The team itself looks like this:
Now, lets talk about these Pokemon individually. Once again, anything that seems interesting to me will be bolded. Here is a more in depth look at the team:
Jellicent (M) @ Sitrus Berry
Ability: Water Absorb
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SpA / 6 SpD
Quiet Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Water Spout
- Protect
- Shadow Ball
- Trick Room
I'll start off with Jellicent, Jellicent is the only Trick Room setter on this team. I liked using Jellicent due to its great bulk which allowed it to take quite a few hits before it gets Trick Room up. Now, even though I did say I like its bulk, you may notice that there is not really much investment in bulk, rather more on the offensive. The reason why is because once Trick Room goes up, you need to be able to take advantage of those turns by doing as much damage as possible, which applies a lot of pressure on the opponent's side. Water Spout can do massive amounts of damage to anything that does not resist Water and Shadow Ball is also useful to use if my health goes down too low for Water Spout to do a decent amount of damage. Since Jellicent can also be the target of many double attacks, I ran Protect in order for Jellicent to survive a little longer while the partner can remove the threat. It can also be used to stall out turns of Trick Room if things go the wrong way and the opponent has a slow Pokemon that I cannot do much damage to. The Sitrus Berry was chosen in order to keep my health as full as it can possibly be so that I can still fire off semi-powerful Water Spouts. Water Absorb was chosen as the ability instead of Cursed Body is because I liked being able to switch into Water type attacks and potentially gain more health, which leads to more power for Water Spout. Also, irrelevant fact, Male is highlighted because I cannot find a female sprite. My Jellicent in game was in fact a female, even though I do like the male better because of its color.
Abomasnow @ Abomasite
Ability: Snow Warning
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SpA / 6 SpD
Quiet Nature
- Blizzard
- Energy Ball
- Ice Shard
- Protect
Next up is the mega for this team. Abomasnow under Trick Room, to me, seemed like the best way to handle the Pokemon I thought would be common at the start of the season, Thundurus and Landorus.The reason as to why I had Abomasnow hold a mega stone is mainly because it was the only Pokemon on the team that could actually mega evolve. Aside from that, Mega evolving can be used to cancel any switch ins to weather users such as Politoed or even a Charizard Mega Evolving. It also allowed for an extra five turns of Hail if that seemed needed. The extra power that Abomasnow receives from Mega Evolving is also beneficial in terms of doing as much damage as possible in the small amount of time Trick Room gives, which is even further benefited through Mega evolving because Abomasnow gets slower. The attacks of Blizzard and Ice Shard seem pretty standard, Blizzard being the main form of damage and Ice Shard as a nice priority move to finish off weak opponents. Energy Ball might seem like a shocker to some. My reasoning for using Energy Ball instead of the physical attack Wood Hammer is because I did not like the fact that it can miss as well as it can be weakened by intimidate or burns. I chose Energy Ball instead of Giga Drain because I felt like the extra power boost that Energy Ball provides can allow me to achieve some knockouts that I would not have been able to do if I were to use Giga Drain. If I were to use this team again, I would definitely give Soundproof a try on Abomasnow as the team did have some problems with Hyper Voice Sylveon and Gardevoir.
Scrafty @ Lum Berry
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Fake Out
- Drain Punch
- Crunch
- Protect
Next up is Scrafty, Scarfty seemed like the best fit for a fake out user for this team because of its access to intimidate as well as its dark typing, which allowed it to handle Cresselia compared to other Fake Out users. The EV Spread is pretty simple, focusing on hitting hard and being as bulky as I could make it. The moves itself seem self-explanatory, with the exception of possibly Crunch. My reasoning for using Crunch is because I first did not learn Scrafty can learn Knock Off. Even if I did know that, I would not have switched to Knock Off because I liked the possibility of lowering Defense over removing an item. Fake Out is there to make setting up Trick Room easier and Drain Punch allows me to survive on the field a little longer. The item of a Lum Berry might seem interesting. My reasoning as to why I used Lum Berry is because if you notice, my team is mostly special attackers. This means that if I were to send out a Physical attacker, it possibly could not do a lot of damage due to burns. The Lum Berry allowed to recover from Will-O-Wisps from Rotoms or even Spores. I would not really change the item on this Scrafty, as Protect seemed like a key move to also stall out Trick Room or take an attack targeted towards it.
Togekiss @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Serene Grace
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
- Follow Me
- Air Slash
- Thunder Wave
- Protect
Now, we are onto Togekiss, my only form of redirection on this team. The reason why I chose Togekiss is because I liked its access to Serene Grace and Thunder Wave, which gave me an alternative form of Speed Control if Trick Room did not seem like a viable move to use in the battle. The item and EVs do not really seem to match as you can see, a Rocky Helmet on a Pokemon built heavily in Special Defense. The reason why is because I felt like I was covered decently on the Physical side thanks to two Pokemon with Intimidate. As a result, I decided to lean heavily towards the Special side. The moves seem pretty basic, with Follow Me being used as redirection and Air Slash as my main form of offense, with a boosted flinch rate to 60%. Protect was chosen for the off chance the opponent doubles into this slot, expecting me to not carry Protect.
Landorus-Therian @ Focus Sash
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 6 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Earthquake
- Rock Slide
- U-turn
- Protect
These next two Pokemon have been shown in the Lancaster post, so I will not talk extensively about them as it is relatively the same thing. The only thing I would like to talk about on here is why I ran a Focus Sash on a Hail team. The reason why is because I did not often send Landorus out when the Hail was out. Even if Hail was going, by the time Landorus was sent out, it would most likely end that turn. The usage of the Focus Sash allowed me to survive a guaranteed two attacks, as well as the ability to Protect. Looking back, I do kind of wish I ran an Assault Vest on Landorus, which allowed it to be a tad bulkier and survive Ice Beams that I would not survive if the Focus Sash was broken.
Heatran @ Shuca Berry
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
- Heat Wave
- Earth Power
- Flash Cannon
- Protect
The final Pokemon on this team is Heatran. The main amusing thing on this Heatran is the maximum speed and Modest nature. This actually has a different purpose compared to the Lancaster team. The speed allowed me to handle Bisharp, which the team had major problems against without it. I decided to go all out in speed because at the time, Timid Heatran was not a common thing and people leaned more towards bulkier versions, which meant I would always outspeed and get an Earth Power off. Flash Cannon was there to help my matchup against Fairies, which the team also had problems handling.
