Community POTW #129

[Serebii]

To coincide with the upcoming movie, Detective Pikachu, this week we're covering one of its breakout stars

It's Mr. Mime time!

https://www.serebii.net/pokedex-sm/122.shtml

 

[KyogreThunder]

Mr. Mime
Ability:Technician
@Choice Specs
-Psyshock
-Dazzling Gleam
-Hidden Power Fire
-Shadow Ball
Timid Nature
EVs: 6 HP/252 Sp.Attack/252 Speed

 

[Divine Retribution]

In general, Mr. Mime is almost strictly outclassed by Gardevoir (who already isn't a fantastic Pokemon in its own right), having only a marginally higher Sp. Def (offset by Gardevoir's higher HP), a slightly better Speed tier, and access to Nasty Plot to its name. Because of this, Mr. Mime only sees usage in the lowest tiers, where better Psychic types can't be used. It does have decent typing and a good movepool, admittedly. It can pull off a Nasty Plot set, giving it some sweeping capabilities, or it can also use essentially a poor man's Scarf Gardevoir set, allowing it to revengekill threats and support its team with either Trick or Healing Wish. Specs is also an option to give it some immediate power. Finally, in less restrictive formats, Mr. Mime is an option to consider on Baton Pass teams as Soundproof blocks attempts to phase him with Roar, he's naturally immune to Dragon Tail by virtue of his Fairy typing, and he has access to a myriad of useful moves for Baton Pass teams such as Calm Mind, Nasty Plot, Barrier, and Encore. He does face competition from Sylveon as a Fairy-typed passer and Vaporeon as Barrier/Acid Armour passer, and his ability to avoid being phased by Roar is largely redundant with Espeon, who is essentially mandatory for Baton Pass teams to begin with, but he does have quite a nice combination of boosting moves, and Encore creates many setup opportunities.

I'll put some sets up later, but in general his sets are simple and straightforward. Psychic or Psyshock are the Psychic STABs of choice, Dazzling Gleam is his only Fairy STAB, and Focus Blast is usually chosen as the coverage move of choice as it hits Steels that resist his STABs super effectively. The last slot can go to Nasty Plot, Trick, Healing Wish, Calm Mind or even Encore depending on the set.

Mr. Mime @

Fightinium-Z
Timid - Soundproof
252 Sp. Atk, 4 Sp. Def, 252 Speed
-Psyshock
-Dazzling Gleam
-Focus Blast
-Nasty Plot

This set capitalizes on Mr. Mime's good coverage, decent Speed tier, and access to Nasty Plot to function as a sweeper. Psyshock is used as the STAB of choice thanks to its ability to punish specially bulky Pokemon such as Regice and Munchlax, while Dazzling Gleam allows him to cover Dark types that are immune to his STAB. Focus Blast with a Fightinium-Z allows him to blow away Steels that might try to stop his sweep, such as Ferroseed and Aggron. The last slot goes to Nasty Plot, giving him a massive boost to his Sp. Atk and letting him power through many teams after a boost. You can also opt opt to run a Choice Scarf or Specs, and replace Nasty Plot with either Trick or Healing Wish, depending on your team's needs. A Life Orb is another option, trading a one-time Fighting nuke for more overall power.

Soundproof is arguably his best ability as it allows him to avoid Hyper Voice from Aurorus and Drampa, however his other two abilities do have some uses as well. Filter makes taking super-effective moves generally a bit easier, but due to his low HP and Defense stats, he still struggles to take many powerful super-effective hits. Technician can be useful if you choose to run Hidden Power Fire or another similarly weak move, but Focus Blast generally gets better coverage anyways.

Mr. Mime @

Leftovers
Calm - Soundproof
252 HP, 240 Sp. Def, 16 Speed
-Encore
-Calm Mind
-Substitute
-Baton Pass

This set is tailored for use on Baton Pass teams, and serves to block Roar and Dragon Tail, as well as pass boosts from either Calm Mind or Barrier. Encore is a big part of the reason to consider this set as it allows him to gain free turns from opponents who use moves that cannot threaten him. Calm Mind, Barrier, and Nasty Plot are all options for boosting moves to be Baton Passed, depending on what your team needs. Substitute is mandatory on most Baton Pass users to ease set-up, reduce the risk of being OHKO'd by a critical hit, block Status moves, and prevent Imposter Ditto from being able to copy your boosts. Finally, Baton Pass lets him pass on boosts to the rest of his team.

This Mr. Mime set shouldn't be used as a standalone Baton Pass user and only fits in on dedicated Baton Pass teams, which incidentally are banned in most Smogon formats and aren't viable in 3v3 formats such as Battle Spot. The practicality of this set is further limited by the competition it faces from other Baton Pass users such as Sylveon and Vaporeon, but nevertheless it is an option to be considered when building a Baton Pass team, as Encore is quite a potent tool for creating setup opportunities.

​

 

[shoz999]

Mr. Mime is quite the badass in most of his appearances.
I think we can all agree that at first, Mr. Mime is honestly kind of a weird-looking character, even his name is odd but once you look past that and what he can do in his appearances in the anime, Adventures manga & the movie, he's actually quite the badass and even a scary battler. The most well-known Mr. Mime is arguably Delilah's partner in crime, Mimey. This Mr. Mime along with another manage to build a "reflect"-style cage to put an end to Team Rocket's plans and I have to admit as a kid, I did thought the mime trick was kind of cool. Not to mention Mimey is great at cleaning and maintaining Ash's house, that's pretty badass itself don't you think? Not enough? Then what about the Pokemon Adventures take on Mr. Mime. Sabrina's Mr. Mime is arguably the most well-known from Pokemon Adventures as it pulled off one of the most clever tricks against Bugsy during the Gym Leader Tournament storyline that will make you realize that Mr. Mime is a badass, blowing your mind just how much of a deceptive fighter Mr. Mime can be as he takes so many hits from Scyther and Heracross only to reveal that it was all an act to lure Bugsy's Pokemon into a trap, a two-floored invisible house made of Mr. Mime's reflect move. I was surprised as a kid when seeing that shocking moment and I still am now. It also doesn't help for Bugsy's Pokemon that not only is it difficult to navigate the invisible house but also in how reflect works, Mr. Mime in this situation takes less damage but not Bugsy's Heracross who becomes a sitting target. Now that's what you call a checkmate. And finally there's Mr. Mime of the Detective Pikachu movie. Haven't seen it but already this Mr. Mime is living up to his badassery through the mime interrogation scene from the trailer. I laughed how far Mr. Mime took his mime role seriously including the car cash scene at the end of the trailer.

Well-Known Trainers who caught or befriended the Mr. Mime evolution line.
Mr. Mime - Sabrina (Games, Adventures)
Mr. Mime - Lucian (Games)
Mr. Mime - Valerie (Games, Anime, Adventures)
Mr. Mime - Mina (Games)
Mr. Mime - Delilah, Ash's Mother (Anime) - Caught/Befriended?
Mime Jr. - James (Anime)
Mr. Mime - Emerald (Adventures)

Mr. Mime Full Offensive
Mr. Mime
Item: Assault Vest/Life Orb
Ability: Technician
Nature: Modest Nature (+Sp. Atk, - Atk) or Calm Nature (+Sp.Def, - Atk)
EVs: 252 Sp. Atk/252 HP
Charge Beam
Icy Wind
Focus Blast/Dazzling Gleam
Psyshock

Mr. Mime on full offensive has a lot of potential thanks to Technician which boost weaker moves like Charge Beam and Icy Wind while also maintaining it's effect and that's really about it. It hits hards and tanks defensively on the special side of things. Not so much on physical.

Mr. Mime Physical Sweep Blocker
Mr. Mime
Item: Psychium-Z/Focus Sash
Ability: Filter
Nature: Jolly Nature (+Spe, - Atk)
EVs: 252 HP/252 Spe
Power Split
Thunder Wave
Reflect
Protect/Psychic

Mr. Mime's original role that GameFreak intended was a frail Pokemon with defensive and support capabilities and today, that's still possible despite ironically it's widely considered best sets by the fans are often pure offensive. Mr. Mime is unfortunately very frail and I feel like this was intentional considering how his TCG cards often work as a defensive Pokemon with an Achilles heel. Luckily Mr. Mime has plenty of tools to cover his achilles heel, his low HP and physical defenses. First up is Power Split which can halt almost any Physical Sweeper that isn't relying on stat boosts to a stop, increasing Mr. Mime's bulk potential after Power Split. Even better Psychium-Z boosts speed power so you can setup faster on the next turn, such as reflect or thunder wave. There's also of course Protect and Psychic for further defensive or bruising potential. With Filter and an extra HP investment, Mr. Mime has a better chance of surviving some heavy hitting attacks but just in-case, there's always Focus Sash to get a last-minute support option up.

 

[XaelOstigian]

That Mr. Mime from Detective Pikachu will haunt my nightmares forever...

That aside, I actually really like Mr. Mime. It's name made it stand out from every other Pokemon in the first generation, it was a pretty strong Pokemon back then too, and it's vague human design both drew me in while simultaneously pushed me away. It's pre-evolution Mime Jr. is also adorable as f***.

I just wish it was more competitively viable given how it still has access to Nasty Plot and is one of the few special attacking Technician users. So I'm crossing my fingers that Mr. Mime gets an evolution in Gen 8 with improved stats and maybe even a signature wall-themed Psychic attack with 60 base power that has an awesome bonus effect like boosting one or both of it's defenses. I even have a name in mind for it:
"Mime Sr."

 

[shoz999]

That Mr. Mime from Detective Pikachu will haunt my nightmares forever...

That aside, I actually really like Mr. Mime. It's name made it stand out from every other Pokemon in the first generation, it was a pretty strong Pokemon back then too, and it's vague human design both drew me in while simultaneously pushed me away. It's pre-evolution Mime Jr. is also adorable as f***.

I just wish it was more competitively viable given how it still has access to Nasty Plot and is one of the few special attacking Technician users. So I'm crossing my fingers that Mr. Mime gets an evolution in Gen 8 with improved stats and maybe even a signature wall-themed Psychic attack with 60 base power that has an awesome bonus effect like boosting one or both of it's defenses. I even have a name in mind for it:
"Mime Sr."

What about Sir Mime and his horns form a jester-like cap, kind of like the one Link has in Legend of Zelda.

 

[Lucario At Service]

I just wish it was more competitively viable given how it still has access to Nasty Plot and is one of the few special attacking Technician users. So I'm crossing my fingers that Mr. Mime gets an evolution in Gen 8 with improved stats and maybe even a signature wall-themed Psychic attack with 60 base power that has an awesome bonus effect like boosting one or both of it's defenses. I even have a name in mind for it:
"Mime Sr."

What about Sir Mime and his horns form a jester-like cap, kind of like the one Link has in Legend of Zelda.

I wish they select a more 'Gender Neutral' name for it, in the rare chance that it does end up getting an Evolution. The Japanese name is gender neutral, but the localization didn't maintain that properly (well its not completely their fault as 1st Gen didn't originally have genders).