Community POTW #008

[Serebii]

Time for the next Pokémon of the Week and this week the RNG spat out a new Pokémon

It's Bewear, the unusually bulky and powerful Normal/Fighting-type

http://www.serebii.net/pokedex-sm/760.shtml

Go nuts

 

[generic villager #5]

Bewear is perhaps one of the most annoying pokes in gen 7; not only does it get a good attack stat, but between 120/80/60 defenses and the Fluffy ability, it can eat a few hits. Its STABs are difficult to resist except for Ghosts, and Bewear has Shadow Claw and Payback for those, plus several other great coverage options. The only things I'd argue Bewear lacks are speed and Drain Punch, otherwise it's pretty solid.

So far I've mostly seen suggestions for bulky attacker sets, which I've sort of lumped into one because they're somewhat similar:

The Bewear Necessities
Item: Choice Band / Assault Vest
Ability: Fluffy
Evs/Nature: 92 HP / 252 Atk / 164 Spe, Adamant
- Superpower / Hammer Arm
- Return
- Ice Punch
- Shadow Claw / Earthquake

This set is pretty much what you'd expect. STABs, Ice Punch for anything 4x weak to Ice (Ground types in particular are a problem b/c Fluffy doesn't stop EQ), and either Shadow Claw for Ghosts or EQ for broader coverage. The EVs and nature maximize attack, outspeed uninvested base 80 speed, and place the remainder in bulk. Ability is Fluffy, period. Item is up to you, being slow and Choice-locked is never fun but then Assault Vest isn't as good as it would be with Drain Punch; Bewear may not last long-term. Superpower is probably the better STAB here due to higher BP and since the defense drop doesn't kill Bewear every time, but Bewear can stay in longer spamming Hammer Arm if being slow(er) doesn't kill you.

OOs for this set include: Payback (in conjunction with Hammer Arm only), ThunderPunch (good for bulky Water-types, good synergy w/ Ice Punch), and Leftovers.

 

[Neosonic97]

Preferred Partners
Bewear is a bit of a strange case as its Fluffy ability makes it weak to Fire-Type moves on top of the normal weaknesses of the Normal/Fighting type combination. This means Bewear wants coverage to keep 'mons like the Tapus, Alakazam, and other such threats at bay. For dealing with Psychics and Fires, Ash-Greninja is an optimal choice, as its raw power also helps in dealing with all of the Tapus not named Tapu Fini. Pheromosa works well to deal with those pesky Psychic-types, outspeeding them and splattering them with Lunge. Alolem works to deal with pesky Flyings by nailing them with either a Galvanize Normal-Type move or a Stone Edge, depending on the target. Bewear, being as it is, also appreciates pivots and hazard support, as do a lot of Pokemon. Bewear also struggles against Special Attackers, so a Special Wall like one of the pink blobs or Celesteela would make for a good partner to switch into if you anticipate a special attack. Toxapex also works for this.

 

[BlackKyurem3DS]

Oh boy, this thing.
Abilities:
Fluffy: Halfs all damage from direct contact moves, but doubles damage taken from fire attacks. This can actually help it out against physical contact moves, making it a pretty deadly tank, but at the same time, fire types will spell doom for the hug bear.
Klutz: Recieves no effects from hold items (Except items like the macho brace). This thing can learn fling, so I guess you could give it an iron ball to avoid the speed loss? Sadly, this guy, like most Alola Pokemon, has horrible speed, so you'ld be better off using fluffy.
Hidden Ability:
Unnerve: Prevents opponents from using held berries and makes wild Pokemon more likely to call for help. A decent ability, though fluffy is better for what this guy can do.

 

[BlazingRagnarok]

Preferred Partners
Bewear is a bit of a strange case as its Fluffy ability makes it weak to Fire-Type moves on top of the normal weaknesses of the Normal/Fighting type combination. This means Bewear wants coverage to keep 'mons like the Tapus, Alakazam, and other such threats at bay. For dealing with Psychics and Fires, Ash-Greninja is an optimal choice, as its raw power also helps in dealing with all of the Tapus not named Tapu Fini. Pheromosa works well to deal with those pesky Psychic-types, outspeeding them and splattering them with Lunge. Alolem works to deal with pesky Flyings by nailing them with either a Galvanize Normal-Type move or a Stone Edge, depending on the target. Bewear, being as it is, also appreciates pivots and hazard support, as do a lot of Pokemon. Bewear also struggles against Special Attackers, so a Special Wall like one of the pink blobs or Celesteela would make for a good partner to switch into if you anticipate a special attack. Toxapex also works for this.

Is Ash-Greninja really the best partner for Bewear against the Tapu? They do share overlapping fairy weaknesses, after all.

 

[MetalSonic]

Bewear @ Leftovers
Ability: Fluffy
EVs: 248 HP / 252 SpD / 8 Spe
Careful Nature
- Substitute
- Bulk Up
- Return / Shadow Claw
- Hammer Arm

Sub+Bulk Bewear. Set up on passive mons and due to it's enhanced defense and invested sp.def, it can do so well enough! Substitute is a fine move to protect it from status and compliments it's nice 120 base HP so Seismic Toss doesn't break from Blissey. Hammer Arm is good STAB. Return provides Normal STAB as well but Shadow Claw can be used so you aren't stopped by a ghost like Dhelmise or somethin.​

 

[AS358/2]

I still have some spite for this thing because Hala's made me have to evolve my Pikachu at the end of sun (Not that I don't like Raichu, I just wanted my story Pika to stay one) so the first thing I did in competitive gen 7 is find solutions to it.
Checks and counters:
Bewear can be tricky to switch in to because of how much power it has and its neutral coverage, on top of the bulk Fluffy provides. But there are some good answers to it due to its plethora of weaknesses and the fact that said weaknesses are predominately special types. One of its best counters is mega Charizard Y as without Rockslide or a choice band, offensive Bewear can't take Charizard out in one hit and is in turn ohko'd by fire blast and/or focus blast. Togekiss can survive one hit from offensive Bewear and in turn 2 hit ko it with air slash on top of higher speed possibly negating Bewaer's one chance to hit from Serene Grace and Air Slash flinches. Garchomp's access to Fire Fang and Earthquake allows it to negate Fluffy's bulk boost and in turn 2HKO it without a swords dance and OHKO with it on top of potential rough skin recoil. The main thing to keep in mind against Bewear is that if you can work around its ability you can wear it down pretty easily

 

[RedRaselom]

Pros:
- Beastly physical offense, decent bulk and Fluffy make Bewear an effective tank.
- Access to multiple offensive moves like Earthquake, Thrash, Hammer Arm, Superpower, Rock Slide, Shadow Claw, Elemental Punches and Payback
- Has enough bulk to set-up

Cons:
- Absence of reliable recovery move outside Rest and Pain Split
- All weaknesses, including Fire type, are pretty common.
- Speed is within the death zone range. It also lacks speed-boosting moves. Well, at least it has Hammer Arm which is useful under Trick Room
- You are most likely to run a Fluffy set since Klutz and Unnerve are both quite situational.

 

[Mestorn]

Other Options
Pain Split - One of the few ways Bewear has of healing itself, though very unreliable due to its high HP stat.
RestTalk - More reliable healing, but leaving you at the whimisical mercies of Sleep Talk, and you lose a LOT of coverage as a result.
Double Edge - If you don't care about tanking. (Game Freak seems to like giving recoil moves to high HP pokémon)

Preferred Partners
Bewear loves sponges like Toxapex, Tapu Fini, Pyukumuku, Alolan Muk, Tentacruel and Araquanid (or at least loves sponges that don't share any weaknesses with it) as they form a great defensive core taking hits meant for the other. As most Fairies and Psychics are special, Bewear loves support against these as well as they make it impossible for Bewear to wall/setup. Gengar and Aegislash are standout example, easily able to take down both and liking the defensive abilities Bewear brings to the table. Outside of Rest or Pain Split, Bewear has no way of healing itself, so as always, clerical support is appreciated.

Bewear can actually take its weaknesses on the physical side fairly well (provided they aren't STAB) so a coverage Fire Punch, Aerial Ace or Zen Headbutt won't hurt nearly as bad as their special counterparts.

 

[Neosonic97]

Is Ash-Greninja really the best partner for Bewear against the Tapu? They do share overlapping fairy weaknesses, after all.

With the exception of Tapu Fini, none of the Tapus want to even CONSIDER staying in on a transformed Ash-Greninja. Lele and Koko get nuked by Hydro Pump (Standard Koko gets guaranteed OHKO'd while Lele gets OHKO'd 25% of the time, neither outspeeds standard Ash-Greninja) while Bulu gets put on ice (beam), and even takes grievous damage from a resisted Hydro Pump (Losing half your health on a resisted hit is NOT a good thing at all, and standard Tapu Bulu does just that when hit by standard Ash-Greninja's Hydro Pump), meaning it can't even switch in on IKUZEfrog. Bulu doesn't even do that well against Bewear due to Fluffy anyway, especially considering that Tapu Bulu's only Fairy STAB is Dazzling Gleam which, coming off of that base 85 Special Attack, isn't very good. Even with max SpA investment, it can NEVER OHKO uninvested Bewear, and fails to OHKO uninvested Greninjas half the time, forcing it to use Superpower. Which, while it might work against Greninja, it actually fails to OHKO Uninvested Bewear, even with max Atk Investment, unless it's banded, and Bewear can run Poison Jab or Ice Punch to nail Tapu Bulu in response. Really, the only Tapu that IKUZEfrog CAN'T help against is Tapu Fini.

I never said it was best for dealing with the Tapus, just that it was a very good partner in general as it punches holes in things that Bewear doesn't like to face (Like Tapu Koko and Tapu Lele).