Weather in PU

[Grim]

Approved by galbia

Weather in PU

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Introduction:
Weather has always been one of the better strategies in the PU tier, with powerful threats such as Stoutland, Victreebel, and Golduck that take advantage of the weather to bring offensive teams to their knees. Especially rain, sun, and sand are very good playstyles that when properly used can easily defeat unprepared teams. However, weather has lately been declining in usage and offensive and balanced teams have steadily become the most popular team archetypes. However, although weather teams may have stepped out of the spotlight they are still quite viable.

Some examples of things to discuss in this thread are:
- Pokemon that make use of weather.
- Good teammates.
- Other ways to use weather than hyper offense.
- Other ways to use weather than with speed boosting abilities.
- How to deal with opposing weather.
- Trends in weather teams.
- The most viable weather.

Weather setters:
These are by no means the only viable weather setters in PU

Hippopotas is the only Pokemon in PU that gets the ability Sand Stream, allowing it to summon sand for Stoutland without using up a turn to do so. It can also set Stealth Rock, phaze with Whirlwind, or create free turns for teammates with Yawn, which together with Sand Stream make Hippopotas a staple on sand teams and a great team supporter. Unfortunately Hippopotas is not exactly very bulky, especially since it cannot hold Eviolite as Smooth Rock is mandatory, but it does what it is supposed to do.

Sample set

Hippopotas @ Smooth Rock
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 Def
Impish Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Toxic
- Whirlwind
- Earthquake

Volbeat is one of the most popular Pokemon on weather teams. By virtue of its great ability, Prankster, Volbeat can set up Sunny Day or Rain Dance at more or less any point in the battle, which can be quite game changing. It also has access to multiple other support moves such as Encore, Thunder Wave, and Tailwind, as well as a slow STAB U-turn to safely bring in weather sweepers. Similarly to Hippopotas Volbeat is not that bulky and thus can usually not keep setting up weather through a whole match, but its pros outweigh its cons by far.

Sample set

Volbeat (M) @ Heat Rock / Damp Rock
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 SpD
Relaxed Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Sunny Day / Rain Dance
- Encore
- Thunder Wave
- U-turn

Unfortunately hail is not a very good strategy as unlike the other weathers it lacks exceptionally good abusers and has to use the mediocre Snover. However, if you really want to play hail then Snover is still the first Pokemon you should consider because of its ability to summon hail without using up a turn with its ability, Snow Warning.

Sample set

Snover @ Icy Rock
Ability: Snow Warning
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Atk / 252 SpD
Sassy Nature
- Blizzard
- Toxic
- Ice Shard
- Leech Seed

Weather abusers:
Once again by no means all viable weather abusers

Due to its combination of power, speed, and coverage, Stoutland is a very effective sweeper and wallbreaker in the sand, 2HKOing almost anything with the appropiate move. Normal has plenty of resists but Superpower and Crunch defeat all of them, and Facade allows Stoutland to freely switch into status inducing moves except Thunder Wave. It is mainly because of Stoutland's effectiveness that sand is the most popular weather in PU.

Sample set

Stoutland @ Choice Band / Life Orb / Silk Scarf
Ability: Sand Rush
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Return
- Superpower
- Crunch
- Facade

Leafeon is a very valuable addition to sun teams because it can function very well even when the sun is not up. With its Life Orb-boosted coverage together with Swords Dance, Leafeon can blow through literally all playstyles lacking a dedicated answer such as Torkoal. Unlike Victreebel, it also has the physical bulk to live priority moves or to take a hit when setting up, and does not have to worry about being outsped by the fastest Choice Scarf users in the tier, most notably Raichu.

Sample set

Leafeon @ Life Orb
Ability: Chlorophyll
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Swords Dance
- Leaf Blade
- Knock Off
- Iron Tail

Golduck is arguably the most effective rain sweeper. Life Orb + rain-boosted Hydro Pump OHKOes practically everything that does not resist it, while Ice Beam and Psychic deal with most that do. The only Pokemon Golduck truly struggles with are bulky Water-types not weak to Psychic such as Prinplup and dedicated special walls such as Lickilicky. Golduck can also fit on teams that are not dedicated rain, as it can set up a Rain Dance for itself and act as a standalone sweeper.

Sample set

Golduck @ Life Orb
Ability: Swift Swim
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
- Rain Dance
- Hydro Pump
- Ice Beam
- Psychic

Things to consider when building a team:

When building a team with weather it is important to recognize what your weather abusers struggle with and build accordingly. For example, rain teams tend to struggle against bulky Water-types such as Poliwrath and Pelipper. Adding a Grass- or Electric-type such as Leafeon or Raichu helps a lot in defeating those Pokemon so your Swift Swim users can sweep. It is also important to look at how your team works without weather being up, as simply put, weather will not always be up and your team still needs to work outside of it. It is thus important to carry Pokemon that, while they can benefit from weather, can still function without it. Stoutland is actually an excellent example of such a Pokemon, as while it will not be sweeping teams anytime soon without sand up, its wallbreaking capabilities are still incredible even without it. Additionally, weather teams still need Stealth Rock, a wallbreaker, etc. A weather setter + 5 weather abusers will rarely work well.

Conclusion:

Weather is definitely one of the more underrated playstyles at the moment, yet also one of the most fun. Weather teams are unique in the way that they are played as opposed to regular teams, as they are often far more fast paced than battles with teams without weather due to their hyper offensive nature and rely on a select few Pokemon to sweep the opponent after they are weakened. If there is anything about weather in PU that you want to ask or discuss, or if you just want to share a replay, than this is the place to do it.

 

[Twix]

Weather Supporter (Sand, Maybe Hail)

Kadabra @ Focus Sash
Ability: Magic Guard
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Encore
- Calm Mind
- Psychic
- Hidden Power [Fighting]

With the ability Magic Guard, Kadabra is able to take no residual damage from the weather effects and can put out solid hits when you need it to. On hail I could see it being a check to Pawniard, which threatens most of your team. On sand it can help take out some threatening Pokemon such as Poliwrath or Throh which can take a hit from Stoutland.

 

[Grim]

Magic Guard users in general are very nice in hail and sand. I played around with Duosion in sand as well and it took nice advantage of Poliwrath often being the Stoutland check to set up all over it. Clefairy also sounds good in theory for the same reasons, though I never tried it outside of full stall.

 

[Ares]

So one of the big things I look for when building a weather team is Stealth Rock + Weather setting move. Below are a couple of the Pokemon for each weather style.

Carbink @ Heat Rock
Ability: Sturdy
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Sunny Day
- Explosion
- Magic Coat
Carbink has a combination of things going its way as a Sun Setter. First off it has access to Stealth Rock (a must have for all teams), access to Sturdy (allows it to set at least one thing rocks/sunnyday), Explosion (to gain momentum into your Sun Sweeper), Magic Coat (to bounce back Taunt and other hazards), as well as having Rock-typing (which is a good Fire-type resist when a lot of your team consists of Grass-types). All of these things come together and make Carbink the perfect Sunny Day + Stealth Rock setter for a Sun team. Carbink is also a good Trick Room setter on a side note.

Relicanth @ Damp Rock
Ability: Sturdy
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Rain Dance
- Waterfall
- Yawn / Head Smash
Relicanth is one of the better Stealth Rock + Rain Dance setters because it isn't weak to Water-types abd has Sturdy to guarentee at least one thing is set. It also can run a utility move in the last slot such as Yawn to force switches and bring in a Rain Sweeper unharmed.

Aurorus @ Icy Rock
Ability: Snow Warning
EVs: 104 HP / 252 SpA / 152 Spe
Modest Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Blizzard
- Earth Power
- Encore
With the recent release of Snow Warning, Aurorus completely outclasses Snover as a Hail Setter (the event is over in a couple of days, I jumped the gun when posting but it'll be relevant soon enough). The main reason to use Snover before was to get auto hail, but now that Aurorus gets auto hail Snover is irrelevant. Stealth Rock is also a boon to Aurorus over Snover. Encore is to prevent setup while you're using Stealth Rock, Ice Beam is cause you don't get the Refrigerate boost and Earth Power is for coverage. The speed was random with a bit of bulk, probably a better more "refined" spread, but hey I'm lazy lol.

I'm not posting a set / mon for sand because baby hippo gets rocks as well.

 

[Twix]

So when I'm building my weather teams I like to have a few Pokemon that can resist the weaknesses of the full out abusers.

Sun:

Rapidash:

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Rapidash with its typing is able to support the Grass type sweepers with Chlorophyll by resisting Grass, Bug, and getting a boost from Fire type moves. With its speed it is able to take advantage with the Sun's boost to fire moves allowing it to spam Flare Blitz much easier.

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Rapidash @ Charcoal
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Flare Blitz
- Drill Run
- Morning Sun
- Wild Charge

Flareon:

Flareon is also able to support the grass type sweepers, but has a lack of speed unlike Rapidash. Flareon relies on all out force instead of outspeeding most mons. It's able to take advantage of the Sun and can spam flare blitz to its hearts content.

Flareon @ Choice Band
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Superpower
- Flare Blitz
- Quick Attack
- Baton Pass/Flame Charge

Rain:

Jumpluff:

Jumpluff is an interesting mon that is growing in viablility and usage in the PU meta. Jumpluff on rain can absorb grass type moves and takes neutral damage from electric type moves; as well as being a solid solution to Throh and grass types. Jumpluff can put in work of its own even without a boost from the rain and is a solid choice on a team with it.

Jumpluff
Ability: Infiltrator
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Sleep Powder
- Acrobatics
- Seed Bomb

 

[TONE]

So I tried making a Rain team a while back when I was just testing stuff out, and I just happened to stumble across an underrated and very unexpected rain setter and abuser which I also posted about in the creative/underrated thread:

Regice @ Damp Rock
Ability: Clear Body
EVs: 40 HP / 252 SpA / 216 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Rain Dance
- Thunder Wave
- Thunder
- Ice Beam

It isn't the first thing that comes to mind in terms of a rain setter much less an abuser, but Regice has a few things going for it that fellow Ice-type SS Sweeper Beartic doesn't. For one, like Beartic, Regice can beat Grass-types for other SS sweepers. But what Regice does have is access to Thunder Wave, slowing down faster threats so it's teammates aren't so reliant on rain, but the big advantage it has over Beartic is the fact that it isn't complete Poliwrath bait while checking special Poliwrath variants, especially if they're the Rain Dance variety with perfect accurate Thunder.

252+ SpA Regice Thunder vs. 200 HP / 0 SpD Poliwrath: 240-284 (64.6 - 76.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery

252+ SpA Regice Thunder vs. 4 HP / 0 SpD Poliwrath: 240-284 (74.5 - 88.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

Sure, it doesn't have the speed of Electrode or an ability like Prankster Volbeat to get up rain quick, but it can benefit from the rain as it does weaken Fire attacks which Regice hates. The speed EVs are enough for Golem and Marowak and OHKO them with Ice Beam (you can also run more speed to outspeed standard offensive Poliwrath so you don't have to rely on speed tying).

 

[MZ]

I like to run sun in PU when I'm bored, and I personally think this cat deserves some mention for being a little unorthodox support:

View attachment 38768

Purugly @ Life Orb
Ability: Defiant
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Fake Out/Sunny Day/Rain Dance
- Return
- U-Turn/Sucker Punch
- Knock Off

There is a lot of Focus Sash and Sturdy and pokemon JUST BARELY bulky enough to take a hit in your weather and return for the KO. As such, hazards are a must to both keep on your opponent's side of the field and off of yours. Lack of Stealth Rocks or having a Sticky Web on your side can ruin your gameplan, so Purugly here is here to alleviate some of your pain when it all goes wrong.

It's difficult to keep Sticky Web or Defog from happening sometimes, so why not have a pokemon that can punishes your opponent for doing that? Come in on a Defog and get +2 to punch some needed holes in your opponent's team. Come in on Sticky Web to do the same thing, with the added bonus of still reaching 237 speed after the drop (enough to outspeed everything up to base 68 with neutral nature and everything under base 60 with a +speed nature), which you still won't be too fast but still fast enough to threaten some slower threats...and you have plenty of priority to make it better too.

To finish up, the question of "Why not just use Pawniard?" needs to be answered. Purugly is better at outspeeding and revenge killing without using a risky move like Sucker Punch, better at breaking sashes, has access to U-Turn to keep momentum on your side, and can also help set up your weather of choice.

I don't expect to see Purugly standard on every weather team, but it's worth consideration. As a final note, I will leave this:
+2 252 Atk Life Orb Purugly Return vs. 248 HP / 252+ Def Pelipper: 230-270 (71.2 - 83.5%) -- 68.8% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock
Outspeeding after Sticky Web and possibly OHKOing one of the most prominent Defoggers is a great boon for any weather.

What does this have to do with weather? It's standard purugly with weather moves slashed, but that doesn't make it a weather mon, and I don't see any reason to use this over other setters. With all the talk of webs and defogging, I almost feel like this was meant for the hazards in PU thread. However weather typically doesn't require a Defog absorber as it's almost never going to be running spikes or webs, and all swift swim/chlorophyll/sand rush mons still get essentially a scarf boost with weather and webs, so beating Leavanny and Kricketune isn't 100% required. This also doesn't beat sturdy users, you still don't kill Dwebble and golem. It can break sashes, but so can every other mon. I just don't get why purugly and weather go together.

 

[WhiteDMist]

Just to clarify, "stall weather" does not exist, Duosion and Kadabra or not. With the limit to the number of weather turns one has, there is no value in wasting those turns stalling and rather than causing massive damage instead.

I appreciate your Purugly contribution Al'Akir , and the idea is on point. However, it's hard to justify a team slot on a weather team to Purugly when there are so many other Pokemon that can set up weather and maintain offensive momentum. Since Purugly is so fast, the only way to use U-turn to create a safe switch in for a weather sweeper is to either take a hit from an even faster Pokemon (not ideal due to its poor bulk), or else be able to threaten out the opposing Pokemon and U-turn on the switch in (doable, but there's the risk that the opponent stays in and hits your incoming sweeper instead (also Purugly isn't too threatening without a boost)).

Your calcs look good, but I don't see how they really argue for Purugly's utility on weather. I would much rather use Rapidash to check Ninetales, as it uses Drill Run to easily beat it, actually tanks a hit or two from it, and can make use of Sun if you choose to have it set it up. Jumpluff can threaten a Rain team with Acro, Seed Bomb, and sleep; but only if Rain isn't up already. If it is, then Jumpluff can't do much at all since most Rain sweepers will outspeed and have Ice-type moves ready to dispose of it. If you are that afraid of Jumpluff, you can also run a backup sweeper instead that deals with it, such as Sap Sipper Zebstrika (which actually can make use of the Rain somewhat with Thunder at the cost of Overheat's power). Teamslots on weather teams are rare, and the backup Pokemon on most of them are pretty important. Using that slot for Purugly looks to to be high-cost for average results at best, so you will need to be more convincing in your arguments.

 

[Akir]

I see your point, and I will just save the space and erase the clutter. Sorry about the poor etiquette.

 

[WhiteDMist]

There's no reason to erase anything. You just need to develop your arguments so that you can convince the community at large.

 

[Mistress Remilia]

Rotom-Frost @ Life Orb
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 4 Def / 252 Spa / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Blizzard
- Thunderbolt
- Substitute
- Pain Split

As i'm sure you all know, Rotom Frost is already very threatening to begin with, especially SubSplit set.
But what if Blizzard was 100% accurate? Well, with Hail becoming a bit more effective with the arrival of Aurorus with Snow Warning, your wish has been granted.
By virtue of its great stab combo, decent speed & bulk, Rotom Frost is probably the best Hail abuser.

 

[Raiza]

Beartic @ Life Orb
Ability: Swift Swim
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Icicle Crash
- Superpower
- Aqua Jet
- Swords Dance

I feel like even if it isn't seen lately, mostly because of Rain being not used a lot, Beartic can still do something useful through the game with some Support and it's worth a mention there since the tier doesn't have really a lot of Physical Sweepers that abuse Rain, the only ones apart from Beartic are Belly Drum Poliwrath and Armaldo, which also deserves some talk but will probably treat it later on, if I'm right, so it can still pull off a surprise factor with its high Base Atk and decent Bulk and with the mediocre speed which is boosted by Rain, that makes it up a bit for the horrible typing limiting the possibility of revengekilling by Fire-types weakening their Attacks and also boosting Aqua Jet, which is a blessing under Rain powered up with Life Orb along with Superpower to hit hard Rock- and Steel-types that will try to tank its main STAB, Icicle Crash, though its typing it's still a big drawback since it makes it still weak to Entry Hazards and hit neutrally by common types in the tier, that along with Life Orb and Rain Timer makes Beartic's life difficult and keeps him from being a premier choice.

 

[2xTheTap]

Just wanted to add that Pokemon with Overcoat can work well on Hail and Sandstorm in the same way that Magic Guard Pokemon like Kadabra can.

For example, the most viable of these is probably Leavanny (Duosion can work too, as mentioned above). Leavanny makes for a nice lead on Hail or Sandstorm by bouncing back entry hazards first turn or setting Sticky Web for slower abusers of Hail or Sandstorm. By bouncing back Stealth Rock, Leavanny really helps your Ice types on Hail by preventing chip damage. Similarly, its Bug typing means that it can take a few Fighting type hits for your Ice type Pokemon if you need.

But as far as Rain goes, I think bulky Ghosts and Pokemon with Electric / Grass immunities make for some great setters outside of the aforementioned Prankster setters. The first is one I've tried and had some nice success with:

Bongo Bongo (Dusknoir) @ Damp Rock
Ability: Frisk
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 Spe
Impish Nature
- Rain Dance
- Memento
- Night Shade
- Will-O-Wisp

Normally I'd use Dusclops instead of defensive Dusknoir, but unfortunately Dusclops cannot carry both an Eviolite and a Damp Rock at the same time, lol. Nevertheless, Dusknoir's great physical bulk lets him set up Rain Dance on even premier physical threats. If he's KO'd after using Rain Dance, it's not a huge deal, but if he isn't, he's able to use Memento and give his switch-in a much easier time setting up.

I especially like combining this Dusknoir with Belly Drum Swift Swim Poliwrath, given Dusknoir lures in offensive Dark Types like Sneasel and Pawniard, which Poliwrath counters with ease.

And finally, a good reason to use Dusknoir on Rain is its ability to spin block for you, in case you've managed to get both Stealth Rock and Rain Dance up before going on the offensive.

Another viable Rain Dance user that I don't see used too often is Zebstrika.

Fruit Stripes (Zebstrika) @ Damp Rock
Ability: Sap Sipper / Lightning Rod
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Volt Switch
- Thunder
- Rain Dance
- Hidden Power [Water]

Zebstrika can be used over Electrode because it's still faster than most unboosted Pokemon in PU and it provides Rain Dance teams with a much needed immunity to either Grass or Electric. Additionally, it has room for Hidden Power Water (which receives a boost from RD), while Electrode doesn't have room for it in its Taunt / Thunder / Rain Dance / Volt Switch set. So, rather than getting blocked during a Volt Switch by a Ground type like Electrode sometimes does, Zebstrika reverses this and can get the KO on them.

As a small bonus, its Rain Boosted HP Water does more damage than a Life Orb HP Grass on Piloswine. RD + HP Water is a guaranteed 3HKO on Piloswine, whereas its Life Orb boosted HP Grass only has a 68% chance of making that happen.

 

[365pokemon]

Just wanted to add that Pokemon with Overcoat can work well on Hail and Sandstorm in the same way that Magic Guard Pokemon like Kadabra can.

I think another overcoat pokemon for hail teams to use is vullaby, as it can get off valuable defogs for its ice type teammates, and is a soft check to pawniard, taking little damage from it.

 

[g]

GrimoireGod Volbeat should run relaxed and 0 speed IVs to get a slow u-turn so i edited it in

 

[365pokemon]

Vullaby doesn't resist Steel.

I'll edit that out, but it still takes very little damage
252+ Atk Pawniard Iron Head vs. 248 HP / 252+ Def Vullaby: 93-111 (27.1 - 32.3%)

so even once eviolite is knocked off vullaby won't take much damage from pawniard and can hit it with foul play

 

[Grim]

With Snow Warning Aurorus having been released some weeks ago, has anyone tried using hail? I have been trying to make it work but it doesn't seem like a better hail setter is enough to save it.

 

[Kingler]

With Snow Warning Aurorus having been released some weeks ago, has anyone tried using hail? I have been trying to make it work but it doesn't seem like a better hail setter is enough to save it.

in all honesty, dedicated hail seems pretty bad, but hail with Rocks setter Aurorus + Kadabra can make good use of chip dmg. I really don't like the idea of blizzspam in a tier where the top 3 mons resist it (don't take it excellently but point still stands) and can hit back super effectively. It's also hard to cover all threats with fewer teamslots. Hail is definitely p cool though.

 

[Mistress Remilia]

in all honesty, dedicated hail seems pretty bad, but hail with Rocks setter Aurorus + Kadabra can make good use of chip dmg. I really don't like the idea of blizzspam in a tier where the top 3 mons resist it (don't take it excellently but point still stands) and can hit back super effectively. It's also hard to cover all threats with fewer teamslots. Hail is definitely p cool though.

I find Rotom-Frost and Kadabra alone & not a dedicated hail are the best you can do with the hail.
As you mentionned before, Top mons resisting BlizzardSpam doesn't help, but Rotom-Frost's double STAB helps with that problem.
Add some mons to support ( = Threaten what prevents you from doing your things using Hail ) these Hail based mons, and you should be fine.

That's probably the best you can do with Hail.

 

[MZ]

Snover is still in the pictures on the top. Now if only Aurorus had a gen 4 picture...

 

[Grim]

Snover is still in the pictures on the top. Now if only Aurorus had a gen 4 picture...

I wanted to replace it with Aurorus, but like you said it has no gen 4 picture. I'm probably going to replace it with something else because it bothers me. ._.

 

[Twix]

Yo man get rid of Aurorus, Poliwrath, and Victreebel (welcome back Snover lmao).

edit:(so this post has meaning)

Onix @ Heat Rock
Ability: Sturdy
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Taunt
- Stealth Rock
- Sunny Day
- Explosion

Onix is a really solid Sun setter which outpaces Carbink and has access to Taunt. However, Carbink is bulkier and has access to Magic Coat. The two are pretty much catered to the user's play style.

 

[MaroGod]

Jumpluff @ Heat Rock
Ability: Chlorophyll
EVs: 248 HP / 8 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Sunny Day
- Sleep Powder
- U-turn / Seed Bomb / Acrobatics
- Memento

While it is best off as a weather abuser Jumpluff in itself is an amazing setter at the same time having access to many support moves. Its speed combined with its decent bulk and typing allow it to be a great lead breaking sturdy/sash users or putting something to sleep. It can also run Memento to be a suicide sun setter and allow sun abusers to set-up with SD/Growth ect.

 

[Grim]

OP is updated.

I would definitely use Memento on that lead Jumpluff, sounds rather cool actually because under normal circumstances Sawsbuck has a very hard time actually setting up a Swords Dance. Too bad you'd have to use another Pokemon to set up Stealth Rock.

Stoutland @ Choice Band
Ability: Scrappy
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Return
- Superpower
- Facade
- Pursuit

Dodrio @ Choice Band
Ability: Early Bird
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Brave Bird
- Return
- Knock Off
- Pursuit

I have really been enjoying using these two on rain teams because they scare out Roselia, Politoed, and I guess Gogoat, and can Pursuit trap it, weakening them enough for them to not be able to switch into Golduck anymore. I also like them on rain because Golduck and Beartic pretty much destroy offense and Stoutland and Dodrio (especially Stoutland) have a very good matchup against fat builds.

Rain is pretty cool tbh right now tbh, Politoed is a better rain check than Poliwrath but is also a much worse Pokemon in general and thus far from as popular. It's also much easier to weaken with Pursuit. :]

 

[MaroGod]

Abuser

Charmeleon @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Solar Power
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Fire Blast
- Overheat
- Dragon Pulse
- Hidden Power [Ground]

Solar Power and Sun boosted STAB Fire Blast is your go to move. Overheat is to mitigate the chance of missing with a powerful fire Stab while also nuking water-types. HP ground is to hit Flash Fire mons and is a safer option to 2hko probopass. Dragon Pulse is your final option and allows you to 2HKO Vibrava which is becoming more and more common in the current meta.

Charmeleons massive power under the sun thanks to its hidden ability gives it a good place on well made sun teams.

252 SpA Solar Power Charmeleon Fire Blast vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Lickilicky in Sun: 219-258 (51.6 - 60.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery

Assistance from Tect