D/P/Pt RMT: Quite a few switches and stuff

[J.T.]

Well, I switched my team around a lot from last time. Here's what I've come up with right now. I mainly play on Pokemon Battle Revolution, but I also do some Wi-Fi using Diamond, usually playing OU rules.


Infernape @ Focus Sash
Blaze / Jolly
EVs: 252 Atk / 252 Spe / 6 HP
~ Swords Dance
~ Blaze Kick
~ Close Combat
~ Mach Punch
My lead Infernape has changed little, mostly because I haven't run into a situation where I feel he needs to, although I can be proven wrong pretty easily. Swords Dance until I'm hit, avoid Tyranitar/Hippowdon/Abomasnow like the plague, and go ballistic after my Focus Sash is broken. He has trouble with Fake Out leads, but I don't run into them too often, strangely enough. If anything has a chance of being faster than me, I use Mach Punch and at least try to take them out before getting demolished.


Scizor @ Life Orb
Technician / Adamant
EVs: 252 Atk / 224 Spe / 32 HP
~ Swords Dance
~ Bullet Punch
~ X-Scissor
~ Brick Break
Like Infernape, she hasn't changed much. She has higher attack and a better priority move (if only for Technician boost). The 32 HP ensures she gets the most out of her life with Life Orb. X-Scissor is the other STAB move, and Brick Break has some good coverage.


Togekiss @ Leftovers
Serene Grace / Calm
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Sp.Def / 6 Def
~ Thunder Wave
~ Substitute
~ Air Slash
~ Aura Sphere
Now here's where things are beginning to change. This Togekiss is the embodiment of evil. His defenses are pretty big, so he can take a couple hits, especially from special attackers. First, I paralyze the opponent (or Substitute, depending on the situation). Next, I pop up a Substitute (if I haven't already). From behind my Sub, I either re-paralyze if they've switched, or begin attacking. Air Slash is his main attack, because with 30% chance of flinching + Serene Grace (double that chance) + a chance of paralysis = a lot of frustration on my opponent's part. Even if they manage to break through my Sub, I usually have plenty of HP left to make a new one with. Aura Sphere is for things like Tyranitar who need to take some serious pain in the face rather than never making a move ever.


Salamence @ Life Orb
Intimidate / Naughty
EVs: 232 Atk / 24 Sp.Atk / 252 Spe
~ Dragon Dance
~ Earthquake
~ Fire Blast
~ Outrage
Ooh, we haven't seen this so many times before. >.> But Salamence is awesome, and it works so very well, so why not. The mere sight of Salamence often causes things to switch, meaning I get a sweet Dragon Dance in. Then, depending on what's sent in, I use Earthquake or Fire Blast (the nature and Sp.Atk EVs are for Fire Blast). With the first enemy down, I begin two to three turns of Outrage, which, after a DD, is damn hard to live through. Intimidate helps encourage the foe to switch (if they're physical attackers, anyway).


Starmie @ Expert Belt
Natural Cure / Timid
EVs: 252 Sp.Atk / 252 Spe / 4 HP
~ Surf
~ Ice Beam
~ Thunderbolt
~ Recover
I love this guy, even though I only got it this morning. It has almost flawless Speed IVs, it's bulkier than you'd think (so Recover gets some use), it's great at type coverage, and it's shiny on top of all that. Shit yes please. Much better than the damn Metagross I traded for it, that thing sucked. Then again, I hate Choice sets, and since that's the best thing for Metagross to do, I might be biased.

MOVING ON. This guy has won me many a battle. I'd go for Hydro Pump over Surf if it wasn't for the fact that the guy who had this thing was an idiot and replaced it with Brine (seriously, he didn't even realize the damn thing was shiny until I told him (YES I TOLD HIM BEFORE THE TRADE, I'M NOT A DICK)), which I then replaced with Surf. Like I said, its coverage is great. Although it doesn't really have a way to boost its attack power, it's still more than capable of ripping multiple new assholes in most teams. (By the way, I don't see a use in Rapid Spin that much. It's not defensive enough to take hits long enough to pull it off and continue its job, and I hardly ever see Stealth Rock, unless I'm the one using it.)


Hippowdon @ Leftovers
Sand Stream / Relaxed
EVs: 252 HP / 168 Def / 88 Sp.Def
~ Earthquake
~ Roar
~ Slack Off
~ Stealth Rock
Okay, yeah, I know Impish is better than Relaxed, but a) I got bored of breeding, and b) what the hell would this thing be outrunning anyway.

This thing is my most defensive Pokemon. His physical attack isn't terrible, and his defenses have taken Explosions no problem. The classic Stealth Rock/Roar technique comes into play here, because Earthquake can't always get the job done; I'm considering dropping Roar for Ice Fang or Stone Edge or something, because I don't like being stuck on their last Pokemon and have it turn out to be a Flying-type, thus turning into a stalling match until they die of Sandstorm (or, more likely, I die of repeated facerape >.>). Slack Off is a brilliant healing move which is perfect for long battles. By the way, if anyone has a PP Max, I'd like some more stalling power XD

Overall, I'm pretty happy with what my team has, but I think it could be better. Any suggestions?

 

[Felidire]

I mainly play on Pokemon Battle Revolution, but I also do some Wi-Fi using Diamond, usually playing OU rules.
Rules don't apply on PBR/WiFi - Beef your team up as best you can~


Infernape @ Focus Sash
Blaze / Jolly
EVs: 252 Atk / 252 Spe / 6 HP
~ Swords Dance
~ Blaze Kick
~ Close Combat
~ Mach Punch
My lead Infernape has changed little, mostly because I haven't run into a situation where I feel he needs to, although I can be proven wrong pretty easily. Swords Dance until I'm hit, avoid Tyranitar/Hippowdon/Abomasnow like the plague, and go ballistic after my Focus Sash is broken. He has trouble with Fake Out leads, but I don't run into them too often, strangely enough. If anything has a chance of being faster than me, I use Mach Punch and at least try to take them out before getting demolished.

Which Fake Out leads are causing you problems? I know Ambipom is a popular one. If there are any pokemon in your team that you feel are lacking, maybe consider getting a ghost pokemon to switch into a Fake Out, should you predict it. If it were me, i'd just switch to Scizor.

How is Blaze Kick treating you? If you find it misses often, or comes off too short, it might be an idea to switch to Flare Blitz, though that would mean having to change focus sash, and I don't know how much you rely on it.


Scizor @ Life Orb
Technician / Adamant
EVs: 252 Atk / 224 Spe / 32 HP
~ Swords Dance
~ Bullet Punch
~ X-Scissor
~ Brick Break
Like Infernape, she hasn't changed much. She has higher attack and a better priority move (if only for Technician boost). The 32 HP ensures she gets the most out of her life with Life Orb. X-Scissor is the other STAB move, and Brick Break has some good coverage.

Looks fine, I know brick break is there for steel types who resist Bullet Punch, but the ones that hassle me the most are Steel/Psychic. X-Scissor would handle them just as easily, plus you have infernape/salamence. Test this one out more imo, see how often you use Brick Break. There might be something better you can use, maybe throw it in as a counter, and roost back up to full hp when they expect X-Scissor against their dark-type and switch it out pokemon. Having a Flash Fire pokemon ready to switch in to their fire attack next turn would be a good follow-up. xD

Just think out of the box when you plan, anticipate as many potential problems and incorporate as many sollutions as possible.


Togekiss @ Leftovers
Serene Grace / Calm
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Sp.Def / 6 Def
~ Thunder Wave
~ Substitute
~ Air Slash
~ Aura Sphere
Now here's where things are beginning to change. This Togekiss is the embodiment of evil. His defenses are pretty big, so he can take a couple hits, especially from special attackers. First, I paralyze the opponent (or Substitute, depending on the situation). Next, I pop up a Substitute (if I haven't already). From behind my Sub, I either re-paralyze if they've switched, or begin attacking. Air Slash is his main attack, because with 30% chance of flinching + Serene Grace (double that chance) + a chance of paralysis = a lot of frustration on my opponent's part. Even if they manage to break through my Sub, I usually have plenty of HP left to make a new one with. Aura Sphere is for things like Tyranitar who need to take some serious pain in the face rather than never making a move ever.

That's an interesting moveset, You might need Roost > Substitute, but I can tell that this would work so i'd recomment keeping it as is, unless you run into HP-recovery issues.


Salamence @ Life Orb
Intimidate / Naughty
EVs: 232 Atk / 24 Sp.Atk / 252 Spe
~ Dragon Dance
~ Earthquake
~ Fire Blast
~ Outrage
Ooh, we haven't seen this so many times before. >.> But Salamence is awesome, and it works so very well, so why not. The mere sight of Salamence often causes things to switch, meaning I get a sweet Dragon Dance in. Then, depending on what's sent in, I use Earthquake or Fire Blast (the nature and Sp.Atk EVs are for Fire Blast). With the first enemy down, I begin two to three turns of Outrage, which, after a DD, is damn hard to live through. Intimidate helps encourage the foe to switch (if they're physical attackers, anyway).

The nature boosts Physical Attack so it can't be for Fire Blast. Looks fine, just make sure you know how to use it. Fire Fang might be better than Fire Blast, if you often get off a DD without hassle.


Starmie @ Expert Belt
Natural Cure / Timid
EVs: 252 Sp.Atk / 252 Spe / 4 HP
~ Surf
~ Ice Beam
~ Thunderbolt
~ Recover
I love this guy, even though I only got it this morning. It has almost flawless Speed IVs, it's bulkier than you'd think (so Recover gets some use), it's great at type coverage, and it's shiny on top of all that. Shit yes please. Much better than the damn Metagross I traded for it, that thing sucked. Then again, I hate Choice sets, and since that's the best thing for Metagross to do, I might be biased.

You say it has good speed? Consider replacing Recover with Trick, and giving it Choice Specs. I know you're not too fond of choice items, but Water/Ice/Electric is a pretty nice circle of coverage, You can leave a really nasty dent in an unsuspecting opponent, and then pass the Specs over to cripple one of their pokemon. (I think choice items are amazing, I always have at least one).

MOVING ON. This guy has won me many a battle. I'd go for Hydro Pump over Surf if it wasn't for the fact that the guy who had this thing was an idiot and replaced it with Brine (seriously, he didn't even realize the damn thing was shiny until I told him (YES I TOLD HIM BEFORE THE TRADE, I'M NOT A DICK)), which I then replaced with Surf. Like I said, its coverage is great. Although it doesn't really have a way to boost its attack power, it's still more than capable of ripping multiple new assholes in most teams. (By the way, I don't see a use in Rapid Spin that much. It's not defensive enough to take hits long enough to pull it off and continue its job, and I hardly ever see Stealth Rock, unless I'm the one using it.)

Stealth Rock won't bother your team much anyway, except for the Togekiss without Roost.


Hippowdon @ Leftovers
Sand Stream / Relaxed
EVs: 252 HP / 168 Def / 88 Sp.Def
~ Earthquake
~ Roar
~ Slack Off
~ Stealth Rock

This thing is my most defensive Pokemon. His physical attack isn't terrible, and his defenses have taken Explosions no problem. The classic Stealth Rock/Roar technique comes into play here, because Earthquake can't always get the job done; I'm considering dropping Roar for Ice Fang or Stone Edge or something, because I don't like being stuck on their last Pokemon and have it turn out to be a Flying-type, thus turning into a stalling match until they die of Sandstorm (or, more likely, I die of repeated facerape >.>). Slack Off is a brilliant healing move which is perfect for long battles. By the way, if anyone has a PP Max, I'd like some more stalling power XD

I probably would have tried to load his S.Def up a little more than his Defense. I mean, you do have the salamence w/ intimidate to throw into any physical sweepers. - It's too bad sandstorm doesn't amplify his S.Def

I'm not sure how well this fits into your team, for a Stealth Rock/Roar pokemon you'd probably want to get him into play rather early. Sandstorm would annoy your team, and hamper your Togekiss (everything seems to bother your Togekiss). ,xP

Anyway, good luck with it, and if you need to test it i'm usually free; despite being in the most fucked up timezone possible.

 

[J.T.]

Which Fake Out leads are causing you problems? I know Ambipom is a popular one. If there are any pokemon in your team that you feel are lacking, maybe consider getting a ghost pokemon to switch into a Fake Out, should you predict it. If it were me, i'd just switch to Scizor.

How is Blaze Kick treating you? If you find it misses often, or comes off too short, it might be an idea to switch to Flare Blitz, though that would mean having to change focus sash, and I don't know how much you rely on it.

Any Fake Out lead that's faster than me; sometimes I can pop a Mach Punch in their face and take 'em out before they can use it, but otherwise, yeah. Blaze Kick's accuracy is almost never a problem, I've only missed once or twice out of, what, close to 100 battles? Something like that? Flare Blitz's recoil would pretty much destroy the whole purpose of my Infernape, so I don't plan on doing that.

Looks fine, I know brick break is there for steel types who resist Bullet Punch, but the ones that hassle me the most are Steel/Psychic. X-Scissor would handle them just as easily, plus you have infernape/salamence. Test this one out more imo, see how often you use Brick Break. There might be something better you can use, maybe throw it in as a counter, and roost back up to full hp when they expect X-Scissor against their dark-type and switch it out pokemon. Having a Flash Fire pokemon ready to switch in to their fire attack next turn would be a good follow-up. xD

Just think out of the box when you plan, anticipate as many potential problems and incorporate as many sollutions as possible.

I could consider Roost, but most of the threats I run into with her are faster than me anyway, and I usually either switch out, or survive long enough for a Swords Dance and Bullet Punch, then die pretty soon after. Usually I don't have time to pull it off.

That's an interesting moveset, You might need Roost > Substitute, but I can tell that this would work so i'd recomment keeping it as is, unless you run into HP-recovery issues.

So far I've never found a use for Roost that would be better than Sub. Usually I'm behind it more than long enough for Lefties to heal the damage I've taken from Sub and whatever they hit me with.

The nature boosts Physical Attack so it can't be for Fire Blast. Looks fine, just make sure you know how to use it. Fire Fang might be better than Fire Blast, if you often get off a DD without hassle.

I mean that I went with Naughty over Adamant so Fire Blast could do more damage. The thing with Fire Fang and stuff is that I still get walled by physical walls, like Skarmory. With Fire Blast, I can take them out more easily. Plus, when I have a Dragon Dance up, it often surprises them when I Fire Blast them mmediately after.

You say it has good speed? Consider replacing Recover with Trick, and giving it Choice Specs. I know you're not too fond of choice items, but Water/Ice/Electric is a pretty nice circle of coverage, You can leave a really nasty dent in an unsuspecting opponent, and then pass the Specs over to cripple one of their pokemon. (I think choice items are amazing, I always have at least one).

I had the same strategy with my Alakazam which I got from someone else. The thing is, I don't have Platinum, so I can't exactly get Trick on it. And anyway, it's still pretty big on power and all that without them. It's something I will consider, though.

I probably would have tried to load his S.Def up a little more than his Defense. I mean, you do have the salamence w/ intimidate to throw into any physical sweepers. - It's too bad sandstorm doesn't amplify his S.Def

I'm not sure how well this fits into your team, for a Stealth Rock/Roar pokemon you'd probably want to get him into play rather early. Sandstorm would annoy your team, and hamper your Togekiss (everything seems to bother your Togekiss). ,xP

Right now, I'm trying a new strategy; I'm going to get a Smeargle and try to get it to Sketch both Slack Off and Stockpile, then breed with a female Hippowdon and hopefully get the better Impish nature. The Stockpile boosts both his defense and special defense, which can get exceptionally cruel when I have 3 stockpiles. Anyone know how to work a Smeargle? D:

 

[Felidire]

I had the same strategy with my Alakazam which I got from someone else. The thing is, I don't have Platinum, so I can't exactly get Trick on it. And anyway, it's still pretty big on power and all that without them. It's something I will consider, though.

I've never used Specs on a Starmie, but I have had one used against me, I'' just point out that it took me off guard, and it did a lot of damage.

Right now, I'm trying a new strategy; I'm going to get a Smeargle and try to get it to Sketch both Slack Off and Stockpile, then breed with a female Hippowdon and hopefully get the better Impish nature. The Stockpile boosts both his defense and special defense, which can get exceptionally cruel when I have 3 stockpiles.

Yeah i've tried Stockpile on a Baton Pass team, it worked the same as Cosmic Power iirc. It was very fun to pass to umbreon. That's interesting though, worth a shot.

Anyone know how to work a Smeargle? D:

It learns sketch about once every 10 levels I think, sketch only has 1pp though; you just take the smeargle and the pokemon with the move you want into a double battle, (It has to be in-game).

Either give the smeargle something to cut it's speed down, or switch the smeargle with the third pokemon in your team before you start the match. Have the first one spam stockpile, get the smeargle in and sketch. I did something similar years ago to get blissey A/therapy instead of Heal Bell. If you already have a Hippo w/ Slack Off, then you only have to raise something with Stockpile.

Hopefully that cleared up and uncertainties.

 

[J.T.]

Yeah, figured out how to work a Smeargle, thanks. Currently EV training my Impish Hippopotas with Slack Off and Stockpile; soon I'll be causing my opponents to rip their hair out as they try to get past my 5-foot-thick steel wall of a hippo. >:D

 

[Felidire]

Hopefully they don't roar/ww. Taunt might be annoying because Gyarados and Honchkrow use it fairly often and EQ won't hit them, but you can just switch there.


I have a good question.. does haze remove the stat boosts from stockpile? Because if it doesn't, that would be interesting for Baton Pass teams.

 

[1. Luftballon]

I think I recall stockpile boosts being removed. The stockpile count was removed, too, I think. I didn't test, though, so I might be wrong.

Incidentally, if you can find space for it, thrice-stockpiled spit up is the third most powerful attack in the game at three hundred base.

 

[surskitty]

It does, however, ditch your stat boosts which kinda sucks.

 

[Felidire]

Something that bulky shouldn't have too much trouble heaping up another pile.

I found: "The Stockpile is lost when the user switches. If the user uses Baton Pass, the Stockpiles themselves are lost, but the boosts are passed". Which kinda sucks, but not entirely I guess..

 

[surskitty]

I'd think that's better, actually, because then you can Stockpile three more times and get +6 to both defenses.

 

[J.T.]

New edition of my team


Hippowdon @ Leftovers
Replacing... Hippowdon lols
Sand Stream / Impish (yay got the better nature)
EVs: 176 HP / 84 Def / 248 SpD
~ Earthquake
~ Ice Fang
~ Stockpile
~ Slack Off
I WENT THROUGH WITH IT LOLS. I've been testing this guy out, and after a couple Stockpile boosts, this thing is sturdier than a five-foot-thick steel wall - nothing gets through him. Crits, however, are the bane of his existence, as I've become painfully aware. x.o Roar is gone because without Stealth Rock, it's kinda pointless; Ice Fang is there because I despise having Hippowdon as the last Pokemon on my team and the opponent having a Flying-type as their last, because then I'm boned pretty damn hard (especially if their Pokemon is named Skarmory or Gliscor).

Well, what I was GONNA post here was a shiny Lucario that I traded my Starmie for. However, it turned out to be hacked, because when I copied it from PBR it was a bad egg. Fffffffuck. I'm negotiating with the guy I traded with to get my Starmie back; the OT doesn't match his, so I don't think he's the one who hacked it. I'm just hoping he's not an asshole. Fingers crossed? Please?

The next Pokemon is not yet obtained, but I have made a deal for it and am waiting for the guy to come online.

Gliscor @ Leftovers
Replacing Togekiss
idk ability yet / Impish
EVs: 252 HP / 40 Def / 216 Spe
~ Swords Dance
~ Roost
~ Earthquake
~ Stone Edge
My Togekiss was a great annoyer, but I just wasn't too fond of it. Gliscor, however, is the shit. This is the Dancing Tank set. I don't think I need too much attack, since a Swords Dance should make up for it, so I'm going to focus more on the tank part of the name here. Like I said, though, I haven't gotten it yet. EQ and Stone Edge have nice coverage. If this thing had been bred with Baton Pass (which it might have been, I'm not sure) I'd have gone with that, so that if I get in a bind my next Pokemon can get a head start on enemyrape. But Stone Edge is still a nice move.

 

[Felidire]

Yeah that looks slightly more sandstorm-friendly. Moves look good.

There's not much point having a Baton Pass Gliscor in your team, unless you also have agility tucked in there somewhere. So I wouldn't fret over it.

..and i'm guessing you need to update your sig now? ,xP

 

[J.T.]

All right, doesn't look like Imma be getting my Starmie back. Pity, I loved that guy. D: Anyway, few changes to my team.


Alakazam @ Choice Specs
Timid / Synchronize
EVs: 252 SpA / 252 Spe / 6 HP
~ Psychic
~ Focus Blast
~ Signal Beam
~ Trick
RETURN OF THE TRICK SPECS! As you may have seem from other comments I've made, I hate Choice sets. But for whatever reason, there's something about the Trick Specs set that just... works for me. Maybe the fact that he can cripple set-up sweepers in mere seconds? The fact that if he doesn't need to he can still mindfuck a large segment of a team? Iunno. I got a new one here with Synchronize, partly because I traded away my Inner Focus one - not like this guy gets statused a lot, though. I also finally found someone with Platinum to teach him Signal Beam. Now I don't have to rely on that horrible horrible Focus Blast except on Normal- and Steel-types.

Breloom @ Toxic Orb
Adamant / Poison Heal
EVs: 252 Atk / 252 Spe / 6 HP
~ Substitute
~ Focus Punch
~ Spore
~ Leech Seed
At last, the Pokemon I've been looking for forever. Tell me shiny Breloom doesn't look awesome. Go ahead, try it. (although to give haters credit, it looks kinda dead in PBR - nicer in D/P.) Anyway, this bad girl's predecessor was able to easily clean entire teams (not exaggerating here, that thing was MEAN), but I ditched him, along with the rest of my team, to do experimenting that led to my current one (my previous lead was a Gallade for chrissakes). Consider this like the Daughter of Facerape. She takes heavier hits than you'd think, sleeps the opponent with the move that earned her nickname (or would have, but I forgot to ask the guy if she was nicknameable), Subs up, and starts up the string of BRELOOM PAAAAUUUUNCH. I'm considering dropping Leech Seed for Seed Bomb, because frankly, this set gets seriously killed by any sort of ghosts.

EDIT DESPITE NO ONE CARING: The guy who traded me a hacked Lucario for my shiny Starmie has finally gotten back to me. IMMA GETTING MAH STARMIE BACK WOOT. However, I've been EV training this damn Yanma for a while now, so I dunno if I'll use it or just stick with the Yanmega I'm working toward.