ding! ding!

Punch-Out!! is a game of outwitting your opponent; learning their techniques and flaws and exploiting them by beating them to the punch. Pokemon is a similar game. I attempt to outwit the opponent by using 2 unorthodox sets, and forcing them into making faulty predictions, and from there into a position where no-matter what switch the opponent makes, what attack they use, I win.



King Hippo (Hippowdon) @ Choice Band
252 HP / 124 Atk / 132 Def
Adamant / Sand Stream
-Sleep Talk / Ice Fang
-Earthquake
-Stone Edge
-Crunch

Nobody suspects this, seriously.

Choice Band Hippowdon is a force to be reckoned with. Choice Band, 112 base Attack, a brilliant STAB and good coverage with 2 supporting moves allows Hippowdon to OHKO most threats. Its amazing how many people Taunt Hippowdon expecting the Stealth Rock, only to be taken down to their focus Sash and (in most cases), finished off by Sandstorm. This is how it beats the top leads:

- Just go for Crunch and and let SS do its job. Its great if they SR instead, even better if they Taunt. Explosion does a max of 94.8% if they decide to explode straight off the bat. I always win.
- One of the few leads Hippowdon can't really stop. They normally taunt, allowing me to SE them to their sash, but they aren't hit by SS, so get their rocks up as I finish them off.
- I want to use Ice Fang over sleep talk just to beat this thing every time. SE is a 3HKO, so it gets SR up and normally U-Turns out.
- SE does a max of about 87%, and it can never OHKO me. Normally, I would switch into Latias straight away anyway.
- Earthquake always OHKOs even through Shuca.
- Can't really do much to it. EQ is a 3HKO, and it always gets up SR.
- Grass Knot never OHKOs even after Fake Out, so I can OHKO with EQ.
- EQ is a OHKO, but it normally swaps my Band for its Scarf.
- Hydro Pump is a OHKO, but I normally switch to Rotom who isn't affected by Endeavour or EQ.
- EQ is always a OHKO, unless its a weird set with Shuca Berry.
- Stone Edge does a max of 256.8%, but it normally Baton Passes out fairly early, fearing Roar.
- I switch to Swampert to take the Spore, and then just Sleep Talk.
- Scarf sets can never OHKO with Surf or Grass Knot, but LO sets can. I rarely see these so don't have a set routine to handle them.
- Can't do much. EQ is a 3HKO, but I normally switch out to Latias anyway.
- EQ is a OHKO.


252 SpAtk +0 Timid Starmie Surf vs Hippowdon - 80.5% - 95.7%
252 SpAtk +0 Naive Azelf Psychic vs Hippowdon - 44.5% - 52.9%
4 Atk +0 Naive Azelf Explosion vs Hippowdon - 80.5% - 94.8%
252 SpAtk +0 Timid Rotom-C Leaf Storm vs Hippowdon - 81.9% - 96.7%
252 SpAtk+0 Naive Infernape Grass Knot vs Hippowdon - 70% - 82.4%
252 SpAtk +0 Timid Latias Grass Knot vs Hippowdon - 72.9% - 85.7%
252 SpAtk +0 Timid Latias Surf vs Hippowdon - 57.6% - 68.1%
252 SpAtk +1 Timid Latias Surf vs Hippowdon - 86.2% - 101.4%
252 Atk +0 Adamant Gyarados vs Hippowdon - 67.1% - 79%
72 Atk +0 Adamant Gyarados vs Hippowdon - 44.8% - 53.3%

These damage calculations show just how bulky CB Hippowdon can be.


~~~~~~~~~~



Disco Kid (Latias) @ Choice Scarf
4 HP / 252 SpAtk / 252 Speed
Timid / Levitate
-Surf / Grass Knot
-Thunderbolt
-Draco Meteor
-Trick / Grass Knot

Standard Choice Scarf Latias to be honest. This thing is brilliant. With Scarf it can outspeed Salamence and Gyarados at +1, and can OHKO them with Draco Meteor and Thunderbolt respectively. Draco Meteor will deal massive amounts of damage to any non-steel type. Latias is fodder for Scizor and Tyranitar, so when I like to immediately switch out the first time I switch Latias in to scout for Tyranitar and Scizor. Both of those are pretty much walled by Hippowdon anyway. I want to put Grass Knot over either Surf or Trick to deal with Swampert easier, but I'm not sure which, because if I get rid of Surf, Heatran can cause me problems, and if I get rid of Trick, a lot of Specially Bulky walls screw me.


~~~~~~~~~~



Great Tiger (Jirachi) @ Leftovers
240 HP / 160 Def / 76 SpD / 32 Spe
Impish / Serene Grace
-Wish
-U-turn
-Body Slam
-Iron Head

With Sandstorm around, I need a way to restore the health of my sweepers, none of which boast their own recovery moves. Wish-Passing Jirachi provides Brilliant support to the team, allowing me to Wish up, then U-Turn into Latias to take the Fire or Ground Attack, and restoring health in the process. U-turn also stops Jirachi being trapped by Magnezone, which would otherwise leave my team with no recovery. Body Slam has a 60% paralysis rate, and when combined with Iron Head's 60% flinch rate, it can annoy the opponent to hell and back while I slowly recover HP from leftovers until I get an opportunity to Wish pass out to a better counter. 240 HP EVs gives Jirachi the magic number for lefties recovery, and allows it to survive 5 consecutive Seismic tosses. 32 Speed outspeeds positive natured Tyranitar and Magnezone. This Jirachi lures in common counters to the Scarf sets, such as Gyarados and Gliscor, and gives them a nasty surprise if they get para'd from body slam.



~~~~~~~~~~




Don Flamenco (Scizor) @ Leftovers
244 HP / 252 Atk / 12 Speed
Adamant / Technician
-Swords Dance
-Bullet Punch
-Bug Bite
-Brick Break

Scizor is my main counter to Tyranitar and Latias. Most people expect the normal Choice Band set, then they realise how fucked they are when they see Swords Dance. Bullet Punch is standard, priority with STAB and a technician boost, doing considerable damage to whatever doesn't resist it. Bug Bite is a brilliant attack, especially on WiFi where there is a more wide-spread use of pinch berries such as Liechi and Salac, which boosts Scizor's stats when Bug Bite is used. It also provides STAB, the technician boost and fair coverage. Brick Break does not get the technician boost, but scores a OHKO on Tyranitar and a 2HKO on Blissey, which is always nice.


~~~~~~~~~~



Bald Bull (Swampert) @ Leftovers
252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 Def
Relaxed / Torrent
-Stealth Rock
-Roar
-Hidden Power Electric
-Earthquake

Swampert so stongth. The bulk of the set is just from Smogon. Stealth Rock is here because Hippowdon doesn't have it, Roar is for general phazing, Earthquake is there for a powerful STAB attack. However, the one difference on this set is Hidden Power Electric over Ice Beam. This is because early in the game, a lot of people switch their Gyarados into Swampert knowing that they will be able to get at least one DD up. However, HP Electric is a 2HKO on Offensive Dragon Dance Gyarados, a OHKO after Life Orb, SR and Sandstorm. HP Electric has come in handy countless times, much more useful than Ice Beam in my opinion. Swampert is one of the only switch-ins I have to Lucario, and even then it is 2HKOd by a +2 Close Combat. Advice would be nice.


~~~~~~~~~~



Aran Ryan (Salamence) @ Life Orb
232 Atk / 24 SpA / 252 Spe
Naive / Intimidate
-Dragon Dance
-Outrage
-Fire Blast
-Earthquake

Salamence is an amazingly versatile Pokemon, and I find its most effective set for this team is the Dragon Dance set. Salamence's +1 Outrage is able to 2HKO every non-steel OU Pokemon. Flamethrower is purely for steel types that are neutral to/immune to Earthquake, such as Forretress and Skarmory. Intimidate is a brilliant ability, particularly helpful for switching into Lucario, lowering their attack and punishing it if it stays in. The EVs give Salamence maximum physically offensive potential while still retaining a OHKO on 0 SpDef Skarmory.





KO!


So that's the team! Comment, criticize and do whatever you normally do and stuff. The team has brought me some really good success over the last couple of months, especially on WiFi, but has had some success on shoddy as well, helping me reach just under 1500 CRE.

Thanks for reading and shit.