Pokemon #27-Nidoking

Nidoking is a Pokemon that was intoduced in Generation 1(Green,Red,Blue,Yellow,FireRed,LeafGreen).It is number 34 in the Kanto Pokedex as well as in the National Pokedex.It is said that one swing of its mighty tail can snap a telephone pole as if it were a matchstick.
Nidoking was always a very cool and strong Pokemon,but in this Generation it really got a lift.That's because it got the ability Sheer Force from the Dream World,which raises the power of the moves with an added effect by 30% and also makes the user unable to take damage from Life Orb whenever a move with an added effect is used.With Nidoking's decent stats,81/77/75(HP/Def/Sp.Def) and 92/85/85(Att/Sp.Att/Spe),and with that ability surely Nidoking is not a laughing matter in this Generation's matagame.Its other two abilities,which are completely useless considering Sheer Force,are Poison Point,which poisons the opponent whenever they use a physical contacting move on the user and Rivarly,which increases the Attack of the user if the opponent is the same gender as the user but decreases it if the user has the opposite gender from the opponent.Nidoking's movepool is amazing,just because it has many moves with secondary effect and can support nicely the Sheer Force ability.Now let's take a look at some possible sets.

Sheer Force
-Earth Power
-ThunderBolt
-Ice Beam
-Flamethrower/Fire Blast
Item:Life Orb
Ability:Sheer Force
EVs,Nature:
252 Special Attack,252 Speed,4 HP
Timid(+Spe,-Att)/Modest(+Sp.Att,-Att)

The most common set of Nidoking in the current metagame.Earth Power is STAB and with the combination of Life Orb and Sheer Force boosts it is crazy powerful.ThunderBolt also gets a Sheer Force boost and it is an excellent move to hit Water and Flying-types.Ice Beam is great to hit Dragons and other Ground-types.Flamethrower and Fire Blast both get boost from Sheer Force,but it's your choice.Accuracy or Power.Remember,a Fire-type move is neccessary so you can hit Ferrothorn and other Steel-types like Skarmory and Registeel.

Choice Scarf
-Earth Power
-ThunderBolt
-Ice Beam
-Flamethrower/Fire Blast
Item:Choice Scarf
Ability:Sheer Force
EVs,Nature:
252 Special Attack,252 Speed,4 HP
Modest(+Sp.Att,-Att)

Exactly the same set like the previous one,but this time you use a Choice Scarf instead of a Life Orb.This set is the epitomy of the revenge killer.Decent Power thanks to Sheer Force and great Speed thanks to the Choice Scarf.The moves are great,giving Nidoking a full coverage with a Ground,Fire,Electric and Ice type move.With max Special Attack Nidoking hits 349 and with 252 Speed and Choice Scarf it hits 442 Speed able to outspeed the majority of the non-scarfed Pokemon.

Counters
Blissey/Eviolite Chansey wall every set that Nidoking packs these days.If you see a Nidoking just bring your Blissey and you won't have any troubles taking it out.Rotom-H is amazing being immune to Nidoking's STAB and resisting all the other three moves.Generally,nothing can completely wall/counter Nidoking.So just play safe and try to hit Nidoking hard with one of your moves,Nidoking will never run a bulky set so you will be able to either OHKO or 2HKO.

Cool Info:Nidoking and Nidoqueen are the only Pokemon with a Poison/Ground type combination.

Sorry for not posting,I am still busy with finals.

Pokemon #26-Manectirc

Manectric is a Pokemon that was intoduced in Generation 3(Ruby,Sapphire,Emerald).It is number 79 in the Hoenn Pokedex and number 310 in the National Pokedex.It is said that it discharges electricity from its mane.Also it creates a thundercloud overhead to drop lightning bolts.
Manectric wasn't a good Pokemon in Generation3.In Generation 4 though,with the additon of Flamethrower and Overheat,Manectric became a little bit better.In Generation 5,it didn't get any useful ability but it got a useful move,Volt Switch.Its stats are not the best but are not the worst either.70/60/60 on the defensive side(HP/Def/Sp.Def) and 75/105/105 on the offensive side(Att/Sp.Att/Spe).It can get three abilities.Static,which has 30% chance of paralyzing the opponent whenever its Pokemon is using a physical move.Lightningrod,which draws all the Electric-type moves and raises the user's Special Attack stat.From the Dream World,Manectric can get Minus(honestly a horrible ability),which raises the user's Special Attack by 50% everytime you have on your side a Pokemon with the ability Plus.Now,let's take a look at some possible sets.

Choice Scarf
-Volt Switch
-Flamethrower
-Hidden Power Grass/Ice
-ThunderBolt
Item:Choice Scarf
Ability:Static/Lightningrod
EVs,Nature:
252 Special Attack,252 Speed,4 HP
Modest(+Sp.Att,-Att)

The most common set of Manectic in Generation 5.Max Special Attack Manectric hits 339 Special Attack which is something not to laugh at.Volt Switch is a great move for scouting,getting some nice damage with STAB and switching to a proper counter to your opponent's Pokemon.Flamethrower is a must in the current metagame,with all these Steel-types that are around,and especially Ferrothorn.Hidden Power Grass is a great move on this set hitting most of the Bulky Waters that ThunderBolt and Volt Switch doesn't hit.Hidden Power Ice is also decent,for some Dragons,but I find HP Grass more useful in certain situations.ThunderBolt is your standard attack,it's STAB and it's stronger than Volt Switch.Please note that this set works very good as a lead set with the decent Speed of Manectric in combination with the Choice Scarf,as well as Volt Switch and its decent Special Attack.

Sub+3Attacks
-Substitute
-ThunderBolt
-Hidden Power Grass
-Flamethrower
Item:Life Orb
Ability:Static/Lightningrod
EVs,Nature:
252 Special Attack,252 Speed,4 HP
Modest(+Sp.Att,-Att)

This set works surprising well.Behind the Substitute Manectric is safe,and able to hit hard with one of its move.Pretty simple,huh?With Max Special Attack and the Life Orb,trust me you will definetely do some decent damage.ThunderBolt is your main option here,with STAB and all that.Hidden Power Grass is good for some common Ground/Water types that will try to wall Manectric.Flamethrower,as I mentioned earlier,is a must for all the Steel-types.

Counters
Chansey and Clefable can stall it out all day long,thanks to their decent Special Defense and access to a recovery move.Special Defensive Pokemon like Venusaur and Registeel are also good,able to take at least 2 Flamethrowers and either KO with one of their moves or force it out.Lanturn is another great Pokemon to counter Manectric,thanks to Volt Absorb and its decent HP and Special Defense.

Cool Info:Manectric wasn't able to learn any Fire-type move in Generation 3,though in Generation 4 it was able to learn three Fire-type moves,Flamethrower,Fire Fang and Overheat.

Pokemon #25-Durant

Durant is a Pokemon that was intoduced in Generation 5(Black,White).It is number 138 in the Unova Pokedex and number 632 in the National Pokedex.It is said that they attack in groups,covering themselves in steel armor to protect themselves from Heatmor.
Durant is a very cool Pokemon.It has decent stats,a big movepool,a good ability and a very useful typing.Durant is a Bug and Steel-type,a very common type but a very good one,both offensively and defensively.It has 58/112/48 on the defensive side(HP/Def/Sp.Def) and 109/48/109 on the offensive side(Att/Sp.Att/Spe).As you can tell,the Attack and the Speed stat are the main attractions of this Pokemon.It can get three abilities.Swarm,which increases the power of the Bug-type moves by 50% when its HP are below 1/3rd,Hustle,which boosts the power of the physical attacks by 50%,but making the average accuracy  80% and through the Dream World,Truant,which makes the user unable to attack consecutively turn after turn.The good ability that I mentioned earlier is Hustle and you will see in a bit why it's a good ability on Durant.Anyway,let's see some possible sets.

Choice
-Stone Edge
-X-Scissor
-Iron Head
-Crunch
Item:Choice Scarf/Choice Band
Ability:Swarm
EVs,Nature:
252 Attack,252 Speed,4 HP
Adamant(+Att,-Sp.Att)/Jolly(+Spe,-Sp.Att)

A pretty standard and easy-to-use set.If you go with Choice Band run max Speed,Jolly nature and if you go with Choice Scarf run max Attack,Adamant nature.Stone Edge hits Flying and Fire-types and with Durant's great Attack stat it can really hit hard.X-Scissor is STAB and a very useful move on the current metagame,with all these Psychic-types that are everywhere.Iron Head is your other STAB,not as useful as  X-Scissor but can work at certain times.Crunch is there for more type coverage and for hitting some common Ghosts like Jellicent and Gengar.

Set Up Ant
-Hone Claws
-X-Scissor
-Stone Edge
-Iron Head/Crunch
Item:Leftovers/Life Orb
Ability:Hustle
EVs,Nature:
252 Attack,252 Speed,4 HP
Jolly(+Spe,-Sp.Att)

This is why Hustle is the best of Durant's abilities.With Hone Claws raisest your Attack and your Accuracy.So having Hustle droping your accuracy and Hone Claws raising it,you have a great combo.So on the switch set up a Hone Claws and then if you feel sure go for a second or hit hard with Hustle and +1 in Attack.X-Scissor,like before,is your main STAB move and it's really strong with Hustle.Stone Edge is amazing in this set,not getting an accuracy drop from Hustle because already its accuracy is 80%,and getting a nice boost in accuracy from Hone Claws,plus all the Attack boosts from Hustle and Hone Claws.Iron Head like before can work occasionaly,while Crunch hits some certain Ghosts like Chandelure,Gengar or Jellicent that like to switch in.
Note:Durant can get Baton Pass,and with Hone Claws that can be a decent combo,but it never worked for me so I just mention it,in case you are wondering why I don't have a Baton Pass set.


Counters
Fire-type Pokemon are great,as Durant is 4 times weak to their Fire-type moves.So Pokemon like,Heatran,Infernape,Victini,Darmanitan,Emboar are awesome.Bulky Waters,like Swampert and Vaporeon are also great,being able to take hits all day and either 2HKO or force Durant out.In general,Durant's Special Defense is paper thin,so if you hit it on the Special side you won't have any troubles at all.

Cool Info:Durant and Heatmor appear to be rivals.

Pokemon #24-Emboar

Emboar is a Pokemon that was intorduced in generation 5(Black,White).It is number 006 in the Unova Pokedex and number 500 in the National Pokedex.It is said that it has mastered fast and powerful fighting moves and that it grows a beard of fire.
Emboar is probably the worst of the three Fire-Fighting starters.I don't say it's completely useless,but comparing to Blaziken and Infernape,it's really nothing.Its stats are really mixed up bad.It comes with 110/65/65 on the defensive side and 123/100/65 on the offnesive side.As you can see its attack stat is excellent but pairing with that speed stat,that's just stupid.Also,I find weird how it has that high HP stat but its defenses are so paper thin.Anyway,I am not here to judge Game Freak's work.Let's continue.It's movepool is OK I guess,supporting nicely its nice attack stat.It gets two abilities.Blaze,which raises the power of the fire-type moves by 50% when the user's HP is below 1/3rd and Reckless,which increases the power of the recoil moves by 30% but also increases the recoil.Now,let's see some possible sets for Emboar.

Reckeless
-Wild Charge
-Flare Blitz
-Head Smash
-Earthquake
Item:Life Orb
Ability:Reckless
EVs,Nature:
252 Attack,252 Speed,4 HP
Adamant(+Att,-Sp.Att)

This set tries to utilize the Reckless ability and Emboar's decent Attack stat.Wild Charge hits every water type really hard thanks to Reckless plus the Life Orb.Flare Blitz is your STAB and it is scary powerful with Reckless and Life Orb.Head Smash is your move for the Flying-types.Earthqauke,as I always say,is a great move to have and pairs really nice with Head Smash,hitting anything that Head Smash doesn't.

Mix Work Up
-Work Up
-Flare Blitz/Fire Blast
-Scald/Focus Blast/Grass Knot
-Earthquake/Hammer Arm
Item:Leftovers
Ability:Blaze
EVs,Nature:
252 HP,152 Attack,104 Special Attack
Brave(+Att,-Spe)

I forgot to mention that Emboar has decent Special Attack.So with decent and Attack and Special Attack you make a decent wall-breaking set(or Mixed wall breaker).Work Up raises your Special and Physical Attack by 1 stage,use it on a predicted switch and you are good.Flare Blitz is your STAB and is very strong after a Work Up,if you don't want though the recoil but you want to risk with the accuracy you can go with Fire Blast.Scald is an awesome move,being a Water-type and having that 30% chance of getting a burn.Focus Blast is your secondary STAB,but it's very unstable so be careful.Grass Knot can hit really hard some bulky waters,but that's what it only can do.Earthquake is always great to have.Hammer Arm is your other choice if you didn't picked Focus Blast,but the Speed drop is not really a help.

Counters
Thundurus and Landorus are great,as they outspeed and can 2HKO with ThunderBolt and OHKO with Earthquake respectively.Bulky waters,like Vaporeon and Drizzle Politoed,completely shut down Emboar,remember though that rarely Emboar can pack Grass Knot.Jellicent is great,resisting the Fire STAB and being immune to the Fighting STAB and able to 2HKO with Scald or Surf,or even force Emboar out.Cresselia is awesome against Emboar,resisting the Fighting STAB,being able to take hits all day and recover off the damage with Moonlight and 2HKO with Psychic.

Cool Info:Emboar is the heaviest fully evolved Fire-type starter Pokemon.

Pokemon #23-Haxorus

Haxorus is a Pokemon that was intoduced in Generation 5(Black,White).It is number 118 in the Unova Pokedex and number 612 in the National Pokedex.It is said that their sturdy tusks will stay sharp even if used to cut steel beams.These Pokemon are covered in hard armor.
Back when the Generation 5 started,everyone thought that Haxorus will be Uber in no time.Not only because of its pure Dragon-type,with only two weaknesses(to Ice and Dragon) but mainly for its godlike Attack stat.After many tests though,it was obvious that Haxorus was lacking two basic things.Strong physical Fire-type moves and Speed.So it end up being another ok Dragon-ype Pokemon,overpowered in UU but far too weak for OU.Its stats:76/90/70 Base on the defensive side (HP,Def,Sp.Def) and 147/60/97 Base on the offensive side.Its movepool isn't bad at all with access to both Swords Dance and Dragon Dance,but as I mentioned earlier the lacking of a physical Fire-type move,make Haxorus useless over the other Dragons.It can get though three abilities.Rivarly,which raises the Attack stat if the opponent's Pokemon is the same gender as Haxorus' but decreases the Attack stat if the opponent's Pokemon is the opposite gender.Mold Breaker,which makes your moves uneffected from the opponent's abillities(e.g.Earthquake hitting a Pokemon with the Levitate ability).Its third ability is Unerve which can get only through the Dream World and will make the opponent's Pokemon unable to eat its held berry as long as Haxorus is in the battle.Personally,I find Mold Breaker the best of all three Haxorus' abillities so all my sets will use it.Let's take a look now at some possible sets.

Dragon Dance
-Dragon Dance
-Earthquake
-Dragon Claw/Outrage
-Shadow Claw/Aerial Ace/Taunt
Item:Lum Berry
Ability:Mold Breaker
EVs,Nature:
252 Speed,252 Attack,4 HP
Jolly(+Spe,-Sp.Att)

Pretty straightforward set.Set up a few Dragon Dances,and get heavy damage on your opponent's team.Earthquake is an always great move to have and is your only hope against some common Steel-types like Metagross and Ferrothorn.Dragon Claw is STAB and really strong after a Dragon Dance.Outrage is more powerful but I don't recommend it,as your opponent can switch a Steel-type while you are locked in on Outrage and counter you.The last move is your choice.If you want to hit Ghosts or Psychics go with Shadow Claw.Aerial Ace can hit some common Grass-types but it's very weak.Taunt is another option that can be very helpful against Pokemon like Skarmory or Ferrothorn that like to switch in to Haxorus.

Choice Scarf
-Outrage
-Earthquake
-Shadow Claw
-Dragon Claw/Brick Break
Item:Choice Scarf
Ability:Mold Breaker
EVs,Nature:
252 Attack,252 Speed,4 HP
Adamant(+Att,-Sp.Att)/Jolly(+Spe,-Sp.Att)

This is set works better than the previous set.With the Choice Scarf and Adamant nature,Haxorus hits 439 Speed and 432 Attack which is completely ridiculous.Outrage is STAB and your strongest move,but use it wisely.Earthquake works exactly like the previous set.Shadow Claw is there for coverage.Dragon Claw can sometimes be a better choice over Outrage.Brick Break occassionaly can be helpful.

Counters
Bulky waters like,Vaporeon and Swampert are great against Haxorus.Gliscor completely walls Haxorus and easily can 2HKO with Earthquake or force it out.Ferrothorn is without a doubt the best counter,taking with ease Haxorus' STABs and being able to live everything even after plus 2 from Dragon Dance/Swords Dance.Skarmory is also good,resisting Haxorus' STAB and being immune to Earthquake.

Cool Info:Haxorus is the only fully-evolved pure Dragon-type Pokemon in a three-stage evolutionary line.

Team Building Guide

So today,I decided to do something different.Instead of your daily review of a Pokemon,I will write about team building.Every person who builds a team think different.I have my own ideas and strategies that I'll try to explain the best I can.From the article that follows you will be able to tell that my whole team is build around the two walls that I decide to use.If there's something you don't agree with or need any help with general team-building,tips and ideas send me an e-mail or leave a comment.

Lead
In our days strong and fast anti-lead Pokemon like Ambipom,Mienshao,Zoroark,Inferape,etc.. are very common.So most of the times,I go with bulky Pokemon with access to Stealth Rock,like Swampert,Skarmory,Ferrothorn,Bronzong.That enables me to take hits with ease,set up my entry hazards and then either switch to bring a right counter to the opponent's Pokemon or stay in with my lead and do what it can do(e.g.Set up Reflect and Light Screen with Bronzong,shuffle the opponent's team with Roar Swampert,etc.).Many people don't like the idea of a bulky-wall-lead,because they are used to think that leads always need to go down early in the match.This isn't neccessary.If you see that your lead can't handle a certain Pokemon just switch it out.Keep in mind though,that this kind of lead Pokemon are walled very easily from fast taunting Pokemon.

Position 2-3
After I find my lead,I try to find my defenses.I look for a physical and a special wall.As I mentioned earlier,my team is built around these two walls.So,I make sure I find exactly what I need and make it just how I want it.Firstly the physical wall.Pokemon like Steelix,Skarmory,Slowbro,etc are great for this spot just because of their decent physical defense.Also,I am trying to use the one with more resistances/immunities,so it can be more surive-able.After this,I find with exactly the same way my special wall.Pokemon like Blissey,Tentacruel,Jellicent work great on that spot.After I finish the whole team,I test it,so I can see if the walls work.If they don't,I replace them,trying to find the combination of the two that works better for me.

Position 4-5-6
After I finish with my defense,I work on my offense.My way of thinking is simple.One strong physical attacker with Choice Band/Scarf or Life Orb(like a physical Victini).One special attacker again with either a Choice item or Life Orb(like a special hydreigon).And a set up Pokemon,either physical or special(like Terrakion with Swords dance).After I find the right offensive Pokemon the team is ready.

Team Building is not difficult.You just need a good method,everyone got one and a lot of practice with this made team.Of course,if you look around the internet you'll find many ready-to-use teams,but using one of them just ruins the fun.As you probably noticed I didn't mention anyting about weather teams.That's because firstly,I find weather teams very unoriginal and easy to destroy and secondly,because it takes no skill at all to use one.Anyway,this was very short and simple but I hope that you liked and I inspired you a bit.

Have a nice day.

Pokemon #22-Mienshao

Mienshao is a Pokemon that was intoduced in Generation 5(Black,White).It is number 126 in the Unova Pokedex and number 620 in the National Pokedex.It is said that they use the long fur on their arms as a whip to strike their opponents.

Mienshao is one of the most common Pokemon of the current metagame,and for many good reasons.It is a pure Fighting type with great stats,great movepool and three decent abilities.It comes with 65/60/60 on the defensive side (HP/Def/Sp.Def) and 125/95/105 on the offensive side (Att/Sp.Att/Spe).The abilities that it gets through normal gameplay is Inner Focus,which will make the Pokemon to not flinch and Regenerator,which heals 33.3% health of the user everytime it swithces out of the battle.Its Dream World ability is Reckless which boosts the power of the moves with recoil but also increases the recoil damage.So now let's take a look at some possible sets.

Standard Lead

-Fake Out

-Hi Jump Kick

-U-Turn

-Stone Edge

Item:Focus Sash/Life Orb

Ability:Regenerator

EVs,Nature:

252 Attack,252 Speed,4 HP

Jolly(+Spe,-Sp.Att)

The most common set of Mienshao.Works very well nearly everytime.Max Speed is neccessary so you can be as fast as you can.Fake Out is always to great to a lead Pokemon,being able to break the other's lead possible Focus Sash.Hi Jump Kick is your main STAB and with the boost that it got in this Generation it's a really good option.U-Turn is there for scouting as usual and for hitting some common Psychic-types like Reuniclus.Stone Edge is there for more type coverage and for hitting Fire and Flying Pokemon.If you want more power use Life Orb which matches nicely with the Regenerator ability,giving you back all the HP you lost from Life Orb whenever you switch.If you want your standard lead though,go with Focus Sash.

Choice

-Stone Edge

-Hi Jump Kick

-U-Turn

-Grass Knot/Hidden Power Electric

Item:Choice Scarf

Ability:Regenerator

EVs,Nature:

200 Attack,200 Special Attack,108 Speed

Naive(+Spe,-Sp.Def)

This is a very intresting set.Mixed Scarfer.Stone Edge is there for coverage and for hitting Rock-weak Pokemon.Hi Jump Kick is your STAB.U-Turn is there for scouting.Grass Knot can be good against the Bulky Water(Swampert,Vaporeon,etc).Hidden Power Electric is very gimmick,but can work in many situations.

Counters

Mienshao is very frail,so priority is great against it.Ghost-types like Cofagrigus,Gengar,Jellicent,Eviolite Dusklops are great resisting Stone Edge and being immune to STAB Hi Jump Kick.Scizor is the ultimate counter,in my opinion,being able to take hits and easily take down with the combination of Bullet Punch and Pursuit.

Cool Info:Mienshao and its pre-evolution Mienfoo are the only Pokemon of Generation 5 to learn Aura Sphere.

P.S.I was very lazy writing this.I'll try to add a Baton Pass set later,though I really doubt it being busy with school and all that.Anyway,have a nice day.