~Preview~
Before giving any suggestions, please read: This team is for a club at my college, in which 17 of the members pick a unique type and become "gym leaders", meaning they have up to 5 pokemon, no legendary ones, of their type that they will use to battle challengers aiming to get all the badges. For all the rules, you can click here: http://i48.tinypic.com/34gook5.png , but it's pretty simple.
The team:
Venomoth @ Focus Sash
Ability: Tinted Lens
EVs: 252 SAtk / 252 Spd / 4 SDef
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Quiver Dance
- Baton Pass
- Sludge Bomb / Toxic Spikes
- Sleep Powder
Explanation:
Pretty simple; I quiver dance (at least once, thanks to focus sash) and baton pass off the stats, most likely nidoking. I need at least one poison move, because of the rules, so either sludge bomb or toxic spikes will do, but i'm leaning more towards sludge ball since i'll be busy setting up quiver dances to sweep. Sleep powder is to stall for some more dances if necessary. I have the focus sash in case the HP EVs aren't enough for the super effective moves that challengers will have.
Nidoking @ Focus Sash
Ability: Sheer Force
EVs: 252 SAtk / 252 Spd / 4 HP
Modest Nature (+SAtk, -Atk)
- Ice Beam
- Earth Power
- Fire Blast
- Sludge Wave
Explanation:
I found that I needed a focus sash with nidoking in the pokesim, due to him being rather easy to take out upon a baton pass. Ice beam and fire blast provide good coverage, and earth power has nice stab. Sludge wave is also a nice move, though I would rather have thunderbolt here, the rules restrict me to this poison move. After a quiver dance or two, nidoking will almost always sweep an entire team, due to the solid stats and impressive move pool.
Gengar @ Life Orb
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 SAtk / 252 Spd / 4 HP
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Focus Blast
- Shadow Ball / Hex
- Sludge Wave
- Destiny Bond
Explanation:
I use gengar to special sweep, and to baton pass into (or just switch into) when I sense a super-effective ground move coming on. Focus blast will take care of any steel, dark, and normal pokemon that challenge my team, while shadow ball will take care of the others with decent damage, thanks to the life orb. [Edit: Hex was also suggested and I can make great use of] Sludge wave is there for the stab and is surprisingly VERY decent. As for the last move, most people tend to forget about gengar having destiny bond, due to the very offensive builds. I use this to my advantage with gengar's very decent speed to surprise my opponent.
Tentacruel @ Black Sludge
Ability: Liquid Ooze
EVs: 252 HP / 236 Def / 20 Spe
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Toxic Spikes
- Scald
- Rapid Spin / Magic Coat
- Ice beam / Mirror Coat / Protect
Explanation:
Tentacruel is my toxic spiker and rapid spinner in one, nice package! After all, it'd be a shame not to have him on a mono-poison team. Although I'm making an offensive team, tentacruel provides nice balance and can get rid of the entry hazards that will ruin my focus sashers with either rapid spin or magic coat. Mirror coat is something I recently found out tentacruel can learn, and although ice beam will help against the ground weakness my team has, I've always been a fan of mirror coat and counter, so I need some help deciding which one I should choose. [Edit: Protect would also be great, as mentioned in comments, especially thanks to the black sludge]
Crobat @ Life Orb
Ability: Inner Focus
EVs: 252 Atk / 176 HP / 80 Spd
Jolly Nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
- Brave Bird
- U-Turn
- Roost / Taunt / Super Fang
- Cross Poison
Explanation:
Crobat is generally used as an anti-lead or a stall-breaker, but I find his stab brave bird burns holes in many teams, which makes him a great physical attacker. U-turn will allow him to deal decent damage to my psychic weakness and an easy way out to avoid damage. Cross poison is there because of the rules, but when it get a critical hit, it's pretty impressive. I have a hard time deciding between roost and taunt, for him. [Edit: Super Fang is also a great option] Taunt seems more useful, but roost will help recover from life orb and brave bird recoil damage.
That's my team! Hopefully I can get some nice input from you guys, and I'm open to switching around some of my team for pokemon like drapion, but it's hard to know who to replace. Just keep in mind that people will have a moveset and pokemon dedicated to defeating poison. Thank you! :D
