PTU - Building Pokemon

HOW BUILD POKEMONS?!

This is intended to confer GENERAL advice for building Pokemon, which you can apply broadly to basically everything.

1) Apply stats relatively evenly, focusing on a single offense stat where possible: Attack > HP > Defenses > Speed. A good go-to ratio would be 40% Attack, 20% HP, 20% into each Defense.
	1a) If natural Speed doesn't fall on a multiple of 5 (and is less then 30), raise it to the next multiple, then consider ignoring it. Speed tends to matter less than other stats, and low Speed is easier to circumvent with Priority, After You, Agility Orders, etc.
	1b) If Base Stat Relations make it impossible to get to the ideal ratio, that's OK. Just do your best, and keep in mind that Pokemon with seriously skewed stats tend to also struggle with poor Move pools!

2) Take Moves! You should always favor Moves that rely on your chosen offense stat, either physical or special, wherever possible.
	2a) Get reliable STAB Moves: ideally the highest DB, EoT or At-Will option available to use as a bread and butter attack.
	2b) Get coverage Moves: look for Moves that cover types resistant to your STAB, so you can go for Super Effective often.
	2c) Get bombs: Moves with extreme AoE or Damage Base, like Heat Wave, Surf, Explosion, etc

3) But what about Statuses, you cry. Damaging attacks are preferable in most cases, and Statuses need to be judged individually. Tricksters and Grass Aces will get more use out of Statuses in general, but you can still quickly determine if a Move is worth using.
	3a) Blessings: Reflect, Light Screen, and, to a lesser extent, Lucky Chant are all Worth. Be aware that this can create a Blessings arms race with your GM if the players start setting up Blessings every combat.
	3b) Double Ups: Copycat, Mirror Move, Instruct, etc. Anything that allows you to DO IT AGAIN is absolutely worth the Move slot, as it essentially becomes a floating slot that can be "Any Move on the Field". Let your teammates hit Double Super Effective, then	Copycat.
	3c) Sleep: Spore, Sleep Powder, Hypnosis, etc are a guaranteed trade for a target's action (if you hit), and become increasingly efficient the longer the target Sleeps. Due to poor AC, this is better at low levels, and Spore becomes the only viable Sleep option later.
	3d) Trades: Any Shield Move or 50%+ heal are also basically 1 for 1 trades with whoever hit you. Shields are also good for blocking the random Crit OHKOs, and Heals can be more than 1:1 efficient if you're being hit for neutral or less.
	3e) Executes: If your GM uses on level enemies, Executes are a risky option that become better the worse your coverage actually is. If you can't hit Super Effective on a target, on level Executes are a 1/3 chance at OHKO - let 'er rip. If your GM is using higher than party + 5 level enemies, abandon game (and don't use Executes).
	3f) Weather/Fields: If you aren't getting these effects free from Strategems or at reduced action cost via Class features or Abilities, just don't.
	3g) Stall Tactics: Hazards, negative Stages, Poison/Burn/Curse, Tick heals, Splits, Grapple cheese, and so on are largely trap options. These Moves should never comprise your primary strategy, and if they are on your Move list you better not be burning	Standard Actions to use them. If you find yourself here because your list doesn't have enough Moves, consider another Pokemon.

4) Abilities are usually more up to player preference, though I feel it should be obvious that if you aren't playing an Ace with a Weather Strategem, you probably shouldn't invest in Weather-based Abilities. Apply the same logic to other Ability choices: if an Ability requires access to a particular resource, make sure you have that resource before selecting it over a more general case Ability.

5) If this didn't answer your questions, feel free to seek advice in #ptu-discussion, and provide information on the Pokemon (species, level, nature) and Trainer (class) or access to Tutors.