Battle Spot: Vileplume in Trick Room and Doubles strategy

Build set as of Gen 6

• Ability – Effect Spore
• Stats –Special Attack (252), HP (252), Defence (4)
• Nature – Quiet/Modest
• Item – Sitrus Berry
• Move set – Energy Ball (stab), Sludge Bomb (stab), Moonblast, Protect

Ah Vileplume, what could this cute innocent looking grass Pokemon do in Trick Room? Well, for starters it has 110 SpA so it's best not to look down. Also with its respectable defences, it tanks quite well against Electric, Water, Fighting and Grass type Pokemon, but not against common threats of Fire, Ice and Flying (or rather, just Talonflame alone). However, there is a good reason why Vileplume is not used a lot in Trick Rooms...

Strength

So not only it has great resistance against Electric, Water, Fighting and Grass types, it also serves an as immunity to powder moves (especially Rage Powder!), other supporting Grass-type moves like Leech Seed which (Mega) Venusaur would use occasionally, and Poison moves like Toxic. 

Combined with its Defence and SpD, it can always recover itself with Giga Drain or Moonlight to handle many offensive Pokemon. What's more, Effect Spore ability comes in pretty handy at times when it gets hit by a physical move, back then I would always lure Mega Kangaskan to Fake Out it and works like a charm. 

Weakness

Being Grass and Poison type, that also means it’s weak to 3 common move types, which are fire, ice and flying Talonflame in the current metagame, Psychic Pokemon do make an appearance too once in awhile; so it's best to have partners to provide cover on the type disadvantage, which could easily take up 2-3 slots in your team. 

Another problem that Vileplume faces is its Poison power, it's just not as strong as other Poison type contenders such as Dragalge, Seviper, and even Ariados who does a lot of Poisonous damage to Fairy Pokemon which usually have high SpD. Not to mention, it only has so few attacking moves making it quite predictable. 

Moveset

I prefer Energy Ball to Petal Dance because I don't like the idea of being locked into one move for 2-3 rounds and being vulnerable at the same time, but if you must then the item should be switched for Lum Berry to cure the confusion afterwards. Sludge Bomb is very straight forward as it is one of the main STAB moves for the corpse plant, and Protect is self explanatory. Also; thanks to ORAS it can now learn Moonblast which can catch many opponents off-guard that's in too, especially against Fighting and Dark-type Pokemon, but maybe not so much on Dragons as they tend to have Fire and Flying moves.   

Because of its inability to OHKO a Fairy Pokemon, another option is to have Toxic + Venoshock combo. It may seem silly, but here are my two reasons why Venoshock and Toxic combo is a good alternative. First, Toxic can never miss if a Poison type Pokemon uses it regardless of accuracy or evasion. This is great especially on opponents who rely on Minimize and other evasion tricks. Second, Venoshock’s damage will double up to 130 power (original 65) if the opponent is poisoned; officially making it the most powerful Poison move in the SpA category. So with Toxic + Venoshock combo, it will deal much greater damage in long term. Not to mention, Toxic also badly poisons the opponent too. But then again, this makes it extremely weak against Steel and Poison type Pokemon. So yeah. 

Closing thoughts

(image credit to endless whispers)

Personally from my experience, I think Vileplume suits better being a support staller instead of a Trick Room offensive Pokemon. A defensive build would be full EV on HP and Defence with Bold nature for maximized Effect Spore usage, then give Black Sludge item for consistent recovery, Giga Drain will perfectly fit and adds durability for long term battle along with Black Sludge + Protect combo. As for the last two move slots, it has tons of support moves to spare like Aromatheraphy to get rid of status effects, so as Moonlight for staying in the battle, or even Toxic, Leech Seed, Worry Seed and many others. It can be used for Sunny team too with its Chlorophyll ability, but once again, there are better Chlorophyll users out there. 

Well, that's my take on Vileplume. So Vileplume, I choose you (for a mixed Doubles team)! Glhf!

Battle Spot: Clawitzer Trick Room and Doubles strategy

Build set as of Gen 6

• Ability – Mega Launcher
• Stats – HP (252), Special Attack/SpA (252), Special Defence/SpD (4)
• Nature – Quiet/Modest
• Item – Life Orb
• Moveset – Water Pulse (stab), Aura Sphere, Ice Beam, Protect

If you know your animal dictionary, you'll immediately know where this Pokemon got its inspiration from. Based on the Pistol Shrimp in the animal kingdom, it has the ability to create and shoot out small shockwave vacuum to stun its prey. In this case, the Mega Launcher ability, which boost all pulse and sphere moves by 50%, makes it a terrifying water Pokemon to face in Trick Room.

Strength

With 120 SpA stat combining with Mega Launcher ability, this makes Clawitzer one of the best wall-breakers in the metagame. And if you add in Life Orb, that's another 30% increase in power. If you find that you have to give up the Life Orb to other members (not recommended), Expert Belt does quite well, Choice Specs is great too but I'm not really a fan of being locked to one move. 

Weakness

Ah, although a piledriver by nature. This also makes it quite a predictable Pokemon as well, with only so few moves chosen, veteran trainers would prolly know what's coming and react accordingly. 

Keep a watch out for Electric and Grass type Pokemons, especially Rotom-W who's is a pain in the ass to take down if it has Sitrus Berry, and also Amoongus which it fears the most. Your Clawitzer lacks a form of recovery so you will have to rely on your partner for that. 

Keep note that it has a tough time against Pokemon who has high SpD like Chansey. So never waste your time attacking a Pokemon like that, it's too time-consuming. 

Moveset

Depending on your Pokemon combination team, having 2-3 pulse and sphere moves is a must have for the lobster. First, having Water Pulse is a no-brainer for its STAB move and it does a lot of damage with a chance of confusing the opponent. On the other hand, Surf is also a great addition to boost your partner who has Storm Drain or Water Absorb ability. Scald lacks the punch, but at least it has a chance of burning.  

Dragon Pulse is probably the least favoured move because it’s only super effective against Dragons, although on paper it does a lot more power than Ice Beam; but Ice Beam has more coverage and it counters Grass type Pokemon. Another great coverage move is none other than Aura Sphere and it's a good move to have. 

As for Dark Pulse, it's not a bad move either because of the 20% flinch chance and great for taking down tanky ghost and psychic Pokemons. Same goes for Sludge Bomb although not really recommended as most Fairy type Pokemon tend to have high SpD, The last move slot should be Protect to keep this RPG alive as long as possible.

Interestingly, Clawitzer can also learn Heal Pulse and it heals quite a lot of HP for its partner thanks to its Mega Launcher ability. But it should be focusing on shooting down opponents while it still can under Trick Room, so don't you even think of including it.  

Closing thoughts

(image credit to Silent Flame)

Clawitzer is an integrated part of my Trick Room member since XY and has not been changed since then, barely anything could go wrong if you have the right partners and move set. Thanks, Gamefreak for creating this wonderful Pokemon. So Clawitzer, I choose you! Glhf!  

Battle Spot: Mega Ampharos Trick Room and Doubles strategy

Build as of Gen 6

• Ability – Static → Mold Breaker
• Stats – HP (252), Special Attack/SpA (252), Special Defence/SpD (4)
• Nature – Quiet/Modest
• Item – Ampharosite
• Move set – Thunderbolt (stab), Dragon Pulse (stab), Power Gem, Protect

Ampharos has always been one of my favourite Pokemons during the Gold/Silver era, so when I read that it was getting a mega-evolution I got really excited. Ampharos is prolly the reason that got me into Trick Room in the first place because of its horrendous speed. So anyway...

Strength

With the gift of mega-evolving, its SpA shot rocket sky high to an overwhelming 165 stats; making the sheep (or giraffe?) a beast inside Trick Room. Defence and SpD stats were also boosted, but in return of the slow Speed. In addition, by turning into part Dragon type it also gained element resistance as well against fire, water, grass and electric (x4!). Really love using it against a Sunny team especially.

Mold Breaker ability may seem like a weird ability, but it's actually quite useful against those Pokemon with abilities such as Lightningrod (Mega Sceptile), Volt Absorb, Motor Drive, Marvel Scale (Milotic), Multiscale (Dragonite) and especially Sturdy. With such high SpA stat, it could OHKO those Pokemons that are weak to its Thunderbolt and Dragon Pulse move.  

Weakness

Again, by simply becoming part dragon, that also means it's weak to Dragon (every single one of them), Ice (Ice Beam, and a Blizzard from Mega Abomasnow) and Fairy (Sylveon) too. Also not forgetting the ever present Ground type Pokemons roaming around like Garchomp and Landorus, these four weaknesses are common threats in the current metagame so you will need good partners to cover up those weaknesses.

Another problem about using Mega Ampharos is that it has a lack of move pool, aside from Thunderbolt and Dragon Pulse; you only have one SpA move left to fill up and you don't really have that many option (mor eon tht later) as a Trick Room powerhouse player. Thus, this makes it quite predictable and a lot of mind games are needed to make it work.

I should also mention that although Mold Breaker ability has its uses, there are times that the ability is feels kind of wasted when no used. In fact, I think Static ability still seems like a better option with the given boosted Defence stat. But oh well.

Moveset

As mentioned earlier, Thunderbolt and Dragon Pulse are the bread and butter of Mega Ampharos. I like using Power Gem as my last SpA move because of its wide coverage to adapt to various situations, making it an all-rounder. Focus Punch is also a good option but the shaky accuracy is quite a turn off otherwise. Signal Beam is a good alternative too since electric moves aren't that great against grass types (like Ferrothorn). Any three of these moves come in pretty handy as a surprise attack, depending on what your team is lacking. The last move slot is reserve for Protect, it's very important in Doubles format. 

You can also go for Hidden Power Ice but the power is too low, I don't really favour Volt Switch because it's not suitable for Trick Room. Should you use it in a Rainy team or any Pokemon that can cast Rainy Day, then Thunder is a no-brainer. Lastly, Discharge is another move to consider as well, it saved my ass a couple of times by paralyzing the opponent when I'm not in Trick Room lol 

Closing thoughts

(image credit to Alfred Kamon)

Mega Ampharos is a very powerful Pokemon under Trick Room, but because of its 4 common weaknesses and limited move pool; it needs a lot of support and 2-3 Pokemons could easily take your team's slot without realizing it so you need to plan properly. 

Having a partner that knows Wide Guard would be most beneficial as it will protect your team from Earthquake, Blizzard and Pixelated Hyper Voice, also sometimes you don't always need to mega-evolve first because you can make use of Static ability if possible, like against a Mega Kangaskan using Fake Out or playing mind games.

One last thing, the only reason you're using Mega Ampharos is because of Trick Room and nothing else. You can try other gimmick builds like a supporter or the Agility build but that's not its true calling, might as well make the best of it. So Mega Ampharos, I choose you! Glhf! 

Battle Spot: Kecleon Trick Room and Doubles strategy

(Image credit to PLDH.net)

Build set as of Gen 6

• Ability – Protean
• Stats – HP (252), Attack/Atk (252), Special Defence/SpD (4)
• Nature – Adamant
• Item – Lum Berry
• Moveset – Fake Out (stab), Return (stab), Low Kick (stab), Shadow Sneak (stab)

Kecleon is one of those Pokemons in Rating Battle Spot that are rarely seen, in fact, I was prolly the only one who uses it. Many trainers won't consider using it because of its - you guessed it, slow speed; but I took that as an advantage for Trick Room and since then, it has always been my Cofagrigus's Fake Out partner. Also, if it wasn't for its Protean ability, I wouldn't even consider it. 

Strength

Protean ability is Kecleon's saving grace and combined with its wide range of physical move coverage, you literally can change its typing to almost anything you want it to be. Like Greninja, you can really abuse this power to annoy your opponent in a Trick Room setting. It also has an excellent SpD (stat is 120!), which can sponge an incoming strong SpA move. Did I also mention it has Fake Out? 

Weakness

For a physical attacker, it's not really that strong but not that bad either. With a 90 Atk stat, it lacks that "oomph!" power; just like a basketball always hitting the rim but still goes in anyway that kind of vibe. Also, being a physical attacker it’s prone to get Burn and would be rendered useless once it gets it. With this, it's important to give a Lum Berry item, but this would also mean you have to sacrifice a power boost item like Life Orb, Expert Belt, or Muscle Band. This is quite a dilemma, because without a power boost item; it won't be able to OHKO a Mega Kangaskan. 

Also, since its SpD is so high. The defence is the other way round with 70 stat only. So...yeah, you know what that means. This is most unfortunate.

Moveset

Fake Out is important for me so that my Cofagrigus can activate Trick Room safely. Once it gets into Trick Room mode, that’s when it can start to abuse Protean. Shadow Sneak is a direct defensive counter to fighting type Pokemon who tries to have a piece of it, Shadow Claw is fine too but the difference is that Shadow Sneak is a priority move and it allows it to escape incoming fighting type moves. 

While Sucker Punch has better priority and power than Shadow Sneak, turning it into a dark type is not very ideal as it’s still weak to the same fighting type Pokemon. Return is also a favourite and it does quite a sum of damage with 108 power even though it’s just a normal type move. Rock Slide is a good move to have too, which can surprise many trainers, especially against a Sunny team. 

It's also lucky to have some move tutors in ORAS, Kecleon finally gets access to Low Kick and is actually its most powerful move since most Pokemon that is weak to fighting are usually quite heavy. Drain Punch is nice too, if you really want some recovery tactic. It can also change itself into a water type with Aqua Tail from a move tutor. 

Closing thoughts

(image credit to zerochan.net)

If you know how to make use of Kecleon's ability and move set, chances are you'll be screwing your opponents around pretty often in Trick Room. For example, with the combination of Shadow Sneak and Return, you could make a fool out of your trainer who has a fighting type Pokemon and change it again to another type depending on the move set.  But do be careful of strong physical attackers, it can't handle it that well.

Turning it into a supportive Pokemon is not such a bad idea too, but it's an area that I've not explored much. If that's the case, you should prolly do a full boost to its HP and Defence, and add in Drain Punch as a consistent form of recovery.

The possibilities are endless, really. So Kecleon, I choose you! Glhf!

Battle Spot: Cofagrigus Trick Room and Doubles strategy

Build set is as of Gen 6

• Ability – Mummy
• Stats – HP (252), Special Attack/SpA (252), Special Defense/SpD (4)
• Nature – Modest
• Item – Mental Herb
• Moveset – Shadow Ball (STAB), Trick Room, Destiny Bond, Psychic

If you're reading this, I assume you should know the meaning of the information above. So without further ado, let's get right to my first Pokemon feedback post, Cofagrigus.

Cofagrigus is regarded as one of most reliable Trick Room casters for a good reason, the bulkiness, Ghost type element, a mixture of having offensive and supportive moves, and not to forget its ability Mummy which is the only Pokemon that has it. However, its natural HP isn't that great and must rely on its allies for recovery. It also faces competition, like Spiritomb if trainers are looking for an extremely bulky Pokemon, or Jellicent with better Speed stat. If you hate getting Taunt, then Aromatisse is also a good replacement. But of course, it depends on who's your partner isn't it?

Strength

Mummy ability is a freaking awesome physical defensive mechanism (that's why you should boost HP fully and give a little to SpD stat), what it does is it nullifies the opponent's ability if touched physically. Sometimes, you can play switching mind games to disable your opponent's Pokemon ability and usually, this would want to make them waste time switching partners in and out. 

What's more, it has an impressive Defense stat so it can usually withstand a strong physical move, even to the ones that it's weak to, EXCEPT...Weavile + Knock Off lol. On the other hand, its offence is respectable enough and before it faints; you can always pull off a Destiny Bond (and I find it weird that opponents always fall for this). 

Weakness

Its most common threats are usually strong dark or ghost type Pokemons (Hydreigon and Greninja come to mind), a Sleeper or getting double teamed. Taunt is not really a problem as usually it carries a Mental Herb item, and getting flinched by Scrappy Kangaskan with Fake Out is not that bad because you've prevented it from mega-evolving, also, you should have a Fake Out partner like Hariyama or Scrafty to OHKO that bastard, but I prefer Hitmonchan though, because it has Inner Focus ability so that basically make it as an anti-Kangaskan Pokemon lol. Not only that, your Fake Out partner has to look out for Pokemons can use Trick move because they tend to switch items with your mummy. 

Sleep and getting double teamed is where the problem usually comes in. If you see a Sleeper, it’s best that you have a Pokemon that does strong fire, flying, ice or psychic move because the popular Spore users like Amoongus and Breloom are annoying af. Don't forget to double team the another annoying Pokemon, Smergle (Dark Void, that's why) too who usually wears a Focus Sash. 

Moveset

Since Trick Room only last 4 rounds (the first round of casting it is counted), it’s crucial to start taking the opponents down as soon as possible. Hence, the full SpA boost in nature, EV and IV for Shadow Ball STAB. Destiny Bond, as mentioned is a great move to have. As for the last move slot, having another SpA move is good too since Shadow Ball has no effect on normal types, so Psychic is probably the second best backup move because it can get rid of Amoongus and Breloom which they are both weak to, there's Energy Ball move too but I just prefer Psychic. 

Hidden Power Fighting may seem more ideal but the power is only 60 so I'm not sure where you can go with that, besides; you should let your starting partner do that. Lastly, if your Cofagrigus build is not going for offence, then having Will-O-Wisp, Calm Mind, Swagger, Momento, Pain Split or Nasty Plot is viable too depending on your preference.

Closing thoughts

(image credit to Zerochan.net)

A fairly straight forward build, I've been using it as the core of my current Trick Room team since XY until ORAS (and maybe SunMoon, we shall see). Remember, there are occasions that you can't always rely on Trick Room, sometimes it has to be delayed to assist the starting partner in taking down threats first which can catch your opponent off guard, or let the opponent activate Trick Room for you (experienced trainers do that often to counter). 

Overall, it's certainly one of the best Trick Room casters and definitely my favourite one. So Cofagrigus, I Choose You! Glhf!

The Four Fundamentals of Trick Room

So you decided to choose Trick Room, and you prolly stumbled upon my blog when Googling for "how to make a trick room team" by chance. I know there are other better guides like Smogon's, and as mentioned from my introduction post I'm nowhere national level (or...am I? lol), so why would you still want to read my post? 

Well, what I'm about to share with you is not only what you need, but also what kind of mindset you should have in the Pokemon WiFi Rating Battle Spot, reading your opponent, and most importantly, bringing the best out of your certain slow Pokemon chosen for the team (I'll share this more in the near future). 

(Image credit to TGN Youtube channel)

Shall we?

For starters, you should know that the move Trick Room only last 5 rounds, however, with a priority of -7 that means your Trick Room caster will move last, which also means you actually only have 4 rounds for your slow Pokemon. In a Doubles format environment, the pace is fast and I'd prefer it that your team of slow Pokemon can finish everything with that time period. Because once everything is set back to normal, you're gonna face some difficulties surviving. 

• Choosing the right Trick Room caster 

Lucky for you, many Psychic and Ghost Pokemon types can learn the move, along with the Porygon lineup and Diancie. It's best to choose a tanky caster because experienced trainers will do their best to KO the caster before Trick Room activates. 

Granted, your caster might not even survive if it gets double teamed (literally, not the move), thus, it's important to have a supporting Pokemon who can Fake Out (more on that later) to allow the caster to activate Trick Room, at the very least, your tanky caster can survive one powerful hit from one of their Pokemon, while your Fake Outer deals with the other. Also, a Mental Herb item is the only item your caster should have to counter Taunt.

As for me, Cofagrigus is my favourite Trick Room caster because it's tanky, can't be Fake Out (unless if the Pokemon has Scrappy ability), and also strong enough to take down many Pokemon if given the chance. 

• The Fake Out 

(Image credit to aminoapps.com)

If your Trick Room caster is the bread, then your Fake Out partner is the butter of the team (geddit?). Fake Out has a priority move of +3 which is great, so your Fake Out partner's job is to protect the Trick Room caster at all cost and should often come out in the front line, there are only a few Pokemon who can learn Fake Out; and even smaller number of slow strong Fake Out Pokemon. 

Experienced trainers will easily spot them, and prolly the only way for them to counter you is having a faster Fake Out user, but no worries, that also means your chance of setting up Trick Room is higher without being double teamed; even if your caster gets Fake Out, you can also Fake Out his other Pokemon for free and try again in the next round.

Normally, trainers will choose slow and strong Fake Out Pokemon such as Hariyama, Hitmontop and Scrafty because they're ridiculously threatening in Trick Room. Believe it or not, I use Kecleon and it's still my favourite Fake Out partner because of its Protean hidden ability gifted by Arceus (or rather GameFreak lol).

• What about the other 4 Pokemon?

(Image credit to nintendobuddyboards.freeforums.org)

Like I said in my Pokemon Team Building post, the rest of the members are entirely up to you and how well they synergize with the core Pokemon (which is your Trick Room caster). I don't think I need to tell you that you need a Mega-evolved Pokemon as well to add a little "umph!", and there are only a few of them which you can freely choose. 

On the other hand, supportive Pokemon with Follow Me or Rage Powder are also incredibly useful and can be seen as an altervative to Fake Out. You have the fairy Clefable for Follow Me, a good Trick Room member, and Amoongus is the most popular (and annoying, it's a love-hate relationship) Rage Powder user compared with Tangrowth and Parasect, super tanky but lacking raw power, The latter two are not that useless as you think, they're quite tanky as well with a respectable Attack stat, but prone to get demolish by many common weaknesses in the current metagame. 

My Trick Room style, as you might have guessed is more to offensive so most of my members are slow hard hitters and chosen to counter the ever present top 12 OU Pokemon in the Rating Battle Spot. Even Pokemon like Maractus can sweep the match for me in a Trick Room environment, when used correctly, of course. 

• Reading your opponent

(Image credit to mypokecard.com)

There are two types of opponents you'll face in the Rating Battle Spot - the one who makes poor decisions, and the one who knows your A-game. Most of the time in your early season career, you'll find it pretty easy to beat down opponents left and right with your Trick Room tactic until you reach above 1600 points; matches get harder.

Since there are so few Pokemon suitable for Trick Room, your seasoned opponent will know exactly what you're up to during the team preview. However, you can also use this to your advantage, and this is where the mind games come in; you can actually mind fuck them if you're cunning enough. Here are two popular situations in which the opponent think he/she can counter you and mind fuck back in return:

1. Your opponent can counter you back with a Trick Room of their own, that means if you were already planning to cast Trick Room; it will be cast 2 times that will make the speed order back to normal. Like your opponent, you too can also spot which of their Pokemon knows Trick Room. So in my encounters, I've met quite a few trainers who'd cast Trick Room to counter me, but unbeknownst to him/her; he/she was actually doing a favour for me, allowing my Pokemon have a free head-on attack shot in the first round.
2. Another popular counter is that your opponent will try to stall your offense by spamming Protect and switching Pokemon in between, it'd be annoying at first, but with enough experience you can eventually read them like book plowing their defenses mercilessly.

Keep in mind that there will be occasions that you won't be able to set up Trick Room at all, but all hope is not lost. If you come across that situation, you actually still have a winning chance without Trick Room, and this really depends on your tactics and understanding of the metagame. It's very rewarding if you won with style, making you a true Trick Room master. 

(Image credit to Smogon)

So there you have it, these are the four fundamentals of Trick Room and I hope it has given you some insights of how Trick Room is played in the Rating Battle Spot but experience is your best teacher. And most importantly, don't be afraid to try other Pokemon that are rated lowly just because they're slow, they truly shine under Trick Room. Glhf!

Pokemon Team Building Steps

With 721 Pokemon and counting at your disposal, you could come up with a berzillion tactics and strategies for your team. Of course, only a few of them work due to consistency and not relying on sheer luck all the time. In Battle Spot Doubles format, I cannot emphasize enough how important your Pokemon synergy is; if you just simply pick all your favourite Pokemon with no synergy, then y'all gonna have a bad time. 

My team-building blueprint lol

Team building is probably my favourite thing to do, in fact, I think I spend more time theory crafting than playing in WiFi battle, even in the office (last time lol) when I had nothing to do, and at home doing tonnes of research through Pokemon Database, Serebii, Bulbapedia, and of course, Smogon. And thanks to Pokemonshowdown.com, a Pokemon battle simulator, I was able to test out various builds and synergies of my former Trick Room team, I was able to claim the top spot in Msia Doubles three times in a row starting at season 6 from XY. I wish I have the proof, but for some reason, the database from Pokemon Global got corrupted or something.

Anyway, from my experience, here are the top 5 ways of playing Doubles that can give you the most consistent winning streak:

• The Good Stuff

This is possibly the most popular build because most of the Pokemon are both strong and fast, however, there are cases of slow strong Pokemon in the team too for support and to balance the synergy out. This is also probably the recommended start-out build for beginners, to get an understanding of how vastly different Doubles is from Single format.

• The Weather Team

Weather teams in Doubles format are super common, particularly Sunny and Rain ones, Sand team are also seen occasionally, with Hail (Ice) team being the least used because of their terrible type weaknesses. During Gen 5, Weather Wars was the staple of the metagame because the weather effect lasts forever until the weather gets replaced by another different one. Thank goodness that was changed in Gen 6 that only allows the weather to last 5 rounds (or 8 if your Pokemon holds a special item). If you're one of those that favors a certain element, then the Weather strategy is for you (never go for anything else, like...pure Normal type team or something).  

• The Trick Room / Tailwind / Semi-Room

Trick Room, a move introduced in Gen 4 is a wonderful tool for slow Pokemon because once activated, the slowest Pokemon will move first. Tailwind, is the complete opposite of that as it boosts your Pokemon's speed by two stages. Semi-Room, on the other hand, is considered quite a new strategy that mixes both slow and fast Pokemon, using Trick Room only if needed. Pretty self-explanatory here, and Trick Room is also my best team to reach 1700 points before; pretty good considering I don't really rely on the lesser legendaries nor the top 12 OU Pokemon. 

• The Prankster / Spellcaster

Prankster is an awesome ability that a few Pokemon have, and they're annoying AF because of how it can cripple your team if you don't have anything to counter. However, if you know how it works then it can be dealt with. There are some teams that don't rely on Prankster though, such as those who use Perish Song move, or using an unsuspecting Pokemon like Pachirisu by 2014 Pokemon Champion,  Se Jun Park using Follow Me. 

• The All Rounder

Actually, there's no official "All Rounder" team by Smogon or Nuggetbridge. It's just a term I made up by myself because this team is unique and also probably the most difficult to build. The reason why it is difficult is because the build solely revolves on your core which is your favourite Pokemon of all time. My AR team consists of Umbreon (core), Mega Metagross, Azumarill, Tangrowth, Swellow, and Chandelure. It may look like a random build but it's not, as it was designed to fight on par with the top 12 OU Pokemon (which you will encounter a lot) in Doubles format, and the best part of it is that most of the time, your opponent don't have a single clue what the team is capable of. More on that in the near future.

So to recap, to build a team, choosing the core Pokemon and your preferred battling style is a two-way foundation. Your core Pokemon will carry your team's style, and certain Pokemon are already selected naturally due to their useful abilities; the rest of the five Pokemon that have good synergy with it or each other are completely up to you. 

With this foundation, sometimes this brings out the best of your favourite Pokemon that is less than average, even the ones that ranked low by Smogon, which makes this game so much fun to play (especially when you crush their overpowered team). Until next time, I'll be going into how I choose my first Trick Room team.

Laters!

Introduction

Hi everyone,

With the new Pokemon Sun and Moon trailer, almost everyone went nuts over it, especially the new starters. And as a Poketrainer, I too was excited and I just couldn't wait for the game's debut in November. The thought of battling again and possibly building a new team excites me, which is why I created this new blog just for it.

But this is not just any Pokemon fan blog, as mentioned in my text header I created this blog because there's actually a lack of Doubles format and Trick Room guides online. Sure, there's Smogon and Nuggetbridge but they really like Singles format which I find boring (just personal preference), but nonetheless they did give me a good start on competitive Pokemon battling. 

Also, I've been doing my own Doubles guide with various Pokemon (mainly for Trick Room) over the three years whenever I was bored in my office. So with this, if you're one of those who are looking for this kind of guide, welcome!

My resume lol

Of course, by all means, I'm nowhere near Pro level but with my Trick Room team; I did reach 1700 rating points before (I dropped a few points at the end of the season, ha) which is considered good according to my Pokemon friend's pretty hardcore. So I'll have to take his word for that haha. 

I also have a personal principle on not relying on any overused Top 12 Pokemon in Doubles format, sure, the harsh truth of being the top Poketrainer is choosing the strongest Pokemon that can win; but that's only the selfish perception of people, I believe truly skilled trainers should try to win with the Pokemon the love best. Besides, it's so boring seeing everyone using the same Pokemon, and there's nothing to be proud of if you know you're gonna win with the strongest Pokemon.

Anyway, I'll try to do my best to write a guide every week. And I also hope that you're not expecting too much because what I'm trying to do is give you some of my insight and first-hand experience of a certain Pokemon faring in a friendly WiFi Doubles format environment, nothing too serious of preparing for VGC nor being the absolute top best, after all, what's the point of gaming if you're not having fun?

Laters!