Community POTW #099

[Serebii]

Time for the next Pokémon of the Week and this week we go to Sinnoh!

It's Porygon-Z!

Porygon-Z #474 - Serebii.net Pokédex

Porygon-Z Pokémon Serebii.net Pokédex providing all details on moves, stats, abilities, evolution data and locations for Pokémon Sword & Shield and Pokémon Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl & Pokéemon Legends: Arceus

www.serebii.net

 

[Mestorn]

Porygon2 already had a POTW:

Pokémon of the Week - Porygon2

www.serebii.net

Porygon-Z, the Evolution to Porygon2 has the troubled history you would expect of an illegal upgrade, whose main benefit is that Porygon2 (the official upgrade) can use Eviolite. Porygon-Z has some obscene highs: its Nasty-Plot Adaptability Hyper Beams can cleave through even Blissey without issue and its Z-Conversion set was incredibly threatening, but each high comes with a catch. Base 90 Speed is fast, but still leaves it outsped by much of the competition. Base 135 Special Attack is great, but misses the mark without boosting. Porygon-Z's movepool is great, but lacks moves to answer Steel types. Oh right, Z-Conversion is no longer a thing and Porygon-Z struggles to abuse Dynamax the same way. Porygon-Z really needs a way to bolster both its Speed and Special Attack simultaneously... And/Or Flamethrower.

Trojan Patch.exe
Porygon-Z
Ability: Download
Item: Focus Sash/Chople Berry
-Agility
-Nasty Plot
-Ice Beam
-Thunderbolt
Nature: Modest (+SATK, -ATK) or Timid (+SPE, -ATK)
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SATK / 252 SPE

Double Dance Porygon-Z. Use Agility or Nasty Plot depending on the situation -Agility when going up against faster frailer teams, and Nasty Plot when going up against defensive tanky teams. BoltBeam is chosen for best range of Neutral+Super Effective coverage. Dynamax doesn't do much for this set as Porygon-Z can't boost while D-Maxed. EVs and Nature are to maximize damage. Item is to ensure Porygon-Z lives to boost, as it is rather frail and lacking in resistances. Since we aren't using any normal STAB, Download is the ability of choice, as the possibility of nabbing a Special Attack boost off of Download can turn Porygon-Z into a monster after Agility (Analytics doesn't work as we don't want to take a hit or go 2nd and will use a predicted Switch to setup).

This set needs team support to work at its best as Porygon-Z struggles to find moments to setup. Dual Screens, Sleep are the recommended methods of doing so.

 

[Starspinner]

MOVESET NAME	PHANTOM PROTOCOL
FORMAT TYPE	SINGLES
ABILITY	ADAPTABILITY
NATURE	RASH
ITEM	LIFE ORB
DYNAMAX POTENTIAL	YES

EFFORT VALUE DISTRIBUTION
252 EVS	SPECIAL ATTACK
252 EVS	SPEED
4 EVS	HP

MOVES
1	SHADOW BALL
2	TRI ATTACK
3	GUARD SWAP
4	CONVERSION

EXPLANATION

In this moveset, Porygon-Z makes use of a few type and stat-altering tactics to gain the upperhand over its opponents. It begins by morphing into a Ghost-type using Conversion, completely nullifying its Fighting-type weakness. From here, Porygon-Z can use Shadow Ball as its new STAB and reap the additional boost provided by Adaptability. Porygon-Z can also trade bulk with its opponent using Guard Swap. This grants Porygon-Z an opportunity to simultaneously strengthen both its offense and defense by stealing its opponent’s defense. For this reason, Porygon-Z’s Special Defense should be set low through a Rash nature so that the opponent becomes more vulnerable to special moves when Guard Swap activates. Finally, Tri Attack is incorporated in this moveset to serve as Porygon-Z’s STAB in the event that it is unfavorable to use Conversion to switch its type. Porygon-Z requires a Life Orb as well as 252 EVs in its Special Attack and Speed stats to facilitate its special moves and outpace opponents. The rest of Porygon-Z’s EVs should go to HP because it is higher than either of Porygon-Z’s defense stats. Porygon-Z should also leave the possibility of Dynamax open because it can use Dynamax to power its STABs and utilize its enhanced bulk after Guard Swap.