This first team I thought was pretty fun and different compared to a standard OU team. It had good synergy with rain in the form of Goodra Hydration (Honestly a really fun ability. If Goodra had a strong Defense stat, I probably wouldn't have changed it.), Scizor Mega losing its 4x weakness to fire, and Tapu Koko getting a massive stab boosted Thunder off with Electric Terrain honestly makes up for the fact your not running a life orb. I found however pokemon like Politoad just wasn't bringing enough to the team in the higher ranked battles. Once Politoad was gone, I lost my main rain setter with my only backup being a offensive Pelipper.... That didn't feel to great. Also, Electric Terrain was very un-synergistic with Goodra when he needed to rest and was blocked by it. Its a fun team in rain, but at higher levels, really starts to fall off the map. I'll leave the team the first iteration completely untouched so you can see my thoughts, why I decided to put them where they are, etc. and hope you might get a few fun games with it.

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Toxicroak (M) @ Life Orb

Ability: Dry Skin

EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe

Jolly Nature

- Swords Dance / Return

- Drain Punch

- Gunk Shot  / Poison Jab

- Sucker Punch



Naturally, a Team based around Toxicroak Should start with him. His set isn't much to look at, very basic in nature. Max attack and speed with a Jolly nature and life orb to help it hit hard and fast (or at least as fast as a 295 max speed, beneficial nature will allow in a meta where most threats are indeed faster then him.) Dry skin was the ability that decided whether I made this team a Rain team or not. The ability, compared with the other choices available, just seemed like to much fun not to use. Plus it gave a water immunity (not like I needed one, but its a cool feature.) Moves are also pretty self simple, but that's due to his lack of a move pool. Swords Dance is used if you manage to predict a switch and can get a free boost. Return I feel is a mention able replacement if you feel Swords Dance isn't helping as much as it should. Drain Punch for coverage against steel/dark types. Gunk Shot is a powerful coverage move that can O-KO fairy type Pokemon like Def Mega Altaria, and NEARLY O-KO Magic Guard Clefable (I've done the calc, and it ends up at 87.5% to O-KO, but lets be honest here. If you don't faint it outright, Toxicroak is probably going to die.) Poison Jab could be used as a replacement if you feel you are missing to often, but you miss out on to much damage for me to make it justifiable. Sucker punch is a great priority move. Hits some Pokemon this team wouldn't usually be able to ( Hoopa, Dhelmise if he was ever a thing, Aegislash if he ever make it back from ubers, along with outright O-KO threats like Blacephalon, Alakazam-Mega, etc.) Not as strong as Gunk shot, but boy does it feel nice to have a priority move.



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Politoed (F) @ Damp Rock

Ability: Drizzle

EVs: 220 HP / 148 Def / 84 SpA / 52 SpD / 4 Spe

Calm Nature

IVs: 0 Atk

- Scald

- Ice Beam

- Encore

- Protect



When it comes to Rain teams, you need a setup mon for rain. Naturally that's where you look into which Pokemon can use Drizzle. As it turns out, only 3 can, and only 2 are viable in OU. My choices were either Politoad or Pelipper. Now, I come from a time where Politoed is king of all rain teams. Maybe that makes me impartial, maybe I just wanted 2 toad boys on my team. The world will never know. Either way, I built a pretty basic Politoad as well. Ev spread was literally ripped off of smogon since they honestly seem pretty nice. Only thing I might do is drop the 4 speed, maybe lower special attack a tad, and put the rest into more defense, aim for maybe 250 or so for added bulk. Tried using him with and without a Damp Rock, and I honestly feel like the 3 extra turns of rain matter for some of the other Pokemon on this list. His role is usually to be main rain setter, lead to start rain, and scout out what my opponent is trying to due early on. If they have a Smeargle, Politoad lead into protect to see what they are trying to do. Most of the time you catch a spore, other times you get rocks thrown in your face and cry. Other then protect, the other moves are there for coverage/stall. Scald is boosted with rain, and with a added chance to burn. Ice beam is for coverage and to chip away at other Pokemon, but he won't be koing anyone with either moves. Encore can be used to trap Pokemon that are trying to set up on him, say they use dragon dance. get them stuck into using it with encore and switch out to one of the counters to either force a switch or get a free kill.





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Scizor-Mega (M) @ Scizorite

Ability: Technician

EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD

Careful Nature

- Bullet Punch

- Defog

- U-turn

- Roost



Rain teams give a massive boon to steel types with the -50% damage from fire moves. That's why you see Pokemon like Ferrothron or Skarmory on them. I wanted a Pokemon that could abuse that, while also helping out the team a bit. My choice led me to one of my favorite builds of Scizor-Mega that I know. With Max HP and SpD Evs, you have 317 Defense, 328 Special Defense, with 344 HP and 336 Attack. Sure he has a 4x weakness to fire, but that's why hes so perfect for a rain team! Get rid of his fire weakness and everything hits him for neutral damage with the ability to recover, remove rocks/ other entry hazards, and pivot right back into a rain setter when rain leaves. Along with the ever present, Technician Boosted, Bullet Punch for priority, hes a pretty solid pick for the team.





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Tapu Koko @ Fairium Z

Ability: Electric Surge

EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe

Timid Nature

- Thunder

- Roost  / Hidden Power Ice

- Dazzling Gleam

- U-turn



While Rain is present on the field, moves like Thunder will have a 100% to hit. That's a 110 base power move that you can just abuse in the rain. So naturally I tried to find a Pokemon that could do just that. Choices that stuck out to me were: Tapu Koko, Thundurus-Therian, and Magnezone. Each one served a different purpose, but the one I wanted was a special sweeper. Something I would be lacking if my Thunder abuser wasn't going to be it. From that, it narrowed my choice down to Tapu Koko. Electric Surge boosts his damage, slap a 252 Sp. Attack and Speed on this thing with a Timid nature and you have a monster.  Thunder is there to abuse 100% in rain. Roost for some recovery, but I have honestly been thinking about replacing it with Hidden power ice to hit Pokemon like Landorus. Don't seem to heal enough to warrant keeping it when instead I could O-KO Pokemon that would normally wall my Thunder abuser. Dazzling Gleam is here to be used in tandem with Fairium Z. Really helps against say, Mega-Latias or Mega-Altaria, just so long as they don't get to many Calm minds, you should O-KO them every time. U-turn for more pivot instead of Volt Switch to catch people off guard when they send in Zeraora/ other Volt Absorb Pokemon that want to eat my pivot.



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Goodra (F) @ Leftovers

Ability: Hydration

EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD

Calm Nature

IVs: 0 Atk

- Acid Armor

- Rest

- Toxic

- Dragon Pulse



After I came to the realization that my team already had a steel and fairy type, I decided the next thing to add was a dragon type Pokemon to help finish the Steel/Fairy/Dragon core I nearly had done. I opened up a Bulbapedia page to do some detailed research on all possible dragon type Pokemon, and found a very interesting ability. I give you, Hydration Goodra. Back in X/Y, Goodra was used as a special tank for some rain teams. Most ran Sap Sipper due to the ability to make a Grass Immunity and also ran an Assault Vest. I've decided to forgo this route, in hopes of trying something new and fresh (At least for me.). Without the constraints of Assault Vest (Which is you can only use damaging moves, in exchange for a 1.5x boost to S.Def.) you can freely run moves like Rest/Toxic. I looked into builds for Goodra, to see what people could do with one, and found most people have come to the conclusion that Goodras defense sucks. No other way of putting it. However, I also saw how high you can get her Special Defense ( 438 with a helpful nature, no assault vest) and deemed it overkill for what I wanted to accomplish. The end product has turned into a mixed tank with a full heal in rain with no draw backs. Acid Armor allows Goodra to set up and actually tank physical hits. The set in this build gives us 239 Defense, but against most physical sweepers with some set up, your going to need that Acid Armor boost. Rest is for recovery. In rain, Hydration will activate and wake you up (Along with curing any other status effect you happen to take in.). Toxic is put on here to put stalling Pokemon (that don't outright bounce it back or are immune to poison) on a timer (You can use it as chip as well on some sweepers as well, helps when your against a Bulky Tornadus-Therian/etc.). Dragon Pulse for Stab mostly, and to chip other tanks/finish off poisoned targets faster.



144118

Pelipper (M) @ Choice Specs / Choice Scarf

Ability: Drizzle

EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe

Modest Nature

- Hydro Pump

- Hurricane

- Knock Off

- U-turn



Looking for a final member of this team seemed pretty easy once I realized it needed another rain setter.... BADLY. If Politoad died early on due to a careless mistake on my part, or a lucky crit on my opponents, then my team falls apart. Rain NEEDS to be on and in effect at all times for my team to work well. Going back to the only viable Drizzle Pokemon left, we have Pelipper. Whenever I see a rain team with Pelipper, my first thought is always "This Pelipper will be Bulky, hard to kill, but it honestly can't touch *Insert Random Pokemon Here*". As I looked back on my team as well, I had a pretty big weakness that I couldn't quite fix with the rest of my Pokemon. That Threat is Ferrothorn, the literal thorn in all rain teams side. I did some digging in movesets and found a possible answer for it however, Choice Specs Pelipper. With Hurricane, you 2-hit KO any Ferrothorn lead that dares think it can set up on you. Your not going to be outs speeding common threats in the meta, but you will turn a few heads when your rain setter suddenly Stab Boosted, Rain Boosted Hydro Pumps a Defensive Landorus Therian, immediately O-KOing it. As Stated, Hydro Pump for stab boosted damage, Hurricane to punish people that think your a bulky Pelipper. Knock Off for that extra bit of utility against bulky targets like Clefable that naturally tank everything this mon has. With a U-turn pivot once your opponent has learned to fear this bird and start double switching out of it. Choice Scarf is a nice option if you feel 417 max special attack is a little to high and want to sure up your speed counters.