YOOMTAH
Let's dance~
Hey all.
I've been on the serebiiforums mostly during the 4th gen and made a few friends back then, but I'm sad to see they're all quite unactive. Either way, I've noticed that the IGRMT might use some creativity, which is why I'd like to hear your opinion on my team(s)!Here's the deal:
I'm going to cosplay at cons as a gymleader and make custom badges to give away at other people that challange and beat me. Naturally, I want to be difficult to beat, but also stick to a theme. Most noteably, this will be a monotype team! Secondly, my gym battles will be double battles. Please keep these two things in mind!The Bug Gym!
Off we go!
Illumise @ Mental Herb
Prankster
252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpDef, Bold
(1) Charm
(2) Encore
(3) Helping Hand
(4) Protect
Illumise is here mostly because of Prankster and access to Charm. This allows me to always half any physical threat's attack before it can hurt me, allowing Pinsir or Scizor to survive more hits and deal more damage. Other than that, Encore together with Prankster is really useful when the opponent tries to set up or stall or whatever, as it just negates the use of that Pokémon.
Volbeat @ Focus Sash
Prankster
252 HP / 252 SpDef / 4 Def, Calm
(1) Rain Dance
(2) Thunder Wave
(3) Helping Hand
(4) Protect
To be honest, Volbeat is here because it would look cool and iconic on a bug gymleader team together with Illumise. I was really hoping to make use of Tail Glow somehow, but his special attack and movepool are just too poor to benefit his rare access to the move, which makes me kind of angry at Game Freak. Why would you give Tail Glow to Volbeat, and then choose to give the usable SpAtk stat to Illumise and the crappy SpAtk stat to Volbeat. It's just a waste of an opportunity... Anyway, I figured that I can really lower the damage of super effective fire moves by having Rain Dance on the team. It doesn't complement Volcarona too well, but I can assure you that I'm smart enough not to use Rain Dance when I plan on using Volcarona. Other than that I tried to make the most use of him by giving him some speed control and maximizing my damage output.
Pinsir @ Pinsirite
Hyper Cutter
252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Def, Adamant
(1) Quick Attack
(2) Double Edge / Return?
(3) Earthquake
(4) Protect
Pinsir is the star of the team! Even though his moveset is kinda shallow on coverage, Flying + Ground surprisingly is only resisted bij ~10 Pokémon! Aerilate (or Pixilate/Refrigerate) is just one of the best abilities ever. It turns a 40 BP normal Quick Attack into a 78 BP flying Quick Attack (that is with STAB included) and turns a 120 BP normal Double Edge into a 234 BP flying Double Edge (also STAB included). Earthquake is mainly there to hit pesky steels and other Pokémon that resist my flying attacks, because even though it hits fire (and other) types super effectively, that would bring its BP to 200 which is still less than a Double Edge.
Masquerain @ Leftovers
Intimidate
252 HP / 252 SpAtk / 4 Def, Modest
(1) Bug Buzz
(2) Icy Wind / Tailwind?
(3) Hydro Pump
(4) Protect
I've always loved Masquerain. I think mainly because nobody realy uses this Pokémon and I am just that much of a hipster sometimes. Seriously though, Masquerain is mainly on this team because of Intimidate. Intimidate is huge in double battles: you're able to weaken your opponents moves just by switching in Masquerain! I figured I also need some damage on the special side of the spectrum and Masquerain provides that somewhat. Bug Buzz and Hydro Pump provide decent coverage, and Icy Wind gives even more coverage together with some much needed speed control.
Volcarona @ Sitrus Berry
Flame Body
252 HP / 252 SpDef / 4 SpAtk, Calm
(1) Rage Powder
(2) Heat Wave
(3) Will-O-Wisp
(4) Protect
Volcarona is another semi-supportive Pokémon on this team, mainly because of access to Rage Powder. Volcarona also gives me a Pokémon to soak up special damage in stead of physical, as her base SpDef is pretty neat. Will-O-Wisp is always a good move in case I encounter a physical threat anyway, and a STAB Heat Wave prevents me from being Taunt bait and also does some pretty nice damage, even without SpAtk investment.
Scizor @ Lum Berry
Technician
252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Def, Adamant
(1) Bullet Punch
(2) Bug Bite
(3) Swords Dance
(4) Protect
Lastly, because my team definitely could use some extra damage (and neutral resistance to Rock), I decided to go with Swords Dance Scizor! This set is pretty straight forward: try to set up a Swords Dance and proceed to sweep through teams with your 90 BP Bullet Punch and your 135 BP Bug Bite!
Off we go!
Illumise @ Mental Herb
Prankster
252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpDef, Bold
(1) Charm
(2) Encore
(3) Helping Hand
(4) Protect
Illumise is here mostly because of Prankster and access to Charm. This allows me to always half any physical threat's attack before it can hurt me, allowing Pinsir or Scizor to survive more hits and deal more damage. Other than that, Encore together with Prankster is really useful when the opponent tries to set up or stall or whatever, as it just negates the use of that Pokémon.
Volbeat @ Focus Sash
Prankster
252 HP / 252 SpDef / 4 Def, Calm
(1) Rain Dance
(2) Thunder Wave
(3) Helping Hand
(4) Protect
To be honest, Volbeat is here because it would look cool and iconic on a bug gymleader team together with Illumise. I was really hoping to make use of Tail Glow somehow, but his special attack and movepool are just too poor to benefit his rare access to the move, which makes me kind of angry at Game Freak. Why would you give Tail Glow to Volbeat, and then choose to give the usable SpAtk stat to Illumise and the crappy SpAtk stat to Volbeat. It's just a waste of an opportunity... Anyway, I figured that I can really lower the damage of super effective fire moves by having Rain Dance on the team. It doesn't complement Volcarona too well, but I can assure you that I'm smart enough not to use Rain Dance when I plan on using Volcarona. Other than that I tried to make the most use of him by giving him some speed control and maximizing my damage output.
Pinsir @ Pinsirite
Hyper Cutter
252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Def, Adamant
(1) Quick Attack
(2) Double Edge / Return?
(3) Earthquake
(4) Protect
Pinsir is the star of the team! Even though his moveset is kinda shallow on coverage, Flying + Ground surprisingly is only resisted bij ~10 Pokémon! Aerilate (or Pixilate/Refrigerate) is just one of the best abilities ever. It turns a 40 BP normal Quick Attack into a 78 BP flying Quick Attack (that is with STAB included) and turns a 120 BP normal Double Edge into a 234 BP flying Double Edge (also STAB included). Earthquake is mainly there to hit pesky steels and other Pokémon that resist my flying attacks, because even though it hits fire (and other) types super effectively, that would bring its BP to 200 which is still less than a Double Edge.
Masquerain @ Leftovers
Intimidate
252 HP / 252 SpAtk / 4 Def, Modest
(1) Bug Buzz
(2) Icy Wind / Tailwind?
(3) Hydro Pump
(4) Protect
I've always loved Masquerain. I think mainly because nobody realy uses this Pokémon and I am just that much of a hipster sometimes. Seriously though, Masquerain is mainly on this team because of Intimidate. Intimidate is huge in double battles: you're able to weaken your opponents moves just by switching in Masquerain! I figured I also need some damage on the special side of the spectrum and Masquerain provides that somewhat. Bug Buzz and Hydro Pump provide decent coverage, and Icy Wind gives even more coverage together with some much needed speed control.
Volcarona @ Sitrus Berry
Flame Body
252 HP / 252 SpDef / 4 SpAtk, Calm
(1) Rage Powder
(2) Heat Wave
(3) Will-O-Wisp
(4) Protect
Volcarona is another semi-supportive Pokémon on this team, mainly because of access to Rage Powder. Volcarona also gives me a Pokémon to soak up special damage in stead of physical, as her base SpDef is pretty neat. Will-O-Wisp is always a good move in case I encounter a physical threat anyway, and a STAB Heat Wave prevents me from being Taunt bait and also does some pretty nice damage, even without SpAtk investment.
Scizor @ Lum Berry
Technician
252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Def, Adamant
(1) Bullet Punch
(2) Bug Bite
(3) Swords Dance
(4) Protect
Lastly, because my team definitely could use some extra damage (and neutral resistance to Rock), I decided to go with Swords Dance Scizor! This set is pretty straight forward: try to set up a Swords Dance and proceed to sweep through teams with your 90 BP Bullet Punch and your 135 BP Bug Bite!
Keep in mind that this is for double battles, which explains the presence of Protect everywhere. I usually do double battles on the competitive scene, but I honestly don't expect competitively oriënted people to challange me, which is why I didn't really try to counter any specific OU Pokémon or something.
To give a small idea of my thought process:
I differentiated between special and physical threats, focussing mostly on Rock and Fire type users as those are my biggest weaknesses. Other than that, I think I've got a pretty viable team here. Also, I wanted Illumise because Prankster Charms are very good at stopping physical sweepers in doubles and after adding Illumise I kind of needed to add Volbeat as well because LOOK AT HOW CUTE THEY ARE.Thanks in advance for observing my team!
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