Meme Builder's Guide Q: How do I build an offensive Pokemon? A: Give it a Stab attack (same type as the Pokemon) and a coverage move (something to hit Pokemon that resist the Stab attack). EVs should be 252 in an attacking stat and 252 in speed. Q: How do I build a defensive Pokemon? A: Give it status moves of your choice. It is recommended to give it some form of attacking, or at least some form of dealing damage. Otherwise the opponent can potentially set up on it and sweep the champ's team. EVs should be 252 in HP and 252 in a defensive stat. Q: What's better, HP or speed on a bulky attacker? A: If the Pokemon has more than 40 base speed, Speed is better than HP. Investing in speed means you outspeed slow, defensive Pokemon and can kill them before they heal. Q: What's better, HP or defenses? A: HP is always better than defenses. Don't put points into defense unless you've maxed out HP first. Odd-numbered HP (248 EVs) ensures you take less damage from Stealth Rock. Max HP (252 EVs) can increase the healing from Leftovers, but only if the total HP is divisible by 16. Q: What's better, offensive spreads (attack and speed) or defensive spreads (HP and defense)? A: Generally, offensive spreads are better because they're self-sufficient. Defensive spreads rely on teammates, which don't work well due to the random teams. Q: What's better, a nature that raises a low, invested stat or a nature that raises a high, uninvested stat? A: Use a nature that raises the stat you want to raise the most. Don't use a nature that raises a stat you haven't invested in. Q: What's better, an evolved Pokemon with Leftovers or an unevolved Pokemon with Eviolite? A: In almost all cases, the evolved Pokemon will be bulkier. An unevolved Pokemon with Eviolite may have higher defenses, but HP is much more important and there are a number of reasons Leftovers is functionally superior. Leftovers heals on turns the Pokemon isn't taking damage. Leftovers takes higher advantage of attacks that do less than 6% damage. Knock Off can ruin Eviolite but an evolved Pokemon still has natural defenses it can use. And it bears repeating, but health is worth much more than defenses. An evolved Pokemon will also have higher attacking stats, meaning the opponent will be threatened more by it even if the Pokemon isn't meant to attack. Q: Is it funny to take a defensive Pokemon and make it an attacker? A: It's fun and it's funny, but it's only as funny as it is useful. If a defensive Pokemon smashes the enemy team then it's hilarious. If a defensive Pokemon sits around doing nothing and ends up getting killed constantly or lets the enemy set up on it and sweep the champ's whole team, then it's not funny at all. Offensive Pokemon are generally pretty valuable, so it's hard to go wrong with any kind of offensive set. Q: Is it funny to take an offensive Pokemon and make it a defensive wall? A: It can be, but it's harder to pull off. Defensive Pokemon rely on their team so unless the team happens to synergize well with it and it makes itself useful, it's mostly just going to be kind of bland. Q: Is it funny to take a good Pokemon and make it purposefully bad? A: Again, it can be, but it's only as funny as it is useful. If it's just complete shit then no one's going to care about it. If it's using stupid moves that somehow still manage to work, then it can be great fun. Q: What are the best types for coverage? A: Fire and ice coverage work well on almost any Pokemon they're given to. Types & Good coverage moves Normal - Fighting, Ghost Fire - Grass, Ground, Fighting Water - Ice, Electric, Grass Grass - Fire Electric - Ice, Water, Fire Ice - Electric, Fire Dark - Psychic, Fighting Psychic - Dark, Ghost, Fighting Fighting - Dark, Ghost, Psychic, Ice, Fire, Rock Ghost - Psychic, Fighting Flying - Fighting Rock - Ground, Fighting, Fire Ground - Rock, Fire Bug - Nothing pairs particularly well with Bug. Poison - Nothing pairs particularly well with Poison. Steel - Nothing pairs particularly well with Steel. Dragon - Ground, Fire Fairy - Fire Q: Is Brine a good move? A: No. It's complete shit. The opponent will almost always be above 50% HP. Hydro Pump is generally better. Q: Is Trump Card a good move? A: No. It's complete shit. It just doesn't work. Any other move would be better than it. Q: Is Echoed Voice a good move? A: It's not bad, but it takes 2-3 turns for it to be as powerful as other, more useful moves. By then, the Pokemon will already be dead or be forced to switch. Q: Is Venoshock a good move? A: No. It's complete shit. The unreliability of it and necessity for the user to poison the opposing Pokemon first makes it take too long to actually pull off. Sludge Bomb or Sludge Wave are generally better. Q: Is Venom Drench a good move? A: No. It's complete shit. It just doesn't work. Any other move would be better than it. Q: Is Brightpowder a good item? A: No. It's complete shit. In actuality, its effect is closer to a ~5% chance of missing an attack, which will often never happen during a champ session. Q: Is Assault Vest a good item? A: Generally, no. It's complete shit outside of some very specific roles. Unless your Pokemon is specifically designed to switch into special attackers and force them to switch then attack all potential switch-ins with moves that can wallbreak or cripple them throughout the rest of the match, it is not a good item. Leftovers is better in 90% of situations. If you're just trying to decide what item to put on a Pokemon with four attacks, consider a Choice item or Life Orb. Q: Is Sitrus Berry a good item? A: Yes. However, it's generally inferior to Leftovers and you will also be bullied by the suggesters for using it because of that. Of course, keep in mind there are exceptions to all the cases presented above. If you have any questions, feel free to ask in the thread or in the chat. Or if you want a good laugh, ask the «Overused» room for advice on Pokemon Showdown! BETA and watch them ree when they see your horrible shitset.