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Hoping to do some competetive battling.

Okay, I have twelve pokemon I'd love to do some competetive battling with. Here they are.

Charizard @ Power Herb
-Rash Nature
-Blaze
6 HP - 252 Special Attack - 252 Speed
-Solarbeam
-Dragon Pulse
-Flamethrower
-Fly

I'm aiming to make good ol' Flare, above, a special sweeper. She's pretty strong so far, but any move or item suggestions?

Garchomp @ Yache Berry
-Naughty Nature
-Sand Veil
252 Attack - 6 Defense - 252 Speed
-Aqua Tail
-Earthquake
-Dragon Claw
-Dragon Rush

I know; too many stab moves. But I can't bear to part with Dragon Rush due to sheer force on this Physical Sweeper. Jet does stand his ground decent enough against Ice moves with that Yache in place.

Mightyena @ Muscle Band
-Brave Nature
-Intimidate
252 Attack - 126 Defense - 126 Special Defense - 6 HP
-Crunch
-Iron Tail
-Sucker Punch
-Swagger

I think Swagger is made a tad redundant by Intimidate, but the confusion really helps Dane pummel his opponents. I do think that there is a better move for him than Swagger though, anyone able to think of one?

Lucario @ Wise Glasses
-Mild Nature
-Steadfast
6 Attack - 252 Special Attack - 252 Speed
-Aura Sphere
-Dark Pulse
-Psychic
-Flash Cannon

Alucia is pretty reliable indeed. Her higher speed lends her an advantage against other fighting types (including other Lucario), and her mainstay is as yet another Special Sweeper. I didn't teach her an exponentially powerful moves, I know, but she does perfectly well.

Vaporeon @ Mystic Water
-Mild Nature
-Water Absorb
252 Special Attack - 252 Special Defense - 6 Speed
-Surf
-Hydro Pump
-Acid Armor
-Ice Beam

Venise here really only fits into two type niches here; Water and Ice as you can plainly see. Acid Armor helps when up against Electivire and such, but really slows her down against other opponents. Should I keep the move, or ditch it? Oh, and she's a special tank hence her EV spread.

Blaziken @ _____
-Mild Nature (again)
-Blaze
252 Attack - 252 Special attack - 6 Speed
-Focus Blast
-Flamethrower
-Blast Burn
-Thunderpunch

God, Razer up above needs some refining, I know. I want to ditch his Focus Blast, but I can't find a good move to take its place. And Blast Burn has to go as well. Or does it? Also, any ideas for an item?

Ninetales @ _____
-Modest Nature
-Flash Fire
252 Special Attack - 126 Defense - 126 HP - 6 Speed
-Flamethrower
-Dark Pulse
-Extrasensory
-Will-O-Wisp

Crystal up there is practically a fire based stand-in for Alucia (the Lucario). The flinching chance given to Extrasensory is pretty good in my opinion, and Will-o-Wisp's damage dealing and attack lowering helps a lot in barring those physical attck from breaking her down. But does this need some improvement? And items, I need one again.

Milotic @ Enigma Berry
-Rash Nature
-Marvel Scale
252 Special Attack - 252 Special Defense - 6 Speed
-Hydro Pump
-Surf
-Dragon Pulse
-Ice Beam

Mina's a pretty legit battler from what I've seen, but she does have that modest nature that detracts from her Sp. Def. So I had to distribute EV's to that. Tank, again. Moveset help?

Tyranitar @ Chople Berry
-Lonely Nature
-Sand Stream
252 Attack - 252 Defense - 6 Special Defense
-Crunch
-Stone Edge
-Earthquake
-Dragon Claw

I see Saul's moveset as moderate. Am I right, or is it fine as is?

Gyarados @ Muscle Band
-Mild Nature
-Intimidate
252 Attack - 252 Special Defense - 6 Speed
-Earthquake
-Aqua Tail
-Avalanche
-Giga Impact

Okay, I know already that Giga Impact has to go due to the resting necessary afterwards. Destro's another Tank to some degree or another, but he seems a bit mixed. He rules at taking out things like Alakazam and Charizard, however.

Raichu @ _____
-Bashful Nature
-Static
252 Attack - 252 Special Attack - 6 Speed
-Charge Beam
-Thunderbolt
-Grass Knot
-Mega Kick

Raichu, I know, are so so when it comes to battle prowess. I have no clue what item to give Ryan, and his highly strategic moveset have lent me a hand sometimes, but have also set me back sometimes. I guess he's a mixed sweeper of sorts, though; based on his stats.

Sceptile @ _____
-Naughty Nature
-Overgrow
252 Special Attack - 6 Special Defense - 252 Speed
-Leaf Blade
-Giga Drain
-Solarbeam
-Dragon Claw

Serious help needed with Lawrence here. I can't decide on a definitive item. I've tried Power Herbs, Muscle Bands, and Leichi Berries. I'm thinking of a Life orb, what with Giga Drain in place. But I need to ditch at least one of his Grass moves. Preferably Solarbeam, due to him having high Attack for Leaf Blade. (And the high Crtitcal Chance is really helpful.) Dragon Claw helps with those pesky Kingdra.

---

So yeah, there are my twelve pokemon I have set for competitive battling. All of them are at Level 100, so stats are pretty much set in stone. Love it? Hate it? Like it? Dislike it? So so? I would like some honest opinions here.
 
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Sir Red

Charms' Caped Crusader
I'll give you advice on what I can.

Here's an alternative Charizard set that I feel is a bit better than what you already have:

Charizard@Petaya/Salac Berry
- Nature is fine
EVs: Good as are
- Flamethrower
- Air Slash
- Dragon Pulse
- Substitute

This set gives you two good Special, STAB attacks and Dragon Pulse for some good old fashioned coverage. Substitute is there to lower Charizard's HP down to activate Blaze and the Pinch Berry and turn 'Zard into a monster.

And seriously, Fly is a pointless move and shouldn't be on any Pokemon used competitively. Same goes for most HM's not named Surf and Waterfall.
 
I understand your point entirely about the HM's. I was planning to eliminate Fly for Air Slash anyways despite the lack of mention. And you know, your suggestion of Substitute is well placed, and gives me an idea for another pokemon I can teach Substitute to... *rubs hands as if plotting evil* And god yeah, Blaze does transform Charizard's into monstrosities in a positive sense. Well, for its trainer anyways.

Thanks Red, the advice will be noted.
 
Red is right- when Charizard gets his pinch berry AND Blaze he is a beast. You can do the same with a physical set as well (Substitute + Focus Punch and Earthquake with Stone Edge or another physical attack, but since you've already trained him for special attacking, Red's suggestion is very solid). The only downside is that he is quite squishy.

For Garchomp, if you don't mind rebreeding, I would suggest Outrage over Dragon Rush. It will completely obliterate opponents but again, Dragon Rush can do just as well and doesn't have the fear of confusion. Earthquake is standard on Garchomp. I would also suggest Swords Dance for Garchomp if you can get a substitute passed, a free turn, or are placed against a Poke'mon you know you can take a hit from. Fire Fang is also a viable move option over Aqua Tail. Adamant and Jolly are both great natures for Garchomp if you rebreed for Outrage.

For Mightyena I would suggest Roar over Swagger for hazing competitive play. That is, forcing a Poke'mon to switch so that its stat changes are removed. Taunt goes well with Sucker Punch but seeing how Mightyena is quite frail I wouldn't advise it. I would suggest Ice- Thunder- or Fire- fang over Iron Tail for coverage, depending on what your final team needs. If you do rebreed consider going 252/252 in Attack/Speed and going for an Adamant/Jolly nature.

Lucario is fun because he can be a pure special attack, pure physical attacker, or a mixed sweeper. He's actually an extremely popular mixed sweeper. Consider Earthquake and Stone Edge alongside Aura Sphere and Dragon Pulse. If you rebreed him go for a hasty or naive nature (+speed, -def/sp.def) depending on personal choice. If you do this I would suggest splitting EVs between Sp Attack and Attack and putting the rest into Speed.

Vaporeon is fine if you're using him for sweeping but he actually provides some of the most durable substitutes in the game. Consider rebreeding with a Smeargle to get Baton Pass and Wish and pair one or both of those moves with Substitute, giving Vaporeon Surf as a STAB attack. If you do this invest in HP and Speed EVs. Give Vaporeon Leftovers.

Blaziken is an alright mixed sweeper but as more-or-less an under glorified Infernape. Consider reinvesting EVs into solely Attack and Speed and these moves: Sky Uppercut/Hi Jump Kick, Flare Blitz, Brave Bird, Earthquake, and Bulk Up. Give Blaziken Life Orb or a Pinch Berry of your choice (Attack/Speed)

Ninetails is fine.

Milotic doesn't need Surf AND Hydro Pump. Pick one or the other, either is fine, but Surf is better accuracy-wise. Consider Toxic and Aqua Ring or Recover. Milotic can also learn Confuse Ray and Hypnosis if you're into more status moves. Dragon Pulse is fine. Give Milotic Leftovers as well.

Tyranitar is fine but consider reinvesting EVs into Speed instead of Defense. Also consider Dragon Dance over Dragon Claw.

Give Gyarados Dragon Dance, period. Exchange Giga Impact for it.

Keep Grass Knot and Thunderbolt on Raichu but replace the other moves with Focus Blast and Signal Beam or Body Slam if you can get them.

Sceptile's special attack outshines its attack so give it Leaf Storm and an herb to remove the status affects. Other noteworthy moves are: Focus Blast, Dragon Pulse, and Hidden Power.
 
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KoL

Expert FPS Player
Staff member
Moderator
Andrew (Nicki) has summed your Pokemon up well here, there's a few points I'd like to elaborate on:

- On the button with 'Zard really, nothing else left to say on that subject.

- Garchomp can get Outrage via Move Tutor now, so rebreeding won't be necessary for getting that move thankfully. The main (major) downside to Dragon Rush is the accuracy - 75% accuracy is extremely prone to biting you in the ass at the worst possible moments. Outrage's confusion effect isn't fun either, but at least you're guaranteed the hit. Substitute or Fire Blast work best for the slot over Aqua Tail - I've found Fire Fang too weak in power to really help (it's a 3HKO on Skarmory even with Swords Dance, which is poor.)

- Mightyena is indeed quite frail, which makes Roar an extremely risky option since Roar's negative priority means Mightyena will go last when using the move. Taunt however is a good option since Mightyena can swiftly lock down a defensive moveset with his superior Speed stat, while the defender will likely fail to KO Mightyena back with its mediocre offensive power.

- Mixed Lucario is actually extremely rare for one simple reason: it doesn't work. Infernape does mixed far better than Lucario does and even if Infernape didn't exist at all Lucario wouldn't do good enough anyway. Lucario's most common set is actually the physical sweeper set, running Swords Dance, Close Combat and ExtremeSpeed to brutalize a wide range of opponents. The special set gets Nasty Plot in Gen V, allowing it to rival the physical set's power (finally.) Also, Vacuum Wave is almost mandatory for special Lucario (yes, Vacuum Wave and Aura Sphere on the same set is OK, but that's about the only time two attacks of the same type on one moveset is OK.)

- Wish, Wish, WISH. Vaporeon's biggest strength is its ability to heal its team-mates while also holding off many of the Pokemon who would attempt to kill it. Note that Wish DOES require a rebreed however, although I'd consider it more than worth it to make the most of Vaporeon. I'd like to point out that Surf + Hydro Pump = fail. Surf is all you need out of those two.

- Blaziken may not be too hot now, but Gen V will change all that thanks to Speed Boost, making him a worthy candidate for your team. Fire Blast and Sky Uppercut/Superpower (Hi Jump Kick in Gen V) are a mandatory combination, and the rest is filler to do with as you see fit (although setup moves on a mixed sweeper tend to be a tad situational.)

- Ninetales wants Energy Ball. Other than that, you're good.

- Milotic is little more than an inferior Vaporeon to be honest. There's no point in having both.

- Speed-training Tyranitar is only necessary for the Dragon Dance set - any other set is better off sticking EVs into Attack and HP/Defense.

- Waterfall is better than Aqua Tail for Dragon Dance Gyarados and Avalanche is dreadful on the DD set as well - Ice Fang or Stone Edge are better options. Dragon Dance over Giga Impact as stated.

- Substitute is a good option for Raichu, performing similarly to Charizard in that regard. Otherwise, Nicki said it all.

- Your Sceptile set is worse than terrible. SolarBeam, Leaf Blade and Dragon Claw have no place on the set, and Giga Drain is a very poor option for Special STAB on Sceptile due to its low power and Sceptile's frailty rendering the healing effect redundant. Leaf Storm, Energy Ball, Dragon Pulse, Focus Blast and (once again like Charizard) Substitute are the best options.
 
Okay, all advice has been duly noted. Thanks everyone! I do certainly look forward to decimating my friends' teams with these pokemon tomorrow.
 
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