Community POTW #125

[Serebii]

Time for the next Pokémon of the Week.

Today, we focus on a classic Pokémon with a rather unique type

It's Medicham, the Fighting/Psychic Pokémon that is capable of doing severe damage when used correctly

http://www.serebii.net/pokedex-bw/308.shtml

Go nuts

 

[Lucario Fan]

Ability: Pure Power
Item: Expert Belt
Moves: Psycho Cut, Thunder Punch, Force Palm, Fire Punch

 

[Sala-imence]

Item: Life orb
Nature: Jolly
EVs: 252 Atk / 252 Spe / 4 HP
Ability: Pure Power
Moveset:
- High Jump Kick
- Psycho Cut
- Ice Punch
- Bullet Punch

 

[TurboMechaElgyem]

Medicham is a pokemon I personally find underplayed. It has decent speed and pure power grants it a whopping boost. Sadly, gallade is all anyone ever thinks of when they hear fighting/psychic (gallade is still awesome though).

Jackie Cham
Item: life orb/focus sash
-psycho cut/zen headbutt
-high jump kick
-fake out
-ice punch
4 hp 252 atk 252 speed
Pure power
Jolly

Great lead for taking on bulky foes.

 

[FantasyLegend]

Oh my God, Medicham! This guy is like, one of my favorite Fighting-types ever. If it existed in 2nd Gen, it would be one of the worst Pokemon in the game. But luckily, it came with 3rd Gen, which introduced Abilities. Game Freak blessed Medicham's family with Huge Power, which boosts their otherwise terrible Attack stat to ridiculous levels. That STAB 130 Base Power Hi Jump Kick will wreck anything that isn't Ghost-type. His movepool's all right as well; you don't know what he's gonna have. He's got OK Speed, but horrible defenses, so you'd best be using him to his highest offensive capabilities.

Master Roshi
Medicham @ Choice Band/Life Orb
Ability: Huge Power
EVs: 252 Atk, 4 Def, 252 Spe
Adamant Nature (-SpAtk, +Atk) or Jolly Nature (-SpAtk, +Spe)
Hi Jump Kick
Zen Headbutt
ThunderPunch
Drain Punch/Bullet Punch

Choice Band Medicham will wreck RU with the right prediction. Heck, even with Life Orb equipped, it's gonna deal some heavy damage. If that wasn't enough for you, here are some damage calculations to show how powerful this guy is.

252 Atk Choice Band Pure Power Medicham (+Atk) Hi Jump Kick vs 252 HP/252 Def Steelix (+Def) : 104.24% - 122.88% (Guaranteed OHKO)
252 Atk Choice Band Pure Power Medicham (+Atk) Zen Headbutt vs 252 HP/252 Def Dusknoir (+Def) : 52.04% - 61.56% (2-3 hits to KO)
252 Atk Choice Band Pure Power Medicham (+Atk) Hi Jump Kick vs 252 HP/252 Def Uxie (+Def) : 35.88% - 42.37% (3-4 hits to KO)
252 Atk Choice Band Pure Power Medicham (+Atk) Hi Jump Kick vs 252 HP/252 Def Tangrowth (+Def) : 64.85% - 76.73% (2 hits to KO)
252 Atk Choice Band Pure Power Medicham (+Atk) Hi Jump Kick vs 252 HP/252 Def Crustle (+Def) : 76.16% - 90.12% (2 hits to KO)

You see that? All of these are defensive powerhouses, but take a ton from Hi Jump Kick. However, Ghost types mess with Hi Jump Kick, but you'd either switch or use Zen Headbutt. ThunderPunch hits Flying-types like Moltres. You can choose between Drain Punch and Bullet Punch for the last slot; Drain Punch recovers lost health from Life Orb or it can be used if you don't want to use Hi Jump Kick and risk missing. Bullet Punch gives it a form of priority and it hits Cryogonal.

More later...

 

[Kraleck]

Medicham. One of my favorite Pokemon. It's not spectacular on stats - Base 60 HP and Base 75 Defenses are Below Average, Base 60 Offenses are Below-Average-Bordering-Bad, and Speed is Average - but Pure Power is there to crank that Base 60 Attack almost to Black Kyurem's level.

Maxed out, Medicham's Base 60 Attack is 240. Not very good. However, Pure Power DOUBLES that to 480. Maxed out, Black Kyurem's Attack is 482. Note that Black Kyurem's Attack is Base 170. You can see why I love Medicham - a less-than-spectacular Pokemon with a big surprise to those that underestimate it.

Doubles and Triples Allies have to be a huge benefit to its staying power. Power Split Claydol and Beeheeyem are great options in Doubles/Triples because they can increase the stopping power of Medicham (sometimes they have to neutralize an opponent's Offense first). Likewise, Guard Split Shuckle, Claydol, and Cofagrigus can increase the staying power of Medicham by bringing those Below Average Base 75 Defenses to higher levels.

The main reason I love this thing? The last paragraph should explain that quite well - Doubles, Triples, and the occasional Rotation. Medicham blends well into many teams. Not to mention how well it pairs with defensive Pokemon. I find a really good output in Triples thanks to a combo of Pure Power Medicham and Intimidate Scrafty with any third. The Attack debuff from Intimidate helps, but Medicham needs to be cautious against Field-Attack Moves in general. Because of that, Wide Guard is recommended on a Doubles/Triples team with Medicham.

Effectively, Medicham's main role is simple - be a Physical powerhouse that plays mindgames with the opponent. This will force an opponent to risk taking a hit to KO it, risk taking a hit to switch to a Physical Wall, or risk Medicham switching to something that can Tank your Moves. Fighting/Psychic indeed!

 

[MetalVolt]

;308;

Medicham is incredibly overlooked as a Pokemon due to it's lackluster stats and sheer lack of coverage compared to it's cousin Gallade. I think there is no reason to use this...what's that? It get's Pure Power, an ability that doubles it's max 240 attack to 480!?

Yes, Pure Power is Medicham's ace in the hole, annihilating anything that dare mess with the mediator. However, this may seem like a lost cause due to Medicham's disappointing 80 Base Speed, which leaves it widely open to revenge killing by faster Pokemon in the tier. Do not underestimate Medicham though, as if you do, she will rip your team into nothing but bits.

Tai-Kwan-D'oh!
-Hi-Jump Kick
-Ice Punch
-Psycho Cut
-Thunder Punch / Bullet Punch
Item Attached: Choice Scarf/Life Orb
EVs and Nature:
4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SpA)

The pure power set that can annihilate anything in it's path, even the likes of famous RU walls such as Steelix and Crustle. Hi-Jump Kick is like your atom bomb that can be used infinitely, with 130BP that can eliminate threats like Aggron, the majority of Normal Types, Ferroseed, and Rhydon. Ice Punch can deal with the pesky Grass Types that interfere with Hi-Jump Kick's coverage, like Sceptile, Whimsicott, Lilligant, and flying types like Aerodactyl and Archeops. Psycho Cut is your other reliable STAB; while it doesn't have as much power as Ice Punch or Hi-Jump Kick, it gives better coverage to Ghost Types that wouldn't be hit by fighting moves. It also helps against the numerous fighting types that wash around the tier, such as the Hitmon's, Emboar and Poliwrath. Finally, Thunder Punch gives the remaining coverage to what the other moves couldn't possibly handle, like Lantern (Not Volt Absorb), Kabutops, Omastar, and Moltres. However, if you already have electric coverage, Bullet Punch can be used as a nifty priority move to finish off that opponent with a bang. There is also the item case. Choice Scarf is to outspeed others, while Life Orb is there for the variety. I suggest the Life Orb, all though that is just me.

Other Options:
Drain Punch - While effective to restore damage from Life Orb, it lacks the sheer power that Hi-Jump Kick gives.
Fake Out - Nifty, yes, but effective? Not really. Can be used for an interesting flinch bonus though.
Trick - Good for a Choice Scarf set, but you risk losing coverage by swapping out one of your moves.

Counters and Resistances:
Spiritomb can wall anything Medicham throws at it all day, being immune to both of it's STAB's, and being able to take an Ice or Thunder Punch without breaking a sweat. As revenge, Spiritomb can OHKO Medicham with Priority Moves (Medicham isn't exactly Shuckle in terms of defense), Pursuit trap it with a predicted switch, or severely cripple it with Will-O-Wisp, breaking all effectiveness Medicham could have had. Protect is also hampering on Medicham's spirit, giving it that nasty recoil. Finally, the majority of Pokemon that are faster can easily revenge kill Medicham, such as Galvantula with Thunder, Sceptile with Leaf Storm, and Archeops with Acrobatics.

 

[jr0904]

Medicham. One of my favorite Pokemon. It's not spectacular on stats - Base 60 HP and Base 75 Defenses are Below Average, Base 60 Offenses are Below-Average-Bordering-Bad, and Speed is Average - but Pure Power is there to crank that Base 60 Attack almost to Black Kyurem's level.

Maxed out, Medicham's Base 60 Attack is 240. Not very good. However, Pure Power DOUBLES that to 480. Maxed out, Black Kyurem's Attack is 482. Note that Black Kyurem's Attack is Base 170. You can see why I love Medicham - a less-than-spectacular Pokemon with a big surprise to those that underestimate it.

Doubles and Triples Allies have to be a huge benefit to its staying power. Power Split Claydol and Beeheeyem are great options in Doubles/Triples because they can increase the stopping power of Medicham (sometimes they have to neutralize an opponent's Offense first). Likewise, Guard Split Shuckle, Claydol, and Cofagrigus can increase the staying power of Medicham by bringing those Below Average Base 75 Defenses to higher levels.

The main reason I love this thing? The last paragraph should explain that quite well - Doubles, Triples, and the occasional Rotation. Medicham blends well into many teams. Not to mention how well it pairs with defensive Pokemon. I find a really good output in Triples thanks to a combo of Pure Power Medicham and Intimidate Scrafty with any third. The Attack debuff from Intimidate helps, but Medicham needs to be cautious against Field-Attack Moves in general. Because of that, Wide Guard is recommended on a Doubles/Triples team with Medicham.

Effectively, Medicham's main role is simple - be a Physical powerhouse that plays mindgames with the opponent. This will force an opponent to risk taking a hit to KO it, risk taking a hit to switch to a Physical Wall, or risk Medicham switching to something that can Tank your Moves. Fighting/Psychic indeed!

Unfortunately its ability can also be its biggest weakness. all someone needs to do is to change it's ability or surpress it with Gastro Acid and it's useless.

WORSE is that once its gets changed or surpressed , your attack power of 240 gets cut in half. which means game over. it's like what the other guy said during the 4gen preview. extremely gimickry.

Also you can end up giving your opponent that ability if it have trace. Luckily Gallade didnt get it from pre evolutions otherwise it would have been big trouble. definitely not worth the trouble.

 

[Green_platinum]

I personally find Zen headbutt as a better option to psycho cut since 90% accuracy is a reasonable trade for more power. Also while Medicham isn't particularily fast, so it cannot abuse the flinch chance all to well it is still helpful for slow bulky pokemon or if you run a scarf on it.

 

[unknownunown]

Overview
Medicham has low base Attack and Sp. Attack, but it can run physical sets thanks to Pure Power, which doubles its Attack. So, that 240 max Attack (with no items, of course) raises to a TERRIFYING 480, even more than Rampardos (471), and is only surpassed by Black Kyurem's 482 (not a great difference, anyway) and Deoxys Attack Forme's 504. So... Gallade? Hahaha. Only 383 max Attack. And the same Speed (284 max). But Oh! Swords Dance, what Medicham lacks! But Oh! Stronger STAB moves! But... STOP, you two! Let's get going.

Medichampion (come on, someone will have a better pun)
-Psycho Cut (egg move)
-Hi Jump Kick/Drain Punch (egg move or tutor, I recommend this)
-Ice Punch (relearner or tutor, I recommend this)/Thunderpunch (relearner or tutor)
-Bulk Up (TM, and no, it can't learn Swords Dance)
Adamant or Jolly
Pure Power
252 Atk 252 Spd 4 HP
Choice Scarf or Band unless you run Meditate, then it could be... Muscle Band
With a Bulk Up and Muscle Band, Medicham overcomes Attack Deoxys. Bulk Up also raises Defense, then you may take a physical hit, so it's better than Meditate. Then, STAB moves. Psycho Cut is the first one. Hi Jump Kick has crazy power but may hurt you, so there's Drain Punch, so that if you get hit by an opponent you can recover. I would choose Drain Punch, with an already high Attack. Ice or Thunder Punch... The idea is hitting Flying-types hard, but I would go with Ice Punch (Dragons are one big problem often). However, you may think bulky waters are the problem, then... It's up to you.

Endu... No, just Reversal
-Reversal
-Psycho Cut
-Ice or Thunder Punch/Return (TM)/Feint
-Meditate
Focus Sash
Pure Power
252 Atk, 252 Spd and Nothing else
Lonely, Naughty, Hasty or Naive
Seriously, it can't learn Endure. Meditate because Bulk Up may make you not get to 1 HP (the idea there) by raising Defense. Because of the same, I let out th 4 HP EV's. Meditate until you get hit. Then your Reversal becomes CRAZY, and even more with STAB. Psycho Cut is the Psychic STAB. Ice or Thunder Punch will rid you of Flying-types, but Return hits hard everything except Rocks and Steels, which are gone with Reversal. Or run Feint, as it gets the same priority as Extremespeed, so you can use it if you need to quickly hit something that outspeeds you. But then Ghosts can give a hard time.

Countering Medicham
Physical Walls may do, but will still get hurt. Skarmory will do well as long as Medicham doesn't know Thunderpunch. Zoroark can disguise smartly and take Medicham out with Night Daze. Spiritomb shuts the Reversal set down if Medicham runs Return or Feint. Crobat and Staraptor outfly Medicham and can hit it hard with Brave Bird. Staraptor can also defeat Reversal users with Quick Attack... As long as it can take Feint after Brave Bird's recoil. Oh, that. Like always, priority ruins the Reversal set, but watch out for Feint. Extremespeed users that outspeed Medicham don't need to care, though. Special Attacks on the Bulk Up set do very well. Alakazam can use Shadow Ball, again, Zoroark's Night Daze, Volcarona's Bug Buzz, Espeon's Signal Beam... And hitting Reversal users without damaging them too much (not very effective moves) is useful if you can achieve it. Basically, if you can outspeed Medicham and OHKO it, you'll be safe.

 

[Shed-Ninja]

Overview


Endu... No, just Reversal
-Reversal
-Psycho Cut
-Ice or Thunder Punch/Return (TM)/Feint
-Meditate
Focus Sash
Pure Power
252 Atk, 252 Spd and Nothing else
Lonely, Naughty, Hasty or Naive
Seriously, it can't learn Endure. Meditate because Bulk Up may make you not get to 1 HP (the idea there) by raising Defense. Because of the same, I let out th 4 HP EV's. Meditate until you get hit. Then your Reversal becomes CRAZY, and even more with STAB. Psycho Cut is the Psychic STAB. Ice or Thunder Punch will rid you of Flying-types, but Return hits hard everything except Rocks and Steels, which are gone with Reversal. Or run Feint, as it gets the same priority as Extremespeed, so you can use it if you need to quickly hit something that outspeeds you. But then Ghosts can give a hard time.

Medicham gets endure; it just has to be transferred from 4th gen.

 

[UbersSuck20]

Medicham @ Choice Band
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Trait: Pure Power
Adamant Nature
- Hi Jump Kick
- Zen Headbutt
- Ice Punch
- ThunderPunch

This Medicham is extremely powerful, hitting harder than Band Rampardos. A good partner for this Medicham would be Tyranitar because it can Pursuit ghosts to hell and can set up Stealth Rock, which is very useful for Medicham.

 

[Caluminousdugtrio]

Medicham@Choice Band
EVS: 252 Atk; 252 Spd; 4 Def
Trait: PURE POWER
Nature: Jolly
- Hi Jump Kick
- Ice Punch
- Psycho Cut
- Bullet Punch

Quite similiar to other sets, but BP is there for some priority, somewhat making up for its lackluster speed.

 

[Rayofquazar]

Ok... let me get something straight... Medicham is a cursed pokemon with a useless ability! Don't hate me much now but really, why on earth would a fighting/psychic type pokemon have such low offenses only to get them boosted with an ability? This pokemon is gimmick at best... I prefer my pokemon to have 120 Base attack stat and with something like technician rather than having 60 base attack and an ability that doubles that stat! For me, even huge power azumarill benefits more than medicham from it's ability as azumarill can play a decent defensive set with 100/80/80 and packs a surprising punch. On the other hand, medicham is very frail and weak defensively making that typing really also waisted on it. (Psychic/fighting types only have two weaknesses on flying and ghost types pokemon which is really good if you have good defenses).

Medicham is so ability dependent that it cannot do anything with it's life if it does not have pure power... So, if you see a medicham in your dreams, just run away from it!

To give it some credit, medicham's high jump kick hits very hard and with a choice band it becomes crazy hard wrecking everything in it's path! Watch out from ghost types switching on a predicted high jump kick or an opponent using protect to not wreck yourself! Medicham also have a very good typing offensively and a nice movepool making sure that medicham has the right move to use on an unfortunate opponent! Unlike azumarill, medicham item does not have to be choice band if it wants to do respectable damage, for me choice scarf is tons more useful to help it outspeed some key counters like flying types and ghost types and KO them with the right move, because 80 base speed is not that stellar.

Medicham's usable moves sadly consists of only physical attacking moves as this pokemon is so frail to set up itself and too slow to set up for it's teammates so just don't bother. The useful moves are:
-Bulk up: Yeah I know what I just said but bulk up is semi usable as it may help you raise your defense and take some physical hits... Just don't use it in front of a special attacker.
-Power trick: Yeah yeah yeah... I am still convinced of what I said earlier but this move is extremely gimmicky... If you use it successfully you'll have an even stronger medicham... Giving your medicham that 75 base DEF is very helpful as when it doubles it will be crazy high... I never really used this move or medicham to be honest so I really don't know if it actually works!
-Thunder punch, Ice punch and fire punch: Medicham gets them right off the bat at level 1 while the first two are more useful against flying types and in general, fire punch can be used if you really hate bug types as the other types that fire punch hits SE are covered by the other moves.
-High jump kick: That is the MOVE for medicham and one of the best moves in the game with a high power and REALLY good accuracy makes for a deadly combination and medicham can use it pretty effectively with it's really high attack stat. Beware of ghosts, protect and an occasional miss cz it will be your end!!
-Reversal is somewhat gimmicky but can be used with a focus sash set... But I'd rather not!
-Return: a powerful move with decent neutral coverage that will rarely see any use on this guy.
-Brick break: A much much much much weaker alternative to high jump kick if you hate the miss recoil and has the potential of removing screens.
-Drain punch: A much more useful alternative to HJK helping you "Recovering and surviving longer?"
-Low sweep: It has a handy speed dropping effect but really?
-Rock slide: A decent flinch inducing move with a great coverage against flying and fire types.
-Poison jab: A move with redundant coverage that has a chance to poison the opponent. Not too handy.
-Zen headbutt: A reliable second stab to HJK that hits other fighting types hard as well as bulky poisons... Very handy indeed!
-Fake out: A priority flinching move... Not bad... but not worth a move slot because you'll be losing important coverage.
-Bullet punch: Very good priority move that removes weakened foes... Useful move.
-Psycho cut: An alternative to zen headbutt and arguably weaker but have a decent percentage of scoring a critical hit.

As you can see... Medicham's movepool is potent and has a wide range of coverage... My best set is HJK, Zen headbutt, Thunder punch and bullet punch!
I went with thunder punch to get rid of those troublesome bulky waters and the fact that there aren't too much dragon types in RU to use ice punch and if you face one HJK is more than enough to get rid of them... Good luck!

 

[KillerDraco]

Ok... let me get something straight... Medicham is a cursed pokemon with a useless ability! Don't hate me much now but really, why on earth would a fighting/psychic type pokemon have such low offenses only to get them boosted with an ability? This pokemon is gimmick at best... I prefer my pokemon to have 120 Base attack stat and with something like technician rather than having 60 base attack and an ability that doubles that stat!

You do realize that Pure Power makes its attack just shy of Kyurem-B's, right (Aka, nigh base 170)? It may be frail, and it's not the fastest thing in the world, but its power is absolutely absurd, and to call it a gimmick is silly, and to call it a useless ability is sillier still. High risk/high reward =/= useless.

 

[Rayofquazar]

You do realize that Pure Power makes its attack just shy of Kyurem-B's, right (Aka, nigh base 170)? It may be frail, and it's not the fastest thing in the world, but its power is absolutely absurd, and to call it a gimmick is silly, and to call it a useless ability is sillier still. High risk/high reward =/= useless.

Have you read my full post or just saw it too long and got lazy? I said this pokemon has very high attack and i said it has an amazing movepool... I clearly know what the ability does and I clearly stated that "I prefer not using it"... I means me... personal opinion... If you like to use it... why not! Maybe I don't like risky pokemon and enjoy playing safe pokemon!

Besides High risk/High reward pokemon = Gimmick!

 

[Divine Retribution]

Besides High risk/High reward pokemon = Gimmick!

That makes almost everything a gimmick.

 

[KillerDraco]

Have you read my full post or just saw it too long and got lazy? I said this pokemon has very high attack and i said it has an amazing movepool... I clearly know what the ability does and I clearly stated that "I prefer not using it"... I means me... personal opinion... If you like to use it... why not! Maybe I don't like risky pokemon and enjoy playing safe pokemon!

Besides High risk/High reward pokemon = Gimmick!

I read your whole post. Most of it said nothing of value, though. But the first part was outright wrong, as is your final statement about high risk/high reward. By your definition, Alakazam is a gimmick because there's a high risk of being pursuit trapped.

Something is a gimmick if the circumstances to make it viable are too specific, or too convoluted.

Medicham has the ability to destroy most switch-ins due to its power and coverage. It makes a perfect Choice Scarf user due to its decent-but-unspectacular speed, as well. It's far from a gimmick.

 

[Rayofquazar]

I read your whole post. Most of it said nothing of value, though. But the first part was outright wrong, as is your final statement about high risk/high reward. By your definition, Alakazam is a gimmick because there's a high risk of being pursuit trapped.

Something is a gimmick if the circumstances to make it viable are too specific, or too convoluted.

Medicham has the ability to destroy most switch-ins due to its power and coverage. It makes a perfect Choice Scarf user due to its decent-but-unspectacular speed, as well. It's far from a gimmick.

Can't agree more with your last sentence because I already said that in my post... Choice scarf is very good on this pokemon... Besides I never said that medicham is a bad pokemon... All I said was it is very ability dependant, to the point that if you take out it's ability it will be a burden to your team!

If I had to choose between primeape and medicham... I'll always go with primeape even though I know that primeape is easily OHKO from scarfed medicham's zen headbutt... Maybe you'll choose medicham, there's nothing wrong with that!

 

[jireh the provider]

Ahh medicham. your character from Pokemon Mystery Dugeon explorers is so handy to you and your best friends (Gardevoir and Lopunny)' enemies.

Enough about that.
For a double battle, I'd say that placing it inside a trick room team will give it a unque edge if you give it a nature that makes it slower. And in all truthfullness, I'd rather give her a Bulk Up + Darin punch combo (don't forget two other moves that you want) w/ V settings for HP + SP/ Def.