planning to use it, then throw out any possible setup, such as leech seed, light screen, or buff ups. If you are planning to use another status effect, start with leech seed, then use toxic, and/or begin stalling.

    For sweepers, you'll want to try to pull off one buff ups immediately, and then try to pull off another buff if you can endure the next hit, or use endure to pull off the berry. Now, just unleash all of your strongest offensive moves and hope for the best ^_^

    Venusaur is also a very powerful anti-tanker, at least for me. You got the poison type for toxic immunity. You got leech seed which steadily knocks off the opponent's hp, so even Pokemon like Blissey and Weezing alike will be affected. Against other grass type tankers, you got sludge bomb to be on the advantage, while having great defenses along with poison type neutralizing other sludge bombs too. Self heal never hurts.

    Friends: Venusaur benefits greatly from switching into Pokemon who are strong against flying attacks. Having a Pokemon who can take out Armaldo and Forretress is also quite important for Venusaur.

    Enemies:

    Aggressive Flyers:

    With great speed and STAB Aerial Ace on top of brutal attack power, Venusaur's toasted... leech seed won't be fast enough, and synthesis won't be able to overcome the power of aerial ace. Other flying types such as Gyarados and Salamence post just as much threat.

    Ludicolo:
    It's war, as both side has a super effective attack. Ludicolo has ice beam and Venusaur got sludge bomb. The chance of winning is 50/50, and even if you win, whatever comes out next will surely defeat you.

    Forretress/Armaldo:
    These 2 Pokemon got rapid spin to yield off leech seed, and some other great moves to nullify Venusaur's attack. Venusaur does have earthquake against them, but then spikes is probably setup in time already, and Armaldo probably danced up enough to finish you off in one blow of HP Bug.

    Sample Moveset:

    Venusaur- [def or sp.def + / sp.atk-] @ leftovers
    EV: hp, def, sp.def
    -sleep powder
    -leech seed
    -sludge bomb
    -synthesis or earthquake
     
    Last edited:
    006- Charizard: Fire/Flying


    Common roles: mixed sweeper

    Classifications: BL, formerly mega-OU

    Why: With nice stats and a huge movepool to work with, Charizard mix a decent sweeper. The only thing that's preventing it to be a powerful Pokemon is the type matchup which is terrible.

    Signature move: Blast Burn

    Overshadowed by: Charizard is an irreplacible Pokemon, but sometimes the direct moveset can be carried over to Salamence, and if that happens, Charizard will be overshadowed by Salamence as Salamence is just absolutely better in this context.

    Important Stats:
    base atk: 84
    base speed: 100 (max EV + bonus = 328)
    base sp.atk: 109

    Common items: salac berry, lum berry, white herb, liechi berry, petaya berry

    Moves:

    Flamethrower/Fire Blast/Overheat/Dragon Claw/HP Special
    -Charizard's entire list of special moves... rather limited in this sense

    Aerial Ace/Rock Slide/Ancientpower/return/brick break/earthquake
    -Charizard's entire list of physical attacks, all of them are self explanitory

    Substitute/Endure
    -through the usage of move tutors, Charizard can use these attacks to activate the attached berry for its boost

    Swords Dance/Dragon Dance
    -both of them are GREAT buff up moves that Charizard can learn easily... Swords dance double attack power while dragon dance increase speed as well. Dragon dance is generally preferred.

    Belly Drum
    -if used correctly, the maximum boost of attack power will allow charizard to sweep easily. Best to pass on some speed so Charizard can sweep if it succeeds in using Belly drum

    Focus Punch
    -if you're subbing, might as well consider this move

    Sunny Day
    -if Charizard belongs to a Sunny Day team, hey then why don't you give Charizard Sunny Day to help the team out?

    Seismic Toss
    -if you're in need of a set damage attack, here's your pick. However, this is really unnecessary because Charizard can mix sweep very well


    Strategy

    Charizard was once a proud OU that's used by everyone, while Skarmory was eating the dust. Those were the days when salac berry activates when your hp is at or below 50%, which means drum + salac = ownage. But now salac berry is nerfed and Charizard gets a one way ticket to oblivion. But still Charizard isn't bad, and is built to be a quick mix sweeper. Should it ever fail to knock out the opponent, most likely you'll be knocked out next round. One should always expect Charizard to have both physical and special attacks.

    If your Charizard wants to mix sweep with its main power in physical hits, then it is adviced to use overheat as the only special attack. Though the sp.attack drop sounds terrible, but who cares if you're only using it once? You can also activate a white herb to restore the lost sp.atk if you want to use it more than once. Give Charizard a few choiced physical attacks, along with dragon dance or swords dance, and let it sweep away. This is the adviced moveset for trainers new to the metagame as well. This is easy to handle, and easy to use.

    If Charizard is special based, then flamethrower is used instead of overheat. Dragon claw is a great choice, as you don't have too much choices anyway. One of the move can be Hidden Power to diversify your elemental attacks. You can either insert in another special attack, or use dragon dance/swords dance in the 3rd slot. The last slot should be a physical attack of your choice.

    If you want to use the boost of a berry, ditch one of your moves for either substitute or endure. Keep using substitute until your hp drops down to barely anything, then the berry will activate and you can start sweeping. If sub isn't broken the turn it is casted, use focus punch or any of your other attacks. Use endure when you know that the next hit will OHKO you, then the berry will also activate.

    Belly drum runs the most risk yet packs the greatest results (not recommanded for beginning players as belly drum is hard to handle.) Use belly drum only if you have an unbroken sub out ready to take a hit, or if you know that the opponent cannot knock you out after you rid half of your total hp.

    Friends: Skarmory/Weezing are great friends as Charizard will need them to block rock slides. With a bad defense, tankers and sponges are preferred so Charizard has something to switch to if it knows that it can't win. Groudon's free sunny day is always helpful for any fire type.

    Enemies:

    Aerodactyl/Flygon
    -They are your ultimate threat. With immunity towards a lot of your attacks (besides Flygon being weak to dragon claw), they pack rock slide which will definitely OHKO Charizard. Flygon also got quick attack to knock you out if you attempt to use endure/substitute to abuse berries.

    Few in specific enemies, but the worst part about Charizard is that it got one of the weakest attack power out of all dragon dancers (who got physical attacks to use.) Even fully drummed up Charizard may not take down a Forretress with HP Flying, so don't be too overconfident at times...

    Sample Moveset:

    General/Mixed Sweeper:
    Charizard- [atk + / sp.atk -] @ white herb
    EV: Atk, speed
    -overheat
    -dragon dance
    -earthquake
    -aerial ace or HP Flying

    *note: rock slide can also be added instead of overheat if you don't want to mix sweep. If that is the case, change white herb to lum berry, or liechi berry
     
    Last edited:
    009- Blastoise: Water


    Common roles: Hazer/Pseudohazer, tanker+annoyer

    Classifications: UU

    Why: Defense is only average for a tanker, and the hp isn't unexceptionally high either. It's decent for UU competition but in the 386 realm, it's overshadowed.

    Signature move: Hydro Cannon

    Overshadowed by: Milotic, Lapras, Ludicolo, Vaporeon

    Important stats:
    base hp: 79
    base def: 100
    base sp.def: 105

    Common items: leftovers, chesto berry, none

    Moves:

    -Surf/Ice Beam/HP Special
    These are the only special attacks Blastoise can learn, but it's enough really. Not an ideal set to be a special sweeper though, so just pick one or 2 to assist you. Don't rely on Blastoise to sweep like this.

    -Brick Break/Earthquake/Body Slam/Return/HP Physical
    A better asset for physical attacks. Body Slam can serve as paralysis. But you shouldn't focus Blastoise at physical attacks. Just use them to assist you.

    -Yawn
    A powerful move that acts as pseudo-pseudohaze. Yawn will either force your opponent to sleep, or they must switch out in order to prevent the sleep status. The bad thing about this move being a pseudohazer is that this move is blocked by substitute, is cured by lum berry and doesn't work if sleep clause is on and one of the opponent is already asleep (excluding Pokemon who used rest and switched out)

    Counter/Mirror Coat
    -Blastoise can learn both of these counterstrike moves. With decent defense and hp, they're certainly worth considering about. It's very likely that Blastoise can survive a thunderbolt (provided that the opponent didn't boost sp.atk) and other super effective moves too.

    Rest
    -The only way to heal up hp sadly... this is the main reason why it's overshadowed by Milotic and Ludicolo, who can heal themselves very easily.

    Dive/Protect
    -both of these moves serve the purpose of stalling.

    Toxic
    -a good offensive move to have for all tankers

    Focus Punch
    -together with yawn, focus punch will succeed. Use yawn first, and the opponent will switch out. Then you can safely use focus punch this turn. If they stay still and attack, well focus punch will fail but now they're asleep.

    Haze
    -an important move to have, which is always nice

    Mimic
    -just like Venusaur, Mimic can give you some nice moves if used already. Nothing better than stealing cosmic power from Claydol with mimic for Blastoise.

    Rapid Spin
    -one of the last moves that make Blastoise slightly different than the ones who overshadow Blastoise. Rapid spin gets rid of leech seed and spike, which is very nice to have.

    Refresh
    -you can heal toxic and over status with this... worth considering

    Roar
    -pseudohazing move... there is a difference between roar and haze. Roar strikes last but gets rid of substitute (better against Ninjask), but Haze doesn't require to be hit by the opponent, and is much better for getting rid of curse.

    Seismic Toss
    -set damage move that should always be considered for tankers

    Attract
    -to stall even more, use it.

    Withdraw
    -if you want to buff defense, this is the only way...

    Theif
    -leftovers isn't that hard to steal. By stealing leftovers, you did quite a bit of damage in the long run, especially against Blissey and other high hp tankers.

    Strategy

    Blastoise is overshadowed by quite a bit of Pokemon. If Blastoise is to be a tanker with hazing/pseudohazing ability, then Vaporeon can do it better. If Blastoise is to stall and be annoying, Milotic and Luicolo does it better since they can heal. Lapras can roughly the same stats as Blastoise yet it's much more flexible in the movepool department. The only thing Blastoise got that's unique is using yawn, rapid spin and counter/mirror coat...

    Blastoise is nerfed heavily since the introduction of the EV system. Back in GSC it can attack decently with good defense. Now you have to choose one of them and sacrifice the other. Lead off with any status effect that you want to induce to your opponent, such as toxic or yawn (you can follow with focus punch if you used yawn). After that, either stall or keep attacking to make things even tougher. Use haze, pseudohaze and/or rapid spin accordingly. If you got seeded, use rapid spin immediately. Also you may want to use theif if you know that the opponent is also a tanker and got leftovers. Rest/Chesto rest accordinly when your hp is low and you need some more health.

    Also remember to use refresh if you got affected by a status, especially toxic. HOWEVER, you may not want to use refresh if you got paralysis, as having a status means that you can't be affected by the other status, such as sleep or toxic. So sometimes you may want to purpose keep a status in order to do some good for the long run...

    There's also counter and mirror coat to use. This is very hard to use for beginning battlers as you need to have firm understanding of the common movesets in order for these 2 moves to work. Sometimes you look at a Pokemon and you just know that they can do nothing but directly attack you, and those are the times when you use counter or mirror coat. For example, against an Aerodactyl is a sure indication that counter will work if it decides to attack instead of switching out. Aerodactyl is a Pokemon that does absolutely nothing else but physical sweep, so you can get a very high chance of using counter correctly. When you get a firm understanding of common movesets, the chance of counter and mirror coat succeeding just increases by a lot.

    Friends: Blastoise can only regain hp by rest, so a heal beller will work perfect for Blastoise. Jolteon/Lanturn/Blissey are also good partners with Blastoise, as they got volt absorb to resist other Jolteons.

    Enemies:

    Raikou/Jolteon/Zapdos
    -These fast electric attack user got insane special attack. If you plan on using mirror coat against them, it's very iffy if you'll actually survive. Jolteon/Zapdos you may (but won't be by much), but Raikou you got no chance. Raikou will set up sub and start using calm mind to boost thunderbolt to ensure that it can OHKO you next round. If you have full hp and correct EV setup, you can certainly endure an electric attack such as thunderpunch from Gengar or thunderbolt from Manectric, but these ones' sp.atk is just too high.

    Banette
    -With insomnia, it can block yawn decently, with seismic toss immunity. For certain Blastoise movesets, Banette is a pain.

    Gengar
    -with toxic/fighting move immunity and thunderpunch, Gengar proves the power of its supremacy. Unless you got mirror coat, your chance is very slim. Also watch out for Gengar's destiny bond.

    Ludicolo
    -unless you got toxic, Ludicolo will just simply destroy you... If you hurled toxic at it first, then at least you won't die in vain. Even though you got rapid spin to spin off leech seed, there's still giga drain along with leftovers. Blastoise just simply cannot overcome Ludicolo and its healing strategy.

    -Shedinja
    Unless Blastoise got toxic, you're messed.

    Sample Moveset:

    Blastoise- [def or sp.def + / atk -] @ leftovers
    EV: hp, def, sp.def
    -surf
    -protect
    -haze
    -toxic
     
    Last edited:
    New Section added to the Battledex Advanced!

    Sample moveset: a moveset created that is the most user friendly for beginning trainers. Note that the sample moveset is clearly not the best nor is it the most efficient, but only the most user friendly moveset. Sample moveset will also include a suggested nature, ability and EV setting (but the exact distribution of EVs will not be suggested.)

    The previous entries have all been updated with it. Go check it out! ^^;


    012- Butterfree- bug/flying

    Common roles: annoyer + special sweeper

    Classifications: UU

    Why: It is completely overshadowed... why not just use the "better versions?"

    Signature Move: Sleep Powder

    Overshadowed by:
    Yanma, Breloom

    Important Stats:
    -speed always at 262

    Common items: quick claw, lum berry, salac berry, none

    Moves:

    -Sleep Powder
    No reason not to have this. You need the protection from sleep, and compound eyes will boost the accuracy to 105%! It's just as good as spore.

    -Stun Spore
    A neat attack for double powdering purposes. When one of them is asleep already, you'll have to resort to other attacks like stun spore. It doesn't generate the 100% safety like Sleep Powder, but it still gives you a 50% paralysis, and lowering the opponent's speed is beneficial to the entire team.

    -Attract/Supersonic
    If you want to stall, here are the moves. Throw these on after unleashing a powder.

    -Substitute
    After using a powder, you can setup a substitute so that if the opponent switches, they'll have to break the sub first before attacking Butterfree directly, which gives you a free turn at unleashing another wave of powders to disable the enemy.

    -Giga Drain/Psychic/HP Special, Solarbeam
    Sadly, the only offensive moves Butterfree got. If you're using Butterfree within a sunny day themed team, you can consider solarbeam (don't worry about the fire weakness, as Butterfree will die towards a flamethrower with or without the boost), but otherwise it's not a good choice.

    -Theif
    If you stole a leftovers, it's a heavy damage against tankers in the long run.

    -Endure
    You can use this move to brace yourself against sweeping moves, to kick in the salac berry to perhaps turn the tide.

    Strategy:

    There is no strategy, just a "formula" to using Butterfree that works all the time. Follow these steps in order and you'll succeed in using Butterfree at least in the decent rank. These steps work for a good 95% of the time at least...

    1) Check if the opponent is faster and is capable of doing damage directly. If it is, switch out or prepare to die trying. But if you have endure, use it to kick in salac berry so you're the one who's faster.

    2) Check if the opponent has low enough hp for Butterfree to just finish it off. Rare, but these opportunities do happen sometimes. Should a calculation mistake occur on your behalf, prepare for the worst. If it is low on hp, then attack and finish it.

    3) If the opponent cannot be destroyed in one hit and may have a lum or chesto berry, or any ability that prevents sleep. If it does, switch out, or die attacking.

    4) If playing with sleep clause, check if a Pokemon on your opponent's team have been put to sleep by one of your attacks already. If a Pokemon is already asleep because of you, then don't use sleep powder, but use another status effect instead, if any. If you don't, then just attack and die trying.

    5) Use sleep powder.

    6) Use substitute now if you have it.

    7) Choose to either attack, or setup with other status attacks such as supersonic and/or attract.

    8) Attack with all your might!

    So there you go... just follow these easy steps and you'll use Butterfree very well. These steps will gurantee you that Butterfree will survive, unless against sleep talker or if ability healed sleep within the first turn. If switching occurs, then pretty much it's a repeat of all the steps again, with the possible exception that the switched Pokemon got hit by attract or supersonic, so that gives you an opportunity to risk a bit. Setting a sub beforehand also generates one free turn of do whatever you want, unless the opponent got multi-hit attacks like rock blast and icicle spear.

    Friends: Anyone half decent that can tank for Butterfree, or destroy all who are faster than Butterfree

    Enemies: Basically, anyone faster than Butterfree, or is capable of saving itself from sleep powder through abilities or items...

    Sample Moveset:

    Butterfree- [speed + / atk -] @ quick claw
    EV: speed and sp.atk
    -psychic
    -sleep powder
    -stun spore/supersonic
    -HP Water
     
    Last edited:
    Since frostweaver is no longer with us *sighs*, I'll be taking over the Battledex Advanced project!

    015- Beedrill- bug/poison

    Common roles: physical sweeper

    Why?: It's another bug that's completely overshadowed, there are much better Pokemon that can do the same role

    Classification: UU

    Signature move: Twineedle

    Overshadowed by: Ninjask, Scyther, Pinsir, Heracross... insert most bug types here

    Important Stats:
    Base Attack: 80
    Base Speed: 75
    Base Special Defence: 80

    Common item: Quick Claw, Salac Berry, Liechi Berry

    Moves:

    Double-Edge: Meh, Beedrill doesn't have great defences anyway, why not go all out with Double Edge?

    Swords Dance: Thank you, Move Tutors. Now that Beedrill has Swords Dance back, he once again can do some decent damage. Although, you'll be lucky to survive a round to use SD without Sub or a switch.

    Twineedle: Good for Sub-breaking, not much else

    HP Bug/Return/Sludge Bomb/Brick Break/Aerial Ace: The rest of Beedrill's physical attacks. Not many to choose from.

    Agility: To give Beedrill some much needed speed, if you're without a Salac Berry

    Substitute/Endure: Activate that berry and sweep away

    Attract/Swagger: If you want an annoyer Beedrill (and why?), here are moves for that purpose.

    Strategy: Beedrill is a very simple Pokemon to use. Sweep and sweep away. Or, it would be easy to use, if it's defences weren't so poor. Simple tactic is to use Salac Berry, either Endure or Substitute down to low HP, activate the berry, then sweep. If anything is faster than Beedrill, switch out, because especially in the case of Psychic moves, or any physical move, it's lights out for Beedrill. If you're lucky, you can get Swords Dance in, which will help the sweeping potential.

    Friends: Anything that can tank well for Beedrill, as well as a psychic or dark type to block Psychic attacks. Houndoom works well in this role, covering both of Beedrill's main weaknesses, including getting Flash Fire for any Fire moves.

    Enemies: Anything faster than Beedrill, especially physical sweepers which will usually score a OHKO with a non-boosted move. Base Defence 40 is hardly enough to survive many attacks, even Extremespeed will do the job.

    Sample moveset:
    Beedrill@Salac Berry
    EV: 252 Speed, 252 Attack, 6 Sp Def
    Nature: +Speed, - Sp Att
    HP Bug
    Return
    Swords Dance
    Sludge Bomb
     
    Last edited:
    018- Pidgeot- Normal/Flying

    Common roles: Physical sweeper

    Why?: A fairly fast and good all round Pokemon.

    Classification: BL or UU

    Signature move: Featherdance

    Overshadowed by: Fearow, Dodrio, Swellow

    Important Stats:
    Speed base: 91
    Attack base: 80

    Common item: Quick Claw, Choice Band, Salac Berry

    Moves:

    Double-Edge: STAB suicidalness with Choice Band. Double-Edge hurts.

    Return: If you're not feeling that suicidal, 102 base damage with no recoil and STAB is a good alternative.

    Quick Attack: Deals with Flail/Reversal abusers.

    Aerial Ace: I'd rather have Drill Peck, but since Pidgeot can't learn it, AA is your flying move of choice.

    HP Fighting: If you absolutely have to try and take down those Aggron or Tyranitar. Choice Band, but don't expect Aggron to fall easily, even with 4 x weakness. Also good for dealing with those part Ice types that will try to Ice Beam you down.

    Facade: Ok, it lacks Guts, but a STAB Facade still hurts when your Pidgeot is poisoned. More Choice Band fun.

    Steel Wing: As an alternative to HP Fighting. Meh, I'd rather stick with the Hidden Power, at least it's 100% accurate.

    Featherdance: Pidgeot works well with it's new signature move, causing problems for Rock types out there. Now it can survive 2 rounds instead of 1 from a Rock Slide.

    Strategy: Pidgeot is not a difficult Pokemon to use, if you're prepared to be a bit suicidal. It is one of the primary Choice Band users, with above average speed and decent Attack stats. Take advantage of Pidgeot's speed, and prepare to sweep with some heavy damaging attacks thanks to your new Band. Get ready to switch out often, if you want to keep Pidgeot in play for later.

    Friends: Something to shield Pidgeot against Rock Slide, and Beam/Bolt. Magneton covers all 3 weaknesses here, and with HP Water can take care of Rock/Ground types. Also, if you're prepared to Baton Pass some Attack and Speed to help with Pidgeot's Choice Band sweeping, he can be a frightful opponent.

    Enemies: Any Rock or Steel Type, as they mess over both of Pidgeot's STAB moves. Aggron and Steelix are the worst, totalling 180 and 200 in Defence respectively. Also, anything with a good Defence like Weezing can cause problems, especially with Will-O-Wisp. You may consider giving Pidgeot Substitute to mess over those slow tanks, but I personally think it's a wasted slot, and pointless with Choice Band, since you can't change attacks.

    Sample moveset:
    Pidgeot@Choice Band/Quick Claw
    EV: 252 Speed, 252 Attack, 6 Def
    Nature: + Att/+Speed, - Sp Att
    Double-Edge/Return
    Aerial Ace
    HP Physical
    Quick Attack
     
    Last edited:
    020- Raticate- Normal

    Common roles: Physical sweeper

    Why?: A rather nippy and sometimes underrated Normal type, with a useful signature move.

    Classification: UU

    Signature move: Super Fang, Hyper Fang

    Overshadowed by: Kangaskhan, Tauros, Linoone, and any Normal type with better defences.

    Important Stats:
    Base Attack: 81
    Base Speed: 97
    (It's a land based Pidgeot with better stats)

    Common item: Choice Band, Quick Claw, Liechi Berry, Salac Berry

    Moves:

    Super Fang - No Raticate moveset should be without this move, in my opinion. Unless you're a Ghost type, beware Raticate's Super Fang! It takes off half of any Pokemon's HP, even things that normally resist Normal moves like Steel or Rock types.

    Double-Edge: As another common Choice Bander, insert more suicidal fun with a STAB Double-Edge.

    Return: The non-suicidal alternative to Double-Edge. Return still gets STAB though...

    Body Slam: A less damaging move than Return, but it does add a Paralysis chance to your attacks.

    Endeavor: Another good way besides Super Fang to really knock down some HP

    Quick Attack: STAB Quick Attack can make mince meat for those poor victims of your Super Fang or Endeavor. Also good for taking out Flail/Reversal users

    Facade: Raticate can get Guts, so why not take advantage of it and throw in Facade? Choice Band + STAB + Guts + Facade = Pain!

    Shadow Ball: If you want a way to hurt those Ghost types which elude your Fangs.

    Counter: Raticate is fast, but there are faster physical sweepers out there. Surprise them with Counter.

    Strategy: Using Raticate is not much different than using Pidgeot, except that Raticate has slightly better stats where it counts (Attack and Speed). Unless you're facing a Ghost type, you'll want to generally open up the attacks with Super Fang, immediately taking off 50% of the opponent's HP. If you're not Choice Banding, you won't need to switch to choose another move. If you get poisoned, even better, because Guts and Facade is there to save you. When your opponent is at low HP, Quick Attack can finish the job. With Raticate, it's hit hard and hit often, and it's something he can do well. Baton Passing some Speed and Attack really helps Raticate out.

    Switch if you need to change attacks when Choice Banding, or if you're facing a Ghost type with no way of damaging them. Otherwise, Raticate can be used either in a somewhat suicidal manner, perhaps moreso than Pidgeot having worse defences.

    Friends: Raticate needs someone to destroy Ghost types for him, unless he has Shadow Ball (but don't count on that even with CB). Someone to tank Fighting moves is an asset, but not completely necessary, since Raticate can't take a huge amount of damage anyway.

    Enemies: Most faster (and slower!) sweepers. Dugtrio is perhaps the worst, having higher speed and Arena Trap to keep Raticate from escaping. Also, most Ghost types cause a problem for many Raticate movesets.

    Sample moveset:
    Raticate@Choice Band/Quick Claw
    EV: Attack 252, Speed 252, 6 Defence
    Nature: +Speed, - Sp Att
    Super Fang
    Return/Double-Edge
    Shadow Ball
    Quick Attack
     
    Last edited:
    022- Fearow- Normal/Flying

    Common roles: Physical sweeper

    Why?: A better choice than Pidgeot and Raticate with better speed and attack, the only thing stopping this Pokemon becoming overused is below average defences.

    Classification: UU

    Signature move: Drill Peck

    Overshadowed by: Dodrio, Swellow

    Important Stats:
    Base Attack: 90
    Base Speed: 100 (equal to Dodrio)

    Common item: Liechi Berry, Choice Band, Salac Berry

    Moves:

    Drill Peck/Aerial Ace: I don't know why you'd want to use Aerial Ace when Drill Peck does the job so much better, at a minor loss in accuracy. If you're paranoid about Double Team, choose Aerial Ace, otherwise, the increased power of Drill Peck is more than enough.

    Double-Edge/Return: More STAB suicidalness with Double Edge, or if you're not that risky, Return makes for a good alternative.

    Quick Attack: Anything Pidgeot can do, Fearow can do better. If your Drill Peck didn't take them out, Quick Attack can finish the job for you.

    Substitute/Endure: The former move is good you're paranoid about status effects, or use either if you want that berry to activate.

    Facade: Again, no Guts, but still a good way to bump up damage, especially with STAB.

    Strategy: It seems to be a common trend about UU Pokemon that they are treated roughly the same. Pidgeot is a decent all round Pokemon, but Raticate is slightly better for it's stats, and Fearow towers over all 3. The difference here is Fearow's stats are pushing into the region of BL, and would be used more often if it could survive a hit or two. With more Attack it could be even a decent physical sweeper, but with it's Attack being just above average, treat it like a better Pidgeot in terms of attacks and tactics. There really isn't a huge amount of difference, except that Pidgeot lacks Drill Peck, while Fearow lacks Featherdance. I know where my money would go.

    Friends: Magneton yet again works well like he does for Pidgeot, protecting against all 3 type weaknesses. Otherwise, any physical tank for Rock Slide, or special tanks for Ice Beam and Thunderbolt.

    Enemies: Fearow's extra speed and attack do nothing to help it against certain Pokemon, and has the same enemy list as Pidgeot. I personally see Aggron, Steelix and Weezing to be the top three here, but other physical tanks do a good job.

    Sample moveset:
    Fearow@Salac Berry
    EV: 252 Attack, 252 Speed
    Nature:+ Attack/+Speed, - Sp Att
    Quick Attack
    Drill Peck
    Return
    HP Physical
     
    024- Arbok- Poison

    Common roles: Hazer/Support, Annoyer, Physical Sweeper

    Why?: Finally a diverse UU! Arbok can fit into quite a few roles, and also has a rather useful signature move. Both of it's Characteristics are useful as well

    Classification: UU

    Signature move: Glare

    Overshadowed by: Dunsparce, Crobat, Venomoth, Gengar

    Important Stats:
    Base Speed: 80

    Common item: Quick Claw, Lum Berry

    Moves:

    Glare - A fairly accurate paralysis move, no reason not to have this for Arbok.

    Haze - It's not a very fast haze, but it does the job.

    Sludge Bomb - The STAB move of choice for Arbok, decent all round damage and poison chance.

    Toxic - Everyone can learn this anyway, and it's so useful, why not give this to Arbok? A nice tank destroying move

    Poison Fang - Damage and Toxic chance at the same time? Why not...

    Protect - For stalling purposes while Toxic and other status effects kick in.

    Rock Slide - After paralysis, you can flinch your opponent. Make good use of Rock Slide

    Screech - Soften them up before the big finish

    Attract/Swagger - Combine the paralysis fun with Attract or Swagger

    Return/Double Edge/HP Physical/Earthquake - The rest of Arbok's attack moves

    Strategy: Arbok is a diverse pokemon, capable of fitting in a wide variety of roles. Arbok gets Haze, so he can be a hazer. Arbok can get Intimidate, Glare, Attract and Swagger, making him good for annoyance. Arbok gets a decent selection of physical moves, making him a good physical attacker. In any of these roles, Glare is almost a must. It's a paralysis move that Ground types aren't immediately immune to, unlike the ever-common Thunder Wave, and it helps the rest of the team. It's a risky tactic, since Ground types are going to open up the damage against Arbok with Earthquake. But when facing Dugtrio, it's your only option (unless for some reason Dugtrio doesn't OHKO you, pile on the status effects and have fun)

    As a hazer, I personally don't think Arbok is the best for the role, having fairly low to average defences. But if you're looking for a hazer in an Intimidate team, Arbok can do the job quite nicely.

    As an annoyer, you got quite a few status effects to pile up. Glare is almost always the first thing to do, slowing them down makes it easier for the rest of the team. Then, just pile on your choice of Attract, Swagger, Screech or Toxic (if you're facing a tank or something Limber, I'd use Toxic instead of Glare). I'd personally lose Attract in favour of Swagger plus Screech, because when they hit themselves, it's really going to hurt, and it's a more universal tactic than the gender-specific Attract.

    Of course, Arbok has a good Attack stat, just barely above average (85 base), making it a choice for a physical attacker. STAB moves include Sludge Bomb, or if you'd rather have Toxic type poison, Poison Fang. And, of course, Arbok gets the usual selection of physical moves. Clearly not the best for attacking, I'd say annoyance was the best for Arbok.

    If you're paranoid about status effects on Arbok, give him a Lum Berry, and Shed Skin. I'd rather give him Intimidate, cos it helps out the rest of the team against physical sweepers. Otherwise, just choose what you want Arbok to do, and go with it.

    Friends: Weezing, having immunity to Earthquake, or any flying type, definately helps for Arbok. Something to destroy Substitute users helps, Double Kick Blaziken works well (since many Subbers are Normal types). Also, have a good Dark or Psychic type for blocking those incoming Psychic attacks.

    Enemies: Dugtrio once again does well against Arbok, trapping and ending it's life with Earthquake. Arbok's enemy list is fairly large, including all psychic types, and anything with Earthquake (about 50% of the entire Pokemon list!).

    Sample moveset:
    Arbok@Lum Berry
    EV: 252 Attack, 252 Speed, 6 Def
    Nature: +Speed, - Sp Att
    Glare
    Rock Slide
    Sludge Bomb
    HP Physical
     
    Last edited:
    *cough* too bad for all of you, it's bad to me for the Advanced Battledex again *cough*

    025 + 026- Pikachu, Raichu- electric, electric

    Common roles (Pikachu): special sweeper
    Common roles (Raichu): special sweeper, mix sweeper, annoyer, healer

    Classifications: UU for both

    Why?: Low stats really scar them badly. Speed isn't exactly that fast either, preventing these two rats to sweep. Defenses? They don't exist for these 2 Pokemon.

    Signature Move: Volt Tackle

    Overshadowed by: Manectric, Raikou, Zapdos, Lanturn, Gengar

    Important Stats (Pikachu):
    -Speed always at 306
    -Special attack always at 398

    Important Stats (Raichu):
    -base atk: 90
    -base speed: 100
    -base sp.atk: 90

    Common items (Pikachu): Always light ball
    Common items (Raichu): lum berry, leftovers, petaya berry, salac berry

    Moves (both):

    -Volt Tackle
    No reason not to use it if you got Emerald. Not like these rats can survive, so go ahead and blast them apart. If you don't have Emerald or if you're using other specialized egg moves, thunderbolt will have to make do. Using this means you're sacrificing surf though.

    -Surf
    Another good move to use for a special attack, but using surf means sacrificing Volt Tackle.

    -HP Special/Physical
    The only other way for them to learn special based moves. HP physical is also used at random times for Raichu.

    -thunderwave/toxic/swagger/attract/sweet kiss
    All the annoying moves that they can ever learn.

    -agility
    The only way to boost stats for them... Terribly powerful if Pikachu managed to pull this off in a UU tournament.

    -Substitute
    A good way to lower stats to activate berries for Raichu, and it can block some attacks too... Works for subpunching Raichu, or reversal.

    -Focus Punch/Reversal
    For raichu only... if you're using sub, hey you may want to try. Also can work with some luck if you paralyzed/confused them already. Reversal works with continous usage of substitute as well.

    -Brick break/body slam/return/HP Physical
    All the ohter physical attacks out there...

    -Wish
    The healing move for Pikachu and Raichu... you may want to make a wish before you go out in a bang, for the benefit of the team.

    -Theif
    If Raichu is on a way to be annoying... you can consider this move perhaps?

    -Rain Dance
    Surf and thunder... may work on rain dance themed teams. So consider it if your team is based on this weather effect.

    -Quick attack
    To finish off reversal/flail users and so on...

    -Reflect/Light Screen
    yes they can learn both pseudopass... it can prove to be useful at times.

    -Encore
    Can work very well if substitute blocked a status effect, or if the opponent leads off with a non-damaging move. Needs a lot of work in terms of predicting what's the opponent up so, but it's very powerful once you picked up the skill.

    -Seismic Toss
    100 steady dmg.. it's always nice.

    Strategy (Pikachu):
    Generally, check if you strike first, and if you do, attack with all your might. You can't survive a hit at all no matter how hard you try... shock everything, and HP/Surf everything else with your boosted special attacks with light ball. On the verge of death (in cases where you know that you're doomed), unleash a team helping move such as possibly wish, a pseudopass, or an annoying move like thunderwave.

    Strategy (Raichu):
    Not that much differences, just that you're faster at the cost of no light ball, which is a pity. Pikachu is generally more useful than Raichu too due to Light ball. But, Raichu can actually survive a bit if a pseudopass is setup. Also, you got a few more options to be annoying, with moves like sweet kiss and thunderwave. You can also physical attack now with focus punch, brick break and so on. This can give you a mix sweeping ability... somewhat.

    Friends: Just like any other UU, anyone who got the decent stats will be a good friend for these two. Not much to say... In a UU tourney, Kangaskan, Gligar and Tangela are both awesome friends as physical tanks for Pikachu/Raichu, to escape from annoying earthquakers and so on. Clefable, Mr.Mime and all of the alike are all good Pokemon for special sponges.

    Enemies:
    -Lanturn
    Sucks up electricity, and it's resistant to surf... HP Ice is also useless, leaving you with HP Grass only. Lanturn also got rest in standard moveset, so you're helpless.

    -Dugtrio/Diglett/Trapinch
    Both of them are enough to earthquake you for a OHKO. Trapinch with boosted speed is also terrifying in UU tourneys.

    -Anyone faster
    Generally, if they can strike Pikachu/Raichu before they can act, it's almost a gurantee OHKO. Raichu got a bit of chance to survive in sp.def though... a little.

    -Blissey
    It's gg... Raichu can have focus punch, but smart Blisseys will always unleash seismic toss asap so your sub will break immediately, and Raichu's focus punch will never be strong enough to OHKO a Blissey. A smart Blissey will always win regardless of focus punch or not for Raichu, unless it's severely injured already.

    -Dodrio
    NO! Dodrio is faster than Pikachu... don't even try. There are too many Pikachu dying out there for no good reasons, because they think that they can outspeed Dodrio.

    -Endure
    For Pikachu who got a easily predictable moveset, endure can easily be abused to activate those salac berries, and if you don't have quick attack...

    Sample Moveset (Pikachu):
    Pikachu- [speed + / atk -] @ light ball
    EV: speed and sp.atk
    -volt tackle/thunderbolt
    -wish
    -quick attack/surf
    -HP Grass/Ice

    Sample Moveset (Raichu):
    Raichu- [atk or sp.atk + / def -] @ leftovers
    EV: atk, speed max, sp.atk
    -substitute/Hidden Power
    -focus punch/reversal
    -wish/light screen
    -thunderbolt/volt tackle
     
    028- Sandslash- ground

    Common roles: physical attacker, minor utility

    Classifications: UU

    Why?: Overshadowed by too many other Pokemon...

    Signature move: Sandstorm

    Overshadowed by: Flygon, Dugtrio, Kangaskan, Donphan, Gligar

    Important Stats:
    -base 75 hp
    -base 100 atk
    -base 110 def

    Common items: leftovers, brightpowder, quick claw, chesto berry

    Moves:

    -Earthquake/Rock Slide/Brick Break/Aerial Ace/Return/HP Physical
    All of Sandslash's direct attack move

    -Sandstorm
    If you're using a sandstorm themed team, such as a SST team, then it's worth considering... you also got sand veil so it may not be too bad.

    -Double team
    If you're going with sandstorm, might as well throw this on with brightpowder and try for some luck.

    -Focus Punch/Substitute
    With enough skill, you don't necessarily need substitute to use it well. Sandslash isn't that bad at using substitute, because the chance of Sandslash going last is quite often the case.

    -Seismic Toss
    A nice 100 damage in the bag...

    -Counter
    Good defense to burn off, so why not try counter?

    -Swords Dance
    Boosting a powerful attack is always nice...

    -Toxic
    For an annoying sandslash, it can be pretty helpful.

    -Rapid spin
    Remove spikes and leech seed... not that bad at all.

    -Protect
    To gain some protection to stall off for leftovers to heal... also a good weapon against Slaking.

    -Flail
    Not really recommanded since Sandslash's attack isn't too high for a flail user, and you got no STAB to work on top of it.

    -Body slam
    Got a nice paralysis rate for it, so give it some consideration.

    -Mimic
    A nice way to get some unique physical attacks, if you know that they're coming this way.

    -Endure
    The attack that's always there to help with berry abuse and flail...

    -Swagger
    If a good defense, swagger may not be too bad... and you are encouraging physical attacks too, so might as well give counter a shot at it. Not really that useful, but it can produce some interesting battles.

    -Dynamicpunch
    For a good 50% you get a devastating attack. It's actually worth the risk sometimes, and certainly has its use.

    -Safeguard
    A move that's very useless, yet very specialized in destroying Dusclops and Weezing. Use safeguard to lead off (you're faster than these two tankers), while Weezing/Dusclops follow with the standard will o wisp. With safeguard protecting you, Sandslash can freely enter a setup while Weezing's thunderbolt, flamethrower and sludgebomb attacks are scratching you (and Dusclops will be forced to use night shade/seismic toss, so you can switch into a ghost/normal type accordingly.) Rather powerful and strategical, but completely useless if you aren't against these two Pokemon.

    Strategy:
    It's rather simple... go up against physical attackers only. Attack with your desired physical attackers to knock out the opponent asap. Use safeguard against weezing and dusclops if you have it. Setup substitute and then focus punch when the situation needs it, such as against Snorlax, Skarmory or Blissey. Use swords dance if you think that you can survive the incoming next 2 attacks, or counter/mimic if you're tanking physical hits. Rapid spin away any leech seed or spike as soon as possible. Use Toxic or Swagger asap if you're planning to be a little bit annoying with Sandslash. Feel free to use rest (with or without chesto, it's up to you) if you're low on hp.

    If you're using the evasive Sandslash strategy, be sure that the opponent got no hazer or else your effort is useless. Setup sandstorm if you got it, and use double team. Attack continously if you got all evasions setup. Brightpowder as the item will help out a bit as well. After the setup, either continue on with swords dance or attack directly.

    Friends: Sandslash is in need of friends who will take care of the special sweepers. Sandslash cannot withstand any special attacks at all. Milotic, Blissey and Vaporeon are all good special sponges. You may also want to add in a Crobat to the same team to handle Sceptile. Flygon and Claydol are both major threats, so you should plan of some way to handle them too. In my opinion, Vaporeon is still Sandslash's best friend, as it can take care of many of Sandslash's enemy (just not Sceptile), along with a helpful wish attack.

    Enemies:
    -Flygon/Claydol
    With resistance to both earthquake and rock slide, you're really left with very limited material to fight against them. They also share the ground type with Sandslash to be strong against sandstorm in SST. Rather annoying and dangerous opponents...

    -mixed sweepers
    Really, Sandslash can't stand any special attacks besides thunderbolt and flamethrower. Watch for mixed sweepers like Dragonite.

    -special attackers
    For obvious reasons...

    -Weezing/Skarmory/Physical tankers
    They suck up whatever damage Sandslash is doing, and they may have counter up their own sleeves as well...

    Sample Moveset:

    Sandslash- [atk + / sp.atk -] @ leftovers
    EV: hp, atk, def
    -earthquake
    -rock slide
    -brick break
    -rapid spin
     
    031/034- Nidoqueen, Nidoking- Ground/Poison

    Common Roles:
    Sweeper, counter-user

    Classifications: UU

    Why?:
    It's the nerf-stick from the EV system... both of these Pokemon suffered majorly when EV is introduced, just like any Pokemon with all average stats. Sadly, Nidoking/queen has also become a noob-detector. Should you ever see a Nidoking on netbattle, there's a 90% chance that you're against an ingame-competitive hybrid who's still learning, or just an ingame moron. Don't know what's with these people's obsession with starters and Nidoking, really...

    Signature Move:
    Megahorn (Nidoking), Superpower (Nidoqueen)

    Overshadowed by:
    Dugtrio, Flygon, Heracross, Crobat, Wobbuffet

    Important Stats:
    -everything is average, *absolutely* everything

    Common items:
    Choice band (Nidoking), lum berry, salac berry, liechi berry, leftovers, white herb (Nidoqueen)

    Moves:

    -Megahorn (Nidoking)/Superpower(Nidoqueen)/Earthquake/Sludgebomb/Rock Slide/Brick break/Shadow ball/return/body slam/aerial ace
    A *huge* physical attack movepool... too bad the stats are so average...

    -Thunderbolt/Ice beam/Flamethrower/Crunch (Nidoqueen)
    The special department isn't at all that bad either... you got the 3 basics

    -taunt/torment/roar/toxic
    The annoying category... really only roar is usable though. These attacks are generally useful, but not so sure about toxic and taunt. Torment isn't bad on Nidoqueen too, who's a lot more defensive than Nidoking.

    -counter
    I can't even try to think of a Nidoqueen moveset without it...

    -Seismic toss
    A steady good 100 damage, again more for Nidoqueen than Nidoking who's more defensive

    -Substitute/Fous punch
    Classical combination, but really doesn't work out that well at all because this strategy works if your speed is either slow beyond description, or if you got an awesome tanking ability... and Nidos being in between everything, don't have any of these abilities. However, you can always just focus punch at the right time with skill?

    -Protect
    More stalling moves if you decide to go the annoying way with toxic...

    -Rest
    If you're stalling with Nidoqueen, this is just what you need... along with a chesto berry.

    -Swords dance (Nidoking)
    Of course we think of Nidoking first before Nidoqueen when we're talking about this move, due to Nidoking's naturally more offensive stats. This game can be quite sexist sometimes...

    -Endure
    A common method to activate some berries, and works very nicely too if there's no quick attackers.

    -Charm (Nidoqueen)
    Really *really* helps with Nidoqueen and physical tanking... as long as you don't see earthquakers (is that possible?), Charm will really come through. Though a switch will make things go bad, you do get a free turn during the switch.

    -Horn Drill (Nidoking)
    Ready for some hax scores...? Desperate moments may want you to use some desperate moves.

    Strategy:
    Not very likable for both of them... with their stats so average that it turns out to be below average... it's the Kingdra disease, and why people uses Omastar instead of Kingdra now. Average everything seriously sucks in the realm of advanced battles.

    Nidoking is generally just a sweeper with 3 or even 4 physical attacks, 3 of them you already know that it's going to be earthquake, sludge bomb and megahorn. The last one is either shadow ball or swords dance... Very predictable, and that's not a good thing. Makes a nice choice bander, however. Occassionally Nidoking will revert back to the GSC days of packing fire blast as well, though this doesn't work as well as before of course due to EVs...

    As for Nidoqueen, the crowd's idea of Nidoqueen is that Nidoqueen is inferior to Nidoking itself. However, her slightly stronger defensive ability does give her some room to move around. Counter is very useful on Nidoqueen. You got high hp to burn off for it, along with an alluring type to "please quake me so I can counter you in return." Charm can be useful sometimes to really put a dent in the opponent's power just like will o wisp, allowing you to enter setup of toxic or various annoying strategies. Nidoqueen packs superpower for a last resort offensive move sometimes, and it can hurt more than we like to imagine. However, that's one-shot only as the attack power goes away after first usage.

    Friends:
    -just like any other UU, it makes friends with Pokemon who got higher stats XD Really, their type isn't that good and is weak to quite a bit. The physical department is a lot better though, being weak only to ground.

    Enemies:
    -Dugtrio
    Once again, infamous arena trap does the trick... earthquake and OHKO, and that's guranteed.

    -Weezing/Skarmory
    Obviously... physical tanks are major threats for Nidoking as this will effect its sweeping power.

    -Gengar
    Poison/Ground immunity means that things are going bad and are going wrong. It's also immune to counter, and a strong sp.atk with the ability to learn psychic/ice punch is just terrible.

    -anyone faster with earthquake
    Just like Dugtrio, but at least against these guys you can switch out... Nidoqueen with a heavy defensive setup can survive an earthquake from most Pokemon that's not STAB/no choice band boost though.

    -special sweepers
    You're weak to so many special attacks that you can't help to wonder why did Flatter land on these 2 Pokemon out of all 386 out there? Weak to water, ice and psychic is no laughing matters, as these attacks are very common. Starmie automatically comes to our minds, and then you get to Calmcune, Slowbro and Porygon2 and the list goes on and on...

    Sample Moveset

    Nidoking- [speed + / sp.atk -] @ choice band
    EV: attack and speed
    -megahorn
    -shadow ball
    -earthquake
    -sludgebomb

    Nioqueen- [def + / atk -] @ leftovers
    EV: hp, def
    -counter
    -flamethrower/thunderbolt
    -protect
    -seismic toss
     
    036- Clefable- Normal


    Common Roles: Tanker, pseudopasser, team healer, annoyer, special sweeper, and rarely belly drummer

    Classifications: BL, slowly becoming even more common

    Why?: A tank with just the right stats and movepool to calm mind very well, it's just not as popular as Slowbro only because it wasn't too appealing in the past and people never checked its stats in the advanced world... HUGE movepool to work with.

    Signature Move:
    Metrenome

    Overshadowed By: Suicune, Mewtwo, Mew, Raikou (all legendaries anyway...)

    Important Stats:
    -base 95 hp
    -base 73 def
    -base 85 sp.atk
    -base 90 sp.def
    -base atk 70
    -base speed 60

    Common items: leftovers

    Moves:
    -Ice beam/psychic/magical leaf/flamethrower/thunderbolt
    A huge movepool for special attacks... HUGE... but it usually ends up using boltbeam anyway XD

    -Calm mind/Cosmic Power/Amnesia
    Either of them are powerful stat increasing moves that Clefable should definitely consider. Calm mind works well to make Clefable a special staller and the ability to special sweep, while cosmic power gives you heavy stalling power. Both of them are very useful. Amnesia is specially dedicated to anti-Raikou together with seismic toss XD

    -Belly drum
    Yes Clefable has belly drum, and anything using belly drum is a potential danger. Clefable's speed however isn't helping very much... even with salac it's still very slow

    -Brick break/shadow ball/return/meteor mash
    Physical attacks... not that bad.

    -Wish/Softboil
    Both of them are healing moves, and are both very nice as well...

    -Sing/Toxic/Seismic toss/Encore/sweet kiss/thunderwave
    All of them are good moves to have if you want to be annoying, or is using cosmic power instead of calm mind.

    -Counter

    With that high hp, it's certainly worth considering for counter...

    -reflect/light screen
    Pseudopass is also available, which is a blessing... even more moves to choose!

    Strategy:
    Currently, this pink cutie pie is getting increasingly popular, though I've always used one and never fought one before... but that's the comments I'm getting when my opponents go "oh no another Clefable!" Standard is usually calm mind + softboil + 2 random special attacks, so it's very predictable yet still difficult to manage for your opponent. Use calm mind accordingly on top of the high hit points, and slowly go up in stats. Use heal in between, and then start sweeping after a few calm mind. Clefable is relatively weak in sp.atk compare to all other calm minders, but it is also one of the few calm minders who can tank so well along with self heal. Works just like all othe calm minders, like Slowbro. In fact, its tankability can definitely rival Slowbro. It has a fighting weakness which Slowbro is resistant to, but Clefable got no other weakness while Slowbro got electric/dark/grass/ghost weakness and so on...

    You can also go cosmic power, amnesia or the pseudopasses instead. Set those up, and then launch your toxic, seismic toss, thunderwave and various things to annoy your opponent. If you got sing, use it before you enter setup. With a good hp, self healing with wish or softboil, you'll be tough to beat just like a Blissey. Use counter if you can just foresee an incoming physical attack too.

    Pseudopasses here doesn't give you as much tanking ability as calm mind or cosmic power, but it allows you to work with wish and keep switching around, while calm mind/cosmic power forces you to stay in battle, as otherwise you'll lose your calm mind or cosmic power.

    Friends:
    Snorlax, Zangoose and steel types are all good friends of Clefable, as they're all resistant to toxic, something Clefable is terribly afraid of. Physical tanks are always useful to handle Clefable's fighting weakness. Something to counter sublax will definitely be helpful (however, currently no specific Sublax counter is available, as absolutely no one has thought of one yet >>; )

    Enemies:
    -Toxic
    What's the point of calm minding and cosmic powering so much if toxic is just going to waste you over in a few turns? It forces you to either die, or switch out to lose all those buffs...

    -Snorlax
    A superior special tank who got brick break, and that's bad news... if you're going seismic tossing, it won't work either. Toxic is stopped by immunity as well. You're just messed.

    -Medicham
    Hi Jump Kick is not something you should try to counter... it's STAB, 85 power and is used by someone with 400+ attack power?

    -Vaporeon/Hazers
    All hazers are dangerous as they can destroy your setups. Pokemon such as Vaporeon are all possible and potential dangers...

    -Blissey
    Unless you already got 6 calm minds, you won't be going anywhere against this thing, and your softboil will run out a lot sooner than Blissey's too.

    -Shedinja
    Wonderguard > Boltbeam

    Sample Moveset:

    Clefable- [sp.atk or sp.def + / atk -] @ leftovers
    EV: hp, sp.atk, sp.def
    -softboil
    -calm mind
    -thunderbolt
    -ice beam
     
    Last edited:
    038- Ninetales- Fire

    Common Roles: annoyer

    Classifications: BL (debatable, as comments say that its popularity ranges from both UU to even OU. I just took BL, which is in-between.)

    Why?: With will o wisp and confuse ray as its two useful signature move, Ninetales is definitely one of the best annoyer. High sp.def and decent hp isn't bad either. If it's not a fire type, it WILL be an OU, as an alternative to Dusclops.

    Signature Move: Will o Wisp

    Overshadowed By: Dusclops

    Important Stats:
    -speed base 100 (328 maximum with nature bonus)
    -sp.def base 100

    Common items:
    leftovers, starf berry (possibly), lum berry

    Moves:
    -Will o Wisp
    A definite must have for Ninetales, for Ninetales isn't Ninetales without it. It causes a good amount of indirect damage, and dividing the opponent's attack power by 2 isn't bad at all! It's a poison + charm all at once, and it can't be hazed away by switching. A must have!

    -Confuse ray/protect/substitute
    Both of these moves provide stalling time, making it even more difficult for the opponent to harm Ninetales. Confuse ray promotes switching because it gives the opponent a very hard time. Protect is the safest, but Substitute can block some status attacks.

    -Hypnosis
    It does have it, though having hypnosis mean no will o wisp... which is rather a bad trade for most situations. But if sleep clause is off, a sleep themed team is always... dangerous.

    -Flamethrower/overheat
    The only special attacks that Ninetales can learn and are decent. You do get STAB, so it isn't bad. Overheat does a lot more damage, but the drop in sp.atk hurts a lot.

    -Fire Spin
    Indirect damage which is quite ideal if the accuracy is at 100%. However, it discourages switching so you really can't pyroshuffle. Fire spin is a lot more offensive, as you burnt the opponent along with fire spin for long term damage, and throw out defensive moves to stall.

    -Reflect

    Even more defences, which is just wonderful! Pseudopass ability along with will o wisp stacking up means death for all physical attackers, unless they got earthquake, rock slide or brick break of course >>; which is common.

    -Safeguard
    You may want to use it someday... great attack to have against specialized situations. Generally useless, but against certain Pokemon like Breloom, Smeragle, and other status-reliant Pokemon, it's very helpful.

    -Quick attack

    A quick attacker is there for you if you're desperate for it.

    -Mimic
    One strategical way for Ninetales to get some moves to help its very limiting movepool. Nothing better than forcing a burn on Blissey to lure it to heal bell, and then take heal bell for yourself.

    -Rest

    It's nice for any tanks to get some way to recover hp, and for Ninetales, that'll be chesto rest.

    Strategy:

    Not a difficult Pokemon to use at all, as you only have so many moves to choose from. Will o wisp or hypnosis is a must already, along with various other annoying moves. Your only method to attack is either one of the fire moves (or quick attack if that even counts). Rest is the only way to heal. Your choices are rather limited, so it shouldn't be too hard to make the moveset.

    Burn anything you see (as long as they don't have synchronize.) Then setup your annoying or defensive moves, such as substitute, safeguard, reflect, confuse ray or protect to stall for time. Attack with your fire attacks if you have the time to. Use rest to gain lost hp if possible. If the going seems to be rather tough for your opponent, don't be afraid to risk and use will o wisp again even if the opponent's current Pokemon is already burnt, as you maybe able to catch Pokemon on switches.

    Balancing Ninetales' EV is by far the most difficult part about using Ninetales. A high speed and sp.def means that you can pull off burnt quickly and can stall a bit in sp.def, but a weak defense and hp won't help you survive physical attacks even if you used will o wisp. Balancing hp and def will result in a slow ninetales, which isn't good at all either. You'll have to take a good balance. Generally, Ninetales get max speed and the rest of the 256 points are to be spread out through hp + def or sp.def (hardly all 3 though.)

    DO NOT use roar on Ninetales, regardless of how many peoople recommand so. The chance of roaring something out and then you need to run instead is rather very high, and roaring out Dugtrio isn't helping at all. You don't have the defense to survive the roar really...

    Friends: Though Ninetales does seem to have wonderful ability to stall physical moves as the opponent's damage can be as much as divided by 4 (will o wisp and reflect.) Confuse ray or protect makes things hard too. But this can't be done without quite a hideous setup length, so Ninetales still need a good physical tank to run to. Good sp.def isn't too helpful when your hp isn't *that* high enough to be useful.

    Enemies:
    -Dugtrio
    You got no hope. You can't switch either, so gg.

    -Anything faster/SE attacks
    Really, Ninetales cannot survive something like that. Though it is somewhat tanky, it can't tank anything that's super effective. Even out of the slow ones, Ninetales will have a very difficult time handing incoming super effective moves.

    -Jolteon
    Jolteon doesn't have any super effective move, but it does have substitute, which is enough to mess over a vast majority of Ninetale's movepool. Fire attacks alone won't be breaking the sub fast enough in comparison to the damage that Jolteon can do to you with thunderbolt (and giving you a TWave will make things even worst.)

    -*Exeggutor
    If Ninetales isn't full hp and got EVs invested into sp.def, Exeggutor will actually win. Ninetales will go first and generally lead off with a fire attack. Exeggutor will of course use sunny day, but chlorophyll will double Exeggutor's speed, outrunning Ninetales, and a STAB Psychic can OHKO Ninetales if it doesn't have any sp.def. You can win against it, but you won't *always* win against Exeggutor.

    -taunt
    You lose all of your moves but fire attacks... good luck and good grief

    -encore
    It's very easy to predict that Ninetales will lead off with a status attack, which the opponent can just encore directly and you'll be stuck using will o wisp 2 to 5 continous turns. During this precious moments... a few setup moves to mess you over please?

    -Water Veil
    Ninetales is one of the last thing on earth that makes Seaking look good.

    Sample Moveset:

    Ninetales- [speed + / atk -] @ leftovers
    EV: speed, hp, def
    -will o wisp
    -confuse ray
    -reflect
    -flamethrower
     
    Last edited:
    040- Wigglytuff- normal


    Common Roles: a bit of everything, but doesn't excel at any of them

    Classifications: UU

    Why?: Crappy stats in anyway possible but hp... Blissey anyone?

    Signature Move: Sing

    Overshadowed By:
    Blissey, Dunsparce, Wobbuffet, Jynx, Muk, Kangaskan, Clefable, and on and on...

    Important Stats:

    -Base hp 140 (max hp is 484)

    Common items: leftovers

    Moves:


    -brick break/focus punch/dynamic punch/return/doubel edge/body slam/shadow ball/brick break
    Like most non-flying normal types, Wigglytuff can learn almost anything.

    -ice beam/flamethrower/thunderbolt/psychic/water pulse/solarbeam (sunny day only)
    A huge movepool for special attack as well, and it's always good to have a big movepool.

    -Sing/Toxic/Thunderwave/Sweet Kiss
    Status attacks can be rather crucial for Wigglytuff, as you really got nothing else to use. These attacks really increase Wigglytuff's survivability or offensive ability (Toxic). You're almost certain to use one of them.

    -Seismic Toss
    100 damage with no EV cost is always nice... you'll be needed your EVs in HP definitely, and the defences too.

    -Counter
    If you're reading this battledex from entry 1 to now, you should know that anything with high hp is very likely to have counter, as really high hp to burn off the counter is always nice.

    -Light Screen/Reflect
    These moves are lifesaving for Wigglytuff, as your defense is so terrible. High hp, along with maxed defence and one of these barriers will always be helpful. However, having fighting weakness along with being highly dependent on pseudopasses will result in asking someone to brick break you =/

    -Mimic
    If you're lucky, mimic will give you some helpful attacks to use, such as a self healing move, or a status boosting attack.

    -Substitute
    You can withstand a seismic toss with sub, as the sub has more than 100hp. Together with focus punch, it can damage Blissey quite a bit (hopefully)

    -Defense curl
    Desperate Pokemon may need some desperate moves...?

    -Rest
    If you're using this to try to abuse the 480ish high hp, better take a chesto with you then.

    -Fake tears
    Makes special attacks much more ideal than physical for Wigglytuff if you're planning to sweep with Wigglytuff.

    Strategy:
    -What can I say... lead off with your status attacks, and then setup any defenses immediately if you got some. Use counter if you forsee an incoming physical attack and you think that you can live from it. Then afterward, use fake tears once if you want (and if you got special attack), then attack as much as you can with hope of some hax. No strategy at all... just a standard Pokemon who can only hope for the best.

    -However, it's always a fun thing to do to lure out physical attackers who can't stat boost itself, and counter them in return. A naturally low def will catch many inexperienced players off guard to mistaken things to be an OHKO.

    Friends:
    -Just like any UU... best friend with tankers so they got someone to run to. A Pokemon with wish and your good judgement/skill is also very helpful for Wigglytuff. If it can get a heal from a teammate through wish, it's certainly a good thing.

    Enemies:
    -(your standard UU enemies... Gengar, Calm minding legendaries, and various beasts like that... not even going to bother listing them all)

    Sample Moveset:

    Wigglytuff- [def + / sp.atk -] @ leftovers
    EV: hp, def
    -light screen
    -counter
    -thunder wave
    -seismic toss
     
    Last edited:
    045/182- Vileplume/Bellosum- grass/poison, grass

    Common Roles: heal beller, special sweeper

    Classifications: UU/NU

    Why?: Vileplume is overshadowed by the other heal bellers, and Bellosum is overshadowed by Vileplume itself

    Signature Move: Petal Dance

    Overshadowed By: Celebi, Miltank, Blissey, Exeggutor, Granbul, Venusaur, Parasect

    Important Stats:
    -Vileplume base sp.atk 100
    -Bellosum base sp.atk 90
    -both's base atk 80

    Common items: leftovers, lum berry (sunnybeamer), petaya berry, liechi berry

    Moves:
    -Sunny Day
    Chlorophyll to abuse along with solarbeam... the only thing Bellosum can do. Vileplume can also use it, and not too bad at it too.

    -Solarbeam (with sunny day only)/giga drain/magical leaf (Bellosum only)

    Like any grass Pokemon, extremely limited movepool

    -Sludgebomb/return
    The only 2 physical attacks... this means using HP is a must.

    -Flail/Endure

    It actually has one more! But with such low speed, you'll NEED to have sunny day up with at least one swords dance in order to even attempt a sweep. Kabutops with 360+ attack using flail cannot OHKO everything (even if no resistance), can Vileplume/Bellosum pull this off? Use endure to help if you have room.

    -Stun Spore/Sleep Powder/Toxic
    Sleep powder is recommanded over the other two unless your entire team is rather theme based on paralyzing/toxic-ing the opponent. You NEED one of these moves, or perhaps even double powder.

    -Swords Dance (recommanded for Vileplume only)
    Not that Bellosum can't use swords dance, but Bellosum don't have the STAB Vileplume gets from sludge bomb.

    -Synthesis/Moonlight/Rest
    Powerful moves to have, as they can heal along with receiving a power boost if used together with sunny day. Rest can also be used for healing and even remove toxic for bellosum.

    -Aromatherapy (Vileplume only)
    Vileplume got a good deal to get aromatherapy as a move, while poor Bellosum got magical leaf, which is inferior to Aromatherapy.

    -Charm
    If you want to tank slightly, charm isn't too bad as long as you don't get hit by a SE attack, which means bug, flying, poison >>:

    Strategy:
    -With such a limited movepool, what strategy can you possibly have? Start the battle by your status attacks or charm (watch out for substitute users), or use sunny day to start the speed boost. Then either swords dance up to attack if the opponent is affected by a status attack, or start attacking with solarbeam or hidden power. Vileplume can also use aromatherapy if the team needs the assistance. Besides Armoatherapy, Exeggutor can do the exact same thing, but just a lot better at special sweeping.

    The movepool is so limited that HP is a must use for almost anything you do with these two Pokemon. You may not want to even bother if you're playing offline without cheats.

    Friends:
    -Refer to the list of friends for any UU Pokemon... standard 2 types of tanks to run to, and someone to take care of its enemies (and there's plenty)

    Enemies:
    -Houndoom/Any fire type
    You're just so dead... and giving Houndoom the free sunny day is not going to help your team at all. Any other fire type can also enjoy the sunny day boost and have no fear at all. All they need is a lum berry to fend off the incoming powders, then defeat you the next turn.

    -Blissey/Regice/Milotic*/Suicune*
    Once again, powerful special tanks can mess you over. Milotic and Suicune with mirror coat is also deadly if you don't play your moves right.

    -Tentacruel
    High sp.def, with poison type neutralizing the power of solarbeam is a bad thing. Tentacruel also got a STAB sludge bomb, and swords dancing ability too. Mirror coat can hurt a lot as well.

    -Shedinja
    Wonder guard

    Sample Moveset:
    Note: Vileplume's moveset listed here is actually not the most user friendly's moveset available. Refer to Bellosum's for the most user friendly moveset. Whatever Bellosum can do, Vileplume can also do it so you can directly transfer the moves over.

    Vileplume- [atk + / sp.atk -] @ leftovers
    EV: atk, def, hp
    -sleep powder
    -sludge bomb
    -aromatherapy
    -HP Rock

    Bellosum- [sp.atk + / atk -] @ petaya berry
    EV: sp.atk, speed
    -sunny day
    -solarbeam
    -HP Fire
    -sleep powder (or aromatherapy for Vileplume)
     
    Last edited:
    047- Parasect- bug/grass

    Common Roles: heal beller with physical attacking ability

    Classifications: UU

    Why?: A poor and extreme type combination along with the fact that it's overshadowed... limited movepool doesn't help either.

    Signature Move: Spore

    Overshadowed By: Breloom, Blissey, Miltank, All bug type physical sweepers

    Important Stats:
    -base attack 95
    -base def 80
    -base sp.def 80

    Common items: quick claw, leftovers

    Moves:
    -Spore/Stun Spore {Must have at least 1}
    Parasect's all time famous signature move until Breloom stole its copyright. The best sleep incuding move in the game. Why don't you want it? Stun spore can also be used in place of spore, or both if you want to double powder. Either way, Parasect should have at least one of them.

    -Armoatherapy {Must have}
    As if you got better stuff to do... plus having aromatherapy is quite a rare skill to have too!

    -Return/Sludgebomb/Aerial Ace
    The only 3 usable offensive damaging moves you can get for Parasect... sad. Really needs signal beam so it doesn't have to rely on HP Bug.

    -Swords Dance
    Offensive setup move which isn't bad. You do have spore to buy you the time in some occassions.

    -Light screen

    You can get this through breeding, but not through TM. Light screen can be helpful for the team, and base sp.def isn't too bad at all... right on average. Light screen can really boost that, making Parasect quite powerful against the opponent as long as the opponent cannot SE attack Parasect, which sadly is not hard at all.

    -Counter
    Not too much hp to burn off counter, but still plausible. Light screen can be used to encourage counter as well.

    -Mimic

    If you can successfully mimic a good attack, it is VERY helpful for Parasect to help out the poor movepool.

    Strategy:
    -again, UU got not much strategy. Lead off with one of the powders, and/or light screen. Swords dance up to attack now, or use aromatherapy to heal the team. Afterward (or if you don't have swords dance/the need for aromatherapy), unleash your best physical attack in hopes of some damage done. That's all to Parasect... one pattern, and very predictable one too.

    -Weak to poison, fire, ice, rock, bug and flying as the major worries is not a good thing at all. There will be a LOT of switching for using Parasect. You really have to know the common movesets of every Pokemon very well, as Parasect can be either very fagile or very strong if you can abuse its unique yet radical type (it's either weak to something or very resistant against another, which is quite extreme)

    -in a UU competition, Parasect is one of the last 4 aromatherapist allowed to use, along with Granbul, Vileplume and Chimecho. Parasect is generally used more often than the others (no idea why Granbul is UU even for a UU competition), due to the rare spore attack.

    Friends:
    -standard UU friends... tanks to run to, and stuff to take care of its common weakness. Being weak to so many types isn't a good thing, which means that Parasect will need to be running a LOT.

    Enemies:
    -Primeape, Vigoroth, Banette, Hypno
    All 4 of them are quite useful in UU competitions, and all of them got anti-spore ability. Immune to sleep, they will be a great threat to Parasect, especially when Vigoroth got an attractive movepool to use for UU competitions.

    -Shedinja
    Wonder guard

    -lum berry/chesto berry
    They're also here to stop your spore, which is worth worrying about.

    Sample Moveset:

    Parasect- [atk or sp.def + / sp.atk -] @ quick claw
    EV: hp, atk, sp.def
    -aromatherapy
    -spore
    -HP Bug
    -light screen/swords dance

    (note: feel free to take out light screen for either counter or another attack, but if you're doing so, the nature should be either attack or def + instead, and shift all sp.def EV into def EV if using counter)
     
    Last edited:
    049- Venomoth- bug/poison

    "Refer to either Butterfree, Beautifly and/or Yanma"

    -a very sad Pokemon that's so overshadowed, that it doesn't even need its own entry... Venomoth is a pseudo-Butterfree with a higher speed and sp.atk with signal beam, at the cost of losing compoundeyes. That's all the difference... oh and the stats!

    Important stats:
    -base sp.atk 90
    -base speed 90
    -base atk 65

    Everything else... it's Butterfree >>;
     
    051- Dugtrio- ground


    Common Roles: physical sweeper

    Classifications: OU

    Why?: Arena trap and superior speed

    Signature Move: Dig

    Overshadowed By: none

    Important Stats:
    -372 Speed
    -259 attack (without choice band)

    Common items: choice band, lum berry

    Moves:
    -Earthquake/Aerial Ace/Rock Slide/Sludgebomb/Double Edge
    All the physical attacks Dugtrio got, and most likely these are the only attacks you'll ever want

    -Screech
    For Dugtrio without choice band, screech is not all that bad against Pokemon like Blissey who cannot knock you out in one hit regardless of your low defense

    -Substitute

    Can perhaps buy some time against annoyers

    -Toxic
    The only annoying move Dugtrio got... and if you can manage to pull it off, the arena trap's assistance can't be too bad... possibly.

    Strategy:
    Send Dugtrio out against the sick, the weak and the slow, and finish the poor thing off in one blow. Arena trap will force the opponent to stay in battle to die, not able to running for the physical tankers. You just walk in, and pick off the opponent. Definitely, a Pokemon that's meant to be abused easily, and certainly one of the Pokemon that got the most buff from the transition of the GSC system to the advanced system!

    To use Dugtrio well, you only need to memorize the opponent's speed. If the opponent is faster than Dugtrio, then you got no chance. If the opponent is slower, then you'll have to make the call if you can OHKO the opponent, because Dugtrio seriously got no defensive abilities at all. It's either he/she/it goes, or you go.

    Friends: Pokemon with strong physical defense and ice beam will definitely help Dugtrio in destroying Flygon and Claydol, as these two are resistant to both earthquake and rock slide, Dugtrio's strongest moves. Also, Dugtrio certainly needs tanks to run to, just in case if the opponent is faster/tie in speed.

    Wobbuffet is Dugtrio's best friend. Wobbuffet is a good friend of anyone with forcing encore/counter/mirror coat and auto trap, but it's especially well with Dugtrio. Wobuffet after encoring a non-damaging move can switch to Dugtrio, whose Arena Trap ability will also trap the opponent so they keep using their stat increasing move while you finish them off. It's a truly evil combo, and one of the reasons why Wobbuffet gets banned in online tournaments.

    Other good friends include Ninjask who can baton pass to Dugtrio for some much appreciated attack power and possbility even speed so it can outspeed some of the faster foes like Sceptile and Swellow to score more OHKOs. Tankers are always good friends so Dugtrio got somewhere to run to if it knows that it'll die that round, especially Cradily/Blissey to block Jolteon's Hidden Powers.

    Enemies:

    -Anything faster
    It's completely essential to know ALL the Pokemon who are faster than Dugtrio. If you don't know who they are, then they'll definitely snipe your Dugtrio down.

    -Flygon/Claydol/Weezing
    All of them got levitate, and 2 of them are resistant to rock slide as well which is very annoying. Weezing also got will o wisp to greatly reduce Dugtrio's strength, and taking away Dugtrio's strength is as bad as taking its life.

    -Physical tankers
    All of them will be capable of surviving Dugtrio's attacks, and a counterattack (be it counter, or just a regular attack to strike back) will do Dugtrio in...

    -Wobbuffet
    Great... both are trapped. If you got screech, you win. If you don't, then prepare for Counter or destiny bond.

    -Dunsparce/Other Counter users
    lol... Dunsparce does have an edge against Dugtrio. Dugtrio's move is so highly predictable that it's doomed to Counter. It's almost always 4 physical sweeping move, with only screech being the possible non-damaging move. The highly predictable moveset makes Counter almost a gurantee success against Dugtrio.

    -Cradily/Milotic
    With SE moves up their hand and a powerful defense, you really got no chance unless they've been majorly damaged beforehand.

    -Gardevoir/Porygon2
    Their defense isn't that high, and you maybe able to OHKO them before they can strike, but if you fail, their special attacks will finish you off, and they just traced your precious Arena Trap ability... your team will be in some trouble/annoyance.

    Sample Moveset:

    Dugtrio- [speed + / sp.atk -] @ choice band
    EV: attack and speed
    -earthquake
    -rock slide
    -sludgebomb
    -HP Ghost
     
    Last edited:
    053- Persian- normal


    Common Roles: annoyer, physical sweeper

    Classifications: UU

    Why?: speed is good, but that's all about it...

    Signature Move: Fake Out (look at the japanese name and you'll see that Fake Out is actually called "Cat's Deceive")

    Overshadowed By: Swellow or Jumpluff/none (arguable)

    Important Stats:

    -Speed always 361
    -base attack 70
    -base sp.attack 65

    Common items: lum berry, liechi berry, sometimes leftovers

    Moves:
    -Hypnosis
    The only move which prevents Persian from the realm of complete overshadow-ness. It is the fastest sleep attack user, but too bad Hypnosis's accuracy is so poor... Some argues that Jumpluff overshadows Persian because sleep powder is much more accurate than Hypnosis, but Persian is faster than Jumpluff...

    -Toxic
    A damaging annoying move...

    -Swagger
    Another very luck based risky move... but desperate measures may want to do desperate things.

    -Return/Shadow ball/double edge/aerial ace/iron tail

    That's all the physical attacks... not too much, but bearable. Desperate situations call for iron tail.

    -Endure/Substitute
    Used to force activation on berries, and stat boost is something Persian desperately needs

    -Fake Out
    Poor version of quick attack. But then, sometimes you can abuse the flinch with leftover a little...

    -Protect/Torment
    Common stalling move... Torment can actually be considered, seeing that you can't do an awful lot. Skill with using torment on brick break/shadowball user along with protect can actually result in forcing the opponent to switch. But then again, that's 2 slots used... nevertheless, a fun thing to do, and a good way to impress your opponents even though you'll most likely lose afterwards.

    -Charm
    Against some weaker physical attack users, charm can save your life... in the gameboy game, you don't have 9 lives to burn off like a real cat

    -Screech

    Lowering opponent's defense will certainly help a lot, especially against tankers.

    -Snatch/Mimic
    You can get some fun stuff this way... worth considering.

    -thunder*
    Actually, you can use thunder for a few surprises. Your sp.atk isn't that far behind attack anyway, besides return gets STAB. Use it for anti-Skarmory, punishing those evil OU users who are trying to use that evil metallic vulture to overkill a UU team. Besides that however... Bad accuracy but 30% paralysis hopefully compensates. However, in general, Thunder is still useless.

    Strategy:
    Abuse the fact that you're fast, and try to unleash your supportive moves immediately. You can also fake out the first turn, then continue with the initiative moves. Use hypnosis, swagger or toxic as your offensive supportive move, or substitute to lower your hp/block status. Screech or charm should also be used in this stage. Attack with all your physical attacks afterward. Remember to use endure if you can foresee a move that can knock out Persian in one hit coming.

    Also, remember to abuse timber. Send it out against common thunderwave users, such as Blissey, Porygon2 and Dunsparce to block the paralysis. Not to mention, Persian with screech is not bad at all against Dunsparce and Blissey.

    Persian is all about abusing the fact that it's a UU, and that the opponent most likely won't know its actual speed of base 115, which is the same as Raikou and Starmie actually, and faster than Gengar. You'll really have to know your speed, and you can easily pick off fast sweepers who are actually slower than you.

    Friends:
    -your typical UU friends please...

    Enemies:

    -Anything faster
    With low low defense, you know that anything faster is bound to be able to knock you out in one blow... Especially Dugtrio.

    -Insomnia/Vital Spirit/Sleep prevention

    These Pokemon can stop your hypnosis attacks, and without your status attack, Persian is just a super weak version of Swellow, and Swellow isn't that hot already.

    Sample Moveset:

    Persian- [speed + / sp.atk -] @ liechi berry
    EV: attack and speed
    -hypnosis
    -screech
    -return
    -shadow ball
     
    Last edited:
    Back
    Top