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Thread: [Guide] Pokemon Battling/Strategies/Tips

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    [Guide] Pokemon Battling/Strategies/Tips



    Hello everyone! With the recent Pokemon battle events going on recently like the Pokemon Showdown event listed (you need an account to see links) hosted by the lovely @(you need an account to see links), I thought I’d take the time to type up this little guide (idea was asked by @(you need an account to see links)) to try to introduce/help anyone with Pokemon battles! Please let me know if you have any questions or want me to clarify anything here. Without further ado, let’s begin!



    Specifically, this guide will go over single battles since the battles we partake on Pokemon Showdown are in this format. Firstly, we’ll start from the beginning and go over Pokemon types/advantages/disadvantages. I’ll explain the chart below:

    Pokemon Types



    The left side going down is from an attacking perspective and the top bar going to the right is a defending perspective. For example, Fire on the left side attacking a Grass, Ice, Bug, or Steel type on the top bar is super effective (marked with a 2) against them, yet, Fire’s not very effective (marked with a ½) against Fire, Water, Rock, or Dragon types. Going down on the chart from left to right will show each advantage and disadvantage affects every Pokemon type.

    Anything marked with a 0 on this list means that the move/type doesn’t affect the opposing one and they are immune to any move from that type. For example, using an Electric move on Ground type Pokemon will result in no damage being done. Using a Fighting move on a Ghost type Pokemon will result in no damage being done. Try to be mindful of the move you’re using so it doesn’t result in you wasting a turn. Lastly, anything that doesn’t have a number assigned to it means it’ll just do normal damage, which usually means the damage a move does is based on the power of the move itself. We’ll get into that later.

    Dual Pokemon Types

    See, Buizel is a simple Pokemon. He’s a single type Pokemon - Water. Though, there are also Pokemon that have two types which can work for or against a Pokemon. I’ll give a few examples.

    Dragonite - Dragon / Flying



    As stated, Dragonite is a Dragon / Flying dual type. So, going back to the chart, this Pokemon will resist not only everything a Dragon type normally resists (Fire, Water, Electric, and Grass), he also resists everything a Flying type resists (Grass, Fighting, and Bug). Additionally, Dragonite is also immune to Ground type moves due to his Flying dual type.

    The good: See how Grass moves is resisted by ½ for both of his types on the chart? Here’s a new percentage: ¼ damage. You only see this percentage when a dual type Pokemon resists the same type twice as Dragonite does against Grass. So, you can use a strong Grass move like Wood Hammer against him, but since it’s so ineffective, you’ll barely do damage.

    The bad: In that same sense, on this chart, an Ice move does super effective, or represented by a 2, damage against both Flying and Dragon types. So, another new number: x4 damage. It’s an inverse of the above explanation, meaning, a move type defeats both the types a dual Pokemon shares. More than likely, no matter what stats your Dragonite may have, a simple Ice Beam will one shot KO this Pokemon.

    Spirtomb and Sableye - Dark / Ghost



    *ahem*

    THESE TWO POKEMON ARE PROBABLY THE REASON FAIRY TYPE POKEMON WERE MADE

    Thank you for coming to my ted talk.

    Seriously though, let me show you what *one* type beats the both of them:



    Fairy. That’s it. Fairy Pokemon were introduced in Gen 6 (when Chespin, Fennekin, and Froakie were the starters). You know what we did before then? Back when Cynthia wasn’t enough of a challenge with her damn Garchomp and then she whipped out Spirtomb right after?

    WE SUFFERED

    And on top of that, they’re IMMUNE to three other types (Normal, Psychic, Fighting). These two are examples of STRONG dual type Pokemon because they shut out three types right out their pokeball and cover some of their own weaknesses (Ghost hitting another Ghost Pokemon is reduced to normal damage due to their dual type of Dark).

    Pokemon Types - Tips

    - Unless you are a very brave trainer, do NOT make a team of the same type. As much as I love Water Pokemon, if a Thunderbolt can take out my whole team, then it doesn’t matter what moves they possibly can have.
    - Try not to have a team full of single type Pokemon. Reason being is you have less resistances to guard against. A Psychic type will always be weak to a Ghost type, but a Psychic / Normal type just made you immune to Ghost type moves, one of your weaknesses (since Ghost moves don’t work on Normal types and vice versa. Normal moves don’t work on Ghost types).
    - Keep in mind the above though. A dual type Pokemon can sometimes be a Doublade.



    ...get it? He’s a double edged sword Pokemon...you get it?

    - Horrible jokes aside, be mindful that a Pokemon can have both a double resistance and a double weakness, and more often than not, a double weakness will knock you out in one hit.
    - Another reason to have dual type Pokemon is that it’ll open you to a variety of moves a single type Pokemon possibly couldn’t normally use. A Rock type wouldn’t normally be able to use a Fire type move, but a Rock / Fire type on the other hand gives you more moves to work with. This will also let you possibly learn a move that counters another type you’re weak against.
    Now then, let’s move on to actually creating a Pokemon. For this, I’m going to copy a post I made on GWN’s Pokemon Showdown board and enhance it as it covers what I wanted to discuss.

    Creating a Pokemon

    Before I go into the making of a Pokemon, let me first introduce the stats of any given Pokemon:

    • HP - Health points aka the green bar above your Pokemon’s head.
    • Attack - This stat is used to cause direct/contact damage. The higher the number, the more damage you inflict with physical attacks.
    • Defense - This stat is used to block/defend against physical damage. The higher the number, the less damage you take from physical attacks.
    • Special Attack - This stat is used to cause indirect damage i.e. damage that does not make direct contact with another Pokemon. The higher the number, the more damage you do.
    • Special Defense - This stat is used to block/defend against indirect damage. The higher the number, the less damage you take from indirect damaging attacks.
    • Speed - How fast your Pokemon moves. This stat is important. If you have a higher speed over another Pokemon, you’ll move first when your turn comes around.


    Now then, when selecting a Pokemon on the Pokemon Showdown website (or for any Pokemon game in general), be sure to assign the following:

    • EVs
    • IVs
    • Nature
    • Ability
    • Hold item


    They boost a Pokemon's skill in battle and you want to focus on the stat that your Pokemon is capitalizing the most on.

    For EVs (Effort Values) :

    I'll be using Garchomp as an example. Here's how he looks at level 100 with base stats and no EVs or IVs



    From this, the best course of action on how to use him would be for his Attack and Speed. Granted, you can train the Pokemon however you like, but it wouldn't make much sense to make him a Sp. Attack Pokemon since that stat is way lower than his attack. You'd also want to use physical moves over special ones for that reason.

    So long as this hasn't changed (I don't think it has but idk), you can assign 508 EVs to any Pokemon in total. You can only assign 252 EVs to a single stat. So, you’ll want to assign 252 EVs to two stats and the remaining 4 into any viable one of your choice.

    For Garchomp, as stated above, you'll want to capitalize on his Attack and Speed. So let's add those to his EVs.



    See how much higher his Attack and Speed went up? Now he'll hit harder with EVs assigned than with them not assigned. He'll also be able to move faster than most Pokemon since his Speed stat also took a boost as well.

    As an additional point, I put the rest of the 4 EVs to his Defense. Did you notice Garchomp’s dual types? Like the Dragonite I talked about before, he is x4 weak against Ice type moves. Honestly, most Ice moves are Special Attack moves. So, adding those few IVs to either his Special Defense or HP wouldn’t matter. It won’t protect me from being KO’ed. The same can be said about a physical Ice move which directly affects his Defense, but you’re more than likely to be hit with a Special Attack Ice move over a physical one.

    Now for IVs (Individual Values) :

    Basically they act as little stat boosts for when a Pokemon is hatched from an egg, but since Pokemon are already made on the website, you don't really get to see the impact they have since all Pokemon are level 100. The max any IV can have is 31.

    Honestly, this site is a major help since it puts the IVs in a list for you. You'll probably want to choose the all around 31 for all stats to make it easier ("max all" option), but you can also choose the one that has Speed at 0 if you have a Pokemon that isn't incorporating Speed into its move set (and I’ll actually touch base on this later!). You can play with the slider and see how lowering IVs can lower a Pokemon’s stat, but be sure to set it back to 31! Let’s make all of Garchomp’s IVs to 31.



    Natures:

    Just as important as EVs! Natures add an additional stat boost to a stat, but also decrease a stat in the process. Since we're using Garchomp. and I'm not worried about his Sp. Attack, I should give him an Adamant nature. This raises his Attack, but lowers his Sp. Attack. The + indicates what was positively boosted, and the - indicates what was decreased. Additionally, if you want to boost his Speed instead, you can also opt for a Jolly nature (Raises Speed, decreases Sp. Attack) over Adamant.



    See how his Attack increased further and his Sp. Attack decreased? Be sure to choose a nature that accommodates the type of Pokemon (Physical or Special) you're using or making.

    Abilities:

    This site also lists the available abilities a Pokemon can learn. Garchomp has 2. Sand Veil and Rough Skin.

    Sand Veil - Raises the ability-bearer's evasion by 20% in a sandstorm. It also gives immunity to sandstorm damage.

    Rough Skin - When a Pokémon with Rough Skin is hit by a move that makes contact (Physical attack), the attacker receives damage equal to 1⁄8 of their maximum HP.

    Since I want this Garchomp to be a physical attacker, there's no point in having Sand Veil since that means that I either have to waste a turn setting up a Sandstorm, or bring him out only if another Pokemon set it up for me prior. I would want to use Rough Skin because that means that anytime someone hits me physically, they also get damaged. That little chip damage adds up over time!

    Lastly, Hold Items:

    All Pokemon can hold one item to help them in battle. Some items, such as berries are a one time use item. Meaning, once used, that Pokemon will no longer hold an item until the battle is over. However, an item like Leftovers heals continuously throughout the battle at the end of every turn so long as there's HP to be healed. Try to use an item that either compliments a Pokemon's move or their ability.

    For Garchomp, since I want his ability to be Rough Skin, I should give him the item Rocky Helmet:

    Rocky Helmet - If the holder of this item takes damage, the attacker will also be damaged upon contact (Should be 1/6 according to the website).

    See how this compliments his ability? Now if you hit him with a physical move, not only will you be damaged by Rough Skin, his item will also kick in and further damage you on top of his ability. You could also give him a Life Orb as well, but I’m gonna give him the Rocky Helmet in the end:

    Life Orb - Holder's attacks do 1.3x damage, and the holder also loses 1/10 its max HP after the attack.

    So to finish up, this is how Garchomp started:



    This is how he is finished:



    See how much the EVs and IVs affected his stats? Be sure that you have a clear mind on what type of Pokemon you would like to make, as in, do you want to make a physical attacker or a special attacker.

    Strategies

    Before I begin this category, I do want to preface that I haven’t competitively battled in over 3 years or so. So, things definitely may have changed, new strategies made, ect. ect. I’ll just be going over strategies I’ve used myself or have seen over the years. Additionally, the website: (you need an account to see links) is also a forum I referenced a lot when helping others and even making my own teams. Give it a look some time!

    Strategy 1 - Trick Room

    Trick Room - Slower Pokémon move first in the turn for 5 turns.

    This team revolves around having a S L O W team. It’s what I was somewhat referencing above with the IVs. There’s an option on Pokemon Showdown called “min Spe” which assigns 31 IVs to all stats but Speed and will leave that one at 0. This compliments this type of team because this team relies on you being the slowest on the field. Here’s the example team I’ll use to explain this:




    So with this team, I have three Pokemon who know the move Trick Room, and the other three are used for attacking after a Trick Room is set up. As stated above, when this move is used, slower Pokemon will move first for 5 turns. So, once I set this move up, I can either switch out to another Pokemon like Alola Marowak or Lurantis to further attack or just use the Trick Room user themself and continue attacking. Lurantis is perfect for Trick Room because they are honestly naturally slow, and they have this cool ability:

    Contrary - Makes stat changes have an opposite effect.

    As an example, one move Lurantis knows is Superpower.

    Superpower - Deals damage but lowers the user's Attack and Defense by one stage each after attacking.

    Contrary reverses this. After I use this strong move, it’ll RAISE my Attack and Defense by one stage instead of lowering this due to my ability. Since I’m the fastest on the field (currently) I can raise my stats at the same time. In that same sense though, If I used the move Swords Dance:

    Swords Dance: Raises the user's Attack by two stages.

    It’ll instead lower my Attack due to my ability. That’s not a move I actually use on Lurantis, I just wanted to use it for this example, but you get the point.

    Going back to the strategy though, it does require constant switching in and out due to this team depending on Trick Room being set up constantly throughout the battle. The reason I taught it to multiple Pokemon is because I don’t want one Pokemon knowing it only. For example, if only Uxie knows this move and my 5 turns are up and you predict I’m gonna switch back to her, you’d probably just use a Dark or Ghost move to hit me right when I’m switched in. Granted, all the Pokemon on this team can be beat by either move, at least I have multiple chances to set up this strategy.

    Strategy 2 - Guts!



    This isn’t necessarily team based as the last example, but not every strategy needs to be that synergized! With this one (and honestly the above Garchomp one too), it’s relying on its item and ability.

    Guts (Ability): Raises the ability-bearer's Attack by 50% when inflicted by a major status ailment (poison, burn, paralysis, freeze or sleep). If burnt, the Pokémon does not suffer the usual drop in Attack.

    Flame Orb (Hold Item): It is a bizarre orb that inflicts a burn on the holder in battle.

    When Flame Orb kicks in, it will burn Luxray. That will in turn make his ability passively kick in which will raise his Attack and negate the usual Attack drop I get from being burned. I EV trained his Attack and Speed so that hopefully I can move the fastest and used an Adamant nature to further boost his Attack. I also have to be mindful that I am burned, so I will lose HP each turn, but I’m taking that risk at the expense of hitting the hardest while moving the fastest.

    Plus, I use this so I don’t have to use turns with Sword Dance or another Attack boosting attack because I run the risk of probably getting Earthquake’d. Again, my health being sapped is no better, but this Luxray has saved me more times than often than not lol. Sometimes you have to take risks with your Pokemon.

    Strategy 3 - Shell Smash

    I actually used this in the recent Pokemon Showdown tournament.



    Focus Sash (Hold Item): If a Pokemon has full HP, the holder will endure one potential KO attack, leaving 1 HP.

    Shell Smash (Move): Lowers the user's Defense and Special Defense by one stage each, while also raising Attack, Special Attack and Speed by two stages each.

    For Cloyster:

    Skill Link (Ability): Causes multi-strike moves to always hit their maximum number of times (5 times).

    For Polteageist:

    Weak Armor (Ability): When a Pokemon with Weak Armor is hit by a physical move, its Defense drops one stage, but its Speed increases by one stage.

    Stored Power (Move): Deals varying damage based on the user's stat increases. It starts at base power 20 and increases by 20 for each net stat boost the user has received, including Evasion and Accuracy.

    There’s actually a formula for this: 20 × NumIncreases + 20 or basically +20 power for every stat raised (as I’m reading it. I suck at math though lol).

    So both Cloyster and Polteageist can benefit from this move. You’ll want to try and throw these Pokemon out first or against an opponent that can beat them. You usually don’t want an opponent to one hit you, but in this case, you do. So long as you have full HP, Focus Sash will make you survive a one hit KO attack with 1 HP. Starting off the battle using Shell Smash, you’ll (hopefully) survive your one hit and your Defense and Special Defense will be lowered by one stage.

    For Cloyster: The ability Skill Link makes it so that multi hit moves, that usually have a random chance of hitting 2-5 times, will hit for all 5 hits every time. With Shell Smash in effect, your Attack not only raises 2 stages, but you are also more than likely the fastest Pokemon on the field. The moves in question are weak in nature and have a base power of 25, I believe, but they at least take a considerable amount of damage out of tanky Pokemon like Clefable and Blissey.

    For Polteageist: They also benefit from Shell Smash and especially so if they were hit with a physical move that caused their ability Weak Armor to activate, which makes you the fastest moving Pokemon on the field. The real beauty in this is Stored Power though. It’s attack increases the more your stats are raised for EACH stat.

    So, if Weak Armor activated and your Focus Sash saved you with 1 HP and let you get off a Shell Smash, here are the stat raises:
    +2 stages of Attack
    +2 stages of Special Attack
    +3 (2 if Weak Armor didn’t activate) stages of Speed

    This attack will most likely 1 hit KO any Pokemon you use it on so long as they aren’t outright immune to the move (because it is a Psychic move) or don’t resist this Pokemon type. In case someone does resist Stored Power though, you at least have Giga Drain or Shadow Ball to rely on since they are also boosted in power because of Shell Smash.

    Strategy 4 - Terrains

    Terrains act as fields specific to a certain Pokemon type that each hold different advantages once they’re active and last 5 turns. There are currently 4 different Terrain types:

    • Misty Terrain: Creates a low-lying mist lasting 5 turns, that protects all grounded Pokémon from status conditions (including confusion). It also halves the power of Dragon type moves while in effect.
    • Grassy Terrain: Creates a low-lying grassy field lasting 5 turns, that restores the HP of grounded Pokemon each turn, by 1⁄16 of their maximum HP. The power of Grass type moves also increases by 50% while in effect, and the moves Earthquake, Magnitude, and Bulldoze halve in power.
    • Electric Terrain: Creates a low-lying electric field lasting 5 turns, that prevents grounded Pokemon from falling asleep. The power of Electric type moves also increases by 50% while in effect.
    • Psychic Terrain: Creates a low-lying psychic field lasting 5 turns, that prevents grounded Pokemon from being hit by high-priority moves (such as Quick Attack or Sucker Punch). The power of Psychic type moves also increases while in effect.

    Honestly, these work somewhat similar to weather effects or abilities, just with some additional effects. The above descriptions are the official move names for the terrains, but some Pokemon, such as Tapu Koko, have an ability that causes the moves to automatically trigger when they enter the field. For example, one of Tapu Koko’s abilities is Electric Surge which, as mentioned above, will cause Electric Terrain to activate when he enters the field if it’s not already in effect.

    Two things about terrains:
    • 2 terrains cannot be active at the same time or stack benefits. If you use Grassy Terrain on turn one and then Psychic Terrain on turn two, Psychic Terrain will fully take over as the active field coverage.
    • There is a hold item called Terrain Extender which makes terrain’s last 8 turns instead of the usual 5.

    For Terrains, I recommend using Pokemon that have them set as their ability to activate when they enter the field versus teaching a Pokemon the move itself. Reason being, you’ll notice common Pokemon such as Heatran or Ferrothorn who just love to use Toxic on any Pokemon not immune to Poison and have your HP sap itself away. If you throw out the Pokemon Tapu Fini, one of their abilities is Misty Surge. Which will auto throw up a Misty Terrain and stop any status effects from applying to Pokemon on the ground for 5 turns.

    This is helpful because most people who have a Toxic move Pokemon usually have a move set like this:

    Toxic
    Protect
    Stealth Rock
    [Possible healing move, attack move, or Substitute]

    So they’ll play the waiting game with you. And since Toxic gets worse with every turn, it won’t take you too long to faint. Then, your next Pokemon comes in and possibly gets affected by Stealth Rock. Not only that, if the opponent has a Ghost Pokemon, they can also learn Hex.

    Hex: Inflicts damage, but if the target has a major status ailment (i.e. is burned, poisoned, paralyzed, asleep or frozen) it will double in power to 130.

    I also ran a Pokemon that relied on my previous party Pokemon to give you a status effect, and then I’d come and Hex you to do insane damage along with their hold item, Spell Tag.


    Spell Tag: When held, Spell Tag raises the power of Ghost-type moves by 20%.

    So, to counter this, just throw out Tapu Fini before a status effect is rendered and, for me personally anyway, you just shut out one of my Pokemon strategies of Hex’ing you to death for 5 turns while Misty Terrain is in effect.

    You’ll really only see a Misty, Grassy, and occasional Electric Terrain in order of usefulness. I really only use or want to set up a Misty Terrain to try to throw off Pokemon or teams that rely on effecting you with a status effect of some kind.

    Strategy 5 - Choice items

    There are 3 different types of choice items:
    • Choice Specs: Raises Special Attack x1.5, but only the first move executed can be used.
    • Choice Band: Raises Attack x1.5, but only the first move executed can be used.
    • Choice Scarf: Raises Speed x1.5, but only the first move executed can be used.

    Note: Choice items reset upon the Pokemon leaving and then re-entering the field.

    There are also a few reasons as to why you’ll want to use these items although they tie you to one move only:
    • The Pokemon wearing it can or can’t afford to use a turn boosting itself up. Probably because it can get one shot KO’ed or the item boosts you enough to where you can keep using the same move over.
    • You have a means of escape using your attack boosted one move (i.e. U-turn, Volt Switch, ect.).
    • Your Pokemon simply doesn’t have a way to boost themself via a status move (it’s rare, but some Pokemon get bad moveset pools in regards to raising their stats).

    Since the last two points explain themselves, I’ll explain the first point only. Landorus-Therian can be used for this example. You could give him the move Sword Dance, which raises his Attack by 2 stages, or you can give him a Choice Band which raises his Attack by 1.5, but restricts him to one move.



    More often or not, a Landorus will Choice Band Earthquake you to the grave lol, so the Choice Band saves me from having to set up a Sword Dance to where I can get right to attacking. This helps because if I use a turn buffing myself up, the opponent can Ice Beam me and one hit KO me versus Landorus probably outspeeding the other Pokemon and attacking right out the pokeball. The reason U-turn is there is in case I get a bad match up. So say the opponent throws out an Ice type that has Levitate as an ability, like Rotom-Frost, or a Flying type Pokemon in general.

    Levitate: Causes the Pokémon to be raised (like Flying-type Pokémon).

    Earthquake won’t affect either (though I could Stone Edge the Flying type, but ignore that), so I could U-turn out of the field and select another Pokemon more capable of having a better matchup.

    U-turn: User switches out immediately after attacking.

    Mind you, Choice Band will still boost the attack of U-turn by 1.5, so it also does additional damage upon switching you out. Also mind the fact that if I already used another move before deciding to retract from battle, I’ll have to manually switch out my Pokemon since it can only use the first move it selected on turn one.

    Which leads me into my last topic.

    Strategy 6 - Swapping Pokemon

    Do not be afraid of constantly swapping or switching Pokemon between battles! You see this very often competitively and the usual mindset of “keep going until the Pokemon faints” can have its negative effects. Most notably, you can either save yourself with another Pokemon immune to a move you think may be coming.

    For example, if I have a Fire type Pokemon and my opponent has a Ground type Pokemon, what do you think they’re gonna do? Earthquake me! So, instead of my Pokemon taking the hit and possibly fainting, I could just switch to a Flying type because Ground moves are immune to Flying. And what is that going to make my opponent do? Honestly, hit me with a Rock move lol, but sometimes they’ll also switch out their Pokemon! From this, you saved another Pokemon and mixed up your opponent at the same time.

    Another example, as a said before above, Ferrothorn. 9/10 times, this Pokemon is gonna use Toxic on you. Instead of taking the Toxic, you could swap out to Tapu Fini whose ability negates status effects for 5 turns, or switch to a Steel type Pokemon because Steel is immune to Poison moves.

    Last example, if I have a Water type Pokemon and my opponent has a Electric type Pokemon, they’ll probably gonna use Thunderbolt. I could try to predict this and swap out to Zeraora who has the ability Volt Absorb.

    Volt Absorb: A Pokémon with Volt Absorb heals 1⁄4 of its maximum HP when hit by an Electric-type attack, including Thunder Wave. Also gain Electric immunity.

    If Zeraora was already previously hurt, not only did getting hit with Thunderbolt heal me, but it also saved one of my party Pokemon while wasting the opponent’s move.

    Swapping out Pokemon not only can save your Pokemon, it can also throw off your opponent and leave them guessing what moves and ability your newly entered Pokemon may have. However, be mindful that most people try to guess when someone may switch out. So, if they correctly guess and use a move that’s super effective against your newly entered Pokemon, that could one hit KO you or just throw you off kilter instead. So, don’t just switch out all willy nilly now!

    And with that, thank you SO much for reading through all my babble about Pokemon! If you have any questions or want me to clarify anything, please, don’t hesitate to ask. I’ll try my best to answer any questions thrown my way!



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  3. #2
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    @(you need an account to see links) this is one of the most in-depth, well laid-out and thoughtfully presented Pokemon guides I've ever seen - thank you so much for your time and labour on this! I honestly learned more from your guide than beetling about trying to patch together a knowledge base for years, you are a wizard​!!! <3

    Edit: Do you happen to have a strategy that you favour or do you switch it up depending on the battle/situation?


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  5. #3
    Bui bui!
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    Quote Originally Posted by Koto View Post
    @(you need an account to see links) this is one of the most in-depth, well laid-out and thoughtfully presented Pokemon guides I've ever seen - thank you so much for your time and labour on this! I honestly learned more from your guide than beetling about trying to patch together a knowledge base for years, you are a wizard​!!! <3

    Edit: Do you happen to have a strategy that you favour or do you switch it up depending on the battle/situation?
    Thank you for your kind comments! I'm glad you asked for this because it was a joy to type up for the community.

    Honestly, I do favor using Pokemon who can capitalize off Shell Smash the best, mostly because they have a strong move set or ability (Like Cloyster and Polteageist) to get the most use out of it before fainting. Typically, the only thing that could stop them if they survived with one HP is a first priority move i.e. moves that always go first like Quick Attack, Aqua Jet, Fake Out, and others. Granted, I could try to have a Psychic Terrain set up which will prevent those moves from going first for 5-8 turns (depending on if I have a Terrain Extender) which leaves only type resistances stopping me from going through the whole team.

    But switching up your strategy is always recommended because you just never know what may happen in a battle. For example, with my Hex Pokemon, I do try to inflict the opponent's team with a status effect with my other party members before Dragapault comes in so I don't have to use a turn setting one up myself, though he has moves just in case I do. If that fails and Dragapault faints, I could also use another Pokemon that knows Venoshock so long as that opposing Pokemon is poisioned.

    Venoshock (Move): Inflicts double damage if the target is poisoned.

    So, in this example, yes, I did have to change my strategy *somewhat* when it's really just changing moves lol. I try to have two or so Pokemon that can compliment each other with their moves more so than the whole team relying on one strategy like the Trick Room team above (but make no mistake, Trick Room teams are a beast if made right), because once you lose the ability to use that move, your whole team is just slow sitting ducks.



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    elie (12-02-2022)

  7. #4
    TsUNaMy WaVe's Avatar
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    This is such an awesome and detailed thread! Thank you so much!
    While reading I noticed how I picked some of the tips naturally during my long hours of practice for the tourney, so that was neat. But I really didn't know about the Shell Smash strategy at all! No wonder that tea kettle managed to beat me so many times lol.

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    I̶ ̶w̶a̶n̶t̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶b̶a̶k̶a̶ ̶u̶s̶e̶r̶b̶a̶r̶ ̶v̶e̶r̶y̶ ̶m̶u̶c̶h̶!̶ I GOT IT!!!

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    Buizel (05-19-2021)

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    Nattiee's Avatar
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    What a great thread!!

    You must spread some Reputation around before giving it to Brittany again.


    ;;shifty eyes;; I'll be back...


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    Buizel (05-20-2021)

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