Zeraora is an interesting pokémon. A electric type that doesn't produce its own electricity? I guess that justifies Volt Absorb but why Game Freak?
Pros
+FAST. Base 143 is nothing to scoff at, with few things able to outspeed it natively and all (except Mega Sceptile) of them are frail enough that taking the wrong hit from Zeraora on the switch in may just outright KO them. Being immune to Paralysis is just gravy.
+Good Physical STAB -Physical Electric sweepers are rare, due to having a poor physical STAB option in Wild Charge (Volt Tackle, Bolt Strike and Fusion bolt are all line exclusives). Zeraora's recoiless base 100 power Plasma Fists is a breath of fresh air and it has the physical movepool to back it up.
+Viable Offenses -while Base 112 ATK is good and Base 102 SATK is far from impressive, it is still enough to pack a sting and make mixed sets viable making Zeraora less predictable.
+Volt Switch -Pivot moves are nice.
Cons
-Soft -80/75/75 defenses while not squishy per say, are not going to win any bulk awards anytime soon. Close Combat exuberates that, and being weak to Earthquake makes that softness more apparent.
-Missing moves -while its movepool is varied, there are some key blindspots. Missing Ice Punch hurts a lot, forcing Zeraora to run multiple moves and mixed sets to cover those that resist its STAB. Lacking Swords Dance and Nasty Plot prevents Zeraora from snowballing as quickly as it would like, especially with those mediocre offenses.
-Looking at Ion Deluge (which has +1 Priority), which does not affect the -ate abilities, it is likely the same is true of Plasma Fist. Normalize is affected by Ion Deluge, but Delcatty would die to Plasma Fists before healing Zeraora.
-Normal type attacks are rare in the metagame, so outside of STAB/Boomburst users, Plasma Fists' gimmick doesn't see a lot of use.
Note about HP Ice: HP Ice is pitiful in base power and coming off of Zeraora's SATK, and won't be scoring any OHKOs without 4x weakness (which is mercifully common enough).
Boop
Zeraora
Ability: Volt Absorb
Item: Life Orb
-Plasma Fists
-Volt Switch
-Grass Knot/Hidden Power Ice/Close Combat/Fire Punch/Knock Off
-Grass Knot/Hidden Power Ice/Close Combat/Fire Punch/Knock Off
Nature: Lonely (+ATK, -DEF) or Mild (+ATK, -SDEF)
EVs: 252 ATK / 64 SATK / 192 SPE
Revenge Killer Zeraora. Zeraora's high speed, inability to be paralyzed and varied move set makes it ideal as a revenge killer. Have Zeraora come in on a weakened opponent, off it with the appropriate move, then Volt Switch when the next pokémon comes out, weakening them for your next pokémon to take it out. Plasma Fists is a fantastic STAB move and works off of Zeraora's higher base ATK. Last moves are up for preference.
- Grass Knot hits many Ground types very hard due to their high weights and poor SDEF.
- Hidden Power Ice hits almost everything that resists/immune to Electric but often has poorer base power than Grass Knot
- Close Combat is a powerful move that hits a large variety of threats
- Fire Punch hits opposing Grass types and certain Steel types harder than any of its other moves (Ferrothorn)
- Knock Off provides extra coverage and Item control.
Other Options
-Work Up/Bulk Up/Calm Mind -Zeraora has multiple options to buff its attack stats one stage, and can be worth consideration, but its lacking base STATs means getting that desired +2 for a sweep can be difficult.
-Outrage is great for Dragons but makes you total fairy bait and predictable for a few turns
-Taunt -on something as Fast as Zeraora, this ensures any walls that come in can be gimped and prevents setup sweepers from gaining a turn if Zeraora has to run.
Counters
Mega Venusaur full stop. Resists/takes neutral damage from all of Zeraora's moves (barring Bounce and Acrobatics) and can heal/KO Zeraora quickly in turn.
