DPPt/HGSS Alex's random team thread thingy

[Doctor Oak]

Although I can't participate in the tournament this summer, I'm still hoping that I'll be able to get a few friendly battles in, so I'm working on building up team for it.

The focus I'm going with here is Pokemon I've rarely, if ever, used - or used properly - and seeing if I can make a style of my own out of them.

First up was an attempt at Mightyena - a bit of a random one, but I figured it was a good start as I'd used it plenty before as an in-game staple back in Ruby - but never explored its move set and certainly haven't given it a second look this Generation.

This is what I came up with in the end:

Mightyena
Hasty Nature
~Quick Feet
@Flame Orb

Toxic
Thunder Fang
Fire Fang
Sucker Punch

Trained for Attack and Speed EVs - although because for the first time EVER, I couldn't find a single Goddamned Zubat/Golbat for, like, half an hour, I haven't finished the speed training.

Hasty nature purely 'cos I got sick of waiting for a better one to come along, and neutral's as good a place to start as any.

So, I've got this Mightyena trained up and at level 51, and threw it into PBR for a test. The results were, to tell the truth, less than favourable.

The Good:

• Flame Orb and Quick Feet work well together, even against fast Pokemon like Rotom, Mightyena was pulling the hits first and despite not having any defense training, it was baring through with its forced ailment with little trouble.
• Toxic plus speed is good.

The Bad:

• Fire and Thunder Fang, while great moves on the face of it and with nice coverage - do fuck all without STAB on Mightyena. Even when they should be SE, they're just not pulling their weight.
• Sucker Punch, good move, but does not work with Mightyena's speed based focus.

Basically, Mightyena's got the build for a great annoyer - it can boost its speed right up and it's got a modest physical attack clout to it - however, its move pool is God awful for pulling this off. Toxic worked brilliantly, but Mightyena's got nothing to follow it up with.

So, bit of a failed experiment - but any ideas on where to fix it?

Next up on the experiment list is a team for the PBR baby cup!

 

[KoL]

One issue that may be occurring here is that the Flame Orb's Burn effect may still be cutting your Attack down at the same time as giving you a Speed boost. I'm certain Guts doesn't do this, although Guts increases your Attack stat anyway whilst negating the Burn attack drop - I'm not sure if Quick Feet would do the same, but it may be worth checking just in case.

Secondly, as you said, Sucker Punch along with a Speed-boosting Nature generally doesn't work all that well since one negates the usefulness of the other. Also, Mightyena's Attack stat is somewhat mediocre for a sweeper, and it could really do with a boost in that area.

Going back to the issue of Mightyena's stats, they aren't amazing - Base 90 in Attack is the best stat it has, which itself isn't all that great compared to a lot of the things you face nowadays. However, any Pokemon can work around a deficiency one way or another, and Mightyena is no exception:

Mightyena @ Focus Sash
Hasty
Quick Feet

- Sucker Punch
- Counter
- Swagger
- Taunt

A sneaky set designed for general disruption. Quick Feet is picked here since Intimidate's Attack drop to the opponent will actually hinder you here. The objective is to bait out a Fighting/Bug-type physical sweeper to come in and take you out - this shouldn't be too hard since Taunt and Swagger are good at forcing switches. When a physical sweeper comes in to take you out, Counter the hit to KO them and leave yourself at 1 HP. Then, when someone else comes in, use whatever move you please before they finally drop your HP to 0. This set is almost guaranteed to KO at least one Pokemon on your opponent's team (even if they have a Sash too, Sucker Punch will KO them if they try to finish you off,) although make sure there's no Stealth Rock/Spikes out on the field that your opponent has used, or it effectively ruins the set.

Mightyena @ Liechi Berry/Salac Berry
Intimidate
Adamant

- Sucker Punch
- Ice Fang
- Thunder Fang
- Substitute/Howl

A standard sweeper. Sucker Punch for STAB and priority over anyone who tries to attack you first off, then Ice Fang and Thunder Fang for coverage - the only Pokemon that can wall this set is Magnezone. The last move depends on what you want Mightyena to do more - if you want to scout opponents out, Substitute is your move, but if you prefer a simple stat-up-and-sweep set, Howl is the better option. Intimidate is a key factor in this set, since that combined with Mightyena's Base 70 HP and Defense (which isn't terrible, albeit not great) will almost ensure that you can take at least one neutral, unboosted hit and live, which grants you at least one turn to stat up without risk of being KO'd.

Those are just two possibilities with Mightyena - there are other directions that you can go with it, such as the use of Choice Items, although Choice Banded Sucker Punch can be a bit risky since your opponent can easily take advantage of you if they discover that you've locked yourself into Sucker Punch. Quick Feet combined with Bite for flinch-hax can work out as well, although it is somewhat lacking as far as power is concerned.

 

[Ruko]

Hasty nature purely 'cos I got sick of waiting for a better one to come along, and neutral's as good a place to start as any.

Just a random note... KoL never directly said, and I want to keep you from getting confused. Hasty isn't a neutral nature: it lowers defense and raises speed.


Mightyena @ Toxic Orb
Jolly nature [your hasty nature works, but Me First requires breeding]
Quick Feet
-Howl / Protect
-Bite / Crunch
-Fire Fang
-Me First

First turn should be used to Howl/Protect, so you can either boost your attack stat, or ensure that the Toxic Orb activates without you taking a hit.
Bite/Crunch are for STAB, and I'd recommend them over Sucker Punch, as you'll already be faster than most things as is. Depending on your IV, your speed will range from 346 - 393. Bite will give a 30% flinch chance against anything slower than you, while Crunch will have a bit more power.
Fire Fang offered the best coverage, and also best status I'd say, out of the fangs for Mightyena. 10% Flinch and 10% burn chance, though really isn't powerful.
Me First makes the best use of the speed stat you'll have. Me First ISN'T a priority attack, but rather requires that you go first in order to work. It lets you use your opponent's attack before them with a 1.5x power boost, or the same as if you got STAB with it. This will let you take advantage of a somewhat lacking offensive movepool, though only against opponents you can predict.

Mightyena is really lacking in the stats like KoL said. It's a tad hard to work around.. I'm really not one for saying this, but unless you're set on using a Mightyena, you might be better able to find another pokemon. Battling for fun is another story, I suppose, though.

 

[KoL]

One thing to note about Crunch is that Poochyena learns it, but Mightyena apparently doesn't. Make sure you keep that in mind when training it, since evolving Poochyena too early can ruin your chance of getting the move.

 

[Plapti]

Do also note that getting Me First and one of the Elemental Fangs on Poochyana requires breeding through a Smeargle, since the Fangs and Me First come from two different breeding chains.

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You also might want to split the EVs up so that if Me First uses a Special Attack, it will have some power behind it. I'd favour more Attack than anything, while hitting a Speed number to outspeed a desired speed stat number.

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Hitting a stat of 330 (220 EVs with an IV of 0, 220 Speed before the boost) with the Quick Feet boost will outspeed neutral natured, max speed base 115 Speed Pokémon as well as positive nature, max speed base 100 Speed Pokémon.

The next step up from that is to hit is 340 (248 EVs with an IV of 0, 227 Speed before the boost) with the Quick Feet boost will outspeed will outspeed neutral natured, max speed base 120 Speed Pokémon as well as positive nature, max speed base 105 Speed Pokémon.

Another step before going to a IV higher than 15 is to hit 363 (240 EVs with an IV of 15, 242 Speed before the boost, the higher the IV, the less EVs needed to hit 242 Speed) with the Quick Feet boost will outspeed neutral natured, max speed base 130 Speed Pokémon, positive nature, max speed base 115 Speed Pokémon, and neutral natured, max speed base 70 Speed Pokémon that have a +1 boost in Speed.