Pretty much every Pokemon released this generation has some degree of competitive viability even if it's just running a gimmick. Seriously, even the starter rat can take a hit and potentially sweep with Belly Drum in Trick Room while the sheep can abuse Cotton Guard and Body Press. The only real exception is unfortunately Cramorant. Despite having an interesting ability in Gulp Missile that offers a unique form of chip damage and even paralysis at below 50% health, Cramorant lacks the defenses to best utilize this ability despite getting Roost as a recovery move, and a poor movepool that doesn't have access to Toxic anymore doesn't help either. Still, I am nothing if not a sorta competitive player that tries to make any Pokemon viable even if only to play into gimmick sets. And considering I live in an area where I see the real life bird this Pokemon is based off of on a routine basis, I owe this blue cormorant a fair shake.
The Old Bird and the Sea
Ability: Gulp Missile
Item: Leftovers/Binding Band
Nature: Impish (+Def -Sp.Attack)
EVs: (HP 252) (Def 156) (Sp. Def 100)
Moves:
Dive
Whirlpool
Protect
Roost
Set Details:
This set tries to bring out the most of Cramorant's ability Gulp Missile using a defensive stall set that relies on chip damage to do most of the heavy lifting. Gulp Missile in case you forgot puts Cramorant in its gulping form after using either Dive or Surf, and when attacked in this form Cramorant will spit up its prospective meal at its opponent inflicting damage equivalent to 1/4 the attacker's max HP. That damage is nothing to scoff at, and if Cramorant's HP is above half it scoops up an Arrokuda which comes with the nasty side effect of lowering the opponent's defense one stage upon being fired, effectively making Cramorant hit harder with subsequent physical attacks. And if its HP is below 50% it will instead hook a Pikachu and inflict paralysis instead. Dive is the move we will be using to trigger this ability, allowing it to fish up an Arrokuda or a very unfortunate Pikachu from the depths. And while telegraphing your next attack is generally a bad idea, it works out okay since Whirlpool already traps the opponent so they can not switch in a counter. Dive also helps burn a turn thanks to the semi-invulnerability allowing you to recover more from Leftovers and buy more time for chip damage from Whirlpool. Protect similarly buys you an extra turn for Leftovers recovery and Whirlpool damage, and Roost keeps your health in the green after repeated attacks. Leftovers are your best item choice, but Binding Band is still worth using as well since it turns the 1/8 HP loss from Whirlpool per turn into a scarier 1/6 HP loss per turn. Between that and the 1/4 HP from Gulp Missile, your opponent will be shocked at how quickly their HP is dropping despite Cramorant's lack of offensive threat.
I am curious to see if there are any other viable sets Cramorant can run, which is why I am kinda looking forward to seeing everyone else's sets on this forum post. I know I said Cramorant is arguably the worst Pokemon released this generation, but I look forward to being proven wrong.
Also, side note:
When looking for a funny image to close out my post, I was honestly shocked and amazed by how many artists went to town on making hilarious Cramorant pics. So rather than post all of them here and taking up too much space, I'm gonna just leave this link here and let you enjoy the journey the memes will take you on:
https://www.google.com/search?q=fun...mg&ei=xRXNX97SPMvwtAWt_7CwCA&bih=722&biw=1536
www.serebii.net
