I started the making of this team when I started playing around with Aaron "Cybertron" Zheng's team that he took 6th place with at San Jose Regionals. His team consisted of Golduck, Pelipper, Tapu Lele, Metagross, Gyarados, and Xurkitree... (Aaron has changed Gyarados and Xurkitree to Tapu Koko and Kartana)... I liked how his team was made/set up so i eventually began to use it more often... I eventually started thinking "I don't want to just copy his entire team, i wanna make my own"...and so i did. My teams play style is generally the same as Aarons' but it's slightly different...
The Team:
Vaporeon @ Waterium Z
Ability: Water Absorb
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Def / 252 SpA
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Protect
- Scald
- Hydro Pump
- Ice Beam
Because Vaporeon has a huge base HP stat and good SpD and SpA stats, I chose to use Vaporeon. When people see Vaporeon, they think it's carrying things like Toxic, Wish, Acid Armor, Baton Pass, ECT... I decided to take Vaporeon on as a Bulky Special Sweeper. The EVs in its Def stat is to improve its defenses so that it can stay in the battle longer. Vaporeons base SpD stat is already good so I saw no need to invest in it. I went with 252 SpA EVs and a Modest nature to maximize it's SpA power. The moves i gave to Vaporeon is pretty simple. Protect to protect, Scald for burn and it gets STAB, Hydro Pump is used mainly for the Z-Move but I do tend to use it in battle as well, and Ice Beam for coverage. So now with Vaporeons bulk and amazing power, I now have my star player on the team.
Pelipper @ Focus Sash
Ability: Drizzle
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Tailwind
- Scald
- Hurricane
- Surf
Pelipper really doesn't have much explanation but this Pelipper plays as a Rain Starter (gives Pelipper and Vaporeon Water Attack Boost), Tailwind support, Special Sweeper, and also serves as a healer for Vaporeon. Pelipper with Hurricane under Rain puts pressure on my opponent and Scald is for STAB and burn. Surf is used only when Pelipper has Vaporeon on the field with it.
Tapu Lele @ Psychium Z
Ability: Psychic Surge
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Protect
- Psychic
- Moonblast
- Thunderbolt
Tapu Lele has been seen used by a lot of people. And for good reason~ Tapu Lele has a good SpA stat and to maximize it, I went with a Modest nature with 252 EVs into SpA. This Tapu Lele is almost the exact copy of Aaron "Cybertron" Zhengs' except for 1 attack. Aaron did not use Thunderbolt on his Tapu Lele but I saw use in it. With Celesteela, Milotic, Starmie, ect running around, Thunderbolt has been used quite often from me. Tapu Lele is an amazing Pokémon and is a really good partner for psychic Pokémon in my opinion.
Metagross @ Choice Band
Ability: Clear Body
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Bullet Punch
- Meteor Mash
- Zen Headbutt
- Earthquake
Metagross is the pokemon i chose to partner up with Tapu Lele. With Tapu Leles' Psychic Terrain up, a Zen Headbutt from Choice Band Metagross has a high chance of pulling off OHKO's. Metagross is also what i switch into to take in Grass or Electric attacks.
Togedemaru @ Sitrus Berry
Ability: Lightning Rod
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Careful Nature
- Spiky Shield
- Reflect
- Nuzzle
- Poison Jab
Togedemaru is a Pokemon that has surprised me a lot. And because of Sejun Park's Pachirisu, i decided to take a look at Togedemaru. After looking at it, I really liked that it had access to Nuzzle. Another thing i really liked was that it had Lightning Rod. Because Vaporeon has a really bad time against Tapu Koko and many other electric types, Togedemaru is my pokemon of choice to deal with opposing electric types. While Togedemaru is protecting Vaporeon from opposing electric attacks, Vaporeon is doing massive damage against the other pokemon. With access to Reflect, Togedemaru can also decrease damage from physical attacks (Which really helps Vaporeon). Poison Jab is used to help deal some damage and has chance to poison. It also helps deal with the Tapus.
Aerodactyl @ Lum Berry
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Protect
- Sky Drop
- Rock Slide
- Taunt
Most Aerodactyl users, that I've seen, usually go for a fast physical sweeper kind of Aerodactyl. Mine is not made to sweep. I wanted to take advantage of its high Speed and make it into a supportive pokemon. Protect is to protect and to scout for moves. Sky Drop acts as a flinch in a way since the targeted pokemon cannot move once Aerodactyl brings it into the air. If one of my starting pokemon is Aerodactyl and my opponent starts out with Kartana, i would go for the Sky Drop onto that Kartana while my other pokemon does what it needs to that turn. Rock Slide for flinches and Taunt because my team is weak to Trick Room teams. As for the Lum Berry, I didn't know what to give Aerodactyl so i just gave it a Lum Berry.
Conclusion
The team has been doing very well but, because I'm not too great on competitive battling, i feel like there may be some adjustments that could be made to make the team better. Please let me know what adjustments I should make if there are any :) thanks!
