Poliwhirl is often overlooked in favor of it's fully evolved evolutions, Poliwrath and Politoed. However, Poliwhirl has one principal advantage over both: speed. Hypnosis with 90 base speed can outrun a LOT of pokemon, and you can belly drum afterwards. So, here's the belly-drumming set I use:
~Hypnosis
~Belly Drum
~Earthquake
~Hidden Power Ghost/Bug
@ Salac Berry or Leftovers if Poliwhirl is going to switch out after a Belly Drum and switch back in for another belly drum.
Water Absorb
Basically, you play it like this: either somehow get it in (lead it off or explode or baton pass with a sub) or switch onto a water attack (so you can absorb it for hp). Once at this point, a judgement must be made between Hypnosis if necessary(if the opponent is not likely to switch), or an outright Belly Drum(if the opponent is likely to switch). Even without STAB, 912 attack and 306 speed (Jolly) are quite scary to deal with. Sweep until you find resistance, then switch.
Other Options:
There is no reason to use Poliwhirl besides this combo.
EVs: 4 HP/252 Atk/252 Spd is the the only real option...you need all the speed and attack you can get.
Opinion: Poliwhirl is an awesome pokemon. All he needs is a single turn for a Hypnosis, then a Belly Drum, and he can wreak havoc. Sure, he gets ignored a lot for being a NFE(non-fully-evolved) pokemon, but he has a lot of potential.
Counters: Anything faster than him, which there are a lot of, unfortunately. He is also very fragile, so if he can't OHKO something with a Belly Drummed Earthquake or Hidden Power, it will probably KO him. Anything that has some sort of resistance to Earthquake and the chosen HP will give Poliwhirl troubles...also, Quick Attack and Extremespeed can kill him because the pokemon using those attacks usually have high attacks. Hypnosis also only has 60% accuracy, so if he cannot use hypnosis, chances are he will be KO'd. Just watch out for him; he can become quickly a monster with good prediction skills and a healthy dose of luck(to get hypnosis off). Plus, Skarmory makes him cry. Skarm makes a lot of stuff cry. Zapdos and raikou will also give him hissy fits, but they do that to a lot of stuff. As always, you have to build your team to have good synergy: there are certain pokemon that can give EVERY team a problem (pokemon like skarmory). Recognize them and deal with them.
~Hypnosis
~Belly Drum
~Earthquake
~Hidden Power Ghost/Bug
@ Salac Berry or Leftovers if Poliwhirl is going to switch out after a Belly Drum and switch back in for another belly drum.
Water Absorb
Basically, you play it like this: either somehow get it in (lead it off or explode or baton pass with a sub) or switch onto a water attack (so you can absorb it for hp). Once at this point, a judgement must be made between Hypnosis if necessary(if the opponent is not likely to switch), or an outright Belly Drum(if the opponent is likely to switch). Even without STAB, 912 attack and 306 speed (Jolly) are quite scary to deal with. Sweep until you find resistance, then switch.
Other Options:
There is no reason to use Poliwhirl besides this combo.
EVs: 4 HP/252 Atk/252 Spd is the the only real option...you need all the speed and attack you can get.
Opinion: Poliwhirl is an awesome pokemon. All he needs is a single turn for a Hypnosis, then a Belly Drum, and he can wreak havoc. Sure, he gets ignored a lot for being a NFE(non-fully-evolved) pokemon, but he has a lot of potential.
Counters: Anything faster than him, which there are a lot of, unfortunately. He is also very fragile, so if he can't OHKO something with a Belly Drummed Earthquake or Hidden Power, it will probably KO him. Anything that has some sort of resistance to Earthquake and the chosen HP will give Poliwhirl troubles...also, Quick Attack and Extremespeed can kill him because the pokemon using those attacks usually have high attacks. Hypnosis also only has 60% accuracy, so if he cannot use hypnosis, chances are he will be KO'd. Just watch out for him; he can become quickly a monster with good prediction skills and a healthy dose of luck(to get hypnosis off). Plus, Skarmory makes him cry. Skarm makes a lot of stuff cry. Zapdos and raikou will also give him hissy fits, but they do that to a lot of stuff. As always, you have to build your team to have good synergy: there are certain pokemon that can give EVERY team a problem (pokemon like skarmory). Recognize them and deal with them.