Double Battle Strategies (Work In Progress)
<Intro to be added at a later date>
[Explosion]
Explosion is a 250-power, 100%-accuracy, Normal-type, physical attack that hits both of the user's opponents as well as the user's ally. During Explosion, damage is calculated as if the targets had their Defense scores halved, so it's effectively a 500-power move. However, because it targets multiple Pokémon, its power against each is reduced to 75%. After sucessfully executing Explosion, the user faints.
Using Explosion
Explosion is a very popular move in Double Battles. The ability to take out two of the opponent's Pokémon in exchange for one of yours is very tempting. Of course, to avoid destroying your partner, one of three things should be true:
1. The Explosion-user's partner is of the Ghost-type.
2. The Explosion-user's partner knows Protect, Detect, or Endure.
3. The Explosion-user's partner can survive the Explosion damage (through type resistances, high Defense, a Chilan Berry, a Focus Sash, etc).
Option 1 is the most versatile. One advantage of a Ghost-type partner is that it doesn't have to waste a turn using Protect or Detect. It can use that turn to set up an effect (like Trick Room) or to attack opponents (in case Explosion doesn't KO both of them). Another advantage is that the Ghost-type can be switched in on the same round its partner uses Explosion, creating a deadly surprise combo.
With option 2, the partner that's currently on the field must know Protect, Detect, or Endure. You cannot switch a Pokémon in and have it protect itself in the same round. This option, although still popular, is more limiting than option 1, especially since in order to gain maximum flexibility, most of the Pokémon on your team must carry Protect or Detect.
Guarding Against Explosion
Because Explosion is so popular, most good Double Battle teams will be ready to deal with it. This is not to say that Explosion is no longer a useful move; no solution to Explosion is completely foolproof.
The most reliable defense against Explosion is a Pokémon with the Damp Ability. While a Damp Pokémon is on the field, Explosion and Self-Destruct will fail. It should be noted that while Damp prevents these moves from succeeding, it does not prevent Pokémon from attempting to use them (selecting them at the beginning of the round). This is both good and bad. The good news is that careless opponents may waste a turn attempting to explode while the Damp Pokémon is on the field. The bad news is that the exploder survives the attempt. If the exploder's partner KO's the Damp Pokémon, the Explosion user can successfully blow up later in the same turn. Another minor disadvantage of the Damp Ability is that it prevents your Pokémon from using Explosion as well.
If you're a whiz at prediciton, keep your Damp Pokémon in reserve rather than bringing it out at the start of the match. If you predict correctly, you can cause an Exploder to lose its turn as you switch in your Pokémon.
The most common way to guard against Explosion is with your own Ghost-types, Protect, Detect, and a good supply of prediction. If you think you know when your opponent is going to explode, you can avoid all harm and their Exploder will still bite the dust. This is also the riskiest method, since an opponent that out-predicts you essentially gets a free turn of setup.
Finally, if your exploding opponent is slow enough, you could just KO it before it has the chance to combust.
Turning the Tables
The fact that no complete counter to Explosion exists makes it a hard move to guard against, but this can also be turned to your advantage. We've established that the two best ways for a Pokémon's partner to avoid its Explosion are being a Ghost-type and using Protect or Detect. Ghost-types can be made susceptible to Explosion by the moves Foresight and Odor Sleuth. Protect and Detect can be foiled by timely use of the move Feint. The correct execution of these moves requires spot-on prediciton and the penalty for failure comes in the form of wasted turns. Conversely, the payoff for the successful usage of these techniques can be very high. See the sections on Foresight/Odor Sleuth and Feint for a more detailed analysis.
Pokémon that learn Explosion (with base Attack/Speed): Golem(110/45), Magnezone(70/60), Muk(105/50), Cloyster(95/70), Gengar(65/110), Steelix(85/30), Electrode(50/140), Exeggutor(95/55**), Lickilicky(85*/50), Weezing(90/60), Snorlax(110*/30)***, Mewtwo(110/130)***, Mew(100/100), Sudowoodo(100/30), Forretress(90/40), Qwilfish(95/85**), Magcargo(50/30), Corsola(55/35), Smeargle(20*/75), Shiftry(100/80**), Probopass(55/40), Swalot(73/55), Wailord(90/60)***, Camerupt(100/40), Torkoal(85/20), Lunatone(55/70), Solrock(95/70), Claydol(70/75), Glalie(80/80), Metagross(135/70), Regirock(100/50), Regice(50/50), Registeel(75/50), Drifblim(80/80**), Skuntank(93/84), Bronzong(89/33), Azelf(125/115), Heatran(90/77).
*Lickilicky, Snorlax, and Smeargle get STAB bonus for being Normal-types.
**These Pokémon may have doubled Speed due to Chlorophyll, Swift Swim, or Unburden.
***Snorlax, Mewtwo, and Wailord cannot learn Explosion, but can learn SelfDestruct via Pokémon XD Move Tutor.
Pokémon with Damp: Golduck, Poliwrath, Politoed, Quagsire.
[Protect]/[Detect]
Protect is a move that prevents the user from being harmed during the round in which it is used. It has a +3 priority modifier, meaning it is executed before all moves that could harm the user of Protect. If the user's last action was the successful execution of Protect, Detect, or Endure, Protect only has a 50% chance of success. The upshot is that a Pokémon is guaranteed to Protect itself for one round, but consecutive uses may not work. If Protect fails for any reason, a use of Protect on the following round does not have a chance to fail. If all other Pokémon on the field have already taken their action (switches are included) by the time the Protect user acts, Protect will fail, allowing a 100% success rate on the following round.
When I say that Protect prevents harm to the user, I'm using a very loose definition of the word 'harm'. Moves that deal direct damage are blocked by Protect. Moves that cause a status ailment are blocked by Protect. Moves that lower the target's stats are blocked by Protect. In fact, almost any move that targets the user of Protect is blocked. Here are the exceptions:
• Feint: Feint hits the target if and only if it is guarding itself with Protect or Detect. The effect of Protect or Detect then ends, allowing other moves to hit the target for the remainder of the turn.
• Curse (used by a Ghost-type): For whatever reason, the Ghost-type Curse effect is not blocked by Protect.
• Future Sight/Doom Desire: Protect cannot prevent the execution of these moves. It also cannot block the damage once the moves take effect.
• Imprison: Imprison, though its success is dependent on opponents present, is an effect on the Imprison user and is therefore not blocked by Protect.
• Perish Song: A Pokémon that is using Protect on the round that Perish Song is executed will still receive a Perish Count as normal.
• Acupressure: Because Acupressure does not harm the target, it bypasses Protect.
• Psych Up/Role Play/Transform: These moves do not affect the target in any way. Hence, Protect does not cause them to fail.
• Shadow Force: Giratina's signature attack can hit through Protect.
• Under certain conditions, other moves can hit through Protect and Detect with a success rate equal to 100% minus their accuracy. Thunder has this property during the effects of Rain Dance, as does Blizzard during the effects of Hail. Any move that follows a use of Lock-On or Mind Reader has this property, as well as any move used by or targeted at a Pokémon with the No Guard ability. It should be noted that this chance to break through Protect occurs in Diamond and Pearl versions, but not Pokémon Battle Revolution. It has not yet been confirmed whether this occurs in Platinum.
Detect is exactly like Protect, with the exception that Detect has only 5 base PP (max 8), whereas Protect has 10 (max 16). Since the overwhelming majority of Pokémon can learn Protect and only a few can learn Detect, you might wonder why you'd even bother with Detect at all. The main reason that you'd choose Detect over Protect is to avoid falling victim to the Imprison/Protect combo. Imprison has its own section in this guide, but suffice it to say that this combo prevents opponents from using the move Protect. There is, however, no Pokémon that can learn both Imprison and Detect (with the exception of Smeargle). As a result, Detect is the more reliable choice when it is available.
Using Protect
Protect is commonly used to shield a Pokémon from its partner's Spread attacks like Surf, Earthquake, and Explosion. This strategy is not quite as powerful as it was in the Advance generation due to the 25% power cut that such moves have, but it remains a popular and useful combo.
Of course, Protect also guards the user from the opponents' moves. With good prediction, Protect can save your Pokémon a lot of pain and waste your opponent's turns. Poor prediction will cost you a turn as your opponents ignore your Protect user and focus their efforts on its partner or spend their free turns raising their stats and setting up beneficial effects. Pokémon that can hit hard but have major defensive vulnerabilities or poor Speed ratings make good candidates for this use of Protect because they make such tempting targets. While they focus their fire on the perceived threat, your other Pokémon can take a free turn.
To a limited extent, Protect can be used to stall the opponent, wasting turns of a Sunny Day or Rain Dance effect the opponent has generated or giving time for poison or a burn to wear them down. The most reliable way to do this is to have both of your Pokémon use Protect on the same turn. Some teams even use Protect with both of their Pokémon on the first turn of a battle in order to prevent their opponent from making successful use of Fake Out.
Novice Doubles players often overuse Protect. In fact, it is a popular myth that every Pokémon on a Doubles team should know the move. While a player who has mastered the art of prediction might do very well with such a team, it is generally not a policy that I recommend. Most Pokémon have better uses for their moveslots. However, whether you teach Protect to all the Pokémon on your team or none at all, there are two things to keep in mind.
First, don't fall into a predictable pattern when using Protect. Say you have a Donphan and a Vaporeon. If Donphan uses Earthquake while Vaporeon uses Protect on half of your turns and Vaporeon uses Surf while Donphan uses Protect on the other half, a canny opponent is going to catch on mighty quick and focus all their fire on the Pokémon that's vulnerable on a given turn. This may seem obvious, but it extends to team-building, too. Don't build a team that forces you into predictable patterns like this or your opponent may reap the benefits, especially if you have a rematch.
Second, don't forget about the 50% success rate for sequential uses of the move. Almost nobody forgets that the move can fail when used in succession, but many forget that it can succeed. It's not prudent to rely regularly on 50% odds, but if your back is against a wall, two Protects in a row may save you. After all, your opponent is much more likely to attack a Pokémon that has just successfully used Protect, knowing full well that it has at best a 50% chance to dodge the next attack.
Foiling Protect
Feint is a move that exists specifically to counter Protect and Detect, and as such it deserves a mention here. When targeting a Pokémon using Protect or Detect, Feint deals damage and removes the protection on the target, allowing other Pokémon to harm the Protect user for the rest of the turn. For more information, check the Feint section of this guide.
One reliable way to prevent the use of Protect is with the move Imprison, as mentioned above. This is a particularly devastating to teams that rely heavily on Protect to avoid collateral damage when using Spread attacks like Explosion and Earthquake. Again, check the Imprison section for more information.
Even if your team doesn't carry these highly specialized moves, you always have avaliable a very important tool for defeating Protect users: prediction. If you know one of your opponents is going to protect itself, you're free to focus all your fire on its partner.
Pokémon that don't learn Protect: Ditto, Unown, Wobbuffet, Regigigas.
Pokémon that learn Detect: Hitmonchan, Hitmontop, Zapdos, Yanmega, Sceptile, Hariyama, Sableye, Medicham, Zangoose, Absol, Lucario, Azelf.
[Fake Out]
Fake Out is a 40-power, 100%-accuracy, Normal-type, physical attack that has a priority modifier of +1 (like Quick Attack). It has a 100% chance to flinch if it connects, but can only be used during the user's first turn on the field. Basically, it allows you to give up an action to deal a small amount of damage and prevent an opponent from acting.
Using Fake Out
Many Double Battle strategies utilize Global Effects like Sunny Day and Trick Room, which usually require a turn to set up. Often a player will lead with a Pokémon to set up the effect and another with Fake Out. The idea is that the Pokémon with Fake Out distracts whichever opponent poses the greater threat to the Fake Out user's ally. The Hariyama/Bronzong combo is a common example of this strategy. The Bronzong carries a Lum Berry, has the Levitate Ability, and knows Trick Room. The Hariyama knows Fake Out (and often has a Flame Orb or Toxic Orb to take advantage of Guts). This gives the Bronzong a very good chance to successfully use Trick Room on the first turn, since it's unlikely that either opponent can KO or disable Bronzong in a single turn without the help of its partner.
On the other hand, Fake Out can also be used to prevent an opponent from setting up. If you lead with a Fake Out user, you can use Fake Out to distract the Pokémon your opponent is using to set up, giving your Fake Out user's partner time to disable or KO it. If both you and your opponent have a Pokémon with Fake Out, the side with the faster Fake Out user will generally have the advantage. Whether you decide to Fake Out the opponent's Fake Out user or its partner will depend on the situation.
Even in situations where the opponent isn't trying to set up, Fake Out is still very useful. It allows you to steal a turn from whichever opponent threatens your Pokémon more, possibly allowing you to KO it before it gets a chance to act. It should also be mentioned that although you usually see Fake Out users as leads, they can still be useful later in a match.
Guarding Against Fake Out
Because Fake Out is powerful, so too is the ability to resist it. For the most part, Ghost-types cannot be Faked Out. Also, any Pokémon with the Inner Focus or Shield Dust abilities can avoid the flinching effect. Leading with a Pokémon that can't be made to flinch with Fake Out provides a degree of certainty in more than one way. First, it means that your Pokémon that isn't susceptible to Fake Out is likely to be able to act in the first turn (assuming it isn't KO'd or disabled first). Second, it means that if your opponent has a Pokémon with Fake Out, they are quite likely to use it on your other Pokémon. Unless the Fake Out user can deal a large amount of damage with Fake Out (due to STAB, Technician, or both), you essentially have a 'free' switch to anything else in your party, since that Pokémon isn't going to be able to act anyhow. Watch out for clever opponents, though; they may out-predict you and not use Fake Out.
Pokémon that can't be flinched by Fake Out are good candidates for setup moves like Rain Dance. Also, they're good Pokémon to use for the purpose of foiling the opponent's setup (with Taunt, Hypnosis, etc). A Crobat is perhaps the best example of such a Pokémon, having Inner Foucs, a startlingly high Speed stat (130), decent defenses, and the ability to learn Taunt, Hypnosis, Sunny Day, and Rain Dance. For these reasons, Crobat is a very popular Doubles lead.
The Steadfast Ability provides a Speed boost when flinched. Unfortunately, this is usually little more than a minor deterrent to Fake Out. It can't assure a turn for set up the way a Pokémon with Inner Focus can. Also, note that switching a Steadfast Pokémon in to take a Fake Out will not cause it to flinch, since it did not have its action interrupted.
Kangaskhan is unique in that, with the Scrappy Ability, it is the only Pokémon capable of Faking Out Ghost-types without the help of Foresight or Odor Sleuth. This fact, along with its respectable stats and wide movepool, makes it a useful Doubles Pokémon.
Pokémon that learn Fake Out (with base Speed): Weavile(125), Persian(115), Ambipom(115), Sneasel(115), Purugly(112), Infernape(108), Lopunny(105), Raichu(100), Jynx(95), Pikachu(90), Kangaskhan(90), Mr. Mime(90), Hitmonlee(87), Toxicroak(85), Shiftry(80), Medicham(80), Blastoise(78), Hitmonchan(76), Smeargle(75), Dewgong(70), Hitmontop(70), Ludicolo(70), Delcatty(70), Spinda(60), Hariyama(50), Sableye(50*), Kecleon(40).
*If Sableye has the Stall Ability, it will always act last within its move's prioity bracket.
Ghost-types: Gengar, Mismagius, Shedinja, Sableye, Banette, Dusknoir, Drifblim, Spiritomb, Froslass, Rotom.
Pokémon with Inner Focus: Crobat, Alakazam, Farfetch'd, Dragonite, Girafarig, Sneasel, Glalie, Lucario.
Pokémon with Shield Dust: Venomoth, Dustox.
Pokémon with Steadfast: Gallade, Lucario.
[Rain Dance]
Rain Dance summons a rainstorm that lasts for 5 turns, including the turn on which it begins. During this storm, Water-type moves have 50% more power and Fire-type moves have 50% less. The move SolarBeam has 60 base power rather than its usual 120. The move Thunder cannot miss. The moves Synthesis, Morning Sun, and Moonlight only restore 25% of the user's HP rather than the usual 50%. If another weather effect is summoned (Sunny Day, Sandstorm, or Hail), the rain ends immediately.
In addition to these innate effects, many Pokémon have an ability that confers an advantage in rain. Pokémon with Swift Swim have their Speed doubled on each round that begins with rain. Pokémon with Rain Dish recover 1/16 of their maximum HP on each round that ends with rain, while Pokémon with Dry Skin recover 1/8 of their maximum HP. Finally, Pokémon with the Hydration ability are healed of any strong status effect (poison, paralysis, sleep, burn, or freeze) at the end of the round.
If a Pokémon successfully uses Rain Dance while holding a Wet Rock, the rain lasts for 8 turns instead of the usual 5. A Pokémon that has the Drizzle ability will summon a indefinite rainstorm which can only be ended by summoning another weather effect.
Using Rain Dance
Rain Dance is the most popular and arguably the most powerful weather effect. By far the two most common Pokémon on Rain Dance teams are Kingdra and Ludicolo. These Pokémon have good all-around stats and very few weaknesses. Their base Speed places them in a perfect place to outspeed nearly all Pokémon once Rain Dance kicks off their Swift Swim. Rain also gives them a 50% power boost to their STAB Water-type attacks. On top of all that, they both take 1/4 damage from Water moves due to their typing, allowing them to easily take repeated STAB Surfs from their partner and any Water-type attacks their opponents care to throw at them, even in the rain. To sum up, these Pokémon have incredible speed, huge power, and the defenses to use them turn after turn. No other weather effect provides both speed and power to the same type of Pokémon the way Rain Dance does.
But wait, there's more! Rain Dance junctions very well with the Surf/Water Absorb combo. Pokémon with Water Absorb and Dry Skin fit very well on a Rain Dance team. Their partners can use Surf, dealing rain-boosted damage to both opponents while healing them. Popular Pokémon used to fill this niche include Lapras, Vaporeon, and Toxicroak. Lapras has the additional advantage of learning Thunder, which cannot miss during rain. It's ridiculous how easy it is to create a huge amount of synergy with a Rain Dance/Water Absorb team.
Some Rain Dance teams have an Electric-type to take advantage of STAB, never-miss Thunder. Others forgo this, prefering to take a purely Swift Swim/Water Absorb approach. Both approaches are valid, although it's a good idea for something on your Rain Dance team to know Thunder. It helps deal with opposing Water-types that your boosted Water attacks can't take down.
If Kyogre is available in the environment in which you're playing, Drizzle is nearly always the best way to start the rain effect. Rain begins even before the first turn, letting you deal out big damage immediately. If Kyogre is not allowed, you may want to take steps to make sure one of your Pokémon can successfully execute Rain Dance. Many players prefer to use a very fast Pokémon as a designated Rain Dance user. Crobat is useful for this purpose because it cannot be flinched by Fake Out, while Jolteon is also popular due to the STAB Thunder attacks it can unleash on subsequent turns. Other teams prefer to use one of their sweepers such as Kingdra to start rain while its partner (a Ludicolo or Toxicroak) uses Fake Out to prevent one of the opponents from interfering. Whatever the case, it's prudent to carry a backup Rain Dance user in case the primary one fails or the first Rain Dance expires. As a general rule of thumb, at least half the Pokémon you bring into battle should know Rain Dance. This may seem excessive, but without rain, a Rain Dance team is like a fish out of water.
Countering Rain Dance
The bad news is that Rain Dance is particularly difficult to counter. Although Rain Dance teams tend to be made up mostly of Water-type Pokémon, it is challenging to bring their weaknesses to bear against them. Grass-type Pokémon can withstand a boosted Water-type attack or two, but most Water-type Pokémon carry an Ice-type attack as well. Electric-types do not resist Water-type attacks and will almost certainly be slower than Swift Swim Pokémon once rain is falling. Of course, Ludicolo and Kingdra don't even have Electric- or Grass-type weaknesses.
If Kyogre is banned and your opponents have to summon the rain manually, you can attempt to prevent the rain from ever starting at all by flinching, disabling, or knocking out the likely user of Rain Dance. The problem with this approach is that smart opponents will have backup Rain Dance users and it is very challenging to prevent rain from ever becoming active over the course of an entire match. So while your opponent is struggling to use Rain Dance, you must hit them hard and fast, knocking out as many Pokémon as quickly as possible.
If you carry a Pokémon with a weather-altering move or ability on your own team, it can be a powerful weapon against a Rain Dance team. This can quickly escalate into an all-out weather war as each team struggles to bring their weather effect into play, make use of it while it's active, and prevent the other team from ending it. Hail teams have the best shot, particularly because Abomasnow takes Water and Electric attacks well and takes neutral damage from Ice attacks. Just make sure your Hail team has something other than Blizzard to throw at Rain Dance teams. Sunny Day teams have an advantage in that the bright sun cuts Water-type damage in half. Sandstorm teams will have a harder time of it, if only because Ground- and Rock-types are weak against Water. Remember that switching a weather-changer like Hippowdon or Abomasnow in during a turn will not prevent a Pokémon with Swift Swim from receiving its Speed boost on that turn. By the time the weather changes, turn order has already been calculated. It may sometimes be necessary to let these Pokémon come in at the end of a round, after another of your Pokémon has fallen. Cloud Nine and Air Lock can suspend the functioning of weather effects like Rain Dance while the Pokémon with the ability is on present on the field. Beware, however; most Golduck can't take a STAB Thunder if it hits, and Rayquaza hates Ice Beam. Trick Room teams have an advantage against Rain Dance teams if only because they negate the speed advantage that Swift Swim Pokémon get in the rain.
Pokémon with Swift Swim: Kingdra, Seaking, Omastar, Kabutops, Qwilfish, Mantine, Ludicolo, Huntail, Gorebyss, Relicanth, Luvdisc, Floatzel, Lumineon.
Pokémon with Rain Dish: Ludicolo.
Pokémon with Dry Skin: Parasect, Toxicroak.
Pokémon with Hydration: Dewgong, Phione, Manaphy.
<Intro to be added at a later date>
[Explosion]
Explosion is a 250-power, 100%-accuracy, Normal-type, physical attack that hits both of the user's opponents as well as the user's ally. During Explosion, damage is calculated as if the targets had their Defense scores halved, so it's effectively a 500-power move. However, because it targets multiple Pokémon, its power against each is reduced to 75%. After sucessfully executing Explosion, the user faints.
Using Explosion
Explosion is a very popular move in Double Battles. The ability to take out two of the opponent's Pokémon in exchange for one of yours is very tempting. Of course, to avoid destroying your partner, one of three things should be true:
1. The Explosion-user's partner is of the Ghost-type.
2. The Explosion-user's partner knows Protect, Detect, or Endure.
3. The Explosion-user's partner can survive the Explosion damage (through type resistances, high Defense, a Chilan Berry, a Focus Sash, etc).
Option 1 is the most versatile. One advantage of a Ghost-type partner is that it doesn't have to waste a turn using Protect or Detect. It can use that turn to set up an effect (like Trick Room) or to attack opponents (in case Explosion doesn't KO both of them). Another advantage is that the Ghost-type can be switched in on the same round its partner uses Explosion, creating a deadly surprise combo.
With option 2, the partner that's currently on the field must know Protect, Detect, or Endure. You cannot switch a Pokémon in and have it protect itself in the same round. This option, although still popular, is more limiting than option 1, especially since in order to gain maximum flexibility, most of the Pokémon on your team must carry Protect or Detect.
Guarding Against Explosion
Because Explosion is so popular, most good Double Battle teams will be ready to deal with it. This is not to say that Explosion is no longer a useful move; no solution to Explosion is completely foolproof.
The most reliable defense against Explosion is a Pokémon with the Damp Ability. While a Damp Pokémon is on the field, Explosion and Self-Destruct will fail. It should be noted that while Damp prevents these moves from succeeding, it does not prevent Pokémon from attempting to use them (selecting them at the beginning of the round). This is both good and bad. The good news is that careless opponents may waste a turn attempting to explode while the Damp Pokémon is on the field. The bad news is that the exploder survives the attempt. If the exploder's partner KO's the Damp Pokémon, the Explosion user can successfully blow up later in the same turn. Another minor disadvantage of the Damp Ability is that it prevents your Pokémon from using Explosion as well.
If you're a whiz at prediciton, keep your Damp Pokémon in reserve rather than bringing it out at the start of the match. If you predict correctly, you can cause an Exploder to lose its turn as you switch in your Pokémon.
The most common way to guard against Explosion is with your own Ghost-types, Protect, Detect, and a good supply of prediction. If you think you know when your opponent is going to explode, you can avoid all harm and their Exploder will still bite the dust. This is also the riskiest method, since an opponent that out-predicts you essentially gets a free turn of setup.
Finally, if your exploding opponent is slow enough, you could just KO it before it has the chance to combust.
Turning the Tables
The fact that no complete counter to Explosion exists makes it a hard move to guard against, but this can also be turned to your advantage. We've established that the two best ways for a Pokémon's partner to avoid its Explosion are being a Ghost-type and using Protect or Detect. Ghost-types can be made susceptible to Explosion by the moves Foresight and Odor Sleuth. Protect and Detect can be foiled by timely use of the move Feint. The correct execution of these moves requires spot-on prediciton and the penalty for failure comes in the form of wasted turns. Conversely, the payoff for the successful usage of these techniques can be very high. See the sections on Foresight/Odor Sleuth and Feint for a more detailed analysis.
Pokémon that learn Explosion (with base Attack/Speed): Golem(110/45), Magnezone(70/60), Muk(105/50), Cloyster(95/70), Gengar(65/110), Steelix(85/30), Electrode(50/140), Exeggutor(95/55**), Lickilicky(85*/50), Weezing(90/60), Snorlax(110*/30)***, Mewtwo(110/130)***, Mew(100/100), Sudowoodo(100/30), Forretress(90/40), Qwilfish(95/85**), Magcargo(50/30), Corsola(55/35), Smeargle(20*/75), Shiftry(100/80**), Probopass(55/40), Swalot(73/55), Wailord(90/60)***, Camerupt(100/40), Torkoal(85/20), Lunatone(55/70), Solrock(95/70), Claydol(70/75), Glalie(80/80), Metagross(135/70), Regirock(100/50), Regice(50/50), Registeel(75/50), Drifblim(80/80**), Skuntank(93/84), Bronzong(89/33), Azelf(125/115), Heatran(90/77).
*Lickilicky, Snorlax, and Smeargle get STAB bonus for being Normal-types.
**These Pokémon may have doubled Speed due to Chlorophyll, Swift Swim, or Unburden.
***Snorlax, Mewtwo, and Wailord cannot learn Explosion, but can learn SelfDestruct via Pokémon XD Move Tutor.
Pokémon with Damp: Golduck, Poliwrath, Politoed, Quagsire.
[Protect]/[Detect]
Protect is a move that prevents the user from being harmed during the round in which it is used. It has a +3 priority modifier, meaning it is executed before all moves that could harm the user of Protect. If the user's last action was the successful execution of Protect, Detect, or Endure, Protect only has a 50% chance of success. The upshot is that a Pokémon is guaranteed to Protect itself for one round, but consecutive uses may not work. If Protect fails for any reason, a use of Protect on the following round does not have a chance to fail. If all other Pokémon on the field have already taken their action (switches are included) by the time the Protect user acts, Protect will fail, allowing a 100% success rate on the following round.
When I say that Protect prevents harm to the user, I'm using a very loose definition of the word 'harm'. Moves that deal direct damage are blocked by Protect. Moves that cause a status ailment are blocked by Protect. Moves that lower the target's stats are blocked by Protect. In fact, almost any move that targets the user of Protect is blocked. Here are the exceptions:
• Feint: Feint hits the target if and only if it is guarding itself with Protect or Detect. The effect of Protect or Detect then ends, allowing other moves to hit the target for the remainder of the turn.
• Curse (used by a Ghost-type): For whatever reason, the Ghost-type Curse effect is not blocked by Protect.
• Future Sight/Doom Desire: Protect cannot prevent the execution of these moves. It also cannot block the damage once the moves take effect.
• Imprison: Imprison, though its success is dependent on opponents present, is an effect on the Imprison user and is therefore not blocked by Protect.
• Perish Song: A Pokémon that is using Protect on the round that Perish Song is executed will still receive a Perish Count as normal.
• Acupressure: Because Acupressure does not harm the target, it bypasses Protect.
• Psych Up/Role Play/Transform: These moves do not affect the target in any way. Hence, Protect does not cause them to fail.
• Shadow Force: Giratina's signature attack can hit through Protect.
• Under certain conditions, other moves can hit through Protect and Detect with a success rate equal to 100% minus their accuracy. Thunder has this property during the effects of Rain Dance, as does Blizzard during the effects of Hail. Any move that follows a use of Lock-On or Mind Reader has this property, as well as any move used by or targeted at a Pokémon with the No Guard ability. It should be noted that this chance to break through Protect occurs in Diamond and Pearl versions, but not Pokémon Battle Revolution. It has not yet been confirmed whether this occurs in Platinum.
Detect is exactly like Protect, with the exception that Detect has only 5 base PP (max 8), whereas Protect has 10 (max 16). Since the overwhelming majority of Pokémon can learn Protect and only a few can learn Detect, you might wonder why you'd even bother with Detect at all. The main reason that you'd choose Detect over Protect is to avoid falling victim to the Imprison/Protect combo. Imprison has its own section in this guide, but suffice it to say that this combo prevents opponents from using the move Protect. There is, however, no Pokémon that can learn both Imprison and Detect (with the exception of Smeargle). As a result, Detect is the more reliable choice when it is available.
Using Protect
Protect is commonly used to shield a Pokémon from its partner's Spread attacks like Surf, Earthquake, and Explosion. This strategy is not quite as powerful as it was in the Advance generation due to the 25% power cut that such moves have, but it remains a popular and useful combo.
Of course, Protect also guards the user from the opponents' moves. With good prediction, Protect can save your Pokémon a lot of pain and waste your opponent's turns. Poor prediction will cost you a turn as your opponents ignore your Protect user and focus their efforts on its partner or spend their free turns raising their stats and setting up beneficial effects. Pokémon that can hit hard but have major defensive vulnerabilities or poor Speed ratings make good candidates for this use of Protect because they make such tempting targets. While they focus their fire on the perceived threat, your other Pokémon can take a free turn.
To a limited extent, Protect can be used to stall the opponent, wasting turns of a Sunny Day or Rain Dance effect the opponent has generated or giving time for poison or a burn to wear them down. The most reliable way to do this is to have both of your Pokémon use Protect on the same turn. Some teams even use Protect with both of their Pokémon on the first turn of a battle in order to prevent their opponent from making successful use of Fake Out.
Novice Doubles players often overuse Protect. In fact, it is a popular myth that every Pokémon on a Doubles team should know the move. While a player who has mastered the art of prediction might do very well with such a team, it is generally not a policy that I recommend. Most Pokémon have better uses for their moveslots. However, whether you teach Protect to all the Pokémon on your team or none at all, there are two things to keep in mind.
First, don't fall into a predictable pattern when using Protect. Say you have a Donphan and a Vaporeon. If Donphan uses Earthquake while Vaporeon uses Protect on half of your turns and Vaporeon uses Surf while Donphan uses Protect on the other half, a canny opponent is going to catch on mighty quick and focus all their fire on the Pokémon that's vulnerable on a given turn. This may seem obvious, but it extends to team-building, too. Don't build a team that forces you into predictable patterns like this or your opponent may reap the benefits, especially if you have a rematch.
Second, don't forget about the 50% success rate for sequential uses of the move. Almost nobody forgets that the move can fail when used in succession, but many forget that it can succeed. It's not prudent to rely regularly on 50% odds, but if your back is against a wall, two Protects in a row may save you. After all, your opponent is much more likely to attack a Pokémon that has just successfully used Protect, knowing full well that it has at best a 50% chance to dodge the next attack.
Foiling Protect
Feint is a move that exists specifically to counter Protect and Detect, and as such it deserves a mention here. When targeting a Pokémon using Protect or Detect, Feint deals damage and removes the protection on the target, allowing other Pokémon to harm the Protect user for the rest of the turn. For more information, check the Feint section of this guide.
One reliable way to prevent the use of Protect is with the move Imprison, as mentioned above. This is a particularly devastating to teams that rely heavily on Protect to avoid collateral damage when using Spread attacks like Explosion and Earthquake. Again, check the Imprison section for more information.
Even if your team doesn't carry these highly specialized moves, you always have avaliable a very important tool for defeating Protect users: prediction. If you know one of your opponents is going to protect itself, you're free to focus all your fire on its partner.
Pokémon that don't learn Protect: Ditto, Unown, Wobbuffet, Regigigas.
Pokémon that learn Detect: Hitmonchan, Hitmontop, Zapdos, Yanmega, Sceptile, Hariyama, Sableye, Medicham, Zangoose, Absol, Lucario, Azelf.
[Fake Out]
Fake Out is a 40-power, 100%-accuracy, Normal-type, physical attack that has a priority modifier of +1 (like Quick Attack). It has a 100% chance to flinch if it connects, but can only be used during the user's first turn on the field. Basically, it allows you to give up an action to deal a small amount of damage and prevent an opponent from acting.
Using Fake Out
Many Double Battle strategies utilize Global Effects like Sunny Day and Trick Room, which usually require a turn to set up. Often a player will lead with a Pokémon to set up the effect and another with Fake Out. The idea is that the Pokémon with Fake Out distracts whichever opponent poses the greater threat to the Fake Out user's ally. The Hariyama/Bronzong combo is a common example of this strategy. The Bronzong carries a Lum Berry, has the Levitate Ability, and knows Trick Room. The Hariyama knows Fake Out (and often has a Flame Orb or Toxic Orb to take advantage of Guts). This gives the Bronzong a very good chance to successfully use Trick Room on the first turn, since it's unlikely that either opponent can KO or disable Bronzong in a single turn without the help of its partner.
On the other hand, Fake Out can also be used to prevent an opponent from setting up. If you lead with a Fake Out user, you can use Fake Out to distract the Pokémon your opponent is using to set up, giving your Fake Out user's partner time to disable or KO it. If both you and your opponent have a Pokémon with Fake Out, the side with the faster Fake Out user will generally have the advantage. Whether you decide to Fake Out the opponent's Fake Out user or its partner will depend on the situation.
Even in situations where the opponent isn't trying to set up, Fake Out is still very useful. It allows you to steal a turn from whichever opponent threatens your Pokémon more, possibly allowing you to KO it before it gets a chance to act. It should also be mentioned that although you usually see Fake Out users as leads, they can still be useful later in a match.
Guarding Against Fake Out
Because Fake Out is powerful, so too is the ability to resist it. For the most part, Ghost-types cannot be Faked Out. Also, any Pokémon with the Inner Focus or Shield Dust abilities can avoid the flinching effect. Leading with a Pokémon that can't be made to flinch with Fake Out provides a degree of certainty in more than one way. First, it means that your Pokémon that isn't susceptible to Fake Out is likely to be able to act in the first turn (assuming it isn't KO'd or disabled first). Second, it means that if your opponent has a Pokémon with Fake Out, they are quite likely to use it on your other Pokémon. Unless the Fake Out user can deal a large amount of damage with Fake Out (due to STAB, Technician, or both), you essentially have a 'free' switch to anything else in your party, since that Pokémon isn't going to be able to act anyhow. Watch out for clever opponents, though; they may out-predict you and not use Fake Out.
Pokémon that can't be flinched by Fake Out are good candidates for setup moves like Rain Dance. Also, they're good Pokémon to use for the purpose of foiling the opponent's setup (with Taunt, Hypnosis, etc). A Crobat is perhaps the best example of such a Pokémon, having Inner Foucs, a startlingly high Speed stat (130), decent defenses, and the ability to learn Taunt, Hypnosis, Sunny Day, and Rain Dance. For these reasons, Crobat is a very popular Doubles lead.
The Steadfast Ability provides a Speed boost when flinched. Unfortunately, this is usually little more than a minor deterrent to Fake Out. It can't assure a turn for set up the way a Pokémon with Inner Focus can. Also, note that switching a Steadfast Pokémon in to take a Fake Out will not cause it to flinch, since it did not have its action interrupted.
Kangaskhan is unique in that, with the Scrappy Ability, it is the only Pokémon capable of Faking Out Ghost-types without the help of Foresight or Odor Sleuth. This fact, along with its respectable stats and wide movepool, makes it a useful Doubles Pokémon.
Pokémon that learn Fake Out (with base Speed): Weavile(125), Persian(115), Ambipom(115), Sneasel(115), Purugly(112), Infernape(108), Lopunny(105), Raichu(100), Jynx(95), Pikachu(90), Kangaskhan(90), Mr. Mime(90), Hitmonlee(87), Toxicroak(85), Shiftry(80), Medicham(80), Blastoise(78), Hitmonchan(76), Smeargle(75), Dewgong(70), Hitmontop(70), Ludicolo(70), Delcatty(70), Spinda(60), Hariyama(50), Sableye(50*), Kecleon(40).
*If Sableye has the Stall Ability, it will always act last within its move's prioity bracket.
Ghost-types: Gengar, Mismagius, Shedinja, Sableye, Banette, Dusknoir, Drifblim, Spiritomb, Froslass, Rotom.
Pokémon with Inner Focus: Crobat, Alakazam, Farfetch'd, Dragonite, Girafarig, Sneasel, Glalie, Lucario.
Pokémon with Shield Dust: Venomoth, Dustox.
Pokémon with Steadfast: Gallade, Lucario.
[Rain Dance]
Rain Dance summons a rainstorm that lasts for 5 turns, including the turn on which it begins. During this storm, Water-type moves have 50% more power and Fire-type moves have 50% less. The move SolarBeam has 60 base power rather than its usual 120. The move Thunder cannot miss. The moves Synthesis, Morning Sun, and Moonlight only restore 25% of the user's HP rather than the usual 50%. If another weather effect is summoned (Sunny Day, Sandstorm, or Hail), the rain ends immediately.
In addition to these innate effects, many Pokémon have an ability that confers an advantage in rain. Pokémon with Swift Swim have their Speed doubled on each round that begins with rain. Pokémon with Rain Dish recover 1/16 of their maximum HP on each round that ends with rain, while Pokémon with Dry Skin recover 1/8 of their maximum HP. Finally, Pokémon with the Hydration ability are healed of any strong status effect (poison, paralysis, sleep, burn, or freeze) at the end of the round.
If a Pokémon successfully uses Rain Dance while holding a Wet Rock, the rain lasts for 8 turns instead of the usual 5. A Pokémon that has the Drizzle ability will summon a indefinite rainstorm which can only be ended by summoning another weather effect.
Using Rain Dance
Rain Dance is the most popular and arguably the most powerful weather effect. By far the two most common Pokémon on Rain Dance teams are Kingdra and Ludicolo. These Pokémon have good all-around stats and very few weaknesses. Their base Speed places them in a perfect place to outspeed nearly all Pokémon once Rain Dance kicks off their Swift Swim. Rain also gives them a 50% power boost to their STAB Water-type attacks. On top of all that, they both take 1/4 damage from Water moves due to their typing, allowing them to easily take repeated STAB Surfs from their partner and any Water-type attacks their opponents care to throw at them, even in the rain. To sum up, these Pokémon have incredible speed, huge power, and the defenses to use them turn after turn. No other weather effect provides both speed and power to the same type of Pokémon the way Rain Dance does.
But wait, there's more! Rain Dance junctions very well with the Surf/Water Absorb combo. Pokémon with Water Absorb and Dry Skin fit very well on a Rain Dance team. Their partners can use Surf, dealing rain-boosted damage to both opponents while healing them. Popular Pokémon used to fill this niche include Lapras, Vaporeon, and Toxicroak. Lapras has the additional advantage of learning Thunder, which cannot miss during rain. It's ridiculous how easy it is to create a huge amount of synergy with a Rain Dance/Water Absorb team.
Some Rain Dance teams have an Electric-type to take advantage of STAB, never-miss Thunder. Others forgo this, prefering to take a purely Swift Swim/Water Absorb approach. Both approaches are valid, although it's a good idea for something on your Rain Dance team to know Thunder. It helps deal with opposing Water-types that your boosted Water attacks can't take down.
If Kyogre is available in the environment in which you're playing, Drizzle is nearly always the best way to start the rain effect. Rain begins even before the first turn, letting you deal out big damage immediately. If Kyogre is not allowed, you may want to take steps to make sure one of your Pokémon can successfully execute Rain Dance. Many players prefer to use a very fast Pokémon as a designated Rain Dance user. Crobat is useful for this purpose because it cannot be flinched by Fake Out, while Jolteon is also popular due to the STAB Thunder attacks it can unleash on subsequent turns. Other teams prefer to use one of their sweepers such as Kingdra to start rain while its partner (a Ludicolo or Toxicroak) uses Fake Out to prevent one of the opponents from interfering. Whatever the case, it's prudent to carry a backup Rain Dance user in case the primary one fails or the first Rain Dance expires. As a general rule of thumb, at least half the Pokémon you bring into battle should know Rain Dance. This may seem excessive, but without rain, a Rain Dance team is like a fish out of water.
Countering Rain Dance
The bad news is that Rain Dance is particularly difficult to counter. Although Rain Dance teams tend to be made up mostly of Water-type Pokémon, it is challenging to bring their weaknesses to bear against them. Grass-type Pokémon can withstand a boosted Water-type attack or two, but most Water-type Pokémon carry an Ice-type attack as well. Electric-types do not resist Water-type attacks and will almost certainly be slower than Swift Swim Pokémon once rain is falling. Of course, Ludicolo and Kingdra don't even have Electric- or Grass-type weaknesses.
If Kyogre is banned and your opponents have to summon the rain manually, you can attempt to prevent the rain from ever starting at all by flinching, disabling, or knocking out the likely user of Rain Dance. The problem with this approach is that smart opponents will have backup Rain Dance users and it is very challenging to prevent rain from ever becoming active over the course of an entire match. So while your opponent is struggling to use Rain Dance, you must hit them hard and fast, knocking out as many Pokémon as quickly as possible.
If you carry a Pokémon with a weather-altering move or ability on your own team, it can be a powerful weapon against a Rain Dance team. This can quickly escalate into an all-out weather war as each team struggles to bring their weather effect into play, make use of it while it's active, and prevent the other team from ending it. Hail teams have the best shot, particularly because Abomasnow takes Water and Electric attacks well and takes neutral damage from Ice attacks. Just make sure your Hail team has something other than Blizzard to throw at Rain Dance teams. Sunny Day teams have an advantage in that the bright sun cuts Water-type damage in half. Sandstorm teams will have a harder time of it, if only because Ground- and Rock-types are weak against Water. Remember that switching a weather-changer like Hippowdon or Abomasnow in during a turn will not prevent a Pokémon with Swift Swim from receiving its Speed boost on that turn. By the time the weather changes, turn order has already been calculated. It may sometimes be necessary to let these Pokémon come in at the end of a round, after another of your Pokémon has fallen. Cloud Nine and Air Lock can suspend the functioning of weather effects like Rain Dance while the Pokémon with the ability is on present on the field. Beware, however; most Golduck can't take a STAB Thunder if it hits, and Rayquaza hates Ice Beam. Trick Room teams have an advantage against Rain Dance teams if only because they negate the speed advantage that Swift Swim Pokémon get in the rain.
Pokémon with Swift Swim: Kingdra, Seaking, Omastar, Kabutops, Qwilfish, Mantine, Ludicolo, Huntail, Gorebyss, Relicanth, Luvdisc, Floatzel, Lumineon.
Pokémon with Rain Dish: Ludicolo.
Pokémon with Dry Skin: Parasect, Toxicroak.
Pokémon with Hydration: Dewgong, Phione, Manaphy.
