Richard's Reasoning - Hypno

Welcome to the fourteenth installment of Richard's Reasoning, where we discuss Pokemon in Crystal Clear's unique metagame. This time we'll be talking about one of the most strange Pokemon to come from generation 1. Let's talk Hypno.

Base Stats: 85 HP / 73 Attack / 70 Defense / 73 Sp. Attack / 115 Sp. Defense / 67 Speed

With Alakazam being the Pokemon that has won the most Crystal Clear tournaments, it's easy to overlook Hypno and write it off as a worse Alakazam, but that's far from true. In fact, Hypno has many valuable traits that Alakazam cannot replicate. It has equal Attack and Sp. Attack at a respectable 73, and while that isn't a match for Alakazam's base 135 Sp. Attack in the slightest, Hypno's bulk gives it a totally different playstyle.

And... the Battle Tutor has blessed Hypno with just the right tools for it to have a very specific niche: countering Alakazam.

-Psychic Hitman-

Hypno@ Leftovers / MiracleBerry / PrzCureBerry
Psychic
Shadow Ball
Pursuit
Cross Chop / Thunder Wave

Hypno's claim to fame, in my opinion, is being the anti-Psychic Psychic type. Even so, it should still be running Psychic for the most consistent damage output possible.

Shadow Ball targets opposing Psychic types, especially Alakazam, dealing 49-58% to it while standard Alakazam can't even muster 20% from using an elemental punch of Hypno. It also really helps beat other Psychic types, like Slowking (29-34%), Exeggutor (28-33%), and Jynx (51-60%).

This is where Pursuit comes in. Given how ineffective standard Alakazam is for fighting Hypno, it will want to switch out much of the time. Packing Pursuit ensures that Alakazam never gets to escape for free, and this has huge implications for Alakazam. In a purely 1v1 scenario, Hypno beats Alakazam so badly that the opponent might not even bring it into the battle if they're smart and see Hypno during team selection, and it's all made possible by Pursuit. Of course, this isn't just for Alakazam - trapping with Pursuit is useful in a number of situations, especially with how many Psychic types will want to switch out of Hypno. The key to making this effective is to build your team in such a way that the Pokemon Hypno will be trapping with Pursuit are necessary for the opponent to keep alive to fight your teammates.

The final slot has a couple options. Cross Chop is a new move for Hypno, giving it a move to hit Steel types and Chansey, which takes 47.1 - 55.6% from it. This improves Hypno's matchup spread, but it's not strictly necessary if you provide Hypno with some Fighting type support for those Pokemon. In this case, it may be worth using Thunder Wave to help Hypno beat some opponents and provide team support in the games where Alakazam isn't present.

The benefits to using this over something like Tyranitar or Houndoom is that Hypno has very different weaknesses and resistances than them. Resisting Fighting rather than being weak to it can make a huge difference, and with how high Hypno's Sp. Defense is, it might as well be resistant to Water, while Tyranitar and Houndoom really do not want to be taking Water type attacks. Really consider your team's needs and how you're building it to make sure that Hypno is more efficient than one of the Dark-type Pursuit trappers.

Hypno really loves having Leftovers to more effectively take hits from the special attackers it wants to be fighting. That extra 6% per turn can be really valuable over the course of the game. MiracleBerry and PrzCureBerry are fantastic options as always, for blocking status (usually Paralysis, since it's the most common), but you really need to be careful about how to get Hypno on the field with no passive recovery through Leftovers. I'd personally say it's worth it to take the Paralysis for passive healing on Hypno most of the time.

Hypno's got a number of other options that are worth considering. First and foremost, Protect pairs very well with Leftovers to give Hypno more passive healing. It also pairs oddly well with Pursuit, as opponents that think you're likely to Protect may try to switch out to take advantage of that free turn, only to be hit with a Pursuit. DynamicPunch is the old Fighting type attack standby for Hypno and still has the advantage of confusion if it lands. The shaky accuracy makes the risk very high, though. Swagger can be used to Confuse the opponent if that's your cup of tea, but it's inconsistent and can end up backfiring in some situations. Counter can be a nasty surprise for Hypno to turn the tables on a physical attacker. It's risky, though, and once it has been revealed the opponent is much more likely to play around it. It can end up giving the opponent a free turn, which Hypno can't really afford to be doing most of the time. Amnesia can be used to improve Hypno's ability to take on special walls even more, but is usually overkill, and gives physical attackers an opportunity to come in for free while it fruitlessly sets up. Reflect can be used to shore up Hypno's low defenses and provide team support, but it often struggles to find time to do so with how slow it is and how important it is to play Hypno to its defined strengths. Toxic is a fine option for Hypno to break through many opposing defensive Pokemon, but I think it's more valuable for Hypno to be using Thunder Wave to help it and teammates beat offensive Pokemon than slowly chipping away at defensive Pokemon. Hypno does get access to the elemental punches, but they're largely not as useful as the main set; playing Hypno like Alakazam will only leave you with a less effective Pokemon, so playing to its strengths is very important. Finally, Pain Split is an option for keeping Hypno healthy, but it's inherently unreliable. It has some really fun niche use cases like dealing a massive amount to Chansey without fear of Counter, and it's definitely worth considering, but the timing doesn't always work out and it can be exploited with clever switching.

-My Opinion-

Hypno is so damn weird, and while I used to hate it as a kid, I've grown so much more fond of it over time. He's just so lovably strange. His animations in Stadium 2 are some of the most expressive and weird the game has to offer. His unique attributes in our own metagame make him a fun anti-metagame pick as well, and I hope to see at least a bit more representation for him, since I think that with the right team build he could really shine.