I'd like to offer a different perspective on Flame Charge. There is a fundamental difference between Flame Charge and Bulldoze, and I want to point out what they do the same, and what they do differently, and by the end of this post, I will have made a convincing argument for disallowing Flame Charge and embracing Bulldoze. Now, what do they both do?



1. They both take advantage of CAP25's unique palate of resistances against offensive teams.



It shouldn't be a surprise that Flame Charge / Bulldoze CAP25f poses a unique challenge for Tapu Koko, as it basically forces Tapu Koko to U-turn. Why? Well, if it uses any of its other standard moves, CAP25f gets a free Flame Charge / Bulldoze against whatever switches in. This means that whatever switches in has to be faster than a +1 CAP25f (or faster than CAP25f at -1 speed, same thing) if it wants to revenge it, and this is what can make CAP25f unique. Once it has an opportunity, CAP25f can start to dismantle offense by dragging down most opponents' speed below its speed and then take advantage of its Fire / Ground / Ice or Electric coverage. Tapu Koko is just one example of a Pokemon who would be limited by CAP25f's presence on the opposing team. For example, Choice Scarf Volkraken cannot safely click Fire Blast or Flamethrower, as it will then allow CAP25f to come in for free for the speed control move. Choice Scarf Landorus-T can't click Defog or Hidden Power Ice either for the same reason in the case of Flame Charge. Choice Scarf Jumbao can't click Moonblast either. Things get even more interesting when you throw in Shuca Berry, which improves your matchup greatly against offensive teams, as it can tank an Earthquake from Choice Scarf Landorus-T, Choice Scarf Kitsunoh's Earthquake, Choice Band Syclant's Earthquake, and Krilowatt's Earth Power. While this does weaken your matchup against defensive teams, against which you'd want Groundium Z or Soft Sand, it's a fair trade-off, and the opponent doesn't know what item you have, barring Knock Off or Kitsunoh's Frisk. Basically, there are a handful of offensive threats against which CAP25f can take advantage of its defensive typing and potentially Shuca Berry and gain a free boost.



252 SpA Volkraken Fire Blast vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Camerupt: 114-134 (37.8 - 44.5%) -- guaranteed 3HKO



2. They both enable CAP25f to perform a "naga speed lock."



Let me define "naga speed lock." Those who remember back to the beginning of USUM, Naganadel was in the OU metagame before it was promptly removed from the metagame. The reasoning wasn't its access to Nasty Plot and general power and coverage. It was due to the inability for anything to revenge it after it got a KO. Now,  gaining a +1 Speed Boost upon a KO might sound innocuous, but think about what that entails. Against a +2 Naganadel, if you left whatever Pokemon out that was going to get KOed, Naganadel would gain the +1 Speed Boost. However, if you switched out, you had to switch out into something sturdy to tank its attack AND fast enough to outspeed it AND powerful enough to KO it. This was the problem with Naganadel - very few things fell into all three categories, and thus, you couldn't revenge it unless you run Scarf Greninja, which was the only Choice Scarf using available to outspeed a +1 Naganadel. Therefore, when I define a "naga speed lock," it's when the opponent is pinned down because if they stay in, they faint, and if they switch out, the opponent gains a +1 Speed boost.



Now, let's apply this to CAP25f. I want to call CAP25f a proto-Naganadel in a sense. Although it doesn't have to gain a KO to gain the +1 Speed Boost, most of the same principles apply. Lets look at an example. Say you have a Choice Specs Tapu Lele and the opponent has a CAP25f on the bench. Choice Specs Tapu Lele took a hit before KOing the Pokemon in front of it, so now it's sitting at less than half health. Now, CAP25f switches in. Your opponent has successfully set up the naga speed lock. If Tapu Lele stays in, Flame Charge or Bulldoze KO. However, if Tapu Lele switches out, immunities nonwithstanding, CAP25f will gain the speed boost. This lock places immense pressure on the opponent, as they either sack of Tapu Lele, or they have to come up with some switch-in that can tank a Flame Charge or Bulldoze and then either a) still outspeed and KO, b) tank another one of CAP25's moves (which includes Fire-, Ground-, and Ice-type coverage), or c) smack it with priority, which is possbile, but still isn't the easiest thing to do when you consider that the only scarfers that are currently faster than 97 Base Speed are Kitsunoh, Greninja, and Syclant. Also, if you refer to my last post, I've noted that offense generally has a hard time with even Flame Wheel, Earthquake, and Hidden Power Ice. This lock doesn't work with just Tapu Lele, it works on any Pokemon that's in KO range for Flame Charge. ​​​​​​



3. The difference between a Flame Charge and Bulldoze is profound when factoring in situations from point 1 and point 2.



If we go with Flame Charge, after you perform a situation in 1 or a naga speed lock, you're at +1 speed. You still get to abuse your near-perfect coverage and +1 speed that outspeeds a bunch of the relevant Choice Scarf Pokemon, leaving almost no opportunity for the opponent to revenge kill CAP25f without running extremely specific Pokemon to revenge kill it. On the other hand, if CAP25f runs Bulldoze, the opponent can safely revenge kill CAP25f after it's knocked out one of the opposing Pokemon. This is the difference between Flame Charge and Bulldoze. They both pressure offense, but Flame Charge has the ability to continue sweeping after you've pivoted CAP25f. Retaining the +1 Speed differential over the opposing team is what makes Flame Charge annoying to deal with. What that means is that if you successfully take advantage of a Koko / choice-locked Pokemon or get the naga speed lock against anything, you can sweep up a weakened team. Now, maybe the team isn't weakened enough? Literally wait, chip down the opposing team, and then you can do it again, still placing pressure on the opposing team for not just one Pokemon, but for the entire team. However, if you go Bulldoze and pull off situation 1 or the naga speed lock, threaten the team for a localized turn, but that doesn't affect the entire match with a CAP25f sweep. This is what makes Bulldoze more balanced: if you want to play CAP25f to the best of its ability, you have to play with it carefully throughout the match, which honestly should be expected of a Pokemon that has Fire/Ground/Ice coverage with a stat spread that it has - it's fast, can tank a hit, and isn't a slouch offensively.