Community POTW #26

[365pokemon]

I sort of made my version/prediction of what this pokemon of the week is gonna look like
HERACROSS

Heracross, the singlehorn pokemon. It gathers in forests to search for tree sap, its favorite food. To keep all the honey to itself, it hurls rivals away with its prized horn. With powerful legs and claws, it generates enough power to hurl foes over great distances. It loves sweet honey. It is usually docile, but if it is disturbed while sipping honey, it chases off the intruder with its horn.

OVERVIEW

If you are a fan of pinsir, you understand the hatred that many players have for heracross. Basically being a pinsir on steroids, heracross can wreak havoc on teams. It's attack stat extends beyond infinitum, and many people consider using it in ubers. Each generation seems to just make heracross better. In the second generation, heracross was introduced and was immediately became recognized as one of the strongest physical attackers in the game. Third gen brought it the blessing of guts and swords dance. Fourth gen brought it not only pursuit turning physical, allowing it to hit ghost types that used to be the bane of its existance, as well as choice scarf and choice band. And now we have fifth gen, with the biggest new asset being moxie, which allows heracross to be a much better revenge killer. Unfortunately, with this game the rest of the metagame, and heracross slowly fell to stronger and faster revenge killers (enter hydreigon and chandelure), and is now sitting in comfortably in the lesser tiers, where it can still wreck, just not at the same level it used to.

ABILITIES

Swarm: Probably the most useless heracross ability. Boosts your bug moves when weakened. Not bad, but far overshadowed by this next one.
Guts: This makes heracross scary strong. Base 125 attack gets boosted by 1.5 times? Yes please.
Moxie: Heracross's dream world ability allows it to function as a great choice scarfed revenge killer. Guts is still amazing though.


I CAN SNORE AND KILL YOU!!!

Heracross ;214; @Leftovers/Life Orb /w/Guts
Nature: Adamant (+Attack, -Special Attack)
Ev's: 252 Atk, 192 Hp, 64 Spe

~Rest
~Sleep Talk
~Megahorn
~Low Kick

Heracross's only means of recovery is by rest, so why not give it a rest/talk set? Heracross is a great contender for rest/talk because while it's asleep you can use sleep talk to fire off guts boosted attacks (guts can be activated by sleep)+life orb depending on what item you're running. Megahorn and close combat are moves that you should run on almost any heracross, as they are both strong STAB physical attacks. As you will see, next to every heracross set runs these two moves. However here, we will be running low kick, as the subtracted defenses from close combat are unwanted.


What do you pick if death gives you two options?

Heracross ;214; @Choice Band/Choice Scarf /w/Moxie
Nature: Jolly (+Speed, -Special Attack)/Adamant (+Attack, -Special Attack)
Ev's: 252 Atk, 252 Spe, 4 Hp

~Close Combat
~Megahorn
~Stone Edge/Earthquake/Pursuit/Night Slash/Retaliate
~Stone Edge/Earthquake/Pursuit/Night Slash/Retaliate

This is probably the most effective heracross set out there. With choice scarf making up for your half-decent base speed, and choice band boosting your already high attack to ridiculous levels, whichever choice you make for an item will be a good one (no pun intended). The moveset has the obvious megahorn and close combat, as well as the last two moves being your choice. I basically listed heracross's best physical moves there (keep in mind that moves from the other options section are viable here as well), with one catch: retaliate. Retaliate works with any revenge killer as its base power doubles when a team mate was knocked out last turn, and guess what? This is a great revenge killer.


It only makes me stronger...

Heracross ;214; @Salac Berry /w/Moxie
Nature: Jolly (+Speed, -Special Attack)/Adamant (+Attack, -Special Attack)
Ev's: 252 Atk, 252 Spe, whatever gives you an hp divisible by four with remainder one

~Substitute
~Reversal
~Flail
~Night Slash

This set is much less useful then the other standard heracross sets, with the rise of hail and sand teams, as well as priority moves, but it still gets the job done. Basically you sub down to one hp (with an hp # divisible by four with a remainder of one, example: 305), and then fire off base 200 reversals and flails as your opponent quietly weeps into a pillow. Night slash is crucial on this set as it allows you to hit ghost types, which you would not be able to touch otherwise.

The goliath beetle

Heracross ;214; @Flame Orb /w/Guts
Nature: Jolly (+Speed, -Special Attack)/Adamant (+Attack, -Special Attack)
Ev's: 252 Atk, 252 Spe, 4 Hp

~Megahorn
~Close Combat
~Stone Edge/Earthquake/Pursuit/Night Slash/Facade/Protect
~Stone Edge/Earthquake/Pursuit/Night Slash/Facade/Protect

This is just a standard guts abuser. Just hit everything with guts boosted attacks and wreck them. Moveset is standard, with two catches, the first one being: facade. Facade is a seventy base power move move that doubles in power if the user is statused. Facade is a move that should only be used on guts abusing sets, or else it's worthless. The same goes for the second one, protect. Protect is only used to activate your status orb for sure, and shouldn't be used on any non "orb" sets.


Can't destroy all of me? How 'bout a quarter?

Heracross ;214; @Leftovers
Nature: Jolly (+Speed, -Special Attack)/Adamant (+Attack, -Special Attack)
Ev's: 240 Atk, 252 Spe, 16 Hp

~Substitute
~Megahorn
~Close Combat
~Stone Edge/Earthquake/Pursuit/Night Slash

This is another standard heracross set (they're all very similar, if you haven't noticed yet), but with a catch: substitute. The idea is to switch hera in on something that can't touch it, like a blissey, sub on the switch, then get a free hit on whatever comes in while it breaks your sub. If they don't break your sub, they will be in a world of pain where there is nothing but darkness and hate and evil and all their worst fears all around them. That is all.



GET WRECKED!!!!!!!!!slowly...

Heracross ;214; @Leftovers /w/Swarm/Guts
Nature: Careful (+Special Defense, -Special Attack)
Ev's: 252 Spd, 252 Hp, 4 Def

~Iron Defense
~Toxic
~Knock Off
~Protect/Substitute/Counter


95 base special defense is functional off of, so putting some investment there allows hera to take some special hits. However, this leaves hera's defense at a not-so-great level. That's where iron defense comes in, boosting your defense two stages. Now you can begin to annoy your opponent-take off their item, then begin toxic stall them. Your last set is whatever you want. Protect to stall, substitute to avoid status and really become a pain to walls, or counter after a few boosts to hurt their physical attackers. Probably the last thing you want for your heracross out of all these sets, though.



Don't give a bug a sword!

Heracross ;214; @Flame Orb /w/Guts
Nature: Jolly (+Speed, -Special Attack)/Adamant (+Attack, -Special Attack)
Ev's: 252 Atk, 252 Spe, 4 Hp

~Swords Dance
~Close Combat
~Megahorn
~Stone Edge/Earthquake/Pursuit/Night Slash/Facade

One of the largest threats in the metagame if it sets up. Here's a helpful hint: don't let a pokemon with base 125 attack and guts and flame orb get plus two from swords dance. Moveset is standard, with facade for reasons mentioned before. This thing wrecks if it gets set up.


Steroids are unfair :'(

Heracross ;214; @Leftovers /w/Guts
Nature: Jolly (+Speed, -Special Attack)/Adamant (+Attack, -Special Attack)
Ev's: 208 Hp, 104 Atk, 196 Spe

~Bulk Up
~Megahorn
~Low Kick
~Stone Edge/Earthquake/Pursuit/Night Slash

Heracross has another way to boost aside from swords dance. Although it doesn't give quite the offensive threat as swords dance, bulk up is still viable as it raises your defenses, meaning after a couple bulk ups, you can tank attacks, and hit hard. Moveset is standard, although low kick is better then close combat as it will lower your hard earned defensive stats.

EVS AND NATURES

I CAN SNORE AND KILL YOU
Max attack and adamant nature so you can do as much damage as possible. 192 hp to take some hits, and 64 speed to have a little speed.

What do you pick if death gives you two options?
Max attack and speed, the standard sweeper spread. The nature depends on if you want to have a little extra speed or a little extra KO'ing power.

It only makes me stronger...
Ditto above, but you're going to want the correct amount of hp IVs so that your hp is divisible by four with a remainder of 1 (example: 305).

The Goliath Beetle
Still keeping your standard sweeper EV and nature spread.

Can't destroy all of me? How 'bout a quarter?
Still a sweeper spread, but put 12 of the attack evs into hp (as well as your four leftover evs).

GET WRECKED!!!!!!!!!slowly...
Max special defense and hp, as you don't need any physical defense thanks to iron defense.

Don't give a bug a sword!
Max attack and speed again. Nothing much to say here.

Steroids are unfair :'(
208 hp so you can "tank" after a few bulk ups. 104 attack to still hit hard, and 196 speed to still be kind of fast.

Other Options(still looking for more in this section)

Focus punch, brick break, revenge, shadow claw, aerial ace
Focus punch can be used on a subpunching set.
Brick break to destroy any screens your opponent has.
Revenge, as heracross is relatively slow, so you have a reasonable chance of going second.
Shadow Claw can be used, but there is really no reason to not use night slash over this.
Aerial Ace this really messes up fighting types that heracross sometimes struggles dealing with *cough* conkeldurr *cough*.

Double and Triple Battle Options

(need help here)

Partners

Anything that resists heracross's weaknesses is always good. Something like a heatran works great as it takes fire, psychic and flying attacks. Anything that passes speed is good as well, such as a ninjask (if ninjask passes +2 speed and a swords dance to hera, it's basically game over). Something that can paralyze opposing pokemon works just as well, such as a rotom w. Drizzletoad can work well with hera as it can weaken hera's fire weakness. The list of things that work well with him goes on and on. To wrap it up, something that can either resist hera's weaknesses or let hera outspeed opposing pokes is usually a good partner.

Countering heracross

(need help here)

Locations in Games

Ruby/Sapphire/Emerald
Safari Zone Acro Bike Area

FireRed/LeafGreen
Pattern Bush

Colosseum
Snagged from Cipher Peon Dioge in Realgam Tower's Dome

XD
Trade from Ruby/Sapphire/Emerald/FireRed/LeafGreen/Colosseum

Diamond/Pearl/Platinum
Sweet Honey Trees

HeartGold/SoulSilver
Routes 7, 11, 16, 28, 33, 42, 44, 45, 46 & 47, Azalea Town Vermillion City, Celadon City, Mt. Silver (Headbutt)

Black/White
Route 12

 

[Gallade778]

The Offensive Fighting Bug!

Heracross

Hold Item: Black Belt (boosts Fighting Type moves)

Ability: Guts

Move Set:
Close Combat
Megahorn
Focus Blast
Stone Edge

Weaknesses: Flying x4, Fire x2, Psychic x2
Strengths: Ground x0.5, Fighting x0.5, Grass x0.5, Dark x0.5, Bug x0.5

Strength/Weakness facts:
Heracross is an excellent Pokemon when it comes to strengths. Out or 17 total types, 5 of them only do 1/2 of their original damage. Although extremely weak against Flying types (they do 4 times the original damage), it can learn some Rock type moves such as Stone Edge and Rock Slide to compete against the pesky Flying types.

Being that Heracross is a Bug/Fighting type, its extremely weak against Flying types. So if it knows the attack Stone Edge it will be able to easily combat Flying type opponents. I believe Heracross is meant to be all out offensive. It has great Attack Power, great Speed, pretty good Defense and Sp. Defense, and a fairly decent Sp. Attack.

Because Heracross has great Attack Power, it should know Close Combat and Focus Blast. Two very powerful Fighting Type moves. And its Hold Item should be the Black Belt to make those two moves even more powerful. As previously stated, it should also know the move Stone Edge. Due to its strong weakness to Flying type opponents, it should be able to stand up to them pretty good as well. And as for the attack Megahorn. Heracross is also a Bug type and Megahorn is pretty strong Bug type.

Possible Double Battle Partners:
The partners for Heracross would mostly depend on your opponents team. Here are an example of what I am talking about.

Ex. 1:
Opponent Types: Psychic (Alakazam) and Fire (Typhlosion)
You: Heracross + a stong water type (Crawdaunt)

Explanation:
Since Heracross is part Bug type, if it used Megahorn against a Psychic type like Alakazam, it would do a great deal of damage due to the fact that Psychic types are weak against Bug types. And your teammate, Crawdaunt, it is a Water/Dark type. It would be a great match against the Fire type Typhlosion because it is weak against Water type moves. And Crawdaunt is a great Partner because it is also part Dark type. Meaning Alakazam's Psychic type moves would not effect it at all. Plus Psychic types are weak against Dark types as well.

Created by: Gallade778

 

[WeatherEffectRain]

I'm pretty sure we don't need an explanation of the obvious, but oh well.

Anyways, I've held back on this Potw because I know nothing about Heracross. This is so spam.

 

[benben46]

To counter, you should probably use either Tornadus or Thundurus, they have prankster Thunder Wave (Thunderus), and STAB quadruple effective Hurricane (Tornadus)

 

[365pokemon]

Heracross

Hold Item: Black Belt (boosts Fighting Type moves)

Ability: Guts

Move Set:
Close Combat
Megahorn
Focus Blast
Stone Edge

Weaknesses: Flying x4, Fire x2, Psychic x2
Strengths: Ground x0.5, Fighting x0.5, Grass x0.5, Dark x0.5, Bug x0.5

Strength/Weakness facts:
Heracross is an excellent Pokemon when it comes to strengths. Out or 17 total types, 5 of them only do 1/2 of their original damage. Although extremely weak against Flying types (they do 4 times the original damage), it can learn some Rock type moves such as Stone Edge and Rock Slide to compete against the pesky Flying types.

Being that Heracross is a Bug/Fighting type, its extremely weak against Flying types. So if it knows the attack Stone Edge it will be able to easily combat Flying type opponents. I believe Heracross is meant to be all out offensive. It has great Attack Power, great Speed, pretty good Defense and Sp. Defense, and a fairly decent Sp. Attack.

Because Heracross has great Attack Power, it should know Close Combat and Focus Blast. Two very powerful Fighting Type moves. And its Hold Item should be the Black Belt to make those two moves even more powerful. As previously stated, it should also know the move Stone Edge. Due to its strong weakness to Flying type opponents, it should be able to stand up to them pretty good as well. And as for the attack Megahorn. Heracross is also a Bug type and Megahorn is pretty strong Bug type.

Possible Double Battle Partners:
The partners for Heracross would mostly depend on your opponents team. Here are an example of what I am talking about.

Ex. 1:
Opponent Types: Psychic (Alakazam) and Fire (Typhlosion)
You: Heracross + a stong water type (Crawdaunt)

Explanation:
Since Heracross is part Bug type, if it used Megahorn against a Psychic type like Alakazam, it would do a great deal of damage due to the fact that Psychic types are weak against Bug types. And your teammate, Crawdaunt, it is a Water/Dark type. It would be a great match against the Fire type Typhlosion because it is weak against Water type moves. And Crawdaunt is a great Partner because it is also part Dark type. Meaning Alakazam's Psychic type moves would not effect it at all. Plus Psychic types are weak against Dark types as well.

What happens if alakazam outspeeds heracross and kills it with a psychic (which it almost always will)
Running focus blast is a bad option on heracross as you already have a fighting type move, and heracross only has base 40 special attack.
Also, black belt is not a great item - run toxic orb, so you can activate your guts and do more damage with fighting type moves then if you were holding the black belt.
And how does having good defenses make it an attacker?

 

[V4LOVER]

Heracross

Hold Item: Black Belt (boosts Fighting Type moves) ...flame orb activates guts, so use it, instead of a small boost

Ability: Guts

Move Set:
Close Combat
Megahorn
Focus Blast bleck, this uses cross' special attack, which is horrible. plus, this means double fighting moves. use pursuit or night slash imo
Stone Edge

Weaknesses: Flying x4, Fire x2, Psychic x2
Strengths: Ground x0.5, Fighting x0.5, Grass x0.5, Dark x0.5, Bug x0.5
...resistances, much?

Strength/Weakness facts:
Heracross is an excellent Pokemon when it comes to strengths. Out or 17 total types, 5 of them only do 1/2 of their original damage. Although extremely weak against Flying types (they do 4 times the original damage), it can learn some Rock type moves such as Stone Edge and Rock Slide to compete against the pesky Flying types.

Being that Heracross is a Bug/Fighting type, its extremely weak against Flying types. So if it knows the attack Stone Edge it will be able to easily combat Flying type opponents. I believe Heracross is meant to be all out offensive. It has great Attack Power, great Speed, pretty good Defense and Sp. Defense, and a fairly decent Sp. Attack. that's not fairly decent, and defenses don't decide if it is an attacker or not

Because Heracross has great Attack Power, it should know Close Combat and Focus Blast which isn't affected by attack. Two very powerful Fighting Type moves not counting cross' horrible spatk. And its Hold Item should be the Black Belt to make those two moves even more powerful iirc only 10% more powerful. As previously stated, it should also know the move Stone Edge. Due to its strong weakness to Flying type opponents, it should be able to stand up to them pretty good as well. And as for the attack Megahorn. Heracross is also a Bug type and Megahorn is pretty strong Bug type.

Possible Double Battle Partners:
The partners for Heracross would mostly depend on your opponents team. Here are an example of what I am talking about. well you don't know the opponent's team until you battle them, so definite partners are needed.

Ex. 1:
Opponent Types: Psychic (Alakazam) and Fire (Typhlosion)
You: Heracross + a stong water type (Crawdaunt)

Explanation:
Since Heracross is part Bug type, if it used Megahorn against a Psychic type like Alakazam, it would do a great deal of damage due to the fact that Psychic types are weak against Bug types. And your teammate, Crawdaunt, it is a Water/Dark type. It would be a great match against the Fire type Typhlosion because it is weak against Water type moves. And Crawdaunt is a great Partner because it is also part Dark type. Meaning Alakazam's Psychic type moves would not effect it at all but ala wouldn't be using psychic on crawdaunt. Plus Psychic types are weak against Dark types as well.

...read the bold.

 

[365pokemon]

What are some good partners for hera?

 

[Zachmac]

What are some good partners for hera?

Ninjask gives it the speed boost it needs, along with massive attack. Heatran absorbs Flying, Psychic, and Fire attacks, while Herecross resist Ground and Fighting for Heatran. It also takes Fight/Ground for tyranitar, along with bug. In the mean time, Tyranitar takes Flying/Psychic type moves. Rotom-W removes physical walls, and can spread paralysis to help Heracross move first. It also takes Fire/Flying moves. Heracross resist it's only weakness in the mean time.

 

[365pokemon]

Thnx I'll add that to the list.
Now I need help with the double/triple battle option section.

 

[fschulze47]

OVERVIEW[/B][/U]

If you are a fan of pinsir, you understand the hatred that many players have for heracross. Basically being a pinsir on steroids, heracross can wreak havoc on teams. It's attack stat extends beyond infinitum, and many people consider using it in ubers. Each generation seems to just make heracross better. In the second generation, heracross was introduced and was immediately became recognized as one of the strongest physical attackers in the game. Third gen brought it the blessing of guts and swords dance. Fourth gen brought it not only pursuit turning physical, allowing it to hit ghost types that used to be the bane of its existance, as well as choice scarf and choice band. And now we have fifth gen, with the biggest new asset being moxie, which allows heracross to be a much better revenge killer.

Don't know how much I like this overview. While Heracross received many blessings over the years, so did every other Pokemon out there. It is definitely worth noting that Heracross hit rock- bottom usage in Generation 4, because the metagame formed away from it. Nevertheless it's still a good Pokemon. My thoughts on some of the sets:

RestTalk- this set is actually really good, it was a premier Darkrai counter in Gen 4 and can be difficult to stop even now. I would change Close Combat to Brick Break or Low Kick, Close Combat's Defense Drops work against the goal of staying alive, despite being Heracross' top Fighting STABs.

Choice- the best set Heracross can run, can revenge kill Hydreigon, Latios, and other threats. Can be predictable but still very good.

Substitute- good idea, I'd never thought about that before but it makes for a nasty surprise for those expecting choice sets, because nothing's going to like getting hit with whatever Heracross has to offer, and they can't switch because they're under pressure to break the sub.

Guts Abuser-consider adding protect to the set to get a definite status condition on it.

 

[JayBell]

My heracross always seems to own PO with this set
That bug's got some Moxie
Heracross@Choice Scarf
Admant nature
252 Attack/252 Speed/4 HP
Ability: Moxie
~Close Combat
~Stone Edge
~Megahorn
~Earthquake

The scarf takes care of the speed. It amps it up so that it can outrun most sweepers. Close combat takes care of Rocks, Steels, Darks, Normals and more importantly that annoying Grass/Steel. Stone edge takes care of any Flying types that want to have Heracross for lunch. Megahorn takes care of Psychics, one such as espeon. Earthquake covers fire types and everything else. All you really need is one, well timed, close combat, and Moxie will take care of the rest.

 

[Blue Harvest]

Choice Band
Choice Scarf
Swords Dance
Maybe a Life Orb set that runs HP Ice to 2HKO Gliscor.. Moxie might work on this.

Only viable sets. Reno will no doubt run some gimmick stuff like Reversal or Rest Talk but just.. don't bother with it. Heracross is as good as hes always been. A super-hard hitting bomb that's kinda bulky but is a bit too slow.

 

[rotomotorz]

Just some suggestions i have...

Abilities

Swarm: When HP is below 1/3, bug type moves get 1.5 power. Heracross's worst ability, but its definately not useless.
Guts: When you have a status problem, move power increases by 1.5. Heracross's best ability, as you can abuse being statused.
Moxie: Attack raises every time you defeat a pokemon. A good ability, but only works on sets that are meant to stay in.

HeraGuts
~Megahorn
~Close Combat/Reversal
~Earthquake/Stone Edge/Night Slash/Facade
~Earthquake/Stone Edge/Night Slash/Facade
Ability: Guts
Nature: Adamant(+Attack,-Sp. Attack), Jolly(+Speed,-Sp. Attack)
252 Attack/252 Speed/4 HP
Item: Flame Orb/Toxic Orb

A set that abuses Guts. Megahorn is strong and gets STAB. Same with Close Combat. Reversal is usable when you have little HP left. Earthquake is strong, reliable, and provides coverage. Stone Edge gets rid of pesky Flying types. Night Slash destroyes Ghosts. Facade get double power while you're burned or poisoned.

MoxieCross
~Megahorn
~Close Combat/Brick Break
~Night Slash/Earthquake/Swords Dance
~Stone Edge/Earthquake/Swords Dance
Ability: Moxie
Nature: Adamant (+Attack,-Sp. Attack), Jolly(+Speed, -Sp. Attack)
252 Attack/252 Speed/4 HP
Item: Life Orb

A sweeping set basicly. Megahorn gets STAB and is powerful. So is Close Combat. Brick Break is there if you don't want defense lowerage. Night Slash eliminates Ghosts with wall you. Stone Edge takes down Flying types. Earthquake provides strong coverage. Swords Dance raises your attack...a lot.

Cross and Flailing

~Flail
~Reversal
~Megahorn
~Stone Edge/Night Slash/Earthquake
Ability: Swarm/Moxie
Nature: Adamant (+Attack,-Sp. Attack), Jolly(+Speed, -Sp. Attack)
252 Attack/252 Speed/4 HP
Item: Focus Sash

A set that focuses on Flail/Reversal while at 1 HP. Flail is for when you get to 1 HP. Reversal is a Stab version of Flail. Megahorn is strong and gets STAB. Stone Edge is to kill Flying types. Night Slash is for Ghosts. Earthquake is strong and reliable and provides coverage.

SupportCross

~Megahorn
~Toxic
~Protect/Substitute
~Knock Off
Ability: Swarm/Guts
Nature: Adamant (+Attack,-Sp. Attack), Jolly(+Speed, -Sp. Attack)
252 Attack/252 Speed/4 HP
Item: Leftovers

A stalling set basicly. Megahorn is strong and gets STAB. Toxic withers your opponent. Protect stalls Toxic for a turn. Substitute also stall but for longer at a cost of HP. Knock Off takes away your opponent's item.

Does the band or scarf look better?

~Megahorn
~Close Combat
~Night Slash/Pursuit/Earthquake
~Stone Edge/Earthquake
Ability:Swarm/Guts
Nature: Adamant(+Attack,-Sp. Attack), Jolly(+Speed,-Sp. Attack)
252 Attack/252 Speed/4 HP
Item: Choice Band/Choice Scarf

Megahorn is strong and its dumb to have a Heracross set without it. Close Combat is risky but powerful. Night Slash destroys walling Ghosts. Pursuit destroys fleeing Ghosts. Stone Edge defeats Flying types. Earthquake is strong and provides some more coverage.

ResTalk

~Rest
~Sleep Talk
~Megahorn
~Close Combat/Brick Break/Stone Edge/Night Slash
Ability: Guts
Nature: Adamant(+Attack,-Sp. Attack), Jolly(+Speed,-Sp. Attack)
252 Attack/252 Speed/4 HP
Item: Leftovers

A simple ResTalk set. Rest is Heracross's on recovery move. Sleep Talk is there so you don't die in your sleep. Megahorn is your main STAB move. Close Combat is another STAB move. Brick Break is if you hate the defense lowerage Close Combat. Stone Edge destroys the Flying wall. Night Slash destroys the Ghost wall.

SubPunch

~Substitute
~Focus Punch
~Megahorn
~Stone Edge/Night Slash
Ability: Swarm/Moxie
Nature: Adamant(+Attack,-Sp. Attack), Jolly(+Speed,-Sp. Attack)
252 Attack/252 Speed/4 HP
Item: Leftovers/Black Belt

A regular SubPunch set really. Substitute so you can block damage for 2 or more turns, Focus Punch because your doll takes damage for you. Megahorn is your other STAB move. Stone Edge defeats walling Flyings, Night Slash defeats walling Ghosts.

Other Options

Aerial Ace provides coverage
Bulk Up makes you bulky and strong
Counter is usable on the Flail set
Fling can be used with an Iron Ball
Iron Defense raises your defense
Low Kick works on heavyweights
Retaliate is for revenge killing
Return is strong but gets no coverage
Revenge is good because Heracross isn't exactly fast
Rock Slide is more reliable but weaker then Stone Edge
Seismic Toss is a good move worth considering
Shadow Claw is a Ghost type Night Slash

Double and Triple Options

Resistant to Earthquake, weak to Lava Plume, gets its own Earthquake and Rock Slide, Heracross is okay in doubles and triples, but its not recommended.

Partners

Heatran resists Fire, Flying, and Psychic moves and Heracross resists Fighting and Ground. Same idea with Tyranitar. A fast pokemon that covers Heracross's weanesses is good. Infernape, Blaziken, Weavile, Zebstrika, Jolteon, any fast pokemon really. Launtern and Rotom-W both are good as they defeat Flying and Fire. Cover its weaknesses and you'll be fine.

Countering Heracross

Flying pokemon destroy Heracross. Ninjask, Swellow, and others are all good. Just beware of Stone Edge, even though you'll probably kill it first. Gliscor resists Stone Edge and is a good physical wall in general. Ghost types also are good, as long as you avoid Night Slash. Gengar, Cofagrigus, Mismagius, you get my drift. Fast pokemon with super effective moves all work really. Alakazam, Charizard, Infernape, anything like that. Anything that resist its STABs are great counters, because Heracross's most powerful moves are its STAB moves. But its still a strong pokemon anyways and can hurt you if you are not prepared.

 

[Alfred the Second]

I sort of made my version/prediction of what this pokemon of the week is gonna look like
HERACROSS

Heracross, the singlehorn pokemon. It gathers in forests to search for tree sap, its favorite food. To keep all the honey to itself, it hurls rivals away with its prized horn. With powerful legs and claws, it generates enough power to hurl foes over great distances. It loves sweet honey. It is usually docile, but if it is disturbed while sipping honey, it chases off the intruder with its horn.

OVERVIEW

If you are a fan of pinsir, you understand the hatred that many players have for heracross. Basically being a pinsir on steroids, heracross can wreak havoc on teams. It's attack stat extends beyond infinitum, and many people consider using it in ubers. Each generation seems to just make heracross better. In the second generation, heracross was introduced and was immediately became recognized as one of the strongest physical attackers in the game. Third gen brought it the blessing of guts and swords dance. Fourth gen brought it not only pursuit turning physical, allowing it to hit ghost types that used to be the bane of its existance, as well as choice scarf and choice band. And now we have fifth gen, with the biggest new asset being moxie, which allows heracross to be a much better revenge killer.

ABILITIES

Swarm: Probably the most useless heracross ability. Boosts your bug moves when weakened. Not bad, but far overshadowed by this next one.
Guts: This makes heracross scary strong. Base 125 attack gets boosted by 1.5 times? Yes please.Guts should be preffered on sd sets,while it can also be used on scarfacross,mocie is better(if your team doesnt have status absorber then...maybe
Moxie: Heracross's dream world ability allows it to function as a great choice scarfed revenge killer. Guts is still amazing though.


I CAN SNORE AND KILL YOU!!!

Heracross ;214; @Leftovers /w/Guts
Nature: Adamant (+Attack, -Special Attack)
Ev's: 252 Atk, 192 Hp, 64 Spe

~Rest
~Sleep Talk
~Megahorn
~Close Combat

Heracross's only means of recovery is by rest, so why not give it a rest/talk set? Heracross is a great contender for rest/talk because while it's asleep you can use sleep talk to fire off guts boosted attacks (guts can be activated by sleep). Megahorn and close combat are moves that you should run on almost any heracross, as they are both strong STAB physical attacks. As you will see, next to every heracross set runs these two moves.
Sorry but this set is useless in this hard hitting and fast pace metagame.

What do you pick if death gives you two options?

Heracross ;214; @Choice Band/Choice Scarf /w/Moxie
Nature: Jolly (+Speed, -Special Attack)/Adamant (+Attack, -Special Attack)
Ev's: 252 Atk, 252 Spe, 4 Hp

~Close Combat
~Megahorn
~Stone Edge/Earthquake/Pursuit/Night Slash
~Stone Edge/Earthquake/Pursuit/Night Slash

This is probably the most effective heracross set out there. With choice scarf making up for your half-decent base speed, and choice band boosting your already high attack to ridiculous levels, whichever choice you make for an item will be a good one (no pun intended). The moveset has the obvious megahorn and close combat, as well as the last two moves being your choice. I basically listed heracross's best physical moves there (keep in mind that moves from the other options section are viable here as well). This is a great revenge killer.

Choice band is a good option,but in a metagame where even base 100 is considered average...band cross is horrible..but he does OK in UU
It only makes me stronger...

Heracross ;214; @Salac Berry /w/Moxie
Nature: Jolly (+Speed, -Special Attack)/Adamant (+Attack, -Special Attack)
Ev's: 252 Atk, 252 Spe, whatever gives you an hp divisible by four with remainder one

~Substitute
~Reversal
~Flail
~Night Slash

This set is much less useful then the other standard heracross sets, with the rise of hail and sand teams, as well as priority moves, but it still gets the job done. Basically you sub down to one hp (with an hp # divisible by four with a remainder of one, example: 305), and then fire off base 200 reversals and flails as your opponent quietly weeps into a pillow. Night slash is crucial on this set as it allows you to hit ghost types, which you would not be able to touch otherwise
Well you said it yourself,it sucks.

The goliath beetle

Heracross ;214; @Flame Orb /w/Guts
Nature: Jolly (+Speed, -Special Attack)/Adamant (+Attack, -Special Attack)
Ev's: 252 Atk, 252 Spe, 4 Hp

~Megahorn
~Close Combat
~Stone Edge/Earthquake/Pursuit/Night Slash/Facade
~Stone Edge/Earthquake/Pursuit/Night Slash/Facade

This is just a standard guts abuser. Just hit everything with guts boosted attacks and wreck them. Moveset is standard, with one catch: facade. facade is a seventy base power move move that doubles in power if the user is statused. Facade is a move that should only be used on guts abusing sets, or else it's worthless.
Like bandcross, this is useless with sand damage and entry hazards you are dead b4 you dent anything

Can't destroy all of me? How 'bout a quarter?

Heracross ;214; @Leftovers
Nature: Jolly (+Speed, -Special Attack)/Adamant (+Attack, -Special Attack)
Ev's: 240 Atk, 252 Spe, 16 Hp

~Substitute
~Megahorn
~Close Combat
~Stone Edge/Earthquake/Pursuit/Night Slash

This is another standard heracross set (they're all very similar, if you haven't noticed yet), but with a catch: substitute. The idea is to switch hera in on something that can't touch it, like a blissey, sub on the switch, then get a free hit on whatever comes in while it breaks your sub. If they don't break your sub, they will be in a world of pain where there is nothing but darkness and hate and evil and all their worst fears all around them. That is all.

This is a good set,but why 16evs in hp,is that a substitue number?

GET WRECKED!!!!!!!!!slowly...

Heracross ;214; @Leftovers /w/Swarm/Guts
Nature: Careful (+Special Defense, -Special Attack)
Ev's: 252 Spd, 252 Hp, 4 Def

~Iron Defense
~Toxic
~Knock Off
~Protect/Substitute/Counter


95 base special defense is functional off of, so putting some investment there allows hera to take some special hits. However, this leaves hera's defense at a not-so-great level. That's where iron defense comes in, boosting your defense two stages. Now you can begin to annoy your opponent-take off their item, then begin toxic stall them. Your last set is whatever you want. Protect to stall, substitute to avoid status and really become a pain to walls, or counter after a few boosts to hurt their physical attackers.

This set is ridiculous,heracross's typing won't help you at all...try using it
IT SUCKS,sorry if it hurts you
Don't give a bug a sword!

Heracross ;214; @Flame Orb /w/Guts
Nature: Jolly (+Speed, -Special Attack)/Adamant (+Attack, -Special Attack)
Ev's: 252 Atk, 252 Spe, 4 Hp

~Swords Dance
~Close Combat
~Megahorn
~Stone Edge/Earthquake/Pursuit/Night Slash/Facade

One of the largest threats in the metagame if it sets up. Here's a helpful hint: don't let a pokemon with base 125 attack and guts and flame orb get plus two from swords dance. Moveset is standard, with facade for reasons mentioned before. This thing wrecks if it gets set up.
As I said earlier flameorb =
very poor longevity,leftovers+guts is the way to go
Steroids are unfair :'(

Heracross ;214; @Leftovers /w/Guts
Nature: Jolly (+Speed, -Special Attack)/Adamant (+Attack, -Special Attack)
Ev's: 208 Hp, 104 Atk, 196 Spe

~Bulk Up
~Megahorn
~Low Kick
~Stone Edge/Earthquake/Pursuit/Night Slash

Heracross has another way to boost aside from swords dance. Although it doesn't give quite the offensive threat as swords dance, bulk up is still viable as it raises your defenses, meaning after a couple bulk ups, you can tank attacks, and hit hard. Moveset is standard, although low kick is better then close combat as it will lower your hard earned defensive stats.

EVS AND NATURES

I CAN SNORE AND KILL YOU
Max attack and adamant nature so you can do as much damage as possible. 192 hp to take some hits, and 64 speed to have a little speed.

What do you pick if death gives you two options?
Max attack and speed, the standard sweeper spread. The nature depends on if you want to have a little extra speed or a little extra KO'ing power.

It only makes me stronger...
Ditto above, but you're going to want the correct amount of hp IVs so that your hp is divisible by four with a remainder of 1 (example: 305).

The Goliath Beetle
Still keeping your standard sweeper EV and nature spread.

Can't destroy all of me? How 'bout a quarter?
Still a sweeper spread, but put 12 of the attack evs into hp (as well as your four leftover evs).

GET WRECKED!!!!!!!!!slowly...
Max special defense and hp, as you don't need any physical defense thanks to iron defense.

Don't give a bug a sword!
Max attack and speed again. Nothing much to say here.

Steroids are unfair :'(
208 hp so you can "tank" after a few bulk ups. 104 attack to still hit hard, and 196 speed to still be kind of fast.

Other Options(still looking for more in this section)

Focus punch, hidden power, brick break, revenge, shadow claw, aerial ace
Focus punch can be used on a subpunching set.
Hidden power can be used for any type if there's a certain poke you want to hit hard (but most of the time heracross's movepool can cover this).
Brick break to destroy any screens your opponent has.
Revenge, as heracross is relatively slow, so you have a reasonable chance of going second.
Shadow Claw can be used, but there is really no reason to not use night slash over this.
Aerial Ace this really messes up fighting types that heracross sometimes struggles dealing with *cough* conkeldurr *cough*.

Double and Triple Battle Options

(need help here)

Partners

Anything that resists heracross's weaknesses is always good. Something like a heatran works great as it takes fire, psychic and flying attacks. Anything that passes speed is good as well, such as a ninjask (if ninjask passes +2 speed and a swords dance to hera, it's basically game over). Something that can paralyze opposing pokemon works just as well, such as a rotom w. Drizzletoad can work well with hera as it can weaken hera's fire weakness. The list of things that work well with him goes on and on. To wrap it up, something that can either resist hera's weaknesses or let hera outspeed opposing pokes is usually a good partner.

Countering heracross

(need help here)

Locations in Games

Ruby/Sapphire/Emerald
Safari Zone Acro Bike Area

FireRed/LeafGreen
Pattern Bush

Colosseum
Snagged from Cipher Peon Dioge in Realgam Tower's Dome

XD
Trade from Ruby/Sapphire/Emerald/FireRed/LeafGreen/Colosseum

Diamond/Pearl/Platinum
Sweet Honey Trees

HeartGold/SoulSilver
Routes 7, 11, 16, 28, 33, 42, 44, 45, 46 & 47, Azalea Town Vermillion City, Celadon City, Mt. Silver (Headbutt)

Black/White
Route 12

Comments in bold,I am fairly good in competitive battles,also a serebii lurker...your post had all kinds of set a heracross can have....hence I used it for commenting

 

[Soperman]

Heracross. I've always wanted to train one, but never got around to actually doing it. Huh. Well, anyway, this guy is more or less a stronger version on muk, stat wise. Well, ok, not really, but he does have good SP defense and attack.

I'm not afraid
- Stone Edge
- Night Slash
- Close Combat
- Megahorn
Item: Life Orb / Toxic Orb
Ability : Moxie / Guts
EVs and Natures: Adamant (+att, -sp att) / Jolly (+spd, -sp att)
252 att, 252 spd / sp def, 4 spd / sp def

This moveset is to take out weaknesses. Night Slash for Psychic, Stone Edge for Flying and Fire. Close Combat and Megahorn for epic STABs. I like Life Orb / Moxie combo, but without good speed, sweeping is out of the option. That's where Toxic Orb / Guts and 252 sp def comes in.

 

[Kraleck]

Heracross's Backup​

Pokemon aiming to take 'cross out likely pack a Flying or Fire Type Move due to the risk of Psychic VS Dark wasting your turn and PP. That said, Rock Types are great for soaking up a Super-Effective-on-Heracross hit. Rock/Steel is especially good for Flying, but takes neutral hits from Fire.

Pressure Aerodactyl, while a great 'cross counter, is a spectacular backup until someone tries to get a neutral Rock Type hit on 'cross. By a similar note, Solrock and Lunatone resist all of 'cross's weaknesses, plus Rock.

If Fire Type Moves are out of the picture, Bronzong and Metagross can soak 'cross's other weaknesses and Rock. The problem, however, is that Pokemon that can handle 'cross can often handle its primary backup.

Secondary backup for cross includes Flying, Rock, Water, and Grass Types. Levitate is not recommended due to the 5th Gen outbreak of Mold Breaker. Water Absorb/Storm Drain Pokemon are recommended for Water Types.

Ferrothorn is a good switch off of a Rock Type. Off of a Steel, Kabutops and Kingdra soak Fire Moves quite well, but Kabutops gives Heracross a great back-in on Fighting, Ground, and Grass Moves (beware of Electric Moves, though).

A Rapid Spinner/Defogger is great for a 'cross-centric team. Heracross is a major switcher, so protecting your team from Spikes and Stealth Rock (and Toxic Spikes if you're not running Guts, Poison Rampage, and/or Quick Feet on your team) is vital.

 

[365pokemon]

Don't know how much I like this overview. While Heracross received many blessings over the years, so did every other Pokemon out there. It is definitely worth noting that Heracross hit rock- bottom usage in Generation 4, because the metagame formed away from it. Nevertheless it's still a good Pokemon. My thoughts on some of the sets:

Sure, I'll add that.

RestTalk- this set is actually really good, it was a premier Darkrai counter in Gen 4 and can be difficult to stop even now. I would change Close Combat to Brick Break or Low Kick, Close Combat's Defense Drops work against the goal of staying alive, despite being Heracross' top Fighting STABs.

Your absolutely right on this one.

Choice- the best set Heracross can run, can revenge kill Hydreigon, Latios, and other threats. Can be predictable but still very good.

Agreed.

Substitute- good idea, I'd never thought about that before but it makes for a nasty surprise for those expecting choice sets, because nothing's going to like getting hit with whatever Heracross has to offer, and they can't switch because they're under pressure to break the sub.

This was actually a pretty standard set in gen 4, surprised not many people recognize it.

Guts Abuser-consider adding protect to the set to get a definite status condition on it.

That's true.

 

[365pokemon]

OMFG HERACROSS GETS RETALIATE!!!!!!!
Lol I'm gonna add this to possible options on the revenge killer set.

 

[365pokemon]

Guts should be preffered on sd sets,while it can also be used on scarfacross,mocie is better(if your team doesnt have status absorber then...maybe

Agreed, but they still can be used for both.

Sorry but this set is useless in this hard hitting and fast pace metagame.

Since heracross is going to be most likely UU when the final tiers are out, it doesn't have to worry about many of those hard hitters, and keep in mind, this set isn't to stall, it's to get the guts boost without being burned.

Choice band is a good option,but in a metagame where even base 100 is considered average...band cross is horrible..but he does OK in UU

Heracross has base 125 attack... so I'm pretty sure he's not average when he has a choice band. If your talking about speed, then heracross doesn't have to outspeed everything. It's not meant to hurt fast hitting sweepers, it's meant to take down something that's in it's speed range (which there are quite a few pokes in), and outspeed them thanks to the scarf. If you have almost ten more base speed then a scarftran, who is regarded by none as "bad", then I'm pretty you're not that slow.

Well you said it yourself,it sucks.

Agreed, but if you scout a bit it can be effective.

Like bandcross, this is useless with sand damage and entry hazards you are dead b4 you dent anything

Really? Taking 1/16 from sand damage if the opponent is even RUNNING a sand team and 12.5% from rocks means that you won't get to dent anything? With base 125 attack boosted by 50%? And two strong STAB moves? You'll dent something, that's for sure. Adamant heracross does over fifty percent to a specially defensive skarmory, who's still a great physical wall, with a close combat after guts. That's a dent.

This is a good set,but why 16evs in hp,is that a substitue number?

Yep, 305 Hp if you have a perfect hp IV.

This set is ridiculous,heracross's typing won't help you at all...try using it
IT SUCKS,sorry if it hurts you

Well, when we did DUGTRIO Reno allowed a toxic stall set. DUGTRIO!!! I think heracross can work just as well, if not better.

As I said earlier flameorb =
very poor longevity,leftovers+guts is the way to go

After one swords dance the burn will activate, while your opponent switches in their defensive wall. Against PHYSICALLY DEFENSIVE SKARMORY, the most likely best defensive wall in the game, adamant heracross will do 88.9%-104.5% with a close combat with guts in effect. Without it? 71%-83.8%, and then skarmory can whirlwind you out. You have a chance to do something with guts.

 

[365pokemon]

What are heracross's main counter categories? Example: flying, outspeeding, certain pokes, etc..