Single Rates - READ THE FIRST POST

[Onyx Tanuki]

Time to see about sets for some more RU pokemon~

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Ninjask @ Choice Band
Infiltrator/Speed Boost
Adamant
252 Attack, 4 SpDef, 252 Speed
- U-Turn
- Aerial Ace/Return
- Night Slash
- Fury Cutter/X-Scissor/Return

Naturally the fastest pokemon out there (with the exception of Deoxys-Speed) at 160 base Speed and with a decent 90 base Attack, Ninjask can actually be good for more than just sending Speed Boosts and Swords Dances over to its allies. With this set, the ability is less important, since both are useful; Infiltrator will allow Ninjask to ignore Substitutes on the opposing side, while Speed Boost will ensure it outspeeds even opposing Scarfed pokemon. Personally I prefer Inflitrator, since the only things that'll be outspeeding it are things with Speed setup moves or Choice Scarf, but keeping it with Speed Boost could trick the foe into trying to set up hazards on you thinking you're using a Baton Pass variant. U-Turn, Aerial Ace, and Night Slash give Ninjask good neutral coverage, with two of the three offering STAB and Night Slash being a good option to handle Steel types. The fourth option is harder because, though the above three moves do offer nice coverage, they are the only types Ninjask gets aside from Normal type moves and Dig. Fury Cutter is a risky option here, as its initial hit is weak, but Ninjask's strength will rapidly build up while using it, so if you can get it in on something it could OHKO with the first hit of Fury Cutter, you could sweep the opponent's entire team with enough time to build up. X-Scissor is a much safer option, but it's not a whole lot stronger than U-Turn, making it really only useful if you don't plan to have Ninjask leave play but a Bug move might be most effective. Return is going to be Ninjask's best Normal move and is actually more powerful than Aerial Ace even accounting for STAB, but Normal doesn't really hit anything extra for neutral damage besides Dedenne. EVs are pretty obvious; Attack and Speed maxed out, spare EVs in SpDef (since putting them in HP would put Ninjask's HP at an even number, which is kind of a problem for something 4x weak to Rock).

Now, all that said, it has one major weakness; priority attacks. While its double-resistance to Fighting may allow it to survive a Mach Punch or Vacuum Wave, it's likely to get mashed into locust pudding by a Bullet Punch, Quick Attack, and especially an Extremespeed or Ice Shard. And used by something strong enough, even a Fighting priority will kill it, thanks to its horrid defensive stats. Furthermore, a Speed Boost variant won't appreciate Prankster Substitutes much. Paralysis will also demolish it, since its Speed is something it relies on a lot to get rid of other low-Defense threats, and things that can take a physical hit well enough won't care about getting hit as long as they can counterattack. As such, physically defensive bulky attackers should be dealt with before trying to sweep with this guy.

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Piloswine @ Eviolite
Thick Fat
Impish/Careful
252 HP, 4 Att, 252 Def/SpDef
- Stealth Rock
- Earthquake
- Ice Shard/Avalanche
- Curse/Substitute

I was actually a bit surprised to see that Piloswine's defensive base stats are almost all the same as Mamoswine's, only losing out in 10 HP; most of the stats boosted by its evolution are offensive. This makes Piloswine a surprising threat in RU as it's able to do much of what its parent can while having access to Eviolite for additional bulk. Its beefiness makes it great to set up Stealth Rock, and it still has a decent 100 base Attack to allow it to make good use out of its STAB attacks. Earthquake is pretty much required, while the Ice move could either be Ice Shard for priority or Avalanche for power, and between the two moves the only thing that isn't at least hit for neutral damage is Shedinja. Substitute could be used to block status while Curse beefs up Piloswine's Defense and Attack at the cost of Speed that it wasn't really using anyway. Its Thick Fat ability nullifies its Fire weakness and gives it pseudo Ice resistance, and while it's still left with several weaknesses, its natural bulk helps make up for them.

Probably its biggest downfall is that it's lacking any form of good recovery. While its got superior defenses to Mamoswine thanks to Eviolite, this means it loses out on the recovery of Leftovers. It's also going to be pretty obvious what it's holding; you don't just bring an defensive pokemon that isn't fully evolved without giving it an Eviolite, so it's going to be a magnet for Knock Off. That said, it would do great in any weather; Sun will help blot out its Water weakness, Rain will stifle Fire further, and it takes no damage from Sand or Hail, as well as getting the Snow Cloak ability if used for a Hail team. It can also be awesome in Trick Room with a -Speed nature, especially with Curse, since then it'll be able to act as fast bulky offense.

 

[White Mokona]

Hey All! Im completely new to cmopetetive battling and am just starting to finish my first serious team. However, I have 2 questions regarding one of my pkmn, so id love some help :

Dragonite @ Weakness policy
Ability: Multiscale
EVs: Att and speed
Nature: Adamant
- DD
- Dragon claw
- Extreemspeed
- Firepunch OR earthquake

So I have a classic DD weaknesspolicy dragonite. Im hoping to lure in a super effective move and get the +2 to it attack stat (and if I manage to use DD on the same turn, i get extra bonus too!). He is one of the main attackers in my team. However, I can't decide weather to use Firepunch or EQ in his last move slot. I love Dnite having extreemspeed as Ive had great success with him having a priority move which opponents don't often suspect and thus Ive been able to catch them of guard and pluck some of their normally faster but weakenedd pkmn. So im thinking of jeeping e-speed, but should I go with EQ or FP?



Medicham @ Medichamite
Ability: Pure Power
EVs: Att and speed
Nature: Adamant
- Bullet Punch / Fake out
- Hi jump kick (drain punch)
- Fire punch
- Ice punch

So Medicham is the Mega of my team. I have a 5 IV shiny medicham with 3 eggmoves (fake out, bullet punch and drain punch) and cant decide what to keep. I like priority so I am tilting toward bullet punch over fake out. However, Ive heard that a medicham works well with substitute too. so, what is a good moveset for her ? Should I have bullet punch on her ? Or subs?

thankyou so much in advance for your help

 

[Psynergy]

Hey All! Im completely new to cmopetetive battling and am just starting to finish my first serious team. However, I have 2 questions regarding one of my pkmn, so id love some help :

Dragonite @ Weakness policy
Ability: Multiscale
EVs: Att and speed
Nature: Adamant
- DD
- Dragon claw
- Extreemspeed
- Firepunch OR earthquake

So I have a classic DD weaknesspolicy dragonite. Im hoping to lure in a super effective move and get the +2 to it attack stat (and if I manage to use DD on the same turn, i get extra bonus too!). He is one of the main attackers in my team. However, I can't decide weather to use Firepunch or EQ in his last move slot. I love Dnite having extreemspeed as Ive had great success with him having a priority move which opponents don't often suspect and thus Ive been able to catch them of guard and pluck some of their normally faster but weakenedd pkmn. So im thinking of jeeping e-speed, but should I go with EQ or FP?

Fire Punch and Earthquake are both usable options for Dragonite, and it really depends on what type of coverage you think you need. Fire Punch hurts things like Skarmory (who would Whirlwind you out otherwise) and Ferrothorn harder, so you can opt for that if you think you need a better way to hit them. If this is no concern to you, go for Earthquake. The higher base power and the naturally good neutral coverage is better if you're not as concerned with beating specific threats, and it still allows you to hit Ferrothorn and Scizor. Earthquake also stops Heatran without Air Balloon from walling you and ruining Dragonite's day with Will-o-Wisp or Roar.

Medicham @ Medichamite
Ability: Pure Power
EVs: Att and speed
Nature: Adamant
- Bullet Punch / Fake out
- Hi jump kick (drain punch)
- Fire punch
- Ice punch

So Medicham is the Mega of my team. I have a 5 IV shiny medicham with 3 eggmoves (fake out, bullet punch and drain punch) and cant decide what to keep. I like priority so I am tilting toward bullet punch over fake out. However, Ive heard that a medicham works well with substitute too. so, what is a good moveset for her ? Should I have bullet punch on her ? Or subs?

thankyou so much in advance for your help

Medicham has tons of options you can go with here. I personally don't like priority with Mega Medicham, but that doesn't mean it's terrible. If you want priority, go for Bullet Punch. However, Substitute is also a definitely useful move that you can use in place of that, since Mega Medicham is not exactly a durable Pokemon. It also often forces switches with that massive power it has, which helps get a Sub up safely. Substitute pairs extremely well with Drain Punch too, and it gives Medicham a decent STAB without the risk of massive recoil. So if that's of interest to you, go with Drain Punch + Sub. High Jump Kick is still a terrifying move though, and it's definitely still worth consideration.

 

[Mye]

Medicham has tons of options you can go with here. I personally don't like priority with Mega Medicham, but that doesn't mean it's terrible. If you want priority, go for Bullet Punch. However, Substitute is also a definitely useful move that you can use in place of that, since Mega Medicham is not exactly a durable Pokemon. It also often forces switches with that massive power it has, which helps get a Sub up safely. Substitute pairs extremely well with Drain Punch too, and it gives Medicham a decent STAB without the risk of massive recoil. So if that's of interest to you, go with Drain Punch + Sub. High Jump Kick is still a terrifying move though, and it's definitely still worth consideration.

Out of all of them, bullet punch/high jump kick/ice punch/substitute are generally preferred. Bullet punch hits fairies (a common switch in to this) extremely hard, high jump kick hits every steel in the metagame massively making it a must on something with such high attack and so little bulk, and ice punch hits the ground types who could stomach the other two attacks (gliscor/hippo) for decent damage. Just be warned that this entire set is ruined by aegis, but if you're running a dd-dragonite you should be pretty ok.

 

[Tangeh]

Seeking some advice on a final move for my tyranitar.

Tyranitar @ Assault Vest
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Atk / 252 SpD
Brave Nature
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge
- Payback
- Ice beam / thunderbolt / fire blast / power up punch / brick break / dragon tail??? (Currently is crunch)

Should add that her IVs are 30/24/30/29/18/25 - I got her in a trade back in 4th gen and it said she was wild-caught. I'm using her over a perfect tyranitar simply because she's shiny. xD And for being random her stats really aren't bad. I'm looking for a moveset for this pokemon in particular as opposed to a tyranitar in general (so IVs and nature are set in stone, and I can't use egg moves).

Obviously I don't need both payback and crunch - every time I use this tyranitar I notice crunch and try to make a mental note to change it and always forget. :/ It was on there originally so I could test how fast tyranitar was against other pokemon, but she's very slow so the choice is kinda obvious. (I actually fought a gengar once who disabled my payback and then I 1HKO'd with crunch... but that's very situational, lol!)

Her primary role is to act as a specially defensive wall - I usually pair her with skarmory because of his high defensive stats and because he isn't affected by sandstorm damage. Earthquake is the most common thing I see people trying to do to tyranitar, and skarmory isn't affected by that at all. That or I'll swap into my gengar because immunity to two of tyranitar's weaknesses (ground + fighting) if I think I can outspeed and kill.

So... what attack would be best to complete this moveset? People try to will-o-wisp tyranitar all of the time, so should I be thinking of a special attack that adds more coverage? Try to get attack boosts with power-up punch? Dragon tail for phasing? :/ I'm not sure.

 

[Onyx Tanuki]

Seeking some advice on a final move for my tyranitar.

Tyranitar @ Assault Vest
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Atk / 252 SpD
Brave Nature
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge
- Payback
- Ice beam / thunderbolt / fire blast / power up punch / brick break / dragon tail??? (Currently is crunch)

Should add that her IVs are 30/24/30/29/18/25 - I got her in a trade back in 4th gen and it said she was wild-caught. I'm using her over a perfect tyranitar simply because she's shiny. xD And for being random her stats really aren't bad. I'm looking for a moveset for this pokemon in particular as opposed to a tyranitar in general (so IVs and nature are set in stone, and I can't use egg moves).

Obviously I don't need both payback and crunch - every time I use this tyranitar I notice crunch and try to make a mental note to change it and always forget. :/ It was on there originally so I could test how fast tyranitar was against other pokemon, but she's very slow so the choice is kinda obvious. (I actually fought a gengar once who disabled my payback and then I 1HKO'd with crunch... but that's very situational, lol!)

Her primary role is to act as a specially defensive wall - I usually pair her with skarmory because of his high defensive stats and because he isn't affected by sandstorm damage. Earthquake is the most common thing I see people trying to do to tyranitar, and skarmory isn't affected by that at all. That or I'll swap into my gengar because immunity to two of tyranitar's weaknesses (ground + fighting) if I think I can outspeed and kill.

So... what attack would be best to complete this moveset? People try to will-o-wisp tyranitar all of the time, so should I be thinking of a special attack that adds more coverage? Try to get attack boosts with power-up punch? Dragon tail for phasing? :/ I'm not sure.

Between EQ, SE, and Payback, the only things that aren't hit for at least neutral damage are the Grass/Fighting types. If you're concerned with them, you could try Hidden Power [Flying], and that'd also give you additional SE coverage against several other pokemon, and is Tyranitar's only means to get SE damage against Fighting types using Special damage. However, Ice Beam or Fire Blast will hit most other Grass threats harder, with FB giving more damage and IB letting you hit the largest number of things super-effectively. If you opt for pure Physical damage, Aerial Ace would be ideal; Iron Head probably would have been the best option, but since that's an egg move, it's unlikely you'll have access to it with this Tyranitar.

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Octillery @ Leftovers/Scope Lens
Sniper
Brave/Quiet
252 HP, 252 Att/SpAtt, 4 SpDef
- Soak
- Waterfall/Surf
- Seed Bomb/Energy Ball
- Gunk Shot/Sludge Wave

Octillery is... an odd one. It has fantastic offensive stats on both sides, but doesn't have incredible bulk to survive a full onslaught, nor the speed to kill off opponents before they can counterattack. Between the two, however, its defenses can be boosted more easily than its speed can, so I've opted to go that route with a Soak set designed for late-game use. The combination of Water, Grass, and Poison hits a fair number of opposing pokemon neutrally, but it's access to Soak that really helps it, as it can turn an opposing threat into a pure Water type and hit it with a Grass move supereffectively no matter its original typing, or at the least scare out opposition. The key here is making sure Octillery is brought in against threats that can't easily kill it off and try and predict the opponent's most likely move. While Lanturn may make a better option with STAB Electric moves, Octillery is both stronger on an offensive front and can attack from either the physical or special side, making it harder to predict.

I opted for -Speed natures to allow Octillery to run a mixed set more effectively, though if you plan to run pure physical or pure special, Adamant/Modest would make better choices. The -Speed natures would also make this highly effective on a Trick Room team, where it could potentially become a very powerful sweeper. Sniper for the ability because Suction Cups is useless if he's not going to be setting up, and Moody is, well, banned. EVs are pretty obvious too; HP to improve longevity, and whichever type of Attack is being focused on, though Attack EVs could be split for a mixed version. Leftovers further boosts its longevity, while Scope Lens combines well with Sniper to improve its overall damage.

Of course, the set isn't without its downsides. As mentioned above, neither Octillery's Speed nor its defenses are all that, so it's not especially hard to take down with a quick, strong attacker with powerful Grass or Electric moves in its arsenal. As such, it's best to take out anything that carries those moves before Octillery sees any real use. Because this set encourages switching to avoid being Soaked, it's a great one to run alongside entry hazards, and its Speed makes it great on a Trick Room team if it can be switched in safely.

 

[Champion Silver]

So this is currently the main physical sweeper of my team (for online battles):

Tyrantrum @ *Quick Powder/Focus Sash
Strong Jaw
Jolly
252 Sp, 252 Att, 4 Def
- Earthquake
- Dragon Dance
- Ice Fang
- Crunch

Tyrantrum has maxed out EV's in speed and the bright powder item to be able to out-speed slower opponents with heavy attack to try and take them out without a dragon dance. However, I have considered switching to a focus sash to ensure Tyrantrum can use at least one dragon dance and thus outspeed even the fastest opponents. I rarely lead with Tyrantrum unless I anticipated the match up starting in tyrantrum's favor to force a switch-in so I can dragon dance. Usually, I'll switch into Tyrantrum if he resists my opponent's pokemon, attempting to force a switch-in so I can dragon dance. Ice Fang is a great move to check other dragon types, especially salamence, garchomp and dragonite (although multiscale sometimes prevents a 1HKO even with dragon dance). With a boosted 120 base power thanks to strong jaw, Crunch is Tyrantrum's major attacking move, which I use unless ice fang does super effective damage or if the opponent resists dark. I have Earthquake as a coverage move in case pesky steel types (or rock/grounds) try to wall Tyrantrum, as my team already currently has 2 other pokemon weak to ground types.

 

[Onyx Tanuki]

So this is currently the main physical sweeper of my team (for online battles):

Tyrantrum @ Bright Powder/Focus Sash
Strong Jaw
Jolly
252 Sp, 252 Att, 4 Def
- Earthquake
- Dragon Dance
- Ice Fang
- Crunch

Tyrantrum has maxed out EV's in speed and the bright powder item to be able to out-speed slower opponents with heavy attack to try and take them out without a dragon dance. However, I have considered switching to a focus sash to ensure Tyrantrum can use at least one dragon dance and thus outspeed even the fastest opponents. I rarely lead with Tyrantrum unless I anticipated the match up starting in tyrantrum's favor to force a switch-in so I can dragon dance. Usually, I'll switch into Tyrantrum if he resists my opponent's pokemon, attempting to force a switch-in so I can dragon dance. Ice Fang is a great move to check other dragon types, especially salamence, garchomp and dragonite (although multiscale sometimes prevents a 1HKO even with dragon dance). With a boosted 120 base power thanks to strong jaw, Crunch is Tyrantrum's major attacking move, which I use unless ice fang does super effective damage or if the opponent resists dark. I have Earthquake as a coverage move in case pesky steel types (or rock/grounds) try to wall Tyrantrum, as my team already currently has 2 other pokemon weak to ground types.

Brightpowder has nothing to do with Speed, and is banned in competitive play. :/ Also, for this set, something like Life Orb might be a bit better to bolster Tyrantrum's power a bit further. The fact that it doesn't have any STAB attacks rubs me the wrong way, but the moves it does use work well together. Personally I'd replace Crunch with a Rock type attack, since that combined with Ice and Ground actually hits more things SE, but the only Rock type moves that'd outdamage Crunch are Stone Edge (which you'd have to sacrifice accuracy for) and Head Smash (which has huge recoil) so I'd say it's optional. I've seen Poison Fang on Tyrantrum a lot, so that's a good option too if you're worried about hitting Fairies, Ludicolo, or Abomasnow for SE damage.

 

[Murder Doll]

> Brightpower: It's not banned in online battles, to the best of my knowledge only smogon has it banned and they aren't the official rules.

 

[The Imposter]

> Brightpower: It's not banned in online battles, to the best of my knowledge only smogon has it banned and they aren't the official rules.

i'm not even sure they have it banned, and also if this is a team for pokemon showdown then it is the official ruleset :$

As for the Tyrantrum set, you really do want some kind of actual beneficial item like Life Orb or Leftovers, and the coverage and power from Stone Edge is greatly appreciated over Crunch given that Crunch doesn't hit much of note in OU.

 

[Champion Silver]

> Brightpower: It's not banned in online battles, to the best of my knowledge only smogon has it banned and they aren't the official rules.

I can't believe I said bright powder...I meant quick powder.

 

[Champion Silver]

Brightpowder has nothing to do with Speed, and is banned in competitive play. :/ Also, for this set, something like Life Orb might be a bit better to bolster Tyrantrum's power a bit further. The fact that it doesn't have any STAB attacks rubs me the wrong way, but the moves it does use work well together. Personally I'd replace Crunch with a Rock type attack, since that combined with Ice and Ground actually hits more things SE, but the only Rock type moves that'd outdamage Crunch are Stone Edge (which you'd have to sacrifice accuracy for) and Head Smash (which has huge recoil) so I'd say it's optional. I've seen Poison Fang on Tyrantrum a lot, so that's a good option too if you're worried about hitting Fairies, Ludicolo, or Abomasnow for SE damage.

I meant quick powder, opps...And yes I was thinking of replacing crunch with something like Stone edge (however, I have absolutely atrocious luck with lower accuracy attack moves, like having rock slide miss 3 times in a row, multiple times). I also have thought about poison fang, but my gripe with that is that, despie the great additional coverage, I lose some big damage.

Edit: sorry for the double post, I meant to just edit my initial common but hit the wrong button.

 

[KillerDraco]

I can't believe I said bright powder...I meant quick powder.

Quick Powder only works for Ditto. And even then, it's useless for Ditto since Imposter Ditto does it better.

I also have thought about poison fang, but my gripe with that is that, despie the great additional coverage, I lose some big damage.

Don't bother with it. The additional coverage isn't really that great; it hits one notable thing, and that would be non-Mawile fairy types, many of which can 1HKO Tyrantrum as well due to its low special defense.

 

[Champion Silver]

Hmm I had a feeling I've been using a useless item this whole time...So focus sash is overall a better choice (or life orb, only issue is I may end up with life orb on another pokemon but I havent decided yet).

Don't bother with it. The additional coverage isn't really that great; it hits one notable thing, and that would be non-Mawile fairy types, many of which can 1HKO Tyrantrum as well due to its low special defense.

If fairy types are the only additional coverage, I have other pokemon who can handle that, so i'll probably stick with crunch (or switch to stone edge).

 

[Tangeh]

Between EQ, SE, and Payback, the only things that aren't hit for at least neutral damage are the Grass/Fighting types. If you're concerned with them, you could try Hidden Power [Flying], and that'd also give you additional SE coverage against several other pokemon, and is Tyranitar's only means to get SE damage against Fighting types using Special damage. However, Ice Beam or Fire Blast will hit most other Grass threats harder, with FB giving more damage and IB letting you hit the largest number of things super-effectively. If you opt for pure Physical damage, Aerial Ace would be ideal; Iron Head probably would have been the best option, but since that's an egg move, it's unlikely you'll have access to it with this Tyranitar.

Thank you for your input! ^^ I started using power-up punch, and while I had lots of opportunities to use it the boosts weren't of much use since I had to switch a lot anyways. I double checked and this tyranitar gets HP bug, but I'll try out both fire blast and ice beam. They definitely look like better options based on coverage (mind you I'd never leave tyranitar in against a grass/fighting type xD But eh)

 

[Birds of Paradise]

I need help figuring out where to ev train my lead skarmory. I doesn't quite have the exact moveset as on smogon so that's why I'm unsure and I want to be sure before going through the effort to ev train it

Skarmory@Rocky Helmet? (can't have leftovers as my wish vaporeon is currently holding that)
Nature: Jolly
Ability: Sturdy
-Stealth Rock
-Spikes
-Whirlwind
-Brave Bird

The main role for skarmory is to set up SR and with its ability its guaranteed to survive the first hit (if the hit is that strong/effective). Then I can set up a layer of spikes and use whirlwind to abuse the entry hazards. Brave bird is so that it doesn't become taunt bait. I'm thinking about ev training it in HP and speed but there's also defense and attack so I'm not sure. Smogon doesn't quite have the set that I am using so I don't know whats best for mine considering the moves that it has.

 

[Ironthunder]

Birds, I'd go Defog over Spikes personally, it's more practical against other leads. Also, Spikes aren't too powerful/damaging, so yeah. Just my opinion though, do what you want.

 

[varanus_komodoensis]

I need help figuring out where to ev train my lead skarmory. I doesn't quite have the exact moveset as on smogon so that's why I'm unsure and I want to be sure before going through the effort to ev train it

Skarmory@Rocky Helmet? (can't have leftovers as my wish vaporeon is currently holding that)
Nature: Jolly
Ability: Sturdy
-Stealth Rock
-Spikes
-Whirlwind
-Brave Bird

The main role for skarmory is to set up SR and with its ability its guaranteed to survive the first hit (if the hit is that strong/effective). Then I can set up a layer of spikes and use whirlwind to abuse the entry hazards. Brave bird is so that it doesn't become taunt bait. I'm thinking about ev training it in HP and speed but there's also defense and attack so I'm not sure. Smogon doesn't quite have the set that I am using so I don't know whats best for mine considering the moves that it has.

This Skarmory is obviously used to set up hazards. If that's what you're going to do with it, you need to make sure that it lives. Setup Pokemon generally need to be bulky, not fast or offensive so that they have at least two or three turns guaranteed to live to set up their hazards. Therefore, you either need to make this Skarmory Impish or Careful. The only reason you would need a Jolly one is if you're trying to outspeed other hazard leads, and you have Whirlwind to take care of that for you anyway. And really, in my experience, just letting them waste their turns setting up while you kill them, and then using Defog or Rapid Spin has worked a lot better for me, but it's really up to you and how you play.

I also agree with Ironthunder; get rid of Spikes. Spikes is a pretty useless move because it takes THREE agonizing turns to set up and doesn't even do that much damage. I would replace Spikes with either Defog or Roost, depending on how you play. That way Skarmory can set up Rocks, Whirlwind out other hazards, and either heal or get rid of other hazards on the field while being bulky and hard to kill. It doesn't really have any need to be fast; you're not going to be outspeeding anything with it in OU anyway.

If you go with Impish, do 224 HP/252 Def/32 SpDef
If you go with Careful, do 224 HP/32 Def/252 SpDef.

 

[Birds of Paradise]

Birds, I'd go Defog over Spikes personally, it's more practical against other lead. Also, Spikes aren't too powerful/damaging, so yeah. Just my opinion though, do what you want.

This Skarmory is obviously used to set up hazards. If that's what you're going to do with it, you need to make sure that it lives. Setup Pokemon generally need to be bulky, not fast or offensive so that they have at least two or three turns guaranteed to live to set up their hazards. Therefore, you either need to make this Skarmory Impish or Careful. The only reason you would need a Jolly one is if you're trying to outspeed other hazard leads, and you have Whirlwind to take care of that for you anyway. And really, in my experience, just letting them waste their turns setting up while you kill them, and then using Defog or Rapid Spin has worked a lot better for me, but it's really up to you and how you play.

I also agree with Ironthunder; get rid of Spikes. Spikes is a pretty useless move because it takes THREE agonizing turns to set up and doesn't even do that much damage. I would replace Spikes with either Defog or Roost, depending on how you play. That way Skarmory can set up Rocks, Whirlwind out other hazards, and either heal or get rid of other hazards on the field while being bulky and hard to kill. It doesn't really have any need to be fast; you're not going to be outspeeding anything with it in OU anyway.

If you go with Impish, do 224 HP/252 Def/32 SpDef
If you go with Careful, do 224 HP/32 Def/252 SpDef.

The only reason I didn't list defog is because I'd have to breed it in my platinum and I don't have any decent IV pokemon to use for breeding. I'm confused though..in platinum I chained a shiny starly a while ago and recently I taught it defog and tried to transfer it and it wouldn't let me as defog was an HM, so I'm not sure how people are getting defog skarmorys on X/Y. Making it bulky makes sense..and it would be no problem to re-breed for the correct nature on my Y game. If not I'll breed a 5-6 I've poke with egg moves to trade for one with defog/good IVs/nature. Thanks for the help , I'm glad I didn't EV train it yet.

 

[⁞umbre⁞]

I've decided that instead of building a huge team right away, that I would get individual Pokémon I'd like, raise their potential as much as possible, and then slot them in where necessary. Because of that, a thread like this might help me, I'd think?

I have some Pokémon already finalized - an Umbreon and an Absol that I'm planning. But I do have one in particular I've been considering, but I haven't started IV breeding for just yet.

Mienshao (I don't have an item that I would want to equip to it just yet I'm afraid?)
Regenerator
For its nature, something that preferably raises its speed, but raising its attack would do fine, so long as it doesn't lower either of those two stats. Preferred stat to be lowered would be Sp. Atk. In other words, Adamant or Jolly would be my absolute most preferred.

- Drain Punch
- Power-Up Punch
- U-turn
- Poison Jab


It's mainly used as an attack sweeper, built to last too with its ability to regenerate HP. U-turn is supposed to utilize the Regenerator ability; it learns this by level up as well as Drain Punch. Power-Up Punch would be useful as it both attacks and allows Mienshao to up its Attack stat. Poison Jab is there in case of poor match up (Fighting type is resisted by the foe). Preferably it would be set up by Power-Up Punches on either weaker Pokémon first and then it would do considerably more damage with Drain Punch. I am definitely thinking of keeping Power-Up Punch and U-turn at the very least, but the other moves are up for reasonable debate if there's something that's more suitable. I went through the moveset for Mienshao and those were the best options I could get that weren't by transfer.

I'm not entirely sure what I'll do with EV distribution. I was thinking of maxing out Speed, but I'm not sure about the others. I do know that its Attack stat is naturally its highest stat. The speed is mostly there because well, what use would U-turn be if Mienshao doesn't go first?