Moveset Help & Other Questions (FAQ in first post)

[PlatinumDude]

Groudon: Is there a common set for it?

For singles, Primal Groudon can fulfill a wide variety of roles, such as Stealth Rock setter or setup attacker:
-Stealth Rock
-Precipice Blades/Earthquake
-Lava Plume/Stone Edge
-Roar/Thunder Wave/Dragon Tail
Nature: Relaxed
EVs: 252 HP/56 Def/200 SDef
Item: Red Orb

or
-Rock Polish
-Precipice Blades
-Fire Punch/Stone Edge
-Dragon Claw/Swords Dance
Nature: Adamant
EVs: 104 HP/252 Atk/96 SDef/56 Spe
Item: Red Orb

or
-Rock Polish
-Precipice Blades
-Fire Blast
-Dragon Pulse
Nature: Mild
EVs: 96 Atk/252 SAtk/104 SDef/56 Spe
Item: Red Orb

or
-Swords Dance
-Precipice Blades
-Rock Slide/Stone Edge
-Thunder Wave
Nature: Adamant
EVs: 252 HP/196 Atk/48 SDef/12 Spe
Item: Red Orb

For doubles/VGC16:
-Precipice Blades
-Fire Punch
-Overheat
-Protect
Nature: Impish
EVs: 252 HP/4 Atk/252 Def
Item: Red Orb

or
-Precipice Blades/Earth Power
-Overheat/Fire Blast/Flamethrower
-Rock Slide
-Protect
Nature: Quiet
EVs: 180 HP/252 SAtk/76 Spe
Item: Red Orb

 

[Emboar]

Groudon: Is there a common set for it?

A set I used to run with great success in Ubers on Pokemon Showdown was

-Rock Polish
-Earthquake
-Fire Punch
-Swords Dance
Nature: Adamant
EVs: 252 Atk/248 Spe/8 HP
Item: Red Orb

Setting up both moves puts a lot of pressure on your opponent. Not running max Speed so it can override Primordial Sea if the Kyogre is running Modest or Timid, unless the Kyogre switches in after Groudon is sent in. Earthquake over Precipice Blades because its more reliable, and the extra power isn't necessary in most cases.

 

[Howmander]

So I've been looking for the 4 move types that have the most super effective coverage and I'm so sick of going through the Pokemon Coverage calculator with every conceivable combination, so I am wondering if anyone has found a better combination for Super Effective moves. So far the best I have found is Electric, Fighting, Ground and Flying, which hits 612 Super Effectively and 162 Neutrally (with 0 in No Effect and 0 in Not Very Effective) has anyone found a more effective combination of moves?

Also, on a side note, I'm looking for a fourth move for Zangoose. I don't want to do Quick Attack as I already have a normal type move so I don't want TWO normal type moves on it. It's got Toxic Boost with Toxic Orb, and so far has Facade, Close Combat and Knock Off/Night Slash (still trying out both to see which I want) and I can't figure out the fourth move. I thought of Protect to give me a turn for Toxic Orb to kick in, X-Scissor but it has no bonus effect, Poison Jab for the poison chance, but Aerial Ace seems to give the most extra coverage out of all the other attacking moves, factoring in STAB does the same amount of damage as Quick Attack would and is super effective against 182 types on it's own while Quick attack is super effective against nothing. Maybe even one of the elemental punches, I'm realyl not sure and could use some opinions on what the fourth move should be. Thanks!

 

[PlatinumDude]

So I've been looking for the 4 move types that have the most super effective coverage and I'm so sick of going through the Pokemon Coverage calculator with every conceivable combination, so I am wondering if anyone has found a better combination for Super Effective moves. So far the best I have found is Electric, Fighting, Ground and Flying, which hits 612 Super Effectively and 162 Neutrally (with 0 in No Effect and 0 in Not Very Effective) has anyone found a more effective combination of moves?

Also, on a side note, I'm looking for a fourth move for Zangoose. I don't want to do Quick Attack as I already have a normal type move so I don't want TWO normal type moves on it. It's got Toxic Boost with Toxic Orb, and so far has Facade, Close Combat and Knock Off/Night Slash (still trying out both to see which I want) and I can't figure out the fourth move. I thought of Protect to give me a turn for Toxic Orb to kick in, X-Scissor but it has no bonus effect, Poison Jab for the poison chance, but Aerial Ace seems to give the most extra coverage out of all the other attacking moves, factoring in STAB does the same amount of damage as Quick Attack would and is super effective against 182 types on it's own while Quick attack is super effective against nothing. Maybe even one of the elemental punches, I'm realyl not sure and could use some opinions on what the fourth move should be. Thanks!

Quick Attack is important on Zangoose because it's not that fast and the priority that it gives is useful for picking off frail attackers. You could fit in Swords Dance as a fourth move, but Zangoose's frailty makes it difficult to get a boost off. Knock Off is more useful than Night Slash nowadays because it removes non-Mega Stone items and has a stronger hit on those holding said items. The power difference between Knock Off and Night Slash is negligible:
-Facade
-Close Combat
-Knock Off
-Quick Attack
Nature: Jolly
EVs: 252 Atk/4 Def/252 Spe
Item: Toxic Orb
Ability: Toxic Boost

The above set is what Zangoose should always run. It has no need for supereffective coverage, since Normal/Dark/Fighting hits everything neutrally and a boosted Facade hurts tons. As I already mentioned, Quick Attack is important on Zangoose for the priority, since it will fall against faster attackers without it.

 

[Howmander]

Looking for a support Chimecho. I ended up hatching a Bold Chingling but I want to make use of it because it's Shiny, so I was thinking of a support Chimecho. (I don't need an attacking Chimecho, I already have a second one for that) I just want to make use of this one because it's Shiny. It was born with Recover and Skill Swap, I'm going to let it learn Entrainment before I let it evolve and want it to learn Heal Pulse, problem is I also want it to know Heal Bell and I don't know which of it's ability moves to get rid of. It was born with Skill Swap so I can reteach that whenever, but Once it evolves, if I get rid of Entrainment it can never learn it again, so I am wondering if I should keep one of these abilities over the other and why. In addition to the healing of team mates, I was also wanting to use it to get rid of bad abilities (such as Slow Start, for example) and then, if it lives, giving that ability to the opponent, or simply giving it's own ability to something that can use it (like an Electric type team mate that doesn't have good ability options and giving it Chimecho's levitate) I'm really stumped because if it had 5 move slots I would be fine, but with four I really have to pick which one to get rid of, and one of those options I can't go back on. Thanks for advice!

So Chimecho:
Bold (non negotiable, it's shiny)
Item: Dunno yet. Maybe Focus Sash
Heal Bell
Heal Pulse
Skill Swap
Entrainment
Recover

Which should I get rid of?

EDIT: Also, what's the point of forfeiting when you're in your last turn? I get if it's a battle that drags on and on, or you know you're hopelessly outclassed, but I was fighting in Triples a Diancie, Kyurem White, Zekrom, Rayquaza Giratina and Dialga which I got them down to just two (Giratina and Dialga) with my team of Greninja, Mega Manectric (Intimidate and Snarl are insanely useful together!), Hawlucha, Golurk and Smeargle with Transform who transformed into Diancie. Anyway, I got the other team down to just two pokemon and they forfeited, SO I was wondering why? It still counts as a loss for you if you forfeit, right? So why not just take the loss. That's what I do because why bother forfeitting?

 

[wolf]

Looking for a support Chimecho. I ended up hatching a Bold Chingling but I want to make use of it because it's Shiny, so I was thinking of a support Chimecho. (I don't need an attacking Chimecho, I already have a second one for that) I just want to make use of this one because it's Shiny. It was born with Recover and Skill Swap, I'm going to let it learn Entrainment before I let it evolve and want it to learn Heal Pulse, problem is I also want it to know Heal Bell and I don't know which of it's ability moves to get rid of. It was born with Skill Swap so I can reteach that whenever, but Once it evolves, if I get rid of Entrainment it can never learn it again, so I am wondering if I should keep one of these abilities over the other and why. In addition to the healing of team mates, I was also wanting to use it to get rid of bad abilities (such as Slow Start, for example) and then, if it lives, giving that ability to the opponent, or simply giving it's own ability to something that can use it (like an Electric type team mate that doesn't have good ability options and giving it Chimecho's levitate) I'm really stumped because if it had 5 move slots I would be fine, but with four I really have to pick which one to get rid of, and one of those options I can't go back on. Thanks for advice!

So Chimecho:
Bold (non negotiable, it's shiny)
Item: Dunno yet. Maybe Focus Sash
Heal Bell
Heal Pulse
Skill Swap
Entrainment
Recover

Which should I get rid of?

EDIT: Also, what's the point of forfeiting when you're in your last turn? I get if it's a battle that drags on and on, or you know you're hopelessly outclassed, but I was fighting in Triples a Diancie, Kyurem White, Zekrom, Rayquaza Giratina and Dialga which I got them down to just two (Giratina and Dialga) with my team of Greninja, Mega Manectric (Intimidate and Snarl are insanely useful together!), Hawlucha, Golurk and Smeargle with Transform who transformed into Diancie. Anyway, I got the other team down to just two pokemon and they forfeited, SO I was wondering why? It still counts as a loss for you if you forfeit, right? So why not just take the loss. That's what I do because why bother forfeitting?

If I'm not too late to this, Entrainment seems like a worse version of Skill Swap to me. It might be more useful in situations where you need to Earthquake in doubles or triples, but you'd be giving your opponent that immunity as well.

 

[Howmander]

If I'm not too late to this, Entrainment seems like a worse version of Skill Swap to me. It might be more useful in situations where you need to Earthquake in doubles or triples, but you'd be giving your opponent that immunity as well.

I'm not sure what you mean, in doubles and triples you can use Entrainment on the opponent or a team mate (you can choose anyone adjacent to you) so I'm not sure what you mean by giving your opponent the immunity.

 

[wolf]

I'm not sure what you mean, in doubles and triples you can use Entrainment on the opponent or a team mate (you can choose anyone adjacent to you) so I'm not sure what you mean by giving your opponent the immunity.

It depends on the team. With Skill Swap you're accomplishing almost the same purpose, and Chimecho might get a better ability in the process. Like I said, Entrainment seems only useful if you absolutely need to keep Levitate on Chimecho, or if you're using it on something like Slaking.

Also, by using it on the opponent I was thinking along the lines of crippling Pokemon that heavily rely on their abilities.

 

[Howmander]

It depends on the team. With Skill Swap you're accomplishing almost the same purpose, and Chimecho might get a better ability in the process. Like I said, Entrainment seems only useful if you absolutely need to keep Levitate on Chimecho, or if you're using it on something like Slaking.

Also, by using it on the opponent I was thinking along the lines of crippling Pokemon that heavily rely on their abilities.

Oh I see! Yeah, I was thinking (on the rare occasion that it lasts more than a couple turns) of skill swapping a negative or even not useful ability (like light metal if you have a weight based attack or your team, or Slow Start) from a team mate and then giving it to one or both opponents, but I do see you point thought.

On a side note, is there any actual benefit to making your pokemon lighter? Between Light Metal and Float Stone and Autotomize (although I don't think anything with Light Metal learns autotomize) you can make your pokemon weight up to 1/4 of it's normal weight (1/8 if it was possible to have all 3 on one pokemon), but is there any benefit to this whatsoever? Other than someone using Low Kick, grass knot, Heat Crash or Heavy Slam on you, is there any benefit that you can use whatsoever? Heavy Metal is obvious because you can use weight based attacks, but making yourself lighter seems to offer no purpose whatsoever, and I kind of find it hard to believe that they gave 5 pokemon the ability and a hold item to defend against or be hindered by 4 moves and that's it. Is there some secret to weight in the game or is it seriously a whole series of abilities and a hold item solely built around those four moves?

 

[wolf]

Oh I see! Yeah, I was thinking (on the rare occasion that it lasts more than a couple turns) of skill swapping a negative or even not useful ability (like light metal if you have a weight based attack or your team, or Slow Start) from a team mate and then giving it to one or both opponents, but I do see you point thought.

On a side note, is there any actual benefit to making your pokemon lighter? Between Light Metal and Float Stone and Autotomize (although I don't think anything with Light Metal learns autotomize) you can make your pokemon weight up to 1/4 of it's normal weight (1/8 if it was possible to have all 3 on one pokemon), but is there any benefit to this whatsoever? Other than someone using Low Kick, grass knot, Heat Crash or Heavy Slam on you, is there any benefit that you can use whatsoever? Heavy Metal is obvious because you can use weight based attacks, but making yourself lighter seems to offer no purpose whatsoever, and I kind of find it hard to believe that they gave 5 pokemon the ability and a hold item to defend against or be hindered by 4 moves and that's it. Is there some secret to weight in the game or is it seriously a whole series of abilities and a hold item solely built around those four moves?

There's no competitive value to going out of your way to make a Pokemon lighter. The only notable instance that comes to mind is Light Metal Scizor @ Scizorite. It lets Scizor switch in stuff like Weavile's Low Kick better. It doesn't need Technician since it'll Mega Evolve immediately.

 

[Howmander]

There's no competitive value to going out of your way to make a Pokemon lighter. The only notable instance that comes to mind is Light Metal Scizor @ Scizorite. It lets Scizor switch in stuff like Weavile's Low Kick better. It doesn't need Technician since it'll Mega Evolve immediately.

Alright thank you very much for explaining that!

So, I'm not asking if this is a GOOD moveset, It's just a gimmick I'm trying out, I jsut want to know if it will actually work or if there's some mechanic I'm not seeing that would prevent something from working the way I think it should:

Heatmor @ Starf Berry (unless there's another berry that raises a specific stat sharply rather than a random one)
Gluttony Ability
Giga Drain (to cover all it's weaknesses and recover HP)
Heatwave/Flamethrower (not sure yet, not important)
Belch
Recycle

So obviously it's to make use of the sharply raised random stat at 50% health, recycle/recover and repeat. Again, I know it's a gimmick, and relies on survivability and randomness, but I just want to know if there is anything that I'm not seeing that would prevent any part of this from not working (like my initial Delibird Bestow/Recycle plan wouldn't work, I just want to know if there's anything in this set that is specifically being blocked from working before I go to the trouble of breeding one) Thanks for the input!

 

[Nah]

What EV spread(s) does Geomancy Xerneas typically run these days? The Smorgen page lists what is likely a kind of outdated spread (since it references Genesect), and I've had a few lately outspeed my Yveltal, which has significant Speed investment.

 

[wolf]

Alright thank you very much for explaining that!

So, I'm not asking if this is a GOOD moveset, It's just a gimmick I'm trying out, I jsut want to know if it will actually work or if there's some mechanic I'm not seeing that would prevent something from working the way I think it should:

Heatmor @ Starf Berry (unless there's another berry that raises a specific stat sharply rather than a random one)
Gluttony Ability
Giga Drain (to cover all it's weaknesses and recover HP)
Heatwave/Flamethrower (not sure yet, not important)
Belch
Recycle

So obviously it's to make use of the sharply raised random stat at 50% health, recycle/recover and repeat. Again, I know it's a gimmick, and relies on survivability and randomness, but I just want to know if there is anything that I'm not seeing that would prevent any part of this from not working (like my initial Delibird Bestow/Recycle plan wouldn't work, I just want to know if there's anything in this set that is specifically being blocked from working before I go to the trouble of breeding one) Thanks for the input!

Belch seems too situational to work. It also doesn't provide any notable coverage. You're better off with Hidden Power Ice for Dragons. Use Substitute to help with status.

This strategy definitely won't work by the way.

What EV spread(s) does Geomancy Xerneas typically run these days? The Smorgen page lists what is likely a kind of outdated spread (since it references Genesect), and I've had a few lately outspeed my Yveltal, which has significant Speed investment.

For what it's worth, here are usage stats from last month:

 +----------------------------------------+ 
 | Spreads                                | 
 | Modest:248/0/0/252/8/0 19.694%         | 
 | Modest:184/0/28/252/0/44 13.626%       | 
 | Hardy:0/0/0/0/0/0  3.047%              | 
 | Timid:4/0/0/252/0/252  2.921%          | 
 | Modest:4/0/0/252/0/252  2.307%         | 
 | Mild:248/8/0/252/0/0  2.226%           | 
 | Other 56.178%                          | 
 +----------------------------------------+

Higher ladder (+1760):

 +----------------------------------------+ 
 | Spreads                                | 
 | Modest:184/0/28/252/0/44 14.224%       | 
 | Modest:248/0/0/252/8/0  7.718%         | 
 | Modest:104/0/80/248/0/76  2.890%       | 
 | Timid:0/0/72/252/0/184  2.692%         | 
 | Timid:4/0/0/252/0/252  2.687%          | 
 | Modest:0/0/0/252/4/252  2.621%         | 
 | Other 67.168%                          | 
 +----------------------------------------+

Aside from standard, max Spe or 72 Def / 184 Spe seem most common.

 

[Howmander]

Belch seems too situational to work. It also doesn't provide any notable coverage. You're better off with Hidden Power Ice for Dragons. Use Substitute to help with status.

This strategy definitely won't work by the way.

No, no, you misunderstand, I wasn't asking if it was a GOOD strategy, I was asking if it was technically capable of working. For example, a Delibird having Bestow and Recycle WON'T work because recycle is specifically prevented from restoring an item that is given away in this fashion, so I wasn't asking if the Heatmor strategy was a good one or whether or not it would work well in battles, I was asking if the game prevented any part of it from occuring because of the way teh game is coded (like the Bestow/REcycle thing) and I don't battle on simulators and I don't have the patience to breed for hidden power, so ANY kind of Hidden power that isn't Dark or Dragon is out of the question unfortunately.

 

[wolf]

No, no, you misunderstand, I wasn't asking if it was a GOOD strategy, I was asking if it was technically capable of working. For example, a Delibird having Bestow and Recycle WON'T work because recycle is specifically prevented from restoring an item that is given away in this fashion, so I wasn't asking if the Heatmor strategy was a good one or whether or not it would work well in battles, I was asking if the game prevented any part of it from occuring because of the way teh game is coded (like the Bestow/REcycle thing) and I don't battle on simulators and I don't have the patience to breed for hidden power, so ANY kind of Hidden power that isn't Dark or Dragon is out of the question unfortunately.

I tried it out on Pokemon Showdown and it worked. PS is very reliable but it may not be 100% accurate.

Also, Snorlax would be better for this. Though at that point you might as well Curse + Rest.

 

[Howmander]

I tried it out on Pokemon Showdown and it worked. PS is very reliable but it may not be 100% accurate.

Also, Snorlax would be better for this. Though at that point you might as well Curse + Rest.

Oh good, thank you for checking that out! I will now go breed one. Thank you very much!

 

[KillFerrell]

Skarmory

I'm breeding Skarmory right now and kinda up in the air on how I want to build it up. What would be some recommendations from y'all?

 

[Nah]

I'm breeding Skarmory right now and kinda up in the air on how I want to build it up. What would be some recommendations from y'all?

It generally works best as a defensive/support 'mon. Usually want to run max HP and either max Def or Sp.Def EVs (though the physically defensive version is more common. Roost is a must, and then the rest of its moves are typically some combination of Whirlwind, Stealth Rocks/Spikes, Taunt, Toxic, and Defog. An attacking move is often used too, like Iron Head, Brave Bird, or more rarely, Counter.

 

[Howmander]

I'm breeding Skarmory right now and kinda up in the air on how I want to build it up. What would be some recommendations from y'all?

I'm in the process of doing that right now, I'm going to be trying out a Weak Armour/Guard Swap set (so a couple of physical hits lower it's Defenses but raises it's speed, then you use guard Swap to exchange your lowered defense with the opponent, which swaps stat changes to your defenses with the target) which I am going with an Impish nature and max EV in Defense so it can handle the lowered defense. I haven't decided on what other moves to put on it yet or how the rest of it's EVs will go, as I am just trying it out to see how it goes, so if you're willing to experiment, you can try that out.

 

[PlatinumDude]

I'm in the process of doing that right now, I'm going to be trying out a Weak Armour/Guard Swap set (so a couple of physical hits lower it's Defenses but raises it's speed, then you use guard Swap to exchange your lowered defense with the opponent, which swaps stat changes to your defenses with the target) which I am going with an Impish nature and max EV in Defense so it can handle the lowered defense. I haven't decided on what other moves to put on it yet or how the rest of it's EVs will go, as I am just trying it out to see how it goes, so if you're willing to experiment, you can try that out.

Weak Armor + Guard Swap is a waste of Skarmory's defensive potential. Yes, it has high enough Defense to abuse the ability, but don't forget that priority moves are everywhere, making it tough for Skarmory to get a Guard Swap off.