This team hasn't yet been playtested, and I'm always the guy who comes up with weird/bad ideas, so take this whole team with a grain of salt. The basic idea behind this team is to lure in attacks/threats of a certain type and then predict what the proper response should be. To this end I started working with CeleTran and then went farther ahead and tried to pick pokemon that synergized defensively with each other perfectly, with the goal being that I could have a pokemon that I could Baton Pass a substitute that would not break for every possible attack from many common threats.
Swampert (F) @ Leftovers
Ability: Torrent
EVs: 252 HP/252 Def/4 SAtk
Relaxed nature (+Def, -Spd)
- Earthquake
- Ice Beam
- Stealth Rock
- Yawn/Roar/Surf
Standard Mixpert lead, useful as a defensive switch vs. rock attacks in particular. Yawn is an unusual option that I think could work well considering the nature of the team, although Roar would probably work similarly. Surf for coverage might also work well. It works as a check for dragons and heatran assuming it can survive into the late-game. It can also come in easily on Scizor/Ttar/other threats to Celebi.
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Celebi @ Leftovers
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 252 HP/184 Spd/72 SDef
Timid nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Substitute
- Leech Seed/Psychic/HP Fire/HP Ice/Twave
- Baton Pass
- Recover
This is the crux of the team. Luring out Bug/Fire/Ice/Dark attacks with a subseed celebi, subbing on the switch-in (hopefully a Scizor/Tyranitar/Heatran). If it can be stalled by leech seed/sub/recover, set up leech seed and wait for the counterswitch to something like scizor, ttar, or even something like salamence. Once that switch comes, baton pass out of the expected hit (things like u-turn, fire blast, pursuit, etc.) into the proper resist. Defensive EVs are tailored on the receiving pokemon so that the passed substitute will survive the most common hits vs. celebi. This will get wrecked by taunters, but the extra 2 points will outspeed all standard Gliscor (and those gliscor who think they can get ahead by using just one extra point :3 ), the fastest taunter I'm likely to run into in the midgame. Some Special Defense helps to sponge neutral/resisted special hits and also allows me to set up a substitute that will survive two hits from ScarfLati's thunderbolt and Cresselia's psychic.
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Gyarados (F) @ Choice Band
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 Atk/64 Def/192 Spd
Adamant nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Waterfall
- Stone Edge
- Outrage
- Earthquake
CBGyara is generally ignored for DDGyara, which would be better in almost any case...except switching in on lured CBScizor attacks. With the extra defense EVs, all of CBScizor's attacks will not break the passed substitute. This leaves the opponent free to panic and expect a DDgyara and send in a check...which then gets mauled by choice banded hits. DDGyara outclasses CBGyara except when the opponent's primary check to the pokemon is a faster revenge killer, like Starmie, ScarfRotom or ScarfLati. CBGyara's power lets it break down all of those pokemon in two hits without setup (scarflati requires switching into stealth rock twice to be 2hkoed by waterfall). Firing off waterfall is usually the best first attack unless I scout a vaporeon early on in the game, but predicting switches can net the 1hko/2hko with a different move. Waterfall 2hkos 4/252/252 Starmie, and more defensive variants can be switched out of to Jolteon (or Celebi to set up a sub knowing that it doesn't know Ice Beam). Outrage is surprisingly safe to use as even with 3 turns of outrage, the opponent will switch in the first turn, switch to a steel/their counter on the second, and break the sub on the third; the key benefit behind outrage is that it is almost a guaranteed 2hko vs vappy with leftovers (they can protect stall for leftovers recovery but it definitely puts vap on the defensive and weak enough to be fried by a weaker/resisted hit). This leaves time to switch to jolteon for the expected electric attack. Enough speed is left to outspeed jolly ttar and all those bulky pokemon who EV to barely outspeed ttar.
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Jolteon (F) @ Life Orb
Ability: Volt Absorb
EVs: 4 HP/252 Spd/252 SAtk
Timid nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Hidden Power [Grass]
- Charge Beam
- Thunderbolt
- Shadow Ball
Jolteon is the other pokemon in the first pair, GyaraJolt, and its coverage and speed threaten most of the checks to Gyarados. Volt Absorb keeps it healthy and it can prep for a sweep with Charge Beam if there are no immunities on the other team. Its Speed also lets it reliably check slower setup/hazard pokemon like Skarmory and even mences before setup (LO boosted tbolt will do 65% minimum, enough to finish it off after SR and one round of LO recoil).
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Machamp (F) @ Life Orb/Leftovers
Ability: No Guard
EVs: 252 Atk/252 Def/4 Spe
Adamant/Impish? nature (+Atk/Def, -SAtk)
- Payback
- Stone Edge
- Dynamicpunch
- Encore/Focus Punch/Protect
Machamp is a solid choice considering I'm using Celebi as a Dark/Bug attack bait; he comes in on the physical hits Gyarados can't (or when he's low on health from SR) and can start throwing out dynamicpunches from behind a sub (ideally with leech seed recovery helping him to survive longer). He can come in on the same threats that Gyara can, but he can also come in on lighter neutral hits as well when gyara will be both outsped and finished off by coverage moves. LO-boosted Payback will hurt the rotom-form that comes in, and dynamicpunch is there both for stab and to help protect the sub for as long as possible. The extra power can overwhelm pokemon used to deal with machamp, such as Cresselia and defensive mence/gyara. The 4th slot is open for a lot of options, but since Payback/Stone Edge/Dpunch has perfect coverage a support option could work in that slot as well; Encore comes to mind both to force out setup sweepers and prepare a resisted hit for Celebi/other pokemon to switch in. Focus punch is a solid stab hit that is even more powerful backed by dynamicpunch, and protect could scout for attacks and stall for leftovers recovery.
Calculations are tough for machamp since I don't know how much use the extra defense provided by Impish would be compared to the reduced attacking power. I'll figure this out later.
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Heatran (F) @ Choice Specs
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 224 Spd/252 SAtk/32 SDef
Modest nature (+SAtk, -Atk)
- Earth Power
- Roar
- Fire Blast
- Dragon Pulse
The other half of CeleTran, it can come in on resisted special attacks directed towards celebi (and has the added bonus of needing no investment to come in on all of scizor's moves other than superpower without breaking the sub). SpecsTran (especially modest specstran) is rarely used because it's too easily revenge-killed/scared off/whatever, but behind a substitute with the opponent in an unfavorable matchup, the whole game changes. Give this a flash fire boost, and it will proceed to maul Blissey (guaranteed 2hko with SR and a flash fire boost, not counting accuracy). Roar is a solid option to scout the opponent's team since the other main options are covered (bulky waters won't like Jolteon and will also be scared off by Celebi).
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This is just an idea, I'll probably test it on ladder sometime soon, lol
Swampert (F) @ Leftovers
Ability: Torrent
EVs: 252 HP/252 Def/4 SAtk
Relaxed nature (+Def, -Spd)
- Earthquake
- Ice Beam
- Stealth Rock
- Yawn/Roar/Surf
Standard Mixpert lead, useful as a defensive switch vs. rock attacks in particular. Yawn is an unusual option that I think could work well considering the nature of the team, although Roar would probably work similarly. Surf for coverage might also work well. It works as a check for dragons and heatran assuming it can survive into the late-game. It can also come in easily on Scizor/Ttar/other threats to Celebi.
---
Celebi @ Leftovers
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 252 HP/184 Spd/72 SDef
Timid nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Substitute
- Leech Seed/Psychic/HP Fire/HP Ice/Twave
- Baton Pass
- Recover
This is the crux of the team. Luring out Bug/Fire/Ice/Dark attacks with a subseed celebi, subbing on the switch-in (hopefully a Scizor/Tyranitar/Heatran). If it can be stalled by leech seed/sub/recover, set up leech seed and wait for the counterswitch to something like scizor, ttar, or even something like salamence. Once that switch comes, baton pass out of the expected hit (things like u-turn, fire blast, pursuit, etc.) into the proper resist. Defensive EVs are tailored on the receiving pokemon so that the passed substitute will survive the most common hits vs. celebi. This will get wrecked by taunters, but the extra 2 points will outspeed all standard Gliscor (and those gliscor who think they can get ahead by using just one extra point :3 ), the fastest taunter I'm likely to run into in the midgame. Some Special Defense helps to sponge neutral/resisted special hits and also allows me to set up a substitute that will survive two hits from ScarfLati's thunderbolt and Cresselia's psychic.
---
Gyarados (F) @ Choice Band
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 Atk/64 Def/192 Spd
Adamant nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Waterfall
- Stone Edge
- Outrage
- Earthquake
CBGyara is generally ignored for DDGyara, which would be better in almost any case...except switching in on lured CBScizor attacks. With the extra defense EVs, all of CBScizor's attacks will not break the passed substitute. This leaves the opponent free to panic and expect a DDgyara and send in a check...which then gets mauled by choice banded hits. DDGyara outclasses CBGyara except when the opponent's primary check to the pokemon is a faster revenge killer, like Starmie, ScarfRotom or ScarfLati. CBGyara's power lets it break down all of those pokemon in two hits without setup (scarflati requires switching into stealth rock twice to be 2hkoed by waterfall). Firing off waterfall is usually the best first attack unless I scout a vaporeon early on in the game, but predicting switches can net the 1hko/2hko with a different move. Waterfall 2hkos 4/252/252 Starmie, and more defensive variants can be switched out of to Jolteon (or Celebi to set up a sub knowing that it doesn't know Ice Beam). Outrage is surprisingly safe to use as even with 3 turns of outrage, the opponent will switch in the first turn, switch to a steel/their counter on the second, and break the sub on the third; the key benefit behind outrage is that it is almost a guaranteed 2hko vs vappy with leftovers (they can protect stall for leftovers recovery but it definitely puts vap on the defensive and weak enough to be fried by a weaker/resisted hit). This leaves time to switch to jolteon for the expected electric attack. Enough speed is left to outspeed jolly ttar and all those bulky pokemon who EV to barely outspeed ttar.
---
Jolteon (F) @ Life Orb
Ability: Volt Absorb
EVs: 4 HP/252 Spd/252 SAtk
Timid nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Hidden Power [Grass]
- Charge Beam
- Thunderbolt
- Shadow Ball
Jolteon is the other pokemon in the first pair, GyaraJolt, and its coverage and speed threaten most of the checks to Gyarados. Volt Absorb keeps it healthy and it can prep for a sweep with Charge Beam if there are no immunities on the other team. Its Speed also lets it reliably check slower setup/hazard pokemon like Skarmory and even mences before setup (LO boosted tbolt will do 65% minimum, enough to finish it off after SR and one round of LO recoil).
---
Machamp (F) @ Life Orb/Leftovers
Ability: No Guard
EVs: 252 Atk/252 Def/4 Spe
Adamant/Impish? nature (+Atk/Def, -SAtk)
- Payback
- Stone Edge
- Dynamicpunch
- Encore/Focus Punch/Protect
Machamp is a solid choice considering I'm using Celebi as a Dark/Bug attack bait; he comes in on the physical hits Gyarados can't (or when he's low on health from SR) and can start throwing out dynamicpunches from behind a sub (ideally with leech seed recovery helping him to survive longer). He can come in on the same threats that Gyara can, but he can also come in on lighter neutral hits as well when gyara will be both outsped and finished off by coverage moves. LO-boosted Payback will hurt the rotom-form that comes in, and dynamicpunch is there both for stab and to help protect the sub for as long as possible. The extra power can overwhelm pokemon used to deal with machamp, such as Cresselia and defensive mence/gyara. The 4th slot is open for a lot of options, but since Payback/Stone Edge/Dpunch has perfect coverage a support option could work in that slot as well; Encore comes to mind both to force out setup sweepers and prepare a resisted hit for Celebi/other pokemon to switch in. Focus punch is a solid stab hit that is even more powerful backed by dynamicpunch, and protect could scout for attacks and stall for leftovers recovery.
Calculations are tough for machamp since I don't know how much use the extra defense provided by Impish would be compared to the reduced attacking power. I'll figure this out later.
---
Heatran (F) @ Choice Specs
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 224 Spd/252 SAtk/32 SDef
Modest nature (+SAtk, -Atk)
- Earth Power
- Roar
- Fire Blast
- Dragon Pulse
The other half of CeleTran, it can come in on resisted special attacks directed towards celebi (and has the added bonus of needing no investment to come in on all of scizor's moves other than superpower without breaking the sub). SpecsTran (especially modest specstran) is rarely used because it's too easily revenge-killed/scared off/whatever, but behind a substitute with the opponent in an unfavorable matchup, the whole game changes. Give this a flash fire boost, and it will proceed to maul Blissey (guaranteed 2hko with SR and a flash fire boost, not counting accuracy). Roar is a solid option to scout the opponent's team since the other main options are covered (bulky waters won't like Jolteon and will also be scared off by Celebi).
---
This is just an idea, I'll probably test it on ladder sometime soon, lol
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